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keishajl · 3 years

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Okey the first time raelle sees scylla in a dress. We need to have this!! Please

Hope that this does the trick!

Rarely did they have occasion to dress up so when Beltane came around again Raelle, Tally, and Abigail decided to do it up right this time. Of course, Raelle dragged Scylla into the plan because how could she not. There was a sense of reluctance given Scylla’s history with the holiday but she put that aside for Raelle.

Tally was all for it but Abigal was still wary around Scylla so when they all went shopping for their clothes, Scylla opted to stay behind saying she already had something to wear. Raelle appreciated that Scylla got it, she needed time to be with her sisters. That thoughtfulness was one thing that drew her back to Scylla so quickly after their break.

Maybe once all the dust had settled Scylla could open up a little more to Tally and Abigail and that would go a long way to making her part of the group. Tally had already started talking to Scylla more, asking her questions about her life, and generally being as welcoming as Tally ever was to anyone.

The standoff between Abigail and Scylla was more to do with their total opposite outlooks and personalities, though they had more in common than either would like to admit. Scylla had none of the baked in arrogance that came from a life in the realm of High Atlantic witchery but she did have a confidence level that belied her humble beginnings.

However, that confidence could be shaken and there were times when she felt so broken that Abigail could get to her. For her part, Abigail knew she had to tone it down a bit if she didn't want to piss Raelle off anymore. As much as it irked her, Scylla looked to be a permanent part of their world, and she could admit that the girl wasn't all bad. She was powerful, which was both threatening and comforting. She also knew that Scylla would die for Raelle any day of the week, that kind of dedication to her friend didn't go unappreciated, even if it was quietly.

The mall was crowded with people again. There had been a time when it went empty after that Spree attack. It still shook Raelle that the one responsible for that was the love of her life but she knew that it was more complicated than that. Scylla herself was a complex person that had taken a journey just like everyone else.

That's why Raelle took into account the contribution that trauma and pain had given to those early decisions of Scylla's. She was different now, deeply regretted hurting those people, and tried to make amends in whatever ways she could.

It was probably another reason Scylla didn't choose to come to the mall. Even as they walked through the main lobby area, Raelle could see the news footage in her mind. It was all grainy and hard to see since it was security footage taken from cameras inside the mall itself but that made it all the more gruesome.

She pressed those thoughts to the back of her mind as Tally cheerfully recounted the story of the one and only time her school on the compound had taken a class trip to a mall in Sacramento to learn about the dangers of free market capitalism.

“So, it totally backfired because I ended up spending my entire savings on getting my ears pierced and buying bags of candy. My mom was so mad. She made me work potato peeling duty in the communal kitchen for a month,” Tally finished.

“Potato peeling duty, huh? Sounds like you guys got wild on the compound,” Abigail joked.

“Oh, well… we did have square dances that got pretty crazy. Sometimes we’d spike the punch,” Tally shrugged, looking as cool as possible.

“Tal, you definitely knew how to wild out,” Raelle teased.

They walked along the storefronts, chatting and looking in windows until they arrived at the store Abigail wanted to shop at. Martingale’s was one of those high end boutiques that didn’t even bother putting price tags on their merchandise because you had to be that rich to buy anything there.

Raelle stopped just inside the door, looking around in dismay at all the very swanky dresses. The place had such a rich bitch vibe that she could hardly make herself follow Abigail and Tally through the racks of clothing. It was the kind of place that couldn’t ever exist in the Cession and she wasn’t mad about it.

Tally bounced up to a red dress just inside the door and took it in her hands, holding it up to her body.

“How much is this?” She asked the clerk that lurked nearby.

“Five thousand,” the woman said, looking down her nose at them all.

“Dollars?” Tally’s face fell. “That’s… a lot.”

The clerk, who’s name tag read Taryn, squinted at Tally and took the dress out of her hands but Abigail was there in a flash, snatching the dress up and handing it back to Tally.

“My treat,” she said, staring down Taryn.” Abigail glared at the woman, piercing her with a dark stare. “You can put everything on my family’s account. I’m Abigail Bellweather.”

Taryn’s face blanched and she stepped back, putting a hand to her chest.

“I’m so sorry Miss Bellweather. Of course! Would you like anything while you shop? Refreshments?” Taryn asked.

“No, that’ll be all,” Abigail dismissed her.

Taryn bowed her head and scurried away.

“I can’t accept this,” Tally tried.

“No way. You’re getting that dress. It’ll look amazing on you and you’re my sister so have to look hot as hell tonight,” Abigail argued.

“Well, okay,” Tally acquiesced

When she walked back toward the mirror in the corner of the boutique, Raelle came forward to stand next to Abigail.

“That was kind of awesome,” Raelle commented.

“Yeah, well gotta use my clout for something good sometimes, right?” Abigail replied.

Raelle patted her shoulder and then bumped it with her own.

“You just made Tally’s day,” she said.

“Hey, don’t think you’re getting out of here without buying something too so you better start looking at that rack of bomb ass suits over there,” Abigail pointed out.

Raelle shook her head and rolled her eyes, knowing there was no arguing with Abigail now.

⚝

Back at the Fort they all went their separate ways. Since war had concluded they’d promised not to abandon their duty entirely. At least, not yet. Scylla had even grudgingly agreed to come back in the capacity of advisor on all things off canon. She still had to wear the uniform at times, which didn’t make Raelle sad. That, in turn, made Scylla feel a little better about it.

As long as it turned Raelle on to see her in their BDU, she’d grudgingly go along with the idea. She was still of the mind that it was a symbol of their centuries of enslavement. That would never change. However, as a condition of her pardon, it wasn’t so bad. Part of the reprieve agreement had been contingent on her service, a fact that chafed at her independent soul.

She reminded herself daily that she was with Raelle and that was all that mattered now. That thought immediately softened her anger and pushed all the ill will towards the Army to the back of her consciousness. That’s all it took. Her remorse wasn’t apparent to all and her acceptance back into the fold was limited to those who knew her and those like Tally who had open hearts.

Still, she had to go to the Beltane celebrations. It was required and Raelle would be disappointed not to go together. She had an idea that it would erase the disaster of their first Beltane together. She’d sent Raelle off with her unit to shop without her, knowing that it was best she didn’t set foot in that mall.

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t face what she’d done. She was still of divided mind about the reasoning and morality of doing it. It was hard to give up the idea that people should pay for what had been done to witches but she knew now that it wasn’t fair to visit that on innocents. The children hurt the most, knowing that some of them could have been witches and not known it.

She sighed and moved to the closet in the small apartment she and Raelle shared. It was still in the barracks block but this one was built for handfasted couples, which they weren’t officially but might as well be. Sometimes Scylla wondered if Raelle was about to ask her the question but it hadn’t happened yet. Something she was both relieved and saddened by now.

She’d saved the dress she’d worn when they saved Tiffany from the Camarilla and it would do for the purpose of Beltane. She wasn’t one to attach negative associations on inanimate things. The dress was beautiful and perfect for the occasion. That, and she knew Raelle would like to see her in it.

This would be the first time Raelle had actually seen her in anything besides uniform or casual civilian clothing so she was looking forward to experiencing her the reaction. She smiled as she looked in the mirror, glad that she’d banished Raelle from getting dressed with her. It had worked out since Tally insisted that the unit had to get ready together this time since they’d missed out on that the last Beltane when Raelle was late.

They were meeting soon so she’d already showered and done her hair and makeup. There was only the dress left now. She took a garment bag out of their tiny closet and laid it down on the bed, bending over to unzip it in the front. Raelle never bothered to look through her clothes so Scylla knew she’d never seen it.

When she took the dress out, she caught a whiff of the cleaning detergents they’d used when she had it cleaned. It was a peaceful scent, something that calmed her as she slipped the dress on, pulling it up and buttoning the neck in the back. She didn’t need any more adornment but she couldn’t help adding a little gold necklace to match her earrings.

She checked herself in the mirror, straightening the torso of the dress and slipping her feet into the strappy sandals she had chosen. She bent over to pull the back straps over her heels and then took one last look in the mirror before taking a deep breath and going to leave the apartment.

⚝

Raelle left Tally and Abigail at a table in the middle of the festivities to go meet Scylla. If they saw them greet one another it would just be another reason to tease her and she didn’t need another thing to feel nervous about. It didn’t make sense though. She had no good reason to feel this way. She’d set eyes on Scylla so many times and there were always intense feelings there but she was never this jittery. This was special for some reason. Their first real Beltane. Maybe that was the difference.

She brushed some lint off of her suit jacket and squared her shoulders, turning to look around her. There had been no sign of Scylla yet so she was getting anxious. Maybe she changed her mind for some reason or something happened. That paranoia left over from the war still clung to the edges of her mind. She shuffled her feet and looked down at the ground, smiling when she saw that she was close to a few small mushrooms sprouting out from the base of the tree trunk next to her. It reminded her of the night Scylla showed her the death cap. That was when it really started for her, falling in love.

“What are you smiling about?”

The voice startled her and her head shot up at the familiar sound. Scylla stood in front of her, one eyebrow raised and that sexy half smirk on her face.

“I was thinking about you, beautiful,” Raelle said, an answering smile spreading across her countenance.

“As you should be,” Scylla flirted.

Raelle’s eyes roamed Scylla’s body, taking in the soft beauty before her. Scylla was always stunning. She could literally wear a potato sack and Raelle would still be mesmerized by her. The dress fit perfectly and the flowy cap sleeves showed off some of the freckles on her arms that Raelle loved to kiss. She knew every part of Scylla’s body better than she knew her own and seeing her in this different kind of way only confirmed that she was right to be nervous.

“You look stupidly amazing and I can’t…” Raelle trailed off, shaking her head.

Scylla came closer, putting her hands up to grip the lapels of Raelle’s suit jacket.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” Scylla said, rescuing her from having to come up with more words.

Raelle’s breath caught as soon as she was close and touching her. Even though there were two layers of fabric between Scylla’s hand and her body, she felt it like it was skin on skin. Scylla leaned close, bringing her lips within inches of Raelle’s.

“You’re staring,” she whispered, teasing Raelle by causing an incidental brush of their lips together.

“Apparently, you didn’t see yourself before you came here because I feel like staring is the least of what I’m doing,” Raelle countered.

Her eyes narrowed in that cute way they did when she was grinning too big to keep them fully open.

“Ah, so you’d rather me take the dress off then?” Scylla asked.

She suppressed a laugh by pinching her lips together and then biting the bottom one.

“Not fair,” Raelle started and then she swallowed the lump in her throat. “You look so good but if we were home I could be showing you just how much I love your dress.”

“Hmm, I’m not opposed to that. You know, if it’s something you’d like to show me,” Scylla replied.

She leaned back, tugging at Raelle’s lapels again but the distance wasn’t happening. Raelle followed her, pressing their lips together in a hard kiss. Scylla softened immediately, her arms sliding up to Raelle’s shoulders and around to the back of her neck.

She let out a little moan when Raelle pushed her way into Scylla’s mouth, ending any tangible thoughts she might have. Raelle pushed her back into the tree, hands wandering over the fabric of Scylla’s dress like this was an inspection.

“Shitbird!”

Abigail’s shout startled them both and they slowly forced themselves to part. Raelle groaned, unwilling to come down from the high Scylla always gave her.

“You can go have lots of sex later. Get your asses over here and party with us,” Tally added.

“Ugh, I guess we should at least make an appearance,” Raelle said.

Scylla nodded and used her hands to push Raelle off her body, using the space to fix her hair and dress.

“Just promise me the lots of sex part will actually happen later,” Scylla requested.

Raelle put her hands on the sides of Scylla’s arms and looked her in the eyes.

“Oh, it will. There’s no way we’re not celebrating Beltane in all the best ways, Scyl, “ she promised.

They smiled at one another, Raelle dropping one of her hands down to entwine their fingers.

“Good, now let’s go watch Tally get drunk and flirt with everyone,” Scylla said.

Raelle laughed and tugged on her hand, leading them off in the direction of their friends.

“Tally can’t help herself. All the hot girls and guys roaming around in formal attire,” Raelle commented.

“Mmhmm,” Scylla confirmed.

When they joined the festivities they were soon blessed with the very sight that Scylla first predicted, which was only enhanced by the hilarity of Abigail teasing Tally about all her conquests. It wasn’t so bad to be out with everyone after all. The night was young and right now, it was satisfying to just be together among the other witches celebrating the coming of summer and the fertility of the goddess.

Raelle leaned into Scylla’s space, sliding an arm around her back and leaning so their heads touched. They could celebrate alone later, the type of holy rites that would last well into the morning and leave them both breathless. Summer would certainly come and so would they.

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