Work Text:
Connie was not the type to look around. She always knew what she wanted for lunch, what she’d wear, what career she wanted for herself. Rarely would she regret her choices, and rarely would she ask for more. It’s like she’d been alive before and knew the cheat codes, and now she was trying to beat her own high-score.
But in one’s haste to sprint as fast as they can to the finish line, they’ll miss all the roses they could’ve smelled along the way. Connie was like that. People took the time to befriend her, but she didn’t seem to notice until a magic bubble forced her to hang out with someone else her age. (Her parents did say it was gonna take a miracle!)
From then on, Steven was the one getting her to smell the roses.
“What do you mean, you don’t wanna go to prom?” He pouted. “It’s like, a fancy party!”
“I know, doofus,” She shoved his arm. “I want to, it’s just- well, I could be studying for finals.”
With a laugh, he raised his arm and she fell into him, and now they were cuddling, leaned back on the hood of the Dondai. “But you always study! You’ve already gotten invitations from like, six schools? Full scholarship to Delmarva U and everything.”
“But…”
A star shot across the sky, streak of light trailing behind. Some other stars flickered and blinked, some moved slow. They were all ships.
“Okay Con, what’s up? Talk to me.”
She pulled his jacket around her a little tighter and leaned into his shoulder. “The world got really big after I started hanging out with you. Now we’ve got space up there. I’m not sure about anything I’m doing lately- you know? We’re not the only planet, maybe not the only universe. Does any of this really even matter? If I’m ever gonna do something important, something to help people- well, I’m only helping this tiny spot of the galaxy. Might as well do nothing.”
“Wow, okay,” Steven blinked. “Well, it does matter, I think. There’s always going to be a bad guy, and it takes every good person to step up and help. Your way of helping is leading people. And if just one person in every corner of the galaxy is doing what you do, then we’re all safe. Right?”
“What if being safe doesn’t matter, and sentient life is just a product of evolution and we all die, and there’s nothing divine or god-given about that?”
Steven blinked a few times. Maybe it’s just really late and he’s so tired he’s hearing shit. “What does this have to do with prom?”
“It doesn’t. I was just stalling for time,” She told him, and nuzzled closer. “You never asked me to be your girlfriend, that’s all. I just- I don’t know where we’re going. Maybe I want my boyfriend to ask me to prom.”
She didn’t exactly sound sad, she was just trying to be honest. Steven thought about it for a minute, and realized they’ve been in a ‘whatever feels right,’ gray area, where best friends can kiss and be in love. There was never any pressure, mostly because they were too young to be serious about it, and then they became old enough to want different things for their lives. How are you supposed to hold together some imaginary future over great distances? Why would they ask each other to make big life decisions only based on a dream?
And then came the realization that all this meant Connie could maybe meet someone in college who’s sense of adventure was bigger than Steven’s. They might be some different kind of alien that would whisk her into the stars. Maybe they’d be a rich vampire. Or, maybe they’d be a doctor who knew the kind of life she came from and could settle into it so easily. Wow, he didn’t want that to happen, did he? Not that he’d fault her for prioritizing what’s right for her, but…
Steven tried to get out of that train of thought. “I thought I already was your boyfriend, even if we haven’t really- I mean- I thought I’d just be the guy who’s always taking you to dances.”
“It was an unspoken thing, but shouldn’t it be spoken? Or whatever? If I matter, I want you to be with me, for real. I want you to say it.” She was looking up at him now, eyes sparkling with their own little galaxies.
“I’m sorry I forgot to,” he held her cheek. “Connie, can I take you to-”
“Yes,” she chuckled, and pulled him into a kiss.
Now’s there’s the issue of how to get back to Delmarva from California in three days…
“I just don’t think it’s right for your campaign.”
Buzzing fluorescent, beige walls, a dark oak desk cluttered with posters and scripts and the like. Connie’s entire world felt like this lately, now that she had to Get Serious with her life. This is how her office as Delmarva Governor felt, and she wished so bad she could just punch a window through a metaphorical wall. No one saw her in that job, and she wasn’t out there in the streets actually helping people. The best she could do was sit there and write papers in frivolous legalese that no one really understands. Now she’s in another droll room at the mercy of someone who insisted she needed him.
Everything felt so normal before he’d spoken those fated words, and Connie could only swallow and try to scrape together a little confidence. The man in front of her raised an eyebrow at her sudden pause, and Connie realized that yes, he was dead serious. ‘Not Right?’ She’s been defined by doing the right thing and truly work to make the world a better place. What does an inheritance and a string of squashed small businesses know of that?
“Excuse me?”
“Well,” He sensed he fucked up and leaned back in his chair. He pressed his fingers together and muttered out, “A woman of your caliber, erm… you give off an air of class and decency, and Steven is…”
Oh.
“He’s what?” Connie leaned forward, trying to look a little taller. She realized his prodding at her insecurities were a cover for his own, so she quickly regained her usual spunk. “You’re supposed to be the best campaign manager around, I don’t think you mean lying and keeping up appearances is what it takes to appeal to voters.”
“No ma’am, not at all.” He fidgeted with a few papers, trying not to look her in the eye. “But being unmarried, and wanting to heavily involve him in extra-terrestrial relations, it’s, well, it’s something no one’s ever done. You’re a woman, a woman of color for that matter, you’ve already got terrible odds-”
“People must’ve said that to my mom in medical school, now she’s a surgeon. Remember when you needed open heart surgery? Who did that for you?”
That’s just how it is being a woman in a professional environment. Men call you sweetheart and even your employees think they know better than someone who’s prepared for this her whole life. It’s an endless stream of androgynous power-suits and #girlboss media, tied together by the sad truth that just doing your job has to be a big statement about gender roles. No one takes you seriously and everyone is commenting on your looks. Can’t her merit and brains win out, just once?
Connie shut her eyes and took a deep breath, calculating her next words. These seemed like the right ones, even if they were risky: “You’re fired.”
Outside the window, trees beside the highway blurred together. That’s where Connie was looking while Steven focused on the road. She didn’t have to look to know he was smiling. That’s one of many amazing things he’s got, and she wouldn’t hear of anyone trying to take that away to ‘help’ her career.
“Just a small town girl, come on Con! Take it away! … Livin’ in a lonely world!”
Connie snapped to attention, but she felt stiff and missed her cue. “Oh! Um- train goin’ anywhere.”
Steven side-eyed her, more in a concerned way, but quickly looked back to the road. “Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit… You okay?”
He turned the volume down and kept driving, giving her an opening. There was that bleak white noise of the road, not unlike the buzz of office lights.
“I don’t wanna vent if you’re not in the right place for it,” she commented, slipping both feet out of her heels and bringing one foot up on the seat so she could lean her head on her knee.
She looked over at him in the driver’s seat, his eyes had that same sparkle like the day they met. She wouldn’t dream of tearing him down and telling him all the horrible things she heard about him- he was perfect just as he was, and she wouldn’t sacrifice his light to make herself brighter.
His lips pulled to one side, pursed, as he ran through how to answer that. “Are you overworked in general, or did something bad happen today?”
“I think both,” she added. “I feel like I’ve been going about this whole thing all wrong. They keep asking me to do those ‘opponent is evil and you should vote for me’ commercials. And apparently I don’t have a slogan, or an enemy, or a penis. It’s like… can’t I just talk about what I’m going to do for the economy?”
Steven took it all in, and began pulling off at an exit that didn’t exactly lead them back home. “Well,” he started, “Your dick is bigger than mine, for starters. Second, I don’t exactly advocate for bending to the will of everyone else here, but your big enemy could just be corporate greed and the shady stuff that happens in politics. You could make your whole image about truth, y’know? You shouldn’t need an image, but that’s just the way our world works I guess.”
“Solid advice.” The car began to slow down as they got towards the end of the exit ramp, and she raised an eyebrow. “Where are we going?”
“I think you know.”
They took a right turn into the historic town, slowly moseying down a street of buildings from the 1920s. Each business here was a small one, each with something personal about it that one couldn’t find at the supermarket. They were miles northwest of Beach City, but there were still gems and still murals of them, painted by someone who was clearly very passionate about art.
Another right turn and they were in the parking lot of Connie’s favorite ice cream shop. She couldn’t fight the smile on her face at that point. “You always know what to do, Steve.” She pulled one hand off the steering wheel and kissed one of his fingertips, gently thanking him.
“Yeah? Who’s your guy?”
“You are,” she smirked, and pushed open the door.
Connie got out of the car, delicate nylons landing on dirty concrete, and waited for him to come out too. It’s illegal to keep wearing heels after a bad day, so these stockings would just have to fall apart. She could take them to the seamstress up the street, or maybe buy some handmade shoes from the vegan leatherworker a block away! This was the place where dreams thrived, and where plastic waste and over-consumption went to die.
“Connie, hei!” Not even seconds after the bell above the door rang, a young Norwegian woman lit up behind the counter at the sight of her. Ice cream had never felt so warm.
“Sofie!” Connie beamed back. “It’s been weeks, hvordan har du det?”
“Your Norwegian is getting better!” Sofie smiled, glancing down to place a tub of vanilla into the counter display. “I’ve been great, it’s thanks to you. You really got people out to our corner of town last year and I was able to pay off the lease. The shop’s completely mine now, no more sharks!”
She busied herself as Connie looked through the flavors, washing scoopers, checking the coffee machine and saying something about no one being here until the after-dinner rush. Sofie was an unstoppable force of blonde and blue-jeans, someone with a real passion for what she did. Connie wished she felt that confident about her job.
“That’s amazing! All it really took was a little boost, you’re the one who put in all the work.” She smiled, but her eyes were drawn to a new flavor. “Bark Side Up?”
“It’s a brown-sugar flavor, like syrup. It’s best with no sprinkles. And oh! Steven, hei! What can I get for you, love?” She was so used to seeing him that it almost didn’t register. “The usual?”
Before he even concluded that with “Sure thing,” she was already scooping Together Breakfast out of the tub. It’s a marshmallowy taste, with sprinkles and popcorn, all in a waffle cone. It’s truly the ice cream of gods.
“Yeah, I think I’ll try Bark,” Connie concluded, and leaned up from staring at the display. “How’d you get the name?”
Sofie shrugged. “It’s something from back home. People can’t agree how to store firewood.” She scooped Connie’s into a cup- she knows her friend can’t stand mess- and set it on the counter.
Ah, wood, trees, sap. It’s all coming together. “Huh. Well! How much do we owe you?”
“A hug, or it’s free,” Sofie leaned over the counter and opened her arms.
“Of course!” Connie gladly paid it, and patted her friend’s back. “But really, how much?”
“After all the donations and volunteering? Free. I’m serious,” she started to shoo them away playfully. “Go on now, enjoy your night!”
“Hah, okayy,” Connie chuckled. She turned towards the door, and Steven was there to hold it open, eating his cone at the same time. Laughter erupted at the sight of it. There’s this big doof, biting chunks ice cream like a sociopath, barely paying attention to her.
Outside, she pulled him by the collar and kissed him, catching him off guard. He promptly dropped the door and stumbled into her, free hand landing on her shoulder. A smile graced his lips, and they were sweet, like a memory of the lives they left behind years ago and 30 miles east. He would always be Together Breakfast.
The kiss ended there because six people were walking dogs around them, but she wished she could just fuse with him and lay dormant in his confident, comfortable head. He was Steven.
But she was Connie, and she had helped someone. That’s why he brought her here, wasn’t it? To show her that she’d indeed been on the right path this whole time?
“I love you, so much,” she said softly, beaming up at him. “You always know what to do.”
He smiled back and laced his fingers in between hers, tugging her down the sidewalk. “Oh, you thought this was The Thing? C’mon, eat and walk with me.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“Someone did a mural out here a few weeks ago, I don’t think you’ve seen it.”
As they walked, people smiled, some waved. Some of them might know her as the governor, some were just being polite. Across the street is the sushi place with an incredible vegan roll, and on their right is an upcycling boutique. All these places, were they thriving because she got the road fixed? Maybe she was doing something right. She’d gotten so caught up she forgot she’s in charge, and she’s always known what to do.
Her bun came down then, and she slipped the ponytail around her wrist. Man, nothing like a good ice cream and the person you love, right? And a nice evening stroll with a breeze- hell yeah, it was turning into a good night!
They rounded the corner on a building, and Steven stopped. There wasn’t an entry door or anything, just a brick wall. “Look up,” he said.
Before them was a mural, painted in the style of the iconic Diamonds on the moon base. A beautiful woman held the state of Delmarva above one hand, much like the Diamonds held their planets. In the other hand were the scales of justice, balanced. Her hair fell at her shoulders, wrapped in a detailed, beaded maroon sari that draped down past her waist. She was beautiful and dressed in a way her parents would be proud of. She looked like grandma, and all the stories she’d tell about life before immigration.
This was Connie. This was her heritage, her legacy, what she stood for, painted on the wall. She'd only dressed like this once, but this is a sign people respect her identity enough to paint it. It's a sign that times are changing for the better.
“Oh my god,” she muttered.
She deserved to be painted like a heroic gem too?