Participants:
| Scene Title | Secrecy Reqd |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Nicole comes by looking for Colette, but instead finds Tasha, with whom she plots a surprise for the younger Nichols girl, and recruits Sable. Who perhaps maybe asks Nicole out. Allegedly. |
| Date | September 26, 2010 |
Gun Hill - Colette's Apartment
#404 - Description Not Found
There's really only one way to handle things when Colette Nichols won't answer her phone.
Show up at the kid's damned apartment.
Nicole Nichols is used to her sister's bad luck with elevators and just skips the car entirely in favour of climbing the stairwell to the fourth floor. She's dressed practically, more comfortably than she's usually seen in public, in a pair of faded skinny jeans and an oversized college sweatshirt she usually reserves for sleeping in. She lifts her hand and knocks quietly on the door. This is probably a waste of time. If Colette isn't answering her phone, she probably isn't even home, but… She has to try.
Tasha is catching up on school work — painting done, now she's doing her reading and typing up a report on the neo-Classic period while also catching up on the week's television, all DVR'd on the plasma screen bought for her by her mother. She lifts the remote to pause the show, sets down the laptop on the coffee table, and pads to the door to peer through the peephole. Her brows knit together — Colette's sister, who she'd only met once before and under tense circumstances — there are only a few visitors who could make for a less awkward visit. Her father is the top of that list.
The door swings open and Tasha leans her cheek against it as she smiles at the taller woman. Tasha is in her usual lounge-about clothes — cut off shorts, a paint splattered Smiths t-shirt, bare legs and bare feet. She lowers her chin slightly, one hand coming up to curl a loose fist against her throat, hiding the scar tissue there. "Hey, Nicole. Colette's off doing some errands. You can wait for her, if you like, but I donno what time she'll be in. I'd text her but —" Tasha smirks with affection for the woman they both love, "she left her cell phone. Again."
Nicole smiles tiredly, but genuinely. "Hi, Tasha. Actually, it works out sort of well that Colette isn't here. I'd like to talk to you about something, actually." Her smile brightens a bit and she waits for the other girl to step back before she steps into the apartment herself. She stoops down and unties and loosens the laces on her plain white Keds before slipping them off her feet and leaving them by the door.
"I'm sure you already know Colette's birthday is coming up at the end of next month," Nicole begins, tucking her hands into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "I was kind of wondering if you would help me throw a surprise party for her."
There is the smell of acrylic paints inside the apartment — the dining room immediately off the front door has been turned into a makeshift studio, the table covered with a plastic table cloth and covered with art supplies and an easel in the corner currently depicting a drying painting of blue silhoutted buildings against an orange sky.
"Right — we're actually just five days apart. My birthday's the fifth," Tasha says conversationally, shutting the door behind Nicole. "But a surprise party would be great — her birthday's perfect for a party already, it'd be easy enough to cover it up either as just someone else's Halloween party we're going to or something like that, and have it turn out to be all for her. She deserves it — to know how many people love her." Her voice is warm as she beams at the idea.
The small teen nods to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything — coffee, soda, water?"
"Does my sister still have a stock of Dr. Pepper?" Nicole queries as she takes a look around with a bit more curiosity and attentiveness than the last time she was here. Without bad news weighing so heavily on her, she's more able to make a point of taking in her sister's livingspace.
Nicole takes in the sight of the easel. "You're a painter, Tasha? That's very nice. I have no talent for that sort of thing." She smiles politely and comes up to lean against the kitchen counter. "I can't remember the last time I tried to throw a birthday party for my sister. She's always so quick to make plans, I never get the chance. I unfortunately am not very well-acquainted with her friends… Which is where you come in."
"Sure," Tasha says, heading toward the kitchen, grabbing a Dr. Pepper for Nicole and a Diet Coke with lime for herself. She hands Nicole the burgundy hued can, then opens her own, the crisp noise cutting through the room. She nods toward the sofa. "Come on in. I can type up ideas on the laptop, if you like."
She curls on one end on the couch, picking up the laptop. "And yeah, I'm a student at Parsons. Do you want the party to be here — there's a lot of people who are her friends, here, but it'd be harder to maybe keep it a secret. If it's somewhere else, we can say we're just going and then it'd be more of a surprise when all her friends are there. The main people — well, I know the main people to invite, sure." Mostly all the younger members of the Ferry, along with some of the peripheral people.
Nicole takes the can with a nod of gratitude and joins Tasha on the other end of the couch before opening her soda, sipping at it while the other girl talks. "I thought I might rent some space for it. That way we should be able to avoid tipping her off."
One hand comes up and rubs over Nicole's chin thoughtfully. "I… really don't know who any of her friends are. I would love a chance to meet them. Do you think you could make some introductions?"
"The main ones are probably Sable, Kaylee, and of course Tamara, but there's a lot of us — Quinn and Delilah and Magnes and Jason and …" Tasha pauses and chuckles.
"I guess if you tell me what kind of party you want it matters… Like, we're friends with some people who are a little older and… you know, maybe, perhaps, just a touch more serious and maybe even stodgy, so like, if you want it to be like rocking party, there's people who might not fit in, but if you just want it to be anyone and everyone who cares about her — well, that's a super diverse group." Not that everyone who cares about Colette would probably come — some couldn't, if it were out in the city, so far away from their safehouses. "I can try to introduce you to some people, sure," she agrees, then brings her hand to her mouth, chewing her thumbnail thoughtfully. "The only thing is to make sure that there's somewhere she'd want to go, that she'd agree to go to on that day, too."
"Well, I'd like to have it be a good time," Nicole reasons. "Probably a costume party. Because that should really cement it in her head that it's not a birthday party, I think. But I'm negotiable on that. I know plenty of people aren't into the costume Halloween-y thing." Her shoulders come up in a shrug and she takes another thoughtful drink from her can of Dr. Pepper.
"I'm going to have the party catered," Nicole tells Tasha, "but I'll probably bake the cake myself. Cake I can handle. I was thinking some music, some room to dance, but plenty of room to just sit and talk. Nothing too noisy or too wild. But I want it to be something 'Letty will really have fun with." She sighs, obviously concerned about how to best run this party. "What do you think? You might know her better than I do these days."
"That sounds perfect," Tasha says, typing a list of names into the laptop as she Nicole talks. "That sounds like most the people she'd want would go and at least not be bored, right? We could do — I donno. Maybe some sort of theme that she'd like, or I could talk her into going for my sake. I don't know — like… like it could be a Dead Man's Party and have like an Oingo Boingo tribute band and have Nightmare Before Christmas decorations or something, because I'm dorky like that, and she might go for my sake, and she'd like it too, I think?" Tasha muses. "I can make fake flyers up and come home and be all 'hey let's go here!'"
Nicole chuckles and nods her head to Tasha's suggestions. "That sounds like a lot of fun, actually. I knew you had to be just the girl to talk to." She watches the girl type on her laptop for a moment, her smile slowly fading. "Tasha? Can I ask you a serious question?"
There is a bright smile at the praise from Colette's sister — there are few people whose opinion Tasha cares about, but Colette's family and friends are among them, along with her own mother, and, though she would never admit it, her father. The Ferry "elders." And that's about it. But when the talk grows serious, Tasha's brows quirk together in their worried expression, but she gives a slow nod. "Sure. If … if it's something about Colette though, if it's not something that's mine to tell, I can't promise to answer," she says as honestly as she can.
Nicole nods her head quickly. "I understand. I just…" She sets her drink aside on the table and leans forward a bit. "I'm worried about my sister. She… doesn't talk to me much anymore. I mean, we talk, but it's like she doesn't really tell me anything. And you don't have to tell me what's going on with her. I will ask her later when I have the chance, but…"
Her lower lip is sucked in between her teeth for a moment as Nicole tries to decide what she wants to say, or how she wants to say it. "Is she doing all right?" She can start with that at least.
The simplest question can be the hardest to answer. Tasha puts the laptop back on the coffee table and brings her feet up to the couch, her arms wrapping around her shins as she stares at Nicole with dark eyes. "We're all doing the best we can," she says quietly, honestly. "She has a lot of people who love her and will do anything for her — you, me, Judah, Tamara, lots of other people, too. Things are overwhelming sometimes. She thinks she has to protect everyone, that she can't be weak for a second, and the stuff that people saw is scary shit, you know? Like what people saw happening to the city… she's really worried about all of that, like we all should be, but you know her. She takes things on herself."
Tasha swallows. She can't say much else without betraying confidences, if she hasn't already. "She loves you though, you know. I … she doesn't tell any one person everything, from what I can tell. That way she can spread out her weaknesses among us all, instead of showing one person what she'd think would be too much for them to bear. So don't be hurt if she doesn't tell you everything," Tasha says, her voice growing softer, and just a touch tremulous. "She doesn't tell me everything either."
Nicole sits back again, her expression stormy. Her hand rubs over her mouth, settling there. It makes the turmoil in her eyes that much more pronounced. "That's my Sissy," she murmurs. Her wry smile touches her eyes. "I try to look out for her, Tasha. I'm the older one. It's supposed to be me looking after her, not the other way around." Though it's always been that way. They look out for each other when no one else is there. "She scares me more when she tries to spare me. I wish she'd understand that…"
A moment of silence, not uncomfortable but thoughtful, passes between the two. "My sister loves you, Tasha," Nicole feels the need to assure in return. "Colette doesn't trust easily. Not like that. I'm glad she has you."
There is a solemn nod of understanding when Nicole talks of Colette trying to spare her. On this, she knows exactly where the older brunette is coming from. "I know," she murmurs first to that sentiment, and then a moment later when Nicole assures Tasha of Colette's love. "I know she does."
She smiles, her dark eyes shining as Nicole tells her she is glad Colette has her, and she reaches to squeeze Nicole's hand in her own. "I love her, too, and I promise I'll look out for her, too, as much as she tries to look out for me. She thinks she has to be the strong one, but I'm not…" she's not Evolved. She didn't have the tragic background Nicole and Colette had. She isn't the one that the government is trying to put in cages and ghettos and coffins. Tasha doesn't say any of this, but shrugs. "I'll try to be strong for her, too," she finally says.
"We've had hard lives," Nicole admits, holding onto Tasha's hand as she continues speaking. "She doesn't… really open up to anyone else about it. To be fair, neither do I, other than to say that things were tough." She shrugs. "I just… She scares me sometimes. Because… You know that look she gets in her eye when something's wrong." And Nicole can remember a time when that look wasn't there. Or if it was, it was nothing more than being concerned about a spelling test. "If you're strong enough to handle her when she's being secretive… I think you'll be okay."
A sigh of relief escapes Nicole's lips. "You are so much easier to talk to than Tamara," she admits. "She's a nice girl, but sometimes she says things that I just can't wrap my head around." She does at least look a little guilty at that. "What, ah… What's going on there anyway? I mean, I know it's none of my business, but… One day she's dating Tamara, and then you come along and… Is this some kind of open… poly… thing?"
The teenager's eyes widen just a little and her cheeks color. "Um. I … no." She frowns, reaching for her soda to bring to her lips, taking a long swallow as she tries to figure out how to explain complicated circumstances to Nicole. She swallows the effervescent beverage with a gulp and reaches to put the can back down.
"I don't really know exactly what their relationship was, but now it's… we're sort of all like roommates?" she says, the word lilting up into an almost visible question mark that hangs in the air. "I … I mean, they're close, but they're not …" she blushes again, and shakes her head. "Colette isn't sleeping with Tamara," she finally blurts out.
Nicole is patient as Tasha tries to explain her sister's complicated relationship, nodding slowly in places. "Ohhh… Okay. Well, that makes sense. She just… kind of never told me that she wasn't dating Tamara anymore." The woman's cheeks flush a little bit. "I didn't mean to pry about your or my sister's sex life. I mean, that's between you if you are or aren't…"
A sip of Dr. Pepper and a grimace. "It… explains a couple things, at least. Thanks for being honest with me. I appreciate it." She withdraws her hand to rest in her own lap. "I bet people mistake you two for sisters all the time, though," she murmurs with an impish sort of smile.
Tasha's cheeks are flushed, and she shakes her head, first at the apology and then at the mention of the two looking like sisters. "No, I mean, she's your sister, you have a right to be curious. Don't worry about it," she says, wrapping her arms around her knees again.
"And no. Sisters? I … God, no, you and Colette are gorgeous. No one would think I'm related to either of you," she insists, her cheeks flushing even more red with embarrassment. "I mean, maybe, just because we all have dark hair and small frames, but… I mean… No, no one's said as much." Tasha stares at the coffee table before she raises her dark eyes and offers a wry grin. "Thanks, though. It's a compliment."
Nicole laughs quietly as Tasha flounders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot." This time she reaches out and pats a hand reassuringly on the other girl's knee. "You're very pretty, Tasha. Don't think otherwise." She smirks, "You do look a bit like one of our cousins. But, really, people are just quick to look at similar features on two girls who seem close and assume they're sisters." She laughs quietly again and assures, "My sister has good taste. And thank you for saying you think we're gorgeous. I don't hear that very often." Especially not from any of the people she'd like to hear it from.
"God. You should meet Sable, if you don't hear it enough. But she'll try to get in your pants," Tasha says with a grin. "That woman seems to make it her personal mission to make sure that every woman in the world is told they're gorgeous. If you meet her, you'll see whta I mean. Don't think that just because you're Colette's sister and straight that you'll get off the hook. It doesn't matter. In fact, it's a challenge in her mind, and it will make her even more interested, I bet."
The Sable gossip is said with merriment and without malice, Tasha's troubles with Colette's admirer in the past, if not forgotten. But back to business, she reaches with a bare foot to point at the lap top. "You tell me when and where and all, and I'll make up fake flyers. I'll get a small group of us to be in the know to go, 'cause of course it'd look weird if no one was planning on going out with her for her birthday, but the bulk of the group, we'll have lying in wait. Sound like a plan?"
Now Nicole really laughs. "Oh, honey. You're precious." She drags her fingers through her hair, mussing dark chocolate locks streaked with electric blue. "I've been called a dyke so many times… It's been an age since someone assumed that I'm straight." She puts on a faux serious expression, tipping her chin forward. "I am Colette's sister, dear.
"Sable's reputation precedes her," Nicole adds. "Well, perhaps not quite like that. But Colette said I have to meet her, so I could only assume…" She pinches the bridge of her nose with a wince, but a grin. "The idea of my little sister introducing me to women just seems so backward."
Tasha's eyes widen as she's called precious, and her cheeks color at her naivete. "I just assumed… I'm sorry… I mean, she never aid you weren't straight, so I guess I just assumed… you know it doesn't matter to me." She swallows and reaches for her soda again. "Anyway, Sable will definitely hit on you, but if she's not your type, she's pretty resilient to being told no, so don't worry about saying it, right?" Somehow, Tasha is pretty sure Nicole has no problem saying no when she means it. "Actually she's in a band — with some of our other friends — maybe they'd play for the party. I can ask them, give your number to them to talk to you about the gig."
"No offense taken, and none meant," Nicole assures. "She isn't telling you I'm having boy trouble, is she?" Because she is. She totally is. "Doesn't matter." She sighs quietly and takes a long drink from her soda can. "Her friends are in a band? If they're any good, I'd love to have them play. I think Colette would like that."
"They are good! I donno if Boingo is their thing, but if you asked nice, they'd do it — or that can just be the reason to get us to the party, and they can play whatever they want. Just … Colette knows I'd be totally into a Dead Man's Party themed party, so it'd help get her there, if she knew it was something I wanted to do," Tasha explains. "You wanna see if Sable's around? We can ask her now."
"She lives in the building?" Nicole sits up a bit, her brows arching. "Sure. Strike while the iron's hot, right?" She nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, definitely. Let's see if she's around!" She leans forward and asks jokingly, "Should I be getting the mace out of my glove box first just in case?"
Tasha laughs and unwinds her arms from around her legs, heading to the counter where both her and Colette's phones are hooked up to chargers. "No, I think you'll be safe. No mace required." She types into the phone: RU upstairs? possible gig 4 u. Come mt Cole's sis. Secrecy reqd.
"She's right upstairs, so if she's here, it'll just take a moment," Tasha tells Nicole, slipping the phone in the pocket of her cut-off shorts as she moves toward the front door, anticipating Sable's imminent arrival.
It's the weekend, and like hell is Sable going to be doing a weekend shift. She gets by, all right? She doesn't need more money. Money can't buy you love. Look it up. Sable is most definitely at home, up in her sanctum, room 503, and she's just felt the first puff from her pipe hit. Some good shit. Amadeus has decent connections. Not bad- Boooweep! Whassat?
Sable looks around for the sound. She knows it well. Texts are a preferred means of contact for her because she finds talking to people without having body language to aid her very… disconcerting. But she's not used to getting texts from this ID. Tasha is listed simply as 'tasha', with no cute nickname assigned. Some chance Sable wasn't feeling extra buddytastic when she programmed in this contact. A press of the thumb, and the text message is open. Sable scans it. One normal speed, once quickly, once slooowly to make sure she's reading this right.
Cole's sis? Nat King Cole? John Coltrane? Surely not…
This Sable has to see for herself. Thankfully not nearly as high as she would have been twenty minutes and a whole bowl down the line from this moment, Sable scrambles to her bare feet, looks down at herself - tanktop, cargo shorts, the summer usual - and then, after a moment's thought, makes a quick detour to the bathroom to check her hair (not idiotic? good), her eyes (bloodshot? just a little… eh, whatever), her teeth (nothing stuck in there? worth checking).
Pad pad pad, Sable scampers down the hall, down the stairs, and to the door of Tasha's apartment. Rap rap rap, she knocks. A quick glance tossed down the hallway in each direction. No one watching, right? Secrecy is reqd, after all.
Nicole gets up from her seat, polishing off the last of her can of Dr. Pepper and meanders toward the kitchen again. "Do you girls have a recycling bin somewhere?" She scans for it absently, tugging the hem of her sweatshirt over her denim-clad hips. "And do you mind if I help myself to another?"
"In the pantry, it's the green trash can," Tasha says over her shoulder as she turns to the door, pulling it open and smiling at Sable, hoping that her Smiths shirt doesn't offend the rocker's musical sensibilities.
"Hey, Sable, come on in," she says, opening the door wider, then closing it once Sable is over the threshold. "Nicole? This is Sable. Sable, this is Colette's sister."
Shirt or no… wait, let me rephrase that. Text on shirt or no, Sable's reaction perfectly positive. She gives Tasha a wide grin. "Thanks f'r lettin' me in," she says, sidling in over the threshold. Her eyes are immediately scanning the room for a being that is not Colette but might resemble Colette… and they find Nicole. Her expression is instantly curious, her gaze flicking over Nicole not in a way that suggests a proper once-over, but rather an investigative check. Doing a point by point comparison, as best she can with a sweatshirt hiding things, between this woman's figure and the more familiar shape of her sister.
Nicole may or may not have been told what to expect. Whatever is or isn't expected, Sable moseys right up to Nicole and offers her hand to shake. "Like she said. Real pleasure, hon. Y' gotta know I have a high opinion 'f yer sister, so yer blood's well spoken for, 's far 's I'm concerned." Delivered quite soberly, really. Respectfully. Yellow eyes held firmly to blue.
Nicole opens up the pantry with a quiet ah of discovery and tosses the can into the green plastic bin to be recycled. When she turns back around, an entirely different sentiment is behind the second ah that escapes her lips. Namely that Sable seems to suddenly just be there and extending her hand. After blinking her surprise away, Nicole takes the offered hand with a smile. "My sister and Tasha have had only good things to say about you." When she shakes, it's like a woman who depends on her handshake for first impressions. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."
"Lies," Tasha says amiably. Again, it's a testament to how far she and Sable have come that she can make the joke and actually have it (mostly) be a joke. "Sable, grab whatever you like, soda, coffee, whatever," she says, since the kitchenette is too small for a third person to enter and still have enough room to open the refrigerator to grab a beverage.
"Sooo Nicole was here with a great idea for a party for Colette's birthday. A surprise party. The thing is it's on Halloween, so we figured we'd try to cover up that it's a birthday party, just act like it's some Halloween party we're going to, a few of us, but it'll turn out to be everyone she holds near and dear. Including you. And we need a band. I had a theme in mind, but I guess it's negotiable."
Sable smirks, glancing back over her shoulder at Tasha. "I was 'bout t' say… they ain't been truthful if it's all been good," and she refrains from adding, however tempting, 'some of it's been better than'. Let no one say Sable doesn't have self restraint. Restraint, in fact, seems the order of the day. Nicole's shake is just a shake, answered firmly, and Sable reaches out to open the fridge for Nicole, gesturing at the chilly white interior with a theatric swing of her arm. Yes, that counts as restraint, trust me.
"Sounds like a fine fuckin' idea, hon," Sable calls back into the living room, "love t' be a part. 'n', like, glad y' thought 'f me 'n' 'f us 'n' all that. I'm on board. Let's get t' negotiatin'."
Nicole offers another smile and bends forward so she can retrieve a can of Dr. Pepper and then duck out of the way so Sable can help herself to whatever she pleases. When she's got her back to the yellow-eyed woman, Nicole's catching Tasha's gaze and brings her thumb and forefinger up to her mouth in a pantomime, a questioning look and a dart of her eyes back in Sable's direction.
The older woman is quick to smirk though and reclaim her place on the couch on the end opposite from Tasha again. "Tasha suggested Boingo, and Nightmare Before Christmas for a theme. I'm all for it. I'm pretty sure Colette and I wore out our VHS copy of that movie, so I'm sure she'd love that." The can of soda is popped open before Nicole drapes an arm across the back of the couch and angles a look to Sable. "Sound like something you're interested in?"
Tasha curls back up on the sofa and grins a little at Nicole, one shoulder shrugging at the little Charades question. What are ya gonna do. "Dead Man's Party, like, specifically. What better music for Halloween? You probably could play other stuff once the surprise has been popped and all, you could play other stuff you like. But my idea is to find a flyer — made by me, of course — saying there's this Halloween party, Dead Man's Party, with Boingo music, which you know I love, and like, Nightmare themed, and get all excited about it, saying I want to go and that some of us can go and it'll be her Birthday thing, just a group of us — you and Quinn and me and stuff, and then you know, we go and everyone and their brother's there," Tasha bubbles.
Sable notes Nicole's beverage of choice. She approves. She even gives Nicole an actual nod of approval, though it may be hard for her to know what it's for. Too few Yankees appreciate Dr. Pepper. Hell, even the knockoff, Mr. Pibb, beats the crap out of Pepsi, far as Sable's concerned. Lady's got taste.
The yellow eyed girl follows suit, of course, snagging some of the good doctor's sweet medicine before bumping the fridge closed with her elbow and sauntering over into the living room, taking a crouch by the coffee table, forming, with lines of sight, the third point of an isosceles triangle with Nicole and Tasha. "Nightmare b'fore Christmas?" is Sable's next question, "what's that got t' do with Halloween? It's got Christmas in th' title," she shrugs, cracking open her own can, "I ain't seen it. But Oingo Boingo? Fuckin'… New Wave?" she cracks a smile now, which meets the can as she takes a drink, "Arright. Arright, I ain't gonna get in th' way of yer genius-type scheme," Sable looks to Nicole, thumbs at Tasha, "creative types, y' know? Can't get in th' way 'f an idea," her head tilts, "Whatsit that you do, hon?"
Nicole watches the exchange between Tasha and Sable with no shortage of amusement in her expression. "The Nightmare Before Christmas," she explains, "is a movie about… Well, there's towns that represent each holiday. And a skeleton man from Halloween Town finds his way accidentally to Christmas Town and he thinks it'd be a great idea to try his own hand at Christmas." She holds up a hand with a grin. "It sounds really silly, but it's good. Trust me."
When Sable asks what Nicole does for a living, she chuckles. "You mean my little sister hasn't bragged about how important she thinks I am? I'm surprised." She shrugs her shoulders and takes a drink from her soda can before she answers the question. "I'm Daniel Linderman's personal assistant." The quirk to her lips suggests that this is a job she takes some amount of pride in.
"Don't you dare doubt the musical genius of Danny Elfman," Tasha says with a grin. "He also did the music for Nightmare, and is Jack's singing voice. You've seen my hoodie, with the skeleton guy on it? That's Jack. It's like a cult classic. Anyway, if you don't really wanna play the music, it's okay, we can just have it on the flyer, and you can play whatever you want, but a couple of covers of like 'Dead Man's Party' and maybe something from Nightmare would be cool, if you wanna learn 'em. Just play them when Colette's not here, or else she might figure it out, right?"
"Ooh, ooh!" Sable says, bobbing her head, "that's that flick all those Hot Topic type kids lose their shit over. Yeah, yeah, I think I like… saw some of it like, one time. I was kinda… uh…" her eyes cut over to Nicole for a moment, lingering a hesitant moment before returning to Tasha, "don't remember much 'f it. Sort of a, y'know, party type atmosphere. Background stuff. But hey, I'll bet Quinn'll be all int' that kinda thing. I'll watch it with her. Research," she grins, "and don't worry yer pretty little head, hon. I'm in. Think I take trouble worryin' 'bout makin' a fool 'f myself f'r Colette? A bit too fuckin' late f'r that."
Agh, okay, wait, again, maybe she needs to be more careful about self-editing when Nicole's around. The (older) young woman gets another look, checking to see what impression Sable is making thus far, trying to do a quick read of her expression, the focus in her gaze. "That sounds important," Sable states, picking up on Nicole's verbal cues, but just those, as she adds, "who's he? Politics 'r something? Sorry, hon. I'm sorta out 'f touch with… like…" she wants to say 'square shit', but instead opts for, "normal-type reality."
"Baked? Drunk off your ass?" Nicole quirks a brow. "Yeah, that sounds like my entire college experience. I was your age once." Suddenly, she feels very old. Hanging out with her kid sister's friends will do that. "Something like that," she offers when Sable asks who Daniel Linderman is. She isn't about to bring up that the Linderman Act bears his name or something like that. Not in this company. Not if they don't already know.
The gaze Nicole has levelled on Sable stays even, even when she mentions making a fool of herself in front of her sister. Plus profanity. She doesn't seem to be ruffled by it at all. She does smirk at Tasha however. "You have a Jack hoodie? Five hundred points to Gryffindor."
There is a wide grin in Nicole's direction for the "points." "I kinda think I'd be a Ravenclaw, really, I'm not all that brave. But definitely cooler than Hufflepuff, right?" Tasha quips back. She leans to get the laptop and begins working on a flyer, pulling up Adobe to start sketching out Nightmare characters and Burton-style stripes as the other two chat.
Sable's yellow eyes cut from Nicole to Tasha, Tasha to Nicole back and forth as they talk HP. Her expression is performatively skeptical, openly so. A look that says, with a particularly blunt insolence that she has retained since her middle school years, 'you know how gay you guys sound?' She takes a looong drink from her soda, tipping it so its bottom gazes at the top of the bathroom door - gulp gulp gulp. Like she needs to be good and… caffeinated, I guess, to handle this line of conversation.
Of course, Nicole has just suggested she's not a total square. Or, at least, that she had a pre-square phase. The oldest of the three women gets a crooked smile. "No age stops y' from havin' a good time, hon," she says, "'cept th' age y' feel on yer soul, draggin' y' down. Y'all talk 'bout smokin' 'n' drinkin' like it's a thing 'f th' past. I get t' however old you are, hon, I hope I'll still be right at it, joint in one hand, Jack Daniel's in th' other. Hope I'll look as good 's you too, but I don't think that's a matter 'f age. That's a matter of born loveliness, I'm bound."
"I was going to go with Ravenclaw," Nicole admits with a twist of her lips. "I think I'm a Slytherin, myself." See? She's hip and with it! Totally down with the things the kids are into these days. Not old! Not old at all. She catches that look from Sable, though. Harsh!
"I may not smoke pot anymore, but I will drink you under the table any day of the week, little girl." You don't get to the big leagues without being able to match the boys shot for shot. Nicole has issued her challenge. Bring it. "I'm still at it. Just with a Camel in one hand and my buddy Jose Cuervo in the other." Nicole actually kind of surprises herself with her competetive tone.
Her edge softens when she realises she's been paid a compliment. Nicole's blue eyes turn back to Tasha. "You weren't kidding, were you?"
The little artist grins at Nicole and makes a dramatic show of lifting one finger in front of her lips. Her eyes dart from Nicole to Sable. "So this is go? We need to find a place. The Rock Cellar might work, or maybe Tartarus… unless you wanna go ritzy and like, rent out Rapture or something? I don't know where else would work. A lot of places probably will be having their own things, so they might not want to give up the business to rent it out, unless renting it out means more money for them." She frowns as that confuses her. "Her birthday's a Sunday, but we could do it Saturday instead, to make it even less likely she'll make the connection to her own birthday?"
Sable can smell a contest. She can see the set of Nicole's jaw. She knows when her alpha status is being challenged. Yellow eyes are set on the older woman, dead serious. "Any day 'f th' week?" she repeats, making sure that's what Nicole said, "how's Friday night, hon? Dinner first, get somethin' in our stomachs, then it's me 'n' you on th' roof 'f this buildin', with th' moon as our referee?" Sable nods, like it was Nicole's suggestion which, in a manner of speaking, it was. "It's on, sweetheart," her grin curls her lips, "I'll even pay f'r th' meal."
Attention swings to Tasha before the 'sure thing' deployment of her proposal has a chance to be refuted or contested. "Rock Cellar'll have more gear, make shit a lot easier on th' band. Plus it's way fuckin' cool. Rapture… shit, that place is a club. Kinda place where y' gotta roll on Molly so y' don't care so much 'bout the creeps dancin' up on y'. Cellar's a real place t' have a band 'n' a party."
Nicole blinks several times when Sable throws down the gauntlet. "You are on." She accepts the challenge with a narrowed gaze and a smirk. "But I think we should probably have my sister and her lovely girlfriend here play referee. I'd really hate to have to try and carry your passed-out ass down the stairs by myself." She doesn't miss that Sable's just said she's taking her to dinner precisely, but… she isn't really approaching that subject, either. Not yet.
Though she might like to insist on Rapture, because her connections might actually allow her to get space for free, Nicole has to agree that the Rock Cellar is a better location. And if anyone would be willing to be talked out of Halloween Eve's profits for Colette's birthday, it's Catherine Chesterfield. "I'll call Catherine tomorrow and set it up, then. Saturday will probably work best. Avoids the Monday morning hangovers for a lot of people." Not that she suspects the artist or the musician worry much about which day of the week they might wake up with a hangover. "Good call, Tasha."
"Oh, shit. Colette is going to kill me," Tasha says with a wide-eyed giggle at the impending contest between the two women. "You both better make sure you don't get so tanked that you run on at the mouth and give away all this hard work I'm doing, slaving over these party details. And you'll have to be the one to lie about why you came over, because I suck at lying." This last admonishment is thrown at Nicole.
She types up the words Rock Cellar and October 30th, followed by Be there or beheaded! before turning the laptop to show her work to the others. "It's just a sketch, but you know, something like this. I'll tweak it later to make it work, with the details."
"Fine, hon, they'll meet us on th' roof, 'n' th' moon'll be called in if we need a tiebreaker type call," Sable says, still smiling. She's quite sure Nicole heard her. And her silence is most definitely taken as assent. Nicole wouldn't be the kind of person to give a silent rejection, at least not judging by Sable's read. Which means one of the things they are on for is dinner. That's how you gotta play it. Strong, fast and low.
Sable leans over and peers at the flyer in progress. She gives a little smirk. "Cute," her eyes flick up to Tasha, "which is just 'xactly you, innit?"
"That looks great, Tasha. And I'll just tell Colette the truth. I came looking for her, and found you two instead." Nicole grins. Totally sneaky! "If she doesn't want me engaged in drinking contests with her friends, then she needs to actually answer her phone when I call her so I don't have to come looking." She rises to her feet on that note. "Unfortunately, I need to get moving. With any luck, there will be one well-dressed man waiting for me at home."
Of course, she may be just as lucky if there isn't. By the door, she steps back into her Keds, stooping to tie them. "I'll see you ladies on Friday." Nicole dips her chin in a nod, and then lets herself out into the hall.
With narrowed eyes at being called cute, which no doubt is a synonym for bourgie, Tasha sticks her tongue out at Sable, then gets up to follow Nicole to the door. She calls goodbye after, then shuts the door, widening her eyes at Sable.
"Did… did I just get volunteered to chaperone a double date with you and Colette's sister or what?"
Sable has immediately stolen a space on the couch, her legs sticking out, taking up as much space as possible - which, sadly for her, isn't much. She's grinning at Tasha. She shakes her head.
"Naw, sweetie," she replies, "y'all just got asked t' meet up with us when we get home. Y'all just got invited t' th' afterparty."