Smoke and mirrors || Rocío (snaps)

[Ruth Elliot]

Mid-September 1973
6th year girls dorm
Shortly after 1 AM

"Shhh..." Rae whispered to her late night companion as they re-entered the common room. The walk along the lake had been a good one, allowing her to clear her mind for a bit and forget the nightmares that had driven her from her bed in the first place. Rae had spent some time gazing up at the moonless sky, entertaining her half-kneazle with silly stories and conversations the feline surely cared about.

With a clearer head, the little girl returned to the snake pit, a new plan already swirling in her mind. She moved quietly along the dormitory corridor, her bare feet swallowing the sound of her steps the way the pads on Echo's paws did the same.

Moving through the darkness with a pair of scissors she'd...borrowed, Rae carefully nudged the door open to a room that had become something of a second home to her. Of late, the sentiment rang less true and much of that had to do with Rocío turning up absent when she came looking.

Rae gravitated toward the bed of the long haired homewrecker; one in a growing line.

Just a few snips would do the trick.

[Rocío Valdés]

Unlucky for her younger housemate, Rocío also had a habit of prowling around at odd hours, which meant Rae’s stealth mission was doomed from the damn start. The kid didn’t hear Rocío’s footsteps. Or the quiet stream of Spanish curses Rocío was hissing under her breath as she closed in.

In one smooth move, Rocío swatted the scissors from Rae’s hand—so the little psychopath didn’t stab her—and grabbed the second year around the waist.

“Qué carajos?!” Rocío whispered sharply, hauling Rae back from Lorelei’s bed. Scissors? Really? Was she about to cut off Lorelei’s hair?

She shot a quick, slightly panicked look at the bed. Her gaze examined Lorelei’s face, down to her hair—and, yeah, still perfect, of course. Rocío’s gaze lingered a little too long. She hadn’t properly looked at Lorelei in weeks, and now that she had, her chest tightened—and oh my god, not the time. She needed to get them the hell out of here before Lorelei woke up.

“What the hell are you doing, mocosa?” she hissed, still keeping her voice low as she stumbled backward, Rae squirming in her arms. "Cálmate, cállate—shh. Jesus christ, quiet."


Qué carajos - What the hell
mocosa - brat
Cálmate, cállate - Calm down, be quiet

[Ruth Elliot]

The sudden intake of air was worryingly sharp, offering the first and only warning that a siren was about to be released within the 6th-year girls' dorm. It promised to be shrill and cutting, able to shatter the windows and let the lake in to flood them all. That promise was stomped out by a sudden hand clamped over her mouth while another snaked around her waist.

Panic flooded her at once, the little girl screaming against the firm hands that tried to silence her. Her cries to be put down and left alone were all swallowed up, the volume dimmed but still at a level that might wake a lighter sleeper.

The scissors were louder, clattering to the ground somewhere out of view.

“Qué carajos?!”

Oh. Rocío.

Wait. Rocío.

The terror at suddenly being grabbed and hauled away melted in an instant, replaced by a renewed determination to get her job done. If the older girl was here, she wouldn't have to wait to have her plans work. Rae would cut Lorelei's hair now, Rocío would realise she wasn't so pretty anymore, then they could go find Angel and have a sleepover in the room of requirements together. Of course, that required actually being put down. Rae kicked and struggled against her hold, muted insistances that she be put down going unheeded.

Reaching out, Rae managed to wrestle the girl's hand off her mouth. "Put me down!" she demanded, whispering her protests furiously. "I'm doing this for us!"

[Rocío Valdés]

When Rae inhaled, Rocío’s hand shot over the girl's mouth before she could unleash the banshee wail Rocío knew was coming. God, this kid could hit decibels that should be illegal.

Rocío grunted as Rae kicked out, nearly losing her footing but managing to keep her weight centered. Rae was worse than a feral cat, or maybe a feral, actively bucking bull.

“No, no way,” Rocío ground out with the effort it was taking to keep both her and Rae upright, her grip iron-tight, while still moving in the general direction of escape. “Not happening, gremlin. You’re—jesus, cállate—not—what?”

What the hell did she mean she was doing this for us? Who was us?

Dark eyes flicked to Lorelei, lying far too peacefully for Rocío’s sanity. Seriously, why was she sleeping so heavily? She was half tempted to go check her pulse.

They were nearly at the door. If she could just get a hold of the handle, and why had she shut it behind her? Rocío rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, readjusting her grip on Rae and hauling her higher. Good thing the gremlin was a tiny gremlin still.

(Yet, despite being the size of a large bag of rice, was somehow giving Rocío the fight of her damn life.)

“What the hell do you mean you’re doing it ‘for us’?” Rocío hissed, eyeing the door and calculating whether she could risk letting go for even half a second.

[Ruth Elliot]

It couldn't be risked, not at all. The moment Rocío let go of Rae to get the door open, the little girl would be back at the bed of the homewrecker with the pair of scissors back in her hand. Someday, her friend would look back and thank her for her intervention.

Even if she couldn't see it now, down the road Rocío would give her a squishy side hug and tell her it was a good thing then the three of them--Angel included--would have ice cream in the kitchens and chat like there was nothing wrong in the world.

There was just this bit of necessary unpleasantness that they had to get through first.

"You'll thank me later," Rae insisted, still struggling. Echo sprang over, called on by her owner's distress. She meowed plaintively, adding to the growing noise within the room.

"Even Echo wants you to put me down! Anyway, once you don't think she's pretty anymore, you'll keep your eyes on Angel and we'll be happier for it." Rae huffed loudly. When had Rocío become so strong? "If you don't wanna see, you can take Echo and go. I'll be right there--we can camp out in the common room. I'll get the blankets from my bed."

But for any of that to happen...Rocío had to let go.

Rae paused, tipping her head back to look up at the girl. "You wouldn't hex me for biting you, would you?"

That seemed like something...she needed to know...while she plotted her next move.