"It's Spanish, Dumbass"
Agatha was standing in the hotel lobby, custom purple suitcases in either hand. Paris at last.
She was wearing a short pencil skirt and a black blazer jacket, a pair of Gucci sunglasses perched perfectly on her nose as she leaned seductively over the front desk, chatting to the receptionist, who looked thoroughly fed up.
Wanda was stood behind her, in a much more comfortable yet just as stylish traveling outfit; a dark burgundy tracksuit and a matching Valentino crossbody, her red hair tied up in a messy bun. Like the hotel worker, Wanda was getting tired of Agatha's company; the three hours they'd spent together on the plane felt like three weeks.
What? A double-bed room?!” The brunette gasped, her hand flying to her chest in mock horror “I’m quite sure I ordered two singles!” Agatha said to the concierge. Making sure Wanda was busy with her suitcases, she winked obnoxiously at him, opening her mouth as she did so. She was slightly tipsy from a few too many complimentary drinks she’d had on the flight, and was overdoing it in usual Agatha fashion.
“Damn Wanda, these idiots have totally screwed up our booking, and what do you know? No rooms left!” she said dramatically, all the while glaring daggers at the poor receptionist “Isn’t that Right?” She hissed at the man.
“What oh- well-“he began before seeing the look on Agatha’s face. “Yep...no rooms left, just the double,” he confirmed, nodding solemnly.
Agatha concealed a smirk, turning back to Wanda with a false look of dismay. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, meeting Wanda’s eye as if daring her to say anything.
“We can find somewhere else darling” the brunette began, batting her eyelashes. She knew she’d won.
“No, no. It’s fine. I don’t mind sharing” Wanda relented, rolling her eyes.
As they travelled up in the elevator, joined by five designer suitcases and a poor attendant laden with a plethora of shopping bags and shoe boxes, the redhead turned to Agatha with a glare.
“I know you did that on purpose. I am married you know darling, just because you wish to share a bed with me doesn't mean anything is going to happen between us” Wanda said pointedly
Agatha gasped, trying to cover her blushing with a laugh.
“Pardon?!”
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Later that evening, Agatha was sat at the vanity in their swanky hotel room, basking in the warm evening sun seeping in from their large bay window overlooking the Parisian skyline.
The pair were getting ready to spend their first night out on the town. Sure, they were there for Fashion Week, but they'd still make time for themselves.
Agatha was half dressed, a towel wrapped around her shoulders and a mascara wand in one hand, her mouth slightly open as she applied the black liquid to her lashes.
“Ugh, Wanda. I wish she was here. I’ve had to answer two whole emails today! And I’m meant to be on vacation!” Agatha groaned, taking a sip from a large crystal wine glass that sat on the vanity.
Wanda was lounging on the grand, king-sized bed in the center of the room, leaning against the array of decorative pillows that engulfed the mattress . She had her hair done up in rollers and was currently doing her nails.
“Are you still going on about Rio? You really are obsessed with her” Wanda laughed, looking up at the ceiling and scratching her chin mockingly “Ahhh, I remember last time you got a little crush-”
“No.” Agatha cut her off “Don’t be stupid. I’m probably old enough to be her mother. I only tolerate her because she has potential. She's a good asset.”
“Ah yes, that potential you keep banging on about. Only last month were you ranting to me about her incompetence. I mean, she couldn’t even bring you the right coffee. Good assets you say?"
Wanda laughed, tidying up her french tips.
Agatha tutted, rolling her eyes. “ I said a good asset to the team.” She corrected. “She’s very good at answering emails when she’s not busy staring into space, I'll give her that. And darling, you should see some of her designs. They're really quite exciting. Not as good as my work of course. But there’s potential.”
Wanda laughed, pointing an accusatory finger at Agatha. “Aha. So you’re going to suck all of her good ideas out of her, use them to get your company back on track and then ditch her? Damn, you’re really out for blood. Are sales that bad?”
Agatha blushed. She hated when anyone tried to embarrass her or question her integrity, particularly when it coming from was her gorgeous, glamorous, clever friend. She'd always admired Wanda; she was rich, successful and a powerhouse in the fashion industry. The pair were really quite alike, but Wanda had one thing Agatha lacked- a perfect little family.
That was something Agatha would never be able to have.
What was it with her and falling for people she could never have?
“Ah, I can tell! You want her genius for yourself! My, how the mighty Agatha Harkness has fallen.” Wanda laughed, beginning to take out her curls. “I knew you liked to play dirty, but who knew you were such a rule breaker?!”
“I don’t break rules, they just bend to my power. And I don’t steal people's work darling. Why would I ever need to? I am the blueprint; they’re all stealing work that I did twenty years ago!” Agatha pouted sarcastically, before adding, “I’d be open to working with Vidal more closely eventually. As partners; I’m not ‘stealing’ anything.”
“Partners, huh?” Wanda smirked, raising her perfectly shaped brows.
“Not like that!”
”You sure hon?”
”Fuck off Wanda!”
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Rio was sat watching Nicky as he played loudly with some action figures. There must have been hundred. He had boxes full of them under his bed and had been showing Rio every single one, telling her its name and all there was to know about it. Rio nodded along, smiling. It was kind of cute, and where she usually would have zoned out by now, it was quite interesting to hear little snippets about the little plastic figures and what they meant to Nicky. Sometimes he'd give a cute little backstory about where he'd got them from, and what had happened on the day.
Though, often he’d pick one up and say “This is one Mami got me before she went off to Japan for three months”, or “This is one Papi bought me when he got another new girlfriend."
He said it so innocently, so happily. It made Rio's skin crawl.
Pity gifts. Rio had her fair share of those in the past. As though throwing a bit of money and some plastic at a kid would make everything okay again. Make it fine that they were left alone to feel alone and unloved. Rio gritted her teeth, once again flooded with memories from her childhood. Damn, this was like being back at fucking therapy.
Unlike Rio, Nicky was still beaming, holding out every toy for her to look at. “I like leaving them around the house. It annoys Mami, and Mrs Davis helps me keep them secret” He giggles, looking over Rio’s shoulder.
“Woah. That’s really cool Ri.”
She’d been sat with her sketchbook on her lap as Nicky showed her his toys. In the meantime, she had been half-consciously testing out a couple new design ideas. What she’d somehow come up with was a bright red dress with one large ruffle up the side, a fitted corset bodice, and small over-the-shoulder sleeves. The dress came just below the knee, and the black waistband cinched in tight. It wasn't anything revolutionary, but Nicky seemed quite taken with it.
“You should work for Mama properly. That dress is so pretty! You’d suit it Riri”
Rio was about to scoff and inform the boy there was no way in hell she’d be seen dead in such a fancy dress, but the words died on her tongue as she saw his excitement.
"Thanks Nicky"
“Do more! Do some really wacky ones like the ones Mami always complains about. Maybe we could do one inspired by your spider... we can put all little furry legs on it and big googly eyes! Pleeease! And then we can sew them in Mami’s sewing room!” The boy jumped excitedly, still occupied with making two of his action figures fight each other.
Rio mumbled curses under her breath in Spanish, taking some more pencils out of her dusty blue case. Most of them were only two inches long, worn down from years of sharpening and use.
“What was that? Can you speak French?" Nicky paused, his eyes wide.
"It's Spanish, dumbass"
"Teach me some!"
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They’d spent the afternoon in Nicky’s room, designing some wacky runway looks while Rio taught the young boy a couple of rude words in Spanish, giggling. Maybe Rio would break into Agatha's sewing room and have a go at making a couple of pieces. There was no rule against that, right? And Rio could already see the heaps of high quality fabric, the overstocked haberdashery, and the supply of sewing needles that didn't snap in half after two minutes...
Eventually, Nicky shooed Rio out of his room, insisting that he had homework to do, though clearly he just wanted to play some solo video games.
“You hungry or anything? I think Mrs Davis is making us something later.”
Nicky shook his head, already distracted by the screen.
“Bye Riooo!” He called, waving her away. "Thanks for letting me show you my stuff!!"
“Ah. I see how it is, you like those games way more than me! Traitor!!” she called back jokingly, making her way back to her guest room as Nicky protested.
She’d gotten a little better at navigating the Labyrinth that was Agatha’s home and ended up outside the guest room door in the record-breaking time of six minutes.
Rio crashed down onto her bed, a little drained from the chatter with Nicky all morning. It’s not that she wasn’t loving being with him; she was. It was way better than being at actual work.
The boy was way easier to talk to than adults, but the late night Minecraft sessions and her diminished social battery meant she was more tired than usual, and she lay down in hope for getting a couple hours sleep.
Eventually, she picked up her phone, which wore yet another big crack from when she'd knocked it off her nightstand the evening before. Yawning, she saw the notifications from Alice.
Fuck, it had been 14 hours since they came through, and she hadn't even read them. Alice would always reply to Rio's texts in seconds, and here she was practically blanking her for almost an entire day. Rio knew Alice wouldn’t be bothered, but she still felt a little guilty. She read through the messages, the familiar mix of pride and jealousy as she saw that Alice was meeting Jen again. Why couldn't she just be happy for her friend? She groaned, shoving her head into the plush pillows.
After a couple minutes of wallowing in self-pity, she picked up her phone again, typing out several rushes responses in quick succession.
“It’s not bad here really"
"House is crazy, kid is crazy. But its fine."
"Pls check on spider tomorrow and make sure u have a good weekend"
"Bet you and Jen kiss! See ya”
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It was strange seeing Jen wearing something other than her usual coffee-stained apron. She’d taken the week off and was sat in Alice’s usual booth at Calderu Coffee. It had sort of become their meeting spot now, since that's where they'd crossed paths most, and also was where Jen could get staff discount.
Jen had obviously had her braids re-done, they looked absolutely perfect in the warm cafe lighting, and she was wearing a pink flowing skirt that complimented her skin tone beautifully. On top, she wore a ruffled white blouse that revealed an inch of bare midriff and exposed a navel piercing. Alice tried to stop her wandering gaze, before eventually giving in.
As usual, Jen had on a ton of gold rings and necklaces that seemed to jangle a little every time she moved. And...oh.
Alice blushed, looking at the floor awkwardly.
“You don’t have to wear it all the time you know?” she said as she approached, hovering around their table.
Jen had the scarf she’d made her wrapped around her neck and a little smile on her face. Alice felt flattered that someone would actually wear something she'd made; everything she'd given to Rio was "Too Itchy" or "Too Uncomfortable".
Still, Alice couldn't help but feel Jen was only wearing it because she felt obligated to.
“Oh I know hon, but I like it!” Jen beamed. “Thanks again by the way, it’s so cool you made this. I don’t think I'd ever have the patience to work on anything for so long.”
“Its nothing” Alice mumbled, still hovering.
“You off somewhere? Sit down honey” Jen smiled. God, that smile made Alice want to kiss her.
In a friendship way of course.
It was normal, everyone wanted to kiss their friends a little bit.
She sat down finally; her limbs almost robotic as she tried to coordinate herself properly. It was like she’d forgotten how to function in the presence of the taller woman.
Finally managing to get situated in the booth, Alice broke the silence.
“I love the outfit” She complimented softly. “The blouse really suits you”
“Thanks. This is cute too” Jen gestured to Alice’s look. She was wearing her spiked leather jacket over a short black dress and fishnet tights she'd stolen from Rio. She'd done her typical winged eyeliner and heavy eyeshadow, her black hair tied back in a bun with just a couple of red strands escaping.
Jen loved the way Alice's dark, rough exterior contrasted her character. She was so soft and sweet and shy underneath it all. It was just too cute
“Rio’s been at her boss's house babysitting her kid all week, which is like, crazy. I mean, she hasn’t messaged me ba-” Alice rambles
“Oh honey, you don't have to bring her up every time we chat. I know she’s a mutual friend of ours, but we're connected now. I want to hear about you, not Rio” Jen said gently, closing her hand around Alice’s.
"We're connected now.” It seemed to echo in Alice's head.
She couldn't help the warmth that filled her whole body at the words, nor the colour that rushed to her cheek, nor the pounding of her heart.
The sensations doubled as Jen touched her. Nobody had cared enough to ask about herself, not really. And now, here she was. This gorgeous friend, taking her hand so gently, telling her to speak about herself rather than someone else. Jen seemed to actually care.
“Right” Alice smiled awkwardly, meeting her gaze across the table
Jen laughed at the other woman’s cluelessness. God, it was so endearing.
“I’ll get the drinks. Staff discount” Jen said, heading to the counter.