the language of flowers: ranunculus

[cervidea]

Title: Closer
Fandom: Persona 3
Pairing: Aigis/Female Protagonist (Minako in this fic)
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 619
also on ao3

“Minako-san,” Aigis begins - it’s late at night (who knows how late, Minako wonders; did it even matter?) and Minako had just begun to drift into sleep. The brunette jolts into consciousness. Aigis stands nearby, the android regarding her with earnest curiosity. Minako simply makes a soft noise of questioning, enough to prompt Aigis to continue.

“What is it to be human?”

“That’s-” Minako struggles for words for a moment. “It really depends, I guess?”

Aigis contemplates the answer she received; Minako can see her turning over the thought in her mind.

There’s a beat of awkward silence. Minako wants to ask how long Aigis has been there (although truly, this isn’t surprising - it’s almost become routine), but decides just to pat the bed. “You can sit, you know.”

“I do not experience fatigue,” comes the simple response.

She seats herself anyway, a little too close for comfort. But in her sleepy state, Minako really doesn’t mind the contact. The brunette stretches. Aigis pretends not to be flustered (or, as close as she can come to the emotion) by the feeling of her flexing muscles against her - but Aigis wonders: why?

“I have another question,”

“Yeah?” Minako prompts, warming up to the conversation, appreciating the company.

“Love... What exactly is it?” Aigis questions earnestly.

“Don’t you know?” The other raises an eyebrow, although in the dark it’s hard to tell.

“Well...” Minako pauses. “It’s like, when you always want to be with someone, forever, and you want to protect them, I guess? And you might want to kiss them and touch them?”

“I think I understand.” Aigis falls silent for a moment. “I love you, Minako-san,” she concludes.

Minako’s throat goes dry. “No, no you don’t,” she chokes out. Can she even feel love?

“Did I say something worng, Minako-san?” Aigis inquires, cordial as always, in her own quirky way.

“No, it’s just- love is a really heavy thing. Are you sure?”

“Yes.” The response comes with no hesitation.

Now or never, I guess, Minako thinks; Aigis had grown on her truly over the months. “Can I kiss you then?”

“That... That would make me very happy.”

Minako took the android’s hands, gently guiding her to lay onto the bed beside her (it takes some rearranging, considering the size of the bed), moving a hand up to cradle the back of her head. Their lips meet clumsily, Minako leading the way, mostly because she’d at least seen countless kisses in movies on television. It was probably a bit weird to think of other people kissing in a time like this, so Minako shoves away the thought as Aigis began to genuinely kiss back instead of fumbling awkwardly. She pulled her closer, hands firmly placed on the other’s back.

Breathless, Minako pulled away, still holding onto Aigis. “I’d forgotten you need to breathe,” Aigis said. Minako laughs softly, cautious not to rouse anyone in the dorm.

“May I kiss you again?” Aigis, charmingly polite as ever, asks.

This time, Minako guides the android’s hands to rest on her hips as they come together with much more ease than before.

Aigis can only think about how warm Minako is. Her lips are soft against her own artificial ones (the realization burns with a surprisingly human intensity for a moment) and her skin radiates heat as Aigis ventured her fingers under Minako’s pyjama shirt. The girl squeaks, the sound muffled against the kiss, but she welcomes it, Aigis running the pads of her fingers against every rib, tracing curves and contours.

When they pull apart again, Aigis presses her fingers gently against Minako’s lips, tracing her lower lip.

“So, does this mean we’re lovers?”

“I guess we are,” Minako responds. “I’d like that.”