Cordy and Dom

[luckydom]

A few weeks after this

So for some fucking reason Dom and Cordelia had decided to try being a thing? Again? It was such a risky proposition and it was so tied up in trauma. Moreso for Cordelia, yes, but Dom had her own shit from that time, particularly the things that had led to her being hospitalized, and diving back into something, no matter how tentative, was like a reckoning.

So Dom had gotten herself a therapist. And she still wasn't sure how to pay for it, though she knew if she asked Johnny she would help, but that was fucked up. But anyway, that was a problem for next week's Dom - this week, she was doing it.

She was quiet and broody after the first session, but still wanted to see Cordelia, so Dom headed to Cordelia's place without asking first. Still just taking a moment to enjoy the reassuring feeling of knowing where Cordelia lived. She slipped into the building behind someone else who buzzed in, and made her way to Cordelia's door, knocking.

Comments

[frostyfeelings]

A somewhat butch woman, short brown hair just starting to tinge with silver, answered the door. "Yes?"

It was possible that Cordelia had failed to mention that the couple she was renting (borrowing) a room from was a pair of West Coast lesbians in their late 40s. Friends of the Barneses before they'd moved East, they were more than happy to let Cordy crash with them.

Cordy herself came into the front room half a minute later already talking, glasses sliding down her nose. "Hey Joanne, do you have another ink cartridge for the printer or should I just print out this paper at school before--" She looked up from the used ink cartridge in her hands, saw Dom at the door, and couldn't help but smile. "Hey, hot stuff.

[luckydom]

Look, generally Dom didn't think that hot soft butches were Cordelia's type, but if she had just magically forgotten to mention that she was living with another woman or something, Dom was going to be pissed. "Hey," she said, with a raised brow and quick, wary smile at Joanne.

"Bad time again?"

Probably Dom should start calling ahead.

[frostyfeelings]

"Nope! I just finished my homework, so great time." She slipped her hand into Dom's and tugged her inside, using the empty cartridge in her other hand to gesture between the two women. "Dom, this is Joanne, my landlord-slash-fairy godmother." Joanne rolled her eyes and chuckled a little at that. "Well, one of them. Mona's at work. Joanne, this is Dom, my lucky charm." Cordy didn't feel like she had a right to call Dom more than that just yet.

[luckydom]

"I have literally never heard you say 'I just finished my homework' before, my sixteen year old self just rolled her eyes so hard," Dom teased gently, bolstered by relief.

Of course this woman was one of the friends Cordelia had mentioned staying with. Of course a great pair of women were helping out Cordy. Of course it all made sense. Dom was momentarily frustrated with herself for being so wary - but quickly reminded herself that there was a lot of shit to get through here. Rebuilding and trusting would take time.

"Nice to meet you," she said after a second, looking at Joanne with real sincerity. "Something gives me the impression that you're actually Cordy's lucky charm, not me."

[frostyfeelings]

"I know, right?" Cordy took a somewhat perverse pleasure in doing the things she was "supposed" to do now that she was the only one telling her to do them. Okay, so she still hated doing laundry, but no one liked doing laundry. "Nice to meet you, Dom," Joanne replied, then turned to Cordy. "I like this one." "Too bad, you can't have her. I called dibs." Cordy did her best villain cackle and pulled Dom towards her room, Joanna disappearing in the other direction. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

[luckydom]

"I wanted to hear your best villainous laugh, that was the purpose of my visit. But now I've heard it, I guess I can go now?" Dom grinned, and tugged gently at Cordelia's hand, turning as if to go.

Of course, she wasn't going to go anywhere.

She felt better already.

[frostyfeelings]

"Ha! As if I would let you escape so easily." She tugged Dom closer and looped an arm around her waist. "You shouldn't wander into strange people's houses without backup, Lucky. Now you're stuck with me."

[luckydom]

"Usually when I wander in strange people's houses, absolutely nothing happens to me," Dom responded, with a wry smile. "Cause I'm lucky."

She leaned lightly into Cordelia's side, but really, she was looking around the room, trying to get a sense of the New Cordelia who lived inside it.

[frostyfeelings]

"Dunno how lucky that is. Absolutely nothing sounds kind of boring," she teased, though really, she would never stop being grateful for Dom's powers. "So, are we staying in or going out. I need to know whether I have to shimmy my ass into some real pants."

Her room was messier than it had been in the Frost home, both because it was smaller and because she didn't have a maid to pick up after her. She had a lot stuff, but it wasn't the pile of high-end, mostly useless crap that a lot of the people she'd grown up with had. It was knick-knacks and concert posters and books she'd gotten at used bookstores and, okay, she still had a penchant for statement shoes and an inability to keep them contained in the closet. There was a keyboard on its stand against one wall, though there was a pair of ripped jeans draped over it. Among the pictures taped to the wall or stuck between pages as bookmarks, only one had any of her family members in it, and it was one of Cordy and Christian and Emma together, probably a year before Dom had ever met the Frosts.

[luckydom]

"Let's stay in," Dom answered, offhand - surveying the room. "Look at this. Whirlwind Cordy."

Quietly, she moved through the room, stopping every so often to touch something - to finger a shoe, a poster, a picture of Cordelia's child, that one of the three little Frosts. "I like seeing where you live. It's like another way to learn who you are now."

[frostyfeelings]

"Gonna use my dirty laundry as your crystal ball?" she joked, but really, she was happy to let Dom in. There really wasn't anything Cordy had to hide, not from her.

[luckydom]

"Maybe I'll just sniff it. Just get really gross." She flashed Cordelia a grin. Dom was so wary about everything, but part of her just lit up around Cordelia. She couldn't help it.

[frostyfeelings]

"The Barneses have a cat who like, loves sniffing the crotches of all your dirty laundry. I'd get home and find him rolling around in a pile of my jeans. Little perv." Cordy laughed brightly. "And please, as if you could actually gross me out."

[luckydom]

"Cordelia and a pet. That's a cute image. You're so functional now. As a human." It was strange - but it was nice. Dom picked up a particularly ridiculous show and made a face at it.

[frostyfeelings]

"Oh, the cat hated me. He just loved my clothes. I'm pretty sure he was plotting to murder me and eat my face." Somehow she could babysit her own kid, but pets were beyond her. "And, you know, I try to be."

[luckydom]

"Cordy," Dom said dryly, "Who hasn't plotted to murder you and eat your face?" But really, Dom was proud of her. Dom herself had grown up a lot, of course, but she'd been closely involved in that process. With Cordelia, it was all new.

[frostyfeelings]

Cordy pretended to think about it for a second. "Yeah, no, I've got nothing. The Dalai Lama, maybe? Though only because he's a vegetarian."

[luckydom]

"Yeah, but he hasn't met you, so there's still time." She winked.

[frostyfeelings]

"If I turn the Dalai Lama into a meat-eater just so he can murder and cannibalize me, I win the universe, right?" Cordy laughed and flopped gracelessly back onto her bed.

[luckydom]

"You already won the universe. Ever seen your face?"

[frostyfeelings]

"Nope. Every time I look into a mirror, all these rainbows and unicorns and kittens shoot out of it and totally block my view."

[luckydom]

"Gross." Dom grinned, sitting on the edge of the bed - reaching over for Cordelia's hand, lacing their fingers together.

[frostyfeelings]

She gave Dom's hand a little squeeze, glad for the contact. "I know, it's like Lisa Frank barfs wherever I go. It's a curse."

[luckydom]

"I hope your kid is into really pink things and you have to participate in Lisa Frank branded stuff."

[frostyfeelings]

"My kid is into pink stuff. But she's also into literally everything else. Like, she thinks every single thing is the best thing ever and it's kind of awesome."