*blows dust off thread* Does anyone even remember this story?
“I don’t understand any of this.” Nono was confused at the familiar voice invading her peaceful slumber and slowly reviewed her memories of how she had ended up wherever she was. “Why do I feel like this, so scared and frantic? I’ve never felt anything more than friendship for you before. Why did it change?” Aibon seemed unaware that her lover had awakened and continued her whispered confession, “I’ve always loved you, Nono, but not like this. Was it because you died? Have I always felt this way and it took losing you to realize that or what?”
“Maybe,” Nono rasped, opening her eyes and staring up into her friend’s soulful face, “It’s not because I died, but because you brought me back.” The injured girl took note of her surroundings from the soft bed that she lied in. The walls were made of a dark wood that matched the sparse furnishings in the room; the ceiling was a thatched straw-like material and the floor appeared to be solidly packed dirt. “Where are we?”
Aibon looked confused, “This is your room.” Nono blinked and suddenly everything was familiar again.
“Oh.”
“Are you okay? You were out for a while; even Erika woke up before you.” Aibon laid her hand on Nono’s forehead in concern.
“What happened?” Nono slowly sat up and scooched backwards until she could rest against the headboard. Aibon quickly summarized what she knew.
“But Erika seems fine now, even though she says she doesn’t know where the fire guy went to.” The younger girl climbed into bed with her friend and curled up next to her. Nono absently put an arm around Aibon and pulled her closer, not even noticing the blush that suddenly appeared on her cheeks.
“Maybe he’s inside of her, like the other one is in me?” Nono poked at the angry presence in her head, testing the strength of its mental cage. “He is easy to forget once you’re used to him.”
“Him? You’ve given it a gender?” Aibon pulled away from the embrace to give her friend a strange look.
“Well, I kept thinking ‘it’ but he didn’t seem to like that.” Nono shrugged, starting to ease out of bed. She felt a little woozy, so she decided to take her time, slowly swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sliding down until they touched the floor. By the time she stood up, Aibon was already at her side, gently gripping her upper arm, just in case. In thanks, she leaned over and gave her friend a long, thorough kiss.
‘If you reward me like that every time,’ Nono heard Aibon think, ‘I’ll carry you to work.’
“Carry me, huh? Oh, thinking of work.” Nono spoke again, smiling at the shocked look on Aibon’s face, “We should probably hurry so Yaguttsan doesn’t yell at me.”
Aibon watched her walk over to the closet and start to rummage around for clothes, “Wait, did you just read my mind?” The more she though about it, the less of a shock it was.
“Yup. Do these pants make my butt look big?” Aibon watched her friend emerge from the closet, buttoning up a very tight pair of jeans.
“A little, but I like it.” It wasn’t like she could lie to Nono anymore anyway and she usually didn’t when it came to things like this.
Nono made a sound of affirmation before she stripped off the pants and tossed them on the bed in the center of the room along with a tight, orange t-shirt. Then she pulled on some comfortable, pink sweats and pulled out a small, blue gym bag, “Is this your’s?” Nono asked inanely.
“Uh, I don’t think so. One of us probably stole it from someone.” Aibon tossed Nono’s change of clothes into the bag and they were off, heading out the front door putting on oversized coats and glasses and without grabbing anything to eat, “I’ll pay for muffins when we get there.” The younger of the two mentioned as they scampered down the stairs of the apartment building.
“Okay.” Nono was never one to turn down a free meal, “But I owe you lunch.” Their hands met in the chilly morning air and warmth ran between them. They stood a little closer together.
For a while, they passed the trip in a comfortable silence, not even really thinking of anything. Then Aibon decided to test out a theory. ‘So, can you really read my thoughts?’ she snuck a glance at her companions, watching her smile.
“Yes, I really can.” Nono continued to face forward as she spoke, trying not to giggle.
‘Well, what about him?’ Aibon looked at the guy that was walking in front of them.
“I don’t think it works like that.” Finally turning to Aibon, Nono shrugged, “So far, I’ve only been hearing the other girl’s thoughts. It’ll probably stay that way, but I think Eri may have real telepathy.”
“’Real telepathy?’ There’s fake telepathy?” Giving her friend a strange look and watching her shrug again, Aibon let out a soft sigh, “So what makes you think Eri’s got it?”
“Well, mostly because I can hear her thoughts better than anyone else’s and she tends to freak out a lot. I really hope she can learn control before it drives her crazy.” Catching the next question before Aibon said anything, Nono replied , “I can probably only hear ya’ll’s thoughts because of the whole powers thing. I mean, it’s kinda my fault that this all started, so it makes sense.”
It did make sense and the two found themselves in a rare state of thoughtfulness. The rest of the short walk was spent without conversation, though they continued to hold hands right up until they crossed the threshold into the studio.
“So, where are we supposed to meet Yaguttsan today?” Aibon finally piped up as the two headed towards the cafeteria.
“Hell if I know, let’s just wait for her to find us. Until then, though, where’s that muffin you promised me?” Aibon laughed as Nono sat down at a table, going over to the food display and picking out a chocolate chip muffin, Nono’s favorite, and then a blueberry one for herself. As she paid for them, she turned to look at her friend and noticed a familiar, short figure standing over Nono.
“Oh, well, looks like I’ll be taking these to go.” She told the lady at the counter, watching her tuck the muffins into a box. Across the room, Yaguchi grabbed Nono by the ear and dragged her out of her seat, sending Aibon scrambling to catch up with them.
---Hello? *echoes*