Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As you slowly emerge from Betty‘s comfort and feel the early, warming rays of sunshine, let inside by Curt and Rod, you turn around, still half asleep, and think about how much better even these small things, like waking up, have become since you got the ability to talk to your entire house.

You consider whether to ask Miranda for a breakfast toast, when you really wake up… and suddenly realise what day it is. Yesterday was the day you had finally managed to fix Connie‘ s – well, then still Luna’s – broken timelines and beaten her game, which means that today should be the first day she’ll actually remember you. At least you hope she will.

Connie… just thinking about the possibility that you could finally get to spend more than one, ever repeating, day with her makes your heart beat dangerously fast and wakes you even more than any splash of cold water, Sinclair throws your way so often, could.

You still remember the first time you met her: You had just started getting used to the routine of using the Dateviators and the perks they brought with them.

D.A.T.E.ing all the objects in the house was fun, you got to know some new people (finally), learned about the way they experience your daily life and sometimes even helped them with their personal problems.

It felt… nice to make so many new friends and be genuinely helpful again. And it most certainly kept you occupied while you weren't busy with a job any more.

You really can’t remember a time where you experienced this little boredom. Whenever you had time to spare you could just look at something and instantly have someone to spend time with. Especially if you wanted to play some games Parker and Chance were more than just happy to help.

All things considered it wasn’t that odd to forget about your old gaming console. It was last-gen at best, so you haven’t had a reason to play it for a while. It’s almost surprising that you didn’t completely forget about it.

Especially considering that it was tucked away on the lower level of your TV-table, barely even visible most of the time.

But remembering it was probably the best thing to happen to you since the Dateviators arrival.

There weren’t really any expectations when aiming your vision at the controller in your hand, at best you’d have a new companion that you could play more than GnG or the same 5 board games with, and at worst you’d have a new friend in need.

But what you most certainly didn’t expect, and still have engrained deeply in your memory, is being transported to the Moon and meeting the most stunning, resistance fighter you could’ve ever imagined.

Of course you had thought that it was just part of a game, as to be expected from a gaming console, and figured that beating said game was simply what it took to have a normal conversation with her. But after coming back the next day and doing all of it over again you'd realised what you had actually gotten yourself into.

Lingonberries, no other word is so ingrained in your memories, and especially the reaction it caused in your new companion. “Oh my dunes.” The shock and confusion had been the same you first felt when you had actually found out what the deal with her repetitive greeting was.

“You’re here! I didn’t think you’d make it back.”, how often you were welcomed by these somewhat oddly cold words, of course in her perception there was no time for pleasantries and she had no idea how often the two of you fell in love already.

Still, every new day had been a somewhat crushing experience, but at the same time also a reason to stay determined.

However, meeting Selene for the first time was a truly confusing experience, of course she was evil, but she also shared the face you started seeing in your dreams with Luna and everyone else in that game. She may have been a truly despicable businesswoman, but at the same time you felt oddly attracted to her more assertive behaviour.

In hindsight you tell yourself that this was most probably due to the fact that even she carried the charm of Connie in her. No matter how small of a part she may have been, you just couldn’t resist any part of her.

And you certainly couldn't compete with any part of her either, the way Luna fought Crescentia and Selene simultaneously left you awestruck, and kinda turned on every time.

You really don’t mind the work it took to get through the game each day in hindsight. Even though you essentially had to start from zero every time you met her, you still felt like you had grown closer and more fond of her whenever she had “first” met you.

Additionally you got to try more than one cheesy pick-up line on her.
It might have been love at first sight, but after experiencing the same sight so many times it was impossible not to fall in love with her at some point.

As you finally get out of bed, greet Dorian on your way out the bedroom and make your way down the stairs, unbelievably slowly considering the circumstances, your heart feels like it's about to burst and force you to meet Farya before you even get to the living room.

Finding out that Luna was actually just a small part of the real Connie surely has been a surprise, but you knew that you had already fallen for her to a point where pretty much nothing could make you think even the slightest bit less of her.

Turning into the living room, your view falls onto her, onto the console, resting so peacefully where you had to leave it yesterday, her glossy casing shining in the early rays of sun. While just one day earlier you told her that you’d love her no matter how many pieces her soul might have been split into, no matter how many parts of her weren’t the saints others might hope to meet, now you might have to completely reintroduce yourself once more.

Her disappearing, right after you finally saved her, surely was crushing, but hopefully now you’d finally get the chance to actually spend some real time with her.

Walking up to her felt like trying to cross a desert, each step feeling shorter, like you barely covered any distance at all. Would you be able to face the possibility that she reset again? “Of course”, no matter how often you’d have to return, you’d fight for your love just as she fought for the freedom of her home world as Luna.

But still, not being able to finally get to know the real, complete and most importantly non-resetting Connie would be a soul crushing blow, sure to cost you an extra life, at least figuratively.

As your eyes and the Dateviators focus on the console, your heart starts to beat even faster and stronger, your lungs stop working in anticipation of the revelation about to happen.

And then... after what felt like an eternity, she stands before you, ethereally beautiful, almost radiant, just as you remember her. But this time she… smiles, kind of? And you’re… not… on the moon?

Your lungs are completely empty now, your heart seems to have stopped beating as you wait to hear her say something…

„Yail! It’s you!“ She exclaims, looking more nervous and frail than you’re used to seeing.

„You… you… remember me?“ Is all you can get out with the little air left in you.

„I do! I finally do!“ she cries out as she rushes forward to embrace you.

The impact almost throws you onto the floor, but you manage to steady yourself at the last second and return the gesture, just as desperate to finally hold her.

You take a deep breath, your heart is still pounding, but not out of nervousness this time. As you slowly start breathing somewhat normally again you take in every sensation of her. She doesn’t smell like dead scrouff or rusted metal, she doesn’t look like she just crawled through a dusty moon cavern, she doesn’t sound like she barely even has the time to speak and for the first time ever you feel her touch without the influence of a tractor beam on her. She feels so... soft and her own touch is so incredibly careful, like she isn’t sure whether you are actually real. Despite this, her grasp on you is incredibly tight, as if you might vanish as she did all those times before, were she to ever let go.

“She remembers me… she actually remembers me”, is all you can think about.

„It worked. You- you remember.“ you finally mutter. Still holding onto her tightly.

„I do- I do, Yail. And not just from yesterday, when Luna, Selene and every ‘me’ merged yesterday, I suddenly got all their- well, my memories. Every single time you’ve met me, saved me from that assassin, helped me defeat Selene and told me about your feelings just as I reset again. I finally- I finally own those memories, but it’s- it’s just so so much to handle all of a sudden, I feel like im overflowing with save files.“, her voice cracks as her composure changes from an excited and energetic stance to a weaker and exhausted look, a tear slowly flowing down her slightly red cheeks, she seems to struggle with this revelation a lot, understandably.

“I hope at least you consider them pleasant memories.”, you both chuckle slightly.
It's certainly a lot to take in for the both of you and so you remain still, embracing each other quietly, letting the tears flow, simply being content with being together, finally.

„I love you, Connie“ you whisper as you slowly start separating again, even though your body still yearns for hers.

„I love you too, Yail, and this time it will stick, I promise.“ she sniffles back, holding onto your hands, as if they might vanish into air if she were to let go, her nails digging into your skin.

She’s looking into your eyes, just as yours look into hers, shaped like stars, just as bright, and watery from all the tears she cried for you. Seeing her in this state hurts, you’re so used to seeing her as the strong resistance member, powerful upholder supreme, moon goddess and THE personification of video games!

But now... she seems like the slightest blow could knock her over, seeing her this fragile feels so wrong and you know that all you care about in this moment is to keep her safe and sound, right here with you.

Slowly putting one arm around her shoulder, feeling her tremble slightly, you direct her towards Koa, guiding her onto the cushions, and sit down as close to her as possible. You can still see tears running down her face, slowly, silently dripping down onto the fabric.

“If there’s any way I can help you…”, you begin trying to comfort her, but she just slumps towards you, resting her head onto your chest, as you feel her tears soaking your red shirt.

While she may be in the worst state you’ve ever seen anyone in, you feel like you’re helping her more by being here, than by anything you’ve done on your missions. As you try to hold her chin up, you give her a soft kiss on her forehead, and feel her relaxing the slightest bit. She’s still definitely still crying, but your presence seems to calm her down ever so slightly, strengthening her spirits.

“You know, Yail, I’ve been around for some time,” she begins to mutter softly, “but all the times I got to play my games with other families, all those lives I lived through, all the highscores I cracked and speedruns I completed, none of them meant as much to me as the days you spent trying to save me, even if I can’t place all the memories yet. I’d still be stuck, split, fighting myself forever, if you hadn’t been so determined to help me. You’re truly the only reason it’s not game over for me.”, she looks like she might break down completely now.

“But you’re not stuck any more, Connie, and you’ll never be again. And if anything even remotely similar ever were to happen, I’d spend as many loops as necessary trying to bring you back, I promise.”

“Thank you, Yail.” she answers softly, closing her eyes and taking her breaths more calmly and peacefully into your chest.

She lifts her head, looking up at you through her watery eyes. “Are you sure you love me, despite what… some parts of me have done?" The question is barely a whisper, but you know that the answer is more important to her than anything else at this moment, she almost seems to be afraid of what you might say next.

“I’m very sure of my feelings for you Connie, anyone who acts like they have no bad parts is definitely worse than those who openly admit to them.The fact that you think of them as bad shows how good you truly are, and it’s one of my favourite qualities of yours.”

“I’m very glad to hear that.” Her head once again falls onto your chest, her eyes staring into the empty space in front of her, as she thinks about what you just said, it certainly seems to have given her a new sense of security.

As she rests on top of you you can see that there are barely any fresh tears left on her, and you take this time to admire her face more closely than you were able to on your missions. She looks even better than you remember her from all the times before, no signs of stress or battle, no urgency.

But you know well that, while her fight against herself is over, now she’s battling against the aftermath of what happened to her. Suddenly being flooded with so many memories… it’s impossible to imagine, and you’re not sure how it’s going to affect her, considering she is an object probably much older than you are already.

As the lights floating above her head shine onto her resting face, you get the chance to truly appreciate all of her dimly illuminated features. While her console is already designed to look as smooth as possible, it still cannot compare to her own beauty.

Even with her eyes red and slightly swollen, she looks like no other person on this planet could ever compare to her, to the way her hair frames her face, to the way her lips always look as glossy as most makeup artist thrive to achieve their entire lives and to the way even her tears sparkle like stars in the night sky. They say love makes you blind, but you know that even without your feelings for her, she’d be the only person you ever want to look at this closely as you are right in this moment. A moment almost as infinite as the times you’ve met her.

“Are you done staring?”, a slight smirk forming on her face.

“Never, you know that I’ve never gotten such a good look at you before.” you return.

“I feel like I know so much, but also so little. I know all the times I first met you as Luna, all the times I saw you approach me as Selene, all the times you helped me- Luna fight m- Crescentia, but at the same time, I never really got to know you.”, tears once again forming in her eyes.

“But we can get to know each other now, and I’ll stay by your side as long as you need to think about everything.”, you assure her, as you wipe the fresh droplets off her face.

“That would be... lovely, Yail. I feel like I’m overheating because of you.”, she smiles, looking into your eyes, she might look more sensitive than Daisuke’s porcelain, but you can tell that the more time you spend together like this, the better she seems to get.

“I’m normally a lot cooler, and cry a lot less, y’know?”, she chuckles after a while.

“You’re the most badass object in this entire house, Connie”

“You don’t have to lie to cheer me up, but thank you. Can we just... stay like this? I need to think about everything that happened, everything I remember. Every day you experienced, I experienced as five, and while I love having five times the memory of you… it’s still more than I’ve ever had to deal with before. I’m not sure if I could even deal with it at all if you weren’t here. I don't think I could ever handle losing all this progress.”, she looks deep into your eyes and you can sense her vulnerability as she opens up to you.

“Of course, if I can get you anything or ask the others-”

“No! Just- just stay, please.”, her voice cracks as you sense her desperation, she looks so frail as she lies limp in your arms.

“Of course, I’ll stay as long as you need me to.” “That might be forever.” “I’ve dealt with something like forever before.” you both chuckle as you lay down, holding one another tightly and sharing a first, real, soft kiss, electrifying both of you, but also reinforcing the feeling that you just couldn't live without her anymore.

“Im definitely overheating now. And you apparently are too.”

“You’re definitely glowing red, but I'm not sure whether that's the heat, or something else.” you tease her. As you both beam brightly at another, you realise this is truly the best reward you ever received for beating a video game.

The day passes much faster than you’d like it to. Mateo, comes over at some point and lays a blanket over the both of you and you thank him quietly, making sure that Connie is completely covered. As you listen to your lover's soft, but still laboured, breathing, feel her chest rising in the same rhythm and feel her heart beating against yours, you find yourself drifting away into what feels like the most relaxing and peaceful sleep in your life. And you know that when you wake up the next day, you won’t have to fear for your love ever again.

Your progress has finally been saved…

Chapter Text

As you slowly open your tired eyes and feel the comforting weight of your lover on your entire body, you also see the beautiful face of said body inches from your own. Framed by her dark and yellow hair, which seems to have gotten quite messy overnight, partially covering her two golden, star shaped eyes, which are staring intensely at you. A sight you enjoy waking up to more than any sunrise possible.

“Good morning, my dearest Yail. I hope you slept well.” She grins from ear to ear, most likely enjoying the way your tired face must look like, as you adjust to the blinding lights of the sun and Connie’s LEDs.

“How could I not sleep well with you right here with me?”, you manage to mutter through a yawn, ”I’m certainly glad I kept these glasses on.”

“Yeah, I know you can’t keep wearing them forever, but the feeling whenever you take them off…”

“Don’t think about that now Connie.” You really didn’t want her to think so pessimistically this early in the morning already.

“You look like you had a great rest of your own, almost like a whole system update overnight!”, she definitely seems to have regained some of her usual composure and positivity, and while you are well aware that these are most likely just surface level improvements, you are ready to give her all the time she needs to heal further, all that really matters to you is making sure that she has her fair chance at happiness again.

“Nothing I ever experienced was as relaxing as your presence, Yail. It also gave me the much needed time to sort through all this new saved data.” Her expression suddenly changes from an exhausted and dreamy look to a cheeky smirk, as she continues.

“I must say though, I hope you improved on your pick up lines, especially with all the practice you had.” While you are still somewhat offended, you can’t help but feel invigorated by the fact that Connie clearly seems to behave much more like her usual self already, seeing her this happy is all you need to get through the day and ‘endure’ her loving taunting.

“I wasn’t aware that I’d still need to pick you up.”, you return, with the same cheeky grin that is decorating her face.

“You don’t have to, but it’d be fun to see you try anyway.”

You slowly lean forward and she returns the gesture, it feels even better with her body on yours and without the pressing atmosphere from yesterday. As your lips touch, her cable tails bind you to her waist, as if you had any intention of stopping already. You're not sure whether what you’re feeling in this moment is Connie’s limitless passion or if you accidentally touched an exposed wire from said cables, but moments like these between you are surely electrifying either way. The longer the two of you remain like this, the tighter her grip on you seems to get, until you feel like you could not possibly be any closer and she releases her grasp on you with a loud exhale.

“I love you Yail.”, she huffs out, trying to catch her breath,

“I love you too Connie.”, you return just as breathless, but already missing the feeling of her cables and arms on your body. You both stare into each other's eyes, content, granting yourself a little, or rather a lot of time before you have to get up.

After a while of this silent coop-time you suddenly hear a calm voice from right next to you. “I hope I’m not disturbing you two lovebirds, but I just want to say that I greatly appreciate people spending some time to relax with me. The calmness between the two of you is one I don’t get to feel very often.”, Koa chimes in, with his usually relaxing voice, reminding you once more that you are never actually alone anymore.

“Thank you, Koa? And you’re welcome? I guess. I hope you don’t mind us sleeping here.”

“Of course not, I love it when someone simply relaxes with me, especially together with their loved ones.” Koa smiles at you, you return the gesture, but you also notice that Connie seems weirdly perplexed. She hasn’t said anything the entire time and her headpiece has been blinking rhythmically as if she might be loading something, but she’s just been staring wide-eyed at Koa.

“Are you alright Connie?” you ask her, slowly putting a hand on her shoulder. One of her tails twitches upon your touch, the other one remaining oddly still.

“Yail, I- I think- I think I can’t remember him.”

Koa looks surprised and a little hurt, but quickly tries to hide it behind his usual friendly face. “What do you mean by that? I remember you arriving here and the kids always jumped around on me when playing with you Connie. I must admit, I haven’t seen you around here in a while, but still...”

Connie takes some time to respond, as if she barely registered a word he said.  “You do? They- they did? I- I just can’t remember it. I feel like I should, but- but there's nothing.” She keeps growing more and more panicked as she turns to you with a look of horror in her eyes and you can feel the confusion inside of her. “Yail, I can’t remember. But I remembered yesterday. What’s going on?!”

Her breathing starts becoming erratic and you quickly pull her into a hug, she doesn't return it, but allows you to caress her a bit, still tensed up and clearly distressed. “It’s okay Connie, we’ll figure it out, I promise.” You gently pet her back as you turn towards Koa. “Please don’t take it personally, I’ll explain everything to you later.”

'If I actually understand it then', you think to yourself.

“No worries my friend, just make sure your little girlfriend here is alright.” He turns, looking somewhat worried, confused and slightly disappointed at the same time.

As you slowly release your hold on Connie in order to get a better look at her, you suddenly hear someone entering the living room. “Hey, are you all okay? One of the Inanimals heard someone having some kind of panic attack, so I thought I’d check- Connie! I haven’t heard from you for how long now? Are you alright?”

Mateo appeared in the doorframe, a deeply worried expression on his face. As you turn back to check Connie’s reaction, you can feel her tense up and tighten her grip on your hands upon hearing Mateo's voice, you doubt she can remember him either.

“Hey, Mateo.” You answer, unsure of how to continue. “I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but Connie might be having some problems with her- uh- memories?”, you try explaining expecting him to look confused, but his face mostly seems to be expressing concern and pity.

“I see. I heard you two talk about it a bit yesterday. I assume you don’t recognise me either then?” Connie slowly separates from you, calmed down by your care and Mateo’s gentle nature.

“I- I don’t think I do. Maybe?” she pauses for a second, seemingly trying to think of anything she remembers about the person in front of her.

She lets go of your hand and massages her temple vigorously, as you pat her on the back trying to be encouraging in any way possible. “You came here… shortly after me I think…” she mutters quietly and you can feel her struggle slightly more with every word.

“Yeah I did!” Mateo encourages her. You’re really glad to have someone like him here to help you and give him a thankful smile.

“Look Connie,” he begins slowly, “you can’t force yourself to remember something. From what I gathered you had quitethe experience and everyone knows that you have been gone for quite some time. You can’t push yourself so much immediately!”

“Mateo is right, I doubt anyone in this house has gone through something like you did. You have to start slowly again.” You try to think about anything that could help her. But you're not sure what to do… until you come up with a desperate idea. “How about we go around the house a bit and slowly try to re-familiarise you with everyone?” You smile encouragingly at her.

Connie seems to have fallen into a state much like yesterday’s, nervous and somewhat lost. You mourn the progress you’ve already made, but at the same time you’re also filled with new determination to accompany her through whatever struggles she might be facing. While you may not understand what’s going on, you know that she needs your help nonetheless.

“You’re right… I guess.” she says softly, “We could try that yeah. Together. Thank you Yail, and thank you Mateo.”

“No problem Connie. I see you’re in good hands here, so I’ll go back to the other inanimals for now, tell me if you need anything!” Mateo takes his leave, still looking worried, and Davi follows closely behind him.

You turn towards Connie, she still seems rather shaken and tightly clutches one of your hands. “You went through hell Connie, no one would be able to just shrug off years worth of memories. And no one has ever been separated from the others that long.” You’re not sure whether she actually believes you, but her nails are at least applying much less pressure on your hands.

“Now let’s go on a ‘nice stroll’ through the house and just talk to some of the others together, okay?” You feel like you might be overdoing it a little, but she smiles slightly, even though it is rather short-lived.

“Okay, Yail. Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do withou-” she begins with her shaky voice, but you quickly interrupt her.

“Stop, there is no ‘without me’, I’m here for you always, I promise.”

“Thank you. I trust you with this.” She whispers as she gives you one more tight hug and braces herself for a possibly really demoralising experience.

You think about who might be the most memorable for Connie, as your view falls onto the TV. Connie and Telly must be familiar, considering how often Telly must be showing her games on his screen.

“How about Telly?”

“Mhmm, I think… I remember them a bit better. Possibly.” She sounds like she doesn’t even believe herself, but you know that you have to try something to help her regain her trust in herself.

You focus the Dateviators at the screen and before you know it you can hear a voice booming in your ear

 “Hey hey hey, looks like someone is ready to watch one of my 5,000 channels of- Connie?! I haven’t streamed you in a while! I almost started to miss your HDMI. You got some new graphics updates to present? Or some retro stuff that's back in trend?”

Connie definitely didn’t remember Telly’s strong presence and is taken aback by their overwhelming friendliness. You put an arm around her waist, trying to steady her a bit and decide to give her a chance to catch herself a bit.

“Hey Telly! Look, we’re here because I know you and Connie always worked together and she has been having… well… a few problems with her memory of some kind.”

While Telly seems mighty surprised at what you said, they quickly cover their shock with their signature celebrity smile.

“Damn! I know she hasn’t been around for a while but I’ll try my best to remind you in typical Telly television style! Let me give you a “previously on”, to refresh your memories gone!”

As Telly keeps rambling about the way they and Connie worked together to present the ‘best graphics ever seen’ to the families of the house, you feel like you can see her slowly warm up to the flood of information. She feels a lot less stiff and her face expresses less confusion and progressively more and more recognition.

You enjoy watching her slowly piece together the waterfall of information thrown at her by Telly and as her focus is completely directed at the TV, like a child watching their favourite cartoon. You smile and relax a bit, thinking about who else might be able to tell her more about their past.

“I think I’m actually starting to remember!”, she exclaims after a while, “Well, at least some parts. I’m not sure about everything you told me, but I’m pretty sure I remember some of the stories of my graphics updates… I think.”, her smile waivers a bit as she seemingly struggles to organize all of the information she just received.

“Nice nice nice! In that case, would you be interested in some new game shows? I also got this new reality TV show abou-”, you interrupt him before he completely overloads Connie’s processor. 

“Thanks Telly, but we still have a few of the others to visit. We appreciate your help a lot, truly.” You take Connie’s hand and she grabs it tightly as you both slowly turn to leave.

“All right then my friend, but come back for some binging, okay!?”

As soon as the two of you are alone again you turn towards Connie, she already looks worried and nervous again. You’re about to ask her how she feels, when she starts talking with a frail voice, “How can it be… that I can only remember… what I’m being told I should remember?”

Her words are interrupted by heavy sobs as she comes closer to you. You embrace her, feeling her tears soak your shirt once more, just like yesterday.

“I-”, you take a deep breath. You have no idea what to say, you feel like nothing you have to offer would be genuinely helpful, but you know that whatever you say now, is the only thing between her and a complete breakdown.

“I honestly don’t know Connie. I’m not sure anyone does. No one knows what you went through, no one ever experienced what you did.” You start consoling her as her cables grab onto you for extra support, much weaker than earlier.

It’s always a painful experience to see her like this, especially when you are helpless to do anything about it. You don't know why she doesn't really remember anyone, you don’t know why her memories seem to be so out of order, and nothing is worse than feeling so incredibly useless in face of your lover's struggles.

“I can’t imagine how this is for you. The closest thing would be waking up from a coma. I promise you, I wish I could help you more Connie, but trying to remember through the others is all I can think of at the moment.” It hurts to say it out loud, but you know that it’s more important to tell her the truth, than it is to make false promises you won't be able to keep.

“But- but-” she begins, but gets interrupted by her own crying. You stay silent, trying your best to console her at least physically and after a while of your silent embrace she slowly stops crying, releases her grasp on you and looks you into the eyes.

“Thank you, Yail. I just don’t know what to do sometimes, I thought I was finally free from all the struggle when you saved me, but now… I guess it’s not really what you expected…”, she falls silent, staring at the floor as she waits for you to say something. 

You thought seeing her cry was already the worst feeling possible, but seeing her guilty about it as well is far worse.

You slowly lift up her chin and look her straight into her mesmerising golden eyes. “Connie, I didn’t ‘expect’ anything. Everyday was a completely new surprise for me as well, but do you know what didn’t change through all this time?” she stays silent, trying to avoid your gaze, but she keeps glimpsing back at your eyes.

“The only thing that didn’t change whenever I met you again was the way I feel about you. And it’s certainly not about to change now. I love you, and that means I will do anything to help you, okay?”

She slowly starts nodding, fresh tears forming in her eyes.“Thank you, Yail. You- you know I'm glad to have you here to help me?”

“I know, I’m glad to be of help, Connie. We can keep going as soon as you’re ready, okay? We have all the time in the world.”

You hold her until she manages to calm down again. For a while you can only see her hair jumping up and down as heavy sobs shake her body. Her trembling feels like an earthquake in your heart and you too shed a few lonely tears.

Once she starts breathing normally, she grabs your hand and looks at you with new determination in her eyes. For a second you feel like you're looking at Luna, right before the battle against Selene. “Okay, Yail. Where to next?”

Good question. You look around, thinking about who might be close to Connie. Of course! Who else but Abel, she practically never left his side, considering she’s been sitting on the TV-stand ever since her arrival.

“You’ve always been close to Abel, right? And he loves helping people!” You try to discern her reaction. She does seem to smile at your attempt to cheer her up, but she also doesn’t seem to show any signs of recognition.

“Sure, It’s not like I can remember him by name, but if you think it’s a good idea then I’m ready to try it.” She appears exhausted from racking her memories this much, but you know that the fighting spirit in her is not defeated so easily.

You focus your gaze on the small table, and watch the familiar and friendly face appear in front of the two of you. “Howdy pardner! Oh, it seems you’ve brought your pardner as well. How can I help ya?” He chuckles with his usual, friendly demeanor.

“Hey there Abel! You know Connie, right? She has a few problems with her memories, so we’ve been trying to talk to everyone who might know her well.”, you tell him, just as you told Telly.

“Of course I know ya Connie! Haven’t seen you around in like forever, but I’m glad to see you’re back. And I’m just as happy to see that you’ve even found yourself a second player.” He laughs slightly at his own joke, as he turns towards Connie.

You hope that his friendly nature won’t overwhelm her as much as Telly did. She definitely seems to be less shocked and even blushes at the last part. “Yeah you could say so. I can’t say I really remember you, I’m sorry, but maybe you could just jog my memory a little?”

“Don’t apologize like it’s your fault! Of course I’ll help ya out. Maybe we haven’t worked together like you and that picture box, but boy did we spend time together!” He begins to retell stories of Connie’s arrival at the house, her receiving her designated place on Abel's surface and the way he always carried her games and controllers when the kids weren't busy using them.

It almost feels like he’s retelling old tales around a campfire and you can see him and Connie warming up to another again.

You can’t really tell whether Connie actually remembers anything, but her face definitely shows more and more signs of familiarity the longer Abel talks. “And that’s that about us. I hope I didn’t babble too much right now.”

“No, of course not! Thank you Abel, a few things feel familiar. I think. And I definitely wouldn't have remembered them without you.” Connie smiles softly, still sad about her inability to actually remember something herself, but also glad to have regained some memories at last.

“No problem you two, if you need any more help, ya know where to find me!” and with that he turns and you shift your focus back on Connie, unsure what to expect.

“So..? How do you feel?”

“Well, like I said. I didn’t remember anything at first, but I feel like some of the things are familiar. I’m just not sure whether all this actually helps with the underlying problem, Yail. I truly appreciate your help, but maybe we need to try something different?” She looks at you, a bit unsure whether you agree, but still looking better than after you talked to Telly.

“No, you’re right. I think I have another approach we could try, maybe. But we gotta go upstairs for that.” You already figured that you'll need to try something different at some point, hopefully the two couples you have in mind will be more helpful than your previous approaches.

“I’m ready to try whatever you can think of Yail, you know that.” She smiles at you with dreamy eyes. You truly hope that this will work out better than your first idea, but you’re not completely sure. You put an arm around her waist and guide her towards the stairs, as she lets her head fall onto your shoulder and follows your guidance.

Despite the circumstances, you still enjoy being so close to her. As her hair brushes against your skin you feel like nothing in this world could stop you from helping her, no matter how many tries and errors it would take. You'd do anything for Connie, and you know she feels just the same.

Your progress has been saved.

Chapter Text

You slowly make your way to the top of the stairs, making sure not to look beneath you in an effort to avoid hearing about any new business ideas from Stella. As you turn your head to look at Connie, you see the determination burning in her eyes. Even after so many crushing experiences, disappointments and tears she presses on and tries again.

You like to think it's because of your help, but you know that Connie is not the type to just give up. No, she is a fighter and if you don't keep her down, she'll get back up. One of the many qualities that make you so helplessly attracted to her.

Still, next to the determination you can also see the despair and sadness that keep her eyes teary and try their best to crush her spirits. You know you can't let these feelings overwhelm her, you won't. If there's anything worth fighting for in this life, it's love. And you'll make sure to fight for yours till your last breath.

As you reach the first floor Connie looks at you expectantly and you quickly focus your mind back to the task at hand. "So, Yail. What's the next step?" Her voice quiet, but hopeful. You know she's relying on you, maybe more than she'd normally allow herself to rely on anyone, which makes her trust even more valuable to you.

"Well, we don't have an appointment, but I know two mayors who should hopefully know just about everything that happens around here." You explain to her, as you focus the Dateviators onto the floor you're standing on.

"Wait, twomayors-?" Connie begins, but quickly gets interrupted by a familiar greeting.

"Be there in a moment!" You hear a slightly stressed looking Florence exclaim as she approaches the two of you, focused on a few documents in both of her hands. "Hello there. What can I- Oh it's you! What a pleasant surprise! And you even brought- Connie!? I haven't heard of you in so long! Let me get Celia in here!"

Connie seems a bit overwhelmed by the hectic nature of Florence, opens her mouth but closes it rather quickly as Florence already rushes to call Celia over the intercom. You chuckle slightly at her perplexed face, but also lightly press her hand to signal her that everything is alright.

"I heard we have a familiar visitor?" Celia says as she struts into view. Once she notices Connie she quickly switches to a more elegant stance and stern look, trying her best to appear more official in the face of a less familiar guest.

Connie tenses up, propably not expecting such formal circumstances. You put a hand around her waist in order to help her relax. She does relax a little, but you can also feel one of her cables wring around your hand for extra support.

Maybe she's embarrassed about how nervous she is, considering that she experienced many way more difficult situations, but you love it. Way more than you probably should.

"You don't have to put on your 'act of elegance' Celia, it's just me and Connie here." You grin slightly as you notice that Florence also seems mighty amused at Celia's behaviour.

"I don't put on acts." She retorts, acting extremely offended, but also relaxing her posture. She strolls over to Florence, puts her arms around her and looks at you with a much more friendlier face. "Never mind that then, what can we do for you two dearies?"

Connie seems to slowly understand the familiarity between you and the two mayors and speaks up first. "Greetings, I don't know if you- well- heard about it or something, but I was- kinda gone..? For a while." She stutters awfully much and you're not sure whether that is because of the unexpected meeting with the two highest authorities of the house, or because she's still dealing with her own inner conflict at this time.

Whatever it is, you try to smile encouragingly at her and hold her hand, which she grabs tightly, embedding her nails into your skin once more. You're sure that you already have permanent marks from it.

Celia and Florence look at each other, smile and turn back towards Connie. "Calm calm, now. Yes, we know of your absence dearie. And we also heard about our mutual friend here helping you out of your predicament. Now take a deep breath, and tell us what you need our help with."

You've never seen the two this caring before, except when they were talking to each other of course, probably because you've mostly been here on official business. Connie definitely seems to appreciate their friendliness, and slightly realeses her hold on your hand.

She takes a deep breath and continues. "Yes, exactly. Well, when we woke up- when I woke-" she turns red and Celia and Florence have to cover their mouths in an effort to hide their amusement. Connie sighs deeply and continues her story. "When we woke up today and met Koa… I- I just couldn't remember him. Or anyone we met after for that matter! We just don't know why this is happening." She finishes and exhales sharply, slumping in on herself slightly.

"We've talked to Telly and Abel as well, trying to see if anything about them was familiar." You add, trying to give them every detail to work with. "But Connie was only able to remember something, once she heard it again."

As you wait for an answer you look over at Connie and see her looking back at you exhausted, but still smiles somewhat hopeful, once she notices your pitiful expression.

Once again Florence and Celia look at each other and face Connie with pity written all over their faces. "You poor thing." Florence begins. "I must admit, I don't think either of us ever heard of something like this. Of course electronic objects like you always have such a intricate working apparatus, but not even Mac or Phoenicia ever had such a problem I fear."

Celia nods sympathetically and takes Florence's hand between her own. "I fear I have to agree with dear Florence. Your case does sound highly peculiar. But if you can remember something the others tell you about, maybe your memories are not lost yet. Have you tried talking to someone who might be a bit more familiar with your- well, electric functionality?"

"Actually, I planned on doing that next." You say, trying to explain your plan. "I just thought that you two would probably know the most about anyone around here." You try your best not to show your disappointment, especially not infront of Connie, even though you did really expect the mayors to be more helpful.

"That sounds like a good Idea then!" Florence tries to cheer you up, but she isn't fully able to hide the sadness in her face. "Try asking around the electrical experts and should not even that work, then you come right back here and we try to come up with something different. Okay?" They both try their best to smile at you, but you can tell even they are rather worried about Connie.

"Yeah, we'll try that. Thank you" Connie slowly turns defeated. She most likely expected more from this as well, but tries to hide her despair.

"Take care!" Florence and Celia say as you two leave the office. You take a final look over your shoulder and see the two arm in arm, looking after you with dim expressions.

"Well, I guess you probably expected more from that." Connie says after a while.

"Is it that obvious?" You chuckle, even though it's not really amusing at all.

"No, but I can tell. At least we still have more options, right?" She smiles, or at least she tries to, but you can tell that she's starting to get exhausted from all these fruitless endeavours.

"Yes, we do. Time to visit the breaker box. Oh, and don't be surprised if you can't remember one of them." You warn her beforehand, as you're not sure how long Volt has been around for and wether he met Connie before her disappearance. Even though it's unlikely Connie would remember him anyways, sadly.

"One of them? Since when do we have two of everything?" She asks with genuine confusing across her face. It would be funny if she didn't continue with defeated murmuring. "Well, not like I would remember anyways." You're not sure whether she's sad, or just annoyed, but it festers your own determination just as much.

You open the closet door, carefully step over Tony and focus the Dateviators on the breaker box. As you go to hold Connie's hand she has already taken yours and looks forward with a stern expression. "Let's hope this will be more useful."

Your answer gets overshadowed by the usually charming greeting of an even more charming looking Volt. "Live wire! What a pleasure to see you here." He says as he extends his hand in an inviting gesture. As you try to return the greeting, he notices Connie and you can see his facade crumble slightly with genuine surprise.

He quickly covers his perplexity and extends his other hand towards Connie. "And you've even brought a second guest this evening. A date perhaps? How utterly romantic. I must admit, I don't think I've seen you around before miss…?" He looks expectantly at Connie, who still seems to be blushing at the way he said 'date'.

"Uhm Soul, Connie Soul. And yes, I was… gone for a while."

"Allow me to welcome you back then. What can the breaker box offer you two beauties?" He steps aside and signals you to follow him.

"Actually Volt, we're here because we need your and Eddie's help. I guess you could say it's an electric difficulty." As you explain everything once again, you can see Volt's slight disappointment at the fact that he won't get to support you on your 'date', but luckily he still seems concerned and happy to help you in other ways.

"I see, of course. Let me get Eddie over here so you can tell him what plagues you two." He turns and hurries to the back with large steps.

As you wait, you turn to Connie, who has sat down on one of the bar chairs. You place yourself next to her, take her hand on the counter and look her in the eyes. She looks back, smiling weakly. You can sense her inner struggle, but you know that no hurt could drown out the intense expression of love in these two golden, shining stars of hers.

"So is this our first real date then?" She asks you with a familiar cheeky grin, the atmosphere of the breaker box seems to release the tension of today's struggles.

"I was hoping our first real date would be under better circumstances. And we also had a few first dates before." You return, trying to be cheeky as well, but it's hard to wipe the dreamy look off your face when you're so close you can feel her hot breath on your skin.

"Only if you count battles to the death on the moon as first dates. And the only 'circumstances' I need is your presence, Yail. I really could'nt care less about the rest." Fuck, she's good at this. You obviously didn't get to see her like this a lot when you were still meeting her on the moon, but you feel like a teenager who just developed their first crush the way the butterflies in your stomach are increasing exponentially.

"Well, those battles were really hot still. I definitely enjoyed watching you fight."

"You'll be happy to know that you're not limited to watching me anymore. You can feel, and touch and taste…" The way she smiles at you so incredibly seductively as she purrs those last words is taking you over the edge for sure. And she knows it. And you know she enjoysit.

"Fine, you win." You admit defeatedly as you slowly come closer to her face.

"I always do Yail. That's my thing, you know?"

"We'll see about that." You both chuckle as you're mere moments away from another…

Just as you feel arcs of electricity bridging your lips, the door at the back of the bar opens and Volt and Eddie hurry over to you. Connie and you jump back into your chairs and turn red, like children who got caught trying to sneak out. Luckily Eddie seems to be too busy with thinking about what your problem might be, but Volt definitely noticed, even though he doesn't let you see it.

"I'm not sure since when we're the first address for problem solving, but Volt did say something about an electrical issue, right?" Eddie seems mildly annoyed by the fact Volt had to get him from whatever he was currently busy with.

"Well Eddie, I think that Live wire's little date here is the one with the problem." Volt adds, sounding awfully calm, given the urgency you are feeling yourself.

"Wait a second. Don't I know you?" Eddie takes a close look at Connie, which seems to make her feel slightly awkward. "Aren't you the console in the living room? I noticed a surge from there 2 days ago. Is this what this is about?"

"I guess so?" You say, unsure wether you're interpreting the meaning of a 'surge' correctly. "Two days ago I managed to get Connie out of her time loop, if that's what you're referring to?" "So that was you then." You're not sure wether Eddie is annoyed or just stating facts, its hard to tell with his rather expressionless expression.

"Volt, this is Connie, you don't know her, because she's been gone or something since before I made you. Connie, this is Volt, he's helping me protect all of you from dangerous surges and so on." You can see why Volt is the one to greet the patrons of the breaker box, you've never experienced something so far from a warm greeting.

Connie seems to feel the same way and awkwardly shifts around on her chair. "Well, I'm mostly protecting you from surges Eddie, am I not?" Volt on the other hand seems completely unfazed by Eddie's cold welcome and goes on with his usual charm.

"My pleasure Connie. I must say it is a shame I haven't been able to meet you before. Especially considering how close you and Live wire seem to be."

"Let's get to the point then." Eddie interrupts abruptly. "What is it exactly you expect us to be able to help you with?" Once more you get to reiterate the story of Connie's struggle with her memories and once more she listens with a gloomy expression.

"We were hoping you might know more about this, as the house's experts on electricity." You finish, looking at the two expectedly.

Your story actually seems to affect the both of them. Volts usually charming smile is replaced by a rather sad thrown and even Eddie's unbothered face looks like he's genuinely concerned. They look at each other, much like Celia and Florence earlier. "Look, I'm not sure if you know the difference between electricity and technology, but Volt and I, we're not really familiar with the way advanced electronics like Connie here work."

"I'm sorry live wire." Volt says, for the first time ever since you've seen him without any seductiveness in his voice. "But Eddie and me, we're here to give power to the house. We don't really delve into the others inner workings."

You stare down onto the countertop, you almost expected this, but you knew you needed to try anyways. You're almost scared to look at Connie, but this time she is the one to put a hand on your shoulder instead. "Thank you." She says, barely a whisper. "We appreciate you taking your time." It sounds awfully robotic and as you finally dare to look at her you can see that her face is absolutely blank.

You didn't think it could be worse than seeing her overflowing with tears, but seeing her without any emotions at all shatter something deep inside of you. "We'll gladly welcome you back here once you manage to clear this up Live wire. We certainly wish you two the best." Volt says quietly as he slowly accompanies you to the exit. As you look back to the bar you can see Eddie burying his face in his hands.

"Thank you Volt, we'll see you around." You say as you step back into the hallway.

"I hope you will Live wire, best of luck." He returns, looking after you with a sadness you have never seen on him before.

"Is this it? Or do you have a plan D Yail?" Her voice is not just disappointed or sad, its outright without any feelings at all. You feel like you're standing infront of a husk of the usual Connie, devoid of any determination or other spirit.

Did you… fail?

"As long as you're not okay again, I'll come up with a plan for every letter of the alphabet. And if thats not enough I'll have to use two of them. I'm not abonding you Connie. Never, do you understand me?" You're not sure if she does, she doesn't smile, doesn't do anything at all for a while.

"Are you sure there's any point in it? Everything we tried failed, any idea we had turned out to be nothing. I'm not even sure if it's possible anymore." She looks at you with a blank, yet somehow still hopeless expression. Her LEDs are as dim as you've never seen before and a single, lonely tear slowly crawls down her face.

You try embracing her, she doesn't return it, she just stands there motionless, letting you envelope her as she sinks her head into your chest like all these times before. "We'll find a way, somehow. I know we will." It almost sounds as unbelievable to you as it most likely does to her.

You know she wants to believe you, wants to trust you, at least you hope she does, but after all this failure, all these disappointments, you're not even sure if you can trust yourself.

The first movement you feel, since the two of you left the breaker box, is her slowly separating from you. Connie looks you deep into your eyes, discerning, calculating? "You promise that you'll try anything?"

"Anything and everything Connie, I promise"

"And you won't give up and leave if it doesn't work?"

"If it really doesn't work then I'll still be by your side, I promise."

She looks back down at the floor for a few second, closing her eyes, swallowing her last tears. "Alright, if you can keep going, then I don't need to give up yet." She says decisively after a while, looking back at your with a new, faint glow in her eyes.

"Thank you, I knew you still have your fighting spirit." You feel like the weight of a hundred suns, or moons, got taken off your chest and heart. As you see Connie's LEDs glow with newfound power and feel her taking one of your hands with the force you're used to, you feel like you could lift the entire house and everyone in it.

As you slowly calm back down and rid yourself of your earlier fear and worries, you take her other hand as well. "I love you Connie, thank you for trusting me so much." You finally manage to mutter under your breath.

"I love you too Yail. You know I normally prefer playing solo and relying on myself, but I don't think I was ever able to rely on anyone like I relied on you. And right now, relying on you is my best chance."

Her words mean so much more to you than she probably expects. Trust is such a valuable thing… to think that someone like her, someone who only had herself to fight for her for so long trusts you, like this…

You just have to embrace her again, just this time you're the one crying. Seeing this turn of things actually brings a smile to her face as she chuckles lightly. "How come you're the one crying now Yail?"

"Don't mind it Connie, im just glad to have you here."

"I'm glad to have you here too…"

You know you should already be looking for the next attempt at a solution, but this moment feels too ethereal and unreal to let go of so quickly.

When you received the Dateviators you hoped you might be able to make friends, maybe even find love. But now… now you're actually able to find solace in the most difficult times (hopefully the most difficult ones…) with someone who's more essential to your heart than anyone you've known before. You just have to hold on to this fragment of time for a while longer.

After what still felt like way too little time the two of you separate again, look another in the eyes and decide too continue and leave the closet. As you go to open the door, already trying to come up with someone or something that might be able to help, you suddenly hear Dorian's rough voice addressing you.

"You know, I couldn't help but notice your… predicament throughout the day. But I just wanted to tell you that Mac finished their update in the office. So if you're going to ask someone for help, you might want to ask them." He looks unusually uncomfortable, most likely considering the somewhat awkward circumstance he met you under just now.

'Of course, I mean if anyone knows about technology, then Mac! How am I so stupid to not think of them before?' It's quite obvious in hindsight, but you were so busy worrying about Connie you were barely able to think straight at all. "Thank you Dorian! I'll tell you if it works, or you'll most likely notice anyways."

"No problem, always happy to help." He turns abruptly, returning to his usual duties.

"Who's Mac again, and why were they updating?" Connie asked confused as she hurries after you down the stairs.

"Mac's the computer, they should be able to check your memory right at the root of the problem!" You exclaim with new energy, fueled by the hope you might actually find a solution.

"In that case, let's not waste any time Yail!" Realising that you might actually have a real lead this time, she genuinely smiles again. You almost completely tumble down the stairs as you turn back to take in the sight of her laughing face again. Luckily you manage to catch yourself and sight of Connie's smile at the last second, as you hear her giggle behind you.

Hopefully Mac would finally be the answer to your problem, hopefully they're already back online after their update.

Your progress is saving...

Chapter Text

As you almost fly down the last steps towards the entryway, you hear a loud "Druck!" behind you. Before you even get the chance to turn around, you can already feel an immense force throwing you onto the ground.

Connie apparently failed to catch her balance after losing her footing and tumbled down the stairs behind you. Now she is lying on top of you, not even bothering to get up. "Sorry, Yail. I'm just useless apparently." Defeated, she lets her head fall onto your back.

"You're not useless, Connie. I don't think I've ever seen someone as functional as you, considering the circumstances."

"The 'circumstances'…" The pain and exhaustion are dripping off her words. You know that she feels like a mess compared to her usual self, she spent her entire life being the main character, and suddenly she can't even run down the stairs.

"Connie, what's happening has crushed too many people before. The fact you're still fighting… not everyone can do that. You're the toughest person I know, and you know that whenever you're not able to stand on your own, I'll be there to carry you." Talking while being constricted on the floor is difficult, but it's definitely far easier than anything she had to go through these last days.

"I don't agree with you, but… thank you." She sighs as she slowly collects herself and gets back up. She looks tired as she stands in front of you, looking at the ground while slowly moving to hold your hand. You offer it, and she quickly holds onto it. "Alright, let's just keep going, please. I may be starting to get delusional, but it feels like this time might finally work."

"Yes, of course. The office is right here." As you open the door to the office, you can already see the white light of Mac's screen partially lighting up the room. They seem to be trying out their new features and don't even notice you before you reach the desk and stand directly in front of them.

"Oh, hey! It's you! I just finished my new update, an- Connie? I haven't interfaced with you since… 7 updates ago!" They're happy to see you and mildly surprised at seeing Connie, as pretty much everyone else before, but also much tamer. Neither of you pays much attention to it at this point.

"Yes, listen: I freed Connie from her time-loop-game-thing 2 days ago; however, she can't remember anyone, but she can remember things people remind her of first. We need your help to figure out what's causing this, because literally no one else knows as much about technology as you." This was probably the fastest you explained your issue yet, but luckily Mac is able to easily understand you with their superior computing capabilities.

"Oh, uh, of course! Thank you. It definitely sounds like a problem with her saved data. I can look into that, but you'll have to actually bring me her console and connect us via USB." Understanding the urgency of the situation, Mac delivers their instruction as quickly and precisely as possible, trying their best not to throw in additional trivia. 

Connie seems not too familiar with the inner workings of her own technology and silently nods and looks between the two of you. Before you rush out of the office to get the console, you hurry to give her a quick but tight hug. "This will work, I know it will." You whisper, before running towards the living room.

Luckily, your superior cable management allows you to quickly unplug her from Telly and the power. You're extremely careful as you lift the console from its usual place, ignoring the very obvious dust-free space it leaves behind, gather all the free hanging cables and rush back towards the office.

As you get closer to the desk, you suddenly see Connie slumped over with her back against the wall in the corner. Her LEDs are completely devoid of any light, and her tails are lying limp on the floor.

You almost drop her console in shock as you look back towards Mac. "WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!?" You ask them, the panic paralysing every muscle in your body.

"Well, you unplugged her console. As long as she's without power, she's pretty much in a coma. But don't worry! As soon as you plug her back in, she'll wake up like normal. There are no long-term effects on us." While this is only mildly calming, you really don't have any other choice but to trust their expertise and go on with your plan.

You still can't help but look over at her repeatedly, as you approach the desk and set down the console, which is now just as lifeless as Connie herself.

"Alright, fine. So, I connect your USB, you check her data, and then she'll be able to remember everything again?" You look at Mac with desperation written in your face, who looks slightly awkward at your desperate pleas.

"Well, if I indeed manage to find the issue, yes. But I need to warn you: as long as I'm busy looking through her data, I also will be unresponsive." They look at you expectantly, unsure of how you will react.

"Oh, how long do you think this will take?"

"Well, according to my calculation and the amount of saved data, I estimate she must've received it, it will most likely take till tomorrow. Late morning, most likely." They answer you factually.

Till tomorrow…

It's not like you are unfamiliar with games of patience, but with Connie's wellbeing and probably also her entire mental state on the line, it feels much different. Still, it doesn't matter in the end; you would wait a whole year for the slightest sliver of hope that she will get better. Time is truly not an issue anymore since…

"Alright then, thank you, Mac, for everything. You don't know what your help means to me. To us." You say as you get ready to connect the two with the cable you've been squeezing in your hand since you came in.

"I think I have an idea." They chuckle. "Go ahead, I'm ready."

You plug the cable into one of the free slots on the casing, and immediately Mac slumps into their chair, breathing slowly, but steadily.

Now you are alone, Connie and Mac sleeping peacefully, completely unresponsive.

It's only early evening at best, and it's not like you had a lot planned for today. You also couldn't bear leaving Connie alone, even though she most definitely can't even tell that you're here anymore, but simply abandoning her in your office went against every feeling you ever felt for her.

You slowly slide down the wall right next to her. As you reach the floor and lightly bump into her, her head falls onto your shoulder. You could swear you see her smiling, but it's most likely just a figment of your very desperate imagination.

You take her hand into your own and slowly run over it with your thumb, as if you are trying to calm a child. You know she can't even feel it, you know she won't be able to remember it, no matter whether Mac succeeds or not, but you feel like you need to do it anyway.

You try to find a comfortable position for your legs, preparing yourself for a long night. Connie's breathing and Mac's quiet humming the only sounds accompanying you into sleep. It's almost like a lullaby, trying to lure you into rest, trying to rid your mind of all the worry and panic you experienced today.

Connie will be alright again… surely…

You wake up to the sound of the office door creaking open, unsure of the time, but the sun hasn't even set completely yet; that's all you know.

Betty stands in the doorway, approaching you quietly.

"Hey there, Mateo and Dorian told me what happened and when you didn't come to sleep for a second night, I figured what happened." She said quietly, caring, probably also worrying.

"Don't worry about me, Wallace and Florence are also super comfortable." Of course this was a lie, your back, legs, and bottom have been aching since you opened your eyes again. But you really had more important things to worry about.

"Don't lie to me, Cutie. I know that you're worried for her, and I'm not trying to get you to go upstairs. But I also can't let you suffer like this through the night. So come on, make some space. I'm just as comfortable to sleep on as Wallace or Florence." She giggles at her last sentence.

You relent and scoot over, closer to Connie, allowing Betty to slowly sit down. Tucking part of her bedding behind your back and putting one hand on your leg. This really is much better than before.

"Thank you, Betty, for your care and everything."

"Don't worry about it, Cutie, it's my Job." You know she doesn't do this out of her sense of duty, but you have no interest in arguing with her.

As you're about to drift back into sleep, you notice someone else was following Betty closely behind. Mateo enters the office, holding Davi in his arms.

"I really hope you don't mind me telling her. But I know you would never abandon Connie for your comfort. It's really noble, but also kind of stupid."

"Are you here to lecture me, or do you want to join as well?" You chuckle slightly. Mateo and Betty surely are always worried, it's probably just in their nature, but you appreciate them more than you let them see.

"Of course, Davi and I are joining you! But don't worry, we'll be gone before Mac and Connie are done." He somehow manages to shout silently as he slowly sets down Davi and joins Betty and you on the floor.

The last thing you see, before you fall asleep through the comfort of Connie, Betty and Mateo surrounding you, is Dorian closing the door to the office after taking one last look at you. You're not sure, but you think he opened his mouth to whisper something before he blocks out the last rays of light, and you promptly fall asleep from a mixture of exhaustion and comfort.

When you wake up again, Mateo and Davi are already gone. Betty, while awake, stayed, most likely to not to wake you up by leaving. "Good morning, Cutie. If you're awake, I'll be back upstairs. Best of luck, you two. I would tell you to tell me when it works, but you know how fast information spreads around here."

She slowly gets up and walks out of the office, leaving you once more with Connie's breathing and Mac's buzzing. How right she is. Most likely, every object in the house knows about what's happening with you and Connie. It's not like you care, most of them are probably just worried anyway, and you have bigger things to worry about yourself.

Like the progress of Mac's search. You slowly get up after one last look at Connie's sleeping face, stretch your limbs and take a look at the screen.

Druck, there is no progress bar. Only a slowly rotating circle is inhabiting the otherwise empty screen, confirming what you already know: They're still busy.

You're about to let yourself fall back down next to Connie, just as the door opens again. This time it's Kopi, carrying a tablet with hot coffee, cream, sugar and an amazing looking breakfast of toast, eggs and bacon. She looks rather nervous as she walks further into the room.

"Morning. We heard about what's going on and knew that you would probably not leave the office for breakfast, so we kinda decided to bring you your breakfast instead. I should really get back to my shift at Roofbucks though so…"

"Kopi, wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Kopi looks surprised that you're not trying to stop her from helping you or to lecture her about her intense work morale, and takes a few seconds to answer, still rather nervous.

"Uhm, well, the coffe is obviously from me, Freddy looked for the freshest and coldest cream, Stefan said he made your eggs and bacon as perfect as possible, Miranda made your toast the 'perfect Tostadora golden' , Bev looked for the sweetest sugar she had lying around, Daisuke assembled the tablet for half an hour and Mitchell organised everything."

As she finishes, you can see a multitude of faces peering into the office through a gap in the door. You smile, feeling tears form in your eyes. "Thank you guys, you're amazing. This looks like the best breakfast I'll ever have."

"Oh, thank you!" Kopi beams brightly, setting the tablet down on the only free space on the desk. She hurries out, pushing the others away from the door.

Maybe your entire house knowing everything that happens isn't too bad, especially when it's filled with the nicest people you've known in a while.

You still decide to eat on the floor next to Connie, just in case Mac finishes during your breakfast. For a while, the only sounds in the office are once again Connie's breathing, Mac's buzzing and now also your cutlery feeding you a breakfast that truly tastes like it was made with love.

As you set down the tablet on the floor next to you, you suddenly hear a loud 'Ding' coming from the computer.

You feel like your heart stops, as you can hear Mac take a large breath and wake up again. You immediately jump up and almost topple over the desk as you try to get to them.

"Calm down, I'm 99,9987% sure I was successfully able to isolate and fix the problem. It seems like the sudden amount of data Connie received when you saved her from the loop caused her formatting to be messed up, which stopped her memories from being read correctly until they were reformatted by her being reminded. I managed to reformat her entire drive, so she should be able to remember everything before the loop, as well as everything from inside. Just be aw…"

You almost can't believe your ears. You start crying as you envelop Mac in a crushing hug. "Thank you so much, Mac. If you want any new software or hardware… just order what you want, you're the best." 

"It's always a pleasure to be of assistance, but if you insist…" As you hurry to unplug Connie and make your way to the door, Mac is already focused on looking for their most out-of-date piece of hardware.

Rushing back to the living room, you feel the others watching your every step, most likely concerned, but probably also curious. You don't mind, they've all been helpful so far, and you're glad to know they're still there, caring about you.

You carefully put the console back on its usual spot, connect the HDMI to Telly, the USB to the sound system and most importantly, plug in the power.

As soon as you can hear the familiar sound of the plug settling into the socket, you run back to the office. Where Dorian is already holding the door open for you.

As you look into the corner you slept in earlier, you can see Connie…

…slowly opening her eyes, as if she woke up from a really good nap. Her LEDs slowly glow more and more intensely, and her tails slowly lift themselves off the ground.

You let yourself fall onto the floor, not even registering the pain in your knees, as you envelop her into the tightest, hopefully not actually bone-crushing hug the two of you ever shared.

You start crying before Connie even registers what's happening.

"You're back." Is all you get out before you fall into deep sobbing.

As she slowly gathers her senses and remembers what happened, Connie too starts crying and hugs you back, just as strongly.

"I'm- I'm back! And- and I- I- remember everything!"She cries out as you both sit on the floor, crying, sobbing, heavily, but finally… happy.

"You- you remember!" Repeating these words, if useless, feels simply liberating. It's over, all the worries, all those failed attempts at finding solutions, they're done.

It feels just like it did the last time…

"I do- I do, Yail." Hearing her Voice again after such an endless night was the sweetest tones you've ever known, no composer in the world could capture the emotions you feel as you listen to your lover crying tears of joy while celebrating your victory.

It feels just like it did the last time…

As you silently embrace each other, sobbing, without wasting any more energy on words, you feel like you can hear the office door creak open.

You don't care.

Let the entire street know you fought for your love and won.

You won.

Connie remembers, remembers everything she thought was lost.

Sure, she still has everything that happened in the loop weighing her down, but now she also has you and her memories to lift her up.

You don't know how much time passes as the two of you cling to each other on the floor of the office, but at some point, after you both feel the last tears rolling down your face, the last sobs send tremors through your body, you slowly release your hold.

You look Connie in the face. Her messed-up hair, her nose and cheeks red from crying, her eyes still watery, her lips quivering, but smiling, happy.

As she opens her mouth again, you can feel her golden, star-shaped eyes shine with such a force that you feel like you're looking at two different suns.

While they were ridden with doubt and hopelessness yesterday, today they glow so bright you feel like they alone would be able to guide you through your darkest times.

As she forms her words, her quivering, brass coloured lips remind you of all the things you said to another these past days, now pleasant memories.

"I love you, Yail." Her voice as clear as crystal, the only sound you're registering in this moment, a symphony for your ears alone.

"I love you too, Connie." Oh, how it felt to say these words, not as consolation, but out of pure and unfettered passion. Feeling these words fly off your tongue, aware of their truth and knowing the person who receives them is the only one you ever want to say them to. It is truly the purest form of bliss.

You just look at each other, taking in every single feature of the other's face, as if you're seeing it for the first time in your life. How often the both of you have met, fought together , gotten closer, it all led to this very moment.

And you cherish this moment. Just looking, staring almost, smiling, in silence.

After you decide that you're ready to get back up, if anyone could ever be ready to let such a moment end willingly, you slowly start to untangle from your embrace.

As you're about to stand up, you realise that Connie's cables have bound themselves to your legs. She doesn't seem to have realised it herself and turns even redder than she already was.

"Oh, it seems they have a mind of their own." She giggles as you almost fall over.

"I doubt they would behave much differently if you controlled them more consciously." You return, with the smirk you adopted from her.

"I never claimed they would, I just know how to utilise them better." This smirk fits her face much better than yours, and she's still far ahead of you when it comes to painting the other one in red to their desire.

"Really? I think I can only believe that once I see it."

"Don't ask for what you can't handle, Yail." She laughs sincerely, justified superiority written into her smile.

"I can handle you any day of the year. On any difficulty level you offer." This is a lie, you know it is, but you also know it's a safe way to get her over the way you two felt these last days, hopefully.

"We'll see about that, but for now, I'm just glad to have my memories back in order." The smile on her face shrinks slightly, she's certainly happy, but the events of the last day are still too present to just ignore.

"Thank you for sticking with me, Yail. I know it wasn't easy. I know I wasn't easy…" Her expression and lights dim involuntarily, so you quickly interrupt her before she continues on this self-destructive rant.

"Stop it. No person is 'easy'. And I decided that I want only you, all strings attached, by myself. No one forced me to help you, especially not you yourself. And I would do it all over again, understood?"

She smiles as she realises how serious you are about it. "Understood, Yail. I know all too well how often you'd do it again. Now let's go somewhere else, I need to feel alive again after the way I spent these last days."

You leave the office, arm in arm, feeling like a high school couple on Valentine's. The omnipresent eyes of the others are surely lurking in every corner, even though they have definitely heard about everything already.

As you're about to ask Connie where she wants to go first, a familiar couple manifests in front of you in their typical fashion.

Florence, beaming brightly at the sight of you and Connie together and Celia, trying her best to retain her cold and official act, visibly fighting the urge to hug the two of you.

"It worked! We're so glad to see everything worked out for you two." Florence exclaims first, nudging Celia into giving a sincere addition.

"It's always pleasant to see the objects of this house achieve their dreams and define their own happiness, yes, yes." She says with utmost importance. But she quickly leans closer to you so only Connie and you hear what she says next.

"I'm so happy for you two dearies. You look beautiful together." She smiles as she backs up again, it is short-lived, but you appreciate it just the same.

"I think Volt was very eager to welcome you back to the breaker box, you know." Florence says with a wink directed at you. Luckily, you understand what she is getting at, turn towards Connie and invite her to go upstairs.

Celia and Florence disappear just as quickly as they came, and you appreciate the time they took to congratulate you.

"Celia really needs to get a grip." Connie giggles into your ear, and you could swear you hear an unidentifiable sound of disapproval coming from above.

As you get closer to the breaker box, you can see that Volt is already waiting for you at the entrance. Almost looking excited when he finally spots you.

"Live wire! How nice it is to see you two again. We already heard about your little happy end. How about you come inside to continue the day a little more intimately?" He's laying the charm on thick as he steps to the side and invites you in with both his arms.

As you walk past him, you notice that he gives you a wink while closing the door behind you.

After your eyes adjust to the much dimmer light inside the club, you can see that Volt is somehow already backstage, whispering something to Miranda, who is currently getting ready for her performance.

Connie is looking around the entire place, seemingly not familiar with the new design. Her LEDs follow the two of you like a spotlight in contrast to the much dimmer native illumination.

Volt suddenly reappears next to you once more and ushers you into a booth, which is seemingly located at the most desired spot there is. "Please, I took the liberty of reserving this special little place for you. It's much more private for any plans you might have this fine day." Before you can thank or even question him, he has already disappeared once more, leaving you to take your designated seats.

As you go to sit down, you notice a beautiful, blooming rose on your seat. Looking around, you spot Prissy and Volt looking in your direction with encouraging smiles. You don't know why they're acting like that, considering that you and Connie are already as 'official' as it gets, but you don't waste too much time thinking about it, considering it shouldn't negatively influence your time together here.

"So, where did we leave off last time?" Connie addresses you with her signature, cheeky smile. Except this time it does not have to fight against the hopelessness and despair from yesterday. No, this time it is pure, coming directly from her burning heart.

"I think you were head over heels from my flirting skills." You return, painfully aware of this ridiculous lie, but happy to play this familiar game without any painful thoughts in the back of your mind.

"Really? Was I? My memory might not be the best, but I would certainly remember that. No, I think I had just won our little game of flirts, hadn't I?" She simply is a winner. It's part of her being, and it would be stupid to try and deny it, but it looks so damn good on her. Seeing her on the podium, smiling at you, it feels way better than winning yourself.

"Well, maybe I could enter a little cheat code…" You grin at her confused face, as you pull out the rose and hand it to her.

She seems fully awestruck, clearly not having expected such a classic move. "Wow, Yail. I didn't take you for the retro type. It seems you invested in your Charisma stat so much that you are manifesting roses." She chuckles, masking the fact you actually caught her off guard this time.

"There are many things I'm good at, you know. You just haven't gotten to seeing them all yet." You reply, trying your best to strengthen your lead while ahead.

"Well… how about you… show me then." It's simply not fair. How are you ever supposed to win these games over her, when she can just look at you with her golden eyes and purr things like this with a voice that literally melts your brain?

"Druck. You win, fine." "I always do, Yail, I told you." She says, her smile slowly spreading from ear to ear.

"What can I offer the eternal victor then?" You ask expectantly.

"Ohh, I think I can think of something I want." She leans closer, closing her eyes, allowing you to see the brass coloured eyeshadow that perfectly matches her lips.

You go to follow her lead, close your eyes, and steadily move forward. And just as you're about to finally feel this surge of electricity, you literally spent infinity waiting for…

Eddie rushes out the door at the back, hurrying towards you with an oddly unfamiliar, worried expression. Volt, who was standing close to said door, is visibly angered at the carelessness of his partner.

"Hey, I just heard about everything that happened after you left. So you two were able to sort out your problem?" Apparently, you and Connie are both visibly disturbed by this uncharacteristic behaviour of his, and once he realises this, he quickly masks over the panic in his face with his signature I-dont-really-care look.

"I mean, you won't be making Volt and me any more stress than usual anymore? I'm busy enough keeping everything running, you know." You almost laugh out loud, but quickly catch yourself and answer through a suppressed smile.

"We're good now, thank you for your concern, Eddie."

"What? Yeah, sure. I'll get back to work then." He vanishes as quickly as he appeared, leaving you and Connie to giggle wildly at his behaviour.

"I certainly don't remember him this clumsy," Connie says, "but his concern is really cute."

From the edge of your view, you can see a mildly annoyed Volt signal Miranda that it's her turn on stage, before he vanishes behind the bar. You don't know whether you should be concerned, but knowing Volt, he probably knows what he's doing.

"Neither do I, actually, I guess even copper cables have a soft core." You both laugh and still do when Volt approaches with a tablet. On said tablet was a bottle with dark red wine, looking even older than the stuff in the crawlspace, as well as two beautiful, elegantly shaped glasses.

"A speciality we have recently acquired from the Tipsy Tumbler. A gift to such special patrons. A truly unique experience, meant to let you familiarise your taste." As he slowly sets the tablet down onto the table, you can see him flash the two of you a bright smile to emphasise that last word.

He skilfully places the two glasses in front of you and fills them to precisely the same level. Finally, he puts the bottle in the middle of the table, loosely puts the cork back in and takes his leave.

"I didn't know you were such a celebrity around the house, Yail. Should I start worrying about paparazzi swarming me?" Connie laughs as she reaches for her glass, seeing her this lively is starting to create a fuzzy feeling in your chest.

"Very funny, yes, yes, I'm sure someone with so many highscores knows their fair share of fame." You return as you too, reach for your glass, intrigued at the crimson colouration.

"You know, all my highscores pale in comparison to the high-score I have sitting in front of me." As she lowers the glass back down, her scarlet coloured lips are cleaned by a single, smooth motion of her tongue, only adding to the effect this sentence just had on you.

You can feel the warm feeling from your chest quickly make its way into your face, making you an even deeper red than the wine you're still holding in your hand.

You quickly take a sip from your own, letting the intense aroma keep you from embarrassing yourself by trying to reply anything to that. Connie knows what she did and smiles at you with a sultry gaze, enjoying watching you struggle to gulp down the drink as you're physically unable to break eye contact.

"How's the taste?" She asks innocently, but her intentions are clear. "I might have something more to your liking." Once again, purring at you with a tone that makes you feel like you're being hunted. At this point, you feel like your entire body is so hot it'll melt into a puddle.

You try your best to keep your composure as you attempt to come up with a comeback. "You do? What would that be then?" You say, as calm and cool as you can, which is not calm or cool at all, slowly leaning forward once more.

"Let me demonstrate…" is the last thing you register before you close your eyes and ready yourself for this long-awaited sensation.

You're sure you can hear static sizzling in the air, as the bright, yellow light of her LEDs gets closer to you. The sensation reminds you of the spire, shortly before the explosion, an explosion much like the one about to happen to you now.

The static gets closer and closer to your ears, and you feel a prickling of electricity on your tongue the closer and closer- SKREEEEEAACCHH

You get shocked back into your seat and see Connie looking back at you, just as perplexed, but also somewhat mad. Behind the bar, Volt almost crushes a glass in his hands, as his hair starts glowing much brighter than usual, sparks flying off in every direction.

The sound came from the stage, where Miranda just plugged her guitar into the club's speaker system. She seems pretty embarrassed, but quickly, professionally hides it as she grabs onto the microphone in front of her.

"Hola, dear patrons! Today me and my Migas will be playing an assortment of truly emotional works. We hope you enjoy it and have an amazing day!" After the rebound of these words quiet down, they begin their presentation. Slow, romantic music fills the entire breaker box, and your earlier shock is washed away quite quickly.

You look back over at Connie, who is still looking somewhat grumpy, but seems to relax to the music as well. Her cables are moving in the rhythm of the ambience, and her lighting seems to adjust to the sounds as well.

"This soundtrack is really good, Miranda and her Migas have definitely improved since I've last been to their performances." She states as she takes another small sip of the wine and looks over to the stage.

"They've definitely been working hard. Do you normally listen to your own soundtracks?"

"Well, I've kinda been forced to listen to a certain track on repeat, you know." She says with a smile.

"Would this mean that this track is our song then?" You ask, trying to tease her and reclaim the upper hand.

"I think I'd prefer it if we define our song ourselves." She returns, much more easily than it is for you.

"And how would we go about this?"

"Well, do you like this song?" She asks, clearly expecting a certain answer to use for her advances.

"Depends, what if I say yes?" You're trying your best to get her to break her implications and openly admit her intentions. But she clearly isn't new to this meta, and you are just tutorial-level difficulty to her.

"Would you like a practical demonstration?" The idea of said demonstration and the way she pronounces 'practical' is making it increasingly hard to resist her temptations and give in. But you also really want to win this game, at least one time.

"What would this demonstration entail?" You ask, acting innocent, truly oblivious.

"It would most likely be somewhat of a tutorial normally, but you might already be at intermediate level." You don't know whether it's her way of making it sound so incredibly delicious, or whether you might be discovering new things about yourself, but you're suddenly very ready to accept another loss.

"You're good." You didn't have to admit it, but you feel like her enjoying herself, enjoying you, is much better than trying to beat her.

"I'm the best, Yail. Lucky for you, you get to know the best, the best."

Lucky you indeed.

There's nothing left to say, nothing worth saying at least. You really care more about what's about to happen now.

Letting the music guide you, you close your eyes in expectation. As you get closer, you can taste her breath, slightly sweet from the fine wine, hot in anticipation. Being this close is already a good feeling, and it only gets better the closer you get.

It's harder to tell how close you are, with her lights blinking brighter and dimmer depending on the music. However, they do get brighter and brighter, the more you close in on each other. It seems, 'the best' is also excited.

You could swear you've already met in the middle, but the last moments seem to stretch into eternity. At least so it feels… until the lights suddenly go out, the music dies, and murmurs fill the club.

The only light left comes from Connie and Volt's very bright, glowing hair, which stands off in every direction, most likely due to his very visible anger. He quickly storms through the back door, and after a few minutes of silence, the light goes back on, the music slowly picks up again, and Volt reappears, still with a grim expression.

"I'm slowly starting to feel like I haven't met some kind of condition to continue here." Connie starts chuckling, trying to make the best of the situation.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I'm normally not superstitious, but it's getting on my nerves."

You'd normally be really mad, but the way Connie barely seems to be affected by these events, the way she's able to laugh and smile about it, that really makes it hard to feel anything other than pure happiness.

"Allow me to soothe your nerves then, before we get interrupted again." Picking up some kind of speedrunning strategy, Connie disregards her earlier tactics for the head-on approach.

"What happened to our little games?" You ask her teasingly, she smiles as she answers you, somehow this connection between you feels better than all the almost-kisses before together.

"I know you love them, and they're certainly not gone. But I spend so much time forgetting you, I don't want to waste another fucking second I could get to know you better, Yail." 

Her usual flirtatiousness was replaced with pure sincerity. As she looks deep into your eyes, she takes your hands into her own. When she speaks again, her voice is clear, but wavering, she's putting every feeling she's feeling into them, and your ears have never been listening this close before.

"I love you, Yail. So before we get interrupted again, please, just fucking kiss me this time."

You're about to respond, but she had already taken your head with her hands and swiftly made sure that no one would be able to interrupt you this time.

Immediately, any response, and frankly, any thought gets drowned out by the absolute spectacle of sensation that is Connie. The second your lips connect, you can feel a surge of electricity running through every fibre of your being, a wave of unrivalled heat filling your insides. Her taste is so much more than your tongue would ever be able to comprehend, fully occupying every last bit of brainpower you might have left.

As she realises that she finally succeeded, she slowly lets go of your head and lets her hands wander down your body, enveloping you into the most tenderising hug you ever shared. While the rest of her body relaxes, her mouth only seems to get even more active.

You can feel the same desperation you felt earlier in her voice in the way she begins to investigate your mouth. Energetic, needy advances, like it might be her only chance to try you out. The passion she's expressing is so much more than any romance movie would lead you to believe is possible.

Connie quickly overwhelms you, but you truly couldn't care less. The way she engages with every inch of you she can get ahold of is something you wouldn't have believed possible. You gladly, completely forfeit yourself to her desires in this moment, anything she's doing right now is exactly what you need.

As both your breathing becomes increasingly erratic, her actions become just as energetic. Your skin is burning hot and feels even hotter wherever she gets her fingers on. Your lips are starting to get exhausted, but no force in this world would ever be able to make you try to stop her.

Sadly, even she runs out of power at some point.

Very slowly, she retracts her head and returns her hands from the depth of your clothes. The spots on your body that they last touched immediately scream for her return as you slowly back off yourself and look into her eyes.

"I love you too, Connie", is all you can get out before you need to catch your breath again.

Connie, meanwhile, seems much less exhausted than you. She licks her smiling lips, appreciating her work and effort. Giving you some time to breathe, she's the first to say something again. "You're really delicious, Yail, did you know that?"

You'd answer, but in this moment, you're simply not able to. Seeing Connie this happy, this satisfied, is a sight you need to burn into your memory before you waste the chance. You've spent so much time worrying about her well-being that you almost forget how it feels to simply marvel at her existence.

As she sits in front of you, expecting an answer, you just have to hold in a second and take in everything you're seeing. 

Her hair is properly messed up from your kiss, but it simply looks so much more fitting this way. The glow in her eyes is pulsating with her still elevated heartbeat, their golden, star-shaped centres tightly fixated on your lips. Her cheeks, glowing red, sprinkled with the most beautiful assortment of freckles you've seen. And her brass coloured lips, which you never got to experience like this before, being caressed by her tongue just like you were before.

She is clearly happy, and you, clearly, are the reason.

As you manage to finally gather some words, you remember what she even asked you before your thoughts trailed off. "I'd love for you to tell me all about it."

"I'm sure you do, but despite my overnight 'rest', I'm still pretty exhausted from these last 2 days." It's not a game this time, you don't need it to be. She is sincere, and you understand her, it must've been a hundred times worse for her than you could ever wish to tell.

You slowly get up and leave the breaker box, much to Volt's dismay, but you honestly couldn't care less. With Connie in your arms, without any worries on your mind, you feel like you've just finished the most amazing game of all. And the best way to celebrate is with some well-deserved quality time, finally together.

Luckily, the other objects are nice enough to let the two of you go to sleep in peace, and you make it to the bed without any interruptions.

"I love you, Yail. And thank you for everything." Connie says as she slowly lies down beside you.

"I love you too, Connie. And don't thank me, I'd do it infinite times over."

Your progress has been saved. And correctly formatted.

Chapter Text

Waking up in bed certainly has its advantages over the couch or the floor. But it's not really the comfort of the bedding or the softness of the mattress that allowed you to sleep so calmly again.

No, this night was the first you were able to sleep without worries, without doubt, without fears, but with Connie instead. With her slowly and calmly breathing beside you, with her lights dimly blinking in the same rhythm, with her arm keeping you close throughout the night.

And she, too, was finally able to rest without any fear, anxiety or hurt plaguing her mind. The thought of her resting so peacefully beside you was all you needed to fall into the calmest slumber you have ever been graced with. And luckily, Nightmare was kind enough to leave it that way.

Sadly, even the most restful sleep finds its end, and you open your eyes to the early morning sun invading your bedroom and illuminating you and your lover, as you lie beside each other.

Connie is still soundly asleep, most definitely exhausted from the last days and the extreme toll they took on her. She's lying face down on your second pillow, one arm still draped around your chest.

Such unconscious acts are truly the best way to look into a person. Seeing her still search for your comfort, even when fully asleep, really makes your heart melt into a puddle inside your chest.

You think about getting both of you breakfast, but quickly scrap the idea once you realise that that would entail leaving the bed and Connie's embrace. Food is definitely not worth such a loss, sorry, Mitchell.

Instead, you just ponder in bed for a while, the consistent, but calm breathing of Connie accompanying your thoughts.

How long was she stuck in there? The others only ever mentioned "a while," and their perception of time was much different from your own. You know how much time you spent in there, and that was already a lot.

But Connie… there was no way to tell reliably. It had to be years if the others were actually able to notice her absence, but probably not too long either, considering they didn't seem too worried about it.

It doesn't really matter, though. Any time spent in such a hellish cycle is too much. What really matters is that you could spend so much more time together now.

How though? Gaming seems like the obvious choice, of course, but surely Connie wants to try something different as well. Or maybe actually not? She is video games after all. You can only really be sure by asking, but that'll have to wait.

Maybe not too long, though, because Connie's lights are starting to glow more brightly and her tails begin to move around, searching for you.

She slowly opens her eyes, blinking and yawning as she gets accustomed to the waking world again. She turns around and sits upright as she scans the room, only stopping once her view falls onto you.

"Good morning, Yail." She says slowly, the sleepiness very obvious, but not strong enough to keep her from smiling at the sight of you.

"Good morning, Connie. You look like you slept quite well." You return chuckling, smiling back at Connie with her messed-up hair, stretching, yawning, seemingly still very much willing to fall right back asleep.

"After everything that happened? I definitely did, especially because I was sleeping with you instead of moon dust and scrouffs accompanying me." She giggles as she slumps back into the pillow and grabs one of your hands as she stares at the ceiling.

"I really missed the house, you know." She slowly begins talking, her voice barely a whisper as if she's struggling to produce the right words, "I was pretty popular before what happened." She giggles silently, but you just listen to her, trying not to interrupt her in this sensitive moment.

"I mean, Chance and Parker also have their own games to offer, but somehow most others didn't really work well with Parker's obsession with rules or the complexity of GnG. So in the end, most objects came to play with or against me…" She smiles as she thinks back to those times.

"Of course I always won, but still everyone had their fun. It's been so long since I played with them…" Her dreamy smile slowly turns into a frown as she realises how long she has been without the others.

Not wanting to allow her to fall deeper into these thoughts, you quickly squeeze her hand and interrupt her. "Then it's time we let everyone know you're back and ready to kick ass."

She giggles at your enthusiasm, and you share a soft kiss as you slowly, very slowly get up and ready to go downstairs.

"Are you sure they're still interested in games? Maybe they already found different ways to spend their time…" Connie asks as you slowly descend towards the entrance.

"Of course they will be! They probably counted the days they weren't able to try and fight you." You tell her, trying your best to cheer her up, hoping the others would prove you right.

"You're definitely exaggerating, Yail. But thank you, just know that I'm doing much better than I was before, okay? You don't need to be sooo overly cheerful." She smiles at you, but is still serious. She clearly doesn't like the idea of you worrying about her so much, most likely due to her nature of being the 'self-dependent main character'.

"Even the main character needs someone to look out for them, Connie. And if you want it or not, I will always be caring for you. There's no option to disable that setting." You return. She just smiles back silently, but you know, hearing those words was definitely necessary after these past days. No matter how much she insists on being alright.

As you turn into the living room, you can see that the hanks are all seated on the couch, jumping up as they notice you. "HOUSE HOMIE! You brought her!" They shout in unison, pointing at Connie. "It's time for a rematch!"

You look at Connie, who seems perplexed at first but suddenly starts laughing. "Ohhh, yeah! You see, Yail, one of the last things before…. you know, was me playing a game of Thrash Bros. Mega against them. They obviously lost, but I agreed on a rematch to keep working on my skills and stats." She explains as she quickly goes to take her seat on the singular chair.

"Yeah! And this time we'll beat you!" The hanks respond in unison, grabbing onto 5 different controllers, which you can't remember owning…

Koa does not seem to be a big fan of all this action as he appears next to you with a rather negative expression. "Sooo, you've managed to find the solution to your problem, friend? I did say I enjoyed the kids jumping around… but the Hanks are not as adorable."

"Koa! Yes, we were able to, and I am happy to tell you that Connie remembers you and the kids again." You explain to him, hoping it'll cheer him up, considering the rather unpleasant tumult.

"I am so very glad to hear that. Those kids are some of my most fond memories. It would've been a shame if Connie didn't remember them." He says, now smiling as he looks at Connie next to you.

"Yeah… I don't know how much you know about technology, but essentially… her memory got jumbled up after being away, so she did remember you. She just couldn't find that memory, I guess." It's a struggle to try to explain the way technology and memory seem to work to a couch that has only one of them.

"I knew she wouldn't just forget our time. Thank you for telling me, my friend. Let's hope this game is over rather quickly. Nothing against your girlfriend, just the Hanks…" He looks really happy to learn that he wasn't forgotten, but still also somewhat 'disgusted' at the amount of noise coming from the Hanks.

"No problem, Koa. I think Connie will be done with them rather quickly, don't worry." You both chuckle heartily as you turn back to the others who didn't even notice you talking to Koa.

"So each of you against Connie in some sort of tournament?" You ask sheepishly. It's been a while since you last played Thrash Bros. , but you're pretty sure no such gamemode exists.

"Pfft, obviously not," Connie responds as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "5v1 of course! It wouldn't really be fair otherwise!"

You're about to question the 'fairness' of said game, but you quickly realise who you're talking to. And yeah, the Hanks would probably never have a chance against her in 1v1s, considering their training is mostly based on completing deadly stunts, not defeating deadly threats on a daily basis.

"Sounds like this will be quite the spectacle to behold." You say, instead of questioning any further, sitting on the armrest of Connie's chair, watching her get her own controller from somewhere, and navigating through her menus with the type of precision and speed that already leaves you speechless.

Connie notices your eyes following her every move and chuckles. "Just wait until I actually start playing, Yail." The Hanks look determined, not letting her words diminish their willpower.

As they're picking their characters, rules and the map to play on, you look at Connie and enjoy seeing her back in her element. Her earlier doubts already washed away, and every fibre focused on the game. Except for a few occasional glances in your direction.

After they manage to agree on everything, they start the match. You haven't seen or played a match yourself in a while, and you're not sure how everything works, but even for you, it's clear to see that the Hanks quickly get dominated.

Connie's fingers are simply flying over her controller at speeds you have never seen before. Giving input after input and comboing the Hanks into oblivion. Your eyes are fixated on Connie's hands, and their surgical precision as you remember your own experiences with them… such pleasant experiences at that.

Connie looks at you as you blankly stare at her hands, and smiles as she turns back to the screen. You notice the movement from the edge of your vision and quickly look back at the match as well, beginning to turn red.

3 out of the 5 Hanks are already out, and the last 2 are getting decimated much faster, now that Connie can focus on them much better than before. You're really glad you're able to see her ferocity from the sidelines. If you were in the Hanks' position…

You decide to stick to playing coop games only with Connie for now.

Before long, she easily defeats her last 2 remaining enemies and earns her victory. She calmly leans back, barely acknowledging her win, most likely because it's simply nothing special anymore.

"That was insane, Connie." Is all you really have to say. Connie simply looks over at you, grinning.

"It was really nothing, we still have at least one round to go for the best of three." You're not sure whether she's trying to act cool in front of you, or whether she actually is that casual about it.

You're feeling like you're falling for the cliché popular football player, who scores every game and acts like they were born for it. And to be fair, Connie is really cool, really popular, scores in every game and was born for it. But luckily, you're already way past crushing on her, so you're free to idolise her however you want.

The way she keeps peeking over at you as they get ready for the next round tells you that she also really enjoys basking in your admiration. And her coolness is merely meant to get more compliments and looks out of you.

She could be applauded by a football stadium full of fans, but she'd still search the crowd for your validation. Already familiar with fans swarming her after winning, having a lover that will be there even after the most crushing losses is still a new, but visibly welcome, sensation for her.

"This time we'll crush you! Just watch!" The Hanks still look determined, but their chants are much less energetic than last time.

"Sure you will." Is all that Connie responds as she starts the next round. As the countdown appears on screen, she leans over and whispers to you. "Sometimes I lose the second round on purpose so I can get another game in before they give up. But I'm really close to setting a new record, I think, so I'll make quick process with them. Just watch."

You're certainly watching, the game as well, but mostly Connie as her eyes completely focus on the screen in front of her. Her fingers once again enter combos you didn't even know were possible to execute without scripts or macros.

The Hanks are simply helpless in the face of such a formidable foe. One after the other, they lose their extra lives as Connie mercilessly bashes into them. Barely taking any hits herself.

You're glad that you normally receive a different kind of ferociousness from her, which you much prefer over whatever the Hanks are getting. But still, watching her play like this is strangely attractive, and you're considering whether to ask her for a match sometime as well, just to experience it for yourself.

As you ponder the idea, you almost miss the last Hank being stomped into the ground and quickly return to the situation at hand as Connie triumphantly exclaims, "Hack, yeah! I win!", as she turns over to you and envelopes you in a celebratory embrace.

With the energy from winning boosting her power, she almost crushes you, which you certainly won't complain about. It is a nice change of pace compared to the last hugs you shared.

The Hanks are still unable to comprehend what happened to them and immediately and loudly demand a rematch. "Wait, one last round! On a different map this time! Then we'll win for sure!" Much to Koa's dismay.

Connie giggles and addresses you shortly. "Give me a minute, Yail." She quickly plants a kiss on your cheek and sinks back into her chair. All six grab their controllers and slowly repeat the selection phase.

Once more, you get to watch her parry almost all of the Hanks' attacks with ease as their HP dwindles into nothingness. All you hear from them are shocked gasps as well as incredible shouts like "What!? How is that possible?", "I wasn't even that close to her!" or "There's no way that hit me!"

Connie's smile just keeps widening with every excuse and complaint they come up with. She's not just crushing them, she is playing with them. Bringing them so close to death, they start running and panicking as she follows them much more slowly than what would be possible.

This is quite literally just a game for her. A game, where she always has the home advantage. It doesn't matter what stage they play on, what character they pick or whatever their strategy might be. Connie is quite literally made to win, at least at video games.

Unsurprisingly, the round ends rather quickly, even with the playing around Connie allowed herself. The Hanks remain crushed, and Connie remains victorious, much to no one's surprise, really.

"Oh man. We really gotta practice this stunt before it sticks, bros." "Yeah, this is some next-level shit." "For real, maybe we need to pick different characters or something." It's somewhat of a sad display, but maybe losing after not playing for so long will give them some kind of new determination.

"Whatever. See you later, House Homie. And we'll be back for revenge, Connie!" They say as they make their way back to the laundry room.

"I'm sure you will be!" Connie quickly waves them goodbye as she analyses the match statistics, checking her own DPS, her accuracy, the success rate of her combos and her dodge to hit ratio. Watching her as focused on analysing as on playing is fascinating and really makes you understand her passion for what she does.

"Do you see my damage numbers, Yail? They're through the roof! This has got to be a new highscore." She explains enthusiastically as she navigates through the menus until she reaches the local hall of fame.

"You're absolutely incredible, Connie. I'll definitely stick with playing together with you instead of against you for now." You tell her, enjoying the way she literally starts glowing from your compliments.

"Oh, don't worry, Yail. I have a special gallery of games I prefer to play with you…" She returns plainly, leaving the nature of said gallery open to your interpretation as she finally reaches the list of her Thrash Bros. Highscores.

"Wait, what's going on? Those numbers are all messed up." You try to discern what Connie is referring to, and it becomes apparent rather quickly. Her Highscores somehow range from ridiculously low to unbelievably high numbers.

"34 damage/minute? 375,245,933 dodges/hit? 45,985 combos/match? Those numbers make no sense! Where are my actual scores?" She sounds mainly confused right now, but you can sense panic building up behind it.

"Well… maybe Mac just didn't catch that. Let's just ask them before worrying about it too much." You try to calm her, getting up from the arm rest and waiting for her to follow you.

"Yeah, you're right. They probably just missed that." She says, not too confidently, but still somewhat hopeful.

Her Highscores are her life's work, quite literally everything she ever played for. You really hope Mac will be able to restore them, because it's starting to feel like Connie really can't catch a break.

She sets down the controller and follows you towards the office. As you get closer, Dorian appears with a concerned look. "Back already? And there I thought everything got fixed already. Something still wrong, Connie?" He asks, addressing her directly.

"I hope not, but only Mac can really tell." She says as Dorian makes way for you. He stays put, looking at you as you walk past him into the office.

As you approach the desk, you quickly focus the Dateviators onto the computer until Mac appears in front of you. "Oh, it's you two! Everything with your memories working in order?" They ask, happy to see you again.

"Not really, Mac. I tried to check my highscores, but the numbers are all messed up and make zero sense." Connie immediately explains, sounding panicked once more.

"Ah yes, that's what I tried telling you about last time..." Mac begins, with a rather troubled look on their face, "I was able to restore your most essential saved data, basically the equivalent of your general memories."

"Yes, that's why I can remember everyone again." She doesn't seem to understand what Mac is getting at, and you don't understand either.

"Well, considering the immense effect your sudden surplus of memories had on you. I couldn't possibly save everything when reformatting." They continue slowly, almost afraid of your reaction.

"What do you mean? What couldn't you save?" The panic in Connie's voice is now very audible, and your concern is just as strong now.

Mac sighs and continues. "Look, all your memories and smaller details were all over the place. Many barely even readable. When I reformatted everything, it simply wasn't possible to save those details."

Bracing yourself for the worst, you put an arm around Connie, which is quickly latched onto by both of her tails. "And with 'those details' you mean…"

"Yes, your highscores, speedrun times and other pieces of smaller data are non-functional, I fear." They finish, looking sad, "Your essential memories and the more basic data are all that I could save. Everything else is either 'messed up' or gone. The only way to 'fix' them would be to reset them…"

Your progress has been saved…

… the rest, not so much.

Chapter Text

"They're- they're gone?" Connie's eyes widen in disbelief, and she almost slumps onto the ground. Luckily, you manage to catch her and hold her upright. She slowly puts her arms around you as the first tears slowly drip down her, from shock distorted, face.

"All… I ever worked for… and they're gone." It seems the shock is the only thing keeping her from completely breaking down. But you can already sense the first tremors running through her body.

You try to think of something that could calm her, but you're still too shocked yourself. Connie needs you, but your mind is completely blank. No ideas, no words, no solutions, nothing.

"Why do I have to lose everything I loved, AGAIN!? Why, Yail?! WHY!?" She screams and cries out, now heavily sobbing over your shoulder as she clings to your back. The pain in her voice sends a piercing sensation through your heart, like a needle being pushed right through your chest.

Never before have you seen her this… enraged? Horrified? Crushed? In pain?

You fear she might expose bare flesh, the way she latches onto your back for support. But that's really the least of your worries at this moment.

After all, physical wounds heal so much easier than emotional ones…

"I just got everything back! And NOW?! I spent decades working on those, but NOW?!" As she releases her despair into the air and claws onto your back, you try to come up with something to say, but you have nothing, nothing of use anyway.

But what could you say that has any meaning, anyway? 'At least you still have me'? That'll surely cheer her up. She just lost everything she ever played for, but at least you're still here, right?

"Maybe- maybe I should've stayed on the moon! Maybe it was a mistake to try and go on! How often do I need to get beaten down again?! And for WHAT!?" Every word is pushing the needle deeper through your heart as your own tears start flowing alongside hers, and you too, are beginning to hold on to her much stronger.

'Don't think like that, please.' You think, not able to say anything. Your voice is muted in the face of her pain and anguish. You're out of options. There's nothing left to fix.

It's all broken and you can't repair it.

"How can it be... that a timeloop felt better than freedom?! This is not FAIR!" It isn't fair, but what are you going to do about it? There's nothing in your power that could right this wrong, and you know that.

As this realisation strikes you, you begin to lose the strength in your legs. Fearing what she might say next, scared of what might come after.

"Maybe- maybe I should just go back. Maybe I should just forget everything again." She isn't screaming anymore, but it's still worse than before. The calmness, the lack of emotion, no rage, no anything. Hearing her contemplate something like this…

'No, don't go back, please.'

"Say something, Yail! Anything, PLEASE!" These words somehow carry even more of her pain than all the other before, as they slowly turn from enraged questions to whispered pleas. Heavy with her all too familiar despair that finally pushes the needle through to the other side.

You're all she has left, but you have nothing to offer, just empty words and useless consolation.

"I- I don't-" You begin, but your own pain is making it difficult to even breathe, "I don't know Connie. I'm so sorry."

She stops saying anything for a while.

Her hands slowly release their hold on your back and fall down to waist level. Heavy sobs from both of you send tremors throughout each other's bodies. Streams of tears flowing onto the other's clothes. Hands trying to steady themselves with the others' help.

It's not clear who is consoling who now.

Connie is the first to say something again, slowly, carefully, interrupted by tears. "I love you, Yail. I just- I don't know what to do anymore."

You're not sure whether this makes it better or worse, but at least the confirmation is calming you ever so slightly. The second part…

"I love you too, Connie. I always will. But- I can't help you this time. I don't know what to do about your highscores." It feels like the needle came back for a second time, making sure that your inability to help would crush you even more than hearing Connie's despair.

"I know, Yail. It's- It's okay." Is all she whispers back before you both return to sobbing. But it doesn't feel okay, not at all.

Mac and Dorian already left you in privacy a while ago, so once more it's just you and Connie, crying in the empty office.

While you still feel utterly useless, you're glad that Connie does not seem to hold it against you. It's something to hold on to, but not nearly enough to actually cheer you up, not even a bit.

Meanwhile, all you can offer her is yourself. No solution, no alternative, nothing. Just you and your useless feelings.

As you're starting to lose the little strength left in your legs, you sink towards the floor, Connie following you silently.

You're both still crying, but at least not as heavily anymore. Being back here, on the floor of the office is… a familiar feeling.

"I- I wasn't serious about going back to the moon, you know," Connie admits after a while. She's still very quiet, but it seems that she managed to calm down again. Even without your help.

"I was hoping you weren't serious" You finally manage to mutter. It feels pathetic, almost like you're blaming her for her feelings…

"You- you thought I'd leave you?" She seems shocked at hearing herself say it. So much so even, that she's the first to separate and look at you directly.

Her cheeks are red and wholly wet from tears, some fresher than others. Her eyes and nose are red and still dripping occasionally. Her hair even more disorganised than when you woke up earlier.

But her face doesn't show sadness anymore, it shows confusion. Confusion at what you just said.

"I just thought… your highscores…" You can't even form whole sentences, and you rightfully feel awful about it. Connie just lost everything she worked for her whole life, but you're already forcing her to care for you.

Suddenly, she starts smiling, just a little, but you can definitely see the edges of her lips lift up ever so slightly. She sighs as she starts speaking again. "Yeah, I did lose my highscores, but I'd never abandon the house over it. And especially not you, Yail."

'Especially not you'

Involuntarily, you start smiling as well.

'Especially not you'

It's somehow the most comforting thing you've ever heard anyone say to you. Not because of the words themselves, but because of the sincerity and love behind them.

"But- but they're your life's work." Your disbelief is simply still too strong to just let go off it so easily. You just can't figure out how it is that she manages to be so calm about it.

She sighs again and, for a second, looks a little sadder than before. "They are, and I do miss them. But I can't just run from losing them. Not after I just returned. Not after I finally got my memories back. Not after I finally got you…"

"Got… me?" You don't think you've ever heard someone talk about you like that. Casually assigning you so much value…

Now she's even chuckling, blissfully unaware of how much her words mean to you. "Of course, Yail. Did you think I just took you for granted?"

You never really thought about it before. You knew you tried everything to get her out of there. But you didn't know how Connie saw it. "No…" That was probably the least confident 'No' you have ever heard anyone say.

Connie doesn't chuckle this time, no, she looks at you with pity in her eyes. "Yail… of course I didn't take you for granted. Maybe I wasn't able to consciously fight for you back- back then… But I still love and loved you, more than my highscores."

"But… you worked so hard for them." How can she just get over her scores that quickly? It's her life's work. You've barely even known her in comparison.

She grabs your hands, and for the first time, she is the one to squeeze them. "I did, but those scores never meant more to me than all the work, dedication, care …and love you have given me. I'd never choose them over you."

"But- but I didn't care for you at all right now. All I did was… nothing." You say, not understanding how she could consider you anything but additional weight.

"You stayed with me, Yail. I don't need you to say something all the time, sometimes just being together is enough." It's still somewhat hard to believe, but she looks and sounds so incredibly sincere about it. As her words really reach, you almost start crying again, but this time out of joy.

"I should be the one to comfort you over the loss of your scores." You finally manage to chuckle, genuinely smiling yourself this time.

"No, Yail. I feel like you needed this much more than I did." She states, as if it were a fact. You'd like to disagree, you're not the one who was stuck in a timeloop for who knows how long. But you do have to agree that you needed to hear this.

"Thank you, Connie. I love you."

"I love you, too, Yail. And don't thank me, I'll look out for you just as much as you always look out for me. I hate being the only one who needs help." She plants a kiss on your forehead, so soft and careful that it washes all of your sorrow, guilt and fear away immediately.

Maybe not all of it, but most for now.

"So… what now?" You ask her, unsure of what to do. So far, you've been the one to try your best to comfort her through your loss and come up with solutions. This change is somewhat confusing for you.

"Now we make sure we don't look like this," she gestures to her runny nose and tears eyes, giggling while doing so, "when we walk out of here. And then…" she halts, thinking carefully to herself for a few seconds, "Then we set some new highscores."

Her bright smile as she says those last words is making it hard not to start beaming as well. Her tenacity is truly admirable, and you're glad to have someone who'll seemingly never stop going on by your side.

"Just completely start from 0?" You ask, somewhat perplexed at the suggestion.

"Yes, but this time together. If you're able to keep up." She starts laughing, and you do as well. It's hard not to when her eyes are beaming just as brightly as her smile. Infecting you with happiness.

"I'll certainly try my best." You tell her, suddenly finding new determination of your own.

"I know you will, Yail. I've seen it before." She almost jumps up again, holding out her hand, inviting you to follow her lead.

You eagerly grab on and immediately get pulled up by her very unexpected strength. She can tell that you didn't expect such a force and skilfully catches you in another hug, before you can pull both of you back down onto the floor.

"Thank you for keeping me going. I'm glad I was finally able to return the gesture." She whispers into your ear as she releases you again.

"I still think-" you try to return, but you're very quickly interrupted by one of her tails hitting the back of your head.

"Then stop thinking, Yail." She says, her cheeky grin returning to her face as she pulls open the office door.

As you go to return to the living room, you notice that Curt and Rod seem to have been waiting for you. You go to ask them about it, but they start speaking first.

"Hey. You know we're normally more interested in the stuff happening outside and all…" Curt begins, looking unusually nervous.

"Right, but we just couldn't help noticing your…" Rod looks towards Curt, as if he just realised what he was about to say.

"Your uh- problems?" Curt tries his best to jump in for Rod, but they're both equally awkward about it.

"You don't do this really often, do you?" You ask them, looking over at Connie, who is struggling to suppress her laughter.

"Hey! We just want you to know that we're like… always around the house… if you need us." Rod returns, very offended at your words.

"Exactly! So, you know… just hit us up if you need us." Curt finishes, once again slightly nervous and somewhat embarrassed.

It's really touching to see them abandon their usual shading to show you their support. Connie seems to agree, as she smiles at their awkwardness and gives you a silent nod.

You know exactly what she is referring to. "Well, you two interested in a round of 2v2 Thrash Bros.?"

They look at each other with surprise written all across their face. Clearly, they didn't expect that to be your response, but they quickly return to their usual selves as they answer. "Heck yeah! We haven't been able to play that for way too lon-"

Curt rams his elbow into Rod's side as he notices Connie's smile wavering at that sentence. "Way to make it awkward again, dude." He says to Rod under his breath.

"Wha- Oh! No, that's not-" Rod sighs as he realises what he said, "That's not what I meant, Connie. Sorry."

She grabs your hand as she answers. "It's alright, I know what you meant. Come on, let's play!" Even though Rod's comment seemed to bring her down ever so slightly, the idea of finally being able to return to her favourite (maybe second favourite, since you came around…) hobby is definitely able to quickly bring a smile back to her face.

"Let's game!" The duo says as they rush towards the living room.

Before you go to follow them, you turn towards Connie. "You alright?" You ask her carefully, not wanting her to start 'toughing it out' just for the sake of playing.

"Yes, I am. I admit that it's still painful to think about. But I have so many pleasant memories back and so many chances to make new ones, especially with you, I won't allow it to weigh me down so much." She says, determination sparkling in her golden eyes.

"As long as you still tell me when they do…" You say seriously, wanting to make sure that her determination doesn't evolve into avoidance.

"If I ever have doubts again, you'll know. I promise." She returns just as seriously.

"Good." Is all you have to add, before you give her a quick kiss and pull her towards the living room, where Curt and Rod are already holding their controllers.

"I'll try to hold back. No promises though." Connie says as she gets her own controller. Looking over at Curt and Rod with her cheeky smile.

"Ouhh, okay! Big talk before the game even begins, we'll see how long you'll be able to 'hold back'." They return. It seems that Connie's boasting and their shading beautifully harmonise when it comes to playing against each other.

You try your best to combine your training in shading from the two with the practice in teasing you had with Connie, to join in on the friendly bickering. "You'll be begging to practice with the Inanimals once we're done with you."

Connie giggles somewhat proudly at your words as Curt and Rod start laughing as well. "Alright, alright. It seems you two definitely know your way around your own type of shading."

"Yail and I are definitely better at shading than you are at gaming." She says as she looks towards you. Giving you a tingling sensation, you try to get rid of before the game starts.

"We'll see about that!" They return as they wait for you to finally grab your own controller.

You quickly take it and plant yourself onto the couch next to Curt and Rod, leaving Connie her own space on the chair. While you're not necessarily the worst at games, it's obvious that she will most likely do most of the work in this fight.

Holding the controller again, after knowing who it is, is certainly an odd feeling to say the least. This is most likely the only real controller, the other ones being made up of the same confusing science that forms the breaker box or the mayor's office.

Does- does Connie feel the controller? Would she complain if you hit the buttons too hard? Should you hold it more carefully?

Mac did mention feeling your mouse clicks…

It would probably be best not to think about it too much. At least until you're without additional company.

You lean over to Connie, as Curt and Rod discuss their strategy, and whisper, "You might have to give me a quick rundown on the controls." Looking at her with an embarrassed expression.

She giggles and very quickly runs down every single rule, mechanic and strategy that exists. You're barely able to follow her, but manage to grasp the underlying basics. Hopefully, it'll be enough to do something in the battle to come.

You get to the selection phase, but know nothing about what to expect from the different stages, rule-sets or characters. When you have to decide on who to play, you once again ask Connie for recommendations.

She seems very happy to offer you her help and immediately starts explaining every single stat and move-set of the characters. Once again, leaving you to try and understand even a single sentence from her.

You don't actually think much about the characters anymore. Seeing Connie so engaged in something that interests her so much is incredibly comforting to look at. Hearing her go on and on about every single detail she learned and remembered is starting to make you feel tranquil.

In the end, you simply decide to go with the character she personally called one of her favourites and try to remember the most important combos she tells you about. She also mentions that Curt and Rod picked characters with incredibly good synergy, which is not very surprising, even to you.

Once the match starts, you take a few seconds to try out the controls and attacks before you engage in the fight. While the controls are still unfamiliar, they're not too awkward to use, and you quickly get the hang of how to fight. Maybe Connie's skills are already rubbing off on you.

While you're certainly not the bigger threat to your two enemies, you still manage to get a few hits and avoid any major harm. Much to the joy of Connie, who starts cheering you on with a pride in her voice you haven't heard before. "That was a really good combo, Yail! Make sure not to open yourself up too much!"

You try your best to follow her guidance, but she clearly thinks much faster than you can execute her instructions. Still, you feel yourself growing more and more familiar with the controls and start dealing real damage.

As you and Connie begin to dominate Curt and Rod, they're left to complain, while trying to minimise their losses. "Yo, when do we get the pro-player coach?!" They shout as you begin to fight two of them at the same time. Allowing Connie to take a step back and just watch you fight.

"You're actually crushing it, Yail." She exclaims enthusiastically as you manage to take a life from both of them at the same time.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" You return, trying to tease her. She turns red as she mumbles something about not having seen you fight before.

One of your first real victories, you get to celebrate between the two of you.

Now that you managed to get used to fighting, you and Connie quickly take care of the others' last lives and celebrate your victory with a high-five that leaves your hands hurting.

Curt and Rod are left with open mouths, their shade seemingly nowhere to be found. "Damn, they got us good." "Who are you telling that? You think I didn't notice?"

The 4 of you put the controllers back down, or more so, back to wherever they got them from. And decide to call it quits for the day. "We'll be seeing you two around," Curt says as he goes to take his leave.

"Damn right, we'll be back for a rematch. If you don't need us earlier, you know." Rod quickly adds, before following Curt to watch whatever is happening outside right now.

Before you turn around, Connie has already enveloped you in an extremely energetic hug as she celebrates your victory. "You were amazing, Yail! I didn't know you could fight like that."

"Hey! I might not be as familiar with every game as you, but I'm certainly not a newbie." You return laughing, happy to hear her this enthusiastic about your victory. Having someone support and take pride in your success is such a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Connie giggles as she goes to defend herself. "I'd never think about calling you a newbie," the sarcasm dripping from her tongue, "but you still have some training to do if you want to get on my level." A smile of pure superiority is gracing her face like a golden medal.

"I'll be happy to learn from the best. We certainly have a few new highscores to set."

"We do indeed. But this was definitely enough for today. Even for me, mostly because I'm not in the mood to ask Kopi for an espresso right now. Let's go save and see what we can play tomorrow." She says as she takes your hand and leads you upstairs.

Today was certainly another rather exhausting experience, but hopefully the next ones would only test your ability to sit for long periods of time and the endurance of your fingers. You wonder who in this house might be one of the more regular gamers, as you slowly follow Connie upstairs.

You ought to ask her who might be willing to join you tomorrow. But for now, all you care about is sleep and Connie beside you.

Your progress has been saved…

… and your skills have improved.

Chapter Text

Once more, you wake up to the warm, tingling sensation of the first rays of sunshine entering the bedroom. Once more, you carefully open your eyes and look around the room until your view falls onto…

… a vacant pillow?

You immediately jump upright and look around the room, much more awake now, as if Connie might be hiding behind the dr]@//Er. Unsurprisingly, she isn't, and that makes you even more worried.

You tell yourself that she probably just woke up earlier and is already downstairs playing or something like that, as you very hastily put on your clothes and get ready to rush out of the room.

As you arrive at the border of the living room, you quickly realise that you hear absolutely no video-game-esque sounds. And upon entering, you can also see that there is no Connie, who could've made such sounds anywhere. But where else would she be?

As you slowly start genuinely panicking, you suddenly hear a very familiar voice coming from the Kitchen, "Yail, is that you?" Your lung suddenly is capable of breathing normally again, as you realise who is calling you.

You quickly run past the dining room and make your way to the kitchen, where Connie has just placed some fresh toast on two plates. As you follow her movement, you see an assortment of different items spread out on Abel's entire surface.

"I didn't know what you normally eat, so I just took out everything. I'm sure Freddy and Cabrizzio won't mind." She goes on, blissfully unaware of your earlier worry, as she sits down and waits for you to follow.

The perplexity is still keeping you from speaking as you awkwardly take your own place at the table. After a few seconds of processing everything in front of you, you finally manage to start talking again. "Why are you making breakfast?" You ask, sounding awfully blunt, irritating Connie.

"Oh well, I woke up, all excited to finally start working on my highscores, but I didn't want to start without you, so I decided to wait till you get up by making breakfast." She smiles warmly, but as she looks at your expression, realisation becomes apparent on her face, and she adds on "Wait, were you worried about me?"

You don't really understand why she would possibly sound so confused about it, considering it wouldn't be the first time by far. "Of course! You weren't in bed, so I started looking for you!" You say, the disbelief very clear in your voice.

Connie starts giggling as she reaches her hand over the table to cover your own. "Yail, you really need to stop worrying so much. I appreciate it, truly. But I can take care of myself. And I know you only mean well, but I feel like you're trying to baby me here, you know?" As she finishes, she looks at you seriously. She doesn't seem to be angry about it, but rather bummed.

"I don't mean to baby you, I promise. But after what happened, I just don't want you to feel like you're on your own again." You're just as sincere as you answer, now holding her hand firmly. She tries to avoid your eyes, and it's clear that she knows that you are right, but is still unwilling to accept the truth behind your words.

As she answers you, her eyes are still very focused on the plate in front of her, and her voice is much quieter. "But- I hate feeling like I need to be looked after. I'm supposed to be the leader, not the baggage." You can tell that her role as the main character is still very firmly embedded in her self-consciousness, but you cannot allow it to keep her from accepting your support.

"You're not 'baggage', Connie. And you need to stop feeling like you're supposed to 'deal with it' on your own. I know you're not used to having a permanent second player, but I'm not gonna stand by as you bury your feelings."

"Hey! I told you I would tell you when I need you, and I meant that. I just don't want you to think I can't handle myself. Even though I really enjoy having you as my player 2…" She smiles a bit as she finishes, but still looks mostly sad and a bit angry at your accusation.

"I didn't mean it that way. And I know you're very capable. But I'll still worry about you, not because I doubt your abilities, but because it's just part of loving you." Her eyes start tearing as she looks at you directly again. But she quickly regains her composure.

"I love you too, Yail. It's just… unfamiliar." It's always like such a warming sensation to hear her say these words, but it would feel much better if the moment wasn't so sad at the same time.

"You think I'm used to all this? You're my first time, too, Connie." Normally, you feel embarrassed about admitting your lack of prior partners, but none of that shame seems to exist as you're talking to her right now. It's rather comforting, knowing that you can safely talk to her about… anything really.

"I'm not talking about that. I mean…" she sighs deeply, it's clear that it's taking her a lot of willpower to continue talking, "I've never needed to be so dependent. It feels like I keep weighing you down." Once again, she stares at her plate; you can't see her face, but you can clearly imagine how droopy she must be looking right now.

You're suddenly transported back to the moment after you talked to Telly. The guilt on Connie's face was unbearable, and seeing it back already, tainting her usual cheeriness, is even worse. You hold her hand much tighter, mostly involuntarily, as you start speaking again. "Stop it. I told you before that what happened was not your fault. I chose to love you, and I still stand by it. You will never be 'weight' to me, okay?"

As she slowly lifts her head back up, you can see her watery eyes slowly starting to release tears across her cheeks. But at the same time, her quivering lips are starting to lift, ever so slightly. "I know. But-but I've never- I've never had to… deal with that myself."

"Then we start now. Together. You're not getting rid of me." You chuckle, and you're actually able to get a chuckle out of Connie as well. Seeing her smile is all you need to calm down again.

"I wouldn't dream of that in a million saves, Yail." She giggles as she wipes away the last tears off her reddened cheeks.

"Good." You add, as you slowly release her hand and start enjoying your breakfast.

As Connie slowly takes her hand back to herself, she starts inspecting what she actually put on the table. She is reading the label of anything in her reach, most likely trying to check the 'stats'. "How do I know how much HP and energy this will restore?" She asks, confusion written across her face in big letters.

"That doesn't exist here. Well, I guess calories are pretty much like energy, but we don't walk around with a health bar in our face." You explain to her as seriously as possible, struggling to keep the edges of your lips from lifting

As you mention, the health bar she suddenly starts looking all over the place, as if she were searching for a fly in the air. "You're right! I don't have a health bar here! I didn't even notice that yet…" This time, you can't help but start giggling at her cluelessness, and her face turns red with embarrassment.

"Hey! You try living with a health bar all of a sudden! Do you just eat for the sake of it then?"

"Well, hunger is still a very real mechanic, Connie." You say, wishing that you really only ate 'for the sake of it'. The amount of money you would save on groceries…

"True, haven't played many survival games lately. So I can just try anything?" She asks you, incredibly, most likely suspecting a hidden debuff or secret penalty.

"Yes! Try whatever you want and see what you like. I can recommend some of my favourites." You tell her as you hand her one of your favourite spreads. She really takes your advice to heart as she starts eagerly painting her toast. As she goes to eat it, she quickly realises the physical limits of her humanoid mouth and almost squishes the toast into her own face.

"Wow, this is much better than all the stuff I've eaten for healing!" Connie exclaims after her very first bites. She is actually rather energetic as she munches down on the contents of your fridge and cabinets.

"But normally it's also much faster, odd." You chuckle as you imagine her absorbing your food as she would in her games. Luckily, your stock won't be emptied that quickly by her.

"What did you plan on playing today anyway?" You ask her, not really remembering much of your game library and pile of physical discs and cartridges lying next to her console.

"I've been thinking about playing some Co-Kart, actually. Most of the kitchen folk who helped me with the breakfast are pretty big fans." She explains, as if it were completely natural that your stove and toaster enjoy playing racing games in their free time.

"Which one do you have?" You faintly remember an ad about a new title of the Co-Kart series having come out lately, but you're sure yours must be much older.

"You mean which one do you have? Co-Kart 7. I've heard one of Telly's ads say that there's also a new Co-Kart World, but I don't think that's compatible with me anymore." You thought you'd gotten used to that "object-talk", but hearing her talk about being 'compatible' with a game is still somewhat odd to imagine.

You finish the rest of your breakfast rather quickly, mostly because Connie is still used to her 'usual method' of consuming food, and you have already lost most of your appetite when looking for her.

As you clean up together, Connie comes closer and whispers into your ear, "Thank you for sticking with me."

"Stop thanking me." You return sternly, wishing she'd stop making it sound like you're doing her a favour.

"But-" Before she can finish her sentence, you use the small distance between the two of you in order to stop her from babbling in a more intimate manner.

She is taken aback at first, but very quickly follows your lead and happily returns the gesture.

"Sorry, I didn't give you time to prepare." You say after you slowly release her again.

She giggles at your rather out of place excuse. "Don't apologise, I completely forgot what I was talking about anyway. And I don't require a heads up for that, from you." Hearing that in her oh so tempting voice is making you very glad you didn't eat too much, considering the way your guts are twisting around themselves as a reaction.

You'd think that you are already past such intense reactions to the simplest flirts, but Connie really has an effect on you that you both loathe and enjoy at the same time.

"Could you ask Telly to turn on, while I gather everyone from the Kitchen?" Connie asks you after you finish cleaning up. The way she says it sounds like it's actually a chore, and you start smiling to yourself as you turn towards the living room.

As you talk to Telly, take the game cartridge and go to insert it into the console, you start hearing excited voices coming from the kitchen. You wonder how many players will be joining you, as you watch the game slowly boot up and go to save yourself a seat on Koa.

"If any of you dare to pick my character, I'll not hesitate to send my Migas after you, ay?"

"I don't want to get any cracks or chips while playing, is that understood?"

"Will we be driving through bella Italia? I've been missing the seaside so much."

"I really can't leave the cafe unattended for too long, you know. What about the customers?"

"You're gonna need help keeping your processors cooled, Connie? I can take some ice with me if you want."

"I need to check on my roast later on, so if Mr. Cluckles calls me, we need to pause."

You could hear Connie groan repeatedly as everyone moved towards the living room. This will clearly be a very interesting session. Not necessarily a bad one, but unique in its own way.

"Okay, everyone, grab a seat and get a controller so we can finally begin!" Connie instructs the others, and you can tell the experience she has in organising these communal games. Her dedication and passion for gaming really shows in how seriously she goes about all of this.

Connie sits down in Chairemi next to you and, as everyone else gets ready to play, quietly whispers to you, "You know, I could tell how careful you were with the controller yesterday?" You hope that no one notices how red you're turning right now as you listen to her teasing voice right by your ear.

"Uh, well, I figured you might feel that." You manage to slowly press out of your lungs.

"I do indeed, Yail. And I appreciate it, truly. But feel free to be a little 'rougher', I've been enjoying your handling so far." Maybe you should wait out the first race, considering the way your heart started racing upon hearing the last words slowly drip from her tongue.

Connie, meanwhile, enjoys seeing her effect on you and giggles to herself as she turns back to the screen. Leaving you to try and cool down before you'd have to start driving. She's evil, but you can't deny that you really enjoy these flirts of hers.

You quickly grab the controller from the table in front of you, now just as you'd normally do, and notice Connie smiling as you touch the plastic exterior. Trying not to get distracted, you focus on the screen and watch as everyone rushes to select their character and vehicle.

Not really knowing what to look for, you simply select a rather funny-looking character in a cart that, as it seems, has rather equally distributed stats. Maybe someday your partner's knowledge would rub off on you and make it easier to decide. But for now, you'll just have to hope she approves of your choices.

As the camera flies over the racetrack, you notice Connie slowly leaning forward, her eyes tightly fixated on her portion of the screen. It's not like she really needs to put in much effort to win, but maybe you underestimate the skills of the others.

The countdown appears on the screen, and everyone else quiets down. Connie leans even further forward, Miranda has an expression on her face as if she was ready to kill, Daisuke looks even more focused than when he's working, Stefan almost shows signs of joy, Kopi is looking as nervous as ever, Cabrizzio is the only one looking relaxed and Freddi seems to be more worried about breaking his controller.

3…

You suddenly remember you'd have to start giving gas before the tier is over.

2…

Almost simultaneously, everyone presses the gas button, just as you do.

1…

The air is thick with excitement as everyone is just waiting for the race to finally begin.

GO!

"VÁMANOS", Miranda exclaims gleefully as everyone shoots off the starting spots.

The first turn makes you realise that this is clearly not a beginner's track, and you almost fall off the edge, but quickly manage to drift somewhat safely around the corner. You manage to grab one of the special items spread on the track and look towards Connie's portion of the screen, as you wait for the animation to end.

Somehow, Connie is already building up a lead, performing one impossible-looking shortcut after the other, seemingly skipping half the track with unparalleled ease. You almost drive off the track again as you stare at her awestruck, but quickly return to your own race as you hear Stefan yell, "Are you trying to drive me off the edge or something?!"

"Relax, amico! Just enjoy this beautiful scenery." Despite Cabrizzio seemingly being more interested in the graphics and the mood, he was still just ahead of you in 4th place, keeping up with Daisuke in front of him and Miranda, who is actually putting in some distance to everyone else. Still not enough to even start catching up to Connie, but that's to be expected.

As you calm down from your almost-accident, your item is finally determined: A "Star-Booster". Unfortunately, you have no idea what that is or what it even does. Freddy seemingly noticed your expression and calls over to you, "That's a booster, Cool Kid! You just use it as often as you can, and it makes you go faster."

"Thanks, Fre-" You want to say, but you are interrupted by a rather panicked-sounding Kopi. "FREDDY, eyes on the road, alright! You almost crashed into me!"

As you use your booster, you notice that Connie's expression looks even more serious. You're not sure if she's just focused or… pouting? It's not like you'd be able to reach her till after the game anyway, so you focus on making the most out of the item and actually manage to take over Cabrizzio and Daisuke in one go.

Latter actually moved out of your way as you approached, probably still scared of being hit, and let out a long sigh only after he had his own portion of the track again.

Miranda notices you slowly creeping up on her second place and starts throwing obstacles at you, which she seemingly saved the whole time. Considering that you reached a rather narrow part of the track, you struggled to manoeuvre through her attacks, but actually managed to avoid being hit by even a single one.

"Prools, you're great at this, Yail!" Connie suddenly exclaims as Miranda curses you in Spanish under her breath. This moment of inattention actually causes her to miss one of her shortcuts and fall down the cliff next to the track, costing her a considerable amount of the distance she had established so far.

"I never thought I'd see the master stumble. It seems the game has a new weakness." Daisuke says, as everyone starts giggling. Connie immediately focuses on her own cart again, but you notice her starting to blush bright red in the light of the TV and can't help but chuckle very quietly to yourself.

You almost repeat her mistake and drive dangerously close to the off-road in the middle of a split section. The items you get in second place might not be the best, but if you picked up anything from Connie's skills, it would be enough to overtake Miranda.

Glancing at the other sections of the screen, you see that Kopi and Freddy, who comfortably sit in the second last places, are currently being approached by Connie, who used so many perfectly executed shortcuts that she already completed the first lap, far before anyone got to it.

"What? Am I that slow, or why is she already approaching again?" You hear Kopi ask, a hint of panic in her voice. Most likely, because she knew that Connie would only have very little regard for her safety.

"Nah, she's just super fast," Freddy reassures her as he watches Connie whiz past them at incredible speeds.

Even you are still awestruck by her abilities, even though you should probably know best out of everyone by now. Seeing her excel like this is not only filling you with a sense of second-hand pride, but also determination to show her that you are capable of, at least somewhat, similar feats.

Miranda seems to sense what you're planning and quickly drives over an item box. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't give her anything to get rid of you. Even more unfortunately for her, you get a targeted missile from the box, which you quickly use to make her crash right in front of you, allowing you to easily drive past her.

"Mierda! You try to ask me for a toast again, just wait!" You can't help but chuckle at her aggravated swears and watch her mumble to herself as she slowly starts to pick up speed again.

Glancing to your right, you see the edges of Connie's mouth lift up slightly as she glances at you driving past Miranda. This time, she doesn't repeat her earlier mistake and actually overtakes Daisuke and Stefan at the same time.

Now that you have also made it to your second lap, you manage to relax the slightest bit. You have a decent amount of distance between yourself and Miranda, no one else was any closer to you, and your distance to Connie was rather insignificant, considering that you wouldn't catch up to her, no matter how many laps you get.

This doesn't deter you from driving just as focused, though, while you might not be able to overtake her, you will still try to keep her from overtaking you.

That might be easier said than done, because Connie is already halfway through her second lap and only catching up faster.

Just at this moment, you notice a blue symbol appearing in the middle of the screen, quickly approaching Connie, who notices it as well.

"Druck! Who the hack sent that?!" She shouts as the missile approaches her rapidly, shooting past everyone else.

"Well, that would be me. I might not be the best driver, but I sure as hell still know how to use these 'items'." Stefan answers her, laughing as he watches the missile blow up in her face.

While you'd normally be sorry for her or even angry on her behalf, you know that it's but a slight annoyance for her, and it helps you decrease the distance between the two of you.

You're actually getting incredibly close to Freddy and Kopi as well, who are still driving rather relaxed, paying more attention to not bumping into anything than catching up with the others.

Using a boost-pad that you didn't even notice on your first lap, you actually manage to overtake both them and Daisuke, who is still visibly worrying about possible damage to himself and surrounding himself with a shield of missiles.

Cabrizzio, who is still very charmed by the design of the entire map, accidentally drives Stefan off a cliff while watching the digital sunset. Stefan is rightfully enraged, and you take the chance to slip past the two of them.

"Amico, relax! How can you be so angry when the sun is so bellissima?"

Overtaking the others might not change anything in your placement, but it's sure to get Connie's attention, the biggest motivator you have right now.

As you approach the finish line to begin your third lap, you notice that not only did Connie just finish half of her 3rd lap already, but Miranda is also catching up to you dangerously fast.

You spend the next half of the track skillfully drifting around the turns as tightly as possible, while dodging every obstacle along the path. Sadly, Miranda is doing only slightly worse than you, and doesn't increase the distance between you by a lot.

Connie, who already completed her last lap, is tightly focused on your and Miranda's screen, watching you drive and twitching ever so slightly whenever you almost get caught in an obstacle, breathing a sigh of relief when you don't actually crash.

With the lack of anyone else's presence, you are now essentially driving a race against Miranda, with Connie in the front seat. Knowing that she is watching you so attentively is calming, but it is also making you very nervous.

Your hands are starting to sweat as the turns get closer and the obstacles become more unavoidable the closer you get to the finish line. Hopefully Connie won't mind it…

You can practically feel Miranda's breath in your neck as you approach the last stretch. She just threw and missed, an entire barrage of missiles, and Connie almost jumped out of her seat as she watched you barely escaping the last one.

It's only a straight track from where you are, no obstacles anymore, no items. You can see Miranda getting closer to the edge of your screen, menacingly approaching your cart with her own.

"Don't let her overtake you now, Yail!" Connie exclaims, unable to contain her excitement.

You definitely don't plan on doing anything of the likes, but you are also way too focused on yourself to answer her.

Just as you watch her cart creeping up right next to your own… You reach the finish line…

You jump up from your seat in joy and immediately turn towards Connie, not even registering Miranda's quiet curses behind you.

Connie is already out of her seat and reaches you before you can even take a single step towards her. She looks even happier to see you be second than seeing herself be first. "You are insane, Yail! Those were some amazing driving skills right there!"

Before you can answer her, she's already pushing out the air from your lungs with another celebratory embrace. "Well done, Yail." She whispers as she slowly lets go of you.

"Thank you for cheering me on." You tell her, thankfully, "And no reason to get so jealous next time," you add on so quietly that no one can hear it.

She immediately turns red as she tries to defend herself. "I did not get jealous. I simply think if anyone were to give you advice, it should be me."

"Aha, not jealous, I see." You tease her further, enjoying the way she pouts at your words.

"Shut up, Yail." She returns, unable to keep up her stern demeanour and already laughing again. "The others are done as well now."

Indeed, the others all finished the raise and were politely waiting for you to finish… whatever you were doing. "So, we playing another round then?" Freddy asks you two.

You turn red as you realise that everyone was waiting for you and Connie to stop flirting and quickly sit back down and grab your controller. "For sure! Get ready for the next race!" Connie exclaims, gathering a round of cheers from everyone.

As you're about to focus on the screen again, you suddenly feel the controller in your hand rumble slightly and see Connie giving you a mischievous wink.

Video games are surely about to be a completely new experience…

Your progress has been saved…

Chapter Text

You went to bed rather late, or technically early already, playing so long yesterday that Connie almost would've overheated if it wasn't for Freddy helping out with an ice-pack.

While you didn't manage to place 2nd every round, you still reeled in multiple "victories" right behind Connie. Seeing you excel that much made her pretty ecstatic, and when everyone finally decided they had had enough for the day, she still regaled you with tales of your own performance until you both finally fell asleep.

It's no surprise that, when you finally wake up, the sun is already quite high above the horizon, and Timothy reprimands you for sleeping so off-schedule. Luckily, a look down Connie's zower rifle is enough to get him to stop pestering you so soon after waking up.

"Good-", before she can go on, a loud yawn interrupts her, making you giggle more violently than you thought possible, considering the exhaustion you are still feeling. "Morning, Yail. I hope you were able to get some rest after your excellent gameplay yesterday."

"I was alright, your performance was absolutely incredible though. But I'm sure that's nothing new to hear for you, is it?" You ask her teasingly, as she groans in tired annoyance.

"It is not, but it is new to hear it from someone like you." She answers, not teasingly, but sincerely, appreciative in a rather nervous or maybe even insecure way, like she isn't entirely sure whether she should've said it out loud.

You don't want to drill into her too much, but at the same time, you want to use this chance to encourage her to open up just a bit more. "And what does 'like me' mean?" You scoot closer to her, looking into her eyes, which are now wide open.

She avoids your gaze, pursing her lips as she tries to find a way to avoid answering. However, she quickly realises that it's not possible to avoid looking at you for that long and as she returns your gaze, you can sense her slowly relaxing. "Well, you know… like… my second player." She mumbles, her cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink.

The way she says 'second player' is giving you butterflies, and you're sure you look very similar to her right now. "Could you say that again? I heard it, I just want to hear you say it a second time." You tease her, and in return, she turns even redder, and you quickly feel the sudden impact of a pillow on your face.

"I've got enough of repeating myself for multiple lifetimes, so you'll have to listen closely the first time." She returns with the same tone of voice as you, as she lifts the pillow back up from your face.

"Careful, I'm not sure how much Betty appreciates being used as an improvised weapon." You can barely say it with a straight face, and Connie, too, starts giggling. Watching her laugh so heartily and hearing her joy fill your ears is quite a blissful experience and makes you feel extremely light-headed immediately.

"You're an idiot, Yail, do you know that?" She asks in a sarcastic tone, smiling brightly at you from the depths of her pillow, which she placed back under her head.

You answer just as sarcastically as before, enjoying her reactions very much, "You're pretty mean to your second player, you know that?"

"Oh, shut up, Yail! If you keep talking, I won't get a chance to tell you about my plans for today…" She says ominously, clearly trying to awaken your curiosity. Sadly, it's working, and you find yourself really interested in her, so-called "plans".

"In that case, please enlighten me, my dear first player." Her cheeks flush brightly at your words, and she seems to lose her focus for a second. It's not the first choice for a pet name, but her reaction might change that, at least until you come up with something better.

"Oh, well-" she stutters, clearly having to adjust to being called a pet name, "I- uh- I planned to play Star-party with you and a few others."

Star-party is somewhat more familiar than Co-Kart, but you can still only remember something about collecting stars and weird minigames… "That's some kind of party board game, right?"

"Yes! But more importantly…" she says, lowering her voice like she is about to reveal a grand secret, "we're gonna play the partner mode!" She exclaims excitedly, looking at you with a bright smile and wide eyes, clearly expecting the same excitement from you.

Unfortunately, you have no clue what the 'partner mode' is. All you can assume is that it's probably not the base gamemode and involves… partners. "Ohhh, the partner mode… yeah?" You say, trying to sound enthusiastic, but also not really wanting to fake excitement.

She rolls her eyes at your answers, "I really need to play more games with you. Okay, normally you'd play by yourself against everyone else, right? But in partner mode, you play in teams of two instead!" Once more, she looks at you expectantly, hoping that her explanation will be enough to excite you as well.

"Ahhh, but don't you normally play for yourself?"

She sighs as she continues, "Well, considering that my potential partner is pretty stupid, I might do so. But I was hoping to try… You know… not playing solo." Her demeanour grows more and more nervous as she finishes her sentence, and she looks at you somewhat nervously once more.

You would answer her sooner, but you're still busy comprehending her saying that she truly wants to play with you. Hearing her be so open to work on her dependence is exhilarating, and you're determined not to make her regret it.

As you go to answer, you move closer to her, trying to catch her gaze, "So, you consider me a potential partner?"

She turns red once more and pouts at your answer, but manages to collect herself and answer with a teasing tone herself, "Oh, I consider you a rather close partner. We certainly have synergy. But seriously, I don't want you to think that I don't like playing with you, because I do! It's just… difficult. Not because of you, of cou-!"

"Connie, calm down." You tell her, noticing that she still seems to struggle with talking about it, "You really think I'd hold it against you?"

She looks away as she answers, "No…"

"Exactly, so stop worrying about it. I'm really looking forward to playing with you, and I'm glad you are too." You get closer, giving her a kiss on the cheek, which she promptly turns so that you land on her lips instead.

"I love you, Yail." She states, as you separate again.

"I love you too, Connie. So, you want to get ready for the game?" You ask her as she turns around on her half of the bed.

"Hmm, no. Not yet, anyway. We still have some time." She says decisively as she stretches her arms.

"Who is joining us? Other partners, or other partners?"

She chuckles at the last bit as she answers, "There are no partners like us here. But to answer your question, just a few 'normal' partners. There are a few that really excel at these kinds of games."

"I see, I thought Parker would join if we were technically playing a board game." You say, thinking that no one else would be more enthusiastic about a chance to play a board game, made up of more games.

Connie's expression twists oddly, like she just remembered a rather uncomfortable memory, "Oh no. Parker… doesn't do well with the fact that board games are also digital now… I try my best not to let him hear about me 'taking over' his job."

Thinking about Parker's temperament when it comes to board games, you have to agree that this is probably for the best. "Okay, I can see that. Who else is playing then?"

"Despite what you might think, Skylar and Reggie make a pretty good team. And I'm confident you won't let Reggie's trash-talking get to you. Amir and Bathsheba are really good at hyping each other up and do surprisingly well with games. And lastly, Sophia and Monique have started to join in, since they learned about me from Parker. You just have to be careful with not letting Sophia believe that you're focusing Monique, she can get pretty agitated…"

Those were certainly very unexpected personalities, but her explanations actually make a lot of sense in hindsight. "Wow, I definitely expected something different, but those teams do sound intriguing."

"Well, it's definitely gonna be fun to watch them fight for second place." Connie says half-jokingly, her usual superiority very apparent.

You're normally rather annoyed when people act all superior and condescending, but you really can't say anything against Connie, literally being video games, acting good at video games. It's not even acting, she is ridiculously good at any game she touches, and it's hard to pretend it's not attractive either.

"You're really hot when you act so confident." You say as you look up at her dreamingly.

"First, I'm always hot. Second, I don't act confident, I know I'm- we're gonna win. And third, thank you." She answers, flashing you a cheeky grin that makes you feel like a red glowing idiot.

"I'm sorry, you're especially hot when you show me how superior we are."

"There's so much I could show you that would make me seem even hotter… but we should get ready now." She says with a sultry undertone, grinning as she stops so abruptly, seeing your disappointed desperation.

"Do we really have to get up now? I just got comfortable." You complain, half-sarcastically, but only half.

"Well, do you want to play with me, or not? If we take too long, the others will think I stood them up." Connie sounds almost reprimanding, but genuinely displeased with the idea of the others being disappointed in her.

"Of course I want to play with you! It just doesn't have to be video games…"

She smirks and flushes slightly as she responds, "You'd like that. But I'm afraid we would have to move the game into the night if we start now. So get ready, Yail."

Somewhat reluctantly, you slowly roll out of bed and get dressed. You eat a quick breakfast, during which Connie downs an entire carton of milk, probably unaware of the fact that she doesn't have to eat every 'item' completely.

As you clean up, you can hear voices gathering in the living room, and you're able to pick out a few of those who you know are joining the game. The most present one out of them is obviously Bathsheba's.

"And he had the audacity to ask whether I'm even 'good at video games'! Like I'm not perfect at everything I do, can you believe it?"

You're not sure how you're supposed to play anything with someone like Bathsheba around, but Connie seems to guess what you're thinking about and quietly smiles at you, "Don't worry about her, there's a reason Sophia is around."

As if she predicted it, you hear another voice, "Shut it, you wretch, we all know the only thing you're 'perfect' at is complimenting yourself."

"Mhmph, well, someone has to do it!" Is all that she returns, like most others, not keen on provoking the safe.

Sensing that now is probably the best time, you quickly turn the corner to the living room and see everyone already waiting for you.

Reggie was stretching his legs on the floor, waiting for Skylar to join him from your glasses, Bathsheba and Amir already claiming most of Koa and chatting so much they don't even notice you. Sophia and Monique are still standing in the doorway, probably just arriving from the attic.

Reggie notices you first and addresses you in a way that you would take as a personal insult from most others: "If it isn't the person who has been ruining my days for years now, are you here to bother me with another new friend you found?" Pure venom oozes off the word 'friend'.

"It's even worse this time." You say as you turn to kiss Connie. Reggie looks at you like you just puked up your breakfast in front of him.

"Gawd, stop that! I came here to play games and laugh at everyone's performance, not to be pestered with your hateless antics. I cannot believe someone as annoying as you made more than a friend, disgusting."

You chuckle at his complaints, as Skylar manifests from your glasses next to him, "Hey there! Nice to see ya, Reggie!" She greets him in the same tone she greets you in your menu. It seems her customer service voice is getting to her.

"Skylar, how I 'hate' seeing you. Tell me you're gonna help me crush our mutual, hateless friend." He eyes you with a heinous grin while asking her whether that is because he is excited to play or because he's still genuinely angry at your friendliness is unclear.

"Aww, I 'hate' seeing you, too! And yes, I'll put on my best performance today, this time, we'll win for sure." Slowly sinking down on the floor next to him, she already gets a controller and starts quietly chatting with Reggie.

Bathsheba almost jumps at the chance to finally say something again, now that your conversation with Reggie is over, "Are you done now? You must be so glad to see me again! How is it going? Anything new? Anything interesting?"

Surprisingly, Amir interrupts before you can answer her, addressing you much more genuinely, welcoming, "Ah, save these questions for later, no? Azizam, how are you? And how are you two?" He asks, looking between you and Connie with a charming smile.

"We're pretty good, thank you, Amir."

"I'm a mirror, I can tell that you're pretty. But it is nice to hear that you're doing well." He turns back to Bathsheba, who's still pouting from being interrupted so rudely, but quickly returns to chattering with Amir.

As you turn to Sophia and Monique, you see that they have already closed the distance to you and are looking at you with disdain and glee, respectively. "Hey, you two! I'm normally not a big fan of going out, but these games are always fun, and I can note them down as work-life balance spending." Monique states, greeting the two of you.

You can tell that Connie really enjoyed hearing her mention how fun her games are by the way her tails keep striking your back. "I'm so happy you think like that! I love playing them for everyone!"

"Yes, yes, it's good to get out of the attic sometimes. It would be irresponsible of me to let Monique wander all on her own. Say wretch, I do hope you're not going to make us go easy on you, it's always so boring to play nice."

Sophia's presence is always strong, but you feel like her comment is giving you even less space to breathe, "Oh, don't worry, I don't need anyone to hold back. I have the best partner anyway."

"We'll see about that. Be sure to know your safeword, you never played these games with us."

"The safe is right, you'd better stick your sickly sweetness elsewhere, because we're gonna fight for the win." Reggie adds, seemingly a fan of seeing you have at least somewhat less friendly conversations than normally.

Connie turns to address you as well, as she, too, takes out her controller and grabs the only real one, "They're right, Yail. I'm expecting an exceptional performance, so I need you to focus now. Can you do that?" She holds the controller in front of you as she waits for an answer.

"Against this competition? Easily." You answer as you grab the controller out of her hand and sit down.

"Careful, you underestimate how much practice we have." Skylar is not lounging on the floor anymore but is sitting upright against the fireplace.

As you're about to answer, Bathsheba buts in in a sarcastic tone, "Are we going to start anytime soon, by the way? A tub like me has places to be."

"I agree, after all, time is me." Grinning ever so slightly at her own joke, Monique chimes in as well.

You enjoy everyone's eagerness and turn towards Connie, "Of course. Connie, if you would be so kind?"

"Of course, Yail. Everyone, get ready! We're starting!" She exclaims excitedly as she launches the game from her library. Everyone else immediately focuses on the screen and halts any conversations.

As the title pops up, you can hear the happy little jingle coming from… Connie, right next to you? She hums along to the music as she waits for the prompt to start the game. As soon as she notices you looking, she turns bright red, turns quiet and mumbles, "It's catchy…"

You stop yourself from laughing and simply return, "I liked it.", as you focus back on the screen. Slightly quieter than before, she resumes her humming as she navigates through the selection screen.

Not having to assemble a cart or choose a driver makes this part much quicker. However, the selection of the board to play on is an entirely different matter. "Connie, darling, please tell me we won't have to play on that egregiously suffocating jungle board once more. I can barely see anyone's reflection there!" Amir says, the disgust in his voice palpable.

"Agreed, I hate it there, and not in the good way." Reggie agrees from the floor.

Connie rolls her eyes as she answers, "No one likes that map, we all know that guys. It's just the most challenging one, but don't worry, we're gonna go with a different one." She scrolls through the different options, which seem to be sorted based on difficulty, as is often the case.

"Don't make it too easy, I want to see you squirm." You certainly didn't expect Sophia to be so engaged with video games, but it seems the sadistic undertone that is so common to multiplayer games is just her thing.

"Oh yes, playing on the baby levels is such a bore." Bathsheba adds, but you're not sure whether she is just boasting or genuinely packing more than you give her credit for.

Connie seems to be getting annoyed, "Hey, you're acting like I don't know what I'm doing! Relax, this is my thing, literally."

Skylar seems to fear tensions rising and quickly tries to defuse the situation, "Nooo, we don't doubt your abilities! We just want to make sure we don't dump the entire decision-making on you, right?" A very clear glare, addressed at the others, is visible from underneath her glasses.

"Right.", Monique notes, "We consider the selection phase as much of a group effort as the playing phase, but your expertise is duly noted."

Connie relaxes a bit and her expression changes to a rather damp look, "You're right, sorry… Let's just game on." The atmosphere shifts, and you notice multiple concerned expressions on the others.

As Connie continues through the selection menu, the others look at each other, silently trying to form a plan as to how to approach the situation. Even Reggie looks… less annoyed than usual. In the end, everyone looks at Amir, who simply nods before speaking, "Connie, no one here means to question your skills. We are all glad to spend time together, you do know that?"

She freezes, not looking at Amir, but clearly replaying his words in her mind, "I- I know. I'm just… trying to continue where we left off. You probably already got used to not playing my games anymore…"

You would say something, but you know this isn't about you. Only the others can get her to understand they didn't forget about her, so you just slowly take her hand into yours, allowing her to cling to it as tightly as you're used to.

Even Bathsheba seems to abandon her usual derogatory behaviour, "That's ridiculous, darling! You don't even know how many evenings we got ready to play, only to realise we couldn't! It would've been hilarious, if it wasn't so disap- uh tragic!"

Connie seems to be careful with believing her so quickly, probably thinking she is just trying to make her feel better, but at the same time, she also turns around further, looking at the others for reaffirmation. "You- you actually still wanted to play?"

Reggie, who is seemingly getting annoyed at the whole situation, tries to get through to her in his own way, "Of course we fucking did! Do you seriously expect us to deal with Parker? That dude is a nutjob when talking about games an- wait, he's always a nutjob, you get the idea."

While that might not be the most considerate way to cheer someone up, it actually gets a chuckle out of Connie. Skylar, sensing that her mood is actually getting better, quickly adds herself, "We know that we might not have been as helpful, but don't think we forgot about you! It's been a while, yes. But that just means we can't wait to play again!"

"Re- Really? I thought you only joined to be polite…"

"Don't be ridiculous! I'd never wander down here just to 'be polite'. Much less with Monique." Sophia sounds mildly annoyed, but still genuine. Knowing that Sophia would probably be the last person to lie just to make her feel better, Connie finally relaxes and smiles at everyone.

"I- I'm so happy to hear that, I didn't thin- doesn't matter. I'm just glad we're playing together again!"

Monique, seemingly relaxing as well now that the atmosphere is lighter again, also addresses her, "So are we, it's been a bit dull without the more extravagant types of recreational activities. You might cost more than a book or a deck of cards, but you're also more fun, so even I can indulge such expenses."

Connie laughs heartily, and the rather pressing mood that overcame everyone lifts as quickly as it came.

"Can we finally get started then? If I have to listen to one more person singing you praise, I'm gonna puke!" You're surprised that Reggie didn't already abandon the game over all the positivity he has to endure, but it seems that even he really enjoys video games.

Realising that the game is still waiting for her confirmation, Connie quickly snaps back to the situation at hand, "Yeah, of course! Game on! We got the map, we got partner mode, everyone got their Cii selected, so let's get started!" It might be overly enthusiastic for a video game, but still, everyone cheered as the camera pans over the selected map, a volcano in the middle of a comparably small island, the board going around the entire mountain.

"Everyone remember the rules?" Everyone nods, but Connie seems to remember something, "Wait, Yail, you said you never played that mode before, right?"

You nod and Connie immediately begins explaining, "Okay, normally you go across the board, play games, collect stars and so on. But in partner mode, you walk around in pairs of two, only play as pairs and share everything, and that's basically it!"

"Oh, that's fairly easy!" you say, but everyone else chuckles slightly.

"The theory always is, but it's the practice that matters, Yail. So you're gonna have to show that you can be my player two in-game just as good as out-of-game, which is almost never, because I am games, but you get the idea." You're not sure whether she is joking. You know she wouldn't make your relationship dependent on a game, but you can still believe she'd think twice about playing with you again if your performance is too egregious.

"Looking at the competition, that should still be easy." You answer, looking at the others who are chuckling just lightly.

"We'll see about that, Yail. I know how much practice you have on my games, and they have more." Connie is dead serious, truly making you grasp the situation at hand. Considering that the others spent that much more time playing video games, this might actually become quite challenging in the end.

As you ponder your decision-making, the game finishes the introduction, and the camera halts on the players. The in-game guide is asking you whether you need to be reminded of the rules or the board. At least it would've, if Connie didn't skip the dialogue faster than the guide could even open its mouth.

Of course, these types of games are not too difficult to understand, considering that they're mostly meant for fun family nights. But maybe a more detailed explanation might've been useful.

Next up is the playing order, decided by a dice throw, except that the dice of both team members are added together this time.

"I'm still not sure whether you don't tweak these results when we play, it must be too easy for you…"Reggie looks at Connie, his eyes appraising her honesty, and his mouth lifts to an evil grin.

"My dice are just as random as Parker's or Chance's, Reggie. I don't need to cheat to win, especially not against you, especially not with Yail." She grins, knowing exactly how much that last bit must annoy Reggie. Who is indeed making very exaggerated puking gestures, but remains silent and rolls his die.

In the end, Bathsheba & Amir go first, Connie & you second, Reggie & Skylar third, and Sophia & Monique last. Luckily, the order is not the most important part, even if you get to the stars the quickest. If you didn't earn enough Stardust from the mini-games, you would be forced to walk past anyway.

The events of the first turn are, as is to be expected, rather uninteresting. Most teams just land on the first few normal spaces and receive a few pieces of star dust. Except for Sophia and Monique, who manage to grab a booster item, which apparently can add 3 more spaces to a roll.

Just like that, the camera lifts into the sky, and the game announces the first mini-game: Candy-Shaker. Normally, you just have to tilt the controller in a way that pieces of candy fall out of the opening of their glass container, but in partner mode, each partner holds onto one side of the glass. Which means that if you do not move the same way as your partner, you wouldn't move at all.

"We just gotta find a rhythm we can sync to, Yail. Easy." It was a mere statement, not much up for debate. You don't know if there is more to it, or if she simply deems it that simple, but you'd have to make the most out of what you got.

The practice round is over before you even realise you had a chance to practice, and everyone around you is holding onto their controllers very tightly. You're not sure if you should follow their lead, considering that your controller is Connie, but she would probably appreciate the win much more than being treated like a feather.

As the countdown ends and the announcer's voice, which sounds a lot like Connie talking an octave lower, announces the beginning of the round, you look at Connie's controller and try your best to just mimic her movements. The first few pieces of candy fall rather quickly for everyone. The crux is getting the last few bigger pieces out, as they have much more room to move in.

Connie's movements get more erratic the fewer pieces remain, and you struggle to keep up with her, but surprisingly, you notice that many of the small adjustments you have make come to you rather instinctively. The more you pay attention to it, the more you notice that you almost predict many of Connie's moves beforehand.

The others are unfortunately not doing much worse, and in the end, you only manage to get second place behind Amir & Bathsheba, who were rather sensible with their glass and managed to manoeuvre the candy out of the glass with little effort.

"Precise care will always succeed, my friends. Just as you have to take care of yourself." Amir says triumphantly, and Bathsheba nods in agreement.

"That was pretty good, Yail! I barely felt our inputs contradicting."

"Well, I am quite familiar with your movements." You return and hear a gagging noise from behind.

The camera returns to the board, and the movement phase repeats. Due to the first star being placed rather far towards the end, the first 4 rounds end up rather boring. You manage to win 2 of the minigames and end up being second closest to the star, just behind Skylar and Reggie, who managed to overtake the other 2 teams, despite Sophia and Monique even using their booster.

Round 5 begins with Darned Scruffies, in which you have to navigate a spaceship through a corridor filled with so-called "Scruffies", which you obviously have to avoid. The problem is that one partner controls the horizontal and the other the vertical movement, meaning that this round will probably lead to a lot of loud communication. Poor Koa.

"Okay, Yail. Try not to stick to the walls too much, otherwise we might get cornered, understood?"

"All clear." You say, chuckling to yourself at Connie's seriousness. Of course, video games are quite literally her life, but even she should have fun while playing. Or maybe winning is just her version of having fun.

Having to tilt the controller to steer the ship does not make things easier, but it does actually make the game a whole lot funnier. Especially the way you see Skylar & Reggie steer by leaning their entire body into the direction they're trying to go in the practice round.

Once more, the 'announcer' counts down and the mini-game begins. You only have a few seconds before you need to start steering, so rather quickly you hear the rather noisy instances of 'communication'.

"REGGIE", Skylar creeches, as you can see their ship barely dodge a clump of Scruffies, "You have to steer harder!"

"Sky! I can only steer as much as the game lets me! Just like every time we play this damn game!" He returns rather agitated. Clearly, this is not the first instance of such exchanges.

You manage to get through the first few clusters of obstacles rather easily, mostly relying on Connie's much faster reaction time and then adjusting to her lead. It seems that she already knows most of the patterns the Scruffies spawn in and quickly finds the most ideal spot to fly towards.

"Your manoeuvres are truly excellent, Bathsheba, one could think you were a pilot!" Amir and Bathsheba seem to be, compared to the others, extremely relaxed as they slowly, but securely, steer towards the gaps between the obstacles.

"Aw, you're too- ah, who am I kidding? You're so fittingly charming and correct." Modesty still seems to be foreign to Bathsheba, but it seems that she is very capable of teamwork. With the right team, at least.

Connie rolls her eyes as she casually steers towards the next gap. You must've passed about 20 different Scruffie formations, and only Skylar and Reggie lost one of their 3 lives so far. Of course, the speed of the ships increases with every level, but you can't recall ever making it past 24 before.

You notice that Sophia and Monique seem to have a lot less communication than everyone else. As you try to listen to their voices, specifically, you notice that they actually have a rather efficient distribution of roles.

"Top left."

"Noted."

"Bottom left."

"Noted"

Before you can hear another one of these exchanges, Reggie randomly addresses Connie in an alarmingly innocent tone, "How many of these 'Scruffies' did you ever manage to dodge anyway, gamergirl?"

Connie halts for a second, and you both lose one of your lives as you tumble into a, actually rather small, group of Scruffies, knocking the senses right back into her, "Uh, I- I don't know. Can't… remember."

"Riiight, you forgot your scores. Don't you hate that?" You'd like to throw the Controller into his face, but you know Connie wouldn't appreciate that for a multitude of reasons.

"Well, actually, it just means I can make new ones with Yail." She returns intentionally sweet, causing Skylar to chuckle and Sophia to smirk for a fraction of a second.

Reggie's face contorts just as before, "You're insufferable, do you know that? Disgusting even."

"Thank you!" Is all she says before completely focusing on the game again.

It seems this interaction actually gave her quite the moral boost, as you manage to dodge every cluster of obstacles and place first. Bathsheba & Amir followed in second, and Sophia & Monique only placing 3rd because Reggie screamed when he accidentally steered in the wrong direction.

Moving before Skylar & Reggie gives you the perfect chance to take the star before they can get there. You have more than enough stardust and only need to move at least 5 spaces.

You lock eyes with Connie as you both roll the dice, they spin around for what feels like an eternity, at least that's how you'd describe it, if you didn't know how an eternity actually feels like. After a short while, they bounce around a few last times and finally settle on… 3 and… 4.

"YES! That's enough to get us the star!" Connie exclaims as she raises her hand to a celebratory high-five, which you quickly meet. The others groan in annoyance, forced to watch you grab the Star with your digital fingers.

As you lower yourself back into your seat, the new location of the star is revealed. Unfortunately for Reggie & Skylar, the next Star descends pretty much right in front of Monique & Sophia, who unsurprisingly take it on their own turn. "Aww, come on!" Skylar complains as she watches them claim their prize.

"Honestly, that happens way more than I anticipated when I first loaded that game." Connie states, sounding just mildly surprised.

"Oh, thank you for that insight.", Bathsheba scoffs as she crosses her arms and pouts, "How come I am never blessed by such luck?"

"But Bathsheba, look at yourself! You have already been blessed!" Amir assured her with his usual, but honest charm.

"Aw, you're so right, dear.", she says, already forgetting about the star she was angry about.

Connie rolls her eyes as she waits for the next star to appear on the board. This time it lands just a bit further ahead, about 13 spaces from where Connie and you are, and about 9 from where Skylar and Reggie ended up after their last turn. Meaning they might have a chance to grab it away from you next round, if you're not lucky.

Connie seems to be thinking the same and turns to you, "If we're lucky and they roll lower than a 9, we still have a chance. We only need to get like 7 more stardust in the next two games, easy as a tutorial."

The following minigame is rather simple. You have to carry a bucket together with your teammate and try to catch falling fish with them. Just like in the previous game, you'd share the controls with your partner and move together.

Having practised from the last round, you manage to do quite well and catch 32 fish with your bucket. Unfortunately, Reggie & Skylar manage to catch just 2 more and place first, Amir, Bathsheba, Sophia and Monique seemingly struggling with the more random pattern of fish-spawns.

"Okay, Yail. 2 more Star Dust and we can get the Star, as long as those two only roll an 8 or lower, of course."

On your turn, you manage to get 10 spaces closer to the Star, only leaving 3 more to advance next round. If Skylar & Reggie actually roll lower than a 9, you'd surely be able to get a second star already!

They swing their controller enthusiastically, just like you did earlier. You watch in anticipation as the dice spin around wildly on the screen, Connie leaning further and further forward in excitement. Skylar & Reggie shaking their hands as if it would conjure a higher roll. After a short while, the first die comes to a halt. 5. If the other dice lands on at least a 4, they'd get the star.

The second die slows just as the first settles down completely. It jumps around a few times and finally lands on… 4. They rolled just barely enough to get them to the star, damn it. "YESS!" Reggie exclaims in excitement, "Suck it, you hateless losers!"

"WOHOO!" Skylar joins in, giving him a high-five that sounds like it hurts, "Ahh. But we did it! One Star for us!" The take the Star and the game shows you the leaderboard: Connie & You in first, with the most Star Dust left, Reggie & Skylar in second, Monique & Sophia in third and Bathsheba & Amir in last place, the only team without a star. Bathsheba doesn't show anything in her demeanour, but being announced as last place is surely a rather big bother for her.

"Damnit, we'll get it next tim- the next one." Connie says, stuttering a bit in between and looking rather frazzled for a second. You don't want to drill into it at the moment, but it's still a rather concerning thing to see from her.

Once again, a new star is placed on the board, this time just behind Connie & you, unfortunately. "Druck! You believe me now that I don't mess with the RNG, Reggie?"

"This doesn't prove shit, darling. Maybe you're just so full of yourself you think this won't keep you from winning?" He returns, enjoying her frustration to the fullest and laughing somewhat manically.

The following minigame is once again rather fun: Pie War. All 4 teams are split up in an Arena, which is divided into 4 areas. The entire point of the game is to throw as many cream pies at the other players as possible, as the winner will be the team that's hit by the least amount of pies.

The controls were something of a struggle at first, but you quickly managed to adapt to the somewhat clunky movement. Even though you could obviously not tell Connie, you consider it as such. Luckily, the aiming was much easier than the moving, and you managed not to fall too far behind Connie's hits, managing to hit 17 pies on the others compared to her 24.

However, your placement in these games are of not much use, considering that you're already behind the star and have to hope someone gets it fast enough that you can try to get the next one. Luckily for you, Amir & Bathsheba actually get to the star in this round and even out the leaderboard.

The game continues rather trivially. Surprisingly, every team manages to get a second star, meaning that this last round could decide the winner by itself.

Everyone is theoretically able to collect the star this turn if they get lucky with their rolls. Of course, Bathsheba & Amir going first puts them at an advantage, but they still need 3 more Star Dust and are 8 spaces away. You & Connie are just one space behind them, next in the moving order, and you only need 1 more Star Dust, making you also very likely to claim the victory.

Technically, the outcome of the next minigame is not really that important anymore, but of course, no one is willing to half-ass the last minigame.

One last time, the camera pans up, Conn- the announcer calls out the next game, and you are greeted with the overview UI. This time you're playing Partner Parkour, in which one partner would have to run along a parkour track, while the other would have to open up the track, move obstacles or do even crazier stuff to help the other partner along.

You expect that Connie would take care of the parkour and instruct you on how to help her, but she leans over once more, "I'm gonna let you take care of the parkour and just make sure you have a free path. I know you're able to do it." She smiles at you confidently and encouragingly.

This actually makes you flustered and nervous at the same time. Flustered because she trusts your abilities so much, and nervous because you don't want to make her regret that decision. You try not to think about it too much, which is incredibly difficult to do when watching her so happy to try the supporter role for once.

The controls are rather simple, as you only have to move and jump, so you focus on reacting to Connie's help as quickly as possible, managing to get rather close to the end during the practice round.

As the game starts, you expect to hear a lot of communications, but it's actually rather quiet. Everyone seems to be focused on their task and so no one says a thing. You progress quite smoothly at first, never having to wait for any obstacle at all and just follow the path Connie is opening up for you.

You didn't expect the track to be this long, and every time you overcome another obstacle, you expect to see the finish line, but are instead greeted by another fork in the road or a second obstacle. The fact that everyone is alone on their track makes the game much more relaxing, and you barely feel the usual hectic, focusing completely on timing your inputs.

When the finish line finally falls into view, you notice that the race is actually rather close. Everyone is at the same obstacle, and no one is much further behind the others. It seems it'll come down to tenths of a second.

Knowing that you won't be able to tell who is first by eye, you focus on your own parkour again. You easily make your way to the finish line and look at your time: 54,2 seconds, nice! Sadly, Sophia and Monique managed to beat you with their time of 53,9 seconds.

"Kraa, and you did so well, Yail! I really thought we got it. At least we have enough money for the Star!" Her enthusiasm was quickly enveloping you, and you didn't waste another thought on not placing first. Much to Reggie's dismay, who is rolling his eyes once again.

You return to the board with much more tension in the air than in the round before. If Bathsheba & Amir roll an 8, there's a good chance it'll be the last star anyone collects this game. They roll their dice, plainly and without much celebration. Everyone's eyes are fixated on the spinning and jumping cubes, slowing down ever so slightly.

The first one, coming to a halt… 3. Perfect. They need to get a 5 at least to make it to the star.

The second dice starts losing momentum, jumping less and less, barely moving around much more.

It comes to a halt.

4

"YES. We can do it, Yail!", Connie shouts excitedly, as Amir's & Bathsheba's despair becomes apparent on their faces.

No one pays much attention to their characters moving across the board, stopping just in front of the Star. Everyone is waiting for you & Connie to roll, and so you do.

The tension and excitement in the living room are almost physical. The silence more deafening than you've ever known it. It feels like your dice keep picking up new momentum from somewhere, the way they barely seem to get slower.

After what feels like an eternity, the first one bounces one last time and finally settles on…

5

Great, this means you'd only need a 4 to win.

The last dice keeps spinning and jumping around, the numbers flashing across the screen faster than you can tell.

1 5 2 4 6 2 2 3 1 5 4 5 6 6 2 3 2 5 4 1 4 2 3 6.

You did it, you got the possibly last Star of the game!

"WE DID IT!" Connie screeches as she jumps up and pulls you closer into a celebratory embrace.

"No victory kiss?" You tease, ignoring the loud groan behind you.

"We haven't won yet, Yail." She returns, just as teasing, but smiling happily.

"Are you done?" A voice asks from out of your view.

Before you can answer anything, Skylar already says something, "Oh, Reggie. I'm sure some day you'll understand how it is to be in love." Everyone except Reggie giggles wildly at her joke, and you take the chance to sit back down.

"If you're not looking for love, you can come by the attic for some other kind of fun, wretch." Sophia offers Reggie, who does not seem too appreciative of it.

You almost forgot that there would still be a new Star placed after the leaderboard disappears, as you watch it descend dangerously close to Monique & Sophia and Reggie & Skylar. If they manage to roll just 9 spaces, a tiebreaker Star would have to decide the game.

The tension that was broken up by your dice results quickly builds up again, and Skylar & Reggie enthusiastically roll their dice. If the first one is lower than a 3, they wouldn't have a chance.

Unfortunately, the first die lands on a 4, meaning the second one would have to be lower than a 5.

However, it actually ends up being… a 3. Good, those 2 won't be able to take your victory (kiss) away.

Still, Monique & Sophia have a chance to succeed where Reggie & Skylar failed. Knowing that this is the last dice throw of the game, possibly leading to a tiebreaker star, everyone is eagerly waiting for them to roll.

And they do, the dice jumping into the air, bouncing around wildly. Once again, one of them stops before the other, this time landing on a 3. Amazing, they need to roll a 6 on the second one now, which is incredibly unlikely, hopefully.

Still, the die has a chance to prove you wrong. Bouncing up and down while slowly losing momentum, it's faces changing a few last times before finally settling on a… 5.

YES, this time your victory is decided!

Sophia curses, and Moniqe quietly adds a few "Damnit"s on her own, but it doesn't matter. Everyone already knows you won.

As you slowly watch the camera pan upwards one last time to switch towards the game stats, you watch the others' defeated expressions. You almost feel pity for them, but it's not the first time they've lost, and there have probably been enough times each of them has won.

You just wait for the game to announce your victory: Connie & Yail - 3 Stars.

Jumping out of your seats, you give each other a quick high-five before enveloping each other in an ecstatic celebratory victory kiss. You don't know whether the feeling of making Connie happy with your performance, or the taste of her soft lips and the sensation of her energetic tongue is the stronger sensation, but the combination of the two is certainly enough to block out anything else happening outside your moment.

As you separate, you hear her panting from exhaustion, her cheeks beginning to glow red, and her sparkling golden eyes focused intensely on your lips. "Good… game… Yail.", is all she is able to say before sitting down again.

The others try their best to ignore you as they slowly get up, ready to leave.

"At least the games are still somewhat fun." Sophia admits begrudgingly, "Come on, Monique. I'll accompany you back upstairs."

"Yes, please. It has been a pleasure to see you again, Connie!" Monique shouts as she follows closely behind Sophia.

"Yeah, it's been fun to do these games again. But I have to take my beauty sleep now. Toodles." Bathsheba is at the border of the hallway before you can say anything.

"But Bathsheba, you do not require such trivial things for your looks!", Amir shouts after her as he goes to address you, "Goodbye, you two, I shall see you for your evening routine, yes?"

You don't expect Reggie to say anything, but he actually comes over to you, "This would've been much better if you two didn't insist upon acting like teenagers in their first relationship, but at least I had some good laughs in between. Let's try to keep that vile lovey dovey behaviour down next time, yes?"

"Probably not." Connie answers for you.

Reggie sighs deeply, and his face looks like he just bit into a lemon, "Gah, I could've expected that. Whatever, just tell me when we play again."

"Okay, Yail. I'll just shut down, and then we can go to sleep. I am exhausted, but your performance was great. I knew my skills would find their way to you!" She says, with the purest excitement.

"You already know my performance is great." You say, enjoying being almost alone again.

"That's because I lead most of the time, Yail." She returns plainly, turning to close the game.

You want to use this chance to talk to Skylar and quickly turn around, trying not to draw Connie's attention. "Skylar, can I ask you something for a second?"

"Of course! What can I do for you in-" She begins, but you interrupt her rather quickly.

"No, it's about Connie."

"Ooh, okay! What about her?" She asks somewhat eagerly and irritated at the same time.

"Did you act intentionally friendly today, because of what happened?", you ask carefully, not really sure how to word your question.

Skylar looks like she almost knew you were gonna ask that and sighs, "Of course, we all know what happened. But it's not like we're at each other's throats normally. I just wanted to make sure the others don't press her too much."

"I see. But you just made sure they're more careful, you didn't tell them to go easy or anything?"

"Wha- No! Should I?"

"No, I appreciate your care, I just don't want her to feel like she is getting pampered. It would make it way worse for her." It feels awkward to admit, but you know that the last thing Connie wants is to be treated like a baby. She's barely willing to accept your help already, and if the others ever were too obvious about their special treatment, she would shut down completely.

"Hey, you know her best. I'll make sure the others don't behave weirdly, and you just take care of her." She smiles warmly, and once again, you realise how often she has helped you already.

"Thank you, Skylar. Truly. I'm glad to have your help and understanding."

"Of course! I'm always happy to help! But now I need to recharge, so please get upstairs quickly, alrighty?" You chuckle, and so does she, even though she is clearly genuinely tired.

"Yes, of course, I'll get you charged up again."

You turn back to Connie, who just shut down the console and is turning away from the screen. "You're ready, Yail?"

"Yes, let's get some sleep. This was truly exhausting."

"Aww, you did do very well, though. Let's get you some sleep." She says, teasing you with a voice a parent might use for their baby.

"Very funny, yeah, yeah. You don't want to sleep?"

"Well, I do run on electricity. I mostly sleep because it's relaxing and because I can join you." Hearing such an explanation sounds odd, but it's also very nice to hear her reasoning in such a manner.

"You don't have to…" You say intentionally innocent, quickly changing Connie's expression to an annoyed one.

"You know I will. But if you keep doing this, I might just stay here instead." You both chuckle as you make your way upstairs.

You lie down and lift the blanket to allow her to join you. As she, too, lies next to you, you both stare at each other for a while. Staring into her eyes, which are beautifully accompanied by her brass coloured smile, you remember something you wanted to ask her about.

"Connie, did you really think the others were just acting nice?" You're careful, trying not to press her too much, but it's important to you that she won't sulk over it overnight. Or potentially even longer.

Her smile vanishes, and she avoids your gaze. It hurts, you'd prefer staring into her smile, but you know it's necessary to lose it now so that she might not lose it later.

"Yail, I told you I would mention if something is up.", she tries to sound stern, but you can tell she feels like she is caught somewhere she rather wouldn't be.

"I know, but I love you, which means I'll still want to make sure. So, is everything really okay?"

"I- I might've feared that Skylar or you told them to be nice…", she admits after a while, sounding almost embarrassed, looking away from you and intensely focusing on the wall behind you.

"I didn't, and neither did Skylar, I asked her." You assure her, and her eyes widen slightly in disbelief, finding their way back to you-

"You… asked her?" She seems genuinely surprised, probably not having expected your behaviour.

"Yes, because I wanted to make sure I wouldn't lie to you. She only told them to be sensible, that's all." As you speak, tears form in her eyes and slowly drip onto her cushion. Making the slightest dripping sounds, which fill the silence between you.

"Re- really?", she sniffles, "I didn't think they still… cared. It's been so long, I thought they moved on already."

"But they didn't, they missed you. And now they're genuinely happy to be playing with you again." Her eyes try their best to avoid yours, apparently unwilling to accept what you're saying so easily.

"I- guess they are. But… isn't it weird? They probably got used to living without me anyway."

"They had to get used to it, but that doesn't mean they didn't miss you. You saw how happy they were to be able to play again. Not just today, but yesterday, Curt and Rod and the Hanks as well, they were all glad that you're back!" You try to be encouraging, but Connie seems to be somewhat stuck in her doubts.

"You really think they don't mind what happened?" Once again, looking expectantly at you.

"Connie, they can't. It's not your fault. They're just happy to have you back, just like me." You're a bit more stern this time. You know she doesn't really think like she talks currently, but her doubts are simply getting the better of her.

"I guess so… It still feels… odd. But thank you." She wipes away the last tears and a slight smile reappears on her face.

"No problem. I know it won't go away over night, but just… tell me if you have any second thoughts, please." You take her hand into yours and look into her eyes, hoping to see some kind of confirmation in her golden stars.

"I will. I promise. I- love you." She lets her head fall onto her pillow, looking with somewhat wet eyes but a smile that truly shows her appreciation.

"I love you too. Good night." You too, allow your head to sink into your pillow, staring at the person on the other side of the bed, until the comfort of their presence leads you into sweet slumber.

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