Yeah, I could have put this over on my Rocket100 thread, but it's pretty long, and deserves its own, since it's been a while since this forum's seen any Diamondshipping. So sue me already.
It's a kind of continuation of 3 past fics I've done for R100, but it should be relatively easy to understand. If you really have issues, just go over there and read the past ones. But you shouldn't have to.
******************************************************
Here it was. Prom night. The night most teenagers either look forward to for months or dread. In my case, it was dread. If I had a choice, I wouldn't even have been there. But unfortunately, when you're elected to Prom Court, you really don't have much choice.
"Cheer up. It could be worse."
"How could it be much worse? I'm here, I'm without a date-"
"You're with me."
"You hardly count, Sebastian, really. And why aren't you feeling the depression I'm feeling tonight? The source of all my wisdom thus far involving women, and you have no interest in them yourself?" Sebastian gave me The Look. In this case, the one that said "You should know better, Gio. Shame on you."
"Look, I never said I LIKED girls. I prefer to simply study their mating habits, really."
"You say mating habits like they're a bunch of Slugma, Sebastian."
"Oh, no. The mating habits of Slugma are much different than those of humans... did you know-" Here he went again.
"You're not doing my Biology homework, Sebastian, so you can really stop there. But whatever they are, I'm sure they're not as complicated as ours."
"Actually, Giovanni- they're MUCH more complicated. And more dangerous. Human mating rituals don't generally involve the risk of bodily harm- well, not the normal ones."
"This is not the kind of thing I want to be hearing at Prom, you know."
"Ooh! I'd like to know!" A hyper, perky girl was standing behind Sebastian. "Can you tell me?"
"Delia... how'd you get here? I thought you weren't coming," I said, shocked. What the-? "Weren't you grounded?"
"I was. I lied to Mom about going over to the opera... she was elated when I told her my plans, and forgot tonight was the prom... Because unlike you, I haven't got a paranoid freak mom like yours."
Yes, Del. Rub it in, why don't you?
"So, am I to assume this is an unofficial... date? I haven't got a corsage."
"Well, um..." She paused and looked at me. "I don't know. People have been saying things, you know... about me being a gold digger..." Her gaze averted from me. "No, I just thought I'd come over here to your table to, you know, say hello, and things..." She stared down at the floor, blushing. I'd never seen her like this.
"What is it, really? You can't say you just came over here to visit, can you? If you came, you've got a good reason. So why don't you just say it?" I didn't need Sebastian's help to know when a girl was hiding something, I knew that much. As much as I hated my mother's lessons, I'd learned a thing or two about psychology, and she'd spent a good time teaching me how to get the truth out of someone. Trying to get a girl she hardly approved of to open up probably wasn't the use of it she had in mind, but it would do for now...
"No... it's not you... it's really not, I'm just..."
"You're just what? Come on, Delia, just say it. My mother's the most critical person out there, and I'm still mostly unscarred. Whatever it is, I can handle it."
A tear ran down her face.
"...cheap." she whimpered. "That's what all the girls say..."
"That's the problem? You think you're not good enough to go out with a guy who's been elected onto Prom Court? Well, Delia, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't even elected by the students. My mother fixed it. She told me. And I'm also going to be prom king. This whole thing's one big sham, simply because my idiot mother wants me to look good. As if winning a high school popularity contest is going to really affect me years from now." I grabbed her hand to get her attention. She lifted her head slightly.
"...no, I'm cheap, Gio. Just cheap. The girls... they're all right, you know? I shouldn't even be here... and your mom doesn't like me anyway. So why are you even bothering with me?"
"Because you're NOT my mother. And she doesn't hate you. She's the one who gave you the scholarship to get into this school. It's me with you she hates." That was a bit of a lie. Mother actually despised her- she only gave out the scholarships to some of Kanto's brightest students to improve her appearance in the public eye, and Delia just coincidentally ended up getting one. "Filthy whore" was about the kindest thing she'd ever had to say about her.
"Okay, I'll be honest. I only started going out with you at first because Mother hated it. But I changed. Now I honestly do love you. I've been sheltered forever. You actually showed me there's a world out there, one my mother didn't want me to know existed. And that knowledge will... serve me well in the future." She had no idea. I hadn't even begun sharing my secrets with her, not yet. And prom was hardly the place to drop THAT bombshell, even though I knew I'd have to sooner or later. "Look, Delia, will you just open your eyes and see that I love you? For real now? That's all that should matter. We're the two biggest outcasts in this school-" Sebastian audibly cleared his throat. He prided himself on being singled out as the dork, for some reason. "-okay, two OF the biggest outcasts in the school. And outcasts will never make it unless they stick together... It's us against the world, if that's how you want to see it. And if you don't feel like you can handle that, you can feel free to walk out on me, Delia. Because it's not going to get any easier later on, I promise." She was sobbing now. Out of shame, joy, or anger at my revelation, I couldn't tell. "Well, go on. Are you going to stay, or go? I'm giving you the choice..."
"You're being a bit hard on her," Sebastian whispered.
"She needs it," I replied. "Just trust me."
"...I'm sorry," she said. "I never knew..."
"Don't apologize, Delia. Just dance with me."
"What?"
"You heard me."
Her tears melted away as I stood up and took her out to the dance floor.
"What did you mean, about later on?" she asked as we danced. "About things... getting harder?"
The realization hit hard. She'd have to find out eventually, I knew that.
"I... can't say right now. It's a touchy subject, you could say." Yeah, because find out, and you've got enough information to get both me and Mother put away in some prison in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe just the system for me, but that's just as bad.
"Oh. Really," she said, in a dull voice.
It was at that moment I felt the burning sting of recognition I was being a complete hypocrite.
It's a kind of continuation of 3 past fics I've done for R100, but it should be relatively easy to understand. If you really have issues, just go over there and read the past ones. But you shouldn't have to.
******************************************************
Here it was. Prom night. The night most teenagers either look forward to for months or dread. In my case, it was dread. If I had a choice, I wouldn't even have been there. But unfortunately, when you're elected to Prom Court, you really don't have much choice.
"Cheer up. It could be worse."
"How could it be much worse? I'm here, I'm without a date-"
"You're with me."
"You hardly count, Sebastian, really. And why aren't you feeling the depression I'm feeling tonight? The source of all my wisdom thus far involving women, and you have no interest in them yourself?" Sebastian gave me The Look. In this case, the one that said "You should know better, Gio. Shame on you."
"Look, I never said I LIKED girls. I prefer to simply study their mating habits, really."
"You say mating habits like they're a bunch of Slugma, Sebastian."
"Oh, no. The mating habits of Slugma are much different than those of humans... did you know-" Here he went again.
"You're not doing my Biology homework, Sebastian, so you can really stop there. But whatever they are, I'm sure they're not as complicated as ours."
"Actually, Giovanni- they're MUCH more complicated. And more dangerous. Human mating rituals don't generally involve the risk of bodily harm- well, not the normal ones."
"This is not the kind of thing I want to be hearing at Prom, you know."
"Ooh! I'd like to know!" A hyper, perky girl was standing behind Sebastian. "Can you tell me?"
"Delia... how'd you get here? I thought you weren't coming," I said, shocked. What the-? "Weren't you grounded?"
"I was. I lied to Mom about going over to the opera... she was elated when I told her my plans, and forgot tonight was the prom... Because unlike you, I haven't got a paranoid freak mom like yours."
Yes, Del. Rub it in, why don't you?
"So, am I to assume this is an unofficial... date? I haven't got a corsage."
"Well, um..." She paused and looked at me. "I don't know. People have been saying things, you know... about me being a gold digger..." Her gaze averted from me. "No, I just thought I'd come over here to your table to, you know, say hello, and things..." She stared down at the floor, blushing. I'd never seen her like this.
"What is it, really? You can't say you just came over here to visit, can you? If you came, you've got a good reason. So why don't you just say it?" I didn't need Sebastian's help to know when a girl was hiding something, I knew that much. As much as I hated my mother's lessons, I'd learned a thing or two about psychology, and she'd spent a good time teaching me how to get the truth out of someone. Trying to get a girl she hardly approved of to open up probably wasn't the use of it she had in mind, but it would do for now...
"No... it's not you... it's really not, I'm just..."
"You're just what? Come on, Delia, just say it. My mother's the most critical person out there, and I'm still mostly unscarred. Whatever it is, I can handle it."
A tear ran down her face.
"...cheap." she whimpered. "That's what all the girls say..."
"That's the problem? You think you're not good enough to go out with a guy who's been elected onto Prom Court? Well, Delia, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't even elected by the students. My mother fixed it. She told me. And I'm also going to be prom king. This whole thing's one big sham, simply because my idiot mother wants me to look good. As if winning a high school popularity contest is going to really affect me years from now." I grabbed her hand to get her attention. She lifted her head slightly.
"...no, I'm cheap, Gio. Just cheap. The girls... they're all right, you know? I shouldn't even be here... and your mom doesn't like me anyway. So why are you even bothering with me?"
"Because you're NOT my mother. And she doesn't hate you. She's the one who gave you the scholarship to get into this school. It's me with you she hates." That was a bit of a lie. Mother actually despised her- she only gave out the scholarships to some of Kanto's brightest students to improve her appearance in the public eye, and Delia just coincidentally ended up getting one. "Filthy whore" was about the kindest thing she'd ever had to say about her.
"Okay, I'll be honest. I only started going out with you at first because Mother hated it. But I changed. Now I honestly do love you. I've been sheltered forever. You actually showed me there's a world out there, one my mother didn't want me to know existed. And that knowledge will... serve me well in the future." She had no idea. I hadn't even begun sharing my secrets with her, not yet. And prom was hardly the place to drop THAT bombshell, even though I knew I'd have to sooner or later. "Look, Delia, will you just open your eyes and see that I love you? For real now? That's all that should matter. We're the two biggest outcasts in this school-" Sebastian audibly cleared his throat. He prided himself on being singled out as the dork, for some reason. "-okay, two OF the biggest outcasts in the school. And outcasts will never make it unless they stick together... It's us against the world, if that's how you want to see it. And if you don't feel like you can handle that, you can feel free to walk out on me, Delia. Because it's not going to get any easier later on, I promise." She was sobbing now. Out of shame, joy, or anger at my revelation, I couldn't tell. "Well, go on. Are you going to stay, or go? I'm giving you the choice..."
"You're being a bit hard on her," Sebastian whispered.
"She needs it," I replied. "Just trust me."
"...I'm sorry," she said. "I never knew..."
"Don't apologize, Delia. Just dance with me."
"What?"
"You heard me."
Her tears melted away as I stood up and took her out to the dance floor.
"What did you mean, about later on?" she asked as we danced. "About things... getting harder?"
The realization hit hard. She'd have to find out eventually, I knew that.
"I... can't say right now. It's a touchy subject, you could say." Yeah, because find out, and you've got enough information to get both me and Mother put away in some prison in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe just the system for me, but that's just as bad.
"Oh. Really," she said, in a dull voice.
It was at that moment I felt the burning sting of recognition I was being a complete hypocrite.
