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It was a peaceful afternoon at Café LycoReco. A boring one, even. Not much was happening, the only two customers inside were both quietly keeping to themselves, and the staff was not very active either, attending to their usual matters: Mika was brewing himself some coffee, Mizuki was washing plates and murmuring curses regarding her unfortunate love life under her breath, Kurumi was in the closet, playing some game on her tablet, and the "poster girls", as Chisato liked to refer to herself and Takina, were sitting at the counter, both on what Takina called "front desk standby", making sure that whoever entered next would get their order taken care of immediately and that in case any of the customers already in the cafe needed something, they'd get it as soon as possible. Well, in theory at least, because nobody seemed to need them at the moment. It was all quiet, unmoving. Awkward, even.
"Takina?", Chisato finally broke the silence.
"Yes?", Takina replied in her usual deadpan manner, not taking her eyes off of the café's front door.
The only response she received was being grabbed by the left arm and dragged to the changing room.
"...Was bringing me here really necessary? It seemed like what you wanted to do was have a casual conversation, which we could have done at the counter.", Takina asked, slightly, but visibly confused.
Chisato let out an awkward laugh. "Ehehehe... I... don't think it would be appropriate to talk about those things in front of customers."
Takina raised her brow.
"What is it? Confidential information? The details of our next mission? Some... taboo topic you'd rather not discuss in public? Explain." Takina lowered her voice, just in case someone was actually listening to their conversation.
"No, no, it's not anything like that. I'm just a little shy about saying it out there, I don't want the others to hear it.", Chisato assured Takina, frantically shaking her head.
"Still sounds suspicious to me."
"Taaaaaakinaaaaa!", Chisato cried out.
"If you have anything to tell me, make it quick and don't waste my time. I have work to do.", Takina ordered, growing more annoyed with every passing second.
"Okay, okay! Please don't get mad. I just wanted to ask if you want to come over tonight."
Takina sighed. "Really? THAT was what you wanted to tell me?" She paused and thought for a bit, then gave her answer.
"But, your over-the-top delivery aside, yes. I wouldn't mind. We have tomorrow off, so any accidental oversleeping won't have any negative consequences."
Chisato chuckled under her breath in response. She always found Takina's "maintain a sense of professionalism even in situations that do not require it" attitude rather endearing.
The rest of their shift passed quickly, and it was time to go home. They changed out of their café uniforms, said goodbye to the other 3 members of the staff and set off.
They walked mostly in comfortable silence, looking at the world around them, their hands occasionally brushing past each other and their breaths forming small puffs of steam in the freezing air, which Chisato would blow on purpose every now and then, jokingly pretending to be a dragon. Finally, they reached Chisato's safehouse.
"Pardon the intrusion, and thank you for inviting me.", Takina said with a slight bow.
"PFFFFT- No need to be so formal! This is just my apartment, not the Emperor's palace!", Chisato snickered in response, but very quickly added a "Welcome. Make yourself at home. Just a suggestion, how about we bathe and change into our pajamas first?"
"Wait, we didn't stop by my house, how come you have sleepwear for me?", Takina questioned.
"I bought a cute nightgown and some essentials with you in mind a while ago, so you never have to pack again if you're staying at mine. C'mon, don't tell me you thought this is a one-time thing~", Chisato replied teasingly.
"Now that I think about it, that does sound like something you'd do."
"All right, I'll go prepare the bath. You go in first, okay? Unless... you want to bathe together with me~", Chisato said in an obviously exaggerated flirtatious tone, but quickly followed with a "Hehehe, just kidding~", because Takina was... unpredictable at times.
An hour passed, and now they were both ready. Chisato made a few remarks about how cute Takina looked in the pajamas she picked out for her, then turned off the lights, sat down on the couch and patted the space next to her.
"C'mere", she said softly with her signature warm smile on her face.
As Takina joined her on the couch, Chisato draped a blanket over the two of them, turned on the TV and slightly leaned sideways, resting her head on Takina's shoulder and placing her hand on Takina's waist.
The movie was another action flick, filled with dramatic and unrealistic chases, gunfights and explosions, but at least the dynamics and interactions between the characters were compelling and well-written. The first few times they'd watched films of that sort together, Takina would always criticize the inaccuracy, but at this point she was used to it, and let herself get immersed in the story.
But one thing she did not expect to happen was Chisato reaching into the snack bowl on the coffee table, taking a piece of candy and holding it up to Takina's mouth, turning to face her.
"Open wide", she whispered.
Just as Takina parted her lips and gently bit down on the treat Chisato held in her hand, a big explosion lit up the TV screen and the flame-hued light illuminated the two girls, painting them a flashing array of contrasting colours: bright, fiery yellows, oranges and reds against the pitch black darkness of the room.
After that, all went quiet for a few seconds, allowing them to gather their thoughts and process what had just happened. Because something clearly had.
They spent the remainder of the movie in a strange silence. Neither of them dared say anything, let alone address the situation. It was unfamiliar, and yet, warm.
Eventually, the credits rolled around.
"Ah, this was fun... What do you wanna do next?", Chisato asked. She was clearly still excited to have Takina over.
"To be honest... I don't have anything in mind. You choose.", Takina responded, her voice slightly less stern than usual.
"We could just sit on my bed and talk about whatever, is that okay with you?", Chisato suggested.
"Yes, let's do that.", Takina nodded.
As the two girls walked through the bedroom doorway, Chisato suddenly realized something.
"You've probably noticed already, but my place got a bit of a remodel while we were in Hawaii."
"Oh, you're right. Felt kind of strange, seeing how different it looks like now compared to what I remember."
"There are some pretty cool things about this, though. I got a bigger bed, and- Watch." Suddenly, the room's lighting decreased in brightness, going from a pale yellow to a shade of warm orange.
"Oh, dimmable lights."
"Yep! Just a lil' something to set the mood. C'mere.", Chisato gestured.