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 Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 1:57 am
When Anella wanted comfort food, she had one place that was almost as good as home. Today, she'd almost just stayed home, avoided all social contact, and gorged on ice cream, but in a bout of (somewhat) drunken loneliness, she'd texted the number she picked up from the Senshi of Grudges the other day. Thankfully it hadn't been anything embarrassing—two pictures of her dog and a poorly texted invite to her favorite bistro.
She'd woken up with a text of acceptance—and a clock that said she had a mere hour to prepare and arrive—and she just couldn't be late!
Shoving her massive dog off of her, she had taken a quick shower, fumbled in her closet for a mere twenty minutes, and hastened to fix up her hair and makeup.
Traffic wasn't bad, but it helped to have such a fabulous motorcycle; she arrived with a few minutes to spare. She couldn’t be certain that she had arrived before the girl, so she looked around sheepishly out front. She kept her helmet tucked under one arm as she looked for a girl in a yellow shirt, chewing on her lip as she checked her phone.
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:14 am
Juniper had been hoping for a text from Anella. She had been checking her phone every so often…but when the text finally came through…or texts, really, she hadn’t been expecting quite that…ah…level of amusement.
On one hand, that dog was massive, and really, really kind of cute. But on the other hand…when someone got a message that said; ‘Met me food k? I m hungy we go tmm be there were yellow.’
Honestly…it took a few moments to figure out just what the message said, but when she did, she grinned, sending one back, asking just where to meet up.
The green haired girl was quite pleased when she got a sober text the next day telling just where and when to meet…and meet there she did. She was dressed in yellow as requested, and hesitated, seeing a girl that sort of looked like the duck faced woman in the one picture with the dog. With slow steps she walked over to her. “Ah…Anella?”
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:34 am
Anella's eyes shifted immediately to the girl. "Hi—Juni?" she greeted, already using a nickname. She wasn't certain it was the senshi she'd met the other night, though couldn't imagine it was anyone else. She didn't recognize the girl as anyone she knew from school—and in yellow? She pulled it off so well!
Now that she'd found Juniper, all she had to do was play those texts off cool, like they were intentional. Juniper would never have to know the true story—especially if this food wowed her so much she totally forgot about all of them. She wore a pleased smile as she leaned in to give the girl a quick embrace. "Sorry, I think I'm on time! I hope I didn't keep you waiting long or anything! Did you find the place all right?"
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:41 am
The hug was returned slightly, and already Juniper felt her face heating up. Oh…well if this was how it was going to be…then by golly she was going to let it be like this. “Oh, of course you’re on time, and yeah. I’m Juniper. Nice to meet you. The place was pretty easy to find, yeah. It’s a cute little place…how did you find it? It’s kind of tucked away, isn’t it?”
She glanced around, then smiled up at Anella. “You know, you’re even prettier as yourself, I think…just saying. You know. I uh…” The green haired girl flushed again, then cleared her throat. “Moving on. I think. Yup. Yup.”
Confidence was something she always prided herself on…but it seemed like it all flew out the window when a pretty girl was around. Especially one who had not only asked her to lunch, but hugged her right away when they met up.
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:49 am
"Oh, you are such a sweetheart, thank you! You look good like this! Though, I miss the shorts," she laughed as she pulled away from the hug. "I always feel kinda silly dressed like—you know, that—but it's so simple. Don't have to do my hair or pick out clothes or anything. This, though." She gestured down to her much more modern attire. "This I can actually get away with wearing in public."
She laughed for good measure, and then stepped towards the door to the quaint little building, pulling it open for Juniper. "I found this place a few years ago—some a*****e wasn't paying attention and hit me'n my bike off the road. The dent in that railing right there?" she pointed, and then continued, "Mine. I mean, I was totally unharmed, but traffic had been hell that day, and everyone was giving police reports, and I was just—I mean, I was young! My whole life flashed through my eyes! One of the officers told me I should try and calm down, get something to eat, sit down. Wait for my dad to come pick me up and driving home. Don't know if it was the trauma that made the food taste so good, but I was in love with it. And have been ever since!"
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:19 am
Juniper listened to the story, then shook her head. “That must have been scary as crap though. I couldn’t even imagine being hit by a car. On a bike or not, ugh. That’s just…a terrible thing to think about. I’m glad you were all right though.”
She took a look around the little bistro and inhaled deeply. “Oh, well if it tastes as good as it smells in here, I think I’ll be happy as a clam. I love Italian food, it’s fantastic and cheesy and wonderful.” The girl gave a happy sigh, taking in one last long sniff and grinning at Anella.
When the two were seated she looked across the table at the brunette. “What do you recommend? I’ll order whatever you say is good, I trust your judgment.” And her fashion sense. And her bistro sense…and everything. Damn. This girl seemed to really have it together in terms of…well…everything! Juniper would have to work hard to learn from her. To one day become just as cool as this cool cat was.
…and she could start by using different terminology in her head. That would help.
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:33 am
Anella set her helmet down next to her and picked up the menu as a formality. "Well. I am in love with their bisques. So if you like seafood? Ugh, they have this spicy crab bisque that just—mmm, it's so good. And the crab cakes it comes with? Juni, if you like seafood, this is the best place not directly located by the sea. Of course, if you don't like seafood, their meatballs? Anything with meatballs, you have to eat. Oh, but if you like chicken!"
She had to stop and swallow the saliva that had collected in her mouth. "If you want, you should just get whatever looks best to you. And if you don't like it, I'll eat it and you can get something else. Or we could just make this a weekly, biweekly thing—meet up here until we've had everything on the menu? I always wanted to do that," she laughed. "…I just never had anyone want to come back with me so many times, and it's just sad if you go out eating every week by yourself. I get lonely, way too easily…"
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:52 pm
Juniper had to admit, with all that Anella was talking about, she had quite a puddle of saliva that had collected in her own mouth. Well if everything was as good as it sounded coming from the older girl…then…there was really no reason why not. “I would love to make this a weekly thing with you…it’ll be awesome. And delicious…and amazing and stuff.”
She flushed once more, lifting her menu to hide her face. Was the girl really asking her on a date? On a whole slew of dates that could last from now until…well who really could tell when? This menu was huge! Easily holding twenty dishes at the very least…that was almost half a year of dates…or were they dates? She really just didn’t know and it was starting to make her head spin.
“I think…I think I’ll have the Ziti…I do like ziti….” Pasta was always a safe thing. It went with anything…and it was a great subject changer when you were far too busy thinking about dates to focus on anything else.
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 11:24 pm
Anella was chewing on her lower lip as she skimmed over the menu. "Ziti? Yum. Yeah, that sounds good. I want the crab bisque. I mean, I wasn't gonna? But then I was talking about it so much, so I kinda just. I need it."
She flashed a smile, as though that were reason enough—and when the waiter came by to take their orders requested not only her meal, but a bottle of nice wine. It wasn't expensive, but it was good.
Apparently she'd been here enough that they didn't need to card her (though she had it between her fingers just in case). It wasn't until he was on his way that she paused and turned to give Juniper a skeptical look. "…How old are you? You didn't drive to get here, did you? Because if you want, I'll give you a bit. But not much. And you'll have to sit here with me for like, at least an hour or something to let it work it's way out of your system."
No way was she killing this girl on their first outing; she'd barely gotten to know her!
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 11:54 pm
Juniper paused, watching Anella. This girl was old enough to legally drink? Well…shoot. She really, really…really hoped that her own age wouldn’t put her off…At least….uh…if anything else she was doing didn’t put her off first. The green haired girl cleared her throat and sighed. “I’m seventeen…but I’ll be eighteen at the end of the month. May thirty-first. So…so yeah. Also, I don’t really drink. I’m not a fan of the taste.”
Not to mention she was way underage…and she just didn’t want to…if her grandmother were to ever find out that she had been drinking…yikes. That would be at least two nightmares. At least.
“But…” She looked slyly at the brunette and shrugged. “I mean. I’ll take the ride home…so long as you buy us dessert to share as we waste time…?” Nothing like desserts to save the day from the awkwardness of not yet being of age to do…anything.
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 12:39 am
Anella glanced up, paused, and then smiled. "Oh, all right, then. That's not an issue! To be honest, I was drinking a little too young, but. Never got me in trouble."
Also most of her drinking had been done in the presence of a family member, so she knew she was going to be taken care of. "There's this white wine I like, it really compliments the crab. But! I would definitely be interested in treating you to dessert!"
She winked, maybe flirting, maybe just delighted for an excuse to splurge on sweets. "To be honest," she leaned back in her chair and sighed, drumming her fingers lightly on the table, "I'm really happy to have someone to hang out with. These past few weeks have been…chaotic. Definitely not my best. I was kinda starting to lose faith in…well, a lot of things. And then you came along and…I dunno, it was fun. I needed a break from all that…stuff. Kinda had some guy chew me out, kick my a** recently. Dunno, I was thinking about quitting for a while," she confessed; the thought had been fleeting, though it was enough to have her cry herself to sleep afterwards.
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 6:52 pm
Juniper grinned, feeling her face heat up once more as the girl winked at her. Oh she was just too much. Way too much…and she didn’t seem to mind that Juniper was so young…even though right now she felt like she was hardly old enough to do anything.
Why did pretty girls always do this to her? It just wasn’t fair. Not fair at all.
She sipped the drink that the waiter had dropped off as she listened to Anella’s ranting and nodded sympathetically. When the girl had finished, the green haired girl shrugged. “I mean…I’ve just started with all of this…but…I don’t know. I guess it’s like everything else in life. If you’re not feeling it…you’re not going to do your best. Why don’t you take a break from uh…all of that and just live a little? I know I play the piano and when I get into a funk, I take a break for a few days and it gets me back on track…I get a little rusty, sure, but it’s worth it to not burn out. And I think…if you get burnt out with what we do…can’t that be like…really dangerous? I think you should take a step back before you get hurt….we can hang out and party and stuff…instead…yeah?”
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Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 7:06 pm
Anella paused for a moment, considering Juniper's words. "That's actually really insightful—yeah." Her eyes shifted to the ceiling as she really thought about what the girl before her had said. A long few seconds later she nodded enthusiastically and returned her gaze to the girl's eyes. "Yeah, you're right. I mean—I've got a team. I don't want to let them down. But…better to be a little slow than to be dead! You know, I like the way you think, Juni. I've got a life to live! Nobody—nobody came to me and told me that I had to do any of that other stuff. I just took it on myself, you know! I mean. Well, I guess something had to choose me, what with the fact that…I could have just continued to live, never knowing about any of this. And it did sort of save my life, but…"
Anella shrugged and tugged at the scrunchie on her wrist, fiddling with her hair and tying it up in a sloppy bun. "…But that doesn't mean I should die for it. I have school, and—and the things I love. Cooking, riding. I don't…"
The thought hit her, somewhat strongly. "…I don't want to die."
It nagged at her—for a long moment. Everything went quiet, everything froze…
And the phrase just kept repeating in her head. What could have been only a few seconds felt like moments to her, and it was only the loud chinking of a spoon and some china that shook her out of her thoughts. She blinked, expression blank, and then laughed awkwardly. "—What had you said? You want to go partying? I would love to hang out," she said, bouncing back rather quickly. "You seem like such a sweetheart, I would love that. I haven't gone partying in ages. Unless you count sleepovers. With my dog. Which is every night. And definitely isn't always a party."
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:15 pm
Juniper laughed, nodding and seeming happy with having said something…as Anella had put it…insightful. Oh she liked being insightful, and she hoped the older girl would always find her this way. She had opened her mouth to say something else, something witty and charming and just downright perfect, when the brunette seemed to fall into some sort of state of shock…or something. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good, and for a moment, Juniper was quite worried, especially when the older girl mentioned she didn’t want to die.
With some hesitation, the green haired teen reached her hand across the table, taking Anella’s into it and squeezing gently. “And you’re not going to die. I promise. Heck, If I have anything to do about it you won’t even ever get hurt. You’ll be just fine. Fine and dandy. And we will party. All night long…maybe one night we can have a sleepover, and we can paint each other’s nails…even your dogs nails if you want? Wouldn’t that be fun?”
She wanted the conversation to turn, wanted to just go back to happy things…she should have kept her fat mouth shut.
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 5:15 pm
Anella's smile just grew more genuine and she returned the squeeze Juniper had given her as her hand remained in the girl's. "I like that plan," she said after a few seconds. She made no effort to retract her hand from Juniper's. "In fact—I like it a lot. I like you a lot, Juni! You are definitely good for morale. I'm going to steal you with me when I go patrolling, I think! And yes to sleepovers, and yes to nail painting, and very much yes to painting Doggy's nails because he needs a makeover."
She seemed far from the previous thoughts plaguing her; those were something she was going to have to tackle at another time. For now, she had company to enjoy—and thanks to the waiter that stopped by a short second later, she had food to enjoy, too.
It was only then that she pulled her hand away from Juniper's, quite keen to dig into her meal. The wine, while the waiter was kind enough to pour her a glass, was forgotten as she invested herself in her bisque.
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