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“Sooo. Is this kinda just a thing now?” Silver Wolf looks up from her console while queuing up for a match at the two other girls in the abandoned classroom mumbling to herself that they are muddying up her comms.
“Whatever could you mean Silver Wolf~” The periwinkle girl responds with a chuckle in that annoying teasing tone that she puts on when she’s alone with her girlfriend.
“I mean all this.” She gestures at the distance or lack thereof between the two girls. “This is supposed to be our base of operations Firefly.” Suddenly the culprit's face goes from one of pure bliss to a strange mix of embarrassment, seriousness, and frantic confusion. Or in other words a complete mess.
“I- wh- Wolfie!”
“Base of operations?” Robin says in slight confusion. “Oh! Is this about your job? You still haven’t told me what you do?” Robin tilts her head slightly towards her girlfriend with a curious look.
“I-” The silver haired girl frantically looks between Robin and her best friend for some kind of relief. Silver Wolf gives no heed, holding back a laugh at her friend’s panic. “I- uh… I move large amounts of… high value packages to-” She is suddenly cut off by her Silver Wolf, tired of seeing her friend keeping the charade up for so long.
“She’s a flower shop girl.” Silver Wolf says bluntly. “Just a very dramatic one who likes to cosplay as a secret agent from the deep belly of the underworld.” Silver Wolf says the last part with as much sincerity Firefly had when she suggested the idea, triggering an even redder blush from the panicked girl.
“W-Wolfie!” The Silver Blonde manages to choke out.
“I see.” Robin says calmly in spite of the currently burning up girl next to her. “That does make a lot of sense, it’s very… cute~” She teases not helping her girlfriends blush.
“Yeah, it’s fucking adorable when she climbs hundreds of flights of stairs waiting for a pickup after finishing the most mundane delivery quest line imaginable.” Robin’s face changes rapidly between listening and slowly towards realization as if many pieces started falling into place at the same time.
“Oh! So that's why…” Robin says aloud clearly remembering the incident from not even a few weeks ago on the rooftop. “Though, I will say. A helicopter seems impractical for the delivery of such sensitive things.” Robin finally says, ignoring the now completely incoherent ramblings of the girl next to her.
“But the aesthetic makes it worth it. It’s like a badass cutscene in the middle of a job. Also Kafka just deals with it. She probably just cheeses with the physics engine or something cuz it just works.” Silver Wolf responds, also ignoring the incoherent girl.
“Hey Firefly…” She turns her attention to her girlfriend allowing her a second to breathe and say actual words. “What is it like working in a tiny flower shop downtown outside of the spotlight, is it nice?” She says once Firefly seems to be stable.
“Yeah… it’s nice.” Firefly responds in a near whisper.
“Well if you're really curious, you should come work with us for a day. Elio could always use a new set of hands.” Silver Wolf, jokingly says but Robin doesn't seem to treat it as such. Her eyes light up, her wings flapping slightly, halo glowing ever so slightly brighter.
“I have an idea!” She suddenly declares. “The only things I have are student council stuff and meetings with my team, how about you and I trade roles for the day!” Robin states almost seeming proud of the idea as she cups Firefly’s hands with her own, once again not helping the ever growing blush on her girlfriend's face.
“Miss Robin that’s…” Firefly pauses as she looks into the periwinkle girl’s eyes, brimming with pride and expectation. Silver Wolf already knew what she was going to do, she could never refuse the look of absolute resolve from Robin. “I guess we can try…” She says, trailing off slightly at the end.
“I am so sending this voice log to Stelle later, or maybe even Kafka.” Silver Wolf says with snark, causing the already flustered girl to go into near shutdown, accompanied by the soft chuckle of her girlfriend beside her.
<3 <3 <3
Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 HmmHmm♫ Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮
Snip
Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 Hmm𝅘𝅥𝅮 HmmHmm𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅝
The soft hum of the flower shop resonates with the soft interlaced snips of scissors between, just like always. But this time the melody is different, cleaner, softer, and more perfect.
Snip
“Firefly…” Suddenly a gruff voice comes from the back room approaching. “The coffee machine is…” A tall man walks through the parted cloth, stopping the second he sees the girl looking out of place in their uniform seated in front of a bouquet a few steps from the counter.
“Oh! Good afternoon Mr. Blade.” The periwinkle haired girl says as she stands. Wiping her hands on her apron she walks back to her post behind the counter, glancing briefly at the rose next to the register.
“Robin…” He says in her rough voice, with an expression Robin has never seen before. confusion perhaps? “Where is Firefly?”
“She is not here today, I am simply filling in for her today.
“…” Blade doesn't respond immediately. “Are you capable?” He finally says, crossing his bandage covered arms.
“I would hope so?” Robin tilts her head, slightly in confusion but mostly in curiosity.
“The coffee machine has reached its death, it requires assistance.”
“I see…” Robin pauses awkwardly. While she didn’t let it show, she isn’t exactly sure what Blade was asking here, but as per her role… “I could try to assist in any way I can.” She says with complete false confidence.
“Don’t bother SAM 2.0…” A snarky voice calls out just as the chime of the front door bell rings though the flower shop. “Firefly is just gonna get the pouty debuff if you break her work.”
“Silver Wolf…” The Silver Haired girl focuses her attention back to Blade.
“Kafka already put some extra credits in the drawer, just go buy some.”
“...”
“Unless you want to drink up whatever she brings home from the express? That thing has like fifty negative properties.” Blade grunts before returning to the back room leaving the two girls in the room.
“...”
“...”
“Is Kafka psychic?” Robin finally says.
“Nah, Elio is the psychic. It’s just the fifth time he's broken the thing this month while sharpening some butter knife or something like that.”
“I-” Robin attempts to say something in response but can only come up with a light chuckle at the absurdity of it all. “You have such a charming group here, Silver Wolf.” The periwinkle haired girl says in earnest.
“Yeah sure, it’s just the optimal party.” She waves her off before leaning against the side of the counter and pulling out some sort of game console.
“Say… How do you think Firefly is doing?” Robin steps away from the counter and returns to the bouquet she was working on prior.
“I’m sure she’s doing just fine…”
<3 <3 <3
“Since we’re playing this game today. Would our friend here act as moderator for this debate?” The gambler, for the first time since arriving, puts down his chip and looks across the table at the only non imposter in the room.
“Huh?” Firefly panics as she looks between the two counsel members staring at each other in pure contempt. “Me?”
“Why of course, you are in place for the head of relations after all.” Aventurine says.
“Oh, my. Did you bring a replacement because you thought the little songbird wouldn't let you get what you want?” The girl in red, someone Firefly hasn't seen before, taunts as she twirls something that looks way too close to a revolver.
“Please, a true gambler does not rest their bet solely on one person's opinion. It's all in the abilities of the gambler to set the stage right.” Firefly turns her attention to Aventurine.
“Speaking of stage, let’s get on to the real topic of this ‘debate’” The girl in red puts air quotes around the word debate for a reason that eluded the appointed moderator… Honestly, she was so lost. “As treasurer of this beloved student counsel, you are in charge of the budget. So I propose a doubling of the drama club's budget.”
“Double? You do know money doesn't grow on trees right?” Firefly moves her attention back to Aventurine.
“Oh, Are you just complaining cuz your little ‘investment club’ can’t syphon as much money from the student council?" Back to the girl in red… She really didn’t know what her role was here but she tried her best to take in most of this very confusing argument.
“Okay…” The treasurer scoffs a little, at least Firefly thinks he did? “The investment club is hardly mine or even my associates, it’s the work of people much larger and far more important and I am just a pawn for them and syphoning the school budget? Please, we both know the president wouldn't let me get away with that even if I tried. And besides, your little drama club and its fools burn just as much in mindless activities all for your own ‘amusement’.”
“Don’t act like you aren’t like us, Mr. Gambler. And besides, that ‘amusement’ is just the stage for a grand play that I am the director of, so a small budget increase isn’t that outrageous.” The girl in red scoffs? or laughs?… She made a sound but Firefly had little time to focus on it before the treasurer responded.
“A small budget increase to one of the most overfunded clubs at this school, greater than the snowbound club, the rangers and the fantasy-fire group.” A pause over the debate for a second, giving Firefly a second to breathe until the girl in red suddenly acts up more dramatically than ever.
“Ugg, you're no fun at all. Moderator, tell the real fool that he can’t abuse his power to kill our club.”
“Moderator, tell Miss Sparkle that attacking my character and arguing against facts doesn't help her case. This debate is settled.”
“Huh!” Firefly says in a gasp, completely unaware of what to do. Say something, she wasn’t sure what and her uncertainty only grew brighter when the two council members looked at her expectantly.
“That is enough arguing.” A suddenly stern voice suddenly says as the sound of a door closing follows. Someone that Firefly actually knew quite well, though only through passing. Her girlfriend's brother, Sunday.
“And here comes the chicken coming home to roost.” The girl named Sparkle says, clearly rolling her eyes.
“Miss Hanabi, your seat on this counsel is as ‘entertainment specialist’, do not overstep your bounds.” Sunday says as he approaches the head seat at the very empty table.
“Thank you.” Aventurine says, only causing the girl across from him to roll her eyes again as she fiddles with the ‘revolver’ once again.
“And Mr Aventurine, immediately shooting down a request without proper processing is a clear abuse of power and will only bring disorder to this council, do not overstep your bounds as well.”
“Sure thing, Mr. President.” Aventurine leans back in his chair, clearly smirking as he returns to flipping his poker chip.
“And Sister, please do not enterta-” Sunday suddenly stops as he turns to the clear imposter in the room.
“H-hi…” Firefly says meekly.
“Apologies but, who are you?”
“I-I’m… Robin’s…” Firefly’s mind was running, she had no idea how to respond to this situation Robin had put her under, what was she supposed to say and the intimidating eyes of her girlfriend's brother did not help. “I’m hers…” She finally says weakly before immediately realizing what she just said.
“She’s your sister’s girlfriend.” Aventurine suddenly says, completely saving Firefly from a further meltdown in correcting her words.
“Ah, you must be Miss Firefly. My sister has spoken a lot about you.” Sunday says calmly, slightly echoing the same warmth from his sister. “Though we will be having a meeting soon, so unless you have anything to say I will have to ask you to leave.” Silence follows for a few seconds as the Silver haired girl takes a second to breath.
“Actually, I’m filling in for Miss Robin for today. It was her idea…” Firefly says with a very soft and nervous chuckle.
“I see.” Sunday responds in a slightly curious look before shaking his head. “Well, make yourself at home, this meeting will be brief anyway as most club representatives are unable to attend, so there should be little for you to relay back to her.”
Slowly, more people began to fill up the room, each a member of the student council and eventually the meeting began. It was a slow process, Sunday talking about various things that Firefly had no part of, as well as a paper that was handed to the imposter girl to read as head of relations which she did with a complete obliviousness to the topic but overall, with some encouragement from Aventurine, she survived.
<3 <3 <3
“As for the centerpiece, perhaps a display of red roses? They are quite cliche but I find harmony in its simplicity. It makes your love absolutely clear and there’s beauty in that.” The girl behind the counter says as she places a rose on the mock bouquet between her and the woman before her to complete it.
“That looks wonderful.” The woman examines the mock bouquet, carefully looking at each of the flowers that have been carefully picked out of the course of the last half hour. Robin helped as much as she could but she was still far out of her depth. Thankfully the woman she was helping already had most of her bouquet in mind.
“Well if you're happy with it, I can get one of my associates in the back to help prepare it for you. It shouldn't take more than half a system hour.” Robin takes a quick picture of the flowers to save for the actual florists.
“Actually, I heard this shop has some amazing flower delivery… My partner probably won’t be home for a few system hours and I still need to run some errands. I hope you don’t mind…” The woman says, holding the hem of her hoodie tightly. Robin takes a look back only to see Silver Wolf already holding a thumbs up.
“Of course we can do that for you. Just write down your address and time right here.” Robin says as she hands the woman a sheet of paper.
“Oh, thank you dear. You have been such a help.” With a quick bow, she leaves the shop in haste, leaving the quiet melody of the shop’s background music to fill the periwinkle haired girl's ears.
“Well, ‘grats on your first sale, but really? Roses, that common loot compared to some other flowers here.” Silver Wolf says as she walks up behind the counter girl, wrapping the mock bouquet in string and picking it up, examining it.
“I think roses are nice.” Robin says, holding herself back from looking at the singular rose seated next to the register.
“Of course you do. Well, since Firefly is our field girl, you're gonna be the one delivering this bouquet.”
“If that’s a part of her job… I’m sure I can do it.” Robin says in earnest, yet the confident smirk from her companion before her makes her slightly nervous.
“Yup. You're doing it Firefly’s way by the way. And no chickening out now.” Silver Wolf responds in a teasing tone before walking off leaving the temporary employee in a state of confusion.
“Hmm?” Robin responds, tilting her head to the side slightly.
<3 <3 <3
The meeting went on a while long, Another debate broke out between Sparkle and Aventurine that was swiftly broken up by Sunday accompanied by a very defeated sigh. A few more items after that, he quickly wraps up the meeting and the rest of the council files out slowly, leaving Sunday and Firefly as the only two left in the council room.
“Are… Are they normally like that?” Firefly says. She has gotten more comfortable over the course of the last hour of meeting but Sunday still made her slightly nervous, how could she not?
“Not often. Sister has always kept them in check.” Sunday says as he tamps down a stack of papers until it aligns neatly.
“How did they even get on the council anyway?” Sunday sighs.
“Mr. Aventurine may be conniving and manipulative, an unfit person for this council, but his stratagems always seem to turn out in the end. As for Miss Hanabi her desire for theatrics and amusements is disorderly but she has an official place on this council regardless of all the loopholes it took for her to get it.”
“Oh, o-okay…” Sunday stands from his seat and begins walking towards the door.
“Regardless, I presume that sister also wishes for you to attend her review meeting in her stead as well?” Firefly nods. “I see, while her impulsiveness is unwarranted, her strategic prowess remains ever strong. Come now, we must not be late.” Sunday walks out of the room and after blinking a few times, frozen for a few seconds, Firefly begins following close behind.
The trip to the meeting was not very long or at the very least a blur to Firefly, a quick taxi ride and suddenly they were there standing before one of the largest buildings in the city. After leading her around a few very confusing and expensive hallways with many vases and paintings, Sunday eventually brings her to a receptionist desk next to an elevator that isn't the white and gold one at the entrance hall.
“Good afternoon, we have an appointment for Miss Robin Oak today.”
“Oh of course!” The receptionist behind the counter taps on their keyboard a few times before standing. “Right this way Miss Robin.”
“I-”
“Actually, this is not Robin. She is filling in for her today, please call her Miss Firefly and relay that to her team.”
“Understood Sir.” The receptionist gives the two a look that probably means she didn’t fully get it but Firefly couldn’t focus on that. This whole ordeal has already been very overwhelming, her thoughts have already begun melding into one.
“And Miss Firefly,” Firefly immediately snaps out her trance to look the tired president in the eye. “Please don’t hesitate to call me when you are done, I have much work to do so I shall come to pick you up by taxi when the time comes.” With a short nod, her girlfriend's brother walks off leaving just her and the soft chime of an elevator.
“Come along, your team is waiting.” Firefly is ushered into the elevator by the receptionist. The initial silence did not last long, the second she entered the elevator the receptionist immediately flips though her clipboard before the door has even closed.
“Miss Robin’s team is waiting on the fifty seventh floor of the building, it’ll be the fifth door on the right.” The receptionist suddenly hands the silver-blonde a pen and notepad, never stopping her instructions. In fact Firefly feels them getting faster.
“When you enter the room, please be sure to introduce yourself properly.Your seat will be at the end of the table so your entire team can see you.You likelyWon’t need to speak very muchBut be sure to payAttention.Aswell if your relayingTo miss Robin,BeSureToWriteNotes.” The words of the receptionist begin mixing into one at the speed she was speaking at, feeling like a torrent striking her mind.
“AsWell,SitStraightAnd-”
Ding
The soft chime of the elevator and the hum of an opening door interrupts her company’s long winded words. With a soft sigh the receptionist slowly ushers her out.
“Thank you Miss.” She says as she leaves the elevator, the woman nodding in her peripheral vision as she does, the soft hum of the closing door following close behind.
“Miss Firefly.” The receptionist says before the door closes. “Please do not forget to breathe.” She says with a chuckle before she disappears for good. When she is finally out of sight Firefly lets out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding, a nervous chuckle escaping though her breath.
“Okay… fifth door to the right.” She mumbles softly under her breath as she makes it through the hallway. It’s far less lavash than the entrance hall but just as tall. It keeps the expensive looking paintings and vases strewn along the length of the large hallway but with more mundane looking walls.
When she finally makes it to the large set of doors that she was assigned, conference room six written on the wall, she takes an exhale, releasing another breath she didn’t know she was holding. This whole role swap has been a bad idea, she really wishes she was Robin right now.
Carefully placing one hand on the door, she pushes it open, stepping deeper into her girlfriend’s world.
<3 <3 <3
“Is this… Really… What… She… Does?” Robin says between heavy breaths, every step up the long stairwell was grueling, her halo flickering constantly. Robin wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Silver Wolf said she would do it ‘Firefly’s way’ but what she wasn’t expecting was to walk past the beautiful elevator or the oddly familiar and gorgeous entrance hall towards a random fire escape in the corner of the building.
“Hey, at least this roof has a good landing spot. You don’t have to do any rooftop parkour.” The snarky voice in her ear says, causing the exhausted pop idol to chuckle, well as good of a chuckle she can muster between her absolute exhaustion. It was a small moment of levity in this otherwise awful activity.
Eventually somewhere around the sixtieth floor of this one hundred or so floor building, Robin decides it’s best to take a break. She hardly had the endurance to climb an entire building in one go. Though she did wonder how her girlfriend did it herself, a small fantasy of Firefly heroically climbing the stairs to see her appeared in Robin’s mind.
She really is cute. Robin thinks to herself as she takes a seat in a very pretty hallway that was strangely familiar to Robin but she couldn't dwell on that when her co-worker’s voice rings out in her ear once more.
“So… how did things go with the client.”
“It went well…” She says between her heavy but subtle resting breaths along with the soft flutter of her wings to fan herself. “She seemed very happy with the bouquet you prepared.”
“You mean the min-maxed bouquet filled with common loot that you suggested? She’s probably just happy that the local superstar is the one delivering her flowers…”
“I-” Robin begins to refute Silver Wolf’s quip but is unable to find the words, only responding in a soft chuckle.
“Anyway, you know you didn’t need to take the stairs after the delivery right? I wasn’t gonna make you do the full one hundred floors you know.”
“I know that…” She sighs softly. “But it wouldn't be the full Firefly experience if I did that. I want to experience my girlfriend’s world no matter how difficult or ridiculous it may be so giving up now is not really an option.” Robin can hear a noticeable pause in the gamers keyboard clicks but only briefly.
“You are both made for each other I swear…” Silver Wolf mumbles under her breath, barely audible to Robin.
A few more minutes pass with soft conversation between the two passing every so often but eventually, when she catches her breath, Robin stands from her seat and stretches her back a bit before walking back towards the fire escape, ready for one last push though her girlfriend’s world.
“I’m going to get going now Silver Wolf.”
“Got it… I’ll get the helicopter ready then.”
“Who drives the helicopter anyway, Kafka?”
“Blade does.” Robin immediately pauses at the door of the fire escape, the sheer absurdity locking her in place for a few seconds but slowly she begins to move once again, now with a soft smile on her face.
The rest of the climb up was more of a blur than the first half. Eventually Robin found a good rhythm to sustain herself and the conversations with Silver Wolf as well as the occasional other members of the flower shop were enough to keep her sane. Eventually as she nears the top the sudden voice on the other side of the line goes silent.
“... “
“Silver Wolf?”
“Sorry, gotta go AFK for a bit. Kafka is calling about some last minute watering or something.” She suddenly says leaving Robin in silence for the final stretch of the climb.
With a soft hum she makes her way up, feeling slightly alone without her companion but she persists regardless and when she finally reaches the final steps she gives a long sigh of relief. As if all her exhaustion melted away the second she saw the door.
Placing her hand on the push bar she pushes through and is immediately surprised by the surprising wind blowing but when she is finally able to see past it she sees a school uniform dress and soft hair both fluttering in the wind, perhaps one of the most beautiful sights she has ever seen.
A young girl living in a true fantasy.
<3 <3 <3
“It really is beautiful.”
“Huh!” Firefly nearly jumps as she is pulled away from the beautiful sunset by the sound of a voice she knows very well. Her girlfriend. “Miss Robin? How did you get here!? ” She says as she frantically turns to see Robin standing there next to her looking off into the distance.
“I had a delivery here.” Robin says, turning her head to the silver-haired girl with a warm smile and a very firm grip on the railing. “I’m guessing you just came from the review meeting?”
“Uhh…” Firefly hesitates, looking down at her companion's hands. “Yeah, we just wrapped up so I came up here.” she finally says trailing off.
“I hope my team wasn't too hard on you, they can be overwhelming at times.”
“They were… confusing mostly. I'm not too sure what exactly they were saying but I kinda just agreed and nodded along. I have the notes in my pocket actually!” Firefly reaches down to her pockets but is stopped by Robin placing her hand in hers gripping slightly harder than expected.
“It’s okay Firefly, let's just watch the sunset…” Robin's voice trails off near the end for seemingly no reason.
“Miss Robin… Did you climb all the stairs to get here?” The silver blonde suddenly panicked, realizing why Robin seemed so tired.
“Oh? Is it that obvious?” Robin weakly chuckles. “Sorry, I guess I was more exhausted than I thought.”
“You…” Firefly swiftly looks around and locates the wall of a flower bed nearby. “You didn't need to do that, Silver Wolf should have stopped you.” Hand in hand the caring girlfriend slowly leads the exhausted girl to take a seat before taking a seat next to her.
“She tried, but I wanted to experience your life. It was wonderful, Firefly. You have an amazing team.” Robin says as she rests her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.
“I…” Firefly looks over to the barely conscious girl, her wings flutter softly along with her eyes.
“How about you… How was the Student Council?”
“Miss Robin… you should really rest.”
“No, not yet… I want to hear you talk for just a little bit longer, little bug…”
“O-Okay I guess… Your brother kept glaring every once in a while but he was nice, Mister Aventurine is actually surprisingly friendly, and Miss Sparkle is-”
“A lot…” Robin finishes her girlfriend’s sentence with a soft but shaky cloudlike chuckle. “I love you Firefly.” Robin finally says, her halo flickering in and out of light.
“I love you too Robin.” Firefly responds tenderly. Eventually the two fall into a longer silence watching as the sun slowly sets into the horizon, Robin's soft breathing being felt by the flower shop girl. A seemingly endless conversation passes in the absence of words. Eventually, as Robin’s breathing slows and her halo almost completely dims, Firefly drops her voice to near whisper and says one last thing.
“you were right, the sunset is beautiful…”
“I-” Robin’s voice flickers in and out of consciousness as she slowly falls into sleep. “i wasn’t talking about the sunset…”