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“To Laura!”
Glasses were raised and cheers were yelled as the group all took a drink in celebration of Laura, she had recently gained a hefty pay check in her work in investigative journalism when she covered a particularly high-profile story. So naturally, her best friends had insisted on a night out to celebrate.
“Who’d have thought that when we met Frosh here!” LaFontaine shouted, turning a little red in the face and completely ignoring Perry’s attempts to get them to sit down. “That she’d go on to be a big shot journalist!”
Laura pursed her lips to hold back her smile. “Little insulting, LaF”
The scientist shushed her. “I think we all remember the day we first met Laura, a Zeta party where she shoved Kirsch over here into the pool and then fell in with him after he called her ‘hottie’. I think we all knew from that day onward that Laura here was a force to be reckoned with, and now the world of media is beginning to recognise that too.”
Laura blushed a little, even Perry looked a little shocked at the meaning behind their words, and LaFontaine looked completely sober as they rounded off their speech. “I won’t say anything more than, to Laura.”
Everyone raised their glasses in a calmer way and looked to the journalist, Laura’s blush deepened as everyone’s attention was on her, and Kirsch laid an arm around her shoulders and shook her playfully. “Come on bros, leave little hottie alone.”
Once upon a time she would have hit him for that comment, but now she saw it as words of affection, she also saw it as progress given how crude he used to be.
Taking in the scene before her, she grinned as Perry offered to do shots with her, something that she didn’t do very often. The two women began to knock back shots of tequila with a breakneck pace, drawing the hollers from the group around her.
They were idiots, but they were her idiots.
It was 3:30 in the morning and Laura was staggering down a street on the way back to her apartment, Danny had tried to insist on walking her back but she wasn’t exactly in any condition to be walking anywhere without help herself. Laura had begun to sober up whilst walking through the crisp autumn air of her city, but not by much.
A rustling sound quickly gained her attention; she spun around and saw a cat blinking owlishly at her with its emerald green eyes. Laura cocked her head to the side and gazed at the creature, their locked gazes never ceased as she began to walk towards it. Laura didn’t acknowledge the fact that she was practically trespassing on to someone’s property in order to get closer to said person’s cat, once she reached the porch she plopped down on to the step carelessly and reached out her fingers slowly towards the cat.
It rubbed itself along her hand, the black fur of the animal shimmering in the moonlight, Laura giggled softly as it began to purr contentedly. She eventually lost track of how much time she spent with the animal on her lap, after a while it fell asleep and Laura desperately tried to fight back her yawn whilst succumbing to the temptation of sleep.
She awoke a few hours later with a black blanket draped over her curled up form, the sun was well up into the sky and the cat wasn’t on her lap anymore. Laura sat up slowly and groaned at the feeling of sledgehammers crashing around in her head, looking to her left she noticed her new friend with its head in a bowl next to the door. There was a piece of paper and a pen next to the bowl, presumably for Laura to find. She crawled over to the paper and smiled at the cat when it raised its head in her direction and meowed as if to say ‘Good Morning’, she picked up the paper and chuckled in a sort of embarrassment when she read the message.
To the girl who is currently napping on my front porch,
Good morning sunshine, I won’t ask why you happened to be sleeping outside my front door but I like to think you’re at least a little sorry when I tell you that I tripped over you on my way to work this morning. Well it was a pleasure to have you and everything but I’d appreciate it if you left that blanket by the door, it happens to be my favourite.
See you around cupcake.
Cupcake? Laura thought to herself.
She soon got to her feet, folded the blanket and left it by the door as requested, but not without turning the paper and writing a quick reply.
Thank you for not kicking me awake this morning, sorry I saw your cat and fell asleep whilst petting him, drunken night out with friends results in me falling asleep on stranger’s porches apparently.
I think you’ll be seeing me first given that I’ve no idea who you are.
Laura.
Laura placed the reply on top of the blanket and with a goodbye stroke in between the cat’s ears; she took off down the street and in the direction of her house.
LaF (14:46): Frosh where are you? Perr’s saying you were meant to be coming over and she’s kind of freaking out.
LaF (14:58): L? You never sleep past 10AM so where the hell are you? There’d better be a good reason for this. If you don’t reply soon I’m calling Danny. Yes I will go that far.
Laura (15:00): Call off the cavalry LaF, I’m fine. I’m on my way over now, I may have fell asleep on a stranger’s doorstep on the street just over from yours.
LaF (15:03): WHAT. Details. Which house? I might know who it was.
Laura (15:04): I’ll explain over lunch, I’m practically outside.
“So you went to pet a cat, and ended up falling asleep with the cat and almost killed the owner of the cat when they stepped outside in the morning. The owner then put a blanket on you and just left you to wake up?”
Laura sighed. “Yeah that’s what happened, I woke up, left the blanket by the door and replied to you.”
Perry handed her a mug of hot cocoa and squeezed her shoulder. “Sorry to freak you out Perr, hangovers take a lot out of me obviously.”
“It’s alright Laura, I just wish you hadn’t of slept on a stranger’s property. Lord knows what could have happened to you.” Perry moved back into the kitchen to place the salad into some bowls before returning and handing them to the two sat at the table.
“She said ‘see you around’?” LaFontaine asked, drawing Perry and Laura back into the conversation after the location of the house had been explained. “I have no idea who she is but I’ve seen a woman coming out of there, she made it obvious she wants to see you again if she implied that she’d see you.”
Laura shook her head. “No she won’t, she probably thinks I’m some teenage idiot who is constantly drunk and likes cats.”
LaFontaine didn’t bother to reply as they dug into their meal, but neither Laura nor Perry liked the mischievous look in their eyes.
The second time it happened, Laura was completely sober.
She was walking down the street where the mystery woman lived on her way home from work when she heard the familiar meowing sound; she looked round and saw the cat running at her from the garden path where it had taken residence. Kneeling down, she giggled when the cat sighed contentedly and ran its face over her fingers. Laura crooked her fingers under its chin and it began to purr from the welcomed fussing, a sharp whistle broke her out of her reverie as the cat began to sprint back up the path towards the house.
Laura straightened up slowly and groaned in pleasure at the feeling of her spine popping; she looked up and saw a dark haired woman leaning against one of the supports to the entrance of her porch. The woman was wearing tight, ripped skinny jeans and a red and black flannel shirt. Laura instinctively knew that this was who left her the note from the knowing smirk that graced her chiselled features, she raised her hand and wiggled her fingers in a playful wave, and Laura ducked her head and blushed. She nodded in hello and then turned away to practically sprint down the street.
Anything to get her away from the woman with her sensuality and her stupidly attractive smirk.
“YOU RAN AWAY?”
“LaFontaine keep your voice down!” Laura hissed.
“The cat comes after you, and then Seduction Eyes over there is watching from her house, so you think the best thing to do is duck your head and run away?” LaF asked incredulously from their seat across the table.
Laura didn’t think it was possible to blush any harder in that moment; she buried her face in her hands as LaFontaine didn’t stop laughing. “I panicked!”
They shook their head as their laughing began to simmer down. LaFontaine took a bite of their breakfast whilst thinking about their reply; it had become a ritual for the two of them to meet for breakfast at least three times a week and Laura had jumped on the chance to talk about her encounters with the mysterious woman. She thought about the fact that this person had made no other effort to speak to her; as if she was content in the knowledge that she was flustering the journalist from that distance.
“Imagine how I’d react if she actually spoke to me…” Laura huffed under her breath.
LaFontaine grinned devilishly. “And what are you muttering about, my favourite tiny gay?”
She shook her head quickly. “Nothing. So tell me about life with Perry!”
LaFontaine blushed as they began to reiterate tales of the lives of them and Perry, Laura welcomed the chance for distraction as she tried to take her mind off the stranger. Her phone buzzed in her pocket which made LaFontaine pause and raise their eyebrow, Laura smiled apologetically as she swiped the screen without checking it, already having a horrible idea of who it was.
“Hello?”
“Laura! Where are you?”
The journalist sighed; of course Danny would be checking in on her, LaFontaine grimaced as they figured out who was on the phone. They and Danny had never been friends but they made the effort for the sake of Laura, LaFontaine had been her best friend along with Perry since they were kids, so they didn’t exactly appreciate when Danny came along and started to act like she knew what was best for Laura.
“I’m out with LaFontaine, like I am most mornings?” Laura closed her eyes.
“When are you coming home?” Danny asked after a moment of silence.
“I don’t know Danny, I don’t plan my schedule just to fit you” Laura sighed agitatedly, she’d let herself feel bad about it later.
“Am I not allowed to care about you Laura? It’s my job to keep you safe!”
LaFontaine winced when they heard the last part of Danny’s reply; they could see the annoyance in the rigidity of Laura’s frame. Oh hell she looked pissed.
“Your job?” Laura fumed before Danny could carry on. “You’re not my father, Danny Lawrence. I need support from my girlfriend, not a guard dog on behalf of my father. Call me when you’re going to stop being so overbearing, I can’t handle it. I can make my own choices, and if they turn out to be the wrong ones then it’s my burden to bear, I don’t need to be protected by the big strong grown-ups.”
“Laura-“
“Goodbye, Danny.” Laura whispered firmly before hanging up.
She threw her phone down on the table and buried her face into her hands; she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder from LaFontaine and sighed as all the tension was released from their shoulders. “Is it bad that for a moment I completely forgot I had a girlfriend?”
“I don’t think you have a girlfriend L” The scientist smiled pitifully. “You have a handler.”
Laura groaned loudly, drawing the glares of other customers around their booth, LaFontaine shot them all glares and they soon returned to their meals. “What do I do, LaF? I shouldn’t be thinking about some random girl more than my girlfriend?”
They furrowed their eyebrows. “Do you want the best friend opinion, or my actual opinion?”
Laura looked confused. “They aren’t the same thing?”
“Best friend opinion is impartial; my opinion has what I actually think because I don’t like your girlfriend.”
Laura couldn’t help but giggle at their bluntness, it was very refreshing. “Both.”
“Well the best friend opinion is to think about if you’re actually happy with Danny, because you’re not the kind of person to show this much interest in another girl. I’m not saying you have a crush, but if you get to know this girl I’m fairly certain it’ll happen-“
“LaFontaine.” Laura growled half-heartedly, now was not the time for subtle jokes.
“But my opinion is to just drop Danny, she’s borderline controlling you Laura, you can do a lot better than her. Plus this mystery woman sounds hot, if I wasn’t a science nerd I’d say the fact that she lives in between my house and yours, a journey that you make practically every day, is fate”
“You’re biased.” Laura muttered in an attempt to dissuade them. “I might go and see her in the next few days, try and talk it all out.”
“Even Perr said that you haven’t been happy lately. Once upon a time you looked at Danny like he put stars in the sky, now you look at her like she just shot them all down.” LaFontaine explained, and Laura hated that they were right.
“You think I should break up with her, and soon.” Laura looked into their eyes.
They nodded without even flinching.
Laura sighed. Wonderful.
Kirsch was a close friend of Laura’s.
Everyone assumed that Danny or LaFontaine knew her the most.
People would often be surprised at how close the two are.
So when Laura began showing up at the bar at night more, he knew that something was up. LaF and Perry were rarely with her and there seemed to always be something missing in her eyes. He never charged her for her drinks, and he always lingered on their hugs before she left, he didn’t need to say anything but Laura knew he was there when she was ready to talk.
Laura was glad that it was Kirsch that saw this instead of Perry or LaF, they had no idea how much her alcohol intake had increased beyond their occasional get-together, Kirsch had been the one to put the pieces of her back together when she had had a downward spiral a few years before, so he knew when to be worried.
Unlike Danny.
She had been having a drink with some of her Summer Society friends and saw Laura at the bar with half-lidded eyes and a bottle of water next to her along with several empty shot glasses, to Laura’s dismay she had instantly abandoned her friends and forced Laura out the door and insisted on walking her home.
The walk had been infuriatingly awkward; they had taken a scenic route so Laura could sober up a little. Danny was confused about her behaviour and Laura had no interest in even looking at her girlfriend as she staggered down a very familiar road.
“Laura can we talk? I don’t know why you’re so mad, and honestly this silent treatment act is getting boring.”
Laura just scoffed.
They kept on walking until Laura’s eyes lit up and she squealed, Danny’s eyebrows rose until she saw the little ball of fluff at her ankles. Laura dropped to her knees and instantly the cat jumped into her lap and began nuzzling her face, she giggled and began to talk to it quietly. “Hello again, have you missed me?”
The cat purred and Danny felt anger beginning to boil beneath her skin. “Laura, are you kidding me? It’s the middle of the night, you need to get home, and you’re sitting in the middle of the street with a cat instead of sorting out whatever the hell our relationship is?”
Laura’s happy smile dropped. “I don’t want to talk to you Danny, go away.”
Danny huffed and forced herself to turn around and walk back to the bar, if she had forced Laura home that wouldn’t help anything. As she turned away she met the eyes of a dark-haired woman who had watched the debacle from her open living room window, the woman gave Danny a bad feeling and the two women glared at each other until Danny had to drop her gaze.
After she had left, Laura sighed; she scratched the cat’s chin and whispered quietly. “This whole thing is a mess, what do I do?”
The cat simply purred more and licked her jaw a couple of times.
“You’re very helpful aren’t you?” Laura smiled tiredly, feeling the alcohol lose its control over her.
A whistle cut through the air and Laura didn’t have to look up to know who it is, the cat bolted from her knee and she got to her feet, feeling an incredible sense of déjà vu. The mystery woman was stood in the exact same position as the last time they had met; she wore leather pants and a moon phases t-shirt, she was also looking at Laura with furrowed eyebrows.
She could sense that this woman wanted to know if she was okay and maybe an explanation, she shook her head and offered a small smile. If she was going to be meeting this woman properly at some point then she wanted to be sober and less-inclined to snap at her for breathing.
Laura then waved at her in goodbye before making the four minute journey to her house, and to her bed, where she planned on not leaving it for a full 24 hours.
LaFontaine and Perry had begun to notice Laura’s presence a lot more within the last few days; she was with them more often than not since her argument with Danny. To cheer her up LaFontaine had suggested going to their usual bar for a few drinks. They had kicked her out of the house and told her to go dress up; they and Perry would pick her up on the way. Laura had grumbled good-naturedly but walked out of the door with a smile on her face.
Perry didn’t have to look at her partner’s concerned face to know that it was the first time she had properly smiled in a while.
Considering they were only going to the local bar they cleaned up rather well; Laura had opted for cream skinny jeans and a light blue plaid shirt, which was a big improvement to the sweatpants and oversized hoodie she had been living in for the last God knows how long.
Kirsch was the man working behind the bar when they’d arrived, he’d greeted them with a wide grin and a nod, when they had had sat the bar he abandoned the man he was talking to and joined the three of them.
“Evening la- friends!” He caught himself, earning a wink and an approving nod from LaFontaine.
Laura smiled at her friend but it was clearly only for show.
Kirsch dropped his grin and adopted a concerned face. “What’s wrong, Little L?”
She shrugged in response, not really wanting to spill her problems again.
“Danny trouble.” LaF mouthed over Laura’s shoulder whilst simultaneously rubbing comforting circles into her shoulders.
Kirsch’s mouth thinned into a grim line and he nodded, moving backwards slightly he crouched for a moment before pulling out a cocktail glass and standing back up. He placed it on the bar before grabbing a multitude of liquids and a single cherry, in record timing he mixed it together and poured it into the glass. He picked it up gracefully and gently placed it in front of Laura, who hadn’t been paying attention until now, her eyes lit up in recognition but narrowed in confusion at the sight of the cherry. “One Clone Club, on the house.”
She picked up the drink and swallowed the entire glass in one try, taking out the cherry and biting into it, Laura hummed thoughtfully. “Sarah Manning?”
Kirsch grinned and nodded.
“The cherry though? New addition?”
He shook his head as he held up one finger to a customer trying to get his attention. “There was a girl in here earlier, she asked me what my specialty was and I told her about the Clone Club. She got the reference and asked to try it, she said the drink was good but the Sarah Manning needed to be a little sweeter.”
The ‘Clone Club’ was a series of drinks that Kirsch and Laura had come up with one night after they had binge-watched Orphan Black, Laura had told him about the characteristics of each of the Clones and he came up with the drink that matched it but didn’t tell her the combination. Whenever Laura couldn’t decide what she wanted; Kirsch made her one and she had to guess which character the drink was.
“Good idea. Who was she?” Laura asked.
“A regular here actually, total hottie. Carmilla.” He replied, already mixing together LaFontaine’s preferred Alison Hendrix, and Perry’s Cosima Niehaus.
“Am I meant to know who that is?”
Kirsch’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion. “She seems to know who you are.”
At Laura’s still confused demeanour he elaborated. “Dark hair, short, cheekbones and a jawline carved by the gods? I mentioned your name when I was explaining the drinks to her and she described what you looked like and asked if it was you. I said yeah and she just smirked, I kind of assumed you knew her.”
Laura’s eyes widened, she shot up in her seat and nearly knocked LaFontaine over as she realised who Kirsch meant. “Oh my god…” She moaned, face-palming to hide her blushing cheeks.
“The night we were celebrating my report on the disappearances at the University I fell asleep on her porch because I was stroking her cat, and then she saw me again but I just blushed and ran away like a schoolgirl.”
LaF scoffed. “Yeah, a schoolgirl with a crush.”
Laura’s blushed deepened as she elbowed LaFontaine. “I don’t have a crush on her, I have a girlfriend.”
“Seduction eyes. All I’m saying.”
“Seduction eyes?” Came a voice from behind them.
Laura sighed internally. Of course Danny would turn up now.
LaFontaine rolled their eyes at Danny’s arrival, something that the taller woman didn’t miss; she just clenched her jaw and lowered her eyes to Laura’s back. “Laur, can we talk?”
“No.” Came the short reply.
Danny sighed. “There’s no need to be so childish Laura, I just want to talk.”
Laura finally turned around and the disaffected look in her eyes unsettled everyone more than her anger would have done. “I’m sure you’d prefer that though, wouldn’t you? Give you more of a reason to smother me and try to make me be the good little girlfriend that doesn’t do anything without your permission. We both know the reason why you’re such a control freak, Danny.”
LaFontaine sat back, watching the argument unfold with wide eyes, Laura was being brutal.
Danny narrowed her eyes and lifted her head to glare at Kirsch. “How much have you given her? You know she can’t handle much alcohol!-“
“No!” Laura yelled. She jumped out of her seat and glared at Danny with such a force that it almost had the athlete cowering. “You don’t get to yell at him and act like you’re the person that knows what’s perfect for me!”
“Of course I know what’s right for you!” Danny shouted exasperatedly.
Are you fucking kidding me?”
LaFontaine would have laughed at Laura swearing if the moment wasn’t so tense. The two arguing women now had the attention of the entire bar, but Laura was on a roll.
“You parade me around like a prized possession, a little wind-up doll that only dances when you say I can. The protection was cute at first but then it turned possessive, at first I just thought you were worried about losing me but no, it’s fear that I’ll find out-“ Laura fumed, her voice cracked at the last second and she fell silent.
After seconds, minutes, maybe even hours Laura spoke again. “What’s my job, Danny?”
Danny stood, tense and rigid. “Investigative Journalist.”
“And what do they do?”
“They find out the truth by doing intensely deep research into a specific field of interest.” Danny replied.
“I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I am damn good at my job. I know how to find out what’s being kept from me and the public even at the expense of everything I am. If it wasn’t for my stubbornness to fight your control, a man would still be walking free most likely after he escaped the police when he kidnapped the Silas students. If I hadn’t submitted that report and put the clues together then I dread to think what could have happened, so I know that I can take care of myself and I don’t need you to do it.”
“What’s your point, Laura?” Danny practically growled, making LaFontaine get to their feet.
“My point is, you hypocrite, that you don’t keep secrets from a journalist.” Laura glared; she then spoke to LaFontaine without breaking eye contact with her girlfriend. “Hey LaF, do you remember when we went for breakfast last week and I told you that I was going to try and talk it out with Danny?”
LaF clenched their jaw and felt Perry’s fingers slip through their own and squeeze comfortingly. “Yeah, what about it?”
“I went over the next day, her car was in outside the apartment building so I know she was there, I walked up the stairs and when I was walking down the corridors I heard a funny series of noises.”
Danny paled.
Kirsch, LaFontaine and Perry all looked at each other as they came to the same conclusion.
“I half convinced myself that you had just gone out for a run and it wasn’t you but then I heard you moaning, how long have you been cheating Danny Lawrence?”
“Laura, I haven’t been cheating, it was clearly my roommate!”
Laura rolled her eyes. “Exactly! You’ve been fucking Elsie for god knows how long and don’t you dare try and say you weren’t there I know what your moans sound like. You weren’t only protective of me because you were worried about my safety, you had a compulsive need to shelter me so I wouldn’t find out you were sleeping with someone else.”
Laura felt the world lift off her shoulders, she felt LaFontaine squeeze her shoulder with their free hand. “Now this has all been brought to light, walk out that door Lawrence. If I find you near Laura again I’ll use you for experiments that I’m sure I’d be arrested for, and I’d make them especially painful since it wouldn’t be too difficult for it to find its way into your food, I’m sure I have some unmarked chemicals laying around in my lab.”
The threat wasn’t particularly violent but it had Laura and Kirsch shuddering as they recalled some the experiments that had been done on them without knowledge.
Danny glared at her shoes but before she turned away she went to open her mouth Laura cut her off.
“Don’t give me the ‘I can change. I love you, I’m sorry’ spiel. Just go Danny, we’re quite clearly done.”
She left without a protest, Elsie following soon after.
Laura turned back to the bar and took some bills out of her back pocket; she gave them to Kirsch and asked for a bottle of Jägermeister. She did two shots quickly and spoke to her friends. “If you want to get as drunk as me then feel free, but get your own alcohol.”
Perry and LaFontaine simply looked at each other, Laura needed to forget about tonight so she didn’t need her friends mothering her, so they quickly got their own bottle and soon caught up on the shot count.
Several hours later, Perry and LaF had walked Laura home and left her with a hug and a promise to call in the morning, she changed out of the skin-tight jeans she had been wearing and into some slightly-looser jeans and a hoodie. Laura then walked out of her door and decided to go for a walk around the block, for some reason she wanted to see the attractive woman’s- Carmilla’s cat and just sob out her problems to it.
Thankfully the cat was there when she arrived at the house; Laura took a second to admire the 1969 Camaro in the driveway before moving to the porch and sitting down quietly. She squealed slightly when she suddenly had an arm full of cat who had hit her with such force that she fell back and hit the floor of the porch with a bang. She grumbled as the cat showed it’s affection by licking her face once more.
Inside, Carmilla lifted her head from where she sat on her sofa, her eyes narrowed as she stood up. Placing her book on the table, she walked to the door and laughed quietly as she saw Laura trying to fend off her cat whilst talking.
Opening the door, she called out. “You’re making this a habit, cutie.”
Laura leaned her head back and jumped as she gazed at Carmilla, she stood up on shaky legs as she furiously tried to wipe the evidence of tears away from her face. She felt hands encircle her wrists and pull them away from her face, Laura saw the concern in this woman’s eyes, a woman that didn’t even know her, and she felt her heart crack a little.
“What’s the matter, cupcake?” Carmilla asked.
Laura sighed and grinned a little at the use of the name, she noticed the cat waltz through the open door and not return.
“Long month, it’s all just caught up with me I guess, plus I’ve drank way too much tonight.” She answered.
Carmilla sighed. “Well, I’m not letting you walk home like this. Come on, you can crash on my sofa bed, I can be a pretty good listener.”
Laura found herself following this woman into her home even as she protested. “Why? You don’t even know me.”
Carmilla looked at her over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen. “I’m always a sucker for a pretty girl.”
Laura paused in her step and found herself blushing.
“In all seriousness though, the amount of times I’ve seen you and heard about you in the last month I feel like we’re friends. Plus Bagheera likes you, which is a very rare thing, and I think kicking you out isn’t going to help anything.” She called from the kitchen. “But I swear if you try and kidnap my cat again, I’m booby-trapping my front porch.”
Laura sat down on the sofa and took notice of the book on the coffee table. The Jungle Books by Kipling.
Hm, no wonder the name of the cat.
Carmilla returned a few minutes later with two steaming mugs which Laura was happy to know was hot chocolate. She found herself spilling her story to this woman about her job, Danny and how hard she was taking the whole thing. Carmilla offered kind words in places and insults about Danny wherever she could. Laura eventually found herself bringing up Kirsch telling her about Carmilla and the drinks, the two then spent a while talking about Orphan Black and the characters and who was the hottest clone.
When the sun rose it found the two of them asleep on the sofa with Netflix on the screen.
Carmilla and Laura’s friendship grew after that night, instead of Laura getting drunk until she didn’t know her own name whenever she was sad she went to Carmilla’s house and spent the night with her and Bagheera.
LaFontaine never hesitated to make jokes here and there, but Carmilla had given them a run for their money with puns.
“I never asked, what actually is with the nicknames?” Kirsch had asked one evening.
Carmilla shrugged. “It’s funny, I guess. I don’t use Cupcake’s here that often, I usually stick with that or my other favourite.”
Laura groaned and shook her head; the others just looked on in confusion.
“She’s my resident Cat-Napper” She laughed.
LaFontaine cheered when they understood the pun, Perry just sighed and drank some of her cocktail to avoid giving an opinion, Laura didn’t do anything but glare at Carmilla playfully, Kirsch just looked confused.
“The night I first saw her, she was drunk and I thought she was trying to steal my cat, and then she fell asleep on my porch. So she’s a cat kidnapper and a napper, get it yet?”
Kirsch shouldn’t have laughed as hard as he did, but Laura knew he had enough blackmail material to last him a while.
Since Christmas was approaching, the group all had their workloads increase in different ways so after a stressful week, they found themselves in a booth at the pub. Kirsch joined them whenever he was on his breaks and Carmilla had found herself joining their outings, she said it was because Laura insisted on it but they all knew she was starting to call the ‘dimwit squad’ as she called them, her friends. Yet that never stopped LaFontaine and Kirsch from teasing about how whipped she is.
“We’re not even together you lack wits” Carmilla grumbled whilst Laura had gone to the toilet.
“Exactly!” LaFontaine cried high-fiving Kirsch and sticking their tongue out at Carmilla’s unamused face.
When Laura returned from the toilet LaFontaine was in the middle of a coughing fit from laughing too hard, Perry was rubbing their back soothingly whilst Carmilla was just smirking at them. “What did I miss?”
Carmilla shook her head. “Nothing important. You sitting back down? My side’s getting cold”
Laura smiled and reclaimed her seat, instantly placing her head on Carmilla’s shoulder. They all traded tales about their work and grumbled good-naturedly at the lack of time off they were getting at Christmas, when Carmilla was taking a drink she stiffened slightly. Laura raised her head slightly and furrowed her eyebrows in a silent question, she saw Carmilla passing her sight over the bar and landed on one person in particular, Perry followed her gaze and mumbled a quiet “Uh oh.”
LaFontaine remained impassive. “She won’t come over.”
Their booth was near the back of the bar and was built against the wall, Carmilla and Laura had one side and Perry, LaF and Kirsch were on the other. Carmilla turned in her seat so her back was against the wall instead of the seat and she stretched her leg out behind Laura. “Yay for jealous ex-girlfriends”
“Is she looking over here?” Laura asked.
Kirsch nodded subtly.
Carmilla tugged on Laura’s sleeve and whispered to her quietly. “Want to give her a reason to be jealous? Cuddle up to me properly.”
Laura smirked and mirrored Carmilla’s positioning, she lay down along the seat and curled herself up in Carmilla’s arms, sighing to herself internally when she felt a soft pair of lips touch her forehead. The pair stayed like that for the remainder of the night, they stayed for another couple of hours before all walking to Laura’s house and sleeping on her couches since the extra street was apparently ‘too far to walk’.
No one thought to mention that Danny had left the bar, quite obviously and loudly, in a huff around fifteen minutes after she had first seen Carmilla and Laura in each other’s arms.