Midnight Manor - Wednesday Evening - Living Room

[slothbabyproductions]

After shenanigans, Kamala had headed straight home where she had prepped the living room for an evening of fun and frivolity.

Which really just meant popping popcorn and making sure there was a variety of cold beverages in the living room.

So now she was just sitting in her favorite shenanigan outfit and going through multiple streaming services trying to find the movie she wanted to watch.

"It should not be this hard to find a stupid movie about an ogre."

It really shouldn't.

[For the manor residents and guests

Comments

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

You know, it was a little amazing, how much Eleanor hadn't realized exactly how many ridiculous shirts from Wednesday activities in the summer she'd actually collected in her time at Fandom until she actually sat down and tried to sort through them all trying to find the best one. Because she knew that she had a few summers more under her belt, and she wanted to find something Kamala hadn't actually seen before to....impress her? Would that impress her? She still wasn't entirely sure the whole shenanigans outfit part of movie night tonight wasn't just some trick to end up having her embarrass herself, but she wanted to believe that it wasn't. And a shirt from a previous year might help mitigate some of that embarrassment a bit more than, say, her bunny outfit from earlier this summer, which would be a top choice because it seemed comfortable for watching movies in, and Kamala had said she was cute in it.

But, sorting through some of her older shirts, she decided that rolling up to Midnight in a shirt featuring Abraham Lincoln and dinosaurs was a fairly safe and still-odd choice, though she'd have second thoughts when she saw what Kamala and Arden had gone with.

But also, she was fairly sure no one else coming to this would have an Abraham Lincoln Dinosaur shirt, so....

At least focusing on her clothing choice meant a little less brain space for focusing on being nervous?

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

There had been a lot of jittery energy in Kamala before Eleanor arrived which had mostly been spent arranging the popcorn bowls a dozen times and rearranging the drinks so there was enough ice coverage in the cooler.

All that nervousness went out the window as soon as Eleanor walked in. "Oh my God! El! That shirt is fantastic!" Kamala gushed. "I'm totally stealing that from you at some point."

And after realizing she was gushing, Kamala tried to pull back her energy level a bit even though she could not stop the goofy grin getting wider on her face. "So. Uh. Anyway. Hi! Like my choice of outfit?"

Yes. She did pick the outfit Eleanor had called cute.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

On the bright side, at least Eleanor was too busy blushing at the idea of literally any context where Kamala would be stealing her clothing to even begin to notice the gushing? At least at first, because she did eventually notice that grin on her face, and the relief and somewhat mind-blowing confirmation that, no, this really was just a genuine thing to just hang out and have fun and be a little silly together was so strong that she almost instantly relaxed.

"This," Eleanor said, grinning faintly back as she tugged a little on the collar of her shirt, "is classic Wednesday activity wear from last summer, actually. But I did almost go for mine from when we got those. That was a really fun one."

And it was cute. Almost so cute it was unfair.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

"It was a fun one," Kamala said beaming at her as she smiled and reached out to straighten Eleanor's collar for her. "Not going to lie. I'm digging the dinosaur more than the bunny suit."

And then she realized she was touching Eleanor's shirt in a way that might be a bit too familiar and tried to pull her hands away in a nonchalant fashion. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? We have popcorn and drinks."

She gestured to the food and beverages in movements that might be like an exaggerated game show hostess.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

It took Eleanor a moment to respond; she was still a bit stuck in a moment of wondering if her beating pulse was as loud in anyone else's ears as it was in hers, which definitely started with Kamala straightening her collar and only got worse with the affirmation of her shirt choice. It was both a relief and a disappointment when she pulled her hands away again and Eleanor had to force herself to think of normal things, like popcorn and drinks.

"Well, it wouldn't be a movie night without popcorn, right?" she asked, as she drifted over to have a closer look, maybe pick out a beverage.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

"Well, in my family my brother says it absolutely has to be Rasinettes," Kamala with an eyeroll. "And my dad got into this thing he saw on instagram where you mix popcorn with M&M's? Really I think it's just an extra excuse to eat chocolate but if you're going to do that just eat the chocolate. Don't mix it in with popcorn or something gross like raisins."

And that's when Kamala remembered to take a breath.

"I'm babbling. God. Hi. Have we met? Kamala Khan. Semi-professional babbler. Nice to meet you!"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

It was funny, really, just how quickly Eleanor had gone from worrying that this night would lead to the death of her social life here on the island to just being sure it would be the death of her in general from overload of the fact that this adorable babbling person in a Mothman onesie had invited her to watch a movie with her and their friends and that she liked her and they were dating, and what was this? This didn't seem like it could exist in her life, and if it weren't for the fact that it had been ongoing for a few weeks now, she'd just chalk it up to Fandom weirdness....

"Hi," she offered back, with a smile, and even offered out her hand for a shake. "I think we have, actually. Eleanor Zarrin. Amateur babble listener. Nice to meet you, too."

Really, really nice.

"So....no raisins, huh?"

It felt a good thing to know!

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

Kamala just let out a small nervous laugh as she shook Eleanor's hand... and then just kept holding it.

"I'm also a semi-professional raisin disliker," Kamala admitted. "I mean, why take a delicious grape and make it worse?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

With another rush of heat and practically feeling that faint mottled green blush crawling across her skin, Eleanor seemed in absolutely no rush to let go of Kamala's hand either.

"Well," she reasoned, although lightly, clearly also in no rush to join Team Raisin with any particular passion, but feeling she at least needed to defend them a little, not out of any sort of loyalty to the fruit, but just out of sympathy for the underdog, "they have a longer shelf life than grapes? But that's all I've got, I guess. Cheaper, easier snacks."

Definitely no lack of little tiny boxes of raisins on lunch trays at St. Brigid's, that was for sure.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

"Okay. Clearly we have identified a roadblock in our burgeoning relationship," Kamala joked. "However, it's not a deal breaker. I can live with a girlfriend who appreciates the finer quality of inedible dried fruit."

And then with just a trace of hesitancy added: "Do you want to get some refreshments and, uh, get comfortable?" she asked with a slight head nod toward the couch.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"Maybe that just means," said Eleanor, feeling the blush lingering, but at least evening out a little bit to a more pleasant warmth than just an overall blast of awkward heat, "I can eat the raisins so you won't have to."

Eleanor could eat lots of things that other people would consider not only unpalatable, but also completely uneatable all together!

"But, yeah." Her nod was stiff, and she was pretty sure she failed to completely keep the little spark of eagerness entirely out of her voice. Definitely not her eyes. "That sounds good."

Which unfortunately meant needing both hands for said refreshments, but a small sacrifice for a surely greater reward.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[slothbabyproductions]

"I think we have come to an excellent compromise then," Kamala laughed. She reluctantly let go of Eleanor's hand to grab a soda before heading to and flopping on the couch. "Come and sit! I got that meta for Shrek movie cued up for us to watch. I almost wore the green hippo outfit for the occasion but I thought the mask would make it awkward."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"It would definitely make it harder to eat popcorn," Eleanor agreed, reminding herself to keep a looser grip on her own snacks and drink as she went to go join Kamala on the couch. Hoping she did so smoothly, and not as awkwardly as she felt, while then worrying, as soon as she sat down, if she'd sat down too close to her. She definitely didn't have to worry about having sat down too far away, at least, because it wasn't very far at all, which made her think it was too close, but it felt like it would even more awkward and obvious if she tried to shift a little further away.

"This seems much more comfortable, anyway," she pointed out, much, much more softly now.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden had made herself scarce for a few minutes after Eleanor's arrival - for very important sweet tea reasons and certainly not to give the two of them a few moments alone, that would be ridiculous. But anyway, something like five or so minutes later, Arden came back into the activity room with a pitcher of sweet tea, dressed as a possum. Because that's what best friends did for one another.

"Hey, Ellie!" she said, waving as she set down the pitcher near the other beverages that Kamala had brought out. And then heard what she'd said and flushed a bit. "Sorry, Eleanor. I meant to ask if you were okay with nicknames. It's okay if you're not!"

She sighed and buried her face in her hand briefly. "Okay, let's take this from the top." Picking up her pitcher, she literally walked backwards out of the room and then stepped inside again. "Hey, Eleanor," she said, waving as she set down the pitcher in roughly the same place as before. "That is a hell of a shirt you're wearing. I think that one of the ones I shoved at Graham the day he turned back from being a goose in the radio station."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"Nicknames are fine," Eleanor offered, first and foremost, with maybe a slightly smile that she was able to pull up after all of that, because at least all of that helped her to get over her initial response of an internal wince and a wistful recollection of how Rhys had called her Ellie (rushing up, tossing her into the air, that wild flash of red as he grinned up at her. She likes it. Don't you?....She knows me. Don't you, Ellie?), but also how Kamala has also just started casually calling her El, familiar and friendly because that's what friends did...

"And hi, Arden. Thanks. I wanted to do a...what is it called? A throwback? To last summer, but after seeing you and Kamala, maybe I should have stuck with with the bunny suit."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden's face cleared when it was clear she hadn't, like, mortally offended Eleanor somehow by giving her a nickname. You never knew how someone was going to respond to a nickname and while Arden had gotten a lot less people-pleasey (totally a word) over the last year, she still had a decent amount of anxiety over what other people probably thought of as perfectly normal, easy interactions.

"I see," she said with a grin. "Showing us you're the OG on the block when it comes to Shenanigans." Pulling a thoughtful expression, she added, "Next time Kams declares it a Shenanigans day, go best of both worlds - OG shirt over the bunny onesie."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"OG?" Eleanor asked, head tilting slightly, knowing it was likely modern slang that she wasn't familiar with yet, which she would usually just move past, but Arden saying it twice sparked enough of her curiosity to ask. And she probably should start picking up on more of it, anyway, to better fit in. "And do you think this is something she might do more often?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Original gangster," Arden said with a smile. "You know, like...old-school. First person on the block. Person with the most skill or experience. You're the OG Fandom kid in the room and you've got the shirt to prove it. Or if Steven came in desperately needing plant help, Kams and I would both point at you and say, 'Talk to Ellie, she's the OG at the Plant Parenthood' or something."

...Okay, odds were very slim either of them would say that, or that Steven would know what they meant if they did, but it worked for illustrative purposes.

"So your shirt is your claim to OG status, because it was from some summer before this. You've got Shenanigans cred that Kams and I can only dream of." Beat. "More like nightmares, actually, considering the Dean, but you know what I mean."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"I couldn't even tell you what I had to do to earn this shirt," Eleanor admitted, pulling on it a little, but she smiled a little at the explanation and the apparent prestige she could earn just by...being here, apparently. "I think my memory's blocked it out for my own good."

As if she hadn't dealt with much, much worse than....well, surprisingly, fittingly, it had actually been the exact activity they'd been subjected to earlier that day! But after so many, Eleanor really didn't remember the details of which shirt always went with what shenanigan.

"Although those poor plants," she said, "if I'm the expert to turn to in the room."

Although she had gotten much better, and she had to admit, she was probably at least a step ahead of Kamala and Arden.

"How are your plants doing, by the way? That you picked up the other week?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"So good!" Arden said, with really more pride than she should have considering she hadn't really had to do anything beyond 'hang them up.' "If you get a chance tonight, you should come up to my room and see them. I ended up putting them all in the line along the top of my balcony door and I really like the effect."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"Sure!" said Eleanor, maybe a little mystified, because even though she should know by now that this place was nothing like St. Brigid's, she also knew that she'd never really been the girl that other girls were eager to show cool things in their rooms to. "I'd love to see how you decided to do it! Maybe it'll give me some ideas, too."

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

St. Brigid's was also a place that apparently served tiny boxes of raisins for dessert, so Eleanor could safely be assured that it wasn't a place to be taking life lessons from.

"Is your room full of plants?" she asked. "Or are you going to start bringing some back? Oh! Or do you mean to decorate the store itself?"

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

Nuns, man. Of course they'd insist on serving the girls quite possibly the least enticing dried fruit around! Although sometimes they'd show up in cookies!

"No, I just have a few plants in mine," Eleanor shook her head slightly, "and I wouldn't want to mess up how Nell's got everything laid out in the store. But I might get some more. And I'm working on trying to figure out how I want to set up a greenhouse back home. I'm hoping my two plant classes this session really help with that, too, it's something I've been kind of putting off for too long."

But the way Kamala was so close with her family was reminding her of how she was the complete opposite with hers, and that she had a lot of work to do to earn her spot, especially after everything that had happened before coming here.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Yeah. Family sure was...complicated.

"Oooh, a greenhouse? What are you going to grow?" Arden asked.

Re: Arrive and Mingle

[what_big_teeth]

"Mostly herbs and flowers and things," Eleanor explained, perhaps a little bit awkwardly, but that just had more to do with the monumental legacy looming over her shoulders with it more than anything else. There was a good chance that her grandmother's ghost had gone with house itself, but she always felt the specter of her looming over her shoulder with sour disapproval. "Things to make...well, calling them potions makes it sound kind of silly and fake, but that's basically what they are. My grandmother used to do that. Potions and curatives and lotions and salves, things like that, for the village where we lived. I...want to be able to do that some day, too. That's...kind of why I took the job at Plant Parenthood, really."