Backdated to August 31 - Movie Night
Aug. 31st, 2023 06:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsApril turns up to Nica and Megan's suite for movies, pizza, vodka and ice-cream. And lots of chat.
There was a lot of vodka in her suite, April mused as she got ready to walk over to Nica's place for pizza night. She grabbed a bottle and a fruit juice blend she liked to mix it with - Pyotr had always teased her about it, but she really did like the flavor of the cran-pineapple juice with just a little bit of a kick from the vodka. Besides, if she didn't start putting a small dent in it now, it might actually sit long enough to go bad. Could vodka go bad? That was a thought for later. For now, she stuck the bottle and the juice into a bag and jangled Boris' leash, giving him a grin and ruffling his ears as she bent to clip it to his harness. "Gonna go see people," she enthused at him, laughing as his little tail wagged furiously. "And just in case you get too excited...." a pee pad, tug toy, and small bag of treats got added to the bag as well, and the two of them were out the door and taking the short walk down the hall.
She knocked on Nica's door firmly, shifting on her feet as she waited for the door to open.
The door opened almost immediately, Nica beaming at her. "Hey! Great, you're here! Hi, Boris!" She bent and let the dog lick her hand. "C'mon in, the pizza just arrived and Megan's setting things up."
"I brought vodka and juice... there is so much vodka, I could probably stock the lounge downstairs for at least a few weeks," April replied with a grin as she unclipped Boris from his leash. "We don't have to drink it, but the option is there. Otherwise it'll just sit forever, because I don't drink alone." She gave Megan a wave as she pulled the bottles out and set them on the counter. "A nice night in where I can listen to something other than doggie snores sounded like a great time."
"Hiya, April!" Megan finished tucking a folded paper towel next to a plate on a TV tray and came over to give Boris a friendly pat. "Can I make you a drink? Nica, anything? We also have seltzer water if you want a vodka spritzer, and some kombucha." She didn't often entertain friends in the suite she shared with Nica, and she was bubbling with energy.
"A spritzer sounds great. Good with pizza, not too sweet, won't knock me on my ass..." April grinned wryly. "As long as there's no borscht on the menu tomorrow, it'll be fine. I still can't look at the stuff without feeling queasy." She pulled the pad out of the bag. "I think Boris will let me know, but where's a good spot to put this in case he gets excited? I don't want him to pee on the floors, and he's pretty good about using them as long as he knows it's there."
Nica came in from her bedroom. "Hey, April. Sorry I was just..." she jerked her head back towards the room she'd left. "Bathroom." She beamed at April - almost literally, she was glowing faintly, as was typical in the summer for her - and then she dropped to one knee to take Boris' head in her hands and ruffle his fur. "Hello, babydog! Who's a good boy? You are! You're not going to pee on the floor, are you? No, you won't!" Then she looked up again at April. "Over there in front of the closet is fine - that's where the winter coats and boots and stuff are, so I don't think we'll need to get in there tonight."
"Sounds great!" April spread it out, then got Boris' attention with a treat. "If you get excited, come to pee spot, yes?" She booped him on the nose lightly, then tapped the pad, then tapped his nose again. "I'm probably going to have to retrain you with English words because my Russian is garbage, isn't it cutie?" She let him take the treat, then ruffled his ears before looking at Megan and Nica. "If he's good while we eat, I brought more treats for him. We're having a little bit of a training struggle right now, because I don't have Pyotr to back up my commands in proper Russian. Maybe I can find someone to practice with."
"Pyotr has a big heart, looking after his parents," Pixie said sympathetically. "And Boris is a sweetie. I'd love to give him some treats later." She fluttered over to the kitchenette and prepared the beverages, including setting down a bowl of water for the dog. "What do we want to watch while we eat our pizza?"
"This one looks good?" Nica had grabbed the remote while April was settling Boris down and was scrolling through the movie options. 'Everything, Everywhere At Once' was highlighted. "A bit of sci-fi, a bit of martial arts, a bit of feels... it's got something for everyone?"
"I haven't seen it, but I've heard some good things online. Somehow without spoilers, even," April agreed with a laugh. "And yeah... he's so close to his parents, what with them thinking they'd lost both of his siblings. I'm not surprised he went back at first major need, I just miss the quiet chaos of our suite. I didn't realize how much ambient noise a second person provided until it was gone. Even with Boris around."
"Brilliant, I'm a fan of Michelle Yeoh. I love the surreal 'face of happiness' gown she wore for her recent wedding." She carefully placed their spritzers on the tray tables - light and fizzy for her and April, and alcohol-free for Nica. She then unveiled the boxes of pizzas, releasing a cloud of steam carrying the delicious aroma of melted cheese and tomato sauce. "Nica, how about two slices to start? Did you manage to grab a bite earlier today?" As she spoke, she realized how easily she had become accustomed to Nica's presence and how strange it would feel if she suddenly left.
Nica pulled a face. "Yes, Mom," she sing-songed, but she was smiling at her roomie as she clicked the remote to start the movie and plopped herself onto the couch. "But you're right, I forgot to eat lunch again today." She grabbed a plate and helped herself to two slices, one meat and one veggie. "It's a side effect of my powers," she explained to April as the other two settled in. "I don't seem to need to eat when I'm syncing, but it's probably not the best thing in the long run. How about you? Any weirdness with your powers in the day to day?"
"I eat a lot in general, but I think that's pretty normal for most of us. A lot of protein." April paused for a minute. "I don't remember the exact chemical makeup, but my webbing is organic, and it's got similar properties to actual spider's silk. So when I use a lot, I have to get some pretty specific things back into my system. I make sure I keep pepitas and other seeds and legumes on hand, pork rinds, bone broth." She added a slice of each to her own plate as well, and plopped on the floor. "Pizza's such a nice treat though."
"Pizza's good for your soul, even if it's not the healthiest," Pixie agreed. "I need a lot of protein, too, for helping to rebuild the chitin in my wings. And leafy greens full of silica, preferably harvested under the right moon phase. Which is not as difficult to find as you'd think at the farmer's market. I unconsciously adjust my wings while I'm sleeping, and I used to sleep-hover sometimes if I was having an intense dream. I did have to get used to Nica walking through things in the suite." She grinned at her roomie around a slice of veggie pizza.
"Tonight is definitely not about healthy," Monica agreed. "It's pure indulgence and forgetting our woes and cares for a night. And if we have trouble with that, Megan can always sneeze and sprinkle you with pixie dust?" She winked to show she was joking. "Just kidding."
"What does your pixie dust do? Is it like – can you control the effect, or is it just the same thing always?" April's pizza sat forgotten on her plate as she bent forward to study Megan. "Wait, sorry, is that rude? You'd think I'd know what I can and can't ask by now, but not really. Some people are open books about what they can do, others look at me like I stepped on a kitten."
"Oh, I don't mind. Sharon recently examined my wings in detail, and I heard some things about them that I probably didn't even know." Pixie smiled. "I have fine control over when to summon my dust and how much, but the effects really depend on the person's own chemistry. I've used it in battle to confuse some enemies, some it hasn't affected at all. But I much prefer using it to help people. It can mitigate anxiety and break up harmful thought patterns, besides exploring interesting visuals. I'm not a trained counselor but I've been thinking about going into something like that. What about your webbing, what's the best part about it?"
"Sharon is fascinating. I met her when she batted at some of my hair tendrils." April took a bite of her pizza as she thought about Pixie's question. "That's a really cool effect. I think for my webs... probably the versatility and strength? We–before, there were a few times May and I ended up making temporary things out of them because of fires or other things. Bridging the gap for fire ladders, something for people to walk across to a safe building, that sort of thing. What about you, Nica? Coolest thing about your light show? I loved sitting in Forge's window like a plant and letting him soak up my happy thoughts during that swap virus, but sinking through the floor wasn't as fun."
"Oh, right, I'd forgotten you had mine during that whole crazy thing!" Nica exclaimed. "I think my favourite thing is being able to fly at lightspeed. Well, almost." She chuckled and reached for another slice of pizza. "The further I go, the more I overshoot. And it takes a lot out of me. But it still means I'm not late, which is great since I still have Dad's 'preparation and planning' lecture stuck in my head. Oh, and I think we've all been toys for Sharon - I'm her walking laser pointer."
Pixie nodded, finishing up her slice of pizza. "Flying's the best, and flying at lightspeed sounds exhilarating. I do enjoy a nice flight around the mansion grounds when the weather is nice." She turned to April. "It's truly impressive how creative you can be with your webs. By the way, is May a relative of yours? I hope you don't mind me asking." Pixie's obsidian eyes shone with warm curiosity. She was eager to learn more about April while recognizing that not everyone in the mansion had a happy family history before their arrival.
"She's my—I'm her clone?" April's voice inflected upwards in a questioning tone as she sighed. "It's complicated, but the family treated us like twins once I was found. Shared a room and everything, even had to share parts of a wardrobe at first. It took a little while, with me showing up our senior year of high school, but eventually we got along pretty well. She had her college interests and friends, I took a few years off to figure out what I really wanted to do first. By the time I was starting college, she was almost done with undergrad, and the separation of everything was really good for us. Let us connect better as sisters." April shrugged. "What about the two of you? Siblings or anything?"
Nica hastily closed her mouth, which had been hanging open during April's explanation. "Clones are real?" she asked, then shook her head. "No, don't answer that, dumb question, since you're sitting here and from a different dimension. But man, just when you think you've heard it all..." She reached for her soda and had a mouthful or two while she reorganized her brain. "Siblings, no. My folks were both military and they weren't always deployed together. Dad used to joke that I was conceived via air mail. And then my Mom was killed when I was eight, so..." She shrugged. "I have a ton of cousins on Dad's side that I see every so often. They live in Louisiana."
Pixie's eyes were wide with surprise. "It sounds like a very complex and unique family story, April. Growing up as an only child, I wish I had a sister. Having a lot of cousins to hang out with sounds nice, too." She briefly caught a glimpse of the family drama unfolding in the movie. Family could be chaotic, but it seemed wonderful. "What did you study in college? I went to Parson's in New York City."
"A lot of questionable science was involved, since my family didn't know about it until I was found. And the scientist that did it was dead by then, plus the papers were mostly destroyed. I"m lucky, they could've refused to acknowledge me or tossed me out after I graduated high school, but mom and dad tried hard to help us all get used to being a family. Looooooot of therapy." April tore a piece of crust in half. "I ended up doing engineering. Parson's sounds cool though. Mom went to FIT."
"It definitely expands the whole concept of the blended family," Nica observed, referring to April's situation.
Pixie nodded. "The mansion is kind of like one big family. I'm sorry that Pyotr had to leave, but people have a way of coming back one way or another. And I'm glad I got to get to know you a little better, April. I'd be up for pizza night again sometime!"
April nodded. "Yeah, this is fun. I'm glad I'm expanding my circle of people a little. I'd love to do it again."
There was a lot of vodka in her suite, April mused as she got ready to walk over to Nica's place for pizza night. She grabbed a bottle and a fruit juice blend she liked to mix it with - Pyotr had always teased her about it, but she really did like the flavor of the cran-pineapple juice with just a little bit of a kick from the vodka. Besides, if she didn't start putting a small dent in it now, it might actually sit long enough to go bad. Could vodka go bad? That was a thought for later. For now, she stuck the bottle and the juice into a bag and jangled Boris' leash, giving him a grin and ruffling his ears as she bent to clip it to his harness. "Gonna go see people," she enthused at him, laughing as his little tail wagged furiously. "And just in case you get too excited...." a pee pad, tug toy, and small bag of treats got added to the bag as well, and the two of them were out the door and taking the short walk down the hall.
She knocked on Nica's door firmly, shifting on her feet as she waited for the door to open.
The door opened almost immediately, Nica beaming at her. "Hey! Great, you're here! Hi, Boris!" She bent and let the dog lick her hand. "C'mon in, the pizza just arrived and Megan's setting things up."
"I brought vodka and juice... there is so much vodka, I could probably stock the lounge downstairs for at least a few weeks," April replied with a grin as she unclipped Boris from his leash. "We don't have to drink it, but the option is there. Otherwise it'll just sit forever, because I don't drink alone." She gave Megan a wave as she pulled the bottles out and set them on the counter. "A nice night in where I can listen to something other than doggie snores sounded like a great time."
"Hiya, April!" Megan finished tucking a folded paper towel next to a plate on a TV tray and came over to give Boris a friendly pat. "Can I make you a drink? Nica, anything? We also have seltzer water if you want a vodka spritzer, and some kombucha." She didn't often entertain friends in the suite she shared with Nica, and she was bubbling with energy.
"A spritzer sounds great. Good with pizza, not too sweet, won't knock me on my ass..." April grinned wryly. "As long as there's no borscht on the menu tomorrow, it'll be fine. I still can't look at the stuff without feeling queasy." She pulled the pad out of the bag. "I think Boris will let me know, but where's a good spot to put this in case he gets excited? I don't want him to pee on the floors, and he's pretty good about using them as long as he knows it's there."
Nica came in from her bedroom. "Hey, April. Sorry I was just..." she jerked her head back towards the room she'd left. "Bathroom." She beamed at April - almost literally, she was glowing faintly, as was typical in the summer for her - and then she dropped to one knee to take Boris' head in her hands and ruffle his fur. "Hello, babydog! Who's a good boy? You are! You're not going to pee on the floor, are you? No, you won't!" Then she looked up again at April. "Over there in front of the closet is fine - that's where the winter coats and boots and stuff are, so I don't think we'll need to get in there tonight."
"Sounds great!" April spread it out, then got Boris' attention with a treat. "If you get excited, come to pee spot, yes?" She booped him on the nose lightly, then tapped the pad, then tapped his nose again. "I'm probably going to have to retrain you with English words because my Russian is garbage, isn't it cutie?" She let him take the treat, then ruffled his ears before looking at Megan and Nica. "If he's good while we eat, I brought more treats for him. We're having a little bit of a training struggle right now, because I don't have Pyotr to back up my commands in proper Russian. Maybe I can find someone to practice with."
"Pyotr has a big heart, looking after his parents," Pixie said sympathetically. "And Boris is a sweetie. I'd love to give him some treats later." She fluttered over to the kitchenette and prepared the beverages, including setting down a bowl of water for the dog. "What do we want to watch while we eat our pizza?"
"This one looks good?" Nica had grabbed the remote while April was settling Boris down and was scrolling through the movie options. 'Everything, Everywhere At Once' was highlighted. "A bit of sci-fi, a bit of martial arts, a bit of feels... it's got something for everyone?"
"I haven't seen it, but I've heard some good things online. Somehow without spoilers, even," April agreed with a laugh. "And yeah... he's so close to his parents, what with them thinking they'd lost both of his siblings. I'm not surprised he went back at first major need, I just miss the quiet chaos of our suite. I didn't realize how much ambient noise a second person provided until it was gone. Even with Boris around."
"Brilliant, I'm a fan of Michelle Yeoh. I love the surreal 'face of happiness' gown she wore for her recent wedding." She carefully placed their spritzers on the tray tables - light and fizzy for her and April, and alcohol-free for Nica. She then unveiled the boxes of pizzas, releasing a cloud of steam carrying the delicious aroma of melted cheese and tomato sauce. "Nica, how about two slices to start? Did you manage to grab a bite earlier today?" As she spoke, she realized how easily she had become accustomed to Nica's presence and how strange it would feel if she suddenly left.
Nica pulled a face. "Yes, Mom," she sing-songed, but she was smiling at her roomie as she clicked the remote to start the movie and plopped herself onto the couch. "But you're right, I forgot to eat lunch again today." She grabbed a plate and helped herself to two slices, one meat and one veggie. "It's a side effect of my powers," she explained to April as the other two settled in. "I don't seem to need to eat when I'm syncing, but it's probably not the best thing in the long run. How about you? Any weirdness with your powers in the day to day?"
"I eat a lot in general, but I think that's pretty normal for most of us. A lot of protein." April paused for a minute. "I don't remember the exact chemical makeup, but my webbing is organic, and it's got similar properties to actual spider's silk. So when I use a lot, I have to get some pretty specific things back into my system. I make sure I keep pepitas and other seeds and legumes on hand, pork rinds, bone broth." She added a slice of each to her own plate as well, and plopped on the floor. "Pizza's such a nice treat though."
"Pizza's good for your soul, even if it's not the healthiest," Pixie agreed. "I need a lot of protein, too, for helping to rebuild the chitin in my wings. And leafy greens full of silica, preferably harvested under the right moon phase. Which is not as difficult to find as you'd think at the farmer's market. I unconsciously adjust my wings while I'm sleeping, and I used to sleep-hover sometimes if I was having an intense dream. I did have to get used to Nica walking through things in the suite." She grinned at her roomie around a slice of veggie pizza.
"Tonight is definitely not about healthy," Monica agreed. "It's pure indulgence and forgetting our woes and cares for a night. And if we have trouble with that, Megan can always sneeze and sprinkle you with pixie dust?" She winked to show she was joking. "Just kidding."
"What does your pixie dust do? Is it like – can you control the effect, or is it just the same thing always?" April's pizza sat forgotten on her plate as she bent forward to study Megan. "Wait, sorry, is that rude? You'd think I'd know what I can and can't ask by now, but not really. Some people are open books about what they can do, others look at me like I stepped on a kitten."
"Oh, I don't mind. Sharon recently examined my wings in detail, and I heard some things about them that I probably didn't even know." Pixie smiled. "I have fine control over when to summon my dust and how much, but the effects really depend on the person's own chemistry. I've used it in battle to confuse some enemies, some it hasn't affected at all. But I much prefer using it to help people. It can mitigate anxiety and break up harmful thought patterns, besides exploring interesting visuals. I'm not a trained counselor but I've been thinking about going into something like that. What about your webbing, what's the best part about it?"
"Sharon is fascinating. I met her when she batted at some of my hair tendrils." April took a bite of her pizza as she thought about Pixie's question. "That's a really cool effect. I think for my webs... probably the versatility and strength? We–before, there were a few times May and I ended up making temporary things out of them because of fires or other things. Bridging the gap for fire ladders, something for people to walk across to a safe building, that sort of thing. What about you, Nica? Coolest thing about your light show? I loved sitting in Forge's window like a plant and letting him soak up my happy thoughts during that swap virus, but sinking through the floor wasn't as fun."
"Oh, right, I'd forgotten you had mine during that whole crazy thing!" Nica exclaimed. "I think my favourite thing is being able to fly at lightspeed. Well, almost." She chuckled and reached for another slice of pizza. "The further I go, the more I overshoot. And it takes a lot out of me. But it still means I'm not late, which is great since I still have Dad's 'preparation and planning' lecture stuck in my head. Oh, and I think we've all been toys for Sharon - I'm her walking laser pointer."
Pixie nodded, finishing up her slice of pizza. "Flying's the best, and flying at lightspeed sounds exhilarating. I do enjoy a nice flight around the mansion grounds when the weather is nice." She turned to April. "It's truly impressive how creative you can be with your webs. By the way, is May a relative of yours? I hope you don't mind me asking." Pixie's obsidian eyes shone with warm curiosity. She was eager to learn more about April while recognizing that not everyone in the mansion had a happy family history before their arrival.
"She's my—I'm her clone?" April's voice inflected upwards in a questioning tone as she sighed. "It's complicated, but the family treated us like twins once I was found. Shared a room and everything, even had to share parts of a wardrobe at first. It took a little while, with me showing up our senior year of high school, but eventually we got along pretty well. She had her college interests and friends, I took a few years off to figure out what I really wanted to do first. By the time I was starting college, she was almost done with undergrad, and the separation of everything was really good for us. Let us connect better as sisters." April shrugged. "What about the two of you? Siblings or anything?"
Nica hastily closed her mouth, which had been hanging open during April's explanation. "Clones are real?" she asked, then shook her head. "No, don't answer that, dumb question, since you're sitting here and from a different dimension. But man, just when you think you've heard it all..." She reached for her soda and had a mouthful or two while she reorganized her brain. "Siblings, no. My folks were both military and they weren't always deployed together. Dad used to joke that I was conceived via air mail. And then my Mom was killed when I was eight, so..." She shrugged. "I have a ton of cousins on Dad's side that I see every so often. They live in Louisiana."
Pixie's eyes were wide with surprise. "It sounds like a very complex and unique family story, April. Growing up as an only child, I wish I had a sister. Having a lot of cousins to hang out with sounds nice, too." She briefly caught a glimpse of the family drama unfolding in the movie. Family could be chaotic, but it seemed wonderful. "What did you study in college? I went to Parson's in New York City."
"A lot of questionable science was involved, since my family didn't know about it until I was found. And the scientist that did it was dead by then, plus the papers were mostly destroyed. I"m lucky, they could've refused to acknowledge me or tossed me out after I graduated high school, but mom and dad tried hard to help us all get used to being a family. Looooooot of therapy." April tore a piece of crust in half. "I ended up doing engineering. Parson's sounds cool though. Mom went to FIT."
"It definitely expands the whole concept of the blended family," Nica observed, referring to April's situation.
Pixie nodded. "The mansion is kind of like one big family. I'm sorry that Pyotr had to leave, but people have a way of coming back one way or another. And I'm glad I got to get to know you a little better, April. I'd be up for pizza night again sometime!"
April nodded. "Yeah, this is fun. I'm glad I'm expanding my circle of people a little. I'd love to do it again."
