queen

“También. It’s always a shame when you have to tease them out of people.” Shannon would never be a worry on that front. She was very open.

A tiny part of her was so relieved that this had been a cake walk. She really thought that Tali might have made things impossible. Then again, Tali wouldn’t have suggested Lucy take on such a big project if she wasn’t more than capable of smoothing things over. “Your safety matters to me. I mean that.” She did.

“I’m so glad. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” She leaned forwards and kissed the air near Shannon’s cheeks. “Besos. I’ll see you tomorrow.” What couldn’t she do?

#with: shannon #p: talking party #tl: day twelve

“Don’t I know it,” she agreed. She was reminded of her recent tea finding quest with, well, Tee. The one she’d left discovering approximately nothing because they’d held their secrets so close. Now they were with Leo publicly which was a great shame, she’d wanted to drop that news herself very badly.

Shannon managed to stop herself from pulling away from Lucy’s air kiss, making a delayed “mwah” herself. There was only one person she wanted that close to her face and it wasn’t Lucy.

“Byeeee,” she waggled her fingers as she walked away. “Drive safe!”

(fin.)

“Of course, I love opinions.” That one was testing her acting skills but she was lucky it was only Lucy as her audience. She loved the drama clashing opinions brought out though, that much was genuine. “I’m very glad to hear that.”

Shannon blinked, momentarily stunned again at the care Lucy was showing. It was bizarre but she was grateful. “It does, thank you. I’ll be there.”

Shannon reached for the edge of her door, ready for this to be over so she could move onto more pressing issues. “I have to admit Lucy, this talk has been pleasantly surprising and I am looking forward to seeing where this all goes very much.”

#tl: day twelve #p: talking party #with: shannon #feel free to add shannon's feels to close it out or I can just write end whatevs

"También. It's always a shame when you have to tease them out of people." Shannon would never be a worry on that front. She was very open.

A tiny part of her was so relieved that this had been a cake walk. She really thought that Tali might have made things impossible. Then again, Tali wouldn't have suggested Lucy take on such a big project if she wasn't more than capable of smoothing things over. "Your safety matters to me. I mean that." She did.

"I'm so glad. I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She leaned forwards and kissed the air near Shannon's cheeks. "Besos. I'll see you tomorrow." What couldn't she do?

That was an interesting thing to say. So she did think Tali was capable of murdering her? Cool! A ringing endorsement if she’d ever heard one. “I appreciate it.” She wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe, why are you friends with violent people? Or, should we be putting her through a metal detector before she enters the room with me perhaps? “You being willing to hear my concerns gives me confidence that you’re the right person to lead this charge.” Was she sucking up? Yes. Was it so she could manipulate this situation for her own gain? Also yes.

“Right,” Shannon nodded. “We want it to be a night to lift everyone’s spirits while acknowledging out current reality.” She was speaking pure bullshit but she knew Lucy wouldn’t bat an eye. “A delicate balance. We can’t be insensitive.”

“Okay. That meeting is for the whole committee?” She asked. Shannon was juggling a lot right now but she’d move things around for this.

#p: talking party #tl: day twelve #with: shannon

"Thank you," Lucy flipped her hair over her shoulder. "With the rest of our leaders occupied with matters of state, entertainment is in my very capable hands."

She was proud of herself for finding a place for her skills to shine. She didn't need a seat at the table, she was crafting her own. And it was more rare than any of the other ones.

Lucy put her hands over her heart. Shannon did have her attributes. She was so savy, cutting right through to the heart of a situation. "And the more people we have advising, the less insensitive it can be. We must have a variety of opinions to make sure we're hearing every possible concern. I know I can count on you to speak your mind and I welcome it."

One of the reasons she was excited to have Shannon on the team is that she did ask questions. Tali and Lucy were very used to giving orders, but they just didn't have many people willing to question them. And she didn't want to be questioned often, but some things should be hammered out. She pulled her phone out to check her own itinerary. "Yes, I do have the seating chart ready so you and Tali won't be close to each other. I figured that would make you feel safer."

“Well, thank you for taking my wellbeing seriously.” It felt strange to be thanking anybody Tali-adjacent, especially for something like this. But it did calm her to know that there were safeguards in place, between that and Christian’s plan. Aside from bringing someone muscular and intimidating along to be her personal security she wasn’t sure what else she could do. But doing that would make it very clear that she was scared and she was not about to let them win in any way.

“Of course. I’m happy to lend my skills and services to those in need.” Shannon wished someone was filming this, she’d love to watch it back later. And have proof of Lucy’s offer of protection.

“Ohhh, that’s nice.” Basic, it was basic. But Shannon truly didn’t give a fuck about the theme, and she couldn’t expect too much from the brains here. “Keeping it simple is a smart move. Too many that have come before us have overcomplicated things to the detriment of the event.”

Shannon nodded seriously. It was more that not everyone had the privilege of being Ingrid Rojas’ best friend. Though she couldn’t rely on her for this, not when she’d have her own dress to make. Shannon would figure it out. “So, are we working with a particular timeline or is it just whenever it comes together?”

#p: talking party #with: shannon #tl: day twelve

"It is of the upmost importance to me." She nodded her head very seriously. "We are not going to lose anyone else." Britt's loss had been devastating and she would not let another occur. Friend or not, they were all they had now.

It was such a relief that Shannon had been so easy to work with. There was no need for Lucy to worry about the Birkin bag's fate. Shannon took this just as seriously as she did.

"Exactamente. The temptation to go as large as possible is always there, obvio, but we do need to keep the town's....unfortunate circumstances in mind. No one should feel unwelcome." There was a part of her that wanted something more like the Titanic staircase and ballroom, the ultimate symbol of opulence, but they couldn't hire designers or planners. They had to rely on themselves. It was so much work.

Lucy looked down at her phone's calendar. They hadn't picked an exact time and it was a good question. But she couldn't look like she didn't know these things. "We needed to take stock of how many people are willing to offer their time before we could finalize plans, but it will be taken care of at the first meeting. We'll do that tomorrow afternoon." They hadn't planned that in advance, but she was sure that Tali would agree. It was vital.

Well. Okay. Shannon could kind of give her that. But prom clearly meant a lot more to Lucy than literally anyone else. Even Tali, she would wager. It was ridiculous but she did reside in her own little world.

Shannon shrugged, feigning indifference. She definitely could see the potential in being involved in this little group. Shannon would have to be careful to watch her own back of course, but being invited to spend time in the same place as Tali was too good for her to possibly say no to.

Her eyes widened in surprise at Lucy’s offer. “Oh my god. You did not come to play, did you Lucy?” That was a true sign of how seriously she was taking this. Rich girls didn’t mess around when it came to expensive bags.

“Fine. You’ve convinced me. I will join the charge to help you change the town through prom.” Shannon resisted the urge to sneer and made herself smile. This was practice for whenever she found herself in the room with them. She wondered if there was a way to provoke Tali into attacking her without risking her own life so Lucy would have to give her the bag. Shannon would think on that some more, maybe even see if Nell or Christian had any ideas. “Do we have a theme?”

#with: shannon #p: talking party #tl: day twelve

"Of course I didn't." Lucy couldn't be more serious about this. There was so much riding on people having a good time. They needed to remember that they had all been, at the very least non-violent with each other. But with Fern and Gabe goading Tony into violence, the world had changed. She needed to set it to rights. (If some of this was about Gabe not being the man she thought he was, well, that wasn't her business anymore.)

She jumped slightly, but only slightly she wasn't going to break a heel for this, but she couldn't help being a little excited that Shannon was willing to help. Prom was already bringing people together. "I will add you to the group chat. Thank you so much for accepting, we really couldn't do this without you."

They had picked a theme but they hadn't worked out the marketing of it. And marketing was everything. Ideas lived and died by it, the same as personal influence. "It's like...." she waved her hand in the air, "celestial. A night under the stars type of thing, very chic."

She wished she was on a name basis with some of the losers because if she could get really dangling star lights that would be exceptional, but then she'd have to take to them. No, thank you. "Lots of sparkle and mystery, and gives some room for attire since not everyone is as privileged with their wardrobes as you and I."

Shannon almost groaned at Lucy’s horrific optimism. Of course she’d think the thing wrong with everything right now was lack of prom. Shannon was truly stuck here with people who thought like this. “It’s that simple,” she said, eyeing her warily. “Prom will solve it all.” She wished she saw things the way Lucy did, she’d probably feel more at peace. Much less bothering her.

Diplomacy? Tali? The girl who caught her in her vicinity recently and got her boy toy to threaten her in response? Unlikely.

The thing was that despite how logical Shannon could be about this, she knew that when it came down to it this was not something she could say no to. Not when she was literally being invited to be near Tali. How often was she presented with something like that? It wasn’t an opportunity she could waste.

“What do I get out of it if I agree to help?” she asked her. Lucy had Shannon’s yes but she wanted her to feel like she worked for it. It’s not like she ever worked for anything else. “And if I agree, what guarantee do I have that Tali won’t try to rip my head off the moment she has a mood swing? Pinky promises don’t count.”

#p: talking party #with: shannon #tl: day twelve

"Exactamente." She detected a slight hint of derision but motored past it. If she wanted things to work out, she had to believe it was possible. And it was. "Prom is one of those things that everyone looks forward to and gives us all a bit of comfort in these unexpected times."

Lucy had thought that she was offering enough of a service. It was rare for people to get the kind of access to popular people that she was providing. Why did people keep questioning this? "I'm sure you can understand the potential to be let in on some of the juciest happenings in town." There was no one more interesting than her friends. "And you'll get some control over how things look. Your fashion taste is much appreciated."

She was tired. Really she didn't think that anyone should need this much convincing. It was an exclusive entry into an invite only club. But she was prepared to have someone in her family sacrifice to make this work. "If Tali even thinks about attacking you, I will give you my mother's Birkin 25. The one that's still in the linen satchel they all come in." It was a gift from a colleague in alligator skin and her mother hated it (she felt crocodile skin was more luxe) but wouldn't let it go either. Even Shannon had to know the value of a twenty-two thousand dollar bag with a years long wait list. It was the ultimate status symbol.

Tali would respect what was on the line. She'd be seething if Shannon had one and was carrying it around town. Fashion was life or death. It said everything about you. It was enough of a threat to keep her other impulses in check. She was sure of it.

Between her fight with her brother, being interrogated for mass gun theft, and finally admitting things were bad enough to need Christian’s help: Shannon was exhausted.

But apparently the day was not done with her yet. She’d been hoping to go to her girlfriend next and begin explanations there, but she would not be so lucky.

Lucy Crowne on her doorstep however was a very unexpected development. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to hold in a laugh for something that was clearly deadly serious to Lucy. Normally she’d be able to just… roll with things like this from the go. But today it would take a little more effort.

“Let me make sure I’m understanding correctly,” Shannon said. “You are throwing prom… still. And you want me to help. With Tali.” The idea of Tali agreeing to “put the past aside for the sake of prom” was deeply concerning and suspicious. Did she forget she’d literally broken into her house last night? But… it was also intriguing enough for her to not immediately say no.

“That all sounds very… lovely. I’m just. Forgive me for being a little skeptical. She told you she would put things aside for this? She said that.”

#p: talking party #with: shannon #tl: day twelve

"Of course we're throwing a prom," she said gently, "It's the kind of event that this town needs. For the past few weeks we've been missing something and prom is the answer to all of it." Lucy knew that when people showed up, they'd understand. This was about so much more than a dress and a dance, it was about community and the bonds of friendship, and the power of punch and a good playlist.

The Tali hiccup, however, was a bit of a problem. "You wouldn't be working directly with Tali, obvio, just in the same vicinity." There would be no accidental violence at this event. She would have Gusto make sure of it.

She had expected some hesitation but she hoped she'd at least be invited inside first. "Not in those words, but she does believe in diplomacy. Despite the issues the two of you have, everything can be put on hold for the sake of prom. It's too big for a few girls to manage. It needs to be a group effort. Tali understands that."

wewerechildrenwerenotnow

Phase: Day Twelve

So press play, and go.

#phase: day twelve #with: shannon #p: talking party

Lucy was riding high on her success with Luna. She had been worried that with her darker aesthetic, she might not be interested. Now that she'd managed to do that, she felt she could do the hardest one. Shannon.

Personally, she adored Shannon's penchant for gossip and fashion sense. She pulled up to the residence and checked her appearance in the mirror. Thankfully, the stress wasn't showing through her makeup. That was a relief, she couldn't possibly going around asking people for help when she looked like a mess. She sprayed a small spritz of perfume on herself and took a deep breath. That was better.

She made her way to the front door and was relieved when Shannon was the one to open the door. She wasn't ready to talk to Dylan yet, she hadn't prepared her questions yet.

“Hello valued member of the community,” she pointed gently to Shannon, “That’s you. I am prepared to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about how West Ham’s elite works. We are planning a prom to lift the spirits of the community and unify us. You’re being asked to assist in the planning because you have very distinctive style and seem like a solid worker.” And here was the improvisation she had to think up on the drive over. "For full transparency, Tali will be a part of the committee but she's already agreed to put the past aside for the sake of prom. It's the world's most sacred event and inspires unity in people. We hope that you would be open to creating unity with us."

@shannonquilter

“It would have been nice and, I mean, there are so many people in this town that could be shopping here but go to New York because they have the better stores.” It wasn’t fair. She shouldn’t have to hop on a train to get the best options. The income bracket in town was clearly high enough to put them in the luxury category.

Lucy nodded her head, taking a mental note. She would leave very detailed instructions for her siblings. She might also need to stop by the stationary store and see if they had any pink envelopes. Much like the old starlets, she was fond of spritzing a little perfume on her envelopes to aid in the sensory experience, but she was running out of them. “I’ll let them know.”

She had thought it once already but Luna’s smile really did transform her whole face. It was magical. She felt like this would be an excellent mentee to take on. So willing to learn and with distinctive taste. “Thank you so much. I have so many more stops to go today, popularity never stops.” She shook her head ruefully. “I won’t keep you any longer, but I’m so happy to have you on my team. Our team. Besos.”

#tl: day twelve #with: luna #p: let's be friends

Luna hadn’t had that experience. Her uncle and aunt didn’t have time for stuff like that and with her not doing great at school she didn’t really get those kinds of “privileges”. Maybe she and Sprout would have done it together over summer. Luna hoped they’d get home soon so they could. “Yeah. We’re really missing out here.” A girls day trip on the train to New York sounded like a dream.

Luna believed it. A girl as well loved as Lucy probably had people blowing up her phone all the time. Luna didn’t even have Sprout to do that anymore, but she was fixing that.

“Thank you. I won’t let you down. I promise.” She didn’t know why she was acting like this. Something about Lucy made her want to impress her. She ignored the nagging thought that she was stupid for feeling that way. If Sprout wanted to impress Poppy so badly why couldn’t Luna want to impress Lucy?

“See you later,” she said, waving her off. Luna watched Lucy leave. She needed to get back to Sprout’s house as quick as possible. She was going to freak.

(fin.)

“That’s fucked up,” Luna replied, managing to make her face look appalled. She really couldn’t care less about Tiffany’s but it felt like the right thing to say for Lucy’s approval of her. “They could have at least tried.”

“Thanks,” she said. “If I’m not here they can just leave it in the mailbox.” Every moment she had that she wasn’t working on prom stuff she’d be with Sprout. She needed her right now.

Luna couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. She knew she shouldn’t care what anyone else thought of her, but this was Lucy. It meant something. She’d gone from failing her classes and disappointing her family to having a strong future in the space of ten minutes. “I’ll make sure I have it ready next time I see you.”

#tl: day twelve #p: let's be friends #with: luna #besos = kisses

"It would have been nice and, I mean, there are so many people in this town that could be shopping here but go to New York because they have the better stores." It wasn't fair. She shouldn't have to hop on a train to get the best options. The income bracket in town was clearly high enough to put them in the luxury category.

She had thought it once already but Luna's smile really did transform her whole face. It was magical. She felt like this would be an excellent mentee to take on. So willing to learn and with distinctive taste. "Thank you so much. I have so many more stops to go today, popularity never stops." She shook her head ruefully. "I won't keep you any longer, but I'm so happy to have you on my team. Our team. Besos."

Luna resisted the urge to ask if they could do medals at Tiffany’s. She was 99% certain the answer was no, and she didn’t want Lucy to think she was uncool for needing to ask. “There’s no Tiffany’s here though, is there?”

Luna did not want to be truly organised. Her whole thing kind of relied on the opposite. Sprout might like that though, so she tucked the information away for later. Maybe she’d return to her house with a gift basket of stuff she’d collected for her around town. New phone, stolen medal, cute stationery. Maybe like some flowers or some shit too.

“I will be needing it,” she said. Luna didn’t know what for exactly, but having the most popular girl in town’s endorsement would probably be a good thing to have on hand. Just whip it out when the situation called for it. “I think that’s all I need for now.” Luna managed to hold in her smile. “How about you? I could write you a letter to recommend you as a prom planner if you want.”

#tl: day twelve #p: let's be friends #with: luna

"Don't remind me." She missed the polished wood and the crisp smell of Tiffany's. Audrey was right, nothing bad could happen to you there. "I once asked the city if they would consider reaching out to them, but they weren't interested."

Lucy had never written a letter of recommendation, but she was confident that it wasn't hard. And her endorsement should really be enough for anyone, especially in this new world they were living in. "I will get at least ten copies sent over to your house by either Francesca or Augusto." Whichever was free would have to do it, she was simply too busy.

It hadn't occur to her to receive a letter in return, but her ego did enjoy the prospect. "I would love one." She would have to remember to collect ones from the other people she asked. "I think you have a very strong future ahead of you."

“Oh okay. I just thought the popular kids were well connected or whatever. It’s cool.” She’d figure it out one way or another. Maybe someone had a spare one in their empty house they weren’t using.

Damn. Harsh but kinda funny. At least they’d have a playlist if their set sucked. “Okay cool. Sounds like you’re all over it. Very organised.”

The first person? Wow. Luna stood up straighter, letting the compliment go straight to her head. It was almost too good to be true, this entire conversation. Would Sprout even believe her if she told her all of it?

“My butt pocket just buzzed, guessing that was you?” she said. “Sounds good. Thanks for asking me. Can I put this on my resume?”

#tl: day twelve #with: luna #p: let's be friends

"I'm very well connected, I just don't have a need for metallurgy." She wasn't sure what Luna was doing. Nor did she actually want to know. "Anything I want comes from Tiffany's."

Lucy flipped her hair over her should triumphantly. She was very organized and she liked people noticing it. She had her whole life color coded. That's why she was so good at running things. "Thank you. There's a cute little store in town that does the most interesting stationary. It's a must if you want to be truly organized."

Luna had a lovely smile. It was more than a little hesitant, like Francesca's, but it suited her well. "That was me. This is our best way to keep in touch." She had been curious about Luna initially but the girl's initiative and ambition both surprised and intrigued her. "Of course. I'd be honored to write you a letter of recommendation if you need it." Provided she did good work, but Lucy had no problem making sure the work would be up to her standard.

“Do you know anyone who knows how to make a medal?” she asked.

“Gotcha.” Luna nodded slowly. “Is a week going to be enough time for them to practice for this?” She almost felt like she was breaking rank to ask, but if they wanted specific songs played they’d need some warning. Being in band didn’t mean they were good at it.

Luna hadn’t been to a party thrown by Lucy to compare it to. She tended to stick to anything thrown by Jacks. But she seemed to be pretty confident. “Alright. You sound very sure, so that’s good.”

Luna felt herself buzzing with excitement when Lucy handed her her phone. She held it with reverence, careful not to drop it. It was the latest one and she didn’t have any cracks in her screen or anything. She definitely was really rich. Luna typed in her name and number, putting a little crescent moon emoji next to her name. Sprout would be so jealous if she could see her right now. “There you go,” she said. “Do you know who else is helping out yet?”

#tl: day twelve #p: let's be friends #with: luna

What a strange question. It did lead her to be grateful that the crowns and sashes for prom had already been ordered. They could use the ones the school had. But a medal wasn't really her forte. She found sports obnoxious. "No. I imagine one of the more nerdy boys might now how but I'm not really friends with nerds."

Lucy hadn't considered that the band would need to practice. She assumed they already had a roster of songs they could play. "They don't have much of a choice, but I will be sure to ask them." She added that to her to-do list on her phone. "Our requests will be fairly straight forward."

After taking her phone back, she sent Luna a quick test text. "You were the first person I thought of. I'm sure there will be many more people and I will let you know about them by tomorrow at the latest."

“Oh, okay,” Luna said, not expecting her to want to pray. Kinda weird but it probably wouldn’t hurt to get God on the case if they were real. “Thanks.” She’d tell her about this. Another popular girl worrying about her, she’d love it.

“Wait, the playlist is the exciting part?” she asked, wanting to get things clear in her head. Luna almost blurted out that she played the drums, but she didn’t want to get accidentally roped into performing too. That shit would suck and she’d managed to avoid the band nerds so far. Rory didn’t count. He was actually cool. “Okay cool. I never cared about prom before but this sounds kinda sick.”

“Damn okay. Fast as fuck. I guess we don’t have school.” More time to fuck around with a prom. “I’m in. You need me to sign something?”

#tl: day twelve #p: let's be friends #with: luna

"Of course, please let me know if there's anything I can do to help." There were a lot of things Lucy wouldn't agree to doing, but she could potentially arrange a bouquet. She had a very cute set of gardening gloves. And, luckily, there were people like Anu who actually wanted to do the gross stuff.

"No, all of it is exciting. I mean that the band is fairly limited in what they can play. Because of the instruments. They don't have an 808 or synthesizers. It's different." Very classy but a tiny bit boring. She wasn't looking forward to slow dancing with the less than desirable boys she was stuck with.

"It will be very cool. Tali and I, we have a lot of experience with making excellent parties. This will be the best one we've had here so far. You can count on that." They usually had more help, but that was just a tiny detail here. There had to be enough resources in town to throw a good prom. She wouldn't accept anything else.

The timeline was what it was. She couldn't make people wait too long for such an exciting event. They needed to keep up momentum. "I'm confident that we'll make it work." Signing something would be smart, then she could sue people if they neglected their duties. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought that far ahead. "No, but I will need your number for the group chat." She handed over her phone.

talimontes

“Ummm,” Tali pondered that. “Probably. But they’re probably not something they want people finding.” Having easy access to their home layout or blueprints sounded like a nightmare to Tony’s family business. “It is a bit of a maze in there though.” What with all the secret passageways and hidden spaces as well. She rarely got lost but she only really ever went to the rooms she knew she could find her friends.

“Unfortunately true. That’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.” Tali was relieved. That was exactly what she expected. She’d feel uneasy if Lucy was suggesting otherwise. “Good!! You had me worried for a second.”

Tali checked the time on her phone, the day was getting away from her too quickly. “I have to go. I need to talk to Tony before he disappears again. Then I have to get ready for my date tonight but I’ll try to ask at least one person to join our little manual labour team before the day completely escapes me.” She reached over and gave Lucy’s hand a squeeze. “I’m so excited, Luce. This is going to be icônica.”

#with: tali #p: a little party never killed nobody #tl: day twelve

"I can't find anything. I'm going to starve to death if this keeps up." She'd been wandering over to the pool house to eat because it was easier to navigate, but it wasn't as well stocked as the kitchen. Lucy missed her house staff more than anything else. Not having people to make her food was horrible. Tony was always so busy, she couldn't make constant demands on him. Also, he sometimes scared her.

Lucy tsk-ed at Tali. "I always want to win, but I need to win fairly." That was the whole problem with the election. She would love to be prom queen, but only if it meant the people willed it. Besides, she had no desire to dance with Dylan. So, she needed Tali to be in the court and take her place for the big dance.

"So busy." She couldn't imagine having such a full social calendar right now. Her hands were full with her siblings and planning. There was a part of her that would have liked a little more excitement, but she could not deal with the drama that came around it. "Buena suerte with your errands. Text me if you need anything. Love you." She kissed both of Tali's cheeks and sent her on her way.

(end)

talimontes

Tali laughed. Oh this would be fun. She loved a bit of harmless messing around. They wouldn’t get rid of anything, Tali would just move it into the room she was staying in. She was only really there to sleep anyway. And now that she and Dylan were together it’d probably happen less often. She tried to imagine Dylan in that bed with her and couldn’t. “I’ll start collecting. If I’m not around when you swap something just put their stuff in their grandfather’s room.”

“Really?” Tali brightened, not expecting that. “He’s prom king material. I’m not sure about how widely he’s known, but being with me should shove him into the spotlight.” She couldn’t wait to get dressed up with him. She had just the suit and colour scheme in mind for her boyfriend. “I agree. But you still want to win though, don’t you?”