sneakend

Rating: T

Words: 2,472

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amusement Parks, First Meetings, Getting Together, Holding Hands, Fluff, Phobias, Babysitting

On ao3

---

The ride had barely come to a stop when Tsubame yanked the safety bar up and catapulted herself out of the seat and through the exit gate. Oh, to still have so much energy, Nami thought wistfully while chasing after her niece.

"Wait up! Your mom's gonna kill me if I let you get lost!" she yelled, already regretting her choice of shoes for the day—heels were not ideal for amusement parks.

"But you're so slow!" The kid pouted.

"Am I? It has nothing to do with certain someone replacing their lunch with cotton candy?"

Tsubame sighed dramatically. "Sugar rush is an urban legend perpetuated by unobservant and uneducated parents."

"I see you've been spending time with aunt Robin.”

"Maybe." Tsubame shrugged. "It's 'cause she knows everything. She helps me with homework sometimes."

"As long as she's not doing it for you."

Tsubame conveniently decided to leave Nami’s comment without a reply, redirecting her attention to another ride.

"Can we do that one next? Please?" she begged, pointing at a tall tower that lifted people to the sky only to let them fall back down.

Nami shuddered just looking at it. "How about tomorrow?"

"Are you scared?" Tsubame guessed, too smart by far.

"Nothing like that," Nami tried to deflect, "I just think we should leave something for tomorrow as well."

"Ooh, Nami! Look! It's princess Vivi!" Tsubame exclaimed, her attention snapping to a figure close by.

Nami turned her head and true enough, there was a lady dressed up in full princess garb. She even had the blue hair down to a tee. Nami doubted it was the actual princess Vivi, the park had hundreds of hired actors playing different characters, and princess Vivi was probably the most well-known one as she was based on the owner's own daughter. However, Nami wasn't about to spoil her niece's excitement by pointing that out.

"Wow, we got lucky," she said instead, "let's go say hello."

"Princess Vivi!" Tsubame shrieked and barreled straight towards the woman, jumping up at the last minute and forcing her to pick her up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Nami apologized, embarrassed.

The princess gave her a dashing smile, seeming entirely unbothered. "It's no trouble at all, believe me." She turned to address Tsubame, "Hi there, what's your name?"

"I'm Tsubame. Like the bird!"

"That's a great name. If only my name had a cool meaning like that," Vivi sighed with an exaggerated pout that made her lips stand out. Nami tried to direct her gaze elsewhere but kept finding it drawn back.

"It's okay, you're a princess after all," Tsubame said.

"And you? Do you want to be a princess when you grow up?" That was probably something Vivi asked all the kids she talked to, Nami mused, almost wishing she'd ask her too.

Her niece wasn't one for dresses though. "No. I want to be a falconer."

"Well, that's… a noble profession as well," Vivi said, pausing for a moment to take her reply in, "you should meet my friend, Karoo, I'm sure you'd get along."

It was common knowledge that she had a pet bird. Nami had already seen merchandise of the said animal being sold around the park, Tsubame had been begging for a toy as a souvenir and Nami had promised they'd buy one later—mostly to be saved from lugging the extra weight around all day.

"I think so too," Tsubame said, "you have good taste in pets."

Vivi nodded at her. "Thank you. Now, I mustn't ignore your companion." She lowered Tsubame back on the ground, then turned to Nami and curtsied like she'd taken classes at it. "Greetings to you, I'm Princess Vivi of Alabasta."

"At your service, my lady," Nam replied, unable to keep a wide smile from her face. "I'm Nami."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Vivi said softly, her eyes sparkling. "I hope you two have had a wonderful day."

"It's been pretty good so far," Nami admitted, though this was shaping up to be her favorite part.

"We're coming back tomorrow!" Tsubame piped up.

"That's wonderful, maybe we'll run into each other again," Vivi said.

"I hope so!" Tsubame replied and Nami echoed her sentiment silently.

By afternoon the next day, Nami was knackered. She didn't know how people dealt with kids daily and complimented herself once again for not having any of her own. Much as she loved Tsubame she was also looking forward to some alone time with a good book and a bottle of wine after the trip was over.

The park was big but she was sure they'd already ridden everything at least twice. Everything, that is, except for the cursed free fall tower. Although she lived in the hopes that by now Tsubame had forgotten all about that. Nami had even caved and bought her one of the stuffed bird toys as a distraction earlier that day.

Of course, Nami should've known better than to underestimate her niece. She was just about to suggest they go grab something to eat when Tsubame turned to face her with a serious expression, her new bird buddy scrunched tightly in her armpit as she crossed her arms.

"It's time," she announced.

Nami blinked at her. "Time for what?"

"You know what," Tsubame said and turned to dramatically point at the tower looming over the smaller rides.

"Didn't I say maybe?" Nami tried to negotiate her way out of the situation.

"If you won't come I'll just go alone!"

That was out of the question. If Nojiko found out Nami had let her go alone the consequences would be dire.

"You know I can't do that," she pleaded, "couldn't we do the rollercoaster again?"

"No."

Nami sighed, unwilling to use some lowly tactic like appealing to her own fear of heights. Even though she was afraid. She'd heard of using exposure therapy to treat phobias but she didn't think you were supposed to prescribe the treatment for yourself. Still, she was willing to try for Tsubame's sake. Maybe.

"Alright," she conceded.

Tsubame gave her a suspicious look, clearly not having expected her to give in so easily. "Really?"

"I'll try, okay? But I'm not going to like it."

"Don't worry, I know something that'll help!" Tsubame said with a cunning look and took ahold of her hand.

Nami had no idea what she was talking about but went along regardless. After a while, they came to a booth manned by several park employees and once the one at the front turned towards her, Nami was taken aback to recognize her as the princess from the previous day. Only now instead of a fancy dress, she was dressed in a T-shirt and a cap with the park's logo on them. Her long blue hair remained the same though and Nami realized it hadn't been a wig after all.

She flashed them a wide smile. "Hey! It's you guys!"

"You aren't a princess anymore," Tsubame observed in her usual straightforward style.

"I'm still a princess," Vivi assured her. "Princesses can wear whatever they want."

"Really? What about the royal dress etiquette?"

"She's too smart for her own good," Nami said with a shake of her head.

Vivi leaned down towards Tsubame. "What brings you here? Do you need someone to go on a ride with you?"

"No, it's not for me. It's for Nami."

"Is that so?"

Tsubame nodded. "She's scared of heights."

"Hey now, I didn't know you were going to get someone else involved in this," Nami protested.

"Don't worry, I looked it up on their website, they accompany kids whose parents have a medical condition or don't have a ticket for the rides," Tsubame told her.

Vivi nodded her head enthusiastically. "It's true! We don't want anyone to miss out on having fun!"

"That's great and all but Tsubame, it's meant for children," Nami tried to explain.

"That's the official policy because some people," Vivi said with a vaguely disgusted expression, "would take advantage otherwise. But I'm glad to make an exception if it's for you."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother," Nami said sheepishly.

Vivi dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. "No such thing, it's my pleasure."

Tsubame clapped her hands together once. "See? Now we can ride The Treasure Tree!"

"That's a good choice," Vivi agreed.

"You've been on it before?" Tsubame asked, sounding impressed.

Vivi gave her a wide grin. "I've ridden every ride in the park!"

"Oh, do you live here?" Tsubame asked with a frown, reminding Nami that regardless of how grown up she sometimes acted she was still a kid after all.

Vivi didn't laugh at her assumption though, she clearly had a lot of experience with children. "I live close by."

There was a decent line for the ride but Vivi didn't seem to be in any hurry to get back to her duties, although technically she was working even now, Nami had to remind herself. Tsubame was thrilled to get some extra time to chatter about everything they'd been doing that day and Vivi engaged her cheerfully even though she must've heard the same stuff a million times from other kids.

The closer they got to the front of the line, the more fidgety Nami got. Vivi turned to her with a compassionate look. "You don't have to come along if you don't want to, I'd be happy to ride with Tsubame."

"It's fine," Nami gritted out. "I'll be fine."

As much as she didn't want to do it she also didn't want to lose an opportunity to spend more time with Vivi. Maybe it was ridiculous, she could've just asked for her number and hoped that her feelings were reciprocated. But just in case she was rejected, maybe she could have this one thing.

When they were let on the ride, Tsubame picked a place that allowed Nami to sit between her and Vivi.

"So you have both of us for moral support," her niece explained.

As the safety harness clicked in place, Nami could feel her breathing pick up. She was already regretting her decision and the ride hadn't even moved an inch. She was contemplating on making a scene and demanding to be let out, surely it wasn't too late yet. Right then she felt a light touch on top of her hand. She lifted her gaze and was met with Vivi's blinding smile.

"It's going to be alright," Vivi reassured her, "the park has a perfect track record when it comes to accidents."

Nami swallowed, realizing she'd been so focused on her issue with heights she hadn't even considered there was a possibility the ride might malfunction and kill them all.

She must've looked pale because Vivi's face lost its smile, her expression turning into one of concern. "Oh no, I shouldn't have said that should I?"

Nami closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Uh, then," Vivi floundered, "let me hold your hand? If you think it'd help?"

That was enough for Nami to blink her eyes open. "Please."

Vivi held out her hand and Nami grabbed it with perhaps too much strength but in this situation, it felt like her only lifeline. She hadn't been sure it'd help but sure enough, the touch was enough to make her breath catch for reasons other than fear.

And then the ride shot them up into the sky with frightening speed. Beside her, Tsubame left out a delighted screech while Nami felt like her soul had left her body and probably remained on the ground. And then the free fall started.

She didn't even have time to concentrate on her fear as she felt her body leave the seat only to be stopped after a few inches by her safety harness. But for a second she was floating in the air, seeing all across the city and the silhouettes of the mountains beyond. Then the whole contraption along with her body started its rapid descent towards the ground.

There was screaming all around her, she may have contributed to it or not, the breath had mostly been stolen from her lungs and she desperately clung to Vivi's hand, amazed that neither of them had let go. Vivi clung back with equal fervor and Nami took some solace in that despite being too afraid to open her eyes to check whether Vivi was enjoying this, whether Tsubame was still alive.

Rationally, she knew the drop couldn't have lasted more than mere seconds, yet it had felt like an eternity. When they finally came to a slow halt she noticed her legs were shaking. She also felt vaguely nauseous, the way she thought only the spinning rides could make her feel.

"Let's go again!" Tsubame shrieked from her side.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Vivi asked her, their fingers still entwined.

"I think it was worse than I anticipated," Nami said, her voice shaky.

"Really? Are you feeling alright?"

“I’ll be fine once I get far away from this ride.”

They moved, Nami decidedly turning her back to the ride. Her heart was still racing and she tried to think of something she could do to distract herself from this traumatic experience.

“What’s your real name, anyway?” she asked, fumbling for the first thing that came to mind.

Vivi gave her a mischievous look. “Didn’t I already tell you? It’s Vivi.”

“Yeah, Nami, are you dumb?” Tsubame echoed.

“Vivi? As in Nefertari Vivi?”

“The one and the same. Would you like to see my ID?”

That made Nami blush. “I’m sorry, I thought you were just playing a role.”

“Most people do, don’t worry about it,” Vivi said.

“Does that mean you’re rich?” Tsubame interjected to Nami’s horror.

“Tsubame! You can’t just ask people that!”

Tsubame gave her a sharp look. “But you always said you wanted a rich wife.”

Nami covered her face with her hands. This was it, if she’d ever stood any chance of getting Vivi to go out with her it was gone for good. If she made a move now she’d only be viewed as a gold digger. As she waited for the ground to swallow her, there was a gentle touch on her shoulder, too high for Tsubame to reach. Carefully, Nami raised her eyes to meet Vivi’s, expecting to be met with disapproval but only finding curiosity.

“You want a wife?” Vivi asked, tilting her head to peer at Nami’s face.

“I’d settle for a girlfriend at first. And I do have a job!” That seemed like an important thing to point out.

“Well, I’m not very rich, that’s my dad, but I wouldn’t mind a wife either. Or a girlfriend,” Vivi said, locking eyes with Nami.

“Oh,” she exhaled in surprise, “maybe we’ll be able to work something out.”

Rating: T

Words: 3,178

Tags: Friendship, Getting Together, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Flirting

Summary: "Nami and Reiju's road trip is cut short by a blizzard."

On ao3

---

"Don't tell me that's snow," Nami sighed, peering through the windshield of her car.

The weather forecast had promised clear skies for the whole afternoon, but she should've known better than to rely on that. The road was packed with cars as it was and if the visibility dropped, well, that was bound to only make this whole commute even slower.

"Nothing you can do about it," said Reiju from the passenger seat. "But think about the silver lining, if it gets bad we might miss the wedding."

Nami narrowed her eyes, feigning disapproval. "This is your own brother you're talking about."

"Damn right. You think I did something awful in a previous life to get stuck with four brothers in this?"

"You've probably done enough awful stuff in this life alone," Nami said, thinking of some of the things she'd witnessed Reiju get up to. And who knew what she did when Nami wasn't around.

"Fair enough," Reiju conceded.

Nami watched as Reiju rearranged her feet on the dashboard. She was wearing a pair of pink furry socks and her shoes lay discarded on the floor in a small puddle of melted snow.

"You're not supposed to do that, you know," Nami remarked.

"What?"

"Keep your feet up. If there's an accident you could lose them."

"Since when have you been a safety expert?"

Nami shrugged. "Just something I heard from a doctor. He said he's seen people lose limbs in gruesome ways because they didn't keep their feet down."

"Ooh, the hot one?" Reiju asked with sudden interest.

"That's what you choose to focus on?"

"Relax, we're hardly moving, even if we hit someone the worst that's gonna happen is I spill my drink." She lifted her thermos for emphasis. "Besides, he is hot. Even you know it."

The bit about the potential accident was probably true, they had slowed down to a crawl and after a few seconds, Nami was forced to stop the car entirely.

"You think there's an accident ahead?" she asked.

"I bet. These people live their whole lives in a northern climate yet forget how to drive in the snow every year."

"If I knew it was gonna be like this I would've made you drive," Nami grumbled.

She tried to stretch her neck to see further down the line of cars but the snowfall was getting thicker by the minute. Instead, she focused on the review mirror and the long line behind her, seemingly everyone had decided to beat the snowstorm just to get stuck in it. The car closest to them looked like it might fall apart at any moment, but that didn't seem to have made any dent in the driver's mood.

Through the mirror Nami watched as the driver kept tapping her steering wheel and moving her mouth, most likely singing along to the radio. She looked radiant, her long blue hair cascading across her shoulders. She turned around once as if to address someone in the backseat and Nami wondered if she had a baby in the car. She hoped she could capture some of that happiness for herself. It wasn't that she hated driving, or snow, or weddings but somehow with all things combined her nerves were wearing thin.

"Hello? Nami?" Reiju poked her painfully in the ribs.

Nami turned her head, letting her gaze focus back on her friend. "Huh?"

"They're moving again," Reiju said, motioning towards the cars in front of them.

Nami lifted her foot from the brake and let the car slither after the others. She decidedly averted her eyes from the mirror.

"What were you looking at so intensely?" Reiju inquired. She reached out to the mirror and turned it towards herself before peering into it. "Aha! What light through yonder window breaks?"

"Haha. She isn't that—" Nami broke off. She'd meant to say pretty or beautiful but felt unwilling to make a statement that was so clearly false.

"You can't even deny it! And I've seen you lie about everything!" Reiju declared victoriously.

"Oh, shut up."

"Okay okay, I'll let you keep her. If you introduce me to your hot doctor."

"She doesn't even know who I am… but fine. I'll warn you though, he's got an attitude problem."

"So have I, dear, so have I," Reiju said with a smirk.

---

Their journey continued for about ten minutes before coming to a permanent stop. Nami found herself shifting around, agitated. She kept checking the time, but it didn't seem to be moving along any more than the car.

"How long are we going to be stuck in this purgatory?" she complained.

"My guess is all night."

They both stared forlornly into the darkening evening.

"At least we brought snacks," Reiju remarked, turning around to reach for the backseat.

Nami gave her a death glare. "No eating in the car."

"Fine. Then I propose we just get a motel for the night. Hopefully, this will all clear up by morning," Reiju said, pointing at a sign advertising motel room vacancies.

Nami glanced to the side. It was true that they were conveniently located next to an exit ramp, she should be able to pull out. It would give them a chance to get some real food too and who knew, even if they stayed here all night they might end up making no progress.

She shot one last glance in her mirror, saying a wistful farewell to the blue-haired stranger before moving the car to the next lane over.

"You're paying for the room," she told Reiju.

---

The motel wasn't one of the most inviting ones but at this point, Nami would've accepted a cardboard box as long as it meant getting out of the car. They were greeted by a blonde woman at the front desk.

"You're in luck, we've only got one room left," she declared in a flat tone that said she didn't think they were lucky at all.

"Hope it's the honeymoon suite," Reiju whispered to Nami, loudly enough that she might as well not have even whispered.

"Do motels even have honeymoon suites?"

"We do, but unfortunately it's booked," the clerk said, and after a short pause added, "I'm sure I could arrange something though if the two of you wanted something special?"

She didn't exactly seem enthusiastic about this offer, most likely angling for a tip, Nami mused.

"Oh, no, we're not together together," she clarified.

"Just together," Reiju said, throwing her arm across Nami's shoulders.

The clerk eyed them suspiciously for a moment but seemed to decide it wasn't worth the trouble continuing this particular conversation.

"Well, the room's right around the corner, you can park your car there too, check out's at 10," she told them. "Oh, and the ice machine's broken."

Reiju pointedly glanced outside where the snowstorm was blowing hard enough to rattle the windows. "I think we'll be fine."

They moved the car, unloaded their bags and hurried through the wind that was whipping snow into their eyes. The door to their room was determined not to let them in without a few strong kicks, as if ashamed to bare its contents to the outside world. Nami only needed to give it one glance to see the reason for that.

"This place is a dump," she observed.

"But it's our dump for tonight," Reiju said, somehow managing to sound cheerful.

They spread their belongings on the beds, careful not to let anything touch the ground. The poison green carpet had seen better days and Nami was almost certain the sporadic scratching she kept hearing was coming from within the walls rather than the next room over. She shuddered, not sure whether she'd prefer for it to be mice or cockroaches.

"I think the heating's broken," Reiju said, hugging her rather skimpy jacket closer.

The room was only a couple of degrees above freezing, that was true. "I'm not sharing a bed with you regardless."

"You won't?" Reiju exclaimed, mock offended. "I'll have you know some people would pay to share with me."

"I'm not even going to ask," Nami said, shaking her head, "let's go find food."

---

A minute after stepping outside, Nami was already regretting her decision. The room may have been bad but at least it offered shelter from the biting wind. Who needed food anyway, they could always survive on snacks for one night.

"Just look at this." Reiju waved her hand towards the layer of snow that had already covered the car entirely.

"Maybe we should rethink our plan," Nami admitted.

"You think the lady at reception would give us an extra heater?"

"I doubt it. We just don't have that kinda luck today."

"Speaking of luck, check out who's here," Reiju said.

Nami turned to face the same direction and saw the car from earlier parked not too far away from theirs. The driver was standing beside it, her head hanging low enough that her face was almost entirely obscured by the curtain of her hair. She was more sensibly clothed than them, but nothing could make weather like this comfortable. Her good mood seemed to have dissipated as she stood quietly, her hair a windblown mess and her posture one that spoke of defeat.

"Looks like she had the same idea as us," Reiju said while already heading back towards the motel. "You should go ask her out."

"There's no way—" Nami started, only to realize Reiju was no longer within hearing distance.

She let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. She'd never hear the end of it—form Reiju or her own conscience—if she left without a word.

She stepped close enough to be heard over the wind. "Hey there, you alright?"

The other girl jerked her head up so fast the movement sent snowflakes flying off her hair. Her expression was a mix of sad and frightened.

"Oh," she said in a small voice, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Nami declared, then cursed herself for saying something so entirely tactless. "That came out wrong. You look great, but it's clear something's bothering you."

"You don't even know me," the girl said, her voice wavering.

"I don't need to know you to offer help, do I? You can talk to me," Nami said, doing her best to reassure her with a smile. "I'm Nami, so now you know me at least."

"Nami," the girl repeated after her and somehow the name had never sounded so sweet before. "My name is Vivi and it's, the problem is with my car. It broke down, and there are no rooms left."

"Yeah, the lady mentioned that," Nami said, feeling vaguely guilty. Had she and Reiju not stopped here, Vivi might've gotten a room, after all.

"I just don't know what to do," Vivi said, her eyes brimming with tears.

Nami knew even before she said it that she was going to cave. "You can stay with us tonight."

"Really? I mean, is that allowed?"

"I don't give a damn, you'll freeze to death out here, I'd rather not see that happen." And Reiju could hardly oppose since she'd been the one to put her up to this.

"Thank you!" Vivi exclaimed with overwhelming gratitude and flung her arms around Nami in a gesture so unpredictable that Nami froze for a short moment.

It didn't take long for her to melt into the embrace, though. "It's going to be alright, I promise."

She wrapped her arms around Vivi and held on. Vivi pressed her face to Nami's neck, which made a shiver run down her spine. She told herself it was because of the cold, not due the way Vivi's wet face felt pressed against her own cool, bare skin. It took her embarassingly long to shake off the daze and realize Vivi was mumbling something to her.

"Sorry, you said…?"

"I have a bird," Vivi said, a little louder this time.

"A… bird?"

"In the car." Vivi nodded against her shoulder.

"The bird is welcome too."

---

When they made it back to the room with Vivi's luggage and the birdcage in tow, Reiju was already sitting cross-legged on one of the beds. She'd shed her jacket off and replaced it with two sweaters, one of which looked unmistakably like one of Nami's.

"We've got new roommates," Nami told her.

"Well, well, well," Reiju gloated, "how am I not surprised?"

Nami felt the urge to roll her eyes. "This is Reiju, don't mind her."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Vivi," Vivi introduced herself, adding a little bow at the end.

Reiju simply blinked at her slowly. "You're something special, aren't you?"

"Leave her alone," Nami told her, her protective instincts taking over.

"Yes, yes." Reiju turned towards the birdcage they'd rescued from the car. "Who's this?"

"Karoo, he's my pet. I'm sorry but I couldn't leave him in the car. He'll be quiet, I promise, he sleeps most of the time," Vivi said.

"Don't sweat it, a little noise won't keep me up." Reiju dismissed her concern with a wave.

Nami lifted Vivi's bag, then put it back down, unsure where to place it. "So, there are only two beds."

"I can sleep on the floor," Vivi offered.

"Don't be ridiculous! I wouldn't make my ex sleep on this floor," Nami protested.

Reiju held up a finger. "Careful, that's my brother you're talking about."

Vivi glanced from Reiju to Nami with a questioning look, too polite to voice her thoughts.

Nami didn't want her to get the wrong idea. "Yeah, the first and last man I ever dated."

Reiju nodded. "He made her gay."

"He did not. Just helped me realize… you know what, you don't need to know the details," Nami said, exasperated.

Vivi raised a hand to hide her smile. "I don't mind."

"It's not really an interesting story. Anyway, Reiju and I have been friends for years, we'll share a bed, we've done it before," she said, then added "platonically."

"If you're sure," Vivi agreed.

Reiju stood up from the bed and nudged a portable heater with her foot. "Oh, Nami! Look what I got."

Now that she mentioned it the room did seem marginally warmer. And this also let her dismiss the ridicilous notion that the rise in temperature had anything to do with Vivi standing so close by.

"How did you swing that?"

"I asked real nicely," Reiju said with a wink.

---

They shared their snacks with Vivi and attempted to watch some tv but soon grew tired of the dismal selection. In the end, they decided to go to bed early in hopes of getting an early start the next day. It was a solid plan in theory except Nami was soon reminded of why she'd sworn to never share a bed with Reiju again. Just as she was about to fall asleep, there was a sharp kick straight into her ribs and then her blanket was pulled off, leaving her shivering and bruised.

She sat up and buried her face in her hands, already visioning what it'd be like to drive sleep-deprived in the snow.

"Hey," Vivi's voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Hey yourself," Nami whispered back.

"Can't sleep?"

"Reiju kicks in her sleep."

"You could share with me," Vivi suggested, "if you want to?"

"Yeah?" That was all the persuasion Nami needed and in no time she slipped out of her bed and under the covers with Vivi.

"You doing alright now?" she asked and reached to put her hand on Vivi's shoulder. That seemed like a good neutral place to touch.

"Yes. I'm glad I met you," Vivi said shyly.

"Me too."

They both fell silent for a while and though it was impossible to read expressions in the dark, Nami felt like there was something Vivi wasn't saying. "What is it?"

"What will I do tomorrow?"

"Listen. We'll worry about that in the morning. But for what it's worth, you can come with us if you choose, there's room in the car and…" Nami only hesitated for a second, "my wedding invitation includes a plus one."

"Wedding invitation?"

"I guess we didn't discuss it with you but that's where we're going, to Reiju's brother's wedding," Nami admitted reluctantly.

Vivi inhaled sharply. "The one you dated?"

"It's complicated, but we're still friends," Nami said and hurried to add, "but that's all."

"And you're inviting me?"

"Yup."

"Do you often invite strangers to events like this?" Vivi asked and Nami could've sworn she detected a mischievous tone in her voice.

"Nope. But I think Reiju got one thing right, you are something special," Nami whispered, moving her face closer to Vivi's, "and you're the one who invited a stranger to your bed."

Vivi let out a small giggle. "I did, didn't I?"

"Hope you don't have any ulterior motives," teased Nami.

"Would it be so bad if I did?"

"Hmm," Nami said, "I'd have to know what they were first."

Even as she said it, she was already leaning towards Vivi. Unfortunately, Vivi was moving towards her as well. Neither of them managed to angle their face quite right and instead of a well-executed kiss they ended bumping noses rather violently. They both jerked back and stared at each other in the dim light of a streetlight filtering through a crack in the curtains.

"I guess we had the same idea, at least," Nami said while rubbing at her nose.

Vivi simply smothered a laugh into her pillow. The kiss was a failure, but worth it just for seeing Vivi back in good humor, Nami decided.

"Guys, some people are trying to sleep," Reiju groaned from the other side of the room.

"We'll go to sleep now," Nami promised, grinning.

She rolled closer to Vivi, certain now that it'd not be unwelcome. She snaked a hand under Vivi's shirt, lightly touching her back only to receive a shriek in response.

Reiju sat up in her bed. "What was that?"

"Nami has cold hands…" Vivi whined.

"Nami! Can't you wait till you have your own room?"

Nami lifted her hands in protest even though Reiju was unlikely to see the gesture. "I wasn't doing anything!"

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the wall between them and the room next door. "Will you people shut up!" yelled a slightly hoarse male voice through the thin wall.

"Sorry!" all three of them responded in unison.

"Good night," whispered Nami. "For real this time."

"It better be," Reiju said and curled back under her blanket. She was asleep within seconds.

Nami angled herself close enough to smell Vivi's hair—sweet like vanilla—and closed her eyes, resolved to get at least some sleep. The last thing she heard before falling asleep was Vivi's quiet, "sweet dreams", as she linked her hand with Nami's.

Maybe it was worth it, suffering through some bad luck, Nami thought while drifting to sleep, if the rewards were like this. She gave Vivi's hand a light squeeze, determined to hang on to it for a long time to come.