Work Text:
It was another night, which meant SQ waking up again in the middle of the night. Gina didn’t want to disturb her, their beds far enough apart she shouldn’t be aware, but she’d been sleeping light ever since they started rooming together, when Setsu moved her mother’s consciousness out of SQ’s body and she’d been shaking, clutching herself during the first few nights on a planet, in a more proper bed. The first month or so Gina had expected, but once SQ started waking more quietly, once she’d sniffle a few times to herself, it became more difficult for Gina to know what to do.
At first, she’d tried recommending different medications and treatments- chamomile tea, melatonin, a white noise machine, allergy medications with drowsiness as a side effect, and none of them seemed to do much, not yet. Even going to a doctor and getting a prescription only let her sleep well about half the time, and while SQ probably hadn’t talked much about the actual cause, Gina had a good enough rough idea, based on what Setsu and Yuuri had told her back on the DQO.
“...Gina?”
That was new. “Yeah?”
“You’re up? That’s, like… unexpected, or something?”
“I, well, I heard you up. I wasn’t sure if you, um…”
The seconds passed between them, the sound of blankets shifting, of feet against the carpet of their bedroom, of someone walking. Gina didn’t dare turn around, didn’t dare risk doing anything to scare SQ. She’d had enough scares for several lifetimes.
“Can I, like, hop in?”
The voice was close. Probably less than a meter away, which meant SQ was-
Gina turned around, a figure looming over the bed, familiar silhouette. “SQ.” A hand reached out, touched her arm, resting there gently, Gina’s heartrate spiking in response to her touch. “I don’t… see why not.”
Nothing in her thoughts understood why she was scooting over. She wasn’t the motherly type, not to SQ. If anything, she’d insisted SQ learn her half of the chores, handle her own paperwork, take time to properly study for her coursework, to select her courses herself, to find her own way to manage her life and build things the way she wanted. Sure, sometimes SQ had an easier time studying if Gina was in the same room, but she would read or watch something, maybe cook and look over at SQ sometimes, smiling to herself as she watched SQ scratch her head about some line in one of her course files.
She didn’t get why she was lifting the blanket, making room for SQ to slide into her bed. She got along with SQ fairly well, sure, as a friend, but some of the friends from her mother’s religious group when she was young felt close at the time as well, and she never would have agreed to this with any of them. Why did she not mind if it was SQ? It made no sense.
As SQ crawled into the bed, pressed close to her, Gina’s face began to burn, something tugged at her thoughts from within her, thrashing around in her brain, a beast trying to force its way out of a cage.
“Thanks, Gina! Are you, like, planning something now that I’m here with you? It sure would be a totally great chance if you wanted one!” SQ’s finger poked lightly at one of Gina’s cheeks, the spot where she’d made contact tingling after SQ hand pulled back, the arm reaching out and draping itself over Gina. She hadn’t been planning anything, had no intentions to make any plans in the moment, saw no reason to. It was more of SQ’s usual teasing, the type that always felt a bit different to Gina than most seemed to think it would, nothing to think too hard about. She just needed to stop thinking about everything, to simply go with the flow.
That’s when Gina leaned over, pressing her mouth to SQ’s cheek for at least a full second, maybe even a few seconds, letting out a yelp of surprise and pulling back when she realized what she was doing. “Sorry! I- uh- sorry!”
She sat up in the bed, SQ soon following her. “That was, like, super bold of you, Gina. I wasn’t expecting you to, like, actually take my little SQ-use to make a move?”
“I wasn’t either.” Gina didn’t like lying. She’d said what she thought at the time, but maybe, just maybe, she’d been lying about something this whole time- not to SQ, but to herself. Such a bold action was unlike her, especially if she didn’t want it, didn’t desire it. “I guess we have a lot to talk about soon, don’t we?”
SQ leaned in close, pressing her lips to Gina’s forehead ever so softly, so soft that Gina almost didn’t register it. “We will. So what do you say we sleep for tonight, and we can promise each other one little thing.”
“I think I’d like that. What’s the promise?”
“Your SQ won’t forget the Gina of this moment, so Gina, please… don’t forget the SQ that’s with you right now.” As she spoke, her voice wavered, and as SQ hugged her, arms wrapped around Gina’s midriff, she could feel through the fabric balled up in SQ’s hands how they trembled ever so slightly.
If it got her to stop feeling that way, Gina would promise just about anything. “Yeah,” she told her, reaching a finger under her chin. She leaned forward, pressing one last kiss to SQ’s hair, an arm wrapping around her, holding her close. “I won’t forget you, SQ. I promise. Now… let’s get a little sleep in you, shall we?” The two cuddled on the too-small bed, not minding how cramped it was, SQ sleeping soundly for the first time since everything had started. Gina wasn’t sure what this all meant, but they’d build meaning from it in the morning, as they talked through everything, deciding what worked for the two of them.
In the meantime, the soft, unguarded SQ who was asleep was too adorable for Gina to not take a moment to appreciate before sleep stole her away for the night.