Inevitable

Giselle takes the seat perpendicular to Savannah, reaching for one of the spare menus as she listens to her friend's very vague recap of her new beau. There's not an infinite supply of men Savannah Fell would find acceptable partners, and Giselle can eliminate several of them by the glimpses she's seen, but there's still a handful of options. It wasn't until this week that she'd settled on Jeremiah Brighton, the pediatrician that she and Violet noticed recently stopped reacting "😍" on their Polagram stories and this weekend changed his relationship status to taken. Giselle nods without thinking, because she does understand the very same desire, and she's confident enough in her detective skills that it's not particularly a secret in the first place. Despite her practiced ability to keep up with the high society of Virtue's implied meanings and passive tendencies, Giselle is entirely unaware that perhaps some of her own secrets aren't as concealed as she believes either, and any intended meaning goes right over her head.

"Well, I'm happy for you! I'll assume he checks all the boxes? High-ranking, attractive, ambitious, at least semi-decent at conversation, looking for a blonde wife?" she teases, referencing an old goal list they'd all made up years back over wine. The last she checked, Jeremiah's a close match. He's simply rather... quiet, a bit of a homebody, and she won't ruin Savannah's fun by admitting she knows. "What will we even talk about now? ... Do you think it would be outrageous if we tried to drag Violet out of mourning this summer? Maybe a blind date?" Alright, so maybe it's impossible to keep Giselle away from a layered scheme after all... Sue her for enjoying a little entertainment!

"I'm sure there will be plenty of other relationship drama to discuss, if not our own pursuits. Hiraeth's gossip mill never stops turning after all." She took a deep sip of her drink, before thoughtfully pressing a finger to her lips. "I think we might be able to manage that. It's high time she got over Frank considering she was always out of his league."

@gh0st-towns / closed starter / sen volkov setting: jonah's place ⚧️ — Our muses bump into each other and my muse is now the opposite of their current gender!  If your muse is gender fluid or agender you pick what happens.

It was late, and Jonah had been quietly working on dinner for the two of them when he heard Sen step into the kitchen. “You better not be trying to sneak up on me,” he said with a low chuckle, stirring the sauce in the pot. “I’ll catch you every single time.” It wasn’t the first time he’d ended up cooking them a late dinner, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Setting the spoon aside, he turned and leaned back against the stove, tilting his head at the sight of them. “Come here.” He opened his arms, drawing them in, but the second they touched, something shifted.

“What just—” He cut himself off, a hand clamping over his mouth. “What the fuck?” Again, the voice that had come out of him was wrong. Jonah went still, eyes dropping to his hands this time as he stepped away from them. He flexed his fingers once, slow, like the movement might correct everything else about him. And still, nothing changed. "Sen?"

They had been trying to sneak up on him, convinced that if they tried enough times one would have to be a success. Today just wasn't the lucky day. "Caught again.... One of these days my stealth training will pay off." They nodded seriously as if they had the capability to do anything quietly. Still they gladly stepped into his embrace.

Of course this was the first time that hugging Jonah had turned him.... into a girl. "Hey, uh Jogo, have you been messing with the gender tonics? I kind of thought that was my thing." Their eyes swept up and down his body. "You're a hot girl though, I'll give you that."

Johanna Braddy as Shelby Wyatt in Quantico

"What's one more thing?" Reuben remarks, mostly to himself, but there's the barest hint of a chuckle. It's better tequila than he's ever been able to afford access to in Vice, but in this particular moment he's far too tired to feel bitter over Virtue's privileges tonight. In silence, he peels off his drenched sweater to reveal a .... slightly less drenched black fitted t-shirt. "May I?" He gestures to the sink he intends to wring the sweater out in, as if dryers do not exist.

If he watches her take the shot, it's merely out of curiosity. "Ah. We're licking our wounds in a literal sense," he says, the corner of his lips quirking upward in amusement. He doesn't have the slightest idea why she seems off tonight, but Reuben's also unfortunately referencing his own feelings towards his little sister growing up, needing him less. Enough so that with one raised brow in something like mockery or challenge, he crosses the room and with great attention to detail, mimics her exact steps of a tequila shot. He only shakes his head one in distaste for something that isn't his liquor of choice, but it's certainly smoother than a cheap, gold tequila he'd tried once. "What has you taking shots of tequila with unpleasant company in the rain? Don't Virtues adore weddings?"

Rather than be perturbed by his comment, Savannah fixes him with a smirk from her seat on the floor. "Very Vice of you to fixate on what I was doing with my mouth Valencia." She's comfortable again, using charisma as a shield, but of course he manages to pinpoint exactly what she didn't want to address. A deep sigh escapes her before the blonde leans forward and pours another shot, tipping it back in the same manner as the first before letting her head fall back against the couch behind her. "I do, you know. Adore weddings." She thinks of how overjoyed Beverly had looked, the energy of all of the well-wishers, the euphoria of just being a girl on the dance floor surrounded by friends. Even the weird toktik dance that Matty and his weird friend kept doing brought a smile to her face. Then she thinks about her date, who she'd been hoping was actually going to give her a chance darted off after one of her "best friends". How he came back without his jacket, which could have been fine if he hadn't also excused himself shortly thereafter. She'd walked herself home after all. She doesn't notice herself reaching over to her left ring finger, where there had been an engagement ring once.

She hasn't answered his question, letting silence fall between them as she gets lost in her thoughts. Finally she blinks, refocusing on her own living room. "I guess that I decided unpleasant company was better than none." And because she can't let it stay like this, serious or honest, she's quick to follow up. "I'm quite impressed that you acknowledge what a chore it is to spend time with someone so dour. I didn't realize you possesed that kind of self-awareness."