Light of May ::: an original roleplay

Who: Bella and Odin
Where: Sunny's Diner
When: At around 12pm

It had been with a spring in his step that Odin had left his home; prim, proper and ready to resume his life - more specifically, his dating life. Muninn had, of course, warned him many times of the mistake he was making in hiding his true nature from Bella, but then ravens knew nothing of human relationships. You did not just spring that up on someone, however much you liked them.

No, he was taking everything slowly, his revelation slowest of all. Right now Odin was focusing on having a lovely lunch and making up for lost time. Someone else might feel silly for wanting to touch his date's hands so much, but Odin had lived long enough not to care one bit. The heart wanted what it wanted, and what his wanted was Bella's hands between his. He could practically see Cels rolling her eyes in his mind at that.

Arriving a minute or two before twelve, Odin made his way into the diner and took a seat on the first booth after the door so Bella could find him easily. He ordered a strawberry and vanilla milkshake to start, telling the waitress he was expecting someone and would not make his food order before then. As he waited, Odin busied himself touching everything, from the seats to the table to the salt and pepper shakers with a silly grin in his face. There were visions, but they were no longer terrifying. Odin was ecstatic.

Who: Odin and Bella (possibly an appearance by Flora the familiar)
When: 6:30ish
Where: Bella's house

Bella was kind of freaking out. She'd got her dad out of the house for a couple hours and dragged a promise out of Flora that she'd be on her best behavior outside after threatening to put her in one of the bird cages, but still? Absolutely freaked out. And riddled with guilt. She felt very much as if she should have been down at the school lending support to those who had loved ones inside, but... Odin. Was coming to her house. She'd meant to cancel, really she had, but she just couldn't force herself to do it.

After pacing her room for the millionth time, she began frantically texting Jo. She was just starting to really freak out when Flora's voice chimed he's here! in her head. Then everything, heart included, stopped dead. Crap, Bella thought. She looked down at her outfit, suddenly terrified that she was overdressed. Too late to change now. She ran for the stairs.

Who: Odin and Bella
When: Afternoon
Where: Seeds of Beauty

It had been five days, and the general opinion was that five days past the first date meant Bella wasn't going to hear from Odin again. To say this made the redhead sad was a bit of an understatement. She had felt that the date had gone very well, and she would have really liked to see him again. But she couldn't say she was surprised. For whatever reason, Bella didn't get a lot of second dates, and she never understood why. It was a matter of great insecurity for her. Over the past few days she'd constantly rerun the evening in her head, trying to figure out where it had derailed for him.

Luckily, work was providing great distractions for her. It was strange - when Bella had been in high school, homecoming had been such a bittersweet event for her. She enjoyed going to the functions with her friends and she always participated, but the bullying from Rufus and his friends usually resulted in leaving the dance in tears and swearing she'd never go to another one. Now that she was out of high school, homecoming was kind of a blast. She enjoyed dressing up the shop windows in displays of school spirit, and she almost always got involved with the parade through the shop. Floats always needed flowers. Even though there would be no parade this year, the shop was still busy. Today, she was making corsages. It was simple busy work, but work Bella enjoyed immensely. She was an extreme perfectionist, and all other thoughts but her work were driven from her mind as she bent over her workspace. She was just wrapping up another when she heard the bell above the door ring. "I'll be right with you," she breathed in a quiet, sing-song voice, as she nudged her braid over her shoulder. The arrangement had to be perfect, and she was almost done.

Who: Odin and Bella
Where: A fancy Chinese Restaurant in Ann Arbor and then somewhere you can swing dance in Ann Arbor
When: Evening

After a pleasant enough drive to Ann Arbor, during which Odin had more or less been able to hide the fact he hadn't driven a car in years - many, many years, he and Bella finally made it to the restaurant he had picked. While he did not know Bella all that well he could guess she wasn't much of a fan of big displays and overly fancy things so he had chosen a smaller, cozier place where it was said the customers were treated great and the food was as great as the treatment. It was, indeed, a cozy looking place, not too large or open-aired, but not too small that one would feel constrained in there. He had called in advance and asked for a more secluded booth, though not too secluded that Bella felt he was dominating her attention - although he liked it if he was especially not on purpose.

Ever the perfect gentleman he pulled out the chair for her with a smile, and handed her the menu first. When the waiter came over he ordered himself a sparkling water and waited for her to order herself something to drink. "I wasn't sure if you'd like wine, but we can order a bottle if you would." He told her with a smile. He'd just really missed sparkling water, believe it or not.

Who: Odin and Bella
Where: The D'Ambray Family Practice
When: Afternoon

Saturdays were usually relatively quiet, and today seemed to be no different. So much so that Odin had told his twin brother to stay home and was the only one at the clinic. The receptionist did not work weekends either, so he was presently found sitting at the reception twirling in his chair while he listened to an Italian teaching DVD on the computer. It wasn't exactly a doctor's thing to do but Odin couldn't sit too long without at least learning something, so it was better than nothing. Plus, it had been years since he'd spoken Italian and some things had escaped his mind, which felt awful to him. He had already re-mastered French and German, and Italian felt good to learn on a chilly Saturday afternoon. If some called French the language of love, Italian was certainly the language of passion - everything sounded suggestive in the language - and that was good to get some warmth where the weather failed to give it.

some time into the DVD, however, Odin started feeling like this was a much too rudimentary ongoing lesson. There was nothing in it he didn't already know and what he didn't remember came back to him in mere seconds, which made it not very challenging. What it did was help him unravel his more complex Italian, and soon Odin was having small conversations with himself in the language, naming objects as he saw them as if playing a quite erudite "I Spy" game.

Who: Maddie and Bella
Where: Bella's house
When: Lunchtime

( And the whole thing it turns out wrong. )

Who: Alanna and Bella
When: Afternoon
Where: Starbucks
What: Both of these girls are so beyond overdue for a scene that doesn't have the potential to traumatize them. YES, UNDERAGE BLOND DEMONICS OF S.O. I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

It had been a horrible couple of weeks, but when it was all said and done, Bella felt at this moment that she could find her way back to optimism if the universe would just cooperate and stop going into heat-wave mode on her shopping days. Her feet were still healing so her dad had been kind enough to loan her his truck, but the air conditioner was a little shotty. Finally Bella had needed to give up on it all together and just put the windows down. The air was so thick she felt as if she would drown in it. She'd skipped the farmer's market in favor of a closer grocery store (a rarity for Bella during the summer), a decision based mostly on the weather, and slightly on the fact that she could swallow her pride and use an amigo. Yes, she felt stupid. Yes, she got weird looks. But she still had stitches all over the bottoms of her feet and walking was, at this current juncture, highly overrated.

Halfway home, Bella decided she just needed to treat herself. Just a little treat, in a nice air-conditioned place, and maybe she could avoid having a nervous breakdown today after all. Realizing she was only a block away from a Starbucks, that's where she headed. An iced passion tea lemonade and a cake pop were just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, that Starbucks didn't have a drive-thru. Okay, she'd make do. She waddled slowly inside, and found that many others had been of a similar mind. She placed her order, and looked around for a seat. She didn't see any free, but there was a table with a free chair. She started to head over to see if she could borrow it, but paused. The girl looked really familiar. "Do I know you?"

Who: Bella, Linnea and Satu
Where: Seeds of Beauty
When: 2:30 p.m.

( 'Satu, be a dear and help me pick out something that your sister will like.' )

Who: Bella, Dagmar and Satu
Where: Past the Broadway Bridge
When: 11:37am

( You don't have to drink right now. )

Who: Rufus & Bella
Where: Farmer's market
When: Late afternoon

( Great minds must think alike )

Who: Maddie, Bella and Gabby
Where: Gabby's house (much to her father's dismay!)
When: early evening
What: SLEEPOVER

( If anyone ever tried to tell Gabby that she was too old for sleepovers then she would tell them to go fuck themselves. )

Who: Bella, Gabby, Alex, Harley, and – DUN DUN DUN – those crazy mermaids.
When: Afternoon
Where: Riverfest, Kiseswa River/aboard the Hermia (for a while, anyway)

Of all the things that could be said of Matthew Twight, one thing could never be denied: he was a good sport. He raced his sailboat, the Hermia every year, and always let his children tag along, and invite whoever they wanted. This year, when Bella said she’d like to invite all her friends to ride along, he’d been all for it. And when she’d made shirts for everyone on board proclaiming I’m on a boat and registered them as Team T-Pain, he’d laughed like the good natured man he was. Bella could not have loved her father more.

Things were a little crowded though. Too many hands on deck. When her father had suggested that Bella simply hang back with her friends and enjoy the ride, she’d obliged him with a kiss on the cheek. She was heading over to them just as the horn signaled the start, and squealed with glee. “Here we go!”

Who: Adam and Bella
When: Early afternoon
Where: U of M Campus


( I heard there's nothing gonna hold you down. )

Who: Alex and Bella
When: Midday
Where: First Baptist Church

( I'd thought you'd want the same for me. )

I don't know how many of these I'll need, but I know if I don't put them up and I miss Bella's birthday I'll be PISSED. So. 3 of 3.

I don't know how many of these I'll need, but I know if I don't put them up and I miss Bella's birthday I'll be PISSED. So. 2 of 3.

Who: Harley and Bella
When: Nighttime
Where: Bella's house (PARTAAAY)

Bella had realized something today. On your twenty-first birthday, it was the sworn duty of everyone who knew you to try and kill you. No, seriously. True story! It seemed like everyone had brought alcohol, and Gabby had been damn insistent that the birthday girl had to do twenty-one shots. The birthday girl managed one and a half. Bella had never realized just how disgusting tequila was. So people kept making her drinks, and pinning her with various birthday girl memorabilia (she was up to a sash, a crown, two pins and a pink ribbon), and she was already quite overwhelmed. The room wasn't spinning, and she wasn't fall-down drunk. But she was pretty sure that this - this whatever state she was in - was buzzed. And it wasn't a bad thing! It was a learning experience. For example: buzzed Bella was twice as ditzy as sober Bella. Learning experience!

All in all, Bella's first-ever house party seemed to be going well. She was having fun, she was surrounded by friends (and really, after yesterday, she needed to be), and she was pretty sure her familiar was drunk. Naturally, people were just leaving their drinks wherever, and Ember was a bit too curious for her own good. It had been a long time since Bella had heard Ember's voice in her head, or felt anything even vaguely coherent. Where is that silly bird? she wondered, moving through the kitchen. People were listening to music and dancing in the living room, playing drinking games in the kitchen, video games in the basement, swimming and dancing in the back yard, and God only knew upstairs. Bella had locked the bedroom doors, but she had the habit of befriending extremely tricksy, clever, stubborn people. Whoops.

( Read more... )

Who: Bianca and Bella
When: Midday
Where: Streets of Scarlet Oak

With Bella's day firmly taking a nosedive in the span of nine minutes or so, Bella had decided she needed to get out of the house. The world outside was as safe as it was going to be, and she needed groceries - whether or not this stupid party happened. She was trying not to admit to being crushed - even to herself. It was stupid to let a little thing like Alex being busy on her birthday get to her so much. It wasn't like he was one of the only people she actually cared about seeing that day!

Except, wait. It totally was. Shoot.

In her little peach dress and faux vintage accessories, she possibly looked like vampire bait, but she was just relieved to be out and about. Bella never did well cooped up in her house. She wanted to be outside, in the fresh air and sunshine. She'd even skipped the bike today in favor of walking. She was trying to be positive. I'm not going to throw myself a pity party. I'm going to be fine. And I'm going to mean it.

Who: Alex and Bella
When: Afternoon
Where: the Humane Society

( And even if this hall collapses, I can stand in my pillar of hope. )

Who: Erika and Bella
Where: Seeds of Beauty
When: late afternoon

( Now that she knew what she was up against )