Saturday: Party Chat Who: Ava and M Where: Cian's party! When: Early-ish in the evening
After Ava left Shoel to wander back upstairs, she decided to detour on her way to find Cian and get a beer. She wasn't a huge fan of the stuff, but it was something to sip on for awhile, and since she didn't really like the taste, she wouldn't chug it to the point of getting completely wasted. To her, that was completely logical, so she made her way to where the kegs were, trying her best to keep the voices out of her head. She wasn't succeeding all that well, but then, she hadn't really expected to. Already she knew that Carly Jamison was pissed off at Marie Honeywell for flirting with Jason Kind... someone was totally bored and wanted to get high... someone else wanted to find Scott Sprader and make out with him, and someone near her, since their voice was the loudest, was singing Lady Gaga in their head.
Pushing her way to the keg, she grabbed a red plastic cup and looked over to see M there. Smiling, she nudged him to get his attention. "Having fun?" Where's Mac? she wanted to ask, but refrained for the moment. She'd seen them together earlier after all.
Emmanuel definitely wasn't the one singing Lady Gaga in his head. His thoughts were actually a little bit fuzzy, but in a pleasant way. He was on his second beer and he had Mac here with him-- somewhere else at the moment, but they found each other more often than not-- so why wouldn't things be pleasant?
The nudge made him glance over, then down, and he smiled. "Hey, Ava. Yeah, havin' fun." He'd already been in the pool once, though the sky was looking threatening enough now that he didn't think he'd get in again, but there was plenty else left to do. "You?"
M's thoughts weren't very clear to her, thank God, so she decided to stick next to him for a few seconds for a mental break. She began to fill her cup halfway with the beer, smiling. "Yes. So far... it's crazy crowded though, so it gets a bit claustrophobic from time to time. But people seem to be enjoying themselves." Glancing around, Ava finally lifted the cup to take a sip. "Where's Mac?"
Thankfully, Emmanuel didn't really ever worry about claustrophobia, or cramped quarters. He'd probably be perfectly happy on a plane-- at least until it took off. Of course, if he were a telepath, it'd probably be a different story. He chuckled a bit at her and gave her shoulder a soothing sort of pat, then answered her question with a point. Mac wasn't too hard to pick out; he recognized her easily, his eyes always seeking out that cloud of soft hair. She was, at that moment, out by the pool with her feet dangling in. As usual lately, he smiled at the sight of her.
Ava lifted an eyebrow, since she didn't really get an answer, but she followed his goofy smile and gaze and spotted Mac through the crowed by the pool. "Oh, there she is." Chuckling, Ava shook her head and sipped the beer again, cringing a bit at the taste. "At least you're not one of those ridiculously adorable couples that have to be joined at the hip twenty four seven! That means you're off to a good start, right?"
Well, he had pointed, just not spoken aloud. He laughed a little at her encouragement. "We're together a lot. Just wanted a drink." He eyed her with wry amusement and added, "Could say the same to you." Since he'd hardly seen her hanging with Cian all night.
Ava twitched her lips to the side, figuring Cian told M about the two of them. Why wouldn't he? M was Cian's friend and it wasn't like Ava and Cian were trying to hide it. "Cian's got a lot of friends," she said finally, glancing over her shoulder to see if she could spot him. "He's busy. I don't want to be, like, clinging to his arm like some obnoxious girlfriend, you know?" And it was still weird to say 'girlfriend' in reference to Cian. Like it wasn't real or something.
"You could never be obn...." Emmanuel hesitated to consider the word, then didn't try it. "Annoying like that," he finished after the pause. Then he added solemnly, "You're his best friend, too." And he didn't think that just because they were dating now she should have to change how she acted-- or start caring what people thought.
"Yeah, I know." The thing was, Ava wasn't really changing how she behaved, at least not at his parties. She usually hung out with him for awhile, and then wandered so he could hang out with other people too. Ava generally got him before the party, and after, and that was okay with her. She smiled faintly and M. "Just trying to get used to this whole... new thing. It's different. But I think I can start smiling as goofy as you are when you talk about Mac."
Looking abashed, Emmanuel said, "I'm not that bad... am I?" He hoped he wasn't. He was happy-- of course he was-- but he didn't want to be sappy, too. He had a feeling that might even annoy Mac, if he got sappy, and Jordan had warned him against being clingy. But... he was happy. And he did want people to know it, too. A little gloating wasn't entirely above him.
"Yes," Ava replied, her answer almost immediate, but she was struggling to keep from giggling as she said it. "But that's okay. It's nice to get totally sappy every now and then. It just means you really like her. And Mac is awesome anyway. Besides, eventually the sappy stage wears off, right? And then you're just a normal couple."
Emmanuel wrinkled his nose at her, not entirely sure whether she was teasing or not. "Just annoy everyone until it does," he commented. "Maybe should be extra, so it wears off faster?" A party was a good place for showing off how sappy one was, wasn't it? Or, well, doing it in public. He could be rather more sappy in private, he imagined, if just because nobody would hit him or crack jokes, and Mac would probably appreciate it. Maybe.
"Nah, I bet it'd go on the same amount of time," Ava replied, still smiling. "It's really okay, M, I'm just teasing you. I think it's... cute. That dreaded word." Mac was so much better than Jordan anyway. "Plus, Mac's someone that we can hang out with." Whereas Jordan? So was not. She wondered if Mac and M talked a lot, since M didn't seem to talk a lot to anyone.
That thought had, indeed, crossed Emmanuel's mind more than once. Even if the whole elemental thing made him and Jordan impossible, even if he knew perfectly well that their personalities didn't mesh in that way, even if he did find her remotely attractive-- it'd never work when she got totally pissed every time his best friend came up in conversation. "We should double-date," he said, grinning faintly. He was only partly teasing.
"I was trying to avoid that specific phrase," Ava admitted, chuckling softly. She found the concept of 'double dating' kind of cheesy. But hanging out? That was okay! "But yeah, I know Cian would be down for it. I know he's got a ton of friends but I think he really only enjoys hanging out with like, a handful of them." She sipped her beer again before nudging him with her elbow. "Oh! And hey, you've got to come over again soon and check on my garden. I've been trying to keep up with it, but it's always nice to have you around and make sure nothing is dying."
That was the thing about being popular and having a lot of friends, Emmanuel had found: most of them weren't really people you liked, they were just people to do things with as a group. There were always fewer who you were really close to. So he nodded to that statement, filed the idea of taking Mac out with Ava and Cian away-- maybe he could get Cian to pay, or help pay?-- and then smiled to her suggestion of checking up on her garden. "Be glad to. Monday maybe?" After chores and another round of trying to find a job.... "How's it looking?"
"So far it's looking pretty good... I keep going out to see if the seeds we've planted are sprouting yet. They certainly take their time, don't they?" But nothing was dead yet, so Ava was considering it to be a success so far. "Monday should be okay! I've got a few more applications to turn in, but I should be home in the afternoon sometime." She really needed to find a job! She wanted to be able to get things and help pay for things on her own, rather than depending on her mom to give her cash.
"Exactly what I'd planned," Emmanuel said dryly. They'd be out job-hunting at the same time, and show up at the garden probably at the same time, too. Though he imagined they'd be looking for different jobs... waitressing and desk-work was definitely not for Emmanuel. He wanted something outside and manual. "Good luck finding," he added. "We'll both need it."
"Thanks. I've already put a few applications in. The idea of working over the summer sucks, but I need something I guess." She made a face and sipped her beer again. Blech. Ava glanced at M again. "You could always work at the greenhouse, or whatever it's called. Where we bought my plants? I bet you would do really well there." Keeping the plants alive and growing and everything. Plus, he'd probably enjoy it.
"Already did," Emmanuel assured her. "Just dunno if they're hiring." He hadn't gotten a call about it, anyhow. He had a few other places he could go to-- the local gardening company, for one. The parks and recreation part of the city management, for another. Anything that kept him outside was good enough for him, really, though working with plants would be, of course, the best option. "Where've you tried?"
"Oh man, what haven't I tried?" Ava laughed. "Juicy Java, the smoothie place, the bookstore over here, a couple of the cafes. I even applied at two of the coffee places and the gift shop at the marina. I'll take anything at this point, I guess. I might have waited too long into the summer, and all the good jobs are taken."
"Could be," Emmanuel sighed. He just hoped none of the jobs he wanted counted as "good" jobs. He just needed something, anything really, to keep from going broke every time he wanted to take Mac out. As much as he'd be happy just taking her to the beach or the forest, he knew he'd have to at least feed her, eventually, or he'd definitely be being a bad boyfriend. "You're more open than I am," he said. "Prob'ly better luck."
She gave him an odd look before shrugging. "I guess so." Ava would much rather work somewhere without people. She didn't know what it would be like to hear thoughts from strangers, hours at a time, several days of the week. She spent most of her free time alone, or with Cian, who was a null, so she still got mental silence. It scared her a bit to think about working out in public. It was bad enough being at this party where she was hearing things right and left. Thankfully, most tidbits were pretty boring. It still had her head throbbing a bit though. "I think I might try to track down Cian," she said after a moment of sorting through the voices. "And let you get back to Mac. She looks like she's lonely over there without you."
Though he knew she was probably being facetious, Emmanuel glanced Mac's way, anyhow. She really didn't look that lonely, but he didn't exactly mind going over there, even so. Besides, he could recognize a suggestion to part conversational ways when he heard one. "Better fix that, then," he answered Ava, flashing her a quick grin. "Tell Cian hi for me."
"I will. I'm sure he'll find you by the end of the night," Ava said, returning M's smile. "Tell Mac I said hello too." And thank god for M's quiet thoughts. It was almost as nice as having Cian around. She lifted her cup in salute before heading off into the throng of people, figuring she ought to try to pinpoint the jocks, since she was guessing that's where Cian would be.