#jestellra

“Stella... What are you thinking about?” 

“It’s not--” Stella bit her lips then mumbles something under her breath. Jessie frowns.

“Stella, what were you saying?” Stella’s ears were turning pink and she mumbles again. But Jessie nudges her and when she turned to see the hero, Stella groans internally at the pout. Petra was telling the truth about Jessie’s infamous puppy look. 

“It’s my first time celebrating Christmas with--” She tried to compose herself for a bit, “Without the Champion City.” 

“But you have Lluna.” Jessie cuts in, nudges Stella’s shoulder, then reaches for her hand, “And us and your new friends!” 

Stella’s face flushes at the hand holding and look up to Jessie’s smile. 

Stella just stare at Jessie, and then a single snowflake appears in front of her. The two looked up and Jessie glee joyfully. Stella just watches more and more snowflakes coming in and in, and then--

“Hey guys.” The two turned to see Petra, who was huddle in a big coat but she seems to tolerate the cold, with her pale skin painted in pinks and reds from the weather. “I was wondering why it was taking you too long to find ‘Ella.” 

“Oh please, it was only a minute!” 

“A few minutes you meant.” Petra grumbles and nod at her, “What were you even out here? I thought you complains about the cold?” 

Jesse tends to not take longshowers, but it’s been a long, action packed day, which means a longtherapeutic shower is more than needed and Petra has no interest in stoppingher from taking better care of herself.

Jesse doesn’t treat herself welloften enough as it is, and she can handle waiting for Jesse to come back tofall asleep. She doubts Jesse would even mind if she dozed off now.

And maybe she would be deadasleep already, but the shifting body beside her, turning again and twisting thepillow beside Petra’s, has made sure that won’t happen.

She groans, feeling and likelylooking half like a zombie as she moves, lying on her side to face Stella.

“Why can’t you ever just liestill?”

“Where’s the fun in that?Besides, what do you expect me to do?” Given that each of them had a longday, Petra and Jesse adventuring while Stella worked on some new buildingproject from sunup to sundown, and that they’re both in bed, it’s a bit of ano-brainer.

“Oh, I don’t know, how aboutactually sleeping?”

The dim lamplight may be afactor, though it’s been a long time since something as small as that has keptPetra from sleeping, but it’s on the bedside table at Petra’s side of the bedand this feels like Stella being Stella for the sake of it.

“Please.” Stella smilesup at her, teeth showing as a headful of silky hair somehow finds its way ontoPetra’s shoulder, and it’s like dealing with a smug cat. Petra would know,she’s seen Lukas try to handle Dewey. “If I didn’t know better, I’d sayyou’re trying to kill me through boredom.”

It’s only fair, with how muchStella’s been trying to kill her by being unbearably cute.

She knows better than to say thatpart aloud, though.

Stella’s cocky enough as it isabout how adorable she can be, and Petra’s not fanning those flames tonightbecause she’d like to actually get some rest instead of another back and forthverbal squabble. Verbal stuff tends to get pretty physical pretty fast.

So she just snorts, smiling asshe goes back to lying on her back and letting her eyes close.

“Now you’re gettingit.”

This, as it turns out, is not theway to make sure she can rest.

Instead, it’s a mistake.

It starts with a nudge, Stella’selbow pointedly finding a space between two of Petra’s ribs, that gets Petra toprod her back, her own shoulder digging into her side just above her waist.

It doesn’t really end so much asescalate rapidly from there.

Soon it becomes reckless jabbingand shifting that has them fighting with the blankets, getting caught andtwisted this way and that, as much as they are with each other.

And Stella is a dirty fighter,because the poking becomes tickling and every part of Petra refuses to let itgo. (The way she has to actively bite back her laughter as she writhes doesn’thelp, and they’re both lucky Petra hasn’t accidentally punched someone orsomething yet.)

The bed itself risks going from avaluable ally of a soft surface to the enemy of a protesting, squeakingmattress, and the only thing that saves it is the way both Petra and Stellaseem to notice Jesse’s giggling, and Jesse herself, at the same time.

She’s in a bathrobe, her drippinghair wrapped and covered by a now damp towel, and the smile she gives is sowarm and amused that it’s already clear she finds this funnier than she should,even as she quickly covers her mouth with a hand.

No matter how much of her mouthis hidden, her eyes are visible and just as warm, glinting in the dim lamplightand mocking them both with her wonderful happiness.

“Jesse!” In Petra’s defense, it’s supposed to be more of asteady call for help than the distressed, desperate whine it comes out as, butthat doesn’t keep it from matching Stella’s tone, both of them partlybreathless from laughing and the general struggle of trying to get the upperhand.

“I was worried you two would fall asleep on me.” Jesse pauses, fingers curled around the doorknob, before she gently shuts the door behind her, still grinning even as she walks away from them and to the wardrobe. “I guess I was wrong.”

There may or may not be a briefscowling competition that needs no description, save for the fact that itdevolves into how long the two of them can stick their tongues out at eachother while Jesse has her back turned. (For the record, Petra totally wins andanything Stella might try to claim against that is a lie.)

It doesn’t last all that long,undoubtedly for better, because Jesse all but pounces on the bed, dressed infuzzy, pig patterned pajamas, her large grin framed by a still warm gaze anddamp curly hair as she wriggles her way between them.

(Petra may or may not be in lovewith two dorks.

It’s not the first time she’srealized it, even if it still hits her now in a way that makes her heart swelland it hard not to laugh as Jesse wraps an arm around each of their shouldersand squeezes them closer.

She definitely loves them, dorksor not, and they’re definitely dorks.)

Stella is a horrible suck up, inthe sense that she’s horribly skilled at it and Petra can’t help but pout atthe smug grin shot her way as Stella more than happily nestles herself againstJesse’s side.