Daniela Diaz (all_bright) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2015-10-15 23:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2018 [10] october, daniela diaz, nina clarke |
Who: Nina Clarke and Daniela Diaz
Where: Nina's quarters, the Capitol
What: belated birthday celebrations, and escaping from it all for a while
When: backdated to evening, 10/4/18
The last time Dani set foot inside the Capitol, it had been because she was sleeping there, driven out of the UMCB all together by that bastard Zeckendorf's threatening letters. It was a little unsettling to be back, even if this visit was purely a friendly one, made entirely of her own free will. Dani was determined to ignore the feeling. Not every moment of her time spent in the Capitol had been unpleasant, and Nina was a large part of why it any part of it had been agreeable at all. That last night, when Demi dropped by unannounced, was one of Dani’s better recent experiences, even considering the events that had followed since. The Annihilator's grand finale, the arrest of the Dog King's sister, the revelation of Max's secrets, the altercation between the Capitol and the Hellhounds -- life had certainly gotten more complicated. It would be nice to get away from that for at least a little while.
When they'd made the plans to get together over text message, Nina had warned her to expect the patrolmen that lingered in the hall outside her quarters. That didn't stop Dani from being thrown off by their presence, however, too strongly reminded of when (and why) they'd been out in force at the UMCB. More memories again. As she approached Nina's front door, she didn't even spare the men a glance, raising her chin when she felt their keen, evaluating gazes fall upon her. In just a moment she'd be safely inside, away from their observation.
Raising a hand, Dani rapped on the door with her knuckles and then waited for Nina to answer. When the door opened, she broke into a smile, greeting the other woman warmly. It felt slightly false, because of their audience, but never let them see you sweat, right?
Once the door was safely closed behind them, Nina wasted no time in gesturing to the bottle of whiskey that sat on her coffee table. Ever since the two of them had 'met' on the Freenet by talking about whiskey sours, then had some together at the Chestnut Tree, it had become some kind of running joke. Nina was happy to be predictable on this. It was a belated birthday celebration, after all.
"Happy birthday," she said, sitting down and offering Dani a genuine smile. The two of them had been through more than their fair share of trouble over the last two weeks; even if they couldn't do anything extravagant or especially nice for Dani's birthday, she hoped this could be a decent, if temporary, escape.
The sight of the whiskey drew a smile from Dani too. When she mentioned her birthday to Nina, it hadn't been with the intention of making the other woman do anything in recognition of the occasion. It was simply indicative of her mindset, lately, that it wasn't until confronted with the date written on one of the lab orders she was processing that Dani had even realized its significance. Somehow being another year older paled in comparison to everything else. But maybe this was exactly what they needed: something to celebrate, no matter how minor, just to remind themselves that they were still here.
"Thank you." Taking a seat beside Nina on the sofa, Dani reached for the liquor bottle, wasting no time opening it. When the first glass was poured, she offered it to the other woman. "Since it's been so hellish lately, I don't mind cutting right to the chase on the drinking. Hopefully you don't either."
"I wouldn't have gotten you a bottle of liquor for your birthday if I didn't intend for us to drink it," Nina pointed out, smiling as she hefted her glass.
There was nothing to toast, really, but Dani lifted her drink anyway, clinking her glass against Nina's. "We've earned it," she said, simply.
"I'll say." Nina took a sip of the whiskey, careful even in alcohol consumption, then set it down on the coffee table. The burn of the liquor, without the lemon juice and sugar to cut it, was a welcome feeling. "It's been one hell of a week," she added, but left it at that. There wasn't any point in bringing up the events of last Saturday or Wednesday. "How've you been, Dani?"
The desire to down her drink like a shot warred with Dani's usual moderate tendencies when it came to alcohol consumption. It would be nice to cede control for an evening, to give in to the temptation of oblivion the whiskey offered. Dani had never once in her life been that person, though, and she wasn't about to start now. The swallow she took was large enough to feel, but didn't drain the glass.
In answer to Nina's question, she simply said, "Keeping busy." Unspoken was the implication that she'd been doing this to avoid thinking about everything that had happened, and the recent events as well. "There's never any shortness of work, thank God. What about you?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth." Today was a weekend, though. Nina hadn't had work as an excuse to hide behind. Apparently she'd just replaced that coping mechanism with alcohol and company that was easy on the eyes.
Nina's eyes flickered over to Dani's, considering the woman next to her on the couch. "How did you decide to work in the lab?" she asked then, suddenly curious.
Dani rested her glass on her knee while she was between sips and shrugged slightly in answer to Nina's question. "There isn't an interesting story behind it. I enjoyed science in school, but didn't know how apply that enjoyment to a career until I literally sat down and researched options. Medical science -- lab work -- appealed. I was maybe a year from completing my undergrad when the outbreak reached Austin."
She hadn't meant to draw attention to the difference in their ages. It was merely a side effect of talking about her schooling. Despite the disparity, however, Dani thought they'd managed to find enough commonality that their friendship worked well. "What interested you in becoming a lawyer?" she asked, turning the question back on Nina.
"I like rules," Nina replied, almost immediately. The rest of her answer came after another sip of whiskey, the pause giving her enough time to organize her words. "I like fairness. And I don't like seeing the law and its rules interpreted in a way that harms other people."
She'd picked a serious drinking topic -- somewhere out there, Demi Rafferty was scoffing at her inability to have fun and Gemma Barton was rolling her eyes at it, too -- but Dani didn't seem to mind. Nina liked that aspect of her, even as she hastened to make sure her perception of the situation was right. The whiskey she'd already consumed, though, sought to get in the way.
"I'm not boring, am I? I hear that a lot from people." Nina's eyes met Dani's. "We should've gone to the bar. At least there's music there."
"No," Dani answered, immediately on the heels of Nina's remark. A little too fast, maybe, and she shook her head -- more at herself than to further emphasize her negative response. "You're not boring. The opposite, in fact. And I'm not in the right mood for the bar. Too much noise, too many people."
There were plenty of nights in the past when she'd felt sociable, but lately one-on-one was about all Dani felt ready for. It should have been easy to simply will herself to move on, and the fact that she couldn't frustrated her. Only a week had passed, true, but she felt like a malingerer.
Dani took another sip of her drink. The warm burn from the whiskey was starting to sink in, easing the taut tension inside her. "Although if you wanted a chance to get away from that” -- she nodded at the door, meaning the guards out in the corridor -- “we could fit in maybe an hour before the bar closes, if we left now.”
Nina's eyes glanced over at the door, following the gesture. The thought of their presence alone was enough to make her stomach turn over, but forcing herself to recall the talk she'd had with Demi the night prior kept her steady. Having at least one person who knew her truths made her situation feel less dire. Especially after that conversation with Cal that still smarted.
"They'd know we were avoiding them," she said, then took another sip. "I'm so rarely in trouble, I don't know how to behave. Besides, I have a record player and some records that I traded for a while ago. I bet we could dust it off and pretend we're there."
“Let’s do that,” Dani agreed, impulsively. Sitting around and talking with Nina, while pleasant, wasn’t exactly dispelling her demons. It would take more drastic action to make either of them forget their present situation. There wasn’t much left in her glass, and she drank it down in one last go before setting the empty container on the coffee table next to Nina's now-empty glass.
Feeling the need to move, she rose from the sofa, smoothly tossing her hair back over her shoulder before turning to lend Nina a hand up. The first place she noticed the effect of alcohol was always her legs, but she felt steady enough at the moment. "What records do you have?"
"A very eclectic mix." Nina led Dani over to a box tucked into the bottom shelf of her bookshelf. The record player was turned on first before she gestured for Dani to look through its contents. "I took whatever people could find. There's some rock, a little soul, a little country… all right, a lot of country... some 1980s music… How about you pick, since it's your birthday?"
Kneeling to sort through the records in the box, Dani couldn’t help thinking of how much hipsters had been mocked for their interest in this once obsolete music format. Yet her own library of songs, which had been completely digital, was now completely useless as well. Flipping past Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson, she finally paused at a familiar album cover. “This one,” she said, drawing her choice from the box and passing it to Nina as she rose to her feet. Madonna. It had, quite literally, been years.
Nina pulled the chosen record out of its sleeve and set it on the deck, After a moment, the opening sounds of "Lucky Star" could be heard. She turned to face Dani, feeling a little unsure of herself now that the music was playing and it was just the two of them, but that whiskey she'd drank -- and the effervescence of Madonna, of course -- seemed to think they ought to dance. She could barely remember the last time she'd done something like this, zombies outside or not.
The song was catchy and Dani began to sway her hips along with the beat. "I never do this," she said, with a laugh, not aware that she echoed Nina's thoughts. Most likely, the last time she had danced had been at a long-since-forgotten party, some time before the outbreak. Certainly not since. It was a carefree activity, one that required letting go, and she had always been better at shouldering responsibility than in shedding it. The whiskey must be lowering her inhibitions.
"Me, either," Nina replied, not even bothering to stop herself from grinning. "Maybe it's time we did, then." There was a decisiveness to her words, her initial reluctance fading as the music continued to play and she let herself ignore the worries and fears rattling around in her head, throwing herself fully into enjoying something for once. Her dancing was terrible, really, but it was something else than sitting and fretting and working and thinking. It was almost like a house party, if she ignored the fact that the living quarters were smaller and the attendance list was rather short. It was almost normal, and she hoped that it was a decent enough birthday gift for her friend.