Miscellaneous Short Stories

(Quiet after the Hurricane) Late

More on this book on the whole in the author's note after the chapter.

This short story is set in the Quiet after the Hurricane universe, an Ace Attorney-styled story written by yours truly. It uses two characters, Chrysalis (who has been introduced) and Nevada (who isn't going to show up until the second half of the sequel, Secrets beneath Secrets). I wanted to write them, so sue me.

I hope you enjoy!

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Nevada looked up from her position on the couch when she saw Chrysalis enter the house she shared with her parents. Nevada set her phone aside and frowned. "You're late, aren't you?" she asked. To her knowledge, Chrysalis was supposed to appear an hour ago, but here she was, as late as could be.

"I'm sorry. I was caught up doing work," Chrysalis sighed, flopping down on the couch next to her. "I know we were planning on hanging out and all, but... I guess I'll just have to stay over longer tomorrow to make it up to you."

"Good thing you were planning on spending the night," Nevada said. "Though you seem to be lacking a bag with overnight supplies..."

"Shit," Chrysalis grumbled. "I left it at the agency. I'm too lazy to grab it now... I can borrow something of Sora's if need be. Plus, we're probably about the same size, even if you're a good four inches taller than me."

"Fine with me," Nevada shrugged.

Chrysalis let out another sigh. "I'm doing my best, but sometimes, nothing matters to the god of forgetfulness."

"You're fine," Nevada assured her with a shrug. 

Chrysalis leaned back against the couch, shutting her eyes. "It feels good to relax here after all I had to do today... I did so much paperwork. I'd be content to never see a stack of paper again, honestly."

"God, me too," Nevada laughed. "Crap's boring as hell."

"Which is exactly why we deserve these nights," Chrysalis smiled. Exhaustion was pulling at her eyes, and she looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"Unfortunately, they won't do us much good when a certain someone looks like she's only slept three hours in the past three days," Nevada frowned.

"I've been busy," Chrysalis groaned.

"Too busy to sleep, apparently," Nevada said with a roll of her eyes.

"Whatever. Let's just start talking. Who do you want to be friends with next? You're in good with Cotoli, Sora, and Ghastly now. Who's next on the list?" Chrysalis asked.

"Nobody. You're practically falling asleep. Go to bed," Nevada told her. "Don't make me pick you up again."

"Please don't. We know you don't have as much muscle as expected. You dropped me last time. We're both lucky I didn't cut my head open from hitting the edge of the counter in the kitchen," Chrysalis snorted.

"I'm doing my best," Nevada snapped defensively, making Chrysalis laugh.

"This feels good," Chrysalis smiled.

"You know what would feel better?" Nevada asked with a smirk.

"What?" Chrysalis questioned, already growing suspicious of the answer.

"If you would go the hell to sleep for once," Nevada answered.

Chrysalis playfully punched her arm. "If you're so insistent, fine. You know I can't argue with you when you get this stubborn. You're like a mule with a bone to pick."

Nevada huffed. "Like you're much better! I have to practically throw a banana at you to get you to eat when you get into the working zone, as you call it."

"Fine. We're both just as bad as the other. However, because I'm stubborn, I'm not going to be the only one getting to sleep. It's almost eleven. You're going to bed too," Chrysalis told her firmly.

Nevada sighed, knowing this was a losing battle. "Fine, fine." She seized the blanket draped over the back of the couch as Chrysalis moved to unfold the couch's bed that was normally tucked away beneath the cushions. "We're out here then?"

"Your bed is made for one person. I have fallen off too many times since you spread out more than a territorial spider," Chrysalis giggled.

"I can't control what my arms do when I'm unconscious!" Nevada cried.

"I know, I know. You tell me often. It's just a better option to chill out here," Chrysalis smiled. She had grown efficient with setting up the couch's bed after staying at Nevada's house many a night over the past two years since they had started talking. When they chose to retreat into Nevada's room, bad things tended to happen, such as Chrysalis falling off in the middle of the night or Nevada slapping her with a rogue palm at one in the morning. It was simply better for them both this way.

Nevada hit the light switch and locked the front door after Chrysalis had forgotten to. She leaned back onto the couch as Chrysalis kicked her shoes off. "Damn. I forgot to get another blanket," Nevada grumbled.

"It's fine," Chrysalis shrugged. "We can stay close. What are boundaries when you've been slapped in the face by the person you shared a bed with?"

"I told you, I can't control it!" Nevada repeated.

Chrysalis laughed once again and pulled her glasses off. She set them on the table nearby and leaned back onto the opened mattress. "Night," she said softly. Judging by the way her breath evened out seconds later, Nevada assumed she had fallen asleep.

Nevada smiled to herself as well and shut her eyes. "Night," she replied before drifting off herself, hoping she wouldn't punch Chrysalis in the cheek again while buried in slumber.

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Nevada hasn't been introduced in the new QATH but I don't care I do what I want and these two are a lot of run to write.

I can't say much about her without talking spoilers for unreleased content, but let's just say that Nevada and Chrysalis are pretty good pals. They're a joy to write since they have a lot of chemistry not 100% in romance but just in conversation. Their conversations are interesting and fun to me. 

Also, more on this story as a whole: I didn't really have a short story collection aside from my old shipping book, and I wanted something broader that includes the New Digital (aka what I'm calling everything after the new Quiet after the Hurricane). It won't have a rigid update schedule. I'm just having this exist. Yeah.

I don't have much else to say here, but I hope you enjoyed!

-Digital