darlasfish

[darlasfish]

Darla nodded at the sage granny wisdom Webby shared, her expression saying, See? The ladies who have been around the block before know the way. Making food for someone was like a combination of acts of service and gift giving, if not a love language of its very own. Plus, humans could be very food-motivated creatures in general, so it couldn’t hurt getting on someone’s good side by giving them good eats. Despite their agreement on that piece of advice, however, Webby went on to question her affinity for proper mix-tapes.

“Okay, you could just make a Spotify playlist and call it a day, but so does everyone else,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “That’s the difference between a halfhearted effort and a real show of love. Taking the time to download and burn all the songs onto a physical disc, decorating the jewel case by hand—you just can’t replicate that digitally!” All the mix-tapes she had made for her friends over the years were a labor of love well worth the time and energy they took to make. “But if you wanna go the extra mile,” she added, “You make an online playlist too, add a QR code to the inside cover. That way they can listen anywhere, anytime!”

At the redhead’s affirmation, the blonde beamed. From an outsiders perspective, this entire conversation about trying to flirt and make random pick-up lines may come off as strange to them, but Webby was appreciating this entire thing. Not only was she learning how to potentially flirt with someone in the future, but this whole thing was helping distract her from her pervious state of mind. Things back at home had been getting better—she’s been going out more and doing her own things instead of wallowing at home all day—but Webby’s still be feeling kind of out of place at home. So this moment she’s having with Darla definitely helped her a lot. 

“Oooh, Granny has told me that the best way into someone’s heart is through their stomach, so baking makes a lot of sense!” The blonde commented, already getting excited at the prospect of going into step two of this flirting lesson she was getting. She also heard that making a personalized mixtape was also a way to whoo a person, but had thought that doing so had gone out of practice now that streaming had became a popular thing. “But isn’t making mixtapes kind of old-school though? Like, I guess we can burn a CD, but at best I know that people curate and share playlists with others instead of giving them an actual mixtape.” 

[darlasfish]

Darla cackled at Nemo’s reaction to realizing that any form of physical affection from her could go too far. She never meant to hurt him: she just had a problem with pressure control, but she was working on it and she knew he knew it too. Nemo seemed only half-serious about actually wanting her to stop; he didn’t flinch away when she moved as if to squish him, but she stopped herself anyway. She would give him a break, even if she wasn’t sure switching all those attentions to Finn was the right move either. For all she knew, biting him was the thing holding him back from wanting to be with her. She snorted at Nemo’s suggestion that the other guy would actually enjoy her love bites. “Sure he will,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief of her own words, but still halfheartedly trying to make Nemo jealous—until he called her out on it. How did he know her too well? Probably the years of friendship, but anyway…“So you want to be replaced?“ Darla cried, doing her best to sound scandalized. “Don’t even want to fight for the title?”

As she pointed out how hugging wouldn’t be any better than her biting, for a second he looked at her with confusion until her words finally hit him. Nemo groaned. “You’re right!” Just being within close range to her would be putting himself in the danger zone of some kind. Case and point, he squinted as the redhead lifted her hands at him, this time not stepping any farther away from Darla as he instead waited to see what she was going to do. She didn’t end up touching him, dropping her hands a second later and genuinely surprising him as he now blinked at her. That surprise did not last for long, however, as her following words only caused him to snort at her once again. “Please do.” Nemo remarked, more so half-heartedly challenging her than him actually being serious. If Darla wanted to bite the guy she liked in placement of him, she can go right ahead! Less bite marks for him to deal with! “I bet he’ll love being littered with extra bite marks from you— Maybe he already enjoys it.” Nemo now mused, kind of laughing at the thought. One would need to enjoy her biting them to get with Darla, that’s for sure. “And your new fishy, huh? You’re trying to make me jealous, but hearing that only makes me impressed that you really like someone else enough to consider replacing me. Never thought I’ll hear the day.”

[darlasfish]

“Pretty good,” Darla reaffirmed when Webby sought assurance that she had done well on her second flirting attempt. With practice, she could definitely become a pro. It seemed she wasn’t trying to put the moves on anybody just yet, which was good—it gave her time to develop her flirting skills before it actually mattered and she needed them for a real crush. When she did have her eye on somebody, however, Darla wanted to be the first to hear about it! She bounced a little in excitement at the thought.

“It’s always good to be prepared! When you do find someone you want to woo, we can progress to step two. Baking and making mix-tapes.” Darla was convinced her method of making a crush fall in love with you was valid, only it wasn’t exactly foolproof. She had done her best with Finn up to this point, but he still didn’t want to be with her. It wasn’t a matter of him not having feelings, though—it was just…complicated. She sighed. Well, if Webby found someone who was ready to be in a relationship, the tips to making them fall for her should still work.

“Huh, well when you say it like that, I guess not.” The blonde admitted after some thought. Then again, it’s not like Webby’s been paying attention to whoever the boys kisses or has been actively around whenever it happens. Sure, they’ve had girlfriends and boyfriends whom she’s met before, but even she knew when to give them privacy for things like kissing. So for all Webby knew, maybe talking about nausea had prompted someone in wanting to kiss Huey! But the more she thought on it, the girl doubted it, which is probably what Darla was trying to tell her. Talking about nausea or puking while trying to flirt with someone was not the way to go. Noted.

Hopefully, her next attempt had been better than her first one. Webby’s heard the saying of someone wanting to drown within another person’s eyes, especially if their eyes were blue, but the blonde wanted to use a line that could be more versatile. So when Darla told her it wasn’t the worst, she immediately perked up and smiled. “Yay! So I did good this time around?” Webby asked, as she admittedly was a bit worried of being told that she needed to come up with something else. Who knew flirting with someone can be so hard? And she wasn’t even actively trying to, but just practicing at that! “Oh no, there isn’t anyone.” The blonde replied, now shaking her head. “I just wanted to practice because….well, I’ve never flirted with anyone before, so I might as well learn how to be prepared to do so when the time comes, right?” 

[darlasfish]

“Hugging might not be better,” Darla replied, considering his suggestion. “I could hug really hard. Cuteness aggression is inevitable when you’re so…squishy.” She brought up her hands like she wanted to pinch his cheeks but kept herself in check, only pantomiming the action without actually touching Nemo this time. She was going to take his telling her to ask before biting as a sign that she might actually be allowed to smother him with her affections sometimes as long as she played her cards right, so she could hold back when necessary. Instead of pouncing on him like her instincts suggested, she focused on answering his question. Who else did she bite? “All of them.” She shrugged nonchalantly. It took some of her friends more getting used to than others, naturally—Webby was a fun one; she actually bit back. But the long and short of it was that Darla didn’t think she had anyone she considered a friend who hadn’t bit at least one time, just to try it. “Ya know, if you don’t want me to bite you anymore, I might have to bite Finn extra in your place. I really like him. He might even be my new fishy.”

Nemo did take a small step back once she bared her teeth, only to then shoot her with a warning ‘don’t you dare’ type of glare as he knew what she was thinking. At this proximity, Darla could try and bite him again if she wanted to, and he couldn’t complain when he deliberately put himself this close to her. But even if the redhead did try to bite him, he wouldn’t be too upset over it, yet that still didn’t stop him from giving her that warning look just in case. What Nemo didn’t expect, however, was for Darla to then pinch him in return as she cheerfully responded back to him consenting in her pinching him. “No— I mean, hug me if you want to show affection.” He clarified, with a half-hearted eye roll. “Or at least asks before you want to bite me or whatever…” He mumbled out the later, that statement showing proof how much he actually didn’t mind Darla’s antics despite this whole thing initially starting from Nemo complaining about it. “But you still bite! And you know what I mean— Squirt’s our friend! Obviously I’ve seen you bite him before. I meant who else? One of the triplets? Their sister? That guy, Finn, you hang around with?”

[darlasfish]

“Has saying that ever prompted anyone to want to kiss Huey?” Darla retorted, trying to make Webby see that certain topics—like nausea, for example—just because they could be involved in romantic feelings, that didn’t make them good things to talk about in an attempt to flirt. (And as an aside, if one was to mention it, a more romantic turn of phrase for that concept might be considered having butterflies. She might have to make notes for Webby. A glossary of appropriate terms.) After listening to the younger girl’s attempt to craft a pick-up line about eyes, Darla opened her mouth to give feedback but paused, somewhat confused. 

“It’s…not the worst,” she offered, trying not to be too negative or discouraging in this coaching session. “It’s not the best either…I could see someone liking it,” she decided, shrugging. Webby was quirky, and that kind of line could work for someone similar to herself. It wasn’t the safest bet to give any random person a line about their eyes being like black holes, but at this point, anything was better than puke, so Darla felt like they were definitely making progress. Besides, she realized, some people would say they were drowning in someone’s ocean-blue eyes which was just as morbid, so it was only fair for there to be an equivalent for dark eyes, right? “Okay, I think you’re on the right track! So…Is there someone in particular you’re trying to flirt with, or is this just for general practice?”

Webby wasn’t good at flirting. In all her years, she hasn’t ever had the need to flirt with anyone, nor has she ever had anyone flirt with her in return, meaning that there wasn’t a reason for her to try. She felt like being her usual friendly self was enough, but with all the changes that’s happened back at home, the blonde’s been feeling more lonelier than ever. Even Lena and Violet’s been busy for her, which soon prompted the blonde to try and get herself out there more. But in order to do that, she realized that learning how to flirt may be a skill she needed. “Why not? Lots of times I’ve overheard Huey say how he’s about to puke because of how nervous he was, and even Louie’s gotten a little queasy over romantic situations so I figured puking was very common?” The younger replied, a little confused. But if Darla told her not to bring it up, than Webby would make a note-to-self in not to. Instead, she was given a suggestion to say something more cutest, like talking about someone’s eyes. At that, the blonde perked up. “Oh, so something like —you’re eyes are so dark it’s like a blackhole and I’m going to get sucked right into it?!” 

[darlasfish]

“Yes.” Darla didn’t see why he had any trouble with the concept of being her fishy; it was quite self-explanatory. She adored fish and he reminded her of one because he loved swimming and was squishy and adorable. Like a fishy. Nemo’s mind, however, clearly just didn’t work the way hers did, and that was okay. When he countered her claim of wanting to pinch him by showing her what a pinch was, she bared her teeth in another wide grin. He didn’t realize what he was opening himself up to, did he? “So this is fine?” she asked, returning his pinch with the same small amount of force he’d used. “Good to know!” Actually, when she mentioned wanting to pinch him, she more-so meant targeting his face like an overly friendly auntie or granny might to a chubby-cheeked child, but he didn’t have to know that. “I don’t bite that hard…anymore,” she muttered, arguing against his claim that she left marks. Well, maybe sometimes. “It’s not a cop-out if I say Squirt! You said I don’t bite anyone else—isn’t he someone?”

The grin she flashed him did nothing to sooth his doubts, instead, it prompted a response of him rolling his eyes at her. “Because I’m your fishy.” Nemo repeated, now shooting a deadpan look back at her. This wasn’t the first time Darla called him that, it’s been a prominent nickname throughout all the years he’s known her, so he’s learned to take that as a compliment as it’s once again categorized as another way of her showing her affection to him. How being referred to as a fish makes him biteable? That should honestly be a concerning train of thought if he really considered it, especially as she explained that he was so squishy and biteable to her, but Nemo wasn’t worried. Darla was weird, he got that. “No, this is pinching someone.” He leaned over and pinched her against the arm. He didn’t do so harshly, barely actually pinching her bit leaving enough of a sting so she knows where he was getting at. “What you do is the complete opposite of pinching and actual marks are left sometimes!” Nemo pouted, the current expression on his face doing nothing than adding towards the cute aggression she has for him. “Do you?” He raised a brow. “And don’t say Squirt, because that’ll be a total copout.” 

[darlasfish]

Darla flashed a piranha grin at her best friend as he questioned exactly how personally targeted her biting habit was, and whether she was truly sorry. She had apologized and meant it…or at least half meant it. She was sorry for hurting Nemo, especially when they were kids and she really chomped down, but she found it hard to fully honestly regret expressing herself through love bites. She wasn’t stopping him from biting her back, if he wanted! It wasn’t her fault if he didn’t have the sensory urge to bite and make things even between them. “You’re my fishy,” she said, which was as much explanation as she could ever offer him for why he got special treatment. “You’re just so squishy and biteable! I wanna pinch you.” His cuteness provoked an aggressive response in her—that was a common thing, she had heard about it! “Besides, who says I don’t bite anyone else? Maybe you just haven’t seen it.”

"I'm sorry for trying to bite you so often." -Darla [ @darlasfish ]

“Are you?” Nemo questioned as he squinted his eyes at the redhead. “Because at first, I got it— you liked me, and biting me was your round about way of showing me that. Maybe not the best way to display affection towards someone, but I still got the gist of it.” It came with the price and knowledge of knowing Darla for years. She was a bitter. She has always been one long since he’s known her—she literally bit him hard on the arm when they first met back when they were kids before claiming that he was her best friend from that there one, she had terrified him—and oh boy, once she had gotten braces? The biting had been worst! But it’s also like Nemo said, he was aware she does so because it was her way of showing him affection. But after years of knowing Darla, both from back when they were kids to even now after he moved here and reconnected with her, he wasn’t so sure if the biting was because of how much she liked him or if it was because of something else. Because as far as Nemo knew—she doesn’t bite anyone else the way she does to him! “But now I’m starting to take it personal because you don’t bite anyone else! What gives?!” 

[darlasfish]

@webbiigaiil said: "Watch out, 'cause I'll compliment you until you puke.”

“Okay.” Darla couldn’t help but giggle. She wasn’t sure if that was just a warning before Webby got started or the first pick-up line attempt itself, as she had prompted her to try when her friend asked about how to flirt. Darla wasn’t a particularly skilled flirt herself, but she figured she could see what level Webby was at with a practice line and go from there, and…that was the immediate answer. “Maybe don’t talk about puke when you’re trying to flirt,” she offered for constructive criticism. But she still wanted to encourage her; no hope was lost for the girl’s quick-learning mind. “Have anything more cutesy? Like: do you have a map, because I’m getting lost in your eyes,” she suggested. “Or, if you don’t want a cheesy one-liner, you could just start with the compliment. You have lovely eyes.”

[darlasfish]

[darlasfish]

[darlasfish]

Darla had a stubborn heart. When she became fixated on a thing she wanted, a goal she dreamed of achieving, or a person she loved, there was almost nothing that could move her from that passion. Especially when she knew that something was right for her. She had moved to Echo Isle a couple years ago to pursue her chosen career path, and despite some natural homesickness and missing old friends and family, she had never regretted it because it was what she was meant to be doing. When she met Finn, not long after coming to the island, she had a feeling deep in her bones that he was a person who she was meant to be loving. Of course, it wasn’t the idealistic concept of love at first sight—if that existed at all, Darla was still a stranger to the experience. But it was an instant affinity, a sense that he was somebody she could easily grow to love, if they only had the chance to get to know each other. And that was exactly what had happened; they became friends and got closer and closer until one day she looked back and realized she had fallen completely for him along the way.

Her feelings weren’t a secret to him, Darla having confessed to him at some point and Finn having expressed that he felt much the same way, but didn’t want to date for the fear of ruining their friendship. That was something she’d had to accept, understanding that it meant he truly cared for her—and even if she was willing to take such a risk with the optimistic outlook that even if they’d tried to date and it didn’t work out, they would have made it out on the other side as friends nonetheless (or more hopefully that they would never break up at all) she could only respect his reservations. Since then they’d remained friends as usual, only occasional moments and meaningful glances bringing back to attention the fact that there were lingering feelings aside from platonic between them, though they’d always leave it unspoken. Finn had never done anything to lead her on or intentionally mess with her head after that, until the night of the Halloween masquerade ball. It was as if a switch had flipped halfway through the night, and after meeting back up when they’d spent some time chatting with other people, he acted more bold than he ever had, openly flirting with her and holding her close when they danced. Darla had thought it was a breakthrough, some epiphany that would lead to them finally getting together, and by the time they almost shared a kiss, her vision of their future happiness was shattered with only a millimetre of space between their lips when Finn pulled away.

There were a lot of emotions wrestling for dominance in the moments after he left her standing out there on the dance-floor alone. Humiliation and indignation were in the ring, but the hurt was what stuck around after the fight fizzled out. The hurt was was what lingered as she spent the rest of the night trying to find other dateless friends to hang out with and try to enjoy the party while it lasted, even though she’d been hung out to dry by the one person she had wanted to spend the evening with…As she made her way home and held in her tears until she was in the privacy of her own room…As she turned a heartbreak playlist up to maximum volume and allowed herself to belt out her pain. She gave herself a night to feel her feelings, and then she pulled herself together. There was no part of Darla that assumed malice on Finn’s part—she knew him too well to misunderstand his intentions like that. When he flirted with her and came a breath away from kissing her, that wasn’t a cruel joke or meaningless fun that he decided to cut short for no reason. He’d gotten scared and couldn’t follow through with what he wanted; she could see it in his eyes before he left. Now he was too scared to face her, ignoring her text and letting her go to voicemail when she called. Darla wanted to shake him. What are you so afraid of?

Instead of continuing to pester him when he didn’t respond, she waited for him to reach out, and when that didn’t happen after another day, she readied herself for an in-person confrontation. He couldn’t expect her to let him go without ever speaking again, so he’d chosen the hard way himself. That meant Darla baking a batch of cookies and showing up on his doorstep uninvited. “I would have told you I was coming, but you wouldn’t have picked up my call,” she said pointedly as he started to question her unexpected visit, further explaining, “I didn’t know you’d be here, so I took a chance.” Then she held up the box of cookies in her hands, adding, “And I made snicker-doodles, because I know you like them, but they’re not your favourites and I don’t think you deserve jam thumbprint cookies right now.” The gesture meant: even if you hurt me, I still love you. Even if I’m mad at you, I still want you to have nice things. It also meant: things don’t always have to be perfect to be good. In short, the cookies meant a lot of things she hoped translated without needing to be spelled out, but she would put into words if he still didn’t get it. “Are you going to invite me in?”

"I thought you'd like this." -Darla [ @darlasfish ]

“Darla!” With widen eyes, he stared at the redhead who stood before the entrance of his apartment door. To say he was expecting to see her would be an understatement, as if anything, Finn would’ve expected that seeing him was the last thing Darla wanted to do right now after what he did. And why would she, one may ask? Because ever since the night of the Halloween ball, Finn has been avoiding the redhead any chance he get’s. He knows, it was a asshole move of him to do especially to someone who he views as one of his closes friends. No, she was more than that. Darla was someone special to Finn. So, why has he been avoiding her for the past couple of days then if she was? Because Finn was ashamed, and he didn’t know what to do other than keep his distance from Darla for the time being after everything that happened at the ball. 

See, the night of the ball had been an unexpected one. What began as a night of them enjoying themselves together, turned into one where he found himself having feelings for someone else he didn’t even know. A crush at first sight as he would like to say, towards a blonde who was as sweet and kind as anyone could be. It came to a point where he was almost compelled in wanting to get to know Ella more, but then the second he had the chance to look back at Darla, it was as if reality crumbled down onto Finn before he realized what he was doing. He liked Ella, sure, but at the sight of the redhead, he was then reminded of the fact that he had feelings for her too. Stronger feelings than some measly crush. And she felt the same way he did too. Right then and there, it was as if his focus shifted once again, only this time he had the courage to do the one thing he wouldn’t let himself do before despite knowing how she felt about him— he openly flirted with Darla. And he kept on doing so throughout the night, the pair becoming even more touchy and affectionate than ever before, so much so, it came to a point where the two of them were about to kiss. But just as her lips hovered his own, Finn pulled away. 

That’s why he’s been avoiding her. He freaked out after realizing what was about to happen, and after moving away from her, he did the dumbest thing known to man and apologize to her before leaving her. Alone. Finn’s been beating himself up mentally ever since, yet he couldn’t find it in himself to go to her and apologize for it. Even when she tried to call or text him, he hadn’t responded and after a day ago, she stopped completely in contacting him. That’s why at the sight of her now had stunned him. More so, when he finally noticed the container of baked goods she held within her hands. “I-Is that….what you’re here for?” He questioned while pointing at the container, unsure of how else to react. “Thank you, b-but you didn’t, I don’t…….how did you k-know I’ll be home?” 

[darlasfish]

     “Next time,” she offered optimistically. She didn’t know how often Cubby came to the beach, let alone whether he’d venture back to the tide pools alone without his trusty tour guide Darla, but it was worth suggesting on the chance that he might. As he returned the nudge that she started and questioned her plans for all the treasures she was collecting, she scrunched her nose. “Arts and crafts, mostly. I could make jewelry or use them to decorate picture frames or something. Have you ever done seashell crafts? Or are you just a wordsy-artsy person.”

continued from here

Cubby smiled in return, taking the bag from Darla without a second thought as he followed alongside her. He didn’t venture to the beach often, but with the weather warming up for summer, he couldn’t resist. “Sure! Lead the way!” He adjusted the bag on his arm as they continued forward. “I haven’t — but that sounds pretty awesome. Maybe I should’ve brought my notebook with me,” he nudged her shoulder in return before motioning to the bag. “So what do you plan to do with all these shells?” @darlasfish​

[darlasfish]

@deweydewdrop​ (continued from here)

“Ohhh, what is it, what is it?” Dewey asked eagerly, eyes widening in surprise before he forced them shut. He held out his hands as requested, racking his brain for ideas on what this surprise could be from Darla. “Is it a treasure map? Concert tickets? A new dew-tective hat?”

~

     Darla let out a short laugh that was really more of a snort when Dewey posed his guesses as to what his surprise gift was. Just where on earth was she meant to get a treasure map? At least he had provided some great ideas on what to get him next time that he was sure to love. “It’s not concert tickets, but—” She placed a hand-decorated CD case in his hand and finished, “—I hope you like it anyway!”

[darlasfish]

webbiigaiil​:

Even if being found out that she’s never drank before shouldn’t be so embarrassing, the blonde couldn’t help but shoot a small and embarrassed like smile at the redhead. It would’ve been nice if she knew how to play up this lie better if only to have herself fit in better with everyone else around here, but Webby wasn’t known to lie so great. But instead of laughing at her or calling her lame or anything like that, the older girl just took the red cup from her and reassured Webby that even if she had drank it, it wouldn’t make her drunk. She even reassured that she didn’t have to drink if she didn’t want to. “To be honest, I don’t actually know if I do want to drink any of this stuff?” The girl confessed, scrunching up her nose a little at the way the other cringed once she took a sip. “What’s even the appeal for beer when it doesn’t taste good? Like, wouldn’t you rather drink something you like and tastes good than…..not?”

.

     “Some people like beer,” Darla replied fairly. Apart from the matter of differences in taste, there were more reasons it was the drink of choice for many, but Darla herself wasn’t particularly passionate about it, so she shrugged even as she explained. “For a social drink—you can have more of it without getting as drunk as with other kinds of alcohol.” She almost went into a detailed explanation of alcohol by volume but caught herself before info-dumping and redirected to the main point of the conversation. She could see that Webby was a little embarrassed about not wanting the beer even despite her reluctance to try it, like thought she was supposed to want to. Darla understood that feeling all too well. “If you just want a soft drink or water, don’t feel bad about it! Drinking is supposed to be for fun—it’s no good if you feel pressured into it.”

[darlasfish]

[darlasfish]

"I just thought you'd like some company." -Cubby

“You thought right!” Darla smiled at Cubby and automatically handed him the small cloth bag she’d had tied around her right wrist, shells and sea glass jingling inside. Hung in the crook of her left elbow was a larger canvas tote bag she used to collect any trash she came across; cleaning up wasn’t the purpose of her beach walk, but she wasn’t going to ignore the litter either. “Wanna walk down to the tide pools with me?” she asked, needless considering he had already offered his company, but it seemed appropriate to make conversation about their destination, let him know where they were heading. “They’re just amazing, if you’ve never been. Poetry-inspiring, even.” She knocked her shoulder against his, a playful invitation for him to talk about his art if he’d written anything lately.

@colincubs

[darlasfish]

@ncttagppy (continued from here)

Finn wasn’t expecting to attend this party when he first heard about it. Yet, it was one thrown by an ex of Ariel’s and his best friend were invited, so of course Finn found himself tagging along as well. And for the most part, Finn stuck with his best friend, drinking away in order to ease the nerves of being surrounded by so many people. He even ran into a few of his friends, the glow stick crown Lil had placed on top of his head earlier still very much there though it was glowing a lot less by now. It was nice, it was fun, and he thought that he would be able to stick it out for the rest of the night until whatever time he and Ariel decided to leave. But then he lost sight of his best friend somewhere within the crowd, leaving Finn alone within the cramped apartment. Surrounded. He inhaled deeply, the buzz from his last drink slowly fizzing away as the usual nerves began to reappear. Maybe. Maybe he just needed to go and get another drink. Yeah, that’ll work. He began to move through the crowd of people, bumping shoulders with them all, and even at one point a random person even grabbed his arm and insisted he dance with them. Inhaling deeply once again, he quickly shook his head and denied the offer before pulling his arm away. A few minutes and more bumping around later— he finally made it to a less crowded area.

Leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, Finn placed a hand against his chest and felt the racing of his heart. Okay, maybe he shouldn’t be looking for another drink right now. Not until he can calm himself down a little. Re-opening his eyes, Finn then jumped— startled at the site of Darla before him. “Darla!” He cried, not expecting her to be here. He hadn’t seen her all night, so he hadn’t been so sure if she came or not. Then noticing the concerned look on her face as she said those words, Finn found himself slowly nodding at her in response. “Y-Yeah…..I think I do.” Was all he said before being engulfed by the familiar comfort of having the redhead’s arms around him.

     Had Darla known Finn would be present at the lost boys’ party, she would have come sooner. She didn’t spend much time with that whole friend group, but she was close enough with Cubby to have secured a personal invite to the big night. It seemed like every twenty-something in town was here, some of whom she recognized and others who were still strangers. After mingling with some of her friends she’d found among the crowd—the Duck brothers and Webby and even Angelica were all in attendance—she saw Ariel and knew Finn must be around somewhere. This didn’t exactly seem like his scene; the room was so stuffed with people that Darla herself was beginning to feel overstimulated, and she knew Finn was prone to anxiety. Especially if he didn’t have his best friend by his side. It was somewhat unsurprising to find him the way she did, hand against his heart as if to make sure it didn’t jump out of his rib-cage. She regretted startling him, but when he accepted her prompt for a hug she figured it was all right and wrapped her arms around him.

     She slipped into the now familiar role of soothing him through his anxiety attacks; Darla knew Finn could get through without her guidance, but it couldn’t hurt for him to know she had his back. “Focus on my breathing.” She controlled her breaths at regular intervals, deep in, hold, long out, her chest rising and falling against his. “Until everything else fades away.” When his heart was no longer pounding, his own breaths more steady, she let him go, stepping back to give him some space, but not too far. “Let’s get some air, yeah?” She led their way out of the claustrophobic atmosphere, onto the lawn where some other party-goers were taking similar breaks from the noise.