Larger Than Life

by Equimorto

Champagne Bath

"What are you doing here?"

"She's with me, mum." Trixie poked her head out from behind Rainbow's silhouette. "I invited her over for the evening." There was an understated giddiness to her tone as she spoke, one that tore into and took away most of her boastful bravado and replaced it with serene cheerfulness.

Her mother smiled at the news. "You finally made a friend?" She extended a hand to Rainbow. "I'm Sunflower, pleased to meet you."

"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow said, shaking the woman's hand while Trixie quietly died of shame behind her.

"Come on, come in." Trixie's mother stepped back through the door and welcomed the girls inside. "Are you staying for dinner?"

Rainbow stepped inside after the woman's invitation. "Probably not. I haven't really warned my parents and I wouldn't want to spring this on them." It spoke a great deal about how embarrassed she was at the thought of a dinner conversation with her maybe dating partner's mother that she chose to do the responsible thing, and pretended to do so for the sake of being responsible.

Trixie's mother knew Rainbow far from well enough to realise how out of character her decision was for her, and so only gave a polite smile and an understanding nod. "Of course. If you ever want to come over another day, feel free to."

Rainbow only got to reply to that with a nod of her own, before being dragged farther into the house by Trixie. Sunflower watched them go with the head shake characteristic of parents watching their kids be immature in harmless and endearing ways, then closed the door and went back to the other room.

Before she got a good look at the house, Rainbow found herself inside what had to be Trixie's room, sat on the bed next to the wall as its owner locked the door behind herself. The place wasn't excessively small, though it wasn't big either, but it was cramped. Longer than it was wide, one side of the room was completely taken over by a wardrobe and a set of shelves beside it, overflowing with stuff. Mostly stage magic related stuff at a glance, alongside some clothes, musical equipment, and a few things Rainbow recognised as coming from various school trips or other activities.

Trixie's bed was on the other side of the room, only the nightstand between it and the door, and past the foot of the bed was Trixie's own desk with her PC atop it. The desk was possibly just as cramped as the shelves, textbooks and notes barely visible on it under all manners of tricks in various stages of execution and a few books on music theory. Past that still was the window, and with the curtains drawn Rainbow got a good look at the Sun as it was nearing the horizon.

Trixie must have noticed her looking around in silence, because she suddenly cleared her throat and stepped up in front of her. "So. What do you think?"

Rainbow had another broad look around. "Seems pretty nice." She wasn't about to comment on how messy the place was, not when her own room was far worse. Trixie at least took proper care of her clothes.

Trixie gave a half twirl, and plopped herself down sitting next to Rainbow. "Pretty nice, yeah?" she repeated quietly. Awkwardly she leaned a bit to the side, her shoulder into Rainbow's own, and reached with her arm behind the other's back.

Rainbow at first shifted in place, unsure of how to take the intimacy, then decided to stay there. They were together, after all, kind of, maybe. And it didn't feel bad. Just weird, and new. She looked at Trixie. Maybe it felt nice. She reached out with her arm behind Trixie's back and wrapped her hand around the other side. It did feel nice. Trixie looked at her. Rainbow blushed. She tried to get the conversation going again. "So, uh, got a plan for what we could do?"

"I was thinking we could just figure it out on our own," Trixie said. "Chat about something."

"We already chatted at the mall."

Trixie glared at Rainbow's unintentional attempt at shooting down the mood, but let it pass. "I'm sure we have more to chat about. Things to get to know each other. Something might come to mind."

Rainbow mulled that over, and had another look around the room. "Why be a magician?" she asked on a whim.

For a brief moment, Trixie recoiled at the question the way she'd usually do with a spider. It was barely a flash though, less than a second, and Rainbow wasn't even sure she'd seen it properly. A couple of seconds passed in silence as Trixie thought, and by the end of it she decided Rainbow may as well hear about it if they were to be together. That was what partners did. Or something. "My dad was one."

"Oh, cool." Rainbow answered on instinct, but after a moment what she'd heard properly clicked and she looked back to Trixie with worry about what she'd said. "Was?" she asked in a far more tactful tone.

"Still is, probably." Trixie had a look around the room too, an excuse to look anywhere but Rainbow's eyes. "I've never met him. Mum... They kind of left each other before I came along, but she's not angry about it. Maybe one day." Just because she was telling Rainbow the truth didn't mean she had to tell her the whole thing.

"I see." Rainbow did not actually see how Trixie's father abandoning her mother would lead to the girl wishing to follow along with his footsteps, but if it made sense to the girl then that was that. "Your shows are pretty good, from what I've seen. Just maybe need to work on the whole smoke exit thing."

Trixie chuckled. "Thanks. Believe me, that works better when you have a trapdoor." She recalled one particularly unfortunate instance. "And when the trapdoor works properly." She finally looked back to Rainbow. "What about your parents? How are they?"

"Oh, they love me!" Rainbow said, leaning down onto the mattress with her arms behind her head. "A little too much, maybe." She crossed her legs. "Then again, I am awesome."

Trixie leaned down beside her. "I suppose you are neat enough, yes." She smirked at Rainbow's glare, then broke into light laughter after the other's frown turned to snorting amusement. "I could teach you a couple guitar tricks, later."

"That might be nice," Rainbow said. "Later." Suddenly she found herself with Trixie's head over her chest, the girl's hand over her stomach.

"I wanted to see what this is like," Trixie said. "I've never really had a chance to try."

Rainbow looked down at Trixie's silver hair for a bit. Hesitant, she reached out with a hand, and began to stroke it. Trixie shifted a little at her touch at first, but did not complain afterwards. Rainbow slowly got into a rhythm, petting Trixie's head and neck like she was a cat. "Feels pretty nice on my end," she said, looking at the ceiling.

Trixie pulled up her legs to have them pressed against Rainbow's side. "On mine too."

There they lay for a while, as the Sun got lower outside the window, and tired from the day's activities there they may have stayed a while longer still had they not been interrupted by a grumble from Rainbow's stomach.

Trixie propped herself up, looking at the other while her hair partly fell over her face. "Seriously? You had a burger and ice cream, how are you still hungry?"

Rainbow shrugged. "I burn through a lot of calories."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "I'll go fetch us some snacks." She walked out the room, leaving Rainbow alone on the bed for a bit. Eventually she came back, a glass bowl in her hands alongside a bag of crisps. She sat down once more beside Rainbow, poured the bag into the bowl, and placed it between the two of them.

Rainbow pulled herself up, and began to eat a few crisps at a time. "I like the ceiling," she said between two pinches of food.

Trixie looked at her, while taking some crisps into her own hand. "Thanks?"

Rainbow looked at her, and swallowed. "I like you too."

Trixie blushed, taken aback. "Thanks," she said, more quietly and looking away. After a moment, she added, "I like you too."

Rainbow downed a few more crisps. "Wanna come to my place tomorrow?"

Trixie thought about it. "Sure." She ate some more. "After lunch?"

"After lunch." Rainbow nodded as she dusted her hands, then pulled herself farther onto the bed so her back was against the wall. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

Trixie thought about it. "How does the songwriting process in your band work? Do you sit around and discuss it over or do you each do your own songs?"

"It's mostly Fluttershy's thing," said Rainbow. "Occasionally we get to do our thing too though, or write our own lyrics. But she's the main songwriter. She's good at it, and it's less work for the rest of us." She hesitated for a moment, then added, "Plus, you know, it's fair she gets to do that to justify being a part of the band when she's playing a tambourine." She didn't look too proud of that statement, but there was some truth to it. She clarified, "She is probably the best songwriter among us though."

Trixie nodded. "Makes sense." She pursed her lips into a subdued smile. "What about the yacht one? Who wrote that?"

Rainbow wretched at the mention of that particular song, which she routinely tried to purge from her memory. She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Look, we had a contractual obligation to make that one, alright? I don't like it, I don't think anyone liked it except Spike, and I don't remember who wrote it other than Pinkie writing her own verse." She sighed again. "We try not to let Pinkie write her own lyrics too often."

"I can't imagine why." Trixie took one last handful of crisps, then set the bowl aside and pulled her legs up on the bed. "I haven't really written a proper full song in a while. I should get around to it some day."

"I can help if you want."

Trixie pulled a face, before quickly pulling it back. "Thanks, but..." She tried to think of the right words. It was her maybe sort of girlfriend she was talking to. "Your work is... not really my style of music. I could use your help with the solo, though."

Rainbow looked at her. "What's wrong with my stuff?"

Trixie huffed. Best to say it straight. "Look, Awesome As I Wanna Be is-"

"The kind of song you would write about yourself?" Rainbow looked at Trixie with a smug expression.

Trixie hesitated. "No. Well. In spirit, maybe, but Trixie is awesome. But it's without the flair and poise I bring to my own image. You're too... raw. Too unrefined."

"You mean it's without the fluff," Rainbow said. "All those useless little frills and decorations you wrap yourself in and prop yourself up with. You don't need to do that if you're really great and powerful, you can just state it without the need to dance around it and be all pompous."

"And I don't believe stating something without proving it is enough. You lack Trixie's finesse." Trixie paused, looking at Rainbow as if taken by a terrible realisation. "Am I as annoyingly egocentric as you are?"

Rainbiw quirked an eyebrow. "I'm annoying?"

Trixie blinked. "No. No, clearly we're both great and awesome, and everyone else is wrong. I guess we are perfect for each other after all."

Rainbow looked at Trixie in the eyes. Trixie looked back at her, and for a moment the room was silent. Then they both burst into laughter. Then they were hugging again.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

But it's without the flair and poise I bring to my own image. You're too... raw. Too unrefined.

Says the girl who wrote a song with the lyrics "I'm a six-course meal and you're just burnt toast."