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Chi didn’t typically stay up this late (that was more of Tsuki’s thing). But it was a Friday and she had planned to binge watch a new series, so she had to get snacks. That meant that she was now at Yori’s.
Chi grabbed a handful of carrot chip bags (and would’ve said goodbye to Paige if she weren’t at a summer festival practice with Tsuki at the lounge) and hopped down the stairs. She could barely contain her excitement for her solo binge watch.
When Chi made it downstairs, she was met with Elfie, who was nose-deep in a book. When she put her chips down on the counter, Chi could see Elfie get knocked out of the book’s immersion and back into reality.
Elfie put down the book and sighed. “Sorry I didn’t notice you immediately.”
“No, no! It’s okay. I love that book, so I get it,” Chi said. She wasn’t lying, either. She really did read that book. In fact, it was on one of her many bookshelves back at home. “To My Dearly Detested” was such a great read that Chi had already reread it five times (and counting).
Elfie’s eyes widened slightly. “Really?”
“Yeah, I really liked it, but I won’t say anything so I won’t spoil it for you,” Chi said.
“Thanks,” Elfie smiled softly. Chi loved when she did that. Elfie didn’t smile often, not as much as Tsuki or Paige did, but when she did, Chi felt like the whole room lit up. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. Elfie’s smile was awkward, but genuine, not bright and cheery, but it was still all the same for Chi.
Elfie looked at the chips. “Restocking your stash, I assume?”
“Yep! I’m gonna be watching a new series, so I’m stocking up on snacks for tonight,” Chi said.
“Nice, nice. Well,” Elfie calculated the last of her items and put them in a brown paper bag, stapling the receipt to the top to seal everything, “I hope you enjoy your-”
Chi didn’t have any time to respond. The lights that hung overhead and the other miscellaneous lamps suddenly flickered. “Wha-”
She shrieked. The lights abruptly turned off and darkness enveloped them like an uninviting hug.
Chi’s fear of the dark wasn’t necessarily common knowledge, and only Tsuki and Moca really knew about it. And while Moca liked to tease her about it every now and then, they, very sweetly, did help her through brownouts and blackouts.
But they weren’t there, and Chi was stuck in a pitch black store where the displayed furniture looked like large monsters and the creaking floorboards made her want to die.
“Chi? Are you alright?” Elfie’s voice sounded through the dark room. Chi felt something touch her shoulder and she squeaked. “Shoot, I’m sorry. That was me.”
“It’s- It’s okay. Don’t worry,” Chi said. She wasn’t too focused on that, though, as her full attention was directed at not shaking in the dark.
“You’re shaking, Chi. Are you sure?” Elfie said. That broke Chi out of her anxious trance.
“How did you know I was shaking?” Elfie wasn’t touching her, and it was too dark to see.
“Night vision,” Elfie said. “I’m a possum.”
“Ah.” That made sense.
“Yeah. But, uh, are you afraid of the dark or something?” Elfie said.
“Er, yeah…” Chi didn’t have it in her to lie, because what was she supposed to say? Elfie could probably see her terrified expression in the dark, and Chi didn’t even know where she was. Her voice seemed to be everywhere all at once, engulfing her like an ominous yet soothing balm. But, even so, Chi still felt incredibly uneasy considering that she still couldn’t see, and Elfie was probably watching her panic like an idiot.
Chi was knocked out of her trance when she heard a loud thump from somewhere in the store. She flinched hard, stumbling back very slightly.
“Woah,” Elfie said. Chi could hear her voice from behind her. “You’re shaking a lot.” A pause. “Do you need me to help?”
“Help?” Chi whispered. She could barely hear herself with how loud the ringing in her ears were. “How?”
“Well..” Elfie paused. “Do you want, uh, a hug?”
Chi froze. A hug? From Elfie of all people?
Ever since Elfie started working at Yori’s store during the night shifts to give the old man a break, Chi learned very few things about her (all of which she got from Tsuki). One of which was that she wasn’t touchy.
After Tsuki had said that to her and Moca, Chi had made a point not to touch her casually as to not scare her off. Elfie was already a pretty closed off person, and Chi didn’t want to make being friends with her any more difficult. In a way, Chi was sort of jealous that Paige was able to make conversation with Elfie so quickly.
Chi had been wanting to be friends with Elfie for so long, even more when Chi first found out that Elfie was into books. But their sleep schedules were drastically different and Chi always slept quite early, so they never really got to see each other.
So a hug from Elfie? A miracle.
“Yes, please,” Chi said quietly. How embarrassing. She may want to be friends with Elfie, but this felt all too fast.
Chi could hear Elfie move behind her and soft hands wrapped around her waist. She involuntarily sighed in relief, reveling in the warmth of her embrace.
“It’s alright. Just breath,” Elfie whispered into her ear. Chi was curled up into herself and by the time she was full-blown shaking, they were on the ground practically cuddling into each other. Chi listened to Elfie’s voice and shakily breathed out, letting it guide her down to the ground. “That’s good. You’re alright.”
Chi let Elfie continue muttering soft things into her ear. Elfie’s talking helped fill the empty void of space and made the dark seem a tiny bit less scary than it usually was.
Another creak echoed throughout the store. Chi tensed, but Elfie’s arms held her in place and grounded her. Chi blushed at the action, but didn’t protest as it did work. Chi couldn’t fault it if it was helping.
“Is this okay?” Elfie asked, her arms still wrapped around her waist. Chi nodded. How could she not be okay? Elfie was basically spooning Chi while she whispered soft nothings into her ears while they sat in the dark together. If this wasn’t intimate, then Chi wasn’t sure what was.
Chi was embarrassed to admit it, but she wasn’t at all experienced in any sort of romantic intimacy despite being an avid romance reader. When Moca confronted her about it after asking for romance advice, she told her they were not the same thing. She could enjoy romance, just from afar.
So all of the touchy feelings that were bouncing around in her chest were almost too much. Almost.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this,” Elfie said out of nowhere. “To be honest, I’ve been wanting to do this for some time now.”
Chi tensed, her cheeks feeling hot. “What?”
“I don’t mean to sound, uh, weird or anything. It’s just- I’ve been meaning to ask you if you wanted to, I don’t know, go out sometime?”
“What?”
“Is this too much?” Chi could feel Elfie start to panic. “I’m sorry. I’ll just-”
Chi felt Elfie begin to get up from where they were sitting, but she quickly gripped onto Elfie’s wrist. “No! I mean. No. Please. Please don’t leave.”
Chi would’ve been a bit more embarrassed about begging, and she would probably go back home to overthink about it later, but she couldn’t care less at the moment. She bit the inside of her cheek, hoping that Elfie wouldn’t be turned off by this moment.
“You… Don't want me to leave?” Elfie said. She was frozen in place, Chi noticed. Her grip on Elfie’s wrist loosened as she nodded.
Chi’s reasoning was partly because she didn’t want to be left alone in the dark, but all because she was comfortable in Elfie’s arms. She didn’t want the moment to end, and she couldn’t imagine going back to what they were before; practically strangers.
Elfie slowly sat back down and her hands found their way back around Chi’s waist, which Chi happily allowed. She heard a shaky breath behind her, but decided not to say anything.
They were silent for another moment before Chi spoke up. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“I don’t know. This.”
“This?”
“Yeah. I mean, you did say that you wanted to go out sometime. And I’m free basically whenever. So why not? We could get to know each other better and it would be a fun thing for us to do.”
Elfie was silent for a moment. She could feel Elfie’s arms tighten around her. Chi found Elfie’s hands and entwined them with her own and gave them a squeeze, a quiet act to push her.
“Are you sure?”
“I could not be more sure about this than anything,” Chi said. She didn’t even know where she pulled those words from (later she remembers. It was from a book she read a few nights prior). She never thought of herself as a romantic before, but she could get used to it if it meant being able to spend more time with Elfie.
Elfie hummed before resting her head in the crook of Chi’s neck. With their height difference, it was a bit of an odd position, but otherwise comfortable and Chi wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chi thought. The lights would eventually have to come on and they would have to get up from the ground. Elfie would go back to work, and Chi would need to go back home. Their sleep schedules were completely different, so it meant that meeting together would be difficult. But, for the time being, Chi was content on letting them bask in each other’s presence.
And if Paige came in after 9 PM to the sight of Elfie and Chi snuggling together on the floor, napping in each other’s arms with the lights turned back on, she doesn’t say anything.
(Well, for as long as they’re asleep, at least. When Elfie woke up, Paige was sending her a shit-eating grin and had more questions than Elfie had the brainpower for.)