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"Okay, time out." Vamp's eyes narrowed at the snarling hhetsarro who had almost taken her throat out in a friendly sparring much, a move that currently would be quite deadly. "Yaana, what the fuck's up with you lately?"
"Me?" Yaana barked, tail lashing. "Your girlfriend almost killed MY girlfriend in the last match they had!"
"Yes, and I spoke to her about that after," said Vamp. "She will work on her jealousy issues, and I suggest you do the same."
"I am not jealous!" Yaana shot back, tail bristled. Vamp tried not to smirk, though it was a near thing.
"Oh, aren't you, now?" Vamp asked. "So you're always acting like a tomcat when there's a queen in heat, are you?"
"I'm no-" Yaana started, getting in Vamp's face. Vamp turned, holding up a promotional image of herself and the queen bee herself in a very provocative position. Yaana snarled like a feral couerl and slashed through the offending piece of paper. Vamp arched an eyebrow.
"You were saying?" Vamp asked. Yaana huffed, giving a lash of her tail. Vamp was pretty sure that she'd seen the exact same behaviour from a tom cat defending his alley 'turf' from her bedroom window just the other night.
"Keep your hands off my girlfriend, you harpy," said Yaana. Vamp smiled.
"She's yours, girl, calm down," said Vamp. "Though I suggest that you have a conversation with her. She is the one behind all of this promotional material, after all." She was actually fairly certain that the image in question had produced a very sleepless night for both couples, though it seemed that Yaana's jealousy came with some genuinely upset feelings.
"She is?" Yaana asked, voice softer now, ears folded back, tail drooping. Vamp sighed, reaching out a hand but then stopping when Yaana drew back with a growl rumbling in her throat.
"Talk to your girlfriend," said Vamp. "Then we can continue training."
"Fine," said Yaana. "I'll talk to her. But back off, you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," said Vamp. She watched the hhetsarro leave, then sighed as the door to Tritails closed behind her. Moments later, her phone buzzed with a message from the one still saved in her phone as 'Kitten' (though with a cat emoji by her name rather than a heart. That one went to her new kitten).
Kitten: Fuck did you do to my sister
Vamp: Nothing!
Kitten: Really
Kitten: Then whys she look like she's about to kill someone
Vamp: Just a little misunderstanding
Vamp: Nothing to worry about
Vamp's thumbs hovered over her screen for a moment, biting her tongue against the urge to reply with 'unlike you when you were doing that promotional stuff with the fucking catboy'. She resisted. Barely. Letting out a breath, she pocketed her phone, only to have to retrieve it when it buzzed with Eutrope's reply.
Kitten: If you're sure
Kitten: Should I go after her
Vamp: No
Vamp: She needs to talk to her girlfriend
Kitten: Ohhh I see I see
Kitten: No seriously what did you DO
Vamp ignored her ringing phone until the doors slid open again, admitting the owner of the gym.
"Seriously, Vamp, am I going to have to go all protective older sister on you or what?" Eutrope asked. Vamp shook her head, chuckling.
"Not quite," said Vamp. "Here." She picked up what remained of the glossy magazine page, putting the pieces together as best she could. "I don't know if this is what triggered it, but it is the root of the problem."
"Well, yeah," said Eutrope. "Stay away from her girl."
"Oh, please, I'm not interested in that woman," said Vamp with a roll of her eyes. "I'm more of a... cat person." Eutrope turned away, sighing.
"Yeah, well, maybe you should cut out this whole angle," said Eutrope. "Your girl doesn't like it either, you know."
"I know," said Vamp. "And we have discussed the issue, at length. I merely suggested that Yaana do the same with her lover."
"Yaana's... new to this whole thing," said Eutrope. "She doesn't really get that public and private lives aren't the same, though I certainly didn't make that easier, making my relationships the same both in the spotlight and out of it."
"I realise that," said Vamp. "And, should she wish it, I am certain that Honey will pull back on that angle. She's a lovely person, truly."
"She is," said Eutrope. "Literally the nicest person I've ever met. Aside from Hector, anyway."
"Ugh, you and your boyfriends," said Vamp with a roll of her eyes. "Spare me."
"I'm just saying!"
Elsewhere in Solution Nine, a much calmer but no less anxious Yaana parked her hoverbike outside of Honey's secret little abode on the outskirts of Solution Nine, away from the buzz of the people where she could just relax. Yaana sent a text to her girlfriend, then stood anxiously on the doorstep until the door opened and Honey greeted her with a warm hug that melted away a great deal of Yaana's negative feelings.
"Hey, Honey," said Yaana, inhaling Honey's signature sweet scent.
"Hey, yourself, beautiful," said Honey, but then frowned as she took in Yaana's expression, her flicking tail. "Oh, honey, what's wrong? Talk to me." She took Yaana's hands, looking at her so imploringly that Yaana felt her heart just melt.
"Let's sit down?" said Yaana. "It's been a bit of a long day."
"Oh, of course, of course," said Honey. "Come with me, want me to put some tea on? Veronyka dropped off some of those baked goods from Sharlayan, they're actually quite good for something produced by such a primitive people."
"Honey, I'm pretty sure that the Sharlayans invented space travel," said Yaana, though she took a seat in Honey's cozy little sitting room, with the bee-patterned furniture and honeycomb-patterned curtains, and waited, wringing her hands in her lap, while her girlfriend busied herself making tea and finding a plate for the baked goods. Yaana normally quite enjoyed them, though right now, her stomach was rather in knots.
"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Honey asked when she finally returned, the tea tray in her hands. She set it down on the table and poured them both a cup, a plate of biscuits and a few cakes and pastries between them. "Did Vamp go too hard on you?"
"Don't say her name," said Yaana through grit teeth, her hands tightening into fists.
"Why, what did she do?" Honey asked. "I can talk to her, defend you if need be."
"I don't want you anywhere near her!" said Yaana, and then burst into tears.
But then Honey was there, wrapping Yaana in her arms, pulling her into her chest, and Yaana was sobbing into her chest, body shaking with the force, clinging to the back of Honey's shirt so tightly that she wouldn't be surprised if marks appeared on the other woman's back.
"Sorry, I'm sorry," Yaana sniffled when she finally managed to pull herself together. "You didn't need all of that, I'm sorry, I should've held it together better, I-"
"No, no, it's alright, it clearly needed to come out," said Honey. "Best not to keep the poison in, as they say." Yaana sniffed, then gave a watery smile when Honey produced a box of tissues. "Here, sweetie, wipe your tears and tell me what's on your mind. I hate to see you in pain." Yaana took a few deep breaths, trying to compose herself, and then she finally spoke, her voice a little rusty.
"I..." She cleared her throat, then reached for one of the cups of tea that Honey had poured while she'd been trying to compose herself. "I um..." She took a few deep breaths, in and out, just like her sister had taught her. "I'm... jealous."
"Jealous?" Honey asked. "Of what? is it my fans? My following?"
"Vamp," said Yaana, deciding to get it out, tear the thorn out, like a splinter of glass that had been lodged in her heart for too long. "I know it's fake, I know you said it's just for show because it's two beautiful people and I know I said I wasn't ready so I said it was fine but- I just- I just can't stand seeing you with her anymore, I'm sorry!" She was crying again, hot tears that burned, her heart twisting and tearing horribly. But Honey only took her hands, squeezing them, and smiled so gently at her.
"Then I'll call the whole thing off," said Honey. "Though I'm not sure how we'll spin it for publicity's sake. perhaps Veronyka would be willing to-"
"No," said Yaana, shaking her head. "She's done enough for this, she doesn't need to play the role of a jealous girlfriend. I'm... I'm quite happy to play that role myself."
"Really?" Honey asked. "You can say no, you can back out, you don't have to step into the spotlight until you're ready. I promised you that, remember?"
"Yeah, I know," said Yaana. "And thank you, but... I think I'm ready. To go public, I mean. About us. Dating." She swallowed, very aware of the fact that she was trembling, knowing that Honey could feel it too.
"Okay," said Honey, rubbing the backs of Yaana's hands with her thumbs. "I am thrilled, my darling, I hope you know that." She beamed, and her smile truly was radiant. "I'll talk to my people, have them dial back those dreadful rumours, and... how would you like to announce us? A magazine article? An interview? A photoshoot?"
"How about," said Yaana. "Um, how about we tell your fans first?"
"Like a social media post?" Honey asked. Yaana shook her head, took a deep breath, let it out.
"When's your next stream?" Yaana asked. Honey's eyes sparkled and she leaned in and kissed Yaana on her salty lips, then her cheeks, giggling and grinning the whole while.
***
"Watcha watching, Neyuni?" Eutrope asked, leaning against the couch that her little sister sat on, her baby mamool ja friend (and literal king of this city but never mind that part) seated beside her, the pair of them with their eyes glued to the tablet held in Neyuni's small hands.
"Honey's doing a surprise stream!" Neyuni announced, Gulool Ja nodding eagerly beside her.
"She said she's got a special announcement to make," said Gulool Ja. "Do you think she's partnered with a new sponsor?"
"Ooh, or opening a new store!" Neyuni added.
"Or-" Eutrope began, but was shushed by the pair of them as the wait screen, a colourful thing full of yellows and blacks and bees and hexagons and flowers, was covered by bees before revealing the smiling face of one Honey B Lovely, all made up and perfect, sitting in the gamer chair that she'd received from her last sponsor. And atop her head, to Eutrope's delight, was a headset. One bearing kitty cat ears.
"Gooood afternoon, my little bees!" Honey greeted her chat. "How we all doing tonight, hm?" Her screen beside her face filled with lines of text, all people excitedly chiming in and talking about their day. Honey leaned in, smiling as her eyes flicked back and forth across the text. "Aww, so good that you got that promotion, you just had to beelieve! Ooh, good luck with your test results, I'm sure you did great! Sending love to you all! Ooh, I'm so sorry to hear that, my heart goes out to you, truly." The chat filled with little black and yellow striped hearts, Honey smiling at the show of love in her chat.
Honeyluv99: Wait
Honeyluv99: WHO is THAT????
Honey giggled as her screen filled with lines of text all asking about the mysterious person who had just walked through the background of her stream.
"Oh, that?" said Honey, her smile growing into a grin. "Why, that's just my girlfriend! Yaana, c'mere and say hi to chat!"
The figure stepped closer, revealing her trademark messy pink and blue hair, dressed in her usual gym attire but looking just a touch more made up for the camera. Yaana leaned in closer to Honey, peering at the camera, a shy grin growing on her face.
"Uh, hi chat," said Yaana. Honey cupped Yaana's face in her hand, then turned and kissed her cheek. The chat exploded, filled with hearts and congratulations, plus a few disappointed fans who Honey hoped Yaana didn't see.
"Oh dear," said Honey, looking at her phone, which was currently buzzing in her hand. "That looks important; Yaana, take care of chat while I'm gone, okay?" Giving her nervous girlfriend another kiss, Honey rose from her seat, finally managing to get Yaana to sit in her chair.
"What do I do?" Yaana called after Honey, who had disappeared.
"Just talk to them!" Honey called back. "Maybe play a game, they'll love it!"
"Wait, what?" Neyuni cried, looking at her sister who stood by the couch, who was looking downright proud of their sister on the screen who currently looked an awful lot like one of her opponents when she went in for the killing blow. "I thought Honey was dating Vamp!"
"Nope," said Eutrope. "Vamp's dating Nyka, I thought you knew that."
"Yeah, but you got, like, three boyfriends, Vamp can have two girlfriends!" said Neyuni.
"Oh, trust me, girl, I've tried," said Eutrope. "But no, there was never anything between those two, it was all for the cameras. Honey and Yaana have been dating since-"
"Oh, you know, since... around the time the new champion started working her way up the cruiserweight division?" her sister answered for her on the screen. "We were both kinda retired at the time and we got to hanging out and chatting and things just... happened. We didn't mean to trick you guys, honest, I just wasn't ready yet and now... now I am. No, I didn't get jealous, not at all." Yaana looked so truthful, but Eutrope snorted at her words, easily remembering the distraught sister who had left the gym hours ago.
"Here, gimme that," said Eutrope, reaching for the tablet and easily plucking it from her sister's hands. After logging in, she typed out a message, adding a donation so that Honey's stream bot would read it out.
WickedThundr donated 200 coins: Proud of you, sis
"Eutrope?" Yaana gasped on the screen. Eutrope snickered, quickly logging out and handing the tablet back to her sister. Yaana would tell her all about it later, she was sure. No doubt asking for advice and tips on how to navigate a public relationship... after all, Eutrope was kind of the expert. She could certainly teach her sister a thing or two.
***
After the stream had ended, Yaana sagged back into the seat that Honey had dragged up for her.
"You did amazing, sweetie," Honey assured her. Yaana groaned and slid from the chair onto the ground.
"How do you do it?" Yaana asked from the floor. "So many people, all vying for your attention, your affections..."
Honey giggled, sitting down on the floor beside her not quite so secret girlfriend. Her manager had had a few things to say, and Honey's phone had blown up with requests from reporters, as had Yaana's, but, after the fifth call, Honey instated a no phones rule and declared that they must instead play a co-op game. Hence the two chairs.
"Oh, I'm quite used to it by now, darling," said Honey, reaching down for Yaana's shoulders. She pulled her girlfriend's upper half into her lap, massaging the tense muscles.
"Am I gonna get hate?" Yaana asked. "Y'know, for 'breaking you two up'?" She made air quotes with her fingers.
"If you do, I'll make sure that they regret it," said Honey. "But your sister will be able to help you navigate that, I'm sure. She 'broke up' Hector and Retsarra, after all."
"True," said Yaana. "But I don't want her involved at all, got it?" Honey didn't even have to ask.
"We are still friends, Yaana," Honey reminded her.
"Yeah, and that's fine," said Yaana. "Just as long as everyone else knows that you're taken. That you're mine."
"Ooh, that would be a good headline," said Honey. "I made you mine." Yaana giggled at Honey's drawl.
"I like it," said Yaana. "My Honey B Lovely."
"This cat sunk her claws into me," Honey mused. Yaana's smile looked downright drunk, her eyes hazy with love and the overwhelm of performing for so many people. It was different when she was fighting, that was her putting on an act. This was... real. So terrifyingly real.
"Think we can just hide out here for a few days?" Yaana asked. "I'd like that, but... everyone has questions."
"Yes, the internet is abuzz with questions, no doubt," said Honey. Yaana smiled briefly at the pun. "And I'm already in enough trouble as it is for going rogue like this."
"I'm sorry," said Yaana.
"Oh, hush," said Honey. "You have nothing to apologise for, my dear. It's simply the messiness of showbiz."
"Okay, so maybe not a few days," said Yaana. "But just... for tonight? At least? Please?"
Honey leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to her girlfriend's lips.
"Of course," said Honey. "We'll spend the night in our little lovenest, then we can face the press tomorrow. Together." Yaana smiled up at her, then sat up, pulling Honey to her tightly, head resting on her shoulder.
"Together," Yaana agreed.
Honey's muted phone, discarded on the other side of the room, lit up with a few messages.
Vamp: A heads up
Vamp: Would have been
Vamp: NICE
Nyka: I got this
Nyka: Congrats btw!