Chapter Text
Emu quickly found herself lost in all of the boxes. It wasn’t just boxes--Rui’s garage was filled to the brim with all sorts of fun parts and set items that he had gathered from around town. His latest hobby was picking up extra standees and posters from the local movie theater, which were strewn above the crates of wires and monitors and things from the party store.
“Emu,” Rui said, calling her over from trying to peer over the mountain. He was standing at the edge of the garage, at a much better height advantage to see anything. She skipped over to stand next to him. “Can you see the animatronic head at the very back? I think you could reach it if you crawl under the green couch, there should be an opening. I’m too big.”
“I can’t see!” Emu tried to stand on her tiptoes. It was a hot summer day and the sun was beating down on the back of her neck. “Is it in the back?”
“Can I pick you up?” Rui asked, he took a knee on the ground. “Get on my shoulders.”
Emu giggled, carefully balancing herself on her boyfriend’s shoulders. He rose with ease as Emu grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, laughing to herself as she was hoisted into the air to get a better look. The garage looked even messier from above, but she could pick out the head of a mouse animatronic in the very back, resting on a cupboard of sorts. She wasn’t sure how Rui even got it there in the first place, or where it was from.
“Do you see it?” Rui asked. He had his arms looped around her legs, careful that she wouldn’t fall.
Emu nodded, but sighed, wrapping her arms around the top of Rui’s head and hugging him. They and the rest of the troupe had been dating for a couple of weeks now, but if Emu had to be honest, not a lot seemed to have changed. They still had their shows and had practice day in and day out with each other. She supposed there was supposed to be some kind of difference, but they were a unique case to begin with. There was no rush for them to be something they weren’t.
Rui swayed in place. “You got it, Emu?”
“Okie dokie!” Emu hopped down when Rui crouched over. She liked the way he said her name, “Emu-kun” always making her smile. She carefully crawled over the large couch that Rui claimed to take from Nene’s family home when they were redecorating.
Once Emu had gotten underneath all of the bigger pieces of furniture, weaving around was like a funhouse maze. She kept on finding more and more wild things, tucking a small plushie that reminded her of the ones in the Sekai into her pocket before continuing her adventure.
Eventually she surfaced by the white cupboard, lifting the decapitated head into the air like a hunting prize. It felt a little cruel, but she knew Rui would make good use of the friend and find him a perfect home.
“Be careful,” Rui called out. She couldn’t see him through the wall of parts that were separating them, but he could apparently see her. “There’s a wire around your foot.”
“Oh,” Emu said. “Shakey, shake.”
She carefully freed her foot, rolling the head back through the tunnel she had weasled her way into. She didn’t like the way that the creature was staring at her, but a couple of apologies and the light of day would be sure to fix everything.
“Amazing, Emu!” Rui cheered when she finally resurfaced. He looked at the animatronic, considering it at several angles before putting it down on the driveway. Emu brushed the dust and dirt off of herself, smearing some kind of grease against her leg. She would need to get washed up before going home, in fear of her brothers not letting her sit at the table.
“Anything else?” Emu asked. She would need to head home soon, the sun’s height in the sky betraying the actual time of evening. Even so, she was glad to help Rui. He was so amazing at putting together their shows, helping him play Jenga in his garage was the least she could do to help!
“That will be it, thank you.” Rui wiped his hands on one another, scratching the back of his head. “I’ll get you a reward for helping me, anything that you want?”
“Hmmmmm…” Emu looked around, unsure if he meant from his garage .
“It could be anything. A snack, a toy, a--”
“How about a kiss?” Emu asked, her eyes lighting up when she realized the possibility. That was something that couples did, wasn’t it? Tsukasa had been skipping a lot of steps.
Rui laughed, opening up his arms. “Of course, Emu.”
“Wait, wait,” Emu said. She looked along the edge of the garage, grabbing an empty crate that had spilled out onto the pavement. She picked it up, plopping it in front of Rui. Hopping up onto the box, she was much closer to eye level, but still considerably shorter. Her laughter helped her to avoid the flutters in her stomach. “Now I can reach!”
Rui also laughed--well, it was more of a snicker--and he put a hand on her waist. “I could have just leaned over.”
“This is better!” Emu insisted, she put her arms around his neck, kissing the tip of his nose. He blinked, his golden eyes settling on hers
Emu kissed him quickly, her lips barely touching his before beaming at him. She felt jittery, like she had eaten all the candy in the park.
“Thank you, my favorite helper,” Rui said. He kissed her cheek, then her temple. “Aren’t you the sweetest?”
“Maybe!” Emu cheered, just happy to have earned her first kiss fair and square.