Day Two - Swimming

[yes_miss_potts]

Who: Pepper Potts, Heather Lisinski
Where: Beach
When: Early morning
Rating: PG thus far
Status: Finished
Invasion: Sure!  Come on in!
Summary: Unable to sleep late into the day, Pepper gets up early to take a swim in the ocean, where she runs into Heather out for a walk.  They exchange pleasantries, and find that they actually have a great deal in

Comments

[rosy_intellect]

Heather couldn't sleep. Try as she might, when the Sun rose, so did she. It was probably due to the fact that she had no electricity at her house back home, and if she wanted to keep working when the Sun went down, she needed to light candles. They were fine, but the flickering flames weren't great if you wanted to get a lot of work done. So, she'd gotten accustomed to getting up when the Sun did, to make the most of the day. It seemed like her body followed that, even in this new locale.

She decided to do a little exploring. She hadn't gotten up to much the night before, preferring to stay close to "home" after she and Sirius parted ways. So, early on her first morning in the strange place called DauphinMare, she found herself walking on the warm sand of the beach. She gazed at the horizon, watching the waves reach up and fall back. She noticed a woman standing at the water's edge, peering out to shore. Heather waved, a smile on her face. "Hi!" She called out to the stranger.

[rosy_intellect]

"Sure! I haven't had anything to eat in the dorms yet, should be...interesting," Heather replied, smiling at Pepper. "I guess you'd want to go change, right?"

[yes_miss_potts]

Pepper looked down at herself, realizing she was still wearing a bathing suit and a whole lot of nothing else.

"Yeah," she said sheepishly, "My room is on the second floor of the dorms, though, so we can just pop in quickly. If you don't mind coming up with me."

She smiled and wrapped the towel around her body. She'd completely forgotten she'd been standing there in next to nothing, just talking. The towel provided some modesty, at least. Not a lot, but enough.

[rosy_intellect]

"Not a problem," Heather responded. Upon sensing Pepper's discomfort at her present choice of clothing, she gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it."

[yes_miss_potts]

Beginning to lead the way back to the dorms, Pepper gabbed conversationally.

"If I'd been thinking, I'd have brought clothes with me," she admitted, "But really all I could think about was the water. It's been so long since I've gotten up in the morning and gone for a swim. Life with...at home," she corrected, "has been too busy for the little things like this."

[rosy_intellect]

"Tell me about it," Heather agreed. "Though I'd say more like overwhelming in my case," She continued. "It's been really tough, but back home, we're managing, in spite of everything."

[yes_miss_potts]

Curiously, Pepper looked over at the other girl as they neared the entrance to the dorms.

"Where are you from?" she asked, "That it's so tough? I don't mean to pry, really, it's just...it sounds...big."

[rosy_intellect]

"Jericho's pretty small, actually," Heather replied, smiling at the idea that Jericho could be big. I don't think Jericho could be described as big unless it was compared to, say, a town with a population of 10. "It's tough because, before I left, bombs were dropped--not on Jericho, but near it--and...things are pretty bad. Food's getting scarce, gas to run the generators to have electricity is rationed because it's so scarce...but we're holding on," She declared, putting on a brave face. "We definitely didn't get the worst of it, I'm sure. I feel kind of guilty being here, though, because of that..."She trailed off, getting quiet. All of a sudden she missed Jake and Emily fiercely.

[yes_miss_potts]

"Oh," Pepper said quietly, holding the door open for Heather, "I feel silly now, blathering on about Malibu. I shouldn't complain; I've no reason to."

She felt guilty. Here she was, whining about not having enough time in the day to do what she wanted when other people were actually suffering through traumatic events.

Leading the way up the stairs to the second floor, Pepper had a thought.

"Where are you staying, anyways?" she asked, "I noticed that a lot of people seem to be here in the dorms, but a few have taken up shelter elsewhere."

[rosy_intellect]

"Don't worry about it," Heather reassured her. "I didn't mean to unload my baggage on you, sorry about that." She followed Pepper up the stairs to the second floor. "I'm staying in a cottage somewhere out there," She said, gesturing away from the building they were walking in. "I haven't really gotten a good idea of the map yet," She replied, grinning.

[yes_miss_potts]

"Me neither," Pepper admitted, traipsing down the hallway, "I should have; I saw enough of the place yesterday. It's just not sticking, I don't think. I think that's why I've mostly hung around the water; it's safe, I know where it is, and I know how to get back. Any more than that and I'll likely need a guide. Or someone braver than I leading the way

[rosy_intellect]

Heather took the invitation, stepping into the room and moving aside to give Pepper some space to enter. "This is kind of like my cottage, except more like my dorm I had back in college," She mused, glancing around at the simple surroundings.

She then remembered the whole reason they needed to come up here: Pepper needed to change. "Um, if you wanted to change, I could wait outside..."She offered, and stepped back into the hallway.

[yes_miss_potts]

"Oh, right," Pepper said, flushing a very little, "I'll be out in just a moment."

It felt rude to shut the door in Heather's face like this, but there wasn't anywhere to go so she could change in privacy. She quickly changed out of her swimsuit and into what was swiftly turning into her uniform - jeans and a t-shirt. Closing the door behind her, Pepper stepped back out into the hallway, now significantly less embarrassed about her state of attire.

"Right," she said, grinning, "Cafeteria's downstairs. Shall we?"

[rosy_intellect]

"Sounds like a plan," Heather agreed, letting Pepper lead the way down to the cafeteria. "What kind of food do they have here? I was able to get something pretty normal at the Tavern last night, but every place here could be different."

[yes_miss_potts]

"You said you went to college right?" Pepper explained, "Well, it's a lot like the food in a college cafeteria. Only with a few extra things you don't quite recognize. It's not exactly four star dining, but it's not bad."

As they wandered in, Pepper noted that the cafeteria looked exactly the same as the day prior, albeit with different locals milling about.

[rosy_intellect]

Heather found herself having a major case of deja vu. It was like the last few years hadn't happened, and she was back in college, going to breakfast with her friends from the dorm. Which is pretty much true, except the being in college part, She thought. "Should we get food first or stake our claim on a table?"