SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

0.5 - questing

THE NEXT COUPLE days were uneventful.

get roman legionnaires to drive them or take public transportation to texas. sleep in motels or in cars. fight monsters.

it wasn't exactly the date that briar had wanted with reyna, but at least they were suffering together. even if you weren't supposed to suffer on dates, briar had mastered the art of suffering at every opportunity.

"now what are we supposed to do?" briar asked, frowning down at the ground. they'd made it to texas, but now she didn't know what to do now that they were there.

reyna shrugged. "i don't know. enzo and gianna were really vague about this, actually."

"lovely," briar muttered under her breath. then she got an idea, and turned to smile at reyna. "i don't suppose you'd want to be a tourist until we figure out what we're gonna do?"

reyna furrowed her eyebrows. "be a tourist?" she repeated. it was really cute. briar hated it here.

"yeah, you know," briar shrugged. she felt her smile fading, despite reyna's cuteness. "we can like, i dunno. go to a bakery. go shopping. take a walk in some gardens. dad won't care about my spending habits. whatever you want to do,"

the hope in her voice was sickening. briar almost hated the way reyna made her soft.

"so is this like a date?" reyna asked, and those words suddenly made briar feel as though she was jason, soaring through the sky like she was superman. her smile might've betrayed her and come back onto her face.

"whatever you want it to be," briar tried to mimic the nonchalant tone she'd had before.

reyna stared at the city skyline below them. it was pretty, briar supposed — she saw skyscrapers and cars and houses galore, but the sight next to her was prettier. she could never get tired of staring at reyna, how her eyes narrowed critically at her surroundings, how her shoulders were set, how her posture let her strike at an opponent at a moment's notice, ready to protect herself and briar.

simp, a voice in briar's mind said. it sounded suspiciously like piper.

"alright, lovelace," reyna finally said, looking at her with a smirk. "as long as you can find us some gardens. that aren't breaking into someone's lawn."

briar scoffed. "me? do that? no! that's more of a piper thing to do."

"yes, because it wasn't you who egged her on during the denver incident," reyna snorted.

"she brought it up!" briar retorted, before shaking her head and trying to sense where the knife was, if by any chance she could. she gave up, before turning to reyna and extending a hand. "shall we?"

reyna stared at her for a second, and briar felt hotter under her gaze. then she grabbed her hand. briar's fingers tingled. she simultaneously felt like she was on fire and drowning at the same time, which wasn't ideal, but it was how she felt. she walked ahead toward the city, reyna following behind her.

briar found an outlet mall and went in it, obviously. she dragged reyna with her, with the promise of finding her something. briar wanted to buy more clothes, and to see the latest trends. she adored fashion, and designing, and modelling, and . . . ugh. what a dream.

"what do you think of this?" briar spun in a dress, grinning at reyna. she knew that reyna probably didn't want to be in this situation, waiting for her to try on shirts and pants, but briar appreciated that she sat there dutifully and gave her opinions.

reyna looked up and made a sound that was half a choke, half a gasp. briar hid her disappointment. well, this dress wasn't going home with her. she quite liked it as well; it was red, went to her mid thigh, and exposed her back except for some tied string criss-crossed down her back. briar adjusted the spaghetti strap, about to turn on her heel to go and change again.