Measuring Up

Sayumi Arai:

Sayumi had been been waiting at Cicilia's apartment door for awhile now. No fault of her girlfriend though. She had come unannounced and when she was certain the boxer wouldn't be home. After all, Cicilia had given her a copy of her work schedule so she knew a good deal of the other woman's comings and goings. Assuming her girlfriend hadn't made any stops, she estimated she'd be home pretty soon. To top it all off, she had been texting Cicilia throughout the evening, just to make sure she didn't catch wise to her master plans. So she waited, leaning against the doorframe, looking between her phone and the large duffle bag at her feet.

Be spontaneous.

Being spontaneous was a part of every healthy couple... That was what her dummy's guide to relationships had told her. She had been treating it's words like gospel the last day or so. All of this had been so new and overwhelming... So she bought the book in hopes of making herself into a better, no, THE BEST partner she could possibly be. She didn't want to bother Cicilia by asking all sorts of questions. She didn't want to look dumb in front of her. While she didn't have it on her now, she had a few cliff notes stored on her phone in case some dire situation came up. For now though, she was fine. Just sending little emojis of animals and hearts to Cicilia every so often.

Spoiler:

Yup. Cicilia was coming home from work with her work-clothes in hand and Sayumi had been blowing up her phone to almighty hell all the while. Even while she was working, her cute little girlfriend very nearly made her texting ap crash with how many EMOJIES she sent her way. Dogs, cats, a bear-thing, hearts... it was all so much! Okay, her phone crashing may have been an exaggeration, but she had to, at least, turn off her alarm lest her boss bash it against the wall until it was nothing but slag.

Now that she was walking home, the German was actively counter-texting with her own hearts, animals and whatever she could text with that wasn't words. Couldn't just let that MASSIVE blow up go unanswered after all. Had to give her a little push-back. Somehow, with her head in her phone the whole way, Cicilia hadn't slammed into any people or walls (much thanks to her peripheral) and was walking up to her apartment.

You're so weird lol She texted, snickering to herself as another heart came up. Why all the emo- The boxer stopped, her eyes flicking up to see Sayumi there in her doorway, likely texting another emoji her way.

"Uh... Hey, Sayumi." Cicilia greeted, surprised to find her standing at her door. Was there a warning ahead of time among that sea of cartoon characters...? She'd have to reread through them later... She glanced down at the duffle-bag on the floor near her, her confusion giving way to curiosity.

"Are you moving in with me now?" She joked stepping closer and leaning in for a kiss. "I didn't know that happened so soon."

She was indeed texting, quite focused in fact. Her tongue was peeking out from between her lips as she was putting together a masterwork emoji message making use of smilie faces, animals and other things to write out cryptic messages. It wasn't as if she ever really had people to text with, let alone someone important. Her and her mother likely had a lot in common when it came to emoji spamming, as if it was the greatest thing phones had to offer. She jumped at Cicilia's voice, phone jumping between her hands as she narrowly avoided dropping it. She hung her head with a sigh of relief.

Well, there went getting the drop on her girlfriend.

She perked right up, waving over to Cicilia before jogging over. "Hello! Surprise! I'm here!" She threw her arms up around the box, nearly tackling her in the hall walkway. She blinked at the other inquiry. "Huh? No, I don't think so." She hadn't read that far in the book yet... doh. She didn't seem to make the connection between her bag and moving in. Another thing right over her head. She draped her arms around her girlfriend as they kissed. She lifted BOTH her feet off the ground to literally hang from around Cicilia's neck... only because she knew she was strong enough to do that.

"Aww... too bad." She snickered, wrapping her arms around Sayumi as well as they kissed. Though it was just a bit uncomfortable, the boxer was indeed strong enough to stay upright and kiss her girlfriend as she hung from her neck, the boxer actually slipping her arm from under the lavender's rear to support her, the other a resting against her mid-back to keep her pressed nicely against her chest. She did, though, have to drop her work-outfit but it wasn't like she wasn't Sayumi wasn't more important. This was truly the best welcome-home she's ever had... Much better than any half-baked greeting her parents could've ever came up with. Already, only after a minute of seeing each other, Sayumi had already taken her day from a 1 to a 10. Cicilia's cheeks burned softly in response to her sweetness, finding it impossible to keep a loving grin from her lips.

After a little bit, Cicilia would pull away, still holding the cute lavender wrestler in her arms. "So, what brings you here today, sweetheart?" she asked, softly nuzzling her girlfriend's nose with hers. It seemed Sayumi's cuteness was rubbing off on her... "After blowing up my phone like you did it's gotta be something important..."

Whatever it was, it WAS important to Cicilia. She had been developing some girlfriendly instincts over the time they've been together and she felt the impulse to take everything they do together seriously.

"Sweetheart! Ooooo hoo hoo! Are we already to the part where we have pet names?" Maybe she skipped that chapter, it sounded exciting though. She bopped their noses together before finally dropping her feet back to the ground to just lean up against Cicilia."  She nodded with a bright smile. "Mhmm! Super important. But we need to go inside first." She gave Cicilia a small peck on the lips.

"Unless you're busy or something?" She looked to the side innocently, slowly untangling herself from Cicilia. She dragged a finger along her shoulder before flicking it away. "I could just go if that's the case... I know you're super busy beating up marshmallow people and pocket monsters." She took small jabs at the Boxer's gaming with a smirk, looking back to Cicilia out of the corner of her eyes.

"Maaaybe." Cicilia mused as Sayumi brought up the pet names. "You can call me whatever you want..." Upon hearing how important her purpose was, so much so they had to go inside, the boxer couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of excitement well up in her chest. A dozen different images flashed across her mind, thousands of possibilities... Oh she hoped Sayumi was thinking of one of those...

The lavender wrestler gently manuvered herself out of the boxer's grip, asking if she was busy and, if she was, that perhaps she should just leave...

"No!" the German said a bit too quickly, a dark red blush flashing over her face upon hearing herself. "I mean... no, I'm not busy...." She'd revealed her her eagerness FAR too much... how stupid did she just sound... UGH! On top of that, Sayumi took a quick jab at her gaming, mocking the kind of characters she beats up on a daily basis only making her blush go even deeper-a-shade.

"You make it sound so... nerdy when you put it like that..." Cicilia mumbled, rubbing her shoulder with the opposite hand. "And they have names you know..." The Boxer couldn't really see that she wasn't helping her case, talking like some geek who's game just got mocked. Letting out a frustrated huff, Cicilia put her key in the apartment door and opened it, allowing Sayumi to enter first.

"Come on in, then..."

Once Sayumi went inside, Cicilia would follow, scooping up her work outfit and closing the door behind her. There she'd stand, holding her outfit to her chest as she watched her girlfriend, curious what she brought with her.

"So... what's in the bag...?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side. She'd head into the living room, setting her clothes on the couch, before flopping in it herself, awaiting an answer.

Sayumi smirked as Cicilia jumped to let her know she was welcome to stay, as if she was really going to leave. She couldn't help but giggle as the woman turned a shade of red. That never got old, and she doubted it ever would. She bend down to scoop up her bag, tossing the strap over one shoulder as she waited to be let in.

"It is a bit nerdy, the fact you know all there names isn't helping either~" She gave Cicilia a peck on the cheek as she passed by. As was her normal routine she slipped off her shoes just inside the door before skipping off to the couch to set her bag down. She rolled back onto the beanbag chair, lounging. "You'll see. Go do whatever it is you need to do, then we can get started." She had no idea what Cicilia's normal after work ritual was. Did she eat? Shower? Change into PJs? All of those tended to be things Sayumi did after a day in the arena. "I'm not going anyplace, so take your time."

"Ugh! It is NOT!" Cicilia protested, blushing harder by the second. "It just means I play more than you do, geez!" She was clearly defensive about her gaming habits, especially with how much time she put into perfecting her skills. Sayumi seemed to notice this and giggled at her embarrassment, giving her a peck on the cheek before heading inside. The German huffed before going in herself.

When she asked what her bag was all about, Sayumi simply said that she'd see and that she should just go about her daily routine, that she'd be here when she got back. Cicilia was hesitant... Not because she didn't trust Sayumi with her house, after all they WERE dating, but because she had a guest and it wouldn't be very host-like to just leave them to their own devices. Still... when Sayumi told her what to do, she'd have to be having a REALLY bad day to just ignore that.

"Well... okay then. Make yourself at home I guess..." And with that, Cicilia went off to her room to grab another outfit. All her time working at the stupid diner left her smelling like fast food diluted in water, a scent that made the boxer GAG. She couldn't stand how the stench go grease stuck to her like this... She stripped herself down to her underwear, grabbing a tight-ish fitting white shirt and some black sweat-pants before slipping off to the bathroom, hardly bothering to slip them before the trek. It wasn't like she cared all that much if Sayumi saw her naked-ish like this. After all, the two of them had done far more intimate things together than just look. Cicilia would slip into the shower (after stripping herself of course), turning on the water as HOT AS SHE COULD STAND, determined to scrub all traces of her work from her being.

"Ah....." She sighed softly as she was cleansed in the steam of her shower. Hmm... She looked about the interior of the shower, spotting two bars of soap, one substantially smaller than the other. She usually bathed with the classic soap... but she had a rose-scented one as a back-up... Even TRUE HARD-CORE people like Cicilia liked to smell good every once in a while. Not all things were EDGE AND PAIN! Still... it would be more practical to just go normal... it was almost done anyway...

Awh screw it. She had her girlfriend over. There was no TIME for rational decisions! Swiping the soap off the rack, she began to hum a certain Smash-bros theme, specifically the opening from Brawl.

After at least several minutes, of indulging herself with the simple pleasures, Cicilia stepped out of the shower, drying herself just enough so that she wasn't dripping everywhere. She liked the feeling of warm water on her skin... kept her all warm and, for lack of a better word, cuddly. slipping on her shirt, and pants, Cicilia would come out of the shower feeling like a million bucks. Wait... Sayumi was here... 2 million.

"Alright... Routine over." She called, stepping back into the living room. "Anything change while I was gone?"

Sayumi had already made herself at home for the most part. Sunk deep into the bean bag chair she already had her phone out and was browsing it as Cicilia went about her business. She still wasn't comfortable roaming around the apartment without Cicilia nearby, but the gaming area was a common ground in which she had no issues treading. She would glance up every so often at the sounds of the boxer missing around doing her business as she tended to her matching game on her phone. As she heard the shower she sat up in her chair, thinking to herself.

Be spontaneous?

She set her phone on the couch as she pulled herself to her feet. Without her shoes, she moved quietly along the floor, leaning just outside the doorway. She considered popping in to say hello. Maybe she could help? That sounded like something sweet and intimate. She bit her lip softly, listening to Cicilia humming in the shower and the sound of interrupted water flow coming down all at once. She could see Cicilia in her mind, soaked and shimmering under the water. Her head thunked lightly against the doorway, knocking her back to reality. She was being creepy. This was creepy, right? She inched back away from the door to go find the chair again to wait... like a normal person.

---

Being normal was overrated. When Cicilia came out, she would find Sayumi sitting upside down on the beanbag, her legs crossed to tastefully prevent anyone from peaking up her dress. She was again playing on her phone, but closed the program down when Cicilia came out. She smiled up at her, thinking back to the beach. It was the last time she had seen her like this. "All squeaky clean now?" She pantomimed washing off her arm with invisible soap. "I don't think anything changed." Save for her sitting upside down.

"Yyyyup." Cicilia confirmed, smiling back. "All clean." Sayumi confirmed that nothing had changed in her absence, much to the German's expectations. She didn't expect her to mess anything up and meant the question as a joke of sorts. Funny? Who could say. She'd sit herself down in front of Sayumi on the floor, rather behind her with with the lavender's face pointing at her with her leaning backwards. Unable to help herself, the German leaned in, taking Sayumi's lips in hers as she kissed the upside-down girl as her rosy scent wafting up over the air around them. She felt great... Wonderful... Kissing her after a nice long shower only made life that much better... Before Sayumi everything was so hard and the most she could look forward too was her shower and her games from day to day. Now it was the girl she loved.

"You have got to be the cutest thing ever." Cicilia giggled as she pulled away, lightly poking her girlfriend's forehead. "Sitting upside-down like that... Adorable." She'd stare into those cute little aqua eyes of hers, happier looking into them than she was taking her shower a little while ago. If Sayumi came to visit her every day like this after work well... She might just start setting things up for her in anticipation for those events...

"So, cutie..." she asked, gently placing her hand on her cheek. ..."How was your day...?"