Girlkissing; or a Hope in Hell (Mermaid/Incredibles: Violet/Ariel)
Title: Girlkissing; or A Hope in Hell Author/Artist: dropsofviolet Fandom: The Little Mermaid/The Incredibles Pairing/characters: past Violet/Tony; past Violet/Kari; Eric/Ariel; Violet/Ariel Rating: PG for sexual implications Warnings: college students AU (Disney Hall); casual bisexuality Prompt/challenge you're answering: Ariel and Violet with the title, "A Hope in Hell"
Excerpt: But she still went to the parties, because she missed Kari a bit, and human contact, and if she pretended to be drunk enough, the other girl usually didn't mind it in the morning.
Violet went to parties to practice kissing girls.
She'd realized she was gay not long after dating Tony, who was a wonderful friend, but... experimenting with Kari had been infinitely more interesting.
But she wasn't out at school. The casual bisexuality both excited and worried her. She wasn't the type of person who had to be drunk before she touched another girl's boobs. She was more serious about it.
She got her heart broken a couple of times before she realized that trying to find someone in college was a pointless endeavor. She'd just wait until graduation and find someone else who was attracted to women all of the time.
But she still went to the parties, because she missed Kari a bit, and human contact, and if she pretended to be drunk enough, the other girl usually didn't mind it in the morning.
The only one who had was Ariel. The quintessential party girl with long red hair-- everyone wanted her. She'd been the first girl to whom Violet had expressed her adoration.
Ariel had rejected her easily, though not without sympathy.
"I just don't play for that team, hon," she told her, hugging her firmly when Violet's face fell.
Violet pressed her head, then, against Ariel's shoulder, and thought about Ariel's pale skin, her sweet smile, the red fur nestled between her thighs. She and Ariel had remained friends, afterwards, but there was a careful wall there.
This was one of Ariel's parties, and though Ariel remained a touchy-feely drunk, Violet was avoiding her. She couldn't stand too close without feeling a pang of regret.
So she was taken by utter surprise when Ariel appeared, breathing heavily, and pulled her away from the Asian guy who was chatting her up. She seemed agitated, and it was all Violet could do to lift her shoulders in a shrug over Ariel's shoulder.
Ariel pulled her into an empty, dark bedroom, and leaned her head onto Violet's shoulde, breaking into sobs. Violet stroked the other girl's hair and wondered why she had been chosen as the comforter. Ariel had a whole harem's worth of friends, all with odd names that seemed to begin with A. Ariel's grip around her tightened, and Violet hugged her back. She was much smaller than the redhead, flat-chested, narrow-hipped-- an utter contrast to the taller, buxom woman clutching at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, resting her hands at the small of Ariel's back, and the girl looked at her briefly before pressing her face into her shoulder again.
Supporting Ariel's weight was somewhat difficult, and gently Violet lowered the two of them into a sitting position. Ariel continued to sob for a few awkward minutes. Then she looked at Violet again.
"Eric he... well, we were going to... you know..." Self-consciously she adjusted a bra strap, which nearly made Violet laugh-- it was an odd display of modesty from her friend.
Ariel sighed, glancing at Violet again. "But I couldn't, Vi. I couldn't. I just thought about, I don't know..."
She ran a finger over Violet's left breast and Violet shivered, letting go of the redhead. She couldn't fall into this again, not with someone she cared for... not again.
"I liked it," Ariel said thickly, studying Violet's chest as if she wanted to memorize it. "But I've always liked men, and I just..."
Violet's heart was breaking again, remembering the way she'd felt when Kari started dating Alec, the confusion and despair and uncertainty. She leaned forward and kissed Ariel gently on the forehead.
"I never thought..." Ariel mumbled, and Violet wiped at the tears on her face. Ariel smiled briefly at the touch.
"You're too nice to me," she said.
"No such thing as too nice," Violet said, in the moment before Ariel kissed her. There was alcohol on her breath and for a moment Violet regretted letting this happen, because it was all too possible that Ariel would regret it in the morning.
Ariel's hand played gently across Violet's breast, and she let her worries go. There'd be time enough for that in the morning.
Right now, there were lips on hers, and tongue, and a change where she'd thought she hadn't a hope in hell, and that was enough.