A/N: "wait mani, this isn't the persona 3/4 chapter" you're right!

my coauthor and i have more in mind for each arc that can't be summarized in the full story. but that's what this side story setup will be. with that in mind - and also what i wrote in the final notes of to live and die in liberty city - i hope you enjoy this side story!

i don't foresee these side stories to be quite like the epics of the main arcs, so don't worry. as much as i'd love to write a 30+ chapter epic on maya and lisa, it'll take an extensive planning of the whole series to get all side stories up to that length, and i don't think everyone wants to be here for that, LOL

rating is subjected to change. all characters are characterized within the gta setting. atlus owns all named characters and their respected series.


It's not even December yet, but there is golden tinsel on the banister leading up to the apartment floors. Lisa looks up, through the crack of space between each stair and the winding banister, and it is a forest of gold with dusting of silver, beckoning forth the holidays.

She finally pulls down her hood to let her hair out as she begins her ascent. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's not the best with directions - she tries to remember the paintings hanging in the hallway leading to Maya's shared apartment, and the numbers engraved in aged steel against the door. If anything, her memory guides her to the fourth floor, up a tall ascension of decorated tinsel and hanging wreaths on each stairwell landing, and she follows down the plush red carpet. Lisa tugs the tote purse on her shoulder up a little higher. She scratches above her ear, because she absolutely has forgotten Maya's apartment. Shit.

Digging into her purse for her phone would be too much work. And she'd have to take her mittens off. She wants Maya to compliment her on them, because they're cute. But distantly - farther down the hall, behind a door, she smells something. Something baked, vaguely chocolate, and peanut butter. That is familiar. Lisa takes longer steps down the hall, following the warm baking and whatever her nose can sense, before she lingers on a door directly in front of the elevator. With as much confidence as one could muster, she knocks on the door, a little more firm than she might normally - her mittens are very soft, after all.

The shuffle behind the door is audible. The sound of a chain lock slides against the door, and soon it opens, with Maya poking her head out. Lisa smiles brightly at her, and she can see the sunlight trying to shine through Maya's eyes, but her smile is a lot more tired. A lot more hesitant. But - Maya opens the door and pulls Lisa into a hug.

Lisa feels warm. Like Maya's a hearth with a fire cracking inside. Or maybe she's just been baking.

"Hey there," Maya says, gentle against the side of her head. "I've missed you."

"You too," Lisa beams, returning the hug, arms wrapped around Maya tight with her tote bag nudging against her side. "Smells good in here."

"That's the cookies," Maya laughs when she pulls away, and gently tugs Lisa inside, closing the door behind them. Lisa notes she locks it, but can't parse why. "Ulala suggested we make something."

"Ulala's home?"

"In the washroom right now. Do you want me to take your coat?"

"It's fine," Lisa says, shrugging her bag to her feet and follows with her coat. She turns to the shoe closet by the door, and lingers before its mirrored surface, watching Maya fold her arms across her chest and walk back towards her kitchen, rubbing her arms gently. Lisa follows with her eyes, until Maya disappears from the reflection, and Lisa turns her head to watch her. Her brow furrows, slowly packing her coat into the closet and stepping out of her boots with far more haste, before she leaves the closet half-ajar to walk over to Maya.

"You alright?" she asks as she steps up behind her, gently placing her hands on Maya's shoulders. Maya looks at her with an earnest comfort, holding her steps and looking a little more grounded. She looks down, between both of them, to the cheap wooden floor, and sighs.

"Yeah. Thanks for coming over." As tired as she sounds, it's a honest confession. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

Lisa pulls herself a little closer, a half-hug with her chest pressed against Maya's back. Maya's sweater is a soft pink, and it matches Lisa's wool long sleeve turtleneck. She keeps thinking ahead, and before she speaks again, Lisa pinches all of those thoughts out of her mind, flicked away like dust on your sleeves. "You've been out of it since the funeral, you know."

Maya nods, with a sigh. "Work's gotten tougher."

"You sure it's just that?"

Maya glances away from Lisa, looking towards the stove, the window, the magnets on the fridge - and Lisa doesn't like that. It's like hiding secrets. Maya's allowed secrets, but it's—"I'm sure you already know, Lisa."

She gently pulls herself from Lisa, walking over to the stove and kneeling down to look inside at her cookies. Lisa pulls her hands back towards her chest, toying with the gold chain around her neck, and bites her lip. Fuck. "Yes, I know," she says, soft and uncertain. "But—no, I understand. Sorry."

Maya sighs again, pushing up on her knees. "No. You're worried. Ulala's been asking the same questions, so I'm just a little tired of it, is all."

With a tentative step, she walks towards Maya again, who turns to watch her. She sees the curiosity in Maya's eyes, but she also sees something like disturbed relief; relief that Lisa hasn't been exposed to whatever it is that sits beneath the surface, like skating on a pond only barely frozen. Lisa knows that. Lisa knows that Tatsuya was involved with something he shouldn't have been, and Maya was not far behind him. Lisa isn't stupid—and she knows Maya doesn't think she is, but god damn it, not knowing what burns her friends burns her.

But she quells that frustration when she hugs Maya again, around her shoulders. Maya returns it, resting her face in the curve of Lisa's neck, and she feels her sigh between them once more. It's far more content, and Lisa likes that. They linger in the warm kitchen, and Lisa thinks about swaying gently to the side, before Maya lifts her head and lingers her eyes in Lisa's. She glances to the right just a little, and Maya's relieved expression ignites into something surprised, slipping out of Lisa's hold and coughing a little. Lisa turns around, and meets Ulala, with a playful grin on her face.

"Nice to see you, Silverman," Ulala says, taking long strides past the two girls. Ulala is so much taller than Lisa, and she has to crane her neck up to look at the mischievous woman. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey," Lisa says, awkward and plain, while Maya keeps her mouth pressed against her curled fist, ducked away from her roommate. Ulala kneels down in front of the stove, her long legs poking out from her slit skirt. Lisa notices they're a lot more knobby, worn muscle that's been left to soften. She already knows, but looks away regardless, away from the scars on her knees.

"They look ready, Maya, why don't we take 'em out?" Ulala asks, getting to her feet to turn off the stove, legs slipping back under her skirt. Maya finally lifts her head, but keeps her arms folded.

"They've only been in for a few minutes," Maya mutters, stepping forward hesitantly. "They'll be too soft."

"Maya's the only person I know who likes crispy cookies," Ulala says to Lisa, slipping her hands into the rubber mittens on the counter. "Like, burnt bottom crispy."

"It means they're cooked!" Maya says indignantly, but she looks far less embarrassed, and reaches behind Lisa to knock against Ulala's shoulder, who laughs. Ulala barely budges.

"And burnt! Step back, Silverman, lemme get 'em out," Ulala says, before kneeling back down and pulling the stove open with her. Lisa backs up and bumps into Maya, who grins and puts her hands back on Lisa's shoulders, watching the oven intently. Lisa looks over her shoulder to Maya with her own smile, pulled soft and hesitant, and she breathes in the deep warmth of baked chocolate and buttery dough. She watches Ulala out of the corner of her eye put the tray on the stove and turn on the overhanging fan, loud and uneven, to breathe in the heat rolling off the cookies. She cuts her view of Maya short quickly, before Maya realizes she's staring. Ulala tosses the gloves off of her hand into the sink, her long fingers slipping free.

"We can make another batch since you just got here," Ulala remarks, leaning against the counter. "Make some for Crispy Maya."

"I'll eat these ones," Maya says, rolling her eyes. "I'm putting mine in the fridge, though."

"You're such a weirdo."

"Only if you want to," Lisa insists to Maya, who slips from Lisa's shoulders with a smile.

"Maybe later. These are alright." Maya nudges Ulala with her hip, and rests next to her on the counter. "We're going out tonight, anyway. I was going to invite you with us, if you wanted to come."

Lisa raises one of her brows. "Where to?"

Maya looks up at Ulala, who notices, and grins—even if it looks a little nervous, just for a moment. "I wanted to—god, this sounds dumb, but—"

"You can do it," Maya says, touching her elbow.

"I wanted to go out, since it's been a while," Ulala admits, and Lisa stops herself from letting her eyes drop to something a little more concerned, or perhaps in mourning—because she understands, even if she doesn't know the details. Perhaps she won't, and that's—alright. It's not her business. Instead, she nods, and keeps her smile as best she can, while Ulala continues. "I thought it could be us, since Maya mentioned you were coming over."

"Is it a restaurant?" Lisa asks, resting herself on her side of the kitchen counter, hip leaning against the ceramic edge.

"Actually," Ulala laughs, with a grin. "I wanted to go dancing."

"You're such an old lady," Maya teases, slipping off the counter and elbowing Ulala. "'Going dancing'."

"It's been a while!" Ulala insists, following Maya across the kitchen's narrow space. Lisa pulls herself up the counter a little to let them pass, and notes Maya smells just like peanut butter. She wonder why she didn't notice that before. "Even—yeah, it's been a while. I'm going to invite Katsuya too, if that's alright."

Lisa notes Maya's smile breaks, and her eyes widen with her lips pressed thin. Maya doesn't look up when Ulala passes her, walking towards the couch, and she makes a point to turn away from Ulala when she sits herself down, hiding her face. Lisa feels the hair on her neck prickle, and she wants to ask her what's wrong— "Yeah, of course he can. It'll be the four of us."

Maya lifts her head to Lisa. She still looks nervous. "If you want to come, that is."

"Of course," Lisa replies, almost stumbling over her words. "I'd love to."

Maya smiles, but something lingers in her eyes. Lisa tries to return the smile, but she notices the hesitation. It's going to be a long night.