Scene #8970: Normal Girl Duo

Owner	Pose
Angela	Chevalier Love has asked Petra for help in meeting with Meika because she ... well, if Meika is one of your only friends it's natural to want to mantain some kind of friendship with Meika, right? At the very least, Love wants to see how Meika is doing now instead of just having this...empty space where Meika was. Can the current Meika really fill that kind of space? She doesn't know but ... maybe some part of her is hoping that meeting Meika will somehow make a miracle happen. Love can make a miracle happen, she knows, and she even prayed to God so she figures God owes her one here since she's been a very good girl but even if a miracle doesn't happen--she thinks she needs this or she'll always wonder, and she'll be sad forever totally instead of maybe just a little sad forever which feels more manageable. Love arrives wearing her A) roller skates B) red hairtie around right arm, the arm opposite of where she has that red tattoo wrapping around her upper arm... and C) The earbuds of the mp3 player that Meika had pushed out to her shortly before her 'memory erasure'. Love has decided to not wear her magical girl uniform because she doesn't want to scare Meika and she has decided on a name to use because her NAME might be a little off too. But otherwise she is hoping to be herself, but maybe a little muted so it doesn't weird Meika out. She's got a plan. That means she's wearing some of the clothes that Petra had helped prepare for her. She's wearing a black blouse with with a pink heart at its center with snakes curling around it to form the heart-shpae and a darker pink pair of shorts along with her usual heeled shoes. She is still wearing her heart-shaped hair ornament with the pink outline and the black interior which actually matches with what she's wearing right now more than it usually does and has utterly failed to tame her hair. She didn't bring her magic staff with her but her eyes are still unusually golden. This is about as normal as Love can get without starting to be WEIRD about normality. She arrives in the plaza, near the warpgate, figuring that would be the best place to keep her eyes open, idly skating around there while she scans around and swings her hands behind her back to obscure the way that her fingers are intertwining with her other fingers anxiously. "You've got this..." Love murmurs. "All you have to do is not make her feel weird. You can do this..."
Meika Kirenai	In the weeks and weeks it's been since has had the chance to stop by the city center of the now-christened floating base of Hydrochoeria, and as such, missed the entire campaign of its defense from the bands of heroes, and subsequent liberation from the literal ground itself. Having a supervillian as a friend kind of just keeps getting weirder, really. Still! The sky above is glittering blue, and the ground below is- Meika hasn't strayed from the re-established warpgate exit to actually look over any ledge at whatever might be around the city, cobblestone and future-tech constructions all around still as sightline blocking as a normal city. That the castle itself has seen better days makes her heart twist a bit- faint thoughts about the few chances she had to wander around it still sit fondly in her mind, and she pauses to look around for a long moment, readjusting to the brightness. Love sees her before Meika sees Love- the way Meika holds a hand up to shield her eyes from being sun-blinded, and the subsequent scrunched-scowl that posture always pairs with, might not bode well. Meika's dressed normal, too- her normal. It might be unsettling to see her still defaulting to that same letterman, red and grey, oversized and all-too warm for the summer glare. Her jeans are neater- straight-cut and black, but not as worm-through and damaged, and each bootfall she makes against cobblestone is thoroughly wrong to be undampened. The same messenger bag, with a different phone clutched in her off-hand, with different earbuds trailing up from it, the same shock-white hair with a different, neater-and-way-shorter cut, those same bright red eyes with remarkably less exhausted dark circles around them. It's so obvious that she's doing better that it's awful. Meika startles, and lowers her hand to her pocket when she sees the rollerblading magical girl. There's no flash of familiarity across Meika's face- just a little bit of surprised confusion seeing someone else here other than Petra. A polite little wave is enough of an invitation for interaction, as Meika starts off crossing the plaza again, pausing again to not step in front of her orbiting path, clearly not expecting anything like her stopping. "Are the cobblestones as awful on skates as it seems?" She calls- it's the exact tone of friendly-chatter to a stranger. Love is a stranger to her. Meika's eyes track the other girl, still, another little nostalgic twist in the spot between her throat and heart, thinking about how long it's been since she herself had bothered to go rollerblading. "Are you- uh, one of Petra's friends..? Or- or coworkers? Petra Soroka's, I mean." Familiar chaos in word-ordering and clarity, still half-expecting Love to zoom past without bothering to reply, but caught in the awkwardness of the fast mover getting right of way. She shifts to mumbling, "... I didn't know anyone else'd be around, or... yeah. Guess that's normal, though, it's a big place..."
Angela	Love spots Meika! She has her back largely back to the sun so she has an easier time seeing even if it's fairly bright overall but she mentally prepares herself. 'Love you better--No! AI! Think of yourself as AI! An Ai that can lie if need be.' Love thinks to herself. 'Remember you don't eat gerbils you don't sell vaccuums, and you definitely don't fight for love and justice except in normal ways. You got this girl, rah rah! Pumping myself up!' She smiles and-- ''Are the cobblestones as awful on skates as it seems?'' Love skates up a bit to get into more conversational range. "N-n-n-no i-i-it's not so b-bad.." She isn't stuttering so much as the cobblestones are making her voice stutter unintentionally. Then she sort of laughs a little sheepishly at herself. She supposes that Meika getting better sleep is normal now that she's not staying up to fight Temptations. It's the small details that make Love's stomach twist, particularly the different hair cut and the 'different' eyes, not because she's upset she's doing 'better' but because she associates it with her being cut off from the adventuring life. ..But it isn't entirely NOT because Meika is doing better either. She had wanted to help Meika so much and it turns out this ... this ''lobotomy'' was able to do what her friendship could not. But this is less about her than it is about Meika, Love (AI!) reminds herself of a very important Junior Chevalier rule. She remembers to wave about a half second late. "Okay," She admits. "It is a little weird but I've rolled on rougher terrain." ''Are you-uh, one of Petra's friends..?'' "Oh! Yes! Petra, she's one of my friends. She invited to spend time here sometimes, sometimes I get a little stir crazy back home so I come here." As an Ai that can lie she knows that it's always best to stick to the truth as much as you can. "Oh um--" She offers a hand. "I'm Ai." She didn't think to pick out a family name yet and she hasn't really figured it. ''I didn't know anyone else'd be around or...'' "Do you want privacy? I can ''skate'' on out of here but...you're one of Petra's friends too?"
Meika Kirenai	'N-n-n-no i-i-it's not so b-bad..' A bright little giggle- Meika covers her mouth with her hand, in doing so. "You sure? It kind of sounds like the Earth is quaking just for you. But I guess it's- well, you'd know. Smooth ground's nice, though. Ice is better." Another giggle- that one's just a hair disconnectedly taunting, in the same way someone could tease a stranger wearing an opposing sports jersey, non-personal and airy. 'Oh! Yes! Petra, she's one of my friends.' "Oh, right, yeah, that's- aha, I guess I figured right, huh. I- I get that. Stir crazy. It's nice of her to let people come here like that." It'd be weird to expect Petra would talk about all of her friends, and all of the people welcome to wander in here- but it's still a little odd to meet someone new, unexpectedly. At least Meika's here early, as texts to Petra's current busy-ness indicate. That means there's a little time to kill. "Used to come here a little, too, when feeling kind of like that, I guess. It's... yeah." 'I'm Ai.' "Ah, um- Kirenai Meika, it's- it's good to meet you, uh, Miss- Ai." A pause, and the hand that she stuck in her pocket dares to come back out, and, still hesitant, takes her offered hand in a shake. Her grip is awkwardly tight. "Nice skates. You said you've managed with those on- on stuff rougher than this..? Like what? I- I used to skate, too, actually." There's no hiding bleedthrough of curiosity, in the little vicarious latch-on that says how much she'd like to get back into it herself. She's grown out of that, though- or else she'd have kept hers around, instead of tossing them out. Her head tilts to the side. "Huh. Same brand, even. That's a funny coincidence. Colors, too, I think. Funny." The tiny scowl is missable, but present- Meika is really starting to be sick of coincidences, and the more she's thinking about them, the more keep popping up. Funny how that works. 'Do you want privacy?' Meika doesn't answer right away- she checks her phone, re-reads the texts she's gotten for a second, confirming that yeah, Petra did say she'd be substantially late- Meika has no suspicion that's at all an intentionally-crafted assist for keeping her in Love's proximity. Still- a delay in answering might sting a bit. "I- nah, it's fine, I guess? Yeah, I- I know Petra. It's- it's nice to meet more of her other friends, I guess. Are you- well, I mean, don't let me interrupt your skating, I can just..." She points off at the plaza fountain, "Sit and... watch, I guess? You're pretty good." Meika steps away, and heads a few steps towards the fountain, before turning back to face Love, and shifting to walk backwards, instead. "You been doing it a while..? I- sorry, if you don't want to be bugged, I'll... I just kind of..." Fountain rim reached! Instead of completing her thought, she just plunks herself down, and leans forward, lips zipped, and still-in earbud obviously blaring.
Angela	''Ice is better.'' "Yeah... Though I keep crashing whenever I'm at a rink. Into walls and uh ... well I learned to keep my eyes open. I'm actually not very good at skating yet, I just got into it. Um, a friend said it was like flying and--I like the feeling of moving fast, like the wind wooshing past." She feels a sudden burst of a strange emotion: Shyness, and she tugs absently on her hair. It's strange, she doesn't think she felt exactly ''shy'' before Meika before. ''It's nice of her to let people come here like that.'' "Petra's really wonderful." Love murmurs. Don't say she's one of your only friends and maybe the only one that really gets you now or Meika will think you are weird. ''Used to come here a little too, when feeling kind of like that...'' "Aha....guess we have omething in common--" ''Ah, um- Kirenai Meika'' "Nice to meet you Meika..." Ai says chirpily, not like she's dying inside at all! Good job, you learned how to be fake like a real girl. ''You said you've managed with those on- on stuff rougher than this..?'' Love is actually kind of excited to talk about this because she never actually talked to Meika (ver. original) about it. "Oh yeah! I'm still getting the hang of it, but I use it to get around the city and there's this thing called parkour which is all about like letting the ... the flow of the city guide you and you kind of make use of obstacles and like stairs and uh--other city things to help you get around." She beams. "Oh but uh-- I make sure to wear a helmet, it wouldn't be safe without a helmet." This is not 100 percent a lie because when she isn't being a magical girl she does wear the helmet--she doesn't NEED it but she doesn't want to be a bad role model for any Junior Chevaliers that might be out there! She hasn't considered that not wearing it as a magical girl might also be a bad role model for Junior Chevaliers but kids, she reasons, are smarter than people tink! ''I used to skate, too, actually.'' "Oh!" Don't ask why she stopped. Wait why would she stop that has nothing to do with magical girl stuff. "Why'd you stop? No time?" She imagines that she must be super busy at that job Lilian has for her, working hard all the time for big bucks. Yep, she's sure that's what's going on. ''Huh. Same brand, even.'' "Huh?" She asks. "What?" She looks at the skates. "Oh the skates? ..." Say weird or she'll think you're weird. "Weird." Now frown like you are thinking about it. Love frowns like she's thinking about it. "Oh um...sure! Take a load off! I'll try to show you some of my ''super skater moves''." BUt before she can even do normal skater moves... ''Sorry, if you don't want to be bugged.'' "Oh! Um. I actually could use the company. If it isn't any trouble." She skates aroun the cobblestone, shaking up and down like she's being hit by an earthquake that is only localized her. "O-oh I-I f-forgot a-about t-the cobbletsone..." She thinks for a moment and then thinks she can at least manage a... She starts skating to the fountain though not straight on towards Meika, she's aiming off to the side, shaking up and down the whole way.
Meika Kirenai	A surprised eyebrow-raise that Ai agrees that iceskating is, in fact, the superior mode of movement. "No fight there, huh? That's- you've got good taste, I guess, Miss Ai." Tentatively pleased. 'Um, a friend said it was like flying and--' A little surprised exhale. "Oh, yeah? I- no, that's really just how it feels, isn't it? Just like flying must, I guess. How you'd imagine, or whatever. I- I like how it feels, too." She pauses, and blinks, and- as if to explain herself, points at her own chest and- "Used to play hockey. Fast is fun. I- I loved it. Cool that you skate- ice skate, too, though, even if you're just starting. Wouldn't have guessed. You from somewhere cold..?" 'Aha....guess we have something in common--' "Hah. Yeah, couple things, huh? Funny how that happens." The way she rocks back and forth on her heels is familiar. It's awful how much is. "I guess it makes sense, though? One thing in common means more things might be, or... whatever. Yeah." 'I use it to get around the city and there's this thing called parkour--' "Wait, like, seriously? You do- rollerblade parkour? That's- that's really cool. Do you do it here, with all the- the buildings are kind of empty, right..? Or, like, back where you're from?" Her eyes light up- that awful bright red, even more so in the sunny light. She's smiling right back. "I- I wanna hear more about that. The whole... momentum stuff is wild, right..? I- some- some classmates back h- back where I grew up, used to talk about some... online video makers, who'd do it. I... I've never heard of combining it with skating? What's there to it?" 'I make sure to wear a helmet, it wouldn't be safe without a helmet.' A little scoffing giggle. Meika doesn't believe Ai. She's not wearing one now, even. Absentmindedly, Meika grabs her cigarette box out of her jacket pocket, and pulls one out- there's the muscle twitch to offer it out to the ther girl, as she's stopped for a second, but it halfway, before she finally completes the motion. "Want one?" Obviously, Meika wouldn't know that Junior Chevaliers should say no to drugs and smoking. There's none of the semi-protective awkward avoidance of offering her one Meika had as a magical girl, though- this is someone new. For all she knows, she already smokes too. A parkour-er seems like somewhat of a punk by nature, and the sparkly snakes on her outfit aren't dismissing that notion. Actually- "... Your shirt's real neat. You've got like... roller derby style, huh..?" 'Why'd you stop? No time?' "Ah-? I- well, some things you just... stop, I guess. Used to do a little after I- after I stopped doing hockey, but it didn't really... Eh. Don't worry about it, Miss Ai. It's nothing, really." 'Weird.' "Yeah. Weird." No hint of suspicion, really. There's no way she'd know anything truthful, no matter how concerned at coincidences she is. 'Oh um...sure! Take a load off!' 'Um. I actually could use the company.' Meika does a little wave of agreement. "Oh? Yeah, I'll- sure thing. Company's not that hard. Don't have anywhere else to be just yet, so I'll..." A little snort. Maybe the passive little dismissive edge is familiar- but it isn't great. "'Super Skater Moves'? Let's- let's see them, huh..?" Meika doesn't have much time to relax on the fountainside ledge, before Ai starts barreling closer, rocking and rattling from the uneven ground. Even if she's not in the way, Meika grabs back up her messenger bag, and cautiously stands- uncertain where the other girl is going, and what she's planning. "Are- you're still good, right..? I-" She bites her words back, and chews on her lip, fairly certain a disaster is about to happen.
Angela	Love sheepishly looks away at being told she's got good taste. "Ahah..." She says. "You too." Love feels... manipulative. She's barely even lying but the truth is... ...She doesn't think she can give up on being friends with Meika. Even if it's a different Meika. Even if...she's different in all these little ways that stand out. She wonders if she saw herself as she once was, if she would seem so... Some part of her wishes she could forget everything up to this day so they could just be normal friends without all this...everything behind it, stuck in her head. But she vowed that she was going to live and remember. She promised. It's the very source of what it is to be ''a person'' for her. ''You from somewhere cold..?'' Ai hesitates for a moment, unsure which place she's from to think about. It was generally sunny in the Kingdom of Happiness, though obviously it had times where it snowed--that's part of happiness, of course, it had a mix of weather but it always felt like it was the kind of weather she was explicitely hoping for. There's Kagoshima, which IS sometimes cold. And there's the facility which is usually cool but sometimes punctuated by periods of extreme heat. "I...it's more I got in the habit of going to the skate rink week by week and it sort of became habit--even though I'm... usually going alone now. It's still fun though. I--actually kind of find it meditative? I love the parkour stuff too but it's different. If I relax too much I'll crash into something or fall off of something but uh--crashing into an ice rink wall isn't such a big deal." She wiggles back and forth on her heels without thinking about it--but then she stops herself, bringing her hands forward and clasping them together so she has some kind of bodily behavior to distract herself so she doesn't start that up again. Not that she can really stop herself. She picks it back up again two paragraphs from here. "Y-yeah! It's fun and--well, I mostly do it back home, but I--kind of want to try it here, yeah... Sometimes it's a little tough because there's a lot of people around so ... it being pretty quiet here makes it a pretty awesome place to roll around and do some free running, well, skating--" SHe trails off. "Er. I mean, aside from the cobblestone areas, eheh... " She hops up and grinds off the side of the fountain for a moment before letting herself tumble back down, spinning around, and facing back to Meika. "I uh. I guess I don't know if there's like--official terms for it, I just ... watch videos and try mimicking it. But it's harder to like run up walls and stuff because of the wheels but so long as you can pull yourself up by your hands you can really get a good momentum going and you can like--go down those...stairwell bars and there's this neat skhhhhh noise as you go down." For a moment she loses herself in the explanation. "Oh yeah um--Petra actually went with me when I got the shirt." Love adds, distracted by the moment. That is weird, she's going to notice that's weird. "I--I was a little uncomfortable going on my own." She mumbles hastily. ''Some things you just... stop, I guess.'' "Yeah... I guess you can start up again, but sometimes... That is what life is."
Angela	''Company's not that hard.'' ''Super Skater Moves'' "It'd be tough on the cobblestones but..." She hops back up, skating around the edge of the fountain before she leaps off to grab ahold of a hanging lightpost, swinging herself forward and landing some distance away. She lets out a low exhale and turns around again. "But--maybe some other time I could show you some other stuff? If you're interested, I could ... uh ... get you a pair of skates too if you want--I mean, if you need a new pair." ''You're still good, right..?'' "I'm... I'm alright." She says. Not convincing. "I'm alright." She says again, looking back up, smiling again. "But...yeah. A little stir crazy." Speaking of, cigarettes! She hasn't, really, had cigarettes before and indeed her head is already writing the Junior Chevalier segment about JUST SAYING NO and it's okay to JUST SAY NO and friends who are REAL FRIENDS will understand that it's okay that you don't smoke! Instead she takes it, brings it up to her mouth, has a bit of a sniff, remembers to not lick it, and she says, "Um, sure, I haven't before but..." She turns it the right way. Good job Chevalier Love, you can do anything you put your mind to if you do your best. She ALMOST lights it with a magical blast but remembers she probably shouldn't do that? And she instead says, "Oh--right. Lighter, aheh... Thanks."
Meika Kirenai	'I--actually kind of find it meditative?' "Yeah? It really kind of is. Especially if you're there real early, or late- I- I guess it's sort of... good if you're stir crazy, too, maybe, in a different way?" She shrugs. This shouldn't be alien sentiments to Ai- Meika's expressed this, before, even if she doesn't herself remember it. "Even going alone, really. But that's- yeah." "That- that makes sense, people around for parkour stuff, that's... a recipe for them to get mad." A little exhale. Her lighter clicks, and the tip of her cigarette flares up with her breathing. "You ever have to- to like, run from police..?" Maybe she should be less excited in tone, asking her that- but Meika's already viewing Ai as some sort of neat punk-ish free spirit, and that that's something she's impressed with. ' I just ... watch videos and try mimicking it.' "Well, it's not like I'd know the terms any better than you, so just... you're free to make them up, and I'd believe you, you know?" A light little giggle. "Friction does- does seem tough, with that. Does it, like, wear through the wheels faster, trying to keep at it? I- No, that sounds real fun. I'll- I want to try, sometime. If you know some of those vidoes, I- hey, I can give you my number, if you'll send me some of them? I- I don't know if I'd find them well. I mean, if that's, like... yeah. Here-" She offers her phone out, clumsily clicked onto the contacts tab for a new input. The phone's new- fancier than any of the few flip phones she's seen Meika with over the past while, for how they'd get lost, taken from her, or broken by her sister. There aren't many contacts filled- none for her parents, even. 'Oh yeah um--Petra actually went with me when I got the shirt.' "Oh? Huh, is it like, for a band..? Or just-" Ai's tangible awkwardness about it is noticed, but there's really no way to read into friends going shopping as that unusual- beyond the possible-to-draw associations she can draw by Ai's friend being Petra. Meika chews the inside of her lip, before replacing that motion with the burning cigarette she's been holding at her side. "Well. It's nice." Meika's eyes bore into the other girl, as she careens around the fountain, on her skate tricks up to redirect off the lamppost. Her smile grows as the Ai lands- the little laugh-fragment she lets out carries the vibe that Meika would clap, if her hands weren't full and busy. 'I'm... I'm alright.' 'But...yeah. A little stir crazy.' "... Wouldn't- wouldn't have guessed, that last bit." It's not even really sarcastic, with the smile on her face- it's the tone of 'Yeah, sure,' believed and looking past. "You got some real distance on that vault, that's- that landing must've been hard." After a second, Meika looks back over her shoulder, and sits down again on the fountain rim, her bag on her lap, instead of taking up more space. "You need to sit, or something..? I-" She cuts off, and shrugs. 'Um, sure, I haven't before but...' There's an instant guilty little feeling that twists up in Meika's throat. The grimace that her face wants to put up, doesn't make it out, though. "You sure..? I- here, I can light it for you, if you want?" Lighter held out, and given a gentle gesturing shake. 'But--maybe some other time I could show you some other stuff?' "Sure, yeah. Some other time? That sounds cool. You don't gotta- I mean, that's nice of you to offer, but I can just, get my own skates. Good reason- good excuse to bother, I guess. But that'd be... message me about it, sometime? I'll make the time for it. See if I can work out some rust myself, before... Yeah."
Angela	''You ever have to-to like, run from police..?'' "Oh usually I try to uh...avoid getting noticed by police." Love says, completely truthfully. "But once one spotted me and I had to run and--" She thinks for a moment if the running from Agents counted but she doesn't think they're really cops. She doesn't seem to think that admitting to petty theft is a big idea even if she's not saying it so directly. "Usually--yeah it's because they don't like I'm skating around somewhere or dumpster diving..." Fortunately the phone Love stole isn't something that's going to be weirdly like one of Meika's. It's not a modern design in of itself but has a whole bunch of heart and snake stickers plastered all over its back, deftly avoiding the embedded camera. Love has definitely not interacted with Meika's parents at all which is probably for the best since knowing Meika's parents would probably only be awful for everyone. She definitely doesn't know their contact information and she definitely remembers Meika's phone getting broken. There's a little relief in her when she gets her own phone out and gives Meika her current number. There's nothing fancy about the phone number, it's a normal phone outside of also being her multiversal radio. She'll (re)add Meika's phone number since the last one got disconnected... PERMANENTLY. Or at the very least isn't in use by Meika. She doesn't have to clear out her contact because Meika was under Vermilion before and now it's under Meika. ''Is it like for a band..?'' "Ah, no, I just wanted to go with a friend. I hadn't really had done much clothes shopping on my own before. I don't know where it's from. I like sneks! ... Snakes." And obviously she likes hearts though she doesn't say that. But maybe having a strong belief in the power of love... is the most punk thing of all!! It's nice to see Meika's smiling. She's not sure if the Meika she knew would have smiled that easily, but it's not like Meika never smiled at her and it's understandable to smile less when so close to an ending like that. ''You need to sit, or something..?'' Love's hands are a little sore as are her feet so she plunks herself downon the fountain a bit awkwardly now that she's been given an opportunity. ''There's an instant guilty--'' "Aha--there's no worry in trying it right? It's not like it's marijuana or something." If Meika lights it she ... doesn't immediately smoke but she does fiddle with the cigarette in her hands a bit with her fingers. ''message me about it, sometime?'' Love smiles, the biggest smile she's given yet. "I'd like that, Meika."