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"It's this one." A metallic jingling sound as Moca holds up a key triumphantly, the rest of their options discarded and dangling from the bottom of the ring. It's unclear what any of the other keys are for and Moca doesn't seem to know the answer to that question much better than Chisato does judging by the amount of time they've spent squinting at each one individually. "Guarantee it."
"You're certain this time?" Chisato asks, eyeing them with playful scrutiny. This is their third attempt so far. "Enough to bet on it?"
A wink. "Absolutely, schnookums~."
Chisato backs up to lean against the plain plaster of the opposing wall, arms folded across her chest as she watches her partner twirl the chosen key around their finger, a lazy smirk on their face that's difficult not to match. "Well, I wonder if there's anything we could bet on in particular..."
Her eyes wander to look down the hall of the apartment building, to the large window at the end right next to where the old elevator sits. It's not an old building but not exactly modern, either. Somewhere in between. Like Moca, she thinks, and a corner of her mouth twitches upwards in an awkward smile. She lifts a hand to her face to cover it on instinct, but pulls away quickly. Moca's seen far more embarrassing things already.
Whistling, Moca pulls their arms back behind their head as they think, exaggerated strain of it showing in their furrowed brow. "I'd say we could bet a smooch, but alas, that's an unfair deal... A smooch from royalty is worth much, much more than one from a poor peasant such as Moca-chan~."
"Royalty?" Chisato remarks as she pushes off from the wall, striding over to Moca's side of the wide hallway. "I don't recall a coronation."
Moca blinks innocently. "Really~? But just last night--"
Swat. Chisato pulls her hand away as Moca overreacts to the gentle flick to their forehead, holding it with a whine and falling back against the wall dramatically. "Not in public, dear."
Suddenly Moca's just fine, sparkle in their eye and all. "So if we're in private--say, our own apartment--then it's alright? Moca-chan likes these rules."
"That depends on whether you can get us inside."
"Course I can, babe, I've got the key right here." Moca holds up a key that does not quite look like the same one they were so dead-set on earlier, but Chisato has little inclination to point that out. "You ready? It's our first time, I feel like we should give it some gravitas."
"We've been inside already, multiple times," Chisato reminds them, but Moca just scoffs in reply.
"We've been inside it when it was just an apartment. Now it's our apartment. It's totally different, isn't it?" Moca taps their head as they nod in agreement with themselves. "That's a precious little nugget of wisdom free of charge. Partner discount."
"The benefits of being engaged to Moca Aoba are expansive, I see."
"You've got that right!" Moca holds eye contact with Chisato as they fiddle around with their chosen key, poking blindly at the lock on the door. "Ehehe, Moca-chan's insight truly knows no bounds--"
Click.
"Oh shit, it worked."
The door swings open behind Moca as they watch it, eyes wide as if genuinely surprised that they got it right. After a moment of silence they turn back to Chisato and give her a deep bow, kicking the door open the rest of the way with their shoe and gesturing for her to enter. "Ladies first, Mocas second~."
"I suppose I can't argue with that." Chisato slips past Moca, taking the opportunity to brush against their side and feeling a twinge of satisfaction when they stand up a little straighter. She walks into the apartment proper, and...
Ah, Moca's wisdom was correct after all. It does feel different.
From a logical point of view it's a sort of downgrade. Making the decision to move in together came with many compromises to match their means, with Moca only able to snatch up the occasional bit of underpaid freelance writing and Chisato no longer pulling in the sort of revenue she used to--it's a depressing fact that entering her mid-twenties started the process of shifting her roles from the protagonist to the villain to the side character and then to almost nothing. And if her life as an actress is beginning to expire, her brief stint as an idol is already long buried.
So they found what they could, spent what they had, and this is the result of it all. Chisato walks through the living room silently, gentle midday light dancing through the one large window on the other side of the room and illuminating a wide expanse of beige carpet.
The bedrooms are down the hall, and around the corner is a small kitchenette with cupboards Moca lamented as 'too teeny' for their stocks of breakfast, lunch, and dinner rolls. Chisato leans against the wall and lets out a long breath. It's a blank slate, a small one and not a particularly nice one--but it's their blank slate. This will be the Shirasagi-Aoba household. They're going to make it their own.
Chisato turns to find Moca, not seeing them at the door or down the hall... until she realizes she just needs to shift her gaze a little lower.
Starfish-like, Moca is flattened across the empty floor of their apartment with their skinny arms and legs stretched out wide and eyes closed. A grumble tells Chisato they're still alive and her lip curls up into a chiding sort of smile. She walks over until she's towering over her motionless partner. "Moca Aoba."
"That's-a me," Moca mumbles out as their head lolls to the side.
"What are you doing on the floor?"
"Come on down to Moca's World and find out, sweetheart."
Chisato can't argue with that, and so she carefully folds down onto her knees, making sure she doesn't tug her skirt too hard as she adjusts herself into a sitting position and then lies backwards to match Moca's example. She folds her hands on her torso and stares at the off-white ceiling. A long moment goes by, then another. "I'm afraid I still don't quite get the appeal."
Rolling on their side, Moca props themselves up with a hand on their cheek, squishing their face endearingly. "But it's like... we're only gonna be able to do this now, right? Unless we move again."
"Until we move again. No offense to this place, it's quite charming but we are finding a better place to live eventually." Chisato turns her gaze back to the roof and relents. "Continue."
Moca clears their throat. "The whole place is gonna be cram-packed full of furniture soon. Once the movers get here, that is."
Ah, yes, the movers--aka Tomoe and whatever members of her crew were available to lug their belongings from the previous Aoba and Shirasagi households. Masuki and Rei, namely, with Lisa tagging along as some sort of moral support. Thankfully Kaoru was otherwise occupied all weekend. Despite their now less than rocky friendship Chisato would prefer not to live in a home where Kaoru Seta had already touched all the furniture.
"So this is the one and only chance we're gonna get to lie down on the floor like this. A golden opportunity." Moca nods, their point summarily made and Chisato can't help but reach out and ruffle their hair, heart melting at the little imitation of a purr her partner lets out at the affection. A pleased cat basking in the sun.
Pulling away, Chisato lets herself relax into the carpet as well as the minutes tick by uncounted, the lack of a clock on the wall helping maintain the silence only broken by their slow breaths as her chest rises and falls. She even stretches her arms out to match Moca's posture and finds it does, in fact, help. Chisato closes her eyes and lets the world slowly pass her by for once. It can survive without her.
...
But not forever.
She leans forward and props herself up with one arm, climbing forth onto her knees before standing and brushing off her skirt. Chisato stretches and lets out a quiet strained noise as she does--Moca can hear her, it doesn't matter; and she needs to treat her back well. It won't do to be hunching over before she hits 30.
"Moca," Chisato calls out as she stares down at the unmoving lump before her, "are you going to get up? We do need to start preparing before the others arrive, you know..."
"....mphgh. Can't. Too comfortable." Moca smacks their lips and grins, eyes still shut tight. "Leave me behind, Moca-chan is done for..."
"I won't let you die, Moca Aoba. We're on a tight schedule." Chisato taps her foot with play-acted impatience. "You're welcome to dig your own grave and lie in it after we've at least gotten the sofa inside. Now, let's go look around."
"Dooooon't wannaaaaaa." Moca finally moves, rolling over once to end up face-down at Chisato's feet like a petulant child.
Chisato puts her hands on her hips. "And why is that?"
"..."
No canned jab ready to send back at her. No response at all. In Chisato's experience with Moca Aoba that's generally the worst response, and knowing this makes her smile slip away to be replaced with a concerned frown. "Moca."
"...That'f-a me," Moca mumbles, muffled by the carpet.
Chisato kneels down next to them and rests a hand on their shoulder. It's warm, a little bony, and almost imperceptibly shaking. She rubs them in slow, circular motions, holding off from asking the question on her tongue until she feels the shaking stop. "Tell me what you're concerned about," she says gently but firmly, and feels Moca tense up.
"Nothinf at all. Mofa-fan if feeling perfefly fine."
"Wrong answer." Chisato pokes their shoulder just sharply enough that it won't cross the line from uncomfortable into painful. "And it's hard to hear you so muffled, please at least roll over before you speak."
Moca obliges, flopping themselves onto their side and then onto their back like a beached whale with just a few gasps of life left in them. They finally open their eyes and stare upwards blankly. It's progress, Chisato decides, even if they're still on the floor. "What if we just gave up?"
"What do you mean?"
"Give up. Call it off, tell Tomo-chin and the others it was all a big practical joke and sell the apartment to somebody else. Some sucker Americans." Moca's wide grin is undercut by the blank look in their eyes. "They can come in here and... I dunno. Eat Big Apple hotdogs and hamboigas and watch the big game. Wouldn't that be hilarious?"
"I suppose," Chisato humors them before rising up off her knees and once again standing over her sad sack of a partner, blocking their line of sight with her face and forcing them to meet her eyes. "Moca... are you nervous?"
A blink, followed by blue eyes averting her gaze. "Nu-uh."
Bullseye.
Chisato finally relents and sits down, crossing her legs and resting beside where Moca lies. She gently slips her hand into Moca's. Thin fingers still calloused from years of guitar practice twitch before entwining with her own, painfully slowly, until they've formed a tight bond. She squeezes. "I'll ask one more time. What is wrong?"
"...Didn't realize how real it all was 'till we got here." Moca lifts their other arm and flops it down over their eyes, a nervous grin crossing their face now that they're not holding their emotions back anymore. "Feels like I tricked you into it. Moca-chan, master manipulator--"
"You did not manipulate me." A tight squeeze. "Even if you were the sort of person to try--which you are not, Moca Aoba--do you think I wouldn't see through it? I know you too well for that. Trust me when I say that I'm here because I want to be."
"Fair." Moca opens their mouth, then closes it. A long moment passes wherein Chisato simply waits for them to find the words. Then they try again. "I just don't know if I can... you know money's bad. What if Moca-chan is too lazy to provide for you? They're not book smart like Sayochi or tough like Tomo-chin, but they don't wanna leave you all on your own..."
Chisato bites her lip. Then she pulls herself together and reaches out, tugging Moca's arm away from their eyes. Moca doesn't try to resist as Chisato lies their arm down at their side and stares at their face, though their gaze is still pointed upwards. "I'm not on my own. You're here."
"I might not be enough."
"Do you think you have to be the--" Chisato struggles to find a decent metaphor. "--the big strong they of the house? Moca. Look at me."
And Moca listens, because they're Moca and she is Chisato, and there's nothing else they could possibly do when given such a direct command. Their eyes meet hers and Chisato holds on them firmly. "I understand that anxiety. But you are going to allow me to pick up the slack and you're not allowed to feel bad about it."
"..." Moca doesn't reply.
Chisato pulls back her hand and reaches up to her neck, slipping her index finger just under the edge of her blouse and quickly finding what she's looking for. She pulls it out carefully and holds it up between them--the small silver ring, dangling from a long chain around her neck.
The price of being a celebrity, even one whose star is rapidly fading. She can't wear it on her hand yet. But someday...
"You gave me this. You know what it means, Moca Aoba." Chisato adjusts herself, leans forward onto her knees and brushes back silver hair to leave a feather-light kiss on her partner's forehead. "You are mine and I am yours, in all things. We're doing this together."
"...Not fair," Moca says, and Chisato catches the slightest glimpse of a sheen over their eyes reflected by the light before they unceremoniously flop over onto their face again. "Gurgh."
Chisato lets out a deep sigh--back to square one, it seems--and gives Moca's shoulder another reaffirming squeeze. "When have you ever known me to be fair?"
She lets them let their complicated feelings out into the carpet for the next few minutes, giving gentle rubs all the while. Eventually Moca finally reaches out to either side and stretches their arms out, hands balled into fists, before opening them and slamming their palms onto the floor.
"It's time," they growl, and Chisato takes her hand off their shoulder before standing up and watching the show.
Moca lets out a mighty--and mightily exaggerated--groan before performing the most overdone push-up Chisato has ever seen, moving their body up off the floor inch by inch as their arms strain under their weight. Once they finally reach a certain point they do a little hop and slide their legs underneath them, looking like a human frog before straightening out and hopping upwards with a leap. It's astonishing how much showmanship can be put into the act of standing up.
"Let's check out the house, babe," Moca says as if nothing happened at all. Their eyes are red, but there's a stronger light behind them now as they waggle their eyebrows at her, waiting for a response.
Chisato nods, a smile flickering at the edges of her lips. "Let's."
"We can put the couch over here, maybe push it into the corner a little to make room for that end table. The old one. And that lamp your mother gave us can go on top of that, it'll help even out the light in the room."
"Sounds good~."
Arms entwined, they spin and scour the room, pointing out nooks and crannies and corners and come to the same conclusions every time. Their living space is rapidly coming into being in both their minds.
"The tv can go here, we'll need to get a new shelf to put it on so the consoles n' stuff will fit. Gotta make sure we're all prepared for Gex night with the boys."
"Of course."
It's like a dance, she thinks.
"If we buy some album frames we can hang Afterglow's singles up along this wall. I know you like having them on display."
"Can't forget everyone's favorite idol band too, babe."
"If I'm assuming correctly, they're very few people's favorite by now."
"I'm one of the lucky few~."
Her and Moca, moving together, sometimes stepping on each other's feet but moving on without so much as a wince before they're in the next twirl, before one of them is dipping the other down low and meeting their eyes with love to spare.
"The mirror can go--"
"That bookshelf--"
"Your old posters--"
Eventually, they aren't even making suggestions anymore, simply rocking back and forth in each other's arms in what will soon be their living room. Theirs. Perhaps Chisato was the one who hadn't quite processed the situation properly yet, because the thought of it now--with things settled, furniture mentally arranged into a clear image--sends a jolt through her heart.
The world is expanding at a rapid pace. Her world and Moca's.
"I love you," Chisato whispers on a whim as she buries herself in Moca's shoulder. An arm wraps around her back and pulls her closer as they continue to sway together. Her hand clenches around the loose fabric of Moca's oversized t-shirt. It's rare for her to say those words so simply.
But Moca doesn't seem surprised. Instead they just slide their hand up her back and to her head, ruffling her hair just like she did for them earlier. "Love you too."
Her own little emotional episode is far more brief and silent than Moca's, and to Chisato's credit she manages to avoid lying down on the floor herself. But she does let a little more of her weight than normal rest on her partner. Moca doesn't complain or say a word, they just hold her steady until she's ready to push away and stand on her own again.
Moca's smile is warm and a little fragile. It's something only Chisato ever gets to see--there's another smile meant for their friends and yet another for Afterglow, but this one only comes out when they're alone. Unbidden, her hand rises up to rest on Moca's cheek, and they let out the same purr as before as their eyes close to complete the dopey expression. "Ehehe..."
Ah, she can do this whenever she wants now, can't she? At least when they're at home.
Chisato pulls away and turns on her heel, striding over to the window as Moca lets out a whine behind her. She rests her hand on the windowsill and stares out at the view. It's just as nice as when they first came to check out the place. The sun at dusk provides a beautiful backdrop to the city skyline... they will need to get better drapes, it seems, but that can wait. What time is it?
She pulls out her phone and swipes to unlock it, smiling at the lockscreen image--a blurry photo of her and Moca taken with Afterglow, sans designated driver Sayo, during a night out on the town several years back that was so enjoyable that none of them remembered it. Then she sees the notifications.
Five new messages from Tomoe:
> yo!
> on the way
> we uh
> dropped a box but it didn't look all that bad I don't think anything breakable was inside at least from what I could tell
> don't worry about it!
Chisato will try very hard to not worry about it.
Leaning back on the windowsill, she thinks back to those wild early days with Moca so far back before they were engaged, and before they were... they. It's so strange to think about, in the grand scheme it was only a few years ago but to Chisato it feels like a lifetime, a different universe where Moca wasn't Moca quite yet. When did the scrawny loner who wormed into Chisato's heart become someone she felt so easily comfortable relying on?
Staring off into the horizon, she can't tell for certain how it happened. All she can do is continue to be a pillar for Moca the same way Moca is, against all odds, a pillar for her. A partner and--
Arms wrap around her waist tight as Moca leans in close and rests their chin on her shoulder. "Hey, babe~."
--a lover.
"Do you need something, dear?" Chisato asks, peering out of the corner of her eye to where Moca rests barely an inch away from her face.
"Had one more idea for where something of yours should go."
"And what is that?"
Moca's left hand breaks away from their right and moves upwards, two fingers carefully brushing against Chisato's lips. "These." The hand wiggles out and around her back, and Chisato doesn't need to see Moca to know they're tapping the same fingers against their own mouth. "Here."
Chisato scoffs. "You'll need a convincing argument for that one."
"My argument is that I won the bet~."
"Which I never formally agreed to," Chisato reminds them curtly, "though I can't say I'm completely opposed to the idea regardless. I'll let you try again."
Moca rests their cheek against her back. "How about 'cause... your Moca-chan wants a smoochie woochie and has been very good all day."
"Stop calling it a smoochie woochie and we have a deal."
"Done."
Chisato turns to face Moca in one smooth movement, their arm still casually wrapped around her waist just where she likes it. She steps forward--more to push them back one clumsy step than anything else--and takes hold of her partner's collar with both hands, tightly, as Moca's eyes widen. They only have time to gulp before she tugs Moca down the small distance, lets her lips part, and--
HONK HONK HONK HOOOOOOOOOONK
"SOIYA! HELL YEAH!!"
The pair break apart roughly, Moca stumbling back and nearly tripping as Chisato stiffens like a board and clears her throat rapidly. Her gaze flies back to the window, though she knows what she'll see. The Udagawa minivan sits parked two stories down with a red-maned figure hanging out the driver's side door pumping her fist encouragingly. She takes a deep breath and rubs her eyes. "Moca, your friends are going to make the neighbors hate us before we even move in."
"I'll shut her up." Moca hurries past Chisato to the window, leaning forward as they reveal their brilliant method of doing just that. "Yo, Tomo-chin, shut the fuck up!"
The shout seems to only double Tomoe's chuckles, but she soon relents and leans back inside the car. Chisato watches as Moca gives her a wave ending in an obscene gesture. "We're going to need to be considerate of that window," Chisato says wearily, and Moca nods. They can't seem to keep the dumb grin off their face, though, especially as they approach with obvious intent.
"Soooo... how about we get back to--"
Chisato raises a palm up before Moca can reach her. "Not with your friends here, we'll need to start moving furniture in with them right away."
Moca wilts.
"...Though," Chisato adds as she reaches out to fix Moca's now-rumpled collar with gentle ministrations as they hold still for her, "there may be another very good reason to wait until later for things like that."
"What's that?"
Leaning in close, Chisato whispers, "We'll have a bed in here by then."
She gives them another pat on the shoulder before walking away, heading for the door to let their friends inside, but even as she steps out of the apartment--their apartment--she doesn't miss the stunned, reverent mumble from Moca behind her.
"Living together kicks ass..."