Batgirl!!! I made a tumblr to follow you, hehe. Helloooo!! ^,^
- Solanine ( @solanineingotham )
Wait. You made a Tumblr just to follow me? I don’t know if I should be flattered or worried.
Hi, Solanine! It’s nice to see you discovered the internet is a thing. I was starting to think you got all your information from talking to flowers and mysterious forest spirits.
Thanks for the follow, though. That’s actually really sweet.
Just don’t expect me to start posting secret Batgirl content. Last thing Gotham needs is you analyzing every blurry rooftop photo trying to figure out where I am. Actually… you probably already do that.
Anyway, I hope you’re having a good day. Try not to poison anyone. And before you argue with me, yep, I know you only poison the bad guys.
Saw this picture and immediately thought of my current Curse of Strahd group. My tall stoic paladin is rarely amused but he's got some really silly members of his party. We failed to save Vallaki! (that's bad)
She died in the 1960s, living a life of luxury and as a Underground Drug Lord and poison expert, till someone used her own poison against her. In Hell, she takes on the appearance of a mushroom who can release a poisonous pheromones that can either control you or kill you. She now runs a successful drug/poison company in hell.
Naenia was not having the best day. She’d slept through her alarm, making her late for class, and, because someone up there hated her, it was pouring rain. As such, when Naenia entered the building where her class was held, she was irate and ready to snap at someone.
“Watch where you’re going,” she snaps as someone bumps into her. That someone, she unfortunately realizes a few moments too late, turned out to be the pretty enby that sat behind her in advanced abjuration later in the day. “Shit. Sorry. I though-”
“I was someone else?” they suggest, sounding mildly amused. Thank the heavens.
Naenia rubs the back of her head sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry again.” She kneels down to help pick up the books they’d dropped when they bumped into each other. “It’s not been my morning.”
The enby chuckles. “I can imagine. It’s been raining since I woke up this morning, and I had an umbrella to walk to class with.”
Naenia can’t help but feel jealous of that. “Wish I had one too.”
They smile, rummaging through their bag and pulling out the umbrella in question. “Here.”
Naenia blinks. “What?”
They continue to smile and hold out the umbrella. “I’m stuck in this building all day, and my roommate said the rain was supposed to stop around noon. Take the umbrella and give it back to me later. Maybe over coffee?”
Naenia continues to stare, confused. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Solanine,” they say, eyes crinkling in amusement. “You’re Naenia, right?” She nods. “Yeah, I thought so. We have advanced abjuration together.”
“Oh.”
“So coffee later? I have class until two, but after that I’m free.”
Naenia blinks. “Uh, s-sure.”
It was raining on their first date.
Naenia runs across campus as the clock nears two. The rain hadn’t stopped at noon like Solanine’s roommate predicted, and Naenia couldn’t help but feel guilty for having their umbrella at a time like this. The gesture had seemed sweet at the time, but now she’s second guessing her decision to accept it. She shouldn’t have accepted it.
She nears the Lazy Bean, the campus coffee shop, and spies Solanine already sitting at a booth near the window. Her heart rate kicks up in anxious excitement. She can’t explain it but she’s actually eager to see the other.
She enters the shop and shakes off her umbrella at the door before going to find Solanine, who perks up upon seeing her. She waves. “You’re here. I wasn’t sure you were coming.”
Naenia grins. “Of course I was coming. I promised, didn’t I?” She wasn’t that late, was she? There isn’t a clock within view for her to inspect. “Sorry for being late.”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Solanine says. “I just… last time I asked someone out, I got stood up.”
“Asked… oh. Oh.” Well, that certainly made things awkward. “I’m not… I mean, I am, but-”
“Oh, gods, you’re straight, aren’t you?” Solanine buries their face in their hands.
“No. No, I mean, I’m very much gay, but, uh, I’m also… I’m pretty sure I’m aromantic. Or maybe grey-romantic. I’m not entirely sure.”
Solanine peeks up through their fingers. “Oh?” They uncover their face entirely. “Oh. I, uh, I can work with that.” Naenia arches an eyebrow, wondering what that meant. “I just… can we start over? You’re really cute and I want to get to know you better, even if that can only ever be in a platonic fashion.”
Naenia considers their words. Something about the idea of getting to know them better made them happy, but they’d never felt an emotional connection to anyone in the way Solanine was talking about. Was it worth trying and risking being wrong? “I might never develop the kind of feelings you’re talking about.”
Solanine shrugs. “Then we reevaluate our relationship and decide what it actually is. Maybe we’ll be better off as friends, but maybe we could be something more.”
It was raining the day they first kissed.
Despite her fears early on in the relationship, Naenia had come to develop the kind of feelings she claimed she couldn’t feel. It was interesting and terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Sometimes it was overwhelming, but mostly it was exciting. Sure, there were things she didn’t fully understand–like when was the right moment to hold hands–but she was learning. They were learning together.
It was an unusually rainy summer this year, and Naenia was not enjoying it. Normally, she loved the rain, but it was inconvenient when one needed to go anywhere. Especially since she’d never remedied that no umbrella situation.
She waits eagerly for Solanine to appear at her doorstep, hopeful that this would be the date. She’d been working up the nerve to kiss Solanine for weeks now, and while Solanine was content with taking things as slow as Naenia needed, Naenia was ready to advance to the next level.
Sure, it was a small level, but it was still a level that she’d never done before.
(Had she mentioned that detail to Solanine? Sure, they knew she’d never had sex, but did they know she’d never kissed a girl (or feminine enby in this case) before?)
Solanine appears at 7 on the dot, and Naenia leaps up from her position on the couch, ignoring her roommate’s amusement. She pulls open the door. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Solanine replies in amusement. “Are you ready?”
“Yup.” She grabs her bag from its position near the door and waves to her roommate. “Don’t wait up.”
Solanine chuckles. “I have big plans for tonight. We’re going to Havana’s and then I thought a walk around the park might be a nice way to conclude things.”
“Ooh. Havana’s.” They served food from around Lovanthia, and she was especially fond of the Coventi-based pastas.
They summon a carriage and pay the fee to get to Havana’s. The inside of the restaurant is pleasant with a band playing something that sounds like it’s from Nevus. They order their respective meals and chat about everything from the food to classes to their respective families.
When they’re finished, they take a walk around Ravenwood Park, so named for the founders of the town. The fact that both the Ravenwoods that founded it were still alive, it was a little odd, but she supposed she understood their desire to honor their founders.
When it’s starts getting dark (or darker, she supposes given that the rain made it dark in general), Solanine walks her back to her dorm. She grabs Solanine’s free hand in her own. When they’re about a block away from the dorm, she tugs on it to make them stop. “Everything okay?” Solanine asks, concern coloring their words.
Naenia nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I just…” She takes a deep breath, trying to regain the nerve that had allowed her to stop them in the first place. “I just wanted to do this.” She bounces up on her top toes and gives them a quick, barely perceptible kiss on the lips.
Solanine blinks. “Oh. Oh.” Naenia blushes, scared she’d done something wrong. “Can I kiss you again?” Naenia nods.
Solanine lowers the umbrella and wraps her arms around Naenia, both ignoring how wet they’re getting as Solanine bends down to kiss her properly.
Naenia had heard stories about feeling fireworks when kissing, but she’d never put much stock into it, having never felt it for herself. Now, though, she understands all those stories as kissing Solanine makes her feel things she’s never felt before. “Wow,” she murmurs as they finally part.
