gaaaaay | (no subject)

(no subject)

It's been three days since Eli's gone to visit her family in Russia, and another two weeks before she gets back.

Nozomi already doesn't know how she's going to make it.

Moving in together has spoiled her; while she used to be perfectly fine going about her morning routine alone and returning to an empty apartment every evening, now, with the distinct Eli-shaped void in her day, the loneliness is unbearable.

Of course, she has her friends, whom she's always trying to meet as often as she can. And when she's with them, Nozomi forgets all about her loneliness -- but once their meetup is over and they all go their separate ways, it sets right back in.

Her home just feels too big with only her in it.

It's Friday evening and she has reading she was given to do over break, but Nozomi can't focus at all. It's too quiet; she can hear the ticking of the clock far too clearly, the chirping of crickets outside. She's read the same sentence four times now and she still has no idea what it says.

Nozomi falls back onto the mattress with a flomp, and spends a moment frowning up at the ceiling before inspiration strikes. With rekindled spirits, she reaches for her cellphone on the nightstand, and hits the second number on her speed dial.

"Nicocchi," she says in way of greeting, and doesn't bother with pleasantries such as 'hello' and 'how are you'. "Why don't you come over?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Despite being on break, Nico still has her responsibilities looking after her siblings.

Some days were more hectic than others but doing laundry, cooking meals, and cleaning around the house were things she enjoyed. Or at least, things she enjoyed a lot more than doing assignments over break. Homework was thrown into the back burner of her mind but because it was Friday, her mother was home which gave her less to do, which also meant less excuses to make for slacking off. And by evening, Nico had ultimately ran out of "productive" things to do.

Entering her room after an early bath, her eyes glance between the textbooks and her laptop at her desk. It was pretty obvious which of the two the girl would gravitate towards but like some unholy sign from above, her phone rings.

Upon reaching her phone, the caller ID reveals it to be none other than Nozomi on the other line. For a moment, Nico's eyes glazed over remembering 'study sessions' with Nozomi back in high school. It's almost like the other girl knew she was slacking off.

But as Nozomi began to talk the second Nico answered the phone, she was relieved Nozomi didn't mention the word homework at all. Thank god. "Oh?" Nico plopped herself onto her bed, glancing over to her clock. "Do I have to come over and cook for Nozomi because she forgot to eat again?" she says with a bit of a smirk.

"It's not that," Nozomi huffs halfheartedly, rolling onto her side. "You make me sound so irresponsible, Nicocchi. What if I just feel like seeing you?"

"Then have you eaten dinner yet?" Nico retorts. She hadn't even actually agreed to coming over yet but Nico already finds herself getting ready to anyway. "And don't try to flirt with me, of course you want to see me," she huffs, putting on her usual haughty front.

"Well, I've had late lunch, so I'm good for now!" she announces, strangely proud of herself for someone who hasn't once gotten out of bed a second before one in the afternoon since Eli left.

"'For now,' she says," Nico sighs. "It's no good to eat irregularly, you hear?" She nags, almost as if she were nagging one of her siblings or even if she were Umi giving Honoka another earful.

There was always a bit of astonishment over how much Umi nagged at Honoka but really, when it came to things (and people) she cared about, Nico was no different. But the people bit is something she'd rather not admit, especially towards the other girl on the line.

"What am I gonna do with you?" she shakes her head, but more so towards herself as she glances to the mirror, realizing that she's already dressed.

"So," she sits at her desk, torn between not wanting to seem too eager to come over and just wanting to go so that she'll have something to do. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Ehehe, right, right." Nozomi doesn't seem to be taking Nico's chiding that seriously, with the way she giggles in response. In all honesty, though -- it's kind of nice to be fussed over like that. Nico really does care, even if she goes to great lengths to convince people otherwise.

"Mm, not really. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment, 'boy, I wish Nicocchi was here' kind of thing." She sounds practically wistful as she says it. There's no real need to butter Nico up so much, Nozomi knows, but she also knows how much the girl enjoys the attention, and she herself enjoys bestowing it on her. "Do you want to go out somewhere?"

Nico huffs, crossing her legs as she twirls a lock of hair around her finger, a silly habit she picked up from a certain red haired composer. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Nozomi," she says frankly. But really, it can probably get anyone a few ways if it stroked Nico's ego the right way.

"Wherever is fine," she shrugs. "I'm going to have to keep you company either way, aren't I?"

Nozomi hums in response, unfazed by Nico's prickly demeanor. The day she lets it sound like she's looking forward to seeing her, it'll start raining potatoes. "Would you sound happier about it if I took you out for cake?"

Nico leans in at the mention of cake. It'd be the most blatant lie to say free food didn't pique her interests. "You propose a tempting offer," she says, still trying to put up her usual front. "You better be ready by the time I get to your place," Nico commands, because blatantly saying yes to these kinds of things isn't her style.

"Yes ma'am," she retorts like an obedient soldier, though the grin quickly becomes audible in her tone. "I'll be sure to dress up extra cutely for our date."

Her face scrunches up as if she had just eaten something sour but regardless, Nico tries to match Nozomi's playfulness with her usual bag of tricks.

"Kyaa! A date with Nozomi-chan, Nico can hardly wait!" she says putting on her cute girl act, part of her wanting to gag because it's towards Nozomi but the other part is thinking she's so ace at this sort of thing.

Nozomi's lighthearted tone flattens in an instant. "Use that voice again and you're not getting cake."

Her mouth hangs open, about to giggle obnoxiously but refrains from doing so because the cake was also important. Still, she felt like she had the upper hand this round and it was hard to resist since there were barely any instances where she had any kind of 'advantage' over Nozomi.

"As long as Nico gets to see Nozomi~" she pouts, taking the cutesy voice down a notch. "Anyway, be there or be square," Nico says flatly, her tone doing a complete 180.

But it only just occurs to her that was a dumb thing to say the moment she abruptly hangs up the phone. Of course Nozomi would be there, it's her apartment after all. Whatever. She then gets up to vigorously brush her teeth after that short moment of flirting with Nozomi before heading out.

Nozomi rolls her eyes hard enough for it to be heard over the phone, though a chuckle escapes her lips in the same breath. Nico's terrible when she's trying to act cute, but somehow, she's come to find that endearing in its own right.

With the call ended, she sets about getting ready for their meetup. She decides to keep true to her word, if only because she's sure Nico would be disgusted to realize she wasn't kidding. Tying her braid in a large pink ribbon, she then proceeds to dig through her closet for a rarely-worn outfit: a red polka-dotted dress with a lacy white hem and collar, and short sleeves that puff out slightly around the shoulders. She picks a cute pair of doll shoes to wear (they have little ribbons on them), and studies herself in the mirror with a smile of approval. Nico will gag.

She waits for her outside, waving enthusiastically as soon as she spots the other girl approaching. Once she comes close enough, she wastes no time in pulling her into a typical Nozomi hug, that lingers too long and squeezes too much. "Yay, you came!"

As if the stars have perfectly aligned in Nozomi's favor, Nico was indeed very much disgusted. Her face paled. 'She wasn't kidding.' But then again, Nico really should've seen it coming. Nozomi was disgustingly cute and Nico was slightly embarrassed by the fact she only showed up in something more casual in comparison. 'Darn it.'

Closing her eyes, Nico lets herself become engulfed into Nozomi's hug, letting her body go limp for a moment as she knows there's no use fighting it. Bringing a hand up, she pats the other on the back as a halfhearted hug in return. With her bones getting too old for this sort of affection, Nico uses her other hand to squeeze the closest breast to repel Nozomi off her.

"Of course, I did! I have to make sure Nozomi's taking care of herself after all," she huffs.

"Well, that, and Nicocchi's not very good at saying no to cake." Satisfied, Nozomi lets go, and readjusts the strap of her purse over her shoulder. She then takes hold of the edge of her dress and does a little twirl, at the end of which she faces Nico with a bright, expectant smile. "So? Do I look cute?"

Edited 2014-09-27 06:19 (UTC)

"You can't play with a girl's emotions like that~!" she whines and feigns a tear, bringing a hand to her face like a poor, little, innocent maiden. But her corny act crumbles at Nozomi's little show.

A strained smile plasters itself across her face. Complimenting others really wasn't Nico's strong suit.

"Sure but nowhere near as cute as me."

"I got complimented!" Nozomi lets out a delighted squeal, planting both hands on her cheeks in pointed ignorance of every word following the first. She then drops them to hook one arm through Nico's and sets about practically dragging her off. Their usual cafe is, thankfully, less than ten minutes away. "Come on, let's go!"

Nico rolls her eyes but before she can even utter a word, the other girl is already dragging her along. For a second, Nico was already second guessing why she came. 'Wait, why am I here--- right, cake. You got this, Nico,' she reassured herself. But upon glancing back to Nozomi, she already felt her energy being drained. Cake sure seem pretty good about now.

"You're really eager today, aren't you?" she commented.

"Is that a bad thing?" Nozomi chipperly deflects, before her smile slants into a smirk. "Besides, I'm sure Nicocchi has some energy to spare, too, having invested none of it in her summer homework."

Immediately darts her head away from Nozomi. "H a h a," she lets out the most forced laugh anyone can bear witness to. "Oh stop it, Nozomi-chan~ You're such a joker!" Nico gives Nozomi's shoulder a light, playful slap before quickly turning both her attention and the topic towards the cafe.

"Oh boy, cake!" she beams, forcing out the cute from her pores.

Nozomi rolls her eyes through a grin, not bothering to mention that she isn't faring much better on that front herself. Cake is indeed the better thing to focus on, here.

They head inside and take a seat -- thankfully, it's not too crowded this evening. The waitress approaches before long and hands them a pair of menus, and Nozomi leafs through hers more out of habit than anything, not even reading the words. She knows this place well enough by now that she doesn't need to.

"So what'll it be today, Nicocchi?"

Having been here a handful of times, Nico practically strides in like she owns the place, seating herself comfortably. She flips through the menu out of habit as well, more so just looking at the pictures to see which looks most appetizing at the moment.

But something just didn't feel quite right. She looks up to Nozomi, quirking a brow. Sure, Nico enjoyed being selfish whenever she can but seeming needy around Nozomi didn't sit quite well with her. In fact, being babied by Nozomi just didn't sit well with her at all.

Letting out a little huff, she sets the menu aside, "Whatever Nozomi feels like eating is fine."

"Since you came here for this, is there really any reason to be holding back?" Nozomi laughs. Well, that side of Nico is cute, too. It just makes her want to spoil her more.

"Well, strawberry shortcake is fine, isn't it?" They've been here enough times that there's no real need for her to ask.

Nico furrows her brows, "This wasn't the only thing I came for--!" She pauses, her lips thinning into a faint frown. Crap. Nozomi's probably going to get the wrong idea now.

"Anyway, no one's holding back," she says, clearing her throat while avoiding eye contact with the other girl. But the moment Nozomi mentions strawberry shortcake, her front dissipates for a second, glancing to the other before turning away again. There was a small glint of contentment in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," she replies nonchalantly. "I'm cool with that."

Nozomi's smile is remarkably devoid of any teasing -- she just looks sincerely happy to hear the words.

"As for me, I guess it just wouldn't be right to come here without ordering a parfait," she ponders aloud, and then signals the waitress over to give her their order. She asks for a milkshake, too, while she's at it.

"So," she turns back to Nico once the waitress has taken her leave, "is your family doing well, Nicocchi?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only