Work Text:
She finally has a moment.
Agnes Digital, exhausted as she has been for the past few months, has finally found a crack in the armor of her schedule. She has no training tomorrow, no classes, nothing. Not only that, but her girlfriend is asleep! Thus, she’s capitalizing on it hard: in the late hours of a Friday night, in bed with laptop in hand, Digital scans through each and every paragraph she has written on a super-secret document, periodically typing away intensely to correct a sentence or word that doesn’t sound quite right. A symphony plays in her head as she finishes off correction after correction with a maestro’s flourish. She is completely engrossed in her element, until suddenly, she notices a pair of curious eyes dancing in the reflection of her screen.
“Hm… whatcha reading?”
A hand lightly grazes Digital’s shoulder, creating a jolt that runs through her head, a neuron firing in her brain to signal that her girlfriend has just bestowed upon her a saintly touch. It’s Stay Gold. Digital’s head swivels around as one of her twin tails bats her face.
“Hwuhba- Stay Gold?!! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!!! W-w-what’s up???”
Stay Gold covers her mouth as she giggles. “It’s okay- I was just curious as to what you were reading.” Her eyes narrow as she looks up to the title bar on Digital’s typesetting program, reading the document’s name on the dim screen: “Hmm… ’Sunset Park x Wolfstep fic version 2’… seems interesting. Did you write this?”
“Ah, ah, well, it’s just a… a, like a thing that I’ve been- and I’ve been working on it for a while- it’s a bit lame and pretty bad though- and it’s a- a- a- y-yeah.”
“Could I read it?” Stay Gold asks.
Digital recoils back in offense. “What?!?! B-b-but you’re THE Stay Gold!! An Umamusume of wisdom and culture! Why would you want to stoop down to my level???”
“Because I want to read what you write,” Stay Gold responded plainly.
“B-b-but my work is not worthy for your lordly eyes!! They have gazed upon all of the earth’s delights!! Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas- you’ve read wondrous things from all over!! I could never bring that depravity to your Eden, not ever!!”
Digital then realized that Stay Gold lifted the computer from her as she was speaking. Stay Gold gets in her own bed, snugly wrapping herself under the covers and fiddling with the laptop settings. Digital gasps, then walks over to Stay Gold, standing anxiously. “Are you sure you really want to read my fic? It won’t be good…”
Stay Gold shrugs. “Why not? It’s always fun to read something from an author I’ve never read from.”
Stay Gold readjusts her vision to the laptop screen, initially trying to tap on it to scroll the page down before Digital has to hurriedly intervene and show her the track-pad below. Digital starts to pace around the room, walking back in forth in the space between the two beds. The noise of her steps as she anxiously circles around her dorm provides a meditative ambience for Stay Gold’s reading, like raindrops pattering on a tent. Occasionally, Digital stops and covers her face with her hands, peeking through the cracks formed by her fingers, framing Stay Gold in between her digits, before preemptively averting her gaze and recoiling back to pacing around the room. After 30 minutes and maybe about 10,000 steps, Stay Gold looks up, trying to catch sight of the always-moving Digital, before getting out of bed and handing the computer back to her, smiling.
“It’s great,” Stay Gold says, “I love the dynamic between Sunset Park and Wolfstep- these Umamusume are incredibly cute together. It makes the macabre elements in the ending pop out a lot.” She looks off into the distance. “Ah- I'm trying to think of that one short story Chekhov wrote that does the same thing. But I really love the subtlety and simplicity here.”
Stay Gold scrolls up to a previous section of the text.
“I have a few comments though. I think one thing I would maybe take a look at is these repeating phrases you have in a few sections? Sometimes you have a copy of a part of a sentence right next to the original. I highlighted them if that’s okay with you. And then another thing I had a hard time following was this light motif you had going around in the middle section here, like repeating the word 'light' again and again. But I don't think it's a big deal since...”
Digital heart starts to feel heavy.
"... overall it's really good- those are just a few minor nitpicks."
Stay Gold’s honest response spawns a whirlpool of emotions inside Digital, but ultimately her thoughts hang on Stay Gold’s criticisms. She crumples back, clenching at her heart, resolve crushed. “You’re so right,” she gasps, flustered. “I’ve made such a mistake- you’re so much better than I am at this stuff and maybe I shouldn’t have just written it in the first place and maybe I should just go-“
“Digital.” Stay Gold’s voice rises above Digital’s words. She freezes up, the muscles in her jaw tensing up further, a slight shiver running up her body, ruffling her bow. Stay Gold lets out a sigh before she gives a reassuring smile and lightly wraps her hands into Digital’s.
“Digital. It’s good.”
The tension in Digital’s body deflates. She hangs her head dejectedly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “aslkdj- I’m just- I can’t- I shouldn’t have brought that up. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
“This isn’t wasted time.” Stay Gold bends down to match Digital’s sullen figure, putting her hand on her shoulder. She prompts Digital to stand up straight.
“You’ve made something really special.”
Digital faintly smiles. Stay Gold continues: “I’ve seen this spark in you since the day we first met. This ability to work hard and succeed at everything you put your mind to- it’s something I wish I’ve had for so long. Yet you deny it so much- I want you to know that you’ve done everything and more.
"I give those comments because I know you want to be the best you can, and I know that if I stand by and say nothing you'll beat yourself up down the line about it, and it'll hurt even more. I loved what you wrote here- and I feel like I now know much more about you because of it. I can see your genius and your passion from every sentence and how much it is so uniquely you, and I love that so much. This is a part of you; you shouldn't hide it if it's such a beautiful part of who you are.
“I remember you told me before we raced in Hong Kong that I had to just believe in myself, accept who I am, no matter whatever may come my way, to find my own true peace. I know you are able to believe in yourself too, no matter what mistakes you might make down the line. And I know you can’t control every which way you can think and what you think of yourself, but I hope you know that you are loved.”
Stay Gold cups Digital’s chin with her hand and tilts her head up. The two lock eyes.
“Digital. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. No matter if I'm by your side, or in a faraway corner of the world, remember that you always have the strength to overcome anything that comes your way, whether it be from the world or from yourself.”
Stay Gold’s words finally break through the despair. Digital pouts, lip quivering, before she cannot contain her love anymore.
“STEEEEEEGOOOOO!!!!” Digital wails, tears streaming down her cheeks. Stay Gold goes in for a hug and the two collapse together on Stay Gold’s bed.
Between her sniffles and hiccups, Digital can hear the light, warm chuckles from Stay Gold as tears roll down her eyes as well. Digital can’t help but laugh a bit as well. “We look like a bunch of idiots, don’t we?” She says through the tears.
“This is nice though,” Stay Gold responds, “I could stay like this for the night.”
“I could too.”
“Well, maybe we should get ready for bed before we get too comfy,” Stay Gold reaches over Digital and shuts off the light. The two shift to a more comfortable position- divvying the pillows, pulling up the comforter at the foot of the bed. The two stare up at the ceiling, hazy in the dark.
“I’m sorry for scaring you earlier.” Digital says.
“It's okay. Let’s just get some sleep.” Stay Gold replies.
Digital yawns. “I guess I can post my fic tomorrow then.”
“I’m sure the other students will like it a lot.” Stay Gold murmurs. “You know, I don’t really know anything about where the two main characters are from. Are they from another series or something? Are they original characters?”
She suddenly starts feeling Digital’s heart thump harder against her back.
“You know what? If those two read it, I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.”