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Shiori checked her phone again, slowing her usual walk to Flayon's house.
14:49.
Perfect.
It wasn't too early for their scheduled gaming session, and hopefully Flayon would be busy cleaning whatever project off his desk to give her more time. Although this stupid plan hinged on the idea that she would be there to open the door and let her in.
Quickly pocketing her phone, Shiori hurried up the path, and went through the gate before checking herself out on the window reflection. She was looking pretty cute for a simple gaming session, going more of her gothic brand rather than the punk attire.
She picked out one of her nicer tank tops, black with some pretty floral lace and then paired that with her usual purple jacket with the fur. She even showed just a bit of belly, wearing a black gothic high-waisted skirt, fitted with frills and ribbons. Add some fishnet tights and then some high knee boots, and boom—she looked irresistible.
At least she hoped.
Trying hard not to overthink things, Shiori rang the doorbell to a very simple home in the suburbs of Great Exardia. She checked the time again.
14:55.
Five minutes to hang with her if she opened the door.
Then again, she could be busy… she's still trying to figure out her life back after moving back home—and she was like older than her by three years—or was it four? Oh crap, she forgot her birthday. Wait, was she even here? Flayon said she liked to work out over the weekend so if she's not here then she's just wore the nice perfume for nothing and—
"Shiori! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Flayon's older sister gave a charming smile, opening the door wide as Shiori nodded back. She was smiling—or she hoped she was. Her mind was more focused on making sure she didn't trip over her own feet entering the house.
"Hey, Liz…"
Flayon's older sister was none other than the stunning, dorky and handsome Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame. She came back home earlier in the year after working abroad for a while, citing homesickness as the main reason. Instead of bunking with her cooler friends in another part of the country she decided to move back in with her parents to save money and get used to Great Exardia again.
Which was how they met—casual small talk in between gaming sessions when Elizabeth wasn't rebuilding her life. Sometimes she would join in for pizza, but most of the time both of them shared a space for a few minutes before they needed to continue on their day. But that's fine, five or so minutes with Elizabeth was more than enough for Shiori.
Well….Normally it was.
Right now, Shiori would be surprised with herself if she lasted five minutes in Liz's current attire. She prepared for everything she could think of: Elizabeth not being here, Elizabeth being too busy to have a chat, Elizabeth suddenly hating her for coming over so often. Yet she did not prepare herself for Elizabeth coming back from her gym session, wearing nothing but a sports bra and leggings.
Shiori could barely roam her eyes over her body once in the casual, curious type of way before sticking her eyes on the ceiling. She would rather die than be caught ogling over her muscles, or her boobs or the fact that she had a blue flame tattoo over her heart!? It's a miracle her face wasn't burning red right now. Or at least she hoped she wasn't blushing. Oh god, what if she was blushing?
"FLAYON I'M HERE!" Shiori yelled, praying the shout would scare the blood away from her cheeks.
"GIVE ME A MINUTE I'M IN THE TOILET!" A muffled sound but the shout was audible enough for Shiori to smile before yelling out the most obvious reply.
"GO PISS GIRL!"
"PISS OFF!"
"NO YOU."
"It still amazes me how well you get on with Flay."
Shiori turned around, ducking her head with a sheepish grin. She forgot Elizabeth was there, well it wasn't the first time Liz heard her yell at her brother, but still… Shiori was bracing for the day she accidentally toed over the line. For now she chuckled along, spun on her heel and looked straight into Elizabeth's eyes (because good lord where else can she look and not be mistaken as a perv).
"Oh come on Liz." She batted her eyes, teased a flirty grin. "Surely you're used to me by now."
"3pm gaming sessions on the weekend, lasting for at least two hours maybe more depending on the game." Elizabeth hummed, pulling her phone from her pocket. Then she slid her phone into her pocket without a care in the world. In the background, Shiori reminded herself to breath. It was common sense for Elizabeth to pay attention to a frequent visitor. She wasn't special. "You like to be punctual."
"Well you know," Shiori laughed, pulling her voice from clumsy bravado more than anything else. "There's nothing more that I would love to do than hang out with my ol'buddy Flay over the weekend."
"Well I appreciate it, you spending your time here." Elizabeth glanced up the stairs, the smile on her face softening. "I know Flay does too, but…" Her eyes fell back to Shiori, so did her hand. A simple touch on the shoulder, a comforting squeeze and a warm look in scarlet eyes. "I'm glad he found someone sweet as you, Shiori."
The way Elizabeth's voice melted, how her name was spoken like it was cherished stirred the butterflies in Shiori's stomach. They danced and fluttered, tickling her insides with an ache so painfully obvious that Shiori was being delusional. Elizabeth, from the amount of times Flayon complained about her wrapping him in up with hugs, was just an affectionate, touchy person.
Still, even if it was for five minutes or five seconds, Shiori will gladly live in this delusion where her life could be a romance story with Elizabeth.
"She's gaslighting you, Liz," Flayon yelled, joke-glaring at the woman in question as he ran down the stairs. "Shiori is never sweet."
"What noo…" Shiori gasped, stepping back and putting her hands to her chest in mock-horror. "I'm the sweetest person around. I'm so nice to you. The nicest even."
"You bully me when we play smash!"
"No, I'm teaching you to get better."
"Well you're a terrible teacher."
"At least I wash my hands after I use the bathroom." Shiori crossed her arms and raised her brow whilst the corner of her lips curled upwards. It was a simple accusation, one that she hoped was wrong but as the phrase went: Boys will be boys… And boys often forget to wash their hands after taking a piss.
"Flayon?" Elizabeth asked as Flayon's silence continued, a red-head deer caught in the headlights.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
"Oh God, you're gross, Flay!" Shiori yelled as her friend ran up the stairs.
In the same breath, Elizabeth gasped aloud, astonished that his brother despite all of her nagging was still pulling unhygienic pranks like this. "Flayon!?"
"YOU'RE NO BETTER LIZ!" Flayon shouted back before the bathroom door shut. "YOU'RE COVERED IN SWEAT!"
"THAT'S DIFFERENT!" Elizabeth turned to Shiori a second later, finger scratching her cheek. "It is different right?" The quick transition to annoyed sister to that half-quirk anxious smile for reassurance made Shiori laugh. Both out of nerves and because the whiplash was funny as it was cute.
"A good difference…" From Elizabeth's finger, Shiori's eyes roamed down, avoiding the chest area again to appreciate the simple shape and structure of her arms. "…I didn't realise how much you were hiding underneath your clothes."
Elizabeth had strong curves around the biceps, filled out triceps were exposed with a simple bend of the elbow before it looped back round to those steady broad shoulders. A Greek goddess sculpted to human form, or a walking fitness magazine cover. It's almost a crime that she hid this sleeper build in her hoodies and cartoon printed sweaters.
"Ah well," Elizabeth laughed, glancing away and shifting her hands to the back of her neck. She rubbed her nap, glancing back at Shiori with a small smile. "It's really not much. Working on my physical health is somewhat a recent thing."
"So you escaped from the womb as an Amazon warrior then? Looking like you can bench me all sweated up was just a tune up to your default form?"
The opening was there before Shiori could control her tongue. It was a habit formed from sparing with Flayon with verbal smack talks and quick-time events of wit. If you couldn't talk nonsense whilst dunking on your friends, then what was the point of playing together?
Elizabeth laughed, hiding the sound with the back of her hand. Shiori would've spat an apology in an instant if she wasn't comforted with the a mirth and delight swirling in scarlet eyes. "Shiori, what the frig?"
"I'm just saying, Liz." Shiori made a show of an exaggerated shrug, even when the action subtly exposed more of her shoulders. She shut her eyes, emphasising the comedic bit. "Genes are a major factor in how your body looks after the gym." She moved her hand under her chin next, opening her golden eyes just to watch Elizabeth's reaction. "Though it might be recessive since Flay still looks like a twink after a run."
Elizabeth blinked, then she let out a light-hearted snicker, partially blowing the long ahoge away from her face. "That's because he is a twink."
Shiori giggled, glancing up at the stairs. Flayon has been in the toilet for quite some time. Doing whatever weird things boys do when they're called out. Oh well, it meant more time she had with Elizabeth.
"Your chest looks nice by the way." The words slipped out of Shiori's mouth, the comfort of a silly verbal spar tricking them to stumble right into a ditch of their own making. Elizabeth's face flushed pink, her mouth opened and a strangled lost noise left her lips. Meanwhile, Shiori wanted to die in a hole.
"—The chest tattoo, I mean," she corrected, tongue working double time to get her foot out of her mouth. "It looks good on you."
Shiori looked down at the floor, fixated on the scuff on her shoes. Her face was burning. It had to be after this fumble of a centaury. She was trying so hard to be respectful to and boom, she just had to make a comment like that. God what was taking Flayon so long just to wash his hands?
"Yours too." Shiori snapped her head up, eyes wide as Elizabeth looked at her, quickly tilting to her head towards Shiori's shoulders. Shiori followed the gaze, eyes struggling not to widen at her small showing of her shoulder tattoo. When did this drop… and how long was it around for Elizabeth to notice?
"The tattoos," Elizabeth clarified, even when it wasn't needed. Though the idea that Elizabeth was looking at her chest made Shiori laugh. "Not your—"
"I got you," Shiori chuckled, passing Elizabeth a reassuring smile that was returned back. She made a pass to fix the strands of her hair, fingers brushing against her cheek to check the warmth. It was warm, but not hot enough for her face to be a complete strawberry.
Good enough.
Shiori fixed her jacket, hiding the ink and the glimpse of tendrils and eyes. "Also thank you. It's only in black and white but I figured they would make my horrible noodle arms interesting."
"They're not horrible."
Shiori blinked. She looked up to Elizabeth with her arms crossed, the flush gone and scarlet eyes turning molten with how much they burned. "What?"
"Your noodles arms," Elizabeth explained. "They can't be horrible when they're that cool. The black and white elements sell it well."
Shiori frowned, pulling her sleeve to her elbow, showing more of the tendrils and eyes and her weird taste in art drawn all over her thin noodle arms. She could see the appeal of it, she did get it inked for her own taste after all. But that was only her tattoos, not the actual arm itself.
"Well, they're still noodle arms." Shiori bent her elbow, flexing a feeble amount of muscle. Though 'muscles' was calling it a stretch since nothing visually changed with the tension along her arms. She let out a scoff and dropped her arm, looking back at Elizabeth with a sad smile on her face. "Can't even open a jar with these absentee muscles."
"Is that such a bad thing?" Elizabeth murmured, looking down at Shiori's arm. The anger in her eyes softened, her brows arched in a way that wasn't quite pity but it wasn't sadness either. Her voice as well, even it's quietness, carried a weight Shiori couldn't explain.
Everything about her response made Shiori hesitate before she pulled her sleeve back to her wrist. Just in time to regret it as Elizabeth finished her sentence, time frozen in disbelief as their eyes locked together. Burning scarlet against a golden glow. "They're still a part of you."
"Okay I washed my hands and then double washed them in case you didn't believe me," Flayon yelled before he descended fast and hard down the stairs, skipping a few steps until he landed on the bottom steps. "Can we play Granblue now?"
Shiori sighed, unsure whether the turmoil of emotions wrestling in her stomach were based in anger or relief that their moment was interrupted. She gave a deadpan stare to her friend, frowning when he proudly showed off his wet digits. Her local idiot didn't even dry his hands.
"You sound like a baby."
Instantly, Flayon ducked his head, tilting his head back in a pathetic plea. His voice changed to a shrill that even Elizabeth flinched from in the corner of Shiori's eye. "Miss Shiowi can we pway Gwanblue—"
"Alright I'm coming." Shiori pushed Flayon up the stairs, both to stop shut him up, and to protect Elizabeth from her annoying younger brother. She followed him up the steps before sitting down, quickly removing her shoes to follow their no shoes up-stairs policy. "Also go dry your hands, idiot. I'm not touching a wet controller."
"God you're so demanding." Having said that, Flayon stormed back upstairs to the bathroom.
Behind them Elizabeth gave a chuckle, catching Shiori's attention again as she glanced up, mid-untying a shoelace of her boots. "Have fun you two," she said with a smile before turning the corner, their paths finally redirected to their different lives.
Shiori watched her leave before glancing up the stairs. Flayon wasn't around, and Elizabeth already left to do something. No one would spot the darkened cheeks on Shiori's face as her mind sped through the compilations of moments she just shared with her secret crush.
It only lasted for a few seconds, at max 20 before Shiori slapped her cheeks lightly, killed the remaining blush and raced up the stairs to play whatever game Flayon wanted to lose at. Whatever she just had with Elizabeth wasn't anything important. Just Elizabeth being Elizabeth and Shiori being delusional.
It's all Elizabeth's fault for why Shiori was off her game.
They've been playing only a couple of matches, switching between pvp and random mini-games. Usually, Shiori would keep an eye on the clock whilst keeping Flayon in check. A mixture of rage-baiting him with stupid comments, and random questions that double-timed in catching up and making him lose his focus. Today however, thanks to Shiori's delusions, Flayon had an actual chance at winning and before Shiori realised it, their scheduled two hours of play time was nearing it's end.
Shiori could've stayed for longer, but she didn't want to eat into Flayon's time to work on his projects or his gundam crafting and there was no reason for her to stay if Flayon was busy. Well… there was no reasonable way to make her stay without making things obvious. Besides, Elizabeth would be too busy to indulge in anything further than another 5 minute conversation.
"You've been awfully quiet." Flayon glanced over his side. They were sitting on a couple bean bags, a bowl of snacks between them. Crisps and chocolate with cans of coke and Dr pepper. Shiori was lounging, sinking her back into the soft cushion. She glanced up at Flayon sitting up right, elbows on his knees as he blocked Shiori's attack. Focused. "Bad week at the book shop? Writer's block? The characters not paying attention to the plot again or something?"
"If it was that bad, or anything of those things…" Shiori murmured. She drifted back to the game, missed the timing of her block and watched her Katalina get combo-ed by Wilnas. "You would've heard about it."
"Yeah, right," Flayon scoffed. He let out a triumphant sound at his victory. However since Shiori won the previous match, they headed to their third round of their final game. "You clam up faster than Liz sometimes."
"Really?" At the mention of his sister's name, Shiori perked up. She sat up a bit more, climbing back up onto the chair with the backs of her elbows, hiding her interest with the facade that she was locking in for the final match. "I thought she was one of those who actually talks about her emotions."
"When she wants to be stubborn I can barely get anything out of her." Flayon grunted, fingers quickly mashing away on the controller as he brought Shiori's health down to half before Shiori stopped it. "Y'know she hasn't even told me why she moved back yet."
Shiori glanced at Flayon before returning back to the screen. Her head moved a million thoughts of a second, judging and juggling the pros and cons of reaching too much. On one hand, she could learn more about Elizabeth through a casual, but biased way—
"Wanna talk about it?" Funny how fast her mouth can move compared to her brain.
"Thanks," Flayon laughed, wincing when it was Shiori's turn to knock his health down to orange. "But I don't want to waste gaming time talking about my sister."
"So? I'm still down to listen." Another quick glance, another shift back to the game, attention awake only because Elizabeth was part of the conversation. "Especially since I'm one of your few friends that has met her."
Silence.
Shiori looked once more and smirked at Flayon's determined face. He was all focused on this stalemate of theirs, gauging each other out and waiting for the perfect time to strike. All this attention, and here Shiori was—half distracted because of his sister.
She should bring him to her level. It would make things fair.
"Or should I expect Bettel to visit soon and meet the parents~"
As she expected, Flayon not only choked but he left an opening for Shiori to exploit. Now his character was in the red, and his face was burning up a storm.
"Bro shut up!" Flayon shot Shiori a dirty look, one Shiori equally returned with a wiggle of the brows, implying more than what was already said. "There's nothing like that happening."
"Yet."
Flayon shifted in an instant, and Shiori jerked her body to the left, rolling off the bean bag. Except it was the wrong left. She rolled closer to her friend, accidentally crashing into the near-empty snack bowl between them. One of the empty cans even fell down.
"Ahhh," Shiori cried as giggles left her terrible performance. "Ref he's cheating!" Next to her, Flayon spluttered out broken noises, fumbling at the sudden but typical chaos. "Sabotage! "
"I didn't even touch you!" He gestured wildly with his hands, the game completely forgotten.
"Your repressed gay aura was sabotaging me." Shiori stuck her tongue out, shimming with her knees to go back on her bean bag chair. "It's stinking up the room."
"AS IF YOU CAN TALK!" Flayon yelled, gasping in loud disbelief before he focused on the game. "Everyone can sense your gay ass walk in."
Instantly, the smile on Shiori's face fell. Her eyes widened, caught in a sudden palpation in her chest. Was she really that obvious? How long did he know? Or was it because today Elizabeth was more clinging than usual, did he see her blush?
Her mouth moved without her registering. She didn't try to block the combo of attacks turning her health to red. "Wait you noticed that—"
"Yeah," Flayon smirked, "Like why else do you keep choosing Katalina—" he glanced in Shiori's direction and his focused faltered. His eyes mirrored Shiori's and Shiori looked away to hide. Yet she was too late, the obvious was already verbalised. "Wait—you have a crush on someone!?"
"You're open!" Shiori quickly smashed away at the buttons, praying that this was enough to distract Flayon. Her victory dance appeared with the typical fanfare but the silence left her bravado to bleed out and die. She didn't have the heart to pretend anymore, chuckling what was left of her facade with a nervous grin. "I win!"
"Yeah cool whatever." Flayon tossed the controller to the side, and turned his full body to Shiori's direction. He placed his palms together like in prayer, the tip of his fingers touched the top of his lips before he turned it forward, staring down at Shiori with pointed hands.
"Shiori." Instantly, Shiori's shoulder hunched inwards and she focused her attention on anything else but her friend, aka her crush's younger brother. A futile attempt considering how warm her cheeks were feeling. "As your gay best friend—I need to know. Do you have a crush on someone?"
"Sorry that's classified information."
"Oh come on!" Flayon jumped out of his sit and crouched down next to Shiori, looking up at her with terrible puppy eyes. "I need to judge your taste in irl men, like what if it's as bad as your fictional men—"
Shiori moved her hand to slap him on the back of his head but Flayon dodged it, too used to her antics. Despite the flush on her cheeks, there was a scowl on her face. "It's not that bad—"
"You like Curly from Mouthwashing."
"We're allowed to have problematic faves." The scowl was gone now, replaced with a glare and a flippant but exaggerated flip of her hair leading to crossed arms. The warm cheeks remained however. "Also—" She said, leaning just enough to bop his nose. "This is out of your jurisdiction anyways, gay boy. "
"Wait…" Flayon's mouth opened in shock. A slow revelation either some crazy idea, or a fact he should've noticed ages ago. "Shiori, you like boobs?"
Shiori responded with a deadpan look, eyes in pure disbelief and her mouth opening once—and then shutting again. She let the silence say her insult instead, content to watch Flayon squirm and panic in his social faux pas.
"Look, we uh…" He let out a nervous laugh, smiling with too much embarrassed teeth. "We love bisexuals in this household? Like we love Liz so…"
Shiori's mouth moved faster than her heart. A miraculous feat since it was beating a mile per second. At once her mind rewinded everything that happened earlier today, and her cheeks lit up like a flare. "Wait, Elizabeth is…"
Well, that just made things better. Shiori's hopeless pining was thankfully on a queer woman. Also that meant she had a chance. That meant there was a chance Elizabeth could be flirting back to her, back with her… oh gods.
OH GODS SHE HAD A CHANCE WITH HER.
This was worse than hopelessly pining and being delusional!
"Duh." Flayon pulled a face, almost stumped that Shiori missed this about his sister. "She's a dorky theatre nerd who loves animation. Why wouldn't she be some bisexual…" His words trailed off as his eyes widened. Shiori in turn, kept her mouth so shut she was almost sucking in her teeth.
She knew what he was seeing. It was so obvious even if she could try and spin it around and deny it. For all her tom-foolery and stupid strange comments, nothing can distract him from her face looking like a bright red strawberry. The blush on her face was so bad there was a burning heat at the back of her neck and the tip of her ears.
"Shiori."
Shiori stood up, almost pushing Flayon backwards as she hurried for the door. "Oh look we ran out of snacks let me go—"
Yet there was already a hand on her wrist stopping her. Flayon stood right behind her, his brows closed together and a serious line on his lips. "Shiori, answer me straight."
"Not straight," She laughed, wincing at her own desperate panic. She's better than this and yet here she was floundering like a fish on the shore. Stupid Elizabeth for being a hot bisexual. It's all her fault that Shiori was in this mess. Especially for the crime of not wearing a shirt over her sports bra!
"Do you have a crush on my sister?"
Yes and she had one ever since they had their first conversation months ago. Yes and had she known she was queer from the get go she would've been more prepared for this conversation. (Stupid guy friends never sharing anything.) Yes and can who can blame her when she looked like that and had a mouth like that and oh god she's silent for way too long.
Taking one subtle deep breath, Shiori turned around and smiled with a knowing, guilty look in her eye. Her attempt to make it casual faltered with the awkward laugh. "…You asked it, not me."
Flayon snatched his hand back. His mouth dropped to the floor and in his attempt to step backwards, he almost tripped on the bowl on the floor and empty cans. His eyes exploded with betrayal, and horror.
"DUDE."
Shiori snapped her eyes downwards, knowing too well that the floors weren't that sound proof. She surged forward, stressing with panicked raised hands, palms up to try and avoid further conflict. She expected some push back, but never to this extent. "Yo calm down."
"No I will not calm down!—" Flayon yelled, pulling away from Shiori again. A hand went to his hair, scrunching his red locks as another wave of distress and confusion hit his face. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON—"
Flayon never had a chance to finish his sentence. In his clear distress, he forgot that one of the reasons why he enjoyed being Shiori's friend was her chaotic antics, but also the way she could make him realise he was being an idiot.
Like right now.
Shiori tackled him to the ground, bony ass on his stomach—his lungs heaved from the sudden weight until he silenced himself, two finger pressed on the side of his neck. The soft red of a blush on Shiori's face transformed into hot magma, and the yellow in her eyes copied the hue of molten glass.
"If she finds out because of you…" Shiori's voice was calm, collected with an air of cold indifference. It's volume was nothing louder than a casual conversation, and yet Flayon could only squeeze his eyes shut. A gulp ran down his throat, and beneath her two fingers, Flayon's pulse spiked. "I'm going to explode your balls, Flay."
"What's going on here?"
Like a light switch to a dark room, Elizabeth opened the door and killed the tension. Shiori leaned up, looking over her shoulder towards Elizabeth in thankfully, a print shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms.
"Flayon was cheating mega hard," Shiori said, lying through her teeth as she gave Elizabeth an apologetic smile. With her other hand she pressed her fingers deeper against his neck, a subtle warning not to try anything stupid before she moved her hand. "Had to put him in his place. Sorry about the noise."
Elizabeth huffed and leaned against the door with arms crossed. It was obvious from the subtle narrowing of her eyes that she didn't buy the excuse. Yet she couldn't find anything else to say when her eyes darted between the mess on the floor and the two friends.
"Well as long as you both are fine…"
"Do I look fine!?" Flayon cried beneath Shiori, glaring more at his sister than the lady on him. He made a point to jerk around, a futile attempt to get Shiori off him.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes with a laugh. She flashed Shiori a smile, an effortless charm that made Shiori's heart stutter. "Shiori, sweetheart, can you be a dear and get off my brother please? I would like him alive."
"Anything for you, Liz," Shiori laughed, a bit too loud, and way too free. A tangible mask to hide the way her stomach twisted at the affectionate nickname. She knew Elizabeth called people sweetheart, people she found dear—but Shiori didn't think she would be one of them.
Shiori rolled off Flayon, resting on her weight on the back of her heels, idly fixing her skirt as Flayon sat up next to her.
"Finally," He gasped, an exaggerated notion before punching Shiori lightly on the arm. "For such a twig you're so heavy."
"Hey!" Elizabeth called in the background but Shiori made a point to ignore her. Flayon kept his eyes on her, a knowing look that fizzled the warmth in her stomach.
She flicked Flayon on the head, and smirked when he wasn't fast enough to dodge it. "Pot calling the kettle black, idiot."
Flayon grumbled, fingers rubbing over the spot on his head. He glanced at Elizabeth, his glare shifting to annoyance before he looked at Shiori again. "Hey, Liz can you order some Pizza?"
With Shiori making a point to ignore Elizabeth, and Flayon's focus solely on his best girl friend, neither of them noticed the sudden switch of expression on Elizabeth's face. A disgruntled frown before it perked up like a dog finding treats.
"Oh? Will Shiori be staying over?"
"Yep." Flayon made a show of swinging his arm around Shiori's shoulders and flashing a wide, assuring grin at his sister. "We need to finish our match since I promised I won't be cheating again."
"Alright," Elizabeth looked at both of them again, eyes lingering on Shiori before reaching for the door handle behind her. "Please no more rough-housing, I'm editing something downstairs."
A pair of hums and vague noises answered her call before the door shut and her footsteps were heard outside, walking down the stairs.
And in that moment, Shiori exhaled. Her body sagged down, pressing her hands into her face as the exhaustion settled. It was her closet call yet. Not only to Elizabeth finding out her crush on her, but also potentially ruining her friendship with these dense, annoying red-hair siblings.
"Anything for you Liz~" Flayon cooed, making kissy faces before Shiori pushed his cheek away. If she managed to pinch him then it was just a simple accident. "Ow."
"Don't make fun of me," she scowled, anger turning back into strawberry embarrassment. She shuffled forward to clean up the mess caused by her tackling Flayon to the ground.
"Oh I'm 100% allowed to make of you," Flayon said back, joining Shiori in crouching down and picking up the empty cans and the snacks. "You have a crush on my sister." He made a point to look at Shiori in the eye. "Making fun of you is part of my compensation."
Shiori rolled her eyes."You're so dramatic."
"It's not dramatic!" Shiori snapped her eyes to Flayon and he cleared his throat. His volume returned to normal despite his persistent indignation. "You broke the bro code—"
"Not a dude—"
Flayon sighed. There was a moment of silence between them as they continued to tidy up, throwing the empty cans into a proper bin, as well as empty snack wrappers. The only white noise between them was the game victory music, still untouched since their previous match.
A buzz of his phone caught Flayon's attention and he glanced at the notification to see Elizabeth texting them about pizza flavours.
"Why would you like Elizabeth anyways?" He asked as he typed out their usual preference, Shiori included. "She likes stupid fart jokes and sings all the time even her sleep."
Shiori paused, hand dangling awkwardly by the edge of the bowl before dropping the unopened mini-donuts rings to slide down. She filed away the new information. Chastising herself internally for liking a woman who enjoyed fart jokes whilst simultaneously gushing internally that Elizabeth sang in her sleep.
"Your sister's hot Flay," She said in the end, her lips already moving to a smirk as she looked over her shoulder with an impish grin. "Like have you seen her in a—
Yet already what usually would be a normal joke turned rotten as Flayon sent her a strong glare. "Don’t say a single word."
Shiori nodded, finally standing up and rushing back to her usual beanie seat. The failed joke brought back the elephant in the room. It rampaged all around them, sucking all the oxygen away by the time Shiori snatched her controller from the ground. She flopped onto her seat, eyes narrowed and her heart barely bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice.
"Okay then, we don't need to talk about it. Let's just boot up the next match."
There was a reason why she didn't want to tell Flayon and it wasn't her usual patterns of keeping things close to her chest. Well there was that, but there was her correct prediction that this changed things. Even when she didn't want things to change—it's not like they were dating anyways. So how comes a stupid (though not as hopeless) crush make Flayon look at her like she shot their family dog?
Silence continued. It remained even when Flayon sat down on his bean bag and started a new match. No discussion on what characters they wanted to do, no talk if they want to do a mini-game instead. There wasn't even any noise of annoyance whenever one of their characters got hit in a combo.
Just uncomfortable silence.
What's even worse was that Flayon was winning.
Shiori's earlier idealised delusion of being in a romance story was quickly becoming a horror flick.
"When did it happen?" Flayon asked after a second win, declaring Flayon the winner in this futile and miserable match.
Shiori gave him a wary side eye look. "Do you really want to know?"
Flayon shrugged, finally turning his head to look at Shiori in all of her misery. "Well I can't exactly give you the shovel-talk, so…"
A dead laugh escaped Shiori's lips. If that was his worry then it's no wonder he's been quiet. It made her look like an idiot though, worrying that she ruined one of her friendships over a crush when in reality, her friend was just trying to play the role of a protective brother.
And failing it spectacularly because Shiori was scarier than any nightmare he ever had.
"It's simple maths I guess," Shiori sighed, leaning her head back to look onto the ceiling. She can remember the day like it was yesterday.
Elizabeth appeared in her life like a walking car crash—a metaphor so literal because Shiori bumped into her turning the corner on the same time. She was here to grab Flayon, gaming hang out changed into a day out at the arcades and her homebody self was bribed cause he was paying. Elizabeth almost dropped her box of clothes, but more importantly, she held onto to Shiori to make sure she didn't fall too.
A sudden contact that turned into a nervous laugh shared between them. The start of their tradition of five minutes of conversation before life pulled them in different directions. Both of them even bonded telling off Flayon for not telling Shiori who Elizabeth was, and that she was here today—and things grew from there.
Small minutes of conversation, shared laughter every now and again. A quick hello or goodbye, a talk of the weather before Shiori hurried herself upstairs to Flayon's room because Shiori was trying to avoid falling for a presumed straight girl. (Better safe than sorry and all that).
But Flayon wasn't getting all off that gossip. Not when thinking Elizabeth was straight was material that would be held over her head for years to come.
"She was here when I visited and I thought she was pretty handsome from the get go."
Flayon grimaced, more distraught than disgusted. "I could have gone my whole life not knowing that."
Shiori grinned at the reaction. She was an only child but she read enough books to know the uncomfortable weirdness that came with being told one of your siblings was attractive.
"Then she hung around a bit and we talk here and there and oh no!" Shiori said in a mock-gasp, "I realised she's cute and hot despite sharing the same genes with you, ("Hey!")—and boom, there's a crush."
Simple maths when you line all the facts up. Casual close proximity, a pretty face to stare at. A personality that came out of a hallmark male love interest, but was even more better cause Elizabeth effortlessly made Shiori feel like a princess. Why wouldn't Shiori get a crush on a woman like that?
Flayon groaned into his hands, leaning back too and pinching the bridge of his nose. "God I hate this."
"Again, you asked."
"Again, she's my sister…"
It was Shiori's turn to sigh, but instead of staring to the ceiling she sat up and turned her entire body to look at Flayon. She rested her elbows on her knees, leaning forward with her shoulders hunched together. There was a subtle wring of her hands, fiddling with whatever she had as she tried her hardest to at least look in his general direction.
"I didn't want to tell you cause I figured it would be like this," Shiori confessed, keeping eye contact as Flayon lowered his hand, staring at Shiori with slight shock. "I don't want stuff to be awkward, and I've been trying hard not to make it awkward. So like, I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders, finally breaking eye contact to pluck awkwardly at her fish nets. "Cut me some slack."
Flayon sighed, but ultimately turned around to face Shiori properly. He scratched the back of his head, a stubborn frown on his lips. "So long as you don't make jokes that you can pull her."
"I won't." Then Shiori paused and smirked. "I know I can do that already."
"Dude," Flayon groaned, "Please."
"Relax," Shiori laughed, easily masking the heartache in her words. She glanced at the door, thought about the way she tried to protect her when Flayon made a dig on her body. It was sweet even when it wasn't needed. "Liz is way out of my league. There's no way I'm anything more to her than her brother's friend."
"This is the part where normally I would be like 'Noo Shiori, you're so amazing and great. You have all the rizz~'" As he said that Flayon was gesturing with his hands, creating heart symbols with his hands, changing his voice to a sickeningly sweet caricature of his support. Then it switched back, almost instant to deadpan disappointment. "But like, you're crushing on my sister so all of me is like yeah no, you have zero rizz and Liz is too good for you."
"Can't believe you hate woman loving woman." Shiori shook her head. She held back a smile as a strong commitment to the bit. Which was hard with Flayon reacting with an affronted open jaw and a questioning, mile-long stare. "The misogyny…"
"What the fuck, man."
Shiori looked away, waving him off with a gasp of mock-shock. "He's not even denying it."
"If you play Dark Souls 2, we're good; and I won't tell her obviously."
Shiori laughed, shifting around on her seat to get comfortable. A simple solution to a complex situation. Though it was funny how crushing on Elizabeth was the final straw Flayon needed to finally get her to play the game.
"Boot it up, gay boy."
Flayon grinned, eagerly rushing to his game collection to get out the disk. "One last final thing though." He stopped and looked behind him, Shiori in turn raised an expectant brow at him. "You need to get better taste in woman too, Shiori."
Shiori snorted, waving him off as the right counter play already formed in her mind. He made this too easy for her sometimes. "Fair enough. Do you think your mum is—"
Shiori shrieked out a laugh, more genuine than all of the other chuckles and giggles shared today as Flayon threw a pillow to her face. She caught the pillow but not before it smacked her on the face, laughing harder when Flayon cackled from across the room.
She'll let it slide this time, as a small internal celebration that despite the crushing on his big sister, nothing has changed between them. It was after all, just a stupid crush and there was no way someone like Elizabeth, even if she was bisexual, would have a thing for someone weird and nerdy like her.
Meanwhile, just below them ordering pizza, Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame finally checked her group chat she had with her friends. She didn't want to bring it up to them, not when they were busy helping her already but she promised to update them and that included the worse news.
GayGayMurin: WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE DIDN'T CLIMB YOU LIKE A TREE????
GayGayMurin: YOU'RE LITERALLY NAKED
ImmerHater: She's not naked, it's literally her gym fit
ImmerHater: But I am also confused why she didn't climb you like a tree
GachaRao: Guys!! Don't be too mean to her crush. Maybe she's just shy?
GayGayMurin: Well she should shyly climb Elizabeth like a tree!!!!
Erbie Derby: So…update. She has a crush on someone and it's someone Flay knows, and I'm 90% sure it's not me.
GachaRao: Oh no Liz :(((
GayGayMurin: SHE NEEDS GLASSES
Erbie Derby: Probably. Maybe I was too forward with the the gym fit guys.
GayGayMurin: OR BETTER TASTE IN WOMAN
ImmerHater: Dw Liz, you just gotta steal her away! Kill her crush!!
ImmerHater: Hypoethically
ImmerHater: In minecraft
ImmerHater: Just be better than them
GachaRao: Also Liz don't be mean to yourself! It was a good plan! She enjoys your company enough to chat with you every time you meet so focus on that!
GayGayMurin: Operation Get Liz a cute girlfriend Plan G starts now!!!
Erbie Derby: There's plans A-F?