Open | Network or Action | You're dripping like a saturated sunrise

[dorkify]

[ The woman on the screen is young and blonde. She smiles a little at the camera and waves then tucks her long hair behind her ears. ] I’m Gracie. I’ve been here for a few days trying to...adjust. [ Her brow furrows a little at that. ] I used to have a vlog back home--I graduated with a degree in communications--and I thought I’d start vlogging here. I figured I’d get to talk to some of you guys and it’d help me adjust. Anyway, I’ve heard a lot of things about this place and they are way too sci-fi for me to really believe them, but I want to. Things like time waits for you back home. I mean, I’ve got a shift that started five hours ago and Gemma hasn’t got anyone else to cover. Mom and I were...not fighting--she doesn’t fight with me; we disagree. Anyway, that’s not how I want to leave things if that’s the last I’m going to see of her, you know?

[ She leans back a little as a cat jumps into her lap.] This is Aslan. He came here with me. I was literally walking across my living room to go to bed and yet...somehow my favorite jeans and tee shirt are here hanging in the closet of the apartment I was given to stay in. Nothing makes sense. [ She worries at her bottom lip a moment before she releases it and begins talking again. ]

It’s not all bad though. Fancy phone PDA thing for one. There are some reasonably cool buildings around this place. Some of them...I’m not even sure they’re supposed to exist. Then there are some things that are too good to be true, like that no one has asked me for money, a credit card or a room number in any of the stores. I got the briefing. I understand that everything is free. I’m just wondering, what’s the catch?

[ She makes a face at the camera. ] Sorry. I’m not usually this Phillip K Dick about things. [ She pushes the cat off her lap and rolls a small golden sphere around on the table. ] With that in mind, I’m going to do some more shopping--can it even be called shopping when it’s all free? That’s more like high opportunity scavenging or something. I’m also going to figure out how to open this snitch I found on my table this morning. Unfortunately, there are no helpful clues like ‘I open at the end’. If I see any of you guys out there, feel free to stop me and say hi.

Gracie out. [ She waves again and clicks the video feed off ]

[ooc lots of options here for Gracie. Feel free to talk to her on the network or find her out and about pretty much anywhere in town. You can also have normal Gracie, affected (high) Gracie, or crashing Gracie. Be specific in the subject line and/or in the tag! ]

Comments

[sanguinescry]

( Lydia nods a little, to both the sentiment and the question as she scratches behind his little ears. )

I'm glad I'm not the only one, too, you have no idea how relieving it was to watch your post. And yeah, I was taking him out in the yard to do his business before bed and when I went to walk back into the house, I...was here instead. In my pajamas and no shoes. So...that was awkward.

( She laughs a little at that. It's funny now. It wasn't then. )

[dorkify]

[ Lydia's recount of her arrival makes Gracie smile. ] Me too. I mean the whole arrival thing. I was wearing my boxer shorts and a tank top. I'd gotten up from the couch, picked Aslan up to go to bed. I showed up here instead.

[ Yeah it had been scary when she'd first arrived. She'd tried to convince herself that it was a dream, one of those super realistic 'naked in front of the whole class' dreams. She'd learned quickly enough that wasn't the case.]

It helped a lot when I first got here, having him. It still helps, but especially then.

[sanguinescry]

( Lydia laughs a little and then lifts her eyebrows. )

I think people would've gotten a little less of a show if I'd been wearing boxer shorts, but since I'd been staying at the lake house and there's no one way out that way...I wasn't. Hope Itinere enjoyed my ass while the free show was available. I was just in underwear and a tank top.

(She doesn't seem bothered by that, though, and she isn't. She's been completely naked when she wandered off in a mind-alerted stupor and half the Beacon Hills sheriff's office plus Stiles all just sort of stood there staring at her until she finally had to ask for a coat. Being caught in a pair of panties and a tank top is way less humiliating than that. )

Yeah, I get you. I know the feeling. ( She pauses for a second. ) Are you still going shopping…? ( At least, she's pretty sure she remembers Gracie mentioning that in the vlog… )

[dorkify]

[ Gracie winces on her behalf. ] Ouch. You've just inspired me to wear pajama pants I think. To bed, I mean.

[ Gracie is more modest than that. She would have been embarrassed. Boxer shorts and a tank top had been too little as far as she was concerned.

The question is met with a big smile. ] Yes. You want to meet me somewhere? [ She'd be really happy to have company, especially because Lydia seems like someone she'll like. ]

[sanguinescry]

( Lydia laughs a little. )

Honey, that's not even the worst position I've found myself in unexpectedly, but if it makes you feel better, I've inspired myself to wear pajama pants to bed.

( Ah, yes, good. Gracie looks like a pop star and she likes shopping on top of the fact that they have unlimited funds? )

Um, yeah. ( Because Lydia smells a shopping spree— ) Let me just take Prada out really fast and I'll meet you in front of this building? ( —that's liable to last the better part of a day. )

[dorkify]

[ Gracie laughs a little as well. ] And now curiosity is killing me, but I also don't know you that well. [ Just because she's okay with baring her soul on the internet doesn't mean everyone is. ]

Deal.

[ And Gracie shuts off the video so she can toss on some shoes. Five minutes later, she's waiting in front of the building wearing a pair of torn jeans and a tee shirt that says 'adult-ish'.]

Switching to prose, sorry, I'm way more comfy with it.

[sanguinescry]

Gracie beats Lydia down there and Lydia's still got Prada with her on his leash, because Gracie is clearly much, much faster. But she recognizes the other girl from the video feed and she smiles, waving with her free hand.

"Hey there, you're fast! He'll only be a minute and then I'll just run him back up real quick and we can go. Sorry about the wait," she apologizes.

Lydia's really looking forward to this. Not just because she loves shopping, but because it's a chance to finally meet someone who looks at least close to her age who shares one of Lydia's most favorite interests. ...okay, it's still about the shopping, but it's more about the shopping buddy than the act of shopping itself.

Re: Switching to prose, sorry, I'm way more comfy with it.

[dorkify]

Gracie is really pretty low maintenance and she'd been ready to go with the exception of shoes already. Fortunately, cats don't need to be walked. Of course, there's a litter box to deal with.

"Totally okay," Gracie assures her. "Can I pet him?" she gestures to the little dog.

Gracie is looking forward to it as well. She's not quite the shopper that Lydia is, but she enjoys shopping with someone. Maybe Lydia will move Gracie's wardrobe beyond jeans and tee shirts.

[sanguinescry]

Lydia smiles. "Oh, yeah, he won't bite," she promises. Prada's surprisingly well behaved for a small dog, but she thinks it has more to do with the fact that he's almost ten years old and less to do with her skills with him. Especially since she didn't train him when he was a puppy; her dad had.

"Have you had a chance to look at the stores they have around here or not yet? I hope there's haute couture..." she breathes dreamily. She's never been able to shop for that kind of thing. Even when the Martin family was still really well-off, they weren't that well-off.

[dorkify]

Gracie squats down, perched on the balls of her feet to let Prada sniff her then runs a hand over his ears and back. "You're a cutie," she murmurs to the dog as she's petting him.

When Lydia speaks, Gracie looks up at her then straightens, leaving Prada to do his thing. "I've looked a little. There's a really fantastic Sephora-istic make up shop. There's lots of boutiques though. I bet we'll find something you're excited about."

Especially since they now live in a town that runs on wish magic.

[sanguinescry]

"He's my good boy, huh, Prada?" she asks rhetorically as Gracie gets back to her feet and Prada wanders to the edge of the slack in his leash, probably annoyed that he has to wear one at all, since he didn't back home, and goes on about his business.

"Ohhhh, why would you say that?" Lydia breathes back. "Now we'll be in the Sephora knock off for the whole day, way to go."

Not that it'd be a bad thing. Lydia loves make up. She loves trying new products and techniques; it's been a while since she's been able to indulge in that sort of thing, since money had gotten so tight back home but here? Here she's got unlimited funding for all of her frivolous needs. ...and Lydia can hardly wait.

"I'm sure we'll find something we're both excited about," she agrees.

Once Prada's finished, Lydia excuses herself to take him back up to her apartment before coming back down, ready to get started. "Onward, ho!"

[dorkify]

Maybe as she gets more comfortable here, she'll feel easier about letting him off the leash.

Gracie laughs. "We may have to make a standing shopping date trying to buy everything there is to buy. I'm definitely going to have to get a bigger place." Her own apartment is a reproduction of her tiny bungalow in Austin. It's so stuffed with books that it's almost overflowing.

Gracie is kind of an eyeliner and lipgloss freak. She can do without everything else, but she will happily test a billion eyeliners and lipglosses while Lydia plays with everything.

"To the shopping!" Gracie says, one hand pointing up in the air...because that's how you do it, right?

She does lead the way to the makeup store first. She knows where it is and it's a good place to start. It really does look just like a super deluxe Sephora with just about everything they could imagine including sales clerks (natives) to help them out.

[sanguinescry]

Lydia smirks and then gives a little playful facial shrug. "I mean, I'm not opposed to making a standing shopping date," she points out. The facial shrug slips back into the realm of a smile again. If there's one thing Lydia loves even more than science, it's shopping. Finding the perfect shopping buddy is key. Allison was a good shopping buddy, but she wasn't ever as into it as Lydia is, so she wasn't great. Lydia's hoping Gracie will be great.

After excusing herself and taking Prada back inside, Lydia is so ready to conquer the shopping circuit in this place.

Since Gracie's the one of the two of them who knows where she's going, Lydia lets the blond girl take the lead and she happily follows. When they walk into the makeup store, Lydia's jaw slackens and she lets out a soft, appreciative moan as she looks around from just inside the door. "This is so beautiful..." she murmurs. "You are my new favorite," she adds, giving Gracie her attention again. "Where do you want to start?"

[dorkify]

"It could be a weekly occurrence," Gracie points out. As far as she's seen, no one has to actually work and even if she chooses to work, she's betting she can take off any time she likes. As for whether she'll be a great shopping buddy or not, she can probably be groomed.

Gracie will wait, fiddling with her phone while she's waiting. Really, she loves the communicator thing.

That makes Gracie laugh out loud. She cursteys a little. "You're welcome." She looks around a little and shrugs. "I like eye liner."

[sanguinescry]

"I am so down for weekly shopping trips," Lydia says, assertive because she's going to make sure it happens now that Gracie has said it. Gracie will be the best shopping partner, Lydia decides, just by virtue of the fact that she's suggested weekly trips, which means she'll be a lot more into it than anyone else Lydia's ever shopped with has been.

Lydia laughs a little and loops her arm through Gracie's. "Eyeliner it is. Then? Lipstick and lip gloss," she insists.