Work Text:
Miorine’s attention was drawn upwards and away from the budget she was reviewing by a familiar flash of red at the edge of her vision.
She lifted her head to look properly, confirming that it was indeed Suletta she’d seen, standing quite a bit further down the path leading to the greenhouse, talking to… Elan?
Even though she’d just hired him, Miorine still couldn’t stand the man, but at least now Suletta would be able to stop worrying about his vanishing act.
Just as she was about to turn and head back into the garden, he stepped closer to Suletta, tilting her chin up with a firm grip so that they were looking into each other’s eyes, their faces mere inches apart—
How dare he?
He had no right to waltz back in like some smug, entitled Prince Charming after standing Suletta up and disappearing for months on end without so much as a word of explanation.
Her hand had curled into a fist before she could tamp down the surge of anger, and she took a deep breath, reminding herself that punching her new test pilot would be very bad for business.
Satisfied that she was calm enough to keep a level head, she started to march over, intending to give him a piece of her mind, only to hesitate after a few steps when she overheard Suletta mumble a nervous question.
“What about Miorine-san?”
“I see.” He paused thoughtfully for a heartbeat. “But that’s all a lie, isn’t it?”
He framed it as a question, but it sounded rhetorical, as if it was a simple statement of fact, and Miorine felt suddenly nauseous as the red-hot rage turned to ice in the pit of her stomach.
“You’re being used a shield so Miorine can avoid getting married,” he went on, in that same smooth tone that somehow grated like sandpaper the more she listened to it. “You two may end up married in name, but her heart won’t be in it.”
She wanted to leave—to be anywhere else—but her legs wouldn’t move, and whatever he said next was drowned out by the ringing in her ears.
Small mercies, she supposed.
Then he started to lean in, and she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping in her rush to finally flee.
Maybe it was cowardly, but she wouldn’t— couldn’t watch him kiss Suletta.
Miorine’s walk to the greenhouse the next morning was slower than usual.
She couldn’t help stopping in the spot where Suletta and Elan had been the previous day, wondering what had happened after she’d made her escape.
Had Suletta kissed him back?
It was all too easy to imagine, and she shook her head to clear the thought before continuing on her way.
Whatever the case, Elan had clearly done a good enough job sweeping Suletta off her feet that she was out on a date with him right now.
Which was for the best.
After all, Suletta wanted a normal high school experience, which included having fun pursuing romance with someone of her own choosing, not fighting duels and promoting a company out of obligation to a fiancée she’d never asked for.
Elan had been so right and so wrong.
Miorine’s heart would be— was already in it. And that was precisely the problem, because someone as bright and pure-hearted as Suletta deserved better than to be trapped and used.
She’d taken Suletta’s offered hand as a convenient way out of her gilded cage, and as if that wasn’t selfish enough, she’d fallen in love with her in the process.
Part of her was even grateful to have been snapped out of her wishful thinking before it had gone too far.
This engagement was a deal between allies for mutual benefit.
It couldn’t be anything more.
Her mind came to a halt along with her body as her foot brushed against something on the floor, and she bent down to pick it up.
Matching keychains?
She was certain they hadn’t been there when she’d shut off the lights yesterday, and no one else should have come in overnight, which meant that the only person they could belong to was—
Suletta.
But why had she left them here?
Thoroughly confused, Miorine slipped them into her pocket and went to pick up a pair of shears.
For the first time she could remember, Suletta found herself wandering aimlessly.
Not that she’d always known where she was going before—more often than not, she didn’t—but she was normally excited to find out.
An hour after getting coffee with Elan, though, all she felt was miserable.
His voice had been too sweet, his smile too wide, his eyes too sharp, and all of it had put her on edge, leaving her regretting her decision to go.
She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but there seemed to be no trace of the person she’d tried to befriend.
So here she was, putting off going back to Earth House because she wasn’t ready to face their enthusiastic interrogation about the date.
With a sigh, she looked around, realising that she’d been following the route towards the greenhouse on instinct.
“Suletta?”
And towards the one person she most and least wanted to see at the moment.
“Miorine-san…”
She trailed off weakly, letting her gaze drop back to her feet, and the silence was painfully awkward.
“Would you like to come in?”
Less than twenty-four hours ago, the invitation would have made Suletta’s stomach do the best kind of flip, but now she just nodded stiffly.
Her mood must have been obvious, because Miorine sounded faintly concerned when she asked, “How did it go with Elan?”
Suletta shivered at the memory of how wrong everything about him had been.
“I’m sorry.” She deflated, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to get along with him like you asked.”
“Really?” Miorine’s brow furrowed, and Suletta worried that she’d disappointed her. “I thought you liked him.”
I like you.
I only agreed to meet up with him because you told me I should.
“He’s not the same,” she said, her voice shaking slightly despite her best efforts. “Something must have changed while he was away.”
“But…” A strange expression crossed Miorine’s face. “I saw—”
When she cut herself off, Suletta cautiously prompted, “S-Saw what?”
“Yesterday,” Miorine said eventually, focussing intently on watering a plant Suletta was certain didn’t need it. “I saw the two of you about to kiss.”
“H-Huh?” Suletta panicked, shaking her head furiously as she stood up straight in an instant. “We d-didn’t— I mean, he t-tried to, but I-I couldn’t—”
Miorine froze, slowly setting down the watering can.
“Oh.”
Then she reached into her pocket.
“Are these yours?”
Suletta blinked, thrown by the abrupt change of subject, and felt her heart leap into her throat when she recognised what was in Miorine’s palm.
“Y-Yes,” she mumbled, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. “Thank you for l-looking after them.”
Once Miorine had handed them over, Suletta immediately hid the keychains behind her back.
“Who’s it for?”
Suletta shrank in on herself, mortified that she’d ever believed Miorine would welcome such a childish gift from her, or what it was meant to represent.
“You,” she said quietly, bracing herself for a second rejection in as many days.
But Miorine didn’t look mad.
She looked… shocked. Like she genuinely hadn’t been expecting that.
“Why?”
Suletta held out one of the keychains, emboldened by the knowledge that there was no way she could possibly make more of a fool of herself than she had already.
“B-Because…” She swallowed thickly, summoning the courage she typically only possessed when she was piloting Aerial. “You’re my one and only bride.”
“Suletta…” Miorine visibly softened, but she said her name almost like a warning. “Isn’t there someone else you’d rather give it to?”
“No.” The answer came out with a strength that even surprised Suletta. “It’s yours, Miorine-san.”
With a sigh, Miorine reached out to take it, but her small smile made Suletta feel confident that she’d done the right thing by giving it to her.
“Then I guess I’d better take you out sometime,” Miorine said, the hint of warmth that Suletta had missed returning to her voice, “to show you what a good date’s supposed to be like.”
It took all of Suletta’s self-control not to jump for joy as hope flared in her chest.
“I-I’ll look forward to it!”