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 Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 3:48 pm
It was time to finally tell Cara that she was also part of this magical war, and honestly the only reason she hadn’t yet was…well.
…Because she had been too busy. Things had been changing and happening so quickly that it was nearly impossible to just stop and see her friend, but! It was the weekend and she bounded into Claires, knowing that Cara was working and knowing that she would be off soon.
Spotting her friend over organizing a pile of plush figures and squishmallows, Brooklyn made her way over and hugged her from behind.
“Long time no see! How are you? What’s on sale! I have some money and I’m itching to spend it!” She could bring up the whole, ‘Do you want to go on a patrol with me tonight’...later. She did have some money to spend and honestly, this was the best place in the whole mall to do so, not to mention that she always got treated so well by her friend.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:04 pm
Cara couldn't exactly say that she liked her job, but she put in enough hours to make it work, and it was nice enough. Also, the employee discount on Squishmallows was pretty sweet.
And besides, Brooklyn knew that she was here, and that meant that sometimes she got dropped in on by her friend.
The hug made her light up, and she laughed.
"Hey! Glad to see you, we can go check out the clearance rack, there is some really cute jewelry over there that's like, technically last season? But who cares, you know?"
God, it was so nice to have a real friend that she could actually expect to see kind of regularly.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:10 pm
“Hell yeah! Clearance jewelry is so my scene!” Brooklyn grinned and took hold of Cara’s hand, dragging her over to the clearance rack with her. “...I know you’re off in what, fifteen minutes? Do um. Are you doing anything after work? Because, if you wanted to do something…I would love to do it with you!”
She paused and thought about what had just come out of her mouth and…
…Honestly? It really didn’t sound good.
“I mean…s**t. I mean like special things! Like…that time that thing was there and then you showed up and got rid of it…if you…catch my meaning?” Growing a little frantic, Brooklyn gave a deliberate wink as though that would clear it up.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:38 pm
"I thought it would be," Cara laughed, and she let Brooklyn drag her over.
The followup question, though, made her stop. And blink. And blink some more.
There was no way Brooklyn was implying what she sounded like she was implying. That would be--there was no way--!
"Uh," she said, feeling her face heat up, "I don't....really know what you....Brooklyn?" Her voice became a very high-pitched, slightly distressed squeak. "The thing like...?"
She had to think, for a minute.
Oh, s**t.
She dropped her voice, low. There was no one else around, but she still wanted to be quiet.
"Do...do you mean...the youma?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:43 pm
Brooklyn nodded, her cheeks red from embarrassment and just a touch of utter mortification. “Yeah! That thing. Do you…I mean. If you’re going to go out tonight, I would love to come with you! I…want you to see my dress!”
There, that sounded far more like a coded message and less like she was trying to proposition her friend for something utterly illegal, and she reached for a pair of earrings that were shaped like heart tipped arrows and made a show of looking at the price tag.
Oh! Nice and cheap. She would get these no doubt.
“I think you’ll like it! And I want to show off, a little!”
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:46 pm
Oh. Okay. That....that was so, so much better. Cara took a deep breath. Nodded.
Wait.
Brooklyn's dress?
"You mean...you too?" Her eyes went a little wide. Her friend...was also...oh! That was so, so good. Cara didn't exactly have anyone she could reliably patrol with, but here was an opportunity to do that with someone she already knew and got along with really well. And also, okay, Brooklyn was just speaking in code and not...
Gah.
"Yeah, sure, I'd love to see! Hang out here until I'm off, and we can go, and you can show me?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:51 pm
Brooklyn nodded so enthusiastically that her glasses nearly slid off of her face. “Yeah! Me too! That was what I was hoping you’d say, okay, I’ll go pick out some more junk to buy and I’ll come pay for it in a few minutes and we can go! “
She was giddy. Cara was her first real friend here, and the first person she had ever met…who had revealed that she was involved in all of this.
A bitter pang went through Brooklyn’s chest but she tried to shove it away and put it into the trash where it belonged but. Cara was the first person who actually trusted Brooklyn enough to share her secret…even if it was only to save her life but.
Still.
…That meant a lot.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 5:00 pm
This was...honestly pretty exciting. Cara was going to get to have a real friend, powered up, someone that she knew in both forms and could find easily. Like, there was Shoqafa....but she never really saw him, only seemed ot run into him by accident. And she certainly didn't really know who he was under the mask, even if they'd Awakened at the same time.
And Tristan...Tristan. Sure was something to her.
She swallowed, just thinking about the pretty Corrupt and how she made Casablanca feel. But Tristan could never, ever know Cara, or...well, there were a lot of ways that could go very wrong. Especially because Cara...really didn't think she wanted ot give up her life, or join the Negaverse, or anything like that, and if Tristan knew Cara...
Well. That might not be her choice.
But Brooklyn was her friend. Was Cara's friend, and now would be Casablanca's too. There would be someone she could trust with both sides of her life. That felt...really, really good.
She wandered back to the register to let Brooklyn shop and do some last minute cleanup before the end of her shift. This was...this was really lucky. She was glad to get to have a real friend.
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