AND A COUNTER WORD ATTACK. XD
Placing her hands on her hips, Vienna shook her head ‘no’. “Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ as she spoke. She was exhibiting another Albrecht family trait – being stubborn as a mule. “Still wouldn’t count.” This was all silliness really, but lately Vienna had been lacking a lot of that in her life.
Her expression was a little somber as she nodded in agreement. “I was at a working age. But I was doing the whole college thing,” Although she wondered if it really counted, since she had been a college student for pretty much a nanosecond before the world had crumbled into chaos. “Eh, sometimes I can still see the positive,” though not as often as she used to. “And what exactly do you think I would be getting paid in?” She pointed out with a laugh, though she supposed there were other things a person could seek as payment.
She smirked. “See, what I’m really hearing is that you feel more comfortable in jeans and a tight t-shirt, but that doesn’t exactly mean you aren’t ‘dress hot’,” in Vienna’s mind her logic was sound, though whether Leah would agree with it was another story. “And I guess feeling like it’s Halloween is better than you feeling like you’re attending a zombie prom.”
It wasn’t hard to miss the small tells that Leah was struggling with the current state of her relationship with Evan. She didn’t push the topic further though, knowing that her friend was already stepping outside her usual boundaries in telling her these small details.
“He’s a guy, it takes them longer to notice things, but I’m sure he will in time.” Evan was a smart man, after all. At Leah’s question about she and Thomas, Vienna had to ignore that small pang that always surfaced when she thought back to her relationship with Ledger’s father. It hadn’t been perfect, they had just been kids after all, but Thomas had been her first love and she missed him. “All the fucking time. He was a bit like Evan actually, always reminding me of my limitations, and I didn’t like being told what to do.” And she still didn’t like someone else making choices for her.
Vienna smiled softly. “She’s not alone, and as annoying as it may be to keep your distance, I’m sure Mari wouldn’t want you endangering yourself or her little brother or sister just to see her.” Maybe she was giving the five year old too much credit, but Mari seemed to have a good little heart, she was a sweet little girl like that. “I hope we don’t either,” she murmured, dreading the idea of Ledger getting sick, and hating the idea of having to keep away from him if she were the one to fall ill.
“Not more gorgeous, just more in my element,” Vienna corrected with a smirk. Years of growing up attending galas and glamorous functions had taught her how to be at ease in an evening gown. The humor of the ‘fight’ wasn’t lost on her, especially since she knew neither one of them would ever follow through on their threats. “Oh, I’m shaking in my boots over here, trust me.” She deadpanned, though her eyes had an amused twinkle to them. “Oh my god, was that Leah Stone being positive?” Vienna teased lightly.
Well, she had always been a fan of a challenge. “Well, the fun would still be in taking pictures, but I wouldn’t have to stay on my toes nearly as much.” Which, life was just boring if you were never faced with challenges. “In that case we’ve both been pretty shitty friends lately,” sometimes it was easy to get caught up in your own struggles and forget about the people around you.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to talk about her whatever it was she had with Noah; it was just that she didn’t know how to explain things. Neither one of them was seeking a relationship. Even if she had been, she knew damn well he wasn’t the type.
Sighing softly, Vienna reached up and ran a hand through her hair. “But I wasn’t supposed to get attached or care about him,” she murmured. “I didn’t want this. All I wanted was something casual and fun.” Not something serious that could open her up to the idea of losing another person she cared about. “Thomas would want me to move on, I’m just not sure if that’s what I really want or not.” But it seemed like her emotions were already making that decision for her.