//------------------------------// // Chapter 12. Hanging Out // Story: Help // by WittyNameTFM //------------------------------// Indigo sat on her bed, writing out the answers for her homework, music playing from her phone. She hummed to the beat as she bobbed her head gently. The pulsing sorta hurt her eye, but that was healing up well. She felt a bit of warmth in her chest as she recalled the day she came home with the black eye. Solar and Cerise were so concerned, it was nice to actually feel like someone cared. She got a sick eyepatch for the time being. Sunny knocked on the open door to get her attention. "Hey, whatcha up to?" "School work, listening to this band that Lemon sent me. Said she felt more focused with music playing. I mean, it helps but I get lost in the music." "Learning from the master now?" She raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Listen, if Lemon is sharing the band with you, you give it a listen. I don't make the rules." "What happens if you don't?" "She makes this face that reminds you of a kicked puppy and...you start to understand why Sour lets her get away with so much." "Noted." "Come on in, take a seat." She offered. Indigo's room really started to take shape. They had gotten her a desk and her things from her previous home were spread out, but it was nice to see her actually owning the space she was given. For a while she barely even got under the blankets. Sunny took a seat near the bed. They didn't speak much, just sat together, listening to music. It wasn't exciting, but it was nice. The music playing was catchy and just suited Indigo, or at least the idea of the girl beside her. That idea, the image of Indigo Zap, had changed so much in the last six months alone. She stole a glance, the strong and confident girl she had initially known was still there of course, but Sunny knew the girl better now. The insecurities and blemishes that the others didn't get to see. Her night terrors, her doubt. She still feels out of place whenever she is invited along with the family, and is still nervous around Solar. She could see Indigo's annoyance with herself over it. She was desperate to make sure she didn't show any weakness for so long, now that she didn't have a reason to bury the fears, she didn't know how to handle herself. Which explained her awkwardness around the girls. She still feels like she has to be the 'tough' one, despite being one of the most emotionally open of the group. She never hides from her past and is the first to ask if everyone is okay. She cares so much about the people who reached out for her. "There a reason you're staring at me?" She asked, breaking the silence with a smirk. "Huh? Oh, just thinking." "About me? How sweet." "Yes about you, you pest." Sunny gently hit her arm. "Really? What about? My good looks? My athletic skills? The eyepatch?" She asked, crossing her legs, leaning closer with a bigger grin. "I was thinking about how grateful I am to have gotten to know you." Sunny huffed, crossing her arms with a pout. "But if you're gonna be like this, I'll keep that to myself." "Wow, for real? How long until I'm too much to deal with?" "The thought hasn't crossed my mind. I'm very proud of your progress." "Well, I wouldn't be where I am if you weren't there for me." She said with a soft smile. "If you're about to thank me again-" "I'll thank you however many times I please." She huffed. "Ugh. I guess I'll have to put up with it." She faked a sigh. "I'm just glad you're recovering. I'm happy we get to have time together, without worrying if you'll shut me out." Indigo reached out to muss her hair with a smirk. "Nah. I'm lucky to have someone like you and I'll be grateful for the rest of my life. You basically saved me, dude." "I don't think you needed saving. You just needed a hand." Their phones buzzed, a message in the group chat. "What's everyone up to? 👀👀👀" Lemon asked, they didn't have to read the name. The emojis gave her away. "Just hanging out with Sunny, we're listening to that band you sent me." "Oop, didn't mean to interrupt." She replied. "Hope you are enjoying the music." "We are. I quite enjoy it as well." Sunny typed out, ignoring the early bit of the reply. "Really? I'll have to get you a playlist too. I didn't know if you'd be interested." "Now you've gone and done it." Sugarcoat interjected. "You'll never hear the end of music recommendations." "Am I that bad?" She said, the image Indigo mentioned before of the sad Lemon Zest expression was far too accurate. Sunny shook her head to dispel the thought. "Of course not, dear. She's teasing." She typed out. "What'd you wanna ask about, Lemon?" "Just curious. I'm bored and wanna do something!" Indigo thought for a moment, looking over at Sunny. "How about we go get lunch or something?" "I could go for lunch." Indigo pulled her phone up. "Wanna get food?" "I'm in! 😄" "That sounds like a good time." Sugarcoat said. "You're welcome to come too, y'know?" Indigo chimed in. "And Sour too, where is she?" "Said she was busy with something. I'll call her if you want me to." Lemon offered. "I'm here." "Oh, hey! How are you feeling today?" The difference in Lemon's replies were surprising. Even through text, they felt different to how she normally replied. "I'm good. I'd be okay with seeing you girls today." Sour's replies were short and to the point. She must have been having an off day. No teasing or poking fun at anyone. "Sounds like fun, what are we gonna do?" Lemon asked excitedly. "Let's get some food and see what happens from there." Indigo suggested, looking up to Sunny. "Maybe we could invite them over?" "That sounds fun. Let's go ask mom." She hopped off the bed, Indigo following her out. The woman was sitting in the living room, watching something on the tv. She looked up as they walked in. "How are my girls today?" She asked with a smile. A warmth sparked in Indigo, but Sunny rolled her eyes. "We're good. Can we invite the others over to hang out later?" "Of course. But just know that I will do my damndest to embarass you." She grinned wickedly. "C'mon, mom…" She grumbled. "I don't mind, sweetie." "Thanks mom. C'mon, let's go." "See ya." Indigo waved before following Sunny again, splitting off momentarily to get ready to leave. A quick trip into town led the Shadowbolts to meeting for the first time outside of school. They met at the mall, this time Indigo could actually enjoy being there without worrying about a text. She and Sunny walked behind the other three, Lemon excitedly talked about a new band she was interested in, explaining the lyrics of her favorite song in detail, though most of her speech boiled down to "It's so good, you gotta hear it!" Sugarcoat caught Indigo watching Lemon talking to Sour. "She's a wealth of knowledge, it's too bad that the knowledge is questionable at best." "She's passionate about it." Indigo shrugged with a smirk. "Sour doesn't seem to mind." Sugarcoat looked back over, noting the small smile that snuck it's way onto the girl's face. She hadn't spoken up or cut Lemon off, just listened as she rambled on about how she perceived the meaning of this song. "It-It's like if you look at the lore, she's immortal and only gets to meet people once! She has to be lonely. A lot of her music and even her sign off mentions being remembered. If it's not intentional, then that's one hell of a coincidence, right?"  "But isn't she annoyed by the girl you're saying the song is about?" "That's just it! She is bad at showing her affection, so she slips them into her music. The only person she's capable of knowing over several lifetimes and like-" "I have no idea what she's going on about, but it sounds interesting." Sugarcoat admitted. "To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't pulled us into lyric deep dives more often." Indigo said. "I could if you want me to." Lemon said over her shoulder. "How is your hearing that good with how loud you blare your music?" Sunny asked, surprised. Lemon shrugged. They took a break in the food court, Lemon and Indigo going to order for the table. "How is she doing at your place?" Sugarcoat asked, Sunny smiled softly. "She's starting to come around, mom and dad love her to death. She gets flustered when they call her 'their kid'." "Good. So everything is working out." "I'd say so, Indigo is getting along well with my dad too. They've been watching old wrestling matches, kinda surprised how she's taken to it." "That is surprising." Sugarcoat blinked. "Like what you want, I suppose." "-And I just dig her voice, it's so deep and strong, but also really cute. I don't know how anyone could tease her about it. She wasn't confident in her voice before becoming a content creator." Lemon spoke as they returned to the table. Indigo sat a plate of food in front of Sunny as well. "But you don't know what she's saying, right?" She asked. "I know enough to watch her streams and understand. Besides when she sings then it's my territory. Music has no language barrier. It's something you can feel." She explained. "Hmm. I think I get it. Wait, so how many songs can you-" "I know TONS of Japanese songs." She said excitedly. "Indigo?" "Mm?" She hummed, glancing over. "You bought me lunch?" Sunny asked with a confused head tilt. "You haven't eaten today, I figured something would help." She shrugged. "How sweet, thank you." Sunny took a bite as she watched Lemon and Indigo talk. Sugarcoat lifted a brow at the gesture, Sour met her look, keeping a closer eye on the duo. "Oh! This other girl is an awesome singer, I'll send you an example later. Like, her first original song was basically about how she viewed the world for a lot of her life, never smiling, just coasting, and like, she even said that her world was muted, and in the color scheme of the music video the first part is in black and white. Her little mascot, the reference to her performances as a creator, came to pull her out of the dark and there's this gorgeous shot of her reaching out and the colors appearing. God, her singing is so good…" She sighed wistfully. "Her story and personality has to be my favorite." Sour listened, the description of a muted world sounded dumb at first. She looked down at her own hand, feeling a bit of sympathy for the woman Lemon was talking about. She could relate. She glanced up at Lemon.  "You're all in for these guys. That's cool." Indigo chuckled. "Oh! Tell me about wrestling. I never got into it." She said excitedly. "Oh, alright. I'm still learning stuff myself, but I've really been interested in Michiru's stuff. She goes by Michiru Mishima. She's like a 3 time champion and her style is just really cool. Lots of dives and kicks. She has this submission that looks like it's pulling your shoulder out of socket." She explained, "But her recent work is like being a coward but in a really entertaining way." "How do you manage that?" "Well, running away from a fight she starts or pitting people against each other. She has a partner who hypes her up and they're just insufferable." She chuckled. "One time they were coming out to the ring and one of their rivals grabbed her tag partner. She only noticed when she went for a blind high five and she wasn't there." "How can you be so goofy and still be taken seriously?" Sugarcoat asked. "I mean, in the ring she's awesome. Her personality just adds to the package in my opinion." "Sounds dumb. But the fun kind of dumb." Sour said. "Exactly. It looks like fun. Despite the pain." The group continued to discuss different topics, Lemon veering off into topics she knew a lot about. It was nice, hanging out like normal people did. Indigo looked around as her friends talked, just taking in the moment. She took a quiet breath with a smile. "You're making a memory." Sunny said with a smirk. "Huh?" "Mom always called it that. When you zone out and just take in the moment. You're making a memory." "Whatever…" Indigo huffed, blushing lightly at being caught. "It's cute." "It isn't." "It is." Lemon watched with her head resting on both palms, grinning as the two bickered. "They're like an old married couple." Sugarcoat said flatly. "It's nice to see them so casual with each other though." Sour noted. Lemon's eyes darted between the two as they fired back and forth. "Drama queen!" "Tomboy!" "Well, that one's just true, isn't it?" Indigo asked, the apparent anger in her voice vanishing almost immediately. "I suppose yours was as well, now that I think of it." Sunny shrugged. "Now that you two are done flirting, can we move on?" Sour asked flatly. "Huh?!" "Just what are you implying?!" "Cute." Lemon giggled.