Chapter Text
The morning of New Years.
~~~~~~
Bae couldn’t sleep. The reason why was obvious.
Irys.
New Years—their collab stream. She was still thinking about the kiss that never happened.
Yeah, Irys built up to nothing. They both did. It was all for the stream… right? Still, it rubbed the rat in the wrong way. Maybe it would be good to talk to Irys about it in the morning. She should get sleep, she felt like shit.
Or… maybe there would be a talk right now.
She left her door cracked since a special guest was here. A horn glistened in the frame, then a familiar face poked out.
“Can I come in?” The nephilim whispered across the room, hands fidgeting with the door frame. Bae nodded and scooted over so Irys could sit next to her. When sitting down, Irys made a little puff in response to Bae’s mattress. She turned around and ghosted Bae’s fingers with her own accidentally, pulling away instantly.
Awkwardness. That’s what was felt between the two of them.
Bae spoke up first.
“So… why’d you come in? Somethin’ on your mind?”
Irys looked away when she answered, hands now playing with each other on her lap.
“Do you have any New Years resolutions? I don’t mean the ones you do on stream. I’m talking about… other ones.”
Rat ears perked up to the question, wondering why Irys phrased it in such a way. She laid her head back on her bedframe, pondering on the question given. Was there anything else she usually thought of besides work and personal goals? Not really.
“... no I can’t think of anything else.”
Still, Irys looked away, now her eyes were glued to the open door. From the small night light in Bae’s room, she could see the nephilims ears were tinted with blush. Her thumbs played with each other more, halo moving around more than usual. She sighed with a shaky breath, hands moving to grip the blanket she sat on.
“Bae, what if we made a New Years resolution together?”
Now her tail swayed—curiosity.
“And what would this resolution look like? You’re being vague.”
A chuckle came from the rat, leaning forward to rest her chin on her leg. She scooted a bit closer to Irys, trying to get a good look at the nephilim’s face. In response Irys scooted further, quickly turning her head around in annoyance before getting occupied with the door frame again. With the glance Bae peeped she could tell one thing: Irys was embarrassed.
Bae got out from under her sheets, crawling over to the nephilim, poking her buttons more.
“Princess, you can’t just leave me at a cliff hanger…” she pouts. Arms find their way on Irys’ waist, a head resting on her shoulder. “You gotta tell me… I can’t read your mind.” Bae breaths into the other’s neck. She watches it flush waiting for a proper response.
Irys sighs, shaky hands resting on top of Bae’s.
“Promise me you won’t laugh?”
She felt a head nod as a response. Then, she closed her eyes before she opened her mouth, sighing again.
“I want to date you for a year.”
…
“Wat?”
Bae’s hold got looser, rat ears flattened in confusion. She took her head off of Irys’ shoulder, pulling her into the bed to get a better look at her face. Irys yelped in surprise and fell back onto the blanket.
“Why’d you do that?!” Irys yelled, covering her face in embarrassment. She didn’t want to be perceived.
“Why would I not?” Bae quipped back, “You just asked me out in the weirdest way! Of course I’m confused!”
In response, Irys kicked her feet in annoyance, scoffing away from Bae’s prying eyes. “It doesn't need to be real. We can fake it. I mean—we already have the marriage thing going on, how different would this be?” Her hands move around animated, trying to cover up her awful fumbling. She looked toward the rat, seeing her silhouette tower over her. The look she had on her face was complete confusion.
Bae scratched her head, tail between her legs in thought. “So… basically you want to act like a couple for a year and tell everyone about it? What about after?”
“... People don’t need to know, and I didn’t think that far. It’s a resolution! I just want to experience a relationship!”
God, that was probably the most pathetic thing shes ever said out loud in her life.
A groan came from the rat, slapping her face in disbelief.
“I can tell you’ve never asked someone out, it shows.”
“H-hey! Take that back!”
“Fuck it. Why not? Sure, I’ll agree to your stupid resolution of dating someone.”
“Wait—really?”
Bae scoffed, “Man, you really don’t have a plan.”
“Oh, shut up!”
Bae flicked Irys’ nose, the banter turned into light giggles.
This was going to be the dumbest mistake they both ever made.