Currently the moon is in the waxing No Moon phase (8% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is partially cloudy. The temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the southwest at 6 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.08 and rising, and the relative humidity is 75 percent. The dewpoint is 51 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 22:18 Pacific Time on Sat Jul 21 2001.
Sophia's Apartment(#4128RAJ$)
Small, bare, and uninviting, this little apartment is clearly not the dwelling of a homebody, nor of a person accustomed to entertaining. The sitting area has only bright white plastic lawn furniture that looks as if it might have been manufactured by Tupperware. Makeshift shelves of cinderblocks and 1"X8" boards bow with the weight of scores of books. Titles like "Rescuing the Bible From Middle America" or "Zarathustra: Modernism in Antiquity" can be seen here, along with dozens of dime-store paperbacks. The small writing table is completely taken up by a computer, powered up and humming softly.
The kitchen looks as if it might never have been cooked in. A small microwave on the counter is still blinking "12:00", no one having bothered to set the clock. Beside it is an electric can opener. The only evidence of use is a single glass in the stainless steel sink and a few fast-food bags in the trashcan. The sole decoration on the refrigerator is a postcard bearing a photograph of a monstrous, grimy power plant with "Come to Hanford!" printed on the bottom in fluorescent green.
Through a door opposite the kitchen, the tiny bedroom looks slightly more lived-in. On top of a black particle-board dresser sit a hairbrush, a few hair-ties, and several plastic hairclips, along with a small pile of cheap costume jewelry. A frame designed to hold several of snapshots is hung squarely on the wall. One bed is made, a bright yellow bedspread bravely trying to cheer up the room. Another is made half-heartedly, the bedspread just carelessly tossed over the top, as if to humor someone.
Lots of noise is coming from the kitchen area of the appartment: pots and pans clanging together, silverwear being dropped into glasses, and lots of running water. Dizzy is trying to do her part to keep the appartment clean by tackling the dishes.
Sophia lets herself into the room and slips in. She's startled by all the racket, and walks quietly into the kitchen nook to see what's going on. She smiles at seeing that it's just her roommate, and drops her backpack on the ground near the bar.
Wearing yellow gloves and her hair tied back with a clip, the ragabash is scrubbing for all she's worth on a pan with some food stuck to it that just wont come off. Exasperated, she looks over to her newly arrived roommate and greets her with a simple, "Hey."
Sophia pats Dizzy on the hand. "Here, lemme work on that. It's been a while since I did any dishes, anyway." She takes off her blazer and carefully drapes it over the back of the chair. She rolls up her sleeves and steps back into the kitchen. "C'mon, pull up a chair and relax. You can talk to me while I work on this."
Sophia's roommate takes off the gloves and sets them draping over the sink for her roommate to use and steps back, allowing access. About half of the dishes are already done and drying on a towel next to the sink. Dizzy leans up against the counter, taking out the hair clip and shaking her head a bit. "Okay, shoot," she says, "What do you want to talk about?"
Sophia starts washing the dishes, no gloves necessary. She leans against the sink, rubbing idly on the troublesome pan, using force but not speed and working in rhythmic circles. "Well, let's see. Corey thinks he's an asshole, you think you're not pretty, and Hops thinks I'm going to leave him. Which, he's the only one who's right. Alicia offered to take me under her wing for a couple weeks, teach me some of the stuff I've been needing to learn for ages. And I'd live with her, as a wolf. How about you? You got things on your mind?"
Dizzy blinks, she wasn't expecting all of that. She decides to start at the begining, "Well first, Hops? Don't you mean Jeremy? Second, living out in the woods might be good. Have you talked to any elders yet? And thirdly, lastly, I was thinking about calling Bernie up, but you wern't home yet. I've been holed up all day and would like to get out."
Sophia looks over at her roommate, still scrubbing away. "No, I mean Hops. Our brother. He's got, like.... abandonment issues, is what they call it. No, I haven't talked to the elders yet, and I'm kinda worried about it to be honest, sorta wishing I hadn't told Alicia it was a good idea. And sure. Let's call Bernie, if you want." Scrub-scrub-scrub.
Dizzy rolls her eyes, "Abandonment issues? God, he's pretty messed up. And earlier I think he was trying to get a little close to you. I'd be careful in case he's got motives, you know." She pushes herself from the counter and walks over to the phone and places a hand on the receiver, not yet picking it up. "You know her number, I'm assuming."
Sophia peers out from under the cabinet. "Boy, are you telling me. I love him. I really do. But as a /brother/. I don't like it when he tries to come closer than a brother should, and I don't just mean because of the litany. But anyway, Bernie's number." She rattles off the digits easily.
Grabbing the paper near the phone, Dizzy quickly writes down the number. She repeats it to make sure it's right, then heads into the bedroom for her cellphone. As she punches the number into it, she inquires, "So what happened between him and Jeremy, or you and Jeremy, or whatever happened before I came down earlier today?"
Sophia finishes the pan she's working on and moves to another. "Jeremy came in, and looked like he was going to take something out of his bag. Hops assumed it was going to be a strap-on and dragged Jeremy upstairs to talk. Apparently 'talking' involves somehow being in Glabro. And scaring the shit out of the person you're talking to, so they run out of the house."
Dizzy shakes her head, "That boy has some serious problems. I'll try and give Jeremy a call tomorrow and try and talk to him. Poor boy. I'm going to start keeping a close eye on Hops."
Sophia watches Dizzy carefully as she speaks. It's possible, just possible, that the angry glint in her eyes is jealousy. Or maybe she's just pissed at the pan she's washing. In any case, her tone is perfectly normal as she says, "Well, Hops was just trying to save me from embarrassment. He knows how green I am. But the thing is, it wasn't a strap-on Jeremy was pulling out of the bag. It was the presents he brought from Portland."
Dizzy pulls up one of the lawn chairs to sit in while her roommate washes the dishes. Seemingly supposing the anger is directed at the pan she asks, "Oh? What did he bring?"
Sophia snicks her tongue at Dizzy and rolls her head to face her. "I can't tell you that, silly... It would ruin the surprise."
Dizzy grins, "Well then, I'll have to definately try and drag Jeremy back over here. Let him know that he's safe from Hops as long as I'm around."
Sophia nods absent-mindedly. "I don't think Hops would do anything I asked him not to do, though. It's almost creepy, having as much power over him as I do. And so fast. All I have to do is talk to him alone, and... it's weird. On the one hand, I'm closer to him even than John. But on the other hand, I don't trust it. It happened so fast...I don't know what to make of it." She rinses of the pan, setting it in the dishrack.
Dizzy nods solemnly, "I wouldn't either. Seeing it from an outside perspective I'd say to go with your gut feeling. If it feels weird and wrong, then it probably is."
Sophia reaches into the sink again to pull out another dish. After slipping her fingers under it, she drops the pan and turns to look at Dizzy. "Do you think Jeremy is trying to get me in the sack? I mean, with the gifts and everything?"
Dizzy shakes her head, "Nah. He's a dork, and from what I've heard I'm going to assume that he has about as much experience at dating as you do. He's probably doing all those things because that's what he's been taught by the media. In his mind, that's how you woo a girl. Give her flowers, buy her gifts, take her out. I'd suppose that he does them more frequently than a normal guy because he doesn't have any experience dating. Seriously, I can't see Jeremy doing it just for sex."
Sophia nods slowly. "When I'm looking at the situation logically? What I see is yeah, like you said, trying to woo me. And then I gotta take that a step farther, and why would he want to woo me if it wasn't for that? Only then I look at it not-logically, and well... yeah. I mean, he's great, but he is kind of a dork." She picks up the pan she's dropped and starts washing it, getting it quickly out of the way and reaching in for something else.
Dizzy laughs, "Well, in the end, what is dating for if not as a way to judge potential mates?"
Sophia looks down at the pan and then up at Dizzy. "You know what? I don't think I need to go out in the woods after all. I think I know what to do now. Thank you. It's good not being the big sister for once."
Dizzy smiles, "I'm glad I could help, I wish I was as smart as you are when I was fifteen. Probably wouldn't have gotten in as much trouble as I did."
Sophia lets the dish fall slowly into the sink and rinses her hands. "You got into a lot of trouble when you were younger?" She starts to wipe them on her jeans, but reconsiders, finding a paper-towel instead. "And... do you mind if I call him, ask him to come over? It /is/ getting a little late to be calling Bernie, after all."
Dizzy waves a hand in the air to indicate she doesn't care, "Yeah, sure. It is pretty late. We'll just catch Bernie some other time."
Sophia walks over to the phone. She dials Jeremy's number quickly and presses the handset to her ear, moving her hair out of her way, giving it a disdainful look as the phone rings.
Dizzy gets up from the chair and returns the cell phone to her jacket in the bedroom. She returns and waits near the bar, listening to her roommate's side of the call.
Sophia gives Dizzy a sorrowful glance. "Hi, sweetie? It's me, Sophia. Do you have time to talk?" She cradles the phone with her shoulder, unrolling her sleeves and buttoning the wrists.
Dizzy giggles at Sophie's term of endearment for Jeremy and rests her arms on the bar, leaning over it a tad.
Sophia bites on her lip, a vaguely pained expression on her face. "I've decided not to go away after all. I um... I've realized some things, and just... I owe you an apology. I underestimated you."
Dizzy claps silently for her roommate, proud of her.
Sophia grimaces, the kind of face made by someone who's just awoken a sleeping infant at four in the morning. "I... The real reason I was going off into the woods was that I wanted to spend some time thinking about just what you were after, like, if you were trying to talk me into the sack. And I should have just trusted your answer the first few hundred times. I... I'm sorry. I believe you now."
Dizzy smiles wistfully, so proud of Sophia right now.
Sophia breathes in deeply. "Would you like to come over and visit for a while? You left your bag here. And I promise, I won't make any jokes about ass-grabbing." She winks at her roommate, an impish grin on her face.
Dizzy grins back.
The look on Sophia's face as she glares at the door could melt it, if she were Superman. "No One Will Touch You." she says, her voice a bit defensive. "I've already gone over that with Hops. He won't do anything like that again, and if he dared, I'd..." She doesn't explain what she'd do, not wanting to frighten Jeremy further. Instead, she breathes deeply and says, "The problem has been resolved. I'm sure Hops will apologize the next time he sees you. It's just me and Dizzy in here. Everyone else is off doing their own thing."
Dizzy sighs, and ponders the idea of giving Hops a good beating, Hispo style. The ragabash cub brushes it away, since she figures the elders wouldn't be too keen on that.
Sophia smiles, flashing some major tooth. Her eyes all but disappear in the folds of her grin. "Good. I'll see you soon, then." Any hesitance he might be showing is totally lost on her; she is the child who's just been told she /can/ eat five pounds of candy for dinner, after all.
She really needn't ask, but Dizzy grins at her roommate and asks, "He's coming over, then?"
Impossibly, Sophia's smile widens as she hangs up the phone. "He is!" She sticks out her tongue and does a silly little dance of joy.
Sophia's roommate laughs at her reaction, glad that she's not gloomy anymore.
Sophia quickly slips back into her blazer and trots into the bathroom to check her hair. Though she's presumably done something to it, judging from the time spent, she returns looking exactly the same.
Dizzy hums a tune as she goes into the kitchen and starts drying and putting away the dishes that had been washed earlier. When her roommate returns, she asks, "How long does that online ordering take? I can't wait until we get some real chairs and such in here."
Sophia does a mad dash around the apartment, putting books up on the shelves, tidying everything up. "The furniture should be here anytime now. I'll ask Hops about it in the morning." She even goes to the trouble to wake the sleeping Samantha, the apartment's resident vacuum-cleaner, to clean up some poptart crumbs on the floor. "Why don't you stay in here and be sociable, for once, girl? You sleep too much." The dog huffs. I do all the cleaning around here. I don't know /what/ you're talking about, Spot.
Dizzy blinks, stopping what she's doing, looking at the dog. "Oh my god, that's weird," she says, "I think I half understood what Sam just said."
There is a light knocking on the door after awhile.
Light though it might be, the knocking still startles Sophia. She rushes over and opens the door with a bright, youthful smile.
Dizzy quickly returns to her task, finishing putting away the last of the dishes.
Jeremy stands before the door, glancing around nervously. He's wearing a plain white shirt with a blue apple over his left breast and a pair of loose jeans. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he offers a quick smile to Sophia, peering past her inside.
Sophia smiles, stepping out of the way. "Nobody here but us bitches," she says, motioning to Samantha and Dizzy.
A bit stunned by Sophia's use of the word for a female dog, Dizzy quickly composes herself and comes out from the kitchen, grinning, to greet the guest. "Hey Jeremy. How was your trip?" she inquires.
"It was routine." Jeremy softly says as he steps inside the small apartment, shifting his eyes about. He's just waiting for the monsters to leap out and eat him it seems. "Saw my parents mostly, got some extra money from them so I can buy a car."
Sophia raises her eyebrows. "A car? Coooool. Would you like something to drink?" she asks, moving the chairs quickly away from the computer....a bit farther from the computer than is logical.
"Have a seat?" the ragabash offers her roommate's beau. "What kind of car are you looking at?"
Jeremy flops onto a lawn chair and shakes his head. "No thank you.. Um.. I suposse I may just buy an Elantra, a four door. Its simple, maybe a civic. Not sure." He rubs his neck slightly, shrugging.
Sophia sits down on the floor opposite the two lawnchairs, patting the ground next to her. Samantha walks over happily, but rather than approaching Sophia as directed, she walks up to Jeremy. Pet me. You were gone. Pet me.
Jeremy reaches a hand out to Samantha and gently traces his fingers through her fur, scratching behind an ear idly as he turns his attention over towards Sophia.
Seeing as the theurge decided to not take a chair, Dizzy claims the other lawn chair. As she sits down, Sophie's roommate grins at Samantha, still amazed that she can actually understand her.
Samantha tilts her head, leaning into Jeremy's hand. She pants contentedly. Sophia glances at the backpack and then at Jeremy, back and forth. "So... how is your family?" she asks.
"Mom and Dad are fine. Dad's busy working at the shop. He does computer repair and tech support for his own small company he started. Mom is getting back into College." Jeremy straightens his glasses with his free hand while the other continues to work at Sam's ears. "They are surviving, talking about moving into a smaller house now that I don't live with them anymore. Less rent and its more homely."
Dizzy just sits there quietly, listening.
Sophia looks at the bag out of the corner of her eye, willing it to stand up and walk over to Jeremy like Samantha has. She idly pats the floor, just in case, but the bag doesn't move. Sophia sighs. "Going back to college, hmm? That's always a good thing."
Jeremy nods in reply. "It is. My mother is smart, but she's been a house wife ever since graduation." Catching Sophia's glance, he lets his eyes trail over towards the bag.
Dizzy watches the whole thing with a hint of amusement. She covers her smile with a hand to help prevent herself from giggling.
Sophia looks away from the bag quickly. "What will she be studying, has she decided?" she asks, her eyes fixed on his face. She chuckles as Samantha says: It doesn't even smell like food.... your bag is much better.
"Hmm... I am not sure. I believe just general Ed for now, to see if she can handle it." Jeremy turns his gaze slowly from the bag to stare at her, curious.
Dizzy doesn't say anything, trying hard not to laugh. Poor Jeremy. He's so skittish.
Sophia's eyes are wide, overly innocent. "And the rest of your family? Your cousins and so forth? All finding honor on their paths, I hope?"
"I suposse." A shrug of his shoulders reveal that the young kin doesn't honestly know. He didn't really get all the details. Glancing from each girl, he scratches an itch on his arm. "I should go.. its...real late."
Sophia looks crushed, traumatized. "But no.... you can't! Not /yet/!" News has just broken out in the Roach Motel: Christmas is cancelled.
Jeremy glances to his watch, then back at her curiously. "umm... not... yet? Why? We aren't doing anything important, and it is two in the morning."
Dizzy yawns, a tad tired. John and Daisy have been getting the cubs up pretty early for coffee and training.
Sophia pouts. "Not important?" she asks, incredulous and hurt. Finally, she decides to be blunt about the situation. She points at the bag. "Not /important/?"
