Repel wore off! A wild Catch-All appeared!

[belligerentwarrior]

WHO: Freya and various others
WHERE: Also varies
WHEN: Late July and onward
WHAT: Vaaaries
WARNINGS: Violence in one thread when dragons get involved

A catch-all for several threads to keep the comm uncluttered. If you want to contact me for any reason, PM this journal or PP me at gsdragono

Comments

Lucy; 20th, Dayish?

[belligerentwarrior]

Freya stared.

She honesty thought it was just stick and string and... paper or cloth or something. That was it. That was how she had known kites for her entire life.

How could there be so bloody many of the damnable things?

"$200 for a damned kite," Freya muttered. That sure as hell wasn't what they were getting, but... look at it. "91 inch wingspan. People take these things that seriously?"

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy was also staring.

"Does it have a fucking motor, too?" Or a small aircraft license?

The teenager wasn't exactly the most familiar with kites; they were one of the many things she knew abstractly or saw distantly but never had a reason to do anything with.

The kites next to it were still unreasonably priced, but came in different colors. How nice. The more sensible ones were folded up in plastic wrapping in bins underneath the display.

[belligerentwarrior]

She hummed a half-hearted negative. "It does come with a DVD." Still not worth it. Never worth it. (Freya would admit she liked the design, though.) The taller woman plucks a cheap (blue) kite out of the bin, tucking it on her arm.

"There are just some things this world doesn't need. Speakin' of, we still gotta pick out something from that registry."

[long_live_the_queen]

"In case you didn't know how to fly one, or something," Lucy grumbled. How hard could running with a piece of string be?

The change of topic made Lucy frown more as she turned away from the overpriced bits of fabric.

"I'm not buying anything nice for him."

[belligerentwarrior]

"Fair." Freya turned, rounding a corner toward the registers, and stopped abruptly.

After a pause, "That's not nice."

...Rubber duck was technically on the list.

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy did not startle away even though she almost bumped into her roommate's back, and blinked around her arm to see what she was looking at.

Holy shit.

"I think it suits him."

Maybe...fancy clothes? Fancy clothes were on there. Or decorations for the house, to frighten small children and normal people.

"He needs something to wear at the ceremony," she said, dry as paper.

[belligerentwarrior]

"Why not?" Freya had been looking to spend $10 or less, but this was satisfying to warrant going a little more. "It is a rubber duck. In a way."

She couldn't peel her eyes off of the damnable thing. It really was awful.

[long_live_the_queen]

This time, Lucy does an odd thing.

She starts to laugh, though it was short-lived and closer to a cackle.

"You're serious?"

The teenager didn't wait for an answer; she lifted one down off the shelf without hesitation. Sure, the one in her hands looked less impressive all deflated and wrapped in plastic, but. It was still a duck face.

:V

[belligerentwarrior]

Freya watched her younger roommate laugh, feeling a grin spread across her face in return. That was a rare sight, and Freya was glad she had a hand in it.

"That was easy." And, officially, it was all they needed. There was still one more task, and Lucy was going to balk—so was she. Freya couldn't believe she was doing this.

"C'mon, there's one more thing I've got in mind, but let's get these paid for and in the car."

[long_live_the_queen]

"Fine." For once, there was no suspicion in her voice.

Lucy was still cackling to herself, a sound that never properly left her chest. The cashier looked at her a bit oddly, but Lucy paid no mind whatsoever as she picked the bagged items up after they were paid for. Some of those stupid bingo squares weren't so bad after all.

[belligerentwarrior]

Some of them weren't.

Some of the very much were.

As Lucy was about to discover, when Freya led her into the mattress store after dropping off their purchases. She stopped in a particular aisle after waving away an associate, turning and giving her roommate a very serious look, hands propped on her hips.

"I need a big favor."

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy was...slightly confused when they walked into a mattress store. Freya's car wasn't really big enough to fit a mattress and they weren't going to buy anything else for Jim, what were they here for? Her roommate seemed a little unsettled about something.

"What?"

Was it that paisley set? It did look kind of ugly.

[belligerentwarrior]

With a deep sigh, Freya's hand snapped out to the side to pluck a pillow off the rack. "Last square I need. I want you to race me. In a pillow sack. Here. In the store."

Christ, she couldn't believe these words were coming out of her mouth. Freya was not vulnerable to embarrassment, but she did draw the line at sufficient ridiculousness.

They passed that line quarter-mile ago.

[long_live_the_queen]

There wasn't any laughter this time; Lucy just fixed her roommate with a bewildered stare.

"What," she repeated, voice flat. "Is this a joke?"

[belligerentwarrior]

And in return, she fixed Lucy with her flattest look. "No," she said, equally flatly.

[long_live_the_queen]

Today was sure a roller coaster.

"Am I allowed to say 'fuck off'?"

Look, at least she asked. And didn't move from where she's standing.

[belligerentwarrior]

"You can. I won't. I'll buy you food if you do it."

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy huffed out an agitated sigh, rubbing at her temple.

"...seriously."

[belligerentwarrior]

"I'm not any happier about this."

Freya really didn't sound like it, still standing there with a pillow dangling from her grasp.

"I can trust you to never mention this again."

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy's shoulders were all huddled and unhappy, posture resembling a cat being dragged around in a harness it didn't like. She looked around, checking for observant employees or possible cameras.

That done, she snatched the pillowcase out of her roommate's hand.

"...give me that."

[belligerentwarrior]

"...Thanks," Freya muttered as she snatched another pillow off the shelf, shaking it out and stepping awkwardly into it.

"On three."

It was surprisingly difficult not to buckle under the weight of this regret.

timeskip etc

[long_live_the_queen]

Lucy didn't have much to say, this time.

"We're never talking about this again."

***

The sand crunching underfoot wasn't nearly as unpleasant this time. There were fewer seagulls, for example. It was hot, but there was a brisk breeze going; enough that they had to put the kite together in the car to keep the instructions and fabric from blowing away.

Most of the tourists were clustered further up the coastline, but there was a stretch of relatively uninhabited beach in front of them. The shells and driftwood may have had something to do with that. It was flattest towards the water, but Lucy was eying the waves suspiciously while holding the kite and its spool of string.

"Have you flown one of these things before?" Lucy called, slightly louder than usual.

[belligerentwarrior]

Lucy wasn't the only one watching the water. Freya hardly took her eyes off of the waves, considering what her last trip here was like.

"Never. How hard can it be?"

[long_live_the_queen]

"I don't know. Harder than throwing a paper airplane?" In fact, Lucy does so!

...the kite rather sadly nosedived into the sand. The teenager retrieved it with a mutter, brushing sand off of the fabric again.

[belligerentwarrior]

Freya couldn't stop the snrk from bubbling out of her throat. She didn't see it, but the sad little sffft of the kite biting into the sad was distinctive.

"Apparently. Try lettin' the wind carry it out of your hand, or something."