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old-hyper-super-clover · 3 years

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Squeeze that bunny tail!

Part 3

Description: The RAD student council as well as the exchange students help out at a bar where, oops, the staff´s dress codes are those sweet bunny outfits that we all know and thirst for. The MCs, Violet and Clover, play a game of who can touch the most bunny tails over the evening without getting caught. Prepare for fluff, funny innuendos as well as my thirst over hot boys in bunny outfits.

Find the first parts on my masterlist.

Story continues under the cut. Enjoy the thirst!

[The amazing artwork belongs to @tokamiart, permission to post was granted, don´t repost!]

Clover and Simeon were giving out drinks at the bar.

The girl was handing over all sorts of bottles, glasses and ice cubes if needed. Simeon then put it all together with such grace and beauty that Clover often found herself gazing at him, until the brunet would turn to her with a smile and ask her to let go of whatever she had been wanting to hand him.

At one point, without any customers walking up to the bar, Clover sat down for a quick break.

"Tired?" Simeon asked, having decided to clean the counter in the meantime.

Clover chuckled at the sight. "Oh, is this going to be the classic 'I tell the bartender of my problems' scenario?"

The angel blinked in confusion. "I am afraid I don't know what you are talking about... But I'm always there to lend you an ear, if that's what you're aiming at."

"I'm fine", she laughed. "I was only joking... I must admit, though, you really suit this job. I'm sorry if I'm misjudging you, but how come an angel is looking so perfectly fit for serving drinks?"

Simeon blessed her with a chuckle. "Thank you for the compliment. As for your question... You might be surprised, but angels do know how to have some fun, too."

"Oooh" Clover grinned. "So the whole turning-water-into-wine thing wasn't just a myth?!"

At that, Simeon only put his finger close to his lips in a "shhh" sound, giving her a secretive little wink before both broke out in soft giggles.

A little while later, their attention got caught up by a situation at the tables.

Luke was cleaning dirty dishes off of an emptied table, when a demon approached him.

A little flustered, they exchanged a few words before Luke gestured towards the public toilets.

"He's doing so well" Simeon hummed, leaning on the counter as he watched his angel friend with a proud smile. "It had been very difficult for him to adjust to life in the Devildom... But I'm glad to see he is finally finding his own pace of things."

Clover's head jumped back and forth between the two celestial creatures.

"It's because he has a great friend who's watching over him" she smiled.

"Huh? Oh, no, I don't want to take any credit for that. It's all thanks to Luke's own strength that he's able to go through this so well."

Suddenly, Luke hurried over to them, a full tray of dishes in his hands.

He looked SO disgusted.

"Waaah... What's wrong with those demons...!" He let the tray slip onto the counter. "Has nobody here learned how to properly behave in a restaurant?! The tables are sticky, the food is all over the cutlery, or even worse...!"

He held up a fork.

... Or better, what was left of it. Which was only the handle. The upper spikes got bitten off almost completely.

"Who eats a fork?!?!", Luke cried out. "That's... That's... Ridiculous!"

Clover gave an awkward laugh, she got over the point of wondering long ago.

"I am pretty sure I know who would..." she mumbled.

And truly, stepping out of the kitchen, the culprit looked at the fork with a guilty expression.

"... Don't tell Lucifer" Beelzebub mumbled as he came closer. "He'll get mad if he sees that parts of the cutlery are missing..."

"... 'parts'?!" Luke repeated in disbelief. "You mean this isn't the only one?!"

"... Those were accidents..." Beel whined, holding his grumbling belly.

He let himself plonk down on a chair next to Clover, then huddled over the counter in a pout.

"Ugh... And what am I supposed to do with that now...?" Luke said.

"Hm..." Simeon thought. "Clover, Beel, could you watch the bar for a moment? Luke, let's go bring the dishes to the kitchen... And that thing into the trash."

They excused themselves after Clover gave her okay and Beel gave some kind of grumble.

The girl´s head drifted over to look at the demon...

And her heart skipped a beat.

She checked the situation.

His tail? Exposed.

His thoughts? In some far away land about food.

The others? Gone.

The perfect chance for a squeeze? Right fucking NOW.

Clover swallowed the raising anxiety in her stomach.

She had lurked around the angels in hope of squeezing one of their tails, but now that they were gone, she had missed that chance...

The more she thought about it, the more did Clover feel like hyperventilating. It was such a stupid thing to fuss over, but sadly, her habit of over-contemplating would always stress her out in unnecessary situations.

After what felt like eternity of convincing herself, she moved her arm.

Beel almost immediately turned his head.

"... You look like you want to eat me." He said.

"Wh-what?!"

His grumpy face mustered her.

"But I will eat you before you could possibly eat me, so don't even try."

Clover's already red face curled in confusion.

"I didn't want to..." she mumbled.

"Why were you staring at me, then?"

"I-I... Was thinking about how to help you with your hunger..." she lied.

"... Oh. Sorry for accusing you of something else, then."

"N-no, it's fine..."

Before Clover could talk herself into more bullshit, Simeon came back, and the holy boy was there to save her from her own misery.

"Beel" he called out. "Luke and I will soon return home for a bit. I can bring you some sandwiches, so stay strong, okay?"

"Simeon...!" Beel cheered as his euphoria made him stand up and engulf Simeon in a hug. "You're a true angel...!"

Clover felt quite shitty afterwards.

Beel hugging Simeon was an adorable sight, but she hated herself for being such a coward.

After dodging another encounter with Solomon, she had pulled back to help Belphie at the casino area, trying to get her mind off of the competition for a little...

-----------------

Alright. I hope you´re not bored yet, because the chaos hasn´t even properly started yet.

Also, nearing ourselves to half-time, now is a good opportunity to sum up a few events as well as the overall squish-score so far.

Violet was leading with a total of 12 points. Besides the mentioned scenarios, she had also encountered Mammon a second time, and she was lucky enough to find Luke having a life crisis over another eaten fork.

Heck, Violet even managed to squeeze Clover's tail once, and her friend hasn't noticed!

Clover, on the other side, has had a great start, but did rather poorly the later it got.

With five points, she only had another chance with Asmo, who, tbh, had been begging for someone to pay attention to his booty. (But to be clear, he did not notice the squish.)

Over time, she got desperate, but that only fueled Clover's fears of getting caught.

It nearly let her to internally quitting, if not for Violet to pull her back into the game once more...

-------------------

Most of the crew was busy working when the clock struck midnight.

A nearby bell tower announced the change of day -- and with that, also the change of clothes.

The customers as well as the staff looked up when a certain voice echoed through the speakers.

"Good evening, my sweethearts~!" Asmodeus cheered, sitting on the bar counter and waving at the crowd. "Or should I say good night? Good morning? I hope you are having a good one, to say the least!"

He gained a small round of laughter.

"Yes, yes, a cheery mood is what we want! And now that we passed midnight... It's time for a special surprise!"

He stood up onto the counter, striking a nice pose while smirking widely.

"Those with weak minds -- and weak ovaries -- should brace themselves, cause things are about to get hot~!"

The crowd applauded and cheered. A group of thirsty (asmodeHoes) fans threw in some... naughty exclamations, but Asmo had already jumped onto the floor again, gathering the staff members around him.

Barbatos at his side, he was handing out another set of clothing. "Please get dressed quickly", the butler said.

And so they went off...

--------------------

"VioLET."

"Cloverrrr..."

"I CAN'T go out like his."

"But... But Clover... You know what must be awaiting us outside..."

"ARGH... I'm not ready for that either..."

Clover was sitting on the floor again.

This time, their outfit consisted of a classic black playbunny suit, ears and tail still included of course, arm sleeves as well as a shirt's collar that was held together by a bow tie.

"Come onnn, I don't wanna go without you..." Violet protested.

"But HOW am I supposed to face those frickin´ snacks” Clover cried out. “I'm a fucking potato compared to them, also Violeeet, the moment I see any of them my mind will SIN and I won't ever be able to look into Simeon's eyes ever agai-"

They heard voices on the other side of the door.

"Woohooo, is that Lucifer?! Shirtless?!" They heard Asmo go. "And and, kyaaaa, Beel, those ABS!!"

The girls exchanged a glance.

Then dashed out of the womens' toilet once again.

Stumbling out of the room, however, there was no one to be spotted at all.

A little confused, the girls noticed too late how a cheeky Asmodeus had been hiding behind the door, pushing the latter shut to have a perfect view on his girls.

"Got you~!" he hummed, leading the girls to turn around.

He had a camera in his hands and seemed to be already filming.

"What a view~", he continued. "Could you do me a favour and turn around as well?"

"Asmo!!" Violet hissed, her cheeks gaining a pink blush out of angered embarrassment.

Not as much as Clover's face was heating up, though, as she prompted the demon to put his phone down.

"Not going to happen, sweetie~" he chuckled. "Devilgram will love those bashful expressions...!"

"WhAt?!" Violet covered her body immediately. "You WON'T upload this anywhere!"

"Uhmmm... That's kind of not possible, you know? This is a live broadcast."

"WHAT."

Then, another person stepped out of the males' bathroom.

"What's all the noise about?"

Lucifer's annoyed voice echoed through the corridor.

When he stepped closer, however, his attention got caught up by the girls' appearance.

"Oh~?" he purred, inspecting the girls (but Violet in particular hehe) with a pleased smirk on his lips.

"L... Lu..." Violet's voice broke off.

She just... Died. Nothing more to say about this, really.

Because only now both, Violet and Clover, realised that not everything of Asmo's bait had been a lie...

The demons were actually shirtless, their chests bare as they were wearing only arm sleeves and, in Lucifer's case, a bow tie around his neck, while Asmo's neck was decorated with a ribbon. Rather tight-fitting black trousers and the bunny accessories completed the look that had left the girls speechless.

Lucifer's smirk grew wider.

"No, that's no good... I think I will have to speak to the manager. Those outfits are way too distracting... Isn't that so, Violet?"

"H-huh?!" The girl did a little hop.

Thankfully, Asmo jumped in to her aid.

"Fufu~! Lucifer, do you mean the girls are getting distracted by us, or is it that YOU are getting distracted, hm~?"

Lucifer crossed his arms in a contemplative manner.

"Well... I admit to a pleasant view when I see one, so..." He pinned Violet down with his eyes. "I guess I will have to be extra careful from now on... Then again, I might need a more detailed view, just to be sure..."

Asmo gave an excited giggle.

"Lucifer, you beast~!"

Then Asmo turned to Violet again.

"But judging from her red cheeks, I feel Violet might think the same... Isn't that so, darling~?"

"U-uhm...", Violet stammered, trying really hard to make her brain function again. "Well I... Think there's no point in denying that... Uhm..."

She glanced over at Lucifer, but every time she did, her head got dizzy all over again.

"Go on, please" Lucifer suddenly said. "There is no need to deny what, exactly?"

And her brain got stuck in an endless loop of not being able to cope.

Lucifer seemed to have plenty of fun with that, so he kept teasing her for the time being.

-----

We do remember, however, that there was another still girl left to completely destroy.

And Asmo took it upon himself to achieve exactly that.

"Don't worry, Clover!" He said as he tackled the girl into a hug, simultaneously dragging her away from the two lovebirds. "You're just as charming, of course."

"Th-thanks..." Clover mumbled.

"Hm? You don't seem to believe me."

Clover pulled away, now only holding hands with him, giving a shrug. "You know what I think of my looks, Asmo..."

The avatar of Lust gave a sigh.

"There we go again... If you're so self-conscious… why don't we go ask for some opinions?"

"Eeh?!"

And if the god of fateful anime encounters had planned it, the remaining demon brothers happened to have finished changing as well. The door to the men´s bathroom swung open…

"Oh!" Asmo smelled his chance. "Look, there comes our audien-"

He got cut off by the weird sound Clover made.

In a single movement, she had let out a squeal that a human throat should not be able to do, had completely destroyed Asmo's pretty hand by squeezing it in excitement, while in the end she was hiding behind Asmo, only peeking over his shoulder to glance at the mass of hotness coming out of the bathroom.

"Clover…?" Asmo sounded confused.

"Too much hotness", she mumbled into his shoulder. “I can´t-“

"Huh?" Asmo sounded genuinely confused for a second.

Then a smirk curled his face.

"What?!" he spoke extra loud, extra dramatically, so everyone could hear. "What did you say, Clover?! You think they're all sooo hot?!"

"A-asmo, be quiet...!" Clover mumbled.

But he continued.

"What? You love how much skin we are showing?!" he yelled.

"Stop...!"

"Whaaat?! You'd even pay them to strip down even more?! Clover, you wild animal!"

She punched the demon in embarrassment.

The next second, a certain scumbag stood beside them.

"DiD I hEaR 'P-p-p-PAy'?!" Mammon stuttered, literal cash-symbols in his eyes.

Asmo grinned at him, covering Clover's mouth so she couldn't protest.

"Our dear Clover here wants you to strip for her~"

Clover shook her blushy head.

"That's not trrngh..." she tried to press out between Asmo's fingers.

Mammon stared at her for a moment.

"… 10.000 Grimm."

Clover had freed herself again.

"... What?"

"15.000 and I'll do pole dance too."

"MAMMON WHAT THE HECK."

The second born looked almost disappointed when Clover declined his offer.

But Asmo was already moving on with his mischiefs.

"What? Clover?? You want to do WHAT with Beel's abs?!?!"

"ASMODEUS, I'LL KILL YOU-"

"No you won't~" Asmo grinned, turning to give his brothers a view on Clover. "Guuuys, I need your help! I dare you to give this little lady a rating in this sweet costume of hers."

Most of them looked confused at first,

but, seeing one, her outfit, and two, how much she was unable to cope, a few were ready to assist in Asmo's tease.

"I'd need a full view to judge" Satan grinned.

"Yeah" Belphie agreed. "Could you turn around slowly, Clover? Maybe do some poses as well?"

Clover shot them some angry glares.

"... You could do that pose were you form ears with your hands…" Levi dared to add in a mumble.

"Hrrrgh...!" Clover was fighting her embarrassment. "All of you are awful... Beel over here is the only nice guy, honestly...!"

She glanced at him in a pout, hoping he'd defend her... Or at least say something as well...

"... So you're not going to pose for us?" Beel said in a pout.

Clover.exe stopped working.

"Fufu..." Asmo grinned. "See, my dear? Even Beel demands a show... Now come on, we're waiting~!"

--------------

You can probably guess that Clover wasn't going to get out of this situation anytime soon.

While this part of the group enjoyed this mess of a person, let's switch back to the other girl whose brain was doing about as poorly.

Lucifer had kept Violet by his side, making sure she wasn't going to help Clover in her dilemma… Or going elsewhere in general.

However, one certain jealous bean soon couldn't bear that Lucifer was hogging Violet all for himself.

"Oi, Lucifer, back off of Violet already!"

And Mammon pressed himself in between them. "She's one of my humans after all!"

Visible displease grew on Lucifer's face as he got cockblocked yet again.

"And what would give you the right to claim her for yourself?" The eldest grumbled.

Mammon crossed his arms.

"... Because I just said so."

Lucifer pressed out a sigh, to then simply push Mammon's body away again.

"LUCIF-", Mammon hissed. "STOOP...!"

"You are distracting us, Mammon."

"B-but... That´s not fair…” he shouted. “M-maybe I want Violet to notice me as well!!"

Lucifer stopped, while most of the surrounding people went silent.

Then Levi gave a laugh.

"Oh my god MAMMON, that was so desperate lolol, SO uncool!"

Belphie spared him a pityful laugh. "Are you really that desperate for some attention, you idiot?"

The avatar of Greed was gritting his teeth.

"Hnngh... Shut up, all of you...!"

The situation around them escalated a little, even more so as Diavolo and Barbatos joined in on the chaos, having changed clothes as well.

But Violet felt bad, especially since she wouldn´t have expected Mammon to act like this. So, in a silent second where everyone seemed busy in their personal chaos, she sneaked over to Mammon.

After -- of course, what did you expect -- quickly poking his bunny tail, Violet also gave his shoulder a tap.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Mammon looked a little surprised, responding with a huff.

"...'s a wolf..."

"Huh?"

"Lucifer's a wolf!" Mammon repeated, awfully loud and both feared that the eldest brother had heard him.

A bit more timid, Mammon continued as Violet could only look at him in confusion.

"... Ya can't just go hop around in such an alluring outfit when there're guys like Lucifer around. He could go full beast mode and, dunno, do some weird stuff to ya."

Violet suppressed the nasty thoughts approaching her brain, her heart beating drastically as she mumbled a faint "I see".

"Ya human should better stick to the great Mammon! I'd treat you nicely, y'know."

Violet raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"... 'Treat me' how, exactly?" She asked in an almost teasing manner. "What were you planning to do, Mammon?"

And it landed a critical hit.

"I-I-I-I mean tr-treat as i-in... I'd protect you from all those beasts around you!" he stammered, his cheeks a blushing mess. "Nothin´ weird, I swear!! Its just… There's plenty of those beasts! Actually, maybe you should go home. If all the customers see you like this... Argh... I have to tell Clover, too...!”

He turned his head to search for the other girl, only to realise the group was about to return to their work. "Ahh... Oh no, she´s already been caught..." Mammon pressed out.

"Mammon" Violet called out again and treated him with a smile. "I assume you´re saying this because you´re worried about us, right? Thank you for that, you´re really a good friend. We're having a shift together later, right? So, until later, okay?"

He seemed confused again, but nodded in the end.

"Ugh... Fine... Just stay safe, ´kay? Promise!"

"I promise" she laughed, then Mammon finally seemed to have calmed down.

At least he was fine enough to turn around and go bother Levi with something.

Violet was watching them in amusement, then felt a presence behind her.

"Turning your eyes off of me already?" A deep voice purred almost right into her ear.

Ah, yes, there it was again, the drastic heart rate.

"Lucifer..." Violet turned around at the mellow voice. "I just wanted to tease Mammon a little. He seemed a little down."

"Sure, suit yourself..." Lucifer mumbled casually. "But I seem to be a little down as well... To think you'd end our conversation so quickly..."

Violet exploded into a puzzled blush.

"N-no... That's not... I ... You..."

Lucifer was pinning her down with his gaze, waiting for a coherent reaction. “Then how abou we pick up where we left? I think there´s something you wanted to tell me…”

"Y-you look... A-... Amazing..." she stammered.

"Hm? Could you say that again? Your voice appears to be awfully thin."

She breathed a heavily stressed breath. So Lucifer continued.

"Pardon me? Violet, you appear to be overheating. How come? I would assume your clothing is revealing enough skin to make that impossible..."

Aaand Violet's brain shut down as well.

"Should I help you?" he hummed, stepping even closer. "In comparison to you, I seem to maintain a way cooler head than you do..."

And, being the most flustered he has ever been, Lucifer continued to tease the shit out of Violet for as long as he felt the need to...

-------------

The group was about to dissolve and (finally) head back to work.

The girls, however, had stayed back for a strategy meeting.

"This is bad", Clover blabbered as she was trying to calm down. "I couldn't get up to them with shirts on, how am I supposed to even TALK to any of them when they're in maximum sexy mode?! And it's not only maximum hotness, but did all of them collectively agree to unlock their secret teasing-modes, too?!"

Violet gave a blushing shrug. "... Are you complaining, though?"

"Hnngh... No... But I'm so short on points... If I don't start playing risky, I'll loose..."

Violet smirked at that.

"Yeah" she agreed. "That's a good idea. Look, Solomon's over there all alone, why don't y-"

"Nope” lover interrupted her immediately. “Not going to happen. Nope. I'd rather go up to the demon prince himself. I'd rather get killed by Barbatos TBH."

"Oh, you would get killed..." Violet shivered, thinking back of what happened in the store room earlier.

"Don't care" Clover persisted. "Like, come, demon lord, if I was to touch Solomon's tail today, you may kill me right this instant...!"

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me fanfic #obey me bunny event #i had short story as a tag too but thats one fat lie

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ghost-chance · 3 years

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Snippet: When your characters say everything while saying nothing

When you're a young writer, you tend to think you have equal skill in all scenes. Action, fluff, humor, introspection, filler, you name it, you either rock it or suck at it depending on your confidence level. When you've spent time honing your craft, however, you start to realize your strengths and weaknesses.

I...absolutely suck at writing action scenes. Smut scenes, I feel, are hit-or-miss, and sometimes scenes with a lot of dialogue from several people and little action leave me near tears with frustration. As far as I can see, my strengths lie in scenes of romantic pining, scenes of comedic absurdity, and scenes like this one...that is, scenes with lots of introspection, nonverbal language, and revealing behavior. In hopes of finding a comparable scene from my early writing for comparison, I've gone back through my "DAMN that's old" folder. ...no, seriously, I have a folder entitled "DAMN that's old" where I stash all the horribly embarrassing crap I wrote when I was a teenager. It's traumatizing. I didn't find a single 'introspective conversation' scene that didn't involve a pairing enduring a 'traumatizing misunderstanding,' and that says something but I'd rather not share what.

Anywho. Because I'm so frickin' happy with how this scene turned out, I wanted to share it with y'all. It's not perfect - they never are - and I know there are people who write better than I do, but it makes me happy to have reached this level. ...especially when I started from the level of "Chi-Chi is a villain, Goku is a perfect hero, Piccolo is actually a real charmer, and no one is ever allowed to disagree with characters I like or they get smushed." (...teenagers. Y'all think I'm jokin'? I ain't jokin.')

Without further yammering, I give you a scene from The Demon King and the Half-Breed Hermit, "Is This Living, or Just Existence?" Herein, Chi-Chi lets her hair down and says lots of helpful stuff, Aubergine is perplexed by spices and behaves like a pouty cat, and they both talk around the Namekian elephant (not) in the room.

________________________________________

The walk to Chi-Chi's home passed in a silence midway between comfortable and awkward, and before they knew it, the matron was stowing her groceries in their places. Aubergine sat slumped in her chair, brooding and fiddling with a small shaker jar from the revolving rack in the middle of the table. Recognizing the speckled contents, she pried the lid open, sniffed at the contents, and sneezed; her eyes and sinuses burned in protest as she jammed it closed and shoved it back on the rack. Yes, she identified it correctly.

"So how's Piccolo settling in?" At the resulting silence, Chi-Chi turned to find Aubergine scowling like she just chewed five lemons in a row, rind and all, without even stopping to breathe. "That good, huh?" Chi-Chi teased.

Aubergine shot Chi-Chi a deadpan glower then exchanged the speckled powder for a jar full of tiny oblong seeds. As if it explained everything, she grunted, "he's not dead yet." These seeds didn't burn her nose like the sneeze-powder; instead, they had a rather unpleasant smell akin to rank body odor and sweaty cunt. Nose scrunching at the stink, Aubrey shoved the jar to the other side of the table and snatched up a tall shaker full of tiny white crystals with a much sweeter scent. Over by the table, Chi-Chi gave a knowing smile as the half-breed examined her spices like they were from an alien planet. ...then again, they probably were alien to Saiyans. "How one person can require so many of these...things?" Aubergine muttered as she surveyed the multitude of tiny jars and shakers on the Lazy-Susan. "What's the point?"

"Spices?" Chi-Chi asked, and upon receiving a blank stare, added, "they make food taste good. As for the number, different dishes require different spices—you can't cook everything with the same ingredients." Aubrey stilled, eyes wide and locked on the three jars she investigated before. That...was a concerning reaction. "What brought you here anyway?" If Chi-Chi didn't know any better, she would say the half-breed was embarrassed.

"He quit complaining," Aubrey mumbled. "He used to whine I was poisoning him...now he just…" She glared down at the jar of sweaty-cunt-seeds and poked it a little further away from her as if she could smell it through the glass. "I thought…" She fell silent, cleared her throat, then collected the other two bottles and shoved them toward the other jar. "Fish. Worse than usual."

Chi-Chi was used to getting only half the picture from her half-Saiyan sister-in-law, but this had to set a record. Those three spices were never used in the same dish; then again, this was Aubergine, and Aubergine was quite possibly the worst cook in all the realms. "Correct me if I'm wrong," Chi-Chi asked, "but are you saying you cooked fish…with black pepper, cumin, and sugar…?" The half-breed glanced at the jars, read the fading labels, and gave a wary nod; Chi-Chi felt her breakfast threaten reappearance. "No wonder, then," she tutted around bile. "Cumin and pepper can be used on fish but generally not together, and you never use sugar on seafood."

"This is stupid." …and so began Aubrey's usual response to statements regarding food as anything beyond life-preserving sustenance. After so many years of hearing the same thing over and over again, Chi-Chi easily tuned out the increasingly loud rant and gathered a few more appropriate seasonings for fish. "Food don't have to taste good!" Aubergine spat without regard as Chi-chi carefully measured out portions into a jar, capped it, then shook it to mix the contents. "Food's only here so we don't starve to death, anything more is—" Finally, she went silent. Of course, taking Chi-Chi's frying pan to the skull would shut anyone up.

"There's more to life than just existing," Chi-Chi scolded as Aubergine rubbed the already swelling lump on her skull and growled under her breath. "There's more to life than just survival. We were put on this Earth to thrive, not just not die."

"We were put on this Earth because dumbass wouldn't let me kill that rotten blue midget from the start." ...Aubrey tried to kill Pilaf when Goku was a child? That was new information. This time Aubrey ducked the frying pan.

"Missing the point as always," Chi-Chi huffed. "I swear, you're so much like my Goku. Aubergine, when your life is over, you'll have an eternity to look back on what you did. If all you have to look back on is not dying, then what was the point?" Aubergine went silent, glaring at the wall beside her as if she blamed it for everything that ever went wrong in her life. It didn't escape Chi-Chi that said wall stood between her kitchen and the clearing where Goku grew up on Old Earth. Not for the first time, Chi-Chi wondered what Aubergine's life was like in those early years to have molded the half-breed into the distant, bristly woman she was now.

"Life...was enough..." The admission was quiet—half-muffled in Aubrey's mostly flat chest and aimed into the polished tabletop and the arms crossed atop it—but to the human matron, it had the same impact as a battle cry. "Stay out of danger," the half-Saiyan muttered as though reciting some sort of task list. "Find and maintain shelter, locate reliable sustenance, protect Kakarot…"

...wait for me to come for you. I promise I will come for you!

Bardock may have been a visionary, but an honest Saiyan, he was not. He never came for them… Fulfilling her mission was enough…until said brother ran off with a blue-haired witch to seek adventure and left Aubergine behind. Sure, she caught up after a while and tagged along for a few misadventures—living alone in the wilds got boring, after all—but at the end of the day, she failed to accomplish the most important of these tasks. She could not protect Goku. One hand strayed up to brush her bangs out of her dead eye. She couldn't even protect herself. "What changed?"

"Perhaps...it never really was enough." Chi-Chi's smile held no judgment, and her voice, no censure. "Perhaps you're only just realizing it now." Perhaps… Aubergine turned again to the window, her eyes trained on the distant misty peak of Mt. Paozu. After so many years of feeling stuck in place, maybe it was time to change. "I've offered before and the offer stands: I'll help you if you'll let me." For the first time, the offer was answered with a long silence instead of a grunt, growl, bitter retort, or evasive remark; this alone was proof in Chi-Chi's mind that the other woman was finally considering accepting her help.

"A year ago, none of this…" Aubergine fell silent; again, she was driven to brush her fringe away from her blind eye though it wasn't impairing her sight. That nervous tic would be the death of her someday. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Nothing mattered. It still shouldn't."

Chi-Chi faltered. She recognized where this topic was leading, as clearly as she knew how Aubergine must have reacted to Piccolo's unanticipated resurrection. Chi-Chi smoothed the skirt of her long dress and seated herself at the table. The rest of the groceries could wait a bit longer.

"The first time I...lost Goku…" I lost Goku. Even after so many times of saying those words, her throat still caught around them; even after how many times Goku died before he called it quits, the very mention still triggered an emotional echo of the day Krillin brought her the news. Her son, taken – her husband, dead – her husband's savage sister, in league with the demon who kidnapped Gohan – and perhaps worst of all, more alien assailants were on their way. "Well, I was a mess," Chi-Chi finished mildly.

The past is in the past—let it lie there in peace.

"Every time I lost Goku, I felt sure it was my fault for not being strong enough to keep him. Every time he came back, I tried harder than before to make him stay…and every time, I lost him again anyway…the last time, for good. He refused to be revived." Even now, the words made her eyes burn and her throat clench, so it was a comfort when Aubergine broke the tense silence.

"He was an idiot like that." Aubergine’s dry remark earned a weak chuckle. "But how does staying dead solve anything when there's no threat?" It was an abnormally long sentence from a normally brief speaker. "People still needed him—they depend on him, and he turned his back on them!" Chi-Chi hazarded a glance at her company; Aubergine was off in another world, her pained eyes (or eye?) trained somewhere far beyond the grain of the wooden tabletop. "Didn't he know? Didn't it matter?" Chi-Chi's wrinkle-framed lips tilted into a sly smile.

"He knew there were such people, I'm sure," she answered. "I have a feeling he didn't understand what it would put you through." Aubergine gave a faint nod, eyes distant and distracted, then startled as she realized the subject change. Both women knew they were no longer talking about Goku; neither was ready to admit it, either. The half-Saiyan's cheeks darkened in embarrassment, but the effect was lessened by the venomous glare aimed out the window. "You never told him, did you?" Chi-Chi pressed.

"Why bother?" Aubergine muttered. "He knew what he was doing. He had to know I'd—" She fell short, vividly remembering the crippling pain in her chest from the day the Earth was destroyed—the fracturing of a heart timed to the shattering of a planet. From the first wince to the final shuddering heartbeat, she felt Piccolo die, and it was a feeling she would never forget…or forgive. Her instincts were wrong; she should never have marked him. She should never have let her homesickness and memories of her father's bite-scarred neck sway her without knowing what would happen.

A soft hand lit on Aubergine's work-roughened knuckles without warning. "People can be foolish when they are in love." Chi-Chi never acknowledged Aubergine's cringe or nervous shifting; it was funny how lack of childhood socialization gave Goku no respect for personal boundaries and his sister, need for excessive personal space. "Goku's choice came from a desire to protect us from those determined to harm him. When he made that decision I swore I would never forgive him for it." She released Aubergine's hand with a calming pat; all the while, she visualized the half-breed as an agitated cat whose shaggy fur slowly flattened when the threat retreated. "I swore I hated him and I'd be happier without having to worry about him."

It took a little longer than expected but Aubergine took the bait. "And…do you?"

Chi-Chi gave a cryptic smile. "What do you think?" Aubergine took a moment to study her – from the gray in her otherwise neat hair to the fine lines creasing her skin – then turned away with a snort.

"I think you need a hobby." ...and they were back to sarcasm. Strangers might believe they could experience the entirety of Aubergine's range of emotion in three turns – anger, sarcasm, and brooding – but Chi-Chi was well-versed in the intricacies of Saiyan behavior by now. Aubergine was half-Saiyan; it was only natural for her to be uncomfortable when others saw her in vulnerable moments. Then again, there was another side to her that was in constant conflict with her Saiyan side.

"You're so much like my Goku," Chi-Chi said again, but this time, she spoke softly and wore a slightly pitying smile. "...and yet...you're so very different. One half of you struggles with emotion and believes that bonds make you weak...the other half cannot accept it and won't stand idly when others are in peril...even people who have been less than kind to you."

Aubergine didn't have to think about who Chi-Chi was referring to. She would never forget how Vegeta choked her to a blackout after she healed a nasty concussion or the terrified look on the bald monk's face anytime she came near him. Those people didn't really matter, though. The people who mattered...well, one of them never gave up trying to make amends, and even now, Aubergine heard the apology in her voice. "Don't matter." Even as she denied it, she remembered all the hateful accusations Chi-Chi repeatedly slung before the Cell Games claimed her husband. Chi-Chi went from treating her like a plague and a villain to defeated and pleading, and so quickly, the half-Saiyan's head spun.

The past is in the past—let it lie there in peace.

"It does matter," Chi-Chi insisted, "it means you have a choice in how to live your life, and that's more than many of us get!" Aubergine's eyes—or was it eye, Chi-Chi wondered yet again?—snapped to Chi-Chi's in an open warning, and the tip of an over-long fang peeked out under a snarling lip. Chi-Chi wasn't intimidated anymore; if the hermit meant her harm, she would have let the wildcat eat Chi-Chi instead of fighting it off. "You can keep following your Saiyan side." Chi-Chi crossed her arms. "You can let your anger and hurt push Piccolo away and keep being miserable. Or—" She uncrossed her arms, and settled one hand on her hip and held the other up as if estimating the weight of a melon at market, or trying to make a child see sense. "—you can give your other half a chance for once. You could protect him the way you always protected my Goku and rebuild the bridges you both burned! You have a choice!"

Aubergine spent so long glaring out the window in silence that Chi-Chi began to wonder if she pushed too hard. Then… "I…" Chi-Chi held her breath. Aubergine wilted in the old wooden chair like a fern in the desert sun. "I don't know jack about bridges…I just know how to take a beating." If the widow didn't know any better, she would say Aubergine was whining.

"You also know how to heal." Aubergine shot Chi-Chi a wary side-eye glance. "Healing a relationship isn't unlike healing a wound but it takes time…it has to be done gradually, carefully. You can't just wave your chi around and expect things to be right again." Chi-Chi paused, waiting for any sort of response from the other woman – a woman she now considered almost a sister – but none came. Then, Aubergine's volatile expression softened, her eyes turned back to the window, and her shoulders lowered. Chi-Chi thought it over for a moment then came to the decision the risk was worth it.

"I'll help you if you'll let me." Aubergine's eyes – yes, Chi-Chi was going to stick with the plural despite the hermit's half-blindness – darted back to hers from the window. They held no threat, just discomfort. "It's the least I could do," Chi-Chi added to encourage her, "after how many years I spent trying to keep you away from Goku, and him from you. You deserved to be a part of his family and his life," she added with a sigh. "It's not your fault I saw you as a threat."

Any other sister might have been waiting for years to get such an apology from her brother's wife...but Aubergine was nothing if not unusual. "It's…" Aubergine fell silent, then seemed to work herself up to another uncharacteristically long sentence. "If Kak—Son—wanted to see me, he knew where I was; if I wanted to see him, I knew where he was. You were never really a threat."

"Then why…?" Chi-Chi couldn't wrap her head around it.

Aubergine cringed and even harder than her usual cringes. "I…" She fell short, licked her dry lips, and gave a strange sort of shrug. "I don't like...people…" She spat the word like an obscenity. "I was supposed to enjoy Son's company because we're related?" The confused grimace on Aubergine's face was even better than her lemon-sucking scowl earlier. "He was loud...and annoying...and stupid." She shook her head, defeated. "Pretending I hated his guts kept him out of my hair. Was easier." It was far from the whole truth, but it was enough.

That was Chi-Chi's husband the hermit was badmouthing, but Chi-Chi knew Goku's flaws enough to chuckle about them; from the day they met to his final death Goku was loud and annoying, and Gohan definitely got his brains from Chi-Chi. Wrinkle-lined lips pulled into a smile, she shook her head. "Now it makes sense."

A look passed between the two women, unacknowledged but no less true...the look of a widow mourning her lost husband and a sister missing her lost brother, commiserating in silence.

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Oh, by the way? Aubergine is what happened when I told myself I needed to start writing characters "who could communicate clearly and effectively like grown-ass adults." Yep. I wrote an emotionally constipated ball of feelings who hates talking and averages five words per sentence when she's not bitching. Success, I should say...not. Sigh. Better luck next time.

#Fanfiction #Dragon Ball GT #Piccolo/OC #Dragon Ball Z #bad communication #This is why I can't write nice things #...because I end up writing complicated things.#...reviews are life...JS...

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