A/N: Well, I'm not dead, though many might think that's the case. Actually, my muse got burnt out during NaNoWriMo and thinks she deserves all these months off. I keep trying to get her to finish up Into the Blue, as it's 80 percent done and just needs her finishing touches, but she's not interested right now. Got a few lines this last weekend, so maybe she'll get off her lazy ass soon and help me out. In the meantime, here's this oneshot I wrote for the LJ femslash today unporn battle back in November.

Skittles, or 7 minutes and 42 seconds

They had just finished with the last of the big summer blockbuster crowd, sending them on their way to a craptastic, explosion-filled adventure, their hands full of popcorn and candy. The first thing Paige wanted to do, apparently, was start to clean up a bit. The first thing Alex wanted to do was chill. She grabbed herself a packet of Skittles and stood back, watching that blonde cheerleader handle a cold, grimy, wet rag to wipe down the counters – a sight which so far had not failed to impress her. Maybe Princess Paige would make it out in the real world after all.

However, life was short, and the quiet they could expect before the next customer was even shorter. Alex didn't even think about it – she just grabbed a Skittle from the bag and chucked it at Paige's head.

"What was that for?" asked Paige with a mystified smile.

"I'm bored. So bored. And you, cleaning up popcorn? That's boring."

"You could help with the cleaning. Better to keep things tidy rather than stay here for a solid hour after work cleaning up. And anyway, didn't Meeri tell us no more freebies from the candy counter?"

"Candy Bandits don't listen to authority," said Alex, throwing another Skittle at Paige before popping a few more into her mouth.

"Hon, your 'Authority Sux' campaign is so last year. As is your association with the 'Candy Bandits.'"

"Sometimes you can't escape your past. Here, open your mouth and try to catch one."

Paige looked at her doubtfully. "I'm not going to play William Tell with you. Nor will I stand around with my mouth wide open, looking foolish."

Alex's only response was to throw another one at her. "Come on. We could work up an act and take it on the road. Stupid Human Tricks on David Letterman, you know. Our fifteen minutes of fame."

"You really are bored."

"Mmhm. Open up."

Paige looked around for witnesses, and finding none, agreed. "Do it quick." She opened her mouth. The Skittle flew over her shoulder.

"You moved."

"Did not!"

"Yeah, you did. Try not to flinch this time."

The second Skittle hit her on the forehead. Paige giggled. "Maybe if you had better aim…"

"I'm just warming up. Anyway, you're kind of short."

"Oh, please. I'm, like, two centimeters shorter than you, maybe."

"Yeah, but it's enough." She tossed another one that hit Paige's lip.

"Ooh, that was close. Try it again!"

The fourth Skittle found its target, and Paige clapped gleefully.

"Contain yourself, this isn't a basketball game," said Alex with a fake scowl.

"Don't be mean," laughed Paige, picking up a Skittle from the floor and tossing at Alex. She missed by a mile.

"Wow. Talk about bad aim."

Paige glared back and gathered up a few more Skittles from the floor, throwing them as she walked over to Alex, finally managing to nail her with one. "Take that!"

"Oh, the pain!"

Paige came up to her and flicked Alex's shoulder with her finger. "I'm not scared of you, you big bully."

"I could give you reason to be," said Alex, pushing Paige's shoulder with her finger.

Meeri walked by, giving them a flash of the get-back-to-work-before-I-have-to-say-something look. Paige giggled as she turned around, heading back to her cleaning rag. Like a reflex, Alex reached out and pulled her hair – not too hard, but completely unexpected.

"What was that for?" asked Paige, perplexed. Hair pulling was not a normal part of their work high-jinks.

"Told you I'm a bully," said Alex, not the least bit sure why she'd done it. She quickly turned away, deciding that maybe it would be a good thing to clean up for a few minutes.

Hair pulling? Since when did she pull Paige's hair? That's for fights and for little boys who chase the little girls they like all over the playground. It was either mean or juvenile. Or…

No. Definitely not that. Not flirting. Obviously she just felt threatened at the thought of losing her tough-girl persona. Yeah, that was it.

But the Skittles? The constant need to bug Paige into paying her attention? The popcorn fight last week? The one that had started when she came up stealthily behind Paige as she scooped out popcorn and poked her in the sides just to make her jump, which of course meant that Paige had screamed and popcorn had flown everywhere?

And the fact that her stomach had done that pleasing flip that felt like she was in a freefall? The fact that she got all warm and happy inside at these antics, feelings she hadn't felt in a damn long time?

Oh shit.

Did she really have a crush? On a girl? On Paige, no less? Princess Pissy? The head cheerbitch? Her polar opposite, except in that one most important way?

A crush on a girl. Ok. She could handle this. No one would ever know. She would keep it to herself and it would go away. She just needed to get out more, make new friends. And she'd have to lay off the flirting before it got her in trouble.

A girl. Huh. What's that all about?

A girl…a girl… a girl…

A MOTHERFUCKING ICE CUBE DOWN HER BACK!

"Haha!" laughed Paige maniacally. "Little Miss Daydreamer let down her guard!"

"I can't believe you did that!" cried Alex, jumping around, trying to get the ice cube off her skin and out of her tank top. "You are so going to pay for that!"

She grabbed a cup and made for the ice. But they suddenly had to stifle their giggles – they had customers.

"Right then," said Alex, setting down the cup. "What can I get for you?" she asked as they got back to work – after one last exchange of subtle elbow jabs, of course.