All-nighter
Sources:
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/94515253
https://twitter.com/angelchama333/status/1518795700968042497
“Oh, man… Will I make it in time…?”
She checks her watch and stares at the moving hands and then her phone, showing the page of a café.
“I think I’m good…” She hurries to exit the office, passing through the lounge without looking back. “I just have to—"
“Are we going already?”
Kronii stops after hearing an unexpected voice, she turns around to see a nephilim curled up in her egg chair, staring at her.
“…Why are you here?”
IRyS stands up.
“What do you mean why are you here? I work here!”
“No, I mean…” She facepalms. “I thought you left already!”
“And I told you I’d come with you!”
Kronii pouts.
“…Why.”
IRyS smiles in response.
“I’m not missing a chance to go on a date with the Ouro Kronii!”
Kronii sighs.
“Yeah, because we’ve never gone on one ever…” She looks at the nephilim, her eyes almost sparkling. “…Alright, fiiiine…”
“Yaaaaay!”
They go outside together. Just before closing up, Kronii goes through a checklist with IRyS.
“Keys?”
“Of course I wouldn’t forget my keys, Kronii.”
“Bag?”
The nephilim holds her bag up.
“Check!”
“Money?”
“Uh…” She opens her bag. “Check!”
“Phone?”
“Got it!”
“Keys?”
“Um…” She rummages through her bag again. “…I forgot them!”
Kronii sighs.
“Go get them, then.”
“Be right back!”
IRyS gives her a peck on the cheek and runs back to her office. Kronii stares at her while goes inside, tapping her foot.
She rolls her eyes, “Of course I wouldn’t forget my keys, Kronii...” She says moving her arms around to make fun of her.
“I heard that!”
“Just hurry up!”
IRyS returns sticking her tongue out.
“You got them?”
“Yup!”
Kronii puts her hand out.
“Show me.”
IRyS pouts as she opens her bag once more. “Oh c’mon, Kronii!” She puts her keys in her hands. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I don’t,” The clock gives them back after looking at them, “you know how many times you’ve gotten locked out?”
IRyS looks away.
“…Not that many.”
“Oh, really?” Kronii closes up the office and they start walking. “Guess someone won’t need to crash into my place anymore then.”
IRyS sticks close to her, holding her arm.
“Okay, there’s no need to go that far…”
Kronii smiles.
“Hearing you call my name while knocking on the door doesn’t sound bad~.”
“I’d just call you and send you a million messages.”
“But that’s not as fun.”
They keep chatting along while walking to the bus stop, though Kronii has a brisk pace to get there faster. It’s the afternoon and there aren’t any clouds around. There are a few more cars than usual because of other people leaving work to go back home. They wave hello to a few people passing by when they wave at them.
IRyS notices something different about Kronii’s bag.
“Are you carrying something else?”
“My laptop.”
“Huh…” IRyS tilts her head. “Wait, is this a change of plans?”
“What? No, I’m taking it home and I don’t want to go back to the office.”
“Ohhhhh, I see.” The nephilim leans on the bag, making Kronii struggle to walk. “Hehehe.”
“C-could you not?”
Kronii tries to shake her off, only making IRyS go back to holding her arm.
“So nice of you to do that, Kronii.” She tells her as they get closer to the bus stop. “You’re just so excited to go on our date you didn’t want to interrupt~.”
“You wish”
“I know, I know…” IRyS gives her a smug look. “…I know you’re worried the special offer in that café is gonna run out~.”
“W-wait, how’d you know?!”
IRyS keeps giggling.
“You think I wouldn’t notice how engrossed you were looking at your phone while we were eating lunch?”
“SHUT UP.”
Kronii denies the accusations, but she still taps her foot waiting for the bus to arrive. She keeps looking at her watch and out the window while they ride it, even ignoring IRyS’ poking and horn stabs seeking her attention.
When they get close to their stop, Kronii looks at her phone one more time. Fear appears in her face when she refreshes the café page.
“What’s wro— Oh!"
She grabs IRyS’ hand and drags her out of the bus.
“H-hey, Kronii!”
She snaps her fingers and keeps running.
There are quite a few people walking around the streets. Now with time stopped, they have to dodge everything as they run to the café. IRyS almost trips a few times but Kronii helps her out.
They run to an alleyway close to the café so Kronii can let time keep going. Gasping for air, they line up in front of the café. Kronii breathes a sigh of relief when she notices there aren’t that many people waiting in line.
They’re too distracted to notice the sky slowly turning gray.
“Okay… huff…” IRyS leans on Kronii’s shoulder, ”did we really have to run…?”
“…Probably not…”
The nephilim pulls on Kronii’s sleeve.
“Are you ever going to tell me what the special thing even is?”
“You could’ve noticed it while looking at my phone!”
IRyS pouts.
“But you always get mad when I do that…”
“Then don’t worry about it!”
The pout gets bigger.
“Well if it’s so special, I hope you share some of i—"
“A cheesecake.”
“Not just a cheesecake, IRyS…”
They made their orders and sat down. It didn’t take long for them to get their food. IRyS couldn’t help but stare at Kronii’s order.
Kronii proudly holds up her slice of cheesecake.
“It’s a new recipe they’re trying out!” She grabs a bite. “It even has strawberries!”
She happily eats it. “Mm!” She even holds her cheek, like it’s the tastiest thing ever.
“Was your idea of a date really dragging me to buy a cheesecake?”
“Hey, you were the one who wanted to come with me.” She smirks at her.
“Hmpf…”
IRyS grabs her drink and tries to ignore Kronii. Meanwhile, the clock takes bite after bite of her cheesecake with a smile on her face. IRyS feels something brushing her legs. It’s Kronii kicking her feet, enjoying her food.
“We really have to do something about your sweet tooth.”
A small frown appears in Kronii’s face.
“I don’t see the problem.” She takes a sip of her tea while looking away. “…I need the sugar…”
A grin escapes IRyS, trying to pretend she’s still upset.
“I guess you do look pretty cute when you’re like thi— Ow."
IRyS receives a well-placed kick on her shins for the compliment. She tries to ignore the pain with her drink.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine just drinking that?”
IRyS ordered an ice cream float and nothing else, completely expecting to take half of whatever Kronii ordered.
“I think so...” She brings it closer. “As long as I drink it slowly.”
Kronii watches as IRyS takes the slowest sip ever. She can even see how the soda goes up the straw at a snail’s pace.
“…Here.” Kronii holds up a piece of cheesecake. “So you have something else to eat.”
IRyS stares at her offering.
“…Thank you.”
She eats it and looks away. Kronii can see a slight blush appearing in her cheeks.
“You know I could’ve just ordered something, right?”
“Yeah, but I know you won’t.”
IRyS lightly kicks her. “Stop knowing me so well, Kronii.” She grabs her spoon and takes another bite out of Kronii’s cheesecake.
“Hehehe.”
“…I guess it was worth it.”
They finish up their food and leave the café. Kronii has a very satisfied smile on her face. IRyS keeps staring at her while they walk around.
“Wanna do something?” The nephilim looks around the stores. “Hmmm but it’s night already… Maybe just window sho—”
Drip.
“Hm?”
IRyS looks around, like something fell on her clothes.
Drip, drip.
The both of them finally decide to look up. The sky’s as gray as it can be with the sun going down. They can slowly hear the pitter-patter of the rain picking up. They run for cover.
“…I’m pretty sure the forecast never mentioned rain…”
Kronii checks her phone while IRyS stares at the rain falling down, covering the streets. She looks at people running to avoid the downpour, it seems no one expected it either.
“Are the other girls okay?”
IRyS smiles.
“Everyone said they’d stay at home tonight.” She responds. “They left way earlier than us so they should be fine.”
Kronii sends a few messages to confirm, she makes a calm smile when they respond.
“Alright, good…”
“Hehehe…”
Kronii looks at IRyS.
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing…” She turns away hiding her laughter. “It’s just cute how you always worry about the others.”
“…Shush you…”
After calming down, IRyS turns to Kronii, the clock has her hand on her chin, thinking.
“…Maybe if I turn back time and then stop it…” She looks at the street. “We could go to my place…”
IRyS tugs on her sleeve again.
“Nope.”
“What? Why not?”
The nephilim stares at her.
“Haven’t you done enough of that today?”
Kronii looks away.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Really?” IRyS moves closer to her. “Cause I’m sure I heard a bunch of fingers getting snapped back at the office.”
“…I never broke my fingers?”
And another horn poke straight to Kronii’s side.
“You know what I mean!”
Kronii refuses to face her.
“…Maybe I did a little bit of time stopping but it wasn’t too much…”
IRyS sighs.
“Well I’m worried! So no more time control for today.”
Kronii pouts.
“Okay…”
The nephilim opens her bag and pulls out her flowery umbrella. She hands it to Kronii.
“You carry it.”
“What?”
IRyS lightly stabs her once more.
“We’re going to my place, it’s closer than yours.”
“O-oh.”
Kronii opens the umbrella almost hitting IRyS in the process. They start walking, taking care to not fall to the temptation of jumping in puddles. Now that the sun’s gone, the streetlights are on. With most of the people inside all they can hear is the rain falling and their footsteps splashing water around. IRyS sticks close to Kronii to “avoid the rain”.
“This isn’t that bad, huh?”
“You only say that because you have a valid reason to stay close to me now.”
“Oh, is being your girlfriend not enough?” She holds Kronii’s arm. “I guess I missed that memo!”
Kronii bites her lip.
“Man…”
“Hehehe.” IRyS leans on her shoulder. “I’m sowwyyyy.”
They keep walking, taking a few shortcuts to reach IRyS’ place. The rain and wind start getting worse, making it harder to stay dry. Kronii ends up having to stop time a few times to protect the both of them against cars running through puddles but it’s still not enough to avoid the rain.
“You haven’t been here since I remodeled, right?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oooooh!” IRyS hops a little. “You’re getting a room tour!”
Kronii laughs.
“I’m looking forward to the mess you have now.”
“Hey!” IRyS squeezes her arm. “It looks great I’ll have you know!”
“We’ll see.”
They manage to arrive without getting too wet. IRyS still denied any of Kronii’s attempts to rewind time on her to dry her.
“Okay…” IRyS places her key on the lock. “…here I go…”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’m…” She slowly turns the lock. “I’m opening it…”
Kronii turns to look at her.
“…Why are you being so dramatic?”
IRyS blushes.
“I don’t know! It’s embarrassing!”
“Oh my gosh…” Kronii opens the door herself. “Let me see— Oh.”
Cute.
That’s how you’d describe IRyS’ place. Shades of pinks and violet are the main colors here. The walls are adorned with pictures IRyS has taken and art she stole— was gifted by fans. There are a lot of adornments hanging from the ceiling, Kronii recognizes some of them were made by her and the other girls.
“You should take a shower first, Kronii.”
IRyS pushes Kronii to the bathroom.
“W-wait, what about the room tour?”
“You’ll get it after!”
Kronii clutches the bathroom door, trying to resist the nephilim’s strength.
“I don’t have a change of clothes, though!”
“I’ll get you some!”
“But—!”
“If you don’t get in we’re taking the shower together.”
Kronii stops resisting and goes in. Meanwhile, IRyS rummages through her closet.
“…Do I even have anything that fits?” She grabs a few blouses, then stares at her own chest. “…Um.”
She struggles to find anything that Kronii could wear. She’s about to give up until she looks at her day-to-day clothing.
“Hm…” She picks up one of her oversized shirts. “I mean I guess this could work.”
She also grabs a pair of shorts and walks to the bathroom.
“Kronii, I’m opening the door~.”
“Y-yeah.”
IRyS resists the temptation to get in with Kronii and keeps walking.
“I’ll put some clothes here, okay?”
“Do they fit?”
Kronii can almost tell IRyS is pouting.
“…Yes, they do fit.”
Kronii smirks.
“Are you suuuuure?”
She can hear IRyS start to walk away.
“Okay, well I guess I don’t mind a naked Kronii walking around in my house!”
Kronii stops scrubbing herself.
“What makes you think I can’t stop time and just take my clothes back?”
“The fact that I’ll be super-duper upset with you!”
Kronii laughs.
“That doesn’t sound like the worst thing.”
Now Kronii hears IRyS stamping her feet around.
“Do you want them or not?!”
“I guess I do.”
The nephilim leaves them close by and looks at Kronii’s wet clothes.
“I’m going to hang your stuff to dry, okay?”
“Mm-hmm.”
IRyS walks out the bathroom to do just that. Afterwards she dries herself with a towel while Kronii finishes showering.
Kronii opens the door and walks towards IRyS.
“I guess it’s fine.”
IRyS looks down and notices a perfect fit with the oversized shirt. She pouts.
“I feel like I should be upset.”
“You’ll get over it” She pats her head. “Now it’s your turn.”
IRyS stands up and quickly moves to grab something.
“Before that…” She walks back to Kronii. “Put this on.”
She hands her a blindfold.
“…Why?”
“Because I still have to give you the room tour!”
IRyS makes Kronii sit down while putting on the blindfold.
“Why do you even have one of these?”
IRyS stops herself.
“It’s for… uh… sleeping.”
“…Why did you hesitate to answer?”
“Don’t worry about it!” IRyS walks to her bathroom. “Don’t take it off, you hear?”
Kronii looks up at the ceiling, or rather, she just turns her head. She grabs the blindfold.
“How would you even notice if I still have it on?”
“My nephilim ears let me clearly hear my dear Kronii wherever she might be!” Kronii rolls her eyes. “Like how my dear Kronii is grabbing the blindfold right now!”
She freezes and slowly lets go of the blindfold.
“Okay, that’s creepy.”
“HUH?!”
“Nothing…”
Kronii hums to herself while IRyS finishes showering. She stops entirely when she hears IRyS singing along with her.
She almost dozes off until she hears the bathroom door open.
“You can take the blindfold off now, Kronii.”
“God I thought you’d take an hou—”
As she takes it off, Kronii looks at IRyS. Just like her, IRyS is wearing one of her oversized shirts.
And nothing else.
Kronii stares at her, eyes widened.
“What?”
A small blush creeps up to her face.
“Can’t you put on some shorts too?”
“No!” IRyS pouts and pulls on her shirt. “It’s my place so I can dress how I always do!”
Kronii rubs her temples.
“Gosh darn it…”
IRyS’ pout turns into a smirk.
“What’s wrong, Kronii~?” She lightly pulls her shirt up. “Are you falling for my charms~?”
Kronii stands up and starts walking.
“Can we do the room tour now…?”
Satisfied with the teasing, IRyS follows her.
“Yep!”
Kronii finally gets to look around IRyS’ room. She gets over how cute some of her things are and tries to ask some questions.
“Where’d you get this furniture?”
She places her hand on one of the desks. Besides her gaming chair and her appliances, all of IRyS’ furniture is wooden, and high-quality wood at that.
“Somewhere only the Keeper of Nature knows!”
Kronii shakes her head.
“Goodbye to an entire forest I guess.”
IRyS looks away.
“Haha… yeah…”
Kronii stares at her.
“…Moving on…”
She notices plants that are miraculously in a good state considering who’s taking care of them.
“Okay guess I’m not moving on, why are those plants alive?”
IRyS was about to hand her a towel to help her dry but ends up throwing it at her instead.
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“It’s an honest question!” She tries to reach out to touch some leaves. “Maybe Fauna gave you something to make them immortal!”
“Just because you can’t take care of plants doesn’t mean I’m the same!”
“WHATEVER, MAN.”
Her eyes move around the greenery, and she notices something really close to the ceiling.
“…Stained glass?!”
She walks closer to get a better look. It’s already dark outside so it’s not too clear. Kronii can almost make out a familiar shape in the stained glass.
IRyS shows her keys, making an emphasis on her keychain.
“Super pretty, right?”
Kronii blinks in amazement.
“I guess it’s kinda cool.”
Kronii dodges IRyS’ attacks and keeps walking around. She places her hand on a gramophone.
“I had no idea there were so many kinds while I was looking for one to buy.”
“I had no idea you even had vinyl records.”
“Well uh…” IRyS points at the record hanging on her wall. “I do have my Journey record…”
“…Just that one?”
IRyS nods with a blush on her face.
“Pffft…”
“Hey!”
Kronii dodges a few more horn stabs and sits back down.
“We’re going to a music shop some other day.” She stares at the record player. “I’m pretty sure the one near the station has some collections.”
She turns to look at IRyS, who has a big smile on her face.
“…What?”
“You’re setting up another date with me already?” IRyS puts her hands on her face. “You’re so assertive, Kronii!”
“And that’s my cue to leave.”
Kronii stands up and heads to the door. IRyS immediately runs to her and grabs her hand.
“Wait please don’t go I’m sorry it’s still raining don’t go!!!”
IRyS manages to drag Kronii back after promising to not call their shopping a date.
Kronii looks around a little more. She eventually starts to frown.
“There’s a distinct lack of something here…”
IRyS stares at her.
“A distinct lack of what…?”
“You know…” Kronii pouts. “Perfection?”
“…Do you… do you not see the ribbons?” She gestures at the room. “The bajillion of ribbons you’ve left in my place for some reason?”
Looking even closer, Kronii notices her blue ribbons adorning various parts of the room. The shelves, the picture frames, the walls, her furniture. It’s not actually a bajillion ribbons but they’ve blended into IRyS’ place quite well.
“You know how long it took me to come up with ways to decorate with them?”
“Okay, okay.” Kronii tries to hide the big smile on her face. “But did you really have to?”
“What else was I supposed to do?” IRyS grabs Kronii’s towel and covers her face. “Every time I tried to give them back to you, you either ignored me or gave me another one!”
Kronii can’t stop herself from laughing. Some of the ribbons were intentional gifts (that she won’t admit to), and others were just to annoy IRyS.
“It ended up looking cuter so it’s fine.”
“Well, obviously.” Kronii takes the towel off and gives her a proud smile. “Hehehe.”
Kronii looks around some more.
“Hmm… maybe a clock on one of the walls would be alright…”
IRyS stares at her.
“But I have my watch… and my phone…”
Kronii crosses her arms.
“What if they break?”
The nephilim tilts her head.
“…I could ask you to fix them?”
Kronii starts pouting.
“What if I don’t wanna?”
IRyS bursts out laughing.
“Kronii, if you want to monopolize my place, you could always move in!”
“Absolutely not!”
They listen to the rainfall for a bit while drinking tea. Thankfully there’s no lightning so they enjoy the pitter-patter in peace. IRyS sits on her bed and Kronii next to the table, to “avoid problems”. Kronii notices how IRyS’ ears wiggle while she pays attention to the rain. She covers her mouth trying to stop herself from giggling.
Kronii’s eyes wander a little more, she notices something next to IRyS.
“You have plushies?”
IRyS looks at her side. She grabs 2 of the plushies.
“You mean Tofu-kun and Meatball-chan?”
Kronii blinks twice.
“…What did you just say?”
IRyS holds them close.
“M-my plushies…”
Kronii’s lips curl into a smile.
“Do you hug Meatball-chan when you go to sleep?”
IRyS hugs the plushie, covering her blush.
“…Maybe…”
“That one’s your favorite, then.”
“Yeah…” She squeezes it. “How’d you know?”
“Eh.” Kronii changes her position to sit cross-legged. “Just a wild guess.”
It’s not like you always order spaghetti and meatballs whenever it’s on the menu when we go eat…
“Well, either way.” IRyS leans in still hugging her plushie. “Only I’m allowed to hug Meatball-chan.”
Kronii leans on the table, smirking at her.
“I figured as much.”
IRyS stares at her
“Um…” She looks away after getting embarrassed. “But if a certain someone asks really nicely…”
“Nah, I’m good.”
IRyS pouts at her response.
“But since you’re offering plushies…” Kronii reaches out and grabs something. “I’ll take this one.”
It’s one of the DollRyS. She brings it close to her. She smiles and puts it between her legs. IRyS’ pout gets bigger.
“I’m right here, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” Kronii pats DollRyS’ head. “You’re not as cute, though.”
Kronii receives Tofu-kun straight to the face.
They keep bickering for a little while until IRyS starts to yawn.
“So, uh…” IRyS sheepishly looks at Kronii. “Wanna go to sleep…?”
“Hahahahaha!” Kronii moves to grab her bag and pulls out her laptop and a book. “Of course not.”
“Why not?!”
“I don’t trust you at all to let me actually sleep.” She turns it on. “So I’m just gonna do some work.”
“I actually was planning to sleep, though…” IRyS squeezes Meatball-chan. “And you’re the one who doesn’t let me sleep…”
Kronii’s already typing away while reading the book.
“I only slapped you that one time…”
The nephilim rolls her eyes.
“That one time that you noticed…”
IRyS frowns but Kronii pays her no mind. She tries to throw Meatball-chan and a few pillows at her, only to get them all back straight to the face.
“Hrn…”
“Your growling won’t change anything, by the way.”
IRyS’ cheeks puff up.
“What’s so wrong with a little cuddling…?”
She stands up and moves to her desk.
“Well if you’re gonna be like that, I guess I’ll work too…”
“Can’t you sleep? It’s your room after all.”
IRyS turns around to face her monitors.
“Someone might take advantage of little ol’ me.”
“Oh sure, that someone definitely would…” Kronii laughs at such an excuse. “Suit yourself.”
They start working on projects, Kronii researching a few topics and IRyS checking the mixes for her covers. The both of them grab a hairband and pick their hair up. They tie it up in a ponytail. Then, they grab their glasses and put them on.
They freeze.
…Huh?
They slowly turn to the side to face each other.
“…IRyS, why are you copying me?”
The nephilim glares at her.
“Why are you copying me?”
“Excuse you?” Kronii glares back. “I’ve done this since forever!”
“Me too!”
After another session of butting heads, they give each other the cold shoulder and go back to their work. Every now and then, however, they steal glances at each other.
…She looks nice with glasses.
Kronii catches IRyS staring at her, the nephilim quickly looks away. Kronii’s eyes wander to the nephilim. She’s listening intently to something, humming along. She looks at IRyS’ new hairstyle.
The ponytail fits her…
She shakes her head and gets back to work.
It doesn’t take too long until Kronii gets distracted. She gently strokes DollRyS’ head while flipping through a few pages. Eventually, she stops looking at her book and her laptop altogether and focuses on the doll.
“You’re really high-quality, huh?”
She lifts it up to look at it. The doll stares back with a sweet smile it was made with. Kronii can’t help but grin as well.
“Hehehe.”
She plays with its arms, making it wave at her or trying to strike a pose. A few giggles escape her when she imagines IRyS actually doing the same things as the doll. She throws it up then catches it. She does this a few more times until she hugs it and rubs her face against it.
“…Why can’t I get that treatment?”
Kronii looks around the doll to find IRyS staring at her. She almost wants to run away in embarrassment but manages to recover.
“You want to get thrown like this?” Kronii does it one more time. “You weigh a ton, though…”
IRyS turns beet red.
“Kronii, you’re the one who bought the cheesecake!”
She glares at her for a few seconds.
“Hmpf!” She turns around and gets back to work. “Just you wait until I get your daki.”
“What the heck is a daki going to do wi—” Kronii notices IRyS’ smirk. “Don’t you DARE inhale it.”
IRyS looks back at her one more time.
“Try and stop me.”
She sticks her tongue out and returns to her computer. Kronii goes back to reading, stealing glances at IRyS even more than before.
She notices IRyS typing faster. She was listening to something before Kronii started playing with DollRyS, it might be something related to her music.
Well at least, she’s actually working.
Kronii focuses on her own task, stroking DollRyS’ head whenever she has to keep reading the book after writing down a few notes on her laptop.
After a while, IRyS stretches her arms and stands up.
“Phew!”
She looks at Kronii, a slight frown appears when she realizes she still has DollRyS with her. She walks towards her and Kronii puts up her guard.
“I’m not gonna do anything bad…”
This isn’t enough to convince the clock to calm down. IRyS smirks and grabs the blindfold.
“IRyS.”
She quickly puts it on Kronii.
“HiRyS.”
“IRyS, I can’t read like this.”
She can hear the nephilim giggling and walking around.
“It’s fiiiiine, you weren’t paying attention anyways.”
“Excuse you?!” She tries to reach out to where she hears IRyS. “I absolutely was!”
She moves her arms around trying to grab her. At no point does she consider taking the blindfold off.
“Where are you?!”
“Right here!”
She moves behind her. She sits down and scoots over.
“IRyS, what are you doing?”
The nephilim leans in, putting her head on Kronii’s shoulder. She wraps her arms around her stomach. She giggles.
“How’s this for a change?”
Kronii makes a small smile while she takes the blindfold off.
“Oh joy, an IRySandwich.”
She flings it to the table.
“You should feel honored!” IRyS tells her, “No one else gets this VIP treatment.”
Kronii reaches behind her to ruffle IRyS’ hair.
“I’m counting my blessings as we speak.”
IRyS keeps hugging Kronii from behind while she continues to work.
“…You sure you don’t wanna go to sleep?”
“Hm…” Kronii looks outside the window. “I’m sure I want to go back home and then sleep now that the rain’s dying down.”
“Kronii…” IRyS tightens her hug a little. “Don’t go…”
Kronii laughs as holds the nephilim’s arms.
“I’m kiddiiiiing~.”
“I bet you’re embarrassed because of your sleeptalking.”
Kronii grabs her arm and squeezes it, trying to make IRyS let go of her.
“Actually, I’m not kidding; I’d like to go now.”
IRyS refuses, rubbing her head against Kronii.
“I don’t mind it!!!”
“Ugh…” She pats IRyS’ head again. “We’ll see…”
The nephilim lets Kronii lean on her while she takes a quick break.
“Are you really done, though?”
“Me?” IRyS looks at her. “Yeah, I was just checking the mixing on a few songs and sending emails for a few things I noticed.”
“…A few things.”
IRyS wraps her arms around her.
“What?”
“That was a lot of typing for a few things.”
Kronii can tell the nephilim is pouting.
“…Okay I was taking notes… for my singing…”
Kronii giggles.
“You’re such a perfectionist.”
IRyS pinches her cheeks.
“…Pot calling the kettle black…”
“Do as I say, not as I do!”
She squishes her cheeks together.
“You’re not a doctor!”
Kronii grabs her hands and pulls them away from her face.
“Yeah, I’m more important than a doctor!”
Neither of them can hold their laughter.
“Hehehe… Okay yeah, yeah you are.”
Kronii gives her a proud smile.
“You really sure you’re done?”
IRyS pouts.
“Yes, ma’am…”
“See?” Kronii lightly pokes IRyS’ puffed out cheek. “It wasn’t a bad idea to do some work.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She grabs Kronii’s hand and holds it. “And how about you?”
“Well…” Kronii looks at her screen and goes through the notes she’s taken. “You know how I watched a movie with the kronies, and I made a quiz?”
“Yeah, I heard it was torture.”
“Ehhhh, I’m sure they enjoyed it.” Kronii smirks to herself. ”Well, this time, I’m going to make them read a book!”
“…Uh-huh.” IRyS stares at the book, she doesn’t really get what’s going on reading a passage. “You can’t do another watchalong?”
“Um…” She notices Kronii fidgeting. “I just… I’m gonna be too busy later and… you know…”
IRyS squints her eyes.
“…Is this a philosophy book?”
“Mm-hmm.” Kronii flips through another page. “Aristotle’s Complete Works!”
“…How long is the book?”
“It’s like…” Kronii leans forward to look at go to the end of the book and looks at the page number. “Like 5000 pages, no big deal.”
“Excuse me?!” IRyS reaches out and grabs it. “It doesn’t look that big though?!”
Kronii bursts out laughing.
“What did you just say?!”
“What’s wrong with—” IRyS turns red after realizing it. “OH THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!”
Kronii stops her from hitting her with the book. “I know, I know.” She puts it back on the table. “I was kidding, by the way.“
“Could’ve fooled me.” IRyS pouts as she goes back to hugging Kronii. “What book is it, then?”
“It is Aristotle.” Kronii closes the book and shows her the cover. “Metaphysics.”
“Sounds impossible…”
“Eh, it’s not that bad.”
“Sure…” IRyS pokes Kronii’s cheek with her horn. “How lon—” She stops herself before Kronii laughs at her again. “…How many pages does it actually have?”
“A little more than 200.”
IRyS tilts her head.
“…Wouldn’t that take way longer than most movies?”
“Y-yeah, but…” Kronii squeezes DollRyS. “Y-you know… they’ll have a month to read it and… w-we’ll talk about it on stream! Yeahhh!”
The nephilim smirks.
“You just don’t want to watch the movie they picked, do you?”
She watches how the clock’s ears turn red.
“IT’S A BAD MOVIE OKAY???” Kronii stamps her feet a little. “NO ONE’S GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME!”
“Okay, okay.” IRyS tries to calm Kronii down by patting her head. “Let’s calm down~.”
“…You asked.”
IRyS smiles.
“I’m sorry for askiiing~.”
She watches Kronii do some more work. She skips through a few pages to read, sometimes reading out loud. She checks the notes she has and also looks at a few forums and other pages to compare what she’s got.
“You’re very thorough.”
“I kinda have to make it up to them for… canceling the other thing…”
IRyS giggles some more.
“You’re like a teacher~!” She touches Kronii’s glasses and pushes them up. “You’re doing great, Ms. Kronii!”
Kronii grabs IRyS’ hand and puts it back on her stomach.
“Thank you, now if only Ms. IRyS here would help me out.”
“Ehhhhh?” IRyS goes along with Kronii and squeezes her. “But I only taught maaaath~.”
“You can help me come up with the easy questioooons~.”
“Hmmm…” Kronii giggles hearing her humming so close. “Who’s the author?”
Kronii pinches her hand.
“Not that easy!”
Kronii summarizes (or tries to) the book to IRyS. They talk and read passages for a while trying to come up with questions for the chat. It doesn’t take too long for IRyS to start complaining.
“Can’t we just watch that movie together?”
Kronii turns around to stare at her.
“…You really want to do that?”
IRyS pokes her cheek with her finger this time.
“It can’t be that bad if we make fun of it with chat.”
Kronii slightly smiles and grabs her book.
“…I’ll think about it.”
Kronii reads 2 more pages before her eyes start to close.
*Ahhhhh-hhaaaa…”
She stretches while she yawns.
“Ooooh, someone’s getting sleepyyyy~.”
“It’s fine…” Kronii gets up. “I’m going to the store.”
“What?” IRyS stares at her. “Was the cheesecake not enough, you sugar maniac?”
“It was enough with my original plan of just eating it then going back home and sleeping.”
IRyS smirks at her.
“Gym doko?”
Kronii frowns with a slight blush.
“I’M GOING TOMORROW.”
“You mean tomorrow later today or tomorrow next day on the calendar?”
Kronii stares incredulously at IRyS.
“God dammit I’m leaving.”
“No, wait!”
IRyS puts on another skirt and hastily fixes her outfit to look presentable.
“Is that really necessary?”
“You want me to go outside with just my shirt on?” IRyS grabs her bag. “You’re such a perv!”
“That’s not…” Kronii sighs and grabs her own bag and IRyS’ umbrella. “Whatever, let’s go.”
The rain has completely stopped bow but the umbrella’s still useful to catch raindrops still falling from buildings and trees. With how late it is, it’s not surprising there’s basically no one else outside, besides a rare car that drives through. They stick together, quietly listening to their footsteps and the water.
“I can already feel the humidity.”
“Mmyeah I fayte eet.”
“…What?”
Kronii turns to IRyS and notices she has some kind of packet in her mouth.
“What’s that?”
“Ifs lofua—” She takes the packet out. “Loquat honey.”
Kronii makes a worried face.
“Is your throat okay?”
“Mm-hmm.” IRyS gives her a reassuring smile. “I just have way too many packets.”
“And you didn’t eat any back home?”
“I was, uh…” She looks away. “…Distracted.”
Kronii giggles at her.
“Suuuure.”
“Anyways!” IRyS grabs another packet from her bag, she opens it and hands it to her. “Help me with one.”
Kronii happily takes it and starts eating it.
“There’s a lot more where that came from back home.”
“Cough…”
Kronii almost drops her honey.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that, Kroniiiii~.”
She looks away, knowing IRyS is making the smuggest smile possible.
“SLIP OF THE TONGUE.”
She can’t stop her face from turning red. They keep bickering while eating their honey until they reach the store.
IRyS immediately runs to the snack aisle.
“I want some Preeeeetz!”
“What are you a child?”
Kronii sighs. She grabs a basket and walks around.
Now what do I want…
She goes through every snack in one of the aisles. Nothing really piques her interest, but she still grabs some chocolate bars. Kronii stumbles upon the sandwich aisle. She stares at a strawberry sandwich. She shakes her head and reluctantly starts to walk away to another aisle.
“Oh my god.”
IRyS had just returned to Kronii’s side and noticed her suffering. She grabs her arm and pulls her back to the sandwich. She grabs it and puts in in the basket alongside .
“But…”
IRyS pinches her cheek.
“I’m not gonna tell anyone.” She grabs another one for herself. “Just do double for the both of us at the gym.”
She winks at her sticking her tongue out a little. Kronii pouts.
“Okay, fine…”
The pout turns into a small smile as they go to the cash register.
They quietly walk back “home”. There are no cars anymore, they only have the streetlights to illuminate their path, so they have to walk carefully to avoid puddles. Once again, they can only hear their own footsteps and the occasional raindrops hitting the umbrella.
IRyS can’t wait so she opens up her box of Pretz and starts munching on the sticks. She slowly walks closer to Kronii thinking she wouldn’t notice. She holds her arm and leans on her shoulder without saying anything. The clock can’t help but turn to look at her.
“You’re surprisingly shy right now.”
“I dunno, it’s just…” IRyS squeezes her arm. “It’s nice right now.”
Kronii looks straight ahead and smiles.
“I guess it is.”
Back at IRyS’ place, the nephilim immediately takes her skirt off.
“Couldn’t you just keep wearing that…?”
“What?” IRyS puts her hands on her hips. “Is this too sexy for you~?”
“No, it’s just…” Kronii slightly blushes. “Ahhh… whatever…”
She eats her sandwich. IRyS takes the chance to get behind her again.
“Nothing like eating a sandwich in the middle of an IRySandwich, huh Kronii?”
The nephilim happily wraps her arms around her. She nibbles on her Pretz watching her partner read some more.
“I’m just so happy like you wouldn’t believe.“
“Hehehe.”
They keep working on questions for Kronii’s kronies while eating their snacks and drinking tea. They actually discuss how hard each question has to be, adjusting the ones they think would be too confusing.
“Do you really not have more work to do?”
IRyS puts a half-eaten Pretz stick in Kronii’s mouth.
“I already told you I’m good, dummy.”
Kronii pouts and eats the stick.
“Okay…”
She looks at her laptop, with all the questions they made together. She tilts her head.
“…Hey, IRyS?”
“Yeah?”
“…Why did we make an entire exam?”
“We what?”
She leans in, making Kronii lean in too. She scrolls through the document they made.
“…Huh.”
They ended up making a little more than 25 questions, some of them requiring more than just a poll or a comment to answer.
“Um…” IRyS giggles. “It’s just us flexing our teacher skills…?”
Kronii flicks her forehead.
“Help me decide which ones to use.”
“Yes, Kwoniiii…”
They discuss for another while, somehow reaching a sensible number of questions. Somehow not satisfied, Kronii still goes back to her book to check if everything’s alright and makes sense.
Even with the sugar recharge, Kronii keeps yawning. She can barely read a page anymore, so she decides to give up.
“Okay IRyS… ahhh-haaaaa… you win…”
Kronii expects a smug response but instead she hears nothing beside her. She looks to her side and sees a cute nephilim fallen asleep on her shoulder.
“If only you had asked one more time…”
She takes off her glasses and undoes her ponytail.
“What time is it anyways…”
She looks at her phone.
4 AM.
“…Oh…”
Kronii sighs. She closes her laptop and holds her hand up, almost snapping her fingers.
“…She’ll get mad if I do it.”
She decides against stopping time and tries to get up. A certain someone won’t let her do that nor will she let her move. It doesn’t seem like she can escape IRyS’ clutches.
“Guess we’re just sleeping here.”
Kronii reaches out to grab the pillows she threw back at IRyS and a blanket. Trying to not wake her up, she takes IRyS’ glasses and puts them on the table next to hers. She almost breaks her arm trying to undo the nephilim’s ponytail.
“…Why is it so soft?”
She runs her fingers down IRyS’ hair. She responds by mumbling something. Kronii carefully makes IRyS lie down while she’s still hugging her. She wraps the both of them up in the blanket. She can feel IRyS rubbing her face against her back.
“Mn…”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m not leaving.”
She holds IRyS’ arms.
“Good night, IRyS.”
It doesn’t take long for the clock to go off to dreamland.
…It also doesn’t take long for Kronii’s alarm to go off.
“Mrrrnnn…” IRyS is the first one to wake up. She stretches a little.
“No slaps…”
She recalls her past experiences sleeping with the warden.
I guess it’s safer when I’m the big spoon…
She reaches out to turn off her phone.
“Ow…”
She rubs her neck.
But that doesn’t save me from getting uncomfortable.
“…Sore?”
Kronii’s also barely managing to wake up.
“Little bit… Yawn…”
IRyS carefully helps Kronii get up and she leads her to her bed. They lie down together. Kronii barely opens her eyes to look at the nephilim.
“…What… time…?”
“I dunno… it’s your alarm…”
Kronii scoots over and hides herself from the sunlight in IRyS’ chest.
“…7…”
IRyS sighs.
“…Why this early…?”
Kronii hugs her.
“…I dunno… I think for… gym…”
The nephilim has to take a second to get used to this. The role reversal is proving to be too much for her health.
“Wanna skip the gym for now?”
Kronii slowly nods.
“Sounds good...”
IRyS hugs her back. She can’t contain herself any longer and kisses Kronii’s head.
“Hrnn…”
Kronii tries to shake her off but gives up rather quickly.
“This is your fault, Kronii.”
“Is… not…”
IRyS giggles at her drowsiness.
“So cute…” IRyS lovingly strokes her hair. “Why are you like this?”
“Sleepy…”
IRyS grins at her.
“I’m sleepy toooo~. Why don’t I get pampered?”
Kronii slowly reaches out to hold IRyS’ face. She pulls her in and gives her a kiss on the lips. Afterwards, she returns to her chest, leaving the nephilim as she turns beet red.
“T-that just woke me up more…”
Kronii nuzzles up against her.
“Sorry… not sorry…” She yawns. “Now lemme sleep…”
IRyS gently caresses her cheek.
“Only if you move in with me~.”
Kronii pinches her stomach.
“…I’ll think about it…”
“Hehehe, close your eyes, dummy.”
The nephilim starts humming songs for her. She started with the few lullabies she knows then moved to any song she remembers that could be softly hummed.
“Mn…”
She stops after hearing Kronii mumbling.
“…Kronii?”
The warden doesn’t respond.
“Hehehe…” IRyS runs her fingers down her hair. “But you just had to do an all-nighter, huh?”
She kisses her head again.
“Good night, Kronii~.”
Staring at Kronii buried in her chest makes IRyS start yawning again.
“At least your sleepiness is contagious.”
She keeps stroking Kronii’s head. She does it slower and slower as the drowsiness takes over. Their last exchange remains in her head.
“It’s okay if you say no…” She closes her eyes, “I just want to spend more time with you…”
She drifts off, imagining so many different things with her. She can’t help but giggle.
Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
t. Name
NSFW part (Also linked somewhere in the fic): https://rentry.org/ww8ku