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connan-l · 4 years

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Game Evening

Fandom: Rose Guns Days Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Rose Haibara & Stella Maiougi & Meryl Tanashi Summary: Rose, Stella and Meryl come back late at the Maiougis’ apartment after a long day, and decide to kill time by playing a simple game…

Content Warning: This should be obvious given the story and characters but, there are mentions of prostitution, and some crude conversations about sex/sex jokes. Nothing really explicit though.

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Link on Archive of Our Own

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Notes: This is just a short story I wrote on impulse when I discovered that there was a Rose Guns Days section on AO3 but got saddened by how empty it was. The main lady trio is great and it was the easiest relationship to write about for me!

I have to precise that I read RGD only once and it was… something like three years ago, thus my memories of the VN are a bit blurry. So I’m sorry if there are some details I missed or that I don’t really have the characters exactly right.

This takes place before Season 1, shortly after Rose became the madam.

Also, I have no idea if truth or dare was a thing that existed during 1930s Japan, but you know, whatever.

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The first thing Rose did after entering the apartment was to collapse into the sofa, her long, beautiful pink hair scattering all around her like a sumptuous veil. Her body was numb, her mind dazed, her eyelids heavy. If she stayed like this for a few more minutes, she would probably fell asleep. Never had she felt so tired after a day of work. A mischievous giggle from behind her managed to drag her back to reality though.

“Being the madam is not easy, huh?” She heard Meryl say in a teasing voice.

“Leave her alone, will you?” Stella added. “She worked hard today, she deserves her rest.”

“I wasn’t trying to be mean!”

Rose sighed, her mind unable to bring itself to keep up with her friends’ familiar bickering. Both Stella and Meryl had the night off today — something pretty rare — but Rose had spent the day running around because of all the work she had to take care of. It has only been a couple of months since she’d taken the title of the madam of Primavera, and she already felt overwhelmed. Thankfully, all the ladies of the night had been exceedingly supportive of her so far — even Amanda seemed not utterly disapproving of her choices — and of course, Richard had been by her side to help her at every steps. He had a business meeting tonight, to which Rose had wanted to accompany him, but he had told her he and Cyrus would take care of everything, so she needn’t worry. Stella was supposed to be the one to go home to babysit Yuuji tonight, so both Meryl and Rose had chosen to stay with her.

“Anyway, I’m going to make some tea,” Stella said. “Or do you want something else?”

“Nah, tea’s good,” the blonde woman replied. “Right, Rose?”

“Hmm…”

Stella exited the room, and Meryl crashed into the armchair next to Rose — who was still motionless, her face sunk into the cushion. From afar, she’d look almost dead.

“C’mon, Rose,” Meryl said, before starting to poke at her with her finger. “You can’t fall asleep here. At least make the effort to go to a bed.”

“Hmmm…”

“Roooose…”

“Hmmmmm…”

Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes… then an impish smirk stretched her lips. She stood up, slowly advanced towards her friend like a cat, trying to make the less noise possible (not that Rose would have heard her given the catatonic state she was in)… and then she jumped on her.

“Take that! Goozy, goozy, goozy!”

“Ah— W-Wait, what are—”

Rose squeaked, but Meryl didn’t let her have the time to react that she was already straddling her and tickling her. The madam tried to resist, but despite being a really petite woman, Meryl was very physically strong, so she ended up having no other choice than to explode in laughers as the other kept attacking her.

“Hey, be quiet a little!” Stella scolded them while entering the room, a tray full of scalding tea in her hands. “Yuuji’s sleeping just next room!”

She had an uncharacteristic stern face and motherly tone — the one she took whenever her baby nephew was concerned. Stella wasn’t as overprotective of their little boy as Richard, but she would still definitely bare her fangs at anyone who would try to cause troubles to the child.

Meryl moved away from Rose and smiled awkwardly with an apologetic expression on her face, while the other guilty one instantly whispered a soft, full-of-remorse “I’m so sorry” — and as always with Rose when she looked at her with those big, innocent clear blue eyes, it was impossible for Stella to stay angry at her any more longer than that.

“It’s fine,” she said, before putting the tray on the small table in front of them. “But please be careful. Yuuji may be adorable most of the time, but if you wake him up, then he becomes a true little demon. It’s a nightmare to get him back to sleep afterwards.”

“Right, sorry,” Meryl said. “I really don’t wanna deal with a crying baby tonight.”

“Then learn how to be quiet.”

“Sheesh, I said I was sorry! Plus I wasn’t the only one making noise, Rose was super loud too!”

“Y-You’re putting the blame on me?” Rose exclaimed.

Meryl shrugged. “Well, at least now you’re awake.”

“Ahh, whatever,” Stella intervened, rolling her eyes. “Drink your tea before it gets cold.”

She sat next to Rose all while talking, while the other two women grabbed their cups and silently started to sip the hot beverage. Stella’s tea was always very refined and delicate, just in her image. Rose took another gulp of the drink, its sweet flagrance tickling her nostrils, and then she let out a long yawn. Stella smiled gently at her.

“You’re going to go to sleep right after, you, right?” She said softly in an affectionate tone, while putting one of her friend’s pink hair behind her ear. But to her surprise, Rose shook her head.

“No, I think I’ll be fine. I prefer to stay up with you and wait for Richard.”

“You sure?” Meryl insisted. “You can go snooze off while Stella and I take care of everything. We know you’re exhausted. No need to play tough with us, Rose.”

“I-I’m not playing tough, I’m really fine,” she argued. “You truly did wake me up earlier. Furthermore…”

Rose looked down on her laps, her gaze falling into the dark, auburn liquid in her cup of tea.

“I am the madam now… so…”

That was the only sentence she said, no further explanation. Meryl and Stella looked at each others, a clear look of concern they both shared for their friend. But neither of them spoke up about it. Instead, Stella just sighed.

“So what do you want to do in the meantime?” She said. “Play a game or something?”

As soon as she pronounced those words, Rose’s blue eyes lit up like a child’s. All of her sleepiness from a while ago seemed to instantly disappear, so maybe what she had just said hadn’t been a complete lie. “Oh yes! What a good idea. I just have the perfect thing!”

“What?”

Just as the two other ladies of the night exchanged a surprised look, Rose grabbed her purse and began to ransack it. After a few long seconds, she finally took a small box out of it, as a triumphant smile spread on her round face. “There it is!”

“What… What is that?” Stella questioned.

“You proposed we play a game together, right?”

“Well, uh, not really…”

“Well, I have a nice game idea! Let’s play truth or dare.”

“Truth or dare?” Meryl repeated. “Oh yeah. I used to play that when I was a kid.”

Rose flashed an impish smile at her two friends, which made her look at least ten years younger, then opened the box. Inside was a bunch of scattered pieces of paper, with seemingly handwriting scribbled on it.

“Claudia gave these to me this morning, as a gift,” Rose explained. “She said it’s a game she and the other ladies made together.”

Her two friends narrowed their eyes at this, the exact same suspicious expression placarded on their faces.

“What?” Rose asked.

“Well, it’s just,” Meryl started. “You know…”

“Don’t you think Claudia and the others made this as a new way to pick on you?” Stella finished for her.

Rose had always been really beloved amongst the ladies of Primavera, and everyone cherished her as a colleague and a sister. Her natural kindness and sincerity was a big part of it, but she also had a strange charisma that instantly attracted others to her. And now that she was the madam, it was even doubly so. However, she was still Rose, and she tended to often be a little bit… on the naïve and innocent side. Which meant that, while the other women were quite fond of her, they still often loved to tease her. Nothing too mean, of course, just enough to have a good laugh out of her, and Rose was just so easy to tease. Meryl and Stella sometimes took part of those little good-natured pranks themselves. Rose had never seemed to take offence at their habits of gently making fun of her, but she always ended up falling for it.

“Now, don’t be like that,” Rose said. “Claudia even said that she and the others played it quite a few times before. It sounds fun, really. So? What do you think?”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a dubious look. “Fine, I don’t care either way,” the latter said, shrugging.

“Sure? Why not,” Meryl added. “It’s not like we have anything better to do anyway.”

Rose’s smile widened. “Let’s start with the first question, then! So… ‘What’s the—’”

But then she suddenly cut herself short, her enthusiasm vanishing and her cheeks getting redder and redder. Stella and Meryl exchanged an interrogative glance, then stared at their boss expectedly.

“So?” Meryl pressed her. “What’s the question? Come on, we’re waiting.”

“That… That is…”

Rose fidgeted, her discomfort clearly increasing, but she finally managed to blurt out in a very small, trembling voice: “‘What’s… what’s the size… of your… penis…’”

The other two women blinked at her in silence for a moment. And then, finally, they both burst out in laughers.

“I knew you were going to react like that!” Rose exclaimed, halfway between embarrassed and angry.

“Oh my God! That’s a good one!” Meryl blurted out between two chuckles.

“Yeah, they definitely got you fine, huh!” Stella added while wiping the corner of her eye.

“Stop laughing now! Geez!”

“So? We’re waiting, Rose!” Meryl replied. “What’s your size?”

“Ooooh, I bet it’s huge!” Stella said.

“True, true! Rose just has those big balls! I’m sure her meat is even bigger than any of the regulars at Primavera!”

“The clients would be so ashamed if they were to see hers!”

“That’s enough!”

Rose screamed, now as red as a tomato, before throwing at them a few pillows which directly crashed into the women’s faces, but that didn’t stop them from laughing with all of their souls.

“Well, if it’s like that, let’s take the next one!” Rose continued, fumbling among the pieces of paper. “It’s your turn now, Stella! Truth or dare?”

“Hmmm… Truth!”

“All right… er, so… ‘Who in this room you’d like to have sex with—’ Wh-What on earth are those questions?” Rose shouted.

Meanwhile, Stella and Meryl exchanged a look, and stared at their pink-haired, blue-eyed, too-innocent-for-her-own-good friend from head to toes, before replying in the same voice:

“Rose.”

The concerned lady gasped, her cheeks the same color as her dress and hair. “Wh-What?”

“I mean, that’s kinda obvious, isn’t it?” Meryl said. “You’re pretty and cute, and the only other choice I have is her, so really.”

Stella snorted. “Hmph, that’s what I was gonna say. I’d rather die than sleep with you.”

“Hey, I’m glad we’re on an agreement for once!”

“N-Now, now, no need to fight… It’s your turn now, Meryl.”

“Truth.”

“All right, then…” Rose looked at the question, then lightly rolled her eyes, which told the two of them that it was yet again going to be an inappropriate one. “‘What’s the biggest age difference you’ve had between yourself and a sexual partner?’”

Stella chuckled while she was drinking her tea, and she had to put the cup of tea away from her mouth to not spill it over.

“Ohh, that I know!” She exclaimed.

“Ugh, did you really need to remind me of this?” Meryl said.

“I-I’m not the one who choose the questions! If you have a problem, go complain to Claudia and the others!”

“Ah, fine,” Meryl replied while crossing her arms, a clear annoyed look on her face while Stella still struggled to contains her giggles. “It was around two years ago, I think. Some old dude showed up at the brothel. A really old dude. And he was… probably around seventy.”

“Stop lying! He was way into his eighties!” Stella added. “And you never know the best thing about it. When he got into the room with Meryl, he couldn’t even get up his—”

“All right, it’s okay! I’ve heard enough,” Rose quickly cut her off. “S-So, um, anyway, it’s my turn now, so… ‘Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?’ Oh, that’s actually a pretty normal question this time.”

“Huh. So? Do you?’” Meryl asked.

Rose frowned. “What? No, I don’t.”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a glance. “You don’t?”

“Of course not! I’m not a child! Why would you even think that?”

“Well, I had just pinned you has that kind of person,” Stella replied.

“Well, I’m not!”

“I bet you did sleep with a plush as a kid, though!” Meryl argued.

“W-Well…” Rose hesitated, her cheeks slightly. “Yeah… A pink rabbit. B-But I don’t even know where it is anymore! And that’s normal, every kids does that, right?”

“I didn’t,” Meryl answered, almost proudly.

“Well, if you have troubles sleeping tonight, Rose, Yuuji has tone of rabbit plushies, if you want!”

“Oh, shut up!” A red Rose yelled back at her two chuckling friends. “It’s your turn now Stella, so let’s see if you’re gonna keep laughing for long… ‘Take a shot of vodka.’”

There was a long, awkward silence following this.

“No!” Meryl and Rose exclaimed at the same time.

“But… that’s the rule—”

“It’s just a game!” Meryl said. “There’s no reason to do everything it says at the letter!”

“R-Right, you can just, uh, take a shot of your tea. That’s perfect.”

“We’re supposed to look after Yuuji, right? We really can’t deal with a drunk Stella Maiougi right now!”

Stella stared at both of her friends, then let out a heavy, defeated sigh all while grabbing her cup of tea. “Fine,” she grumbled, and Rose was pretty sure she looked… almost annoyed? Did Stella actually enjoy drinking? Or maybe she just had fun getting on everyone’s nerves when she was drunk? Both possibilities were probable.

“A-All right, your turn, Meryl!” She exclaimed, avid to switch the topic before Stella change her mind.

“Right! Uh, uh, truth!”

“Er… ‘What do you appreciate more — love or money?’”

“Money,” both Stella and Meryl answered at the same time, without even an ounce of hesitation.

“Wh-What, really?” Rose exclaimed.

“You’re talking to a bunch of prostitutes, Rose,” Meryl replied. “What did you expect?”

“Actually, she’s technically a prostitute too,” Stella added. “So wait. Does that mean you prefer love, Rose?”

The concerned blushed. “O-Of course I do! That should be obvious.”

Meryl and Stella exchanged a smile, which was halfway between amused and endeared — like something two big sisters looking after their youngest innocent sibling would have.

“Of course, Rose’s always the romantic one,” Stella commented.

“Ahh, it must be nice,” Meryl added, sighing.

“Don’t act as if I’m a kid,” Rose replied, annoyed. “We’re all about the same age.”

Then she paused, her expression more pensive.

“You don’t think love is important?” She finally asked.

“I don’t have anything against it,” Stella clarified. “But having money, food and a roof on top of my head are the most important things to me.”

“Yep,” Meryl agreed. “I already have everything I need, honestly. A good job that pay well, great friends. Love is just a complication in my life that I don’t need right now.”

Their respective answers made sense, given both of their personalities and past life experiences… but for some reason, a part of Rose still felt… a bit saddened by this. Did that make her naïve after all?

Her feelings must have shown on her face, because right after Stella added:

“That’s only for us, though! For you, it can be different. Don’t worry, I’m sure one day you’ll find love. I want to be the one to walk you to the altar, actually!”

“Ooh, me too. Though we’ll be there to make sure the guy you chooses treat you with the respect you deserves.”

“For sure! Otherwise we’ll kick his ass.”

“Oh, we’ll do far worse than that. If he ever hurt Rose, dude can say good bye to his tail!”

Both women started cackling like witches, and Rose smiled awkwardly.

“I… I’m starting to feel sorry for my hypothetic future husband…”

“Anyway, it’s your turn, Rose!” Stella said, while grabbing the box this time and picking one of the papers. “Would you rather be smart or pretty?” She read out loud.

Meryl let out a snort, and Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Um… Smart, I think?”

Stella giggled. “What a silly question. Why would I choose? I’m already both.”

“Ohh, really now,” Meryl commented. “Are you certain about that?”

“I am way smarter and prettier than you, at least, that’s for sure.”

“Wh-What did you just say?”

“Aaall right, next question! S-Stella, it’s your turn! Truth or—”

“Truth.” Stella sighed, and while she still took the time to throw a glare in Meryl’s direction, she turned around towards Rose, who proceeded to read the question out loud.

“So… ‘If you had a time machine, to which time period would you go?’”

“Huh? Uh…”

Suddenly, Stella’s face became pensive, then… slightly nostalgic.

“I…”

She looked at Rose and Meryl, seemingly hesitant to answer. And then, strangely enough, she looked over towards Yuuji’s room, where the door was half-closed. There was no sound coming out of it, suggesting the boy was still profoundly asleep.

“Stella?” Meryl asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

“Ah, sorry, I…” She sighed. “I think if I could do that, I would… go back before the war. Before…” She swallowed. “Before my parents and sister’s deaths.”

Rose and Meryl’s expressions changed to a more somber one, and the ambiance in the room became a lot drearier. Stella’s purple eyes, usually bright with grace and malice, were now dark and focused on her laps, as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at anyone while speaking.

“I’d like for us to be together again as a family like before, even just once. Just the five of us… And especially… I wish Yuuji could meet his actual parents…”

She fell quiet, her words echoing and hanging in the room, while none of them dared to disturb the heavy silence that had taken place. Finally, Stella was the one to cut through the awkward atmosphere, chuckling softly and smiling at her friends.

“Ahh, sorry about that! I didn’t mean to make everyone feel gloomy, hehe.”

“No, it’s fine,” Rose murmured, and she reached forward to gently take Stella’s hand in hers. “We’re not gloomy.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Meryl replied sharply. “There’s nothing wrong about reminiscing about the past from time to time. It’s okay.”

The other two stared at her with wide eyes, and Meryl puffed out her cheeks. “What? Is that such an odd thing for me to say?”

Stella blinked, and she and Rose exchanged a smile. “No, not at all,” the former replied.

Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes, before leaning over on the table to grab a piece of paper. “Anyway! Better to change the subject before one of you starts crying.”

“As if you’re not the one who cries the most easily out of the three of us,” Stella commented.

“Shut up! So, uh, it’s my turn now. Dare! Uhh… ‘Kiss your closest neighbor on the cheek.’ Oh, okay, that one is cute. Come here, Rose!”

“Hey, wait! It says your closest neighbor. Stella’s closer to you than me!”

“What? She’s closer to me from what, a millimeter? C’mon!”

Rose arched an eyebrow and grinned. “That’s what the rules says,” she simply replied.

“Ugh… since when did you become cocky like that?”

“Becoming the madam really did a wonder on her, huh,” Stella remarked.

“The point is that I’m right,” Rose replied. “So. If you have to kiss someone, you kiss Stella.”

Stella and Meryl both looked at each other defiantly — the expressions on their faces clearly telling that they’d rather kill each other than kiss each other. But the two of them also knew better than to try arguing with the madam of Primavera. Rose may be a sweetheart most of the time, but she was a hardened, hella stubborn sweetheart. So, slowly, Stella moved towards her blonde-haired colleague, leaned towards her, and pressed a brief, soft kiss on her round cheek. Then she immediately pulled apart, and crossed her arms — which Meryl mimicked.

“Happy, now?” Stella asked begrudgingly.

Rose giggled. “Yes, very.”

“Fine, well, it’s your turn now,” Meryl quickly added.

“Oh, right! Uh, truth! So, let’s see… ‘Where do you want to be right now?’”

Rose stared at the piece of paper for a moment in silence. For some reason, this question gave her a pause, and she felt as if her mind had blanked out. It wasn’t a hard question, though. She’d always liked the idea of traveling. Across the country, of course — going to Kyoto, or Sapporo, or Nagoya. Since she was a child, she’d always wished to visit Greece too – her father’s hometown, which she had only heard about from the few tales he had told her. There were a lot of places where she would love to be, a lot of people she’d love to be at the side of… But none of these answers seemed right to her now.

“Rose?” Stella called out quietly.

“Ah, uh…”

“Where I’d want to be, huh?” Meryl repeated. “Personally, I’d really love to have some vacations at the beach. Just spending my days lying on the sand and listening to the ocean…”

“Oh yes, vacations like that would be nice,” Stella added, followed by a heavy sigh. “If only we had enough money for that.”

“What about you, Rose?”

“I…”

Rose looked up at the two women in front of her, and smiled softly.

“I want to be here.”

Both Stella and Meryl stared blankly at her. “What?”

“I’m fine with where I am right now. I really don’t want to be anywhere else. Sure, it may be a pretty difficult life at times, but… I love this town, and this country, and all the people who live here. I love you two, and Richard, and Wayne, and all the ladies of Primavera. And… I would exchange it for nothing in the world.”

For some long seconds, a silence took place in the room — which made Rose anxious. Surely her answer wasn’t that weird, was it? But then, all of a sudden, the other two began to laugh.

“Wh-What is it?” Rose exclaimed. “Did I say something that funny?”

“No, no, that’s not it!” Meryl replied. “We’re not laughing at you. It’s just…”

“That’s such a Rose thing to say,” Stella continued. “Really, here we were, fantasizing about vacations at the beach, and you answer this kind of mushy tirade!”

“I-I didn’t mean to diminish your wishes,” Rose replied. “I mean, I think it’d be nice to have some vacations too…!”

“Nah, it’s cool, we get it,” Meryl said. “Actually… I think I agree with you. Vacations sure would be great, but… at the end of the day, I’m fine where I am right now. It may not be an ideal life, but it’s mine and I like it nonetheless.”

Stella didn’t say anything, but the wide smile on her face was more than enough to tell she shared those thoughts too. Meryl giggled again, and then she ruffled Rose’s hair in that big sisterly kind of way she often had towards the women of Primavera. Stella got closer to their madam before affectionately resting her head on her shoulder, and Meryl, sitting on the other side, imitated her.

The three of them stayed snuggled together like that for a quiet, peaceful moment.

Like a way to prove themselves that they were, indeed, all of them happy to be here right now.

Like a quiet prayer that their lives would continue as such, with all its ups and downs — but that, either way, they would always have each other’s backs.

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