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Long before Lucretia met Lup, she had known of her. Heard stories of these elves that had been accepted into their institution. They were reckless, yet two of the smartest people that had ever been allowed in. Wild parties were thrown on the campus, pranks pulled on even the highest ranking officers and professors, no respect for any authority. Lucretia thought that she despised these twins, thought she could never stand them.
After all, she was studying log-keeping and transcript writing. Lucretia was quiet by nature. You could hear the twins without them even talking.
When Lucretia was chosen to be one of seven people to travel the stars and planes, she couldn’t have been happier. Months with only six people, six people she would rarely have to see, it sounded like a dream come true. The other six people would be some of the smartest people in the entire institution. Smart people tended to be quiet. Tended to be introverted.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Lucretia was the first one to arrive at the initial meeting of the seven explorers. Well, other than Captain Davenport, who was running the meeting. He was calm, collected, professional. His uniform was fully buttoned, all the way to right under his chin, mustache neatly groomed. If Lucretia had to spend months with someone, Davenport sounded like a great choice.
The polite conversation in the meeting room was quickly ended as a nearly-shirtless man burst into the room, sideburns, and sunglasses both adorning his face. He was insanely buff, the only thing covering his upper half being an unzipped letterman jacket. He shouted “MAGNUS RUSHES IN” as he entered the room, eliminating any need for introductions. He was obviously the last person Lucretia wanted to be on this trip.
Next came in two men, one dwarf, and one human. They both were some of the most casual, unprofessional looking men Lucretia had ever seen. Not in the exaggerated way Magnus was, but in the way that you’d think they were on their way to a barbeque. The dwarf, who introduced himself as Merle, was dressed in a Fantasy Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, long tangled beard draped in flowers.
When the human introduced himself, Lucretia was sure it had to be a joke. This Fantasy Tom Arnold looking man dressed in a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans said his name was actually “Barry J. Bluejeans.” His glasses were tilted on his face, his t-shirt was stained with barbeque sauce, the only neat looking thing about him was his jeans. They were perfectly pressed, bright and shining in the light of the room. It was absolutely insane. At least he was awkward and quiet. Lucretia probably wouldn’t have been able to stand him if he were anything but.
Now, all these people Lucretia could’ve stood to be stuck on a ship on another plane with. They seemed like respectful enough people. They would probably leave her alone. Possibly annoying, but overall good people. Especially Magnus, who almost started crying when Captain Davenport even mentioned dogs. But when she thought that Magnus had been the last person she would’ve wanted to be stuck on a ship with, she had no idea she was lying.
The meeting room had drifted into a comfortable silence as they waited for the other two members to arrive. Lucretia had been wise enough to bring some sort of book, so she was able to lean back in her chair and relax. But everything was quickly ruined as sparks and loud music began pulsing from the hallway.
The door slammed open in a burst of light, and out of the fog stepped two elves. One was dressed in a swirling black dress, adorned with jewelry that somehow looked cheap and expensive at the same time, along with an insanely large wizards hat. The other was dressed in ripped black jeans and a crop top that somehow looked like it was made from flames, with hair buzzed on one side and loose and wavy on the other.
Even though Lucretia had never seen these two elves before, she knew exactly who they were. They radiated a confidence and rebellion that could only be connected to the rumors and stories she had heard about Taako and Lup. Everything about them was flashy, including themselves because of the magic they were using on themselves. It was as though every waking moment of their lives were a performance like they had something to prove.
“Taako. Lup. Please sit down.” Captain Davenport’s head was in his hands, you could almost see the irritation radiating off of him. In an instant, the magic died down, and you could finally look at the twins without having a seizure.
Now that Lucretia could finally see the twins, she instantly felt heat rush to her cheeks. Not because of Taako, not at all. His big stupid hat and his male-ness were real turn-offs for Lucretia. It was Lup she was drawn to. Her lips were painted a wine red, eyes sparkling with the fury of a thousand fires. Glancing around, she saw she wasn’t the only one captivated by her beauty. Barold Bluejeans had the same star-struck look in his eyes she assumed she had.
Taako and Lup sat directly next to Lucretia, Lup on her left and Taako on Lup’s. Barry couldn’t stop staring at Lup, which left his gaze uncomfortably close to Lucretia. She tried to get back into her book, tried to ignore her surroundings as Davenport tried to regain his cool. But clearly, Lup was not having this.
“Whatcha reading nerd?” Lup leaned over to Lucretia, resting her chin on the back of her hand.
Lucretia looked up slightly from her book, just enough to make eye contact with Lup. There was a shit eating grin on her face, at her eyes flickered. Lucretia was beginning to question more and more if there was actually a flame behind her eyes. “Um. Fantasy Fahrenheit 451?”
“Isn’t that the book about burning books?” Lup furrowed her eyebrows slightly, looking down at the cover of Lucretia’s book.
“Well, it’s actually about a lot more than that. It’s about censorship and--”
“Pshhh it’s about burning books. Read that when I was little. People look too far into stories.”
Lucretia set her book in her lap. “Did you… did you actually read it?”
Lup leaned back in her seat, eyebrows back to normal and the shit-eating grin ever present. “There might have been a couple dozen pages missing from my copy. But still. How much could’ve happened?”
Lucretia… wasn’t sure how to respond. Lup was so… confident in herself. It was bordering on narcissism, the way she held herself and spoke and… Gods, what perfume was that? It made her smell like a literal campfire. It was lovely, reminded Lucretia of her home.
Before she could think up a response, Captain Davenport began the meeting. Explaining everyone’s roles and responsibilities, going in-depth on what the mission was to entail, etcetera etcetera. The entire time Lucretia tried so very hard to focus on what she was being told. But Lup was doing so many distracting things. Checking her nails, twirling hair around a perfectly manicured finger, existing.
Lucretia barely noticed when the meeting ended, it wasn’t until Lup bumped her chair with her hip that she snapped out of her trance. “Hey, we’re all going out for drinks. You coming with dorkus?”
Lucretia opened her mouth to respond, yet no words came out. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but something about Lup made her want to impress her. It wasn’t that alcohol repulsed her, she just was too busy with writing and studying to be able to drink anything other than coffee.
Seeing the dumbstruck look on Lucretia’s face, Lup simply extended a hand. “I’m gonna take that as a yes?”
There was a question. It wasn’t entirely confident. This elf… this elf who did nothing but make a show of her confidence and beauty and power… was questioning herself. If that wasn’t something to humanize… elfize? Whatever. If that wasn’t something to ground Lup as a real person, Lucretia didn’t know what was.
She placed her hand in Lup’s, beginning the habit of following a light, no matter how scared she was.