savetheearth | (no subject)

Who: Luci and Harper
When: Backdated to 1/25, post snakepocalypse.
What: Friends don't let friends deal with their first Numbers catastrophe alone. So sleepover TLC time.

Warnings: Severe fluff abound? The power of friendship? idek.

It took three times on the phone with her mother, reassuring her that, yes, she had in fact met up with Harper while she was out; no, she was not just using it as an excuse to stay with her boyfriend; and yes, if she wanted to check out her story she could call Harper's house before the woman finally relented. She wasn't exactly prepared to spend the night, but at this point, Luci didn't care, there were far more important things.

Like forcing herself to stay calm.

She wasn't nearly as riled up as the other blond, a bit more used to situations like this, but, more than anything, she wanted to make sure to keep control of the situation. Even as the two arrived at Harper's house, Luci was her usual bubbly self, making some excuse on the fly; she even surprised herself at how easily she managed to maneuver through that, the company that she kept really must have been rubbing off on her.

Half leading the other girl toward her room, Luci closed the door behind her. Only then did she let go of Harper's hand, letting the slightly forced persona drop away. She stayed silent, however, standing there, not entirely sure how her friend would react.

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Harper listens quietly, for once. There's nothing she feels less like doing than processing information, but she attempts to take it in for what it is, simply by the virtue of it being Luci telling her. But as much as she's trying, she's hitting a rapidly-crumbling wall. She knew — listened to Proud talk, listen to everyone at that meeting who was supposedly just like her, even when it felt like she was looking in at a significant remove. Like it was happening to someone else. At her last statement, the one that was emotional instead of logical, Harper's shoulders hunch, and she looks down.

"Of course I'm okay! Because... look at what you did," she reaches to clutch both hands at the space between her collarbones defensively, forgetting all together about what she still held. "With real magic, and I-I still can't believe it! I can't believe this is happening at all!"

She's not used to losing control of a situation, or more importantly, her feelings. And the longer she stands there stewing it in, how she'd been scared for her life, and the lives of those around her, the more it starts to bubble over, making her tremble.

"What am I supposed to do?"

It was very rare, but Luci knows a Harper breakdown when she saw one, and the blond quickly stands. "Hey, it's okay, it's a lot to take in! We don't have to talk about it right now, it's okay." She says somewhat soothingly, trying to gently get her to sit down before taking a seat next to her.

"You know," Luci started, quickly trying to change the subject. "I can't remember the last time we've done this. Had a sleepover. I think the last time was when we were freshmen," As if it was so long ago.

Following along, Harper sits when prompted, planting her feet on the floor and trying to take deep breaths without actually taking deep breaths. Just something to give her focus, and clarity that wasn't too sharp. All she ends up doing is staring at the pattern on her socks for a long moment, to keep the upset roiling around her ribcage in check. Her clothes are still dirty.

"Winter break," she replies weakly, before trying to strengthen the sound of her voice, "Winter break of freshman year was the last time."

Good, Luci managed to get her talking about something else, that was a step in the right direction. She wasn't as good at comforting others as her former self, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. "I didn't realize it had been that long ago," This was mostly true, with a bit of a dramatic flair thrown in to keep them on that line of conversation. "Hey, why don't you change into some pajamas and we can throw in a movie. Whatever you want to watch. We'll take over the living room.

"You can even play with my hair too, if you want." Yeah, she knew that was a good enough distraction as any for Harper.

Harper hums a vague kind of agreement, thinking that what Luci was trying to prescribe would do the trick. Or at least allay all the fears that had muscled their way to the surface — that very carefully upheld surface that Harper hardly ever let waver so much as she did now. Then again, the kind of danger she encountered was all but impossible to reconcile, in her mind. Saying nothing of what, who, had saved her... quietly, she loosens her hands from where they're still knotted against her chest.

"Mm, you're right, I should... it'll — it'll be just like we used to. ...ah?"

Once she's given her fingers some slack, her expression lights up in realization. There's something clutched in her palms, squirming. Making little twinkling noises, like a tiny wind chime. Starting, she whips her hands up, allowing the tiny jewel-like creature to go free.

And to her surprise, it floats up between the two girls and huffs a huge breath, looking about as worn out as she does.

"That was close!"

Luci nodded emphatically. She was still very much not herself, but this was a step in the right direction, that Harper would be able to shake this off at least somewhat.

Standing up, she headed toward the door before stopping when another small voice piped in. Turning, she stopped as the small jewel-thing hovered at eye level. The blond stared at it, blinking a few times.

It was talking. That little thing was... "...What?"