"I'm so torn between buying a brand new dress, or thrifting something, you know?" Elena pushed open the door to Treasure Chest, holding it open for Jaz as they stepped inside together, "but there's something about the gala theme being prom that tells me I should maybe at least do some browsing for second hand, maybe find something that looks like a dress I would have worn to prom way back when. What about you, do you have ideas yet?"
"'Way back when' is making us sound 90, unless you're suggesting you're just now getting into your Bridgerton era now," Jasmine teased. She thought a moment. "Honestly? Probably going to wear some kind of suit, but I think I'm gonna leave the coordination with that up to Aisha. Might still take a look though" She still needed to get through her promposal to even start thinking about it. "But forreal, what kind of vibe are you going for?"
Letting out a loud laugh, Stelly held up both of their hands, "it's gonna be unicorns." After all, there were plenty of other stuffed animals around, but it was that exact stuffed animal that was going to make their life feel a little more complete, regardless. "You at least going to cheer me on, yell 'yay' and 'go Stelly?'" they asked, still holding back a laugh as they reached for the next ball, "'cuz I'm doing this."
"Yay, go Stelly," Jaz said with a half-hearted 'woo' motion with her hands, leaning into the bit of being a pain as she watched them grab the next ball. She observed their stance. "No but like, move to your left like two inches," Jaz instructed from behind.
Joella just gave her an amused expression. "Hey, you are doing great, girl. Although P!nk would probably pull off a fabulous Elphaba riff, not gonna lie," she said. If there was one thing everyone knew about Jo, it was that she was very much into her musicals and shows and anything theatre-related. She loved music and dramatics. "Well, you two are very sweet together. That makes it all the more fun, though, right? Being friends beforehand and letting that kind of build up." She laughed and lifted her drink in toast again. "I'll take it. You're an honorary theatre kid. How's the store?"
"Ugh," Jaz scrunched up her nose, "don't ever call me that again," as if the dramatics would help her 'non-theatre-kid' point, clinking her glass a little more forcefully. "The other one," she started, referencing her younger coworker, is convinced she's going to get me to do some TTRPG by the end of the summer, which I'm Dread-ing." She let it hang a moment, "see that's supposed to be funny because Dread is a game," Jaz said flatly. Then she waved it off, "no, we're not gonna do all this small chat about work stuff," before sliding off her chair. She held out her hand to Joella. "C'mon."
Who: Jasmine and @aishathevar
[Feat. Cosmic Riot - @taetaesuh @panwanarats @aneesapillai ]
When: Sometime the weekend of 7/25/26
"You ever sit in on on Cosmic Riot's practices? We should," Jasmine suggests to her partner. She's showing she's supportive of Aisha's housemates with absolutely no ulterior motives.
~*~
If she's nervous, Jaz does her best not to show it. The bouncing of her leg is to the beat and not a way to try and shake the nerves out. Aisha would buy that, right?.
Someone says they're wrapping up, but no one is really making an effort to pack up.
"Wait, you're not doing that other one?" Jaz clears her throat, overthinking for the moment if that sounded casual enough.
There's a chorus of not knowing what Jaz is talking about and a small back and forth between her and the band that she hopes doesn't sound obviously rehearsed. But by the time Jaz is at the mic with a guitar in hand, the ruse becomes a whole lot clearer.
Watcha doin' August 8th, baby?
How 'bout a dance or two?
I gotta say since our first date, baby,
I've had my mind on you.
Cause you laugh at my corny jokes
When you speak all your words they soak
Into my brain, into my soul, and parts of my body starts singin'.
Kiss me all up on my lips
Show me where my hip dips
As we sway from side to side
We can get it down on Prom Night
When the lights are this down low
No one can see where we'll go
Disappear into the crowd
Where our love can live out loud.
She half turns to the band, "you know, that one?," before turning back to shyly face Aisha and launching into the next verse with the band backing her up. Maybe her voice cracks a bit, maybe she mumbles some of the words, and maybe she blacks out a little because what in the afterschool special is she actually doing, but she still gets through it.
Once the song is done, Jaz returns the guitar and steps up to the mic again. "Sorry I don't have a sign or anything."
"And because I'm tooth-rottingly sweet at all times?" Aisha joked in return, stepping out of line with her purchase of watermelon cotton candy, a small piece she slipped between her lips before continuing. "But babe, even if you don't do pet names, I'm fine with it, since you can still call me yours."
"Hmm yeah, something like that." There were definitely some not family-friendly things in response to that, but she kept it light. Jaz scrunched up her nose - opting to show the distaste for Aisha being the corny one. She grabbed Aisha's hand and swung it between them as they walked. "So. Which game should I pretend to be bad at so you win me a prize?"
"Are you my mom?" they asked, unable to hold back a laugh, because it was kind of funny to be tone checked by Jaz, of all people. "I know, I know, but Mandy's off having fun with her friends, and rightfully so! This is just... my personal project." A kind of dangerous project, but a project none the less. They turned puppy eyes over to their friend, then, "how about five more dollars worth, and then I call it a night? Maybe you can be my lucky charm?"
Jasmine gave Stelly The Look at the mom comment, which they could interpret however they pleased. "I truly do not know how to go off the mom thing without having whatever I say next sound somewhat suggestive," she pulled a face, "so all I say is I can't decide what you spend your money on for you. So if that's got unicorns..."
Erin glanced at her reflection in the small hand mirror once the face-painting artist finished up, admiring the red, white and blue stars that had been painted on her cheek. "What do you think?" She asked as she turned over to the person next to her, grinning widely when she realized who it was. "It fits the theme, doesn't it?" She laughed softly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you know what you're getting?"
"Cute," Jaz nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, I wasn't planning on getting anything. Mostly reserve that for special occasions." She realized how that sounded, with this being a holiday and all. "You know what, maybe I will. Nothing too... flashy though."
"Me," they scoffed, looking form Jaz to the unicorn again, "she's not nearly pink and pearlescent enough for Mandy, you know that." Whereas Mandy was light and glittery and pretty, Stelly's aesthetic definitely leaned darker, a little more gritty. The moon to her sun. And besides, they always had to have their eyes set on some sort of prize, it gave them something to work towards at each carnival. "I just feel like embracing my whimsy. And what says whimsy more than a gothic princess unicorn?"
"Okay, Tone," Jasmine warned. "Maybe you were getting it to remind her of you or something. I could've suggested you have a cute little moment winning it together." Jaz had experience. "But if you're not gonna do all that, maybe there's a different different game with that a prize too?"
"Okay, you know I'm kinda selective with my pet names, but I think I might have to start calling you 'Sugar' soon cause pretty soon that's all you're gonna be made out of," Jaz teased, nodding at the latest treat Aisha had gotten @aishathevar
"I'm going to go broke, but I'm going to win that unicorn," they pointed to the dark purple stuffed animal with a silver and blue mane and tail hanging out above the skee-ball slides, eyes narrowed in concentration, "in fact, if you help me out in my quest, I'll do whatever you want next, on my dime. Rides, more games, food... ice cream?" The last bit was supplied a bit sing-songed as they shot up both brows, trying to sound as appealing as possible.
"Stell, I'm saying this with love: you sound like you have a problem." More often than not, the nature of carnival games was just gambling wrapped in a cotton candy bow. Even if the odds weren't as extremely skewed at this carnival as ones in general, Jaz stood by what she said. "But... if I am going to help I need to know if this is for you or for your partner, cause my answer is different depending."
"I did not see what you picked up, truthfully." Xander really hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to what she'd been doing with the die, not really. Plus, in that moment, when his attention was mostly on anyone who came near the table and wanted to play, he supposed he didn't care. It made a difference really, to actual campaigns, when he became slightly anal about the whole thing. But anyway, moving on, he frowned as Jaz explained her reasoning. "I can understand people wanting to try, though," he said simply.
"I'm not denying that," she replied, tone borderline defensive. Jasmine knew she needed to check it. She took a moment to center her breathing, something she was still working on. "I'm chill. It's chill." Jaz reiterated.
"Awww," he pressed his hands to his chest and grinned, "you do care." He was purely teasing, affection never being either of their things but he did appreciate his sister and couldn't ever out into words how much. Looking at the chair and then around, he shrugged before sitting down and extending his legs. "I can do that, keep you company and all," he smiled softly at her, "how are things going? Here and in general."
Jasmine plopped down on the other folding chair. "Here? It's goin. People might not get the idea of a lucky scoop but we're still getting a lot of people donating so," she shrugged. "And otherwise... things are chill. Work's fine, my relationship's great," she listed casually, though unable to hid how she lit up talking about Aisha. "So anyway how about that house you were buying?"
"Always the other one," was Xander's response, his mouth pulling down into a frown, glancing over at their co-worker a moment. He let a breath go slowly, watching then as Jaz dipped under the table to do... well, God only knew why. When she didn't get the response she wanted from the dice, he sat back slightly, his brows pulling together for a moment. "You know you don't have to actually be here if you don't want to be. It wasn't actually mandatory." He laughed very lightly at that.
"Not even gonna call me out for using the wrong die?" She at least knew that, and maybe a little more than nothing just from being in the shop. "No it's chill I'm just being..." she gestured vaguely. She was quiet for a moment before she said, "Like I'm not trying to say all of this fundraising is pointless, but at the end of the day the people in power are still gonna do whatever they want anyway. People outside of us are going to need to care about ish too."
Joella smirked at her. "I love that for you," she chuckled. "I mean, that really is cool, though," she said, taking another sip of her drink. She loved seeing her friends happy and living their best lives. She dipped her head to the side, and hummed softly. "No, not quite yet. Just enjoying the chaos and everything that comes with it. Although, that would be a really sexy crossover. Don’t give me any ideas.”
"Like how P!nk with the exclamation point goes with green? Or how that Aaron guy is the in between of both?" Jasmine wasn't into musicals the same as Joella was, and said as such. "What? Just because they aren't my thing doesn't mean I won't spend like, five minutes looking at things my friends into," she explained. "Anyway, it did take me a year to ask the person I was into out but if you needed a wingman... and no that's not a theatre pun."
"I got us a couple of drinks," Joella said, returning to the spot at the table she and Jaz had found amongst the crowd. Vibrations always had a fun vibe no matter if there was a special occasion or if it was just a regular night. "Cheers!" she gushed, sliding over her friend's drink. “Got up to any shenanigans at the park today?” She asked, wiggling her brows.
Jasmine clinked her glass with Joella's. "Who, me?" she asked innocently, "never," she finished before taking a sip of her drink. "No but uh, it's nice having someone to share these kinds of things with, you know?" she answered genuinely as her gaze settled on her partner currently doing her spin in the booth. Focusing her attention back to Joella she asked, "how bout you? Meet your Christian or Elphaba or whatever character from a musical you think I should know about yet?"
"Is it just me or something feels different?" Sam said as he looked around, a coffee in hand and being outside just to enjoy the sun. "I mean, the weather is different. And some of the arts that were made for Spring Fling are still up. But, I don't know, the atmosphere feels a little bit more optimistic since the Benefactor's thing came to light. No? Just me?"
"If you want to say that, sure." Jasmine had her own thoughts that she preferred to keep to herself, though she knew she probably shouldn't keep being so outwardly cynical. "I mean, it's not just a you thing; people came together and continue to for a cause and we need more of that."
