wildviolcts:
she’d never been particularly good at reading facial expressions - not because she lacked the skills to do so, but rather because she typically couldn’t care less. of course, there were always the exceptions to the rules, and she had come to be able to read aaliyah like a book; she could tell what emotion they were feeling without more than a glance in their direction. the issue was rather why they were feeling the way they were. violet was a lot of things, but never a mind-reader.
“that’s okay,” she told them, feeling her heart sink a little as it wasn’t quite the answer she’d been hoping she would hear – especially when aaliyah pulled back suddenly, like they’d been struck. still, the fact that they were there, standing in front of her with a peace offering, was enough to nearly wipe the disappointment clean, leaving violet feeling almost buoyant with a certain feeling of hope. almost.
“absolutely.” she stepped aside, holding the door open further. “come in. make yourself at home. you can put your shoes here and your jacket here and we can,” she took a breath, allowing herself a moment before starting again, “we can watch whatever you like. any suggestions?” perhaps it was clear through the way she rambled on like a complete dunce that she was trying to work through feelings of her own, and perhaps aaliyah was always the first to see right through her crap, but she’d rather try to push past the discomfort than have to stand awkwardly in front of her beautiful friend, eyes burning with hurt and doubt.
aaliyah's lips curled into the most minute of grins. they prayed that it truly was okay, but hardly was that ever true. for a word that was used to placate people-- to show a sense of what was 'alright', it rarely ever had that real power. on the contrary, it usually meant something completely opposite. though, it also meant that violet wanted it to be okay. that was enough to get them to walk through the door. with the weather being somewhat ugly-- they were in a thin rain jacket. it was just enough to protect their air really. and naturally, it was the first thing that came off. their shoes were a close second. standing there in front of her, however, they felt a sudden jar of nerves running through them. it was odd? usually, things sailed so smoothly that aaliyah was capable of forgetting they were on the show. that someone was just waiting for some shoe to drop-- or any other article of clothing. that's what the show was genuinely created for, right? friendships rarely brought in money. “dirty dancing is on netflix right now... or uh... there are some other old romcoms? or... star wars. we could always watch star wars,” they murmured, suddenly losing their footing. it only worsened when they looked back to see her face. that wasn't the smile they'd anticipated. it certainly wasn't any sort excitement they’d wanted either. instead, it strung a sigh from them as they took a deep but steady breath. “violet...” they daringly stepped forward. though, they left adequate distance between the two of them. they were careful too not invade her space too much, which seemed a little ironic after they'd just been hugging. they’d been right initially. “it's not okay, is it?” the question came out softer than they'd intended.
