some crystal/lili requested by questionette on twitter based on a writing prompt post i reblogged!
Bright and Early
At that moment, Lili was supposed to be listening to Coach Oleander. He had gathered everyone to the reception area at the crack of dawn. While the children blinked sleep out of their eyes and Oleander went on another tirade about their collective disciplinary issues, Lili could not focus on any of them.
Not even her own weariness could deter her from stealing glances at Crystal. The younger girl sat next to her on a rough log, her hands folded in one of the pleats of her pale pink skirt. She tucked her chin to her chest and yawned, hidden from Oleander's scrutiny by the amorphous mass of Bobby's hair in front of them.
Lili did not acknowledge Oleander marching around on his hollowed out tree trunk stage. Nor did she hear the yelp coming from Elton when Oleander whipped his swagger stick in front of his nose, demanding to know if he was the one who smeared mud all over his jeep. Milka biting the crop right out of his hand went unnoticed as well while she watched Crystal rub her eyes, another yawn ghosting past her lips.
Even though Crystal hadn't applied any eyeshadow or eyeliner, her eyes sparkled when she opened them. It was cliched to say they reminded Lili of sapphires, so she decided they looked like hydrangea petals. Accompanying them were long eyelashes. Unlike Kitty and Franke, who needed to apply a generous amount of mascara to lift them, Crystal's eyelashes were natural, curling upwards and reminding Lili of two halves of a heart.
The noise of her fellow campers continued like static from a television screen. Lili ignored Phoebe trying to pry Milka's jaw from the riding crop or Benny's hyena-like laugh piercing through the chaos. When she had a girl as stunning as Crystal right next to her, so close that their shoulders were touching, Lili found the world fading away when Crystal caught eyes with her.
But it wasn't only her face which captivated Lili. Crystal hadn't had time to pull her hair into a ponytail, letting her long, magenta tresses fall down her back. There wasn't a greasy sheen coating the top of her head or a hair out of place. It framed her face perfectly, softening her cheeks and bringing out the deep blue of her eyes, and Lili could have sworn she saw flecks of pink within them.
"Wild morning, huh?" Lili whispered, the words stumbling over her tongue.
Crystal grinned and nodded. "Sure is. I hope that Coach isn't too mad at-"
"Privates, I better get an answer in the next minute or there's gonna be hell to pay!" Oleander barked, tearing his swagger stick out of Milka's mouth and cutting Crystal off. He narrowed his good eye at the teeth marks and ignored the little smirk on Milka's face. He slapped it into his other hand, bits of spit flying from it, and he snarled, "Anyone feel like talking or am I gonna have to start reading minds? And if I have to do that, then I'm making everyone run laps around my mental battlefield, and it doesn't matter what rank you are or what badges you got! Everyone means everyone!"
Crystal gnawed on her lower lip. As the others glared at the usual suspects, she fidgeted with the hem of her camp shirt. Lili's gaze lowered, noticing Crystal's nail polish had slight chips through the sunshine yellow coat polka-dotted with teal. Crystal rubbed her thumb along her nails, her cheeks flushing a hint of scarlet as voices rose around her, accusations running wild while Oleander sneered that time was running out.
Lili rolled her eyes. This was taking longer than she expected. It was also making Crystal uncomfortable, and she was not going to let her feel that way any longer. Raising her hand, she announced, "Hey, Coach, I know who did it."
"Well, who is it? And speak up faster next time! You can't keep critical information to yourself on a mission," Oleander snapped, Crystal tilting her head at her.
"Yeah, well, you could've solved this mess by checking the security cameras. That would have saved so much time," she said, Oleander's mouth twitching and Crystal stifling her giggle behind her hand. "Since you clearly aren't gonna do that-" She aimed her finger at the back of Benny's head. "-it was that rat right there. I saw him throwing cans of mud at your car on my morning walk." She scoffed. "Seriously, Coach, check the cameras next time."
Benny shrieked and tugged on his earlobes. His reaction cemented his guilt in Oleander's mind, his harrumph making Lili smirk. Oleander dismissed the other PSI cadets, telekinetically carrying Benny away by ear as he cried about his innocence. Lili pushed off the log and brushed invisible dirt off her skirt. The other kids shuffled around her, heading off on different paths, and Crystal scurried with them, following Clem presumably to the Main Lodge for breakfast.
Lili trailed behind, stuffing her hands into her skirt pockets. She kicked stray stones and pinecones into tall blades of grass. As robins sang overhead and Crystal's laughter chimed because of something Clem said, Lili's eyes followed her until she was nothing but a pink and yellow dot in the distance, a chill coating her hands despite the humid weather.
Man, you're cute, Lili thought, stuffing her hands into her skirt pockets.
Up ahead, she could have sworn she saw Crystal stumble over a stray wooden plank leading up a hill. Her long hair swayed in the wind as she looked over her shoulder, and Lili wondered if their gazes met. With the sunrays bleeding through the trees and making her squint, Lili told herself that was impossible.
Oh, wow, thank you so much, Lili! You're super cute, too! Crystal thought, and she vanished from sight with Clem.
The smile blossoming on Lili's face denied her doubts. She fidgeted with her bracelet and trekked into the forest. Wondering if Crystal would have liked hydrangeas, Lili decided to introduce her to some she had recently grown in her garden the next time they were alone together.
