Arrow (arrowroro) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-09-29 18:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | penny norton, ~ro clark |
Girl's Night In At The Zombie Apocalypse
Who: Ro and Penny
What: Waiting out the undead
When: Night of the rising
Where: Penny and Derek's apartment
Rating: Low
Penny looked out through the curtain at the illuminated street below. Her reflection was clear in the glass, the frown that split apart her face was deep.
Derek had gone out and had not come back when he was supposed to. While she didn’t want to be overbearing, she worried. Thankfully Ro was there to keep her company. After the ordeal with Veronica, Penny found herself staying in the apartment more. Work was different - and going out with Derek was ideal, but both of them seemed to need a recalibration after everything.
The open window didn’t bring the usual sounds of Vegas; there wasn’t laughter or the sound of music, singing. It lacked the peal of newlyweds.
It was too quiet.
And then there was a scream. The predator inside of her lurched, hungry. But Penny closed the window instead and silently turned back to her friend.
Ro's speed and strength had come in handy a few times in her long life. She was stronger than a human and could hurt someone if she wanted. But when reports of undead started cropping up, her instinct wasn't to go and bash heads but to check on her friends. As much as she was in favor of people not being eaten by zombies, when it came down to it, she was a lover not a fighter.
"Okay, that's enough window time for you," Ro said firmly. "We're turning off the window channel. Now, we're going to find something to do with our time. Watch something, make food, whatever you want. But we're not going to sit in silence freaking out and window watching."
Penny made herself smile at Ro. “Of course.” She wouldn’t argue with her friend. Food, games, television, she wasn’t going to protest. Trust was a large part of her relationship and she wanted to give Derek his space.
She made her way to the new, still plush couch and twisted to sit down. Her eyes turned to her friend. “If we weren’t in apartments I might suggest karaoke but I think we would take over the whole building at that point.” And then she laughed. “Is there anything good on the television?”
"Honestly something bad on TV would be better." Ro wished she could snuggle up to her friend for comfort. That was too risky, even with some kind of barrier between them, it was too easy for Ro to accidentally be burned. Instead she sat on the couch with a safe space between her Penny. "I'm just trying to get your mind off worrying. Not sure how much of a chance I have?"
There was distance. She didn’t want to hurt her friend - the idea of marred flesh on Ro didn’t sit well with her. So she sat where they couldn’t touch each other easily. Though she had worn longer sleeves just in case.
“He’s going to be fine. Maybe he went to see a friend and forgot to text.” She trusted him. If there was danger he would’ve let her know, she hoped.
“Maybe we should find something to watch.” Penny plucked up the remote and turned on the television.
"He could be helping someone and can't get to his phone." Honestly, understanding Penny's feeling wasn’t easy. Ro cared about her friend and she wanted Penny and her husband to be safe. She wanted to help Penny and make sure she wasn't alone. But she had no idea what it was like to stand at a window and wonder when the person you loved was coming home. She couldn't. Ro wasn’t built for that.
"Find the most ridiculous thing you can on Netflix," Ro advised. "And do you have ice cream? This is a moment for ice cream."
The siren nodded. That was absolutely a Derek thing to do. He was such a sweet and kind person. “You’re right. He’s probably helping someone.” Her own charity was limited. Eating people was easier than helping.
“In the freezer.” Penny laughed and turned to the most ridiculous thing she could find. It was something called Trolls and she never heard of it before now.
Ro didn't wait for help. She just made herself at home in Penny's kitchen. Noticeably, she was gone longer than the time it took just to scoop ice cream onro bowls. Once Ro found the Rocky Road in the freezer, she went poking around to see what she could uncover. A carton of strawberries were pulled from the fridge, along with a spray can of whipped cream and chocolatesyrup. A bag of marshmallows was shoved in among the coffee, oddly enough. At least the nuts were sensibly put away in the pantry it took a few minutes to slice the strawberries and toast the marshmallows on the open flame of the gas stove but when Ro emerged from the kitchen, it was with two perfect sundaes. Rocky Road with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, perfectly sliced strawberries fanned out to display them in the bowl, a toasted marshmallow and topped with chopped nuts.
"Order up," she told Penny, handing her a bowl.
It took longer than she anticipated. Her heart fluttered and her foot tapped with it. But then her friend called and she laughed. “Oh my. What is this amazing pile?” Penny marveled at the concoction, taking the bowl. Her spoon held a conglomerate of flavors - the sweet and warmth. “It’s so beautiful. I almost don’t want to disturb it.”
"Eat!" Ro encouraged. "It's ice cream! I'm eating mine. Of course, I have no self-control." She was glad to see Penny excited about the small gesture. It felt like helping.
The spoon went to her lips and she laughed, then groaned. “Mmm. Ro! I’ve never had ice cream like this!” It was an experience. The multitude of tastes, it all mixed together so well. She forgot about Derek and his plight.
"You had good sundae stuff." Ro had skipped the sprinkles and stuck with the other ingredients, which had good flavor and suited the ice cream type. "Just a strawberry and a toasted marshmallow. I like it when it looks pretty."
“It’s beautiful.” Penny dove into the creation. For a creature who thrived on human flesh, ice cream really hit the spot. She was grateful for Ro, who knew how to make such wonderful things. Derek would’ve loved this.
Ro smiled and licked her spoon with relish. On the TV, a pink animated creature was singing a cover of a pop song. "What is this?"
“Oh,” Penny replied. She nodded at the television. “That’s Princess Poppy.” Penny eased down onto the couch, tucked a leg beneath herself and safely curled up next to her friend with her treat in tow. “This is Trolls, or something like that.”
"I like that there are songs," Ro said encouragingly. Then after a moment, "are they trolls like the toys? Do you remember those from the nineties? They had jewels in their belly buttons. I think I won one out of a vending machine once."
“I think so,” she nodded. A bite of ice cream and she looked at the television. She did remember those little things with the jewels in their belly. “I think I had a friend who had one of those. My sister said they weren’t worth the money.” But treasure trolls were treasure trolls.
"Mine lived on my vanity for a long time. His hair was purple I think?" Ro took a bite of ice cream, trying to tear into her marshmallow with her spoon. "Not sure what happened after that."
“I think I had a red one.” Her sister had given it to her. It was thicker than the others and it’s red gem on the belly shone bright.
“I can’t remember what happened to it.” It may still be in the underwater cavern she kept, but who knew.
"Probably with all the rest of the junk we picked up over the decades." Ro had certainly seen her share fad products come and go. Most had been lost in the shuffle. Some of her clothes she'd actually sold when it turned out they were quite valuable as vintage pieces.
Penny shrugged. She ate her ice cream and watched the movie. It was alright. “I like the little baby troll with the diamonds.” Or was it a baby? They all looked so small.
"I'm not entirely sure what's happening here," Ro confessed. "But there are songs, so I'm good with it."
“The songs are so good,” she nodded. A lot of them she knew because of her work but also because she just loved music. Her taste was eclectic. Older, modern, she liked all of it. “That one troll is really cute.” Penny motioned to the yoga one, Creek. “His voice is so musical.”
Ro nodded her agreement and for awhile they sat in compatibles silence with only the noise from the movie and the scrape of spoons against bowls. Eventually Ro hazarded a "how are you feeling?"
Penny frowned. “I’m worried.” Usually Derek texted, even when he was in a compromising position and she knew he was alright. Hearing nothing had her on edge. “I want to go find him, make sure he is okay. But I don’t know if he’s here or in Searchlight. He has friends there.”
"I mean, I don't know," Ro said carefully, "but maybe it's not a good idea to go randomly driving in whatever nightmare fuel is happening hoping you find him? That sounds like you both might get into trouble separated from each other."
She nodded. She couldn’t go out there and look for him. As much as she wanted to, her friend was right. “Okay. I’ll stay here.” Her voice nearly broke but Ro knew best.
Ro leaned over and very gingerly patted Penny on the shoulder, careful to only touch the cloth of her shirt. "I can stay until he comes back, crash on the couch if I need to."
Penny sighed, grateful. “Thanks. I’d really like that.” It would be good to have someone else there until Derek came home safe.
Ro withdrew her arm and returned the safe distance between the two women. "Hey, no problem. Let me know if I can do anything else to help, yeah?"
Ro was a good friend. She really appreciated her. “Thank you. I really mean it. I don’t have a lot of people I can count on and you’ve always been there for me.”
Ro wasn’t good at commitments and didn't understand long-term relationships but she cared about her friends. Sure, sometimes she vanished for years but overall she wanted her friends to be happy and safe. With no relationship to take up her time, the least she could do was help. "It's no problem. I got nowhere else I need to be."