InsaneJournal

"I'm in that show that's on SyFy. Arrow of Truth."
Who: Alleria and Azula
What: Random meeting in a store, and burning tabloids
When: Lets say Monday or Tuesday afternoon!
Where: a store!
Status: Complete
Rating: PG13



Alleria was at the grocery store, trying to mind her own damn business. It had been a slow week for her - the fact that there was still no sign of Danika had made her mope more than usual, and they'd finished up most of their taping for season 2 the week before. No one had recognized her in a week, and she was happy to keep it that way.

Her eyes caught sight of a tabloid as she wheeled her cart along, and she lifted a copy off the rack to take a look. She liked to keep up on these things, mainly so that she be on top of anything stupid they had to say about her and her sister before their Agent called them.

She flipped through the pages, glad to see that so far, no mentions of her were present.

Rita was probably working on some sort of terrible thing about Sylvanas and Alleria right this minute, but for now other stories had taken precedence!

Azula was making a cat-food run for Rarity, and she stopped when she thought she saw something that mentioned her. She picked up one of the tabloids and peered at it. First, here eye twitched, then a sneer crossed her lips, and then blue fire enveloped the tabloid, turning it to ash in seconds, "That BITCH!"

The blue flame caught Alleria's attention, and she looked up from her own Tabloid to stare at the woman for a minute. The picture she'd just been staring at in the article looked remarkably familiar, and she tilted her head to the side.

You would think that the blue fire would be the thing that she mentioned first, but instead she went directly to, "Rita Skeeter? I just finished reading an article about you, I think."

Azula turned her attention to Alleria, a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "Did you. My friend was beaten and it's entertainment."

"I thought I was kissing my long lost lover in a coffee shop and now I'm out of a job," Alleria stated, matter-of-factly, "It's not entertainment. It's just bullshit."

She set the tabloid back on the rack and scrunched her nose up, "I only check it to make sure me and my sister aren't in there. That fire trick was interesting, though."

"Just a trick," Azula said dismissively, waving her hand as though that were all it was. She tilted her head studying the woman more, "You look familiar. Are you in a show?"

She felt like she'd seen Alleria before. In skimpier attire.

Alleria let out a long-suffering sigh, and nodded, "I'm in that show that's on SyFy. Arrow of Truth."

She liked her job, but she hated how the public viewed the work. It was definitely not the best show as far as production values went, but her and Sylvanas really tried. This Azula person looked like the type who would make fun of her for it, so she held up a hand, "And don't bother with the jokes, because I've heard them all."

"Oh," Azula replied. She didn't really watch that kind of television, but she'd caught it when Ty Lee was watching it on occasion, "Isn't that uncomfortable? What you wear. It's like some initiate's idea of dominatrix wear."

"Horribly uncomfortable. My sister loves the costumes, but I keep hoping they'll put me in something more protective. And of course they slather us with all kinds of body glitter, too. Elves apparently sparkle as much as vampires, in the fantasy world," Alleria snarked.

Azula snorted, "That must be horribly undignified, I don't know how you let yourself be put up to that. I'd probably lose it. Or just be a bitch."

She shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe you should conspire with wardrobe for something more appropriate, and let your co-stars be the sluts."

"God knows I've tried, but they think the sex appeal is better and don't think I can pull off 'sexy' in something more appropriate."

Alleria shrugged a shoulder, "Mainly I put up with it because it pays money that I wouldn't make in my day job. And I need that money, or my little sister over on the East Coast starves."

"Prove them wrong," Azula challenged, folding her arms. As if it was as simple a matter as showing up in an appropriate outfit and showing them it was still sexy.

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Alleria folded her arms as well, and regarded Azula with a bit of a glare.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Make what you want from wardrobe, show up. Let a test audience decide."

"I'm not a seamstress or an armorer, I'm just some girl." Alleria sounded exasperated by the entire idea. Make what you want, like it was that easy. It would probably cost a fortune, too.

It was easy. Wasn't it? It had to be. Azula just shrugged, "Can't complain if you don't try to change it. I can't be bothered to sit back and do nothing any more, when something bothers me." That way lay madness and being locked up.

"How long did you sit back and do nothing before all that?"

It seemed like a reasonable question, since the woman had qualified it with the term 'anymore'. Alleria couldn't decide if she liked this person or found her abrasive. A little of both, maybe. Azula spoke her mind directly, and Alleria liked that.

"Maybe I could talk to someone about building me the costume I'm thinking of. I definitely can't make it myself."

"There are several seamstresses on the valarnet," Azula said. "I'm friends with one, I can call in a favor."

Her eyes flashed, either in anger or regret, before they settled into sadness, "Years."

Years of bowing to her father's wishes, years of pining after a girl she thought she couldn't have, years of trashing a relationship with her brother. Years of being a fool and being a bitch.

She could still be a bitch, but she wasn't going to be a fool any more.

"Is that the one that got beat up?" Alleria asked, then put a hand up, "I know you didn't do it. But it sounds like she won't be able to make things for a while."

The woman paused to think, and tilted her head to the side, "Which would work out, since they won't change our costumes until we shoot the next half of the season anyway. Plenty of time."

Years sounded like a lot of time to stay silent about the things in your life that bothered you, but it was something that Alleria understood. Sylvanas needed her to be her sister and Vereesa needed someone to look out for her. Danika had needed a lover, not a confidante. Alleria had gotten used to only speaking her mind on issues it would be tolerated.

She hated that about herself, and envied the elf in her dreams, whose mouth always shot as straight as her heart and mind did.

Azula's hands balled up into fists and a plant nearby wilted from heat, but she exhibited control. Cool, calm, don't give into anger, "She has help, it wouldn't be hard for her to make things. Thankfully."

Really, ruining the thing that Rarity loved to do was the last thing Azula wanted. No matter what the woman said, it was her fault, "That would give her plenty of time to make something. You could also message a woman named Portia, and I believe another star had a dress made by Lulu Webster."

What? She kept up on these things.

"Sounds like I have plenty of choices there, then." Alleria relaxed a bit, leaning on her cart and regarding Azula appraisingly. She really couldn't get a read on the woman. The bitchiness was obviously a personality trait, but there were things underneath there, too.

It was kind of a shame that from what she'd read, the woman was taken. Alleria had this feeling like dating Azula would have been an adventure she wouldn't have soon forgotten. She pulled a pen out of her purse, though, and jotted her number down on a clean part of her grocery list. She tore it off and handed it to Azula, "You're interesting. Give me a call if you ever want to talk more sometime."

Azula looked at the number, then slipped it into her pocket. She didn't see why she shouldn't - the woman was attractive, and if Ty Lee wasn't in the picture they'd probably already be halfway to her condo. But having someone else to talk to might be a good thing.

There were things she couldn't talk to Mai about, or Ty Lee, or Rarity.

"I could say the same about you." Azula picked up the rest of the tabloids, and they were quickly turned to ash. Then she walked away.