#rujubee

Chapter 3: Rujubee

“You’re sick,” Jujubee stated, arms crossing in the process. There was no question, no uncertainty in her voice, just a plain, simple, factual statement.

Raven, on the other hand, wholeheartedly disagreed with her. She never got sick. Her scratchy throat, foggy head, and stuffed up nose were the result of something else entirely. She was quite confident of that and immediately argued, “It’s just allergies.” Never mind how the voice she spoke with sounded nasally even to her own ears.

Jujubee merely arched her brow at her stubborn girlfriend. She glanced up and down Raven’s form bundled up on the couch and wrapped in one of their oversized fleeces before settling back on the obstinate glare Raven was sending her way. Voicing her disbelief, she replied, “Mh-mm. From what? We don’t have any pets and it’s the dead of winter. No dander, no pollen.”

Raven’s eyes narrowed at her. It seemed like she might give in, or more likely, sulk silently in defeat, but that small hope went out the door as Raven snottily retorted, “Those flowers you sent.”

“You mean the ones I sent because you were getting sick?” Jujubee countered. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s the reason.”

The couple glared at one another for another moment or two with neither side willing to concede. Raven utterly hated feeling like anything less than 100% her normal self and loathed the thought of relying on anyone’s, even her own girlfriend’s, help while she recuperated. Jujubee was annoyed that Raven couldn’t let go of that self-confident bravado and let herself be taken care of, even for a little while. She wanted to help her girlfriend get better, ached to repay her for all the times Raven had cared for her when she felt under the weather. But Raven was still too guarded, even after all these months together. 

Sighing, Jujubee decided to try a different tactic. “Alright,” Jujubee relented as she turned away and walked towards the bathroom. “Be back in a minute.”

Raven watched her suspiciously and wrapped the blanket even tighter once she was sure Jujubee was out of sight. She heard her girlfriend rattling around in the bathroom, clearly looking for something in the cabinet next to the sink. Raven found herself feeling slightly curious as to what exactly Jujubee was searching but her head was so cloudy she didn’t get very far with her wondering. Before too long, Jujubee reappeared in front of her and dropped two packets of medicine into her lap.

In a no-nonsense tone, one very unusual for Raven to hear from her, Jujubee told her, “Take whichever you think is gonna work.” 

Looking down, Raven found the two packets were quite different from one another; one marked for allergies, the other for cold and flu symptoms. She glanced back up at Jujubee. Her arms were crossed once more as she silently waited for Raven to make her choice. For too long, Raven’s eyes darted between the packages, but Jujubee remained faithfully in front of her, watching her every move. She knew what Jujubee was doing; trying to push her into making the right choice but Raven still detested that kind of not-so-subtle nudging. Still, she found herself feeling surprisingly cowed…so she decided to meet Jujubee in the middle…and make a choice neither would be entirely happy with.

She tore into both packets, selecting one tablet from each, and popped them into her mouth with a taunting little smirk. As she swallowed them down dry, Jujubee cracked a tiny grin of her own. Shaking her head, Jujubee wandered off towards the kitchen, but as she left, Raven could hear her muttering, “Stubborn bitch.”

As soon as she realized there was no real bite to the words, Raven nestled deep into the couch with a pleased little smile tugging at her lips. Off in the distance she could hear the soft clanking of dishware drifting in from the hallway and in just a few minutes, Jujubee returned with two carefully balanced mugs for the both of them. Handing Raven hers, Jujubee collapsed onto the couch next to her and claimed some portion of the fleece for herself.

Taking a tentative sip from her mug, Raven was pleased to find warm, sweet tea rushing down her throat. “Chamomile,” Jujubee replied to her unasked question, grabbing the remote from the arm of the couch, “And honey. It’s good for a sore throat.”

Raven nodded her head and took a much deeper sip. She didn’t normally drink tea, she preferred black coffee instead, but it did seem like it was helping; her throat didn’t feel quite so rough and itchy as it had a few minutes ago.

For the next few minutes, the only sound that filled their living room was the program on TV and the soft sipping from their mugs. It was rather comfortable, Raven realized, Cozy, domestic silence.

Before she was even halfway done with her tea, Raven found herself readjusting her position and leaning just so into Jujubee. She told herself it was merely so she could share the blanket more easily but deep down she had to admit that right now she very much craved that extra warmth and closeness that always seemed to radiate from her girlfriend’s entire being.

When her mug was nearly empty and the pain in her throat mostly gone, Raven spoke up quietly, “Thanks…for the flowers and um…everything else, too.”

She didn’t look directly at Jujubee but still she could sense her smiling. “Anytime,” she whispered back, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek.

Maybe, Raven thought to herself, it’s not so awful to rely on her…just a little.

Chapter 4: Shangelyssa

A proud smile tugged at the corners of Shangela’s lips as she looked around at the boring, semi-barren backyard in front of her. Today’s the day! she thought to herself. A perfectly comfortable spring morning to finally work on the landscaping of her home. She and Alyssa could truly make this house theirs…except Alyssa was a bit less excited about the prospect than Shangela. She had actually physically recoiled at the thought of a little gardening when Shangela first brought it up a few weeks ago. She actually had hoped (maybe even prayed) that Shangela would forget about the whole venture come spring time and move on to something else…or at least not rope her into it. She was not an outdoorsy girl, especially if it involves getting covered in dirt and sweat.

But Shangela was determined.

Over the course of two weeks, Shangela studied the backyard, learned what tools and plants she needed to make her dream garden, and then slowly set out to find the perfect specimens. And now today she had dragged Alyssa out of bed in the wee hours of the morning (at the purely scandalous time of 8AM) to assist with getting all of the work done. Even with Alyssa’s grumbling and whining, Shangela couldn’t help but feel giddy at the reality that everything was finally coming together today. 

The tools were already lying organized on the damp grass and all of the potted plants Shangela had splurged on lay clustered together just a few feet beyond them. Now it was time to get to work!

“Okay,” she began, excitement creeping into her voice, “So I guess first…we should make sure we have everything?”

“You weren’t sure when we bought all this shit?” Alyssa grumbled irritably as she wiped away the remaining traces of sleep from her eyes.

Shangela merely smiled back at her, her mood not dampened in the slightest, and replied cheerfully, “Won’t hurt to double check.”

Walking around slowly, Shangela carefully checked things off her mental list of gardening essentials. Just vaguely, Alyssa could hear her distracted mumbling, “Gloves, potting soil…plants are over there…shears, trowel…” Then perking back up, Shangela announced to her, “I think we’re good!”

“Great,” Alyssa spoke in a sarcasm-laden voice. The only thing missing was an eye-roll, Shangela noted.

But ignoring her girlfriend’s spoiled, prissy behavior for the time being, Shangela decided, “So let’s place everything where we want to plant it.”

Skeptically, Alyssa repeated, “'We’?”

“Yes, ‘we’. ‘We’ both own this house, don’t we?”

Alyssa looked at her with an utterly scandalized expression. No one told her she’d actually have to lift things! Immediately a flurry of protests spilled from her mouth, ranging from outright refusals to flimsy, half-baked excuses for why she couldn’t…or rather wouldn’t.

An exhausted sigh escaped as Shangela picked up the first potted plant, shifted around to face Alyssa, and told her, “Quit your bitching, it’ll only take a few hours.”

“Girl, hours? I had plans!”

“No, you didn’t!” Shangela scoffed, walking her plant towards the fenceline. Shouting back over her shoulder, she accused, “You were gonna veg out on the couch like you do every Sunday.” 

Alyssa watched her gingerly setting the pot down, her mouth gaping open like a fish’s. There was no way she could do this! It was so dirty and disgusting…and gross. Even the thought of that moist dirt against her skin completely repulsed her. But Shangela was insistent. Setting her sights on one of the largest plants she had bought, she ordered her girlfriend, “Now help me move this one.”

An hour and a half later, after a few rounds of haphazard reorganization, Shangela announced delightedly, “Well, I think we’re finally ready to start digging!”

She was practically vibrating with excitement. It’s really happening, she thought, Just a few hours and this backyard is gonna be perfect!

Alyssa on the other hand, felt quite another way. She returned to her angry grumbling as she reluctantly tugged her gloves into place and tied her hair up into a taut bun. True, it had been pulled back into a loose ponytail earlier but Alyssa was willing to do anything to delay the actual digging. Even if it was just for a few extra seconds. The instant she was done, Shangela handed her a trowel and dragged her over to the closest collection of plants sitting along the fenceline. “Gonna ruin my nails,” Alyssa grumbled, resisting every step, “Have to take another shower…Break my back.”

She groaned out as she knelt down against the grass and felt tiny little pebbles digging against her skin. She hated today. As soon as Shangela finished digging the majority of the hole with her shovel, Alyssa was set to rounding out the edges and ensuring it would actually be deep enough for the first plant. She eyed up the pot and the hole and decided Close enough, then shouted out to Shangela that it was ready. Slowly and delicately, Shangela worked the first plant from it’s cheap plastic pot and set it into the hole. Not quite a perfect fit (Shangela’s glare darting between Alyssa and the extra inch of the root ball sticking out over the top reiterated that) but Alyssa was adamant it was fine. Nevertheless, Shangela had her dig an extra two inches of depth before setting the plant back into the hole and calling it ‘acceptable.’ 

This pattern continued on for another half hour. The sun was truly starting to peak out and both girls were beginning to break a sweat. Despite her previous enthusiasm, Shangela was nearing her patience’s end. Between doing the heavy lifting, making all the careful adjustments, and Alyssa’s godawful whining, she felt close to snapping. She tried her best to remain calm but as she learned years ago; Alyssa’s bitching, especially when it’s this constant and insistent, can really work on your nerves.

They had switched roles for the time being; Alyssa was now in charge of the shovel and spent her short break leaning expressively against the fence as Shangela cleaned up yet another of the seemingly endless holes they had to dig. Her eyes wandered amongst the slow progress they had been making and tried to think of a new complaint to vocalize. She liked to keep her material fresh after all and if she had to be miserable during this little home improvement project…well, she was damn sure she wasn’t gonna be the only one. But then a small flurry of movement caught her attention. 

It almost looked like a bit of wind the way the tall, heavy flower began to sway but Alyssa quickly realized that wasn’t the case. It was the only one moving and instantly she felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest. She waved her hand at Shangela, the other woman too focused on the hole to notice right away, and let out a worried, “Oh…Oh-”

It was that scared vocalization that made Shangela’s head dart up in a flash. Her immediate thought was that Alyssa had hurt herself somehow but as she tried to ask what was wrong, Alyssa cut her off with a screeching, “Oh my god! Shangie!”

“Wha-”

“Kill it!” Alyssa interrupted, squirming in place as she backed herself further against the fence. Her eyes clenched shut for a moment as she pointed over to the bobbing flower and screamed,  “Killitkillitkillit!”

Shangela’s head tilted in confusion as she twisted around to find the source of Alyssa’s sudden, (and slightly hilarious) overblown fear. “What are you-it’s just a praying mantis, ‘Lyss,” she said consolingly. She was trying so hard not to laugh but so far she was not succeeding. Stepping closer to the flower the mantis had chosen as it’s perch, Shangela tried to calm her girlfriend with a soothing reiteration of, “It’s not gonna hurt you. It’s probably just curious.”

“It’s looking at me all funny!” Alyssa argued vehemently, clutching onto her shovel. “Kill it already!”

“I’m not gonna kill it,” Shangela replied mildly, shaking her head with a small smile. Offering one hand as a new platform for the mantis and using the other to carefully usher it forward, Shangela continued with, “I’ll just move it over-fuck!” The moment she touched the insect’s legs, a pair of wings appeared and the mantis took off flying directly at her. Not wasting a single second, Shangela scurried out of the landscape area, screaming, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Running like a madwoman, she shouted to Alyssa, who followed hot on her heels, “Get back in the house! Back in the house!”