Pink Shell, a short Brawl Stars story by Ranko Inazuma.

"Are you ok, Shelly?" Piper asked, because Shelly was not paying attention to a single thing she was saying, instead she was fiddling with her coffee paper cup.

The purple haired woman reacted, noticing Piper was looking at her with a bit of concern, and realizing she was distracted, Shelly put her drink back on the table and laughed with embarrasment.

"S-sorry, I'm fine" she stammered a bit.

"Darling, are you sure?" Piper took a sip of her tea cup and put it aside. "I've noticed you've been distracted lately in our get togethers"

"Oh" Shelly muttered. Shelly and Piper have been meeting at least once a week for a while. Shelly at first didn't have much of an opinion about Piper, besides the fact that she had class. On the other side, Piper thought Shelly was funny. And after one morning they spent together speaking, it soon became a habit.

"You know..." Shelly spoke "It's been a while since we started meeting like this" to which Piper nodded "who would have thought, huh?" she added with a small laugh.

Piper laughed too. "I know darling, and I've been enjoying it, thanks to you, you're a funny woman" she took her tea cup and took another sip.

"O-oh, hehe, yeah, funny" Shelly replied somewhat sheepishly.

Piper was going to tell her something when she was approached by a sharply dressed gentleman.

"Miss Piper, I apologize but it is time for your reunion about this tonight's gala" the man spoke, getting her attention and Shelly's too.

"Huh? I'm sorry, were you busy with something?" Shelly asked the blonde woman.

"Why yes, Miss Piper is a special guest for tonight's gala taking place in Super City's club...not that you would know missy" those were the words of the man dressed in grey.

"Oh, I almost forgot about it, Mr. Albert" Piper said with a sweatdrop "Yes, it's an annual event organized in this day, and this year I was invited"

"For Miss Piper, it would be an honor to partake in it" Albert added with a tiny smug smile.

"However, I haven't found a companion for the event" she pondered, but then she caught glimpse of Shelly drinking her coffee and a idea popped up.

"I know, why don't you come with me Shelly?" Piper suggested, which surprised both Shelly and the elegant dressed man.

"Huh!?" Shelly reacted almost dropping her almost empty paper cup.

"But Miss Piper, surely you jest" it was Albert's reaction "I mean *cough*...are you sure about that?"

"Sure I am, after all guests can go with any companion of their choosing and I choose her" Piper said.

"B-but" Shelly wasn't sure how to react "That's not an event for me...what would I even do? I-"

"Although..." the man pondered, interrupting Shelly, inspecting her up and down, making her a little uncomfortable with his sharp gaze "If you were to choose her, we'll be having to make preparations before she is ready to attend, wouldn't you say Miss Piper?"

The blonde nodded in agreement.

"Sweetie, it won't be as hard as you think, it might even be fun" Piper tried to convince her friend to go with her.

Shelly stood silent for a little while before deciding. "Well...fine, I'll go"

"Thanks darling" Piper thanked her with a smile.

"Very well" the distinguished gentleman chimed in "We will have few days to prepare your companion Miss Piper, so the preparations sill start tomorrow"

And Shelly still wasn't sure on what she was getting into.

The next day, at afternoon both Piper and Shelly were in a grand clothing store, filled with rows and rows of fine clothes of different styles, Albert was speaking to a tailor nearby and soon came to where bofh women were waiting.

"Allright Miss...Shelly" he spoke catching the attention of the purplehaired. "This is my esteemed friend Will and he will make an adequate outfit that you will wear for the gala"

With that, the tailor Will beckoned Shelly to follow him further inside the curtain to a wide room when he would take the measurements and do his work. Shelly looked at Piper with mild surprise before crossing the curtain. Piper simply gave her a thumb up.

Shelly was standing still while the tailor was taking her measurements deftly, barely touching her clothes, and occasionally making her turn left or right.

After a good while, he finished his work and made Shelly cross the curtain to where Piper and Albert were speaking with each other. And then they contemplated the new dress. It was a long, light pink dress with one short sleeve, layers overlapping down below and a belt of white cloth tying two arcs of the same material circling the circumference of the bottom part.

"So...you think it's the correct one?" Shelly asked trying her best to not be flustered about the change of clothes.

"Sweetie, I think it suits you" she declared.

Shelly felt relieved, but as soon as she took as step she stepped on the cloth that was part of the dress and fell forward on the wooden floor.

A couple of days later, in which the preparations covered other aspects like etiquette, manners, coordination and other aspects, things that didn't go too well for Shelly at first, but came to understand a little more how things were for Piper, and even having newfound admiration for her.

As days passed the spanish speaking woman came to do away with her initial reservations and try better, despite some mistakes that made her embarrased like tripping or getting tongue tied several times while conversating, but on the other hand, her friend was also delighted by helping her go through this trial of sorts.

As she crossed the street, she crossed across a clothing store, in display, behind the glass she saw a similar dress to the one that was designed for her. Shelly stood still, looking at it for what felt a good while before resuming her walk.

The night of the event, Shelly arrived at the place where the event would be held and it was nothing short of surprise, it was big. She found herself being the objective of looks as she went inside, the place was beatifully, aesthetically decorated with good taste, polished marble floor, large, large curtains, walls adorned with works of art, anything for the refinate people who enjoyed the aesthetically pleasing things in life.

She was glad no one she knew was there to see her there, and wondered what they would have thought, "probably laughing at me" she thought.

After a while, Shelly was already in the room Piper as guest was assigned, which she found was in one of the rooms in the upper floor.

"Piper, are you in?" Shelly asked, searching for her friend, her steps weren't clumsy as before as she got accustomed thanks to the last days she endured, having had to spend time in social simulations.

But it didn't seem like she was in, but then Shelly heard two voices coming closer from outside, and upon hearing it with more attention she realized one of them was Piper's and she was speaking with someone else, no, it was more like a group of people. No problem, she would have waited till she finished chatting, but.

"It's going to be really interesting, right, Piper?" it was the voice of one of the group Piper was speaking with, and it wasn't the voice of Mr. Albert so it was someone else's.

"Yeah, it will" Piper laughed.

"But I wonder, why did you bring her with you?" another man asked her "You know she doesn't fit, don't you?"

"I know she doesn't" Piper answered "but I brought her, it...it's part of my plan"

A woman laughed. "We didn't think you'd be serious about it, but what if your friend fails? what if she doesn't live up to the expectative?" the same woman inquired.

"The stakes are high" a third man spoke jokingly "you're exposing her to a life she won't have and then back to reality".

"But if you succeed, your place will be secured".

And as that was said, the group left Piper alone, expecting to find her later.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Shelly didn't know what to think, but somehow she once took in account that there, that where she was that wasn't her place to be, and that somehow she was being used, but couldn't even begin to fathom why.

Piper entered the room and found Shelly standing near the door absorbed in deep thought. She called her out and waved in front of her to no avail.

"Shelly, are...are you ok?" she asked.

Shelly reacted and found Piper once again in front of her, she felt a sense of deja vu. But the time and place were different.

"I...I don't think I can go through this" with that Shelly pushed Piper aside and hurried to the door.

She could her Piper calling her out to wait, but Shelly didn't want to stay there, the blonde's voice fading as she came across the looks of many of the upcoming guests and their companion elegantly dressed, all gawking at the hasty one.

Soon she found herself out in the street, it was nighttime of course, away from the flashing lights and the foreign ambience, Shelly was simply walking down the street, cars passing by but the traffic wasn't heavy by then.

Shelly came across a park, and sat on an empty bench, gazing at the night sky.

Then she thought of how foolish she would have looked in there and questioned why she accepted going in the first place. And found herself questioning Piper, now worried her first impressions of her were being proved to be true, and that perhaps she wasn't her friend.

The purple haired woman didn't feel like going anywhere for a while, there were other people in the park but no one was even looking at her direction. Even with the change of clothes, she was still herself.

However, she soon heard footsteps coming in her direction, and opened her eyes gazing in front of her, and there she found Piper again, who was a little agitated.

"Shelly, what's the matter, darling? why you left?" she asked between breaths.

"I simply remembered...that it was not my place to be there" it was her answer.

"But, remember all the preparations you went through, you tried your best" Piper took a seat near the other woman.

"and?...wasn't that part of your little plan?" Shelly cut down to the chase, gazing sternly at the blonde at her side.

Piper then realized what she meant "Oh...you heard?"

"Sadly, yes" Shelly continued "So it turns out you had a plan behind my back, huh?"

"Yes" it was her turn to admit it "but it's not what you may think, I didn-"

"No, just save it!" Shelly interrupted, she stood up and took some steps away from the bench. "I don't know what you had planned, but I bet part of it was making me look like an idiot in there!"

"Shelly, sweetie, listen, It was not in me to make you look bad, they were the ones who took my words the wrong way" Piper tried to explain herself "My intention was good, honest!. I wanted to make a good statement to their members and-"

Shelly held a finger in front of Piper, making her stop talking. It was a silence of seconds but felt like a silence of long minutes.

"all those times we met together?" she asked sternly mere inches from each other's faces "all those cute laughs and those comments? were they just a way for you to mock me and have your fun at my expense?"

"N-no" Piper stammered "I was being honest, I never had any ill intentions in our times together nor I made fun of you..."

"...why do I have to trust you now?" Shelly asked again. Piper stood up now and moved to the side where Shelly was.

"because...because honestly, the reason behind our meetings is because...with you I could be more like me, not the one I put in front of others, but...I felt less pressured when we spoke, it was a refreshing feeling"

"And that is...why I'm here" her comment sparked the interest of Shelly.

"what do you mean?" it was her question.

"If you aren't there then I won't be there, and I won't be a part of it" Piper declared. "Our time is our time, and I don't want to lose it just for that, even if it means forfeiting my chance..."

Now Shelly didn't know what to think of that she wasn't that certain but perhaps she was being honest.

"so...if you don't want to see me anymore, I understand..." but as soon as Piper took a step away, Shelly grabbed her by her hand impeding it. Piper looked over her shoulder with mild surprise as Shelly didn't let her go, without looking at her directly, simply gesturing with a head shake in a negative form. Because she realized that for something like that she wasn't going to let that time spent go to waste.

Both sat again on the bench, and for a while stood there in silence with each other, watching others in the distance.

"so...you were honest when you said all that?" Shelly asked, now calmed down.

"Yes" Piper spoke softly. "Yes, I was"

...

...

...

"so...can I keep this dress?" Shelly asked again, this time with a small smile.

Piper simply asnwered with a snort and a hearty laugh, they leant against each other as they laughed together.

The end.

Author's notes: Hey, it's Ranko here. I apologize if the story doesn't feel perfect, but I'm trying my best to write better. It may not look good either or seem like in a good pace, but then again, I'm trying cause I'm a novice at this.

This story was in my mind for some days, and is partially inspired in a storyline I read in a game I played once.

Thanks for reaching this point, and apologies if it ends up being not of your liking, but I ask for you patience. With time maybe I can make better writen stories.

With all that out of the way, I'm out.

Once again, thanks.