Work Text:
Roxanne hums thoughtfully as she looks over the paperwork on her desk. She sighs after a moment. Taking her glasses off, she rubs her eyes. Then, after putting them back on, she goes to pick up one of the pieces of paper. Her fingers touch the edge of it when the door to her office suddenly opens. She looks over, eyes widening. She smiles upon seeing who it is.
“Sorry to barge in like this, Ms. Vandelay,” Chai says, “but I brought the food you ordered!”
Indeed, he’s clutching a paper bag from the cafeteria in one hand—in fact, he has two. One is most likely for himself. In his other hand are some papers. Tucked under the same arm is a sticker covered laptop.
“Although, uh, I’m not really here to do that…but I was getting lunch before coming up here, so, y’know, I figured I may as well. Especially since I didn’t schedule a meeting. Which! I would have! But, I, uh, sorta…forgot. I was gonna schedule one, really, ‘cause I really want to talk to you about this idea I have, but then—”
Roxanne chuckles, opening her mouth to interrupt his rambling before she notices something else about him.
Almost every time she’s seen him, Chai has been wearing jeans and a t-shirt. But today, he has on a dress. It’s a rather cute one. The bottom half is cream with a rainbow music note pattern along the bottom; it ends just below his knees. The top is cream, short-sleeved, and has multi-colored buttons. The ends of the sleeves have the same music note pattern as the bottom. Around his waist is a blue ribbon, which is tied into a bow in the front. He also has on his scarf, a pair of black lowtops, and quarter rainbow socks.
“—it was crazy! But, anyways, uh…what was I saying?”
His brow furrows as he sets one of the bags down on her desk.
“You wanted to tell me about an idea you had,” she states as she takes the bag. “That’s a lovely dress, by the way.”
“Oh! Right! Duh! How could I forget?” He huffs, hitting his forehead. He opens his mouth, most likely to explain said idea, before he suddenly shuts it, eyes widening. He smiles bashfully. “Oh, uh, thanks. I got it from this shop I found the other day. The owner, Charlotte, helped me pick it out. What was the place called…?”
While he tries to recall the name, Roxanne unpacks her lunch. She’s fairly certain she’s heard Peony mention a fashion-loving Charlotte before. This must be the same one.
Chai groans as he plops down onto one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“I can’t remember it for the life of me!”
“That’s alright. You’ll just have to show me where it is some time,” she says, offering him a smile.
He perks up. “Wait—like, going together?”
“Yes. Of course, I’ll have to check my schedule to see when I’m free, but I would love to go with you.”
“Oh! Okay, yeah, sure! Just, uh, lemme know whenever!”
In fact, she can just check her schedule now. It’d be easier to plan this out while he’s still here, after all.
“What sort of clothes does Charlotte sell, aside from dresses?” she asks as she opens it up.
“Oh, all kinds of stuff! He’s got suits, jeans, skirts, tank tops, belts…they pretty much have everything.”
“I see. Does…” She trails off when she finds herself uncertain. “Does Charlotte prefer he/him or they/them? Or is it both?”
“Uh…both. Kinda. He told me that it depends on the day, but I haven’t talked to them today, so I dunno.”
Roxanne nods. She smiles. “It’s nice to see people being more open these days. I remember when everything had to be kept hush-hush. Of course, there were the spaces where we could be loud about it, but…well, there was always the worry.”
His eyes widen. “Wait— we? As in, like, you’re…?”
She chuckles. “Yes, Chai. I’m non-binary.”
“Oh! Awesome!” he replies, positively beaming.
“I suppose it is, isn’t it?”
With a grin, she returns her focus to her schedule. This week is packed. She does have a relatively free day next week, however…
Chai speaking interrupts her thoughts.
“Um…Ms. Vandelay?”
“Yes, Chai?”
“...Could, uh…could you, like, in the, um, future…” He tugs on his scarf and looks away from her. “Could you use she/her pronouns? For, uh, for me. When you talk about me. And stuff.”
Roxanne smiles. “Of course I can.”
She smiles back. “...Thanks.”
“You don’t need to thank me for that.”
“Oh. Well, uh—okay.”
The fact that she feels like she needs to thank her for that almost makes her frown. There’s not much use dwelling on it, though. Better to focus on things that are far less likely to make her upset. Such as their shopping plans.
Thinking about it makes Roxanne’s smile widen. It will be nice to spend some time with Chai, get to know her a bit better. Plus, she could use a few new dresses. It would be nice to get a new suit, as well. She hasn’t worn one in ages.
Glancing at her schedule one last time before closing it, she turns to give Chai her full attention.
“I’m free next Wednesday, if that works for you.”
“Huh?” She tilts her head, perking up a moment later. “Oh! Yeah, Wednesday works!”
“Excellent! Now…what was that idea you were going to tell me about?”
“Oh, you’re gonna love it!” Chai claims with a grin.
She stands up, setting down her papers and laptop on Roxanne’s desk. She opens the laptop up and starts doing something on it.
Roxanne shifts, getting more comfortable in her chair. She picks up her sandwich and takes a bite. Honestly, she’s rather thankful for Chai’s sudden appearance. It means she can sit back and relax for a little while.
“So, I was thinking…”
— — —
Korsica breathes steadily as she stretches her arms out in front of herself, cracking her knuckles in the same motion. As she lets them fall to her sides, she rolls her shoulders back. Then she bends over, touching her toes with her fingertips. Standing up straight, she looks around, sighing.
Today, Chai and her are supposed to spar. It’s been about twelve minutes since she arrived at the training room, and ten minutes past the time they agreed on.
Him being late is far from unusual. He gets caught up in things, or just forgets sometimes. It’s not a big deal. But it’s been a while since they last sparred. Korsica’s been itching for a fight. They’ve just both been busy lately. Her with the third wing expansion; him with his concerts and Project Armstrong promoting.
With a sigh, Korsica continues her stretches. She’ll give him another ten minutes. If he still doesn’t show, well, there’s always the training equipment. It doesn’t scratch that itch to fight the same way, but it’ll have to do.
The sound of the door opening interrupts her in the middle of stretching her leg. Her foot hits the floor with a thud as she whirls around. She almost falls over.
“You alright?” Chai asks, a smile on his face.
“Fine,” she replies as she straightens up.
Her eyes widen a bit when she looks at him. He has on his batting glove, a tank top, and…a skirt. The first two things are pretty par for the course. The latter? He’s never worn a skirt for sparring.
“You’re…wearing a skirt,” she says lamely.
“ Skorts, actually,” he replies.
“Skorts?”
“Skirt-shorts!”
Chai lifts up his skirt, making her look away for a moment, before she registers what he said. Under the skirt are, in fact, shorts. They’re the same orange color as the skirt. They seem to be attached. Huh.
“I got them the other day when I went shopping with Roxanne. They’re awesome! They even have pockets!”
Chai sticks his hands into said pockets to demonstrate. He grins.
“...Wow. I didn’t know they made skirts like that.”
“I didn’t either! Well, about the pockets, anyways.”
She rubs the back of her neck. “So…you like skirts now?”
“I mean…I’ve always liked skirts. I just never wore them.”
“Oh. Why not?”
He frowns, looking away from her. He unzips his bag, pulling out the baseball bat he spars with.
“‘Cause…y’know,” he replies as he makes his way into the ring.
Korsica doesn’t know. He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, though.
“You aren’t going to stretch?” she asks.
“Nah, I’m good to go. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Oh. Alright.”
She climbs into the ring after him. Taking her jacket off, she tosses it outside. Then, she grabs her batons, pulling them out.
They stare at one another from opposite ends. Chai has his bat resting on his shoulder. Korsica has her batons by her sides. He taps his foot to the beat of a song only he can hear. She readjusts her grip.
He springs towards her. She races at him. They meet in the middle of the ring, weapons clashing…
“Man, what a fight!” Chai exclaims as they both climb out of the ring.
Korsica can only nod, as she’s too out of breath to respond verbally.
Picking her jacket up off the floor, she makes her way over to her bag. She takes a swig from her water bottle. Then, she undoes her (very messy) ponytail. Holding the hair tie in her mouth, she starts to pull her hair back up.
As she does this, she turns to see Chai sitting on the floor next to his bag. He’s chugging his own water. Once he’s drank it all, he tosses the bottle at a nearby trash can. He cheers quietly when it lands inside. She huffs amusedly.
“So…you want to do this again soon?” she asks as she ties her hair up.
“Yeah, sure! Just lemme know whenever.”
She nods in response.
Stretching her arms out, she thinks about their fight. He seemed a lot quicker. He’s generally very agile, but for whatever reason, today it felt like he was truly zipping around the ring. I wonder…
“You should wear those skorts again when we spar next,” Korsica says.
He tilts his head. “I mean, I was gonna anyways. But…why?”
“You were fast as hell today. I figure it’s ‘cause of them.”
“...Really?” His eyes suddenly light up. “Like a speed buff!”
“...Uh. Sure.”
Really, it’s most likely just because the clothes he usually wears are more restrictive on his movement. The skorts allow for freer movement. Korsica supposes that them being cute is a nice bonus. Chai looks pretty damn good in them.
She wonders why he chose to wear them in the first place. Earlier, he said he’s always liked skirts. Recently, he’s been wearing them and dresses. Her brow furrows. Then, she shakes her head. She doesn’t want to assume anything. And, based off of how he reacted to her question earlier, he doesn’t want to talk about it. Not yet, anyways. Maybe never. Which…is fine. She gets it.
Korsica will just keep any thoughts she has about it to herself. If Chai decides to talk, she’ll be happy to listen.
— — —
CNMN scans the list of things they need to get. They’ve already gotten about half of the items on it. They have Mr. Chai to thank for that. He’s been checking the list, then running off to get the items listed that are further away from them. Along the way, he’s grabbed a few extra things, as well. All of them are for him—and, most likely, Ms. Peppermint. Though he doesn’t have a list of his own, he’s filled up his half of the cart fairly well.
All in all, a good trip to the store thus far. They’ll have to shop together more often. It’s more fun and fast. Truly a win-win.
As CNMN grabs a box of lavender tea and adds it to the cart, he wonders where Mr. Chai ran off to. It’s been almost 15 minutes since he went to go get something, and he still isn’t back. It usually takes him only about 5—less than that, really.
If it were anyone else, they would consider the possibility that he simply got lost. The problem with that is that he seems to know every nook and cranny of the store. It’s rather impressive. However, that means that his reason for not returning yet is most likely that he got distracted. Not exactly a bad thing—they aren’t in a rush, after all—but it does mean that CNMN is on their own with getting the rest of the things on their list.
Oh well. He’s almost done, anyhow.
Next thing on the list is…shampoo! Other similar things that are sure to be in the same area of the store follow it. So, CNMN turns to head in the direction of the personal care aisle. It takes a little bit to find it, but they get there eventually. They will never understand why stores are laid out in such a needlessly confusing manner.
Grabbing the hair care products Sir Macaron likes, he puts them in the cart. Now all that’s left to get are things from the freezer section. Once he’s got those, he’ll message Mr. Chai to meet him at the checkout counters.
As CNMN leaves the aisle, they spot Mr. Chai in one nearby. Aha! They turn, heading in his direction. They find themself in the makeup aisle.
There, in the midst of the otherwise empty aisle, is Mr. Chai. He’s inspecting some lipstick. It’s a pretty ruby red color. It matches his scarf quite nicely. In his free hand, he appears to be holding an eyeshadow palette.
Ah. So it was him who’s been looking through their magazines. CNMN had been wondering about that for a little while now. They didn’t mind, of course. They left the magazines at the hideout for a reason, after all. Still, it was sort of nice to have the mystery as to who kept leaving their magazines open on the floor solved. They had figured it might’ve been him from just that alone, but Ms. Peppermint also has a tendency to leave things lying out. Not to mention that 808 enjoys making a mess of things when she gets bored.
“That’s a lovely shade,” CNMN comments as he makes his way towards him.
Mr. Chai jolts, almost dropping the lipstick and eyeshadow. He whirls towards him. “Oh! Uh—h-hey CNMN! I, uh—”
“No need to attempt to justify yourself to me, Mr. Chai. Makeup is very fun!”
“Oh. Uh. Okay.” He relaxes a bit, smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, it can be. A pain in the ass to put on, though. But it’s, uh…nice.”
“Are you going to buy those?”
“Well…I…was thinking about it.”
“You should if it’ll make you happy.”
“...Yeah. Yeah, okay!”
Mr. Chai places them in his half of the cart. Then, he looks back at the shelves. His brow is furrowed.
“CNMN, you know…stuff about makeup, right?”
“Yes, a bit. Why?”
“Should I get any other things? Y’know, while we’re here?”
“That depends on how much makeup you want to wear.”
“...Oh. I hadn’t really thought about that. I guess I just figured it was sorta…all or nothing.”
“There are many ways to wear makeup, Mr. Chai. You can wear as little or as much as you like.”
He nods, seemingly digesting that information. After a moment, he grabs some mascara and an eyeliner pencil, adding them to the cart. Then, he looks at CNMN.
“Alright, I’m good to go. Did you get the rest of your stuff?”
“I did!”
“Cool, cool. Let’s get goin’!”
As he leads the way to the checkout counters, CNMN wonders if Mr. Chai would have bought the makeup if not for them. They have a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn’t. Then again, he has been presenting much more femininely overall as of late. However, the way he’s so sheepish about it, it’s fairly obvious he’s still in a stage of uncertainty regarding it. The fact that he’s doing it at all means something, though. Especially since he does seem happier for it. They’re proud of him for being willing to push past any sort of discomfort to at least try. That’s an integral step, and the hardest one to take.
Whatever conclusion he comes to, they’ll be there to support him. He hopes that Mr. Chai knows that. Perhaps there’s a way for CNMN to subtly say so? It’s always tricky trying to communicate with him. He’s not the best at picking up on things like that. It’s worth a shot, though. So, he mulls over what to say as they walk.
“Mr. Chai, if you would like any help regarding makeup, fashion, or other things in the future, I would be happy to help you,” they eventually settle on, right as they’re nearing the checkout.
“Oh—uh—cool, okay. I’ll let you know. Thanks, dude.”
He draws a smile onto his face. “Of course!”
Mission accomplished! Hopefully. I suppose only time will tell.
— — —
Macaron rubs his chin as he looks over the code again. He’s been trying to troubleshoot this new software update for the SEN-C0s all day. It’s proving to be a real pain in the ass. He sighs as he deletes a section of it, replacing it with some that will (hopefully) fix at least one of the myriad of problems. If he could, he’d kill Zanzo again for leaving behind such a mess. Why Kale thought it was a good idea to make him the head of R&D will never fail to confound him.
The sound of his phone going off suddenly interrupts his thoughts. Macaron picks it up to see a text from Chai.
hey mac can istay at urs
Of course you can! :)
Are you alright? Did something happen?
im good just a few drink
will b there in 5
Ah. He must be at the nearby bar. Macaron hasn’t been there in quite a while. I wonder if it’s still the same…
His gaze wanders back to his PC monitor. I can finish this up tomorrow, hopefully. He saves his progress, then shuts it down for the night.
Getting up, he heads into his room to grab an extra pillow. He sets it down on the couch. Taking the throw blanket that’s draped over his recliner, he moves it to the back of the couch. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more he can do to make it comfortable. Macaron doubts Chai will mind too much, though. He can sleep practically anywhere.
After a moment of thought, he heads into the kitchen to grab water bottles. One for himself, and one for Chai. Maybe I should get out the aspirin, too. Chai will probably need it in the morning. Though, that’s assuming he’s drunk-drunk. Still, it wouldn’t hurt anything to have it out. That way, he won’t have to go hunting for it if he does need it.
So, after setting one of the bottles down on the coffee table, Macaron heads into the bathroom. Grabbing the aspirin from the medicine cabinet, he sets it down next to the bottle.
Is there anything else he should do? He hums thoughtfully.
Before he can come up with anything, there’s a familiar knocking pattern from the door. He opens it up, immediately stepping aside so Chai can come in.
“Hey, little guy. I got the couch ready for you.”
“Thanks, big guy. You’re the best,” Chai replies, smiling at him as he walks past.
It’s at that moment that Macaron realizes what he’s wearing. He has on orange, yellow, and red makeup, which has a glittery shine to it. Then, there’s the dress; it’s short, strapless, and orange. He’s also sporting black stockings. There’s straps connected to them, which go up, disappearing under the dress. Instead of the high heels Macaron half-expected him to be wearing, Chai has on yellow boots, which each have a sun with a strained looking face on the sides.
Macaron can only watch, stunned, as Chai flops down onto the couch with a sigh.
Maybe he shouldn’t be as surprised as he is. Chai has been wearing dresses and skirts a lot recently. The makeup is a bit newer. But this outfit in particular is different from all the others he’s worn. Macaron supposes it’s just because it’s not something he would expect him to wear. He looks good in it, though.
Shaking his head to break himself out of his thoughts, Macaron walks over. He sets one hand on top of the couch as he looks down at Chai.
“You okay?”
“Yeah…it’s just weird…”
“What is?”
“Iunno. It’s like…everything’s weird now. Y’know?”
His brow furrows. “What do you mean?"
“Like…everything’s different now. It’s, uh…not a bad different, but, like, s’weird. Y’know? And, um…like…it’s just…everything’s going good, which is so…usually, stuff goes bad, but, it’s…not? Should prob’ly be chill ‘bout it…which, s’like, I am happy, but it’s so…like, uh…just…um…just…”
Chai trails off, his eyes falling shut. For a moment, Macaron thinks he passed out. His eyes open again, though, as he shifts, pulling his legs up and fiddling with his boots.
“Are you sure you’re alright, Chai?” Macaron asks, leaning down a bit.
“Mhm, ‘m good. Just, y’know…”
He stops fiddling with his boots and kicks them off. They land on the floor with a thud and a thunk. Then, he starts taking his arm off.
“Stuff’s good… great, even, but it’s so weird,” he explains. “Like, got you guys…and, uh, job…and then I figured out that I’m allowed to be girly n’ stuff…which, like, I thought was, um…Iunno, other people could, but I couldn’t, ‘cause I’m…uh…but, turns out, I’m…not? Like…”
Macaron’s brow furrows. He’s not sure what to make of any of this. He’s not sure he should be making anything of it, considering that Chai is only sharing this while very drunk. If he decides to talk about it in the future while sober, then they can have a proper discussion about…whatever it is that he’s trying to say. Macaron has an inkling as to what it might be, but he doesn’t want to assume anything.
“Hey, Chai?” Macaron interrupts his rambling.
He looks up at him. “Whuh?”
“You can just set that on the coffee table,” he says, gesturing to his arm.
“Huh…? Oh! Okay.”
He proceeds to do just that, before lying back down. He squirms around for a few moments. Then, he sighs.
“Comfortable enough?”
“Mhm…thanks, Mac…”
“It’s no problem. Get some rest, little guy.”
“M’kay…sounds good…”
Macaron watches him for a few moments. Then, he grabs the throw blanket and drapes it over him.
As he heads into his room, he sends Peppermint a text.
I’m not sure if Chai let you know,
but he’s staying the night at my place.
Thx for letting me knwo
Not too drunk is he??
He’s definitely going to have a hangover.
Ofc he is
If he gets too whiny tmrw feel free to
kick him out
Macaron chuckles, shaking his head. He’s sure Chai won’t be that bad.
“Ugh…kill me now…”
“I’m not going to do that. I will make you some toast.”
“...Yeah, okay…do you have peanut butter?”
“I sure do! Peanut butter toast, comin’ right up!”
“You’re the best, Mac…”
— — —
808 watches as Chai smoothes down her skirt for the hundredth time. Then as she runs her fingers through her hair for the thousandth. And then as she tugs on her scarf for the millionth. And as she readjusts her hair clip for the billionth. And, and, and…
Normally, she’s not this particular about how she looks. Not even the other night, when she got dressed up all pretty to go out. 808’s tail flicks. Stalling…
There’s a fast-paced, noisy song playing right now. The beat is too quick for her liking when things are this calm. It’s putting her on edge. She has to make it change. Calm Chai down. She can do that. She’s good at calming people down.
808 hops off Chai’s bed. She pads over to her, rubbing against her legs and chirping to get her attention. A moment later, Chai is crouched down and petting her. There’s a small smile on her face. 808 purrs happily. She leans into her hands. When Chai scritches under her chin, she goes boneless, rolling onto her back for belly rubs. This earns her rubs and a chuckle.
The song transitions into something calmer. Slower. Soft. But in the background, she can still hear the noise.
There must be something she can do to make it go away completely. But what? Is Chai scared of something? There aren’t any scary things around. Maybe she’s angry! But she isn’t acting angry. Sad? No, that doesn’t make sense. She’s smiling. Calm. But it isn’t enough.
If 808 weren’t getting belly rubs right now, she’d frown.
A sudden knock, knock, knock from the door makes the noisiness grow louder as Chai jolts. They both look over at it.
“You alright? They’re gonna be here soon,” Peppermint says, her voice muffled.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just, uh, y’know, gettin’ ready!”
808 does frown now. Not fine. Been ready.
“‘Kay. You…need help or something?”
“Nah. I’m—I’m almost done. I’ll be out in a sec.”
“Alright.”
Chai sighs. As she starts to stand up, 808 climbs up her arm and onto her shoulder, where she perches. Chai looks in the mirror again.
She’s wearing a dark blue skirt and a light blue t-shirt with a battery symbol on it. Of course, her scarf is wrapped around her neck. There’s a red guitar clip in her hair.
She’s very pretty. But she’s frowning. She readjusts the hair clip. Then, she tugs on her scarf. Not this again!
808 rubs the top of her head against Chai’s cheek. This has the intended effect of pulling her attention away from stalling some more, and on to 808, who licks her. She makes a funny face.
“ Gah! You have a sandpaper tongue!”
She nudges Chai, turning her head towards the door.
“Okay, okay, I’m going…”
Chai walks over to the door. She reaches for the handle, but doesn’t push the door open. She takes a deep breath. 808 rubs her head against her cheek again, making her smile. She opens the door and steps out.
Peppermint is on the couch, doing something on her laptop. She looks up at them as Chai walks over.
“You look nice,” she states.
“Thanks.”
Chai sits down next to her. 808 hops off of her shoulder to sit between them. Peppermint gives her a pat on the head as Chai stands back up. She starts pacing around the couch, snapping to the beat. The song is messy and noisy again. 808 frowns. Peppermint sighs.
“You can’t just call this off, Chai. They’re almost here.”
“I know. I know! It’s just…”
“Just…?”
“...We could make it into a movie night. Or game night. Literally anything else.”
808 turns into her orb form so that she can get back on Chai’s shoulder. She doesn’t react. Her eyes are on the floor as she walks. 808 nudges her to try and get her out of her head, but she doesn’t respond to it.
“Look, if you aren’t ready to tell them, you don’t have to.”
Chai sighs. “But?”
“We all know that if you don’t do it now, you never will.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
She gives her a deadpan stare.
808 leaps back onto the couch, perching on the top. Can’t argue with that.
“ Ugh. ” Chai flops onto the couch face-first, her stomach awkwardly resting on the arm with her face against the cushions. When she speaks, her voice is muffled. “Stop calling me out.”
“I would if it weren’t for the fact that someone has to.”
She mutters something probably very snarky in response.
Tucking her paws underneath herself, 808’s tail flicks as she looks down at Chai. Her ears droop, folding back a little. She wishes she could make her feel better.
Chai shifts, readjusting her position. Then, she pulls her legs into the air over her, letting them fall forward onto the couch with a dull thump. Now that she’s face-up, 808 takes the opportunity to try and offer some more comfort by curling up on her chest and purring. She earns the song slowing down a little for it. The pats are nice, too.
808 lets out a frustrated mrrr as it speeds back up at the sudden knock, knock, knock from the front door.
“You ready?” Peppermint asks.
Chai sighs. “I guess.”
“Like I said,” she says as she gets up to answer the door, “you don’t have to tell them if you really aren’t ready.
“...But if I don’t now, then I never will,” Chai finishes in a whisper as she grabs 808 and sits up.
Peppermint opens the door, stepping aside to let Korsica, Macaron, and CNMN in. They all greet one another. Chai stares at them, brow furrowed. The song gets even noisier somehow.
808 looks up at her worriedly. She chirps to get her attention. When Chai looks at her, she leans up and nuzzles her cheek. Chai chuckles. Adjusting her hold on 808 so that she’s cradled in her arms, she kisses the top of her head. 808 smiles, a purr rumbling through her. The beat slows a little.
“Hey, Chai,” Korsica says.
Macaron offers her a smile. “Hi, little guy!”
“Hello, Mr. Chai,” CNMN greets her with a wave.
Chai jolts, then smiles nervously. “Uh, hey!”
“You said you wanted to talk to us about something?”
“Um…” She looks down at 808. “...Yeah. You, uh…maybe you guys should sit down.”
As she says that, she stands up and moves out of the way.
They glance at one another. Then, they walk over and sit down. Macaron and Korsica take the couch. CNMN sits on the floor in front of them.
Chai drums her fingers against 808’s side. Nestling against her, 808 curls her tail around one of her arms. You can do this!
Peppermint moves to stand by Chai. She offers her an encouraging smile. Chai smiles back after a moment.
She takes a deep breath.
“So, uh…I want to tell you guys something. Kinda important, I guess. And, um…it’s nothing bad! Nothing, like, happened, so don’t worry or anything. I just, uh…I—I thought that you all should know. So.” She starts tapping her foot. Her gaze is on the floor.
Korsica is unreadable. Macaron seems a teensy bit worried. CNMN has one inky eyebrow raised.
“I’m…a girl,” Chai states after a moment. “Well—sort of. Kinda. It’s, uh, complicated. But I’m mostly a girl. So, y’know, um…I’d…like it—er, appreciate if you’d use she/her pronouns. When, y’know, you talk about me. And stuff. And, uh…y-yeah. That’s…that’s kinda…it…”
She clears her throat. Her shoulders are hunched. 808 squeezes her arm with her tail. Peppermint crosses her arms.
“...That answers all my questions, then,” Korsica says, breaking the brief silence. “Thanks for telling us.”
“Wait—” Chai looks up, eyes wide and one brow quirked. “What?”
She rubs the back of her neck. “I, uh…sorta figured it out already.”
“Heh…me too,” Macaron says.
“I did as well,” CNMN states.
Chai’s jaw drops. Peppermint snorts. 808 blinks.
“ What?! What do you mean you already figured it out?!”
“Well…you remember when we sparred last week?”
“Yeah…?”
“After I asked you about skirts, you said you always liked them. I just…connected the dots from there.”
“Wh—okay. Well, how did you guys figure it out?”
“Similar to Lady Korsica, I simply connected the dots,” CNMN replies.
Macaron smiles sheepishly. “You may have drunkenly rambled about it…”
She groans, her head falling forward. Peppermint’s laughing fully now. 808 climbs out of Chai’s arms and onto her shoulder, where she nudges the side of her face. The song is calmer now, but there’s still a quickness to it.
“Stop laughing at me!” Chai exclaims as she punches Peppermint in the arm.
“I’m not laughing at you! It’s just—I can’t believe you came out without even meaning to!”
She huffs. Then, she looks at them. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We didn’t want to force you to talk about something such as this if you weren’t ready to,” CNMN explains.
“Yeah. And—well…I didn’t want to make an assumption like that,” Korsica says.
Macaron nods. “Plus, you were drunk when you talked about it with me. This is the sort of thing you discuss while sober.”
“Oh.” She rubs the back of her neck.
From there, after a bit more discussion about it, things go the way they usually do when the others come over to hangout. They play some games (which Chai and Peppermint trade wins in), order pizza, and watch a movie.
808 smiles. She’s curled up in Chai’s lap on the floor. The tip of her tail twitches to the steady beat. The song is soft and calm. Chai has a soft smile on her face, illuminated by the TV screen. 808 can’t help but purr.