{? ???? ??? ??? ?????} An Arcane oc story

It was the evening of the same day.

Ilyra had dragged Ari along to get groceries and let her pick out some snacks she wanted to try. Ofcourse, Ari took full advantage of that and threw a bunch of things she thought looked edible in their shopping basket.

Everytime Ilyra gave her a look, she'd just shrug and reply "What? Gotta take care of your little experiments."

One time an old lady walked by, giving the two a weird look when Ari exclaimed it again, a bit too loud.

When the lady passed, the two burst out in giggles, having to hold onto eachother for support.

When the two left to return to Ilyra's dorm room, Ari had accidentally bumped into a man, who immediately started cursing at her. She of course immediately went into fight mode, and Ilyra dragged her away from the scene before she could throw a punch.

"Filthy Undercity scum!" The man had yelled after her, which made her turn around and flip him off from a mile away.

When the girls got back to the dorm, Ari was still seething.

"Get off me!" She shouted, shrugging Ilyra's arm off her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, relax!” Ilyra said, holding her hands up in surrender. “The guy was a jerk. Forget about him, alright?”

Ari huffed, tossing the bag of snacks onto the counter with more force than necessary. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t have some pompous prick calling you scum in broad daylight.” She started pacing the room, her fingers twitching like they needed something to punch. “I could’ve taken him. Just one hit—”

“And we’d both be sitting in a cell right now,” Ilyra interrupted, shutting the door behind her. “Come on, Ari. He’s not worth it. Let’s just… eat some snacks and chill, okay?”

Ari stopped pacing, turning her head to glare at Ilyra. “Chill? You think I can just flip a switch or something? Do you even get it?”

Ilyra hesitated, stepping closer. “No,” she admitted softly, “I don’t. I don’t get what it’s like to walk around with everyone thinking they know who you are, just because of where you’re from. But I do know that guy didn’t deserve another second of your energy. You’re better than him.”

Ari’s glare softened a fraction, though her jaw was still tight. “Better, huh?” she muttered, crossing her arms.

“Yeah.” Ilyra smiled, moving to the counter to start unpacking the groceries. “Better, and smarter. Plus, you’ve got snacks to keep you going. What’d you call it? Taking care of my experiments?” She smirked over her shoulder.

Ari snorted, her frustration cracking slightly under the weight of Ilyra’s attempt to cheer her up. She dragged a hand through her messy hair and muttered, “You’re lucky I’m hungry.”

“Lucky, or a genius?” Ilyra quipped, pulling out a bag of chips and tossing it to Ari.

Ari caught it effortlessly and plopped onto the couch, slumping into the cushions. “Definitely not a genius.”

“Rude,” Ilyra shot back with a grin, unpacking the rest of their haul.

The tension in the room gradually eased as Ari tore into her chips, the sound of crunching filling the silence. When Ilyra finally joined her on the couch, a soda in hand, Ari glanced sideways at her.

“Thanks, I guess,” Ari mumbled.

Ilyra raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For stopping me from punching that guy,” Ari said, her voice quieter now. “And for not, like… making me feel like crap about it.”