So something quite unfortunate has happened. My hard drive had the most extreme of malfunctions, and as such I have lost pretty much 70% of all my works. That basically means that all my little drafts, oneshot things, and other such stuff has been maliciously annihilated. As soon as I got everything up to speed, I got on this to put out a PSA of sorts and to vent my mildly upsetness to the world...or anyone who bothers to read. It'll take more than that to stop me, however, so you have my assurance that I'm gonna keep on goin' with all the fun stuff I have fun writing.
To those who do read these, I appreciate it a ton. Enjoy.
Souji was just about to take a draft of his newest cup of coffee when he heard a frustrated groan coming from the general direction of Naoto's work desk. Frowning into the steam rising from the drink, he set it down, slipped his hands into his pockets, and walked into the room. "…Is something wrong?"
"My hard drive…it crashed."
"…Oh. That sounds bad."
"Really now? I lost all my files…all the schoolwork, everything."
"Hm…mhm…sounds like a real dilemma."
Naoto raised his head from where she had it buried in her arms to give him a withering glare, some irritation creeping into her voice. "You seem very nonchalant about me losing gigabytes of important work."
"I always was a paper kind of guy…C'mere."
He sat on the sofa and extended an arm towards her, smiling patiently and patting his lap with his other hand. Naoto watched him for a moment and sighed; he wouldn't give up without a fight, anyhow. That, and there wasn't any real reason to refuse. She walked over to where he was sitting and flopped down next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shirt. Souji started stroking her hair, smile turning warmer as she let out a shuddering sigh and relaxed against his touch. "Feeling a little better?"
"Mmf."
Her reaction was, in his mind, incredibly cute, as she nuzzled against his stomach and held him tighter. "Good. Now…I'm gonna tell you something, but you have to promise me you won't freak out."
"I don't promise unless there's a very good reason. And I don't 'freak out'."
Naoto emphasized this by bringing her arms up from his waist and making her best effort to show him air quotes while keeping him as a suitable man-pillow. Though she was forced to take her face off his stomach, she was fairly confident that she got her point across. The result was…amusing, to say the least. "Okay then. What if I told you there's still a way to fix this problem?"
"What? Tell me."
Naoto rested the back of her head on his lap as she inquired, so she could use her special interrogation technique should she need to. He always fell for the eyes anyway. He looked down at her and grinned at her slightly pleading expression, gently pulling her cheeks and saying, "You don't have to give me that look. The solution's plugged into your computer already."
"Huh?"
"The little black box that's connected to the USB that's connected to the big black box. That has a backup of all your files. And mine, by extension, but...yeah."
"H-…huh?"
"It's a terabyte drive. Saw it on sale so I grabbed one. I, uh…put all our files as backup on that."
Naoto continued to stare at him in surprise as Souji grew more and more nervous, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I unplugged it to save power, so that's…that's why you probably didn't see it. C-can you not stare at me like that?"
He was pulled down to her level at an awkward angle as she seized him into a hug, her arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders. He chuckled breathlessly as he tried to pat her hands, but he stayed still otherwise as a string of quiet thank-yous and murmurs of gratitude bubbled out of Naoto. "The jack is near the wall. Check if I got everything, yeah?"
She smiled at him and got up from his lap, sliding back into her computer chair and plugging in the drive. Souji rose with a soft grunt and walked back to the kitchen, waving a hand over the rim of his coffee cup. He nodded judiciously as the steam was still able to warm his palm. A happy noise came from the general direction of Naoto's work desk, letting him know that his decision was a good buy. "Did I get everything?"
She bounded into the kitchen and pecked his cheek, returning his embrace as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her crown. "You got everything. What would I do without you here?"
"I dunno. You'd have to deal with feeding the cat."
"Oh, how scary."
He smiled fondly and tousled her hair, giving her a gentle nudge back to her desk. "I'll be making brunch soon, okay?"
"Mhm. Where are the software disks?"
"Top shelf."
"Oh, there. Thank you."
"Yep. There's still some coffee in the pot if you want."
"Okay."
Souji was finally able to take a sip of his drink as Naoto's keyboard tapping filled the room again. He glanced at the clock; still about an hour till noon. Nodding in satisfaction, he took another draft and sat on the couch again, turning the television on with low volume.
I got this, trust me! *fist pump*