#nomakindling

"Molting days really are special, man! We get our complete adult plumage, ive become fluffier, my muscle mass has increased, and ive even gotten taller!"

Local lesbian Bird-brain confused about meme.

She's trying her best, just let her have this one.

Noma was flipping through records at an entertainment shop at the mall in her city. Looking through the records helped keep her mind off of the breakup with Elise. It wasn’t really a breakup per se, because they are still good friends and there is no hatred towards each other, but they decided to end the relationship because both of their jobs were too demanding and conflicting with each other’s schedules. By the time that Noma would get home, Elise would have to head in to work. The only time they really got to see each other was whenever Elise had to come to Noma to pick up shipments that they had ready, and they figured why not just end the relationship and remain friends.

Noma agreed and while it could have been worse, she was still upset that the first real relationship she had and the first girlfriend she ever had was now just her friend.

‘Maybe I fell too hard for her.’ She thought as she was skimming the tops of the records with her fingers. ‘It’s probably something I did.’ She shook these thoughts away when she shook her head and tried to regain focus on finding the Nico Vega record she wanted and had been searching for for a while. As she moved from record aisle to record aisle and bin to bin, she never really paid much attention to what was going on around her because she was caught off guard when an employee came up and tapped her on the shoulder to ask if she needed any help looking for something.

“No, no. I’m fi- actually, yeah, no, I do need some help. I’ve been looking for the ‘Fury Oh Fury’ album by Nico Vega for months now. You wouldn’t happen to have it somewhere? I swear I’ve looked everywhere else but here and I’m hoping that you all would have it.” She asked with a smile and moving the hair out of her face.

“Oh man, that IS a tough one to find since they aren’t the most well known group around. Let me check our computer to see if it we have it!” The Exploud said as he walked back to the counter and started typing away.

Noma kept looking through the records to pass the time and see if she could find it herself and save him the trouble. After a few minutes of flipping through, she heard the Exploud say the he didn’t have it logged in the computer, but that he could check in the back.

“Oh, you don’t have to, it’s no big deal.” Noma replied with a smile.

“Eh, you seem like you’ve been looking for a while, I really don’t mind to check!” he said as he disappeared into the back storeroom.

Noma smiled and decided to go and look at the best selling aisle and see if there were any that she didn’t already have. As she was standing in the aisle, looking through the covers, she heard her name being called from outside of the store in the mall.

“Noma? Noma Kindling?!” A small, purple Zoroark was standing out in the mall in front of the store waving her hand up in the air towards the Blaziken. By now, the Zoroark was making her way to Noma, all the while she was trying to think of the fox’s name.

“Ayla?” Noma asked.

“In the fur! How long have you been here? It has been forever since you moved away for college!”

“Well, I went to college here at Castelia University, so I moved her when I left home.”

“I never expected you to move to the biggest city in all of Unova. It doesn’t seem like you would enjoy it all that much.” Ayla replied, shifting her shopping bags around.

“I could say the same for you!” Noma laughed. “And besides, I live on the outskirts of town, away from all the noise and busyness.”

“Well I came up here because my boss said that there may be a bar that one of his old friends was selling and that I may be able to get it for a pretty cheap price, so I decided that I would come up here and check it out.” Ayla explained.

“How long are you here for?” Noma asked curiously. She noticed that Ayla’s clothes looked a little bit worn down like she had been sleeping in them for a couple of days.

“Who knows? I’m just looking for a cheap hotel or apartment complex to stay in since I’m tired of sleeping in my car like I have been for the past few days. I also came by here to pick up some new clothes,” motioning to her bags that she had on her arm, “and just trying to get by until I can meet with the owners.”

At this point, all of Noma’s worries and past issues with her split with Elise were gone, more interested in catching up with her best friend since high school than even looking for the record which just so happened to not be in the store because the Exploud had returned from the back and said that he couldn’t find it there either.

“Well, what happened to your whole plan of joining an orchestra? Didn’t you get a scholarship for your talents on the Saxophone?” Noma asked, walking out into the mall and motioning for Ayla to follow her.

“Well, about that, yes I did get a scholarship, but I still needed money to help pay for college because my fucking bigot parents weren’t going to help out, so I got a job working at a bar. You know the one on Nesbeth Drive, Getting’ Lit?” Ayla asked.

“Yeah, the nightclub?”

“Yep! I worked as a dancer there starting out.” Ayla said proudly.

Noma just about choked in surprise. “Wait what?”

“What?”

“You worked as a dancer at a night club?!” Noma asked again for clarity.

“Uh-huh. It’s not like we were strippers or anything. We were all dressed up in the bar’s uniforms and we were there just to have something for the people who were too socially awkward to dance to watch. Everything was modest and there was nothing sleazy about it because the owner and manager didn’t like women being portrayed that way. And besides, we only danced for certain parts of the night when people would vote on what song which dancer should dance to, and even then, there had to be a majority vote per song per dancer. When we weren’t dancing, we were serving as waitresses and bartenders.”

“Huh, honestly, that kinda sounds like a fun job!” Noma chuckled.

“Oh it was, especially once I moved up and became a manager myself. Eventually we also convinced the owner to let us dancers have our own costumes for when we danced, which was more fun because we really became more individualized then. Since a lot of us decided that we wanted to show some more skin, that’s when a lot more people kept trying to get a bit too touchy and we were told by the manager, who was a Pangoro that if any sick bastard tried anything that we didn’t like to beat the shit out of them or call over security. There were a few people who tried to grab a few of us, but that didn’t last long after people witnessed those people get their teeth knocked in. When I became a manager, I didn’t have to worry about that anymore because I mainly worked as a bartender, but I used my illusions to make it look like I was dancing along with bartending so I was able to mess with some people.” Ayla laughed.

“God, wasn’t that scary people trying to touch you and get in your personal space?”

“Nah, cause we were up on a stage, if someone wanted to get up there, they would have to drag themselves up the front of the stage and by then, we would see them trying to climb up and could just step on their hands. Not only that, but most of the customers who saw anyone trying to get up to us would usually tackle them and knock them out themselves, so we were pretty well protected.”

As the two talked and were getting each other caught up in their lives, they walked to a tea and coffee shop and Noma asked what Ayla wanted to drink.

“Oh, oh no, I can’t let you do that after running into you again. I’d feel awful.”

“Oh nonsense, you’re in the middle of moving and I want to do something nice for you! Besides you were always there for me in high school.” Noma blushed and smiled.

“Alright, but I’m paying you back for it later.” Ayla replied.

“Dude, It’s like 6 bucks, don’t worry about it.” Noma laughed while explaining.

After finally convincing Ayla to let her pay for her drink, Noma bought them both some tea and also got them both a danish and they went and sat outside in one of the picnic tables.

“So, you don’t have a place to stay since you’re looking for a cheap hotel and whatnot?” Noma asked after finishing her danish.

“Yeah man, you know of a good place?” Ayla perked up.

“My house. Completely rent free.” Noma offered.

Ayla just stared forward at Noma and was trying to comprehend what she just heard.

“So? Sound good?” Noma asked trying to confirm.

“Noma, we’re best friends and all and you are really fun to hang out with, but I can’t just mooch off you by living with you, especially for free.” Ayla said still shocked at the offer.

“Ayla, it’s no problem. I fact, I’m kinda lonely and would like to have a roommate again. Had a breakup a few months ago.” Noma said stirring her tea somewhat dismissively.

“I’m sorry sweetie. I hope you’re not too upset over him, you’ll find someone better who deserves you and will treat you like a queen!” Ayla said, reaching out and holding Noma’s hand and reassuring her to try to make her feel better.

Noma just chuckled a bit before she said, “Yeah, except it wasn’t a guy and she did treat me right. Maybe it was just the magic of my first girlfriend and most serious relationship I’ve had yet that made it magical.” Noma trailed off for a few seconds before snapping back to the present.

“Whoa, wait what? Girlfriend? Noma, I never knew you swung that way! That’s, well, amazing.” Ayla exclaimed with visible excitement.

As Noma talked on, Ayla was sitting in awe about what she just found out about Noma. They were friends all through middle school and high school is when they became really close friends and was also when Ayla came out as lesbian. It was difficult for her considering that she was in a relationship with one of her best guy friends at the time that she came out and that she had a lot of her friends that she really wanted to date and thought were pretty. Noma was one of those friends that she thought was attractive but quickly moved past the feelings since they were such good friends and didn’t want to ruin their friendship. It was difficult to not ask the tall Blaziken how she felt about her when they would hang out and when Noma would tell Ayla how pretty she was and how jealous she was of Ayla’s natural markings.

“So Ayla, if you are still on the fence about staying with me, would you at least want to go and check out the house?” Noma offered, hoping she would.

“Sure, why not?” Ayla said, already getting up and gathering her bags. “Where are you parked? I’ll follow you out.”

“Um,” Noma laughed, “I really don’t have a car or truck. This city here is not tall pokemon friendly. One of my friends, an Aggron who was even taller than me doesn’t have a car either because all these stupid dealerships only carry small compact cars. I do know how to drive though, besides, I like the exercise!” Noma said while rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

“So you walk everywhere? That’s balls dude. Come on, my car is tall enough for you to ride in.” Ayla grabbed Noma’s hand and led her to the car. “It’s only a two seater sports car, so there will be more than enough leg room, you lanky bastard, but you’ll have to hold the bags unfortunately.”

Noma laughed and said, “Maybe if you didn’t spend your whole paycheck on shirts that you’ll wear once and then never again, then maybe you could fit them more easily in your car.”

They both laughed and they kept digging at each other just as they did when they were in high school. When they finally reached the car, Noma saw that it was bright race red and was very low to the ground. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a convertible and that the engine was a V-8 Hellcat.

“Holy shit, you’re gonna have to show Joan and my parents this car, they will be so amazed!” Noma said while walking around the car, getting a good look at it.

“Yeah, I’m proud of her, she’s a bitch to keep running though, but gas isn’t all that bad believe it or not.” Ayla said while pressing a button on her key that opened the doors vertically. Noma whistled when she saw this and sat down in the comfy leather seats. Ayla explained some more things about the car as she hopped in and sat the shopping bags down. Noma moved the bags into her lap and looked around the interior of the car and noticed that the entire lower half of the doors and even the section between the seats were filled with speakers.

“Aright, show me where to go!” Ayla said. They left the parking lot of the mall and Noma gave directions to her house. After a good 10 minutes, they pulled in to the driveway and Noma let them both in.

“Well, here it is. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like no problem and no rent!” Noma said while motioning for Ayla to follow. They walked down a hall to their right and then turned to the right again and entered a bedroom. “If you want, here is another bedroom that you can use. It comes complete with its own full bathroom and walk in closet. Unfortunately, we would have to get you some dressers and drawers and stuff, but that shouldn’t be too bad. If anything, I can move the ones out of the guest room to this one.” Noma offered.

“Wait, this isn’t the guest room?” asked Ayla.

“You think I’m gonna let my best friend take a shitty guest room when there is a master bedroom perfectly available? This used to be Joan’s before she moved out, so no one is using it, so feel free to make it your own!” smiled Noma.

Ayla blushed and thanked Noma. Noma said that she’ll be in the kitchen trying to figure out what to do for lunch while Ayla gets moved in. The purple Zoroark moved to the bed and sat her shopping bags down beside her and flopped back on the bed. It felt so good to actually have a bed to just sit on. She looked around the room and saw some photos on the wall and they looked like they were different photos from Noma’s childhood. Ayla got up and moved to look at them. There were a few pictures of her mother and father together, there was one of a very young Noma, who was a Torchic at the time, and Joan, who was a Pawniard, sitting on a swing together with Joan holding Noma in her lap. Ayla couldn’t help but laugh at the thought that Joan was actually taller than Noma at one point. In the next photo she saw another picture of Noma as a Combusken with a giant bow around her neck and an oversized sweater that completely covered her feet. Beside that picture, there was one of Joan and their mom both arm wrestling with Elizzabet looking like she is struggling with all her might to beat Joan and make her feel like she is super strong. Ayla started to tear up looking at all of these sweet pictures of Noma and her family and started thinking back to her own family and how they treated her after she came out to them. While she was deep in thought about her own family, she was snapped out of it by Noma’s voice asking if it was okay if they just ordered some take out.

“Uh- yeah, yeah that, that sounds nice actually.” Ayla stuttered. Placing the picture back on the wall, she walked out in the hall and eventually found her way into the kitchen where Noma was bent over on the counter looking at a menu on her phone.

“Hey, did you get settled in? I know it may be hard to store your stuff without proper furniture, but we’ll get that taken care of right after I place this order. Have you ever had anything from Dragon’s Wings?” Noma asked, still scrolling through the menu.

“Not that I can remember, what all does it have?”

“Well they mainly serve hibachi stuff, but if you would want something different, just let me know, there are plenty of restaurants around here that deliver.”

“Actually, that sounds pretty good right now. I could go for some hibachi steak and some eggrolls right now!” Ayla aid with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll place the order.” Noma said while proceeding to the delivery section of the website. After everything was ordered, Noma clicked on the checkout tab and Ayla laid her hand on Noma’s and said that she would pay, that it was the least she could do to pay Noma back for everything that she has done for her today. It took a lot of convincing, but eventually Noma let her pay.

“Well, if you want, before we move the dressers into your room, we can put all your clothes into the washing machine and get them cleaned while we wait for the food.” Noma suggested.

“Noma, look, we’re good friends and all, but I’m not gonna get naked and-“

“You know I have clothes you can borrow, right? How about this, you gather up all your new and old clothes into the bags and set them in front of the door to your room, I’ll get you some of my clothes that I know will fit you, and you can take a nice shower and get refreshed. I’ll move the dressers and stuff into your room and start the laundry. When you’re done, you can just come and hang out in the living room with me until the food gets here. Sound good?” asked Noma.

“At least let me help you with moving the furniture.”

“Pfft, you kidding? You’re my guest, I can’t have you doing that junk.” Noma said nonchalantly.

“Well…if you don’t mind…I’d like to be your roommate.” Ayla said nervously. At this point, she was overrun by the kindness the red pokemon had shown her and decided that it would be nice to live with one of her lifelong friends. It beats living alone in her car or some dingy cheap hotel any day. “And if I’m your roommate,” Ayla continued, “then I’m gonna pull my weight around here. Besides, I’m not letting you show me up!” She said, nudging the stocky Blaziken.

“Oh yes! I’d love to have you stay here as a roommate! It’d be just like when we would spend the night at each other’s house again! And seriously, don’t worry about helping move the furniture, you’ve had it pretty rough the past couple of days, living in your car and everything, so just let me do this for you.” Noma said, holding up her index finger and winking as she turned to retrieve the dressers.

Ayla stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame and watching Noma as she walked to the other room. If it weren’t for the fact that they had been friends for so long, Ayla would have already asked Noma to go on a date, especially since she found out about Noma’s orientation. She knew the potential for her to mess up such a long friendship and that if they were going to be roommates, then she would rather just suppress the want for a meaningful relationship to keep what they already had. “Well, better go ahead and start that shower.” She said.

Noma had started to lift the dresser up and make her way to Ayla’s room when she forgot that she told the Zoroark to pile her clothes in a hamper and leave it in front of the door and tripped over the hamper causing her to drop the dresser and fall onto the carpet. Obviously, there was a lot of noise, but Noma was hoping that somehow Ayla went deaf just long enough to not hear.

“Oh my God are you okay? What happened?” Ayla said, poking her head out of the bathroom door.

Noma, still lying face down on the ground with the dresser drawers sprawled out everywhere said, “Never better. I forgot I told you to leave your clothes in a basket in front of the door, and I couldn’t see it. But yeah, I’m fine.”

Ayla giggled, “Man, you always were so clumsy. For someone as graceful in appearance, you sure throw people for a loop when you do stuff like that. Here, I’ll help you up.” she said, emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She crouched next to the Blaziken, who was still lying with her face buried in the carpet who just kept saying she’s fine and that she didn’t need any help. The purple fox ignored Noma’s words and grabbed her by her hand and pulled her up. When Noma was fully sat up, she had a look of indifference and annoyance on her face to which Ayla couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m so sorry, I should have set the basket somewhere else an-“

“Nah, it’s my bad for not paying attention to where I was going. Thanks though, for helping me up.” Noma said while turning to face Ayla. When she finally saw the Zoroark, she quickly looked away as her cheeks flushed up in a brighter shade of red.

“What, you’re not embarrassed to see another woman in a towel are you? Didn’t you play softball and have to use the showers before? Or hell, have you ever been in a locker room?” Ayla asked.

“Oh hush. You want me to move your furniture or not?” said Noma as she stood up, dusting herself off.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to strike a nerve. I’ll go ahead and start my shower. And…thanks again, for everything. Seriously, you are amazing!” Ayla said while giving a smile.

After Ayla started the water and Noma heard the shower curtain pulled, she started gathering up the drawers and putting them back into the heavy wooden dresser. Once that was done, she set it in the corner near the bathroom so that Ayla could easily get clothes out after she was done showering. Next she made sure to move the hamper out of the way of the door before going back and getting the rest of the furniture that needed to be moved such as a small cabinet nightstand and the T.V cabinet. A few minutes had passed and as Noma finally set the T.V in the spot in the cabinet, she was exhausted and walked into the kitchen to grab herself a bottle of water and relax on the couch in the living room.

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Ayla was standing in the shower, letting the warm water hit her back and wash away the worry that she had been carrying around with her about where she was going to stay. Running her claws through her hair and grabbing the shampoo, she was thankful to be able to wash her hair and her fur from the grime and sweat of travel. Rinsing her hair and holding strands of where her black hair blends into purple, she relished in the silky feel her hair now has and then looked for the soap to wash the rest of the body. After she found the bottle of soap, Mane and Tail, and started lathering up her washcloth. Running the cloth down her body and feeling the dirt and stress just run off with the soap was the best feeling she had experienced in a while. Finally, after getting herself washed off, she let the water hit her back once more for another minute or so before finally turning the water off. As she reached for the towel and started drying off, she breathed in the steam and pulled the curtain back. Before stepping out, she lifted one leg up and rested her foot on the lip of the bathtub and ran the towel over the top of her foot and up her leg. When she got to her hip, she switched legs and rand down the other one. Once done, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself and combed through her hair to straighten it out so that it could air dry quicker. As she put down the comb and opened the door, she saw a large t-shirt, some sweat pants, and underwear lying on her bed. ‘I guess these are the clothes Noma left’ she thought to herself. Dropping her towel to the floor, she reached for the underwear first and tried them on. The boxers fit her alright and were comfortable enough. ‘Kinda weird that Noma wears boxers instead of panties, but whatever.’ Ayla thought about maybe getting her a pair or two before, but now she wasn’t really sure. She liked how comfortable they were, but hated how roomy and loose they felt. Next, she reached for the bra and tried it on. After a solid minute of trying to stretch it behind her to hook it together, but eventually gave up. ‘Damn, I knew Noma was smaller than I was, but shit. I’m outta breath.’ She decided to ditch the bra and folded it back on her bed. She looked at the sweat pants and held them up to her and decided not to wear them as well since the waist came up halfway up her stomach because of the height difference between them. She then picked up the shirt that had a picture of a coffee cup on it with “More Coffee Please?” written on it. Looking at it, she noticed it was designed with a stretched out collar and sleeves and was loose fitting even for Noma, like a shirt that you’d wear on a lazy day where you didn’t care how you looked or who saw you. After slipping it on, Ayla realized that it was a little too big for her since the neck line fell completely off her breasts and back onto the floor. She then put it back on, taking a part of the collar in between her teeth and holding it on her as she took a hairband and tied the back into a bunch. It helped a little but was still slack on her, but hey, at least it covered everything! She picked up her towel and walked into the bathroom to hang it up over the shower rod and take a new towel to dry her hair off some more with before putting it up into a messy bun. Feeling refreshed, she decided to finally go and meet up with Noma in the living room and wait for the food, if it hadn’t gotten there already.

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Noma was watching a cooking show and taking notes on the names of the dishes that were shown when she heard Ayla’s claws tapping on the hardwood floor as she walked.

“Feel better?” she said while leaning her head back.

“Yeah! Thanks for letting me use your shower.” The Zoroark replied.

“No problem…also, where are the rest of the clothes I laid out for you?”

“So, uhh, It would seem I’m much smaller than you everywhere but my chest. The boxers fit because of the elastic band, but the sweatpants were too big and kept falling off as well, also, I know your chicken nuggets are smaller than mine, but I never knew it was by that much, and the shirt kinda fits, I had to scrunch it up in the back and tie it because it would just keep falling off, speaking of which, where did you find this style of shirt? I love the loose neck designs but can’t seem to find any.”

“Whoa what the hell do you mean by ‘chicken nuggets’?” Noma asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the fox.

“Aww, don’t be like that. They’re cute! I’m just saying, you can’t fit 40 pounds of stuff in a 10 pound bag.” Replied Ayla while she was taking a seat on the recliner across from the red bird.

Noma just rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle before returning her attention to the T.V. “And for your information, I bought that shirt at Level 21 back in Imann city.”

“Well, it’s very cute and I’m sure it looks great on you.” Said Ayla with a smile.

“Quite your shit, I know you’re just trying to make it up for what you said about my bust, which I am quite happy with, thank you!”

Ayla said something about not taking her too seriously which Noma just waved her hand at dismissively and continued watching her show. She wasn’t mad at Ayla, but just miffed, but she figured she may as well get used to it if they are gonna be roommates. To try and how her that she wasn’t bothered by what Ayla said, the Blaziken turned to her and asked if she wanted to keep the shirt, saying that she didn’t wear it much except for pajamas or if she was really lazy and didn’t want to get dressed for anything.

“Sure, I’d love it! As long as you don’t mind that is.”

“Yeah, have it, at least with it being yours, it’ll actually be worn. Also, what do you wanna watch while we wait? Show’s over.”

“Oh, I uh, don’t watch much T.V. so I don’t know what’s good.” Ayla said.

“Oh, shit, well I’ll pull up Netflix and Hulu and we can find a show that you think you’d be interested in.”

Noma began flipping through the selections of Netflix first and Ayla suggested ‘The Hateful Eight’. So they started it up and Ayla mentioned about how she used to watch Westerns a lot and really enjoyed how cheesy they could be but loved whenever the big shootouts would happen. Noma agreed and mentioned that if she liked Hateful Eight, then they’ll have to watch Magnificent Seven to which Ayla immediately agreed to.

About 30 minutes into the movie, the doorbell rang and Noma answered and came back with food in hand. “Alrighty, let’s dig in!” she yelled from the kitchen.

Ayla came into the kitchen and took her takeout box and flipped open the lid and noticed that she forgot to ask for a fork instead of the chopsticks that normally come with the meals. Noma noticed she looked somewhat annoyed and asked what was wrong.

“Oh no, did I accidentally order the wrong thing?”

“Nah, it’s right, I just forgot to ask for a fork instead. With the way my hand is with these claws, it’s hard to hold them right.”

“Here,” Noma said while opening the drawer she was standing in front of and pulled out two forks, “use this till you find one.” She said with a smile. “I don’t really know how to use them either.”

Noma pulled out her chair and Ayla sat beside her and they both started their meals together. Throughout the time they spent eating, they enjoyed some small talk and the stories that they told each other and Ayla felt stronger in her feelings towards Noma.

Noma was feeling somewhat flustered as well and loved it when Ayla would laugh. She missed hanging our with her throughout their childhood and now it was perfect. She also knew that since they are both out of the closet that it may be awkward at times in the future especially since she was thinking of the possibility of going on a date with her just to see how it would go. Maybe it’s the fact that she was feeling lonely and coincidentally, here came one of her childhood friends who just happened to be lesbian into her life that was swinging her to ask Ayla out. She quickly dispelled these thoughts so as to not blush and make herself awkward like she usually does.

After they finished their meals and were putting things away, Noma said something to an unseen person to play some music. Ayla’s ears perked up when she heard “Hotel California” pop up from somewhere in the kitchen. Noma was humming along when she turned to see Ayla looking around for the source of the sound and her ears trying to focus in to where the music was coming from.

“Confused?”

“Yeah, where is the music coming from?”

“I set up a sound system all throughout the house with a smart home AI installed so I can play music wherever. It was expensive as hell, but so worth it for parties and junk. With the speakers being stored in plain sight, you wouldn’t know where to look. See that cabinet above your head?”

“Yeah?”

“Doubles as a speaker. The back extends into the wall and hold the speaker there. There’s plenty more scattered everywhere.”

They continued with their small amount of cleaning that they needed to do which was over pretty quick. They continued to dance and sing along to the playlist Noma had and just had some fun. As the playlist ended after three more songs, they moved back into the living room to finish the movie.

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After an hour or so, the credits rolled and it was starting to get late and Noma got up and stretched, arching her back and leaning from side to side. “Well, I’m off to bed. Gotta be up at work early tomorrow to fill a big order I got in. Gotta carve a 300 pound arrow out of a block of steel.”

“Holy shit, really? Can your fire even get that hot to cut through that?”

“Yeah, check it.” Noma cracked her knuckles and finger joints before giving a snap and a bright blue flame appeared at the end of her index finger. “I can even control length and temperature as well.” She made the flame a deeper blue and extended the reach from about 3 inches to a full foot before extinguishing it again. Ayla looked surprised.

“Well, goodnight! I hope you enjoy it here! It’s been nice to catch up and hang out like old times.” Said the Blaziken, smiling.

“Yeah, it has been fun. I guess I’ll be headed to bed too.” Ayla said, getting up from her seat.

“You don’t have to, if you want to stay and watch T.V or play video games, that’s fine by me. This si your house as well.”

“I’m pretty worn out myself, maybe tomorrow after you get home from work though?” the purple fox asked hopefully.

“Yeah, we can.” Noma said before stretching again. This time she bent back further than before and stretched her arms back as far as they would go which lifted up her tank top a bit to expose her stomach. Ayla noticed and could not take her eyes off of Noma’s abs and how in shape she was. Her face started feeling warm and she turned her head and looked away. When Noma was done stretching she pulled her shirt back down and apologized for her shirt riding up on her. Ayla said it was fine a bit too quick and Noma turned down the hall and started walking to her room.

“Goodnight, sweet dreams!” the lanky bird said.

“Yeah…you too.” Replied a blushing Ayla. As the clicks of Noma’s talons faded down the hall, Ayla soon followed and turned into her room and shut the door. She hopped onto her bed and folded the clothes that Noma laid out for her earlier and decided to go ahead and ask Noma where the washing machine and dryer was. She walked over to Noma’s room to ask and opened the door but quickly realized her mistake as Noma was in the process of getting undressed. They both just stopped and looked at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time before Noma jokingly said to come in. Ayla slowly handed her the clothes back and shut the door and walked back to her room, turned the lights off, and hopped in bed trying to forget about what just happened.

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The next morning Noma was up and cooking breakfast for both of them and still laughing to herself about the events that took place the night before and how red Ayla’s face got. Admittedly she was a little embarrassed, but stuff like that is gonna happen some time or another with roommates right? She was finishing up with the eggs and toast when she heard Ayla’s door open and her walking down the hall. She watched the Zoroark turn the corner and quickly look to the floor as soon as they made eye contact.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Noma said while laughing, “stuff like that is expected to happen with roommates.” Noma said trying to cheer her up. Ayla didn’t say anything and kept her head down and didn’t look at Noma. After Ayla went back to her room last night, Noma thought more about the possibility of dating Ayla. Sure, it could potentially ruin the friendship they have if everything goes wrong, but it would be a much better relationship if it worked out than what she could have with anyone else. She knew Ayla well and they are close, so it’s not like they would have any trouble getting along or having to spend time getting to know each other, so she figured why not? She did have to admit though, that deciding to ask Ayla out on a date after being seen naked was probably the weirdest time to ask someone out, but nowhere to go but up from there, she reasoned.

“So, uh… last night was…interesting huh?” the fire type asked. Ayla didn’t respond, but she noticed her turn a darker shade of red around her cheeks. “Well, I was thinking that uhm…maybe to try and show you that it wasn’t a big deal, maybe we could…go out on a date, or something?” She finally asked.

Ayla’s ears perked up and she slowly lifted her head and met Noma’s gaze. The Blaziken was smiling softly and was blushing? Ayla couldn’t really tell since Noma was red already. ‘What kind of game is she playing?’ she thought to herself, but decided that she would go along with it. ‘What kind of person asks someone on a date AFTER they were seen naked?’ “Sure, sounds nice, but don’t you have work today?” asked Ayla.

“Well, funny story, there was an accident with the shipping procedures, no one was hurt or anything, but a bunch of shit got misplaced, so they shut down my floor and only the people involved with the shipments that were supposed to go out today are allowed in to help try and sort everything out.” Noma was relieved that Ayla had agreed to go on a date, but she didn’t plan out anything past asking her, so she stalls for time to try and think of an idea.

“Oh, that’s cool…” Ayla trailed off. She was still confused and her head was spinning by everything that happened in the past day. “So, what’s the plan for our date?” she asked cheerfully.

“Why did you have to ask me that? I didn’t plan this far ahead!”