fandomtownies | The Magpie Emporium, Monday [18/7]

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The Magpie Emporium, Monday [18/7]

When Vi had arrived at the store this morning, she'd discovered that someone had tried shoving a pretty thick sheaf of paper through the mail slot, tried being the operative word. After a couple of minutes of careful work, Vi had gotten the papers unstuck without too much damage and started flipping through them, her eyebrows rising as she realised what was written on them.

Well, okay then...

Eyebrows still halfway up her forehead, she leaned back against the counter and absent-mindedly fished a red pen out of a drawer. Whoever had written this didn't have terrible writing, but their grammar could use some work.

[Open!]

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It was one thing when you were making the maps and clues for someone else to follow and another thing entirely when you were doing the following, so Steph was a bit later than usual coming back to the store after class.

"Wow," she said wryly, looking at the map in her hand, then at Vi. "How's it been going so far today?"

"Hey." Vi looked up with a grin from sketching stick figures in a margin as she tried to figure out what exactly the characters were supposed to be doing and how many hands they had. "Someone mistook us for the book store."

"Wait, what? How?" Steph glanced over at the stack of paper in Vi's hands with a curious tilt to her head. "What is that?"

And why did she have the same bad feeling about it that she did when she got the treasure map?

Because you'd been paying attention, Steph, that was why.

"A story." Vi had actually been able to keep her composure pretty well, even after realising a couple of important things about the characters, but now her ears were starting to turn the same shade as her hair. "A very, uh, detailed one."

"What kind of --"

Steph came over to see if she could get a good look at what she was starting to realize was some kind of manuscript. And given a few past incidents, the pieces were starting to fall into place here and yup, definite bad feeling.

"... please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

Vi held it out to her, red pen annotations and all.

"I didn't write it." Which probably confirmed that it was exactly what Steph thought it was. "I know you're not...you're not."

"Not that flexible, for one thing," Steph muttered because yeah. Exactly what she thought it was, and then some.

But that wasn't what Vi had meant.

"Know I'm not what?" Rhetorical question, since she knew.

God. Way to be a chickenshit, Gingrich.

Well, Vi certainly didn't need ideas about Steph's flexibility on top of what she'd already read.

She went to tidy an already organised try of dice so she didn't have to look at her. "Interested," she said, eyes focused downwards. "I know you don't think about me like that." And that was fine. She was so fine with that, and she'd kept telling herself that until it was true.

Vi not wanting to look her stung more than a bit, but that was okay. That just meant that Vi didn't have to see the way Steph started to shake her head before she caught herself, or the guilty look on her face.

It wasn't like she was actively lying to her, right? Nothing to feel guilty about. She could keep telling herself that until it was true, too, and maybe they'd both get over this.

"Vi," she began, but she had no idea what to even say that wouldn't either be an outright lie, or just give her away. Instead she just reached out to put a hand very gently on her shoulder, though she wouldn't blame Vi at all if she shook it off.

Vi didn't shake her off, instead lifting a hand to cover Steph's, but she didn't look at her either, too much risk of giving something away.

"Look, it's just someone's idea of a dumb joke." Because people spent however long handwriting that many words for kicks. "Forget about it."

"It's Isabela being Isabela," Steph muttered, but decided it was in the best interest ~~of someone's brain~~ if she just left it at that. Though really, that many pages of barely disguised steamy fiction about her and Vi (which were the opposite of helping, Isabela) hinted at a frightening level of investment in their, um. Relationship.

She squeezed Vi's shoulder gently and shifted closer, not quite enough to lean against her like she wanted. "That's not... us."

Except I kind of wish it was.

Isabela could only do so much to help when people wouldn't work with her.

"Isabela? The one with the...?" Vi gestured at her chest with her free hand.

She snorted. "It's pretty clearly supposed to be."

Isabela had a very unique definition of helping.

"Yeah, that's her," Steph said, because it wasn't like either one of them had failed to notice that particular asset of hers. "She's very... enthusiastic about this."

It wasn't Isabela's fault no one took her advice.

"Yeah, I figured." From the novella that been shoved through the door.

Could people really be blamed for being dubious about her advice though?

"I'm sorry," Steph said softly. That Vi had to be the one to find Isabela's latest magnum opus? That she was so frustrated by all the... everything between them? That Steph herself was scared to admit to anything?

Probably all of the above and then some.

Ibela gave great advice, thank you.

"What have you got to be sorry about?" It wasn't Steph's fault that there was this churning mass of emotions in her, that Vi could never be content with what she had.

"I just am, okay?" Steph turned slightly and went to rest her forehead against Vi's shoulder, not sure if she wanted to risk a hug right now. "Shit is so complicated with us, and it sucks."

Which, if you asked her, was pretty much her fault.

Pity about not wanting to risk a hug, because Vi's automatic reaction to Steph resting her head there was to try to curl an arm around her.

"It's not that complicated." Having feelings that weren't returned wasn't complicated, it just hurt.

Damn it, Vi. Now Steph had to wrap an arm around her waist in response, which basically meant turning fully to face Vi and just sort of curl into her, still trying to avoid eye contact.

"It's a little complicated, yeah," she said softly, "and that's my fault, so I'm sorry."

Vi sighed deeply, because she didn't want to talk about this, they'd been doing fine without bringing it up.

"Hey, look," she said quietly, moving to gently tilt Steph's head up to meet her eyes. "It's not your fault that you feel, well don't feel, something."

Oh yeah, they'd been doing fantastically well without bringing it up. Very healthily, with all that repression.

She'd been trying so hard to avoid Vi's gaze because she knew damn well that the second she met it, she wouldn't be able to look away. Which was where Steph was now, way too conscious of Vi's fingers against her face and the hitch in her own breathing. "What would you do if I did, though?"

Not that it was an if, and she had no idea how much of that showed on her face. But what was she going to do, say so?

What else were they going to do except repress? Talk about their feelings?

There was a quick flash of hurt in her eyes, and unconsciously she traced her thumb along her cheek. "Steph, please don't fuck with me like that."

"I'm not fucking with you," Steph replied, unconsciously leaning a little more into Vi's hand. "It's --"

A really fucking cowardly way to hint at the truth without actually committing to telling it.

"A genuine question. Would you still... want that?"

The problem was, Vi couldn't see why she was asking if she wasn't fucking with her, or worse.

She couldn't even bring herself to say it, just barely nodding.

Steph would never do this just to try and mess with Vi's head. Her problem was just that she still wasn't sure if she should just outright admit to her feelings, but keeping them successfully bottled up wasn't an option any more.

She reached up to run her fingers through Vi's hair, leaning in before she could really try and talk herself out of it...

And then suddenly, if Vi didn't try to pull away, she'd end up with a fistful of cat scruff, a cold little kitty nose against her lips, and a faceful of beanie.

Because of course the cat that had just been Steph would be wearing a beanie.

Vi didn't try to pull away because she was still trying to process Steph leaning in when she found herself with an armful of cat.

"Steph...?" She asked, automatically adjusting her hold on the beanie-wearing cat so she wasn't just dangling her in the air.

Steph meowed at her, clearly disgruntled at the timing of all of this. She wasn't freaking out, though, as if she had total faith in Vi to not drop her or leave her dangling in mid-air.

No, she was actually trying to squirm over and lick Vi's face, still meowing plaintively.

Seriously. Not fair.

Especially since Vi's mind was already working overtime to rationalise away Steph's immediately pre-kitty actions.

"I know this sucks," she told Steph. "At least you're not a kitten." Being a tiny scrap of fluff was not fun.

Steph was going to be so mad later about the timing of this transformation, but also honestly a little bit relieved.

She made a little grumbly noise and tried to wrap both front paws around Vi's wrist. They should both get cuddles to compensate for this, right? (Saffron might have other ideas.)

"I can't believe you managed to keep the beanie on," Vi told her as she shifted Steph into proper kitty snuggling position. "It's kind of adorable."

Saffron for her part was lying on the best patch of sunlight watching them, utterly aghast. How dare, Steph. How very dare.

Well, yes, she was very talented that way, even as a cat.

The second she was in proper snuggling position, Steph started purring up a storm. Was there something to the way she was looking at Vi with complete adoration? Nah. It was just a cat thing that didn't at all resemble the way she'd been looking at Vi right before she turned into a cat.

Who was very adorable, thank you for noticing.

Obviously her expressions had been kittified before the rest of her! It was the only rational explanation.

Vi always thought Steph was adorable, it was just easier to say it out loud when she was a cat. "Seriously, it's almost as big as you are."

Was it because she was just so badass the rest of the time?

Steph made an indignant little noise and tried to headbutt Vi in the chin. She was not that little, thank you very much. (She kind of was.) Just because she didn't have noodle arms in cat form...

Something like that.

Vi laughed and bent down to nuzzle the top of Steph's little kitty head. "Oh, you're definitely still you."

Steph let out a little meow in the affirmative and pawed gently at Vi's face, still purring the whole time.

This wasn't all that different from the way she usually tried to drape herself all over Vi, after all.

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The Magpie Emporium, Monday [18/7]

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