jenlisa one shots & short stories

different ways to say i love you (2)

"Are you sure you want to throw down the gauntlet, Manoban?" Jennie says. "When I play Mario Kart, I play to fucking win."

Lisa cocks an eyebrow. "You know you're talking to a Mario Kart champion, right?"

The corner of Jennie's lips quirk and her eyes glitter. "You haven't seen me play."

"Like you could beat me."

"Oh, Lili. It's so on."

They throw themselves onto the sofa and take their controllers in hand. Jennie's knuckles turn white with the force that she grips it with. There's no way she's letting Lisa beat her.

An hour and a half later and Jennie's cackling with glee. She's the Mario Kart Queen, and she's throwing out banana peels and shells like she was born to play this. Next to her, Lisa is getting increasingly more frustrated, shaking the controller violently. It's not long before she throws the controller onto the floor.

"I give up," Lisa says, lying back on the sofa. "You're some kind of a monster."

"YES!" Jennie screeches, brandishing the controller up in the air like a trophy. "Do you relinquish your Mario Kart crown?"

"I relinquish my crown."

"YES!" Jennie says, again. "I'm the motherfucking Mario Kart Queen!"

Lisa glances at her and laughs. "Alright, your highness," she says, bending down onto one knee on the floor. "Do you accept me as your humble steward?"

Jennie thinks for a moment and then nods, pretending touching her over each shoulder with the controller. "I dub thee my Knight, partner in all things Mario Kart."

Lisa bows her head. "I am honoured."

The two of them break into laughter and fall back onto the sofa, still giggling. When they finally stop, Jennie lifts her head.

"Netflix?"

"Nini, you speak my language."

"I'm picking the show."

"Well," she says. "You are the motherfucking Mario Kart Queen."

Jennie grins. "I'm glad you understand."

They watch Netflix until they're both falling asleep, cuddled up together. For once, it's Lisa who seems more tired than Jennie, and she rests her head on her stomach. Jennie wraps her arm around her shoulders and runs her fingers through her hair.

"You're so warm," Lisa mumbles.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she says. "It's nice."

The next day, they wake up tangled together with cramp and aching limbs.

~~

Jennie shivers, and shrouds herself in a blanket, stretching out for a mug of hot chocolate and holding it close to her face. How is it possible for her to be wearing so many layers and still be freezing? She swears as soon as her head stops feeling like a vacant fog and her nose feels less like it's stuffed with cotton wool, she's going right out to find the fresher that coughed on her and kill them.

Every year. Every year she's adamant that she's not going to catch Fresher's Flu, and every year she's proved wrong.

She inches forward to put the mug down onto the table and as she does so, lapses into a coughing fit. Mucus fills up her throat and she tries to pull out a tissue to catch it all, but only manages to spill hot chocolate everywhere. Goddamn it.

With a groan, she leans forward and heaves herself up off the sofa towards the kitchen to grab herself some paper towels.

She doesn't make it, and ends up in a heap on her living room floor.