. vidia .

Meg frowned, trying unconvincingly to look annoyed - if Vidia hadn’t laughed, she probably would’ve been. After all, what use did hermit crabs have? They couldn’t play games or curl up with you after a long day like a dog or even a cat could. Not only that, but they were revolting to look at, some demented child of a spider and a slug. Meg’s grin betrayed her true amusement, the dark haired brunette rolling her eyes at her best friend. “Now you’re really guaranteeing no more dates for the future. One look at your snail collection and you’ll definitely be in a dry spell.” Her grin grew bigger at Vidia’s words. “Obviously we’d just smash them together and both take that name. Flalentive or Vloros. Something like that.” Though she was teasing, Meg agreed, it’d be nice to be out of the dating game: it’d certainly be a relief to stop second guessing every interaction, every date and having each one end in failure. It was her fault, Meg knew that, silently comparing each date to her ex, self conscious about her own self worth that she was unable to give anyone a chance. Chuckling, she caught the double entrede, throwing Vidia a wink. “Who says I’d be under you? I’ve been in this game for years now. I’m sure I could take control in no time.”

❝ hey now, look at that yellow sponge guy - he seemed to be enjoying life immensely and he had a pet sn-wait, i take it back. enjoying life immensely sounds rather unpleasant. ❞ her example backfiring - or maybe shedding some light to herself - vidia laughed. ❝ vloros sounds powerful, it’s got my vote. someone with that last name could take over the world just by flashing their license, it’s THAT potent a name. ❞ vidia wasn’t about to compare thee to a summer’s day but she found herself suddenly grateful for her friendship with meg - it never felt like it was something she had to work at or like she needed to be anyone other than herself or have any sort of stupid stressful worry about how to maintain a friendship with someone. maybe it was because in a lot of ways, they were one in the same and in the places they weren’t one in the same, their differences didn’t clash. it was just...nice. but again, she wasn’t about to get all sappy and tell meg she was her best friend or point out that she was probably one of the closest friends she had ever had but vidia hoped a laughing grin said what she wasn’t equipped to express herself.  ❝okay fine, since sharing is caring and all that nonsense, we’ll be the best of best friends and take turns. and once we’re married, anyone who wants to take us out has to go through a rigorous screening process from the other. it’ll save us both so much time in life, there’s nothing about this scenario that isn’t completely win-win on every front. ❞

A crooked grin tugged at the corners of his mouth when he was met with sweet, sweet indignation, his ensuing laughter almost disruptively loud as his head fell back with the force of it. ❛ This … is true. ❜ He quieted down and let out a low hum of agreement, followed by a slow nod — as if the thought was only just occurring to him. Yeah, right. Vidia being nice was cause for national concern, if you asked him; it almost never meant anything good, which was even better. Flynn paused, brow crinkling more for show as he amended his words, grin still firmly in place. ❛ The bunker thing, that is. Otherwise you sound like you could be dangerously close to kink shaming me here. I mean, we’re treading thin ice, it could go either way. For the record I like what I like, alright, and I think the only safe way to proceed is if you’re just really mean to me. You know, for good measure. You don’t want to step on an old friend’s toes, do you? Make me cry, Vid, c’mon. ❜

❝ except the exact legitimate thing you want me to do is step on an old friend’s toes so hard they broke in several places. ❞ vidia pointed out in response, unable to stop the smile that formed. with years behind them, it always felt easy to be a little lax with flynn. to be a little less snarky and guarded - but only a little because what was friendship without snark and brutal humor from time to time?  ❝ look at your life, flynn. look at your choices. i don’t have to make you cry, just reflect on yourself for a moment and you’ll get there. ❞ she joked.  ❝ but if that doesn’t work and you ask very nicely maybe i’ll find some flaw that needs pointing out or just elbow you really hard in the gut the next time you try and distract me at work. i could throw a drink at you, glass and all if that’ll help you feel torn down and stomped on. ooooh, maybe i could hold you under the water with a foot on your shoulder or something, i’ll make sure to wear a single heel for the moment for maximum dramatic effect. tell me, flynn - what can i do to make you cry? as such a good friend, because really, aren’t i just the best,  i’ll do it. free of owed favor charge and all.❞

❝ hermit cr- you know, what it wasn’t but it’s now DEFINITELY hermit crabs? ❞ to vidia, there were three types of laughter in the world: faked laughter when you just wanted someone to leave you alone, the laugh you gave when you wanted someone to know you were making fun of them and last but not least but certainly the rarest for her; true laughter, the kind that risked your stomach starting to ache, sides splitting and possible six packs forming under your clothes and that was the one that slipped out more than often around meg. ❝ damn, you catch on too quickly, floros. you figured out my plan before i could even debate if i want to take your last name, force you into mine or if we should hyphenate and if so, which name goes first. but yes, i’ve decided i’m going to marry you. that way neither of us has to worry about dating anymore and i can finally convince you to leave that trashbin and come work under me - at the wolf den of course. maybe other places. ❞ the double entrede had slipped out unintended but she totally wasn’t going to leave it untouched. ❝ it’s a total win-win. ❞

❝ You’re worried about wormholes? ❞  His brows rose, faintly amused and reflecting the skepticism in his words.  ❝ And here I was, thinking you were down for that sort of fun. Throwing things off balance is pretty much your trademark, ❞  He pointed out with a halfhearted push at her arm.  ❝ As are terrible nicknames. ❞

❝ fuck you, that was a great one!  ❞  ❝  vidia laughed, shoving back at his arm in retaliation. ❝  one of my best ever if you ask me. ❞  he definitely had a point on the other stuff though, mayhem and mischief were just a few of her favorite things - especially when she got to get up to either one of those with flynn. ❝ okay, you’ve got a point BUT, the idea of me being nice to ANYONE let alone YOU is legitimate cause for concern. like, build a bunker folks level concern.  besides, you LOVE when i’m mean to you, don’t deny it. ❞