Chapter Text
Five years ago, a stern-faced woman in a black dress and heels that gave her at least an inch of height walked into Rim House and brought something completely new into Oat’s life that she would never forget. Oat had stopped being a player long before she met Nene, and now she had someone she really wanted to be there for the rest of her life. Which brings her to the current time, watching the short woman walk over to her, waiting outside the closed bar. This was the first time Oat had seen her out of those all-black clothes and heels, and she looked so much less closed off; however, the look on her face destroyed that illusion. She was wearing a loose light blue shirt with a white skirt, dressing quite appropriately for the weather. While Oat, on the other hand, was wearing a plain black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. However, she was wearing black trousers; one could only wonder how she wasn’t burning alive.
Nene stopped in front of Oat, looking up at the taller woman, who hadn’t said anything, which was unlike her, so Nene made the first move, saying, “What are you staring at?” in an annoyed tone. Nene had spent the whole morning deciding on what to wear because there was something in her that she didn’t really want to entertain, telling her to wear something nice and different when she went out with Oat today.
Oat, on the other hand, was completely taken aback by the other lady, as she looked so cute and short, and she couldn’t hold her smile back. “You’re so much shorter without those heels on all the time.” Oat gestured from the top of her head to the top of Nene’s with her hand. There was, give or take, 4 inches (around 10 cm for the true Brits who use metric), leaving Nene’s head around Oat’s chin.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Nene said. Oat was now getting on her nerves. “Are we going to make a move on this… date?” Nene hated to admit how much she enjoyed thinking about going on a date with the taller woman.
“I wasn’t saying there’s an issue, Khun Nene. I just thought you look rather cute like this,” Oat said in that flirty tone, still having her charm after all these years.
“Just hurry up,” the younger girl said as she rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, hoping nobody noticed the faint brush of redness on her cheeks. But who was she kidding? Oat obviously noticed, as always, but maybe the older girl would spare her the embarrassment.
——
The walk over to the cafe was actually quite enjoyable and not awkward, but Nene expected that by now. Oat always had a way of making Nene feel comfortable, and conversations between them felt to roll off the tongue.
Aside from being the cafe that Dokrak works at, both Oat and Nene enjoy the scenery and design of the place. But the family discount Nene had was still a plus.
Oat ordered just a plain black coffee with a chocolate muffin, which she knew was Nene’s favourite, and she was only going to end up with a third of the muffin in her belly.
Nene started her order, and Oat immediately turned around to the shorter girl, taken aback. “Iced dirty chai with oat milk, one extra espresso shot, half-sweet, cinnamon, and cold foam.” Those were the words that came out of the younger girl’s mouth, and God, for someone who came across as so nonchalant, she was showing a completely different side of herself. Oat loved seeing Nene act more like a person. When Oat first met her, she felt she held part of her humanity back so as not to be weak. But over the years, as she and Nene became closer, she learnt that, at heart, Nene was still very much her age, and this overly mature shield she put up wasn’t as strong anymore. Oat knew to be patient with Nene and never rushed her over anything because Oat enjoyed seeing Nene’s progression and wouldn’t change that for the world.
——
(Imagine Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons – “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” while you read this part.)
They sat down on the patio area outside, which happened to be at the same table where she saw Rak and Pam together for the first time all those years ago. The couple were now married, and Oat still loved seeing them together and having their company. However, those reminiscing thoughts had now left her mind, as all she could do was stare at her beautiful date across from her.
The sun was catching Nene’s hair in a way that made it almost ginger, and it truly brought out the life and colour in her eyes. She looked so good that Oat simply couldn’t take her eyes off her. However, this was no new feeling to Oat. Nene had always stood out to the bartender from the second the younger girl walked in. Anytime Oat saw Nene, she felt drawn to her. Her main focus in a room was Nene, the first thing she thought about was Nene, the most important person to her was Nene.
(Stop the music in your head.)
And the person who just pulled Oat out of her trance was Nene. “Are you going to stare at me the whole time, or are we going to interact like normal people on a date?”
While Oat was still looking at Nene like she had hung the moon, she did start a conversation, mainly talking about their work and other things they’d been doing. And time just seemed to fly, and everything else in the world just seemed so unimportant compared to this conversation between the two.
——
Oat dropped Nene off back at her house after a good few hours together. They went to the park after the cafe, although it was cut short because Nene was terrified of the bugs around them, but it was the middle of summer.
Oat and Nene exchanged goodbyes. Oat was about to turn around and leave, as she didn’t want to overstep the boundary, but then she heard a scraping sound and turned back.
Nene was standing in the doorway with a tiny pout on her face, kicking her foot and brushing the sole against the ground, almost looking like a sulking child. “Is there an issue, Khun Nene?” Oat asked, not completely sure what had caused it but finding it awfully cute.
Nene moved her mouth and words came out, but it was so quiet Oat couldn’t quite catch it. “Could you say that again, Khun?” Oat asked, a smirk now starting to form on her face.
“Are you forgetting something? Are you just going to leave with a wave?” Nene asked, louder and more aggressive than she intended, but at least she said it.
Oat had now got to the doorframe again, standing in front of Nene, and decided to tease her a little, now understanding why Nene was acting like this. “Could you elaborate, Khun Nene? Use your words again.”
Nene was now visibly annoyed, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it in front of Oat, so instead she pulled on the collar of the shirt Oat was wearing and gave her a little peck on the lips.
Oat stood back straight, completely in awe, her eyes wide open. “That wasn’t using your words,” Oat mumbled, trying to play it off, but her face was burning.
“Well, I wanted to say goodnight properly,” Nene said with a smirk on her face.
“Okay, well, here’s my proper goodnight,” Oat said, leaning down to give Nene a proper kiss.
——
When Oat walked off, Nene stood there smiling to herself, bringing her hand up to her lips.
She walked in and sat on her bed, sitting there for a second before she processed what had just happened, then grabbed and hugged her pillow, blushing at what had happened today.
She was pulled back to reality by the ringing of her phone. It was Dokrak, her half-sister, who she had grown very close to over the past few years.
“Soooooooooo, how’d your date go with Oat?” Dokrak said, overly excited, Nene thought.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Really? Because a little birdy told me how much you guys were talking and smiling at the cafe.”
“I enjoyed it. What else do you want me to say?”
“I want you to tell me what happened. Fill me in, your sister, after all.” Nene rolled her eyes at the younger girl, even though she couldn’t see it. “Did you guys hold hands, hug, did you kiss?”
There was a sound across the line, which was Nene coughing on the water.
“OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! YOU AND OAT KISSED!”
“And so what if we did? We did go on a date, after all.”
“Tomorrow you’re telling me everything that happened because I have to go on my date now.”
“Enjoy Rak, and don’t expect much more from me.”
The older girl hung up, smiling to herself, not only excited about seeing her sister tomorrow but also happy about the date today and hopefully many more in the future.