Ribbon
Source: https://twitter.com/imnotsher/status/1493829391859650563
“OW!”
Kronii moves her hand away quickly. She looks at her finger.
“How does she make this look so easy???”
It’s not bleeding but she still sucks on it because of how many times it has bled. She takes the chance to look at her work so far.
“It’s… it’s passable?”
She holds up her embroidery wheel with her gift and turns it around. “As long as you don’t stare at it too long…”
She sighs and puts it back on her table. She’s using one of her precious ribbons to make something special for a certain kirin. Fauna said she didn’t want anything, but Kronii still felt like making something for her.
“I did manage to convince her this was just for myself but…” She stares at the needles she’s worked with, “I keep getting hurt.”
She gets back to work, carefully using her needle to make the last flower on the end of the ribbon. She’s spent so much time on her gift this session her hands have started trembling.
“C’mon, Kronii… You’re almost done.”
Kronii has to deal with a few more finger pricks but she manages to finish it. She removes the ribbon from the embroidery wheel and checks it again. “…That’s as good as it gets.” She had to rewind the poor ribbon so many times she lost count. Maybe a vine looked a bit too crooked, maybe she didn’t like how a flower looked, maybe she just gave up halfway because she didn’t feel it was good enough.
She leans her face on her hands. “If she had taught me more she would have found out…” She moves to lay her head on the table, still staring at the gift she prepared, “I hope she likes it…”
She closes her eyes and falls asleep.
After what seems like hours, Kronii wakes up startled. “…Was that a dream?” She recalls giving her gift to a certain someone, but she wasn’t able see her face. She tried to ask if she liked the gift with no response.
She covers her face with her hands, “…This sucks.” She’s sore all over because of sleeping in that position. “Maybe I should’ve just made some cookies or chocolates…” She gets up to stretch a little and recalls her past attempts at cooking. “…Actually, never mind.”
“Ah man, what time is it anyways…” Kronii looks at the unmoving clock on her wall. “Oh… right.”
She snaps her fingers and time goes on like normal. “2 AM, huh…”
She closes her eyes and facepalms, “Why did I stop time at this hour…? Oh yeah, I was playing games.” She packs her gift and heads to the kitchen. “Let’s just eat something then go to bed…”
Kronii somehow manages to sleep but that dream from before still lingers in her mind. “I hate this, what if she doesn’t like it?”
“What if I make it awkward between us? We weren’t supposed to bring any gifts.”
She keeps having self-deprecating thoughts while she heads to the Council meeting. Even during the bus ride she can’t help but doubt her gift, no matter how much time she put into it.
“Shouldn’t it be fine…?” She mutters to herself while looking out the window. “We’ve been together for a while now…”
Her thoughts keep getting worse while walking as she looks at the streets lined with decorations and people selling chocolates, flowers, cookies, cakes… Kronii decides to look at the sky to try to distract herself. She loses count of how much she has to rewind time because of bumping into someone for not looking.
“…Okay, whatever I just have to hurry there.” She steels herself and starts walking faster. “I’ll find the moment to give it to her… And that’ll be it.”
She’s almost running because of the motivation.
“Yeah! I’ll be fine! I can do this!”
People walking by her notice the determination on her face. They silently cheer her on.
“Konfaunaaaaa!”
Kronii’s façade completely disappears when she hears Fauna’s voice.
She weakly smiles at the ray of sunlight standing in front of her. “K-… Kroniichiwa…”
“Happy Valentine’s day!” Fauna approaches her and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek making Kronii blush. “Is everything alright? You didn’t answer my messages.”
“Your what?” She pulls out her phone, realizing just now she didn’t bother to check it at all since last night. “I-I’m sorry, I… I was too distracted.”
“Distracted?” Fauna looks at her. “Doing what?”
“Gi— Uh, embroide— …Stuff." She answers while walking away, doing her best to not look at Fauna in the eyes.
Fauna reaches out and grabs her hand. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
As she pulls Kronii in, the clock carefully moves her bag, so she doesn’t see anything. “Nothing! Don’t worry!” She lets go of Fauna’s hand and escapes.
“Uuuu…” She stares while Kronii goes to the others. “You should already know you can talk to me…” She puts her hand on her chin to think. “Or is it something I’m not supposed to know…?”
She frowns and walks to the Council meeting. The others are already chatting away while setting up decorations. “Kronii can’t you just stop time and put them all yourself?” Mumei asks her.
“Are you kidding me?” She pinches Mumei’s cheek, “You had a lot of time to set things up before I got here.”
“Is that why you got here late?” Bae ask her while hanging upside down, sticking hearts to the walls.
“…I got here right when I had to.” Kronii leaves her bag on her seat. “I wanted to, uh, admire the scenery in the streets…”
Sana starts laughing when she hears that. “Okay, Kroninii, no need to lie.” She hands her some hearts with everyone’s colors and tape. “Here, put em up wherever!”
“But I didn’t…” She pouts and takes the hearts. “I guess it’ll be faster like this.”
She walks around the room looking for the perfect spots to place the decorations, a bit of a hard task as she has to consider all the pictures and mementos already up on the walls. She’s too concentrated to notice Fauna right next to her.
“Need some he—”
“GWAK!”
Kronii throws some of the hearts into the air from the surprise. “Can you PLEASE not do that?!”
Fauna giggles in response, “I’m sorry, I thought you heard me!” She kneels to pick up the decorations Kronii dropped.
“Wait, no need for that.” She kneels down with her and scrambles to clean up her mess. “…Couldn’t we just do without this?”
Fauna stares at her for a second, it seems she’s fine now, “Oh c’mon Kronii, it’s cute!”
“It’s just a short meetup!” She turns to look at Fauna and pouts.
Fauna responds with a smile, “What? Did you want today to be just for us?”
“Wha—” Kronii turns beet red. “Of course not! I mea—"
“OI!”
Their lovers’ spat gets interrupted by a red rat. She’s still hanging upside down, staring daggers at the both of them, “STOP KISSIN’ WHERE I CAN SEE YA”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Kronii takes the hearts Fauna collected and stands up.
“Then get back to work! We’re on a schedule!”
Kronii shrugs her off then turns to Fauna, she’s still on her knees. She stares at her.
“…”
Fauna tilts her head, “Kronii?” She’s making a bit of a scary face.
She blinks and shakes her head, “S-sorry, my heart’s still pounding from the jumpscare.” She holds out her hand to help her up. “Let’s keep sticking these things.”
She goes back to concentrating on finding the perfect spots for the hearts. Fauna tries to help her out. Kronii ends up standing back and telling Fauna precisely where to stick every decoration while she looks at the walls. Fauna somehow understands the spots Kronii wants each heart to be so they make quick work of it.
When they’re almost done, Fauna starts to giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Kronii walks towards her and places the last heart.
“It’s just… You were complaining just a little while ago and yet you’re taking this so seriously.”
Kronii blushes, “Well yeah, it has to be perfect if I’m involved.”
Fauna laughs harder, “You’re such a dork, Kronii.”
“EXCUSE YOU???”
Just as Kronii’s about to pinch Fauna’s cheek, Mumei appears between them. “Oh, this looks great!” She turns around to look at all the walls. “Would’ve been faster if you stopped ti— Ow ow ow ow ow!"
Mumei receives what was supposed to be for Fauna. “I’m sowwyyyyy!”
Kronii stops pinching her and she goes to her seat. Meanwhile, Fauna rubs Mumei’s cheek to heal it. “There, there.”
They all sit down and chat about future plans, how everyone’s doing, food, anything that comes to their minds. They planned for a chill Council meeting and that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Fauna looks at Kronii after she pulls another of her jokes. She smiles thinking that she’s back to normal, but she still wonders what made her so flustered when she got here.
Time to tease her a little bit.
Fauna stands up and grabs her bag. “Oh.” Bae notices her. “Did something happen, Fauna?”
“Weeeelllllll~.” She smiles at them. “I know you said no presents buuuut…” She slowly holds up her bag.
Kronii’s heart sinks to her stomach.
They’re gifts for everyone, right? I guess that means it’s going to be something normal, like some chocolates. Wait what am I getting? Why am I assuming I’m getting anything? What am I talking about, she’s my girlfriend!
“Kronii, your anxiety is showing.”
Mumei snaps her out of her trance, thankfully she was the only one to notice. “I… ahem, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kronii tells her as she sits upright and watches Fauna moving around. She still pulls out her phone to send a thank you message to Mumei, though.
“Fauna, you really didn’t have to.” Bae tells her.
“I did have to! I’m not missing an excuse to pamper you guys!”
Fauna starts pulling out her gifts. “But to be honest, I didn’t really have the time to make them… I hope you don’t mind store-bought chocolate.”
“Oh Faufau, don’t worry!” Sana reassures her, “But I will pay you back later.”
“No need, no need.” Fauna happily gives everyone their gifts with a headpat for free.
“Wait a card too?!” Bae holds hers up in amazement. It has drawings all over it, dice, rats, cheese and a little Fauna hugging a heart. “Isn’t this technically cheating.”
“What?! NO!” Fauna ruffles Bae’s hair harder. “They’re friendship chocolates! And the cards are just silly jokes!”
Bae reads her card.
you make my heart go boom BOOM! <3
“Oh my god…” Bae cringes and starts laughing. “I don’t know what I was expecting.”
“Don’t complain, I’m not as good as Ame!” Fauna’s a bit embarrassed now that they got their gifts, but the laughs make it worth it. Bae, Mumei and Sana get bags or boxes chock full of chocolates and cookies, they immediately start snacking on them.
When she reaches Kronii, the others lean in to see what she got her. Fauna reaches into her bag and pulls in a small box with a card.
“Here you go!” She pats her head with extra care. The others keep staring.
“Um… Thank you.” Kronii opens the box to find...
Just a few chocolates. You could count them all with one hand.
“Uh…”
The others burst out laughing. “Kronii what did you do to her?!”
Kronii slowly grabs one of the chocolates. “I… don’t know…”
IS SHE UPSET I DIDN’T READ HER MESSAGES??? WHAT DID I DO???
Kronii’s face is a mixture of fear, sadness, anxiety and surprise. Fauna’s still standing next to her and she leans in right next to her ear.
“Read the card.”
After whispering that, she goes back to her seat and chats with the others like normal.
Kronii slowly looks at her card, decorated in her motif with a small Fauna in a corner, however, unlike the other cards, this one’s kissing a small Kronii. Looking at the text, it reads:
Let’s go home together.
A slight blush appears in Kronii’s face. She turns to look at Fauna. She doesn’t face her and only places a finger on her lips.
Kronii breathes a sigh of relief and eats the few chocolates she got in the box. She has to deal with some more teasing from the rest of the Council, but she takes it in stride.
At the end of their meeting, they all pack up everything. Kronii does her best to avoid Fauna looking at her bag while the others notice she’s hiding something.
“Hey Kronii, what's that in your ba—” Mumei’s about to ask, but Sana covers her mouth.
“Let her have her moment, Meimei.” She lets her go and pats her head. “We won’t let them get away on the next meeting.”
She nods as they all go outside together. The cold wind catches some of them off-guard.
“Brrr…” Bae covers herself up a little more. “Can’t we just stay inside…?”
“No Bae, we gotta go to your place next.” Mumei huddles up with her to share the warmth. “IRyS is probably already there waiting for us.”
“Oh, are you meeting up with her?” Fauna asks them.
“Yeah, we’re having a sleepover.” Mumei explains, “She wasn’t here because she had to do some recordings early today.”
“I still had to call her to wake her up, though.” Bae tells her while pulling in Sana because she’s still cold. “ALSO NO COUPLES ALLOWED, YA HEAR?.”
Kronii tilts her head. “You’re kicking yourself out of your own place?”
“WE GOT ANOTHER DIVORCE LAST NIGHT.”
They all laugh while Bae tries to kick Kronii. Sana picks Bae up by her arms and they start walking away. “Bye you two! Happy Valentine’s!”
“Oh wait!” Fauna reaches for her bag again. “Can you give this to her for me?”
She hands Bae another bag of chocolates and a card.
“Sure! Can’t promise she’ll see the chocolates though.” Bae opens the bag while still being carried by Sana.
“Tell IRyS I said HiRyS for me.” Kronii waves at them. “Say it like 5 times for good measure.”
“Got it, see ya!” Mumei waves back. “Good luck, Kronii!”
“Th— You— Gah…" Kronii struggles to respond. “BYE!”
Fauna laughs at her blushing face. “You okay?”
“Just peachy.” Kronii sighs and turns around and looks at her. “…Wanna go?”
Fauna makes a confused face. She slowly takes a fighting stance.
“…I mean go to your… home…”
Now Fauna’s the one blushing. “Okay you can’t blame me for that.”
“I sure can.” Kronii tells her as they start to walk.
As they go towards the bus stop, Fauna tries to hold her hand. Kronii notices and moves away.
“Uuuuu…” She pouts a little, but she realizes Kronii’s doing the same. A smug smile appears in her face, “Wait, are you upset about your gift?”
“No I’m not...” Kronii tries to accelerate the pace.
Fauna catches up and leans in next to her. “Awwww, but I thought you didn’t like this day.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it…” Kronii grabs Fauna’s hand and squeezes it. “Dork…”
Fauna has to cover her face with her other hand to hide her blush.
When they reach the bus stop, Fauna seems a bit reluctant to get on. “Are you getting bad vibes from the bus?”
Fauna bumps Kronii with her elbow. “Hmph.”
“W-what’s wrong then?”
The bus leaves them and Fauna starts pulling her. “Can we go on a walk? There’s another stop a few blocks away.”
“Ehhhh… I guess we could.” Kronii joins her.
“Oh, don’t say it like that.” Fauna giggles a little, “You’re working out so this shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I want to walk even less now.”
Kronii keeps complaining but she still walks alongside Fauna. They go past some buildings and start seeing a lake on their side of the street. With those buildings gone, the wind is starting to get to them.
“Kinda chilly, huh?” Kronii squeezes Fauna’s hand.
“Mm-hmm. It’s a bit hard to keep my hair green these days.”
“Oh yeah, because of winter, right?”
Fauna nods.
Kronii stops and stares at her. “…Can I… Can I see how it’s supposed to look like?”
“Um…” Fauna ponders the question a bit. “I guess you can.”
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Slowly, her hair turns white like the snow, with some blue at the ends and on parts of her braid. The leaves on her horns and the flowers on her hair fall off. Kronii can feel her hand turning a bit colder.
“…Does it look okay?” Fauna has a slight blush on her face, “It’s been a while since I showed this to anyone so it’s a bit embarrassing…”
Kronii snaps her fingers to stop time. She takes a minute to recover from the shock and pulls out her phone to take a myriad of pictures at different angles. Fauna’s new look against the lake with a few patches of snow on the shore makes for a great scenery. Once she’s satisfied with the number of photos, she snaps her hand again as she grabs hold of Fauna.
“Thank you for the gift.” She tells her while fiddling on her phone.
Fauna realizes what just happened and looks at what she’s doing. She notices the new homescreen picture in Kronii’s phone.
“UUUUUU!” She starts bonking her. “THIS ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE A GIFT!”
Kronii laughs admiring how red her face has turned. “Aw but you look so good, though!”
“You’re unbelievable sometimes…” Fauna closes her eyes and concentrates again to turn her hair back green.
“Honestly, since it’s winter…” Kronii covers her mouth trying to not laugh “I thought you’d go bal—”
“You finish that sentence and you’re going back home alone, Kronii.”
Some giggles escape Kronii.
“You look beautiful, that’s what I was thinking.”
“THIS is why you’re a dork.” Fauna takes Kronii’s hand and squeezes it hard.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Hehehe.” Kronii’s apology isn’t enough for Fauna, so she keeps pouting for a while.
They reach the next bus stop, but Fauna keeps going ahead.
“H-hey, Fauna!”
The kirin looks back with puppy eyes.
“Can we keep goiiiiing?”
She lightly pulls on Kronii’s arm.
Weren’t you upset just a moment ago?
Kronii can only smile at how cute she is.
“What are you, TimeMutt?”
Kronii gives up and walks with Fauna.
“If it means getting more of your attention~.”
They move with Fauna leading the way. A little bit of window shopping and they go down to the lake to have a better view. There’s some ice thawing out, floating on the surface. They notice a few couples doing the same as them, just roaming about aimlessly enjoying each other’s company. They take a seat on a bench watch the ducks swim around. While admiring nature, Fauna slowly leans on Kronii’s shoulder.
“Am I forgiven now?”
The kirin pouts.
“If you hadn’t mentioned it, you would be.”
Fauna’s satisfied with their walk so they get on the bus when they reach the next stop. The kirin decides to not sit with Kronii and instead goes behind her.
“Fauna, are you really going to be like this?”
“Maybe.”
Kronii quickly sits next to her before she has a chance to move. “What now?”
“Hmph!”
The clock’s heart skips a beat from how cute she is. Fauna calms down after a few minutes of Kronii apologizing. They spend the bus ride looking outside the window, talking about whatever catches their eyes. A new café, new clothes in some shops, couples walking around and just the snowy scenery in general.
When they almost reach their stop, they both start fidgeting. Kronii makes sure her bag isn’t open while Fauna holds hers close. They’re already a couple, they’ve been one for a while. But there’s always that anxiety that shows up when a gift is involved.
What if she doesn’t like it?
What if she wanted something else?
Neither of them has ever disliked a gift they’ve received, but the mind always goes for the worst possible thoughts.
They don’t even notice the bus has stopped until the very last second. They get off in a rush apologizing to the driver.
“Why didn’t you tell me we arrived, Kronii?!” Fauna tells her while poking her cheek.
“I should be asking you that.” Kronii pokes back.
After having enough of poking each other, they hold hands while walking to Fauna’s place. The wind starts howling to make them pick up the pace. They huddle up together to try to get rid of the cold.
While Fauna opens the door, Kronii hugs her from behind.
“Kronii I can’t open the door like this.” Fauna’s arms are trapped in Kronii’s hug.
“Deal with it, I’m cold.” She slowly moves her arms lower.
They can barely enter Fauna’s home since Kronii won’t let go.
“Could you at least close the door?” Fauna lightly slaps Kronii’s arms.
Kronii nods and moves it with her leg, she struggles to close it, so she pulls Fauna as she walks backwards to use her body instead.
“Okaaay, hugging time is over!” Fauna tries to free herself from Kronii’s clutches, but she only squeezes harder.
“Nooooooo…”
Fauna giggles at her, “Don’t you wanna pet the cats?”
“…I do wanna pet the cats.” She reluctantly lets her go and walks to Fauna’s sofa where Clover and Snail are watching them. They both leave their bags on the table.
“Hey guuuyyyyyys.” She sits down and Snail moves to her lap. “Awwww…”
Fauna stares at them for a minute, enjoying the scene. “I’ll make us some tea.” She moves to the kitchen.
Kronii enjoys pampering the cats for a little while until a thought slowly creeps up on her.
When do I give her the gift?
Her petting becomes slower as she tries to imagine different situations where it wouldn’t be too awkward.
…It’s gonna be awkward no matter what.
She stares at Fauna’s back.
WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO STRESSFUL???
She carefully grabs her bag and keeps it close to her.
…You can do this, Kronii.
She takes deep breaths while Fauna finishes preparing the tea.
Meanwhile, Fauna is just as worried. She keeps glancing at her, hoping she doesn’t look at her bag. And just like Kronii, she starts taking deep breaths.
The cats notice the stress building up, so they leave the room.
“W-wait, don’t go…”
Some emotional support would’ve been nice, you guys…
Having nothing else to rely on, Kronii hugs her bag while waiting for Fauna. Even with all the anxiety in her mind, she still manages to make a smile when she looks at her.
…I still don’t know how you manage to calm me down like this.
She takes out the box with the ribbon from her bag.
It’ll be alright.
Fauna brings their cups and puts them on the table. She grabs her bag and sits down next to Kronii. They both take sips while trying to find the perfect moment to bring out their gifts. They grow desperate as they’re about to finish their cups.
…WHATEVER, MAN.
Suddenly, they both stand up.
“F-Fauna!”
“Kronii!”
They close their eyes and extend their arms, gifts on hand.
“I made you this!”
“Happy Valentine’s day!”
It takes them a moment to process what they just heard.
“…Huh?”
They slowly open their eyes. They first look at the gifts then move to look at each other. Their faces are completely red, so much so, anyone else would think steam is coming out of their heads. They somehow exchange gifts even though they feel like they’re about to pass out from the embarrassment.
Kronii’s the first one to speak up, “Wait, I thought you said you didn’t have time to make anything!”
“I didn’t have time to make treats for everyone!” Fauna tries to explain, “You know how upset they would be if they knew I only made these for YOU.”
Kronii opens the box to find a mix of chocolates and cookies, most of them in the shape of a heart and slightly colored blue.
“I wanted to make clocks too, but I couldn’t find the right mold.” She looks away, still anxious. “And I don’t think I would’ve been able to make more if they came out wrong.”
“Don’t worry… Thank you.” Kronii smiles at her. “I… honestly didn’t expect you’d have something for me, hehe.”
“Are you serious?” Fauna lightly pinches her cheek, “There’s no way I’d do that to you… Though, I’m sorry for teasing you back then.”
Kronii eats one of the chocolates. She can easily tell how much care she put into making them. Her smile grows some more. “I love you...”
Fauna giggles a little, she’ll never get used to her sudden displays of affection. That’s just another one of the reasons she fell in love with her.
“Nowwww…” She holds up her gift. “Let’s see what Kronii got me~!”
Kronii’s smile fades away, “W-wait maybe I can give you something else.” She tries to reach out to take the box.
Fauna steps back. “Nuh-uh, miss.” She starts opening it. “And don’t even think about stopping time.”
“Wait don’t…” Kronii still tries to convince her, “It’s awful…”
“I’ll be the judge of that… Oh!” Fauna gasps when she sees what’s inside. She slowly grabs it. “This is…”
Kronii almost tries to cover her face, but she still wants to see Fauna’s reaction. The kirin puts the box down and admires the ribbon. “Oh my gosh…” She turns it around to look at every part of it, not helping with Kronii’s embarrassment. “Wait this is one of you ribbons!”
Kronii decorated it with vines all over. Or at least she tried to. She made some of Fauna’s flowers too, making sure that they’re easily noticeable when the ribbon’s tied up.
“IT’S… You know… I can’t really cook so…” Kronii tells her, “I thought… Maybe doing this would be alright…”
“Is this why you asked me to teach you embroidery?”
She nods.
“But I didn’t show you much.” She grabs Kronii’s hands, “Did you get hurt a lot?”
“Well…” She recalls every time she pricked her fingers. “Not that much… I’ll send you the medical bills later.”
“Sure, I’ll pay. Hehehe…” Fauna holds the ribbon close to her and gives Kronii a big smile. “Thank you!”
“I’m glad you like it.” Kronii’s anxiety dissipates now that she finally got to see her reaction. Though she’s a little bit annoyed at that dream she had last night.
“Hey, Kronii?” Fauna calls out to her.
“Hm?”
She hands her the ribbon. “Could you… Help me put it on?”
“Wha—” Her heart skips another beat. Fauna already took hers off.
*I already got this far; I can’t back down now…”
She takes a deep breath and carefully ties the ribbon. Fauna lifts her neck to help out a little. She puts the ribbon on and places Fauna’s gem on it. Her average handiwork really pops out now that Fauna’s actually wearing it, making Kronii wince a little.
“Did you put it on?” Fauna looks down, seeing a little bit of it.
Kronii steps back to get a better look, causing even more pain. “Yeah… Maybe I should take it off…”
“Lemme see!” Fauna walks to a mirror to admire herself, Kronii follows her, still trying to convince her.
Oh gosh darn it, it looks so bad…
Fauna stares at the mirror in her room. Kronii forces herself to look at her. The slight smile Fauna had slowly turns bigger. She moves around looking at it from different angles. She giggles as she touches the ribbon.
“Man, I…” Kronii can’t handle it anymore. “Just give it back… I’ll get you something better…”
“Are you serious?!” Fauna pouts at her. “You made this for me! I’m treasuring it forever and ever.”
Kronii covers her face and tries to hide herself. “Howwww do you say these things…”
After landing that critical hit, Fauna continues to admire her gift. She stops at one point staring at it.
“S-something wrong?” Kronii’s still observing from the doorway, she couldn’t bring herself to move closer.
Fauna faces her, smiling. “Hey, hey Kronii.”
“I’m still here…”
“Is this your way of telling others I’m yours?”
“WHAT?!” Kronii turns beet red and jumps back.
“Okay, well I already am yours, but with this I can say ‘hey, my dearest Kronii made this for me’!” Fauna walks towards her.
Kronii’s eyes dart around, trying to come up with an answer. “WELL that was… that was not theintentionIwasn’teventhinki—”
Fauna grabs her hand. “Can I make one for you?”
Kronii has to blink a few times to process the question. “…Huh?”
“You know… so we can match? In some way…” Fauna starts fidgeting. “And… because… I also want to say you’re… mine…”
Realizing how embarrassing the question actually is, Fauna covers her face a little. Kronii can almost feel her heart beating out of her chest.
Fauna backs away and turns around. “You know what? Forget what I said, it’s too—”
Kronii grabs her hand.
“…Sure.”
She squeezes it.
Fauna smiles at her, “Wait, really?”
They stare at each other, blushing.
“But it has to be perfect.”
“Pffft…” Fauna looks away to laugh.
“Hey! I’m serious!” Kronii complains but laughs with her.
Fauna goes to grab a blanket and walks back to the couch. “I promise it’ll be perfect.”
“…I’ll trust you.” Kronii follows her.
Anything you make is perfect anyways. She smiles to herself, now she has something to look forward to and she didn’t even expect something in return.
Fauna serves more tea and grabs some snacks while Kronii feeds the cats. They huddle up under the blanket, Kronii attempts to feed Fauna every now and then, but can’t handle it when the kirin tries to return the favor. Fauna opens her laptop to put some youtube videos on, just something to have in the background while they enjoy their time together.
After some videos, they get up for a small break. Kronii stretches and heads to the kitchen to get more snacks. After leaving the ones she got from the pantry on the table, she goes to the fridge.
Maybe there’s something else here.
Fauna notices her as she’s about to open the door. “W-wait, Kronii! Don’t open tha—” She quickly moves to try to stop her.
“…What is this?”
The kirin covers her face as the fridge door swings open. Kronii looks inside to find a bunch of chocolate on all the shelves. She grabs some bags to have a closer look. “These are…” Most of them are in the shape of hearts while the others are rectangular.
“They’re…” Still covering her face, Fauna answers. “Failed batches…”
“Failed?” She grabs a piece and eats it. “It tastes just as good!”
She tries a few more from different bags and none of them give the taste of a ‘failed batch’.
“Kronii stop!” Fauna’s too embarrassed and pulls her away. “Just because you have a sweet tooth doesn’t mean you can eat them all!”
Kronii tries to reach out and grab one bag of chocolates, but Fauna manages to drag her far enough. She sadly puts her arms down and lets the kirin bring her to the sofa.
She crosses her arms and pouts. ”What happened to I didn’t have time to make treats for everyone?”
“Those are different!” Fauna returns after closing the fridge door and blushes profusely. “They were all… attempts to… make your chocolate…”
Kronii’s eyes light up. “Seriously?”
“Well, yeah…” She looks at her. “They’re meant for you, so… They have to be perfect.”
Kronii clutches her chest. Fauna hasn’t been good for her heart for this entire day with critical hit after critical hit.
I love her, I love her, I love her…
The both of them take a few minutes to recover. Afterwards, Kronii lets out a small giggle.
“Please stop.” Fauna lightly pushes her. “it’s really embarrassing that you found that out.”
“I’m not laughing at that, it’s just…” She can’t believe that Fauna put basically the same amount of effort as she did with her gift. “You’re too good to be true.”
“I should be saying that to you!” Fauna pounces at her to hug her. They laugh for a little while and go back to watching videos.
After another while, Fauna finishes her tea. “Wanna play something together, Kronii?” Fauna puts her teacup on the table and turns to look at her girlfriend.
“…”
She’s fallen asleep. Fauna makes a soft smile while looking at her.
“Guess someone forgot to stop time to sleep, huh?”
She giggles to herself.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot something.”
She carefully leans in, so Kronii doesn’t wake up.
“I love you, Kronii.”
Fauna gives her a kiss on the lips. She pulls back to check if the clock woke up. When she’s made sure she hasn’t, she goes back to her seat right beside her.
The snacks and Kronii herself make the kirin drowsy. She glances at her cats to make sure they’re alright, they’re both asleep, too.
Fauna leans on Kronii’s shoulder. “Thank you for being with me.” She holds her arm. “I hope we can keep doing this for a long, long time…” She giggles at her. “Get it?”
Finally, she closes her eyes.
“Happy Valentine’s…” She can’t finish her sentence before dozing off.
Kronii slowly opens one eye.
My heart almost stopped…
She puts her hand on her forehead. How can she just say these things?!
She stares at her sleeping partner. She kisses her forehead and pulls the blanket to cover her more.
“…I love you too, Fauna.”
She closes her eyes and goes back to sleep.
They end up sleeping rest of the day away, after all the stress and anxiety preparing their gifts, they deserve the break. It doesn’t matter if they don’t do more, they have so much time to spend together anyways.
The both of them will treasure every single moment, no matter what.
t. Nameronii
NSFW Part: https://rentry.org/8xyrq