Oh, in five years time we might not get along

“Um… no, for my date, I don’t… I don’t think going horseback riding would be a good idea,” Morgana said timidly, shaking her head. The four women were walking to the stables, with Vivian ahead of them, having swept up the others in her wake.

But in regards to Morgana, she had yet to seal the deal.

“Are you sure?” The heiress batted her eyelashes hopefully at the flustered goth. “Riding horses is a lot of fun! You’ll love it! You can just lean back and let the horse take control, feel the wind through your hair as you guide them properly… while you just focus on enjoying the natural world around you… I swear, there’s nothing that feels better!”

Vivian’s insistent tone really was convincing. Morgana could feel her heart being swayed, to an extent. What the heiress was describing, it sounded wonderful.

But she wasn’t convinced.

As nice as Vivian made all of this sound, the fact was that Morgana wasn’t a huge fan of new things. She knew that broadening her horizons was important, but riding on a horse? She’d never done that before! She just knew that as big of a klutz as she was, she’d do something silly and stupid like fall off, and that would just ruin their date.

“I don’t want to ride a horse,” Morgana said firmly, shaking her head. Her lips quivered and her eyes flickered past Vivian, over to Rose, Dawn, and Holly, practically begging the two of them for help. “Not… not on my date, I mean… I would make a fool of myself… I want to show Nick my cool side! Not be a clumsy mess all over the place…”

Morgana couldn’t picture herself on a horse without falling off. Maybe it was due to her negative self-image, but she could see the whole scene play out vividly before her eyes, and she didn’t like it one bit. No, not at all.

Unfortunately for her, Vivian was rather hard to dissuade. “That’s why we’re going now!” The heiress said as they drew closer to the stables. She draped her arm over Morgana’s shoulder and guided her forwards, metaphorically taking the younger girl under her wing. “We’re going to get plenty of practice, and by the time you and Nick go on your date together, you’ll be able to show him all sorts of cool new tricks! You want to stand out in comparison to Ella? You want to show him you can be cool and sexy, instead of just a shy girl? This is the way to go!”

Vivian’s eyes were really difficult to argue with, even though Morgana desperately wanted to. She felt her heart being tugged away as the heiress stared intently at her, eyes sparkling with insistence that the shy little goth go along with her way of thinking.

It was really hard to argue with those eyes… but Morgana knew she had to.

She had to… right? There was no way she could actually go along with this whole thing!

…Right?

“M-maybe… maybe I could just try it?” She managed to squeak out. Morgana felt her heart sink even as the words passed her lips. She felt like she was betraying herself. She should have stood up to Vivian and said no, but she couldn’t bring herself to break the other woman’s heart like that. And if she was being honest with herself?

Once the words passed her lips and she was actually considering how much fun it could be to ride a horse, she found herself actually wanting to do it.

Uh-oh. Vivian was winning her over. She had to stop that somehow!

“I-I mean-!”

Morgana didn’t get the chance to express herself because Vivian’s face was right in front of hers, and it left her petrified.

“Oh, this is going to be just so perfect!” Vivian squeezed the goth girl’s hands tightly, her eyes sparkling with delight. “I can’t wait to ride horses with my friends! It’s going to be oh so darling, Morgana, I promise you!”

Morgana’s mouth flopped open and closed in surprise. “F-friends?” She stammered, her eyes bulging out. “You… you think we’re friends?” It didn’t make any sense to her that Vivian would consider them that. But the way she was talking…

“Of course we’re friends!” Vivian chirped. Her eyes flashed a hopeful look towards the other girl, before her face fell slightly. “You don’t consider us friends?”

Morgana had no idea WHAT to consider the two of them. This was probably the longest conversation she’d ever had with the heiress at this point.

“I… I…” And it wasn’t like Morgana was some social butterfly, either. When faced with the typhoon that was Vivian Carrington crashing down on her, there wasn’t really any way to run or hide from her. No, the other woman was just far too overwhelming.

Morgana couldn’t help but be washed out to sea.

“…Okay, we can be friends???” Morgana didn’t even know how to end that. But then she had a quick flash in her head. “Wait! But, um… there’s one condition though, first!”

“Oh?” Vivian’s face lit up. “Sure thing! Anything, you name it! You want some Bonus Points? I’m a little short right now, but I can fix you up. What about something nice when we get back home? You’re a huge fan of witches, right? I might be able to swing getting you your own castle.”

“No, that’s not nece- …Wait, a castle?” Did Morgana hear that right? An actual castle? As in, a castle castle? Like, with a moat and a drawbridge and a dungeon where she could throw all those pretty girls who were mean to her in high school?

“Sure!” Vivian nodded enthusiastically. “It’ll be a bit of a fixer-upper, but that grungy aesthetic is kind of fitting for you, don’t you think?” She laughed.

“Uh… I… I guess?” Morgana still felt a little numb to this whole thing. She turned and looked at Rose and Dawn, asking with her eyes if Vivian was really serious about this.

The looks she got back weren’t very encouraging.

Dawn decided that a bucket of ice cold reality was what they needed to wash this whole messy situation with Vivian away.

“Vivian, you don’t need to buy her a castle,” she firmly asserted.

“Well, wait, hold on now,” Rose interjected. “If Vivian’s just giving castles away, then-”

“Rose!” Dawn should have expected that kind of mercenary mindset from Rose.

“Could my castle have a big dungeon in it for chaining me up?” Holly asked with hearts flashing in her eyes.

“No castles!” Dawn put her foot down hard. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head firmly. “I mean it! Vivian, you’re not going to get anywhere if you just keep bribing people to be your friend! That’s not how friendship works!”

“Hey, I’m perfectly fine being bribed!” Rose argued.

“Rose doesn’t count, she would sell her friendship for a box of knockoff jewelry and a couple hundred bucks,” Dawn pointed out.

Rose opened her mouth to object again before shutting it, realizing that Dawn was probably right. She shrugged her shoulders awkwardly instead.

Vivian had to keep from laughing in amusement at the girls. She shook her head and sighed. “You guys… you’re really quite precious, you know that?”

She patted Morgana on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said sweetly. “If you want a castle, then I can get you-”

“No castles!” Morgana exclaimed, her eyes widening with surprise at her own words. She never would have thought that she’d turn down a castle before today! Owning a castle had always been one of Morgana’s dreams as a kid. Or, well, ever since her fascination with magic and witchcraft manifested, so mid-teens. But whatever.

The point was that she couldn’t believe she was actually saying no to a castle! It… it was a castle! Castles, they were amazing! Cool! Mysterious! Enchanting!

“It’s just… too much,” Morgana found her lips saying, even if her heart had no idea what they meant by that. “I feel like I would be in debt to you for the rest of my life if I did that…”

Sure Vivian could buy her a castle, but what would Morgana even do with it? (Besides the whole “Throw her bullies in the dungeon and make them watch all her favorite anime” thing, of course!)

…Anyway, Morgana could very easily picture herself being spoiled rotten by Vivian in exchange for her friendship. That might be something Rose was comfortable with, but for me… I don’t know about that. She could see just how **** Vivian seemed to be. It was actually kind of unnerving. The heiress seemed way too determined to become Morgana’s friend, to the point she was resorting to bribery.

Not even Morgana was that **** when she was all alone back in high school, was she?

…Then again, she didn’t have castles in her pockets to throw around. Maybe that would have changed things…

Apparently though, Vivian was swayed by Morgana’s arguments. “Okay, if you’re not feeling a castle, then what do you want?” Morgana was attaching a condition to her friendship, and Vivian was happy to take her up on it.

Morgana chewed nervously on her lip. “That’s… I don’t think… I didn’t mean…” Oh, Vivian was getting it completely wrong, she really should have expected this…

The exasperated goth took a deep breath and then exhaled, and hung her head sheepishly. “I just wanted… to make sure we were really friends. That was my condition…”

Morgana had experienced the whole “Popular girl tries to befriend you in order to get something out of you, then throws you away later for laughs once they were done with you” thing way too many times to count during high school. And while Vivian seemed like a nice person… sometimes… there was a reason that Morgana was even hesitant of Rose at times.

“Well, that’s what I’d like, too!” Vivian said, nodding. She wore a cheery smile on her face. Glad to do anything that Morgana would like. Truth of the matter, she didn’t like the notion of buying a castle for the goth in the first place.

Why did friendship have to be so complicated? Vivian would love not having to throw her money around to get people to like her, but it was never that simple, was it? Of course not. So if that was what Morgana needed…

“You have to watch one of my shows!” Morgana said firmly, clenching her fists tightly and looking deep into Vivian’s eyes, not backing down.

Vivian blinked, momentarily surprised by Morgana’s insistent tone.

“Ex-excuse me?” She stammered, looking at the shy goth girl in confusion. “What did you say?”

“All my friends watch my animes with me!” Morgana pointed out. “So you’re going to do it too, right, Vivian?”

She looked deeply into the heiress’s eyes with a pleading expression on her face.

“Um…”

…Couldn’t Vivian just buy her a castle instead? That seemed way easier.

“Ooh, what anime were you thinking of watching?” Holly asked Morgana, starting to drool. She could already imagine several more raunchy titles that would really be a great on-ramp for the heiress to get invested in.

“I, uh, I hadn’t thought that hard about it,” Morgana timidly admitted, shaking her head. She looked hesitantly at Vivian. “Do you have… a favorite genre of television?”

Vivian didn’t even really watch TV. She was the kind of person who felt it was better to be going out and doing something than to park yourself behind a TV and just watch other (fictional) people going out and doing something.

But she couldn’t exactly say that, now could she?

“Vivian.” Dawn’s stern tone made the heiress jump. She turned and looked hesitantly at the cat girl, who was giving her a piercing look.

“…Yeah?” The heiress asked hesitantly.

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest. “If you’re not interested in any of Morgana’s hobbies, why exactly do you want to be her friend?” She asked, cutting to the heart of the matter. With Vivian’s silver tongue, the heiress could likely talk her way out of a lot of situations. But that wasn’t going to fly for Dawn, not at all.

Morgana was a sweet girl, and was **** to make friends. And while Dawn could tell that Vivian’s desire to befriend the goth was sincere, she also understood that when it came to friendship, things with Vivian were a lot more complicated.

“It’s not that I’m not interested!” Vivian protested, shaking her head. “I like Morgana just fine! She’s a sweetie, and it’s clear that she’s fun to be around!”

“But you don’t like any of her hobbies, do you?” Dawn pressed. To Vivian’s credit, she held her own nicely, not showing any trace of an emotional response. Dawn could appreciate that, at least, since she didn’t want to upset Morgana by eliciting a visceral reaction from the heiress. But this was for Morgana’s sake!

“Dawn, hold on a second.” Rose placed her hand on Dawn’s shoulder, and the cat girl could feel the firmness of the blonde’s grip. She looked back and saw an unusually serious expression on Rose’s face, which gave her pause.

Rose is taking Vivian’s side? I’m not surprised by that, but that look in her eyes… what’s up? Dawn felt a sinking feeling in her chest. Then she realized how familiar this topic of conversation felt.

“You can want to be friends with someone even if you don’t have any hobbies in common, right?” Rose said with an even expression on her face.

Dawn winced. “That… I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant,” she mumbled, shaking her head. Her face burned with shame as she processed the meaning of Rose’s words, and she turned to look at Vivian and Morgana again.

“Really, you guys… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” she said, shaking her head. “I guess I just got a little too overprotective of Morgana…”

“Oh, Dawn… that’s alright,” Morgana said gently. “If Vivian doesn’t want to watch my shows, I won’t make her… it’s alright if she doesn’t like the same things I do, either, if she really wants to be my friend, then-”

“No, don’t apologize!” Vivian blurted out, surprising herself. The other four girls all looked at her, not expecting that outburst.

Vivian held her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening slightly. Then she lowered her hand back down to her side and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she apologized gently. “That wasn’t what I… I mean, I didn’t think…”

She took a deep breath and exhaled. “…Let me try again,” she said, returning to her savvy businesswoman persona. She looked at Morgana with a sincere glimmer of camaraderie in her eyes. “Dawn was right when she said I wasn’t taking this seriously,” Vivian confessed. “I meant it when I said I wanted to be your friend, but Dawn was right to call me out for just treating your friendship like some commodity to put on a shelf.”

“Huh?” Morgana didn’t understand what she meant by that.

“I mean, first I tried to bribe you,” Vivian pointed out, scratching her head sheepishly. “Probably not the best way to start a friendship…”

“Again though, let’s not get too crazy thinking that,” Rose interjected, earning her an elbow in the side from Holly.

“…I want to be your friend, Morgana, but I guess friendships require some give and take,” Vivian admitted.

“You guess?” Dawn raised her eyebrow.

Vivian made a sour expression. “I wanted to be your friend… because I wanted to be your friend. But being a friend is more than just calling yourself a friend, right? It’s doing stuff together, it’s liking the same things, having similar hobbies…”

“Well… maybe not necessarily,” Dawn said quickly, shooting a furtive glance over to Rose and biting her lip. “I mean… yeah, that stuff is important, but what’s really important is making an effort, you know? That’s the big thing.”

“Yeah, Dawn’s right,” Rose said, nodding. “Being a friend is all about making an effort towards the other person! Like being there for them, being supportive of them, enjoying their company, and even buying them a castle.”

This time both Holly and Dawn elbowed Rose in the stomach. Lightly, though. Just playing around. Like friends would.

As for Morgana… she was just flustered and nervous like crazy.

“I… I’m not sure what to say,” she said honestly. Everything Vivian was talking about, it all made perfect sense to her.

Vivian really should have put more of an effort into being a friend than just saying “Hey I want to be your friend” and most people would expect more from a friend than that.

But then, Morgana had never had someone else try this hard to be her friend before. So it kind of went a long way with her. She remembered how much fun Vivian had dressing her up in that mustard-yellow sweater and how they’d gotten along that day. Even though they didn’t have anything in common at all…

It really did seem like Vivian had been making an honest effort. And for Morgana, who had experienced plenty of false friendships, and clung onto those feelings even well after it became obvious that she was just being used, a real, honest, sincere request to be a friend really spoke to her.

Even if it was with someone who had a slightly more transactional idea of friendships than Morgana tended to.

But hey, Vivian was at least trying to do better, and that had to count for something, right?

At least, it did in Morgana’s mind.

“So what’s the verdict, then?” Vivian asked, her eyes shining hopefully as she looked towards Morgana with an expression filled with contrition and hope.

“I, uh… I don’t know?” Morgana squeaked, shaking her head. “I mean, you’re so cool, Vivian, but… I’m not just a trophy to collect…”

Vivian’s eyes widened. “I never thought of you as-! Oh, but… I guess I get what you mean, huh?”

She sighed and scratched her head, wishing that she could be better. It was a tricky situation she found herself in, sadly.

And all the contrition in the world wasn’t going to make things smooth between the two of them, she was sure of that.

“…I think it’s better if you don’t try to **** it,” Holly said, surprising everyone. It was rare to see her with such a composed, cogent take. “Friendships just happen. If it’s meant to be, then it’s meant to be. That’s how it went with Rose and I.”

“Was that how it went?” Rose squinted, pretty sure there were some other factors that had played a role there.

“And hey,” Holly continued, “Dawn and I are still chill, even though she directly chose me to be eliminated from Nick’s harem.”

Dawn winced, her tail and ears drooping at that subject being brought up. “Ouch…”

Vivian cracked a smile. “You know… maybe you’re right, Holly!” She agreed, nodding. “Maybe we should just let it come naturally while we’re riding on horses!” And with that, she swept Morgana into the stables before the goth girl could get a word in.