fh_trips | Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Québec [Wednesday Morning/Afternoon]

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fall break 2024: quebec city

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Québec [Wednesday Morning/Afternoon]

The weather was a little cooler and cloudier today, but that just meant it was really time to break out those fashionable hats and scarves!

Okay, maybe only whatever scarves you all brought are fashionable, but some of you are annoying and can make any item of clothing work, so just make sure you're bundled safely. We're only halfway through the week and there's still so much to do!

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Suddenly the word “dragons” came to mind and Kamala had no clue why.

“Do not toy with me or I will tell Ammi about the zip lines.”

"Rude," Arden muttered, but she couldn't really complain because she'd started it. "...I told him that I liked him a lot. More than I should. And he said that was how he felt and that the longer he didn't say that, the more it felt like lying and that he didn't wanna wait to say something and then suddenly realize he missed his chance."

It was like someone had given him a motivational peptalk or something!

Also, please ignore the silly giggles Arden had suddenly been affected by.

That’s okay because Kamala had some silly giggles of her own. “This is amazing! So you like him and he likes you and you both don’t have anything to hide so…”

Kamala smiled and raised her eyebrows. “What happened next?”

"We talked a lot," Arden admitted. "Like about the Jedi Code and how he's still trying to figure stuff out with it and how neither of us know what we're doing and how I thought he just didn't like people romantically and I was trying hard not to like him so I wouldn't make him uncomfortable or put pressure on him, and how he thought that I would never wanna be more than friends because why wouldn't I wanna be with someone with experience who knew what they were doing...I'm pretty sure the waitstaff at the restaurant was all eavesdropping at this point as we made increasing fools out of ourselves. Like when he said he did like kissing and I was like, 'wait, who've you been kissing?', and he was like, 'You, so either I like kissing or I just like kissing you' and then I sorta died a little but held it together like a champ."

She could practically feel Kamala vibrating, probably with the desire to say 'I told you so.' Which she had. Repeatedly.

Kamala was not going to bring that topic up. Nope. All she saw was what was between Arden and Cal finally coming together and that was all she needed.

“Ohhhhh. That’s a good line,” Kamala said with a groan. “Man when you two finally let your guard down you really let it all out. That had to feel good for you, right? After all this time?”

"It does," Arden said quietly. When had she picked up a pillow and started hugging it? "And I really like that we just kept talking. Asking questions. Figuring out what we wanna do and how we want this to work and even though we're mostly gonna figure it out as we go along, talking about how just because we said we liked each other didn't mean we had to date or that we had all these sudden new expectations because of it. And that...that's important to me. I don't want to be scared that there are all these unwritten rules now that we're supposed to be following but that I don't know. You know? And that we suddenly have to do things because of it. Like there's no choice. I want us to choose what happens next, because then I know it's real and not just...doing what's expected now that we've admitted we had feelings for each other."

“Wow. Okay, just going to say I’m impressed that two people who held back their feelings for so long figured all that out and don’t feel pressured to follow relationship norms,” Kamala said getting up from the bed to sit next to her friend. “And most of all? I’m proud of you. I know after all you’ve gone through how hard it is to open up and say how you feel and what you want for yourself.”

And she went in for a hug. “Your world just got so much bigger.”

Edited 2024-10-24 03:14 (UTC)

"I mean, it might be harder if either of us really knew relationship norms," Arden drawled. And then shook her head. "I don't exactly know what I want, but I know what I don't. And that's anything that feels like the Otherside, with all its rules and conditions that you don't know about till you're trapped. I don't want that for either of us. So it's less that we're 'not pressured to follow relationship norms' and more that I'm terrified of obligation."

She pulled her knees up. "And I'm scared," she added softly. "Like. So many promises that this was it, this was gonna be home, that I could stay and, of course they'll always want me. And those promises never came true. I think the enthusiastic hopeful ones ditched me faster than the ones who were just longterm fosters. I'm not trying to be super mature about this so much as I want us to think about every step before we take it so that if..." She trailed off. "If he ever decides that it's not--that I'm not who and what he wants, then at least he'll have a chance to change his mind before too many promises have been made."

"Okay, let's not let any doubts creep in before you even get started," Kamala encouraged, her voice filled with certainty. "He stayed for you. You know how much his world means to him, and after months of being away, he still stayed. That's huge for him. And I know there were a lot of promises before you came to the island, but I think what you really needed was to find your own family."

Kamala pulled out her phone, scrolling through sketches she'd been working on since Parents Weekend. One showed her in her superhero uniform, punching out Grimm and Duke; another, Marc and Watts adjusting the room while Steven watched from a mirror's reflection. There was also Illyana going feral at Grimm with Remy backing her up. Her parents doting over Arden as she slept. Friends who visited her while she recovered on the roof. And finally there was the sketch Cal, on his knees, cradling Arden in his arms. His face was etched in a blend of fear, sorrow, and love that seemed to weigh heavily on him as he bent over her.

"And I think you found that family with Midnight and all your friends at school."

Arden looked at the last picture for a very long time. "Did that happen?" she asked softly. "Really? He...held me like this? Looked like this?"

Funny enough, that was easier to focus on than the family. It felt like Too Much^TM in a way she couldn't explain.

Edited 2024-10-24 12:41 (UTC)

"There are moments from that night burned into my memory," Kamala said softly.

For a second, she was back in that room, holding the BD plushie, feeling scared and helpless.

Her gaze drifted to the sketch she'd drawn of Cal holding Arden—another memory that lingered. "And I'll never forget how he held you like that."

"I'm so sorry, Kamala," Arden said quietly. "That you...that you all...got caught up in everything. Had to see that...had to deal with all that and more besides..."

She looked down at the sketch again. "I don't even have words for this." The image was powerful in a way Arden couldn't articulate.

"I think the main take away from all of this is that you have a home now," Kamala said leaning her head on Arden's shoulder as she swiped back over the other sketches. "And I think you got a pretty good one. And a hot ginger who likes you."

The expression on Cal's face in the drawing suggested something a lot more than like, but Arden was willing to assume artistic interpretation there.

"It's the best home, full of the very best people." She leaned in to hug Kamala. "Yes," she said. "By the way, yes."

The hug was warmly accepted but Kamala was a little confused by the response. "Uh... yes to having a hot ginger?" she clarified.

"I mean, also yes to that, buuut...I'm gonna say yes to your parents, too. After the trip. But I thought you should be the first to know."

Arden gave Kamala a smile. "I gotta get over being scared of people loving me sometime, I guess."

Kamala's immediate response was a gasp followed by a burst of incoherent but unmistakably ecstatic sounds, something between an excited squeal and a series of high-pitched "eeeee"s. Her hands flailed wildly as she processed Arden’s words not unlike a certain frog muppet when he got excited.

It was a good thing joyful noise conveyed everything she was feeling because right now she couldn't even find the words.

She half-jumped onto the bed, grabbing Arden’s arm in her excitement, eyes wide with disbelief and glee.

"WHAT?!"

Oh, look, she found a word.

Arden laughed. "What what? I thought that was pretty clear?"

And now there was a tackle hug of epicness as Kamala glomped on to her friend.

No words. Just a hug.

Just a hug was pretty clear communication anyway.

"Also, we kissed some," Arden teased as Kamala clung. "... Back to the hot ginger who likes me."

And now the hugging got a break as Kamala pulled back to look at her friend.

“Kissing the ginger on an undefined dating activity,” she teased. “How outside the norms!”

"Apparently, he likes my butt," Arden informed her, trying not to smile. "Especially in dresses."

“Well, yes, you have a butt that doesn’t quit,” Kamala teased. “It’s the ass with sass. I see you two decided to do a deep dive into your attributes. I assume you had a twenty minute conversation about his arms?”

"He doesn't understand why I want to bite them," Arden laughed. "And had no clue that I thought they were hot."

“To be fair I’m not sure why you want to bite his arms,” Kamala admitted. “And wow, you guys went from just friends to arm biting and ass watching in less than what… 20 minutes? Not bad for a guy who has zero flirt action.”

Damn fingers.

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, Québec City, Québec [Wednesday Morning/Afternoon]

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