Bianca/Rosa [Hurt/Comfort, First Meetings]
Set either shortly before BW2, or with Nate as the protagonist (in which case in-game Rosa does show up as an NPC in the Battle Subway).
As Bianca left the building, the rain was pouring down like a wall, making her immediately glad she had insisted on bringing that umbrella along just in case. The sky had looked way foreboding the whole day already, figured it couldn't even wait until she got back to the hotel she and Professor Juniper were staying at.
Why couldn't they have held their whatever-sciency conference in some meeting room at the hotel anyways? Half of the scientist and researchers gathered from all over Unova and beyond were staying there already. But no, apparently it had to be that one doctor's apartment; true, what Bianca had seen of his research lab in passing had been pretty well-equipped, but the real reason had most definitely been the nicely furnished living room with the massive flatscreen and the stocked fridge.
And so after officially calling the meeting for the day, the scientists had sent their aides – 'minions' some liked to call themselves, Bianca much preferred 'assistant' – home while almost all of them stayed to 'catch up', which at least according to what Fennel had told Bianca was code for 'party our asses off'.
Leaving Bianca to return alone in the rain. Oh well. It still beat the Professor burying herself in her research for days on end. Maybe. With a small sigh Bianca opened her umbrella and braced herself, stepping out into the downpour. Thankfully there wasn't much wind to add to the awful weather, but even so her shoes and pants would probably be soaked by the time she got home; here was hoping she didn't get sick from that.
However the city in the rain also had something oddly beautiful about it. The lights of the city center and its attractions, glimpses of which Bianca could see inbetween the buildings ahead of her, were dispersed and reflected by the cloud cover and the very raindrops, scattering everywhere creating a surprising level of warm yellow ambient light, and the wavering, shimmering reflections of the street lanterns in the puddles were almost captivating. Even now the 'Shining City' managed to be as radiant as ever, if not more. Maybe the rain wasn't so terrible after all.
Lost in thought and distracted by the lights reflected in the canal she was just crossing, Bianca almost would have missed the solitary figure leaning standing on the bridge, right in the middle between the light circles of the street lanterns, but her faint sobs barely audible over the rain caught her attention.
Bianca paused and turned to see a girl roughly about her height with brown hair styled in a pair of buns with pigtails hanging off them, wearing black tights under a short yellow skirt and a blue and white shirt, leaning against the railing of the bridge with her face buried in her arms – and no umbrella, leaving her completely drenched by the rain.
As Bianca slowly approached the girl, she noticed the numerous small padlocks and chains attached to the railing and recognized the bridge as the 'lover's bridge', where traditionally couples would show their love by attaching yet another lock with their names on it. As well as a popular place to meet for dates. Oh dear.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" Kind of a weak opener, but Bianca didn't really know what to do in a situation like this, all she knew was she couldn't leave a crying girl alone outside in the rain and dark, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions either.
The girl flinched as Bianca stepped up to her, extending the umbrella to shield her too for all the good it did at this point. Trying to stifle her sobs, she wiped a hand over her face before slowly turning to face Bianca, her blue eyes visibly reddened, even if the rain covering her face made her tears indistinguishable. "I'm f-fine..." Lie of the century right there.
"You're standing in the rain, at night, alone on lover's bridge, crying." Bianca tried to just bluntly state the facts, but she couldn't help the compassion creeping into her voice. "How does that constitute fine?"
"I... I'll be okay. I d-don't want to bother you." The girl answered, even if she still was just this side of breaking into tears again.
"But maybe I want to bother me." Bianca returned "Look, if you tell me to get lost right now, I will. But you really look like you could use some comforting right now, or maybe just someone to listen to you, and I'm right here, so..."
She trailed off, almost nervously waiting for an answer, and only after several seconds the girl spoke up in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry. Please don't leave..."
"Alright. I won't." Bianca carefully leaned against the railing, making sure the umbrella was still shielding both her and – more importantly – the girl. "First things first. My name is Bianca."
"I'm Rosa."
"I see. It's nice to meet you, Rosa." Bianca smiled at her, and she could have sworn at least for a moment the corners of Rosa's mouth flickered upwards too. "Let me guess, it's one of two things: Either something about your boyfriend, or your date didn't show up, right?"
Bianca tried asking as neutrally as possible, but even so Rosa's face fell and she started sobbing again as Bianca inwardly cursed herself for her tactlessness. "We w-were supposed to meet here hours ago, b-but then it started raining and-"
"And he never showed up, and probably didn't even call, right?" Rosa weakly nodded and Bianca frowned. "What a jerk move. Just who does that guy think he is-"
"It- it wasn't a guy, though." Rosa interrupted her.
"Huh?"
"I was going to m-meet another girl." Oh. Bianca had come to terms with her own orientation some two years ago when her friendship with her childhood friend Hilda had turned into a – sadly one-sided – crush, and though she'd gotten over it and managed to stay just friends with the other girl, Bianca's attraction to girls remained. And even though in this day and age people were slowly becoming more progressive and tolerant, at least initially same-sex attraction or relationships were wont to cause some complications now and then, especially for younger girls or boys.
So Bianca carefully deliberated her words, lest she put her foot in her mouth right again, before answering "Well that doesn't change anything, does it? Then she's a bitc- horrible person for standing you up like that. That's just- Sorry." Bianca stopped herself when she realized her getting – rightfully, though – worked up wasn't necessarily the best thing to do. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
With a small sniffle Rosa nodded, wiping her arm over her face for all the good it did. "'Kay. So, last week, I met this girl while waiting in line for the ferris wheel." Of course. Even if Bianca didn't live in Nimbasa City naturally she knew the city's possibly biggest attraction, and had taken a ride on it before with both her friends Hilda and Cheren – and at one point even all three of them, much to the bewilderment of the cashier. And even if by design the ferris wheel was meant for for romantic couples – down to the punny name –, it was visited by platonic friends just as much, as well as strangers on occasion to get to know, and battle, new people, and it wasn't terribly uncommon for dates or relationships to come to pass that way either.
Or heartbreak in Rosa's case, apparently, a suspicion the girl all but confirmed as she continued "And... I think she was a bit older than me, maybe, but she was really pretty and cool and great to talk to, and- and we ended up meeting at the ferris wheel a few times just to hang out or talk or whatever, until yesterday when I asked her out, and she said we'd meet here today, b-but she..."
"-never showed up." Bianca darkly finished as Rosa started crying again, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder in what she hoped counted as a comforting manner.
Rosa nodded, but still took a few moments to halfway compose herself before continuing. "It j-just figures. The one time I manage to ask someone out, of course..."
"So, was that your first time asking someone on a date?"
"Y-yeah."
"Oh dear. What a terrible first experience that's gotta be. This is not how that usually goes." Maybe Bianca wasn't the one to talk, the first time she had asked someone out, she'd been straight-up rejected; but at least she'd never been left waiting in the pouring rain, and after talking it out the next day, she'd even been able to stay friends with Hilda too.
"It's probably my fault." Rosa started crying again "I was coming on way too strong a-and I really should have b-been more... patient and I- I-" "Hey." Bianca carefully brought up her hand to Rosa's cheek to stop her before she completely broke down again, but to little avail.
"Come here." Following an impulse, without really thinking Bianca wrapped her arms around Rosa in a comforting hug, not caring that her front was getting wet from the girl's drenched clothes – nor that she wasn't really holding the umbrella over them anymore, so her back was getting wet too.
"There, there. It's okay." Bianca didn't really know what else to say, so she resorted to just holding Rosa tight, hoping that would be enough.
Apparently it was, as after a few seconds the girl returned the hug, all but clinging to Bianca as she slowly relaxed, her sobs dying down, before she let go and pulled back a little, still staying quite close to Bianca. "Th-thanks." Bianca just gave her a warm smile, and Rosa returned it before she noticed the state of Bianca's shirt and jacket, and her expression fell again. "Oh! S-sorry, I got you all wet and-"
"It's alright." Bianca nonchalantly shrugged, even though she already felt the cold and wetness creeping into her skin. "I was planning on taking a shower once I got back anyways." And if she hadn't before, at least now she was. "But we really shouldn't be standing in the rain any longer than we need to, should we?"
Rosa shook her head in agreement and Bianca continued "Do you live close by? I only have a few more blocks to go, so I can lend you my umbrella if you want."
"Actually I'm from Aspertia City. I... I guess can catch a bus to Castelia City, but with this weather I don't think there's any ferries right now..."
"So you don't have any place to stay?"
Rosa shook her head. "This was all planned totally differently. Sh-she said I could crash at her place for the night if I had to, b-but-" She cut herself off as her eyes started welling up again and Bianca quickly pulled Rosa into another hug, only letting go when she was certain the other girl had calmed down again.
"It's decided, then." Bianca took Rosa's hand and started moving in the direction of her hotel, pulling the surprised girl after her. "You're staying at my room for the night."
"What? There's no need." Rosa protested, catching up to walk besides Bianca, yet not separating their hands.
"There so is need." Bianca countered. "I can't really let you stay out here in the rain, can I?"
"I'll be fine. I... don't want to impose on you."
"You're not imposing. Odds are the Professor is gonna spend the night somewhere else anyways, and if we have to, either she or I can sleep on the couch."
"But-"
"No buts. You're soaked to the bone, and I can tell you're totally freezing." Mostly because already now Bianca was too. "You'll be seriously lucky if you don't catch a cold. You need a warm, dry place like right now. I'll at least have a shirt and something for you until your stuff is dried tomorrow."
With a small sigh and a nod Rosa acquiesced and Bianca continued. "And besides, after what happened to you I wouldn't leave you anyways."
"Hm?"
"Being stood up on what would have been your first date... I wouldn't want to be alone in a situation like this. And I actually can somewhat relate, the first time I asked someone out went... less than stellar. So, I guess, what I'm getting at is... at least for tonight, I'm with you, okay?"
"Okay." Rosa turned to warmly smile at her, and Bianca could have sworn she also squeezed her hand just a little tighter "Thanks."
"Then let's hurry, the hotel isn't far now."
AN: Loosely inspired by guess which Avril Lavigne song (and I even managed to fit a title drop in there at the end, yay). There's really not much to say here, hope you enjoy.
I initially uploaded this one on its own a few days back (when in hindsight it should have been part of this collection from the get-go), but it seems like it kinda flew under the radar, here's hoping this repost can remedy that a little. As before, any feedback is greatly appreciated, as are suggestions/prompts for more stories.
That said, thank you for reading and see you next time. Peace out