RP: Out with Brielle

[avabyrne]

Date: March 12, 2011
Characters: Ava Byrne, Brielle Martin
Location: Angel Abbey
Status: Public
Summary: Drinks!
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[avabyrne]

"There's something to be said for cozy," Ava agreed. "Plus it's easier to decorate and furnish. I moved from Boston to DC for grad school, so this isn't my first taste of independence, but it's a bit of an upgrade anyway. Back east you have to make a mint to be able to make rent in almost any-size apartment in the city without a roommate. Here I was able to get into my own space, small as it is." She smiled wryly. "Roommates are good, though, or they can be, if you get along. I had one and it made things a lot easier." She still wasn't sure how she'd managed to make ends meet for six months after Jess had moved out. But thinking about Jess was painful for more reasons than that. "I guess there's plenty of time to figure out your own style. Not sure what mine is either really, but since you're a designer and haven't figured it out yet either, I feel a little better."

"Ohhh," Ava smiled and nodded as she took another drink. "Carrie's lovely. I actually knew her in DC, well, not that well, but we recognized each other. And I still haven't got a chance to drop by that bakery."

[bri_martin]

"I hope so. Besides, the girl that might be moving in with me is really nice, so that's a plus. We'll see how it goes, I suppose," Bri replied with a grin and a shrug. "You shouldn't feel bad. Some people never figure it out. Then again, some people change their minds every other year, too. That'll likely be me."

"Oh, you should. I need to get back in myself. I haven't had time this week for anything more than grabbing a bagel on the way out the front door," Brielle chuckled ruefully. "Hopefully this week will be an improvement."

[avabyrne]

"Change can be good, though. Keeps everyone else on their toes about you," she decided, smiling. "Good luck with it, though, I hope you and this girl are a good fit."

"I've been meaning to; I just usually bake so much on my own that I rarely need to add more to it," Ava said with a laugh, "it's just me so I have enough trouble eating it all. My neighbors are probably getting tired of my leftover scones."

[bri_martin]

"I'm not sure I'm inventive enough to keep people on their toes, but I'll take your word for it," Bri laughed with a bashful grin. "And I hope so too. If not... well, you'll hear so sooner or later over copious amounts of alcohol, I'm sure. But I think it'll be alright. I'm optimistic, if nothing else."

"Oh, scones," Bri sighed happily. "Now I really will have to stop by there tomorrow. I'll be craving them like mad before morning."

[avabyrne]

"I'm here if you need me," she said, gamely taking another drink to illustrate. "I can join you in lush...dom." She wrinkled her nose at the new word, then laughed. "But I'll be optimistic for you too."

Ava nodded. "Mm, scones," she agreed. "You can be another one of my recipe test subjects, hm?"

[bri_martin]

Brielle laughed as she lifted her glass in Ava's direction. "If not, I'm certain the drinks will be optimistic enough for both of us," she giggled as she took another sip. The bartenders here really were amazing. Mister Leather Pants certainly had himself a great pub.

"Oh, that's just what I need!" Brielle snickered. "Still, I suppose suffering through such a hardship is the least I could do," she added with a wink and a grin. "Please, feel free to use me as a guinea pig anytime you like. That new club is already going to be making a fortune off me."

[avabyrne]

"Drinks are good about that," Ava said, peering into her glass and wondering just how much vodka had gone into it. She was already slightly grin-faced after this one. She signaled for a refill, noting that she was nearly empty.

"It wouldn't be a hardship. My scones are great. There's only one time they weren't great, and that was when I switched sugar for salt by accident. Which I don't recommend." She shook her head. "Anyway, I think you've probably used the gym more than I have so far. I'm getting bad. But at least I'm walking every day with Wilbur?"

[bri_martin]

"That's still plenty of exercise," Bri pointed out with a smile. "And I don't get there as often as I'd like. If you ever want a buddy to go with, though, let me know. Maybe we'd both be better at it, that way."

She finished her mojito and eyed the glass ruefully, debating another. Bri laughed as Ava ordered a second, taking that as a sign. "Tonight certainly isn't helping me resist lush status, but at the moment, I don't really care."

She gave a thoughtful sigh for a moment, tapping a finger against the bar as she waited for her refill. "It was my brother's birthday yesterday. First one I've ever missed. Is it bad I'm feeling terribly guilty over this?"

[avabyrne]

"We said we'd be buddies last time," Ava pointed out, "but we never got a chance to. We'll fix that. Motivate each other."

"We're both a long way from being lushes. At least, I'm not going to worry until I'm on first-name basis with a bartender, like you."

Ava looked at Brielle when she spoke about her brother. "I don't think so," she said, sliding her refill toward her when it came back. "You're really far away for the first time. Did you call him, or anything?"

[bri_martin]

"Once we motivate each other into being motivated," Brielle amended with a snicker. "It'll happen. Maybe. Eventually?"

Bri gasped in mock offense. "That's not a... okay so maybe it is. Crap, I'm doomed," she stated mournfully as Ava slid her refill towards her. She eyed it a moment before sighing and giving in with a shrug. "Oh well. Maybe lushes have more fun?"

Smiling, Brielle nodded. "I skyped with them. Uhh, video chatted," she explained, unsure if Ava knew what that was. "I got to witness it, at least. And watch him open the present I sent him. But it still wasn't the same, you know? Just when I thought I'd banished the last of my homesickness, too..."

[avabyrne]

"I'm having fun," Ava declared, because she was, and her new drink was every bit as strong as her old one.

"Sure, I know Skype," she acknowledged with a smile. "My parents discovered it last year and they make liberal use of it. I prefer the phone when it comes to talking with them; it's easier to be evasive when my mother tries to set me up when she can't see my face." Ava was a crap liar, always had been.

"But that's so nice, that you at least got to be there after the fact. He's your younger brother?" She looked at Brielle then. "I'm sorry you're homesick. Maybe when you get some time off you can make a quick trip up to visit."

[bri_martin]

"Which is the entire point, isn't it?" Bri winked at her, taking a sip of her own refill.

Wincing in sympathy, Brielle shook her head. "I'm sorry. And I don't blame you in that case. Although why they're trying to set you up when you;re all the way down here sounds a little silly. Are they trying to lure you home again?"

"He is," Bri agreed with an affectionate smile. "I'm the oldest - there's four of us all together. Gabriel's next, Brandon's in the middle - it was his birthday - and Becca's the youngest. They've always been a handful. Although I suppose I'm not one to talk, either."

[avabyrne]

"It's a little harder for her now, thankfully; she hasn't tried to since I moved here. I just get general 'why aren't you dating' treatment now. But I've only been here a few months, and DC was just a couple hours' drive away. Not daunting enough for her." Ava laughed and rolled her eyes. "I think they'd prefer if I lived closer, but... I think I'm close enough for now." Ava did miss them sometimes, and she loved them so much, but it had been stifling all the same.

"Big family," Ava observed with a smile. Her immediate family had always been small, and she'd wondered if her parents wouldn't have coddled and fretted so much if there'd been more children around. "Sounds like a handful to have to babysit, but you sound like you didn't mind too much."

[bri_martin]

"Ahh, she's one of those types," Bri chuckled. "In that case, I can't say I blame you. I can't imagine my father trying to set me up with anyone, and his choice in possibles... would be a little alarming, I think. Or, at the very least, boring. Although I think he'd be as horrified as me if he had to pick out potential dates for me."

"Enormous," Bri snickered fondly, a smile on her lips. "And I'm used to it. Most of the time, I pretty much raised them. Babysitting was something I paid someone else for."

[avabyrne]

"Yeah, my dad doesn't get involved in that, bless him," Ava said with a laugh. "That'd be too weird for both of us." Her mother had no concept of weirdness, unfortunately.

"Aw, what, out of your spending money?" That hardly seemed fair; Brielle couldn't be that much older than her siblings. "They probably miss you a lot, too. Thank god for Skype, at least."

[bri_martin]

Brielle laughed as she sipped at her drink. "Yeah, I can imagine it would be. Poor dads. The things they put up with." She winced a little at the question, always finding it a little awkward explaining her somewhat odd situation. "Oh, no, it wasn't out of mine, exactly. I usually handled some of the household funds and stuff. To help my dad out. He had a business to run that kept him busy so I took care of most of the things at home so he didn't have to worry about it. And yeah, they probably do, although the boys would never admit it and Becca admits it a little too much, since every day brings a new disaster in her melodramatic life. But we still talk a lot, so it's not too bad. Thank God for the internet."