happy wednesday friends!!! i am fired up on adrenaline today because i accidentally deleted this whole thing and only just got it back so let's go!! this is a request fill for jusanotherconfusedfangirl on tumblr, who requested our art freaks (+elijah) attending pride!! happy pride month btw :D
trigger warnings for:
homophobia
one use of d-slur
panic attacks
i think that's everything, but as always please let me know if i missed anything and i will add them in.
enjoy!
-
"Hey, Peanut," Janis greets as Cady leaps into her arms. "You look cute!"
"Thanks!" Cady chirps happily. She does look rather adorable in her shorts and tank top combo, complete with bi flag suspenders and a matching headband. She also found bi flag socks and stole a pair of Janis' boots. Cady pulls back to see Janis' outfit too. "Wow. You look... really good."
"Why thank you," Janis purrs. She's in her usual shorts and tights, but this time has a lesbian flag t-shirt and matching socks poking out from her own boots. She does a spin to show off her outfit, revealing that one the pockets of her shorts has also been painted with the many orange and pink stripes of her flag, and her infamous 'female power' painting done in miniature on the other. "Come on."
Cady follows her into the house and up to her room. Julie waves as they pass her open door. She's got on a rainbow shirt in solidarity, but wouldn't be joining them on their little excursion.
"Do you want your flag painted on your face?" Janis asks, pointing to her own cheek decorated with yet another lesbian flag. Cady nods excitedly, so Janis gestures for her to sit across from her on the bed and grabs her paints and a brush.
"What's it going to be like?" Cady asks as Janis tenderly brushes a thick stripe of blue onto her cheek.
"Loud," Janis replies immediately. "In a lot of ways. There's gonna be a lot of bright colors, obviously, and a lot of noise. And probably a few weird smells."
"Okay," Cady chuckles gently so she doesn't mess Janis up.
"It's a lot of fun, though. You'll get to see and meet all sorts of people who've been through and experienced all sorts of things," Janis says. "You'll love it."
"I'm so excited," Cady says happily as Janis finishes brushing magenta on top of her purple stripe. "When did you start going?"
"Ninth grade," Janis says quietly. "Damian and I went with our moms."
"Aww," Cady coos. "You sound sad."
"I'm... I don't know," Janis says. "It was a great thing overall that year, but I had an... ordeal, let's say, with a group of protestors there. I'm still not sure how I feel about that Pride as a whole."
"Oh," Cady frowns. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not right now," Janis says. "It's your first pride, let's just focus on that for today. I'll tell you some other time."
"Okay," Cady says. "You look good in warm colors, you should wear them more often."
"You think?" Janis chuckles, putting her hands on her hips and striking a pose. "Haven't worn this much pink since I was a Plastic."
"Love, you wore that pink shirt so many times during our junior year," Cady says. "And last year, too."
"What pink shirt?" Janis asks in confusion. "I don't have any pink clothes."
Cady heads over to her closet and pulls out the two-toned pink striped shirt, a dress with pink flowers, and a pink sweater.
"Then what color are these?" She asks, holding them up to show off.
Janis goes very quiet and purses her lips. "Diet red. I don't wear pink."
Cady bursts out laughing and comes to kiss her cheek. "You're allowed to wear pink if you want, lovey. It suits you."
"Humph," Janis grumbles. "Do you have everything you need?"
"I think so," Cady says. "Sunscreen and sunglasses, ear defenders, hats, water, snacks, phone, ponchos, flags."
"Sounds good to me," Janis says. "Dame and Elijah should be here in a few minutes and then we can go."
"Yay," Cady says happily, coming to straddle her girlfriend for cuddles.
-
Sure enough, Damian and Elijah come quite literally parading into the room about ten minutes later, having let themselves into Janis' house. Cady and Janis are more than a little concerned when they hear Julie yell "Oh my god!"
Until they see what she's on about. Damian is looking... colorful in a full rainbow outfit, complete with cloud hat, bright red lipstick and wearing a trans pride flag as a cape. Elijah is entirely topless but in a rainbow skirt, long and made of tulle. He's also wearing a flag cape, but his is the demisexual flag. He has a fan in each hand. One says 'Oh honey' with a bee pattern on it and the other appears to say 'Power bottom'. Janis gags a little as he hands the latter back to Damian.
"Jesus Christ, guys," Janis laughs. "Looking good."
"Whoa," Cady blinks. "I want a cape!"
"Do you have a flag?" Damian asks. Cady nods and grabs her larger bi flag that she'd impulse-bought a while ago out of her bag. He takes it and ties it loosely around her neck to match them. Once she has her cape, Cady does a superhero pose with her hands on her hips and her chin jutted out proudly.
"Bi-der girl," Janis mumbles under her breath. Cady hears her and laughs, nodding in agreement.
"Can we go now pleeeease? I'm so excited," Cady begs, tugging on Janis' hand to get her to stand up.
"Yes, we can, easy," Janis laughs. "Save your energy."
"She's got plenty," Damian chuckles. "Let's go, E can drive us there."
—————
"Whoa," Cady says in awe, looking around at all the bright rainbows and fun outfits surrounding them. They got a spot near the start of the parade, to get the best goodies. "Is that person-"
"Naked? Probably," Janis finishes as Cady trails off. "There's a lot of different things people are here for, some are a little 'out there' even for me."
"Hm," Cady hums thoughtfully. "Fun!"
"Just wait 'til it starts, Butterfly," Janis says, kissing her cheek. Cady flinches a little when the screaming begins along with the parade, and Janis quickly realizes she can't see much. Cady accepts the offered perch on Janis' back and watches like that, waving at people passing by and catching them a few of whatever is flung their way.
By the time the last few floats and groups have gone by, Janis is almost totally covered in all sorts of rainbow and pride accoutrements. Necklaces, other beads, candy, flags, and even some condoms.
"That was awesome!" Cady squeals in her ear. "What now?"
"Now we get to walk around and enjoy it," Janis responds, following Damian and Elijah down the street. "Ooh, cupcakes."
Cady is glad Janis seems to have forgotten she's still on her back, since it means she doesn't have to walk around. Janis buys them each a cupcake with their respective pride flag frosted on top, and Cady climbs down to dig in happily.
"Ooh, mine is funfetti!" She says around a mouthful, showing Janis her cupcake with the bite missing.
"I think mine is strawberry," Janis says around some of her own, showing off the pink center to hers. Cady cheekily leans in and takes a bite of it. "Hey!" Janis leans in and takes a bite of Cady's. "You got frosting on your nose."
Cady crosses her eyes to see, and sure enough, there is a little bit of purple frosting from her cupcake on her nose. She pokes her tongue out to try to get it, but Janis kisses it away instead. Cady grins and clambers back onto her girlfriend's back, peppering a few kisses over her cheeks.
"What's that?" She asks, pointing to a group of people who seem to be doing some sort of craft as they listen to a local band on a stage nearby.
"I dunno, sometimes they have art stuff here. Do you want to go see? I think we've officially lost Dame and Elijah," Janis says.
"How did we manage that? Damian is literally dressed as a whole rainbow," Cady mutters confusedly.
"Exactly, it's perfect camouflage," Janis chuckles. "They'll find us eventually, come on."
Cady clings to her shoulders contently as she's carried over to the area. A lady is running a booth there and explains they're painting rocks to go in a garden outside the local LGBTQ+ youth shelter. People are painting anything from pride flags, to animals and other random things, to supportive messages on some of the larger ones. It's free, so Janis grabs a few rocks for each of them and a paper plate with all sorts of colors of acrylic paint.
"So what do you think so far, Butterfly?" Janis asks as she gets to work painting a bee on one of her rocks.
"It's fun! You were right, it's loud, but it's... safe feeling. A good loud," Cady responds, deciding to do a rainbow lion, as a little nod to her pride of lions from Kenya. "And everything is so interesting, there's so much here."
"Good," Janis replies, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Someone from one of the other blankets yells over that they make a cute couple, and they both call back a thank you with a giggle.
"And everyone is so nice, too," Cady chuckles, brushing a streak of purple into her lion's mane.
Once all their rocks have been thoroughly decorated with all sorts of flags and rainbows and messages, they return them to the booth to dry and be placed, and then head off to find another thing to do.
"Oh, there's Damian," Cady says, having been on her tippy toes and scanning the local area.
"Of course he found the food trucks," Janis mumbles under her breath. She yelps slightly as Cady grabs her hand and starts running them in that direction.
By the time they make it to him, she's thoroughly out of breath. Damian turns around at the sound of her panting and chuckles.
"Hey guys!" He greets. "I found tacos. You good, Jan?"
"Gimme," Janis puffs, reaching for his slushee. He hands it over begrudgingly and lets her have a few gulps. "Ooh, blue raspberry. Thanks."
"Get your own," Damian whines. "They're, like, two bucks."
"And you owe me ten," Janis shrugs. "Mine now."
"Why does Damian owe you money?" Cady asks worriedly.
"I bet him ten bucks I could steal a sheep without being noticed," Janis responds. "And then I did."
"You-you-" Cady stutters. "Wh-what-why- why did you-"
"Good job, Janis, you broke your girlfriend," Elijah chuckles.
"I put it back after," Janis says, as if that makes anything better. Cady is still stuttering over several questions. "I named him Walter."
Cady just blinks and then sighs, leaning her head against Janis' shoulder. "Stop stealing livestock. Just leave them alone."
"I didn't steal the cows! Or the chickens," Janis defends quickly. "And the sheep was fine. I just borrowed him for a second. Also, did you know sheep are not as soft as you would think? They're very scratchy."
"There's a reason I can't wear wool," Cady chuckles in response. "Now get us some tacos, you heathen."
Janis pouts, but does head up to the window to order them some food. Cady takes hers and leads them all over to a picnic table nearby, trying to navigate around the sticky soda spills and leftover gum.
Elijah tells them about the clothing and accessory booths set up a ways away, showing them all the cool pride necklaces he had purchased along with a few t-shirts. In return, Cady points out the cupcake place back closer to the beginning. Damian suddenly looks much more excited than he did a second ago.
"They're really good! Mine was funfetti, and Janis let me try some of her strawberry one," Cady says.
"I didn't let you, you stole a bite," Janis retaliates. "Don't twist this story."
"And you took some of mine," Cady argues jokingly. "You would've given me a bite anyway."
"No I wouldn't! You're a thief," Janis says. Damian and Elijah both shoot her a look. "What?"
To prove her point, Cady juts out her bottom lip and blinks at her pleadingly. "Jayjay, can I pleeeease have a bite of your taco?"
"This is a trap, this is a trap," Janis whispers to herself, trying her hardest to resist. Cady takes it up a notch and leans into her shoulder, blinking those long eyelashes at her adorably. "Fine!"
Cady laughs victoriously and steals her bite. "I told you. I have the power."
"Outside the bedroom, maybe," Janis mutters crankily. "Ow!"
"Janis Sarkisian," Cady scolds, whacking her arm once more. "We just got a whole intervention a couple weeks ago, did you not learn your lesson about keeping things private?"
"I was joking, ow!" Janis laughs. "Stop hitting me, I'm sorry. I gave you my taco."
Cady chuckles. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you. I love you."
Janis grins again as Cady cuddles back into her shoulder. "I love you too."
Damian shoots them a warning look, so Janis restrains herself to one kiss against Cady's hair and less aggressive cuddling than she wants.
They finish their food and sit there chatting for a while before Cady pipes up again. "I'm bored, can we go find something else to do?"
"Sure, Cads," Damian chuckles. "Come on, there's some photo booth thingies this way."
Cady says, "Ooh!" excitedly at the same time Janis gives a groan, but they both follow Damian and Elijah regardless. "Jayjay, it'll be fun! Oh, look at all the backdrops, they're huge!"
Janis can't help but smile at her excitement, remembering the joy she felt at her own first pride. Cady takes all sorts of selfies and pictures with her little squad at every flag backdrop, even the ones nobody in their group belong to. They are all very pretty and do make excellent photo backdrops.
Janis takes some of just Cady in front of the bi flag pasted to the side of a building. Cady smiles happily at her and does a few poses. Damian cheers her on from the sidelines before joining her for a few more. Janis smiles even more. She and Damian are and always will be platonic soulmates, but he and Cady have something special too.
Cady eventually comes back to her girlfriend after no fewer than fifty pictures. Some Plastic habits have taken longer to fade than others. "Do you want any of you?"
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, Peanut," Janis says. She's perfectly content to peruse their group shots or the photos of Cady, she's never been one to enjoy taking pictures of just herself. "I'm in plenty of the group ones."
"Okay," Cady says. "What do you want to do? You've just been following me around so far."
"No, I got the cupcakes," Janis reminds her. "And you've picked good stuff to do. Let's go check out the shopping stands, though, they usually have good stuff."
Cady nods and takes her hand. Damian and Elijah realize they're leaving and follow after them at a slight distance. Cady looks around curiously at all the rainbows and other color schemes in various forms around them. "I've never felt so... safe. Or secure in my sexuality," she says quietly as they pass under a rainbow balloon structure.
"Good. That's how it's supposed to feel," Janis says back with a smile. It quickly fades. "Too good to last."
"What?" Cady asks. Janis points to a crowd of religious protestors nearby, holding signs with all sorts of cruel phrasing on them. "Oh."
"Just ignore them for now, unless they start getting physical or go after someone young," Janis shrugs, turning to browse some pride earrings. Cady nods and follows.
She notices Janis tense up as they're forced to get closer to keep browsing, so she squeezes her hand gently to comfort her. Janis squeezes back thankfully.
Cady and Janis manage to ignore them and continue browsing. Cady buys everyone scrunchies patterned with their respective flags. Elijah puts his on his wrist, but Damian goes the extra mile and manages to get a little ponytail together on top of his head.
He and Elijah continue walking around for a while, but Cady and Janis stay and find a place to sit. It's quiet and peaceful as Cady braids Janis' hair down her back and ties the end with her new scrunchie.
So quiet that Janis forgets where they are and who's nearby, and leans in to kiss her. All she knows is Damian and Elijah aren't particularly close by, so she has free reign to kiss her girlfriend as much as she wants.
She's violently brought back to reality when she hears some yelling. All she can make out is the word 'dykes'. And to make matters worse, her hand suddenly feels warm and wet. One of them spat on her.
Damian and Elijah make a return as they hear the slurs being yelled, and Janis runs to cuddle into Damian. Cady, however, is fuming.
Cady knows she's not supposed to engage these people. It won't change anything, and puts her at risk. But, as she sees Janis being led away by Damian apparently in tears, she can't hold herself back. Elijah is waiting for her, and there's plenty of safe people around.
"Listen up, you fucks!" She snaps, getting the mob's attention. "You know damn well you don't belong here. This is an event for us, to give us a safe space. You're entitled to your opinions, but attacking my girlfriend is where I draw the fucking line. Fun fact, pride actually has two meanings. This, and a family of lions. I grew up surrounded by several prides. I know how they fight, how they protect each other. The same applies here. If you even think about doing anything to anyone here again, I'll show you how a whole pride of lions fights. Now fuck off."
Surprisingly, they listen and back down a little bit. They don't leave like she had hoped, but deep down she knew they wouldn't. They're suddenly swarmed by other pride-goers, congratulating her on her speech and going to try to cover the signs of the protestors.
"Damn, Cady," Elijah says lowly. "Nice."
"They hurt Janis," Cady growls furiously. "Where did they go?"
Elijah points to an alleyway and leads them to it, quickly revealing a sobbing Janis being cradled by Damian. Cady's seen her like this a few times before. She's having a panic attack.
"Oh, darling," Cady breathes sadly, any trace of anger gone once she sees the state Janis is in. "I'm so sorry."
Janis reaches for her, so Cady cuddles in by Damian and squishes Janis between them. Elijah waits a little bit away, but in earshot if they need him. Janis doesn't know him as well and his presence seemed to be making her more upset.
Cady pulls her bag off her back and roots through it, pulling out a water bottle and one of the snacks she brought, Janis' sunglasses, and her own ear defenders.
"Mpenzi, do you want to try these? You don't have to, but they help me when I'm overwhelmed," Cady says lowly, tenderly stroking over Janis' braid. Janis nods with another burst of sobs, so Cady helps her get the sunglasses on without poking her eyes and gently pops on the headphones. "Deep breaths, love, everything's okay."
Janis continues weeping in their embrace, sniffling anxiously every once in a while and clinging to both of her comfort people. Cady usually would offer a calming strategy, but she gets a sense that this time it's important for Janis to just get it out.
A few people pass by the alley and ask if she's okay, but Elijah plays bodyguard and sends them on their way again with the assurance that they're handling it.
Very, very gradually, Janis does calm down. She pulls the headphones down around her neck and tucks the sunglasses into her shirt, reaching for the water and snack.
Cady unscrews the lid and hands it over, but helps her hold it when she sees how violently Janis is still shaking. Janis downs a couple gulps and continues clutching it as she shifts off of Damian and closer to Cady.
"Can I kiss you? Here?" Cady asks, tapping Janis' forehead. She doesn't know what triggered this, yet, and she doesn't want to overstep. But Janis nods, so she pulls her close and peppers kisses against her temple. "You're okay now, they're gone."
Elijah gets a little closer now that Janis is no longer in tears, sitting across the alley against the other wall.
"Did they-did they do anything? To you?" Janis chokes quietly, checking over Cady for any injuries and her face for any hint of sadness. Elijah snorts. "What?"
"Cady cussed their asses out," Elijah responds. "She went off, even I was scared. They didn't have a chance to get anything in edgewise."
"That's not- not safe," Janis whispers anxiously. "Wh-why?"
"Shh, darling, I know it was a bad idea," Cady says, blushing slightly at Elijah's summation of the events. She just said whatever came to her. "But they hurt you. I'm not gonna let anyone get away with that. Nothing happened, and I won't do that again."
Janis looks warily to Damian, who gives her a sad nod. Cady gives a weak grin watching their apparent psychic connection.
"When I was-well. The first-the first time," Janis begins shakily. "I was-was fourteen. Stupid. I-I made f-fun of them. And-and-and..."
She breaks down again, crying into Cady's shoulder gently. Damian asks her if he can tell the story for her, and she nods.
"She kind of taunted them. I did too, it was funny for a while," he says quietly. "But then one of them got really angry. He got them all to yell at us a lot louder, and Janis was obviously still kind of sensitive to the whole d-slur thing. Which they noticed, so they yelled that over and over. And then he threw a rock, and it hit her. She had a bruise for almost a month, it almost broke her arm."
"Oh god, love," Cady whispers in sad shock. "I'm so sorry."
"That guy was arrested, but the rest of them weren't. And he got out pretty quickly, unfortunately. His church paid his bail," Damian growls. "We've tried to avoid them since."
"Was he there?" Cady asks him quietly.
"No," Damian says with a shake of his head. "But it was similar enough to what happened last time. She wasn't right for a long time after it happened. And it makes sense she's traumatized a little."
Cady nods sadly and cuddles her girlfriend closer. It's so hot, but Janis is crying so hard into her shoulder that she can't think about anything else.
"Shh, darling, I'm so sorry," Cady says quietly, rocking her girlfriend from side to side. "You're safe, I'm safe. All of us are safe, nobody got hurt this time. Everything's okay, I promise."
Janis nods gently against her and tries to calm down, matching Cady's slow, deep breathing as best she can and inhaling her comforting scent of rosewater, cherries, and books. They all mingle in an enchanting aroma around Cady, and Janis can't get enough.
After another few minutes she stops crying again, and is just sniffling quietly in Cady's hold.
"Okay?" Cady asks quietly. Janis nods gently again. "Good. Do you want to go fix your makeup or stay here a while longer?"
"You could do both," Damian shrugs, pulling out a pack of makeup wipes and a few basic products. "What? You never know what you might need."
"Gay," Elijah teases. Damian pokes his tongue out at him.
Cady takes a few of the wipes and tenderly swipes the mascara and streaky remnants of a pride flag from Janis' face. Her lipstick survived, so she leaves that. "Look up, dearest."
Janis does, so she gently swipes on a new coat of eyeliner and several layers of mascara, as Janis likes it to be. "Thank you." She says quietly, blinking a few times to get everything in place once Cady finishes.
"You're welcome," Cady responds with a kiss to her cheek. "Do you want to go home? You've been through it today."
"No," Janis replies instantly. "I-I went home last time. I let them get to me. I can't do it again."
"Okay," Cady says. "If you're sure you're okay."
Janis nods and stands up, brushing over her cheeks to try and help any remaining tear tracks fade. Cady, Damian, and Elijah stand as well.
"Oh, hang on a second," Cady says hastily, taking her bag off again and rooting through it. She pulls out Janis' pride flag and ties it gently around her neck so she has a cape like the rest of them. "It came off your face. You need another one."
Janis grins weakly and squeezes her hand, leading them out of the alley and back to the festival.
"Hey," Cady says quietly as they follow Damian and Elijah back closer to the entrance. Janis looks at her with a questioning hum, still not really in a mood to speak. Cady holds their intertwined hands up. "I love you." She squeezes Janis' hand three times, one squeeze for each word.
Janis smiles and leans in for a quick kiss. She looks around anxiously before she does, but the fact that she's even willing to do so at all is frankly a miracle. "I love you too." She squeezes Cady back four times, following the same pattern.
Eventually they get close to the area where they had painted the rocks earlier. And Cady gets an idea.
"Darling, will you be okay if I leave for a few minutes? I think I left something back that way," she says to throw Janis off slightly. Janis pouts but nods and picks up a bit of speed to catch up with Damian. He screams and whirls around when she taps him on the shoulder, and Cady muffles laughter into her hand as she loops around a building and runs over to the booth.
"Oh, hello! Welcome back, are you here to do some more?" The kind lady asks.
"Um, yes, do you have any that are like that one?" Cady asks, pointing to one of the ones she decorated earlier. "And could I maybe keep this one?"
"I'm really not supposed to, but I don't see why not. Our gardens aren't that big," the lady shrugs, handing over a rock of a similar size and shape.
"Thank you!" Cady calls, squeezing out all the colors she'll need and running to hide from her little group. She copies the design she wants, and grins when it turns out even better this time. The paint dries within ten minutes, so she holds it carefully as she returns her supplies and takes her time returning to Janis.
Once it's dry enough, she tucks it into her backpack and rejoins her friends and girlfriend.
She finds them by the cupcakes again. Damian seems very pleased with his lemon transgender pride flag one, Elijah got a cookies and cream demisexual one, and Janis seems content with another lesbian pride one since she gets this one all to herself.
"Hey, love," Cady greets, once again leaning in and taking a small nibble of her cupcake. Janis whines in defeat, but turns to greet her with a smile.
"You're a thief," she gripes jokingly, kissing Cady's cheek.
"A cute thief," Cady responds.
"You got me there," Janis chuckles. "Did you find your thing?"
"Yep! All good," Cady says. "Now you have frosting on your nose."
Janis scrunches her face up to see, making Cady giggle. She leans in to kiss it off, returning the favor Janis gave earlier.
"Jan, are you done?" Damian asks around the last mouthful of his cupcake. Janis takes the last bite of hers and nods, standing up to throw the wrappers in the nearby bin. Cady sneakily puts their backpack on Janis' shoulders. She looks at her oddly, but puts her arms through to carry it around.
"Should we leave? I think we've done all there is to do," Elijah says. "And I want ice cream."
Janis perks up at the mention of ice cream. She's lactose intolerant, but will be damned if it keeps her from enjoying her favorite cold treat.
"Janis, no," Cady says. "You get sorbet." Janis pouts, pulling her own puppy eyes pleadingly. Resist, Cady. "Fine, we'll stop somewhere and get you your lactose pills."
Janis thinks for a second before giving a begrudging nod. She'd rather not deal with a stomachache on top of everything else today, maybe her lactose pills are a good compromise.
"Good, come on," Cady says. Janis shrieks in surprise as she picks her up piggyback style and starts following Damian and Elijah to the gates. "What?"
"When did you get so strong, babe?" Janis asks, clinging to her shoulders as Cady grips her thighs.
"You're not that heavy, Jay," Cady chuckles, adjusting her grip slightly. "And I did grow up in Africa. I carried a lot of water around."
"Are you from Africa, baby, really? I had no idea," Janis teases.
"I will drop you," Cady threatens in retaliation. "If you don't appreciate my services."
"No, I appreciate them," Janis says hastily, clinging to her tighter. She rests her chin on Cady's shoulder and squishes their cheeks together. The rhythm of their steps nearly lulls her to sleep. "'S nice."
"Good," Cady giggles. "You're so cute."
"No," Janis whines, turning her head away to hide her blush. "That's not how this is supposed to go."
Cady laughs again. "Well, it's how it's going, so I suggest you learn to live with it. I think you're absolutely adorable."
"Why?" Janis pouts. "I spent so much time trying to make myself not cute."
"Because you just are. Your eyes are so big, and you care so much about the people you can be bothered to give a shit about, and the way you stick your tongue out when you try to focus just... hurts me, almost," Cady says, listing a few things. "And you love cuddles and when I hold you, and you still blush every time I call you Jellybean, and you pout when you get tired, and-"
"Okay, okay," Janis says desperately, cutting her off so she can calm down. Her face is bright red by this point. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Cady says, depositing her safely just outside the car. "I love you."
"I love you too," Janis says, leaning in for a kiss.
"Oh my god, get in, losers!" Damian yells far too loudly. Janis and Cady both laugh and slide into the backseat.
————-
"You have an ice cream mustache," Janis chuckles at her girlfriend once their tasty snack is finished. "Come here."
Cady reaches for her, and Janis presses their lips together contently, the flavors of chocolate and strawberry mingling on their tongues.
"There," Janis says once they finally pull back. Damian and Elijah went inside to browse the candy for sale, so she doesn't have to worry about being scolded for kissing Cady so aggressively.
"Thanks," Cady giggles. "Oh, I have something for you."
"Huh?" Janis says confusedly as Cady takes the backpack back from her and starts rooting through it. Cady pulls out her rock and holds it behind her back.
"You have to promise not to laugh at it, I did my best," Cady demands. Janis nods in confusion and holds her hands out for her gift. Her brows furrow for a split second when Cady drops the stone in them, but she smiles widely when she turns it over to see what it's been decorated with.
"The rainbow lion," she says happily, tracing a tender finger over a piece of his mane.
"I went back and made another one for you, the lady let me keep it," Cady says. "Do you get it?"
"No, I didn't know there was something to get," Janis says. Cady sits next to her on the bench and smiles as Janis leans onto her shoulder.
"A group of lions is called a pride," Cady says quietly. "And you're in my pride. In more ways than one. I love you, so you're in my group. And I'm so, so proud of you. For just... being you. And being here. And letting me love you."
Janis pulls back, and Cady notices her eyes brimming with tears as she suddenly tackles Cady in a tight hug. Cady squeezes her back just as tightly.
"I love you so much," Janis sniffles. "Thank you."
"I love you too," Cady says, stroking down Janis' braid. "Oh, darling, don't cry, I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay," Janis chuckles through her tears. "Good cry this time."
"Ah, okay," Cady says, gently rubbing up and down Janis' back as her girlfriend moves to sit on her lap. The sun is finishing its journey for the day, the stars are just barely visible and the horizon is still bathed in varying shades of pink and orange and purple. "Happy Pride, darling."
"Happy Pride, Peanut."
I'm glad I'm in yours.
—————
hope you enjoyed!
requests are still paused, but i'm hoping to get them re-opened in the next few weeks. almost there.
thanks for reading!
lots of love,
ezzy