Chapter Text
When all is said and done, Cecilia Immergreen considers herself to be a girl with her head set firmly on her shoulders. Sure, she may consider flights of fancy on occasion, but ultimately she is a stoic at heart who just wants to go through university as smoothly as possible without any weird tangents so she can get her life on track and start living for once.
Actually, that’s a lie.
For some time in her first year, that was the Cecilia Immergreen that she wanted to show to her classmates and professors; the kind of person who took her studies seriously enough to impress a professor or two to write her a letter of recommendation after she graduates. Unfortunately, that kind of person also has its drawbacks. For one thing, it’s the lack of friends. Another is the burnout that came with the effort of maintaining the constant facade.
“Two years. I don’t know how I kept this up for two years.” She ruminates over tea. “Do you think I’ll last one more year? Maybe I should change my major?”
Across the cafeteria table, Kiara looks halfway between concerned and annoyed. Maybe it’s because this is nearly the thousandth time she’s hearing Cecilia mope about her “situation.”
“You can just, I dunno Cece, just start acting yourself?”
“I don’t know! It's going to be sooo awkward. How do I even start?"
“Well, the longer you keep this up, the harder it’s gonna get.” Kiara huffs a sigh.
Cecilia knows full well that if she didn’t know Kiara from high school, she might as well not have been friends with her in college. Just the thought of that fills her with a sense of dread. It doesn’t help that Kiara is a year ahead of her, so she will be graduating soon and Cecilia will have to spend a year by herself, possibly going insane from the lack of any sane human interaction. She’ll just have, what, three or four acquaintances that she had some brief group projects with? That’s it?
Cecilia swallows the lingering dread with the last sip of tea from her cup and eyes the loose leaves sticking around inner walls. She hopes, in quiet desperation, that the answer to her problems lies hidden among the tea leaves but all they give her are vague, useless shapes.
Her amateur attempt at tasseomancy is suddenly interrupted by a loud, sharp laugh that came from the opposite side of the food court cafeteria. She cranes her neck in the direction of the laugh, annoyance quickly giving rise to curiosity.
Kiara turns her head to the direction of the raucous noise, seeing that it piqued Cecilia’s wrath. “Oh, that’s…”
On the other side of the cafeteria is another girl, probably about a few inches shorter than Cecilia. Blonde hair with shocks of brown highlights; wild but tamed into two pigtails. Orange hoodie and tomboyish poise. She’s surrounded by other girls, albeit more they’re more quiet and giggle modestly in response to whatever this tomboy has to say.
Another laugh bellows from her and Cecilia wonders how a small body can project a laugh so loud that it traveled all the way to the opposite side of the university food court.
Kiara continues after the laugh subsides. “That’s Gigi Murin.” She turns her head back to Cecilia with a look of mild disinterest. “She’s a bit of a womanizer. Flirts with every girl she comes across. Don’t tell me you’re interested in her.”
“What? No!” Cecilia snaps back to Kiara. “I just think it’s crazy how loud she is. Besides, this is the first time I’ve heard of her.”
“Yeah that’s just how she is.” Kiara shrugs. “I had some classes with her and she started hitting on me instantly. I mean, don’t get me wrong! She’s very nice and charming though, but like, she’s always surrounded by girls. She must have had like five or six flings already.”
There’s an attempt to parse Kiara's words since Cecilia isn’t sure how much of it is exaggeration and how much of it is truth. Kiara did have some propensity to dispense both so she figures, against her better judgement, that it’s worth it to pry more to quell a bit of her curiosity.
“Five?”
“Yeah, well…” Kiara holds up her hand and counts her fingers while she mutters names. “At the very least five! But if she starts hitting on you, just keep that in mind. She… she almost got me before.” Her voice trails off as if she's recounting a tale of when she escaped a wild animal attack.
Kiara leans in and her voice goes into a raspy whisper. “She’s a real smooth talker, that one.”
Another loud cackle peals through the food court. Cecilia looks towards Gigi’s direction and back at Kiara.
“Right.” Cece is incredulous but gives a response anyway. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
-
It must be frequency illusion, Cecilia thought to herself. You know, when you learn of something very specific and all of the sudden you start seeing that something everywhere? Well, here she is; the distinct orange hoodie and tomboyish gait strutting on the other side of the university quad. Two taller girls flank her: one with long jet black hair and the other with long pink hair. She easily recognizes the pink haired girl as Calliope Mori only because she’s also long time friends with Kiara.
“Hey, Cece? Are you listening?”
Cecilia blinks.
“Oh, that one.” Koseki Bijou, one of her few “group project acquaintances”, followed Cecilia's eyes. “Don’t even bother with Gigi Murin. She’s got a type and it’s neither you nor me.”
“I’m not interested in her. Just got a bit distracted. Sorry.” Cecilia retorts and quickly assesses that Gigi’s type must be taller, more buxom women. “Also, I heard she flirts with everyone, not just specific people.”
Bijou lets out a dismissive snort. “Yeah, well, we went to the same high school. Everyone had a crush on her back then. Boy, girl, didn’t matter! Only certain ones stuck around her though.” Bijou lifts and holds her arms several centimeters from her chest for emphasis.
Cecilia curled her lips in an incredulous smirk. “Alright, I get it. Why are you telling me this though?”
“You suddenly got that look. You’re usually all serious but your eyes suddenly got big like saucers!” She holds her eyelids open in an attempt to emulate Cecilia’s reaction. "Totally weird behavior."
“You’re crazy, Biboo. I’m not going to suddenly start crushing over a random girl. Besides, she’s got like five or six girlfriends already from what I heard.”
“Just five or six?”
Bijou giggled and Cecilia wasn't sure if she was being serious.
-
They say twice is a coincidence, but thrice is a pattern. Cecilia sighs in exasperation because the gods, the fates or whoever the hell is in charge of all of the universe have been predictable lately.
Just at the corner of her vision, she catches a flash of orange. It’s her again. She launches herself back into her notes, hoping that if she doesn’t acknowledge her, maybe she won’t be there.
“Everything alright, Cece?” Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame looked just about as concerned as any group project acquaintance would; voice tinged in worry but the tone implied an arm’s length in emotional distance.
Roara Panthera, on the other hand, had the instincts to turn quickly in the direction where Cecilia was looking and caught sight of a bit of the orange hoodie as it turned the corner.
“Gigi Murin? Really?” She tuts and playfully twists at Cecilia. “I never thought you’re into bad girls!” The sing-song way she teases would normally have no effect on Cecilia, but for some reason, today was just not the day to be receiving Roara’s ribbings.
“I’m alright and I’m not into Gigi Murin.” Cecilia pushes her face closer to her notebook. “Please stop assuming that.”
“Duly noted, Miss Automaton.” Elizabeth, regal and dramatic as always, has a way of flourishing her teases.
Miss Automaton. This isn't the first time Cecilia encountered those words. She heard trickles of that name before; first from Kiara, sometimes from Bijou, several times from Elizabeth and Raora. She feels mildly annoyed hearing it, but it was a benign jab with all things considered. She dismissed that name and all the baggage that came with it although it never escaped her that by doing so, she was living the name as a self fulfilling prophecy.
“Let’s just focus on the assignment please?” Cecilia breathes out another sigh. In the distance, she hears a laugh she’s becoming all too familiar with.
-
Cecilia has a habit of finding an empty classroom and using it to study. She likes libraries, but sometimes they can be stifling. Sometimes, the right classroom with the perfect amount of white noise can be what she needs to absorb all of this information. Today, the perfect location just happens to be a zoology lab, with its several blacktop tables and leather rolling chairs giving the perfect acoustics.
On occasion, another student will join her in the classroom and most of the time, they’re reasonable enough to stay in the same noise level as her. So when Cecilia hears the door creak open, she figures that it’s just another of those situations; a student like her, looking for refuge in another semi-quiet classroom. She looks up only to catch the attention of two striking pink orbs.
Baader–Meinhof phenomenon is the proper name for “frequency illusion”. Cecilia looked it up because curiosity dug into her like a bear trap and only the proper knowledge can set her free. Now that she knows the name, she can throw it out whenever Gigi Murin just happens to materialize by her within a hundred foot radius.
“Hey, uh, I’m the TA in this lab. You don’t mind if I sweep around?” Gigi Murin points at the broom she has in hand.
Cecilia never really heard Gigi talk before. Her laugh, screams and howls usually precedes her in some manner. She never imagined that Gigi has a rather squeaky voice, cute almost, but then again not really inappropriate for a girl her size.
“Oh, uh.” Cecilia cleared her throat. “Yeah, go ahead. Let me know if I’m in the way.”
“Naah a pretty girl like you won’t ever be in the way.”
Cecilia felt like a brick hit her face but she manages to maintain posture.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, sorry. I said you can stay there. It makes cleaning up easier when a pretty girl is around.”
She isn’t even holding back. She’s already off to the races with the flirts.
The static in the air suddenly feels tangible, as if lightning is about to arc from the aether and it strikes Cecilia’s burgeoning curiosity, transforming it into an overwhelming excitement. She feels her heart race, hard enough that her throat starts to hurt.
“So the rumors were true.” She manages to say, despite her heart’s attempt to escape through her throat. “You really do flirt with every girl you come across.”
Gigi stops sweeping the floor and curtsies, as if proud of her reputation. The contrast of her girlish gesture against her outfit (oversized hoodie, jean shorts and checkered ankle high shoes that would’ve been popular two decades ago) doesn’t escape Cecilia and she finds it extremely amusing.
“And the rumors were true about you too, Ms. Automaton.” Gigi flashes a smile in return.
Cecilia skips a beat.
“You too, huh?”
“Yep! Cecilia Immergreen: serious overachiever, will probably graduate top of the class, doesn’t say much, doesn’t show emotion. People wouldn’t be surprised if you were an actual automaton. A real pretty automaton!”
Gigi is now sweeping in the same aisle as Cecilia. Despite her small stature, she deftly sweeps dust into a small pile and quickly dispatches it into a dustpan
“Uh, sorry if it’s a sore subject. I said all that as a compliment!”
“No offense taken. I think I’m used to it by now. Weird compliments and all.”
“Including the ‘pretty’ part? You get that a lot?”
“No. You're the first one with the guts to say it in my face though.”
Gigi grins ear to ear, looking quite pleased like a golden retriever with a ball in her mouth. Very eager, very willing and absolutely shameless. If she had a tail, she must be wagging it wildly. Any other person and Cecilia would have stormed out by now, or worse, given the offending party a concussion, and yet here’s Gigi Murin with her dumb, stupid, golden retriever smile, compelling her to stay.
Up close, Cecilia was beginning to realize what Kiara meant by how charming Gigi Murin is. The way her hair is tied up looks chaotic at a glance but is actually styled rather well. Her pierced ears and well manicured finger nails (painted pastel orange) betrays a person who is meticulous with their appearance, despite the strange gremlin-like fashion sense. Her cheeks are full and rosy. And then those striking pink eyes; someone with weaker mental fortitude than her can easily fall for those.
It’s so strange, Cecilia thought to herself, that if she never had the serendipity of meeting her in this classroom, Gigi would’ve just been an anomaly in her life. A strange coincidence that occurred thrice and nothing more. Then, she would move on and Gigi Murin would become a background character, a bit role, a passing mention, an NPC who strangely had a more detailed backstory than the rest of the people in college. So detailed, that it could just spark an intense curiosity within her.
Cecilia doesn’t know what to do with such a spark. If what Kiara said was true, it would probably be wise to dampen it and let it die. Yet Kiara also said that Cecilia Immergreen should start acting like herself. Maybe she’ll do just that. What better way to just be yourself than to a person who hardly knows you while simultaneously dispelling the automaton rumors? She doesn't even so much consider the decision twice since the part of her brain that found itself compelled by the enigma that is Gigi Murin decided to respond to the flirtations (if only playfully).
“I suppose I’m the new target of your fancy.” Cecilia half smiles.
Gigi chuckles and responds in a playful sing-song voice. “Hmm, maybe?”
“What would I be? Your sixth fling? Seventh?” Cecilia continued to play along with Gigi’s flirtations while keeping her eyes on her task.
“That’s a secret, Miss Automaton.”
“Oh? Is that what you tell every girl you flirt with? That must explain your little harem.” Cecilia couldn't help but let out a rare giggle.
“You really are as keen as they say!” Gigi cackles sharply and leans against her broom. “You’re also a lot more…emotive than I thought.”
“Rumors are just rumors after all.” Cecilia hums as she returns her attention to her notes. Relief pours over her like warm water and she wants to soak in it for a bit longer. “Sort of like how I would’ve expected to be head over heels over you by now but instead I’m just… a little annoyed, but enjoying your company.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment!”
There’s a brief exchange of laughs between them and then silence. Cecilia pretends to focus on her notes but it’s all in vain. She wasn’t lying when she told Gigi that she’s enjoying her company. For once, and outside of her interactions with Kiara, she feels like herself again. She didn’t expect the laughs and the bit of banter, but she’s surprised with how easily Gigi and her can exchange and reciprocate them.
Her periphery fills with the quiet and diligent motions of Gigi distributing lab equipment on tabletops. She hopes that Gigi doesn’t notice that she’s secretly watching her because she would die of embarrassment right then and there. Also, she has no plans of ruining a good first impression; this fragile image she’s built–the real Cecilia Immergreen, not the durable, cold automaton that she meticulously cultivated and ultimately backfired on her.
“Ahem.” Gigi clears her throat and Cecilia nearly falls off her seat.
“Sorry, Miss Automaton, but class will be starting soon. You can stay if you want to hear me lecture though.” Gigi gives her a wink and a modest smile.
“Ah, thanks for the offer but I have to go.” Cecilia returns the smile and packs her things.
She wonders, as she crosses the room, past all of the leather seats (the silent witnesses to their little “performance”), and Gigi Murin, the absolute terror to all women on campus (goofy grin and all), if she’ll ever have to encounter her again. The chances are, by her estimates, very likely, because the gods or the fates or whatever universal entities are apparently hellbent on playing this cosmic prank on her. In that case, she’d rather that she’d go by something else other than “Miss Automaton.”
She stops a few steps by the door, turns around and beams.
“Cece. Just call me Cece next time.”
“Nice to meet you, Cece. You can call me Gigi!”
Her stupid grin grows wide but Ceclia doesn’t mind it at all.