Jingles!

Another hum escapes her as she nods slowly at Peri’s answer, accepting it despite the fact that she didn’t feel like she of all people was the one needing a pick-me up like this. Not that she’d turn it down - Tink doesn’t turn down anything that’s free - but she doesn’t see the need for her sister to be worried about her. She hadn’t disappeared after all, just spent the whole day looking for those that had. So really, she was doing fine. It was the fight she found out she’d missed on the first day of the festival that bothered her more than anything. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” 

A small smirk grows on her face instinctively at Peri’s words, an assumption that would usually be right, but for once wasn’t exactly the case. “The stupid fucker had a knife, so I didn’t really get more than one hit in before I flew up out his way,” she explains, bitterness and annoyance clear in her voice. She takes another sip of the hot chocolate in hopes of calming herself back down a bit. “The boys got into a fight. Apparently they know who stabbed Slightly now and they all decided to jump him. It…. didn’t go well.”

“A knife?” Eyes widening, Peri paused her sipping, “What the actual heck…” She didn’t like the idea of Tink going out into these fights, but she knew it wasn’t her place to give unsolicited advice or act like a surrogate parent, and besides, she knew Tink could take care of herself,  “Goodness, I’m sorry. Are the boys worse off than you are?” Her gaze continued to be drawn to her sister’s injured arm. Personally, the worst injuries she ever received were some scraped knees as a young child but she rarely got hurt now unless it was a papercut or a hangnail. And she had never seen a real fight before, “Is there not a way for them to just avoid each other until they cool down?”

elsa wasn’t necessarily sure what to make of the study guide one of her engineering professors had given the class. it was by far way more information to review than elsa had been anticipating, and certainly more than she would have preferred being loaded with for one of her more difficult classes. clutching one of her textbooks close to her chest, elsa tried her best to catch up with the blonde walking on ahead. surely tink would share the same opinions as her, and maybe they could even study together. luckily tink stops, clearly hearing the way elsa calls after her, and it gives the brunette a moment to catch up. “hey, did you want to get together to go over the study guide?” as elsa talks she places the momentary confusion that passes over the blonde’s face, and that causes her to pause. the confusion only deepens as she’s told the person in front of her isn’t tink, and it takes a moment before elsa’s borrowed mind catches up with the conversation. “a twin!” elsa smiles, suddenly excited by what the information she’s earning. “i didn’t know tink had a twin. i’m so sorry to bother you.” but all the same, she is happy to meet her. elsa stares down at the blonde’s outstretched hand for a moment, willing her body to take her brain’s command a little quicker even though it doesn’t. shaking her hand, elsa introduces herself too. “hello peri, i’m elsa. it’s nice to meet you.”

peri gave a smile at the sudden exclamation, feeling herself brighten up at this girl’s excitement, “no, you’re totally okay!” she shakes the girl’s--elsa’s--hand, grateful she got something right, “it’s nice to meet you too! i’m sorry i can’t help much with the study guide. i watch tink work sometimes and it absolutely baffles me. it’s all so unbelievably clever!” peri takes her hand back after the shake and sticks it in her pocket, rocking back onto her heels, “i could try to make it out if you want? i’m an early ed major so i don’t really do the engineering stuff.”

Star knew what her ex looked like. She remembered her time with Tink like it was yesterday; Star destroyed things and annoyed Tink, Tink was sort of perfect and had the best snuggles. They were pulled into two different directions in the end, but Star loved hanging out with her still. In fact, she went out of her way to see Tink and how she was doing. And when she thought she saw Tink coming around the corner she almost jumped on her back to scare her, but then she thought it was probably best to not scare Tink since she had a very, very, scary face when she was mad. So she settled for calling her name.

And then she was wrong. It was embarrassing, sure, but Star wasn’t going to let that stop her from talking to Tink’s twin. She honestly didn’t know all that much about Peri, which was probably bad. “Psh. I knew that, Peri, duh. I totally knew that this entire time. I was just making sure that you knew you were Peri.”

“Oh!” Peri gave a small smile, “Yes, I’m Peri. That’s me. And...you’re Star, right?” Her fingers were crossed behind her back, really hoping she got this one right. Gosh, Tink knew so many people! And by extension, she had to know them because they often thought she was Tink when she actually isn’t and then she would have to ask for their names and well...Peri knew she had a friend once who she never learned the name of and still didn’t know. If she had a flaw, she had to say that may be it.

.

There are very few things in life that Gogo has ever shown any sort of visible excitement for, much preferring to keep her emotions under wrap no matter how unnecessary that might be. But ever since being recruited by Tink and Vanellope to work on the flying car she’s shown something that could be compared to enthusiasm, loving the challenge they’ve presented to her. Spending the past day working on new plans to get the car off the ground, and after what she hopes is an epiphany she’s itching to get back into the garage to try it out. About to text the team with the plans, she stops short as she notices Tink across the road.

“Tink!” she calls out to the blonde, jogging across the street to her, shoving her phone inot her back pocket. Launching into her new plans for the car, she stop short when the other girl interrupts her. “Oh shit, sorry,” she quickly apologizes, finally taking the time to get a good look at her. Between the hair length, clothes, and even the way she stands, it’s perfectly clear this is the wrong sister. “I’m working on a project with Tink, but you probably don’t give a fuck about flying cars.”

“It’s okay,” Peri offers a gentle smile, noticing how this girl seems to be looking her up and down. Right, she knew that once you looked hard enough, it was pretty easy to tell the difference between the two of them. Though, it was a bit sad to watch someone’s face light up, thinking you’re one person, and then fall to disappointment once they realize who you actually are. And Peri often wondered if people mistook Tink for her? Honestly...probably not.

“Wait, flying cars?” Peri interrupted her own thoughts, her curiosity getting the best of her, “If you want to talk about them. I’ll listen. I can’t promise I’ll understand, but they sound really cool! Flying cars..do you think you would have to get a flying license as well as a driver’s license to use one?”

Usually, Phoenix would stop smoking around certain people, especially if he could tell they were uncomfortable by the smoke, but truthfully, he hadn’t been himself recently. With his anxiety taking up most of his time lately, his cigarette habit was one of the few things that seemed to calm him. “Yeah, I uh, didn’t know Tink had a twin until now, so…” He replied a little awkwardly, taking a step back to bring the cigarette back to his lips. As he inhaled the smoke, he wondered if Peri knew about him and Tink and what happened at the fall festival, blowing the smoke away from the two of them as Peri asked if he was alright. This was a loaded question for Phoenix, especially after recent events. Was he alright? Sometimes, even he wasn’t sure. “Uh, y-yeah I’m good,” he replied unconvincingly, finally giving up on his cigarette and putting it out on the concrete. “It’s fine, it wasn’t important anyway.” Another unconvincing lie. “I just .. I-I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot going on and … Tink is just better at handling shit than I am, y’know? … H-How does she do it?”

Offering an attempt at a comforting smile, Peri grasped her hands together in front of her, “It’s okay, most people don’t,” which made Peri wonder exactly how many people saw her and thought she was Tink and then talked about her to other people. Was that a thing? Her thoughts were interrupted as she watched Phoenix’s smoke fly past. While it didn’t smell too great, Peri had to admit it was a little pretty looking. And then her thoughts were brought back by an incredibly unconvincing response to her question. No. He wasn’t alright at all. But what could she do about it? 

“Goodness, I’m sorry, Phoenix,” Peri knew she didn’t know too much about this guy, but she could recognize when someone was struggling and ‘a lot going on’ usually translated to something being horribly overwhelming, “Yeah, she’s really brave,” She began habitually tapping her fingertips together, bits of frost forming on them, “I honestly don’t know how she does it either. I wish I could be like that.” She gave a small smile that fell quickly, “But I’m sure what works for her doesn’t work for everyone. I guess...you just have to find your own way.” Right, says the girl who usually tends to isolate before being unable to handle it and unloading her emotions onto any poor soul who will listen. Peri really felt herself being a hypocrite trying to give emotional advice, “I’ll be honest. I haven’t really found my way yet.”

Dash tilted his head to the side as the cup was placed on the table while the liquid was still steaming, his hands going cold the instant he left that delicious heat source. That question may have been a bit invasive, but it’s not as if that same idea hadn’t been in his head before. Being here, even the doubt still lingered even though he tried to ignore it as his fingers intertwined. "Don’t apologize, I’m sure you’re not the only one asking that.” Peri hadn’t even been the first of the day to ask him that. Violet had also been in charge of questioning her brother, and several of his friends had also been curious about it but he had only rolled the eyes saying that nothing could become strange. A smile spread across the man’s face. “Peri, the two of you may be alike physically and that was a shock at first. I mean, it still is.” His eyes did not leave hers. “That’s where any resemblance ends. Because you and Tink are so different in terms of personality … And that doesn’t mean it’s bad!” The last was added hastily, Dash knew what it was like to be compared to siblings and it didn’t always end well, snapping his fingers with an amused expression on his face. “That’s the best, to be unique with each other’s terms.” It was weird that he was so deep and sentimental, but not something to be ashamed of. Giggling, Dash ruffled his hair as he raised his hand for a high five. “You know the best part? The Tink and I thing was a long time ago and now we’re on good terms. Think of it more as some kind of old friend who dated your sister. So, answering your question, it is a bit peculiar but at the same time cool to talk with you. Are we cool now?”

Peri went back to swirling patterns on her mug, small traces of frost beginning to form along her fingertips and cross like little roads across the mug. She felt awful about asking such a personal question. It was too soon for her to even bring something like that up. But Dash was right, her and Tink were fairly different in personality, even if they were physically identical, “I suppose you’re right,” She gave a gentle smile, giving a half hearted high five with a hand that definitely had a cold touch to it, “We’re cool.” Taking a sip of her drink, she sighed, “It is so weird how different we are. I love Tink to bits, but I think it’s so unusual how we can be so different.” A small laugh escaped her, “Though, I suppose opposites attract and that’s a very good thing for us.” Peri looked up at Dash, honestly, she didn’t know too much about who he is. After all, she hadn’t seen any Tink’s Book of Exes with everyone’s information organized like an encyclopedia, “Do you have any siblings?”

So perhaps going after Barrel hadn’t been the smartest idea, but Tink’s too pissed off to care. Hell if she saw the boy right now she’d probably pick another fight with him again, despite the fact that she was currently in the process of cleaning and dressing the shallow wound she’d received from their last altercation hours ago. At a knock on the door she’s ready to yell for whoever it is to go away, not in the mood to deal with any of the lost boys (who she assumes are likely the ones outside) but hearing Peri’s voice call out Tink calms down a bit. 

With one last pat at the bandage on her forearm, she floats over to the door to open it. A bit more of the anger melts away at the sight of her sister holding out a drink for her. “What’s this for?” she asks as she takes the offered beverage and steps aside to let Peri inside. Taking a sip of the drink she hums an appreciation and kicks the door closed behind her.

“Well, I know a lot has been going on lately,” Peri knew from the beginning she didn’t want to pull the ‘Can’t I just be nice to my sister?’ card. It would do absolutely no good to just dodge around the situation as if nothing happened and Peri also knew she would feel awful if she tried to avoid it, “And I wanted to try and help you feel better.” 

Offering a small smile, Peri begins to feel bits of frost forming on her own cup and it isn’t long before her attention is drawn to Tink’s bandage, a frown of concern crossing her face, “Tink, are you okay?” She takes a sip before she sighs with a gentle smile, “I hope you got whoever-it-was good. They should know not to mess with you.”

A cigarette dangling from Phoenix’s lips, he had been distracted momentarily by struggling with his lighter. It was sort of a windy day, but Phoenix couldn’t fight the urge to smoke as he desperately wanted to calm his nerves. His brain had felt like it was so loud that he couldn’t shut it up, so many thoughts he needed to somehow process that all he could do was enjoy the putrid cigarette smoke to make him feel just a little bit in control of his life. After he finally managed to light his cigarette, he’d only taken a few tiny puffs from it before he saw the back of a familiar blonde’s head nearby. Tink had been part of his overthinking, to be honest, and he still didn’t understand how she didn’t let what happened between them bother her too much. He decided to approach her to perhaps ask for advice, walking up to her but not getting too close since he was still smoking. “Hey, Tink… C-Could we talk, maybe?” He asked, watching the blonde turn to face him. The confused expression made himself a bit confused, until she introduced herself as not being Tink. Blinking a few times, he couldn’t believe how similar she looked to Tink, having no idea she had a twin. “Fuck, I-I’m sorry, I had no idea.” Phoenix apologized, using his free hand to shake hers. “I’m uh… I’m Phoenix, a friend of Tink’s.”

Peri attempted to stay away from the smoke, staring at this stranger as she shook his hand. Phoenix...she felt like Tink had told her about someone named Phoenix, “No, it’s okay.” She offered a smile, “We’re practically identical; it’s a bit difficult to tell the difference.” Behind her back she was tapping her free hand’s fingers and thumb together, creating bits of frost with each tap. Something was wrong, she could tell, “Are you alright?” Peri felt frost begin to coat her fingers behind her back. 

Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix...what had Tink said about him? “Would you like me to pass on a message to her for you?” Phoenix...oh! A lightbulb went off in Peri’s head, her eyes widening just slightly. This was the guy Tink hooked up with during the fall festival. But why was he trying to talk to her? Peri thought it was just a temporary thing. No contact afterward. That is how hookups worked, right? Well, Peri knew she had never hooked up with anyone before so she wasn’t too sure, “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay.”

For the ones who dream of stranger worlds...

The plastic to-go cups were starting to warm Peri’s hands a bit too much and it took everything in her not to frost them. The ice would probably cool them down and Peri knew, at least for her, cool hot chocolate wasn’t the best drink in the world. Alternatively, it would melt immediately and then she would have burning, wet hands...definitely a worse situation. 

Peri was humming along to Holst’s First Suite in E-flat as she made her way to the apartment she and Tink shared. After everything that had been happening with the fall festival, she felt Tink might need a little pick-me-up, so she dropped by one of the cafes, picked herself up a peppermint hot chocolate and Tink something Peri assumed she would like. It devastated her to see Tink even a bit off from her usual self and Peri wanted to try any method possible to pick her right back up again.

When she got to the door, Peri stared at it for a moment. Her key was in her pocket and both of her hands were holding drinks that were starting to make her hands feel more hot than warm, “Hey Tink?” Peri lifted a foot to try and knock on the door, kicking it a few times, “Um, my hands are full. Could you help me out?” Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, really hoping that this was a good idea. When the door finally opened, Peri gave a warm smile and held out one of the drinks, “Surprise!”

She was walking by…some place, one earbud in playing Vivaldi and the other out so she could listen to the sounds of the people and environment around her. It was mostly quiet and peaceful and Peri was really enjoying her moment alone until she heard someone come up to her, calling her “Tink”, and begin talking.

Peri hadn’t seen this person before and blinked in confusion. Shouldn’t people know her by now? After all, it’s been a whole year, “Sorry…I-I’m not Tink. She’s my twin sister.” She offered out her hand, people still did that, right? “I’m Peri.”