thenormalsquint | find a way to get to you;

[Jesus, Suzanne, hold your horses. You could have told her over the chip if it was a life or death situation.

Is it? It better not be. Angela's not ready to spend a week crying.]

All the time, but I can stand to hear it more than ten times a day. [Hopping up on the counter, Angela pulls out a danish and nibbles off a corner.] So what's the big news?

Well... [ She starts, hesitating now that she's actually able to talk about it. It's been brewing for days and you'd think someone with her literary background would have the words to explain what's going on. Alas, she does not. ]

You know Edward? Dark hair, british... recites poetry.

...lives with Vergil, super polite, won't stop calling me 'my lady' even though I told him Angela was fine?

[She chuckles, picking the icing off her pastry and popping it into her mouth. Yeah, she knows him alright.]

What about him?

That's the guy. [ And now what. C'mon. C'mooon, say something more. You can't just leave it like that, Dickson! Her cheeks heat up, turning a healthy and happy pink. ]

We're kind of... ah, fuck. I don't know. [ Ugh, just say it. ] I kind of told him that I love him.

[It's a good thing Angela hasn't starting drinking her coffee yet because she would surely to do a spittake at that bomb. Not that it's a bad bomb. No, it's good. Very good. She's happy for Suzanne, happy for anyone who finds love, especially in a place like this. It's just so... sudden? Angela wasn't even aware they knew each other, much less that they knew each other to a point where a rather sensible woman like Suzanne would drop that four letter word towards him.

Instead of choking on her liquids, Angela freezes in place, fingers holding a tidbit of icing in front of her mouth, a slow smile curling up her lips.]

There is no 'kind of' in that department, Suze.

Okay, okay! I definitely told him that I love him. [ She groans, resting her head in her hands. ] I know it's fucking stupid to even try in this city, but I want to. I'm going to be fucked over either way, might as well be honest about it.

[ And that's the thing with Edward — she's been twisting and turning this around in her head for weeks but there's no way around it. She can't blame it on the chip. They haven't really had sex that much either for reasons that are a little bit heartbreaking but that has to count for something, right? That he's not just great in bed. He's just a great person and he weaseled his way into her heart and here they are. ]

[Angela can't help but laugh. This is good. Lord knows somebody in this place needed some goodness.]

If you want to, do it. Think about it this way: either way, you're fucked, so might as well get fucked by someone you love.

[Ah, very easy for her to advise someone with words she doesn't take herself, but this isn't about her right now, but about her best friend.]

What did he say in response?

Oh, you know... that he loves me. And then he recited poetry. [ Which is ridiculous but she can't find it in her to be annoyed when Edward is the one who does it. ]

Angela, this wasn't part of the plan. I don't want to fuck this up.

Then you have nothing to worry about.

[Oh, they have plenty to worry about but she's not going to be the Debbie Downer to say that out loud.]

Life never goes as planned. The universe laughs at plans. Just do it. Jump in head first, see where it takes you. What do either of you have to lose at this point?

[ Suzie probably know already. There's a long long list in the back of her head but no matter how much she's stared at it, she can't push this aside. He walks into the room, she's done for. ]

I guess you're right. [ She sighs, relaxing against the counter. ] I really, really like him, Angela. Like, a lot.

No, you love him. Own it.

[Another bite and she chews thoughtfully.]

I'm happy for you. One question, though: this means hands off of him?

[Just so she knows the rules on how Suzanne wants things to go in a place like this. Angela wouldn't usually ask, just assume that's the rule, but Ariel always tends to have different ideas and if she can control it, she'll try her damnedest.]

[ She huffs, drowning this conversation in her coffee mug for a moment. Yeah yeah, she loves him. It seems absurd but there we are. ]

We haven't really talked about that. [ Who to fuck, who not to fuck. How much they should actually tell each other. ] I mean, I'm not naive enough to think that there's some kind of monogamy possible here and it's not like our past sex partners aren't already overlapping in really concerning ways but...

I don't know? I don't want to know if you do mess around with him.

I get it. Ignorance is bliss.

[She can't blame Suzie for that. Monogamy's a nice thought sometimes, other times an impossibility.

The smile on her face suddenly switches to a more mischievous one at the sound of monogamy.]

One more thing: I call maid of honor.

[She's totally ducking out of the way in case Suzie throws a cup.]

[ If you can't have it, the least you can do is fake it to some degree. She's bound to find out about some of the people he sleeps with and maybe even get some unwanted details, but that doesn't mean she can't avoid it to the best of her ability. It'd be too much to hope for, keeping that separate from their thing. She'd rather give Angela a discrete green light than be hurt later on when that promise is inevitably broken. ]

Angela! [ She squeals, playfully punching against her best friend's shoulder. ] It's not that serious. [ Ah, wait. ]

Although... first time he got me naked? He said that if this was back where he's from, he'd have to ask me to marry him. And then we'd have a bunch of kids.

[Discreet green lights work, just in case. That doesn't mean there won't be some lingering "Oh shit, I just screwed the brains out of my best friend's boyfriend" guilt.

A yelp and she's poking Suzanne in the ribs with a her toe, hoping to catch a real ticklish spot.]

Wow. That's some real sexy pillow talk. How did you not flood the bed right then and there?

[Edward, she loves you. Shittalking your bed skills is how she shows it.]

[ Shkfdjhsf is a good description of the noise she makes when Angela's toe pokes her in the side, making her squirm with the tickles. Goddamnit. ]

Who says I didn't? [ Gross. ] Maybe it's weird, but it's kind of working for him. Believe me, I'm not the kind of girl who fantasizes about a big fairytale wedding and popping out a bunch of kids. That's not my thing. When he talks about it though? I don't know.

It's like the poetry and politeness. Any other guy I would've been sick of it five minutes in.

It's because he's the type of guy who means it, not because he wants to see how fast he can get your pants off.

[Not that she knows Edward like the back of her hand, but Angela has a penchant for picking out traits in people. Honesty is one she's found in Edward from the times they've spoken. He never seems to say things just to say them because they sound nice. His words seem to have thought and care placed behind them and that says a lot about him that he doesn't say about himself.]

You snagged a good one. Hold onto him. And let me kick his ass if he hurts you.

[That last sentence is said with a smile, only because she doesn't expect Edward to actually do that. Still, though, anything can happen. Fuck with her friend, get a pocketbook to the side of your head.]

[ She's right. She's absolutely right and that alone brings a warm swell to Suzie's chest. This was pretty much the last thing she wanted but now that she's caught up in the middle of it, she can't imagine saying no. ]

I know. Believe me, I'm not going to fuck this up if I can help it. [ She doubts he'll be the end of them. As scared and insecure as he can be about a lot of things, she's never noticed it when they've talked about them. Love scares a lot of people but Edward Courtenay seem to find nothing but comfort in it. ]

Enough about all that. What's going on with you lately?

[Angela shrugs, picking at her danish again, in response to Susie's question.]

Not much, really.

[It's not a lie. Aside from the little inkling of whatever she's beginning to feel for Malik, there's absolutely nothing going on between them other than decent conversation and the occasional roll in the hay. Nothing she can't get from anybody else in the city. The cravings for more are there, but the opportunities don't seem to be presenting themselves.

Once a piece of the pastry flakes off, Angela smiles with just a hint of forlornness at the food in her hand.]

Same old, same old. I'll have to get my vicarious thrills through you. [She's bored, lonely, and restless.] Hey, off topic, but are you interested in a bigger place, by the way?

[Maybe a change in scenery will help shake the growing gloom off.]

A bigger place?

[ It's a surprising question but not a terrible one. She had been thinking about it, back when they were fighting. Of putting in for a mansion and opening it up to her favorite people for however long they stayed in the city. It was a demonstrative, childish urge, a quiet rebellion that died out as soon as the argument did.

It's not a bad idea, though. They can both afford it, she guesses, and with the whole thing with Edward she wouldn't mind some more space to maneuver. ]

Sure. Why not, right? Might as well put all that fucking to good use.

find a way to get to you;

don't tell anyone i'm sneaking this in!

your secret is safe with me!

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