Work Text:
Natsuki trudged down the sidewalk, the half-inch of snow gathered up on the concrete crunching under the thin soles of her sneakers. Her face was set with a scowl, and she protected the tiny little gift wrapped box in the crook of her arm with her jacket. Small snowflakes drifted aimlessly down through the air, a couple landing on top of her head and sticking against her now appropriately cold hair.
It was Christmas Eve and, as per usual, Natsuki was alone.
Her face further contorted into what she was sure was a horrendously ugly scowl, but who fucking cared? It was 5PM on a freezing Sunday, and she was alone. Papa left her high and dry to go out drinking with some work friends, and now Natsuki had nothing to do. A gritty black feeling in her chest roiled as the little present under her arm jostled. So much for getting Papa something nice.
Natsuki, despite her better judgment, reached under her jacket and plucked out the little gift. It was a bit bigger than her hand, wrapped in stupid blue wrapping paper covered in dumb snowmen. The box was topped off with a smooth green ribbon that made Natsuki scowl when she stared at the neat little bow.
She’d saved up some money from her part time job, and just… wanted to get something nice for Papa. It wasn’t often she was in the Christmas spirit, but… fuck. She wanted to surprise him with something small, something to, like… pretend that they had a better relationship. Give him something that he could look at and say, ‘hey, maybe Natsuki isn’t such a bad gal after all’. Something to make him want to spend at least a bit of time with her.
Something to show that she was worth spending time with.
She blinked in surprise as a small droplet of water dripped off of her cheek, plipping against the wrapping paper between a couple of fat snowflakes.
“Feh.” Natsuki let out an audible sound, scoffing and glaring as she wiped off the surface of the present, jamming the little box back under her arm. She brought her other hand up, exposing her already cold hand to the freezing air in order to rub at her cheek with her wrist. Her eyes went down to the snowy sidewalk, and Natsuki stared at her feet, marching through the cold.
There came the issue that she again had to grapple with thinking about: where the fuck was she even going?
It was, again, 5PM on Christmas fucking Eve. Sure, lots of the typical stuff was open, but what the hell was she going to do there alone? Besides, the only shit she could think of was just, like… convenience stores and supermarkets and shit like that. What, was she gonna go hang out at the corner store for half an hour, buy a six pack of cheep beer, and get buzzed?
…hmm.
Well, she’d had worse Christmas Eves. Besides, it wasn’t like she had classes. University was closed for the holidays, so most of her friends had fucked off back home or had plans or some other stupid shit like that. They were all out having dates and hanging out with their families and friends and… and here she was, all on her lonesome. Trudging down the snow covered streets, in thin shoes and a hand me down jacket, alone.
Natsuki let out another angry huff and stared up at the falling snow. She hated this. She wasn’t even sure why she brought the damn present with her when she went out for a pissy Christmas Eve walk. It probably would have been smarter to leave it at home, but Natsuki kind of wanted to bring it with her and just… chuck it in a random bin. Or maybe leave it on some fucker’s doorstep, as a Christmas fucking miracle gift. From the stupid Christmas stork.
She winced as a flake of snow fell next to her eye, and whipped her head back down. The whole ‘getting drunk’ thing was starting to sound more and more appealing. She could slam back the pack, chuck the stupid gift into a wall and hear it shatter, then head home and just binge that anime she’d been meaning to catch up on.
What a pathetic fucking Christmas.
After another fifteen minutes of wandering through the freezing cold without any particular idea of what the fuck to do, Natsuki finally opted into just being a loser and getting drunk. If Papa could do it, she could do it too. She plodded down a couple narrow streets, winding through some back roads and what not before popping out onto the main street, right next to the convenience store near her university.
The door jingled as she stepped inside, and warm air washed over her, melting a couple snowflakes stuck to her hair. The store was empty, save for the semi-familiar face attending the register. Thank fuckin’ god. Natsuki shuffled to the back of the store and popped the cooler, hauling out a six pack of the cheapest beer inside, then shuffled up front.
The girl at the register looked up, lifting her phone back up into view when she saw who it was. They shared an art class, and Rio didn’t card her when she came through. Besides, Natsuki was 19 anyways. That was basically 20.
Rio grinned. “Sup, Natsu. Surprised to see you here on Christmas Eve.”
“Trust me, Rio,” Natsuki responded, plonking the pack onto the counter and sliding it over, “I’d rather be anywhere but here. But I need somethin’ t’do tonight. So drinkin’ it is.”
“Shit, that blows,” Rio replied, reaching out and snagging the six pack, “No date for Christmas Eve? I’m sure I could hook you up with–”
“Don’t care.” Natsuki slapped a couple notes onto the counter. “I’m not tryna ‘hook up’ with anybody. Just tryna be sad and alone on Christmas Eve. Just like every other fuckin’ night…” She crossed her arms and scowled.
Rio shrugged, rolling her eyes as she took Natsuki’s money. “Suit yourself. Just sayin’, there’s plenty of people that’d dig a night with you.”
“Don’t wanna do some shit like that…” Natsuki murmured under her breath. She wasn’t interested in just… being with somebody. With just anybody. But people she liked were far out of her league. So she was just stuck with being alone and dissatisfied. Drinking on a holiday evening.
“Whatever.” With the rustle of plastic, Rio pushed the bagged case of beer over in Natsuki’s direction. Natsuki snagged it, hooking her arm through the hand holes. Rio raised a brow at her before bidding her farewell, “Change is in the bag. Stay safe, ‘s cold as fuck out there.”
“I’ve noticed,” Natsuki replied, “…and thanks. You too.”
Rio just nodded and looked away, leaving Natsuki to turn and plod out of the convenience store, back into the cold.
Natsuki looked up at one of the school buildings as she got back outside, shivering heavily as the cold air blasted her, flooding into the convenience store behind her. The school building stood dead and motionless, all dark on the inside. It was barely visible through the gloom. Everything was darker now, the sun having sunk even lower while she’d been in the convenience store. The sound of streetlights beginning to flick on surrounded her.
Natsuki sat there and stared as the doors shut behind her. And then, after a second, she took her hand out of her pocket, the one clutching the present.
She reared back, taking a step forward to help get the right angle. Her arm cocked back, and her fingers tightened around the gift in her palm. Obviously, she wasn’t strong enough to huck it the couple blocks and ten flights of verticality it would require to peg one of those stupid windows square with the box. But, if she threw it as hard as she could, the damn thing would at the very least land somewhere out of sight, and she wouldn’t have to worry about looking at it anymore. She could already hear the glass shattering against the pavement.
Natsuki’s arm slackened for just a moment. Did she really want to do this?… It was kind of expensive, and she could surely use it herself, even if Papa didn’t… want it. Papa…
Her fingers clenched around the box again. There was a buzzing heat behind Natsuki’s eyes, and she glared as snowflakes, far larger than earlier, landed on her head. The muscles in her arm tensed up. She crouched just a little bit. The trajectory was perfect, all she had to do was let go. And once she did, she could go home, get herself drunk, and maybe just forget any of this shit ever happened. Just as the throw began–
“Natsuki?”
Natsuki felt the fight leave her body at the sound of a familiar voice. Her arm wheeled around, spinning uselessly, and the gift remained clenched in her fingers, which Natsuki suddenly realized were white knuckled from the grip and red from the cold. She turned to the left, letting her arm hang limply. Her whole body was limp, really.
And there, a couple meters away, stood Monika.
She was far more bundled up for the cold than Natsuki was. She had on a nice jacket ringed with fuzz around the neck and arm holes, sturdy looking snow boots, and even a pair of gloves and a scarf. However, Natsuki noticed that she wasn’t wearing a hat either, instead having opted for… an umbrella? A small black umbrella that blocked the falling snow, but didn’t block the cold. So the tips of her ears and nose and her cheeks were red from the biting air.
And tucked under her arm, was a present. Wrapped with purple wrapping paper and secured with a pink ribbon. Clean and neat and perfect.
“…Monika?” Natsuki corrected her posture, still gripping the present like a primed baseball. Seeing Monika out here, alone, was among the last things she expected to see, “The fuck’re you doin’ here?”
“I could ask you the same,” Monika replied, a small smile gracing her face, “It’s not every day that I see a club member out and about during such frigid weather.”
Right. Natsuki felt herself curl up a bit, a scowl painting her face. At the start of her first year at university, she’d taken a chance and joined a stupid ‘Literature Club’ that she’d found a flier for, nestled in the back of the library. She should have known that was a bad idea from the fact that it was tucked somewhere so out of sight, but… well, after seeing the three losers that made up the club… Natsuki couldn’t help but become a bit attached.
Still, Monika always felt like she was… out of reach, moreso than Sayori or Yuri. Somehow, one of the most popular girls at their university had formed a club that pretty much nobody had decided to join. Guess most people weren’t keen on a glorified book club. It certainly didn’t help with Monika’s… ‘mystique’, that was for sure.
“Yeah, well… ugh,” Natsuki finally let her hand relax, crossing her arms and, in the process, stuffing the gift out of sight, back under her arm, “Well it’s not like I have anything else to do on a shitty night like this, right? So I’m… y’know.” She lifted up the plastic bag with her drinks in it, prompting Monika to glance over. Her brow quirked upwards, briefly, before her eyes turned back to Natsuki.
“I see,” Monika said, head cocked ever so slightly in what Natsuki assumed was some sort of curiosity. Monika always seemed to do that when looking at her. It was kind of endearing. I-In a friend sort of way. She guessed. Whatever.
And then… Monika just stood there, watching her. She shuffled around in the snow, boots crunching snow beneath their soles, and watched Natsuki with those wide, curious eyes of hers. It was unnerving, to have Monika just… staring at her like that. Natsuki leaned back a bit, grumbling under her breath and tapping the little gift against her hip. And then she looked up at Monika and realized something.
“…what are you doing out here by yourself?” Natsuki asked, narrowing her eyes. As she asked the question, the memory of what Monika was supposed to be doing flooded back, “Weren’t you going out on a date? With… some dude that Sayori knows?”
Monika’s cheeks seemed to tint the slightest bit redder, and she turned away from Natsuki with an anxious chuckle. Natsuki watched her clutch the gift she had with her against her chest, and suddenly felt a gross clenching in her stomach.
“Y-Yeah, ahaha…” Monika said, after a second of silence, her little shuffling movements coming to a complete stop, “About that… w-well, let’s just say that, um…” She wiggled her feet again, scattering the snow beneath her, and her strained smile fell away. The street was quiet around them, save for the buzz of streetlights.
And then, Monika continued, voice quiet, “Well, he um. Stood me up. I guess, he uh. Had something more important to be doing. I’m… still waiting on a text. But our meeting time was a couple hours ago. So… I just figured he wasn’t coming. I hope he’s alright.”
Natsuki stood there and stared at the sad, snow chilled girl before her. Her face had settled into a pitiful frown, and she stared blankly at the snow covered street. The umbrella had drooped forward, and Natsuki could see the swirling snow flitting through the air behind her, no doubt getting caught in that long, winding ponytail. Monika’s posture was rigid, and she held herself so stiffly that Natsuki was positive she’d shatter into pieces if she so much as fucking poked her.
And, most of all, Natsuki couldn’t help but stare at the purple wrapped present clutched to Monika’s chest.
Natsuki let out a haggard sigh, and gave her own gift another angry squeeze. Then, she scuffed at the sidewalk with her sneaker, kicking up a light dusting of snow that got picked up by a frigid breeze. She tried to look as casual as possible, and tried to pretend like it wouldn’t hurt bad if Monika turned her down here.
“Listen,” Natsuki said, motioning absently with her ‘free’ hand, the one with the beer draped over it, “My Papa’s out for the night, so like. I was just gonna get drunk and watch shit,” She hefted the plastic bag from the convenience store, “So like, I’m sure you’ve got people to hang out with or whatever, but like. If you don’t, you could… fuckin’ hang with me at my place. Or somethin’.”
Again, the street fell silent. Monika’s eyes widened, staring at Natsuki in… surprise? Of course she’d be surprised, Natsuki realized. In what fucking world did Monika not have anyone else to hang out with on Christmas fucking Eve? It was a stupid ass question, and just as Natsuki opened her mouth to take the stupid comment back–
“If… you don’t mind having me,” Monika said, eyes still widened, “I’d… I’d love to.”
Natsuki blinked in surprise.
Then, Monika chuckled and said, “Um, aren’t you too young to drink? Twenty’s the drinking age, isn’t it…?”
“Feh,” Natsuki snorted, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. And… surprise too, if she was being honest. Monika, coming to her house?… Wait. Fuck. Natsuki felt a jitter pass over her body, and tried to cover it up by standing up straighter, just a bit, “Whatever. You know that nobody really cares about that. And I’m just a year under so like… it matters even less.”
Monika giggled, and it made Natsuki’s heart flutter in her chest, super against her wishes. This was… not the time for her to be having feelings, of any sort really, for her stupid, beautiful Club President. But… it wasn’t like she could just not feel them.
They began a small conversation as Natsuki walked off towards her house, Monika catching up to her and walking by her side. They spoke about pretty much nothing, but it kind of washed away some of the gross shit Natsuki was feeling about… everything. About Papa. About Christmas. About the rest of it.
And Natsuki absolutely noticed that Monika adjusted the umbrella to cover up the both of them.
Natsuki shoved the front door to her house open, letting in a few stray snowflakes. Like she expected, the entire place was dark. The lights were off, and the house was still. Just like she’d left it.
With a heavy sigh, she stomped her feet in the entryway, shaking off the snow clumped against the soles of her sneakers. The chill of the outside finally caught up to her, and a full body shiver coursed through Natsuki’s body, staring at her feet and rolling all the way up, culminating in her shaking her head and letting out an audible ‘brrrrh!’.
As she reached out, flicking the light in the entryway on, Natsuki heard the quiet shuffling behind her of her Christmas Eve guest. She glanced over her shoulder, kicking her shoes off and into the wall, and saw Monika. Monika carefully tapped her boots against the door frame, careful to tap only as hard as she needed to to shake the snow off. And Natsuki stood there, cold soaking into the soles of her feet through her thin socks, as Monika carefully unlaced her boots and pulled them off.
“You good?” Natsuki asked, taking a few steps away, just to give Monika some room (and also to avoid any potential melting snow).
“Hmm?” Monika glanced over as she gingerly placed her boots down next to Natsuki’s haphazardly discarded shoes, “Yes? I’m just… taking my boots off.” She paused for a moment, looking briefly back down at her boots, before looking back, “Would you rather I leave them outside?”
Natsuki blinked. She looked at her own shoes, barely cleaned of snow and tossed without a care against the wall, near a pile of similarly discarded shoes, and then looked back at Monika. Well now she felt like a slob. “N… no? It’s fine. Just… whatever. Nevermind.”
She scoffed and turned away, hearing Monika shuffle a bit more before she trotted up and stood at Natsuki’s side. For an extended second, Natsuki stood there and looked out over her shitty, small living room. There was a couch and a coffee table crowded with newspapers, mail, and empty cans, a TV, and… that was about it. The tiny rug under the table was bunched up and the couch was threadbare, and Natsuki suddenly felt like a fucking loser. She started to move her hand up to rub at her neck, only to remember the present was in her hand.
“Cozy,” Monika remarked.
Natsuki, for a second, contemplated kicking her out. Instead she rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and let a shiver of anticipation roll up her spine. She grumbled, refusing to look in Monika’s direction, “Let’s just head over to my room.”
Monika seemed surprised. Her eyes widened in that really cute way that they did when she seemed just outright baffled, and she put a free hand to her chest. “Are… are you sure? You’re, um… alright with having me there?”
“Uh, yeah,” Natsuki replied, feeling her cheeks heat up. Thank god they were already red from the cold, “Papa wants me to keep the house heater off anyways, so I’ve got a space heater in my room. It’ll actually be fuckin’ tolerable in there. And if you’re in there… then it’s less of a chance you’ll have to meet ‘im. And I’m not really ready to introduce him to my friends.”
Ideally, she never introduced the Literature Club to Papa.
“I see,” Monika said with a nod. She clearly didn’t see, but at least she was polite enough to just let it go, which Natsuki was thankful for.
That meant the cold, quiet house creaked around them as Natsuki silently led Monika down the hall, past the kitchen and Papa’s room, right to the end where Natsuki stayed. She opened the door and shoved it open with her hip. Natsuki did a slow, lazy twirl with her body, sarcastically sashaying inside, flicking the light, and leaving space for Monika to follow after. She even did a little wiggle of her hands, and a snarky ‘tadaaaaa’.
Natsuki’s room was… cluttered. She wasn’t planning on having company. Her bed took up a good portion of the tiny ass room, as did her dresser and her desk. The dresser was cluttered with trinkets, and the desk with school work and her laptop. Near the desk was a small little side table, with a shitty old television on top. Wires and cords snaked dangerously around, connecting to consoles below and to her laptop as well. A couple bins of video games and movies laid under the table, and most everything else was scattered across the floor.
“Sorry ‘bout the mess, I guess,” Natsuki grumbled, “Wasn’t expectin’ company.”
“It’s okay…” Monika said, sounding almost… impressed, “I don’t mind. It’s… comfy.”
That made Natsuki blink. And, again, she was glad that Monika wasn’t looking at her face at the moment. She continued to hide her expression by twisting over and flicking another switch. There was a rumble in the corner as her space heater yawned to life, rumbling awake next to the unplugged box fan.
“Feel free t’take a seat on the bed or somethin’. ‘S not made, but like. Whatever. It’s where I sit when I watch anime and stuff.” Natsuki motioned, sliding over to the foot of her bed. She crouched down at the mini-fridge stuffed into the corner there, and popped it open. “Y’wanna beer?”
The interior or the fridge was mostly empty, save for a bottle of half empty juice and a couple yogurt cups. And the half finished remains of her last alcohol haul. Natsuki grabbed the extra cans and put them into the plastic bag.
“Um…” Monika’s hum was quickly followed by the squeak of bed springs. Then, a moment later, “Is… is that okay? Aren’t… well, I’m not twenty either, you know…”
Natsuki glanced up over the foot board of her bed. She saw Monika sitting there, perched on the edge of her bed with her hands folded in her lap, drumming gently on the present she had with her. Oh. Shit. Monika was on her bed. Natsuki stared for only a second before snapping her head away and sucking at her teeth.
“Well I’m not gonna tell anybody,” She said, “ I’m getting’ sloshed no matter what, but I’m not gonna make you do anything.”
“I… see.” Was Monika’s reply. Natsuki stood up and nudged the fridge door closed with her foot. When she turned to the side, she saw Monika staring at her, twiddling her fingers. When they made eye contact, Monika looked away, seeming almost embarrassed, and said, “Well… I haven’t really… had any before. So um. I’ll just take one or two.”
Natsuki stared at her reddened cheeks for a second and prayed that Monika was still just red from the cold.
She shuffled over to the bed and… sat down. Next to Monika. And felt the small little box in her jacket pocket jab against her leg. Natsuki shrugged off her jacket, able to feel the warm air from the space heater a little better with it off. She reached down and pulled the box out, her eyes lingering on Monika’s gift.
The clattering at her side made Natsuki remember that she had drinks to attend to.
So she tossed her jacket away, shuffled further back onto her bed, and crossed her legs. She then pulled out a freshly purchased can from its plastic holder and held it out to Monika. “Here.”
“Ah,” Monika gingerly reached out, gently plucking the can from Natsuki’s hand and then, to Natsuki’s surprise, said, “Natsuki… do you like to play video games?”
“Eh?” Natsuki blinked. She looked at Monika, flicked her eyes over to the TV across her tiny bedroom, and then back to Monika. “Y-Yeah. I’ve got, uh. Games and shit I play when I’m not workin’ or at club or class or anything.” She pointed over to the game consoles under the TV.
Monika nodded without looking, “Yeah, I saw your consoles and, um. Just wanted to propose something. If you don’t mind.”
Natsuki stared for a good solid second. She’d never noticed before now, but… Monika’s eyes were so green. It was hard to notice anything else but her eyes. They stared so deeply and intensely into her that Natsuki felt like she should have felt uncomfortable. Instead, she felt like she was swimming, sort of. Bobbing on the surface of something warm and intense. And then, she remembered that she was supposed to be answering something.
“Uh? I mean, uh. Yeah. Uh… whatever. Just say it.” To hide her verbal stumbling, Natsuki reached over, plucked an old can of beer from the bag, and cracked the tab. It let out an alcoholic ‘hisssss’ and Natsuki brought it up to her lips, letting the sweet, sweet, taste of nasty ass, putrid, piss water roll over her tongue. Gotta love beer.
Monika looked… surprised at Natsuki’s agreement, and spent a second just fiddling with the tab of the beer can. Then, she lowered it to her lap and, to Natsuki’s own surprise, gently picked up the present in her lap with both hands.
“Natsuki, I uh. Noticed you have a present on you too. And… well, when we were at the convenience store, you didn’t seem particularly keen on keeping it. So, uh,” Monika twiddled with the gift, “I was wondering if you’d like to… exchange them. Maybe.”
Natsuki choked on her beer as she went in for sip two.
She spent a second coughing and hacking, thumping herself on the chest with her fist while Monika looked on in horror, before looking up and managing to sputter out, “Gh–! Exch– ulk!” She coughed again, “Exchange? With me?”
“Y… yes.” Monika pulled the gift to her chest, “I… I can’t really use my gift. And you didn’t seem like you wanted yours. But… if you’d rather not, that’s fine too…”
Monika looked away, eyes directed downwards, and Natsuki felt like she’d just punted a puppy directly into a busy roadway.
“N-No!” Natsuki blurted out. Monika looked back up at her with those wide eyes of hers, “I mean. No. It’s fine. Doin’ the swap. I just…” Natsuki reached up to rub at the back of her neck, “I just. Don’t think you’ll like mine. It’s…” She sighed, “It was for Papa.”
“That’s okay…” Monika whispered, “I’ll find a use for it.”
The room fell quiet, the silence broken only by the hum of the mini-fridge and the rumble of the space heater. Natsuki stared at Monika, and Monika stared at Natsuki. It was… honestly very nerve wracking. And yet… well, Natsuki was far from a lightweight. But maybe, by a Christmas miracle, the only two sips of shitty beer kicked in early, and made Natsuki okay with opening her mouth and speaking.
“…alright, sure,” She said, “We can swap.”
Monika’s eyes lit up, ever so slightly, and a warmth washed over Natsuki’s body. Maybe she was drunk already.
She whisked up the little box, blue wrapping paper and green ribbon, and stared at it for a second. She hefted it, brow furrowed. Monika wasn’t gonna like it. Probably. She had no clue. But like… eugh. She’d do the gift exchange. It… no. No it was the beer causing a warm stirring in her chest. Obviously.
Natsuki looked up, and found Monika staring at her, still, with the softest smile Natsuki had ever seen, etched onto her face. It made Natsuki’s anger drain away, the plug pulled out from underneath her. Natsuki let out a quiet sigh and held out the little present.
Monika’s smile grew slightly, and Natsuki felt her heart flutter as her hand got lighter. She lifted it up a bit, as if it were floating away, and then brought it back down once Monika plucked the gift completely off of her palm.
And she got to watch in awe as Monika tore the wrapping paper ever so slightly with the nail of her thumb. Watch as Monika expanded the tear, careful not to disturb the pretty green ribbon pasted on top of the box. Watch as Monika wiggled the lid off, watch as Monika placed it to the side, watch as Monika looked in.
Monika’s eyes widened slightly as she reached in with her other hand, and plucked the pristine, frosted shot glass from inside. It was a small trinket, nothing particularly special or fancy. But it was nice and Natsuki wanted to get Papa something, give something to him that he’d use and like, and… and he wasn’t even here to take it, much less want it.
He didn’t even know it existed.
But as Monika marveled at the little glass, turning it over and over in her hand, Natsuki found that… that maybe that was alright this time. Because the glass clearly was in the hands of somebody who would actually care about it.
“Wow… it’s very nice,” Monika commented. And from most people, Natsuki would have taken that as a statement of polite disinterest. But… Monika’s tone was different.
“Th… thanks,” Natsuki said, voice low against her will, “It… it was supposed to be for my Papa, but… but he’s not… here.” The words stung coming out of her throat, burnt behind her eyes and tasted like acid on her tongue.
“I’m sorry,” Monika said, volume matching Natsuki’s, “But… at least I’m here, right?”
And when Natsuki looked up, she saw Monika looking right back at her and holding out the gift she’d brought with her.
“Y… yeah.” Natsuki took a sip of beer, used the motion to try and disguise the way she rubbed at her eye with her wrist. “Sorry about your date.”
Monika shook her head, offering a dry chuckle, “Thank you for the concern. It’s alright, though. Looking at it now… I don’t think it would have gone well, even if he’d shown up…”
“I’ll say,” Natsuki snorted, prompting a light giggle from Monika. That made Natsuki’s heart flutter again, and she reached out and plucked Monika’s gift from her hand.
She had much less gift opening finesse than Monika did, and opted to just tear until she found a proper seam. The purple wrapping paper split easily beneath her hands, and the pink ribbon fluttered down once freed. And within was…
One of the most generic shooters on the market.
Natsuki couldn’t help but laugh. Audibly.
“I know! I know…” Monika let out a quiet laugh alongside her, “But I didn’t know what else to get him… His preferences are… still a bit of a mystery…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Natsuki shook her head, a snicker slipping out alongside the motion, “I’ll play it tomorrow. For now…” She scooted back, shuffling over to the wall, and leaning up against it. A bit of jittery energy in her fingertips, Natsuki patted the bed next to her, “Wanna just get drunk and watch some shit?”
Monika smiled, softly, “Absolutely.”
The last rays of sun had dropped away a couple hours ago, leaving Natsuki’s room dark. The only light came from her laptop and the TV, hooked up together to broadcast Natsuki’s anime of choice on a slightly bigger screen. The room was filled with blue light. Usually, she’d have gotten up to turn the light on a while ago. However…
Against her shoulder, Monika snored away, only two beers in and already done for. Natsuki had never met somebody as much of a lightweight. Just thinking about it made her chuckle.
God, it was so fucking endearing.
Natsuki cracked open her last drink of the night. Not because she wanted to stop, no her limit was far higher. She just didn’t wanna risk Monika waking up. Monika stirred in her sleep at the cracking of the can, then settled back in, loosely coiling her arms around Natsuki’s forearm. She snuggled in, letting out a snore and a soft ‘hnn…’ .
Natsuki turned back to the screen with lazy smile. She’d had worse Christmases.
“Merry Christmas, stupid…” Natsuki murmured, leaning her head against Monika’s.
In her sleep, Monika adjusted her position, curling up against Natsuki’s side and… intertwining their fingers.
Natsuki let her.