"-and this is Jennifer," finished Kraken.
"Call me Jen," she said brightly.
Vanya bit her tongue to stop what she wanted to call her. Even so, it was difficult to even look at the girl. She was pretty, very pretty. Nice long auburn hair, clear skin, big eyes, like a fucking fairy tale princess. Then again, there was the attempted punk clothing, Vanya had been into it all long enough to spot a poser, and she was spotting one right now no matter how good she looked in it. It made her a sort of punk princess, but a princess none the less. This begged the question, of course, what Kraken of all people was doing with her.
So far the night had been going rather well. Her friends had been rather happy to see her back from college, all of them had shared Kraken's unreasonable belief that hippiness would have taken her over on her return. Still, at the back of her mind she hadn't been able to stop thinking about what came next, and now here it was.
"Great to meet you," she said, giving the fake smile reserved for teachers and Hargreeves.
"Same here," Jen said, "I've heard so much about you."
"Have you?" asked Vanya, "Not too much I hope."
Jen, and her stomach turned when she realized this, giggled. It wasn't laughter, it was giggling. Vanya gripped her beer and started thinking that maybe she'd need more than one to make it through the night.
"Hey, Diego!" yelled someone from the other side of the bar, "You still owe me money!"
Kraken grimaced.
"Let me go take care of something. Be back in a minute."
Watching him go Vanya felt sure that she'd need more than one beer that night.
"So you're his sister?" asked Jen conversationally.
She didn't know how she was going to do this. In the past Vanya had talked to Kraken's conquests, but mostly it had been along the lines of 'and you tell that sonuvabitch' sort of thing. Those she could handle. Chatting with a girl who was still going out with him and had been for some time was very different and much more unsettling.
"Adopted," Vanya replied, having always been very aware of the difference.
"He never told me that," Jen said, sounding shocked.
"Yeah well, he tends not to concentrate so much on the details," Vanya said, struggling to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
"Yes, he's just very straightforward," said Jen dreamily, "I mean, the word rugged starts but it doesn't really do it, does it? I mean, and can you just imagine-"
Whatever Jen was imagining Vanya cut her off. She'd done that enough herself and wasn't about to do it with anyone else.
"Sister, remember?" she interjected quickly, using an association she hated as a shield.
"Oh, sorry," she said, "But it's just, I do want us to be friends."
"I'm sure that will work out great," Vanya said, crossing her fingers behind her back.
"I think we should stick it together," confided Jen, "Because I did have to ask you something."
"Fire away," she said, noting the low level of her alcohol.
"Did he just come out of a difficult relationship?" she asked.
Vanya raised her eyebrows.
"Pardon?"
"Like, one that ended badly."
Briefly Vanya remembered the last girl Kraken had been with. It had lasted a week and had ended with the girl nearly breaking his nose. Vanya had been an amused observer to the whole event, and at the time it had reinforced her in her opinion that she was probably the only girl he could stand to be with for any length of time. Apparently not.
"I wouldn't have called it a relationship," said Vanya tersely, "So no, nothing's going on."
"It's just, I feel a little like the rebound girl, you know," said Jen, tugging on one of her sleeves, "I mean, we've been going out for about two months now and we haven't even-"
"Once more, sister," interjected Vanya, trying to keep from gritting her teeth.
"Sorry again," she said, "but I just want to know if there's some other girl hanging around in the background."
"No," Vanya said flatly, drinking some more, "You're the first relationship that's lasted so long in…"
The bitterness was starting to come through now, and fighting it was becoming more and more difficult.
"…ever."
"Good," Jen said, "But, you know, it's just, sometimes I feel like he's looking at me and wanting to see a different girl."
Something flashed in Jen's eyes.
"I don't like that sort of thing," she said, "Men are mine until I say they aren't, you know?"
Quickly looking away Vanya took another large draught of beer. Looks like she wasn't so sweet after all. SCORE!
"Don't know about that," shrugged Vanya.
"I mean, he doesn't get to keep things from me, you know?" she said with a toss of her hair, "I really start to hate it when men do that. They're not allowed to."
Vanya was losing the conversation.
"You don't say."
"I mean, I love the defiant streak in boys," Jen said, "Just as long as they understand they're mine once we start going out."
Vanya was starting to feel more and more like Jen was talking to herself and that she was just a convenient fixture.
"Vanya!"
With relief flooding through every pore she turned around to see her friend (and new best friend for the rescue) Body waving at her near the stage.
"Sorry Jen," smiled Vanya, the first genuine one she had given all night.
"Oh?" she asked, as if noticing Vanya was there for the first time in a long time, "Oh yeah. You haven't seen your friends in awhile. Go on then, don't mind me."
Her tone was sincere, and the princess was back. Nodding to her Vanya moved quickly through the crowds, trying to swallow the bile that was building up in her throat.
