Heaven in Hiding
In which Alice attends her first Pride and meets a lovely Warrior Princess that sweeps her off of her feet just a bit.
Trigger Warning: Cuteness
Alice had never experienced something like this before. I mean, it was just so colorful. And everyone really seemed to be so very full of pride. And in their sexuality being other than heterosexual! It was a sight to see, to say the least, for dear little Alice, who had kissed only one boy in her life and attempted to kiss one girl who had then called her a slew of awful things for it. (Alice had thought said girl felt the same. Said girl did not, it turned out, like anything having to do with homosexuality at all. You could imagine how upset Alice had been to learn this.) Still, this place had given her renewed hope in magic and herself and now, even in her own sexuality! For Alice had known an awful long time that she had a heart full of love and no one to share it with. Today, she was dressed head to toe in colors, and had even painted her face with the rainbow, and was grinning ear to ear. This place felt more and more like a place she could belong every day. Walking up to the bonfire, she asked someone nearby where she could get a drink. "Just anything, really, if you don't mind pointing me in the right direction. I'm still new, you see."
Kiara turned to the girl who had just approached her, brightening up at once and grinning real wide. "Well, there's a table ooooover that way!" she said, pointing in the direction. "But careful, they do card." She made a face. "I slipped a lil away from it anyway. Got friends in high places."
Alice chuckled. "Don't worry, love, I'm of age." And she had actually retrieved her ID, too, once she realized she needed a lot more than she'd thought from her world. Unfortunately, she still hadn't been able to get her hands on her birth certificate, but she'd gotten lucky enough to pull her ID through a portal in her new room at Edelweiss just two days after getting hired. Lucky, lucky - something Alice had never been. The blonde regarded the girl closely, now. She didn't look all that young. But looks could be deceiving. "So long as you're over fifteen, I don't mind spotting you a bit. You just have to promise to help me navigate all of... this," she gestured to the Pride Celebration happening, "for a while. I could use a good hand to hold."
Kiara giggled at that. The girl was definitely really cute-- freckly, the fire making each one of those little dots reddish like cinnamon. Course there was Callie though who knows what that was... Kiara still shouldn't flirt with every cute girl that she met during Pride Week. Probably. "Sounds like a come on," she couldn't resist saying anyway. "How about you tell me your name first? I'm Kiara."
Alice hadn't meant it as a come on. Well, okay, maybe she had. This girl was super cute and she liked the way her giggle sounded like music. So she grinned her toothy grin and gave a shrug. "It can be a come on if you'd like it to be." Sticking out a hand, Alice tilted her head to the side. "Alice. I'm afraid you've the far lovelier name out of the two of us, Kiara," she sounded it out and like how it felt. Like a warrior or a princess - or both. "And now that I have your name and you mine, what do you say? A drink for a hand to hold? Or a guide, if you'd prefer the deal not to involve a come on." Optimism peered it's head, pushing memories of that one almost girl kiss out of Alice's mind. This was Pride, this girl was friendly, and this world was entirely different. Maybe better.
Kiara looked down at the hand and felt the butterflies in her stomach, though they were not the toe-curling kind, just the-- the excited kind. She looked back up and still that same grin on her face. She could do both those things: be a hand to hold, be a guide. At least to the drink table. So Kiara took Alice's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll let you know after another drink," she said, crinkling her nose playfully. "C'mon!" And she tugged her new friend, Alice, toward the table with a skip in her step.
Alice grinned as the girl squeezed her hand, and let herself be dragged, laughing all the while. She liked Kiara's energy. Her aura radiated a positive light that ignited Alice's own positivity. She also liked how it felt to hold a hand - male or female - it just felt nice. It was the sort of thing that made you not feel so alone in the world. (And Alice often felt very alone in any world, though this one had proved exceptionally welcoming so far.) As they reached the drink table, the blonde cocked a brow at the other girl. "So - tell me, what's your favorite pick? I never know quite what to order. It always feels like everything is just screaming 'Drink me!'" she chuckled.
Kiara cocked her head toward the choices. She wasn't a big beer drinker-- tasted like piss to her. "I mean, mostly I just pour vodka into whatever soft drink I have. Rum n coke, vodka and sprite, that sort of thing," she said casually enough. "Erm, they have these mojitos that look good tho?"
Alice had never drank out in an official, public establishment. Most of her drinking had been of liquors stolen from her own home or concoctions in cups at parties she'd snuck out to. (She hadn't even been invited to said parties, had just heard of them and sneakily gotten the info needed to get in. She was a caged bird who needed the freedom to be a teenager, when she had been a teenager that is, and being home-schooled made that difficult.) And then, of course, there was the psychiatric ward and the lab... that had prevented her from going anywhere public for quite a while to do anything, much less drink. But she wasn't going to think of such things. Not tonight. Instead, she gave a purse of her lips at Kiara and waved at the bartender. "Oi! Yes, love, would you mind making me whatever drink you have that's strongest? Preferably something that doesn't taste like lighter fluid. Thank you. Oh!" She glanced at Kiara with a smile, " Sorry, make that two." She slipped her ID over the counter and gave the money necessary. Once the drinks were provided, she picked up one for herself and let Kiara take up the other. "I'm going to push you out of your comfort zone, make you drink this with me. Hope that's alright. Drinking the same thing all the time must be awfully boring after a while."
Kiara eagerly took the drink. And Alice didn't have to tell her twice. "Hey, I'll have you know-- in fact, first thing to know about me, new-friend-Alice-- I love going outside my comfort zone," she said and bounced a bit closer, her dimples crinkling in her cheeks. "Though we should definitely toast yeah? To-- pride or love or-- your freckles," said Kiara, even though--she really shouldn't. Though there was no harm in flirting now was there?
Alice smiled wide, and giggled at the thought of cheering to her freckles. "You know, it used to be my freckles were something to laugh at rather than cheer about - so I'll take it!" She clinked her drink with the other girl's, their free hands still intertwined. "But also to love and to pride, yeah. First thing you should probably know about me is this whole thing is sort of out of my comfort zone. I've never been to a Pride celebration before. I quite like it. I'm having an excellent time." Grinning and blushing ear-to-ear, she took a sip of her drink and was happy to find it didn't taste awful. In fact, it made her feel glittery, like alcohol always did. "Mm, and, I'm even better now I've a drink and a lovely new friend on my arm."
Kiara could tell her: me too. She could tell her about her mother who cried when she'd heard Kiara was gay or her stepfather, who hurt her because of it. But this was Pride an it was a happy place. She wanted to bat all those shadows away and clear out her closet. No-- destroy the closet. Fuck the skeletons inside it. So Kiara just smiled. "Exactly. What more could you need? Doesn't matter how long it took you to get here, just matters that you're here at all. I think it's meant to be that way," she said very confidently. She took a sip of her drink too.
Alice couldn't help all the smiling. Even as she sipped from her drink, her grin stayed in place around the rim of it. This was just so nice, and she squeezed Kiara's hand as she giggled. "I think lots of things are meant to be, in funny little ways. I think my whole being here is meant to be in general. I do love this place." She looked around at all the people, so happy and full of... well, pride. It made her want to know all of their stories. Had they struggled? Had they always been free to love and be who they wanted? She turned back to Kiara, and hesitated before speaking. "Are you...? I mean, I don't mean to be so forward, do tell me if I'm being rude. I was just curious about- well, curious how- I'm-" Alice flustered and felt her face heating up. She moved to pull her hand from Kiara's grasp momentarily, planning on patting the flush from her cheeks. "Sorry. What I mean to say is, w- what are you taking pride in tonight?" That seemed like a good way to phrase it, right?"
Kiara raised her eyebrows as the girl became flustered, and in being flustered, got more pink, all the way up to her ears. Kiara loved when girls blushed. It made her feel...big and strong and like she could protect them, like she'd do anything to kiss that color. "I'm taking pride in bein' who I am," she said, tilting her head a little-- swinging their hands too. Weird that they were still holding hands, they were practically strangers but-- also not weird. Alice was pretty forthcoming so Kiara would be too. "I've known I was gay my whole life, y'know. My mum hated it about me-- hated me really-- but." Kiara just shrugged. She was still smiling. "I'm happy now. I live with my cousin and his boyfriend and I'm proud to be there. Took a long time but like I said-- just matters that I got there. And I'm still super gay," she giggled.
Alice liked the feeling of the hand-swaying. That was new. Well, a lot of it was new - the hand swaying, the Pride celebration, the drinking with a cute girl who was actually gay - but in this case, new was definitely good. Very, very good. Kiara's story about coming out... well, not very good, at least not in the beginning. It tugged at her heart strings and her smile fell momentarily. "I'm sorry it didn't go over well with your family. I know what it's like, a mum hating something about you so much it takes over her feelings of you entirely." She thought of how her mother had let her be carted away to become a lab rat and had to take a deep breath, shaking off the mixed emotions it had wrought and pasting on a smile. "But you've come far, then! Accepted the part of yourself she hated. I've still yet to do that." Accept her magic, that was. Alice had never second-guessed how she felt about boys and girls and people in general. She still felt terrified every time she used the glimmers, however, even when it was necessary. "Now, if you're super gay, though, does that mean you've powers beyond that of us stuck in an in-between somewhere?" she teased, taking another drink.
Kiara probably shouldn't go "um yes!" because she knew objectively~~ that'd be pretty biphobic of her and Simba was bi and so were so many people and hey-- she'd had sex with a guy before. On drugs, when she could see his aura, but still, sex. But she liked the idea of being super gay. "Well, I mean-- I think I got superpowers alright, though not because I'm more gay or anything. Just because I'm super confident," she decided, and bounced a bit on her toes. "I think that's what makes a person super-whatever, y'know That you're just, really really aggressively that thing, and you're proud of that thing, and it makes you better."
Alice had to admit, that was pretty interesting logic. The kind that made her smile soften and she nodded, being the one to swing their hands this time. "I like the sound of that. I wonder what that would make me 'super' at." Alice had to think, very hard, on what she was proud of in herself. Aggressively proud of. "I suppose I fancy myself a super dreamer. I dream very big, you see. Too big, sometimes. My imagination is very out of control."
"Can an imagination be too out of control?" Kiara asked at once, the question genuine. She always thought imagination was one of the best things a person could have. Too much couldn't be bad. "When's too much imagination a bad thing?"
Alice didn't like the only answer she had to this question. She became instantly uncomfortable, regretting she'd used those words in the first place. This time, when she blushed, it was out of embarrassment. Alice hid it well, though, taking a sip from her drink and furrowing her brows in thought. "Um, well, when it interferes with reality, I suppose." True, it hadn't necessarily been Alice's imagination that had interfered with her life, but her imagination was all she had when she was still trying to figure out what her glimmers even meant. So it was, in a way, all connected. Looking back to Kiara, she gave a shrug. "I'm always chasing things to widen my imagination impossibly more. Case in point," she laughed, holding up her drink as an example, and clicked it against Kiara's again before taking another sip. "Though I have to say, this drink isn't near strong enough. I think I've gotten jipped, perhaps." She made a face at her drink, now half-empty, and then looked to make a face at the bartender who'd made it. "Should have just gotten a bottle and been done with it. But- who knows. Maybe I'll get down to the bottom of my glass and feel I'm floating." There. Good change of subject.
Kiara nodded, letting the other topic slide away. She didn't wrestle conversations and she wasn't super curious like Nala, who could cling onto something and not let it go. She liked to ride a conversation's waves, its ebb and its flow. "Yeah, could hit in a bit, y'know, one of those drinks that tricks you till you're real drunk and seeing stars." She grinned at the thought. "And then that's when you start dancing."
"Oh - you don't need to see stars to dance. You don't even need music!" Alice laughed, then, and switched her grip on Kiara's hand in a way as though to spin the girl around.
Kiara was a bit caught off guard, but was laughing and twirling anyway, her drink sloshing in her cup. "Oi, careful, I'll spill my drink all over you," she teased, coming to a stop a step closer than she'd been. Now she could really see all of Alice's freckles.
Alice laughed, full and hearty, though it died down into a soft giggle between lips pressed tight as Kiara grew closer in proximity. "I don't mind getting a bit messy. Messy can be fun. It's why I still paint with my fingers." As if to provide an example, she freed her hand from Kiara's and dipped a couple of fingers into her glass, wetting them, before flinging the little droplets at the other girl's cheeks. She giggled again at the way they splayed across her face. "There. And now you've got liquid freckles. More freckles to toast to."
Kiara let out a tiny yelp that turned into a giggle-fest herself and then she wrinkled her nose at Alice and opened her eyes back up wide. Her heart was going quicker in her chest now than it had been before. She wanted to kiss Alice. She wasn't even drunk and she wanted to kiss Alice. She could hear her therapist in her head goin' Count to ten before you act, Kiara. Ugh. 10. She didn't know Alice that well. 9. She should think about Callie, even if Callie and her weren't really any official thing. 8. She was a bit tipsy. 7. She was supposed to make friends first. 6. She didn't need to kiss anyone.... Kiara trailed off in her head after that one, the numbers subduing that feeling. She just lifted her cup. "Gotta clink to it," she said, then touched the lip of her cup to Alice's. "Clink," said Kiara, then took another swig..
Alice giggled again, and clicked their glasses before reaching up to wipe the droplets from Kiara's face. Her skin felt nice - soft, smooth - not like a boy's. That's what was so nifty about being attracted to multiple genders. They all felt so different. Even as individual people. Kiara felt like the warmth of the bonfire she'd met her by. She found herself distracted and realized after too long of a beat her fingers still lingered on the other girl's cheek. Alice gave an awkward laugh, blushing once more, as she reached back down and gripped Kiara's hand again instead. "Okay. Toasting and dancing are checked. Is there anything else my guide and hand-to-hold has to offer me?"
Kiara froze when Alice touched her cheek. Her butterflies fluttered rapidly in her stomach, kicking up a whirlwind that swept up her throat. Count to ten, Kiara. 10. She'd just met Alice. 9. She... she needed to... what were the other reasons? Her eyes focused a little again, blinking rapidly at Alice's question "Oh, uh, um-- well. Got the flirting down too," she said, smirking a little bit. "I say just...listen to your instincts."
Alice noted that Kiara seemed a bit off. In fact, it seemed like this time the other girl was flustered. That was definitely new. Alice had never made anyone flustered before. Especially not a girl. And now she was telling Alice to listen to her instincts... Alice's instincts involved biting her lip as she looked at Kiara's own. If she kissed this girl now, at least Alice knew she was actually gay and might not mind it. And she definitely wouldn't call her names. She swayed forward a bit, heart thumping. Was it from the alcohol finally hitting? Or was it from this girl who she'd really only met just moments ago? Kiara did seem to be very magnetic. Especially in the moment. "Well, you're the expert," Alice whispered, and leaned forward to place a chaste, sweet kiss on the girl's lips. She didn't linger. Wanted to keep it short and sweet, just in case. Still, Alice felt all tingly now. She licked her lips and tried not to kiss Kiara again. "Now, that might've been a come on," she joked, giggling.
Kiara’s eyes went wide and she couldn't remember any numbers, not a single one, as Alice leaned in and kissed her soft and sweet. It was like taking a bite of chocolate. And instantly Kiara wanted more, all those butterflies dancing inside her stomach and chest and arms and head. She could count all Alice's freckles, this close, she thought, the numbers flooding back, but this time they weren't going to stop her heart from beating too fast at all. There was one, and two, and three, an four five six seven eight nine-- ten. She swallowed, knowing that she'd need much much longer than ten seconds to count the rest. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. "A lil bit." She smiled again, licking her own lip like she could still taste Alice. "Um. I sort of-- want to kiss you again," she said. "Can I?"
Alice blinked, and blushed, but smiled wide - wider than she'd smiled in a very, very long time - and gave a nod in answer. This time, she unhooked her hand from Kiara's and brought it up to cup the line of her jaw, fingers lacing in her hair as she closed the distance again. This time, when she kissed Kiara, she did linger. Long enough to feel glitter and butterflies filling her up.
Now her toes were curling in her shoes, dimples deep in her cheeks as Alice's lips touched hers. She opened her lips just enough to kiss her back softly, her free hand slipping down to slip her finger into one of the belt loops on Alice's cute little jean shorts. She wanted to kiss her all night. They could just find a tree and sit next to it and snog until their lips got all chapped.
Alice liked kissing a girl - really kissing a girl - one who kissed back and everything. It made her chest flutter and she melted her lips into Kiara's, which were just so soft. She tasted like the drink they had shared, and Alice smiled against her lips as she felt the other girl pull her closer. She happily obliged, pressing her body against Kiara's. That felt nice too. Feeling her curves against Alice's own.
Kiara kept kissing Alice, her hand moving up to softly stroke her blonde hair that fell around her shoulders. She smelled like flowers and paint and Kiara breathed all that in through her nose like it could fill her up and make her float away. And she knew she shouldn't be doing this. She needed to stop doing this. But she just kissed at Alice's top lip before nudging her lips open just a little, to tease her tongue against her bottom one.
It felt nice, Kiara's fingers stroking Alice’s hair. The intimacy of the moment in general felt nice. She widened her lips to deepen the kiss, Alice's own tongue darting out to tease the other girl's. Okay, she really, really liked kissing Kiara. She knew they had just met and all, and had been drinking - only a little - but still. It felt good to kiss someone so nice and warm and energetic and proud of who she was. Alice liked Kiara. And she liked her more as she took her bottom lip between her own and bit down on it gently, ever so slightly. Her heart still beat fast in her chest, and Alice still felt so... tingly. Like glitter was under her very skin. She could stay kissing this Kiara warrior princess forever.
Alice bit into her lip and made Kiara shiver and the desire explode. She was beyond toe-curling now. She wanted to put both her hands on Alice's face and kiss her hard and sloppy and full of panting and moaning. But she had a blasted drink in her hand and-- blimey, she shouldn't be doing this anyway. So Kiara finally pulled back a little, the kiss breaking with a little sigh. She breathed out, and then in again, opening her eyes to look into Alice's blue ones, like it wasn't night at all, but daybreak. "Wow," she said, then her lips stretched wider on her face as she giggled. "You-- are a great kisser."
Alice blinked as they parted, flustered and heart pit-pattering away in her chest like the steps of a galloping horse. She smiled and breathed out a laugh as she looked at Kiara, giggling as she rested her forehead against the other girl's. "It helps that I had a good partner." Biting at her bottom lip, nervous, she places another quick, sweet kiss to Kiara's lips before taking her hand and tugging it, pulling her back in the direction of the bonfire. "Come on. Let's go take a seat, finish these drinks - maybe snog a bit more, if you're into that - and I can get to know more about you and your super powers and confidence."
Kiara was really super fucking conflicted right now because everything in her screamed yes! yes! yes! but she also wanted to text-- you guessed it-- Callie. And Bambi too. She wanted to tell Alice to wait one sec while she punched out this entire story, all about how this cute girl had come up to her and flirted with her and like how they were two magnets and she felt all hot and fluttery and and and-- the text could go on forever. But she had zero idea if Callie and her was enough of a Thing for this be Wrong and she didn't know what Bambi would think if that was the case. And the last thing her friend group needed was more secrets and Kiara didn't want to not tell them. She wanted to tell them super extra hard. So maybe she like, shouldn't go with Alice to drink and snog and talk about themselves because it would just complicate everything. But she wanted to. She really wanted to. Kiara bit down on her own lip, thinking all this in one second. Count to ten, Kiara-- but she didn't want to. So she nodded, just diving all in like the Loser that she definitely was (hadn't she learned anything???!! Ugh, she just wanted to kiss Alice again). "Yeah, that-- sounds like a wicked plan," she said. "You leading the way this time, eh?"
Alice nodded as she pulled Kiara along, sipping from her drink, unaware of the debate going on in the cute little pixie-like girl's head. "I sure am!" she laughed, feeling really confident as she found a log. She detached herself from Kiara and gestured to the seat with a tiny curtsy. "After you, my lady."
Kiara was doomed. That's what she thought as Alice curtsied and all, while she smiled so big she probably looked like a goof. She plopped down on the log though and gave her drink another gulp before patting right next to her. "Get cozy. Gonna get chilly out, darker it gets," she said, not even bothering to stop from flirting.
Alice took her spot happily, sitting close to Kiara so their hips touched. "Too bad we don't have a blanket. But, I suppose that's what the fire's for, yeah?" She looked over at Kiara and smiled, before furrowing her brows a bit as she asked, "Oi, aren't there supposed to be fireworks at some point? And I mean the literal kind - you know, not the kind you get from a good snog," she winked.
Kiara chuckled at that, biting her own lip again. "Right, right-- yeah I think there are gonna be," she answered Alice's question as she stretched out her legs so her heel dug a line in the dirt. "Probably a little later than this. I always love fireworks though. The bigger and louder the better, y'know?" She glanced at Alice with a soft smile.
Alice looked up at the sky. Right now there was nothing to be seen but stars. Which Alice didn't mind in the slightest. "I can't remember the last time I saw fireworks," the blonde mused. And really, she couldn't. It had to have been ages ago, when she was a kid... maybe. "I'm glad I get to see them with you." She smiled over at Kiara and nudged the girl's shoulder with her own, before holding out her free hand, palm up. "My guide and my hand-to-hold. I got very lucky, finding you. Would've not had near half the fun I've had already if not."
Kiara took Alice's hand immediately, this time making sure their fingers intertwined and locked. Kiara loved holding hands like that. Alice's were colder than hers, which made Kiara squeeze her hand once. "Ditto, Miss Flower Crown," she said and bumped Alice's shoulder back. "I...didn't think I was gonna have anyone to share Pride with," she confessed. Not like, overly sad or anything. In fact, she was still smiling. "I mean, which was fine, y'know, I didn't mind. My friends just couldn't come, I was just gonna eat enough cupcakes for my tongue to turn blue or green. But...this is better," said Kiara. "Thanks, Alice."
Alice smiled. She liked that: Flower Crown. "I thought the same, funnily enough. And- felt the same, too. Like it would be fine even if I were alone. But this is better. Definitely better." She squeezed Kiara's hand back, beaming. "Thank you. Miss Warrior Princess Kiara."
Kiara giggled at that. "Warrior Princess? Is that the vibe I'm givin' off? It's the hair cut, eh?"
Alice shook her head. "Actually, it was more your name. Kiara. Sounds a bit princess, a bit warrior. But yeah, the haircut. The confidence. The beauty. A bit of it all mashed up together, yeah?" She grinned.
Kiara practically preened under all that. "Careful, I might have to keep you around to say nice stuff about me." She joked. "I like Alice too though. It's...light. Like a feather?" She shook her head at herself, knowing that made no sense.
Alice cocked her head to the side. “Please do. Keep me ‘round, that is. Especially if you’re going to make my name sound more interesting than it is.” Smiling, the blonde leaned her head on the girl’s shoulder and looked up at the sky, asking her about her life here, in Swynlake. They talked about Romeo and Juliet, and books, and friends, and even a bit about the different things people around them were there to take pride in, all until the fireworks. Then they fell silent, just watching, Alice taking quick glances at Kiara’s face lighting up different colors with each blast.
When the night was done, they exchanged numbers, and Alice gave her another chaste kiss before promising this wouldn’t be the last time they’d see one another.