[PRP] Shopping with Friends! (Xoana, Hadiyya, Sgáile)

[Menelie]

Shortly after returning from the Venus Day resort, Xoana paid her friend Hadiyya a visit to thank her again for the necklace (as it had been very helpful) and to insist they go on a shopping date together. Xoana wanted some new bangles and baubles so she'd have more options next time she went on a date with Beltan. He'd really seemed to appreciate what she'd worn to the masque, and she could never pass up an excuse to look at jewelry.


Hadiyya, however, was less enthusiastic about looking at jewelry on her day off. She couldn't turn off her critical eye, especially with regard to pieces that had obviously been made by surface-dwellers. But Xoana was insistent, and, as always, impossible to refuse. Plus she had promised her lunch.

"I still don't see why we're doing this," she grumbled as she followed behind Xoana. "I can make you anything you want."

"Not the point!" countered Xoana in a sing-songy voice. "It's about the experience, Diya." She picked up a ring and held it over to Hadiyya.

Hadiyya regarded the ring with a wary eye, then scowled, then made a "not bad" sort of face. "That's actually not terrible." She took it and examined it. "I wonder who made it..."

Xoana smiled wryly and put a hand on her hip. "Well I'd like it back when you're finished admiring it," she teased. Upon receiving it back, she chucked her chin in the direction of another stall. "C'mon, Diya, let's look at hairpieces. You don't make those, maybe you'll have more fun and quit working"

Xoana paid for her ring and slipped it on her finger, admiring the way it caught the light. She then led the pair of them over to the next vendor. "Pardon," she said as she slid past a curvy selkie girl.

Elros Namasi

 

[Elros Namasi]

Sgàile was deep in conversation with herself, some of it muttered but most of it in her own head, while she intently looked over a diverse selection of necklaces. Earlier that morning, Fen had come out of her room sporting a string of round orange and white coral beads with a big shiny green chunk of sea glass pendant as the focal point.

It was stunning and when Sgàile had been caught admiring it, her sister had launched into an excited explanation of this market stall that sold all kinds of beautiful jewelry and offered to take Sky along to maybe pick something out for her.

Sgàile loved her sister, even admired her for her ladylike demeanor and obvious good looks. But she'd never really connected with her over girly stuff and the offer rubbed her entirely the wrong way. "Ah can pick fer mahself!"

So here she was, agonizing over the choices and supremely out of her depth. "Wut're ya daft? Ye cannae dew this," she chided herself, throwing up her hands and 'stepping' away from the stall.. right into a pretty pink naiad girl who'd just tried to politely scoot passed. "Ah'm so sorreh! I didnae see yew there," she cried, spinning around to look at the pae she'd just butt-checked.

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

Xoana had tried to back up to avoid being butt-checked by the selkie girl who had unfortunately not seen or heard her, and ended up crashing into Hadiyya. She tried to spin and grab Diya, which ended with both of them landing on their behinds. Xoana giggled and got up, then helped Hadiyya up.

"Goodness!" she exclaimed, still giggling. "These stalls are closer together than they look!"

Hadiyya had landed on the seafloor before she knew what was happening. "What in the depths--"

After she'd gotten up and straightened herself out, she turned to Xoana, thinking that she'd run into the other girl. "You ought to watch where you're going and get your mind back in your head. Be time to think about your man later." She teased.

And then she almost immediately got distracted by the hairpieces on the table the selkie girl had been looking at.

Xoana rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the other girl. "No worries!" she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Everything's so crowded here."

She chucked her chin at the table the other girl had just come away from. "What're you looking at? Those necklaces are beautiful. Hadiyya there's a jeweler with an eye for quality and style. I'm sure she'd love to help you pick something out. I'm Xoana, by the way."

Elros Namasi

is xoana the friend version of a manic pixie dream girl? possibly.

 

[Elros Namasi]

[Transcribed from Discord back to Gaia]

Elros Namasi

Sgàile watched the pile-up with comical horror, her eyes wide and her mouth opened in a little "o" as if she'd gone to shout a warning but stopped in the middle when she realized it was too late. While the two naiad women had their attention on each other, she thought about bolting but, before she could decide, the one she'd bumped in the first place was turning back and talking to her.
"Tis well and packed t'gether, true enough," she agreed quickly, self-consciously shaking her hair in front of her face to hide the lighter side. "More reason Ah should've paid better attention. M'name's Sgàile," which sounded like Sky-lee with some weird voicing on the 'k', "and Ah.." Here she paused to fight with her natural selkie shyness, an affliction neither her da nor her sister seemed to be bothered by, and forged on despite being quite intimidated by the pretty, brightly-colored Xoana and her jeweler friend. "Ah could use a wee bit of help decidin'."

Menelie

"Sure thing!" said Xoana brightly. "What is it that you're looking for? Like a necklace or a hairpiece, or...?" This poor girl seemed so very shy, but unfortunately it was impossible for Xoana to tone herself down like, at all. Besides, she'd decided that they were friends now (which is incidentally also how she made friends with Hadiyya) so Sgaile would get used to it eventually. "Are you looking for something to wear for like an event, or just for fun everyday, or...." she paused for effect. "Are you maybe hoping to impress someone?" She raised her eyebrows a little suggestively.

Hadiyya rolled her eyes. "You'll have to excuse her," she said, addressing the curvy girl, "She's got a new boyfriend and he's taking up all the space in her brain where good sense should be." She ignored the resulting look from her friend.

Elros Namasi

Honestly unprepared for even the most sedate of strangers, Sgàile had no defenses against Xoana and found herself caught in the pretty pink naiad's current, swept along from stall to stall and subject to subject.
Somehow, almost against Sgàile's will, Xoana (and Hadiyya) collected details about her and her life while she did the same about them, commiserating with Xoana about huge, complicated extended families and chuckling when Hadiyya poked fun at Xoana about her lovesickness.

When all was said and done, Sgàile smiled and thanked both naiad women profusely as she pinned back her hair with the new clip she had acquired based off their advice and guidance. The empty scallop shell was on the small side and understated, all cream, soft sandy yellow, and sunset pink waves that brought out the orange highlights in her hair. With a whole bunch of waving, "air" kisses, and vague plans to do lunch sometime, Sgàile left the company of her new friends feeling elated with a newfound respect for the girly things her sister liked and the power of bonding over shiny things.