Ruby Fox (love_ruby) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-30 22:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, jules, jules x ruby, ruby |
Who: Ruby and Jules
When: Saturday, October 21, Afternoon
Where: Spooktacular
Status: Complete
Jules wasn't in the best mood today but it was certainly better than it could have been. She'd stayed the night at Jasper's and had slept better than she would have if she'd been home alone. They hadn't done a lot of talking, but they hadn't really needed to. She was still reluctant to part ways with him in the morning, even though she knew she couldn't lounge around with him all day. With how emotional the night before had been, Jules figured it was probably better for both of them to take a breather from each other, even for a few hours. So she drove home to shower and change, aware that she wouldn't be able to just sit around all day and do nothing, and she didn't feel like texting any of her friends to hang out. Instead, she fell back on an old familiar remedy always designed to perk her up a little... spending a lot of money on her mom's credit card.
She ate some late breakfast, got dressed and drove into town where she started at Veronica’s, buying a couple new sweaters for the upcoming winter, and some cute, dangly earrings. A quick trip into Belladonna had her walking out with four new bottles of bubble bath and shampoo and then Jules found herself walking down Main Street to Spooktacular. She hadn’t really given Halloween a lot of thought, but it was only like ten days away now and she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to dress up as. Jules kept meaning to text Sebastian or Victoria to see if anyone was throwing a party - because she would be if not - but she just kept forgetting. Certain things didn’t seem as important now as they had a couple weeks ago.
Still. Jules was always proud of her costumes, and she was determined to have something amazing this year too. She opened the door to the shop and stepped inside, shifting her shopping bags to one side as she pushed her sunglasses up on her head. The store looked small, but it felt massive. There were costumes everywhere. Accessories, masks, makeup. Nothing looked cheaply made, which was a bonus. Jules had been afraid she’d have to drive to Portland to find a decent Halloween shop.
Jules began to wander through the shop, pausing every now and then to browse through a rack. She caught sight of someone nearby, and Jules glanced at them, doing a double take when she saw it was Ruby. Oh great. Jules thought about shoving her sunglasses back over her eyes, but that would be ridiculous considering the shop wasn’t all that brightly lit. She had a few options here. Leave, ignore her, or talk to her. Ignoring Ruby was super appealing, but… Ruby and Jasper were still friends and she felt an annoying desire to try and make things sort of right with Ruby. “Any ideas for a costume?” Jules asked from where she was still browsing, though she did glance over at Ruby.
Though she didn’t have any solid plans for Halloween, Ruby expected there to be something going on. Someone was bound to have a party, and if there was a party, then she would need a costume. She knew better than to wait till the last minute, so she’d headed downtown to Spooktacular, hoping to find something before the place was picked clean. She just hadn’t expected there to be such a wide selection. It almost would have been easier if there was less to choose from. She started going through the racks, making mental notes of her favorites, but nothing had jumped out at her yet.
Ruby looked up when Jules spoke, and for a beat she had nothing to say. It was weird to be so casually addressed, like nothing had happened between them, even if she probably would have done the same thing. “Not yet,” she said. “Just trying to see what jumps out at me. There’s a lot more than I expected.” And they were good quality costumes, not the cheap ones made from super flimsy fabric. “What about you?”
"I don't know," Jules admitted with a sigh as she pushed another hanger out of the way. "I usually have everything planned out by now, and the month is just sort of... flying by. I kind of doubt Jasper is into the whole couples costume thing, so I'm sort of on my own here." She smiled wryly, glancing over at Ruby. "I was a mermaid last year, but I want something better this year. Harley Quinn is so overplayed, and sexy witch is like... everyone's costume in this town." She knew that talking to Ruby like their fight hadn't even happened was weird. It felt weird. But what else was she supposed to do? It wasn't like they were going to have a heart to heart. Jules's lips twitched again. "Maybe I could be a bloody Homecoming Queen, complete with knife." That had been one of the more ridiculous rumors she'd heard about their tiff in Jules's kitchen. Like Jules would ever go after Ruby with a kitchen knife. Or had Ruby been the one to attack Jules? She couldn't keep the stories straight in her head, she'd heard so many,
“Probably depends on the couple,” Ruby said with a little shrug. If Jules wanted to be a Disney princess, then Ruby was thinking it was probably a hell no. But there were some couples costumes that could be fun, even for a guy that didn’t want some crazy costume. “So is the goal sexy?” she asked, raising a brow. Because that kind of narrowed it down. Not by a lot, but it usually took a few things out of the running. “I’d like something sexy, but not something that shouldn’t be to begin with. Like… sexy zombie, or sexy Freddy Krueger. Which does exist, by the way.” Not her jam. At all. “Your blood, my blood, or pig’s blood?” Ruby asked, her lips twitching up. Because if Jules had killed anyone on Homecoming, it would’ve been her. Depended on the story though, and who was telling it. “You could pull off Carrie White, but that’s a lot of blood in your hair. I’d steer clear, unless you want pink streaks, too.”
Sexy Freddy Krueger? That sounded horrible. Jules couldn't see Jasper wanting to dress up as anything really, but maybe he would surprise her. She wouldn't try to talk him into some cutesy couples costume thing, because they weren't a cutesy kind of couple. "The goal is almost always sexy, in some way," Jules said with a small nod. At least it was for her. She had to admit, hearing Carrie as a suggestion gave Jules pause, because it would be easy to find a slinky dress and she could always wear her own tiara from Homecoming. She would just need the fake blood. "I don't mind fake blood in my hair," Jules said after a moment. "It would wash out, at least. That's not a bad idea. Not exactly sexy, but it would work. You could just be a biker chick," Jules pointed out. "Stick with what you know."
“Yeah, not super sexy, but kind of is? Like, if you’re using the movie as reference, that dress was pretty much glued to her,” Ruby said with a shrug. She recalled thinking that Carrie was showing off a lot more than she intended, just with the sheerness of the dress and it getting wet. Ruby thought it would be fun, at least, unlike Jules’ suggestion. She turned back to the costumes, flipping through them. “That’s not a costume.” But it didn’t surprise her that Jules would think that was all she was. People liked to put others in buckets-- jock, geek, goth, prep, whatever. Ruby had never had a good bucket. It didn’t stop people from trying to put her in one though.
Jules didn't think blood was very sexy, but the dress would be, and the blood would just give it the proper level of creepiness. She wondered what Jasper would think of it, and the thought made her lips twitch a little. With her mind almost made up, Jules walked over to where Ruby was, and she started looking through the same rack as her former friend. "It could be a costume," she countered. She eyed Ruby for a moment before taking a fairy dress from the rack and giving it a once over. "You should do something like, Tim Burton-y. Like Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Or the Corpse Bride."
“It could be,” Ruby agreed, glancing over at Jules. “But, like, would you ever go as a cheerleader for Halloween?” She was assuming the answer was no. Of course she wouldn’t. Because she was a cheerleader. Halloween was a chance to be something you weren’t, something totally different. She might not have been a full-fledged biker chick, but it felt a little too close to reality. “Those are kinda fun,” she said, lips turning up. “They require body paint, and a wig, but I could totally do Sally.” It would take forever to get ready, but it would be a fun costume if she could pull it off. “Help me look for it?”
"I would go as a dead cheerleader, because I'm already a sexy one," Jules countered, her smile widening. "I mean, hey, in this town, I could end up being a dead cheerleader eventually." Morbid, but god, knowing what she knew now, it was possible. Jules replaced the fairy costume back on the rack to move closer to Ruby, her eyes scanning the store. "I'll help you look for it. They've got to have something like that here, it looks like they've got everything else. The body paint would be pretty cool too, if you do it right. If you can't find a wig, you could always use the temporary dye."
Ruby looked over at Jules, a little taken aback by that declaration, even if it was something she’d realized a long time ago. Which made her wonder what happened to Jules. That kind of realization didn’t always come easily. “Did something happen?” she asked, trying not to make a big deal of it. It made her think of the conversation she’d had with Jasper a few weeks back. He hadn’t mentioned Jules, but now she knew they’d been together then. “I’m willing to give it a shot. I’ll either be hot or a hot mess,” she said, laughing a little. “Have you ever used temporary dye.”
"Nothing specific," Jules said absently, because she wasn't about to tell Ruby about the weird stuff that had started happening since her mirror 'hallucination'. Ruby would think she was a total nutjob, and Jules didn't need that spreading throughout the school. She smiled faintly at Ruby. "I used red hair dye, like, for streaks last year for Spirit Week. It took a few washings, but it came out eventually. I can help you with it, if you want." Because she was trying really, really hard to be nice. Ruby was Jasper's friend, and Jules loved Jasper, so she needed to get along with Ruby. It was either that, or go crazy with jealousy whenever she knew they were hanging out together.
Ruby didn’t understand what was happening and she was sure it showed on her face. It sounded like Jules was offering to help her with her Halloween costume, which was essentially hanging out, something they hadn’t done since middle school. Something that had been off the table for a long while, and seemed even moreso after Homecoming. It put Ruby on guard and she almost looked around to see if the rest of the cheerleading squad was there to laugh at her when she bought into the offering. “Why’re you offering?” she asked, deciding to straight and to the point. It shouldn’t be a big surprise that she was defensive, since this was very much out of nowhere.
Jules sighed, because she had a feeling Ruby would ask that eventually. Jules would have been equally suspicious if Ruby had started playing nice out of nowhere, especially considering the last time they had spoken, they had gotten into a fight that Jasper had to break up. "You're friends with Jasper," Jules said finally, hoping that would explain enough. "And he and I are together, and that's not going to change anytime soon. If you two are going to be hanging out, then it feels like you and me should get along, right? We used to, anyway, so... for Jasper, maybe we can just try to be nice to each other."
It was an extremely adult approach, which made it really hard to argue, even if it still set off all the bells and whistles in Ruby’s head. What would happen if they got close again and then Jules broke up with Jasper? It hurt to lose a friend once, but twice? Shame on her for playing the fool. But then Jasper stood his ground for her, had promised that him dating Jules wouldn’t ruin their friendship. She could at least try. “Okay,” Ruby said hesitantly and looked back at the costumes for a moment, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness. “Are you having a Halloween party this year?”
It was difficult for Jules to take the 'adult route' sometimes, but it felt important, at least right now. She knew how she had acted toward Ruby during her party could have driven a wedge between she and Jasper - not that it was entirely Jules's fault! - but she didn't want to risk that happening again. She was glad that Ruby didn't linger on the olive branch being extended, because she could have and things might have gotten really weird. Talking about parties was much easier. "No, not this year," Jules admitted. "I'm not sure I could get away with another huge party and my parents will be home that weekend anyway. But I know Victoria Chapman is having one. I assume everyone's invited, since if she just let her friends inside it would be a pretty lame party. Other than that, I don't know anyone else having one, do you?"
It was still weird, and Ruby knew she couldn’t just flip a switch and make a change, but she’d do her best. It was definitely easier not to talk about it. “Ugh,” Ruby said, rolling her eyes at the mention of Victoria. She threw good parties, but Ruby really hated doing anything that might boost her popularity. It would be so much better if no one showed up. “I hadn’t heard of anyone else, but I was hoping you, or Bastian, or Greg might. Victoria’s just…not my favorite person. But if she’s the one throwing the party, I’ll probably go, you know?”
Jules grinned. "Victoria's not anyone's favorite person." Which was something she probably shouldn't have been saying, since Victoria was her friend, but she totally understood. Jules wouldn't have been surprised if Victoria said the same about her. "That's the nice thing about parties, though. If there's enough people, you just sort of blend into the crowd and hang out with people you like. Victoria's house is big enough you might never even see her. I'll be there, and Jasper, if I can drag him along." She doubted he would say no, especially if there was the possibility of fooling around in someone else's house. She doubted Sebastian would throw his own party, given how his parents could be, and if Victoria knew one of their mutual friends was throwing a competing party, she'd probably flip.
“If it’s where the party is, I’ll go. She’s just such a pain in the ass,” Ruby laughed, flipping through the costumes some more. “At least it’ll be Halloween and everyone will be in costume. That kind of mixes it up a bit, you know? Nobody really looks like themselves.” It was a fun escape for one night a year and the people in Point Pleasant really got into it. Even Ruby, who didn’t associate the everyday creepiness of the place with the holiday. The campiness made it fun, and it was such a good holiday to party on. “Oh! Oh, I think this is it,” she said, pulling out a brightly colored patchwork dress. There wasn’t much to it, with the rest of the costume depending on the paint and the hair. “You really think I can pull this off?” she asked, holding it up to herself. It wasn’t necessarily sexy, but it was different and she liked that.
No way could she disagree with that sentiment. Victoria was a pain in the ass. But Jules could be one too. Maybe she was just less of a pain in the ass. Jules loved costume parties, though, and she was excited to find what she needed for Carrie. She was still browsing what the shop had though, and looked over when Ruby pulled a dress from one of the racks. “That’s perfect,” Jules said. “I think with the right makeup and hair, it’ll look awesome. And hot, in a weird way? Weird may be the wrong word. It’s too bad we can’t, like, pretend you’re carrying around your arm like she does, but we should make a jar that says Night Shade on it!”
“I’m okay with a little bit of weird,” Ruby said with a small smirk. She’d always enjoyed a little bit of creepiness to her costumes. It was Halloween, not a burlesque show of some sort, no matter how many sexy bunnies, kittens, and various other creatures were running around. “You know your Tim Burton,” she smiled, a little bit surprised. “Even if I can’t carry around my arm, I want to paint on the stitches. And we should totally make a Night Shade jar. Or bottle. Or flask!” She liked that idea best. “We need to get you a good plastic knife. Maybe one of those retractable ones?”
"I love that movie," Jules said with a shrug. She didn't watch a lot of movies, since her social life was pretty packed, but sometimes when she was home sick in bed, or just feeling lazy, she would find a movie from her childhood that made her feel better. The Nightmare Before Christmas was one of those movies. A smile crossed her face then and she looked around the shop for the accessories. "I bet they've got one of those knives here," she said. "I'll take a look. You should see if they have a flask you can use." That would be easier to carry around, at least, especially at a party.
“Me too,” Ruby smiled. It still felt weird, but this was easier than she thought it would be. Maybe it was because they had a common objective, but she didn’t feel like she was under attack and that allowed her to lower her guard a little and relax. “They’ve got everything here,” she said. “Have you found a dress yet?” If not, then she would wait to move on to the props section, since they seemed to be doing this together now. Ruby held on to her costume, waiting to try it on, and flipped through the dresses with Jules. “You should at least try to talk Jasper into Tommy Ross’ costume,” she grinned. “He could totally rock a baby blue tux with ruffles and blood splatter.”
Jules shook her head, having not really seen any slinky dresses that would work. "I haven't seen a dress yet, but that doesn't mean they don't have one. Even if they don't, I bet I could find one online. I need to get a sash that says prom queen though." Jules walked over to another wall, giving a glance around at what they had on the shelves. The mental image of Jasper in a baby blue tux had Jules snickering, although she wasn't opposed to the idea. "He might go for it if blood splatter is promised. I bet he'd have a lot of fun pouring fake blood on me too. I mean, I'll ask, but if he decides to dress up, he may have something else in mind. He may just get, like, a Jason hockey mask and call it a day. Going as Tommy may be too coupley for him." Jules found a fake, plastic ax, which wasn't what she needed, but she picked it up anyway. It reminded her of The Shining. That movie had scared her to death when she and Jason watched it a couple years ago.
“I’m sure they’ll have a sash,” Ruby said, following Jules over to the other wall. It almost made her wish that Sally carried a weapon of some sort, they had such a great assortment. “I know it’s probably not his thing. A hockey mask is probably more his speed. But it’d be fun, you know? Like, if I could talk a guy into being Jack, I’d do it.” She couldn’t really think of anyone that would even consider it though. The rest of her guy friends were either picking horror movie characters or ridiculously stupid costumes for a laugh. Rodney had even talked about going as a pimple. Ugh.
“It’s going to be hard enough convincing him to go to Victoria’s,” Jules said. It was one thing when Jasper came to her parties, because they were in her house, and he was used to being there. “But, I won’t know until I ask him. If he’d rather not dress up at all, that’s fine too, as long as he doesn’t ditch me!” She grinned and replaced the ax on the wall. “Maybe you’ll see a Jack when you’re there, and you guys can start singing to each other from across the room. It’ll be great.” Not likely, but a funny mental image regardless. She continued to look for a retractable knife, amused at some of the costume accessories they had.
“He went to Homecoming for you. I’m sure you can convince him to go to a party,” Ruby said. Surely Jules realized that was a big deal, just like meeting Amelia would be. Ruby didn’t think she’d met any of the girls he’d hooked up with, but she could be wrong. “If he ditches you, I’ll kick his ass,” she smirked. “Unless you do it first.” Generally her allegiances lay with Jasper, but if he was being a jerk, she’d tell him so. She was that kind of friend. “I’m picturing this epic musical moment in Victoria’s living room,” she snickered. “Gotta have a lot to drink before it comes to that.”
Well, she had a point. Jasper had gone to Homecoming for her, although he hadn't gone to Homecoming with her. But things had been confusing them and uncertain between the both of them, and now they weren't. Not really. At least things were less confusing now. Jules huffed with a bit of amusement. "If he ditches me, I'll kick his ass," she said, "but you can definitely help me. But yeah, I mean, drink enough and anything can happen, right? It should be a fun party, even if it's not my party. I'm not complaining too much, though. It'll be nice to go to bed and not have to worry about cleaning up in the morning before my parents come home. And finding... some questionable crap in my house after everyone's left."
“I can’t even imagine the clean up. I would die. Or bitch at my friends till they came over and helped,” Ruby said. She could never throw a party like that though, even if she was willing to clean up afterwards. Her house was tiny in comparison, and she didn’t know where the Overlook kids got all the money for all the booze. It had to be hundreds of dollars worth. And her dad would be so disappointed. He worked so hard for what they had and she couldn’t risk it getting destroyed just because her friends wanted to party. “Definitely better to be able to go home and crash and no worry about it when you wake up. And it’s Halloween, so there’s bound to be decorations.”
"I do get some help, at least," Jules said before shrugging. The last couple of times she hadn't cared about help, sending people home when it got too late, because Jasper had been staying over. "But yeah, sometimes it's nicer to have other people throw the parties so I can wash my hands of the responsibility that comes with them." She loved having parties, honestly, but yes, Jules did occasionally like a break from it so she could just have fun and ditch out when she got bored. "Anyway, I hope you come if no one else is having one. Your costume will probably be ten times better than most of them."
“Thanks,” Ruby said with a little smile, then hesitated a moment before continuing. “You really don’t mind helping me with my hair? And maybe the blue paint?” She hated how vulnerable that made her sound, but she hadn’t trusted Jules for anything in years. There was still a nagging feeling that Jules was going to flake on her, but she told herself that she needed to at least try. “I’d offer to pour blood on you, but that’s what Jasper’s for.”
Jules realized Ruby sounded unsure and she couldn't really blame her. If the roles had been reversed, Jules would have probably been just as wary. "I'll help you," Jules said with a nod. "And maybe we can all, like, get ready together. You, me and Jasper." Maybe Jasper would be okay with that, if it meant the two girls were getting along. "I bet Jasper would let you pour blood on me if you really wanted to," she added with a grin. “He’s pretty generous that way.”
Pushing away her paranoia, Ruby smiled and gave Jules a nod. That really did sound like fun, if she could get past the point where this felt like a massive trap to screw her over. But Jasper’s involvement was proof that Jules was trying, so she’d give it a shot. “That’d be great,” she said, then laughed a little. “Well, it’s not often you get to pour fake blood on the Homecoming Queen. So hopefully he’ll spread the love a little.” Ruby was more amused that Jules seemed into it. She’d expected her to be something princess-y, not something gorey, but this was more fun. “I’m gonna go try this on, then check out the paints, but maybe text me?”
She nodded, wondering if she even had Ruby’s number still in her phone. Probably not. Definitely not. But Jasper would have it. Jules considered it progress that the thought didn’t send her into an immediate jealous rage. Maybe she was growing or some shit like that? “I’ll text you,” she promised. “Good luck with the costume. Hopefully you’ll find everything you need.” Since she had a very specific costume in mind now, Jules didn’t think she needed to look around much longer. She would need to go to a dress shop to find what she was looking for. Jules gave Ruby a smile. “I’ll talk to you soon.”