Laura almost dumped her cupcake icing-first into the dirt when her booth creaked and a velvety voice asked, "Do you really think this is going to help anyone?"

Laura yelped, jerking upright and fumbling with the cupcake. The girl watched in amusement, her dark hair falling across her face with effortless ease. She looked more amused at the situation than it warranted, which was rude of her. "Um, who the hell are you?"

The girl just smirked and continued leaning on the booth, ignoring the alarmed creaking noises it was making. It had been shoddily constructed, since nobody in the GSA knew how to properly make things. "Carmilla, sweetheart. And like I said, you really think this is going to help anyone?"

Carmilla gestured up at the sign, which Laura was actually pretty proud of. It said 'KISSING AND QUESTIONING', in rainbow letters that were only a little bit squiggly. Laura scowled, but placed the cupcake down gently next to the tip jar. The cupcake was innocent and underserving of anger. "It has!"

Carmilla just scoffed. Laura had no idea what she was doing here if she was just going to make fun of the booth — they weren't exactly at a hot place on campus. Stupid Silas and its regulations on where people were allowed to put up booths. What kind of stupid reason was 'aggravating local lifeforms'? Silas was aggravating the local teenagers.

Laura straightened up, glaring Carmilla right in the eyes. If the world was fair, she would have had laser vision so she could really make an impact through her thick, insensitive skull. "I've given four people today a lot of stuff to think about! Like compulsory heterosexuality, and the way we as a society treat LGBT plus people! And also some resources." Laura grabbed one of the pamphlets she'd made, slapping it on the booth table between them. "See?" She resisted the urge to say, boom. "Helpful. Supportive."

Carmilla rolled her eyes, waving a hand. She was just a little bit taller than Laura was, and she had a simple, languid grace in her movements that reminded Laura of a large cat. "Sure, sure. And then you, what? Make their dreams come true?" A snort. "I'm sure the ginger giant I saw lingering around here would just love to get a smooch."

Laura snatched the pamphlet back up, and wrestled away the impulse to whack Carmilla with it. Laura was sensible. Laura was a good student. Laura would not be provoked into-

"Oh, what's this?" Carmilla trailed a finger down the sign stapled to the booth a couple feet to their left. "'No tongue, teeth, or grabbing.' So basically, cutie, you're forbidding any actual kisses."

Laura sputtered, ignoring the little voice that said, She has a point. You're a little disappointed. "You- This is an academic sort of thing! For questioning students! It's not a-"

"Kissing booth?" Carmilla's laugh was just as rich and warm as the rest of her voice, and it sent an unwilling shiver down Laura's back. She scowled harder to make up for her lapse. "It does say that on the sign, cupcake. Or is it as misleading as your little speeches?"

Laura's jaw dropped. "Hey! Anyone participating in the running of this initiative has at least three years of gender studies under their belt! We know stuff! And we're all you know, gay. We can help with our personal experience!"

"Admirable," Carmilla said. She didn't say it like she believed it. Laura was offended. She was really glad she was helping people figure out their sexuality without even needing to give them a peck — her professor would be so pleased about the anecdote she'd given SJ — but she was also sort of disappointed. Laura would have loved a proper Kissing And Questioning stall of her own to visit. Dating didn't seem to be going so well.

But then Carmilla spoke again, breaking Laura out of her thoughts with a jolt. "So what I'm hearing is that you're desperate, creampuff.

"I am not-"

"Even still," Carmilla mused, her dark eyes moving up Laura slowly, till they caught eyes again. She didn't seem to have registered Laura had spoken. "You turned an impressive shade of scarlet when that girl kissed you on the cheek. You're still new at this, aren't you?"

Laura tried to ignore the fact that her cheeks were flaming back to the aforementioned red. "That doesn't affect how I do my job!"

"I didn't say it did." Carmilla said, and Laura had to break the eye contact. When she looked back up, Carmilla was still watching, like she wanted to eat Laura alive. "I was just thinking I might be able to help you out with that one, cupcake. I've heard good things about my kissing. I could help you out with getting your first proper kiss. That is, unless you're content with the sort of kiss you'd give your grandmother."

That was… Almost nice of her. And Laura wasn't the kind of girl that backed down. Not from a challenge, even if the challenge was a raging bad person that was unfairly pretty.

Laura steeled her spine, stepped right to the edge of the booth, and said, mouth dry, "Go for it then, if you're so confident." Laura waved her hands at herself. "Ravish away."

Laura only had a second to curse herself for her word choice before Carmilla reached for her. One hand cupped her cheek, the other sliding over her hair, drawing Laura in.

Their lips met, and for a moment it was just any other quick kiss, dry lips sliding over hers. Then Carmilla drew her even closer, dragging Laura across the shaky wood of the table, the kiss deepening and pulling at Laura's lips, Carmilla's hand warm and electric on Laura's cheek. It was everything romance novels had promised, every cheesy description Laura had ever read. Fireworks burst, Laura became sparks in a midnight sky.

When Carmilla drew back, for an instant Laura chased her lips, forgetting this was just a demonstration. But then she came to her senses, Carmilla's hand sliding away from her face, slipping off the ends of her hair. Laura tried not to gasp in her next breath, but her heart was beating so hard she wouldn't have been surprised if Carmilla could hear it.

"Well," Carmilla drawled. "That was a kick." She grinned again, but this time it was less a smirk and more a smile. "Thanks for the advice, cupcake. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

And then she wandered away, like this had been an entertaining conversation and nothing more. Laura stared after her, hypnotized by her swaying hips.

Well, Laura was definitely a lesbian.

"Holy Hufflepuff," Laura said to her empty stand. She sat down, hard, on the little stool. That had been an experience. Her lips still tingling, Laura picked up her cupcake and tugged the wrapper off. For no reason at all, it made her blush as bright a scarlet as one of the O's hovering above her head.

When Laura emptied the tip jar at the end of her shift, there was a slip of paper among the quarters. Call me if you're up for a repeat performance, cupcake, it said, and then a number. Laura went bright red again, but tucked it into her pocket before Danny could see what she was looking at.