Frenemies to Proxy

by upow

Summary:

Belle returns home for a break from Yunkui training, Ellen finds out and reserves a day to hangout with her but Vivian has the same plans also. Both girls will buttheads for Belle's attention.

Chapter 1: Reservation That's NOT For You.

Belle had come a long way from her several month stay at Waifei Peninsula. Her mental and physical training under the great and almighty grandmaster Yixuan and the superiors of Yunkui Summit under her guise brought her great wisdom and strength.

However, the young woman often felt homesick and fatigued from the back to back cases she had to help endure and solve while being a noble pupil there.

 

And if she were to detest ANYTHING, she just couldn’t stand the humidity and the warm recycled air of the relatively aged fan at times. With its relatively high altitude, Failume Heights could get pretty warm. Don’t get her wrong, the room offered to her was absolutely gorgeous! She just misses her own bed and air conditioning..and video games. 

 

So with that being said, Yixuan recognizes even great students like Belle deserve a break and allows her to return to her humble video store to get back in tune with her normality.

 

---

The blue haired woman took a running start to take a leap of faith in her bed, successfully flopping on the mattress and bouncing from the recoil of the springy supports within.

 

“I’ve MISSED THIS!”

 

She said full of glee, almost in a squeak like voice. Her legs instantly kicked around, relishing in the cool fabrics and blankets of her bed. Belle then pushed herself from off of the cushionings, stumbling about to check out the other things in her room that she missed seeing almost everyday.

 

“My guitar! Ohh how I missed practicing with it, maybe I’ll hook up the amp and play it later today? I’m probably SO rusty..”

 

Picking up the red instrument gently, Belle gave it a warm hug and a few comical kisses on the headstock as if the thing was her own biological baby. She placed it down besides her couch, now skipping and even twirling around towards her TV and game consoles.

 

“Can’t wait to boot up the game too! I’ve probably ranked down from being so inactive in competitive. Awh.”

 

She picked up her arcade stick, using the side of her fist to wipe off the layer of dust particles that accumulated on it before setting it back down with her other collection of controllers. Her head then turned to her refrigerator, immediately skipping over to it to open up its door.

 

She scanned what was inside, eyes squinting to see if anything was missing. Growing skeptical knowing her brother, Wise may have snooped in to take some of her things. To her relief and skepticism aside, her chronic soda and energy drink supply remains untouched for the most part. 

 

Same with her packets of noodles she had on the side that she dared NOT tell General Chop about.

 

Belle closed the fridge door, heaving a sigh of satisfaction. A big smile spread across her lips. 

 

“It's so good to be home.”

 

Just then, the woman’s phone went off in her pocket, admittedly startling her with a jolt. She dug in it to retrieve the device, wondering who was messaging her today? She scrolled through all of her saved contacts of her well acquainted agents she and Wise were partnered with, a sea of unread messages from when she had her notifications off just made her feel a little guilty.

 

But one kind of stood out from the rest in her eyes, which caused her eyebrows to raise in curiosity.

 

“Oh! It’s Ellen?”

 

She pressed her thumb on the pop up to see what the young VHK member needed.

 

 

 

And just like that, her first activity is set for the day! Hanging out with and tutoring Ellen. 

 

She assumed the visit from Lycaon earlier that day, who had dropped off some held packages to the proxies led the wolf man alerting the other members of Belle’s return. The housekeeping faction were loyal partners to the pair of siblings, so it made some sense that they would be aware too.

 

“Now..is there anything more casual I can wear..?”

 

The blue haired woman said aloud to herself, already in the process of taking off her traditional Yunkui attire. She walked her way over to her dresser to find a simple top and bottom she could wear so she can hangout with Ellen later.

 

She looked around, opening shelf to shelf for anything remotely comfy and cute. She was able to find a simple shirt and shorts, already in the process of putting them on.

 

“Belle! I need your help real quick!”

 

“WAH-”

 

Called out Wise from downstairs.

 

Startled once again, the clumsy woman was mid way putting on a shirt before fumbling around and falling on the floor. She hissed at the blunt impact, but she was able to get herself back up and properly get the shirt over her head and torso.

 

“....Did you fall?”

 

“..No!”

 

Belle replied, dusting herself off and rubbing the side of her hip to ease the pain. She cursed to herself, knowing the fall hurt but she brushed it off. She slipped on a pair of sneakers on her feet, walking out the door so she could speed step down the stairs.

 

Wise awaited her by the front counter, holding a box of newly shipped movies that were ready to be restocked on the shelves. All he could do was watch his sister come down the stairs, almost tripping again as she made it to floor level.

“I saw that.”

 

“Shut it! Anyways, what's up?”

 

“The new shipment of tapes and DVDs came in, the ones Lycaon held for us while we were at Suibian Temple. Could use your help in stocking them.”

Belle looked at the copies of films in the box her brother held, seeing the variety of genres they were labeled under.

 

“Sure can do, bro! It'll actually kill off some time before I have to leave later.”

 

The blue haired woman said with a smile, taking the box from Wise. The taller man looked at her with a raised but curious eyebrow, watching his sister walk off to the shelves with patches of products that need to be filled.

“Oh? Where are you going if you don’t mind me asking? You just came back home, I thought you would've been cooped up in your room doing … you know, whatever you do best in there like video games and what not.”

 

“Ellen asked to hangout! Rare I know, but she also wanted my help with her school assignments too.”

 

“Ahh, how nice of you.”

Wise replied, with a nod. It was apparent in his face that he was quite surprised Ellen of all people decided to reach out, the girl was so caught up with school and her job, they didn't think she'd have room to make reservations with one of the proxies. 

 

Let alone if she even felt like it, it was hard to tell her intentions sometimes. 

 

“Well I couldn't leave the kiddo hanging. Ohh..do you think I would make a good tutor, Wise?”

 

The blue haired younger sibling questioned, taking the box of tapes and setting them down. She got a stack of films and placed them in their columns with their respective genres to match.

“..I mean…”

 

“..‘You mean’...? What does that mean?”

 

“Did she say a specific subject she needed help on?”

 

“No, at least not yet, no.”

Belle peeped a small snort coming from the taller guy, in result the woman furrowed her brows and protruded her bottom lip into a pout as she kept restocking the shelves.

 

“What are you trying to say, huh?”

 

“Nothing nothing..”

 

Wise chuckled, walking over to pick up a few films himself to help out at least. He got a small kick on the back of his knees causing him to buckle down awkwardly, barely catching himself.

“The hell?”

 

“Answer me or I'll do it again!”

 

“It's nothing!”

Wise pleaded, already seeing Belle hike up a leg to get his other knee which he instinctively used his hand to attempt at a block. However she kicked his hand instead.

“Ow- okay! Being serious, you'd make a fun tutor.”

 

“Im convinced you were calling me unreliable…”

 

“I would never..”

Wise replied with a feigned tone of mischief in his voice, feeling a tad bit trollish to get on the younger woman's nerves. This caused Belle to kick him again but he caught her foot this time, making her squeal as she struggled to get free.

 

“WISE.”

 

“No kicking in my store.”

 

The man freed her foot. And in return a DVD case swatted him firmly on the head, with an audible PAP that filled the space of the store’s area.

 

“This is my store too, a-hole.”

 

The blue haired woman concluded with a smirk herself, putting said DVD into its respective area. The Phaethon siblings began to pick up their workload, getting the shelves nice and full for their next round of customers. 

 

It was chill for the most part, their chosen playlist of music sang softly throughout the store, and the mounted TVs in the corners played trailers for upcoming movies that will air in the theaters. 

RINGG..

The staff room’s phone began to blare rhythmically, getting the attention of both Wise and Belle like a pair of frightened meerkats. The man placed the last of his stacks of films up as quickly as he could before he sped walked over to the slightly cracked door that led to their repair station and super computer.

 

“I'll handle the call.”

 

As if it wasn't obvious that he was, he was already grabbing the door's handle to get into the room. And without a moment to spare, he shut the door behind him.

 

…

Belle was alone with the exception of number 18 sitting behind the desk with its eyes closed. The bangboo was put on sleep mode until it was time to open the shop.

 

She shrugged, picking up the box to walk to another area of the shelves so she could stock the remaining videos. She was angled facing away from the front door, placing the box down and retrieving the last stack of tapes to neatly put them up.

 

Belle wished she had her earbuds in so she could listen to her own personal music, but the tunes playing in the store currently were good enough. So she hummed along.

 

Besides, it was a playlist she and Wise put together anyway. She was more than familiar with what was playing.

While Belle was working, she heard the front door from behind her open and jingle, indicating a visitor was here. Being so attuned with her job, her brain was automatically set on work mode and completely forgot she had been expecting some company and hadn’t made that conscious exception of said visitor. 

 

“Sorry, we're closed! We will open shortly however, give us 30 minutes!”

 

Called out Belle, not turning around assuming the person who entered the business would turn away and walk out. But that wasn’t the case here, the door automatically shut and a pair of footsteps-..no, clicking of heels against the hardwood floor softly made their way to a corner before halting.

 

The blue haired woman slowed her stacking, realizing the individual who had entered the store did not in fact turn away and walk out. Her face tightened a teensy bit, feeling a little suspicious before realizing it must be Ellen! Surely it is right, she would’ve announced herself by now..?

 

She turned around with expectancy, getting ready to greet the girl until the tip of her name got stuck in her throat. The girl almost called a name that didn’t fit the description of who was present in her vicinity, if anything she was even more surprised.

 

“Oh, Vivian, hello there!”

 

Belle called out with a big smile, setting the DVDs that she had in her hand back down into the almost empty box. The exquisitely dressed lady positioned herself to be looking at the wall full of movies, but also angled to where she attempted at looking mysterious..sort of.

 

Curious, Belle wandered over to say hi to Vivian in person. Assuming that would be more polite than to talk to her from the back of the store. Her friendly and soft smile still remained as she watched the light purple haired dhampir lightly touch one of the shelved DVD casings with the tip of a delicate finger.

 

"What is the true nature and intent of filming cinemas, Lord Phaethon..do you know?”

 

Finally spoke of Vivian, voice low yet soft, like a flute that sings lullabies on a bed of gloomy clouds.

 

“Ahh...there can be multiple reasons theoretically. It could capture moments in which something a book can’t really express with visuals? Oh! Perhaps it could just be for fun and the expression of art and creativity?”

 

The blue haired girl answered bubbly and..dumbly, not necessarily dumb as her reasonings were incorrect but not matching the subtle yet alluring tone the purple dhampir was hoping to come in sync with.

 

“Hm..yes, however. My opinion on the matter may weigh deep that’ll conjugate such perspectives of innocent trivials.”

 

Vivian continued, picking up one of the casings from off of the shelf. Belle glanced over to what film she picked up and it was The Heartbeat. She didn’t know where she was trying to get at so she patiently waited for the lady to continue.

 

“The eye of the beholder sees something more than what the naked eye could ever perceive. As do I, many possibilities that could concur a different ending, but one is absolute.”

 

…All Belle could do was nod, understanding this may have something to do with her ability to see impending doom..? She wasn’t entirely sure. Those ruby red eyes were dashing, gorgeous and oh so captivating, she could only imagine what they saw. She supposes that’s what she meant, right?

 

“Surely the director has a goal in mind, yes? She films her movie the way she envisions it but hardly anyone else could see what her true desires may expose.”

 

“...Ohhh! It’s like when the viewers have different ways of thinking about how a story is told but the person who’s directing it and producing it has hidden and intentional perspectives that would technically be the correct viewing! Wow Vivian!”

 

Belle exclaimed excitedly, the cinema nerd in her bubbled in joy, there almost seemed to be sparkles and stars in her eyes but Vivian only looked at her as if she totally missed the point of what she was trying to say. The purple haired woman pursed her lips and put the DVD back, grabbing Belle by the wrists and looking into her eyes with intensity.

 

“You are the apple to my eye, Lord Phaethon! You are perfect and undefiable, please go on a date with me!”

 

“.....Ha?”

 

The blue haired woman’s eyebrows raised high, high enough to merge with her hairline even. Light cherry red dusted her cheeks at the sudden offer. 

 

D-Date?? Wait, was this an attempt at a court?

 

The pointed ear girl released the grip on the woman’s wrists, softly rubbing them in hopes her handling wouldn’t irritate her delicate skin. She cupped her own soft slender hands towards her chest, closing her eyes before opening them to look at Belle in adoration and plea.

 

“Yes~! I would like to go out with you today, if you are available, that is. Devoting my desires to you was quite the challenge, I didn't know how to approach, apologies if it may have seemed confusing.”

 

Vivian said, the mannerisms in her voice wasn’t that low mysterious vampire-esc way of talking. And it was more of her cute timid intonation she was more accustomed to at this point. She fluctuates between accents quite a bit, it was a blur in which one was really her at times.

 

“Oh my, I'm flattered! I didn't know this was you asking me out, that was pretty good.”

 

It was true, Belle was so easily swayed with flirtatious advances you could possibly pick her up with a magnet and she wouldn't repel. But the idea of a director and an easter egg script excited her more than the initial proposal she feared.

 

“But…I have to decline. I'm already booked with someone for a hangout. Maybe tomorrow, I should be free then!”

 

The woman said hesitantly and pathetically apologetic, in her heart she hated to shunt the dhampir down like this. She's known the feeling of rejection all too well, and asking for a reschedule was the best she could offer to soften the fall.

 

Vivian's face slightly fell, though she heard her loud and clear of her date proposal being accepted regardless. But who the hell was in the way in delaying such a perfect day?!

 

“..Who is this ‘someone’?”

 

She questioned, slight bitterness bled into her tongue while the woman in front of her had a noticeable sweat droplet dripping down her cheek. How dare there be another contender who has the gall to take away Lord Phaethon's attention!

 

Just then, a quick knock was at the front door.

“I'm comin’ in, you guys aren't really closed.”

A voice came from outside the door before it was swung open. The natural outside light shed into the enclosed space of the establishment, outweighing the artificial lamps that were installed. 

 

Both ladies turned their heads towards the direction of the door and were met with the tired poker face of Ellen Joe. The shark thiren entered the store with a yawn, her head automatically turning towards Belle and Vivian who did nothing but awkwardly stare back.

 

The shark took a step forward into the building and stood there, staring blankly. The door closed behind her and the store was quiet with the exception of the low volume TV, tacky song playlist, and Wise faintly talking with a customer over the phone. 

…

The purple haired girl straightened herself up. Her demeanor changed almost instantly to this calm like facade, but underneath she was throwing daggers at the unwanted guest that seemed to be the perpetrator getting in between her and Belle’s special moment.

 

“Hey, Ellen! You made it! How was your day at school?”

 

Belle broke the uneasy silence, smiling brightly towards the younger girl.

 

“Boring, but okay I guess.”

 

The girl replied, hands fiddling in the pockets of her shark themed jacket. She decided to come closer to the two ladies who stood by the store’s corner, not bothering to hide her dubious glances towards Vivian, which in turn made the purple haired lady tighten her face ever so slightly, carefully observing her.

 

Ellen then glanced up at Belle, her face seemed confused and unsure, taking a few glances between her and the dhampir.

 

“Wait, you had plans already? You could’ve told me..”

 

The shark said, her voice dripping in disappointment. This caused Belle to stutter and flail her arms around in a panicked frenzy, trying to find the words to describe what exactly was going on.

 

“No no no! We’re still going out for your boba, Ellen! I just had another friend come to do a surprise visit!...Uh-uh.. Vivian, this is Ellen. Ellen, this is Vivian!”

 

The blue haired discombobulated woman introduced the pair, who seemed to just stare at each other for the most part.

“..Hi?”

 

“I’m aware of your alias, Ellen Joe of Victoria Housekeeping.”

 

“..The fuck?”

The shark’s thick eyebrows furrowed deeper, her large tail slowly curling around her leg feeling uncomfortable with this weirdo lady in her presence. This even made Belle glance over at Vivian in question, under the assumption they had known each other before but in reality it was just a one sided dilemma.

 

The pointed ear lady peeped the curiosity in Belle’s face, wondering if they were prior acquaintances involving work. Seeing all eyes were on her, she quickly corrected herself, not wanting Belle to get the wrong idea of the spiteful callout of the younger girl.

 

“Apologies! I meant that in no way to scare you, I’m just familiar with the noble Victoria name. Your boss, Lycaon speaks highly of you.”

 

“..Right.”

 

Ellen eyed her, that fake tinged smile she could spot from anywhere, even when they hardly knew each other. Not wanting to make conversation with this weird stranger, Ellen looked back towards Belle.

“Are you ready to go?”

 

“Almost, I have a few more products I need to restock. It’ll take about 5 minutes or less.”

 

“M’kay.”

The shark thiren nodded, already digging out her phone and a peppermint candy to stay awake for at least an extra 30 minutes, walking over to a DIY barrel chair that sat in the other corner of the store. This was Belle’s cue to get back to work, not wanting to keep the known impatient girl waiting too long.

 

The famed proxy made her way to her work in progress, with Vivian in tow. Not wanting to give up this chance in hanging out with her as well, she be damned if she waits an entire day pardoned by some high school senior. And there was no telling what tomorrow may entail that Hugo may have her do under his organization..

 

“May I be of assistance, Lord Phaethon?”

 

Vivian offered softly and politely, pointed ears perking a little to at least help Belle out.

 

“Sure! You can help me restock the last of the DVDs on these shelves right here, the genre is labeled on the back so you know where to put them.”

 

She gave the dhampir a collection of cartridges, her immediately getting to work and putting them away in favor of her Lord Phaethon. As she restacked the goods, she took the opportunity to peer over to where Ellen sat. She was leaning rather comfortably against the chair, her massive tail taking up most if not all of the space said chair had to offer. She was very glued to her phone, her thumbs tapping away feverishly fast or sometimes scrolling.

 

Hmpf, unworthy and coaxed from that cellular device.

 

She rolled her eyes, continuing to put her stack away. She momentarily thought of a way to possibly bribe Belle into allowing her to at least tag alone with Ellen. She knew this was rather invasive, but she can’t let this one free day pass her by? It doesn’t even have to be a date, as long as she is besides her Lord, all is well honestly.

 

“Lord Phaethon? Ahem, excuse my formalities, Belle? If it isn’t too much to ask, is it okay if I accompany the both of you in your hangout?”

 

The shark’s overhearing ears caused her to stop typing on her phone to glare up towards the purple haired lady.

 

“Huh?”

 

The blue haired woman honked, looking up from putting her last DVD away.”

 

“Yes..you see, I should have mentioned it earlier. I don’t think I’ll be available for our date tomorrow or any day after that, I have affairs that I must attend to with Hugo. And since you have returned from your training temporarily, I don’t know when I’ll see you again!”

 

“Ohh..”

 

Belle having a heart of nothing but gold, honey, and movie reviews, she was immediately sympathetic at the idea that not only was she staying in the Janus Quarter for a week, but she wasn’t aware of her friends schedule either. So she felt obligated to at least cater to the limited free time that she had so she didn’t feel left out.

 

But really, Ellen asked for her permission to hangout first so truthfully the shark has the right to make the call. And it wasn’t the first time people who she and Wise were familiar with came into the business uninvited, and they welcomed them all the same with their own variants of wants and needs. But morally, Ellen has the right of way here.

 

“I think it would be fair if I let Ellen decide, she was the one who asked to hangout with me first. I don’t mind personally, but it’s up to her.”

 

If Vivian could curse to the heavens, Hell would invite her for a tea party. Her face didn’t change from her usual expectant and adored gaze, but her mind just hated the answer. She didn’t want permission from a little brat, especially one that's in between her and her Phaethon!

 

“...I see, that is very fair. I shall seek approval then.”

 

The dhampir’s pride was tainted as she walked over to where the shark thiren was, who without a doubt was already glaring at her through her hoodie. She could visibly see those sharp red eyes slowly follow her every movement, to a mortal it would be terrifying, but for a person like her she’s nothing but a pissed off puppy. Adorable.

 

“Ms. Ellen, is it okay that I come along with the both of you?”

 

“No.”

 

She couldn’t say she didn’t expect that answer but GOSH was she hopeful.

 

The shark was very clear and blunt with her answer, a little too blunt if she were to say. However, she did peep Belle in the corner looking slightly bummed out which made her feel a little bad.

 

“Sorry Vivian, there's your answ-”

 

“-But, I didn’t have to wait that long since you were helping Belle out. So I guess you can.”

 

Ellen approved, with some attitude just for the sake of Belle to smile big again. The blue haired girl was way too friendly for her own good..the shark thinks this will bite her in the ass sooner or later.

 

“Oh? Why the change of heart, Ms. Ellen?”

 

“No reason.”

 

Vivian watched the girl get up from her seat, placing her phone away in her jacket’s pocket. She walked past the slightly taller lady, purposely pausing next to her to eye her up and down with a huff before she continued to walk towards the proxy. To say this didn’t irk the dhampir to her core was an understatement, just who does that little shit think she is, huh?? The purple haired woman couldn’t be too angry at this, because of that bitch she can have some time to hangout with Belle.

 

The staff door decided to swing open, emerging Wise finally coming back from his rather lengthy phone call.

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting, sis. A customer was having some technical difficulties with- oh! Ellen and Vivian, welcome.”

 

The man smiled, shutting the door softly behind him. The dhampir giving a shy wave and the shark giving him an up nod.

 

“Perfect timing, bro! We were just about to leave, Vivian helped me place the rest of the tapes and junk away so you don’t have to worry about that.”

 

“Great, the boos and I should handle it from here then. Oh, will Vivian be hanging out with the two of you as well?”

 

The gray haired man questioned, he too was under the impression that Belle was going to be spending time with Ellen today.

 

“Last minute.”

 

The shark blurted out, opening up a lollipop wrapper and sticking the candy in her mouth. The purple haired woman could only give her a glance and a slight nose twitch before ultimately nodding because it was the truth.

 

“A-Ah I see, well you three have fun then!”

 

Wise chuckled meekly, he could feel the unwanted beef between them. Something definitely told him it was a second opinion than it being a last minute plan.

 

And just like that the trio left Random Play, making their way to their first stop, Richard’s Teamilk. Things should go smoothly with a cold drink to soothe the tension..

…

 

Right?

Chapter 2: All For Milk?

“Ew it’s nothing but sugar and syrup, that’s kind of fat.”

 

Snarked the dhampir, crossing her arms as Ellen listed out her boba order. The shark paused and gave her a side eye before glancing back to the Teamilk worker, Coco. The poor shorter girl nervously glanced between the two non-humans who seemed to have a conflicted situation going on, and even glanced up towards Belle who could only give the girl a nervous smile and an unsure shoulder shrug.

 

“Lemme repeat that…I’ll get a medium oolong caramel boba, 100 percent sugar and light ice.”

 

The shark girl recited, digging in her jacket’s pocket to fish out 2 vouchers for free teamilk.

 

“Also, are these vouchers still valid? I wanna use em’.”

 

Questioned Ellen, giving the two pieces of paper over to Coco so she could see them. The shorter girl’s hands were visibly shaking out of her known anxiety, taking the vouchers and looking them over.

 

“Y-Yes! These are still good! Coco will process them, will you order another drink? S-so the other voucher won’t go to waste..”

 

The shark softly elbowed Belle who was busy digging in her own pockets for money to give.

 

“You can pick whatever drink you want, the other voucher will cover you so you don’t have to spend your money.”

 

She mentioned, looking over at the proxy who raised her head to look up at the shark.

 

“Wait what? Oh! You’re using the voucher on me? Aw, that’s so nice of you, Ellen!”

 

“I just remembered they were in my pocket..I was saving them for something like this.”

 

She was saving them for ‘something like this?’ Now what could that possibly mean? Vivian stood beside them with her arms still crossed, her face unamused and unimpressed at her Phaethon and that… fish’s interaction. It was unfavorable, distasteful, putrid even.

 

The dhampir listens to Belle say her order, taking note of the specific ingredients to memorize next time for a date in between them and THEM only. 

Mint teamilk, 25 percent sugar, light boba, light ice, medium cup..

Though, she be damned if she has to pay for her own drink and those two don’t have to pay a single denny, so she goes besides the shark girl to ask if she had at least one more voucher so everyone could have a drink scott free.

 

“Ellen, was it? Do you have another voucher on your person?”

 

“No.”

…

Another firm hard no, this girl was so annoyingly blunt it made her jaw tighten.

 

“You judged my order, pay yourself.”

 

The shark followed up, giving her another side eye while she got handed her free drink.

 

“I think I have the right to judge, that’s pure sugar. You may as well take a bag of granulated sugar, pour milk, and stick a straw in it.”

 

“Or..you can mind your business, I don’t know..”

 

Ellen rolled her eyes while taking a sip of her sugary milk, easing the shark's entangled nerves. Belle got between the two, attempting to deescalate their bickering.

 

“Girls girls..relax okay? Ellen just has a sweet tooth, nothing wrong with that!”

 

The renowned proxy defended her young shark friend before going down to whisper in her ear temporarily.

“That is abnormally sweet..sweeter than what you usually get, I thought you were watching your calories?”

 

“Cheat day, was craving sweet teamilk. Plus I need to stay up for boring homework.”

 

“Fair fair..”

Belle then turned over to look at Vivian, putting a soft hand on her shoulder which got the dhampir to soften. The simple contact of her Lord Phaethon was enough to get her full attention.

 

“What you said to Ellen was a little mean..I think you should apologize.”

 

The purple haired lady seemed to wince, not so much in the fact she needed to apologize, she said what she said and she stood by it. But seeing the blue haired lady’s face have a tinge of disappointment brought more sense to her than she already had. She didn’t want to make her Phaethon upset, it would be a nightmare to see the usual peppy girl get angry at her.

 

“Yes yes you’re right, Lord Phaethon. I apologize, Ellen.”

 

The dhampir gave the shark a certain look, just to spite the girl without Belle catching on. All Ellen could do was deadpan at her before Coco handed her the 2nd teamilk order. The shark in all honesty wanted to throw the drink at her, her limited patience wore thinner and thinner as she felt Vivian’s unnecessary malignity evolve as they continued to ‘hangout’.

 

It WOULD be a shame if the sugar’d drink ruined those pretty curls and lavishly tailored dress. Sticky and miserable.

 

“I don’t want you to be left out either, so I’ll buy you a drink! Name what you want, I got you.”

 

The shark’s face tightened in disbelief, eyes darting to Belle’s happy gerbil-like face.

 

No!

 

No, she doesn’t deserve jackshit! Make her pay! Now the shark feels even more offended, she was practically insulted and the insulter gets rewarded with a fuck ass cup of milk. Ellen exhaled a breath, trying to stay calm and collected..feeling her nerves simmer hot and her tail begin to twitch in agitation.

“Lord Phaethon! You’ll buy me a drink?? Y-You don’t have to, I have my own money..”

 

“I insist!”

 

“O-Okay! Thank you thank you, you’re the best!~”

Vivian’s sour and bitterness flew right out the window here. In her eyes, Belle looked so captivating and devilishly charming..that glowing positive smile and nothing but light and purity shone through her eyes, she felt like she was obligated to hold out her hand in marriage!~

 

Ellen, on the other hand, held both drinks uncomfortably while she sipped her own. Rolling her eyes heavily hearing the dhampir excitedly and annoyingly chirp as the proxy dug into her pocket for her wallet. 

 

This Vivian chick was going to be a thorn in her side wasn’t she? The shark wasn’t a complete fool, she was quite aware Vivian is only doing this petty crap because her and Belle are friends, and their closeness obviously bothered her. And that quite frankly, bothered Ellen! 

 

She was the one that got the proxy’s absolute approval first to hangout..and all that vampire girl did was invade and be a nuisance. However, she was the one that even allowed the dhampir to tag along to begin with, but only for the sake of not wanting to disappoint Belle. If it wasn’t for that, a well polished and sparkly middle finger would be the last thing the purple haired lady saw.

 

—

 

The trio each had their teamilk of choice in their hands, fresh, cold, and delicious. Ellen and Vivian walked besides Belle, precisely sandwiching her while they crossed the intersection. This was making the blue haired girl feel a tad overwhelmed, but at the same token she felt so safe with these two. Members of acquainted organizations of high faction, no one dared to hurt the famous proxy.

 

She sipped her mint teamilk, relishing the taste of the refreshing drink, she then turned to Ellen who was on her phone with her own teamilk in the other.

 

“Hey, Ellen? You think the top of Coff Cafe is a good spot to do your school assignments?"

 

“Yeah it’s good, I can’t think of anywhere else we could go honestly.”

 

The shark replied, sipping her sugary beverage.

 

“What about the benches over here along the plaza, there's plenty of space here.”

 

Suggested Vivian, making sure she was as glued to Belle’s side as much as possible.

For a moment there was silence..and it continued to be quiet..and it made the dhampir look over past Belle to see if Ellen heard her. The little punk was on that phone scrolling away.

 

“I said, what about the benches over here along the plaza, there’s plenty of space here.”

 

The purple haired lady repeated herself, only getting nothing in return. This caused Belle to also turn her head towards the shark who was buried in her device.

 

Is.. she ignoring me? That brat.

“Hello? I’m talking to you, Ms. Ellen.”

 

“What?”

 

“Did you hear my suggestion?”

Ellen then sipped her milk again, chewing on some of the caramel infused tapioca pearls that were inside.

 

“My bad, I didn’t hear you. Say it again.”

 

“What about the benches over here along the plaza, there's plenty of space here.”

…

More silence. Was this girl serious? She even acknowledged Vivian was talking to her and STILL chose not to answer, she even peeped a small little smirk on the shark’s lips. 

 

Oh she’s trolling her, that little shit.

 

All the dhampir could do was sigh and shake her head, not bothering to push the useless conversation further with such impeccable density held by a shark thiren.

 

They shortly arrived at Coff Cafe, the rich and strong espresso aroma was incredibly hard to miss when it came to these locations no matter where you were in the world. Being that it was well into the afternoon, there weren’t many customers coming into the shop, and if they were, it was to grab a quick lunch or snack.

 

The 3 girls walked up the flight of stairs that led to the lounge like rooftop above, where it was thankfully vacant for Ellen’s sake. They each took a seat further most to the giant body of water, and the glorious cityscape that paired with it.

 

The shark thiren took her book bag off of her back and sat it on her lap so she could dig for her assignments. It took a few fumbles and tiny curses but she was able to grab what she needed. She placed a thin packet of paper on the table and began to look for her utensils.

 

“So what’s the subject you need help with today?”

 

Belle began, gently pulling the bundle of papers towards her so she could look at it.

 

“Ohh Chemistry. That’s easy peasy, nothing but formulas and math with extra steps!”

 

“And that’s why I asked for your help, I don’t get that crap.”

 

The shark girl got out a pencil, the metal bit had obvious teeth indents from the girl’s relentless biting habits. She then closed her bag and placed it by her feet, now waiting for Belle’s guidance.

 

Vivian sat with them, drinking her teamilk in tiny sips while she narrowed her eyes at Ellen. It wouldn’t be a lie to say she was plotting against the girl in hopes to decline her extensive reach towards Belle. Then her eyes darted to the very proxy on topic, her gaze changing dramatically from this vindictive grimace to this gleaming and loving stare seeing her Lord Phaethon play the part of a role model. This was all the shark thiren was good for, making Belle look so attractive in her element of super smarts. She would bet dennies Ellen has the brain of an actual shark. 

 

She watched Belle get up and scoot her chair closer to the younger girl, she understands this was a necessary move to make tutoring more easier without having to constantly reach over and point, but uhg why couldn’t it be her she scoots over to.

 

The dhampir looked to her left to watch the tug boats move by, and even watched the large cargoship that dwarfed the smaller personal owned boats cruise across the water. It was such a beautiful afternoon, it genuinely was. She just wished it was just her and Belle..

 

She had to sigh, louder than what she should’ve. She wanted Belle’s attention so badly, Ellen can’t be that large of a dumbass to where she can’t do a portion of her assignments by herself..the proxy is there to assist not carry. Thinking of the red and black haired shark makes her angry!

“I always get atomic mass and atomic number confused..all these other symbols are readable or whatever.”

 

“And that’s okay, don’t worry, Ellen! What I do is dumb it down so it’s just the end of a compound word, I’m sure you know what mass and a number is?”

 

“Mhm.”

The shark started to unconsciously nibble on her pencil as she watched Belle put a finger to the questionnaire of the packet.

“So you define that to what that means for protons! Seeing the word atomic overwhelms you, making you assume it’s a more intricate word to figure out, huh?”

 

“Yeah..I think that’s my problem.”

 

“All it is, is just a word that adds onto another. So these sentences are perfect, you just have to switch 'em’!”

 

Ellen nodded, taking out her phone to snap a picture of her writing before erasing them to rewrite them in their correct placement.

“There you go! Do you get it? We can go over the words again if you’d like if you still don’t understand?”

 

“I got it, thanks master prox- ah- I-I mean Belle, sorry..formalities.”

 

“Pff..is sir Lycaon making an influence on you?”

This got a chuckle out from the blue haired lady, ruffling up the shark’s hair in an affectionately teasing way. Ellen softly swatted her arm away with a tiny blush appearing on her cheeks out of embarrassment. The shark certainly was picking up on her boss’s mannerisms from time to time, whether it was out of habit or it was an inspiration to change up her lifestyle from his flawlessly perfect ways. But this wasn’t for Belle to figure out so vividly and clearly..

 

Vivian watched unimpressed, sipping the last of her teamilk until the straw sucked up nothing but melted ice remnants. Hearing Ellen call Belle ‘master’ peeved her, she didn’t care if it was an accidental slip up because of her relevant job at VHK, she could give a damn less if anything. It was not a title that shark should be calling HER LORD PHAETHON!

 

The dhampir sighed once more, loud enough she’s sure the both of the girls could hear. She crossed her left leg over the other, taking her cup and shaking it around where the ice noisily jumbled about. She sipped again, the sound of the lack of liquid and the straw making that fairly obnoxious noise to hopefully throw Ellen off.

 

“Hey, Vivian? You okay over there? You’re sighing pretty loud?”

 

Belle asked, concern leaking from her voice as she looked up from the packet allowing the shark girl to do her homework.

“Oh, Lord Phaethon..I thought you forgot about me.”

 

“No no, I’m sorry! Just helping Ellen with her assignments, I do suggest we be quieter and not disturb her though.”

 

“Yes of course, students should be at their best, it would be a shame if they weren’t. Repeating grades due to lack of intelligence is considered dishonorable.”

Snarked the purple haired woman, getting a glare from Ellen.

 

“Oh tell me about it..back in my academy days, there was no chance of repeating. You would be kicked out indefinitely, our graduation rates were rather average for the intense curriculums they taught.”

 

This caused Belle to scratch her head, chuckling awkwardly and sighing herself.

 

“Never thought I would say that, wow. Back in my academy days..I promise I’m not that old!”

 

Vivian giggled herself, her adorableness was all too precious. Though she wonders what she was like back during those said academy days? Was she always this bubbly girl, full of nothing but joy and whimsy? She could say the same about her brother, Wise. He was more on the timid and mature side of the two siblings which wasn’t hard to decipher anyway. But did those traits ever alter?

 

“Lord Phaethon, do you perhaps have photos of yourself when you were in school?”

 

“I do! Don’t laugh at me though, my hair was crazy.

 

Belle squeaked, pulling out her phone and opening her gallery. Scrolling through her mass amounts of photos she had, including funny memes, pictures of her and acquainted agents together, and ones of her and Wise hanging out. Her thumb was flicking up and down, the proxy determined to find that photo, looking for any recognizable pictures that would indicate that the one she’s looking for was near.

 

Until she finally found it after maybe 2 minutes..

 

“Found it! Again don’t laugh at me...”

 

Belle got up from her seat, walking around Ellen careful not to bump her tail to show Vivian the picture.

 

 

Hearts enveloped in Vivian’s brilliant eyes, her heart swelled with overwhelming affection and adoration seeing little Belle for the first time ever. 

 

“GASP Oh my goodness! You were so cute! I could honestly pinch your face..you’re so squishable, not that you aren’t already, Lord Phaethon..~”

 

All the famed proxy could do was blush, watching Vivian use her fingers to zoom in on her face and even alternate between her and younger Wise. The dhampir was a squealing fangirling mess while Belle fought for her life not to burn up from the clear gushing and compliments.

 

So much for ‘suggesting to keep quiet’, those 2 were causing quite the ruckus besides poor Ellen. The shark thiren got a good portion of her homework completed but she unfortunately got stuck on a more challenging problem, and the pig squealing of Vivian was genuinely making it hard to focus.

 

At the same time, she was also curious about the picture, feeling a little left out as she stared at her work and glanced over to the ladies. And gosh, that woman and her weird obsession with Belle was getting on her damn nerves. The constant, so ‘cutes!’, and so ‘adorables!’ were pissing her off..they were just annoying, no questions about her whatsoever to even be remotely interested in her as a person, just blindly in love. What a tragedy.

 

The shark tugged on Belle’s shirt, successfully getting her attention.

 

“Uh..can I see? I also need your help again, too.”

 

“Of course, Ellen! Look at little me! Again, no laughing!”

 

She twisted her body away from Vivian to cater to showing the shark girl her Helios academy picture. Belle pinched her screen to zoom out so she could have a better look of the entire photo.

Snort.

All the blue haired woman did was look at her with a feigned pout.

“Ellen!”

 

“S-Sorry..anyways, I really like you guy’s uniforms. They look dope, kinda jealous.”

 

“Wait, you think so?”

The shark thiren inched closer to the human to see the phone better, adjusting her hand so there wasn’t a sun glare.

 

“Yeah, way better than my school uniform, that's why I have to pair it with other clothes to make it look cooler. Otherwise it's tasteless.”

 

“You do have a keen eye when it comes to fashion..I trust your judgement so that makes me feel better. I used to hate wearing it!”

 

This made Ellen smile a little, Belle remembering her interest in fashion was something rather dear to her. She couldn’t help but do a little tail wag that ended up slightly tapping the proxy’s legs, which caused her to scoot over assuming the thing needed some space.

 

“Also…your hair, the big ass cowlick.. there’s a lot going o-on.”

 

The shark was trying her very best not to laugh at her, voice wavering and taking deep inhales through the nose to keep composure.

“Hey!! I thought it was really cute at the time! I should style yours just like that actually.

 

“Eww, no thanks.”

 

“What do you mean ew?? Now I'm really going to do it!”

The friendly bantering turned into a jumble of giggles between the both of them. The burst of serotonin that Vivian felt in that moment felt like it was stripped away from her. That damn Ellen girl..uhg. How dare she bring out Lord Phaethon’s cutesy charm. At least she, the great Vivian Banshee made her blush profusely, she hasn’t seen Ellen do that yet.

 

So her sour mood could be even more sour, knowing she has some sort of 1up on Ellen mentally. She sipped on her now flavored water in egotistical victory, not slurping as obnoxiously like she was before. She watched Belle walk back to her seat, putting her phone back into her pocket so she could help the shark again.

 

—

 

Ellen and Belle had been going on about this homework for a while now, the soft guiding voice of Belle instructing the shark on her chemistry equations she could admit was soothing, like an ASMR. She just stared at the proxy lovingly, her hand held the side of her face while she watched her with dreamy eyes.

 

She watched her usually smiley and bubbly face look all focused and neutral, turning to look at that wretched fish with her undivided attention that should be on Vivian instead. Her pupils glanced over to the shark, she herself looked to be frustrated but also focused at the same time while she went over and erased a formula equation that could possibly be the dozenth time already.

 

The dhampir simply sipped her melted ice, she could’ve thrown the cup away awhile ago seeing that there was practically nothing to drink in there other than waiting for the ice to melt and the atoms of flavor to be combined within. Though, it made the perfect instrument to piss Ellen off. It was rather obvious the girl was easily irritable, just as much as she was, she hated to admit. But because it was Ellen it was funny, that was the ‘logic’.

 

Vivian slurped on the ice innocently, smacking her tongue as she shook her cup again to create more noise. This made Ellen glance up briefly before looking back down at her packet. She was in the middle of rewriting her chem formulas for the last segment of her homework.

 

So the girl can hear just fine..that stunt she pulled earlier was her genuinely ignoring me…this will certainly be my payback.

 

She slurped on her cup again, clearing her throat before smacking her tongue again also. She peeped a nose bridge twitch of the younger girl, she even felt the thumps of her tail smacking against the wooden floor beneath them out of protest as her annoyance pushed further and further.

 

Then she slurped the cup louder than the previous times, getting a small dainty burp out of her which sent Ellen over the edge of aggravation.

“Can you shut the fuck up??”

 

“Huh? Me?”

 

“Yes! That slurping shit you’re doing is annoying, throw the cup away already, damn!”

It took the muscles and veins in her neck not to laugh in her face. Instead, she had the audacity to put the straw back in her mouth to slurp it again. This made Ellen shoot up from her chair in preparation to snatch the cup away from her but she was stopped by Belle with a firm hand on her shoulder, assuming she was going to attack her.

 

“Girls! C’mon..”

 

Vivian only sat there unbothered in her seat, while the clearly upset shark was a little red in the face from anger. The two nonhumans only stared at each other, one out of mockery, and the other out of irritation.

 

“Ellen, please sit down. And Vivian, could you not be a distraction, please?”

 

The shark thiren did as she was told, plopping in her seat and scooting up. She lifted her tail up over her legs and held it there as a form of self comfort to help ease her anger.

 

Was this really worth the ragebaiting to Vivian? That look in Belle’s face wasn’t disappointment, it was firm and direct. It honestly sent chills up the dhampir’s spine. But she honestly couldn’t help but to poke at the fish, which made it even more conflicting because the human was in the crossfire of their personal feud.

 

“Yes, Lord Phaethon. I’m sorry, let me throw away my cup. I just wanted more of the tasty teamilk.”

 

“You could’ve asked for some of mine..since you got the same order as me.”

 

A vein sprouted in Ellen’s forehead, what is with Belle in giving that bat brained garlic hating bitch saving grace?? WHAT IS THAT? She needed to know. And all for a FUCK ASS CUP OF MILK. She wanted to snap this stupid pencil in half under the pressure of her grip but she chose not to, considering this was the only pencil she had out of the pack of utensils she lost over the school year somehow.

 

The tension was high, so high it was nothing but silence between all 3 of them for maybe 30 seconds. During those 30 seconds, Belle went and poured some of her drink into Vivian’s cup so they could share. 

 

The dhampir hated herself on how she kind of played in her Lord Phaethon’s face, she didn’t care about that teamilk..she wanted to be annoying to Ellen, but she was thankful she didn’t pick up on the pettiness she spewed. Her pure hearted soul genuinely thought she was craving more teamilk and sacrificed her own.

 

Ellen on the other hand was still frustrated with Vivian and her homework. Her brows were still scrunched and furrowed deeply before she felt a comforting hand touch her back, giving assuring rubs which made the shark thiren settle down a tad.

 

“Please don’t stress out over that, Ellen. I understand you’re frustrated, we'll get the work done. Pinky promise.”

 

“Mhm…”

 

The shark didn’t bother looking up from her paper before she felt a soft hand hold her chin up to face Belle. This caused Ellen to short circuit and look directly at her

 

“I’m serious, no angry sharky, okay? Now pinky promise.”

 

Said the human, who got out her other hand and held her pinky up. The shark thiren glanced at her hand, almost like she’s never seen it before. She hesitated slightly but she ultimately dropped the pencil from her hand so they could interlock pinkies. This made Belle smile, releasing the pinky grip to give her a small pat on the back to hopefully get the shark feeling better.

 

Vivian watched the interaction, she seethed it. Belle touching that girl’s chin like that, oh brother! Why can’t that be her! Must she roll an ankle to get that attention, she certainly will if she must! All the purple haired lady could do at this very moment was drink the teamilk offering Belle gave her and be on her best behavior.

 

---

 

The afternoon was still relevant as the sky shone bright with a sinking sun barely coming down, Ellen was able to complete her homework with the assistance of Belle as pinky promised and Vivian was able to drink all of the mint teamilk without slurping the ice.

 

“Hooray! Now that Ellen’s finished with her work, what do you guys want to do since we still have the day to enjoy?”

 

The happy proxy questioned, looking at both non-human girls for an answer.

 

“Shopping!”

 

“Lunch.”

 

The two already glaring at each other, both answers were in favor for at most one of them. A sweat droplet rolled down Belle’s face, scratching the back of her head for a solution to try and think of a compromise between the conflicting activities.

 

“Uhhh..hm. Oh! You guys do rock, paper scissors. The winner, we will do their activity first and then we’ll do the other once we’re done. It’s a win-win technically because we’ll do both, just in order!

 

“Rock, paper, scissors? What are we five?”

 

Ellen complained, making the proxy tighten her lips.

 

“It’s a simple solution! C’mon, rock, paper, scissors!”

 

Belle encouraged, fanning her hands at them so they could hurry up and play the game. The shark just rolled her eyes and began to face Vivian, as she did the same. The both of them had a strong and trifling stare down while they got their hands ready to play. Their fists hit against their palm twice before their hands signaled their answer.

 

Ellen: Scissors

 

Vivian: Rock

 

“Rock blunts scissors.~ Seems like we’re shopping first!”

 

The dhampir bragged, lightly hitting Ellen’s scissor hand with her rock fist. The shark rolled her eyes and exhaled through her nose, watching the purple haired annoyance skip to Belle’s side, the proxy encouraged the shark thiren to follow along which she promptly did.

 

But instead she dragged behind them, not wanting to be anywhere near that cursed freak.

 

Fine..we’ll go shopping.

Chapter 3: Fabric-Kadabra

Lumina Galleria was bustling with people, all walking along the walkways and paths of the shopping plaza going to different areas and locations. Ranging from families, friends, and even…’couples’.

 

Ellen only gave plenty of mean glares towards the two ladies up in front of her as they walked, specifically to Vivian. The audacity to even be this remotely close to the proxy while being this uptight and petty was rather pretensious. Their interlocking arms to show their devotion of their ‘loyalty’ (which she’s sure was one sided cough Vivian) made the shark sick to her gills.

 

She tried not to care, however it was too hard to even ignore. Stuff like this normally doesn’t bother her, but it’s with the notion that Ellen is being involved with this really strange display of possessiveness, all because she wanted to have some hangout time with her friend Belle. She believed her feelings were truly justified..

 

“Where’s Ellen- Oh! Why are you back there silly? Come up so we can find our first store to go to!”

 

Encouraged Belle, purposely slowing their fast footed pace so the girl can catch up. The shark didn’t feel like going up besides them. Not out of avoiding Belle, but because she doesn’t want to deal with Vivian's cursed side-eye from the depths of her jealous hell. Though she obeyed, and was now walking besides them.

 

“Oh, Lord Phaethon..would it be out of your humble interest to say we should see this clothing store?”

 

Suggesting the dhampir, her voice had an intrigued tone to it, hoping Belle would follow through as she pointed towards the business they were approaching.

 

“Oh this one?”

 

Questioned the renowned proxy, slowing their pace even more to see the lovely display of outfits the mannequins wore in front of the large glass panes.

 

“Yes! From the outside looking in, their outfits look very cute in a casual way for ladies.~”

 

“Hm, we can check it out, yeah. My wardrobe does need more variety other than graphic tees and jeans. What do you say, Ellen?” 

 

Belle turned to the shark, waiting for her approval as well. All the young lady did was glance at the store besides them and back to Belle, following up with a shrug and nod.

“Sure, why not.”

 

Replied Ellen, ignoring the subtle but noticeable disappointed scowl Vivian had on her face at the answer. The dhampir wanted that brat to say no so she and Belle could enjoy their time together shopping for themselves. She would love to peep out the store occasionally, watching the shark standing outside waiting for them like a saddened puppy laying for its owner at a grocery store.

 

But all she could do was roll her eyes and fix her face, keeping the pathetic idea low in her head as the trio entered the establishment.

 

–

The music that played was one of Astra Yao’s hit songs. It played softly on the speakers of the store, while the customers and the girls slowly strolled about looking at different sections and aisles for clothes.

 

The shark thiren continued to follow the two women. In all actuality, it was her following Vivian dragging the proxy by her hand to lead her into a specific section of the store. They were brought into the tops department, a plethora of dainty and adorable shirts of varying styles and sizes that also seemed to get the blue haired girl to widen her eyes.

 

“Oh wow!”

 

Exclaimed Belle, looking at all the options of shirts that were available. The dhampir smiled warmly, turning over to pick out a short sleeved blouse from off of the rack. She pressed it against the proxy’s torso, trying to envision her in it which made her cheeks flush a light shade of pink.

“Lord Phaethon!~ This looks so pretty on you..”

 

“You think so? I’ve never been a blouse kind of person, I guess it doesn’t hurt to try something different!”

 

“Yes yes, of course Lord Phaethon. Perhaps it could be worn during special and intimate occasions. But it is of casual nature, so it can be worn at any point of the day if you so choose..”

The two conversed, the blue haired girl also following suit in picking out a shirt that would possibly be a good fit for Vivian.

 

“Hmm..I think this would look really nice on you, Vivi! It’s got purple floral designs in it that match your hair.”

 

“O-Oh! Vivi? Oh my, is this a nickname you're calling me now? Our proximity in closeness gets shorter by the day..~”

 

…How gross. The way Vivian spoke reeked of main character syndrome, a wave of second hand embarrassment rushed to Ellen’s head making it feel light. She sneered towards their direction, she could tell the dhampir was only doing this in spite of her and mash up her feelings just to show off that she has this level of connectivity with Belle.

 

Ellen had to think as she stood practically alone by another rack of clothing. She absentmindedly fiddled with the hung shirts in front of her, dissociating by the idea of Vivian hogging the proxy’s attention.

 

The shark thiren’s thick eyebrows furrowed, everything was so irritating all of a sudden. She looked up from the rack she was occupied in, seeing the two ladies smiling and checking out more apparel that were there.

 

She felt..left out, it’s not like she couldn’t go over there and involve herself in the conversation, but it was getting harder and harder to commit to social interactions because of that dumb vampire girl.

 

Screw her, this was supposed to be my hangout with Belle anyway.

 

Ellen was pissing herself off at this point, rummaging through the clothes in front of her like a rat for cheese until she came across a top that caught her attention. She unhooked the hanger from off its rack and held it up to get a better look at it.

 

It was another blouse-like top, however it was cropped with the normal crimped frilling that made the entirety of the shirt’s flowy design. It was strapless, meant to be worn on the mid shoulder. The color was a subtle orange with simple navy blue and cream patterns that complimented the tailorship. To Ellen or to anyone, this just screamed Belle’s signature colors. She quickly checked the size of the shirt, noting that it was a small medium. 

 

That’s Belle’s size, right..?

 

“Belle?”

 

Called the shark thiren, holding the hanger and making her way towards the blue haired lady.

 

“Yeah? Sup, Ellen?”

 

“I found this blouse thing while looking through the other sections. It reminded me of you so.. I wanted to know what you thought? I don’t know if it’s the right size though, it was the only one on the rack.”

 

The girl said, her voice getting softer at the idea of getting the proxy’s ultimate approval this time.

 

“Woah..It’s all my favorite colors too! And it’s really really cute, good eye Ellen!”

 

“I found it at random, to be honest with you.

 

The girl slightly discredited herself. It wasn’t exactly a lie, she did in fact find it at random. But it wasn’t exactly the truth either, she picked it specifically because it had Belle’s colors.

 

“Random or not, you picked it out because you thought of me. You're such a sweetheart!”

 

The shark had to look down slightly to hide her face from a simmering blush reddening her cheeks. The hood over her head was doing her some justice, however the large good for nothing pain in the ass tail started to wiggle gleefully, exposing her real feelings.

 

“I-It's nothing, seriously. But again, I don't know if it's the right size…I can try and look for more if it doesn't fit.”

 

Belle took the hanger from the shark and pressed it against her own chest, looking down to see if the width of her torso and shoulders matched that of the blouse.

“This should fit..I might buy it!”

 

“For real?”

 

“Yep, I can definitely see myself wearing this on a nice day when I'm not working at the video store.”

The shark's usual bored and emotionless face seemed to light up a little more, even cracking a small smile no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

 

Vivian watched the two have their moment silently, holding another shirt for Belle to see. She held the forgotten clothing in her hands, well manicured fingers gripping the fabric with all her might. She eye balled her Lord Phaethon tuck the shirt piece that WRETCHED piece of sushi gave to her!

 

How unfair! Unfair. UNFAIR! UNFAIR!!

 

She went through about 3 WAY cuter shirts than what Ellen granted her! And not one time did Belle consider keeping it for purchase. She felt her pride thin as she looked down at the shirt, tightening her lips as she went back to put it on its rack.

 

Instead of sulking in her own boiling envy, she did take note of the fact that Belle accepted the shirt Ellen granted to her because they have a certain color pattern. Orange, navy blue, and cream…or anything relatively close to those colors.

 

The dhampir nodded to herself as she quietly walked off to another department to find something Belle would truly love and consider!

“Ellen, I have to ask, what’s your opinion about these types of clothes? Since you’re the fashion and style type?

 

“Uhh..I won’t lie, they have cute stuff here. It’s just not for me, more so I don’t think it’ll look good on me..”

 

“Ohhhh. Come out of your comfort zone with me! We can look for some outfits for you and Vi-”

 

“-Oh Lord Phaethon!~”

Called the dhampir, eager spilling from her voice. This caused Belle to look behind her, curious to what Vivian had in store while Ellen moved her head to the side to glower at the woman.

 

The purple haired lady walked closer to the girls, she held a pair of jeans this time! They were dark gray low waisted boot cut jeans with some minor fading of the thigh and shin parts. The side of them was completely hard to ignore, an intricate design of white with some soft blues to highlight the zig-zags and crossed patterns made the pair of pants look absolutely phenomenal.

 

Belle stared wide eyed at the trousers, her mouth agape which made Vivian giggle fruitfully.

 

“What do you think? Is it to your liking?”

 

“...Holy. Guacamole. Wow Vivian!” 

 

The proxy commented in awe, taking the pair of jeans so she could inspect it more. 

 

“From my excellent eyesight, you’re a hip size of 40 inches~, my judgement should be seamless and confidently accurate.~”

 

The dhampir commented, blowing a shot at Ellen’s doubtfulness of size. To add salt to the wound, Vivian glanced at the very girl who watched her flaunt. Unimpressed at the teasing and only blinked with a tail wiggle of agitation.

 

“That’s..scarily on point- I’ll still try them on to see how they fit me, never had such low jeans like this before?"

 

Belle said, putting the hem of the jeans to the lower part of her waist.

 

“I’ll for sure buy it if I like how it looks on me! The designs on them are awesome.”

 

The shark thiren felt her head throb, this weirdo lady was obviously getting in the way again in an attempt to impress Belle more than her. At this point, she won’t let it slide this time. And if anything, she will take this as a challenge to find something even better for her! So Ellen pursed her lips and shrugged, turning around so she could search for more attire for her proxy.

 

The blue haired lady held the two pieces of clothing in her arms, smiling to herself that her girls have solid taste when it came to lookism. She herself looked at some racks too, wanting to find something in favor of Vivian and Ellen as well for their cherishing efforts. However, she had to think about those two very carefully.

 

The both of them weren’t on the best of each other's sides, and she had to separate them from arising problems on two occasions.. and the day wasn’t even over with.

 

Belle thought to herself, why were they so uneasy with each other? They just met! Ellen even allowed Vivian to come hangout with them, she assumed all would be well that everyone gets to have a day out doing fun activities. But as time progresses, Belle could feel the shark girl’s annoyance become stronger and stronger.

 

And she knew the young lady wasn’t the most patient individual, but her irritance never got to this degree. Though, she believed certain people aren't fit to be everyone’s friends, that’s just nature. But she’s being provoked obviously.. by Vivian as the truth lays bare.

 

Why, though? Whatever it is, I’ll find out sooner or later. Then I’m going to have to get them to talk it out.

 

---

 

 

All three of the girls were all spread out to different sections of the store, Belle found herself at the thiren section, where clothes catered to people who have a tail. The woman was pushing away different types of pants and shorts to find something decent for her aquatic friend. Her brows furrowing deeper trying to figure out what Ellen may like?

 

Ahg..her tail is pretty huge too, might have to look somewhere else.

 

“Belle!”

“Wah!”

 

Yelped the proxy, looking over frantically to see who called for her. Speak of the devil..She was met with the shark thiren, who looked at her just as surprised having accidentally frightened her.

“Oh I scared you, my bad.”

 

“I-It’s okay don’t worry about it! Anyways, what's up, sharky?”

 

“I found this cardigan here, I was trying to find some stuff for myself but I came across this and thought it would be something you’d like again.”

The young shark lifted the sweater up so Belle could see, it was a cream colored knit cardigan that had adorable little orange fruit stitchings over it. The buttons were a lighter orange color that complimented the overall design.

 

“GASP..shut up, this is stinkin’ ADORABLE.”

 

Belle gasped, taking the cardigan from Ellen’s hands. She wasted no time in placing the blouse and pants on top of a rack temporarily so she could wear the sweater.

 

“AND it’s a perfect fit? Yeah, I’m buying this for sure! I know I have a few skirts that will pair well with this if we don’t find anything here.”

 

The girl couldn’t help but to wag her tail, seeing how this offering was an absolute success.

 

“Also..I noticed, why are you in the thiren section?”

 

“Oh uh, actually I was trying to look for something you would like. I’m actually surprised you’re not over here.”

Another tail wag..

“Well, it’s just hard looking for stuff that supports my tail, let alone if it even looks good because it’s so humongous. Soo...good luck finding something.”

 

“I took that into account, bare with me here. I’m no fashion diva myself.” 

 

Belle chuckled, taking the cardigan off so she could fold it up.

 

“Lord Phaethon!”

 

Squeaked the dhampir eagerly, walking up to the two ladies. The proxy looked over to see Vivian approaching, she smiled seeing she’s hiding something behind her back.

 

“Vivian! What’cha got for me?”

 

The purple haired woman took the item from behind her back to show it to her. High waisted shorts that flared a bit at the bottom, giving it that baggy and comfortable look. The shorts themselves were a light washed denim blue with an interesting pastel orange cross lace design on one of the sides on the shorts.

“Isn’t it delightful? Oh perhaps you could wear this with this adorable sweater you have here? Did you pick that out?”

 

“Ellen was the one who picked it out for me!”

“..Oh.”

A moment of awkward silence filled the space in between the trio, it was nothing but music and distant customers having a conversation with some of the employees. Belle awkwardly glanced around, her eyes darting from Vivian to Ellen. Ellen only stood there, hands buried in her jacket pockets chewing what Belle assumes to be gum, and Vivian blinked a few times before fixing her face.

 

“You have really good taste then, Ellen.”

 

“..Thanks.”

 

The blue haired woman heaved a sigh of relief, it got rather intense just now. She just hopes the girls don’t get into a fight over something petty and small..

 

“A-Anyways, this is also a really nice pair of shorts you picked out for me, Vivi. I’ll be adding this to my pile of things to buy!

 

“I’m glad, Lord Phaethon!~ I’ll come back with more things for you, hehe!”

 

What a complete 180° turn of vocal tone.

 

The shark girl and proxy watched the dhampir prance off into the material void, already on the hunt for more suggestions.

 

—

The girls separated again, with two looking for clothes that will impress the proxy the furthest. It went from 3 pairs of clothes to 5..

 

To 8

 

..To 10

 

..To 13??

 

The wonderful pickings of clothes were getting heavy and expensive for the blue haired lady. She hated to put an end to this, she wanted to keep them all, but she was sure her wallet and noodle arms were going to break if there wasn’t some form of timeout.. 

 

“G-Girls! A little help? My arms might give out- Ack!”

 

Belle squeaked weakly, grabbing the attention of both dhampir and shark. They came to her aid to take some of the clothes from her so she wouldn’t buckle down on her feet.

 

“Oh yeah I see..this is a butt load of clothes. Oops.”

 

Ellen concluded, taking them to a nearby empty bench to set a portion down. Vivian also laid the other portion down besides the shark, humming to herself in thought.

 

“Yeah! While I do appreciate you guys' effort, I might have to pick out maybe 5 things from all of this. It’s just too much..”

 

Belle said, already picking out the cardigan the shark picked and the pair of jeans Vivian brought as one of her top choices. Little did she know, the two rivals were viewing Belle’s budget pickings as a score count. They wanted to see how many things she would pick that had more of either of the girl’s personal choosings.

 

The shark thiren’s tail was swaying nervously watching the proxy sift around judging one of her other picks. The dhampir’s ears were drooping, hoping her Lord Phaethon would out ratio Ellen’s clothes as an ultimate favor of 1 upping her.

Orange Fruit Cardigan - Ellen 1 pt

 

Blue Knit Pleaded Skirt- Vivian 1 pt

 

High Waist Shorts - Vivian 1 pt

 

Orange Blouse - Ellen 1 pt

 

Black and Blue Sports Jacket - Vivian 1 pt

Vivian 3 pts Winner!

 

Ellen 2 pts Loser!

Ellen’s eyebrows were furrowing. Already feeling the damning disappointment that Vivian’s choices outweighed hers. She could only stare blankly, the feeling of defeat was going to kill her sooner or later. It was the most effort she put in today aside from the homework..

 

“Oh~ It seems my choices are to your liking, Lord Phaethon?~”

 

“You got some pretty nice taste, yeah! But I’m only choosing these on what’s friendlier for my wallet, there’s no competition here girls don’t worry.”

 

But there WAS competition..in who’s ego gets inflated the highest.

 

Vivian slightly turned her head towards Ellen’s direction, her smirk growing uncontrollably in such an obnoxious way. She loved seeing that shark mope in her much deserved defeat, serving her the evidence of knowing her Lord Phaethon the best. She noticed her tail stop swaying so it could curl around her leg and…is she tearing up? Oh what a baby-

 

“Hmm..”

 

Hummed Belle, her hands caressed her chin contemplating a decision. This caused both dhampir and shark to look up in question, watching what the blue haired woman was going to do next.

 

“I might have room for one more..ah! This one!”

 

They watched her pick out a simple shirt with a bowl of ramen in the middle of it that had a cat in it, soaking in the broth like a hot tub. 

 

..This was one of Ellen’s picks

Vivian 3 pts    

 

Ellen 3 pts  

A TIE!

“...What the hell?”

 

It was meant to be an internal dialog in Vivian’s mind, but the sheer audacity made her mind and mouth sync with pure bewilderment.

 

“No judging! This is a peak shirt design, the cat kind of looks like Inky too!”

 

Fuck Inky! That stupid cat ramen is the reason why I don’t have a 1 up over Ellen anymore! Uhg Lord Phaethon you..you lovely clumsy person you!

 

“R-Right! I apologize, Lord Phaethon..I just didn’t see that in all the clothes you kept. Caught me quite off guard because everything is more stylish!”

 

Vivian, even though she technically didn’t lose, just hated this outcome! She glared over at the shark to see if she was anymore of a crybaby, only to find her eyes were completely dry and that stupid large meaty bulbous tail of hers was wagging like a sappy good for nothing DOG.

 

“Oh yea! I also picked some outfits for you guys too in this mass of clothes. Let’s go to the changing room so we can at least put these up.”

 

Said Belle, breaking Vivian’s hating gaze. The dhampir immediately lit up, taking a portion of the discarded pickings to ease the load. Ellen followed suit, keeping quiet while following her to the rooms.

 

---

 

 

The losing clothes were hung on a smaller rack with a bunch of other clothes customers had worn previously but decided not to keep. It was a fair play, to the girls and to Belle’s aching bank account.

 

Vivian and Ellen stood waiting for Belle to come out of the booth with their clothes she chose for them, the shark occupying herself by playing with her phone while the dhampir waited patiently and eagerly for her Lord Phaethon to come out and wow her.

 

“I’m coming out guys!”

 

The door’s lock mechanisms jiggled as it swung open, revealing the proxy wearing those low waisted jeans and the orange cropped blouse. Vivian, who was staring at the door for the entire 3 minutes that Belle was in there, gasped in awe at the reveal. Her pale face simmered red, it was a sight to behold!

 

Goodness, did Lord Phaethon wear those jeans so wonderfully! The exposure of her tummy and pelvic anatomy..I’m dreaming aren’t I?…And was she wearing a g-string? 

 

Oh great heavens Lord Phaethon! We haven’t had lunch yet!

 

“I didn’t..take you for the type of person to wear that kind of underwear.”

 

Softly said Ellen, she herself had a small blush on her face. She looked off shyly, trying her best not to ogle because they actually looked quite sexy on her if she were to be honest..

“Well, what did you think I wore?”

 

“Boxers or some shit, I don’t know. Specifically anime briefs.”

 

“Pff! I do sometimes! Anyways, how am I looking? The jeans are weird but it’s mainly something I’ll have to get used to.

Belle questioned looking for feedback, even turning around to do a small pose.

 

“They look absolutely gorgeous on you Lord Phaethon!~ It fit’s your legs very nicely if I must admit.~”

 

“Pants look dope on you, probably not paired with the blouse. I know you’re wearing that just to see how it fits but I just wanted to give my input to that specifically..also the blouse itself looks nice on you as well.”

 

Vivian had to nod, as much as she seethed the young shark she can at least admit her criticism is helpful.

 

Belle smiled wide, giving a small hop in celebration before she turned around to go back into the booth so she could change back into her normal clothes. While the door closed and locked behind her, the purple haired woman’s face went from delighted to sour, giving Ellen the glare of doom. She saw the young lady looking at HER Lord Phaethon. 

 

The shark happened to notice her warning glare towards her, all she could do was furrow her brows in question, mouthing a ‘what?’ silently.

“Your eyes, shark girl. Don’t let me catch you looking down again.”

 

“Oh shut up, dude. Anyone could’ve seen that.”

 

“Whatever, bitch.”

 

This amount of disrespect that bled from Vivian’s tongue caused Ellen to react and face the dhampir angrily, her tail erecting high, beginning to wiggle dangerously before she heard the door jiggle and open. This made both of the girls straighten up, watching Belle leave the booth with her winning clothes in hand.

 

“Alright, whoever wants to go next, go ahead!”

 

Called Belle, happily making her way over to where the girls are.

 

“I’ll go.~”

 

Answered the purple haired lady, swaying her hips sassily to enter the stall Belle used last. With the type of clothes she wore, they suspected that she was going to take a while in there. All those intricate layers and fabrics, how did she even find the patience in putting it on? Let alone taking it off and on again in such a short time frame, for certain it would need a warm-up to do either or.

 

It took the dhampir about a good 8 minutes to come out of the stall, revealing the attire Belle chose for her. It was the purple floral shirt that she granted her from earlier and a pair of high waisted shorts, similar to what she picked out for Belle.

 

She walked out doing a small twirl to show the entirety of the outfit, looking at specifically her favorite proxy ever for approval..not so much to Ellen, her feedback was unnecessary and a waste of breath anyways. She HOPED she didn’t say anything.

 

“Wow it’s odd seeing you without your vampire looking clothes, Vivi. You look great in that by the way, like you fit right in as a resident on sixth street!”

 

“Cool.”

 

Tsk. Stupid fish.

 

Vivian rolled her eyes and shook her head at the dry feedback, but smiled affectionately at Belle.

 

“Lord Phaethon, you think I fit in? I-I don’t look like a tourist do I?”

 

“Nah, you look casual! Tourists usually have a coordinated outfit together from what I’ve seen but it’s not a bad thing! That could go for anyone who’s a native and has a high fashion sense, right sharky?”

 

She elbowed Ellen, who perked up in confusion.

 

“Huh, oh yeah. That’s true, it just depends on the person..or whatever.”

 

The shark said just as uninterested, rolling her own eyes at Vivian. This made the dhampir pout but she reserved her anger for later. She gave Belle one final smile before turning away and getting lost in the changing booth for another 8 minutes.

 

---

 

 

8 minutes maybe 9 has passed and Vivian emerges from the stall with her clothes in hand. She walked towards Belle, making sure she was right next to her to keep her company unlike somebody.

 

“Guess it’s my turn now.”

 

Ellen sighed, turning off her phone and smuggling it into her pocket. Vivian watched her nonchalantly walk into the open stall, closing it and locking the door promptly. Whatever Belle picked for that shark nosed brat, it better be something crappy so she has an excuse to laugh at her..

 

Then again, she would technically be laughing at her Lord Phaethon’s efforts..oh no no no! Are there takebacks??

 

The shark stayed in the booth for a long while, longer than necessary if Belle and Vivian were to have an opinion on it. It wouldn’t put it past Belle that the girl probably fell asleep while taking off her clothes, until she heard an uncomfortable groan coming from the door.

“Ellen? Are you okay in there?”

“Uh-..yeah I’m fine. I just..I don’t know.”

 

“What’s wrong?”

The proxy’s face read of concern automatically coming closer to the stall, wondering what was going on with her fishy friend. Even Vivian perked at this, she herself didn’t want to pay no mind to the blasted shark, but it would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious as well.

 

“Nothing’s wrong. The pants fit me well, it's just this shirt..I-I hate it. Like..the shirt itself is cool but.. I don’t like how it's fitting me.”

 

The shark replied, her voice sounded incredibly frustrated and small, almost like she didn't want to admit her mishap. Belle tilted her head, trying to find words of comfort to maybe help Ellen out? She wasn’t exactly sure how it was exactly fitting her, so she proceeded with more questions.

“How is it fitting you? Too big? Too small?”

 

“.....It’s tight on my chest.”

 

“Ohh..you don’t have to come out if you’re uncomfortable, Ellen! We’ll wait for you to put your clothes back on.”

Chirped the renowned proxy, trying to sound as supportive and understanding as possible for the girl. The shark girl only looked at herself in the mirror, feeling uneasy and silly. She was having trouble making the decision between taking all of the clothes she was wearing off and putting her uniform back on, or walking out to at least show Belle the outfit she tried to create for her. She was having an internal battle between wanting to impress or leave Belle disappointed and sad.

 

“Ellen?”

 

“I’ll come out ..to show you what I mean.”

 

The shark jiggled the door’s lock, coming out of the stall cautiously. Her face was rather red from embarrassment, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact with the two women. To anyone in her vicinity really.

 

She wore moderately baggy denim pants, the loops around the hem had a rope stitched in so it was adjustable without a belt. The opening for the rear comfortably hugged the base of the tail, the inside stitching was of softer material to avoid chafing. Her top was supposed to be a regular shirt, but because of her ample breast size, it made it look like a crop top exposing her slightly plush midriff.

 

Vivian’s jaw hung agape.

 

She had NO idea the shark happened to have a bigger rack than her?? ABSURD. Now the dhampir was feeling jealous looking at her own chest in disappointment, feeling empty and less voluptuous (she never was).

“Oh! I definitely see what you mean. What size is that again, I forgot.”

 

“A medium. Might have to go large or XL for it to be a little baggy.”

 

“Noted, I’ll find a shirt that’s bigger so you can at least go home with something!”

Said Belle full of assurance. This level of gleefulness in Belle’s voice was enough to give Ellen the confidence to look up at her, albeit she was still fighting herself in making eye contact but she decided not to force it and looked away where she’s most comfortable. 

 

“Don’t worry it’s okay Ellen, we’re all women here it’s fine. Now go change, we’ll wait for you!”

 

The shark thiren nodded, wasting no time in going back into the stall to take that shirt off.

 

As the door shut, Vivian was looking away from the changing booth stalls and facing towards the store’s shopping area. Her arms were crossed, feeling conflicted that a crybaby shark brat like her has such a womanly chest. Why couldn’t that be her.. So her Lord Phaethon had something to sleep on, hmpf.

“Vivian? Are you okay?”

 

“Hm? Oh! Why yes Lord Phaethon, as you can see I was just facing away from the stalls to give Ellen her privacy that’s all!”

 

“Ohhh, that’s very considerate of you. I’m sure Ellen appreciated that, poor girl looked down in the dumps.”

Replied Belle, her walking out towards the open space so they weren’t in the way of the changing rooms.

 

---

 

A couple minutes passed and Ellen emerged from the stall, outfit in her arms and looking less red in the face. The proxy was able to take her to the section where she found the shirt originally and swapped it out with a bigger size so the shark was more content with the apparel.

 

Each of the girls had their items for purchase and they finally were able to check them out.

 

After checking out their clothes, carrying them proudly within their bags, they finally left the store, each of them walking side by side with each other in search of something next.

 

“Whew, I’m starving. I think it’s about time we go with Ellen’s choice from rock paper scissors?”

 

Belle commented, earning a confused look from Vivian. The dhampir stayed silent before realization came to strike her in the head like a thunder bolt.

 

“Oh! Lunch! Yes, I’m rather famished as well.”

 

“There’s a udon restaurant that opened up here not too long ago, I saw the grand opening on the interknot maybe like a week ago?”

 

The shark girl suggested, scrolling on her phone in search of this Udon place.

 

“I could really go for some noodles right now, good call Ellen! Lead the way!”

Chapter 4: Hangriness

Notes:

There's a fight scene! Stay tuned ;)

“This should be the place..?”

 

Ellen said rather skeptically, looking at her phone before raising her head up to see the very restaurant that she’s been looking for.

 

“What’cha look at that, it’s right in front of us.”

 

The shark commented with her usual stale tone of voice, shoving her phone back into her jacket’s pocket. The restaurant was swarming with hungry customers, some walked out with their takeout bags in hand, and some had just arrived to get their seats reserved.

 

Belle was staring off at the shop with big sparkly eyes, eager to go inside and see what delectable meals they had to offer. The smell alone radiating from the magical place was jam packed with flavors of fresh miso and house made sauces that made the proxy grow hungrier by the second. Vivian was looking over at her Lord Phaethon, so delighted that she could witness such passionate emotion over one of the many things she loved..

Food.

 

I mean who doesn’t?

The trio walked over to the reservation desk, being booked in before they were led by a young male waiter who showed the ladies their respected placement. As the man gave out a polite hand to grant the women their seats, the dhampir was sure to glue onto Belle as much as she could so she was able to sit next to her instead of Ellen.

 

She plopped down proudly, even scooting closer to the proxy as that spot was claimed ‘fairly’ by her. The shark stood there unimpressed, scoffing at the action with an eyeroll. Though this didn’t really matter to her. If anything, she’s grateful she gets a booth to herself! Her large heavy tail muscles were aching..wanting a place to lay on without her keeping it hovering over the ground, it was a win in her book.

However, she wouldn’t mind allowing Belle to use it as a back rest..

“Calm down, batwoman. It’s just a seat.”

 

Ellen sarcastically commented, gently taking her own seat and adjusting her tail so it was comfortably resting on the cushion.

 

“..Batwoman? That’s Vivian to you, thank you very much.”

 

“Yeah whatever.”

 

The shark thiren quickly dismissed her, holding out her hand to grab a menu from the waiter. This earned a pout from the purple haired lady, her attitude dropping only because she’s sitting next to her date of tomorrow. She too grabbed two booklets from the nice man and gave one to Belle so she could check out the menu as well.

 

“Can I start you ladies off with any drinks as you’re looking through our menus?”

 

Chirped the waiter as he got out his notepad. He looked at each of the girls for any response, specifically darting his eyes from Vivian to Ellen who he felt intimidated by from their spiking nerves. Even a stranger like him knew those two were bad news to each other.

 

“Water would suffice.”

 

Vivian said calmly, looking up at the waiter with a condescending eye. 

 

“A strawberry lemonade if you have any.”

 

Said Ellen, not bothering to look up as she had her eyes fixated on the appetizer list.

 

“Uhh..I'll have water as well, I can't seem to make up my mind.”

 

Belle says awkwardly, looking up at the man with an apologetic smile.

 

“No worries, 2 waters and a strawberry lemonade..got it. I'll be back with your beverages.”

 

The waiter nodded, closing his little notepad while walking off to attend to other customers in need. As he left, the proxy was grumbling lowly to herself, getting the attention of Vivian with a curious perk of the ear.

 

“What seems to be troubling you, Lord Phaethon?”

 

The dhampir asked with interest, getting even closer to Belle to see what the woman was so indecisive about.

 

“I can't decide on the flavors of soju they have! I'm torn between peach, pineapple..ooh maybe grape..”

 

Complained the blue haired woman, gripping the book with her limited might. Her dark gray eyebrows furrowed into her eyes, wondering what would be the ultimate choice of liquor flavor to enjoy.

 

This made Ellen raise her head up from her menu, curiously looking at Belle at the idea that this lady happened to indulge in a little drinking. Something in her mind didn't realize that she was able to do that, being that she's so used to seeing her drinking caffeinated drinks, sodas, and juice.

 

“You drink?”

 

“Sometimes! Rarely actually.”

 

The proxy chuckled, setting her menu down.

 

“If I were you, I'd pick the peach one maybe..never had any alcohol before but I assume that one is good. Peach is always a bomb flavor.”

 

Suggesting the shark, she herself looked at the cocktail section to see what Belle was talking about. 

 

“As someone who has experience with the sharp and acquired taste of alcohol, may I recommend you sake? Just because it is often paired well with noodles.~”

 

Butted in Vivian, that haughty entitled behavior made the shark's tail lightly slap against the booth's cushion. Her eyes darted up from the menu, watching the dhampir with hatred. Her blood pressure always rises hearing her God awful mouse voice.

 

“Ohh sake..mmm..but the peach flavor Ellen said sounds nice too..”

 

A vein throbbed on her forehead. This was pissing Vivian off, she believed her recommendation should be more of a priority over a little girl who's never had her sorry funky lips touch a bottle of a proper adult aged brew. Why does Ellen’s opinion matter here?? The closest thing to alcohol she's probably had was seltzer water.

 

One sip of legitimate liquor may fry the poor thing's brain, more than it already is.

 

“Nigori sake is quite nice, noodle broth typically has that rich umami flavor. That sake will balance it out with its subtle creamy sweetness while enjoying the liquor in its entirety. “

 

Vivian doubled down, trying to convince Belle to go with her well cited opinion rather than Ellen's weightless and guessing one. 

 

The proxy scanned over her menu again to spot the very drink Vivian was talking about. The way the dhampir described it sounded so enjoyable and logical, it felt like she may do her a disservice by picking something she personally wanted than going with what was best for overall enjoyment and taste.

“I think I'll get that..what's it called? The Nigori one?”

 

“Yes! I assure you Lord Phaethon, you won't be disappointed.~"

 

“Well okay, I trust you! Sorry, Ellen..”

Apologized Belle with a friendly head pet. The shark didn't feel as challenged or enraged after the affectionate head rubs. Her animalistic tendencies couldn't help but to move her tail gingerly while actively hiding her face with the menu book.

 

Vivian noticed this and scrunched her face. Jealously flourishing through her veins from such touches that she would prefer to be on her instead.

 

What a dog she was. Hmpf. What's next, a belly rub? Give me a break.

 

Call her a hypocrite, but the dhampir would absolutely implode if her Lord Phaethon gave her tantalizing ear rubs..oh how that would be divine.~

A soft pinch and rub of the ear shell between her index finger and thumb would make her a quivering mess of joy and ecstasy. Perhaps one of these faithful days, she will get lucky with the woman and have a fun and ‘eventful night’ together..

A dream…

“...Hey, can you stop being weird?”

 

Ellen blurted out, sneering at Vivian who was blushing and shimmying her shoulders around at her small fantasy. The woman was so lost in thought she hadn't realized she was in public, let alone accompanied by the shark and Belle. This caused the dhampir to straighten up, her face immediately hardening at the call out which made her feel humiliated and angry.

“Interesting, and I'm supposed to ‘mind my business'? I take it you should follow your own advice sometime.”

 

“You’re right in front of me doing that shit. Try again, freak.”

 

“Freak??”

 

 

The dhampir exasperated offendedly, her brows creasing against her nose bridge looking dangerously at the shark. Then, her pupils darted over to a cup of water being placed by her.

 

Oh, the waiter returned.

 

“Here's your waters and strawberry lemonade..”

 

The man planted Ellen's lemonade down, digging in his apron to grant them all their straws.

 

Belle was actively side eyeing both of the girls, her lips tightening just a bit, getting a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach that these two weren't going to be on their best behavior during lunch time. She was getting more anxious by the minute, slowly starting to feel like she should’ve alternated her plans..

 

“Have you ladies decided on your orders? If not, I’ll give you time to choose!”

 

The waiter said, taking out his notebook again to prepare for possible requests.

 

“Not yet, we’re still looking at the menu. Oh! Could I get a Nigori Sake please?”

 

The proxy politely chirped, watching the man write in his notes.

 

While he did so and asked for the lady’s ID for verification, Vivian was giving Ellen the meanest glare she could ever give to anyone. This shark was her number 1 enemy right now, just bitchy, sarcastic, and in the way of her and Belle’s love and bonding time. She was nothing more than a really annoying pimple that needed to be popped.

 

Ellen watched her also, though her face remained neutral with irked undertones. What was with this woman? Just obsessive and horny..that might not be the correct wording for such irregular desires for a person, but the vampire whore wasn't exactly normal either.

 

The shark picked her booklet back up so she could read the appetizer list, having enough of the freakazoid in front of her. She was getting hard to look at. 

 

“U-Uh so, Ellen! Anything catch your eye on the menu?”

 

Asked the proxy, her head tilting slightly. The smile she granted the young shark seemed a tad bit off, it wasn't as radiating and seemed to be lacking something..she took note of this, worrying their behavior is finally getting to her. The petty bickering and unfriendly stares weren't easy to ignore when Belle tried to keep everything at bay.

 

“Hm? Yeah, this deep fried gyoza platter looks fire. Wanna share that?”

 

“Oh?? Yummy! Where do you see it on here?”

 

The tinged smile Belle wore on her face instantly vanished into a genuine one, finding the platter that Ellen was talking about. The shark slightly leaned forward from her seat to point at the picture of the platter on the proxy’s menu.

 

“That does look fire..let’s get that then! Hey Vivi, would you like to try it with us?”

 

She questioned, turning over to the dhampir in hopes she wouldn’t make a snarky remark just because it was Ellen’s suggestion.

 

“I’ll have to respectfully decline the offer, I typically reserve my hunger for main course meals..~”

 

The purple haired woman said calmly and almost confidently.

 

“That’s understandable! You wanna have some room to have actual lunc-”

 

Belle was cut off entirely, feeling a pair of soft slender hands gently but firmly hold the contour of her jaw. It was pulled over to where she was facing the lavishly charming faux-vampire’s beautifully pale face. Those red/violet pupils fixating directly into her deep turquoise/orange ones, clearly twitching in clear surprise.

 

“You, Lord Phaethon are my actual ‘lunch’.~ You’re probably as delicious as you look..”

 

A thumb swiped against the proxy’s lip, gently pulling against its corner to reveal a bit of the woman’s gums and teeth. The feelings that the woman was having from the very clear advance was nothing short of exhilaration and fluster, her face was beaming red, afraid that the temperature of her face may burn Vivian’s delicate fingers.

 

“A-Ah-?”

 

Was all that came out of Belle, bewilderment and shyness all coming together in one jungle gym of emotions. The dhampir giggled fruitfully, letting go of the bumbled woman, adjusting a stray hair from out of her face. Belle simply sat there, still blushing in the face as she stared at her menu, invisible steam coming from the depths of her ears.

 

“T-That was a really good one. O-Oh my..”

 

The oh so famous proxy was turned into a cocoon of herself, this was simply an honored feat the great Vivian Banshee was able to achieve with her smooth like butter pick-up lines. It was a way to show off to Ellen that she had the capabilities in making the woman dissolve like sugar in water. 

 

She turned her head to look at said shark to enjoy the typical sour and jealous reaction of the naturally irritated soul until her face quickly flattened.

 

Is she gagging..? Wow, can’t handle adult language, pathetic.

 

Ellen retched a little at the performance before her, the girl had a stomach made of titanium according to her doctor’s visits. But this for some reason made her feel queasy, it was just gross! The girl’s cheeks slightly puffed from another gag reflex before she exhaled from her nose and took a sip of her lemonade to ease the nausea.

 

“Too much sugar for your little tummy, I take it?”

 

The shark glared up at Vivian, hating how she was being spoken to like a child. She was a young adult, the level of impertinence Vivian displayed was appalling. Any more smart lip from that heathen was surely to earn her a swift pop on the mouth.

 

“There’s a time and place for everything. Do that..sappy stuff somewhere else.”

 

“It was indeed too much sugar..”

 

Vivian slyly concluded, earning an eyeroll from the shark who was still trying to get herself together. She looked back at her Lord Phaethon, the dhampir’s facial muscles easing with adoration now that her attention is back on someone worth her time.

 

The woman was still quite flushed and just barely coming back to reality. But relatively back to normal now with the menu booklet in her hand again.

 

“O-On a serious note, I could REALLY go for a huge bowl of udon. Like this one right here!”

 

Belle exclaimed, pointing at a photo of a monstrous bowl of noodles.

 

“It’s called ‘The Hollow Bowl.’ Fitting name.”

 

“Damn, will you even be able to finish that..?”

 

The shark questioned, a hint of worry seeped in her voice as she looked at the picture of the giant bowl. It was about the size of a beach ball, no normal person could eat that unless they were a bear thiren. Unless she was just underestimating the proxy’s hunger, not even Ellen, a shark thiren, could compete.

 

She peeped Vivian shimmying those shoulders again, eyes closed imagining something God awful perhaps.

 

“I’m certain my Lord Phaethon will finish everything.~ Awh, she would be so nice and full.. and I would give her sweet belly rubs as a reward to ease the discomfort..♡”

“...”

The shark had to cringe. What is wrong with her??

 

Belle heard the fascinating comment loud and unfortunately clear, that blush appearing on her cheeks was rosier than ever while she tried to distract herself with the menu, using it as a divider. Vivian loved to say everything and anything, didn’t she.

 

Ellen felt her own stomach start to clench up, fighting the damning feeling of nausea again. This dumb super fan was making her sick, literally. All of those gushy comments, she couldn't handle them. The girl honestly had to excuse herself for a moment, she stood up suddenly which grabbed the attention of both Belle and Vivian.

 

“Ellen?”

 

Called Belle, she looked up at the young shark with confusion. 

 

“I’ll be back..gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”

 

Meekily stated the poor shark, slowly stepping away from the booth so she could walk down the aisle to get away from them. The two watched her trail off, giant tail languidly following behind as she vanished within the restaurant.

 

The dhampir pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she still watched the shark. She too slowly started to get up and make her way from out of her seat.

 

“Vivian? Where are you going?”

 

The proxy asked, getting skeptical now. With how those girls were behaving with each other earlier, seeing Vivian attempt to walk off to which she assumes was to go follow her was raising a red flag.

 

“Ah Belle, I’m just going to check on Ellen to make sure she’s okay. She looked a little ill earlier, and I only want to be there to support her. I’m a little worried, you see.”

 

The girl explained, feigning concern to try and convince the blue haired woman that she was going to check on her in good faith. This was another instance where she feels terrible playing with the poor woman’s gullible feelings..all for the sake of asserting her dominance as the one true lover of Belle.

 

“I assume it may be the boba drink that’s making her feel this way.”

 

The proxy herself rarely hears Vivian call her by her actual name, it clicked in her brain that she was being ‘serious’ and direct. Her face relaxed from being so tense, but it still kept its firmness. She hopes whatever conflict those girls had is finally coming to a close, and the humanity of basic empathy was what seals it.

 

“I know Ellen, she’s consumed way more…let’s say ‘interesting’ things than just a high calorie drink. If anything, that's actually one of the more normal things she’s had. So her being sick isn’t like her, especially being so sudden. Please make sure she’s okay!”

 

She begged, uhg now she was having second thoughts about doing this. She wanted to be face to face with that brat without the supervision of Belle, and now the woman was hoping that the little shit stain was okay. Hell she hopes she bellies up like an actual fish. But she wishes not to defy her. But at this moment it was too late now, she's done a multitude of slimy things behind her back without her knowing just so she could get the highest leverage of them all.

 

“Of course, Lord Phaethon. One more thing before I take my leave, could you order me the kitsune udon in case the waiter comes back?”

 

“Yeah, I can do that for you.”

 

The proxy agreed with a nod, typically this would be the part where Vivian leans down to peck a kiss on her cheek but she hasn’t gone on a real date yet with her yet to finalize that boundary. 

 

The dhampir was now off to ‘check’ on this shark..

 

---

 

 

A frustrated sigh was all that came out of the young shark. Her hands and arms kept her up over the counter, she stared down at the sink and it’s drain. She refused to hover over a toilet where dozens of asses had sat upon, possibly making her throw up from that nature alone.

Though, her sickly nausea was going away gradually, now somewhere relatively private so she can keep herself at bay. However she hated the feeling of her mouth welling up with saliva, her body preparing itself to unfortunately disgorge her school lunch.

 

The girl shook her head, taking in a deep breath as she waited out her icky feelings. That Vivian chick..she was definitely trying to prove her wits of courting the damn proxy. It was annoying and draining at this point, she couldn’t wait for that vampire to go home already. She genuinely got in the way of her and Belle’s hangout session, doing nothing but giving her problems and annoyance. NOTHING good came out of her company, not one instance.

 

She regretted having her tag along with both of them.

 

Her head tilted up from the sink to see herself in the mirror. She looked angry as per usual, couldn’t really help that it was her natural facial structure. The girl was fine for the most part, nothing on her person seemed to be out of place either. Her jacket wasn’t lopsided, her school uniform’s tie was tied ..okay.. she guesses, and-

She noticed one of the stall doors that was behind her move slightly.. 

The shark stared at the door a little while longer, finding it a tad bit odd before her pupils darted at the ground for any shoes that were showing. It could be someone occupying the stall but she would’ve heard them walk in and close the door no? Not to mention that stall was the only one that moved, she’s sure the bathroom was empty..at least it was empty when she walked in.

 

Her tail was swaying now, out of skepticism and caution. She certainly would be lying if she didn’t feel a little creeped out right now.

 

Ellen eyed that stall some more, believing it was just a loose bolt that may need to be tightened on its hinges. 

…

“Whatever.”

 

She assumed it was nothing, so she went ahead to turn the faucet on to wash her face feeling relatively healthy again.

 

Big mistake.

Once she put her head down to close her eyes, cupping some of the water in her hands to splash in her face, she felt someone forcibly pull her from the counter. A pair of decently strong arms wrapped around her middle and the other wrapped uncomfortably around her neck causing her to hack up in surprise before getting dragged to a stall.

 

“AHG- What the hell!?”

 

Water was still well into her eyes, making it hard to see what was going on. With the grip this anonymous person had on her, it was making it awkward to at least fight back. However her tail was a huge muscle in itself so it swayed around aimlessly which hardly did anything with the lack of vision, only stalling the perpetrator from its heaving weight rocking them around.

 

By this time she was shoved up against one of the walls within the stall, hands holding the folds of her arms tight against her sides to prevent her from defending herself. Ellen forced her eyes open, blinking frantically to free her sights.

 

“Wh- You..”

 

The shark girl’s eyebrows furrowed deep into her nose bridge. Her face crinkling in anger, sharp teeth bared dangerously as she felt her blood pressure rise in fury to who had the AUDACITY to challenge her.

 

“Did you honestly think I wasn’t going to confront you, Ellen?”

 

Vivian growled, tightening her grip on the shark’s arms.

“Confront me for what?? What are you talking about??”

 

“You know exactly what I am talking about, don’t play dumb! You’re trying to win Belle’s attention over me, keep OFF of her!”

 

“Are you being deadass?? What the actual fuck is your issue??”

Ellen swore, her lips loose with vulgar wording.

 

“I just told you ‘my issue’ are you that dimwitted to understand? Must I break it down?”

 

The shark attempted to suddenly jerk herself free which Vivian then shoved her against the wall again, fully expecting the shark girl to wince in pain but she only stared back at her with the same fury in her now vertically slit pupils.

 

As angry as the shark thiren was she really didn’t want to hurt her, she knew she could overpower the dhampir easily with her combat training and natural thiren strength. It was necessary to hold back.

“You’re not going anywhere unless you agree to not interrupt our relationship, ELLEN.”

 

“I should spit in your stupid fucking face, you aren’t the one to tell me anything about my friend.”

 

“Such nasty words for such a little girl, don't tell me you're going to cry again, d’aww.”

The taunting coo struck one of her many broken nerves. She felt humiliation pooling in her chest, realizing Vivian did in fact witness her welling up with tears earlier for not getting as many clothing picks from Belle at first. Seeing the woman as the unfortunate winner of their game of ‘impress the proxy’.

 

How embarrassing, Gosh.

 

The dhampir noticed this bothered the young lady with how her face tightened at the mention of her crying. She had the audacity to smirk which angered Ellen further.

“I’m not a little girl, I'm an adult, so watch your mouth with that. And what the hell is this about interrupting your relationship, I got permission to hang out with Belle first and you came along uninvited! She even said it herself at the store!”

 

“Uninvited? Tsk, far from the truth. I have been waiting MONTHS for her return home to ask her out on a date and you’re ruining it with your last minute ordeals!”

 

“I’M ruining it?? Lady, I barely even know you to give a shit about this relationship. Now get OFF OF ME.”

Vivian got close to the girl, whispering in her ear. Getting way too cocky with her hold on her.

 

“Make me.”

 

The shark immediately felt the dhampir loosen her grip on her arms when she got close to her just now, which was her opening window to raise her arms to ram her back. 

 

Realizing her mistake, Vivian raised a hand in an attempt to grab the side of Ellen’s neck to push her down but the girl swiftly moved to the side and wrapped her arm around hers.

 

She quickly used a leg to try to knock her off her feet but the damned purple fuck wouldn’t back down from the attempt at a locked defense position 

 

“Bro, STOP.”

 

“No!”

 

Vivian’s arm was twisted uncomfortably but her legs and other arm held the opposing girl firm, albeit slipping around from the slightly wet ground. She shoved Ellen against the stall wall again, making a bunch of racket within the confined space as the both of them were knocking each other around in a tussle. 

 

Nothing but grunts and yelps from the both of them as they wrestled like two hungry bears for honey.

 

The shark thiren had to admit, this annoying ass woman was pretty strong herself. She didn’t want to accept that she genuinely liked fighting her. Though this one was petty and inconvenient, it stroked her brutish nature of combat. 

 

She really needed this outlet to blow some of that pent up steam from pissing her off all day.

 

After bumping and rocking for the past couple of seconds Ellen was able to successfully hold the dhampir’s limbs into a tight lock. Both of Vivian’s arms were held tightly behind her back, while the shark’s leg was wrapped around her own to keep her at a position where any slight movement other than being stagnant will make her fall on the ground. 

 

She was bent down pathetically before she was shoved into the wall causing the side of her head to press against it in an awkward manner, forcing the woman to be at the younger one’s mercy.

 

“Uhg, shit.”

 

Vivian cursed, breath heavy and hard as she’s constrained like a bitch. It wouldn’t be a crazy observation to note that she was getting formally humbled by someone who she knew was just a spoiled brat, she was indeed an honored elite of Victoria Housekeeping. Vivian supposes she tested the wrong one.

 

“You really are Lycaon’s golden child..aren’t you?”

 

“Miss me with the bullshit, are you going to chill out or not??”

 

This made Ellen push against her harder against the wall, straining her neck unpleasantly which got out a pained groan from the purple haired woman. The devilish noise sounded way too close to a sensual moan which caused the shark’s face to flush, taking a mental note to not do that again.

“I-If it means for my ..Belle to not be tickled by the likes of you, then no! I will not ..chill out. No matter how hard you press against… my neck to get me to repent, my loyalty remains.  ”

 

“You’re crazy, by theory I would kill you and I’m not going to do that.”

 

“Mmpf..how cute. You sound just like your boss. Such a daddy’s girl- Ouwh!”

She pressed her up again, earning a whimper in response from the insulting comment. The shark tried her best to ignore the awkward noises coming from beneath, she just wanted her to accept that she lost the fight and come to a truce.

 

“All I want from you is to stop bothering me, Vivian. All this crap was unnecessary. You initiated a fight and lost, go figure.”

 

The woman underneath scowled, hearing the unimpressed but taunting remark the shark made towards her. Her ego had a new scar in it, realizing she was at a definite disadvantage when it came to Ellen. 

 

Both of them stood there in the same awkward and confining position, nothing but audible breathing and tension filled the air as they waited for either party to act.

 

“...I'm going to help you up, just ..don't do anything stupid.”

 

The young shark warned, slowly but gently pulling her back so the pressure on her neck was relieved. 

 

When she thought she could trust her to do the ONE thing that was extremely easy to follow, the dhampir suddenly jerked up to try and get up herself but this caused Ellen to slam her back into the wall, earning another groan…moan? Something.

“What did I just tell you?”

 

“I refuse to..mmpf..give up. Tell me what I want to hear.”

 

“That you'll go into paralysis for the proxy..?”

Vivian rolled her eyes, maybe that stunt wasn't worth it. She can feel her body and head numbing from the nerve pressure..at this rate she might pass out soon.

 

“Okay fine, let me up..”

 

Ellen wasted no time in pulling back the dhampir fully, gently releasing her grip from her arms and even stepping from above her so she could stand up to height.

 

Their clothing was absolutely rugged and lopsided, hair was in slight disarray and both of the women were a little red in the face from one being irritated and the other lacking oxygen. They only looked at each other, glares that still burned hot while both bodies were exhausted.

“We cool..? Or are you just going to keep pissing me off throughout the day..?”

 

“Until you agree to not steal my Lord Phaethon’s attention from me, I can’t guarantee you’ll like me for the next few hours.”

 

“I.. never liked you from the start..”

Vivian rolled her eyes as she watched the younger shark reach for the stall door before she noticed her slowly starting to buckle down. Confused yet alarmed, the dhampir quickly caught the girl before she fell forward.

 

“What on earth? Am I the one lacking oxygen to the brain from neck compressions or you?”

 

The purple haired woman scoffed, getting Ellen’s arm to go over her shoulder so she can lift her up properly.

 

“Low energy..”

 

The shark slurred sluggishly digging in her pocket for a piece of candy to pop in her mouth like a pill. All that adrenaline she used while fighting worked the sugary fuel out of the young lady.

“..And I’m hungry...”

 

“At least I was here so you wouldn’t cause a scare to the restaurant.”

 

“..had you not been here, I would’ve had enough energy to return back to my seat...”

The dhampir groaned in irritation, opening the stall’s door so they could both walk out. Vivian made sure the stupid little shark was being supported up at least, she could feel her weight leaning against her as she fought for consciousness.

 

As they walked out, she noticed a few ladies who wanted to use the restroom stare at them. Even whispering to each other which made the dhampir’s ears flatten and walk faster, getting flustered at what they were saying.

 

“That’s very rude, y'know! Help yourselves to the restrooms, hmpf!”

 

She knew exactly what this looked like, two women in a stall together, one holding the other up from ‘fatigue’, the bantering that could pass for roleplay..it sounded like they were doing more than ‘fighting’.

 

But it isn’t often you get a cute shark girl slouched on your shoulders.

 

Notes:

If there's any mischaracterization of Belle/Vivian/Wise I'm sorry ! It's my first time writing them and I have ZZZ open as dialog reference