[ her own anecdote didn't have that intent behind it. ] Haha, you really think so? It's so, I don't know ... plain! [ she means "white"; which is true for her mother's motivation, but also rude to just say out loud. ] So what if no one could ever pronounce it right in the first place.
Meanwhile, I want to say something about "Lina" just being really easy to remember and short to call out, but you're also the first of three I know on the app. [ a smirk. ] Guess we'll just have to be unique in some other ways.
[sorry, Jen, but Lina's kind of dramatic sometimes. which she's sure Jen has never once noticed. at least she's keeping her tone casual.]
I know my name is kind of common, but could you imagine me going by Carmelina like it's an everyday thing? God, I can feel myself getting nerdier just thinking about it. [she doesn't need help with that.] At least we're both really good at being unique. I don't know anybody in the city like you.
[ Jen ... doesn't answer that question right off the bat. it's something that's come up in her mind on a rare occasion, but hasn't hit her as hard as recently with all the Retrospec shenanigans. what's in a name? a surprising amount of baggage, that's what. ]
I can't think of anyone else like you either, Carmelina. [ she makes that sound all musical and shit, but cannot keep a straight face afterward. ] ...yeah, I see what you mean now. It's a pretty name but still.
[she scoffs at being called her full name, but if anyone has to do it she's glad it's here and now where it's obviously a joke.]
It's an okay name. I mean, for how much my sisters still give a shit about me it's basically meaningless, but I'm attached to it, I guess.
[she doesn't think she's actually bitched too much about her sisters to Jen. not in depth, at least, because everything they've done until recently has been so shallow. but maybe this'll be a good time? she'll leave the avenue open.]
[ maybe Jen caught up on this in passing, but she never would have pressed too hard because she, herself, didn't find the need to talk about family a lot. not outside of the usual "mom said this" or "mom won't let me do that" and so on.
so yeah. curiosity seems to be the name of the game tonight. ]
God, where do I start. So, like. Rose abandoned us. She got discovered by some label guy and now she's a pop star and she's probably loaded and she never talks to us anymore.
[that all comes out casually, and it might go a long way to explain some of Lina's opinions. but the bigger one is with Clover, and just realizing she'll have to segue into her is enough to get Lina staring off into the middle distance and furrowing her brow.]
Clover got adopted. She just got plucked right out of the orphanage and taken to a place where she doesn't need us anymore. ["me". she means "me".] So that's cool! That's been great. Everybody else got lucky and here I am working as hard as I can with fuck all to show for it.
[except that's not totally true anymore, and she reins in her bitterness quickly enough to add something to it.]
Except, you know. I get you as a roommate. And that's nicer than I thought lately.
[ Jen listens intently. she tries to keep a hold on her opinions and from her face showing any distaste on hearing what happened. this time she cannot blame Lina one bit for her bitterness. it also helped explain a few things, and she made some notes about Rose's behavior in particular. ]
Wow, uh. I'm sorry I asked. [ she really was. ] It sounds rough.
[ part of that last bit sticks with her though. was this time for some levity? maybe. worth a shot. ] I was never super good with hurdles, but even I can clear a low bar like that.
[Jen isn't Clover and this isn't a dream, so nothing will ever actually come of any of this. and she appreciates the joke; it's good to get her off the subject. maybe she shouldn't take the word of known salty bitch Lina Geteilt as gospel, though.]
I know the bar is in the ground, but you'd be surprised how many people have dug themselves deep enough that they trip over it. [shit, she's clever.] And it might have taken me a while, but I do mean it. You're turning out to be a lot of fun.
Heh. If you can't have a good laugh with me around, then who? [ to the point, Jen began to pull the tissues free from her nose. they're just a bit bloodied, but once she's wiped herself off there's no evidence they'll leak again anytime soon. ]
I should go with hardwood floors next time. [ sniff. ] They're softer.
[she's glad her roommate is recovering, at least, even if it's still 100% incontrovertibly Lina's fault that she ended up like this. she sighs quietly, more for theatrics than anything else. because she's struggling with words, trying to find the right thing to actually say so she sounds sincere and not just like she's repeating herself. which is, to put it nicely, fucking impossible.]
You get one on me. That's the fair thing to do, right? Like, I don't know how you're going to do it, but you get to do something to me that hits me as hard as—[her face hit the floor, is what she's about to say before she course-corrects again.]—that hit you.
[ Jen chuckled. ] What, do you think I'm mad? You think this is something I'd want to get even with you over?
[ even if it's not that, even if it's just karma, it's kind of endearing in a messed up way that Lina would just be like "okay, now hit me back" or something to that effect.
Jen actually considers this for a long moment as she's balling up the tissues and dumping them on the coffee table. she rises from her sitting posture and rolls her shoulders. then she steps up in front of her roommate and grinds her metal fist into her left palm. ] But! If you insist...
[her hands go up to her face as though that's actually going to guard her. she knows Jen has more strength in one arm than Lina does in her entire upper body.]
I meant metaphorically! Don't actually punch me in the face!
[ Jen lunged downward but didn't go for Lina's face as she was obviously expecting her to do. her knees hit the carpet in front of the couch and her aim was much lower. the other girl's sides, apparently. for a good ol' fashioned revenge tickle!
which won't work if Lina isn't actually ticklish. worth a shot though. ]
[fuck! shit, okay, no, that—she's extremely ticklish, which she hadn't expected to be a problem but here she is giggling like a fucking lunatic and trying very hard to fend her roommate off with both her hands going down to her sides to push her away.]
Aah! Stop it! [she's just glad she's not getting punched because she can definitely withstand this. even her protests have some playfulness behind them.]
[in a second, she'll unpack that this was Jen's second reaction after punching.]
Haha, nope! Not yet! [ she hasn't been satisfied that she's extracted her "vengeance" so quickly. Jen isn't all that ticklish herself, so Lina would have a hard time deflecting her assault with just that. it's ... surprisingly pleasant, to hear Lina laugh with such a lack of restraint. she could keep up with this a while.
[she hasn't been challenged like this since she was a kid! it's actually kind of fun? it brings back actually good memories, but she can't focus on them because now her legs are squirming, too, trying to push Jen away as her eyes shut and her laughter gets a little more desperate.]
Worth it! [ and now she's laughing, too, because it's exhilarating. Lina's struggling is getting more and more effective. even if the targets are unfair. ]
Oof, hey! Not the boobs! [ Jen moves in closer, pulling her right arm in to try and wrap them around Lina's legs. maybe clamp or pin them together between the two of them. it leaves her with one less defense to use, but also still gives Jen one hand for tickling. ]
[hey, if it means that there's less tickling going on, Lina will let it happen, and as somebody else in that sort of situation she knows damn well that it hurts more than it should to get attacked in the boobs. she calms her legs down as best she can while still being tickled because Jen isn't letting up and her body bends to one side and bunches up against the couch to try to make the space too tight for Jen's hand to maneuver.]
Oh, and since when are we playing fair? [ she's not quite done yet, and Lina isn't just giving up either. that makes this a challenge and Jen always rises to challenges. always.
so what if her hand is about to be crushed? Jen should be considering any potential consequences or injuries she might just sustain but hey, she's already going to have a hell of a time showing her actual face at the gym for a day or two, so she might as well go for broke. she shifts one leg up onto the couch and changes the angle of her attack. if Lina squirms too much though one of those hands might end up in a place she won't want it. ]
[Lina knows Jen has a point and hates it but now she's literally climbing on top of her? give Lina a second, let her breathe, let her breathe dammit and she can stop this and find some way to make Jen regret taking it this far just let her—]
Jen, please, I—
[her hand grabs at Jen's wrist to try to make her stop, because it's getting less fun now that Lina can't even focus on breathing and it's hard for her to control, if she successfully grips Jen's wrist with her own noodly arms, where Jen's hand ends up. good thing she can pretend it was on purpose if she ends up accidentally groping her.]
[ it's that point where Lina's not just struggling in a way that's fun to witness but more seeming like she's genuinely having some trouble. so Jen relents.
her expression's color lilts from joy to concern quickly. Jen's right arm is firmly planted in the cushion in a way that bears all her weight while she lets Lina hold onto her other hand that's turn with a flat palm down. onto what, she hasn't yet noticed, but there's no movement there. ]
[give her a second. the tickling has stopped and Lina's face is bright red and she's definitely crying a little bit, and there's a pained smile on her face that, in a moment, is probably going to become much less pained. because her head is tilted up at Jen, and then her eyes follow her arm down, and Lina lets go so Jen can more easily pull away if she wants. which might be a big if.]
Couldn't—[god, she's breathless. it doesn't help, and the way her chest heaves as she tries to get air back isn't going to help Jen's case much either.]—let it go with just a look?
A... look? [ Jen is confused. ] You thought I was actually going to punch you? For real?
[ wait. now that the moment is less hectic and her senses aren't focused on attack or defense, she notices that her other hand didn't land on Lina's shoulder. or literally anywhere else appropriate. ] Shit! Sorry! [ she pulls the hand aside which, unfortunately, she doesn't have the balance for. Jen doesn't go careening off the couch, thank God, but the sudden shift does cause the recliner in that section to forcibly activate and the leg extension saves her fall. somewhat.
aaaand her face is beet red. again. fan-frickin-tastic. ] God, you could have said something!!
[Lina laughs with a little more of an edge behind it, but she's still delighted by what she's seeing. flustering her roommate is what caused this whole thing in the first place, so they're maybe not even at this point, but Lina considers it a notch in her column.]
[Lina grabs for Jen's arm to try to stabilize her and sit up a little more at the same time; she actually doesn't want her roommate to get hurt, after all. but the recliner, well, does what it's supposed to (though of course not as much as an actual individual recliner might) and Lina ends up sinking back into the couch with her hand inadvertently tugging Jen closer. which is fine by her since it means they're both less likely to fall off the damn thing, but maybe Jen would like, uh, not to be right there in Lina's personal space again right now.]
[ being right there isn't necessarily a bad thing? it means that she's stable and both Lina's grip and her own arm bent at the elbow now flush with the seat helps a lot with that. but it also means Lina may regret being quite this close to her since, well, Jen did just spend the past couple of days outside the city with little but a freshwater dip and a soak with a cold towel for cleaning. though the mass of hair cascading down around them might help with that since, again, dry shampoo is the greatest invention since sliced bread when it comes to keeping her looking fresh without having to spend three hours in the shower each morning. ]
I. [ gulp. ] Uh. [ it's hard to break Lina's gaze right now. ] Mind was elsewhere...
[ there is a faint whisper of a memory in the back of her mind. an awkward encounter. two young voices whispering back and forth to one another. "what are you doing?" "Idon'tknowhelpme." ]
So. Should I move...? [ Jen meant to make that sound more certain. she should, without question, move. ]
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Meanwhile, I want to say something about "Lina" just being really easy to remember and short to call out, but you're also the first of three I know on the app. [ a smirk. ] Guess we'll just have to be unique in some other ways.
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[sorry, Jen, but Lina's kind of dramatic sometimes. which she's sure Jen has never once noticed. at least she's keeping her tone casual.]
I know my name is kind of common, but could you imagine me going by Carmelina like it's an everyday thing? God, I can feel myself getting nerdier just thinking about it. [she doesn't need help with that.] At least we're both really good at being unique. I don't know anybody in the city like you.
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I can't think of anyone else like you either, Carmelina. [ she makes that sound all musical and shit, but cannot keep a straight face afterward. ] ...yeah, I see what you mean now. It's a pretty name but still.
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[she scoffs at being called her full name, but if anyone has to do it she's glad it's here and now where it's obviously a joke.]
It's an okay name. I mean, for how much my sisters still give a shit about me it's basically meaningless, but I'm attached to it, I guess.
[she doesn't think she's actually bitched too much about her sisters to Jen. not in depth, at least, because everything they've done until recently has been so shallow. but maybe this'll be a good time? she'll leave the avenue open.]
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so yeah. curiosity seems to be the name of the game tonight. ]
What's their deal, anyway?
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[that all comes out casually, and it might go a long way to explain some of Lina's opinions. but the bigger one is with Clover, and just realizing she'll have to segue into her is enough to get Lina staring off into the middle distance and furrowing her brow.]
Clover got adopted. She just got plucked right out of the orphanage and taken to a place where she doesn't need us anymore. ["me". she means "me".] So that's cool! That's been great. Everybody else got lucky and here I am working as hard as I can with fuck all to show for it.
[except that's not totally true anymore, and she reins in her bitterness quickly enough to add something to it.]
Except, you know. I get you as a roommate. And that's nicer than I thought lately.
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Wow, uh. I'm sorry I asked. [ she really was. ] It sounds rough.
[ part of that last bit sticks with her though. was this time for some levity? maybe. worth a shot. ] I was never super good with hurdles, but even I can clear a low bar like that.
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[Jen isn't Clover and this isn't a dream, so nothing will ever actually come of any of this. and she appreciates the joke; it's good to get her off the subject. maybe she shouldn't take the word of known salty bitch Lina Geteilt as gospel, though.]
I know the bar is in the ground, but you'd be surprised how many people have dug themselves deep enough that they trip over it. [shit, she's clever.] And it might have taken me a while, but I do mean it. You're turning out to be a lot of fun.
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I should go with hardwood floors next time. [ sniff. ] They're softer.
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[she's glad her roommate is recovering, at least, even if it's still 100% incontrovertibly Lina's fault that she ended up like this. she sighs quietly, more for theatrics than anything else. because she's struggling with words, trying to find the right thing to actually say so she sounds sincere and not just like she's repeating herself. which is, to put it nicely, fucking impossible.]
You get one on me. That's the fair thing to do, right? Like, I don't know how you're going to do it, but you get to do something to me that hits me as hard as—[her face hit the floor, is what she's about to say before she course-corrects again.]—that hit you.
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[ even if it's not that, even if it's just karma, it's kind of endearing in a messed up way that Lina would just be like "okay, now hit me back" or something to that effect.
Jen actually considers this for a long moment as she's balling up the tissues and dumping them on the coffee table. she rises from her sitting posture and rolls her shoulders. then she steps up in front of her roommate and grinds her metal fist into her left palm. ] But! If you insist...
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[her hands go up to her face as though that's actually going to guard her. she knows Jen has more strength in one arm than Lina does in her entire upper body.]
I meant metaphorically! Don't actually punch me in the face!
[that is on her for speaking poorly, though.]
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[ Jen lunged downward but didn't go for Lina's face as she was obviously expecting her to do. her knees hit the carpet in front of the couch and her aim was much lower. the other girl's sides, apparently. for a good ol' fashioned revenge tickle!
which won't work if Lina isn't actually ticklish. worth a shot though. ]
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Aah! Stop it! [she's just glad she's not getting punched because she can definitely withstand this. even her protests have some playfulness behind them.]
[in a second, she'll unpack that this was Jen's second reaction after punching.]
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or, as long as Lina can still breathe, anyway. ]
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Oh my god I'm gonna kill you!
[she deserves this. entirely.]
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Oof, hey! Not the boobs! [ Jen moves in closer, pulling her right arm in to try and wrap them around Lina's legs. maybe clamp or pin them together between the two of them. it leaves her with one less defense to use, but also still gives Jen one hand for tickling. ]
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This isn't fair! Oh my god!
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so what if her hand is about to be crushed? Jen should be considering any potential consequences or injuries she might just sustain but hey, she's already going to have a hell of a time showing her actual face at the gym for a day or two, so she might as well go for broke. she shifts one leg up onto the couch and changes the angle of her attack. if Lina squirms too much though one of those hands might end up in a place she won't want it. ]
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Jen, please, I—
[her hand grabs at Jen's wrist to try to make her stop, because it's getting less fun now that Lina can't even focus on breathing and it's hard for her to control, if she successfully grips Jen's wrist with her own noodly arms, where Jen's hand ends up. good thing she can pretend it was on purpose if she ends up accidentally groping her.]
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her expression's color lilts from joy to concern quickly. Jen's right arm is firmly planted in the cushion in a way that bears all her weight while she lets Lina hold onto her other hand that's turn with a flat palm down. onto what, she hasn't yet noticed, but there's no movement there. ]
Hey. Sorry. I got a bit crazy there. You okay?
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Couldn't—[god, she's breathless. it doesn't help, and the way her chest heaves as she tries to get air back isn't going to help Jen's case much either.]—let it go with just a look?
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[ wait. now that the moment is less hectic and her senses aren't focused on attack or defense, she notices that her other hand didn't land on Lina's shoulder. or literally anywhere else appropriate. ] Shit! Sorry! [ she pulls the hand aside which, unfortunately, she doesn't have the balance for. Jen doesn't go careening off the couch, thank God, but the sudden shift does cause the recliner in that section to forcibly activate and the leg extension saves her fall. somewhat.
aaaand her face is beet red. again. fan-frickin-tastic. ] God, you could have said something!!
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[Lina grabs for Jen's arm to try to stabilize her and sit up a little more at the same time; she actually doesn't want her roommate to get hurt, after all. but the recliner, well, does what it's supposed to (though of course not as much as an actual individual recliner might) and Lina ends up sinking back into the couch with her hand inadvertently tugging Jen closer. which is fine by her since it means they're both less likely to fall off the damn thing, but maybe Jen would like, uh, not to be right there in Lina's personal space again right now.]
Could've. Didn't. You couldn't even tell.
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I. [ gulp. ] Uh. [ it's hard to break Lina's gaze right now. ] Mind was elsewhere...
[ there is a faint whisper of a memory in the back of her mind. an awkward encounter. two young voices whispering back and forth to one another.
"what are you doing?"
"Idon'tknowhelpme." ]
So. Should I move...? [ Jen meant to make that sound more certain. she should, without question, move. ]
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