"Remind me why we're doing Halloween costume planning when it's barely February?" Remus asked, flopping over the bed. "Shouldn't this wait until, like, August?"
"Cosplays take a long time to make," Janus answered, twirling his pencil in the air. "Besides, if we really want to do a couple costume this time around, we need to plan ahead. Roman and Virgil nearly beat us last year with theirs, so we have to top that."
"Hmm." Remus considered this. "Well, they did a Marvel thing, so... Loki and Mobius?"
"No, that'd just be copying. It's a nice idea for future Halloweens, though." Janus tapped his pencil against his lips thoughtfully. "This is harder than I thought it'd be."
"Well, it would've been easier if you hadn't decided to scrap Gomez and Morticia."
He sighed. "Remus, love, it's been done before. We have to be original."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Remus sat up with a gasp. "OOOOOH! You could dig out your fur-lined cape from last Halloween, and we could go as Stolias and Blitzø! And I could wear horns, and a fake tail, and—"
"Our height difference is entirely wrong," Janus said dismissively. "Besides, I've already gone as a Vizviepop character, so I'd be repeating material."
Remus let out a little noise of disappointment.
Janus noticed his expression and gave him a little hand squeeze. "I wasn't saying that it's a horrible idea, I'm just saying that it's not for Halloween. We could definitely do it for our first convention, though, I could just make myself taller."
Remus perked up instantly. "Really?"
"Why not?" Janus kissed Remus on the forehead. "You are quite the imp, after all."
"Aw, you're gonna make me blush," Remus teased. "Any other ideas?"
"Well..." He thought for a little bit. "I was thinking we could go as Johnny and Moira from Schitt's Creek, but I think that would be more fun for me than for you, since I get to wear awesome black-and-white dresses while you just wear a suit. And you'd have to shave."
Remus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's put that in the maybe category."
"Fair." Janus scribbled that down into his notebook. "Anne and Marcy, maybe?"
"You've gotten that far in Amphibia?"
"Well, I have only just met Marcy, but I can already tell that the romantic tension between her and Anne is too much to deny. I mean, Sashanne has that, too, but Marcanne's cuter." Janus furrowed his brow. "What about romantic tension between Sasha and Marcy? Is it there? Could I just ship all three of them instead of deciding?"
Remus started to say something, then paused. "Y'know what, let's set that aside for now. We probably shouldn't set our sights on a pairing from a show that you haven't even finished."
"In that case, Audrey Rose and Thomas are out, seeing as you're only halfway through the Stalking Jack the Ripper series," Janus decided. "And corsets are murder anyways."
"Okay, well, uh..." Remus trailed off. "I got nothing."
Janus raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"
"Yeah, no, nothing's coming to mind. I mean, Stoliz is the closest couple I can think of who we could do with accuracy."
"You suggested that because you like it when I flirt with you, Remus."
"I absolutely did, but you gotta admit that they fit us. We're more functional, obviously, but still."
Janus let out a dramatic sigh, falling backwards onto the bed. "It's no use. Our chemistry is just too unique. There's no way we can—"
"Raeda."
He lifted his head. "Pardon?"
"We could go as Eda and Raine!" Remus said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "I've been wanting to dress up as Eda ever since she got that sexy-ass dress! And you would look so cute wearing glasses!"
A smile slowly spread across Janus's face. "You know, that is a good idea... and you would definitely do a smashing job as Eda."
"And there's gotta be a teal pixie cut wig out there, so you don't have to cut these gorgeous locks," Remus added, running a hand through Janus's hair. "Plus, you're the sensible one in the relationship, just like Raine is."
"Let me remind you that Raine was literally willing to commit murder in canon." Janus wrote down Winner: Raeda. "Which is precisely why I would love to dress up as them for Halloween."
"YAY!" Remus cheered, throwing his arms around Janus and sending them both falling backward.
"Remuuuuuus, you're crushing meeeeeee," Janus said, poking him.
"I don't caaaaaaaaaaaare."
Janus started to laugh. "You're so ridiculous."
"Yeah, I like being ridiculous," Remus told him. "That's why you love me."
"That is why I love you."
..................
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaah, they had it coming! / They had it coming! / They had it coming all along!" Persephone belted. "I didn't do it / But if I'd done it / How could you tell me that I was wrong?"
Pam applauded. "Dang, girl, you're good at this!"
"Oh, you're just as good," Persephone said, giving her friend a small shove. "You got Rosie for a reason."
"You got Velma for a reason, Seph. You capture her character like nobody's business."
Persephone sat down on the edge of the stage next to Pam. "It'd probably be easier if I didn't need to do an American accent, honestly. Murder on my vocal chords."
"Yeah? You try channeling Marlyn Monroe when you sing." Pam blew a lock of pastel-blue hair out of her face. "My old-movie knowledge may have come in handy, but it's really killing my throat."
"You say that and you burst into song at every opportunity," Persephone reminded her with a grin. "You're secretly a Disney princess, I swear to god."
Pam laughed. "You kidding? I'm way too intense for Disney. I got kicked outta the running by my backstory alone." She leaned back a little, propping herself up on her elbows. "The bad parents interested 'em, but I think it might've been a little off-brand for the lead girl to regularly hold seances in the attic with her twin sister in order to find a ghost who'd be willing to off 'em for us."
"Just like it's 'off-brand' for the main character to be in a sapphic relationship before the last episode, I imagine?" Persephone said mock-cheerily.
Pam gave her one of her looks. "Dollface, The Owl House got cut ages ago."
"Doesn't mean I'm over it yet."
"That's fair, I ain't either." Pam paused, then laughed. "Y'know, me and Pearl still do those seances, even after we moved to Grandma Jean and Grandpa George's. Only difference is that we do 'em in the living room now—Grandma Jean actually videotaped our first one." A wistful smile crossed her face. "It was almost therapeutic to have a grandma who didn't mind her granddaughters glowing blue and chanting old Latin while looking down at a Oujia board. Nonna never stopped lecturing us about that, even after she died."
"Yeah, Pati never knew how to react to me and Jan, either," Persephone murmured. "She couldn't decide whether the gods had blessed us or if we were cursed. I dunno if she ever came to a concrete decision." She blinked, realizing something. "Oh my gods, I don't even know if she's alive."
Pam gave her a confused look. "Don't you talk to your granny all the—"
"No, I'm talking about Dad's mum. We stopped talking with his side of the family after the divorce was finalized, and... I guess I never bothered to check up on them."
"You don't need to," Pam told her. "From what you've told me, they're as toxic as your dad was. Once me and my sibs cut our parents outta our lives, that was it. We never talked to those two again, went outta our way to not see 'em—we didn't even Google 'em. They could be dead right now, and y'know what?"
"What?"
"I don't give a shit. I literally couldn't care less whether those people are alive and well or rotting in Hell—hah, that rhymes—and that's just the way it should be."
Persephone gave her a thoughtful look. "I guess you're right."
"I'm always right." Pam thumped her boots against the edge of the stage, as if proving her point. "My parents are the reason me and Pearl didn't have friends before you and Quinn, anyway."
"Really? You didn't even bond with the good little Catholic schoolgirls?"
"Uh, why would we? They assumed that we thought we were better than 'em just 'cause our brother was the 'God-blessed miracle healer—'" Pam did finger quotes— "and when our parents started to spread that we were witches and had been touched by the Devil, that killed any chance we had of bonding with those snobs."
Persephone suddenly felt guilty. "I'm... I'm sorry about that."
"You don't need to be, honey, me and Pearl got along fine with each other." Pam looked down. "Made me a total mess when I found out I wasn't gonna be rooming with her here, though. But then I met you, and everything turned out fine."
Pam gave Persephone a smile—a smile that she really hoped didn't cause her to blush.
"Y-yeah," Persephone mumbled, sheepishly smiling back. "Turned out fine."
The two girls sat quietly for a minute, looking out at the empty auditorium. Practice had ended ages ago, but neither of them were willing to leave just yet.
"Y'know what I've just realized?" Pam commented out of nowhere.
"What?" Persephone asked.
"We've been incorporating a Bubbline angle with Casey and Ella lately. I dunno how else to explain it."
Persephone let out a happy little gasp. "Oh my gods, you're right!"
"I dunno who Bubblegum is, though, since they're both vampires—"
"I think it's an established fact that it's Casey," Persephone said. "I can clearly picture her singing 'I'm Just Your Problem.'"
A pause.
"La-da-da-da-da / I'm gonna bury you in the ground," Pam sang. "La-da-da-da-da / I'm gonna bury you with my sound..."
"Oh, bloody hell, I've started it," Persephone groaned, smiling in spite of herself.
"I'm gonna drink the red from your pretty pink face / I'm gonna—" Pam stopped, giving Persephone a smirk. "What, you don't like that?" She leaned in. "Or do you just not like me?"
Fucking hell, this girl, Persephone thought, swallowing a little.
"Sorry I don't treat you like a goddess / Is that what you want me to do?" Pam continued, grinning. "Sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect / Like all your little loyal subjects do—"
She pulled Persephone to her feet. "Sorry I'm not made of sugar / Am I not sweet enough for you? / Is that why you always avoid me? / It must be such an inconvenience to you!"
"Okay, Pam, I get it, you're in a singing mood—" Persephone started, laughing a little.
"Well, I'm just your problem," Pam belted. "I'm just your problem / It's like I'm not even a person, am I? / No, I'm just your problem..."
She tucked a lock of Persephone's hair behind her ear. "And well, I-I-I shouldn't have to justify what I do / And I-I-I shouldn't have to prove anything to you / I'm sorry that I exist / I forgot what landed me on your blacklist / But..." Pam started to trail off. "I-I-I shouldn't have to be... the one... who makes it... up... with..."
She stopped, then leaned in and kissed Persephone.
On the lips.
Persephone wasn't exactly sure what was going through her mind right now, but she was pretty sure that it was the sound of sheer queer euphoria.
The girl she was crushing on—her best fucking friend—liked her back. And she made the first move.
The two girls broke apart, Persephone's face burning. Pam's smile faded, getting replaced with an expression of shock.
"Oh god, I—I can't believe I just did—" She shook her head. "This didn't happen, okay? I'm sorry I made things weird, we can just forget about it—"
"Pamela, what?" Persephone stepped back. "I don't want to—"
"Nope, you used my real name, you're mad at me now, and I just ruined everything." Pam started to walk off the stage. "See ya around, I guess. I can room with Pearl and Quinn for now, until everything becomes less awkward."
"I..."
For the first time in her life, Persephone couldn't find anything to say.
A/N: Can you tell that I've recently started to watch Adventure Time?