RP: Sisterly Bonds Who: Hailey and Kenzie What: Kenzie visits her sister at training. When: 25 April 2028 Where: Hailey's official training facility. Warnings: Emotions Completion Status: Complete
Training had started, officially official. Which meant that Hailey was going to be training, there was no doubt in Kenzie's mind. Her siblings weren't the sort to ever skip training. It was Kenzie that had missed her last 2 acting classes. She was getting roles, so she saw no reason she needed to go.
There was a lot weighing on her emotionally, none of which she wanted to pry at. She wanted the distraction of watching her sister kick someone else's ass. It was perfect, she had arrived just a few minutes after Hailey had started, and found the perfect spot in the stands to watch from.
As her sister finished, Kenzie finally made herself known. Even if she was certain Hailey had noticed her from the beginning. She stood up, clapping, even whistling obnoxiously. "Hell yes," she called out, making her way down the stands towards the training pit. Even though she hadn't stopped training in the off season, it was harder to get back to it full time than it ever had before. Hailey entirely blamed Penny for that. They'd spent so much of the last couple months in bed together, and she worried she'd gotten soft, even if just superficially. But as the reigning champion, she was determined to find her groove again.
The practice duels at the official training center were perfect for getting her back in the mindset. The small crowd scattered throughout the stands, most of whom were other duelers though there were some of the public mixed throughout as well, pumped energy through the room, and she won her duel.
Hailey hadn't noticed her sister slip into the stands, but after winning the duel, she heard the rather enthusiastic response that was out of place from the rest of the crowd, dark eyes finding her sister's wild curls easily, and she couldn't help but laugh. She waved at Kenzie before motioning for her to come down from the stands. She'd have thought Kenzie was busy with filming, so the unexpected visit was a pleasant surprise. The ball of energy that was Kenzie came bounding down the stands, still clapping as she came up to her sister. "You kicked ass," she said happily, already so certain that her sister would win the circuit again this year. She was a bad ass, there was no one better. Kenzie was sure of it.
"I wanted to come down and cheer you on, with my day off," she said, offering up an explanation. She didn't want to be asked about Scarlett, or why she wasn't with Jasper, or anything else that she was trying to avoid. "I was thinking, if I ever end up landing the role of a bad ass Duelist, I'd love to follow you around. Wouldn't that be a fantastic movie? Maybe a romance one, where they fall in love while throwing spells at each other across the dueling pit. Enemies to lovers," she gushed, a happy little sigh leaving her a moment later. "I bet it'd be a box office hit. If we just tweaked your story with Penny," she trailed off, letting her sister fill in the blanks, while she gave her that wide toothy smile that lit up her face. Hailey laughed as her sister bounded down the stands to join her, hooking an arm around her back in a one-armed hug. It was ridiculous that Kenzie was so much taller than her, but she'd heard that was a thing. It was probably why Kenzie had been cast as the model healer on the show. "Thanks babe. Feeling a bit rusty, but I'm finding my groove again," she said with a small smirk.
"Well, I never mind you cheering me on," she said, giving her sister one more gentle squeeze before letting her go and leading her toward the rest area where they would be able to talk while the next pair started their mock duel. "Hah! That would be a great movie." Except that it would almost certainly be hetero. How boring and overdone that would be. "But no, no tweaking my story with Penny. It's great on its own, and our different paths are so integral to who we are. We were never rivals or enemies." She couldn't help but smile as she thought about her and Penny's story. "Though, I'd probably be painted the villain in it, since I cheated on Rori," she admitted, scrunching up her nose. It was her only regret in the whole thing, that she hadn't broken up with Rori before getting together with Penny, but she couldn't change the past. All of the worries that had been weighing on her seemed to slide away at her sister's hug, leaning into her just a touch. She may have been the taller of the two, but it still felt so good to be reassured by her big sister. She hadn't always been shorter than Kenzie, that was a newer development. They pulled apart soon enough, moving out of the ring, and to one of the rest areas. Kenzie had been to enough of these places over the years that she was just as comfortable here as she was on set. It had always been fun to watch Aunt Dora, and then Hailey.
Her laugh couldn't be stopped when Hailey called herself the villain. "Have you met Penny? She's very clearly the villain," she said without thinking, surprising even herself with how honest she'd been. "Not in a bad way, I'm sorry," she said quickly, worried that she may have overstepped teasing her sister about her girlfriend. Her eyebrows shot up at Kenzie's words. "Uh, yeah, that's my girlfriend you're talking about. Penny's a lot of things, but she's not the villain. And wasn't it you that was filling Iris' head about mine and Penny's epic love story you envisioned?" she said, a bit too sharply at first, though she toned the words down by the end. It was the adrenaline, Hailey was sure.
"Penny might seem prickly and distant, but it's just her tough protective shell." She could gush for hours about how amazing Penny was, but she knew there was nearly no one else who wanted to hear it. She was pretty sure she was the only one in their dorm who had ever truly bonded with Penny, not that she was complaining. It didn't matter to her if anyone else understood Penny. She did, and she loved her more than she could say. "Hey! Villains can have epic love stories too! It isn't like a rule that only good people find their true love," she said with a pout, instantly wanting to defend her stance. She knew she was wrong though, so she wasn't fighting too hard. She had definitely put her foot in her mouth. "I'm really sorry though, I don't actually think she's a villain," she said, those chocolate eyes searching her sister's face for forgiveness. It was obvious that Kenzie felt bad about the jab, and she wasn't in the mood to hold it against her. "Good, cause she's not." Okay, so she couldn't just drop it without one last word on it. And then her lips quirked up in one corner. "You really like she's my true love?" It was one thing to have heard it secondhand from Iris all those months ago, she rather wanted to hear it from Kenzie directly. After all, she'd fallen for Penny nearly a decade ago and believed they were meant to be, even if she'd been in denial for much of that decade. The look on her face was all childhood Kenzie, an exasperated look that screamed how did you not know?. She even threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. "Of course I do! How could I not?! I'm serious about turning your love story into a good movie. You two started out lovers at a young age, discovering yourselves and each other while in school. Then!" she let out a gasp, mooning over the entire story. It was her favorite. "You guys grow up, you become this professional bad ass witch, while she goes on to do whatever Penny does. Mysterious shit," she said with a useless hand wave. "Then find yourselves together again? In love more than before? Come on! It's my favorite love story. Don't get me wrong, I liked Rori, but she's not..." Kenzie's nose wrinkled up as she tried to think of the right word to describe Rori. "She's not exciting enough for you." Her enthusiasm was one of the things Hailey loved most about her sister. Her smile widened as Kenzie went on, and she laughed at the crack about whatever Penny does. She wasn't sure even she could fully fill in the blanks on that one. Penny was an entrepreneur, and the irony didn't escape her that they'd finally gotten together for real the night she'd bailed Penny out of jail. At the mention of Rori, though, her smile fell, and she shook her head slowly. "Rori was... safe. And yeah, the sex was good, but it honestly can't compare to how it's always been with Penny. And gods, it's even better now! I hated hurting Rori, but I know I'm meant to be with Penny." There was something thrilling about hearing all of her romantic notions about her sister and her girlfriend were right. Kenzie loved love, and one day she knew she'd be retelling her own love story. For now though, she was discovering who she was, and what she wanted out of life. She looked up to her sister, and she thought it was the smartest thing she did not settling down. Clearly, Penny had been waiting all along. Things were great, she was hearing it directly from the woman. "I'm so glad," she said with a happy sigh. "Think you'll bring her to family dinner sometime? I want to come, be sure it's one I'm coming to. I think dad and Zee will really like her." She was already picturing them all around the table, what would Gavin and Jasper say? She hoped she got to sit next to Jasper. Snorting rather abruptly at that question, Hailey shook her head. "Oh my gods no, not anytime soon! I plan to take those sorts of things nice and slow with Penny, really ease her into it. The last thing I want is for Penny to get overwhelmed with rushing into the more mundane relationship stuff. All in good time!" she explained. Summoning a bottle of water, she took a drink before twisting the cap back in place. "But what's new with you? Filming going well?" she asked, wanting to get the topic away from what their father and step-mother would think of her potentially criminal girlfriend. Not that she believed Penny dabbled in anything truly terrible, but she wasn't naïve enough to think Penny's business dealings were entirely legitimate. That made so much sense, Kenzie almost smacked herself in the forward over how obvious it seemed. "You're really doing this the smart way, aren't you?" she sounded as impressed as she was. She so hoped things worked out for her sister and Penny. Everyone deserved their happily ever after, especially her sister.
The topic change had her suddenly picking at the nothing on her nails, shrugging her shoulders. "Filming is going well. I got turned down for the roles I've auditioned for. Scarlett and I are still not talking," that last part was said in a rush. "I've been reading other scripts though, I want to try out for more things. Lucy is really excited about a few of them, she thinks I'm going to kill it," she said happily, rather proud of herself for that. She was most excited about one, playing the love interest of a superhero for some superhero movie she had never heard of before. The movie itself she thought would take off, it would be a huge step towards her name in lights. It would be a long shot, but she was still hopeful she'd get the role. "I'm trying!" she said with a soft scoff, shaking her head slightly. Hailey had hope it was working. Penny seemed to be seriously committed still, anyway.
From the way Kenzie seemed to shrink, she was sure something was weighing on her sister. And the way Kenzie slipped in just what was upsetting her told Hailey loud and clear that she didn't want it to be the focus. But, she'd always rather thought that sort of antic usually meant it was something one wanted to talk about. "Well, you are pretty busy with Grace right now, so... But more importantly, what do you mean you and Scar still aren't talking?" Her brows were furrowed in concern. She didn't know Scarlett that well, but it seemed strange that she was still shutting Kenzie out. There was a wince at Hailey's words, Kenzie's shoulders lifting in a heavy shrug. "We're still not talking. I'm sort of over it? It hurts, I've got feelings. I know it was stupid and mean as hell what I did, but... It was Aldrich," she said, his name coming out a bit disgusted like. While she loved her cousin, dearly, when she thought of him with Scar? It upset her, in the pit of her stomach. "It's stupid, I'm focusing on Grace though. It's going fantastic, Wes has been helping me run lines." she brought one hand up to press her index finger against the corner of her eyes to catch the tears she could feel suddenly there.
"Can I have a water?" she asked, latching to the only thing that would get her away from this conversation. Her heart raced, she truly hadn't meant to bring this up. Hailey had bigger problems than Kenzie's stupid little drama. It seemed abundantly clear that her sister still hadn't sorted out her deeper reasons for doing what she'd done, and honestly, Hailey could hardly blame her! It was complicated in so many ways. "I know, babe. Aldrich's a love-whore. They needed to either make it real or move on. You did them both a favor, and I'm sure they'll both come around in time. And focusing on Grace in the meantime is definitely the right course," she reassured her, hating to see those tears escaping her sister's eyes.
"Yeah, of course," Hailey said, summoning another bottle of water and then handing it over. "Are you in love with Scarlett? Like more than best friend love?" she asked. No one could ever accuse her of having an over-abundance of tact. It seemed like an important thing for Kenzie to face, though with the number of people her sister was regularly sleeping with, she had to wonder if Scarlett's presence was actually missed. Though that might just be because she couldn't imagine actually wanting Scarlett around. Her heart healed just a touch at hearing her sister agree with her, the situation with Aldrich had to come to a head, and she needed to focus on her job. It ached a moment later though when she said the thing she hadn't been able to say out loud. It had hit her weeks into this whole situation, when she realized it felt like a break-up, and not just two friends having a disagreement. She had been healing her own broken heart doing her usual, Rainbow and warm bodies. Her boys were the only repeats now, preferring to meet someone while out to go home with. There had been a lot of blonde women.
"Yes," she choked out, feeling herself grow a bit warm. Was she flush? Her chest felt lighter just admitting it, letting out a breath as slender arms crossed over her chest. "It's never going to be the same again. I don't know that we'll be able to be friends after this," she said, her voice growing softer with each word. "She ghosted me like I'm a fucking one night stand, our friendship alone should have meant more than that." Kenzie had avoided talking too much of the situation, not wanting to drag anyone into her mess. Her sister however? Unfortunately for Hailey, she trusted her big sister to just reassure her that it was going to be okay, and listen to her whine. "Oh, babe," she breathed at Kenzie's choked answer, scooting over and wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Scarlett's always been a selfish cunt," Hailey pointed out, but she had the grace to look at least a little apologetic right after. "Sorry babe, I know you love her. I just... I've always hated the way she's treated you and Clary, as if you're expendable friends to her." She wondered if Scarlett had been keeping in touch with Clary through all of this, or if she'd ghosted her as well.
"You just deserve so much better. Want me to beat her up? Pretty sure I can take her," she joked, hoping it might make her sister crack a smile. She slumped into Hailey's embrace, knowing Hailey was right. Scarlett just usually wasn't so bad with her. Others? Totally, but Kenzie was supposed to be different. She was starting to feel used. She let herself wallow, accepting the warmth from her sister's embrace. She had to move on though, she wouldn't allow herself to wallow for too long.
Then Hailey was making jokes, and Kenzie was giving a watery laugh. "If we were still in school? Maybe, but nah, it'll eventually resolve," she said, doing her best to sound easy-breezy, while she was anything but. She'd been debating writing a letter to Scarlett, even if she didn't send it. Her therapist she'd had when her parents had first split used to have her write letters when their mother hurt her feelings, maybe it'd help with her feelings about Scarlett. Hailey's hand rubbed up and down her sister's arm in a way she hoped was soothing and not annoying. "Fair. Want to go blow some things up? Release some of the pent up... blah?" she offered, knowing that there were a few rooms designed for just that sort of thing. Competitive duelists weren't exactly known for their calm temperaments, after all. And it was the only thing she could think of that might actually help. Chocolate eyes lit up at the offer, head quickly bobbing. "Totally, can I just borrow some hair bands? I need to contain the curls," she said while sitting up straight, using her hands to motion to her curls that were wild. Wes' love for her curls had her loving them herself, she was enjoying letting them run a bit wild. Only taming them when hair and make-up does it for her. "Thank you, I didn't... I'd never have asked, but oh my gosh it sounds like it'll help so much," she said in an excited rush. Rolling her eyes with a small grin, Hailey motioned for Kenzie to turn around. Her hair had always been wilder and curlier than Hailey's, but she'd learned a few spells over the years, and she was sure she could have Kenzie's hair sorted out in no time. Using her wand, she silently cast her spell, moving her wand from Kenzie's hairline to the crown of her head, the curls smoothing out nearly flat and gathering there. Once all her hair was gathered up, Hailey pulled a hair band off her own wrist and secured a ponytail in place. "Want me to make it a bun?" she asked.
After Kenzie's hair was sorted out, Hailey stood up and led her sister out of the large dueling hall. They went through two corridors before finding an empty blast room. Letting them in, Hailey swept her arm out in invitation. "Here we are. You can always start with physically throwing things, if you want," she pointed out. There was definitely a therapeutic release in throwing breakable things against a hard surface and watching them shatter. There was something so comforting about Hailey doing her hair. Her head bobbed in a nod at the question, letting her sister sort out those messy curls. Before long the pair were stepping into the empty blast room, chocolate eyes lit up. "Physically?" she said, contemplating it, as she picked up a vase that looked like it was made of glass. She had never destroyed something physically, she always used her wand to shred things. How different could it be?
But once she had hurled the glass vase at the wall, hearing it shatter was fantastic. She started with physically breaking the fragile items first, but before she was done she had upgraded to her wand, throwing hexes like a master. While she was nowhere near as good as Hailey, she still could handle herself. Something their father had made sure of since they were small. This was becoming the best outlet for her stress, she'd have to see if her sister would let her come by more often to use the room. It sure beat wallowing in her own feelings, or drowning them with drugs.