◼️⬛ || 𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓𝖙 || ⬛◼️

|| 128 || Missing Partner 🎼 O/F

Art by doodleghoul41 on twitter

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Nerissa Ravencroft - Romantic Oneshot

Requested by ?

Word Count →  1030 Words

Warnings/Notes → Nerissa pining. Man I love Nerissa. Need more Nerissa.

Not necessarily a part of my return chapter dump session, but, I couldn't resist writing about Nerissa (I'm going to burn myself out at this rate istg but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it or something)

Also, surprisingly, the main character is neither Nerissa nor the reader for once :D Although, that means that neither the reader nor Nerissa actually appear that much in the chapter (the reader is only mentioned)

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Shiori's day had been oddly pleasant so far. At least, that's how she felt.

She'd woken up nice and snuggly warm under all her covers, face buried comfortably in her pillow only to realise something was a tad bit off about her situation. 

For one, her blankets never left her this snuggly warm at all (as much as she wished they did), nor were they weighted, disappointingly so - The oddly distributed mounds resting on her were an intriguing anomaly that it was really way too early to think about. Blinking open her eyes, she found her answer easily enough, though. And luckily, she didn't even have to get out of bed!

 The Abyssgard twins had apparently broken into her room and taken over her bed, practically kicking her to the edge of her cushiony goodness at some point during the night. Their fluffy tails were flung over her, resting messily over her shoulders and burying her face in nothing but fluff. Mococo's slightly fuzzier tail was curled around her legs, tangling her ankles so it was hard to shift. To top it all off, they were both snoring. Loudly. And right in her ear.

How'd they'd gotten in her room in the first place would forever remain a mystery, seeing as Shiori couldn't fucking find their entrance point and both doors and windows were locked. Even when they actually woke up and she asked, they were both weirdly quiet for once. Even after being prodded by their two other genmates, they remained tight-lipped about their methods. Crafty little doggos probably wanted another place to freely nap in or something between steams.

Shiori made them promise not to do anything weird in her room, but otherwise she was off to the office.

It was quick walk, not too hot or cold either. The apartments right next to Cover Corp. were a blessing. Granted, they were built specifically for the talents working for Hololive, so of course they would've been a blessing, but Shiori didn't dwell on that thought for too long.

It was another weird day in office. Not the usual kind've crazy, Holo no Grafiti weird where you had giant cephalopods breaking walls down because someone really wanted to play Splatoon, but the kind've odd that made your hair stand on end because something was just off.

Of the miniscule amount of people actually milling about the office floor, it seemed that everyone else noticed the sombre attitude depressing the place.

She mostly brushed it off, though. If there was no immediate threat, surely it couldn't of been too bad. Right?

She tried to not question it, although Nerissa did look a little downtrodden when she passed by her fucking around with one of the office printers. It looked like she was torn between pouting and beating the living (well, not living, but you understand what I mean) shit out of the clunky machinery. It wouldn't of been the first time it had to undergo some vigorous hand smacking to get it working properly, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

Although, by the time the archiver turned the corner to her office, she heard a little exclamation of success just beyond her line of sight.

The printer was safe. For now.

She streamed as normal. Her Novelites were just as clingy as usual during her routine bug inspection time, but still, something tugged at her mind for whatever reason. She had no idea why it might've done that, but the sight of Nerissa kerfuffling around with the printer this morning seemed a little weird. She never recalled a time where her genmate tried to use the machine, always going out of her way to get someone like Enma or Ame who were a little more tech savvy to help her.

Luckily, it seemed she was just as Shiori as she usually was, so nothing seemed odd if you didn't pry to far.

It was only as she finished streaming and the paperwork left on her desk, leaving her office to go home, did she finally find out what got the whole office feeling weird.

There was a missing poster of all things plastered just above the printer she'd passed on her way in.

Her heart stopped.

Had someone in Hololive gone missing? Was it one of her seniors? Someone from management?

Squinting, she made out your joyfully face smudged with sharpie. No doubt someone had been doodling across your skin, but that just made her stomach twist and heart hurt. You'd always been so lovely whenever she talked to you, someone funny to talk to and someone who wasn't so visibly uncomfortable about her fascination with bugs.

'Oh no!' She frowned, crossing the distance with a few quick strides.

If she also recalled correctly, which she did most times, you'd also recently started dating Nerissa.

It clicked in her mind.

That's why her genmate seemed so sullen this morning! Her partner has gone missing. Shiori nervously chewed her bottom lip between her teeth. Just the thought of one of her good friends wallowing in her untold sadness because her partner has disappeared.

But then she actually saw what the poster said.

MISSING PARTNER

It was that same, goofy picture of you with marker lines all over your face. Half of Nerissa's face could also be seen in the picture.

Shiori felt her panic and adrenaline rush disappear as soon as she scanned the words underneath.

• I miss my partner

• They're not gone or anything - Just at home

• And I'm here at work

• Enjoy the pic of them

She was going to smack Nerissa later. Or something. Because giving her a heart attack like that was not very cash money of her.

Shiori rolled her shoulders and sighed.

Why?