4.02 – The Prize, a Favor

Zoey drifted to consciousness with a becoming-familiar warmth pressed into her. Cracking her eyes open, the sight of Rosalie’s platinum-blonde hair met her. Zoey was snuggled into her, playing the big spoon. She sighed in satisfaction and hugged Rosalie closer.

For a while she luxuriated in Rosalie’s warmth. In her girlfriend’s warmth. The word made her heart skip a beat. It would do that for a while.

Soon enough, Rosalie stirred too.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Zoey murmured.

“Mm,” Rosalie replied, stuffing her face into the pillow. “What time is it?”

“We didn’t set an alarm. So … late?”

Rosalie groaned, but kept her face buried into the pillow.

She stayed that way for long enough Zoey thought she might actually go back to sleep, but then she groaned a second time and forced herself to sit. Zoey pouted, even if it was time to be getting up. They’d basked in each other’s company for the better part of a day—all of last evening and well into this morning—but at the same time, that wasn’t nearly enough. She wanted more. Did they really have to start their day?

Rosalie’s scrunched-up face suggested she was having similar thoughts, but unlike Zoey, she had an iota of willpower. Rosalie sighed, then leaned down and kissed Zoey’s forehead, before shuffling out of bed. Rosalie had no idea what the casual show of affection—coming from her—had done to Zoey. For a long moment, she lay there, stunned, turning into a pile of goo.

Eventually, an “are you joining me?” spurred her into action. She slipped out of bed and joined Rosalie in the bathroom.

One brisk, shared shower later—in which Zoey only teased Rosalie a little bit—they got dressed, then showed up in front of Delta’s door. Zoey knocked. She wanted to make it a routine that the team ate breakfast together. Though, their morning had started late, so there were good odds Delta had set off.

Fortunately, though, she hadn’t. After a few moments of shuffling, a loud thump, then a string of curses, a bleary-eyed Delta—long orange hair in disarray—appeared at the door. She eyed Zoey, looking annoyed, but after her attention flicked to Rosalie, she seemed to remember what last night had been. Her sour expression turned to a smirk.

“Good morning, lovebirds.”

Rosalie eyed her. Even more than normal, Delta’s smirk was so blatant and taunting as to make even Zoey blush. Delta shared a wall with them, and with how loud she and Rosalie had been, Delta knew—intimately—what they’d been up to.

“Morning,” Zoey said. “Uh. We’re heading down for breakfast. Wanna join us?”

Delta ignored Zoey, having eyes only for Rosalie, who, hilariously, was actually struggling to return her usual glare. Her cheeks were pink. Delta did have a talent in making people squirm just with a look. “Sure,” she finally said, turning to Zoey. “Give me a second.”

She left the door open, and Zoey and Rosalie trailed in. Rosalie didn’t protest at having to wait for Delta. She hoped that wasn’t just because Rosalie knew Zoey wanted her to join them, but because she was starting to see Delta as part of the group.

Delta threw on a pair of fuzzy slippers, brushed her hair so it wasn’t a total disaster, then grabbed her room keys. “Kay. Let’s go.” She’d finish getting ready later, apparently.

Down in the dining hall, they sat at a table for four. Despite Zoey being the one seated across from Delta, Delta kept her eyes on Rosalie. She didn’t say anything outright—didn’t tease or taunt verbally. Instead, she kept that same smirk plastered on. And Rosalie, also like before, couldn’t work up a returning glare. She ignored Delta to the best of her ability, but was losing horrendously. She squirmed in her seat.

Zoey almost felt like she should intervene in the silent war, especially since Rosalie was now officially her girlfriend, but she was enjoying the show. Seeing Rosalie squirm was cute. And by the glares Rosalie sometimes shot Zoey, too, Zoey’s grinning reaction was only escalating the problem.

“Just say it, won’t you?” Rosalie finally blurted out. She blushed, then stuck her chin in the air and straightened her back. “Stop smirking and say what you want to.”

Delta turned to Zoey. “So. What do you have planned today?”

The offended look that appeared on Rosalie’s face was priceless. She’d finally worked up the nerve to force the issue, and Delta had ignored her. Rosalie actually pouted, a reaction even Zoey had difficulty drawing. Zoey squeezed Rosalie’s knee underneath the table, fighting away the humor of the situation. She didn’t do a great job.

‘Traitor’, Rosalie’s glare said.

“Sabina first, then Maddy in the afternoon,” Zoey answered. “I think that’s going to be the usual. The evening’s open, though.”

“Does that mean I get my date?”

“You already had yours,” Rosalie shot at her.

“So I’m not allowed a second?”

“How about a team date?” Zoey asked, cutting things off before they got out of hand. “Or, an outing. You invited me out for drinks, right? Maybe Maddy will want to come.” She glanced at Rosalie, who pursed her lips. Zoey could read her expression; she wanted to be more productive. Maybe two nights out in a row was pushing things?

“I’d be down,” Delta said. “We need to meet her as a group. Should I invite her? Or you?”

“I can. During practice.”

“I should get a feel for her, I suppose,” Rosalie said. “It sounds like she’ll be joining the team, assuming she … digests Zoey’s class.” She glanced at Zoey. “But I can’t be going out every night. I should be training. We should be training.”

“All day?” Delta asked, rolling her eyes. “We can use the evenings for ourselves.”

Rosalie gave her an unimpressed look, which showed what she thought of that.

“And where do you go, anyway?” Delta asked. “To train. Why not come with me? For spars. I know the competition.”

Rosalie eyed Delta. The offer to join her had been delivered with surprising earnestness, and she didn’t trust that. Delta seemed to realize that too, because she paused, then smirked and fixed things: “And how about we make it more interesting? Ever play a round of strip spars?”

Zoey’s interest was instantly piqued.

Rosalie, though, only seemed confused. “Strip spars?” she asked, as if genuinely not understanding what they were.

It was adorably naive. It wasn’t like the name left much to interpretation. And if anything, Delta’s tone should have given it away.

“Loser of each round takes off a piece of equipment.” Delta leaned forward, grinning. “And let’s say, overall winner gets a favor. Anything they want.” The amount of innuendo packed into ‘favor’ was impressive even by Delta’s standards.

Rosalie flushed. She looked at Zoey, incredulous. There was also a hint of a question. ‘And you’d be okay with that?’ the look said.

It reminded Zoey that she and Rosalie needed to have a sit-down about their relationship. Zoey didn’t mind Delta hitting on Rosalie—actually hitting on her, even, not just teasing—but that was because Delta was part of the group, and Zoey was interested in Delta, which changed things. If it’d been anyone else, Zoey wouldn’t have been.

Which was hypocritical, she knew, seeing how Rosalie was fine with Zoey doing whatever—and whoever—she wanted. But it was how she felt. She couldn’t help that. Zoey wasn’t quite as open to the idea of ‘sharing’ as Rosalie apparently was.

All dynamics were fine if everyone involved was happy with them, but they hadn’t discussed their dynamics. It was the sort of thing best explicitly talked about, not inferred. She’d have to sit with Rosalie and figure it out. Probably Delta too, at another point, just to make sure everyone was on the same page.

“A favor from Delta,” Zoey teased Rosalie, answering in a roundabout way. “Sounds useful to have, don’t you think?”

“Thanks for the faith,” Delta said dryly. “I mean, come on. She’s good, but she’s not that—“ she trailed off, then frowned. “She wouldn’t win every time. I’m not a pushover. It wouldn’t be free.”

Rosalie didn’t look smug about Delta’s assessment. Rosalie was better in a fight, and by a significant margin. To her, it was a given. She was better than everyone in that regard, at least for her advancement. Bizarrely, she displayed that belief, and it didn’t come off as arrogant. It came with the same sort of attitude as, ‘yes, I have blue eyes’, or, ‘yes, I have blonde hair’. A given, a fact, and ultimately inconsequential.

“As if I would want a favor from her,” Rosalie said.

“Wouldn’t you?” Delta asked. “I think I could change your mind, once you got a taste.” She shrugged. “But that’s assuming you win. I don’t think you would. In a normal spar, you’d have good odds. Strip spars? I have the feeling you’d get … distracted.”

Rosalie flushed, and suddenly couldn’t meet Delta’s eyes. Delta had struck the nail on the head. Still, Rosalie tried to retort. “Distracted? I can’t imagine by what. Your irritating comments?”

“Oh?” Delta asked, leaning another few inches closer to Rosalie, who still couldn’t meet her eyes. “Stripping me half-naked won’t cause any problems, will it? Won’t distract you at all? Well, if you’re confident about that, let’s play. Like Zoey said, it’ll be a free favor. I guess you don’t even have to ask anything gross of me. I could be your errand girl for the day.” She rolled her eyes. “Means you get to be even more productive.” Then, she openly leered at Rosalie. “But to make it clear, if I win, I’m making good use of my favor.”

Rosalie’s eyes widened, and she went an even deeper shade of red. She glanced at Zoey, who continued to watch the exchange, amused. Zoey could see on Rosalie’s face that she realized she’d backed herself into a corner. After displaying so much confidence that she’d win, she had to accept.

Rosalie turned back to Delta, and seeing her smug, taunting expression, bristled.

She stuck her chin in the air. “I suppose an errand girl does sound useful.”

“Perfect,” Delta said, leaning back. She looked pleased she’d goaded Rosalie into it. She turned to Zoey. “I’ll save the favor for when you can watch. Or we can use it together.” She paused. “Because you two are a thing now, I’m taking it?”

There was more to the question than just the surface. Delta wanted to know what the acceptable dynamics were. She’d seen from Zoey’s reactions that flirting with Rosalie was fine, but more? Especially alone?

Honestly, Zoey wasn’t fully certain of that herself. For now, she’d rather anything that happened between Delta and Rosalie—serious, at least, like cashing in on the ‘favor’—happen with her there.

But the question.

“Yeah,” Zoey said, putting her hand over Rosalie’s. “Girlfriends. Officially.” The word made her glow, and it probably showed on her face, by the way Delta laughed. To her side, Rosalie’s cheeks went pink, and she sniffed, looking away, as if fighting away her own glowing reaction.

“Good for you two. I figured, but.” She shrugged. “And, in the future, the Guild’s soundproofing is good, but not that good. So … you two aren’t allowed to make that much noise and not invite me over. It’s mean.”

Zoey laughed, but Rosalie, oddly, made a strangled noise. She looked horrified, as if she’d just realized that Delta had heard much of what had gone on last night. She’d known Delta was aware they’d gone on a date, and had probably been together afterward, but that Delta knew for certain? Had heard each loud noise they’d made? Rosalie’s brain did seem to shut that sort of thing away, obvious as it should’ve been.

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Zoey said, amused. A brief silence, then Zoey added: “I wish I could come watch the fight.” Strip spars between Delta and Rosalie. It made alchemy lessons almost sound unappealing, and today she and Sabina be getting to the more interesting stuff. Actual brewing.

And, maybe this made Zoey a bad girlfriend, but she was kind of rooting for Delta.

A favor. What, exactly, did Delta have planned, assuming she won?