Haunting at Homecoming a FxF mystery (MsBloom and Frozen Princess)

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Nothing about the Blake family dinner was comfortable for Velma, except perhaps for the fact the food. She picked two slices, one with pepperoni and one with mushrooms and tried to avoid the bickering and rudeness among the Blake sisters by focusing intently on eating. She had informed Daphne about her requirements regarding food and they had stopped on the way for a vanilla milkshake which was a bit posher than the ones she was used to. It had a more intense vanilla flavour which she assumed was because it actually contained real vanilla extract. There were even little flecks of vanilla seeds in it. In fact even the pizza was of a slightly better quality than she was used to but neither of these minor anomalies were enough to trigger her. If anything she concluded that she could get used to this quality of food.

She said nothing as the Blake family talked and exchanged rude remarks towards each other, and towards her. Not even when Daphne's father had asked if it was ok that she shared room with Daphne had she spoken but rather just nodded to confirm that it was fine. There were a number of questions though that she had wanted to ask about the sleeping arrangements but didn't because all in all the dinner was like a cacophony to her ears, (back home on 1204 Oak Avenue the Dinkley family ate in silence), overloading her senses so rather than drawing any more attention to herself than she already had through her very presence in the Blake residence she decided to wait and ask Daphne once the two of them were alone.

Once she had finished her two slices of pizza and milkshake she would normally have excuse herself from the table and gone to her room to read or work on some school project but she was unsure if that would be considered rude while the Blakes seemed to be far from done with their meal. She chewed nervously on her bottom lip and nodded as Daphne rescued her by offering to show her to the room they would be sharing for the night. She nodded again when Daphne apologised for the behaviour of her sisters. She wanted to say that it was ok. That she was used to people being rude to her but the fact was that with everything that was not as it usually was Velma was close to tears so instead she began to fire off all the questions she had about the sleeping arrangements, detailing her routine for getting ready for bed right down to how she eventually slept, on her right side, facing away from the window towards the wall. She took one deep but quick breath and before Daphne had a chance to answer any of the questions regarding the possibility of showering for 30 minutes, what toothpaste was available, what kind of PJs Daphne had to loan her, she fired another quick tirade of questions about breakfast routines. Then she stopped dead as if she had run out of words.

The other thing on her mind was something she did not really know how to ask about. It had to do with what Daphne had said about Mr Blake wanting to pair the two with each other as more than investigative partners and competitors for the top spot on the dean's list. In the end, after having barely listened to Daphne's answers to the questions she had asked, she shifted her feet and asked: "I ... hope you are not expecting anything to happen other than actually sleeping. It's not that I don't like girls, or that I don't like you."
She paused briefly.
"It's just that ... I don't really know if I like girls that way or not. I have never really had a reason to think about it or explore it."
She stopped herself short of admitting to Daphne that she had never even kissed anyone, boy or girl, much less been even more intimate with another person.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne wasn't doing much better than Velma when it came to her sisters, so she just waved Velma off. Really, the only two members of the Blake family who hadn't been rude to Velma were Daph's parents. Jenkins, of course hadn't either, but Dorothy not even speaking to Velma, could have been construed as rude. It almost seemed like big tough race car driver was maybe even slightly intimidated by Velma, the way she had acted.

Daphne sighed, sat on her own bed, and said calmly, "I haven't worn PJs since grade school myself, it's been nightgowns. Right now I've got this one," She showed a pink nightgown that had frills and looked almost like Princess Aurora's pink ball gown. " We're close to the same body size, you're just a little taller... Can you make do with a pair of shorts and tank top?" She asked, starting to blush as she looked over Velma's frame.

Half-hour shower wasn't a problem, and since she had a private bathroom, Velma wouldn't have to worry about Daphne's sisters barging in or telling her she was taking too long. Daphne admitted, showing her hair off, that her showers were about a half-hour or longer as well.

Velma's borrowed daybed was sat, with it's back facing the wall just as one entered Daphne's room. It looked like an oversized and overstuffed couch upon first glance, and was easily a full size bed. The mattress would be one of the softest ones Velma would be on, almost (but not quite) downy. The pillows would be downy.

Daphne pinched her nose, blushing. "Velma... We barely know each other. I mean, I'd show you if that's what you want, but..." She sighed, before saying tongue-in-cheek, "Never on the first date!" She rolled her eyes. "Poor timing, Daphne. Anyway, in spite of what my sisters, especially mini-Mandy, says, I go at the speed the girl wants. I may seem like it, but I don't jump in to bed with every girl I meet," She winked, "Maybe flirt with them a bit..." Another sigh. "There's a few girls actually, I'm not comfortable going all the way with. Last year, I kissed Grey Delisle." She made a face and shivered uncontrollably. "It was like kissing my twin sister... If I had one. Kissing Goldie Gold was like kissing a sister, too. I can be best friends with them, but I'D be the one uncomfortable with a romantic relationship with them." She shrugged as she looked up at Velma from her seated position. "Whatever speed you're comfortable with. I'll see if Jenkins will wash your outfit. I'm pretty sure the maid already put a loofah, bath towel, face towel, toothbrush, and comb in the bathroom for you already. The lilac purple ones are mine." Velma's would be orange. "We all use Arm and Hammer when it comes to the toothpaste, and if you like Clairol cherry blossom shampoo, and lavender body wash, just go ahead and use mine. Otherwise, we'll get you what you want from Jenkins." She then looked apologetic. "I'm sorry this is so overwhelming for you. I can't imagine what that's been like. I really want you to feel comfortable around me."

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Satisfied with all the answers, even though the questions regarding sexual experience and sexuality in general still lingered in her head as she (having first asked if it wasn't too much trouble to procure PJs for her rather than borrowing one of Daphne's nighties) took her usual long shower, washed her hair as it was that day. Once she had towelled off she put on the entirely new pyjamas Jenkins had managed to procure especially for her, then brushed her teeth and then, sitting on the daybed that had been brought into Daphne's room, her hair. She then stopped and for a moment it might have seemed to a casual observer as if she was just sitting there looking at nothing in particular. The truth was that she was unsure what to do next.

At this point in her bedtime routine she would go to bed but with Daphne not yet being in bed she felt that it might perhaps be rude, and she had also just realised that it might be equally rude for her to read before sleeping when she was a guest at Daphne's house. Perhaps this was not a good idea after all. Despite all of the effort Daphne and the family butler had gone to she still didn't quite feel comfortable with the situation. The bed was wrong and also in the wrong position. She decided not to say anything about it though because she felt she had already been too much trouble for the Blake family.

And ... her mind was still on the topic of sex and sexual orientation. She was of course aware that sexual orientation was not as binary as it had perhaps been thought to be when her parents were her age, that there was a wide range of different orientations beyond hetero-, homo- and bisexuality. Pansexuality for instance which in many ways was confusingly like bisexuality except that pansexual people were what they called genderblind and didn't recognise gender as a concept, people were people regardlesss of identity and/or anatomy, which ultimately meant that one was not attracted to a person's gender but to the person themself, which made sense in a time when gender identity had become a lot more complex with everything from transgendered people (pre- or post- gender affirming surgery) to people who without anatomical alterations identified as either the opposite gender to that which they had been assigned at birth, as both or as genderless ... and basically anything in between. Then there was Sapiosexual, one that Velma felt made a lot of sense because as with Pansexual it disregarded physical gender it mean that the attraction was to the other person's mind, though at the same time it was not quite as simple as all that, because Velma had a feeling that no matter how attractive one found another person's mind to be one must also be physically attracted to them to engage in sexual activities, mustn't one? Perhaps not. Perhaps anatomy was irrelevant to sapiosexual persons, perhaps they expressed their sexuality differently, less physically. Perhaps on some level sapiosexual had to be combined with either Andro- or Gynesexual orientation, (an attraction to either masculinity or femininity regardless of what gender the person was assigned at birth.)

As for herself Velma had long suspected that she was attracted to other girls and not really to boys at all which in the simplest of terms would make her a lesbian, but she was unsure since she had never really explored any romantic feelings towards either. She also suspected that it was perhaps not so much the female anatomy which attracted her to girls but femininity (which would make her gynesexual rather than lesbian). It was all so confusing and in the end, as she had concluded, what did it matter in the end. If one developed romantic feelings and/or a sexual attraction to another person it felt stupid to let definitions of sexual orientation, anatomy or gender identity restrict one from pursuing a relationship. There was a word for this as well: Polysexual, which was basically the same as Pansexual but without the gender blindness.

All while letting these thoughts run through her head Velma did not realise that she had not really taken her eyes off of Daphne as she changed into her nightie and got herself ready for bed.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne thought nothing of it as she changed in front of Velma. They were both girls, after all. "I take my showers in the morning. Since we have school tomorrow, the alarm is set for six on the dot." She had shown a lavender bra and panties set on, with her reveal before sliding the pink ruffled nightgown on, and pulling it to just above her knees.

She looked at Velma. "Didn't you mention you read before bed, or is that when you're alone?" She sat down on her bed and pulled open a drawer on her nightstand. She pulled out an eye cover mask with closed eyes, as well as a solid lavender coloured that she proceeded to put on. "These really help if you want to borrow my spare." She left it on the stand, and got under her covers. "Either way, see you in the morning, Vel, or do you mind the shortened name? Oh, Jenkins will be making us both bagged lunches. Wednesday is NOT a good day to eat school lunches. Anything that begins with mystery and ends with meat, is one thing I don't think I want to know the answer to. Good night." Daphne settled in, but would stay up if Velma wanted to talk more, even if it was about Daph's attraction to girls.

She would leave the lamp on for Velma as a courtesy. Plus the switch to turn it off WAS on the floor lamp itself, and in easy reach from the daybed.
---------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, after showering, Daphne dressed in a different style than she had the day before. Velma would actually see her sporting her obviously favourite color in a cute outfit, and yes, it was to impress Velma.



Jenkins raised his eyebrows as Daphne's mom and dad both cleared their throats. Dorothy looked even more intimidated by Velma now and leerily glanced her way, before quickly finding her waffles extremely fascinating.

Dawn, being the mini-Mandy, once again showed her colors, as the nasally derisive laugh cut through the dining room. "Daphne trying to make a move! Ha ha ha! SOME loser is hopelessly smitten!"

Delilah smacked Dawn upside her head especially harder than she had the night before with a scolding, "Manners, Dawn! Don't make me run you through etiquette boot camp! You won't like me as your drill sergeant!"

Jenkins bent down to fill Velma's orange juice. "Let me know if you want a hasty retreat, Ms Velma, Daphne is already trying to speed through breakfast." He nodded towards Daphne, across from Velma, trying to stuff a quarter of one of her waffles in her mouth, chewing quickly.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Having changed while in the bathroom Velma tried not to look while Daphne changed into her nightgown, even though they were both girls. It was mostly to do with the embarrassment of seeing someone she felt some level of attraction towards in just her underwear, as cute as they were, and for that very same reason she would not have been able to change in front of Daphne, revealing that her underwear matched her outer clothes, orange bra and burgundy panties.

She nodded at Daphne's question about reading before sleeping but was unsure whether that was something she only did when she was alone. Strange as it may seem this was after all her first ever sleepover. It wasn't so much that she wouldn't have anything to read, her bag was full of books, and not just for school either. It was more that she was unsure whether it would be impolite to read before sleeping at a sleepover. She cringed ever so slightly when Daphne calling her Vel shook her out of those thoughts.
"I do prefer Velma," she said and sat down on the bed, testing its firmness before she too got under the covers.

Still undecided about whether to read or not her thoughts returned to the topic of sex and sexuality. She also considered what Daphne had shared about her own experiences and nodded to herself. It was at least reassuring that Daphne was not the type to push for it. Velma was anything but sure that she was ready for that level of intimacy. She nodded to herself and without realising it she thought out loud: "It's not that I don't like her," she said and nodded again.
"Nor that I am not attracted to her. She is quite pretty ..."
At this point she caught herself thinking out loud and blushing turned to look at Daphne in the hope that she would have fallen asleep already. That way Velma would also be able to read without being impolite towards her host. But no, Daphne was still awake and even if Velma had not spoken her thoughts in more than a whisper she was sure that Daphne had heard it.

Instead of waiting for Daphne to say anything Velma sat up, but remained under the covers.
"How did you know that you like girls instead of boys? I mean I think I do ... like girls instead of boys ... but I don't know how I would know whether I'm a lesbian ... or what I am whatever it is."

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne had heard Velma's two statements, but chose not to address them, as they weren't part of the question Velma asked her.

She sat up, pulled her eye mask up to her forehead and looked at Velma. "How did I know? Actually, I never really did think too hard. It was mostly how I felt. Boys didn't interest me, girls were cute, and except for extremes like my sisters Dawn, and Delilah especially if you piss her off, gentle and nurturing." She chuckled embarrassingly, in a self-conscious type of way. "And you know how sleepovers can get," actually, Daphne missed certain signs that this could be Velma's first sleepover. "with curious girls and experimentation. Especially Spin the Bottle. A couple of years ago*, freshman year, is when I did finally know for sure; it had been only a feeling before then, so into middle school." She sighed. "I probably even knew back then, I just didn't want to accept it, I thought something was wrong with me, then I blamed boys always being so immature, or trying to force themselves on us girls."

Daphne sighed and looked down at her lap, then looked over at Velma. "When I went to my first real sleepover, I was a freshman in high school. Real rich girl, you may or may not know her, since she's a sophomore in college this year. Princess. No, really, that's her real name. I and a bunch of other freshmen were invited to her mansion and..." She grimaced. "Long story short, every single one of us kissed her in the Spin the Bottle game. Many of us, I included, got more than one kiss on the lips in that game, and not just from Princess." She gave another self-conscious chuckle. "After that night, I knew, just not in my head, but heart, too, I liked girls." She gave a flirtatious wink. "One of the best make out places is the bleachers, or rather under them."

Daphne shook her head, "But don't go by my experience. I doubt I'm even a control. Every girl is different. Princess had fourteen of us at that sleepover. Goldie slapped her face, and didn't even participate in the games, as memory recalls, she called to be picked up. And I know she likes girls, too. Maybe she found out later, or she's bi, who knows but her? Of the other 13? I'm the only professing lesbian." She shrugged. "Only four of us even liked kissing girls, so, factor that in the odds, too." She looked at Velma, "Goldie is one of my best friends, but her preferences aren't what's important. Mine aren't to her, but I'm already out of the closet, so to speak. I wish sometimes that I had waited to find some girl who wanted to date, before having my first kiss. The first kiss should be special, whether it's a boy or girl. I'm a lot more particular, now, but I still can't get my first kiss back." So Daphne really DID have some regrets.

She looked over at Velma. "Does that help you any?"

*- It's really been three years since freshman year since Daph's senior year has just started, since it's not homecoming yet. Some people use couple for both two and three prior.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma wasn't entirely sure Daphne's explanation had been all that helpful. Some of it was even more confusing than what Velma already knew. Or rather from a strictly intellectual point of view Velma knew most of what Daphne had said. She had read plenty on the subject and thought about it enough, and then some. That wasn't really the problem. The problem was the feeling and the ... certainty ... that came with it. It was like ... In Velma's mind many who were heterosexual were so for two reasons:
1. It was what was expected, from society and how its structure was largely built around families; as in - boy meets girl, boy fucks girl, girl has baby - procreation basically. And there was nothing wrong with that in Velma's mind. Without heterosexuals there wouldn't be many babies made, not that that would be an entirely bad thing as she also thought that the human species was using up a lot more of the earth's resources than they could renew.
2. They just went along with the expectation without having really considered any other options, maybe because in many ways, even in these modern times, it was easier, especially in small towns like Coolsville and Clearwater. The latter probably more than the former because Clearwater was a mainly industrial town with a lower overall level of education and a higher overall level of traditional family values. Velma often felt like an anomaly when everyone around her, in the neighbourhood, people she knew in middle school, couple up and talk about starting families. Worse than that was when they asked her when she was going to get a boyfriend. They never once asked when she was going to get a girlfriend. In fact Velma didn't really know anyone in Clearwater that was not, at least supposedly, heterosexual.

Suddenly aware that she had probably been lost in her thoughts longer than dictated by social convention when asked a question. She nodded pensively and then shook her head.
"I'm not sure," she said and tried to not look at Daphne.
"Are you saying I need to kiss the proverbial frog to know if it is a prince or a princess i want?"

 

[Frozen Princess]

Daphne gasped, balked and backpedaled. "Oh, Velma, no! Not at all! I'm saying wait on the first kiss until you know for sure! You've got the right fairytale, but you're starting with the wrong point. I'm saying get to know the frog first, before you kiss him or her! Like I said, what happened with my journey shouldn't even be the control! You're scientific. Probably the biggest scientist at school. Remember the first part of the story? The frog did something for the princess, first. The princess procrastinated on kissing, until she got to know the frog. Okay, granted, she still didn't want to kiss him, and that's on her for lying. The concept is what's important. Not to rush into something head first, but feel it out by getting to know the person; that doesn't have to mean intimately, that'll be me, again, rushing into something."

She rubbed her face. "Okay, take me as the proverbial frog, here. Meeting my family was kinda a too soon thing, because now Dawn by what she was saying, and Dorothy looking at you like you're Dale Earnhardt¹ returned from the grave and on her back bumper, bigger than life in her rearview, are already thinking we're already girlfriends. That's on me, and I'm sorry I put you... And them... On the spot like I did."

She shook her head as she tried to right the ship she felt like she torpedoed herself. "As far as sexual identity... Forget about that. Just be yourself. The only reason I can get away with being lesbian, is I've got a big family and my oldest sister, who's with NASA, is already married to a decent man, an astronaut. Even Delilah, miss Gruff Sarge herself, has a guy. A fellow army man. Dorothy doesn't have anyone, and as far as I know, neither do Dawn or ol' miss House MD, Daisy, herself. Just because it's expected, doesn't mean it's right for you. You want my opinion, Dorothy is just as lesbian as me, but doesn't want to admit it. Yet my parents love all of us girls the same. Maybe Daisy can't find someone snarky as her... Or she drives them away. Same with Dawn. They're both good examples of being petty and rude, which we rich people who aren't like that, get pigeonholed, just because, as you put it," she used air quotes. "It's expected."

She shrugged. "I say, if you're not comfortable being what society wants, don't change yourself to fit, but prove society wrong by being the best you. I bucked the nerd trope by being a cheerleader, without giving myself up for society. I'm still a nerd and always will be. I'm still klutzy. I'm still smarter than the average bear.² I'm just popular, and that's despite being openly lesbian and a nerd. Society would tell me I shouldn't be. Guess what? Screw society, I'm going to be who I am, and I want the same for you." She nodded resolutely. "Can we talk more tomorrow?"


1 Dale Earnhardt was a NASCAR driver from 1979-2001 and won seven championships. Daphne is referring to one of his nicknames, "The Intimidator", because Dorothy saw (and I've tried to convey) Velma as, in her opinion, scary.

2 Yogi Bear shout-out. One of Hanna-Barbera's iconic cartoon characters.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma nodded, and at the same time began to realise that there was perhaps no easy answers, no How To Guide to sexuality. It was something each person had to discover for themself, and probably not (as she also began to realise) through overthinking. It was as Daphne said: If it felt right then it was right, no matter what anyone else said or thought about it.
"We can talk more tomorrow, " she agreed and took off her glasses folding them and placing them on the bedside table.
She then turned on her side, facing Daphne, whispered; good night, and was soon asleep.

In the morning she found that almost all of her breakfast requirements were met and did her best while eating to ignore Daphne's sisters and their bickering. It was still a lot to take in though and by the time they were on their way to school, the same way they had left it the day before, she was overwhelmed and dizzy from it. She could not understand how Daphne could live under such circumstances.

First thing Velma did when they got to school was to check the results of the test for blood types and frowned when she saw the results. The reference sample from Daphne matched the sample collected in the janitor's closet. This was not good but it was also, as Velma explained in perhaps a bit too much detail when showing the results to Daphne, far from conclusive.
"We might need a DNA test to remove you as being involved beyond any doubt."

She then also went on to talk about Daphne's uncle the film maker and the article about his last project that she had seen in the paper, and how that might reflect on Daphne having access to advanced costume making equipment and possibly also a skilled costume maker. The one thing that was lacking was motive but as Velma was sure Daphne's knew Motive was highly inferiour to Means, Method and Opportunity. Although Daphne lacked the latter too, at least as far as Velma knew.
"I am not saying that I think you are involved in this but circumstantial evidence are pointing to it."

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

When Daphne and Velma arrived to the high school, almost everyone who went to Coolsville High School (even some of the teachers) did a double take. Daphne was practically dressed in a professional outfit that had been put on specifically to impress!

Goldie caught herself wolf whistling as Daphne and Velma walked by.

Daphne made a grimace as Velma told her the results. She began pacing and was quiet for about five minutes. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? I involve Dad's police inspector friend too soon, Coolsville PD will take over the investigation." She said in a whisper just audible enough. "If we're going to prove ourselves capable of cracking the case, we need to be farther along, like questioning some of our suspects."

"I'm not saying not to involve Dad's friend, I'm just saying let's make sure we have already checked the stories and alibis for all our suspects. Problem is, not everyone is going to know their blood type, little alone want to get their mouths swabbed by a forensics officer."

When she realized she was implemented as being a suspect, she shook her head. "Fine. I'm a suspect by blood type. But so is about twenty three other people in this school."

She facepalmed regarding her movie director uncle. "Crap . Well, we might be barking up the right tree there..." She gave a wink "Pun fully intended since it's the rival school mascot... Although the Junkyard Dog is so much more cute and fun than this reanimated version." She redirected. "I'm not good with gore and whatever our Junkyard Dog Ghost is, but I'm pretty good at costuming. Did you see The Tempest in Shakespeare at the Park over the summer? Those costumes were all me, but I had almost a year to make them all. I admit, the half man, half beast, Caliban was the most difficult to design. I'd look even more guilty if whoever is doing this went more along the spirit Ariel from the same play. That was the most fun one I did."

She wracked her brain. "I wonder, with the clues we have so far, if this isn't a tag team effort between people at both schools? Norville's dad is football coach at Clearwater, right? Fred Jones Jr. is the captain over here... I hate to say it, but I think we need to split up, and cover ground at both schools. Which one do you want, Velma?"

Daphne almost hoped Velma would send HER to "slum" at Clearwater, even if it meant another "costume change".