“Look. Fangs is about to play, so why don’t you order yourself a cappuccino, take a load off and hear him play? Maybe you’ll change your mind… And you and I can get better acquainted.”
Why was she looking at her like that? Why did she always - in the few interactions they’d had together - look at her like that?
Cheryl wasn’t planning on staying. In fact, she’s turned up to The Dark Room without much of a plan at all - only to get to the bottom of Toni’s recent antics.
Cheryl isn’t sure that she’d dare venture into such unfamiliar territory had it been any other Serpent causing her trouble, or god forbid considered staying to hang out in the Serpent lair, but she doesn’t have the mental capacity to justify her actions to herself. Like many of her recent thoughts, it will go ignored, for now.
Toni clearly notices the inner turmoil Cheryl is facing at the offer of sharing a cup of coffee and listening to some music together, so she stands to her feet with that cool and collected look on her face, pats Cheryl’s shoulder and says, “Or if tonight’s already been a big enough adventure, I’ll grab you a cup. Take a seat, and take that coat off. I'm sweating just looking at you.”
Cheryl’s still frozen in place when Toni brushes past her to go to the counter.
Her confidence, her attitude… It was so admirable. Admirable, intriguing, but mostly terrifying - so terrifying that Cheryl has found herself in a tizz for the last week. Their interactions, while brief at first, have become more frequent, more direct and when she thinks about them it makes her cheeks heat up and her heart race and she has no idea why.
Her eyes follow Toni and rake down her back as she leans across the counter as she had done the previous day.
The action makes Cheryl’s breath catch in her throat once again.
The same heat she felt yesterday, when Toni had been so bold with her, begins to creep up her neck so she starts unbuttoning the coat she wears, just as Toni had instructed her to.
It doesn’t help.
She makes sure to brush the back of the couch before she drapes her coat neatly over it, thankful that there’s no risk of beer being spilled over the expensive garment. She smooths her dress down as she takes a seat, stiff and upright and clearly uncomfortable, and allows her eyes to wander around the dimly lit room.
It’s nicer than what she had expected, it feels… Safer, somehow, too.
Is it possible that she feels safer here, surrounded by delinquent greasers, than she does in her own home?
“Here,” Toni says as she rejoins Cheryl, places the fresh coffee down beside her own, and sits a little too closely to Cheryl on the couch as a lazy arm is thrown around the back of it.
Cheryl visibly clenches, presses her knees together and looks anywhere but at the Serpent girl. She swears, it’s getting hotter and hotter as the hairs rise on the back of her neck, and her heart pounds louder in her ears at the close proximity.
“So, is this a negotiation?” Cheryl asks and tries to sound as confident and as smooth as Toni always seems to, but her words come out as a whisper, and it’s a shaky one.
“It can be whatever you want it to be, Preppy.”
And Cheryl’s glad she’s sitting down because the raspiness of Toni’s voice and the way the words are spoken low for only her to hear make her knees feel weak.
“I-I think I’ve heard you plead your case enough,” Cheryl breathes, finally daring to look at Toni. “His talent can speak for itself, if your word is anything to go by.”
“Perfect. Then, we can talk about something other than your Sock Hop,” Toni half grins-half smirks and Cheryl wonders what else Toni could possibly want to talk to her about.
Did she really mean it when she said they could get more acquainted? Is this something Toni wants - to get to know her?
“Or about your promises of throwing rotten eggs at any attendees.”
Toni lets out a chuckle at that, and reaches to grab her coffee mug from the table. She takes a small sip before she speaks. “That’s a little juvenile, even for my tastes, but I had to get your attention somehow.”
Cheryl wonders if other girls have felt the way that she feels in this moment.
She wonders if this is normal when forming a bond with a new friend. After all, it isn’t like she’s had much experience in that department either but… She’s also smart enough to know the truth, and the answers to all of the questions that swirl around her mind - she just can’t bear to hear the answers.
Cheryl reaches for her own mug, just for an excuse to do something with her hands other than…
“And it worked,” Toni continues, taking Cheryl’s silence as an opportunity to continue rather than shutting up. “Now look at you, in the Dark Room with a bunch of snakes.”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice for a Thursday evening,” Cheryl breathes through a laugh. “But I suppose it isn’t too bad.”
“What would be your first choice?” Toni asks, sounding genuinely intrigued rather than sarcastic. “Seriously, what does a Thursday night usually look like for Cheryl Blossom?”
And Cheryl’s face falls when she realises this is probably one of the most exciting nights she’s had in a while.
“Oh, you know. Just what you’d expect: homework, listening to records… I like to draw sometimes, too.”
Toni quirks a brow at that. “You’re an artist?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Cheryl shakes her head, her cheeks heating up slightly. “Simply a hobby.”
And she realises it’s a hobby she has never shared with anyone before, with the exception of her brother who had been too nosey for his own good. Her sketchbook is far better hidden now.
It’s not like she has her sketchbook open, allowing Toni to flick through the pages of her soul but she still feels like she’s revealing something to her, something personal, something that’s hers.
“Well, what kind of things do you draw?” Toni asks.
“People, mostly. I’ve attempted landscapes but… I enjoy capturing people the most.”
“Huh… Well, maybe you could capture me one of these days. If you’re any good that is,” She shoots Cheryl a wink as she says her last words, and Cheryl wonders if hearts can literally skip a beat.
And would her dying right now be a realistic possibility?
“Maybe,” She blushes.
Thankfully, the already dim lights turn off completely then, saving Cheryl from the embarrassment of Toni seeing her already-pink cheeks that were heating up by the second.
Cheryl has no interest in watching Fangs perform.
But she is grateful when he steps on the stage, and everyone’s eyes, including Toni's, go towards him. It gives her a moment to breathe.
She scolds herself before he even opens his mouth though, because she’s already planning on how she’s going to tell Kevin that he’s fired.
It took Toni buying her a cup of coffee, staring at her with those big brown eyes, and taking a genuine interest in her for Cheryl to throw all of her morals out of the window.
She fears that she’d do absolutely anything Toni Topaz asked of her.
…
“So, did he convince you?” Toni turns to Cheryl when Fangs’ set is finished.
Cheryl’s not sure he did much convincing at all, and she almost tells Toni as such but she refrains. “I’m convinced.” She opts for instead.
“No kidding?” Toni asks, and she seems genuinely surprised that Cheryl’s finally backed down to her.
After all, this is Cheryl Blossom. If everything that was said about her was to be believed, there would be no way that she would even consider allowing a greaser to take over her dance when she had hand selected every single detail.
And that would have been true… Yesterday.
“I need something in return though,” Cheryl hums, pulling her coat down from the back of the couch, deciding that she better get home soon. It wouldn’t be worth staying any later if she had to face the wrath of her family when she returned home… Or perhaps it would. Still, she was trying to think rationally.
“You can have whatever you want,” Toni says, and shoots her that half grin-half smirk again. “You just gotta ask.”
God, the thoughts that run through Cheryl’s mind are… Unspeakable, and thankfully, only last for a moment before she shakes them away.
“You have to help me sell tickets tomorrow,” Cheryl tells her, attempting to keep her voice less meek than it had previously been. “My sales tanked this week because of your antics, so we need to make up the numbers.”
“I’ll sell every single one. Promise.” Toni crosses her heart.
“Very good then…” Cheryl swallows as she slowly stands to her feet. “Well, I should get going…”
Toni jumps up then. “Do you need a ride? I can fit you on the back of my motorcycle.”
Does the thought of that actually sound… Appealing?
“Gosh, no,” Cheryl lets out a breathy laugh and shakes her head. “I have my car but… Thank you, Toni. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, Blossom.”
There’s a feeling in Cheryl's stomach that she just can’t shake.
It stays with her through the night, as she lies awake in the darkness of her bedroom, staring at the ceiling as thoughts of the brown eyed Serpent flicker through her mind. Her voice echoes in Cheryl’s ears, the brief touches they’ve shared ghost over her skin.
And as she falls into a steady slumber, there is only one name on her lips…
Toni.