InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm not crazy, I'm special"

There were still a couple of hours to go until Astronomy, but Etta needed a break from the library before she fell asleep over her textbooks. Using the time between dinner and Astronomy to catch up on her studies seemed like a good idea in theory, but the library was so quiet and warm that it was impossible not to find your eyelids drooping after a while. So Etta, whose yawns had started to attract the disapproving glare of Ms Petrichor, had decided to get some fresh air. It was cold enough outside to wake anybody up.

The corridors were quiet as she passed through them, most students back at their campsites by this hour. And then, as Etta turned a corner, she saw a small figure up ahead, sat on the floor and practically radiating annoyance. Etta clocked the mistletoe hanging jauntily from the ceiling a second later, and her confusion melted into amusement. She slowed, her walk becoming a saunter as she recognised the other girl, and a grin spread across her face at her good luck. “Need a little help there, Vargas?” Etta drawled as she came closer.

Of all days, why today? Penny thought the mistletoe thing was going to be a laugh, and it would have been but they just hadn’t finished it when the stupid bird had to come in and now it was literally growing all over the castle. And today, on her eighteenth damn birthday, she was stuck underneath it. A few people had walked by, smirking at her. A few offered to help, and she had sneered at every one of them. Part of her just wanted to sit here the entire time moping and fuming. She didn’t particularly like birthdays.

So when the next voice came up, she turned and immediately started to snap. “No, I don’t need any h--” And she nearly choked on her words. Etta. She liked Etta. She may have even liked Etta, a bit. She coughed and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. “Yeah, maybe.” She said, rolling her eyes before looking back at Etta. “Why, you offering?” Penny smirked, crossing her arms over her chest with this big grin on her face like she definitely wasn’t the one stuck.

Penny’s complete 180 did not go unnoticed by Etta, and her eyes lit up. “Yeah, I’m offering,” she said casually, folding her arms to mirror the other girl’s body language. “As an upstanding member of the student body here at Gooseberry, I consider it my civic duty to help another student in need. Besides, when life gives you mistletoe…” You make out with as many people as possible. Generally, Etta didn’t need an excuse to do this, but who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth? Especially when this gift had delivered her Penny, the very girl she’d had her eye on since the last Grotto party.

“Unless,” Etta added, unable to stop herself from teasing Penny, just a little, “you were waiting for someone in particular?”

“Upstanding member, of course. I agree one hundred percent.” Penelope smirked, trying not to betray the small blush that was rising to her cheeks. Anyone who knew Penny even the slightest knew she wasn’t the most social butterfly on the planet. She went to Grotto parties, but she was usually there on Ryan’s behalf and stuck to him most of the time. Really, Penny just didn’t have time to deal with the teenage melodrama. The last one she went to, though, with the quidditch beer pong and Etta? Well, that one had certainly been worth it.

Particularly because now here she was, the girl she had been semi, mostly anonymously, trying to flirt with since then. “Well, I can’t say I was waiting for anyone in particular but I can say I told everyone else that walked by to fuck off, until now.” She replied, giving a little nonchalant sort of shrug.

Etta laughed out loud at that, and sat down in one fluid movement, tucking her long legs underneath her so that she was on Penny’s level. Given the height difference between them, it made more sense for her to sit down than for Penny to stand up if a proper kiss was on the cards, but it also had the added bonus of feeling more intimate. Like the kissing games at Grotto parties. All they needed was a bottle.

“I’m flattered,” she teased. “Isn’t not telling someone to fuck off your version of begging them to stay?” Etta bit her lip and let her gaze linger on Penny’s mouth.

There was a small part of Penny that was really happy about this, happier than she expected to be. A much larger part was shocked and surprised that Etta really did seem to, at the very least, not be repulsed by her. It’d been a long time since Penny had a crush, and with that swift movement to sit across from her, she could feel a crush starting to form.

She snorted out a small laugh. “Basically, you know. If I'm not actively glaring at you, I probably like you.” A smile formed on her lips, and she felt her heart race a little as she watched Etta bite her lip a little. Girl was killing her already.

“And do you liiiike me?” Etta murmured, leaning forward. “Because that’s totally understandable, you know. I can’t go anywhere without someone swooning at my feet. It’s so inconvenient.” Penny was cute when she smiled. She was cute when she scowled too, but the smile was encouraging. The smile suggested that Penny wouldn’t mind if Etta took her time freeing her from the mistletoe… which was convenient, because Etta had no plans to make this quick.

As much as Penelope didn’t want to sit here all day and have people look at her like haha you’re stuck, she didn’t mind sitting here with Henrietta at all. She’d been chickening out of asking Etta out for a while, and kept waiting for a party or something to come up and put them in the same space for a reason and it just hadn’t happened yet. Now, her own stupid creation meant to be for parties had turned against her and managed to work out in… a much better than expected way.

“I might like you.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “That might have been me on the anonymous thing. Maybe.” Of course, Penelope was pretty blunt when it came down to it but she was also shy and had a pretty hard time expressing her feelings. She was blushing at this point, though on her slightly darker skin tone you could hardly tell. “But with so many people fawning all over you, I suppose if I did like you it wouldn’t be worth mentioning, since you have so many admirers anyway.”

It took Etta a moment to recall which conversation on the anonymous post Penny was referring to, but then it clicked. “Ah, so that was you,” she said, deciding not to reveal that she’d been the one encouraging Penny to make a move. “I wondered who my secret admirer was. Mystery solved!” The look she gave Penny suggested that she wasn’t at all disappointed. “And you know,” Etta added, “it’s always worth mentioning something like that. I’ve always got room for more admirers… and those who don’t ask, don’t get.” She moved in even closer, and put her hand on Penny’s knee. “So ask,” she murmured, holding her gaze.

Fortunately it wasn’t that long ago that the Anonymous post was done. Sure it had been a good like, two weeks, but in the grand scheme of things that wasn’t long. She might have waited until next month to try again had this moment not presented itself, though. Penelope could already feel herself getting a bit nervous when Etta put her hand on her knee, and leaned forward. However, she did her best to remain completely cool on the surface, looking still rather smug with that rising blush to her cheeks. “Will you kiss me, Etta Gray? And free me from this mistletoe and then maybe kiss me again after because… I just want you to?”

“Well, when you put it like that, Penny Vargas…” Etta brought her other hand up to cup Penny’s cheek, feeling the girl’s blush through the heat of her skin. “How could I resist?” And then, finally, she closed the remaining gap between them and kissed Penny, soft and sweet and lingering. Etta drew back slightly, just enough to say, “Happy birthday, by the way,” in the space between their mouths, and then her eyes fluttered shut again as she went in for the second promised kiss.

“No idea.” Was all she was able to get out in response to the resistance question that wasn’t actually a question before Etta had her hand on Penny’s cheek and was bringing her forward for that kiss. The sudden ability to free herself from the ground and be capable of movement temporarily distracted her from the kiss. She slid herself just slightly less under the mistletoe so she wasn’t stuck anymore, before the second kiss was given to her with a Happy Birthday added on and all.

She wasn’t shy about the kiss, either, she easily kissed Etta back. “Best birthday so far.” Penny smirked, still sitting there very close to Etta though no longer capable of being stuck there. Not that Penny minded that now, with someone she actually liked here with her.

As Penny slid forward, Etta took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling the other girl in closer and deepening the kiss. She’d expected some hesitation, but there was no uncertainty in the way Penny was kissing her back. And even though the corridor floor wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to be -- nor the most private -- Etta really didn’t care. Any remaining thoughts of her abandoned work in the library were forgotten, as a warm self-satisfied feeling spread through her at Penny’s comment.

Laughing softly, Etta captured Penny’s mouth with her own again.