Hi everyone,

Pretty new here; done a bit of fan-fiction writing before, but never anything as long as short stories.

I know that I've chosen a really small fanbase to post my first fan-fiction to, but I just watched the Steins;Gate movie and had an overwhelming urge to let the characters carry on their story. So any feedback is welcome - as I am aware it's a pretty slim chance I'll get any!

I, of course, don't own anything (poor me).

"Kurisu..."

The male's voice was soft; calm and measured – lacking the usual gloating grandeur it had possessed earlier today. Large blue eyes close a little in contentment at the name he had chosen. The name he only called her in moments like this. Here, now, she wasn't Christina or Assistant. Not Money Bags, not The Zombie, not Celeb 7.

She was Kurisu Makise. The nicknames he used as a barrier, unable to handle the intimacy in merely addressing her properly. Hers was a name he couldn't shout out an order to, couldn't rip into, couldn't make fun of in front of the other lab members. Kurisu Makise. A name he couldn't jibe at, for it was the bearer of that name that had helped him time and time again. Kurisu Makise; the stability in his three weeks of hell, and no amount of joking could gloss over how that had impacted him.

So he left that name for moments like this, a quiet message to her that he really did care. That despite the gloating, the pose-striking, the manic laughter – he was still capable of this. Appreciation for the figure curled up to him - the reason for what little sanity he had.

Kurisu brought her lips to his one more time, his smile becoming mirrored on her soft features.

"Okabe." she replies.

Neither sentence was a question, neither name needing to be preceded or followed by any other words or statements. It was enough for both of them to say just that. An acknowledgement that it was one of "those" moments. Where the façades are cast aside and the world is just him and her. That "Hououin Kyouma" may be a mentally unhinged fool with opinions he should really shove up his own ass... but Okabe Rintarou was hers. The pair weren't so much addressing each other, but the exchange was more a deep acceptance.

It had been a whole year since she had anchored him to this Steins Gate world line. A year since she had time-leapt to save him, creating the memory he had in no other. A year since the leap that has given her a taste of what he had been through... and she knew it was an absolutely tiny comparison. How many times he must have relived Mayuri's death, she had no idea. But she knew the pain and shock she had briefly experienced must have been nothing compared to what he had. Yet with that simple statement, she knew him better than anyone else.

Perhaps it was that small fact that drew her to him. That they both share an experience entirely unique. The appeal of Rintarou was purely scientific...

Either that, or she had just plain fallen for him. The eccentric, half-crazed scientist, with an intellect that matched her own and a tongue sharp enough to duel with. She could have fallen for the the quirks she appears to hate; the conspiracy ramblings, the leaping onto tables and the laughter that barked insanity. Perhaps she had fallen for the way he seemed to mirror her, and vice versa, yet both fit together. The way his childlike energy was sometimes the cure to her maturity, or when it was only words that brought him back from a painful flashback. Or... Oh god, sometimes she felt she was getting too sentimental, and kidded herself into believing the former theory.

Since the day he came back she had kept him close. The kiss they had shared upon his return to their reality was like none they had shared before. It was an understanding of each other. An agreement from both parts. A kiss that she meant she didn't return to America – she couldn't. Her life belonged in Japan now.

She had immediately began searching for a job, working part-time as waitress in a local restaurant for a bit. Faris had, of course, offered her work at the maid café, but she really didn't fancy being objectified by strange, perverted men... well, more so than she was in the lab.

Yes, they still had "the lab", and it was the same as ever (with the small absence of the PhoneMicrowave, now just a device for heating Chicken Karaage). However Kurisu and Okabe stayed away from theories of time-travel, preferring instead to tackle the scientific problems of the current world. Eventually, Kurisu had begun to actually get paid for her lectures, once it became clear to those outside of her friendship group what a genius she really was. It was with this money that the rent was mostly paid, the rest coming from quirky "Kyouma&Hacker's Future Gadgets" the lab sold as a small sideline. A rent that was still surprisingly low for a grumpy landlord that frequently threatened to raise it... but never did. Sometimes they liked to entertain themselves with the idea "Mr Braun" secretly enjoyed having them round. That was, until he would storm upstairs yelling about 'what the hell the idiots were up to in there'.

Makise Kurisu had a job here, her friends, her boyfriend(!), the lab... Japan was her home. Plus she swore Mayuri would explode into a gooey ball of kawaii sadness if she was to leave again. She smiled at the thought of their tiny friend.

His chocolatey brown eyes pick up on the slight change in her serene expression, and the messy haired man shifts a little on the sofa to get a better look at her. Observing her amusement. Slowly, an impish smile begins to tug at the corner of his mouth, one of his long fingers moving a little to gently prod her.

"What now, Christi-"

"Don't."

She laughs, cutting him short before he can ruin the sincerity of the moment with name-calling. With a content mumble, she shifts a little against the warmth of his body, enveloped in Okabe's natural musky scent. She still hadn't told him truly how she felt. She had gone into the past, told him what she thought - how she saw him, how others did. She has kissed him. She had told him he was brilliant. But she never managed to vocalise her exact feelings.

"I... You know how... Well... Hmm. Okabe?"

"...Kurisu?"

He straightens a little. Was something bothering her?

Right now just felt right. It felt comfortable; relaxed without being lethargic. Calm without being boring. The flat was empty, no words said here would reach the ears of anyone else. The woman finishes shifting around, settling so that she is fully facing her tall partner.

"Let me try something..."

Yes, it is quite an idealistic story - I am just shipping Kurisu and Okabe so hard at the moment that I needed to write this!

I know it's really short at the moment, but I just wanted to get this first chapter out there while the thoughts were fresh in my head. I have one more chapter planned so far - as I don't know how well the story will be received. But if you guys like it, don't hesitate to let me know! I'd definitely think about writing something longer, with more of a plot, if I knew people would read it.

Thanks - Chapter 2 should be up soon.