Be Gay Do Crime

As it turned out, Crystal did own a car.  One Ashe had just ridden in to get to school, but after classes had started for the day.  She was there to do some paperwork for her absence, collect her coursework for her continued leave, and complete the sign ups for Prom.  After that, she wasn’t quite sure what the plan was for the remainder of the day.

Probably just sitting around Crystal’s place while watching braindead movies and chilling.  The apartment renovations were still ongoing, which meant they would just be in the way.  Keiko was doing preliminary recon of the warehouse, ensuring it wasn’t a trap and would report back in around mid afternoon, so that was something she needed to be semi-conscious for at least. 

Unfortunately, she also needed to be wide awake to deal with her school, which once again meant holding off on taking something stronger than Aspirin.  So, Ashe walked through the halls with all the confidence that she could with her arm in a sling, not that she needed it anymore, and right up to the administration offices.  The secretary was engrossed in something on her phone as she sat there, barely paying attention to her surroundings. 

Ashe cleared her throat, earning a glare from the older woman. 

“Can I help you?” she demanded. 

“Ashe Hamilton,” she said, daring the woman to look down on her.  “I’m here to pick up my school work for my continued medical leave.” 

The secretary was a textbook Karen, it was even on her nameplate, which was all kinds of hilarious.  She so desperately wanted to laugh about that, but she had to keep up appearances.  She was roaring with laughter internally, of course.  Well, perhaps she could get her to blow up like a Karen, it would certainly make for an entertaining story. 

“Given you are here, it can’t be that bad,” the woman sneered. 

Ashe snarled, pulling her shirt up to show off the still healing wound from the knife that almost ended her.   The woman recoiled at the sight of a slightly inflamed wound.  “Bitch, I have a hole in my side the size of a golf ball held together by bits of string.  Say that again.” 

“Fine,” she huffed, turning away.  “Your documents are in the other room, I’ll have someone bring them out.” 

Good enough there, now for the other shoe.  “I’d also like to pick up a registration form for prom.” 

The secretary froze, turning an almost horrified gaze upon her.  “You want to attend prom.” 

“I do, even have a date to register,” Ashe answered with a smug grin. 

Karen swallowed heavily.  “What about the dress code?” 

“Already have a suit prepared,” came the immediate reply. 

Ashe had to admit, she was having quite a bit of fun at the moment.  Making Karens lose their shit might just become a pastime at this rate.  There were certainly worse hobbies she could indulge in, though the risk of collateral damage would be quite high. 

Karen spent far longer than Ashe thought it should have taken to locate the form, which was then handed over.  Ashe immediately set about filling out the page while Karen continued to fume.  When it got to the section about registering a date, Ashe noted the warning that said dates had to be opposite gendered from what your original birth certificate recorded.  Such a lovely rule that was about to bite them in the ass.  Not to mention anyone that might have suffered a clerical error at a hospital. 

She wrote in Crystal’s full, legal, name as well as her date of birth.  There would be no debating her feminine name, and if anyone raised too big of a stink, she could just remind them that, yes, she was that Ellington.  It would be a dirty tactic, but Ashe was beyond caring what bigots thought. 

She’d certainly shot enough of them. 

That thought set her to giggling as she completed the form and handed it back.  The woman looked it over, sneering the entire time.  Then, she set it aside and plastered a smug look upon her face as she did. 

“Is there a problem?” Ashe asked, cutting her off from setting the pace and tone of the coming exchange. 

“Your listed date,” Karen tittered.  Literally, she was like some caricature of a storybook mini boss villain.  The kind that is just believable enough, but still goes just a step too far with their theatrics.  “I’m afraid we need them to present their identification before I can approve this.” 

Ashe hummed, pulling her phone out.  She sent off the text, and not even ten seconds later, Crystal joined them from where she had been waiting out in the hall.  The woman blinked, not having expected her to be right there, waiting.  It was the first time that Crystal had actually joined her inside the building since she started picking Ashe up. 

She was wearing tight skinny jeans that were more dark gray than black, well worn but still of clear quality.  Her shirt was a band tee, something about toasters and fire, and she was wearing her riding jacket over it.  Karen’s eyes glossed over her, pausing on the bright blue of Crystal’s sidecut hair.  

The way her face turned all colors of the rainbow was just precious. 

Ashe’s own face was growing colorful, despite having seen her just minutes earlier.  Crystal was breathtaking, and she was there to sign up to go to prom with Ashe.  It almost didn’t feel real despite everything they had been through.  This amazing, beautiful woman wanted to go with her, and was willing to jump through the necessary hoops to make it happen.

Crystal showed her ID, filled out her own portion of the form and it was all Karen could do to not have an aneurysm over how pissed she was that she was being forced to go along with it.  She was being forced to deal with the consequences when Schrodinger’s Gay Box was opened.  Was a trans-woman still not a woman to them when she was in a lesbian relationship?  On paper, there was nothing she could do to deny the situation and it was quite frankly, glorious to watch play out.

Her snickering was loud enough to earn a glare from the purple faced woman as she accepted all the forms, and Crystal used her credit card to cover the expense that the school charged.  Ashe would have felt bad about that if they didn’t have literal millions sitting in storage right then. 

“I believe that is everything,” Karen said, choking on every word.

Crystal smiled.  “Thank you so much for making this so stress free.  I’m sure my father will very much love to see the coverage that comes with his daughter finally getting to attend prom.” 

“I’m sure,” Karen bit out.  At the same time, someone else came out of one of the offices with a stack of folders that Ashe recognized as the same sort that she had gotten the last time she had an extended break from schooling.  “Now, I believe this concludes everything?” 

“Can we get copies of all the paperwork?” Ashe asked, her grin just a hair shy of being described as shit eating.  “You know, just to be safe.  I’ve had some documentation lost in the shuffle before and would prefer to be cautious.” 

“Of course,” the woman answered, much to the confusion of the other clerical staff that were starting to poke their heads out of the other doors.  She made the copies, and dropped them on the desk in a way that some of them fluttered a bit in the wind.  “Now.  You’re expected back for classes the Monday after next, don’t miss it.  Your attendance is already abysmal, you don’t have much leeway before you may be forced to repeat a year.” 

“Aww, you want me to stay that badly?” Ashe asked, forming a little heart with her hand, or rather, trying to as some fingers didn’t quite cooperate.  “And here I was looking forward to moving on to college and being out of your hair.” 

“I can’t wait to hear about your rejections, freak,” Karen muttered under her breath.  Ashe picked up on Crystal’s quickly darkening mood and moved, grabbing her by the arm and departed the office before she decided to pull her concealed firearm and make a point.  Once they were back in the hall, Crystal whirled on her but Ashe already had a finger up. 

“Not the time or place,” Ashe hissed.  “Deep breaths.  Pick your battles.” 

“She insulted you,” Crystal countered. 

Ashe shook her head, glancing back at the office before she started to walk back towards where they had parked.  “We humiliated her, made her dance to our beat, not her own.  We won, so let her get that petty shot in, okay?  It will be worth it come prom night.” 

Crystal took a couple of deep breaths, clenching and unclenching her fists in the process.  Her eyes were shut, but her face was tense with a furious frown.  It slowly faded with each breath, then finally, she opened her eyes, the gorgeous blues looking back at her. 

“How do you do it?” Crystal asked.  “Do they all talk to you like that?  Every day?” 

“Pretty much,” Ashe said, her shoulders slumping.  “It got a bit better after the main bullies got broken up.  Funny how two of them basically work for me now.  The other end of the spectrum was Gray’s entourage, but they’re still busted up, some worse than me at the moment.” 

“When was he due back again?” Crystal asked. 

“The day before I got fucked up,” Ashe answered, resuming her trek to the parking lot, Crystal following on her heels.  “He should be in History right now, if I remember the schedule correctly.  Rachel is on standby to run interference if he starts shit before we’re gone.” 

“Probably a good idea to be gone before the next bell then,” Crystal agreed.  “You don’t need more injuries, even if I’m confident you could kick his ass all over again, wounds or no.” 

Ashe hummed, stepping back out into the spring heat.  It wasn’t quite oppressive, but the days were quickly warming, and would only get worse as the year marched on.  At least she never had to deal with snow, the north could keep that shit.  It was a pity that all the nice states to live in all had shit weather. 

She’d take hurricanes any day over a blizzard. 

“Want to grab a bite to eat?  Maybe catch a movie?” Crystal asked.  “We’ve got a few hours to kill before Keiko wraps up her recon work.” 

Ashe turned, looking back at the almost blushing figure of her best friend.  She knew they needed to have that conversation, to see if it was okay to think of her as something more, but she wanted to save that for prom, to make it the perfect night.  That voice was getting harder and harder to listen to, the desire to just kiss the girl was like a siren song. 

“That sounds lovely,” Ashe said with a smile. 

As long as neither of them called it a date, she could keep the voice at bay just a bit longer.  That would have to be good enough, at least for the time being.  She could keep deluding herself just a bit longer, until they were both ready to fully embrace what they had. 

What Ashe hoped they had. 

The ride to find something to eat was filled with the sounds of pop music, Crystal singing along rather badly and off key.  Ashe didn’t join in, not quite trusting her voice to not do something silly, like crack or squeak.  Still, it was warm and welcoming.  They settled on a higher end chain steak place, something that at least promised to be above average. 

The wait wasn’t long, since they were still a touch early for the lunch rush, and dinner was pleasant enough.  The rolls, goddess, they were worth it alone, drenched in melted honey butter and piping hot from the oven.  Even if the ribeye hadn’t been cooked perfectly, they would have made the trip worthwhile. 

The only thing better than the rolls was the smile on Crystal’s lips as she kept stealing glances between bites.  Ashe could admit to doing the same, wanting to savor every peaceful moment, even delaying taking her meds to avoid the pleasant haze they brought with them.  She didn’t need a filter clouding the moment, things were just how she wanted them. 

After dinner, they returned to the movie theater in Viuda territory and killed a few hours with what promised to be a rather hilarious comedy.  The same girl at the concession stand served them again.  This time she understood exactly what her tattoos meant, and why Crystal got a discount when she flashed her own wrist tattoo.

This time Ashe was the one to wink to the girl as they walked away and moved into the theater.  They laughed, and cuddled a bit despite the seats doing their best to prevent physical closeness.  Altogether, it was a lovely afternoon, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. 

The plan from there was to return to Crystal’s home, but she seemed to take the long way around instead, going along the Suwannee instead.  Ashe wasn’t complaining, though Crystal did get a message that made her frown for a moment.  Still, the palm trees dotting the banks were nice, as was getting to see a few gators sunning along the banks.  That one had almost assuredly saved her life only improved how she felt about the magnificent reptiles.

Still, even that had to come to an end as they pulled into Crystal’s neighborhood.  There was a drug deal happening on a front porch just one street over, which would have once raised so many concerns, but was now simply a normal thing.  She was going to have some of her girls selling within a few days, who was she to judge? 

Once on her street, a spike of concern ran up Ashe’s spine.  There were two vehicles parked out front of Crystal’s home, though the sight of Keiko leaning on the hood of the smaller car did help calm some of those nerves.  She sent a questioning glance towards Crystal, who chuckled nervously. 

“Sorry for not telling you,” she said, eyes glancing aside for just a moment before turning to the road.  “I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” 

“What surprise?” Ashe asked. 

Crystal said nothing as they pulled to a stop, her friend hopped out, then motioned for Ashe to follow.  She did so, wincing slightly as she got up.  Healing just took way too damn long for her liking.  Ashe caught up after a few hurried steps, Keiko winking before she fell in step with them as they circled the truck.  

“Sup,” Keiko said, nudging Ashe with her elbow.  “Hear you had some fun without me.” 

”You could say that,” Ashe muttered, watching the two men working to lower a ramp on the back of the truck.  Both of them had Viuda tattoos, which wasn’t as comforting as it might have been just a few weeks prior.  Keiko seemed to know them, but that too wasn’t as much of a comfort as it once was.

That was when one of them hopped into the truck and wheeled a beautiful motorcycle from the back, the make of it so much like Crystal’s own.  Unlike her’s however, it was decked out in deep purples, accented with slightly lighter flames that caught just right in the sunlight.  It even appeared to be the same model as Crystal’s baby. 

“Originally I was going to have that one bike fixed up,” Crystal started.  “I had a change of plans for that bike, so I custom ordered you this beauty instead.” 

“You bought me a bike?” Ashe asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

Crystal shifted from foot to foot, looking away while biting her lip.  

It was just too damn adorable. 

“I might have,” she said, still looking away.  “I’d been planning this for a few weeks now.  Call it an early birthday slash graduation gift?” 

Ashe could only blink, tears welling up in her eyes.  It was such an amazing gift, though she would miss riding behind Crystal across town, she could now do so beside her instead.  She stepped quickly, grabbing her friend into a tight hug.  She was crying now, Crystal rubbing her back as she did. 

She wanted nothing more than to kiss her in thanks, and so she looked up at Crystal’s gently smiling face.

“I take it you like it?” she asked, so hesitant and unlike her.

Ashe moved, slowly, questioningly, giving Crystal every chance to pull away, to divert it to a cheek or forehead as she had done several times before.  Ashe kept expecting it, waiting for the gentle stab of disappointment wrapped in dull comfort that came with each deflection of commitment. 

It never came, even as her lips ghosted over Crystal’s she waited for the shoe to drop only to realize it was really happening.  It was chaste and gentle, nothing that made one’s legs tremble, but it filled her with warmth all the same.  When they broke apart, Crystal was beet red, and Ashe had no doubt her own complexion matched. 

“Ashe,” Crystal asked softly.  “I know things aren’t the greatest right now, but I really couldn’t wait another month.  Will you be my girlfriend?” 

Tears flowed like rivers from her eyes as Ashe grinned wider than she ever had before.

“A thousand times over,” she said softly.  “That was a yes, just to be clea—” 

Her rambling words were cut off as Crystal captured her lips once again.

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