Chapter Text
The information that Virgil and Patton had met an entire group of Smalls had quickly made it to their best friends, and both Reggie and Charlotte definitely wanted to meet more of this family. They did get the opportunity to meet Vince first, technically for Charlotte it was the second time but she insisted that the first didn’t count since she had been working. Once that meeting had gone over, both of them giving Vince the approval that neither Patton or Virgil had realized that he was required to earn, the quest to meet more Smalls had apparently begun.
Virgil and Patton figured that Hazel would be a good choice to start with. She was a teeny bit younger than they were, even Julia who had been dubbed the baby of their group, but not by much and she definitely seemed like she’d fit in well with them. And their cousin was more than happy to meet their friends and to come visit Patton’s house, so they chose a day they could all meet and it was set into motion.
The chosen day had come upon them and they were all gathered at Patton’s house, waiting for Hazel to arrive. Logan was assisting Patton in the kitchen with his treats while Roman and Virgil were in the backyard playing with Nutmeg, which left Reggie and Charlotte in the living room. Virgil and Patton had always worried when they were younger that their friends wouldn’t get along well, seeing as they were so different. But luckily it was never a problem, the two of them bonded rather quickly and had maintained a strange but legitimate friendship ever since.
At the moment, the two of them found themselves alone on the couch, hanging out quietly while they waited. At one point, Charlotte looked up from her phone and over at her companion.
“Hey, Rapunzel?” She spoke up with a small smile on her lips.
Reggie looked up at her, making a show of tossing his long braids over his shoulder. “Yeah, Tiana?”
She quirked an eyebrow, not sure exactly how he made that comparison, but just ignored it in favor of asking her question. “Where’s your girl?”
“Sick. She wanted to come, but I told her she could meet the new giant another time.” Reggie shrugged.
“Oh. Is she alright?” Charlotte asked, more seriously.
“Yeah, just a cold. She’s actually working on a sewing project for Pride next month, I guess. …Oh shit, yeah. I was supposed to ask you. She’s making us all… I don’t know. Something. And she wanted to know what your sexuality was, if you’re cool with sharing with her, so she can make whatever it is in your colors. I’m supposed to ask Hazel too, assuming this whole… Thing goes well.” Reggie explained, looking back at her.
“Oh, that’s really cool of her. I’m, uh… Asexual, I guess.” Charlotte shrugged.
“…Not to pry. But that was pretty …Noncommittal? I’m not gonna judge you or anything. I mean, I’ve gotten my fair share with Jules. She’s bi and I’m pan, but we get called straight all the time. I totally understand the whole… Erasure thing.” Reggie said, looking back at her with surprising sincerity.
“Oh no no, it’s not that. I just, uh, I haven’t really thought on it too much. I’ve just never been interested in anything with anybody. So… I didn’t worry about labeling it, I just kinda… Am.” Charlotte explained, a little embarrassed.
“Oh. Huh. That’s really interesting. I don’t know many aces mys-” He began, but she cut him off.
“Because everyone you’re friends with you’ve slept with at least a couple times?” She quickly squeezed in, cheekily.
He just rolled his eyes. “…I plead the fifth. But anyway… I was going to say, I don’t know many aces myself, but from what I do know, there is a whole spectrum… I only know a few of the terms myself.” Reggie finished.
“Yeah, I mean. It might be worth me looking into, but as far as the first nearly 3 decades of my life has gone… Not really something I’m too worried ab-“
The doorbell rang, cutting her off. Patton’s excitement was immediately heard from the kitchen, the tall man quickly emerging from the doorway and rushing to answer the front door. Nutmeg also seemed to have heard the bell and was now going crazy in the backyard, trying to get back into the house and see who had come to visit.
Patton swiftly opened the door and revealed his cousin, smiling and pulling her inside with a hug, as Reggie and Charlotte took in her size, they were somehow both completely surprised and simultaneously not surprised in the slightest to see just how tall she was.
It wasn’t until she stepped away from Patton that they were able to get a good look at her, and for Charlotte, time seemed to slow as she took her in. This girl was gorgeous. She hadn’t even spoken a word and somehow she commanded attention simply by existing. Her eyes were sparkling green, somehow looking like her best friend’s while also looking completely uniquely her own. As she began to speak with Patton, Charlotte couldn’t help but watch how Hazel’s lips moved, her eyes crinkling with happiness at the edges as she spoke. Her soft honey brown hair bounced in two large poofy pigtails as she let out a laugh at something Patton said.. Charlotte hadn’t caught a single word of the conversation.
Her eyes trailed downward, she was built sturdy with broad shoulders and her body type was healthy and strong. Charlotte vaguely noticed some kind of Harry Potter reference on her tank top and that she had several patches adorning a tote bag she had slung over her shoulder, but none of that seemed important. She trailed her gaze back up to-
“Ey, Earth to Blondie. You still in there, space ace?” Reggie’s voice shocked her out of her Hazel-induced haze.
With a bright red blush, she turned back to him. “…Huh? What did you say?”
“….Char, question. You ever hear of.. Gray Ace?” Reggie smirked, light brown eyes definitely catching her blush.
“…Shut up.” She looked away and down, trying to figure out where the hell that had come from.
“Hey, at least you have a chance.” Reggie whispered, leaning in. Charlotte’s eyes only widened, looking back at him with a confused expression. Reggie just smirked. “Did you even read her shirt? Or look at the patches?”
Charlotte immediately looked back at her, seeing she had missed Logan coming out of the kitchen to greet her as well. She took the time to actually look at her Harry Potter shirt, seeing that it wasn’t quite a reference… It actually read “Windgaydium Lesbiosa.” That was clever. The patches on her bag included two intersected female symbols, a dragon with wings of different shades of pink stripes, a sword, a circle which read “NTW+Yukio 4Ever,” and “Smile if you’re gay” all interspersed between patches of seemingly random animals.
“Oh.” Was all she managed, her blush still going strong.
Before Reggie could add in anything else, Patton finally turned to the two of them. “Reggie, Charlotte! Come meet Hazel!” He called, leading the young woman out of the front room and more into the living room where they were sitting.
They stood, Reggie stepping forward first, his eyes training upward to meet her’s. “I swear, every new Small and I get closer and closer to being in the shorter half of this group.” He laughed, them all seeing as Hazel instinctively straightened up her posture even more so, obviously proud. “I’m Reggie, Virgil’s ‘it’s complicated.’” He let out another little laugh, which she joined in on.
“Now that sounds like a story I’d like to hear. I’m Hazel.” She responded, her voice sweet but confident, her laugh adorable and-
“Char? Are you alright?” Patton asked, all eyes trained on the shortest one in the group.
“Oh! Sorry, I zoned out a bit. Um.. Hello. I’m Charlotte.” She turned to look at Hazel, their eyes actually locking for the first time.
“Nice to meet you! Aren’t you just a little cutie?” Hazel smiled, the blush that Charlotte had been trying to hold back was once again in full force. Charlotte was definitely far too flustered to hear the sliding door to the backyard open… But there was no one who didn’t hear the sound that followed that one.
A loud screech filled the air as rapid clacking of nails on hardwood approached, Hazel instinctively jumping behind Patton. “WHAT THE HELL?! IS THAT A BEAR?!” She yelled, the large brown animal rushing right for her. Patton made sure he planted his feet solidly, but he still had to take a step back as he suddenly found his arms completely full of one very excited Newfoundland.
“Not quite.” Patton laughed, turning so Hazel could see what he was holding. “Hazel, meet Nutmeg.” All of them fell into laughter, including Virgil and Roman who had come up behind them from the backyard.
Hazel looked sheepishly at the dog, bringing up a hand to pet Nutmeg atop her excited noggin. “…Hi Nutmeg.” She said softly, her cheeks pink as the large dog did everything she could to get closer to her and give her welcoming kisses.
Charlotte hadn’t exactly been expecting Hazel to suddenly shriek or lose composure so thoroughly like that all at once… But that really didn’t matter. As much as it confused, surprised, and utterly shook her, one thing was clear. She wanted that one.
Reggie caught on to Charlotte’s little dilemma immediately, seeing as he been there for the entirety of it. But it only took a glance to Virgil and Roman for them to get the message. He knew that Patton and Logan would take much more literal explanation, but regardless… Reggie had a mission now.
After their introductions, they all moved to the couches, Nutmeg settling on Hazel’s lap and happily loving on her as they sat around and talked. Virgil and Roman definitely caught on to Charlotte’s immediate little crush, and when Hazel mentioned that she was a veterinary technician and just loved animals.. Even Patton could see the utter infatuation on the small cat-lover’s face.
“Oh, that’s so cool, Hazel! Char, you should tell her about all your cats.” Reggie said, his voice full of sweetness… A little too much sweetness. “But, I need to grab something real quick, I’ll be right back.” He popped up from his seat, walking off into the kitchen.
“You have cats?! I love cats! I’d love to hear about them!” Hazel turned to Charlotte, the small blonde just completely melting under the gaze of those sparkling emerald eyes.
“Hey Tall, Dark, and Anxious! Come help me with this, I can’t reach anything in this giant house! I feel like I’m in Gulliver’s Travels or something.” Reggie called, Virgil quirking an eyebrow and excusing himself to go assist him.
“Oh, umm.. Of course. I have four, actually. Um… Two that I have no idea about to be honest, just adorable little kitty mutts. Those two are Nugget and Tizzy. Abra is a Russian Blue… and, uh… Bowser, the Maine Coon. Quite a handful.. But they’re all amazing.”
“Hey Pat? I think we might need you to… I mean.. It’s not necessarily broken…” Called Virgil from the kitchen, his voice trailing off. Patton immediately popped up, rushing off to see what the two of them had done to his kitchen.
“Aw, that’s so great. I don’t have any myself, I’m not sure my apartment complex allows pets. But soon!” Hazel smiled, chuckling slightly.
“…Ay! Pinkie and the Brain, can you two come settle this? We’re at an impasse in here.” Reggie called from the kitchen again, Roman and Logan looking at each other with confusion before also getting up and heading off to the kitchen to see what was going on.
Charlotte and Hazel didn’t even notice that they had been suddenly left completely alone, falling into a conversation.
“See? What did I tell you?” Reggie whispered, all of the men in the doorway of the kitchen, secretly peering out into the living room to see the two of them talking.
“…This is so adorable! Oh my goodnessss!” Patton whisper squealed, seeing how cute his best friend and his cousin were, chatting and blushing and laughing… It was so pure.
“…I still can’t believe this is why you pulled us all in here. And now we’re spying on them? This feels unethical.” Logan commented, adjusting his glasses and sighing softly.
“Oh you’re one to talk, Lo. We had to conspire to get you and your giant together, who are you to say we shouldn’t do the same amount of meddling for Char!” Roman whisper shot back, cuing bright blushes from both bespectacled men.
“Girls, girls. You’re both pretty. Can we focus on the topic at hand here? We have a much more important task in front of us!” Reggie brought attention back to himself, looking over the group he assembled.
“…Task? What exactly do you expect us to do?” Virgil asked, crossing his arms and looking back at his friend.
“I expect you… To stay out of my way.” Reggie smirked, reaching behind himself to tie his hair up and out of his way, something that those closest to him knew was a sign that he was definitely up to something.