Our revels now are ended (fly_beyond) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-05-16 20:37:00 |
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Rachel’s feelings on Ilia were complicated. She didn’t seem like a bad person, she was insanely hot and in just the kind of way that hit allof Rachel’s buttons, but she had Chloe’s attention and that bothered her.
Ever since Chloe’s accident, Rachel had been feeling a little raw, old emotions over Chloe floating to the surface and just staying there.
She still suspected her boyfriend had cut her brakes but she was absolutely terrified of confronting him on it, so she just stewed over it in silence.
But for now, she put that out of her mind, so she could figure Ilia out.
So her treat for lunch, and her treat from her special stash, if Ilia was into that kind of thing.
Ilia wasn’t really sure what to make of Rachel saying they should get lunch together. It wasn’t like they really knew one another. They had Chloe in common and that was basically it. But hey, she also wasn’t going to pass up free food. While she may now be able to save money easier since being taken in by Logan, some old habits died hard. Like free food because you never knew when you were going to get to eat next.
Besides, it was a nice distraction from the Dreams and the parallels of her parents dying thanks to the fucking Schnees.
Food was a good bribe, or so Rachel always believed. She slid into the booth at the cafe, giving Illia a lopsided grin. “Sorry I’m late. Car troubles.”
Ilia nodded some with a shrug.
“It’s all good.” Okay so she was slightly suspicious of Rachel’s motives but there was no reason to really believe that she would do anything so she had agreed. And it wasn’t like she minded waiting. “I haven’t been here all that long, so you’re fine.”
Get into Illia’s good graces, keep Chloe for herself, something something profit. Just. Ilia was fucking hot and it was hard not to stare. “That’s good. It’s a piece of shit but it gets me places. Most of the time.”
She’d had a good week. Rehearsals continued to go well, there was an uptick on her website. Not enough for a non-shitty car, but enough to treat someone to lunch and not hurt for it.”
If Ilia knew Rachel’s actual aim of trying to keep Chloe for herself… well, the teen would not be having any of that and would turn quite quickly. She was in a perpetual mode of being ready to fight any and everything if provoked. And people trying to keep others for themselves or control them no matter what they claimed? Yeah. That was a major point of issue for Ilia. As it was though, she didn’t know any of Rachel’s aims and was just confused and seeing how the whole lunch thing went.
“Well it’s something and if it does its job most of the time then that’s a good thing. Annoying or not.”
Rachel didn’t want to control Chloe. The opposite, as most of her attraction to Chloe was prefaced on Chloe’s independence and spirit. A docile, controlled Chloe was a huge turn off.
She was just possessive of the people she cared about, guilty over leaving Chloe, and terrified that meant she’d lost a chance to have Chloe again . Mostly she didn’t know how to handle the feelings she was feeling lately, but she hadn’t counted on the idea that Chloe might meet someone else before she had a chance to rebuild what she’d broken. It upset her and she didn’t know how to manipulate the situation in a way that meant both her and Chloe would be happy.
Ilia was a rival. A very hot rival. A. Damned. Hot. Rival.
But all that was locked solidly behind an easy smile and haunted eyes. “When I make it big I’ll get something really nice. That’s always been the dream. My own place, a hot car, and to be on stage before an adoring audience. ”And Chloe.
At least there was water so Ilia could take a sip of it while they waited for the waitress for figuring out food. It was weird knowing someone who seemed to know exactly what they wanted in life. In the Dreams she had the White Fang, they gave her a purpose. Here? Here she was just…. Aimless. She hadn’t even graduated high school because she had needed to get out of Arkansas and fast.
“Sounds like a good plan. Not sure about the audience thing but you do you.”
Maybe Rachel's path had gone a little sideways, but she did have that goal. "Sometimes it depends on what you're doing that'll tell you how an audience reacts. The audience in Julius Caesar would probably react differently than an audience watching Much Ado About Nothing."
She didn't know if Ilia had ever seen or read any of those, so she clarified. "Tragedy versus comedy. Remind me to get you and Chloe tickets for the one I'm currently in rehearsals for."
She'd originally planned just for Chloe but she was being nice and if there was one thing Rachel wanted to bring to everyone it was her work.
Ilia was pretty sure that she had read Much Ado About Nothing in school. Possibly. It was hard to say, while she had done her best to pay attention to get the hell out, Arkansas wasn’t known for its schools, and then there was all the shit she had to deal with outside of school so her schoolwork always ended up falling to the wayside.
“Yeah. That makes sense about comedy versus tragedy. But that could be cool.” While seeing plays wasn’t really her thing, Ilia wasn’t going to turn down a ticket.
“It’s not everyone’s thing but I’ve always felt if people gave it a shot they might find they like it,” Rachel said. It wasn’t a promise that Ilia would enjoy it, but Rachel was going to try.
She just couldn’t answer to herself why it was so important to get on Ilia’s good side.
“Doesn’t hurt to try something new.” Or so was Ilia’s feeling on the matter. While plays and the like had never been on her radar - who had time for that? She wasn’t the type to just automatically brush something off. Part of that easily adaptable thing.
“No, it doesn’t.” Rachel leaned her chin on her hands, watching Ilia as she did so. They really only had three things in common that she could tell. Chloe, anger, and being hot.
She was sure there were other things. “For the most part it’s usually led to good things for me.”
She knew she was being watched and Ilia just quirked a brow at Rachel. Honestly what the hell was going on and why had she invited her to this lunch?
“What?” She knew that she’d changed her hair color but that didn’t explain the look and she was getting uncomfortable with it. Like she was being sized up or something.
“Well that’s good for you.”
“Nothing,” Rachel shook her head. “I like the hair. And I’m trying to figure you out.” She liked trying to figure people out.
“Thanks…” And then the comment about trying to figure her out which just had Ilia remain looking at Rachel in confusion. “Uh, why?” After all. What you saw with Ilia was basically what you got.
“Because everyone is different and the fun part of meeting people is learning what those differences are.” Rachel waved her hand, “And I’m an actress so studying how people act and move is kind of second nature. And… ” She chewed on her lip, “Chloe likes you, so I wanted to get to know you better.”
Okay, she supposed that made sense with the whole actress thing. It was still beyond unsettling for Ilia but the answer at least made a semblance of sense. Though the comment about Chloe liking her did give the teen pause because it made her wonder if there was more to it than that. There usually was.
“Right. Well...what you see is basically what you get.” She might not divulge her secrets at the drop of a hat, but there weren’t pretenses or anything like that with Ilia. She just...was.
“That’s rare,” Rachel replied. “Most people are like onions, layered, and most people only let a few people peel the layers back to see what’s underneath.”
She looked a little thoughtful, but chose not to delve into Ilia’s past. Not right now, anyway. She knew better than most that that kind of thing was earned, “So what do you like? Like music.”
“I guess.” Or people just liked to be all ~look at me I’m super interesting~ when they weren’t. The world was too complicated to deal with shit like that. Yes, Ilia knew how to keep things to herself, but she didn’t see the point of pretenses.
Still, at least there was nothing about asking about her past. That would be bullshit and something she’d shut it down quickly. Just because she was open about who she was didn’t mean she would answer questions without reason.
“Uh...whatever? I don’t know, I can’t say there’s any particular type I’m super into. Definitely not country music though.” Dixie Chicks were okay but they were definitely the exception there.
It felt like Ilia was better at non-answers than Rachel was. Again, she let that go, “I tend to prefer alternative and punk. My parents always blamed Chloe for leading me astray. Which is funny, because I’m pretty sure her mom blamed me for leading her astray. If you want, I can get you some albums.”
Some questions were just harder to answer than others. Like what do you like and trying to put it into words or the like. The mind just would go blank trying to think up an answer as if all just disappeared when asked to name it.
“Both are good choices.” She was a fan of both and she and Chloe had gone to a few shows together since meeting of that variety. “But yeah, if you have suggestions, I’m definitely interested.”
“I’ll send you some later.” Rachel sat back as their food arrived, figuring the conversation would be paused while they ate. She at least felt like whatever hangups she’d been having regarding Ilia had been mostly gotten over.
“Sounds great.” And oh look, the free food. While she still wasn’t completely sure what this whole lunch thing had been about, it wasn’t horrible. But like Rachel, it seemed to have gone well enough even if she’d had no aims or the like as the blonde had had in trying to figure her out or whatever.