singillatim | GIRLS NIGHT, GIRLS NIGHT!

Entry tags:

GIRLS NIGHT, GIRLS NIGHT!

Who: Various!
What: Girls Night!
When: Early in the month!
Where: Ruby's House

Content Warnings: N/A Will update as necessary

[A few days after putting the ad up on the bulletin board, the promised evening has arrived. Ruby has a banner hanging up on the patio of her cabin that reads “GIRLS NIGHT” and every once in awhile she can be seen at the door checking for new arrivals, or poking her head up at a window to do the same.

Her cabin is interesting to say the very least. She did her best to clean up all the clutter but it's pretty obvious she isn't exactly the cleanest person in town. Her giant scythe and snowboard are hanging by the door. And there's a green gem sword on display above her fireplaces' mantle with a little hand carved plaque that reads “The Protector of Mantle.” There's also a framed photograph of her looking a couple years younger with her team from home. The kitchen is a bit of mess with a few obvious scorch marks, melted bits on the counter, and just signs that there had been more than one fire in there.

But she had managed to gather up as much as she could for the big party. Including a handful of basic snacks like cookies, chips, and whatever she scrounge up that didn't require any actual cooking skills. There are a handful of games like Risk, Connect 4, and a partially torn up game of twister. There's even an old red and blue boom box playing some hits from the 80's and 90's courtesy of Kate Marsh like Eye of the Tiger, Can't Touch This, I Don't Want To Miss a Thing, If You Want To Be my Lover, and Hit Me Baby, One More time, and many more!]

[OOC: Feel free to make a top level! I'll have one up soon myself! Anyone is free to mingle or try to infiltrate the party.

Feel free to contact me at jjabarrett on plurk or discord for any plotting]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What? No, no! That's not what I meant at all-

[Ruby stumbles in her words for a moment. She realizes she has misspoken for a moment. She gently pulls Max's hands in a little closer to her as she does.]

I just meant that if you knew any cool moves, I'd be happy for you to show me.

I may not be the best at this- But I'm always down to make it a little more challenging.

Oh! [ Max starts to brighten up. That she can help with.

Move the opposite foot from the hand you're moving. Just twist your leg, or ankle a little. [ She does that herself, a sway in her shoulders as she smiles. ]

[Look- The last thing Ruby was out to do was Max sad. So it's a relief in her eyes when she sees the other girl brighten up like that.

She keeps an eye on how Max moves, then makes an attempt to repeat it. And for the most part it works but there is a moment at the end where she starts to stumble a bit on the step.

She recovers but it requires a little bit of a push on their joined hands.]

Woah-

[And once she does get that balance back, she flashes Max a smile of her own before she giggles over her own clumsiness.]

[ When Ruby stumbles, Max reaches for her to try to help with balance. She giggles, too, though. Ruby's own laughter is infectious, but also, it seems like she's having a good time, which is the most important part. ]

It's probably more fun if you're a little clumsy. Just making sure you don't hurt yourself. Or something else.

Maybe. I'm personally having a blast.

[Ruby will gladly take the support. Look- It was a party and being good at it wasn't important. She was having fun with a friend.]

And I appreciate the help- Last thing we need is me crashing into someone, right? I mean- Outside of you.

[Because Max was already in prime crashing into space.]

Good! That's what parties and dancing are for. To have fun.

[ And Max intends to have as much fun as possible. ]

I can handle it. [ Max teases back. At least, it's been working out so far. ]

Exactly! And with place it's hard to tell how often we'll get to do this. So might as well enjoy it, right?

[Ruby smiles at the teasing.]

You better. I feel like I'm dancing with a pro. Do you do this a lot back where you're from?

You're right.... We really don't get chances like this to just have fun.

[ Max frowns to that when she realizes how absolutely true it is, but smiles quickly right after. ]

Which means we better make the most of this.

[ Another laugh. ] I like to just dance around in my room. I'm no pro. But it is fun. I take you don't get a lot of chances for that back in your world?

We're going to, trust me.

[Because she wasn't about to let the weird horrors of this place get her down. And she shows it by putting a little more effort into following along with what Max was doing. She loosens up a little and it feels a touch more natural from her.]

Not as many as I'd like. When I was in school I guess I just felt super awkward and self conscious about it. I never really gave it much of a chance. After I left school- Well things were super serious but I still had fun and saw my friends like every day. But ve it chance again after that.

We should take more chances. Make them happen.

[ Max sounds hopeful about that. She watches Ruby and grins. She might not be the best dancer ever, but this is wild and fun, yet safer for anyone in her vicinity. It works! She grins. ]

I guess it feels awkward for everyone. I still did it anyway. At the school dance, though, I just kept with my boyfriend. A little more concentrated. This is more free.

You already out of school? [ Max's eyes widen as she shakes her head. She hadn't even considered that, still being in high school, herself. ] Is it more freeing?

We should- We all deserve to have fun. Especially here!

[She slows down a little in her steps when Max mentions a boyfriend. That was new information and she was interested, and maybe felt a little sad for Max.]

Well. It's good that you did- And! You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend? What's he like? What's his name? [And a pause.] It must be rough getting stuck out here without him.

[There's a brief moment where Ruby's eyes flick toward the sword resting on her mantle. ...That was a little more complicated but she could relate. She shakes the thought off and looks back to Max.]

It's a long story- If I was anyone else I'd probably be just starting at the academy I was at. But there was an accident there- and I never ended up going back or switching to another one.

[Now was probably not the time to talk about world ending schemes. So she does her best to side step that for now. As she takes a little side step and an awkward spin in their own dance.]

Yeah- I guess you call it freeing! I've got the chance to travel the world- See the sights. Do the job I've always wanted to. So there's definitely that!

It's a deal, then. We'll take more time out for stuff like this.

Well [ Max's eyes flicker down for a bit. ] We broke up a bit ago. He was still my friend, though. He's... [ her eyes roll up with a fond smile ] kind of dorky, but really sweet. He asked me out to the movies shortly before [ she waves her hand around them ] this. It's a little lonely without him and our friends.

[ Max gives a laugh to the spin. ] My turn! [ She spins and continues on. ]

That sounds freeing, to me. What job are you doing?

[Ruby catches the way Max's eyes flick down then slide back upwards. There's a brief flash on concern in her own but she listens intently.]

I think it's a good sign when you can break up, if you can keep being friends afterwards. He sounds like a sweet guy, you're both lucky to have what you have.

[There's another little glance toward her mantle, but this time she nudges her head toward a picture of a younger Ruby and three other girls on the mantle.]

I feel the same way. I did everything with my friends, my team back home. It's weird not having them around here.

[And then a brief nod a she "helps" Max through the spin by not getting in the way of it.]

I'm a Huntress- I fought big monsters and protected the people. Kind of like a mercenary but with a little more romance and drama to it. It's pretty awesome.

Edited 2024-02-05 04:21 (UTC)

He is...really sweet. [ And she misses him, but Max keeps that part to herself, for now. ]

Yeah. We were a team, all of us. Not that I want our other friends here, but...it's not the same without them.

[ She grins at the end of her twirl, then reaches over for Ruby's hands again. ] Let me show you a different way to twirl.

You know, we don't make a bad team. And [ Max tilts her head back and forth as she weighs her words ] you sound pretty amazing. Stuff like that, protecting others, fighting monsters. I want to do that.

[ Ruby sounds like what she would want to grow up to be if her life was going to stay entangled with the Upside Down - the supernatural elements invading their very normal world back home. ]

Yeah- I'll bet he is.

[Ruby catches the way Max says it, but she doesn't press her beyond that. She did know what it was like to miss someone very dearly. Her door was always open for Max to talk when she wanted to.]

Yeah, agreed. You get used to solving and facing problems together- It's different when you're on your own.

[Ruby moves to take Max's hands, trusting her to take the wheel with whatever she has planned.]

Go for it!

[Ruby listens to Max's words and there is a part of herself that wants to brush that off. She had just come back from the brink after dealing with some pretty horrendous failures that realistically were out of her control, but she still held herself personally accountable for them.

She ends up brushing it off- She'd rather enjoy the moment than sink too far into those thoughts for now.]

I try- And I mean at the end of the day that's all we can do. I'm not perfect or anything, but I try to be enough. You know?

[Another pause before she smiles a little brighter.]

But if you want to learn- I'd be happy to teach you. We do make a good team- and you're pretty great yourself, Max.

Yeah. I miss them. But I miss working together, too. I bet we could figure out how to get back home if they were here. [ But then she would be missing this chance to bond with other people. ]

[ Max takes one of Ruby's arms, pulls her in, then tells her: ] Roll out with it! [ and opens her arm, like she's unfurling ribbon, with Ruby on the end of it. ]

You put your best into everything you do. So I can imagine you do the same for protecting others. That's the best kind of person to be.

I would like to learn from you, if you'll teach me.

Yeah. Or at least we'd probably be a lot further along on figuring it out. [There's a pause and she considers her next words a little more carefully.] But I think that's why we have to watch each others backs. So we can make it back to them safely when this is over.

[Ruby is a little surprised as she's pulled in by her arm. But she feels her grin grow all the wider as tells her to go with it. She puts her trust in the other girl and there is a brief cry out in surprise and glee as she's twirls and unfurls out. She feels herself come to a halt as her arm stretches out again, and her silver eyes shine from the fun of it.]

Oh my gosh. That was awesome!

[And then that smile gets a touch brighter.]

Well. I can't think of anyone I'd rather take under my wing here- You've got the job.

If we're lucky we'll leave this place a little better off than when we found it.

You're right. [ Although, Max is hesitant in her words. She's not sure there is any getting back to them safely. But she'll deal with that when she goes back. Maybe training with Ruby will help her with the mess she was left in back there. She doesn't want to talk about it just yet, regardless. ] We look out for each other, make new friends, work together. Then our friends back home don't have to worry about us.

[ Max chuckles to Ruby's reaction. ] See? Fun. There's all sorts of things you can do dancing.

[ It feels like it took a while before Max reached a point she smiled again when she arrived in Milton, but she does, nearly beaming. ]

Thanks, Ruby. I think we'll make an even better team, then.

[There's another brief moment where Ruby catches that hesitation. She notices how Max doesn't say anything about making it back home. ...And having nearly come very close to having no way back to her own life before, and being confronted by the images of people she had failed to protect. She couldn't say for sure- but she felt like she might know where Max was coming from.

...She made a little promise to herself that she'd do her best to protect her from here on out.]

Yeah. Watch out world, nothing is getting in Max and Ruby's way here.

[And just to show how much she's learned from this little bit. She'll make an attempt to pull Max in by the arm just like she been a few moments ago. She wanted a turn here.]

Look, you were right, okay? It's way better than I was giving it credit for.

[Honestly if they were going to be stuck here. They were going to need reasons to smile. Ruby was going to do her best to try and make sure they had plenty.]

Darn right we will- I guess the first thing we'll have to do is get you a weapon. Any ideas on what you'd like to use?

[ Someday, they can discuss those things, when they're both more ready. Until then, Max gets the impression she needs to look out for Ruby just has much. Has from the start. They can look out for each other. ]

[ Max follows Ruby's lead, impressed as she gets pulled in. ] You learn fast. And I guess you being a fighter explains why you do have grace and easy flow once you get the hang of it.

Heh! See? Dancing's meant to just have a good time. And it's great when you find your speed.

[ Jaw set, Max nods her head. Perhaps she was overly determined just to have a good time, but she is, and she's going to make the most of it. ]

A bat would work. Something heavy I can still swing, at least.

[It was a hard topic for her to approach. She wasn't used to putting herself on the same level as those around her, but she was trying.

Her grin goes wide as Max gets pulled in. It doesn't have quite the same grace as the other girl, but it looks like she had picked up quite a bit just by watching and experiencing.]

You do have to be pretty adaptable at it. It took me awhile to get where I am- I was complete garbage before my uncle took me under his wing.

[Which she guessed might be a little like what she was doing with Max now. Except minus any deprecation in there.

It takes a brief moment before she finally let's Max loose like she had been. She was just really enjoying herself and wanted to savor the moment.]

Maybe that's what we need here? Just a dance night to let loose and have some fun.

[She can't believe she's saying it. But hey- there were worse ideas out there.]

A bat isn't a bad idea to start- What about an Axe? Might be a good idea to learn something that can cut if you more things like the snake/worm/dragon thing show up again.

Edited 2024-02-05 22:05 (UTC)

[ For Max, at least, she doesn't need Ruby to worry about herself. She'll do the worrying. It will work out. So she thinks. ]

[ Regardless, the attempt is recognized, and it's fun, that's all that matters. Max throws her hand into the air at the end and grins. ]

That's pretty good for someone just picking this up now. You adapt fast.

A dance night would be great. There's time to just fit one in. We can all teach each other different moves, or something. [ And it keeps them active, too. ]

An axe could come in real handy.

[Surely nothing will go wrong if both girls only think about the other one and not about themselves. Right?]

[Ruby grins, pausing for a moment before moving to pull Max in and take her free hand briefly.]

Thanks. I had a really great teacher too. Made it really fun.

[And that was full heartedly the truth as far as Ruby was concerned.]

With everyone being from all sorts of different places, I think we'll get a variety of styles too.

[And Ruby's grin grows all the wider.]

Everyone's going to have to watch out once Max comes in with an Axe. They're going to get Maxxed.

[ That was the idea. Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out that way. ]

[ Max lets Ruby take her hand, curious. ]

I'm a great teacher, it's true.

Yeah.... Different times, too. I didn't think of that at first. I bet we can get a huge variety going. Maybe even some slow dancing, but ballroom.

[ Max can't help herself, she starts laughing. ] That's a terrible joke! [ Still laughing and grinning. ]

[Ruby let's the dancing slow down just a little. Just so she hold box of Max's hands in her as she says.]

And I appreciate this- A whole lot. It's been really fun.

[Look. She just has to get sentimental here for a second. Don't mind her. She quirks a little brow when Max mentions the different kind of dancing.]

You know- I didn't expect you to want to take it down a notch or two. But- I'm willing to give anything a try as long as I don't have to get into heels.

[And then the laugh starts and she grins all over again.]

Bad puns! That's what gets her. Tell her bad puns and they'll find you out in the woods Maxxed.

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CW: Brief mention of suicide ideation.

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