Scorpia hadn’t been expecting to be sad to move out of her apartment, not really. She’d loved Bright Moon Castle, with all it’s pastely shades, and wide, spacious hallways, and doors without round doorknobs. She’d been too big for her apartment, really, needing to duck to get under doorframes, and the more people who moved in – Emily, then Glimmer, then Perfuma, and then Bow – the less space she’d had, until she began to feel like she couldn’t turn around without knocking her tail into something.
But for the last six months, it had been her home. It was the first place she’d lived alone – as Force Captain and Princess, she’d had her own room in the Horde, but she’d still been living with the rest of the Horde – and then it had been the first place she’d really lived with friends, as crowded as things had gotten.
She’d filled it first with plants that had reminded her of Perfuma, and then with plants that she thought she could care for with Perfuma, and whatever other cute knickknacks she had found. And when the four of them had moved out the last of their stuff, and Scorpia did one last walkthrough by herself, looking at the doors that Brigitte had built for her, and the table where she’d first eaten pizza and ice cream, and everything else, well… she had been more than a little sad. She’d very nearly cried, in fact.
She wasn’t sad now though, looking around Perfuma’s room. Or rather their room now. Perfuma and Scorpia’s room. Scorpia and Perfuma’s room. Scorpy, her stuffed Scopion sat on a window ledge, and the portrait of her mom was on a bedside table, and there was the shard from the Black Garnet nestled on a shelf, all of them mixed up with Perfuma’s things.
She felt a little giddy. Nervous and excited both. She and Perfuma had lived together these last couple months since Perfuma had come to Vallo, but they’d had their own rooms. This felt bigger somehow.
“Whelp, I think that’s that,” Scorpia said, proudly, a little louder than she normally might have spoken. “I think we’re all moved in. What do you think, Perf– Oh! Oh no, I’m sorry, are you okay?”
The last was because she’d turned too fast, and she’d felt her tail knock into Perfuma. Not the stinger, which was a relief, at least, but she also knew that getting hit with the hard chitin of her tail in general wasn’t a fun experience.
It was kind of Perfuma's fault. She'd let herself daydream as they'd done kind of a final walk around the room, ensuring everything had a place and everything was in its place. Which meant she'd wandered directly into the path of Scorpia's tail, despite knowing better. It wasn't an extremely painful collision, at least, but it did cause her to stumble - Perfuma wasn't exactly known for her physical sturdiness, after all.
She put a hand up to let Scorpia know she was all right, then rubbed her thigh a bit while standing up straight again. She still smiled, because she knew it wasn't on purpose and it was just something they'd have to get used to. She already knew she'd have to be very careful with surprises, anyway. Besides, Perfuma had taken harder hits!
"It's okay, I'm okay! The room looks great, doesn't it?" She loved how there was just so much light for plants and it actually felt more like a home with Scorpia here. Already, even. Not just a room in a castle.
“It really does,” Scorpia agreed, draping an arm across Perfuma’s shoulders, resting her cheek against Perfuma’s head. It was a little thing, but she was glad that Perfuma was only a few inches shorter than she was; it made her feel less massive sometimes. “It really feels like our room, you know?” And then, blushing slightly, she added shyly, “I’m really glad you asked me to share a room with you.”
"I wouldn't want it any other way," answered Perfuma, leaning happily into the half-embrace and putting her arm around Scorpia's waist. "That answers both questions, too!" she added, smiling and letting her eyes drift around the room. She was immediately glad she'd decided not to overdo it with the plants, because she would've felt guilty later for feeling like she'd overtaken the parts that felt like Scorpia. Being a dominating person was certainly not one of her traits.
"Oh, should we do anything to celebrate?"
Scorpia shot Perfuma a wide-eyed look. She hadn’t thought of doing anything to celebrate, nothing that could be called that at least. Celebrating wasn’t something that was often done in the Horde, and no part of her had considered that sharing a room with her was something that someone else would want to celebrate – she didn’t think that Perfuma didn’t want to share a room with her or anything like that, but… Well, it was unexpected. Unexpected and nice. She beamed.
“Yes!” she said. “We should! We could, oh! We could go bowling?”
Bowling was something new to Perfuma. Well, one of the many new things she'd learned about in Vallo. But it was something she actually found she enjoyed. It was non-violent while still exciting. And holding the ball in your hands while trying to sort out the best way to roll it down the lane was its own little kind of meditation.
Nodding towards Scorpia, she gave herself a little mental note about maybe visiting that shop in the bowling alley at some point to see if they could do up something custom for someone with pincers. Smiling, she added, "We can absolutely go bowling! Those cheese fries are a bit of a guilty pleasure, too."
“Oh, the cheesy fries are to die for,” Scorpia agreed. Scorpia had never minded the ration bars, not like some of the others, but sometimes she wondered how she’d survived so long without the wonders of greasy food and cheese.
“I’m not very good at bowling,” Scorpia added. “It’s the holes, they’re just so tiny. But we used to go a lot in the Horde! It was kind of one of the only free-time activities we had? But it’s great for team building! Have you ever been?”
"I have!" answered Perfuma, beaming. "Catra and I tried it out as a different kind of meditation, you know, being one with the ball and everything. It works really well." She nodded, mostly to herself, and continued. "And it feels really good to knock down all the pins." Perfuma kind of fiddled with her hands with the admission, but she was allowed to have fun, right? Right.
"You don't have to be good at it to have fun. That goes for everything, Scorpia. It's just about how you approach it and who you're with."
“Oh, well that’s good, because I’m –” not good at much, Scorpia had been about to finish, but she stopped herself. She’d been trying to do better about negative self-talk, and having Perfuma there in person was a good reminder; it was easier to think better of herself when she knew that Perfuma only saw the best in her. “I’m a big fan of fun,” Scorpia finished instead. “And I like trying new things, too. Not that bowling is new, exactly, but I’ve never tried meditating while bowling.” It sounded complicated, but then, Scorpia wasn’t the best at meditating even while sitting still.
"I'll help you!" chirped Perfuma, reached to grasp one of Scorpia's hands. "Meditation isn't just clearing your mind, it can also be focusing on something. Bowling is good for that." She looked up at her girlfriend (she could say that, right?) and smirked playfully. "And the cheese fries!"
“And the cheese fries, of course,” Scorpia echoed, smiling at Perfuma's hand in hers – definitely her girlfriend. Her girlfriend, who she was now sharing a room with, and who she got to take on a date bowling. It might have been possible for her to be happier, but right now, Scorpia couldn’t imagine it.