Jocelyn Klaes || Hel (tohelandback) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-05-17 18:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | hel, loki |
place rose colored glasses on your nose
Who: Nish and Jocelyn
What: Josie has been approved for her own apartment at Pax! Nish spends the day helping her move in (in theory, at least).
Where: Pax, Apt. 502 and 201
When: backdated to May 13, 2017
Nish led the way to the elevator, juggling another box full of Jocelyn’s things and smiling widely. “So we need to get you some furniture...we should hit up an IKEA or something when we get all your stuff moved, that’s where most of my furniture came from. Do you have any ideas of what you want?” She was excited, and happy for her friend, and just...happy in general these days. Her building had actually accepted Jocelyn as a tenant, and that made her happy and slightly wary, since she knew how selective they seemed to be about who they let in the building. With all the strange things that had happened here since she herself had signed her lease, she was a little nervous about those things happening again while Josie was here.
But she pushed those doubts away for now, focused instead on moving her in to her new place and getting her set up. They both stepped into the elevator when it opened and she awkwardly hit the ‘2’ button with the edge of the box in her hands. “And don’t worry about money, if you need to you can borrow from me,” she added, hoping she wouldn't embarrass her. She knew how hard it was when she’d first moved here, she’d had very limited funds until her practice took off, and she didn't have any idea about how well off Josie was these days; it hadn’t sounded like she’d gotten very much money out of the asshole who’d assaulted her.
Jocelyn rested the box she had been carrying against the wall of the elevator, freeing her to wave dismissively with one hand. “Actually, I’m pretty set for furniture. It’s all packed up in one of those storage crates and waiting at the local hub - now that I’ve gotten a place, I can arrange to have it delivered in a day or two.” She smiled, “But I do appreciate the offer!”
Nish’s brows rose, “wow, you lugged your furniture all the way down here with you?” she asked, “when I moved, I just sold everything and got new stuff down here, but then I just wanted to be rid of everything at that point,” she added with a shrug. Everything she owned at the time had reminded her of James. The bed they’d slept on together. The couch they’d curled up on to watch movies. The table they had dinner together on. All of it had to go. She’d brought only clothes and a few mementos of her own with her, most everything else she bought in California.
“A few days...so if you still need a soft place to sleep for a bit, my couch is your couch,” she grinned, stepping out of the elevator when it opened on the second floor and following Josie down the hall to her new apartment.
“What, and keep you from bringing home whoever it is that’s had you in such a dopey mood lately?” Jocelyn teased. “Perish the thought!” Nish bit her lip against the grin struggling to break free on her face.
“I am not in a dopy mood,” she protested with a laugh.
“Uh-huh. So you say…” Josie laughed and lead the way down the hallway, freeing her key from the lanyard she had strung it on. She hadn’t brought much in the car - just the clothes and items she thought she’d need for the few weeks she expected it would take her to get settled in. “Besides, you have no idea what it would have cost to replace my wardrobe! It was cheaper to ship.”
Nish laughed and stepped inside the apartment behind Josie. The apartment was small, but the open layout of the main area and the large windows on the outside of the living room helped make the apartment seem bright and cheery. Nish looked around the place and nodded in appreciation. “Nice,” she said, “the one bedrooms in this place are actually quite generous. I considered getting one, but I wanted an office at home.” She set the box down with the others in the middle of the room and smiled at Josie. “We could start unpacking and order in lunch if you want,” she offered. She had nowhere else to be today; she’d planned to spend it all with Josie.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Jocelyn agreed, as she set the box of dishes on the peninsula of the kitchen. Honestly, she already felt worlds better having her stuff off of the fifth floor, so she wouldn’t run the risk of running into Abel again. Their only encounter had been more than unsettling enough for her, thankyouverymuch.
She wondered, again, if she should tell Nishka. But it hadn’t been anything, right? Just a bit of a conversation with someone who stood just a little bit too close for comfort. And when Nishka had warned Jocelyn away from him, she’d gotten the impression that Nishka didn’t want anything else to do with him, either. Better to say nothing, unless it happened again.
Nish, completely oblivious to Josie’s thoughts, smiled and headed into the kitchen with her, pulling her cellphone out of her pocket as she did. “I have all the best takeout places on speed dial,” she said with a grin, leaning back against the counter as she scrolled through the various contacts. “My kitchen is just for show, after all...how about Japanese? I could go for some yakisoba chicken right about now…”
“Sure, that sounds good. Surprise me!” she said, as she moved back to the rest of the boxes to start sorting what would go where. The lion’s share of the boxes would go into the bedroom - clothes and the linens. The rest was the various knicknacks and fragile things that she hadn’t trusted to the movers.
Her futon mattress sat against the living room wall, nearest the windows. It looked a bit forlorn without its frame, but it would do for now...
“What do you think - should we open the windows up and get some fresh air in here?”
Nish looked up from her phone, having chosen a place where she knew the staff. “Yeah, sure, it’s nice out,” she said, hitting ‘send’ and turning on speakerphone. It rang a few times and then a guy answered, and Nish’s face lit up. It was one of the staff she knew.
“Bento Place,” he said.
“Hey baby, it’s Nish.”
“Nish! It’s been a while, you been cheatin’ on us?” She giggled.
“You know you’re the best noodles in town,” she chided. “Listen, I have a friend to feed, so I’ll get two of the usual.”
“Sure thing; extra sauce?”
“Of course! And I’m at her place, so divert to Apartment 201, okay?”
“No problem; twenty minutes?”
“Thanks babe.” She hung up with a grin. “They’re awesome there, and I order dinner from them a lot,” she shrugged. And slipped her phone back in her jeans. “So what are we unpacking first? Your bedroom? You need somewhere to sleep, after all…”
While Nish had been on the phone, Jocelyn had been moving through the apartment, throwing open all the windows, and letting in the sea breeze. She poked her head out of the bedroom and pointed at her futon mattress. “This’ll do for a night or two, so I’ll just sleep out here until the furniture gets here.” She disappeared back into the other room, and called out behind her. “But if you want to come help fill the closet, there’s a few boxes in here.”
Nish grinned at her and glanced at the mattress before following her into the bedroom. There were boxes stacked around the room and Nish looked to Josie before touching any of them. “Anything in these boxes I shouldn’t be seeing before I open them?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jocelyn gave her friend a blank look, then blinked, shook her head, and smiled. “Nah, it’s all safe! If you find the box of unmentionables, just set it aside.”
Nish grinned at her and then opened the box on the top. Her brows rose and a smile broke out on her face when she saw what was in it. “You kept it…” she said, pulling out a little stuffed bear she had given her as a child. It was still in excellent condition, his fur as glossy as she remembered. She'd won it for her at a carnival one night when she was babysitting, and completely forgotten about it after that. “What was it you named him? Was it.. Sam?” she frowned and checked the tag but there was nothing written on it.
“Sammy Bear,” Jocelyn corrected, as she crossed the room to take the bear from Nishka. It had pale tan fur, with raspberry-colored satin adorning its ears and feet, and a tiny embroidered heart in the same color hidden in the fur of its chest. “Of course I kept him!” she hugged the bear close, and moved it to a place of honor in the bedroom window. That night at the carnival had been one of her last memories from before Nish’s sister had…well, anyways, the bear was a reminder of a happy summer, and Jocelyn had found she couldn’t stand the thought of getting rid of it.
Nish smiled fondly at the bear and watched Josie take him and put him on the windowsill. “That was a fun day,” she said, “and as I recall we went on pretty much all the rides.” Nish had been a different person then. She realized that that bear, sitting so innocently over there across the room, represented a flashpoint in her life. Not long after that day, her life had changed forever. The smile faded slowly, and she went back to sorting through the box. “This looks like it’s all momentos...do you want to just stash this in the closet for now?” she asked, trying hard to keep her tone light and happy. Thinking about the past always put her in a mood, but she was getting used to being happy now, she didn’t want to spoil that.
Jocelyn saw her friend’s smile start to fade, and hurried to rescue the box. “I’ve got it. Don’t know how this one got in here - I could have sworn that all the decorative stuff was still in the living room.” She carried it out to the living room, and set it in a corner, placing her laptop bag on top of it.
On her return to the bedroom, she leaned against the door frame. “You don’t have to stay and help, you know. Not that I don’t appreciate it - I do! - but, I know you probably have a lot of stuff you’d rather be doing.”
Nish’s brows rose, “okay, I’ll just leave then,” she said, pretending to head to the door and then stopping and rolling her eyes at her. “Are you kidding? I told you I had all day and I meant it,” she smirked at her. “Besides, there’s food coming,” she added as if that was the most important thing.
She opened the next box which was thankfully full of clothes. “I suppose we’re making a pile of clothes-boxes until your furniture gets here?”
“I think there’s a box of hangers somewhere…” Jocelyn said, moving to look open each box and check inside. “No...no...not here either...hmm.” She closed the last box and looked up at Nish, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Well, I think we need a new plan here, because clearly I am incompetent…” she popped up on her feet. “Let’s go unpack the dishes, and get my television hooked up. Then, when the food gets here, we can crack open that bottle of wine I bought the other day and watch something fun for a few hours. I’ve got Chicago on DVD?”
Nish chuckled at the lack of hangers, “we’ll get you some tomorrow, hon,” she said as they headed out to the kitchen. “That sounds good...only one bottle though?” she asked playfully. But it really was a joke - ever since her spa treatment, she’d had less and less of an insatiable urge to drink than she usually did. She could now easily stop at one or two glasses of wine as opposed to her usual one or two bottles, which was a major improvement.
“I haven’t seen Chicago, which seems like the height of irony since I lived there when the movie came out...it’s a musical, right?” she asked, flipping open the first box and starting to relieve it of its contents onto the counter.
“Oh, you’d love it. It’s got a real slimeball of a defense attorney, and everything!” Jocelyn teased back, as Nish laughed happily at Josie’s description. Josie had to admit, after her experience with the legal system, she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about Nishka’s profession, but...well, it wasn’t really up to her, was it?
While her friend unpacked the boxes, Jocelyn stood by and took each item and placed it in it’s new home. With the two of them working together, they made short work of the kitchen’s boxes, and before either of them could take notice of the time, there was a knock on the door.
“Must be the food,” Jocelyn said, wiping the dust from her hands off onto her pants. “Why don’t you get it, and I’ll go plug in the TV.” She grabbed the bottle of moscato from the refrigerator and carried it and two glasses over to the living room. She set everything on the windowsill and focused on fishing out the remote and DVD from the box nearest the TV.
Nish headed to the door to greet the delivery guy, though it wasn’t one of the regulars. She chatted him up for a bit, handed over her credit card, and then came back into the living room with a bag of steaming deliciousness. “You like Japanese, right?” she asked, though it was too late now if she didn’t. “This stuff is so good, I could live off of it...well, I kind of do some days,” she added with a smirk. She knew she was pretty hopeless in the kitchen but for a few dishes she’d learned from her mom as a kid.
She set the package down on the kitchen counter and ripped open the paper, revealing two styrofoam containers filled with noodles, vegetables and chicken. An extra container with more of the sauce was sitting on top. “Trust me, you want more sauce,” she added, opening it and pouring half of it over her noodles and then handing it to Josie.
Jocelyn spread a dishtowel across an overturned milk crate that had, until only just recently, stored her plates. She grinned as she set the two wine glasses and the open bottle on the makeshift table. “Fine dining,” she noted, as she reached out to grab her container of noodles and the extra sauce, before settling back on the futon.
On the TV, a man’s voice counted out ”5, 6, 7, 8” and the room filled with the sounds of jazz music and murder...