(Untitled)

[floozyfacade]

It's only a few weeks into the school term and, if Olive were sensible, she'd be studying. Today's a light day, meaning she has plenty of time to do so, if she just buckles down, and it's not like she isn't a focused, disciplined student when she wants to be. Even without these grades contributing to the college applications she won't be writing

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[lucked]

"God, I'm afraid to ask," Claire says as soon as she hears the familiar voice, stepping closer and waiting for Olive to get over whatever she's seen in her magazine. The reaction's enough to send her spiralling into a mix of morbid curiosity and trepidation alike, but she'd like to think that if Olive really did see something so worthy of a cringe, that the redhead would have more sense than to continue leaving it open and propped against her lap for anyone to read over her shoulder. "I mean, not that I'm a fan of tears in the first place, but tears mingled with disgust, that's something else altogether."

Placing her own textbooks down, wrapped in a waxen burlap bag, Claire sinks to her knees and rests her chin lightly on Olive's shoulder, reading only a few words before her cheeks flush a deep red and she shakes her head, dipping until her forehead rests against Olive's shoulder instead.

"Why did I just do that? Seriously. Why?"

[floozyfacade]

"Because we're gluttons for punishment," Olive says dryly. "And not the Cosmo kind." There's a certain fascination with all this she can't help, though, and she's not sure if it's the possibility she might stumble on something worthwhile somewhere in here or just that it's comforting to know that even people who are, she has to assume, fairly experienced at sex are also apparently pretty bad at it. Not that she thinks she is or anything, but still, it's oddly supportive.

"Some of it's actually really funny. And not all of it is horrible or even risks maiming for you and your sexual partner of choice."

[lucked]

"Maybe the writers at Cosmo are secret trolls trying to sell copies of their magazines to people with similar senses of humor. Or people who aren't getting any, trying to teach them a lesson about turning to a magazine instead of, I don't know, asking their significant other what they like?" Claire suggests, though her nose remains wrinkled, the back of her hand pressed to the bridge in an effort to wipe away any remaining pictures that the descriptions have painted in her head. If there's any saving grace she gets to enjoy now, Claire thinks, it's the fact that she hasn't seen nearly enough bare skin to conjure up an image remotely accurate.

But still. Sometimes, one doesn't have to see it fully to cringe.

"Though, hey, at least it's comforting to know that reading this stuff makes you cringe as much as I do. Now if anyone suggests bending like a New York pretzel, I can say that I have it on good authority that it'd be a bad idea."

[floozyfacade]

"Yeah, or you could not," Olive snaps, easing to the side to take her shoulder out from under Claire's chin, the reaction more forceful, more instinctive, than she would allow if she'd given herself even a moment to think about it. Claire's one of her best friends here, after all, and there's no reason to be snitty with her over an idle comment, a joke. It's not like Olive doesn't say a bunch of shit she doesn't remotely mean half the time, and just because Rhi took all that to heart doesn't mean Claire would ever be guilty of the same, especially now Olive's not putting in the effort to flaunt anything. She just has to school herself to choke back the instantaneous sense of guilt, the voice that tells her no one would comment on her sexuality if she wouldn't parade it around at all. That magazines like this are considered socially acceptable and that sexual activity before marriage isn't just fine but the norm here on the island don't seem to matter in those first moments of gut reaction. It's just easier to tell herself still that

[lucked]

"Whoa," Claire breathes at once, lurching forward for half a second once Olive pulls away, before she's able to correct for the sudden shift in balance, hands gripping the back of the sofa and pushing until she stands straight again. Blinking, she can only manage to stare as she finds herself suddenly... scolded, perhaps? Reprimanded, but with a rant also in tow, all of it serving to make Claire wish that she could hastily rewind the moment, keep her lips shut, or otherwise at least sink into a hole where no one can see. A small flush rises to her cheeks, a mixture of embarrassment and shame as she quickly berates herself for assuming that Olive would have been fine with the quip. It's something that Claire herself meant as harmless, nothing more than a joke, and certainly nothing malicious, but there's a twinge that immediately thrums through her chest at her sheer inability to, apparently, predict what sorts of things her best friend on the island wouldn't be okay hearing

[floozyfacade]

Olive scratches absently at her forehead, mouth set in a line and breath briefly held as she reminds herself to breathe like a normal person and not like a ranting lunatic (admittedly, sometimes a problem even at other times, given how frequently she gets carried away, but practice doesn't always make it any easier to keep herself in line). She should know better, she scolds herself, than to try and hide things from Claire. There's a difference between keeping much of the truth to herself, waiting until she's ready, and outright trying to pretend nothing's wrong. For one thing, no matter how she tries to take things on her own, she's never much good at the latter, and Claire knows her better than that

[lucked]

"It's an explanation," Claire nods in understanding, though she still hovers a couple of steps away, lips pressed firmly together and arms crossed in slight defense. It's not nearly enough for her opinion of Olive to change. Everyone has buttons, has things that might drive them to the edge, and god only knows that Claire's had her share of temper tantrums too, even if most haven't been on the island proper. Besides, chances are that with Olive, this isn't even a tantrum so much as an issue that should probably be addressed, probably should be talked through, and Claire worries her lips for a few seconds, trying to figure out if it's best that she's the one to try, if it's best for all of that to happen now when, apparently, tensions are high. "I get it. I mean, mostly, I don't want to assume I know exactly why it upset you, but it was kind of a thoughtless remark on my end and not exactly the most tasteful of jokes. But, really, I wasn't trying to imply anything about you or something like that, and it's definitely not something I

[floozyfacade]

"No, no, it's fi-" Olive cuts herself off, because she knows that's entirely the wrong word. It's an automatic one, but disingenuous. She might be fine now, if incredibly embarrassed by her reaction, but the situation itself doesn't fall under that description and it would be unfair to try and pass it off that way. She lifts her hands as if keeping something at bay, though mostly that might be her own ungainly words and the way she has a tendency to spit them out, unthinking. That's what got her into that whole mess to begin with, isn't it? And while she prefers to be unguarded with her friends, as free as she ever was before shit got bad at home, she also knows that sometimes she really needs to watch herself, especially when the problem right now is that she didn't just now

[lucked]

"Yeah," Claire agrees, more as a reflex than anything else, the word slow and drawn out, hesitant. "I guess. I mean, I definitely haven't been hanging out with Chris lately because there was kind of, kind of a thing, but I see what you mean, I guess? But it's different to hear the two of them say something, and then for someone like you or me to make a statement, I guess. Sometimes I just think of the two of them as speaking another language. Not really ideal to hear when half of what they say is really personal and physical, but you can't really expect to change other people all of the time

[floozyfacade]

It's strange to hear it described like that, because Olive rarely sees what she's doing as bottling anything up, but when it's mentioned, it's hard to pretend that isn't entirely true. She's been so intent on moving on with her life and embracing what she has here, on leaving her old life behind as much as she can because otherwise she'll miss all the good parts too much. She already does, try though she does to live life here to the fullest. The stuff she leaves out, though, the parts she hides, aren't the good things

[lucked]

She shakes her head at first, not wanting to talk about further about Chris. It isn't something that she feels she needs too much advice on, not right now, not when things have finally settled back into some semblance of peace, not only with him, but also in her heart. It isn't always possible to control the deeper feelings that a person might have for others, but it's more than possible to temper them in the face of so much that just won't work, and Claire herself has never been desperate enough for a relationship to fight all of that. But the hypocrisy strikes her, the inability to talk it through with her best friend, so Claire sighs and lets out just a touch of what's happened, hoping that Olive won't grab on and make a big deal of it all, not when she's so tired of spending time circling around the fact

[floozyfacade]

Olive's torn, wanting to ask about what happened with Chris, but knowing she can't simply let those questions hang in the air. It wouldn't be fair, when Claire's such a good friend to her and she's just been kind of awful in return.

"It's really nothing," she says, even though that's a terrible way to phrase it, all things considered. It doesn't convey much of anything, and she shakes her head in frustration, waving a hand. "I mean, it's not nothing, it's just, you know... it's like breaking your leg with a kid and then sometimes it... hurts... before it rains or something, I don't know, you know, just... a residual pain that flares up. You know, it's there and sometimes you, you remember it's there out of nowhere, but ninety-nine percent of the time, it's really not a big deal. I really didn't mean to change the subject, I just wanted to make sure you're okay

[lucked]

If Claire's to be honest with herself right now, everything that Olive says resonates, and then several times over. There are so many things which happened back home and on the streets of New York that Claire's done her best to forget, or at least to put solidly behind her. Why bother lingering on the thought, after all, when none of them apply here on the island? Sylar's not around. There aren't powers to make people fear one another, not on a regular basis. There aren't powers to trigger an ensuing battle. There isn't some secret group bagging and tagging the lot of them, as far as she's aware. There are only people from different walks of life, all confused, all clinging to each other while the island remains so volatile.

But it'd be a lie to say that Claire's come to terms with all that's happened. Nothing's further from the truth.

With a soft sigh, Claire reaches a foot out, buries it slightly in the sand. "Yeah, but... when that kind of pain isn't really, you know, from the rain so much as it comes up at the topic of sex, I

[floozyfacade]

"I don't have a problem with sex," Olive protests, brow furrowing as she shakes her head. "I really don't. It's - it's normal and healthy and a part of a fairly high percentage of adult lives, including, I might add, my own. And enjoyable, I will have you know, an enjoyable part. Of adult life. Or mine. Anyway."

She really doesn't want to get into the details. That's where the problem starts. She isn't going to hide the fact she's sexually active, not when it's actually true and when her friends are, for the most part, far less judgmental about such things here than the kids back home were. It's the details she doesn't want to share. Those, she's learned the hard way, should really stay private. Especially now that it's true

[lucked]

"I'm not going to quote you on that. I wouldn't. I mean, I know I said- I shouldn't have- but this is definitely not the kind of thing that I just talk about with people. I don't like the whole gossip thing to begin with. Not that I'd ever hold it against Jackie anymore- she was my... best friend, before she, she passed away- but that was always the thing that made me most uncomfortable about being on the cheer squad," Claire reassures, even as she finds her nerves only winding further, at the memory of Jackie, at Brody informing Claire with a grin that he'd already smeared her reputation around the halls of Union Wells. Even the memory of blood dripping down her palm and shards of glass roughly digging into her palm only makes Claire's shoulders pull up higher around herself

[floozyfacade]

The question shakes Olive, not because it comes out of nowhere, but because it's perfectly warranted. Because she grew so accustomed to the idea of that being a part of her life and turning it upside down, that when she got to the island and was ready to step away from it, she somehow forgot that it wasn't written all over her. It feels like it is, like no matter how fervently she hates the idea, what she underwent changed her. Though she still likes to think of herself as an open person, she's a little more cautious now than she once was, and this conversation alone is proof of the way certain things make her jump now that she would have laughed off before, thoughtless