gooseberryhigh | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Anuhea Alapai and Penelope Vargas
WHEN: Friday, December 30th 2013
WHERE: An's dorm!
WHAT: Despite the fact that An and Penny historically were not friends, the two lonely girls who stayed over at Gooseberry for the holiday decide to get together and do *girl things* like paint nails and listen to music. Which An let Penny pick #sorrynotsorry. BONUS: Playlist here

While still feeling particularly perturbed over the events this month (shitty birthday, the zoey/ryan thing, Park in general), Penny was ready to just get out and do something. Part of her wanted to do something stupid - but there were very few opportunities to really do something reckless while still at school and though she didn't regret deciding not to go home, she was a little frustrated at being alone with her thoughts this whole time. So the invitation from An to actually do something, while a little girly and not something Penelope would usually be in to, still sounded fun. Even if she had, historically, not been An's friend. Maybe they could be friends now.

Besides, who needed their old friends, anyway? It was about to be a brand new year, Penelope was ready for it. She was ready to do... something different. Maybe that meant apologizing to people like Isaiah who deserved an apology, and being friends with someone like An who was just genuinely nice even though Penelope had never been friendly to her a day in her life. Not that Penny had insulted or actively been rude to her either, but really she'd paid her no mind the whole time they'd been at Gooseberry. Things were changing, though. Even Penny could feel that, could feel herself becoming different.

She was still a bitch, though. It wasn't like her deeply rooted trust issues were going to suddenly go away. But maybe it was time to stop making other people try so hard. Or maybe she just needed to try a little in return, too. She'd waited too long with Ryan. She'd lost out on two opportunities to date someone - not that dating was important to her, but the closeness of a significant other is sort of what she craved. Someone she could really trust and rely on. Waiting to long left her losing both, and she really needed to work on this whole... person-to-person thing. An seemed like a good choice to do that with.

Prepared with snacks (popcorn, chocolate, chips) and a bottle of vodka stashed away in her bag because she wasn't sure if An wanted to drink or not, she made her way to the other girls cabin as quickly as possible. It was cold outside, after all, and though she was dressed in a million layers she really didn't feel like being outside for that long, so she practically ran there and was knocking to be let in in a pretty reasonable amount of time after the initial invite. "An? It's me, Penny."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

An regretted her decision to stay at Gooseberry almost immediately after everyone left, but she didn't want to be a baby and make her dad bail her out yet again. She wasn't sure why she thought staying at the cabin would be a better option than being with her parents and brother, and now that she'd been pretty alone for a while, the decision weighed on her. The cabin was way too quiet, and even if it hadn't always been peaceful this year (and tension had never really left) it had always felt like home.

Right now it felt too big, too cold, and too empty.

And while Penny wasn't really someone An hung out with, she was definitely better than more time alone. And not knowing someone really well was never much of a reason to stop An from hanging out or trying to be friends. When there was not many people around, what was the harm in some girl time? She'd been waiting to try the charm she'd learned on someone besides herself. She had done snowflakes that fell across her nails for the dance, and New Years nails sounded fun.

It was only a few minutes after she asked that she heard the knock on the cabin door and she rushed over to let Penny in. "Yay! I'm so glad, I'm SO SICK of all the quiet here!" she cried, letting her in and pointing her towards the bed where she had all her polishes and nail art supplies out. She looked down at the bag with supplies and grinned even wider.

"Aww, look at you, you know exactly what we need at a time like this. Here," she said, grabbing her little battery powered stereo to turn music on and happily sat in her spot as artist. "Go ahead and pick your colors. It looks best on a dark background with the charm."

Although a fair few people had stayed and home was... much less appealing, Penny realized a bit too late that she could have just gone anywhere other than actually going home. She was eighteen. She could apparate anywhere she wanted to. Only problem was... she had no friends, and had nowhere to go. She wasn't speaking to Ryan or Z. She was mad at Chris and felt like he had set her up for failure with his stupid advise, and she wasn't sure if her and Etta were... friends or... well she just didn't know.

So things were weird and she wouldn't want to ask anyone to put her up and spending time with her actual family sounded incredibly unpleasant. Compared to the alternatives, she was just feeling stir crazy as opposed to perhaps real and true regret. It wasn't even that quiet, it was just... boring. Too much free time on her hands to think. She hated thinking.

An's smile when she opened the door made Penny feel far more at ease. No one really smiled at her like that. Rarely, anyway. Some did like Diego and Etta, because they were nice, but most people did not smile at Penny because she rarely smiled back. She tried one on for size now, hoping it looked as genuine as it felt because she really was excited to be here now.

"What girl doesn't need copious amounts of terrible food for girl time?" She asked, stepping inside. She set down the bag of stuff, put on her playlist for the night and stepped over to the very nice set-up An had for doing her nails. "Wow this is a lot more than I expected." She replied, though it was said in a good way, clearly not intended to be rude in any way. "Let's actually go with black and silver, maybe add a little green in there? I definitely think black background and silver stars, but -- OH no green, do gold. Gold and silver stars and fireworks."

She sat down in front of An, and set her handbag down next to her. "And uh, I might have brought some... more illicit substances if you're down." She had no idea if An drank, at least anymore, and didn't want to make the other girl uncomfortable for having brought it. She didn't really want to lie though, either.

Honestly, An would probably have happily welcomed in the devil himself into the cabin if it meant she got to have some time with another person. She was really bored, and being able to have some girl time seemed ideal to her. "You're so right," she said, happily grabbing a handful of chips as she settled into her spot. At the surprise at the set up and supplies, An shrugged but smiled as she did, clearly pleased. "I have a bit of a collection," she said modestly. "My parents sent me the scented ones for Christmas, and I learned the charm earlier. It's pretty fun!" she said, setting aside Penny's choices.

It wasn't in An's nature to question why people did anything too hard. She didn't really mind. Sure, Penny was never the most friendly to her, but that hardly stopped her from at least trying. She wasn't always one to go running back if someone wasn't friendly in return, but given the circumstances she was more than happy to have someone with her. It was always more fun doing designs on someone else than on herself. "That sounds really cute!" she said, indicating the other girl should put out her hand. She set it in a small bowl of soap and water to start the manicure, and then lifted her eyebrow a bit at the comment about substances. An didn't NOT drink, though after last year she had cut way back on getting DRUNK drunk, since she tended to do really really stupid things when she was.

"I'm very down," she said, giggling a bit. "Thanks, you really do think of everything."

Penny wasn't quite the devil himself, but she was close enough. Her gruff mood, worse as of late, was bad enough to make anyone grimace when she was near. Fortunately, An didn't know her well enough to know she had been a total wretched bitch more than usual lately, so this was a great opportunity to try not awful on for a change. "I try, I try." She replied, which was far nicer than her usual of course I'm right response.

Progress!

"That's really cool. I am not artistically inclined at all. Like, not even remotely. I've tried but it looks awful so I quit." That didn't stop her from watching Bob Ross late at night, particularly when she was home alone, because that was soothing as all hell and gave her the confidence to think she could totally paint like that if she had the supplies. It was pseudo confidence but it worked out well enough for her.

"Does it? I'm not girly really but when I think of New Years Eve, I definitely think of the whole classic you know, white-and-black, tuxedo, champagne and silver thing I guess." She was kind of a romantic at heart if you dug really, really freaking deep. "I'm not even sure if Cameron's party is fancy but I'm wearing a dress anyway." She was going to rock it, too.

At the go ahead for the alcohol, Penny removed it from her purse and a small bottle of (whatever soda you normally mix with vodka?) from it as well. She took a sip before finally handing a hand over. "Thanks for this. I know... we're not you know. Friendly. Or at least I'm not friendly. But this is nice."

In her current state of hungry for human connection, Penny could probably have been downright rude and An would have brushed it aside. But she was happy that Penny had come, and that she had brought snacks and a smile was all a bonus to her.

An laughed, but not harshly, when Penny mentioned quitting when she wasn't good at art. "Honestly, I understand. I'm pretty good at it, but only because I get bored and it's something to do. It's way more fun to do on someone else though. And if you are really patient and have the little brushes and things, it's not too hard." She listened to what Penny had been thinking of for motifs and nodded, getting the look right away. "Definitely. More classy than straight up girly. Maybe even a little champagne glass that tips bubbly every once in a while?" She thought a bit before pulling aside a couple other bottles and small brushes.

"I don't know either, but I'm planning on looking really cute and hopefully kissing SOMEONE," she said, rolling her eyes and laughing as she worked at cleaning the edges of Penny's nails before applying the base coat. Magic made manicures so much easier, she thought, as the nails were buffed and cleaned with a few quick spells.

An set her supplies aside and clapped her hands as the vodka and soda were produced, taking a sip herself and setting it in close reach of them both. "Thanks for coming. I mean, we may not hang out much but well...when times arise why not at least try? It's a lot better than sitting alone. Plus now you'll have cute nails for the party!" She gave Penny a big smile before returning to her nails, painting the black base coat on her hands, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"So, how have you kept yourself from going stir crazy? I actually figured out my senior project, that's how desperate I was."

"That's how I am with video games." Penny nodded, understanding the boredom-driven-reasons for getting into a certain 'hobby.' Not that Penny felt video games were just a hobby for her. She wanted to go all the way. She just needed to learn to control herself. Her temper and competitive spirit got her kicked off many teams, including the Coppertale Quidditch team. It never had to do with her actual skill, because she was quite good at being a Seeker and at video games. But she was an awful sport.

She liked that An agreed it wasn't straight up girly. Penny had never been known for being girly. In fact, the most feminine she had looked in the last four years was at the most recent Winter Ball. It had worked well enough for her, even though her date had been a blind date and didn't mean anything. Diego had been a great date, though. It almost made her wish it had meant something.

"The champagne glass idea sounds really good. Can you really do all that? That's so cool." She was certainly impressed. And impressing her went a long way with Penny. Not easily impressed by anyone or anything, she nodded her head in obvious approval and slight surprise. "We can both rock it and if we don't get kisses well that's too fuckin' bad, I'll kiss you and they can all be jealous they missed out."

Penny tried to stay very still while An worked, but did reach her arm out very very slowly to grab the vodka and take another swig. She wasn't down to get white girl wasted here and spill all her deepest darkest secrets, but Penny did sort of need the buzz to keep herself from closing up before they could even really talk. It would be so easy for this to go downhill if Penny acted, well, like herself.

"I actually worked on my senior project too. Well, both of them. I have a safety project and one I really want to do but doesn't work well because magic and electricity aren't bffs." She sighed. "It wasn't so bad at first, being alone. But then I had too much time to think."

Anuhea smiled, and nodded, though she didn't know too much about video games herself. It wasn't that she had no exposure (true, they had little in the way of muggle technology at her house, but she DID have a computer with internet at home, her parents weren't monsters), but it didn't really strike her interest meter. All the same, she understood getting into things because they are there and it becomes something like an addiction. An wished she had more ambition, occasionally, but with the plantation, it wasn't like she needed much. Wouldn't she just be working in the family business when school was over? An had not given it much thought, which was probably a large part of the problem.

"Great! Glad you like it! And I can charm it most anything that doesn't require super complicated movement. I can make it on a bit of a time loop so it only does the bursting fireworks and champagne pours every few minutes or so, in case it's distracting. But the spell to make it still is pretty easy anyway!" She babbled as she talked, waving her wand to dry Penny's hand of the base coat and taking another sip of vodka as she did. She started on the more complicated designs next, her colors as glitter a bit of a whirl as she moved carefully but quickly through adding the fireworks and champagne glasses (http://fabnailartdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/18-Best-Happy-New-Year-Nail-Art-Designs-Ideas-Stickers-2015-2016-111.jpg) before doing any of the charm work.

"That sounds interesting...what's the project with electricity?" An asked, waving her wand to dry the designs before she added extra glitter and top coat. She paused and then made a wry smile at Penny's last comment. "I know that feeling all too well. Sometimes thinking too much just makes everything worse," she said, taking another long sip of the vodka, making a little grimace. It was more for the thoughts than the alcohol, though.

If they actually talked about it, Penny would have to agree with the whole what's the point? perspective. Her father wanted her to go into healing. Penelope didn't have the bedside manner for that. Sure, she was good at it. She was actually quite skilled in that area, but she had no passion for it at all. She didn't want to be a healer, she didn't want to be like her dad. But what she wanted didn't really matter.

"Yeah that'd be great. I don't want them going all crazy, but just enough to be interesting." She trusted An to do it properly - they looked amazing so far, and since this wasn't her first time, she had a feeling An would nail it. Again, she was seriously impressed and when they were mostly painted she nodded her head approvingly at the design. "No one is going to have nails this nice. Except maybe you." She said with a grin, clearly praising the other girls skill.

Penelope sighed, still struggling with her entire concept with magic and video games. "I'm trying to find a way to marry magic and video games. So electricity is involved but not the main component. But you know how magic interferes? I'm trying to see if I can... well, instead of try and marry the two, make a magical video game. Like, enchant a television with a small sort of game and have it be interactive but... I don't know. It's not working. That's why it's kind of a pet project and not my real senior project." She sighed, shrugging.

Another sip of vodka was taken, the small buzz already forming three shots in. "Thinking definitely makes everything worse. The anon thing didn't help either. I sort of made an ass of myself. Not that I fucking care." She said, her expression turning to a frown briefly before she tried to shake herself out of it. "But it's whatever. Who needs the drama anyway, right?" This is why Penny didn't have friends. She had acquaintances. Friends hurt you, even when you thought you could trust them.

An smiled and nodded, happy to be able to do something she enjoyed and have company at the same time. The day was really boring, and she liked thinking about dressing up. It gave her something to look forward to. Practicing the little charms was one way to keep her busy. An hadn't really been applying herself in her actual Charms class, and she knew that might come back to bite her. Despite working for a few days on how to make the nail art move, she hadn't done any of the work she owed Calderon-Boot. Damn. Well, she would worry about that later.

"You got it. Interesting but not crazy is my specialty," she said giggling. An was already a little buzzed, probably because it had been a bit since she'd drank much at all. She kinda learned SOME of her lesson last year, but she figured, what was the harm with just Penny? She beamed at the compliment to her skill. "Why thank you. And yours will probably look a bit better since it's always harder to do it on yourself," she said, shrugging. "One hand always ends up turning out better than the other."

She listened to Penny's project idea and nodded, actually understanding a bit better. "Yeah...I find some things from the muggle world are easier to marry with magic than others. My culture has always had a mix of both. So our practices do not fight the muggle world, we enfold one another. It seems like magic and electricity are in a battle. But that's very interesting that you're trying to get them to work together. I take it you game then? I don't know much about it honestly, but my little brother likes Nintendo."

An made a sympathetic face and took the vodka from Penny and took another long sip. "I know all about making an ass of yourself," she said, sighing and thinking back to Tabitha and how they were finally making a tiny bit of progress after everything that happened last year. "Drama is definitely...not fun." She wasn't sure precisely what drama Penny was having to deal with, but she didn't really want to pry too hard. She knew no matter what it was, it sucked. But she also wondered whether the other girl wanted to vent. She figured she'd leave an opening, and if Penny wanted an ear, she could have it. She started on the charms, and looked at the other girl, casually saying. "Well, if you want someone to bounce ideas or vent to, we have nothing but time. It'll take 20 minutes at least for the polish and charm to set correctly without blurring. Which sometimes looks cool, but isn't really what you're going for here."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only