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It all starts when Trinity and Dennis turn up to the party, stylishly late. It’s the day before Halloween, and several of their coworkers are having a party to celebrate the holiday before they work what is bound to be a disastrous set of shifts.
Dennis, in his slightly too big horse costume, peers up at the house from the curb. He’s skeptical, which is fair enough–the shabby exterior and overgrown front yard don’t exactly scream welcome.
But there’s music beating from inside, and fake cobwebs hanging from the windows, and a cute pumpkin spilling its seedy guts by the door. Trinity loves Halloween. She lets her roommate pound reluctantly at the door while she inspects the windows (never mind, definitely real cobwebs), and pretty quickly their host appears.
“Welcome to Casa Shen, kids.” The man himself drawls, beckoning them both in. “I love the costumes. Though the effect would’ve been better if all three of you turned up at the same time.”
Trinity turns back to ask him what he means, but Shen and his Bella Swan costume have both vanished into the night. Spooky.
Ten minutes later, she’s even more confused.
The house is packed–or maybe it’s so tiny that it just feels like that–and somehow she only recognises about five people there. This is usually when Trinity feels most in her element, surrounded by people in weird costumes and music loud enough to drown out any unwanted thoughts, but something’s different.
First, it’s a random guy dressed as the Phantom of the Opera. She thinks he might be a pedes nurse, but the mask makes it a little hard to tell. “Nice look, Flynn Ryder,” he yells over the music. “Where’d your girlfriend run off to?”
She frowns and tries to ask who he means. Trinity very much doesn’t have a girlfriend, or even a …well, anything, at the moment. But he dances away before she can get the words out. Sending a look at Dennis, she finds him equally confused. Maybe they’re hearing things over the music.
A few minutes later, they’ve navigated their way to the kitchen to get drinks. Dennis reaches into a cooler filled with rapidly melting ice and pulls out a beer, prying the bottle top off with his teeth. Trinity cringes from where she’s pouring rum and coke into a plastic cup. “Is that what you guys did back on the farm?”
“Yup. Don’t knock it til you try it. Cheers,” he says, knocks his bottle against the side of her cup where it sits on the counter.
Trinity smirks. “Country boys make do, I guess.” Her friend sighs and looks upwards, muttering under his breath to ask for strength. Luckily for him, Trinity’s attention is pulled away before she gets the chance to workshop her material any more.
“Hey, you two!” It’s Princess, dressed as her namesake in a frilly pink dress and tiara. She hugs them both, looking at both of their costumes approvingly. “I was hoping to see some more matching costumes today, everyone’s been so boring.”
She leans closer to Trinity and starts speaking in a conspiratorial tone. Dennis takes this as his cue to leave, giving them both a jaunty salute that he seems to immediately regret as he walks out of the room.
“So, it seems like you and Javadi are getting along better.”
Trinity frowns, confused. “I guess? Why, is she here?”
Princess freezes. “You didn’t come here together?”
“No, why would we? I had to stay late at work, Huck and I just got here.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? Why oh?”
A range of emotions seem to cross Princess’ face, before settling on barely-contained amusement. It’s the same expression she makes when she’s just heard a good rumour, or placed what she thinks will be the winning bet in the ER pool.
“Don't worry about it. You’ll understand when you see her. I like the new hair, by the way. Very cute.” She lifts a hand to ruffle Trinity’s freshly short hair, freeing it from where it was tucked behind her ears.
Trinity recognises the change in subject, but she’s too tired to pry. “Thanks. It felt like time for a change.”
Princess smiles at her. “It looks good on you. And perfect for the costume.” Trinity mock curtsies in response, and they laugh, returning to the packed room next door.
Over the next hour, Trinity tries to put this out of her mind. She dances to Shen’s weird playlist alongside a bunch of strangers, enjoying the feeling of the bass vibrating through the room. It’s only when she’s coming back from refilling her drink that she finally sees what they meant.
Victoria Javadi, in the middle of the room. In a sparkling purple tube top and mini skirt, hair held back from her face in a thick braid woven with small flowers. She’s dancing a bit awkwardly, but the smile on her face is easy and carefree and with the way that the light hits her face and the glitter smeared on her cheekbones she looks like something from another world. Or maybe a dream.
Trinity jumps at a voice over her shoulder. "Oh, now I get it."
"Jesus fuck, Huckleberry. What the hell is your problem?" she scolds, pulling her eyes away from Javadi.
Dennis ignores her question, and continues crunching on... are those ketchup chips?
"You have the worst taste, oh my god. And you look like a hamster right now, so." Trinity gripes, poking one of his cheeks.
He swallows, unbothered. "You see it, right? Tell me you see it."
"See what."
Dennis nods his head at Javadi. "Victoria. Come on, don't pretend I didn't just interrupt you staring at her. You guys are matching!"
Trinity sighs, deeply. "She's just wearing purple, I don't know what you mean."
He stares at her unimpressed. When did he get so good at that are-you-kidding-me expression? "And the hair, and the lizard are just a coincidence, right?
"Chameleon."
Dennis blinks. "What?"
"Pascal. He's a chameleon, not a lizard."
"You give me so much shit, but you're such a nerd," he sighs, shaking his head.
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
"You shut up."
"No, you shut up."
They're interrupted by someone clearing their throat politely.
"Oh, Samira. Hi." Dennis smiles, looking pained. He usually tries to pretend to be a mature adult in front of their coworkers, but Trinity knows the truth.
"Hi, you two. Am I interrupting something?" Samira is wearing black jeans and a matching scoop neck shirt and boots. She wouldn't be in costume at all, if it weren't for the large black ears on her headband.
"Well-" Dennis starts, looking pointedly at Trinity, who promptly slaps a hand over his mouth to stop him from spilling her deep dark secrets to one of their coworkers.
"Not at all!" She smiles, shrugging.
Samira stifles a laugh. "....right. So, what are you two dressed as?”
"I'm Flynn Ryder, and Huck's Maximus.”
Horse boy licks her hand and she lets go of him, wiping it off on one of the ears of his costume. He sighs. "I lost a bet."
"I thought maybe you did. This is Tangled, right?"
They nod in unison, and Samira smiles sweetly.
"It's so nice of the three of you to do a group costume. I know Victoria was struggling with feeling like she fits in at work, so I'm glad she’s found friends."
"Ah... yeah." Trinity doesn't have the heart to break the news to Samira that no, this was unplanned. And Victoria still isn’t her biggest fan. To Samira’s left, Dennis looks thrilled at her lack of contest.
Samira inspects the busy room in front of them. "I'm going to go and get a drink, maybe see you guys later?" With a little wave, she turns away from them and heads towards the kitchen.
Dennis turns back to Trinity and seamlessly picks up their conversation. The bastard.
"I'm just saying, it seems like fate."
"You don't believe in fate."
"Fine, divine intervention then. What are the odds you and your... whatever the two of you are, turn up wearing a couple's costume"
"If this is a couple's costume, that would basically make you our dog."
"Hmm, I don't hear you denying it." She grits her jaw but he keeps talking. "Oh, I think I just saw Mel, I'm going to go and say hi. Just think about it!" He shouts the last sentence as he disappears into the crowd. Huh. She would never have thought a giant stallion costume could be inconspicuous, but maybe manners maketh horse.
Trinity sighs, and turns back to where Victoria was standing. Thankfully, she’s vanished. Taking a sip from her cup, Trinity realises quite how hot the room is. This is only her third drink but with the thick corset that makes up part of her costume it feels like her fifth.
Making her way to the backdoor, she sees Dennis and a winged Mel talking over by the stairs. In the kitchen Samira is standing with Emma, who seems to be dressed as some sort of vampire.
The door to the backyard jams a little even if she wiggles the handle. She knows Shen bought a fixer upper, but surely some WD-40 isn't a crazy ask on an attending's salary?
Putting her weight into it, the door suddenly flies open.
"Oh. Hi." A familiar voice says from somewhere in front of her.
Trinity's eyes adjust to the darkness outside, and she realises who she just almost crashed into. It's Victoria. Of course. Trinity pulls the door shut behind her and rests her back against the cool wood, super casual.
"Hey there, Rapunzel. Where's your frying pan?"
Victoria sighs dejectedly. Her eyes are glassy. "Joy stole it."
Trinity laughs, delighted. "I was joking, Crash, but wow. I love the commitment to the bit. Truly a girl after my own heart." She lowers herself slowly so that she's sitting on the step just above Victoria.
Victoria sniffs and takes a swig of her drink. The cold air licks across Trinity’s skin and she breathes out looking around the backyard in front of her. It's dimly lit by the windows behind them, and she can see how small it is. There's a large tree on the left, and a patio area on the right. No furniture there, though, which is probably why Victoria's sitting on the steps.
Trinity turns to look at the younger girl, who's now leaning back against the stair rail, eyes shut. From inside Trinity can hear the muffled sounds of Super Freak starting to play.
She knocks her knee gently into Victoria's shoulder. "Crash. Hey, Crash, wake up."
"I wasn't sleeping," Victoria opens one eye, frowning at her. "I was just hoping that when I opened my eyes you would be gone."
"Aw, are you saying you dream about me?"
Victoria sighs. "No, I–hey, what are you wearing?"
"What do you mean? A costume." Trinity looks down at herself. A mostly unbuttoned white shirt, brown corduroy pants, and navy corset. She thought she looked pretty good when she and Dennis left their apartment, but maybe that was just in comparison to her horsey companion.
"No, I got that." Victoria rolls her eyes. She gestures at Trinity's hair, then her face and torso. "I just mean. You don't usually look like this."
"Hate to break it to you, Crash, but you don't usually look like this, either."
Victoria buries her head in her hands. "That's not what I meant."
"You know, you can just tell me you think I look hot, Victoria. It's easy, see," she tugs on the end of Victoria's braid to make the younger girl look up at her. One of the dried flowers weaved into it falls out and bounces off of the step into the night. "Victoria, I think you look very hot tonight. Letting loose suits you."
In the dim light, she sees Victoria's eyes dilate. Oh.
"Fine. I think you look nice too, Trinity. Very... hot." Victoria’s voice is hesitant, and lower than usual.
"Ah, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
Victoria turns away from her, busying herself by smoothing down her skirt. "I guess not. Seriously, what are you dressed as, though?" She takes another sip of her drink, something pink and sparkly.
Trinity gasps in mock offense, her hand flying to her heart. "Are you telling me you don't recognise your soulmate?"
Victoria chokes on her drink. "What?"
"I'm Flynn Ryder. Huck's the horse."
"Maximus?"
"Exactly."
"I kind of feel like you have more in common with the horse than the prince, but okay." Victoria mumbles.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Oh, nothing."
"That's what I thought."
They sit in silence for a moment .
"Wait, is that why people kept coming up to me all night asking where my girlfriend went?" The second this has left Victoria's mouth, she slaps a hand over her mouth. Her drink sloshes over the side of her cup at the impact, spilling onto the sparkling purple fabric of her skirt.
"Here." Trinity hands her a tissue from one of her many pockets. "And yeah, probably. I've been dealing with the same thing, but I put the pieces together a little quicker."
Victoria starts to laugh. "In fairness," she says through giggles, "I had seen Whitaker across the room and I thought he was a cow."
"A cow?"
Victoria waves an arm. "I don't know! You kept making jokes about the farm, and milking machines, so I just thought–"
Trinity starts to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh my god. Imagine him in one of those inflatable suits."
"Stop, please. I take it back." Victoria groans, throwing her head back and dragging her free hand over her face. "Woah, shit!"
She slips off of the step and before Trinity can think, she realises she's reached out and grabbed Victoria's arm. Victoria stares up at her, wide-eyed and breathing heavily.
The air between them suddenly feels charged and staticky. Trinity feels like she has to say something, anything, to distract herself from the way that Victoria is now staring at her lips.
"Easy there, Crash. Wouldn't want you to hurt that big brain of yours." She tries to tease, but somehow it comes out softer than she meant it to. Victoria is still staring at her, and she swallows hard. "I–"
She's mercifully interrupted by a sudden flood of light as the door behind them opens. "Oh, there you two are." It's Mel's voice, low and gentle. Trinity stands up abruptly and turns to see the blonde smiling, the light from the kitchen behind her creating a halo to match her simple white dress and wings.
"Hey, Mel. Everything alright?"
"Yes, good! Thank you. Dennis was looking for you, actually–he said something about the stroke of midnight? But neither of you are dressed as Cinderella, so I was a little confused. I think he might have had a bit too much to drink..."
Trinity grins at her. "Yeah, maybe. I think I know what he's talking about, though."
Victoria finally makes a noise from behind her, clearing her throat and sweetly asking, "Would you mind telling him we'll be in a minute, please, Mel?" Always so polite, to everyone but Trinity.
Trinity would be lying if she said she didn't love that.
"Of course! See you guys back in there." With another small smile, Mel turns on her heel and opens the door again.
Biting her lip, Trinity turns her head back to look at Victoria on her makeshift seat. Maybe she's sobered up enough to go back inside without falling down the steps.
But to her surprise the younger girl is now standing up, perfectly steady, on the step below her. She's so close that the end of her braid brushes against Trinity's arm, sending shivers through her whole body.
Trinity frowns slightly, concerned. She doesn't know how much Victoria's had to drink, just that she seemed stressed yesterday at work and now has been hiding in Shen's cold backyard for an unknown length of time.
"You okay there, Crash? You seem a little–”
"For once in your life, can you please shut up?" Victoria sighs, cutting her off. "I'm fine. It's just–oh, fuck it."
Victoria leans forward, tilting her face up and threading one hand into Trinity's hair to pull her down. She presses a soft kiss to Trinity's lips and pulls away, smiling at the stunned expression on her face.
Victoria turns away to pick something up from the dark ground before making her way up to the door, adjusting her hair and brushing off invisible dust from her skirt as she goes. She tilts her head quizzically at Trinity, still frozen in place. "You coming?"
"Uh, yeah. I just–"
"Oh wait, before I forget. Catch!" Victoria tosses whatever was in her hand at Trinity. She has terrible aim at the best of times, and now she manages to bounce it off of the deck instead of into Trinity's outstretched hand five feet in front of her."...oops."
This manages to wake Trinity up from whatever trance she entered after Victoria Javadi kissed her (!?). She laughs. "It’s okay, I'll find it. See you back inside."
Victoria pouts, but turns to go. Probably to find another drink.
Trinity doubts that Victoria will remember this in the morning. She wishes that this realisation didn't make a part of her want to cry.
"Actually, Victoria–wait. You never told me why you were out here in the first place." Trinity asks, the words out in the air before she can think through what just happened.
Victoria, in the open doorframe, turns back over her shoulder to look at Trinity. She smiles coyly.
"I'm surprised you didn't work it out. I was waiting for my prince to come and find me, of course." She looks back into the kitchen quickly, then to Trinity again. "It's 12:02. Happy birthday, Trinity."
With a final tap on the doorframe, Victoria slinks into the kitchen. The door shuts slowly after her, and Trinity is left alone in the backyard.
She turns to pick up the thing that Victoria had thrown at her, and laughs. It's the tiny stuffed chameleon that was part of Victoria's costume. A birthday gift, of sorts.
Yeah, she thinks. Happy birthday, Trinity.