“Ah, I’m running late!”
Cherry blossoms swirl in the background as a girl no older than 15 runs through them, her long hair swaying in the breeze. Small Town High was looming before her like a giant as she hurried, trying desperately to keep the roast beef sandwich in her mouth. High school was the time of change, where she could change her life for good! Now she could stand out and-
She tripped on her own left foot, tumbling to the ground as her books flew out of her messenger bag. Embarassed, she hastily got up, watching other students pass her by without even lending a hand. Her sandwich was safe, but now she was struggling to get everything together.
“Oh no, oh no, I’m gonna be so late!” she says as she grabs a “Math 5 Dummies” book as thick as a dictionary and shoves it into her bag. “Man, what a way to start the day-”
From the corner of her eye, just as she grabbed her “Dragon Business” book, she saw a hand. She took it with out thinking and smiled as whoever it was helped her up.
“Thanks, I really needed that-” she started, before she realized she was holding a hand that was a little scalier than most. Either that or that was some bad eczema. And was it normal for people to have slits for eyes? And a dragon tail? And horns?
Her heart clearly went doki-doki as her eyes met with possibly the weirdest, yet handsomest mix of man and dragon alive-
There is a distinct crunch of a chip bag as a girl clutched it close like it was a long lost lover, watching the scene on her TV with anticipation. Ah, the signs of a possible love interest! Something abnormal, something cool, something-
“Hey, Sabrina, I’m home!”
Sabrina turned around with shock as she saw her roommate, a woman dressed like some Victorian Era widow who poisoned her ex-husband’s wine to inherit his massive fortune, in the doorway with two bags full of groceries.
“Huh?! You’re back so soon, Nikki?” Sabrina asked as she quickly paused her anime and turned her full attention to her friend. “I thought the store was having a sale? And weren’t you at a con, too?”
Nikki sighed and put the bags down before stepping into the room and taking a seat beside Sabrina. “They had a sale on everything we didn’t need, so I just got the bare essentials,” she replied, taking off her veil and shaking her head of long, brown hair. “The con’s going on for a couple more days, so I’m not worried about leaving early. Lot of cosplay going on, but there’s a distinct lack of B.C. that kinda gets at me.”
“Hasn’t he been gone for the last con, too? I mean, I know he’s still active and all, but he hasn’t been at any conventions recently!”
As Sabrina got up to toss her chip bag in the garbage, Nikki groaned and flopped onto the floor like a lazy, goth seal. “He’s been gone for two years and I hate it. I wanted to buy the next issue of Aqua Princess Rita and have it signed! I wanted to ask for like, five million comissions! AND I wanted to buy those handmade plushes of Kobbers!” Groaning turned to outright sobbing, her gloved hands covering her hands as she wept, “God damn it, why does everybody I like go somewhere else?! First it was the Kobbers and Zoofights, then WCW, and now B.C.! It’s like god says Manhattan can’t have nice things!”
Sabrina detected a sad friend, and when sad friends are involved, she could not leave them be! Quickly, she went to her dresser and opened up the top drawer, revealing the “Feel Good” stash, filled with small, soft blankets, plushes, scented candles, a collection of cassettes and video tapes of cute things, and fun sized candies. Most of it was pushed aside, though, as Sabrina grabbed the best weapon against Nikki’s eternal sorrows and dumped it at her feet along with a big box of crayons.
Nikki stopped her sobbing as she looked down at the thing in front of her and took it into her hands. Her sorrow quickly turned to confusion, her eyebrow quirked.
“ ‘Big, Bad, Zoofights Coloring Book’?”
“Yep! Now you can color in your favorite moments from every Zoofights imaginable!” Sabrina replied cheerfully, brushing back her long, pink hair and taking a seat beside her friend. “That includes even the Croctopus moments, y’know!”
The goth quickly looked through the pages before settling on one particular page that made her want to cry.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO” she wailed like a dying whale. “NOW I HAVE TO RELIVE THE LOSS OF MY FAVORITE EEEEL, NOOOO WHYYYYY DID YOU DO THIS TO MEEEE”
Sabrina tilted her head for a moment. “I dunno, I thought the horse was better! If it makes you feel any better, you can color the horse red and stuff? Use your imagination!”
Nikki raised her head, giving Sabrina a thousand yard stare. “Sab?”
A shiver went down Sabrina’s spine, but she pretended that it didn’t mean anything. “Yeah, Nikki?”
“I’m kicking you out of the house of this blasphamy.”
The gaspening begun, Sabrina flailing about as she shot back, “But wait, I’m your best friend! You know, your big, lovable best friend from grade school? You can’t just abandon your friend to the streets, right?”
“BUT THIS IS AN ACHILLES EEL HOUSEHOLD YOU MONSTER! IT’S LIKE I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU ANYMORE!”
Oh no. She upset the friend. Now what to do? Concentrating, she held out her hands, feeling the warmth of the sun shining through her windows, feeling the warmth inside her and channelling that to her fingertips, where that same warmth, that energy, shaped itself into small motes of colored lights. And with a bit of struggle, she shaped them into not-so-perfect recreations of a dumb horse and an eel with a shoe, where the eel clearly kicked the horses ass.
“Does that make you feel any better?” she asked, a bead of sweat rolling down her face. “C’mon, cheer up! Instead of being mad we supported the wrong teams, why not focus on what we both agree on? You know, like how that lobster should have never won!”
Nikki stared at her for a long time before she said quietly, “Yeah, we should. We’re living in the worst timeline, the one where Final Mantisy XV isn’t a thing.” She smiled, sitting up before glancing over at the anime Sabrina was in the middle of watching. “Anyway, guess you’re binging again? Thought you’d be at a job interview, least with CarverCorp saying that they’re giving your resume a look over. Or maybe working on your resume.”
Sabrina snapped her fingers, the motes of light dispursing as she sighed and flopped onto the floor next to Nikki. “I’ve done all I could with it, so now it’s just a waiting game to see who hires me first,” she admitted, taking off her glasses to wipe off a bit of dirt that got on them with her shirt. “So while I wait, I’m just watching ‘My Heart-Pounding Dates with Dragons’. I heard it was great and full of fluff, soooo~!”
Squinting, Nikki took a good look over at what could potentially be the dragon date and said, “Huh, I think I’ve seen this. Or at least heard about it. Lot of fans are pissed at the ending, and if I remember right, it was some real shit.”
“S-spoilers, geez!”
“Listen, I’m trying to prevent your heart from breaking in two ahead of time. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Well, in that case, then you’ll have to suffer with me!”
“Wait, no, I’m not ready for that kind of commitment! And I have to change out of this stuffy outfit-” Nikki said, but Sabrina grabbed her and held her in place with a firm hug.
Sabrina pressed play and continued watching the horribly awkward scene with glee as Nikki struggled in her grip before, eventually, her roommate simply gave up and just watched along with her. The coloring book is swiftly forgotten as the two girls watch anime together, one delivering a snarky commentary along the way.
