Chapter Text
Of all things to happen after a group trip to the crypt, this was the last AJ expected.
Honestly! There were zero chances of it ever happening. As in, it wasn’t even a possibility. Not even on the table. Not on the menu.
Death and injury were expected with such a trip to the crypt, fighting would happen no matter what, and stupid, self-sacrificial decisions seemed to be a requirement for Academy students. That’s what AJ expected to happen when her, Drift, Ghostie, and Sausage went for a trip to the crypt: injury, fighting, stupid self-sacrifices.
Instead, she got the worst news ever.
Or best, depending on how you looked at it.
Regardless, it was by far the most unexpected. The most impossible. Because Drift hated Ghostie. And Ghostie was doomed by the narrative to hate Drift.
At least, they should have been. They should have hated each other. Fought at every turn, disagreed on where to go. Fought over AJ, even, like in a couple dreams she would deny had been plaguing her recently.
Except none of that happened.
No, the impossible happened.
Because the two girls actually got along.
Against all odds, Drift and Ghostie had become something resembling— friends?
No amount of alcohol could have prepared AJ for that.
Even Sausage was shocked! Flick was happy, of course, his two favourite people now liked each other? It was a dream come true for him.
Not for AJ. No, it was hell.
Their friendship started off once they all entered the crypt. Before that, the two just ignored each other.
Ghostie had found a blue orchid on the ground, and lifted it up. Drift said something along the lines of it being her favourite flower, and Ghostie said it was hers, too — that they could share it.
AJ fought the urge to roll her eyes.
Except Drift found it funny, and when Ghostie almost slipped down the stairs — possibly to her death — Drift caught her, spurring Ghostie to laugh about Drift being her Prince Charming.
Again, AJ had to physically stop her eyes rolling.
Except Drift found it funny again, and started asking Ghostie questions about her life. Where exactly she came from, what her powers were, why she came to the Academy. AJ could tell most of her questions were to figure out if Ghostie was plotting getting AJ back, but Ghostie seemed oblivious, sharing anecdotes about her life growing up that AJ knew like the back of her hand.
Whenever her ex got too close to her and AJ’s relationship for comfort, AJ interrupted, usually hitting one of them with a knockback stick.
Which seemed to be her downfall, since then the two started bonding over it.
Over AJ’s ‘stupid obsession with that knockback stick’.
Are they serious? She remembered thinking. It’s a damn stick! I’m not obsessed with it. That’s ridiculous.
AJ tried defending herself, but neither of them would have it. Even Sausage started defending the two of them!
Once they got a good part into the crypt, Ghostie and Drift moved their conversations from random gossip around the Academy to AJ herself. Talking about some attachment issues…
Well, that was just the start of it. AJ suddenly started catching strays the remainder of the entire trip, hearing about her problems with communicating, self-sabotage, intense expectations of abandonment — the whole list.
It was hell.
Especially because Ghostie and Drift themselves had even worse issues.
She’d try joking, or defending herself again, and one of them would just act like her therapist, talking to the other about how her behaviour might stem from childhood neglect or poor self-esteem.
What the hell did those even mean?
Around the time they reached the bottom to explore, the group separated. It was supposed to be Drift and AJ, then Sausage and Ghostie, but Drift was having such fun with her new buddy that AJ ended up going with Sausage, which was a hell of its own.
Worst of all — when she came back? Drift and Ghostie had the sudden realisation that they could tease AJ until she was flustered.
See, if either of them were alone, AJ could handle it. She could rework the conversation to tease Drift about being an Open Book, or Ghostie about being a priss.
Except she couldn’t do that this time, because they were both there!
The whole way back, AJ stuck with Sausage. She couldn’t bear to be around those two for a second longer, and needed a trip to the pub.
Which is, of course, how they all ended up in Drift’s room. Waiting for Sausage.
Of fucking course.
In the man’s absence, the three girls had started drinking early. A wine bottle and several beer bottles were scattered around the floor next to Drift’s bed, where they all sat.
And thank God for the alcohol, because AJ was feeling way better now.
“Stop it, AJ! No more drinks for you.” Ghostie scolded her. Drift laid on her bed, with AJ’s back to the bed, and Ghostie opposite her. “You’ll be blackout when we get to the pub.”
“Hey, come on, Ghostie. I can hold my liquor!” She whined, laughing a bit.
“That is true.” Drift added. “You know she showed up at my dorm completely drunk one time?”
The reminder made AJ groan, looking away from the two girls.
Ghostie started giggling as she glanced at AJ with a shocked look. “No way! I’d pay to see that. Did she spill all her secrets?”
“And more.” Drift snorted, making AJ hold a hand up and playfully pull on her hair. “Hey! Don’t pull on my hair.”
“I’ll do whatever I want, Open Book.” She teased.
“Oh, oh, I’m sure.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you think that.”
“Woah, woah,” AJ looked between the two Mages, “who’s only person in this Academy to date two different students? Uh, me.”
“AJ!” Ghostie sighed.
“Come on, AJ. There’s more to life than who you’ve dated.” Drift raised her eyebrows at her fake girlfriend.
“Not when it’s you, Open Book.”
Drift smiled down at AJ, who was grinning — almost sickly sweet.
“Ugh! I’m still right here, guys.” Ghostie yelled, taking a big gulp of her beer. “Get a room.”
“We actually got a room, Ghostie. You’re the one that’s still here.” AJ reminded her.
“Don’t insult Ghostie, AJ. I invited her!”
“Thank you, Drift!”
“And God knows how you even bagged Ghostie, AJ. I mean, look at her.” Drift smiled at Ghostie from her perch on the bed, making the Ender Mage playfully awwww. “Way too pretty for you.”
“What— Drift?” AJ buffered, completely in shock that Drift would ever say that.
“That’s what I thought, too, when she told me you both were together! Like, Drift? Beautiful Drift? No way!” Ghostie laughed, making Drift giggle at her fake girlfriend’s expense.
“Guys! I’m right here!”
“Stop, Ghostie, I’m blushing!”
“Me too!”
“What the actual fuck, guys?” AJ whispered to herself. “You’re supposed to be fighting over me. Not each other.”
“Sorry, AJ, what was that?” Ghostie cooed at her, while Drift made baby noises. “Say louder so mommy can hear.”
“What the fuck?” AJ cried out, as Drift laughed harder than before. “Drift, you’re okay with this?”
“It’s funny!”
“Jesus save me.” She muttered under her breath.
“And don’t think we can’t literally see you blushing.” Drift continued in a teasing tone.
AJ scoffed in response. “Says the one who just said Ghostie made her blush?”
“Oh, whatever.” Drift rolled her eyes. “I’m too tipsy for these stupid word games. Ghostie, pass me another drink.”
Wordlessly, Ghostie lifted up a random beer bottle to her right and extended it to Drift, leaning towards AJ to do so.
“I’m bored now.” The Ender Mage sighed. “Truth or dare.”
Before AJ could even reply, Drift answered. “Dare.”
It made Ghostie giggle just a bit. “When we go with Sausage to the pub, you need to ask him do a body shot off you.”
Both Drift and AJ gasped, before laughing. “No! No! Truth! I choose truth!”
“You can’t switch, Open Book, that’s cheating.” AJ whined.
“But—”
“No buts. You have to do it!” Ghostie laughed evilly. “Too bad, so sad. Hm. Okay, one of you ask me.”
Her instruction made AJ roll her eyes, but she asked anyway. “Truth or dare, Ghostie?”
“Truth.”
Drift joined in without missing so much as a beat. “If you had to shoot one person in the Academy, who would it be?”
AJ raised her eyebrows at her fake girlfriend, lifting her head up slightly. “Spend a lot of time thinking about shooting people, Open Book?”
“Only if it’s you.” She cooed.
“Aw, I’m flattered!”
“Guys.” Ghostie sighed. “Still right here…”
They both muttered a sorry, as Ghostie giggled. “I guess, the same as you, Drift. Sometimes AJ just really annoys me.”
“Oh, come on! That’s a lie.” AJ cocked her head at her.
“Nope. Only sometimes, though, so don’t worry.”
“Hm. Alright, AJ. Your turn! Truth or dare?” Drift ran a finger down AJ’s short hair, wrapping a strand around it lovingly.
“Not playing.”
“AJ, come on.” Ghostie rolled her eyes as Drift groaned loudly.
“Hey, I’m not stupid enough to get either of you to ask me. Probably ask me which is the better kisser. I don’t want to answer that!”
“We won’t ask that!” Drift promised.
Ghostie glanced at her, and Drift smiled for just a second.
“Who is the better kisser, though?” Ghostie laughed, half-joking.
“See! See! I may as well put myself six feet under now.” AJ took another sip of beer.
They all fell into a moment of quiet, sipping their drinks, as Ghostie smiled at Drift.
Until AJ perked up.
Drift recognised it instantly — it was like when she realised she could hit someone with her knockback stick, or unleash Flick on them.
“You know, I have a proposition.” AJ laughed to herself, glancing between the two girls, who looked wary already. “But you both will need to get very open-minded very quickly.”
“Oh, God, what is it?” Drift asked with a grin.
“I’m not stealing anything for you again.” Ghostie warned lightly.
“No, no! But, I don’t know, guys… which of you is the better kisser? Hell if I know. You know what we could do instead?” AJ spoke so slowly, giggling the entire way, that both Drift and Ghostie were immediately put on edge.
“I’m not kissing you, AJ!” Ghostie shouted.
“No! I’m not asking you to kiss me, Ghostie! God, no! Not again, anyways.” She cleared her throat. “But, I mean, hey, there’s three of us here, isn’t there?”
They both squinted at her.
“There is.” Drift agreed quietly. “What does that mean?”
AJ could barely hold back her laughter, which only got worse when she realised she was so close to drunk. “Well, you know.”
Drift and Ghostie glanced at each other, looking cautious. “What’s you know?” Ghostie asked her.
“Come on, guys! You know. You both have kissed me, but, maybe— you could complete the triangle, you know?”
It turned awkwardly immediately.
“Uh.” Drift started, almost uncomfortable. “Like— me and Ghostie?”
“AJ—” Ghostie smiled weirdly.
“Come on, guys. Do it! Do it! Complete the triangle. Aren’t you guys curious?” She pushed with a wicked grin, eyes moving between the two girls. “I’ve kissed you both.”
“Doesn’t mean we have to kiss each other.” The black-and-white haired girl replied.
“Even if I say please?”
“Especially if you say please.” Drift shook her head with a laugh. “Besides, that’s like, cheating on you, AJ!”
“Not if I’m here! Not if I watch.” She teased.
“No. No way. That’s ridiculous.” Drift looked down. “Ghostie and I are not—”
“Yeah, we’re not kissing, AJ. We basically met today.”
“And you’re already best friends! Or, something. You’re telling me there’s no attraction?” AJ raised her eyebrows again.
They looked at each other.
“No! I like you, AJ.” Drift corrected.
“You can like more than one person at a time, Open Book. Plus— it’s just fun. Doesn’t mean you have to date. It’s like a hall pass.”
“Oh, I’m a hall pass now, am I?” Ghostie interrupted.
“No! I mean— maybe. Who knows? It’s just fun!”
“No, AJ. We’re not doing that!” Ghostie shook her head firmly. “Drift and I are not making out for no reason in particular.”
AJ started pouting, and Drift laughed out loud. “Please?”
“No!” They both answered in unison.
“Come on. You’ll do it if you’re bad.”
“That’s not going to work.” Drift warned.
“Says who? If you’re bad, you’ll make out. Kiss. Whatever. Come on. It’ll be so fun!”
“Drift and I don’t have feelings for each other, AJ!” Ghostie sighed.
If AJ wanted this to actually happen, she’d have to try harder.
“You don’t need feelings to make out. It’s for fun, for practice. Experimentation. Research!” AJ bit her lip, before knowing exactly what to do. “Come on, Ghostie. Look at Drift’s lips. Don’t they look so pretty? They’re pink. Glossy. Don’t you want to kiss them hard?”
When AJ took her eyes off Ghostie to look back at her fake girlfriend, she didn’t expect to see Drift staring at Ghostie’s own lips.
Maybe AJ’s words were getting to them, or maybe it was the mix of wine and beer they’d all consumed in the last half hour, but one thing was certain—
The plan is working. It’s working!
AJ knew Drift wasn’t just spacing out at nothing, because she recognised that look.
It was the look she gave AJ’s own lips.
And Ghostie wore it, too.
They want to kiss. They want to kiss so bad.
“Look at her eyes, Drift. Her mouth. She has thick lips, right? Like marshmallows. You know it would feel so good to bite them, don’t you?”
They’re so close to it.
After two more seconds, the alcohol must have overtaken their instincts, because the two girls were in a trance. They seemed almost unable to turn away from each other.
Drift stared at Ghostie’s lips, and Ghostie at Drift’s.
Dream come true. Dream come true. Dream come true.
Okay, AJ. Lock in. You need to get them close together, or it’s all for nothing.
Although— as AJ began to move further back, Ghostie seemed to do the work for her. As if some magnet were slowly dragging her towards Drift, Ghostie shuffled towards Drift.
Must be some strong beer.
Open Book also leaned in closer. She laid on her stomach, head and neck extended off the bed, being pulled towards Ghostie’s moving face.
AJ didn’t dare move, or say anything. It was like watching two timid deer walk towards each other.
Which was odd, because neither Drift nor Ghostie was ever timid with her.
Their movements were so incremental that AJ was unsure they were still moving at all, until suddenly, as the two girls still stared intensely at each other’s lips, they were face to face. Ghostie sat kneeled in front of Drift’s face, which was still hanging off the side of the bed.
“Do it.” AJ whispered with greedy glee.
She wasn’t sure if either of them actually heard her, since their faces were smashed together right as she said it.
It just happened so quick.
It’s happening. Holy fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. They’re actually doing it.
Ghostie and Drift were kissing.
Ghostie’s face was tilted to the right as she nibbled on Drift’s bottom lip, her pale hand reaching to behind Drift’s head to grip onto her hair. All the while, Drift seemed to be pushing into Ghostie, nose repeatedly grazing her cheek as their lips parted, only to meet again.
AJ was not even sure the two were getting any air as they pushed further into each other’s mouths. There were no breathing sounds, no mutters for the other to stop or wait, simply the echo of the two Mages’ lips suckling each other’s.
Ghostie’s hand in Drift’s hair had now formed a clump, her brown hair being wrapped around Ghostie’s hand as AJ recalled hers used to be, as well. She seemed to be lightly pulling on the girl’s hair, as Ghostie’s other hand cupped Drift’s chin to keep it place.
The kiss was nothing like those that AJ and Drift shared before — light pecks on the lips, or, at best, deep kisses that only lasted a couple seconds.
It just made AJ like watching even more.
A moan coming from Ghostie took AJ out of her thoughts, as Drift placed her own hands around Ghostie’s neck and clasped them together. Drift was almost being pulled off the bed entirely, Ghostie needing to lean backwards to accommodate.
Their lips no longer separated. Where their kisses crashed together and then pulled apart in the beginning, that no longer happened — with a wicked ease, their lips no longer pulled away from each other at all, simply moving as one.
At some point, Drift and Ghostie’s kissing had morphed into a desperate and messy make-out session. With each passing moment, their mouths became sloppier. Saliva coated Drift’s chin — whose it was, AJ could barely guess — while Ghostie’s nose was almost covered in the pink lipgloss Drift had been wearing just earlier.
Knots were clumped around Ghostie’s hand in the brunette’s hair, and AJ quickly realised that it was not just the same sensual movement that Ghostie would once do to her. It was strategic, instead.
Ghostie didn’t want it to end. And the best way to keep Drift in place? To stop her from pulling away? It was to hold her so tightly that she couldn’t possibly peel her face off Ghostie’s.
Judging from the clawing wrists around Ghostie’s neck, Drift was trying to do the same thing.
Slowly, more moans and even a couple whimpers slipped out from the two. Their sounds were so intertwined AJ couldn’t tell what was coming from who, as their noses and cheeks crashed together again and again.
God, yes. I knew you loved me, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Even if this is some drunken dream, please do not let it end.
Drift’s face was almost completely flushed, possibly from a lack of air, but clearly neither seemed to give the littlest of fucks, as Drift’s left hand left Ghostie’s neck and moved down towards Ghostie’s breast, rubbing over her chest repeatedly.
In reply, AJ could just see Ghostie bite Drift’s bottom lip, which made the Earth Mage cry out softly, before going back in for more.
Drift was about to fall off the bed with the ferocity of how the girls had been making out, undoubtedly soon to fall on Ghostie’s chest, when—
Someone knocked on the door.
No! No! Fuck! Sausage, seriously? Fuck off! AJ swore in her own head, eyes big as she straightened to look at the door of Drift’s dorm.
AJ prayed that her fake girlfriend and ex-girlfriend hadn’t heard — that their session was to intense all outside sounds had faded away — but the gasp from Drift’s mouth as Ghostie pulled back showed just the opposite.
I’m going to fucking murder you, Copper One. Count your days.
The handle of the door began to pull downwards, and for the first time in about five minutes, Drift’s eyes left Ghostie’s, looking entirely alarmed. Her brown eyes were abnormally dilated and wet, staring at the opening door.
As it pushed open, Ghostie pulled back entirely, back now pressed against the wall, as if nothing had happened.
As if they hadn’t been passionately making out eight seconds ago.
“Hey, guys!” Sausage said as he walked into the dorm room with a bright smile. “What’s up? We ready to go?”
No one said anything.
Ghostie and Drift just stared at each other, slightly dumbstruck, while AJ began planning how to beat Sausage with a pole.