Gin Vickers is a dreamer (ginsoakeddreams) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-10-01 22:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-11-2017, gin, gin and jyoti, jyoti |
Making Plans
Who: Gin and Jyoti
Where: Central Park
When: Late Morning
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be in the park, Jyoti was thinking. More accurately, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be getting high in broad daylight in the park. Accuracy didn’t make her care any more, granted, but at least she could recognize the potential risks in her behavior. Still, Jyoti was pretty confident that this was going to be just fine.
After all, the whole dome seemed weird today; tense over something that hadn’t happened yet, too tense for such gorgeous weather. She hadn’t seen a single cop since leaving her house and workshop, letting a batch of fresh panes cool for the day as she basked in the contrast between the weather and the sheen of sweat on her skin. And if there were no uniforms around? Jyoti was going to keep on doing what she was doing, which right now entailed sitting under a tree in the park, puffing on a glass chilam pipe and blowing expert smoke rings with a self-satisfied smile.
Gin had just spent the evening with her best friend, drinking down a fair bit of wine and listening to some things that she wasn't exactly sure she was ready to accept as being real. True, sure. Lia wouldn't lie to her. And if Lia believed it, Gin knew it couldn't be false. Even if she wasn't yet prepared to assimilate it into her life. Werewolves? Werewolves?? Still, there was the whole Mary Jane aspect she'd been chasing for her own art. Something she was sure erstwhile single-mom Lia wouldn't have approved.
It hadn't been a conscious thing, going to find Jyoti. But once she was there, Gin wondered if it hadn't been somehow second nature or something less divine.
"Hey, J! Fancy seeing you here. At the opportune time. Anything good on your roster?" For sale?
Sucking down an errant curl of smoke, Jyoti had a smile curling her lips easily as Gin called out and headed over. She sat up a little, shoulders rolling easily as she let her pipe sit in her lap, finally exhaling her hit. “Gin you doll,” she teased in warm greeting, “Do you ever have an inopportune time?” She was definitely a fan of the other woman’s, feeling at ease with the familiarity Gin seemed to have with people after five minutes of knowing them.
Jyoti got that herself, and more, she liked receiving it as much as she liked the sun warming her in this moment. “And you know I’ve always got something good,” she added playfully, “Just depends on what you’re trying to find. Windows? There’s a waiting list after all that happy horseshit with the wolf attacks. Anything else, you’re at the front of the line.”
"Yes!" Gin said, her chest puffing out a bit - not that she had anything to take that much pride in right then unless Jyoti wanted or could pass some really creepy paintings. "All the time is opportune for me." Which was BS but as Gin got closer she paused to smile and breathe in. After the week she'd had, that smell was one of the most welcome in her life.
"Wait, there's a back order on windows because of wolf attacks?" Gin knew about there being possibly werewolves in the dome but she hadn't realize people would/could recover quickly enough to need windows that badly. Just how many people had been attacked?! "No, shit, nevermind. I was here because I need bubbly glass and a couple drags. You think you got me today?"
“A lot of windows caught stray bullets,” Jyoti explained with a smirk, “Thank god I was way clear of that shit. Heard guns going off and locked myself up tight in the bakery.” Her own nickname for her workshop, though given Jyoti’s vices? It was open to interpretation. But as she processed Gin’s needs through the creeping haze of her dope, Jyoti’s smile grew as she nodded, scooting over a bit to make room under the tree.
“I’m thinking I can help?” she answered at last, patting the dirt next to her, “Got a pane that curled in the beds and when I pulled it it bubbled right up, it kinda happens a lot…” But then, this wasn’t a proper setup for her work, and Jyoti knew she wouldn’t get one in a place like Delphi. What she had was a godsend already, she wasn’t going to complain. “So the glass, sure. The grass? None to sell, but a few puffs are easy like Sunday morning,” Jyoti told her agreeably, holding her chilam out between two fingers as she fixed an inviting smile on Gin.
Gin didn't want to imagine anyone near to flying bullets. Well, it did trigger (maybe pun intended?) some creativity and she might have been in the midst of translating emotion into product… but she didn't want to imagine bullets coming near people she knew and liked. Jyoti included. And once again, without notice, she imagined adopting Jyoti even though the other woman could probably have kicked ass, taken names, and never ruffled a hair during the zombie apocalypse. At least in Gin's mind.
Gin's mind. Which was… easy like Sunday morning off to a puff or two as much as Jyoti was willing. She took from two fingers to two fingers then took a breath. A very green, life-affirming breath that lent her toward grinning at Jyoti. "Thank you," she said on the lungful still. "You're a beauty. How do I repay you? I think I'm in arrears."
Jyoti’s expression seemed to say she had ideas for reparation, but she didn’t voice them as she watched Gin hold her hit, finally taking her pipe back for a lungful of her own. She didn’t make much effort to hide her more… appreciative stares, but why should she? In Jyoti’s mind they were a silent compliment, and she never minded paying one.
“You’ve never got to pay me back for a smoke,” she promised, stretching languidly in her seat, “Even if I do take drinks, home-cooked meals, and massages as payment. Plus, y’know, cash. But that’s not as fun.” Vital, sure, but being the sole practitioner of her trade in Delphi meant that Jyoti was rarely worried about earning money.
Gin was really BSing here. Acting large and as though she was an old bedfellow with the smoke. Which wasn't exactly the case. She'd bought before. She'd taken a couple half-puffs that she'd made a lot out of to cover her inexperience. Even when she'd stopped by the greenhouse to buy from Skylar it hadn't been something she was sure she would do. Until she'd met the ghost guy and found out Lia might be a werewolf. Her mind was whirling off into outer space and so when she'd found Jyoti, she was more than ready. But she needed to slow down now so it was very good that the other woman took the pipe back.
"I can do those things," she said, not missing the look Jyoti had given her. She felt her ears turn pink but she couldn't say she didn't like it. Jyoti was undeniably attractive and Gin was already crushing on the way the woman's hair caught the sun. She giggled without a real reason to and in the back of her mind she registered the fact she was going to come across as the total newb that she was at any moment. "I'm very good at drinks especially. Plus I think my fingers do a little magic." She wiggled them as though giving a massage and then stopped to look at them.
While both women were acting a little more worldly than they were, Jyoti at least could back up her smoking. It had been decriminalized back home, and at school? Well, even MIT had students looking to unwind. But then, she was at a disadvantage she didn’t even know about either; what with Gin’s insight on the changing nature of Delphi and the people (and not-people) in it. No, right now Jyoti thought she had the full scope of things laid out in front of her increasingly-hazy eyes, and that kept the grin on her lips as Gin giggled.
Man or woman, knowing she had an effect on someone was always a private thrill as much as a reaffirmation of herself, and Jyoti never got tired of it. It was easier when it was someone like Gin, to boot, because with a woman like her and her enthralling eyes, supple curves and more? It wasn’t forced. “I’d believe that on your word alone,” she assured Gin warmly, “Except if you owe me? I won’t turn down proof, both with the drinks and the magic.” A setup like that could only turn into a good night, no matter where the lines got drawn between the two of them.
"I'll give you whatever proof you need, whenever you like. My books are wide open these days other than a new commission I took but have been neglecting. Nothing social," she said with a soft sigh, her voice meandering in and out of amusement. She wasn't complaining, not by a long shot. Gin hardly ever did and she almost never felt sorry for herself. Rather she spoke in facts and daydreamed about the things she'd like to and hoped to do at some point. Like have drinks and give Jyoti a massage. That sounded like a good time.
Gin stretched slowly, feeling like a cat and almost purring as her cares seemed to slip away slowly on the wave of whatever it was in the smoke that did that to a person. Her disordered, cluttered thoughts felt less complicated with each passing minute and she watched Jyoti, almost envious of the other woman's calm. However it had come to be. "Have you ever met anyone who could disappear?" she asked idly, restraining herself momentarily from reaching out to touch Jyoti's dark hair. It looked soft and Gin thought it would be fun to wrap it around her fingers the way she'd used to do with her own hair when she was in elementary school.
That was a statement Jyoti was going to hold her to, no doubt about it. There was a promise of sheer enjoyment of one form or another in there, and Gin was the type who could actually appreciate it like Jyoti could. “Nothing social?” she echoed first, “That, doll, is a trage-fucking-dy of the highest order.” It was just wasteful on the parts of people here to not be giving the attention Gin deserved, but Jyoti already knew that around here, you had to make your own fun sometimes. Which was why she was always ready to tease or entice a little bit.
She sighed ruefully at the supposed injustice, raising her pipe for another flick from the lighter and another soft inhale as Gin asked her question. It was odd enough to raise Jyoti’s eyebrows as she leaned forward to catch a stray curl of smoke, then settled back against the tree. “Disappear like…” Jyoti urged, pushing the smoke from her lungs between words, “Like they’re sneaking out without you noticing? Or like some magician, poof and they’re gone shit?”
Gin giggled again and shook her head. "Not too much of a tragedy. It's been kind of self-imposed lately. I got on a kick of paintings in one particular theme and sort of shut myself away for a bit. Can't get invited out if you're not out to be invited, right?" She picked at some fuzz on the edge of her skirt and wondered where exactly fuzz came from sometimes. It was a strange tangent but it felt like heaven to be thinking about the mundane right now. And talking about easy things.
"Yeah, like poof. Gone. Then poof. Back again." Each time she said "poof" she made an explosive gesture with her hands and bit her lip so as not to giggle because she was at least half serious about it. The more she thought about it the more likely it seemed Cody was a ghost even though he'd been plenty solid-looking when she'd been faced with him. She wasn't sure she was going to tell Jyoti about Cody but it was an interesting topic to get a different opinion on. And why the hell not ask?
“Okay then nope,” Jyoti answered then, dark hair cascading around her shoulders as she shook her head in answer. “Closest I ever got was this house party back in school? We thought it’d be hilarious to hire a magician, like for a kids’ party. Even six beers deep that guy was good.” She laughed richly, tipping her head back before pushing her free hand through it. gathering it to one side as best she could. “And that was just misdirection stuff, you know? No return-poofing,” she added, matching Gin’s gesture with her open hand and grinning. “Why? Did you meet a charming man with a wand and top hat?”
Gin liked that Jyoti didn't question much further or look at her like she was nuts. Which she might just be. The further away from the incident she got, the more nightmares she had and the more hellish paintings she did, the more Gin wondered if she hadn't just had a nightmare in the orchard and Cody had been a figment of it. She wished she could see him again to confirm she was right in believing he'd been real. Though she was distracted away from that though as Jyoti's hair moved and then she ran her fingers through it. Gin wasn't sure why, but she was fascinated and maybe a little more than preoccupied by the dark locks. Her hand began to raise but she put it back into her lap and chewed her lower lip, realizing Jyoti had just told her a story that she'd only half heard. "I like magicians if they're good," she said lamely. "If they can put someone in a box you can see out the back of and they've walked in and out of it themself? Then they pull the curtain and the person is gone? I love that. Where does the person go?" She stopped gushing with a shake of her head. "Don't I wish. A charming anyone in any kind of hat would work probably."
Whatever cynical or sarcastic side Jyoti had, she wasn’t always an outright bitch, and especially not when she had a nice buzz going like she did right now. So she had no problem just smiling at Gin’s love of magicians, biting back her own thoughts that a trick like that was just design and engineering; a trap door or pane of glass covering an escape. The illusion was the whole point, why not buy into it enough to get a smile? “Well we’ll have to hit O’Reilly’s some night then,” she insisted, hooking hair behind one ear with a drag of her fingers, “See what sort of charm and/or hats they might have for you, yeah?” She knew there’d be guys there, and she might have to keep the pushier ones from ruining the night for Gin, but that was never a problem. That kind of guy was easy to handle.
Gin stole her eyes away from the distraction of Jyoti's hair and went a little cross-eyed much to her mortification. Maybe this had been a bad idea, this smoking. Still, it made her giggle a little and she brushed her wispy red bangs out of her eyes. "I've been to O'Reilly's and there was a severe lack of charm there. Some of it was downright crass. But you know? That's sort of the world we're living in, isn't it?" she asked, beginning to feel philosophical. "You can't ask for magic from a random at the bar, can you? They're out of pocket and out of time, busy little drones plugging away at the system and wishing the doors would open. Oh who gives a shit if they don't? We have some real beauty here in our safety." She canted her head and looked at the other woman with interest. "Don't we?"
“We do,” came an easy answer as Jyoti watched Gin, grinning to herself at the slow thoughtfulness stealing over her friend. Good weed was a godsend. “But it’s easy for people to lose sight of it when all they’re focused on is what’s missing. Like right now, they want to know there’s a way out of here even if ‘here’ was the answer to the last problem we all had. Things go wrong, it just happens,” she stressed before taking a smaller puff, “It did before the risen, in the normal world. Thinking nothing can go wrong just because we’ve got walls up, then wanting to abandon them the first time there’s trouble? That’s mankind, baby. Arrogance and panic in equal doses, shake well and aim away from the eyes…”
Gin maintained a serious expression all through Jyoti's pensive monologue. The other woman was right, so right about everything. Except she couldn't help but burst into a giggle at the analogy at the very end. She bit it back after a moment to continue. "I was always told, and fully believe, that there are no mistakes. In art, especially because art is fluid and you simply make something new and better out of it. But in life it can be that way too. We should be making the best of this lemon. Why don't we have more social gatherings in this place? People spend too much time complaining and staying away from each other. If we banded together, fought the good fight, side by side, I'll bet more people would be happier with the status quo. Nobody's content. Well," she said and smiled a bit, "I am mostly. But that might be because I'm a little baked."
Jyoti knew why there weren’t more social moments, and it was as simple as the body count of the last week. The people running Delphi tried, sure, but in the wake of death plenty of people shied away and kept to themselves. “I am too, content and baked,” she agreed with a laugh and another languid stretch of her legs, “But I know what you mean about what we should be trying to do here, and for real Gin? I think you could spearhead it.” Jyoti knew it was beyond her, she had those sharp edges to her personality that came out sometimes, but Gin? She was light and free, encouraging, warm; she’d be perfect to try and rally the spirits of people in Delphi. “Give it a shot and I just might comp you some art supplies out of gratitude.”
Gin had been able to sort of ostrich her way through the last weeks. Her head in her art rather than in her community. So she'd missed a lot of the reports of death. Or at least she thought she had. It was always possible that the deaths so close to home were the reason behind her hellish nightmares and paintings. "Really? You think I should try event planning?" Her mind was already rolling on ideas before the incentive of comped art supplies. Her eyes shot toward Jyoti and she clapped in a very child-like way. "Ooh, yours are the best I've ever had! Art supplies!" She grinned and crossed her legs. "But you should help. Maybe silent partner. I would never have thought of trying it without your input. I could use a friend at least the first time around." She could always ask Lia to help too, but Lia had a lot on her plate. She didn't want to add to the burden and Jyoti seemed fairly carefree - at least at the moment.
“I could pitch in,” Jyoti offered with an easy little grin, sitting up and tapping out the remnants of her chilam before she slipped it into a pocket. Pipes like those were Jyoti’s artistic outlet, but she had a flair for color and presentation. Plus she’d be able to produce materials more to Gin’s liking more deliberately if needed. “But we could make this happen, do shit with places around town…” It’d be fun, it’d give Jyoti that feeling of control she loved so much, and if there was a way to catch new clients or turn a profit? That never hurt.
Gin clapped her hands together once and looked pleased as pie. "Would you? You know, I already have an idea. You remember that bachelor auction they had a couple weeks ago to benefit the orphanage? I heard gals talking like they'd be happy if the tables were turned. We could so put together a bachelorette auction to benefit something else going on in Delphi." Her mind wandered to what it would feel like to make something big like that happen.
That idea drew her grin wider as Jyoti nodded enthusiastically, catching the spark fueling Gin. “That’s perfect,” she gushed, “We could do something for the hospital, maybe? After this last week I’m sure they’re hurting for supplies and all. Like… say that anyone who wins an auction makes a blood donation or something? And I know there’s supposed to be a new place opening in town, maybe we could get it to do a VIP night for the winners and their dates.” And she’d be among those auctioning themselves, for sure; Jyoti couldn’t resist a chance to possibly be contended for, so long as the winner didn’t get too possessive.
Gin's eyes grew wide and full of light as she listened to Jyoti. "The hospital is a great cause. I bet everyone in the dome would turn out for something that benefited it." She nibbled her lower lip even as she grinned and then half squealed, "Get out! You have the best ideas. I love that! I hadn't even begun to fully think that through but now it feels like it's half planned already! Definitely blood donation and VIP night!" Gin could see herself either auctioning herself or bidding depending on the bachelorettes and then dancing with whoever she ended up with. Oh so much fun. "We should get in contact with the hospital to set this thing up!" And she attempted to stand only to tumble back down on her butt with a giggle. "In a little while…"
With a rich laugh of her own as Gin dropped back down, Jyoti’s legs stretched as she settled back against the tree. There were hours yet before her glass would be done bleeding off heat in the cooling lanes, why not bask them away with good company? “You want the hospital? Or tracking down the new place at city hall?” she asked encouragingly, “Best way to get me in on this is to get me to commit. Otherwise?” Jyoti laughed, gesturing around her at the park. “Glass or grass, something’s getting baked. Tends to keep my focus, so yeah, occupy me.”
Gin brushed dirt off her skirt and her hands and looked playfully over at the other woman. "Get you to commit, huh?" she asked with a grin. "Hm, let's see. I've rubbed elbows a little with some of the people at the hospital but city hall hasn't forgiven me for painting that mural on the side of my shop." She didn't even remotely look contrite for that mural. As far as she knew it wasn't against the rules to paint murals on your own building. And it was tasteful though apparently controversial if the notices about complaints she'd received were to be believed. A big, dark black man and a tiny, fair skinned woman were entwined in a lover's embrace set against a lush garden of Eden. The inspiration had been a couple from her aunt and uncle’s bar who hadn’t survived the zombies. It was a tribute to them and their love and a call for unity in Delphi. They weren't even naked. Racism was ostensibly alive and well if people had a problem with that. "You want to tackle them?"
“Yeah, I can get that,” Jyoti agreed easily, comfortable with the challenge. She supplied them glass just like anyone else in the city, and more than once had talked shop with Delphi’s engineers in private. Not enough to open the physical doors trapping them here, but Jyoti thought she could at least open some that stood between the shared idea and making it real. “Once we get that done, we’ll need help setting shit up and all, but I think between the two of us, the asking will go easy.” Or she hoped it would. The reality of this would be much larger than such a simple plan, but Jyoti knew how to adapt. Rolling with it was half the fun, in her world.
Gin felt a little disappointed that Jyoti didn't seem aware of her mural or sympathetic to her being unforgiven for it but that was okay. Not everyone loved art the way she did, not everyone should. Right? "You rock my socks," she said as Jyoti agreed to take on city hall. She had every reason to believe Jyoti could win them over. 'Course that could be because she was still buzzing happily along and everything was making her mostly just happy. Either way she was pleased to have this idea to run with. "Oh, dear Saint Savannah, we can definitely get the decorating and set up done. That's the easy part, isn't it? The hard part is going to be getting the women to sign up! Like… more than 4 of them! Because I know they want it but I also know they're probably scared as hell to do it."
It was easy for Jyoti to let things slip past her, even when she wasn’t buzzed. It was just the glib, flippant side of her that people tended to forgive in the wake of her better aspects, and she’d been called on it so rarely that it never even dawned on her when she did it. Like now, with missing Gin’s comment on her mural entirely, and instead just grinning at the rest of the other woman’s words. “We’ll get them to sign up, Gin, I promise,” she stressed as she finally got her feet under her, dusting off her jeans errantly. “Once people see there’s a few names on the list, like say mine and yours? It’ll be waaay less scary for them to join the fun.” Or it’d still be like pulling teeth, but if Jyoti said she could make it happen? She was going to find a way.
Gin was two steps away from being deep in thought, excited and upbeat and giggly, but she had plans! She was going to do things! Make things happen and Jyoti, lovely Jyoti, was going to help her with them! In fact, she wouldn't have them without the other woman and she had the sudden impulse to hug her but she knew if she attempted she'd probably fall awkwardly on Jyoti instead so she contented herself to simply grinning at her. "I believe you. I'm not sure I can get started with the hospital just yet, but I'm going to go make a list of gals I think I can get to sign up." She stood up again, this time more slowly and carefully. "I'll call or text you when I have an answer!"
“I’ll be waiting,” Jyoti assured her, taking a few steps back with a leisurely little grin playing at her lips. The urge to push the flirting was there, sure, but with the topic at hand? That’d cause some very mixed signals, and Jyoti didn’t want to explain herself for wanting a hookup. So for now? Waiting. And city hall, and finding eligible women, and so much more. It was all about the buildup, she reminded herself. It was about anticipation… which was enough to grow her smile as she finally turned away from Gin. “Don’t let me wait too long,” she called invitingly, not looking back as she headed out of the park.