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Why did this always hit at the worst possible time?
Angel swore her period had fucking radar....
At the very fucking least it had waited until she was done dancing for the night and because it was still early enough, she should conceivably be alright for tommorrow night's show
She'd just be a zombie in the day time
Rubbing her face tiredly, she leaned against the sink to wash her hands
Her mind felt sluggish, she already felt like shit from how fucking cold it was, the main bathroom inside the club was having... problems.... so she had to use the lobby bathroom, wich was technically outside
...
Ish
Look, Angel wasn't about to figure out how the fucking underground worked, it was outside but like, covered, because of being literally underneath the city, and the lobby- with the bathroom attached- was technically part of Le Chat Noir, it just wasn't inside the actual establishment so-....
She shook her hands off and grabbed some papper towels
She was getting a headache just going around and around in her mind about it
But the point was that it was the middle of December after one in the fucking morning and she was freezing her goddamn ass off, she had gotten so waylaid after the show- like, six different times- that by the time she realized she didn't feel right, she hadn't had time to change out of her bare bones costume peices and into actual real clothes, she had just grabbed her "fuck it's the full moon" bag and run
A good choice, but... a frigid one all the same
"Please God if you can hear me, let me sleep through the worst of this and be good for tommorrow...." she muttered, rubbing at her eyes before slinging her mini backpack over her shoulder and stepping back towards the main entrance of the speakeasy
She pushed on the door handle-......... and it didn't move
Well, it budged but....
"Fuck..."
Ok, ok, no big deal, they probably just locked up wile Starla finished getting her shit, it was fine
She jiggled the handle again, then nocked, clearing her throat to be as loud as she could
"Hey Starry!!!! Ya' locked me out dollface!!!"
She pressed her ear against the door but.... suspiciously heard no movement....
Ok, ok it was fine, she was probably just in the back somewhere
"STAR!!" she shouted a little louder
"Hey Star!! Ya' gotta let me in babe!!!!!"
....
Not a fuckin' peep....
....
Legal name it was then
"JEN!! JEN ya' locked me out!!!"
Another jiggle, another heavy nock, but even after waiting for a few moments, she still didn't hear a goddamn thing
"Oh no... no no no no no!!!"
Hurriedly, she fumbled to grab her phone out of her bag, thanking every god or angel she could think of that she atleast had had the forethought to grab it on her way to the bathroom
Her fingers were colder than fucking ice as she hurried to enter her passcode and hit her contacts
Calling Starry Night
...
....
.......
The person you are trying to reach is unavailable, at the tone-
"Goddammit Star!!"
Now.... now Angel was panicking
Sniffling, she shakily went to the next number down
Calling Berry Goode Thyme
"Please please please please please...."
Starla and Berry were practically attached at the hip, if Star wasn't answering then maybe Berry-
"Hey it's Berry, if you've got my number then lucky you, if you need something-"
"FUCK!!"
If Star and Berry were both MIA then they were definitely already driving home, Berry was probably asleep in the passenger's seat and Star....
Well, trying to get Star on the phone was like playing the damn lottery....
And since it was Star's place, she was the only one with a fucking key
"Did you really not notice that I left all my shit?" Angel hissed at the phone in annoyance
She shivered, bottom lip trembling as she felt her shoulders sag
She didn't.... have any other choice.....
Her keys and purse were still inside, she couldn't even get a fucking cab!
Slowly, she sank down against the door and hung her head
What the fuck was she going to do...?
~+~
"Goddamn Voxxy.... of all the rediculous things...."
Shivering, Allison pulled her coat a little more tightly around her shoulders, adjusting her cane as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and fired off a quick text
You owe me
"Why I even agreed to pick up your girlfreind's Christmas gift is beyond me, I should be nocked upside the head for such a stupid decision..."
And who the FUCK decided to get their girlfreind a Christmas gift from some weird ass art store in the fucking Atlanta Underground anyway!?
.....
Although in fairness, a BDSM teddy bear was Valentina's exact personality type so Allison supposed it suited her...
Still, just the fact that Allison had had to go pick that up too already made her feel like Victoria owed her the moon, of all the damn things....
Name your price Queen was the text that quickly returned
Allison gave a little snort, smirking as she started typing back
"You shouldn't be so generous..." she muttered
Take me to an art store and give me your credit card
Name the day and time and I'll be there was the almost instantaneous reply
Well, atleast Vicky was trained well...
She was about to type back something clever, when the sound of sniffling caught her attention, prompting her to quickly turn around and squint, slowly approaching the sound
She was ready to take off a shoe and smack someone.... or pull her nife out and stab them, one or the other
But she came to realize rather quickly that she wasn't being stalked by some deranged predator- instead, she was laying her eyes on a rather femme presenting person, sitting on the ground and crying
...
And barely wearing anything
...
In 35 degree weather
....
"...Excuse me dear, are you quite alright?"
The stranger- a blonde, with short hair and pale skin- startled, nearly nocking herself over as she immediately tensed up and jolted back, prompting Allison to quickly set her bag and cane down and put her hands up
It didn't matter what the situation was- the woman (she assumed) was in a dangerous area, barely clothed, clearly distressed, and being approached out of the blue by a complete stranger, Allison needed to make herself as non-threatening as possible
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,"
The blonde stared for a moment, before slowly starting to relax, rubbing at her exhausted looking eyes, streaks of pink glitter trailing down her cheeks and against her hand from the motion
"N-No it's.... f-f-fine I-.... I uh..... s-s-s-sorry I j-j-j-jumped...."
"....That's alright...." Allison said carefully, taking a slow step closer, the bag and cane abandoned temporarily on the ground as she slowly lowered her hands, carefully shedding her coat and offering it to the stranger
The blonde stared at her for a moment, skeptical, before shakily reaching out and accepting the big slab of red fabric, wrapping it around her and wimpering as she snuggled into the fluffy burgundy collar
"O-O-Oh my g-g-g-g-god..... i-it's s-s-s-s-so w-w-warm!!!"
"I'm glad, I hope it helps," Allison noted gently, moving to sit on the ground next to the stranger
"If I may.... might I ask what happened? You seem to be rather.... distressed...."
The blonde sniffed, looking up and rubbing at her eyes, further spreading the line of pink
"...I... g-g-got lo-locked outta m-m-my f-f-freind's.... c-c-club..."
"I see...." Allison said slowly, glancing at the door to the club breifly before turning her attention back to the blonde
"I can only assume you've already tried calling them,"
The blonde nodded rapidly, rubbing at their eyes again
"Y-Yeah..... sh-sh-she's not.... a-a-a-answerin' and... and m-m-my wa-wallet is.... i-i-i-ins-s-side..... s-s-s-so I c-c-can't even-.... c-c-call...."
"You can't get a cab or anything," Allison concluded, wanting to save the poor thing from wearing herself out
The blonde gave a desperate, hurried nod as she snuggled deeper into the coat, curled up into a ball like a little possum
It was.... heart wrenching actually.....
"....I can give you a ride home,"
The blonde jerked her head up, staring at Allison with clear surprise..... and a bit of skepticism....
"I know it isn't ideal but-"
"A-A-A-Are you s-s-sure?! R-R-R-R-Really!?"
"Really," Allison assured quickly
"I can't exactly let you freeze to death out here, and.... well..... especially with your..... state of outfit....."
The stranger's expression crumpled, her head hanging
".....M-M-M-My..... c-c-c-clothes are-"
"Inside?" Allison guessed, earning a sad little nod
"I thought as much, and it would be.... quite dangerous for you to be walking around the underground like this, especially at this time of night, and getting into the car with a stranger...."
The blonde glanced up, giving Allison the necessary moment to notice her beautifully unique eyes- one blue, one green, how.... pretty....
"I mean, obviously I'm um-.... well, you shouldn't be around men like this, well, cis men-"
Great, good job trying to backtrack, moron....
"I-I-I g-g-g-get it......... th-th-th-thank..... y-y-you....."
Allison smiled warmly, standing up and bracing herself on the little cat statue by the door before offering the stranger her free arm to help her up
"You don't need to thank me dear, I would be a monster to leave you here like this,"
The stranger only sniffled a little, reaching for the offered arm, before noticing the way Allison was bracing herself and quickly backing off, instead putting her hands on the ground and quite easily hopping up herself
Allison was about to compliment her grace, when she glanced down and noticed-
"Good lord! Can you walk on the pavement like that?!"
The stranger glanced down at her feet- or rather, the eight inch tall sparkling pink boots that covered her feet
"Huh? O-Oh, y-yeah, it's f-fine, I dance in these, I'm g-good,"
Allison gave her a skeptical look, but the stranger just shrugged again, easily standing on one foot and extending the other outward
"I was a-atl-least smart en-nough to p-put my s-s-stabilizers on before c-comin' out here so... I ain't t-t-too worried about th-the s-sidewalk,"
"Stabilizers?" Allison echoed, only for the paler woman to direct her attention to a little cubic feature on her otherwise stiletto heel
"These, they're r-removable, ya' p-p-put 'em on so you can w-walk on like... cracked up g-ground and g-go on e-e-escalators and shit, th-they stop the h-h-heel from gettin' c-caught in s-s-stuff and.... also p-p-provide a l-little more b-b-balance,"
Allison still looked at her like she was crazy, arms crossing over her chest as she reached down and grabbed her cane to lean on
"...I parked in the public parking deck down the street, the pavement is pretty badly cracked and full of holes, I don't think even your stabilizers will help you there..."
"Yeah.... I p-parked in the s-s-same p-place, you're uh... n-not entirely wr-wrong," she agreed with a quiet sigh
"Ok, I'll w-walk up until th-there and then I-I-I'll take off the P-P-Pleasers and walk in my s-s-socks through the p-p-parkinglot, is that b-better?"
"Yes," Allison agreed with a nod, offering the stranger a sympathetic glance as she took in just how very little she was wearing in this cold
Nothing but what could loosely be called a Santa dress, her shoes, and from what Allison could tell, hopefully panties, but there wasn't even a fucking bra present, and that dress was.... thin.....
"....I'm a stripper," the blonde said suddenly, seemingly defensive
"What? Oh! I uh.... I mean I-.... that wasn't-...."
Great, now Allison seemed like a fucking asshole
Shaking her head, she propped her cane up and took off one of the jackets she had worn under her coat, instantly hating the chill but... oh well
"Please.... you're going to freeze to death before we even get to the parkinglot,"
The blonde looked a little taken aback, before her cheeks flushed even redder than they already were and she grabbed the jacket, shedding Allison's coat and putting the jacket on underneath it, before fastening the coat around her again
".......Thanks....."
"Ofcourse, if women don't help women, no one will," Allison said softly, picking up the bag she had previously abandoned and tucking it over her shoulder, one hand on her cane as she offered the other to the stranger, who seemed hesitant at first, glancing worriedly at the cane and earning a roll of Allison's eyes
"If we hold hands we're less likely to be preyed upon, people are less likely to attack pairs than individuals,"
The blonde still seemed a little skeptical, but didn't hesitate any longer before eagerly taking the offered hand, allowing Allison to start guiding her out of the area
"...I never did get your name by the way,"
"O-Oh uh..... Angel," the blonde mumbled shyly, chewing her lip a little
"I-I uh, I mean, that... that really is my name, it's not just-"
"Hm? Oh, darling, even if it was just a stage name, you have every right to be addressed however you wish, government names are useless,"
Angel exhaled, clearly a little relieved, and just nodded shyly
"....You?"
"Allison, pleasure to meet you dear,"
"...Pleasure's mine," Angel mumbled back, apparently having started to warm up enough that atleast her teeth had stopped chattering- thankfully
"So... forgive me if it's invasive but I have to ask, how did you get locked out of the club?"
Angel gave a frustrated huff, rubbing her frigid face and shaking her head
"I think they just assumed I left without telllin' 'em.... I.... we were the last three there, and I felt like my period was starting so I just ran to the bathroom and... didn't pay attention to anything else, my freinds were gettin' dressed and cleanin' up some shit backstage so I didn't really think anything of it, it didn't seem like they were just on their way out, but when I was done and went to go back inside the door was already locked, I'm gonna triple check just in case to see if Star's car is still out here but.... likelihood is they're both already gone...."
"I'm so sorry, they really shouldn't have just taken off without checking for you, and why did you have to go outside to get to the bathroom?"
"Uh... well, the bathroom inside the speakeasy is havin' plumbin' issues, so there's like..... ok, so Star's property is that entire building, technically, so it includes that little outdoor lobby area where ya' found me, and there's two bigger public bathrooms there, vs the one inside that's just like... a coat closet, basically,"
"Ahhh, I see.... what an odd design choice...."
"Well God only knows why or when it was built like that, the buildin' Le Chat Noir is in has burned down three times, been rebuilt four, it's been through some shit,"
"That's actually quite interesting... and did you say that it's a speakeasy before?"
"Mm? Yeah, technically that's what it is,"
"I love speakeasies, do you have jazz nights by any chance?"
"Uh... not yet, Star's wantin' to do some fancy stuff like that but right now it's just burlesque shows, it's only been open since August and there've been some issues with the property from what I know,"
"Ah... well, wile I do admire burlesque as an art form I can't say that the shows have ever intrigued me, so..."
Angel's lips ticked up into a small smirk, leaning a little closer to get a better veiw of Allison's jacket
"Your jacket's got cthulu on it,"
"...It does, yes,"
"So ya' like horror?"
"Adore it,"
"We do alot of horror shows,"
Allison paused, just breifly, only barely breaking her stride
"Horror burlesque shows?"
"Yeah, we did a slasher one back on Halloween, they're pretty fun, this is a nerdlesque troupe, so we do alot of weird shit like that- spooky stuff, fun stuff, sci fi, general nerdy shit, I haven't done it yet but Star's got a DND show that's REALLY popular, they just haven't done it in Atlanta yet though,"
"That's.... really interesting," Allison smiled sincerely
"So you travel alot then I take it?"
"Oh, uh, no, I'm actually new in this troupe, I've only done a few of their local productions, hell I uh... only started doin' like, burlesque and aerials and shit back in the summer, outside of Star's troupe I'm just a regular stripper, but I'm hopin' I can get involved in more burlesque and circusy stuff, it's just... really hard to break into, and the community is..... rough.... hard to make freinds, easy to make enemies, one of the reasons I've just kept to myself all this time.... sorry, sorry, you uh.... didn't ask for all that,"
"No, but I don't mind listening to it, it's rather interesting," Allison promised, giving Angel's hand a light little squeeze, earning a shy little smile in response
"What about you though? How come you were in the underground at uh, one A.M. on a random Friday night? Ya' don't really seem like the type for clubbin' and shit,"
"Oh, I had to pick up a Christmas gift for my freind's girlfreind," Allison huffed back, eyes rolling
"The guy was only willing to hold this thing for two days and Victoria has been really overwelmed with work so like an idiot I agreed to pick it up,"
"That..... you are one hella good freind then," Angel said with sincere amazement
"Oh no, not really, I'm getting repaid very handsomely, she's loaded,"
Sure, Allison had money too, but Victoria was stacked....
Angel barked a laugh, grinning from ear to ear
"Oh I fuckin' love you, you're great,"
"Please, you won't think that for long," Allison snorted dismissively
After all, if she was so easy to love then by this point in her life, she would have more than just the one freind wouldn't she?
A freind who she had a very complicated history with at that....
"....That's how I feel about myself too," Angel said softly, squeezing Allison's hand ever so gently as the parkinglot came into veiw
Giving her companion a little "One minute" signal, she moved back a few feet to press against a fence, gripping it with one hand as she raised one leg up to carefully unzip one of her boots, pulling it off and setting it down before shifting her weight with a wince, the discomfort of the sudden drastic height change was going to take a little getting used to, but it wasn't nearly as bad as suddenly going from the familiar pain of her boots- wich at this point she was entirely used to- to suddenly having her almost bare feet on the bumpy, cracked sidewalk....
Taking off the other boot, she made a discomforted face and stumbled back over to Allison, giving a shy little thumb's up and looping their arms together again
"Ok, ready for crack town,"
Allison gave a snort of amusement, before leading her across the street, thankfull that things seemed pretty dead out here for the time being
"I'm more stable than I look so if you start to fall, don't be afraid to grab onto me,"
"R-Right, thanks," Angel chirped back shyly, face a little redder than before as she followed the shorter woman through the parkinglot
"....Fuck, I just realized my car is gonna get fuckin' booted,"
"What do you mean?" Allison asked, glancing up at the blonde breifly before refocusing on looking for her car
"It's paid parkin' remember? I've been here since like.... five PM... I paid for twelve hours so if my car is still here after five A.M.- wich it definitely will be- then I'm in 'violation' or whatever and they're gonna put these metal locks on the car to keep me from drivin' it until I pay a fine, wich is expensive as SHIT,"
"Can you pay in advance for more time?"
"Well..... in theory yeah but I left my wallet inside, remember? I don't have an account with the parking fuckers or anything so without my card I can't pay...."
"Don't worry about that, I'll cover it,"
Angel leveled a look at her
"Nooooooope, no no, you aren't gonna do that,"
"Sure I am, if your car gets booted or towed you'll have to pay a massive fine, I think it was... what, fifteen dollars I paid for a couple of hours here? Please, I'm not bothered,"
"...Well yeah but.... I would need atleast another twelve hours, and I don't even know if I'll be able to get my car back by tommorrow afternoon...."
"You will," Allison insisted stubbornly
"Come hell or high water, this problem is going to be fixed by tommorrow afternoon, and if you're really that tense about this then just have your freind pay me back, it's her fault for you having to keep your car overnight here in the first place right?"
Angel hesitated for a long moment, but Allison didn't seem to be budging, so she finally sighed and offered a "Thanks", quiet and on edge
She had never felt good about this sort of thing but.... what else was she supposed to do....?
"Ofcourse dear, now wich car is your's?"
"Well, it's hard to miss," Angel noted with a slight snicker, gesturing several spaces down to a pink bug with a rhinestoned liscence plate
"....You know what? You're right, that is hard to miss," Allison chuckled as they walked, Angel sighing as she pulled her phone out of her bag and started to pull up the stupid paid parking website
"So do you see your freind's car by any chance? Are you sure they've left?"
"Yeah I'm sure, Star had parked two cars down from me, those spaces are both empty now," Angel lamented mournfully, deciding to shoot another quick text wile she had her phone out
PLEASE call me ASAP I'm going home with a stranger and my car is gonna get towed
That text sounded scary, this situation was scary, she wondered absently if she should get the stranger's last name... just in case......
But....
Allison, as if picking up on the fact that Angel had started staring at her, glanced over her shoulder and paused in front of a sleek black car, hand out for Angel's phone
"....Feeling discomforted?" she guessed, leaning on her cane as Angel carefully handed her phone over
"....No, just.... uh.... how are you comfortable with this? I mean... just.... pickin' up a stranger in lingerie outside a club in the underground and then payin' for my car to not get towed.... doesn't sound like the safest thing ya' know?"
"Well it isn't as though you have some place to hide a weapon," Allison snorted, pulling her wallet out of her pocket and starting to type her card number in, causing Angel's cheeks to flush darker
She was ri-
"My backpack," Angel blurted out suddenly, as if that was somehow helping her case
Allison's lips ticked into a grin, handing the phone back before pulling out her keys and unlocking the car
"Oh I'm so scared, you're either the most creative serial killer to ever live or you plan to hold me hostage with a tampon,"
Angel flushed as red as her dress, but she was just going to try to pass that off as a reaction to the cold
"I don't think you're dangerous dear," Allison continued, "I think you've befallen misfortune, I've been there a few times myself, not.... quite like this but.... in any case, if you're having second thoughts, I certainly won't-"
"No!" Angel protested quickly
"Are you kiddin'? I'm fuckin' freezin'! I just...."
She paused, taking a few deep breaths and hanging her head
"....I just wanna go home....." she mumbled, sniffling a little
Allison, sympathetic, reached out to ever so carefully place a hand on her lower back, nodding and opening the passenger side door for her
"You'll be there soon,"
Angel nodded, thanking her quietly before slipping into the car and exhaling, closing her eyes for just a moment as Allison shut the door for her
She wanted to go home and take a hot bath, eat Ibuprofin like it was candy, cuddle her pig, and then get in bed and never fucking come out....
The sound of the driver side door opening caught her attention, causing her eyes to open again as she watched Allison slide into the seat and slip her key into the ignition, starting the car and making Angel wince as the heat immediately started- problem being that the "heat" wasn't very fucking hot just yet
"What's your address love?" Allison asked, propping her phone into the holder and tapping the GPS
"Uh... 124 Night Magic Court,"
Allison paused, staring at her in amazement
"You live in a place called Night Magic Court?"
"Yeah, sick right?" Angel grinned
"I lucked the fuck out with that one,"
"You REALLY did, my address is just Rose Hill, plain and simple, I would move but the property was inherited so...."
"Oh, yeah, no, definitely not worth it to move just 'cause the name ain't fancy enough," Angel agreed quickly, leaning back and remembering her backpack, rolling her eyes as she quickly shuffled out of it and tossed it into the floorboards, groaning a little
Now that she was leaning back and some of the tension was starting to drain, she was starting to feel the cramps kicking in
God, could she just get a break!?!
"Are you alright?" Allison asked worriedly, starting to back out of the parking space
"Yeah just... cramps.... I've got meds in my bag, just nothin' to take 'em with.... I'll be fine,"
"Oh, I have a water bottle you're welcome to, if you aren't too bothered that I've already been drinking from it,"
Angel huffed, shaking her head quickly
"Not at-fuckin'-all, I trust you enough, and I've already had my mouth on like.... three other girls' drinks tonight, if I'm gonna catch somethin', I've probably already done it,"
Ofcourse, as soon as she said it, realization dawned on her that maybe that wasn't the best thing to say in this situation
"....You probably don't want me touchin' it now, do ya'?"
"It's fine, I'll wash it when I get home," Allison shrugged back, glancing over her shoulder
"It's in the big red and black bag behind my seat, if I recall correctly it's sweet tea, apologies if that isn't to your taste,"
"Honey, at this point I'd drink fuckin' tobasco sauce, you're fine," Angel promised, shifting in her seat and damn near bending over the console to haul the gigantic bag into her lap
Good fucking GOD what did she have in that thing?!
Sure, Angel often has bags like this too but that's usually because her's contained stilettos and several changes of clothes and make up, her "I just have to run an errand" purse is a quarter of that size...
........
Ok maybe half.....
"You're really ok with me just riflin' through this..?"
"Sure, it isn't like I have anything private or valuable in it," Allison shrugged back, adjusting her glasses as she finally exited the parkinglot
Angel still felt a little awkward but.... whatever she said, Angel wasn't in a place or mood to argue
Yanking the bag open, she reached in, looking and feeling around for a water bottle
The first thing she felt was yarn, of all things, scissors, a small fabric pouch, another fabric pouch, another fabric pouch, plastic-
AHA!
Pulling, she was relieved to find a rather gorgeous Interveiw With A Vampire waterbottle now in her hands
"Ok... this is fuckin' beautifull, where did you get it?"
"Etsy," Allison admitted with a little snicker
"I know their business practices are shit lately but alot of my favorite artists are still on there so...."
"Nah I get it, Etsy is a treasure if ya' know who you're workin' with," Angel agreed with a nod, setting the bag at her feet and rifling through her own to grab the massive bottle of Ibuprofin she kept in it
"...Thanks for all this, by the way," she noted softly, grabbing a couple of pills and tossing them back, chased with-.. yep, ice tea, still cold thanks to the frigid fucking weather
"Ofcourse, like I said, I'd have to be some sort of monster to just leave you there,"
"Well I mean.... I dunno.... ya' didn't have to go this far.... I mean you're sharin' your drink with me for fuck's sake...."
"I'm also going to get rid of it when I get home so don't think I'm that tender-hearted," Allison pointed out with a quiet snort
"Besides, pain is a bitch, I don't... tend to go out of my way for people but if that is something I can assist with then I try to,"
Angel wasn't going to bring up the cane, but... she could imagine that mindset came from some pretty personal experience....
"Really? You don't tend to go out of your way for people?" Angel repeated in disbeleif
"Not really, you're an exception to that general rule, but like I said, women help women, it's that simple,"
"But like, didn't you also come out to the fucking underground, in the middle of the night and by yourself, for a gift for your freind's girlfreind? Sorry, I don't care how rich she is, normal people don't just fuckin' do that shit if they ain't goin' outta their way for someone,"
"Well..... Victoria is my only freind, so.... she gets a few special privileges,"
Allison didn't really.... get attached to people as a general rule, she tried not to, people were awfull, people were cruel, she preferred to stay away from them, so when one did manage to worm their way into her heart and set up camp like Vicky had....
.....
There was nothing she wouldn't do for them
"Uh-huh, right, but you don't go out of your way for people," Angel smirked playfully, setting the bottle back in the bag and the bag back in the backseat
"I said I don't tend to, not that I never do," Allison pointed out, as if she were a con woman orchestrating some delicate lie
"Pft, sure thing babe," Angel snickered back, earning a dramatic roll of the other woman's dark brown eyes
"By the way, can I like... be super nosy for a sec? The gift wasn't from that cardboard art guy was it?"
"Cardboard... art guy...?"
"Yeah, the place directly across from Le Chat Noir, with the big neon lights and the like, almost empty windows 'cept for a big teddy bear and some cardboard shit?"
"OH! No no no, I can't recall the name of the store but it's.... ok, if you go down the street that your speakeasy is on, then turn right after the pizza place, there's a specialty um.... adult store, of sorts, it's alot of custom and artistically made... exotic... kink related things,"
"Oooooh shit for real? I didn't even know that was there! I haven't been down here enough to go explorin' much, I'm always so hurried whenever I'm doin' shows here and I'm exhausted when I leave so I just don't, I just know Star's got some thing against the guy across from us, but that place sounds wickedly cool, you'll have to show me where it is sometime,"
And then, just as soon as the words left her mouth, Angel realized what she had said, her face starting to heat up and words fumbling, falling, blurting out of her mouth
"S-Sorry, that's.... weird.... I mean, I'm just.... you don't even come down here yourself right? That'd be weird, I mean I'd love it if you came to shows some time but if that ain't really your thing- I mean we've got a Christmas show next week and then that's it until liiiiiike mid-January? I think? And that's gonna be-... probably not your taste, I don't think we have anything spooky until like..... fuuuuuck I dunno, maybe late March? April? Like-..... shit, sorry, I'm just-"
"I would love to go back with you at some point, and find a show of your's to attend,"
....
Oh
Angel.. felt a little bit like the breath had just been stolen right out of her lungs....
"..........Cool,"
Cool? COOL? What kind of fucking response was "cool"?!
Desperate to redirect the conversation away from her own awkward embarrassment, she cleared her throat and glanced around the car, eyes locking onto the keys hanging out of the ignition
"I like your keychain!"
Allison, as if not sure what she was talking about, glanced at the little deer keychain hanging off of the keys
"Oh, thank you, Victoria gave it to me as a sort of inside joke, it's actually an assault siren,"
...
Well Angel certainly hadn't seen that coming
".....Fuck that's cool,"
"It is, you just press the nose and a deafening alarm goes off,"
"Shiiiiiit.... I need somethin' like that, I mean I've got pepper spray and shit in my purse but...."
"I've always found the alarm is safer, you can just drop it and run, or use it as a distraction if you wish to fight back instead, pepper spray can be trickier because it's easier to harm yourself with,"
Ofcourse, Allison also had a safety nife, but she wasn't going to mention that when her ride-mate was still rather (reasonably) jumpy
"Yeah, I should probably get one of those then, are they just deer or..?"
"I have no idea, I can ask Vicky though, I bet she can get you something you like, any preferences?"
"Well I have a spider web on my keys, maybe like, a blinged out spider or somethin'?"
To show Allison what she meant, she grabbed her bag to start looking for her keys..... when a horrible realization hit her......
"......My keys are in my purse......"
"...Yes? That's why I'm driving you home,"
"No no no no, I mean.... ALL of my keys, all of my keys are on the same fuckin' key ring! My house key is at the fuckin' club too!!!"
"I assumed as much, I just thought you had a roommate to late you in at your house?"
"Honey if I had a roommate why would I need YOU to drive me home?"
"Perhaps the roommate can't drive? Voxxy's girlfreind can't drive, her eyesight is too poor,"
"...Fair point, but no, no roommate, I'm just... I'm totally fuckin' alone...."
Screaming another "FUCK!" at the world, she grabbed her phone and called Star again, her bottom lip trembling
"You don't have a spare key on your property?!" Allison asked, now starting to understand the alarm
"No... no I don't-... my ex had my only spare, I ain't got another one made yet..." she breathed, her voice breaking miserably
Great, this was just GREAT, as if everything else wasn't fucked enough, now she couldn't even go home!!!
What was she supposed to do now?!
She could MAYBE give Allison the address of one of her co-workers but.... she didn't really know any of them well enough to call them up out of the blue at almost three in the morning and be like "Hey can I crash on your couch until tommorrow?"
Most of them had partners or roommates or kids too, she couldn't just invade their space like that....
"Starting route to Ihop, head east-"
The sound of the GPS's robotic voice jolted her out of her panic, shifting a confused look to Allison, who glanced back at her innocently
"What? You need time to get in touch with someone, and I haven't eaten all night, sounds like a win/win to me,"
Angel took a breath, her shoulders sagging a little
"Didn't tend to go out of her way for people" her left fucking tit
~+~
"You do know I left my wallet, right?"
"I'm sorry, did I, at some point, give the impression that I cared?"
Angel shrank back in her seat a little, staring down at the floor
Allison had told her upon sitting down that they were both getting food and that if Angel didn't order something she would just order for her
From a man Angel probably would have gotten defensive and kicked him under the table but....
It sounded alot more caring and sweet coming from another woman....
Maybe that was just the Sapphos talking though
....
It was also kind of hot
....
That was definitely the Sapphos talking
"Look sweetheart, if you're really that bothered then just pay me back when your wallet is returned to you, and if you don't, I really won't care, I'm fine financially,"
Angel shifted a little again, pulling the coat a little closer around her, why this place had the fucking air conditioning on in this weather was beyond her, but....
".....What do you do anyway?" she asked, unable to help herself
"Oh, don't be too impressed, I'm a professional crafter," Allison noted with a light snort, grabbing her menu
"Seriously? Fuck that's cool,"
Why had Allison sounded like it was nothing to be proud of? If she was making a living like that then it was impressive as SHIT
Even if she wasn't, it was still impressive as shit
Angel could sew, somewhat, for the most part, and even that was a difficulty most of the time, she couldn't even imagine being able to make all kinds of different things and make money doing it too
"Mmm.... for the most part yes, it's..... quiet... wich is good, but it's also just alot of easy DIY skills, nothing that fabulous, and when I said 'don't be impressed' I meant financially, it's only recently started to pick up steam and I've been at it for years,"
Angel had questions.... but it felt far too invasive to just blurt them out, so she kept them to herself, atleast for the time being
"Nah, fuck that shit, I'm IMPRESSED no matter what you say," Angel insisted with a small smirk, grabbing her own menu
"Well if you insist...." Allison smirked warmly, the edges crinkling around her eyes, clearly amused, or maybe just.... adoring?
No, that couldn't be right, it must have been amusement
"I'm just.... so sorry that.... I'm fucking up your night so bad, I mean shit, you must have plans or-... fuck you probably wanted to SLEEP and here I am holding you back from that..."
"Sleep was definitely on my to-do list, but don't be too upset, realistically I was probably going to go home and just reroot one of my dolls wile watching Creepshow again,"
"Huh... not sure what I understood in that sentence less, 'rerooting dolls' or 'Creepshow',"
Allison snickered a little, her lips slipping up a bit higher
"Rerooting is when you... make new hair for dolls and use a drill bit and a sewing needle to root it into their heads,"
"Oh shit, that.... you make dolls then? Like.. really?"
"Repaint existing ones but yes, I suppose you could say I 'make' them, I've yet to make one from scratch though,"
"I don't see that as a prerequisite," Angel mused, unable to even try to focus on her menu
"Well... as for Creepshow, it's a horror anthology show I enjoy, you've never heard of it?" Allison replied, shifting her gaze back down to the menu as though trying to get off the subject of crafting quickly
...Was Angel imagining it, or did this chick have a hard time talking herself up?
"Nah, sadly not, sometimes I'm kinda behind on TV shows and shit,"
"Oh I understand, I'm only decent at keeping up with pop culture in general because it's part of my job, but horror is another story, I keep up with horror just for me, it's the only genre I'm explicitly attached to,"
"Mmmm... yeah, that seems right for you," Angel grinned, rubbing the back of her neck and leaning back in the booth
"...I'm still sorry though...."
"Don't be, it wasn't as if this was in any way a choice of your's,"
"I know but still....."
"Darling, please stop fretting, you're going to force me to do something extreme, like force-feed you cheesecake to stop your guilt,"
"...I... don't think they have cheesecake here..."
"Oh they don't, that's why I said it would be extreme, we'd have to hunt all over this damn city to find some at three in the morning,"
Angel stared in confusion, Allison's expression was unwavering, and finally, after a couple of long beats, Angel started to laugh
"So uh, humor me, why would this stop my guilt?"
"Well, food is a source of joy and pleasure, atleast it ought to be, if you're going to keep fussing like this, I'll have to give you pleasure until you can't possibly focus on anything unpleasurable- like guilt,"
There was a sex joke sitting there on the tip of her tongue, but she held herself back from making it
"Creole sensibilities," Allison added a second later, shrugging
"Italian sensibilities too," Angel chuckled back, allowing herself a moment of true peace before sighing miserably again and rubbing her face
"...What am I gonna do if they don't answer?" she asked quietly
"I mean it isn't.... that uncommon.... Star is about as predictable as a sneeze and Berry almost never answers... what if they just don't fuckin' answer me and I'm.... I'm stuck?! What am I gonna do about my pig? Nuggets'll need to eat more than just the dry food he has out..."
"If you don't hear back by-"
Allison paused suddenly, blinking slowly
"....I'm sorry, did you say pig?"
"Yeah, I've got a pet pig, his name is Fat Nuggets,"
....
Allison expected her to continue but surprisingly, Angel had nothing else to say about that
....
Well alright then
"...If you don't hear back by about eight A.M. then you'll call a locksmith," she continued firmly
"It'll be alright, you're supposed to go back tommorrow evening so-"
"But how am I s'posed to pay a locksmith without my wallet?" Angel pointed out with a miserable sigh
"You don't have cash in your home?" Allison asked with moderate surprise
"Uh.... no? I don't keep cash for the most part anyway, what I've got is in my wallet, and besides, I don't know that locksmiths take cash these days, I'm pretty sure you've gotta have a digital payment,"
"Oh ofcourse, it's always something with this blasted modern technology," she huffed irritably, earning a little snicker from Angel
"Woooow, you sound kinda like my Nana...."
"You aren't the first to say that dear, you won't be the last either I'm sure,"
"I'm sure I won't either, no offense," Angel said with a slight snicker, atleast a teensy bit uplifted
"I'm an old soul," Allison shrugged, before waving off the topic and returning to the much more serious matter at hand
"In any case, if you need a locksmith and have no cash on you, I can always just-"
"Don't offer to pay for the locksmith," Angel interrupted quickly
"I already feel bad enough,"
Allisno huffed, sinking a little in her seat, as if disappointed
Gee, Angel wished she had the kind of money that could make her disappointed to not pay for somebody's shit...
"Well..... digital payment methods are popular these days,"
"Not beatin' those Nana allegations babe..."
"If you're really in that much of a pinch about it, why not send me money through Paypal and I'll simply pay for the locksmith with my debit card? Would that suffice? No charity, no hand outs, just an exchange,"
"You have Paypal? ...And ya' didn't suggest it before?" Angel asked in surprise
"Yes, it's a matter of business unfortunately, my online store needed a digital bank of some sort rather than a real bank so I've become stuck with one, and if you're really pressed, I could always just use my Paypal card, did you know you can have a debit card for that thing now? Look, I even customized mine,"
Angel tilted her head, more than a little confused as Allison pulled her wallet out and quickly grabbed a card with-
"Is that Elphaba and Glinda kissing...?"
"Yes!! I got it at an Artist's Alley a month ago, isn't it charming!? This artist had quite a few sapphic card covers so I... may have decided to outfit my payment methods...."
Angel bit her lip, so... SO tempted to ask to see the rest of them.... but that felt kind of invasive.....
"Do you want to see the others?"
"YES!"
Look at that, sometimes God provides
Excitedly, Allison pulled out three other cards and set them neatly in front of Angel, allowing her to ogle at the pretty art... and cleverly side-stepping that question of why she hadn't brought this Paypal thing up sooner
"Oh my god you have PEAK fuckin' taste, you have fuckin' Supercorp..."
"That one is my debit card, I use it the most often so I had to put my favorite on it,"
"So real for that, oh my god Arcane...."
"Joint expense account with my.... I guess you could call Victoria my business partner in some senses,"
"Ok wich one is the Swanqueen?"
"Oh, Vicky gave me a credit card, it's a long story, but that's her favorite couple, I don't care nearly as much for them so it's easy to remember that this one is her's,"
Angel blinked slowly, taking a sip of her soda
"...Ya' know, you can always just tell me that you've got a Sugar Mommy, I really don't-"
"Believe me, that isn't it," Allison interrupted
....
But like, it sounded like it was.... and Allison looked more flustered than annoyed....
Still, Angel wouldn't push
"...Anyway, funny though, you don't really seem like the nerdy shipper type to me,"
Allison was kind of nerdy, just not that flavor of nerdy, atleast in Angel's opinion
"Mmm, I'm.... adjacent to it I suppose you could say, I don't spend much time on the internet, but I read alot, and I watch alot of television, sort of comes with the territory I suppose, a large part of what I do is on YouTube and I have to keep somewhat aware of what's popular so I can cater to that, to some extent,"
"No that makes sense, I'm kinda in a similar boat, Star's troupe kinda has to keep up with popular stuff too- to a degree- and I wanna do more with them so...." Angel shrugged, before heaving a little sigh and trying to call Star again
Still straight to fucking voicemail though.....
"Is there... not someone else you can call?" Allison frowned with concern, her brows pinching together
"No..." Angel groaned miserably
"I'm pretty sure everybody's asleep by now, wich is probably why I'm not gettin' an answer to begin with...."
"....I truly am quite sorry," Allison frowned, reaching out to ever so gently place her hand over Angel's, earning a little shrug in response
"It's ok, I'm just... fuckin' relieved beyond beleif that you're helpin' me, fuck, I really don't know where I'd be without you,"
"Pft, please dear, don't give me that much credit," Allison insisted, earning an annoyed frown as Angel shook her head
"No I'm serious, I'd be fuckin' wrecked without you, I'd probably be walkin' home right now, wich uh... ha.... I live a pretty far ways away from downtown, ya' may have noticed...."
Allison only shook her head again, as if Angel's constant attempts to thank her or compliment her were unwarranted
"Well, let's just not focus on all the nightmares of that situation hm? The point is that you're alright now, and we have a plan going forward, even if your freind doesn't answer until some time tommorrow, atleast you'll be able to get home, hm?"
"Yeah," Angel agreed with a quiet sigh of releif
"I'm gonna keep tryin' for a wile, but.... atleast there's that,"
~+~
It didn't end up mattering how long Angel tried
After another two hours, they finally gave up and committed to the locksmith idea
"I'm so, so sorry about this...."
"Darling, if you apologize one more time, I'm afraid I'm going to have to spank you as punishment,"
Angel froze, face turning red as she quickly snapped her head around to look at Allison
"That was a joke, though it must be late enough that I'm losing my charms if it didn't come across that way," the brunette said with a yawn, unlocking the car and rubbing her exhausted face
"N-No uh... not... losin' your charms at all! J-Just took me by surprise,"
Because Angel definitely wouldn't be opposed to that and wondered just how much of the "joke" actually had an underlying vein of sincerity to it
Allison glanced at her, opening the passenger's side door for her and allowing her lips to tick up into a smirk, as if reading her mind
"Pleasant surprise it seems," she teased, earning an embarrassed groan from Angel as she slipped into the car, her face utterly burning red at this point
"But still," she muttered, trying to keep her cool and return to the previous conversation
"I'm just so sorry I kept'cha out all night for nothin', I feel terrible..."
"Well don't feel that way, I've had fun, actually," Allison promised, shutting Angel's door for her before rounding to the other side and slipping into the driver's seat
"...So have I," Angel confessed shyly, twirling a few strands of platinum blonde hair around her fingers as she glanced at the shorter woman
"Then you see? Nothing lost at all!" Allison promised- though the poor thing did yawn again
Still, Angel somehow wasn't so sure about that....
She slinked in her seat a little as Allison started the car, plucking at a random thread in the jacket she had been loaned- wich she probably shouldn't do but...
"...I'm just-"
"Spanking," Allison warned, smirking at Angel as she pulled out of the parkingspace
Angel huffed, nose wrinkling and grinning back at her companion
"Ya' know you're just beggin' me to brat at you and apologize like thirty times to make you come through on that promise, but it's so fuckin' late...."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, the exhaustion really starting to hit her now
"....I can't thank you enough for all this, really... you can just.... fuck.... lemme see when the soonest is that a locksmith can come out..."
The two of them were so tired that when they decided to give up on getting Angel's purse back for the night, they had left without thinking about it, not considering that the locksmith would actually take time to get there, once they had found out that several of them were twenty-four hours they had let go of the urgency...
"Or you could just go with the other option," Allison noted, catching Angel by surprise and confusion
"What other option?"
"Darling please, spare us both, just come home with me and sleep a little first, will your pig be alright for a few more hours?"
Angel, face pink, nodded quickly
'Y-Yeah uh, h-he'll be fine... he's got dry food and I fed 'im before I left...."
"Then I see no reason in torturing us both with sleeplessness for another... what? Hour at minimum? Possibly two or three? Let's just.... get some sleep and we'll deal with this in the actual morning, rather than whatever queer hell five A.M. is supposed to be,"
Angel could have easily argued that it made no sense to do that, that sparing another hour or two and then parting ways as good acquaintances after Angel was safely back home was the smarter solution by far
She could have mentioned that there was still no guarantee either of them weren't serial killers and that as nice as the offer was, it was also a fair bit stupid
She could have said any number of things, lodged any number of protests, but.....
She just really.... really...... didn't want to.....
"I'd like that alot," she replied instead, voice soft and quiet
"Good," Allison replied, seemingly relieved as she turned down the appropriate street
Most of the drive passed in silence after that, the two of them too exhausted to hold much of a conversation, right up until a driveway came into veiw
"...As much as I really wish all this shit hadn't happened, I... I am glad that I met you," Angel noted quietly, earning a little smile of agreement from Allison as well
"I am too, though I also wish that this hadn't happened to you, are you sure things are going to be alright with all this?"
"Oh yeah, my money is on the babes just bein' asleep, they'll get back to me, I mean fuck, I've got a show tonight, ya' know?"
"Mmm, well if you don't mind my putting my nose into this, I would heavily suggest you reading them for filth over this,"
"Eh.... I don't really blame 'em," Angel shrugged complacently
Allison clearly did, but she also knew it wasn't her place to argue
"....Hey uh, do you... maybe... wanna come to the show tonight? I mean, I know burlesque ain't much of your thing and we were gonna try to find a show you'd be into but-"
"I'd love to," Allison interrupted
Angel's heart fluttered, it shouldn't have, this was just.... it was just....
Oh fuck it, it didn't matter, Angel was falling like a cement lock in the ocean here
"....C-Cool, then uh, ticket's on me ok? I mean shit, it's the least I can do after tonight,"
"Mmm... alright, I'll make that concession... but then you aren't allowed to pay me back for earlier,"
"Wah-.... I don't think that's equal-"
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I mistakenly imply somehow that I cared?"
Angel blinked, before giving a scoff and a laugh, leaning back in her seat
"You're a real peice of work...."
"I know~" Allison sing-songed back
And god, what a magnificent peice of work she was
Angel had never been in love before, she'd had a few crushes, she'd dated, she'd had plenty of lustfull encounters, but this....
This just felt so different from all of that
She hoped Allison stayed
She hoped that they'd have the chance to explore all of this a little further
And fuck she hoped Allison was into girls, come to think of it she had never explicitly said, and it was always so hard to tell, so now Angel got to play the fun fucking game of "Is she into me, or is she just freindly?"
The engine turned off, a soft exhale leaving her as Allison pulled her key from the ignition
They were both exhausted, the night- morning- was far from young, they really shouldn't be hesitating to go inside and get some sleep but....
For some reason neither of them moved
".....Ya' know, uh.... I know this wasn't a date or anything, but this was one of the nicest dates I've been on,"
Fuck playing the game, Angel was going to go for it
"That's.... sad, sweetheart, please raise your standards," Allison teased
Or atleast, Angel assumed she was teasing
"I do agree though," she added a beat later, much to Angel's surprise
"I had a nice time, despite the circumstances,"
"Y-Yeah, me too,"
"...We should go in,"
"Yeah.... yeah, sorry, we uh... we should,"
Angel reached for the handle, pursing her lips a little
"....Do you wanna go on a real date?"
"Oh thank god you asked," Allison exhaled, much to Angel's snort of amusement
"So uh.... today's- ya' know, obviously.... with the show and all.... but... you got plans for tommorrow?"
"Nothing I can't easily rearrange,"
"...Ya' like museums?"
"Love museums,"
"Then.... then it's a date,"
"...It's a date," Allison agreed, before, still seeming somewhat reluctant, she pushed her door open, stepping out of the car
Angel took a breath, straightening her hair just a little before stepping out of the car as well
She may not have her purse, her keys, or her wallet, but she might just be coming away from this night with a girlfreind
.....
Yeah, that was a pretty good trade