Archive of Our Own

The dim glow of a laptop screen was all that illuminated the room. Only only sounds filling the silence were the scritch -es of a tablet pen on a tablet, and faint hyper-pop emanating from Vera Billet’s bright red headphones.

She was sitting with her knee pulled up to her chest as she drew, concentrating. Only once the room lights were flicked on was her attention diverted.

“Veraa…” Her roommate, now standing in the doorway, sighed lightheartedly. 

Vera watched as her roommate in question, Shianne Callisto, placed down her messenger bag by the doorway and began tying up her long, dyed-pink hair in a ponytail, standing in front of a mirror. The purple, black, and platinum highlights all mixing together and getting lost in Shianne’s lower-effort ponytail. Vera removed her headphones as Shianne turned to her, satisfied with the hairstyle.

“What? It saves money on electricity,” Vera chimed. Shianne returned with a defeated smile, only offering a headshake as she stumbled over to the plush chair that sat on the opposite wall, beside Vera’s desk. Keeping her eyes on her roommate, Vera placed her pen down and turned her swivel chair to face Shianne. “How’d the audition go?”

Shianne smiled weakly and waved her hand. “C’mon, you look absolutely dead on your feet, so it either went great or terrible. So… what’s up? Which was it?” Vera’s voice held an almost teasing tone, but both of them knew she was at least a little genuinely worried. 

The other let out a long, heavy sigh, and closed her eyes. The small smile she’d had before faded out a bit as she let herself emotionally relax. Vera pulled her long, teal hair back under her signature black headband. She took off her artists glove and crossed her arms, focusing on her roommate. “Not good? Was Shine there?”

Shianne put a hand to her face, agonizingly dragging it back down. “... Naturally. She’s everywhere now.” 

Shine Mizaya. A newcomer to the film and TV acting realm who’d really taken the world by storm. It wasn’t that she was inherently a bad person- or actor, for that matter- she just had a habit of getting on Shianne’s nerves every time they met at auditions.

“I’m sure you still did fantastic though.”

“I suppose we’ll have to let the callbacks tell.”

“It was for a musical, wasn’t it? C’mon they’ve gotta call you back, you’re Shining Glitter, for Pure’s sake!”

Shianne let out a near laugh, although it was moreless just a sigh. “As much as I’d like to make the callbacks, it’d suck for it to just be because of like… ‘celebrity casting’.”

“Fair… but, celebrity or not- you’re wicked talented. They’d be fools to not cast you, for real.”

Shianne smiled exhaustedly, but she did look back down at Vera, a grateful look in her eyes. Vera noticed her gaze flick down, then back up to meet Vera’s eyes. “Are you wearing my shirt?” she smirked.

“Ah-” Vera checked the shirt she’d been wearing. “... I guess I am, hah. Sorry ‘bout that.” She began running her fingers through her hair, slightly embarrassed. Shianne waved her hand. “Nah, don’t worry! It suits you. Y’can keep it if you want, I never wear it anyways.”

“.. You sure?”

“Mhm. You make so many clothes for me anyway, it’s the least I can do in return! I’m literally wearing your design right now, so.” she giggled. Vera smiled softly in response. “If you say so…”

She hadn’t even noticed Shianne was wearing one of her designs. It was one of her simpler ones- a black, cropped shirt with a small, contrasting white triangle in the center and long sleeves. She’d designed it to be activewear, so the stretchy material was nicely form-fitting and breathable. And, well, considering Shianne had worn it to a high-energy movie-musical audition, she must’ve achieved the ‘activewear’ aspect.

After a pause of comfortable silence, Shianne pushed herself up to stand. “I think I’m gonna make tea… you want some?” 

“Oh, uh… sure, why not?”

“Cool, cool.”

Vera watched Shianne’s pink ponytail disappear around the corner, and once she’d left, Vera turned back to her laptop, turning it back on from sleep mode.

The canvas she’d had up- the project she’d been working on,- was filled with loose concept sketches of new clothing designs. It’d felt like it’d been a while since she’d been able to design a collection she felt truly inspired with, so she convinced herself to spend the day thinking of how to solve that. Unfortunately, with little success.

She twirled her tablet pen around her fingers as she stared down at the messy canvas. Zoomed out, it all just looked like blobs of colour. Pinks, blues, greens, purples- all just thrown around the canvas. Like a painter who’d done nothing but throw cans of paint onto the canvas. Art in the stylistic sense, but not in Vera’s clothing-design-sense.

She looked down at the tiny digital clock that was displaying the time on her laptop. 10:23 PM. Yet another sigh escaped Vera’s lips. She felt simultaneously exhausted and completely unable to sleep at the same time.

“My turn to ask, what’re you up to?” Shianne’s voice broke her trance, as she playfully nudged the back of Vera’s head with a warm mug. Vera spun around in her chair and accepted the mug of tea Shianne was now holding out to her. “Just… artblocked, I guess.”

Shianne sunk back into her chair, her attention still on Vera. The designer simply took a drink of her tea, then looked over to the mess of ideas displayed on her screen despairingly. “Hahh… been working all day, but couldn’t come up with anything worthwhile.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to call it a day, right? If you’ve been at it for a while, maybe you just need to come back with a fresh mind.”

“I- I want to, but… that’s what I’ve been doing for weeks now! I…. I need to prove to myself I still can make something- anything!- that really speaks to me. That really feels like one of my creations.”

Vera placed her mug down and readjusted her headband. She stared down at her work. “I just… don’t know what to do.” 

Shianne hummed, taking a sip of her own tea, the two sitting in a moment of silence before she spoke again. “I don’t think you should try to force it. Really. The more stressed you are over it, the less you’ll be able to just… do what you feel.”

“But-”

Before Vera could fight back, Shianne pushed herself up onto her feet and held her hand out to Vera, causing her to lose her train of thought. “... What are you doing?” she asked her pink-haired roommate.

Shianne smiled softly. “C’mon,” she offered, gesturing for Vera to take her hand. Hesitantly, she did, and Shianne pulled Vera up to stand as well.

The designer was led out of the office area, and out to the living room. Shianne only let go of Vera’s hand once there to move their coffee table out of the way. Vera watched, a confused smile sitting on her face. “Shianne, what’re you doing?”

“Taking your mind off stress.”

“It’s like… eleven at night, isn’t it getting kinda late?” Vera commented. Shianne looked over to the digital clock sitting on top of a shelf. 10:58 , it blinked. Vera watched her roommate smirk and begin messing around with the clock until it the display read 7:58. Three hours back.

“Not anymore, not in the Shianne-Time-Zone!” she smiled. 

“... Shianne,” Vera laughed, warmly. The singer waved a hand dismissively and began fiddling with the CD player sitting on the same shelf. A few buttons were pressed, and music began to fill the room.

Vera stifled another laugh, watching her roommate sink into some half-dance-half-walk towards her, an invitation to join as the music started up.

♫ Been working so hard; I'm punching my card

♫ Eight hours, for what?; Oh, tell me what I got

“Shianne, I- Don’t your feet hurt like hell?” Vera mused. She was still hesitant to join in her roommate's dance, but offered to walk as the other danced back, further into the room, mouthing each word to the song.

♫ I've got this feeling; That time's just holding me down

♫ I'll hit the ceiling; Or else I'll tear up this town

“Nah, trust me- I’ve felt waaay worse before, this is nothing,” She spun, improving the basic little dance. “Besides,” she held out her hand once again to Vera. “Being around you always makes me feel better.”

Vera had stood, observing, with her arms crossed, but… with Shianne’s second offer, she could only playfully roll her eyes and accept, her roommate spinning her around and taking both her hands in her own.

♫ So now I gotta cut loose; Footloose

♫ Kick off the Sunday shoes; Please, Louise

Shianne had established herself as the leader in the dancing- which Vera had no issue with. “Shianne, you know I can’t- I can’t dance,” she complained, although both of them knew there was no actual complaint, or want to stop. Shianne spun Vera around once again, and then released her hands to let them feel the vibes for a moment. “I think you’re doing just fine,” she smiled.

♫ Pull me off of my knees; Jack, get back

♫ Come on before we crack; Lose your blues

Vera shook her head, flustered, almost, and felt Shianne take hold of her hands again.

♫ Everybody cut footloose!

Despite Vera being considerably taller than her roommate, herself standing at 5’11”- a whole four inches taller, Shianne seemed to have no troubles guiding her through this improvised dance. 

Vera found herself watching Shianne through the dance, a special kind of joy lighting up her face as she mouthed each word. It was impossible for Vera to not fall into the feeling too, quickly finding herself putting more of herself into the dance as the second chorus kicked in. The two danced around the living room- messily, and unorganized,- but not once did their enthusiasm falter. 

♫ Everybody cut, everybody cut-

Shianne let go of Vera’s hands, doing her own little solo spin, then pointed to Vera.

♫ Everybody cut, everybody cut-

To which, Vera responded with some sort of shoulder roll- she wasn’t expecting to need a solo move!

Nonetheless, in the final beats, their hands extended out to each other once again, and Vera spun the star into her arms just on time with the music to hit the last note.

The two stood there, chests heaving, and held in each others arms. The apartment was suspended in silence as they caught their breath, leaving only the quiet ticking of the off-time clock. With a heavy exhale, Vera watched Shianne’s lips curl up into a smile and, with a free hand, brush some of Vera’s hair behind her ear.

“... So what’s that you said about not being able to dance?” Shianne mused. Vera laughed sheepishly, unlocking the two from their finishing pose, and relaxing her arms. “Gah…  c’mon, Shianne,”'

“What, I mean it!” Shianne giggled, poking Vera’s arm playfully, making her snicker as well. The two roommates stood in the center of the living room, laughing softly together. As they faded out, Vera kept her gaze on her hyper-pink roommate, taking her happiness in.

It was funny. Sure, her stage name was “Shining Glitter”, but Shianne really did shine. No matter where they were, every smile glowed just as bright as the lights used in her concerts. Her demeanour was always genuine and open, no kindness she displayed onstage was fake. It was amazing.

Vera placed a gentle hand underneath Shianne’s face, brushing her thumb on the star’s cheek. “Y’know...  I really don’t know what I’d do without you,”

Shianne moved to rest her own hand on top of Vera’s. “.. I’m not sure what I’d do without you either. I’m… so lucky to have you here.” she spoke, softly, but clearly.

“... It’s amazing that you still had any energy left for that,”

“Well… seeing you happy could give me enough energy to do anything. You… you make me happy.”