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It had been collectively decided that today the four housemates would head to the local shopping mall and treat themselves a little after a hard week of work and just existing in this world, so Christine very quickly got to getting herself changed whilst the others lounged around for a little while longer. After all, she was the most organised and productive out of the four of them, and the one with the earliest shift in the day, so it was just natural for her to get herself together and ready in an instant.
She took a shower to freshen up before drying herself and picking out some clothes from her wardrobe. She decided on a black shirt with a unicorn on it, blue jeans and a red zip up hoodie to throw over the top. Once she checked herself in the mirror and was happy with her outfit, she then went back downstairs and watched some TV whilst the others went and got dressed themselves.
Once everyone was done, Christine and Daisy went upstairs to the bathroom to take their estrogen pills together, and Aggie then joined them to take their anxiety medication when they took theirs. Once everyone was done, they all then came back down and Aggie had to drag Charlie from off of the couch as Daisy unlocked the door and car.
Daisy then got in the driver's seat, Charlie called shotgun as they usually always did, and Christine and Aggie both sat on the back seats as the car started off and the four of them drove off to the mall. She tried to focus her hardest on driving whilst her queerplatonic partner was blasting loud heavy metal and her girlfriend and her girlfriend's girlfriend were having a conversation that she really wanted to be apart of…
It sucks being the only one out of the four of them with a legal driving license… and one that she had to get for a second time because of that one incident…
But, regardless of that, the four housemates made it to the outside of the shopping mall in one piece, and once Daisy had parked, they were able to get out of the car and go, with everyone's arms linked, they all went inside.
"So, what should we all do first?" Aggie asked.
"Well, I'm quite hungry, so should we go and get food first?" Charlie suggested.
"Yeah, same," Daisy nodded, "But where should we-"
"Oh, I know!" Christine piped up, "Sorry for interrupting you, Daisy, but I keep on hearing about this new Asian street food place that's just opened here, and I thought maybe we could all try that together?"
"I've never actually tried a lot of Asian food before, so this sounds like a really good idea!" Aggie clasped their hands together, "What do you think, Charlie?"
"Well, I was thinking about cleansing my palette with something new considering I eat ramen noodles all the time, but I'm happy if everyone else is!~" Charlie quipped, crossing her arms and smiling smugly.
"Oh you!~" They pushed her playfully.
"Are you okay with going there as well?" Christine then turned to her girlfriend and asked, "It's okay if you don't want to, and-"
"I'm happy to come along," She interrupted, not wanting to make her girlfriend put herself down like she usually does, before adding, "After all, I haven't really tried a lot of East Asian food, or really any Asian food which isn't from the Philippines, and I would love to try some food that has the same ethnicity as you!~"
"Oh yeah, I've never thought of it like that!" Christine chuckled, "Oh, I know! You should try some Korean sticky chicken! I know you'll just love it, and it's truly to die for!"
"Well, I guess there's no harm in being willing to die for two delicious Korean things!~" Daisy chuckled.
"You better not eat Christine!!!" Aggie then yelled, "I need her for emotional support when it comes to handling you and Charlie!"
"Wasn't planning on it, but you saying that just makes me want to more…~" She hummed.
"Why are you like this…?" Their face fell into their hands with anguish.
"You know, you look pretty delicious yourself~" Charlie nudged them, "Don't appreciate the comment you just made about me being difficult, but I guess it just makes me love you even more, you know?"
"Charlie?!" Their partner exclaimed out of shock, but they shouldn't really be surprised since this is how they act on a regular basis.
The other three burst out laughing before heading off to the food court, Aggie catching up will all of them after they had composed themselves. The four housemates all decided to order a large box of Korean sticky chicken to share, and like Christine had said before, it truly was to die for.
After that, the four split off to do individual things, occasionally coming back together in pairs before splitting off again after. Daisy and Aggie bumped into each other in a alternative clothing store. Aggie and Christine bumped into each other at a suit store. Daisy and Charlie bumped into each other at a pride store. And the list could go on and on.
But eventually, whilst Christine and her girlfriend Daisy were walking to a shop that sold boba together, she came to a realisation.
"Wait, didn't we all come here in the first place to pick out a new video game we can all play together?" She asked.
"…Huh?" Her girlfriend looked at her with confusion, "Where has this come from all of a sudden?"
"Don't you remember?" Christine questioned, "We were all talking last night about buying a new multiplayer video game because we were all getting sick of that kart game?"
And she was right. Last night, the four housemates decided to get out their gaming console and boot up the kart game, only to remember that they had played it so much that they were bored to death of it. That then sparked up the conversation of the four of them then going to the shopping mall together to go and pick up a new game they can all play together instead.
"Oh yeah…" Daisy muttered slowly before chuckling, "Geez, you have a much better memory than I have!"
"So, what are we waiting for?" Her girlfriend took hold of her hand and began to drag her away, "Let's go and round up the others!"
"Wait, what about our boba?" She questioned.
"Oh…" Christine realised, "Sure, we can get that first."
"Sweet," Daisy grinned.
After the two girlfriends had finally gotten their boba after waiting in such a long queue, which they weren't suprised by considering it was a hot day, they then went off on a quest to find the other two. It didn't take them very long to find the two making out in the gender neutral bathrooms, but once they had reinformed them both of the plan, the four housemates all journeyed to the video game store together.
Once they had all entered the game store, they all went their separate ways once more so they could cover all the bases and search through all of the massive store efficiently to find the best game for the four of them to play. Charlie went to the retro game section, just in case there happened to be any hidden treasures there, Aggie went to the sports game section, Daisy went to the violence game section, and Christine looked around everywhere else.
As Christine was about to pass by one of the shelves, it then caught her eye that there was a screen on the top of that shelf that was playing commercials for the latest games that had come out. She stopped in her tracks and then turned to watch some of the ads and see if any of those that were being advertised happened to spark her interest.
The third commercial that played was for a new game where you would be isekaied into a digital wonderland and would have to complete challenges to return home whilst making digital friends similar to you along the way. It seemed interesting enough, but it made her feel a bit… off.
But it's fine. Isekai has become a very popular trope nowadays, and it probably isn't out of the ordinary that there happens to be a video game with a similar premise to… one of the most traumatising things that has ever happened to her in her entire life…
But, then it showcased that the scenery had lots of bright colours and wacky decor…
Surely it's all just some big coincidence, right…?
Even so, Christine could already feel herself losing her composure as her breathing became heavy and things were starting to become blurry and hazy as tears of fright began to stains her eyes red and rolled down her cheeks.
And then, just as her vision was about to become full static, she just barely caught a glimpse of a character that kind of reminded her of-
But before she could think the name out loud, her legs fully turned to jelly and she collapsed onto the floor.
Daisy was just about to turn a corner when she heard her girlfriend crash to the floor and her head darted in the direction of where she had just passed by her. She did wonder why she didn't reply or even giggle when she was attempting to joke around with her a minute ago, but now wasn't the time to be overthinking that.
She skidded across the floor as she rushed to Christine's side and held her as she cried and hyperventilated in her arms. She knew all too well that she was having a panic attack… but she didn't know what to do about it.
It was usually always Aggie that was the one that comforted her when this stuff came up, but they weren't exactly in sight and probably didn't hear her fall at all. Daisy had always just watched with her queerplatonic partner if they were also there and just hoped she would be okay in the end.
Or it was her who was the one having panic attacks…
Daisy gritted her teeth as she held Christine tighter and continued to call her name, trying not to cry herself and she screech to the top of her lungs,
"CHRISTINE!!! CHRISTINE!!! CHRISTINE!!!"
Whilst Daisy thought to herself in her head,
"CHRISSY WAKE UP, I DON'T LIKE THIS!!! CHRISSY WAKE UP!!!"
And Christine could only vaguely make out Daisy holding her and her crying out,
"CHRI-!!! RISTI-!!! STINE!!!-"
Of course, eventually Aggie heard the frantic cries of Daisy calling out her girlfriend's name in the middle of the video game store, and they told Charlie to wait where they were whilst they went to check on what was going on.
But when they did find a distressed Daisy clutching a panicked Christine on one of the aisles, her face turned to pure horror.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?!" Aggie exclaimed, her hands clasping her cheeks in pure shock.
"SHE'S HAVING A PANIC ATTACK, YOU DIPSHIT!!!" Daisy retorted, her voice really cracking now, "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR?!?! HELP ME, YOU IDIOT!!!"
It did catch them a little by suprise how much Daisy was willing to swear right now, considering even now, she is the one that swears the least in their household, but they didn't let the shock stop them from kneeling down to the floor and shuffling over to help their girlfriend.
"It's going to be okay, Christine," They said softly, "Just breathe slowly and try to relax."
Not to anyone's suprise, the calm Aggie method worked a lot better for Christine than the stressed Daisy method, and her breathing slowly steadied, tears slowly stopped streaming from her eyes, and she was gradually able to focus her vision and see her two wonderful partners once more.
"What a relief…" Daisy sighed gratefully, "We were really worried about you, y'know?"
"S-sorry, Daisy…" Christine whispered and smiled, "But, th-thank you for trying to help, I really appreciate it."
"No problem," She nodded.
"Are you okay?" Aggie then began to throw questions at her frantically, "What happened? Did you see some violent game commercial or something?!"
"No…" Christine mumbled slowly, "B-but… I did see…-"
Before she could finish her explanation, the commercial then came on the screen again, and she had to put her hands over her eyes to avoid having to look at again and spiraling once more. Daisy and Aggie noticed this, and they both then watched the commercial together, as this obviously seemed to be the reason.
And they understood, because of course they did. They had all been through it, after all.
"Yeah, that makes sense…" Daisy chuckled light-heartedly.
"Daisy!" Aggie cried, "But yeah, she is right…"
"But, wh-what if he tries to come for us again…?" Christine asked, her eyes still covered, "What if he t-tries to make a new game to trap us again, or trap others?…"
"He won't, because he's gone," Aggie explained, "He's… deleted. He can't hurt us anymore…"
"B-but... I swear I just saw him in the commercial..." She mumbled.
"Probably just trauma induced hallucinations, I get those a lot," Daisy shrugged, "But anyway, even if he tried to get us back, we'll just have to show him that we're all the boss now!" Daisy grinned.
"Yeah…!" Christine giggled, "I g-guess you're both right!…"
"But I'm obviously more right than Aggie, aren't I?~" She quipped.
"Like she just said, we're both right, even if I am more right than you…" They elbowed her, "Anyway, I think we should probably get up now considering we don't know how many corn seeds have probably touched this exact spot…~"
Daisy quickly jumped up after they said that, and Aggie and Christine giggled to themselves before they helped her up by themselves. And, once Daisy had recovered from feeling so grossed out, they all linked arms and reunited with Charlie, who had been stood waiting in the same spot the entire time, unaware of everything that had gone on just now.
"Yo, what happened?" They asked, their face a mix of annoyance and a subtle hint of concern, "I've been waiting here for ages, and why were you screaming, Dais?"
"There was this isekai game that Christine saw a commercial of that was similar to the circus, she started losing herself, then she thought she saw Caine, and she had a full on panic attack," Daisy explained, "You would know if you didn't skip the recap, my stupid qpr~"
"Oh shit," Charlie's jaw dropped, "Also, it's not my fault I'm out of the loop when Aggs just left me to fend for myself, and I didn't know what to do because all of you were completely out of sight…"
"It was probably for the best…" Christine muttered, "I wouldn't have wanted you to see me like that, because this panic attack is probably the worst I've had since I first joined the circus…-"
There was then a short moment of silence, as no one knew what to say to that.
"So, is everyone good now?" Aggie then asked, wanting to change to break any possible tension as quickly as possible, "Are we all good to go?"
"Wait… what about getting a multiplayer video game?" She pointed out.
"Don't worry, we've already covered that," They smiled cheerfully.
"Wait, you have…?" Daisy questioned.
"Yeah, Aggs picked out some sports game we can play on our current console," Charlie nodded, "It looks decent enough,
"And it's got softball!" They beamed, "Isn't that great?"
Daisy glared at them whilst Christine couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"Yeah…" She smiled, "It really is…"