Room 508, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

So...prom was tomorrow. And almost the entire contents of Kathy's wardrobe was strewn about her side of the room, as she tried to find something--anything--that she could wear and still look Ms. Adler in the eye if she were there to chaperone. Even knowing that most of this stuff hadn't started off as her wouldn't make up for actually wearing it. In public. Where people could see.

She knew she ought to be more grateful. Most of the clothes in her closet came from her neighbors who had wanted to make sure that she'd have plenty of clothing when she went away to school. And nobody in her neighborhood was rich, so handmedowns were the best most people could do. But...still... There was a reason that sometimes she dressed like someone out of the late seventies. It wasn't her aesthetic. It was just what was in her closet, especially when it had been awhile since she'd done laundry.

But even sternly reminding herself to be grateful wasn't helping her prom dilemma any. Not when she was staring at someone's weird obsession with short skirts and detachable trains. In various colors. Because that was a thing she needed, yes.

She should have taken Ms. Adler up on her offer of ordering a gown from class on Tuesday. Or maybe she should just try fashioning something out of her curtains and a flat sheet. It couldn't be any worse than some of her other options, after all.

Dammit, she really missed Minako. Between her and Sparkle, they could have salvaged something out of this wreck of fabric. And even if they couldn't...well, she still missed Minako.

Ah well. Once more into the sartorial mines. Maybe she'd missed something? No not that.

[Mostly silliness, because Kathy's PB wears some FUCKING RIDICULOUS CLOTHING. Either way, open door, open post! And a link to Hanna's conversation. DAMMIT, LJ!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah," Kathy said. "Prom's like an American tradition. It's like a super-fancy Homecoming or Valentine's Day dance, but only open to the upperclassmen. And their dates, I guess. It's supposed to be the pinnacle of your high school experience, kinda. Though that might be senior prom."

She shoved a few items off the bed, clearing a space for Hanna to sit. "And, yeah, I'm pretty sure about most of this stuff. Most of it just isn't really me."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Is this a cape (http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/spin_kick_snap/64639984/153376/153376_original.jpg)?" Hanna wondered, frowning a little over what Kathy had explained. "I'm a sophomore. So I suppose the rules say I can't go."

She was half-considering sneaking in to see what the fuss was about.

"You don't sound happy about it, exactly."

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"No," Kathy said glumly. "That's a skirt. Why it's like that? I have no idea. I've got another one just like it in gray."

She was trying to figure out what she'd done to deserve not one of those, but two.

"And I'm not unhappy about prom, I'm just a little frustrated with it right now," she admitted. "It's the first time I really care about what I'm going to be wearing to a dance ad now I'm finding that everything I could wear to it is, well..." She picked up another dress. "This."

Who decided Freddy Kreuger should be a fashion designer?

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"It looks-- nice? -- from the front." Hanna had no concept of fashion, but she had a very strong grasp on practical. "The back looks like it was already snagged on something. Perhaps you could find someone to just cut it off?"

She paused and added, "You could cut up a great deal of these and they would be improved, I think. I could at least hem them."

Living where the clothes had to be knitted by hand or cut out from animal hides, she'd gotten a certain amount of practice with a needle.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You could say the same about adding a judicious bit of fire," Kathy muttered, still looking at the three different crocheted skirts that she'd been given. And their matching trains. "I'm kinda thinking that I want to start fresh though. Figure out my style and go from there? Except that every time I think that, I hear my mother's voice in my head nagging at me for being wasteful."

Which was unfair, because it was also her mother's voice that nagged at her to be more stylish and pretty and popular. Sometimes a girl just couldn't win.

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Maybe just one dress you like?" Hanna tilted her head, considering. She took one of the navy tops, one of the pink skirts, a black skirt, and a pink top. "You don't mind if I take these, do you?" She was reminded of something else. "I think I got one of your phone messages a week or so ago."

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"No, you go right ahead and take them," Kathy said. "I appreciate you doing so. I feel less bad about giving them away."

And then she winced. "You did? Oh no, which one? I didn't offer to come strip in your doorway, did I?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"....no," Hanna said with caution. "You told me to 'fuck off'? I think? Why would you want to..."

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"Ohmigosh!" Kathy said, eyes wide and horrified. "I did? That went to you? I'm so sorry, Hanna, I did not intend that to be for you!"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna was still back on the stripping, still bewildered. And planning on how to rip out some of the extra decoration on the stuff you let her keep, Kathy.

"It's okay. I figured it wasn't for me, but I did wonder who and why you were upset."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Okay, so I didn't realize that something was up with the phones?" Kathy began, because this kind of required a bit of explanation. "And I got a bunch that were about sex, either people telling me they didn't want to have it with me--which, like, fine? But I was confused why they were calling me about it? So I kinda thought someone was spreading rumors about me? And then I got a call that was just somebody laughing and I sorta...lost my temper. I don't normally swear like that!"

Admittedly, in retrospect, she felt pretty stupid about the whole thing.

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry about it," Hanna told her, nodding. "Edward told me what happened with those. I received some very confusing messages about-- threesomes?" She shook her head. "People around here are very concerned with sex," she noted in some amusement.

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"I know," Kathy said, and if she was pinking ever-so-slightly while thinking about a certain someone, she'd thank Hanna not to mention it. "Sparkle left a message for me and I'm still not sure if it was because the phones were crazy or because he literally wanted to catch me up on his sex life."

In fairness: Sparkle.

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Valid!

Hanna now had one of those different-length skirts on her head. It made an oddly charming wedding veil.

"At least they are fixed now. And everyone is recovered from the horribleness."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And so we should be good until the next bout of horribleness comes around," Kathy said, because she'd been on the island long enough to realize that there was a schedule to these things. "Oooh, that reminds me. Did anyone warn you about the weekend after prom?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Warn me?" Hanna blinked, then shook her head. "What do you mean?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, that's probably a no then." Kathy gave her an 'I'm sorry, you probably won't believe this' expression. "So, after prom, little kids show up for people. Their, umm, future children from other realities or whatever."

Surprise?

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

.....?

Hanna considered that. "So if I don't go to prom, it won't happen?" She didn't sound like she quite believed it.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't think it works like that," Kathy said with an apologetic shrug. "But I haven't had any yet so I don't know. Maybe?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna hummed, and got to her feet, trailing clouds of glory tulle and other compromised fabrics. "Pick the one you like best."

Tomorrow, she'd see what she would see.

"And then we'll fix it so you like it even better."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy hesitated and then chose. "Uhh, probably this one," she said, plucking up a dress off the floor to show her.

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Do the belts come off?" That was really the only thing that jumped out at Hanna as... off. Not-matching. "Or can we cover them up with a sash?" She paused and asked, "Who are you going with?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Me?" There went that flush again. "Oh, no one. I don't have a boyfriend. Or...anyone who'd want to go just as friends. So, just me! If I find a dress in time."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"So you can talk to or dance with anyone you please." Hanna gave her an impish smile. "Belts. Off." With those off, it was just a black dress. A little short, a little simple. But still. "What shoes?... Raven has been teaching me to do hair. Perhaps she can do yours."