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“Everypony! Hear me out! I’ve got a great idea!!”
“Gigi, no–”
“I didn’t even say anything??”
Gigi gasps in faux annoyance, clutching her heart. Cecilia almost snorts, throwing her head back. She puts aside her work in progress; another otomo, away to the corner of the coffee table, where Raora’s unfinished cup of coffee lay untouched. Motioning to Gigi to continue her grand announcement, she leans into the plush sofa.
“Okay, go on, Sir Gonathan with a G. I’m listening.”
“Ahem! I–”
Gigi’s announcement gets cut off yet again by a loud yawn. Raora walks into the room, arms stretched above her head. Groggily walking to the coffee table, she flashes a tired smile Gigi’s way, and she takes a sip off her coffee mug.
“Sorry, Gigi. You can talk now!” Raora apologises, a newfound energy bubbling behind her voice.
Gigi coughs into her fist. “Well, if I could say it again! Everyone! I propose a sleepover! Yaay!!”
The gremlin claps excitedly, grinning ear to ear. Raora’s ears perk up, and her tail starts wagging, swaying slowly side to side.
“That’s a great idea! We can all sleep in Liz’s room!”
Cecilia nods, the key on her head spinning slightly faster than usual. “Yeah! So you can starfish on half the bed!”
“Huh?? I don’t take up that much space!” Gigi retorts, tapping her heels. “Besides, Liz’s bed is so big it can fit all four of us!”
“What’s this about sleeping on my bed?”
Elizabeth leans on the doorway, clad in a loose blouse, knee-length pants and an extra raised eyebrow. Gigi’s tail swishes nervously.
“What do you say about throwing a big Justice sleepover party? Sounds fun, right?” Gigi says, finally.
Cecilia was the first to back her up. “Please, Elizabeth! We’re free today, anyway!”
Elizabeth hums, not entirely convinced.
“I’ll even bring mint chocolate to put in the snack pile! Just for tonight?” Raora adds, smiling sweetly.
Elizabeth sighs and finally relents. “I suppose a little party is in order after that busy week.”
Cheers erupt from the other three inhabitants of the room, and the Scarlet Queen chuckles endearingly. Gigi leans over for a high-five with Cecilia, who drags Raora in for a very wonky hug. The distant sound of a bell is heard, signifying the passing of midday. Elizabeth looks out the window and back towards the other three, and fishes her phone out from her pocket.
“How about some takeout? Anyone alright with pizza?”
“As long as it has pineapple!” Gigi says.
Raora coughs, eyeballing Gigi with the intent to kill. “Basta! No pineapple!”
…
Cecilia opens the door to Raora, Gigi and a lot of bags.
“Food. Chips, instant mac-n-cheese, instant noodles, essential oils, face masks, moisturiser, the obligatory mint chocolate, uhh. Juice? Coffee grounds. Some candy and gummies. And dessert, I guess?” Gigi says before Cecilia can even say anything. “Oh, and beer. Can’t forget beer.”
“...We’re eating all that tonight?” Cecilia opts to say, squinting at the bags. She sidesteps away from the entrance to make way for the two to come in.
Raora comes in first, bringing most of the bags with her. “I bought some of these to restock! We’re running out of coffee, so I bought more.” She disappears behind the corner, but pops up again. “By the way, the skincare stuff is for girls’ night!”
Cecilia and Gigi watch as the last of the pink fluff disappears behind the walls. The automaton moves to look at her much shorter friend, and pulls her in.
“Why’d you stand there for? It’s literally so cold outside.”
Gigi grins, a mischievous glint in her eye. Cecilia notices, and lightly slaps the top of the gremlin’s head, earning herself a little squeak. “No saying weird stuff, Gigi. I may be an automaton, but I’m built with temperature receptors.”
“Aw man. I was about to say a robot joke, too.”
“Cecilia! Gigi! Can you help me with the bowls?” Raora’s voice echoes from the further hall to their right.
Gigi breaks into a run without prior notice, leaving Cecilia to tail behind and keep up. They run across Elizabeth, who gracefully evades the gremlin’s blazing bath with a spin and sidestep. She scoffs and shakes her head, leaving the corridor with a last “No running in the corridors!” towards her room as both Gigi and Cecilia snicker from the remark.
“She’s such a mom.”
“Agreed.”
They enter the kitchen to Raora humming to a tune of nothing, sorting out her items into some bowls and into the cupboards and drawers. Her tail sways lightly as she hums, and her ears perk up as she hears them coming in.
“Oh! Can you put the chocolate and gummies in the pink bowl over there? And grab the cups for me, please? They’re in the cupboard over there.”
The panther points to a section of the cupboard above Gigi’s head, where a bunch of glass cups sat upside-down. The gremlin tries reaching out for it, missing by a lot. She stretches herself, managing to miss the cups by a hair. Gigi puffs, sighing, and, seeming struck by a brilliant idea, immediately turns to look at her automaton friend.
“CC. Give me an arm?”
Cecilia raises an eyebrow. “An arm? You mean my. My literal arm?”
“Yeah!”
Raora’s ears flick, intently listening to the banter. “Gigi, what–”
She stops mid-sentence upon witnessing Cecilia Immergreen casually detaching her whole arm from the rest of her body and handing it to Gigi, who manages to fit in a small ‘thank you’ as she manages to reach four of the glass cups from a previously inaccessible area of the cupboard with said arm.
Gigi puts down the cups in a safer place and hands the arm back to Cecilia, who fits in back in like it wasn’t just severed from her shoulders just a second ago. Raora could only blink, deciding to open the box of cookies and pour them into a bowl.
They finished the food preparations soon enough, but there were too many things for three to bring.
“I don’t think we can bring this much all in one go. We also need to tell Liz we’re invading her room.” Cecilia says, struggling to bring two big bowls on her arms.
Raora immediately dashed off in the direction of Elizabeth’s room, leaving the other two with a “I’ll see if she’s ready!”. She bounces up the stairs and bounds into the residential area’s corridors, slowing into a walk as she approaches a deep oak door with a wooden sign. Written in neat and cursive scarlet ink read ‘Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame’, with a rose carving on the corner.
Raora knocks.
The door is opened seconds later by a slightly-dishevelled-looking Elizabeth, clad in striped nightshirt that went down to her ankles.
“Sorry, who– ah. Raora! Here for the sleepover? Let me tidy up a little bit in here for a minute. I’ll call you up when I’m ready?”
“..Oh, yeah! That’s fine! We can wait a little bit!” Raora says, finally, taking great effort not to mention her peculiar getup.
Elizabeth sends her kitty off with a smile as she closes the door, and Raora is left blinking, slightly dumbfounded at her newest revelation. She hears the squeak and proceeds to spot Gigi and Cecilia heaving up a wheelbarrow up the stairs and dropping it gently onto the floor as they enter the corridor.
“So we found a way to bring all of that up,” Gigi says, in between laboured breaths.
“Yeah, aren’t we smart?” Cecilia follows up with a thumbs up, the other arm holding onto the edge of the wheelbarrow for dear life.
“Dios Mio,” Raora laughs, “You guys should go take a break first. Actually, we should change and take our stuff. Liz is still tidying up.”
Gigi nods, having slightly recovered. She jogs over to her room.“I’ll get my toothbrush!” She says, the door closing with a snap.
“I will also get my toothbrush. And maybe change to something more comfortable.” Cecilia says, walking over to her room just slightly farther to the left across Gigi’s.
Raora’s tail wags, and she pads towards her own room in the left-most corner: the spot closest to the garden, and where the birds like to perch.
They all meet back in front of Elizabeth’s door, and the first thing Gigi does is comment on Cecilia’s t-shirt.
“CC, what is that on your t-shirt? A Capybara? In a car?”
“Correct. It’s a capybara driving a car. Indeed!” Cecilia replies, proudly showing off her shirt. “You, on the other hand, prefer to wear a tank top instead of something as cool as this.”
“What?? Tank tops are comfy! I prioritise my own comfiness! Can’t be you.” Gigi retorts, crossing her arms with a loud harrumph.
“I do prioritise my own comfort, thank you very much. Let’s all be like Raora, shall we? She’s wearing a nice dress. Very demure, very cutesy, very mindful.”
Raora giggles upon Cecilia’s very peculiar way of description. “That’s very nice of you, Cecilia, but I think what I’m wearing is very normal! You should see what Elizabeth’s wearing.”
Speak of the Queen, and She will come. Elizabeth opens the door wide open.
“The room’s tidier now, you all can come in. I see that you’ve brought everything in a wheelbarrow.”
Cecilia and Gigi look at each other, then at Elizabeth, then at Raora, and back at Elizabeth, and at each other again.
“I see what you mean, Raora.” Cecilia nods sagely.
“I understand.” Gigi adds, stroking her imaginary beard.
Elizabeth chuckles, moving herself towards the wheelbarrow full of knick-knacks to push it into her room.
“I don’t see any problem with wearing a nightshirt to bed, sweetheart. I find it very pleasant to wear.” She says, passing through the door into her room, and starts to unload all the items inside and onto the top of the small table on the middle of the floor.
Gigi and Cecilia share a giggle before immediately cannonballing straight into the beanbags conveniently placed near the edge of Elizabeth’s bedside. Raora flinches slightly, ears flicking quickly, and brings the door into a close behind her, choosing to snuggle with one of Elizabeth’s small blankets.
Scarlet eyes flicker towards Yellow, Mint and Pink, and Elizabeth chuckles softly, placing the last of the skincare products into a tidier container on the floor beside the TV. “Careful with the food, please. Cleaning off a carpeted floor is tedious, you know.”
Gigi freezes, chewing her chips with a sudden carefulness, looking at everything but the Scarlet Queen. Cecilia laughs, popping a piece of gummy worm into her mouth. She pats the gremlin’s shoulder, and Gigi shudders, blinking at twice the speed.
“Uhh. I definitely won’t do that. Sorry queen.” Gigi says after a dramatic gulp. The can of soda stays upright, thankfully. Raora eyes it carefully with interest.
“Apology taken, miss Gigi Murin.” Elizabeth recites, with an equal amount of gusto.
Raora starts crawling on the floor, slinking towards the can of beer sitting in the middle of the floor, where all the board games are. With as little movement from her bean bag as possible, she grabs the 5% alcohol beer can and retreats back into her nice space, opening the can with a loud crack and a satisfied sigh. Her ears flick briefly as the gas sizzles out.
“Let’s get some games, shall we? Mario Kart, anyone?” Cecilia says, getting up and reaching for the pile of game chips. She starts rummaging through the pile, and eventually pulls out one that says ‘Mario Kart 8’.
“We’re pulling out the Mario Kart this early, CC? Why don’t you take me out for a DanceDance Revolution first?” Gigi quips, tail swishing amusedly.
“Did I ask, Gigi?” The automaton slots the chip in, and turns on all the controllers. “I’m gonna floor you.”
“Ooh, okay. Try me.”
Raora laughs when the gremlin starts waggling her eyebrows. She freezes when she feels her hair being pulled up gently. Just momentarily, at least. It’s a comfortable type of touch that Raora doesn’t mind.
“Lizzz. Tell me when you do that next time, please?”
The queen giggles sweetly, tying up the panther’s hair into a messy bun. “Of course. Apologies. Do you want me to apply the face lotion on you too? While Ceci’s still setting up the game?”
Raora’s tail waves languidly, and she shakes her head. “No, it's okay. I can do it myself! Do you want me to tie your hair up?”
“It’s quite alright, Raora. Thank you for offering.” Elizabeth says, lips quirking up into a little smile before she moves her attention to Gigi, who is fussing over the racemap options.
“Why can’t we do the one with Dolphin Shoals on it? That’s my favourite map!”
“That map is too easy for you. I need you to suffer and die, Gigi.” Cecilia answers, nonchalant. Ignoring the gremlin’s dramatic gasping, she moves to see the other map options. “Raora, Liz, is there any map you guys prefer?”
“Nah! You can pick anything! We both wouldn’t mind, I think.” Raora pipes up, taking one controller from the floor.
“Okay! I’m picking the Hyrule Castle map.”
“Oh. That one’s okay too.” Gigi grins, shaking her controller. “I’m P2, by the way!”
“I’m P3!” Raora exclaims. “The green cursor is me!”
“I suppose I’m P4, then. Yellow cursor, I think.” Elizabeth says, finally taking the last controller off the ground. She hums idly. “-Don’t think I’m going to be very good at this.”
“Ehh, it’s fine. It’s all fun and games in the end,” Cecilia answers, sitting back down on her beanbag next to Gigi. “The competition is between me and Gigi, anyway, right?”
“Nah, I’d win!” Raora cuts in, a semblance of a giggle bubbling in at the back of her throat. Her ears flick again, and she zeroes in at the screen.
Gigi shudders. “CC, she’s locked in. Can we clutch this?”
“Who’s we?”
“Hey! You’re so mean to me…”
Gigi playfully bumps her shoulders against the automaton, and Cecilia chortles. “Sorry, sorry. It’s us against Raora, huh? Sure.”
Raora whines, and turns to look at Elizabeth. Liz almost flinches with how pleading the panther’s face looked.
“Liz. Pretty please? They’re ganging up on me!” Raora pleads, blinking cutely.
Elizabeth chuckles, shaking her head in mock exasperation. “Oh, alright. I doubt I’ll be of much help, but I’ll try my best.”
“Lizzz!!! Ti voglio bene!”
Raora smiles widely, and Elizabeth can’t help but give her a smile in return.
“Are we done with our customisations, guys? Or do we need more time?” Cecilia’s voice breaks through the mould.
“Sorry, just a minute,” Elizabeth says, in reply.
They start in Wario’s Gold mine. The chaos emerges as Gigi throws a red shell directly at Cecilia. Raora zooms past both by the grace of a mushroom, and gets knocked over by a banana Elizabeth threw on the ground. By the third round, Cecilia clinches first by a hair as Gigi gets downed by a green shell that the automaton threw backwards. Raora clutches 4th as an npc whizzes past the finish line as a bullet, and Elizabeth runs past the line at 8th place after everyone else.
Cecilia cheers loudly, punching her fist in the air. “Woo! Let’s goooo!!”
“I’m gonna get you next time, I swear!!” Gigi exclaims, her laugh half a chortle and a cackle.
“We’ll get them, promise!” Raora grins at Elizabeth, who nods silently, waiting for the map to load.
Second came Rainbow Road. Liz ends up acing this one, moving up the ranks by a great mile as she passes by Cecilia, who got hit in the bomb blast alongside the gremlin perpetrator, and apologises to Raora as she bumps into her car and zooms off past the finish line on first.
Third came Ice Ice Outpost, and Raora wins by a mile, mercilessly stunning Gigi with a Piranha plant. Cecilia ends up last as she falls off the map, with Elizabeth finishing off at 5th.
Last came the Hyrule Circuit, the theme of the Cup itself. Gigi cracks her knuckles and grins at the screen.
“Raora, prepare to lose!” The gremlin declares.
So far, the leaderboard across the three matches had ended up with Raora in second, Cecilia behind in third, Gigi in fourth, and Elizabeth in sixth. The last match will change the leaderboard, and Gigi is aiming to knock her panther friend a few ranks down.
“Nah, I’d win.” Raora says, strangely serious.
True to her word, the panther whizzes past the gremlin with a final blue shell, and reaches the finish line as Gigi screams, the sheer volume of her voice making even Cecilia Immergreen flinch and the flame of the Scarlet queen flicker briefly. Raora cheers, belting out her signature ‘Rao~!!!’ and dancing a little jig. She clapped for her own achievements as her leaderboard position rose to first.
“Haha! I told you I’d win!” The panther grins cheekily, hugging the nearest person to her. This person just so happens to be Elizabeth, and the queen blinks with a certain fatigue that comes in tandem with motion sickness. She laughs weakly, and lays her head down on Raora’s shoulder.
Gigi shakes her fist at Raora with a great amount of exaggeration.
“You win today, but not on the 21st night of September! You will remember last year.”
“I think we should do something else. Liz looks like she’s dying.” Cecilia cuts in, turning off the TV. “We’re playing Monopoly next.”
Liz hums, gravelly and low. Raora’s tail wraps around her, acting as a sort of safety in case the queen falls over.
“Just a moment. I need a little bit of shut-eye.”
The initially calm atmosphere of the monopoly game goes to pot just five minutes in, with Gigi getting a mortgage on Bow Street. Elizabeth buys out all the blues, getting paid the moment Cecilia lands on Park Lane. Raora gets stuck in jail, and watches in amusement as Cecilia lands on the income tax box, parting with half of her money. As expected, the automaton is the first to file for bankruptcy at, quote, the Central Murin Bank, as Gigi calls it. Raora runs out of money to the Bloodflame-owned Leicester Square, and Gigi Murin, after an unfortunate altercation with the chance card, loses all her money to the electricity bill. Elizabeth remains as the sole winner with Three Hundred to her name.
“Of course the Queen wins, what did we even expect?” Cecilia says, ever-calculating. “Save the money for the buildings is the way, I guess.”
Gigi guffaws, slapping the carpet and rolling on the floor. “I lost to the electricity bill. The damn electricity bill. I can’t.”
Raora chuffs, turning to stare at Elizabeth with eyes so razor-sharp one would almost believe that her God Eyes would activate. “Watch your back next time, I’m stealing all your money!”
The Scarlet Queen laughs, prideful and low. The hairs on Raora’s tail stand on end, and she shudders a little. “I’d like to see you try, kitty.”
Raora squeaks, scrambling in a random direction, and Elizabeth chuckles, light and jocular. Gigi and Cecilia look at each other and nod, taking it upon themselves to set up for the next round.
Cecilia goes head to head with Elizabeth by the next round. Gigi drops out first, the bankruptcy filed into the newly-named Bank Chatinni, and Raora buys out all the reds. Cecilia lands on Strand, and concedes her last few hundred pounds to the panther, placing her second just behind the Queen. Elizabeth wins again, earning another two hundred-eighty from Raora’s landing on Picadilly.
“Oh, what. How.” Cecilia remarks, clearly baffled.
“Two games in a row? That’s our tax collector, alright!” Gigi quips, getting a rightfully-earned stare from Elizabeth.
“I don’t collect tax! The Rosarians simply insist!”
“Oh, really? Then what’s all the money for?”
Elizabeth scoffs. “Pah! You wouldn’t know, would you?”
A second of silence passes, awkward and riddled with explosive tension. It all releases at once as the two laugh, eyes crinkling into half-moons.
Raora hums, and all eyes are on her at once. She doesn’t seem alarmed in the slightest, fishing out a stack of cards from the games basket. “Anyone want to play Poker?”
Gambling on poker does not seem like a good idea at all for Justice. By the third game, Gigi has been stacking at least twenty pieces of candy. Cecilia is losing all her candies by a mile, and she has less than ten left. Raora pulls off a full house, and brings home the pot, earning herself 6 candies. Elizabeth plays it safe, not losing nor earning too much.
“Gigi, you’re not cheating, are you?”
“Oh Gods no. Why would I even? Do you not trust me, Thinker?” Gigi answers, revealing a straight. “I wouldn’t do that. Not in front of Liz.”
Elizabeth hums, putting down three-of-a-kind. “I hope so. Ceci looks like she’s about to explode.”
Raora hisses, placing another three-of-a-kind. Her tail flicks erratically, and she stares at the back of the automaton’s unopened cards, an evident anticipation shining through her eyes. Cecilia finally reveals her cards, revealing a flush, putting her ahead of Gigi and claiming for herself half of the gremlin’s fortune.
The automaton cheers. Putting her hard-earned candies into her candy box, she shoots a smug look towards Gigi.
Eat that, sucker, she’s saying. Gigi frowns, growling at the automaton like a dog to a dog.
“That’s enough– It’s getting late.” Elizabeth declares, tidying up all the cards into a proper stack and putting it back into its case. “We should tidy up and get ready for bed.”
Raora yawns, fangs showing briefly, and gets up. She starts moving the table to the corner. Gigi nods, reluctant, but for the sake of everyone else, she helps, taking all the food waste down to the compost bin outside the garden with Cecilia.
Elizabeth gave one last took to the half-moon outside her window and to the garden below. Her hands pull on the curtains, but before she could close them entirely, she spots Cecilia’s key stop, watching the automaton collapse in real time. Immediately she leaves, darting for the door.
“Liz–?”
“Ceci’s off. Collapsed in the garden.”
Raora spits the toothpaste foam in her mouth and pounces out the door, running at the speed of a hunter. She leaps off the railing, landing a floor down on her feet and makes a beeline for the garden entrance. Elizabeth tails behind, using the rails to gain as much speed as she can while running down the stairs with as much effort as she can without tripping on her nightshirt.
When she arrives at the garden, Raora is already helping the struggling Gigi up from being flattened by Cecilia’s motionless body.
“I realised too late that her key was slowing down– that scared the hell outta me!” Gigi explains, trying to wind up the automaton’s key.
“Don’t wind it up too much, she won’t be able to sleep if you do.” Elizabeth remarks, entering the garden. She realises a little later that none of them were wearing any shoes, but she ignores that thought in favour of Cecilia.
The automaton wakes up with a whirr, blinking as her life re-enters her body. Everyone else heaves a little sigh of relief. Cecilia’s key spins slowly, telltale evidence of creeping fatigue.
“Oh, you’re all here. Did I drop dead?”
Raora grins nervously. “Uhh. Sort of. You’re back, though!”
Gigi hugs Cecilia by her waist, face buried into her side. Cecilia giggles a little, putting an arm around her back.
“You’re acting like I actually died, Gigi.”
“What if you actually shut down forever, then? Then what? How am I supposed to know when that would happen?” Gigi answers, strangely resolute. Her voice wavers, and it’s so quiet that if Cecilia weren’t so close to her she wouldn’t be able to hear it.
Cecilia pauses momentarily, recovering.
“I’ll be sure to say a proper goodbye to you before I really die, then.” She says. Cecilia drops to kneel, and hugs the gremlin the proper way. Gigi smiles a little, feeling a little bit more comfort from the automaton’s reassurance.
Raora and Elizabeth watch on from the door, waiting patiently for the two to break out of their momentary reverie. The panther glances at the queen, and their eyes meet, scarlet to yellow. They laugh.
“Okay, sleep time!” They hear Gigi exclaim, as she drags Cecilia back into the house and up the stairs. They follow suit.
Raora finishes preparations first. She waits on the carpeted floor, watching as Gigi cannonballs onto the bed like an armadillo. The bed creaks a little, and Raora’s ears flatten momentarily. Cecilia and Elizabeth walk out of the bathroom in a more dignified manner as opposed to Gigi’s earlier endeavour.
“You’re lucky the bed frame is strong, Gigi. I’ll be making you pay for it if it breaks.” Elizabeth quips.
“Eh, it’s fine.” Gigi replies, laying on the corner closest to the window. “My spot!”
Cecilia climbs onto the bed, taking the spot next to Gigi, near the middle. Her key slows into a stop once more, and with a last goodnight she leaves, not amongst the flowers, but in her safe space. Raora crawls on, and she tucks in both Cecilia and Gigi comfortably into the blanket, whispering to the both of them a quiet Buona notte. She sits on the bed and waits for Elizabeth, who attempts to bring Thorn into the bed.
Both Raora and Gigi, who woke up from the slight clang of Thorn being lifted off the stand, immediately stared daggers at the queen like she committed heresy.
“Liz! No sword on the bed! That’s dangerous!?” Raora squeaked, extremely alarmed.
“Liz, what the fuck?! No Thorn on the bed! He’s a hazard!” Gigi adds.
Elizabeth grunts, a reluctant affirmation, and puts Thorn back into his stand. She flexes her fingers, feeling how light it is without her sword, and balls it into a fist and releases it, along with a sigh. Nodding slowly she walks to the light switch, looking back toward the two. A silent question they all understand. The lights switch off, leaving the flame as the only light source. Elizabeth climbs onto the bed, finally.
Gigi says her goodnights and snuggles into the pillow, facing the window, protecting Cecilia’s silent and unmoving body. Her tail stays under the automaton’s body, a silent affirmation that yes, I’m here, with you, you’re safe. Elizabeth makes herself comfortable on her side of the bed, closest to the door. Raora hasn’t slept yet. Elizabeth knows this, and leaves an arm open with a tired smile. Raora smiles too, and she gladly takes the invitation, snuggling into the queen’s side. The end of her tail lays on the edge of Gigi’s knees, light and soft. A little kiss, light and feathery, is placed on the crown of the panther’s head, and at last, they all drift into peaceful sleep.