Room 212, Tuesday Afternoon

[sciclone]

Cosima hadn't even been sure she was going to go to the Homecoming dance. It wasn't like she had a date, and she was confused about what Homecoming even was at a school with no sports teams.

But she'd been browsing Etsy in her hotel room one night during the trip to Jurassic Park, and she found the most perfect dress ever. So now she felt kind of obligated to go to the dance just so she could show it off properly.

The box with the dress had arrived that morning. Cosima posed in it in front of her dresser mirror, trying to decide what jewelry to wear and whether the frock looked better with her braids twisted up or down around her shoulders. She took her time about it, not wanting to put her regular clothes back on. "I wonder whether anybody would notice if I just never took this off," she asked her reflection. "I'd be like a cartoon character."

[OOC: Open post, cracked door. Dress link from boneyard_girl.]

Comments

[boneyard_girl]

"Gotta wash it sometime," Ada pointed out impishly from where she was sprawled on her own bed, looking up 'Homecoming' on her laptop. Since, well, stuff like this had been left out of her home-school curriculum. Or at least she assumed it had been... most of her book-learning was still big blank spots in her brain, but at least she'd figured out reading again.

"Uh, this says there's usually a football game? Do we even have sports teams here? I thought high schools did sports and things?"

[sciclone]

"Maybe I could just shower in the dress," Cosima mused, then turned to look at Ada. "They do, yeah. And cheerleaders. Maybe they just call the fall dance homecoming for tradition? I don't really get it either."

[boneyard_girl]

"I'm starting to think this isn't what 'normal' schools are like," Ada deadpanned. "--But that's okay, because I'd probably be miserable with classes every day and..." she squinted at her screen again. "--dean's lists and stuff."

[sciclone]

"Those are for college," Cosima said helpfully. "High schools have honor rolls. And this is, like, a billion miles from a normal school."

She made a bun with her hands again. "Hey, should I have my hair up or down for the dance?"

[boneyard_girl]

"Up is cute, you don't do up that often," Ada pointed out. "And it shows off more of the dress that way."

She propped her chin on her hands to study Cosima. "I should make you help me find a dress, since I don't got a clue what I'm doing."

[sciclone]

"And if I wear it up, I could show off a choker better," Cosima said. "They had the dress with one on the website and it was awesome."

That settled, she glanced over to Ada. "I can try. You noticed I'm not exactly the homecoming queen type, right?"

[boneyard_girl]

"You noticed I'm not exactly the school-type, right?" Ada pointed out. "I don't want the homecoming queen, I want someone to tell me honestly whether or not I look like an idiot trying to wear a dress."

[sciclone]

"I promise, you are not going to look like an idiot wearing a dress," Cosima told her obligingly, and sat down on the bed beside her. "You've got this whole ethereal thing going on. You could go as princessy as you wanted. Maybe just skip the cowboy boots."

[boneyard_girl]

Ada just looked at her blankly. "But I thought I wasn't supposed to go barefoot at school."

DON'T TEMPT HER, COSIMA. SHE WILL.

[sciclone]

"There is the insane notion of buying other shoes," Cosima said, and was proud of herself for managing not to facepalm. "Or borrowing them. What size are you?"

[boneyard_girl]

"Um," Ada shrugged, looking sheepish. "Smaller than most of my cousins?" Hand-me-downs were a fact of life given how large the Miller family was, but it wasn't anything Ada was ashamed about. If anything, she was more embarrassed that she didn't know what a 'size' was.

"Problem is, most shoes just don't fit me right," she said, "--and I mostly hate the way they feel."

[sciclone]

Cosima pursed her lips. "Hang on," she requested, and was off to her side of the closet. She wasn't anybody's idea of a clothes horse, but she still had more shoes than Ada and didn't mind sharing.

She emerged with three pairs: black suede ballet flats, red China doll slippers, and dressy brown booties. "I don't have heels to lend you," she admitted. "But try those. See if any of them feel not-terrible. Do you really go barefoot all the time at home?"

[boneyard_girl]

"Pretty much, or if I have to go into town I wear a pair of sneakers that are bit too big 'cause that way they don't pinch my toes," she admitted.

...and since trying on shoes meant that Cosima was about to understand why Ada hated shoes, she swung her legs out from under her pillow and wriggled the slightly-webbed toes at her roommate. Cosima hadn't flipped about all the dehumidifiers, or Ada's love of body glitter, and if she'd noticed Ada's hands she'd been downright polite about it, so Ada figured she wasn't about to get run out of the room as a freak. Hopefully. "So don't worry about not having heels, I wouldn't be able to wear 'em anyway, most likely."

[sciclone]

"You're a freak," Cosima said, clearly meaning it as a compliment. She'd noticed the webbed fingers, but Ada seemed self-conscious about it and it would have been a weird thing to comment on out of the blue. But if the toes were being specifically shown to her, it was a different story. "Nice. But yeah, I can see where that would limit your footwear options."

[boneyard_girl]

"We use the term 'Biological Impossibilities' at the carnival, since it's no longer considered polite society to have a 'Freak Show,'" Ada said airily, clearly not offended in the slightest since it was obvious Cosima was not freaking out about it. "--but yeah, that's why shoes and I are locked in an eternal battle of hate and all that."

She chewed her lip for a moment, considering her options. "Can I try the little black flats?" she asked. "Those don't look like they'd be as stiff as regular shoes."

[sciclone]

"Eternal battle of hate," Cosima repeated thoughtfully. "I like that. I'm not in an eternal battle of hate with anything except dumb guys on the internet."

She shook her head. "Anyhow, yeah, you can try the flats. They're super-comfy, if they fit." She passed the shoes over.