Wry and Watchful (wryandwatchful) wrote in solsticerp, @ 2009-12-16 17:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | ava, emmanuel, june 13 2009 |
Saturday: Vapor's Wallflowers
Who: Ava and M
When: Evening
Where: Vapor
After Cian disappeared to find the rest of his friends, Ava remained sitting at the table with her lemonade in front of her. She occasionally took a sip, but found herself people watching more than anything. There was a man in a dress, which made her giggle for a bit, and a lot of enthusiastic dancers. She saw a couple people who looked like they might be a bit too drunk, and then some kids from school. She didn't mind waiting there for Cian at all. It was better than being in the middle of all of that. Her head wasn't hurting as badly, but the voices were still disjointed that she couldn't pick up any real thoughts. Lifting her feet, she rested them on one of the empty chairs beside her and pulled out her phone to see if Cian had texted her. When she saw she had no messages, she slipped her phone back into her small purse and waited.
Though Emmanuel had gone upstairs briefly-- and marveled at a room that was definitely "earth" in feel-- he hadn't stayed there very long. How very ironic that the room he found himself most comfortable in was upstairs, and he would've had to stick to the walls to feel at all actually comfortable. Back down he went, glad for the moment to have escaped Jordan and her love of dancing, and brought a soda from the bar over to the tables by the big window out in the front of the building, looking for a place to sit that wasn't already taken, or was taken by someone he knew that he could join.
There were so many people, though, that it was hard to pick out even an individual face that he might recognize.
Ava had caught sight of Emmanuel when he wandered closer to where she'd been sitting. She had to squint for a second to make sure it was him, but once she was sure, Ava lifted her hand to wave at him, not wanting to yell across the way like a moron. M she actually liked, out of all of Cian's closer friends. He wasn't a jerk, and he didn't have any perverted or mean thoughts about people the way so many kids she went to school with did. "Wanna sit?" she offered with a smile, pushing out a chair under the table with her foot.
The wave caught his attention, helped him find the face attached, and he smiled, following the wave over to her table. Ava was Cian's best friend, so of course he knew who she was, though they didn't really talk much. The combination of being "Cian's" in some way with him not talking much, period, led to him feeling a bit awkward with her, though he liked her just fine. Today, though, he'd take any friendly face with an extra seat at their table. He pulled thee chair out a little further, then sat. "Cian said you'd both be coming," he said, loudly over the continual roar of music and conversation. "Having fun?"
"Yeah, he was more excited about this when he thought he'd get to use his fake ID." Ava rolled her eyes with a grin before settling her hands in her lap. "But yeah, I'm having fun I guess. It's just loud." The music she could handle, it was the voices that were hurting her ears. "What about you? Is Emmaline with you?" She liked M's sister, even though they didn't talk all that much. The times they had, Emma had always been really nice, which was a plus in Ava's book.
Loud, it definitely was. Emmanuel was half-sure that everyone here would be hoarse tomorrow, after all the yelling they had to do in here just to be heard. Maybe except for him, given he hardly talked, compared to most people. He made a little face when she asked after his sister. "Think she was coming, but not with me." No, he'd come with someone who he was leery of mentioning to Ava. Cian hadn't taken it as easily as he would have liked, but Ava was likely to take it worse.
"Oh! Well, that's cool. I'll have to keep an eye out for her," Ava said, lifting her hand to wrap it around her glass. She glanced at Emmanuel with a small smile. She couldn't really hear a lot of his thoughts in all this noise, but that was okay. She shouldn't be snooping anyway. "Did you come with anyone? Seems like most of Cian's friends sort of all came together in a huge group or something." She felt like maybe she was being too nosy, but it was small talk, wasn't it? Better than asking about the weather.
It wasn't too nosy. Unless you were asking him, and you were Ava. But that wasn't even her fault, it wasn't like she knew. Emmanuel gave her a slightly hang-dog look and said, "Jordan kind of bullied me. Into coming. That's who I came with." Now he just hoped she didn't explode at him, like he knew some girls with a grudge (such as Jordan or her sister, for that matter, or even Emmaline) could do.
"Jordan?" It seriously took Ava a second to let that sink in. She was confused at first, since she couldn't see M going anywhere with a Delaney twin, so maybe there was another Jordan in school she didn't know. But! Nope, there wasn't. "Delaney?" Ava wrinkled her nose, but that was the extent of her disapproval. What business was it of hers? Only that Jordan was twin sisters to Jessica, who was a bitch not only to Ava, but to Cian as well. Not that M owed Ava any kind of allegiance, but in her mind, he was Cian's friend, so... bros before hos, right? "Well, that's nice. Are you guys having fun?"
Feeling a little defensive, Emmanuel said, "She's my friend. Same's you." Though that turned into a frustrated little sigh, because no one seemed to think that it was okay to be friends with both. Why did breakups and relationships have to make such a mess of things? "And not really. She might be." This just wasn't his kind of thing, and while the elemental aspect was pretty interesting, he'd much rather have some see it in a week, when it was less crowded and crazy. And when his friends wouldn't think he was crazy for letting Jordan come with him.
"I don't care," Ava replied simply, not wanting to fight with Emmanuel over Jordan Delaney. "You're allowed to go out with whoever you want." Cian probably gave M enough crap about it anyway. She smiled a touch and shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not having that much fun either."
At first Emmanuel wasn't sure he'd heard that right. Did she really think they were going out? He looked a little bit offended, actually, but only a little bit-- he felt more, of course, but he rarely showed such things. "We're not dating," he said quickly and firmly. "Just... friends." And had been before the stupid Cia-and-Jessica thing. He shook his head. Why did going to Vapor together mean it had to be a date, and why did a "date" mean they were "going out"?
She shot him a look, thinking it was interesting that he had to correct her. Which meant he really didn't want people thinking he was dating Jordan, or he actually liked the girl and was trying to deny it. Boys were silly. "Okay," she said slowly, "then you're allowed to be friends with whoever you want." Even if one was related to Satan, aka, Jessica. And hopefully Jordan wouldn't see M sitting there talking to Ava, the poor boy. "Have you talked to Cian yet?"
Relaxing a little, and feeling quite put upon by all this mess, Emmanuel shook his head. "Not tonight, yet. I'll find him... somehow." He looked out at the shifting crowd dubiously, then back to Ava. Subject change, please! "Why aren't you having fun?" Because it seemed like a valid question. He knew Ava wasn't as popular or outgoing as a lot of people, but surely she enjoyed getting dressed up to go dancing. Unless Cian promptly abandoned her to dance with a girl he'd like to date, or something, which would be crappy of him to do, but still possible.
Ava felt mild disappointment that Cian hadn't found M yet. The sooner the better so she could go home. Or well, home to Cian's. She thought about texting Cian to tell him M was with her, but she didn't want to rush him. He was having fun. "Me?" She blinked at the question before sipping her lemonade. "I don't know. I danced a bit.. and hung out with Cian. And now I'm just sitting here. Plus, it's really loud and crowded." And she didn't have that many friends to socialize with. Sitting there alone made her feel like a loser, but it wasn't the first time she had to sit alone and it wouldn't be the last.
"I'd offer to dance," Emmanuel said, a little apologetically, or as apologetically as one could when you were nearly yelling your words, "but I'm no good." Though it was less embarrassing here, where it was dark and crowded, to be no good, than it was at a friend's party where everyone could see. At least at a friend's party he'd be pleasantly buzzed, and thus wouldn't care so much. Jordan's one bottle of whatever it was hadn't gone very far, and he'd let her have most of it, anyhow.
"That's okay," Ava said with a small smile. "I think I'm all danced out anyway." It had been worth it, being in the crowd when she danced with Liam and Cian. Now she just wanted to stay put until Cian was ready to go. "Anyway, I'm not that great either. I don't think I have that much rhythm. It might be better just to come here some night when it's not so busy."
"I think so, too," Emmanuel agreed fervently. The anonymity of the crowd wasn't worth the crowd, itself. He certainly hadn't had any great dance partner to make it worth it. Jordan was probably good enough, but it hadn't been anything special. Not that special probably mattered, when he was likely to be married off to a cousin, if one would take him. But he was a teenage boy, he could hope. "Though it might be crowded then, too," he added, distracted himself from that line of thought.
"Maybe." She shrugged again and swayed her feet back and forth on the chair they were currently resting on. She didn't mind stuff like this so much when she could just hog Cian for herself. But there were certain instances where she couldn't, so she learned to just suck it up. "Are you coming to Cian's party next week? Might be nice to have someone else there with a head on their shoulders that will help make sure he doesn't fall drunk ass into the pool."
"Definitely," Emmanuel answered with a firm nod. That ought to be really fun, and that he was looking forward to. He wouldn't even have to dress up. Maybe he'd take Mac to that one, and they could both be out of rhythm together and laugh about it. That sounded tons more fun. "No pool-falling. Though I might be a little drunk, too." Hopefully not enough to fall in the pool, though.
She rolled her eyes good naturedly and nodded. "Yeah, I should have figured. Who knows, maybe I'll totally get drunk too." She rarely drank at Cian's parties. Mostly just to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't do anything overly stupid. Ava wanted to ask if he'd bring Jordan, but she figured he knew better than to invite any of the Delaney girls. "What else have you been up to this summer?"
"Get drunk?" Emmanuel repeated with a smirk. "You? Never." He settled back and finally had some more of his soda, since sitting down-- it wasn't doiing a very good job of helping him cool off, sadly. It was so hot in here. He answered her question first with a shrug, then dredged up words: "Chores. Chores. Oh, and more chores. So... not much." He really did need to get a job. That'd keep him occupied and make it easier to get stuff in the future. "You?"
"Hey! I could totally get drunk," Ava protested, despite her smile. "Seriously." Ava got buzzy at parties with alcohol but never enough that she wouldn't be able to keep herself from acting stupid. Besides, Cian wanted her to do pot with him next week, so she doubted drinking would be such a huge deal. "As for me, I've just been hanging out with Cian. And trying to find a part time job. I turned in some applications so... I guess we'll see. Cian's got all these plans for the summer, so I just need to find something with a flexible schedule."
"Could, sure. But wouldn't." Emmanuel knew her well enough for that by now, after all. He was smiling, too, though, mostly joking around. "I ought to look for a job, too...." He shook his head. "Doubt there'd be something flexible." Not for someone like him, who would be horrible at an interview and who really had no decent skills. He certainly couldn't work in fast food-- how could you take an order if you couldn't hardly talk? "Where?" he added, meaning where did she turn in applications, but only the pertinent question-word actually came out.
"I would," Ava said with a brief pout. Okay, so maybe she wouldn't, but you never knew! She felt like it was some kind of challenge now, to prove she could get wasted with the best of them. "I turned in applications at the bookstore on the island, and Juicy Java, and the photography studio because I guess they're looking for someone to help book appointments. I just want something easy. Plus it'd be nice to have my own paycheck."
"Really nice," Emmanuel agreed, a little wistfully. "I gotta find someplace to do that...." To turn in applications-- or get his own paycheck, either one would pretty much work for an interpretation. He just had no idea where he could. Maybe he could try the gardening center at Target, or something? "Good luck," he added with a little grin.
Ava grinned. "Yeah, you too. I think if we both got jobs, Cian would be pouting that we'll both be busier this summer than usual." Maybe she could try and get a hosting job at one of the restaurants in town or something. "You might wanna try to find him here soon though. I know he went off with the mind to track you down."
Lofting his brows at her, Emmanuel asked, "That a suggestion I get moving?" He doubted she was actually trying to shoo him off... except in the fashion that meant she'd get to go home sooner if Cian found him, or something. He wished he could go home after Cian found him, too.
"Oh! No!" Ava's eyes widened in embarrassment and her cheeks flushed as she tried to correct herself. "No I didn't mean it like that. It's nice having someone to talk to. I just know he was looking for you and I doubt you wanna sit here with me all night." And yes, a part of her hoped Cian would hurry and make his rounds so they could go back to his place. "I'm not the most exciting person here after all."
"Neither am I," Emmanuel shrugged. He was quiet, not talking much, and he didn't like to dance or get drunk on illegal alcohol or make out with strangers or anything. He was downright boring, at a place like this. Next time he wasn't going to let Jordan talk him into coming someplace like this. He grinned a bit at her, then said, "You can go home when he's seen everyone. Right?"
Her blush deepened since she felt like she'd been caught thinking something bad. And he wasn't a telepath, as far as she knew. "Yeah, sort of. But you know, that could take most of the night. Which is totally fine, I don't mind waiting or anything. What about you though, where's Jordan off to? I haven't seen her at all tonight." Hallelujah for that.
"With her sister, prob'ly," Emmanuel shrugged, and relatively gladly, too. He was definitely not one of those not-dates who clung to his partner's side for the night-- he couldn't be, because they didn't exactly share the same friends and interests, for the most part. "I think she was upstairs. When I came back downstairs." Because he'd had enough of the height thing, and all.
Snorting a touch, Ava nodded. Where else would Jordan be? "Yeah, probably. I guess if you're not her official date, then you're not obligated to hang around her all night." Although Jordan might think differently. As far as Ava was concerned, the Delaneys thought the whole world revolved around them. "I sort of wished I had stayed home tonight," she admitted sheepishly. Maybe if not for the whole Liam and Camilla thing, she'd be having more fun. But right now, this felt like such a blah idea.
"You and me, both," Emmanuel agreed with a wry little smile. "Next time, stay home together. Or something." He made a face at himself. "We'll both stay home together. Ugh." He hated his speech problems, sometimes. Most of the time. Whatever.
She smiled a touch, not giggling or anything since she was sure it was frustrating for him. "Totally. I'm sure we could find something more entertaining than loud music and sweaty bodies, right?" Ava glanced at him curiously. "What do you like doing anyway?" She didn't talk with M a lot, and she really didn't know what he'd prefer to be doing over something like this. She and Cian got into trouble all the time, which was fun, but she didn't know what he did with his other friends in all honesty. Except for the getting high part.
Blinking, then smiling a bit and shrugging, Emmanuel answered, "Garden? And do stuff like the beach. And movies." But what he was really interested in was plants. What could he say, he was a simple guy! Plants and helping out nice people, when he could, but that was less of a "passtime" as it was just a thing he did.
"Gardening?" She didn't know many boys who liked to garden. Unless he was an earth elemental or something. "I always want to plant flowers in the front of our house, since my mom never does, but I always end up killing the things. I water them and everything! After like, three days they get droopy and I can't figure out why. You should come over and help me make my own garden or something." Hey, it'd be something to do! And give her an excuse to buy a bunch of pretty flowers and seeds and stuff. She just had the most horrible black thumb when it came to plants.
Blinking again, this time surprised by the suggestion, he said, "Sure. Whenever you like. Could be bad soil or light or too much water." He could always talk a little easier about his plants. "You really think I should?" Because he totally would. Nobody should have to go without flowers.
Bad soil? Wasn't all soil supposed to be good? Gah, she had no idea. Could be she was over-watering. Every day the temperature rose over ninety, she felt bad for the plants so she'd douse them with a ton of water just in case. Chewing on her lip, Ava preferred to think maybe it was something like that, rather than the fact that she just sucked taking care of live things. "Yeah, totally! My mom's not a gardener at all. All of our plants in our house are those fake ones you get at crafts stores. But there's space in the back yard, I could probably make a small garden and see how it turns out. Would you want to help me out?"
"Of course!" Emmanuel said with a genuine smile, wanting to save Ava from the horror that was fake flowers. "Anyone has plant problems, I'm glad to. Help, that is. Want to next week?" Any time next week, really, would be okay. All he had plans to do was job hunt and hang out with Cian and probably Mac. Spending an afternoon making a garden up for Ava sounded like a great thing to do to add to the list.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Ava replied, happy to have some semblance of plans next week. It'd be fun to go shopping for flowers and plants and seeds and stuff. Maybe she would buy a huge, floppy gardening hat. "Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday? Mom's gotta work during the day so she won't be staring at us from the patio or anything."
Thinking about how he hoped he'd have a job later in the week, Emmanuel suggested, "Tuesday?" That'd give them plenty of time for recovering over the weekend, to hang out with friends, and collect some plants to put in. Plus, then he didn't sound as stupidly eager as if he'd gone for Monday, and he knew he'd never have a job by Tuesday. Win all around.
"Awesome, sounds like a plan to me! Maybe we can go out first and get all the stuff I need, and then you can show me how to do everything the right way." Cian would probably find the entire venture pretty boring, so Ava decided against inviting him over to watch.
"Definitely," Emmanuel agreed. "Noonish?" That'd give him time to finish whatever chores he had around the house-- and give Ava time to sleep in, since he was sure that's what she'd be doing. He could bring over his Geo and take them out to the nursery, get her some nice flowers and maybe even vegetables, though he didn't know that she'd care about an edible garden.
Nodding, Ava smiled. "Yeah, sounds great." Hey look! She had plans with someone other than Cian. Wasn't that interesting? "Just text or call me before you come over so I can make sure I'm up and ready to go." He'd have to take the ferry to the island, so that would give her a little bit of extra time.
"Will do." Pleased, Emmanuel looked around again, remembered where they were, and sighed. "I guess I should go find Cian now, huh?" Since that'd be Ava's ticket home, and maybe it could even be his, if he found Jordan and said he was ready... ... okay, probably not. Maybe he could see if Jordan wanted to go home with her sister, or something.
"Totally your call," Ava said with an amused smile, since she didn't want to come across as though she were trying to get rid of him again. "Hopefully you won't be stuck here any longer than I am, right?"
"Depends what Jordan says," Emmanuel sighed. "Since I drove." It was only the right way to do it when you were taking a girl out, after all, even if it wasn't really a date. He pushed himself to his feet, though, regardless. "It was good talking to you," he added, even smiling some. He had plans to make someone a garden-- his best friend's best friend. That was definitely good.
Ava would have told M to leave Jordan here if he wanted to leave, but that might have gone over very well. She clasped her hands in her lap again, still smiling. "You too. Thanks for keeping me company and everything. And I'll see you on Tuesday!" It was bound to be fun, she hoped. She just hoped she didn't make a total butt of herself. Being silly in front of Cian was one thing, being silly in front of someone like M was totally different.
Grinning as much as he ever did-- which was, no more than moderately at best-- Emmanuel gave her a silly little half-bow, tipped a hat that wasn't there, and then started off. He had some best-friend-finding to do. And then a decision to make about how much longer to stay. Blech.