“Uh…why are you hugging me?”
Stelle wasn’t necessarily opposed to it, but it was a rather sudden action from someone she had just met.
“Hehe, welllll….” Oh, there was definitely a blush on her face, “You looked like you needed one!”
March 7th’s fluffy pink hair swayed playfully as she spun around to gaze at the vast expanse beyond the space station’s walls, shooting Stelle side-eyes and subtle glances occasionally.
Even though it was painfully obvious that March kept looking at her, Stelle didn’t want to admit that she found it breathtakingly adorable regardless. She just met the woman for crying out loud!
Oh, but the hugs could definitely keep coming. Yes, they definitely could.
“Are you worried about me?” Okay, Stelle didn’t mean for it to come off as standoffish as it sounded.
March laughed cheerfully despite that, “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re going to be our new crewmate after all! And, um…” She trailed off, looking flustered.
“What is it?”
“D-don’t worry about your Stellaron or anything like that!” So that’s what this was about, “I don’t know what Herta or Asta told you, but you’re definitely going to be fine with us!”
This time, it was Stelle’s turn to laugh, “Okay, then I won’t.”
Uh oh, now March was pouting, “Hey, this isn’t a joke you know! I was worried because you looked a little out of it,” Stelle was starting to get the idea that March was far more precious than she had initially believed.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun with it.
“But now you look worried,” Stelle commented, a touch of smugness hidden underneath her words, “do you want a hug?”
“Sure, I don’t mind— hey, wait!” Stelle couldn’t help but start giggling, “You’re the one who needed the hug, not me! But now you’re saying I looked worried…so if I’m worried because you’re worried, then…?”
“Then come here,” March let out an adorable ‘eh?’ as Stelle’s arms wrapped around her, returning the warmth March had only given just moments earlier.
“For someone who likes shooting ice everywhere, you sure are warm,” Stelle ‘joked, or rather, flirted. Or tried to flirt.
Thankfully, March totally fell for it, “I-It must be because of the weather or something!” But they were in a space station.
Thankfully, March 7th, as Stelle had realized, was quite the dork (Stelle means this affectionately).
Stelle let go of March and grinned smugly. March, in response, hugged her back, lurching forward and hugging her tightly.
“Take that!” Was this a competition of sorts now?
“What is this, an emergency hug?” Stelle joked, though even her cheeks were beginning to heat up from the contact.
“Why not?” March quipped back, “Well, uh, haha…if you ever need an emergency hug, I’ll be there!”
Stelle hugged her back, the heat in her chest rendering her quieter than before, “S-sure, I’ll be waiting…”
Maybe it was a bit of a bad idea to look through March’s room, but Stelle was curious and was only taking a little peek.
Gazing all over her room counted as a little peak.
Pom-Pom had told her that March liked to run around and never sat still, so Stelle was sure that March wouldn’t run into her here when she was just taking a simple peek at her room. Even so, she would rather not risk the embarrassment that would come from being caught in March’s room, so Stelle had her look around and left, not before tidying up the bed (it was like a tornado flew around the room before she came).
But, it was quite obvious that March really liked the color pink. Oh, and her PC was pretty nice. Stelle briefly wondered about what kind of games March would play, and then briefly wondered if any of them were multiplayer.
Returning to the group and Pom-Pom, Stelle sat down in wait for the next stop for the Astral Express’s journey through the stars. She gazed outwards, in deep contemplation considering all the craziness that had just taken place on Herta’s Space Station. And that was when March decided to conveniently show herself, bubbly springing right into Stelle’s view.
“Are you trying to catch the stars?” March giggled, “I’ve done stuff like that before.”
“But, it wasn’t stars, it was lights.”
“When I first woke up after being rescued from the ice, I could see clusters of stars in front of me. I reached out for them automatically, but they turned out to be the carriage ceiling lights,” March admitted.
Stelle listened patiently, soaking in every detail about the personal information March was telling her. The atmosphere turned a bit gloomy when March began to speak about how she knew nothing of herself, floating in space encased in Six Phased Ice, and what happened when she arrived at the Express.
Stelle felt sorry for prying into a subject that was obviously still sensitive for March to tread on, and that was when an idea came to her.
“Ugh, what am I talking about this for? Way to get everyone down, huh,” the cheerful expression March always donned was still present, but Stelle could see that it was more hollow if anything.
So Stelle opened her arms and hugged March.
Before March could speak, let alone utter a sound, Stelle wrapped her arms around March and held her close.
“You look like you need a hug,” Stelle murmured with a smile.
“Th-that’s supposed to be my line!” March complained weakly, “But, ugh…fine. Then, can we hug for just a bit longer?” She asked, unusually shy. March returned the gesture afterward, and Stelle soon found it hard not to smile with the warm, fuzzy feeling creeping up in her chest.
“We’ll get your memory back, definitely,” Stelle said, showing no signs of breaking away from the hug anytime soon.
“Hehe, oh you…” March whispered bashfully.
Much to Stelle’s disappointment, March eventually broke away, asking Pom-Pom for juice and preparing herself for an odd challenge. Stelle resisted the urge to frown because now the fuzzy feeling in her chest was gone.
As Pom-Pom had eluded to, March was going to try not to fall over while the Express made its jump, but while Stelle had no idea why March would make life harder for herself on the basis of ‘making her life eventful’, she found March’s chanting quite cute.
The countdown began, and Stelle screwed her eyes shut. The train began to pick up in velocity, and in a dazzling flash of light, it jumped through space itself and blazed across the sea of stars. As Welt had said, it was quite the experience. She stood up, disoriented, and tripped on something in the middle of the floor.
In the distance, Pom-Pom groaned, Himeko giggled, and Welt sighed, possibly thinking about what it was like to be young again.
“You should thank me for my amazing arm strength, or else that could’ve been painful…for me!” March huffed, holding Stelle’s shoulders. As expected of an archer, her arms were quite strong, so much so that she had avoided most of the impact by pushing her hands out and letting Stelle fall right into them.
“Thanks, March,” Stelle replied, grabbing March’s shoulders as well, “but are you going to let me go?”
“Hmm, I don’t knowwww~,” March drawled, “I kind of like it when you’re right here…”
Stelle blinked, being bold was supposed to be her thing.
Hmph, fine, two could play that game.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to make myself comfortable,” Stelle sighed, she slid her arms under March’s back, pulling the two closer together, “Yup, you’re as warm as ever.”
March averted her eyes, her face hot, “Hey Stelle, do you think everyone can see us right now?”
“Of course.”
“You weren’t supposed to just admit it?!’ March complained, “You’re lucky that I promised to give you emergency hugs…”
“And emergency catches?” Stelle asked smugly.
“That too,” March replied, pouting.
“It’s okay March, if you ever need someone to catch you. I’ll be there too,” Stelle smiled, lifting the two of them back onto their feet, “emergency hugs, emergency catches…what’s next?”
Emergency kisses? Stelle thought to herself. March’s lips did look really soft…she briefly wondered what kind of lipstick March used. Wait, it was way too early to be thinking about those kinds of things!
But what about…handholding-
Bad Stelle, very bad.
And yet, luckily for her, March was thinking the same things.
“Stelle!” March suddenly proclaimed, violently shaking the taller girl out of her (very down bad) thoughts, “If you’re ever cold or anything, j-just hold my hand! Okay cool! Bye!” And just like that, March ran off. That was a bit of an understatement, she looked like a blend of pink and blue as she dashed past Pom-Pom, and out of the main hall.
Pom-Pom looked at the door, and then back to Stelle, rather displeased, “Pom-Pom believes that…there needs to be a ‘no flirting’ rule on the Express,” Stelle laughed nervously and suddenly found interest in the stars beyond the glass windows of the Express.
“Why does Pom-Pom look so angry?” Dan Heng asked, having just entered the room, “And why did March sprint past me and into her room? What happened while I was away?”
“And also…” Dan Heng coughed, “You look to be quite flustered yourself, Stelle.”
Stelle shrugged, “There was a bunch of emergencies.”
His eyes widened, “Emergencies? Of what kind?”
“Oh, you know,” Stelle murmured, “the kind that needs hugs to fix.”
Dan Heng stared at her for a moment, “So…flirting?”
“You’re too blunt sometimes,” Stelle replied, essentially confirming his suspicions.
Off to the back, Welt sat down in a chair next to Himeko and smiled at the two, “It must be nice, being young and energetic like that again…I almost forgot how complicated kids can make their own lives just based on what they’re feeling.”
Himeko took a sip of her coffee, “Last I checked, you aren’t that old, Mr. Yang.”
“Ah, but these days I use a cane to get around,” Welt replied.
“Wonder what your wife would say about that?”
Welt suddenly shivered, “She would either love it or hate it, but generally, she never does like me acting old…though I am old,” the image of a lobster flashed through his mind.
“Maybe you could give those kids some advice on love,” Himeko suggested with a giggle, “since it seems that you’re in quite the relationship.”
“I don’t think our relationship and how any of it works is applicable to most people…” Welt trailed off, casting his eyes towards the stars.
“You know how relationships work, Mr. Yang?” Stelle asked, gazing at him curiously.
Welt laughed slightly, “Sorry, but as I said, nothing that could help you with your ‘emergencies’, as I hear you two like to refer to it as.”
Well, that was to be expected.
As she walked away with Dan Heng, she heard Welt and Himeko continue to talk to each other. And just before their voices died out completely…
“You know, one day, March will probably say that she’s her ‘emergency girlfriend’,” Himeko chuckled.
An emergency girlfriend…not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.
Maybe March 7th could be Stelle’s emergency girlfriend (so basically, her girlfriend).
But still, Stelle could’ve sworn that she heard something about emergency food on Herta’s Space Station…maybe it was through a game? She’d have to ask around about that later.
But for now, she wanted more hugs from March.