Work Text:
Lottie couldn't help but smile at the domesticity of the moment. If you would have asked the Lottie of three years ago, when she was in high school, still living in the ever stifling house that belonged to Mr. Matthews under the watch of her nanny, she would have said that she would be working at her fathers company, most likely still living at home. Not, in college and, sitting in the apartment she lived in with her two girlfriends, waiting for one of them to return home from work, while the other sat on the floor, excitedly rambling about whatever game she was playing on the TV.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking,” Misty’s words snapped her out of her thoughts, “Why would I side with Yes-Man instead of the NCR? Because, interestingly enough, a free New Vegas makes the most sense, especially in the canon of the games and the show. Between the new trailer for the show, which shows Lucy going to a torn- apart New Vegas, and the little bit we saw at the end, it just makes sense.” As Misty rambled excitedly, she leaned her head to the side, relaxing against the couch Lottie was sitting on. Lottie couldn't help herself, running her fingers through the soft blonde curls on her girlfriend's head.
“Did you notice how much Lucy looks like Jackie in that show?” Lottie said, smiling softly to herself. “And how much she sounded like that one character from that other show, with the two braids?” Misty paused her game, leaning into Lottie’s hand still atop her head, and the brunette had to stop herself from ruffling her hair like a puppy.
“Oh my goodness, I know! It's almost uncanny.” Misty grinned, shifting to rest her head against Lottie’s thigh, but only for a moment. “Oh my gosh, it's Wednesday!” The blonde suddenly sat upright, grabbing her phone. “I'm sorry, Lottie. Travis is gonna be here in like, ten minutes.” She said with a sigh, looking up at Lottie with a small pout.
“Travis? Why is Travis gonna be here?” The brunette said, shifting to a more comfortable position now that Misty wasn’t leaning on her. Travis, Natalie’s ex, was the last person she expected Misty to want to spend time with.
“Well, on Wednesdays, Natalie usually works late, and you usually stay after your religious studies class, so I hang out with Travis, and we play Magic after my last class.” Misty spoke, almost sounding slightly guilty. “I can text him and cancel if you don’t want him around.” She said, nervously messing with the sleeves of her hoodie, most likely stolen from Nat’s closet. Lottie smiled a little at that, shaking her head slightly.
“Misty, you know I don't mind him. And, he and Nat ended on good terms. It's fine if he comes over.” Lottie said, and Misty practically beamed at her. The curly-haired girl gave an excited nod, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips before darting off quickly.
“Thank you, thank you!” Misty practically shouted, digging through the bookshelf and grabbing her box of cards from the bottom shelf. Lottie stood, following her over-excited partner to the kitchen table. “So, Magic is that card game, right?
“Yeah, the like, high-fantasy one! It's super fun. I could teach you if you want!” Misty said with a grin, pulling her palay mat out from the box. Admittedly, it was the most Misty thing Lottie had seen, covered in cats dressed as wizards and knights, “I have a deck you might like. It's a green-white deck. Forest-y, creature based, that kinda thing!”
Soon, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. “I'll get it!” Misty said, rushing off to the door before Lottie had a chance to speak up. Hearing the front door open, Lottie couldn't help but peek at what else was in the box. An obscene amount of different colored dice greeted her, as well as at least six different smaller boxes, all different colors. She picked up a black one, and couldn't help but smile, seeing Nat written on it in cursive. Next, she picked up a green box, and just like the black one, her own name was written on the front. She dug around another moment, finding another mat, this one decorated with deer and pine trees, one of the trees sporting a strange circle, triangle symbol. She couldn't help but notice, teeny tiny in the corner, obviously hand done, was her name once again, carefully embroidered in the fabric. She knew if she looked further, she would find another one with Natalie’s name. Misty had been planning this, wanting to get her girlfriends into the hobby too.
“Oh, hey, Lot.” She was quickly jolted out of her thoughts by Travis’s arrival. “Misty finally rope you in too? She promise to finally shut up about New Vegas?” He said with a chuckle, taking the seat across from where Misty set up her mat.
“Hey! Unlike you, my girlfriend at least pretends to listen. When I talk about stuff.” Misty rolled her eyes, taking her seat and grabbing a pink box from the larger box. She smiled, patting the seat next to her. Lottie chuckled softly, sitting next to the blonde.
“I actually want to learn. The cards are pretty.” She said, carefully spreading out her own mat, grabbing the green box. “What, Akilah never wanted to learn?”
“Nah, she's more into Pokémon, if we're talking card games.” The boy said, smiling as he fished out his own deck box and mat, both plain black. “So, Specs, what deck are you running?” He said, turning his attention to Misty.
“What do you think? I've got my colorless. Lottie’s got the green-white I was telling you about.” She spoke, carefully shuffling her cards. “You brought the red-blue I assume?”
“You know it.” Travis said, shuffling his own cards.
**********************
Natalie felt bad about coming home so late. Her boss kept her an extra hour and a half, and she could almost guess that her girlfriends were worried. However, she couldn't help but be slightly worried herself. She didn't get her usual check-in from Lottie about what time she got home, or the messages every fifteen minutes from Misty updating her on the events of the night.
She unlocked the door to the apartment carefully so as to not wake anyone in case they were asleep on the couch, as they often were when waiting for her, but that was quickly shut down when she heard arguing.
“Oh my god, Misty, how many fucking All is Dust did you put in there?” She heard Travis’s voice, and as she rounded the corner, she was greeted with a sight she thought she would never see. Travis sat at the table with his back to the door, his fingers in his hair, obviously stressed as he looked at the cards in his hand.
“I had to! I forgot I put two Hydra Broodmaster’s in Lottie’s deck, and the Yavimaya Druid was literally killing us!” Misty was obviously stressed too, her glasses slightly askew as she huffed, flipping through the cards in her hand, not registering that Nat was home, much too involved in the game.
“Hey, I only got it again because Travis used Windfall.” Even Lottie was stressed, Natalie could tell by the crystal set in front of her, but she looked cool as a cucumber. “Oh, hey Nat.” Lottie said, smiling up at her.
“What the fuck did I just walk in on?” The bleach blonde said with a barely contained chuckle, leaning against the doorframe.
“Natalie! Hi!” Misty immediately perked up, her usual grin plastered on her face. “Lottie decided to join Travis and I for game night. You can join too, if you want.” The blonde said with a grin, already reaching for the black deck box.
“Oh, that nerd stuff? Maybe next time. Work kicked my ass.” Nat said, chuckling as she made her way around the table, planting a kiss on the top of Lottie’s head. The brunette couldn't help but pout, looking up at Natalie. She rolled her eyes, before kissing her lips softly for a moment. “Alright, up Quigley. You know the rules.”
Misty grinned as she got up, and Nat unceremoniously flopped into the seat, before Misty settled into her lap happily, kissing her cheek.
“Alright, are you guys done? It's your turn, Misty.” Travis said, rolling his eyes a moment as Natalie flipped him off.
“Alright, alright. So, I’m gonna do my upkeep here,” Misty said, turning her land cards. “And then-” She was quickly cut off by Natalie grabbing a card from her hand, putting it on the table.
“This one. It looks cool. Ulamog, something hunger.” Natalie said with a smirk, as Travis groaned.
“Fuck, this is gonna take forever.” He said with a grumble, grabbing the top cards of his deck to shuffle.
If you would have told Nat three years ago where she would be at this point, living with Misty Fucking Quigley and Rich Girl Lottie Matthews, as her girlfrends, she would have called you crazy. But there was nowhere she’d rather be right now.