03. private | facilitating awkward CR since forever

[hackitude]

[Skye swivels around in her office chair that morning, thinking-- not about work. Even though she resolved her argument with Lydia the other night, things still didn't really feel right. If she just... met Jesse. If she met him, she'd understand. That's it, she realises. She needs them to meet. She fires off a text, first to Lydia:]

Hey. Are you free this afternoon? Can you come to the malt shop? I'd ... really like for you to meet Jesse.

[And then another one to Jesse. This one takes her a little longer to compose. It takes her ten minutes and several iterations of the same message, deleted several times, before she sends it:]

Hey. Are we dating?

[She screws her face up. Ten minutes just to compose that? She sends off a follow-up text in quick succession to explain herself.]

I mean. No pressure if no. There's just someone I'd like you to meet and I'm not sure if I should be introducing you as my boyfriend or. not??

Comments

[immuno]

Sounds serious.

[hackitude]

Idk about SERIOUS

SERIOUS is a big word!

I just

I feel bad about our last conversation and I thought maybe you'd change your mind if you met him??

[immuno]

Don't get your hopes too high. Why would I bother changing my opinion if it's not serious?

1/2

[hackitude]

uggggghhhhh

lydiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[hackitude]

look can you just promise me you'll keep an open mind?

that's all i'm asking for

[immuno]

Skye.

I would never lie to you like that.

But I'll come.

[hackitude]

[Skye facepalms so hard. You don't even know.]

... Thanks. I really appreciate it.

[Why did she think this was a good idea, again? This is going to go horribly south.

It's not too late to call the whole thing off, right?]

[immuno]

You're welcome :)

I'll meet you there in a bit. Classes to wrap up.

[hackitude]

It's cool. Take your time. Gotta impart all your genius knowledge to those brains eager for learning and stuff.

[hostage]

[...What.]

Yeah totally

[hackitude]

[Skye blinks at the reply for a minute. She... wasn't actually expecting such an easy reply. Huh.]

Wait really?

... Cool.

[And then a few minutes later, after she's twirled around in her swivel chair for a bit:]

Her name's Lydia. She's like 17 and a SUPER GENIUS and also like my best friend here. Idk if you've maybe met her before. But she's cool. ... Seriously. Don't judge me for the fact that my best friend here is seven years younger than me, I swear she's really cool.

[hostage]

[Nice. Lydia. Like the lady they were potentially going to murder back home. He's glad to know she's 17, which means she's not the same Lydia.]

Hey I hang out with little kids all day so who am I to judge?

[hackitude]

Yeah but hanging out with and being best friends with is kinda different.

Anyway I'm really glad. But don't make the mistake of thinking of her as young because she'll probably rip your balls off.

Just saying.

[hostage]

[...They are his best friends tho.]

I'll ask her how menopause is treating her

[hackitude]

OMG lmao DON'T

i would DIE

YOU would die

[hostage]

But what a way to go

[hackitude]

please don't die i would be very sad

:(

see

actionspam -> at the malt shop

[hackitude]

[Skye gets there a little bit earlier than they agreed upon, figuring it would be bad if she showed up to her own pre-arranged milkshake outing late. She orders a chocolate milkshake while she waits and sets the jukebox to playing something cute and poppy before sitting down in a window seat to play on her phone while she waits.

Mmm, chocolate milkshake.]

[hostage]

[Jesse gets there a little early, too. How bad would it be to fucking show up late when Skye's going to introduce him to someone? This is literally the first time a girl has ever wanted to introduce him to her friends. He can't mess this up.

He isn't exactly dressed up for the occasion, but he's wearing some of his nicer things: a V-neck sweater instead of a t-shirt and a $1500 designer leather jacket. Nevermind that it's Florida. (But thank god for the malt shop's air conditioning.)

When he finds Skye, he bends to brush a kiss to her cheek.]

Hey.

[immuno]

[ Lydia isn't much paying attention to when she arrives, honestly. It's by luck of the draw and good traffic that she gets there on time. They'll be fine without her, and she's not the one trying to impress people. That just happens naturally with Lydia Martin.

She hesitates at the entrance when she spots an unfamiliar face inside with Skye, and she can draw her own conclusions from the kiss. For a moment, she debates waiting, but in the end she swans in to interrupt. ]

If the service here hasn't gotten any better, we're going somewhere else next time.

[ Just saying. She addresses Skye as she says it, then looks up and blinks as she acknowledges that, yes, Jesse exists. Expectant stare ensues. ]

[hackitude]

[Skye's face brightens when she sees Jesse, and she gives a little pleased smile when he kisses her on the cheek. She shuffles over a bit so he can sit.]

Hey. Someone's dressed up today. Nice jacket.

[Skye doesn't really pay close enough attention to fashion though to really understand HOW nice. Her smile widens even further when Lydia arrives. She doesn't seem at all daunted by Lydia's ... Lydia-ness. She's used to it now. Mostly.]

Hello to you too, Lydia. Lydia, this is Jesse. Jesse, Lydia.

If you had an objection to the malt shop, you should've said.

[hostage]

[Introductions made, Jesse offers his hand out to Lydia. There's a tribal tattoo on the back of it, which screams class. At least he's clean, though. And he has a really nice smile for a meth addict.]

Hey. Nice to meet you.

[immuno]

[ She arches her eyebrows, looking down almost reproachfully at the offered hand. Her head tilts slightly, and she starts to glance towards Skye and—

Ughhhhh friendship.

Her lips purse a moment but she swallows any look of discomfort and reaches out to shake his hand, straightening her shoulders. ]

Likewise. I've been looking forward to it.

[ There's very little mistaking that she's putting on the smile for Skye's benefit—it's overly sweet. And when she drops his hand (quickly), she takes the seat across from Skye so that Jesse can sit beside his gurl. ]

I don't have objections to the malt shop; I have objections to the people they hire, and their inability to take less than a half hour to make a milkshake. [ Exaggeration, but hey, she's a teenager. ]

[hackitude]

[Skye clears her throat meaningfully as she sits down, and suddenly it occurs to her that there's more than one use for her power than just hacking. Lydia's phone may suddenly beep (or not beep, if it's on silent) with a new message. The ID is from ... Skye? (She hasn't even touched her phone since they've all been here, but details.) It reads:]

IT'S SERIOUS

BE NICE

[Meanwhile, Skye smiles awkwardly as she sits down. It's the sort of smile that says "SCREAMING INTERNALLY" and "This was a terrible idea. Abort. Abort."]

[hostage]

[Jesse's not offended. He can tell Lydia doesn't like him and that's fine. It's expected, even. He settles in next to Skye and grabs a menu to pretend like he's way more interested in the flavor selection than he actually is.]

...Wow. Look at that. They even mix fruits in.