Chapter Text
I arrive at the diner and glance around. It's bright, not like my room. It takes me a moment to see Bottle waving at me. "Over here!" She says, and I head to the booth.
"Sorry I'm late," I apologize, and now I can see Liy sitting next to her too. I slide into the seat on the opposite side, facing Bottle.
"You're fine," Liy shrugs. "Thread still isn't here yet."
"She told me she was caught in some traffic, but she should be here soon," Bottle supplies.
I nod.
"I know we met yesterday, but this is still our first time meeting in the… like… real world, ya know? Feels kinda weird," Liy remarks.
"Yeeeeah," Bottle agrees. "I'm not sure meeting in that SEKAI counts. It's like I can finally make sure you two actually exist. So strange…"
Liy crosses her arms. "Don't you look at all the stuff I post?"
"Well, yeah," she replies. "But you just seem different now that I'm actually seeing you in real life."
"Different? How?" She questions.
"Well…" Bottle pauses, before she smirks mischievously. "I know now you're always using filters when you post."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" She begins, and I'm worried I'll have to intervene—
"Sorry I'm late," says a high-pitched voice, and I glance up at her.
"Oh," I say. I didn't even notice she was approaching.
"Thread!" Liy greeted.
"You're fine," Bottle reassured her. "We haven't been here long. We haven't even ordered yet! Tee hee~"
"That's good," she replies, turning to me. "Can I sit here?" She points to the empty spot next to me.
"Sure," I reply. I don't see why not.
"Introductions time," Bottle giggles. "Okay! I'm Amia, AKA Bottle. Lianan, it's your turn~"
"Um…" she hesitates. "Fine. I'm Liy… I don't really want to introduce myself again."
"Oh, yeah, it does feel a little weird now that I think about it," Bottle briefly ponders, before brushing it off. "Ah, well. We continue! Who's next?"
"Uh," I volunteer. "I'm Pen. And you, Thread?"
We never did end up learning her real name…
Though I remember something Two said to me…
"I'm Needle," she simply states.
Needle…
It's pretty obvious, of course, but I still think it sounds nice.
"Then…" I look up to the little bit of rope weaved into the hole at the top of her head, tied around the side. "Did you pick Thread because of your purpose? That would make sense."
She doesn't answer, just blinks at me.
"I'm glad to finally meet you, Needle," I continue, and at that, she nods.
"Same," she tells me, her eyes flitting around the table. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," she says quietly.
"Do you actually feel bad for that?" Liy contributes, sounding unimpressed.
Needle shrugs. "I'm not sure. I don't really know myself."
"You're the one who caused all of this," she points out. "You should at least feel sorry."
"I think I do."
"You're not really gonna be like this all the time now, are you?"
Here we go again…
"Oh, I know!" Bottle interrupts, not sounding fazed in the slightest. "Let's order! I'm hungry. What are you ordering, Liy?"
As the others think, I begin scanning the menu. The options all seem alright enough, until I see one that catches my eye. A waiter strolls over holding a notepad and pen.
"I'm just gonna get a cheesecake and some iced tea. I had a late lunch," Liy says.
Needle chimes in, "I'm fine with whatever."
"Hey!" Bottle objects. "You gotta decide for yourself, Needle."
Instead of answering, she looks at me. "What are you getting, P?"
"I think I'll get the wonton noodles," I inform, putting the menu down and acknowledging the waiter with a dip of my head. "With oolong tea."
"Then I'll have that," Needle says.
"Yay!" Bottle practically squeals as the waiter walks away. "Let's order and then we can make a toast~!"
"A toast? To what?" Liy asks, crossing her arms.
"To the first official offline Bagged at 25:00 meeting, of course! Why do you think I asked everyone to come here, anyway?" She grins.
She suddenly pivots towards us and questions, "Um, are you two okay with us being this… loud?"
I laugh.
They think I don't have anything in me, I half-jokingly realize, outwardly commenting, "I don't dislike it."
Needle nods in agreement with me.
"Sorry about the wait," the same server from before me says, approaching from behind. I haven't even realized it has been a wait. "Here's your order." They balance a tray in one hand and a box of drinks, a cheesecake, ice cream, and two servings of wonton noodles in the other as they hand it to each of us.
"Thank you!" Bottle calls after them, turning to the drinks container. She squints at it, as if inspecting it.
"Okay, let's see… iced tea for Liy… two oolong teas for Pen and Needle… and water for me." As she lists the beverages off, she passes them to their respective owners. "Good, we all have our drinks. Then…"
She raises her cup first, and we all follow the initiative. Holding them high in the air, Bottle says:
"Let the first official offline meeting of B25 begin! Cheers!"
"Cheers… you are way too excited," Liy says, though she sounds good-spirited. "Hasn't it already begun anyway?"
I smile at them.
Once I get back home, I head to my room to finish working on the song I was making. It seems mostly complete for a first draft anyway.
Adjusting some of the instrument's settings, I settle into a familiar ritual of talking to myself. "This should be good for today," I say as I listen to it once more.
I should get some sleep…
Preparing to turn off my computer, a pinging noise and popup appear in the bottom of the screen. It's from Discord — a DM from Needle.
Thread: Are you still up?
P: yeah, why?
Thread: I listened to the song you wrote.
So she did listen to it…
P: what did you think?
The conversation ends there, though, because she doesn't respond.
I wonder if she fell asleep.
I sigh, letting the screen fall asleep on its own. I can see my reflection in the nearly-black monitor before me.
My songs still aren't enough to save Needle, I reflect. But someday…
It lights up again.
Thread: Pen..
Thread: Thank you. For finding me.
My eyes soften, and I let out a small laugh.
Needle…
P: thank you, too.