Room 324, Thursday Evening
Kate's mood was a seriously fickle thing. Generally speaking, she was probably doing better than she had last week; she was largely doing fine when she was with people (provided none of those people were Bod), mind comfortably occupied, but relapses into severe gloom were still far too easy when she was alone. Like right now.
It had started when she'd been cleaning up her half of the room since even Bobby had bothered to do it yesterday, and she had come across a certain notebook that had just brought all the stupid hurt back. Having shoved the notebook away again, she'd seen all her Princess Valhalla crap and one thing had led to another, and now she was sitting on her bed in full costume (with a matching pink scarf around her neck), with the laptop in her lap. She hadn't bothered with squirrelproofing the room, not this time. Doing this right now had been a snap decision, and she didn't have any rum at hand. And she couldn't quite bring herself to care anymore, about whether word got out or not. She didn't see any consequences worse than the ones she'd already suffered through.
Still, having made her presence known online, she declined all requests from the guys she knew for sure would skeeve her out, meaning anyone she'd already done things for. She didn't think she could even stomach seeing their faces, to be honest. But then, then there was someone whose nick was just a normal name, not a scifi reference she didn't get or a desperately suggestive piece of utter failure. So, she clicked on 'Accept', and watched her newest acquaintance show up on her screen. He looked to be in his late twenties, with shortish brown hair and a nice face. And she actually remembered meeting this guy: it was easy to remember him, seeing as he was the only conventionally attractive guy she'd seen her entire time at the comic book store. Not that she'd paid his looks all that much mind back then. She'd been in love, but that was over now, so she was letting herself pay more attention to the fact that this guy was actually kind of cute.
It was a lot easier to slip into the role for this guy, she thought, than it would have been for yet another geek who probably lived in his parents' basement. "Okay, is there something you'd like me to do?" she asked, affecting just the slightest hint of a sultry tone. She thought about listing some options, things she'd done previously, but somehow she didn't really want to. "I'm your Princess Valhalla Hawkwind, and your wish is my ultimate command."
Didn't mean she wasn't going to shut him off if he asked her to do something icky. But it didn't seem like he wanted her to. "Can we just talk for a second?"
Kate heaved an internal sigh of relief, but didn't let it show. "Sure," she replied, easily. "We can talk for fifteen minutes if you go to my online wishlist and click on... Let me see..." She took a look at her list. "The new Sonic Youth boxset! Kind of a bargain, if you think about it, for fifteen minnies of princess face time." He seemed amused; Kate paid that no mind. "So, what do you want to talk about --" Oh, what was his name? She had to lean towards the screen a bit to check from the top of the webcam window, then quirked a quick smile at him once she had. "-- Zach?"
He smiled back at her. "Uh, h-how did you end up doing this?" He sounded curious, and almost a little shy for asking.
"Being a renegade princess?" Kate asked raising her eyebrows. "Well, it is a long tale. My father, the evil king Fredwyrd kept me as a captive --"
"Um, doing this," he said, gesturing at his computer. "Pretending to be a princess online for money."
Kate couldn't help being slightly taken aback. "Well, I just kind of fell into it I guess," she said, momentarily unable to lie or find any other way of putting it. She hadn't ever even really thought about it, only about everything that had come of it. How had she actually ended up doing this?
But then he interrupted her thoughts again. "Do you ever do it without your costume on?"
What? "... Naked?"
"No, in your real clothes," he replied, with a hint of a smile. "As you."
On her bedside table, her phone went off. She didn't react to it, not really; she was too busy just looking at the guy on the screen, trying to figure him out. "Is there any way for me to talk to you as who you really are?" he asked, and for some reason that was even more disturbing to her at this particular moment than any of the previous requests she'd heard from people in his position. Her eyebrows knitted together. "Please do click on boxset, sir."
"Would you ever... meet in person?"
Okay, that was enough of that. "Fuck off, freak show!" she snapped, slamming the laptop screen down. Her phone hadn't stopped ringing so she reached for it, and seeing who it was, picked the call up, continuing on with the same tone she'd just chosen, only maybe slightly more desperate. "Mom, leave me alone!"
"Hey, Kate," her mother said, and Kate knew instantly what expression she had on her face. It was that whole hip mom thing where she didn't actually say anything about what Kate had just said but disapproved anyway, as if Kate couldn't tell. "I was thinking you might wanna come home tomorrow, for the weekend, and come down to Lynda's. Marshall said you only have class in the morning and that... art walk, First Fridays thing is coming up and --"
"Yeah, been to a few of those myself," Kate replied dryly. "Keep an eye out for the dude on the stilts, he's really tall."
"I kind of actually have a piece to show there, you sure you don't wanna come?"
Well, if there was one thing to be said for Tara, it was that she didn't give up at the first sign of difficulty. But Kate was still going to make her. "Let's see," she said. "You took every single thing from my favorite place in the world and made it yours. So... No, I think I'll pass." Also, she couldn't go home before the last of her bruises had healed. They were fading more with each passing day, but she couldn't risk having to come up with explanations for them. Her parents would freak, whatever she said.
But Tara pressed on. "... Well, I thought we could both --"
"Both, like you and me?" Kate asked, sounding maybe a little more mocking than was called for. "Yeah, sure. And while we're at it, let's call Grandma Bev and ask her if she would like to lollygag around Lynda's place in a nice sensible beige pant."
Now that was a comment that made even Tara's voice grow sharper. "Hey, I am nothing like Grandma Bev."
"And I am nothing like remotely available to have this chat with you," Kate replied snappishly, pulling the laptop open again just to do something. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have something to do, so... If you don't mind..."
"Okay, sorry," her mother muttered. "I'll leave you alone." She hung up. And great, now Kate couldn't help feeling-- She didn't even know what, but it was the same damn feeling that she'd been carrying with her for a while now. Since the last time she'd worn this costume, she supposed, but if she was honest with herself it had been there for longer than that. It gnawed on her insides, and it had only gotten worse with everything happening lately.
She clicked on a few things, summoning the video chat window into view again. And the guy - Zach, wasn't it? - smiled, surprised. "Hey," he said. "You came back." He sounded genuinely pleased about it, too.
And Kate couldn't put on her role anymore. "I fucking hate my existence," she said, kind of half muttering the words. The only way to be honest at strangers. And Zach didn't seem too bothered by it. In fact, he leaned in towards the camera a little. "Shoot yourself and walk away," he said. He was soft-spoken and his voice was calm, and after a brief hesitation, he clarified, "Meaning, change." He shrugged a shoulder. "It's your life."
Kate was frowning a little, again, but this time it was just pensiveness, not because she was creeped out. She was just thinking. That gnawing something seemed to loosen its hold on her insides right then, a little bit.
"Okay. If you did wanna meet up," she said, hesitating only a little, "where exactly would you want to?"
[ooc: Door is closed, but the post is open, and the girl is a lot less moody than text outside the cut may suggest! If you want to try and catch her in costume, this is most likely your last chance. This is also completely broadcastable since she doesn't give a damn anymore. Taken and twisted into a funky mashup from both USoT S02E08 'Explosive Diorama' and S02E09 'The Family Portrait'.]
It had started when she'd been cleaning up her half of the room since even Bobby had bothered to do it yesterday, and she had come across a certain notebook that had just brought all the stupid hurt back. Having shoved the notebook away again, she'd seen all her Princess Valhalla crap and one thing had led to another, and now she was sitting on her bed in full costume (with a matching pink scarf around her neck), with the laptop in her lap. She hadn't bothered with squirrelproofing the room, not this time. Doing this right now had been a snap decision, and she didn't have any rum at hand. And she couldn't quite bring herself to care anymore, about whether word got out or not. She didn't see any consequences worse than the ones she'd already suffered through.
Still, having made her presence known online, she declined all requests from the guys she knew for sure would skeeve her out, meaning anyone she'd already done things for. She didn't think she could even stomach seeing their faces, to be honest. But then, then there was someone whose nick was just a normal name, not a scifi reference she didn't get or a desperately suggestive piece of utter failure. So, she clicked on 'Accept', and watched her newest acquaintance show up on her screen. He looked to be in his late twenties, with shortish brown hair and a nice face. And she actually remembered meeting this guy: it was easy to remember him, seeing as he was the only conventionally attractive guy she'd seen her entire time at the comic book store. Not that she'd paid his looks all that much mind back then. She'd been in love, but that was over now, so she was letting herself pay more attention to the fact that this guy was actually kind of cute.
It was a lot easier to slip into the role for this guy, she thought, than it would have been for yet another geek who probably lived in his parents' basement. "Okay, is there something you'd like me to do?" she asked, affecting just the slightest hint of a sultry tone. She thought about listing some options, things she'd done previously, but somehow she didn't really want to. "I'm your Princess Valhalla Hawkwind, and your wish is my ultimate command."
Didn't mean she wasn't going to shut him off if he asked her to do something icky. But it didn't seem like he wanted her to. "Can we just talk for a second?"
Kate heaved an internal sigh of relief, but didn't let it show. "Sure," she replied, easily. "We can talk for fifteen minutes if you go to my online wishlist and click on... Let me see..." She took a look at her list. "The new Sonic Youth boxset! Kind of a bargain, if you think about it, for fifteen minnies of princess face time." He seemed amused; Kate paid that no mind. "So, what do you want to talk about --" Oh, what was his name? She had to lean towards the screen a bit to check from the top of the webcam window, then quirked a quick smile at him once she had. "-- Zach?"
He smiled back at her. "Uh, h-how did you end up doing this?" He sounded curious, and almost a little shy for asking.
"Being a renegade princess?" Kate asked raising her eyebrows. "Well, it is a long tale. My father, the evil king Fredwyrd kept me as a captive --"
"Um, doing this," he said, gesturing at his computer. "Pretending to be a princess online for money."
Kate couldn't help being slightly taken aback. "Well, I just kind of fell into it I guess," she said, momentarily unable to lie or find any other way of putting it. She hadn't ever even really thought about it, only about everything that had come of it. How had she actually ended up doing this?
But then he interrupted her thoughts again. "Do you ever do it without your costume on?"
What? "... Naked?"
"No, in your real clothes," he replied, with a hint of a smile. "As you."
On her bedside table, her phone went off. She didn't react to it, not really; she was too busy just looking at the guy on the screen, trying to figure him out. "Is there any way for me to talk to you as who you really are?" he asked, and for some reason that was even more disturbing to her at this particular moment than any of the previous requests she'd heard from people in his position. Her eyebrows knitted together. "Please do click on boxset, sir."
"Would you ever... meet in person?"
Okay, that was enough of that. "Fuck off, freak show!" she snapped, slamming the laptop screen down. Her phone hadn't stopped ringing so she reached for it, and seeing who it was, picked the call up, continuing on with the same tone she'd just chosen, only maybe slightly more desperate. "Mom, leave me alone!"
"Hey, Kate," her mother said, and Kate knew instantly what expression she had on her face. It was that whole hip mom thing where she didn't actually say anything about what Kate had just said but disapproved anyway, as if Kate couldn't tell. "I was thinking you might wanna come home tomorrow, for the weekend, and come down to Lynda's. Marshall said you only have class in the morning and that... art walk, First Fridays thing is coming up and --"
"Yeah, been to a few of those myself," Kate replied dryly. "Keep an eye out for the dude on the stilts, he's really tall."
"I kind of actually have a piece to show there, you sure you don't wanna come?"
Well, if there was one thing to be said for Tara, it was that she didn't give up at the first sign of difficulty. But Kate was still going to make her. "Let's see," she said. "You took every single thing from my favorite place in the world and made it yours. So... No, I think I'll pass." Also, she couldn't go home before the last of her bruises had healed. They were fading more with each passing day, but she couldn't risk having to come up with explanations for them. Her parents would freak, whatever she said.
But Tara pressed on. "... Well, I thought we could both --"
"Both, like you and me?" Kate asked, sounding maybe a little more mocking than was called for. "Yeah, sure. And while we're at it, let's call Grandma Bev and ask her if she would like to lollygag around Lynda's place in a nice sensible beige pant."
Now that was a comment that made even Tara's voice grow sharper. "Hey, I am nothing like Grandma Bev."
"And I am nothing like remotely available to have this chat with you," Kate replied snappishly, pulling the laptop open again just to do something. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have something to do, so... If you don't mind..."
"Okay, sorry," her mother muttered. "I'll leave you alone." She hung up. And great, now Kate couldn't help feeling-- She didn't even know what, but it was the same damn feeling that she'd been carrying with her for a while now. Since the last time she'd worn this costume, she supposed, but if she was honest with herself it had been there for longer than that. It gnawed on her insides, and it had only gotten worse with everything happening lately.
She clicked on a few things, summoning the video chat window into view again. And the guy - Zach, wasn't it? - smiled, surprised. "Hey," he said. "You came back." He sounded genuinely pleased about it, too.
And Kate couldn't put on her role anymore. "I fucking hate my existence," she said, kind of half muttering the words. The only way to be honest at strangers. And Zach didn't seem too bothered by it. In fact, he leaned in towards the camera a little. "Shoot yourself and walk away," he said. He was soft-spoken and his voice was calm, and after a brief hesitation, he clarified, "Meaning, change." He shrugged a shoulder. "It's your life."
Kate was frowning a little, again, but this time it was just pensiveness, not because she was creeped out. She was just thinking. That gnawing something seemed to loosen its hold on her insides right then, a little bit.
"Okay. If you did wanna meet up," she said, hesitating only a little, "where exactly would you want to?"
[ooc: Door is closed, but the post is open, and the girl is a lot less moody than text outside the cut may suggest! If you want to try and catch her in costume, this is most likely your last chance. This is also completely broadcastable since she doesn't give a damn anymore. Taken and twisted into a funky mashup from both USoT S02E08 'Explosive Diorama' and S02E09 'The Family Portrait'.]