Midday, 1:30 PM. Queenie had a mission with Nanami, and they had visited the bakery afterwards for a drink. The bakery that Zia worked in, it was mostly always quiet. Once the bell rang from below the door, Zia turned without looking at first: "Welcome to—"
Then she paused. "Oh brother... if it isn't my psychopath sister." Zia groaned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Her coworker Hiro emerged from the back and looked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and waving shyly with the other hand. "H-Hello! Welcome to Nekomo Café!~"
Queenie nods respectfully at him, Nanami bows deeply without a word. "Zia" Queenie says, stepping closer.
"I'm not serving you. I'll serve this... robot friend of yours." Zia says, gesturing toward Nanami. Nanami's expression didn't change, Queenie tilts her head and crossed her arms. "Robot you say?" Queenie repeated, slightly amused. Zia scoffed dramatically and rolled her eyes again, "What do you want?"
"I'll take a coffee. Two sugars." He said, his hand raising to adjust his glasses subtly. Zia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, he talks," she says sarcastically. Queenie let out a breath that sounded close to a laugh. "I'll have tea."
"Of course, your majesty." Zia replied, turning to Hiro, who didn't know where to position himself. He was slightly embarrassed. "Prepare the coffee beans, please. If you don't, Queenie might zap us." She said, leaning closer to him in a whispering voice. "I will not" Queenie replied automatically, her brows furrowed. Hiro laughed nervously, "Haha, yeah! Anything for the queen!" He quickly vanished to prepare the coffee while Zia prepared the tea. "So, you and the robot doing well with fighting those things?" She asked without looking at them, focusing on the tea machine.
Queenie nods, "Yes, everything is well so far."
Nanami adds, "Nothing extreme."
"Extreme," Zia repeats, a laugh escaping her. "When is anything around here not extreme?"
"It's not," Nanami says, "Because we prevent it"
Queenie nods to this, shifting so she was slightly closer to him. Zia notices, stirring the tea cup slowly and narrowed her eyes at her. "Right... and you so happen to be apart of every mission that he's been involved in." She says, her eyes never leaving Queenie. Queenie blinks, her eyes not visible through her shades but she looked slightly annoyed. "It's important I also take charge of the situation." She said, Zia slides the cup of tea towards her on the counter. "Mhm... but you do it by choice, not because you necessarily need to." Zia objected, leaning slightly closer towards them. Hiro came back shortly with Nanami's coffee, handing to him slowly. "Enjoy!" He exclaimed. "Thank you." Nanami simply nods with no change in his expression.
"I... feel it's necessary to do these missions with him because—" Queenie began and then stopped, trying to find the right words, carefully...
"Because?" Zia pressed, leaning further in. Hiro looked between them silently. Queenie's jaw tightened a little. "Because the types of monsters we encounter aren't normal and require excess power." Queenie finally says, her gaze never leaving Zia's. The cafe fell silent for a moment. After a while Zia straightened up and crossed her arms with a slight smirk on her face. She looked at Nanami. "Hey, what's your name again?"
"Nanami," he replied dryly.
"Okay, Nanami. Do you believe anything she just said?" Zia asked, curiously. Nanami blinked. "Yes" he simply said.
Zia studied him for a while, eyes narrowed. Both him and Queenie stood still. Nanami took a measured sip of his coffee, and Queenie followed, her sip much slower. She was glancing sideways at him. He noticed, of course he did. He just didn't say anything. "Hey Nanami," Zia said, looking directly at him now, arms still crossed but now causally. Nanami looked at her but didn't respond.
Zia leaned forward, her hand coming up to cover her mouth from the side, lowering her voice but Queenie could still hear her.
The cafe froze, actually froze. Hiro's jaw dropped. Queenie's body was still. Her body warmer than usual, her face hot now. Her fist clenched, her lips twitched but not into a smile. Her gaze stood ahead, not looking at Zia directly but almost dazed out. Her heart was racing, pounding.
Nanami was completely unbothered. He simply took another sip of coffee and set the cup down gently. "I see," he says in a quieter tone. Zia grins without showing teeth. Nanami turned slightly toward Queenie. "We have some reports to make based on what we encountered. We should get going," he said, as if nothing even happened.
Queenie unfroze for a moment, her eyes locked on him now but she didn't move her head or her body. "Right..." she says so quietly that it almost sounded intelligible. Nanami was already moving, turning towards the door but pausing to look at her longer than he should. Once he left, waiting just outside, Queenie turned her gaze to Zia who was still standing there with a smug expression. "Are you proud of yourself?" Queenie asks her, with no real bite to it but still obviously annoyed.
"Yes, I am" Zia boasts, a hand pressed against her chest proudly.
Queenie turns finally and walks away, slower than usual. "Love you too, sis!" Zia calls out just before she left. Hiro gulps audibly. "Well... that was interesting," he said, pulling at his collar, letting out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding in. "It was, wasn't it? Hahaha" Zia chuckled.
Outside, Queenie fell to step with Nanami as they walked further from the cafe. They were both silent. "Is it true?" Nanami asked, breaking the silence. Queenie stopped completely, gulping down but barely noticeable. He noticed.
Her eyes slightly widened, blushing but hiding it. Nanami also stopped, a few steps from her, he turned slightly, almost waiting for her response. Queenie's glossy dark lips parted slightly, for the first time, she was actually... nervous. Her chest heaved, heart still pounding. She clutched her fists tightly beside her, clutching the fabric of her gown. Nanami spoke again, "You can be honest with me, Queenie"
Queenie was fighting for her life at just the sound of his voice. She took a step back, her heels clicking. "I—" she started but didn't finish. Nanami finally turned to fully face her. Waiting patiently. Still with his normal composure, but there was a hint of curiosity in his gaze.
Queenie took a long deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Her head down slightly, she didn't trust herself to look at him while confessing.
Those two words changed everything. At first Nanami didn't say anything, he didn't react outwardly, but inside, he felt something like butterflies.
"I see..." he says, coming out as a whisper but she heard it clearly.
"I-I didn't want to tell you anything because our relationship is strictly professional," she says, her words almost shaky but still quite calm. Nanami took one step closer, a slight pause. "My feelings are mutual," he admits, something that spilled out of him, something he never said to anyone else.
Queenie gasps softly, finally looking up at him, her eyes widening even behind her shades. For a moment she froze again, but then swallowed harder and removed her shades so now he could see her bright blue eyes. "What?" She whispered. She couldn't believe it. Nanami wasn't one to repeat himself, but Queenie didn't need him to repeat it. She understood. Her breathing was slightly harder now.
They just stood there, eyes locked on each other, stepping closer until they could feel each other's heat. They didn't do anything, just looked at each other.
The only time Queenie actually folded, is when she was with Nanami. 😝