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For a bunch of introverts, the English branch of Hololive sure did know how to party.
Loud music buzzed through Gura’s already sensitive ears, the rhythm of the bass reverberating through the carpet, almost making her fall over. It might’ve been the alcohol tripping her up.
“Duuuude! Watch your step!” A slurred voice drifted past her, Calli’s pink hair whipping her in the face as she stumbled by.
Everyone was already multiple drinks in, celebrating Council’s one-year anniversary. Multiple cheesy ‘ CONGRATS!’ banners hung from the walls, some of which were, unfortunately, missing letters. Kiara seemed to be the culprit, climbing the walls with an odd sort of grace to grab at random letters, several others cheering her on.
If someone told her years ago she’d be celebrating with deities and myths alike, she probably wouldn’t have believed them. Now that she was here, however, she was certainly feeling… overwhelmed.
Maybe overwhelmed was too heavy of a word. Satisfied with the scenario, surrounded by friends, and feeling overly happy with seltzer in hand. Satisfied, but tired. By the looks of it, she wasn’t the only one feeling tired.
Amelia lay on the couch, hat haphazardly thrown over her eyes to cover the bright lights of the house. Pillows were shoved on either side of her head as well, her teeth grit even as she dozed on the couch.
Gura had known Amelia long enough to know that this meant she was done with the party. Now, were she less sober, her own body would be strewn on top of her detective to sleep on the couch as well. Maybe bully her about chickening out as well.
She was, unfortunately, soberer than that. So, as a responsible girlfriend , she had to haul Amelia’s stinky ass up the stairs and back to her room to help her sleep.
Girlfriend was still a new term. Though Gura’s feelings had festered ever since their first meeting, a small shark fresh on land staring at what she thought was sunshine. Now her sunshine , her feelings towards the quirky time traveler hadn’t wavered even after the pair made it official.
Her sunshine was fast asleep as Gura stumbled towards the couch, mouth open enough for drool to seep from the side. Gura wheezed at the sight once she was close enough, bending down to poke at the detective’s face.
“Hey stinky , wake up,” Gura teased as she pinched Amelia’s cheek, the woman groaning as she did so.
“What’s… who…?” Amelia mumbled, voice thick with sleep and alcohol. Gura took the hat off her eyes, fitting it on her own head with a chuckle to herself. Amelia’s eyes opened for a split second, confused and unfocused as Gura grinned at her, the stolen hat flopping over her eyes.
They didn’t stay open for long, however, as Amelia instantly passed out again, her arm coming up to cover what her hat couldn’t.
“Oh come on…” Gura breathed out, now frustrated with Amelia’s antics. However, as an amazing girlfriend, she knew that Amelia had to be moved, or else someone might spill a drink or two on her sleeping form.
“Oooh-kay, come here, come on,” Gura prompted as she wrapped her arms around Amelia’s torso, grabbing at her shirt to assist in lifting the taller woman up and off the couch. With the sleeping woman being virtually dead weight, the task proved to be more difficult than Gura was expecting. Grunting with effort, she continued to attempt to lift the sleeping figure.
“Do you, like, need help?” Calli’s voice came from behind her, nearly right next to her earl. Gura jumped with surprise, almost dropping Amelia in the process.
“Holy fuck, Calli,” Gura wheezed, holding Amelia closer subconsciously. “You scared the shit out of me, dude.”
Calli giggled, pointing to how Gura was holding her girlfriend’s body. “She looks dead, dude,” the reaper giggled more, finding the joke funnier than Gura did, the shorter woman glaring daggers at Calli’s drunken antics.
Gura’s tail whipped at Calli’s shin, making the taller woman double over in surprise. “Quit laughing, idiot, and help me get this idiot upstairs.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Gura helped with getting Amelia’s sleeping form in Calli’s arms, with the reaper laughing too much at Amelia’s dead weight. Eventually, the sleeping detective was settled, and the two made their way up the stairs.
Fortunately, Amelia’s room was directly in front of the stairs, chosen strategically. Amelia reasoned before that it was to ‘ ensure no one else woke up when she had to leave early for detective stuff ’, but at that moment, Gura could care less about reasoning.
Gura nearly kicked the door open for Calli to stumble through, holding Amelia precariously. Gura winced as Calli virtually tossed her sleeping form on the bed, turning to leave.
“I’m gonna go see what Kiara’s doing with all those random letters,” was Calli’s goodbye message, not even sticking around long enough for Gura to say ‘ thank you ’ for her efforts.
“Alright then…” Gura muttered to herself, watching Calli leave. Shrugging, she turned to the problem at hand, who was beginning to snore quietly.
Standing at Amelia’s side, she mulled over what to do first. Amelia was prone to falling asleep early, with time-traveling taking a lot out of her. As far as Gura was aware, however, Amelia hadn’t used her watch in the past few days.
It’s not my business to know absolutely everything Amelia does , she decided as she scanned the sleeping figure. Amelia’s detective outfit stood out against the pale yellow sheets, and Gura decided on what to do first.
“Wakey wakey sunshine!” Gura sang as she shook Amelia’s shoulder. “We gotta get you out of these stinky work clothes!”
“Wha-” Amelia gasped, slapping Gura’s hand away, hard enough to startle her. “I have a girlfriend, don’t touch me…!” As Gura reeled from the slap on her hand, Amelia shuffled to the head of the bed, tucking herself into the sheets. She nearly instantly fell asleep again, leaving Gura alone with her thoughts.
She has… a girlfriend? Gura paused.
“But… I’m … your.. girlfriend…” she muttered, staring offendedly at Amelia, who snored loudly in response.
Is she… cheating on me? Am I not her girlfriend? The thought made Gura’s blood run cold, the room suddenly feeling like it would crush her at any moment. She darted from the room, slamming the door behind her as she ran for the stairs.
Though she should feel some semblance of sadness, Gura only felt anger as she tore through the house, back to the partygoers. Ina, who stood back from the others, saw her expression, concern written all over her face as she stopped her in her warpath.
“What happened?” Ina asked, her eyes scrunching up with worry.
“I think Ame’s cheating on me,” tears pricked at the corners of Gura’s eyes as she confessed to Ina, who seemed completely taken aback by the statement.
“What makes you say that?”
Gura relayed the story to Ina, recalling the slap on the hand paired with the harsh words. As the story finished, Gura trailed off, only to find Ina giggling into her hand.
“Is something funny to you, Ina’nis?” Gura snapped, startling the shy woman.
“Ah, well…” Ina breathed in deeply to calm herself, before continuing, “I just have a question for you. When she batted you away, were her eyes even open ?”
Pausing, Gura stopped to reconsider. Were her eyes open? She was woken suddenly, so…
“I’m… not… sure?” Gura said slowly. “Why would that matter, though?”
“Gura, when you first wake up after being extremely tired, can you piece together everything that’s going on?” Before Gura could open her mouth, Ina answered for her, “no. No, you can’t, and I say that as someone who’s had to wake you up on multiple occasions.”
Gura cocked her head to the side, confused. “What are you trying to say?”
Ina chuckled. “I don’t think she knew it was you who was waking her up. Or that she knew it was you who was demanding she take her clothes off. I mean, y–”
Ina’s words were cut off by a loud greeting, Kiara butting her head into their closed corner. “What’s going on over here? And where’s Amelia?”
“About that…” Ina started before she recounted Gura’s own tale and her branching hypothesis. Gura remained silent as Ina spoke, deep in thought.
“Gura… this is not your brightest moment,” Kiara said after a beat of silence.
“Wha– hey?!” Gura gaped, watching as Ina and Kiara shared a fit of laughter.
“I’m sorry, that was mean. But seriously, Ame is head over heels for you, girl. I don’t think she’d ever consider cheating on you.”
“Yeah, she looks at you like you’re the sun, dude,” Calli but in, coming over from where Council was gathered.
“She looks at me with squinted eyes and general annoyance?”
“No– Gura, she looks at you with love and appreciation,” Kiara sighed, patting the shorter woman’s shoulder. “Sometimes, I think you’re as hopeless as Calli was.”
“What-”
“HEY WHAT’S GOING ON OVER THERE?” Bae’s distinct shout cut off Calli’s confusion, the five women gravitating over to where Myth had formed a small circle.
“Gura’s being dumb and in love,” Kiara sighed, making Gura flinch.
“Y’all are terrible, I’m going upstairs,” Gura complained, nearly sprinting away from the group as Ina once again retold Gura’s story. Their laugher followed her upstairs, making her flush with embarrassment.
No shit I was overthinking , Gura thought to herself, pushing the door to Amelia’s room open once again.
Amelia was where she had left her, curled at the top of her bed with the covers wrapped tightly around her. She looked adorable to Gura, who tentatively walked up to Amelia’s side.
The detective groaned, rolling over onto her back, eyes still shut tightly. As if sensing someone was watching her, one eye opened slowly, light blue cutting through the darkness of her room.
“Gura…?” Amelia mumbled, opening her other eye to squint at Gura in the dark.
“Hey, sunshine. It’s ok, you can go back to sleep if you want,” she reassured, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Come here…” Amelia murmured sleepily, “...cuddle.” Her arms opened invitingly, making Gura internally fawn over how cute her girlfriend was.
Not being one to keep Amelia waiting, Gura tossed her hoodie to the side and nearly flung herself into bed, wrapping her arms around her detective’s waist as she made herself comfortable.
As Amelia hugged Gura back, breath already evening out as she fell back asleep, Gura reconsidered why she ever considered Amelia would love anyone other than her.
I’m the only one who gets to hold her like this , Gura thought smugly, dozing off in Amelia’s embrace.
—
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, streaming directly into Gura’s tightly closed eyes. With an angry groan, Gura turned away from the sun, pulling the covers tighter around her shoulders.
The smile she was met with, however, was nearly brighter than the offending sunlight. Amelia lay next to her, sleepy eyes staring at her lovingly despite Gura’s messy state.
“Goodmorning,” Amelia mumbled, hand coming up to caress Gura’s cheek.
“Mmph,” was the response the shorter woman gave, making Amelia laugh and pull her into a light hug.
“Sorry for falling asleep so early,” Amelia continued, kissing the top of Gura’s head while talking.
“It’s ok,” Gura mumbled, tightening the hug. The two lay in silence, Gura almost falling back asleep in the warmth of Amelia’s embrace. “You say weird shit when you’re tired,” she mumbled sleepily, yawning while she spoke.
“Do I?” Amelia questioned, running her hand through Gura’s hair.
“Yeah. You said you had a girlfriend while I was tucking you in. I thought you were cheating on me,” Gura mumbled into Amelia’s neck, red creeping up her face at the admission of her… not bright moment.
Amelia laughed loudly, startling Gura out from her comfortable hold on her girlfriend.
“It’s not that funny!” Gura complained, now wide awake. Though the sound of her girlfriend’s laughter was always something she appreciated, being the butt of the joke was something she didn’t quite enjoy.
“There’s a reason that’s so funny to me, Sharkie,” Amelia giggled, moving to sit up. “I was so tired at that party for that specific reason. I spent, like, so many hours time traveling to find a store that sold the one specific seltzer you enjoy. Because your dumb ass can’t be happy with one Whiteclaw,” Amelia laughed louder. “I was being such a good girlfriend only to be accused of cheating on you . How dare you, honestly.”
Gura only stared at Amelia, watching as she wheezed. “Only you can casually mention that you literally went through time and space to get me a fucking seltzer. You know I can just force Calli to make me some fancy-ass mixed drink, right? You didn’t need to strain yourself like that…” she trailed off, Amelia’s laughter dying down as well.
“Gura, I did that because I love you, and I wanted you to have a good time,” Amelia said, genuine love breaking through her words, nearly making Gura tear up at the kindness. “And anyway, it worked out in my favor. I got to wake up to a clingy Sharkie,” she winked.
“You’re an idiot,” Gura complained as she tugged Amelia down to lay next to her once more, burying her face into the coat her detective still wore.
“Love you too,” Amelia laughed, hugging Gura tightly once more.