this is an unashamedly dumb idea that came to me after rereading book 1 and remembering how much shelby lowkey terrorises otto. can take place at any point during the series.
"Ow," Shelby winced. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow-"
"This was your idea," Laura reminded her, biting her lip in concentration as she grabbed the stud from Shelby's bedside table. As if Laura had wanted to do this - Shelby had bribed and pleaded and finally threatened to do the damn deed herself, the latter of which had finally pushed Laura to agree to this whole enterprise. "Nearly done."
"Not nearly enough," Shelby grumbled, visibly balling her fists as Laura pulled the needle through. As the stud slid into the freshly-made hole left by the needle, a single tear rolled down Shelby's cheek, her hisses of pain echoing off the walls of her and Laura's shared room. Had Shelby not been so insistent, Laura might've felt sorry for her. "Is that it?"
Let the record show that Laura Brand had considered many back-up career options during her time at H.I.V.E., and backstreet piercer had not been one of them.
"It's done," Laura confirmed, leaning back as if to assess her handiwork. There was a smear of Shelby's blood on her right hand, and she wiped it absently on her jumpsuit while she nodded in satisfaction. "How does it feel?"
Shelby opened her mouth to reply - and Laura knew that said reply would be imbued with layers of sarcasm thicker than Tackle and Block's skulls - when a harsh knock at the door interrupted her near eruption of snark. "Come in!" Shelby huffed, sounded almost disappointed about her opportunity to complain being stolen from her.
"It's only me," Otto said hurriedly. "I was doing the Politics and Finance homework and I realised I left my textbook here, I'll only be a minute- what's that?"
He'd stopped dead in his tracks by Laura's desk, alabaster eyebrows furrowed deep into his forehead. Laura and Shelby exchanged mirth-filled glances, and Laura said quickly, "It's a nose ring."
"Yes, I can see that," Otto said, ever the keen observer. "Why is it in Shelby's nose?"
"Because I wanted it to be," Shelby replied, a hint of challenge in her voice. Blood had already began to crust around the stud; Laura had no idea whether that was a good or bad sign. As long as it didn't turn visibly green, Shelby would probably be fine. "That's kind of what a piercing is, you know?"
Otto touched his own nostrils almost reflexively, and shuddered in horror. Bending to retrieve his textbook from Laura's desk, he only paused again once he was at the doorway, where he swivelled and squinted at Shelby's face, and the diamanté stud embedded within it, again.
"It's not that bad," he admitted. Whether or not this was his real opinion, or merely a defence mechanism against Shelby's sharp tongue, was not apparent.
"Thanks," Shelby said immediately.
"Did Laura do that?" he asked, looking slightly terrified once more as he noticed the blood smear on Laura's palm. "Is she likely to do it again?"
"I don't think so," Laura shrugged. "I only have two spare sets of earrings, and Trinity's just taken me down to one and a half."
"Great," Otto said. "Lovely. Wonderful. I'll see you at dinner."
He shut the door behind him with surprising force, and Laura heard the force of his footfall even through the metal.
"Why the hell was Malpense's Politics and Finance textbook on your desk?" Shelby enquired lazily, already reclining onto her bed with limbs akimbo. Laura felt herself flush, despite the fact that the reason was perfectly innocent. She still hated having Shelby as a roommate sometimes; it could feel like every waking moment was an interrogation. Anyway, Laura was 99% sure she'd seen one of Wing's hair ties (distinguishable from Shelby and Laura's because they were more twine than elastic) in their bathroom before, so her point was moot.
"Still have a leftover earring, Trinity," Laura muttered instead, and Shelby shut up very quickly after that.