notyourutopian | IC Contact: Recollé

I don't know what she is, exactly. But it doesn't feel right calling her a guardian angel.

[A sigh, and she turns down another road.]

I remember them being called Personas, though. I don't know what they are, but that's the name.

Uh... I... well, that is, alright. [Fuck, she could do this. Damnit, it had been three fucking years since she'd done this, and it hadn't been simply asking someone before. They'd grown up near each other and known one another for years.

Breathe, Chloe. Breathe.] I'm sure you're very busy, with ... well, graduation this weekend. So, I was wondering, if you were free next weekend...

[Yep, she was dithering.] D...Do you like stargazing?

Oh you have no idea. Finals are done and everything but I have so much to finish for the paper before I'm...actually finished. [In fact, there is the sound of a printer going in the background now.]

What? [Clearly distracted.] Stargazing? Uh. [Okay, that was a little weird.]

I guess it can be fun? I haven't bothered in forever. Don't know if I can really sit still that long anymore. [She chuckles to herself.]

Personas. [Eleanor was just repeating everything tonight, wasn't she. She was trying the word though, it felt familiar, really, but mostly because she was pretty sure she'd read it somewhere.]

That's like...a mask? Like with actors when they're in character?

It's...yes that's what the word means literally but I don't know what it means in this context. It's...a psychological theory about the masks people wear to hide themselves.

[Which is weird. But yeah she's just a high schooler.]

[Printers? Printers were usually in people's rooms. Oh thank god. That was a load off of her shoulders. This was probably not somewhere others could hear, probably. Chloe relaxed a little, starting to breathe more easily, though fuck if her heart wasn't pounding in her chest.]

I... well, I was thinking of making a picnic meal, something nice and inviting you out to go stargazing... but if you'd rather something more active I could think of something else.

Right.

[Eleanor frowns faintly, but not at Yukiko, just out the window, then shakes her head.]

So...okay, I'm confused. What exactly is it?

It's something I can summon. Something I want to show you.

[There's a pause, it's hard to tell if Eleanor is actually listening, just footsteps and printer noises and maybe some typing before she's back, sounding...confused.]

Wait did you say a picnic and stargazing? Uh. What?

...Well, alright. [Another little laugh.] So drive faster I want to see.

[She didn't sound upset. She sounded confused. Why did she sound confused? Was this not clear? It was a romantic idea, yes? Dinner under the stars, alone, relaxing away from prying eyes? That was what Redbook said was a romantic idea, after all. Why was Redbook failing her, god damnit!

She was going to write them such an angry letter when this was over.]

Yes, I wanted to do something different. It... It is boring to simply be asked to dinner and a movie is it not? I want to make a good first impression, so I thought perhaps something ... well, romantic?

A hand-made dinner under the stars, it is romantic, is it not?

Y-yes...I suppose it does sound...

[She falls silent, the only sound the quiet humming of the printer in the background puttering along. Finally there's a faint breath, and when she talks about, Chloe's not on speaker anymore.]

Chloe, are you asking me out on a date?

[The first sounds that came from the other end of the phone line was a dull, rhythmic thumping. It was the distinctive sound of a head banging a couple times into a desk. After that came a low, muted groan of mild desperation. Her voice was faint, muffled.]

Pourquoi est-ce si difficile?

[Bang, bang. Sigh. She sounded a little resigned when she spoke afterwards, bringing the phone up to her lips and replying to Eleanor.]

Y...Yes, Eleanor. I am trying to ask you out on a date.

(OOC: "Why is this so difficult?")

I'm already going twenty over the speed limit but we're almost there gosh.

[VROOM VROOM]

[And then, magically, they were there!]

Speeding is a victimless crime.

I speak enough french to understand that, you know.

[Eleanor sounded a bit more like her old self, at least when she said that. But then there was another pause.]

Okay. But. Why?

Heh, of course you do...

[She reached up her fingers and dragged them through her hair. Her palms pressed to her forehead. Was Eleanor seriously asking her why she was asking her out? Why did people ever ask someone out? Because they were interested in them. She'd been hinting that she was one of the reasons that she'd been conflicted, hadn't...

Crap, her friend probably hadn't caught any of that, had she?]

Why else would I be, Eleanor? Why else does a girl ask another girl on a date? Because I am... single, and I am interested in you.

[Oh god, she was going to ask why again wasn't she?]

Yeah well...

[Turning off the car, she steps out into the evening and starts off down the beach, expecting Eleanor to follow.]

We're not far. I've been practicing alone or with Souji around here, so none of the Sleepers freak out.

[Eleanor slid out of the car as well, stopping long enough to grab her backpack before she headed out onto the sand with Yukiko.]

Is that what we're calling them now? Sleepers?

Chloe.

[Well shit. Eleanor sucked in a breath, trying to gather her thoughts.]

You've been single for like a week, Chloe.

... I... know.

[She struggled a little. No, that was entirely fair. She pinched her fingers over the bridge of her nose and clenched her eyes.]

You... don't realize I've been conflicted for a while, do you? It... wasn't roses. She and I've been arguing for months.

That's what Yosuke and I started calling them. It seems to fit, since they feel like they are missing a part of themselves. Or are kind of dreaming, if they think Chocobos are normal.

[Yep.]

...I guess it fits. It's better than anything I could come up with.

[As they got closer to the water, Eleanor slowed, her attention shifting to look out over the sea itself. Hm.]

Sure, I get that.

But still.

Like. [Christ what was she supposed to say here.]

Seriously. You need to take some chill time before you go...rushing into anything.

Mmm.

[Her steps slow when Eleanor looks at the sea, but she says nothing yet, just letting her friend consider it.]

IC Contact: Recollé

no subject

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject