Naminé's breath fell out of her in ragged, uneven spurts, her sides felt like they were splitting. She could barely hold in the gasps for air and her eyes stung with tears. She struggled to stay upright as all of her strength poured from her. 'This is how I die…' she thought, clutching her stomach.
She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard.
"You thought I was a ghost? Like, a Dusk from the afterlife?" Naminé sputtered between fits of laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so fucking funny. Look, if you saw what I saw you would have pissed yourself." Larxene grumbled, her arms crossed and expression pouty.
Naminé usually found Larxene to be, frankly, intimidating, but now she couldn't help giggling at her adorable frustration. "But, you're so…*you, I assumed you would cut any Creeper or Shadow that looked at you the wrong way."
"Yeah, I would, except you can't knife a ghost, Naminé, that's why they're called ghosts! You ever hear of someone winning a fist fight with a specter? Of course not!"
"So, you're saying you wouldn't fight Oogie Boogie?" Naminé did her best to stifle the laughs, wiping a tear from her eye, but the situation was just so funny.
"No, I'd fuck Oogie Boogie up, and Jack Skellington for that matter, Zero I can't do anything about, he'd just bite me with his little spirit fangs or some shit!" Larxene stated matter of factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And for the record: I'd kick the shit out of Lock, Shock, and Barrel too."
Naminé erupted into another fit of laughter and Larxene stood up from the table in the white room.
"Alright, fuck this," She muttered, turning towards the door.
"No, wait! Larxene, I'm sorry! Please, don't go!" Naminé pleaded in between chortles. "Stay, please," Naminé felt a little bad laughing so much, but she couldn't help it. "It's just, you're so…cool and...awesome. I didn't think anything scared you," She finished, heavy breaths, and crooked smile threatening to break her composure.
Larxene rubbed her temples. "Fine," She said begrudgingly.
Naminé pulled herself together, managing to get to her feet for the first time since they both entered the room and Larxene explained what happened. Despite her laughter, Naminé actually found the situation really cute. It made Larxene feel less unapproachable. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm afraid of a lot of things," She offered.
Larxene sauntered over to her, backing her up against the wall behind her, her face unreadable as she trapped Naminé between her arms and cocked her head to the side, pinning her with a glare. "If you know what's good for you, I should be one of them." She remarked, her voice low.
Naminé's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't think it was quite out of fear. She stared into Larxene's electric blue eyes. She felt that maybe she *should* be scared of Larxene, there was an edge to her. A wildness and anger to her that seemed to arc like lightning behind her eyes. But Naminé saw something else in them. Something familiar. A loneliness. A sadness.
"Perhaps," She said simply.
"You're so fucking weird," Larxene stated releasing Naminé from her confined position, sitting down on the large white table and crossing her legs.
"I'm told," Naminé retorted with a small smile.
For a moment there was a comfortable silence between them, but Naminé couldn't deny the feeling of giddiness at the back of her mind. She was glad to have run into Larxene again. She regretted not asking for her phone number before they parted ways the other night, because despite their differences, something about Larxene stuck in her mind.
"So we gonna sit here staring at each other or do you have another poor soul to scare the fucking life out of?" Larxene asked, a smirk on her face.
Naminé couldn't help the little smile that appeared. "I didn't have one scheduled," She giggled. "What about you? Why are you here?"
Larxene's smirk faded for a moment. It looked like she was having trouble deciding what to say. After a brief pause she spoke up. "Didn't feel like going home. My roommate's a pain in the ass."
"Oh, I'm sorry. That's probably frustrating. I never expected you were the type to have a roommate. You're so independent." Naminé remarked.
"Yeah, well, not everyone can afford cushy dorms and college admission," Larxene responded, waving her hand dismissively.
Naminé felt a rush of guilt as she floundered for a response. "O-oh, that isn't how I meant that, I apologize…You have this 'lone wolf' vibe about you is all."
Larxene seemed to look Naminé up and down, as if she was assessing how genuine her words were. "Forget about it. Besides, there's a lot you don't know about me." She said finally.
"Well…if it's okay with you," Naminé began, her eyes focused on Larxene's. "I would like to learn more."
Larxene faltered, as if Naminé had said something shocking. There was a short period where Larxene's eyes widened in surprise before her expression returned to an aloof grin. "Oh, yeah?" she leaned closer to Naminé. Close enough that she could smell the scent of cigarettes and autumn air on her. "What's got Little Miss Bitch so curious?"
Naminé closed her sketchbook, placing her hands in her lap and turning her full attention to Larxene. "I don't know. I suppose… I just like you." She said without thinking, but she didn't mind that she'd let that slip. Usually something like that would cause her to stumble over herself in embarrassment but she actually did like Larxene.
"Huh? That's a surprise." Larxene muttered, breaking eye contact.
"Is it?"
"Listen, you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what kind of person I actually was. We're not really compatible, you and me. You're just fascinated with me because I'm something different from your pretty, boring, safe life. I'm not the type you want to get involved with." Larxene's words were sharp and final. She spoke them with confidence and for some reason that made Naminé's heart clench.
"I'm capable of deciding who I get involved with," Naminé asserted, putting on a brave face. She had meant what she said, but she had to admit that she didn't really know anything about the woman sitting next to her much at all.
Larxene scoffed. "Only an ignorant little girl would say something like that."
"So enlighten me then," Naminé didn't back down, her eyes still searching Larxene's face.
"Seriously, we're nothing alike. What's the point?"
"I think there's more to you than what you show people."
Larxene barked a short, bitter laugh. "You really think you've got me all figured out, huh? Just because we had a couple of talks?"
Naminé shook her head slowly. "No. I don't have you figured out at all. That's why I want to know more."
Larxene looked away, jaw tightening. Naminé could sense the hesitation in her, and the distance she tried to maintain.
"I'm not safe for you." Larxene snapped, her eyes flashing as she hopped off the table, closing some of the distance between them. "You're wasting your time."
Naminé's expression didn't change. She stayed where she was, her calm demeanor unshaken. "I don't think I am," she said softly. "You came here again, didn't you?"
Larxene froze at that, her breath catching for just a second. She stared at Naminé, causing her to fidget under her gaze. With a huff, she crossed her arms. "I don't get you," Larxene said finally, her voice quieter now, more confused than angry. "You don't belong in my world, Naminé. We're too different. Trust me, you don't want to get tangled up with someone like me."
The atmosphere of the room had changed significantly. The air felt heavy with tension, and Naminé could tell that she was starting to aggravate Larxene, but she also felt a crack forming in her walls. "I don't think we're as different as you think," Naminé replied, her voice gentle. "You act like you don't care about anything, but I don't believe that. There's something else behind all that."
Larxene's eyes flicked up to meet Naminé's, something unreadable flashing behind them. "You don't know a damn thing about me." she said, her voice a little too sharp. She was trying to push Naminé away, keep her at arm's length but it wasn't working.
Naminé stayed quiet for a moment, considering her next words carefully. "I suppose not…" she admitted. "but I'd like to."
There was something in Naminé's voice that caught Larxene off guard - a quiet sincerity that made it hard to dismiss her like she did with everyone else. But Larxene wasn't used to this, and Naminé could tell. Not used to someone wanting to know her. It made Naminé feel like she was standing on the edge of something, unsure whether to step forward or turn and run.
For a moment, Larxene just stood there. Finally, she exhaled sharply, running a hand through her messy blonde hair.
"Don't hold your breath," she muttered, turning on her heel, walking toward the door. "I'm not great at the whole 'friendship' thing."
Naminé smiled softly, not pushing any further. "That's okay. Neither am I."
Larxene stopped, glancing over her shoulder at the girl who sat quietly at the table, as calm and steady as ever. There was something dark in her gaze. "You're a really fucking weird person, you know that?"
Naminé just smiled again, her eyes soft. "You've told me that before."
For a moment, the room fell into a comfortable silence, the weight of the earlier tension slowly lifting. Larxene didn't say anything more, just paced around the room. Naminé's thoughts swirled in her head. She wasn't sure if she'd pried too much, if she'd gotten through to Larxene or if she'd only managed to increase the distance between the two of them. She contemplated just staying quiet, but she felt that she needed to do this before it was too late.
"Here," She said after tearing a sheet from her sketchbook and writing something on it, sliding it toward Larxene on the pristine white table separating them. "My number."
Larxene sneered. "I don't remember asking for that."
Naminé smiled sadly. "I know, it's just…something I wanted to give you."
Larxene stared at the paper for a long while, clearly debating something in her head. After a lengthy pause, she snatched the paper from the table and made her way toward the door. "Don't expect too much…" She mumbled before leaving.
Naminé told herself that she should take Larxene's words to heart, that it was unlikely Larxene would bother texting her at all. But she couldn't convince herself that she was okay with that. Still, Naminé knew that she was, at the very least, an acquired taste, and pushing too much too fast would just have the opposite result.
'You're just fascinated with me…' Larxene's words echoed in her mind.
"Perhaps I just might be…" Naminé said to herself quietly before opening her sketchbook and continuing her work.