They’re hanging out in Cecilia’s room, the soft glow of the computer screen casting shadows on the background. Gigi sits beside her cross-legged on a chair, leaning in just enough that their shoulders almost touch. Both are transfixed by the computer, deeply absorbed in the intricacies of a room layout in Rune Factory 4.
They’re debating the feng shui of it—a trivial conversation, yet it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Small, silly moments like this always do.
“Well, like, if you’re lying in bed, you’re looking this way,” Cecilia says, moving the mouse aggressively up and down. Her gestures are exaggerated, almost cartoonish, as if the intensity alone will make her argument more convincing. Somehow, it works. Gigi nods in understanding.
“So what matters most is here,” Cecilia continues, halting the wild motion of the mouse to highlight a specific spot on the screen.
“What matters most is what’s in front of you. You’re right,” Gigi replies absentmindedly. “That’s a... good thing to bring into 2025.”
Cecilia giggles. “Sometimes I want to say things, but I don’t because it’s embarrassing.” Her eyes stay on the computer.
“But—but, I was gonna. But I was gonna. Okay. No, never mind.” Cecilia immediately wants to take it back.
“What were you gonna say? Now you have to say it,” Gigi urges.
“I was going to say. Look, I’m in front of you, tehe,” Cecilia blurts out. Gigi gawks at her, eyes wide, mouth agape.
“Quick, say something funny,” Cecilia urges.
Gigi continues to stare in silence.
“Gigi. Gigi. Oh my god! Why won’t you say something?!”
A long pause.
“I hate myself,” Cecilia mutters.
Gigi gasps, scandalised. “And I hate you—”
“Say something, I’m giving up on youuuuuuuuuuu,” Gigi sings badly with mock solemnity.
Cecilia groans, dramatically sprawling on the floor. Embarrassed, she covers her face with her hands—even though she couldn’t blush. Above her, Gigi looms, still singing, no doubt with a smirk tugging at her lips at Cecilia’s exaggerated defeat.
Gigi kneels down, laughing stupidly, leaning closer. “Nooo. Don’t die! Oh my god, I found what was right in front of me all along,” she declares dramatically, scooping Cecilia up in a mock rescue attempt. Cecilia flails in protest, but it’s no use—Gigi has her securely in her arms, and she’s not letting go.
“Shut up, it’s too late!” Cecilia protests, her voice cracking as she half-laughs, half-shouts. She presses a hand against Gigi’s chin in a desperate attempt to push her away, but Gigi doesn’t budge. Instead, she bursts into another round of breathless giggles, holding Cecilia even tighter, like she’s clutching a damsel in distress from a soap opera.
“Shut up—” Cecilia tries again, but she’s immediately cut off.
“Come on! Oh my god, look—look what I’ve found—right in front of me!” Gigi proclaims, her voice loud and full of mock amazement. She hoists Cecilia up slightly, tilting her head back dramatically like she’s making an announcement to the heavens.
“Shut—” Cecilia squeaks, her face buried in her hands now as her body shakes with helpless laughter.
“It’s Ceci!” Gigi shouts triumphantly, grinning so wide it looks like her face might split in two. She pretends to wobble under Cecilia’s weight, her knees dipping theatrically. “Ehh, so heavy, ehhh!” she groans, her fake struggle punctuated by more of her uncontrollable giggles.
Cecilia lets out a loud, exaggerated sob, her hands flying to her face in complete surrender. “I can’t with you!” she wails, her body shaking with laughter, completely defeated.
“That was a good one… it really touched me,” Gigi says plainly, as if she’s just had an epiphany. Cecilia lets out a quiet chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
“And you know what?” Gigi continues, suddenly serious. “I think…” she trails off, but a laugh escapes her unintentionally. “What I really—what we really found here…”
Cecilia looks up, her laughter still bubbling through. “What?” she asks between giggles, bracing herself for whatever comes next.
Gigi leans in close, her face full of mock solemnity. “I found love in a hopeless place,” she says dramatically, then breaks into a terrible, off-key rendition. “I found—we found love in a hopelesssss placeeeeeeeee.”
Cecilia bursts into another round of laughter, her stomach aching now. “Oh my god, I hate you,” she gasps between breaths, but the smile tugging at her lips says otherwise.
Gigi keeps singing, blissfully off-key, her voice echoing around the room. The two of them collapse into a heap on the floor, too tangled up in laughter to care. Their ridiculous little moment—silly, over the top, and pure—fills the room with warmth, as though the chaos of the world outside just doesn’t matter right now.
Gigi lifts herself up slightly. “What are you doing so close to the ground?” the gremlin keeps teasing. “Oh. That’s where I belong today.” Cecilia replies too quickly. Hoping that the answer won’t make her more flustered than she was right now.
Gigi raises an eyebrow, her grin only widening at Cecilia's quick response. “Oh, is that so?” she teases, her voice light and playful, but there's a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. She leans down just enough to hover over Cecilia, who’s still sprawled out on the floor, and the air between them feels almost too charged with energy.
Cecilia tries to roll her eyes, but the smile tugging at the corners of her lips betrays her. “Don’t look at me like that,” she mutters, half-laughing, half-trying to hide her flustered state. She’s not used to being the one caught off guard, especially not by Gigi, who has a talent for turning the simplest moments into a whirlwind of warmth and awkward affection.
Gigi doesn’t back off, of course. She’s always this persistent. “Like what?” she asks innocently, but her tone is far from it. Her fingers tap lightly on the floor near Cecilia’s gloved hand, the subtle gesture just enough to send a shiver of something unspoken through the room.
“Oh my god, you’re impossible,” Cecilia groans, pulling her knees up in a desperate attempt to regain some composure, but she can’t help the way her machinery quickens, or the way her stomach flips when Gigi just sits there, staring at her with that perfect blend of teasing and tenderness.
Gigi’s laughter bubbles up again, soft and bright, like the sound of sunlight catching on glass. “I think I like it down here,” she suddenly declares casually, stretching out beside Cecilia with her hands behind her head, settling into the floor as though it’s the most comfortable place in the world. “It’s peaceful. Quiet. You’re a nice person to be close to.”
Cecilia freezes for a moment, her breath catching. She can feel her face heating up, though no blush would adorn it, and the only thing she can think to do is laugh it off, even as her circuits hum with a chaotic rhythm, as though they're struggling to stay in sync within her chest. “You really know how to make a girl flustered, don’t you?” she says, her voice a little breathless despite herself.
Gigi turns her head slightly, locking eyes with her. There’s a softness there now, a quiet affection that makes the teasing tone fade away for a second. “Maybe I do,” she says with a knowing grin, before turning her attention back to the ceiling. “But hey, it’s nice down here with you.”
The world outside seems so far away, as if it’s suspended in another universe. In this little bubble of laughter and silly teasing, there’s nothing but them—their smiles, their unspoken connection, the way their bodies feel just a little extra warm when they’re this close. Time doesn’t matter here. It’s just them, tangled in moments that feel like they might last forever.
Cecilia lets out a soft, relieved breath, finally relaxing into the moment. “You know,” she murmurs, “I think I might like it too.” She turns her head to glance at Gigi, their gazes meeting once more, and this time, there’s no more teasing. Just a quiet understanding, a gentle warmth that speaks volumes without needing words.