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sentientcave · 2 months ago

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Let's Riot! Otherwise known as the gay roller derby AU

Part 2

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Contains: Lesbians! Almost everyone is a woman (Alex is NB and there are like. A few men mentioned.) and most of them are gay, OCs: Readers and OCs from a bunch of my projects and also Bambi and Bricks who belong to the esteemed @dragonnarrative-writes , Roller Derby!, complicated dating histories

~3.2k - 18+ MDNI

Morgan noticed the set of big boots, and slid out from under the car she was working on. From far above, Simone looked down.

Simone was Jo's friend and teammate, a big, handsome woman, blond hair left just long enough to curl on top of his head and clipped short on the sides. Silver earrings glinted when he shifted on his feet.

"Ronnie said y'might be hirin'," he said, wasting no time with pleasantries. It was one of Simone's best qualities, in Morgan's opinion. The ability to get to the point.

"Thought you worked for Thompson's Garage, across town."

"Yeah. Did. Might've punched 'im f'r cornerin' some poor girl with a cracked radiator an’ offerin’ ‘er a discount for… services rendered. Told 'er t'come 'ere, boss told me t'get lost." He scowled, flexing his hands, clearly still upset by what had happened. It must have been a good punch, judging by the purple bruise on his left-hand knuckles.

"What do you get paid there?"

"Twenty an hour."

"Shit, he was cheating you. Alright, move so I can get up." Morgan slid the rest of the way out from under the vehicle and accepted Simone's hand up. "Come on, let's get the papers sorted. I usually pay thirty to start, but I don't think you're the type to slow roll work, so I'll start you at thirty five, go from there. There's overtime if you want it, I'm here five to five Monday to Friday. You came at just the right time, I was gonna post an ad today. But Bricks knew that."

"She's been tellin' me t'come work for you for ages. Didn't realize you paid so well."

"I'd rather pay a few competent people than deal with an army of cheap idiots. I don't have the patience for it." She led Simone into the main office, where a young woman with red-rimmed eyes was handing her keys over to Nova. She gave Simone a watery smile as they passed by.

"I thought you'd be more'f a cunt," he admitted. "Jo said you were. But I guess Ron wouldn't've become your friend if you were as bad as all that."

"I am a cunt," Morgan said, dropping into her chair and fishing her keyboard out from under a pile of invoices. "But not if you don't deserve it. Jo deserves it."

Simone chuckled as Laika unfolded herself from the dog bed in the corner and came over to sniff her boots with interest. "Well. Sometimes, yeah."

"That's Laika. She's a terrible guard dog, but perfect otherwise. She's usually with me, in here, or politely begging for someone else's lunch. Don't fall for it. I think it's clear she's very well fed. Sit, please."

Both Simone and Laika sat down and looked at her expectantly.

Morgan bit back a laugh. "Alright, let's get you set up."

Once she had all of Simone's information, she set him up at the computer to do GHS training and went back out to the garage. The radiator job was an easy patch, and she made a note to order a replacement before the thing started leaking again, and didn't charge for the temporary repair, which had her awkwardly standing there while the poor woman cried on her shoulder and unloaded about the truly terrible month she'd been having. Morgan made her some tea and sat with her until she felt steady enough to drive, and then rushed through the rest of her work so she could leave a bit early and drop by the shops on the way home. She'd asked Simone what kind of pie Jo liked, and received the deliberately unhelpful response of "Peach, prob'ly." Followed by a chuckle and a sly look.

A comedian, clearly.

She decided, perhaps a bit vindictively, to make something with a mix of blueberry, black currant and blackberry, so it would stain one of Jo's perennial white tank tops permanently if she got any on herself.

Laika hiked herself up onto the couch as soon as they got into the flat, clearly exhausted by the extra two blocks they had walked to get to the grocery store. Morgan envied her ability to relax so thoroughly so quickly.

She changed out of her work clothes and scrubbed all the dirt and oil off her skin, careful to get every bit from under her nails, and got working on the pie, keeping an ear out for the sound of Jo's door slamming closed to signal her return.

It was mortifying to walk down the hall with the still warm pie, wearing a skirt and a half un-buttoned button up shirt tied around her waist. She wasn't sure if she hated Bricks more for the suggestion that she wear something low cut, or Jo for the way her eyes instantly dropped, first to her cleavage, and then to the pie.

"Well hello. You in a better mood today, sweetheart?" Jo leaned into the doorframe, her black, sawdust covered t-shirt tight around her arms and riding up just the slightest bit, revealing a slip of skin and a peek at the elastic from her underwear.

"Yes. Much better. Thank you." Morgan held out the pie tin, trying her best to ignore the smell of wood shavings and sweat that rolled off of Jo. "Will you please let us use your warehouse as practice space until we can find somewhere else?"

"Hm. Maybe. Why don't you come in for a minute? Can't let you do all that work without gettin' a taste yourself."

“No, that’s fine, just take this and let me know what you decide.”

“Hm, no. Come in, make me some tea while I pop in the shower, then we’ll talk.” Jo gently dragged Morgan inside, then closed and locked the door behind her. “I’m sure you can find everything you need. Kitchen’s laid out just like yours.”

Their apartments were basically identical, just mirrored, and Jo’s was lacking in a certain level of coziness. She had nice furniture, solid wood kitchen table and chairs, no doubt made by her own hand, an overstuffed leather couch, nice bookcases, but there weren’t many personal touches, even though Jo had lived in the building for years longer than Morgan had. The walls were still beige.

Morgan set the pie down on the counter and glanced back over her shoulder. Jo already had her shirt off, and was just hooking her fingers under the edge of her bra as she started down the hallway. The well-defined muscles in her back flexed and then relaxed, her torso twisted back toward the kitchen. Morgan’s eyes flicked up, catching Jo’s smirk. She looked away and grabbed the kettle, hoping to avoid any further conversation for the moment.

Jo laughed, and a moment later, the sound of her shower started. Morgan turned on the kettle and sat down heavily. Jo was clearly going to take advantage of her forced civility for her own entertainment.

Well, at least someone was having fun.

Of course, getting flustered or mad was only going to encourage her. Morgan needed to get a hold of herself. Jo was just toying with her like a cat with a mouse.

She plated two slices of the pie, made tea, and sat down at the table to wait. The shower shut off only a few minutes later, and not long after that, Jo came back down the hallway, towel-dried hair finger-combed back from her face, wearing sweatpants and a tanktop that stuck to her wet skin, the white fabric just the slightest bit see-through.

“Thanks, pet. Didn’t mention before, but you look cute. Don’t think I’ve seen you in a skirt since you went on your last date.”

“I don’t have a lot of occasions to. Now, can we—”

“It’s a shame. You’ve got nice legs.”

“Jo, please. I’m going to lose my temper if you keep this up, and I’m trying very hard to be nice.”

“I’m complimenting you.”

“You don’t mean a word of it, you just enjoy torturing me. Now, about the warehouse.”

Jo hummed, picking up her fork and using the side of it to cut a bite sized piece off the slice of pie on the plate in front of her. “I suppose we can give it a trial run. We practice Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Can you work around that?”

Morgan grimaced, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “We’re Tuesdays and Thursdays right now. Billie and Dancer can’t do Wednesdays, Kitty’s got late classes Monday and Friday. I suppose it’s alright if some of us can only make one practice a week, but Kitty and Dancer are our newest skaters, they could use the extra time.”

“Are they available on Sundays?”

Morgan shook her head. “Sweetpea volunteers through her church, I don’t think she’d want to give that up on an ongoing basis.”

Jo made an appreciative sound as she chewed her bite of pastry and berry filling. “Hm. S’pose we could shuffle things about a bit. You can ‘ave Tuesday.”

Morgan nodded. “Okay. Maybe we can make it an extra long practice to make up for it.”

Jo was silent for a moment, thinking it over. “Want to make it interestin’?”

“Almost certainly not.”

“Hear me out, sweetheart.”

“Alright. Fine. What do you have in mind?”

“We’ve got that match tomorrow. If your team wins, you get Tuesday and Thursday. We’ll move things around. And if we win, I’ll still let you have Tuesdays, and we can share Thursdays.”

“That’s it?” Morgan asked. Maybe Jo wasn’t as bad as all that. “When you said make it interesting I thought you’d make it— Well, I thought you were going to be awful.”

“You want me to add some personal stakes?” Jo asked, her eyes glittering with mischief. “I can if you like. I’ve had a few thoughts. You comin’ over here all cute with baked goods gives me a few more.”

“I do not need to hear those thoughts.” Morgan stood up, smiling tightly. “That’s an acceptable wager. It would be nice to have enough people to run the occasional scrimmage with. I’ll let the girls know. Thank you.” She quickly walked out the door and into her own apartment without looking back, closing the door firmly behind her.

She picked up her phone and pulled up the Riot groupchat.

CpnMorgan: Going to the disco. Anyone up for it?

Chelsea watched the other girls move around the roller rink, sitting on the table with Bricks between her knees, her arms looped around Bricks’ shoulders. They were on guard duty while the others had fun. They’d swap back in when someone else needed a break. “Well, it’s a good start,” she said.

Apparently, Bambi and Doll had been on a double date, but they were skating in sync, moving to the music, and their dates were nowhere to be seen. Dancer was spinning like a top in the centre of the rink, ballet skills on impressive display. Billie wasn’t there yet— She had promised to read Ellie the next chapter of some story before bed, and then Roach’s mother was going to keep an eye on her so that Billie and Roach could both come out. Sweetpea, Bunny and Kitty were talking and skating, Bunny moving backward so she could look at both of them while they chatted.

Morgan was obviously pissed, despite the good news. She was doing hard laps, weaving through slower skaters like they were obstacles in a course.

“It is,” Bricks agreed. “Honestly Jo and Morgan had an entire conversation without Morgan swinging on her. That’s not nothing.”

Chelsea hummed in agreement. “Are the Femmes coming here tonight? I know you texted Simone, but you didn’t say if she responded.”

“He,” Bricks reminded her idly, picking up her phone to check. “He sent me a thumbs up.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It could be a yes, or a good to know. I’ll ask Kylie.”

“I think that’s Farah and Alex— Hey!” Chelsea waved at the couple that just walked in. They beelined for their table, hand in hand.

“This is a regular date spot for those two.” Bricks sat forward a little, beaming. “Hey kids.”

“Nice to see you, Ronnie,” Alex said, giving her a nod and a wide smile. “Princess Peach.”

“It’s been too long. Excited for the game tomorrow?” Bricks asked.

Farah dropped onto the bench beside her. "You bet. I love playing teams that don't spent the whole game trying to foul us out. And your newbies are so cute." Farah wiggled her fingers at Kitty as she rolled past, which made her stumble and nearly fall over, or would have if Sweetpea and Bunny weren't right there to catch her.

Chelsea laughed. "She is cute. Kitty gets so flustered when anyone flirts with her."

Alexis sat down as well and pulled their skates out of their bag. "You just handed us a secret weapon to get through your line," they joked. "You're so doomed now."

Farah laughed and swatted Alexis' knee. "She's a jammer. It wouldn't help."

"Damn."

"Actually, we train for all positions," Bricks said. "Morgan thinks it makes us better all round, and I think she's right. Kitty can block. She would have a hard time blocking your team, since most of you are behemoths."

"They forgot to give me the growth serum," Farah said solemnly. "I didn't make it to practice the day Jo was handing out shots. She gave Simone a double dose instead."

"That explains everything." Bricks glanced at her phone again. "Do you know if Simone is coming tonight?"

"They're at The Dragon," Alexis said. "Simone got a new job today and Jo is upset that her girlfriend of the week is mad at her or something, so Soap's gone to encourage bad behaviour and Kylie's gone to keep an eye on them. Macy works early tomorrow so she's probably already in her bonnet."

"Naturally." Bricks tipped her head back to look at Chelsea. "You mind if I do a couple circuits with these two? They love a third wheel."

Alexis grinned. "More like wheels 17-24."

Farah groaned. "You are getting as bad as Simone."

"And yet, you still love me."

"Till the end of time, habib albi." Farah reached for Alexis' hand and kissed the rose tattooed on the back of it.

The three of them stood together and zipped off for the rink, leaving Chelsea alone at the table, although she suspected not for long. Morgan was still going hard, but Dancer was meandering with the others now.

Bricks (on top of being tall, curvy, and gorgeous) was a genius. Getting the Femme41s and the Riot together just made sense. Both of them without a full roster, each team with practically opposite strengths, Jo with her very convenient access to actual space. If it weren't for Morgan and Jo's silly little fight, they would have suggested it full out.

As it were, Bricks was scheming, which was always a pleasure to watch.

Farah and Alexis were an easy sell. They could get along with almost anyone, and they weren’t intimidating like Simone or Jo.

Sweetpea and Kitty hopped out of the rink to get a drink. Kitty started unlacing her skates, clearly spent for the evening.

“This place rules,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s not busier.”

“I’m glad it’s not,” Sweetpea said. “Although I’m also concerned that means it won’t be open for all that much longer.”

“If they sell this place for condos I’m really gonna riot,” Chelsea grumbled. “Morgan talked to the owner already, said that she should talk to her if she decides to sell, or if any offers get made. I think she’s secretly wealthy or something. Sometimes she gets talking about learning to fly in her dad’s plane when she was young, or growing up travelling all over and I think, hm.”

“She also always picks up the tab,” Sweetpea pointed out.

“Then why would she work so much?” Kitty asked. “Doesn’t make much sense.”

Chelsea shrugged. “Maybe she just likes to work.”

Sweetpea hummed. “I’d believe that. But whatever. I’ve got a date Monday night and I’d like some opinions. We’re just going for a coffee and a walk by the river, so it’s gotta hit cute and casual, yeah?” She grabbed her phone to show them her outfit options.

Sweetpea was the kind of person who took pictures of every single item of clothing she had, so she could catalogue them and put together outfits paper-doll style on a picture of herself while she was bored at work. A lot of her clothes were handmade, or up-cycled thrifted items, and she sold them too. Chelsea had a rack of Sweetpea’s one-of-a-kind items in her shop, and some of Doll’s paintings on the wall. It was nice to be able to support her friends a little.

Plus, Sweetpea had custom made Chelsea’s favourite jacket, pink denim with a quilted bird on a branch on the back. She never went anywhere in it without receiving a dozen compliments.

It was so nice to have such a good group to hang out with, on and off the track. The Shadows had never really been like that, although she was so lucky to have met Billie (And Pepper, who she wished would come back from America) through them. That was a team that was all about Pippa, and doing what Pippa wanted. The final straw had been the less than subtle hints that Billie wasn’t recovering from Ellie’s birth fast enough, and that she could be replaced.

Chelsea lost her temper about it. She rarely let herself get mad, but she was pretty sure she called Pippa all sorts of names before she stormed off after a sobbing Billie. Pepper had followed.

The decision to start their own team came a little later. At first they just skated together, at the disco, down by the river, and hung out, until Billie had gone to Morgan’s garage, just a little after it opened. When Morgan returned the car, she asked about the skates in the backseat, and that had been the real beginning.

Chelsea was organized, but she didn’t always know where and how to start things. Morgan was the type of person that just ran full speed at any problem in front of her without thinking twice. So they'd put up a few flyers and booked the Reader St arena, and that had brought out Bunny and a few others, and then Bricks had joined up after the Riot had gotten slapped silly by Kortac. She'd said she wanted to be on the team that was laughing and supporting each other in a loss, rather than the one that criticized a win.

And that was the beauty of the group of people they'd brought together. It didn't really matter if they won or lost, because they had fun, and they liked spending time with each other. There was no competition amongst each other, no petty bullshit.

There was no way in hell Chelsea was ever going to let Pippa ruin that, even though the American woman had tried really hard to break up the team when she was dating Morgan. It was probably the whole reason why she started dating her.

So it probably wasn’t all Morgan’s fault that Pippa bought their arena, regardless of what they’d said the night before.

Either way, at least they’d have one thing in common with the Femme41— They all considered Pippa Graves enemy no. 1. And that was a great place to start.