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Resolute hates her.
The way she stands, the way she flicks her ponytail before tipping her head back and elegantly taking sips from her water bottle– all of these things are infuriating. Merry acts like she’s the best, when everyone knows she’s just got some absurd luck and there’s nothing about her that makes her any different from Resolute herself.
So Resolute watches from the edge of the gate as she performs her dainty little routine with her headphones in, acting like a pretty princess when Resolute knows she’s a dirty player. She’s nasty, she pushes others to get her way, and more often than not she’s sneaking behind everyone’s backs to get those damn carrots to herself.
Pink goes up to her, then, an excited grin on her face, and Merry gives her a soft, loving smile. An expression she shows to everyone except Resolute, because she knows that she knows the “Jovial Merriment” is just a nickname and is rather ironic for her character.
“Look, Merry! Papa gave me a good-luck charm!” Pink gushes, shoving her hand in Merry’s face, who doesn’t even flinch.
“It’s very cute, yes,” Merry says, reaching out a hand to ruffle the younger girl’s pink hair, “It suits you a lot. I hope it works to bring you some good luck, hey?”
Pink nods. “Of course! I’ll show you, Merry, and today, I’ll get those carrots before anyone else!”
Merry laughs, her voice jingling and airy as she shoos off her competitor lightheartedly. “Go on, Pink, I was watching you do your warmups. You haven’t finished them yet, have you?”
Pink blushes, hiding behind her fluffy hair. “I guess not…”
“Off you go, then,” Merry chides, and Pink nods eagerly, skipping off towards Door working carefully through her practice hurdles. Resolute says nothing to butt in on her poor technique– she’s not her trainer, and has no intention of giving her the upper hand.
Resolute does get a bit distracted watching her, though, because one moment, she’s observing Door’s shins hitting the hurdles and then seeing her yelp and jump around in pain, and the next, her view is benign obscured by her least favourite colour.
“Taking notes, are we?” Merry says bitterly, and Resolute rolls her eyes, leaning back on the wooden fence of the pen with a groan. She’s not in the mood to listen to Merry’s snarky comments and biting tones, but it seems the other girl isn’t planning on giving her a break.
“Get lost, Merry.”
Merry’s eyes are sharp and full of hatred– that orange hue burns with a fury that she only shows to Resolute because they know each other better than any other. It isn’t a surprise to either of them that the next thing out of Merry’s mouth is designed specifically to piss Resolute off.
“The only thing I never do is lose, sugarcube,” She says, leaning in closer and a hand snaking down to settle on Resolute’s hip, “You seem to know all about that though, don’t you? Losing?”
“Call me that again and I’ll make you sorry,” Resolute replies, clicking her tongue even as the hand on her body burns like a brand, “You bitch. ”
Merry growls, her beautiful and kind posture completely gone and replaced with base instinct– just the way Resolute likes it. It’s surprisingly easy to draw out her bad side– she’s been here for quite some time, but somehow no one has yet realised her two-faced attitude, meaning that all this nastiness is all only for Resolute.
“You don’t like the nickname, sugarcube?” Merry says, nails digging into Resolute’s side as her eyes flash with excitement, “I can call you something else, then– how does ‘bitch’ sound?”
Ah, and there she goes. Resolute can’t help her little laugh even as Merry towers over her with a nasty glare, because seeing the other woman’s face contorted in such a way is hysterical.
“You’re really into this power-play, I have to admit,” Resolute snickers, tossing her water bottle to the ground as she reaches up to tug the label pinned to the other’s shirt, “I feel a little bad denying you of a victory today, but–”
“Shut your mouth,” Merry hisses, and she’s so close that their noses are only inches apart, “You’re still fresh meat to me. Inexperienced, and your strategies are completely nuts. Have you been going too hard on the sugarcubes, sugarcube?”
“You’re so mad,” Resolute says, licking her lips as she lets her hand wander up to grab those vibrant, ginger locks between her fingers and watching in delight as Merry scowls, “Do you feel threatened, is that it? Am I scary?”
Merry’s leg hikes up onto the fence behind her, keeping Resolute pinned in place– not that she’s intending on backing down first. She might be a little shorter, a little stockier than Merry, but she’s certainly not scared of her. After all, she’s the one holding the other by the ponytail and breathing in the rich cinnamon scent of her perfume.
She wonders for a moment if Merry tastes like cinnamon, too, and suddenly, she’s got a hankering for carrot cake.
“Don’t make me laugh,” Merry spits, her gaze sharp as Resolute keeps eye contact, “I have better things to do than waste my time listening to your incessant teasing.”
“Teasing, huh?” Resolute says, her gaze drifting down to Merry’s lip-glossed lips and her heart beating just a little faster, “Well, if I talk too much, there’s lots of ways to make me shut up, you know?”
She punctuates her sentence with a little tug of Merry’s hair, and the little grunt Merry lets out is like music to her ears. It’s incredible how responsive Merry is to riling up– and Resolute is only wanting to push her to her limits.
That’s what rivals do, don’t they?
“You little bitch, I’ll show you,” Merry says lowly, and then Resolute feels the woman’s lips on hers, and knows she’s won this round.
As expected, Merry is an aggressive kisser. She kisses how she races– dirty, with her claws in her opponent from both sides as she cages them against the barriers with no escape from her relentless chase. Resolute doesn’t mind, though, because it means that this is her real nature.
Resolute lets Merry move their lips together, keeping her hand in the other’s hair as Merry tries to bury her nails into the flesh just under her cropped singlet. The sun burns hot on Resolute’s back, but her lips are hotter as she nips and bites at Merry’s mouth, desperate for a little taste of those bitter words she’s always sending Resolute’s way.
Then, there’s a lick at the seam of her lips, and Resolute lets her mouth open in a giddy smile. Merry shoves her tongue inside, and Resolute relishes the taste of the other woman on her tongue. She doesn’t even care others might be watching– Bullet’n will step in if it’s really an issue, won’t she?
Merry’s little sounds are so cute– it’s like she’s trying to maul Resolute with those little growls that emerge from the back of her throat and spill into Resolute’s mouth, and Resolute thinks only lower of her for it. She hates Merry, god, she despises her, and now to have taunted her into shoving her tongue down her throat might be her new personal record.
But, it has to end– Merry has her reputation on the line, after all, and everyone knows they hate each other. What will they think, seeing Merry kiss her stupid only minutes before the race starts?
Well, at the very least, Cyan will be cheering on Merry’s downfall from the stadium seats. A pretty princess, poisoned by the taste of the bad apple, addicted to it and coming back for more and more and more –
Merry pulls away suddenly, pushing Resolute into the fence as they both gasp for air, their cheeks flushed and chests heaving.
Resolute keeps her eyes on Merry as she watches the thoughts race through her mind– disgusted with herself, but clearly pleased. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out she liked it, and Resolute can’t help but look forward to their next argument that will certainly escalate back to this level again. To see Miss Jovial herself dependent on Resolute’s attention…
“Something wrong, Merry?” Resolute asks, a devilish grin on her face, “You seem a little flustered.”
Merry stops abruptly, her eyes going blank– before she turns her fierce gaze on Resolute, and Resolute knows she’s gotten her angry to the point of no return, to the point it’s going to affect her performance today.
“What have you done?! ” She says furiously, like she wasn’t the one who kissed Resolute without her consent (not that she would have said no if she’d asked , which everyone knows that she couldn’t ever swallow her pride to do so).
She storms into Resolute’s personal space with anger rivalling a sick tyrant, “You– You bitch, ” she says, and Resolute tries not to laugh at her anger, “You made me– ”
Resolute spits on her face.
It’s not a lot of saliva, really– she’d swallowed most of it when Merry’s rather passionate tongue had given her too much– but it sticks to the woman’s cheek and glistens in the sunlight like a gem, and Resolute knows this is the icing on the cake.
Merry is speechless for a moment, her eyes wide and her mouth moving uselessly. Resolute tries not to laugh as a shaky hand comes up to her cheek, wiping up the spit onto her fingers as she stares down at them with dazed shock.
“Reso– You…”
Resolute smirks, bending down to pick up her drink bottle whilst brushing the hair out of her face. She unscrews the cap carefully, taking slow, careful steps towards her shell-shocked opponent. Resolute doesn’t even think Merry’s paying attention to anything but herself right now– but everyone knows that’s usually the case.
Merry stands, embarrassed and utterly stunned. Resolute gives her a sweet smile as she reaches up with the bottle in her hand, and then dumps the entire thing over her head.
Water drips down the woman’s face, all over her shirt and leaving her a sopping, stupid mess. Resolute loves the look on her face that reads nothing short of sheer humiliation– she’s been outplayed, and she knows it.
Resolute doesn’t think victory has ever tasted this sweet .
“Good luck today, sugarcube,” She says, walking off, “You’ll need it.”