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gossipsnake · 23 days

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TIMING: Early October 2023 LOCATION: Midnight Drive-In PARTIES: Anita (@gossipsnake) and Xóchitl (@vanishingreyes) SUMMARY: Two women hanging out at a drive-in theater. What are they gonna do? Kiss? CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

There were people who thought they knew Anita, and then there were people who actually knew Anita. The former was a fairly large category of people consisting of former professors, colleagues, some students, bartenders she saw on the regular, a handful of friends, and no doubt a few (dozen?) women who psychoanalyzed her inability to commit. The second group was much smaller - essentially just her family. And Metzli. But with each passing year, Anita worried that her own family was beginning to shift into the first category. The longer she was in America, living among humans with a regularity and familiarity they did not understand, the more she felt isolated and misunderstood.

Maybe that was why it struck her so distinctly when she came across Xóchitl also scouring the Mexican food section of the local grocery store a few weeks back. Anita had no need to consume human food and she certainly did not have to eat with the same level of frequency that they did, but there was something about enjoying a taste of home that brought her comfort. Usually had she come across a woman that insanely stunning she would have tried to take her home but instead she ended up letting the woman have her mom send some Mexican treats up to Wicked’s Rest for her.

The gesture was wonderful but brought her some pause. She didn’t have relationships with people that were like this. That were… simply nice? Anita had ultimately ended up at the conclusion that the woman was too comforting for her to be human. So she decided it was worthwhile to get to know her a bit better and figure out exactly what she was. Could she be a fellow lamia, perhaps?

That was why she invited her to go see a movie instead of immediately suggesting they go over to her place. Anita wanted to see how she interacted with the rest of the world.

She didn’t remember there being nearly as many latine people in town when she’d been growing up. Of course, Xóchitl’s perception of the town when she was growing up was missing more than a few pieces, but that didn’t negate the immense feeling of comfort that came along with finding someone else looking for Mexican foods in the grocery store.

Certainly, Anita was beautiful - one of the most beautiful people she’d come across since returning to town, but the near-immediate kinship that she’d felt with the woman felt even nicer than perhaps a night spent together would’ve. Of course, that didn’t mean that Xóchitl didn’t discount a night together sometime in the future, but having someone who she felt good around was more important, right now.

So of course she’d asked her mother to send her snacks for herself and her new… acquaintance. Friend. Whatever Anita was, though the idea of friends was still weird and not something that sat all too comfortably with Xóchitl. Namely due to the fact that having friends meant you could lose them in the most terrible of ways, and she wasn’t going to let herself go through that again. It was why her friendships since Mackenzie had been surface-level, for the most part. Even if she’d found herself fonder of some than she would have liked to be, she’d always done her best to keep it surface-y. Which, of course, made a lot of things lonely, a lot of the time.

So maybe she could decide to be friends with Anita. At least, they could go to a movie together. So maybe it felt nice that the other woman wanted to pick her up, and so maybe Xóchitl had dressed up somewhere between casual and hot night out. So maybe she’d packed some more snacks. She heard a knock at her door and opened the door, offering Anita a bright smile, switching immediately into Spanish. “Nice to see you. I’m ready to go if you are.”

As soon as Xóchitl opened the door and flashed her that near perfect smile followed by the sweet sound of her native language, Anita felt encapsulated by the same warmth she felt when they had run into each other at the grocery store. She didn’t have words for it and she didn’t think she cared to learn any, substantiating those feelings felt a kind of foreign that made her uneasy and she wanted to bask in the warmth for the time being.

“A pleasure to see you again, too.” Her eyes danced down the other woman, taking in how ridiculously stunning she looked before returning her gaze to match Xóchitl’s and grinning. “Absolutely. Let’s go.” Anita quickly realized that she hadn’t really thought this plan through. Sure, she wanted to learn more about Xóchitl, but she also didn’t know how she’d get through the night without suggesting they bail and go back to her place.

Determined to at least make it through the movie first, Anita turned her thoughts to less salacious things. “You’re place is really lovely. How long did you say you’ve been in town, again?” Anita had taken the lead walking back from the front door to her car. On her approach she briefly considered going to open the passenger door for Xóchitl before deciding that was far too chivalrous for her, even in these circumstances.

Anita was unfairly beautiful.

Though, if she were honest, Xóchitl was aware that she herself certainly wasn’t lacking in the beauty department.

Which was probably self-centered of her or something, but she didn’t have too much effort to care about that right now. Not when she had a chance at excellent company, a good movie, and possibly more, after it was all done. “Just since March.” Spanish again. “I can continue in Spanish, or switch back to English, whatever you’d prefer. Anything for beautiful women.”

Locking the door, she followed Anita back to the car and got in, immediately turning to her friend once she’d entered the car too. “I forget, sorry, have you seen this movie before?” Xóchitl grinned, “and I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m making a fool of myself. I did bring snacks, though. If we wanted. Though I’m content to just watch.”

It was like Xóchitl had taken a page out of Anita’s own playbook, casually dropping a compliment at the end of her sentence. It was good, but not enough to make her veer away from her mission for the night. Not yet, anyway. “I prefer Spanish when I can, which is not as often as I would like, but thankfully often enough.” When Anita had first moved to the US she had such a difficult time switching between English and Spanish, often answering in Spanish even to questions posed in English. These days, especially in this town, she found it was sometimes the other way around.

“Oh, yes,” Anita responded with a slight laugh, “I don’t know if I could tell you how many times I’ve watched this movie, actually. Frida has always spoken to me - I adore the strange way that she saw the world. Add Salma Hayek into the mix… I mean, that’s a recipe for success.”

Normally Anita liked to save her appetite for her big meals but if there was one thing she couldn't resist it was snacks that reminded her of home. “Well you certainly came prepared, huh? What’d you bring?” While tempted to make some comment about Xóchitl herself being quite the snack, Anita resisted. Though she was sure that the way her eyes glanced over at her in the passenger seat gave her thoughts away. So she turned her gaze back towards the road as they made their way towards the drive-in. “What about you, have you seen this movie before?”

“Thankfully indeed, though I imagine more is always better, hm?” She didn’t need to look at Anita for that answer – if the two of them were at all similar (and she knew that they were), then the answer would be a resounding yes, absolutely. Xóchitl was grateful for all the Spanish speakers she’d run into since coming back – it wasn’t perfect at all, and didn’t make the town ideal in any way, but it did make her feel at least a bit more at home than she’d expected to feel.

“Glad to be watching with an expert, then,” Xóchitl nodded along to Anita’s words, “oh I agree with you on all that, I’m just apparently woefully uneducated,” she pouted, though her eyes betrayed any actual appearance of sadness or shame.

She shrugged, “just some chips, mostly. Some dried fruit too. All stuff my mamá sent me, so it’s legit.” Xóchitl couldn’t help but smile at the way Anita’s eyes made their way over her body, “I like to be prepared, you know – just thinking ahead, I like to make anyone who I’m with feel satisfied.” The eyebrow raise would give away some of her own thoughts, “and no, I haven’t. I’m uneducated,” her lips pouting again, “but I promise I’m a quick learner.”

Anita found that having a playful back and forth with someone else was almost always a surefire sign of compatibility. It was the type of banter that just came easily and felt natural. It wasn't often that she came across people that felt familiar, and it wasn't just the shared heritage with Xóchitl that Anita found compelling. ”Well, luckily for you, I am quite an exceptional teacher. We'll have you properly educated in no time.“

”Chips and fruit. Got a bit of salty, a bit of sweet. Some soft, some crunch. Sounds like you've got all the main categories covered.“ It was the next comment that made Anita realize her platonic plans for the evening might be very much in danger. Hell, it was not unlike certain lines she'd used on other women and it caused all sorts of intoxicating thoughts to slither around in her mind. ”Well, sounds like another thing we've got in common there then...,” intentionally trailing off she let the implications speak for her. “I love that you're so eager to learn. I think we'll have quite an informative evening.”

The rest of the trip to the drive-in wasn't very long at all and by the time the large outdoor screen came into view Anita had already decided to ignore her previous plan of simply getting to know Xóchitl and decided to just give in and see where the night took them. Pulling in, Anita intentionally decided to park a bit away from the other cars already there for the movie. Nothing wrong with a bit of privacy just in case. “Well, here we are. The most glorious drive-in in all of Maine,” the comment was made in obvious jest. There wasn't anything wrong with the outdoor theater but it wasn't anything special either. “Ever been out here before?“

“I look forward to an informative evening,” Xóchitl bit her lip, because why the heck should she not lean into any flirting that might be going on? Surely, she valued her growing friendship with Anita, but Anita was also gorgeous, and she wasn’t about to turn down any sort of opportunities that presented themselves. That would just be a waste, and she’d never want to be any sort of a wasteful person. “I can bet you’re one of the best teachers around.”

She nodded, “I like to have all my bases covered, where possible.” That much might have been delivered in a somewhat flirtatious manner, but it was also true. Thinking of every way something could go made it less likely that something truly terrible would happen. It didn’t eliminate the possibility, but any sort of lessening of that was good. Any sort of control was good. At least, in her daily life. Where things went outside of that, she didn’t mind so much.

Anita’s choice to park a bit away from the crowd was one that Xóchitl respected and admired, and though she would’ve been fine with continuing to just get to know Anita, she also wasn’t the least bit opposed to having the night take them in a different direction. “Well, the company’s glorious at least,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think once, maybe, when I was little, with my parents. Not recently, though, no. How about you?”

It was sometimes amusing to Anita how impactful language could be. Like the comment about her being the best teacher round. She knew it was just flattery for flattery's sake but despite that knowledge it brought a warmth to her cheeks and a smile to her face. “Well, a teacher is only as good as their students. So if I end up being a great teacher tonight... must be because you're an exceptional student.“ None of that was true, but it sounded good, so Anita said it.

The drive-in wasn't particularly packed, but there were a good deal of cars around. Anita unbuckled herself now that the car was fully parked and shifted in her seat so that she was facing Xóchitl smirking as she met the other woman's gaze, “You're certainly correct about that.” The soft glow that the large movie screen was casting down upon them created such a soft glow around her face and it had Anita mesmerized. “I've been a handful of times. Always looking for ways to stay busy in this town.“

”Not sure how you feel about the cold, but I can't seem to get used to it,” she moved herself so that she was kneeling on her seat and she carefully reached between the two front seats and pulled out an oversized flannel blanket from the back seat. As Anita moved back down, her arm grazed against Xóchitl’s. The action unexpectedly caused soft shivers to spread across her skin in the most pleasant way. “Guess we both like to cover all our bases.”

“I like to think of myself as a good student, so we’ll see if that’s proven true tonight.” Xóchitl didn’t too often feel the need to be shy about her opinion of herself, and there was something about the way that Anita carried herself that caused her to lean into it all the more. It was so fun and felt so familiar and so comfortable all in one. Which was a good feeling. One she found herself craving, even if she didn’t admit it out loud all too often.

Anita was matching Xóchitl’s own facial expression, and that only served to bolster her confidence for the evening. The night was perfect, the night was beautiful, and she couldn’t help but let her gaze be pulled by her friend, the curve of her jaw and her lips and the way her hair fell over her shoulders. “Makes sense, it’s good to try and find things to do, and movies aren’t a bad thing at all.” Again, so long as they weren’t fantasy ones, filled with creatures that weren’t real, and creatures who helped, when Xóchitl’s interaction with moving rocks had been awful.

“Yeah, I mean, I try to, but I much prefer the warmth.” She felt Anita’s arm against her own and Xóchitl had to shake her head to readjust her thoughts. “Guess we do. Mind if I share? You know, also hating the cold and all.”

“Yes, exactly - life is just so monotonous without trying new things.” Anita never quite understood those people who just stood by and let life happen to them. If she had done that she would still be back in Tabasco sitting around like her sisters and their Tias before them, passively living. She wouldn’t have seen all the things she had or experienced the bliss of individual victory. And most certainly, she wouldn’t be there in the car with Xóchitl.

“Well of course, can’t let a pretty girl get cold,” Anita purred as she settled back into the driver seat, adjusting the seat further back now that reaching the pedals wasn’t a necessity. Unfolding the blanket she passed the one corner over to Xóchitl, this time intentionally allowing her arm to brush against hers as she did so.

They were early enough for the movie, allowing a bit of time for Anita to try and figure out her passenger a bit more. It was easier to figure out insects than people, even humans (if that was what she was). Their behavior gave them away, either being the type to swarm in a colony or being a solitary predator. People, on the other hand, could use their behavior to deceive. Anita should know. “Close your eyes,” she instructed gently. “Imagine you’re outside, there’s warm sun on your skin, a soft melody playing in the distance, and you feel safe.” Pausing long enough to give her some time to consider, and partly to see if she would get into the prompt or brush it off, Anita continued looking over in anticipation, “Okay, you can open your eyes. Where were you?”

“It makes for a very boring existence,” Xóchitl mused, before flashing another grin over at Anita. There had been a great deal of wanting to just sit and let life happen to her, for a time, from when she was about twelve until just before she turned fourteen. Of thinking that if she hadn’t solved her grief by then, then trying any more was, in fact, fruitless and pointless. Which it hadn’t been, and wasn’t, but it was easy to just want to lie in her bed and not think about much of anything. She’d done almost a complete one-eighty and threw herself into life after that, though. Which had been its own sort of detrimental, but she’d elected not to care too much at all.

“Well, I don’t want you to get cold, either – you know, because you’re quite a pretty girl yourself.” Anita’s voice nearly instantly relaxed her – not that Xóchitl had been unrelaxed before, but there was something about the lilt of the other woman’s voice that drew her in inexplicably. The brushing of their arms was a nice addition, too.

Xóchitl followed Anita’s words without question, settling against the seat, letting her eyes flutter closed. She took a careful breath, doing exactly as she was told, settling into a memory that hadn’t ever happened. Her and Mackenzie, on a Los Angeles beach, though that was quickly replaced with a trip she’d taken with her moms, when she was ten. “I was on a beach in Haiti. I visited a few times with my parents, manman is from there, but it’s – I haven’t been back in years, but it was warm and safe, and I could feel the sun on my skin, and how clear the air smells.”

There was always an inherent curiosity Anita felt when she met people who seemed to be kindred spirits. She always found herself lingering on questions of why. When insects display similar behavioral patterns you can’t simply ask them why - you have to observe and form a hypothesis that can then be tested. People, however, can be asked. Over the years she had learned that some women take her genuine curiosity as something more than it is; as some indication that her desire to learn about them is rooted in romanticism. So she has tried to adapt, learn what questions to ask outright and which to resign to observation.

Xóchitl felt so familiar that Anita wanted to ask a million questions about her, but opted instead for the less involved approach as she usually did. “Good thing this blanket’s big enough for both of us, then.”

Her eyes remained fixed on the soft caramel skin of the other woman as she followed Anita’s instructions. She wanted to see how she reacted, not just in her answer to the ultimate question but also in any involuntary responses the prompt might elicit. There seemed to be some peace in whatever she was thinking of. A smile spread across her face as she listened to the description of the scene that had played in Xóchitl’s head. “I’ve never been to Haiti, but I’ve been on my fair share of beaches that felt like that. Who’s manman?” As she asked the question, the projector of the theater flickered on indicating that they were gearing up to start the film.

“Good thing is right,” Anita felt eerily familiar, almost so much so to the point that Xóchitl wanted to pinch herself. A kindred soul, or something, her parents would’ve said, probably. Mackenzie might’ve said something like that, too, or asked what their star signs were, because for some reason there was a deep part of her that figured Mackenzie would’ve wound up loving astrology, loving finding new sorts of ways to explain the universe. “Though I’m sure we would’ve found a way to make it work regardless.”

“Haiti is very worth it – though I like some of the beaches in Mexico, too. Oh – manman is one of my mothers,” Xóchitl lowered her voice, eyes trained to the screen, though only partially, as she was still incredibly drawn towards Anita. “That’s mom in Haitian Creole, so it just made sense to call her that, since I think my parents thought mom and mom, or even mama and mama, wouldn’t work as well. Besides, even if I’m not Haitian, it’s still a part of my family, so…” she picked at her nailbeds for a moment, but Anita was so familiar that she figured it had to be alright to share.

“Well, I speak that – as well as Spanish. Those were my first two languages, and I’ll admit that I like the advantages that being trilingual gets me. It impresses people, at the very least.” Xóchitl focused back on the screen. “Also one of the many benefits that my mouth can give others.”

“Of course we would have. I’m exceptional at problem solving.” There was such a lightness in the energy between the two women. Anita had been in her fair share of parked cars with beautiful women but this time had a natural ease that wrapped around her like the blanket had. The undeniable benefit to seeing a drive-in movie was the fact that you could continue your conversation once the film had begun. Anita may be a lot of things but she wasn’t the type to talk in a public theater. The added privacy of tinted car windows was, certainly, another added bonus.

“That’s really awesome,” Anita thought about reciprocating the exchange of personal backstory. She thought about talking about her aunts, who she grew up jokingly calling Tia Mama because of how involved she was with bringing Anita and her sisters up. But for as comfortable as she felt around Xóchitl, she was still a stranger. She knew all too well that giving a small breadcrumb of information could lead down a path of questions that she didn’t want to get into. “I’m only bilingual and even that impresses people to no end sometimes. Which, granted, is fairly impressive.”

The next comment brought a smirk to Anita’s face and she turned to look at the other woman just as her attention returned to the movie screen. She couldn’t quite tell if Xóchitl was being intentionally suggestive or if that was just how it came off but Anita intended to find out. “Oh yeah? And what other benefits can your mouth give people?” She paused for a second, not wanting to push her luck too much, “I’ve heard that there’s a correlation between knowing multiple languages and having strong tongue muscles.”

As the movie continued on, the physical distance between the women decreased at a steady rate. Near the half-way point, Anita had moved so that her arm was touching Xóchitl’s. Shortly after that, she reached down and held her hand. By the time the movie was nearly over, Anita was hardly paying it any attention. She was far too distracted by Xóchitl. All her curiosities, all of her intention of trying to figure out if this woman was human, had gone flying out the window. It was all replaced by a burning desire to get to know her in a very different way. She moved slightly, so her face was closer to the other woman, and even though there was no need to whisper, she still did, “You wanna come over for a drink when this is over?” A smirk spread across Anita’s face when the brunette responded with a yes. The night was truly just beginning.

#movie snacks #chatzy #c:Xóchitl #Xóchitl #para #writing #//thank u to emily for putting up with me through how long this took to finish #my angel

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