Work Text:
"Nasaan yung mic pack ni SenRi?"
"Pakibaba pa nang konti yung key light."
"Hindi bagay yung blue vase."
The taping studio, Thea thinks, has got to be one of the busiest places she’s been to. Tech assistants taping wire to the floor, cameramen cleaning lenses, the director finalizing angles, the art department arguing whether the green or the blue vase should be atop the coffee table – one suggested the lilac one considering the special guests today. It was all a whirlwind, and for an intern who is starting her immersion into professional life, it was all exciting. This morning, especially, because after months, the most requested duo finally said yes to being guests together at the podcast. No one knows this just yet, but also for months, Thea’s screentime has been absolutely monopolized by X and the WinRi fandom.
Pia and Risa arrive together fifteen minutes before schedule. They walk into the room already engrossed in a conversation that looks like won’t make it to the final cut of the episode. Pia nudges her sister repeatedly with a smile that the studio knows is up to no good, and Risa can only respond with a roll of her eyes.
‘Confirmed, kamukha niya si Mama Mary.’ Thea thinks, as she tries to keep her cool, but with Senator Risa wearing a white suit set with a silk, navy blue top inside? That’s a tough challenge.
“Magandang umaga,” Risa greets the staff by name. She’s quite familiar with the others already considering this would have to be her third guesting this year, and when she would drop by to visit Pia.
“Kamusta yung kapatid mo? Naka-graduate na ba?” She asks one of the cameramen who was supporting the education of his youngest sister.
“Ay, opo, Sen. Naka cum laude pa nga po eh.” He says bashfully; quite surprised that the Senator remembered.
“Naku, happy!” She offers her hand for the cameraman to shake. “Congratulations po sainyo. Basta pag may kailangan, sabihan kami ha.”
“Ris,” Pia calls out from the other side of the room. “Set up na daw tayo? Mic packs.”
Risa says goodbye, and makes her way to her sister. A couple of minutes later, the door opens once again and reveals the other person who would make the duo guesting complete – Sherwin Gatchalian, his hair gelled and styled to precision, he was wearing a navy blue suit, and a cream button down – carrying two coffees and two boxes of donuts for the crew.
“Oh, my God,” Thea whispers to herself. Coordinated sila. Bibigyan ko ng meaning to!!! She’s already thinking of how she’ll tell her friends back at X that Sherwin’s suit perfectly matches Risa’s top – or not, but to her it does.
“Magandang umaga,” Sherwin greets everyone as he places the boxes of donuts near the water dispenser. “Pang merienda niyo mamaya.”
He makes his way towards Pia and Risa. He hands one of the coffee cups to Risa, to which she says ‘Salamat’ with a smile. Thea’s mind blown and internally screaming at how simple the gesture seems to be, but ripe with implications. Does he know her usual order? Di man lang siya na surprise?
Sherwin hands the other cup of coffee to Pia – she checks the details of the orders as scribbled on the side of the cup, and she looks up to him with a look of pleasant surprise. “Ano ‘to? Bribe ba to?”
“Medyo. Baka mahirap yung mga tanong mo eh.”
“Hindi naman.” Pia takes a sip from the cup. “Sobrang hirap lang.”
The red tally light blinked on, prompting everyone to take their places – Pia, Sherwin and Risa took their seats on the set.
"Welcome back to Let's Talk with Pia," Pia smiled into the camera with practiced ease.
"Today's episode has been highly requested. Promise, my X mentions have been filled with them for months.” Risa and Sherwin both laugh at that, Thea does too – though hers has more guilt because she’s one of the thousands who might have tagged Pia once or twice.
“Welcome back to the show, Senator Sherwin, Senator Risa.”
“Drop the Senator na tayo –.” Sherwin starts.
“- masyadong formal.” Risa finishes the sentence.
Pia holds back a smile and looks back to her cue cards. “Oo, hanggang greeting lang talaga yun.”
"Let's begin with work," Pia said, setting her cue cards aside. "It's been almost two months since the impeachment trial formally began – and a little over two months since you became Senate President, Sherwin. People only see what happens inside the session hall, but they don't always realize life outside of that still goes on."
She looked first at Sherwin.
"How are you holding up?"
He leaned back slightly.
"I think everyone in the Senate would agree that it's been... demanding."
"Napaka diplomatic naman ng answer na yan." Pia playfully rolls her eyes.
"Naku, he has to be." Risa interjects.
Laughter rippled through the studio.
"No, but seriously," he continued. "It's a constitutional process. Everyone—whether they're part of the prosecution, the defense, or sitting as senator-judges—has an obligation to make sure we do it right. Syempre hindi parin natitigil ang legislative work. Ang priority bills kailangan parin tutukan. Committee work – ito ngang si Risa parang di rin tumitigli eh." Sherwin continues on.
“Naku, ito na naman,” Pia shakes her head. “Binalik na naman niya kay Risa.”
“Ay, ganyan din siya the last time?” Risa leans forward from her seat. Suddenly, her interest has piqued – and that makes Sherwin’s cheeks burns; like a tomato.
“Pinagkakaisahan niyo ko ah.”
The two sisters laugh. Risa slaps his forearm lightly. Thea screams internally.
“Okay, okay, back to work. The start of your Senate Presidency was eventful, so to speak.” Risa nods – slowly, and Sherwin remains still. “And even now, talagang limelight ka. May mga memes nga ‘di ba? How do you feel about that now?”
Before Sherwin even comes up with a response, Risa starts: “Can I say a piece about this first?” Pia agrees, and leans back on her chair. “Of course, go ahead.”
“I’ve said this before. Talagang nilaban naming majority bloc na maihalal si Sen Sherwin. By that point, lahat ang wish namin ay magtrabaho. Ang bawat araw na nasasayang, kapakanan ng mga kababayan natin ang nakataya.”
Sherwin’s elbows were resting on the arm rest, fingers carded together in front of his lips. He watches Risa talk intently with the same passion, the same fire that he has grown fond of.
“Unanimously, we believed that Sherwin was the best person to do the job. To unite the chamber, and to make it functional again. He’s strong on his own merits, but people forget that he – along with all of us– are human. So, yung mga memes, sabi ko nga wag na masyado pansinin. Masyado nang maingay para dumagdag pa yun.” Risa raises her cup of coffee, the one Sherwin gave, and takes a sip once she’s done.
“Wow,” Pia is seriously impressed – by what, no one can be certain of.
“Ano namang response mo jan, SP?”
“Naku, what she said nalang,” he laughs. “Ang hirap naman sundan nun. High praise coming from Risa yan, bilang isa talaga siya sa pinaka-masipag, pinaka-magaling …”
“Win, di tungkol saakin ang podcast.” Risa turns to him.
“Ay, ganun ba?”
Thea couldn’t hold her smile any longer from backstage. If she didn’t 100% believe the possibility of the two of them being something more than colleagues before, she certainly does now.
"So..." Pia crossed one leg over the other. "Marami kayong partnerships na ginawa sa Senado. One of the most famous ones would be the Alice Guo case. Do the two of you ever disagree?"
Sherwin answered immediately. "Yes."
Risa answered at the exact same time.
"Madalas, actually." They looked at each other.
"Madalas?" Sherwin echoed. “Parang grabe naman yan.”
She shrugged. "Totoo din kasi."
Pia tried—and failed—not to laugh.
"So what happens?"
"We talk." Sherwin responds, and Risa nods.
"Like adults, like professionals, we usually end up with a compromise. Pero klaro din saamin na may mga bagay na hindi na co-compromise. I think we make a good team."
"Usually?" She smiles at him, that warm smile the Senate recordings fail to capture in its entirety. One that warms his heart every time.
"Most of the time."
"See?" Sherwin gestured toward her.
"Ito na pala yun,” he laughs again. “We're demonstrating."
"One thing I've always admired about both of you is that you've managed to stay remarkably grounded despite the pace of your work."
She looked at Sherwin. "What reminds you to slow down?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Risa. It lasted barely a second, just enough for someone who wasn't looking to miss it entirely.
"People," he finally said. "Yung mga taong nakapalibot sakin, mga taong mahal ko at hopefully, no, mahal din ako. Sila yung nagpapaalala."
Risa agreed.
"They notice before you do. Ganun naman siguro for everyone. When you’re deep into the work – ano ba yun, yung locked in – you negotiate with yourself. One more hour, isang article pa, kaya pa ng isang interview after a hearing. The people who love you remind you that the better life and the better nation we’re trying to build for our countrymen is also something that we should be enjoying."
She wasn't looking at him when she answered. She was looking at Pia, but somehow,it still felt like she was answering him.
“Okay, transition naman tayo to the more exciting stuff.”
Risa takes a deep inhale and shakes her head. “Oh, my gosh.” She looks towards the staff and raises her cup of coffee. “Meron ba kayong mas malakas sa coffee?” The staff laughs.
“Ito naman, OA. Wala pa nga.” Pia points at her with the cue cards.
Pia sipped from her drink, and looked directly to the camera.
“Para sa Baby Winners, this is for you.” She says with a smile. If there’s a competition to be the Nation’s favorite tita, she would definitely gun for the position.
“You guys are an internet sensation. Billions of impressions na kayo, and still counting. This started when exactly? Sige, ikaw muna, Ris.”
“Well, base sa sabi ng staff ko the craze blew up during the time of the walkout. I think because people were looking for something light and positive from everything that was happening in the Senate, parang kami yata ang nabunot.” She says with a laugh. “Overall, I think it’s very positive energy.”
“Actually, mukhang the WinRi nation disagrees,” she looks at one of her cue cards; ever the journalist she is, she comes prepared. “Mukhang ten years ago ang binibilang natin dito. Can we play the clips?” The screen that showed the podcast’s title suddenly plays an made entirely of clips of the two of them during the time of 2016-2018 – fondly known as mesopotamia clips.
“Ay, favorite ko to.” Pia angles her body so that she faces the TV completely.
“May favorite ka?” Sherwin asks – a bit surprising, he has to admit.
“Of course, part of research.”
Surprisingly, neither Risa nor Sherwin looked away like Thea expected them to. They both watched the edit with a fond smile painted on their lips. She could see Risa’s shoulders rise then fall when the video had ended.
“They’re very creative, no?” Sherwin breaks the unexpected, pensive silence first.
“When you see these videos, these edits – what do you think they see?” Pia probes.
“I think…” Risa starts first. “people naturally become attached to stories that last. Probably, they’re seeing the history and how it reveals how much of a delight Sherwin is to be around. Joker yan! Mukha lang siya laging seryoso sa trabaho. I think they see the kind of …” Risa pauses to search for the right word, she looks at Sherwin briefly, and continues “... support that we’ve offered each other. Batchmates kami eh, pareho kaming baguhan sa Senado.”
“How about you, Sherwin?”
"I think they see the truth.” Sherwin said as if it was the most obvious fact – which was ironic because the clips contained little certainty. Hence, the theories.
“What do you mean by that?” Pia furrows her eyebrows slightly.
“The truth about how we were very good friends. Mahirap yan mahanap sa politika – noon at kahit ngayon. So, when someone offers that comfort, that friendship, that safety, you gravitate towards them. Risa’s been one of my allies in the Senate, but she holds me accountable din. Ako, maswerte ako to have found her as a batchmate.”
“Grabe, parang vows.” Pia says under her breath, the mics don’t catch it, but Risa certainly did.
The interview eventually wound down; with more laughs and bickering in between. Politics gave way to hope. Hope gave way to the future.
Pia folded the last cue card.
"This is my final question." She looked first at Risa.
"The country continues to ask about 2028. Where are we with the presidential bid?"
“Same place as last time, P. Mag-u-unite muna ang opposition at magkakasundo behind kung sino ang pinakamalakas. We need a fighting chance. If, ibinigay ng Diyos and nagkataong mapagkatiwalaan ng mga kasama, I am open, but until a final decision has been reached, we are not there yet.”
Then at Sherwin. “How about you Sherwin? “Where do you see yourself after 2028? You’re term limited na. din”
“I have decided to step down from politics, P.” He said it with a kind of certainty that leaves no place for speculation. “I've had the privilege of serving for many years. I think it's also time to make space for other parts of life.” He smiled. "May mga tao na akong uuwian."
Sherwin pauses for a second and looks at Risa, who already had a shy smile on her features. He looks at her not because he needed permission, but simply because she was the first person he always looked for; the clips showed that – after sessions, in between breaks, in a room full of people. She met his eyes with a small nod.
“At saka…” he began again. " … wherever life takes us, i'd like to spend it beside her."
There was silence in the studio, Sherwin raised his hand, and Risa placed hers atop his. The studio lights caught the diamond that was resting on her ring finger. Sherwin's thumb brushed lightly across the back of her hand. His own wedding band glinted just beside hers.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Pia was the first to speak. The smile on her face was no longer the polished smile she'd worn since the opening spiel. It was softer. Prouder.
"So..." She looked at them both. "Congratulations are in order."
Sherwin rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking far less like the Senate President and much more like a man who'd just been caught keeping the happiest secret of his life.
"We got married." Risa glanced at him before turning back to Pia. "Last Saturday. Thank you for the cake pala.”
For one second, nothing happened. No cheering. Not even breathing, Only stunned silence as every conversation, every glance, every unfinished sentence from the past hour quietly rearranged itself into something that suddenly made perfect sense. One of the cameramen lowered his viewfinder. Even Thea forgot she was supposed to be watching the wardrobe rack. It was only when one of the producers quietly began clapping that the rest of the room followed.
Pia waited until the applause softened, then she reached across the table and covered their joined hands with both of hers.
"I've interviewed a lot of people," she said softly. “Artists, journalists, even yung mga kasama niyo sa Chamber, but I don't think I've ever been happier to end an episode."
She squeezed their hands once before looking into the camera.
“To everyone who's been watching: thank you for spending this afternoon with us.”
“And to these two –” Her smile returned, warm and unmistakably sisterly. “... you've spent so many years giving so much of yourselves to other people. I hope this next chapter is one you keep giving to each other.”
She looked between them one last time. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hontiveros-Gatchalian.”
Sherwin let out a small, embarrassed laugh. Risa shook her head with one of her own. “Sherwin, if you ever upset her, my word for you is good luck.” The whole studio erupts into laughter once again.
The red tally light blinked off.
"Cut!"
The spell broke almost immediately. Producers hurried onto the set, microphones were unclipped, cameras lowered, congratulations echoed from every corner of the studio.
Through it all, neither of them let go.
Sherwin looked at her.
"Ready?"
Risa smiled.
"Let's go home."
He nodded once, still holding her hand as they stood.