OTA

[akatawitch]

Putting a fist in someone’s face had no business feeling so good, but for Sunny it was sweeter than anything in this moment.

Catcalls were a part of life for a woman, and normally in the interest of getting the hell out of there as soon as possible her response would be something along the continuum of ignoring it to shouting something back. But she would keep moving. Moving away.

She couldn’t do that today. It wasn’t just some complete idiot stranger shouting what on the surface was a compliment on her ass. It was political bullshit, it was protest marches, it was school stress, it was winter blah, it was friends in terrible relationships, it was sexual frustration, it was feelings that were too big for the little container she was trying to keep them in, it was her father’s weird face when she’d finally told her parents she was seeing someone.

It was too much.

She’d roared and rounded, and then he was on the ground with a bloody nose and looking up at her with stunned terror in his eyes while she stood over him and yelled.

“Get the fuck up, bomboy!”

((Sunny can be anywhere that’s convenient for you. By the way, she basically called our nameless sleaze a manchild))

Comments

[show_me_something]

"It's hard to see in the day to day, but they are getting better. Slowly. Generationally, perhaps. But better." Victoria wondered, if she was the age of this young woman, how different her job at Six would've been. She wouldn't have had to fight every step of the way proving herself worthy of her status, on top of the every day sexism. But part of her reputation was built on successes based on being underestimated.

"And more of the women are learning too, to stand up together, and to punch the men who won't learn otherwise."

[akatawitch]

"Mm..." Sunny nodded. She wasn't entirely ignorant, and she knew that the world she faced was in this regard not the one that her mother or her grandmothers had faced. She quirked a mischievous little smile. "Though I hope pink hats won't be a hard requirement for future standing up together. I don't knit."

[show_me_something]

"I think they're brilliant." Pussyhats, what a wonderful idea. And it was probably better, for some definitions, that Victoria think about pink hat protests rather than what she might do to facilitate a transfer of power in the States. A very tempting thought, but something that needed planning to do successfully. "There are other people who knit. The Women's Institute was made for things like that."

[akatawitch]

"They are," Sunny agreed with a little smile. "And I want one. But I can't knit." She got the door when they reached the cafe, holding it open for Victoria to go first.

[show_me_something]

Rather than a frustratingly polite do-si-do over who entered first, since Sunny had held the door, Victoria let her and entered. "Would I be terribly cliché if I admit I can?" she asked as she waited for Sunny to join her so they could find a table and order.

There'd been an extended convalescence after a mission went not as smoothly as Victoria might have liked, and she'd needed something to pass the time. Learning to knit had fit the bill nicely. These days she didn't enjoy it as much as baking or flower arranging, but it was a pleasant enough activity.

[akatawitch]

"Not at all," Sunny assured her with a laugh as she slipped in after. "I just always found different things to do. Soccer. Video games. Cooking. Perfecting my ability to code-switch so I can startle idiots."

[show_me_something]

"I remember." The first time Victoria had seen Sunny, she'd switched just that smoothly from a Nigerian pidgin to more standard, if American, English, to great effect. The impetus behind doing so had been something Victoria could appreciate.

"And learning to throw a punch, as well, if today's anything to go by." Was that a glimmer of approval in the shape of her mouth? "Now. Tea. Would you prefer something strong, or soothing? Either would be fitting, I believe."

[akatawitch]

"My brothers insisted I know how," Sunny explained with an almost shy little shrug. It had been for her own protection. No matter where she was exactly, it was dangerous to be a black girl who looked like she did without some form of defense.

"... Something soothing, I think," she mused. She wouldn't have thrown the punch if she hadn't been overwrought in the first place.

Or maybe she would have. He'd really, really deserved it.

[show_me_something]

Victoria ordered a pot of jasmine green, then focused on Sunny.

"Under other circumstances I might recommend not telegraphing so much, but for such a teachable moment, some warning can be helpful." From her tone, Victoria could've been explaining how to cast on knitting or the roles of accent and emphasis in a floral arrangement instead of how to hit someone.

"But more importantly, how are you doing now?"