When Everything's Made to be Broken

( WORDS ) 434 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here Well, desperate times called for desperate measures. Iris had been too tentative to try contacting Minnie for advice, and seeing that she was afraid her caretaker would worry about her, the young woman chose not to reach out in fear of placing unnecessary strain upon her. And, seeing how few friends she'd actually been able to make so far, there was only one person that she could actually trust enough to confide her feelings in: Sandra. Despite their varying ages, she seemed incredibly more experienced in this department, and ever since that fateful day with Eris, she'd been itching to at least spurt out her conflicting emotions to someone. It had irked her to no extent, though she couldn't say it was necessarily negative. She'd recalled the exact room that Sandra inhabited, and though she could've easily approached her companion earlier, her nerves and indecision had prevented her from doing so. Iris's already low self-esteem certainly didn't help her in making independent choices on her own, for in the past, Minnie had been there to encourage her into doing this. But, without that support, choices became an agonizing game of back-and-forth, and she found herself pushing off the ordeal until it became too important to ignore. Only then would she ever find herself capable of finally making a choice. Her thin, strapped sandals pressed against the ground as she swiftly walked towards her friend's dorm, biting her lip anxiously. It had taken a full hour to pull herself out of her own room, and she'd even begun to aimlessly wander without being cognizant of that fact. Sure, it was only Sandra, but having to admit all of these feelings certainly didn't feel the most comforting when thought of at a distance. "M-Mnn," she breathed nervously to herself as she stood in front of Sandra's door, her hand feebly raised in a loose fist to knock on the door. For what seemed to be the umpteenth time, she hesitated, shuffling her feet uncomfortably as she stared at the floor. Perhaps Sandra wouldn't even be in her dorm, even though it was after class, she might've been studying, or something of the like. This hardly believable fact was the only element that pushed the young woman to gently rap on the door, calling out quietly, "U-Um.. I-If you're n-not busy o-or a-anything, Sandra, I-I'd a-appreciate i-if... If I-I could m-maybe... U-Um.. T-Talk to y-you.. I-I'm having s-some.. P-Problems..?" She wasn't quite sure how else to word this, but in case anyone was eavesdropping, she didn't want to leak that she was actually plagued with male-related issues. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Blinds tightly shut, main lights switched off, the most illumination in her room was the brooder lamp dangling above her and the radiance from her enormous television set. It wasn’t much to offer in terms of light, but it was enough to immerse Sandra into the film she was watching. The heat lamp would only seem to be distracting to people who hadn’t lived with the devices all their lives, to Sandra it was hardly a deterrent. In fact, she sometimes forgot she even had them on, thankfully the room already had enough fire prevention to avoid any accidents of the sort.

The young woman herself was propped atop her bed with her feet dug into her pillows and her head bundled in her arms at the foot of her bed. The opposite way that the furniture was implied to be used. The screen was reflecting in her glimmering watery eyes, a couple stray sniffles overpowered the dialogue a tiny bit. As she continued to silently weep at the movie she was watching, she heard a weak knock against her door. Her teary eyes glanced at her entrance for a moment and she quickly hit the pause button on a nearby remote. Sandra wasn’t expecting company. She swiftly wiped her face dry in her arm and began to shift off of her bed in order to answer whoever it was at her door. “God damn robots. Make me cry more than most humans” she quietly commented to herself as she got near her door. She’d been spending a lot of time in her room lately, maybe it was about time to go out and do something. Then she remembered the last time she went outside and immediately refuted the previous thought.

Before she could even prop open the door, she heard Iris’s faint voice trying reach through the couple inches of wood. Her voice was already fairly weak so add a thick layer of anything to muff it and it was almost barely legible. Almost. By the sound of it, she was having issues. It didn’t take a detective to pick up on that, she basically handed that fact to her. When Sandra became Iris’s therapist she didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to turn her down. She did a quick body scan of herself to make sure she was decent, as she tended to do when unexpected visitors arrived. She wasn’t naked, so that was good enough for her.

A simple flick of the wrist and her door swung open in an inviting manner. Sandra greeted the sheepish girl with open arms. “Hey buddy! Sure thing, just step on in. I’ll shut the door behind you, if you want some privacy.” She then stepped away from the pathway inside and clutched the handle of the door waiting for Iris’s command. Whatever it was had to be serious if she was seeking Sandra out. She thought that she would have to be the initiator if she ever wanted to hang out with Iris.

( WORDS ) 891 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here As to be expected, Sandra had welcomed her in without any hesitation whatsoever. Iris was relieved, despite how silly it might've seemed to think that she wouldn't be accepted by one of her closest companions. She nodded appreciatively to her as she stepped inside, smiling meekly as she combed her fingers through her hair. "Sorry i-if th-this is.. T-Too abrupt, a-and it's n-not l-life-threatening o-or anything, b-but I-I... I can't e-even think s-straight a-anymore about i-it," the young woman said in an attempt to justify and explain herself all at once, "I-I think I-I'm having wh-what you call.. B-Boy problems..? I-If that's a c-category for issues, even.." Now appearing visibly uncomfortable, she shuffled her feet once more, seeming to be completely reluctant and unsure of how she was supposed to word this in a manner that didn't put she or Eris in a negative light. Her eyes flickered towards her friend then, "I th-think that w-we should k-keep this p-private, y-yes.. I-It's.. U-Um... Personal.." There was no way she could admit this to anyone but Sandra and Minnie, for if the secret was to start floating around the school, she wasn't sure what she'd even do. Of course, there were a number of undesirable possibilities, but Iris didn't want it to have to come to that. Trying to ease into the topic, she ventured to speak, "Y-You see, I-I think y-you would h-have more e-experience than m-me w-with.. R-Relationships, and I-I'm just a l-little confused a-and not s-sure how to a-act or wh-what to do now.." At this point, it would only cause more harm than good if she kept putting off an explanation, so, tentatively seating herself on the other girl's bed, she began her story, "N-Not too long a-ago, I-I.. I had a-a panic a-attack a-after learning th-that my c-caretaker w-was i-ill, and it j-just happens s-sometimes.. I-I was in th-the courtyard, a-and I w-was trying t-to calm myself d-down but.. Um.." A slight pause interrupted her story as she wrung her hands together, murmuring, "I-I.. H-Have the t-tendency t-to.. S-Self-harm, a-as I'm s-sure y-you've.. N-Noticed.. B-But, anyways, E-Eris was passing b-by a-and.. I-I guess h-he hugged me s-so that I-I stopped.. H-Hurting myself." She was already feeling her cheeks flush with embarassment as she continued on determinedly, "I-I guess th-that I was t-too distressed t-to r-really understand wh-what was g-going on, s-so I hugged h-him back.. A-At some point, I-I actually n-noticed that w-we were e-embracing, but w-when I offered that w-we could s-separate, h-he d-declined.. A-And then.. U-Um..." This time, Iris actually had to stop talking, for this was one of the more intense sections of her story. "Th-Then.. U-Um... H-He a-asked if h-he could... U-Uh," she murmured, anxiously combing her fingers through her hair time and time again, "I-If.. He could k-k.. K-Kiss my n-neck, a-and... I-I was r-really s-surprised, s-since he's u-usually so calm a-and stoic, and.. T-Tried to um... C-Convince him th-that he wouldn't e-enjoy it.. I-It made m-me k-kind of nervous.. B-But then, he s-seemed r-really regretful and s-sad when I-I said that, a-and.. It wasn't l-like E-Eris to be s-so expressive a-and reluctant.." She bit her lip once again, feeling her trembling hand across her furiously burning cheeks as she spoke in an almost fervent and hurried manner, "A-And I f-felt s-so sorry for h-him, a-as though I-I'd messed u-up somewhere, a-and I w-was doing s-something wrong.. H-He's a v-very good f-friend of m-mine, a-and m-maybe this w-was something c-close friends w-were supposed t-to d-do at some point.. S-So I s-said if i-it was just o-one quick kiss, i-it r-really wouldn't b-be an i-issue, s-since I've n-never been.. U-Um.. K-Kissed on m-my neck b-before." There was no way Iris could meet Sandra's gaze, if she was even looking at her, so she watched the floor closely, "A-And.. U-Um... I-It wasn't j-just one.. A-And... I-It didn't f-feel like... A-Anything quick.. I-I don't kn-know what happened, b-but... I-It felt weird in an.. O-Okay way, a-and I wasn't n-necessarily c-comfortable with s-something like th-that.. B-But at th-the same t-time, i-it felt l-like... E-Electricity.." Her hands felt absently along her neck as she said this, as though the sensation of his lips against her skin was still present, "Th-Then... U-Um.. I-I pulled a-away from h-him w-when he hesitated a-a l-little bit.. H-He apologized a-a lot, a-and tried t-to tell me th-that he didn't m-mean to s-scare me.. H-He also s-said that h-he'd n-never kissed a-anyone's neck b-before either.. A-And then, i-it started t-to rain, s-so.. U-Uh.. I-I pulled h-him closer s-so that h-he wouldn't g-get wet o-or anything, a-and the next thing I-I know, h-he.. W-Well... A-Asked for m-me to.. Um... K-K.. K-Kiss his n-neck as w-well, saying th-that i-it was.. O-Only f-fair, a-and that m-maybe i-it... U-Um.. W-Would make m-me feel b-better.." With these words coming from her lips, it sounded quite bizarre, and she continued on, frowning, "I-I.. I-I thought th-that I w-was supposed t-to, and I-I didn't want t-to disappoint E-Eris and m-make him s-sad or anything... A-And, I-I r-really tried t-to... B-But for s-some reason, m-my other f-friend S-Silas just.. K-Kind of popped i-into m-my head, a-and I just c-couldn't do it.. I-I'm really c-confused." After concluding her tale, she peered up at Sandra in desperation, "I-I just didn't h-have anyone e-else to c-confide in.. I-I hope i-it doesn't s-sound too r-ridiculous.." I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Sandra silently rolled her eyes as Iris tried her best to apologize despite the fact that their last moment together she asked her to never do that unless it was for something meaningful. She let it slide for the time being since whatever it was that was bugging the girl seemed serious. As she promised, she quickly shut the door after the other woman acclimatized to her terrarium-like room. She flicked on the lights to the room since there was something odd about the two of them discussing things in her room in the dark. She preferred artificial light anyway.

“I’m just watching Wall-E, dude. Wasn’t like I was on the brink of some sort of scientific discovery, you can crash my place whenever you feel necessary. Unless there’s a sock on my door, don’t try.” Sandra quickly wandered over to her big screen and turned it off so that they could focus on the topic Iris wanted to get off her chest. When she said it was boy troubles, Sandra’s head quickly poked up from the back of her television during her search for the power button. A single brow lifted. “Yeah, that’s like an F3 in terms of issues, or a 5.5 on the Richter scale if you prefer. It usually depends on how stupid the guy is” she answered swiftly as she scurried out from behind the setup.

Iris the skittish was having boy problems? This was an interesting development indeed. The last time they spoke she made it a point that she wasn’t interested in relations, but the sudden turn around may be just along the way. She snorted as the woman said she was a better expert on the subject of relationships than her. Sandra had a feeling that the girl might have some sort of amnesia because she sought out Iris for the exact same reason not too long ago, but she supposed she had no better place to turn to. As far as Sandra knew the other girl only had two other friends and they were both male and contenders from what she heard, so they weren’t easy to access for that either. “Of course, everyone knows that zero is greater than zero. But for the sake of this, we’ll just say I’m the expert here” she replied with a stupid grin and a couple of sarcastic nods.

Despite her snappy remarks, Sandra still listened closely to the girl’s story. She nodded along with her words and took a seat on her mattress as Iris continued on with her tale. Her brain exploded the moment that Eris’s name was mentioned, this was about him wasn’t it? So her skills of reading people through other’s words was actually pretty good, or she just got lucky the last time. Either way, she totally called it. She didn’t want to say anything just yet even though it was grinding in the back of her mind. If she derailed Iris now they were never going to get back on track. She swore only Iris would stretch something as small as a peck on the neck, that wasn’t even part of the face. At the rate they were going they might be able to get to actually kissing in two years. She wondered if Iris was going to need to consult her for every advance that Eris made. Probably.

Sandra’s lips pursed as the woman finally finished her story. “First off, I fucking knew it! I told you Eris had the hots for you!” she responded excitedly. It was even enough to make her spring off her bed. Once she had blurt out her statement though, she gently sat back down on her bed. “I know exactly what you mean though. Felix is the same for me, he just sort of flashes in my head and fucks with me. Eris might have the hots for you, but I think you have a crush on Silas. Welcome to the club. Lucky you though, you have two potential guys. I’m sure that doing wonders for your precisely decisive nature” she ended with as much sarcasm as she could stuff into a single sentence.

( WORDS ) 481 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here To say the least, Iris was surprised at her friend's reply. She was the first one to actually have blatantly pointed out that Eris had the "hots", as she so eloquently worded it, for her. Just hearing that he had something as monumental as a crush sent the girl's cheeks aflame. What in the world had she just gotten herself into? And how was Sandra able to deduct that this was possible after only having heard his name in conversation? Was it that obvious and the young woman simply disregarded it? Everything felt so blurry now, she couldn't be sure of herself, and Sandra was the only person offering guidance in these turbulent times. Biting her lip, Iris attempted to steady her breathing as she peered about anxiously. Out of all people, surely she never thought she'd be caught in the middle of some sort of romantic crisis. Her eyes locked onto her friend then, as she murmured softly, "I-I just d-didn't think th-that I-I would b-be the t-type of p-person to w-warrant that t-type of a-attention, really... A-And, u-um... Wh-When I think a-about them, I-I d-don't feel like I-I normally w-would.. I-It's very p-peculiar.." The entire ordeal seemed surreal at this time, and Iris had a difficult time truly grasping at reality. "B-But when th-they're t-together, things s-seem so.. T-Tense," she breathed in bewilderment, "I-I.. D-Don't want t-to make t-things more c-complicated f-for some r-reason, especially i-if they had a d-dispute that m-made them u-uncomfortable around e-each other.." She sighed rubbing her temples in a slightly fatigued manner. It was a lot to take in, for though these thoughts had been lurking in the back of her mind, it was now finally being voiced, and she wasn't sure how to handle it just yet, especially with her tentative nature. The fear of doing something wrong seemed to have heightened to a lethal extent, and she didn't want to lose two of her dear friends because of her indecisive heart. "I-I... I-I'm just n-not sure h-how I sh-should act a-around e-either of them.. I-I'm not c-certain about m-my feelings a-at all, a-and if possible, I-I'd like t-to.. Preserve m-my relationships, wh-whatever they a-are.." It was difficult for Iris to place a label on the type of relationship she currently had with Eris and Silas. The young woman felt her mind begin to wander as she continued to try and sort this out in her head, as embarrassing as it seemed to be. "I-I mean, wh-while E-Eris was s-sick, h-he said s-some things th-that sounded c-completely unlike h-him, a-and I d-didn't think that.. U-Um.. Th-They might a-actually have m-meaning," she continued, exhaling slowly in an attempt to relieve the humiliation building up in her chest, "I-I just.. U-Um... I-I'm n-not good a-at this s-sort of th-thing.." Iris watched Sandra then, as if expecting some sort of advice to spew from her lips. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Sandra didn’t have her handy notebook on how to diffuse romantically oriented breakdowns nor was she prepared for dealing with anything of the sort today. If she had the answer to Iris’s problem clearly in her head, Sandra wouldn’t be having the same problems either. Perhaps the woman was expecting her to have her issues sorted out by now and that she could provide information through experience, but frankly she had none. Again though, she couldn’t possibly refute the girl. She was so helpless and clueless about her own situation. Strangely enough, Sandra felt she was somewhat put into a motherly position despite the girl being her senior. At least by the time she was a parent (wasn’t going to happen, but theoretical situation) she’d know how to handle these types of issues, even if her resolution to this one ended up a failure.

Her reaction to the woman’s next statement was a curl of one end of her lip and a quick eye roll. Self-doubt was a fairly common thing to hear out of Iris’s mouth, so it was at least something she knew how to combat better. “Well, when your socially active and easy on the eyes its bound to happen. Really, your social awkwardness might be another thing too, some guys eat that shit up. Point is, you will attract that kind of attention so you should start getting used to it. Especially with the sudden spree you have going on, I’d expect more in the nearby future if I were you.” Didn’t help much with her problem in reality, Sandra realised this after finishing her sentence, but it might help her self-esteem issues. Slightly. “And don’t worry about the boys themselves. They chose to be that way with each other, it has nothing to do with you. If it was their first time meeting and they decided to be territorial over you then they wouldn’t have gotten along in the first place. How they feel about each other has nothing to do with you.”

She felt somewhat confident in her words at least to the point where her advice seemed viable anyway, up until she hit the snag in Iris’s issue. She encountered the same problems herself and frankly she didn’t exactly have an answer for her, but she supposed that she could lend as much information as she had already gathered about it. “Yeah, preserving relationships is the tough part. Especially when all you have to go by is the feeling and no real collected thoughts about it. I don’t know either of the guys you’re talking about, so I can’t say anything for sure, but friendships can last even after breakups. It has happened before, there are survivors to tell the tale. I don’t know though, people have their paces. I’m not going to lie, your pace is extremely slow, my advice to you in the simplest form I can provide it; Just take your time to think things through before letting anyone make decisions for you and do what is best for you. You are too god damn selfless and think more for and of others than yourself. This shit is about you and be as selfish as possible.”

( WORDS ) 637 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here As Sandra continued to speak, the young woman couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of apprehension welling up within her. What did it mean that she'd see more of this behavior in the future? Would this somehow negatively affect her ability to connect to people now? Horror etched itself across her features as she shook her head fervently, "I-I.. I-I'm not s-sure h-how to ch-change that... W-Will I-I still be a-able to m-make friends?" She scanned her friend's expression then, hoping to find some sort of answer to her pleas. The last thing she needed was yet another intangible element that separated her from the rest of society. But, the more the girl spoke, the more nervous she became. Oh, this certainly was a confusing factor now. "U-Um... I-I... I-I was h-hoping th-that if th-they spent s-some more t-time t-together, th-they might be b-better f-friends," she began slowly, combing her fingers incessantly through her brownish locks. What in the world could she do now? The plans she'd made with Eris to go to the beach and invite Silas and Sandra seemed like a terrible idea, but the thought of cancelling on him stung her on a very personal level. It wasn't like her to even make plans in the first place, so she had to go along with this rare moment of audacity that had stricken her. Everything Sandra said seemed to make a good amount of sense from there on out, especially since she focused on friendships, but the way she spoke suggested that Iris had some sort of serious relationship, and she was intending to leave someone else. Of course, she was misinterpreting the meaning a bit, but shook it off to nod slowly in acquiesce. "I... S-See what y-you mean, b-but.. I-I want t-to include e-everyone's f-feelings, it feels o-only fair t-to th-them.. I-I wouldn't w-want to b-be a selfish p-person o-or something," she countered quietly, wringing her hands together to try and prevent herself from pricking her fingers as she had so many times before, "I s-suppose I h-have the h-habit t-to let others m-make d-decisions for me, b-but if th-they're happy, then th-that's a v-very good thing.. I-I just d-don't w-want to offend a-anyone.." Her words were submissiveness incarnate, but she had no intention of changing her subservient ways to meet Sandra's advice, at least, not now. Iris's persistent desire to please others prevented her from making even the slightest moves out of line. It was then that the thought of the beach escapade re-entered the young woman's mind, and she exhaled slowly. There was no use in putting off the task any longer, since she'd have to do it at some point, so she decided to approach it like she had with the previous issues, "U-Um.. Th-This weekend, I-I asked E-Eris if h-he wanted t-to come w-with me t-to the b-beach, s-since it's w-warm now, b-but I w-wanted to i-invite S-Silas t-too, since h-he hasn't b-been doing t-too well, but E-Eris said h-he was s-sick, s-so he m-might not c-come.." Iris shifted uncomfortably, finally readjusting her gaze to Sandra's after what seemed to be an eternity of ground-staring, "M-Maybe.. U-Um.. You c-could come a-along too, i-if you w-want.. I-I don't kn-know if y-you can s-swim o-or not, but i-if you c-can't we could s-still be o-on the b-beach.. O-Or not, I-I'm sorry, y-you don't have t-to come i-if you d-don't w-want to.. I-I'm still d-debating on a-asking Silas m-myself to e-evaluate h-how sick h-he is if E-Eris can't.. A-And, um... M-My caretaker b-bought me a t-two piece b-bathing suit sh-she'd like me t-to wear.." At this point, she was simply rambling in an attempt to fill the air with some sort of sound, feeling anxious that Sandra would blatantly decline the offer and chide her for such an insolent suggestion. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Iris had this unique way of blowing things out of proportion that Sandra hadn’t seen out of anyone else in her life. All she did was state that she was good girlfriend material and she turned that into no person will ever just want to be friends with her. With Sandra’s way of making things as unsubtle as possible it only amplified the trait within the other girl. She could try to tone herself down and try to ease Iris that way, but quick fire speaking was how she always communicated so it was difficult for her to do anything other than that. She sighed and laughed under her breath subtly. “Iris, I’m not saying that those are your faults, I’m just saying it’s going to happen. There will be people who are going to want to go that extra mile and more than just friends. That’s just what happens when you put yourself out there. You will still have your friends don’t you worry, I’m saying some people not everybody.”

Sandra’s last response to the woman might have gone a little deeper than the advice that she was expecting, but the girl just waltzed right into her room without too much pre-warning and was demanding advice on a subject she knew less about than math and that’s pretty impressive. Also, she was just watching Wall-E not two minutes ago, so her hormones were completely out of place and scurrying around like rats in her brain. Iris’s plan to fix the two boy’s relationship with each though, that made her want to face palm slightly. She didn’t know the two personally so she couldn’t same much about how they were compatible, but she knew that for one they two didn’t get along the first time that they met and second Eris had a crush on Iris and was being somewhat defensive about it at least from what Iris told her about the encounter. “You know that toy that’s made for little kids that you match the certain shape to the hole? If you try to push the cube into the circle it’s not going to fit no matter how long you put them together for. Hell, if you force it you might break it. There are people in this world that just don’t get along no matter what you do. Cut your losses while you can and don’t try to force it.”

The predictability in Iris’s defense against being selfish was uncanny, Sandra’s thoughts almost matched her response word for word because she knew that the sheepish girl was never going to agree about disregarding someone else’s feelings. “I know, I know. I never said change your entire life style and become a self-concerned prick. I’m just reminding you, you can say no to friends and you don’t always have to do everything to make them happy. Sometimes you gotta think of your own happiness and let that guide you instead of somebody else’s. Because if you think about it, if you’re unhappy and continuously trying to make someone else happy where does that leave you. Unhappy. So who’s making you happy? You can’t always do what’s best, sometimes you have to fulfill personal wants and needs”

Iris then took a shockingly abrupt Segway into a new topic of conversation, a beach party run by the girl herself. She knew it was not going to be anything truly risqué, in fact the party might be canceled if there turns out to be no lifeguard on duty. She wasn’t dissing her friend or anything, but she had much other things in mind when being invited to a senior’s high school student’s party. Sandra tended to forget that Iris was older than her. Of course though she was planning on inviting the two boys, or one or the other depending on which could make it. Iris’s wording was more confusing to her now than ever. “Beach huh, well I can’t swim nor does my doctor ever recommend me entering cold water. Hypothermia is too much of a real thing in that situation, but I can come. I don’t have a reason not to. I’ll stick to the sand though, absorb some rays or whatever. I’ll see if I can actually get sunburned, which I doubt I can.”

( WORDS ) 673 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here The small laughter that Sandra emitted didn't go unnoticed by Iris, but she was far from offended. In fact, it only seemed natural, seeing how different their perspectives and interpretations were, so one must seem humorous to the other in that respect. As per usual, her friend spoke with far more wisdom and sensibility than Iris had, or so she thought she had, and listened intently to her advice. "Y-You have a-a point, b-but I.. I-I guess I-I didn't th-think that this w-would b-be happening n-now," she replied hesitantly. The thought of going 'that extra mile' was much more than she could handle, but perhaps it wasn't nearly as large of an obstacle in others' eyes. She knitted her brow together as she thought about this, though chose not to dwell on things she didn't understand. It would only confuse and bring even more elements of bewilderment into the situation at hand. As to be expected, her companion advised against bringing Eris and Silas closer together. All this time, she'd been hoping that, since they both seemed to have a lack in friends, she could gain them each a new person to connect with. "W-Well," she began hesitantly, "S-Silas did t-tell me th-that he h-had some d-difficulty making f-friends, so I-I was h-hoping that h-he and E-Eris could c-connect.. A-And I u-usually don't see E-Eris hanging a-around others th-that often, h-he's usually a-alone, so I-I guess I-I thought th-the same w-went for him..." She didn't want to think about potentially losing either friend, so she continued on, "A-And E-Eris was the o-one who s-suggested that S-Silas shouldn't c-come since h-he said h-he was s-sick, b-but should I-I just not i-invite him a-anyway? I-I don't w-want to m-mess things u-up.." Anxiety edged its way into her tone as she continued, "Th-They're both s-so kind t-to me, I-I wouldn't w-want to upset th-them like th-that.." It disconcerted her to know that two of her closest friends weren't necessarily on good terms, and despite what Sandra said, if she found herself around the two of them again, she might try to bond them together as best as she could. Maybe she'd just been doing something wrong before, for there must be one element that they both enjoyed. "A-And," she ventured, "I-I was th-thinking that S-Silas could b-be friends w-with you, i-if he c-came, so th-that he w-wouldn't be a-as alone... B-But I-I don't know.." Iris found herself quite surprised at Sandra's words, mainly because she'd made a self-discovery of her own. She rarely prioritized her own happiness highly, if at all, and was more than willing to suffer to ensure someone else was pleased. It was a bit disturbing, really, to think about it in an abstract manner, but she would have difficulty changing it. Still, it meant a great deal to her that she was sticking up for Iris in this manner, and the young woman managed a small smile in her direction, "I-I understand, th-thank you... I-I'll try t-to consider m-my own f-feelings in a-all of this a-as well." However, she found her spirits lifted even higher once Sandra announced that though she couldn't swim, simply joining her on the beach wouldn't be an issue. Her eyes lit up like a pair of sparklers on a dense summer's night, "Oh, th-that's s-so wonderful! I-I don't m-mind if y-you don't s-swim, I-I'm sure y-you'll r-really like E-Eris, too! H-He's very n-nice once y-you get to kn-know him, r-really!" She actually stood now, finding her excitement hard to rein back now, "A-And I can s-show you th-the bikini M-Minnie b-bought f-for me, I-I've never worn o-one before, b-but she i-insisted that I-I try w-wearing it wh-while at F-Foresta.. I-I mean y-you probably w-won't wear a b-bathing suit, but I-I d-don't mind, r-really! Th-This will be v-very fun!" With that said, Iris tried to regain her composure and seated herself back down upon the edge of Sandra's bed, "A-And, u-um.. M-Maybe you c-can get a-a better i-idea of th-the kinds o-of things I-I was describing with E-Eris.." I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Sandra crossed her legs somewhat elegantly as she stared back at the girl opposite to her. In sight of the fact that the fiery girl’s words made no alteration from her brain’s transition to her mouth it seemed to hold Iris over fairly well. To be fair though she wasn’t a tough person to convince of anything, but she still had her habits that tended not to die no matter how much she enforced her influence onto her. She supposed that was a good thing though, at least she wasn’t a total social sheep; in some cases that wasn’t as good though. “You didn’t think it’d be happening now? Dude, you’re like nineteen now aren’t you? When you pass the age of eighteen that’s when all sails are cast and really this place is probably more populated than the orphanage you were at before.” Iris grew up in an orphanage, right? Sandra couldn’t quite remember clearly and it was some time since she said it herself. She also had a caretaker and no mention of parents so she was rolling with that. To be fair though, Sandra hardly mentioned her own parents besides her dad here and there. His words of wisdom were always noteworthy.

The heat sink nodded her head along with Iris’s proposition with a blatantly sarcastic smirk plastered across her face. She had less of a grasp on how quickly people become friends than Sandra did. “Yes, one hundred percent certain that two people who don’t make friends easily and already don’t like each other will make for perfect friends, best of them in fact.” Sandra was again confused by her next statement since she was having a hard time following what she was saying exactly due to her wording and stutters. “Okay, okay. Wait, who’s the person who is allegedly sick, I’m not following this. Is it Eris or Silas? I’m not understanding if your saying that Eris is sick and doesn’t want you to be alone with Silas or that Eris is saying that Silas is sick and you just shouldn’t invite him. Either way, Eris sounds like he’s being an asshole about this, though the former more so.”

Sandra wasn’t certain why Iris was setting her up with Silas, she knew why but she didn’t know anything about the guy outside of he was nice by her definition (which was an opinion she trusted as much as her grandma telling her about nice boys on her street) and that Iris had a crush on him. That didn’t necessarily mean that Sandra couldn’t like him, but she already had a crowd of friends she was quite comfortable with. She’d have to interact with the boy before she made her judgements though. “Meh, I’ll see what I can do. I’m not going to take him off your hands though.”

The thought of Iris being excited to show herself off in a bikini staggered Sandra a bit. She had shown herself to be as every bit insecure about herself and yet she had a bikini. The more that she thought about it though, the more it made sense. Iris had never actually shown herself to be insecure about her appearance, but she was with just everything else. That was somewhat intriguing to her. Maybe that wasn’t the case though, she was going to the beach with a crowd of friends. It was the beach though, and nearly summer at that so the shore should be expected to have some people on it. Regardless of its location, if their meekly group could find it than anybody could. “Yeah, I’ll just stick to the sand and watch you all freeze in the water. If he doesn’t try to snuff me out like Silas than I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” While she was at it, she could probably snag a few more students to join her cast. There had to be somebody at the beach who’d be interested in being in a movie.

( WORDS ) 465 ( TAGGED ) @sandra  ( MUSE ) here In all honesty, Iris hadn't expected Sandra to recall that she lived in an orphanage, but she appreciated her attention to detail. Was that what was supposed to happen when she turned eighteen? It did feel a bit odd that she seemed to have more experience but wasn't close to her age, so maybe it varied for everybody. "I-I'm eighteen," she responded hesitantly, feeling over her fingers incessantly as she spoke, "I-I think th-there are m-many more p-people h-here than a-at the f-foster h-home, yes, b-but I-I thought th-that.. I-I don't know, wh-when I was i-in my t-twenties a-and in college.. M-Maybe.." She sighed, knowing now that her words had been completely false. Romance seemed to have come to her much sooner than she'd thought. Based off of Iris's horrible method of explaining things to others, she knew that her friend's confusion was completely understandable. She exhaled slowly in an attempt to gather her own thoughts before conjuring a reply for Sandra. "S-So, u-um.. E-Eris said th-that S-Silas was s-sick, and h-he said that I-I shouldn't i-invite him," she said, "A-And he's r-right, h-his ability c-caused him a g-great d-deal of discomfort the l-last time I-I saw him.. I-It's just a l-little odd th-that Eris s-said he'd t-take care of g-giving him a g-get well s-soon card and s-such when I offered t-to do i-it, since h-he doesn't seem like th-the kind of person t-to do that f-for people, b-but i-it was quite g-generous of h-him to volunteer f-for it. H-He's very n-nice, r-really." The young woman didn't want Sandra to have a negative image of Eris without having properly acquainted herself with him first, and seeing how kind he'd been to her, she could only hope that he would interact similarly with her friends. There was nothing she wanted more than to join people together, seeing how beneficial it could be for both parties. "U-Um, th-thanks, I just th-think he needs m-more people a-and friends," she ventured hesitantly, smiling weakly in response to Sandra's reluctant agreement, "I'll h-have to i-introduce y-you him s-sometime.." All she wanted was for Silas to have some sort of bond with others, especially with his declining health. And, seeing how adamant her companion was about the two of them not being together, she decided that she'd have them be around one another at a later time. She found her expression lightening at the other girl's words about them swimming, and all at once, her spirits were raised up exponentially. "I-I think E-Eris will l-like you a-as well, h-he's v-very calm," she replied, even though this wasn't completely true. Lately, he'd been displaying a lot more emotion than she was used to, and though this wasn't a bad thing, she thought it best to describe him with his most-expressed trait. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AM

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Sandra clenched both her fist and face and whipped her head over to one side. “Damn it, so close” she answered peevishly as she passively laughed off her mistake in the girl’s age. She remembered the foster home part though, that was the more important one. If she had that one wrong than the situation might’ve gone awkward since it would seem like she knew nothing about one of her closest friends. She did lack a lot of knowledge in terms of Iris though, despite how surprisingly open she had been with her recently. She still didn’t quite know who Minnie was since she had never said anything about her caretaker to Sandra directly, but she could gather a bit about it here and there.

“Ah okay, it’s just a bit hard when… y-you stu-stutter constantly-y. You’re getting better though, much longer than just one word. If you told me that you be able to talk to me in complete sentences three months ago, I wouldn’t have believed you.” While the explanation still didn’t justify Eris to her, it was still better than what she had a originally thought. Again though, whatever negative thought she had of the boy she wouldn’t hold against him until she actually met him in person. All she had been making were assumption, but if he turned out to be as manipulative as she thought he was then she could go no hold bars on him.

Iris was really pushing Silas on her. He must be as lonely as she was making him out to be. Then again, the penitent person tended to place pity on plenty of people regardless of how extreme their issues were. It wasn’t a fault of hers, but that made her doubtful if the boy really needed that much social reinforcement. She could end up liking the guy though, so she didn’t refuse it. “If you can schedule a time, then I have no issues with that. As long as you don’t stuff me in a room with him and say ‘go on, befriend him already.’” She shook her head as she snorted once more. “My impression of you is getting better by the day though. I don’t have the vocal range to go nearly as meekly as you though.”

Sandra rolled her tongue as Iris suggested that Eris would like her. She supposed as long as she didn’t seem like a threat to get to Iris’s heart, she would probably be fine. Though by the sound of it, she was seeming more and more like a third wheel to this supposed party. For Iris’s sake she’d tag along regardless, no matter how bad the job of a spare tire seemed. “Hmm, we’ll see when we get there.” She was prepared to go momma bear if she spotted anything she didn’t like with this boy that was probably older than her.