Work Text:
One could argue that this had been a bad idea from the start
People with sensory disorders probably shouldn't do things that actively set off said sensory disorders
But if you were to mention that to the woman at the desk, she'd probably just tell you to fuck off
"Why do the cutest things.... always involve the most petrifying creation...?"
"I bet God says that alot too,"
Jolting suddenly, Allison almost nocked the glasses off of her face as she startled back and hurried to collect herself
"Awwww I'm sorry baby doll, did I startle you?" Angel laughed, plopping herself down on the edge of the work desk and leaning a little closer
"Just a bit.... I was... focused...." Allison muttered back, face a little flushed as she hurried to correct her glasses and lean back in her chair
"I see that, how's the mouse army comin' along?" Angel asked, glancing down at the small gathering of half-crafted mice that were littering her partner's work space
They were undeniably cute, even with no defined features yet, and Angel counted perhaps a dozen of them
"Progressing quickly, but also..... I want to kill myself," Allison replied in a tight, discomforted voice, earning a bit of a snicker
"Why do you wanna commit die?"
Instead of answering verbally, the shorter woman only held up her hands, showing the obscene piles of dried glue that had taken up her fingertips and causing her wife to wince in response
"Ohh.... yeah..... that's..... I mourn for you,"
"So do I..."
"Why don't you just wear gloves baby?"
"I couldn't find them," Allison sighed back miserably, hanging her head
"And I really needed to make sure I got these little rat bastards-"
"Ha!"
"-sculpted today or they wouldn't be done in time for next week and Victoria would probably have a minor fit,"
"Yeah, well, she can have that fit," Angel snorted back, shifting a little on the desk she had perched herself on
"...You do realize you're sitting in paint, don't you?" Allison asked casually, her smile warm and a little condescending, prompting Angel to glance down at her shorts, shift her thighs a little, and give a bit of a shrug at the grey splatters now slowly starting to sink in
"Oh well, these were old anyway,"
"You... could choose to not be sitting in paint anymore," Allison reasoned, leaning against the desk a bit and propping her chin up on her fist
"I could.... but first I have to show ya' somethin', check out what came in the mail today," Angel grinned, leaning back and elegantly extending her leg, directing Allison's attention down her leg and onto-
"Good LORD!!"
"Right?!?" Angel shreiked excitedly, bouncing and clapping her hands
"They're ON. POINTE!!!! They are ACTUALLY on fucking pointe!!"
Excitedly, Angel slid off of the desk to show off the- accurately described- on pointe ballet style seven inch heels
"...You're going to break your neck," Allison noted simply
"Nope, I can actually walk on pointe anyway, I'll be fine,"
Allison only shook her head and rubbed her face, shifting a little in her chair
"...May I ask, do these have a purpose other than trying to put me in an early grave?"
"Yes actually, I'm doin' a Black Widow routine in... I wanna say March? But these.... I have to practice in 'em for a wile,"
"No shit, I cannot BELIEVE you're going to try to dance in-.... wait, yes I can, it's you we're talking about,"
Angel just snickered with delight, eyes shimmering joyfully as she brought one leg up to start unzipping her boots
She did need to practice on them, but a cramped work room full of sharp objects and messy liquids like paint and glue really wasn't the place for it
"So uh, by the way, just... wile it's on my mind, do you know if Victoria's Christmas gift is gonna be here by Friday?"
"Umm... it should be, why do you ask?" Allison replied, shifting in her chair once more to get back to work, trying not to full body heave as she dipped a strip of cotton into the now frigidly cold water-glue mixture
These fucking mice had better be fucking worth it....
"Beeecaaauuuuse I just wanna make sure we have it by Saturday.... so we can take it to her Christmas party...."
Allison froze, the soaked strip of cotton only half in place on the half-made mouse in front of her
"....Christmas party?" she echoed, slowly glancing at Angel over her shoulder
"Yeah, ya' know... the one that we're goin' to,"
"And when did we make that decision?"
"Uhhh when she asked me a few hours ago like 'you're comin' to the Christmas party right?' and I said 'what Christmas party?' and then she had a full on fit because Val forgot to put the invitations in the mail two weeks ago,"
"Mm, unfortunate for them, but not my problem," Allison said smoothly, returning to the dripping cotton and gently poking it propperly into place
"Oh c'mon Al, don't be like that!! They're our freinds! Why wouldn't you wanna go?"
"Correction love, they are mostly your freinds-"
"OUR, stop bein' allergic to the word 'freind'-"
"-but there will still likely be plenty of strangers-"
"SO!?"
"-and you know how much I hate parties,"
"Al... c'mon, it's not like those, it's just a fun little thing where we get to see people we care about for the holidays before everybody starts travelin' and shit, you're not gonna be miserable, I promise,"
"I can't take the time away from work,"
Angel went utterly deadpanned
"Allison, you dragged my ass into the car at two in the fuckin' mornin' last night to drive an hour and a half to fuckin' Buccee's because you wanted fucking BARBECUE, don't gimme that shit bitch,"
"I was already done with work by then!"
"You can take a few hours off, oh my god, don't even try it,"
Allison opened her mouth to retort, but with the look on Angel's face.............
She thought better of it
"...I don't like parties, you know that,"
"But it ain't the drinkin' and clubbin' kind and it ain't the snooty snobtown kind either, I just want you to give it a chance baby,"
Allison groaned in the back of her throat, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed with displeasure
Angel, knowing she was gaining the upper hand quite quickly, slowly leaned closer, ever so gently placing a hand on Allison's wrist, angling her body in just the right way like she did when she danced, her lashes fluttering, though she knew that her temptation would only go so far, Allison's particular flavor of ace didn't put much emphasis on Angel's physical gifts....
....
Except for one
She carefully tucked her fingers under her lover's chin, tilting her face up and batting those long lashes, making..... ~Eye Contact~
Allison was starting to turn red- mission accomplished
"That's not going to work on me,"
"Oh yes it is," Angel snickered, leaning a little more across the work table and bobbing her foot- well, in these shoes, more like her entire lower leg- teasingly
"C'mon, honeydoe,"
Ooooh the red was going all the way to Allison's ears- delightfull
"I can make it worth your wiiiile~"
"I highly doubt that," Allison grumbled back, earning a curious tilt of Angel's head
"Oh? Have I ever proved you wrong with that before? 'Caauuuuuse I can think of more than one way to make your tail wag~"
"Angel," Allison stressed, taking her wife by surprise by the seriousness in her tone, prompting the blonde to lean back and give her some space as she pushed away from the table, her expression sinking as she pushed her weelchair back all the way into full veiw
"The cane is one thing, but.... not many of them have seen me like this.... and I would prefer to keep it that way,"
Angel's shoulders sagged, her own expression dimming as she scooted forward and grabbed her partner's hands in both of her's
"You cannot live in this studio forever babe, you're gonna have good days and bad days, and you're probably gonna have to be in the chair for another couple of weeks, what do you plan to do? Just avoid everybody we know until your leg's healed?"
And judging by the sudden look of "Oh no, I've been called out, quick, hide it!" that flashed across her face, that had apparently been exactly the dumbass's plan
Angel's expression went flat
"Al, you can't do that, and if you let yourself get away with it the first time, it's only gonna get harder and harder to not do it in the future, and you ARE inevitably gonna have this problem again, as much as I hope you don't, just... realistically.... shit, atleast this time you just banged your leg up, it could've been way worse-"
"I know...." Allison grumbled, clearly not in the mood for a lecture
But that was fine, Angel wasn't about to go into one
"...You do know that nobody cares, right? I mean they care about you but not one person is gonna think this chair is a weakness or some shit like you think they will, and if they DO, then they ain't gonna be thinkin' for much longer 'cause they're gonna be snortin' cement for the next five or six thousand fuckin' years, now look doll, I know your little lizard brain is just goin' crazy with bein' self-concious, but you don't have one goddamn thing to be ashamed of, got it? You're disabled, and ya' had a bad day, and ya' fell, big fuckin' goddamn deal-"
"It IS a big deal!" Allison stressed suddenly, yanking her hands away and hanging her head
"I'm BETTER than that, I may not be able to help the cause but I am better than letting the symptoms get the best of me, I am better at CONTROLLING it, and this is just... humiliating! And I don't need anyone's pity..."
"....Oh I wouldn't worry about pity, have you met our freinds? Discountin' Charlie as the bleedin' heart, do any of them seem like the pityin' type? Fuck, you'll be lucky if Vic doesn't laugh in your fuckin' face and call you a loser,"
Allison glanced up a little, almost as if giving a meek little "Really?"
....
God, they were all emotionally fucked
"And bein' in that chair is nothin' to feel humiliated by, Christ, it's not some kinda label of shame, it's just part of what you're dealin' with, a disability isn't a weakness Al- eventually you're gonna learn that.... also, if I EVER hear you bitch about not bein' perfectly controlled over a fucking life long spinal injury again, you ain't gonna have to worry about bein' in a weelchair, I'll smack your ass so hard you ain't gonna be able to sit down,"
Allison was quiet for a moment, before- as she typically did- covering her insecurity with humor
"Mmm, say that again but slower,"
"And another thing ya' little freak," Angel added, deciding to completely ignore that
"You are SO not good at controllin' fuckin' anything, your 'control' is pushing yourself past what you SHOULD be doin' because of your fuckin' ego, ya' wouldn't've fallen in the first place if ya' had just taken your cane outside with ya' instead of thinkin' that the walk to the car was short enough- and in the rain mind you- to go without it because you hate usin' it,"
Allison sank a little, looking like a petulant child being scolded
...
Wich wasn't far from what was happening
"Now get the fuck over yourself baby girl, we're goin' to that party," Angel smiled, reaching out to squeeze Allison's cheeks and even give her a little pat on the head
Condescending perhaps, but... oh well, it was still appreciated by the shorter woman
Allison wrinkled her nose, but her lips did tick into a bit of a smirk when she directed her eyes forward
"...You've spread paint all over that table, and there is definitely no saving those shorts now,"
Angel shifted a little, but only shrugged again
"Eh, I was gonna toss 'em anyway, and I'll clean up the paint, it's fine, now..."
Smirking, she leaned back again, gently tilting Allison's chin up higher with the toe of her boot
"How much more ya' gotta do on these little mice guys before you can come upstairs? I made lasagna and I wanna finish watching Creepshow with ya', you were right, I really had no idea what I was missin' before,"
Allison's expression warmed, a deep breath leaving her lungs as she positioned herself closer to the work desk again
"Well, this one needs another couple of strips, and I made three more skeletons so I should probably finish them all,"
"Ok," Angel nodded, glancing at the little camera mounted above the work table
"That on?"
"No no, I got plenty of footage from the first few,"
"Perfect, then let me go see if we have some gloves in the bathroom... and... change clothes, and then I'll help,"
"Oh, you don't have to do that mon ange,"
"I know, but I want to," Angel shrugged back
"I don't got a show until Friday so I ain't all that pressed on time, aaaand I wanna spend time with my favorite person,"
Allison felt a little warm burst light through her, as she so often did when Angel was around, as she so often did when the little things came into perspective like this....
Angel slipped her shoes off (finally), and then slid off of the table, wincing at the trail of paint she had brought with her, but more or less shrugging it off
"Angel," Allison called out quickly, snagging her wife's attention, brows raising as she folded her boots over her arm
"....Is there.... something in particular you want... for me to wear to the party?"
Angel's lips ticked up a bit higher, eyes crinkling in the corners
"Nah baby, just be yourself, believe me, that's all anybody wants,"
~+~
"There she is, I've been waiting to see my favorite ace!"
Allison only made a face- not actually displeased but trying to front as much- as Victoria hurried up to her, leaning down and giving her a nice, tight hug and kissing her cheek
"Good to see you too dear,"
"And what am I? A fuckin' used condom?" Angel snorted, earning a grin as the other woman leaned back up and wrapped an arm around Angel's waist, having to rise up on the tips of her toes, even in heels, to kiss Angel's cheek as well, before pausing, stepping back, and looking down at the floor
"Aaaaaaand what medevil torture devices do we have on our feet today my dear?"
"Oh please, don't be such a baby, they're only seven inches, and just look at the stitching up the back!" she grinned excitedly, giving a little spin as she turned around to show off the red corset-like stitching going up the back of her otherwise black boots
"That's.... very pretty," Victoria nodded slowly, bending down and lowering her voice to Allison
"Sooooo do I need to worry about her being the next one in a chair or what?"
"Doubt it, Angel's balance is enviable even by gods," Allison replied simply, letting her cheek rest against the palm of her hand as Victoria shifted a little to crouch down next to her, Angel having gotten absorbed in a conversation with someone behind her about the shoes and giving the two of them a moment together
"...Sooooo.... can I see the wound?"
"No you sick fuck," Allison huffed back, eyes rolling as she squirmed a little
At the moment, her dress was long enough to cover the brace over her nee, wich was covering the wound perfectly, even the bruising hadn't managed to make any peeks under the thick black fabric, she certainly didn't want to change that fact- least of all in public
"Why not?"
Ah, the idiot with the blue streaks in her hair was really asking that huh?
"Because I'm not going to give you the literal worst excuse to put your hands under my dress,"
"Oh, well, I was gonna stroke your medical kink for you, but if you insist," Victoria shrugged, clearly only pulling back as a bluff, but....
"...Fine," Allison grumbled, face as red as Angel's cocktail dress as Victoria snickered and settled on the floor
"Also, don't make it sound so creepy, goodness, what do you think of me?"
"Clearly the absolute worst," Allison teased, glancing away and refocusing her attention elsewhere as she felt Victoria's warm hands slip up her leg
"So terrible that you wanted to let me help you build your career," Victoria sighed just as playfully
"Wich, speaking of, how are the vampire dolls coming?"
Allison groaned, her expression curling up with displeasure as she absently watched a couple of strangers bicker in the back of the room
It was mildly entertaining....
"Don't ask...." she answered after a beat
"I don't know why, but they're fighting me every step, Lestat is too hard-headed for my rerooter and the technique I was going to use for Louis' hair isn't working... even Claudia is being troublesome and she should be the easiest, but I think I have to change her skintone, it's too warm, it should be a cooler shade,"
"Jeez," Victoria winced sympathetically
"Yes... so I was thinking we'd save those dolls for January and make it closer to the new season's release date anyhow, move the Nutcracker project to the week of Christmas, and for the gap week that causes... well... I'm making some little mice that I could also say are from the Nutcracker..."
"Yeah I'm sure that'll be fine, just make sure to get me the footage by-" Victoria cut herself off with a wince, the brace sliding down and earning a gutteral "Eeeeyeeesh"
"Holy shit that looks nasty,"
"Well thank you for that highly professional insight," Allison said flatly
"Hey, what'd you expect? It's not like I went to medical school over night," Victoria snorted back
"I just wanted to see the damage, although I can atleast put something on it I guess,"
"...Your oddball fascinations are sickening, and I don't mean that as a compliment,"
"She's also one of those who finds pimple popping somehow enjoyable,"
Allison tossed her head back, offering an upside down grin at the woman behind her and barking a laugh
"HA! Oh really? Do tell me more darling~"
"She likes plucking my brows too- and other places- I think it's the control freak in her," Valentina grinned, resting her arm on the back of Allison's chair and earning a snort and an eyeroll from her partner as she reached into the inside of her jacket and-... pulled out neosporin and cotton balls....-?
Oh she had PLANNED THIS
"Last I checked, you loved having a control freak in you Val, so I wouldn't get your ass too high on your shoulders,"
"But the difference is, amorcita, that I admit it, also, isn't my ass usually on your shoulders~?"
"Ooh are we callin' out Voxxy on her anal shit?" Angel beamed, quickly swishing around to pay attention to the new goings-on
"First, stop calling me that, and second, do not ever say 'anal shit' ever again, it conjures the worst ideas,"
"I actually agree with the lady on this one mon amore, that was just awfull," Allison chuckled, watching Angel quirk an eyebrow as she finally seemed to notice Victoria on the ground blotting so damn carefully at the rather atrocious looking wound on Allison's leg
It wasn't all that big, but for something that had happened nearly a full week ago, it was still pretty fresh looking
"Uh.... what're we doin' there Vic?"
"Winding up your wife's medical kink for sapphic amusement," Valentina took the opportunity to answer, causing Allison to jolt and turn around, damn near kneeing Victoria in the jaw in the process
"Alright, how do YOU know about that?! Did Vox run her mouth!?"
"Hey...." Victoria grumbled, gently repositioning herself to rewrap the wound in the soft jersey cloth Allison had originally had between the injury and the brace
"Vox" was an unfortunate nickname she had been stuck with for the last seven years, during her wisdom tooth removal haze she had completely forgotten the word "fox" and kept trying to instead point out a random "vox" they had passed by wile Allison drove her home
By the next morning, it had become a nickname, one that at the time she thought was funny enough to start using in her social media handles, but it had blown up so much as her nickname that people had started forgetting her actual name and she had been trying to pump the brakes ever since
"Oh no no Bambita, Vicky has said nothing to me, I can just smell it on you, that's all,"
Allison shuddered a little, the massive grin on Valentina's face was.... occasionally disturbing....
"Do I.... want.... to know what that means...?"
"Look, some kinksters can just spot things a mile away, that's all," Valentina shrugged back, earning a nod of agreement from Angel
"Yep, strippers are the same way, I can eyeball a foot worshipper from across the goddamn room, on sight,"
"...I didn't need to know that," Allison said flatly as Victoria stood back up
"Didn't need to know what?"
Allison jerked her head up, lips ticking into a bit of a grin at the other woman approaching them
"Information about strippers and fetishes," Allison shrugged back, earning an immediate grimace from their newest addition
"Nooooope, no thank you, I'm better off not knowin',"
"Oh c'mon Husky, you ain't even a little curious?" Angel teased, earning a flat look in response
"No,"
Angel snickered as the shorter woman walked past, one hand on her hip as she took in Allison's form, head tilting
"You doin' ok there doll?"
"Yes, fine, thank you,"
Husk only nodded, before cracking her fingers and turning her attention to Victoria
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have had some work done on your fence recently would'ya'?"
"Work done on the fence?" Victoria asked in confusion
"What do you mean?"
"That when I pulled up the gate was dented, wondered if it was an aesthetic choice is all,"
"WHAT?! What do you mean the gate was dented?!? Show me!" Victoria demanded quickly, running towards the coatrack with Valentina right on her heels
"It's probably those fucking straight guys nextdoor, I'm about to turn them into fur fucking coats if my car has ONE scratch on it!" she shreiked in agreement
"Humans into fur coats?" Allison called from where she was very much deciding to stay put
Valentina huffed as she grabbed her coat, pushing her designer glasses back up and into place
"They're.... hairy,"
".....Ah,"
And thus was all that needed to be said
Husk, in the mean time, looked like she was about to start a conversation with Angel, only for Victoria to snap her attention back to the door
"Husk! Come show us this dent!"
"What? It's in the goddamn gate! Surely you can find it, why do I have to come along?!"
Frustrated.... but doing it anyway, she gave Angel a quick "Be right back" before skulking off to join the other two, grabbing her coat on the way out and grumbling something under her breath about how she had only just taken it off, yet was already putting it back on again
Angel half-snorted, leaning back against the wall and sipping on the can of strawberry Monster she had brought with her
Addiction? ...Maybe, but there were worse things to be addicted to
"Jeez, didn't they just get that fence put up like, a week ago?"
"Mmm-hmm, and I don't remember seeing anything wrong with it when we pulled up, do you?"
Angel shook her head, before offering the can to her wife, who took an eager sip as well
Burlesque dancers and crafting YouTubers may not sound like they have much in common, but the caffeine addiction definitely appealed to both audiences at the very least
"I hope nobody's car is banged up...."
Whatever had happened must have been quick and dirty after all, and with there being no less than a dozen cars surrounding the V house, some casualties just sounded like the most logical outcome...
"As do I...."
A short moment of silence passed between them, before Allison gave a quiet sigh and shifted a little closer to her wife, taking her hand
"I want to thank you for... pushing though... even if we do have a bruised car as a result, I'm glad we came,"
"Really?" Angel asked in surprise
"Shit babe, we've only been here for like, fifteen minutes,"
"I know, I just.... I think.... I underestimated how much time I had spent away from everyone,"
Even before hurting herself, Allison had been spending alot more time at home working than usual, and wile some of that was definitely due to Christmas coming up and having been flooded with orders a few weeks prior, some of it had maybe been a bit emotional too
Sometimes she went through spells of forgetting that she was loved by people other than just Angel- as dramatic as that sounded- and sometimes just being around the others gave her the much needed reminder
"And just think, if you'd let me talk you into this sorta thing without fighting me tooth and nail, maybe you'd remember that in the future before it becomes a problem,"
Allison snorted, giving a mild little shrug
"Maybe,"
"By the way, I've got everybody's favorite colors already," Angel said with a wink, holding up a napkin with chicken-scratched handwriting on it as if it were some preciously kept secret spy information
"...Ignoring the 'how', why?"
"For the little mice, I know you're makin' em for everybody to go with their Christmas gifts- sorry if I got in the way of that, by the way, with pushin' for us to bring gifts over here before they were done,"
"Oh that's alright, I figured I would give the mice out at your Christmas show next week," Allison shrugged back, not even going to bother asking how Angel just instinctively knew what the mice were really for
It was Angel, she had a tendency to know these things
"...Thank you, again my dear,"
"O'course honeydoe,"
Angel bent down, catching Allison in a soft, relatively demure kiss, and stroking the back of her fingers down the side of her wife's cheek
"It's what I'm here for,"
Allison chuckled a little, curling her fingers around Angel's
Maybe she would add some rhinestones to Angel's mouse, to make it more unique than everyone else's...
After all, Angel should know that as far as Allison was concerned, she was the most special thing in the world
Everyone already knew that ofcourse, but reminders here and there certainly never hurt....
Including reminders in the shape of bedazzled mice