"Rose, can I talk to you about something?" Rose blinked up at Terezi as the two stood at Rose's locker. She was surprised Terezi was coming to her for advice.
"Of course."
"Okay, so… I think… Gamzee's like, flirting with me? But not cute flirting, like kind of aggressive flirting. And… I'm kind of into it? But I'm really fucked up about it, cause there was some shit with Dave, and also with Karkat, and Gamzee is kind of Karkat's best friend, so it's kind of wrong for me to date my sort of ex's best friend, right? Not to mention I think Gamzee is not totally himself, and pissed that Tav didn't reciprocate? I really just…" Terezi sighed. "I shouldn't be attracted to Gamzee. That's all."
"It sounds… complicated," Rose said.
"It is!"
"What kind of things does Gamzee say to you?"
"Stuff like… I'd be hot all tied down, or pinned to his wall. That he wonders what it would feel like to bruise me up and… I dunno, he's kind of fucked up lately."
"And you're…"
"I know it sounds bad! I just…" Terezi sighed again. "Nevermind. I shouldn't have said anything." And Terezi turned and left. But this stuck with Rose, a concern dwelling in her mind. That was the most exciting thing that came with the return to school, aside from a fistfight between Aradia and Vriska that resulted in Aradia's suspension and subsequent switch to another school, Rose found herself quite intimidated by the mere idea of getting closer to Kanaya, and the more nervous Rose got about it the more she told herself drinking was okay. It seemed to take away some of that nerve. Roxy couldn't help but notice Rose starting to partake in her own old habits, and while part of her twinged with jealousy that Rose was drinking and she wasn't, but the other part of Roxy had a sudden overwhelming surge of concern.
tipsyGnostalgic [TG] began pestering genderedArticulate [GA]
TG: por i know we don't chat much but
GA: We really should more.
TG: yes agreed!
TG: but
TG: am worried about rose
TG: that she might be following in my and/or mom's footsteps?
GA: In what way?
TG: in an alcoholism way :/
GA: Oh, I see.
TG: i wanna help but im not even sure if that's right and idk what i should do
GA: Hm.
GA: For now, I suggest just spending some time with her.
GA: Make her aware there's someone by her side in case things DO get bad.
TG: okay
TG: i can do that
GA: If I may make a suggestion
GA: I'm taking part in a poetry reading tomorrow if you'd like to bring Rose
TG: !
TG: thatd be tha BOMB
TG: thanks porrim
tipsyGnostagic [TG] ceased pestering genderedArticulate [GA]
When Rose got home, Roxy grinned at her.
"Rose! What're you doin' tomorrow night?"
Rose had to refrain from rolling her eyes. "I didn't have any plans in particular."
"Cool; we're goin' to my friend's thing."
"What kind of thing?" Rose asked.
"A poetry reading! Won't that be cool?"
Rose sighed at her sister's sudden interest. This was not really like Roxy, to seek out "sisterly bonding time". There was an ulterior motive. "Sure, Rox," Rose said, resignation in her voice. She wandered into the kitchen and opened her mother's "secret" cabinet. Which bottle would she not notice was missing a bit? Rose made a selection and took a swig without really looking at the label. She was beginning to understand why Mother kept this stuff around; why Roxy had such troubles with it. It really was relaxing. It eased her nerves, which were only getting worse every time she thought of Kanaya; every time she saw Terezi and Gamzee in close proximity. And it was unfortunate that Rose had turned to taking her mother's stuff, but her secret stash had run out. After another swig, Rose retired to her room for the evening.
The next day in class, Rose was greeted by Kanaya.
"Bonjour, Rose. Je voulias savoir si vous souhaitez repartir?" Rose smiled at Kanaya, blushing the slightest bit.
"Your French has improved greatly."
"Merci. I… uh, had such a pleasant afternoon with you last time, so I thought maye we could do it again sometime. Perhaps… tonight?"
"I would love to," Rose said, and then she remembered the plans Roxy had sprung on her. "But, not tonight. Roxy has asked me to attend an event with her, so I'm afraid this evening is booked. But perhaps sometime a bit closer to… Valentine's Day?" Rose asked, well aware that Valentine's Day was that weekend. Kanaya turned red.
"Very well. Valentine's Day it is." Rose smiled at Kanaya.
That evening, Roxy put on her best, most fun outfit before dragging Rose out to the car and driving to the address Porrim had sent her. It wasn't common for Roxy to drive into the city, but with the help of Siri, she got close enough to the place to find Porrim on the sidewalk waving her down. She slowed down, rolling down the passenger-side window. Porrim leaned up against the car.
"Hey, you must be Rose," she said, as Rose was in the passenger seat. "I'm Porrim."
"Nice to meet you," Rose said, but her voice was monotonous. She didn't cotton well to being patronized.
"Rox, there's a parking lot down that way," Porrim gestured. "I'll see you inside."
Roxy nodded, grinning, and rolled the window back up. When she and Rose approached Porrim after parking the car, she led them inside. Roxy glanced around the place. "I didn't know this thing was at a bar. I can't…" her voice trailed. She was hoping Rose wouldn't figure out the real motivations here. A bar was not a good idea, though. That much was definite.
"I didn't realize; I've never been here before." The apologetic look on Porrim's face was enough. Of course this wasn't intentional; Roxy felt guilty for snipping at Porrim, as slight as it had been. Rose took an opportunity to duck away from her sister and her friend. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the environment, by the fact that Roxy was pressuring her to spend time with her, and all the implications of that, so Rose snagged an abandoned drink glass off a nearby table and took it to the bartender.
"Can I get a refill?" The bartender raised an eye at her, like she was debating whether or not to ask for an ID, but the fact that Rose already had a glass was apparently proof enough. Ten minutes later, Rose was sipping on a rum and Coke. The evening went on like that, and Rose didn't even really remember hearing Porrim's poem. The next thing she knew, she and Roxy were back home, Roxy looking sternly at her.
"Rose, you should…" Roxy let out a sigh. She remembered hating it when Rose would lecture her, so she didn't really want to turn the tables in that way. "You should get some rest."
"Shore thing, Rox…" Rose slurred.
Saturday came around much more quickly than Rose anticipated, and she was even more nervous than she'd been for her first date with Kanaya, especially since they hadn't even kissed yet; they hadn't even come close except for on New Year's, and that hadn't exactly gone well, so Rose partook in her least savory habit and got pretty drunk and put on an over-elegant sundressbefore her mom dropped her off at Le Petit Chateau, unaware of Rose's state, or of the flask concealed in Rose's purse. Every time, Rose told herself, she'd just take a sip, just to ease her nerves, but clearly the habit had escalated, even if Rose wouldn't admit it to herself. She looked up as Kanaya walked up to meet her.
"Good afternoon," Kanaya said. Rose hiccuped, with a smile. "Oh. Hmm."
"Whas is it?"
"Am I… underdressed for the occasion?" Kanaya asked. Rose looked down at her dress, and her heels, and then looked up at Kanaya, who was startlingly fashionable, as per usual.
"No! You look sho great."
"If I'd known you wanted to dress in more elegant attire, I would have happily, uh… hmm." Rose just giggled. Kanaya was so cute when she was flustered. "Rose, are you feeling alright?"
"Whay do you ask? Becouse if, you want to kno, I realy fell, quiiiiiiie fabuloush!" Rose giggled again, grinning widely at Kanaya, who paused for a moment before sitting down.
"Ah, I see. It seems you may have imbibed some, uh…" Rose interrupted with a hiccup. "Yes… well then, I guess that would explain it."
Rose looked quizzically up at Kanaya. "Explain what?"
"The lethargy you possibly experienced when it came to planning our rendezvous in a timely manner."
"Oh. Ohhhhh, mey god. I yam so sorry." Another hiccup.
"Well, I'm still amenable to an evening of… whatever." Rose grinned.
"Okayyy, les go, for a walk."
"Yes, after you. If you can actually manage to— whoa there." Rose stood, with a stumble, nearly tripping over her own feet. She straightened herself out, blushing a bit when she noticed Kanaya reaching out to catch her. "Maintain your balance. Okay. Are you good?" Rose nodded, still smiling wide. "Okay, good. Let's go." As they walked, Kanaya continued talking. "It seems you planned ahead more than I, as you intended this to be a date with fancy clothes, whereas I look like something the cat dragged in, so, maybe you can tell me now exactly what you had in mind? I mean, as far as specific activites are concerned."
"Noupe!"
"Noupe? I mean, nope? Nope what?"
"I honessly had not drafted blueprins for the evening, assine from, gettin' prettied up, aaand… hmm. Should I have planned more? Wohoops."
"It's really okay though, I suspected extenuation may have been what was taking place." Well, that didn't sound as though Rose was making a good impression. But she laughed anyway.
"OMG, Kangaya, I'm. Sooo extenuated righ now." Rose let out another hiccup as she and Kanaya began to walk down the street, their hands brushing up against each other. "Annyway, I just thouh that, tonight… we could just walk a round for a while an talk. About relly anything. Like… our famlilies, or, the fushure…"
"Yes, that sounds nice."
"Just have a casusal, spoptaneous evening. I don'… I don't ses why dates have to alayways be, a felderal fucking eschew. Dono't you agree?"
"Yes…" Kanaya's voice trailed, and then Rose remembered what she really wanted to bring up.
"Kanyanya, do you ever jus shee a couple tha' you think maybe is unhealthy?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
Even drunk, Rose wasn't about to get into the details. It was Terezi's personal business. And it wasn't as if she were acting on this attraction towards Gamzee. But it was alarming to Rose nonetheless. "Worried 'bout a road someone miiiiiight go down. But maybe I shouldn't intrefere. Maybe it could be… just a wonderful thing for them. An I would beh hoorible to interefere, with their… ugh, I dunno. I try to understand, sometimes, like, more than inteclctually, an… it still dosn't make sense to me. I don't want to project my valuesh on to a relationship, one that isn't even happening yet, jush because I dispaprove."
"I understand, but…"
"Kanaya, you'rer smart about thish stuff. Can you teach me?"
"I…"
"There's so mouch I just don't understand. I'm soi curious. Feelings like this, the more complicicated things beyond just havin' a crush on someone… it still doesn't realay comput to me." Rose never really thought that much about it, but she was a much more analytical, much less emotional person.
"I really… don't know if I would be a good teacher. I've never actually been any good at helping my friends with these sorts of relationships."
"That's fine… forget…specificulty that right now. I want… you to teach me evverrreeeything!"
Kanaya blushed. "Everything?!"
"Yez."
"That is… a lot of things."
And then, Rose decided to make her move. Somewhere in her alcohol-addled brain, she knew this was the moment. She turned to face Kanaya, putting both her hands on her shoulders. "I want you… to… teash me everything." One hand shifted to be at Kanaya's waist as Rose drew closer. "I want… yuouo…" And then, they were kissing.