29 Chimera Court, Saturday Morning

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi had had plans for after the dance. And it probably went without saying that they'd been sexy plans. However, Vi hadn't accounted for the punch and while she normally had a pretty good idea of her tolerance, she was also used to strong drink tasting like it, instead of lethal sugar, so instead there'd been drunken cuddling and boardgames on the couch until she'd passed out on Steph's shoulder.

On the bright side, she no longer had to worry about an impending hangover, since she was now a skinny, wiry scrap of a thing instinctively curled up around the other warm body on the softest surface she could remember sleeping on.

[For the girl!]

Comments

[drumsticksandd20s]

"She sounds neat," said Steph, a little wistfully. "Maybe I can meet her sometime?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"You have to," Vi decided, because Powder had to be around here somewhere. "She'll like you too!"

[drumsticksandd20s]

Well, of course Powder had to be around here somewhere! Otherwise Vi was getting set up for some major disappointment, which clearly couldn't happen. Right?

Steph's face absolutely lit up at that. "You really think so?"

[giveittoyoursister]

Exactly!

Boy was it a good thing that whatever had done this to them had also lowered Vi's need to actually go find Powder down so much from where it should have been.

"Yeah, I do," Vi assured her. "She's great and you're great."

[drumsticksandd20s]

Considerate of the island, really.

Steph stuck her pinky finger out at Vi. "Wanna be best friends?"

Yes, already. What?

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi hadn't actually pinky sworn before, but she could figure it out. "Sure," she said, hooking her own finger around Steph's.

Look, sorry you'd never met anyone you immediately wanted to be friends with before.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Look, sometimes you woke up cuddled up with a complete stranger and you just kind of instinctively knew you belonged there, even if you couldn't quite grasp the concept yet.

"Maybe we can go look for your sister after breakfast?" Steph suggested, beaming at Vi.

[giveittoyoursister]

"I'd like that," Vi said, grinning from ear to ear.

[drumsticksandd20s]

It was such a shame they were going to be disappointed.

"It'll be an adventure," Steph declared as she deposited the dirty utensils in the sink for someone else to clean up later (her future self would not thank her). She dropped her voice to an awed whisper. "Maybe she's in that castle up there!"

Well, no. And not in another castle either, but they'd find that out eventually.

[giveittoyoursister]

Eventually.

"I've never been in a castle before," Vi confessed in a hushed tone. And considering she thought Steph's place belonged to a rich person...

[drumsticksandd20s]

And it wasn't even decorated like a castle. Well... the modern fixtures might add to that effect, actually.

"Me neither," Steph whispered back to her. "My parents took me to Hearst Castle once but Dad said it's not a real castle so it doesn't count."

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi frowned in confusion. "How can a castle not count?"

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph made a face. "He said... 'cause rich guys naming their houses castles doesn't make 'em magically become castles?"

[giveittoyoursister]

"I mean the kind of place a real rich person can live might as well be one."

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph bit her lip. "I guess that's true. Like the Prescotts, probably," she added with a little scowl.

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi also scowled in solidarity, since she was against rich jerks on principle. "Probably."

[drumsticksandd20s]

The look Steph gave her was nothing short of unabashedly adoring. And it wasn't even a little-kid crush situation -- she just wasn't used to people taking her side like this, at all, ever. Well, besides her parents.

"You really don't like rich people, huh."

[giveittoyoursister]

"No, they're jerks," Vi said. She didn't exactly have a highly developed understanding of economic injustice yet, but she knew rich people had something to do with why they lived where and how they did.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Neither did Steph, beyond 'the Prescotts are mean and always get their way because everyone including their kid is afraid of them,' but that was pretty good for a start.

"Was a rich person mean to you?" she wondered, her little face twisting up into a determined scowl. "I'll kick 'em if you want."

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi felt all warm and fuzzy inside at that. "Not personally," she said. "But thanks."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I'll do it," said Steph, who looked frankly mulish about it. "People shouldn't be jerks to you."

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi leaned in to give Steph a one armed hug. "People shouldn't be jerks at all."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Okay, that's true," Steph conceded, leaning her head against Vi's shoulder. "But especially not to you."

She had very strong feelings in her tiny soul about this.

[giveittoyoursister]

"Thanks," Vi mumbled, suddenly bashful.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Go looking for your sister after we eat?" Steph suggested.