You've Got A Friend In Me! (Zombie Lady!!)

[Anonymous]

It was the first girl night she had been up for in a long time. She and Lamb use to do them more often but after Adawulf it sort of faded off. Got sparse. Satori needed this night like she needed oxygen. She needed to get back in touch with the old Satori, the candidate, the one who was new in the world, the one who still believed in all the magic of Aedolis and it's shinyness. Lamb helped her remember that part of her without even trying. Her connection to the better part of her.

Hopefully Lamb would be arriving any minute and they would start their ritual. Satori had a big bag of chocolate sitting on the table in the middle of her living room. She also, to her dismay had some more lady like bubbly drinking concoctions. She would just leave out the part to Lamb that she had already gone through all her whiskey on a couple really painful nights. Her friend would probably ask, but maybe this once she'd look over that small detail. Probably not.

Satori stared at the things on the table. She had a mix of excitement, how much fun she would have, but also there was dread. A fear of having to interact with someone close to her for a long amount of time. With Marshal there was no point in hiding anything, he saw straight through her, he was the stronger one. With Lamb, Satori always felt she had to be the bigger badder girl. The worst thing was Lamb would know when she was faking.

Though she had to people sometime right? That was the healthiest thing to do, or so Lantenac kept telling her. His persuasive argument was always one thing. She could end up exactly like Wulf did. Every time he said it she felt a seed of anger, but she couldn't fight it, what he was telling her was absolutely true. So here she was, like she should have done weeks ago, interaction. She let out a deep breath, hopefully she'd make it.

[Anonymous]

Lamb clutched the bag to her chest, almost giddy with excitement. She was having a sleep over with Satori! They hadn't had one in ages and Lamb had missed them. She still felt like she had gotten invited to the cool kids party whenever Satori hung out with her. Lamb idolized the other girl. She was so cool and strong and amazing.

Pressing the button, Lamb couldn't help but smile. She was thrilled to get to get relax again. Things had been a bit hectic on the paper work side of things recently. And it was fun to do girly things with Satori. She always failed at doing them on her own. But it was fun with Satori. Lamb got to feel all pretty like a Princess.

And it was nice to have friends. Lamb didn't have a whole lot of friends. She was far to timid to meet many people and she tended to just hide back in her office, working her magic on the huge amount of work that came her way. But Lamb had always been good at that stuff. She could make things work, find what needed to be found, balance budgets, rearrange what needed to be moved and just generally made things happen. She might not be the best fighter, but Lamb helped the Citadel run smoothly.

[Anonymous]

Satori jumped up when her door buzzed. She opened it with her mind as she walked towards it. That normal smile already on her face. Her dread was pushed into the back of her mind. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all. Just seeing the other girl made her feel better all over.

"Lamb!" She locked her friend in a tight hug her eyes closed. She felt just a little bit like Satori again already. she felt like maybe she wouldn't be faking the whole time now. She was already reminded of who she was before this whole fiasco. A stronger woman, someone who was alright without a man. Then she saw one of the concocted images of Wulf in her head at TRIM, she could never know what he was going through but that never stopped her from imagining something. She felt guilty already.

"I'm so glad to see you!"

She unlocked her body from Lamb's and turned around waving her hands to show off the table in front of her television.

"Get in here, I have everything ready for a glorious girl evening! I even got the lady drinks this time, see?"

[Anonymous]

"Satori!" Lamb gave a loud squeal, dropping her overnight beg and hugging her friend tightly. She was just happy to see her. Satori was always to pretty and strong and wonderful.

Though the feelings she was picking up from the other girl were a little off. Lamb wasn't trying to pry, but she could feel something from her friend. It was hard to place though. Satori would talk when she wanted too, so Lamb just hugged her again before picking her beg up and heading inside.

"Ooooh! Girly drinks! Yay!" Those were much better then the harder stuff. Lamb liked things fruity and sugary. She didn't like it when it burned. Settling down next to coffee table, Lamb beamed up at the other girl, "I b-brought make up a-and movies and a curling iron! I...um...I-I wanted to curl you hair." Lamb didn't tend to stutter as much when she was alone with Satori.

[Anonymous]

Satori's somewhat faked smile broke into a full real one when Lamb squealed her name. Hanging out with her girl would cheer her up tremendously, she wished she would have seen it before! Hiding away was the last thing she should have done. She had been so worried about interacting with her but maybe being with Lamb would remind her that this wasn't the end of the world.

Even thought it felt like it.

Satori caught the slight question in Lamb's eyes but ignored her to the best of her abilities. She was trying to relax and feel better and not think unless she had to. She squeezed her friends shoulders when she hugged her again. She didn't ask about where the whiskey was yet, she was obviously just relieved it wasn't there. Then lamb said the magic words. Curling iron.

Satori absolutely loved to have her hair played with. Even though curling her hair would take a large chunk of the night because it was so long. She didn't ever have a complaint about it. The whole thing just felt so relaxing and just...good. She never had the patience to undertake anything like that for every day type things. The only time her hair was fancy? It was normally Lamb who put it that way.

"It'll take forever but you know I'm game! What movies did you bring?" She moved over to sit with Lamb. "I most have really horribly written action movies with hot male leads." She chuckled and gave her friend a small poke in the ribs.

[Anonymous]

She still felt a little weird with Satori not telling her what was wrong, but Lamb did her best to just pretend it wasn't there. Forcing her to talk wouldn't help anything. "I-I was going to curl it while we watched the movie." Sleeping on them would flatten the curls a bit, but that wasn't the point really. It was just to be silly and fun for one night.

Plugging the iron in to heat up, Lamb blushed a little, "I-I mostly have romantic c-comedies." She had always been a hopeless romantic. And as most of the male pilots terrified Lamb, she didn't have much romance going on in her life, "I c-can watch wh-whatever."

She settled back at the table and examined the drinks, "What did you get f-for food?"

[Anonymous]

"You and our romantic comedies!" Satori chuckled as she spoke. "I assume one of them has my long lost love Dominic in it right? Otherwise I won't watch them!" She put a finger in the air declaring it then started laughing unable to hold it back. Dominic was a this dark haired rugged looking guy in Lamb's movies that seemed to always start out as a big jerk in the movie, but really he was only misunderstood. Satori loved watching the ones with him in them. He was just too gorgeous.

She stood up pointing at the chocolate dramatically.

"I have the customary sacrifice of chocolatey goodness." She walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge and freezer fully sticking her head inside of it. "I have the ingredients for that orange cinnamon chicken garlicky thing." She really did need to name that dish didn't she? She moved some other things around in the freezer. "Those pizza bagel delicious things. And...OH!" The fridge doors shut quickly after she exclaimed.

She emerged from the kitchen with her hands behind her back looking mischievous. She walked around to Lamb slowly. She stood in front of her and she got a serious look on her face, a regal sort of look.

"Now, you must pick a hand!"

[Anonymous]

"But of course! I th-think that Gregory is way cuter though." That was Lamb's favorite actor. He was generally cast to play clumsy, awkward men who tried so hard and things never went right for. And he was drop dead good looking in a tousled, pretty boy next door kind of way, "Don't worry. I brought only Dominic offerings tonight."

She was always timid and nervous, but when she wasn't around people that frightened her, she started to relax a lot more. Her face broke into a wide smile at the chocolate, "Chocolate! Yay!"

Lamb didn't really eat meat, though she did nibble at some on occasion. She wasn't a fan of the taste and if she ate to much, it would upset her stomach. But she adored the sauce that went with the chicken, "Well, um, I don't kn-" She paused when Satori reappeared, "The right one?"

She held up two movies, the backs facing Satori, "Your turn! Pick a hand!"

[Anonymous]

Satori grinned at Lamb talking about Gregory. Satori did understand the allure of a geeky sort of guy, and he wasn't bad on the eyes, of course when are men in romance movies ever ugly? However, she was very happy to hear that Dominic was the only one making a guest appearance tonight. Gregory reminded her way too much of Wulf for some reason. She rubbed the tattoo on her arm for a second then came back to her world.

She held out the hand Lamb had chosen with a wide smile. It was a small bag of those small cheese wheels wrapped in wax. Satori loved eating these they were fun to take apart and eat, sometimes she even melted the wax. She sat down between the table and the couch setting her own bag of cheese of the table. She grabbed a piece of chocolate and started to unwrap it.

Hmm. Then it was her turn to pick something. She put her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. Her lip stuck out slightly and her eyebrows pulled together making a big show of puzzling over the decision. With her other hand she was moving her index finger back and forth between the two movies. Then her face lit up after a full minute of doing that over and over again and her finger stopped on the left one. Her face lit up even further like she just had an epiphany.

"That one!"

[Anonymous]

The sight of the cheese wheels caused Lamb to give an excited squeal and she lunged forward, grabbing her bag, "Oh Satori! You spoil me!" Lamb loved those little things. And she agreed that the best part was unwrapping them. The cheese inside was just an added little bonus.

She waited until Satori had picked the movie, "Tophat." It was a sweet one and Lamb loved the big romantic dance scene in the middle. Always got her all melty and excited. The formal wear was just so pretty. And the sweet, romantic movies always reminded Lamb of the life she had wanted. That she wished she could have had.

Once the movie had been slipped into the player, Lamb started to unwrap her cheese, "What did you want to make for dinner? I like those pizza bagels a lot." Pulling her cheese free of the wax, Lamb took a delicate nibble, a pleased sound escaping her. It was so good. Tonight was going to be so much fun!

[Anonymous]

A huge smile spread across Satori's face as she saw how excited Lamb got. She knew the cheese was a good idea. They probably hadn't had that since...well a long time. It almost made her feel old when she tried to remember how long ago it was that they had them. She felt a swell of joy looking at Lamb, she loved to spoil her. Her friend's smile was enough to keep her going most of the time, even if Lamb didn't know it. Satori was never very good at expressing things like that.

"Tophat hmmm?" She remembered seeing it advertised vaguely. She was sure Lamb had already watched it. It looked cute for sure. She hoped she would be able to handle it alright. Not break down. Keep from crying. She swallowed briefly then started to unwrap the cheese. She slid a fingernail off of the extra piece keeping it together and unwrapped it. Then moved the cheese out of it. She took a small bite out of it and smiled.

They never seemed to be able to be quiet during a movie, they were always talking about all kinds of girl stuff. Satori hoped she could feign enough interest in the movie to stop from too much girl talk. Food was a safe topic though, thank you Lamb.

"I think we should start with the bagel things. I have been craving junk food like no other." She held up the wax in her hand and what was left over looked like a little mouth she took it and started chomping on Lamb's arm with it. She grinned up at the other girl and laughed.

[Anonymous]

Lamb happily unwrapped her cheese, making pleased sounds as she nibbled on it, "Thank you Satori!" The rabbit was looking much calmer, her twitching less frequent. Satori's house was a safe place.

"Yeah! It's really f-funny and cute." Lamb beamed at Satori, a little nervous about her friend. Something was wrong and it made Lamb sad. But she didn't want to ruin the mood by asking. Satori probably just wanted to pretend things were fine for a bit.

"Okay! Do you want help? O-or I can stand there and sip my drink." Lamb gestured to her drink on the table as she spoke, still smiling at her friend. When Satori made the wax bite at her arm, Lamb laughed, swatting at it, "Noooo! Don't eat p-poor Lamb! She wont taste good a-at all!"

[Anonymous]

Satori hopped up looking down at the brunette, with a smile growing on her face.

"Well I think you would!" She arched a brow appearing serious for a moment then letting the smile reappear. Another thing Satori tended to do was flirt with Lamb, just insanely so, like she needed to practice her pick up lines. Really, she wasn't sure why maybe it was because Lamb always blushed? She was trying to educate her about the wide world of flirting? Satori wasn't sure but she just loved to do it. Sometimes Lamb even got the joke.

Satori paused the movie and started to head into the kitchen.

"Let me just start them in the oven and we will begin!" She stopped. "If you want to come with you can." she gave a small smile and turned back around. As she got a few steps from the living room a frown came back to face with a wave of sadness and tight pain in her chest. There was no point to it! She kept trying to explain that to herself but she never seemed to listen. It was something she couldn't drown, couldn't destroy, couldn't reason with.

She was starting to wonder if love ever really existed.

She took the red box out of the freezer and a baking sheet from one of her long cabinets. She started to put one on the sheet then shook her head. She had forgotten to start the oven. They didn't have to worry much about pre-heating things anymore but Satori still did things somewhat old fashioned.

She needed some damn whiskey...like now.

[Anonymous]

"Satori!" Lamb's pale skin darkened to a deep red and she shut her eyes, embarrassed by the innuendo, "Don't say things like that!" Once she had regained some composure, Lamb stood up to follow Satori into the kitchen. She didn't know why her friend always teased her like that. She never knew how to respond. Even with Satori, Lamb was far to shy to ever consider flirting back.

Pausing at the doorway, Lamb frowned, watching Satori, "Um....Tori? Is...e-everything okay?" Lamb fidgeted, unsure if Satori would be upset with her for asking, "J-just...I...um...I know t-that Wulf i-is gone a-and you liked him..."

Looking down, Lamb tugged at the bottom of her shirt, "I-if you don't want t-t-to talk about it, w-we don't h-have too." Lamb didn't know what to say, but she just wished she could help Satori.

[Anonymous]

The blond jumped when Lamb spoke, not aware that she had followed her in. Her heart was bumping against her chest fast and hard. Then Lamb started to ask her questions. Satori closed her eyes putting another bagel snack on the cookie sheet. It was like a knife. Right off she got angry, feeling defensive.

"I'm fucking fine." But it lacked conviction. It trailed off sad, half full at the end. "I'm sorry." She put a hand on the counter spread out her hand standing out against it. Her eyes were pulled squeezed shut like she was a child hiding from a monster. "I...really don't know how I am."

Where was that whiskey?

She sucked in her bottom lip hard then let it out in a breath, red marks from her teeth marks into her skin. Satori had never been someone that could show her weak side. This vulnerable side to her that lay underneath. When you were a military kid that side didn't exist, you were always in control of your own destiny. Always aware of yourself, never needing anyone to save you from drowning.

She just couldn't hold it anymore.

"I feel like...everything is...painfully in focus. Like I can feel more than I'm supposed to." She took in a deep breath, the sound shaking in her throat. Her eyes starting to look glossy ad tears pricked them.  "And it...just...hurts."

[Anonymous]

Satori's response made Lamb shrink back, long bunny ears laying flat against her head. She shouldn't have said anything. She was an awful, horrible friend! "I-I-I'm sorry. I s-shouldn't have s-s-said anything." She was stuttering again, nervous and twitching.

She started to try and move closer to Satori, to touch her, then she hesitated and backed off. She didn't know what to do or say to help her friend and she was scared anything she did was just going to make it worse.

"W-why? W-what happened?" She knew that Wulf was gone and Satori had liked him, but Lamb hadn't thought there was anything serious going on there. She tried to think of anything else it might be, "I-is it because of M-marshal and F-fala? Or something e-else? C-can I do anything?"

[Anonymous]

Satori let out a breath. God, just thinking about it had been painful, but the minute she had acknowledged it again out loud? It got so much worse. She stretched back up to her full height and turned grabbing a girly drink from the fridge. It would help a least a little. She wished to hell that she had something stronger though. She knew it was only like a band-aid, but sometimes that just worked so much better.

"I'm sorry Lamb, it's not your fault." She tried a weak attempt at a comforting smile and moved passed Lamb with a hand at her arm and sat down at the small two chaired table right next to her kitchen. She popped the cap off the bottle and took a long drink.

"Actually, I hope Fala and Marshal grow old together and have many children and name one after me." a short chuckle followed. "It's just Wulf, I...we had gotten close." She gripped the neck to the bottle harder. "We were a real item. It's been so long since I've had that. Something where you think that it's going to work...and work well." A Breath. "And then...to think about what happened to him..." She visibly shivered and closed her eyes, and started to bite her lip. A couple tears rolled down her cheeks and she took another long drink.

"I just can't. And I wish I could be furious at him, that he had left me..." her voice was growing louder and angrier. "and I could hate him, that I can deal with. But...he didn't. It's just all pain." She dropped her head slightly looking at the table.

[Anonymous]

"I-I-I am s-so s-sorry!" Lamb kept her ears pinned flat back. Her hands fidgeted and picked at the front of her shirt, not sure what to do with them. She didn't like that Satori drank so much, but she didn't want to upset her friend anymore then she already had.

The Fala and Marshal comment had Lamb confused. Fala didn't seem like she took any relationship seriously. She didn't seem to have relationships to be honest. Were Fala and Marshal an actual couple? She had thought Fala had slept with Liv. Ohhh. She was so lost! She she was still putting her foot in her mouth all over the place.

"Y-you were? I-I had no idea. I-I'm so sorry S-s-satori!" Lamb bit her lip hard, not wanting to make things worse, "T-that is so awful. B-but....y-you'll find someone better." She moved closer and hesitantly hugged Satori, ready to jump back if the other girl wanted space.

[Anonymous]

Satori leaned against Lamb putting one arm around her waist the other came up to hold her friend's arm. She squeezed her, just holding on for dear life. Her eyes fell closed for a moment. It felt so good to just be held, made her feel warm all over again. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since Wulf had gone. It was odd to feel it again now. It was what an actual caring touch felt like. She squeezed a bit harder on Lamb's arm feeling the girl's skin warm beneath her own hand.

For a moment, a brief sort of passing thought came across Satori's mind. She wondered what it would be like to go beyond this point. To continue like she might if it had been Wulf or even Marshal standing there. Satori felt even warmer for a second then fought off a blush that threatened to rise. She let go of Lamb brushing a hand over the other girl's hip. She shook her head for a moment. Her hands went straight for the drink.

"Thank Lamb." She looked up at the other girl her eyes somewhat glassy as she realized she had almost cried just from being held. She wiped her face and then took a long drink. Satori never really thought about women that way. She recognized when a female was attractive sure. Nothing really stirred in her...did it? She flirted yeah but that was all for fun...wasn't it?

Weird.

Luckily the sadness had lost its grip around her because of the confusion and bouncing around in her mind. All Satori knew was that she didn't want to be the center of attention anymore. She stood up slowly and moved back to the kitchen taking another long drink.

"I hope you're right." She gave an actual smile as she looked at Lamb. Though it was slightly forced it wasn't completely. Which was progress enough for Satori. She set back to putting the snacks on the tray. Now she was feeling famished, hunger taking the place of sadness.

"Still hungry I hope?" Another drink.

[Anonymous]

Lamb held onto Satori tightly, leaning against her and making small soothing, slightly animalistic sounds in the back of her throat, lifting one hand to stroke Satori's hair. Her friend felt warm and soft in her arms and Lamb enjoyed the contact. She was so shy and timid most of the time that she never got the physical contact she craved.

"Y-you will f-find someo-one much better." Lamb nodded, letting Satori go as she pulled away, already missing the warmth, "Y-you are b-beautiful and s-smart a-and fun and l-lovely and w-wonderful."

Nodding at Satori's question, Lamb returned her friends smile, "Y-yes. D-do you want help? O-or is my j-job still to s-stand her a-and look pretty." Blushing, Lamb did her best to try and lighten the mood, "W-want another d-drink?"