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 Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 5:42 pm
Okay, just because the hadn’t spoken in a while, didn’t mean that they weren’t still friends. Tilly was working hard to give herself half a dozen pep talks as she walked up the driveway to knock on Dawn’s door. Things had been quiet and non-existant between them since they both awakened, and honestly? Tilly got that. It had been a crazy thing to happen and they both needed time to process, but…
Hopefully it had been long enough, and Tilly had information now and could really help Dawn with figuring things out, if she hadn’t already. Tilly was…practically a pro-ish at all of the magical things.
Besides. Dawn was super talented and most likely could help Tilly plan a real ball up on her wonder and help her figure out how to learn to dance. Or just…teach her herself.
Okay, here she was. There was the door, and after drawing in a huge breath, Tilly knocked.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2024 4:32 pm
Dawn answered the door much as she had last time—in leggings and a Meadowview High t-shirt, with her hair tossed up into a messy bun. She looked as peppy and energetic as always, a smile breaking out onto her face as soon as she saw her friend there.
“Tilly!” she said, welcoming her with a hug. “Are you okay? Did you want to come in? It’s still a little chilly out. I can’t wait until summer. Are you— I mean…”
She glanced around the front yard to make sure no one was around to overhear, then looked over her shoulder into her house even though she already knew her mom wasn’t home. Apparently, one could never be too careful.
“Have you been safe?” she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper anyway. “After what happened… It was so weird! Kind of scary, too. I kind of… I mean, for a while I tried not to think about it, because there’s no way it was real, right? Only it was. And then I have another friend who— Well, let’s just say he let me know how dangerous it all is, so…”
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Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:20 pm
It was like nothing bad had ever happened, and when Dawn hugged her, Tilly hugged back, with all of the energy that she had, and she nodded eagerly. “I’ve been, safe yeah. It’s…I’ve made a lot of friends with…” She shrugged and wiggled her head. “Gone to…” Her voice dropped to almost below a whisper space! And I have bugs!”
She hesitated and shuddered. “Too many bugs…it…it’s honestly amazing, I love it, and I’m so glad to see you again. I’ve missed you…” Tilly grinned and let out a long, relieved breath. “Do you want to come sometime? I want…I…” She looked around and tugged Dawn out of the doorway. “Really quickly, I want…it’s…my…I…”
Okay, this was…this was silly. “It’s got a huge ballroom, my…uh. Place up in…you know.” Her hand pointed towards the sky as though that would answer the question. “And I want to throw a party when I can get it cleaned up…but, I want to learn how to dance! Badly.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 8:44 am
Even though most of Tilly’s sentences remained incomplete, Dawn was pretty sure she understood what her friend was trying to say between the gaps. Dawn nodded to show she knew, or at least had an idea what Tilly meant, her smile never faltering.
“I can help you dance!” she offered. She had a feeling that was what Tilly intended to ask at the end of it all and had no qualms doing just that. “I’d love to come. I haven’t really been to mine much yet. Just once to get a ring. It was kind of creepy and probably needs a lot of work, but that’s okay.”
Dawn kept her voice low, even if they were only skirting around topics and speaking without offering much description. “You should tell me about your other friends. Are they like us? You know, with the…”
She brought a hand to her head with one finger pointing out like a horn.
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 8:51 am
Tilly nodded eagerly, both at the offer for the dance help, and at the question of her other friends. “Honestly! Yes, most of them are! There’s one that’s something else but, she’s still really cool too! Older, has that like, cool big sister vibe? I don’t know how else to explain it!”
She was practically vibrating and hesitated. “Do you wanna like, walk over to the park? I didn’t see anyone playing there on my walk over, and we can like…be a bit more candid?”
The description of Dawn’s Wonder made sense. Everything was abandoned, and it was a little creepy.
“I want to hear about your place too! I’ve been to a few others, and everything's like…super old and empty, but…there is definitely potential!”
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 8:22 am
“Yeah, let me just grab something warmer,” Dawn said.
She dashed inside long enough to do just that, pulling a sweater over her t-shirt so the lingering chill in the air wouldn’t bother her. Spring was close; she could feel it in the way the sun shone down on them, could see it in the way the trees had begun to bud, could hear it in the way the birds sang and the city seemed to come alive in a new way.
Once she’d shut the house up behind her, Dawn rejoined Tilly to begin their walk. She kept an eye out for any passersby, and kept her voice low so it wouldn’t travel far.
“I’m glad you found friends like us. I haven’t seen too many of us the few times I’ve… you know. Maybe we can all meet one day,” Dawn suggested, her smile brightening. “My place is, like, a little cottage maybe? I don’t know exactly what it was meant for yet, but my other friend—… He said it should start looking better and feeling less creepy if I clean it up and take care of it. He heard from one of his friends who heard from a… uh… soldier person that all these abandoned places can be healed, so…” She shrugged—a helpless motion joined with a sheepish smile. “I don’t know, it’s all still kind of weird. And a lot.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 3:13 pm
“It’s so much! Absolutely so much.” Tilly nodded, listening and liking the fact that there was a possibility to heal her Wonder? That…was a good thought, and she nodded again, a bit more eagerly this time.
“I’m hoping to keep trying to fix mine up, and if you’re ever up to it, I would love to see your place. That sounds amazing, the meeting. I’m happy to introduce you to my friends, I’ve told them a little about you, I mean, not much but we both got into this together so obviously…”
Tilly hesitated, wondering where it was that she was going with her words and finally shrugged. “You’re important to me, and I’ve worried about you a lot. I’m so glad that you’re doing okay! Let’s work to get our Wonders all fixed up! We can definitely do it, I believe in us.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 12:02 pm
“You’re important to me, too,” Dawn said. Her smile grew a little wider, a little more fond. She reached out for Tilly’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
She struggled sometimes to make sense of what had happened to them. She didn’t want to be afraid, especially if having power meant she could help people, but Dawn also wasn’t sure what to do with that power. It seemed like such a huge responsibility—one she certainly hadn’t been prepared for! Learning about Chaos and a war and Wonders in space… Maybe “a lot” was an understatement.
At least she wasn’t alone. She had Tilly. She had Riker. They could figure out the rest.
“So you want to throw a party,” she continued, eyes brightening, choosing the less serious topic to ease their mutual worries. Still clasping Tilly’s hand, Dawn spun her around once—playful, happy. “And you want to learn to dance. On your own? Or… maybe with someone?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 7:33 pm
Tilly squeezed back and looked happy. This was turning out so much better than she had thought it would, and it was like no time had passed at all.
“Yeah! A party…oh um.” Her cheeks grew warm after a moment. “I mean…there is this…Well. He’s just. He’s a friend! His name is Halle, and he’s another Lysithea Squire…he’s…really nice.”
Giving a little laugh, she shook her head. “I think he would like to go to a dance. I…I don’t know. He’s. Really into all of this. I hope I can introduce you sometime. My friend Almere too, you’d love her. She looks like a literal Cinderella, it’s precious.”
She rubbed her face and gave a slight smile. “So yeah…there’s definitely a someone…I guess.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:51 am
Dawn had only been half serious about there being a someone, but upon finding out that there was, in fact, a boy Tilly had in mind, Dawn’s smile grew further and her eyes twinkled with delight.
“I’d like to meet them,” she said. And then, because she couldn’t help but be a little nosy, she asked, “So is this boy cute? What’s he look like? How’d you meet? Do you know him when you’re not… you know… magical?” She gave Tilly a playful nudge with her elbow. “You have to tell me everything.”
It seemed so wondrous. A party in an old ballroom. Knights in colorful clothing. Magic! If the situation surrounding it all weren’t so serious, Dawn could easily get lost in the fantasy of it all. It hardly seemed real even now, yet she’d seen proof of it with her own eyes—felt the reality of it deep within her, where her soul knew another name: Rose.
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:09 pm
“Of course you can meet them! Ah!” Tilly shook her head and flapped her hand at Dawn, laughing and trying to hide her face as it burned. “And yes…both magical and non….we’ve been friends for a while now, he’s super into getting stronger and all of that, and he’s a really nice guy to have around. I’m thankful to know him. And he’s one of us, the uh. Same flavor so that makes things fun.”
She blew out her breath and felt so much lighter. “I really missed you, and I’m so glad that you’re here!”
Reaching out, she hugged Dawn once again, laughing and glad that her face was hidden for the hug. “I’ll get something set up so you can meet him soon!”
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 10:24 am
“I missed you too,” Dawn said, returning the hug. She gave Tilly a tight squeeze, so happy to see her smile and hear her laugh and know that she had friends (and a boy!) who would help her and look out for her and keep her safe.
When she released Tilly, Dawn took her hand and began to lead her along again, half fantasizing about parties on Lysithea.
“Come on, we’ve gotta make sure you make a good impression,” she said, her smile turning into more of a teasing grin. Dawn couldn’t help it. There was a boy! And Tilly liked him! She’d even blushed about it! “What kind of dancing do you want to learn? Real ballroom type stuff? There’s some styles I’d probably need to look up some Youtube tutorials for, but I should be able to figure them out from there. I’m so excited!”
Dawn paused to show Tilly another bright smile. “I’m glad you came over. It’s been weird. You know, being what we are. But we can make the most of it!”
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 7:07 pm
“Any kind of dancing really! We’ll plan for a trip up to Mechelen, and like I said I’ll have Halle come one day and we can all hang out!”
It had been weird, but. But it was fun too. This had been such an adventure…and it was still continuing. Honestly, Tilly was really just happy to have her friend back with her, and her other crew of friends in all of this. “Maybe…we should change course and go get some ice cream? I’m glad I came over too, and I don’t really wanna end tonight too quickly.” She grinned and shrugged, nodding back towards town, rather than the park.
“I think we deserve it.”
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