2023-10-13: That Kind Of Friend
- Log: That Kind Of Friend
- Cast: Emilia Eschonbach, Shari Loom
- Where: Ashford Academy dormitories
- OOC - IC Date: 0097 10 13
- Summary: Shari and Emmy catch up a bit, and have a nice conversation. Some secrets are shared--and some are even true.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia has had a bit more downtime lately. She had been able to go back to her night job at the club, as it involved far less talking and big smiles and energy than the job at the Maid Cafe.
And so- with a rare slow period for GUTS (especially given a significant number of students were... away) and
nothing more major in the student council than Kenji wanting to deck some Equestrian Club members, Emmy found herself at
a loose end.
And then a message came over VERTEX, and Emilia responded quickly in the affirmative.
And less than ten minutes later, Emmy came to knock on the door of Shari's dorm, still in her school uniform.
"H-Hey, it's me." She doesn't try to come in before she's invited- if Shari's anything like Emmy, there are things she
doesn't want others walking in on.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari, too, finally has some free time; the Voice has been quiet since her outing with Yuliana, and she's been able to talk to friends. She still has a lot of thoughts on what's going on, but... There's one friend in particular she's wanted to talk to too, so her VERTEX message went out and--
In point of fact there are things Shari doesn't wnat someone walking in on, so she takes a moment before she opens the door. "Coming!"
Shari's in uniform, too, and in her usual dark makeup. ...If anything it looks like it's been touched up a little recently. And her uniform blouse is--there's a button out of order, like she put it up very hastily. "Emmy," she says warmly. "I'm happy you could make it."
Her room is--well, part of it is very clean. The part by the bed is totally clear, practically immaculate. The part by the desk is less so, with stuff piled up. The desk has some more of her crystals in the works.
"Come on in," she invites. "Have a seat if you want. How's it going?"
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
When the door opens, Emilia smiles warmly. "Me too." She says, stepping in to the room so Shari can close the
door behind her. She takes a few things in quickly- the state of the room, the crystals on the desk- the recent touch
ups to Shari's makeup and...
She taps the matching button on her own blazer discreetly, a subtle signal, but makes no other comment. Just a
little heads up.
She does take a seat when offered, careful not to disturb anything around the desk. "It's g-g-going okay, I th-
think. A l-little nervous about midterms coming up, b-but... W-well, I've handled th-them so far." There's a lot she's
not mentioning- but Shari doesn't need to know about those. And sharing that she got smuggled to the Britannian Mainland
and back recently is probably... going to raise more questions.
"What about. Y-you? E-everything going okay?" She casts a look to the desk. "A-are you m-making more jewellery?"
It was hidden by the sleeve of her blazer, but Emilia's hand goes to touch the bracelet Shari made for her as a birthday
gift as she mentions it, sitting snugly on her left wrist. She doesn't wear it all the time, but there's a slight smile
on Emmy's face as her attention goes to it.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Oh!" Shari flushes a little in embarrassment when Emilia points out the button, and quickly fixes it. Her phone is face-down, by the bed.
She smiles when Emilia says she's doing okay, though. "Midterms... Yeah, that's gonna be a little rough for me, too. But we can do it, right?" There are a lot of things Shari doesn't need to know. "I'm glad. I was kinda worried when you got hurt, but I didn't know how to ask about it..."
"It's been a tiring week," Shari admits. "Just a lot to do. But I'm feeling... pretty great, actually!" She vibrates a little accordingly. But at the question, "Mm-hm. Well, I'm just preparing the stones right now." She smiles back, to see the bracelet there. "I'm thinking maybe some earrings?" Shari comes around to take a seat on the bed, in the meantime. "But okay is good!"
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy looks a touch embarrassed herself when Shari mentions her being worried. "O-oh, right." Emmy pauses for a second. "I'm... r-recovering. I st-still have to be, um, a l-little careful when I'm t-talking, or e-eating but... hopefully I'll b-be fully head in. A f-few weeks." She looks down at her hands. "...S-sorry for worrying you."
She looks back up to Shari, but she smiles at her own report. "K-keeping busy, huh?" Her mind flicks back to a
certain message she received- one that, frankly, she didn't understand at all beyond a few key terms.
Of course, she couldn't talk about *that* thing that they had in common.
"Did s-something good happen?" She doesn't try to probe too hard, just seeing how the conversation goes. "Oooh,
n-neat!" She thinks for a second. "Actually, I w-was wondering. D-d-do you sell y-your jewellery online o-or anything?
Or is it a h-hobby you do for y-y-yourself?"
She's probably keeping the attention on Shari for the moment- it's a little easier than going into her own stuff
right now... she may need a bit more of a nudge to talk about herself.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"That makes sense," Shari says. "I'm glad you're healing, anyway." She then waves her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about that. We're friends. It's normal to worry about your friend."
"Mm-hm," Shari says of keeping busy. "Some things more fun than others."
But something good? Well... "...Leina's kinda put me in contact with this... boy," Shari says, with a goofy little smile. "But that's a secret, OK? I don't want it getting out around school." Then, "Yeah?" Her jewelry. "...I don't, it's mostly... Um, my aunt really likes it, and she's got a business that uses crystals... So that's where most of them go. I just make some extras for myself sometime."
She's OK with the attention being on her with Emilia, because it's a rare chance to talk about things she doesn't have a lot of people to talk with about... But--
"...Can I ask?" Shari says. "What happened. There were a lot of rumors, but you know how rumors are around here."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The soft smile comes back to Emilia's face when Shari reiterates that they're friends, but there's a slight
glint to her eye- she wants to ask about things that are more fun than others-
Only for Shari to volunteer the information. "M-my lips are s-s-s-sealed." She says, with a nod. "Sh-she played
M-matchmaker, huh." While the topic of Leina seems to give conflicted emotions, and Emilia's smile falters a bit, she
nods. "She's a. G-g-good person. And... g-g-good at h-helping people. F-find each other." There's definitely a story
there.
Emmy nods slowly. "Th-then I'm r-really glad to h-have a piece y-you made." She looks up at Shari. "I-it...
m-means a lot that. You m-made s-something for me."
Still Shari asks, and Emilia nods. "...W-wrong place, wrong t-time." She says, simply, going towards the story
she made up to cover for it. "I... w-was getting a l-late train home from. W-work. And s-s-some guy g-got angry at a
d-drunk on the train and I... d-didn't get c-clear before the p-punching started." She doesn't meet Shari's eyes when
she says it, and there's a... practiced quality to the story. She fidgets a little with the bracelet as she talks,
clearly a little nervous to be talking about it.
But saying 'I got kicked in the head by a murder android' tends to raise more questions than it answers. And
she's already let slip to someone she shouldn't.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari likes that smile. It feels like it's worth more in part because of Emilia's difficulty talking, too.
"She did!" Shari says. "He's great. We've been vertexing... I'm hoping I can meet him sometime. He's from her school?" She notices the faltering smile, at least. "...She is a good person," Shari agrees. "Maybe a little meddlesome... but that's not always bad. She's..." Shari trails off. "Well, anyway. Sounds like it's not just me she's helped, huh?"
"I'm really happy you like it," Shari says. "I really like... making things." She looks a little distant for a moment; there's things she doesn't like making as much... But she comes back to the world not long after. "It's nice. So I'm glad you like it."
Wrong place, wrong time. Shari is not bad at noticing details; she sees the way that Emmy doesn't meet her eyes, fidgeting. On the other hand, Shari didn't get where she is by interrogating her world too much. So, "I see. That sucks. Wish I could show him a thing or two..."
But she's not much good in a fight on foot, anyway. She'd have to...
"Well, as long as you're recovering!" She smiles, then. "...Thanks for keeping my secret, too. I like having the kind of friend I can have secrets with."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy gives a small giggle at Shari's enthusiasm. "Y-you know, GUTS a-a-always needs inter--school coordinators." The influence of Milly Ashford is still felt in the halls of Ashford, by someone saved by her way of doing things. "And s-s-since DecuFes is o-over, things are g-g-gonna be quiet w-work wise until p-prom..."
"...Y-Yeah," Emmy agrees, on the meddlesome front. "I've, um, I-I've known her f-for a little while. She... helped me m-meet my cousin, f-for the first time." A pause. "And, uh, th-they're dating."
She takes a second. "Um, but, c-can you keep th-that secret? I d-don't want, um, I don't w-w-want my G-Grandfather to f-f-find out I met her."
Emmy nods again. "I m-mean, it's p-pretty amazing, th-the things you m-make." She smiles. "And it's... f-fun. I-I've been t-t-teaching myself to sew. I, um, I started to. Learn h-how to fix my o-own clothes, but I-I've learned to m-make a few things. S-Scarves and b-bags, m-mostly." A thought finally occurs to Emmy. She could probably make something that fit the Goth look...
"...He g-got picked up by the Knightpolice." Emmy says, her eyes shifting away again. "A-and, he w-w-was
Japanese, so..." She doesn't feel like she has to finish that sentence- though the fact that she doesn't refer to them
as Elevens is a tell.
She feels a little... ashamed, as Shari talks about having friends she can have secrets with. But the secrets
Emmy has are... dangerous. Not that Shari's aren't, from what Leina told her. "...Yeah. I-I'm glad th-that you can
t-trust me with this."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"...Hm. And that'd be an excuse to get out more, huh?" Shari had never imagined doing a ton with GUTS--she's a little withdrawn--but getting involved might be nice for that... "Prom's a while off, too..."
"Oh!" Eight says. "Audrey, right?" She remembers who Leina is dating. "That's really cool. I'm kind of amazed at just, outright dating two people like that. It sounds fun, you know?" Pause. "Oh, then my lips are sealed. I don't want anything getting back to your Grandfather anyway..."
Amazing, is it? Shari smiles back, happy to hear it. "Ooh, yeah? I'd love to see sometime. I only do a little sewing--just enough to get the patches on my bags and stuff, mostly."
Shari winces at the matter of the Knightpolice. "Oh, I take it back," she says. "That's... not great." It is telling that Emilia doesn't call them that. But then, neither does Shari.
Shari in the meantime doesn't notice the shame at all! She smiles back. "It's kind of fun, having a secret like that. I um... Well, things are going really well with him so far, so..."
She trails off. "But you've got some other secrets of mine too, I hear. That's okay, but... I don't want you to worry too much, okay? Things don't have to change."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia gives a nod. "R-Right. It's a l-l-little conspicuous to travel. O-outside of Area 11 on. A wh-whim. But if y-you're doing it for GUTS..." She trails off, conspiratorially.
"Y-yeah. She's the f-first family I met on... my D-Dad's side." Still, Emilia's expression is a little pensive. Fortunately, Shari gives her an off ramp. "R-Right? I d-d-didn't think you could just... do that!"
Emilia looks relieved at Shari's agreement to keep her secret. "Th-thanks." Now things are a little more equal between, them, at least.
"W-well, n-next time I h-have some free time, I'll d-d-dig some out." She's already thinking of a little more than show. "I b-borrow the machine in the club r-room for it, m-mostly."
She's made Shari feel bad for a fictional person though, and that's... a complicated feeling. "...Yeah. It's... y-yeah." Shari's reaction gives her a little more insight into the older girl, at least.
"I'm glad. I h-h-hope it works out! There's s-s-something thrilling about a s-s-secret romance, r-right?" She smiles. "What's h-he like?"
...And then Shari asks the question, and Emmy pauses. Well. Time to fess up, then. "...I... d-d-didn't understand it all, t-to be honest. But... she t-told me things weren't going g-great for you. And... it's n-normal for friends to worry about each other, r-right?" She smiles, as she turns Shari's earlier sentiment back at her. "I d-don't know how m-much help I can be, but... A-Ashford can be a f-fortress, for people in t-trouble. M-Maybe not against..." She gestures vaguely, trying to represent a concept she simply doesn't understand. "...weird kaiju?" She guesses, a little helplessly. "But... I-if I c-can help you, e-e-even if it's just making s-sure you have s-somewhere safe, s-s-somewhere where you can, um, have secrets, I w-want to."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Yeah!" Shari answers, suddenly pumped up about the idea. "That's a great idea! I'll super do it."
The first family on her dad's side... Shari doesn't dwell since Emmy doesn't, though, and nods along in her amazement.
Shari's happy to keep that secret. And, "Oh, that's cool. I always look at it but I don't have any projects that big... And I'm not really good enough to alter the stuff we've got."
Shari doesn't notice the insight it grants; the problems of Area 11 are something she doesn't like to think about--mostly because she feels bad about them. She feels bad for a lot of things.
"Thanks!" Shari says brightly. "It's super thrilling." Then, "Oh, he's... he's kinda mysterious, so far. He hasn't shown me a picture of his face yet. But he does poetry, and he thinks I'm really beautiful. I think he might be as excited to meet me as I am him. He does theatre, too! And he likes that I do tennis..."
There's that question. She didn't understand... "That's probably for the best," Shari says with a lopsided look. "It's hard," she admits. "But... you're right," about friends worrying over each other. And what she can help...
"Yeah, i don't want the weird kaiju anywhere near here. But that's..."
"...That's really nice. Maybe that's why she wanted to tell you about it. So you could be that, for me. ...Thanks, Emmy. That actually helps a lot." She smiles softly, and briefly. "It does."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Seeing Shari's enthusiasm, Emmy nods. "I-I'll t-take care of, um, th-the admin side for you. I'll VERTEX you wh-when it's done."
Emmy puts her hands on her lap, as Shari talks about not having any big projects. "I d-d-don't think it g-gets used much, besides by m-me. The cl-club usually just throws out outfits that get too damaged b-but... there were some I r-really wanted to keep. And l-learning meant I c-could keep my own w-wardrobe intact."
Emmy blinks a few times. "H-he hasn't sent you a p-picture?" That's... a little surprising to Emmy. "Y-you should tell him to. W-wear something on y-your first date so you c-can identify him. L-like, a flower or something." Emmy pauses. "Th-that's how it works in th-the movies, at least. And it k-keeps the m-mystery going a little longer, if th-that's what you want." Still, it seems promising at least. "Y-you've gotta tell me h-how it goes, okay?"
Emmy nods, as Shari talks about it a little. "M-Maybe she did. But I w-want to do it because y-you're my friend." She smiles back at Shari's soft, brief one. It's a little different from the others today. "Wh-when you n-need someone to t-talk to, or if you j-just want to hang out q-quietly, or listen to m-music t-together or something, that's stuff I c-can do. Or e-even if y-you want somewhere q-quiet that isn't your room, w-well, I kn-know a few good places a-around school."
A slightly mischievous glint shines in Emmy's eye. "We h-have a s-setup for secret sleepovers in the st-student council room, too. And I h-have the keys, if you ever w-want it."
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
"Thank you!!" Shari's hype is pretty obvious. "I'll wait for it."
Shari is a little more animated as she talks; when she says 'thank you' she gives some gestures with her hands; when she settles, she leans a little to the side. She has a lot of energy today.
"Yeah, apparently the 'mystery' is part of the fun. But he already saw me, so..." Shari gestures. "I've sent him a few more photos. Um, he's really liked them." She considers Emilia's suggestion. "That's a great idea! Of course, I could identify him by his phone I guess, but wearing something special sounds like fun..." A grin, then. "I'll definitely tell you," Shari promises Emilia. "I think it's going to go great!" A beat, "But it depends on whether you want details, too. 'Cause I'm super hoping there's going to be 'details'."
"Emmy..." Because she's her friend. "Thanks," she says more gently than before. "...I like music, as a distraction. When it's too... loud." And somewhere quiet, "I'll take you up on that."
Then, secret sleepovers! "Oh ho! Student council benefits already! Nice!" She grins. "I definitely hope to get that chance..."
"You're pretty solid at this, Miss President. I hope you know that."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Well, Shari's excitement for it seems genuine, and that's ever more reason for Emmy to fast track the process. The way Shari gets animated, too, seems knew. Even at the party Shari tended towards shyness, this is maybe the first time Emmy has seen her this energetic.
"I m-mean, it's kinda l-like a blind date. F-for you, at least." Emmy blinks a few times, before catching on. "'D-Details', huh? W-well, if you w-want to kiss and t-tell..." She's not ging to push the issue, but if Shari wants someone to talk about it with, Emmy can be that person.
"Anytime. If I-I'm not a-around, I'll d-do what I c-can over th-the phone." Shari seems into the idea of sleepovers too. "I h-haven't had one in a wh-while, but... I m-mean, if we're gonna l-live in the dorms, wh-why not do stuff like th-that occasionally?" Yeah, she's going to have to organize something soon.
It's probably a good idea, honestly, with so many of her friends... elsewhere.
Still, Emmy lets out another little giggle at the compliment. "Well, I l-learned from the very b-best." There's a fond look on Emmy's face. She has to wonder if this was how Milly felt, with all the people she helped. She should ask, some time. "But... I'm r-really happy to hear that."