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It had been many years since Vik came out during her third year at the Academy. There were so many adjustments to navigate during that time, so many big emotions to work through. Certainly more paperwork than she anticipated.
The only true constant was Jayce.
Jayce, who not only responded to her confession that maybe, possibly, she was actually a woman with kindness, but also joy. Vik coming out was not only something to be accepted and supported, but something to be cherished and celebrated.
Jayce, who drove her to every single doctor's appointment once she decided to start HRT—not that Jayce wasn't already in the habit of accompanying her to the doctor. On the 5th of every month after that—because she just so happened to start HRT on the 5th—there would be a pastry sitting next to her coffee when she entered the lab in the morning. It didn't matter how often she told Jayce that it was unnecessary. Jayce would simply say that she had no idea how that got in here before smiling and turning back to her work.
Jayce, who shared jewelry and hair accessories and makeup while Vik was figuring out her style. Vik found that she loved having pierced ears and messing around with eyeliner, but wasn't a huge fan of the other stuff. Her hair was still on the shorter side, so there wasn't much to do with it, but she let Jayce decorate her hair with barrettes sometimes. In terms of clothes, the idea of having to walk around a store for however long, then get hot and overstimulated in a dressing room with overhead fluorescent lighting and poor seating options was, quite frankly, a nightmare. There had been a few brief trips to the thrift store, and she'd ordered a few things online. Trying things on at home was a much better alternative, and Jayce made herself available as a second set of eyes.
Jayce, who asked at every step of the way: "What can I do to help?"
Vik tried not to get too flustered at all the attention. Their relationship had taken on a new layer of intimacy as this new part of her life opened up before her, even though they had already been so close before. It's not as if Jayce wasn't always an exceptionally attentive friend, but… well, there was just something special about exploring these things with someone else by her side, about being guided through uncharted territory.
There was a slight complication in that Jayce being a constant meant that Vik's affection for Jayce was also a constant. If anything, there was even more affection now that she could imagine herself being with Jayce as her true self. The thought of being Jayce's girlfriend… It lit a fire in her gut that made her whole body tingly and warm.
She shook her head, as if it would make the thought go away, and returned to the matter at hand: Jayce sitting across the lab, looking at her with wide, expectant eyes and practically bursting with enthusiasm.
"Well?" Jayce asked. "What do you think? All you have to do is show up and I'll handle everything else. It'll be the best sleepover you've ever had."
Vik laughed. Though there had been plenty of times where they'd crashed at each other's apartments, Vik had never had a true sleepover experience, or at least not the way Jayce described the ones from her childhood. Her friend wanted her to experience a "classic sleepover" with snacks and movies and face masks and that sort of thing. A true girlhood experience.
"Yes, I suppose that could be fun," she said finally, rolling her eyes affectionately.
"In that case," Jayce said, grabbing her bag. "I'll be heading out early today."
"You said the sleepover would be tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I have to plan and get supplies! I have to set up," she explained distractedly as she pulled on her coat. "I should probably bake something," she mumbled.
"I wouldn't mind being baked."
"Ignoring that!" Jayce called over her shoulder. "Save it for another time."
"Fine. I'll still see you tomorrow morning though, right?"
"Of course. We can head to my place after work… Maybe even leave early?"
"No, Jayce."
"Fine! Fine. Have it your way!"
Vik found that—once she settled into it—she quite enjoyed sleepovers. She doubted that she'd be having as good of a time if there were more people here than just her and Jayce, but thankfully that wasn't the case. They got to enjoy takeout, wine, and Jayce's homemade brownies all by themselves.
She was currently seated on the couch and braiding Jayce's hair, who was seated on the floor. Jayce had on a matching purple pajama set and plush bunny slippers, while Vik opted for her usual shorts and oversized t-shirt. She'd switched into a compression brace for the night and her right leg dangled over Jayce's shoulder. Jayce's hair was silky soft beneath her fingers as she wove the strands together. Once she finished, Jayce shifted away from the movie they were watching to look up at her.
"Will you let me take care of you now," she pouted.
"You take care of me all the time," Vik reminded her.
"But… I want to take care of you, pamper you," she said. "I want you to feel special."
Vik tried not to blush, nudging her foot against Jayce's side in deflection. "You don't have to do any of that."
"Sure. But I want to. Please?"
She knew Jayce well enough to see that Jayce wouldn't be letting this go. "Oh, alright. Where do you want me?"
Jayce crawled onto the couch, shuffling into the spot next to Vik. "How about I play with your hair?"
"I don't think it's long enough to be styled into anything."
"No, silly. Just playing with it, like a scalp massage."
Jayce patted her lap, urging Vik closer. Vik laid down, placing her head on top of Jayce's legs and enjoying her warmth. A pillow was thoughtfully placed beneath Vik's braced knee.
"Just relax," Jayce whispered with a hand on Vik's shoulder as she leaned in. "I'll take care of you."
Vik suppressed the shiver that ran down her spine, breathing deeply as Jayce's fingers carded through her hair, massaging her templates and running her nails against her scalp. She couldn't even be embarrassed as she hummed softly in relief, her mind was so empty.
After a few minutes—or hours, Vik couldn't tell—Jayce's hands drifted downwards, rubbing her shoulders and her neck. Then, she moved to Vik's arms, kneading into her forearms and stretching her wrists.
"Thank you," she mumbled into the fabric of Jayce's sleep pants.
"Of course, V. Anything for you."
"This isn't really what I envisioned when you mentioned 'classic girls sleepover,'" she admitted.
"Are you disappointed?" Jayce asked in a small voice.
Vik sat up immediately, taking Jayce's hand in hers. "No, not at all. I guess I thought there would be…"
"What?"
"I thought there would be more pillow fights in frilly nightgowns," she deadpanned. She held Jayce's stare as long as she could before they both burst out laughing. There were few sounds more enchanting than Jayce's laugh, especially when she started to sound like a tea kettle.
"That's completely ridiculous!"
"So you've never had a pillow fight at a sleepover?" Vik teased.
"I mean, yes. But not like that!" Jayce bumped their shoulders together with a huff. "Cait has lethal aim, even with a pillow. It was not fun."
"So there is some truth to the sleepover stereotypes after all," she joked, poking a finger into Jayce's side.
"I guess… I mean," Jayce paused as a lovely blush colored her cheeks.
Vik leaned in conspiratorially. "What?"
"It's nothing," she said, avoiding Vik's gaze.
"Come on."
"It's embarrassing."
Vik tucked a loose curl behind Jayce's ear. "I've also heard that sharing secrets is a big part of sleepovers."
Jayce's shoulders sagged slightly. "Fine," she sighed. "You know how there's the whole… 'let's practice kissing for boys' thing.'" Vik shrugged, then nodded. "I guess that's another stereotypical thing I've done," she admitted, cringing as she said it.
"Jayce Talis!"
Jayce buried her head in her hands. "Oh my god, it was a long time ago, okay?"
"With who?" Vik asked, unable to stop herself and hoping she didn't sound too jealous. When Jayce froze, refusing to answer, Vik slapped a hand over her mouth. "No… Was it Cait?"
Jayce groaned, laughing slightly as she rolled to the side and buried her face in the pillow. She was quite possibly the most adorable woman in the world.
"How have you never told me that your first kiss was with Caitlyn?"
Jayce peeked out from behind the pillow. "V, it barely counts. Come on. We were like… 13 or something, and it never happened again."
"That bad, huh?"
"It wasn't so much that the kiss itself was awful. It was good enough to jump-start the lesbianism, but the fact that it was with each other… that part was awful. Definitely just friends that were meant to stay friends."
It wasn't anything Vik didn't already know—she knew there had never been anything between those two. Still, Jayce's words tied knots around her stomach. "Right. That makes sense," she admitted, suddenly very interested in pulling at the fraying edge of her shirt.
"Not that friends can't kiss," Jayce blurted out a bit too loudly. Vik's eyes snapped up. Jayce was still blushing. Maybe the blankets were too warm.
"Right," Vik said as evenly as she could manage, increasingly aware of every point of contact between her body and Jayce's. She was practically sitting in Jayce's lap.
"Just, um, as a part of a sleepover. For," Jayce's eyes dipped down slightly. "Fun."
"Right. Of course," Vik nodded, her eyes tracking the way that Jayce bit her bottom lip.
"Do you…"
Jayce's voice faded as they both leaned in, their noses brushing for a moment, their lips ghosting over one another. Slowly, their lips met in the middle, tentatively at first, before they grew bolder. Jayce slid a hand behind Vik's neck, playing with her hair and tilting her head to deepen the kiss. Vik hummed as Jayce's nails dug into her scalp ever so slightly, her body relaxing even as tension coiled low in her gut. She let herself be wrapped in Jayce's embrace, moving her hands to cup the sides of Jayce's face so they could be even closer. They sighed in unison as their tongues brushed against each other.
Though her mind was fuzzy and warm, there was one thought that remained. She nudged Jayce with her nose before pulling back slightly. Her friend's gaze was soft, but Vik could see the panic starting to settle in as the weight of the kiss hung between them.
"If you shared a secret," Vik whispered. "Then I probably should too, right?"
Jayce blinked, then nodded slowly as she worried her lip between her teeth. The thought of never getting to run her tongue along the cute little gap between Jayce's teeth hit Vik like a ton of bricks, taunting her. She realized that she needed that more than she needed the air in her lungs—as if she were some horny teenager and not a woman about to enter her 30s.
"I've wanted to kiss you like that for so long," she confessed in one breath, fearing that if she didn't say it now, she never would. "For years, really. And… I need you to know that because if you kiss me again, I don't think I'll be able to stop."
Jayce exhaled shakily, her eyes glistening and hopeful. She twirled a piece of Vik's hair around her finger and giggled nervously, blushing and as beautiful as ever. "Really?" she whispered.
"Really," Vik nodded with a smile. "It would be a real problem, so you should probably think carefully about— mmph."
Jayce surged forward kissing her lips, then moving to her cheeks and the bridge of her nose before Vik had a moment to react. She continued to pepper her face with kisses even as Vik pretended to shove her away.
"Jayce! You don't know what you're getting yourself into," she huffed, trying to catch her breath as she laughed.
Jayce popped up to nuzzle their noses together. "I'm making up for lost time."
"What about the face masks we were going to do?"
"Don't care," Jayce mumbled between kisses down Vik's neck.
"What about painting nails?" she asked gleefully, anticipating Jayce's response.
"Extremely don't care."
"I thought you were going to take care of me," Vik purred, smirking as Jayce's face turned a lovely shade of pink. She watched as Jayce took a deep breath, nodding like a bobble-head.
"I can do that," Jayce declared with wide eyes and startling sincerity.
"Oh, can you?"
"Yes. Yes, I— Oh my god, yes."
Jayce fumbled for Vik's cane, then shifted her arms underneath Vik's legs and lifted her up off the couch. Vik thought she might pass out as Jayce clung to her. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around Jayce's waist.
"What's wrong with the couch?"
"V, you're the prettiest girl in the world," Jayce huffed, looking entirely too offended as she leaned in to kiss Vik's forehead. "As if I would make love to you on the goddamn couch."
Vik was slowly losing the ability to play it cool as Jayce marched into the bedroom. "Make love to me?"
Once they reached their destination, Vik was delicately lowered onto the bed. Jayce gazed down at her with so much fondness that she felt her own eyes begin to water. To be treated with so much care, especially like this, was so overwhelming that she almost didn't know what to do with herself.
"Of course, Vik. It's you," she said, as if that explained everything. "I've dreamed of this more times than I can count… I just want it to be perfect."
Vik reached for Jayce's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "It will be, because you're perfect for me. I promise."
Jayce smiled, but hesitated slightly as she started to climb onto the bed.
"What is it?"
"Are you going to laugh at me if I light a few candles?" Jayce asked, her voice twinged with embarrassment.
Vik could only sigh affectionately. "Who am I to stand in the way of your vision, lover girl?"
Jayce smiled brightly as she pecked Vik on the lips and hurried out of the room. "I'll be right back!"
As she blissfully fell back onto the bed, listening to Jayce hum to herself as she gathered candles from the other room, Vik decided that she must be the luckiest girl in the world.
"Did you have a good sleepover?" Jayce asked sleepily, kissing Vik's knuckles.
Vik kissed the sweat at the back of Jayce's neck, cherishing the way their bodies molded together under the sheets. The feeling of Jayce's skin pressed against hers felt so right—like they'd always been this way, like they were meant to be this way. Vik sighed and kissed Jayce's earlobe as she whispered:
"The very best."