禍水

Kaya frowned, confused at what part of the Lorelai lore she was meant to pay special attention to that would make her feel any different about her. She also didn't quite understand why she was acting as if Kaya had a lifelong vendetta against her, when Lorelai had been the one to approach her with daggers in her words. Apparently someone liked the kitchen, but couldn't quite stand the heat.

Lorelai couldn't help but roll her eyes as Kaya took her words and rearranged them to mean something absolutely different. "Kaya, that's not what I said. Don't deflect and project because it's clear you are actually the one who thinks themself so much better. At least I do not deny that I hold myself at a high esteem. That's called confidence, not condescension. I made the effort to try and get to know each of you not just be civil. It is you who put up that wall, ironically enough. I never acted like I was better than any of you, you were the lot that made it out like I was far less than you simply because I was enjoying my time with your so called friend, clearly you thought something of me enough to come off with this bizarre rant." This was why she had stopped attempting with others. Because of the godforsaken rotten people like Kaya, who couldn't see their own self-importance and instead tried to make her look like the villain for being a bit cocky. But that didn't mean she expected others to covet every detail from her with awe and wonder. She was not going to speak on Elijah, because it was really not her place to say much of anything. Eli had nothing to do with this anyway really even if he was the reason she knew of this entitled woman. "Truly a shame, but it does not surprise me that you are not a girl's girl to begin with."

“She is her own heroine—capricious, exacting, exquisite, very learned, and beautifully dressed.”

"Yeah, sorry. He's super type A and is very passionate about doing things in a certain way." Truthfully, Asher did not feel inclined to get into an argument with Moose. He was a different bird and had an energy that she did not truly care to deal with more than for a few hours. The last thing she needed was a squabbling match with the man. "Very true, very true." Ash was not a wine person by any means. She could stomach a prosecco, but she preferred her beers and ciders over anything else. "I'm the music director…so I curate music that's played on the various shows and all the behind-the-scenes." She hated that stupid spiel. It was a decent job, but Ash missed being on the road and playing in front of people.

Lorelai understood a bit more now after she explained the situation. "Ah yes, if you don't do it his way then you'll hear of it. I see. Well then I don't want you to have deal with that." Men were morons and she would rather give the other a chance to not deal with it if she could help by just waiting. "Oh wow that's quite interesting. I don't think I know all the ins and outs of that, but it seems like a job that has quite a lot of moving parts." Lorelai was obviously aware that it was someone's job to help with these things, but the description wasn't something she was knowledgeable on. Though she wasn't quite sure if the other woman wanted to talk about her work even if she was at the radio's tent currently.

Kaya credited herself with resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the woman in front of her. The absolute gall of her, fucking truly. She had never met anyone so convinced she was above everyone else, yet so blind to how little she actually had to do with her own status. Remarkable, really. She used to play nice, once, when Eli was involved with her, and when Eli's opinion was something she cared about. As far as she was concerned, none of those two applied anymore, so there was really no reason to hold back the thoughts of how much she'd love to see the woman hold a minimum wage job, or have to work for something, for once in her life.

If what Kaya was trying to say that Lorelai had zero taste that was just about as laughable as saying she had zero sense. She clearly had both even if she didn't have much in the sense of humility, that she could agree with. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as Kaya spit out the drink. Watching as the woman before her got her comeuppance for her insults by drinking the coffee in the first place. She remained silent for a moment longer, her brow raising at the off-based claims that the other woman spewed in her direction. "It's quite telling of you to not have paid a lick of attention to what I shared about myself. And yet here you are acting as though you must be so down to earth and good. It's tragic really to pretend like you're something you're not. Isn't it?" Lorelai visited Paris plenty but never had she lived there nor had she went there for school or had an instructor. She'd gone to fashion week sure, but was Kaya going to act like she hadn't? "Don't speak to me as if you know who I am or even who I was when you knew of me. Do you even recall what I was doing at the time? Or were you just good at pretending that your head was not just as far up your arse as Roman's was?"

An entirely undignified snort of laughter rolled through her before Frankie could hope to stop it; it wasn't a pretty noise but it wasn't one she bothered to hide as she offered a brief shrug in response to Lorelai's comment. "Most of my experience with kids comes from spending time with my goddaughter but she's ten and has significantly better manners than most children her age," She explained, smiling fondly at the thought of her childhood best friend's daughter. "Kensington. I was living in Oxford after I finished school there, though― before I packed up and moved here." Frankie fought to ignore the flush that bloomed in her cheeks at the mere mention of the area she'd grown up in― most people in Providence Peak wouldn't have the slightest notion that it meant anything at all but she was perpetually nervous about someone making a great many assumptions about her from that admission alone and it seemed to be something she couldn't quite shake when it came to discussing her life in London.

Lorelai let out a small laugh of surprise at the other's reaction, it was quite a noise that came from their petite friend and she couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well that's good. I like children with good manners they are much more tolerable." She said matter of factly, she had a hard time being around children in general but it always eased her a bit when they were polite children and seemed quiet and well-mannered. Not that Lorelai had been that way all of the time growing up, so she was not sure why she expected so much from other children. "Ah, very nice. I can't say I spent much time after I was a teenager in the country. But I do have at least some fond memories from my time there." She spoke honestly although vaguely since she wasn't the type to share all of her business with a stranger even if she was fonder of her because they shared a home country in common. "So you're a recent United States resident then?" Lorelai could surmise that from what the other had said, but she just wanted to double check she'd heard what she said correctly.

"Oh, come on now, it'll never cease amazing me either," she chuckled back with a warm smile. There was a certain brilliance to Lorelai that had always been part of why Yasemin had been attracted to her in the first place. Even now with nothing more than a friendship between them, Yas still found the woman more and more impressive every time she got to see her in action with her work. "If that's the case, I'll be sure to stop in before the end of the week." It would be good for her to make the plans, to have any reason at all to get out of her house and out of her office. That was all just part of the process of moving forward, finding ways to get out and take the time to think about anything other than Sage. "I don't at all. I don't think you really see the color of it in pictures, so it kind of doesn't matter," she agreed with a shrug as they were moved along through the line to get into their balloon. It didn't take long at all and they were quickly ushered into one of the baskets to take flight. "You're good with heights, right?" A question she probably should have asked prior to getting in the basket, though she had to assume Lorelai would have said something herself beforehand if she had an issue with it.

She gave Yas another wink at her response, glad to see her smiling and laughing a bit. Lorelai wanted to ask what exactly was the issue and why she was in a bit more somber space, but she also was not too sure of whether or not that would only make Yasemin feel more defensive or it would turn the mood of their spending time together. "Brilliant, I'll expect to you see you soon then." She shared not actually going to keep track of it in reality, Lorelai didn't have the time to put that much effort forth on making sure Yas was coming to visit. Though she did care about her friend, she was never going to be the type of person who cared that much. "Okay good, because I was going to say that sounded a bit like when wanting a specific color for one of those amusement park rides." She said with a small chuckle as she shook her head a bit before taking another few pieces of popcorn. "Oh yes, don't worry about me darling. I am plenty experienced with heights. I wouldn't have agreed to this adventure if I wasn't." Lorelai pointed out to Yasemin, because unlike her friend she was more than happy to disagree or not do something if she didn't want to do it. Yas could be very much of a people pleaser from Lorelai's experience.

continued from here

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh at the way the other woman reacted to seeing the other end of the toy. And her confession did not really need to be said, in her mind considering it was pretty obvious that she was not in her comfort zone. Hearing the explanation as to why she was here made even more sense. "I see, so you ventured into a sex shop for the first time to purchase something for someone other than yourself." She couldn't help but smirk a small amount as she found this much more amusing. The other woman seemed to have the impulse control of a child, putting things down then picking something else up without thinking twice about it and asking questions that would probably only lead her to get more flustered. "That's a rabbit vibrator, the part you're touching is for additional simulation." Lorelai looked from her fingers that were toying with the toy to her face to see how exactly she would react to this new information.

The market vendor area was large but not large enough to not happen upon the booth. But honestly Lorelai had been so caught up in other things last year that it was hard for her to know for sure what exactly the place looked like last year, let alone remember who was there. She did recall the record store having a place last year. But that was about all she could recall off the top of her head. "I am quite good and being persuasive." Lorelai smirked at them, not feeling all too timid in praising herself. "Exactly, experience the tastes when they're free, then you'll know for the next go around when you have to actually spend your money and do not wish to waste it." She didn't think that anyone liked trying something new and it being not worth the money they paid. "I like their Zinfadel quite a bit. But I did also enjoy their Merlot and Pinot Noir." Lorelai didn't often do just one favorite of things. "Well I would highly recommend going. I'm not sure what would be boring about it? I mean if you're just walking the grounds and doing a wine tasting? What's stagnant about that?" As someone who fully enjoyed any type of culinary experience, it was hard to see the other's point of view, but also Lorelai was aware that wasn't something that interested everyone. "I would say it's a bit out there from here. It's in Bighorn Hills, but it's not that horrible of a drive."

If someone had told her when she'd made the fairly rash decision to move to the States that the city she intended to settle down in would be home to a statistically significant number of fellow Brits, well, Frankie wasn't wholly certain she'd have believed them. It was a small comfort all the same― although she had no real sense of patriotism to speak of and found the familiarity of the woman's accent perhaps the most comforting thing in that moment. "Oh, no, you're absolutely fine," Frankie assured her, waving her free hand― an absentminded flick of the wrist given before she smiled properly. "I'd like to say that wasn't extremely annoying but I suppose that would make me a liar." Frankie continued, half under her breath and more than a little petulantly. Her smile only widened as she straightened up and canted her head to one side― eager and curious. "I'm from London, actually! You? I'm guessing the same but if I'm wrong then I apologize in advance."

"Yes, well you're far kinder in the way you expressed that, because I would like to say that parents should make sure their little brats don't go running amok." Lorelai, having no knowledge on parenting or having good role models as parents, felt like it must be easy enough to know whether or not a child was going to be unruly enough and that parents should be taking precautions in those cases or just realize that some things were better left undone for the rest of society's sake. "No apologies necessary, you're correct about that. Specifically I'm from Southwark, and yourself?" This was a pleasant turn of events, her ear still was a bit achy from being yelled directly in, but she was sure it would soon pass.

It admittedly took her a second to place the voice with how long it had been, but once she clocked that it was indeed Lorelai out of all people, she had to fight the grimace. It's not that Kaya had anything personal against the other woman, really. Just against everything she represented. Unearned wealth, undeserved cockiness, and a self-entitlement that reminded her of her father's. A perfect storm. The fact that the first memory that came to her brain from back in the day was of her shoving her tongue down Elijah's throat wasn't necessarily helping, considering how very little she wanted to think of him at all.

Kaya's reception of her presence was rather chilly for the fact that Lorelai had no reason she could think of as to why she would feel such a way towards her. But it just seemed to be the norm now when it came to the band. She had never been anything but cordial to them, at least in her memory that's what she recalled. Perhaps it was just who she was associated with that now upset them. Well, she couldn't use that excuse with Roman, but perhaps it was that way with the French woman. Her brow raised at the comment, clearly meant to be snide however inaccurate it was in sentiment towards Lorelai. "Darling, my preferences have nothing to do with price and all to do with taste. Snobbery is not really something I tend to go for in my choices, the French truly are the ones who master that well though. So I'm sure you're well acquainted with the concept." She gave the smallest of shrug with her shoulder and she mirrored the woman's smile with one of her own, daring her to go on. Lorelai could match wits all day if provoked.

The reaction from Lorelai to her description of her recent meals was a valid one. Yas herself could recognize that it was a poor excuse for a diet, but it was all the energy she had to give recently. The drama with Sage had her working more, which left her with far too little time and certainly not enough motivation to do anything more than press a few buttons on the microwave and hope for the best. "I will, I'd love that. You always outdo yourself, it gets better every time I visit. I should have an early day off work sometime this week, I'll be sure to drop by." If she put it on her calendar and made the promise to a friend, Yas would follow through whether she felt like it or not. If a night out for dinner kept her from crying on her couch for a night instead, that seemed like a good trade-off. "Oh, you should be fine, definitely bring it." Yas didn't actually know if it would be allowed or not, but figured between the two of them they could talk their way into it. Motioning for Lorelai to follow, Yas struck off to where the balloons were being rented out, filling out any necessary paperwork before paying their way. "Any preference on which color balloon you want to go up in?"

"Yes, I do. You're right about that. I don't think it'll ever cease amazing others though." Lorelai smirked, hoping that Yasemin knew she was only being sarcastic. Even if Lorelai had quite a large amount of self-worth and an ego that may be very big, she still had a pretty good sense of reality. "Good, good. Since we will be changing it out soon." She pointed out, perhaps that would give the woman more of a sense of urgency to get out of the routine of microwave meals. Giving a shrug at Yas sharing she was sure that she could bring the popcorn with her. Lorelai followed the other woman continued to snack as they went. "Oh goodness no, I would say that it's very much a whichever one is ready to lift off decision. Do you have a preference on the color?" It felt a bit childish in her mind to care so much about the color of hot air balloon they were going to be riding, but didn't make a comment on it quite yet just in case Yasemin did have a preference and would feel insulted by the comment.

"Oh uh…yeah, give me a second." Asher was looking around the table to see where Moose left the instructions. He wanted to run and grab food. Asher was simply here to check in and show face as the music director of the radio station. However, she was not anticipating anyone coming up to the booth out of all the other things happening. Moose had been handling the raffling system and the last thing Asher wanted to do was mess it up. "My counterpart has been handling it. He should be back in about fifteen minutes if you can wait a bit." Moose had told her the likelihood of anyone approaching the table was nil. What a liar. "How's your day going?"

Lorelai waited patiently enough as she watched the other scramble around the table, on the search for something. What it was, she had no idea, but she waited for a few more moments. She raised her brows at this new piece of information. "Oh? I suppose I might be able to wait around for a little bit." She gave a small shrug, it wasn't like she had made plans, although the idea of waiting all day did not appeal to her. It didn't mean that much to her to spin a wheel. Lorelai figured she could stick it out for fifteen minutes though. Then the woman tried to introduce small talk and she had to stop herself from cringing. "Ah, it's been good. I had some free wine earlier. Or perhaps it's not really free I suppose it might go into our taxes somehow." Lorelai said sarcastically before looking at the booth's surrounding for a moment. "What do you do at the radio station?"

"It's not my first time here no, but I don't recall this being an option last year, or at least if it was I somehow skipped over it." Lorelai couldn't see how she would have ever overlooked an opportunity like this, however it was not altogether impossible. She laughed a bit at their dry comment. "Ah, well I have really only had one of their whites, it was enjoyable. But mostly I get their reds. They do have a pretty excellent selection. Have you gone to their vineyards? The grounds are quite something when they're just about to harvest the grapes." Lorelai shared, unsure of what to make of how new the other was to the town. From context clues this was at least their first time being here, but that couldn't mean that she hadn't been in town and just not partaken in the event previously.

― SETTING: the area around the 'good pets' stall, downtown. ― AVAILABILITY: closed for lorelai tseng. ( @lorelai-tseng )

The only problem that Lorelai only tended to have when it came to large crowds were when children were part of the crowd and went rogue and decided to weave between adults' legs which meant that their adults were panicking and pushing through others and really it was a headache. She was passing the booths when this type of annoyance happened and there was a poor person whose bag went tumbling because of it. The child's keepers shouted their name right in Lorelai's hear and she nearly shouted right back in their ear before seeing the misery that this had caused the petite woman trying to grab at her things before someone stepped on her hands. Realizing that one of those things was by her. "Ah yes sorry darling, I didn't see that there." Reaching down she extended it over to her. "There you go. Your accent...where abouts are you from?"