diamondbackleighton-blog

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“I didn’t - and honestly, don’t worry about it.” Rachel laughed it off, shrugging. “Shit happens, I never finished highschool.” She admitted. It didn’t embarrass her, she knew she was smart, things had just gotten out of hand, and now she accepted that the opportunity had just... passed. She had other things to worry about - there was no normal life for her, Cleo, and Tanya, they had to find a way to get a slice of things without drawing the ire of SHIELD or HYDRA. 

“C’mon.” She waved for Tandy to follow her. "If you’re gonna get that degree, you need to study up - partying with bartenders takes a lot of skill - and stamina.” She added at the last second, snickering at her own joke. Personal best: sixteen cocktails, two tequila shots, and only an hour or so of violent upchucking once she got home. She wasn’t going to give Tandy that sort of crash course, though - she didn’t want to scare them off. Rachel knew how to have a hell of a night, but pancakes with a cute student wasn’t exactly a step down for her. 

A Helping Heel | Tandy and Rachel

This wouldn’t be the first time Tandy skipped a class, and probably not the last. The first time she had done it had required a lot of convincing from Tyrone that’d be alright. Once she did it, she realized that her life wouldn’t dissolve into chaos if she skipped a class every now and then. It was liberating to cut class, considering she had never gotten the chance to do so in high school. No one cared about perfect attendance in college. 

She’d rather spend time with Rachel than sit through a lecture, since she hadn’t seen her since the electricity came back on. “I gotta tell you, my day is becoming a lot better because I ran into you.” They admitted to her, grinning back at her as they walked together. A few minutes ago Tandy had felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. It was worth it for all those things to go awry because it led to this. 

At the question of their major, the blonde shrugged. “That’d be great to major in. Yes, I graduated with a degree in going on adventures with bartenders. My classes include getting pancakes at ihop with them, as well as walking them to work during blackouts.” They joked. “I’m undecided still. So it’s kinda a variety of classes. I’m trying to figure out what I like.” After doing what she thought her mother would want for so long, it was hard to figure out what she truly liked doing. “What did you major in? I mean, if you went to college, which I kinda just assumed you did. I’m sorry this is coming out badly.” 

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Tagging: Rachel Leighton Location: Rachel’s apartment. Time Frame: Late night, February 20th General Notes: Snapshots Musings prompt (Picture #2)

Be yourself. Know yourself. Don’t let anybody shake that, because it’s all you have. Rachel believed it, wanted to live it, wanted to be that person. That was the person Tanya and Cleo deserved to be fighting these battles with - someone who, if nothing else, could stand tall and act unshakable. Sometimes it was easy to walk the walk, to pull herself up and tilt her chin just right and believe that she was as strong as she wanted to be, but there was always that voice, that recurring fear. Little human girl, not even good enough for them to come for you when it all went wrong. As much as she tried to force herself into a better mindset, it kept her up into the mornings some days, sipping instant coffee and chain smoking Pall Malls while the sun came up and her resolve slowly grew again.

When it had happened, before she’d known just what she had been a part of, it had seemed impossible to her that she’d been abandoned. Something inside of her was cracked, fractured into little slivers that cut her from the inside out. She wasn’t worth the manpower, the expense, the risk. She had stewed in it, denial to rage to grief while sitting in her cell, not sure what they would do to her, not sure when her last day would come.

But it didn’t come. Instead, Tanya and Cleo had entered her life, filling the hollow in her chest and letting light strike the fractured pieces. When they ran, she’d gone from destruction to mosaic, to stained glass. She was still broken - but that didn’t mean she couldn’t stand. Despite the doubts, despite the crushing fear of her past, the heavy grief of knowing how close her grandparents still were, the light could still shine through. She was still good. She still mattered.

Besides, she thought, sipping her coffee with the smallest smile on her lips. fuck those Nazi pricks.

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Rachel laughed at Tandy’s response, still feeling just a touch guilty about giving her an excuse to skip class. All the same, it wasn’t her responsibility - and it was only one class. She’d have to make sure to get the girl’s number, so they could hang out without abandoning something else to make time. Not a lot of people would’ve helped her out the way she had on the night of the blackout.

“That’s the spirit, come on.” Rachel grinned and jerked her head in the direction she’d been going. It was a rare treat, but she’d just been paid and the groceries hadn’t yet been replenished. She’d worry about that after she’d had something to eat and a few strong (burnt) cups of coffee. As it was, she still had to work that night, and she couldn’t go in hungry.

“What are you taking? When you’re not going on adventures with bartenders.” She asked, glancing over at the younger woman. She was always curious about things like that - even with the effort her grandparents had put into helping her with school, it always seemed like there were a million paths she’d never even been told existed, paths she might’ve wanted to take if she’d known they were there. 

A Helping Heel | Tandy and Rachel

When Rachel began to speak, Tandy worried that she would try to be a good influence and tell her to go to class. As she continued, a smile came upon the blonde’s lips. The idea of skipping class had been enticing already, but with the offer of going to ihop with Rachel, she was sold. “As a reasonable and sensible person…I know that wicked cheap pancakes are more important than some class.” Their smile spread into a grin. 

It’s not like they were in high school anymore; they wouldn’t be in trouble for not going to class. They could find a classmate later and get a copy of the notes. Their professor only cared about attendance during tests or when big assignments were due, neither of which were happening that day. A few hours off spending time with Rachel would do them some good, too. 

“You’ve won me over.” She let out an overdramatic fake sigh, as if Rachel really had to convince her. Her grin returned after a moment, laughing at herself. “I’m pretty sure my professor would prefer I not show up at all, rather than come in late, so no harm, no foul. And pancakes sound like Heaven right now.” 

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As long as it works, I guess. Another one that I’ve always found helps is, and hear me out, drinking as much water as you can while holding your breath. No idea why. 

Thank you. That makes two of us, although you could just ask my name if you don’t know it already. And I hadn’t known that about peanut butter either but it was surprisingly effective. The more you know, right? Hah.

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true love

Tagging: Rachel Leighton  Location: Local grocery store. Time Frame: early afternoon, January 13th General Notes: Love prompt.

Rachel’s grandparents were proactive people, never for a moment letting the girl believe she wasn’t loved - at least, before she was old enough and angry enough to convince herself otherwise. When she was a little girl, every Valentine’s Day her grandparents would give her a big Gerber daisy, or a little chocolate heart - something small to remind her she was loved. It had planted early on in her mind an association between Valentine’s Day and affection of all kinds. Even in her teenage years, in a new city and desperate for belonging and romance and acceptance, she had kept that close to her heart. 

That was what had led her to walk slowly down the aisles of the closest supermarket, looking for something to leave her roommates to find in the morning. Tanya and Cleo had become the center of her world, after all. Her only confidants, her best friends, her entire family. Maybe it was corny, but going through the pink laden shelves felt right, like she was shopping for Christmas morning all over again. It was a tradition she was insisting on keeping up, tying the saccharine holiday to the strongest love in her world. Maybe it didn’t fit the bill for what was expected of her at this point in her life, but that didn’t make the pink cat plush with the big sparkly eyes she picked out for Tanya seem less authentic a gesture. It reminded Rachel of the younger girl in the oddest way - the big eyes, girlish and mournful at the same time, with long eyelashes. Tanya was too young for the life they were living, like a little sister she had to watch out for. Her mutant status alone made her vulnerable these days, and Rachel wasn’t letting anyone come for her baby sister.

Picking for Cleo was a bit harder, but eventually she found a unicorn with a soft pink velvet horn and wings. Maybe it fell into the arena of gentle ribbing, but it was soft and girly and pink on pink, and that seemed to fit the bill. It didn’t have to be perfect, and it’d last longer than the obligatory red roses - she’d heard rose growing was a racket, anyways. At least the stuffed animals would last, ethics of production aside, and serve as a reminder. Families had traditions.

And they were a family.

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Fair enough. Big believer here in not calling people things they don’t want to be called. Bro is off the list.

Glad your buddy had the solution - I’ve never heard of using peanut butter.

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“I can’t in good conscience tell you to skip class...” Rachel started, raising an eyebrow. “But I can tell you that there’s an ihop around the corner I was going to go to for some wicked cheap pancakes.” She finished, a grin on her face. She didn’t think school was unimportant - if anything, hindsight had her wishing she’d been a little more into it at the time. 

Still, Tandy was already late, and her professor sounded like kind of an asshole. Clearly the girl’s day was already kind of a mess, it wouldn’t kill her to take one day off to relax. Besides, she’d taken a liking to the girl in the brief time they’d spoken the night of the blackout. She seemed like a sweetheart, and it wouldn’t kill Rachel to socialize with people outside of work from time to time. 

“So. You know. No judgement, wherever you wind up.” She gave Tandy a big shrug and a sunny, devil on your shoulder sort of smile. 

A Helping Heel | Tandy and Rachel

Tandy let out a breathless laugh and smiled wider. “You are also my hero, I gotta say.” Most people would have just walked around the mess, not helped her out. She was glad that Rachel wasn’t most people, from the looks of it. Her stress was still there, but it certainly was nice to see a familiar face. “Yeah. And class, actually, which I’m already running so late for.” She groaned. 

At her holding out the papers, the blonde took them, putting them back in her back. “Thank you so, so, much.” They glanced down at their watch, sighing as they saw they had less than a minute to get there on time. Part of them wondered if it was worth even trying to make it. 

Their attention was brought back to Rachel as she apologized. “Don’t be sorry, it’s fine. It was nice just to meet you.” They sincerely meant that. While unfortunate circumstances had brought them together, they were still happy to have met her. “I’m debating right now if I wanna be burned at the stake by my professor for being late or just get the notes from someone else later and skip right now.” She explained as she zipped her bag up again, then stood up and shouldered it on. “What do you think?” 

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Rachel Leighton - A Helping Heel by minnieparasol featuring ankle length leggings

Raglan sleeve top, 58 CAD / Evil Twin denim short shorts, 33 CAD / Label Lab ankle length legging, 70 CAD / River Island black high heel booties, 120 CAD / Lip makeup / Glitter Injections makeup, 9.69 CAD

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You can’t reverse psychology yourself bro. At least, I’m pretty sure you can’t. It’s something about being surprised and a little confused that it just happened that just trips something in the brain. Or, that was tripped in my brain. 

Hm…I can acknowledge that reverse psychology works in some instances but in that one, I just thought about the fact that I was already hiccuping lol. I’ll give it a try next time though–see if thinking about hiccuping more will make them stop.

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“I also accept “my hero”.” Rachel grinned, leaning down to grab a few of the loose papers. She hadn’t even recognized the girl at first, had just been trying to help out someone who was clearly having a rough day, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t happy to see the girl again. “Tandy, right? Where are you off to in such a hurry?” 

She held the papers out - they were clearly important to her, whatever they were. They were awfully close to the university, but she didn’t want to assume and be left looking like a jackass when she was told about some internship, or a report for work.  

“Sorry the club didn’t have power, by the way. Come around some other time, it’ll be in full swing, we’ll have fun.” As much fun as anyone could have while on the job, attending to drunk men there to ogle her roommate. Even if it was a little strange, she wouldn’t mind the company on the job - she hated distracting the girls from their work, and the customers weren’t exactly a lot of fun to chat with. 

A Helping Heel | Tandy and Rachel

Tandy was already running ten minutes late for class, walking as quickly as they could to campus. They hadn’t thought it would take that long to grab coffee beforehand. There was a line that took longer than they had hoped, resulting in their rush to class right then. 

She was trying to save time by pulling her backpack off her shoulder, and sifting through it to find her binder. If she could have it in her hands when she got inside, she could start taking notes right away. Her coffee was in the crook of her arm as she looked. It seemed like a good idea, until she stopped searching her bag for a moment to take a sip of her coffee. The remaining hand gripping the pack couldn’t stop it from tipping over, and spilling its contents onto the ground. 

“Of fucking course.” She mumbled, putting her cup and bag down, then crouching to the ground to hurriedly retrieve her items. Almost everything except a few papers were back in her bag. They were sliding away from her on the ground, before she could even grab for them. Her luck seemed to be looking up, though, because a heel seeming peered out of nowhere and standing on the papers to keep them from moving away. “You are my guardian angel, thank you so much.” She glanced up as she spoke, smiling in surprise. “Rachel?” 

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The how is a mystery to me - someone did that to me once, and it worked like a charm. Reverse psychology or something, it tricks you into not doing it anymore.

I am. Or on was But a friend suggested peanut butter… But how does telling me to hiccup get rid of the hiccups?

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“Yeah, they won’t really go with my wardrobe, but whatever. Sacrifices must be made.” Rachel sighed. “I get you - I’ve been living in New York for years, but I grew up in Texas, it’s hard to shake my expectation that winter somehow won’t be that bad.” 

“Heels to work? I definitely understand that pain. Long underwear is a blessin’ if you could get it to look right under your clothes. I wear slacks 95% of the time so you’d think it would work out but they always make my butt look a little lumpy.” she frowned. “ Winter has never been my thing. I’m more of a fall kind of girl.”

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You’re not doing it anymore, are you?

…wait, what?

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Actually, yes.

Hiccup. Hiccup right fucking now. Do it.

Any effective tips or tricks for getting rid of hiccups?

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text || queen cleo

Rachel: i'm so glad we have power again

Rachel: the only thing worse than sitting in the dark is sitting at centerfolds because it's the only place that might get heat.

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“Rachel.” She responded, giving the other woman a smile before turning to help another customer. “Just means you’ve got good taste, I guess.” She added, glancing at Lorna over her shoulder. Rachel wasn’t above a little flirting, but she also wasn’t about to get herself into a bind. Mixing with the Brotherhood was bad news - she was barely free and clear from Hydra. The last thing she needed was to get a bit too close with someone who would be trouble, and bring that shit down on her new life.

“So. What made you decide to walk into our little establishment?” Better to keep her talking about herself - it would keep up the very tip-friendly conversation without giving too much away. The less Lorna actually knew about her, the better. It was safer that way. 

Bottoms Up | Lorna & Rachel

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Rachel let out a bark of a laugh - she’d heard that one before. “There are lots of pretty girls in here.” She pointed out, a sly smile on her face. “Make sure you don’t miss them because you’re chatting with me.” Though, if she tipped well, who honestly gave a fuck? Rachel wasn’t part of the show, but she had gotten used to customers eyeing her up along with the dancers. Generally it translated to a little extra cash and a very disappointed customer. 

As benign as Lorna seemed to be, Rachel knew she had to be careful around her. She wasn’t a mutant, but Tanya, who was already on stage, definitely was. The last thing any of them needed was the brotherhood sending along some cute chick to scope out the place before breaking out the real recruitment efforts. “Dig the hair by the way.” Her own purple-red curls were a point of pride for her, a mark of independence she’d taken on after getting the hell out of Stryker’s prison. 

Bottoms Up | Lorna & Rachel