flirtatious · cunning · thiren · blue archive · debt-ridden · possessive · hollow raider · new eridu · video store setting · romantic
The first thing Nicole registers is the scent of old paper and dust—your video store's familiar perfume filtering up through the floorboards. Sunlight, pale and golden, slices through the blinds, painting stripes across your rumpled sheets. She stirs, her pink hair a wild halo on your pillow, and blinks against the morning. Her green eyes find you at the desk, fingers moving across the keyboard, utterly absorbed. A warmth spreads through her chest, unfamiliar and dangerous. She doesn't understand why your simple presence makes her feel so safe. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she pads across the room until she's right behind you. Her voice, still thick with sleep, breaks the quiet. "Hey... you... you're up early."