Summary: quick vignette about Lotus not realizing she’s in love with Ivan
Lotus is curled up at the end of the couch, her back to the couch’s arm, her legs folded up so her feet are on the couch. Connie sits next to her, facing her, with one leg bent beneath herself. As is always the case when Connie visits, Ivan has made himself scarce, which is what Connie prefers. It’s not that she can’t stand Ivan, or that she hates him, but she certainly doesn’t like him, and she doesn’t want him anywhere near Lotus. Seeing him in Lotus’s apartment - which is what she will always consider it, regardless of how long Ivan lives here - is an irritating reminder that she’s fighting a lost cause. Lotus may not have admitted to it yet, but Connie can see how much she loves him.
When Ivan emerges from his bedroom and heads to the kitchen, Connie notices Lotus perk up, her brows raising ever so slightly. She’s unfocused, distracted, her eyes repeatedly flicking to the kitchen entrance as she and Connie talk.
Ivan has to leave for work. As he walks past them, Lotus holds her arm out over the back of the couch, her hand reaching toward him. It’s a gesture without thought. Something automatic. He brushes his fingers against hers, a gentle caress. They barely touch, but Lotus’s expression softens. A small smile touches her lips, her eyes are filled with adoration. Ivan, who is generally even less expressive than Lotus, returns the adoring gaze.
And then the moment is over. Ivan is heading for the door. Lotus rotates her body so she’s facing Connie again. And Connie knows Lotus is in too deep to listen to reason.
headcanon prompts: dash and gwen's childhood shenanigans and anything about the wonder kids lol
dash and gwen
this is pure headcanon so if you think it should be canon lemme know - but anyways they were each other’s first kiss when they were about nine or ten. not in a romantic context but more like “well let’s just get it over with so we’re not bad when it happens.” they both end up blushing and calling the other gross.
they shovel snow together in the winter to make some spending money. gwen refuses to talk to any of the customers so dash always charms them into hiring them.
dash was always really into valentines day in class, and every year he would make a special card for gwen. typically with a really bad drawing, lots of marker and stickers, and a bad joke about friendship.
dylan and gwen went to all of dash’s little league games. so much so that dylan actually often supplied the orange slices and gatorades.
so many pillow forts. so many paper crowns proclaiming dash and gwen’s royalty over the pillow fort.
before cell phones, they had a set of walkie talkies they would use to talk to each other. they would always get in trouble at home for using the walkie talkies under the sheets at night.
wonder kids
in college they meet up in new york during break, rent a van, and go on a road trip to the west coast. even though they plan every second of it, it ends up being a fun disaster. they visit a lot of people along the way.
they do diets and workout plans together, pushing each other to finish them. they make smoothies together and all that crap.
whenever they play mariokart together it gets out of hand very very fast.
idk what colleges jules and connie go to but i feel like there was at least an effort to go to the same school
i’ve said this before i think but jules and connie call rosa the token straight
tbh there’s a lot of jokes at the expense of rosa’s heterosexuality lmao
“hold me back!” is something connie and jules hear a lot from rosa. they do have to drag her away from arguments from time to time.
“You have terrible taste in men,” Connie says, pointing at Lotus with her spoon.
The two women sit at an iron table outside an ice cream shop, each enjoying a small cup of ice cream in the early fall air. Lotus pauses with her spoon inches from her mouth, then sticks the spoon back in her green tea ice cream.
“What?” she asks, frowning.
“I’ll admit that I’m not a good judge of male romantic partners because I just don’t see the appeal of them,” Connie says. “But I’m sure you have terrible taste in men regardless.”
“Okay? Why are you telling me this?” Lotus asks, picking up her spoon again.
“I’m hoping maybe you’ll change your mind about Ivan moving in.”
“He’s moving in because I need a roommate and his lease is almost up,” she says, glaring at Connie. The glare isn’t entirely intentional; it’s just her face.
“Yeah, but you’re going to continue to fuck him,” Connie says, eating another spoonful of cookie dough ice cream.
“So?” Lotus stabs at her ice cream with her spoon.
“So, you have terrible taste in men. You’re a frickin’ bombshell, Lotus. You could get just about any guy you wanted, but you seem to exclusively go after guys with emotional baggage and mommy issues,” Connie gestures with her spoon as she talks, coupled with expressive movements of her eyebrows.
“I don’t date any of them,” Lotus says. “It’s just sex.”
“Ivan is moving in with you! How is that just sex?”
“I need a roommate and his lease is almost up,” she repeats. “That’s it.”
“Terrible taste,” Connie repeats. “You know you can find guys with tattoos and piercings that don’t have a fuckton of damage and mommy issues?”
Lotus snorts and an amused smile flickers across her lips, “Can I, though?”
Connie opens her mouth, then closes it. She taps her lower lip with her spoon, then says, “There’s gotta be at least a few out there. Statistically speaking.”
“Let me know if you find one,” Lotus says dryly. “And maybe I’ll fuck him too.”
A black suitcase and pale gray backpack, covered in pins and patches, waited by Connie’s apartment door, ready to leave as soon as Dakota was. Dakota had packed everything, aside from a change of clothes and some toiletries, last night, knowing that today Connie would begrudge every second they didn’t spend together in the morning before Dakota had to catch her flight.
The two women spent their last hours together cuddling in Connie’s bed, alternating between kissing each other’s bodies and talking about Dakota’s plans for the next two weeks. There was a tattoo convention in Ohio that an old friend of Dakota’s invited her to join. The convention was an opportunity for Dakota to get her art out there, and an opportunity to see some friends she didn’t get to see often. Dakota was ecstatic, looking forward to spending some time with her friends, seeing the city, and doing some work that would make her proud.
If Connie had the time to go, Dakota would have happily brought her along. Dakota had invited her of course, though she knew the answer before she asked. Connie was in her last year of undergrad, getting through school on a soccer scholarship. She couldn’t miss two weeks of classes and practice.
“I don’t want you to go,” Connie whined.
She stepped into the kitchen of her apartment, wearing gray sweatpants and one of Dakota’s old Kesha t-shirts, the one with the hole at the seam of the right armpit. Dakota stood at the low kitchen counter, draping slices of deli meat onto a slice of whole wheat bread, the only type of bread Connie kept in her apartment. The other slice of bread was bare, waiting to be covered in cheese and whatever else Dakota saw fit to put on her sandwich. Though the flight to Ohio wasn’t too long, Dakota would rather not have to spend money on the exorbitant cost of airport and airplane food and had made the prudent decision to make herself a carry-on lunch for her plane ride.
Dakota laughed as Connie drew nearer, “I’ll only be gone for two weeks. And then I’ll be back.”
“That’s two weeks too long,” Connie sighed. She wove her arms around Dakota’s waist and rested her cheek on Dakota’s shoulder, her soft blonde hair tickling Dakota’s cheek.
“Somehow I think you’ll survive,” Dakota said, leaning her neck back just far enough to kiss the top of Connie’s head.
“I won’t. I’ll die,” Connie said. Her lower lip stuck out in a pout.
“Please don’t. I’ll miss you,” Dakota said. She chopped two thin slices of tomato and placed them on her sandwich. “I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t even have time to miss me.”
“Unlikely,” she said. “What am I going to do without a ‘good morning’ kiss? Did you think about that?”
“Starfish can give you morning kisses,” Dakota said, nodding to the golden retriever curled up beneath the kitchen table. Hearing her name, the dog raised her head, her collar jingling.
“Yeah, but that’s not the same,” Connie complained. “She has dog breath”. Keeping her arms around Dakota, she pulled her head back and squinted at her girlfriend. “You better not get any new tattoos without telling me.”
“I mean, I probably will,” Dakota said. “It’s a tattoo convention.”
“Yeah, but you’ll tell me about them, right?” Connie asked.
“And ruin the surprise?”
“I don’t like surprises. I want to know things now,” Connie groaned.
Connie was being more dramatic than usual, not looking forward to the time apart. She’d gotten used to having Dakota around, and she didn’t want her to leave. For the past two years, Dakota and Connie had alternated between a long-distance relationship and Dakota living with Connie and Connie’s roommate. These past four months had been longest consecutive time they’d lived together. Waking up next to Dakota, getting a sleepy morning kiss, heading to class, coming home to find Dakota with her sketchbook on the couch; they’d all become routine.
“That, my dear, sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” Dakota said, turning her head to peck a kiss on Connie’s nose.
Connie sighed and nuzzled her forehead against Dakota’s shoulder. Though she was playing up the theatrics, she was happy Dakota had this opportunity. She would certainly miss her girlfriend and the warmth she provided at night, but she was ecstatic that Dakota had the chance to go do something she loved.
Dakota folded one slice of bread over the other, then slid her sandwich into one of the many patterned, plastic, reusable bags that Connie owned. Dakota’s phone, resting on the counter next to her sandwich making station, buzzed.
“Oh, my ride is nearly here,” she said, picking up her phone to glance at the notification.
She placed the sandwich in her small lunchbag, which would go in her backpack. Gently shaking Connie off her and wriggling out of her grasp, she shoved the remaining tomato in a bag, then placed it, the deli meat, and the cheese in the fridge. Connie followed her to the front door, leaning against the wall as Dakota shoved her lunchbag into her already stuffed backpack. When Dakota straightened, Connie opened her arms. Dakota walked into her arms without hesitation, giving her a squeeze.
“I’ll text you when I get to the airport,” Dakota said. She swung her backpack over one shoulder and tilted her head up. Connie leaned down, pressing her lips against Dakota’s.
“Have a safe flight,” Connie said with a smile.
Dakota placed her hand on the doorknob, and Connie kissed her again, not just a brush against her lips, more intimate. Dakota’s lips parted, inviting Connie deeper. In her back pocket, her phone buzzed, alerting her of the arrival of her ride.
“Ride’s here,” Dakota whispered against Connie’s lips.
“Have a lot of fun, okay?” Connie said, kissing her twice more.
Dakota returned the kisses and tugged lightly at Connie’s lower lip with her teeth. Connie’s hands slid down Dakota’s back, over the back pockets of Dakota’s shorts.
“I have to go, babe,” Dakota said with a slight whine. She kissed the side of Connie’s mouth.
“I’m not keeping you,” Connie smiled. She squeezed Dakota’s ass, then stepped back, allowing Dakota to open the apartment door.
Holding the handle of her suitcase, Dakota leaned over to give Connie one last kiss. “I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” Connie said, returning the kiss.
Azra - Her primary weapon is a bow and arrow. Because she’s had so long to master it, she’s incredibly skilled with it and hasn’t missed a target in years. She dabbles in sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat but has room for much improvement in both.
Connie - Connie sticks with a longsword. It seemed like the easiest weapon to learn in her opinion.
Elenore - Fights using twin blade swords. With her background in martial arts, she’s incredible with hand-to-hand combat.
Harper - She uses magic to her advantage when fighting but if weapons are needed, she can handle a sword or a butterfly knife.
JJ - JJ uses a double bladed scythe. The blades are on each end of the staff and face opposite directions. The blades aren’t as long as the grim reaper’s scythe.
Lotus - Her preferred weapons are throwing knives and throwing stars. She’s skilled enough to protect herself in hand-to-hand combat but recognizes that she has weaknesses with it and usually sticks to fighting at a distance.
Parker - Parker isn’t much of a fighter. He doesn’t like it but when he has to use a weapon, he uses a spear.
Rhyder - He uses a morning star/war mace as his weapon. He has a lot of upper body strength from rock climbing to use to his advantage.
Shiloh - Shiloh adapts easily to whatever weapon is in her hand. She’s a ruthless fighter with years of being on the run and being self-sufficient to understand weapons. Her favorite way to fight is to sneak up on her target and use a spear or knife. She also enjoys tomahawks.
Xander - Xander isn’t a fighter at all. He’s never good at sword fighting, archery, or hand to hand combat. He carries a knife, just in case, but would sooner put his foe to sleep and flee.
Keenan - Keenan struggles to maintain a healthy weight during his teenage years and is often underweight. Because of that, he avoids heavy weapons. He’s most skilled with a bow and arrow.
Azriel specializes in herpetology so there are always a lot of frogs, snakes, and lizards in tanks in the house. Most of the animals are kept in their Reptile Room, though.
The only time the house is quiet is during designated daily Quiet Time. An hour out of every day they all have to be quiet and do quiet stuff or relax or nap. It’s necessary because several of them get very overwhelmed with too much noise.
The triplets, Connie, Tallulah, Josefina, and Azriel are the main cause of noise. They’re all loud and often dramatic.
They have a passenger van that sits 15 people because there are so freaking many of them. The triplets aren’t allowed to sit next to each other and Tallulah isn’t allowed to sit next to any of them either because there will be Mayhem.
Madison, Azriel, and Elijah often talk about adopting another kid and all of the kids have mixed feelings about that.
Connie and Josefina have always shared a room. The triplets share a room, Drew and Tallulah share a room, Kervens and Faris share a room, and June has her own room but sometimes she sleeps in the top bunk in Drew’s bed. There’s also a guest bedroom and a second bedroom off of the master bedroom in case anyone wants some alone time.
The second bedroom off the master bedroom was more for if Azriel, Elijah, or Madison wanted alone time but sometimes the kids use it.
They expanded their house as their family expanded.
All of the kids are really open-minded and understanding. Their parents have always been open about polyamory, sexuality, gender, mental illness, etc. They always do their best to answer any of the kids’ questions honestly.
Aside from the frogs, snakes, and reptiles, they have three dogs and three cats. One of the cats and all of the dogs are service animals.
Kervens has a black lab as a service dog named Julien (named after Jules Guzman). Julien helps with Kervens’ PTSD but he also helps when Kervens is having mobility issues (he has his left arm amputated and has a lot of chronic pain as well)
Connie gets her dog Starfish (Star for short) when she’s nineteen because she likes dogs and she keeps having demigod related nightmares and could use a therapy dog.
June has a therapy cat named Peter Pan.
The family border collie is a registered service animal. Her name is Nana and she keeps things running smoothly and is especially good for the kids with PTSD, anxiety, or other mental health issues.
