"Ranma, Akane, you two are watching the house tonight." Kasumi said over the tv. It was one of the only places guaranteed to find both of them in the same room.
"Okay, have fun with your friends tonight." Akane said, smiling at her sister. Ranma grunted her agreement, not taking her eyes off of the screen for even a second. Akane rolled her eyes and Kasumi just laughed into her hand. She waved goodbye to her sister and pulled on a coat.
Almost as soon as the door had shut Ranma pulled herself up. "I'm gonna go take a shower."
"Done with this show already?" Akane asked, teasingly.
"Yeah, well. Mei lost so I'm out too." Ranma shrugged. Akane looked back at the tv in surprise, since last she checked they were watching a cooking show. Sure enough, the screen displayed an idol competition, bright colors, loud sounds, and all. Akane must have zoned out for longer than she thought.
Ranma had already left by the time she turned around. Akane shook her head, she'd been somewhere else all day. At least they were on break. Or maybe it was because of the break… a timer broke her out of her thoughts before she could lose another half hour.
The timer had been for reheated leftovers. Kasumi must have stuck them in before she left. Akane wasn't sure whether to feel thankful for the food, or offended at her sister's lack of faith in her.
"Oh, hey, food." Ranma remarked when she entered the kitchen. She was still toweling off her, now red, hair. "You didn't make it did you?" Akane glared at her and shoved the plate she'd been making at her.
"No, I didn't. Jerk." Akane stuck her tongue out before fixing her own plate. Ranma just laughed at her. She sat down on one of the stools across from Akane and quickly re-braided her hair before digging in.
"So," Ranma started in between bites,"what do you want to do? We've got the whole house."
Akane hummed, thinking. She still didn't have an answer by the time Ranma had finished and cleared her plate. "I don't know. Wanna watch a movie or something?" she asked finally.
"Sure. You pick the movie and stuff, I'll be out in a sec."
Akane bemoaned the lack of choices for a full minute and a half before finally settling on some dumb period drama her dad had bought forever ago and never got them to watch more than half-way through. If nothing else, at least she and Ranma could laugh at it together, Akane thought. Or fall asleep to it. Either one worked.
Ranma was already settled on the couch by the time she got back, curled up with at least three blankets. And a large bowl of… was that popcorn? Akane didn't even know they had popcorn. She said as much.
"You guys don't. I do." Ranma said smugly, shoveling a handful into her mouth. Akane rolled her eyes at her girlfriend and stuck the movie in. "Your eyes are gonna get stuck that way if you keep rolling them." Ranma joked, poking Akane in the stomach. Akane yelped and slapped the air where Ranma's hand was. Ranma gave her a cocky grin and she huffed.
"Whatever, grandma. Scoot over." Akane swaddled herself in the blankets next to Ranma and pulled the popcorn bowl between them.
"You got the remotes?" Ranma asked. Akane groaned.
"No. I get the remotes you get the lights?" She asked hopefully. Ranma grumbled at her but got up as well. Akane grabbed all three remotes, her dad had finally caved into Nabiki's request for a newer system last February, and settled back into the blanket nest. The lights went off a few seconds later and then Ranma was next to her. This time though, Ranma had curled herself up closer to Akane, even leaning her head on Akane's shoulder.
Akane toyed with the idea of putting her arm around Ranma, maybe even doing the cheesy fake yawn move that Hiroshi and Daisuke are always laughing about. Ultimately, she decided against it. Ranma would have just laughed at her for sure.
Ranma shifted against Akane's arm and moved herself closer. Akane made a noise of complaint and Ranma just shushed her. That wouldn't usually be enough to stop Akane from saying anything but Ranma had looked up at her through her eyelashes, blue eyes shining in amusement. She'd pressed even closer, a faraway part of Akane's mind wondered how that was even possible, and the blanket shifted off of her. This gave Akane a good view of her own tank top sliding slightly off of her girlfriend's shoulder. Akane was just as lost in her thoughts as before, but instead of a peaceful spacing out her whole brain was occupied with how cute her girlfriend was and how they had the whole house to themselves…
Akane is roused from her thoughts by a sharp inhale from Ranma and then nails digging into her arm. "Ow! Ranma, what," She stops when she notices the screen. Shit, she'd forgotten the cat-people subplot. It was ridiculous and the makeup was so bad but that didn't seem to appease Ranma's phobia.
Ranma pulled her hand away from Akane like she'd been burned. "Oh shit Akane, I'm so sorry,"
"It's okay, really." Akane cut her off, knowing she would apologize for hours. Ranma nodded but she still looked unconvinced (and a bit shaky) so Akane wrapped her arm around Ranma and squeezed her shoulder. "We can skip this part if you want."
"No, I'm fine." Ranma insisted, classic stubborn look on her face. It was almost convincing if not for the fact that she wouldn't look Akane in the eyes.
A loud hiss from the tv cut Akane off from arguing further. Ranma jumped at the sound as much as she could with Akane's arm still wrapped around her. The hand still on her shoulder started rubbing up and down her arm in a distracted attempt at comfort, while the rest of Akane was occupied with finding the tv remote without letting go of her girlfriend.
Akane managed to find the actual tv remote and shut it off quickly, but the volume remote was still nowhere to be found. She hoped it would shut off on its own eventually because Ranma was clearly trembling now so there was no time to look for it. She moved her hand down to Ranma's back, doing the same circular motions she did whenever Ranma was in cat-mode.
Ranma leaned into the touch and started taking deep breaths. "Thanks," she muttered after a few minutes, still on edge but not in any danger of hyperventilation.
Akane kissed her on the forehead. "Of course dummy." Ranma would have scoffed at that if she weren't frozen in embarrassment. Akane laughed softly, her girlfriend was so easy to rile up.
Ranma, unfrozen, turned towards Akane. There was just enough light spilling in from the kitchen for Akane to see her glare. Maybe if there had been more light Akane would have noticed the determined look in her eyes as well, but she didn't. Ranma kissed her, on the lips this time, hand on Akane's thigh for balance.
When she pulled back Akane was in a daze. She was easily riled up too it seemed. Ranma smirked at her, pleased with herself for all of three seconds before realizing what she had done. Akane got second-hand whiplash watching Ranma turn away from her.
"Um, I'm gonna go, uh, gonna go," she paused, collecting her thoughts,"change back before any of them get home…" Ranma said as she got up, pretty much running up the stairs. Akane nodded numbly at where she had been before shaking herself out of it.
Well, at least Ranma wasn't thinking about cats anymore.
Trans girl Ranma is such a good hc imo, and I'm disappointed at the lack of content for it. Not that there's not any but... there's not enough lol.
hmu on my ranma sideblog, adhdranma (on tumblr)