"Um, I'll be lucky not to fall on my ass; I'm not going to take you down with me."
Merritt's already a little annoyed by the morning. The last place she wants to be is in the middle of this crowded, wintery prison; she could be home, taking a deep-cleanse two-hour shower and eating prosciutto from the package as she watches Steve Burns host the VH1 music video countdown. An ideal day. Instead she's here, bundled up like a fucking marshmallow and left to her own devices because Milo and Shane both have plans, or whatever.
Pippa's arrival is a godsend, even if the idea of ice skating already has Merritt's ankles throbbing. She leans in closer to them, happy enough to return the affection despite her doubts about getting on the ice.
"If we skip and fall and break our legs, we can like, totally sue the city for endangerment of our lives."
at her words, pippa laughs. it's not like they expected a pro, but maybe someone who could at least hold their own. she's not disappointed, though, the thought of them stumbling all over the ice together keeps them amused.
"not good at skating?" they ask, keeping their eyes on merritt with a raise of an eyebrow. "i haven't skated in years, so we can figure this out together."
a pause. then a giggle. "suing the city sounds like a fun time. you always have the best ideas." eyes twinkle with amusement and a grin is wide across their face.
Milo nearly fumbled his paper cup when Pippa latched onto his arm, the hot chocolate inside almost sloshing out. "Jesus," he laughed out, steadying himself to save said hot chocolate, his eyes drifting to where they had claimed him like a human handrail. Then he caught the ice skates in her hand.
Fuck.
On paper, Milo probably looked like someone who could ice skate or at least keep himself upright. Key word; on paper. He would never put graceful gazelle on his resume, that's for sure. But, Pippa looked so excited and there was that unfortunate nagging pressing into the make of his head saying not to be a dick. "I mean... define help."
Still, he wasn't inching away from them or telling them no. If anything, he knew he'd go out there and probably bust his ass, but he'd try his best to keep Pippa from doing the same. In fact, he started moving towards the rink, much to his own chagrin. "Because I'm not no Michelle Kwan."
"define help?" they repeat, quirking an eyebrow at milo. her grin only grows wider though, because maybe they know more than he does. growing up, they did do ice skating with family, but it's been years since she's attempted. maybe she'd be teaching him more than he would be teaching them?
they giggle, burying their face a little into their scarf again. "you don't have to be an expert, maybe just helping me stand? it's been ages since i've done skating." she'll either fall flat on her face or they'll succeed in staying upright. "have you skated at all, milo?" they ask, grin wide on her face.
The openers loud, crusty sound pulses through the walls into the green room; Noa hates it, hates them, wishes Monty would've booked literally any other local shlumps to open. Beyond sounding like shit, their name is fucking stupid. Dickache? Of all the bands to choose from, Monty had selected the one with an STD side effect?
"I prefer the openers from Cincinnati. At least they could play." Noa shakes his head. Eventually, he turns to Pippa, the only other person in the room. He considers her, decides if he really wants to aggravate the already tense situation. Treading carefully, he shifts his attention when he speaks.
"We might never have to worry about openers again."
she's tried to mentally block the music out, humming under her breath as they apply their eye makeup. it was difficult though, their ears still picking up the loud, irritating, grating music that was playing. who names their band dickache? it's gross and she wants nothing to do with them. normally they'll go and congratulate a band on playing, but they're not going to this time. feminism for the win this time.
they're so focused on elongating their eyeliner that they don't really notice that they're alone with noa. only when he starts talking that she turns to focus on him. "yeah? why is that?" she asks, brain not following what he's putting down. she's placing down their eyeliner pencil, turning to him more fully so her attention is fully on him.
STATUS ; open
TIME/PLACE ; sat morning, feb 28th/free ice skating
it's cold. she shivers slightly and buries her face deeper into her scarf. should they be preparing for tonight? probably yes. but is she? no. they wanted to be outdoors, having some fun before tonight. besides, they had more than enough time to prepare. it's still early, so she can get any last jitters out with the free ice skating. they borrowed a pair of skates from their older sister, and they're hanging by their laces by their side.
spotting someone familiar in the crowd near the hot chocolate booth, they grin. she's bounding up to them ( still too much energy that needs to be released ), smile spread across their face. "hey!" she's exclaiming, moving to take their arm in one of hers. "you're here to help me skate, yeah?" they ask the person, grinning at them.
full name. pippa ning feng. nickname(s). pips, pip. age. 30. birthdate. june 13, 1968. hometown. colossal, oh. gender. demi-woman. pronouns. she/they. orientation. pansexual. language(s) spoken. english & mandarin, fluent. current occupation. manager of paperweight bookstore. band position. guitarist.
＊ — APPERANCE
faceclaim. esther yu. hair. black, currently to mid back. height. 5'7”. tattoos. fairy wings on her back ; cassette tape on her inner right wrist ; bottle with small records coming out on the back of her neck. piercings. three in each lobe.
＊ — PERSONALITY
mbti. entp. enneagram. two, the helper. character inspos. mulan ( mulan ), jo march ( little woman ), elphaba ( wicked ). alignment. neutral good. zodiac. gemini sun, capricorn moon, aries rising. positive traits. self-sacrificing, passionate, devoted. negative traits. abrasive, bossy, impulsive. temperament. sanguine. aesthetics. always standing up for what is right; discussing conspiracy theories late into the night; clinging onto friends’ hands, unable to let go; banned books hidden underneath the bed.
＊ — RELATIONSHIPS
father. he-ping feng. mother. min-li feng. sibling(s). one older sister, one younger brother. pet(s). a ginger cat named bao.
＊ — MISC
neighborhood. the apartments. milkshakes, hotdogs and french fries order. large curly fries and a large orange creamsicle milkshake.
＊ — HEADCANONS
only wears vintage and stuff that she’s thrifted from pick-me-ups. whatever clothes she can’t find, she will make herself with recycled fabric.
is a vegetarian. decided when she was 15, when she began broadening her horizons. doesn't mind if her friends are meat eaters, although they’ve tried to educate them at least once. just once and that's enough for her. refuses to cook meat for anyone, though, and will always supplement with vegetarian food.
is thankful for the internet, honestly. it's helped her with figuring out different activisms, and to attend rallies and marches and protests. loves the chatrooms so they can make online friends.
her parents are from detroit, but wanted to raise a family in the suburbs. had their first born daughter in detroit and moved when they were pregnant with pippa. pippa is the middle child, with an older sister and younger brother.
visits detroit a lot and attends a lot of rallies and marches there. she has traveled to washington dc, or nyc to attend some too. absolutely drags their friends along.
father is professor, teaching at the community college. their mother is a music teacher, and pippa has been around music her whole childhood, learning different instruments. while her mother wanted her to stick with piano, they favored the guitar instead. she liked that she could play music and sing as well.
is proud of their chinese heritage and is especially proud to see other chinese americans become activists, and is a part of the organization of chinese americans.
loves the velvet moon, definitely has a crush on juno.
didn’t want to be a manager, but cat convinced her to move up. she loves cat and of course she’d do anything for her, so they became a manager. pretty chill as a manager, lets some rules go, but always makes sure the store is running correctly.
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