tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA]
TT: I apologize for having to leave with such haste the other day.
TT: It goes against my usual habits.
GA: Oh no please do not worry yourself about it
GA: It sounded like you had a situation
TT: Yes, well, it seems as though I'm having a lot of situations lately.
GA: Perhaps I can be of some assistance
TT: Oh, it's nothing, really.
TT: In fact, things have improved greatly.
TT: It was my fault anyway. I'd left the door to my room ajar and Mutie decided to chew on my violin strings.
TT: Roxy ended up buying replacements for me.
GA: Well thats good
GA: I wasnt aware that you played the violin
TT: Oh, yes.
TT: Perhaps I'll serenade you sometime.
GA: Sounds romantic
TT: To be completely upfront, it is probably not what you're imagining.
TT: While Mother always preferred that I learn classical music, which she makes perfectly clear through passive-aggressive comments, I prefer to create covers.
TT: Do you know of the Vitamin String Quartet?
GA: No
TT: Ah.
TT: Well I will have to enlighten you.
TT: What I enjoy playing is along the lines of what they do.
GA: I see
GA: Well regardless I would love to hear it
GA: Given the opportunity
TT: Well I will keep that in mind.
TT: I simply wanted to apologize.
GA: I appreciate that but assure you it is unnecessary
GA: Are you attending Feferis party this evening?
TT: As a matter of fact, I am.
GA: Well then I will see you there
grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]
Rose was certainly nervous to see Kanaya again after sort of bailing on their date. What was more, she wanted to kiss Kanaya at midnight. That seemed like a good sort of way to initiate things, beyond their aggravating non-progression which consisted of nothing but two nervous girls flirting with each other. Rose's eyes flitted over to the bottle of wine she'd confiscated when Roxy dumped everything down the drain. Maybe just a sip. Maybe that could ease her a little bit. After all, she'd seen what happened when Roxy and Mother got addicted, so there was no way she'd have more than just a little bit, right? Rose sighed to herself, knowing it wasn't her best idea, but, wow, she really thought too much and maybe she'd stop overanalyzing things a little bit if she let herself relax, and in the moment, alcohol seemed like the way to do so, so Rose took a sip. It was bitter, but not as strong as she'd expected. Maybe that was because she was used to the way Roxy's martinis smelled, but Rose took another sip, and then decided it might not be a bad idea to get over to the party a bit early. Maybe Feferi needed help with décor again. The real reason was that Rose wanted to be there before Kanaya showed up.
As luck would have it, Rose found herself arriving at pretty much the exact same time as Kanaya. And as luck would have it even more, Rose found herself at the mercy of that wine. It hit her long after she'd actually imbibed it, and she was… not entirely sober when she greeted Kanaya. Not totally far-gone, but tipsy enough to be braver than Sober Rose.
"Fancy seeing you here," Rose muttered to Kanaya. Kanaya smirked at her a bit.
"Yes, fancy indeed. How are you this evening?"
"Looking forward to the festivities," Rose answered. It was true, at the very least, if not all that was on her mind. She walked up to the door with Kanaya, hearing Feferi shout from inside.
"Eridan, you can't just-! Eridan!" They heard a clatter just before the door was slammed open in front of them, and Eridan paused, looking surprised to see them before shoving his way through the middle. Rose, with her judgement impaired, muttered under her breath.
"What a jackass."
Eridan turned on his heel, marching back up to the girls and getting way too close for comfort to Rose's face. "You got a fuckin' problem with me, Lalonde? Not that it's any a your fuckin' business, but you should know it's not like I got it easy here, and seems like every time I make a FUCKIN' plan, it all just goes and blows up in my face, so mind your manners, you—"
"Eridan!" Kanaya interrupted. Eridan's eyes snapped away from Rose and she took a step back. Eridan's face crumped before he stalked off, back towards his house. Kanaya glanced at Rose, a small fown on her face, and Rose shrugged at her, knowing there was no way to change who Eridan was, or his behavior. Cautiously, the two girls went into the Peixes home. Rose sort of followed Kanaya, still in a bit of a daze. They found Feferi on the floor in the kitchen, on her knees and looking visibly shaken up. Rose glanced at a knife that had been abandoned; dropped on the floor nearby, and she spotted Sollux slumped against the wall in the adjacent living room. So something had clearly set Eridan off, and it looked like he got in a fight with Sollux.
Kanaya was the first to comfort Feferi, the three girls sitting in silence until Feferi looked up at Rose, her eyes reddened from crying. "Feferi?" Kanaya's voice asked softly, and she helped Feferi stand up, even though she seemed uninjured.
"Feferi, are you alright?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, I just… have never seen him like that."
"Eridan?" Kanaya asked.
"Yes… he seemed so… dark. And angry."
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"He… got really upset with me and grabbed the knife off the counter and he looked so… I don't know… it didn't seem like him. Eridan has a lot of frustrations, but never in my life did I actually think he'd hurt me. Except for tonight. He seemed to realize he was way out of line, and he dropped it, and left, but…" There was more to the story, but Feferi was in no position to be pressed for details.
"So who did that?" Kanaya asked, nodding towards Sollux.
"Eridan!" Feferi answered. She was starting to sound more frustrated than just upset. "He came over early because he wants to talk to me about… well, about leaving. Running away. Doing dangerous things without thinking them through because he feels scared and hopeless. I suppose I lost my temper, too, but he's been so selfish, and… and rude lately! I just can't stand that kind of attitude!" Rose took a breath. Eridan was having trouble coping with… what, his gender? That was one thing, but apparently he was taking it out on others. Violence wasn't the answer, no matter what aggression he had pent up from his family. Of course, Rose couldn't speak to understanding what he was dealing with, but this violence seemed excessive.
"Ah. I suppose that makes sense… he did shove me aside as I came in," Kanaya said. It was then that Sollux stirred, and Feferi darted towards him, Kanaya and Rose moving much slower.
"Sollux? Are you alright?"
"I don't… I don't know. I can't see," Sollux answered. Rose moved forward a little bit, investigating the bump on Sollux's head. Feferi shifted over so Rose could see better.
"It looks like you hit your head pretty hard. You may have damaged the optical cortex; it does lie in the back of the brain. Blindness is most likely temporary."
"And how the hell do you know?" Sollux snipped at her. He wobbled as he stood up and Feferi had to steady him. Rose was aware of the smug smile she gave, knowing Sollux couldn't see it.
"Open a book sometime, gamer boy. Maybe you'll learn something."
Once Feferi got Sollux settled on the couch, the girls tried to get into a more light-hearted conversation, but that proved difficult given the situation.
"Feferi, are you sure you're in a… uh… proper mental state to host a party?" Kanaya asked. Rose was sure she didn't mean it to be rude, but it did sound the slightest bit passive aggressive.
"I'm… okay," Feferi answered, but she answered slowly. "Besides, it would be rude to cancel at this point. I'm pretty sure everyone is on their way, and looking forward to the ball drop."
Dave's entrance could not have been more perfectly timed, and Rose knew it was best that they drop it there, not only because Feferi didn't seem to want to talk about it, but also because Dave was already dealing with enough shit as it was.
At some point in the evening, Gamzee slid a drink on the table for Rose, an offer which the others refused. Rose wasn't sure if they were aware, but she understood the moment she took a sniff; the entire punch bowl was laced with vodka. No wonder Tavros looked a little tipsy. Rose shrugged it off. If there was a night to get drunk, it was certainly New Year's. She took a drink, and as the night went on, she found herself getting more physically affectionate with Kanaya. Their feet nudged each other, their knees bumped together, and Rose was halfway in Kanaya's chair by the time they were joined by Dave, and then John.
"Hey Rose, hi Kanaya!" he said, grinning as he sat at the table, previously only being occupied by Jade, Rose, and Kanaya.
"Hello, boys," Kanaya answered. She turned towards Dave. "So how exactly is it that you wound up on a date with my cousin a few days ago?" Dave made eye contact with Rose, who feigned innocence at having told Kanaya. It was just as likely that she'd heard from Karkat.
"It's a long story, Papaya. Karkat is a—" Rose was genuinely interested in hearing the follow-up to that, but Dave was cut off by Karkat's grouchy voice.
"Karkat is a what, you useless fucking shitweasel?"
"Always with the pet names," Dave sighed. Karkat took the last seat at the table. The night continued with Dave and Karkat's flirt-bickering and Rose consuming the rest of her drink and half of another one, resulting in a continuously tipsy Rose, though Tavros was the one who got wasted, much to everyone's surprise. Karkat was the one to discover the situation when he got up to get a drink himself, then wound up yelling at Gamzee.
"You piece of shit! You spiked the goddamn punch!"
Karkat skulked out of the room, Dave leaving moments later. But Rose was paying attention to Kanaya as the New Year's countdown started. She leaned on Kanaya's shoulder.
"Kan, do you… wanna kiss me?" she asked. The question surprised even Rose. She hadn't been planning on being so up front about it, but there it was, lingering in the air as the countdown was vocalized by the chorus of friends behind them.
"I… um…" Kanaya murmured. Rose blinked. Shit. She'd made Kan uncomfortable.
"Excuse me," she muttered, smiling to herself a bit. It was okay. It probably wasn't a great idea anyway. Rose wandered into the next room, in search of a bathroom in Feferi's fucking mansion of a house, and there she found Dave and Karkat kissing on the couch. A touch of envy rippled through her, but still. This was amazing progress on Dave's part. As they pulled away, Rose saw Dave lean forward, just pressing his face into Karkat's hair.
"It's about time," she said. Dave and Karkat both shot up from the couch, red spilling across Dave's face.
"ROSE!"
Roxy was, once again, very satisfied and happy to have a pretty low-key party, and was even more excited that she'd convinced Callie to come by, especially after the most awkward ending to a first date ever. That was a situation Roxy was still very confused by, because she and Callie were currently being very cuddly on the couch, and while Callie didn't seem sure how to respond to Roxy's advances, she wasn't totally shooting her down, either. Callie smiled and blushed and laughed and seemed to have a generally warm reception, but she never reciprocated, and now that they were alongside Dirk and Jake (who, in Roxy's opinon, were certainly on the path to getting back together), it was only more obvious that this seemed almost like a dead end.
"Thank you for inviting me, Roxy," Callie said, leaning on her shoulder. It was these little gestures that made Roxy think Callie was interested, but there was something else keeping her from doing anything about it. Maybe it was her brother. Caliborn was supposedly a giant shithead, and from Roxy's small interaction with him, she believed it.
"Of course, Callie, babe." Callie drew quiet after that, and Roxy made a noise of frustration. "Jane, can you help me with something in the kitchen?" Roxy dragged Jane behind her before Jane even said anything. Jane clearly knew that Roxy needed to vent, so vent was what Roxy did. "I don't get it, Jane. Callie and I hang out together, we both think the other is friggin' adorable… why isn't she… ugh." Roxy laid her head on the counter.
"Roxy, there's always the possibility that she's… you know. Straight?"
"Janey, we met at an LGBT club."
"You told me you were in the same English class?"
"Right. Well we are but I noticed her in the club first. I mean like school club not like club club," Roxy clarified. "Anyway, yeah, I'm pretty sure she isn't straight, but she's not responding and it's killing me."
"Hmm," Jane pondered for a moment.
"Janeyyyy, help meeee."
"Roxanne Lalonde, I am the last person you want to ask about relationship advice."
Roxy couldn't help but laugh. "Did you just call me Roxanne? Janey, that isn't even my name! You're ridiculous."
"Roxy, I'm afraid there's a good reason I haven't reciprocated your advances." Roxy jumped at the voice. How much had Callie just heard?
"Oh shit! Callie! I hope… you didn't hear too much of that." Mostly because Roxy felt it was in poor taste to talk about people behind their backs.
"Pish posh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Your feelings have been made quite clear, and if I am to be honest with you, and myself, for that matter, I have a bit of a crush on you myself. The truth is, I'm afraid I won't be around much longer," Callie said, looking a bit morose, "and I would hate for you to get attached only to be later devastated."
"Callie, I'm already attached," Roxy said, smiling softly at Calliope.
"Why do you think you won't be around much longer?" Jane asked.
"Well, um, you see… I've been diagnosed with cancer. I've been doomed since the beginning." Oh fuck. Roxy let out a small gasp, clamping her hands over her mouth.
"I… I'm sorry," Jane stuttered.
"Callie, no!" Roxy said, darting around the counter to hug Calliope. "Calliope, all I want to do is make you happy."
"But—"
"Shhh. Listen. Calliope." Roxy was surprised by the seriousness in her own voice. "Calliope. However much time you have left, you don't need to suppress your feelings just 'cause you're afraid I'm going to be hurt later."
"But Roxy, I—"
"No, Callie, I want you to be happy! You of all people deserve it!" It was true, Callie was so kind and good and she deserved so much better in the world. Roxy felt tears pooling in her eyes. "Let me take you out and kiss your face and tell you how beautiful and amazing you are."
"Wuh—I—um. If you want to do all those things…"
"And… and maybe you'll pull through, Callie. You've made it this long."
Callie smiled weakly at Roxy, and Roxy's heart soared.
"Okay, Roxy, I… I want to be happy. With you. Since… since we both like each other, we may as well make the most of it," Callie conceded, still smiling softly at Roxy, but the emotion behind it shifted. It felt more genuine, and only got wider as Roxy nuzzled into her cheek, and then gave her a small peck on the lips. Callie's eyes widened in surprise, and then blushed. Roxy grinned at her.
"And you don't gotta wear these wigs anymore!" Roxy said, nodding at the curly white hair on Callie's head. Callie looked nervous as she slipped the wig off. Stark white curls gave way to a dark buzzcut, hair barely growing back in. "OMG, you're so adorable." Roxy clasped her hand around ncredibly unsure as she slowly slid the wig off, revealing her natural hair, or what was left of it, barely growing back, Jane assumed from chemo therapy. Much to Roxy's surprise, she and Callie shared a kiss at midnight.