#i know it's not a trixya image but it is a trixya image do you know what i am saying

[glubbity]

physical needs:

mental needs:

survival needs: draw katya

[artificialqueens]

Moving Parts, Havana Nights Timeline (Trixya) - Saiphl

Well, here is the monstrosity.  This text was originally written in Spanish and went through four more languages before getting to the final English version you’re about to read. The language translation chain was the following:

Spanish - Suajili - Dutch - Esperanto - Tagalog - English

As the title says, this is a part of a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG timeline that was meant to be posted since about two years back, still life happens and the original story, called Havana Nights hasn’t been fully written, not posted, so if it doesn’t make sense -even more- feel free to ask. Finally, and before posting it I want to thank @MarCaribe, because without her the original idea for this timeline won’t be even possible.

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MOVING PARTS

I always get my jewelry back, more to occupy my hands than more necessary. The sun came up and my hands were shaking like the leaves of an autumn tree. Let me think for a moment what would happen to me if I agreed to marry the way my mother wanted? A bitter laugh left my lips, it would not be just me. I looked at myself again in the mirror, the reflection image gives me an expression of fear.

It took a lot of effort to get here, many years playing small roles and people hearing that a woman’s place is not outside the door of her house and she is her husband’s faithful dog. Years of struggle have passed to remain the person I was when I was in Cuba. The night I left the island was the hardest I have ever encountered in my life.

Probably the hardest thing I ever did … other than drive the Milwaukee road to Chicago when my mother decided that her daughter had been killed by a lesbian in her mirror. On my shoulder the old Fender Dad handed me along with a boat ticket to Havana and in my hand a backpack filled with quick memories of the life I had with my mother.

When I remember that moment in my life, I often approach him; for tropical storm with long legs, sea eyes and hair in the sun: Katya. The one that still causes me to steal every night, the same that gets in my bed like a ghost and leads me somewhere between sleep and awake. Sometimes when I write, it is like sitting in the back of our cabinet on the beach trying to spin the details and the sea behind it with Katya and her always problematic rotation without interruption, but let me know I was there.

At this time, I was wondering what Katya would say? Of course he told me, along with his thick Russian accent and his Russian, Spanish and English words, “Eat, just do what you have to do. Go to that point and show them who my Teresa Martínez is. ” strained, and now more than ever, I wish he was here. I wanted to see her bright white smile reminding me that everything would be fine, with no fear.

The thing is, it’s really a lot of fear. We don’t know what could happen, we don’t know how people will react, I have no idea how he, everyone who hears the radio record, is there. We don’t know if any of the covered protests of my songs will argue the invasion … we don’t know if they will follow us because we have a lot of gay and transgender women listening to a female farmer who is about thirty singing about right denied us. My hands were shaking, they were sweating and I could almost feel a panic attack on my chest.

I have always wanted to be different, to change the world with the power of my voice, which through my words hundreds and thousands of voices can be heard screaming to be heard. Now that it has finally arrived, I am freezing, June 1969 and the world is changing. I’m just not ready to dive.

Suddenly the sound of a knock on the door brought me back from the spiral where I had fallen; Almost immediately Sasha, my manager, and Shea, who introduced us, entered a room that appeared smaller and smaller. They both went from a fun show to a scary one. I looked in the mirror again and what I saw were my painted ornaments, I do not know when I started to cry. Sasha, Sweet and smart Sasha hugged me without even asking. That’s when I realized I can’t blame you … I can’t leave you. They help me so much here that I would be a worse person if I volunteered now.

He almost heard my attitude, he said I could still say no. As soon as I shake my head and try to look him in the eyes, I assure him it is just nervous and I will be ready when they call me on stage. Shea smiled at me, squeezing his shoulder a little, I knew he trusted me. A few minutes later they leave me alone and I start to remove all the damage to my makeup and paint it right.

When I finished the repairs, an assistant knocked on my door. Work must begin. I looked at myself again in the mirror, the eyes that turned to me seemed confident and determined, I focused on the blonde eyes in the mirror and thanks for a nice look at her beautiful curves covered in white cut feet and arms. . Trixie Mattel is ready to change the world number by number. I still feel a lump in my stomach, and I know something will happen, it is a feeling floating in the air.

[dragracereviews]

My Ultimate Top 10 Favorite Drag Race Queens

#10 - Kameron Michaels: NGL, Kameron is partially on this list because I would fuck her in a heartbeat. I actually plan on making a list later of queens I would sleep with in and/or out of drag and you will definitely find Miss Michaels high on there. I’ve seen her live on the Werq the World tour and I 100% regret not getting Meet and Greet though I probably would’ve just drooled on her and made a fool of myself so maybe it’s better that I didn’t. It’s a known fact that Kameron is an incredible lip syncer (if you haven’t watched season 10, please do so just to see her in action because honestly, she’s one of the few good things about that season) and she did NOT disappoint. Her dancing was only beat out by Vanjie who you may or may not see later on this list. Kameron if you’re out there reading this (LOL, we all know she isn’t) and you ever feel like experimenting with an actual biological woman, hit me up!

#9 - Sharon Needles: And here we have another attractive man out of drag! Sharon was the OG underdog and while I’m not going to sit here and bash Phi Phi O’Hara because she’s actually talented AF (checkout her Harry Potter cosplay, it’s soooo good), Sharon definitely didn’t deserve all the shade thrown at her on season 4. Her drag aesthetic has always been equals parts spooky and equal parts fabulous, but she’s actually improved over the years and it’s made me love her even more. My favorite Sharon moment ever is during a “Queens Reading Mean Comments” video on WOWPresents’ Youtube channel where someone said they liked her old teeth better and she just goes, “Well my old teeth just looked ridiculous with my new lips!” Get ‘em, girl.

#8 - Jinkx Monsoon: I want Jinkx to be my mom. There, I said it. Also, if you don’t get that reference, get your shit together and subscribe to WOW Presents on Youtube you fucking bumpkin. Jinkx was the loveable weirdo on her season and received a lot of hate from her fellow queens but I loved her from the start. I have since forgiven Roxxxy Andrews for her cattiness because of her rudemption on All Stars 2 (insert her Read U Wrote U verse here) but nothing was more satisfying than watching Jinkx go from the underdog to America’s Next Drag Superstar. I don’t know what’s more iconic; her tendency to fall asleep at inopportune times, her laugh, or all the jokes about her being a full blown swamp witch. Either way, it will always be Monsoon season in my eyes.

#7 - Nina West: Hands down, the DEFINITION of Miss Congeniality! This choice was so obvious, I don’t even know why they took a vote. I think that even if they left it up to the fans, it would’ve been her. I fucking LOVE Nina. I’ve actually met her IRL and my first thoughts were 1: she’s HUGE (hello, she’s a six foot tall man in like 6 inch heels and I’m barely over five feet) and 2. she just radiates happiness! She is the only queen I’ve met that asked me my name (though shout out to Plastique Tiara for calling me gorgeous as if she’s not the most beautiful creature on the planet) and she didn’t make me feel like an idiot when I just stared at her adoringly and just word vomited “you’remyfavoriteiloveyousomuch”. Class act people!

#6 - Bianca del Rio: Do I even need an explanation for this one? Hands down, the undisputed winner of season 6, and that’s coming from a die-hard ***** fan (see entry #2). Did she wear the same silhouette 10+ times? Yes. Can she kind of be a bitch sometimes? Definitely. But is she the funniest fucking person alive? Probably! My love for Bianca is infinite but I still wouldn’t want her to read me, at least not in person. Actually, scratch that, I’ve seen her Twitter feed and getting read online is almost worse. I fucking love Hurricane Bianca and the sequel even though it’s one of those so-bad-it’s-good type of film series. I sadly missed her last tour because it was the same night as Sasha Velour’s Smoke & Mirrors show and as amazing as Sasha was, my heart was broken that I couldn’t go to both. But you better believe the next time she’s in town, I’m forking out lots of $$ for VIP and I may or may not faint at Bianca’s feet #noregrets

#5 - Vanessa Vanjie Matteo: Mother. Fucking. Vanjie. OKAY, I’ve met this bitch IRL and let me tell you, she is the cutest fucking thing. Like Nina, it shocked me how apparent it is that she’s a man (square jaw, hello?) but she can still paint for filth and look fishy AF even with her boyish features. Also, AMAZING performer! I waited 3 hours after the M&G for her to actually come on stage and perform only two songs (that’s a story for another day) but let me tell you, it was worth the fucking wait. I showered that bitch with Canadian monopoly money and I would’ve given her more if I wasn’t such a broke millennial. And to top the whole night off, I got woken up at 5 am to my friend screaming because Vanjie had reposted my photo in her story so I was essentially Instagram famous for all of like, a day. Thanks girl xo

#4 - Bendelacreme: I love me some Dela. This queen proved in both her regular season and All Stars that she is a force to be reckoned with. Season 6 wouldn’t have been the same without her and did I want to yell at Darienne Lake for being a bitch to her? Absolutely! (Gia Gunn pun intended) And I honestly think that if she hadn’t eliminated herself, she would’ve won AS3 (though if you read my #1 entry, I am 100% satisfied with who did win). She completely deserved her Miss Congeniality title, and while I see where the others AS3 queens were coming from when they suspected she was trying a little too hard to keep up that image, I did appreciate her trying to play the game with some class, because we don’t see that often on Drag Race. I also love her friendship with Jinkx and it’s definitely on my bucket list to see one of their shows one day. You know what they say, the Creme always rises to the top!

#3 - Brooke Lynn Hytes: Full disclosure, I’m Canadian but that’s not the only reason why I love Brooke (she is the Queen in the North though, and I’ll fight you if you say otherwise). This queen is fucking TALENTED! Season 11 would have failed without her, IMHO. She can design and sow a complete outfit, read people to filth, sort of sing (I still listen to Queens Everywhere daily, especially her verse), dance circles around ANYBODY, and lip sync like her mother fucking life depends on it. Did she, by the end of the season, forget that’s there’s more to a lip sync than being on pointe? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t change the fact that she is literal perfection and I think that’s why Ru gave Yvie the crown instead of her (though I love Yvie so don’t come for me). Brooke’s biggest downfall was the fact that she wasn’t relatable and I am 100% okay with that. Sometimes you just have to worship the unattainable. The only issue I have with Brooke is her and Vanjie not being officially together anymore because yes, I am one of those fans that ship queens together, especially queens that have actually dated. I will never get over #Branjie, just saying.

#2 - Adore Delano: "I'm a fucking Libra!" As soon as these words left her mouth, I knew I was in love with Adore Delano. Season 6 is by far my favorite season (spoiler alert if I decide to make a Top 10 Best Seasons list) and if it weren't for my #1 pick, she would 100% have the top spot. Hell, before I discovered WOW Presents, she WAS my #1 pick (read my next entry to understand what I mean). Adore is simultaneously adorable (pun intended) and fierce AF. She's beautiful, hilarious, and did I mention beautiful?! She is the reason I say "party" at inappropriate times. She is the reason I wish I was a Libra instead of a fucking Scorpio. She is the reason I insist everybody start their first Drag Race binge with season 6 because I know they’ll fall in love with her as much as I have. Adore, if you’re reading this, I fucking adore you.

#1 - Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova: Of course these two are tied as my number one spot. Individually, these queens are fucking fierce and extremely talented (go download Trixie's country albums if you don't believe me), but together they are pure gold. If you've only ever watched their run on season 7, you probably don't understand why I love them so much, so do yourself a favor and go watch All Stars 2 & 3, as well as their web shows "UnHhhh", "The Trixie & Katya Show", and “Queens Who Like To Watch”. I can even give you a list of other stand alone videos of them to watch (ex. "Besties for Cash", "Fashion Photo Review", compilation videos of the pair in Palm Springs... I think you get the gist). Truth be told, I'm absolutely obsessed with these two, so much so that I may or may not have indulged in some online fan fiction about them from time to time...don’t judge me, okay?! I love a friends-turned-lovers love story, and I know I’m not the only one wishing #Trixya would happen IRL. I've also shelled out so much money to Trixie alone on her merch and makeup, and I'm waiting very impatiently for them to go on tour together so I can go full Futurama and just scream "take my money" as I buy the most VIP package they have. Trixie and Katya are the ultimate definition of All Stars and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

[jullifish]

was tagged by the stunning @trixiesblondewig​  ✨

Rules: tag followers you want to get know better

Name: julia but lots of ppl are lazy and call me ju or juju and i love it

Gender: yes i am a woman

Star sign: sunny and vibrant leo

Height:160cm (5′3″)

Sexuality: im asexual & panromantic 

House: hufflepuff

What image do you use as your wallpaper: trixie in her as3 entrance look

Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?: (averts eyes) yes...

Where do you see yourself In ten years? either dead or finally taking my residency after however many years i want to be deployed to the province as a general physician

If you could be anywhere right now where would you be? a beach, any beach, lying on a small boat in the water and being rocked by the waves

What was your coolest Halloween costume? halloween isnt a Thing™ where im from, i never wore costumes

Favourite 90s tv show? the powerpuff girls! i was obsessed with them back then. and friends, which i rewatch still every so often

Last kiss: uhh... with my ex-gf, who was already my ex at the time lol. i know. very healthy.

Have you ever been stood up?: nope! i dont go on very many dates in general

Have you ever been to Las Vegas: yes gawd! twice, both times with my family. it was very PG but still fascinating to be there

Favourite pair of shoes: my very beat up pair of grey sneakers

Favourite fruit: mango and pineapple

Favourite book: good omens by neil gaiman and terry pratchett

The stupidest thing you’ve ever done: not the stupidest but one of them. me and a friend once drank 3 pitchers of mixed drinks within 2 hours playing a drinking game version of snakes and ladders, then proceeded to eat a family’s worth of chinese food, then i rode the bus home past midnight still tipsy.

All-time favourite tv shows: friends, parks and rec, brooklyn 99, avatar the last airbender, hannibal, stranger things, rupaul’s drag race, neon genesis evangelion, fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

All-time favourite songs: the gambler - fun., futile devices - sufjan stevens, into the ocean - blue october, holding onto you - twenty one pilots, kids aren’t alright - fall out boy

Last movie you saw: i, tonya :) it was great. i cried many times...

aaand tagging... @sylvansapphic @rpdrlesbian @allfallsdown @ambonbon @mangosobertfiesta @trixya-zamattel @dipimibi ​ @dejadrag @bluebow101 @anarcho-brat @morfeuor or ignore this! but while im at it, thanks for following me, darlings!!! 💖

[dawnofaqua]

Get to know me

31 questions about me

Tagged by: @dy-biadore thank you so much for the tag! ❤️

Rule: answer the questions and tag 20 blogs to get to know them better!

Nickname: I don’t have one, since my name - Erica - is pretty short. I wish I had a cool nickname tho!

Gender: Female

Star sign: Capricorn

Height: 5′6 I think? In Italy we have a different way to measure our height, so I can’t be sure - it’s 154 cm anyway

Time: 3:10 PM ( I should sleep but SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK ) 

Birthday: January 4th

Favorite bands: I don’t have a favorite band, but I do listen a lot to Fifth Harmony if they count

Favorite solo artists: Adore ( DUH ), Rupaul, Jinkx, Britney Spears, Adam Lambert and so on - I listen to all genre of music basically, so I could get going all day here

Song stuck in my head: Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds, I CAN’T STOP HUMMING IT EVERY TWO SECONDS

Last Movie Watched: Star Wars The Last Jedi ( I wanted to watch Coco for my birthday but I couldn’t go 😞 )

Last Show Watched: Like the Biadore trash I am, I was rewatching Season 6 of Drag Race just few minutes ago

When did I create this blog: My main blog is about videogames, tv series and stuff like that - so I didn’t want to annoy other people adding my new addiction - aka Drag Race but mostly Biadore - on it and decided to open this side blog :)

What do I post: Drag Race in general, but usually I can’t stop my Biadore ass from posting mostly about them - especially now since everytime I get a notification from one of them I can’t help but hoping they’re announcing they’re dating LMAO

Last thing I Googled: “Blame it on Bianca Del Rio”’s tour, I had to check the price of the tickets for a person I know - I ALREADY GOT MINE MONTHS AGO YAYYYYY

Do you get asks: Nope, but I’d love to chat with someone! Especially someone that can freak out with me about Biadore 😍

Why did you choose your URL: Because I didn’t know how to call it and ended up choosing this to make it simple ahahah but well, I mostly post about Biadore and sometimes Trixya + random queens, so I suppose it’s good!

Following blogs: More than 900 lmao, I’ve been on this site for far too long

Followers: Here 28, on my main blog 191

Favorite colours: Black and purple

Average hours of sleep: SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK ( 4/5 hours more or less ) 

Lucky number: 4, because it means death in a lot of cultures and I love being a dark bitch LMAO

Instruments: I wish I could play something, I just did guitar for a few years and flute as school

What I am wearing: ... My pajama, not a very cute image tho, it’s too big for me 

How many blankets do I sleep with: 2 or 3 ( I’m always cold lmao ) 

Dream job: I really don’t know. I would love to do something about feminism and equality, but there’s no way I can achieve it here in Italy, so... I also would really love to learn how to sing or act well, but after the last rough years I just can’t do it

Dream trip: LA because I wanted to go to America FOR YEARS, and I really enjoy the view ( Plus hey, Bianca and Adore ) or New York 

Favorite food: Duh, italian food

Nationality: Italian and, unfortunately, I live in Italy lmao

Favorite song right now: I can’t love you from Adore, I literally tear up everytime I hear it

What languages do you speak: English ( Well, more or less ) and Italian

I opened this blog just recently so I don’t have ppl to tag, but whoever wants to make this please, do it and let me read! 😘

[artificialqueens]

Malibu (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

Of Lovers, Friends and Everything in Between. Part 4.- Picnic

Title: Malibu Category: F/F Summary: You’ll be fine, when you learn to move slow. Notes: If you are anything like me, you have had Malibu on repeat ever since Trixie released the single, and, since I can’t get it out of my head, well, this story came to life lol Written: Feb 2nd-3rd, 2020.

Malibu

Trixie hated Tinder, or any dating app for that matter.

Being a gay woman turned her into a target in those platforms. She’d lost count of how many men had offered to ‘change’ her, or the amount of couples that wanted to ‘spice things up’ in the bedroom. Those were the kind of comments that made her leave the app, and forget about it for months, until loneliness hit her again. It usually happened during a Friday or Saturday night, when most of her friends were out having fun, and she found herself eating cheese curds alone in her living room, with nothing good to watch on TV. That was when she would go through the cluster of apps she had labeled as ‘useless’, and click on the infamous flaming icon.

When she promised to take care of her family’s beach house for the weekend, she thought it was going to be so much fun. LA people had proven to be wild, and everybody was supposed to be beyond beautiful in Malibu, but, either her standards were too high or she had been lied to her entire life. Profile after profile and she couldn’t find a single soul that called her attention.

Just when she was about to close the app and maybe take care of herself out of pure boredom, an image appeared.

The blonde girl smiled widely at her with insanely white teeth. Her blue eyes pierced Trixie’s, making her feel as if she were drowning in their depths. There was only one picture, and the obligatory name at the bottom said Katya next to the number thirty-four, stating the girl’s age. Trixie didn’t remember having changed the age range on the thing, she never dated anybody more than five years older than her. Everything seemed off, a bit too suspicious. Nonetheless, she clicked the space that would tell her more about the person. Laughing, she finally swiped right when she read the bio, which could be called anything but that.

Take me to the beach somewhere so I can meet my dead dad.

It was a match. Trixie’s first message had been a joke about absent parents and her being alone in the beach house. Katya replied right away. The string of laughing emojis had seemed a bit of an exaggeration but, after a short exchange, Trixie was already inviting her for lunch the next day.

That was the reason why she was preparing a picnic basket, for them to eat out on the sand. Her favorite pink gingham cloth was folded and placed on top of cucumber sandwiches and fresh fruit. Right after she put a bottle of chilled wine in the basket, the doorbell rang.

With a deep sigh, Trixie rubbed her sweaty palms on the skirt of her dress, and checked her hair on the distorted reflection of the fridge. The heels of her sandals resounded loud in the open space of the living room, she liked that, it made her feel extra feminine. As if the pink flowy dress, the many layers of makeup, and the styled curls were not sufficient statement of that.

Even when she had seen the one picture of the girl, she had not been expecting the person that showed up at her front door. Katya was an unconventional kind of absolute gorgeous. She was shorter than Trixie, and her black chucks didn’t help to increase her height. She wore matching black jeans and an oversized gray t-shirt, the round neck of it was slightly darkened with sweat.

“I just drove forty-five minutes on the Pacific Coast Highway, so this better be a good lay,” were the first words Katya pronounced.

Trixie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, wow! I–”

Before she could continue, the girl burst out laughing. Her hand reached to get a hold of Trixie’s forearm as she shook her head. “I’m joking!” Her face suddenly turned serious as her grip turned tighter. “It can be medium good, I’m not picky.” Without giving Trixie a second the reply she was laughing again. “No, I’m just kidding.”

“You are, like… a lot, aren’t you?” Trixie struggled to find words to describe the ball of energy slightly bouncing in front of her. For a moment, she was afraid her unfiltered mouth had insulted the girl she had just met, but luckily it wasn’t the case.

“Oh, Momma! You haven’t seen anything yet,” the girl promised as she let go of Trixie and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Katya.” The smile that she shot Trixie was brighter than the sun burning above them, and warmer too.

Chills ran down Trixie’s spine as she took Katya’s hand, feeling electricity running through her veins as she shook it. “I’m Trixie. Hello.”

“Oof,” Katya winced, shaking her head and physically taking a step back, away from Trixie. “You need to work on your greeting. That was way too aggressive.”

A scream left Trixie unannounced. She threw her head back in joy as a small ‘you bitch’ left her mouth. She wasn’t complaining, though. Their interaction had been entertaining, to say the least. Trixie could already feel herself liking Katya right from the intro. She invited her in with a smile nailed to her mouth, and a giddy feeling invading her body. It was unlike anything she had felt before, never in her twenty-seven years on Earth had another human made her feel so nervous, yet incredibly comfortable. She was really good at reading people, she could quickly put them in categories and know if they were gonna click or not. Katya was in a category of her own. Trixie, as much as she wanted, couldn’t find a mental compartment where she could place Katya.

The blonde wavy hair bounced with Katya’s steps as she moved around the house. “So, you are rich. I mean, like, Richie Rich rich, huh?” She looked at the expensive furniture, extending and retrieving her hand, almost as if she were scared to touch and ruin anything.

“Not even,” Trixie answered with a roll of her eyes. “My family is, but they always made it very clear that it was their money, not mine.”

Katya nodded, her lips pursing slightly. “Alright. I respect that.” She stopped her examination of the room to look at Trixie. “You’ve got any plans for today?” She stuffed her hands in her pockets, fully indicating she had no idea what to do next.

“I thought we could have a picnic, outside by the water,” Trixie replied proudly, she had thought things through carefully. She started walking, making her way towards the kitchen, wordlessly asking the girl to follow her. “Hopefully, you will like what I made.“ She picked up the basket and looked over her shoulder, just to confirm that Katya was indeed walking right behind her.

“Do-do you have any water?” Katya seemed almost anxious as she asked. “I-I don’t drink,” she said pushing her chin towards the basket, where the neck of a bottle stuck out from.

Trixie quickly apologized for not asking, taking the wine out and putting it on the table. She opened the refrigerator and leaned forward. Her short dress was sure to ride up at the position. She could only hope Katya liked what she saw as Trixie pretended to find something else to drink.

“Would you like some kombucha?” She asked as innocently as possible, noticing how Katya’s eyes bolted back to her face.

“Absolutely not,” Katya spoke punctuating her words. It sounded like she was approving of the beverage until the last word was spoken. “I would rather drink the salt water straight from the ocean than that hipster excuse of a drink.”

With a roll of her eyes, Trixie put the glass bottle back to its place. “It’s really good for you, FYI. It has all these–” she turned around, and stopped midsentence when she noticed Katya was no longer in the room. Stretching her neck, Trixie saw that Katya had walked out through the sliding doors and was impatiently waiting for her.

“Come on!” She encouraged as she started walking, the basket dangling in her hand as she easily carried it with her.

Despite the small shake of her head, Trixie found herself smiling. She followed Katya’s path and reached her just when Katya was done setting the sheet down. Trixie dropped next to her on the pink and white piece of fabric, removed her sandals and extended her legs, hoping to get them at least a little bit tanned. Her hand dug into the basket and took out a small container with grapes, offered them to Katya, who gratefully took a handful, before relaxing on her spot.

“What is it that you do, then?” Katya asked around a mouthful of fruit. “How do you make your own money?”

“I’m a hair and makeup artist,” Trixie said with a smile. She loved her job and could talk about it for hours. Katya, however, didn’t seem like the type of person that could hear about hair and makeup for hours. “What about you? You have like zero information on your profile.” Trixie rested her chin on her own shoulder, squinting to get a better view of Katya, who sat on her heels next to her.

There was a sigh and a groan as Katya physically deflated, before she uttered an actual reply. “I just hate those things, you know? I never know what to say. Like, I can’t say I’m a good person. Good people don’t say they are good people! Honestly, I just wanted to put actual facts like: I’m this old, this tall, I weigh this much, and I’m in this area.”

Trixie tilted her head in wonder. “Are you a kitten up for adoption?”

The sounds that came out of Katya were frightening and charming, all at the same time. It was a genuine laughter that sounded more like an old squeaky toy. She spotted a napkin and tried to throw it at Trixie, but the wind pushed it to land on Katya’s lap instead. They both laughed openly, freely, happily. The conversation flowed easily from that point on. They touched on the most basic topics, from immediate family to likes and dislikes. They ate with the sound of the crashing waves as background noise.

It didn’t take an expert to notice they were complete opposites, but it didn’t bother Trixie. She liked the simplicity with which Katya talked about complex subjects. She would quickly jump from one thing to another, seemingly unrelated, but Trixie was sure there was some connection between topics that only Katya understood. If she could have one wish granted, Trixie would like to see inside of Katya’s head, witness how the information bounced off of the walls of her skull, tangled with the wiring of her brain, before coming out of her mouth at a rapid speed.

Something warm filled Trixie’s chest. She had no idea what it was, but it was a nice feeling. She liked the sense of comfort and instant connection she had with the girl bending in laughter next to her. Trixie wanted to run her hand through Katya’s hair, let her fingers caress those sharp cheekbones, touch every single one of her soft curves and create a mental map of her body. Katya was so beautiful, so smart, so out of her league.

“Why did you agree to meet me?” Trixie suddenly asked without even thinking about it. She sat up straight, realizing she really wanted to know the answer. “Like, I’m clearly not your type, why did you even swipe right?”

The question took Katya by surprise. Her eyes opened wide as she stared at Trixie intensely. Although, Trixie had to wonder if there was anything about Katya that wasn’t intense.

“Okay, first of all, you don’t even know what my type is.” Katya pointed an accusative finger at Trixie before continuing. “I don’t have a type. Never had. I like people, and I like sex even more, preferebly with people.” She extended her hands in front of her, as if highlighting the relation between the two. “Now, about you. I don’t know. I liked your tits, and then you got my Contact reference… I knew I had to meet you after that.” She punctuated the end of her speech with an approving nod.

Trixie’s nose scrunched up. “What reference?”

“The dead dad on the beach one?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Katya’s mouth opened in surprise. “Contact? Jodie Foster?” She asked, getting a head shake in return to each of her questions. “Didn’t you message me about wanting to meet your dad, who was dead, at the beach somewhere?”

“Yeah, ‘cause I never met my dad, so he’s probably dead, and I’m currently staying in Malibu.”

“Oh, my God!” Katya brought her hands to her hair as she yelled. “I can’t believe this. It’s all a lie. I’ve been tricked. When were you planning to tell me? When–” The rest of the question died on her lips as Trixie’s mouth crashed with her.

It was clumsy at first, Katya wasn’t done ranting, and Trixie was only trying to shut her up. Their faces bumped into each other a couple of times before they both relaxed and finally kissed. Trixie sucked Katya’s bottom lip, biting slightly. The sound that came out of Katya was so sexy that Trixie had to press her thighs together, putting pressure where she needed it the most. The moment didn’t go unnoticed by Katya. Her hands landed on Trixie’s hips, pulling her to a kneeling position. Their torsos pressed together, breasts rubbing to the erratic movements of their heavy breathing.

Trixie felt turned on beyond knowledge, all she knew how to identify were Katya’s lips wrapped around hers. Katya tasted sweet and salty, like the fruit they had shared mixed with the breeze of the ocean. There was an almost unidentifiable flavor, a strong aftertaste that lingered in Trixie’s tongue after it ran against Katya’s.

“Do you smoke?” Trixie asked against Katya’s lips, not breaking the kiss, but pulling away enough to speak.

Katya’s hand ran up Trixie’s thigh, squeezing slightly. “Would you mind if I said yes?”

Gasping to the touch of Katya’s cold hand, Trixie threw her head back. “As long as you don’t…” She lost her train of thought as Katya’s hand went higher. “If you do– oh!” She yelped as a finger ran against her underwear. “God, just fuck me, okay?” Her knees spread, giving Katya better access.

“Not here, though,” Katya spoke as she kissed Trixie’s chin. “This is not exactly a private beach.”

Trixie opened one eye, among the fog of desire she could see the figures of a family playing ball. “Fine. Let’s go inside.”

Taking Katya by the hand, Trixie stood up and started walking towards the house. She didn’t care about the stuff they were leaving behind. Nothing really occupied her mind other than having Katya on top of her, inside of her, all around her. She could feel her legs shaking with expectation. It had been a long time since she last had sex, but she wasn’t nervious. She, somehow, knew she could trust Katya. They seemed to have some sort of astral connection, and Trixie wondered how they could apply that nonverbal communication in the bedroom.

Unfortunately, the bedroom proved to be too far away. As soon as they entered the kitchen through the glass doors, the kissing restarted. Trixie pushed her own back against the nearest wall and allowed Katya to press her entire body on top of hers. It was all too much. The heat emanating Katya tickled her skin, making Trixie shiver. Their mouths attacked each other as hands landed on every spot of uncovered skin.

Katya snaked her hands under Trixie’s dress and squeezed her ass, forcing Trixie to release her mouth as she gasped in pleasure. Katya caressed the soft skin of her butt lovingly, taking her time to enjoy the feeling of the fleshy cheeks under her fingers.

“I’m gonna eat you out now, is that okay?”

Trixie could do nothing but nod at such formal request. Still in disbelief, she saw how Katya dropped to her knees. Her big smile was the last thing Trixie saw before her eyes shut by themselves. Katya’s hands found the hem of Trixie’s dress and lifted the skirt, before disappearing inside and pulling the small thong down slowly. Trixie felt a finger running up and down her entrance, circling around where she so desperately needed to be touched.

“Katya, please,” Trixie shamelessly begged, and it worked.

She felt the wet tongue pushing flat against her most sensitive spot. Her knees bent slightly, she extended her arms and tried to find support between the glass door and the cabinets next to her. Katya licked her skillfully. Her lips sucked and released her just right, her tongue flicked at the perfect pace. And as if fucking her with her mouth wasn’t enough, Katya pushed a finger inside without warning. Trixie screamed loudly, thankful that the houses were fairly far apart so the neighbours couldn’t hear them. Her sounds only grew higher in pitch as another finger was introduced, and then a third.

Time fully stopped as Trixie sunk down on Katya’s fingers, pleasuring herself at the rhythm she wanted. Her senses felt on the edge of an overload as Katya ate her out simultaneously.

“Pluh-please, stop,” Trixie asked, panting.

In a quick move, Katya removed the dress from around her head with her free hand. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I’m gonna cum.”

“Then why you asked me to stop, bitch?”

Trixie looked to the side, almost shying away from the question. “I don’t wanna… not like this, not without you.”

Sighing deeply, Katya removed her hand carefully, and stood up. “So you are one of those lesbians, huh? You don’t wanna fuck, you want to make love.” She drawled the last word, making fun of the concept.

“Excuse me?” Trixie didn’t try to hide the annoyance in her voice.

Katya took the short sleeve of her shirt and tried to dry her chin as she spoke. “C’mon. You know what I mean. I thought we were just gonna get laid, and you put together a-a stupid picnic date? For fuck’s sake. Who does that? Gross.”

“Well, I’m sorry if I wanted to do something nice for us.”

“For us?” Katya spun around with her hands in the air. “There is no us, Brenda! We literally just met. We talked once, on a hook up app. We were not even having the same conversation! I thought it was all about Contact and you were spilling your childhood trauma. What the fuck! How did you even get picnic from that?”

Crossing her arms on top of her chest, Trixie distanced herself from Katya. It took every cell of will power to step away from her underwear without picking it up, and Trixie still didn’t know if leaving it there was less shameful.

“You need to leave.”

“Oh, but we were just gonna make playlists that reminded us of our first date.” Katya pouted theatrically, stomping her feet hard on the ground.

Trixie didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. “Now!” She shouted, pointing towards the door.

Without another word, Katya stormed out, slamming the door behind herself. Trixie stared at the piece of wood, expecting something from it without knowing what it was. She breathed deeply once, twice, the third time never came. A sob cut through her chest, coming out in a guttural scream. Katya was right. Trixie was smitten since the moment she laid eyes on Katya, and not even in person, just one look at the single picture and she was gone. She understood then that the first step of being let down was getting her hopes up. It had to stop.

One day. Trixie allowed herself one day to wallow. It wasn’t even about Katya, she reasoned. She needed a moment to analyze her motives, then she would pick the pieces back up and move on with her life. Her mind was blank for the entire day. She turned off her phone, put on some baking show on Netflix, and ate microwave popcorn straight from the bag. It had been a day of nothing but self pity and indulging in all the things she knew were bad for her.

Monday came and reality kicked back in. She went to her job at the studio and tried to entertain conversation with B-list celebrities as she got them ready for their low ratings shows. That was something she was good at, something she was confident about. Just like that, she fell back into a routine and the pity party was left behind. At least for the rest of the week. Once Friday reached her again, and she was in no mood to look after her drunk friends, she felt loneliness wanting to creep back in.

Her fingers found the useless folder and clicked on the app by themselves. Between the many unread messages sitting on her inbox, the red bubble next to Katya’s face called her attention. She opened the conversation, just to make the notification go away, but what she saw was something she hadn’t expected. There was a string of messages from Katya asking her to talk, the last one left her phone number, notifying Trixie that would be her last attempt and she should call her if she felt like it.

It took less than a minute of pondering before the call was already connecting.

Katya picked up on the third ring, just when Trixie was about to hang up.

“Who is this? I don’t have this number saved. Are you a scammer?”

Trixie had to laugh at Katya’s words, that were in no shape or form a greeting. Apparently, her laughter worked as an introduction because Katya’s voice immediately changed.

“Trixie, is that you? Fuck. I didn’t think you were gonna call.”

“Hello,” Trixie said as softly as possible, remembering what Katya had said about working on her greeting.

“Hey, that’s so much better! Hi. Listen, I want… please, don’t hang up. I will go straight to the point. I’m sorry. I was rude and mean, and you didn’t deserve all the fucked up things that I said to you.”

A small smirk was slowly forming on her lips. “Go on,” Trixie encouraged her.

Even when she couldn’t see her, Trixie could tell Katya was also smiling by now. “I like you, I like you a lot. This is just so new to me. I’m used to, you know, using the hook up app to hook up. I went there looking for a one time thing, not to, like, stay. Never expected to find… you. I’ve never been with a type like you before.”

For a moment, Trixie wished she was using a land line. She so desperately wanted to twist her finger around the phone cord. “And what is my type?”

“You know, pretty girls who are out of this world funny. All the hyper-femmes I’ve found are hot on the body but empty in the head; and boring. God, you have no idea how boring hot girls can be.” A frustrated groan escaped her, but she recovered right away, as if the actual reason for the call had suddenly hit her. “I just… could you, maybe, give me another chance? It’s stupid but all I can think about is being in Malibu with you again. I’ll prepare the dumb picnic this time. Although, I can’t promise we won’t be eating, like, old batteries and drinking Red Bulls. That’s probably all the things that can be found in my bag right now, but–”

“Oh, my God! Stop!” Trixie shouted between giggles. “If what you wanted was to annoy me into accepting, you can stop now.”

Katya’s whizzing laughter travelled through miles and miles until it digitally filled Trixie’s ears.

“So, is that a yes? Can we give it another go?”

“Yes, you idiot. I’ll go out with you again.”

“Marvellous, darling! Pick you up tomorrow, same place?”

On her end of the line, Trixie shook her head. “I actually live in Century City. You can pick me up here and we’ll go to Malibu. We can even work on those playlists on our way.”

Loud laughter was heard before Katya spoke again. “Deal. Bring the Red Bulls, I’ll bring the batteries.”

Trixie smiled, pressing her cheek against the cold glass of her cellphone. “Please, don’t feed me batteries. We can go to a restaurant or something.”

“No,” Katya stated solemnly. “We’ll have a picnic. That’s gonna be our thing, I’ve declared it. See you tomorrow, then?”

“See you tomorrow. Good night.” Just before she hung up, Trixie heard Katya calling her name. “Yeah?”

“We’ll be fine. Let’s just take it slow, okay?”

“Okay,” Trixie agreed. “We’ll be fine,” she repeated, more to herself than the emptiness coming from the device, indicating that the call had ended. “I’ll be fine.”

[artificialqueens]

Wrong Side of the Moon (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

Of Lovers, Friends and Everything in Between. Part 7.- Trans Katya

Title: Wrong Side of the Moon Category: M/F Summary: “I’m Brian,” he said with a heavy exhale. Katya smiled as she looked out the window. “I used to know a Brian.” Notes: I felt like writing something darker, deeper, kinda angsty; let’s see if this turns out to be it. Written: April 28th, 2020 - May 3rd, 2020.

Wrong Side of the Moon

Katya had seen the minivan more than once by now. She wasn’t sure how many times, but she had seen the car going around before. Surely last weekend, maybe the one before that, too. She had photographic memory, and the white vehicle, with little stickers on the backseat’s window, was unmistakable to her.

She elbowed the girl standing next to her, without taking her eyes off the car. “My admirer is back,” she said before lighting up a cigarette and bringing it to her lips.

Kennedy followed the direction of Katya’s stare and saw the headlights being turned off. “Oh, oh. He had never stopped before, though. Are you gon’ do something?”

The smoke left Katya’s lips deliberately slower than normal. She felt sexy when doing so. She knew she looked good; she looked hot. The dark sky didn’t have a single star in sight, the only lighting was provided by the yellow street lamp that had become her best friend. It accentuated her curves just enough to highlight her fit body, but not too much to reveal any imperfection.

She stood there, back against the wall, one arm wrapped around herself, and the other finding support on it to put the cigarette to her lips. She didn’t move, not just yet. She needed to assess the situation. There was something about the bald man behind the wheel that intrigued her. He seemed to be hiding. There wasn’t much of him she could see, even when her eyes had learned to identify shapes in the dark.

One didn’t become a lady of the night without refining one or two senses.

He was nervous, of that Katya was sure. With a sigh, she figured she might as well get this done and over with.

The point of her black leather boot stepped on the butt of the cigarette, and she started her way to him. She purposely swayed her hips with every sharp step she took. The high heels resounding against the pavement reminded her she was the one in charge. And she liked that power.

This routine she knew rather well. She went over to the passenger window and waited for the guy to roll it down. Making sure to bend over slowly, she supported her forearms on the door in a way that pushed her breasts together, and tilted her head in a seductive angle.

“Bonjour,” she let out slowly, enticingly. “You looking for some fun tonight?”

The man faced away from her, his eyes went from one end of the street to another. He seemed to be making sure nobody saw them. He nodded to himself. Katya could see the cogs in his head turning, the inner battle of a first-timer. She could almost hear the voice inside his head, telling himself he could do this, that it was going to be okay, that nobody was going to find out.

When he finally looked at her, his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, wow. You’re beautiful.”

Katya innocently brought her chin to her shoulder. “Thank you. So kind of you.”

For a moment, nobody said a thing. He observed her and she let him. He was admiring her, in a way that -maybe- nobody had done before. She was used to people looking at her, to have women judging her. She was used to men undressing her with their stares, to pinpoint the moment when she became a sexual object to them. This man wasn’t like any of them. His stare travelled across her face almost lovingly, taking in the beauty of her features. This adoration actually made her feel more uncomfortable than any previous objectification.

“You are, like, very beautiful,” he let out in a whisper.

“I mean, it’s not like I will get tired of hearing it,” Katya said, flipping the ends of her curly hair. She had just cut it herself, and she loved it. The blonde waves ended right above her collarbone, and the bangs were just long enough that they played with her lashes when she blinked. “But, I’m on the clock here,” she continued. “So, unless you are planning on repeating that as you fuck me, I need to go back to my spot.”

He choked on his own breath, surely not expecting her to be as bold and direct. “I-I…” he stopped, trying to control the stumbling of his words. “Wow. Okay. You see, I’m looking for, umm, something in part–” He shifted in his seat. “I just wanted to know if you were… Oh, God. I don’t know how to explain this without sounding mean. Like, I don’t wanna insult you.”

Ah. She had been right. This was his first time. She could have fun with that, play mind games, make him feel embarrassed; most of her tricks liked to be put down like that. Again, he wasn’t like any other client she had had before. Just as fast as the idea had crossed her mind, it was gone.

She nodded her head, agreeing with his silence instead. “You want to know if I’m a girl with a dick,” she said it so easily, so casually. “And I am. Yes, sir. Is that a deal maker or breaker?”

The answer to her question came in the form of a door unlocking. She smiled widely, feeling a sudden relief she wasn’t expecting. She jumped in, pulled the visor down and opened the mirror. Yes, she looked good.

“So, you wanna hear tonight specials or–” she started but was immediately interrupted.

“I want it all,” he said without hesitation.

Katya liked that.

“Very well, then. I live a few blocks from here. Go right on the next light and I’ll guide you from there.”

She buckled up as the engine came to life. He did as he had been told and turned the corner, waiting for her next instruction.

“What’s your name?” She looked at him expectedly. She wasn’t sure if he was the type that would give his actual name but she kind of hoped that he’d be honest.

“I-I’m…” he made a pause, directed his attention to her for a second before staring back at the road in front of them. “I’m Ken,” he said. “My name is Ken.”

Oh, so a fake name it was.

“I’m Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova,” she introduced herself. She spoke fast, in the confusing way that she loved, and got the reaction that she wanted. “But you can call me Katya.” She waved a hand in front of herself. She couldn’t precisely shake his when he was driving. “So… Ken,” she drawled the name, emphasizing its fakeness. “You are married.” It wasn’t a question, she was stating the fact.

He looked down, to the ring on his finger, and gripped the wheel a little tighter as he nodded.

“And how old is your kid?”

This time he fully turned to face her, his eyes were wide in shock.

“Oh, I just saw all the Barbies,” Katya pointed her thumb towards the backseat, as a way of explanation. “I’m just trying to keep the conversation going, you don’t have to–”

“My name is not Ken,” he suddenly blurted out.

“I know,” she responded with a smile. Her hand landed on his thigh, physically telling him it was okay. “At the stop sign, take a left.”

“I’m Brian,” he said with a heavy exhale.

Katya smiled as she looked out the window. “I used to know a Brian.”

The rest of the way was spent in a comfortable silence, just two people that shared the same space. No words were needed to fill the air between them. Not even the radio was playing, but nobody noticed. The car moved through the empty streets slowly. They had no rush; if anything, the trip ended too fast. Sooner than expected, she was pointing him where to park.

The building was the very last of the many towers. Usually bathed in light, either by the hot sun or the tender moon. That was the reason why Katya kept lightbulbs at the minimum. The apartment was small, and she liked it like that. She also liked to maintain it messy during the night. She never made the bed when a client left the place, she left the condom wrappers on the floor, the bottles of lube stood open on the nightstand. It was a statement. The men that went there could have her for the hour, for the night even, but they didn’t own her. There were others before them, and there would be more after them.

Brian stood by the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets, as that same realization dawned on him.

“Come, come,” Katya encouraged him. “Why don’t you take a seat while I change into something less comfortable?”

With a nod, he took the seat she was offering and watched her leave. She closed the bathroom door and leaned against it with a sigh. She had literally lost count of how many guys she had brought home, how come this time felt so different? There was something special about Brian, she had sensed as much weeks prior. When he drove in circles, always looking but never stopping. He made her nervous, but in a good way. Like when she was about to ride a roller coaster, anxious about the unknown but fully aware that everything was going to be okay. The way he was so enamoured by her, even without knowing her, made her stomach go up in knots.

No.

She couldn’t go down that road.

This was just another gig; business as usual. This was a first-timer and she was going to give him the night of his life. Not because she had the idea of maybe, possibly, developing feelings for this stranger. No. She was a professional who had a job to do, and she was going to do it right. That thought went through her mind as she changed. She wore her favorite red lingerie, with garters holding her lace stocking in place. From the cabinet, she pulled her backup lipstick and reapplied the bright scarlet shade on her lips. The full length mirror showed her an image that she liked.

It was showtime.

Brian was sitting right where Katya had left him, quietly observing his surroundings. His hands rested on his knees, his feet were a little too close together. It was a cute picture. One that she interrupted just by walking into the room. He immediately straightened his back at the sight of her. She pressed herself against the doorframe, arching her back and bringing her hands up to her breasts. Her mouth opened sexily, as her body slid down slightly before coming back up. Stretching her arm, she grabbed a remote control from a shelf and the sound system came to life, playing one of her favorite songs. The notes were slow and sensual, and the foreign language made everything more mystical.

Ever so slowly Katya made her way to him. First she went around the chair, her steps synchronized to the beat. Her hands glided from one of his shoulders to the other, her nails scratched his neck slightly. She spread his legs and stood between them; finding support on his thighs as she moved to the sexy rhythm of the music. Her body knew how to dance without asking her brain about the next step. The music dictated her every move and she responded. She turned around and bent over. Her ass was right in front of him. She swayed her hips side to side on tempo.

The unmistakable sound of a zipper becoming undone was heard, he surely couldn’t take it anymore and had to free himself.

Brian swallowed hard. “Ca-Can I touch you?” he asked oh-so-respectfully.

She answered his question by grabbing his hands and putting them on her ass, one on each cheek. He lost no time. He started caressing her, his fingers softly kneading the flesh of her butt. Time seemed to stop when she felt his lips on her skin for the first time. Her eyes closed by themselves at the tender gesture. His mouth followed the outline of her panties on one side, then moved to the other. Meanwhile, the palms of his hands drew imaginary circles on her hips, keeping her in place as he left a trail of butterfly kisses.

The song ended. Nothing came on next. Complete silence surrounded them until it was broken by his voice.

“Turn around.”

It was a command, one that Katya could only obey. She did. She straightened her back, and spun to face him, having to look down to do so. His hands went around and found her ass again, only to push her closer to him. This time, his mouth went straight to her stomach. He kissed her skin a few times before his tongue ran against her toned abs. His touch was so delicate, so tender, so hot.

The lace panties did nothing to hide her erection. She was hard, and wet. An incessant throbbing pushed against the red material, making it clear she was ready. He was taking his time to travel across her torso, though. It was almost as if his mouth was taking a print of her every curve.

“Will you tell me if I’m doing it wrong?” he spoke against her skin. “I have never done this before.”

“I will,” she promised, unable to form a full sentence when he was making it hard to even breathe.

Finally, his fingers hooked on the waistband of her underwear. He looked up at her, asking for permission. She nodded effusively. She wanted him, she needed him.

Brian surprised her yet again by releasing a deep sigh; the corners of his mouth curled up, threatening to break into a smile. He pulled down the soft material, leaving it to stretch at her shins. His eyes went up and down her length, the loving gaze had turned darker now. Adoration had mixed with lust, and it was an extremely erotic combination; but there was still something stopping him from touching her.

Katya gave him time, allowing his desire to fight his logic. On the outside, he was so calm and relaxed, but she knew better. She could tell that in his mind, there was a hurricane, trying to tear away everything that had been nailed down by society. He needed to get rid of any preconception left in him if they really wanted to see this through. And, even when she was more than happy to be there to help him, it was a decision he had to reach all by himself.

Her hand cupped his face, and he leaned into her touch. He was letting go. He was ready.

She guided him forward, and he wrapped his hot mouth around her, sucking slightly. Her other hand went to the back of his head, setting the pace. They were soon pulled into a trance, where nothing else existed but them. No other sound could be heard but her soft moaning, and his wet mouth around her. She didn’t fuck his face, as she was used to doing with other men. He blew her at the speed that she wanted. He sucked her off with a certain clumsiness that was almost charming. His hands went up to her breasts, pressing and releasing to the rhythm of her thrusts. It took his fingers pinching through the fabric of her bra, to have her cumming hard inside his mouth. He flinched in surprise but didn’t allow her to pull away, he kept on sucking until she was done; licked her clean until she was soft again.

Katya offered her hands to help him up. “I–” It was probably the first time she was left speechless. She literally had no words to express what had just happened, what she had just felt. “Now let’s take care of you.” She decided to go safe, to pull the attention away from her; to focus on the person actually paying to be taken care of.

Brian shook his head. Lowering his hand, he pulled the hem of his plaid shirt. “There’s no need. I kinda, umm… I’m good.”

“Oh!” Katya looked up, catching the sadness in his eyes. “Hey, it’s okay. We can just call it a night.”

“No.” His answer came out faster than his thoughts. “Please,” he begged. “Not yet.”

Their bodies were so close together. Katya was sure that, if she inhaled deeply, their torsos would be touching. Nonetheless, he was still out of her reach. Even when he stood there, towering her, with eyes that pierced right into her soul, he was so, so far away.

One of his hands went up to her face, his thumb ran against her cheekbone. His eyes scanned her features. “You’re so beautiful,” he told her in a whisper, only for her to hear. “I can’t get over it. It’s unreal.” With every word that left his mouth, his head moved closer.

Katya closed her eyes, expecting to feel his lips on hers, but it didn’t happen. His forehead landed on hers instead.

“What do you wanna do now?” The question came out matter-of-factly, she truly was willing to do whatever he asked her to. She had agreed to comply with his every desire since the moment he finally stopped the car across from her corner.

“Would you fuck me?”

She felt his breath against her skin as he voiced the request. She couldn’t help herself. Stretching her neck, Katya captured his lips with hers. They were soft, just like she had imagined them. His kiss was even softer. Brian tilted his head, pecking right at the corner of her mouth and made his way to the center. He sucked on her bottom lip slightly, ran his tongue against it, and released it. She tasted herself as soon as he pushed his tongue passed her lips. Suddenly, something primitive took over her. She grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him, if possible, even closer. Their noses bumped together, their teeth crashed with each other, their tongues met outside their mouths.

With shaky hands she rid him of his shirt, meanwhile, Brian sneaked his hands behind her and undid her bra. They took on the task of undressing each other in a matter of seconds.

Katya guided him to the bedroom, and they sat on the bed. “As bad as I wanna fuck you right now,” she admitted. “I’m gonna need a few minutes to get things going again; if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, God. Yeah, sure. There’s no rush… I mean, I don’t know about you.”

She simply smiled, pushing him to lay on the mattress. He scooted over until he reached the pillows and she laid next to him, resting her head on his chest. One of his hands immediately started caressing her back. She toyed with his free hand, running a finger on his wedding band.

“Are you sure you don’t have to go home?” She spoke placing kisses around a nipple, unable to stay away from his skin. “Where does she think you are right now?”

Brian sighed. “She doesn’t ask any questions.”

This time Katya fully looked at him, supporting her chin on his chest. “She doesn’t, huh?”

“Nope,” he answered her rhetorical question. “I guess that’s the key to our relationship working so well. Most couples believe in talking, we believe in silence. She will always love me, no matter what.”

“She sounds amazing.”

He smiled. There was a sweetness in his face that Katya couldn’t help but envy. She wondered if anybody had smiled like that when thinking about her.

“She’s the best.” He didn’t talk to Katya. He stared at the ceiling fan as he spoke to the air around them. “We grew up in the same small town, so I guess we learned to be together the old fashion way. You know the type. She gets up early and makes me lunch, irons my shirts, feeds the baby. Like those housewives you see in the old movies, and she has that classic beauty too. I’m lucky to have her by side. She does so much to keep my life together.”

Silence enveloped them then. Katya did her best to analyze his face as he got lost in thought. The room was dark, and only part of his body was illuminated by the moonlight. A few rays made it through the blinds, softening his features and making him look almost like an apparition. It couldn’t be real. That moment couldn’t be happening. He had such a good heart, and was clearly trapped between who he wanted and who he was expected to be. Something, or someone, had forced him to become this family man, to have a wife and kids and carry on an impeccable life. The only issue was that he didn’t seem content with the results, he had gone to her, after all.

“Brian, why are you here?” Katya had never had filters; she always went straight to the point, and this time was not going to be any different. “You have this amazing, picture-perfect family, and you are spending the night with a transexual hooker. I don’t get it. Are you gay?”

His eyes snapped to look at her, yet the soothing motion of his hand never stopped roaming her shoulder blades. “I thought I was,” he confessed. “I always knew I wasn’t like everybody else, like all the other boys. They used to call me names, so I went, found the prettiest girl in town and married her. What point was I trying to prove? I don’t know. I guess I always knew, but I needed to hide it. Then I heard some coworkers talking about you girls. Maybe if I gave it a try…” he trailed off, leaving her to connect the dots and finish the sentence for him.

“We get a lot of those.” She nodded. “Men usually want something, like, in the middle, so they go after the dolls.”

Brian tried to shrug, Katya’s weight still rested on his arm. “I guess you can put it like that, but not really. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I would come across someone like you. No offense, but, in my head, I was looking for a man in a wig, sorta. Never did I think I was going to find this whole woman.”

She didn’t mean to, but Katya couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was a nervous response to such a sincere comment. A part of her still needed to learn how to take compliments without finding it funny.

“Why me?” The question left her lips without asking her permission. The tone of her voice went back to serious.

“I don’t know. You just… made me feel things. When I first saw you, you were leaving with a guy. It felt like, when you get in the car, the radio comes on, and you catch the tail end of your favorite song. I don’t know if that makes sense. If only I had gotten there a few minutes earlier. I knew it had to be you, but I was too late.”

If he had planned to continue his crazy analogy, she didn’t let him. Before she knew it, she was kissing him. She thanked him for his beautiful words in the only way she knew how. Her mouth found his in a desperate kiss. It all happened too fast, she needed more and more of him. In a quick move, she placed a leg around his hips and pulled herself to straddle him. The only reason why her lips disconnected from his was to find his neck. She nibbled tenderly, finding a small bundle of nerves that made him moan loudly.

His hands took a hold of her hips, forcing her to stop. She hadn’t noticed she was rubbing against him so aggressively.

“Katya.”

The name left his lips for the first time. He said it slowly, tasting each of the letters as they bounced off of his tongue. His chest physically contracted at the sole mention of her name.

His eyes lit up.

The hurricane had dissipated.

He was finally free.

It took a simple stretch of his neck to connect their mouths again. He seemed to be the one losing control by then. Something animalistic took over him; he attacked her lips with complete abandon. Her name was pronounced repeatedly, like a mantra between breaths of air and hungry kisses.

Katya was pulled into a dreamlike state the more he adored her, the more he made love to her mouth with his. She could see the bond being created. The connection between them transcended flesh and logic, reaching a spiritual level that she had only dreamed of. Yet, as magical as this experience was, she needed more. The carnal desire was still there, growing and growing, consuming her.

Their lips parted out of pure necessity to pull air back into their lungs.

“I will now proceed to eat your ass, is that okay?” Katya spoke as she looked at him straight in the eye.

Brian nodded slightly. The mood of the room had changed, it wasn’t charged with fear anymore. The expectation was electrifying, fueled by desire and want, not doubt and uncertainty. It was the perfect setting for a man and a woman to unite for the first time.

He looked angelical, bathed in light, completely nude, both in body and soul.

She took her time to travel down his body. She kissed the birthmark on his chest, played with each of his nipples before she moved on to his stomach. Her lips marked his skin with prints made of deep red. It seemed like no inch of him was going to be left untouched, but she purposely avoided where he needed her the most. Her arms hooked under his knees, pulling them up to have better access.

The first touch was a soft kiss, which provoked a high pitched moan from him. Katya smiled against his skin, proud of herself. The sounds emanating him only encouraged her to keep going. She pulled every trick she knew, and ate his ass like she had never done before. Part of her wanted to stay there forever, making him feel good, using her tongue to take him into unknown levels of absolute pleasure. Her own need soon became too much, she needed to be inside of him, and she needed it yesterday.

A whimper escaped him when she moved away. It took her seconds to get a condom and the bottle from her night stand; and not even a minute later she was positioning herself to enter him. The cold finger, covered with lube, came first, making him jump a little.

“Baby, look at me,” Katya requested.

Brian complied the best that he could, his stare tried to find her face through hooded eyes.

“I need you to talk to me, okay?” she continued. “If it hurts, if it becomes too much, if you like it. Bitch, especially if you like it.”

“Oh, God. Just put it in, already.”

A wicked smile took over her face at his command. “Relax.” Her voice was soothing, and she immediately felt him loosen up. Her hand helped him prepare to take her and, after a few minutes, she could feel he was ready. “I’m going in now.”

Brian screamed in pleasure as she filled him, inch by inch. She moved painfully slowly, giving him time to adapt to her size, but he took her just fine. He felt tight around her, and she had to try extra hard not to roll her eyes. She wanted to take in every single one of his expressions. She wanted to drink in how his face distorted in satisfaction when she started to move. There was no need to go hard or fast, she unhurriedly moved in and out, easily setting the pace.

The sight displayed in front of her was enough to pull her over the edge. Brian had an arm across his eyes, his mouth was wide opened, expelling screams, whimpers and moans. His chest went up and down unevenly as he tried to breathe, and feel, and exist, all at the same time. More importantly, she could see his hard on right under her. His penis was big, really big. It bobbed against his stomach with every thrust. The harder she pushed into him, the harder it would bounce. It was a hypnotizing motion. She suddenly wanted it inside her mouth, and her want didn’t precisely ask physics if it was possible. She was flexible and he was rather large, her body simply figured she could do it.

Bending forward, and taking advantage of her hold on his legs, she pushed his hips up. Before she knew it, she had part of his erection in her mouth while, at the same time, pushing herself inside of him.

Quick as a bolt, his eyes snapped open, not really understanding what was going on. He felt her sucking him. He felt her thrusting into him. She was in him and yet all around him. It literally provoked an overload in his system, causing him to nearly pass out as he came long and hard inside her mouth. She swallowed his full climax while still rocking her hips. It wasn’t until she was sure he was done that she basically slammed into him, finding her release with a scream herself.

The emptiness of their aftermath was suffocating. The room smelled like sex, it smelled like poetry as two bodies physically disconnected yet bonded in levels beyond rational thinking.

Katya dropped into his arms. She could feel sweat dripping down her spine, her bangs sticking to her forehead, and her make up was probably a mess; but she didn’t care. Not when she had his warm hand caressing his back, and the cold moonlight caressing her front.

“Oh… my… God!” Brian let out between chuckles. “I-I honestly had no idea. Like, I didn’t know it could be like this.”

Katya smiled, running a fingernail around his belly button. “It is when you hire an expert.”

It was a joke, it was meant to be a joke, but her words were enough to make the curtain fall. The magic had ended, the spell had been lifted. He had hired her. She was a hooker and he was her client. Nothing more. She had promised herself she wouldn’t forget that, and she did. It was about time to regain control of the situation.

She pushed herself up. “I gotta go change. Just leave the money on the dresser.” She pointed at the exact spot as she stood by the bed. “You can see yourself out, right?”

Brian sat up. “What the fuck? Are you serious? You don’t expect me to just leave, do you?”

Katya scrunched her nose. “I kinda do,” she said in a childish tone, accompanying her words with a pout. Another facade to keep people at arm’s length.

He didn’t move.

She sighed. “Okay, look, if you want, we can do this again another day. Right now I gotta go. I need to go back to my girls.”

Katya didn’t know if she had suddenly developed X-ray vision, or if he was just a transparent being, but she could literally see the connections in his brain trying to make sense of the situation. He was confused, he was angry, almost sad. And he traveled through several waves of emotions in a matter of seconds, until it finally clicked.

“At least let me drive you back,” he offered.

“It’s only a few blocks.”

“Katya… please,” he begged.

It was too late to say no, not when she had given him more of herself than she had anybody else. So she agreed. They both got dressed. She fixed her hair and make up in the bathroom, and he watched from the bedroom, through the partially opened door. He held her by the waist as they made their way to his car, and he held the door for her as she got in, closing it after pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head.

“You know,” he spoke to her, but wouldn’t face her. He occupied himself in settling in the driver’s seat. “I wish I had known you sooner. Things woulda been a lot different, I think.”

“Maybe in another life,” she suggested. “Maybe we already met, you know, in a previous one. It kinda feels like it.”

“Maybe,” he agreed with a nod.

The short drive was done in silence. He left his open hand between them, and her self control lasted less than a block. She intertwined her fingers with his and didn’t let go until they reached her spot.

Brian stopped the car, but didn’t put it in park. She got the hint, the sooner it was all over, the better.

“Well, if you ever want to see me again, you know where to find me.”

“I will, I will. I promise. Thank you… for tonight.”

Trying her best to hide a smile, Katya got down from the car. She spotted Kennedy standing right where she left her, so she concentrated all her will power in making her way to her friend, without looking back. If she did she would surely run back to the car, and ask Brian to take her away with him.

“After a long night of hooking,” Kennedy recited to the night air.

“Shut up, you stupid whore.”

Katya laughed openly, happily, as a white minivan, with stickers on the backseat’s window, drove away.

[artificialqueens]

Recruitment 101 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

This is a response to boonoir’s tumblr post about 69 Trixya smut prompts! I was originally going to wait until I had them all written down and post one every day but I think it would be better if I just post them as I go. That’s also the reason why they will not be listed in the original order.

Of Lovers, Friends and Everything in Between. Part 1 - Office Sex.

Title: Recruitment 101 Category: F/F Summary: How far are you willing to go to get the job that you want? Notes: Yeah, the idea of this story came to me almost in a fever dream, I’m not even sure if I’m going to be able to pull it off but… here goes nothing. Written: Dec 27th, 2019

Recruitment 101

“Alright, Miss…” Katya looks down at the piece of paper in her hands, hoping to find the information that she needs. “Umm. Mattel.” She lifts her head to face the young woman across the desk, whose shaky hands are playing with the hem of her own skirt. “You know, there’s no need to be nervous. We are just going to have a nice chat.”

The girl smiles shyly, her crooked teeth barely visible behind the hot pink lips. It doesn’t feel unnatural. It seems intentional, almost as if the girl has years and years of practice on her. She has mastered the art of smiling while hiding her teeth at the same time, and it is impressive. Katya can easily detect this is a woman of many talents.

“Oh, I know,” she replies with a wave of her hand, dismissing Katya’s words. “I’m not nervous, I’m anxious. I just… I really want this job.” She bites her lower lip, her stare is intensely pinned to Katya’s. “Like, really want this job,” she repeats herself. The words leave her lips in a heavy exhale. Her tongue runs against her top lip slowly. At the same time, she changes her crossed legs, switching to left over right. Her moves are sensual, she even makes a small pause, allowing the eyes of her - hopefully - future boss to get a glimpse of her underwear.

Katya swallows hard, the imaginary knot on her throat preventing air from reaching her lungs properly. The papers land on the desk in front of her and she places her tangled fingers on top of it. Her gaze scans the applicant. She allows her eyes to do so openly and shamelessly, because that’s what the young woman wants her to do. That’s why the girl is placing her arms on the seat of the chair and scooting forward, to give Katya a better look of her cleavage. And Katya is enjoying every second of it.

“I can see that, Miss Mat–”

“Please,” the girl interrupts her. “Call me Trixie.”

Katya nods. “Trixie,” she pronounces the word slowly, tasting every letter as they bounce off of her tongue.

Trixie smiles approvingly. “Unless there’s something else you would like to call me,” she makes a pause once again, a pause she uses to wink theatrically. “…Boss,” she finishes her sentence with confidence.

For a moment, reason kicks in. Katya takes a pen and scribbles something down. “Aren’t you cocky?” Her question is rhetorical, something to fill the air around them as she takes notes.

With the corner of her eye she sees Trixie shrug a shoulder. “I’m confident in my skills, I know what I am capable of doing, but also what I can’t do. So if you’re looking for humility, I’ve got some of that too.”

A bubble of laughter escapes Katya without her permission. “So you are a people pleaser.” It isn’t a question, Katya is affirming it. Yet, the answer that she gets in return is something she is not prepared for.

“Oh, I’m sure I can please you.”

The pen slips from her fingers, a blue line is left across the paper as proof of Katya’s surprise. She doesn’t say anything, words crash with each other inside her brain, making it impossible for her to pick the correct ones to string a sentence together. All she can feel is heat exuding her every pore, sweat already pooling at her lower back. Her thighs press together, the black pencil skirt making the task a lot easier. Taking a deep breath, she forces the professional version of herself to take over, to keep the interview in track.

Thankfully, the desk separating them is wide enough to put some distance between them. One more thing Katya is suddenly thankful for, is the wood panel that goes down and covers the space between the metal legs of the furniture. The cover up allows her to squirm in her chair slightly, putting pressure where she needs it the most.

“Trix… Miss Mattel,” she decides to use last names. The least personal this interview can be, the better. “Tell me, what are your goals? What is it that you aspire to?”

The aspirant seems to actually be thinking of a proper answer. A hand goes up to curl a lock of hair, Trixie twists the blonde strands around her fingers before releasing them. Katya feels herself being pulled into a hypnotizing trance, as her eyes follow the motions of the manicured fingers.

“Can I be fully honest?” Trixie speaks carefully. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… my goal is to be on top of you.”

Air catches with her own spit and Katya suddenly finds herself coughing. “Eh-Excuse me?”

Trixie laughs, screams in delight. Her head is thrown back in blissful satisfaction, her breasts are pushed forwards, threatening to fall out of the restrictive shirt. “I’m sorry. I meant, professionally. My dream is to be one of the major partners of the company. I don’t have the money to become an investor, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to climb up the professional ladder.”

Her eyes, once again, move up and down Katya’s body. Her gaze is dark and intense. Katya grows insecure. She has to wonder if Trixie is able to see the sweat emanating from the skin of her chest; if she’s able to detect the erratic rising and falling as she struggles to suck air in; if her nipples are hard enough that they trespass the material of her button up.

“Whatever it takes?” Katya repeats Trixie’s words in the form of a question, an inquiry that is pronounced almost as an invitation. Katya is kicking herself inwardly, because she can’t help but admire how hot Trixie is, how every word that falls from her lips is a proposition to something else. And Katya’s body is reacting, her core is throbbing with possibilities.

Trixie gets up, her head nods ever so slightly. “If it gets me the job, I’ll do it.” Her hands land on her own hips, slowly moving up and down her sides, before finding the buttons of her blouse. The top two are already undone, and she takes care of releasing the next one. Her pink lace bra comes to view, and she runs her nails across her exposed breasts. “Do you like my… qualifications?” Trixie asks as Katya’s eyes follow the red trails involuntarily, licks her lips in anticipation. There is no turning back, Katya decides then and there. Her body is already screaming with want. She can do it. She has enough power in the company to let this one thing happen, plus, is not like she’s the one asking for it, or favoring the candidate. The girl is offering.

Pushing herself back, Katya lets herself fall on the chair. “I would have to examine them closely, before I make a decision.”

A kinky smile takes over Trixie’s entire face. Her plan worked. Katya is willing to let her think that, to make her believe she successfully seduced the recruiter and is one step closer to land the job of her dreams. She can do that and ensure a good lay in the office for herself at the same time. There are literally no downsides to the situation.

It’s time to put her plan into motion. Trixie makes a show as she closes the gap between them. First, she leans on the desk, both hands land flat on the wooden surface. Her arms are strategically placed to push her breasts together. The back of her legs move the chair out of the way. The high heels barely make a sound as they come in contact with the carpeted floor. Lifting her knees higher than necessary, she walks around the big table and stands next to Katya.

“Director Zamolodchikova,” she speaks easily, having practiced the pronunciation for long enough to impress the high executive before her. Katya’s mouth opens slightly; she swivels in her chair to face Trixie, reacting at the perfect mention of her last name. Trixie smiles proudly. “You have seen my… attributes, now, I would like to give you my oral presentation.”

Katya’s breath hitches in surprise, but her brain has no time to register the words when Trixie is already dropping to her knees. Her palms hold on to each of Katya’s knees, spreading them as much as the skirt allows her. Katya doesn’t stop her, on the contrary, she sinks deeper into the chair, her hands gripping the arm rests for dear life.

Her eyes close at the feeling of Trixie’s breath against her skin. She kisses up the inside of Katya’s thigh, purposely missing her center, before going down the opposite side. The wet noises of Trixie’s open mouth have Katya in a level of desire she had never encountered before. She looks down and the image alone could be enough to push her over the edge. The blonde curls cover the space between her legs and they bob with the movement of Trixie’s head. Without thinking about it, she tangles her fingers in the styled waves and her nails scratch Trixie’s scalp slightly.

“Miss Mattel, this is wildly inappropriate.” The sentence comes out in a voice that Katya can’t recognize as her own. It’s laced with lust and need, contradicting the very purpose of the message.

Without looking up, Trixie comes as close to Katya’s center as possible. “Do you want me to stop?”

The vibration reaches Katya’s skin and, before she knows it, she’s pushing Trixie’s face against her core. The girl smiles against the material of Katya’s underwear, which is damp with want, and shamelessly licks at the traces of desire. Her hands move up, pushing the skirt to bundle up around Katya’s waist, who easily lifts her butt to allow the movement. Trixie’s fingers hook on the thin straps of Katya’s thong and pull it down her thighs, leaving it to stretch as far as it goes at Katya’s shins.

Trixie’s eyes finally meet Katya’s, she looks up at her with a naughty face taking over her features. “Now, Director, please allow me to give you a taste…” Katya’s hips buckle at the blunt request, and Trixie laughs as she finishes her sentence. “A taste of my abilities.” It’s probably meant to be another office pun, but it still works to make Katya’s arousal to grow even more.

Her ears purposely shut out everything around her. There’s no chatter from workers, sharing stories and showing pictures of their babies. The noises of the several printers going off at the same time don’t reach her. Surely a phone is ringing somewhere, they always are, but Katya can’t hear it.

A finger slowly goes up and down her entrance, smearing her own wetness across her crotch and up her pelvis. A second finger joins the task but they purposely avoid the most sensitive spots, where Katya needs to be touched the most. Once again, her hips lift off the leather chair by themselves, trying to make contact happen.

“Trixie, please,” she finds herself begging. This is not how things are supposed to be. She’s supposed to be the one in charge. The aspirant should never have control of the interview, that is recruitment one-oh-one. She must regain command of the situation. Taking advantage of the grip she still has on the girl’s hair, she pulls roughly. “Now.” The order is utter at the same time that Trixie’s lips finally land on her center.

The girl was right, she has many oral skills. She knows exactly where to suck, when to blow, and how to flick her tongue. Her lips, chin and cheeks are wet with saliva and Katya’s want. The pink lipstick is long gone, but it doesn’t matter. All her energies are concentrated on the board director she’s pleasing, guided by the hand pulling and pushing to make her touch just the right places.

A yelp escapes Katya when the first finger goes in. She sinks even further down the chair, until she feels Trixie’s knuckle. “More,” she demands in an exhale. “I need to review… your… manual skills.”

Trixie screams more than laughs at Katya’s words. “A whole performance test, I like that.”

Her mouth closes around Katya’s most sensitive bundle of nerves as a second finger enters her, then comes a third. Trixie gives her full control of the rhythm. Katya fucks her hand and mouth at the speed that she wants. She feels Trixie curling her fingertips, to make sure she’s touching all the right places within her. It only takes a few hard thrusts, before Katya is cumming, desperately screaming Trixie’s name.

The girl is still licking Katya clean of her orgasm when there’s a knock on the door.

“Miss Mattel?” A soft voice is heard through the door.

Trixie and Katya are frozen in place, waiting for the moment when the assistant walks into the office, a thing that doesn’t happen. Trixie moves around, trying to find tissues to clean her hands.

“Yes, Farrah?” she asks as casually as possible.

“Your three o’clock is here, should I send them in?”

“No!” Both Trixie and Katya reply at the same time, a little louder than could be considered normal.

There is a beat of silence, the girl on the other side of the heavy piece of wood is probably trying to put the pieces together. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you had an appointment with Director Zamo, do you want me to push this one back?”

Running her fingers through her hair, to make it look as presentable as possible, Trixie scrambles to her feet. “No, we are almost done here. I’ll see them in the conference room.”

Quick as a bolt she arranges her clothes and, staring at her reflection on an expensive vase, she cleans her face with wet wipes. Checking how much of her makeup got ruined, she reapplies her pink lipstick and black eyeliner. It will have to do for now. Katya takes advantage of the position and hugs her from behind. Her hands help to tuck the shirt inside the tight skirt. Placing a soft kiss to Trixie’s neck, she moves to the bathroom, to try and fix herself.

Popping a piece of gum inside her mouth, Trixie walks out of the office, finding her assistant already expecting her with the information of the next meeting. They walk side by side in silence, Trixie’s going through the folder, when Farrah calls her attention.

“Isn’t it boring?”

“Excuse me?” Trixie lifts her head from the numbers to find the smiling face of the beautiful young girl.

“Yeah, you and Katya. Like, you see each other all day at work, meeting after meeting, then having to go home together. It’s probably boring to work with your wife, no?”

“It actually isn’t, we… find ways to keep it fun.” Trixie smiles widely, closing the subject as they entered the conference room. “Gentlemen, thank you for waiting. President Mattel, nice to meet you.”

[artificialqueens]

And Not One Speck Will Remain (Trixya) - Oneshot - Pilandok

Trixie ponders on soulmates and the non-linearity of reincarnation. But that’s not the story.

AN: I haven’t written RPDR fic in a while. This is just something I felt like writing after watching DEW (2019), a Thai film, which is based on a Korean film. The soulmate-reincarnation concept I got from that. This isn’t much of  story though. There’s a chance this would be a two-parter. 

Part 4 of my oneshot collection in AO3.

            When Katya first touched his hand, it delivered a jolt of something he couldn’t understand but was quite explicit. It was flashes  of the Wisconsin forest and a clear country sky with stars you didn’t have to squint to see. The sensation of a boy holding his hand while they lie down in the grass. Trixie felt the trepid excitement of youth, like he was barely fifteen again. Katya flashed him a blue-white smile and Trixie imagined the stiff collar of a home-schooled teen that he always thought it belonged to.

            Trixie froze, then recovered in a second. He wondered, why now? If there was anything he could need less right now is the memories of a dead boy haunting him. But that might be exactly what is causing this, the pressure of the drag competition is probably messing up his psyche.

            Later, when it kept happening after the show has been fully wrapped, aired, and provided itself as a proverbial launchpad for his career, he began to think that it might be something else entirely.

            Kim Chi knows the story of the boy. Relayed long-ago in the haze of post-gig exhaustion, counting change on a shared floor, wondering what product they could scavenge with it. Kim Chi never heard it again, filed under things that was too tragic to bring up, so when Trixie starts, remember when I told you about my first love? Kim Chi nods tentatively, no clever quip waiting.

            Trixie is quiet for another movement, takes a deep breath, and starts over.

            “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

            No, Kim Chi doesn’t. Or maybe he does, he realizes that he never thought about it, not in the serious way that that Trixie’s eyes seem to be pleading right now.

            “Sometimes,” Trixie begins again, her third start, “I think Katya is him.”

            “That’s crazy,” Kim Chi replies before he can stop himself. He regrets it a little, but it is crazy. At least, a little too crazy for Trixie Mattel who was as much as a realist as he looks absurd in drag. Kim Chi recalls Trixie’s first love who was this bible-thumping, home-schooled neighbor that kisses him in secret. 

            “I know, I know. It doesn’t make sense, I mean Katya’s older than him. And they’re nothing alike,” Trixie rubs his scalp from the back of his head to the top, “except when they are. They smile the same and laugh the same and the way they get excited about things I don’t understand and there’s something about the way he holds my wrist. When he slides his thumb to press on the vein that’s popping out on the back of my hand.”

            “Girl,” Kim Chi relaxes, oh he’s just in love with Katya.

            “Maybe reincarnation doesn’t really work with linear time, you know. Or maybe it isn’t really a reincarnation thing but like a twin spirit thing. Oh god I need to read up on this shit.”

            “Okay, now you’re sounding like Katya,” Kim Chi jokes, feeling that he can at this point.

            Trixie smiles but doesn’t look at him. 

            “Kim, sometimes I have visions,” Trixie says, almost in a whisper.

            “Visions?”

            “When he touches me, I see things,” he sighs,”scenes from the past. From Wisconsin, from when I was fifteen. Memories of him.”

            Kim Chi slumps back in his chair. He knows that Trixie went to him cause he’s probably the only one who’s more pragmatic than him. But if Trixie swears on something so absurd, what can he say to that? 

            Before they go their separate ways, Kim Chi tells Trixie “for your sake, I hope reincarnation is real.”

            Trixie can only look back at him helplessly.

—

            “How come I’ve never heard about your old best friend?”

            Trixie looks up, not really registering anything. He sees Katya idly reading the papers strewn on his work table. This is not the first time this has happened, Katya can be horribly nosy when he wants to be and he was the type of person who would read anything he gets his hands on. Trixie thought that this must be what made him so smart. Katya laughed at this when he told him, open-mouthed and familiar, then raised his hand to show that he was reading through some random gas receipt he found on the floor.

            Trixie never minded, didn’t think he ever wrote anything down that he couldn’t have Katya read. They’re just phrases most of the time, things that would eventually turn into songs. Sometimes, a journalistic entry just to remember the event he wanted to write about.

            “Ooh, a first love, too?” Katya wiggles his eyebrows teasingly, “It’s honestly very Trixie. I mean, it’s a little barfy and blegh. But very Trixie.”

            Trixie feels like he can’t breathe, it’s horrible. The mood registers on Katya’s face and he looks like he’s cursing his mouth for the things he said. Trixie would’ve been quick to comfort him if he wasn’t being bombarded by the images of a similar apologetic face of wide-eyed country boy. These visions are happening too often— have been frighteningly vivid these days. What the hell.

            Trixie swallows the lump in his throat and tells him the story of his childhood friend. A homeschooled kid he ran into while walking in the woods. He was the eldest of the pastor’s children but that day he skipped Sunday school and would probably get a beating as soon as he went home. He wanted to be a priest, still, he believed in god and all the heavens and angels, but he wasn’t so sure about the church. Trixie thought he was the smartest boy he ever met, Trixie couldn’t even imagine thinking about god so much. He couldn’t imagine thinking about anything as deeply as he does. All Trixie could think about was how much he didn’t want to go home.

            “I don’t want to go home, too,” the pastor’s son told him, flashing a blue-white smile.

            The day the pastor’s son stole his first kiss was the first time he ever got on his knees to pray.

            Trixie ends his story with how when he was taken out of his house at fifteen, he never saw that boy again. But he heard that the boy grew up and became a priest like he had always wanted.

            “Don’t lie, Brian,” Katya tells him. Trixie is stunned but so is Katya and Trixie watches his visible confusion. “What? I don’t— I don’t know where that… Trix?”

            “I’m here, I’m here,” Trixie reaches out fo him but he doesn’t know how to feel now. He hadn’t meant to test his theory so uncouthly, but what if Katya really is who he thought he was? What if it really is reincarnation? Would he remember? Was he— was he allowed to tell him?

            “I just— I-I don’t know if it’s cause you told that story so well,” Katya was gripping his wrist tightly and it was hurting Trixie but he doesn’t dare interrupt him now, “I felt like I was there.”

            “Katya, I know this sounds crazy but—“

            “And it hurt, Trix, it hurts a lot,” Katya has tears streaming down his face although Trixie isn’t sure if he had noticed. He was obviously so baffled by all of this. “What’s— I don’t know what’s going on. Trixie—“

            Trixie never imagined it would be like this, never thought about how much it might hurt Katya. Trixie wants it so bad, to be right, to get any part of him back. He didn’t realize that it might mean losing a little bt of Katya.  

            “You were right, I lied, I’m sorry,” Trixie tells him, “but it’s a little too sad to tell you now that you’re crying.”

            Katya reaches up to touch his cheek and flinches at the moisture.

            “Oh Jesus Christ, I am crying,” he stares at his fingers in confused amazement. For some reason this makes Trixie laugh which Katya takes as a cue like he always does, and soon enough they’re cackling like hyenas on Trixie’s couch.

            When Katya touches his arm again, Trixie fights the visions.

            It’s okay, he thinks, as long as Katya stays as Katya, it’s fine.

            Trixie wants to believe in himself, but that night he dreams of the darkness of the forest near his childhood home. He dreams that he was a bruised fifteen year-old hugging his back pack which had his whole life in it. Waiting on a promise to run away together, waiting on a boy who would never show up.

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 9 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

A/N: Massive thank you to the authors at the discord server for helping me figure out the characters for this chapter.

AO3 Link

Chapter 9 - Purple.

Katya was running.

She could feel the wet sand between her toes as she ran, the water splashing her shins. The salty wind hit her face as it danced with the breeze of the ocean. The sun above her sent merciless rays of light that warmed her skin and made her sweat.

She was laughing. Katya felt the laughter bubbling at the pit of her stomach, travel up her ribcage, move past her throat and come out in the form of a scream. She looked up at the sky, there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. Her arms went up to her sides and she spun. ‘Round and ‘round she went and the laughter didn’t stop. In all her thirty-plus years of life she had never felt happier.

A few feet away, sitting on the hot sand under an umbrella, Trixie played the guitar. In her tight one piece bathing suit, she allowed her legs to be exposed to the tanning sun. Her feet were buried all the way up to her ankles, and her bent knees supported the instrument against her stomach. Her short nails moved rapidly up and down, as the other hand pressed down the right chords. Trixie’s hair was higher than ever, teased into messy curls that moved in sync with the mild wind.

Katya stopped, her full attention was directed to the beautiful girl singing to her. Trixie’s eyes met Katya’s as her soft voice told her to take her time. That was a strange concept for her. Katya had never been one to ‘take her time’. She always needed to keep things moving, to be constantly on the go. She had taken enough time to heal already. As much as she loved this magical land she was immersed in, where there was no pain, no stress, no anxiety; she needed to return to the real world. She had loved the fantastic microcosmos she had created for herself, enjoying her time with no one else but Trixie, her singing, the sun and the ocean. She had to go back.

With firm steps she walked to Trixie, sat down next to her, and wrap an arm around her shoulders. Trixie was warm to the touch. Katya couldn’t help herself, and leaned to plant a kiss on Trixie’s cheek. Just before her lips could reach the purple blush, everything became blurry. Time stopped but simultaneously went faster. Their surroundings started spinning, and then Trixie was gone. Katya was left alone, pressing her knees against her chest as the world around her rapidly vanished.

That was when she heard the beeping sound again, it was still annoying as fuck. Trixie was still singing, Katya’s ears registered the voice, the soft notes of the guitar came later.

Her eyelids felt heavy, and it took Katya several tries before she could open them. The taste of plastic was gone, the pressure in her throat was not there anymore, and her neck was finally responding. She was able to turn her head towards Trixie, who sat on the same chair as before, legs crossed under herself. Katya wanted to get her attention, but no sound would leave her mouth. She tried to call out Trixie’s name, managing nothing more than a heavy exhale to go past her lips. Same breath that went completely unnoticed, lost among the melodies created by Trixie’s fingers on the strings.

“Trix…”

Did she say it?

Did she scream it?

Did she whisper it?

Katya didn’t know, but Trixie’s hands stopped at once, letting the guitar fall carelessly to the floor. She stood up, not even bothered by the loud bang, or the damage on the instrument; and quickly moved to be by Katya’s side.

“Oh, my God! Katya! Katya, are you awake? Katya. Oh, my God.”

Had Trixie’s voice always been that high pitched?

Katya closed her eyes, trying to physically shield herself from Trixie’s loud screaming.

“Oh, no, bitch, you are not leaving me again.” Trixie grabbed Katya by the shoulders, shaking her to stay awake. “Nurse!” If the constant movement wasn’t enough, Trixie decided to call out for help right next to Katya’s ear. “We need a doctor in here.”

From Katya’s side, Trixie pulled something that looked a lot like a remote control, and pressed every button as she screamed out for help. Katya wanted to ask her to calm down, to stop moving so fast and give her brain a minute to catch up with what was going on. Then, a thought hit her. A fainting memory suddenly reached her mind, scaring her to the core. She tried to get a hold of Trixie’s arm, who said so many things at once between her shouts for help.

“Trixie,” Katya whispered, finally being able to taste the name leaving her lips again. Her brain was still having issues connecting with the rest of her body. She did know that her mouth was not fully opened, her speech was not fully functional, but she had to ask something. “Tri-Trixie.”

“I’m here, I’m here. Oh, my God. You are awake. I can’t believe… Oh, my God.” Trixie was euphoric, she moved quickly from side to side, unsure of what to do. For a moment she just stopped, looked at Katya straight in the eye and smiled. “You are awake.”

There was nothing but genuine concern and tears gathering in her eyes. It was endearing, but Katya needed an answer. She tried to speak again, her throat hurt and air seemed to be lacking. “Trixie, did I… did I–“

Just when she was finding the strength to string enough words into a sentence, the door flew open. A doctor came rushing in, holding the stethoscope around her neck with both hands. She wasn’t even finished asking what was the emergency, when she noticed Katya’s wide eyes. A nurse entered right behind her, dressed in her purple scrubs, and big curly hair bouncing as she ran.

“Oh, girl, it was about time you joined the world of the living again.” The doctor had a teasing smile on her lips as she spoke, her hands moving rapidly around herself.

“She just woke up!” Trixie informed the doctor, still in the high pitch voice. “Alyssa, she’s been trying to say something.”

The nurse, who was checking the IV in Katya’s arm, was the one to reply. “Oh, no, baby girl. It’s still gonna take some time for you to get your voice back. Just take it easy, darling.”

Katya looked at the pair, then back at Trixie. She had addressed the doctor by her first name, which meant they had a certain level of comfort. Katya wondered if they knew each other from before, or if Trixie had spent so much time there that she had befriended the staff. She had that type of personality; it took her a while, but she ultimately would fit in every room she stepped in. Katya had to refocus, her thoughts were all over the place, it didn’t feel like the right time to investigate the nature of Trixie’s social skills. Her mind landed back in the reality of the present, where Trixie and ‘Alyssa’ discussed details of her waking up, and the nurse took information from the machine next to the bed and wrote it on Katya’s chart.

“Shangie, baby, give me my gloves. It’s time for Miss Thing here to get her shit together.” The doctor popped her tongue loudly as she took the latex gloves from the nurse’s hand. “Alright, Miss Zamolodchihuahua.��

Trixie smiled and whispered a small ‘oh, my God’ under her breath but didn’t stop the doctor’s explanation. She simply moved to the side, allowing the physicians to do their job.

“I… am doctor Alyssa Edwards, here saving lives, as it is our Lord’s plan. Yes, gawd. This fine nurse is Shangela.” The young woman waved at the mention of her name. “And here’s the whole tea.” She moved to the side and flipped a switch, a board lit up where several X-Rays had been placed. “You were involved in a fight, and got pretty beat by that beast!” The last word was shouted, making Katya flinched at the sudden sound. “You see here?” The doctor pointed at the image of Katya’s ribcage with a pen. “These are broken, and these two are bruised pretty bad.” She moved to the next image, which showed Katya’s skull. “You were hit on the head, even when nothing major was damaged, you have been unconscious for almost ten days. Girl, you do know how to take a nap, huh?” She laughed and turned the switch back off, her tongue popping again for no apparent reason. “We will run some tests, just to see how everything is working under the hood, okay? But you are fine, girl. Healthy and strong, baby girl.”

A button was pressed, Katya could feel the bed moving and herself being pushed into a sitting position.

“I need you to breath deep for me, Momma,” the nurse asked. “You were having trouble breathing before and we need to know how that’s going. Now, it’s gonna hurt, your ribs are still broken, but I need to check on them lungs, alright?”

Katya felt a wave of fear invading her. All the information was thrown at her and she wasn’t given any time to assimilate it. She had been on a fight, she remembered as much. But she also received a blow to the head, she had been out like a light for days, had broken ribs, wasn’t breathing. Her face probably showed how close to a panic attack she was, because Trixie quickly went around the bed and stood by her side, holding her hand with a reassuring smile.

“Hey, I’m here. They may be loud and annoying but Shangie has been taking amazing care of you all these days, and Alyssa… well, she’s alright.”

“Alright?!” Alyssa asked fully offended, despite Trixie’s laugh. “Excuse you, but I did not absolutely kill it at med school, and graduate top of my class, for you to say I’m alright.”

Nobody contradicted her, and Katya listened to whatever they asked her to do. The check up lasted way longer than Katya would have wanted. It felt like she spent hours being touched and pushed around, tubes were removed from several parts of her body, and needles went in and out without her permission. The mood was incredibly light as she was informed, between jokes and sarcastic remarks, how badly she had been injured and how long it was going to take for her to recover.

Trixie only stepped out once, with the excuse of calling Katya’s parents, who hadn’t been able to make the trip. Trixie promised them a video call as soon as things settled down and Katya had the strength to speak again. By the time she was back, Shangela was making the last adjustment to the medication dripping from the IV, and left the room almost immediately.

It felt unreal. Trixie had waited for this moment for days and, now that it was finally happening, she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to act. She stared at Katya’s tired form, wrapped in the thin hospital sheet, and her head resting on the uncomfortable pillow. Still, Katya had a smile on her face. It wasn’t the open-mouthed one that showed all of her teeth, the one that was so undeniably Katya, but her lips were curved up at the corners. She was there, she was alive and awake. She hadn’t left her.

Katya didn’t leave Trixie.

The first tear ran down unannounced. Trixie felt the solitary drop trickle down her cheek, it followed the wrinkles around her mouth and she tasted the salty liquid on her lips. Then a second tear came, then another, and another. Before she knew it, Trixie was crying inconsolably. She sobbed at the entrance of Katya’s room, overcome with emotions that she hadn’t given permission to fully settle.

Katya extended her arms as much as she could, her hands opened and closed, motioning Trixie to move closer. She did. Still crying, Trixie went to her with shaky steps, and sat on the bed. That wasn’t enough for Katya. With a slight pull of her clothes, she made Trixie lie down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Trixie felt the erratic rising and falling of Katya’s chest, she was silently crying; which only encouraged her to do the same.

They held each other and cried for what felt like forever.

“I thought we…” Trixie stopped. That was not the time to generalized. Now, more than ever, she had clarity of what she felt, she needed to express her true feelings. “I thought I had lost you,” she confessed. “If I had lost you, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.” Katya’s eyes widened in shock, forcing Trixie to provide an explanation. “It was horrible, horrible, to see you just here, not moving or anything. It was as if someone had literally taken my heart out of my chest, tap danced on it, and flushed it down the toilet.”

Once again, Katya’s expressive eyes told her everything she needed to know. Katya was shocked, surprised, touched; and all of that was clear in the endless pools of emotions that were her pupils.

“Oh!” Trixie suddenly exclaimed, removing herself from Katya’s embrace and sitting up a little. “We caught her, Katya. We found the bitch that did this to you and locked. her. up.” She punctuated the last few words for emphasis, causing yet a fresh wave of tears to fall freely from Katya’s eyes. “I wasn’t going to let her walk, not after everything she did to you. Think again, Brenda.”

With the little strength she had left, Katya held Trixie’s face with both hands. Her throat felt itchy and scratchy as she tried to speak, nothing but grunting managed to leave her lips. She needed to do something to express the gratitude she was feeling, so she did the only thing that came to her mind. She kissed her. Katya closed her eyes and, taking advantage of the hold she had on Trixie’s face, pulled her to meet her lips. The first kiss almost didn’t register as such, just two sets of lips barely making contact. Yet, it worked as a gateway for everything they had been keeping, even to themselves, to come up to surface. That one peck led to an actual kiss, then lips were wrapping around each other, then tongues were exploring mouths, and hands were exploring bodies. It wasn’t until Katya yelped in pain, that they realized how far they had taken it.

A soft laughter left Trixie as she rested her head against Katya’s forehead. Their eyes crossed as they tried to keep a hold on each other’s stare.

“I love you.”

Katya heard her. The three words had been whispered, but they had been so loaded with emotion that there was no way Katya couldn’t have gotten the message. It took her a moment to react, Trixie looked at her expectantly, before she started to backtrack in fear.

“Look, listen, I… if it’s too much, I–”

The rest of the sentences died against Katya’s lips as she kissed Trixie again. Katya desperately nodded her head, unable to form words, but letting Trixie know she felt the same way. They kissed again, and again. They were happy to have found the courage to finally let their true feelings out, even if it was through a near death experience like this one.

Still in a tangled mess of limbs, was that Ginger found them. “Ugh! Lesbianism.” The sarcastic remark lost impact as she practically ran to Katya’s side. She hugged her friend, cried out how much she had missed her and how grateful she was that Katya was okay.

Little did they know, that was how they were going to spend the next few days. Trixie slept with her on the bed, and they kissed every chance they had. Alyssa took Katya away for scans and X-Rays, changed the medication, and wrote things down on the chart. Visitors came and went, staying way after the allowed hours and annoying the hell out of Shangela. Trixie would laugh at the way she tried to kick Kasha and Tempest out of the nurse’s break room, woke up Kennedy from her nap on the lounge, reminded Roy he was not in charge at that hospital.

Even when they hadn’t confirmed anything, people already treated Trixie and Katya as a couple. They asked Trixie how she was feeling, and how she was dealing with the whole situation. Katya received many comments about Trixie being by her side every night, and working tirelessly to catch the attacker during the day. They simply looked at each other from across the room, knowingly smiling to their friends’ words, and nodding when required.

Slowly but surely Katya recovered her voice, the bruised ribs were all better, and the broken ones were well on their way to recovery. According to the doctor, it usually took one to two months for those to heal. Katya’s body, which had always been a scientific enigma, was pretty much ready to go by the beginning of week four. No major damage had been found, there was no amnesia or loss of mobility. Exactly a month after being rushed into the ER, Katya was being released. She said goodbye to the people who had literally saved her life as Trixie pushed the wheelchair through the hallways. She could walk just fine, but it was hospital policy. The staff was sad to see them leave; Trixie and Katya had become an important source of entertainment, but they were happy to know Katya was well enough to go home.

Trixie drove them to Katya’s apartment. Even when she had offered her place, Katya had insisted she was okay to go back to that space. Trixie had gone and cleaned the apartment many times in the last couple of days. She moved stuff around, then put them back where they belonged. She was constantly debating if she wanted Katya to come back to a fresh new place, with no memories of the attack hidden between the curtains, or if it was better for her to feel right at home. At the end, she had to settle with something in the middle, since a lot of the furniture had been taken away as evidence, and the cleaning alone left the apartment looking extremely different.

Katya walked with slow steps and stopped right before Trixie could put the key in the lock.

“Hey, Trix?” She waited until she gained Trixie’s full attention to continue. “Did I shit myself?” she asked flatly.

“Wha-what?”

“Did I shit myself?” the words were repeated in the same tone.

Trixie didn’t know where that question came from, and surely showed as much in her facial features, because Katya’s shoulders dropped as she exhaled loudly.

“When I was coming home that night, the night of the attack, I really needed to use the bathroom. Like, I was shitting myself the whole way home. Then… then, it happened. When I was found, did I have shit all over myself?”

She didn’t mean to, but Trixie couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. She screamed in joyful surprise at how serious Katya was. Katya was really concerned about the matter, her straight face only fueled Trixie’s laughter even more, as wrong as it could be. It took several seconds of Trixie imitating a horn running out of batteries, before she could speak again, assuring Katya that no, she hadn’t shit herself during the fight. Katya visibly relaxed her whole body, sighing with relief. That was when Trixie decided not to tease her any more and helped her in.

Katya drank it all in with her eyes. She noticed right away the missing decoration, the couches that faced a different direction, the dinner table that had been removed. None of that really mattered, the only thing - the only person, she needed to feel safe, to feel at home, was holding her by the elbow and directing her to the bedroom, rambling on and on about what they were going to find in the next room.

“Alyssa said you needed some rest, so I came earlier and did your bed; washed the sheets and everything. You said you wanted to get ready for the sergeant’s exam, so I got you some tests examples and practice sheets. I also put some books on the nightstand, in case you wanted to read, and moved the TV from the living room. Now, I know you don’t like–”

Katya stared at her with a smile, making Trixie uncomfortable enough to stop talking.

“What?” Trixie asked with a shaky voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Katya said, shaking her head, the maniac smile still nailed to her lips. “I swear it’s nothing, I… I just love you.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped dramatically. This was the first time Katya actually pronounced the words. They entered through Trixie’s ears, bounced against the walls of her brain, travelled down past her heart, and settled somewhere hot between her legs.

“I love you, too,” Trixie replied, but Katya shook her head.

“Okay, listen. I don’t do feelings, okay? But I do want to let this out.”

Trixie restarted the movement and didn’t say anything. They both sat on the edge of the bed, Katya wincing slightly at the pain.

“Go on,” Trixie encouraged her.

With a deep sigh, Katya did. “I’m not an emotional person, feelings just… ugh.” She made a disgust face to portray what she couldn’t put into words. “It’s not easy for me to say it. I’ve only said ‘I love you’ to my mom, my dad, and a lizard that I burnt.”

“Oh, wow,” Trixie exclaimed. “Did you kill it? How did you burn it?”

“With fire, but that’s beyond the point. Shut up.” Katya tried to flail her hands, pain stopped her from expressing herself like she usually did. “I’m a very direct person. I have no issues walking up to a person, look at them straight in the eye, and say: I am very attracted to you right now, and would like for us to have sexual intercourse, if you are so inclined; and then we can never talk to each other, ever again.”

Her speech was interrupted by Trixie’s laughter. “Casual sex has never been more formal.”

“Hey, I’m serious.” Katya’s statement contradicted itself when she pronounced the words between giggles. “I never stick around after I stick it in.”

“Oh, my God! You better have a point at the end of all of this.”

“I would reach it, if only you’d stop interrupting me.” Trixie lifted her hands in surrender, and motioned for her to continue. “Fuck, all I’m trying to say is that I love you, okay? Like, I really do love you. I feel it in all my rotten, broken bones. I’ve loved you since the night that I saw you crying at the bar, chugging a whole bottle of beer. I was just too disconnected with my emotions to even know it myself. It was easier to pretend I only wanted your hot body, which I still do, by the way, but I also want the rest of you, all of you.”

Trixie bit her lip, maybe trying not to cry, maybe preventing a smile from spreading all over her face, probably just stopping herself from interrupting.

“It means a lot to hear you say that,” she finally admitted. “For the longest time, I thought I was just obsessed with the beautiful girl that wanted nothing to do with me. Truth is, you awoke something in me, and I wouldn’t believe it. I couldn’t be gay. I’ve never felt attracted to any other girl before, but all I could think about was you, and kissing you, and touching you. I guess I settled with being Katya-sexual.”

She said it so easily, with the shrug of a shoulder, that it caused laughter to emanate from Katya in the form of a whistle-like sound.

Chuckling herself, Trixie continued, barely able to keep a straight face. “I mean it. Very quickly I realized I didn’t want to be with anybody else, boy, girl, or anything in between. I guess I knew my fate was to be with you.”

Katya leaned in and found Trixie’s lips again. They shared a sweet kiss to seal their love confessions, with unspoken promises of honesty and loyalty. A kiss that intensified as feelings and emotions finally ran freely. It continued until lungs cried out for air and the only option was to separate.

“Are you tired?” Trixie asked concerned. “How are you feeling about this whole thing?”

“I-I don’t know. I’m still trying to digest everything, I suppose. This was probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I am a trained fighter, Trixie. Not only because I’m part of the Los Angeles Police Department, but, did you know I did martial arts for ten years?” Trixie shook her head, shock written all over her face. “Yes, bitch,” Katya assured her, even when Trixie wasn’t doubting it. “My dad is a karate master. He’s, like, fifth degree black belt. He taught me, from a really young age, when I used to be bullied at school, how to defend myself. Never to start a fight,” she added quickly, a finger up in front of herself for clarification. “But he trained me to defend myself, and I failed him.”

“No, you didn’t!” Trixie’s answer came out a little too quick. “Girl, you should have seen that Latrice bitch. Her face was–”

“Is that her name?” Katya interrupted with a whisper.

Just then did Trixie realize what she had done. She looked down and nodded. “Latrice Royale, she was one of Manila’s clients who didn’t take the arrest all that well.”

“I’ll say,” Katya added with a twist of her lips.

Trixie’s hand went up to caress Katya’s face, her fingers ghosted over the purple bruises on Katya’s temple. “We don’t need to talk about her. She’s away and won’t be able to hurt you anymore.” She stood up and offered Katya her hand. “Detective Zamo, would you allow me to take you to bed?”

Even against herself, and the pain on her side, Katya laughed and took Trixie’s hand. “Jesus Christ, Detective Mattel, I thought you would never ask.”

As she dropped Katya softly on the pillows, Trixie froze. “Oh, God. You know when you said that to me before?” Trixie said a bit nervous.

Katya simply nodded. “Yeah, when you asked to sit on my face.”

Trixie hid her face in her hands as she muffled a string of curse words.

Once again, Katya laughed, pulling Trixie to lay next to her. “Hey, it’s fine. You can do that again right now, you know? Like, I may not be able to move much, but my tongue is surely working.”

Trixie giggled like a little girl, pressing her face against Katya’s arm. “Oh, my God. Shut up!”

They laughed some more before they fell into a comfortable silence. Trixie ran her fingers up and down Katya’s arm, soothing the skin around the cuts and scrapes. A wave of emotions hit her again. There probably would never be a time when she wouldn’t be thankful that Katya made it. Trixie didn’t believe in God, or karma, or the healing powers of good vibes, but she wanted to thank something, or someone for allowing Katya to be there, alive and well. She should probably send a bottle of wine to the doctor; and a promise to the universe to never take what she had for granted.

Immersed in that state of gratitude is that a thought reached her mind. “Hey, while you were, umm, asleep,” Trixie paused, doubting if that was the right wording for what Katya went through. “Did you, like, dream or something? Or was it, like, you blinked and suddenly ten years have passed?”

“Oh, it was amazing!” Her voice filled with excitement as Katya explained. “I could be wherever I wanted. Sometimes we were strolling down Vermont Street, you know, just looking at all the shops. Other times, we met at a beach somewhere–”

“We?”

“Com’ere, Momma.” Since she couldn’t really move, Katya pulled Trixie to prop on one elbow, so they could be face to face. “You were always there with me. I could feel you, I knew you were there. I couldn’t always understand what you were saying, but your voice was always there. I heard you singing, telling me stories. For some reason I remember something about you using Gatorade as lube?”

Trixie screamed. “No! That was my roommate. I can’t believe you were listening to all of that. I felt so stupid talking to myself all the time.”

“Oh, no! Hearing you speak was the only thing keeping me from going towards the light. Well, there was no light, really, but, like, you know what I mean.” An unexpected yawn left her lips, she tried to stop it by closing her mouth, but still her tiredness made it through.

Pulling the sheet to cover them both, Trixie kissed Katya’s cheek. “Go to sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“No, I’m fine. Hey, let’s take a look at those practice tests you were talking about.”

“Girl, no. There’s plenty of time for that. Why don’t you take a nap and then we check those over dinner tonight?”

Katya nodded, her eyes already closing as she curled up next to Trixie. “Would you talk to me as I fall asleep? Tell me about that roommate of yours.”

Trixie did as Katya requested. She repeated the story and watched Katya drift off to a peaceful sleep, wondering if Katya knew there was very little Trixie wouldn’t do for her.

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 4 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

A/N: 

A lot is going to happen in this chapter, and I mean A LOT.

I would like to formally apologize in advance.

For your attention, thank you.

-Monkey

 AO3 Link

Chapter 4 - White.

Katya liked to keep herself busy. A mind as hyperactive as hers needed a specific task to focus on, otherwise, she would be a burning ball of unrestrainable energy. So, she liked to concentrate her efforts into a series of small chores that, as a whole, would contribute into something bigger. It wasn’t always easy to keep her head in the game. More often than not she had to be railed back on track. Ginger was an expert on doing that, but Ginger wasn’t around anymore. Now, she needed to get herself in check, and it wasn’t easy.

That day, as any other, she went to her yoga class first thing in the morning. That was the beauty of Los Angeles, Angelinos were so concerned about their fitness that it wasn’t hard to find work out classes at, pretty much, any hour of the day.

With her energy channeled for the day, or at least for the next few hours, she drove to her favorite coffee shop. She liked Priscilla’s because it looked like a bookstore more than an actual café. The decorations were earthy and warm, and there were always a lot of dogs. The best part was that it wasn’t right in the middle of the city, with too many people coming and going to allow her to concentrate. The twenty minute drive over the hill was worth the calmness of Toluca Lake.

And she needed calmness today, of all days.

She sat down on a table outside, bringing a coffee cup and a cigarette to her lips, alternately. If she had to die of something, it better be of this insanely satisfying combination.

Files were not supposed to leave the station, everybody knew that, but Katya had taken a few pictures out. The first one was the blown out image of the card they had found at the first crime scene. She knew she had seen that before, just couldn’t remember where. It was right there, in a compartment of her imaginary, but she couldn’t find the right vault. And she pictured herself, running in the hallways of her head, guided by smoke and fueled by caffeine, pulling all the imagery she had saved throughout the years, yet never picking the correct one. It was right there, and she couldn’t get a hold of it.

It was like seeing someone, that Katya knew she had met before, but couldn’t remember their name. Then spending the entire day wondering where she knew them from, coming up with nothing.

The anxiety of the situation kept making her skin crawl. She closed her eyes and tried a few meditation techniques to ease her nerves. It didn’t work very well. That was when the second cigarette came.

She picked up her phone, the white stick still secured between her fingers, and started texting. It was risky, she shouldn’t be doing it, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Another picture Katya had with her was of one of the crime scenes. The girl had her eyes lost in the middle of nowhere, and her mouth was slightly opened. Her skin was pale, since all the blood had been drained from her body. It looked like an image taken out of a scary movie, which intrigued Katya even more. There was something about this particular criminal that she simply couldn’t wrap her mind around.

One of the reasons why she was so good at her job was because she was able to canalize the killer’s instincts. Her coworkers would joke about Katya having the mind of a killer, but not the guts to actually do it. They were probably right. She could usually feel it in her bones. She could feel the motive behind the actions, the rush of the preparation, the satisfaction of actually doing it; in a weird way she was familiar with all of those. Nonetheless, her mind was empty when dealing with The Puppeteer. It was an unnerving feeling that she had never experienced before, and she didn’t like it at all.

Her phone was silent until the butt of the third cigarette found the ashtray. The affirmation had come. It was time to get things moving.

The message she sent Trixie was very vague. Trixie read it many times, even showed it to Jasmine, to see if they could figure it out together. From what they gathered, Katya was picking Trixie up that night, she needed to be wearing civilian clothes because they were going to some sort of party. All of that also meant they wouldn’t see her at the precinct all day. Trixie wanted to be mad, she knew Katya was extremely talented. Trixie had never met anyone as smart as Katya before, never. Yet, Trixie felt she was the only one really working the case while Katya was out and about, taking a day off to herself.

Jasmine, in her very understanding nature, told her to give Katya a chance. She always knew what she was doing. Trixie was advised to trust whatever Katya had in mind, that it could be a little out there, but it would surely get the job done.

Violet chimed in, and with a dry tone she told Trixie not to judge Katya’s process. It hadn’t been a request.

So, that was what Trixie did. In the early evening, she waited for Katya at the back of the building, as she had asked, wearing a short dress, white denim jacket and white go-go boots. Her makeup was exaggeratedly done, making her look more beautiful than ever.

“Hello, Barbie doll,” Katya greeted her as she pulled up next to her.

Trixie rolled her eyes and got in the passenger seat. “This better be good.”

They drove for a few minutes. The sun was still shining, even when the clock was about to hit seven in the evening. The sun rays hit their faces as they moved down Laurel Canyon. Trixie was still sulking in her seat, after having to work alone all day. Katya was unbothered, singing to every single song that came up on the radio. Her voice was loud, and incredibly off key. She changed the words constantly. Trixie could never get behind such crude bathroom humor, but Katya seemed to love singing about taking dumps in inappropriate places.

It was hard to keep up with the made up lyrics, especially when Trixie needed to pay attention to the road for both of them. The path was narrow and the turns were too close together. Katya behind the wheel was already dangerous by itself, having her distracted by the radio in such delicate road, felt more than Trixie could take.

They were about to reach Hollywood Boulevard, the residential side, not the one with the big neon lights and tourists filling the streets, when Katya took a turn and stopped the car in an alley. The walls around them were covered in beautiful graffiti. Trixie got lost in the eyes of a gorgeous fairy before she realized they had parked.

“Did I ever tell you…” Katya stopped, flickering her lighter a couple of times before she could light up her cigarette. “Did I ever tell you why I became a cop?”

Trixie shook her head. They both knew she hadn’t.

Katya blew the smoke out the window before returning her attention to her. “I had an amazing childhood. My parents were the most supportive. They never censored anything, not the music we listened to, nor the TV shows or movies that we watched. Picture the most perfect environment for a kid to grow, and I still managed to screw things up.”

It was like a vision. The sun was setting behind them, the smoke leaving Katya’s mouth was enchanting, and the serious tone of her voice was freaking Trixie out. She didn’t say anything, though, she allowed her to continue.

“I love drugs,” Katya said with a groan. “I fucking love drugs, Trixie. Every drug under the sun, you name it, I’ve done it. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. They also almost got me killed,” she ended her sentence very matter-of-factly, which was a complete contrast to Trixie’s shocked expression.

“Oh, wow,” was all Trixie could let out.

Katya shrugged her shoulders. “Almost, that’s the keyword here. That was a really long time ago. I’m all good now. All clean.” She took what looked like a coin from the cupholder, toyed with it for a bit and put it back.

Trixie had enough knowledge to recognize it was an anniversary chip from AA.

“I went to rehab,” Katya confirmed Trixie’s silent assumptions. “Got my shit together… well, as together as I could.” She laughed dryly at her own words. “And then decided to fix my wrong doing by helping others, so I became a detective. Call it a Step Nine taken too far.”

All that information was taking a moment for Trixie to absorb, but she nodded her head. Maybe the full depth of the situation wasn’t really something she could understand, but she wanted to let Katya know that she was there for her.

“Now, about tonight. I had to make some phone calls,” Katya continued. “Reconnect with people from my past. We are about to meet them now, and they may say things about me.”

Trixie felt her eyes widening with each word that left Katya’s mouth. “Are you going to use again? Because, Katya, no case is worth your–”

As cute as this protective version of Trixie was, Katya had to interrupt her. “No, don’t worry, I won’t. There may be people using, though, and we can’t arrest them. They can’t know we are cops. My contact is already waiting for me, it should be a clean in and out situation. I just…” There was a pause, Katya tried to find the right words to describe what she was thinking. “I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. I don’t know.”

“I get it. You are fine.”

They shared a smile, an air of comprehension filled the space between them. The engine was brought back to life, and Trixie pressed a reassuring hand on Katya’s thigh as they drove away.

It was only a few blocks before Katya stopped the car again. Apparently, there was nobody on the street. They stayed there in silence for a moment. The car was idling and it was getting dark around them. Trixie knew better than to ask any questions, even when she was growing nervous by the minute.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows. Trixie didn’t know if the girl had been there the whole time, hiding on the left side of the building, but she was now making her way to them. The girl was short and her hair was long. She stomped her feet hard against the pavement as she walked around the car and leaned into Katya’s window.

“Hola, Mami,” the girl addressed Katya with a side smile. “I ain’t see you around here for a while.”

Katya, playing the role, moved a hand to run up and down the girl’s arm. “Hi, mija.” Katya returned the smile. Her fingers getting covered in glitter, transferred from the girl’s skin. “Soon, baby,” she promised. “Right now I’m looking for la güera. Is she around?”

The girl’s face fell immediately. With a tiny role of her eyes, she pushed herself back, yelling a name that Trixie wasn’t able to catch. “You and I used to have so much fun. What happened, baby? Now you only go for flaquitas y güeritas, eh?” The girl pushed her chin towards Trixie.

She didn’t know any Spanish, but Trixie was pretty sure she had just been insulted.

“Nada de eso, mamá. You know you will always be my favorite.”

Just then, the car door opened, and a girl got, not so gracefully, into the backseat.

“Beat it, Vanjie. These are my bitches now.”

The girl stepped aside, her mocha-colored skin shining under the streetlamp. And Katya drove away. Silence once again reigned during the ride. The only occasional noise came from the girl in the backseat, who loudly chewed gum with her mouth opened.

Katya then pulled into a motel. In some kind of drive-through arrangement, she requested a room. The window to the cashier was covered in tinted glass, preventing them from seeing their face. It actually made things a lot easier. They were given a room number and they found their gate right away. It had some sort of garage, the metallic door closed automatically behind them when the car went in.

They got out of the car and nobody said a word still. Trixie only followed them up the small staircase that led to their room. Going behind them also gave her the chance to look at the girl, to really look at her. Her makeup was applied perfectly, Trixie could recognize that right away. She was extremely beautiful, with long blonde hair and legs that seem interminable underneath her tiny skirt. She had a white tank top with chinese lettering on the front.

As soon as Katya heard the front door getting closed, she couldn’t take it anymore. She jumped in excitement and hugged her friend tight to her body. They hadn’t seen each other in so long, which was a good thing, because it only meant that none of them had gotten into trouble.

“I missed you so much,” Katya whispered into the blonde curls.

“I couldn’t believe you had called me. How are you? Are you okay? Can we trust her?”

Something suddenly clicked in Katya’s head. “Oh, God. Shit. Sorry. This is Trixie, my new partner. Trixie, this is Willam, he… well, she– wait, which one is it?”

“You are a man?!” Trixie looked surprised, to say the least.

Katya couldn’t help but laugh at her. She knew Trixie meant no disrespect, and Willam did too, who simply continued to chew on the same piece of gum.

“What? Didn’t you know? Some women have dicks these days,” Willam said so chilled, so casually, that it only elicited another round of laughter from Katya. “And I don’t mind. Either is fine.”

“Oh, bitch, you are a woman.” Right then, Trixie seemed to realize what she had done, she physically shook her head, trying to land back into the conversion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude,” she said walking to Willam, extending her hand to greet her. “It’s just that… oh, my God. You are really pretty.”

Willam shook her hand, and played with her own hair with the other. “I know. I have a mirror at home.”

Katya let out a wheezing laugh from behind them. “Glad to know the undercover work hasn’t changed your nasty ass.” Katya chuckled before taking a somber tone. “How is that going, by the way?”

Willam got on the bed, bouncing a couple of times before crossing her legs. “It’s hard. You know, nobody wants to trust you when you are this beautiful and give better head.” She kept playing with her hair while Katya laughed at her words yet again. “Yeah, no, I’m getting places,” she finally spoke seriously. “This goes way deeper than we thought, Kats.”

“Oh, shit,” Katya said genuinely concerned.

She took a seat next to her friend. She could only imagine all the things that Willam had gone through these last few months. The undercover mission was only supposed to last a few weeks. Willam was meant to collect intel among a group of trans-girls being forced to do sex work, and then come back to do her regular job. Nobody had planned for the small case to turn into such a big deal. Katya wasn’t nervous about Willam, she could take care of herself, she just hoped she could do more to help her.

“I was following one lead, one, but it’s a full net,” Willam offered. “There are so many more branches, though. I’m gonna need more time.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. That’s not what we are here for,” Katya assured her. “You are still on the case. I just need your help to identify something. The Puppeteer is back.”

Willam’s jaw fell open. “What?”

Katya turned to Trixie, who had been extremely quiet the whole time. In a way, Katya was grateful for the private moment she had just gotten with her friend, but they needed to get to work. She didn’t want to risk Willam’s status by keeping her for too long.

Trixie got the hint. She took the card out of her purse, still wrapped in the evidence bag. “We found this in four of the seven murders. We don’t know what it is. It has no name or address or phone number, just these stupid white lines forming a rose.”

Willam took the plastic bag in her hand, moved it around to get a better view of the piece of paper, recognition filled her features right away. “Oh, this is Luzon’s brothel.”

“You know what this is?” Katya asked, her voice filled with hope.

“Yeah, you see these lines here.” She pointed to the middle of the flower. “That’s the letter M, for Manila, Manila Luzon. Everybody knows who she is, and if you don’t then you probably can’t afford her. That’s why there’s no info on the card. She’s an eccentric bitch.”

Trixie looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean eccentric?”

“She has a dungeon, a classroom for role play, and things like that. Her girls are super talented, she hires only the best ones.”

“Do you know where we can find her?”

They got all the information about the place from Willam and, a few minutes later, they were dropping her off at her corner. Katya made sure to yell obscenities as Willam got out of the car, promising to come back and do more indecencies next week while they drove away.

It didn’t take them long to reach the brothel.

Trixie double checked the address once Katya was finally able to parallel park. She kept mumbling something about women’s brains, saying they didn’t develop the parts that calculated distance and space as much as men.

“If you think about it,” she continued, even when Trixie wasn’t paying attention. “It’s not at all misogynistic when people say women can’t drive, it’s a scientific fact. We can’t. We can do a lot of other things better than men, but driving, oh, Momma…” The tone of her voice changed when she looked up at Trixie. “And you are not paying attention.”

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Trixie asked, not even pretending she was listening to Katya.

They stood in front of an old building, but yet again, every building downtown was old. All the lights seemed to be off, and no sound came from the inside. Both looked up, spotting the large windows that didn’t indicate any movement happening on the other side of the glass. It had all the telltale signs of an abandoned building, and there they were, pulling the stained glass door to walk in.

A light bulb blinked above their heads, providing soft, intermittent lighting to the entry hallway. At the end of the corridor, an elevator waited for them.

Katya was the first one to walk inside the small cubicle. “If Willam sent us here to get killed, I swear to God…”

“Look!” Trixie pointed at the buttons of the elevator, successfully stopping Katya on her planning of bloody revenge. “It’s the same rose.”

The intricate design they had found on the cards replaced the number of the last button of the row. Trixie pressed it and they allowed the metallic box to take them to the top floor.

It would’ve been a good idea to come up with a strategy on their way up. Yet, they didn’t. Even if they had, though, they couldn’t possibly be prepared for what encountered them once the door slid open. Everything looked immaculate, upscale, expensive. A complete opposite to the first floor that had received them. The flashy furniture somehow made sense, as if it was meant to be put together. Even the blonde behind the tall desk belonged there just fine.

“Hello, welcome to Madam Luzon’s House of Pleasure. How can we take care of you tonight?”

Katya read the tag on the receptionist’s chest. Detox. Katya hardly doubted that was her real name, but it fitted her perfectly. Her lips were big, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face. The tight dress showed off her perfectly sculpted body, if not by the gods themselves, by a group of doctors throughout many years. The face and body could be fake, but there was something very real about her smile. The contrast was verging on funny. The name Detox definitely suited her.

“Hello, sweetheart.” Katya flashed her a smile as she folded her arms on top of the desk. “We are here to gather some information.” She put as much effort as she could to make her voice somewhat alluring.

Detox giggled. Maybe it worked, maybe it was her job to respond like that to clients; but Katya felt proud of herself.

“Of course! Are you two pretty ladies looking to be a part of our team, or simply join the club?”

“What’s the difference?” Trixie asked.

Katya made yet another mental note, she had to talk Trixie into being more approachable. Half of the job was making people feel comfortable when talking to them. That entailed a lot of flexing the tone of their voices, and the ability to sound open and friendly, attributes that Trixie seemed to live without.

In an attempt to save the moment, Katya laughed exaggeratedly. “This beautiful lady is assuming we are hot enough to work here,” she spoke directly to Trixie before returning her attention to the receptionist. “Actually, we were hoping you could help us with something.” She fumbled with her phone for a moment before pulling up the picture that she needed, it was of the latest victim before being attacked. “Have you seen her? Has this girl worked here?”

Detox shook her head right away. “Nope. Why? Is she missing or are you trying to arrest her?”

She was very relaxed. Detox had by then understood that they were cops, that they were there to do an actual investigation, and she seemed unfazed. Katya was having a hard time reading her. Any person working at a place that literally had the words ‘House of Pleasure’ in the name, would be shaking in their boots in the presence of the police. She must have gotten good training on how to dissuade any law enforcer from what they actually did, or the paperwork was made up in such a way that they wouldn’t be able to prove what really went down there. Katya didn’t care, not really, not right now. She wasn’t there to shut down a sex house, she had a murderer to catch.

“Neither, actually.” It looked like Trixie had gotten the hint, her voice sounded just a little bit softer. “Is she a member of the club?” A head shake answered her question. “Is there anybody else we can ask about her?”

Detox’s perfect customer service smile shone brightly. “Sure. Please, excuse me for a minute.”

Trixie and Katya looked at each other as the girl went through a door on the side. Katya wanted to tell Trixie to relax, to keep her chill, and act normal. She wanted to let Trixie know that they were there to support each other; that they were going to get in there, get as much information as they could and go from there. She didn’t have to. After a few seconds of holding her stare, Trixie nodded. She understood.

“Madam Luzon will see you now,” Detox spoke a few feet from them, holding the door open so they could walk in.

Frantic music received them as soon as they entered the big office. In the corner, who they could only guess was Madam Luzon, rapidly moved a brush against a large canvas. She wore what seemed to be plastic cover in the form of a puffy dress. A white streak of hair bounced at the top of her head when she looked down to her paint palette. The strokes were long and thin as she moved to the rhythm of the quick tempo. She changed colors a couple of times, but didn’t stop until the music came to a dramatic end. That was when she finally turned around to face them, a wide smile on her face.

“Hello! Welcome. How can I take care of you tonight?”

She put the brush down and took a towel. She wiped her hands but all the stains remained on her skin, leaving her with big freckles of different colors.

“Hi. Thank you. We were hoping you could help us.” Katya took a step forward, her extended hand holding the phone in front of her. “Have you seen this girl before?”

Madam Luzon squinted her eyes, clearly pretending to take a better look of the image. “I don’t think I have, no. Is she in any trouble?”

“Not really.” Trixie shrugged nonchalantly. “Dead sure could be considered kinda troublesome, I guess. Very inconvenient, for sure.”

“Oh, geez.” Madam Luzon pressed a hand to her chest. “Poor girl, and so young. She had her whole life ahead of her.”

Katya wasn’t buying the performance, not for one second, but she decided to go along with it. She wanted to see how far this could go.

“We found your card at her place. Any idea how it got there?”

A hand was waved to dismiss Katya’s question. “If the kid was talented, I may have offered her a spot here at some point. I only hire the very best. She probably didn’t make the cut because, sadly, I don’t think I remember her.” The phone rang besides her, giving her enough excuse to end the meeting. “Why don’t you give Detox your phone number, I’ll let you know if we remember anything else. Or, I don’t know, maybe we could talk business.”

The conversation ended with a wink as she placed the phone to her ear.

Walking out of the office felt like a defeat. They had gone in there with such hopes and came out with nothing. Katya still didn’t trust the crazy painter, whose eyes got crossed when looking at the phone. There was something off about her, but Katya couldn’t identify what it was. The last thing she needed was something else to nag at the back of the head. Her anxiety was already through the roof as it was.

Just like they were told, Katya provided her phone number to Detox, who wrote everything down in the computer.

“She offered you a job, didn’t she?” The receptionist asked, leaning forward on the tall desk in conspiracy. “You know, you and I could easily do some sister act. I wouldn’t mind getting freaky with you.”

Katya laughed. “Oh, believe me, I wouldn’t either. Maybe some other time?”

The smile thrown her way seemed to be enough for Detox, who then lifted her eyebrows in Trixie’s direction. “What about you? We have a beautiful doll house that would be perfect for you.”

Lacking Katya’s everflowing seductive skills, Trixie simply shook her head. “Right now, I’m just a little busy with the whole catching killers and all, maybe next time.”

“Ah, maybe next time,” Detox repeated. “You will come around for sure. Nobody says no to Manila Luzon.”

They thanked the girl for her time and left the building, Katya offered to dropped Trixie at her place, claiming she was pretty sure she remembered the way. Almost. If anything, Trixie could guide her around, but she didn’t. As soon as they got in the car, Trixie focused her sole attention on her phone, leaving Katya to figure out the directions by herself.

Loud music came from the device. Katya tried to see what was playing on the phone but, every time she looked at Trixie, she encountered a long curtain of hair blocking her view. Trixie would make disapproving noises before closing a video and opening a new one. The scene was repeated a couple of times before Katya finally decided to ask.

“You really do hate when people have fun, huh?” She directed her attention to the passenger seat for a second, enough to see Trixie’s Instagram getting closed.

“It’s just my roommate, Kim,” she answered, putting the phone back in her purse. “She has people over and I don’t feel like dealing with them.”

“Why? Don’t you like them?” Katya asked without looking at her, her eyes set on the road in front of her.

Trixie scuffed softly. “I do, sorta. I mean, who doesn’t like to hang with beautiful fashion models that make you feel insecure as shit?”

Katya fully looked at her. “Oh, you are not being serious. Trixie, you are, like, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life.”

With the corner of her eye she saw how Trixie shrugged, disregarding the topic. It wasn’t a typical sight. She hadn’t known Trixie for long, but she did know how much she liked her body. She was proud of her curves and knew exactly what to wear to highlight them. Her makeup abilities were something beyond Katya’s comprehension. She simply couldn’t understand how someone could literally transform the topography of her face just with brushes and beauty products. The most important part was, Trixie knew she was beautiful. More than once Katya had heard her replying with an ‘I know’ when someone complimented how good she looked.

“You know?” Katya suddenly found herself asking. “It’s still kinda early, and my apartment is not far from here. It’s a bit of a mess, but at least it’s not filled with your friend’s friends. Wanna crash for a bit? At least until you know the coast is clear.”

Surprisingly, Trixie agreed and allowed Katya to drive them to her place.

Her apartment was small, and disorganized. Katya made sure to let Trixie know that as they walked up the stairs. She had been living there for a long time and was constantly moving the furniture from its place. Just to see how things would look, but usually gave up halfway through. That was the reason why, when they walked in, Trixe spotted a recliner in the kitchen, and the dining table sat right between the TV and the couch.

One thing that Trixie did find fascinating, was the type of art that adorned the walls. It was weird, bizarre even, but all the uncommon pieces somehow managed to perfectly represent Katya. There was even a series of pictures hanging on a thread from wall to wall, they were all famous paintings that had Katya’s face photoshopped into them. They were odd, and strange, and completely Katya.

“Sorry for the mess,” Katya apologized as she ran around the living room, picking up clothes that were spread around. “I don’t usually have visitors.” She carelessly threw everything in what seemed to be a closet and came back, her hands clapping nervously. “Do you want some coffee?”

Trixie had to chuckle. “If I drink coffee now I won’t be able to sleep at all.”

Katya brought her hand to rub at the back of her neck. “Right. Right. Well, I have tea as well. I think.”

“Really, I’m fine, thank you.”

They walked to the living room and sat on each end of the couch. There was silence for a moment, it wasn’t uncomfortable, it wasn’t tense, but Trixie felt like suffocating. There was something pressing on her chest, preventing her lungs from expanding properly, and she knew the only way to breathe again would be to talk. Since earlier that night, when Katya had opened up about her life, Trixie felt the need to do the same, but it was very unlike her. She could joke about her rough life all day long, but really talking about it wasn’t easy for her.

With a deep sigh, she prepared herself to let it out. She could only hope Katya would understand and appreciate what a huge step this was.

“Wanna–” A small cough cut her off, but she was determined to continue. “Wanna know why I entered the force?”

Katya nodded enthusiastically. “Always.”

“I’m from the deep country. I’m talking cows, and outhouses, and an hour drive just to reach the nearest McDonald’s. I never met my dad, he bailed before I was even born. For a while, it was okay, but Mamma couldn’t really put bread on the table. So she married this guy who - he was okay, I guess, at first. He was a good provider. Then my sister was born and things turned ugly. Suddenly, I wasn’t his kid anymore, so he refused to treat me as such. He was drunk all the time, but, like, all the fucking time.”

Her eyes closed as she pronounced those last words, memories of how things used to be filled her head.

“He started hitting me, because I would misbehave; then my mom, ‘cause she couldn’t keep me in check. I couldn’t stand it. And there was nothing I could do. Standing up to him only meant making things worse. I got out as soon as I could, but I couldn’t help my mom. She had to wait until the bastard died of alcohol poisoning to be free. I don’t wish that on anybody. If I couldn’t help her, at least I can help others.”

All the words poured out of her at once, fearing that if she even took a second too long to pull air in, she would lose the courage to keep going. Katya didn’t say a thing, her mouth opened and her eyes had stopped blinking.

“Trixie, I–” she started.

“Don’t,” Trixie interrupted her. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“No, no, I want to.”

In a fast move, Katya was right in front of her. A soft hand landed on Trixie’s cheek and that was when she realized she was crying. Katya’s touch was delicate, Trixie couldn’t help but close her eyes and leaned into the warmth of Katya’s palm.

“You are so brave,” Katya said, forcing Trixie to open her eyes. “Not a lot of people have it in them to get out of shitty situations. Hell, even I love to go even deeper into my shit. But you… you are such an amazing woman. You are strong and smart and-and funny and I am so fucking proud of you. Knowing that you went through all of that only makes you even more of a badass, if you ask me.”

Trixie laughed tearily. “I wasn’t asking, really.”

A light chuckle left Katya’s lips but she didn’t say anything back. She simply kept rubbing soft circles on Trixie’s cheek with her thumb. The makeup was probably going to be ruined, if not by the touch, from all the crying, but Trixie didn’t really care at this point.

“That’s why this case became such a big deal, I guess.” Trixie hadn’t even considered it until the thought left her lips. “That could’ve been me, you know? One wrong decision and I could’ve ended up like those girls.” An abrupt sob cut through her throat and, before she knew it, she was crying uncontrollably in Katya’s arms.

It could have been a few minutes, it could have been hours, days even. Trixie felt like she had cried every emotion she held inside her. It was a freeing feeling. Soon, she was able to pull air back in without choking.

When she noticed Trixie was breathing normally, Katya pulled away a little to look into her eyes. “You feeling better?” A small nod answered her question. “You are not those girls, okay? And he’s not going to be on the loose for long. We are going to catch this guy.”

Trixie looked at her with big, pleading eyes. Her face had softened to a point that Katya couldn’t stop herself.

“Can I… just… I need to…”

She didn’t have to ask for permission, not really, because as she started to lean forward, Trixie closed her eyes. Katya kissed her right eye, tasting salt and glitter.

“We are gonna catch him,” she promised before moving to the left eye. “I’m gonna do it…” There was a kiss on the nose. “For you.” And then their lips found each other.

The kiss was slow and cautious. Lips smoothly wrapped around each other. They right away initiated a rhythm that allowed their movements and breathing to balance out perfectly. As their mouths explored one another, hands started to roam across their bodies. Trixie placed her hand on Katya’s nape, pulling her closer. Katya had a hand lost between the curls of Trixie’s hair, and the other one rested on Trixie’s thigh.

It was intimate, it was soft, and it was getting hotter by the minute.

It took one quick move for Katya to be sitting on Trixie’s lap. Each of her legs straddled Trixie’s as the kissing became deeper and deeper. Trixie’s hands found their way to Katya’s ass, and she pushed her slightly, starting a rocking motion. Katya didn’t complain, the complete opposite, she liked how Trixie was taking the lead. The feeling of Trixie’s hands kneading her flesh, mixed with the slow movement of her hips, had her already turned on beyond herself.

Katya quickened the pace. She lifted her hips and her hands went down to pull up her own skirt. She needed as much contact as possible. Their lips parted, giving room for moans and whimpers to fly freely. Among the noises of building pleasure filling the apartment, a cell phone brought everything to a halt.

Trying to catch her breath, Katya pressed her forehead against Trixie’s. Their stares met. Katya gave her a moment, trying to figure out if the interruption was enough to break the charm, and make Trixie regret what they were doing.

“Yours or mine?” Katya asked with a side smile.

“Mine is right here,” Trixie said, tapping her pocket before stealing a quick kiss.

With a grunt, Katya stood up and followed the sound to the front door, where she had dropped her purse when they walked in. The screen was still lit when she pulled it out, but the device wasn’t ringing anymore. Ginger’s nickname appeared under the label of missed calls. She stared at it for a moment, pondering what to do. If it had been an emergency, the phone would have rang again by now, or at least that was the excuse Katya gave herself to not return the call. Ginger probably just wanted to catch up. Katya missed her friend, but she had a turned on goddess on her couch. The dilemma answered itself.

Katya sent a quick message indicating she couldn’t talk at the moment, with the promise to ring Ginger in the morning. She stuffed the phone back into her purse and practically ran back to the living room. The short period was enough for her to find it empty. She looked around frantically, but Trixie was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t have left, she was right there just a moment ago, and Katya had been standing by the front door.

A muffled sound came from the bedroom, Katya made her way there and found Trixie. She had thrown to the floor all the crap that Katya had left on the bed, and was already pulling her dress above her head.

No more time was lost. They helped each other out of their clothes and stumbled on the bed. They continued to kiss as fingers rolled nipples and nails scratched backs. It was primitive, it was urgent, it was extremely hot. Katya could feel every inch of her skin burning in desire, and the flames would quench only by the touch of Trixie’s hands.

Katya’s back landed on the mattress, Trixie lied on top of her, settled between her opened legs. She took a nipple between her teeth and Katya’s back arched to the touch. It was worlds apart from the first time they had done it. Trixie was running her tongue on Katya’s breasts, giving both equal amount of attention.

“Thank you,” Trixie spoke against her skin. “Thank you for understanding.” Her head then moved up, facing Katya completely. “Thank you for being such an amazing partner.”

“It’s my absolute pleasure, Barbie doll.”

She held Trixie’s face in her hands, making sure she didn’t lose eye contact as their hips started to move again. They started pressing against each other, rubbing their more intimate areas with fervor. Katya knew it was physically impossible, but the position made her feel as if Trixie were actually thrusting hard inside of her. With every push of Trixie’s hips against hers, Katya’s walls clenched around nothing.

They moved faster and faster, the rhythm becoming erratic as each of them got closer to their own orgasm.

It took one of Trixie’s high pitched moans to send Katya over the edge. She saw white flashes in front of her eyes as waves of earth-shattering pleasure hit her relentlessly. In the high of her ecstasy was that everything suddenly became clear.

“Oh, my God. I know who did it!”

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 2 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

A/N: Confession time: So just like Contact at Katya’s place, you can always find Brooklyn Nine Nine playing at all times around my house. While binge watching that show and UNHhhh simultaneously, is that this idea came to mind. I pictured the Ru girls taking part in the b99 universe and everything made so much sense to me. The idea was to write a funny story, it is based on one of the smartest comedy shows currently on air, after all, but, yeah, my writing is too angsty, too dark, too loaded with emotions like to write something light and easy going like the show. And well, let’s see how this turns out.

AO3 Link

Chapter 2 - Red.

“Will you fuck off? But, like, all the way off?”

Trixie’s head snapped up to the sound of the familiar laughter following those words. She heard it for the first time two nights prior, and it hadn’t left her mind throughout the weekend. There were many things that were imprinted into her brain that Friday night; a pair of tattooed arms, a set of hot lips, a wet tongue, but, most importantly, a wheezing laughter.

As she had expected, the girl she took home from the club walked into the bullpen, disposable coffee cup in hand, and the woman she was hugging the other night right by her side.

“But think about it,” the redhead said, mouthfuls of muffin interrupting her speech. “It makes so much sense. Unless you are doing it naked, you are never really done with laundry.”

The blonde doubled over in laughter, her unnaturally bright teeth at full display. Her red shirt had just the right amount of buttons opened to show her breasts as she tried to control her breathing. Trixie didn’t even notice how she was biting her own bottom lip to the sight of the cleavage. She was too busy absorbing every move of the beautiful woman to realize what her own body was doing. Memories of what it had been like to have those smiling lips kissing her all over cluttered her mind; until she was burst out of her bubble by her new boss.

“Trixie, you can come in now.”

Katya’s laughter stopped at once. That name was rather uncommon, she had only heard it once before in her life. The odds of the life size Barbie doll, that she had fucked a few days before, being there in the same precinct, were slim to none. Yet, there she was. The girl from the bar was walking inside the office across the room as Captain Charles closed the door behind them.

She could still see them through the window. She could see how Captain Charles calmly moved his lips, clearly explaining something in his very professional way; but then he started laughing out loud. His bald head was thrown forward, dangerously close to the desk in front of him, and his glasses caught the reflection of the light above them. Seeing him laugh like that had a feeling invading Katya that she couldn’t really decipher. She was not sure if it was the fact that she had made it her mission to make the captain laugh at least once a day since years ago, or the fact that she hadn’t been able to fully get to know Trixie’s sense of humor. She only got the Depressed Malibu Barbie version, after all. Instead of dwelling on the feeling, she decided to go back to work. Filing reports took forever but she had to do it at some point.

Trixie was not sure how long she spent in the boss’ office but, when she walked out, she couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself. All the paperwork needed for her transfer was taken care of, the results of her many exams had been reviewed, and RuPaul Charles, the eminence himself, had congratulated her for such amazing work. He then walked her to the adjacent room, promising a proper presentation to the squad at the midmorning briefing, which was about to start.

She walked behind him, entering the already filled room, feeling like the new kid in school. Luckily, there was an empty chair next to the door, and she took it in a swift motion. She sat behind the long table and didn’t even dare to look back, nervous to make eye contact with any of her new coworkers.

The person next to her nudged her slightly. She turned around to see a girl with a big smile, the gesture looked sincere. “Hey, Jush!” She said in a shout. Trixie flinched a little, since everybody else in the room was chatting quietly. “I’m Jasmine.” The short bob bounced around her face as she laughed for no apparent reason. “You are gonna love it here,” she promised. “We always have so much fun.” Once more her laughter sounded loudly but, above that, it sounded welcoming. “What’s your name, Jush?”

“Guys, gather ‘round.” The voice of the captain interrupted them. Everybody went quiet and all eyes were set to the front. “Welcome to one more day in the job. It’s not an easy task, but the streets of Los Angeles are a much safer place because of you guys, so… thank you.”

He spoke with such an ease, his few sentences were delivered in a way that made Trixie believe that their job actually meant something bigger, something much more important than just cliché paperwork. She listened to the tall man, dressed in a colorful suit, as he kept reminding them just how valuable they were for the city, for him, and for each other.

“Now, remember, this town deserves nothing but the very best, that’s why, even when we are sad to see one of our brightest detectives go…” His hand pointed somewhere at the back of the room. “That also means that we are welcoming a new member of our family. Please, give a warm welcome to Detective Trixie Mattel! Come on up, darling.”

With dull claps heard from behind her, Trixie got up, walked the short distance, and stood next to the head of the squad. In a lame afterthought, she waved her hand slowly, as a pageant girl would do to the panel of judges.

Capt. Charles laughed at the action before continuing. “Detective Mattel comes from a precinct not far from here, and will take Ginger’s place as Katya’s new partner.”

Trixie’s eyes widened when she realized exactly who that was. The odds of the mysterious foreign girl, that she had fucked a few days before, being her new partner, were slim to none. Yet, there she was.

She must have done something extremely horrible in her previous life to deserve this, because there was no other valid reason for her luck to be so shitty. She always did things right, followed the rules, and went by the book. Yet, life had a thing for her. She just wanted to catch a break, a change of air. That was the reason why she had applied for the transfer. As much as she liked her previous precinct, it had started to become too small for her. She needed more, she needed something bigger. And she had gotten it.

That Friday night was supposed to be a celebration for her accomplishments, but her friends had bailed on her, her boyfriend had decided to end things, and she had slept with a woman for the first time in her life.

In that moment, she wished to come back to her old life, the one she had been fed up with the week before and now longed for. She wanted to get to work where nothing really happened, help kids find their bikes, and file reports about loaves of bread being stolen from the neighborhood’s grocery store. At some point it had been monotonous, it had been lineal, it had been boring. And one night had changed it all. Her entire world had been turned upside down, and not in the way she had expected. She spent her weekend crying, yearning for what she had lost, and craving for something that had been hers only for a couple of hours but felt like a part of her already.

When Kim asked her if she was still crying over her boyfriend, Trixie lied and said yes. Her roommate found it strange, since they weren’t particularly head over heels for each other, but didn’t ask any further. The answer made enough sense to pass as a half true. The reality was completely different. Those two days had been flooded with images of red lips and red nails, trailing her body and melting her to the bone. Her ears could hear nothing but soft moans and sensual whispers of Russian words.

She had dreams about her. Sometimes Trixie would catch herself daydreaming, other times the blonde woman found her way into her subconscious as she slept. The scenarios were endless. They would run into each other early in the morning, impatiently waiting in line for their first taste of coffee of the day. Trixie pictured them back at the club where they met, she would sit at the same stool and the woman would reach the bar and request a drink. It didn’t matter where it started, the fantasy always ended back in her room, with the air filled with panting and screams of utter pleasure. Reality would also find the same recurrent outlet, which involved her own hand inside her underwear.

Trixie never in her life had doubted her sexuality, she was straight. She liked men, a lot. She liked how they were simple creatures, with needs she could easily fulfill. Her type was very clear. The men she dated were slightly unkempt, they had beards and hairy backs. Her sexual compass had no apparent motive to be directed to the soft touch, the delicate pale skin, the long blonde hair of a random woman she had met at a club.

That same woman was now in front of her, fully aware of the discomfort she was causing her. There was no way Trixie could look at anything that wasn’t her. The color that had been haunting her dreams for two nights in a row, shone bright from across the room.

The girl in the red shirt bit her lip, trying to stop a smile from taking over her face unsuccessfully. “Oh, I get the pretty one. Sorry, Minj, I don’t know you anymore.” The girl stood up, bowing her head slightly. “My name is Yekaterina Pretovna Zamolodchikova, but you can call me… Katya,” she said in a rush, heavy tints of her accent lacing her speech. “And it’s going to be, oh, such a pleasure to have you as my partner.” The side smile didn’t go unnoticed by Trixie.

Her body weight shifted from one leg to the other, finally linking the face with the name she wished she had been able to scream as she came.

“You know,” Captain Charles spoke directly to Trixie. “Detective Zamo has the highest number of arrests in the precinct and, as far as I know, you had the highest in yours, didn’t you?”

Before she could even reply, Katya spoke again. “Oh, you are on, bitch!”

“We are on the same team,” Trixie reminded her, her hands going up in the air with disbelief, and making the room burst out laughing.

The captain smiled widely. “Ah, I can already tell you are going to make a fabulous team. Trixie, welcome to the family, and we take that term very seriously around here, it’s something that we don’t take for granted. From this moment on, you belong to a family of badass bitches!” That alone elicited a round of cheers and applause. He waited a moment before motioning for everyone to be quiet again. “Okay, I’m gonna let Sergeant Haylock to take over now.” He moved towards the door, and stopped right before exiting the room. “Oh, just one more thing… don’t fuck it up!”

And with that he was gone.

Trixie started to believe that what Jasmine told her was right. She could sense the light atmosphere of the place already creeping into her as she walked back to her seat. Sure, there was the crippling fear of facing her new partner, but everybody else seemed nice. She loved how nobody seemed afraid of cursing, not even The Boss, because her big mouth had gotten her in more than a few problems in her previous workplace. She could only hope that this sudden change of scenery actually meant a good thing for her, that all the rough changes thrown at her, out of nowhere, had come for a reason.

“Alright, you useless cunts!” The raspy voice, a complete contrast from the soothing tone of Captain Charles, brought her out of the conjuring of her possible future. “One of the bastards you failed to catch is out at it… again!” The sergeant placed his forearms on the little podium for support. “This one’s on you, Zamo.”

He pressed a few buttons on a remote control while Katya protested. Trixie took the cap off her loyal pink pen and pressed it against the glittery notebook, writing down the date at the top right corner. If the sergeant had addressed the case as Katya’s, it meant it was now hers as well.

When she looked up, the screen behind the man had illuminated, and the images that it was showing were disturbing to say the least.

“Oh, my God. The Puppeteer!” Katya said with something that sounded a lot like excitement. “He’s back!”

Trixie had to look at the screen with side eyes.

How could Katya be so ecstatic about the gruesome death of a young woman?

It looked like the girl had been sitting at her dining table; a kitchen could be seen at the back of the picture. She had her arms bent in the air, pulled up by strings attached to her hands, elbows and shoulders. Trixie right away understood the nickname given to the killer. The beautiful brunette, that couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, had her makeup done to resemble a marionette. Even though her head hung low, her eyes were opened, permanently staring blankly to the middle of nowhere. A pool of blood surrounded her feet, it was so big that it even went underneath the table. There were no apparent exit wounds, so there was no clear source for all the blood, but the amount seemed enough to determine the girl had bled to death right there on the spot.

Trixie wrote all her observations down, and made mental notes about things that needed to be clarified. For example, the picture didn’t cover the ceiling, and she needed to know where the wires were hanging from.

And all of these observations, she made them in less than a second, her trained eye was always ready to catch the smallest of details.

“Yes, it’s your damn puppeteer,” Sergeant Haylock repeated after Katya. “Care to fill us in on the case?”

Katya stood up happily. “Oh, yes, Gawd,” she agreed with a loud click of her tongue.

This was a case she had been working on for a year. Katya was sure she knew the man behind the attacks better than she knew herself. The only problem was, she couldn’t find him. It was the only unsolved case she had ever had. It had nagged at the back of her head for months, then the killings had stopped and she hit a dead end. Until now.

She reached the podium and right away called everybody’s attention. No words had left her mouth yet, but the shift in the room was evident. The vibe wasn’t solemn and inspirational, nor was it crude and sarcastic, like there had been with the men that came before her. People paid attention, took notes, respected what she had to say.

“Okay, listen up. This man is a psycho, a freak, and not the fun type that I like. He gets off by killing pretty looking girls, painting them, and hooking strings to their limbs. So far he had only attacked sex workers. Girls with no family, with nobody to file a missing person report, with hooker friends who are too scared to even talk to the police. His M.O. has been the same for months. Roy?”

She looked at the sergeant who simply nodded his head, confirming it hadn’t changed.

“This a dangerous, sick man who does not belong in the streets.” She made a dramatic pause, allowing her words to sink in. “The Minj and I will give you all the info that we have so you can keep your eyes and ears open. We can use all the help that we can get.”

The clear of a throat made her look to the back of the room. “Don’t you mean Mattel?” Ginger corrected her. “Today is my last day, darling.”

Katya quickly looked at Trixie. Her new partner. The girl was hanging to her every word. The pen in her hand had been writing non stop since Katya started her speech. The corner of her eye had registered that, even when her conscious self had deliberately ignored her. It was too much to take, she reasoned with herself. The girl was way too pretty and it was better to advert her attention from the voluptuous body. The formal wear seemed to hug her magnificent figure. She wondered if Trixie felt uncomfortable in the tight clothes. Katya did in her own, but she was nothing but skin, muscles and bones, unlike Trixie, who was all curves and flesh and just the right amount of fat settled in all the right places.

“Right.” She shook herself out of her dangerously sexy observations. “Right, right. You are right. Sorry. Tri… Detective Mattel and I will send you the profile later this afternoon.”

Instructions were given for the day, patrols assigned, cases were reviewed, and the meeting was over.

Trixie stood up, ready to leave, when Jasmine grabbed her by the arm. “Come on, Trix. I’ll show you around.”

Jasmine did just that. Never letting go of her arm, the lean woman dragged her around the place, showing her pretty much every room on every floor. After letting her know about the good bathrooms, they reached the interrogation rooms. Jasmine made a specific point about Katya preferring the last one on the left, since the air conditioner hit differently in that room, and how she constantly suffered from the heat. Jasmine said it with a laugh, as if it were a joke, but Trixie was trying to gather as much information as she could about her new partner.

In the course of half an hour, they had seen the most important parts of the building, or at least the ones Trixie was going to need. She had also heard more names that she was going to be able to recall, that was for sure. It was going to take some time but she was going to adapt, she had to. There was no other option.

They reached the bullpen again and Trixie was shown to her desk. It felt weird to sit behind it, Ginger’s stuff were still occupying the space. It didn’t feel like hers yet, but it was going to be.

She looked around the place, her new home. If things were any similar to her previous precinct, she was going to spend more time here, swamped with paperwork, than her actual apartment.

Her eyes immediately found Katya, chatting in the break room. Trixie didn’t miss the chance, she needed to talk to her before all the formalities were set into play. They had a lot of work to do and it was better to get everything out in the open. When she reached the door, determined to call her attention, she suddenly froze. Katya sat with her legs thrown over the armrest of a chair, the confined pencil skirt hugging her every curve in the uncomfortable position. A can of Redbull hung from her hand. She talked with such intensity that the girl sitting with her could do nothing but focus her sole attention on her.

“Oh, bitch,” Katya said effusively. “She sent me a good morning text, a fucking good morning text!” She slapped the arm of the girl beside her, emphasizing her words. “It gave me a boner.”

The other girl laughed with her head thrown back. “How would you know? Your dick is probably so small you can’t even find it.”

Katya’s mouth opened in mocked shock. “If you must know, you fucking cunt, even when being hypo– no, especially because it is hypothetical, my ding dong is huge, huge! It even glows in the dark.” She nodded approvingly of her own words.

“Really? And what color is this huge penis of yours?”

She pretended to give it a little bit of thinking, before pointing at the girl with her index finger. “Remind me, what’s the name of your mom’s lipstick again?”

Both girls laughed, and Trixie decided that would be a good time as any to interrupt. She cleared her throat, loud enough to make them look at her.

“Katya, can I talk to you?” This was the first time Trixie actually pronounced the name, and she was extra aware of the way it rolled from her lips, the way it made her tongue hit her front teeth. She liked it.

The girl looked at her, a knowingly smile playing on her lips. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

Trixie nervously looked between Katya and the other girl, who pretended to ignore them, picking at the ends of her hair.

“Alone?”

It took her a moment to react but, once she did, Katya easily swung her legs towards the back of the chair, going all the way around before finding the ground.

“Please, excuse us, Violet, my dear,” she said with an accent that was probably meant to be British. She then turned to Trixie, addressing her in her regular tone. “Come.”

Trixie moved by her side as they walked in uncomfortable silence. Or at least it felt uncomfortable to her, because Katya seemed pretty chilled. Her fingertips glided against the walls, humming a tune that Trixie had never heard before. Those were halls that she hadn’t seen with Jasmine, so she tried to pay attention to the path they walked, counting the turns they took, trying to get familiar with her surroundings, anything that could distract her from the heat exuding Katya and tickling her own skin.

Katya suddenly stopped in front of a door, took the door knob in her hand but didn’t twist it. She turned to look at Trixie instead. “Okay, now, you are about to enter my secret place. I shouldn’t even be sharing it with you. Nobody knows that I come here every now and then for… for different reasons, but this is like my safe place, so don’t tell anybody.” Her index finger pointed straight to her face. Trixie couldn’t do anything but promise she wouldn’t.

Once the door opened, shelves filled with boxes were revealed. There was a small table in the middle covered with dust. The place seemed to be untouched. The spiderwebs between the boxes told her nobody had moved them in a long time. The room was large but seemed to reduce in size with so many files spread everywhere. Against the back wall Trixie spotted a folding bed, it had messy sheets on top, as if someone had recently slept there and didn’t bother to make the bed. Next to it, on top of a pile of boxes, there was an ashtray and several candy wrappers. Trixie could see her there, she could very clearly picture Katya breaking her head over a case, not wanting to go home and going to that room instead. She could see her smoking in there, even when she shouldn’t be doing it, and popping candies into her mouth as she tried to connect the clues to make sense.

“This is the cold cases room,” Katya explained. “Nobody really comes here because, you know, the cases are cold. Duh.”

When she didn’t get a response from Trixie, she turned back around to face her. Her eyes were glued to the bedroom-like area she had set for herself a long time ago. She didn’t need to explain, she knew that Trixie understood why her stuff was there. And she wondered if Trixie had a similar place at her old building.

“So you wanted to talk.” Katya’s words came out in the form of a question, reminding Trixie why they were there in the first place.

She directed her stare to Katya again, meeting her eyes probably for the first time in the entire day. “Oh. Yeah, umm…”

“Is this about that night? About you being drunk?” Katya suddenly asked in a rush. The thought had crossed her mind throughout the day. Usually, she didn’t care much about a hookup the next morning but, yet again, she never had to see them again. And Trixie was there, big and expecting eyes looking right at her. “I asked you if you were okay, if you wanted to, and you said yes–”

Trixie lifted her hand to stop her. “No! I wasn’t that drunk. I, umm, it’s not that… not at all.”

“Oh, then what is it? If you are scared that I will tell anybody, you can be sure that’s not going to happen. I promise I won’t tell anybody.” She tried to make things easier for Trixie when she noticed her fumbling with her words, but she was not prepared for what she said next.

“You left.”

The words dropped from her lips with such hurt, with such emotion that they shook Katya to the very core.

“You didn’t really expect me–” Katya tried to reason but was interrupted.

“You said you were gonna stay the night. You promised.”

Katya raised an eyebrow, unsure of where all of that was coming from, or going to. “Well, technically, I didn’t,” she said softly, trying to make her understand. “Trixie, really, it’s no big deal. I get it. It was just sex.”

Her eyes grew wide open in shock, making Katya regret her words as soon as she said them.

“So that was it? That’s all it was for you? Just sex that happened because we had both been drinking?”

“I hadn’t…” Katya stopped herself before finishing her sentence, there was no point in explaining how she hadn’t tasted a drop of alcohol in years, and she surely wasn’t drunk that night. The girl seemed so wrapped up in her own feelings, a state Katya was more than familiar with, that no reasoning was probably going to get through her head. Instead she tried something different. “Look, alright, okay, listen. We don’t have to make this awkward, okay? You have had, umm, one night stands or, like, fuck buddies before, I presume. If you think about it, it doesn’t change things if we don’t want to. I mean, we are working together. We can make it, like, not awkward, right?”

Trixie looked at her for a moment too long, Katya could feel the brown eyes going across her face. Probably trying to read her the same way she was doing. But then Trixie nodded her head, as if reality had finally dawned on her. For a moment, Katya felt relief, she had gotten her point across. Or at least that was what she thought, until an air of determination filled Trixie’s features.

“Right. Okay. Have it your way.”

She turned around and walked away, her high heels resounding loudly through the empty hallways. Katya brought her hands up to her face, an exasperated grunt coming out from the back of her throat.

Then it hit her. She ran to the door, trying to see if she could still catch her. “Hey!” She screamed after her. “You need to help me get the boxes with the case!” She waited a few seconds but got response. “Yep. She’s not coming back. Okay, great.”

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 7 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

Chapter Summary: With a click of the remote the image changed. There was a picture that Trixie had taken, when they went vintage shopping a few weeks back. Katya had gone crazy in the home-decor isle. The lamp instantly stole her heart, with its big shade and the detailed design of a monkey carved into the wood of the base. She held the ornament and pretended to lick it as Trixie snapped the shot. It had been such a fun day. Trixie shook the memory out of her mind. She needed to focus, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to continue.

AO3 Link

Chapter 7 - Green.

“How could you let this happen?!”

Ginger Minj made her way across the bullpen. Her steps resounded in the echo of the open space, making the small heels sound louder.

Trixie lifted her head from the papers in her hand. It took a moment for her tired eyes to focus on the angry woman marching her direction. Her ears didn’t even catch the sound of wheels going across the floor until Violet appeared in front of her, still sitting on her desk chair, with her arms stretched in front of herself, figuratively creating a barrier between the two women.

“Girl, don’t,” Violet said firmly but quietly, slowly rising to her feet.

“You were supposed to protect her!” Ginger screamed, her arm snaking under Violet’s and a finger pointing at Trixie. “That’s what partners are for.”

Violet wrapped her arm around Ginger’s shoulder, preventing her from walking any further. “Minj, they were not on the clock.”

Trixie could only see Violet’s back, but she pictured her face being stern, just like the tone of her voice.

“That doesn’t matter!” Ginger’s voice sounded broken, tinted with unshed tears. “Have you seen her, V? She’s in a hospital bed, tubes connected everywhere. Lord.”

The muscles on Violet’s back seemed to contract as she stood a little too straight. “I have. I have seen her, and I know that’s not Trixie’s fault.” She moved to the side, just enough for Trixie to see sadness taking over her features. There was nothing anybody could have done to prevent this. No matter how many scenarios each detective had created in their mind, the reality was still the same.

Ginger’s eyes opened wide as she directed her stare between the two women. “You have got to be kidding me. Are you defending her now?” Ginger was almost screaming again; probably hating now more than ever that she needed to look up to find Violet’s eyes. What she lacked in height, she made up for in attitude. “Weren’t you the one calling me, saying that you just couldn’t stand her?”

A look of surprise took over Trixie’s face. Her hands went up in confusion, not only because the two women were talking about her as if she wasn’t standing right there, but because she was just learning her coworker didn’t like her.

“Uh, I’m literally right here, guys.”

Violet turned to face her for a second before she returned her attention to Ginger. “You don’t know what’s the story. Come, let’s talk.” She tried to get a hold of Ginger’s elbow, to direct her towards the break room, but Ginger wasn’t having it.

“I don’t need to talk with y’all. You seem to be making a mess out of everything you touch. I thought I would come out here and show you how it’s done.”

“You are here because I called you.” Captain Charles stood under the doorframe of his office, his hands clasped together solemnly. “Briefing room, now.”

Everybody dropped what they were doing and obeyed the captain’s orders. Trixie took her usual seat, the same she had occupied since the first time she stepped inside that room. Her arms dropped on the table and her head landed in the crook of her own elbows. For the first time in ages, she didn’t have to worry about her makeup getting ruined, she removed it a couple of days ago and didn’t bother to reapply it. She felt her greasy hair tickling her skin. She hadn’t been home in two days, and hadn’t taken a proper shower since the day before that.

Craig didn’t keep his promise. He didn’t call Trixie over the weekend, he called her that same Friday night. As soon as he got home, he noticed the door to Katya’s apartment was opened, and knew something wasn’t right. He walked in, without warning, and flipped the switch to turn the lights on. Nothing could have prepared him for the scene he found. Katya sat at her dinner table, her head hanging low, and a pool of blood at her feet.

After calling nine-one-one, he had called Trixie right away, who got there in a matter of minutes. They tried to get Katya to react to no avail. Trixie kept her finger firm on her pulse, and a towel at the back of Katya’s head, as they waited for the ambulance. Trixie rode with her, not wanting to let Katya out of her sight, and Craig followed them in his car.

Nobody would tell them anything for hours. The squad soon filled the waiting area of the emergency room, as they all silently prayed for the wellbeing of their dear friend. Roy would yell at the nurses, telling them what a horrible job they were doing at keeping up with the information. Captain Charles had to order him to either shut up or leave. In his kind manner, RuPaul requested the staff to keep them updated, since it was a very valuable agent of the law they were taking care of.

Kasha and Tempest went on a coffee run, and came back with steaming cups and old muffins for everyone. Trixie kept her tea in her hands, but didn’t drink it. The hot liquid wouldn’t make it past her throat, so she used it to warm her hands, which were cold with worry and uncertainty. She clung to Craig, asking him, over and over again, to describe the scene he found inside the apartment. He hadn’t seen anybody leaving, nor had he noticed anything unusual on his way up to their floor.

It took them two hours for the doctors to come out. Katya was okay. She had two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Besides that, her arms and legs were covered in scrapes and bruises. She had clearly put up a fight. The thing they were most concerned about was the gash on the back of her head. It appeared to be skin deep, yet they ran several scans and X-Rays to be sure. Her brain seemed undamaged, but they needed to wait until she woke up to be sure. It had been three days since then, and she still wouldn’t react.

The doctors wouldn’t force her to wake up. Her body needed time to recover and come back by itself. All they could do was wait. It was frustrating.

Trixie pushed her fist against the metallic table, and lifted her head. People were still filing inside the briefing room, tired bodies walked in one after the other. Everybody seemed exhausted, more so than any other Monday morning. Their faces showed something closer to sadness than anything else. Trixie hated that. It was time to put their best foot forward, to be at the top of their game. Trixie felt tired, gross, but she was nowhere near giving up.

Violet sat next to her, it was the last seat available in the room. The one Katya usually took since she partnered up with Trixie. People stayed cleared from it, maybe out of respect. Trixie wanted to scream at them. Katya wasn’t dead. If only she wasn’t as exhausted, Trixie would have slapped the sorrow out of their stupid faces as they stirred away from the empty chair. Finally, Violet took the seat, maybe because her usual one had been occupied by Ginger, but it felt like Violet wanted to be there for Trixie. She could tell as much when Violet smiled softly at her. Trixie only half returned the gesture before Captain Charles called everyone’s attention to the front.

“Thank you, everyone,” he started. “Thanks to everybody that showed up in the middle of the night, and those of you who have worked non stop over the weekend.” He nodded his head a couple of times, bracing himself, but also giving some time for the crew to realize they were going to touch a sensitive topic. “As all of you know, Detective Zamo was attacked last Friday night.” His voice was soft, delicate; a tender whisper. “Her home was apparently broken into, we are yet to determine that. Girl, did she put up a fight, Mamma!” He drawled his words and bobbed his head side to side, a proud smile playing on his lips. “Luckily, she was found less than an hour later by a neighbor and was attended to right away. She has been in intensive care since then.”

A burning feeling took over Trixie’s nape, it surely was all the stares that had fixated on her at once. The information had spread rather fast, everybody knew she had been the first one at the scene.

“The doctors are very hopeful. There was no internal damage, but she did receive a blow to the head that has kept her unconscious. Once she wakes up, they will know if any other areas were affected.”

The room was dead silent, the squad hung to every word that came out of the captain’s mouth. They cared. Katya was one of, if not the most cared about agent in the precinct, that love could be felt in the aura of concern that had taken over the entire place.

“Now, Detective Mattel will brief us about what’s been discovered so far.” He pointed in Trixie’s direction, letting her know it was her time to speak.

Violet squeezed Trixie’s hand slightly as she got up. Trixie looked down at the perfectly manicured fingers wrapped around her own, and for a moment tried to remember if this was the first time she felt Violet’s touch. It was unfamiliar but surprisingly soothing. She offered a small smile back before she made her way to the front and thanked the captain.

She was ready to stand behind the podium when he took hold of her forearm. “If you feel too close to the case, let me know. We can cover for you.”

“I’m fine,” she reassured him as firmly as she could, before taking the remote in her hand. “So Katya was hurt,” she said dryly. “Some bastard attacked her and we need to catch the motherfucker.”

The smiling face of her partner appeared on the screen and her jaw clenched, her stomach turned. It was the picture used for Katya’s ID. She was all big teeth and bright lipstick. Her eyes looked almost green through the lense, under the fluorescent lighting. Trixie couldn’t even look at that happy being. Hitting next, she presented several pictures of Katya’s apartment, from the door that was left open, to the couch that no longer touched the wall behind it. Katya’s place had been completely trashed. Sure, it was a mess to start with, but there were things that had been knocked down during the fight, furniture had been flipped and picture frames could be seen on the floor.

“The weapon was most likely this monkey lamp.”

With a click of the remote the image changed. There was a picture that Trixie had taken, when they went vintage shopping a few weeks back. Katya had gone crazy in the home-decor isle. The lamp instantly stole her heart, with its big shade and the detailed design of a monkey carved into the wood of the base. She held the ornament and pretended to lick it as Trixie snapped the shot. It had been such a fun day. Trixie shook the memory out of her mind. She needed to focus, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to continue.

“It was not found in the crime scene. The attacker must have taken it with them. They knew what they were doing. The idea is that they were not prepared for Katya to fight back so hard. That fit bitch.” The last words were more to herself, coming out almost in a whisper. “Other than the clear mess of the place, they left no trace of even being there. We found no fingerprints, not a single hair, not even spit. We have reasons to believe that Katya injured them pretty badly. All the blood samples that we found are at the lab, and they are trying to see if there’s any other than Katya’s.”

A hand was raised at the back. “Do we have any suspects?” Kennedy asked without waiting for Trixie to acknowledge her.

“I believe this has something to do with The Puppeteer. Not only because that was the last case she was involved in but, as you can see here, she was found sitting at her dinner table, same as all the victims.”

She stopped, giving her fellow detectives a moment to look at the next image. Just like she told them, Katya sat at the table, puddle of blood around her feet. Her face wasn’t painted, and her limbs didn’t have strings coming from the ceiling, but Trixie was almost sure it was somehow related to the killer.

“Didn’t you just close that case, though?” Ginger challenged from her seat.

Trixie nodded. “Yes. And Katya being attacked, right after the sentence was given, can’t be a coincidence. For as long as we worked the case, there were no indications that Manila Luzon had an accomplice. It could be a copy-cat, or a fan even, someone that heard about the M.O. and is trying to replicate it. They are obviously not very good at it.”

“That’s where we are going to need your help,” Sergeant Haylock intervened. “We need to see if anyone has been released recently, anyone that Katya caught that may want revenge. That bitch put a lot of freaks in jail. Any of those weirdos could be responsible for this.”

“Kasha and Tempest, can you help me get the info from her old cases? We need to check on anyone that was released over the last six months… a year even.” The duo nodded in sync to Trixie’s request. “Jasmine, Kennedy, please, go to her apartment building, find out if anybody noticed anything. See if you can get any footage from nearby stores or something.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jasmine responded right away. “Imma need you awake for this one, Jush.” She playfully pushed her partner who simply elbowed her back.

Despite the situation, Trixie couldn’t help but chuckle. “Violet, Ginger, you are working with me.”

Violet hummed an approval but, as was expected, Ginger complained right away. “Who said I wanted to work with you?”

Sergeant Haylock rolled his eyes with a loud huff. “Look, bitch, I know you are too busy, now that you joined the fucking circus, but leave the clown attitude at the tent, will you?” Ginger had no reply to that, she simply did her best attempt at crossing her arms over her large chest as the sergeant continued. “You both worked the case with Katya at different stages, that’s why you are working together.”

“We all are,” Trixie butted in. “Look, guys, we all love her, and we all want to see whoever did this to her pay for it. Let’s work together and catch this guy.”

Captain Charles dismissed the meeting once each member of the team had a task assigned.

Trixie walked with Violet and Ginger close behind her. The pair talked about what had transpired since the last time they saw each other, which was surprisingly not that long ago. Trixie wondered if they used those opportunities to talk about her. They made it clear they had commented on their shared dislike for her. She could very easily picture them at brunch, mimosas in their hands, laughing at how stupid one of her outfits was. Suddenly, Trixie felt very angry at them, at the hypothetical version of them roasting her over scrambled eggs and buttery toast.

“What is all this?” Ginger’s voice came from behind her, a tone of bewilderment lacing her words. Her fingers traced the pictures placed on a crock board. Her eyes followed the ribbons that went from wall to wall, connecting Katya’s friends and family members. There were notes and post-its with details next to each person.

“This is Katya’s life,” Violet answered with a side smile on her face. “Trixie,” she said as a way of explanation.

“You did all this…” Ginger turned to Trixie. “In just two days?”

Trixie shrugged one shoulder. “Yesterday. Spent the whole day with her on Saturday.”

Her mouth opened in surprised, Ginger practically had to pick her jaw from the floor to speak again. “This is… incredible.” Her eyes travelled through the many pieces of information. Everything that Katya liked was listed, all her favorite restaurants, cafés, even the parks she visited. Schedules of all the different classes Katya attended had being printed, and pictures of the instructors accompanied each pamphlet. “You really know her, huh?”

“I know her likes and interests,” Trixie said, dismissing Ginger’s words. “There are so many layers of her,” she exhaled in a sigh, the complexity of Katya overwhelming her yet again. “It’s really hard to fully know her. I try, though, I really do. She’s just too much, all at once, you know?”

A small chuckle escaped Ginger’s lips. “I do.” She nodded. “I miss that little nutcase.” Her eyes went once again to the board, where Katya smiled at her from at least six different angles. “I miss seeing her walking around with the earphones in, the wire just hanging unplugged.”

“Ohmygod, yes!” Trixie laughed loudly, and lifted her hands in the air. “Because it’s a lot easier to unplug one thing from the computer–”

“Than two from the ears,” both Trixie and Ginger said in unison.

Something immediately changed; as if a switch had been flipped that pushed all the anger and resentment to the side. Violet laughed at them, probably not really following the conversation, but understanding the bond Katya could cause between people.

Ginger pointed at a picture of Courtney Act, placed right in the center. “Have you talked to this asshole?” The tone of her voice still showed a tint of amusement.

Trixie understood the term was more or less one of endearment, not precisely an insult, so she simply nodded her head. “She was the last one to see her, meaning the first person I talked to.”

“What did she say?” Ginger asked.

“They left the party and went for ice-cream,” Trixie offered. “Katya wasn’t feeling well. They made plans to meet the next day for a late lunch. Courtney took her home, left her right at the front gate.”

Ginger’s eyes travelled across the board, trying to find the answer to her next question before she pronounced it. “Did she notice anything unusual?”

“Nope, but it was dark and she wasn’t really paying attention. She just waited until Katya entered the building to leave. That’s why I’m trying to get footage of the street.”

A chubby finger pointed at the blueprint on the far end of the room. “What is that? Is that a map of the building?” Ginger asked.

Trixie explained, in full detail, all the information she had deemed relevant enough to be put up around the room. Ginger listened, like, really listened. She asked questions when needed and added facts if Trixie didn’t have them. It took them almost an hour to go through everything and, by lunch time, they had a whiteboard with a drawn calendar, graphing every single one of Katya’s activities of the last month.

“Wait, what’s on Thursday nights?” Violet asked, pointing at the empty slot at eight p.m. every week on the same day.

Both Trixie and Ginger lifted their heads, noticing the space for the first time. They went through the many pieces of paper they had in hand, Trixie pulled up the spreadsheet they had on her laptop, there was no indication of what Katya did at that time. She didn’t take any classes that late at night, she usually took them in the morning. They checked the many receipts they had found in her car and house one more time. Katya wasn’t precisely a creature of habit but even her grocery shopping was done right after work. There was nothing that could indicate what she did during that hour.

Violet rolled her eyes, huffing softly. “So, I guess I’m gonna be the bitch that says it, but… could she be using again?”

If looks could kill, the thin girl would be dead under the stare of the two women flanking her. “No way,” Ginger was the one to answer. “We literally just talked about it at dinner the other night. She’s clean.”

Trixie laughed, the thought was almost ridiculous. “Plus, it’s not like she’s gonna have, I don’t know, a meth appointment. Those things are, like, if you need it, you need it, right? It’s not like you are gonna be all: nope, can’t get fucked up today, gotta wait until Thursday.” She laughed again at her own words, causing yet another eye roll from her coworker.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Violet said, her hands going up in surrender. “I didn’t mean in that particular time frame but, don’t tell me the possibility didn’t cross your mind.”

“Not even once,” Trixie assured her.

“She had really been set on doing things right for a while now,” Ginger reminded them.

That was when an idea crossed Trixie’s mind. “Okay, but listen, what about a therapist? Could she be seeing someone?”

Ginger nodded effusively. “She could, she could; when you went through her emails, did you find anything about that?”

Violet shook her head, then turned to Trixie, who suddenly had grown quiet.

“Not a therapist,” Trixie said after a few beats of silence, almost to herself. “She had…” The sentence was left there as she moved to a box sitting in a corner of the room, she rummaged through it until she found her prize. She flipped the small coin in the air, catching it and reading the engraving. “She must have a sponsor, maybe they met at the group at that time.” She flipped the round piece of medal again, this time to land in Ginger’s awaiting hands.

“This bitch really is good,” Ginger said to Violet, a cheeky grin pasted on her lips as she pointed at Trixie with her thumb. “So people really do like her, huh?”

“She’s… polarizing,” Violet conceded, her personality wouldn’t allow her to give a direct compliment.

Trixie screamed in laughter. “You bitch! Now, c’mon. We need to find this place.”

It didn’t take them long. The group met in a library just a few blocks down the precinct. Leave it to Katya to have all the important places of her life within walking distance. Ginger and Trixie walked there, and Violet went back to the club, to see if Bob the bartender remembered anything about that night. They were welcomed by a sign that read “Courage to Change” and had the different logos for the groups that held meetings there. Trixie could only recognize the AA and NA insignias among the bunch, but she didn’t give it much importance as she walked the empty hallways.

“Oh, hi!” A girl shouted from behind a desk at the end of the room, several rows of chairs separated her from the detectives. That didn’t stop her from yelling her greetings to them. “Are you twelfths?”

“Excuse me?” Ginger asked, feeling insulted.

The girl laughed loudly, bending forward, and allowing her green hair to completely cover her face. She made a show of throwing it back, both her hands pushing away the curtain of unruly hair. She stood up, her heavy boots hitting hard against the wooden floor. Her jeans were ripped and there was a plaid shirt tied around her waist. She couldn’t be more than eighteen years old.

“I just asked if you were new. Haven’t seen you around here. I would definitely remember you.” She looked at Trixie up and down, making her feel uncomfortable knowing her face was bare of any makeup; and the set of sweats and hoodie, with the LAPD seal printed on it, were not exactly sexy. “Hi, I’m Adore D.” The girl extended her hand and shook Trixie’s first and then Ginger’s.

“I’m Detective Mattel, and this is Detective Minj.”

“Party!” Adore said, her eyes growing wide in excitement.

“We are actually here looking for our friend,” Ginger offered, pulling up a picture of Katya on her phone. “Have you seen this woman?”

Adore bit her lip nervously. “You know, we are anonymous for a reason.” She looked around, as if making sure nobody could hear her. “We are not supposed to, like, know where we live or work, stuff like that. We can’t even tell each other’s full names and shit. But, like, is this complete stranger woman, who I may or may not have seen before, in danger or something?” Her voice fluctuated theatrically, obviously trying to tell them she was purposely keeping information from them.

Trixie nodded her head. “She was attacked last Friday night. She’s unconscious in the hospital right now.”

“Oh, fuck!” The girl seemed genuinely surprised to get that information. “Shit. Okay. Hold on.” She moved her head slightly to the side, which did nothing to redirect the loud scream from the detectives’ ears. “Fame!” She waited a few seconds but there was no response so she did it again. “Fame! The police is here! It’s Katya!”

Right away, a head popped out from behind a door. “Who, what now?”

Adore had her hand covering her mouth, close to tears, she only removed it to speak again. “They say Katya’s been attacked. She’s fucking unconscious, man.”

Long fingers pulled the door opened, and the slim woman invited them into the office. She was beautiful, gorgeous. She pushed her long skirt aside as she sat down behind a desk, motioning them to take the seats across from it.

“Please, take a seat. I’m Fame, I direct this community of centers, and have sponsored Katya for several twenty-four hours now. What can I do to help? ”

Trixie analyzed the woman’s perfectly applied makeup, feeling more and more insecure in her own state; but this wasn’t about her, it was about Katya. She right away redirected her thoughts to the task at hand. “We are trying to trace back her steps, and we have a window of time that we can’t fill out. Do you meet regularly?”

The styled curls bounced as Fame nodded. “I see her every Thursday at eight. We have meetings every night at seven, but she can’t always make it.”

“Do you know if she was going through something major? Any indications that she was in trouble, or was there something that could get her hurt?” Ginger asked.

This time Fame shook her head. “Well, I can’t tell you much. This is not like that doctor-patient confidentiality stuff, a sponsorship goes way deeper than that. What I can say is that she has been living every day as it came, fighting demons as we all are, and taming them the best she could. She knows she is loved, and fuels from it.” There was a soft smile on her face, it was secretive. “She knows she’s not alone, if she had issues she knows who to talk to.”

Trixie met eyes with her, and she knew exactly what she meant. Fame knew who Trixie was, and the role she played in Katya’s life, which seemed to be a lot bigger than Trixie herself had realized. There was a moment of complicity as the women held each other’s stare, having a wordless conversation, until Ginger’s heavy accent broke the trance.

“Girl, the fuck does that mean?”

Fame smile got wider, understanding. Katya’s world was, most likely, finally materializing in front of her eyes. All the characters she only knew from Katya’s tales and experiences were coming to life. “To answer your previous question, no, she wasn’t in trouble, or involved in anything that could have caused her getting hurt.”

Both Trixie and Ginger thanked the director and provided the hospital information so she could go visit Katya. Trixie left her card, encouraging Fame to use it if she remembered anything important, or if any other member mentioned information relevant to the case. Fame once again let them know she had no authority to do that, but promised to stay in touch.

Trixie walked back to the precinct lost in thought, not really listening to everything Ginger had to say about the picturesque personalities they had just encountered. She went on and on about Adore’s hair and Fame’s tattoo of a chicken. All of that was completely irrelevant. She still didn’t know what had happened to Katya, but she wasn’t defeated. A door closing only meant they needed to find a new one, and if that didn’t hold the answer either, then they will continue knocking on door after door after door.

One thing Trixie knew for sure, she wasn’t going to stop until she found whoever hurt Katya.

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 3 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

Hello! If you are just joining now, this is what you’ve missed.

Detective Mattel was tired of her boring little life, with a steady boyfriend and cases that pretty much solved themselves. When she got the promotion that she wanted, instead of celebrating, her friends bailed of her, her heart got broken, and she slept with a woman for the first time in her life.

Detective Zamo was really good at what she did, she always got the weirdest cases, and enjoyed putting freaks behind bars. When her partner got an early retirement, she was confronted with the fact that, the new addition to the team, was the girl she hooked up with the previous weekend.

AO3 Link

Chapter 3 - Blue.

Trixie stared at the same board she had been looking at for the last two weeks.

It felt like a piece out of a movie scene, with pictures and maps and big lines connecting the information.

When she decided to be part of the police force, that was what she had expected the job to be. She had watched just enough television in her childhood to inspire that mental image. She liked the aspect of the crimes being one big puzzle, she only needed to find all the right pieces, and then put them together. She became a detective and none of that happened. She was twenty-six years old and felt like she had wasted the last five years of her life behind a desk.

Now, as she tried to make sense of the pieces of paper thumbtacked down on the cork board, she felt utterly unprepared. A single moment of doubt washed over her, and she allowed it.

Maybe she was supposed to be a desk rat.

Maybe her role in the force was supposed to be minor.

Maybe she was never supposed to have gotten that promotion.

The self-loathing was gone as quickly as it arrived. She was meant to be there. She hadn’t fought so hard to get out of her hometown, struggled to climb up the professional ladder, achieved the position she wanted, just to give up on her first case. There was no way she could give this guy, a weirdo obsessed with turning prostitutes into puppets, the power to ruin her life.

Shaking her head, to get rid of any previous thoughts, she tried to look at the evidence with new eyes.

There had been seven murders total, six over the course of the last year, and the most recent one five months later. All pictures provided the same scene but different girl. They were all at their own place, sitting at their dining table. The arms of all the girls were lifted by strings attached to the ceiling. Impeccable makeup was applied on their faces, and their bodies were completely drained of blood.

None of the apartments showed signs of forced entry, which meant they had all known the killer to some extent. That last part was still inconcrete, since the girls had nothing to connect them other that their profession. They didn’t work on the same street, didn’t have friends in common. Nothing. This man had made them trust him enough to let him into their homes.

But how?

She looked at the dots placed on the map of the city, indicating where the killings had taken place. The biggest one signaled the spot where the last body had been found.

Trixie couldn’t make sense out of them. She had tried connecting the dots, they didn’t form any shape or letter or specific form. There was no hidden message on the distributions of the murders. She had also tried to find a reason behind the actual addresses. There was no play on words with the names of the streets, and the numbers of the residencies didn’t have any resemblance.

What she needed was a break. She was sure she had memorized every piece of information on that board. The best solution would be to distance herself from it and come back with a fresh state of mind.

“There’s a saying where I come from: watching pots will never make them boil.”

When she got no response, she turned around, ready to ask Kennedy if she wanted to grab some coffee, but all she found was a sleeping body. Kennedy snoring softly was actually a lot more helpful than the awake version of her, who was always shutting down theories and never coming up with good ideas. She did more to delay the process than to help solve the case. Katya had recommended to Trixie to just let Kennedy sleep.

Katya.

Things hadn’t been as tense with Katya, as Trixie had expected. There was something about Katya that just made people want to be around her, her company was enjoyable. Trixie quickly realized that she wasn’t the only one drawn to her beyond reason. They were often being interrupted as their colleagues went to chat with her. The constant visits made their interactions easier. Trixie was never really alone with Katya for long periods, preventing awkwardness to seep into their conversations.

On more than one occasion Trixie had caught Katya staring at her, hungry eyes scanning her curves without a care. It was almost as if Katya wanted her to know that she was being watched, observed, wanted. All that Trixie had felt was uncomfortable.

Although, deep down, a small part of her had been flattered that Katya could flirt with her so openly, throwing dirty jokes at her, and making her blush in the most inappropriate times. It kind of hurt to realize that was simply her personality. There was this charm about Katya that seemed to work on both men and women, and she reveled in her bisexuality. She would shamelessly share stories about sucking a penis one day and then rant about how beautiful boobs were the next. It was such a strange sight for Trixie, who had grown up in the deep country, with the simplistic idea of a woman finding a man to put a ring on her finger, and the story would end.

In the two weeks they had been working together, Trixie had learned more about Katya’s sexual career than her actual life.

All the stories of carefree sex also weighed Trixie’s heart down a little, because it meant that she had been nothing but a notch on Katya’s bedpost. She had internally been kicking herself for that weekend she spent picturing the two of them together, not only repeating the night they had shared but turning it into something special. How naïve she had been. Her foolishness had an excuse, though, or at least that was what she kept telling herself. She had just been dumped. Her mind wasn’t thinking straight, her heart wasn’t feeling properly, her soul wasn’t directing the pain to the right person. It was a more than valid reason.

The amount of work they had to go through had also played a big part on mending Trixie’s broken heart. She had a purpose, she had something to do, she had a murderer to catch. They did, both of them; but Katya was constantly asking for breaks, going out for a smoke or needing more coffee.

Trixie wondered if she was trying to take a step back from the case as well. Looking at the clock, she realized Katya had left for the gym over an hour ago and hadn’t come back.

Running sounded like a good idea. Maybe Trixie should go on the treadmill for a bit and try to clear her head.

Just stepping out of the meeting room, that had been reserved for the case specifically, already had Trixie feeling much better. She was not alone with her thoughts, and Kennedy’s loud breathing wasn’t her only ambience anymore. The bullpen was alive, people were coming and going, printers could be heard in the background, and a phone rang somewhere.

Trixie waved at Violet when she passed by the copying machine. Violet only nodded her head slightly in return, always focused and concentrated in her work. Katya considered Violet one of her best friends, and promised Trixie she wasn’t always as cold and distant. Trixie had a hard time believing it; but ultimately trusted Katya’s judgement on people.

On her desk, Jasmine was laughing loudly at something Roy was telling her. Across the room Tempest had her nails digging on Kasha’s back, trying to scratch a spot that she couldn’t reach herself.

With a smile on her face, Trixie walked passed them, changed into her sports clothes, and made her way down to the basement. It was close to the end of the shift, there was only one other person at the gym.

Katya could feel every single muscle screaming at her in unison. She had been straining them to their maximum capacity. The rubber band restricted the stretching even more, and she loved it. She was always trying to break the boundaries of her own elasticity. She felt the plastic biting at the arch of her foot, but she stubbornly kept trying to make her shin touch her ear. Her other leg was tucked in front of her, providing the needed support to remain balanced.

She didn’t notice when someone else walked into the room but she could hear the soft thuds of feet against the belt of a treadmill.

Her eyes were closed, but she could still feel a stare burning her skin. It felt nice to be observed, she liked it a lot. If her sudden spectator wanted a show, she was going to give them just that.

Throwing the resistance band to the side, she extended both legs in front of her. Her back straightened, and she concentrated on the low of her back as she bent forward. Very easily her hands took hold of her feet, she used them as anchor points to have her forehead pressed against her knees.

She then opened her legs, making her head softly drop to the floor. Wider and wider she spread her legs until they formed a perfect side split.

Her heels were planted on the floor, the palms of her hands laid flat in front of her, and she lifted her tailbone from the ground. Her torso pressed hard against the floor as her butt remained up in the air. She dropped back down and waited a few seconds.

The feet on the treadmill sounded faster.

She started bouncing, in slow controlled movements, making her ass hit the floor every time. It wasn’t intentional but she started to turn herself on. She hump the ground faster and faster. Grunts left her mouth in effort but they soon turned into moaning.

The stepping sound stopped, only the belt going around and around could be heard.

Using her arms, she pushed her torso back up. Her legs closed in front of her, and she let out a deep sigh. Her eyes opened. Her lips curled up into a smirk when she spotted Trixie. She had her feet on each side of the machine, avoiding the band that still ran below her. Her mouth was wide open in shock, revealing a piece of gum stuck to her molars. It was a funny sight to say the least.

“Oh, hi,” Katya said as casually as she could. “Didn’t see you there.”

Trixie didn’t move from her spot. She needed a moment to recover but she finally spoke. “You are flexible,” she stated the obvious.

Katya laughed shortly. “I am. You should have known that by now, Mary.”

A button was pressed, the treadmill stopped running.

“You-you… I mean, we didn’t…” Trixie stuttered, making Katya laugh again.

“Maybe we should, then,” she offered with a side smile and the shrug of a shoulder.

The look of shock on Trixie’s face was priceless. Katya couldn’t hold it any longer and started laughing hysterically.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she managed between laughs. “It’s just so easy to–” She was unable to finish her sentence, as more laughter took over her.

“You are horrible.” Trixie took her hand towel and threw it at her, small giggles bubbled up inside her.

The towel landed not even halfway between the two, but it worked to lighten up the mood. Katya watched as Trixie climbed down from the machine to pick the towel up, then made her way to sit right in front of her.

“Did you and Kennedy manage to get something?” The question was clearly rhetorical, Katya knew the answer already. Nonetheless, she asked with a serious tone, hoping that Trixie would catch the humor behind it.

Luckily, she did. Trixie laughed softly, a small “Oh, totally,” leaving her lips. “I don’t understand how she can sleep so much,” she continued, her voice laced with bewilderment.

Katya’s legs kicked the air between them as she laughed uncontrollably. She did manage to catch the small smile on Trixie’s lips, though. She seemed proud to make her hysterical like that. Katya then made a mental note to laugh at her jokes more often, just so she could see that cocky smile again.

“No, but seriously,” Katya directed the conversation back to work. “What are we missing? I feel like there’s something, right in front of us, that we are not seeing.”

“They can’t be isolated cases,” Trixie offered. “There’s no way.”

“And we are not dealing with a copy-cat,” Katya declared. “I know it’s him. I can feel it in my pussy.”

Trixie lifted an overly drawn eyebrow. “You know, normal people don’t feel hunches in their… in there.”

“Oh, there’s nothing normal about this pussy, Momma.”

It looked like she wanted to say something, as if a comeback had died on Trixie’s lips, because she opened and closed her mouth. In the end she just laughed and told Katya they should go back to work. She wanted to share a few ideas with her, and it was getting late.

Katya allowed Trixie to help her up, ignoring the electric shock hitting her palm as soon as their hands met. The procedure felt oddly familiar.

They made their way back upstairs, still in their workout clothes, which made it even harder for Katya to keep her eyes away from Trixie. The leggings hugged her ass tightly, accentuated her fleshy hips and tiny waist. The tank top she was wearing barely did anything to cover her big tits. The term ‘hourglass figure’ was invented just so Katya could put into words the exact shape of Trixie’s body.

The room was empty when they reached it. It was a few minutes past six and everybody on their floor had headed home for the evening. Nobody from the night shift had arrived yet. Would it really be that inappropriate if they–

“You see this?”

Trixie’s voice took her out of her dirty train of thoughts. Her finger pointed at a picture. A picture that Katya had been analyzing for over a year. It was the crime scene of the first victim they had found. There was nothing on that picture that Katya hadn’t seen before.

“What-what? What am I seeing?”

Trixie moved her finger a little, a blue square was next to the foot of the table. “At first I didn’t think much of this. It looked like a random piece of paper, right?” She then moved to the table in the middle, shuffling through files. “Then, I found this!”

She pulled out a picture of the third murder. In the image a bunch of clutter could be seen on a coffee table. Underneath an empty bottle of vodka, a blue shadow was almost imperceptible, but Katya could see it. It was there.

“I don’t know if it means anything,” Trixie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not even sure if they are the same thing. Maybe I’m just seeing stuff.”

“Nonono,” Katya was quick to correct her. “I think you are into something.” Her eyes were wild, seemingly unfocused, going rapidly through the pictures on the desk. “We need to find a better shot of this. Have you seen it on any other crime scene?”

Even though Katya was not looking at her, Trixie shook her head. “I haven’t really gone through everything, just spotted it on my way out earlier today.”

“Okay, okay.” Katya nodded dramatically. “Let’s do this. Why don’t you go down to the nerds and see if they can blow it up and make out what it says. I will look into the other pictures and see if I can find it again.”

Trixie obeyed without hesitation, running out of the room to find the tech experts.

Katya threw all the pictures to the floor in one swift motion, to get a better view. She couldn’t believe she had missed something like that. She had been studying the same cases for so long and, as happy as she was that they possibly had a new lead, her insecurities still made their presence noticed. It felt like failing, and there was nothing she hated more than that.

If she had overlooked that tiny detail, what else had she missed?

She was not going to dwell on things like that, though, not anymore. She had learned to live with fear and anxiety and used them in her favor, as propulsors to do better instead of crippling her. All the thoughts getting tangled in her mind only drove her to work harder, to focus better. She’d learned to redirect those emotions and put them to good use. That was the reason why, when Trixie came back with an enlarged version of the picture, Katya had found the blue paper in another of the crime scenes.

“What did you get?” She asked Trixie.

Trixie looked around until she found an empty spot on the cork board. “It looks like a flower… a rose, maybe?” Her head tilted, trying to see the pixeled picture from a different angle. “Did you find anything?”

“Yes! And there’s also this.” Katya’s face contorted, a string of unintelligible noises leaving her mouth. “I don’t know. It could be something.” She moved around the floor, where she had spread all the pictures they had from the different crime scenes, until she found the most recent one. “Look at her feet. The blood puddle is oddly shaped on this side. It kinda ends on a straight line. You see?”

She brought the photo closer to Trixie, she could understand exactly what Katya was saying.

“It’s as if… there was… something square stopped…” Trixie trialed off, unsure of how to put into words what she was seeing.

Katya smiled widely. “Aha-aha,” she encouraged her. “As if something square had been there and forced the blood to spill around it!” She concluded.

Trixie’s face filled with recognition. “Oh, my God! We have to get back there!”

She wasn’t even done pronouncing the phrase when Katya was already grabbing her keys.

“You took the words right out of my pussy.”

The laugh that came out of Trixie was unintentional. “Oh wow. You really are obsessed with your pussy.”

Katya stopped walking, her hands up in front of herself, as if Trixie had just said the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean, c’mon, aren’t you?”

Trixie didn’t reply. She pushed her playfully to keep on walking, and followed her outside. She couldn’t tell Katya that indeed there was a point where she had been obsessed, not only with that particular part of her body, but everything that she was. That in her mind she had conjured this image of her that had nothing to do with reality. That the reality of Kaya had surpassed even her wildest dreams. No, she couldn’t confess any of that. So she simply laughed it off and got in the passenger seat of Katya’s car, which was a mess.

“Uh, you are just like my sister. Her car is disgusting.”

“Hey!” Katya reproched. “I am an agent of the law, my duty is to put criminals behind bars. Who has time to clean a car when the whole human race is at risk?”

It was meant to be a joke, Trixie knew it but, as soon as Katya pulled out of the parking lot, without checking the road for other cars, she couldn’t help but notice the irony of her words. Katya’s driving was reckless. She never did as much as glance in the rearview mirror, and changed lanes without turning her blinkers on. Trixie held on to the door handle and yelled loudly whenever there was a pedestrian in sight. Katya kept telling her to relax, that everything was going to be alright. She trusted the other drivers to move out of the way. They were the police after all.

They reached the victim’s apartment building after a few minutes, minutes that were enough to make Trixie grateful to still be alive, and made their way up in the elevator. Katya was chatting her ear off, explaining something about the history of the building, but all Trixie could feel was her warmth tickling her naked arm. They should have changed before leaving the precinct.

Pushing the police tape aside, Katya pressed the key into the knob and let them in. The entire place smelled like bleach, making her nose scrunch up in disgust. Forensics had taken care of cleaning all the blood out, taken the necessary evidence, and left all other belongings intact. It was sad, really. Katya felt sorry for the girl. Her mind had already come up with a whole life story for her. She had come from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Her hopes of becoming a movie star stuffed into a single suitcase as she stepped down from the bus. Only to have her dreams crushed by the bills that kept coming and coming and she was unable to pay. That was when an answer came.

“And you gathered all of that…” Trixie’s voice took her out of her imaginary world. “Just by looking at her shit? Damn, you are good.”

Katya hadn’t even realize she was saying it out loud. She was simply trying to connect with the space, with the victim. She could feel embarrassed that her thinking process had been discovered, but Trixie didn’t judge her. She actually went along with it.

“She was pretty, she was young, she could get paid for it. It was easy, so she did it.”

With her bottom lip pressed between her teeth, trying not to smile like an idiot, Katya nodded effusively to Trixie’s words.

“It worked just fine,” Katya added. “Until he came along.”

Trixie’s face seemed to soften. She moved closer to Katya and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We are gonna catch him. We will.”

There was no way for either of the two to know that for sure. Katya had been so close before and he managed to slip away right in front of her eyes. She couldn’t agree with Trixie, she couldn’t feel the confidence she was exuding. So she simply nodded and tapped her hand slightly. The tingling on her skin was burning, causing her to shrug her shoulder and make Trixie’s hand fall awkwardly to her side.

“Okay!” Katya clapped her hands, moving on from the uncomfortable moment. “Let’s play this out. She walked in.” Her hand pointed towards the door. “Was she alone or with him?”

Her question came out more like a trivia. One that Trixie happily accepted, walking to the entrance and analyzing the space. In the wall next to her, there was a small dent. She touched the loose drywall with her finger and looked around for a source. She found it right away.

“He pushed her inside. The door banged against the wall. Here.” Opening the door completely, she could tell the scrape was a perfect match for the knob.

“You are so fucking smart, you know that?”

Trixie simply shrugged at her comment, but the blush on her cheeks didn’t go unnoticed.

“So he attacked her by the door,” Katya continued. “Maybe fought her, but ended up dragging her and sitting her on the dinner table.” She looked around, the whole set had been taken to the lab. She bent her knees and tapped her thighs. “Come on. I’ll be the chair.”

The laugh coming from Trixie was loud and filled with surprise. “I am not going to sit on you.”

Katya stood up straight with a roll of her eyes. “Fine. You’ll be the chair then.”

“Why does anybody have to be a chair?” Trixie’s voice was light, filled with amusement. “Can’t we just use that one?” She pointed across the room, where a perfectly functioning chair sat by the window.

Katya’s mouth opened in surprise. “You want to disturb a crime scene? What are you, five?”

Before they knew it, they were both laughing. Katya couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun with a case. She knew there was nothing funny about the young woman whose life they were invading, whose death was the reason they were there. Nonetheless, there was happiness filling her lungs and making it easier for her to breathe. She knew it was because of Trixie. Katya had a feeling that she had finally found someone that understood her sense of humor. It was refreshing, it was liberating.

“It’s here!”

The loud scream forced Katya to land back in the reality of the situation. She moved next to Trixie, who was kneeling down behind the couch. As much as she stretched her arm, she couldn’t reach the piece of paper they were there to find.

Katya easily slid underneath the furniture, grabbing the blue card with her glove covered fingers.

“How did it even get there?” Trixie asked as she helped Katya to her feet.

Blood had been cleaned, but the outline of the puddle was still visible. Katya put the new evidence down where they had imagined it. The stains on the card complemented the broken line on the floor. It was a perfect match.

“Maybe he kicked it with his feet on the way out?” Katya tried to reason, but everything was still very unclear.

They evaluated the card together. It had the outline of a rose on the front and nothing else. There was no name, no address, no phone number; nothing but the delicate lines forming the intricate design.

“Do you know what this is?”

Katya shook her head to answer Trixie’s question. “No, but I know who might.” She thought about the possibilities before turning back to Trixie. “I need to make a few phone calls first but… what are you doing tomorrow night?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows

“Catching a bastard?” Trixie offered with a smile.

A smile that Katya could only return, the same smile that had her repeating Trixie’s words in a sing-song voice.

“We are catching a bastard.”

End Notes:

Thank you so much for reading, please, do let me know what you think. You can also find me on all social media as DenDenMonMon. Come say hi and lets talk fics! -Monkey.

[artificialqueens]

Do you know what I'm seeing? (Trixya) - Pichitinha

A/N: ok hello guys! i am back after a few months of silence and i’ve a… humorous fit for you, maybe? it’s told through violet’s poverties to changes things a bit, i do hope you’ll like it! if you’re interested my tumblr is @pichitinha and this fit can be found in AO3.

Summary: So Violet’s always aware of anything that’s happening in school, always knows when a rule is about to be created or when a student will have their parents called in or when a teacher is in trouble. Nothing escapes Violet’s radar. Needless to say, then, she’s extremely affronted when Mrs. Zamo is introduced to them on a Wednesday afternoon as the new gymnastics instructor and takes everyone by surprise. - Or the one where Violet does not like not knowing things.

Violet Chachki is not one for gossip - or so she’d say to everyone, as she gossips. She thinks it’s important that as a select group of teachers at a high prestige school they all keep informed about what’s been going on with the faculty. Any slips could cause issues for their reputation - it has before - and Violet likes earning more money than she should because the school is fancy and has lots of friendly parents, as she likes to call them.

So Violet’s always aware of anything that’s happening in school, always knows when a rule is about to be created or when a student will have their parents called in or when a teacher is in trouble. Nothing escapes Violet’s radar.

Needless to say, then, she’s extremely affronted when Mrs. Zamo is introduced to them on a Wednesday afternoon as the new gymnastics instructor and takes everyone by surprise.

She’s a short caucasian woman with light blonde hair that falls in straight locks but curves a little bit at the end, framing her face in a really flattering way that highlights her sharp cheekbones and the bright red lipstick she’s wearing. She’s lean and has an amazing posture, but that’s the least that Violet would expect from a gymnastics teacher.

Violet’s wary.

She doesn’t like the mysterious vibe the woman gives off, doesn’t understand why no one knew she was coming to work there until the exact moment she walked into the door. Something’s up and Violet can smell it.

The last person to join the team before Mrs. Zamo had been Mrs. Mattel, the music teacher. That had been a proper hiring at the beginning of the school year and she had started work on a Monday morning like one should and Violet had been aware of her coming two weeks prior, enough time for her to manage gathering a few facts about her from the school director: that she’d been a music teacher before, had a theatre degree from a fancy school and that she was married but had no children.

Albeit not a lot to know about a person, but more than she currently does about Zamo which is really pissing her off.

She tunes back to reality when she realizes that the Dean Mrs. Charles is walking towards her with Mrs. Zamo close behind. “Oh, and Miss Chachki- Violet! This is Katya, Katya this is Violet.” She introduces them briefly, but leaves no time for them to shake hands or properly meet. “Violet, please give Katya a tour? Show her how the three main rooms she’ll be using for her classes work, please. Alyssa is late again and I can’t afford to wait.” And with that she leaves, doesn’t say goodbye or even acknowledge them, but raises her head in a dignified way that’s supposed to leave them impressed - and usually they make fun of.

“Katya, is it? Weird name.”

People tend to tell Violet she can be rude sometimes, what they don’t know is that it’s on purpose.

Katya smiles though, doesn’t seem to mind. “Yeah, it’s Russian.”

“Are you Russian?!” That’s the type of thing Violet should have already known!She’s entirely too uncomfortable at the moment, knowing as much about the woman as she does about her.

“Born and raised. Until the age of five, that is.” She laughs a little at that but Violet just blinks. “Then I moved to Boston, as you can probably tell.”

She does have a Bostonian accent and she seems pretty keen on sharing details of her life, so maybe Violet won’t have such a hard time - Trixie, for example, is a problem, Violet’s barely learned anything about her in the two months she’s been working there.

“Well, Katya from Russia, follow me.”

Violet really hopes she manages to learn more about the new teacher as she gives her a tour. She is, after all, the informal information resource of the faculty.

*

“Have you met her yet? She’s super weird,” Violet tells Fame as they’re walking into the teacher’s lounge after the morning classes. “Morning, Trixie.” She greets nonchalantly and sits down at the nearest table, far from where Trixie’s eating at the other side of the room - right under the air-conditioning which is why Violet avoids it at all times.

“Morning,” Trixie greets back, eyebrows a little raised but Violet brings her attention back to Fame. Reading Trixie is too hard and Violet’s given up not long after she first started trying.

“No, I just saw her in the morning when Mrs. Charles was introducing her. She looks nice though,” Fame replies as she sits down next to Violet, nods quickly at Trixie as well.

“I mean, I guess.” She does look nice, but Violet is more interested in whether or not she’ll act nice at school. “And she’s really pretty,” she adds because it’s true and because as bad as it is the board prouds themselves on the appearance of the faculty.

Trixie sits up straighter and Violet sees it from the corner of her eyes but ignores it. Truth be told she finds Trixie a bit weird.

“She’s married though,” Fame reminds Violet as if that’s what Violet was going for.

“Aren’t they all?” she jokes back, knows Fame knows her better than that.

Trixie’s fork clatters on the table. “Sorry!” she exclaims when both of them look at her.

Fame looks back to Violet and then raises her eyebrows, “Wait, you are engaged, actually.”

Violet scoffs, now annoyed. “I’m not because-” she looks around and when she does so Trixie averts her gaze, previously clearly paying attention to them. She lowers her voice just in case, “I’m not because Pearl’s a fucking chicken, I’ve seen her take the damn ring box to our dates three times and she never asks!”

Violet is not in any hurry to get married, but if Pearl is going to ask then she could just ask already, pretending not to know is killing her.

“Did you know chickens are actually really brave?” Fame asks instead of offering any advice on Violet’s relationship. She has that look on her face she gets when she’s talking about something she finds exciting and Violet sighs even if she smiles a bit.

Fame is also a bit weird.

“I do - in fact I know way more about chickens than I ever thought I would or find necessary. Thank you for that.”

“Well-” Fame is interrupted midway when the door opens and in come Katya and Alyssa, now finally together, as it is common in the school that the dance and the gymnastics teachers follow each other’s class plan. Katya looks comfortable already, maybe a bit tired, but that’s just what spending time with Alyssa does.

“Hey, girls! Any seat for me?” Alyssa asks loudly already pulling up the last chair on their small table and sitting down by Violet’s side. Katya just stands there, food in hand, her gaze moving from their table with no extra seats to Trixie, who is sitting by herself and has two spots available.

“Do you want to sit here?” Trixie eventually asks, offers her a warm smile, and Katya smiles right back before nodding to them and moving over there.

Something is… off. Katya seems like a very extroverted and friendly person, it doesn’t really fit with that image to want to sit alone with the quiet girl on the other side of the room instead of sitting with the majority of the girls. And yet she goes with a smile and seems happy about it. She sits down in the chair nearest to Trixie as opposed to the one in front of her and they soon start talking.

Violet doesn’t think she’s ever seen Trixie chat so freely with anyone who isn’t Kim - and Kim had been her friend before she joined the team, she recommended her to the position. Between everyone else she’s probably closest to Bob, but she didn’t warm up to her this fast.

What is going on?

“Maybe we should all sit together,” she says out loud and Trixie and Katya look at her. “We all want to get to know Katya and it wouldn’t hurt to know a bit more about Trixie, right?”

Katya and Trixie exchange a brief look that Violet can’t decipher from where she is, but she’s determined to learn more and she won’t back down.

“Yeah, come on, let’s move to the bigger table,” Alyssa decides for them, loud and decisive as usual. They all join her at the communal table in the middle of the room, Katya and Trixie still side by side, opposite Violet and Fame.

Perfect. Now Violet just needs to figure what and how to ask things that will give her the most information.

“So, Katya-” she directs her gaze at her and Katya just raises her eyebrows. People usually shy away from Violet’s scrutinizing gaze, but not her. It feels like a challenge, almost. “Are you married?”

Katya just raises her left hand and wriggles her fingers, showcasing the wedding band. “Yep.”

Usually when she asks that people say a little bit more than yes or no. She asked Trixie when she started working there and she’d said yes, about two years now. She waits for Katya to elaborate or say anything else but she just starts eating again.

“Has it been long?” Violet tries to never seem like she’s prying, the questions have to be perfectly crafted so that she can receive more than what she’s asking and so it doesn’t look like she was too curious.

Especially because it isn’t curiosity. It’s caution.

“We’ve been together for several years, yes.” That’s not what Violet asked, but it is a piece of information nonetheless. “How about you? Married?”

It takes Violet by surprise, people don’t usually ask her stuff back. Trixie coughs by Katya’s side.

“I- no. Not married.”

“Weren’t you engaged?” Alyssa asks then and they all look at her with raised eyebrows, even Fame who’d just asked this.

How is she the center of this, now? “Uh, nope. Just dating.”

“And you, Fame? Married?” Katya asks shifting her attention before Violet has a chance to think of what else to ask and Violet is not sure how but she completely lost control of the conversation. Suddenly Fame is talking about her wife and her dogs and then Alyssa is talking about the last date she went on and Katya hasn’t said anything else about herself - and neither has Trixie, for that matter.

They do chime in in whatever everyone else is saying and the good side of it all is that they don’t bat an eye at Fame having a wife instead of a husband - not homophobic, or at least not blatantly so, - but Violet doesn’t find a breach to ask anything about them that wouldn’t make her look nosy so she just accepts it. It’s not a wasted lunch because she finds them funny and pleasant and Katya fits right in with the rest of them, but still she hasn’t learned enough.

She’s gonna have to keep trying.

*

Thing is, Violet does what she does because she cares. They’d had not one but two incidents in the past regarding personal scandals on the faculty and they’d lost several of the important parents’ donations in both. One had been an affair between a teacher and a (married) parent, the other had been an affair between two (married) teachers which would have been less bad except they later learned that the two were also stealing money from the school.

Violet has been working there for years - she studied at one of the siblings schools, prides herself on the place more than she cares to admit. Yes, it is a bit posh and considerably overpriced, but they do the best they can with the children, teach them the most, give them attention, affection, discipline. There are five schools in the group in a range of three cities and maybe Violet didn’t study at that particular one because it’s new, but she was there when it opened, had been one of their first hirings and she’s so proud of herself for it. She wants this school to be the best. She wants to give to those children what she felt as a kid - her teachers were much more than that, and that’s what she wants to be.

So when she pries on the new staff, it’s for their own protection. People who are too secretive usually have something to hide and it churns Violet’s stomach to imagine that. What could they be hiding? A murder? Maybe that’s a stretch but Violet can’t absolutely say they aren’t.

Plus all the nagging usually leads to them all being friends and that’s a good thing. Making friends as an adult is hard, so when you get along with your colleagues enough that it migrates to that - that’s lucky, right? Fame is easily one of her closest friends and that had happened by Violet asking so much about her life that one day they just were good friends.

Violet spends the entirety of Katya’s first week there observing and trying to steal quick conversations here and there so that it doesn’t look like much. She doesn’t learn a lot, but she gathers a few facts - most of them a lot less useful than expected.

Katya wears a silver wedding band because it turns out she’s allergic to gold - which, by the way, is a very rare allergy.

Katya does speak Russian fluently but she’s actually much better in French - which she used to teach before deciding that she liked teaching gymnastics more and switched completely.

Katya does not have any kids and doesn’t know if she ever will, she has a niece and a nephew and she’s content with them.

That’s pretty much all she’s actually said about herself, other than comments on books she’s read or movies she’s watched.

Violet learns a few things by observation, though.

Katya most likely used to smoke and quit recently because sometimes her fingers itch just like Pearl’s did when she quit.

Katya really likes coffee.

Katya gets to school on foot.

Obviously the last one is the one that nags at Violet’s mind. Katya arrives at school ten minutes before the first class every day and she always does so walking. She’s always well dressed and wearing heels and Violet could even be willing to accept that she might take the bus because “it’s better for the environment” or whatever some people would say, except she always walks in from the left side of the school and the only bus stop near them is on the right side.

When Violet asks Katya if she lives nearby, Katya denies.

Violet doesn’t like this. She likes Katya, she’s a fun new addition and all the teachers seem to find her funny and pleasant, but once Violet realizes the walking thing… there’s just no logical explanation to it and it’s not like walking in heels to school from not nearby means she’s a serial killer, but it means something.

“Good morning,” Violet greets everyone when she enters the teacher’s lounge the following Monday and they all say it back in their own time. To her surprise Katya is already there, even though it’s still twenty minutes until the first bell. That’s a change of events and Violet is even more curious now.

Katya is sitting with Bob and Trixie and the three seem very engrossed in the conversation. She grabs a cup of coffee and joins them without a second thought.

“Good morning, ladies. What are we discussing?” She finds that bluntness usually works well with her personality and people tend to find it charming.

“How the three of us hate the California weather.” Trixie replies and Violet is delighted by that. Trixie is still someone Violet needs to learn a lot about and she seems to be more present recently so Violet is eager to do that too.

“Where are you guys from, again?”

“Wisconsin-”

“Boston!”

“Good old New York City.”

They reply all at once.

“Oh, right. You guys probably like snow.” She wrinkles her nose, she hates the cold weather. But if they do hate California then that’s just another thing to add to her list - why do they live there?

“Where are you from, Violet?” Trixie asks genuinely interested.

“Atlanta.”

“Oof,” they all exclaim.

She laughs. “Hey, it’s a great place okay!” Or at least twelve-year-old Violet thought so before they moved to LA where she’s been living ever since.

Bob laughs, “If you say so, girl.”

For the remaining of their time before class they just discuss their childhood and Violet doesn’t ask anymore important questions about the girls - not Bob, she’s known her for two years and she’s solid.

She forgets to ask why Katya got there so early.

*

Katya is there early every day after that and Violet almost forgets her suspicions, except now she’s already there when Violet arrives so she doesn’t know if she’s still walking. When she recounts this to Pearl one night after work, Pearl tells her that she’s crazy and should stop worrying so much about other people’s lives - sometimes they’re just private and that’s okay.

When Violet tries to argue, Pearl asks how many people at work know that the person she’s dating is a woman. She claims that it’s different, she has no obligation to come out, and Pearl just points out that she’s right and maybe the teachers that won’t share much just feel the same way about whatever it is they’re not telling.

Violet hates that she’s right.

That Friday instead of leaving early as she often does since she doesn’t have the last class, Violet decides to stay and finish some grading in the teacher’s lounge where it’ll be empty and quiet and she can probably finish it faster. She doesn’t really notice when the last bell rings, so absorbed into the paper she’s reading, and she’s surprised when the door opens and in come Trixie and Katya, laughing loudly at each other. They stop in their tracks when they notice Violet inside, laughter dying down awkwardly as they move to their lockers. Violet can see that Trixie has a faint blush on her cheeks and it’s definitely not her makeup.

Huh.

“Hey, Vi,” Trixie calls out as she picks up her stuff. “Working late today?”

“Yeah…” she replies, eyebrows raised. “Had to catch up on a few assignments and since I don’t have this class I just figured it was the best time to do so.”

“Right,” Trixie agrees, clearly uncomfortable. Just then Kim and Bob walk in and greet them and Trixie takes the cue to wish them a good weekend before leaving, Katya not far behind with similar words.

Violet isn’t saying there’s something there.

But there’s something there.

“Don’t you think Trixie is a little weird?” she asks out loud once Trixie has left.

Kim just stares at her for a second before going back to her locker. “I think Trixie is very weird, but also you know she’s my best friend, so I’m allowed to think that, you aren’t.”

This could have turned into a very unpleasant situation, but thankfully Bob laughs and the vibe in the room follows hers.

“She’s just private, you need to get through the shell,” Bob provides as she once again searches her entire closet for something which is most likely not in it. She does this every time.

“I’ve been trying!” And she has, Violet only stopped snooping on Bob six months after she joined, there’s still a long way for Trixie before Violet can fully trust her.

“Not like you’re a PI!” Bob laughs. “Just talk to her like you talk to us.”

Violet scrunches her eyebrows. A PI? Really? “What?”

“Most of the time you’re fine, but sometimes it seems like you’re interrogating people,” Kim tries to explain.

“Sometimes it’s not even that bad, but it definitely feels like an interview at least,” Bob says.

“Yeah,” Kim agrees. “And people like Trixie don’t really like that. I know you worry about the school, but I promise you, Trixie is cool and a good person. Don’t worry so much and try to get to know her. If you got past Max then you can get past anyone.”

Violet chuckles. “God, you’re right, Max was a work of her own.” Max was a shell within a box within a locked chest and Violet managed to get to know her before she moved to the east coast. So yeah, no one can be harder.

“Anyway, I’m not interested in overtime today. Have a good weekend!” Kim says as she leaves and Violet just stays in there as every teacher comes back and exits with a goodbye.

Maybe she should try to worry less - problem is it’s easier said than done.

*

Violet would love not to worry because she trusts Kim and if Kim vouches for Trixie, fine. But no one is vouching for Katya and she and Trixie seem to get along way too well, which is extremely surprising to Violet - how did Katya manage to get close to her so fast and also how did Trixie out of all of them manage to be the first to befriend Katya?

Violet starts to notice how they seem to always exchange words when they bump into each other in the hall, and almost always sit together during lunch, even though usually not by themselves. It’s been a few weeks since Katya arrived and they already act closer than Trixie and Kim and that’s something that puts Violet on alert again.

Sure, she’s managed to learn more about them in the time that’s passed, even if she can’t possibly ask everything she wants - she knows where the caution ends and her own curiosity starts and she never crosses the line. Getting to know your colleagues happens slowly but surely either way, and so far she’s listened to Trixie play guitar and learned that Katya lived in Europe for a while, for example.

They’re all adjusting as a group, even having gone out together for drinks one day. There Violet couldn’t help but notice how Trixie was opening up more and more recently, which is somewhat suspicious, and mainly she noticed that Katya knew what drinks Trixie likes and vice-versa.

She would love to let it go but there’s just something that doesn’t add up.

On the following Wednesday she spends most of her lunch time paying attention to them to see if anything can be learned by observation. At some point someone asks her something and she gets distracted and when she looks up again she can’t find them. Probably back to class early to set things up.

She finishes her food and excuses herself with a few minutes to spare before the bell rings and she has to go to her next class, goes quickly to the bathroom to use the loo and check herself in the mirror one more time before the rest of the day.

When she opens the door the scare on the two people inside is almost palpable. Katya is leaning her back on the sink and Trixie is close to her, her right hand on Katya’s face, her thumb brushing over her upper lip where Violet can see her lipstick is a bit smeared. Their faces are turned towards her, eyes wide like deer caught in headlights, and Violet’s brain can’t come up with an explanation for that on the spot, but it feels like she should.

For seconds none of them move, but then as soon as she takes another step inside the two of them break further apart with Trixie taking a step back.

“Yeah, you were right, this lipstick will definitely need makeup remover to be fixed.” Trixie says with a concentrated face. “Maybe I have makeup wipes in my purse, I’ll go check.” And with that she’s gone, Katya still leaning on the sink and looking at Violet. She blinks twice.

“Uh…” Violet murmurs because she’s not sure what to say. What just happened?

“Forgot I had this stupid lipstick on and cleaned my mouth with my hand. It smeared a bit but now it won’t come off.”

“Oh. Well, I definitely have makeup wipes if Trixie doesn’t have them,” she offers because it’s true and because that’s happened to her many times before, which is precisely why she carries wipes. It could make sense, if not for the way they’d been positioned and how surprised they looked when they saw her, but Violet just feels too stunned to properly deduce things.

“Oh, thanks! She probably has them, but if not I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.” How would she know Trixie has them?

“Okay.”

Violet uses the loo and leaves before Trixie is back, Katya still inside waiting, acting nonchalantly.

This is starting to become too suspicious.

*

Violet tells Pearl about the encounter but Pearl just brushes her off saying that Violet is probably just reading too much into it because she convinced herself that something’s up. That could be true so Violet promises that she will let it go once she figures out if Katya still walks to work from the left side of the street and if so why. That’s the one piece of mystery she wants to solve before giving up, and Pearl thinks she’s crazy but still suggests she get there early the following day anyway just so she can get this out of the way.

Violet arrives way earlier than usual and takes a seat in the teacher’s lounge right by the window above the parking lot. She’s getting ahead on some tests she has to prepare, but she keeps glancing outside as her eyes catch movement and she spots Bob’s car as the first one to arrive.

It doesn’t take long for Trixie’s car to find its way into the space and Violet is almost turning back to her computer when she sees both the driver and the passenger door opening when she parks. Out of the passenger seat comes Katya, and together they both walk towards the building, it looks like they’re laughing.

Oh my god.

Is Violet an idiot? How did she not connect the dots?

Are they having an affair?

No, no, no, no, no, this is the worst possible scenario, the school cannot handle another affair scandal, especially a lesbian one - if Violet has any chance of ever coming out at work this will ruin it, straight people tend to associate the behavior of one bad gay with all of them and this can’t happen. Fame is all of the outed quota they have and that’s because she’d been clear about being married to a woman before she was hired - but with this Violet isn’t sure even Fame wouldn’t see some consequences.

But it’s so obvious now that Violet thinks about it that she feels stupid for not noticing before. The lipstick thing in the bathroom? They were probably kissing right in there where anyone could catch them. Not only are they cheating on their husbands and breaking the school policies, but they’re being dumb about it.

And that explains how they know each other’s coffee style, their drink preference, why they seem to always be together, why Trixie started opening up after Katya joined.

They had hugged very intimately before leaving the bar the other night. Thinking now Violet can’t remember if she ever saw them leaving - did they leave together?

They are jeopardizing Violet’s future here and she will not stand for it.

The two of them enter the room with a cheerful good morning and Violet is the only one that doesn’t reply, but they don’t notice, each heading to their locker to store their purses.

Violet is so mad she can’t even fake a happy face. She forces her eyes away from them and stares at Kim’s back from where she’s sat - she said she could trust Trixie, that she was a good person. Well, Violet is gonna enjoy breaking the news to her.

Alyssa asks her if she’s fine once she notices how Violet is burning holes into the walls, but Violet plays it off as a striking headache. It works because the news spread fast and no one bothers her that day, not even her students who can see she’s in a bad mood and don’t want to be in the line of fire.

Violet has to be smart about this. She needs to have evidence, she can’t just barge into the Dean’s office and tell her that it’s happening without proof.

She needs to catch them in the act. If she’s lucky they’ll continue to be irresponsible and that will happen sooner rather than later.

*

“So, Fame.” Violet does her best so that most girls are sat together for lunch the following day. “Have you ever been cheated on?” Out of the corner of her eyes she observes Trixie and Katya, but they give no reaction at all at the mention of cheating. Violet thought they’d be worse at this.

Fame however reacts properly and just stares at her, eyebrows high on her forehead. “Excuse me?”

“Cheated on? Has someone ever cheated on you?”

Everyone is paying attention now, Violet knows she sounds very blunt, but she doesn’t care.

“Uh, no? At least not that I know of?”

“Cool,” she replies. “And have you ever cheated?”

“What? Of course not.”

“Hm. Anyone has ever been cheated on?” she addresses the table.

Katya seems worried. “Violet, is everything okay in your relationship?”

Violet is outraged at this. She has the audacity to ask Violet about herrelationship. She even looks genuinely worried and for a moment Violet is reminded that she really liked Katya and instead of anger, for a split second, she’s just disappointed. She expected more from her.

She’s back to anger in no time though when Trixie, right by her side, raises her eyebrows in worry as well.

Violet trusted them. Unbelievable. They are putting the jobs of everyone at the table at risk and they act as if everything is fine.

Not on Violet’s watch.

“Everything is wonderful in my relationship, Katya, thank you for asking.”

She just shares a glance with Trixie which just makes Violet fume more. “Okay-”

“How about you, though? Everything fine in yours? Have you ever been cheated on? Or have you ever cheated?”

“Uh…” she seems stunned but to be fair so does everyone else. Now they all look worried about Violet - she’s always composed and assertive, this frenzy is very unlike her. “Yes. I mean, yes, everything is fine, we’re doing great. And no, I don’t think anyone’s ever cheated on me, and I’ve never cheated on anyone.”

Violet actually chuckles because she can’t believe her straight face. “Right,” she comments as she goes back to her food.

“What does that mean?” Katya asks back and Violet doesn’t miss the way her voice is changed. By her side Trixie looks utterly confused.

“Nothing,” Violet replies, almost biting her own tongue. She can’t make a scene without proof, she needs to wait. She’s too stressed about this and isn’t acting properly.

“No, that didn’t sound like nothing.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this now-” Bob starts suggesting, but now Katya isn’t having it. She looks offended and Violet wants to know where she learned to act so well.

“No, I’m sorry, Violet was clearly implying something and I want to know what, because I’m not comfortable with this.”

Violet shrugs. “I didn’t mean anything, I just thought it was curious.”

“What was curious exactly?”

Violet really doesn’t want to do this now, but she realizes she’s made the situation and the blood in her veins is too hot to leave it be now.

She can’t outright accuse them, though, that would get her fired.

“I don’t know. Would have figured otherwise.” She keeps it vague - not completely, she does imply that Katya was lying somewhere in there and they all would look back, but she doesn’t outright say I know you’re screwing Trixie. She does give Trixie a quick side glance which she knows they both noticed.

Katya gets the closest to mad that Violet thinks she can. “You don’t know me, Violet.”

“Clearly not.”

Katya moves suddenly, Violet sees the motion as if she’s gonna push away from the table and leave, but Trixie holds her arm.

“I think you’re crossing some boundaries here, Violet.” Trixie says, her hand still resting on Katya’s arm who looks like she’d like to yell a bit. Trixie still looks more confused than anything else.

“Yeah, I’m the one crossing boundaries.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Bob gets up and her height over them casts a sense of authority hard to argue with. “Katya, maybe you should get some fresh air. Violet-”

“I’ll stay here and finish my lunch, thank you.” Violet cuts her off.

There’s tension for a moment, but then Katya gets up and Trixie does so too, right after her, both heading for the exit.

“Off they go,” Violet murmurs and no one says anything, but Kim makes a face and just stares at her for more seconds than it should feel comfortable.

Maybe Violet will have to take the issue to the Dean without proof afterall.

*

Violet muses about it for the rest of her classes. She’s certain of one thing only: the parents of this school will definitely not have it if word of a lesbian affair between two married teachers came out and she knows it could have consequences for the school in general and for the staff - she thinks that maybe Fame would be the first one to feel it, knows some nasty parents who’d request for her to be immediately cut together with Trixie and Katya regardless of the fact that she’s got nothing to do with them.

Therefore she knows she must act and she must do it soon, but she also knows the obstacles. For one she really shouldn’t accuse anyone of anything without proof, as the chances are it would backfire and she would be the one taking the blow for it, so she really should think very carefully about how to do it, if at all, with the knowledge she has now. Secondly, Katya had a point earlier at lunch: Violet doesn’t know her - or Trixie. Not a lot, anyway. Who is she to point fingers when she doesn’t know their private lives, what they’ve got with their husbands? Violet doesn’t believe in cheating in any situation, but she can’t judge and she certainly understands some women are in complicated situations - especially if, as it looks like, they have to pretend to be straight for whatever reason.

So Violet doesn’t want to ruin their careers - or their lives, but she doesn’t think she’d have the power anyway - she just wants them far away from her school. She doesn’t want problems, that’s all.

Maybe she should talk to the Dean, then. With them there. Be friendly. It would be a lesser risk for her as well.

She’ll visit the Dean once the last bell rings, depending on her mood she’ll either tell her right then or else ask for a meeting the next day and invite Trixie and Katya. She has no intentions of maintaining the friendship - maybe she shouldn’t judge but she sure as hell doesn’t want friends that will behave like that - but keeping professional appearances is important and she figures it’ll be better if they’re there to speak for themselves. It’s fair, right?

She doesn’t see them in the teacher’s lounge when the last class is dismissed and she also doesn’t miss the looks that the other teachers give her.

“You ok?” Fame asks quietly, away from everyone else.

“Yeah, I was hot headed. I’m gonna handle it now, calmly.”

“Handle what, exactly?” It’s clear Fame doesn’t want to judge but she’s concerned for Violet.

“Don’t worry about it. Gotta go, I want to catch Dean Charles.”

“Violet!” Kim yells when she’s at the door.

“What?”

“Can I talk to you-”

“I need to talk with the Dean before she leaves, can it wait?”

Kim stops then, her eyebrows raise and Violet may be mistaken but it looks like her lips turn up into a small smile.

“Oh. Go ahead then, not urgent.”

Violet is probably crazy but it sounds like Kim is laughing as she closes the door.

She power walks to the Dean’s office, really wants to catch her today and address this as soon as possible - the more she waits the riskier it’ll be for them. She knocks twice and as per convention after a few seconds she opens it and glances inside.

Trixie and Katya are there, in front of the Dean.

“Oh,” is all she manages to say, confused. Are they turning themselves in? Were they caught?

They can’t be trying to say anything bad about her, can they?

“Oh, Miss Chachki. Please come in, I’m glad you’re here.” Dean Charles points to a third chair by Trixie’s side and she walks in silence to sit down. She has no idea what is happening, but they all seem to be way too calm for any scandal to have been brought up.

“Everything okay, Mrs. Charles?” she feels like she has to ask because things can’t be okay, can they? If they’ve come clean that she should not be as composed as she is - they should have been fired.

“Yes, of course.“ She stops for a few seconds, contemplates what to say next. Then she nods her head ever so lightly in a way they usually find snobbish and funny, but Violet doesn’t react. "I’m afraid I told you a small lie at a point and it’s lead to… some issues.”

“I haven’t done anyth-”

“Don’t worry, Violet, you’ve done nothing and you’re not in trouble. I know you like to know about the school affairs and the staff, and that you take care of everyone and that’s very admirable.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“But, you see, there’s one detail you didn’t pick up on and we failed to tell the staff because it’s a situation we haven’t had so far and we weren’t sure how everyone would react.”

“Okay,” she agrees with a questioning tone, not sure what exactly to ask. Why are Trixie and Katya there? What is everyone hiding? Why is Violet not aware of what’s going on- when did she lose her unofficial post of information holder? She looks at Trixie and Katya and they both look way too calm for Violet to be comfortable. “Can I be put in the loop, please?”

“We’re married, Violet,” Trixie says holding her gaze.

“I know.” What are they on about? That is the whole problem.

Katya chuckles. “No, you don’t get it. We are married,” she points between her and Trixie. “To each other.”

If there was a bucket of icy water dropping on top of Violet’s head now she would feel exactly as she feels right now.

What?

“What?!”

“As you know it’s against the rules for two employees to engage in a romantic relationship, but we’ve never had precedents of hiring two people already engaged in it. Katya is extremely qualified and we didn’t want to waste this opportunity, but we thought best to not disclose it. Maybe we should have considered that it would be a hard secret to keep.” Mrs. Charles doesn’t seem to notice that Violet is only half listening, still too stunned by what she heard.

“How can you be married? Don’t you have a husband?” Katya’s talked about him a few times - vaguely, but surely.

“I definitely don’t.” Katya says amusedly, eyebrows raised as if the thought is wild and funny. Violet would find it relatable if she weren’t where she is now, confused. “I’m quite sure I never used anything other than “my partner” or “they” when speaking about Trixie as my spouse.”

It’s true, she has. Violet thought it weird at first but reminded herself that not everyone is gay and she shouldn’t just assume everyone she meets was.

“But, Tom…”

“What about him?” Trixie asks now, equally confused.

“I thought Tom was your husband?”

They both laugh but try to stop it quickly.

“Tom is our cat,” Trixie explains trying to maintain a straight face. Then she turns to Katya, “Oh my god, what did you say about Tom that could possibly apply to a cat and a human?”

“I have no idea!”

“She said Tom was waiting for her to have dinner,” Violet explains and against everything she thinks she is, she starts to blush.

They are married. To each other. For one, they aren’t cheaters. And most importantly, they’re gay.

And she assumed the worst and was ready to try and get them fired.

“Very well. Now that things are settled, I must be off. I’ll hold a meeting tomorrow and we’ll tell the rest of the staff so we avoid further issues.”

As they leave Mrs. Charles’ room and stand in the hallway watching her leave, Violet searches for the right word. She’s not usually wrong and she doesn’t care for it.

“I- I don’t know what to say, I’m so sorry. I thought you were having an affair - I thought you were straight, oh my god.”

“I do find the latter much more offensive,” Katya jokes and Violet laughs. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.” Katya adds as a second thought, her expression changes.

“Oh! I suppose not, though I wouldn’t know. I have a girlfriend.”

“This is the gayest school in the district, then?”

She smiles. “Apparently.”

They stand there for several seconds, almost a perfect triangle, feelings rather awkward - or at least Violet is, for sure.

“Well-” Katya starts as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other, possible eager to leave. This is too quick for Violet to properly understand how she feels, but she knows she’s far from where she was that morning.

“I gotta say I’m really relieved. I like you guys, I was worried.”

“We’re glad.” Trixie smiles and then she offers her hand to Katya who takes it without a thought.

Now with clear eyes and knowing the situation, Violet takes a second to look at the image. They’re cute. They look happy.

“See you tomorrow?” Katya says as they start walking.

“See you.” She waves them off.

They walk away laughing, hand in hand, and it dawns on Violet that now she has more reinforcement and allies in the school.

She can’t wait to tell Pearl - although she’s not excited to let her know she was right all along.

*

When Kim greets her the next day, she realizes that she likely already knew. Kim is Trixie’s best friend, has known her for years. She was probably at their wedding.

"You were gonna let me play the fool, huh?” she whispers in lieu of hello, sitting by her side at the table so they’ll be private.

Kim just smirks. “I was gonna tell you, but I knew they were in the Dean’s office. Thought it would be more fun to let you go in there and sort it out.”

“I hate you,” she jokes and Kim just shrugs. “You knew all along.”

“I did. It wasn’t my secret to tell, though.”

Violet admires her loyalty and she thinks she would have done the same in Kim’s place.

“You even knew Katya was gonna start teaching here beforehand, didn’t you? You probably know her patronymic name!”

Kim smiles into her cup of coffee. “I do and it’s hideous. Not telling you, though.”

She huffs as she grabs a cup of coffee, wondering how things are gonna go today, when the door opens and in walk Katya and Trixie.

Their hands are intertwined.

At first she thinks no one is going to notice as they really aren’t paying attention, but then Alyssa stops talking in the middle of her sentence and everyone turns to where she’s looking.

“Oh,” some of them murmur, gasp even.

Violet smirks into her cup. She’s back to knowing more than everyone. She loves this feeling.

“Everyone,” Mrs. Charles calls from the door and everyone sort of gets up quickly as if they should, even though she could not look more uninterested if she tried. “They are married, the school board knows, you should not worry about it being against the rules as it is not.” She announces without caution, doesn’t even step inside. “I hope no one has any issues?” She’s asking but as usual doesn’t leave time for actual responses. “Great. If anyone’s missing, please let them know.”

And with that she’s off, Katya and Trixie standing between the door and the tables they’re all sitting around, all eyes on them.

Violet has to admit that was super awkward and seemingly unnecessary, if not for the fact that people would assume it to be against the rules.

“That makes a whole lot of sense actually-”

“Should’ve seen it coming-”

“Wait, who are they?”

Violet can hear all the comments as the two of them approach their table, visibly looking much more relaxed than usual. Violet figures they must have had a weight on their shoulders every day with that secret and she can’t imagine how good they must be feeling now.

“Good morning,”

“Morning,” Kim says. “Did Violet make an idiot of herself yesterday?”

Violet puffs. “I did not, thank you very much.”

And just as Kim opens her mouth to proceed, the rest of the girls approach them.

Fame has her arms open and she pulls Trixie under one and Katya under the other. “Oh my god, I am so happy about this, you guys.”

Everyone who was out of the loop starts talking and asking questions and Violet just sits back and watches it unfold. She’s happy too, as it turns out. They are good people and they look like they make a good pair.

“Don’t think I don’t see that new ring on your finger,” Kim murmurs to her while people are still focused on Trixie and Katya.

Violet smiles widely and looks down to her left hand. Pearl had been so ecstatic by the turn of events that she’d finally proposed last night.

“I’ll announce it later, I don’t wanna steal the spotlight.”

“That’s a first,” Kim chuckles.

The rest of the day unfolds much like any other, everyone getting used to the idea of them being together really quick, and maybe Violet could consider admitting that there’s more to people than we sometimes assume. She’d been so scared of a scandal just twenty-four hours ago and now everything is just normal as it is every day.

As Trixie and Katya are leaving, now apparently always holding hands, they bid her goodbye.

“Congrats on the engagement!” Katya yells from the other side of the corridor. “Being gay married is amazing, you’re gonna love it!”

Trixie just waves and Violet smiles looking down to her hand again.

If the examples she has are anything to go by, she has no doubt she will.

[artificialqueens]

Sunshine, and Glory Too (Trixya) - Chapter 6 - fannyatrollop

A/N: This fic is honestly so special to me, because unlike all five billion other ones I’m working on… the damn thing is finished. When I first completed it, I was in a bit of a daze for a little while because it was such a major thing for me. I hope to get to that point with my other work, it’s a great feeling. And I hope the ending still holds up.

Previously On: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Trixie kept to her own bedroom, and the main room in Violet’s quarters as she grew accustomed to being left behind.

Outside, the sun was bright and cheerful. She could hear birdsong wafting through the windows. Ignoring her pitiful requests for the reverse, Kim insisted on keeping them open for her.

“If my lady refuses to take in the fresh air by her own volition,” she would say, with exasperation and concern in equal measures. “It’s my duty as a friend to bring the air to her.”

Trixie’s only desire was to sit in the feeling of missing Katya, to the point of silencing the part of her that otherwise would not hesitate to berate her about how utterly ridiculous it was to live like a ghost, refusing to speak to another living soul or enjoy nature in the full splendour of spring. She became devoted to wallowing in misery in a way she never had allowed herself before, wryly thinking that she may have been better off crying over her every unhappiness when it first arose so she could have more practice in it.

Valentina called on her one morning, more contrite in her demeanour than Trixie had thought possible for her. She requested to see her alone, and Trixie agreed to it. Valentina may have been nasty in the past, but Trixie felt like she could handle whatever she chose to throw at her in her present state of mind.

There was no need to handle much of anything, though; Valentina proved to be on her best behaviour. She apologized for her indelicate treatment since, now that Trixie had been left quite alone, it seemed as though she might not have posed as much of a threat as Katya’s own willfulness. In her opinion, Katya had delighted in captivating both her and her poor, poor brother (who was already looking through eligible princesses for a more suitable bride, having learned the folly in attempting to harness a wild creature) only to abandon them when it struck her fancy.

“Not all common girls are like that, of course,” she said, while an uninterested Trixie exerted herself enough to maintain polite eye contact as she spoke. “But I do believe the character of the girl needs to be taken into account before one tries to work a miracle. Some people were simply not made to be royalty, regardless of how much help they receive. It’s simply not that easy, and being born beautiful does not a princess make.”

Thankfully, Valentina hadn’t taken the trouble to visit just to share her views on the requirements of royalty, or to flatter Trixie by suggesting she would have made a better candidate for a royal marriage. She had come into possession of Katya’s miniature, as it had been rejected by the fugitive’s would-be groom, and wished to present it to her as a gesture of goodwill.

“After all,” she explained. “You loved her the most.”

Trixie accepted it gratefully, though upon opening its case she found that the artist had not captured her fully. She had nothing to remember Katya by otherwise, so this would have to do.

After some days, she received a visit from Adore. The time had come for her to return to the sea, and she was on a quick farewell tour. She refused to leave without first presenting her dearest friends with tokens of her affection, even if they insisted on becoming hermits.

Trixie had to receive her. There was no knowing if they would ever meet again, and Adore had been a bright enough presence in her life to deserve that much. She bid Trixie not to miss her too much, leaving her with a glittering seashell affixed to a chain. If she could hear the sea when she held the shell to her ear, she would know Adore was well. She may even hear her sing, but Adore wasn’t too well-versed with the full capabilities of Trixie’s new trinket. She asked her to try speaking into it once in a while, in case the sound of her voice could reach her. She asked this of every lady she gave this type of pendant to.

They shared a warm hug, and parted ways. Trixie hung the chain around her neck. She found pressing the charm to her ear soothing, and would listen into it for hours while she remained stuck in her doldrums.

***

Kim soon resumed her original role as the princess’ chief dressmaker. She did not need to travel, she had built strong enough relationships to know where she could have the materials she needed sent for by then, but she was required to get back into the business of outfitting Her Royal Highness. The warm months brought on a need for an entirely new wardrobe, and as kind as Violet had been in giving leave for Kim to attend to Trixie, she could not go without just because one of her ladies was struck down by a lingering fit of heartache.

Being a person who was truly devoted to her work, this suited Kim greatly. However much she loved Trixie, she itched to serve her true purpose in her princess’ entourage. Trixie had neither the right, nor the desire to object. She had always liked watching Kim work, and took to sitting with her to pass the time. Though she was no longer any help, Kim would say that it was a vast improvement from her fast-paced lifestyle as a sad creature who only left her bed to sit on a sofa, and could not be relied on to eat three square meals a day if left to her own devices.

She carried Katya’s picture with her wherever she went. It hurt to look at her, but she felt better if her picture was nearby.

Violet finalized her engagement, and threw a small party in her quarters to celebrate. By then, Trixie was beginning to grow tired of moping, so she dusted herself off and made an appearance. Pearl had resolved to put on a brave face, and to be grateful that she was not obliged to part with Violet if she did not wish to.

Her mood suited Trixie’s, and the two found solace in each other as the evening went on. They both found the future uncomfortable to contemplate, so they spoke only of fond memories they shared, allowing silence to settle between them if they ran out of positive thoughts to share.

In time, Pearl found her way back to Violet’s side. They spoke softly, hands clasped, heads together.

Fame filled the empty space Pearl had left beside her. She had been monitoring Trixie closely in her own way, to make sure she was surviving well enough. Trixie informed her that she was as well as she could be.

“I’m glad to see you among us,” said Fame. “You have been missed.”

Trixie smiled.

“I intend to spend more time among the living,” she replied. “Keeping myself company is getting dull, I don’t make very lively conversation nowadays. I fear I might be mistaken for a palace ghost.”

“I think I heard someone whisper about a jilted lady haunting the halls,” said Fame.

“Must be another lady, I only haunt these rooms.”

Fame had no news of Katya, could only confirm that she had been given up for lost by the administration. It seldom happened that a lady escaped their care like this, but the main concerns when it did occur was conveying their regret to any injured royal parties and ensuring that the situation was framed as the actions of one foolish girl. The Academy as an entity would only concern itself with its own image. Katya mostly took her own belongings, and though Ginger was employed by the Academy, everyone knows that it is a fae’s prerogative to act as a free agent if she sees fit. A horse went missing from the stables, but replacing it was a simple matter. There was no danger of the fugitives being hunted by the Academy in the end.

Trixie nodded, and told Fame that she was glad to hear any information she was able to provide. In truth, she did not feel much better, but she appreciated the gesture.

She asked Fame if it was within a fae’s power to magically put her heart back together, just to ease her curiosity. Fame replied that it was doable, but not advisable.

“Emotions have a strong self-preservation instinct,” she said. “They would surely return, more devastating than when you last parted.”

She was advised to let her feelings run their course. There was nothing else she could do.

***

Trixie grew accustomed to the dull ache inside of her. She remembered what a loyal friend solitude had been throughout her life, and was resolved to be as good to it as it had been to her going forward. She had no hope of finding the kind of companionship she had lost again in her life. She had to get used to that, let her skin turn to steel.

She started helping Kim with her sewing again, jokingly offering her services as a permanent assistant if she was truly desperate. She hadn’t expected Kim to respond that she would be welcome to assume such a role if she pleased, but did not take it seriously enough to give a solid answer.

She picked up her instruments for the first time after weeks and weeks of depression. It was like getting reacquainted with an old friend, and she soon felt some cheer creep back into her life.

Wandering the halls aimlessly also became a favourite pastime. It was decent exercise, and if Trixie walked briskly enough she could forget her troubles for a moment. When she ventured outdoors, she avoided the lake, and found a new favourite place in the East Woods. They tended to be less crowded than the West Woods, for there was no remarkable beauty to be found in them unless one squinted. Sometimes, Pearl would join her and they would walk together, arm in arm.

Lately, their conversation had been focused on how odd it was that they had heard nothing from their mother since about Midwinter. She was not a prolific correspondent, but she had regularly sent small updates on the house, the surrounding village, how proud she was of Pearl, and her own well-being.

Trixie paid little attention to the content of these missives, as she was seldom addressed directly. Being caught up in love, and the loss thereof, had taken up too much of her attention to notice that letters had stopped coming. Thus, Pearl was the only one out of the pair of them who could find it in her heart to worry. She speculated aloud about the reason for this loss of communication, while Trixie listened. There was an appropriateness to discussing their family affairs in the middle of the woods, where a passing squirrel might be entertained by their little domestic drama.

“If Papa died, our cousin may have established himself at home and sent Mama away somewhere,” Pearl said, with a hushed voice and furrowed brows.

Trixie frowned. “Cousin Edward? Was that his name?”

“I believe it was Edwin,” said Pearl. “Or Edgar. In any case, if Mama’s silence means she has been put out of the house, we are effectively homeless.”

“You mean I am effectively homeless,” Trixie insisted. “You have little to worry about. Your place at court is secure, I can’t be so certain of mine.”

Pearl distracted herself for a moment by watching a small bird hop about from branch to branch above them.

“You are not the least bit concerned about Mama, are you?”

Trixie sighed. “I have very few feelings left altogether.”

“I guess you have always been a little heartless,” Pearl muttered.

She blanched, then, eyes wide.

“I don’t mean it in an insulting way,” she added, hastily. “I can imagine how you came to be so. Gosh, I must have sounded awful. What I meant to say is that no matter how tender your heart is, you have never been very open about it—”

Trixie waved her hand.

“Pearl, don’t worry,” she said. “I am heartless in regards to our mother. But the situation is truly concerning.”

“Even if Cousin Edbert has established himself as master of our house, he must be well-bred enough to send us a note about it. Just so that we know,” said Pearl.

Trixie snorted. “I wouldn’t say so, our family breeds terrible men.”

“But it breeds good women,” said Pearl. “If anything has happened, I will make sure you are taken care of. No matter what I have to do, my dear little sister will not be homeless.”

Trixie stopped them for a while so she could face her, and tenderly brush a lock of hair from her face. She let any cutting words about how they were twins, and that she was hardly little, die before they could make it out of her mouth. It was not the time for sass.

***

It did not take long for Trixie and Pearl to receive news from home, and though it was not as dire as they had imagined, all was not well. Their father had taken the time to write to them, confirming that he had not passed, but according to his account their mother had been ill for quite some time. She had not wanted to disturb them, much less Her Royal Highness, but her condition was not improving with time, as they had hoped it would.

The house was falling into disarray, as Papa was struggling with the demands of running a household while maintaining his rakish lifestyle. He wished for at least one of his daughters to return home, and to help tend to their mother. The servants needed direction, and only a woman could concern herself with domestic matters.

Of course, he wrote, your Mama would be glad to see her darling Pearl again if HRH Princess Violet can spare her, but as far as I am concerned you would both be capable of assuming this duty, so it makes no difference to me if Beatrice wishes to return in her stead.

There was no question of Pearl leaving Violet’s side, not when she was still in need of a companion abroad. She had been the one Violet had wanted to begin with, there was no reason Trixie should be left behind when Pearl’s company was more precious to her. Pearl had her own sort of chivalry, though, and the two of them nearly ended up in a screaming match over which of them would be forced to leave.

“Mama has never treated you as she ought to,” cried Pearl, in her valiant attempt to spare Trixie of what she thought was too horrible an ordeal for her to bear. “I do not wish to see you abused.”

“What could a sick woman possibly do to hurt me?” Trixie replied.

She excused herself to take the air before Pearl could be compelled to raise her voice, making sure to look Violet in the eye and proclaiming that Pearl would not be going home, before leaving. She was resolute, could not be convinced of a more logical course than to be the one to care for her mother whether the woman could find it in her to be grateful or not.

It was time for Trixie to mentally prepare herself to leave the Academy, a feat more difficult than she had thought. Her heart no longer had an anchor there, but it was still a place where she had found happiness, brief as it had been. At the very least she would have to say goodbye to as much of it as she could reach, like Adore had when she felt her departure approaching.

Trixie would have less time to do that than her friend had before her. News of their mother had reached the castle with their morning post, and it was scarcely high noon before her wanderings were cut short by Fame’s sudden appearance. Though she normally favoured lavender hues, Fame had come to her dressed head-to-toe in black.

“Her Majesty the Queen requires your presence,” she said, holding out her hand for Trixie to take.

***

Violet greeted her small household with the bearing of a queen, and a slight, but unmistakable redness around her eyes. Her voice never wavered as she informed them that it was time for all of them to go home. The throne was waiting for her.

Trixie lingered long enough after the address to catch sight of their new queen falling into Pearl’s arms before going to pack her things.

The king’s death effectively settled the argument of which sister would return to their mother. As far as anyone had known, the king had been in perfect health before he was carried off by a sudden bout of illness overnight. Violet needed her closest friends as she adjusted to her role sooner than she had expected, and she needed Pearl more than ever. As much personal power as she had gained in her father’s passing, Violet had loved him. As the queen’s woman, Pearl could not leave her.

Farewell messages were dispatched to the ladies that could not be left without a word, and the royal party was soon on their way home. Trixie recalled the journey to the Academy taking several days, yet their return was somehow a matter of hours. Fame had not given them the choice to remain awake this time around, requesting that they all let her induce them to sleep. Perhaps that had something to do with the speed of their progress.

Trixie was given a room at the palace to stay in for a couple of nights. She wrote home to advise that she would be arriving soon. She allowed herself some days to be available to Pearl, who would seek her out for a daily chat. She would update her on Violet’s condition, and how proud she was of the way she held herself up at every meeting she was required to attend, every audience she was obligated to give despite wanting nothing more than to be in Pearl’s arms for the whole day.

Violet summoned Trixie to offer her the choice of returning to court as a musician, when the situation at home had passed. She only requested that she take care not to embark on any more torrid love affairs, for the sake of her own sanity, though she said this with a wink. Trixie responded by telling her that she aspired to be an old maid, so there would be no more love affairs, torrid or otherwise.

“If that is what you want, I hope you will be comfortable enough imposing on our hospitality,” Violet said. “You will have to play for us, though. If you could be so kind as to become a renowned musician known across the land and outside of it, that would be much appreciated. We may regret our kindness otherwise.”

She suffered the most stilted embrace of her life in Violet’s arms, but was able to leave the interaction with some certainty of her sovereign’s favour.

Pearl held her in a much warmer, more lingering embrace upon her departure. As her carriage pulled away, she kept her eyes on the shrinking form of her sister, standing at the palace entrance until she was truly gone. When she lost sight of her, Trixie turned her gaze homeward.

***

Trixie was briefly received by her father upon her return home. It took her some time to recognize him as the man who had once stumbled into the nursery and picked her up for a drunken dance, while Pearl frantically reached to pull her back down, afraid of the strange man with the funny smell. He cleaned up pretty nicely, might even pass for someone worthy of a noble title, but he struggled to muster anything beyond the most basic pleasantries for his own daughter.

Predictably, her mother gamely tried to conceal her disappointment upon seeing her, but she did approve of the decision to leave Pearl with the queen.

“She must be so loved, that the queen couldn’t possibly spare her,” said her mother, hanging on to the faintest spark of joy she could get out of having to suffer Trixie’s care. “We may soon be truly respectable again, despite your father’s best efforts.”

Trixie did not tell her the depth of the queen’s love for her favoured daughter.

***

There were news of a dragon making a public appearance in some faraway land. Trixie heard them from a kitchen maid, who heard it somewhere in the village. One of the greatest mysteries of the world is how such giant creatures were so seldom seen, so whenever anyone so much as imagined catching sight of a dragon, it was a matter of public interest the world over. No details were to be had on what it looked like, where it had manifested, and if anything had gone up in flames as a result of it being there. Trixie imagined that if anything had been burned by dragon fire, it would be widely known. This one must have been on its best behaviour.

It was a testament to the magnificence of the event that Violet’s coronation was still spoken of at all, even with a dragon on the loose. Kim had sent copies of the sketches for Violet’s gown in the mail, so that Trixie could appreciate her friend’s work through them, and she could only just about hear the gasps of onlookers as she rode through the crowds in the capital. Pearl had been noted for her great beauty as she was spotted riding in a carriage with Fame behind the one that conveyed the queen.

She wrote with great amusement of how she had received at least three offers of marriage after that, but did not wish to consider them unless she was in dire need of a husband. She didn’t have any observable examples of a husband leading to greater happiness than what she could find with the love of a queen, and as long as it could maintain her she saw no need to fix herself to one. It delighted her that the clearer her position as the queen’s favourite became, the more people sought her favour, as she did not think there was anything about herself that merited such treatment.

With the imposed mourning period for the late king at an end, and the new queen’s coronation done with, it was time to set a date for the royal wedding.

Pearl had written to Trixie with promises of procuring an invitation for her, and seeing if their mother could be brought along. Perhaps, she mused, an official invitation to such a grand event would be just the thing to raise her from her bed.

Their mother clung to life so stubbornly that whatever was ailing her did not worsen, nor did it improve. Her symptoms were limited to a simple refusal to engage with the wider world in any way, as if all the bitterness in her heart had finally robbed her of her mobility. Whatever was keeping her shackled to her mortal coil was likely doing so in spite of her wishes.

If Trixie had ever formed a close bond with her, it may have been in her power to alleviate her condition. The best she could do was to keep the house running and let her mother retreat into herself, for she knew not where she could find adequate treatment for her. Sometimes she woke up in a sweat, having dreamt of taking her breakfast to her only to find herself lying in that bed instead.

She kept her mother’s windows open to let in the air, like Kim had done for her once. She dutifully sat by her side when she wanted company, and even played a song or two if she was asked. She had her meals sent to her on time, which was a small thing her father was not able to do when he had his hands on the reins. Her mother never praised her, but she never complained either.

Keeping up with news of her friends became the most important thing to her, as a way of keeping herself tethered to the world. She had almost succumbed to her sorrows once, and her fighter’s spirit would not allow that to be her eventual fate.

Valentina had written to Violet with news of her once-spurned brother receiving a peculiar visit on the eve of his wedding. She had been vague in her description of the visitor, but did say that it was a mutual acquaintance, and that dear Lady Beatrice might like to know of this strange happening. Pearl had included the news in the postscript of one of her more recent letters.

Trixie did not dare to hope, but there was only one person she cared about who might have business with Valentina’s brother, and it did bring her joy to hear that she was well. Ever since she received Pearl’s letter, she would catch herself entertaining the thought that Katya might still find her and take her away.  It did her no harm to lift her spirits with the occasional daydream as long as the chickens were fed, and the house was still standing.

Sometimes, she tried to picture herself as a married woman, but only as far as having a household of her own to run, one that would not be so surely taken away from her in due time. She could not picture her husband for the life of her, nor could she fully see Katya in that role. The life she had imagined with Katya had been different than that of a country wife, though she did think she would have liked keeping a comfortable home for her if she had wanted it. Perhaps if they ever got old and weary of travelling, they could have settled down some place where they could have a pretty view to look at from their sitting room window.

She kept Katya’s picture on her bedside table, propped up in its case so she could see it with a quick glance. Sometimes she would sit on her bed and play her lute, and she would imagine Katya there in the place of the picture. She missed the light she brought everywhere she went, she missed her laugh, and her touch, and the way she would look at her like she was a precious gift from the gods.

It was a small mercy that she could now look back on her time with Katya without pain, and it comforted her when she wanted to remember what it was like to be so happy.

***

The invitations to the royal wedding arrived one sunny morning, nestled alongside a letter from Pearl. Trixie let her mother know that she was welcome to attend, but she only shook her head at the notion, insisting that a frumpy old woman like her had no business at the court of a fashionable young queen.

“It’s up to you, and you alone, to quit wasting time,” she told her. “Pearl is so valuable to the queen that she’s been made a duchess, but the gods alone know where you will end up if you keep on refusing to apply yourself. You have all the tools you need. I’m determined to die soon, and your father can’t possibly live forever. That would be too cruel.”

Trixie left her to natter on if she wished, choosing instead to occupy her thoughts with pleasant ways she could spend the day. She decided to take a walk. There was a little copse nearby, where she could read her letter and think of how she might respond to it under the light of the sun. When she returned, she might play a little outside if the weather didn’t turn gloomy. The summer skies could be unpredictable.

She ended up on an aimless ramble, leaving the letter at home, letting her thoughts wander freely.

For a brief moment, the skies went dark, and Trixie heard a strange whoosh overhead, too alien to be the sound of thunder. Though startling, this was not followed by the coming of rain or the end of times, and clear sky was all that could be seen after the period of darkness.

Even so, she was compelled to hurry home in case there were more potential heart attacks in store for her. In doing that, she inadvertently ran headlong into the greatest of them all.

A dragon was stood on the grass near the front of her house. It was gray in colour, with small black spots and black hair growing in a mane along its neck. There was something rather horse-like about it, but it resembled the creatures she’d seen in books enough that it had to be some species of dragon. It had spared her flowers, and paid no mind to the servants crowded around the window to gaze at it in awe, as it was engrossed in covering an increasingly irate Ginger in smoke from its nostrils for what could only be its own amusement.

Katya was perched on its back, as high as she could to see as much as possible, and to be easily spotted by Trixie as she crept up the path home. She quickly dismounted when she saw her, cautiously approaching her where she stood.

Trixie stood stock still, waiting for the sight before her to vanish. She kept her eyes fixed on Katya, who only looked more solid and real the closer she got. She would have to catch up to the fact of her wildest dreams having come true when she came to be within touching distance.

Soon, Trixie would find out what Katya had been up to in the time leading up to that moment, accept her apologies for the way she had left her, and agree that they should never be parted again, at least not without sufficient notice. They would map out the life they would share together over tea, after she had introduced her guests to the household staff and worked out the best way to care for their needs, particularly those of the largest, most exotic of the group.

At that moment, though, all Trixie could do was gather her Katya into her arms.