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“Neon!”
“Pft, Jett your phones backward!”
“Wha-?! No way! It is! how’d it get like that???!”
Jett was leaning on Neon's shoulder trying to take an off-guard picture of her and failing miserably from how drunk she was. Neon wasn't as drunk as Jett, or any of the rest of the duelists. She wasn't much of a drinker because she was afraid of not being able to control her powers if she got too drunk. That doesn’t mean she can't let loose though, and boy was she letting loose. She and Jett were on their 10th song already and they were a riot. Jett was so drunk she could barely hold a tune and Neon was dramatically singing her heart out. The large contrast between the two had everyone cracking up.
“Oh shit, wait, this isn’t the camera??” Jett slurred, holding her phone as if it were some unfamiliar object while she stared at the Netflix screen
“no” Neon laughed heavily as powerpuff girls could be heard booming through Jett’s phone.
“Oh shit our songs starting!” Jett scrambles for her microphone and drops her phone in the process, causing everyone in the room to howl with laughter. Phoenix slapped his knee and Yoru banged his hand on the table with how hard he was laughing. Raze’s whole body was shaking and Killjoy sat right there with her laughing just as hard. Neon toppled over forwards, clutching her sides while laughing, her microphone falling in the process making a very audible clunk noise through the speakers and Jett hurriedly rushed to pick it up, tripping over her own two feet in the process and falling right to the floor. They were a hot mess. Both of them.
Near the back of the mess and their little celebration, sat Fade, who was staring a little too hard at a certain someone.
“So, neon huh?” a smile on Sage’s face as she speaks with a teasing tone.
Fade looked over at Sage, her eyes slightly widened and she sighed in disbelief. Sage was also sitting at the booth near the back of the room. The booth benches looked rather tattered but they were a lot sturdier than their appearance made them out to be. She sat nearby along with Reyna and watched everyone singing karaoke, just like Fade was doing. She noticed how Fade’s stoic face softened and her usually slightly furrowed brows untensed while she gazed at the lightning duelist; the way her frown slightly dissipated along with any type of animosity she usually wears on her face. She saw the way her mask fell slowly when she looked at her.
“I’m not feeling well.” Fade coolly replies, regaining her grip on herself. She looks at Sage with her usual stoic face before flatly denying Sage’s question.
“must've gotten confused because of it.”
“Fade, It’s ok to feel something more-“
“I'm not feeling well.” Fade replied again, this time with a bit more urgency as if she were trying to also convince herself.
Sage stared at her for a second, as if trying to read her facial expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even get a sound out she was interrupted by Reyna.
“denying the obvious is a fool’s errand,” Reyna said with half a smirk.
Sage turned her head to look at the woman sitting next to her in awe. She knew Reyna wasn’t too fond of Fade so seeing her respond or even acknowledging Fade’s existence was almost refreshing in a strange way. She gently took hold of Reyna’s hand before she brought her attention back to Fade.
“It's okay to not want to act upon your feelings, but you should at least acknowledge them and allow yourself to feel them.” Sage’s face softens when she notices Fade’s yonder expression when she mentions feelings, but she continues anyway.
“Allowing yourself to feel can help you process them better and to better handle them.”
Fade’s lips formed a thin line and she stared at Sage and Reyna with an unreadable expression before finally responding with an annoyed sigh.
“I should’ve been more careful.” her grouchy tone caused a chuckle from the couple and Reyna chimed in with a smirk.
“I would've heard your heart beating anyways, you couldn’t have hid from me.” Reyna’s eyes slightly glow after her playful taunt and for some unknown reason, this causes Sage to burst into laughter. Fade tilts her head and eyes Sage for a second.
“Are you- Sage have you been drinking?”
“I may have taken a few sips from Reyna's drink when she wasn't looking…”
This causes Reyna to shoot Sage an unreadable expression before she eventually joins in with a proud laughter of her own and a satisfied look on her face. It was nice to see Sage lighten up, it was a rare sight to see; especially to this caliber.
Reyna’s smile was radiant. She knew that for Sage, unwinding this much in public wasn't something that she was too crazy about. She loved that she’d finally hit that point where she felt comfortable enough to do so, even if it was still somewhat away from people; she didn't mind. She was happy just being by her side without worrying about the fraternization rule anymore. She and Viper don't speak much, but she’s grateful for her help in the decision to get rid of the rule altogether.
“You’re a terrible influence on her.” Fade deadpanned.
“I know,” Reyna replies with a smug smile before leaning closer to Sage and kissing her forehead all while looking at her with a loving expression.
Sage looks up at Reyna lovingly and she giggles before kissing her cheek and Fade groans with a fake annoyed expression.
“Please get a room.”
“Oh little bounty hunter” Reyna starts in a condescending tone.
“This is a room.” she smiles and laughs at Fade’s annoyed groan at her response which made Sage laugh even more.
“Alright alright, I get it. I’ll go talk to her.”
“We never said anything about talking, but that may have been what you wanted all along.” Sage’s whole tone shifted from bubbly to serious and that made Reyna snicker. She did a terrible job at hiding it, or she wasn't hiding it at all?? Honestly, who knows with her?
“I… Damn.” Fade cracked a smile and threw her arms up in defeat. She shook her head and leaned back a little before taking a swig of her alcoholic beverage. What she didn’t expect though, was for it to be so strong. Her face scrunched up and she started coughing. Which caused Reyna to laugh.
“You did ask for the strongest thing I had. Who knew the dreamer couldn’t handle her alcohol?”
“I can handle it just fine thank you.” She stubbornly retorted before reaching to take another sip, only to realize it was all gone. The shock was written all over her face before she started pouting. Yeah, she was tipsy, nope- not drunk at all. At least that's what she told herself anyway.
“It's gone..”
“You drank it all,” Reyna said with a smile. She found this side of Fade to be quite amusing. If she told herself she’d be chatting up the bounty hunter along with the beautiful love of her life and enjoying it- She would have laughed in her face and then shot her, assuming herself to be her omega earth counterpart.
“Damnit.” Fade slammed her hand on the table with an annoyed look before getting up to pour herself another glass. As she walked away she heard Sage and Reyna laughing their asses off at Fade’s mini temper tantrum. She looked so angry yet- she executed that hand slam so weakly it just sent Reyna into orbit with laughter.
“Baby rage.” Sage absentmindedly deadpanned and this made Reyna topple forward and lean on the table as she howled with laughter. It was very safe to say, Sage and Reyna? Both were very drunk.
Fade stood in front of the drink section. She gazed at all the options from left to right, her eyes landing on each beverage with a stony expression and after three minutes she opted for just picking up a random drink and pouring herself a glass. What could go wrong? She doubts anything over here is anything near the drink that Reyna poured her. She placed her hand on the table and leaned on it. She eyed her drink for a while, contemplating what she should do. It’s not like she hasn't talked to Neon before- which she has, she just hasn’t spoken to Neon enough for it to be considered normal for her to just start a conversation. wouldn't that be weir-
“Are you ok?”
Fade jumped at the sudden voice to her left. She glanced over and locked eyes with Neon, who was staring at her with a concerned look on her face. There she was, directly in front of her, staring directly at her.
“My bad, I didn't mean to scare you,” Neon said nervously.
“S’fine”
Fade slurred. Her eyes widened at her words. She didn't expect to be this drunk already.
“Just wondering if I want this drink or not..”
“Well, do you?” Neon started slowly.
“That's what I'm trying to figure out sparks.”Fade deadpanned before slightly tensing up and feeling herself release an annoyed sigh. *’Sparks? what the hell are you thinking?!’* Fade cursed herself internally.
“Oh…. Right. Sorry..” Neon replied awkwardly, pressing her lips together in a thin line and quickly staring off into space.
Her eyes widened slightly as Fade’s words finally dawned on her. Her eyes snap back to Fade’s loose and closed-off posture and then to her face, *those eyes.*. Those relaxed eyes and the cocky grin on her Face which seemed so much more vibrant than usual… Neon couldn’t help but blush slightly before letting out a soft breath…
“Wait… Sparks???”*she replied in confusion.
“Yeah because when you’re around i-….. i-i; um..”*Fade’s voice trails off as she realizes the second half of her sentence, her usual cocky grin ripped right off her face. She almost ratted out her feelings towards the shorter girl in front of her. Damn it that drink made her tongue too loose for her liking. Reyna’s fucking insane to drink something like that and keep her composure so easily.
Neon’s attention was suddenly hyper-focused on Fade, entirely with nothing distracting her. She looked at Fade with hope in her eyes. She knew Fade wasn't one for talking about her feelings or talking in general so she decided to take it slow. Her voice was gentle as she spoke.
“What-“ She swallowed thickly before continuing.
“Fade, What do you mean?” And there it was. That sanguine expression on Neon’s face. For nobody but her. Those Hopeful orbs staring into her own, looking for something. Searching for something beyond this uneasy and awkward tension between them. Searching for more than what’s in front of them ultimately paved the way for the delusion that led Fade to believe that maybe, just maybe they aren’t so different after all. Maybe the feelings that felt so hopeless and despondent weren't as one-sided as she thought, which is why Fade put on a brave face, sucked in a breath of fresh air, and blurted the first thing that came to mind with obvious nervousness thick in her tone as she stared at the ground and spoke.
“The way you smile, your laugh, you’re so genuine with everything; especially with the things and people you care about and it’s so contagious, it's honestly almost impossible to ignore, hell even viper’s softened up a bit. You ignite the best in people. like a spark.” Fade took a breath, she felt her chest pounding like a drummer for a death metal song. She stole a slow, nervous glance at Neon’s face to find the duelist with an unreadable expression, hanging on to her every word. It was slightly overwhelming and Fade felt her face heat up from the nerves but she couldn't look away. Neon’s expression felt like a magnet pulling her in and telling her to stay, to keep looking at her, to keep going. It was almost saying, don't look away in the most vague way possible. With a slightly flustered expression, she continued, stuttering and stammering over her words slightly as she forced them out.
“An annoying spark that shines so bright.” She grunted through clenched teeth, furrowing her brows as she stared off as if to sell her supposed annoyance with Neon. “That-“
“Hazal.” Neon’s serious, mellifluous tone paired with the hand she brought up to Fade’s cheek nearly took her out of this realm entirely. Fade never pegged herself to be the type of person that freezes up ever but here was Neon effortlessly turning her into a caffeine-relient, sleep-deprived, human statue. When she saw the soft, benevolent smile on Neon’s face she swore she felt her brain stop working for a second. She had never seen Neon make an expression like this before and yet here she was, making it just for her. It made her heart swell to the point of overflowing emotions and mannerisms that she could no longer mask. She couldn’t hide the nervous twitching of her fingers, the soft gnawing at her bottom lip, the way her eyes darted elsewhere every so often. She couldn't hide any of it. She had never felt this flustered in her entire life.
“Tala.” She nervously replied, her voice cracking in the process.
Neon brought her face closer to Fade’s. Their lips were only mere inches away from each other.
“Can I kiss you?”
“....yeah,” Fade softly breathed out, her tone slightly higher, she felt like she was dreaming. This couldn’t be real, No way fucking Tala Nicole Dimaapi Valdez asked to kiss HER.
“You can.” Fade swallowed nervously and that was all it took for Neon to press her lips upon Fade’s.
Tldr, the kiss was fucking phenomenal. Fade felt as if she were kissing live clouds. Neon’s lips were soft and plush. The feeling was fleeting. She closed her eyes, really melting into the kiss. She brought her hands around Neon’s waist, shyly pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Neon’s hands never moved from Fade's face, and Fade loved it.
After kissing for what felt like years the pair finally pulled away for oxygen. A soft smile blessed Neon’s face and Fade wore a small side smirk but on the inside, she was ecstatic. Her and Neon, they kissed. On the lips. Life was amazing right now.
“God it's about time you guys kissed- it was so annoying watching you guys dance around each other! Thank GOD it's over- you guys took like, forever!” Slurred a familiar voice belonging to none other than a certain white-haired and currently drunk duelist who was as red as a tomato.
“Jett where the hell did you even come from?!” Hissed a startled Neon, her brows furrowing in annoyance. The mood was ruined now. It was perfect! She was going to pour her heart out to Fade the same way she did to her! Damn it jett!
“Reyna sent me to tell you something but i forgot!”
Now it was Fade’s turn to get annoyed.
“Mondragón.” She snarled with a clear scowl on her face. She glanced behind jett to see a shit-eating grin on Reyna’s face. She even waved at Fade with a slight flick of her fingers.
“Fucking reyna!” She shouted in frustration, running her hands through her hair.
And just like that, a touching, heartfelt, and sentimental moment was ruined.