Started my daily ficlets to make the
hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a
second cycle. Now entering the seventh through ninth weeks, here comes cycle 3 of my gleekathon!
"THE BALLAD OF PINKY AND THE BRAIN"
Santana and Brittany
Brittany was positively giddy at the end of Glee practice, as she and Santana left the school together. It had gone without saying that they would work this out at her house. Once they’d arrived, they headed up to Brittany’s room.
“So what are we doing?” Santana asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Eighties, nineties, or more…” She paused, smirking as she saw Brittany was swaying side to side, humming what she recognized to be ‘Endless Love.’ Seeing Santana had picked up on it, she started singing it out with a healthy dose of over-dramatics as she imitated Rachel’s swoony eyes to Mr. Schuester.
“And love / I’ll be a fool for you / I’m sure / You know I don’t mind / Whoa, you know I don’t mind…”
Santana chuckled. “The look on Mr. Schuester’s face…” she recalled. Brittany laughed, made the face. This only amused Santana further. “He was this close to running off, screaming like a little girl.” Brittany nodded. “No way we’re doing something like that,” Santana stood.
“Like what?” Brittany asked. Santana had that look on her face… she had an idea. Curiosity piqued, Brittany took a step, waiting to hear.
“Screw the ballad,” Santana declared. Brittany’s eyes grew wide and she stood up straight, almost gulping… What was it she wanted to do to the duck?
Once Brittany had been assured no duck or other animal would be harmed, they each started looking for a song, sitting side by side on the ground with their backs against the bed and their iPods in hand. Each of them had one of their ear buds on one side, and one of the other’s buds on the opposite, the better to hear whatever the other had found.
“I’m glad we got matched,” Santana nodded, still searching.
“Yeah,” Brittany smiled.
“We can totally win this,” Santana spoke confidently. Brittany looked up, then over at her.
“It’s a contest?”
“Just as well,” Santana shrugged. “You and I, this is our chance to show what we’re made of, that we’re just as important as Rachel Berry.”
“We are?” Brittany asked. Santana nodded. The blonde looked at her with the same air of mischief as she’d gotten earlier. Santana always knew how to get her going. She looked back to her iPod, wanting to find the perfect song for the two of them to do. Santana looked at her, smiling for a moment before returning to her search, motivated by the same need to locate a song for them both.
The two of them had gotten to spend a fair amount of time together, as Cheerios, as following Quinn, as Glee Club members… from fairly early on they had connected. There was no force behind it other than some part of them recognizing a kindred spirit in the other.
The more their positions had evolved in parallel at McKinley, the more they had become a unit, connected by something more. It was friendship… it was more than. They depended on one another. There was no deception, no malice, not between the two of them. Whatever issues they had elsewhere, this was one place where there was security.
Brittany was the one who found the song, without even realizing. Her finger had slipped, started the music. Returning to the list by reflex, it didn’t register she’d been the one to trigger it, so that it played out into both their ears for its full length with both of them believing the other had put it on. As they would continue their search, the words worked some subconscious power, speaking to thoughts they wouldn’t address. Feet tapped, shoulders and heads bobbed, and still they searched. When it ended, Brittany lifted her head, though her eyes were still on the iPod screen.
“Liked that one,” she approved. Santana looked over at her, realizing Brittany thought she’d been the one to put it on for her. She didn’t correct her.
“Think so?” Santana asked her, smiling. Brittany nodded, still searching. Santana stopped to consider this, the song… She felt it could work too. Working on that impulse, she pulled the buds from her ears, handing them and her iPod to Brittany, finally drawing her attention just as Santana (♪) got on her feet and moved into the space in the middle of the room, turning to face her friend as she sang out the first verse.
♪ “It’s complicated / It always is / That’s just the way it goes / Feels like I waited so long for this / I wonder if it shows.”
As Brittany (♫) listened, she pulled her ear buds out as well, putting aside the heap of their iPods aside. Listening to Santana, watching her dance about, she chuckled. At the second verse, she got on her feet as well, continuing.
♫ “Head under water / Now I can’t breathe / It never felt so good / ‘Cause I can feel it coming over me / I wouldn’t stop it if I could.”
They carried along in an improvised dance as they sang together, taking cues from one another.
“When love takes over / You know you can’t deny / When love takes over / ‘Cause something’s here tonight.”
For a moment they danced on their own, taking verses for their own, looking to each other at times.
♪ “Give me a reason / I gotta know / Do you feel it too? / Can’t you see me here on over load / And this time I blame you.”
♫ “Looking out for you to hold my hand / It feels like I could fall / Now love me right, like I know you can / We could lose it all.”
Reuniting their choreography, they were more in tune this time around.
“When love takes over / You know you can’t deny / When love takes over / ‘Cause something’s here tonight / Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight…”
“I’ll be loving you all the time / It’s true / ‘Cause I wanna make it right / With you.”
Winding down a moment, they shared a look, a smirk.
♪ “ When love takes over / when love takes over / when love takes over / when love takes over /when love takes over.”
♫ “When love takes over, over, over, over, over…”
With a new energy, they carried out to the song’s conclusion.
“When love takes over / You know you can’t deny / When love takes over / ‘Cause something’s here tonight.”
As they ended, Brittany slung her arm around Santana’s shoulders, giving her a grin.
“We’ve got this,” she nodded with mighty determination.
“Oh yeah,” Santana coupled the agreement.
THE END
PREVIOUS DAYS
[Cycle 1] [Cycle 2][Cycle 3]
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