While dealing with her new, mundane life, Aria has an encounter that changes things in a way she never would have expected.
After their defeat at the Battle of the Bands, the Dazzlings were able to build some kind of life for themselves. It was far from glamorous, in fact they found it humiliating, but at least it was a life. In fact out of all of them, Aria found some level of fame through series of Internet video she started. A level that led her to an encounter that would change her life in ways she never would have imagined.
Aria woke up with a start at the alarm on her phone shocked her out of her sleep. She instinctually reached over, picked up the phone off the night stand and tapped the screen to make the annoying noise stop. She then let out a tired groan as the rest of her mind woke up and the usual realization of the day hit her: she had to go to work.
It had been a little over a year since their defeat at the Battle of the Bands. The immediate aftermath had been the worst part with her and Adagio yelling at each other over whose fault it was and Sonata crying that she didn’t want to die. Thankfully whatever magic the Rainbooms had used on them made it so they could keep themselves alive on actual food instead of emotions.
Of course that presented the problem of where they were going to get food! Without their gems they couldn’t persuade people to give them what they wanted anymore. They couldn’t even sing! So how where they supposed to get food?! Or clothes?! Or shelter?!
Well the clothes part was easy enough to solve as they snuck back to the school later and picked up their regular outfits. Food and shelter had been solved with an incredible stroke of luck none of them could believe. After they had hopped a bus into the city they found a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of a bakery labeled “Sweets Emporium” that just so happened to need three new employees. Even better the owners had and apartment upstairs to rent that would “comfortably” fit the three of them.
Comfortably being a relative word. It was a one room apartment with two beds and of course Adagio claimed one all to herself so that left Aria and Sonata sharing one. Aria did try the couch for the first few weeks but that just wasn’t going to work out. Though sharing a bed with your loudly snoring sister was only slightly better than a lumpy old couch.
Least she got up before me today, Aria thought as she stumbled into the bathroom to start her morning routine before going downstairs to work.
Least this place came with its own bathroom. That was one small thing to be thankful for. Though, again, having to share it with Adagio and Sonata almost took away from that little convenience. Especially when they were all running late. She lived for mornings like today where she could take her time and have the place to herself for just a little bit.
Wow that’s pathetic, she thought as she brushed her teeth.
It’s true that this was definitely not the life any of them had thought they’d have, especially when their full power was just within their grasp again. Still, if the choice was to be happy with the little bit of solitude she got and dying she would take the bit of solitude every time.
Besides, she found a bit of happiness in this new life of theirs. Once they had collectively saved enough money to buy things other than food, they picked up a second hand laptop and TV as well as a streaming device and Internet. And thankfully they all had their own phones. Through a combination of all those things and being bored, Aria found herself watching a really bad horror movie and wanted to rant to someone about it. Unfortunately, Adagio didn’t care and talking to Sonata was just making her more upset. So eventually she recorded something on her phone and on a whim uploaded it to MyTube.
To her great surprise people actually liked it. A lot. And so she did another one after watching another bad movie. And then another. And another. And eventually she got some basic editing software and a stand for her phone so she could make more intricate reviews like she had seen around online. And again people continued to like them. She had to admit she really liked doing them too. It helped her get a lot of her frustration about...everything out so she wouldn’t get into exhausting fights with her sisters or lash out at the customers.
You threaten to rip out a guy’s nose ring ONE time! She thought angrily as she walked out of the bathroom and went about putting on her uniform.
She grimaced a bit as she picked up the nearly neon pink polo T-shirt with a smiling cupcake on it. Every day she worked she had to fight the urge to rip the horrible thing to shreds before she put it on. Thankfully the black slacks were a little more her style though still a bit uncomfortable. After slipping off her socks and shoes, she tied her hair up into its usual twintail style and grabbed her keys and phone as she headed out. She trudged down the stairs and popped into the side door that led into the bakery’s kitchen. The first thing she spotted was a very angry looking Adagio in the dish pit with many hairnets on scrubbing away on some of the dirty sheet trays. Aria flashed her an overly large smile and wave as she passed which cause Adagio to growl and scrub the tray harder.
That was another good thing about this life.
She continued to walk through the kitchen until she came upon the small office tucked into the corner. She popped her head inside to find her favorite of the two owners sitting behind the desk. Like herself, Glinda had a sharp tongue and little patience for idiots. Or really anyone. Except for Aria that is. And much to her own surprise, the feeling was mutual.
“Hey boss, where do you need me to be?” she asked, fully stepping inside the office.
“Register,” the short haired brunette replied without looking up from the computer screen.
Any good mood Aria just had completely left her body and her shoulders slumped as she let out an annoyed sigh.
“Again? But I hate dealing with the public!” she whined.
“So do I,” Glinda remarked with a smirk. “Which is why I’m making you do it! Unless of course you’d rather help Sonata cook again.”
Aria’s eyes widened in horror.
“No way! Not again! I almost lost my eyebrows last time!” she shouted. “Seriously why do you even let her around her oven?!”
“Because we need the help and for some reason Cupcake trusts her,” the older woman explained as she pulled a small back out from the cabinet behind her. “Now take that snarky attitude of yours and put it towards the customers!”
She then tossed the bag to Aria who caught it with surprising ease. She let out another annoyed grunt before she turned and walked towards the front of the store. She quickly went about setting up the register, turning on the display cases and setting up the few dine-in tables they had. It had all become routine at this point and she could probably do it in her sleep. Though she’d prefer to just sleep in her sleep and it’d be best if she could be doing that right now. Instead she gave one final check and watched as Sonata, Glinda, and the other owner Cupcake set up the display items and gave her the go ahead to open. She flicked the lock, turned over the “Open” sign then went back behind the counter and waited for the first customer to come in.
Which much to her chagrin didn’t take very long. She watched as a balding, middle aged man who looked like he had been to the bakery about too much waddled up to the counter. He looked up at the menu board behind her and then down at the display case that made up the bulk of the counter.
“Are the donuts fresh?” he asked, staring intently at them.
“Sir it’s seven in the morning, everything is fresh,” Aria droned out with more than a little sarcasm in her voice.
“Well then I think I’ll have three chocolate donuts, two strawberry ones, a bear claw and a large coffee with light cream.”
“Yeah ‘cause that’ll help,” she muttered her breath as she punched the order in.
“What was that?” he asked in an offended tone.
“Will that be for here or to go,” Aria said loudly with a wide, fake smile plastered over her face.
“To go,” the customer said, still a bit annoyed.
“Your total is $12.75,” she told him.
The man slipped his card into the reader in front of him while Aria went about putting his order together. Within a few seconds she handed him a bag of donuts, a cup of coffee and his receipt. All with a forced smile on her face. He muttered something as he turned and walked away. As soon as he was out the door she groaned, her smile faded and her shoulders slumped.
“And so the day begins,” she muttered as she rested her chin on her palm.
Indeed, the day did go as so many others had done before. Customers came and went and most of them were unremarkable but there were those annoying few she wished she could just throttle! Like the frizzy pink haired girl who had just left and seemed to only be able to communicate in blowing raspberries. Every time Aria asked her what she wanted she could just stick her tongue and get spit everywhere. Or just gasp while pointing wildly to the menu. Oh how she wished she still had her powers so she could tell this annoying girl to go jump off a bridge. Or at least make her slam her head into the display case. Instead she simply had to force a smile until she finally figured out what the annoying girl wanted so she could finally make her go away. When it was over she was the one who laid her head down on the cool, smooth glass of the case and let out a long, sorrowful groan.
“Um, excuse me?” a voice broke through her brief respite.
“WHAAAAAT?!” she growled irritably as she slowly lifted her head.
“Yeah I’d like a-HOLY crap it’s you!!!” the guy in front of her suddenly shouted.
Aria shot straight up and her eyes widened. How did he know who she was?! Was he someone from CHS they enchanted?! Or one of the many people over the years they enchanted? He had grey skin with violet eyes and slightly long black hair and goatee. He was wearing a black dress shirt and pants with a white vest, red tie and white fedora. So far none of this was helping her remember him. Course it’s not like she would have remembered him anyway but it would be nice to have some idea where he knew her from so she could know how to react.
“I mean, you’re her right?! From Blazing Reviews?!” he gushed excited.
Okay that she wasn’t prepared for at all! This was the first time she had ever been recognized for her reviews. Especially here at work.
“Um...yeah,” she replied, relaxing a bit. “That’s me. Enjoy my videos, huh?”
“Hell yeah I do! I LOVE them!” he shouted enthusiastically. “This is amazing! I can’t believe you work here!”
“You and me both,” she sighed, her sour mood returning a bit.
He noticed this shift in attitude and his elated smile turned into a sheepish one. “Sorry, didn’t mean to bring you down,” he apologized.
“Nah it’s fine,” she waved off. “This job is just...pffffft!” she stuck out her tongue as she gave a thumbs down motion.
“I can relate. I work over in the Stables & Royals while also trying to do my own videos,” he explained.
Aria gave him a side glance.
“You do videos too, huh?” she asked with slight interest.
“Yep! Blackbird Reviews!” he exclaimed, puffing out his chest proudly.
“Never hear of you,” Aria replied bluntly.
Blackbird’s shoulders slumped and his expression fell.
“Yeah I’m not surprised. I’ve been doing this for two years and I just now got 300 subscribers.”
“I’ve got over a thousand already,” she replied, this time puffing her chest up in pride. Or at least bragging right.
“Of course you do,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “But you do deserve, your stuff is amazing! And hilarious!”
“Obviously,” Aria smirked again. “But really all I do is say what I actually think of the movie.”
“Me too!” Blackbird exclaimed again. He then scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Hey, um, since I’m here would it be too much for me to ask if maybe...you’d like to go a collab sometime?”
She tilted her head a bit. “A collab?”
“Yeah! You know, work together on a review of a movie,” he explained.
“Ummm...maybe,” she replied hesitantly. “I mean I don’t even know your stuff.”
“Oh right! Uh...” he paused as he looked around for something to write on.
He quickly grabbed one of the comment cards from the box on the counter as well as the offered pen then wrote something on it before sliding it to her. She picked it up and glanced at it before raising an eyebrow and looking at him.
“My MyTube channel, Tweeter account and...um...my phone number so you can text or call me,” he explained, blushing a bit at that last one.
“Is this some kind of scheme to get me to go out on a date with you?” she asked in an annoyed tone.
“No! No not at all!” he exclaimed, waving his hands wildly. “I really just want to do a video with you cause you’re one of my favorite reviewers and it’d be awesome to review something together.” He then grinned sheepishly again. “And...it might help me get some more subs.”
Aria rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, now I see what’s going on here. Not that I can blame you though, it would be cool to work with me.”
“Yeah it would,” he agreed. “Can you at least think about it?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she muttered as she shoved the card into her pocket.
“Hey!” another voice suddenly screamed.
Aria looked over her shoulder to see Glinda poking her head out from around the corner of the doorway that led to the kitchen.
“Work now, flirt later!” she ordered, shaking a wooden spoon at the girl.
“I wasn’t-!” Aria stated to say but Glinda just disappeared back into the kitchen. So instead she turned an angry eye to her admirer. “Ya see what you made me do?!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” he apologized profusely.
“Don’t be sorry, order something!”
“Right! Whole reason I came here,” he remarked then looked up at the menu again. “I’ll have two chocolate shakes, a triple chocolate muffin, a blueberry scone and a white chocolate cookie.”
“Alright then,” Aria muttered as she punched in the order. “$14.75.”
He swiped his debit card then waited a bit anxiously as she got the order ready. It was a combination of meeting one his Internet ideals as well as her shooting a few annoyed looks his way. For her part Aria just wanted to get his order done and get back to being bored out of her mind. At the very least she didn’t want to receive any more weird accusations from Glinda.
Flirting. Yeah, as if THAT would happen, she thought irritably.
She finished up the order with the two milkshakes and then plopped it all on a tray on the counter.
“Here ya go,” she told him.
“Cool. Thanks! It was awesome to meet you and please at least consider the collab?” he asked as he took the tray and started walking backward.
“Whatever,” she scoffed with another roll of her eyes.
She watched as he walked over to one of the tables in the corner to sit across from a blue skinned girl in a purple dress and glasses. While he was keeping his voice low the exaggerated expressions and looks they both shot her way told her he was talking about her. She returned their looks with an annoyed glare that caused him to jump up a bit before sinking down into the table’s chair. She placed her face in her hand and sighed.
“Is this day over yet?” she mumbled.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
It took another five agonizing hours for her day to finally end. She trudged up the stairs and before she could even fish her key out of her pocket the door to the apartment swung open to reveal Adagio standing there in a black jacket, purple shirt and black pants.
“Where are you going?” Aria found herself asking.
“Out,” Adagio replied as she walked past her. “And don’t bother waiting up.”
“Wasn’t planning on it!” she called back as she stepped into their apartment.
She closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. With Adagio doing whatever it was she was doing and Sonata still downstairs, this let Aria have a few blissful hours of complete solitude. The first thing she did was kick off her shoes then pulled off her socks. She then hastily, and a bit angrily, took of her polo shirt and slacks. She then instinctually looked around for a second before she shrugged and took off her bra and panties as well. She finished completely undressing by taking out the star shaped clips from her hair to let it cascade down her back. She then strode happily into the bathroom. She closed the door for extra privacy and quickly made her way into the shower. She cranked the hot water and jumped a bit when it came out cold at first but then relaxed when it warmed up. She put on just enough cold water to make it bearable then stood under the stream and then let it wash away all the tension from the day.
That is until she heard a splash sound and felt warm water slosh around her feet. She pulled her head back from the water stream and wiped the water from her eyes before she looked towards the drain. She scowled when she saw exactly what she thought she’d find there. With an annoyed grumble she reached beneath the rising water and pulled out a large clump of wet, orange hair. In a rage she pulled back the shower curtain and stuck her head out from the shower.
“ADAAAGIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” she screamed despite knowing it was in vein.
She tossed the clump into the nearby trash can then finally went back to enjoying her shower. Which she did until the hot water started to run out. Once it did she reluctantly turned it off, wrapped one towel around her body and another around her hair as best she could. She spent a few minutes drying it to the point where it wouldn’t drip at least before she opened the bathroom door and step out into the main room of the apartment. After unwrapping the towel from her hair and drying it out some more she tossed both towels onto her bed before she moved over to the dresser on her side and pulled out a tank top and gym shorts to wear. As she went to scoop up the towels and throw them in the hamper she noticed something sticking out of the pocket of her work pants. She pulled it out and recognized it as the card that Blackbird guy wrote his information down on.
“Oh yeah,” she muttered as she stared at it.
For a second she thought of just ripping it up and never giving him a second thought but then she realized she really didn’t have anything better to do tonight.
“Eh, what the hell,” she shrugged then walked over to the couch.
She fired up the streaming service connected to the TV, opened up the MyTube app and did a quick search for Blackbird’s channel. What she found surprised her. Mostly in the fact that it was actually good. Course she thought her own stuff was better but she did get some genuine entertainment out of the videos she did watch. He had a snarky attitude that could definitely mesh well with hers and some of the movies he watched she didn’t even know about! After finishing another she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes in thought.
She opened them a few seconds later and snatched up the card as she walked back over to the bed. She fished her phone out of her pants’ pocket and quickly punched in his number to add him to her contacts. Once that was done she sent one simple message.
Aria stood anxiously outside the apartment door. She stared at the “138" number on it as her mind continued to go back and forth on whether she actually wanted to go through with this or not. After a series of texts they decided to meet up at Blackbird’s apartment just so she wouldn’t have to deal with her sisters while trying to work. But now she wondered if going to the apartment of a guy she barely knew alone was the best idea. Not that she didn’t think she couldn’t kick his ass if need be but she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of that stuff. That was the thought that almost made her turn around and leave but instead she merely gave a small shrug and exasperated sigh.
Well I’m already here might as well just do this, she thought.
She brought her hand up to the door and right before she could knock on it, it practically flew open to review the blue girl she had seen with Blackbird the other day. They both stared at each other in surprise for a moment before the other smiled a bit.
“Oh if you’re looking for Blackbird he’s inside,” she informed Aria as she slipped past her.
The confused former siren watched as the girl slung a backpack over her shoulder as she ran down the hallway to the elevator. Before she could even process that encounter another voice spoke to her.
“Oh hey you actually showed up” Blackbird remarked, now standing in the open doorway. “Not gonna lie, part of me thought you’d just bail on the whole thing.”
Instead of giving a snarky reply back, Aria had to voice the one thought that was currently going through her mind.
“Who was that?” she asked, pointing her thumb in the direction the other girl had gone.
“Oh that was my girlfriend Moonie,” he explained as he stood aside and held the door open for her to come in.
“So, what, you two decide to have a quickie together before I showed up?” Aria snorted as she stepped into the apartment.
“No we live together,” Blackbird explain.
“Wait, seriously?” she exclaimed in disbelief.
She wasn’t sure why that answer caught her off guard. Maybe it’s because the apartment the two supposedly shared seemed somehow even smaller than the ones she shared with her sisters. There was a small kitchenette area off to her left, a living room area that seemed more long than wide that had two doors on either side of it and a bathroom off to the right. It had enough amenities that it could work but would definitely seem crowded. Especially for a couple living together.
Course maybe the other reason the revelation caught her off guard is because neither of them looked much older than the students she had seen at CHS, and that sort of thing was unusual for the human world from what she had gathered while living in it.
Or maybe it was the fact she was surprised this dork had a girlfriend at all.
“Let me guess, you’re amazed something like me even has a girlfriend, right” Blackbird joked, taking her a bit off guard.
Aria blinked at how correctly he guessed that but quickly recovered and placed her hands on her hips.
“Well you do give off a very nerdy vibe,” she quipped. “Course then again so did she, so maybe it’s not so weird.”
“We definitely are a couple of nerds,” he said with a wistful smile as he crossed over to the couch. “And if you’re wondering how we’re living together, the college made a mistake in our favor and put us here when they were trying to find a place for the overflow of freshmen.”
“I wasn’t that worried about it, but I guess that’s good to know,” Aria remarked with a shrug as she walked over to the couch as well. “So what did you want to review together?”
In response he held up a DVD box whose cover featured a ventriloquist dummy holding up a bloody knife with a girl’s face reflected in the blade. Apparently this no doubt cinematic masterpiece was called “Triloquist”.
“What is this?” Aria growled as she took the box and studied it.
When she flipped it over and read the summary on the back one of her eyebrows arched up.
“Wow this sounds...really dumb,” she remarked and handed him back the case.
“Oh you have no idea” Blackbird replied. “Obviously I’ve already seen it so I’m gonna take a few extra notes and if you want to take some down while watching it we could hammer out a script after that.”
“Sounds good,” Aria nodded and pulled out her phone from her pocket. “Alright, let’s see this thing.”
“Prepare yourself,” he warned.
He then started the movie and put his laptop on his lap to finish up the notes he had made earlier. As the movie played he alternated between watching it, typing up his notes and occasionally looking over at Aria to see her reactions. He had to stifle a laugh more than once at some of the facial expressions she pulled. While she did make a few notes in her phone it seemed she mostly watched the movie in a state of utter bewilderment. A state that was only broken wasn’t the movie ended.
“Okay, what the hell was THAT?!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in confusion. “I mean was the dummy alive or not?! What was that stupid dance the kid did around the cops?! Did the sister really have sex with her brother or was it the dummy’s? And how does THAT work?!”
“Pretty bad, huh?” Blackbird smirked.
Aria whipped her head around, which caused him to have to duck to avoid one of her wildly flying pigtails, and glared daggers at him.
“I should punch you for making me watch something this stupid!” she threatened.
“What? I thought you could handle watching stupid movies,” he taunted, his smirk growing wider.
“I can! But this was...was...I dunno WHAT that was, but I am so ready to rip it to shreds!”
“Well then, let’s compare notes then, shall we?”
The pair not only compared notes but started enthusiastically started writing the script. They bounced ideas off each other, came up with jokes that made each other laugh and bared through having to watch scenes again for reference. Time seemed to fly by as they worked and it was only halted when Blackbird looked down at the clock on his computer.
“Shoot! I gotta get to class soon!” he stated in a slightly panicked tone. “Good thing we got the script finished though. Think you can come over this weekend so we can polish it up a bit and start filming?”
“Yeah I think I can do that,” Aria shrugged.
“Sweet!” he exclaimed then held his hand out to her. “And thanks for agreeing to do this, it’s been really fun.”
“Eh it’s not been terrible,” Aria retorted as she took his hand and shook it. “Except for the movie, that was the worst!” “Yeah but doesn’t that kind of make it the best in our line of work?” he shot back.
“Whatever,” she scoffed with a roll of her eyes then stood. “Anyway I need to get going myself. Gotta work tonight. Ugh.”
“Well good luck with that,” he remarked as he stood up and walked her to the door. “And I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah. Later,” she waved as she walked stepped out into the hallway.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
The week passed surprisingly quickly and before she knew it, Aria found herself back in Blackbird’s apartment to work on the script. The writing when unexpectedly smoothly and soon enough they had it finished. After a few quick rewrites and added notes, they went ahead and started filming.
“Okay so we’ll film my stuff on the couch first and then come back and film your bits for the intro and I’ll put that together in editing. Sound good?” Blackbird asked her.
“Yeah that’ll work,” Aria agreed with the usual enthusiasm she for these things.
Blackbird paused and stared at her for a second to try to see if she was being serious or sarcastic. Quickly enough, he just shook his head then went over to check the front door.
“Okay so this shouldn’t lock now so you should be able to open it from the outside,” he explained.
“You sure you won’t get in trouble for me putting a hole in the wall from kicking that thing in?” Aria asked with a slight smirk.
Again he wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.
“Please don’t actually kick my door in,” he pleaded.
“We’ll see,” she teased as she walked into the hallway.
Blackbird stared at the door for a second before he went over to sit on his usual spot on the couch. He made sure the camera was in the proper position before hitting the record button.
“And recording!” he called out. He then took a breath and started saying what they had typed up. “Well today’s movie has been a long time coming! For those of you who have been around for a while you’ll know I hinted at this movie all the way back in the preview for this show! Well no more putting it off! It’s now time to get to-”
He legitimately jumped at that sound of the door banging against the wall from how hard Aria had kicked it. He recovered quickly enough to continue the bit and looked towards it in surprise.
“Aria Blaze of Blazing Reviews?! What are you doing here?!” he exclaimed in an over exaggerated way.
Off camera, however, Aria let out an annoyed sigh and placed one hand on her hip.
“Really? That’s how you’re going to say it?” she scoffed.
Blackbird bit his lip to keep from laughing and ruining the take. The line was a bit different from how they had written it and like with the door caught him a bit off guard.
“Well how else is my audience supposed to know who you are?” he asked, motioning towards the camera.
“Trust me, more people know who I am than who you are,” she smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Awww,” he whimpered dejectedly and lowered his head. “That’s hurtful.”
“It’s true.”
There was a pause before Blackbird reached up to turn off the camera again.
“Okay that was good,” he said, adding a quick laugh. “I almost broke at the way you changed up that one line. That’s a good tweak!”
Aria shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a natural at cutting people down.”
“Long as you don’t do it too seriously,” Blackbird remarked as he set the camera up on a nearby tripod and set it so it faced the door. “Ready to do your bit again?”
She smiled. “Oh yeah, I think I can do that again.”
“Again...please don’t actually kick my door down.”
She gave another vague response as she stepped out into the hallway and prepared to do it again. Once they had reenacted the intro, she joined him on the couch and they began the review in full. They played off each other surprisingly well and even ad-libbed a few lines here and there. That was mostly due to Aria’s natural snarky attitude but it worked well for the overall flow of the video. Even if it did result in a few retakes as Blackbird couldn’t help but laugh at them. Before they knew it they had reached that end of the script.
“And so that was Triloquist! I hope you’re all happy I finally got to it!” Blackbird snarked towards the camera.
“I’m not! That was horrible! Even by my show’s standards!” Aria snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Blackbird give her an incredulous look. “Then why did you break in here?!”
She shrugged. “Seemed like the thing to do at the time.”
He stared at her for a moment with a perplexed look and seemed like he was going to say something but shook his head instead.
“Well now that you’ve had to suffer through that movie, what are you gonna do next on your show?” he asked.
“I dunno, probably something with guys in monster suits breaking model buildings or something,” she muttered with a dismissive wave.
“Monster suits you say?” he asked then placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully.
He held that pose for a moment while Aria looked at him in confusion. She was about to say something when he finally broke it as he reached over to shut off the camera.
“And done!” he happily proclaimed. “That was actually really fun!”
“Yeah I guess it wasn’t too bad,” she said with her usual cool demeanor.
“Hey I saw you smile every so often!” he teased her.
“Whatever dude,” Aria snorted with a roll of her eyes.
“You know we should follow up on that ending,” Blackbird suggested.
“Huh?”
“Do another collab. This time at your place that you can post on your channel.”
She seemed to stiffen up at that thought.
“How about we just focus on this one for the moment?” she commented.
“Yeah good point,” he nodded then picked up the camera. “Well I’m gonna go pull the footage from the camera and then edit it throughout the week. Hopefully I’ll get it posted next weekend. I’ll let you know.”
“Alright. Soooo...that’s it then?” she asked.
“For now. It’s getting late and I’m a bit tired,” he confessed. “But...if you want to keep in contact and talk outside of the collab...I’d be totally cool with that.”
Aria stared at him in almost disbelief.
“Like...be friends?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. Why not? I mean, yeah, I know I come off as a total fanboy but it wouldbe cool to be your friend. You seem like a cool person and if nothing else we could have a blast making fun of crappy movies together.”
Aria just continued to stare at him like he had grown another head. A week ago she had no idea who this guy was and now here he was asking to be her friend. Part of her, the old part, wanted to slap his across the face and scream at him about how stupid he was for even asking her that. The other part, the part of her that was actually trying to build a life in this world, actually liked that idea. Surprisingly so in fact.
“Yeah. Sure,” she said softly with a small smile. “I think I can stand being you around enough to try being your friend.”
“Gee thanks,” Blackbird muttered flatly.
“Hey you want to be my friend, that’s what you gotta deal with!” she retorted and gave him a rather hard pat on the back. “But for now, I’m gonna head out and get some food while you edit that video together.”
“Yeah I think I’m gonna get some too while I transfer the footage,” he remarked as his stomach growled for food. “You want to go get something together?”
“Yeah don’t push your luck there buddy,” Aria warned as she stood up and headed for the door.
Blackbird tilted his head in confusion before what he said dawned on him.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” he clarified. “I mean, you know, as friends!”
“Suuuure you didn’t,” Aria teased as she walked towards the front door. “You’ve been looking me up and down since you met me dude!”
A deep red blush came to his grey cheeks.
“I didn’t...I mean...I..uh...I...” he stammered.
“I can feel you looking at my ass!” she continued to tease as she walked into the hallway.
Blackbird continued to stammer as the door slowly creaked closed and when it finally shut he let out a long, low sigh and slumped against the couch. “Good going guy. Just...top notch there!” he chided himself.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Despite the awkward farewell, they actually did stay in contact during the week. At first it was mostly just discussing things about the video and Blackbird showing Aria the progress for it but eventually did start talking about other things. Much to her surprise, Aria found she actually enjoyed talking to him, but again that might because it was nice to talk to someone outside of her sisters and managers.
Soon enough he sent her the link to the completed video and again she was surprised at how well it came out. She had to admit he was pretty good at editing, even if it was really basic, and the way he used the clips actually made her laugh even though she knew the jokes were coming. She made sure to send the link out on her social media accounts then went back to her everyday life.
It was about a week later when she was in the middle of being bored of that everyday life thanks to one of the slow times at work that she got another text. She looked around to see if Glinda or Cupcake were around before she pulled out her phone and carefully looked at it under the counter.
-Hey, the video’s actually doing really well!- Blackbird texted.
He sent a screengrab of the viewcount showing that video had already reached 300 views.
-That’s probably not a lot for you but it’s HUGE for me- he added.
-Yeah that’s a little low for me but I guess it’s cool it’s helping you.- she replied.
-So what do you say? Want to do it again?-
She paused as she thought it over. If he really did want to do the next collab at her apartment they’d have to work around Adagio and Sonata. Which wouldn’t be impossible, just difficult. Difficult enough she almost suggested recording at his place again but she would like to do the next one on her home turf. With a slightly defeated sigh she put her thumbs to her phone again.
-Yeah. Sure. Just let me move some things around so we won’t have to deal with my sisters.- she explained.
-Sounds good. Just let me know!- he replied.
-Right-
After a bit of ironing out the details, they decided the best course of action was to watch the movie and write the script at Blackbird’s apartment before filming at Aria’s. Much like before the writing process went surprisingly well and before they knew it they were ready to film. That required working around when Adagio and Sonata were out of the apartment eventually she got the day alone they needed. She set up her laptop and camera and started to record the intro they wrote.
“Okay, so, today’s movie is some stupid movie involving guys in a rubber monster suits breaking a fake city,” she said in her usual mocking tone.
“Did someone say rubber monster suits?!” Blackbird asked, as he popped his head up from behind the couch.
“Gah! How did you get in here?!” she demanded.
“I have my ways,” he said cryptically before he jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to her. “So what we are watching today?”
“What’s this we stuff?” she snorted, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
“Hey, you broke into my place to review a movie with me so it’s only fair I get to do the same to you!” he countered.
“Whatever,” she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
And so as with before, the duo ran through their script with few retakes and ad-libs. This time it was Aria’s turn to edit and post it. Once again, the video received a lot of views and likes as well as positive comments. Of course she never spent too much time scrolling through the comments since a lot of them were just terrible and usually about how hot she was. While that was true, she didn’t need a bunch of lonely dorks making perverted comments about her. But as she scrolled through these ones a surprising thread caught her eye.
-Is it just me or are these two kind of adorable together?-
-Totally! Like, I thought they were dating.-
-Are they?-
-I dunno but I totally ship it!-
-Hell yeah!-
She raised an eyebrow in both disbelief and disgust. She wanted to scream about how stupid they all were but at the moment she was looking at her phone in bed and didn’t want to have to deal with the fallout if she woke up Sonata. So instead she just turned her phone off and placed it on the bedside table before she turned over and pulled the covers over her head.
“Dating,” she muttered. “Yeah right. Like that would ever happen. MyTube comments are the worst.”
Aria’s eyes scanned through the people milling around in the Stables & Royals as she looked through the particular pairing she was here to actually meet. A blur of motion out of the corner of her right eye caught her attention and when she turned towards it she saw Blackbird waving to her from a couch right next to the small coffee shop area. She nodded to let him know she saw him just before she made her way towards the sitting area. As she got closer she found he was not alone as she soon spotted Moonie sitting to his right. That itself wasn’t too unusual to her at this point but what was strange was what she was wearing. She had on a light pink button up shirt with a rose colored vest over it and matching tie. She also wore a burgundy colored skirt and thigh high stockings. All finished off with black pumps and a black fedora with a red band. While not a completely horrible outfit by itself, it stood out to her because it was basically the female version of outfit Blackbird normally wore.
A fact made even more apparent with him sitting right next to her. Aria stopped just in front of them and glared for a second before she placed her hands on her hips.
“So, what, are you two just one of those couples that dresses alike now?” she asked in mild annoyance.
“Hey this was completely her idea!” Blackbird replied, quickly throwing his hands up in the air defensively. “But I don’t object to it cause...well...yeah!”
He motioned his hands towards her in an approving gesture to which Moonie just blushed a bit. Aria on the other hand just out her face in her palm and sighed loudly.
“Well to be fair I did get the idea from him,” Moonie confessed before she looked over to Blackbird. “Because he looks so good in his.”
“Hey I think you look even better in our version babe,” Blackbird replied before he leaned in and kissed her. “Love you.”
“Love you too luv,” she replied after returning the kiss.
“Ugh. Your love disgusts me,” Aria grumbled. “Please tell me this isn’t the reason you called me here!”
“Oh. Right,” Blackbird chuckled nervously. “You see...” he stopped as a thought occurred to him. “You know I just realized you two have never been formally introduced. So...Moonie Aria, Aria, Moonie!” he said quickly as he gestured between the two.
“Pleasure to finally officially meet you,” Moonie said cheerfully as she held out a hand.
Aria rolled her eyes but nevertheless took the offered hand and half-heartedly shook it.
“Yeah. Sure. Whatever,” she mumbled. “Now, what is this about?!”
“Okay, so, you know how I have title card art, right?” Blackbird started off.
“Yeah,” Aria nodded.
“Well Moonie’s the one who does them for me,” he revealed as he motioned her again.
“Hi!” the blue skinned girl said with a wave.
“Okay, great, what’s this got to do with me?” Aria asked, her annoyance growing.
“The point is we’ve talked it over, and she’s willing to do some title art for your videos too if you want,” Blackbird offered.
Aria blinked at that comment. She hadn’t expected that! It was surprisingly generous offer. Too generous.
“What’s the catch?” she asked, the skepticism evident in her voice. “I can’t afford to pay much.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to worry about payment,” Moonie assured her.
For some reason, Aria didn’t find that comforting. She looked over at Blackbird.
“I don’t need charity either,” she said pointedly.
“Not charity. Just friends helping friends,” he clarified.
She was still unsure.
“Well what do you pay her?” she asked Blackbird.
“Well...I...um...” he stammered.
Her eyebrow arched at that.
“Wait, you do pay her, right?” she pressed, sounding surprisingly offended. “Or do you pay her in ‘exposure’?”
They both grew silent at the comment. Moonie’s cheeks became even better than her outfit while a sly smirk spread over Blackbird’s face.
“Well...kinda...” he quipped.
Aria stared in confusion for a second before her eyes went as wide as saucers as the meaning of his words and Moonie’s reaction sunk in.
“Oooooh! Why?! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” she screamed, then suddenly clutched at her head. “It’s in my head! IT’S IN MY HEAD!!!”
“You’re welcome,” he quipped and gave her double finger guns. It was then he noticed the time on his watch. “Oh crap I gotta clock back in!”
He jumped to his feet then turned back to Moonie.
“Could you explain the rest to her?” he asked as he motioned to Aria.
“Sure,” she smiled.
“Thanks babe! Love you!”
“Love you too,” she replied.
They gave each other a quick kiss before Blackbird ran off to return to work. Aria watched him leave then turned her attention back to Moonie who scooted over to occupy the spot Blackbird left before she patted the spot she had just been in. Aria shrugged before she sat down next to the blue girl.
“Alright, so what’s the rest of this?” she asked as she crossed her legs.
“Pretty much what Blackbird said,” Moonie said as she pulled a sketch pad out of her bag. “I’ve been watching some of your videos with Blackbird and worked up some mockups of what I’d do for title cards for you.”
She handed the pad over to Aria who uncrossed her legs to relax a bit as she took the pad and flipped through it.
“Wow. These are actually pretty good,” she complimented.
“Thanks!” Moonie beamed.
“So you actually draw them?” Aria questioned as she handed the pad back.
“Just to get an idea of what I’m doing,” Moonie explained while putting the pad back in her bag. “Then I do the rest on the computer. And I’ll be sure to send you a preview in case you want to change anything.”
Aria leaned against the couch and crossed her arms over her chest as she thought it over. It still seemed too good to be true.
“Seriously, what’s the catch?” she pressed.
“Again, no catch. I just like drawing, and this does help me improve and try different things,” Moonie reassured her.
Again Aria when silent as she thought it over. As she rolled it over in her mind, she caught a glimpse of Blackbird moving back to this section in the store. As she unknowingly stared at him, it that brought another question to her head.
“So what do you see in him?” she asked Moonie, jerking her thumb in Blackbird’s direction.
Moonie looked over to where Aria was pointing and a smile spread across her face.
“A few things really,” she replied in a loving tone.
“But...he’s so weird!”
Moonie chuckled. “Yeah and that’s part of why I love him. He doesn’t care what people think of him and just does what makes him happy. Plus, he’s sweet, kind, generous, funny and very loving.”
“I’ll take your word for that last one,” Arai scuffed.
“You know you don’t have to be in a relationship with him to get that,” Moonie pointed out. “He’s always a very loving and concerned friend, and I know if nothing else you two are friends.”
“Well...yeah but we mostly just talk about bad movies and stuff,” she countered.
“Well if you ever need to talk about anything more serious I guarantee you he’ll be there for you.”
“Mmm...” Aria mused as she leaned back on the couch and glanced over at Blackbird again. “Shouldn’t you be concerned though. You know he looks at me a lot, right?”
“Yeah I know all about his crush on you,” Moonie confessed then shrugged. “And I’m fine with it. I don’t mind his wandering eyes ‘cause I’m secure enough in our relationship to know he’ll still be with me. And if does go further we’ll move on from there.”
Aria stared at her for a second.
“Wow. You’re a lot more understanding than I would be,” she admitted.
“I try,” Moonie smiled. “So back to the topic at hand, are you interested in me doing title card art for you as well?”
“Uh...” she paused then shrugged. “You know what? Sure, let’s do it! And, um, thanks.”
“No problem at all!” Moonie beamed then pulled out her phone. “Can I get your number so it’ll be easier to stay in contact?”
“Yeah,” Aria said as she took the phone and typed in her number.
“Thanks!” the bespectacled girl beamed and took her phone back then stood up. “Well I need to get going as well. But I’ll be sure to send you some art samples soon. Then just let me know what you need for your next video and I’ll be happy to do it for!”
“Sounds good,” the twintailed girl nodded. “See ya.”
“Bye!” Moonie waved then made her way out of the store.
Aria watched her leave then turned her attention once again to Blackbird as he checked someone out in the movie section of the bookstore. She placed an elbow on the arm of the couch then laid her hand on her palm and narrowed her eyes as she continued to stare at him while turning over Moonie’s words in her head.
“Hmmmm...” she murmured.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Aria found herself in a similar pose a few hours later during a slow period at her own work. She was bent over behind the register and had her elbows resting on the counter while laying her chin in her hands. Her eyes were glazed over as she stared aimlessly at the front door. She didn’t really see it though as her mind continued to go over what happened earlier in the day.
He’s sweet, kind, generous, funny and very loving, Moonie’s word repeated again in her head.
Her eyes narrowed a bit.
“But why-” she began to mutter.
“Why what?” a cheery voice suddenly asked next to her.
“GAAAAAAH!!!” she screamed and fell backwards in surprise.
Once her heart stopped threatening to beat out of her chest she glared up at the person now standing over her.
“SONATA!!!” she bellowed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Uh, I’ve been trying to get your attention for, like, five minutes. You can go on your break now,” Sonata informed her.
“Oh,” Aria said. She then pulled herself up with the counter. “Cool. I’ll be upstairs then.”
“So what were you thinking so hard about?” Sonata asked before a surprisingly devious smile crossed her lips. “Was it your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” she snapped back, jabbing a finger towards her sister.
“But you knew exactly who I was talking about,” the blue girl grinned victoriously as she placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest a bit.
Aria’s finger and face fell as she stared blankly. Had she just been outsmarted by Sonata?! What the hell was happening to her?! Collecting her wits, she placed a hand on Sonata’s shoulder and pushed her aside so she could get out from behind the counter.
“He’s just a friend, you’re an idiot and I’m going upstairs,” she quickly said as she passed her.
“Oh yeah, your friend that’s here almost every day and has been in a few of your videos,” Sonata teased.
That made Aria stop in her tracks then spin back around, unintentionally smacking her sister in the face with one of her twin tails.
“Wait! You watch my videos?!” she asked, surprised by her annoying sibling once again.
“Well yeah,” Sonata remarked, rubbing her surprisingly sore cheek. “It’s kind of hard to avoid when you do them in the apartment. Plus, they’re fun! It’s kinda of funny seeing you get mad at something or someone that’s not me.”
“Oh. Well...”Aria stammered as she ran a hand through her hair nervously. “Thanks. Glad you enjoy them.”
“Oh! Could be in one?!” the blue girl asked, her eyes sparkling in excitement.
“No,” Aria said flatly then turned away.
“Aaaawwww...” Sonata whined then smirked again. “I get it though. Gotta spend more time with your boyfriend, right?”
“NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!” the irritated girl screamed as she stormed out of the store.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
The first thing Aria when she got back to her apartment was to flop down onto her bed and let out a frustrated scream. She wasn’t sure if she was mad at Sonata, the situation or herself. Was she really that messed up that she would fall for the first guy to show her just a little bit of kindness?!
She sighed and rolled over onto her side.
“Yeah. Yeah I am,” she muttered to herself. “Not that it matters cause he already has a girlfriend! A girlfriend that apparently doesn’t mind him looking but that’s looking not touching!”
She surprised herself with that last comment. Is that really what she wanted? Did she want everything that went in a relationship? Did she even really want a relationship?! And even if she did, again it wasn’t going to work out cause of his relationship! And her trying to do anything about that would just make her completely horrible and cost her the only friend she has!
She let out another tired, frustrated groan and buried her face in her pillow.
Blackbird and Aria sat in the reading corner of Barns & Royals, going over some ideas for their next collab video. Mostly fine tuning what jokes to keep and which movie clips to use. As they worked Blackbird cast a few side long glances at the snarky girl as he worked up the courage to ask her a question. He took a deep breath, calming breath before finally speaking up.
“So, speaking of movies, would you like to go see one tonight? You know at the theater. Like a good one? Or, heck, maybe even one of the new bad ones out right now,” he asked.
Aria raised an eyebrow at him.
“What, like, a date or something?” she scoffed, even if part of her wanted that to be true.
“I mean we don’t have to call it a date but if you do I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Blackbird replied with a playful smirk.
She paused. She was of two minds. One part of her did want to take him up on the offer but the other wasn’t sure how she would even handle that. Plus, she couldn’t help but recall the last person she talked to on this couch.
“What about Moonie?” she asked.
“Already talked it over with her and she’s cool with it. We’re polyamorous after all.”
“Poly-what now?” Aria asked with a tilt of her head.
“It means we can date other people while dating each other ‘cause we don’t believe in restricting love to just one person. Or two people in the case of a relationship,” he explained, darting his fingers back and forth in the air over an imagery whiteboard.
“Wow,” the lavender girl muttered as she leaned back on the store’s worn couch. “That sounds...complicated. And something I’m not sure I could deal with.”
“Fair enough,” he relented as he held his hands up. “It’s not for everyone. I hope we can still just go to the movies as friends though.”
“Yeah sure,” she said with a wave before her eyes narrowed in realization. “Wait. Did you just ‘We can still be friends’ me?!”
“Huh? Blackbird asked in confusion.
She turned her head to glare at him and leaned forward menacingly, any conflicting romantic thoughts she might have had overcome by anger at the perceived insult.
“‘We can still be friends’ is what people say when they’re trying to reject someone gently,” she said in hushed, almost venomous voice.
This time it was Blackbird’s turn to tilt his head in confusion.
“Yeah in badly written movies and TV shows,” he rationalized even as he slid backwards a bit. “In real life it just means we can be friends without it being romantic if one person doesn’t want that. Plus, you know, we are friends!”
“That might be,” she growled, her eyes almost glowing with anger, “but let me tell you something buster I don’t get rejected! I do the rejecting!”
Blackbird scratched the back of his neck nervously. “So are you...trying to reject me?”
“Of course not!” she shouted, drawing the attention of a few of the nearby patrons. “I like hanging out with you!”
“I like hanging out with you too,” he confirmed. “Which is why I thought it’d be cool to go to the movies tonight.”
“Yeah! As a date!”
“I’m not the one who said it was a date!” he cried out, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
“Oh so you are you saying you don’t want to go on a date with me now?!” Aria growled, grabbing onto his white vest.
“Of course not, I would love to!” Blackbird shouted, confusion and fear overtaking him now.
“Good! ‘Cause that’s exactly what we’re going to do!” the twin tailed girl informed him as her hand moved from his vest to his red tie to pull his face just inches from hers. “And you’re going to treat me to the movie, popcorn, a drink and maybe dinner afterwards and it will be a magical evening, got it?!”
“Y-yes ma’am,” he whimpered.
“Good,” she said with a smirk before she let him good and stood up. “I’ll text you which movie it is and what time later. See ya ‘Bird!” With that, she took her surprisingly jaunty leave all while Blackbird sat on the couch and blinked several times in utter disbelief.
“What just happened?!” he asked as he threw his hands up in the air.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
That evening, Blackbird and Aria found themselves walking down the crowded walkways of the Canterlot Mall. Aria let out an annoyed huff as she sidestepped yet another seemingly oblivious mall patron.
“Oh yeah, the mall, real romantic place for date,” she grumbled.
“Hey the theater here is the only one close to us that was showing the movie you wanted to see,” Blackbird explain. “Which is weird cause since it’s part of a popular franchise but I don’t know how these things work.”
“I was just expecting something better than the mall food court.”
“Well first of all I’m in between paychecks right now so I don’t have enough money for a fancy restaurant and secondly we’re in the food court, are we? We’re going to the sushi place further in the mall. I hear it’s supposed to be pretty good.”
“Better be to put up with all this,” Aria muttered again as she dodged another person. “Why is this place so busy anyway?”
“Cause it’s Saturday night,” he said flatly.
She merely rolled her eyes and continued to walk with him as they made their way to the sushi restaurant. When they reached the entrance though, she froze up in horrified surprise when she got a glimpse a familiar amber skinned girl tending the tables.
Sunset Shimmer! She thought in a panic. Oh I am not in the mood to deal with her!
“Hey, you know what? Maybe I was wrong. The food court is just fine. We should go there. Right now!” she hurriedly told Blackbird.
“But we’re right here?” he asked in confusion, motioning towards the door. “And I kinda want to try this sushi.”
“Ugh! Fine! Just...get to go and we’ll eat in the food court. That way we’ll be closer to the theater! So you go order now and I’ll go back there and save us a table!” she said before practically running off.
“Wait! What do you want?!” he called after her.
“Surprise me!”
Blackbird watched her retreating form then sighed and shook his head.
“Yep, this date is off to a real good start,” he grumbled with a sigh.
After getting his order to go, Blackbird made his way back to the food court where he found Aria in one of the corner tables looking like she was trying to avoid someone. He gave her a confused look but shook his head and decided just to let it go for now. At least she was still here!
“Not gonna lie, I half expected you to be gone by the time I got here,” he joked as he set a back and two drinks down on the table in front of her.
“Yeah, uh, sorry about that. There was just...someone I was avoiding in there,” Aria half explained as she took one of the cups and put a straw in it.
“Ah,” he remarked as he sat down and opened the bag. “So since I wasn’t sure what you’d like I just got the sampler platter. Little bit of everything, so I’m sure you’ll find something you like. Well hopefully at least.”
She watched as he pulled out a rectangular shaped plastic container with all sorts of colorful food on it. Most of it seemingly composed of rice, veggies and...other things. She tentatively reached out and picked up one of the pieces and gave it a quizzical sniff.
“So...what is sushi anyway?” she asked, examining the food her hand.
“Eh it’s different things. Rice, veggies, sometimes cream cheese and other sauces and such. But mostly it’s different kinds of fish. Usually raw,” he explained as he helped himself to the other pieces on the platter.
“Fish?!” Aria practically shrieked, staring at the piece of sushi in disgust.
“Do you...do you not like fish?” Blackbird asked, a bit of panic in his voice.
“It’s...not my favorite, no,” she replied as she put the piece back.
“I am very sorry for not asking you that beforehand!” he said hurriedly.
“It’s fine. Guess I should have mentioned it earlier.”
“Well...hold on...”
He then went about quickly rearranging some of the pieces on the platter so some pieces were facing her and others were facing him.
“Alright, there. Those are all the veggie pieces that have no fish on them,” he explained, pointing to the sushi pieces on her side.
Aria blinked and stared between the platter and Blackbird, taken off guard by this show of kindness.
“I...thanks,” she said before she took one of the pieces and popped it into her mouth. “Wow. That is good!”
“Told ya!” he beamed. “And now next time we know what to order for you.”
“Mmmhmm,” she nodded happily with a mouthful of sushi.
“So,” he paused to take a sip from his soda, “ what made you want to do...this?”
Aria paused and shifted a bit uncomfortably.
“I just...wanted to, okay?” she replied a little curtly.
“I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t because of the whole ‘let’s be friends’ thing,” he clarified.
“It’s not that! It’s just...I mean...” she stammered, conflicting emotions stopping her from speaking. “Look I don’t do things like...this very well so we can we just not talk about it and just enjoy the date?”
“Fair enough,” Blackbird conceded.
Once they were done with their meal, they headed towards the in mall theater where they were greeted cheerfully by the teal haired girl behind the ticket booth. Like Aria, she had her hair tied into twin tails though hers were tied low instead of high and were held in place with clips that looked like film reels rather than Aria’s stars. She also wore a rather...interesting hat atop her head that was obviously part of her uniform. She also wore a name tag over her vest that read “Juniper”.
“Hi, what can I help you?” she asked cheerfully.
“I’d like two tickets to The Summoning 3,” he told her.
“Ooh I hear that one’s supposed to be really good,” Juniper commented as she punched up the tickets.
“I love the first two! Super creepy! The way horror should be!”
“Honestly I wouldn’t know. I’m not much of a horror fan. But I can appreciate a good movie,” she explained. “That’ll be $22.00 by the way.”
“Ew. Ouch. That’s the real horror there,” Blackbird muttered as he pulled out his debit card and slid it under the glass. “Sorry I’m sure you hear that all the time.”
“Not all the time. Just most of it,” Juniper retorted with a slight smile. “I’m just glad you realized how stupid that sounds.”
“Hey we both work retail too so we get it,” he explained as he motioned between himself and Aria. “Plus sounding stupid is kinda what I do on a daily basis.”
“Can confirm,” Aria remarked.
Juniper giggled as she handed him back his card and their tickets. “You two are funny together.”
“Well if you like that we both have MyTube channels where we rip on bad movies. Blackbird Reviews and Blazing Reviews,” he explained as he took the card and tickets from her. “And yes she definitely has the better title.”
“Sounds like fun. I’ll try to remember to check them out whenever I can,” Juniper noted. “Enjoy the show!”
“Thanks,” Blackbird said before he and Aria walked into the theater proper.
“Okay, so, I get that you’re polyamorous or whatever but could you at least try not to flirt while we’re on a date?!” Aria scolded him.
“I wasn’t flirting!” Blackbird protested then paused and blinked. “Was I?”
“Certainly looked like it to me!”
“Well I didn’t mean too. I’m sorry.”
“I know and that’s the most annoying thing! You have this effortless charm about you! It’s frustrating!” Aria exclaimed.
“I’m...sorry?” he offered in confusion.
“Yeah that! Stop doing that!”
“I don’t...know how to not be myself.”
She sighed and took her ticket from him while they walked up to the concession stand.
“Just get us some popcorn,” she muttered.
“Right,” he returned then looked at he guy behind the counter. “I’d like a large popcorn and two medium sodas.” “Alright,” the guy replied and punched in the order. “Anything else?”
“You want anything else?” Blackbird asked Aria.
She studied the snack options for a moment then shook her head.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Then just that,” Blackbird confirmed.
“That’ll be $14.00 even,” the other boy replied.
“Yeesh again. See this is why I couldn’t take you to a fancy restaurant,” Blackbird told Aria as he handed over his card again.
“Well you better save up for next time,” she advised him.
“Then don’t surprise me next time!” he retorted.
At this point the thoroughly uncomfortable theater employee gave Blackbird back his card then set about getting their drinks while another employee behind him getting an almost comically large bucket of popcorn ready. In only a few seconds they were given their order with Aria taking her soda while Blackbird balanced his own cup and the popcorn container.
“You want to get some butter?” he offered.
“Yeah that’d be great but instead they have whatever that crap is,” Aria remarked, pointing to the stained “butter” dispenser a few steps away.
“That’s a ‘No’ then,” Blackbird retorted.
Aria rolled her eyes as they headed towards the specific theater featuring their showing of the movie. When they stepped inside they found the spacious theater completely empty.
“Ha! Perfect!” Blackbird cheered as he surveyed the seats. “Now we can find the best viewing seat.”
“‘Best viewing seat’?” Aria asked incredulously. “Is this why we had to come this early?!”
“Well...yeah,” he confessed as he inspected some of the rows of seats. “Ah! Here!”
He sat down in the center of a row that was just behind a railing. Aria paused and seemed to think over if she wanted to continue this date or not but quickly shrugged and sat in the seat next to him.
“You always do this when you go to the movies?” she asked as she took a handful of popcorn.
“Yes. Yes I do,” he admitted. “I have problems!”
“No kidding,” she said around the mouthful of popcorn.
“So why did you want do this again?” he teased.
She took a long sip from her soda before responding.
“Starting to wonder that myself,” she replied with a sly smile.
“Oh that went wrong so quickly!” Blackbird exclaimed, his voice a mix of playful and fearful.
Despite herself, Aria let out a small snicker before she lightly punched his arm.
“Man you’re easy to mess with,” she mused.
They continued to have a playful back and forth while the preshow played on the screen. They quieted down as more and more people started to file into the theater. Soon enough the movie itself started enthralled by it. Despite her usual tough tomboy persona, there were more than a few times that Aria jumped at some of the scares on screen and at least one reached over to grab Blackbird’s hand. Of course she was quick to jerk it away once she realized what she had done but even in the darkness he caught the slight smile on her face afterwards.
Once the movie was over, and they were sure there was nothing extra after the credits, they left the theater and made their way towards the mall once again.
“So how was it?” a voice called from behind them.
They turned to see Juniper still behind the ticket booth.
“Oh it was great!” Blackbird gushed. “I don’t know how they do it but this series keeps getting better and better!”
“Eh, it it was alright,” Aria shrugged. “Though there’s no way this is based on a ‘true story’.”
“Oh yeah they made a lot of stuff up but it’s still super good,” he told Juniper.
“Well maybe I’ll check it out sometime,” she replied.
“Cool. Hey check out our videos as well! Good stuff! Hope to hear from ya!” he waved as he and Aria walked away. “So where to now? Still a bit of time before the mall closes. We could hit up some shops.”
She was about to answer before froze when she spotted yet another familiar CHS face in the crowd. This time was Trixie. She wasn’t alone either as there was a girl next to her who...honestly looked a lot like her! Their hair definitely had the same colors to it but this girl wore hers straight and hidden under a star patterned beanie. She also wore a teal T-shirt under a black vest and ripped jeans. While there were a lot of stupid faces from CHS she didn’t remember, she definitely would have remembered someone who looked that much like her! Visual similarities aside, the other thing that stood out to Aria was that this girl seemed to be showing Trixie around the mall. Which was weird cause she knew Trixie lived her so she would know all about the mall. Plus, it looked like the wannabe magician was a bit unsteady on her feet. She was strangely transfixed by the whole thing and was only snapped out of it when she felt a light touch on her shoulder.
“Aria?” Blackbird asked in concern.
“Uh what?” she asked, shaking her head a bit.
“I asked where did you want to go?” he repeated then looked at her more closely. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine,” she reassured him, giving one last glance at the pair. “Let’s, uh, let’s go...this way!”
With that she grabbed his wrist and led him in the opposite direction of Trixie and her friend. They walked down the much less crowded walkways now and soon came to a stopped in front of one of the many clothing stores in the mall. Though initially she stopped there just because she felt it was a good distance away from the girls she was trying to avoid, she did see something in the store that caught her eye. She walked over to one of the coat rakes and pulled out a gold colored, feathered jacket. She ran her hand through the soft down as she eyed it all over.
“You know, I wouldn’t think that was your style but I think that’d look good on you,” Blackbird said as he walked up to her.
“Yeah,” Aria agreed in an almost dreamy tone. One that quickly faded with a sigh. “But there’s no way I could afford it with my paycheck.”
“Come on, it can’t be that much,” he noted before he checked the price tag. “Eeeeeh! Yeeeaaahhh...can’t help you with that right now. Sorry.”
“Nah, it’s fine,” she sighed again and placed it back. “Maybe later.”
The browsed through a few of the other items in the store, Aria in particular taking a moment to admit a purple ascot, before being told they had to leave as the store was getting ready to close. Certain that the coast had to be cleared by now, Aria had no issue with stepped back into the mall but Blackbird lingered behind in the store. About a minute later he emerged with a small box in his hand right as the store employee pulled down the metal grating to lock up the store.
“Here,” he said, presenting Aria with the box.
“What’s this?” she asked even as she took the offered gift. “Well I couldn’t afford the coat but I was just able to afford something else I noticed you had your eye on,” he explained.
She pulled the box apart and carefully laid inside on top of a black velvet cushion was the ascot she had been admiring. Her eyes darted back and forth between it and him.
“You...bought this for me? Just because?” she asked, as if the concept was alien to her.
“Well...yeah,” he replied with a nonchalant shrug.
After looking between him and the gift a few more times before she said the only thing she could think to say as a swell of emotions ran through her.
“Thank you.”
“Hey you’re welcome,” he smiled at her. “Now come on, we better get out of here before we get locked in the mall. Don’t want to deal with any killer robots, do we?”
She snorted at the reference then put the ascot back in the back before they made their way out of the mall and back to his car. After a short drive they were back in the city and parked outside her apartment building/place of work.
“Sooooo...you, uh, have a good time tonight?” he asked nervously.
“You know what? I did,” she said with a genuine smile. “Hell I might even want to do it again sometime.”
“Sounds like a plan to me! And if you let me know far enough in advance I can actually take you to a real restaurant!” he joked.
“Oh you’re definitely doing that!” she joked back.
They stood in an awkward silence for several seconds before Blackbird started to lean forward, his lips parting a bit.
“Nope!” Aria denied him, putting a finger to his lips. “We’re not there. Yet.”
“Yeah. Fair enough. That was stupid of me!” he admitted nervously. “So, um, just have a good night and we’ll talk more about our next collab later, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds better,” she nodded.
“Cool. Cool. Alright...night!” he waved before he moved rather quickly to his car.
She waved back as he drove off then walked to the side entrance of the building to walk straight up the stairs to her shared apartment. Thankfully it seemed Adagio and Sonata turned in early for the night so she wouldn’t have to deal with them. She carefully snuck across the floor to her dresser where she took her off her clothes and tossed them into a nearby hamper before changing into a pair of panties and a long T-shirt to sleep in. She stopped just before she got into the bed she had to share with Sonata and put the box with the ascot into the drawer in the night stand on her side of the bed. Eventually she would work it into the rotation of her outfits but for now she wanted to keep it a secret. After all it was the first genuine gift she had ever been given. Not one given to her through brainwashing, manipulation or even demand. Blackbird just bought it for her because he knew she wanted it. It was given to her out of kindness and love. And to her that made it the most important part of her entire wardrobe.
Once the box was secure she slipped into the bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. She stared at the ceiling as she reflected on the night’s events and a large, beaming smile spread across her face. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt good about the future.
Aria leaned back into the couch as she enjoyed one of the rare times when she had the apartment all to herself. Well, not all to herself. Blackbird had come over and they decided to watch an actual good movie for once. Of course they still couldn’t help but throw a few snide comments out here and there. Despite that though, Aria had a genuine smile on her face. Something that had actually become a little more frequent since they had officially started dating about a month or so ago. Being with him made her feel really relaxed. More relaxed then she felt in...forever! So relaxed in fact that she let her body slump over a bit until her head was resting on Blackbird’s shoulder.
The grey boy tensed a bit when he felt her weight on him.
“Umm...Aria?” he asked, surprised by the unusually intimate gesture.
The former Dazzling’s smiled faded a bit.
“Just...shut up, okay?” she requested with only a slight edge to her voice.
“Alright,” he agreed.
They went back to watching the movie in a sort of comfortable/uncomfortable silence. After a few seconds of her simply laying on his shoulder, Blackbird lifted his arm so he could wrap it around her shoulders and draw her closer to him. Surprisingly she took the invitation and scooted her body even closer to his. She even let out a content sigh. It felt...nice.
Too nice.
“Okay, let me up this is getting weird!” she suddenly blurted out as she pulled his arm off her and got up from the couch.
“Whoa! Hey!” he cried out in surprise as he looked at her in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No! It’s just...” Aria paused before she spun around and chewed on her thumbnail nervously.
Ever since their relationship had started to develop further there was a question that had been on her mind. Something nagging at the back of her brain that was afraid to ask. Something that she usually tried to hide behind her usual snark and bravado but for some reason the moment on the couch just now made it shoot past all her defenses.
“Just what?” Blackbird asked as he stood up as well.
“Just...just why do you even like me?!” she blurted out, spinning around so fast that her purple and teal twin tails whipped around her.
“What?!” he replied, again completely caught off guard by her.
“Why do you like me?!” Aria asked again in an almost desperate tone. “I don’t even like me! Yet here you are trying to get into a relationship with me even though you already have a girlfriend who you’re so adorable with it makes me physically ill sometimes!” She let out a huff before her shoulders slumped a bit. “And here I am a mess in, like, everything in my life right now! So why would someone so...nice like you want to be with a pain in the ass like me?’
Blackbird stared in surprise of her blunt honesty for a second before her, smiled softly and gently placed his hands on her bare shoulders for reassurance.
“Honestly that’s exactly why I like you,” he confessed. “Yeah Moonie and I get along super well, but I also like that you challenge me a bit. You’re not afraid to call me out when I’m being stupid and I love our snaking matches. They’re just fun! And yeah maybe you don’t express your emotions all that well, but it’s not like I’m that great at it either so we can help each other on that.” His smile then shifted into a cheeky smirk. “Plus you’re hot.”
Aria let out a small chortle despite herself and in an even more surprising move than the outburst that started the conversation, pulled him into a tight hug. Once he recovered from the shock of the action, Blackbird brought his arms up to her back to return the loving embrace.
“You’re an idiot,” Aria said into his shoulder, the tip of her smile peeking out just above it. “But you’re my idiot.”
“Well yours and Moonie’s,” Blackbird corrected.
Her grip tightened on him a bit. “Well you’re mine right now and that’s all I care about.”
After almost a minute of holding each other they finally pulled back just enough to stare into each other’s eyes. Blackbird brought one of his hands up to her right cheek to which she nuzzled her face against it. As they continued to stare at each other their faces grew closer and closer. Their eye closed and their lips parted ever so slightly until...
The suddenly burst open causing them both to scream and jump a few inches off the floor. They turned to see Sonata lumbering into the apartment in a slouched posture.
“Ugh! Work today SUUUUUUUUUUCKED!” she proclaimed more to the heavens than them.
“DAMMIT SONATA!!!” Aria screamed angrily.
The blue girl straightened her stance at her older sister’s berating scream then blinked at the two of them.
“What? What’d I do?” she asked in total ignorance.
After she study the scene for a moment though, she started to figure out exactly what she had walked into and a teasing smile spread over her face.
“Oooooh I get it! You two were having some alone time, weren’t you?” she asked cheekily.
“Yes. We were. Now if you could just leave us alone, that would be great!” Aria told her as she made a shooing motion with her hands.
“Alright, alright fine. I want to take a shower anyway,” Sonata said before she tossed her cap onto the bed and whipped of her shirt to reveal a black, lacy bra underneath.
“SONATA!!!” the older sister screamed again as she placed a hand over Blackbird’s eyes like a parent would their child.
“Whaaaaaat?!” she wailed in annoyance.
Again it took her a moment to realize her faux pas. And once again a surprisingly devious smile crossed her face when she figured it out.
“What’s the matter Aria, afraid your boyfriend might prefer your not-so-little sister when he sees these?” she teased, pushing her impressively sized breasts up a bit. A confused look then returned to her face. “Though honestly I still don’t get what humans see in these things.”
“What?” Blackbird asked as the oddly worded sentence.
“Nothing! She means nothing! And I believe she was gonna take a shower, right Sonata?!” Aria growled the last words through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, yeah,” the blue girl waved as she walked past to couple towards the bathroom door, pulling her hair out of its ponytail as she did so.
It was only when the door was close that Aria finally lowered her hand from Blackbird’s face.
“You know as surprised as you may be to learn this, I have seen breasts before,” he joked.
“Still doesn’t mean I want you ogling my little sister,” Aria grumbled.
“Fair enough. I’ll just say you have some lovely breasts yourself,” he complimented with a wink. She stared at him for a few seconds, unsure if she wanted to still kiss him or kick him for that remark. Instead she just rolled her eye and tucked her arms under her breasts in a way that pushed them up to be more noticeable.
“Whatever,” she snorted dismissively even with a smile at the edges of her mouth.
She fell back onto the couch and let her arms fall down as she relaxed again. She looked up at him and patted the space next to her. He smiled as he sat down and the second he did she leaned on him once again. After a moment’s hesitation, he wrapped his arm over her shoulder again and pulled her even closer.
“Soooo...you okay with this now?” he asked tentatively.
“Still feels a little weird but...I could definitely get used to it,” she told him softly.
“Hey I’ll take it,” he joked.
She gave a small chuckle then settled into a comfortable silence as they went back to watching the movie. Unfortunately, they’re happy moment was spoiled when another voice spoke up behind them.
“Awwww, isn’t this just precious?” Adagio’s mocking voice rang out.
Aria’s brow narrowed in anger as she regretfully pulled herself up from Blackbird to give her sister a death glare.
“What are you doing here Adagio?” she demanded.
“I live here,” came the deadpan reply.
Adagio then turned her attention to Blackbird, who had also stood up at this point. She placed her hands on her hips and stared him up and down in a studious manner.
“So. You’re the boyfriend, huh?” she muttered, still looking him over.
“Yeah that’d be me,” Blackbird replied a little unsurely.
“Wait! How did you know?!” Aria sputtered in annoyance. She then turned to the bathroom door and called out, “Sonata! Did you tell Adagio about Blackbird?!”
“What?!” Sonata’s voice called out from the other side of the door.
“It wasn’t her,” Adagio spoke up, cutting off Aria before she could yell again. “I figured something had to be up the way you’ve been sneaking around the last few months. Plus, I peeked over your shoulder a few times while you were editing your little videos and saw the same boy in them over and over again.”
“You WHAT?!” Aria screeched and clutched her teeth and fists in anger. “Do you have any respect for anyone’s privacy?!”
“Oh please! Like we have much privacy in this hell hole,” the older sister remarked as she motioned around the small apartment. “Besides I think it’s perfectly within my right to look out for my little sister’s best interest.”
As always her tone held a malicious tinge that belied her concerned nature. It was a tone that Aria was far too familiar with. One topped off by the Cheshire grin she almost always wore. The one that always made Aria want to knock those perfectly little teeth right out of her head. Especially when it was turned towards her. And even more especially now that it was turned towards her boyfriend as well. Well she definitely had some choice words forming in her mouth for her “concerned sister” right now.
Words that were lost when she felt Blackbird place a calming hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him and he smiled at her before giving a soft nod. She sighed then did what she could to relax herself.
“Yeah, I’m her boyfriend,” he said to Adagio. “And given that I just met Sonata, I’m gonna guess you’re the older sister she’s told me about.”
“I am,” Adagio replied as she cocked a hip. “What has she told you about me?”
“Well mostly that you’re a tremendous bitch,” he said flatly. “Although she did seem to leave out your impressive lack of breasts!”
Both Aria and Adagio stared at him dumbfounded. For Aria it was surprise from just how blunt and vicious Blackbird was being and for Adagio it was from the shock of anyone talking to her like that!
“How...how dare you?!” she snapped even as she brought her arms up to cover her less than impressive chest.
“And how dare you waste all those delicious cheeseballs by putting them together in that mess you call a hairdo!” Blackbird retorted.
At this point Aria had completely lost it and fell back onto the couch in a fit of uproarious laughter. Adagio, meanwhile, found herself in the same position Aria had been in just a few minutes ago; standing still with her teeth and fist clenched together in seething anger.
“Why...you...little...” she growled,
“Well this has been fun but I should probably get going now,” Blackbird cut her off then looked over at Aria. “Talk later?”
“Oh definitely!” she said after one last chuckle. “Cool. Later then cutie,” he smiled then looked at the still seething Adagio. “Bye bitch!”
He gave a quick wave before strutting out of the door. The second he closed it behind Adagio let out a frustrated scream then glared at Aria.
“YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DATE HIM ANYMORE!!!” she shrieked, pointing towards the door.
“Pfft! Yeah, like that will happen,” Aria shrugged off.
“I mean it Aria,” Adagio continued, crossing her arms over her chest again. “He’s...he’s...”
“Able to put you in your place?” she asked as she stood up and looked her older sister right in the eye. “I think you’re just mad cause all the things he said were true, cheeseball hair.”
Adagio’s hand flew from her chest to her hair, which she hugged and stroked almost defensively
“Don’t you ever make fun of my hair! I spend hours making sure it’s just perfect!” she snapped.
“And I spend hours picking clumps of it out of the shower drain!”
“Oh like yours doesn’t do the same thing!”
“At least I’m courteous enough to pick them out when I’m done with my shower!”
While they argued about the shower, they failed to notice that Sonata had finished hers and currently had her head peeking out from the bathroom door.
“Hey Aria? Is your boyfriend still here? Cause I forgot to bring any other clothes in here with me,” she explained sheepishly.
“No, he’s gone,” Aria sighed and rubbed her temple a bit.
“Oh good!”
The door then flung wide open to reveal Sonata wearing absolutely nothing but a towel wrapped around her head.
“PUT ON ANOTHER TOWEL!!!” both Aria and Adagio screamed at her.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
A few weeks later, the apartment had returned to what passed for normal. The three sisters went to work, came home and each did their various things. Because the apartment was so small they tried not to be in there all at the same time so they wouldn’t be in each other’s ways. But sometimes things just worked out that they were all in the apartment at the same time. Today was one of those days. Surprisingly though, they were all getting along rather well and things were peaceful. Adagio sitting on her bed flipping through a fashion magazine while Sonata was lying on the other bed playing on her phone as Aria sat on the couch editing her latest video. After she saved her latest bit of progress she leaned back and stretched her arms over her head. In the process of doing so she noticed she had received a message on her cell phone while editing. She took her headphones of and laid them on her laptop before picking up her phone and reading the message. She let out a slight chuckle before she sent a reply.
An action that didn’t go unnoticed by Adagio.
“Was that your boyfriend?” she asked in a teasing manner.
“In fact it was,” Aria replied with a slight smirk. “Jealous?”
“Of that loser? Hardly. Quite frankly you’re too good for him,” Adagio muttered before she went back to her magazine.
“Wow Adagio that almost sounded like a compliment,” the younger sister replied.
She was about to put her headphones back on to resume her editing but right before she could, Adagio spoke up again.
“I do wonder though, have you told him what you really are? Your true nature?” she pressed with a malicious grin. “Do you think he’d still care for you if he knew?”
Aria paused and held tightly onto her headphones.
“Yes. Yes, he would,” she said softly, seeming to tell herself more than Adagio.
“Really? You don’t sound so sure,” Adagio continued to tease.
Now Aria’s hands were gripping the headphones so tightly they were shaking and the plastic creaked a bit from the strain.
“Shut up,” she growled in the same quiet tone as before.
“What was that?”
“I. Said. SHUT UP!!!”
She flung the headphones to the floor as she bolted up right from the couch, causing both Adagio and Sonata to jump in surprised. Aria then vaulted over the couch in a surprisingly fluid motion so she could storm over to the bed and get right in Adagio’s face.
“JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!!!” she screamed, jabbing a finger right into her sister’s face. “And that’s what you are, miserable! So you have to make everyone else around you miserable too! Well guess what Adagio? I’M SICK OF IT!! I’m sure Sonata is too!”
“Well kinda,” Sonata meekly added.
“See?!” Aria continued, motioning to their youngest sister. “We’re happy here Adagio! Is this the life we all wanted? No! But we’re making the best of it! Your problem is you’re not in charge for once! You can’t boss us around and you hate that! We don’t need to rely on you to survive anymore and it drives you nuts! We finally have a chance to have our own lives! And, yeah, that means finding someone who actually cares about you!”
She then marched over to the night stand on her side of the bed, causing Sonata to shrink back a bit in fear, then rummaged through it a bit before she pulled out the ascot Blackbird had bought for her.
“You see this?!” she asked, holding up the pink piece of fabric. “Blackbird bought this for me on our firs date! You know why? Cause he wanted to! I didn’t have to enchant him to make him get it for me. He just...wanted to do it,” she sighed and held it close to her chest. “Do you have any idea what the feels like?”
Adagio looked like she was going to respond but Aria cut her off.
“No. You don’t! Because you haven’t even tried to make an actual connection with anyone since we lost our magic. Which, by the way, was your fault! I tried to tell you we should have done something different but NOOOOOOO! As always Adagio just has be to in control. Well this,” she waved her arms around the small apartment, “is where that got us! And you know what? I’m okay with it.” She sighed and placed the ascot in her pocket. “Yeah it’s not the best life but it’s a life. We can live! And that’s what I’ve been doing! Maybe it’s time you started doing the same.”
She then quickly grabbed her shoes and marched out of the apartment before Adagio could say anything, making sure to slam the door as she did so. She descended the stairs and when threw open the front door to the building and just started walking down the sidewalk. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, she just knew she had to get away from Adagio for awhile. She shoved her hands in her pockets and the second she did she felt the ascot she had placed inside one. The feel of the light, soft fabric brought Adagio’s question racing back to the forefront of her mind.
“Do you think he’d still care for you if he knew?”
She stopped dead in her tracks. As good as it felt to finally let Adagio have it, she knew the reason her question had upset her so much is because it was one she had been asking herself for a while now. Ever since their relationship had become more serious, she wondered how or even if she should tell Blackbird about her past. Would he hate her? Would he even believe her? They were questions she really didn’t know if she wanted the answers to and would just not ask them at all.
But she knew eventually she would have to.
Might as well just get it out of the way now, she thought.
She reached into her other pocket and thankfully had put her phone in it somewhere during all that commotion. It would have been really embarrassing to have to go back for it right now. She pulled it out and quickly brought up Blackbird’s name to text him.
~Hey, you at your place?~ she wrote.
She waited a bit anxiously for the reply. Thankfully it wasn’t a long way.
~Yeah,~ came the simple reply.
~Is it cool if I come over right now?~
~Yeah sure. Something up?~
~I just...need to tell you something.~
~...~
Her heart sank a bit at those three little dots.
~This...doesn’t sound very encouraging.~
~Look just...please wait til I get there before you freak out or anything, okay?~
~I’ll do my best.~
~I’ll be there soon!~
~Okay.~
She closed the text log with a heavy sigh then opened up the app to call for a ride. No way was she waiting for a taxi or the bus right now!
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Blackbird sat in his apartment doing his best not to freak out over Aria’s texts. While it was possible she just wanted to come over, there was something about them that seemed....off to him. Course it could just be his anxiety running away with him as it had tendency to do but he couldn’t shake the feeling something was with her. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too serious. Hopefully she wasn’t-
His thoughts were cut off by a rapid knocking at the door. He took a breath to calm his nerves then got up to answer it. The second he opened the door, before he would even say “Hi” to her, Aria leapt at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. Once he got over the initial shock, he let the door go to close on its own so he would wrap his arms around her and return the hug. They stood silently holding each other for nearly a minute before Blackbird finally spoke up.
“Soooo...I guess you’re not breaking up with me?” he asked hesitantly.
She let out a slight chuckle at the absurdity of that question.
“No. I’m not,” she sighed then pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. “But you might want to break up with me after I tell you what I have to tell you.”
He looked down into her violet eyes and saw an uneasiness he hadn’t seen before in them.
“I...feel I’m gonna need to sit down for this one,” he muttered.
“Yeah. Probably,” she agreed with a nod.
While Blackbird walked over and set back down on the couch, Aria moved behind the coffee table and paced a bit as she wrung her fingers together and occasionally pulled one of her twin tails. It was weird to see her usual snarky confidence replaced with such nervous, unsure energy. He really wanted to get up to hug her again but he knew she had to get whatever it is off her chest. A chest that rose and fell as she took a few deep breathes in an effort to compose herself enough to speak.
“So,” she finally breathed.
“So?” he asked back.
“I’ve been keeping something from you,” she stated.
“Well we’ve only known each other a few months, so there’s plenty we need to find out about each other,” he remarked.
“No this is a...pretty big thing,” she insisted.
“Like...what?”
Again she paused and took a deep breath.
“Like that fact that I’m not technically human.”
A heavy silence hung over the room after that statement. Blackbird looked at her for any sign that she was joking or messing with him but couldn’t find any. He arched an eyebrow then leaned back against the couch.
“Go on...” he encouraged.
And so she did. She told him everything. About being from Equestria, being a Siren, getting banished to this world, the things she and her sisters did to survive, the events at CHS and finally being beaten by the Rainbooms. Through it all he never looked away from her or questioned her or barely changed his expression. He just sat there and took in this fantastical story. When she was finally done she let out a surprisingly relieved sigh. It actually felt good to get all that off her chest. But of course now she had to face whatever came next.
“Soooooo...what do you think?” she asked pensively.
Blackbird brought a hand up to his chin and rubbed his goatee a bit as he searched his mind for what exactly he should say first. After a few seconds he went with the only one that popped in there first.
“So you’re a thousand years old?” he asked.
Aria blinked and tilted her head.
“Well...certainly wasn’t expecting that!” she replied.
“Yeah. Sorry. No. It’s just...I mean...that’s a lot to take in!” he exclaimed.
“Then you believe me?” she asked, still slightly rattled.
“I mean there are really only two options here. Either this is all true which mean, holy crap!! Or you’ve made up the most elaborate story ever to break up with me! And considering you said you didn’t want to break up and that you’re the type to just say you would if you did want to then...yeah I’m gonna go with this bring true. Which again, HOLY CRAP!!!!” He explained and fell back against the couch again. “I mean...magic is real?!”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Well...kinda here. Mostly it seems like magic from Equestria is being brought over here.”
“That’s another thing, Equestria, that’s a whole other world full of talking horses and things?”
“Ponies. And things. Yeah.”
“And you’re a Siren. But instead of being half-fish, half -woman, you’re half-fish, half-horse?”
“Basically,” Aria nodded then clutched her left arm nervously. “Does that...make a difference to you?” He got over his astonishment enough to realize that’s what a had been worrying her. He got up from the couch and walked over to her. He placed his hand gently on her shoulders and gave her a warm, loving smile.
“No. Not in the slightest,” he reassured her. “Hell this has been the dream of some more for hundreds of years. Hey speaking of which, does that mean you’re where the legends of the Sirens came from?”
“No that was already here,” she informed him. “One of the things our worlds have in common apparently. And to answer your question, no I’m not a thousand years old. Starswirl’s spell also sent us forward in time as well. I’d save we’ve been here about a decade or so.”
“So still older than you look,” he said with a wink.
“Yeah,” she smiled a bit, though it quickly faded. “So...what about everything else? What we did with our powers? Does that make you feel differently about me?”
“Well...it’s something,” he noted as he gently started to rub her shoulders. “But I think the fact that you’ve been so nervous to tell me shows you’re remorseful for it. Plus, you said it was literally how you survived so I don’t know if I can be too mad about that.” He paused and placed his hands on her cheeks. “Either way it’s in the past now. You’re not that person, or Siren, anymore. Sure you’re little snarky most of the time but that’s what makes you who you are. The girl with thousands of people tuning in to watch her rip apart terrible movies on MyTube. And also the girl who won my heart. That’s the Aria I know.”
He gave her another soft, loving smile to show her his words were genuine. One that quickly changed to a bit of a sly grin.
“Besides, you work retail. That’s punishment enough for whatever you may have done in the past,” he quipped.
Aria stared wide eyed at him before her face scrunched up a bit and a loud, carefree laughter escaped her lips. She threw her arms around him and continued to laugh into his shoulder.
“Oh my God you’re such a dork! I love you!” she exclaimed happily.
Again silence over took them as they both took in Aria’s words this time.
“Aria did you just...” Blackbird asked, letting the question hang.
“I...” Aria paused then pulled back from him so she could look him in the eyes. “Yes. Yes I did. And I don’t regret it! I mean what I said. I love you Blackbird.”
He placed his hands on her cheeks again and stepped closer to her.
“And I love you Aria,” he whispered right before her captured her lips with his in passionate, loving kiss.
They held the kiss for nearly a minute, enjoying the loving feeling radiating from their closeness. Eventually though they finally broke apart and stare at each other.
“So? Feel better?” Blackbird asked softly.
“Yeah,” Aria sighed happily. “Just...don’t get use to this sappiness, okay?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he smiled. “Now...how about we sit down? Still processing a lot of stuff.”
“Yeah I could definitely sit down,” she said with an exhausted breath. “And...would you mind if I stayed over tonight? I just...can’t deal wit Adagio right now.”
“Oooooh okay, that’s what happened,” he said in complete understanding. “Yeah that makes sense. And yeah you can stay over. You can take my bed tonight. I’ll share Moonie’s bed.”
“I’m gonna guess that’s not the first time you’ve been in her bed,” Aria teased.
“Not in the least,” he smiled back. “I mean you are welcomed to join us if you’d like.”
“Yeah don’t push your luck there buddy,” she remarked, giving him a light punch in the arm.
“Now that’s the Aria I know!”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her back to the couch. They sat down and was their custom quickly pulled up some crappy movie for them to watch and make fun of and help take their minds off the day. Aria quickly curled up next to him and finally felt at ease letting him hold her. Being in a relationship was certainly something she had never planned on but now that she was in one, now that she was starting to feel good about herself, she wasn’t going to let it end anytime soon.
This was her life now. And for the first time she could remember, it feel really, really good.
Aria grumbled as she groggily walked out of Blackbird’s room. She had had a rather rough sleep last night. Not only because of everything she had on her mind thanks to her fight with Adagio but also because of...things she overheard. The sources of which were sitting at the table in the back of the main room casually eating breakfast. Much to her surprise there seemed to be an extra plate and cup of coffee made for her. She stared at it almost dumbfounded for a moment before she slowly walked over to the table to take the offered meal.
“You two make too much noise,” she said causally as she picked up the plate and cup.
Blackbird nearly choked on his orange juice at the comment while Moonie blushed furiously and tried to become one with her own cup of coffee. Aria smirked triumphantly as she went to sit down on the couch to enjoy her own meal.
“But thanks for breakfast at least,” she offered.
“Welcome,” Blackbird coughed out once he was able to talk again. “By the way, I just gotta say you look different with your hair down.”
Indeed, she had yet to tie her hair up into its customary twin pigtails. In fact, she had just managed to slip on her corset and pants so she’d look decent. The rest of her accessories could wait til after she was a little more awake. And now after breakfast. Of course she was awake enough to let out a snarky comment or two.
“Yeah well I haven’t put it up yet since I’m still tired cause somebodies kept me awake most of the night!” she remarked, given them another pointed glance.
While Moonie blushed even more, Blackbird was more prepared for her barb this time.
“Jealous?” he teased with a sly smirk.
“Pffft! You wish!” she shot back.
“Anyway,” Moonie broke in, stopping anymore of the back and forth, “Blackbird told me about...your past.”
Aria stopped right as she was about to bring a fork full of eggs to her mouth. She set the utensil down and looked over at the two again, this time with all her bravado gone. She stared at Moonie for a long time before her gazed on Blackbird with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said, uneasily. “I just figured it would come up at some point and it’d be better to get it out of the way now instead of keeping secrets like a bad teen drama show.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t fight that logic.
“Alright, fine,” she relented a bit bitterly then looked over to Moonie. “So...who did you take it?”
“Still taking it in, honestly,” Moonie confessed. “Just knowing that magic exists and there’s a whole other world out there? It’s just...wow.”
“Right?!” Blackbird exclaimed. “I just wonder what kind of rules they work under! How do they live? What do they eat-OH MY GOD!!!”
His head suddenly snapped back towards Aria with his eyes as back as the plates they were eating off of.
“The sushi!” he screamed. “Now I know why you didn’t want to eat the fish ones! Oh I am so, SO sorry!”
“You didn’t!” Moonie cried out in horror.
“It’s fine! It’s fine!” Aria said, seeming to reassure them both. “You didn’t know.”
“But now that I do am going to make sure I don’t ever do anything like that again!” he vowed.
“Wait. Hold on,” Moonie interjected, looking down at the breakfast before them.
Breakfast that included eggs and bacon.
“Is this...” she started, given an unsure look to Aria.
“Delicious!” Aria exclaimed as she took a big bite of the crispy bacon.
“Well that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about then, I guess. Seriously I really want to know how this other world works sometime,” Blackbird mused then looked down at his phone. “Oop! But later! Right now I gotta get a shower and get to work!”
He got up from his chair and leaned over the table to give Moonie a quick kiss.
“Love you, babe!” he said. He then moved over to the couch and leaned over to give Aria a kiss.
“Love you too,” he said as moved towards her.
Aria hesitated for a moment and looked over at Moonie, who gave her an approving nod. The former Siren then moved forward to meet Blackbird’s lips. He gave her a quick smile before he darted off into the bathroom. Once the door was closed, Aria let out a slight breath and leaned against the couch.
“Yeah, gonna take a while to get used to that,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” Moonie agreed before she took another sip of her coffee.
“So, like, you’re just cool with that?” Aria asked.
“Well it is a little different to see rather than just know about it but that’ll just take a little getting used to,” she explained then turned to the other girl. “How about you?”
“Pretty much the same,” she agreed. “As well as getting used to having a boyfriend at all!”
She then took another bite of her eggs as she thought over the changes that had occurred in her life over the last few months. Or even the last 24 hours. Which caused another, slightly uncomfortable, thought to pop back into her head. She glanced at the bathroom door and listened to the sound of running water for a second. She then got up and walked over to the table to talk to Moonie in a hushed tone.
“So level with me. All that stuff from last night. That was just for his ego, right?” she asked, jabbing a thumb towards the door.
Again a blush formed over Moonie’s cheeks and she focused intently on the food left on her plate.
“Nope,” she answered with a satisfied smile.
Aria’s eye widened and she looked between the bathroom door and Moonie for a few seconds.
“Naaaaah!” she waved off.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
After she finished her breakfast and got the rest of her outfit together, Aria called for a call to take her home. Well...most of the way home. She had the driver drop her off about a block from the apartment since she was still in no hurry to see Adagio just yet. Though now she was regretting that decision a bit since it was cooler than that should it’d be outside and she had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t taken her hoodie last night.
I need to get more shirts with sleeves, she thought in dismay. Or maybe that jacket if I can save up the money in time.
She slowed her stride as she approached the building when she saw the one person she didn’t want to see right now; Adagio. She was taking the trash out to the garbage can by the curb and as luck would have it, happened to spot Aria when she turned to go back inside. The sisters stood still and stared at each other for a few tense moments. Eventually Aria broke the standoff by moving towards the door.
“I tried to call you, you know?” Adagio remarked, giving her a sideways glance.
Aria stopped right as her hand reached the handle.
“Yeah I know. I was ignoring you,” she told her without looking back.
“Well...I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Are you?!” Aria spat, turning around to finally face Adagio.
“YES DAMMIT!!” Adagio screamed back. “Despite what you might think I actually do care about you!”
“Then why can’t you be happy for me?!”
“Because you deserve better than that idiot!”
“No, you think I deserve better than that idiot!” Aria shouted, jabbing an accusing finger at her sister. “And, yeah, he can be an idiot sometimes, but you know what? He wants me to be happy! He cares that I’m happy! Which is more than I can as about my own sister!”
“I do want you to be happy!” Adagio insisted. “But-”
“But only on your terms!” Aria interrupted her. “And like I said last night, that’s the problem! You still want to control everything! But you can’t! You have let us live our lives! It’s all we have now!”
Silence over took them again as Adagio stared at Aria. A few seconds later she finally let out a sigh and shook her head.
“Fine. Do whatever. Be with the idiot, I won’t stop you,” she relented and folded her arms over her chest. “I still don’t like him.
“And I still don’t care,” Aria shot back before she turned and walked into the building.
As she started up the stairs that lead to the apartment, she heard a crashing outside that could only be Adagio taking out her frustrations on the garbage can outside. She ignored it though and continued up the stairs, content in the feeling that now her new life could truly begin.
