white_oleander | Room 210; Thursday Evening [10/18].

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Room 210; Thursday Evening [10/18].

Astrid, who'd spent most of her day clinging to a bottle of water, went to the store with the intention of picking up some aspirin, some art supplies, and a darker pair of sunglasses, and walked out with most of those things, plus, surprisingly, a box of hair dye, which now sat in her hands as she sat on the floor in the middle of her room, reading over the instructions. Apparently, a bit of last night's game had gotten more than enough bugs in her brain that this seemed like a good idea. If anything, she knew Ingrid would hate it, and that thought right there was enough to convince Astrid to go ahead and tear open the box with the full resolve to use it and not look back.

There was more than enough newspaper in the room at all times for random art projects, so it was easy enough to spread some out with the intention of catching any spilled dye, but hesitation set in once Astrid tilted her head, watched her long, long, pale blonde hair tumble forward around her head and she shook it, breathing in the scent of shampoo and memories. It would be difficult, she realized, to get all this by herself; maybe she should wait for Sabine to get back from work, she was an expert at hair dye, right? But she also kind of liked the idea of maybe surprising Sabine with it; it would definitely be unexpected, she liked to think that Sabine would be impressed, even, and she liked the idea of impressing Sabine maybe even a little more than the idea of pissing off her mother.

Sabine was actually here, for one.

But it might have to wait a moment, maybe, because her own head of blonde, blonde hair was distracting her, making her hesitate, making her wonder if it was a bad idea, while her fingers played around with the little coloring packet, uncertain.

[[ for the roommate, but also open if you'd like! ]]

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Sabine felt better than she had this morning, but she was still annoyed at herself in general and the existence of alcohol in particular. But that was at least a little bit forgotten when she got to the room.

"This looks interesting," she said.

"Oh, hey," Astrid tossed her head to throw the curtain of her hair back over her shoulder to look up at Sabine. "You're back."

So much for making it a surprise, then.

Astrid bit her lip, looked back down at the box, and then took a deep breath. She smiled faintly as she held it up, shook it a little in the air.

"You in the mood to paint something that's not a wall tonight?"

Astrid figured she already knew the answer to that one.

Edited 2018-10-18 16:28 (UTC)

"I could be," she said, which was totally a yes, and came close to look at the box. "Good color. What brought this on?"

Astrid shrugged a little bit, handing the box over. "I think it might have been the game last night," she admitted, because, honestly, that was way easier to admit to and get away with than the real reason she was thinking about doing it. She imagined tipsy shenanigans were far more palatable than far-flung power plays against one's mother. "A little change like that couldn't hurt anything, right? And if I hate it," still trying not to think about what to do if she hated it, but she shrugged anyway, "I can just let it grow back out or change it again."

To be fair, Sabine would understand power plays against one's mother, but she also didn't like sharing.

"That's my thinking, too," Sabine said, looking over the back of the box. "And if you hate it, I can either help fix it or direct you at people who can. Every once in a while a change can do some good."

"That's what I'm hoping," said Astrid, with a bit more of a sigh than she would have wanted, but it couldn't be helped. Her shoulders slouched a little as she looked up at Sabine with a faint, hopeless sort of smile. "I'm putting flowing, flaxen tresses into your capable, knowing hands. This is already a pretty big step, though." She laughed a little. "I think you doing it will help prevent me from having to make a step toward something bigger and just getting out a razor and buzzing it all off."

Sabine barely stopped herself from telling her that would be cool.

"I've considered doing that. Just remember: it would itch growing back," she told her. "So. Are you ready? This stuff is easy enough, and it shouldn't take long."

In that moment, Astrid saw an opening she could have easily have escaped into, rush into with all her safe and comfortable and unchanging might, and she very pointedly turned herself away and rushed into the other direction instead.

And it kind of felt amazing.

"I'm ready," she said with a firm, no-turning-back-now nod.

"Good," Sabine said, taking her usual gloves off to put the plastic ones from the box on. "You've got good timing, too. Really make an impression in time for homecoming. I think. Right?"

She still didn't get it.

"I don't know," Astrid shrugged, shifting to make herself more comfortable. "I guess. I doubt anyone'll even notice, everyone will probably just wonder, who's that new girl?"

And the only reason they'd say even that much was because this school was actually small enough to notice something like that.

"Are you going with anyone?"

Sabine really didn't seem the type...especially after last night, but it was conversation, and it would distract her a little from that escape door flashing at her from the corner of her mind.

Sabine frowned, even as she started mixing the chemicals. "You're supposed to go with someone?"

Astrid shrugged again. "Not supposed to, I guess," she offered. "But it does tend to turn into this whole elaborate relationship mating ritual, all the popular kids making a big deal out of who's going with who and stuff like that. It's kind of weird, really. Last few years, I've been given this idea of what high school was supposed to be like. I finally get to high school, and it's....this one. And this one is...different doesn't even seem to cover it."

"I don't think any of us were expecting it to be like this," Sabine admitted. Because it was different from her last school, and Lana's seemed like even more of a nightmare, but this place definitely wasn't normal, either. "And I don't think any of the students are worried about mating rituals here."

But she had to ask, "Are you going with anyone?"

Astrid's snort did double-time, feeling appropriate for a response to both Sabine's statement and her question. "No," she said. "Who would I even go with? But I probably wouldn't have gone with anyone if I was still back in California, either. I...probably wouldn't even bother with Homecomming if I was back in California."

"And now you're obligated as a member of the student government," Sabine said lightly, pulling her desk chair over. "Sit. Easier to do it this way."

Astrid obediently moved, pushing herself up off the floor and plopping into the offered chair, maybe sweeping her arm under her hair to appreciate the pale blonde waterfall at least one last time. For a while, anyway, and the fact that she smiled a little as she did it confirmed in her heart that she was glad she was doing this, and her smile tilted a little with a smirk.

"I could still probably skip it," she mused. "I skipped out on almost an entire class that first semester here, and no one even said a word. I think....I think I kind of want to go, though, weirdly enough."

"What's the worst that happens, you hang out with the same people you did yesterday? Only with a theme." An amazing theme, that Sabine still has to do stuff for.

And on a whim, she grabbed her phone to pull out the camera app. "This is the before."

She had a hunch.

"Exactly," Astrid agreed with a faint grin. "And good idea. I'll probably want a reminder of what was if it turns out I hate it and need to look back longingly through my tears."

She was...mostly joking.

"And I'll definitely need a good after picture, too. I'd like something to send my mom."

And if that didn't get a rise out of Ingrid, then Astrid felt she could officially start claiming to be an orphan, because she would pretty much be dead to her at that point.

"There will be no tears. Trust me," she said.

She paused till she got a good picture, then set the phone down and picked up the bottle. Then she stood behind Astrid and started on the roots. No going back now!

"So what else might I be missing about homecoming?"

And there was a distraction.

Astrid sucked in a breath at that first cold touch of dye to her head. No going back, indeed.

Distraction. Distraction was good, though once she acknowledged that this was the end of Ingrid Magnussen's little blonde mini-Valkyrie from this point forward, there was nothing to be done, and it was easier to accept. The first step of any journey was always the hardest, and then just just kept moving.

"There's usually a lot more pomp and circumstance," she offered, trying to think back to normal schools, which seemed weird in their own way now. "A whole week leading up to it, usually called Spirit Week, where there's a theme for every day and you're supposed to dress up and fit the theme. And then there's a football game, which we don't even have any sports teams, so I guess that explains why we don't have that one. The homecoming court thing, that's kind of the same, although that's usually just a big old popularity contest and you pretty much know who'll get it way before its announced. It'll be...interesting to see how that all pans out at a school like this..."

"So what you're saying is everything's different except the homecoming court, which seems unnecessary," she said. "Figures, we have to do things our own way."

Halloween Under the Sea, after all.

Best Homecoming Theme Ever.

Astrid smiled. "The court, and the dance, anyway. I'm sure some schools have a carnival, too, but definitely not any in my neck of the woods. That definitely seems to fit what I'd expect small, private schools with money to do, so that fits what'd I'd expect out of this place."

"As much as we can expect anything out of this place," Sabine said dryly.

She hadn't learned that there were totally things you could expect, as long as you knew which weekends they usually happened on.

"At least I'm past the point of trying to fight it all the time," Astrid found herself admitting, feeling a little surprised by it, but not...too surprised. She felt more comfortable.talking to Sabine than she did nearly anyone, really, and there was something deeply comforting about having someone there, fingers in her hair. It made her think of all the times she'd sit with her mother, brushing out her long hair, braiding it, never once thinking that they seemed to have gotten things backwards. But if this was what it was like, Astrid could see why Ingrid enjoyed it so much.

"That kind of sounds like giving in, like it just badgered me into submission, but I'd take that over constantly thinking I'm just going crazy..."

"It doesn't," Sabine assured her, coming around to do her hairline and being careful not to get dye on her skin. "There's more good stuff than things you need to be fighting. You acclimated."

She wasn't sure that would work, but it was worth a try. She'd worried about Astrid's brain for a while there.

"So have you," Astrid pointed out, almost as if it was a bad thing, though, really, she knew it wasn't. At least with her, she didn't have a choice in the matter, so acclimation was practically a survival skill. But for Sabine...

She grinned, trying not to turn her head so she could see it. "I don't think I've heard a word from you about trying to get out of here in months. Or are you just better about keeping it quiet?"

Sabine shrugged. "I check to see if I'm able to get back, but there's no news, so I don't talk about it. I'm not sure what I'd be going back into if I could, either. It just seems smarter to take my time and figure things out instead of trying to rush into the unknown for a while."

Look, honesty! Vague honesty!

And Astrid appreciated it, especially since she felt like she did most of the talking when she and Sabine had these nice, quiet days of...well, bonding, she guessed, in a way.

She didn't even talk that much...

"Have you figured out anything in particular so far?" she ventured, wondering if she could maybe keep this ball rolling a little.

That earned a long pause, as Sabine decided if she even had an answer to that.

"I don't know," she said finally. "Maybe I'm starting to. It's home-specific, and I'm not sure what I'd actually do with any of it... It's complicated."

She'd be thinking about it more when she went into class tomorrow, probably.

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Room 210; Thursday Evening [10/18].

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