Chapter Text
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cora asks. “I think honestly I’m okay, you know, like, a nose ring sounded like a good idea, but it’s gonna hurt and I really hate needles, like honestly can we—“
“Honestly,” Malia cuts hir off firmly, “You can do this. Come on, this place is great. It’s where I got my tragus done, and look.” They pointed insistently at their ear. “No infection. Kira is really cool, and totally your type, by the way. She’s adorable.”
“Sounds like she’s your type,” sie says sulkily. Sie allows hirself to be dragged after Malia, even though really, sie’d like to go lock hirself in Malia’s beat up Honda until they gave up and let hir go back to work.
“She is my type,” they agree cheerfully. “We’ve always had the same taste in girls.”
Dagger Deb’s is up ahead, the sign lit up in neon pink. It’s open sign blinks cheerily onto the road.
It looks like hell.
Most tattoo shops seem to look like that, though.
Cora has never been inside one, because sometimes even the sight of a needle is enough to make hir shudder for twenty minutes. Sie’s not really sure what possessed hir to agree to get the piercing done last week, but sie’s been regretting it ever since. Malia had booked the appointment almost immediately after sie’d said sie’d do it, and every day since then Cora has been awkwardly avoiding Malia.
It’s not like it’s really hard, either. Sie spends most of hir time murmuring to flowers in the back of hir mother’s flower shop, and Malia spends most of their time trudging across Beacon County looking for stories for the newspaper.
Cora the anxious florist is not exactly a story Malia’s editors would be interested in, so mostly, sie can avoid them.
Not today, though. Malia had saturdays off. Kira, apparently, didn’t.
They reach Dagger Deb’s too soon, because suddenly Cora is staring down the glass door with the hours posted. Dimly, sie can hear “What Kind of Monster are You?” playing in the shop. At least they have good taste in musie, sie comforts hirself dimly.
“You don’t actually have to do this,” Malia says gently, breaking hir from hir reverie. “It’s your body, you know? I’m not going to force you to go under the needle.”
“Will you judge me if I close my eyes the whole time?” sie asks meekly. Sie wants the nose ring. Sie always has wanted one. It’s weird to consider oneself a punk without the piercings, right?
“Of course not,” they say, and give hir a quick hug. “Cousins by accident…”
“Best friends by choice,” sie finishes, grinning up at them. “Let’s go. Before I chicken out.”
“Yay!” Malia says cheerfully, and opens the door for hir.
Inside the shop, the song has changed to “Don’t Want You.” Cora tries not to take it as a sign of bad luck. Sie likes the song, anyway. It’s a good one, honestly.
Malia walks right up to the counter, where a blonde is waiting. Her name tag says her name is Erica and notes that her pronouns are she/her.
It’s relieving to see that, actually. It shouldn’t surprise hir that Malia picked a place cool with non-binary gender expression.
“We have a piercing appointment,” Malia says, striding right up to the counter. “It should be under Cora Hale.”
Erica blows a bubble with her gum. She looks down at a list in front of her, picks up a highlighter, and marks through name. Her bubble pops and neatly disappears back into her mouth. She grins up at them. “Cool.” She reaches under the counter and pulls out a binder. “Have you got a piercing with us before?” The question is directed at Malia, who has a couple piercings already.
“It’s hir first, actually,” they say, nodding at Cora. “Sie got hir ears done when sie was a baby and too young to say no.”
Sie can’t help but roll hir eyes at them. “Thanks, Mal.”
They grin at hir and shrug. “Just being honest.”
“Don’t worry,” Erica says, she uses the highlighter to mark two lines on a sheet of paper before passing it to hir. “Kira is really good at what she does. She’ll put you at ease. Could I get you to sign here and initial here?”
“What is it?” Cora asks, eying the paper nervously.
“It’s just a statement that you won’t sue us if you flinch and Kira stabs you in the brain.”
“Oh, my god,” sie whispers.
“Too much?” Erica asks, hiding a smile with her hand.
Malia nods. “Don’t worry. This is really a good thing. They’re just covering their bases so that if you don’t take care of your piercing and it gets infected they won’t be to blame. Or that you won’t sue them because you hate your piercing. Normal stuff.”
A hand pats Cora’s. “I promise Kira won’t actually stab you in the brain.”
Sie looks up to see Erica looking actually apologetic. Sie tries to smile and reassure her, but sie can’t really manage it. Instead, sie just picks up the pen and signs the paper quickly. Sie trusts Malia.
“Awesome.” Erica takes the paper and clips it into another binder. “I’ll get Kira, if you two want to have a seat.”
Cora can barely breathe, and for some reason Gore Gore Girls, which normally soothes hir, is only making hir panic more. “I’m gonna?” Sie doesn’t finish hir statement, fishing hir iPod out of hir back pocket and plugging hir headphones into hir ears. Sie needs something instrumental.
Malia doesn’t seem to mind. They grab a binder that’s set into one of the shelves and start reading.
Sie pulls up Russian Circles and settles into hir chair. “309” should do the trick.
The song only plays about halfway through when a pretty, dark-haired girl with a dark purple streak approaches them. Her name tag reads “Allison; she/her” and she has a dark purple nose ring that almost matches her hair color, except that it’s a little too blue. She’s got a gold hoop through one of her eyebrows, and Cora feels a very sharp surge of envy. Oh, to be as calm about metal going into your face as Allison clearly is.
Allison waves to get Cora’s attention.
Cora pops one earbud out. “Sorry?”
“Do you want me to change the music? We want this experience to be comfortable for you.”
Sie blushes. “It’s—I like the music, but I’m just a little nervous.”
Allison nods in understanding. “I totally panicked when I got my first piercing done.” She taps her left ear lobe. “Mom wouldn’t let me get my ears done until I was 14, but my best friend pierced my ear with a potato wedge and a sewing needle when I was 11. I fainted.” She smiles and ducks her head. “She totally freaked out, too. Wouldn’t do my second ear even when I got up again, and Mom decided I needed to be punished for breaking her rules, so I walked around with only one ear pierced for three years.”
The story is mortifying enough and Allison is pretty enough that Cora can actually focus. “That sounds…dangerous.”
She shrugs. “There’s a reason Lydia isn’t the one doing our piercings. If Kira had done it, she would have pierced the other ear while I was still passed out.”
Sie starts to panic again.
Realizing her mistake, Allison quickly sits down next to Cora. “Not that she would do that to you! I promise. And you definitely won’t pass out.” She pats Cora’s thigh reassuringly.
It makes hir nervous to have someone so pretty touching hir so casually. Allison seems to have the smooth kind of confidence in social situations that Ccra has always envied. In high school, Cora had been too angry, too cold and vicious. Sie’s not as angry now, but sie still doesn’t know how to talk to people without freezing up or saying something wrong.
“You have dimples.”
Case in point.
Maybe it’s best sie said this, though, because otherwise sie might say something about how sie actually would like to change hir mind and leave the shop.
Not that sie will. Sie wants the damn nose ring. Sie’s gonna get it.
Maybe.
Allison blushes. “So do you.”
“Am I smiling?” Cora asks. Sie feels light-headed. Not exactly a smiley kind of mood. Except, maybe sie is, because Allison is making hir feel something.
Behind the binder, Malia snorts.
“No,” Allison says, her blush darkening. “You, uh, you were. A little. When you were listening to your music.”
That makes more sense. “Oh.”
“And you quit when I made you talk to me. Fuck, um, I’m sorry? I’ll give you space.” She hurries off before Cora can say that sie’s fine. Talking to pretty girls is infinitely better than listening to Russian Circles. And anyway, sie’s doing both at once.
“That was adorable,” Malia deadpans, lowering the binder.
Cora glares at them and pointedly puts hir other earbud back in. Sie’s embarrassed, though, when sie realizes hir eyes keep drifting over to Allison.
Allison, who is cleaning up a work station and a chair. She nods her head along to the beat of whatever is playing and sways her hips a little.
Curious about what’s playing, sie pops an earbud out. Sie’s surprised to hear The 5678s playing. Their aesthetic doesn’t exactly match the rest of the music that’s been playing.
Then again, the only real connection to the songs sie’s heard have been that the bands are all female. A demigirl hirself, sie can appreciate that.
(Anyway, even if sie’s not really into the 5678’s typically, sie has to admit that it’s cute, the way Allison is swaying.)
“Cora?”
Sie jumps, and sees a petite girl standing in front of hir. Her name tag reads “Kira, she/her” and she has a lip ring, as though to demonstrate that she’s good at piercing things.
Definitely Malia’s type, then.
“That’s hir,” Malia says quickly, hopping to their feet. “How are you?”
“Malia, right?” she answers, smiling. “How’s the tragus?”
“Really good. I’ve been using the oil you recommended and it’s healed pretty fast.”
“Good!” Kira seems genuinely pleased, like she’s not just looking for a good review on Yelp. It’s reassuring. She glances back at Cora. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” sie sighs, and follows Kira and Malia to a chair. It’s near Allison’s station, but not where sie can see her when sie sits down. Sie tries to pretend it doesn’t bother hir.
“I hope you don’t mind the music. Erica is always giving me crap about how the 5678’s aren’t punk enough, but what does she know, right?”
“Clearly nothing,” Malia says. They’re definitely flirting now, which is almost funny to Cora. Malia rarely bothers with flirting. They prefer just going out and grabbing people.
Then again, maybe it just hadn’t worked on Kira yet.
“Honestly, it’s the music my mom had me listen to when I was growing up,” Kira explains. To Cora, she says, “Did Erica prep you?”
“Kind of,” sie says, at the same time Malia says, admirably, “You’re mom was pretty cool.”
“She is,” she replies with a grin. “I’m gonna tell you everything I’m gonna do before I do it, okay? So first, I’m gonna clean the area for the piercing. Speaking of which, which side of your nose do you want pierced?”
That’s a no-brainer. Sie’s been using eyelash glue to put rhinestones on hir face ever since the idea occurred to hir. Sie knows which side sie prefers. “Left.”
“Great.” Kira opens a small packet—it looks like a moist towlette, almost, but it must be something stronger. She quickly cleans the left side of Cora’s nose. “Do you want a numbing spray? I have to warn that it won’t totally keep you from feeling pain, but it will decrease it.”
“I’d go for it,” Allison says, from where Cora can’t see her. “I wish I had used it for the nose. I definitely appreciated it when I got my eyebrow done.”
So sie nods. Sie’s not sure if it’s because sie doesn’t like needles and pain, or if it’s because sie really wants Allison to like hir.
Either way, sie wants the spray.
Kira sprays it onto hir nose and chats with Malia while waiting for it to set.
The song changes and Cora closes hir eyes. “I’m in the front seat,” she whispers, only barely keeping up with the song.
“You like The Red Aunts?” Allison’s voice pulls her out of hir reverie.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. They’re solid.” Sie turns to look at Allison, who’s leaning over her workstation and watching Cora with a small smile.
“Nice,” she says, holding hir gaze shamelessly.
Unfortunately, sie’s not without shame. Sie ducks her head and bites her lip to hide a smile.
“Are you ready for the needle?” Kira asks then, and Cora squeezes hir eyes shut again.
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Malia’s been a bad influence again, I see,” Laura says when Cora comes into work on Monday morning. “It looks good, Bit.” She walks around the counter to look more closely at the tiny stud in Cora’s nose.
Sie’d picked out a tiny silver flower, for one thing because it was more exciting than a small gem, but also because, well—sie was a florist. Technically.
“Cute. Almost work appropriate,” Laura says admirably. She kisses Cora on the cheek and pats hir on the back. “I did have a small favor to ask.”
Narrowing hir eyes, sie says, “You have a date, don’t you.”
Laura grins. “Brae is in town. You know I can’t resist her.” This is said dramatically, one hand pressed to her heart.
“And you need me to run the front,” Cora sighs.
“Yeah, and don’t tell mom? You know she hates it when I do this last minute.”
“But Braeden only ever shows up last minute, I know.”
She pokes hir stomach triumphantly, clearly knowing she’s close to convincing hir. “She’s buying. You know that means I’m eating something fancy, right? I’ll bring you back an expensive slice of cheesecake…”
That gets hir attention. “Deal.”
“You’re the best sibling I have. So much better than Derek, honestly.”
“I know,” Cora says graciously. Sie hates running the front, but sie hates the way Laura mopes around whenever her girlfriend is out of town—which is normally. Sie keeps trying to convince her to just leave with Braeden next time she goes, but Laura is stubborn, and cares about stuff like the family legacy.
Cora, for the most part, just cares about plants. And, okay, hir family, too.
But plants—sie’s always loved them. Maybe it’s that hir mother always brought hir to work and taught her about their beauty when sie was very young, or maybe it was the way that flowers bloom when sie works hard enough, that they listen when sie murmurs to them, that they never ask anything of hir that sie’s unwilling to give.
In any case, sie loves them. And most of all, sie loves the orchids hir mother’s floral shop is famous for.
Sie heads to the back of the shop and opens the door to the greenhouse. Sie’ll be working alone today—Mondays are typically slow days at their shop, which is fine with hir. Sie likes having the greenhouse to hirself.
Orchids are notoriously tricky to work with, but sie’s always loved the challenge they pose. Sie spends a lot of time caring for them in particular before moving on to the roses. After all, roses are an annual hit.
“You’re looking lovely today,” sie coos at the single bush of yellow roses. They remind hir, oddly, of Kira, who had been so sunshine-y, and, as everyone had promised, reliable.
Sie reaches up and plays a little with hir nose ring before dropping hir hand. Sie knows sie shouldn’t play with it so it will heal right, but sie’s too excited to completely leave it alone.
On to the lilies.
Sie sings softly to the lilies as sie tends to the dirt around them. A couple of them will need to be moved, so the smaller ones can grow up. Sie’s re-potting them when sie realizes sie’s singing Suerte again. Sie blushes, thinking about Allison’s comment about knowing The Red Aunts.
“I just like the song,” sie mutters to herself. Which is true, but sie can’t stop thinking about dimples, and so sie spends the morning blushing and muttering to hirself.
Laura pokes her head in at 11:30 and pouts at Cora until sie joins her in the front of the shop. “You’re the best,” she says again, but this time doesn’t kiss Cora on the cheek. “Make sure you wash up before anyone comes in here.”
Sie reaches up and rubs some of the dirt off hir cheek. It always seems to make it there. “Yeah, yeah.”
There’s a sink behind the counter and sie spends several minutes rinsing hir hands after Laura leaves to meet Braeden. Sie texts her when sie finishes that sie wants a slice of peanut butter chocolate cheese cake.
A couple people come into the shop and place orders. A harried man comes in and buys one of the pre-made bouquets, and then vanishes as quickly as he’d arrived. A forgotten anniversary, sie figures.
Sie’s just finished a consultation with a pair of women who are planning for their wedding when the bell rings over the door. “Be with you in a moment,” sie calls. To the brides to be, sie says, “You’ll be able to pick the arrangements and the bouquets up the evening before the wedding. You can pay now or you can pay then, but you’ll have to pay before we let you leave the shop with the flowers.”
“We’ll need to pay later,” says one, and the other says, “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. Have a nice day!” Finally, sie hurries back to the counter to see who’s waiting. Sie does a double take when sie see’s Allison.
Allison looks equally surprised. “I thought you worked in the back,” she says.
Sie blinks. “Uh?”
Squeezing her eyes shut and grimacing, Allison whispers, “Crap.” Straightening and putting on brave face, she explains, “I asked Kira where I could find you. Um. Kira spent the night with Malia? Possibly the whole weekend. Anyway, uh, Malia said you worked here, but in the back, so I wouldn’t have to explain how morbidly embarrassed I am about asking around about you.”
It’s almost charming. Almost. Except sie’s not sure exactly what Allison wants. “Did something go wrong with my payment?”
“What? No.” She’s blushing again, but her dimples are showing again. “No, I um, I wanted to leave this for you? But I was kind of nervous so I hoped I could just leave it with your sister.” She places a CD sleeve on the counter and pushes it toward her. “I thought you’d like these songs.”
Cora picks it up and reads the back. “I already know these,” sie says slowly.
“Listen anyway?” she suggests.
Sie looks back down at the sleeve and reads through the playlist again. “These are all love songs,” sie mumbles. And at the bottom—
“555-8924. Call me.”
When Cora looks up, Allison is gone, but sie can’t stop smiling.
When Laura gets back, and Cora is back in the greenhouse, sie puts the CD in the stereo. Sie listens while eating hir cheesecake, and sie can’t stop smiling.
I got a loaded heart
And I’ll go crazy if you need…