Chapter Text
“Haeh..?”
Shiori doesn’t know how many times she’s heard Mococo say that in the past hour. She giggles as she looks around, rummaging through shelves for any sort of hint they could use. Bijou thought it would be a funny idea to go to an escape room with all of Advent. And while Shiori isn’t so opposed–it is pretty funny–they’ve been stuck brute forcing for the past 10 minutes. They were doing so well, too. This part, however, bites them more than anticipated.
“Moco-chan..”
“My brain hurts.” Both demon dogs sit down on a couch in the room. It was some sort of office themed room: desk, office chair, couch, coffee table, shelves, papers–lots of papers, the whole shebang. Just that it now looked more like a tornado passed through these four walls.
Shiori approaches them with ease, careful with stepping over papers that could be significant to their search. “There there, it’s okay. You two did well in the beginning.”
“But I still want to help!” Mococo whines, and Fuwawa only looks concerned. The poor demon dog’s ears were flat, facing backwards, tail limp against the cushions.
“Okay.” Shiori says smoothly, grabbing a piece she knows they haven’t made a use for yet. “Can you hold onto this? It might get lost if we leave it lying around.” Enthusiastically, Mococo nods, her tail moving lightly behind her. Good. One thing done.
Bijou sat at the corner, a stack of books with possible hints right beside her. She’d been scanning them over and over since earlier, trying to see if anything is highlighted, if there was anything at all. Shiori goes to her with ease, a soft “excuse me” as she walks past Nerissa, who was moving parts according to a pattern on the wall.
“Hey Beebs.”
“Dang it! Where is it??” Bijou’s eyes travelled from one page to another, almost a blur as she tried to find at least something faster. Shiori gives her a light pat on her head, and the gem stops almost immediately. “Shiori?”
“I’ll take it from here.” It was a statement. One Bijou could refuse, but one she won’t win against. It was final. “Go look at something else for now. Maybe you’ll find something if you change scenes a bit.” Bijou sighs dramatically, and the archiver laughs as she drops the book onto the stack. The archiver studies the spines, noting nothing of significance.
Glad she was able to stop Bijou from tiring herself out more with fruitless efforts.
“Fucking finally,” Shiori turns to see Nerissa, arms up in the air as a compartment opens below the mechanism she solved. Inside was an oddly shaped key. “Now let’s get out of here...” The demon turns to the door, only to deflate at the sight of a keypad. Right.
“Fuck.” A soft admission of defeat Shiori doesn’t particularly disagree with.
They needed a combination.
Instead, the archiver opts for encouragement. “Hey good job! Look at you, doing so well.” Shiori points to the drawer behind the desk, “I think we can use that for the thing over there,” and Nerissa was quick to put it, turning as needed. Ah. The sight that greets them makes Nerissa groan. Another puzzle. A mixture of lines and dots, very unlike Morse code. Shiori clicks her tongue.
“Want me to handle it?” Shiori offers, and Nerissa takes it immediately.
“Go for it Shiorin, you got it.” The raven doesn’t go to sit down, however, just hovering around her. The archiver doesn’t really mind.
Her eyes darted everywhere, studying the walls, the floor, the shelves. The items they’ve yet to make sense of. She looks up, blinking as she only now notices a pattern, something that resembles the puzzle they needed to solve. She stares, long and hard, unblinking as she tries to make sense of it.
Where did she see this from again?
Her brow twitches. She’s taking too long. The seconds run along, slithering across her skin as a bead of sweat flows down her cheek. Her lip quivers. She crosses her arms, as if to hide her shaking hands, she doesn’t know.
“Do you still need this, Shiori?” Mococo calls out to her, and she flinches. She looks at her, no words coming out of her mouth. The demon dog stands up to hand it to her, and she mumbles a “thank you”, soft.
Nerissa stands beside her, hands behind her back, a wing hovering over Shiori’s lower back as if to reassure her. She feels her hand around her wrist, and Shiori doesn’t know why she feels a shudder up her spine, one she had to fight. “Shiorin.” The raven’s voice clears her head enough to slow down. “Take a deep breath darling,” the archiver does as told, shaky at best, “then let’s take a step back.”
Shiori blinks at the smile the raven sported, the way her brows creased in concern, the way she stands by her in resignation, knowing she can’t stop the archiver from trying to solve it on her own for them. In trust, knowing Shiori will always be able to get them out.
And who was Shiori to break that trust so lovingly put unto her?
She takes another deep breath, this time with resolve, taking a step back, just as Nerissa told her to.
Hurriedly, she raises the paper, aligning the letters on it with the pattern on the ceiling. “So if I do this, then that aligns, and…” Shiori looks back and forth, muttering under her breath. “AD… ADFGT? What the heck does that mean? Is it supposed to mean something? Lemme just..” She tries it, nothing happens. She laughs, louder than expected. “I don’t get it, but if I… HSNTH? Wait, those are different symbols, they can’t be the same letter. What else could it be?” Shiori takes a deep breath, looking down at the puzzle instead.
“If I move- Can I move this? Oh, I could move these??” Shiori tries random combinations, unfortunately not having any luck. She looks around, checking the other drawers, under the desk. Huh. A lever. She flicks it, mindlessly, and the puzzle jumbles, the letters randomize. “Do I need to flick it multiple times? Per word letter? At the beginning and end of entering it? If I..” She enters the combination from earlier, and flicks the lever once.
A loud click chimes, and a compartment opens on the side of the drawer. A piece of paper. A four-digit code. Shiori sighs. She raises it, the smallest hint of a smile as she shows it to the others.
“Looks like we’re finally going home.”
“Yes!”
“You did it, Shiori!”
The three cheered as they stood, grabbing the note to input it onto the keypad. Shiori stays, unmoving. Nerissa didn’t really move either, save for the wing now resting lightly on her lower back, a soft flutter against her that makes her relax more than she thought. The door clicking open goes unnoticed.
“Great work there Shiorin, I knew you could do it.” The archiver only laughs, slightly defeated, slightly relieved. She moves one of her hands on instinct and only then did she realize Nerrisa’s hand intertwined with hers, relaxed, loose. Still, as if she was hoping Shiori wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. The archiver doesn’t.
“That took a while.” Shiori mutters, voiceless, and just as quickly, she changed what she was about to say. “To be fair, everyone helped,” She looks up at Nerissa, sweet and patient Nerissa. For a moment, it was like before, like she couldn’t handle the look that was being given back to her. And she can’t. Still, she endures, because who was Shiori not to? “You did too. A lot.”
Shiori smiles as Nerissa’s confidence gets replaced by bashfulness, finding her flushed cheek and nervous chuckle amusing. Looking at Nerissa was a task she can do over and over if she gets to see her like this too. “Thank you… I was just considering blowing the place the fuck up, to be honest.”
Shiori laughs, a snort escaping her instead. “Why didn’t you say so? I would’ve been down. The other girls too, I bet.” She doesn’t know if it was intentional, the way Nerissa immediately puts them back into the banter they were so used to, the way the raven was quick to effectively change the mood.
She feels her other hand get pulled, and she grins a little wider. “Remind me next time then,” Nerissa winks at her, and she laughs as she allows herself to be dragged away. “For now, let’s get out of here.” Shiori couldn’t agree more.
-
-
Shiori felt inexplicably tired. Not from all their festivities throughout the day, no no. Well… that too, she supposed, but this dragging feeling at the back of her mind came from something else. She hovers around the front door, leaning on the doorframe, trying to rack her brain about what could possibly be causing this issue. Did the puzzles hit her this hard?
She came to no conclusion and an even heavier feeling. Giving up, she makes her way inside, unsure on where to head first. The smell of tea invites her over to the kitchen, where she finds Nerissa already moving about. She sees a cup on the table, undisturbed. Was it for her?
Shiori sits down, staring down at the cup, contemplating. Surely, Nerissa wouldn’t mind if she drinks it, right? She can help herself to another cup if this is hers, right? Shiori takes a tentative sip, and sighs, almost melting into her seat.
Maybe she’ll brew more tea for the raven soon to repay her.
In the corner of her eye, she sees Nerissa move about in the kitchen, washing dishes, putting stuff away. The girl was a blur, and Shiori would stand up to help. Really, she would. But the moment she set her foot down to stand, she could already imagine Nerissa was already looking at her with a face that said ‘no.’ And so she doesn’t.
Enjoying this cup of tea doesn’t sound like that bad of an idea either. Shiori takes another sip, feeling the way its warmth travelled down and settles in her stomach. It helps lighten the feeling in her mind. Still, it wasn’t like a migraine. It didn’t hurt, per se. It was just… heavy. Like her lids were about to close on their own without much help, like her body was about to collapse onto the floor with no care in the world. Like her mind just wanted to shut down and yet it can’t. It hasn’t for a long, long while now.
She takes another sip, the feeling returning from the recesses of her mind like she accidentally summoned it. Regrettably. She looks around, taking another sip. Huh. Nerissa was suddenly nowhere to be seen. At least, from where she sat. She finishes up her cup of tea, debating whether to pour herself another.
She does, lingering around the kitchen for just a little while longer before she checks up on the girls. She takes her time, sipping away as she hears rustling and soft thuds across the house. Must be Nerissa. She finishes up, rather faster than before, cleaning the cup, drying it, and putting it away just so it would be less work for the demon later.
Shiori walks to the living room, remembering seeing those three walk past her in a rushed yet slow walk. She sees them all huddled up together, a soft blanket already around them that Shiori doesn’t remember being stored near the couches.
Must be Nerissa.
Shiori’s eyes softened, patting the blanket as she raised it a bit higher, tucking them in. She looks around. Oh. Their things were put away. That must’ve been Nerissa too.
Dandelions. Shiori felt like a thousand dandelions just set off into the wind inside her, floating without a care in the world. She’s bound to start sneezing if she were allergic to the way Nerissa loved and cared for them deeply.
She makes her way upstairs, checking for where Nerissa could be. She notices the door to her own room, slightly ajar, light slipping through the gap. Slowly, she makes her way there, hoping her door would stay silent and not give her away.
There she is. Shiori thought she’d be more surprised. She knew she would’ve been back then. Knew she would turn around, check the door, quirk a brow just for theatrics. Knew how she would’ve said she took a wrong turn somewhere, how she would’ve attempted to take her leave just to tease the demon who sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for her. Clearly waiting just for her.
But that was back then. Now though… Nerissa was still waiting for her.
Nerissa relaxes, her smile widening at the sight of the archiver. But it’s different.
There she is.
“Hey.” Shiori says, as smoothly as she could. “Sorry I didn’t help you with the things we had.” Instead, Nerissa only shakes her head, patting the spot next to her as if the space was hers to govern.
“Don’t even mention it, Shiorin. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. Thank you, though.”
And at that moment, Shiori didn’t mind.
The archiver plops down, playful, though obviously tired. “Maybe next time, we can help each other out.” Shiori notices her pat her lap, and she pauses visibly. She already feels herself sink into the mattress, unsure if she should take the invitation, but her mind had other ideas. Almost immediately, she accepts, shuffling to lay down on Nerissa’s lap.
She would’ve looked at everything else but the raven just now. Would’ve, but instead she looks up at her, and she sees cheeks dusted pink, her grateful smile, glad Shiori even accepted the offer. Feels her hand brush her bangs to the side, feels her brush her locks away, just patting her head lazily.
Suddenly, she doesn’t feel so heavy anymore.
But the silence is loud, deafening. In the back of her mind, the light whirring of magic chains circling her were grinding louder, the thick air of the Cell invaded her lungs, and her limbs lay unmoving for who knows how long.
A tap to her cheek grounds her, making her blink as fingers lightly pinch and pull on her skin. She whines a little. “Mmh.. Reese?”
“Welcome back.” Shiori sucks in a breath. If Nerissa’s back allowed her, she would’ve received a kiss to her forehead. Kisses. And it’s still too quiet. “Where’d you go darling?”
“Back.” Shiori had the courage to admit it. Her defenses were down, lower than she expected it to be recently. Nerissa hums, and Shiori closes her eyes. It wasn’t hard to pinpoint what she was referring to. “It’s too quiet,” Shiori’s voice feels lodged in her throat, suddenly shy, suddenly hoping Nerissa would just read her instead.
She’s been too good at that lately.
“Do you want me to play something? I can grab my phone?” Except Nerissa always liked hearing what she wanted. Except the raven always wanted to hear her reassurance, that what she was doing was wanted. Except she never imposed, never reached too far.
“Could you… sing? If that’s okay?”
“Just for you.”
Just for me…
Shiori hides as she turns, facing Nerissa’s stomach instead. The raven’s hand was rhythmic as it brushed through her hair. The other on her face, the pad of her finger lightly smoothing out the creases on her forehead, the corner of her eyes, her cheek, the bridge of her nose–her face scrunches but she relaxes almost immediately after, her ear. She shakes, involuntarily. Ah.
A giggle interrupts the melody Nerissa was humming and Shiori plays aloof, plays indifferent, even if she knows her ear is reddening by the second. Instead, Nerissa says nothing, moving to rest her hand on her side, near Shiori’s, and continues on humming like she didn’t just find something she’ll tease the archiver with for the next few days and more.
Shiori moves her hand, holding Nerissa’s, slipping under it with ease. Oh. And it was so, so easy to just fall asleep and stay. And she almost does.
But who was Shiori to let Nerissa have the final say?
“I love you.” She hears her sputter, pausing. Shiori doesn’t particularly mind, not when her own heart was loud enough, relaxed but loud, not when she felt Nerissa’s heart rate on her wrist quicken. Before she could hear the raven’s response, sleep took her just in time.
Or maybe not.
Distant as her sleep-driven mind perceived, she still heard it clearly. “Love you too Shiorin.”
-
-
Shiori wakes up reinvigorated. Well… As reinvigorated as someone who just woke up is. She finds herself wrapped in something–someone to be more accurate. Nerissa’s arm rested atop her waist, wings lazily sprawled behind her. Their legs somehow tangled in a mess Shiori was quick to get out of.
Huh.
She doesn’t remember this part.
Still, she gets up, not without patting Nerissa’s arm with a soft apology as the demon stirs but doesn’t wake up. She watches her hand look for something as it travels across the sheets, grabbing her pillow and hugging it, burying her face with a slightly deep inhale. Shiori laughs, soundless, more air than anything. Nerissa can be cute when she doesn’t realize, huh?
She makes her way to the kitchen, uncaring. She needs to do a final check around the house, make sure everything was closed and locked for the night. She finds that the other three had gone to the kitchen too, cooking themselves a midnight meal.
They all paused, eyes wide like a deer in headlights as Shiori walked into the kitchen with ease. It barely took a second before Fuwawa laughs, Mococo cackles, and Bijou wheezes. Shiori was only confused at best.
“Shiori-” Bijou snickers, “DId you get attacked or something?”
“What?” Shiori laughs, confused. What’s going on?
“You look like polka dots!” The twins exclaimed at the same time, and Shiori only furrows her brows at them. She reaches a hand to her face, not feeling any sort of itchiness or anything that would…
She looks at her hand. A red stain, not unlike Nerissa’s lipstick from earlier today, smeared across her fingertips. Oh. Shiori reddens to almost the same shade.
“I trust that you girls got everything covered?” The twins playfully give her a salute while Bijou waves her off. “I’ll go clean up, I guess.” Shiori mumbles as she walks back to her room to get a change of clothes. Nerissa was still asleep.
Hm.
An idea passes and Shiori waves it off just as quickly. Nah. She goes to the bathroom, flushing further as she sees her reflection in the mirror. Lipstick stains scattered on her forehead, her cheeks, the corner of her lip, her jaw, her temple. Everywhere. She washes up quickly, changing just as fast.
The idea passes again. Shiori reddens.
Nope. Not for now. Not for a very long while. Instead, as Shiori sneaks back into her own sheets, replacing the offending pillow in the raven’s arms, noticing how Nerissa, bare of any makeup and in sleepwear, sleeps soundly, the archiver sighs as she leans closer. No matter.
She expected the barrage of kisses anyway.
For now, Shiori plants a small peck on her nose. Maybe soon, she’ll be able to repay her tenfold.
