Everleigh Michaels (fastmachine) wrote in summerview, @ 2019-01-31 22:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | Peisinoê van der zee, complete, everleigh michaels, player: alice, player: kaz |
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Peisinoê had never actually been to Cece and Ever’s apartment. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate, she had stopped by the outside of it so she could walk with Cece when unusual things were happening at the Clinic like an office party that Cece would only begrudgingly go to and had to have some sort of extra incentive. Like someone outside waiting to walk with her. It wasn’t that Peisinoê didn’t get along with either of them, especially Cece, it was mostly just that she didn’t get out of her lab or house especially often. Mostly it was home, work, the diner with Parthenope, and occasionally grocery shopping. Her social life, much to her parents dismay, was incredibly lacking. Anyway, this was both a social visit and not, since she was not exactly in work clothes, a chunky green knit sweater she had borrowed from Parthenope’s closet and a long pleated skirt that was a deep, almost clay red and what were honestly her work flats. It was a bit odd looking, probably, but she had walked down here from their house and it was her day off. She couldn’t be blamed for wanting to be comfortable and lazy. It was a bit of a work visit though, on account of her coming by to see how the kitten — was it still a kitten? When did kittens become cats? — was doing. Not that she didn’t trust the two women to take care of the creature, but more like she didn’t trust the animal to not make it so difficult that it really didn’t seem worth the trouble. One hand raised to rap three times on the door resoundly before dropping down to rest on the bottle of Godiva chocolate liquor in her hand. What? Her parents said that it was always polite to bring a gift when visiting someone else’s home, and American television said human women loved Chocolate. The week had taken its toll on Everleigh. Between her two jobs, she was exhausted, and that was before even thinking about doing anything else. She was wondering if maybe it was time to quit working at the diner. She’d built up a fairly large savings, and it would give her more time to actually, you know, sleep. Maybe even become a functioning human being. Who was she kidding? The void of the diner would end up being filled with either video games, or working on the giant hunk of metal that she supposed was a car. Fixing Gidget was a huge undertaking, but it was far past due. Her father would’ve wanted to see the car complete, and that was worth it to her. Had it not been for the fact that the music in the video game she was playing had switched to a soft, roaming music, Ever probably wouldn’tve heard the knock on the door. Raising a brow (she wasn’t expecting company, and if Cece had locked herself out of the house, she’d have gotten a call. Stretching, she willed herself off of the couch, her plaid lounge pants dragging the floor around her feet as she padded over to the door. The oversized Achievment Hunter shirt hung off of one shoulder (she’d cut the neck out of it so that it would fit in a more slouchy style) as she flung the door open. Blue eyes inspected the woman on the other side of the door with a mish mash of confusion, delight, and curiosity. “Peisinoê!” Stepping out of the doorway, she waved the other woman in, grinning. “Come in and get warm. I didn’t know you were stopping by. What brings you?” Relief, when the door opened, because like every socially awkward person out there, Peisinoê had some deep seated fears about showing up at the wrong house. Or someone peeping through the door, seeing her, and deciding not to open it. These were worries she didn’t have in the Undersea, largely because of her family and also because so many of her social events were chaperoned or otherwise escorted and no one kept their doors closed to someone with a retinue. It was also at least partially because she mostly only engaged in social events on the surface that she actually wanted to be a part of. Unlike in the Undersea. “Good morning!” Oh, Everleigh was right, she hadn’t called ahead, had she? How had she remembered to bring a gift, but not to call ahead? “Yes, that’s my fault, I’m sorry I didn’t call — is now a bad time? I can leave?” But then Everleigh was waving her inside and Peisinoê followed, polite traditions too ingrained in her to continue standing on the front porch rambling on. And here Cohen said he was hopeful, “I brought chocolate uh, alcohol?” Well there was definitely alcohol in it, but the clerk at the store said you’d have to consume the whole thing to get drunk so it hardly counted. Morning? Looking at the sky outside, then glancing back at the clock in the kitchen, Ever mentally facepalmed. She'd been up all night, again, completely absorbed in the game she was playing. Damn you, Skyrim. She thought, stifling a yawn. "No, you're good. I was just playing a video game." For fourteen straight hours. She hadn't even noticed the sun coming up, thanks to the blackout curtains, and she probably hadn't noticed Cece coming and going due to the fact that she'd had her headphones on for most of the night. Thank the gods she didn't have to go to work today. She shut the door quickly, once Peisinoê had entered. She didn't want any more of the cold air sneaking in, plus the longer the door was open, the bigger chance Khoshekh would try and escape. Again. Glancing down at the bottle in her friend's arms, she laughed. "Chocolate alcohol, huh? Two things that are consumed in high quantities in this house." Moving into the kitchen, the blonde pulled two mugs out of the dishwasher. "Can I get you a cup of coffee? Tea? Some of that delicious sounding chocolate alcohol?" Ever would be lying if she said she didn't plan on pouring some of that into her coffee right now. “Oh?” Peisinoê didn’t know much about video games, though she had learned more since Parthenope started working in the arcade, and before that, once she started University. A few people had thought she would enjoy them though, enough of them in fact she was considering picking them up, though she wasn’t sure where to start, “What sort of video games do you play?” She tried not to look around the house too curiously, fingers fidgeting with the ends of her sweater as she also resisted the impulse to kick off her shoes. Apparently, that was weird to some people, even if her and her sister thought it was strange to wear your shoes in the house. “I was told it was rude to visit people’s homes without a gift, and it seemed safe?” Why did she make that a question? Ugh. “Coffee, with a bit of the alcohol? The clerk at the store suggested it.” Probably just to stop her from deliberating outloud in front of the display for another thirty minutes, honestly. Peisinoê wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but she was intrigued by this idea, “Thank you for uh, letting me in. I’m not keeping you from errands or anything I hope?” For an apartment with Witches, it was rather normal, like the apartments of her classmates she had visited at University, though less energy drinks and pizza boxes. That was a loaded question right there. “Oh, a little of this, a little of that. I’ve been on a platformer kick lately, but I’m usually more of an FPS kind of girl.” She’d been having way too much fun with the throwback games, though. Spyro and Crash Bandicoot had brought her back to her days of arguing over the playstation with her brother. The last several hours, however, had been dedicated to her Skyrim playthrough that she’d been neglecting. If she was concerned about energy drink cans and pizza boxes, Ever would urge her to not look in the living room. There were several empty red bull cans, and half a pizza hanging out on the coffee table at the moment. “Well, your gift will definitely not go to waste here.” The two girls were not ones to waste good alcohol. Or chocolate She started a fresh pot of coffee, setting the liquor down next to the machine and the mugs. “You’re not keeping me from anything important, I promise you that. It’s been a nice couple of days off, and I think most of my errands are already done.” It was probably ridiculous for her brain to focus so intently on Ever’s words, connecting them to bits of conversation she had overheard both at College and at Work, even while flipping through YouTube when her favorite Science channels didn’t update fast enough (read: ever). Even so, she made a note to further research them later, because she couldn’t just casually get into a new hobby, “One of the doctors on the Mainland suggested Portal as a game I might enjoy?” Because of her occasional biting humor and love of puzzles, apparently. “Oh good, although I confess, I dread to see Cece on both alcohol and sugar rush mode at the same time.” Not that Cece and sugar hadn’t worked out for her, she’d been introduced to sour patch candy by the younger woman, something that she was endlessly appreciative for, but both? And outside of work? That would be a sight to see. Peisinoê peered around curiously while trying to not look like she was being nosy, leaning against the counter in a way that she hoped was casual, “I partially wanted to stop by to see how… Khoshekh? Was doing?” Cece had told her what they had named the cat, with a grin and something akin to a cackle, but it was still strange saying it outloud. Really, it was just a further sign she needed to listen to more non-science related podcasts. “Or how you are enduring him, might be the better question.” She pondered that for a moment. “Yeah, I could see you getting a kick out of Portal. If you ever want to try it out, let me know. I have it floating around here, somewhere.” She couldn’t remember if it was on her computer, or her Xbox. Both, maybe? Everleigh had been witness to several sugar and booze overloads with her roommate, and they were always interesting. “One of these days, you’ll have to come have a wine night with us. You can witness that chaos in a safe, and controlled environment.” Well, mostly controlled. The entire house was known to burst into pure chaotic energy some nights. At least it was fun? The mermaid’s reason for stopping by didn’t really surprise her. “She’s around here, somewhere. Last I saw her, she was lounging in the bathroom sink.” Like a child in school who had gotten a quiz question right, Peisinoê visibly perked up, “You think so? Okay, I’ll stat deciding which console to buy, unless you have a recommendation?” Because she was a research type, so that would definitely be happening, but the opinion of people she respected would always be taken into consideration. Being invited over for a wine night — did that count as a girls night? — clearly tickled her pink, and she grinned from ear to ear, “Oh, that sounds lovely! Could Parthenope come?” Because they took the cliche of Twins sticking together to heart, what could they say? It worked for them, even more now that they were far from home. Not that they had to be together at all times, but she did get less nervous with her sister around. She was a bit afraid of getting lost and seeming nosy, but that didn’t stop her from nodding and heading down the hall towards where she assumed the bathroom was. Nose twitching as her magic reached for the familiar one of the cat who had a bit of the sea in his blood. A few minutes later she returned, holding one of her fingers tightly, “He’s gotten less bitey! I’m impressed!” Only one barely bleeding mark, that was definitely a success! But she was soon fidgeting as she leaned against the counter, even before the coffee, “I uh, I was wondering if I could trouble you for some advice, as well?” “PC. The answer is always PC.” Even though she had pretty much every console, she really only ever used them for exclusive games and Netflix. “But if you're not wanting to dump a ton of money into a good gaming computer, Xbox is a good choice, too.” Seeing how excited the idea of a wine night made her, Ever nodded. “Absolutely! The more the merrier. The four of us can maybe even play some kind of game.” Board, video, or otherwise, there was no shortage of games in the Desilva-Michaels household. While Peisinoê went to search for the cat, Ever prepared two cups of coffee, adding a little more of the chocolate liqueur into her own mug than she did her friends. She moved to the counter, placing the mug in front of Peisinoê when she returned. “Do you want a bandaid for that?” 0 She asked, pointing to the other woman's hand. Raising a brow, she took a sip of her coffee. People didn't tend to come to her seeking advice, unless it was about their cars, or their bad taste in games. “Can't promise I'll be much help, but sure. What's on your mind?” That possibility was given due consideration, because in a good portion of instances, Peisinoê was the practically minded sort, so she didn’t mind pouring money into something but she preferred it be worth the expense. Which is the reason why she drummed her nails on the counter, “I don’t know how often I’ll actually use it. So perhaps going with the simpler, less expensive option is better for now?” She cast another glance around the apartment, curious but trying not to be nosy at the same time, “Do you host many get togethers, you and Cece?” Neither of them seemed like it would be their sort of thing, though Cece even less so. Honestly, she could see the other Witch refusing to get out of her PJs for a party. When she let go of her finger it had already stopped bleeding, hardly a graze really. So she shook her head and reached for the coffee mug instead, relishing the warmth of it as soon as her hands were wrapped around the ceramic. Ah. Warmth. The greatest of feelings. “I’m fine, thank you.” Now for her question. How did she put it smoothly. Delicately. Like a normal person. “How does dating work? On the surface? I need to know from a real person, not a magazine.” Okay so. Not that. That probably wasn’t normal. Good going, Peisinoê. “I’ll send you some links, and you can figure out what you’re looking for.” There were a few options when it came to buying an Xbox, but not nearly as bad as it would’ve been had she decided to go for a PC. Xbox was going to be a far easier venture for someone starting out. Shaking her head, she swirled the coffee around in her cup. “Not many, but even Cece enjoys a good girls night, now and again.” Ever was feeling like they were far overdue for one. Well, one that wasn’t just the two of them talking to their pets in ridiculous voices, while drinking wine in their underwear. “I’ll talk it over with her, and see what she thinks.” Ever supposed it helped that Cece seemed to like Peisinoê, so at least they had that going for them. When Peisinoê asked her question, Everleigh couldn’t help but pause, head tilted to one side, and silently wonder why the beautiful mermaid before her had thought that she would be a good source of information for this. “Uhm, well. I don’t know how helpful I’m going to be on this subject, but .. what, specifically, did you want to know? Are you trying to maybe date someone?” Peisinoê perked up again at the offer of links, “Oh good, I love research. Yes please, I’ll text you my email.” That was just the sort of soothing rabbit hole she needed, really. Probably more relaxing than the games themselves. There could be lists! Tables! The coffee was sipped on carefully as she mulled over the taste before nodding, deciding that the alcohol taste was largely killed (although she knew how risky that was now) and the bitterness of the coffee rounded out and softened by the chocolate. It truly was a delightful combination, even making coffee palatable, “We don’t have many either. It’s mostly Parthenope and me, or Mickey on movie nights. It might be fun to spice things up.” Thank goodness, Everleigh didn’t laugh at her awkward blurting out the question like a teenager. For the goddesses take, she was a hundred and thirty years old! Yet still, she understood dating on the Surface only distantly, as she had never needed to and it was background chatter to more important things in the ten years she had been here, “Uh. I think I already am? That’s part of the problem. It is very different in the Undersea. I guess I’m looking for anything that is helpful so I don’t mess it up before it gets started.” She’d have to make a mental note to pull up those links to send to Peisinoê later. At least she could be confident in her ability to help somehow. Technology and cars made sense to the young blonde. The rest of life? Well she was still figuring that out, wasn’t she? “Definitely fun!” She was truly excited about this idea, and she couldn’t wait to talk to Cece about it. Taking another sip of her coffee, Ever remembered just how dangerous mixing these deliciously flavored liqueurs and coffee could be. Or just the liqueurs in general. Bailey’s over ice was delicious. She pondered that for a moment. “Well, I can tell you that dating in real life is very rarely anything like it is in the movies.” For someone who wasn’t familiar with the human world, she imagined that it could be easy to have your ideas of how things operated skewed by Hollywood, and its ideals. “But why don’t you tell me about what’s happened so far? That might give me a better idea of what help I might be able to give.” Peisinoê mirrored her, taking a generous drink of her coffee — which didn’t taste like liquor at all! And that only served to remind her of how she met Cohen, the way it relaxed both of them was nice, but she also learned the rough lesson of just because something with alcohol doesn’t taste like alcohol doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. Maybe she should have consumed more alcohol at University, that was when people were supposed to learn about it, weren’t they? If she wasn’t careful, this was going to be the second time she got excited about something and made a fool of herself, “We need to get out more, even if it’s just to someone else’s place.” The mug was set down, one of her hands staying around it while the other drummed on the counter, “Uh. Okay. We agreed we want to — we are a couple?” Now that she thought about it, for someone who valued precision, their words were rather vague, weren’t they? She had said we are going to be a great couple going to be implies the future, not present. “See, I’m doing it now! I overthink! He kissed me once, at my house, and we agreed to something and that was it! At home courting is a process, there are traditions. That is, if you don’t have an arranged betrothal like I did.” Oh no, she was working herself up and she had to take a deep breath, calming down forcefully with another drink of her coffee. Arranged betrothals? Traditions? That wasn’t something that Ever really dealt with, but hey, this wasn’t the undersea, was it? No, this was 2019 America, which was a completely different world. “I mean, courting up here used to have traditions and things, but that was a long time ago. Long before the age of things like Tinder, or Netflix and chill.” Setting her coffee aside for a moment, Everleigh pondered. A good makeout session doesn't necessarily mean a relationship, but it sounded like the two of the had made some kind of agreement after. “Things aren’t always black and white up here. I mean - what exactly was this ‘agreement’?” Ever wondered for a moment if maybe she should refer Peisinoê to someone with a bit more dating experience. Maybe Kyle, though would talking to a succubus really be the best idea? Her thoughts on netflix and chill were written across her face clear as day, because she could hide her expressions when she wanted to but by default, folk from her city were naturally expressive — and she was no exception to that. Peisinoê was not so ignorant as to not know what that phrase meant, thank you very much, “I have never been on that particular website, not that I blame you if you like it, but I would rather just continue living in my lab.” Which was one of the reasons this whole affair had caught her off guard, truthfully. Well. Now that Ever said it outloud, it sounded like a contract. Which she was used to, unfortunately, especially with the fact that she had been engaged since birth. Personally, she preferred specifics. Exact things. “That we were a couple. And that we would be honest with each other with our thoughts even if we are afraid of it upsetting one another. We’ll hear each other out.” That made her give an involuntary, soft smile, eyes dropping down to gaze at her coffee wistfully before taking a drink to try and hide it. She didn’t know why she chuckled at the mermaid’s expression, but Ever couldn’t seem to stop the sound from bubbling up out of her throat. “I can’t say I blame you. Honestly, if you can avoid it? Do so, that way you don’t end up binge watching the entire series of Friends over the span of a few days.” Netflix was a dangerous, dangerous place sometimes. She had far too often fallen down the rabbit hole that was her Netflix queue, and spent far too long watching shows that really weren’t that interesting, simply because they were there. “Then just be honest with him. Let him know that you’re … unsure of where the two of you are?” She scrunched up her nose, silently second guessing herself a little. “I mean, you did promise to be honest, right? So just … tell him what you told me. The weirdness that is dating on land isn’t something that you’re familiar with, and you want to make sure that you’re both on the same page.” That was solid advice, right? There was nothing wrong with being honest, Ever thought, especially when you had made a promise to be just that with another person. Another deep breath. Everleigh was right, when she put it like that it sounded reasonable. Or maybe she just needed to hear someone else say it. She took a few generous drinks of her coffee as she tried to figure out how to say that to Cohen without sounding, like, well, “What if he doesn’t want to date someone who doesn’t know how his world works?” Which, you know, she probably should have thought of before saying yes but. Cohen just looked so sweet and earnest, made her want to spend time out of her lab to try and understand another person. A feeling that was entirely new for her. From her bag she pulled out a small notepad and a pen, because of course Peisinoê took one with her everywhere. A pen poised over a clear page, “And uh, how do first dates work? I googled it, but all of them seem very complicated and many require driving. What kind of first dates do you go on in Summerview?” Because of course she was going to treat this like a proper class. It kept her calmer and more focused. First dates. Those were always so awkward. Everleigh gave a quick though to the first dates she’d been on in the past, trying to figure out if there was any kind of pattern. “Um, well, I know some people prefer the whole ‘guy picks the girl up and takes her to a fancy dinner’ shtick, or there’s the whole ‘dinner and a movie’ deal. There’s the bowling alley, which I think is a pretty low pressure date spot, I think?” Polishing off the last of her coffee, she went and rinsed the mug out before setting it in the sink. She’d give it a proper wash later. “The most important thing, though, is to not let yourself feel pressured into doing something you don’t feel comfortable doing.” That was a lesson she’d had to learn the hard way. Her pen skittered along the paper, taking notes and somewhat more legible handwriting than one might expect from her profession, “The bowling alley sounds like a good idea.” Honestly, it seemed a bit unsanitary from what she had seen in movies, hence the reason her and Parthenope hadn’t gone yet, but she’d be willing to try if that was the sort of thing Cohen enjoyed. “I’ve had a number of fancy dinners in my life, including with my former betrothed, I wouldn’t mind if we skipped that.” As sad as that was, perhaps, that fine foods and overdone place settings didn’t hold much appeal now. Too many memories. Pressured. Pressured? What did she — Oh. Yes, of course. Peisinoê took another long drink of her coffee before finishing it off as well and mirroring Ever’s actions as she rinsed out the mug, “Well. I don’t think that’ll be an issue.” She made her way back over to the counter to look down at her notepad, “Do you have any other advice you think might be useful? Or anything that’ll just make me look less like a weirdly naive 130 year old?” It was dry but amused, because if her sister had taught her anything it was that sometimes you had to laugh at yourself. Laughing at yourself did seem to help, and Everleigh found herself doing that quite often. “Honestly? Just try your best not to overthink it too much, and let yourself have fun. Don’t try to be something, or someone, you're not.” That was the best advice that the young blonde could think of to give her. “He's likely to be just as nervous as you are about the whole thing.” It may, technically, be considered unladylike and improper, Peisinoê let out a snort, “You sound like my sister about our parents, I have a feeling it’ll work out better this go around though.” Was that normal, to be more yourself around your romantic partner than your parents? The bad part about being long lived is that familial clashing and disputes could be dragged out and on forever. “I doubt that. I’m fairly sure I’m not his first girlfriend. Which, is fine. I mean,” She gave a shrug, “I was engaged. I’m not sure if that means I’m winning or losing though.” Really, she missed Dae still, sometimes. Hard to imagine being married to her, but they were friends as well. If she couldn’t make something that was arranged as children work, then how would she manage this? Still though, Ever’s words did offer some comfort and help her relax again, so she found herself reaching out to pull the younger woman into a hug, “Thank you, Ever. I appreciate you listening.” How screwed up were things in the Undersea? “Well, we can only hope the results are better?” She tried to sound encouraging as she said it, but it came out a little more questioning than she’d intended. Shrugging, Ever continued. “I mean, I don’t think it really matters, as long as the two of you are happy, y’know?” Did it really make a difference how many girlfriends he’d had, or if she’d been engaged or not? Ever didn’t really see how it made much of a difference, as long as the two of them liked each other. And they were hugging. Okay. Um. That was slightly unexpected, but Everleigh gave her dear friend a hug in return. “Of course! I don’t know how helpful anything I said will actually be, but I’m always around to listen, if you need an ear!” Her advice was questionable, at best, considering her significant lack of experience, but she tried. That was what was important, right? Ever and Parthenope would probably get along well with that sort of mentality. Her twin had always been the more optimistic of the two of them, both on life in general and relationships. Peisinoê , on the other hand, usually needed facts and history to make an assessment, and history said that she should be worried. “Hopefully we will be. I mean. We are now, and it’s always better when the start is good, right?” She let Ever go, a smile on her face and an ease in her shoulders brought on by the reassurance (and alcohol) that had not been there when Ever first opened the door. “I don’t think there is anything I know that you do not, outside of the Medical field, but I hope you come to me or my sister if we can help as well, yes?” This wasn’t her sort of thing, but she was trying! And you don’t learn if you don’t try, and she needed to learn how to be a better friend. |