#variantia

Courtney’s eyes narrow at Jack in suspicion. The woman has been known to smoke from time to time but Courtney’s never sure she actually goes and buys her own cigarettes. More often than not, Jack tends to steal them from her, as if that will somehow make Courtney stop smoking them. 

nonsexual acts of dominance // accepting

"Oooh! You wore the fancy suit today, babes."

Malevola's voice rises amongst the rest, a bashful look crossing the hybrid's face as his best friend rapidly approaches. Victor had many fancy suits, pieces he's spent quite a chunk of change on to make sure they were the best quality, comfortable to wear, and fitted exactly to him.

But the one he chose to wear today was his personal favorite: the jacket by itself was mostly black, with golden flower decals on the lapel and pockets. While the shirt he paired with it today was all white, the vest was all gold, standing out brightly against all the darkened colors. Ending the pairing off with a pair of golden cufflinks in the shape of Atlas Moths, Victor almost felt too overdressed for the gala he was invited to tonight.

SDN needed hero representatives to showcase the Phoenix Program and explain it to sponsors and media. The Z-Team eagerly pushed Victor forward to be the spokesperson for that, though he's pretty sure they just didn't want to cancel their plans.

"Gotta make a good first impression." Victor responds with a little shrug, though his gaze is already looking out across the room in search of the tie he chose, equally gold as the vest. "I just...wait. Where'd my tie go?"

His gaze darts around where he'd laid it out earlier, now void of the silken gold tie. Malevola lends in her eyes, and when those pretty golds stop, Victor follows her gaze to Jack, who holds the item like something precious, attaching something to the bottom of it.

"Here we go." Jack steps into Victor's personal space, looping the tie around his neck and tying it swiftly and with dedicated fingers, looping it around itself in the intricate knot that Victor usually wore. She smooths it down against his breast, the hint of a smile on her face as she regards the charm she attached to the tie, a stark black against the brightness of gold. "Perfect..."

It's a pin, stained black, in the shape of a skull, pinned just underneath where the eldritch knot tapers into the rest of the body.

"Now you're ready...and now you have a piece of me to go with you to that stupid fucking gala." Jack, too, must feel relieved that she wasn't going to the thing. "Knock 'em dead. You're pretty good at wowing those upper-class dorks with your fine way of words."

Courtney’s lips quirk up in a smirk as the question is posed to her. She doens’t have to think about her answer, she already knows it, and it shows in the way she drags her lips from Jack’s jaw, to her neck, down to the curve of one of Jack’s breasts where she bites down hard enough to leave a mark right there, fingers sliding down and down to nudge Jack’s thighs apart. 

“I have breakfast right here.” Courtney purrs against Jack’s skin as she presses a trail of open-mouthed kisses from chest, down to her abdomen, and lower. Lower and lower until Courtney is settled between Jack’s thighs where her ‘breakfast’ awaits. 

Long, dark hair spills across her shoulders as Malevola tilts her head at the new member of the Z-Team. She didn't know much about her, aside from Vic's word-for-word recap about how she reacted to the impromptu bug tour of his home. Jack was put off, maybe a little skittish, but cooled down plenty by the time they made it to the arachnid room and, later, the butterfly room.

Vic liked her enough, thought she was pretty cool. And that usually gave Malevola more than enough reason to like her as well. Anyone who treated her favorite weirdo badly did not earn her respect.

Jack just came back from a mission and was sporting quite the vicious wound, spilling blood from a diagonal cut across her shoulder blade. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but still needed some love and care.

"Here, babes. Let me."

Clawed fingers brush gently across the wound, slow, magic kicking in as the wound rapidly begins to seal shut across Jack's skin, an unnatural warmth following as the wound closes fully, leaving a bit of blood staining Mal's fingertips and not even a scar behind. Malevola's hip cocks, grin growing across her painted lips as golden eyes raise to meet Jack's own.

"There we go...good as new."

She’d thought about looking up the address a time or two. Courtney normally hates surprises but Jack had seemed so excited to share this with her, whatever it is, so as much as she hated not looking this place up? She didn’t. For Jack. 

She got distracted, lost track of time, which is not unusual for Courtney. With her untreated ADHD, she tends to have time blindness. The only reason it had only been ten minutes late and not longer is because of the alarms she set on her phone. 

Now that she’s here, she’s stunned into silence. Courtney’s not sure what she’d been expecting but it wasn’t this. Her eyes widen in her surprise but there’s something else in her brown eyes, too. Excitement. The kind of excitement that Courtney doesn’t usually let herself feel. 

This is everything kid Courtney would have ever dreamed of and Jack is just offering this to her. A smile plays upon her lips as Jack presses a kiss to her cheek, and she leans into her girlfriend’s embrace, eyes flickering from machine to machine to see which one she wants to play first. There’s so many of them that she doesn’t even know where to begin. 

“I’m always gorgeous.” Courtney says teasingly, untangling herself from Jack’s embrace only to grab her hand and thread her fingers together to practically drag her further into the arcade in her excitement. “Will you play them with me?” 

Sinta. 

There is something so comforting in the way Jack says the nickname in her language. It helps in a way. Courtney hates feeling so small and vulnerable, arms wrapped around Jack like it’s the only thing holding her together. Maybe it is. 

Courtney moves, not to pull away from Jack, but to climb into her lap and wrap herself around her completely, seeking out the comfort and closeness with her clinging to her like some kind of koala bear.  

She can’t be bothered to be embarrassed by it. Jack won’t judge her for her desperate need to get close, to feel safe, to feel anything other than phantom pain or phantom hands.  

Jack’s own hands rubbing along her body helps wash away hands that are not there, she can focus on Jack’s warm palms against bare shoulders instead. Her girlfriend’s touch is soothing and grounding, keeping her in reality instead of the flashbacks that play through her head like some kind of fucked up slideshow. 

Jack assures her she’s safe and Courtney believes her. Jack would burn down the entire world if it meant keeping her safe, but it doesn’t rid the dread in the pit of her stomach that almost makes her sick. She swallows the bile back, trying to focus on the closeness of their bodies instead, eyelashes fluttering rapidly against Jack’s skin from Courtney trying to blink back the tears. She fucking hates crying. 

“I hate this.” Courtney admits,  “I thought I moved past this shit.” What the hell had even brought it on? It had come out of nowhere, memories plaguing her dreams when they hadn’t in quite a while. Will she ever heal from this bullshit? It doesn’t feel like it at this point. 

"Oh.. that's what it means." Black Star would murmur sheepishly, her cheeks painting themselves a dark shade of grey. The Gem had seen the acronym 'dtf' in various text messages and overheard it in chats. But until now, Black Star didn't know what it meant.