Author's note:
just a bit of a trigger warning, there is a good bit of alcohol drinking at the beginning of this chapter, if you're not comfortable with that for whatever reason please feel free to skip down to the first line break, you're not missing anything important
Shion stands next to the bar in the Elsa's restaurant, she sighs exasperated as she once again asks the captain to turn the music down just a little. The Elsa crew had decided to throw a sudden party to celebrate Kos-mos' return, although the term 'party' could really be only be used loosely to describe what was going on now.
Tony and hammer had dug through the deepest uncleaned parts of their storage closet to find an old pack of balloons they had, Matthews found some old music albums to play way too loudly, Allen got completely wasted after only one drink, and Jr had eaten way more party snacks than she thought was humanly possible and was now trying to dance with Kos-mos. Shion looks back to the latter to see her still trying not to trip over the hyperactive redhead, if nothing else it was impressive how essentially one of the most powerful sentient weapons known to man was being tripped up by one little urtv.
Shion didn't really have anything against this little party, but she wasn't too big on events like this anyway and she had wanted to get to talk to Kos-mos alone. Not wanting to ruin everyone's fun though, she turns back to the menu above the bar. She doesn't want to get too drunk, but there isn't really much else to do.
"Say," she says to the bartender droid, "don't you have anything without much alcohol? I mean I understand this is a bar but your selection is a little uh..."
"Oh, yes of course, I can make you something custom miss Uzuki. Not much of anyone orders anything with less than-"
"Hey Adonis! Get some shots ready, I got a challenge to win!" Tony slams his hand down on the bar table as he speaks to the droid.
"A challenge?" Shion asks him, "what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about a drinking contest, you may not know it Shion, but I'm the undefeated champ in the elsa's wake of drinking contests."
Shion gives him a questioning look but decides to just go with it, "well okay then, but who are you even challenging?" Tony moves so that Shion can see who's standing next to him, and it's none other than... Kos-mos? "Kos-mos what are you doing?"
"I am sorry Shion, but I can not back down from this challenge... Also the sound of my friends shouting my name over and over is surprisingly compelling." Shion notices that nearby Allen, Mary, Hammer, and Jr are all chanting Kos-mos' name.
She looks back to Tony who now has a large platter of shots in front of him, he... Does know Kos-mos wasn't given a digestive system... Right?
Shion doesn't say anything to him, though, and instead takes a seat where she can easily see the action. Oh well, if nothing else this will at least be pretty funny, she thinks to herself with a smirk. She adds her own voice to those cheering for Kos-mos once she gets her drinks as well, "woo, you get him Kos-mos! Show him who's boss!"
Kos-mos smiles gingerly at Shion, and she also notices her blush a little bit. Shion knew she gave Kos-mos the ability to do so, but she'd never seen her do it before now, it's a bit of an unnatural color compared to humans but it's still cute regardless.
Tony, on the other hand, looks completely fired up. Hearing so many people chant for his competition only seemed to make him more competitive. He quietly psyches himself up while waiting for the contest to start. And Both him and Kos-mos glare down at their drinks as the bartender droid counts down.
"3... 2... 1... DRINK!"
As soon as they start everyone in the bar starts screaming and cheering the two of them on, well everyone except Shelley who's trying to drag Jr away from the bar. Matthews finally turns his music down, but only so he can scream and cheer for Tony who's actually not looking too hot.
It only takes him a few shots to realize this was a pretty shitty idea, and Shion almost thinks he realized Kos-mos can't even get drunk and is gonna give up. But he doesn't, he sticks to it for as long as he can, which was to say until the medical droids literally have to drag him away so he doesn't drink too much and kill himself.
A still wasted Allen grabs one of Kos-mos' arms and holds it high in the air "yeeeeeeah Kos-mo less all heree it for Kos!" The others soon join in, all grabbing one of Kos-mos' arms and cheering for her.
Shion of course claps and cheers for Kos-mos as well, but she's also still dying laughing from her friends' goofy antics.
The party continues like that for a few hours: Allen falls asleep at a table, Jr tries eating even more party snacks and makes himself sick, Matthews keeps playing every single recording of the Seraphim sisters' show, Hammer gets punched by Kos-mos after pissing her off, and Tony has to be forcibly removed again after he tries getting in drinking contest... AGAIN
And, while she's still a bit of a wallflower through the party, Shion ends up having a much better time than she anticipated.
Kos-mos had quietly left the party as it started to calm down, it was fun and all but her friends were getting just a bit clingy and she needed some space.
She gets lost in her own thoughts as she walks down the silent empty hallways of the ship, thinking back not to what's happened since she's been awake, but what happened before then. She stops next to the glass sliding doors of the elevator, she can clearly see her reflection in them. She stares deeply into the eyes of her reflection, was all of that... All that I dreamed, all that I experienced while inactive... Was any of that real?
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, which is technically unnecessary with her body. What's more I am still bothered with how things have turned out regarding Mary, she opens her eyes back up and stares at them once more, still crimson as always. I am of course concerned about myself, but more so about Shion. I know back when I had Mary's soul that is just what she wanted, for me to feel, to be human. But is this still what she wan-
"Will you shut up already, you're going to drive me mad if you continue on like this."
Kos-mos whips around at the sound of the voice, her scanners hadn't picked up on anyone nearby. In fact even as she looks around no one seems to be there.
"What, did you forget about me already? You should know by now you can't get rid of me that easily."
Wait, she recognizes that voice, "T-elos?"
"No, it's U-DO. Who the fuck did you think it was, genius?"
Kos-mos doesn't let herself get bothered by T-elos' snarky comment, "you went completely silent after I awoke, I was concerned you were never actually there in the first place." A chill suddenly shoots up Kos-mos' spine as it feels as though T-elos is standing right next to her.
"Well what did you expect? Did you want me to just start chanting 'good morning' to you while you were still busy with those pals of yours?" Kos-mos frowns, she supposes she has a point but still... "Anyway I fail to see how it's a big deal, you know I'm here now."
Kos-mos shakes her head in frustration but decides to let it go. "Very well, I suppose you're right, I will not bother worrying about it any longer." She goes back to staring at her reflection for another moment before she's pulled from her thoughts by her internal system informing her it finished scanning what she told it to.
"Oh, T-elos, there is something I just confirmed that I need to tell you." Kos-mos can feel T-elos' curiosity through her own emotions, she says nothing but Kos-mos can tell she's waiting for her to continue. "It appears that somehow when we fused back on Michtam your operating system was added to my own, I almost wasn't able to tell at first because both our software programs are so similar." An odd emotion emanates from T-elos as she speaks, but Kos-mos doesn't really pick up on what it means and simply continues speaking. "Anyway I simply wanted to let you know that if you ever wanted to walk around at all this body will technically work for you as well."
"Y-You..." Kos-mos is a bit off put by T-elos' tone and torrent of emotions and wonders if something she said bothered her... "Why- Why would you... Why would you tell me this? You realize we're enemies right!? And that now I can take your body anytime I wa-"
"I do not believe you'd do that," Kos-mos suddenly cuts T-elos off, "I see no reason to still classify you as my enemy. With Mary Magdalene gone you really do not have any need for my body. Besides, I believe if you truly wanted to take my body from me you could have easily done so already."
T-elos is silent for a long stretch of time, thinking about what Kos-mos just said. "You... I... A-Alright, I may take you up on that offer sometime" She finally answers Kos-mos. "But uhh... Do me a favor okay? Don't tell anyone I'm still around."
Kos-mos frowns at her request, "well I suppose so... I see no reason I should have to tell anyone... But I will admit that one request is a bit suspicious. Why is that-"
"KOS-MOS!" She's cut off by someone calling for her, she's been so focused on T-elos she'd forgotten to check her scanners for anyone nearby. "There you are Kos-mos, I've been looking all over for you." She turns around to see Shion quickly walking up to her.
"Hello Shion. You decided to leave the party so soon?"
"You left before I did, silly." She gives Kos-mos a playful nudge on the shoulder, Kos-mos can't help but notice how infections her smile and upbeat nature are. "Hey do you mind if we go somewhere more private, I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh, of course, lead the way."
Shion practically falls on her bed when she gets in the room, the party was fun but it certainly was exhausting. She then pats the spot next to her, gesturing for Kos-mos to sit down too.
She perks up and quickly makes her way to the bed, Shion scooching over to make room for her. Even so the bed is a bit small and the two girls are smooshed pretty close together, but neither of them seem to mind. Shion even pushes herself a little bit closer to Kos-mos once she sits down.
"It's so good to have you back," Shion cheerfully says, "it's almost just like before, we just need to go get Momo and Ziggy to come join us again."
Kos-mos smiles softly at the Shion's enthusiasm. "Indeed, everyone certainly is just as lively as ever. It is nice to know that little has changed in the time I have been away."
"Yeah well... Even so it still wasn't quite the same without you there, Kos-mos." Shion looks over at Kos-mos with a sad smile on her face, "I know I said I'd be okay, but... i still missed you so much. It's almost like a dream having you sit here next to me again." When she looks back she notices Kos-mos now looks concerned for her, and then feels her reach around and put a hand on her shoulder.
Shion takes the opportunity to give Kos-mos a hug, burying her face into her neck and getting as close to her as she can. Kos-mos has a warmth about her which ,while it isn't quite human, is still very pleasant. Shion lets out a satisfied sigh when Kos-mos wraps her arms around her as well, and snuggles closer when she feels Kos-mos start stroking her hair.
Shion had originally planned to talk to Kos-mos in this time, but now she doesn't want to move from the hug she had started. It was so soft and warm here, the bed seemed so much more uncomfortable compared to Kos-mos' arms.
Oh well, I don't even remember what I was going to say, and the faint sound of fans and motors in her chest is much more compelling than words anyway...
"Shion..."
Oh, well that is quite compelling actually... Hearing her say my name that way.
She feels Kos-mos gently touch her cheek to lift her face from the crook of her neck, Shion's a bit annoyed by this but let's her do it anyway.
"If I may ask, Shion, did you actually wish to talk with me? Or did you simply want someone to fall asleep on?" Kos-mos asks her in a playful sort of way, to which Shion decided to play along.
"Hmm I don't know, I could talk to you, but I'm starting to feel really tired..." The big smile on Shion's face completely gives her joke away.
"Well then, I suppose I should put you to bed." Shion blushes heavily, she doesn't think that Kos-mos meant for that to sound so suggestive but- Kos-mos doesn't give Shion another moment to think about it before she grabs her and flings them both backward. An assortment of things Shion had left there earlier were bounced off the bed, some pens, a communications device, and an empty bottle all clattered to the floor. The bed itself creaked loudly as they hit it, Shion imagines it wasn't made for heavy ass metal robots to be jumping on it.
The noise calms down but starts back up when Shion starts laughing loudly, "HAHA KOS-MOS HA WHY DID Y- HHH YOU JUST FUCKING- AHAHA YOU MADE SUCH A MESS!" Shion pushes her face back into Kos-mos' neck while trying to contain her giggles, meanwhile Kos-mos simply smiles at how much she's able to make the other girl laugh.
They lie like that for a while until Shion finally calms herself, she takes a few deep breaths before she starts talking again. "You sure are a tease Kos-mos, anyway I did actually want to talk and catch up with you. Sorry I've just spent this time so far just messing around."
"It is alright Shion, I am simply glad to be able to spend time with you at all after all the time we were apart." She wraps her arms around Shion, and Shion feels her start to pet her hair again. "I was simply concerned that you wouldn't be able to tell me whatever it was you wanted."
"Honestly I didn't even have anything in particular I wanted to say to you. I just wanted some time alone with you, to just talk and well... Do whatever the hell it is we've been doing so far." Shion smiles and leans more into Kos-mos, she always has enjoy talking to her so much. With most people Shion would be more hesitant to be quite as open as she was now, but it was never that way with Kos-mos, she was the one person she never had a hard time being herself around.
"So Kos-mos, I know you said you missed me while we were apart... Does that mean you were still conscious that entire time?"
"I... Suppose... It is difficult to explain."
Shion looks up at Kos-mos to see her looking down and off to the side, she seems to be deep in thought trying to figure out how to describe her experience. She reaches up and gently places her hand on Kos-mos' cheek and once give her a reassuring smile once she has her attention.
Kos-mos places her own hand over Shion's before continuing, "well you see, I could not control of feel anything from my physical body. But I still... Existed... It was almost like a very long dream."
"I see..." Shion strokes Kos-mos' face with her thumb, "that must have been awful, being forced to still be conscious while also not feeling anything and being all alone..." She moves to wrap her arms around Kos-mos again and lightly touches her forehead to Kos-mos'.
"It is alright, I am not alone anymore. I am here with you now, Shion." She's so close now she can feel Kos-mos' breath with every word she says.
"Yeah, and now that you're here I never want to let you go again." Kos-mos' eyelids flutter as she blinks turning her gaze off to the side, Shion can see a dull glowing blush appear on the other girl's face.
"That... That would make me quite happy, actually." Shion's grip on Kos-mos tightens slightly, like a silent promise.
Shion shudders just a bit while holding Kos-mos, she wants to get even closer to her but they're already hugging tightly as possible. Shion leans her head into Kos-mos', which she responds to by leaning her own head into Shion's, but it's just not enough.
So, with barely thinking about it, Shion pushes her face into Kos-mos' and locks lips with her.
It's not long or passionate, just a small but heartfelt peck. Kos-mos gladly gives her another one in return after she pulls away. Shion's not really sure what to say now, she just kissed the girl she'd dreamt of kissing for so long now. So instead of saying anything she just lies close to Kos-mos and gently closes her eyes.
Shion stays awake to hug and pet Kos-mos for only a bit longer before she drifts to sleep in the warmth of her arms.