It usually took a lot to get under Sugar Coat's skin. Unless someone knew what specific buttons to push, the aloof girl tended to brush off whatever feeble attempts people made at her patience. Having someone she didn't like enter her game was one of the biggest, reddest, shiniest buttons one could ever hope to push.
Through expert control, she kept her irritation off of her face as she arranged her D&D supplies on her Library table.
"Uh, you okay, Sugar?" Indigo nervously asked, fishing her figure and character sheet out of her backpack.
"Yeah, you look like you're about to snap someone's neck," Lemon frowned, getting her gear out of her bag.
"That would get me arrested," Sugar flatly stated, setting up her DM screen. "I am fine."
"Uh....are you sure?" Lemon asked.
"Yes," Sugar pressed, a faint eye twitch showing her irritation.
"Sooooo, you're cool with Petal playing with us?" Indigo asked, leaning back in her seat away from her silently fuming friend.
".....Yes," she frowned, a few small eye-twitches creeping out of her as she stared at something on her side of the screen.
"Right," Lemon frowned, raising a brow. "What do you have against her, anyway? She seems pretty cool to me."
"Yeah," Indigo nodded. "Did you see how she handled Sour? Totally awesome!"
Sugar sighed at that, a small frown gracing her lips as she shuffled through a small stack of paper.
"I am impressed with how she handled Sour," Sugar plainly stated, unfolding a town map and placing it in the middle of the table. "I just don't think she's a good influence on Twilight."
"What are ya,' her mother?" Indigo frowned. "I mean, come on! Twilight's a bit of an airhead, sure, but she's not stupid. If Petal was bad news, I'm pretty sure she'd kick her to the curb already."
"Yeah," Lemon nodded, leaning back in her chair. "Besides, I don't think Petal even wants to hurt Twi."
"How do you know that?" Sugar asked, raising a brow.
"Just a vibe I get from her," she shrugged, putting her hands behind her head and tilting back her chair. "She's got this, rough older sister feel to her. Like, she'll give her a hard time, but she really cares about her too, ya' know?"
"I get that feeling too," Indigo smiled, snapping her fingers and pointing at the rocker. "That's probably why Twilight was so shaken up when they were fighting."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Lemon shivered. "Zombie Twi still gives me nightmares."
"The fact that they are so close is the problem," Sugar frowned. "You saw the way she dressed. How do we know she isn't part of some gang or something even more shady?"
"Dude, half of the guys at the concerts I go to dress like that," Lemon deadpanned. "Most of them are total dorks who still live in their mom's basement."
"Yeah," Indigo nodded. "And again, I think Sparkle's smart enough to stay away from any gangs. Hell, I think her brother's a cop. MIght make things a little awkward at home."
"I still don't trust her," Sugar frowned. "I can't put my finger on it, but something about her just doesn't feel right."
"I think you're just being a bit overprotective," Lemon said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, look at how far she's going to be a part of the group."
"Yeah," Indigo snorted. "I mean, do you seriously think she's jumping into this all on her own? Twilight totally dragged her into this."
"You say that like Twilight has a hold on her," Sugar frowned, raising a brow.
"Take it from me," Lemon smirked, rocking back and forth in her seat. "All little sisters own their sibs."
"Better not let your sister hear that," Sugar smirked. "She'll put you over her knee again."
"Tell her and you're dead," Lemon glared, pointing at the stone-faced teen
"Anyway," Indigo cut in with a sigh. "Can you at least give her a chance? Who knows? You might actually like her."
"I doubt it," she huffed, then sighed as she added, "But I suppose I could at least try to get along with her. For Twilight's sake."
"At'a girl," Indigo chuckled.
"I wonder what kind of character she created," Lemon hummed. "I'm guessing barbarian."
"Nah, she totally made a monk," Indigo smirked. "Tough girl like her? Totally the type that's not afraid to get her hands dirty!"
"Now look whose making assumptions," Sugar smirked. "If she's a beginner, I think she'll go with Swordsman or Rogue."
"If Twi's helping her, I doubt it," Lemon shrugged. "Now that I think about it, maybe she'll end up as a Warlock or a Necromancer."
"If that's the case, then she's probably going to be a Necromancer," Indigo frowned. "Twilight's character is a Warlock and we all know how crazy she is about team balance."
"Oh, yeah," Lemon sighed, rolling her eyes. "Now I feel sorry for her."
"Same," Sugar nodded, a small wicked smirk creeping past her mask.
"Careful Sugar, your devil is showing," Indigo chuckled.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she flatly stated.
"I hope they show up soon," Lemon groaned, fidgeting in her seat. "Grrrr, the suspense is killing me!"
As if on cue, the library doors opened and two girls walked in. One was a blushing Twilight, hiding her face behind her hands. The other was a girl that made the trio rub their eyes, Lemon shocked so hard that she lost her balance and fell out of her teetering chair. The girl's hair, eyes, and skin tone was the same as Petal, but that was where the similarities ended. Her two-toned green hair was tied into a pair of short braids with bright pink ribbons weaved into them. She wore a bright pink sundress that came just past her knees, a white ribbon covered with small pink flowers wrapped tight around her thin waist. A simple pair of white dress shoes adorned her feet as she stepped further into the library, her poise formal, yet fluid, as she approached the gobsmacked teens. A sky blue designer purse hung from her shoulder, shiny golden buckles holding it shut as it rattled at her side.
"Sorry we're late," Petal smiled, voice free of its usual rough edge. "It took a little longer to make my character than we thought it would."
Lemon and Indigo blinked at her, then, slowly aimed glares at Sugar. Sugar simply blinked at Petal, her mind struggling to make sense of what she was looking at. Shaking off her shock, Sugar simply nodded and looked down at her creature sheets.
"That's fine," Sugar flatly stated. "Give me your character sheet and I'll see how we can introduce you to the party."
"Okay," Petal giggled, reaching into her bag.
Twilight let out small groan as she slumped into a seat, mortification plane on her face as she fished her own D&D supplies out of her backpack. When Petal took a seat and handed Sugar her character sheet, Twilight's blush got even worse. Sugar's hand stopped just short of grabbing the sheet, the girl needed to blink to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, then took the offered paper.
"You put glitter on the edges," Sugar stated, raising a brow as she stared at the paper.
"I thought it would look better that way," Petal sweetly smiled.
"Right," Sugar blinked, then gave the sheet a careful scan.
After a brief moment of awkward silence, Sugar returned the character sheet and nodded.
"I think I can work with that,"
"Thank goodness," Petal sighed, hiding a relieved giggle behind a hand. "I've never made a character before, so I was a little nervous."
Petal rested her hands on her lap and, still softly smiling, turned to face Twilight and said, "This is going to be so much fun, right Twilight?"
"R-Right," Twilight said, forcing a small smile onto her face.
Petal just giggled and gave Sugar her full attention.
At the same time, Lemon and Indigo slipped Sugar notes under the table. A faint frown graced her lips when she read them behind her DM screen. While the wordings were slightly different, they both roughly said the same thing.
"Look what you've done."
***
The tavern was full of life, everyone talking merrily as they traded stories and threw back drinks. In a far corner of the room, three women sat soaking in the good cheer while nursing their own brews. Sparrow happily read a small book, a glass of wine within easy reach as she lost herself in its contents. To her left Melody was tuning her instrument, a task made all the more difficult by the sheer number of swigs she had taken from her pint of meed. Shroud wasn't in any better shape, the rogue singing off key to a tune a nearby table of drunken Satyrs were howling into the pub. The elven mage snuck a peek over the top of her book at the sight and let a small smile creep onto her face. A small chuckle fell past her lips as she took a sip of her wine.
"Best pace yourselves," Sparrow chuckled, closing her book. "You may come to regret it later, if you don't."
"That's future me's problem," Melody snickered, teetering in her seat.
"She's right!" Shroud cheered, happily lifting her mug in a toast. "Tonight we celebrate! Down with the Dark Lord! Up with the Shining Prince!"
A loud cheer filled the tavern, everyone raising their mugs in agreement before taking long pulls.
Shroud was about to join them when a soft white hand gently lowered her mug back onto the table. The rogue turned to face its owner, bitter words and a fist at the ready, only to stop in place a second later. Standing before her was an ivory elf, her attire the shining silver hooded cloak and robe of a holy cleric. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue that held nothing, but kindness. Blond curls framed her gentle face as she stared down at the drunken rogue, said rogue losing her urge for violence under the other woman's stare.
"You should take her words to heart," the cleric said, removing her hand from the mug. "Lest you let your vices rule you."
"Who the hell are you?" Shroud frowned, her buzz cut to an abrupt halt.
Before the cleric could respond, Sparrow let out a tired sigh.
"Leave her be Sparkler," she deadpanned.
The cleric, Sparkler, blinked in shock at the mage for a moment, then gave a small smile and nod.
"If that is what you wish, old friend."
"Friend?" Melody frowned, raising a brow. "You know each other?"
"In a way," Sparrow frowned. "Melody, Shroud, meet Sparklier. We used to be classmates before I joined the guild."
"We were a bit more than that," Sparkler giggled. "If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have had any friends at all."
"A cold one, even back then, eh?" Shroud smirked, eyeing her newest party member.
"I was simply studious," Sparrow huffed, crossing her arms.
"True," Sparkler giggled. "I'm happy to see that you have finally taken time away from your studies to be with others. Look at you know. A great hero and one of three responsible for freeing a whole country. It warms my heart to see how far you've come."
"Y-You speak too highly of me," Sparrow blushed, suddenly interested in the knots in the wooden table's face.
"I speak only the truth," Sparkler smiled. "May I join you? It has been quite some time since I last saw you and I'm sure your party has quite a few tales to share."
"You don't know the half of it," Melody smirked. "Pull up a chair and let Melody of the Silver Strings tell you the tale of how our dear mage matched wits with a nymph to save my foolish hide."
"Please do, oh marvelous bard," the cleric demurred, taking the offered seat.
***
The campaign went off without a hitch, Petal's kindly cleric fitting in almost perfectly with the party's overall play style. The strict pacifist nature of her character made her less of a target in monster encounters and her wide assortment of healing spells did a great job keeping the party alive. Overall, she was a very competent player, asking questions if there was a rule she didn't understand or if she wanted to take a particular action that wasn't in the books. The problem was that this wasn't the Petal Wasp they were expecting to be here today.
Instead of the rough and mouthy girl they all met at the mall, they were stuck now dealing with a sweet maiden that would sooner cut her own arm off than say a swear or dirty her dress. The contrast was jarring to say the least and the act was very quickly starting to take its toll on Twilight. Evert time Petal opened her mouth, the poor girl looked like she was going to die from embarrassment, even more so when Petal started doting on her or when their characters interacted. That was nothing compared to how her actions affected Sugar Coat, though.
One of the few things Sugar took pride in was her abilities to read people. While not perfect, she could usually tell when someone was giving her a hard time or trying to get something out of her. It helped her keep people honest when she collected late fees from students each week. With Petal, it was such a different story, it might as well have been written in a dead language.
The girl's acting was eerily perfect. The sweetness of her tone and the fluidity of her motions were so natural, it was almost impossible for her to believe that she was the same girl she met at the mall. It unnerved and irritated her all at the same time, making her question just which version of the girl was actually the fake. If it wasn't for Twilight's reactions, she was sure Petal's performance would've driven her up the walls. Instead, it forced her to DM with a rabidly growing migraine that threatened to split her skull in half.
Not helping were the looks Indigo and Lemon were giving her.
While they didn't seem all too bothered with how Petal played, it was clear they were not happy with her out-of-game performance. They wanted to spend time with Twilight's "Cool Older Sister," not this cheap, tolled up mother hen. After the fiftieth shared glare, she clenched her jaw and passed them each a letter under the table.
They covertly read the notes, three letters that brought relieved sighs out of them.
"I'll fix this."
"Excuse me, Sugar Coat," Petal called, raising her hand.
"Yes Petal?" she asked, a faint twitch of her eye the only discomfort making it past her pokerface.
"If I use Healing Word on a zombie, will it hurt it?"
"No," Sugar flatly replied.
"Oh," she pouted. "Then I cast it on Shroud and toss her her weapon."
"Roll for dexterity," Sugar sighed.
This is going to be a long night, Sugar bitterly thought, rubbing her temples.
***
Clean up was a silent affair, a negative sign as far as Sugar was concerned. Everyone looked exhausted, practically shoving their gear into their bags with little interest in order. Even Twilight couldn't muster up the effort, the girl usually going out of her way to put her stuff into her bag in a very particular order. Instead, she just slid her character sheet into a folder, dropped it into her bag, then dumped the rest of her books and figurine into her bag with all the care of a town drunk after a large bender. Sugar had the worst of it, most of her gear needing to be sorted into different piles and needing different kinds of containers to help her keep track of everything she needed to run her campaigns.
While Sugar begrudgingly went to work in putting her stuff away, she caught sight of Petal helping Twilight organize her bag. To her immense annoyance, the girl was just as full of energy now as she was at the start of the game. A buzz from her phone caught her attention, pulling her focus away from the actress as she pulled it out of her pocket. A message from Indigo greeted her on the screen. Raising a brow, she tapped the screen, read the short message, then rolled her eyes.
Good luck? Thanks Indigo, she thought, aiming a deadpan at the girl in question as she and Lemon left the Library.
"That was a lot of fun," she heard Petal giggle. "I can't wait to play again."
Sugar's eye twitched at that, the thought of going through this a second time filling her with dread.
"Y-Yeah," Twilight stammered, forced smile plastered across her face. "Should be fun."
I will end this pain NOW!
"Petal, can I have a word with you?" Sugar asked, only the faintest trace of anger entering her monotone.
"Okay," Petal smiled, seemingly oblivious to the girl's building frustration.
Still smiling, she patted Twilight on the shoulder and said, "I'll meet you at the lab, okay?'
"Sure," she sighed, sliding her backpack on. "Don't take too long."
"I'll try," she giggled with a wink.
Twilight just sighed and made her way towards the exit, both girls watching her the whole way through. The second the door closed, Petal started to make her way towards Sugar, only to stop when the girl motioned for her to do so. Sugar crossed her arms and approached her. The bespectacled teens eyes drilled into Petal's, gray violet meeting confused teal as she tried to see past her mask.
"Why are you acting like this?" Sugar asked. "You and I both know you're not like this. Stop it. It's creepy and Twilight clearly doesn't like it."
Petal giggled demurely at that then sweetly asked, "What do you mean? I'm just being a friend worthy of Twilight. What's so bad about that?"
"Is that what this is about?" Sugar asked, secretly taken aback by the comment.
Petal nodded, smiling sweetly and doing a little twirl.
"That's.....not necessary," Sugar frowned. "Everyone likes the way you were before. Even I prefer that over how you're acting now."
"I don't know," Petal pouted, tapping her chin in thought. "I think I like being like this. It feels kind of good putting on pretty dresses and being prim. Oh! I know! Maybe I can talk Twilight and the others into wearing the same thing! We can be matchies!"
Sugar's eyes widened at that, an image of Twilight and Petal coming into the library dressed and acting the same as the girl in front of her. The thought chilled her to her core, filling her with a panic strong enough to drive her to grab Petal by the shoulders. It grew even more when a brief image of Indigo and Lemon falling victim to the same fate flashed before her minds eye.
I must stop the spread! Now! Before its too late!
"Please don't," she gulped, genuine fear creeping into her monotone. "Just be yourself. Please! I'm begging you!"
"Are you sure?" she asked, worry decorating her features.
Sugar nodded, eyes filled with desperation.
Petal met her gaze for a few seconds, then let a wicked smile grace her lips.
"Good," she snorted, shaking Sugar's hands off. "Cuz that act was a fucking pain to keep up."
Sugar let out a relieved sigh, happy to hear the rough edge return to the girl's voice.
"That was pure evil," Sugar grumbled, glaring softly at the chuckling girl.
"Try having someone give you the stink-eye for a whole day," Petal frowned, crossing her arms. "Sounds like a total bitch move, right?"
"Right," Sugar sighed. "I suppose I deserved that."
"Damn straight," she huffed. "You have any idea how bent out of shape Twilight was after that?"
Sugar faintly cringed at that.
Petal growled irritably and took a seat on a nearby table.
"Look, I get it," Petal frowned. "You don't like me. I can deal with that shit all the way to the grave if I have to. If that ends up making things harder on Sparkles, then we're gonna have a problem."
Sugar nodded, taking a seat next to the snippy teen. Whether it was shame or mental exhaustion, she couldn't bring herself to meet Petal's eyes, her shoes suddenly seeming much more interesting. A moment of silence settled between the two girls, one lacking the words needed to fill the void while the other let her stew for a bit.
An irate sigh, then Petal fully broke the silence with, "Look, I'm not saying we have to be friends, but can we at least get along?"
Sugar blinked at that, then turned her head towards Petal.
"I don't want Twilight to feel like she has to pick between us or anything like that," Petal continued. "Plus, you seem like a pretty cool person. Might make me like these game nights a little more, too."
Sugar's lips pulled up into a faint smile at that.
"Twilight talked you into this, didn't she?"
Petal looked away from her, hiding her blush as she said, "The game? Maybe. The get-up was my idea though."
Sugar giggled a little at that.
"Looks like Lemon was right," she smiled.
"Huh?" Petal blinked, turning towards Sugar.
"Don't worry about it," Sugar sighed, waving her question off. "As for your previous request, I think I can do that."
"Huh?" Petal blinked.
"Before the game started, Lemon and Indigo said some things that made me....rethink my opinions of you."
"Really?" Petal asked, genuinely intrigued.
Sugar nodded.
"I may not like how you present yourself, but you seem to genuinely care about Twilight. For that, I should at least give you a chance."
"You really mean that?" Petal pressed.
"Yes," Sugar smiled.
"Bitch'n!" she cheered, pumping her fist.
"No swearing in the library," Sugar frowned, lightly chopping her on the head.
"Owie," Petal whined, rubbing her head. "That hurt."
"Please don't do that," Sugar shivered.
"You're not going to kiss it and make it feel better?" Petal pouted.
"I will throw you out of here," Sugar frowned. "I've done it to Indigo and I will do it to you if you push your luck."
Petal dropped the act with a laugh, the rough sound dumping a mix of relief and exasperation into Sugar. At the same time, a small smile slipped past her stony expression. A smile that faded when her migraine decided to remind her of its presence. With a tired sigh, she got up from the desk and headed towards the library's main desk.
"Where are you going?" Petal asked, tailing her.
"The librarian keeps a bottle of brandy hidden under the main desk," she stated, getting behind he desk.
"Aren't you underage?" Petal asked from the other side, arms crossed and roguish smile firmly in place.
"After what you put me through, it's either this or bleach," she flatly stated, brining out a bottle of amber liquid and a shot glass.
Petal laughed at that.
"Didn't think a square like you would pull something like this," she smirked.
"I play a rogue sometimes," Sugar shrugged.
"Got a second shot under there?" Petal asked.
"Aren't you a cleric," Sugar asked, raising a brow.
"I'm off the clock," she smirked.
Rolling her eyes, Sugar put a second shot glass onto the desk. With practiced ease, the girl quickly filled the glasses and pushed one in front of Petal. The disguised Wraith took the offering, smiling up at Sugar as she edged the glass towards her.
"To Twilight," she smiled.
"To friends," Sugar smiled, tapping her glass against Petal's
With that, the two girls downed their drinks, cementing their bond.