Chapter Text
It was a good couch. Simple, sturdy, and, most importantly, comfortable. The well-trained eye could see where it had been reupholstered or small worn patches mended with needle and thread. It was dark grey to accommodate the not always matching color tastes of the three women who lived together, but there was a constant rotation of throw pillows and blankets to bring color and life to the couch. All of them handmade, of course.
Next to it was a coffee table. Books and remotes strewn across the wooden surface. Just enough room left for two steaming mugs of tea. Maintaining order was a hopeless endeavor, and apparently the only acceptable source of entropy in an otherwise tidy living room.
Or TV room, since there was, in fact, a TV in a cabinet. The drawers under it filled with gaming consoles, numerous games, a dvd player, a blu ray player, as well as many other electronics. It was safe to say that at least one resident was a compulsive tech buyer. But for now everything was tidied away and not strewn across to the floor as it has a tendency to be.
There was a soft thud as one of the mugs was returned to the table. Rose sunk further into the cushions of the couch, her shoulder blades resting against the armrest and her legs drawn up to support her book. Kanaya sat in a more dignified manner, back straight, elbow resting on the other armrest, one leg crossed over the other as she hm-ed and made notes in a fashion magazine. A woven afghan spread out across both of them.
It was altogether entirely pleasant and suiting to the growing chill of autumn.
They heard her before she even opened the door. The car pulling into the driveway, the angry slam of the car door, the cursing as keys were dropped, the jiggling of the door knob, the loud cursing, the front door ricocheting off the wall.
“UGHHHHHHHH. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEM. THOSE IDIOTS. THEY’RE SO STUPID. UGHHHHHHHHH-“ the groaning continued as Vriska stomped through the kitchen into the living room.
“Oh? What happened? Would you like a cup of tea to help you settle?”
“No! I don’t want to ‘settle’, Maryam. I don’t want your tea. I want to bitch and moan now let me!” Vriska ripped Rose’s book and Kanaya’s magazine out of their hands, and threw them onto the table. She began to move and push and pull her two partners into the positions she wanted.
“Wh—Vriska, I assure you—If you would—That hurts!—Where would you like me to—I must inform you I do not in fact bend that way—You could just tell me where you would,” Kanaya continued to protest although she was paid no heed.
“Please, assert your control over us because you clearly lost control of something else in your life. Truly, this is just my favourite. This will no doubt both re-assert your dominance and fix whatever happened.” Rose didn’t try to resist, merely let herself be forced into a sitting position in the middle of the couch, hip to hip with Kanaya.
“Can it, both of you. Why are you making my life so hard, I just want you to be in a comfortable position for all of us!”
Glaring at them with her one good eye, Vriska seemingly decided that it was good enough and flopped on top of them. Her feet overhanging the arm rest, her head overhanging Kanaya’s lap to be buried in a pillow, where she let out muffled screams and further complaints about those, “fucking idiots… what good did they ever do… useless…pathetic…”
Kanaya began to rub circles into Vriska’s back, while Rose rested her arms across her butt.
“Why do I get the butt.”
“Because I am better at comforting. And because she clearly loves me more. Now shh.”
Vriska finally raised her head from the pillow and twisted to throw at scowl them, “Are you saying that my ass isn’t sexy as hell? I’ll have you know, my ass is the best around and you are lucky to be able to touch it. Unlike those fucktards at work. Ugh. Just, who do they think they are! Coming in with their not sexy asses, trying to tell this sexy ass what to do! Its like they don’t understand that the sexiest ass rules! How do they think the games are so cool? Because some weak ass, ugly ass, asshat is in charge of design and plot and programming and everything else? NO! Its me,” she pointed to herself to make sure they all knew who ‘me’ was, “ Me. Not them. I’m in charge not them. I run the coolest game company. Not them.”
“I am indeed told that your games are, in fact, the cooli-est.” Kanaya provided in support.
“I concur. There are at least twelve people who like them. Twelve whole people.” Rose added as she patted the butt before her in mock sympathy.
“Twelve people?! Twelve whole people? More like twelve billion!” There is no way that Vriska would suffer the insult of only twelve people…
“I am sorry to inform you, but twelve billion is impossible.” Vriska directed her glare to Kanaya.
“Are you saying that I'm not the best? That I’m not good enough? That I don’t push the games to be better than anyone else’s out there?”
Before she could begin another tirade, Kanaya cut her off, “No, just that there is not 12 billion people in the world.”
“Oh. Well. If you had meant those things, well, you wouldn't be the first one today.” She sunk her face back into pillow and let out a groan.
“Vriska, what happened? Your massive ego takes more than a few words to crush. If that’s all it took, then I would have squashed it long ago.” Jiggling her legs, partly to encourage her girlfriend and partly to return some of the circulation to her feet, Rose tried to get Vriska to explain more.
There was short relief as Vriska lifted herself on her hands and knees only to flop on her back, nearly rolling off their laps before Kanaya could catch her and pull her snuggly back against them.
“ I just… I don't know. You know those other guys on the board? They don't like the ‘direction’ and ‘cost’ of these new ‘games.’ The fucking dorks.” Her eyes crossed and her tongue lolled out of her mouth. If only making faces was still an acceptable rebuttal once outside of elementary school.
“Why do you not just ignore them? What are their opinions of themselves that allows them to tell you what to do with the company that you run?” Softly, soft as her voice, Kanaya began to run her fingers through Vriska’s ratnest of hair to try and calm her.
“Shareholders.”
Rose and Kanaya winced. Both immediately glad that they were independently employed.
“What’s their leverage?” Cocking an eyebrow, Rose was already trying to divine a way through the mess.
“Buy me out. As if they could. Or completely change everything to boring designs. They want to get rid of me, but everything would fall apart without me there! They know it. They must be bluffing. Can shareholders even fire people?” Finally having calmed down some, Vriska was letting more worry into her voice.
“I… do not know. But they do posses the ability to intimidate and, and, and surely something else. But they must know that you are most qualified. They just must not be recognizing your daring and ingenuity.” Kanaya and Rose swapped looks, neither of them had an idea of what shareholders actually did.
“Hell yes I am! I built that baby from the ground up. And those things you said, those, I am all about those thing.” The cocky smile was slowly returning to its normal home on Vriska’s lips. Flattery never failed to affect her.
“You must go in tomorrow. With a game face, yes the most intense game face,” Kanaya spared a chuckle for her pun, “And you will march up to them. And tell them to stop. Yes. That will work. They cannot argue if you are fiercely determined.”
“Because Vriska is clearly not determined enough. I’m sorry Kanaya, but a direct tactic like that may not work. What about if you were to take the money? How much do you think you could get out of them?”
“Stupid questions. All of the money, all of the money out of them.”
“Well. With that money, why not start a new company. A truly independent company this time, so you will have all the control. You've been at this current one, what? Eight years now? We all know about your strange fetishizing of the number eight.”
“Yeah, yeah, I like this. And then I could squash them! They wouldn't stand a chance against me. And I have all these new ideas that wouldn't fit in with what we are doing anyways. I’ve wanted to break away. They’ve been holding me back!” Suddenly she sat up, ignoring complaints as her spine dug into tender flesh. “Yes! Tomorrow, I’ll go in and get every single money they have. Screw them!” She started cackling.
“Now if that is sorted,” Rose’s fingers itched to pick up her book, “I was at this really good part-“
“Blahblahblah, no one cares. Lets eat! Lets go out! My treat, because I’m going to be rolling in the money soon. And because I’m so giving. Giving and lucky.”
The three of them looked out the dark window. It had started to rain. Not just rain, but to pour.
“On second thought,” Kanaya straightened her skirt as she stood, “I will begin the preparations for dinner.”