Work Text:
“Wretched, vile creature…” Nagi grumbled under her breath, glaring at her phone. The tip of her index finger had begun to go numb from aggressively tapping at the screen, but the cloaked green monster simply stared blankly back at her, nimbly dodging one attack after another.
“Problem, Boss?” Fret chirped from over her shoulder.
“The problem,” she spat back much less cheerfully, “is that I’ve expended every resource I’ve earned today on this cretin, and yet – curses!” Finally, with a saucy spin, the lizard disappeared from her screen. The AR effect was startlingly realistic, giving the illusion that the monster had run through the foot traffic and into the Parco building before her.
“Ooh, tough luck.” Clapping a hand on her back, Fret sauntered into Nagi’s field of vision, low-level monsters scurrying away from the disturbance on her screen. “Well, this was my second one, so maybe we could work out a trade? You don’t even have to give me anything rare, I don’t need a dupe of this guy.”
Ignoring the less-than-subtle brag, Nagi jammed her phone into her pocket. “I ought to delete this foul application from my phone.” An oft-repeated but empty threat – the allure of a complete collection was, for better or for worse, a powerful motivator. “I’ve suffered through innumerable failed raids, and for what? Lord Rindo has only held up his end of the bargain in the most minimal sense possible. He hasn’t even logged on to EleStra since I earned my recruitment bonus.”
“Yeah, Rindude’s kinda got a one-track mind when it comes to mobile games.” A smirk cracked his face. “Especially now that he can play with Sparrow IRL,” he added, a teasing lilt emphasizing Shoka’s username as he clasped his hands together, batting his eyelashes dramatically.
“Speaking of…” Nagi craned her neck to gaze out at the throngs of people crowding the street. “I haven’t seen the young lord and lady since we split off in pursuit of that blasted Tonberry. Perhaps they found another rare monster?”
Fret waved a dismissive hand. “Maybe, maybe not. Those lovebirds are always running off on their own. Sometimes I just ‘accidentally’ get separated so I don’t have to keep third-wheeling. Thanks for third-wheeling with me today, by the way. We’re, like, a fully functional car now!”
“Indeed,” was all Nagi had to say to that metaphor. Stretching her arms high above her head and rolling her shoulders, she admitted, “I appreciate the invitation as well, despite the fruitlessness of my hunt. After hours of poring over English textbooks, the gaping maw of despair threatened to swallow me whole had I not an excuse for a reprieve. ‘Tis a mystifying and nonsensical language.”
“Yeesh. Well, if you want an excuse to keep putting that off, we could go grab some boba?” Fret suggested, gesturing in the general direction of Bubblevision.
After a moment’s consideration, Nagi nodded, gripping the straps of her itabag. “’Twoud be agreeable. I’m beginning to feel a bit parched from our excursion.”
A short walk and a few FanGo encounters later, the pair found themselves sipping matcha boba in the blessedly air-conditioned café.
“So why are you still taking English?” Fret asked once they were settled in, wrinkling his nose. “No way I’m keeping that shit up after high school.”
“EleStra’s recent English localization has inspired a surge in the previously miniscule Western fanbase. I couldn’t bear the thought of so much Lord Tomonami content I can’t understand. What hidden gems might I miss out on due to a language barrier?” Burying her face in her hands, Nagi groaned. “On the other hand, I may devote precious time to fluency only to discover that His Radiance’s nuanced character was lost in translation, and the quality of fan content suffers thusly. Oh, Lord Tomonami, I pray that your good name is not tarnished…!” Clutching a fist to her chest as a single tear squeezed from the corner of her eye, she declared, “But if even a single fic as powerful as never get to hold you exists in English, ‘tis my sacred duty to myself and to my fellow EleStraniacs to translate it.”
“Oh, yeah, you sent me a link to that story.” Fret blanched slightly as he recalled how tiny his scrollbar had been when he had opened the page. “All fifty thousand words of it…”
Nagi emphatically brandished her straw at Fret, not unlike a samurai striking an enemy down with a katana. “And I still expect you to read it and make a full report posthaste. Twelve-point font, single spaced. It may not be canon, but many EleStraniacs regard it nearly as such for its masterful understanding of the source material. In fact, ‘twoud not be surprising at all were it revealed that the author was in fact a writer for the game, or perhaps one of the light novels, penning a story they couldn’t pursue in an official capacity. The wordcount may seem daunting at first, but by the end, you’ll find yourself wishing for more.”
“Yeah, no, I’ll totally get around to it. Eventually. Probably.” Desperate for a change of subject before Nagi could put him on blast for the long list of fanfiction he still had yet to read, Fret opened his EleStra app. A notification reminding him of the next banner popped up, sending a flood of relief washing over him. “Oh, hey, so what do you think of the Ao Kasumi collab? Is this one, uh, from your home planet or whatever?”
One eyebrow lifting well above the rim of her glasses, Nagi stared at him blankly. “Pardon?”
“Well, like –” Rubbing the back of his neck, Fret frowned in concentration. “Back in, you know, the Game. When we sent those Deep River guys to the Bodies of Water show, you said that it…pandered to a world you don’t call home, or something? Was that some sci-fi reference I don’t get?”
“Ah.” Nagi took a long sip of tea, dropping her gaze to her own app but not really focusing on the scene. She was surprised he even recalled that comment, and her first instinct was to brush it off as nothing more than a joke she didn’t care to explain. Her friendship with Fret was still rocky at times, and this was a difficult subject to broach under the best of circumstances.
Voice uncertain, Fret backtracked, breaking the silence that was stretching out between them. “Uh, sorry. If that was a personal question, you don’t have to –”
“’Tis quite alright,” Nagi cut in, meeting his eyes once more. He deserved the honesty he was learning to afford others. Though tension gnawed at her insides, she took a deep breath and began, “What I meant back then is that I…have no interest in such depictions of the human form au natural. Depending on the specific subject matter being depicted, I would describe my feelings for media of this nature as anywhere from apathy to a strong aversion.”
“The human form,” Fret repeated, nodding slowly. “Gotcha.” His eyes wandered for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. When he refocused on her, he tipped his head to the side and asked, “So like, not dudes either?”
Nagi regarded him carefully – he had connected the dots much faster than she had expected. “Precisely.” She hesitated before elaborating, bracing herself for the inevitable confusion, dismissal, or derision. Fret’s expression, however, showed only a patient curiosity. Shifting gears slightly to more comfortable territory, she finally continued, “One of the many reasons why I appreciate EleStra so, in fact, is their unusually tasteful alts. Even the swimsuits in the summer festival event do not fall into the trope of fanservice for its own sake. The attention to detail in their designs speaks volumes about each character’s personality, adding new layers of depth and complexity to already-brilliant writing! To say nothing of the sheer charm of the beach trip storyline.” Realizing she had risen ever so slightly out of her seat in her excitement, Nagi cleared her throat and settled back in. “But I digress.”
“All good, Boss. I learn something new every time you digress,” Fret said with a grin. “Anyway, I kinda assumed you had the hots for Mr. Minami, but I guess not really, huh?”
Nagi’s nose wrinkled involuntarily. “I can safely say I’ve never ‘had the hots’ for anyone in my life. Particularly not that doppelganger after it became clear how truly dissimilar he is to Lord Tomonami.” She paused, chewing absently on the straw of her now-empty drink. “Though I can understand how it would appear as such to an observer. The level of devotion I hold for His Radiance would, I presume, be inextricably linked to…certain desires, in the minds of many. Most people do not distinguish between various types of attraction, after all, and ‘tis easy to assume one’s own experiences are universal.” With a sigh, she laid her hands bare on the table and concluded, “Whatever I’m supposed to feel, however – whatever other reaction I ought to have to one whose aesthetic I appreciate – I simply…do not.”
“Don’t say that like there’s something wrong with it,” Fret interjected. Arms crossed, he leaned forward and held her gaze with uncharacteristic seriousness. “I don’t think there’s any one way anyone’s supposed to feel. If you’re not into anyone, you know, that way, that’s cool. Just part of what makes you the Boss.”
The earnestness in his voice gave Nagi a low chuckle. “Thank you, Lord Tosai. Self-deprecation can be a bad habit of mine. Would that I’d had someone to reassure me as such in my youth, perhaps it wouldn’t be a habit I’d have developed to begin with.”
“Your youth?” Fret repeated with a laugh of his own. “You’re not that much older than me.”
“And yet, my high school days seem a lifetime away. Which is truly for the best.”
Socialization had always seemed to come less naturally to Nagi than it did to her peers. No one had ever gone out of their way to bully her, per se, but there was a certain distance between ‘classmate’ and ‘friend’ that she often struggled to cross. That gap had only widened as those around her became more interested in subjects they – quite arbitrarily, in Nagi’s mind – deemed more “mature” than the games she saw no reason to grow out of. While a decided effort had improved her social skills, there was little she could do about the near-palpable pity and boredom others exuded when she had nothing to contribute to conversations about relationships of an intimate nature.
To have friends who sought to understand her, to find common ground as well as to appreciate their differences – it was truly a breath of fresh air.
“In any case, I…would like to extend my sincerest thanks.” Shifting in her seat, Nagi returned her hands to her lap. “I don’t believe a creature of the light has ever treated me so…normally upon my divulging this information.”
Fret made a show of looking over both his shoulders, then pointed at himself with a look of shock on his face. “Woah, Nagirl thanking me? Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Don’t push your luck,” she grumbled, though her usual annoyance was noticeably tampered by amusement.
“Really though, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry if people have been weird to you. Thank you for trusting me.”
Taking her own opportunity to respond with melodrama, Nagi sighed, “’Tis tragic that I am unable to trust you with the sacred texts, however.”
Fret groaned, throwing his head back and slumping in his chair. “Aww, come on, we were having a moment!”
“And our next moment shall occur once I feel confident you truly understand the symbolism utilized by TomoLover99.”
“Can we at least, like, book club it one chapter at a time?” Fret pleaded, hands clasped. “I’m not strong enough to binge this thing in one go, man.”
“You will be soon enough,” Nagi said, the gleam in her eyes somewhat ominous. “But in the meantime, I suppose that arrangement would be acceptable.”
It was only two days later that Nagi received a series of incoherent texts about the mid-fic plot twist, sent at three in the morning on a school night. Another TomoLover99 victim claimed hook, line, and sinker.