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“Enjoyed the concert?” Renee asks, holding on to an umbrella as Natalie and her wait at a road crossing, the wet road reflecting the bright neon lights of Solace City’s nightscape. Natalie removes the earplugs carefully and places them in her little box before smiling at Renee gently.
“Mhm! Ajay is a very talented musician! Ils ont fait du bon travail.” Natalie says, voice barely audible over the cacophony of traffic sounds, hands fiddling with the hem of her jacket as she gives Renee a bright grin.
The other woman only nods, staring off into space as the beeping from the traffic light continues. The rain doesn’t seem to let up, droplets bouncing off Renee’s umbrella and the road. Natalie reaches out beyond the umbrella’s cover, feeling the rain on her fingers as she giggled and retracted back into the safety of the umbrella, huddling a little closer to Renee. The older woman only shifts a little, her free hand going up to touch her face awkwardly, feeling heat rise to her cheeks.
Follow her line of sight.
The sudden voice snaps her out of her daydream, and Wraith subtly looks at what Wattson was staring at in the distance, a dimly lit place tucked away at a corner of the road. The old neon sign above it flickers intermittently, spelling out the word “ARCADE”.
“Familiar place to you, Nat?” Renee asks, and Natalie looks back at her, with those kind blue eyes and soft features.
“ Oui! Papa used to bring me here in the morning when there weren’t many people around.” Natalie nods at Renee before looking back at the arcade.
Wraith looks down at her watch, checking the time. 2 AM, and tomorrow was Sunday anyway. Seems like a good idea. Not to mention a good excuse to spend more time with h- never mind.
“We could go if you feel like it. I’m sure there’s a quiet spot in there somewhere, and it’s not like we are in a rush or anything,” Renee suggests, and Natalie turns her entire body to face Renee before enveloping her into a bear hug. Wraith’s breath was taken away from her, in more ways than one, and her grip on the umbrella goes slack. The handle slips out of her grip, and the umbrella is abandoned on the pavement as Wattson hugged Wraith in the middle of the rain, which has died down to a soft drizzle. Renee chuckles softly, awkwardly patting Natalie’s back.
She's so close.
“Well, that’s sudden,”
“Sorry Wraith,” Natalie pulls back, and Renee suddenly felt empty for a fleeting moment. “These few weeks have been… a lot, but you were there for me the whole way. I literally wouldn’t have gotten my workstation cleaned out if it weren’t for you. Merci, Wraith. I really appreciate it.” She reaches down and grabs the umbrella, shaking the dirt off before passing it back to Renee, whose cheeks were flushed, clearing her throat before nodding and taking the umbrella.
The beeping of the traffic light stops and flashes green, with chirping noises playing instead as an audible cue for people to cross. Grabbing Renee’s free hand excitedly, Natalie makes a beeline for the arcade, pulling the older woman along, who nearly trips but regains her footing quickly.
The two women run across neon-lit streets, puddles splashed across the pavement as their footfalls landed on the shallow potholes in the concrete. The umbrella remains in Renee’s grip uselessly as the rain soaks them to the bone, but somehow it just makes Natalie all the more beautiful, the neon lights reflecting off her exposed skin, almost as colourful and bright as her smile.
Wattson leads them both down the stairs, the smell of stale pizza and flat soda filling the space as they passed a bunch of teenagers crowding around the Thunderdome arcade machine near the entrance, yelling and pumping their fists in the air, cheering their friends on. Natalie instinctively raises her hand to her ear, and Renee squeezes her hand gently, leaving the umbrella on a holder by the entrance. Natalie smiles back, a little too thin-lipped for Renee’s liking, and slips her fingers between Wraith’s, giving an affirming nod and a light squeeze.
Passing by a few machines, including one that features the Apex Games and a few familiar faces, the two find a machine tucked away in a quiet corner of the arcade, the inside of it glowing with artificial white light, obscured by a curtain separating the inside of the booth from everywhere else. Tentatively letting go of Renee’s hand, Natalie pushes past the curtains and gets in the booth, patting the spot next to her and pressing a button as Renee gets in and gives the screen a confused look as it shutters. The embarrassing image is captured as she settles down next to Natalie, putting an arm around her shoulders as she rests her forehead on Wraith’s. The camera shutters again after a moment, capturing Renee’s rare smile and Natalie’s usually sunny disposition.
“Renee?” Natalie suddenly says, momentarily snapping Wraith back into the moment as she turns her head to face the younger woman, who was just a few inches away from her face. She turns away instinctively, but Natalie places a gentle hand on Renee’s cheek, hesitating a little before tilting her face back to hers, their gaze finally meeting.
“Nat?” The voices were going buck wild, but Renee was too distracted to focus on any of them at the moment. “Are we…?”
“May I kiss you, ma cherié ?”
Renee nods, and her hand trails from Natalie’s shoulders to her face, tucking away a stray strand of hair, before gingerly tracing her cheekbones with her thumb, moving down to her scar, cupping it gently and feeling the warmth of her skin. Natalie sighs, closing the distance between them, capturing Renee’s lips in a sweet kiss, hands cradling her face as the camera shutters again while the two women were oblivious to it. Pulling away after a long moment, Renee chases after Natalie’s lips but is only met by soft laughter from her when she opens her eyes.
“Merci, Renee. That was amazing.” Wattson says, after giggling with a hand on her mouth. Wraith only responded with an awestruck expression, nodding dumbly along, as Natalie kissed her cheek just for good measure, reaching past her to pick up the strip of photos that was freshly printed by the machine.
She tears a photo, looking at it for a moment, before passing it to Wraith with a grin on her face. “This one is yours, cherié.”
Wraith takes it, looking at the tiny photo strip resting in her palm for a prolonged period of time. There was something wistful about her expression, as if this were an elaborate dream and not reality, almost. Wattson looks up from her photo strip, her smile dropping slightly as she sees Renee’s spacey expression.
“Renee? Are you okay?” Natalie asks, and the other woman lets out a shaky breath.
“Y-yeah. I just… I never thought you would’ve felt the same way.” Renee answers, her hand still holding on to Natalie’s elbow. “This feels almost… surreal. Too good to be true.”
There’s a pause. Renee looks back up, and Natalie looks deep in thought. “Perhaps I could pinch you? I mean, the photo is proof enough, or if you want, you could write this moment down in a journal, so you never forget! Or maybe-”
“...Nat,” Renee gently interrupts, putting her hand on Natalie’s cheek again, the blonde immediately stopping her rambling to look down and smile at the touch. “I think I would just prefer if you would maybe, kiss me again?” There’s a rare sort of grin on Renee’s face, a little teasing, a little inviting, but filled with tenderness nevertheless.
“Oh?” Natalie looks a little surprised at the other woman’s direct response, but her gasp turns into a smile, and then a small chuckle. “Oui, ça ne me dérange pas. Tes yeux, j’en rêve jour et nuit.”
Renee looks at her, slightly confused, but still smiling. The blonde sighs and rolls her eyes, adjusting herself so that she’s sitting more comfortably in the brunette’s lap. “Of course I can do it again. You need to learn more French, Renee. Broaden your horizons,”
She smiles even wider at that, letting out a quiet chuckle. “Subtle…”
This time around, the two women were less afraid, not hesitating to cup cheeks or boldly deepen their kisses, with Natalie even accidentally undoing Renee’s bun at some point. Despite their newfound fearlessness, they still were boundlessly gentle with each other, smiling through their kisses and leaning into each others’ touch.
Their time was cut short though, as the photo booth, as well as the surroundings around them suddenly went dark. Taken aback, Natalie pulls back, much to Renee’s dismay, as she fished her phone out of her pocket, turning on the flashlight as they stumbled out of the photo booth together.
“Um... I think they closed the arcade. I didn’t even know they closed arcades,” Natalie sighs, looking around for an exit with her torch while holding Renee’s hand. She looked lost, and understandably so, in the pitch dark maze of arcade machines that seemed to have no end. Wraith, however, wasn’t that lost. Apparently, some other version of her was acquainted with this arcade well enough to know that they always left their back windows unlocked.
“I think I know where I’m going,” Renee explains, with Natalie following along jovially behind, thankful for the fact that at least she wasn’t completely lost.
Sure enough, the window next to the back door was left ajar, and with some effort and help from Wraith, Wattson very easily makes it through the window, though she landed with far less grace.
“MON DIEU!”
“Are you okay, Nat? What happened?” Renee yells over the wall, hoping Natalie can hear her. She only hears the slightest of chuckles, and then she responds.
“Nothing, mon amour! It’s safe!”
Usually, the voices would have said something, but if this were some sort of sick prank, maybe they were in it too, for reasons yet unknown-
Renee squeezes past the window frame, and just before she drops through, she catches a glimpse of the open garbage bin below her, and she lets out a deep sigh before falling shoulder first into the pile of garbage, with Natalie giggling at her from outside. She too looks as if she fell into the same bin, and even though Renee usually hated pranks, she found herself laughing together with Natalie, as if the blonde’s laughter had some sort of infectious quality to it. After receiving a helping hand to get out of the bin, Renee dusts herself off, picking up a stray fry on her shoulder and tossing it back into the garbage.
To say they both stank was probably an understatement. There was the stench of sour nacho cheese coming from somebody, and yet they didn’t know who. Natalie had an odd look on her face, nose perpetually scrunched up in mild disgust. Renee was oddly okay with it.
“Ah, a perfect excuse,” Wattson said, looking at Renee, who looked like a sad cat that went through a wringer. “Do you want to clean up at my place? It’s nearer anyway.”
Renee looked over, with a slightly deadpan expression. “Nat. We stay in the same apartment building.”
The other woman smiles, and holds Renee’s slightly moist hand, swinging it between them as they began their trek back to their building. “Technically, I still stay closer because my apartment is closer to the lift landing.”
“Mhm. Right.”
“Well, I also have Nessie nuggets in my fridge, and an oversized hoodie you can maybe borrow, eh, eh?”
“Alright. I’m sold.”