What's in a name?

[Aurora]

What does a contortionist do when she needs to train but also realizes she really needs to paint her nails? She does both! And that’s where Aurora found herself after flexing and moving after about an hour. It really was a lot easier to paint her toe nails this way, and it stretched her back muscles and kept her limber. Always an important thing.

And while it might look odd to anyone who came by, to her it was completely normal.

Blue mats had been spread on the floor on the roof, she was starting to enjoy the view from up there. Plus the air, the air was good and the sunshine felt amazing.

With sunglasses on and her other foot tapping away to whatever her iPod was playing, Aurora was in her own little world.
Tuesday Saber Sloth

[Tuesday]

The roof...patio...thing. I twas there. Up there. Nice days were waning. Since. Seasons. Moving into the rainy one. So. Gotta take a nice day by the horns....or something like that.

So. Memories. She had 'em. Good ones even. So. Since nice day. Tuesday decided to do some horn grabbin'. Which means. The rooftop patio thingy and a some apples and a baseball bat. For reasons. Fun reasons. And memories. She's done this once before with Star. When, you know. Star and Avis were here and she was a Vee and a Tee instead of an Eff and a Dee.

But whatever! Apples plus baseball bat equals fun horn grabbin'!

A skip and a gallop, or a canter and a hop Tuesday Unicorn supreme makes her way up and up and up!

...only to see a Faye!

Head tilts....was that nail polish?

sniff, sniff

Smells like nail polish.

Gets closer. Stares.

"'Sup Faye. Gonna do your fingers after your toes?"

[Aurora]

When you’ve been a performer as long as she had, she kinda knew when people were around and watching. It was a thing, like a sixth sense, but for performers.

Her head looks up and smiles as she sees Tuesday. Free hand pops the ear buds out and she quickly blows on one of her toes before closing the polish. The other foot, draping over her shoulder is raised and waves. Well, as much as a foot could that is.

Smirking, “Not sure if I’m going to do my fingers, I always seem to get more on my fingers than on the nails.” A frown. True story, a sad one, but true. “And oh, yeah, not Faye anymore, I’m Aurora.” The last part was said rather calmly, like she was talking about the weather. Cause shadow names change all the time right?

The feet then plant on the ground as her hands find the ground. Now it was a weird back bend, until it was handstand and then feet find the ground again. Aurora is now upright.

“What’s with the bat?” she asks, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a drink.

[Tuesday]

A bemused smile as the foot that waved. Also a Tuesday hand to wave back. Sorta. Since. One had apples, the other the bat.

"If you want 'em done I could do 'em for ya. Prolly not that great, but I'll get more on your nails then your fingers. I think." if not she could wipe it off.

See these, the brows. The eyebrows. They're climbing.

"Huh. Ooookay." a nod. Faye isn't a Faye anymore. Transition. Newness. Etcetera. "Ah-roar-ah." Tuesday draws out in her distinctive rasp. "Aurora." faster that time. Head bobs. "Feel better?" some people didn't change their s'name for as long as they lived. Others changed theirs whenever they felt like they needed to. For Faye-Aurora who'd been through the Dreams. The Reality War. Changed Paths. Tuesday was sorta waiting for the blond to pick something else. Even if giving up Faye cut away a tie they once shared. To that of the Lunargent Thorn. But. Change. Happened. Is happening. Will always keep happening.

"Damn." Tuesday whistled, "Wish I had some of that control. Since. Yeah." Tuesday tries to clap, but apples and bat.

"Oh. The bat's for the apples." She tosses the bag of apples to one of the lawn chairs that was on the roof. "Like batting them that way." she points to the direction of the baseball stadium. "It's fun. Wanna whip apples with me?"

[Aurora]

A soft laugh, “Have you do my nails? You never struck me as the painting someones nails type.” A bemused smile on her face, “But I usually don’t paint them, they tend to chip from my shows and then it just looks awful.” Smirk. “Though now I am kinda intrigued to see what you could do with nail polish.” True story.

The question took her off guard, and her face reflected it. Before turning thoughtful. “Uh, a little? I’m not sure. My mind has been a mess since the whole change thing, and I’ve been trying to figure out who I was. If I was still Me, or someone else, urgh, my heads been a mess. If that makes sense.” She adds with a snort and shrug. “The whole name thing was sudden, I was stretching and remembering somethings from that night, and it was like a switched changed.” Her eyes had a faraway look as she remembered. “But I think there are more changes coming. Things are different, the world is different, and I guess I am too.” She guessed it was to be expected, but it was still weird. The smirk returned, “But not different in the sense that I plan on leaving town again. Sorry to say, but you guys are stuck with me for a while.” Yup, head nod.

“Should see me fit in a tiny box.” Wink. “You probably could. I’ve seen people training and practice and get pretty flexible. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found the stretching kind of relaxing, like I can zone out and get lost in my head.” Shrug, maybe that was just her.

Eyes move from the bat, to the apples. An eyebrow raised in question, “Whip apples?” now there was confusion. What the hell was whipping apples? “Do I even want to know how this got started?” there was amusement in her voice, she was curious. "Actually, I do. Cause there has to be a story behind this. A good story. So yeah."

[Tuesday]

"I am not." Tuesday admits with a grin. "I'm not even a paint my own nails type." she says a moment after, "Ahhh. Makes sense. I don't 'cause of my Baby and playin' nail polish. Not super grate there either." head bob, "But if you really wanna. I could totally do your nails. They might be crap. Warning you now. But we could risk it. See if they're not crap after I'm done." Shrugs. She really didn't know, but she knew she didn't want to do something awful to Fay-Aurora's nails. She'll Luck. Because. Every little bit helps.

"Figured." Truth. "And. Yeah. Makes all the sense. Seriously." Tuesday nods. Completely serious. Listening to her cabal mate, "Aurora, it's all good. I get it. Well not really, but kinda. So. If you need a shoulder. I'm here. Also food. I can do that. When you're hungry, or just not feeling good. I'm your friend, and Hearthmaster. It's totally my job on two fronts. Not that being there or here or for you or whatever's work. 'cause it's not. Honest!" a nod, like a serious noddy nod. "Also. Great." a nod, a touch of relief in her eyes, "That you're not leaving. I like havin' you around. You're awesome." Serious Tuesday Face. Also. Hard to Cabal when there's only one of you.

"I have!" Tuesday returns, "You pretzel'ing yourself into a box is like the least weird thing I've walked in on you doing. Remember that time I popped open the door and you had a sword down your throat? Yeah. Strange to see. Since. Don't see it all the time. But. Yeah. It's a Fa-Aurora thing." she babbles. Maybe Aurora wasn't the only one feeling weird. "I could take some lessons. From you, I mean. Since. You, awesome and can already do it. But. It's prolly gonna take a lot to get me to bend as easily." She was oldish, not as flexible as she would have been if she'd been doing more then light yoga. And even then she didn't yoga much.

Tuesday's hazels go between the apples, her bat and the blond. "Star." she says like it explained everything....and it kinda did. "But yeah. It is fun. Or it was fun. When I did it with Star. So. I don't really remember how it started, we did a gig, and there was an open bar. But it was a thing. The drinking and the apple whipping." Tuesday grins and sets up her apple, she takes a few practice swings, which inadvertently hit the apple causing it to plop to the grown. "Whoops." she laughs and sets up another apple and hands the bat to Aurora.

[Aurora]

A hearty laugh, “Probably couldn’t be any worse than what I do. But I’ll keep it in mind in case a hot date comes up or something.” Would be cheaper than going to a salon.

Grinning, “Food is always good! And thanks.” Was good to know she could talk to her if she needed. But would she need it? She wasn’t sure. All her life she had relied on only herself, so turning to someone else would be odd. And the big question, could she do that? Confide in someone else? "Never really had that. You know, someone to confide in and talk to."

There was a chuckle, “Yeah, I guess that would be weird to see if you weren’t used to it.” To her, it was as normal as breathing, just something she did. “I saw a video of a girl shooting a bow and arrow with her feet, so I’m a little jealous and want to try it. So that could be weird walking into too.” She laughs. “Also need to work on my balance positions, haven’t done them in a while and now it’s like learning all over again.” Sigh.

The name slip was caught, smiling softly, “Going to be hard to get used to huh?” there was a brief nod, “It’s been hard for me too. Ever since I awoke I was Faye, so I’m still adjusting.” She slipped up as well. Changing your identity was weird.

“Actually, I’ve always believed that everyone can become flexible. While some are born more naturally flexible than others, with enough training and practice, everyone can get some level of it. Though to be open and honest about this, my contortion, my joints are hypermobile.” Which wasn’t to say she didn’t train her ass off. “But it’s easier to do if your younger as opposed to older. Not to mention there are specific ways to train the body that can cause serious injury of not done right.” Shrug, “Not saying you have to or want to be as bendy as I am, but there is something, in my opinion, therapeutic in stretching. Depending if you’re into that stuff.” Again, it wasn’t for everyone. And even she would lose some of her flexibility if she stopped.

“Oh, nice.” Them doing a gig together and bonding. “If it was a you and Star thing, I don’t have to try it. Would totally understand if you wanted to keep that memory just you guys.” Nod. Memories were important and sacred.

Watching Tuesday set up the apple and then hit it. Well, kinda kit it. She realized this was like a weird form of baseball, but with apples. Which seemed like a waste of a good apple, which could be munched or turned into a yummy pie.

She accepts the bat, looking at it and then the apple. Shrugging, she takes a swing. While it does connect, it doesn’t really go far. Laughing, “Clearly I haven’t swung a bat in a while.” She hands it back. "And I'm not about to be signed to play baseball."

[Tuesday]

Aurora laughs and Tuesday does too. "Hate to mess up your nails before one of those!"

A happy nod, food was indeed always good. "Me neither. Not really. But. Cabal. Friends." she shrugs. "Should be able to talk to each other." except she can't tell anyone certain things. But. Yeah. Choices. She made hers. Which. Secrets. Hadta keep some.

"Gonna take a bit. I've only ever known you as Faye." shrug. "But. I was kinda expecting you to change it at some point. You were Faye. You were an Acanthus. One of those changed. So I figured the other did too."

"I'm sure anyone can. It'll just take work. Which. Lucky for me. I'm a Hufflepuff in that way." Smiles. "So. I can put in the effort, but you, uh. You good with some lessons? Like I don't wanna end up hurting myself if I stretch wrong. Since. Owie. But also. I don't know Life to fix my owies." Life. Something she should start learning. Since. Useful. Also. Learning to be flexible and shit. Problly useful for whatever Guardian shenanigans she's gonna get up to.

"Naw. Memories are nice and all. But if I was the type to hoard 'em away I wouldn't have offered the Theater. I'da locked this place up and visited when I was feelin' mopey. So. Hit the apple. And we can make some of our own." grin.

"I don't think either of us are in practice." Tuesday admits, swinging another apple horribly before she frowns and grabs a second one and hits it. The fruit connects with the bat with a loud meaty sound. The apple flies and lands...somewhere. Out there. Probably.

"Better!"

[Aurora]

Smirking, “I know, right?! Cause you know it’s the first thing your date notices.” Insert eyeroll.

Nodding, “Yeah. And it’s nice…to know that. But make take some time to open up, been on my own for so long with personal problems and all that.” So she figured it was understandable to be slow to open up.

“I can see that. Should have been sooner, but it didn’t feel right until it happened, you know, in my head.” Until she thought enough about it and pieces began fitting together.

Smiling, “Sure, I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.” she then laughs, “I wouldn’t let you hurt yourself, and even if you did,” hands were held up and finger wiggled, “I got the ability to fix it. But seriously,” head shake, “I wouldn’t let it happen. Back pain and injuries are a real thing, and yeah, no way. Just have to make sure you don’t try something too advanced too soon.” Cause as funny as it could be, it would hurt. And she didn’t want Tuesday in pain.

“That’s good to know. But I’d understand of there were memories you wanted to keep to yourself.” She just wanted to say that, to let her know that it was ok.

Chuckling with a snort, “Maybe we need to find a batting cage and get some more practice.” She hadn’t been to one of those in ages.

There was a clap as Tuesday hit the apple. “Gonna be hard to beat that one.” Head shake, “Maybe I need a few shots.” Laughing.

[Tuesday]

Tuesday snorts. Loudly. Because even she thought Star was ogling her bewbs when they met.

Tuesday nods, "I get it. I mean, I really do. So. It's totally okay if it takes a while."

More nodding. "I get that too. I mean. Not exactly. Since. Names plus Path switching. But. Just s'names in general. Nothin' worked until my mentor Dea got fed up and made me pick something. And In that moment of I don't like you slash blind panic. Tuesday came to mind. It fit. I liked it -- still do -- and it pissed Dea off." smirk.

Head bob, turns into a nod. "Didn't think you would, but I needed to let you and me know that I wouldn't go off on my own and try and be a pretzel." the unicorn explains, "Maybe I should learn Life? I know you got it, and got me. But. Seems nifty."

She nods, "Yeah...I mean. I might have....but sharing the good ones, means making good ones with someone else." A smile.

"I have never been to a batting cage." Tuesday tells the blond, "But. Sure. We could go. Since. Try to Things~" Tuesday's rasp goes spooky and she wiggles her fingers.

A bark of a laugh, "With the bat or with a glass?" Because new s'name? Celebration time. At least, in Tuesday opinion.