Chapter Text
“The real world is garbage.”
Génesis directed her confused gaze toward Kiara, whose eyes remained lost somewhere on a blank spot of the ceiling. Both were lying on their backs, horizontally across the bed with their legs propped up against the wall, forming an L-shape with their bodies. It was a very common position whenever the best-friend duo gathered with the sole purpose of killing time.
Kiara kept talking.
“Seriously, everything is so boring. I can’t train my Nen, I can’t be the Mother of Dragons, let alone invade a planet and end up married to a beautiful blue-haired woman.”
“I didn’t know you were into women.”
“Maybe I’m the boring one,” she exclaimed, dragging her voice. Sighing, she grabbed a star-shaped pillow beside her and pressed it against her face, finishing her verdict in a muffled voice: “I can’t even get a boyfriend because I’m a geek.”
Génesis smiled timidly. There was a slice of reality in that last part. In today’s world, geeks were few and far between, sidelined from the game of life. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that they were both twenty-six years old. Society’s rules weighed heavily on both of their shoulders; the “right” path was meant to be followed. Be born, study, graduate, work, get married, have kids, and die.
The snag was that they had both already completed level 4. And “time shows no mercy”—or at least, that’s what Génesis’s grandfather constantly repeated to her when she was only seven, her single memory of him. Though she chose to treasure more the last words her mother expressed with tears in her eyes during a late-night argument: “It’s my first time living, too.” Génesis hadn’t seen her ever since.
“I don’t think it’s your fault,” the reply came accompanied by a gentle smile.
“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.” Kiara clutched the star in her arms, her bottom lip sticking out slightly more than usual. “There’s no chance for me. Nobody wants geeks.”
“Then why don’t you look for someone who’s a geek, too?”
Kiara looked at her, horrified.
“WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY? GEEKS ARE WEIRDOS!”
This time, Génesis couldn’t hold back her laughter. Bingo. Within the geek world, there were definitely interesting people—in the worst sense of the word—and while both of them proudly belonged to it, they also kept their feet planted firmly on solid ground. Although Kiara sometimes seemed to fly a little too close to the sun, Génesis was always there to pull her back down. Her anchor. And she had proudly accepted that unpaid job five years ago, when they met in an MMORPG.
Kiara typed a lot, she was fast, and she used way too many unnecessary characters. From second zero while chatting in-game, Génesis figured out that Kiara’s hobby was writing. They maintained a relationship of virtual words for a few months until they decided to meet in person. Génesis was a bit taller than Kiara; her natural, straight black hair sparked a healthy envy in her best friend, who wrestled daily with her golden, unruly curls. They hugged tightly amidst laughter and senseless remarks. They walked together through downtown Valverde—a midpoint they managed to agree on for their meetup—and it was among the city lights and urban hum that Génesis, with her dark eyes, realized Kiara hid a piece of the sky in her gaze.
It was a moment that changed her life forever.
“Complaining without a solution in mind is a waste of time.”
“How much do I owe you for the session, doc?” she teased, pressing a hand over her heart.
Even so, deep down, Kiara knew Génesis was right. The two of them formed a yin and yang perfectly reincarnated in the bodies of two young women. Two very dumb young women, she thought to herself. She knew her best friend inside out: behind that honest, mature woman lived a timid, childlike personality that only Kiara had ever gotten to know. Génesis couldn’t resist her whims; they felt like discovering a new star in the night sky, exploring the unknown—a piece of intimacy that belonged solely to the two of them. Her heart would fill with curiosity, and Kiara answered that longing by opening her Pandora’s box without an ounce of shame.
Because of that, it was effortless for Kiara to share her thoughts with her. She could vent about the entire world, and Génesis would be right there, offering a logical solution to every single one of her problems.
She remembered that one time they couldn’t agree on something, threatening to end a years-long friendship. Which, of course, didn’t happen—because even if they were two very dumb young women, they weren't going to drift apart simply because an anime character they watched together didn’t end up with either of the love interests they had picked out for him. Even though my pick was better, Kiara agreed with herself internally.
“Next time, I’m actually charging you.”
Hearing those words, Kiara’s mouth dropped open in complete, dramatic offense. Génesis was still looking up at the ceiling, but Kiara could see the corner of her lips tugging slightly upward. She didn’t mean it, but she was trying to play it cool.
“Would you buy me an inflatable doll?”
“What? No.”
The blonde grabbed the star-shaped pillow again and, after pressing it harder against her face, faked a scream of agony. Kiara wanted Génesis to offer her a solution to her problem. Even if it’s impossible, she admitted in her head.
Kiara had had several boyfriends—each one worse than the last, according to Génesis. But Kiara didn’t see it that way anymore. Although it caused her a lot of pain at first to see all her attempts at a healthy, stable relationship fall apart, she understood in her heart that nobody was perfect—or in other words, that everyone has their own battles to fight. Including herself. And even though she gave it her all to keep walking life’s path alongside the people she loved, in the end, she always ended up shattered and alone.
Well, not entirely alone. She had Génesis by her side the last time her world came crashing down over love. She still felt indebted to her for that.
And even though a little over two years had passed since she last became single, the back of her mind decided to quiet down that internal debate about relationships. Kiara was in love with love—Génesis had pointed that out a while back, and though she hadn't said it with bad intentions, it had unconsciously triggered a firm, lifelong decision in the blonde. She would never risk everything for love again. She would have to be 100% sure before putting her heart on the line ever again.
Which was why it had been so long since her last relationship.
“I’m going to die alone,” Kiara declared, the pillow still covering her entire face.
She felt Génesis shift beside her on the bed. Kiara had a habit of leaving music playing in the background from her computer; the audio bleeding from her headphones was a song by Foreigner. The soft melody filled the room. The clock barely marked 6:30 PM, but in July, the cold winter afternoons snuffed out the sun early. There was no specific reason why she had picked that playlist this time. “Old&Gold” ran for roughly six hours with over 150 retro tracks, her mother being her main source of inspiration. To think her favorite band is Genesis, she thought, hoping the next track would be theirs. “Jesus He Knows Me”—their shared favorite.
Kiara didn’t talk about her mother in front of Génesis, who likely noticed but never called her out on it. The silent pact they made had formed naturally. Both knew their situations were completely different; such an alien subject between them felt hostile to their friendship, awkward and heavy. A missing puzzle piece in their lives that time had failed to recover.
She recognized the track playing as “Waiting For a Girl Like You.”
“Why don’t you try it with me?”
In her head, Kiara sang the first verse of the song, accompanied by a soft hum from her lips. She remembered the first time she heard it. She was six years old, and her mother, Iris, played it on an old stereo from a cassette tape; those four minutes and fifty-two seconds had made her feel like she was undergoing a complete metamorphosis. She adored the melody, the vocals, and the lyrics. Unconsciously, she compared that moment to the beat of her heart the very first time she met Génesis. Inside Elysium Realms, the game where they met, they had ended up joining the same guild. Upon discovering she wasn't the only girl, Kiara was filled with hopes of building a warm relationship with G3N3S1S (Génesis’s username in the game). She never stopped to think about her clear preference for being around people of her own gender. It shouldn't be anything weird... I think, she doubted in her mind.
She pulled the pillow away from her face, letting out a long, calm sigh as she stared at the ceiling. After a brief silence, she burst out laughing without restraint, her eyes closing completely.
“That would solve all my problems,” she replied, still laughing. “Though it’s way too good to be tr—”
She turned her gaze before finishing the sentence. She found Génesis lying on her side, her elbow propping her up on the mattress, her hand supporting her head, which was framed on both sides by her black hair like a veil. Her dark eyes reflected calmness and serenity, waiting, expectant for an answer. Kiara sensed a feeling of challenge in the woman beside her. And for the first time, sharing a Sunday afternoon together, she felt like the room was running out of oxygen.
“I asked you seriously,” Génesis replied.
“...What?”