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[not_the_s]

"Party

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[yeah_wow_lovely]

Cassie stands in the very center of the throng, her smile a bit uncertain but occasionally flickering into something real.

Sirius has asked her here. As a date, even, or at least it might be, and the very possibility had been enough for Cassie to find a pretty frock and skip three meals so that she could be lovely for him. The food tables are extraordinary, but the flutter of Cassie's stomach is great enough that she isn't tempted, not even to sort the fruit that's not be arranged properly at all.

She tucks her hair behind her ear, clicks her mouse heels together, and lets the crowd part and move around her.

[not_the_grim]

Ever since he stumbled into this date with Cassie, Sirius has been wracking his brain trying to remember the last time he went on one. A day later, he's come up with the answer: Never. That he's consented to one, even accidentally, is undoubtedly owing to his affection for Cassie. Dating really is not his M.O.

Cassie seems well-pleased by it all, though, so he's not sorry that his simple inquiry as to whether she was going to the party ended up as him taking her to the party as his date. There really isn't anyone else he'd ever consider making the gesture for.

"Those shoes are perfection," he purrs against her ear as he quietly approaches from behind and settles a hand at the small of her back.

[yeah_wow_lovely]

Cassie startles and turns, heat rising to her cheeks as though she's been caught at something, or perhaps it's only his nearness. "Oh wow, aren't they just?" she asks. "It's as though the box brought them up just for me."

She looks him over, smiling wider as she does so. "Your shirt is lovely." Black and unadorned, it might look plain on anyone else, but it's Sirius who wears it and the effect is lovely indeed.

[not_the_grim]

Sirius has to laugh at that, given that he's wearing the same sort of clothes he does practically everyday: Well-worn blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Aware that Cassie sees the world a bit differently than most, though, he doesn't remark on it beyond an affectionate chuckle.

"I didn't think to bring anything to go swimming in," he admits with a brief glance out to the water. When he looks back to Cassie, he's vaguely abashed. "You'd think this being on the beach would've been a clue I might need something like that."

[yeah_wow_lovely]

It hasn't occurred to Cassie, either, though now that she looks beyond the smiles around her, there are a fair few bare torsos. "Oh," she says, thoughtful, "but, you could go starkers." Back home, her friends wouldn't have thought twice. "Thirty minutes after eating, of course."

[not_the_grim]

"Of course," Sirius echoes with a faint upward hitch of his mouth. "I think you're just looking for an excuse to get me out of my clothes, Cassie. How untoward," he adds with obviously feigned shock and a press of one hand to his chest.

[yeah_wow_lovely]

"I needn't bother, I suppose," Cassie returns, a tiny thrill fluttering through her insides when she thinks she might be flirting. She brushes her knuckles against his hip. "These jeans will surely fall off without any help of mine."

[not_the_grim]

"Should I give them a shake to see?" Sirius asks, and begins immediately shimmying his hips. The blue jeans predictably stay put, but it is possibly a close run thing. Sirius can attest from experience that they come off quite easily, but this isn't just anyone, this is Cassie. He holds his tongue.

[hbicheer]

Quinn, for one, is thrilled to be out of maternity dresses, and she's got on a bright, gleaming blue that hugs her body. She'd have to bind her boobs at this point, to ever fit back into a Cheerios uniform, but it's not like one will just show up tomorrow.

She balances Beth on her hip. "You're wearing mice?" But she's smiling, warmer than usual.

[yeah_wow_lovely]

"Oh yes," says Cassie, clicking her heels thrice together before slipping one off, showing Beth its fluffy mouse face. "But they're not squeaky at all, are they?"

[hbicheer]

"No, I don't suppose they are," Quinn says, and her smile grows. "Here, I think she missed you." Saying so, she holds out Beth, just a little bit. "I haven't figured out how to eat or drink while I'm holding her."

[yeah_wow_lovely]

"On your hip, of course," says Cassie, taking Beth with a smile. "And then you must fight her for every bite." Already Beth is reaching for one of Cassie's earrings. "She'll only want what you have."

[hbicheer]

"She's a good girl," Quinn protests. "And she can't eat solid food anyway. I'm still-- you know." God, don't make her say it out loud. "She likes you."

[backward]

It's come to the point where, loathe as she may be to admit it, Effy longs for some reminder of home. She loves it here and she hates it here, but above all, she wants what she can't have: her old life. No longer hearing her parents shout over one another is a small condolence for the complete lack of possibility this island has to offer. She can't leave home in the dead of night or disappear to some foreign country never to be heard from again, and though she may never have planned to, she liked knowing that she could, if she ever so decided.

More than anything, though, Effy misses waiting for her brother to call. She misses him coming home for her birthday, for Christmas, during break.

Maybe it's wrong to consider a living person some form of comfort, but Cassie is a welcome reminder of what once was, even if she's also stinging proof that Effy is a shit friend. Tugging with two fingers at her favorite (and only) pair of ripped tights, edges through the crowd until she finds the blonde. "Hey, Cass."

[yeah_wow_lovely]

Cassie's gaze swings in her direction, eyes widening beneath her bright blue liner. "Oh wow, great tights," she says, guileless. She's never been one to question why people don't come around, not when there are so many lovelier things to hold their attention. However much Cassie might envy Effy's ability to gather people like satellites, she doesn't resent it, or question that she can't do the same.

She reaches out, collecting Effy's hand in her own, and it isn't until their palms meet that Cassie realises she might be a bit homesick herself. "Oh," she says. "I'm glad you're still here. They say people go all the time, you know."

[backward]

They're not that lucky, Effy thinks, but just this once, she doesn't say it aloud. Maybe it's just because she doesn't care to bring down both their moods, or maybe it's out of consideration for Cassie. If she's totally honest with herself, this girl is the closest Effy has to a friend on Tabula Rasa, Pandora left in a far off universe and likely better off for it. It's a universe without Effy; one where she can't continue to fuck everything up again and again and again.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere," Effy admits, stretching her hand out for Cassie to hold. "But... I'm glad you're still here, too."