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rainbowfic2016-08-06 03:10 pm
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2016-08-06 03:10 pm
Aqua #2, Olympic Gold #7, Ruby #3
Name: kay_brooke
Story: Unusual Florida
Colors: Aqua #2 (Undine), Olympic Gold #7 (summer), Ruby #3 (skin white as snow)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Sprinting)
Word Count: 1,121
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Just Hope and Raven hanging out.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
They were on the beach, as far away from the screaming kids as they could get, Raven in her tiny bikini and big floppy hat, Hope in the little girl one piece swimsuit because her mom wouldn’t let her wear anything else, her pale skin slathered in sunscreen. The day was gorgeous, the sky a cloudless blue and humidity that was within the sane range for the first time since Hope had arrived in Florida. The waves were calm, rolling across the surface to lap against the shore. Hope was with Raven, and everything was pretty much perfect.
“What was your favorite movie when you were little?” Raven asked, propping herself up on her elbows to peer at Hope over the top of her sunglasses. The towels they were laying on were also Raven’s--Hope’s mom didn’t want sand in her towels, not even the towels that belonged to the resort. Which Hope thought was pointless, because they were after all staying at a beach, but there had already been too many fights with her mom in the past week and she hadn’t wanted to pick another one.
“I’ll just grab another towel,” Raven had told her after Hope stammered that she had none of her own. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”
But Hope still felt bad. In her household, borrowing anything was a huge deal. The biggest. As in it never happened unless it was a matter of life and death.
Raven was still peering at her, to the point where Hope felt a little self-conscious. Crossing her arms over her chest she said, “Well, I was kind of into Disney. A little bit.” The last potential friend who had asked her a similar question had laughed at her answer. Hope had learned it was better to deflect; that way no one could mock her. No one really wanted to talk to her, either, when she only spoke in vague generalities, but at least that was better than mocking.
“Me, too,” said Raven, looking back out over the gulf. “But my absolute favorite was The Little Mermaid.”
Hope’s heart leaped into her throat. “Really?” she said. “That was mine, too!”
“My dad got me the tape for my ninth birthday,” Raven continued. “I watched it so much that I wore it out. He had to get me a new one for Christmas!”
Hope picked at the edge of her suit. “I never owned it. We rented it once. I asked for it for Christmas but my mom thought it was a stupid movie.”
Raven cocked her head at her. “Are you telling me you’ve only seen The Little Mermaid once?”
Hope shrugged. “Yeah. But I kind of...you know, played it. With some other girls in the neighborhood.” It was silly to claim that was her favorite childhood movie, wasn’t it, when she’d seen it once when she was six and then never again? She didn’t even remember much about the plot of the movie, but she definitely remembered the summer she and a group of neighborhood girls had pretended to be mermaids, inspired entirely by the movie. That had been one of her best summers.
She glanced up at Raven, who had taken her sunglasses off to brush sand off the lenses, fully expecting the other girl to laugh at her. But Raven said, “Yeah, I played it, too.”
Hope grinned at her. “You did?”
“Yeah. That summer we were at…” she squinted as she tried to remember. “Sunview. Apartment building right outside Lexington. Rundown little place, but we were only there for a few months. Anyway, it was a lot of young families and there wasn’t a lot for kids to do but run around the yard. There were these two girls I made friends with. They were about two years younger than me. Huge mermaid fans.” She returned Hope’s grin and slipped her sunglasses back on.
“Did you have, like, a pool or anything?” Hope asked.
“Nah, it wasn’t that upscale a place. How about you?”
“We had a pond in the park across the street,” said Hope. “Ice skating in the winter, swimming in the summer, that kind of thing. But it was pretty murky. Not good for playing mermaid in.” Plus her mom never let her go to the park without a parent, and never let her play in the water no matter what.
“So you just stayed on land and pretended.”
“Pretty much.”
They both started snickering. “Well, no one can say kids aren’t imaginative,” said Raven. “Well, some kids. There was this other girl about my age, lived in the unit next door. She always made fun of me for playing with the ‘babies.’” She made finger quotes. “I mean, they were six and I was eight, I don’t see an issue with that. But I guess that kind of thing is a huge deal when you’re a little kid.”
“Yeah,” said Hope. She had never dared try to make friends with kids younger than her, because it always led to mocking at school.
“Anyway,” said Raven, snorting in amusement again, “I told her to shut up and called her a bitch.” She shook her head.
“When you were eight?”
“Yeah, and her mom complained to my mom and everything.”
“Did you get in trouble?” That kind of language would have gotten Hope grounded for at least a week, and probably longer.
“I got a lecture about not using gendered slurs,” said Raven. “But my mom agreed the girl was a little snob.” She shrugged. “Like I said, we weren’t there long. We were never anywhere for very long, so Mom never cared what the neighbors thought of us.”
“That’s completely the opposite from my mom,” said Hope. “She cares more what the neighbors think than she does about us.”
Raven regarded her for a moment. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
Hope ducked her head, feeling chastened. “Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But if I had ever done something to make a neighborhood mom complain, I would have had to listen to my mom proclaim how horribly I had humiliated her for months.”
“Who cares that much what the neighbors think?” Raven asked.
“Maybe it’s different when you have to live in the same place for years.”
“Maybe.” Raven looked out at the water. “Want to go swimming?” She smiled sideways at Hope. “We could play mermaid.”
“We’re a little old for that,” said Hope, though there was nothing she wanted more.
“Who’s going to know?” said Raven, standing up. “Come on, race you to the water!”
Laughing, Hope stumbled to her feet and ran to catch up.
kay_brookeStory: Unusual Florida
Colors: Aqua #2 (Undine), Olympic Gold #7 (summer), Ruby #3 (skin white as snow)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Sprinting)
Word Count: 1,121
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Just Hope and Raven hanging out.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
They were on the beach, as far away from the screaming kids as they could get, Raven in her tiny bikini and big floppy hat, Hope in the little girl one piece swimsuit because her mom wouldn’t let her wear anything else, her pale skin slathered in sunscreen. The day was gorgeous, the sky a cloudless blue and humidity that was within the sane range for the first time since Hope had arrived in Florida. The waves were calm, rolling across the surface to lap against the shore. Hope was with Raven, and everything was pretty much perfect.
“What was your favorite movie when you were little?” Raven asked, propping herself up on her elbows to peer at Hope over the top of her sunglasses. The towels they were laying on were also Raven’s--Hope’s mom didn’t want sand in her towels, not even the towels that belonged to the resort. Which Hope thought was pointless, because they were after all staying at a beach, but there had already been too many fights with her mom in the past week and she hadn’t wanted to pick another one.
“I’ll just grab another towel,” Raven had told her after Hope stammered that she had none of her own. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”
But Hope still felt bad. In her household, borrowing anything was a huge deal. The biggest. As in it never happened unless it was a matter of life and death.
Raven was still peering at her, to the point where Hope felt a little self-conscious. Crossing her arms over her chest she said, “Well, I was kind of into Disney. A little bit.” The last potential friend who had asked her a similar question had laughed at her answer. Hope had learned it was better to deflect; that way no one could mock her. No one really wanted to talk to her, either, when she only spoke in vague generalities, but at least that was better than mocking.
“Me, too,” said Raven, looking back out over the gulf. “But my absolute favorite was The Little Mermaid.”
Hope’s heart leaped into her throat. “Really?” she said. “That was mine, too!”
“My dad got me the tape for my ninth birthday,” Raven continued. “I watched it so much that I wore it out. He had to get me a new one for Christmas!”
Hope picked at the edge of her suit. “I never owned it. We rented it once. I asked for it for Christmas but my mom thought it was a stupid movie.”
Raven cocked her head at her. “Are you telling me you’ve only seen The Little Mermaid once?”
Hope shrugged. “Yeah. But I kind of...you know, played it. With some other girls in the neighborhood.” It was silly to claim that was her favorite childhood movie, wasn’t it, when she’d seen it once when she was six and then never again? She didn’t even remember much about the plot of the movie, but she definitely remembered the summer she and a group of neighborhood girls had pretended to be mermaids, inspired entirely by the movie. That had been one of her best summers.
She glanced up at Raven, who had taken her sunglasses off to brush sand off the lenses, fully expecting the other girl to laugh at her. But Raven said, “Yeah, I played it, too.”
Hope grinned at her. “You did?”
“Yeah. That summer we were at…” she squinted as she tried to remember. “Sunview. Apartment building right outside Lexington. Rundown little place, but we were only there for a few months. Anyway, it was a lot of young families and there wasn’t a lot for kids to do but run around the yard. There were these two girls I made friends with. They were about two years younger than me. Huge mermaid fans.” She returned Hope’s grin and slipped her sunglasses back on.
“Did you have, like, a pool or anything?” Hope asked.
“Nah, it wasn’t that upscale a place. How about you?”
“We had a pond in the park across the street,” said Hope. “Ice skating in the winter, swimming in the summer, that kind of thing. But it was pretty murky. Not good for playing mermaid in.” Plus her mom never let her go to the park without a parent, and never let her play in the water no matter what.
“So you just stayed on land and pretended.”
“Pretty much.”
They both started snickering. “Well, no one can say kids aren’t imaginative,” said Raven. “Well, some kids. There was this other girl about my age, lived in the unit next door. She always made fun of me for playing with the ‘babies.’” She made finger quotes. “I mean, they were six and I was eight, I don’t see an issue with that. But I guess that kind of thing is a huge deal when you’re a little kid.”
“Yeah,” said Hope. She had never dared try to make friends with kids younger than her, because it always led to mocking at school.
“Anyway,” said Raven, snorting in amusement again, “I told her to shut up and called her a bitch.” She shook her head.
“When you were eight?”
“Yeah, and her mom complained to my mom and everything.”
“Did you get in trouble?” That kind of language would have gotten Hope grounded for at least a week, and probably longer.
“I got a lecture about not using gendered slurs,” said Raven. “But my mom agreed the girl was a little snob.” She shrugged. “Like I said, we weren’t there long. We were never anywhere for very long, so Mom never cared what the neighbors thought of us.”
“That’s completely the opposite from my mom,” said Hope. “She cares more what the neighbors think than she does about us.”
Raven regarded her for a moment. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
Hope ducked her head, feeling chastened. “Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But if I had ever done something to make a neighborhood mom complain, I would have had to listen to my mom proclaim how horribly I had humiliated her for months.”
“Who cares that much what the neighbors think?” Raven asked.
“Maybe it’s different when you have to live in the same place for years.”
“Maybe.” Raven looked out at the water. “Want to go swimming?” She smiled sideways at Hope. “We could play mermaid.”
“We’re a little old for that,” said Hope, though there was nothing she wanted more.
“Who’s going to know?” said Raven, standing up. “Come on, race you to the water!”
Laughing, Hope stumbled to her feet and ran to catch up.
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