Artist Here to Live Out Loud

Kat was pleased with how the gala was turning out. It certainly was going to let their *new queen* know that they would not be swept under the rug or dismissed so easily. 

“Thank you for coming. Enjoying yourself?:

At the familiar voice, Elle turned and immediately offered a wide smile. “Of course. I wouldn’t dream of missing it, especially not this year. You look absolutely stunning by the way.”

Liana blushed and laughed quietly. “Details?” There weren’t a bunch of details yet that she could even share, but she wasn’t about to say that. Honestly Liana was just happy to be around Jadon and to see him healing so well. She was proud of him.

The blush had her giggling and nudging the other woman. “I’m not picky. But I’m a sucker for a good romcom, and there’s no better romcom than my friend’s actual lives because I automatically care about the people involved.”

“You know what hanging out with me gets you? Kidnapped. Starved. Shot. I don’t want that to happen to you too,” Aramis replied, trying to get her to see his point. “He’s a wreck, Elle… if you want to be there for him, then be there for him. Help him. Kit deserves the biggest circle he can get. But just… don’t hang around me.”

“And you know what? That happened to Jadon and Rory and Adelaide anyway. So we’re going to ignore that argument because it’s just a form of excuse,” she retorted, not willing to let it slide. “I will be there for him. I haven’t pushed him too much because I know he’s been through a lot and I asked him to give me a call when he was ready. But if it would work better that I just show up and be obnoxious, I’m more than capable. I can be very stubborn and annoying when I want something.”

Aramis sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He should’ve known this conversation would be coming. “I’m not ghosting you, alright? I’m trying to help you. You don’t need to be friends with the guy who brought all this shit to Vannes. My boyfriend is suffering enough, you really want to be him next?”

Elle crossed her arms and stared at him hard. Absolutely no way was she going to let this kind of self pitying talk stand. “I’ll decide what I need and who I want to be friends with, thank you very much. And if Kit’s having issues, all the more reason for your circle to get bigger so you two don’t have to deal with this alone.”

Liana ordered quickly as well. She picked just a few small things to go with her hot chocolate, which was the part she was most excited for. “This is nice. We should do this more often.”

“We should! I love hearing about everything you’re getting up to at work and I love a good excuse to hang out with you. Plus now that your love life is heating up, I’m expecting to hear all kinds of details.”

“Poor boy. I suppose that’ll be my fate soon enough. So far, Lola isn’t allowed candy. Bad for babies and all that.” Henri replied with a warm laugh. Leaning toward her, he flashed a grin. “All three huh? So if I wanted to say … slid my hands under that adorable costume and toy with you perpetually delightful breasts, you’d be into that? Anything off the table tonight?”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re here and ready to have some fun tonight isn’t it? And luckily for me.” As he leaned in to her, she deliberately licked her lips. “I just might be. Only thing off the table is marking me where I I can’t hide it with a decent sweater at work on Tuesday.”

“ah, well. They weren’t terribly wild but they were across the ocean,” Nick said. She was glad to be back. NYC was home at one time but it didn’t feel like it much any more. She loved her family there but the city didn’t hold the appeal it once did. Most likely because someone was absent. “How are you? Have any wild adventures while I was away?”

Sophie: Both very solid choices. We should do a cheesy holiday movie marathon someday soon.

Sophie: That would give me some extra Christmas spirit.

Elle: Yessssss

Kit smiled a small smile and nodded his head slowly. “Okay. I haven’t gone to one in a long time. I’ll find one that we can go to soon,” he said, handing the sketchbook back to Elle. Maybe having a plan would help him get out of the house sooner, even thought right now, all he could think of was getting back to his apartment and burrowing in. 

“Excellent. I’ll wait for your call.” She looked up and caught sight of the clock and sighed. “I should probably get going. But we’ll catch up again soon, ok? And if you need anything, just shoot me a text.”

Liana made herself comfortable and smiled across the table at Elle. “Exactly. Then you’ve done something good for someone else, but don’t have to look at it every day anymore. It’s a win-win.” Her stomach grumbled a little and she laughed as she rubbed at it. “I think we got here just in time.”

Elle laughed as well when she heard Liana’s stomach grumble. “I’d say we did. All right, time to go to town on the snacks.” Luckily for them both, the waitress arrived right then at their table. She ordered for herself quickly and then gestured for Liana to do the same before she collapsed from hunger. 

“I’m sure you can manage. You’re smart and deadly creative. Those are incredible assets to our house.” It was people like Elle that made Anjou special, as far as Anna was concerned. 

“Ok, ok, I’ll stop asking for state sanctioned rebellion more than I already have going on. Should we talk about something entirely different? Restaurant suggestions I should be hitting up for my next work binge?”

Anna gave Elle a pointed look when she said she always was. “Get creative, though I wouldn’t complain about some peaceful protests. Peaceful being the key word. I’m sure in the coming days I’ll know more and can update the house.”

Elle just raised an eyebrow in response to the pointed look. If Anna wasn’t going to call it out specifically, Elle wasn’t going to either. “Hm, I can maybe work with that. I at least have some friends who are a little better at peaceful than I typically am.”

With the sketchbook in his lap Kit took the pencil with a shaky right hand and started to fix the sketch so that it looked more like what he remembered of his bot. “It’s been a long time, so I might have forgotten some of it but it looked kind of like this. I told you. Nothing special looking. But this ledge here, coupled with how fast it could move, made it easy to flip other bots over or out of the arena.” 

“Ooh, cool! Yeah, I can see a little of how that would work! So, it’s decided, sometime soon you’re taking me to a robot fight. I’m trusting you with this important mission Kit because I really really really want to see a robot fight.” She grinned at him as she carefully took her sketchbook back. 

Aramis was wiping down some of the machines, off in his own little world. It was slow and he was now relying on busywork to keep himself entertained. When he unexpectedly heard the sub’s voice behind him, it nearly made him jump right out of his skin.

“Fuck, Christ, what the -” Aramis turned around, relaxing slightly when he saw Elle’s face. “You scared the shit out of me. Shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.” It was almost sad to see her. Elle was about the closest thing to a friend he’d had before… and now? Well, who knew.

“I’m busy, but you can ask the receptionist to find a trainer for you,” Aramis shrugged, turning to squirt some more disinfectant on the treadmill in front of him.

“But if I don’t, they can see me coming and run away,” she replied promptly. Years of habit meant she moved quietly when she wanted to, and his own lost expression was more than enough to cover any slips she might have made. But when he tried to dismiss her, all she did was slide around so she could lean against the machine he was cleaning. 

“Hm, well, before I do that, I do have a question for you. What would be your suggestion if you had a friend who worked in a gym but then suddenly started ghosting you? What’s the best place to confront them so they actually have to talk to you?”