#happy halloweenaversary blestie

[polkadotpatterson]

Trick or treat!!

From the ziwagenia hand holding wip, during the Talkers' first eclipse game in Expansion :)

Nothing has changed, Ziwa reminds themself. This is what they’re all used to: darkness and the threat of death. They’ve done this before, and they can do it again. Hit the ball. Run the bases. Don’t burn up. Survive another day, and another, and another, and another, and another, until they all blur together.

Nothing has changed, and that’s the problem.

Even Greer is unsettled, to those who know how to look -- and of course Ziwa does, after all these years. Any team captain worth anything needs to know how to read their teammates. Greer’s smirk and nonchalance have faded, replaced by a furious intensity as she blasts pitches past the Garages. Three up, three down, beautiful strikeouts to rival Dot -- and she doesn’t even boast about it when she gets back to the dugout, just plops down on the bench and scowls at the hole the sun has left behind in the sky.

Eugenia is up first, and Ziwa has to watch her go, smiling softly at them as she steps up to the plate. She’s come a long way from the days of the amorphous blob oozing up to bat; now she stands tall and strong in a shape of her own making, proper hands gripping the bat, ponytail bouncing and jiggling cutely like the rest of her.

Another thing that never changes: The shouts of GARBAGE DAY from the stands as Eugenia hits the ball, one constant Ziwa will never get tired of. She slides into first and bounces right back up on her feet with a grin that can turn Ziwa’s own body to jello.

If Ziwa was in charge of the lineup, they wouldn’t have let themself bat after Eugenia, not when there were far better hitters like Alston and CV who could more reliably bat her in. But the game has done Ziwa one favour by letting it be them who follows her, who has an excuse to sit next to her in the dugout (as if they need one), who gets to look at her smiling face on base and let that motivate them to try and bring her home, safe where she belongs.