I totally misunderstood the bingo prompt. I thought we had to make one piece of something that formed a bingo. It wasn't until after I had outlined this ambitious 'blackout' piece that I re-read the instructions and realized that we were supposed to make one piece per prompt.
I really liked this idea anyways. So, here you go!
I really liked this idea anyways. So, here you go!
| Fire and Lightning | I'm a heartbreaker... My name... Charles. | Enter the Entralink |
| Three Musketeers | Riding the Subway | Today, we're dancing for no reason. |
| Audino | Village Bridge | Celestial Tower's Chime |
It was May again.
Since no-one could decide on the specific day that each found out about the other, the three women all agreed to meet on the first Saturday in May. They could usually get the day off, or already had it off. It meant they could make a day of things. Make the best from the worst, Corrie thought.
She leaned against the Entree, waiting patiently, thinking about the grass. The sky. The strange tree she dozed against. Veronica and Terra were quite the handful. But she loved them dearly, and for the third year in a row, she brimmed with excitement.
Veronica, tall and proud, appeared from thin air. She turned to thank a kadabra, who nodded and vanished. Then back again, with Terra, who started as she was blinked into existence. She never handled teleporting well, almost the antithesis of grace. The kadabra lingered as they said their hellos.
The affair always started a little quiet, a little awkward, even though this was the third year. They almost preferred the secrecy. Corrie didn’t even know any of their last names.
“So,” Veronica pushed through yet another awkward silence, “shall we?”
One at a time, the kadabra whisked them away. Corrie felt the pressing, sucking feeling of nothingness for only a flicker of a moment, and then they were in front of the tower. To put him to rest.
The tower usually loomed over them, but today it seemed a little more solemn. It stood. Just... stood. It had little character this time, Corrie thought. Just a tower. It was a good sign.
Corrie took a deep breath.
“Let’s get this over with!” Terra marched forward without hesitation.
Stairs, stairs, stairs, and then the roof. Corrie tried hard not to think about anything but exactly what she was doing.
“Who first?” Terra glanced at them both, then the bell.
“You know,” Veronica spoke, “I’ve made a lot of progress this year. I don’t think I need to.” Both her friends turned to her. She smiled gently, at ease, truly hiding nothing.
“Yeah? Over the bastard, too?” Terra smiled broadly. “Good. Same here. It’s a shame to see the tradi—”
Corrie rang the bell, hard. The chime cut clean across Terra’s words. They all jumped a little.
“Aw, Cor,” Terra soothed. Corrie didn’t turn, watching the lip of the bell buzz in the air. “I’m sorry.”
Corrie bit her lip. So was she.
They walked down the stairs in the antithesis of silence, Veronica and Terra filling the air with plans and gossip. Corrie trailed behind, content to listen.
“I think Corrie needs some help today,” Veronica suggested. Terra nodded with a wide grin. “There’s a place I like to go to clear my head.” She reached out to the slumbering kadabra, who nodded awake and reached for her hand.
In moments, they stood at the base of a wide, stone bridge. Veronica led them up it and to its center, where they sat and dangled their legs over the water. Corrie kicked her feet, playing a dangerous game with her flip-flops.
Terra and Victoria chatted and giggled, swapping stories. Corrie smiled and listened, leaning over a support wire. She watched an Audino wash itself on the far bank, pulling its pristine little spring-things out and gently working water into their lengths.
Corrie made some gentle kissing sounds, and it looked up with a start. They shared a quiet little moment. Then the Audino returned to work.
“So?” Veronica turned to Corrie, who turned back to her. “Are you feeling better about him?”
Corrie narrowed her eyes. She had been feeling better. But they were missing the point.
“Hey, you know what I love?” Terra cut the tension, pulling herself up.
Some time later, they were riding the subway to Undella town. It was loud, bumpy, and packed. Mostly because two trainers had gotten in a spat on one end of their car. Terra whooped as her darmanitan wrestled a gigalith to the ground, pinning it.
Corrie sat squished next to Veronica, wishing desperately that she wouldn’t say anything. Corrie was quite enjoying the darmanitan’s sudden game of ‘stop hitting yourself’ it had decided to play with its unwilling partner.
“You know,” Veronica spoke, “if you need to talk about it—”
She was cut off by a loud announcement of the approach to Undella Town station. Thank goodness.
They walked on the beach, each carrying their shoes to enjoy the sand. They happened to arrive at low tide, and enjoyed exploring the tidepools. Remoraid minnows scattered as their shadows flitted over them. They rolled a beached wailmer back into the water, who spouted with joy and beached itself several more times. Eventually they just left it to feign distress and wait for another playmate.
“Nothing like a day at the beach to get over— Hey! Corrie! Where are you going? Veronica, where is she...”
Corrie marched straight to the first bar she could find, barefoot, windblown, and irritated. She planted herself in the only empty stool and waited for the bartender to notice her.
“You look like you need a drink,” said a woman next to her. She was a little wild, yet uniformed. Just off work, perhaps. Corrie nodded bitterly. “Guy trouble?”
The opposite, she thought glumly.
“Two Yin-Yangs,” the woman called, raising a note in her fingers. Two large red-and-blue shots were placed in front of them in short order. The bartender used a car battery and jumper cables to light the shots with a shower of sparks.
“Call me Dart,” the woman said. Corrie shared her name, and the two clicked their glasses together and slammed them. The drink jolted Corrie’s tongue and burned her throat. Both women couldn’t suppress a jittering shudder.
“There you are!” Dart turned to the door. Corrie didn’t. Terra clapped her hands on her shoulders. “Well, didn’t expect this from you. What are we drinking?”
“Ah,” muttered Dart, catching Corrie’s eyes, “I think I get it.”
“If you needed a drink, all you had to do was ask,” Veronica chimed in behind them. “Who is this?”
“Call me Dart. Bartender!”
They moved to a booth in short order, and Dart introduced them all to Yin-Yangs. Corrie noticed Dart was paying close attention to her, which both flattered and annoyed her. For almost an hour, she relaxed and enjoyed their banter, completely free of reason. Four near-strangers, four fast friends, simply enjoying each other.
“What a wild way to wrap things up,” Terra slurred. Corrie didn’t hide her exhaustion. “Y’know, Dart, we meet up once a year to—”
“Hey, do you wanna go to a party?” Corrie lit up a little bit at Dart’s suggestion. The invitation was an open one, but the way she kept looking at her, Corrie couldn’t help but read something into it. Flirtation? Or simple grace? Either way she nodded. She decided she liked Dart, too.
In short order they all stumbled back to the train station. Black City soon sped to meet them.
They approached the venue, which happened to be the route gate. Corrie could already feel a far-too-loud bass rhythm pounding gently into the night air. Dart said she worked there, and they were throwing one of their monthly dance parties.
“I love dancing,” Veronica smiled, “when I was getting over him, it helped me—”
“It’s not about Charles!”
All four women halted. Corrie wasn’t one to raise her voice, let alone the bellow she had just emitted.
“Don’t you get it?” She rounded on them. “Nobody had to ring the bell! And— and we’re done?! And that’s it!?” Emotion caught in her throat. Dart flicked her gaze between the other three.
“Why was this about him at all? Why was it ever about him?” Corrie angrily pushed the tears from her eyes. “I wanna be here with you two, but every year, it becomes about him.” She choked back a sob.
“Corrie,” Veronica spoke, her mouth not sure whether it was smiling or frowning, “I’m sorry, I had no idea.” Terra kicked at the ground, nodding.
“What happens next year?” Corrie’s voice trembled. Her tears finally rolled, hot and free.
“Same thing that’s gonna happen today,” Dart offered, a little unsure. The others turned to her. She thumbed over her shoulder at the guard post. They all became aware again of the pounding rhythm pouring from the wide open door.
“We dance, for no reason!”
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