ravkanwitch | [[closed post: jormanen end denam danne näskelle*]]

[[closed post: jormanen end denam danne näskelle*]]

There's something about Dark that reminds Nina of Fjerda – maybe it's the cold and the scarcity. She remembers working long shifts at the cannery in Elling when she was trying to maintain her cover. Everything in that town was worn down and washed out. Even the crystal whiteness of the Ice Court is a bit bland in her memory. While she loves the country of Fjerda itself, somehow (maybe it's Djerholm syndrome; that's a linguistics joke), it all makes her slightly glum. And that's when the brightly colored magazines in the library grabbed her attention. What better time to hold a "slumber party" than now, when the end to Dark is around the corner, but the prospect of winter is still lingering?

Her room has been set up for the party ever since the early afternoon. She pushed her furniture against the walls and moved all of her "stuff" out of the way. With the help of Dionysus and the aftermath of their pinball bet, she set up a spread of juice boxes, grapes, and some really strange but quite tasty Japanese grape gummies. He also provided the jelly for some almond butter and jelly squares that Luo Binghe helped to make – after she promised him that she would spend some quality time with him after the slumber party, of course.

She wasn't exactly sure how to decorate... Festive? Girly? Spooky? A little bit of everything? She hung up a few brightly colored streamers as well as some black streamers and then found all of the spare cushions and blankets in the empty rooms on her level of the mansion. The cushions are laid out on the ground for everyone to sit or lay on along with plenty of blankets on top. She did read that spooky stories are typical at a slumber party, so she's scattered a few decorative bones around the room for a spooky vibe... And then the final touch: she found three strings of fairy lights hidden away in a dusty closet and strung them around the ceiling of the room where they're sparkling away right now. Thankfully, there's been no restriction on that whole "electricity" thing. And then... the wait for the guests to arrive.

[[Let's try this slumber party post this way... For each stage of the evening, I'll post a top level Nina comment. Feel free to respond to whatever strikes your fancy and then interact with everyone else as needed! Hopefully we'll end up with multiple short threads!]]

*Be welcome and wait out the storm, in Fjerdan

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Tally arrives precisely fifteen minutes late, which is new pretty standard for arriving to a bash. She'd tried in vain to make matching pajamas for herself and Gideon, but had ended up stuck with pajamas she'd made before dark and had to actually wash: a silky black camisole and matching full-length drawstring pajama bottoms. She's utterly excited for the party. Shay had thrown a slumber party for her, Fausto, and Peris after Tally had turned pretty, and sleeping next to her gorgeous, perfect friends in her mansion bedroom had made her feel like everything in her life was finally right.

Now, she's not sure if her life is better or worse than it was back then, but she's equally as anxious to feel like she belongs somewhere. The idea of sleeping next to Gideon is also totally nervous-making. She's tried, with mixed success, to remember what it was like sleeping next to David in their trek across the wild to rescue his parents, but even in Dark, the mansion can't be as anxiety-making or as gorgeously terrifying as those days.

Tonight is so not about kissing, though. It's about cementing her place in this new clique.

"Tally!" Nina says happily. "I'm glad you could make it. I've never hosted a slumber party before, so I wasn't sure how many people would actually show up..."

Tally's heart swells for Nina. Nothing is worse than a face-missing bash. "Of course I came, Nina-la! This is going to be the bubbliest party in the mansion tonight. It looks beautiful in here. Tons of mili-Helens."

"Thanks." She tilts her head slightly. "What's a mili-Helen?"

"It's a unit my friend Zane made up to measure beauty. You know, like, Helen of Troy was so beautiful that her face launched a thousand ships? A mili-helen launches one ship."

Fortunately, Nina did finally learn this in the library at some point! She nods. "Oh, I love it! A mili-helen. I'll have to use that."

Tally smiles, pleased that Nina thinks Zane's term is bubbly. "Are the snacks vegetarian?"

"Oh! I didn't realize that you were a vegetarian. I should've asked. But all of them are!"

"It's totally fine. I wouldn't think to ask anyone, either. No one eats meat back in my city. I was in for a total shock when we had that feast!"

"What's your favorite food?" Nina tilts her head, curious. "I think you had just arrived when we had the feast, so Laertes and Sagramore hadn't asked you."

"I really like chocolate muffins," Tally says, thinking of the way the ones in New Pretty Town were marbled with melted chocolate in just the right way.

Nina's eyes widen slightly. "Me too! I love sweets of any kind."

"I wish I could take you to New Pretty Town. The food is totally bubbly, even if living there isn't perfect. Sweets on demand whenever you want."

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tallyyoungblood - 2024-04-18 01:57 (UTC) - Expand

Tally's here before Gideon, though she assumes she was exactly however late is considered fashionable. You probably, get, like, demerits if you're not. That's not really a funny joke, but Gideon snorts to herself about it anyway, eyeing Tally for a second before she goes to say hi.

She's not really much of one for introspection. She doesn't have the brain for it. But the brain she does have keeps throwing weird signals at her, ever since they kissed. Sometimes it's urges, which Gideon gets. Urges make sense to her. Tally hot, Gideon gay, it's not hard to do the math on why she wants to pick her up and throw her over her shoulder all Prehistoric style. But sometimes while she's agreeing with the urges, when they're kissing, or Tally touches the shaved back of her head, or she puts her hands on Tally's hips, her brain sends her a stab of fear so intense it makes her eyes water, or a guilt so deep it makes her nauseous, and she has to pull away, give some awkward excuse and make herself scarce so she can hide in a corner and wait out the sensation of being crushed to death by something unseen.

They say the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Thankfully, Gideon gave up on being sane a long time ago. She sidles up to Tally. "Hey, Whirlybird. Funny seeing you here."

"Hi, Gideon-la." Tally smiles at her, and leans in to give her a hug. It's not a long one, so as not to be totally couple-y at a friend-y bash, but Tally can't resist touching her lately. It's so good to have someone, anyone, to feel physically close to. "Oh my god, you're not wearing that shirt. Dark is so totally bogus."

Gideon lets one hand linger at the small of Tally's back as she pulls out of the hug. "What's wrong with this shirt? You saying it's not true?" She blinks, then stares. "Wait. Your cuff--"

"Oh! Crowley got it off me!" Tally exclaims, showing Gideon her wrist, as if there's anything to see besides slightly paler than usual brown skin. "He didn't have to cut off my hand with an axe or anything. He just used magic. I realized he could do it after, you know, being him."

Gideon takes her wrist in one hand, running her thumb over the inside of Tally's wrist. "Well," she says. "Fuck me, that was easy." Between this and how well Tally's doing at the self-defense lessons, she's going to be out of a job in no time. Not the time to make this about her, though. "Congratulations on your newfound freedom."

Tally shivers a little bit at the touch. "I know, right? It's almost, like, disappointing. I thought we'd have to do something way more bubbly-making, but I guess we just have to do something exciting that isn't cutting off my hand."

Gideon's eyebrows shoot up. "That an invitation?"

Tally grins. "If you want it to be, Gideon-la." Being at a party is paradoxically making Tally feel a little bolder. She doesn't want to be too couple-y, but having several friends nearby lends a protective aura.

Gideon is--somehow, despite everything sane and true about the world, unsure if she actually does want it to be, at least until she figures out what the fuck is wrong with her. Thankfully, they're at a party, so she doesn't have to have a real answer. She winks. "I'm sure I can dream something up." She jerks her thumb at the snacks. "Buy you a free juice box?"

Edited 2024-04-18 02:34 (UTC)

"All this talk about buying stuff. How did Rusties do anything all day if they were always worried about money?"

Gideon laughs. "No idea. Never had any money, myself. But--it's a pick-up line. Like, you buy a hot girl a drink at a bar. I guess so she doesn't need to worry about money, and can devote all her attention to how cool and sexy you are."

Edited 2024-04-18 03:14 (UTC)

"Seems tough for the people who are trying to date the hot girls, though. And, um, yes. You can buy me a free juice box."

Re: [entering and intros!]

ninth_cavalier - 2024-04-21 16:11 (UTC) - Expand

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