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“I look ridiculous.”
Clarissa’s frown deepens as she stares at herself in the mirror and turns side to side, inspecting the fabric draped over her gold dress. The coat loosely clings to her small frame like a blanket, the sleeves too long and color too dark for her usual taste. It stops a few inches above her feet, dramatically emphasizing the height difference between her and the other woman.
She turns to her and flails her arms at her side, flapping the loose fabric, “Look at me!”
Leonora wears a smirk as she drinks in the sight of the woman practically swimming in her clothes. It’s pretty cute, she has to admit. “You're the one that insisted on tagging along, were you not?”
“Yes, but this is not at all what I had in mind.” Sure, she had asked Lesso to join her after the woman expressed her concern, or more so, let it slip that someone had been sneaking around the school of evil long after curfew, stealing strange items from the classrooms. (The merge was still a work-in-progress that had not yet been put into place, but merely just an idea she, Lady Lesso, and Emma Anemone had been considering. However, she found that if they were going to be spending a lot more time together, it was best they at least tried to get along. Clarissa argued that this could be a good way to bond and to her surprise, the evil dean reluctantly agreed.) But she hadn’t considered that she would have to disguise her usual cheerful appearance to keep her identity hidden, let alone in the other woman’s clothing. She blushes at the thought.
Lesso pushes herself off of the desk and crosses the room in a few strides. Now standing in front of the dean, she lifts the hood over the woman’s head and gently tucks her golden curls underneath, being extra careful not to meet her gaze.
Brown orbs stare up at her, inquisitive and astonished at the sudden gentleness. Clarissa’s lips part, almost as if she wants to say something – anything to fill the silence but the earthy blend of Lesso’s natural scent mixed with jasmine and something else she can’t quite place fills her senses. Only then does she realize how close they are.
“You look fine.” the redhead whispers absentmindedly, tucking the last stubborn strand of hair under her hood before stepping back and admiring her work with a smile, “You look like a villain.”
The woman rolls her eyes and huffs a breath, (adorably throwing a tantrum, one might add). “And how is that a good thing?”
“Look, princess, we can’t have you roaming the hallways drawing attention to yourself with your bright pink dresses and tiaras. If the coat is too much for you, I suggest you stay back and go home to your castle. I’m more than capable of handling a couple of students on my own.” Lesso grabs Clarissa’s crown off of the desk and tosses it to her, watching as she scrambles to catch it before shooting her a look. “If not, if you’re capable of getting over yourself, you’re more than welcome to tag along.” Although, she’d much rather deal with this on her own without the added distraction. She’d hardly be able to focus with the woman by her side, her full lips painted a pretty shade of red Leonora wouldn’t mind trying on.
God, why did she agree to let the woman tag along again?
To her disappointment, Clarissa carefully sets her crown on the sofa and turns back to her, a look of annoyance and determination in her eyes, “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”
The redhead watches her a moment more before sighing and opening the office door, “After you,” she says like a prince would say to his princess and Clarissa has to remind herself that she’s only mocking her, nothing more.
The next hour goes by quickly as they scour the dark halls for something out of the ordinary. The “stake-out”, which Clarissa had taken to calling it (despite Lesso’s sarcastic offering of tea and biscuits), had been a bit underwhelming minus the constant bickering and teasing.
There were good moments, though:
“Look,” a hooded hand points to the floor beneath them, tracking a trail of what appears to be animal teeth with her finger. The trail stops just outside of Professor Manley’s classroom, “It looks rummaged through.” Some of the cabinets were still open like someone had left in a hurry.
Lesso crouches down and inspects the pile of teeth, jagged and small that could only belong to the wolves in the Blue Forest. What is this idiot up to? She wonders to herself. This year’s students had been the most trying – causing trouble wherever she’d turn up, and if it weren’t for their careless mistakes, she wouldn’t mind as much. But staring at the trail left behind by yet another careless student, she makes a mental note to make an example out of them. Glancing back up at the blonde, “Good catch.” She has to hand it to her; she’s impressed by the woman’s findings. Had it been just her, it was likely she’d miss this. “Maybe it’s good to keep you around.”
Clarissa beams at her as they continue to scour the halls and search for the culprit, feeling somewhat satisfied at the other woman’s praise. She opens her mouth to ask her a question when the clock pendulum swings against the bell and the sound rings throughout the halls. She leaps into the woman’s arms with a gasp, “What was that?”
Leonora lifts a brow at the woman in her arms, wide-eyed and clinging to her as if she were her lifeline. She tries to slow her heart rate as the smaller woman looks up at her, finding relief as she detangles herself from the safety of her embrace. “The clock?”
Her cheeks burn in humiliation, “Oh.”
Lesso’s lips curl upwards into a smirk, “Maybe, I should have left you behind.”
“Shut up.”
And then there were moments when the two couldn’t put their differences aside and clashed over the smallest things:
Leonora snatches the flashlight out of Clarissa’s hand, “I can’t see when you’re holding it like that.” She growls.
“I told you we should’ve brought the lantern.” She snatches it back, holding it higher for them both to see.
Or,
“Can you at least try to keep up?” The taller woman whispers harshly at the dean falling behind.
“Well, maybe if you weren’t walking so fast – “
“Well, maybe if your legs were a few inches longer,” she trails off before muttering under her breath, “I wouldn’t have let you tag along if I’d known I’d have to babysit you.” And sure, she hadn’t completely planned on being a bitch the entire night, but with the woman at her side, smiling up at her with that ridiculously adorable smile of hers, she couldn’t help herself.
Clarissa halts, dramatically stopping in the middle of the hallway in defiance. She folds her arms across her chest with a pout on her lips. She’s had enough of the woman’s remarks, enough of her ‘hot and cold’ demeanor, enough of not knowing where they‘d ever stand with one another. Leonora could be so kind, so gentle one moment, a side of her only Clarissa knew of, and during those moments, when it was just them enjoying the other’s presence and finding comfort in knowing that they’d always have each other, she liked to think of them as friends (sometimes maybe even more than that.) But then there were moments where the woman could be so cruel and distant, and it made her question if she was alone in how she felt. “Why even let me tag along if everything I do just seems to annoy you?”
For the first time in a while, the dean of evil is at a loss for words. Her mouth uncharacteristically opens and closes like a fish out of water. There were things that she’d much rather keep hidden away from the woman, things that made her feel unsure of herself. And she isn’t sure she could ever explain to her that being unkind is the only way she knows how to deal with her feelings.
But before she can answer, her eyes catch a flickering orange glow behind the woman followed by a voice. She quickly grabs Clarissa’s arm and pulls her to the side of the hall.
“Shut up, you two. You’re gonna get us caught!” One of them whispers as the three of them finally come into view; two neverboys and a girl.
The snickering continues.
“I’m serious,” the smaller boy stresses as he holds the lamp in his hand, the flame small enough to keep most of the hallway in the dark. “I don’t want to get sent to the Doom Room.” He visibly shudders at the thought.
“Oh please,” the girl plays with the teeth in her hand, “The only thing Lesso probably uses that room for is to ‘punish’ Clarissa Dovey.” Her hands slap together in a suggestive manner as she lets out a series of moans, “Oh, Lady Lesso, I’ll be a good girl for you.” She rolls her eyes, “God, Evers are so whiny and pathetic.”
The heat radiating off of the flame holds nothing to the heat that rises between both deans. Clarissa’s sure her cheeks are scarlet red, both in embarrassment and anger, but the feelings subside once she realizes Leonora’s lingering grasp on her arm. Even with the thick layers between them, her touch still burns, still makes her feel things she shouldn’t, but the moment’s short-lived when the redhead pulls away self-consciously.
Maybe, the students weren’t completely wrong about the nature of their relationship.
Somewhere between more hushes and pleas to stop challenged by an even louder voice, a fight breaks out between the two boys, and the nevergirl watches happily. The dean of good makes a move to stand, having seen enough from the students but she’s quickly pulled down, “What do you think you're doing?”
“What does it look like?” She whispers back (and under different circumstances, Leonora would’ve smiled at the woman’s newfound sarcasm). “Someone has to stop them before they kill themselves.” She moves to stand again, but Leonora tightens her grip to keep her in place.
“Not so fast, little dove,” the nickname falls from her lips before she can stop it, and she inwardly curses herself for letting the woman have this much power over her. “You can’t just run headfirst into a fight between Nevers.”
She snorts, “What, you don’t think I can handle a few Nevers?”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, princess,” she says with a small chuckle, “And as much as I would love to see that, now isn't the time. Now, stay put.” She doesn’t give the woman a chance to argue before disappearing in a puff of violet smoke.
Clarissa shakes her head and watches the ongoing fight from her position, waiting for the woman to reappear in the middle of it. After some time, a few punches, kicks, and flinches (on her end), she starts to grow restless. She stands, ignoring the dean’s advice to stay put, and just as she takes a step forward, the woman reappears in front of the boy, clutching his fist meant for the other boy's cheek.
“And what do we have here?” The question rings in the air, heavy and unanswered as the students glance at each other.
“L-lady Lesso,” the boy comments stupidly.
She cocks her head to the side, waiting for an answer and when she’s not given one, her grip on his fist tightens until he’s on his knees. “I’ll ask again,” a warm smile plays on her lips, her tone soft as she glances at the students, “What are you three doing up past your curfew?”
The Nevergirl speaks up first, “It was all their idea!”
“Jenna!”
“It was them, Lady Lesso. I swear it.” She cries, “I didn’t even want to come, but Killian forced me to. He said he wanted to make a potion and so we collected some items from around the school and – ”
“Oh?” The dean lifts a brow at the boy behind her before releasing Henry’s fist, “Is that so, Killian?” The boy nods his head enthusiastically, but it’s clear he has no idea what’s going on. “And tell me, what sort of potion requires wolf teeth?”
Killian stutters, “T-the transparency potion.”
She tuts, creeping closer to him, “That would be incorrect. The transparency spell requires nothing of the sort. But seeing as you hardly pay attention to your professors when they teach, you can afford to miss a few classes tomorrow for an afternoon in the Doom Room.” Jenna visibly relaxes at her words until Lesso turns to her with a wider smile, “The three of you, in fact. I’ll be happy to show you what the Doom Room is actually used for.” Her face pales once she realizes the woman had heard their entire conversation. “Now off to bed you go,” she slams her cane on the floor with a loud thud, causing the three to flinch before scurrying to their respective headquarters.
Once they’re gone, she brings a tired hand to her forehead. "Why do they get dumber every year?” she whispers to herself before turning back to the corner Clarissa’s still hiding behind, “You can come out now.”
But she’s met with silence.
“Your majesty?” Lesso’s cut off by a yelp of surprise that leaves her throat when the woman jabs her from behind. She spins around in shock, “Jesus, you scared the living shit out of me.” Leonora breathes out, “You can’t just,” she waves her arms around (something she might’ve picked up from the other dean, she’d never say), “sneak up on people like that.”
“And here I thought Never’s didn’t get scared.” Clarissa can’t contain the smug that laces her words, feeling proud of herself for having caught the woman off-guard.
“Yes, well,” straightening her jacket before clearing her throat, “we don’t.” She has a reputation to uphold, after all.
“But you just said – ”
“Alright, princess, time for you to go home.” She leads her down the hall with a hand on her lower back.
“That’s it?” Clarissa can’t help but feel slightly disappointed as the woman nods. “Well, I have to admit, I thought there would be some disgusting monster we’d have to defeat.” The school for evil’s a lot less evil than she remembers it. Maybe Leonora was right about the school growing weak and the unfair balance between good and evil, a conversation she’d save for later.
“There was.” Lesso says as if it’s obvious and the blonde turns to look at her, “Those brats back there were pretty disgusting to look at.”
Clarissa playfully jabs her side and giggles, feeling lighter than she had the entire night, “You, Lady Lesso, are as terrible as they come.”
She hums appreciatively, “That might’ve been the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.” Banter had always come easy between them, even after an argument as big as the one they had earlier. But they both know there are things that still need to be discussed, even if it meant having difficult conversations.
Leonora can feel a slight shift in the mood as both their minds wander back to their conversation from earlier and she briefly wonders what would happen if she just tells her how she feels, if she stops pushing her away and accepts fate as it is.
And fate’s usually a cruel thing for people like her – it either ends in two ways; dead or alone. There’s no happy ending, no running off into the sunset, no white picket fence, or true love’s kiss. But maybe, just maybe, if she tries hard enough, the fairy godmother can make a villain’s wish come true.
Leonora glances down at the woman besides her. “Hey, princess?”
“Yeah, Leo?”
She smiles at the nickname and stops walking, a slight flutter in her chest. The things this woman did to her and she hadn’t the faintest idea. “I don’t think you’re annoying, you know.”
Clarissa smiles up at her, ”I know you don’t.” She wouldn’t have let her come if she did.
“And I don’t hate you either.”
A pause.
“I know.” The blonde whispers softly.
Silence falls over them as Leonora tries to get out the next few words, but it feels like a battle, a ruthless game of tug-of-war, the voices in her head trying to convince her that this is a bad idea while her heart says something completely different. And she almost lets the voices win, too tired to argue and have this conversation with herself, but Clarissa makes the bold decision to grab her hand as if she can read her mind, almost daring her to feel what she’s been running from this entire time.
Looking down at their joined hands and back up at her again, suddenly nothing had ever been this clear before, suddenly all her worries vanish, all lingering thoughts put to rest, and all she can see is Clarissa Dovey.
And in the end, her heart had won the battle.