2024-06-27: Pillow Talk

• Log: 2024-06-27- Pillow Talk
• Cast: Akane Shinjo, Rikka Takarada
• Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Takarada-Shinjo Apartment
• OOC - IC Date: 0099-06-27
• Summary: After the events of the week, Rikka and Akane take some time to decompress. The two of them talk each other up and encourage each other. The two of them discuss a big commitment -- and Akane surprises Rikka with a gift from her Metals and Jewelry class.

---

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Some days... you just need a minute.

It's 8:30 or so, and high summer's all-day heat is giving way to a remarkably cool evening. The sun hangs low, casting everything in a reddish-gold.

Akane Shinjo lies in bed, curled in just a bit. Her left hand gently wraps around Rikka's right, and for a few seconds, she just lies there, eyes closed. It's nowhere near bedtime for Akane, but...

... she's really hungry for a moment to decompress.

"You did amazing this week," Akane says, voice soft. "I only kind of half remember any of it... but everyone told me how well you handled it, and it all sure sounded like you." She takes a deep breath, and lets out a contented sigh. "Even the Britannians sounded like they thought you were great."

She lets her head loll to the side a bit, looking into Rikka's eyes... letting herself get lost in them. Her lips curl up slightly -- then a little more. There's that spacy little look in her eye that she gets whenever she's watching Rikka do something -- though this time she's not even watching it in the moment...

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The last few days have been stressful. It's nice to finally have some time to... cool down, after everything. It's nowhere near bedtime for Rikka, either... but that doesn't mean they can't just take some time for each other.

Rikka's right hand holds Akane's left, while her left arm has found its way around her, her hand running idly through her hair as they simply lie there together.

It's nice - she could lay there in silence like this all night, if that's what they both wanted. Akane breaks the silence, though, telling her she did amazing.

"I'm glad I left such a good impression. In the moment... I was pretty scared. I was just doing what I thought would get everyone out of there safely." Not just herself and those close to her, but the Britannian dispatch, and the people in the surrounding areas, too. She gives Akane's hand a little squeeze. "...You did great, too. I could tell you were fighting in there the whole time. The way it moved... I knew it was you. No machine could copy that."

She meets Akane's eyes, as she stares into hers... and she smiles fondly, as she catches that spacy look.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The moment doesn't last forever, mind... but Akane does let herself stay there for a bit, just appreciating the woman in front of her.

Eventually, she nuzzles in a little closer, taking a breath in through her nose. "I was pretty scared too," she admits.

She lets her mind wander for a few seconds, then says, "Oh, right. I've got something for you," stretching out a little bit. All her limbs straighten out for a moment and shake for a moment, in that way cats do when they wake up, as she disentangles herself from Rikka a little. "Do you mind if I go get it? I'll be back in a minute."

Assuming Rikka agrees, Akane needs a moment to stand up, head out to the sitting room, and poke around under the couch...

... which means Balam jumps up and steals her spot instead. It's full of warms, so naturally he wants in on that action. He meows a pleasant hello to Rikka.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

There's a small smile as Akane admits that she was scared, too. Of course she would be. It must have felt uncomfortably familiar. She hugs her closer for a moment as Akane nuzzles in, until a few seconds pass.

Akane has something for her... Rikka shifts a little to help make it easier for her to disentangle.

"Sure, I don't mind." Rikka replies. She's a little curious, now... And as Akane departs - a friend takes her place! Rikka chuckles.

"Hey, Balam." Rikka greets back, reaching over to give him a scratch behind the ears. "Thanks for keeping me company."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Balam is delighted to receive some attention. He flops over onto his side immediately upon the scratching, then sort of wheels his legs around a few times, gradually pushing himself up into -- and half-under -- Akane's pillow. Once they both get settled in, he seems utterly content.

When Akane returns, she gives a mock-incredulous look for a few seconds. "Unbelievable. The bed's still warm and he already moves in," she says, holding a flat, hinged box about the width of a soup bowl in one hand. She reaches down, gently patting him on the head and whispering, "Criminal," before using her free hand to gently pick Balam up. As she crawls back into bed, she lets him go; he decides to get right back in there once Akane's situated, nestling up against Rikka's stomach.

She presents the box to Rikka, saying, "This is the first thing I've made in Metals and Jewelry that I'm really proud of. Go ahead -- open it."

Inside is a necklace whose central charm consists of two lightly-tilted-and-twisted, skeletal-looking square pyramids joined to each other at the base; inside of them is a (hopefully for their house budget) lab-grown sapphire.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka watches fondly as Balam flops, scooting underneath the pillow. He looks so comfortable... And soon enough Akane returns, and her comment gets another chuckle from Rikka.

Her eyes are drawn briefly to the box, then to Balam as he is moved and nestles up next to her. With a smile, she runs a hand down his back before turning her attention back to Akane as she presents her a box.

Rikka shifts, just a little, to open the box more easily as Akane tells her to open it. And inside...

Rikka gasps, awed, as she looks at the charm.

"Akane, this is amazing. It's beautiful... I love it, thank you." Rikka breathes out. "I can tell you put a lot of effort into this. You've gotten really good at it."

With that, she sits up just a bit more. Naturally, she wants to try it on right away. She slides the necklace over her head before carefully running her hands through her hair with both hands to get it out from underneath, then offers Akane a smile.

"What do you think? How do I look?" She asks.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Seeing Rikka's reaction is everything for Akane. She smiles warmly, watching Rikka look at it -- and remark on it, of course. ... That's a big 'up' for her, and definitely a great note to reach the tail end of the week on.

As Rikka slides it on, Akane watches her fuss with her hair for a few moments, now also comfortably seated on the bed. She looks at her for a few moments, and eventually answers, "The blue stone makes your eyes pop a lot..." She reaches forward, gently nudging a stray hair out of Rikka's face. "This is definitely the kinda thing you'd want to coordinate an outfit around, but it looks great on you just like this, too."

Scooting in a bit -- close enough that she, too, is up against Balam -- Akane returns to where she started: dreamily looking at Rikka. "I was originally gonna wait until next weekend, but I kinda thought we could use an 'up'."

... that, and maybe she wants to get Rikka to assume this was the secret Akane was keeping that Leina mentioned...

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane gives her answer, nudging a stray hair out of her face. Rikka looks pleased, at that. It definitely speaks to Akane's skills that she picked just the right type of stone, too.

"I'm glad." Rikka says, and then nods. "Yeah. I want to show it off... I'll have to think about what goes best with it."

Her mind is already racing - though it comes to a bit of a halt when Akane scoots in a bit, her eyes once more on her.

Was that the secret? A gift...? Maybe, but - it's fine. She won't pry - for now, she'll just enjoy the moment.

"I think you had the right idea." Rikka assures. "Right now... this is exactly what we needed."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Now it's her turn to gently wrap an arm around Rikka. "Definitely, yeah..." The idea of Rikka showing off in a piece Akane made for her... that does get Akane a little excited. Her fingers absently move through Rikka's hair, and she glances down to the necklace, then up to Rikka's eyes again. 'Forever' might be a little much...

... but this is a finite moment that she doesn't mind spending a little extra time in.

She was going to mention something, but she can't remember quite what... it clicks after a moment though. "I think I was kinda sleeping on how quiet our new vacuum is... I don't actually mind this as a long-term swap. It's quieter than our hair dryer..." To be on the safe side, she adds, "If that changes, we can bring it up at the end of next month? And -- speaking of next month..."

She takes a breath, then exhales. "Do you mind if we swing by the Wadatsumi after exams? I bet your mom'd be happy to see you... plus there's some low-priority work stuff to check in on, but you probably knew that. We could even stay overnight, if you wanted."

... There's an ulterior motive there, mind, but that is all true.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane wraps an arm around her. Rikka doesn't mind the reversal. She settles in, meeting Akane's eyes. There's quiet for a moment - until, eventually, something occurs to Akane.

"You think so? Yeah, it was a really good find, honestly." Rikka replies consideringly, and then nods. One hand settles as to Balam as she looks thoughtful for a moment, and then nods.

Speaking of next month, though, Rikka listens. Going back to Tsutsujidai...

"Sure. It might be a good idea to check in anyway, even if we just end up deciding, 'yeah, I'm fine with this'." Rikka considers. But as for what she was asking...

"I have been busy, so it's been a little while... It'd be nice to go back, I'm way overdue." Rikka says with a smile. "So, sure, I'd love to. Should we start making plans?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"You're a great shopper," Akane enthuses. "I wouldn't have the patience to do that kinda stuff on my own. I'd just go online and probably pay too much." The advantage of dating a scion of a junk shop, one supposes...

As Akane continues to get settled in, she shifts her knee just slightly, which seems to perturb Balam a bit; he gets up and walks onto Rikka's pillow instead, batting at a stray lock of hair. "... Aaah, we're in sync," Akane teases, as she moves her hand up to give Balam a pat before returning it to Rikka's side.

"Yeah, I figured that? Like, once a month we can get a nice meal and talk about the house," Akane agrees. As to the other thing, though... "Yeah, definitely. I think we should knock it out first, as far as our summer plans go... Sheryl said that she's planning to swing her tour around to the OCU after it opens in Nigeria, but that'll be later. That starts right after finals and I might just be dead that day."

Akane's doing a good job of hiding it, but she can't hide every emotion from Rikka -- there's an unusually high undercurrent of excitement about something in this plan, at least. That thought -- whatever it might be -- leads her to something else, though.

"... Oh, and I was thinking... if stuff keeps happening," Akane adds, "we're going to have a bunch of hostile fire pay and Nouvelle's property values are gonna drop."

This she approaches with a little more seriousness:

"... We could buy a house. Then no one can tell us how many cats we can or can't feed -- isn't that right, Balam." Akane squishes him on the head.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"I've had a lot of practice. It's definitely something that takes patience, though." Rikka replies. She sounds pretty proud of herself about it. It has saved them a lot of trouble in the past, though.

Akane shifts... and Balam moves over to her pillow, batting at her hair. Rikka chuckles.

"You are. And you're both incredibly cute." Rikka praises with a smirk. She nods, though as Akane agrees with her suggestion. "Yeah, sounds good."

As for the rest of their summer plans...

"Yeah, that makes sense..." She considers, and listens curiously as Akane continues. "Oh, is she? Hm, yeah... That's definitely something we'll have to figure out as it gets closer..."

Rikka can feel it, that undercurrent of excitement... Akane's doing a good job of hiding it, and Rikka tries not to lean too much on her senses alone... but Rikka can definitely feel it.

Akane continues, though, and Rikka listens. If stuff keeps happening... It'd be nice if it didn't, but -

Her train of thought comes to a halt as Akane raises an idea - and Rikka can tell its a serious one. Buying a house... that's a big step. That's not just renting a place together, that's a commitment.

Rikka gives it some thought - laughing a little as Akane squishes that cat, before returning to a thoughtful expression.

"...Yeah. We could. It would be nice not to hide him anymore. I don't mind doing it, but it's a bit of a pain." Rikka replies. "And there are things we've been wanting to do or have that we can't here."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane's never had great patience and hasn't ever had to sort out furnishings before this, so this seems pretty reasonable to her -- it's a skill she wouldn't ever have the chance to develop.

... She's not thinking about that, though, because instead she's turning a little pink. "... well, I'm glad you think so," she says, before planting her face somewhat unceremoniously in Rikka's shoulder.

She lets Rikka chew on the pitch for a little while, not wanting to rush her through it. It is a big step -- it's probably the most serious thing she's put forth in the time they've been together. ... At least, the most serious thing she's put forth on purpose; ritual cup exchange would've been more so, but she was actually talking about something else there.

When Rikka affirms that they could, Akane nods. "We'll have to look into it a lot closer," she says (... mostly into Rikka's armpit) with a nod. Pulling away, she elaborates, "Maybe we should ask people at work about it... I know Keita bought a house a few years ago, and I bet Guy and Mikoto either have one or they're looking. Mamoru and Hana, too..."

... it feels so weird, still. To be growing up. Akane's expression turns faraway, for a bit.

"... That might be a pretty long project... but I'm kinda excited, too." Focusing on the present moment again, she smiles.

"Hmmm... do you wanna get up, or should we stay in here a little longer?" Akane asks -- and then that smile turns a bit more coy, more playful. "... Or maybe we could stay here a lot longer~... though we'd have to distract Balam with the wet food first."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Akane turns pink, and Rikka looks pleased. Mission accomplished. She's quiet for a moment longer, her head shifting to rest against Akane's as she does.

"Yeah. There's... a lot we'll want to watch out for." She agrees with a nod. Akane makes some suggestions and Rikka thinks it over. "That's a good idea. They might be able to give us some pointers. ...And even if they can't, they might be able to lend a hand in other ways."

A long project... Rikka smiles.

"Yeah. I'm excited, too." She agrees. It'll be nice to have a place of their own... and, something to look forward to, to work toward.

And then, Rikka asks a question. And seeing that coy smile... Rikka smirks.

"I wouldn't mind that. But... you're right. First things first." She says. And so, with some reluctance, it's Rikka's turn to untangle herself from Akane this time, sliding up to a sitting position and patting the side of the bed.

"Alright, Balam. Ready for wet food?" Rikka asks.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Nodding, Akane agrees, "I'll do some research, too. Everyone else in Intelligence is telling me to take it easy until the term's over, so I have a little spare time." It's a fun adventure -- and she can think of a few ways it'll be more fun, too.

It definitely steadies her nerves about other questions she might ask over the next year -- a house is a big commitment.

As Rikka agrees and starts to get up, Akane does the same; she's not heading out with Rikka, though. She has a few things to find in their room before anything else.

Balam, meanwhile, hears the words 'wet food' and is up in an instant. With an enthusiastic chirp, he follows Rikka -- and then after a second, takes the lead, making a (slightly poorly-spaced, bonking just a bit into an empty appliance box) leap off the bed and then making for the kitchen at a very enthused clip.

Akane does take the moment to watch both of them leave. Her expression stays that coy smile, of course.