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ginger-canary · 10 months

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This Booth IS Big Enough for the Seven of Us

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 1938

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug/Sofia Lee, Sofia Lee & Esther Sinclair, Kingston Brown & Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Sofia Lee & The Dream Team, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug & The Dream Team

Characters: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Sofia Lee, Ricky Matsui, Esther Sinclair (Dimension 20), Kingston Brown, Misty Moore | Rowan Berry, Cody Walsh

Additional Tags: This started out as a joke now here we are, We didn't let Pete yeehaw enough okay

Series: Part 4 of I just think that Sofiapete

Summary:

In which i spend 1.5k+ words to make a single joke.

Pete wants to try out a new hangout spot. The hangout spot comes with a dress code. Fashion shenanigans ensue.

Because @hi-intrepid-heroes and I were joking once and I had to make it real

read it under the cut or follow this link to AO3

Culturally, Pete understood that all of New York was nothing like the south. Here, cowboy hats belonged to costumes and tourists. But New York was also one of the biggest melting pots in the world, so he figured that inviting the rest of the crew to this cool new western bar would be fun.

“A western bar?” Sofia repeated, looking up from her phone. They were sitting on the couch in her apartment, Sof’s legs on Pete’s lap, relaxing after a long day. “Is this because you want to wear more cowboy outfits? You can do that anywhere, babe.”

“...Noooo.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Okay a little bit. But it’d also just be fun! We always go to the same places and get the same drinks and snacks, it’s time to change things up.”

Sof smiled. “Are you sick of the usual chips and dip?”

“No. Maybe- a little bit. Diversity is good for the brain! Please?” He batted his eyelashes at Sofia.

Sofia laughed. “It’s not me you have to win over, you already did that. Text the group chat, try and convince them.” She reached over and grabbed Pete’s phone from the coffee table.

“Can you imagine Kingston’s initial gut reaction, though?” Pete said as he took his phone.

“A western bar?” Sofia said in a deep voice, imitating Kingston. “That’s not New York. We’re on the east coast!”

“I wonder how many of them I can convince to dress appropriately.” He started typing a message, hyping up the new bar. “Cody’s definitely not going to do it.”

Sof leaned in, reading over his shoulder. “That depends. Is there a fully leather version of a a cowboy outfit?”

Pete pressed his head against Sofie’s. “Oh, probably but can you imagine the sweating he’ll be doing in that?”

She grinned. “I’m much more excited to go there now.”

As soon as Pete’s message was sent, several of their friends started typing. “Is this because you’re obsessed with boiled peanuts?” Cody asked.

Sofia lifted her head. “He’s got a point there, is that it?”

“No, but it is a big bonus.”

“Do we have to dress all yeehaw-like?” was Kingston’s reply.

“I’m down,” was all Esther replied with.

“That’s my girl,” Sof grinned. Several more messages came in, the general consensus being a yes to the bar, if they were given time to go shopping for an outfit first. Pete wholeheartedly agreed and promised Kingston he'd help him out.

Smiling, Pete turned to look at Sof. “So do you want to plunder my closet?”

“Oh, naturally. She swung her legs off his lap and stood up. “Just tell me what you want to wear and I’ll plunder the rest of your closet.”

“It’s not all western style clothes in there.”

Sofia leaned down and kissed him. “Babe, your love for cowboy culture is showing. New Yorkers ain’t wearing fringe. It’s inconvenient.”

“How?” Pete asked, mostly staring at Sofie’s lips.

“Get it trapped between the subway doors then ask again.” Sofia stood up, walking into the bedroom where a significant enough amount of Pete’s clothes lived. They didn’t exactly live together as much as both live in two places, which meant that clothes were everywhere. That’s what you get when both partners like fashion- but have very different styles.

She opened the closet, poking around through shirts of various sheerness then sighed. She was going shopping with Esther anyway, why not leave it up to her to help make the decisions? That’s what best friends are for, after all.

~~~

“Are we there yet?”

Pete whipped his head around, snorting. “Really, Cody? We’ve been walking for half a block.”

“I miss my regular boots,” he whined.

Sof slowed down slightly, taking in what could only be described as “what if cowboys only had leather?” and tried to avoid laughing. “You squeak like a New York rat, why did you decide on this?”

“He refused to pick anything reasonable,” Kingston shouted from the back.

Cody rolled his eyes and flushed. “I wanted to look like myself, even in the cowboy bar.”

“Congrats you look like… you.” Esther waved her hand at the outfit. “But louder.”

The group slowed to a stop outside The Apple Jack and Pete took this moment to inspect everyone’s outfits. From Ricky’s genuine boots and spurs, to Kingston's colourful cowboy hat he had to say everyone had succeeded in following the dress code. He’d gone with his favourite green boots and his fringe suede jacket, having left his brighter clothes to Sofie. Clad in red and black, Sof was the prettiest New Yorker lost in the south he’d ever seen. “Y’all ready?”

Cody shoved him aside. “Let me through, I’m tired of standing.”

Laughing, the rest of the group followed him inside. The Apple Jack had a simple setup to keep the New York out of the Wild West; double doors. Behind the first was a large coat rack to leave your puffer jackets and scarves behind, a tall umbrella stand and a good doormat to clean your shoes on. Then when you were ready, you could enter through the swinging doors where a light layer of sand (and peanut shells) covered the floor. Mostly fake cacti covered large parts of the room, tables and stools looking just as breakable as in every bar fight in the movies.

Against the far wall was a collection of booths, the patterning on the couches plaid and worn, the tables shiny and clean.

Pete grinned, coming to a stop in the middle of the sandy bar. There was no way he could contain his excitement.

“Actually I kind of like this.” Esther came to stand next to him, nudging a peanut shell with the tip of her boot.

Sof joined them, bumping her hip against his. “So, is it everything you wanted, Petey?”

“Well, it’s-” he was interrupted by Ricky tripping through the swinging doors. “Sorry ma’am,” he called over his shoulder. “But I’m taken. Please don’t slap my ass again.”

Esther groaned and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. “Babe, that was the door.”

Ricky straightened and put his hands on his hips. “Well it should still know I’m taken.”

Laughing, Sofia moved towards the bar.

“Ricky Matsui, everybody,” Pete whispered under his breath.

After a quick chat and some funny squeaking, they were all squeezed into the largest booth in the bar. Some quiet country rock was playing over the speakers as a curly-haired waitress moved towards their spot. She wore comfortable ripped jeans, a plaid shirt and the standard apron. “Howdy y’all, my name’s Lily and I’ll be your server today. What can I help you with?” She spoke with a southern drawl, tapping her pen against her notepad.

Kingston leaned over the table. “Nice to meet you Lily. Do they make you talk like that?”

Sof slapped Kingston’s arm. “She’s not a prisoner!”

“It’s okay honey, people ask me that question a lot.” She turned her attention to Kingston. “No they don’t make me talk like this, I’m from Carolina. I actually enjoy working here. It doesn’t remind me of home in the way most New Yorkers would expect but there’s something comforting about floorboards covered in sand and peanut shells.”

Rowan eyed the Southern girl for a second. “Have you considered that it might be the temperature here?”

Lily shrugged. “Probably. Whatever it is, I’m comfortable here. So what can I get y’all, before your friend slips and slides out of his outfit?” She leaned in, whispering, “is he okay?” into Rowan’s ear.

Grinning, Rowan said “no” then proceeded to order a round of drinks for everyone.

Biting on her lower lip, Sofia nudged Esther. “I think Rowan’s found a new toy.”

“As long as she doesn’t get us banned from the bar, I think this’ll be fun to watch.”

“I’ll bet you 10 bucks Rowan stops the moment her shoes get dirty,” Pete whispered.

Sof watched the way Rowan got up and moved to the bar, leaning flirtatiously against the edge. “I’ll take that bet. The way that’s going, I think I already won.”

Pete turned his head to see Rowan carrying their order of snacks to the table, Lily following in her stead. “Well that was a short bet. I’ve never seen her do manual labour before.”

Kingston grinned, wrapping his hands around his drink. “Well I’ll be damned, it was worth coming here after all.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re the vox populi of New York city.” Pete tossed a peanut shell at him. “Other cultures are fun to explore.”

“Yeah, like chinatown.” Ricky smiled and sipped his drink. “Hey Rowan, what is this?”

“Hm?” Rowan slipped back into the booth, her hand lingering on Lily’s arm. “I asked for a round of the best mocktails they had. And Pete’s peanuts, both boiled and regular.” She tapped her ironically neatly manicured fingers on Lily’s arm.

Pete exchanged a look with Sof, watching Lily move her gaze from Rowan’s hand to her notepad.

“It’s the cactus juice. Not literally cactus juice, of course, but bitter lemon with lime juice and mint. It’s our bestseller!”

“That explains why it’s green,” Kingston said.

“And sour.” Ricky pulled the face of a kid first tasting a lemon.

Lily laughed. “I can always get you something else.”

The dream team spent a few hours in Southern Roots, enjoying the music and snacks, watching Rowan flirt with Lily, and dancing around in the sand. As rain started falling outside the windows again, Sof wrapped her arm around Pete. “You know, I’m glad you convinced everyone to come here. It has potential, even if we have to dress up to fit in here.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “Have you seen us?” He vaguely waved his hands at the people around the table. “We don’t fit in anywhere at all.”

“Yeah, our main test for every bar is whether or not we fit in a booth,” Esther added.

Kingston nodded and grinned.“And if they serve good enough coffee.”

“Hold on, Liz told me you were supposed to stop drinking so much caffeine.” Pete scrunched his eyebrows. “Yeah, I’m very sure she told me that.”

Kingston tried to hide a smile. “I’m fine, she worries too much.”

“Uhuh nice try, decaf for you.” Sof prodded at Kingston’s arm. “We can’t have you dealin’ with health issues just because you love bean juice so much.”

“Well if we keep coming here that should be fine,” He said, inspecting the menu. “There’s about 20 different drinks I haven’t tried yet and none of them contain caffeine, right?”

Lily nodded and pointed out some of her favourites as Rowan slid her arm around Lily’s waist.

Sof kept in a laugh and exchanged a look with Pete, who wiggled his eyebrows. There were many things Rowan was- but subtle had never been one of them. As long as whatever was blooming over there wouldn’t end in heartbreak, it seemed that they’d be coming to the Apple Jack more often. “So,” Sof said, “what do you think? Was it a success?”

Pete looked around the table at their group. “Oh absolutely.” He lowered his voice and added, “if we can get Cody out of those pants.”

As time went on, the Apple Jack was added to their roulette of hangout places, as Lily was to Rowan’s list of… whatever she wanted to call it, which meant Pete owed Sofie ten bucks. Later on that night, they all had an unfortunate time trying to get Cody out of his leather outfit- but hey, that’s what friends are for, right?

#d20 #dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #sofia lee #pete conlan #sofiapete #rowan berry #kingston brown #esther sinclair #ricky matsui #cody walsh #freckles writes things #no this didnt take forever shut up u dont know

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lovevalley45 · 1 year

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it's nearly february so i must plan my valentine's fic but i have two issues

it's generally been a thing with legends ships n i have kinda used all the ones i'd want to write for (zava, darhkwu, behrastra)

for the rest of my fandoms i don't really have Big Ships where i'm like. yes i can write a vday fic for this

so simply we will be making do. or maybe i'll take vday prompts idk

#alli says shit #generally a lot of my writing has been for my original story or dnd related #or bcc but that's different #i unfortunately also did that sofiapete fic with freckles last year so they're out of the question too #i kinda thought abt doing smth naddpod related? maybe a flashback fic for sol/albin? but who knows

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glideonsoapyheels · 2 years

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I just think SofiaPete friendship>>>>>

#dimension 20 #d20 #sofia lee #pete conlan #d20 tuc #d20 tuc2

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ginger-canary · 3 months

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Please note it may not be published on Valentine’s Day lol

#freckles writes things #sofiapete #naddpod #we’ll see where this poll takes us anyway who wants fic

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lovevalley45 · 2 years

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not me trying to write legends fic for today's prompt n realizing it's been so long i kinda forgot what i'm doing

#alli says shit #staring at my computer screen like hm. alright #i didn't think it's been That Long... whoops #i go so much longer between writing likje. sofiapete fics or smth #but no the moment i step away from writing legends fic for one month my brain is like. who are these ppl again #(maybe it's also bc i haven't watched legends in a hot minute but)

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ginger-canary · 2 years

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Glittery Feelings

A Valentines’ day SofiaPete fic by gingercanary and @lovevalley45

1735 words

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug/Sofia Lee, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug & Cody Walsh

Characters: Sofia Lee, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Background & Cameo Characters

Additional Tags: Valentine's Day, Fluff, Canon Divergent (in the way of we just think that SofiaPete), ADHD both of them, Glitter

Series: Part 3 of I just think that Sofiapete

Summary:

Sof and Pete participate in the Valentines' day event at Uncommon Knowledge. It's making personalised cards!

click the link here to read on AO3 or enjoy it underneath the cut :)

There were a billion holidays in the world- but Pete always had favourites. There were the obvious ones that brought everyone together- like the winter holidays and Halloween, and ones that seemed ridiculous but worth celebrating, like international pancake day.

His favourite holiday feature? The way Uncommon Knowledge- his workplace- handled big holidays. His secret most favourite part of that? When Sofia came with him and helped out during those holidays.

“Guess what it’s time for!” Pete yelled as soon as he walked through the front door of Sofia’s apartment. Luckily, Sofie’s mother had moved to a different place or he would’ve had to learn to be presentable at all times.

Through the sounds of the shower, Sofia yelled back at him, “time for you to get in here because we don’t want neighbours to complain?!”

“Right!” He dropped his bag and quickly manoeuvred through the space, kicking off his shoes and removing his jacket in the process. He walked into the bathroom without hesitation, the humidity hitting him like a European summer. As if he knew what that meant.

Sofia stuck her head out from behind the shower curtain, smiling at Pete despite his timing. “Hiya Petey. So what’s up? Did you have a good day at work?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Pete kissed Sofia. “Yup! They finally told me what we’re doing for Valentine’s day!” He pressed his forehead to Sofia’s wet one. “Also you look great today.”

Sofia burst into laughter and flicked some water at him. “You’re silly. So what’s the plan for Valentine’s day?” She slipped back underneath the shower stream as Pete tried to fish a flyer out of his pocket.

“I- I left the flyer in my coat. And you’re in the shower so that makes sense. But we’re making our own Valentine’s day cards!” He jumped up and down then put his hands behind his back and batted his eyes. “Will you come and help out with the kids? Please?”

“That face doesn’t work when I can’t look at you! But obviously I will.”

“Yes!” Pete threw his hands up like he’d scored a big goal.

Sof laughed from behind the curtain then flicked her hand out. “Now go do something else! I’m showerin’ here!”

With a giant shiteating grin on his face, Pete went to find some dinner.

~~~

Uncommon Knowledge was absolutely covered in pink and red decorations when Sofie and Pere arrived, the table of bargain books gone and covered instead with craft paper, tons of glitter, and just about a million markers and crayons. There was a wonderful display in the kids section with books on romantic love as well as aromantic and asexual stories like Rick by Alex Gino and Hazel’s Theory of Evolution. Pete quickly got the shop ready for the event, only sneaking glances at his girlfriend… five times. In his defence, she looked incredible in her red dress. Plus, the outfit matched her louboutins.

As the kids started to trickle in, Sofia’s biggest fan was quick to run up to her and pull her away from Pete. He proudly showed her his artistic rendition of the stone angel (Em, for those who knew), then tugged her toward the aro/ace books. “Come, come! This one..” he paused, struggling to explain his thoughts. “Is me?” it came out as a question, an insecurity as he held out a copy of Hazel’s Theory of Evolution, his arm quickly lowering.

Sofie sat down on her knees and took the book from him, patting his shoulder with her other hand. “Heck yeah little dude, if you see yourself in this book then that’s the book for you.”

The little boy stood up straight and puffed out his chest. “It’s Hazel and Jacob’s theory of evolution?”

“It is now, little dude. And hey, talk to me about the book next time you see me, okay? I’ll read it between now and then.” Sof made eye contact with Pete over Jacob’s shoulder and mouthed “can I get this book” at him.

Pete wouldn’t have said no if it cost all the money in the world. Jacob was a special neurodivergent little kid and Sofie loved him with all her heart. Watching her interact with him just made him fall in love more every time.

~~~~

After instructing the kids to just make as many cards as they wanted, Pete sat down with Sofie at the table and proceeded to do his level best on a cat drawing for her. It was going fine (La Gran Gata had some feedback but he was doing his own interpretation!) until a little kid leaned over and suggested he add some glitter. So he did. The problem was that the lid wasn’t screwed on properly so instead of lining the cat in a circle of gold, he covered the entire card. And himself.

“You look like the craft store,” Sofia laughed, glancing up from her glittery cowboy hat drawing.

Pete stood up and shook as much glitter off of him over Sofia. “Congratulations on your infinite subscription to the craft store.”

Jacob, sitting next to Sofia, leaned over and whispered something in her ear then handed her a bottle of pink glitter.

“You’re right,” she whispered back. “Plus, I’ve signed up to clean up so it’s fine.” She stood up, which should’ve been Pete’s sign to run but he was too distracted by the way Sof looked with golden glitter cascading off her dress as she stood on her chair. Then she pulled the lid off the bottle and poured the entire thing over Pete’s head. “Welcome to the queer parade, Petey,” she said as she tossed him the empty bottle.

Now since children thrive in chaos- naturally, the little girl who’d suggested he add some glitter to his cat tucked a bottle of red glitter into his hand and pulled out a chair for him, presenting it with a theatrical sweep of her arm. Sofia had already redirected her attention to laughing with Jacob, so Pete hopped on the chair and poured the glitter all over his girlfriend. When Sofia turned to him, he shrugged with a smile. “Welcome to the club, bi babe. Do you wanna keep going? We have all day.”

Laughing, she shook her head and glitter went everywhere. “I have to finish my cards!”

“You’re right, me too.” He climbed down and inspected the craft area. “We’ve made a monster mess.”

Eyes full of love, Sofia looked at Pete. “Babe I think we are the monster mess.”

~~~

A few days after Valentine’s Day, Pete dropped by Sofia’s place as usual. “Sofia! I brought coffee!”

“Just bring it to the bathroom!” Sofia shouted back.

Pete stepped into the bathroom. At first, his focus was on trying to find a spot not occupied by hair products or makeup to set down her latte.

But Sofia caught his attention by saying, “Look what you did to me.”

When he looked up, he saw that she was in the middle of doing her hair. Her hair seemed shinier than usual in the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom. Upon closer inspection, he realized why - specks of red and gold glitter were still stuck in her hair.

He tried to hide his laughter by taking a sip of his tea, but it was unsuccessful. “Now your hair matches your sparkling personality.”

“Do you know how much glitter is covering my shower right now? It’s been three days and I’m still combing it out,” Sofia told him.

“What? You’ve been a hairdresser forever-”

“That makes me sound so old, Pete.”

“-And you haven’t figured out how to get glitter out of your hair?” he asked.

“I think I missed the course on glitter removal at cosmetology school,” Sofia deadpanned. “It’s a bit of a pain in the ass to get out. How can glitter just get everywhere?”

“At least you don’t have roommates who call a house meeting about why the bathroom looks like a unicorn threw up in there,” Pete said.

She rolled her eyes, but she still smiled as she put her hair up. “Please, pink glitter isn’t colorful enough for unicorn barf.”

“Yeah, you can tell Cody that.”

“Happy to.” Sofia turned to give him her full attention. “I thought I’d be easier to get glitter out of your moustache.”

He glanced in the mirror at the pink specks in his moustache. “I kinda rock the glitter moustache. Not as good as the feather beard, but the kids love it.”

“You’re making me wish I had short hair. Maybe then it’d budge,” she grumbled, taking a sip of her latte.

Pete chuckled. “It still took me a couple days to get it all out.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “But you rock it.”

“Well, of course I rock it, Petey,” Sofia replied with a grin.

“Oh, yeah, before I forget-” He managed to find a place to perch his tea to dig into his pocket. “We were so busy cleaning I forgot to give you my card.”

It was also quite glittery, but at least it matched her hair. She took it and read it aloud: “‘You’re the cat’s meow’? You’re such a nerd.”

“I’m sure La Gran Gata thinks so too,” Pete joked.

Sofia closed her eyes. “Oh, yep, she agrees. You’re a dork.”

“Okay, as a Vox I know you weren’t actually talking to her-”

“Hey,” she said, interrupting him. “It’s still cute, even if it is dorky. Let’s maybe step out of the bathroom so I can find yours.”

“Haven’t we had our closest moments in a bathroom?” Pete asked.

“True,” Sofia said, brushing past him. “But I don’t want the humidity messing with the glue.”

He followed her out into the living room, where she had ducked into the closet. It took her a moment, but she emerged with a familiar looking card in hand.

“Here you go.”

Pete accepted the card. It still had that glittery cowboy hat, way more colorful than the two he still had stashed in his closet. But in Sofia’s handwriting that was halfway between cursive and unreadable, he read the words, “‘You’re the yee to my haw.’”He looked back up at her. “You’re never gonna get over that cowboy hat, huh?”

“It was cute!” Sofia exclaimed. “Happy Valentines’ Day, Pete.”

He leaned in to give her a kiss. “Happy Valentines’ Day, Sofie.”

#tuc #the unsleeping city #sofia lee #pete conlan #sofiapete #the unsleeping city 2 #tuc2 #dimension 20 #d20 #freckles writes things #and alli writes things so #alli tag

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ginger-canary · 2 years

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Land on Your Feet by gingercanary

6509 words

Chapters: 3/3

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City II

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug/Sofia Lee, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug & Cody Walsh, Sofia Lee & Esther Sinclair, Sofia Lee & Em | Angel of the Waters, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug & Sofia Lee & Kingston Brown, Em | Angel of the Waters/Sofia Lee, La Gran Gata & Sofia Lee

Characters: Sofia Lee, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Cody Walsh, Esther Sinclair (Dimension 20), Em | Angel of the Waters, Kingston Brown, La Gran Gata (Dimension 20)

Additional Tags: Established Relationship, (Relatively Minor) Injury, This is going somewhere I swear, ADHD Sofia and Pete, Innuendos? Mayhaps, Polyamory

Series: Part 2 of I just think that Sofiapete

Summary:

I asked "so what if La Gran Gata influenced Sofia past the eyes" and we're going somewhere. It's just going to take a few chapters.

Read the entire thing under the cut or check it out on AO3

When Sofia made a deal with La Gran Gata, things didn’t change instantly. Well- apart from her eyes. No, certain things, details appeared slowly as La Gran Gata put more faith in her. She’d found out about the first one after the fight with the American Dream. She sat curled up on the couch, picking at her nails wondering how they’d gotten so long again. She had cut them two days ago. With a little glimmer, La Gran Gata explained.

Of course, they were cat claws. Sofia sighed. Short nails had become a thing of comfort for her- both as a bi woman and as a monk. If you were punching people you didn’t want your own nails digging into your palms.

Anyway, that was just one of the bonus traits. She became ridiculously good at keeping her balance, had the random urge to shove things off of tables sometimes, and she developed a keen sense of smell. With New York being as it is, she wasn’t happy about that last part. Pete’s roommates weren’t pleased with that one either, she could always smell who’d eaten the last bag of hot cheetos (and there was a simple rule about the Cheetos. If you finished the last bag, you had to restock).

There were some other things that she didn’t notice until others brought it up. Like Sofia’s affection for sitting on furniture that wasn’t meant to be sat on- she didn’t see a difference. There had always been something inherently pleasing about sitting where you shouldn’t, but some days Pete found her sitting atop the dining table with her breakfast in her lap. Lucky for everyone that Pete generally woke up first, though she had scared off a drunk Cody coming home at 6 in the morning. In his defence, where on the mortal plane had he gone because Sofie had seen a lot of bars and clubs but none of them warranted huge circular blue-tinted glasses. After he failed to stab her and she’d thrown her cereal at him, they decided on a truce and Sofie tried to be more careful. Or- less stealthy while sitting on the table.

Since Halloween, Sofie and Pete had been spending a lot more time at each other’s places. There wasn’t any way to be sneaky about it- no one came to Staten Island without a good reason, and since there was always the risk of being alone in a fight, the team shared their location with each other. This meant that they could check up on each other without it feeling oppressive. The dangers of both the sleeping and the unsleeping city left its mark on their subconsciousness, no matter how much they all wanted to deny it.

~~~

“Check his location,” Sofie groaned as she leaned against Pete’s shoulder. They’d been on their way back from a movie when they had passed an alleyway. You know, a classic one where you could find Sof on an average night.

One where a man was trying to intimidate women or nonbinary people into giving him whatever he wanted. Stained brick walls rose up past your perception, as large containers lined one side, overflowing with garbage you truly didn’t want to smell. There was a minimal amount of light from the main street casting distorted shadows, and that’s what had ruined Sofie’s evening. Even with her stronger sight, she hadn’t realised what she was up against until she punched it. Really hard.

Turns out that had been a concrete elemental. And Sofia’s right hand was absolutely broken. Pete wrapped his arm around Sofie as he pulled out his phone. As much as getting your hand broken by concrete was a human injury, they weren’t about to explain themselves at the emergency room by saying Sofie had punched a wall. He tapped Kingston’s icon in the Find My app. “We’re good, he’s there.” He tilted his phone for her to see.

“Good. I still can’t fuckin’ believe it,” she fumed. “November’s a terrible time to do my job- with everyone wearing big winter coats and shit.” She clenched her left hand around her wrist as the bus took a sharp turn. “Everyone’s lookin’ like someone this season.”

Pete nodded, keeping one eye on the upcoming stops. “If you hadn’t rushed in I wouldn’t have known either.” Over time, both of them had perfected the skill of talking about the Unsleeping City without talking about it. This was a particularly important thing to master considering no one in the team used a car. There were no ways to speak privately on public transport, so this masking was an obligatory skill.

The two of them got off at st. Owen’s hospital, hurrying through the hallways like they worked there. As much as hospitals exuded Ikea energy, they knew where to go.

Slowing to a stop, Sofia lifted her right hand to knock- then thought better of it.

“Yeah maybe not,” Pete muttered as he did the honours. From inside, Kingston yelled that it was open.

Sofia elbowed the doorknob, gratefully walking into the room. It was much warmer in here, but besides that her hand had swollen immensely and now resembled the colour of an eggplant. She’d been putting a lot of energy into ignoring the pain but now that she saw the inside of a hospital room, she was losing her focus. “Hey Kingston,” she said, waving her purple hand at him. “I’m going to need some help.”

Watching Kingston raise his eyebrows, Pete nudged the door closed behind him. This wasn’t a story for prying ears.

“What the hell happened?” Kingston gently took Sofia by the arm and brought her to the bed that stood against the wall. She’d started to sway on her feet, the pain making her unsteady.

“Yeah so, we were walking back from the movie theatre to my apartment,” Pete started, moving to Sofia’s side so he could keep her stable. “And someone- something was harassing a young woman in an alley and you know Sofia.”

“Uhuh,” Kingston replied. He’d retrieved a strip of ibuprofen and was pouring some water into a plastic cup.

“Right, so Sofia punched the figure in the stomach. And it turned out to be a concrete elemental.”

That distracted him. “Are you sure it was a concrete elemental? We haven’t seen any of those around in a long while.”

Sofia lifted her fucked up hand. “Oh, I’m fuckin’ sure.”

~~~

After the pain killers took effect, Kingston took Sofia for an x-ray which confirmed what they had suspected. Sofia’s hand was broken in several places. Kingston did what he could but healing bone takes time. The unsleeping city hadn’t found a way to improve what casts can do. And so, Sofia and Pete left Kingston’s office around midnight. Sofia armed with a box of moderately strong painkillers, and Pete with Sofie’s jacket. She couldn’t pull it on over the cast.

If you’d asked Sofia how she fared with her broken hand, she’d give you a vague answer and change the subject. The truth was, she wasn’t sure if she could do what she had to as a protector of the unsleeping city. When your main tactic is punching, injuring a hand is a major problem. As the nights grew colder, the city became more dangerous and darker things came out to play. What could Sofia do?

Pete nudged Sofie gently. “Hey, you okay? You’ve been doing that thing.”

Sitting up, Sofia curled her good hand around her ankle. They were sitting in the middle of Pete’s bed, grey light coming from the window. It was early, but that didn’t make any difference here. Traffic raced by as she tried to shake herself out of her thoughts. She stretched her shoulders. “Sorry. I was just… thinking.”

“I saw that.” He pulled Sofie between his legs and wrapped his arms around her waist. “What’s wrong?”

She leaned against him. “It’s not that complicated.” She held up her blue cast. “How am I supposed to be a protector of New York when I only got one hand?”

Reaching out, Pete covered Sofia’s cast with his hand. “You have two, one’s just injured. And you’re not alone, Sof. It’s not ‘the protector of New York City’, we’re a team and you know it. As long as you don’t go picking fights on your own it’ll be okay.” He moved both his hands to her hips, running them over the outsides of her thighs. “Plus, I’m seeing an opportunity for you here. You can become a kicking monk.”

Straightening out her legs, Sofia said, “kicking with my Louboutins?”

Pete followed her gaze to the discarded heels. “Okay so maybe we’ve got to find you some new magic shoes for now. But my point still stands, you can adapt. And you don’t have to do it alone.”

Sof stayed silent for a beat. Then, “if you can get me magic shoes I can kick with, I’m willing to try.”

Pete grinned. “That’s my girl.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, getting up.

“Don’t patronise me!” She yelled after him. He was already gone. With a sigh, she got up and followed him to the kitchen.

~~~

“Don’t pour a bowl of cereal,” Pete said when he saw her. He held up the milk carton and shook it as an explanation.

Sofie sighed. “I know we stay at your place a lot because it’s closer to everything but I have to say, your roommates make me feel like I’m back in college. Except you’re worse at convincing each other not to touch each other’s stuff.” Leaning against the kitchen worktop, Sofie pointed a hand at Pete. “Don’t even think about it.”

Pete froze, a can of red bull in his hand. He glanced from the can to his bowl of cereal, to Sofia. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He closed the fridge.

One trip to the store and a carton of milk later, Pete found Cody eating his bowl of cereal. With monster energy.

“Oh my god. Nevermind, I’m no longer hungry.” She rubbed her forehead and plopped down on a chair opposite of Cody.

“Good morning to you too?” Cody raised his eyebrows and kept eating the fizzy cheerio soup.

Pete pulled out two new bowls and poured cereal, followed by his new carton of milk. He pulled on the nearby drawer and grabbed two spoons. “Cody, dude. That can’t taste good. It can’t feel good either, what are you doing, don't you have to work today?”

“Oh don’t you get on that high horse now.” Sofia swivelled on Pete. “You had a can of red bull in your hand this morning, that’s only marginally better.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter how my body’s doing, I do my job the other way.” He waved a finger in the air, and Luna came out of invisibility for a second. Handing one bowl to Sofie, Pete joined them at the table.

Sofia groaned, her spoon halfway to her mouth. “Petey, I’m dating you. As much as I’m not dating you for your body, I ain’t kissin’ you if ya eat cheerios with red bull.” She took a bite and waved her empty spoon around. “Plus, ya gotta keep up with me.”

Cody pulled a face and monster energy shot out of his nose, sending him into a harsh coughing fit as Pete laughed at him.

“She didn’t mean it that way, she’s just quick in life.” He pointed to Sofie’s bowl, which was already half empty.

“Well…” Sofie pursed her lips, her eyes glittering.

Cody stood up, carrying his breakfast with him. “I gotta… get ready for work. And try to forget this happened.”

With the smell of monster energy cheerios no longer scorching his nose hairs, Pete got to focus his full attention on Sofia. “So what are your plans for today? I got a full day shift but I know they’d love it if you came and read to the kids at four.”

“Ah, right. I’m off work today, promised Esther we’d have coffee and I want to go see Em. I’ll see if I can drop by, but you know how Esther and I can be.”

“What do you mean? You can talk away the time with Em too. Oh, that reminds me.” He got up and moved to his cupboard, pulling out his med box and Sofie’s bottle of pills. He tossed it to her, then grabbed two glasses of water and sat back down.

“Thanks, I wouldn't have remembered.” She quickly took her meds. “Ugh, that taste is never going to get better. Anyway, you’re not wrong. But I told Esther about your idea and she wants to do some research.”

“My idea?” Pete blinked.

“Kicking bad guys. She wants to see if she can enchant some boots for me.”

Pete pulled a face as he swallowed his meds. “Oh yeah! It’d be cool if she could enchant them, then you would get to choose the shoes.”

“Yeah.” Sofie pulled Pete’s empty bowl towards her, getting up to put them in the sink. “I’ll text you about storytime though. Got anything to tell Em before I go?”

“Um. Not really, but give her my love. And yours too, while you’re at it.” He wiggled his eyebrows but seemed distracted, thinking about something.

She crossed her arms. “Are ya tryna suggest I should neck with the angel of the Bethesda fountain?”

Pete shrugged. “If you want.”

Considering it, Sofie replied “and you’d be cool with that?”

“Sof.” Pete got up from his chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I was there when you met Em. Yes, you can absolutely- what’d ya say? ‘Neck’ the angel of the Bethesda fountain. You still have to love me, though.”

Sofia snorted and kissed him. “I’ll let ya know what happens.” She left the room to grab her shoes and coat. Not her Louboutins though. With a quiet sigh, she grabbed the pair of running shoes she always left at Pete’s place.

“Good luck at work today, I’ll text ya.” Sofia kissed Pete goodbye, then pulled open the door.

“Hey-” Pete started, but he stopped himself. “Don’t forget to give Em my love.” He grinned.

“I’ll slip her some tongue for ya.”

“I dare you!”

Closing the door behind her, Sofie rubbed the bridge of her nose. It was going to be a different day.

Dropping by central park in the middle of rush hour was generally the best choice. No one paused when the Umbral Arcana failed for a moment and they saw you hugging a statue. It wasn’t hard to make Em happy, Sof knew how she took her coffee. Like a child. Considering Em was made in 1864, she was always fascinated with the progress that the world made as time passed. This also meant that when she learnt about syrups and whipped cream and sprinkles, she refused to take her coffee any other way. Kingston had tried to argue that it would be terrible for her health, but Em pointed out that she wasn’t human and really he had no idea. He gave up after that. So, Sofie brought Em the most sugary coffee possible, with a cream cheese bagel, naturally.

Sofia climbed onto the edge of Em’s fountain, careful not to jostle her coffees too much. “Good morning,” she said, holding out the bagel. “I brought ya breakfast.”

Em unfroze and stepped down from her platform. When she stood in the shallow pool of water, she almost seemed human-size. “You’re a darling.” She closed her eyes for a moment and the cold water dripping down her body dried. After Sofia placed the coffees on the rim of the fountain, Em carefully hugged her. They both sat down on the edge and Sofia handed Em her breakfast. She started eating it as they caught up, her wings curled around her and Sofia to keep them hidden with just a little extra Umbral Arcana.

“So, what’s been goin’ on babe?” Sofia leaned back against the gentle detailing of Em’s wings. The artist had taken great care when creating Em and Sofia was grateful every day. Sure, Em was cold-blooded and she didn’t need warmth but the artistry made her more alive- in a specific sense of the word. She shivered but refused to scoot away from Em.

Should’ve planned to meet back home, where they stored a little magic device that looked like a camera flash. Except instead of a bright light, this emitted a warm red glow only meant for Unsleeping City statues, allowing them to have a normal (maybe even a little high) human temperature. Allowing them to hug their humanoid friends.

“Hold on, honey.” With one hand on Sofie’s back, Em leaned down and pressed her hand to the flat of her fountain, right underneath a small sigil. The stone slab shifted out of the way with a quiet grinding noise. From under there, she grabbed a large blanket from under a beach towel. That one was meant for when Sofie came swimming in the summer or when she needed to take a dip in Em’s healing waters. She wrapped the fleece blanket around Sofie, then tucked her under her wing.

“You’re such a sweetheart.” Sofie pressed herself into Em’s side.

“Hey, you brought me breakfast. As for what’s been up, not much. It’s been pretty quiet now that all the nice weather runners are done. I managed to freak out a dude trying to rob someone last thursday. How about you? How’s your arm?”

Lowering her coffee, Sofia sighed dramatically and nudged her head against Em’s chest. “I want my fuckin’ arm back. How do left-handed people live like this?”

Em switched her sugary coffee to cup Sofia’s right hand. “They generally still use their right hand. But word is that you’ve been adapting?”

“Yeah… Pete suggested I’d become a kicking monk so I’ll be meeting with Esther to figure out how to infuse a different pair of my shoes with magic.” She kicked up her foot, letting Em look at her sneakers.

“It’s probably better for you and your Louboutins that you don’t go ‘round kicking enemies with those heels, yeah. But how about living life with your left hand? You’re a strong woman, you can adapt. Plus, I’ve seen your hand-eye coordination. It’s incredible.”

Sofie blushed, looking at Em from underneath her thick eyelashes. “You’re a flirt. My left hand’s…. becoming acceptable. It’s only been two days. I can eat cereal without it taking me half an hour.”

“I only speak the truth.” She moved her hand to Sofia’s left hand. “You’ll learn. As for breakfast, have you considered a bagel?” She raised her half-eaten bagel and gently booped Sofia on the nose.

Playfully wrinkling her nose, Sofia’s heart fluttered. “Gods, Em…” She raised herself onto her knees, facing her as her heart beat louder inside her chest. With her left hand, she fidgeted with the ratty ends of her sleeve.

With a little shake of the head, she refocused. See where it goes , she’d said to Pete. But Em made her feel an amount of joy that had to be expressed with movement. Neurotypicals had a tendency to call the actions stims, but to Sofie waving her hands and jumping up and down was the most logical expression of joy.

And since Em had caused this feeling, Sofia had to face it. Ignoring the nervous joy in her stomach, she reached out to cup Em’s face, fingertips stretching, betraying her heart. “Em, sweetheart… Can I kiss you?”

Em put down both items of her breakfast, her hands resting on Sofia’s hips as she maneuvered her so Sofia’s knees came to rest on either sides of her lap. Her thumbs were tucked into the belt loops of Sofie’s jeans. “What is your current relationship with Pete?”

Despite her nerves, Sofia laughed. She hooked her arms around Em’s neck. “He fuckin’ told me to give you my and his love. I don’t think he’s ever been more supportive of my choices- other than him of course.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Em pressed her lips to Sofia’s.

Sofia didn’t wanna pull back- oh absolutely not. But fuck man, Em’s lips were cold. Tugging the blanket tighter around her, she smiled and sat down on Em’s lap. “Next time we should do this at home,” she said, pressing her fingertips to her lips.

Em only laughed and echoed “next time?”

“Oh yeah.”

~~~

The library in the Gramercy Occult Society had only grown with wonder since Sofia had last seen it. A shelf that was previously filled with magical items and knick-knacks now held battered paperbacks and notebooks cinched together by elastic. When she looked closer, she could make out Esther’s messy scrawl on the notebooks’ spines. “Esther? I’m here, and I got ya snacks!”

Esther popped out from behind one of the tall shelves, wrapping her arms around Sofia and instantly pulling back. “Sheesh, is it this cold outside?” She did a double-take and squinted. “Why’s your lipstick all smudged?” Her eyes widened as she recalled Sofia’s plans. “Oh! It finally happened! Oh my god, what made you get to it?”

Sofia pressed her hand to her lips and playfully rolled her eyes. “Ah, fuck me. Get that grin off your face, not everyone needs to know.”

Esther raised her eyebrows, tucking her hands into the pockets of her wool cardigan.

“Yet,” Sofie added. “Where’s your mirror? I gotta fix this before other people figure it out as fast as you did.”

~~~

Both clutching large mugs of tea, the pair sat in the comfiest loveseat in the library. Esther had a large tome in her lap and was explaining animatedly how she might be able to cast the charm on Sofia’s shoes. That is, if she managed to take out the side-effect of said shoes randomly deciding that it was time to fly. Across the room, you could see an old pair of combat boots hovering, bumping against large shelves.

Sofia had half her brain focused on Esther’s complicated explanation. The other half was wandering around a bit. Back to Em’s kiss, and the all caps encouragement fully of love she’d received from Pete after informing him about the kiss. The way she hadn’t felt impaired by her broken hand in those moments. The ease with which she could kiss Em and pull her close.

Esther snapped her fingers in front of Sofia’s face. “Someone’s in love,” she teased, laughing and closing the tome on her lap.

“Ah, shut up. You know how long I’ve been thinking about Em.” Sofia shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind. “Anyway. You know what I want to ask, right?”

“Is it ‘what type of shoes do I need for this enchantment to work?’” Esther tilted her head.

“Yeah.” Sofia eyed the flying combat boots.

After doing a few mental calculations, Esther said, “sturdy boots or sneakers. But give me a day or two to figure out how to stop these fuckers from flying.” She eyed Sofia. “I was going to suggest we do one of our library days but you look like a lovesick puppy. Go make out with someone.”

Library days with Esther were usually some of Sofia’s favourite days. They’d curl up in a corner with a load of drinks, snacks, and Sofia’s yoga mat and they’d work in tandem. Sofia on her monk studies while Esther learnt more spells than Sofia thought humanly possible. These days were also the source of Sofia’s cantrips. But today she felt too restless to sit still, too restless to go through the motions of the old scrolls.

Sofia slumped against Esther for a moment, her hands tangling in the wool of Esther's cardigan. “I love you. You’re my best friend.”

Esther pat Sofie’s head with raised eyebrows. “I know. I love you too, where are you going with this?”

She opened her eyes and batted her lashes. “Don’t talk about my making out with Em to others yet.”

“I’ll agree if you’ll talk about it with me.”

“Sold. I gotta go, babe. Text me!” Sofia got up and started weaving through the shelves.

“You text me!”

~~~

Sof didn’t end up going to the read-along that afternoon. Instead she’d shot Em a text inviting her over, and spent the remaining time digging through her shoe collection to find her best combat boots. Sofie loved shoes, and Em was quickly learning what that meant.

“Do you actually wear all of these?” Em held up a pair of blue high top converse and clunky sandals.

“Yeah.” Sofie took the shoes from Em and tossed them in a pile, nudging her hips into Em’s hands instead. “There’s always a day to wear a different pair of shoes. It’s just that my louboutins are the only magical ones, so those are my constant.” She bent back down, trying to find a specific pair of shoes in the mess.

With the sunlight projecting its last rays through her window, she caught sight of herself in the nearby mirror. Her hair was a mess- even in the ponytail (courtesy of Em). The hoops she usually wore lay discarded on her bedside table and a dark hickey coloured the sensitive skin underneath her right ear. Sofia bit her lip and her eyes twinkled as she pressed herself against Em again. The boots could wait. Pete was on his way and he’d know how to make the process faster. Or at least, more fun. Sofia turned around and stood on her tippy toes, her left hand on the back of Em’s neck. She kissed her.

There was a new feeling that came with the scene in front of Sofie right now. She’d only left her bedroom for a little while to make everyone some tea, but when she came back, Pete and Em were using the Umbral Arcana to make her shoes skate across her room. Every pair fell in line, as Em and Pete weaved midnight blue patterns of arcane energy, their eyes shining with childlike glee. She deposited the mugs on her nightstand, then turned to her partners’ creation. “There they are!” With a triumphant move, she snatched a pair of red combat boots out of the lineup. The shoes instantly started tugging, eager to rejoin the party.

Lowering his arms in a swooping motion, Pete led the train of shoes back down to the ground. “That wasn’t so hard. We just had to spread them out.” He turned, inspecting the slivers of floor that were still visible beneath the layer of shoes. “Damn, Sof. This is an impressive collection.”

Her eyes narrowed but Pete’s words were genuine. “Thanks. They’re.. I just like variety. They all have special occasions- you know like how some outfit makes you feel powerful?”

Pete nodded but Em raised her eyebrows and looked down at her body.

“Okay, but you should always feel powerful.” She looked at Em. “Anyway, a few years ago I decided shoes that made me feel a certain way were worth taking good care of. But when you take good care of things…” She trailed off, waving around the room with her cast.

“Those things live forever?” Em finished.

“Yeah, pretty much. So now there’s always a low risk of an avalanche in my closet.” Sofia shrugged and plopped down on the edge of her bed, the combat boots in her lap. She toyed with the laces, her right hand limp and heavy on her thigh. Looking at the mess, she sighed and started to get back up.

“Nah, stay seated.” Pete pressed his fingertips against her chest. “We can clean up faster. Besides, you should rest.” When Sof raised her eyebrows, he said, “you’re healing bone! It’s going to tire you out.”

With only a little grumbling, Sofie sat and watched them magic her shoes into neat little rows back into her closet. Her heart purred in her chest at the sight of Pete and Em working together so seamlessly. Sure, everyone and their mother knew that Sofia had considered Em hot the moment they met. But there’s a difference between knowing the truth and acting on it. She’d been drunk, her heart had been a mess, and she’d barely understood what was going on.

With time, she’d accepted the whole mess for what it was and she’d started to accept the death that came with it. As she did, her heart had gone to Pete. Pete, who’d been inducted with her. Who had joined her in the fight against drugs and alcohol, who understood her heartbreak more than the others. Together, they started the uphill climb toward a better life. Together they had stayed. Pete had always known what was in her heart whenever she laid eyes upon Em, and he supported her with all of his love. In his eyes, there was no downside to sharing. His train of thought was simple; if it brought her joy and wasn’t going to harm her or others, he would support her.

And now she had taken the leap. Em stood there, as at home in her apartment as Pete, working in tandem with him.

For a second, she could hear purring near her ear and the bright outlines of her cat claws appeared. “Mija,” she heard as the weight of La Gran Gata solidified across her shoulders.

“Hey.” She smiled, bringing up her left hand and scratching La Gran Gata underneath her chin.

“You have taken the leap with Em, and landed on your feet.” The joy was audible in her words.

Looking back at her partners, Sofia whispered, “yeah. I did.”

La Gran Gata pressed her face into the crook of Sof’s neck. “In the future, you should have more faith in your abilities, mija.”

A tingle started in her neck, going from their point of contact down to her left hand. Once again, the bright claws appeared but her right hand was dimmer. Before Sofia could ask about it, La Gran Gata’s weight lifted from her shoulders. She raised her hand, tilting it back and forth to see if anything was different when Pete and Em turned back to her.

Pete blinked at her. “I know the answer to this question is probably no, but in the two minutes that we weren’t watching did you smoke some weed? I’ve only ever seen high people do that.”

~~~

Over the next few days, her adjustment to her cast seemed to become smoother. Sure, she still couldn’t twist the top of her meds bottle off- but she stopped instinctually reaching for things with her right hand. She stopped spilling half her drink whenever she poured from a carton, and she’d started pulling Pete in with her left hand. The first time she did that, he was so unbalanced he fell on top of her. Not that that was a real problem. They’d laughed and she had flipped them over with a grin.

Pete had started unconsciously adjusting to her new moves too. He started tilting his right side toward her in a kiss, letting her put her strong side forward. Whenever he handed her things, the direction was left, and he’d started walking on her right side so he could hold the casted hand, not her good one.

Every time Sofia noticed one of these things she felt a surge of affection for him.

They were standing in the kitchen of Pete’s home, making some dinner as Pete curled his long fingers into the belt loop of her jeans on her left hip. He pressed himself against her right side, his lips brushing the top of her head. “Hey,” he said softly.

She put down the knife she’d been using to chop up some veggies and intertwined her fingers with his. “Hey, yourself.”

“So I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh boy,” Sofia laughed, tilting her head to Pete.

“Hey, sometimes I think of good things! Anyway. You remember that time you helped us out at Uncommon Knowledge during Halloween?” Pete gently turned her around to face him, keeping his hands hooked into her jeans like anchors.

“Petey, that’s when we got together. Of course I remember.”

“And how that kid came up to you and asked where they could buy your book after you told the tales of our Unsleeping City?”

“Uhuh. What’re ya getting at?”

Pete bit his lip. “So since you can’t work right now, with the cast and all… I mean- we’d have to let Esther double-check everything and maybe it’ll go slower than usual but-”

Cupping Pete’s cheek with her left hand, Sofia brushed her thumb over his lip. “Are you trying to ask me to actually write a filtered book about the Unsleeping City?”

He blushed. “I just think you’d be good at it. I listened to everything you said that day and you didn’t just have those kids on the hook because they were there for a story. They wanted to hear this story. About their home and how it’s more magical than grown-ups want you to believe. About how there’s more than just high-rise buildings and smelly subway stations.” His eyes shining, he added, “it’s the kind of book I would’ve liked to read as a kid.”

Sofia moved her hand to the back of his neck and kissed him. “I…” She glanced down at her right hand and wiggled her fingers. “It’s going to be a slow process.”

Pete grinned. “So what you’re saying is yes.”

Sofia raised herself up on her toes, pressing herself against him. “Oh, fuck yes.”

~~~

Back home on Staten Island, Em’s visits became more and more frequent. It was a win-win situation since Pete could stay closer to his work (and not get up at “the ass-crack of dawn” as he put it) and Em could literally fly. She would never have to take the ferry. Having Em was special. For one thing she was glad to find out her bed was strong enough for her stone girlfriend. Esther had dug through the archives of magical items and found something to help them out.

You see, back when Anna and Amelia were young they were a little obsessed with Orlando and Rovias and all they wanted to do was pet them and brush their manes. Alexandro Ortiz couldn’t find it in his heart to not have their dreams come true, so he ended up inventing a little scanner quite like the one that let stone creatures have a human kind of warmth. This one let their stone skin soften into what they were made to represent, and thus Anna and Amelia could spend their time brushing the lions’ manes.

Now, the item let Sofia tangle her fingers in Em’s hair as well as move her clothing. Yeah, she was a big fan of that gadget. Mornings when she woke up in her wings’ embrace reminded her of just how much she’d grown to be a part of the Umbral Arcana- not just a watcher. With Pete, she never had bad dreams. With Em? She didn’t have to dream. Pete had visited her, late at night once and he’d told her that all he had seen was her room. Her bed, and Sofia wrapped around Em with raw arcana outlining them. If he squinted and looked real hard, he could see La Gran Gata- right there on the end of the bed.

There were moments when she would just stare out of the window, the document with ideas for the book left forgotten as she fell in love with them over and over again in her mind. Her mind had become a palace, and Sofia finally understood the phrase daydream.

~~~

After a few tries, Esther had managed to get the charm right and instantly texted Sof to come over. Considering the text was sent at 6 am, that maybe wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

“I’m here! What’s going on?” Sofia sprinted through the hallway to the library, Pete hot on her heels but breathing heavily.

Esther froze, a burrito halfway to her mouth. “Uhh. Did I forget to mention it wasn’t an emergency?”

“Yes!” Pete wheezed and collapsed on the nearest chair. “Gah, this is why I don’t run.”

Sofia reached out and absent-mindedly ruffled Pete’s hair with her left hand. “I have to ask, is that a breakfast or a dinner burrito?”

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Esther replied, “it’s too early for you to have had your meds, huh? Pete, I’m so sorry.”

Pete only glared dramatically and muttered something about “do not disturb”.

“Is it a dinner burrito though? I need to assess your level of sleeplessness,” Sofia repeated.

“Not today. Anyway, I apologise for the amount of stress I put on you both this early in the morning- I just managed to figure out how to charm your boots.” She waved a hand toward the corner where Sofia’s boots stood acting like perfectly inanimate objects and took a bite of her burrito.

“Ooh.” She moved to her boots and eyed them suspiciously. “You’re sure they won’t suddenly start flying?”

Esther, with her mouth full, made a noncommittal noise. “I mean,” she swallowed. “Magic never comes without any risks. I’d suggest you try them here so at least you’ll be in a controlled environment if something goes wrong. If you give me a few minutes I’ll stock Dispel Magic just in case.”

Sofia nodded and as Esther went in search of the spell, she turned back to Pete. Pete had instantly fallen asleep in the chair. She pressed her fingers to her lips, stopping a laugh. He really could sleep anywhere.

~~~

When Sofia didn’t start flying, her boots were given the all clear and she returned to training with a new kind of determination. With her inability to go to work, she committed all of her time to training and writing. She’d taken La Gran Gata’s words to heart and stopped being afraid to put force behind her left side. It wasn’t that both her hands were broken- she was adjusting to a new dominant side. Her new partners watched her grow within her skillset, proud of what she could do. But prouder of how she’d held strong. In the six weeks that her hand was healing, she became more powerful than she could’ve been before the injury. All she had needed was a little help. From both Esther and La Gran Gata.

But after her hand returned to normal, Sofia didn’t return to the right. She didn’t understand why- her right side was still her instinct. It was still the first punch she’d throw. But with a little warlock communication, she found out why. You see, cats have more dominant sides just like humanoids. And La Gran Gata’s dominant paw was her left. With that little bit of extra help, La Gran Gata had made Sofia ambidextrous.

And the first story she wrote with both of her hands? It was a little tale about a magical bodega cat.

#sofiapete #sofia bicicleta #pete conlan #dimension 20 #d20 fic #d20 #TUC 2 #the unsleeping city 2 #my writing #this is the most chaotic thing i've written #enjoy

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lovevalley45 · 3 years

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untitled ficlet #174

a/n: i often don't write author's notes for these smaller fics, but this is sort of a 'what if' scenario for my tuc fic, if it's all we ever wanted, then baby play along. up until i finally posted it, i thought abt rewriting the scene where sofia asks pete to be her fake boyfriend to be pete offering, but i never followed through. thus, i wrote this instead. enjoy!

When Pete had asked Sofia if she was free for coffee that day on a whim, he hadn’t known what he’d signed up for. It pretty much had been what he had expected, really - Unsleeping City business, catching up on more mundane affairs, and comparing the ways they avoided any sort of mention of wizards in AA or NA groups. Strange for other people, but normal for them. That was how it went.

They’d been talking for long enough for their drinks to start to get tepid, but neither of them were tempted to leave. It was always nice to catch up with the Dream Team, whether the circumstances - though usually, it was preferable if it wasn’t because of some disaster. Coffee after work was first choice over dealing with SantaCon.

And of course, seeing Sofia was always nice.

She put her latte down, raising a finger in the air. “You know, one of the worst things about being sober is that my mother suddenly thinks I have time for dating in my life,” she said. “She asked me if I was meeting with ‘just a friend’ while I was getting ready.”

“Very subtle,” he said with a scoff.

“I know.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s getting ridiculous. And if I say I’m busy, she just tries to tell me about all the other single men who go to our church. ‘Dot’s boy is single, do you want his number?’”

Pete knew he was no expert at getting parents off of someone’s back - his solution had been to run away to New York City, and that certainly hadn’t turned out how he expected. But an idea struck him. “Maybe... if you bring someone home, she’ll get off your back,” he suggested as he took a sip of his tea.

“What, are you on the set up Sofia with a man team too?” she asked.

“No, of course not-” He tried to act casual, shaking his head with a laugh. “Just bring someone home and say that you’re dating them. Then, in a few weeks, pretend you two broke up and mope around until she gets off your case.”

“Pete,” Sofia said. Her gaze was intense enough that he worried he’d overstepped, before she gave him a grin. “Has anyone told you you’re a genius?”

“This would be the first time in a while it was for a good reason,” he joked, playing off his nervousness.

“Well, that’s concerning,” she said bluntly.

“Yeah, a little,” he muttered.

She sat back in her chair, tapping the side of her mug. Though she was quiet, he could tell she was considering her options. He wondered for a moment if he was one of them.

“I’m free on Sunday,” Pete finally said, once she’d been lost in thought long enough to him to finish his tea. Sofia looked back at him, as if she hadn’t heard what he said. “If you’re looking for someone to pretend to date.”

He braced himself for rejection - somehow, the idea of her saying she wouldn’t even pretend to be with him seemed worse than if he straight up confessed and she said no. The moment he said it, those alarms in the back of his head went off that seemed to scream, Could’ve been smarter there, bud. He could play it off as just a favor - that’s what friends do for each other, right? Friends who complain about stale cookies at meetings together agree to pretend to be date each other to get persistent parents off their backs.

Well, okay, maybe she couldn’t do the same for him. Mostly because he didn’t want to have to pull her away from his dad. (She’d definitely win, though.)

“You’d have to come to Staten Island,” Sofia said finally. “You know that, right?”

It had the same time those alarms went off, that had hit him. Well. A worthy sacrifice. “Yeah, I know,” he said.

“You could sound a little less disappointed about it,” she teased. But she smiled at him over the table, leaning her elbows onto it as she sat forward. “My mother would love you… though I hope she doesn’t say anything about the age difference.”

“That’s the only thing you’re worried about?” Pete asked. There were about a thousand more things on his mind, ranging from accidentally letting it slip that though they weren’t dating he did have a crush on her to accidentally setting fire to a table cloth. The latter seemed less like since he’d gotten his magic back under control, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still worry.

“I probably would have ended up asking you anyways. Taking Ricky would feel awkward between me and Esther,” Sofia assured him. He didn’t know what face he’d made, but she added, “Don’t worry, you were only third on the list.”

It actually was reassuring, just a little. “I mean, it’s just one dinner, right?” he asked, trying to play it off. Casual, he told himself. It’s not a real date.

She held up a finger. “Only one dinner. Plus, free food.”

“Mm, yeah, free food.” Pete hadn’t considered the free food much. It was a nice bonus for probably making a fool of himself. “Sounds good.”

He was so going to have to ask Kingston for advice.

#alli writes shit #sofiapete #the unsleeping city #sofia lee #pete conlan #pete the plug

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ginger-canary · 2 years

Text

Land on Your Feet

(2403 words)

Chapters: 1/2

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Sofia Lee, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Cody Walsh, Esther Sinclair (Dimension 20), Em | Angel of the Waters, Kingston Brown

Additional Tags: Established Relationship, (Relatively Minor) Injury, This is going somewhere I swear, ADHD Sofia and Pete, Innuendos? Mayhaps

Summary: I asked "so what if La Gran Gata influenced Sofia past the eyes" and we're going somewhere. It's just going to take a few chapters.

First chapter below or try the link up top

There were some other things that she didn’t notice until others brought it up. Like Sofia’s affection for sitting on furniture that wasn’t meant to be sat on- she didn’t see a difference. There had always been something inherently pleasing about sitting where you shouldn’t, but some days Pete found her sitting atop the dining table with her breakfast in her lap. Lucky for everyone that Pete generally woke up first, though she had scared off a drunk Cody coming home at 6 in the morning. In his defence, where on the mortal plane had he gone because Sofie had seen a lot of bars and clubs but none of them warranted huge circular blue-tinted glasses. After he failed to stab her and she’d thrown her cereal at him they decided on a truce and Sofie tried to be more careful. Or- less stealthy while sitting on the table.