Work Text:
.PAST .
It rained heavily that night
The sound of thousands of little beads anointing the surfaces of and around the hospital overshadows any and all noise…
The slow-paced heart monitor
The mournful sobs of loved ones
Even the porcelain footsteps of an unwanted visitor are concealed underneath the weather
‘Just give it back, then go.’ has been circling the visitor’s mind ever since she started this trip
After delicately passing through the thunder-lit halls, close encounters with hospital staff wheeling patients in and out…
Cecilia finds herself looking into a room.
On top a fragile hospital cot, wrapped underneath a simple blanket, lies a conspicuous, bean-shaped lump -about the size of a torso- hooked up to a maze of amazingly futuristic machinery
Certain that she’s alone, Cecilia enters the room
She slowly moves towards the cot
Upon peeling the cloth, Cecilia gently unveils a small, old woman in a drab blue hospital gown,
She’s encased in wrinkly skin,
Cursed with a grayish complexion,
Topped with white hair, laid down like a waterfall which made its own rivers and streams across the hospital bed.
Yet she had such beautiful, youthful pink eyes
Beautiful stagnant eyes.
Cecilia in unmoved
This was the corpse of Gigi Murin, laid out on her deathbed for Cecilia to witness.
She stares at the old gremlin in what looks to be contempt
‘She hasn’t changed a bit…’
Cecilia sighs
‘Even in death- she has that stupid grin glued to her face…’
She had something prepared,
she thinks,
she gives up on trying to remember what it was
‘Well... No point beating a dead horse- here’s your ring, Gigi’
Cecilia fishes her pocket for a well-kept emerald ring
and places it on top of Gigi’s chest
After letting the cold rain fill the void of conversation for a few minutes, Cecilia makes her closing remark
“Goodbye Gigi”
“G’night”
…
“!!!!!!!”
Cecilia jumps, yelps, covers her mouth. She hesitates before releasing herself, face drenched in utter shock and disbelief. Body shaking, something inside her rattles either through her movements or her pure disbelief.
“OH!- ahhhh. Errr,-????”
Cecilia falls into her words, stumbling for a moment before composing herself
“Gigi- y- you’re alive?”
The old woman yawns like it were any other day, scratching her behind and stretching her jaw. She seemed absent in the mind- that is until she addressed the automaton directly
“Hehe~ Sorry~, sometimes I sleep with my eyes open- just something I picked up to mess with the new nurses.”
Cecilia couldn’t fathom what she is seeing, there’s an almost horrified- almost contrary expression on her face to which not even she can begin to describe.
“Oooh and who might you be?~”
Cecilia blinks,
“What?”
“Are you that skimpy little nurse from earlier who gave this old timer a sponge bath? Perchance? Ohohohohohoho!”
Cecilia blinks once more,
“What?”
“What was her name?- Eunice? Fey?- something sexy! Like- like… hmmm…”
Gigi doesn’t quite sound like how Cecilia remembers her… her mannerisms have survived this late into her life but her voice sounds rougher but somehow sweeter- like a perfectly untuned piano.
Cecilia quickly assembles the pieces, getting it straight into her head that Gigi Murin is, indeed, not dead unlike what she had originally thought.
At least not yet.
“I’m sort of feeling Felicity but I feel that’s a bit too old for my tastes. Eh who am I kiddin’? NO ONE’S TOO OLD FOR ME- OOOHOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO”
‘Wow… She *really* hasn’t changed a bit…’
An amused smile creeps onto Cecilia’s face
‘She even kept the grandma laugh -heh- always thought she would sound *younger* the more she aged"
She rolls her eyes, she thinks of when they were practically kids- she was 2980 and Gigi was 26- she thought about how much brighter everything used to be.
Her eyes fall back again onto Gigi, now much older, trying to remember someone’s name, rotting away in some shelf.
Something rattled within Cecelia just like before, but this time it didn’t feel like it came from her parts, it felt sharp.
She frowns.
‘She is…. Very old. She doesn’t even seem to remember me… Which is good! Because if she remembers then I might break her tiny little grem heart- just tread lightly, y’know? just talk for a bit then… I don’t know…wait for her to fall asleep. Yeah! Just talk, that’s already more than you’ve given anybody else! AND think of it this way… the both of you both get that precious closure!’
“Oh no.”
she gives Gigi one final smile, drawing the old woman’s attention
“Felicity’s shift has ended, I’ll be taking over…”
‘Smart! That way she *can’t* catch me on any inconsistencies she might’ve caught with her *previous* fling’
“Oh Goodie~. Now- what was your name, young lady?”
“Oh… That really doesn’t matter-”
“Poppycock!- *coughs*”
Gigi coughs into her palm before wiping it off her gown
“hehe~ always wanted to say that”
“Right… Well, I’m… Cecilia…”
“Oooh~ I especially *like* the ring of that name! *Good* to meet you Cecilia!”
“...It’s *nice* to see you too, Mrs. Murin”
The rain seemed to pause a bit, allowing some sunshine to enter the room. It’s unclear whether or not the light came from a nearby skylight or the actual sunrise
But for now it didn’t matter.
“Cecilia dear, I could really use a bath hehe”
.
Cecilia shakes as she grasps a part of Gigi’s arm,
It’s fragile, it has the same consistency as skewered meat
‘Damn it! If you pull too hard! you could kill her…!!!’
Cecilia’s hand also trembles as it makes small, light circles against the old woman’s naked flesh; the sponge barely seems to be grazing it
Gigi looks at Cecilia with an expression of confusion and worry,
Like *she* is the one on *her* deathbed.
“Is there something wrong, Cecilia?”
The automaton quickly raised her head
“Oh- uhm no everything’s alright! Errr… Everything is fine!”
‘Mein Gott, töte mich jetzt bitte!’
It started simple enough with Gigi asking for a few back massages
‘Those are normal things that nurses do I’m sure’
Then with Cecilia putting up a makeshift vaudeville routine “just like the other nurses used to”
‘Alright… not exactly my cup of tea but whatever…’
Then with Cecilia having to go across town for some exquisite lobster thermidor (a usual present by the nursing staff- or so she claims), had she begun to suspect something off
‘WHAT ON EARTH IS GIGI DOING TO THOSE WOMEN?’
It was only when Cece was halfway done with finding some “Asthma Patches” that she realized she’d been made to run a fool’s errand.
She looks dumbfounded and feels dumber having different medical apparatuses clutched within her arms- slowly looking back at that smug gremlin expression.
“Ok... I’m not a nurse.”
“Oh?”
“Yes! Yes! You’ve made a fool of me… I get it!…”
“Hoho!~ Don’t be like that, Cecilia- you’ve done pretty well for a nurse, well, one without a nursing degree!”
Cece only grumbles as she sits down at one of the guests seats with her arms crossed
Gigi’s smile wavers
“Alright, I’m sorry about that one dearie- I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity, and you must know that just because I have trouble remembering doesn’t mean I can’t *see* that you’re clearly not in-uniform”
Cecilia looks down at her dark cloak and shoeless feet
“Oh.”
…
“So *why* Are you here, Cecilia dearie?”
“Well, that would depend- do you recognize me?”
“Mmmmm…. Not a clue- are you death, perchance?"
“Right… no… I used to be someone in your life-”
“Getting a jab at the ol’ Murin inheritance are we? Well I WON’T WA–”
Cecilia starts to regret ever coming here, she began resting her cheek onto her hand
‘Seriously- what are you doing here? What was your plan? She’s alive… So what? She doesn’t even recognize you so even if she did- why on earth would she want to see you again?’
Cecilia sighs, she looks at Gigi
Her head rocks back and forth as she cackles, just like the times she thinks she’s come up with something particularly hilarious.
When she opens her eyes to look at Cecilia, still that bright pink hue
Her bright pink eyes look into Cecilia, her eyes are half-lidded in a way that doesn’t feel teasing or cruel… she’s laughing, she enjoys the company and somewhere in Cece’s artificial heart she knows she enjoys it too- too much, everything surrounding the eyes reminds her of all the years she’d spent without Gigi Murin, without any of the hijinks, without any of the loving looks- just a century rotting in an apartment no bigger and certainly no better than this hospital room.
Somewhere along the monologue, Gigi coughs, particularly harsh; she apologizes for it but the only thing Cecilia can think of is how soon she’s going to lose… *this* after only a few minutes of catching up.
It’s with that thought of when she is reminded of why she has this very room in the first place- to make things right.
Originally that was to return the ring Gigi had gifted her all those years ago, just rotting in an empty drawer. But now that Gigi’s alive, she has to protect that smile, those laughs, those ridiculous monologues all smitten by her all those years ago, all ruined because she’d broken the gremlin’s heart.
She has to leave.
She gets up
She comes up with an believable excuse
She tucks in Gigi goodnight, still maintaining the professionalism despite having been exposed
She then leaves
…
“Wait.”
From the blanket, slipped out a serpent-like, black tail which encircled itself around Cecilia’s waist. The grip was firm but undemanding.
Cecilia probably would’ve slapped it away or something but she doesn’t
“Could you stay awhile dearie? I promise I won’t lead you on with any more ridiculous chores”
Something about the way she says that calms Cecilia
“I rarely get visits, see, and I fear I don’t have much time left… so
please stay dearie…”
Although hesitant,
“Please stay, Cecilia”
Cecilia sits back down.
The evening seemed to last forever
…
“So you knew me?”
Gigi breaks the silence
Cecilia’s mind goes blank
“Briefly.”
“Briefly?”
“For me it was brief, for you that was probably a good chunk of your life”
“Oh…” Gigi frowns,
it hurts Cecilia
“Oh… uhm… if it helps, you didn’t miss out on much it was probably like 6years-
“Were we dating?”
“Oh… erm… not really- we were more like…. Roommates, and -y’know?- it’s not unusual for two women to- eherm- to…to share a mutual living arrangement but if you…”
Gigi’s grin could barely contain her laughter
“Oh…. OH!”
“I got you!”
“Hoho~ alright, yes, you’ve got me” Cece raises her arms in feign guilt
“After the Ol’ Murin Fortune after all, ey?”
Gigi laid a playful punch into Cece’s shoulder to further lighten the mood but hissed as it hurt her hand
“A-Are you okay?” Cecilia says with enough concern to drown out the amusement
Cece nurses Gigi’s limp hand in-between her palms.
It’s not the first time Gigi had mistaken the porcelain for soft, human flesh- Cece could recount this exact moment repeating multiple times throughout their relationship… only….
‘Her hands are much bigger now… but mine are still the same. Her touch still feels gentle’
Cece rubs her thumb over the blueish wound which prompted a nervous chuckle
“D-Do as you please… b-but my fortune shall not be inherited by thee promiscuous maiden!”
It was clear by the trembling of her voice that Gigi wanted to get back to the laughter and the teasing. She didn’t fully understand why but it felt warm to her somehow, like nostalgia without the memories.
Cece plays along
“Why… of course not! It would be scandalous for an esteemed lady such as yourself to engage in *fake gasp* an affair! An extramarital homosexual affair? with a younger woman?! What would the family think?”
They both laughed… for a while.
“Yeah… what *would* they think? He he….”
“...”
“...”
“Cecelia?”
“?... yes, Mrs.-”
“Oh you can call me Gigi, dearie”
“... alright…. Gigi, what’s wrong?”
“Well, since we’ve got a thing going- might as well *spill the beans* y’know?- while I still have someone to spill it to…”
“Oh?”
“Although my family doesn’t really know this… before I settled down I had a love … an automaton woman”
Cecilia’s eyes go wide. She’s yet to determine if that’s a good thing
“As you may know… automatons live long lives”
Gigi laughs but she looks distraught
“I guess… I didn’t quite get the memo, I treated her- *sighs* I annoyed her. I was a nuisance- simple as that, in retrospect I probably should’ve given her time to breathe… “
Gigi attempts to play off a shrug, but she just ends up getting teary eyed like all those years ago
“Oh well”
“...”
Gigi tries to alleviate the awkwardness making small popping noises to her vein
“Yep… just a drop in her endless ocean I’m afraid.”
Something about the way Gigi says this makes Cecilia’s insides gut themselves
‘That’s not…’
“Sorry?”
‘Shit.’
“I meant- That can’t be the case, you must’ve held some importance for her?”
Gigi would’ve replied with a scoff but she’s done that many times before
“Yeah right… Always leading me on… treating me like I’m some one-night-stand floozy”
‘Gigi…’
“Y’know I was around 20 when we first started dating, barely older than that when she left me- and look at me now- some old rotten krone!”
‘You’re still as beautiful as you were when I met you’
“She’s a cold woman. “My type of woman” I used to think, how silly! How could I have allowed myself to have been so silly!”
‘I used to adore how silly you are’
“ The silliest thing I’ve done - aside from attempting to forge a relationship with a machine- was when she left me that day…”
‘...’
“I told her that- that I loved her. That’s how silly I was! Could you believe it? She didn’t even say “I love you” back! She just stood there- glaring at me with those perfectly pearly eyes of hers”’
Gigi stops, she’s already played this moment enough times
…
“I’m sorry”
“It’s alright, dearie- it’s not your… Cecilia? Cecilia- are you crying?”
“No.”
“What’s the matte-”
“I said I wasn’t crying!...
…
I’m sorry”
“No… don’t be… I’ve just never- well I’ve only known you for a few hours but I just have to say- you look awfully pretty when you cry”
“... Really?”
“Mhm”
“T-thank you, Gigi”
…
Despite the calming of the mood, Cecilia does look quite unconsolable of which has not gone unnoticed by the wise Mrs. Murin
“You should know… it’s not all how I make it out to be. There are parts where she looks at me with her pearly eyes and it's full of love and admiration.”
“There are moments where- where I’ve never felt such happiness with anyone”
“So when she left… I had to make sure I would see y- her again… I kept myself healthy, I kept myself sharp- just so… maybe I could make things right”
Gigi sighs, she notices the ring laid on the bed
She picks it up and admires it, she smiled the same way she used to
“My Cece…”
Silence fills the room.
There’s a feeling within Cecilia,
A calling, a command.
“I love you”
She kisses Gigi thrice on her face
Gigi doesn’t move
“I love you… Gigi.”
“I love you”
“I love you”
“I love you”
“I love you”
“I love you”
“I love you”
“I love-”
At some point, Cecilia’s words get wrapped up in her tears and become unintelligible
Only strained cries and anguished wails came out along with
a flat, sharp, monotone beep.
It seemed to linger on for longer the more she remembers that rainy day
.PRESENT.
“Here we are”
It had been an impressive trek but the duo finally arrived at the old resting place of the fabled Gigi Murin Sr.
Gigi’s grave is well kept, being at the base of a beautiful cherry tree, she slumbers unburdened and undisturbed.
“Who is this, Cece?” Chirped the young girl
“Why this is your great-great-grandmother, Genevieve”
The gremlin, Genevieve, wows as they both soak in the great eternal beauty of the structure before them.
It was so quiet that one could hear chirps and whistles from all kinds, from miles away
Cecilia was first to break the silence
“In my vast ocean of emptiness, she was the gumdrop who made everything sweet”
Cecilia says, mostly to herself
Genevieve doesn’t really give a reaction,
Just nodding at the -to her- profound statement.
It’s at this moment that Genevieve then notices how shiny the granite headstone looked, Gran-gran Gigi had been dead long before she herself was born.
“She must’ve been quite a person”
Cecilia hadn’t even glanced back when she responded with a breathy “Yes.”, her voice cutting through the candleflames which, judging by the height of the wax, had remained to be lit from yesterday.
“You must've really loved her?- y’know? To-”
“Yes, I do love her”
Genevieve, in spite of curiosity- gave Cecelia some time to lament. She lets herself get distracted by some overheard breeze,
she looks up to the empty blue sky for a bit only for it to darken.
“BleAGH!” some water droplets had been swept into the face “Yo Cecilia, didya’ bring an umbr- …Cecilia?”
“Cecilia? Are you crying?”
“Yes, I am”
“A-Are you alright?”
“Yes Genevieve, I’m alright”
“You need anything?”
“No, Everything I need is right here”
“Cool, cool”
Genevieve stuffs her hands into her pockets. Shortly, a mild noise of thunder failed to cut the tension faraway.
“Y’know it’s good of you to take me here, I really appreciate it”
Cecilia’s voice starts to break
“Y-e-ah, it certainly is *good* of me”
…
“Hey, Cece?”
“Yes?”
“I love you”
“I love you too, Gigi.”