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"Oh no, Kronii please"
Mumei sighed in despair. The blue-haired girl who had been sitting on the couch until now got up to go to the bathroom, but the second she was standing on her feet she lost her balance and fell on the table, knocking over everything in the process.
Everyone stood still for a good10 seconds, completely apathetic in front of Kronii lying on the floor, whining and gesticulating amidst paper cups and half-empty bags of potato chips.
Irys started laughing hysterically, breaking the heavy silence while Bae facepalmed herself.
"I guess it's time for both of you to go back home"
It was a friday night and the girls were all hanging out in Mumei's appartment after a harsh week at work for somes, grinding at uni for others. Kronii and lrys got drunk relatively fast and were mostly laughing at each others or throwing food in their general direction.
Although the girls tried to talk some sense into them throughout the evening, this definitely was the signal for them to call it a night.
Mumei and Fauna got up to clean up the mess while Sana pulled Kronii on her feet, as best as she can since Irys, who was still laughing uncontrollably, was now kicking the poor warden's butt.
Bae snapped "Stop it lrys !"
"Are you okay?" the tall blond girl sat Kronii back on the couch.
"Yeah why wouldn't I be, this was nothing to me. I don't even have a scratch!" Kronil flipped a switch and answered confidently, as if she wasn't bathing in spilled lukewarm beer a second before.
"Ok who wants to take Kronii back to her dorm? I'll stay here a little longer to clean up the mess and then I'll drop this one off to her room" Bae pointed at lrys who was still smirking from Kronii's mishap.
"You don't mind bringing her back Fauna? You live closer to her place. You know the access code to her building right?" asked Mumei innocently. She knew that by now Fauna would start getting tired and would probably appeciate going home soon afterwards.
"Yeah sure, I'll put her to sleep and then I'll go back home too, I'm a little bit tired"
"Sure, thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to send a message in the group chat when you both made it back"
Fauna nodded and went to fetch Kronii's jacket and her coat, while the rest of the girls were busy cleaning. When she returned to the living room Kronii noticed she had dressed to leave.
"Hey are going out? You shouldn't go outside all alone at this hour, it's dangerous!"
She shook her head dramatically and sighed deeply "Well I guess I have to go with you then"
Kronii got up without blinking and aimed straight for the door. Fauna managed to grab her by the shoulder in the process.
"Yeah ok then put your jacket on please"
She helped the warden getting dressed, and then once again Kronii headed for the entrance door and left the flat without saying goodbye. Fauna had mentally prepared herself to drag her out of the party but it went surprisingly smooth, lest the warden obviously hadn't understood everything.
The keeper looked at her friends and shrugged, hopefully Kronii would be this compliant when she'll realize this wasn't an escort mission and that Fauna was taking her back home.
She excused herself and waved goodbyes before joining Kronii. The blue-haired girl was patiently waiting for her in the corridor, smiling, looking all handsome and confident.
"This way"
She went ahead and led the way out of the building, as if Fauna didn't already know the place like the back of her hand. The keeper raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
Kronii held her the entrance hall door, still with the same charming and stupid smile. There was a ridiculous and drastic change in her behavior, she went from a slobbering mess to this chivalrous play so suddenly, if you didn't know her you wouldn't say she was actually dead drunk.
In the streets she was walking confidently hands in her pocket, almost in a strut, obediently following Fauna without questioning where they were going.
Fauna was amused by the situation.
"You seem to be in a good mood. Feeling any better?"
"Well yes of course, I wasn't even feeling bad"
The same speech. Fauna rolled her eyes.
"Besides, I have to keep a clear head out here if I want to protect you. Anyone can come from anywhere at anytime, so I have to be constantly on my guard"
"Protect me from who?"
"From...I dunno. Burglars, baddies, anyone really! The people...you can't trust anyone, you just have to be careful!"
"And you think you're up to fight right now?"
"I'm always up to fight!"
For the next few minutes Kronii went on a monologue explaining how her past training in self defense would help her in a fight, what tactics would she use, how she is probably able to stand up to any beef man thanks to her 2x2 hours per week gym sessions.
She was illustrating her talk with her whole body, throwing hands, sending kicks in the air, occasionally demonstrating smooth moves which Fauna would admit, were quite impressive.
She sounded unusually lively and was blabbering like an 8 y/o boy talking about his favorite superhero movie. Fauna couldn't help finding it adorable.
Eventually she grabbed her arm and pulled her against her in an attempt to calm her down. Kronii was still a little wobbly and she wouldn't want her to get hurt in her 2AM fighting frenesy.
Kronii stopped and diligently kept walking. They spend the rest of the walk talking casually about their week and what will they do this week-end.
However, as they crossed a park, Kronii gradually became silent, her face livid. She slowed down and became much less enthusiastic in her steps.
Fauna noticed the change and stopped walking. She tried to meet the warden's gaze.
"Are you okay? Is there anything wron-"
Kronii suddenly broke away from her and turned to the grass. She leaned forward and began to vomit profusely, it was quite the mess.
"Oh no Kronii..."
There was a mix of exasperation and concern in her voice. She ran to her and grabbed what she could of her silky hair, waiting patiently for the warden to empty her stomach.
"There there... it's okay, you'll feel better afterwards"
Kronii grunted in acknowledgement. A few minutes passed and the warden remained crouched in her position, slowly coming to her senses as Fauna kept rubbing her back soothingly.
"Is it over? Are you okay now?"
"Ah...yes, don't worry about it"
Kronii slowly stood back up and faced Fauna with the most stupid, dazzling smile she ever made. She pierced her gaze with her confident blue eyes, speaking in a overconfident tone, once again light years away from her vomiting self from 2 minutes ago.
Time stopped for a few seconds, the butterflies in Fauna's stomach fluttered briefly until the haze of love quickly dissipated from her eyes.
Yes, she would totally have been swooned by this moron right now if it weren't for her hair half-stained with vomit, or if her breath and clothes didn't reek of alcolhol.
The keeper made her best to not break into a laugh.
"I...hum..yes! Come on, let's go this way!" She hastily grabbed the warden by the arm and quickened their pace. Kronii let herself be dragged along again, totally unaware of the turmoil in Fauna's heart.
They managed to get to her appartment without much troubles, Kronii was still a little dull but felt much better after throwing up.
When they finally got into the flat, Fauna took her shoes off and helped the blue-haired girl to do the same. She took off her coat and hung it up in the entrance closet.
"Wait...this is my house right? Do you need anything from here?"
"Yes I do. Please take off your clothes and go take a shower. Be sure to wash your hair, it needs a good scrub"
"Oh ok"
Fauna ordered in a polite but firm tone, and Kronii obeyed. She went into the bathroom and manage to get into the shower after struggling taking off her pants. Meanwhile, Fauna gathered a bottle of fresh water and a bucket by the bedside table, as well as a clean pyjama in plain sight for the warden to see when she'll get out of the shower.
Waiting for Kronii to finish showering, Fauna lay down on her bed and closed her eyes for a moment. The bed was comfy and Kronii's scent was all over the place, it was comforting.
She let her mind wander, keeping an ear open in case the blue-haired girl fell or broke something. She had a good time hanging out with the girls but she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and throw herself into her own bed. If she were to yield to her thoughts right now she would have stolen Kronii's sofa for the night and left the next the morning.
But she couldn't. She still had to remove her make-up, take a shower, take out the garbage before 6am, get up early in the morning to go to the market...She sighed indispair. Her evenings and weekends are always neatly scheduled just like her days, so she had to get home quickly once Kronii was tucked in and asleep in bed.
In her misfortune Fauna was lucky that Kronii had been so obedient so far. The warden had a great sense of pride, definitely not the type to let herself be bossed around, but she was usually oddly docile with Fauna. She was especially attentive to her when the two of them were alone; Fauna knew she was too embarassed to show this side of her in front of their friends.
She appreciates these rare intimate moments they share together, and even miss them sometimes. She couldn't help but feel a sparkle of joy when Mumei asked her to take Kronii back home earlier.
As she was lost in thought she finally heard a rumble coming from the bathroom, Kronii was getting out of the shower.
Fauna reluctantly got up from her comfy spot.
As she had predicted, Kronii emerged from the bathroom completely naked, drying her messy hair with a towel over her head. She was walking around without an ounce of shame.
Fauna averted her eyes out of respect and fussed her back into the bathroom, pointing out the pyjamas she had taken out and left on the washing machine for her.
A few minutes later Kronii went back to the bedroom with dry hair, still not fully clothed as she'd only put on her underwear and a sweatshirt.
Fauna rolled her eyes, she was too tired to fight so she just pushed her into bed. As Kronii was settling under the blanket, the green-haired girl ran her hand through the warden's hair.
"Here let me check your hair...Good, it's dry enough. It's good to feel nice and clean, right? You'll sleep better this way"
Kronii hummed in approval. She lay back on her pillow and Fauna pulled the blanket up to her chin.
"You had a long day, you must be exhausted"
The warden yawned "Hardly"
"Hehe"
This tough-girl act will never cease to amuse the keeper.
All wrapped up in her blanket, a gleam in her eyes, Kronii was looking expectantly at Fauna.
The green-haired girl tried to guess what she wanted : a kiss on the forehead.
Even if it wasn't what she wanted, she'll have it anyway. Right now she was just too adorable for her to resist.
She leaned over, slightly brushed aside the warden's bangs and placed a small kiss on her warm forehead.
When Fauna sat back up, Kronii had a small smile and the gleam in her eyes redoubled its brilliance.
Fauna laughed warmly and lightly poked her cheek "Silly"
A car passing on the street with loud music interrupted their moment and rudely brought the keeper back to reality. As much as she was having fun, she still had to get home.
She reluctantly got up and start readying herself to get out.
"Okay, do you have everything you need? Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"I'm going home"
"Oh ok, wait for me I just need to find my pants" Kronii pushed aside the blanket and started to get up, but Fauna pushed her back into the pillows.
"No no no you stay here, it's time for you to sleep"
"But…who's going to take you home then?"
"No one, I'll be fine by myself. "
Kronii had little to worry about : she and Fauna were living in a quiet, safe neighborhood close to a campus, and there were regular patrol in the vicinity. No big delenquency, even in the middle of the night.
"Besides, I don't live too far from here, you know it's only 15 minutes away."
"But why can't I come with you?"
Kronii sat up in her bed, her eyes pleading . Although still a little buzzed she looked genuinely worried, like a child begging their parent to not go to work and stay at home with them. This broke Fauna's heart.
The green-haired girl sat down on the bed and softened her voice in an attempt to calm her.
"Because you've already showered and are ready to sleep right now. It's warm and comfy here, isn't it? You don't need to go out in the cold again"
Kronii shook her head "Nooo it doesn't matter you don't understand…"
She nervously looked away for a second before looking at her again "If..If I can't go with you, then stay here with me?"
She pulled out her most dangerous weapon : her puppy eyes. Fauna didn't know if she was doing this on purpose or not, but it was deadly effective on her. If she was already this close to give up, this was definitely the last straw.
She took her time to considerate. Perhaps if she lay there for a few minutes Kronii would fall asleep and she'll be able to take her leave silently.
Hmm…Yes that might work.
Fauna feigned nonchalance "I suppose I can stay here, yes"
Kronii beamed at her, eyes still teary from her puppy play a second ago.
"Woohoo! Thank you!"
"eek!"
Fauna barely had time to take off her coat when Kronii suddenly embraced her from behind and pulled her into bed. She held her firmly against her and struggled to pull the blanket over them.
"This is just like a sleepover!" She sounded so gleefully excited about it, her inner child never strays too far away.
On her side Fauna was at a loss for words. She was expecting to sleep on the sofa or in bed right beside her, but definitely not ON her.
She was blushing like crazy, her brain short-circuited.
After a few seconds of process she managed to stammer out "Y-yes it is. We really should sleep now though it's getting late"
"Sure!"
Kronii hugged her tighter and Fauna's soul left her body. This was dangerous, she was taking into her warmth and melting into the embrace. Her mind was a blur, she didn't know If she'd have the strength to leave later.
While she was struggling against her own body shutting down, Kronii said, almost in a whisper :
"See? it's safer here. You're much better off here with me than outside"
Fauna tried to picture herself in the cold breeze, walking briskly back to her apartment, all alone in the dark streets. The keeper had to admit, Kronii wasn't wrong. At this time of the night, and probably at any time, there was no better place for her to be.
She timidly hugged her back. "Yeah maybe…"
Kronii giggled softly in response. She wrapped her arms around the girl's back and nuzzled her face against her hair.
Fauna finally let herself go against Kronii, laying her head on her chest. For the next few minutes, she let herself getting pampered, too tired to feel embarassed, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Kronii probably fell asleep a little after, or before, she coudn't remember, but one thing she was sure of was that neither of them released their embrace that night.
**
Needless to say, Fauna missed the wake up call and forgot to send a message in the group chat.