Call Me By Your Name

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/40602159.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/F
Fandom: Shantae (Video Games)
Relationship: Rottytops/Shantae (Shantae)
Character: Rottytops (Shantae), Shantae (Shantae)
Additional Tags: Shantae x Rottytops, Rottytops x Shantae, Rotty sees Shantae dancing
and realizes she likes her, Crushes, briefly includes Bolo, briefly
includes Abner Cadaver, Rottytop is down bad for Shantae, because of
course she is, Rottytops is Best Girl, no exceptions, first new fic in some
time so that's nice, just girls being friends, Gals being pals, weird Meta
shenanigans, like Shantae and Rotty playing Smash and noticing they
could dress like Shantae, and the idea that there might be a Shantae
video game in another dimension
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-07-27 Words: 3,526 Chapters: 1/1

Call Me By Your Name

by ZweIthePenguinwithaPen

Summary

After watching her best genie dance at the parlor for a few extra gems, Rottytops realizes
she has a crush on Shantae. Will her favorite girl like her back??? Shantae x Rottytops

Notes

Behold, a fic that's actually NEW! What a concept!

Anyway, have some gay shenanigans with the two best girls!

See the end of the work for more notes

Rottytops browsed around the Scuttle Town shop not looking for anything in particular. She was
hoping she would run into Snack Cakes or one of her friends so they could maybe do something
fun together. Rotty got bored hanging out with her brothers for too long. Abner was always
working on some crazy project, and Poe often went off exploring. None of the other zombies in the
caravan were all that interesting. The conversation was pretty dull. Rotty often joked that 'hanging
out with stiffs could kill a good time.'
 Rottytops sighed. That joke would be hilarious if she had someone to tell. She decided to stop
waiting around for Shantae and find the half-genie girl herself. She paid for her Flesh Pops and left
the shop to find her best friend.

People around Scuttle Town were still looking at her funny. Zombies were uncommon here in
Scuttle Town, as they mostly hung around in forests. Rotty liked the beach more, but that was
because of her friends more than the weather. She spotted Bolo just up ahead. The boy with the
blue hair tossed around his Pike Balls while punching at a wooden dummy.

"Hey there, Bolo. Do you know where Shantae is?" Rotty asked, hoping she didn't sound rude.
People always asked Bolo where they could find Shantae, and sometimes he got a little sensitive
about it. Bolo gave her a polite, if cowardly, answer and made himself scarce. How could he be
scared of Rottytops if he was attracted to Risky Boots?

Sure, Rotty could eat this boy for lunch, but Risky might do it! That pirate lady sure was scary.
Even zombies tried to steer clear of the Pirate Queen.

Rotty stumbled into the bathhouse to find Shantae taking a quick dip. The green woman thought
she might blush. There were loads of beautiful girls here, and most had taken leave of their clothes.
She focused on Shantae, who wore a red bikini.

"Hi, Rottytops! What brings you to Scuttle Town today?" The genie asked her, whipping her
purple hair out of the water. Rotty fixed her eyes upon Shantae in an effort not to gawk at anyone.

"Just got sick of hanging out with corpses! It makes for dull conversation. You might even call it
dead air." Rottytops laughed at her joke. Shantae rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you have time, you should hit the dance parlor tonight! I'll be dancing for some extra
gems."

"I didn't think they let monster folks in that place..." Rottytos sighed. She remembered seeing
bouncers tossing Tinkerbats out of the parlor.

"Nah, it's pirates they have problems with... and sometimes Eagle Soldiers. They get rowdy when
they've had some vacation juice." Shantae replied, doing a little dance as she stepped out of the
water. Rotty's eyes darted down to Shantae's hips as they moved. The sunlight pouring into the
room made the water glisten as it bounced off of Shantae's glorious hips.

Wait, what did Rotty think just now? Was she making eyes at Snack Cakes?? She'd always
thought Shantae was pretty, but what was this feeling in her chest? She looked up at Shantae's eyes
and was captivated for a long moment, coming to only as she realized Shantae had asked her
another question.
 "Sorry, I zoned out..." Rottytops confessed, trying desperately not to get distracted by Shantae's
incredible curves. The genie girl whipped her hair again, spreading water droplets everywhere. She
was not making Rotty any less distracted.

"Were you thinking about girls? Try not to gawk at anyone in here! I know. they're all cute and
junk, but most have significant others." Shantae reminded her. Rotty had no intention of looking at
anyone else in Scuttle Town, much less the bathhouse. Why had Shantae suddenly captivated her
eyes? She hadn't felt this way before, so what was different?

"But yeah! I'm not doing much else, so I'll come to watch you dance!" Rottytops cheered. "Right
now, I need a snack, so I'm gonna go grab something from the restaurant on Main Street!"

"Ooh, you should try their salted caramel candy! It's super tasty!" Rotty grinned at Shantae's
recommendation and tried not to stare at her glorious purple ponytail or impossibly chiseled thighs.
Snack Cakes worked out ceaselessly to keep evil at bay. Rotty lost her senses again, thinking about
Shantae's muscles! When she came to her senses, she bid Snack Cakes farewell and made for the
restaurant to drown her feelings in a greasy cheeseburger.

\/\/\/\/\/

Rottytops could not shake these feelings about Shantae, but telling her would have to wait. She
didn't want her best girl to have a sore performance tonight. Dancing was how Shantae made her
gems, after all. The people of Scuttle Town loved watching this girl dance, even if their homes
occasionally got destroyed by pirates or the Ammo Baron.

"Ma'am, I'm not sure if you can come in here. We had a zombie infestation last week that led to
some chewing, so there might still be a hold on monsters coming in..." The woman at the door told
Rottytops. The green girl sighed before being pulled into the parlor.

"She's had her coffee, so she'll be fine!" Shantae replied to the bouncer. The woman nodded and
went back to her business. It seemed to Rotty that she might be a bit afraid of Shantae. Then again,
any of Shantae's transformations could wreck this place faster than a whole horde of monsters.

Rottytops suddenly thought it might be funny to watch elephant Shantae destroy a building.
Speaking of watching Shantae, Rotty could hardly keep her eyes away. The genie girl was wearing
a bright purple outfit bedazzled with sequins. It looked like her usual clothes, but she wore a bead
mask that matched the purple fabric.

"You're gonna make mad gems tonight, Snack Cakes!" Rottytops encouraged. Shantae only
sighed.

"I hope they can forget the zombie horde last week. One guy almost got himself chewed up!"
Shantae told her. Rotty's eyes widened at the idea.
 "Must have been a coffee shortage or something..." Rotty mused. Shantae giggled as the stage
emptied. Two women had just finished a truly stunning performance, but it was Shantae's turn.
Rotty knew Shantae was going to rock this crowd's socks off! Was it suddenly hot in this room?
Rotty's tank top felt heavy on her skin, but she ignored that and watched as her favorite girl took
the stage.

The stage lights zoomed toward Shantae as she began her dance. She whipped her hair and popped
her hips in time with the beat of the music. The crowd raved about her dancing, but Rottytops
hardly noticed the noises they made. She fixed her eyes on Shantae, following every dip and turn
of the performance. She longed to touch Shantae's hips as she danced, wishing she could hold
Shantae's hand and dance with her.

At some point during the dance, Shantae took her mask off. The stage lighting hit Shantae's face
and caused her bright pink lip balm to shimmer and shine. Rotty could not get her mind off of
Shantae's lips. They looked so soft and kissable.

Oh.

OH!

She was thinking that way about Snack Cakes! Why did Rottytops suddenly want to kiss her best
friend? Had she always felt this way and only recently noticed?! Shantae's amazing body was all
Rottytops could see and think about now.

Was this what the humans called love?

Rotty looked away from the stage for a fraction of a second to try and collect her thoughts.
Suddenly she found herself jealous of the cheering crowd. They watched Shantae in her top form,
dancing through the danger the way she always did. She looked back at the stage and grinned as
Shantae popped her hips in Rotty's direction. Rotty felt lightheaded suddenly, so she found a place
to sit down and think for a few moments.

Once Shantae finished dancing, the crowd roared with excitement. Rottytops ran out of the dance
parlor as fast as she could. She had to ask her brothers about this! Maybe they could help!
.

\/\/\/\/\/

"ABNER!" Rottytops shrieked as she made her way into the castle her brothers had taken over
from the Hypno Baron. This castle was just about the spookiest place in Sequin Land, so it was
perfect for the zombie Trio. Abner looked up from his work to see his little sister looking
distressed.
 "What's wrong, little Rotters?" The concerned older brother asked as he fiddled with some
contraption he'd found during his interdimensional spelunking. His adventures in alternate
dimensions always paid off with the wildest things. Rottytops was still obsessed with the video
game machine he'd found on his last trip. There were loads of games on the system, but her favorite
was 'Megaman X' and let her play as a robot boy. She loved playing as the red boy with his long
pretty hair.

"I think I'm freaking out! It's about Shantae!"

"Oh, the walking brain! Have you finally realized you want to kiss her?" Abner replied without
looking up from his work. This new machine looked like some sort of electronic music player. If
you tapped the center button, it played strange songs, but there was no screen to select one like the
others he'd found, so you just had to skip songs until you found the one you enjoyed. Most
perplexing.

"WHAT?!?! How did you know?" Rotty pouted at the remark. How could Abner know her
feelings before she even knew them??

"I've seen the way you look at her. I hear the way you talk her up. You're always trying to get
close to her but not trying to eat her for dinner. If that doesn't scream 'kiss kiss fall in love' at you, I
don't know what does. Oh, I like this song a lot!" He mentioned as a new song poured through the
tiny speaker he'd found next to the odd little music player. This heavy metal beat was Abner's
favorite kind, with the driving guitars and the thrashing bass drum kicks.

"Well, how do I go about kissing her? What if she doesn't want to kiss me back? What if she
doesn't like zombies? Or girls, for that matter?!"

"Of course she likes girls! Rottytops, don't lose your head. I'd hate to have to find you a new one.
It seems the brain with legs likes the face you have now..."

"You think so?" Stars formed in Rotty's eyes as she heard that. Abner laughed as he set aside his
recent discovery. It was playing hip-hop music now, and Abner didn't particularly enjoy that style.
This song had a good beat, though.

"How could she not like you? You're the cutest zombie in the whole caravan!" Abner cheered for
his sister. Rotty scoffed at that idea but made no response. "If you like her, you should tell her so!
If she doesn't like you back, you can still be friends. And if she does like you back, you can stop
bothering me while I tinker with my discoveries." Abner laughed, and Rottytops pouted.

"Did you discover some more games for my machine?" She asked him, genuinely curious.

"I found this fighting game with Mario characters from that party game! It doesn't have Purple
Mustache, but Green Mustache can wear a purple uniform. You can also make a custom character,
and there's a costume that looks like your favorite girl!" Abner bragged. He booted up the game
and showed his custom fighter. This character looked like Shantae, but her hair wasn't nearly as
pretty. As she watched Abner play, Rotty saw that this girl didn't even dance.

"I wonder if there are any games that actually have Snack Cakes in them. Do you think we might
be in any of the games too, Brother?"

"Hmm... Maybe you and Poe. Nobody wants to take the time to draw and animate my ugly mug!"
Abner let loose a hearty laugh at his joke. Rotty felt a little less freaked out now. She still didn't
know how she would tell Shantae how she felt. She might ask Poe his advice, but he was hard to
find these days.

He liked dimension diving even more than Abner and was sometimes gone for days at a time. He
always came back with neat trinkets, though. One time he found a bunch of tiny superhero figures
with huge ugly eyes. Another trip got him some crazy playing cards with monsters on them. The
little monsters had stats and even effects, and there were also magic and trap cards one could play
with, but Poe never found any instructions for the game.

He'd given Rotty one card with a pink and blue magic lady on it, and Rotty wanted to dress as this
magician girl so badly. She was so cute, and it seemed she used dark magic like Rotty and her
brothers. Hopefully, she used it for good like them. Well, maybe they didn't use it for good, but at
least they didn't use it for evil.

\/\/\/\/\/

Rottytops awoke from a fantastic dream. She and Shantae had gone on an adventure to stop Risky
Boots from destroying an island city. Rotty had been a swashbuckler, complementing Shantae's
transformation dances and hair whips with slashes and stabs. The two women even kissed during
their journey, which gave Rottytops all sorts of lovely feelings.

She was really down bad for this girl, wasn't she? She wondered how Shantae felt about her. She
always called Rottytops her best friend, but could she possibly like Rotty back? Rotty certainly
hoped so.

But what if she didn't? What if Shantae only wanted to be friends with her? Would Rotty be okay
with that? She wasn't sure she could deal with that.

She lay in bed stewing over her feelings for what seemed like ages. She looked at a photo of
Shantae and company. They had such good times at the Genie Festival. Rotty still had her half-
genie costume from the festival. She always tried to keep the clothes she wore on different
adventures, especially since they looked amazing.

That reminded her of how amazing Shantae looked in the space bikini, and her face turned bright
purple at the thought.
She gathered her nerves and decided it was time to tell Shantae about her feelings. Even if Snack
Cakes didn't want to kiss her, at least she wouldn't be carrying this secret around anymore.

On her way to Shantae's house, she picked up some snacks from the shop. She saw they finally
had Kookie Kittie ice cream sandwiches in stock again, so she bought one for herself and one for
Shantae. After she purchased her snacks and stole a trinket, she made her way to Shantae's
lighthouse. She knocked at the door and waited.

Shantae answered the door in her jammies. Her hair wasn't tied back into its usual ponytail, instead
flowing down her back. Geez, did Shantae ever not look absolutely stunning?

"Hey, Rotty! I couldn't find you after my dance last night!" The purple-haired girl mentioned with
a pout. "I was going to invite you over for ice cream! I had to eat the whole tub myself..."

"Speaking of ice cream, I brought snacks!" Rotty replied, pulling the cat-shaped ice cream
sandwich from her shopping bag. Hearts formed in Shantae's eyes at the sight of her favorite snack.
"Do you have time to chat while we snack?"

"Sure! What's on your mind?" Shantae asked as she invited Rotty into the lighthouse. The two of
them sat down on a small couch. Rotty thought Shantae might be too close to her, but she put those
thoughts aside.

"I realized something recently, Shantae. About you." The zombie girl blushed bright purple as she
tried to muster the courage to tell Shantae about her feelings.

"Interesting. I realized something about you recently too. I was ready to tell you after the dance,
but you had to leave for some reason." Shantae replied. Rotty's nerves flared up, but she pushed the
nerves aside. She could see Shantae's face turning bright red. That made her wonder what Shantae
was going to say.

"Do you want to go first, or should I?"

"You go ahead! I mean, you walked all the way here to see me." That didn't help Rotty, but she
threw her nerves out the window and steeled herself.

"Shantae... I really like you," was all that Rotty could muster for the moment. Her face was as
purple as an eggplant. She looked down at her shoes for a moment, although it felt like an eon.
When she gathered her courage, she looked back at Shantae to see her face had become a tomato.

She thought it was adorable when Shantae blushed so bright.

 "Like, I'm pretty sure I "kiss kiss fall in love" like you..." Rotty could feel herself blushing harder,
so she took a chomp out of her Kookie Kittie. This ice cream's flavor was second to none. Shantae's
face grew even redder. She was now the same color as her outfit.

"That's wild, Rottytops... because I was going to tell you the same thing!" Shantae finally spoke,
hiding her face as soon as the words left her mouth. She dug into her own ice cream sandwich.
Mmm, Kookie Kittie was so tasty.

"Wait... really? You were even about to say, 'kiss kiss fall in love?'" Rotty finally replied. Shantae
burst into laughter and tried to stop blushing.

"I don't know if I would have said it like that, but I was definitely going to tell you that I like you a
lot! I just realized it recently. We've been friends for ages, but I've always thought you were
beautiful." Shantae confessed. Rottytops blushed even brighter at that.

"You're the most beautiful girl in Sequin Land, Snack Cakes!" Rotty blurted out, hiding her
blushing face from Shantae. The two women sat there, blushing uncontrollably and munching on
their respective Kookie Kittie treats. The silence hung around the two of them for what seemed like
ages.

"Can I kiss you now?" They both asked simultaneously, causing them to turn away and blush even
brighter. They faced each other again and nodded, and soon their lips collided. Ooh, Shantae's lips
were softer than Rotty could have ever imagined. Her lip balm from the show was tasty, too.
Feelings rushed through Rotty's body. She hugged Shantae tightly, her left hand tracing down her
favorite girl's fantastic body.

She rested her hand on Shantae's leg. Oof, this girl's legs just didn't quit. It seemed like they went
on for days. Suddenly Rotty felt a hand fall onto her behind. She continued kissing until she felt a
light squeeze, making a sharp squeaking sound. She found her own hand on Shantae's rear quickly.
It felt so soft.

Fighting evil had really kept Snack Cakes fit!

The two stopped kissing and rested their foreheads against one another for a moment. Shantae let
out a sigh that sounded like a moan before they realized they were so close together. They each
zoomed away to their own sides of the couch, blushing brighter than ever. The silence reared its
miserable head again. Did kissing always make you feel this way?

If so, Rottytops wanted to kiss Shantae forever! Hearts formed in her eyes as she looked at
Shantae's lips again. "So, Snack Cakes, did you like that?" She finally spoke. Shantae could not
stop blushing, but she finally collected herself.

"I loved that, Rottytops! I could kiss you all day!" Shantae cheered. Rotty's eyes turned to stars at
Shantae's answer.
 "I could say the same thing!" Rotty wiggled over to Shantae again and hugged her tightly, resting
one hand on Shantae's rear and giving it a light squeeze. Shantae shivered at the touch. "All that
dancing sure makes your body fit!" Rotty mused. Shantae chuckled at Rottytops.

"So... do you want to be my girlfriend?" Shantae suddenly asked a blushing Rottytops. The zombie
girl thought she might lose her head at that. Shantae would help her get it back, but it would still be
embarrassing. She imagined Shantae chasing Rotty's rolling head down Main Street. What a
spectacle that would be.

"I want to!" Rotty finally answered. Suddenly Shantae's phonograph shrieked to life, playing a
song from a record that Poe had given her after one of his dimension dives. "Ooh, I love this song!"
Rotty cheered as she kissed Shantae again.

"Call me by your name and tell me you love me in private," Shantae sang between kisses, losing
track of the beat as she kissed Rotty. Rotty's bright green lips were nice and soft. Once they finally
finished kissing, the two girls had some more snacks before returning to Rotty's place to play video
games on her machine.

"Hmm, they drew my outfit wrong..." Shantae said when Rottytops showed her the fighting game
character that looked like her. Instead of that character, she chose the little fat pink ball that inhaled
his enemies. According to the game, his name was Kirby. Rottytops was sad that she could play as
the regular blue Megaman but not as her beautiful red boy.

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

End Notes

Recommended Listening
'Montero' by Lil Nas X
And any other song by him. They all slap.

I would think my return to fic writing would be RWBY but it turned out to be Shantae
instead. These two girls are easy to write about because the nature of the games makes any
joke possible. And we could always use more Shantae x Rottytops in our lives!

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