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 Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:54 pm
"I've never actually been in a Crystal dorm room," said Tallulah offhandedly when Bell let her in. In her left hand she balanced a tray of iced lattes from Apollo's Coffee; the other hand held a bag of pastries. "They're nice!"
High ceilings. Big windows. The dorms matched the rest of the campus's architecture that way, and Tallulah couldn't complain. The last time she'd seen Bell, there'd been nine high schoolers crammed into her first-floor bedroom, and she couldn't deny that these were nicer environs.
Tallulah set the tray and the bag on a clear spot of desk. "Do you think your roommate will mind if I sit on her bed?" she asked, still conspicuously looking around. The room was girly, but someone had definitely done their job decorating. She pointed to the lace canopies that hung over each bed. "Did you make those?" she asked.
She'd eat her shoelaces if things that nice came standard.
"You can help yourself to one of the coffees and a scone or something, I'm not sure what's in the bag, actually," she added. "I just... I thought I'd see how you were feeling? You seemed kinda stressed and, well, unsure of yourself?"
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:27 pm
(oh! I finally get to use this!  ) Bell shut the door quietly behind Tallulah before clearing the old play scripts from her vanity so she could sit the pastries down. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I had never been in a regular house before the meeting. And no, she shouldn't mind. I hardly see her as it is, so I wouldn't expect her to be coming back to use it any time soon." When Tallulah inquired about the sheer canopies, Bell nodded. I kind of learned to so defacto - No one else in my old theatre troupe really ever wanted to participate in anything that didn't involve being on stage, so I got stuck picking up the slack. Sewing up costumes especially. The canopies were made from remnant fabric left over from one of the productions." Bell was very happy to talk about theatre. It had been her life for twelve years. She'd given it up for her senshi duties. Balancing school, theatre, and saving the world just hadn't been working. Bell had...somewhat resented it. "Thank you," Bell said, pondering checking the contents of the bag for a moment, but she'd wait. "I'm alright I guess. I've been-" Bell reached on the other side of her bed - under the pillow and pulled out several magazines and catalogs, "-looking into weaponry. Since my attack isn't exactly defensive. And I'm pretty sure there's no 'rules' against it." Bell rolled her eyes a little at that. 'All is fair in love and war,' right? Bell's magazine and catalog collection consisted of The Knight's Edge, The Armory, Arms of Valor, and By the Sword. "I have to admit, I'm a little picky. Both um...finding something that someone can teach me to use - You Tube tutorials just won't cut it - and I kinda want something to fit my name - Bellatrix. It's the Amazon star so,...something Greek?" She began flipping through one of the many catalogs. "Probably sounds a bit geeky," she laughed a little.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:43 pm
"Kunzite could probably teach you about rapiers," said Tallulah as she took one of the catalogs to peruse. Bell hadn't answered her question about her roommate's bed, and so Tallulah chose instead to perch on the edge of her new friend's fluffy duvet. "I had a utility bag for a while," she mused, "With a rope and a camera and some pens and things, but it was messing up my balance."
She flipped through the catalog, stopping every so often to look at something closer. "So these are real weapons?" she asked, just to make sure she understood right. "Not just replicas for collectors or, like, renaissance fairs?"
It was probably a dumb question. They looked like serious business.
"You do theater?" she asked. Tallulah had none of the finesse nor subtlety required for the stage, a fact evidenced by several disastrous elementary school pageants caught on tape. She could give a presentation on the causes of World War II or the parts of the brain, but if you needed a monologue performed, best ask someone else to do it.
"That's really neat," she said, smiling even as she considered the implications of Bell having never been in a regular house before Sunday. She must be loaded.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 9:04 pm
Bell nodded, "Some of them. A lot of these places have some that are labeled as 'battle ready' you just gotta pay attention to which ones." And do your homework. Bell had a lot of time on her hands lately to check, check, and double check things.
"Thanks. I used to, but like I said,..school, senshi, and other things kinda made for a busy day. Not to mention, daddy wants me to get a job when I graduate, and eventually take over the buisiness," Bell then heaved a sigh, "Which I unfortunately have no interest in at all"
Mr.McMahon was the head honcho of a major computer software business, and money-hungry - charging outrageous prices for the same stuff you could probably get for free online and have work ten times better. Still, the business was booming somehow. Bell didn't understand it at all. She did good to navigate the internet!
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 8:20 am
"Are you graduating this year?" asked Tallulah, realizing that with the exception of Jaimie and the Meadowview students, she was largely unaware of how old the rest of the Basterds were. "I'm just a Junior," she explained. "I wanted to go out of state for school, maybe to an Ivy, but it looks like I won't be able to leave the city any time soon."
Senshi stuff was messing up a lot of people's future plans, it seemed. She harbored the secret hope that things would quiet down in a year or so and she'd be able to go on with her plans, but it seemed increasingly unlikely.
"I would need a scholarship, anyway," she murmured, feeling a bit bashful discussing her family's solidly middle class origins while sitting in Bell's bedroom. "And my grades are slipping a little." (Which was to say, she was making 90s instead of 100s.)
She was grateful for the approaching summer and the free time that implied. Most of it would probably be spent training or patrolling, but without school or swim team or MUN, she expected her stress levels to plummet.
"Would you be going to Sovereign Heights next year?" she asked. It was a popular option. Tallulah was considering it herself.
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 1:44 pm
Bell shook her head, "No. Not right away at least. My father wants me to get a job. I don't think I could handle college on top of a job and senshi stuff." Bell sighed and tossed the catalog aside, "Besides, he wants me to go to a business school so I can 'take over the business' one day. It's not like he's given me much of a choice in the matter either."
It made Bell unhappy how her father treated her more like one of his business associates - holding her 'pay' until she has met all his requirements. And she only saw him but maybe once a year. He'd sign her up to go to functions without telling her - like that once chick's debutante ball - he had his secretary to remind him of her birthday, and he was always late with that. Oh, what she would have given to live a normal life.
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:22 pm
"Oh, I'm- I'm sorry," said Tallulah, feeling awkward. While her family certainly wasn't moneyed to anywhere near the extent that Belle's was, her parents generally let her do what she wanted (except for one notable grounding incident). So while she could try to sympathize, she couldn't really say she had a similar experience.
"Do you have any siblings?" asked Tallulah, after an uncomfortable silence. There was always the opportunity to foist pressure onto them, assuming Belle had them. She herself was an only child, but luckily medical supplies and teaching second grade didn't exactly leave legacies.
She stared down at her toes and wiggled them inside her sandals. The nails were painted a shade of coral that was better recognized as "Meadowview Orange."
She seemed to have run out of things to say.
"We should go on patrol sometime," she said through lingering awkwardness.
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 3:57 pm
"None have cropped up out of the woodwork yet. Daddy seems to get a new wife every year or two." Sigh. That was probably more annoying than anything. And he never even told her, much less let her meet any of the women!
Then came the topic of patrolling...
"I probably should. Youma duty was alright. At the very least they don't seem like very intelligent beasts..." Cause it was easy to fight something that didn't have much of a brain to plot and deceive with...
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:02 am
Tallulah was glad for the change of subject. At the very least, talking about Youma kept her from talking about Bell's father and his numerous trophy wives. (Although she wasn't exactly scandalized by this. Her mother had an ex-husband. Her father had two ex-wives. Her entire life, her parents had behaved as if this was totally normal.)
"No, they don't," she agreed. Despite the mess they made, she'd take Youma duty over fighting a lieutenant any night of the week. "Have you ever... have you ever come across the kind that looks like a big monster, but once you strip all the trash off, it's this little thing the size of a Yorkshire terrier that you can kill just by stepping on it?" she asked.
"Every time I patrol with Castor, we run into one of those."
It would have been a running gag if it weren't so obnoxious. At least they were easier than, say, giant blue elephants or coffee beasts.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 11:34 am
"hmn, Bell thought for a moment, "No, I tend to be plaqued by giant lumps of acidic goo that like to eat and currode stuff. They tend to explode when lit on fire - just ask Jamie," Bell laughed a bit. Ugh, but that had been an absolute mess to get out of her hair. The fuku cleaned itself, but the rest of her wasn't so fortunate.
"I did get attacked by something that looked like a wacky inflatable wavy art tube man once though,..." and she had been like...seriously? It had been a hard won battle though, so she had to give that monster its props.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 2:12 pm
"Like the things they put in front of car dealerships?" asked Tallulah, laughing. "Jaimie and I fought one made out of coffee grinds, though," she added. "That was gross."
She'd scrubbed herself for ages and still smelled like wet coffee the next day.
"So you and Regulus knew each other before the Basterds?" she asked. Gesturing vaguely, she added, "I don't really know how the teams fit together and all before I started pulling people, I imagine they're a bit fluid since we haven't really got any central leadership? But I don't know. Pyxis and I worked together before I grabbed everyone else. What about you?"
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