#ty for writing w me for the first time karli 💖

[nicsalazar]

A smashing good time || Anita & Nicole

TIMING: Recent-ish. LOCATION: Anita's bug lab PARTIES: @gossipsnake & @nicsalazar SUMMARY: Anita shows Nicole some of the work she does with insects, but the evening is interrupted by tiny menaces of unknown origin. WARNINGS: None.

Anita loved talking about bugs, that was a big part of why she enjoyed being a professor so much. She always worked hard to make the topic interesting and compelling, feeling it her own personal mission to dispel the concept of insects being inherently gross or weird or boring. That had only been part of the reason why she had offered to give Nicole a private viewing of her recent collection though. After all, if Anita met a beautiful woman she was going to shoot her shot at least once - just to see what might happen. 

The evening, however, ended up focusing far more on insects than the two beautiful women observing them. Anita didn’t mind - she loved having an interested subject to spew all of her knowledge on. It was so vastly different than lecturing to a group of 50+ college students, half of whom were asleep or simply not paying attention. Nicole was a good captive audience. “So now you can see, just like I said online, these little guys aren’t getting hurt at all. I think people associate experiments and insects with the death of those insects, but we get the best and most useful information when we simply observe them in varying environments and situations.” 

It felt like the evening was slowly coming to an end, and given that Nicole had expressed that she did not want to drink, Anita couldn’t pull her usual move of inviting her over for a night cap to keep the evening running. “Got anything exciting going on the rest of the evening?” 

“Yeah, didn’t think bugs were that important for the environment either”. Maybe it was the fact that Nicole knew very little about well, everything, but there was always something captivating about a person who chose to share their passion and knowledge with the world. Anita had been incredibly selfless with her time sharing everything there was to share about the little ones. Not to mention patient, though Nicole imagined she had practice with other dense students. Her brain was buzzing, still processing all the information she had gained in one evening. She hoped she’d be able to retain most of it.

At Anita’s question, she looked over, feeling a little self-conscious. Exciting wasn’t a word Nicole would have used to describe anything surrounding her life, completely ignoring what she did for a living, but she shrugged it off with a chuckle. After spending an evening asking stupid questions and looking every bit the ignorant person she was, she knew Anita wouldn’t judge anything that came out of her mouth. “My idea of excitement is going home, so I don’t know if I’m a good judge of…that”. Normally, anxiety would’ve crept in right about then, knowing they had discussed other plans beforehand. Drinks, specifically. Which Nicole wouldn’t, rather couldn’t indulge in anymore. But the feeling didn’t come, her smile didn’t falter. Maybe it was because the evening had gone a lot better than she had imagined. Maybe it was because they had partly discussed this all before. 

And it wasn’t often she felt comfortable enough to feel any desire to extend a social situation, which meant she had to take advantage of it, right? “I could still grab a bite” A teasing smile spread across her face, recalling another bit of their conversation. “Maybe not… bugs, but— There might be a decent place around. Maybe Mexican?” She had lost hope of ever finding anything dedicated to Puerto Rican or Guatemalan cuisine (though that came with a different kind of baggage) so this was at least, a close alternative. “You probably know the places near campus better than I do. What do you recommend?

“A lot of people don’t, just because of how small and insignificant bugs seem from all the way up here.” It was always sort of funny to Anita when humans didn’t realize just how similar they were to bugs - more important to the survival of those up the food chain than anything else. “They may be small, but they are mighty.” Usually she was fairly good at judging whether someone was genuinely interested in what she had to say about bugs or if they were merely feigning it. From what she could tell, Nicole seemed genuine. 

A small smirk formed at the corner of Anita’s lips at Nicole’s response. She could think of a whole lot of ways to find excitement in going home but she had enough common sense to know that wasn’t what the other woman had meant. Before she could even open her mouth to say anything further, Nicole was already suggesting they grab some food. Evidently spending more time with her sounded more exciting than simply going home, that was a good sign. “Hmmm, alright, no bugs this time,” she teased. “Mexican sounds great, Pura Vida is the closest you can get to authenticity this far from the equator and it’s not far.” 

“Let me just make sure everything is locked up and we can head out.” It would be a pretty bad look for Anita to lose multiple batches of bugs in such a short period of time. Shortly after she turned to ensure the enclosures were secured she heard the shattering of glass behind her, laughing as she presumed Nicole bumped into one of the tables with lab equipment, Anita began to turn back around, “Don’t even worry about it, we break more glass in this department than …” She trailed off once she was facing Nicole again, realizing that she was not the one to break any glass. “Or…really don’t worry about it I guess.” Glancing around at the ground, trying to figure out what had just happened, Anita caught the tiniest bit of movement out of the corner of her eye. 

It was a fair statement, Nicole mused, a soft smile still lingering on her face. There were bigger, flashier animals gathering all the attention, relegating bugs to the nuisance category. It had been her sentiment too, before Anita taught her a thing or two about underestimating the little ones. Which— the comment about bugs being small but mighty had Nicole huffing out a laugh. “Not so different from humans then,” she thought her own small and mighty woman back home. “Usually— the small ones, uh. They’re the type you should fear”. She wondered what Anita, who was clearly a few inches shorter than her would have to say of the comparison.  

She nodded at the suggestion, having heard of the restaurant before. Leah seemed to like that place, they’ve ordered takeout a few times. Nicole had never been there, physically at least. Something akin to nerves thrummed under her skin. “Let’s…yeah. That sounds good”. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint which part of the arrangement was setting her alarms off. Was it the fact that any time she tried anything closely related to her culture she was struck by a wave of nostalgia so big she wasn’t capable of riding it? Was it the fact that she was putting herself out there to go socialize with a stranger —a stranger whose presence she greatly enjoyed, but— therefore increasing the chances of being seen? Of fucking up the possibility of a friendship? She continued nodding, despite her thoughts trying to hijack her decision. She wouldn’t listen. She’d made up her mind. “Pura Vida it is” she spoke, mostly to herself. 

She had turned to follow Anita outside the room when the shattering sound erupted behind them. Her head whipped quickly to the source, spotting nothing but broken glass. Did she accidentally hit something? No, she would’ve felt it. She wasn’t leaning against that table. Anita didn’t seem to mind the mess, but Nicole tried to explain herself anyway. “Oh—I didn’t. I wasn’t—” Both pairs of eyes were staring in a similar direction, investigating what was going on that they didn’t notice the tiny little creatures climbing up the chairs onto the tables until there was a clattering sound. As if someone was trying to chomp on— Nicole’s eyes widened as… What the fuck were those? Cockroaches? No, unless they were like…mutant ones. Whatever the fuck they were, they had decided to reveal themselves, jumping on the lab equipment and nibbling on the wires. “I… Don’t think those are from your collection…right?” 

Anita always found it interesting when individuals called humans ‘humans.’ Those burdened with humanity often just called themselves people She called them humans, though. A way to differentiate their species from hers. Did Nicole mean to do the same? Either way, the comment made her chuckle a bit. “That mean there’s no need to fear you with those long legs?” Anita’s current form was certainly shorter than the other woman was but as a lamia she would be towering over her. So, in a way, she was a small one that should be feared. 

The universe of things that could cause damage in a lab was massive, increased exponentially but the acknowledgement of all the things beyond the natural world that could cause damage. Had Anita not seen a small creature running about the lab she might have just explained away the broken beaker by a draft and carried on with the planned evening. But she had seen something, and evidently so had Nicole. They were small enough to be bugs but certainly were not. 

“No. Certainly not mine.” She couldn’t get a good look at whatever was moving around but it was moving too quickly to be any insect. Suddenly, the glass cabinets that stored microscopes along the wall on the other side of the room began to shatter one by one. It felt irresponsible to just leave, and Anita’s eyes drifted towards the glass enclosures her bugs were being held in. “I’ve never -” it was a split second decision, but Anita decided to place some trust in this stranger, “whatever theses are, they aren’t part of the animal kingdom. I don’t know what they are but .. they don’t seem to be interested in you or I. For now.” She looked around the room trying to spot if the creatures were coming from any one place in particular. 

She shook her head, momentarily speechless by the question. Her laugh was nervous, but it was clear Anita was having fun with it. “No. I’m— I’m… easier to trip” Nicole supplied weakly, still in the spirit of joking, though her face was hot. It never took much for blood to rush to her face, yet it didn’t make it less embarrassing. “But— Don’t try that”. Not that she feared Anita would, but couldn’t hurt to get that out of the way. “Not wearing my safety gear” she added with a deadpan. Did it sound jokey enough? Well, she’d have to deal with the awkwardness after if it didn’t land. 

Anita confirming the little creatures jumping about the desks were not regular bugs wasn’t exactly the type of thing Nicole wanted to hear. Right. Of course. Why not? This fucking town. She’d probably been around supernatural bugs in the forest and she hadn’t realized it. And— Anita was aware of that part too. Which Nicole didn’t have time to tackle, but she would eventually get to. Her frown deepened, eyes shifting around as she tried following their original path. Where the fuck did they keep popping from? “You’re okay with— I think they’re trying to eat your things” she pointed toward the table, wires half chewed, equipment appearing to be the next thing on the menu.  

Nicole didn’t want to suggest killing these bug-looking creatures, especially not in front of the bug expert. Especially when she’d gotten a giant lecture earlier on how important small creatures could be for the earth. What was so important about these though? Their insanely strong teeth? Their hunger for plastic or metal or whatever the fuck material the equipment was made of? She didn’t want to suggest it, but something should be done about it, right? At least gather them all in one place.

“Would— Don’t imagine you might wanna—” Well, maybe they didn’t have to kill them. Right. Maybe her brain jumped to that because Nicole was always in charge of killing the spiders at their place. Designated bug killer. She was programmed to think of exterminating when it came to bugs. Or, not bugs… it wasn’t clear. She trusted Anita’s knowledge, though. “Should we put them in… a container? A bag?” 

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on tripping you anytime soon,” Even when faced with a slightly awkward situation, Anita liked to pride herself on the ability to maneuver through it without letting it derail the conversation. “And if I did, it would only be so I could then swoop in and heroically catch you before you fell … so, no safety gear needed.” She hoped that came off as what it was, a joke. Otherwise it made her sound like an absolute weirdo. 

It didn’t seem worthwhile to mention that these weren’t exactly her own things, rather property of the university. After all, if Anita put in a request for all new equipment she would have to at least justify why she needed to replace all of this shit. But what the hell were these things and why were they being so fucking destructive? She couldn't exactly just say that the old things had been destroyed by tiny little guys in an expense request. 

“Oh,” Anita beamed at the suggestion, “That’s brilliant.” It was objectively better than her own initial plan, which was to just squash the little fuckers. “Seems like they can break glass fairly easily…,” her thought trailed off as she looked around the room for something that might be able to contain the creatures. Which didn’t even really address the main issue of catching the things before putting them into a container. “I have some durable biohazard bags! If we double them up, it might hold them long enough to dispose of them before they chew through.” The reality of the situation becoming apparent, “Though… not exactly sure if this is a catch and release situation, ya know? What if they come back?” 

She released a breathy laugh, shrugging off some of the flirty implications behind the joke. Her own embarrassment over the situation was gone. Anita had been great at that all afternoon, smoothing some of the more awkward silences and poorly timed humor. Nicole would always be grateful some people just had that gift. It made socializing easier for idiots like her.  

She blinked at the other woman, face blank before realizing she was being serious. The word brilliant threw her off. It wasn’t something she heard often. Or ever. Her lips pressed together, and it would’ve been a smile had the corners of her mouth cooperated. Anita was right, a container might not stop them completely, but if they used multiple containers? A bag and a box and— “You should get those bags” Nicole agreed with a nod, her attention shifting back to the tiny little devils jumping around. She could always snap a picture and send it to Leah, for her to identify. But that— it meant disclosing more secrets than she felt comfortable doing at the moment. 

While Anita saw about those bags, Nicole considered how she could make herself useful for a moment. How many were they? Between ten and twenty, Nicole estimated. They only looked like an overwhelming amount because of how they were moving. “I’m— Could try catching them” she suggested, though she could sound more confident. “Got— I’m quick. Good reflexes, uh… Like— like a cat, almost” It felt so stupid to say it, that she avoided acknowledging Anita in the process. Had she had a little more humor, it would been the appropriate time for a smirk. But she didn’t, so her face remained tense. “Could get them all in your bags. And then…” squash them, was the implication, though she left it open in case Anita was considering a different solution. But if she wanted to ensure they didn't come back then… 

By all means, having them all in one place was what they needed to do first. Instead of playing— that one game. Something with moles and a hammer. Nicole could channel some of that… animal instinct for this, couldn’t she? The jaguar was supposed to be an apex predator after all. Would it allow itself to be defeated by annoying little menaces? There was a strike of cold in her chest that told her no. No fucking way. No enemy could ever best the jaguar. That was exactly the kind of feeling that should’ve been stirring inside her chest as she approached the counter, eyes following closely one of the creatures chomping on the equipment. Waiting to strike when it least expected. Nicole snatched one of the bugs with one swift move, clasping it between both hands. The little creature crawled against her palm, and Nicole grimaced at the sensation. But at least it wasn’t eating at her skin, right? Small victories. “Fuck. I got one, where’s the bag?”

After grabbing the stack bags out of one of the back cabinets, Anita began to double them up as she made her way back over towards the action. There was a slightly sinister relief that washed over her when Nicole suggested what she had originally been thinking, though she did so without actually using the words. Anita hadn’t verbalized that intention out of a desire to come off as normal, she wondered if that was Nicole’s reasoning too. It seemed, however, that she would have to take the lead on spearheading that course of action. 

“Got your bag right here!” She chimed in, a bit more pep in her step now that an endgame solution was forming. Opening the bag up just enough for the tiny little thing to slip through she then quickly wrapped her hand around the bag to close the opening before spinning it and tying the top into a quick knot. Anita looked up at the other woman before the next step, almost as if she was waiting for an opposition to a plan she hadn’t even said out loud. There (obviously) being none, Anita then placed the bag on a nearby lab table, grabbed a microscope from nearby and lifted it up swiftly before bringing it slamming down on the table - squashing the creature flat. 

She then picked the bag back up, untied the top and looked inside. “Alright, seems like brute force will do the trick.” The scene around them was too chaotic to take time and try and justify herself. Besides, this was practically an agreed upon course of action. Anita handed a few bags over to Nicole with a slight grin, “Wanna see who can catch the most?” 

The little insect, or— whatever the fuck it was, slipped inside Anita’s bag with some resistance. Her palms itched where the bug had tried nibbling. Nicole followed the professor with curious eyes, waiting to see what the other woman wanted to do with it. There was some sort of unspoken agreement, she felt the energy in the room shift as they both understood what they had to do at the same time. It might not be the only way to get rid of them, but at this moment, with the resources they had, it made the most sense. It didn’t mean Nicole was expecting Anita to seize the bag, close it, and place it on the table with the intention of—

She should’ve seen it coming, really. Nicole grimaced when the microscope fell on top, knowing the fate of the creature inside before Anita could open it to check. The loud thud had been enough. That thing was dead. But in case Nicole hadn’t gathered that from the combination of sounds alone, Anita decided to peek inside for confirmation. Right. “That’s uh— good to… know” She clenched her teeth, eyes darting around the rest of the office, following the movement of the insects. They didn’t look scared or trying to retreat, instead they doubled down on the wires. Probably not understanding one of their buddies was already gone and a similar fate waited for all. 

Nicole grabbed the bangs handed to her, though her resolve didn’t quite match her companion’s. Why was she hesitating? How was this any different than killing the spiders, really? She just had to think of it like that. This was like helping Leah. They were nasty little pests breaking vital lab equipment. Right. That mindset sort of did the trick. Not to the level where she wanted to compete on who caught more bugs to kill, like Anita was proposing, but enough to not feel guilty about what she had to do. “As long as we get all of them, I’m good with that,” she nodded, lips pressed into a thin line that should’ve been a smile but didn’t quite make it. She was a killjoy, wasn’t she? Fuck, not the time to start questioning dumb shit like that. She got to work.

It turned out those little creatures could also fly. And they did, searching for cover as Nicole and Anita began snatching the ones on the table. Nicole threw one, two, three bugs inside a bag before using the same microscope Anita had to squash them. It was a pretty fucking effective method, and the two of them didn’t make too bad of a team either, despite how frustrating it was to get a hold of the little fuckers. For several minutes, there was no other sound in the room but the rustling of the bags, as Nicole and Anita worked in tandem to get rid of most of the infestation. Eventually, she ended up switching the weight of the microscopy for her own boot, whatever qualms she had about hurting bugs were long gone, blinded by their success. The last remaining creature was perched at the top of a bookcase, wings fluttering in a taunting manner. Looked taunting, at least where Nicole stood. Brushing a few strands of hair off her face, Nicole turned to Anita. “Wanna do the honors?”

“Yeah, I mean… always good to verify. Important to have certainty.” While Anita noticed that Nicole did not have the same exuberance in her reaction to the proposed plan, she didn’t quite understand why that was. Had they not just seen and discussed the same things? She was clearly on board with the plan, however, and Anita didn’t want to waste time trying to understand the obvious tension that the other woman was carrying. She had creatures to kill. 

“Sure, of course. Very … practical. Efficient, even!” It was a bit of a bummer that Nicole wasn’t interested in turning this into a competitive game of sorts, but with the seeming unspoken permission for the upcoming slaughter, Anita got to work. “I’ll start over at this end of the room,” she stated as she headed off towards some cabinets that were seemingly being pried open in the one corner. Her mind was so focused on catching the little fuckers that Anita had almost forgotten about her combat partner. That was until she heard the delightful sound of a microscope slamming down, followed by a melody of both squishing and crunching. 

“Oh, man!” Anita exclaimed, shooting up from where she had been crouched trying to catch more creatures. She had been grinning, initially, realizing that the enthusiasm was unlikely to be matched and quickly dropping it (hopefully) before the other woman noticed. “Uh, sounds like you’re being very productive.” 

As she wrapped around the edge of the lab, Anita was working diligently to squash, impale, flatten, or otherwise extinguish any of the strange nuances that she came across. Moving with efficiency, there was a part of her that wondered if she would be able to stash one of them away for later further observation. After all, while the wings might have suggested being instinct-adjacent, she was very well versed in insects and this was certainly not one. By the time the thought had occurred to her, it was clearly too late. There was only one lone menace left. 

The words suggested that Nicole was, perhaps, not as opposed to the tiny massacre that had just occurred as Anita originally thought. But there was nothing in her tone or expression to support that. “How sweet,” she responded, doing her best to match the energy she was receiving. She was just slightly too short to reach the top of the bookcase and she quickly looked around for a solution. A stool was the simple and obvious solution. Pushing it towards the bookcase, Anita hopped up quickly and grabbed a large science textbook off the shelves. Seconds later that same book came slamming down on the creature, the soft crunch signifying an end to their efforts. 

Climbing back down, Anita let out a bit of a sigh as she whipped her hands on her jeans. Immediately her mind turned towards what they had been planning before the interruption and she couldn’t help but wonder if the mood had been ruined. Her eyes scanned Nicole’s face for an indication. “We made a pretty decent team, huh?” Was it weird to suggest they still go grab some food after all of that? Did the supernatural elements of it all require some sort of conversation? Or were they not even noted by the other woman? “Not exactly how I saw the second part of the evening going,” she offered with a soft laugh, trying to gauge what to do next. 

Nicole hadn't expected to spend her evening capturing and killing insects with the woman who had just given her a lecture on the necessity of similarly looking critters ten minutes before hell broke loose. But she was well-versed in Wicked's Rest bullshit by this point. Her mistake was expecting everything to go smoothly in the first place. The jury was still out on whether they were dealing with bugs or not. Anita didn't think so, and Nicole would be stupid to go against the expert's thoughts. The small monsters, on the other hand, were flying around and crawling just like any insect would, stirring some doubt within her. Anita moved quickly and precisely to get rid of them. She would have been the clear winner if they had taken the challenge properly. Nicole made every effort to keep up, though.

She hadn't taken Anita's height into consideration when proposing she take the last one of the bunch, so she was slightly alarmed when the woman moved over to grab a stool. Her forehead creased in concern. Maybe it was the constant fear of Leah climbing every shelf at their store, despite the ladders she'd installed influencing her feelings. Logical or not, Nicole worried. But it wasn't too huge of a stretch. Everything should be okay, right? She ended up hovering behind her, hands in mid-air, just in case something bad happened and Anita lost her footing. There was no such thing as being overly cautious. She’d learned nothing was ever too safe. After hearing the thud of the book and the squelching sound of the final monster being annihilated, Nicole let out a breath of relief. She double-checked the room for any other creatures that might have been clever enough to hide from the slaughter, and thankfully for the two of them, it appeared that their efforts had been successful in keeping the infestation under control. 

She mimicked Anita's laugh, heat rushing to her cheeks as the woman commended their work. Yes, she agreed. All in all, they were fast to act and didn't get in each other's way too much. She didn't want to think about how someone less experienced would have handled the same issue. She rubbed her jaw, wondering if the extra stress they had dealt with meant it was best to go home and relax, or if Anita still had their earlier plans in mind. "No, uh… me either". Nicole believed their potential outing would be an excellent instance to gauge Anita's knowledge of supernatural wildlife.

She had a feeling, based on the random comments and the way they both quickly got to a similar conclusion with their threat, that they would discover they both knew more than they let on. Wasn't that what Nicole wanted? To find others like her, people she didn’t have to tip-toe around? It was tiring to pretend that the town wasn't fucking crazy. "Ah...so—" there was no need to be shy about asking. If there was one thing she'd learned from the evening, it was that Anita had that quick and easy personality, capable of smoothing out any social bumps. "Pretty hungry, still. You? We should…could—" She took a look around the room, noticing the bags scattered on the floor. "Was about to say go grab some food. But— better clean this first, no?" Gaining a little more confidence, she nodded at Anita. "Could make this one a competition. Loser pays for dinner," she stated as a way of suggestion, not waiting for the other woman to reply before getting started. Now she had a real incentive.