Work Text:
It had been a long day at work for Dizzy. Many of them were long, but today felt twice as long. She desperately wanted a day off, as if she could ever truly take one. Being queen was a job that did not beget breaks, she knew this. It was selfish to desire a break like that, but desire it she nevertheless did. She looked at another sheaf of papers on her desk, and groaned internally, grimaced externally, before all of a sudden, she received a call from Jack-O’
“Heyyyyy bestie! How’re you holding up in there?” She had so much more energy than Dizzy did at that moment. Dizzy had a brief thought of ‘how does she do it?’ before replying, in a somewhat muted tone
“I’m… quite alright, Jack-O’, thank you.” As always, she kept herself poised and formal. She had been forced to learn this tone in her work.
“Uh huh.” Jack-O’ clearly wasn’t convinced. “Well, just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be in town tomorrow, and I’m trying to get some shopping done. Any interest?”
Dizzy was briefly taken aback. With… her? Of course, she once again composed herself. “I would be honored to join you, Jack-O’, but you know full well that I can’t le-”
“Leave work, yeah yeah” Jack-O’ interrupted. “Look, you’re gonna work yourself to death. You gotta get out there, just… do something with your time!” She sounded exasperated, as if she was belaboring the point, and Dizzy was being intentionally obstinate.
“Ms. Jack-O’, I-”
“Nope. Cut that out. I’m not going to take that from you, alright? Look, if you don’t want to come with me, just say that. Otherwise, I’m not gonna take ‘wahhhhh I’m too busy’ as an excuse. I know for a FACT that you don’t actually have to do most of the work that you do. You have people you can delegate to. Please.”
Dizzy remained silent for a while. She hadn’t heard Jack-O’ that angry for a while, and she wasn’t entirely sure how to react. “I-I’m sorry, J-jack-O’... I’ll try to clear some time for you tomorrow, okay?” After hanging up the phone, she took a deep sigh, and began thinking about what she had scheduled for tomorrow that could be pushed to the next day. As it turned out, most of it could be, so she started making calls and clearing her day.
Ky heard about this eventually, and he was completely on board with Dizzy taking the day off. In fact, he offered to take on many of her responsibilities himself, should she wish it. Dizzy, however, was steadfast in her refusal not to let other people take on her work. Ky sighed as he walked away.
He couldn’t help but notice how haggard Dizzy looked. So, so much work, so much stress, and not nearly enough sleep. It had been weeks since the two of them had a long conversation, had sat down for dinner together. He was beginning to miss his wife, even though they lived together. He silently reached out towards her one last time, but the words didn't rise past his lips.
As she gracefully floated back to her office (it was faster than walking, and every second counted), she was faced with clearing out as much of her work as she could before the day was done. She figured she would have to go to bed earlier than usual, just to keep up with Jack-O’ the next day. That meant leaving work at 5, with all of her aides and employees. She sat down with several papers, letters to respond to, emails to send, and many other things that she took on in the days prior. For the remaining hours of the day, she continued to work as a light rain fell, the sound of the droplets keeping her focused, and her mind off what Jack-O’ had said.
When 5 rolled around and people started to leave, Dizzy was, for once, right behind them. She walked past Ky again on her way home. Initially, she avoided eye contact and walked past her husband, but before she could make it too far, Ky gently outstretched a hand and spoke in a calm voice:
“Dizzy, dear, how was your day?” Dizzy was hardly paying attention, but murmured a “Fine, thank you” as she walked past. Ky stayed silent. She needed some time to herself, surely. He considered asking if she wanted to eat dinner with him, but decided against it. Best not to force the issue, he decided.
Dizzy, for her part, went and got some dinner alone. She tended to eat later in the evening, compared to Ky, especially, and tonight was no different. Soon after, she made her way to bed. A day with Jack-O’ would be very tiring, and she needed all of the energy she could get. Besides, it would get her fewer questions she didn’t want.
Dizzy slept in the next morning. She didn’t wake up until almost nine, which was far later than what was typical for her. Ky had already left, of course. She put on an outfit that she had prepared the night before, braided her hair, and walked out of her bedroom, only to find Jack-O’ standing next to the door.
“Mornin’ sleepyhead.” She said in a terse voice. ‘Strange’, Dizzy thought. ‘She’s not normally this… cold’.
“H-hi, Jack-O’” Dizzy stuttered in response. She wasn’t entirely sure how to react to Jack-O’s change in behavior.
“Heading to work now? Gotta make up for lost time, right?” Jack-O’ said in much the same tone.
“W-well, no. I was going to get ready for your arrival. Try to clean, at minimum”
Jack-O’ merely shook her head “Clean what? This house is already gorgeous. Nothing left to clean, really.”
Dizzy gave a worried laugh and shook her head “Well, I suppose you’re right.”
Jack-O’ looked around, looking intently at certain corners of the room. “Yknow, honestly this place is a wreck. So much dust. So many things left around, disorganized. Come on, Dizzy. I expected better from you.” At this point, she struggled to hide her smile, but was barely able to succeed.
“I… I’m sorry, of course I’ll have to do better” Dizzy stammered out, just trying to get Jack-O’ off her case
“Truly. You knew I was coming, and this is how you prepare?”repare? Foooor shame.”
Dizzy shifted awkwardly. This wasn’t like her at all. “I…” She couldn’t get a full sentence out. Oh, how she hated to disappoint people.
Jack-O’ doesn’t continue for a moment, giving Dizzy a disapproving look. Eventually her expression softens, and she says in a cheery tone “Well, ready to go?”
Dizzy was very confused by this, but wasn’t about to say no. After grabbing a few bags, Off she went, following close behind Jack-O’ as she went to an open top car. She briefly wondered where the car came from, but before she had enough time to think too hard about it, Jack-O’ had already started driving. Was she speeding? Almost certainly, but Dizzy didn’t intend on thinking too hard about it. In just a few moments, they had already arrived at a large mall. Jack-O’ gave Dizzy a great big smile, which was strange to her given everything she had said to her at her home, and said “Ahh, we’re here! So Diz, looking for anything in particular?”
“Well, I suppose not. Just going to see what strikes me, I suppose” She hadn’t even intended to buy anything. She only wanted to accompany Jack-O’ because she asked. “Maybe…” she thought for a moment. “Oh, maybe a new bag! My current one is falling apart, you see.” She looked at Jack-O’ to gauge her response.
Jack-O’ giggled for a second. “You don’t get out to the mall much do ya?”
Dizzy blushed out of embarrassment “W-what do you mean?” Jack-O’ reached out her hand towards Dizzy, still giggling a little.
“Just cmon, you won’t regret it”
With that, off the two of them went. Inside the mall itself, there were many stores for the two of them to explore and shop in. Dizzy felt overwhelmed, while Jack-O’ was entirely in her element. She started bringing Dizzy from store to store, hoping that she would find something that she would at least want to buy, but a few hours later she had nothing in her arms, while Jack-O’ was walking out of each store with several things. Eventually, they broke for lunch, sitting in the mall food court, Dizzy’s empty bag contrasting Jack-O’s filled to the brim. Grabbing their food and a drink each, they finally had a moment to sit and talk.
“Dizzy, I’m not going to let you come with me on this trip and buy nothing. You gotta get something for yourself!” Dizzy sipped on her drink a bit, saying nothing. She looked down, embarrassed. “Diz, look at me, please. I just want you to do something nice for yourself.” That got her attention. “Jackie, I promise! I’m having a lot of fun supporting you!” She tried to smile, but it only ended up looking fake and forced. Jack-O’ noticed.
She took a deep breath. “At every store we go to after lunch, you are going to buy at least one thing. You took the day off work, and god did you need to, but you did it just to follow me around. Do more nice things for yourself, because from the bottom of my heart YOU DESERVE IT.”
She said that last part a bit too loud. Some looks came their way, Jack-O’ shrugged them off, and went back to silently eating. Dizzy did the same, not wishing to continue that conversation.
Sure enough though, when Dizzy and Jack-O’ went in to their next store, a small jewelry store, Dizzy picked up a new pair of earrings for herself. In the next store, some new flowers for her garden. This continued for about an hour and a half before they reached a clothing store.
Dizzy immediately gravitated towards a new pair of pants, saying that she wanted to buy them as a gift for Ky. A death stare from Jack-O’ made her change her mind on that front very quickly. She put it back and grabbed a different pair of pants for herself. Soon enough, she found herself laughing and having fun with Jack-O’, carrying multiple bags under each arm. When the two of them eventually left, they sat in the car continuing to laugh for a few minutes. Eventually, Jack-O’ broke the flow of conversation and changed the subject
“Say, Dizzy, did I ever tell ya why I came out swinging like that this morning?”
“Hm? No, I suppose not. Why?”
“I was trying to learn somethin’. We don’t talk much, so I wanted to see something about you. How quick are you to change your mind when someone else asks?” She smirked knowingly.
“O-oh. I see. So that’s what it was.”
“Yyyyup. That’s part of why I was so hard on you today, I could tell that you really needed it. Just keep what I said in mind, yeah?”
Dizzy nodded solemnly, clearly not wanting to talk about this anymore. Though, she latched on to Jack-O’s every word. Soon enough, they were laughing about old stories again as Jack-O’ drove off in to the sunset. When Dizzy arrived back home, she took the evening off too, resting and recovering. And above all, being kind to herself. How she loved those days with Jack-O’.