A nice, cool breeze blew across her skin as Eli walked down the evening streets. The weather felt good: it reminded her of summer visits to her family's homeland. Being bored that day, she had decided to take a walk, and now she was wondering what to do for the night. Maybe she could see a movie. There had to be something good playing.
When she pulled out her phone though, she didn't use it to look up the current movie times. Instead, she went into her contacts and tapped on Nozomi's number, putting the phone to her ear and listening to the ring. Hopefully she'd get an answer.
The ringing stopped, and when no answering machine followed it, Eli smiled brightly. "Hey Nozomi! Are you busy right now?"
"Not really. What's up?" Eli yelped and nearly dropped her phone, as the voice coming from it was also coming from right behind her. She turned around to find Nozomi standing there with a cheeky grin on her face.
"N-Nozomi! Have you been following me?"
"Just for a few minutes." She giggled and stepped forward, planting a kiss on Eli's cheek. "So what's up?" Having Nozomi so close to her almost always managed to take her breath away, and tonight was no exception. She had to compose herself to even remember what she was calling for in the first place.
"D-Did you want to... I mean, did you want to see a movie tonight?" Nozomi seemed to deliberate on it, tapping her chin with a finger.
"Hmm... I'm sorry, Elicchi, but I've already got plans tonight."
"You mean besides stalking me?" It was a joke, but Eli was slightly hurt that Nozomi was going to be busy. Not that it was her fault or anything. Nozomi wasn't going to be free every second of the day. She just had to suck it up and keep going. "Well, I hope you have fun with that, then. I'll see you later?" With a small wave, she continued walking down the street. Maybe she'd still see a movie anyway.
"Elicchi, wait!" Eli stopped and turned around to find Nozomi jogging towards her with a smile. "You know, I can always do what I was gonna do another night. I'd love to go to a movie with you." Now Eli was smiling too, her slight hurt disappearing instantly. She stuck out her hand, and Nozomi took it, giving it a gentle squeeze as they started to walk together towards the movie theater.
"So what were your plans for tonight anyway?"
"I was gonna prepare for Halloween, but I can do that tomorrow."
"Nozomi, it's August..."
Only one movie was showing around the time the two of them showed up at the theater. It was some pretentious-sounding movie that neither one of them had heard of, but since they'd have to wait about an hour to see anything else, they decided to watch it anyway. Maybe they'd get a few laughs out of it.
They didn't watch a lot of the movie though. The parts they did see were as boring and pretentious as expected, but most of the time in the theater was spent making out. Sure, they could've saved money just making out at home, but there was a certain ambiance to the theater that was appealing. Plus, Eli was appreciative of Nozomi's warm, silky hands on her body in any location.
When they exited the theater, Eli's face was red, but she had no regrets about ignoring the movie. She felt very satisfied as they walked back down the street, but their walking was soon interrupted when they were approached by a wide-eyed girl. They both stopped as the girl tentatively approached them, then stopped herself and bowed deeply.
"E-Eli-san, Nozomi-san, I-I'm a huge fan!" Oh, it was one of those idol fans. It wasn't something either of them dealt with very often anymore, since their idol days had long since passed, but it was nice that there were still those who remembered the old days. Not that they were old or anything.
"Oh? How sweet!" Nozomi smiled at the girl. "Would you like an autograph?" She could only nod noiselessly at the suggestion. "Well, luckily I always carry a sharpie on me." Reaching into her pocket, Nozomi pulled out a black sharpie. "You never know when you might need one. Now, what would you like us to sign? Perhaps your chest?" She grinned at the girl, who started to blush, though she didn't say anything at first. Was she actually considering it?
"I-I do have a-a receipt," she finally stammered out, stuffing a hand in her pocket and pulling out a somewhat-crumpled receipt. She unfurled it and smoothed it out the best she could, then handed it over to Nozomi, who smiled and uncapped her sharpie before signing her name on the back with a flourish. Then she handed it off to Eli, who signed it as well. After that she returned it to the girl.
"Th-Thank you so much!" She looked at the signatures in awe, as if they were a priceless treasure.
"No problem! Glad to help a fan out." Nozomi gave the girl a wink, walking away with Eli and leaving the girl standing there and looking after them with a blush on her face.
As they walked away, a flicker of jealousy flared up in the pit of Eli's stomach. It was innocent, and yet she felt weird about Nozomi semi-flirting with that fan. She knew that it shouldn't bother her, but it did, at least a little. It was silly though, and she knew it was silly. That's why she wouldn't voice it aloud. She'd just let it slowly eat at her inside.
Nozomi took Eli's hand in her own and squeezed it to get her attention. When Eli looked over, Nozomi gave her a smile, so happy and pure, that it melted her heart. There was no reason to be jealous. After all, she knew that Nozomi only had eyes for her. That thought successfully chased out all the others, allowing her to smile and walk back home with the woman she loved.
Halloween finally arrived. Somehow, Nozomi had convinced Maki to let her use the mansion to create the perfect haunted house. Maki only agreed with the condition that her room was left untouched. Nozomi agreed, but when Maki's back was turned, she sneaked in and left something on Maki's pillow to appropriately scare her: an unpaid credit card bill.
The mansion was decked out in normal spooky fare. Cobwebs were placed in every conceivable corner, and bats were hanging from the ceiling - a task that nearly sent Nozomi flying off the second story. Ominous music permeated the entire house, thanks to a well-rigged speaker system. It was such an overall monumental task, so it was lucky that she had help from Hanayo and Kotori.
They invited more than just the original members of Muse, so the mansion was reasonably filled with people ready to simultaneously party and get scared. Though Maki had agreed to host it, she had taken the precaution of hiding everything expensive and breakable. The only thing breakable she couldn't hide were the guests.
When Maki went to check on how things were going in the foyer, she found the former Lily White hovering around a stack of pillows. Nozomi and Rin looked excited, while Umi seemed a mix between disbelief and worry. They all were looking up at the second floor, so she decided to follow their lead. Up there, Honoka was standing on the balcony, facing away from them.
Rather than let out a scream of frustration, which she had every right to do, Maki just sighed in defeat. "She's going to jump, isn't she?" She did. Honoka tried to do a backflip, but she jumped too high and smacked her feet into the ceiling, leaving two noticeable footprints as she came careening down to the ground below. Luckily she was able to turn so that she landed on her back in the pile of pillows.
Honoka seemed dazed for a moment, but then got back up with a big grin. "Alright, your turn, Rin-chan!" Before they could do that, Maki grabbed both of them and hauled them away, chastising both of them for being reckless and leaving marks on her ceiling. It was at that moment that Eli slipped into the room, two cups of liquid in her hands.
"Did I miss Honoka or Rin doing something stupid?" Eli chuckled, handing one of the cups to Nozomi, who thanked her and took a drink from the cup.
"Honoka-chan jumped from the second story. It would've been great if the ceiling hadn't of been in the way." She kicked one of the pillows back into the pile. "Maybe I could get Maki-chan to move the ceiling up."
"Maybe." Somehow Eli doubted that, but it probably wasn't a serious suggestion either. "So, the party's going pretty well."
"Even better than I expected! Someone nearly punched a hole in the wall when the skeleton army popped out of the couch cousins. I hope Maki-chan hasn't seen that yet."
"Hey, Nozomi?" Eli decided to steer the conversation in a different direction. "Remember last month when I said I could surprise you on Halloween?"
"Yes, and I said there was no way you could." Nozomi smirked and placed a hand on her hip, taking another sip of her drink. "C'mon Elicchi, you know I'm the queen of surprises."
"Okay, but I think I can do it this year."
"If you're announcing your intentions, then you might want to rethink your strategy." Eli could only smile at Nozomi's words. Reaching into her pocket, she cupped her hand around something and went down onto one knee. Then she pulled out the object from her pocket, which was a small, black box.
Nozomi's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Eli held out the box in front of her and opened it, revealing a diamond ring that glimmered beneath the low lights Maki had forced Nozomi to leave on so people could actually see. As soon as the ring came into view, the cup fell from Nozomi's hand, hitting the floor and spilling its contents everywhere. Not that Nozomi really noticed or Eli minded: there was something much bigger to concentrate on.
"Nozomi, we've been together for so long, but I've always felt that we were meant for more ever since we first met. I-"
"Yes!" Nozomi covered her mouth as her eyes started to tear up.
"I didn't even ask you a question yet." Eli smirked, getting a bit teary-eyed as well.
"I'm still saying yes."
"So if I was going to ask you to jump off that balcony?"
"I'll do a wicked backflip for you, Elicchi." The two of them laughed together, but then Eli took Nozomi's hand in her own and looked her in the eyes, completely serious now.
"Nozomi, will you marry me?" As it turned out, Nozomi couldn't answer this time. She could only nod as she kept covering her mouth. Eli smiled and pulled the ring out of its container, gently placing it on Nozomi's finger. Once it was on there, Nozomi pulled Eli up and pulled her into a tight hug, where they shared a deep, passionate kiss.
"Oh Elicchi, I love you so much." Nozomi held onto her tightly, never wanting to let go. "I love you I love you I love you."
"I love you too, Nozomi," Eli whispered, her heart racing. She had no doubts that Nozomi was going to say yes to the proposal, but it was still a relief to get that confirmation. This was the happiest day of her life.
"Congratulations, you two." Eli stiffened in Nozomi's arms, knowing that voice was definitely not her newly-christened fiancé. Turning around, she saw Umi standing there and staring at them.
"H-How long have you been standing there?"
"The entire time. I hadn't gone anywhere." Umi crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow. "You did notice that Maki didn't drag me off, right?"
"Ahaha, I... completely forgot." Eli laughed nervously, gripping Nozomi's hands tightly. "Well, uh... We're getting married." She held up Nozomi's hand, ring and all, as if Umi was completely unaware of the proceedings that had unfolded right in front of her.
"I never would've guessed," Umi replied dryly, walking over and patting Eli on the shoulder. "Congratulations though, to the both of you." She smiled warmly at them. "Oh, and I'd suggest cleaning up that drink before Maki gets back."
"Drink?" Eli looked down and finally took notice of the spilled cup that Nozomi had dropped. Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if Maki didn't just happen to come back in at that time. She took one look at the mess and sighed.
"Why must I suffer?"
Later that night, Eli and Nozomi laid in bed together, cuddling under the covers. Nozomi kept staring at the ring, admiring it. "It's amazing... I love it so much, Elicchi." That was the fifth time she had said it, but Eli loved hearing it every time.
"I'm glad you do." She leaned in and kissed Nozomi on the cheek. "You know what this means though, right?"
"Hm? What does it mean?"
"I was able to surprise you." Nozomi's eyes widened, but then she laughed and poked Eli's cheek.
"Yeah yeah, ya got me." She smiled warmly as she held the ring up for them both to see. "You really got me."