Work Text:
- (Pilgrims)
“What assignment did you get?” Divina asks, and Yoko shows them: Pilgrim World. The siren sighs, showing Yoko her own designation.
“I got the stupid grocery store.” They’re on the bus, headed into Jericho for the mandatory volunteer work that comes with Outreach Day and Yoko’s sitting with Enid, directly behind Divina and Kent. Yoko looks across the aisle to where Bianca is sitting.
“What did you get?” She asks the other siren and Bianca rolls her eyes. “I’m pilgrim world, too, so don’t even try to swap to be with your girlfriend.” Yoko cracks a smile at that, because if Bianca had been volunteering at the grocery store she would’ve begged her to switch.
“Switch with Vee, then?” Yoko asks. Bianca shakes her head. “No way. Last year I was at the grocery store and the idiot normies kept trying to get me to siren song them out of trouble. It was very unbecoming and I refuse to go through that again.”
“Kent?” Yoko turns back to her girlfriend and their brother.
“Oh absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere near that place. Pilgrims scare me.” Kent shakes his head, anticipating Yoko’s question before it even comes.
“You know they’re not real pilgrims, right?” Divina raises an eyebrow at their brother.
“Uh, duh.” Kent doesn’t sound like he knew.
Divina spends the rest of the ride into Jericho begging Kent to switch with Yoko. He refuses.
Half an hour later has them heading off to their assignments, after a twenty minute speech from Principal Weems about ‘the importance of community’ and other utter bullshit which Yoko doesn’t believe one bit. Divina clings to her until they reach the corner where they have to split up.
“I don’t want to go,” Divina pouts, “I want to stay with you.”
“Me too,” Yoko sighs. “Fuck you, Bianca.” She mutters in what she hopes comes across as a teasing tone.
“Well. I guess I’ll see you at lunch, then?” Divina asks with a heavy sigh, and Yoko nods.
“We can go for coffee at the Weathervane after.” She gives her girlfriend one last hug and a soft kiss on the lips before turning to head to her own assignment.
“Dykes!” The shout comes from behind Yoko and she freezes. “Oh my god, did you see how they both froze in sync? Like seriously, how to tell you’re banging someone.” Yoko turns slowly to look at her girlfriend. Divina’s standing stock still, facing away from her, and there are a couple of high school boys dressed as pilgrims laughing at them from across the street.
“You heard me. Fucking outcast dykes.” One of them calls, smirking to his friend. Yoko doesn’t know how to react.
“Yoko?” Divina has spun around to look at her, eyes wide and breathing rapid and Yoko wants to wrap them up, protect them from this. Divina’s parents are some of the least supportive people Yoko has ever met. She knows that they can’t be the worst in the world, per say, but she’s never heard anything as bad as the stories Divina’s told her, and she knows her girlfriend can’t be feeling too good right now.
“They kicked me out for a month until I can ‘come back to Jesus’,” Divina admits through the phone, having just told her parents about her relationship with Yoko, “Can I come stay with you?”
“They told me it was a phase when I came out. When I told them it wasn’t, they threw a bible at me. It hit me square in the face and gave me a bad cut on my cheek. They locked me in my room until I could prove I’d read the whole thing.”
“They washed my mouth out with soap after I said the word ‘lesbian’ in front of my cousin. I thought people only did that in the movies.”
“I will never come out to them about my pronouns. I don’t care if they misgender me forever as long as they don’t hate me for existing.”
“My mom compared me to Kent this morning, and for once I wasn’t the good thing.”
“My dad got drunk last night and punched me because apparently I’m a ‘lazy ass bitch and a good-for-nothing dyke.”
“-said I’m a dyke and will never amount to-”
“-only a dyke would be so-”
“-such a dyke-”
“-fucking dyke-”
The word resonates in Yoko’s head. Divina’s got so much trauma connected to it and she can’t do anything, she can’t take that trauma away.
“Look at ‘em, they’re both so scared! Are you fucking scared, dykes?” One of the guys is crossing the street and Yoko is aware that Divina is crying.
“Fuck off.” She says it quietly, soft enough so not to startle Divina, whose eyes have gone glassy like she might be having a flashback.
“What?” One of the pilgrims runs over, “I didn’t hear you, dyke. You gotta be louder, bitch. See, this is your fucking problem: you think you’ll be more powerful if you fuck a girl ‘cause you ‘aint got the guts to be with a real man.”
Anger burns in Yoko’s chest but she can’t do anything about it because Divina’s practically hyperventilating, her chest rising and falling so fast Yoko’s not entirely sure they’re not just shaking in fear. “Divina, hey, listen to me, if your mind is somewhere safe, I need you to stay there, okay? Stay safe, baby.” She says it in an authoritative voice, hoping to keep Divina away from here, away from experiencing more trauma.
“What the fuck? Somewhere safe? How the fuck can her brain be somewhere she’s not? Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard a dyke say.” The other pilgrim boy has joined them on their side of the street now. Yoko lets go of Divina. She’s so full of rage that it hurts, and she spins to face the boys, punches one of them square in the jaw and the boy reels back, clutching his face. The other gets mad.
“What the fuck? You fucking bitch!” He winds up to take a swing at Yoko and she dodges, using his momentum to flip him over onto his ass. The two boys stare at her for a moment and all the anger bubbles out of her mouth in a violent stream of garbled thoughts.
“WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET OFF?! You have no right, no fucking right whatsoever to use that word, much less on people you don’t know! That kid over there, crying and hyperventilating? She was fucking abused by her parents using that word! She’s probably having a fucking PTSD episode because of you ignorant fucking pieces of shit! My girlfriend deserves to be able to volunteer for your fucking community without having to dissociate to cope with it.” She spits the words like venom, kicking one of the boys hard in the stomach when he tries to get up. “No you fucking don’t. Be glad I haven’t sent you to the hospital or siked my best friend’s homicidal roommate on you! Now, I’m gonna go fucking keep my girlfriend from being permanently damaged by your fucking cowardace, and I would suggest you let me fucking go before I decide to change my mind.” She turns her back on the two to face Divina.
“Vee?” She softens her voice, her body language. Divina’s eyes are blank and they’re barely breathing, her chest shaking. “Divina, can you hear me, love?” Divina’s eyes flicker. “Divina, come back to me, baby. Come on.” She grips Divina’s shoulders, trying to catch her gaze. Divina gasps softly, crumbling into Yoko’s arms. “Hey, okay, are you here?” She presses a hand to the back of Divina’s head, holding them close as Divina shakes in her arms.
“I… M-my stomach hurts, Yoko.” Divina whispers it so softly that Yoko almost doesn’t hear them.
“Oh, Vee.” She rocks her girlfriend gently as Divina hides in her chest.
“I wanna go home.”
“I know.”
“I w-wanna go h-home, Yoko. Can we please just go home?” The sound of Divina’s soft sobs cuts into Yoko so deeply.
“Alright, I know. Let’s go find a teacher, okay?” She guides Divina back down the street towards where Principal Weems had given her speech, looking for anyone who could help. Eventually, they run into Miss Thornhill and Yoko explains what happened.
“She dissociated for a while, there. Had a little panic attack. Sometimes it’s hard coming back from that. I was hoping we could be exempt from volunteering? I wouldn’t be asking unless it was an emergency.” She’s praying Thornhill says yes.
“Divina, you can stay with me until lunch.” Thornhill nods, and Yoko knows she’s only convinced because Divina’s literally shaking so hard that if Yoko were to let go they’d fall right over. That doesn’t stop her from doing a little celebratory dance in her mind.
“Thank you so much, Miss Thornhill.” Yoko smiles.
“Wait, Yoko. Unfortunately you will not be exempt from today’s activities. You are still required to attend your volunteer assignment.” Yoko’s smile slides off of her face.
“What?”
“Divina has experienced trauma and given her current state, I don’t believe it would be safe for her to volunteer as she’s supposed to. You, however, don’t seem to be in any state of distress and I think you’re perfectly fit to continue to your assignment. If that isn’t the case, I’m happy to hear you out, but if it is I must insist that you leave Divina with me and head to your job.”
Yoko sighs. “Okay, yeah, you’ re right.” She strokes Divina’s hair gently and leans down to whisper, “Vee, honey? You gotta go with Thornhill and I’ll see you at lunch, okay? I love you, my little sea urchin.”
Divina pulls back from where they’re still pressed into Yoko and looks up at her. “I want you to come with me.” Her voice is hoarse and her cheeks are red, tear tracks making pale streaks down her face.
“I know, baby. But I need to go to my assignment. It’s only for a few hours, I promise. Come on, go with Thornhill.” She gives a soft smile, “I love you, Divina.”
“Love you too,” Divina whispers, pulling Yoko in for one more hug before reluctantly pulling away to head off with Thornhill.
2. (Period)
The first time Yoko sees Divina that Monday is in English, their second class. Her girlfriend sits next to her, dropping their bag at her side and slumping over onto the table.
“What, Siren Anatomy too hard today?” Yoko teases, and Divina just grumbles something unintelligible into the table.
“Okay, everyone, let’s get started,” their professor calls, and Yoko reaches down to pull out her notebook and pens. Divina doesn’t move.
“Vee, what’s up?” She’s a little concerned now; Divina doesn’t usually let themself fall behind in classes, even if only for a second. Divina looks up and Yoko gasps.
“Jeez, Vee, you look like shit.” Her girlfriend is pale, dark circles peering out from under her eyes and sweat making her hair stick to her forehead.
“Mhmm.” Divina lays her head back on the table, though this time it’s sideways so they can still look at Yoko.
“Are you sick?” Yoko asks, reaching out to press the inside of her wrist to Divina’s forehead. It’s not warm enough for concern; sirens tend to run cold and Divina’s barely warm enough to be considered normal for a human.
“Not sick.” Divina’s voice is hard, like they’re in pain, “my period just started this morning.” Oh. That explains it. Yoko probably should’ve figured that out considering how strong the smell of blood is on her girlfriend now that she thinks about it. Divina has always had really painful periods, often to the extent of vomiting or passing out. Their sensory issues make the week even worse. She likes to spend them in full siren form, underwater at the bottom of the lake; the water (along with not having a full uterus while in fish form) helps a lot with the pain. Being forced to sit through classes all week is going to be torture, Yoko knows.
Yoko doesn’t miss the way Divina’s hands shake as they take notes. She notices the way they hold herself, hunched over and heavy. She’s fully aware of when Divina starts crying softly, her back starting to shake ever so slightly with every quivering exhale.
“Divina.” Yoko reaches over to place a hand on Divina’s spine. “Babe. Do you need to leave?” She asks quietly enough that the teacher shouldn’t be able to hear, but of course he does because they’re supposed to be silently working on essays and Yoko’s the only one in the class who’s talking.
“Miss Tanaka, if you have something to say, you can say it to the class.” The teacher raises an eyebrow and Yoko sighs. Divina looks at Yoko, eyes wide as she pulls herself upright. Yoko gives them a reassuring smile.
“Divina isn’t feeling well, Sir. May we be excused?” She asks, and the teacher purses his lips.
“Divina can speak for herself. If she wishes to leave class she may do so on her own. She doesn’t need you to speak on her behalf.” He goes back to marking the papers on his desk and Yoko frowns. The whole class is looking at them now and Yoko knows Divina’s blushing.
“Yoko, don’t worry about it. I’m okay.” Divina’s voice is soft and they sound resigned.
“Okay. Let me know if you start feeling worse, okay?” She whispers it into Divina’s ear so that the rest of the class can’t tell what she said. Divina nods and leans their head onto Yoko’s shoulder.
Another twenty minutes go by before Divina starts crying again, curling in on herself and breathing more rapidly. She pats Yoko’s arm to get her attention (as if Yoko wasn’t already solely focused on them) and nods.
“Ready to leave now.” They breathe, letting out a soft sob. “It hurts-” She breaks off with a small whimper and Yoko runs a hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture. The teacher is in the middle of lecturing them on the correct way to write a thesis statement and Yoko glances up at him, biting her lip. They’re at the back of the classroom, practically right beside the door, and it’s unlikely that they’ll be stopped once they make it out of the room.
“Okay, let’s go.” Yoko moves to stand up but before she can move Divina whatsoever, the teacher’s voice gets louder.
“Miss Tanaka, there are five minutes left of this class and I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to sit down so I might finish my lesson.” He glares at her, his blue-green siren’s eyes boring into her. Yoko feels red-hot anger pulsing in her chest. The teacher isn’t being unfair, per say, but Divina’s not going to make it to the end of class without flat-out sobbing and Yoko will do anything within her power to protect her girlfriend from that humiliation.
“Mr. Price, I don’t believe you understand the circumstances. When a person is menstruating, it causes severe pain and profound bleeding. Other symptoms include back pain, muscle aches, chills, bloating, mood swings, irritability, and headaches. Some people even experience vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of consciousness. Your student is in enough pain that she is crying, which, you should know, she does not do often. She has expressed to me that she is nauseous and I don’t think you would like for one of your students to experience any of those… less desirable symptoms in the middle of your class, would you?” She’s aware of the venom in her voice, aware of how horrified Divina looks, aware that the entire class is staring at them, but she doesn’t care. Divina needs to leave and Yoko is going to get her out of here, whatever it takes.
Her teacher’s face has gone bright red. “Very well, Miss Tanaka.” His voice shakes and Yoko feels a strange sense of pride in herself. “You two may go. Enjoy your vacation.” He’s shaking like he’s about to explode, whether from anger or embarrassment Yoko doesn’t know or care.
“Come on, Vee.” She softens her voice and pulls her girlfriend to her feet. Divina sways slightly, whimpering and gripping their abdomen as Yoko steadies her, and Yoko grabs both of their bags from the floor before guiding Divina out of the door.
“Yoko, did you see the look on his face?” Divina asks, a soft smile playing at their lips as Yoko supports them down the hallway towards one of the bathrooms.
“Yeah, I did.” Yoko smiles, too, and looks at Divina softly. “You’re gonna be okay. It all hurts right now, but everything’s gonna be okay.”
Divina nods back. “Yeah, but first I’m gonna puke, so let’s go to the bathroom, kay?”
3. (Siren Song)
“Yoko, are we real?”
Yoko looks up at her girlfriend from where she’s laying in bed doing homework. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Divina trails off, biting her lip. She’s sitting on one of the couches that occupy half of Yoko’s room, playing video games on Yoko’s TV. They drape herself across the back of the couch so they can face Yoko and sigh. “Sometimes I get insecure.”
“Oh. Yeah. No, babe, of course we’re real. I love you.” Yoko gives them a smile and Divina’s lips quirk up for half a second before returning to their frown.
“But, what if we’re not?” She sounds scared almost, and Yoko closes the book she’s been referencing and her notebook, giving Divina all of her attention.
“Okay, where is this coming from? You know I love you. What’s going on?” She pushes herself to sit and spins to face Divina fully.
“I just… someone said something. And I got scared.” Divina sits cross legged on the couch, facing backwards, and rests her head on the back.
“What did they say?” Yoko pulls a pillow into her lap and hugs it.
“Just something about my siren song. It’s nothing, Yoko.” They look down, picking at something on the couch cushions. “I mean, it’s not nothing, but, like, you don’t have to worry about it. I’m okay.”
Yoko narrows her eyes. “Well, you brought it up with me, so that tells me it’s something I need to worry about. I care, Vee. I want to know what’s going on with you.” Divina bites her lip and shrugs. “And, about your siren song? Divina, seriously, what did they say?”
Divina takes a deep breath. “Um, just that they wanted to know how I could be… um, how I could be sure that I wasn’tusingmysirensongtoforceyouintoarelationshipthatyouotherwisewouldn’twanttobeapartof, I guess?” They talk so fast that Yoko can’t make out half of what she said, trailing off at the end and quieting their voice to almost a whisper.
“Babe. Slow down. What?” She chuckles lightly and Divina blushes.
“The person just kind of said that they wanted to know how I could be sure I wasn’t just using my siren song to create an imaginary relationship with you that you didn’t want to be a part of.” Divina’s trying to play it off like the words don’t bother her but Yoko knows better. “I mean, I think I’d know if I was making up an entire relationship, y’know?” They try to laugh but it’s quiet and she stifles it quickly. Yoko’s having a hard time comprehending what she just heard. It hurts to hear Divina sound so scared, so unsure. She shakes her head as their words sink in and she lets her jaw open slightly in outrage.
“Wait, hold on, someone actually suggested that you’re siren song-ing me into being your girlfriend? Which sick fuck-”
“Yoko, please.” Divina cuts her off, going red. “Don’t make this about them.”
“Right, okay. They deserve to die, but I won’t make this about them.
“Yoko.”
“Fine.” Yoko sighs, gesturing for Divina to come sit with her. Divina clambers over the back of the couch and flops down onto the bed next to Yoko, who chuckles as her girlfriend rolls their head into her lap. “So you’re feeling insecure because you think you might be using your siren song to convince me to date you, and therefore our relationship is fake?” She’s still just trying to understand. Divina nods in confirmation.
“I know I’m not, I mean I’d be able to tell, right? But sometimes I stop to think about it and I just… I get insecure.” She looks up at Yoko and her green eyes are glazed with tears they’re obviously trying to keep from falling.
“I know, babe.” She strokes a hand through Divina’s hair and Divina smiles softly. “And I don’t know what exactly to say to make this better.” She puts on a goofy grin for the next line, hoping to cheer Divina up. “Are your victims usually aware of when they’re being sirened?”
Divina rolls their eyes and pushes Yoko’s shoulder affectionately. “I haven’t asked, dumbass. Not that I do it often, anyways.”
“Well, I can tell you right now that I do, in fact, like being with you.” Yoko lets her mouth quirk into a smile, “This is something I want, Vee.” Divina fiddles with her hands, trying to avoid eye contact with Yoko.
“But how do I know?” They look so unsure of themself and Yoko doesn’t know how to fix this. “How can I be sure that you aren’t just saying that ‘cause I made you? How do I prove it?” She glances at Yoko for a millionth of a second and their eyes are so big. Yoko draws circles on Divina’s forehead with her index finger as she thinks of how to reply.
“Here’s the thing: I can’t prove anything.” She eventually decides on, “You’re just going to have to understand that whether or not this-” she gestures to the space between them, “ is real, I love you.” She can’t say it any more simply than that; she loves Divina with all of her heart and sometimes the truth is all that’s needed. Divina doesn’t look convinced. “I mean it, okay? Even if you did somehow convince me to be in a relationship with you using your siren song - without even realizing you were doing it, no less - you are still my absolute favourite person in the entire world. I love you, Divina.” She pauses, smiling softly down at Divina who looks back with doubt written all over her face. “I love you.” Yoko repeats and Divina’s nose scrunches.
“You don’t have to keep saying it,” they murmur, blushing fiercely and avoiding eye contact, a barely concealed smile toying with the corners of her mouth.
“Well, I’m gonna say it until it sinks in. I love you, Vee.” She boops the tip of Divina’s nose as she says it, again and again. “I love you. I love you. I lo-” Divina’s hand comes up and presses against Yoko’s lips mid-sentence and Yoko has to laugh.
“Okay, okay. You’ve made your point.” She sits up, removing her hand from Yoko’s mouth and looking her in the eyes; it’s all tenderness and trust. “I love you, too.” They lean forwards and envelop Yoko in a hug.
“Thank you for being here.” They whisper into Yoko’s ear.
“I love you.” Yoko whispers back.
4. (Pronouns)
“Seriously, Enid, how can you stand that much sugar?” Yoko teases, “Like, you took a perfectly good coffee and then added enough sugar for ten coffees. I think I’d throw up if I had to drink that.”
Enid pouts jokingly and thrusts her cup under Yoko’s nose. “Maybe if you tried it you would find it’s actually delicious. Besides, the only flavour you get is caramel, and everyone loves caramel.”
“I don’t.” Divina challenges with a raised eyebrow and a smirk from where she’s curled into their girlfriend. The three of them are at the Weathervane, holed up in a booth after a long day of shopping in Jericho. The Rave’n is tomorrow and Enid and Yoko had been looking for dresses together while Divina stuck with Bianca, hoping to keep her outfit a surprise for Yoko tomorrow night. Bianca had decided to head back to the school early, so the other three met up for coffee and the Weathervane’s famous tiramisu, which they can now see Tyler preparing behind the counter. Divina makes grabby hands for the desert as Tyler walks over with it.
“Didn’t you just say you don’t like caramel?” Enid points out, “This is literally salted caramel tiramisu.”
Divina smirks back at her. “Still tastes more like coffee than that abomination.” She gestures at Enid’s cup and Enid gasps in mock offence.
“Hey, uh,” they looked up at Tyler, who they’d honestly kind of forgotten was there. “My break is just starting. Would you mind if I joined you for a bit?” The three at the table take a moment to glance at each other in silent conversation before Enid nods up at Tyler and scoots over with a hesitant ‘sure’.
Yoko isn’t sure whether or not she trusts the normie; Bianca has told them all about his history with Xavier, but they quickly strike up a conversation about the Rave’n (and Wednesday. She seems a person of particular interest to him, which explains why he’s sitting with them; to get closer to her through Enid) and he seems friendly enough.
They talk for his full fifteen-minute break and he looks sad when he says he has to go. He stands to get back to work and Yoko watches, as though in slow motion, as his hand hits Enid’s half-full coffee cup. The cup goes flying, the lid (which can’t have been secured properly) being knocked off. Liquid spills across the table and splashes onto Divina’s hands.
Time catches up to itself as Divina gives a soft gasp of surprise and removes her hands from the table. The coffee can’t possibly be hot anymore, but Divina recoils anyway, staring at her dripping hands for a minute before jerkily standing. Yoko knows her girlfriend can’t stand any liquid touching their skin except when they’re fully submerged underwater, and feels a pang of guilt running through her. She knows it’s not her fault, but she’s frozen with the thought that she should’ve done better, should’ve moved Enid’s cup before it could be spilled. She frowns, biting her lip, as Divina runs off in the direction of the bathroom.
“Is she okay?” Tyler asks, looking up from the pile of napkins he and Enid have used to try and mop up the mess.
“Yeah, they just need a minute,” she replies, then under her breath adds, “I hope.”
“Okay, good, cause she looked like it was physically hurting her to be touching the stuff. Is that, like, a siren thing? Or is she just weird.”
Yoko huffs. “Please don’t call her weird. And Divina uses she/they pronouns. It’d be nice if, in the future, you respected that.”
Tyler rolls his eyes and Yoko feels the urge to punch him rising in her chest. “Okay, well, I was calling her ‘she’, so it’s not like I was misgendering her.” Okay, yeah, Yoko really wants to punch him.
“Well, you kind of were.” Yoko can hear the anger in her own voice and Enid has paused her cleaning to watch them with wide eyes. “You didn’t use ‘they’ or ‘them’ once in reference to them, which is really rude, especially after I’d told you their pronouns. You don’t get to decide how she identifies.”
Tyler sneers at her. “Well ‘they’,” he makes air quotes around the pronoun, “aren’t here, so I don’t see why it matters.”
Yoko sees red. Her heartbeat is in her ears and she wants to scream. “Listen here, normie . If you’re going to be such an insolent little piece of shit-”
“Hey, I’m back. Sorry for running off like that, I- Yoko?” Divina’s voice pulls Yoko back to awareness of her surroundings.
“Div. Hey. This normie idiot is about to get his ass whooped.” Yoko snarls, glaring at Tyler.
“Why? What did he do?” Divina questions, tucking herself into Yoko’s arms.
“He refused to gender my girlfriend correctly, even after I pointed it out, and now he’s talking back to me” Yoko is vaguely aware of Enid looking back and forth between herself and Tyler, but her focus is on Divina, whose face has gone bright red.
“Yoko, you don’t have to. Please don’t make a scene.” Divina looks at the floor as they pull slightly back from Yoko.
“No, I’m gonna defend you.” Yoko’s eyebrows furrow as she eyes Divina through her sunglasses. “You deserve to have your identity respected. Babe, you’ve told me on multiple occasions that you feel uncomfortable when people only use one set of your pronouns to refer to you. I don’t like seeing you uncomfortable. Plus, the normie was being stupid about it. I’m not gonna beat someone up for one mistake but this dickhead deserves it.”
Divina looks up at her with shining eyes and Yoko’s heart speeds up. “Hey, no, don’t cry. If you really want me to leave him alone, I will. Do you want me to leave him alone?” Yoko asks the question with as much softness as she can muster, pushing a strand of Divina’s hair back from their face.
“Yeah, call off your fucking guard dog! Jeez, you’re insane.” Tyler’s voice curdles the contents of Yoko’s stomach and a look takes over Divina’s face; shock, anger, offence. She looks at Tyler in disgust before turning back to Yoko with a furious expression.
“You know what, Yoko? Have at him. No one talks to my girlfriend that way.” It’s almost a snarl.
Yoko doesn’t miss the smirk on Divina’s face as she delivers a swift kick to Tyler’s crotch.
- (Migraine)
Yoko’s phone buzzes as she’s walking down the hallway towards her ‘Outcast History’ class and she pulls it out to see that Bianca has texted her.
‘Your girlfriend is acting weird as shit’
Yoko pauses, frowning down at the message. Divina and Bianca don’t have a class together during this block and Yoko’s already late, so Bianca shouldn’t know what Divina’s doing right now. The next string of texts comes in rapid succession.
‘She says it’s just a headache’
‘but they skipped breakfast’
‘and are still in bed even though class starts in like two minutes’
Okay, Yoko’s a little worried now.
‘Do they have a fever?’ She texts Bianca back and three dots appear on the screen a second later, indicating that Bianca is typing.
‘Not that I’m aware of’
‘Needed to go cause I can’t be late’
‘She’s in our room’
Yoko makes the executive decision that History Does Not Matter and spins on her heel, walking quickly back towards the dorms.
Divina is still curled under her blankets when Yoko gets to the dorm she shares with Bianca. The vampire approaches the bed slowly, careful not to disturb Divina in case she’s sleeping. When she gets close enough, she crouches next to Divina’s head and sees that their eyes are clenched shut, like they’re forcing them closed. Not asleep, then.
“Hey, Vee, what’s going on?” She says it in almost a whisper, worried that Divina might have a headache if she’s sick.
“Hurts. Pulsing.” Divina whispers, and she winces.
“Your head?” Yoko questions. Divina only nods in response. Yoko pulls one of her sleeves up to expose her forearm and presses the skin to Divina’s forehead, checking for a fever. She finds none, Divina’s skin cool and clammy.
“Do you feel sick?” Yoko asks, and Divina groans softly.
“Nnn. Hehurss. Shhh.” Yoko takes this series of not-quite-words to mean ‘no’, ‘my head hurts’ and ‘shut up’. Yoko shuts up.
The room is bright. Along with the overhead lights provided by the school, Divina has a lava lamp on their nightstand, two different lights that hang on the wall, and another lamp on her desk. They’re all on. The curtains are also open and the sun is shining directly onto Divina’s bed, which can’t feel good if she has a headache.
Yoko turns off the lights and closes the blinds, but the room is still bright and Divina is still unmoving. She texts Kent.
‘Does your sister ever get really bad headaches?’
Kent’s reply comes after a couple of minutes, ‘Yea D usd 2 get hdchs smtms n she went 2 a dr to see what was wrong wit hem a few yrs ago’
Yoko can barely understand what Kent’s message says, his typing almost illegible, but she figures it out after a couple seconds of careful consideration. Yes, Divina has frequent headaches and saw a doctor about them. No, Kent is not good at spelling. ‘Did she get a diagnosis or is it just a common thing?’ Yoko texts back, and while she waits for a response she eyes Divina, who has taken to groaning and shifting slightly under the covers.
‘No diganosis just sonetines those rly bad hdchs wat r they calld’
‘Starts with m I thnk’
‘Migraines?’ Yoko has had a few migraines over her life and she knows from experience how much they suck. If that’s what Divina is experiencing, Yoko is definitely sympathetic.
‘Yea’ is the only answer she gets from Kent. Sighing softly, Yoko moves back to Divina’s bedside, once again crouching next to them.
“Hey, babe. I texted your brother and he said you have migraines sometimes. Is this one of those?” She keeps her voice as low as possible but Divina still winces. The tiny nod Yoko receives in return breaks her heart just a little.
“M nauseous.” Divina’s voice is tiny and Yoko has the urge to soothe.
“Do you think you’re going to throw up?” She asks softly. Divina nods.
“Okay, let’s go to the bathroom.” Yoko has to practically carry Divina across the hall to the bathroom and she deposits the siren next to the toilet. Divina vomits twice. She comes up crying and, when Yoko asks, they whine that it feels like pressure underneath their skull and that her jaw aches and her ears hurt.
Yoko considers how she felt whenever she had a migraine, hoping to think of some way to soothe her girlfriend’s pain, and a sudden thought pops into her head. “So I know you probably just want to go lie in bed, but do you think you’d like to try and walk to my dorm? It’s probably quieter and definitely darker than here,” she suggests, keeping her tone soft and relaxing. Divina hesitates; Yoko can see it in the set of her shoulders.
“If you just want to stay here, that’s fine too.” She is quick to add, but Divina blearily opens one eye, wincing harshly at the little light still left in the room, and nods.
“Go wth you.” They slur slightly, and Yoko nods. She leaves Divina in the bathroom while she gathers supplies. She has an extra pair of blackout sunglasses with her and Divina’s noise-cancelling headphones are in a drawer; they’ll be useful for the walk. She also packs a small bag with an extra pair of Divina’s pajamas, a couple of their favourite stuffies off of their bed, and the blanket she sleeps with every night.
“Okay, are you ready to go?” Yoko asks quietly once she has returned and Divina tries to stand up from the floor, swaying slightly as she tries to find her balance. “Woah, are you dizzy?” Yoko asks, reaching out to steady them. The siren nods and Yoko sighs. “Okay, babe. Would you like me to carry you?” Divina nods again, stretching her arms towards Yoko like a toddler asking to be picked up. Yoko helps them put on the headphones and sunglasses before lifting them into her arms. Vampires have some amount of extraordinary strength, so carrying Divina all the way to her dorm will be fairly easy.
They make their way out of Divina’s room, down the hallway and down the stairs. Yoko warns Divina before pushing open the door to outside. Divina whimpers as the full sun hits her face and Yoko holds them tighter as she walks quickly towards Ophelia hall. It’s darker inside and Yoko feels Divina relax slightly in her arms. She goes practically limp when they finally get to Yoko’s room and the vampire closes the door.
Yoko’s room is basically a cave, in stark contrast to Divina’s. It’s kind of funny, in a way, that Divina decided to date Yoko when the siren is scared of the dark and Yoko is a literal vampire. Yoko removes the headphones and glasses and gives a warning before gently laying Divina on the bed, but obviously Divina isn’t able to adjust to the shift of balance because she groans, rolls over, and vomits all over the pillow.
“Sorry,” she whispers as Yoko helps her to sit and removes the soiled pillowcase.
“Oh, baby. That wasn’t your fault. I’m not mad.” She cuts herself off when she notices Divina grimacing in pain at the noise.
The pillowcase is shoved in the laundry to be dealt with later and a soft towel replaces it covering the pillow (just because Yoko doesn’t want to have to change all of the bedding doesn’t mean Divina should have to put up with a texture she doesn’t like). Yoko fills a glass with cold water and another with ice chips from her mini fridge. She folds a cloth lengthwise and runs it under the cold tap before putting it in a bowl and returning to Divina’s bedside. The siren is curled on her side, squeezing her stuffed elephant tightly but entirely limp otherwise. Yoko climbs into bed with them and pulls her girlfriend into her lap. She strokes Divina’s hair and scratches lightly at their scalp.
“This okay?” She asks. Divina nods.
“Feels good. But…”
Divina trails off and Yoko prompts them with a soft, “but what?”
“Can you… pressure?” Yoko presses her fingers into Divina’s head and the siren lets out a soft sigh of content. “Mhmm.”
Yoko continues to hold them like this, gently massaging her scalp and running the cool cloth over her forehead for a long while. She helps them to sip water or suck on ice chips whenever she asks and after a long while Divina falls asleep.
Yoko is told off for missing all of her classes the next day, but she doesn’t care. It was worth it to make sure Divina was comfortable.
+1 (Garlic)
“Bianca fucking Barclay what the hell did you do to my girlfriend!?” Divina yells as they slam open the door to the room they share with the siren in question. Yoko’s in the infirmary, having ‘accidentally’ eaten garlic at dinner last night. She’d had a ‘major allergic reaction’ as Enid has so eloquently put it, and Divina knows this wasn’t a mistake.
“What the fuck, Div. I’m literally doing my homework.” Bianca looks up from her bed and Divina can barely stand to look at her face.
“When you told me you were going to sabotage them, I thought you meant, like, a hole in their boat, not putting Yoko in the fucking infirmary!” She’s aware that she’s yelling, aware that people are probably starting to open their doors and look around in the hallway, confused. They don't care. “God-fucking-damnit, Bianca, she could’ve been seriously hurt!”
Bianca rolls her eyes. “Well, she wasn’t.”
“So, you admit to it, then?” Divina lets her mouth fall open as she lets out a disbelieving snort of laughter, running their fingers through their hair.
“That’s not what I said. And why on earth do you think I’d ever do something to Yoko? She’s scary when she wants to be. I don’t particularly feel like invoking her wrath, thanks.” She turns back to her work and Divina lets out a frustrated noise.
“B, I know it was you, stop lying.” She turns briefly to see four other kids staring at them from the doorway. Right. She didn’t close the door.
They move across the room to do so now as Bianca stands from her place on her bed. “Divina, I really wouldn't worry about it. Yoko’s fine, right? Why are you so hung up over this?”
“Uh, maybe because she’s my girlfriend and I no longer trust you not to hurt her? Why should I ever let you near her again?” They turn to the kids gathered to watch their argument with a, “Fuck off.” and slams the door in their face.
“I didn’t do anything to her. Where did you even hear that rumor?” She throws her hands up like this is an inconvenience. Bitch .
“Enid told me that Wednesday told her that you did it.” The statement makes even Divina question the credibility of her accusation and she works to backtrack. “But, that’s not the only thing. You told me yourself that you were gonna sabotage the team. Come on, Bia. Just fess up already.”
Bianca shakes her head. “Fuck you, Vee.” Then she sighs. “Okay, maybe I did it.”
“I fucking knew it -” Divina’s starts, fully about to kill their roomate, bit Bianca cuts her off.
“But before you get all hoity-toity ‘I told you so’ or try to actually murder me, I did it safely.”
“How the fuck do you poison someone safely?” Divina frowns.
Bianca raises an eyebrow. “You’d be surprised.” It’s dry and Divina rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Okay, explain.”
“Well, for one thing, it wasn’t a lethal dose. Just a tiny bit of garlic mixed in with her favourite dipping sauce. I know none of the other Vamps like it, not that she sits with them anyways, so none of them could’ve gotten hurt by it.”
“Any dose is lethal for a vampire.” Divina points out and Bianca sighs.
“Okay, point taken. But she was never going to be seriously hurt. I made sure the medical staff were right there; they were eating their own dinner literally two tables over, and they responded before anything could happen. I made sure the infirmary was well stocked with vamp-specific epi-pens and that there were no other urgent cases at the moment. Everything went according to plan. Yoko’s fine.”
“But she might not have been.” Divina’s voice breaks and all of the anger seems to flood out of her, instead being replaced by fear and hurt. It’s fast enough to give her emotional whiplash. “Bia. Why?” There are tears in their eyes and she doesn’t have the energy to fight anymore.
“Because…” Bianca moves her hands in an alternating pattern of up and down, obviously trying to come up with a response, but after a minute she sighs and bites her lip, all of the energy leaving her body. “I’m sorry, Div. I know Yoko means a lot to you. I shouldn’t have hurt her.” She looks down, avoiding Divina’s gaze. “I was trying to get Addams into the cup so I could show her that I’m better than her.” Divina opens their mouth to respond but Bianca holds up a finger. “But, to be honest with you, I don’t think I can honestly say that I am. I hurt Yoko, and then I lied about it. Even Wednesday is better than that.”
Divina looks at Bianca for a long moment. They take in a deep breath. Then she starts to giggle.
“Oh my god, B.”
“What?”
“You poisoned my girlfriend.” Divina has no idea why it’s funny.
“What?” Bianca eyes them as Divina flops backwards onto their own bed, giggling gleefully.
“You poisoned my girlfriend,” Divina repeats, “because of a girl.”
“What does that have to do with it?” Bianca sounds defensive.
“Bia, you make fun of me and Yoko for being ‘so fucking gay’ all the time! I literally blew you off for Yoko a week ago and you got so mad because ‘you lesbians don’t care about anything but girls’ and now you fucking poisoned Yoko for a fucking girl! It’s just really hypocritical.”
“Oh my god, Divina. This is different.” Bianca rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms.
“Really? How?” Divina questions, sitting up to smirk and Bianca.
“It’s different because I don’t like Wednesday Addams. I hate her guts. You blew me off to take Yoko on a date. I poisoned Yoko to get to Addams. Not that it worked,” She grumbles.
“I still think it’s hypocritical.” Divina smiles goofily and Bianca sighs in resignation, cracking a soft smile of her own.
“You’re still so much gayer than me.”
“Fair.”