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 Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 3:40 pm
Marcella sat at one of the tables for two immediately beside one of the planters filled with plastic ferns in the food court at the mall. One hand held a choco-hazelnut shake between two fingers, shaking it idly back and forth, while the other hand spun her cell phone slowly on the tabletop. For the moment, she was waiting for one of three things to happen - a text message from anyone; her friend Morgan to show up for their shopping afternoon; or the ice cream in her shake to melt just enough to fit up the straw.
Not that Morgan was late or anything. The pre-med student was chronically early for appointments with friends. Today, it had been to ensure she had enough time to finish the shake before they started looking for clothes, since most places did not let food in.
And Marcella had really needed the milkshake.
She sucked on the straw again, frowning as the plastic tube collapsed and yielded no delicious drink. The downside of fresh, real shakes. But the bit that she had gotten so far had helped somewhat. Everything that had been going on lately in her senshi life (god, it sounded so weird to think about having a separate superhero life) had been stressing her out immensely, and Marcella was afraid it was starting to affect her school performance. And really, she probably should be studying now, but Morgan had urged her to come shopping to unwind a little.
And, well, she had to admit that she likely needed this, too.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:07 pm
For once, Morgan was running on time, mostly anyways. The red-head had taken her sweet time walking through the mall to get to the food court. Every now and then she stopped to admire something in a window display, sort of gathering ideas of where to go for the duo’s shopping extravaganza.
When Morgan came into the food court, she scanned the bustling scene for Marcella. The two hadn’t known each other for long, as they had only just met during this last semester. Despite not knowing each other too well, the pair got along well. They had been placed together as Biology lab partners. Morgan admired that Marcella was reliable and serious about her schoolwork. That was always a good trait in a lab partner, especially when Morgan was… not quite so diligent with the assignments. If Marcella was a stick in the mud, rigid and serious, then Morgan was the mud, slippery but fun to play with.
It didn’t take the girl long to spy a familiar looking head of brown hair. Morgan casually walked up behind Marcella and clapped a hand on her shoulder. Her chin rested gently on top of Marcella’s nest of hair.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:41 pm
Morgan did enough of the work that she did not bother Marcella too much. Or something about her just made Marcella not actually mind relaxing a little.
She jumped a little at the hand on her shoulder, though, and sighed heavily as she reached for her napkin to wipe up the drop of milkshake now running down her chin.
"Hello, Morgan," she said flatly. Then laughed a little in spite of herself. "Might as well sit just a minute until I finish this," Marcella added. "I'm almost done, but the ice cream keeps blocking the straw up." She tilted her head back to look up at the other girl. "Any places in particular you want to shop first once I'm finished?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:46 pm
Morgan walked around to the other side of the table and spun a hair out, then took a seat in the backwards chair. She leaned over the chair’s back, lazily letting on arm hang over it.
“The mall is just crawling with prom dresses.” The word prom was said with distinct distaste. Morgan felt that although Shlippers and DCU students were invited to prom, it was too juvenile. They were adult women; proms were for high school girls. “Preferably not anywhere that’s fancied up for the occasion. Maybe Burberry? Coach? Or we could go look at shoes. “
There was a small pause as Morgan considered the options. Shoes, purses, clothes, perfume, make-up... she couldn't decided. “No, those might be crawling with high school girls too. How about we just see where the we end up?”
Taking out a pen from her tote bag, Morgan spun it around on the table. When it stopped, Morgan clapped her arms together and pointed them in the same direction like a giant arrow. "That way."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 11:04 am
Marcella nodded in agreement, rolling her eyes at the word "prom" as she worked on finishing her shake. But then the whole idea of such social events had never appealed to her, not even in middle school when all of her peers had looked forward to the "grown-up" idea of fancy dress-up events to come. Four long years at Crystal had crystallized her hate for such frivolous events; Marcella could dress up and look nice whenever she wanted, if not for the uniform rule. And such precious class time had been wasted on teaching them manners and forcing everyone into at least some of a musical education. Not that the now-pre med student had any particular distaste for music, or lack of value in politeness, but music had not come easily to her, and the manners they had learned felt so ... Eighteenth Century at times. Marcella wanted to be a doctor - how scandalous for a woman!
A gob of ice cream shot up her straw, hitting the back of her throat as Morgan spun her pen on the table, sending the brown-haired girl into a fit of coughing. She fought to keep one watering eye open to watch it turn as she hacked; the cold had irritated her throat more than any actual ice cream getting stuck there fortunately, and she nodded, still clearing her throat, as Morgan pointed the trajectory their shopping would take.
"Sounds good," she replied when she could speak again, voice wobbling slightly as her cough reflex threatened to take over. "And I think I'm done with this shake." Marcella wiped her eyes with a napkin. "Trying to kill me now." A pause to smile sheepishly for a second, and clear her throat. When she spoke again, she sounded more or less fully recovered. "But yeah, I could use a new handbag if we find a nice one."
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 4:28 pm
Watching Marcella choke back her milkshake made Morgan laugh heartily. Covering her mouth with her hand, Morgan couldn’t help but giggle. That wasn’t the graceful scene that she would have come to expect from a former Crystal girl.
“I think you might need more than a new bag.” Morgan teased, still giggling. “I but I know what you mean. Your current one is so last season and falling to bits.” Falling to bits was an extreme exaggeration. But still, Morgan pointed to the very slight tattering on the side of Marcella’s own purse. It was worn, with a little bit of piling, but obviously well used and loved. With for Morgan, was only a sign that it was time for a new one, something stylish with that brand new smell.
“Bags it is!” Morgan stood up, sliding out of her chair and pushing it back to it’s proper position in one quick movement. Then she latched onto Marcella and began to drag her off in the direction that her pen had pointed.
“Tell me Marce, what’s new? Something is seems different.” Morgan couldn't quite put her finger on it. She eyed up Marcella's outfit and hair, making sure it wasn't a new hair cut or fabulous pumps.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 1:38 pm
"Hey, styles are always changing," she replied, still red-cheeked from hacking as she rose to her feet. Starting down towards their handbag store of choice, Marcella tossed the dregs of her milkshake into the garbage can. "I could overhaul my wardrobe every three months when the magazines tell me I should, but that feels so wasteful." It had always been her attitude; even though the girl certainly had more than enough money to buy piles of clothes, Marcella was unwilling to throw good outfits aside so casually. Maybe her sister went through clothes like she went through frozen lattes, but Marcella was old enough to remember the days when her family had been on an exceedingly tight budget.
Which was part of why the brown-haired girl's bag had been in use long enough to fall apart.
She blinked, feeling a little nervous thrill as Morgan mentioned the something different about her; she was quickly able to reassure herself that it was not like the whole senshi thing showed on her face or anything.
"Uhh," she intoned, looking down at herself as she walked, trying to remember if she had done anything new recently. "Oh, maybe the earrings?" Marcella then offered, angling her head to give Morgan a better look at the little black feathers with fine gold chains that dangled from her ears. A reminder that her little sister was not all bad with her shopping habits: "Julia gave them to me for my birthday."
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 4:51 pm
“It’s not wasteful! It’s maintenance. How else are you going to catch someone’s eye, unless you look your best?” It was a well-meaning comment, really. Morgan did was Marcella to loosen up and have some fun, go on date once in a while. As long as she didn’t date anyone Morgan might have eyes for. Then she might just die.
The dangly earrings caught Morgan’s eye. They certainly were gorgeous, but they weren’t what Morgan was picking up on. She couldn’t quite tell if it was just plain confidence or what, maybe pride in looking good thanks to those earrings. But that didn’t matter. What did matter was that Marcella had something shiny and new. Morgan did not. Now it was her mission to find similar earrings or jewelry, only better.
Morgan smiled a fake wide smile, trying to mask her jealousy over a simple pair of earrings. “That must be it. They look stunning on you, they do. Although I think silver is more your color.”
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:39 pm
"Oh, I'll find someone or I won't, eventually," Marcella replied with a dismissive gesture. "This premed program is pretty rigorous, and then med school will leave me even less time. I'll take care of myself, first, then I'll start looking for a man." A pause, then she smirked and added, "Maybe I'll pick up some other med school genius just by being in the program."
She liked looking good, but it was mostly a sense of professionalism and pushing herself to be her best. Why wear cheap things when she had the means to look really nice? Still, boy hunting was not high on Marcella's list of priorities.
Smiling back at Morgan, she shrugged. "Thanks. I like them. Maybe just a different necklace or top next time? I like gold, too."
As they reached the handbag store, the brown-haired girl paused to poke through the table right in the doorway of ones on sale. Always a decent place to look. She saw no shame in shopping for things on sale, if they looked nice, too. A thought crossed her mind, as well, regarding her sadly cracked little plastic first aid box, and she glanced back at Morgan.
"Oh, let me know if you see a little bag or something with a lot of pockets?" She held her hands up to indicate an approximate size. "I need one for- for work. It doesn't really need to be fancy, and color doesn't matter." She paused, then laughed. "I mean, unless it's really gross or something."
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 8:48 pm
“That’s the spirit. I’m sure you will, though you should get on that before you become an old maid!” What strange priorities Marcella had. So tough on herself and school. Of course, Morgan agreed that school was important, but her priority was making the most of her youth while she had it. Live life to its fulliest.
Morgan went passed Marcella. The sale bin wasn’t even on her radar of item to look at. Instead she went straight for the designer items. “Pockets, got it.” Morgan was quick at shopping, when she was looking for something, she could find it in no time.
“What about this?” Morgan held up a pink Coach bag. It was small, but had several compartments. Another bag was looped around an arm. It was a bigger Coach bag, with a giant coach symbol in the middle. Morgan admired it in a mirror as she waited for a response.
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Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 10:03 pm
Marcella had always figured that there would be time to relax later in life when she could not keep going. She was able to learn well right now, had the brain for it, so why not? And her mother had always told her to live her dreams, too - Marcella's dream had long been to become a doctor. Once she was certified and all that, well ... then she could have a different dream.
She never really understood the whole preoccupation with boys. Of course she looked at them. Heck, that was part of why she went to so many movies. But the whole dating thing just seemed so silly to her. Marcella had seen way too many girls who were so obsessed with boys that they were ignoring their studies to hang off of their boyfriends and so forth.
Her sister, for example.
Maybe that was part of why the idea of dating did not really appeal.
After deciding that the majority of the things in the clearance pile were there for a reason (why would anyone need a handbag that color, seriously?), she walked over to join Morgan, reaching out to pick up the little pink bag. She turned it over in her hands, then unzipped it, then grinned over at the bigger one looped over her friend's arm.
"I like the look of that one better already from the outside," the brown-haired girl told her, "but you got to that one first." She held up the pink one. "Little bigger than the one I'm replacing, but I'll hold onto it, just in case." A nearby shelf of smallish purses caught Marcella's attention then, and she stepped over to poke through the selection.
"Anything in particular you know you want?" she asked Morgan. "Or just sort of looking for anything that feels right?"
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 3:42 pm
“Feels right, definitely. “ That was a bit of a lie. Morgan wanted whichever bag was expensive and pretty. The fact that Marcella had appreciated the same bad Morgan was admiring made her appreciate it all the more. She hugged the navy Coach bag to her chest, but continued to keep her eyes peeled for something better. “Perhaps this one.”
Morgan followed Marcella to go through the selection of small bags. If her nose could turn up in a snooty fashion, it would. To her, nothing seems quite as nice as the bag she had picked up already. Poking slightly at the bags on the shelves, Morgan gave a sigh. “Selection is a little depressing.”
But digging through the pile, she found a small black purse with elegant silver details. “I suppose this one is alright?”
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 12:41 pm
Marcella poked through a few of the small purses, selecting a couple and unzipping them to count the pockets. Whatever was small and decent-looking, but could still hold as many first aid supplies as possible....
At Morgans' next suggestion, the girl turned to see. Mometarily, she found herself imagining what kind of marks the silver studs and buckles might leave on someone's face if the bag had to be used as a weapon like her own first-aid backpack. The designer's name would make for an interesting bruise; the girl recalled the M branded on the palm of the one crook from "Home Alone", and laughed aloud.
"It's nice," Marcella told her, hoping she would not have to explain what was so funny. "I don't know about black and silver for summer, though. I guess I said I wasn't picky about color, so I could keep it in mind, but I guess white seems like it might work out a little better."
She really wanted to look for something for herself, too, but since she was here in front of the smaller bags...
"Oh, this might work," she exclaimed, yanking a pale silver-grey squarish purse free of the shelf with slight effort. "I wonder if they have anything like it bigger, and in a less boring color, too." She chuckled again. "Get a matching handbag for myself and for the office." In as much as Sailor Pollux's cluttered row house was an office. But, well, it was getting there.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:41 pm
Morgan rolled her eyes. The bag really was a boring color. Grey, ick. “I suppose they might!” Her eyes drifted to the bag to check the brand. “Oh, them… I think they make the same style in lots of colors.”
Morgan waved her hand, gesturing for a shop keep to come over and help. Point at the bag, “You have this one, in another color, yeah? And something bigger? Be a dear and get it.” Then she snapped her fingers and waved the sales associate away.
She smiled faintly at Marcella. “Let it to her. It’s her job after-all.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:26 pm
Marcella liked to try to be coridal with store workers when she shopped, just because she found it made things smoother all around. Alternate color hunting was the associate's job, and she probably knew the store and its products better than either Morgan or Marcella did, but, well.... She would be sure to thank the lady, at least.
While they waited, the brown-haired girl moved to a stand of larger handbags and turned it slowly. And pointedly tried to ignore the rather nice-looking bag that matched the blues of her senshi uniform. Maybe she should really be trying to keep this as normal a shopping trip as possible.
"What else have you been up to lately?" she asked Morgan after a moment, turning to look back over her shoulder at her friend. "Do you have any idea what final project you want to do for Bio yet?" Knowing what she did about Morgan, her partner had not even looked over the list of projects too closely yet, but then sign ups would not even be until the following week's class. But, for all that Morgan was not exactly as on-the-ball as Marcella was with assignments, their lab partnership had worked out surprisingly well for the most part. "I really don't care which one we do, so it's up to you which one we pick."
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