Chapter Text
Why Karolina chose to dress so vibrantly was beyond Xavin, but they rather liked the look at any rate. At least the items she chose fit her usual style, but the colours were far brighter than usual.
Xavin was used to seeing Karolina with her hair down and tame, but today, it was in a high ponytail with what Xavin was told is called ‘dip-dye’ colouring the bottom four inches of her honey-blonde hair a purple not dissimliar to Xavin’s favourite shade. In terms of clothing, she was wearing tie-dyed skinny jeans decorated in greens, yellows, and oranges with strategic rips along the thighs and calves, a white cropped t-shirt with a rainbow of hearts along the chest in a horizontal line, and a pair of white Chuck Taylor high tops she’d coloured like rainbows.
Sitting in the cafeteria at school waiting for the day to start, Karolina was reading something on her phone, Xavin content with watching her and absently studying for their biology test. Xavin’s own outfit consisted of her usual black pleated skirt and purple t-shirt, though Karolina had convinced them to wear knee-high socks in an odd black, white, navy, and pink striped pattern. The socks were comfortable though, so they didn’t complain.
“What are you reading, love?” Xavin asked, having noticed Karolina’s enthralled look as she read.
“Hm?” Karolina hummed, looking up. “Oh, I’m checking out the facebook event page for LA Pride,” she explained, turning her phone to show Xavin. “I wanted to bring you this year, since you’ve probably never been and it’s really fun.”
“LA Pride?” Xavin asked curiously, having not heard of such an event. Granted, they had only been on Earth a mere 11 months local-time, so there was quite a lot they didn’t know.
“It’s a whole celebration for making queer people feel welcome and accepted. And there’s a parade and stuff,” Karolina explained, scrolling through some of the pictures for Xavin. “Victor came with me last year, said he might come this year too if his Mom doesn’t have anything for him to do.”
“Fascinating,” Xavin hummed, looking at the pictures intently. They showed people having fun, relaxing even. It did look inviting.
“So what do you say? Want to come?” Karolina asked hopefully, giving her best attempt at ‘puppy-dog eyes’ to help her case.
“I would enjoy that,” Xavin nodded with a smile, closing their textbook when they realized class would be starting soon. “When is it?”
“This Saturday,” Karolina told them, packing up her own stuff as well. “I can swing by and pick you up when Victor and I head out, so probably around nine?” she offered, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
“Saturday at nine,” Xavin nodded. “Until then, biology class,” they said with a frustrated grumble. Human biology was complicated in Xavin’s mind, as they grew up learning Skrull biology back home. They’d only taken the class because Karolina was in it, and they felt anxious and uncomfortable in classes where they didn’t have Karolina.
“Biology class,” Karolina echoed in the same frustrated tone, grabbing Xavin’s hand and pecking their cheek as the two set off for the science classes across the school.
Come Saturday morning, Xavin was sitting on their bed, not sure what to wear. They were staying on Earth with one of their tutors from Skrullos posing as their mother, as Xavin didn’t want to force Karolina to stay on Skrullos or Majesdane if she didn’t want to.
Eventually, they settled on their typical style of pleated skirt but dark blue in colour, with the same socks Karolina had given them, alongside a dark pink camisole, and a simple golden-yellow cardigan. Karolina had once told them that pink, blue, and yellow symbolized what humans called ‘pansexuality’, which was the label Xavin felt matched their preferences, while the socks were for genderfluidity, as it was apparently not as common and wide-spread as it was on Skrullos. Maybe it was the lack of shapeshifters.
After thinking about it for a bit, Xavin ended up braiding their hair into a headband style, then tying it off as a ponytail below their right ear. The last piece of their outfit was a silver charm bracelet with charms for the letter ‘K’, the letter ‘X’, the letter ‘S’, the letter ‘M’, two cartoonish alien faces (one green, one pink), and a simple gold heart. Xavin treasured the bracelet, not wearing it frequently to decrease the chance of losing anything off of it.
Karolina arrived at 8:50 that morning, knocking on the front door out of habit before just walking in. She only knocked anymore so Xavin knew she was there. Xavin was sitting on the couch in the living room, fiddling with their braid so it sat properly on their head when Karolina got there.
Karolina giggled when she spotted Xavin messing with their hair, sitting next to them and deftly adjusting it to sit flat and not get uncomfortable.