Special Secret Santa

[Continuous Series, 12 Days of Christmas 2014]

Feferi looked herself up and down in the mirror for the umpteenth time. She wore an ankle-length fuchsia dress and a few gold adornments – a ring, earrings, a conch shell necklace – to accent her pale skin. Her makeup was on point too, her eyeliner and lipstick matching her dress. Finally, a gold clutch purse rested in her hand, containing everything from extra lipstick to condoms, should the need arise.

She finally let out a small sigh, puffing her cheeks and chest and took the bold steps out of her dorm and down to the street, hailing a cab. She shivered and grabbed her purse tighter. She was both excited and a bit nervous – it was, after all, her first blind date.

Her sociology class had teamed up with one of the neighboring classes – anthropology? Archaeology? – to arrange a very special Secret Santa; the sociology kids each put their names in a hat and the other class drew one to invite on a blind date. She knew Sollux was in the other class, and that hunk English too. And, thankfully, Eridan was in HER class so that issue wouldn't have to be tiptoed around either. But some of the others she wasn't so sure about. The loner Dave Strider? The weirdo Nektan Whelan? She grimaced, hoping she got at least a half attractive boy.

The taxi pulled up to the address – a fancy bar/restaurant called the Midnight Club and she frowned, tentatively stepping inside.

"Sollux!" she grinned, waving. "Thank god, I was so worried!"

"Hey, fef. Your date invite you here too?"

"Huh?" she blinked. "But- I thought you-"

"Nope. I pulled Crocker," he frowned. "Oh, hey, it's Aradia. You too, eh?" Feferi turned to see the girl dressed in a stunning red dress, her hair pulled up and blushing as she approached. "So who'd you pull, AA?"

"Um," she blushed, scratching her neck. "F-Feferi, should we find a seat?"

"Why?" she asked, head cocked. After a second, she let out a soft, "Oh". Aradia gave an awkward wave to an open-mouthed Sollux, leading the way to the table, Feferi stumbling behind her.

They took their seats and Aradia hid behind her menu as Feferi slowly started to regain composure.

"You look good," she sputtered. Aradia's eyes peeked over the menu with a quiet "You too". The waitress came over and Feferi quickly spat out "Halibut and a sprite".

"Root beer and the rib-eye, medium rare," Aradia spoke just loud enough for the waitress to hear.

"Rib-eye?" Feferi smiled. "Gonna break my bank."

"I-I thought I was paying," Aradia replied, face nearly white.

"I guess that's one downside to us both being girls," chuckled Feferi.

"Are you mad?" Aradia asked suddenly, finally making eye contact.

"Mad?" she frowned. "Why would I be?"

"Th-they asked if I wanted to redraw but my friend Jake pulled his crush Dirk, and we were both the only two to get the same sex, and-" she stopped herself, flushing.

"No," Feferi smiled warmly. "I'm not mad. You're very pleasant company and it's all very sweet of you."

"I-it is?"

"Of coruse. You did it for Jake. Being good to your friends is a sure sign of a big sweetheart!" This time Aradia blushed, some color returning to her face. "As for the bill, we can split it!"

"Okay," Aradia sighed with a smile.

"So, tell me about yourself."

"Okay. Um, I'm an Aries. I like dead stuff, haha. That's kinda weird though, right?"

"Hmm. I collect seashells which are kinda like dead things! So it's not that weird."

"Good," She smiled. "I like frogs too! I have one named Scarlett, she's a red-eyed tree frog!"

"That's adorabubble," Feferi grinned. "I only have a goldfish back in the dorms."

"Will he be offended to hear about the halibut?" Aradia winked.

"Hehe, Erri doesn't need to know."

"Erri?"

"I sorta named him after my friend Eridan. He has a hard time swimming and his parents are marine biologists so I call him goldfish!"

"And vice versa," Aradia laughed.

"Exactly!" Feferi giggled, Aradia biting her lip in response. "You okay?"

"Hm? Oh, haha, yeah. I just like your laugh. Sorry!"

"I like yours too, don't apologize! Ooh, is this our food?" The two grinned as the waitress set down their plates, digging in. About a half hour later, their plates were licked clean and the two were sighing happily, patting their full stomachs.

"Mm, I wasn't expecting so much!" Feferi laughed. "I would've worn a bigger dress!"

"Me too," Aradia burped. "Ooh man. I don't know why I wanted the steak AND fries."

"Eyes bigger than your stomach?" Feferi teased, rising to her feet and leaving her half of the bill. "C'mon you. Let's get you to the car." She helped Aradia up and the two made it out to the parking lot, Aradia driving back to the dorms.

"This is nice," Feferi noted.

"My god-dad has a ton of money," Aradia admitted as they drove. "He's the only reason I got into school."

"That's very sweet of him."

"Yeah, the Doc's… a strange guy, but he does do nice stuff now and again." They finally pulled up to the dorm and got out.

"It was really sweet of you to do this," Feferi smiled. "Plus it was super fun!"

"It wasn't weird?"

"No, not at-" Feferi stopped as Aradia pulled her in for a firm kiss. She found she didn't want to resist, but couldn't move to respond either. Aradia's lips were tacky with lipstick, reluctant to separate as she pulled away.

"S-sorry! I'll call you!" Aradia stammered, jumping into her car and speeding off. Feferi stiffly made her way up to her room, sitting on her bed and touching her lips. It felt so… wonderful.

"Not at all," she whispered.