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“Remember, no powers.”
“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Shellise nodded. Her jade green suit was silhouetted against the light-polluted London sky from where Pearl sat in her fox hoodie, the moon and city lights causing Shellise to shimmer gold and silver as she stepped forward. “So do you want me to drop to the shield and punch you instead?”
Garnet Beetle flicked his yo-yo out. “Hey, weapons are still on the table. But cut the sass. You don’t want me to make a flamethrower again and win.”
“You set a library on fire for my first mission.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you just can't handle the heat.”
That was all Garnet Beetle needed to get Shellise charging into the makeshift rooftop sparring ring.
Shellise’s shield crashed into Garnet Beetle's yo-yo, halting the red weapon's rotation and forcing him to wind it back. Her leg swept out, meeting nothing when he deftly dodged, and she followed with a backwards handspring when he counterattacked with an uppercut.
“Penny for your thoughts, ‘Sune?” Nightclaw asked her. “We never really talked about it.”
“‘Bout what, mate?”
Garnet shot the yo-yo out to the side and yanked. It nicked at the edge of Shellise’s shield, knocking it out of her grasp, away from her torso, and allowing him to get a kick in.
Nightclaw fidgeted with his nails. “The… you know, uh…. the whadduhwuhwauhtcha… thing– the thing that happened in December.”
She paused, mind rewinding to the incident before Christmas. “You mean the… oh. Uh. That.”
“So it turns out that I… Apparently, I–”
Pearl blinked, quickly levelling Nightclaw with a mildly judgemental look. “Mate, you better not finish that sentence the way I think you’re gonna–”
“No, it’s not that! You’re awesome, but... I think I like kissing guys, I don’t know?” he admitted, animatedly throwing his hands in the air. “Although, you were handsome as a man. That kind of helped, I guess?”
“.....Uh. Thanks, I suppose.”
“Don’t tell Stallion. Please.”
“Stalli– Oh, oh!” Pearl fought a laugh down. The whole AGABender ordeal had been awkward but a lesson in gratitude. Nightclaw had been rather attractive in his feminine form, Pearl would admit, but more troubles had seemed to arise around one of the newer heroes, Stallion; holder of the horse miraculous. Prior to the group gender transformation, he had been behaving normally, albeit with the typical newbie nervousness. However, the moment Nightclaw gained curves and Shellise an Adam’s apple, Stallion turned into an absolute mess, eyeing the turtle heroine far too long for Pearl’s liking and nearly drooling over Nightclaw. She absently wondered if he had come out in his civilian life yet.
Nightclaw held his face in his hands. “This is all kind of new to me,” he groaned. “I liked the attention from everyone in boy form. In some way. Shellise was sorta cute. Beets was weird to see tall. Stallion is… handsome.”
Pearl’s hindbrain immediately gagged. “Out of all the blond idiots in London,” she started, coughing.
“It’s not like there’s many in skin-tight suits!”
“Okay, ew, there are far better options for you; like Garnet…”
“What?”
“Or even masculine Shellise, but I–”
Shellise back-handspringed away from another mêlée yo-yo blow and kickflipped her shield back up. Pearl couldn’t help but smile as she watched Shellise pull off a mid-air twirl to kick Garnet in the face.
She turned back around to catch Nightclaw giving her a smug look. “Aw, you think she's pretty.”
“Course I do. All girls are.”
“No, but you think she’s pretty.”
“....Whad'ya mean by that, mate?”
“I mean that–”
Pearl straightened up, glancing over to the ring. “Oh, would’ya look at that. Seems like the match is over.”
Shellise now had Garnet’s scarf pinned to a brick chimney with her shield. “That's all you got, Garnet?” she giggled. How she managed to not be out of breath and still that giggly was baffling to Pearl. She wouldn’t complain though. Shellise’s laughter was cute; almost melodic to listen to.
Garnet Beetle rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’m tapping out. Drone! You gonna help test her new shield technique; make sure it’s not a fluke?”
“A fluke? Excuse me!” Shellise protested, pulling her shield out of the bricks.
“Sure, G,” Drone skipped over, unwinding the trompo and thus dismantling the barrier for the rooftop ring. Garnet swung his yo-yo out to replace it and stepped outside, settling onto a nearby skylight hatch.
Pearl watched Nightclaw’s gaze wander towards his partner, and recalled what happened during the akuma attack a week ago. She’d not talked about it on The Beetle’s Details, nor had she told Grian about Nightclaw’s little reaction to him, but Pearl couldn’t have helped but get a little gossipy with Mumbo at the café earlier in the week. Mumbo didn’t seem all that interested in anything other than the biscuits, but looking at the current situation on the rooftop, she was certain of her unspread rumour. Within a tiny flick, the heart-shape in Nightclaw’s belt-tail formed– again, just like it had happened last week– turning back to its normal swish a second later. They locked eyes, and Nightclaw looked like a cat caught in an empty birdcage. He tried to shuffle away inconspicuously, but Pearl yanked him back by the belt buckle with a slight yelp.
“Oh my golly. You really do like him,” Pearl whispered.
“Not so loud!” he hissed, jerking his head to glance over at the sparring teammates.
She stifled a snort. “Geez. Took you long enough to figure that out.”
“I don't know how I didn't know!” Nightclaw whisper-yelled, ducking down past her shoulders. “It just kinda…. happened last wee–”
“Just last week?!” Pearl let out a barking laugh, stifling it when Drone glanced in her direction looking very bee-fuddled whilst rewinding his trompo (heh, she could be punnier than Nightclaw, see?) but did his usual shrug-and-ask-later tactic. “It took evil ice king Elsa knock-off Scott being crazy protective over Jimmy for you to figure out you think G’s cute?”
“Well, I always thought Beets was handsome, but…”
“Aye-yie-yie,” she muttered, ears flicking back. “And you're the one lecturing me about my love life.”
“So you do admit it!”
Drone’s trompo spun and grinded against the shield, pushing Shellise back. She grunted and suddenly dropped, rolling under him and throwing the shield out to rebound to the other side of the street.
“I’m not saying anything!” Pearl protested.
“No, but you did,” Nightclaw drawled. He leaned over, resting his chin on his hands. “You claimed I’m lecturing you about your love life, which means you have one. C’mon, spill. Allow me, the catty charisma extraordinaire, to teach you a thing or two about the art of flirtation–”
“–God, no–”
“You have to charm her, woo her–”
“–make it stop–”
“–if you wish to hold and treasure and kiss her–”
“–lalalalala, can’t hear you–”
“–and have an actual good kiss; not like the face-smashing we did in December–”
The sound of the trompo zipping against concrete was interrupted by another clang of the shield, which had just returned from its boomerang rebound.
Shellise twisted into the air, balled up in a somersault and then smoothly stretching out to slice the skyline with her limbs. She glanced over and locked eyes with Pearl (or, at least, Pearl’s eyes locked onto Shellise’s face) and smiled confidently, landing half a metre away from the arc of Drone’s trompo attack.
“Whoa,” was all Pearl could manage.
Nightclaw raised an eyebrow. “Hey, about that–”
“I'm not taking advice from a hypocrite, ‘Claw. G flirts with you like anything.”
Nightclaw's black fingernails dug into the bricks behind them, making a horrendous scraping noise. He didn't flinch as his gaze grew unfocused. “It means nothing to him. He's just playful.”
Pearl softened a little in sympathy. “Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s just that.”
“Yeah, but I know what he's really like because GB’s my partner-in-crime. Against crime. Whatever, you get the picture. Same way you’re attached by the hip to Drone-Drone and Shell-Girl. Besides, the Guardian Guy said something to us about past holders, and their personal attachments and something about World War 2 and–” Nightclaw sobered up, yanking himself into a forced imitation of casualness, lazily leaning back against the bricks. The clanks of Shellise’s shield further punctuated his silence.
“‘Claw, you ‘lright, mate?”
“We won't be strong enough if… friendship isn’t enough for me.” He pushed out, sighing wistfully. “But as important as you and Shellise are to the team, you don't have to deal with all that mess.”
“Wait. I– what– Shellise?” Pearl spluttered. She stopped herself from coughing too loudly. “I mean, I get what you’re saying ‘bout me, hey; guilty as charged and all, but how is Shellise an equivalent here?”
“C’mon. She really likes you. Both sides of you. And hey, if you ignore the whole leadership-together-or-the-world-might-end thing I'm sharing with Garnet, we're in the same boat. Look at us. Two heroes on Valentine's Day. A kit and a cat. Discussing adoration for our short shell-adorned sweethearts. Let me help you out with her.”
“Both of me? What’s that supposed to mean, mate?”
“She’s… uh– what’s the saying?– I’m ninety percent sure Shellise holds a candle for micro-celeb vlogger Pearlessa Moon as well as badass superheroine Kitsune.”
Pearl blanched. “She doesn't know my identity, right?”
“Just GB, me, and the Guardian,” Nightclaw nodded, dropping his voice to a whisper. “But I can tell you that the way she looks at ‘Sune and Pearl is almost the same.”
“And what if Pearlessa Moon’s journalist integrity wouldn’t… allow her to date a superheroine she’s written video essays about countless times in the five months after that heroism debut?”
Nightclaw paused in thought. “Then what about your classmate–”
“Gem’s just my bestie,” she snapped.
His piercing green eyes narrowed into slits, but the small smile remained. “I was gonna say Impulse just to cat-ch you off guard, but you've already answered my question for me.”
Pearl pouted with narrowed eyes, staring back at Nightclaw. “Rude.”
“But I know you know I’m right.”
“Do I know now?”
“Of course! I’m your catty charisma extraordinaire. Why wouldn’t I be right?”
“Because it'll be weird, man! I already tell her almost everything. Well, except for why I wear this necklace twenty-four seven.”
“Okay, fine! If you aren't gonna make a move on your best friend,” Nightclaw repeated, a smirk tugging to the right side of his mouth, “ask out Shellise instead. It's obvious you like her. She’s really cute; I'd be one lucky kitty to have her.”
Pearl’s fox ears involuntarily stood up. “Watch it, mate.”
He didn't bat an eye. “You see what I mean?”
She paused. Blinked. “Ah.”
“If you don’t wanna make a move on Shellise, would you help Drone? Or Stallion? He seemed rather flustered around her,” Nightclaw smiled charmingly. Pearl’s grip on her flute instantly tightened. “There. Does that thought motivate you enough?”
“I don't know why you insist on making me look like the jealous one.”
“Okay fine, I'll cut the teasing. Both of you are like two peanuts in a pack, or however that saying goes. She thinks you're cute and hilarious. You think she's gorgeous and witty. You clearly complement each other! Now, are you gonna leave the strong headedness to her or are you gonna finally make a move?”
“‘Claw! You’re up with me now,” Garnet yelled.
“We’re not done talking, missy,” Nightclaw wagged a finger at Pearl.
She rolled her eyes. “Go ahead and woo your partner-in-crime-not-boyfriend.”
“Whatcha talking about with ‘Claw there, huh?” Shellise asked, legs dangling from where she had perched herself.
“A little bit of self-discovery, I suppose.” She wasn’t exactly lying; from what she could gather, Nightclaw had practically come out of the closet to himself. Shellise and Drone didn’t need to know that sentiment extended to her, in a way. “He’s asking me about a few personal things.”
“Oof. That’s gotta be a bit difficult to work with, especially on Valentine’s Day,” Drone remarked. “Although, that does make me wonder if he’s got a special someone he’s moping over.” Shellise whacked him on the back, earning an indignant “hey!”. Drone looked over at Pearl. “Am I right?”
“Can’t tell ya, mate.”
“Dang it.”
Shellise glanced back at the ring. “Well. Uh. That’s a position to finish in.”
“That’s what she said,” muttered Drone, earning another half-hearted punch to the stomach from Shellise.
“Oh, it’s over already?” Pearl asked. Sure enough, Garnet Beetle had Nightclaw flat on his back, legs tangled and trapped by the yo-yo; and hands held up in surrender.
“You win,” he squeaked.
“GG,” Garnet Beetle grinned. He unwound his yo-yo from his partner’s limbs, letting Nightclaw drag his flopped tail back over to Pearl.
“Well. That was fast.”
“Not. A. Word.”
“Un-furr-tunately for you, I'm quite the cat-terbox.”
Nightclaw gasped, paws flying to his chest. “Did you just out-pun me?”
“Purr-ty sure I did, mate.”
“Oh, you’ve cat to be kitten me now.”
“Missed chance to say meow.”
Shellise strapped her shield back on her arm. “Anyone else wanna go for another round?”
“Okay, I’m knackered,” Garnet announced. “Shell’s clearly not. Anyone still up for a match with this maniac?”
Drone shook his head. “Nah.”
“Nope,” Nightclaw added, purposefully tilting his head at Pearl. She squinted back.
“I suppose you’re in the ring with me now, Kitsy,” Shellise announced.
“Ey!” Pearl jumped up and twirled her flute around her fingers, letting it extend slightly. Mirages took a lot of concentration to conjure, but they were off the table regardless, meaning she could have fun with a swing or two of her weapon. Maybe she could get an edge into Shellise’s ironclad defence.
The turtle heroine smiled, sweet as usual, and still giggly after her last victory. She was now rolling the shield around like a gymnastics hoop, back and forth and over and under and across her limbs. The energy she still somehow radiated was simultaneously tiring to see yet infectious, making Pearl itch to start the match.
“Right girls, have fun; and remember: be nice,” Garnet chided. “You two seem to love playing rough.”
“Bit too rough sometimes; keep it PG!” Drone taunted playfully. Nightclaw had the audacity to let out a teasing whistle.
“Urgh, now I remember why I’m a lesbian,” Pearl half-joked. “Boys, am I right?”
“Yeah, but we can both hand their asses to them on a silver platter,” Shellise grinned. “But you know what, Kitsune-y-roo?”
“Yeah, Shelly?”
“If I win, you have to buy me a slushie.”