Mice Among Beasts Pt 1

Mice Among Beasts Pt 1

A Baldur's Gate fanfiction.

The dungeon-like space smelled awful, like death, rot, and goblins. It was impossible to see where they were going, what with the cage constantly rocking back and forth with each step the goblin took, clearly taking pleasure in jostling them around.  

A look of shock was still painted across Willow’s face, her brain struggling to keep up. How had she been so stupid?! Trying to steal food from that camp, and without any sort of plan? Had she even taken the time to scope the place out? No! She had simply seen the food and gone for it. Now, she was facing the grim reality that they themselves might become food. Did goblins eat her people? It seemed like a very real possibility, seeing what had been on- 

She jumped when a loud, high-pitched wail filled the air, the source being right next to her. Belle had been sniffling and whimpering from the moment they had been captured, but now she was screaming.   

The goblin above them groaned. He gave the cage a good shake, sending the two tiny humanoids falling from one side to the other, “Shut up!” 

Belle only cried louder. Holding her aching head, Willow stumbled over to her. She wrapped her arms tightly around her sister's frail body and pulled her into her lap. Cooing at her and petting her golden hair very slowly quieted the girl down, being content to cry into Willow’s shirt.   

The two were both trembling, but Willow tried to mask it by slowly rocking the sobbing mess in her arms. The corners of her own eyes burned, but she gritted her teeth and tried to remain composed. It wouldn’t help anyone if both of them began to crumble. Then again, could anything help them now?  

She turned her head to glare at the underside of their captor's chin, “What do you want?” she hissed.  

The two shrunk away as the cage was brought up to the goblin’s eye level. He smirked, “Entertainment.” 

He lowered the cage back down to his side, pushing open a large double door with a guttural grunt. Willow peered through the bars, vaguely able to make out the room they had entered. There were two rooms on either side of them, but the goblin walked past them and down a short set of stone steps. All sorts of crates and wooden boards peppered the room's perimeter, but what caught her eye were the two large cells across the room, one on the left, and one on the right.   

The goblin turned right, going down another short flight of stairs. Willow’s eyes widened, seeing ahead of them a small group of even more goblins. Three looked to be young ones, all of which were cackling with laughter. A guard of sorts seemed to be supervising them, a look of content amusement on her face.  

“Listen! Did you hear it squeal?” one of the young ones laughed, pointing into the cell before them.  

“Make it do it again!”  

One of the goblins bent down and when they straightened, had a large rock in their grasp. They promptly threw it into the cell. A deep yet pained whimper came from behind the bars, pitiful and animalistic. Willow tensed at the sound, goosebumps beginning to pop up along her arms. What sort of animal did they have in there? Anything larger than a rabbit would have been enough to send her running.   

The group burst into laughter, “Hand me another one!” 

Willow flinched as their captor cleared his throat. The oldest of the group turned, her face lighting up with a similar sinister smirk.  

“Hey, Crusher! Come to join the fun?” 

“Actually, I plan to add to it.”  He raised the cage and gave it another harsh shake, exciting a shriek out of Belle, “Lookie what I got ‘ere.” 

The whole group descended upon them. All the kids hurried forward, pushing and shoving one another to get to the front and peer inside the birdcage. Willow’s arms tightened around her sister as the pairs of eyes on those hideous faces slowly settled upon the two of them.  

“Woah!” exclaimed one child, “What are those?”   

The goblin next to him gave him a shove, “They’re clearly some kind of fey, idiot.” 

“What kind though?”  

“Well… uh…” the smartass peered through the bars once more, “Uh… I’m not sure. Are they pixies?”  

The eldest pushed them aside, leaning her ugly face down to scrutinize the girls, “No… no, pixies got wings, and these nibblets seem smaller. At least from what I’ve seen.” she gave the cage a small shove, causing Belle to cry out once more, her bony fingers clawing into her sister. 

“Hah! They make even funnier noises!” Willow flinched at the volume of the child’s voice, wishing her hands were free so she could cover them, “Make ‘em do it again!”  

“Oh oh! Let me see!” the smartass lept forward, his massive pudgy hands groping for the cage.  

Their captor- Crusher he seemed to be called, held them higher up, chuckling, “Now now, you’ll all get plenty of time to hear them make their noises.” he shot the two a grin before turning to the other adult, “Notice you haven’t fed that furball to the worgs yet.”  

“Nah, I’ve been having too much fun with ‘em.” she peered over her shoulder, “But if we ever run out of fresh meat-” 

Crusher held up his hand, silencing her and turning to the kids, “How would you guys like to see a real show?”   

Those greenish-yellow faces lit up, “Yeah!” 

“You wanna see a real show?” 

“Yeah!”  

“Alright then.” he smirked from the cage to the cell, “This will be fun.”  

The cage started to sway once more as Crusher pushed past the kids, approaching the cell. Willow, her sister still in her arms, began to back towards the opposite side of the cage. 

They were suddenly lifted higher, being held right against the bars. Her heart hammered against her ribs as if trying to escape itself. She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to know, but her eyes betrayed her as they peered down into the cell.  

She gasped. Through the bars, standing in the very center, was a bear. An absolutely massive brown bear.  

Belle screamed, trying to backpedal further away to no avail. The goblins burst into fits of laughter, “What? You don’t like ‘em?” The cage was spun so now their backs were right up against the cell. Willow held her sister’s head against her chest as she whimpered. 

Chancing a glance over her shoulder, Willow saw that the bear’s eyes were fixed upon the cage. When Belle let out another whimper, its ears perked up at the sound.  

“D'aww look, I think he wants to be friends” teased Crusher, receiving more laughs in response.  

A shiver ran down her spine as the bear released a low, long drawn-out growl. Oh gods. 

“You wanna go in and say hello?” 

Belle shrieked, frantically shaking her head as if it would do anything.  

“Is that a yes?”  

“No!” she screamed. 

“Well, if you say so.”  

They began to be lowered, the cage nearly being touched down to the ground before the floor suddenly began to tilt. Willow hurriedly pulled her and her sister up the growing incline and wrapped her legs around the cage bars. Her sister screamed, clawing her way up her body and desperately trying to also grab onto something as their world continued to turn.  

Her arms began to burn as they became vertical, but she didn’t dare let them loosen their grip around Belle, not even for a moment. A large clawed hand came around and pried open the cage door.

“Come on now, “ Crusher gave the cage a good shake. Willow winced, straining to keep the two of them up, “Don’t want to keep ‘em waiting do ya?” His eyes zeroed in on what was keeping them from falling. Those clawed fingers crept towards her, nails slipping beneath her legs. A mere flick of the finger, and they were falling, falling into a death trap.  

She spun around in the air, putting herself between Belle and the approaching stone floor. An airless gasp escaped her as she collided with the ground. She coughed and wheezed, wincing at the throbbing pain now blooming across her whole back. 

Belle began to shake her and tug at her shirt collar. Willow pushed her away, forcing herself up. She froze as another low growl filled her ears. Grabbing hold of her sister, she looked up and wanted to scream. The bear’s eyes were fixed upon them. Even from afar, it towered over them, a huge mass of fur that could swallow them whole.  

Whipping her head around, her eyes landed upon the cell’s bars. The space between them was big enough for them to slip through. She ran for it, dragging her sister behind her. Almost as soon as she had started towards it, the goblins took notice. All of them crouched down in front of the cell to block her path, laughing at her pitiful attempt at escape.   

She spun around, heading in the opposite direction. Heart pounding in her ears, she began scouring the stone walls for cracks, holes, anything. The ground beneath them quivered and Willow looked over to see the bear taking a step towards them, head lowered and shoulders up.  

It stalked towards them, throwing her off balance with every step. She frantically continued to search the walls, running along the perimeter of the cell. When she reached a corner, she stopped, out of breath. She turned and froze. The bear was close now, its shadow beginning to cover the two of them. They couldn’t run now, they were cornered.  

Belle began to whimper. Willow stepped in front of her and began to back away. She only made it a few steps before they were pressed against the wall. Looking up in horror, she watched as the bear's head began to encapsulate her entire vision. The air around them stunk of its rancid breath. Its eyes were piercing, the gaze as sharp as its protruding fangs. This was it, they were dead. 

Willow’s arms came up to shield her and her sobbing sister. She braced herself as the beast closed in, opening its gaping maw. It descended upon them and she snapped her eyes shut, praying it would be a quick death for the both of them.  

Nothing. Nothing happened. She didn’t feel anything. Not the feeling of teeth tearing them to shreds like she had expected. Not the feeling of being doused in drool, not anything. However, she did hear something, the snapping of the bear’s jaws. 

Willow cracked open her eyes, freezing. The bear was mere inches away, its warm breath blowing back her silvery hair. It was still staring at them. It remained motionless.  

Suddenly, its massive form began to shift as it turned away from them. It began to make a noise that sounded like chewing. Willow hurriedly checked behind her, worried that it had somehow gotten a hold of Belle before her. But no, her sister was still huddled up behind her, looking up in terrified confusion. 

The bear continued to chew, at least that’s what it sounded like. She wracked her brain for an explanation of what else it could be but came up short.  

“Aw man, where’s all the blood?” rang out the familiar voice of one of the goblin children.   

Another voice sighed, “I guess if we wanted a real show, we should have thrown in something bigger, or maybe something that would have at least put up more of a fight. Ah well.”  

Willow’s eyes widened. Did they think that they had been- she looked up, seeing that the bear’s form was completely blocking them from the view of the goblins.   

“I guess we should get you lot back to work.” 

The young goblins all began to protest, “Aw come on! Can’t we throw more rocks at it or-”  

“Do you want to keep our True Soul waiting?” growled Crusher. 

True soul? 

“N-no. N-not at-” 

“Then get to it!” he barked, and Willow felt and heard the multiple pairs of feet hurry away, “Oh, and Butch wanted to see you, something ‘bout his worg. Won’t stop whining over it.”  

“Ugh, fine. Take me to him, will yah?” 

Another rumble of footsteps and the goblin’s grumbling murmurs slowly grew distant. With the slam of a door, the room fell silent.  

Hope you enjoy! and let me know if you want to hear more!

Continuing in my attempts at art

Original pose: @smellony-melanie123

Expressions: @capochiino

Thank you to these artists for their bases and references, I would be lost without them.

Also just realizing now that I forgot to give Cecilia her freckles on the expressions. 🤦‍♀️

My father recently gave me a really good piece of advice.

“Don’t listen to criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from”

I don’t know if that’s from movie or other media but I thought it was helpful so maybe others will too

I’m sort of a newbie when it comes to art but I really wanted to draw my characters so I used one of @albanenechi references and made this. I tried.

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 12

I don't know if I've said this before, but any and all feedback is appreciated, I'd love to be able to improve as a writer and hear what you think, any suggestions. Anyways, on with the story.

Cecilia was a little thrown off by the change of subjects, “Oh…. w-well a while. I guess”   

“Did you take a class or somethin’?”  

“N-not really, I used to work part-time at a bakery during high school if that counts.”  

Garret sighed, “I don’t miss those days, that’s for sure.”  

“You didn’t like high school?”  

He let out a short laugh, “Hated it. Mine started way too early and I lived a decent ways away, so I’d have to wake up even earlier to even make it on time. I don’t think my teachers liked me all that much either. There was this one woman, Mrs. Dechaseray and I swear she had it out for me. Always got mad at me for forgetting the date and then would give me an F because of it.”   

“That’s… harsh.”  

“Yeah, I know. And then there was our gym teacher. God, he was awful. One time he called me up to stand in front of the entire class and used me as an example of why exercise is important.”  

Cecilia’s eyes widened, her hand coming up to her mouth in shock, “That’s awful.”  

“Felt like it. And yeah, maybe he had a point if I’m being honest but it still hurt.”  

“What do you mean he had a point? That’s just horrible.”  

Garret frowned, “Well, my old man would say similar things so I was kind of used to hearing it.”    

Her eyebrows furrowed, “I’m sorry.”  

“What are you saying sorry for? You didn’t say them. Plus, they really did have a good point.”   

“Well, I think you look pretty good.”  

He smiled down at her, “Think so?” she nodded. “Thanks, I’m glad to hear that. High school wasn’t all bad. My last two years, I took up woodshop which was pretty neat. This one time, I helped make this huge-”  

A loud crunch along with the blare of a horn pierced through the air. Garret froze and looked down.  

“Ah shit.” 

Cecilia cautiously crawled and peered over the edge of his palm. All the color drained from her face as Garret lifted his foot to reveal the crushed remains of a red sports car. She began to tremble, it was nearly flat. Completely ruined and unrecoverable, like it had gotten caught under a steamroller. Was it empty? Oh god, had someone been in there?! She looked to Garret who was still staring down at the ground, cringing at the sight. 

His eyes flicked over to Cecilia, “I uh-”  

“What the fuck happened?!” both jumped at a voice screaming up from the ground. The two of them both looked back down to see a man dressed in a business suit running towards the remains, “My car! The fuck you do to my car?!”    

Garret looked around aimlessly before addressing the raging man at his feet “I’m uh- I’m real sorry sir. I swear to you it was a-”  

“You fucking son of a bitch! Do you know how much this cost me?! Do you?!”   

“N-no but I-”  

“Do you know who I am?!”  

“I uh- no” he glanced over at Cecilia, “B-but I swear, I can pay you back for-”  

“What is one of your kind even doing in these parts?! You lost or something dumbass?!”    

“I-”  

“It’s my fault sir!” Cecilia yelled, peering back over the edge nervously, “I-I was distracting him.”   

The man’s head turned to look at Garret’s hand, spotting her head poking out from behind it, “Who the hell are you?”  

“I’m-”  

“Oh let me guess” the man sneered, “You’re one of those lazy bitches who thinks they’re too good for traffic or cars. Thinks they're saving the fucking planet by hiring some giant to carry their sorry ass wherever-”   

“You shut your fucking mouth!” Cecilia’s hand flew up and clamped tightly over her ears which still rang from Garret’s thunderous yell.  

The man below had backed away, his hands slowly lowering from his own ears, “Watch it asshole. Don’t you be talking to me like-”   

“Don’t you be talking to her like that!”  

Cecilia shook as she looked up at Garret’s face. His jaw clenched as his gaze hardened. For the first time since she’d met him, he looked mad, furious even. It sent a shiver down her spine, seeing someone like him in a mindset where people don’t think before they act. She began to look uneasily at her surroundings, at the fingers thick as tree trunks and taller than her entire being. What were those fingers capable of when the person attached to them was tested? What could the rest of the person be capable of?  

She couldn’t stop a small whimper from escaping her. Garret’s eyes, now looking ice cold rather than just blue, flicked over to her and they immediately melted. His mouth dropped from a sneer to a contemplative frown as his eyes fixed on her.  

“I-I think I should go,” she murmured, not wanting to spend any more time around these two arguing, “Would… would you… you know”   

He nodded, “Oh, right.” Cecilia jumped slightly as Garret turned and began to slowly kneel down. He placed his hand flat upon the ground and she hopped down onto the pavement.  

“T-thanks again, for lunch.”    

“Yeah, I’ll… I’ll text you, once I'm done dealing with all of this” he nodded over at the flattened car.  

Cecilia nodded as she turned and began to hurry away, the yelling of the man starting up again the moment she’d left.  

Her home as a child used to have this very vibrant wallpaper in the living room. It was covered in all sorts of different kinds of butterflies, and Cecilia had very vivid memories of almost everyday after school staring up at them all to pass the time. Her mother would be close by, sitting at the kitchen table with the phone in her lap while she stared out the window looking out into the front yard.   

There were hundreds of this day in her memory. At times, they all blended together. Some days she’d ask what was for dinner, often not getting a response. Other days she’d sit and do homework at the same table as her mother yet they exchanged no words. Sometimes she’d ask if she wanted to do something, bake, or go to the park, but her mother almost always said no.  

A lot of the time, however, she’d be stuck doing exactly what her mother was doing, waiting. 

It was either the phone or the door that broke the silence. Cecilia preferred it when it was the door. She’d lift her head off the couch to see her dad shuffling in, army duffle bag in tow. Her mother would finally move as she turned and smiled up at her husband who would lane down to kiss her, occasionally asking what their daughter was still doing up.  

She would run to her father and wrap her arms around his waist. He’d pat her on the back and ruffle her hair. Sometimes they’d all sit down on the couch, and he would tell them stories. Stories from his travels. Stories about- 

“Cece!” 

“Huh?” Cecilia looked up and across from her where Maddie was seated.  

“Are you even listening?”  

“I… yes.”  

She crossed her arms and raised a well-manicured brow, “Then what did I just say?”   

“Um…” she looked over helplessly at Rebecca who was sitting right beside her with her iguana, Enoch draped over her shoulder.  

She sighed, “Jennifer got the job.”  

“Huh?” 

“We don’t like Jennifer.”  

“Why?”  

Rebecca glanced over at Maddie, “Honestly, I don’t know.”   

“Because she had the audacity to show up to the party after the whole thing with her and Kyle!” 

Cecilia blinked, “Whose Kyle again?”   

“Her ex” whispered Rebecca.   

“Oh. wow, the audacity,” she replied flatly.  

Maddie threw up her hands, “I know! And then she’s all like…”   

Cecilia began to tune out once again as Maddie continued to rant. A part of her sort of enjoyed listening to her drama, even though half the time she had no idea what she was talking about. Today however, she just couldn’t seem to keep her mind from wandering.  

It was no surprise to her that the day right after the whole cafe incident, Rebecca had called her and insisted they all get together. They did this quite often, usually all gathering at Rebecca’s place since it was the nicest and her friend was insistent that she couldn’t just leave Enoch for any longer than she already had when at work.    

Often these little get-togethers were when they could talk outside the cafe. Away from the prying eyes and ears of anyone else.  

“Here” Rebecca got up and held Enoch out to her, “I gotta go check on the pizza.” 

She nodded as the iguana was thrusted into her arms and Rebecca hurried off to the kitchen. Cecilia sat frozen as the bright green lizard clawed its way up onto her shoulder. Enoch had always been friendly, but she was still always nervous that he would one day try to rip her ear off.  

“So… what are we watching?” called Maddie over her shoulder.  

“I was thinking Grease.”  

She snorted with laughter, “Has it been too long since you’ve seen your darling John Travolta?” 

“Shut up”  

Maddie held up her hands, “Hey, I’m not complaining. I like tall, dark, and handsome bad boys too.” she smirked over at Cecilia, “And I think Cece does too if you know what I mean.”  

Cecilia shrunk away, “W-what do you mean?”  

Rebecca rounded on them “If you’re implying that guy Garret looks like John-”  

“Oh come on! You can’t tell me you see it just a little bit” whined Maddie.  

Cecilia felt herself trying to sink deeper and deeper into the couch. She knew it wouldn’t be long before one of them would bring… him up. 

“So everybody with black hair looks that way to you?” 

“Black hair and blue eyes,” she corrected. 

Rebecca scoffed, “If anyone we know is an accurate comparison, It's Xander.”  

Maddie rolled her eyes, “Yeah if Travolta forgot the gym existed.”  Cecilia couldn’t help but giggle at that.

“You’re just jealous I’ve got myself a man like him” Rebecca stated matter-of-factly, “Anyways, pizza’s ready.” She stepped back into the living room, setting down the large pepperoni and mushroom pizza before turning around to grab them some plates and napkins. 

Cecilia handed Enoch back to Rebecca as she sat down, his claws pricking tiny holes in her sweater. She grabbed a slice and began picking off the pieces of mushroom.   

“Maddie” groaned Rebecca, “Can you please be an adult and use a plate?”  

Maddie paused mid-bite, her slice gripped tightly in her hand, “What’s wrong? And what about Cece? What’s more childish than picking off the vegetables?” 

She paused, glancing up at the two, “What? I don’t like vegetables.”   

“Well, she’s still keeping everything on the plate where it doesn’t run the risk of getting sauce all over my couch.” 

Maddie rolled her eyes as she snatched a plate off of the coffee table, “Since when are you a neat freak?”  

“Can we start the movie now?” asked Cecilia.  

Around two hours later, once the credits had begun to roll, Cecilia got up and started to clear their plates and napkins. Rebecca was currently preoccupied with cooing at Enoch and letting him eat bits off her slice.  

Maddie eyed them with a slight air of concern, “Are you sure you should be feeding him that?” 

Rebecca ignored her, continuing to snuggle up with her scaly pet.  

Cecilia shook her head and smiled, “She’s fed him things like ice cream and donuts. I think he can handle a bit of cheese and marinara sauce.”  

Her friend shrugged it off as she got up from her seat, “I brought a bottle of red with me if any of you want some.”  

“I’ll have a glass” Rebecca got up and followed Maddie over to the kitchen, “You want any?”  

“No thanks,” said Cecilia.   

After her two friends had each poured themselves a glass, they plopped themselves back down on the couch.  

“So…” started Rebecca, “Gone out with anybody recently Maddie?”   

“No, can’t say I have” both of them kept not so secretly glancing over at Cecilia, “Everything going good with Xander?”  

“Yup, going alright.”  

They both turned to their friend who was very slowly turning a shade of pink. Oh boy. 

“So… a giant,” said Maddie.  

“Heh, yeah,” she mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.  

“How has that been?”  

“ Uh well, like I said… interesting.”   

“I would imagine so.” Maddie leaned back, “You know, I’m honestly quite impressed.”  

“Impressed?”  

“Well, I’m just wondering what the hell you said or did to bag that guy.”  Cecilia’s face went from slightly pink to beet red.

Rebecca nearly choked on her wine, “Maddie!”   

“What?! It’s a reasonable question.”   

“They barely have seen each other!”  

“How would you know? What, you’ve been backseating all their dates without telling me?”   

Cecilia covered her face with her hands and groaned, “It’s not official or anything like that, guys. Like I said, I don’t even know what it is.”   

“Well, why don’t you tell us more?” 

A smirk appeared on Maddie’s face, “tell me more, tell me more,“ she began to sing. 

“Guys-”  

Rebecca joined in “Tell me more, tell me more.” she scooted closer while Maddie got up and sat down on Cecilia’s other side, “tell me more, tell me more.”  

She sighed, “Will you guys stop singing if I do?”  They promptly stopped and nodded, leaning in closer, “What do you want to know?” 

“Everything,” said Maddie.  

“How has he been so far?” asked Rebecca.  

She shrugged, “Well, like I said, nice. Very nice actually.” 

“Uh-huh, and what do you mean by that? Because someone not being mean to you doesn’t count as being nice.”  

“He’s just been… very nice.”   

“Is he the reason for the broken glass bottles I found when I opened the day after your first date?” shot Maddie.

Cecilia’s cheeks flushed, “Uh yeah. Sorry, I forgot to clean those-”   

“What was dinner like? What did he-”  

“Quiet.” Rebecca scolded before turning back to Cecilia, “You’re being careful right? Is he being careful? Like, he hasn’t put you in any danger?”   

“Rebecca, come on. There’s always an amount of danger when dealing with those skyscrapers.” continued Maddie, “And why-” 

“Because, and I don’t mean to be judgemental, but he doesn’t seem… particularly… you know… experienced in taking precaution.”  

Cecilia gulped, “He… he did say he hadn’t spent much time around humans” She looked down at her feet, “But… I think he’s trying. I still don’t know what to make of this.” she sighed, “And… and I feel bad th-that I’m still…”  

“Afraid?” 

she nodded. 

Maddie tilted her head, “I mean, I haven’t known you as long as Rebecca has, but I’ve seen how you’ve reacted to giants in the past. Hell, remember when you nearly fainted when that group of teenagers started ruff housing in the parking lot? Sean had to coax you out from the back.” she waved her hand at her, “But just a little bit ago, I saw you voluntarily stepping into a giant’s hand. Sure you looked like you were going to faint at any second, but you still did it, and I’d say that’s pretty impressive for you.”   

“And I think you have every reason to be afraid. Like Maddie said, there is always a sense of danger around giants. But even putting that aside, there’s still the fact that we have no idea what his motive is.”  

Cecilia cocked her head, “Motive?”  

“Yeah, like why the hell would a giant want to be with a human in the first place.” 

Rebecca patted Cecilia on the shoulder, “It’s not that we think someone wouldn't want to date you. I just feel it’s a bit… odd.” That's the understatement of the century, “And again, this is nothing against you, but I just find it hard seeing a giant finding a human attractive.”  

Her eyes fell back to the floor. That had been something that had been in the back of her mind as well. Lately, whenever she passed by a mirror or saw her reflection, it always just made her more confused. She wasn’t hideous, but in no way was she pretty enough for someone like Garret to want to be around her rather than with… someone more like him.  

A loud ding filled the room. Rebecca pulled out her phone and groaned, “Damn it Xander.” her face was illuminated as she opened her phone and began to type.  

“What is it?” asked Maddie.  

“Oh nothing. Xander says he’s just feeling sad and wants me to send him a pic or something.”  

Maddie glanced over at Cecilia, rolling her eyes. Both of them knew by now what Xander meant when he said  ‘pic’, “Well, tell him that you’re busy.”   

“I just did.” Rebecca set her phone down and turned her attention right back onto Cecilia, “So… I know you said you’re still not sure what to make of this, but has Garret said what he makes of it?”   

She shrugged, “I mean… when he asked me to join him to grab lunch, he called it a date.” 

“And that night,” said Maddie, “Did he see that has a date as well?”   

“I-I guess so.”  

“Did you see it as a date?”   

She froze, her cheeks heating up, “I uh… maybe not in the moment, but looking back, I think so.”  

“How the hell would that even work?” Maddie chuckled, “I mean, it’s not like he can score any sex out of-”  

“Maddie!” yelped Rebecca. Cecilia went beet red, going to hide her face in her hands.  

“What?”   

“I don’t think that’s an appropriate thing to bring up right now.”   

“Oh come on, you had to be thinking about it too, right Cece?”  

“Not necessarily no” she mumbled.   

“Well, I certainly would if I was in your place. You’re wondering what his motive is, and that’s been the motive of most of the douchebags I’ve gone out with. I’m just helping eliminate possibilities.” 

Cecilia groaned, I wish Sean were here right now, why did Jaffery have to change their date night to the day before? “Can we please stop talking about this and go on to you guys asking more normal questions?”   

“This isn’t a normal situation.”  

“Can we at least pretend it is?!”    

The room fell silent. Cecilia’s hands fell away from her face. Maddie and Rebecca both were staring at her, perplexed.  

“Please?” she murmured. 

This whole thing, everything since that night at the cafe, had left her mind reeling. She didn’t even want to begin laying out everything in her mind, it was too much. Too many questions without answers. Too many new and unexpected experiences. She just wasn’t ready to sit down and analyze it all, especially with an audience.   

She jumped when she felt an arm wrap around her. Rebecca patted her shoulder, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… to get up all in your business.” she whipped her head around to look at Maddie.  

“Yeah, sorry I guess. This is just so-”  

“This all must be a lot for you, and if talking about it doesn’t help, then we won’t.”  

Cecilia looked her friend in the eye, and smiled, “Thank you.”  

Rebecca gave her shoulders a squeeze, “But we are still curious. Can we still hear about your first date or whatever it was? Like when Sean told us about meeting Jaffery?”  

She let out a short chuckle, “Yeah, I guess.”  

Maddie leaned in closer, “Oh yes, tell us everything!”  Rebecca shot her a look. She groaned, “Or whatever you feel like sharing I guess.”

Quick shout out to @ipilokko whose when helping me brainstorm ideas and as a whole helping me by being that second oppinion. You should totally go check out her comic, the artwork is quite impressive!