Work Text:
I
Leona didn't know what was coming when she supported Diana in the purchase of 200 tiny toy spiders, if she knew what was coming she would have cut the internet from home. The redhead was happily making dinner while singing whatever song came to her head in whatever rhythm she could come up with. Diana was on the counter, watching her girlfriend lovingly.
“Hey Leo, what do you think of a wine to go with this risotto?” Diana asked Leona. Leona didn't even think twice about agreeing and going to the cupboard where they kept the wines, then missing the evil smile that appeared on Diana's face.
The moment the redhead opened the closet she came face to face with a spider. “AH! Diana catches the poison fast!” Leona screamed, jumping back in fright. The “spider” didn't move an inch, giving Leona the cue for slowly approaching the closet to check it out in more detail. It was a toy spider, one that Diana had bought and insisted on keeping secret what she would do with them. Behind the redhead, Diana started laughing out loud, slamming her hand on the counter as she giggled.
“You should have seen your face, Leo”
“Diana! Is that why you bought it, really?” Leona asked indignantly, still recovering from her shock. “Tiny spiders in the closet?!”
“Yes,” Diana said proudly, reaching over to Leona to hug her. She chuckled some more at the sight of Leona's pout, still outraged at being the target of her girlfriend's pranks—She thought they were past that stage after spending their entire college in a prank war—Diana grabbed Leona's waist and kissed her, spreading kisses all over her face until Leona smiled “Sorry love but it was hilarious”
“You're terrible” Leona said smiling, kissing Diana again before walking away to go back to preparing dinner.
II
She shouldn't have believed that this would be the only incident. After all, Diana didn't buy a mini spider, she bought two hundred. There were still one hundred and ninety-nine ways to use those spiders. So this time Leona's naivete was 100% her fault. This time she found the spider outside while watering her plants. Every day she passed by her Moonflowers and watered them, always taking a moment to chat with them. Underneath the plant was a spider. Obviously, Leona knew how important spiders were to the balance of the environment and knew that her plants would benefit from this neighbor. One day, Leona woke up with the sudden curiosity to know what the species of that spider was, she was already thinking of a name for it but first she wanted to know its species. And there she was, crouching in front of the Moonflower bush watching the shy spider.
“Diana, can you tell me which spider lives in the garden?” the redhead asked. Diana, who was reading a book on the porch, got up and went to Leona with the same curiosity. The moment she looked at the spider she had to hold back a laugh.
"Oh, I think she's a Toy Aranea and is usually found on Amazon" Diana spoke in the most didactic tone possible, waiting for the realization to sink in to Leona.
“Diana, you watched me talk to a fake spider for a whole week!” Leona screamed
III
Leona thought the spiders would just be in the house. She was wrong.
She arrived at work, at the “Targon & Bakers” bakery she had with Atreus. Her friend had been the one who closed the bakery yesterday so she was the one who would open the store in the morning. At first, everything was in order. Leona only had to clean the tables and prepare the pastries in the window. The nightmare came when Akali arrived.
“Leona, Diana asked to deliver your lunch. You forgot again.” Her friend spoke, her stoic tone contrasting with her amused expression. Akali handed Leona the lunch box before heading to the kitchen to start preparing the day's cakes and pies.
“Thank you 'Kali!” Leona spoke with a smile, returning to her chores and tending to the first customers who entered the store.
At lunchtime, Leona sat down to eat her lunch behind the counter. As soon as she opened the bag, she saw another one of the damn tiny toy spiders, along with a piece of paper with some writing on it.
Hey love! Hope the food is good, I know you always work hard at the store., so I prepared lunch for you today. But, did you know that Atreus was very kind to hear my offer about putting 10 spiders around the store. Don't worry, there's no chance of bothering customers, but it would be nice if you could find all of them and return them to me for a reward.Xoxo, see you later Leo, remember not to try too hard.
Diana ;)
Leona read the note three times before sighing and starting to laugh, of course Atreus would join Diana in her evil plan. Maybe even Akali was along for the ride, they'd been wanting a Halloween event at the bakery for a long time. "I'll deal with the spiders later" She told herself, putting the spider in her backpack and starting to eat the lunch her girlfriend had prepared.
Leona spent the whole day looking for the spiders in the store, even some customers who were regulars there and had already made a certain friendship tried to help. In the end she only found nine spiders. It was close to closing shop and Kespine, her little sister, was finishing her milkshake while watching her sister freak out over the last missing spider. "Leo, you've looked everywhere in the store, haven't you?"
"Yea! Every damn place! I don't know where else they could have put the spider” Leona said frustrated. Kespine spent a few seconds looking before pointing to her chest, indicating a small pocket. “Have you looked in your pocket?”
"Uh? No I haven’t." Leona replied, feeling in her pocket and feeling a bulge inside. She pulled out what was inside her pocket, the last spider. Leona contemplated her discovery before looking again at her younger sister, who was barely controlling her laughter “Tell someone about this and you'll be out of promotion here for two weeks”
IV
Between sleep and consciousness, Leona heard Diana's sweet voice as she was by your side and the gentle touch on your back. “Leona, wake up. It's about time we left.” In response, Leona just grumbled more and turned to the empty side of the bed. Standing beside Leona on the bed, Diana moved carefully to touch her nose, urging Leona to wake up. "Let's go Leo" She insisted again, the moment she heard Leona's more conscious mutters she ducked out of sight.
“What is it, Di?” Leona asked, her voice husky with sleep, opening her eyes only to see a small spider, in the place where Diana should have been. “DIANA!” Leona screamed in fright, nearly falling off the bed as she leaned back in fright. She just didn't fall thanks to Diana's strong arms supporting her.
“You who weren't willing to wake up when I called you” Diana said laughing, kissing Leona's cheek as she hugged her.
“You are banned from sex for a month!” Leona threatened, but from Diana's laugh and the one from her that joined soon after, she knew it wasn't true.
It wasn't a sex strike, it was Diana’s favorite movie that she denied to watch in the movie’s night.
V
Three whole weeks passed, Leona was no longer scared of the spiders she found in strange places. Every time she found a new one, she just groaned in disgust as Diana smiled proudly at herself. It didn't even matter to Leona to find the spiders anymore, seeing Diana's chaotic and joyful nature brought to light in this way was a secret gift to the redhead. However… revenge is a dish best served cold, and she decided she would serve it the day she went to get the box of her favorite spices.
“Di! You won't believe it, I just found a spiced apple pie that looks wonderful!” Leona spoke with pure joy as she hurried to the kitchen, opening the cupboard in search of her special box where she kept all her favorite spices. —The box was one of the first gifts Diana gave her, it was made of wood and carved in detail. It was your favorite gift—- She opened her box. Her spices were there, to her relief—Diana would never really mess with it, for she knew how special it was to Leona—somewhere under all the spiders on top.
"I think it's time for revenge" Leona thought, aware that Diana was close to her, laughing as she came to get her army of spiders.
+1
Diana knew Leona wasn't someone who would take pranks without retaliation, she'd waited for Leona's revenge for a whole month, but there was no hint that she was planning anything. That was far more worrisome than if she'd shown any signs of it, but over time she'd let go of that spark of anticipation and let herself be carried away by the routine the two women had created for themselves.
The fair-haired woman came home from work and immediately smelled almond cake. She smiled at the thought of reaching the kitchen and finding Leona in a yellow sweater and shorts, singing and dancing while she made her inventions. —Which didn't always work out, but Diana tried every one of them— When she got to the kitchen, she was surprised by the fact that Leona was nowhere to be found and the lights were off.
She turned on the light. The entire kitchen was littered with worms, and on the counter was a plate with a worm the size of your forearm. She screamed loudly at the terrifying image “LEO!”
"Hi love" She heard Leona's amused voice right behind her. Diana turned and looked at her girlfriend, dressed in a poorly made inflatable worm costume.
"Leona!" Diana screamed again, a mixture of terror and laughter at the ridiculous image she was witnessing. "There's a giant worm on our table" Leona just laughed out loud, holding Diana's face for a quick kiss before heading over to the counter. Diana watched in shock as she grabbed a plate and knife and walked over to the giant worm.
"That? It's just cake” Leona said, smiling with amusement and pride as she cut the cake and offered Diana a piece. “The worms are Toy Lumbricus type, and they came out cheaper than your spiders.” The two women stared at each other for a full minute before bursting into laughter.
There were sure to be more pranks in the future between the couple, it was how things work between them. A new prank war had started, and this time it might as well end with the two of them finding the marriage proposal rings.