Vote count as of 6/19/2018:
Trust Sugarcoat- 1
Brainwash Sugarcoat- 1
Lightly pressure Sugarcoat- 9
I figure I've got about equal odds of things working out if I do nothing and if I straight-up force her not to blab, but if I do the 'nice' thing (or at least look like I'm doing the nice thing and not just exploiting someone's good will), I can make the point that I 'trusted her' and she screwed me anyway if this all goes public somehow. When I think about it, the only people who'd be more than an annoyance if they found out about my undead sisters is the Rainbooms, right? If they're looking at me as a victim of Friendship Crimes right off the bat, they might be a lot more understanding than if they learned some other way.
Maybe I can exploit the animosity between schools while I'm at it, if necessary, but I'll think about that if it comes up.
"I think," I quietly share with my ghosts, "I'm gonna try that last idea; stringing her along with her conscience and her friendship with Lemon. Same as with Moondancer, I've gotta look good if I 'trust' someone to do the right thing and they don't, right?"
"Totally," Sonata answers with a big smile, "the moral high-ground is our new castle!"
Even though it was her idea, Adagio doesn't look so optimistic, but Sonata floats closer to hug her.
"It'll be okay, Dagi."
Smiling a little herself, she sighs. "I hope so."
The wheels now in motion, I head for the door, Lemon not quite jamming to whatever's on her headphones, but definitely bobbing her head enough that I wonder if she even remembers why she's standing out here.
Lemon is silly.
I tap her shoulder, she jumps, then whirls around and takes the headphones off. "H-hey. So...?"
"I'm just gonna talk to her. Can you get her to come here?"
"Um, I, y-yea," she says, a hopeful, grateful smile on her face, "I can ask her to come over for a bit or we could meet up somewhere, but, uh," the smile shifts to worry, "she's probably gonna clue in that something's up before she even sees us."
"Do you think she'll run away?"
"Well, no, but-"
I smile a little and put a hand on her shoulder. "Then don't worry about it."
She smiles back, and a few minutes later, we're headed to what Lemon calls a little coffee shop for slurpees.
---
The place is... I don't wanna say 'kiddie,' but the aesthetic is definitely something Sonata appreciates more than I do. I can tell by the 'Ooh, pretty!' look on her face as she floats around the room; built into the side of a much bigger building a couple floors up. Deep red and immaculate white are particularly popular in the place's color scheme, as are pictures of a cartoon polar bear in swimming trunks for reasons I'm not going to think too hard about. One whole wall is a series of big, long windows that provide slurpee-drinkers with a nice view of the park, but I can't see the tea shop from here.
We walk in, Lemon points me to some chairs and a circular little table by the corner, and I offer to spot her the price of the slurpees, including Sugarcoat's. I have to explain to her that it's because I want to do a show of good will, thanking Sugarcoat for agreeing to keep things secret, which gets a big, happy smile and a (very public) hug out of her. She knows Sugarcoat's usual, so before long, we're sitting there waiting for her to show up as I worry that her proof-of-good-will offering will melt.
My slurpee is pretty good though.
Around ten minutes later, Sugarcoat walks in, sees us, walks over, and sits down, but she doesn't make any kind of face, so I don't know exactly how she's feeling about this.
"Hello again."
Lemon smiles. "Hey, Sugarcoat."
I don't put too much effort into my own grin. "Hey. So, just so I know I've got it straight, you already know about my sisters?"
Cool as the drink in her hands, she nods. "That is correct." Then she takes a long sip through the straw, waiting.
"...Right, so... I guess I wanted to say thanks." She arches an eyebrow in surprise, so I shrug. "For helping Lemon keep it secret instead of running off to the national inquirer or something. You already know magic weirdness happens all the time over by CHS, so it would kind of make a mess for us if people heard and jumped to conclusions, y'know?"
Frowning a little, she nods. "I never intended to make life difficult for anyone, I just could not-... no, did not, stop myself from feeding my curiosity. In my defense, it is all too tempting, and too easy, to extract details from Lemon when she knows she is caught in a lie."
Lemon smiles sheepishly as she shrinks in her seat, but I play through.
"I was kinda hoping you could help her with that, maybe work out a cover story or something together, or like, lying lessons. If that's a thing."
"It is," Adagio injects, "but they don't take credit."
Sonata's eyes widen in wonder. "For realzies?"
Adagio only answers with a sassy smirk, but Sonata doesn't connect the dots before Sugarcoat speaks up.
"It has occurred to me what I might do if it were me that needed to keep a secret. For example, the first thing that came to mind was bringing backup in case your intentions were hostile and having them wait at a different table while subtly keeping an eye on us."
Lemon and I glance around, but when we look back at her, Sugarcoat is smiling.
"I may be able to assist with convincing falsehoods."
For a second, I feel like a sucker, but Adagio's question reminds me how we got here.
"Ask her to start with not giving away incriminating details in the first place, please."
"That would be nice," I say with an innocent smile that hides the smugness I'm internally cackling over, "but, um... well, were you wondering how we figured out you knew in the first place?"
Her eyes widen, then flicker to Lemon. "To be completely honest, I assumed that Lemon made the same mistakes with you that she did with me."
Lemon's cheeks darken as she pouts. "Heeey!"
I resist the weird, alien urge to ruffle her hair. "That might have been part of it, but the first clue was that you knew more about us and the tea shop than anybody else. More than anybody else should have known."
Sugarcoat's expression doesn't change, but her face changes colors. "...Oh."
Smiling a little, I shrug. "For what it's worth, I didn't catch that part until my sisters pointed it out."
She glances around, hints of discomfort emerging on her features. "They're, with you? Right now?"
It occurs to me that if I thought there were people that could see me while I couldn't see them, I'd probably be ungodly self-conscious about it. "Kinda, yea." Smelling sympathy points, I make the effort to look just a little sad while folding my hands on the table. "We've pretty much only had each other for most of our lives, so we stick together, even now. And, if it got out that they were still with me, certain people might wanna separate us. For good." Recalling that the Rainbooms aren't necessarily my level-headed and understanding buddies, I project just a little vulnerability as I look up at her. "So...?"
Her mouth twitches a little, but she's looking at me like she just hit me with a car. "I, well, I did promise to help Lemon with this, so... I think we can work something out to keep your secret, and your family, safe."
Not that Lemon wasn't already living proof, but it looks like mean, selfish, victory-obsessed Crystal Prep students aren't soulless after all.
Eat it, Wondercolts!
...I know I go there too, but only because of the shenanigans that went on over here. I kind of wonder how differently things might have gone if I'd never ordered that stupid book, but that won't change where we are now.
Anyway, it looks like I've got Sugarcoat's cooperation. The three of us talk a little more about inconspicuous diversion tactics Lemon can learn to use, the exact details of the cover story behind the tea shop, and all the little ways Sugarcoat can back her up with this stuff before the topic sways to slurpees. Sugarcoat explains her philosophy on junk food; that as long as we're still young enough (give or take) to eat it without getting funny looks, we might as well enjoy that while we can.
Eventually, we see that the sun is going down, and since it's a school night, we all need to head home. Lemon volunteers to walk with me back to the bus station, and not just because I'm not sure which direction that is from here. On the way there, Adagio reminds me.
"So, about the reason we thought about calling Lemon in the first place..."
Sonata scratches her head. "The we'll-help-you-with-the-gem dealie, right?" She smiles. "Ooh, what if we told her about that? Like, to show we totally trust her again!"
Adagio is not as enthused. "You don't think it's a little early to put that kind of faith in her again?"
"Nope! She learned her lesson, and we're all friends, so it'll be fine!"
There's a hint of disgust in the way Adagio shakes her head. "I know I'm being paranoid, I know she's doing her best, but if Lemon goes on thinking that there's no real consequences for putting us at risk, who's to say how soon she'll get careless when we do trust her with something more? Aria, all I'm asking is that you warn her that if this happens again, there'll have to be some kind of... consequence. For her, Sugarcoat, or both, depending on the circumstances."
When Lemon's not looking at me, I raise an inquisitive eyebrow.
"You could-... Well, keep in mind that I mean this as an extreme measure to be taken only as a last resort, but... we haven't tested whether or not we can erase memories like this, have we?"
Sonata gasps. "Dagi!"
She scowls. "I didn't say I want to, but if she repeatedly proves to be a liability, it's only rational that we do something about it! Right now, it's defnitely not necessary to use any measure of magic on her, but some kind of warning, even if it's just 'if we get found out by the Rainbooms because of you, I'm afraid we can't be friends anymore,' feels called for!"
Things are quiet for a moment. Frowning, she twirls a lock of hair around a finger, a gesture I don't see her do very often. "I mean, be gentle about it, obviously, but after today, I think you should say something."
Embarrassing, Private Fantasies: Volume 1. Once upon a time, I imagined what I'd do if I were in charge while we still had plenty of power. One of those things was never taking shit from subordinates who screwed up what I wanted them to do. Just the thought of blasting someone after bellowing 'And THIS is the price of failure!!' made my fins twitch for a while.
Lemon isn't a subordinate, doesn't work for us, and things turned out okay this time, but she still let us down. I could just say that I can't overlook the trouble it could get me in if this just keeps happening and leave it at that. Or, if I wanted to assure Lemon that everything was cool, I could take another chance, tell her I really do have magic again, and be ready to cement our friendship further with mind-altering help (on OTHER people!!) if she wants it. But, what will I do if, even with Sugarcoat, that slips out too?
Aaaagh, I don't like this! Can't I just go home? Normal, magicless friends still help each other out in boring, human ways, right? What if I just say I'm willing to do that for her and call it a day? That's gotta be less stressful than all this friend-might-kinda-sorta-betray-me crap!
We're getting close to the bus stop. What should I say to her?