Warning: This is mostly dialogue :P
xXx
"So," Petunia put down the pillow that she had been embroidering—for the sixth time after undoing the thread because it wasn't perfect. "Is it true?" Her eyes were fixed in Flaky, the redhead warily looking up from her own pillow, the design in it far from being anywhere near as nice as Petunia's.
Nearly a three days had passed since Lammy had had her little fun time, and they had agreed on having a girl's gathering, four this time instead of two. These gatherings were a normal part if their schedules, where they would talk, more like gossip, about what was occurring around the town. The three, more feminine girls, would have a ball discussing and learning about the other's life, but learning about each other's relationships was where the conversations usually headed.
Something about finding out how Cuddles refused to share any of the movies from his special stash with his girlfriend, or Truffles' constant annoyance when his hand was held was fascinating to learn. It wasn't as if they were sticking their unwanted noses in private business, it was being spread around for only their ears to hear.
The topic had previously been about Giggles gushing over how a certain blonde had bought a necklace that went with a bag she had, when Petunia had recalled what Handy had shared with her days ago. Now, she was patiently awaiting an answer, Flaky flushing as the attention was put on her.
"I-is what true?" Flaky asked. She absently picked at the thread, loosening them even further.
"Don't act like you don't know," Petunia set her pillow aside, scooting her chair closer to the rocking chair Flaky was occupying. "You know, the thing?"
"What . . . What t-thing?"
Giggles leaned in, forgetting her uninteresting piece of news and planning to put her prying skills to the test. "We heard that you got yourself a little friend!"
The needle fell from her shaking fingers and camouflaged somewhere on the rug beneath her. Going down on her knees, moving her hand around to feel the prick of it, she thought of how she'd answer it. Lifty certainly was a friend, but how they referred him as little, implication rolling off if their tongues, she wasn't sure what game they were playing at.
"H-how did you know that?" Inquired Flaky, knowing that she hadn't said a word about her guest to the two yet. But, Lammy could have always told them. Unsettled by her friends talking behind her back about what was going on in her house, she was unknowingly waiting for their answer.
"Oh, everyone knows it~" Giggles laughed in her hand then winked to her. "It's not exactly an infamous thing to hear that you have a boy in your house!~ come on Flaky, you're you!"
She was her; that could be a compliment, or an insult.
"You're just so innocent, I wouldn't have thought that you'd let a boy just, what are you letting him do? Live with you, or maybe you two are—" Petunia shoved her and laughed loudly, it suddenly sounding obnoxious to the not amused female.
"Giggles you're so bad! Why are you even thinking of Flaky doing that kind of thing?! She's a good girl, making her way through life and helping people—"
"—helping boys with their 'problems'~!" Wiping a fake tear away, she grabbed her best friend's hand and took on the look that you'd expect to see on a parent who just waved at their child; a child who was going away for college. "I remember back in freshman year when we made a pact to save our innocence til we were married, where has it gone!"
"Giggles stop it! You're too much, Flaky wouldn't do that and you know it!" Still, it was a fun idea to think about and alter here and there. "She hasn't even told us the whole story and you're already making assumptions!"
"Well I can't help it! Like you said, she hasn't told us anything! And I thought that we were her best girlfriends!" Pouting, she squished her face against Petunia's and whined out, "Or do you not love us enough to tell us everything? Has our good girl turned into a rebel? Have you gotten secret tattoos and joined a mile high club too?"
Petunia sighed at the girl's exaggeration of how far their friend was going. "Come on Giggles, be serious about this, stop trying to make Flaky look like some . . some . ."
"Some hoochie?" She offered through an outburst of giggles.
"I can think of a few better words, like some sort of girl who would just give away her body like it was nothi—. . Well, I guess hoochie explains it, but it just sounds so dirty."
They were implying that she was doing certain things with him, right in front of her nonetheless! They seemed to have forgotten that they had dove into relationships years before she'd even thought of being interested in them. Relationships hadn't stricken her as important, but yet they continued to exclaim about things that she wasn't doing and assuming what went on in her house.
"That's because they are dirty, do you think they're gonna be clean when every night they're off with some new pervert?"
"I hope that they at least are using a good body wash then, it makes me shudder just thinking how many germs they'd have . . Flaky, are you using the body wash I gave you? It's the best to use after . . events."
Flaky bumped her head on the underside of the table, yelping when, along with that, she pricked her finger on the located needle.
Wiping the pearl of blood on the pillow that she wouldn't get around to finishing, she sucked on her finger, staying on the ground. If she let Petunia see that she had stabbed herself with a pin, the blue haired female would insist on sanitizing it to prevent infection. And she knew how it felt to have a wound slathered with the disinfectant, she wasn't up to feeling the burning.
"A-are you a-asking if I'm using it a-after . . !?" It was okay to hear about her friend's experiences, but having hers pried into, it was an awkward feeling that she wanted to avoid.
Giggles ducked and looked under the table, smiling smugly. "It was just a question, why is your face all red? Aw, Flaky, you really have to tell us what it was like! Was it bad bad or good bad? Gentle? Rough? Crazy? We need to know these details!"
Going back to her embroidering, Petunia commented offhandedly, "I'm just asking because I wouldn't want you to be a sweaty mess afterwards. You know, you could get ringworm if you didn't wash it off properly, just to inform you about that."
"What?! W-w-what do you mean sweaty m-mess!?"
"And you are taking a pill, I presume," Petunia looked away from her pillow, tugging the thread and tightening it. "How long ago did you go to the doctor's? Last time you had tests run on both of you, you can't be too safe. Has he had any sexual activities with other women before?"
The redhead gaped at how easy it was for then to ask her these questions straight out. She hardly had the courage to venture through those thoughts without growing red in the face, but they discussed it like the weather.
"Y-you two have it a-all wrong! Lifty and I a-aren't doing any—"
At the name, the two girls stopped their teasing and questions, resigning to stare at her with mouths agape. They held the same look of disdain and sudden concern.
"W-what?"
Petunia, making a popping with her lips, changed her stare back to the intricate floral design she was sewing. "It's nothing, but I think that we misunderstood you. Did you, hm, say Lifty, by any chance? As in the boy who is always taking our stuff?"
This conversation had taken a turn for the worse, her stiffened tone empty of all humor it had held. "Yes, w-why?"
"Are you crazy!?" exclaimed Giggles. She tapped on the top of Flaky's skull three times. "Earth to Flaky, Earth to Flaky! Are you out of your mind, what were you thinking of when you let that thing into your house?! I know, you're thinking that I might be crazy myself, asking you all those questions and everything, but when I had asked them I hadn't expected this mystery man to be Lifty! Do you want to get your whole house robbed?!"
Flattening out the pillow cover, Petunia went on, though in a less excited voice than Giggles. "I have to agree with Giggles. You know I'm one hundred percent behind you on whatever you want to do with your life, I can't change your opinions on things, but—why did it have to be him? I think that Flippy is much more . . suited for you, not some — thief? No, that's rude, even if he is one. Conman, maybe?"
"You've seen how crooked those two can be! They even took my signed magazine, and it was signed by all five members of Single Way! I loved that magazine, they all looked so hot in it" —Giggles cried softly, missing the posters of the boy band it had contained— "and I bet they sold it to some other girl!"
Gulping and muttering that Shifty and Lifty had taken the girl's prized item, she didn't throw it away, what, the bluenette could only thump herself for thinking that it was Mime or some other boy who was residing with her. After all, Lammy had said that when she knocked on the door, a scrungy looking dog had answered it and barked at her.
"How do you know that he and his brother aren't messing with you? What if at this instant, while you're away from the house, they're taking everything valuable that you own? Haven't you thought of what would happen if that was the case?"
"Lifty w-wouldn't do that . . ! He's too nice under a-all the meanness." She spoke fondly of him, even if the short period they had known one another wasn't long, she didn't buy the whole bad guy charade he had. He just needed a push and gentle motivation, or was she kidding herself when she said in the mirror that he could change. He hadn't showed any signs that he was improving his people skills, nor that he wanted anything to do with being nice.
"I do adore how you have that trait that sees good in everyone, Flaky . . but there are just people who play the roles of the bad guys, and I personally don't think that it's safe for you to continue housing him anymore." Finishing the last petal she had been working on, the neatness enforcer set the pillow down and smoothed it free of its creases one last time.
Smiling a bit, Petunia faintly mused, "Why does this remind me of the story the Princess and the Pauper?"
"How can this remind you of that!?" not understanding the connection, Giggles huffed. "That's a story full of cuteness and happy endings. This would be more like Beauty and the Beast; the way Lammy described him, he's a real jerk."
Flaky frowned lightly and gave up trying to fix her pillow, it was too far along to be redone anyways, throwing onto the table. She loved Lammy, she did, but her talking about Lifty in such a rude manner, it wasn't making her pleased. If it became a bigger problem, she'd have to ask the Frenchie to stop, and she who knew what problems that could stir up.
"Speaking of Lammy, the reason she isn't here, is, 'Mr. Pickles'" —she still didn't believe a word about the fake man the girl would always bring up, what rubbish— "had to get a new overcoat, but she stopped by beforehand, Flaky. She said she wanted you to give something to your friend, something she made."
Getting up and saying she had to leave to check on Lifty — who she had Splendid babysit, so she had no worries about him doing anything to her things — Flaky paused at the idea of the violet top giving anything to him. They hadn't hit it off; that was certain, so there was no reason for her to give him a gift. You usually didn't make your enemy a present. . . .
"That was n-nice of her, I t-think; she didn't hit it o-off with Lifty like I thought she would."
Petunia got up and opened a pristine cabinet, each item in it having its own compartment, before taking out a box wrapped in yellow paper and topped off with a bow. She handed it to Flaky and shrugged. "Maybe this is her way of apologizing for that then?"
Taking it, she held the parcel snugly in her arms and decided that probably was Lammy's motive. "I-I'll make sure to thank her later t-then. Thanks for having me over, Petunia."
"And remember that we're meeting next week, too! You always have to make time for the girls, no matter what!"
Flaky nodded, walking to the door, her hand on the handle when both girls warned from the table,
"Don't turn your back to him, Flaky, you don't know what kind of tricks he could pull. He's a double crosser by nature and you know it. We don't want you to get hurt . ."
"Yeah! So just be cautious, okay? I don't want to have to pull my purse bag out and have to break its strap because I'll be hitting him too hard."
Laugh audible but unsure, Flaky bade her goodbyes and left the house, sliding into her car and putting the gift on the passenger's seat. Double crosser, no, he wasn't going to hurt her in any way, and she trusted that with all her being.
As she started the car, she glanced to the present and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She knew that Lammy was one to hold a grudge, there was no way that she had made a gift for the twin to be friendly. If she could take a peek at what it was, she wouldn't be as curious.
Her conscience said it was wrong, but her fingers had already pulled the ends of the bow and thrown it to the side uselessly. Nibbling her lip, she grabbed the top and lifted it off, surprised when she saw another embroidered pillow.
She must have been the only girl who didn't have a knack for designing using a pin and needle.
Raising her eyebrow, Flaky grabbed the pillow and raised it up into the lighting, squinting to read what was engraved in it.
For, Chien, A.K.A Dog. With love, Lammy.
That, and a detailed green dog, the stitches precise enough to see how scraggly the fur was, with an actual needle stabbed in its head.
xXx
My turn! *kidnaps Crystal in a sack and beats it with a baseball bat* I HOPE YOU SUFFER! *hits it again* Ehem, anyways xD I am probably going to be working on this story more than my others since I want to finish it so I can start a ShiftyxFlaky story I have planned! Heh, yeah.