Finn was sort of seriously regretting agreeing to spar with Arkady, because not only was she a hell of a lot taller than him, but she was somehow a hell of a lot more coordinated than he could ever hope to be, and all his strength meant nothing when Arkady was more than capable of having him on his back in two moves. “Please, go easy on me,” he said, backing away from her but trying to keep from backing into the rec room couch. “Last time I sparred with someone, I wound up in the hospital.”
Which had been awful and he did not want to repeat that. Please. Please. He didn’t think his balls could take another round of stitches.
Shibrogane
“Finn, come on,” said Arkady, “we are working on not running away. You’re really bad at not running away.”
She was having fun. She was having so much fun. All her love for Finn was not enough to stop her from having fun with teaching him how to fall and how to not get suplexed. His hair was even more terrible than usual, because instead of choking him in the headlock she’d given him a hella noogie, this being a double noogie but worse. “I’m not going to put you in the hospital,” she said, hopping up on the couch. “Who would I cuddle if you were in the hospital.”
Arkady bounced off the cushions and clotheslined him, laying him flat on the mat. “Muah. Kisses for trying.” She pecked him on the lips and jumped up again. “Come on!”
She was having fun. She was having so much fun. All her love for Finn was not enough to stop her from having fun with teaching him how to fall and how to not get suplexed. His hair was even more terrible than usual, because instead of choking him in the headlock she’d given him a hella noogie, this being a double noogie but worse. “I’m not going to put you in the hospital,” she said, hopping up on the couch. “Who would I cuddle if you were in the hospital.”
Arkady bounced off the cushions and clotheslined him, laying him flat on the mat. “Muah. Kisses for trying.” She pecked him on the lips and jumped up again. “Come on!”
Finn wasn’t sure that there was anything gentle about being clotheslined, even when Arkady was very clearly going easy on him. He’d seen how vicious she could be going after youma (or, on one memorable occasion, Melanite). “You would be very lonely if I were in the hospital,” he said, getting up. “You would cuddle a grand total of zero people.”
From the stairwell, Jenna made a strangled sort of noise. “I only just got here, I swear!” she exclaimed, clinging to the bannister. Finn, she knew. He was Laney’s friend and Anabel’s friend and actually he just seemed like he was friends with everyone and kind of an important person to know? She’d gathered that he was a knight of some kind.
The woman, on the other hand, she didn’t know. Presumably, she was in some kind of adult-type relationship with Finn where kissing was a casual occurrence. Her height and her red hair struck Jenna as familiar, but, oh, she didn’t dare to hope…
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“I would miss you,” she agreed. Someone shouted, and she jumped, green eyes wide and spooked--like a doe in the headlights, really--turning to assess the incoming threat. Only it wasn’t a threat, it was a little pink-haired girl with soft orange eyes and big ears. Arkady hooked her long locks behind her ears self-consciously, like it mattered what this girl thought of her, and slowly shifted position to stand slightly behind Finn.
Jenna had been a topic of conversation. Not a conversation that she’d been part of, but one that she’d sort of eavesdropped on. So, like, Arkady knew who the girl on the stairs was, but she hadn’t counted on her seeming… familiar. Very few people seemed familiar, but… “You’re the girl from my dream,” said Arkady, “the pink one. I knew you.”
“Finn, did I know her?” She leaned on him, elbows on his shoulders, chin on top of his head. In a whisper, she added, “How did I know her?”
Jenna had been a topic of conversation. Not a conversation that she’d been part of, but one that she’d sort of eavesdropped on. So, like, Arkady knew who the girl on the stairs was, but she hadn’t counted on her seeming… familiar. Very few people seemed familiar, but… “You’re the girl from my dream,” said Arkady, “the pink one. I knew you.”
“Finn, did I know her?” She leaned on him, elbows on his shoulders, chin on top of his head. In a whisper, she added, “How did I know her?”
Finn craned his neck very slightly before he realized he was not going to make any progress with looking at Arkady. “She was Astrophyllite,” he said in what was practically a stage whisper. He didn’t really know the exact relationship and didn’t want to speculate - he and Avalon had not exactly been on casual conversation terms before her purification, and afterwards, she had not been in a position to talk about her experiences as part of the Negaverse.
Oh, eff everything, thought Jenna mildly. She was going to dare to hope, because everyone had said that Avalon was here somewhere and good things were supposed to be happening to her now. Hopping down to the bottom of the stairs, she asked, “Are you Avalon?”
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She was the pink one! Arkady danced around Finn and wrapped her arms around Jenna, hefting her up off the ground and spinning her. “I am, I am! And you’re the pink one! The girl from my dream!”
Setting Jenna down, Arkady placed the gentlest little swak of a kiss on her forehead. “I love you,” she said. “I missed you so much! Where did you go? I looked everywhere and couldn’t find you.”
Setting Jenna down, Arkady placed the gentlest little swak of a kiss on her forehead. “I love you,” she said. “I missed you so much! Where did you go? I looked everywhere and couldn’t find you.”
Jenna giggled, returning Avalon’s embrace. “I think I was in Boston for a little while?” she answered uncertainly. Astrophyllite remembered the city and the officers she’d met there, but without her civilian memories it was hard to narrow down the exact date or purpose of the trip. “And then I was… busy.” She swallowed awkwardly - she’d been in Natron’s service, and she’d done terrible, terrible things.
But it was probably better not to dwell on the past - not when Avalon couldn’t remember practically any of it, if Aleksy had told her correctly. “And now I’m here!” she concluded cheerfully. “With you! I’m so glad to see you!”
Behind Avalon, Finn flopped onto the couch with a whumph.
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“I’ve never been to Boston,” said Arkady thoughtfully. She smiled so wide she thought her face might break in two. Finn flopped behind her and Arkady turned to him, arms still around Jenna’s shoulders. “Look! It’s Jenna! Isn’t she beautiful?”
The look on her face got crafty, then. “Jenna, do you want to help me train Finn? He sucks at fighting. He sucks so hard, and we need to make sure he gets better so more baby pages don’t get corrupted.”
The look on her face got crafty, then. “Jenna, do you want to help me train Finn? He sucks at fighting. He sucks so hard, and we need to make sure he gets better so more baby pages don’t get corrupted.”
“Two against one seems kind of unfair,” said Jenna, looking Finn over. Finn, for his part, did not seem very excited by the prospect. “But it’s important that baby pages don’t get corrupted. Everything would have been so much better for me if I’d never been corrupted in the first place. I would have been Teide eventually, anyway, but I’d also still have all my memories.”
Then again, Gemma had had a kind of s**t hand dealt to her, so maybe it was okay not to remember?
“She’s beautiful,” agreed Finn, and Jenna felt a blush spread across her cheeks. “But come on. Please don’t make me fight both of you at once. We’ve already been sparring for ages and I’m tired.”
He looked like a sad baby, thought Jenna.
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Arkady sighed. “It’s only unfair if the enemy won’t do it! and the enemy will, so, it’s totally fair.” So anyway, Finn had a point about needing a break. She sighed again, looping her arm through Jenna’s and leading her over to the couch. Arkady settled herself gently on Finn’s stomach, knees tented over his abdomen. “So you’re safe now! That’s so good.” Teide Teide Teide. It suited Jenna, thought Arkady. “Show me your signet! I want to see.”
Jenna followed Avalon, giddy to be swept up so quickly into the older girl’s circle. She sat daintily beside Finn and held her hand out to Arkady, showing off her ring. “My wonder is a floating hill in space!” she said. “There’s a rose garden that’s all overgrown and a building at the top of the hill with a tower. I can’t get into the tower yet, though, because it’s locked. I have to make my wonder like me more first.”
“Should I call you Avalon?” she asked, after a moment’s hesitation. “Or do you have a name you prefer?”
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“Arkady,” she said. “It’s Arkady Ashlyn-Smith. Everyone calls me Arkady or Ash, except Finn, who calls me Kady. That’s just for him, though.” She put her hand on his forehead, and then mussed up his hair very delicately and lovingly (for Arkady, anyway). As she examined Jenna’s ring, turning it on the other girl’s finger, she continued to chatter: “I know that feel, Jenna jay, my Wonder was mad at me for so long. But we’re friends now. Maybe I’ll show you someday!”
She sighed, a little reminiscently. “It’s growing all wild again. And the animals are coming back.” She hadn’t seen animals on any other wonders she’d been to--but then, only Earth of all the planets seemed to have life at all. “The magic is back, too. My magic.” With a wiggle of her fingers, she leaned back on the couch. “Not that I can use it away from my island.”
She sighed, a little reminiscently. “It’s growing all wild again. And the animals are coming back.” She hadn’t seen animals on any other wonders she’d been to--but then, only Earth of all the planets seemed to have life at all. “The magic is back, too. My magic.” With a wiggle of her fingers, she leaned back on the couch. “Not that I can use it away from my island.”
“Arkady,” repeated Jenna, smiling. “That’s pretty.” Not that she remembered what Avalon’s name had been before. Nick had explained that her memory loss would cover all of her civilian memories, but it was still a discovery process. Sometimes she’d reach for something she thought she should still have and find it wasn’t there. Sometimes things she was certain she’d lost inexplicably popped back up. “I’d love to see your wonder,” she breathed, “and take you to mine!”
Finn interrupted, “Since when can you use your magic again?”
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Arkady shrugged. “What did you think I was doing there,” she said, tapping a finger on his nose. “Hunting animals and skinning them?” Not that she hadn’t been doing that, too…
More interesting was the offer to go to Jenna’s wonder. “Yes!” She snatched up both of Jenna’s hands in hers, pulling them to her chest. “Fair trade! For sure! I still can’t go for a little while, and I, um, I stay there for a long time when I go, because I have a lot of work to do, but we can go as soon as I can go again!” She grinned widely, the corners of her eyes crinkling up. “I’m so excited!”
More interesting was the offer to go to Jenna’s wonder. “Yes!” She snatched up both of Jenna’s hands in hers, pulling them to her chest. “Fair trade! For sure! I still can’t go for a little while, and I, um, I stay there for a long time when I go, because I have a lot of work to do, but we can go as soon as I can go again!” She grinned widely, the corners of her eyes crinkling up. “I’m so excited!”
Finn shrugged. “Yes,” he said, sinking a little bit into the couch.
Jenna leaned forward, a little bit off-balance by Arkady’s sudden grabbiness. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “That would be so, so great.” She’d wasted a lot of time as an officer of the negaverse, but now she was eager to make up for it and explore all the wonders of the universe. (Literally.)
She sighed happily and gave Arkady’s hands a squeeze. “I can’t tell you enough how happy I am to be here. And with you! I thought you were dead! Everyone said you were dead. I’m so happy you’re not!”
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Arkady smiled. “I’m not dead and I’m never going to be. And now you’re here! We just need to get the blue one to stop hating me.” She sighed. “He was so mad.”
But who cared about that! Jenna was here! “Jenna-jaybird, we’re going to be best friends. I decided this, so it is true. Will you come over for dinner? We can watch a movie!”
But who cared about that! Jenna was here! “Jenna-jaybird, we’re going to be best friends. I decided this, so it is true. Will you come over for dinner? We can watch a movie!”
Jenna furrowed her brow. “You mean Kerberos?” she asked. “I - that sounds hard.” He’d scared her so badly the last time she saw him that she’d avoided him ever since, and there was no way she could get close to him now… but she needed to be brave for Avalon. And so that Kerberos could be good and happy with them. “I’ll help you. Together, we’ll be able to do it for sure.”
She rather liked that nickname, she thought. It was the first that she’d gotten as Jenna - maybe the first of lots more? “I would love to come over for dinner! Can someone drive me home after? I need to tell Laney that I’ll be out late… I love movies!!!”
It was so, so good to be Jenna, she decided. Much, much better than Astrophyllite!
