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Fandom Library, Wednesday

Arden wasn't sure if she was supposed to be here over break week. On the one hand no one had said she shouldn't show up, even if there were no classes, on the other, perhaps it was just assumed she'd realize she wasn't supposed to be here, rather than needing to be told what to do. Arden has spent a few hours before her shift started dithering about this and was going to spend the next few the same way, apparently. Eventually, she'd settled on going through the stacks and doing an audit of the books. Not all of them, of course, that was an impossible task, but checking on the books that had been borrowed since the beginning of the year, making sure they'd been returned and placed back in the correct locations.

Though, considering the size of this place, she probably should have packed some snacks before venturing off.

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"No, but you can keep dropping into the shop to visit. Maybe bring lunches?" Arden gave Kamala a smile. "Bet she'd like that, especially since I don't think she gets a lot of visitors."

“Oh! I know! I’ll come up with some kind of bet with her every week so the loser has to buy each other… dessert,” she teased.

Clearly an original idea she had.

Arden sputtered. "That's different!"

“Exactly. It’s dessert so I’m not copying you and Cal,” Kamala pointed out and hiding her amusement. Poorly. “Especially since El and I are just friends at this point.”

Arden just scoffed and rolled her eyes because she didn't actually have a better comeback that that.

A moment later had her asking, "Hey, but like...for real for real...you promise you were just joking with Eleanor, right? Like, I know you were, I do, but also just..." She looked abashed.

Oh no!

“Sweetie! It was just a joke!” Kamala pleaded, guiltily. “I was just trying to impress her with…. A really bad joke. I’m sorry!”

"No, no, you're good, you're good!" Arden insisted. "Like I said, I know you were just kidding, but also...you're, like, my, um. First best friend? And I wanna make sure I'm not fucking things up, especially over a going-nowhere crush."

Sisters over misters.

"I'm your first best friend?"

Kamala blinked and just reached over to hug Arden.

"Oh, sweetie. I could not ask for a better or funnier friend."

"I mean, not to lessen the impact, but there's a very small pool of candidates," Arden said. "And...like, also it's cool that I'm not yours. You've got friends you've known since you were a baby. I'm not stressing it, promise."

All of the potential front-runners for bestie status had other best friends. At least Kamala's were human.

"You are my best friend," Kamala promised Arden. "It's not about who came first. It's about being there for the other person. I've had Bruno and Nakia when I was in high school and earlier but that doesn't negate their status or yours. You're going to have other best friends. And it's cool. That's how it's supposed to work. I can't be everything you need as a friend. That's how chosen families work."

"You can have...more than one?" Arden asked.

That wasn't how the word 'best' worked, Kamala.

"If you want more than one you can," Kamala said with a smile. "I will always try to have Bruno and Nakia in my life but if you think I'm giving you up for them? That's not going to happen. You have fully permanent bestie status. You can have best friendssss though, Arden. It's only a singular bestie if you want it to be."

Edited 2024-07-05 23:42 (UTC)

"Huh," Arden said. "So, like, in movies and stuff, people feud over who the actual bestie is. Which was why I was trying to make sure that nobody thought I was trying to step to Nakia and Bruno, you know? I didn't wanna cause any trouble."

Even friendship triangles could be solved with poly, who knew?

"Eh, that's Hollywood tropes," Kamala replied, "There's never a limit on love and friendship, Arden. It's just how much of yourself you are willing to share with others. My Dad told me that and it's probably the wisest thing he ever said to me."

Arden's face fell and a deep and aching sadness rose up in her eyes. "Not in my experience," she said softly.

Then shook herself. "I like your dad's interpretation much better."

Okay. Kamala was going in for a hug now. A fierce one.

"I can't help what happened to you before you got here," Kamala said. "But there are so many people on this island who care for you. And will stand up for you. And if they aren't around you just have to call me and I will be there for you in a New York minute."

Arden hugged her back, very tightly. "You're from Jersey," she teased because otherwise there'd be crying.

"Jersey minutes are much longer," Kamala said not quite letting go yet.

"Can't even get into how long Triangle minutes are," she said, happy enough to not let go. "We like to take our time in the South."

“I’m still confused about whatever the triangle is but I’ll take your word for it,” Kamala laughed.

She pulled her head back from Arden’s shoulder to look at her friend.

“I know you haven’t had the best life. But I swear to you it will get better for you. Trust me, 20 years from now you and I will look back and be so proud of who you’ve become.”

"The Triangle, North Carolina, obviously," Arden laughed, knowing that explained nothing. "And, yeah. We'll be looking back and proud of you, too. World-renowned superhero and...what do you wanna be? Like, for real?"

Superheroing wasn't a job.

“I want to be a hero. As for the rest? I’m still figuring it out. I mean my Noni is in her 80s and tells me she’s still figuring out her life,” Kamala said with a shrug. “So I’m good with that.”

"I came in thinking I might be wanna be a private investigator or something ~~because it's canon~~," Arden said. "But I'm not sure anymore. There's just...so much, you know?"

"That's the entire point of college," Kamala pointed out. "Who knows? Maybe I'd just be happy someplace as a super-powered accountant."

She immediately burst out laughing.

"Nope. Can't even keep a straight face on that one."

"You know, the Stark intern to superhero accountant pipeline," Arden laughed. "But also, look at all the responsibility you're racking up!"

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