#aeri.ender1

[avdaciter]

It's what friends are for.      The phrase resonated in her head and it sent a wave of warmth through Aeri's body. The loneliness she'd fought her entire life against, was now a thing of the past... all thanks to Ender, Calahan and Eprhaim. Friends she had been doing her best to keep close to her no matter what now that she had found them, or, better yet, now that they had found her. "I know, but it's not fair with other people. I... I don't like the special treatment." Besides, it shouldn't be too hard to confirm her working hours and reserve an hour or two after work to stop by Neon Ink before heading upstairs to their apartment. "I think the worst part is convincing myself it won't hurt as much as I think it will." Letting out a soft chuckle, Aeri then reached in to sip on the mimosa the girls had prepared for themselves that evening.

Upon hearing what had been troubling her best friend, the young medium couldn't help but feeling completely useless. Here she was, a medium, someone who could speak to and possibly guide lost souls, and she didn't know how to help Ender.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Aeri moved closer to where Ender was sitting and wrapped her arms around the ghost's petite frame, resting her cheek on the other woman's shoulder. "You know... sometimes I can't sleep either." She confessed, voice small and as calm as a whisper. "I think sometimes, our problems catch up to us and we can't rest." Because even if Ender couldn't actually sleep, at least the ghost didn't have to feel restless. "As for getting easier... I don't know." Aeri drew in a breath between the two sentences, after all, admitting her uselessness to someone in need wasn't easy, but, what else could she do? She wouldn't lie. Not to Ender. "But whether it does or it doesn't..." She pulled away from the hug, only to take both of Ender's hands, being careful enough not to ruin her freshly painted nails. "I'll be right here with you, Andy." She squeezed her hands, nodding once, her gaze never once faltering nor wandering away from Ender's. "I promise you. And... and I'm getting better. I think I'll be able to help... soon..."

“it’s  a  deal,”   ender  had  always  had  friends,  but  they  were  often  secondary  ;  playthings,  bodies  that  she  used  solely  to  get  where  she  wanted.  before  her  death,  ender  had  been  a  bitter  person  —  a  selfish  person  —  and,  in  a  way,  she  still  was.  but  something  had  changed  within  her  the  moment  she  crossed  over,  opened  her  eyes  and  blindly  navigated  to  the  gentle,  cloudy  fog  of  portum’s  boundary.  the  woman  had  softened.  “you  know  i’ll  always  make  a  space  for  you,  darling.  even  if  you  just  rock  up  and  want  something  there  and  then.  it’s  what  friends  are  for.”  a  gentle,  dimpled  smile.  death  may  not  have  been  what  she  expected  (  for  one,  it  was  a  whole  lot  more  vibrant  )  but  the  new  world  she  was  blindly  navigating  was  made  easier  with  someone  at  her  side. she  would  be  lying  if  she  said  things  weren’t  hard.  it  was  an  adjustment,  and  although  other’s  could  empathize  she  felt  as  though  nobody  could  truly  understand.  how  could  they?  liam  had  been  born  a  merman  and,  as  much  as  she  felt  bad  for  koda’s  affliction,  he  had  brought  it  on  himself.  there  was  a  slight  twinge  of  guilt  whenever  she  heard  about  his  poor  little  puppy  of  a  boyfriend,  but  even  then  jasper  still  breathed.  they  were  still  solid,  squishy.  what  was  ender,  beyond  beautiful  air?  “i’m  finding  it  hard  to  sleep.  i  mean,  i  don’t  need  to  sleep,  but  when  everything  changed  …  at  least  i  could  pretend  to,  you  know?  close  my  eyes  and  drift  away.  but  now  i  can’t  stop  my  thoughts.”  she  paused  for  a  moment,  biting  on  her  lower  lip,  “petal,  does  it  get  easier?”

[avdaciter]

There is an old Japanese tale that says we're all connected to our soulmates by an invisible red string. The sting of destiny. Legend says that no matter how far you distance yourself from the one you're destined to be with, you're still going to meet in the end. Despite not having had luck on the romantic department, Aeri had sometimes wondered if Ender wasn't her destiny. A platonic love capable of challenging death itself, as her best friend was, well... dead, and Aeri had the gift of speaking to the dead. It made her think of her last conversation with Robin, and it brought an idea to mind. Maybe she could use her gift to help the gloomy demon.

"It's a deal. I'll double check how my schedule's going to be and let you know." There was excitement bubbling inside Aeri, and it was funny how someone so sticky sweet like her and at often times considered to be innocent, could be so into tattoos and now, she was going to get her nipples pierced by her best friend. "But anyway... enough about the creepy guy in the cemetery." She said, waving her hand off to dismiss the previous subject, since she'd noticed it had made Ender's smile falter a little bit. "How are you doing these days? I heard you cleaning things up the other day when I woke up to use the bathroom... is everything okay, Andy?"

ender  hadn’t  always  been  one  for  softness.   in  school,  she  had  been  forced  to  harden  as  a  defense  mechanism,  to  prevent  herself  being  eaten  alive.  east  london  educational  establishments  weren’t  typically  safe  spaces  ;  it  was  dog  eat  dog,  and  in  order  to  prevent  herself  becoming  fodder  the  young  jackson  had  to  rise  above  the  rest.  become  queen  bee.  in  her  death,  ender  had  softened  —  it  was  a  humbling  thing,  waking  up  outside  of  her  body,  aching  all  over  and  wondering  why  her  hands  were  translucent.  there  was  still  a  slight  edge  to  the  woman  —  she  was  sure  that  would  never  fade,  no  matter  how  long  she  was  dead  —  but  a  certain  level  of  patience  had  come  alongside  a  promised  eternity.  or,  at  the  very  least,  an  eternity  until  she  discovered  what  her  unfinished  business  was. if  she  even  had  unfinished  business  left  out  there. “oh,  babe,”  her  hand  rested  upon  her  chest,  her  bottom  lip  outstretched.  there  was  a  softness  beneath  the  exterior,  a  soft  middle,  and  aeri  knew  just  how  to  reach  it.  there  weren’t  many  people  that  had  such  tools  ;  koda  to  an  extent,  her  mother,  saphira  …  there  was  a  reason  why,  after  multiple  failed  roommate  partnerships,  her  and  aeri  had  managed  to  survive  for  a  year  in  their  shared  space.  ender  paused  and  blew  too - cold  air  against  her  fresh  painted  manicure.  “absolutely!  it’s  busy  at  the  moment,  people  getting  last  minute  piercings  for  their  costumes.  a  piercing  is  for  life,  not  just  for  halloween  —  or  whatever  the  saying  is.  if  i  have  to  do  one  more  eyebrow  bar  because  of  that  guy  from  saltburn.”  dark  eyes  rolled.   she  grinned  at  the  prospect  of  marking  her  friend.  “between  now  and  christmas,  we’re  golden.  give  me  a  time  and  we’ll  make  those  nipples  the  prettiest  you’ve  ever  seen.”  ender’s  brain  was  floating  on  the  prospect  of  prettying  up  her  best  friend  until  the  name  struck  her  right  between  the  eyes.  homer  —  the  strange  shadow  of  the  man  that  lingered  in  the  corner  of  the  parlor  and  forced  her  to  pick  a  card  every  few  weeks  from  a  pretty  deck.  her  smile  slowly  fell.  “he  rings  a  bell,  yes.  he’s  a  strange  one.  i  wish  i  could  help  you  and  give  you  all  the  answers,  my  love,  but  i  have  enough  unanswered  threads  as  it  is.  i  feel  like  my  brain  is  going  to  explode  —  i’m  kind  of  glad  i  don’t  have  to  worry  about  that  anymore!”

[avdaciter]

Ender's proposal was quite tempting   ,   if she was going to let her nipples get pierced by anyone, might as well be her best friend here. Best friend... in all of her thirty-three years living in South Korea, she hadn't felt as connected to people as she had to Ender in this last year being here in Portum. Well, her old violin instructor had also been quite close to Aeri, which made her think that maybe, just maybe, she was better befriending the dead than the living. Ender and all of her wonder was just another proof to her theory. Aeri had always felt like she didn't quite belong anywhere, and maybe it was because she was connected to both worlds, walking along the thin line that separated them. 

"Have I ever told you you're the best friend I've ever had?" It sounded like a silly thing to say, childish even, especially to someone like Ender who walked around looking like she owed the whole world. She didn't look the type to sit around and befriend outcasts like Aeri, and yet, here she was, getting a spa night with the young medium. Her words did make Aeri feel a little self-conscious, so she tried changing the subject the best she could. "But um... you know, I could really get used to the idea of getting my nipples pierced. Maybe after the Halloween fair?" She suggested as Aeri didn't want to walk around in pain in a tight costume. "How's your schedule looking for next week?"

At her roommate's reaction, Aeri reached for the mimosa and took a sip from it. "I know! Does the name Alcott ring any bells?" Maybe Ender would have more answers than her brief encounter with the man did. "Someone kept telling me to ask him about the Manor, and I had no idea what it meant. I hate, it you know? Not knowing what to do in these situations or not knowing how to handle all of... this inside me. It makes me feel crazy and I'm not crazy. I makes me feel unfit, like I did back home." Upon noticing how beautiful thered shade of nail polish looked on Ender's nails, Aeri smiled. "This looked gorgeous on you, but then again... what doesn't?"

for  someone  that  had  already  passed  over ,   for  someone  that  had  already  passed  over,  ender  thought  of  herself  as  rather  alive.  she  wasn’t  walking  around  with  her  arms  outstretched  ahead  of  her,  moaning  and  jangling  chains  like  some  sort  of  stereotype.  she  wasn’t  solid,  but  she  was  certainly  squishy  —  the  woman  had  been  caught  somewhere  between  the  afterlife  and  the  real  world,  and  for  some  reason  that  was  where  she  stayed.  at  least  she  was  safe.  here,  she  had  her  brother  and  her  friends  and  some  idiots  that  made  up  her  quiz  team.  what  more  could  she  ask  for? well,  a  pulse  might  have  been  handy,  but  she  couldn’t  have  it  all.  crimson  coated  her  thumb,  and  ender  softly  blew  on  the  nail  to  help  it  dry  quicker.  “right?  isn’t  it  disgusting?”  she  giggled.  “i  suppose  you  can  get  anything  pierced  if  you  want  it  done  enough.  i  gave  them  to  my  colleague,  i  made  up  an  imaginary  appointment to get me out of it  —  again.”  with  her  tacky  fingertips,  ender  took  her  mimosa  and  inhaled  the  familiar  scent  ;  champagne  and  citrus.  she  couldn’t  drink  it,  but  she  could  pretend.  when  ender  was  alive  she  had  lived  by  the  motto  of  ‘  fake  it  until  you  make  it  ’ .  in  her  death,  not  much  had  changed  at  all.  “nipples  are  normal  and  so  totally  cute!  i  did  liam’s  nipple  piercings.  if  you  need  someone  experienced  and  gentle,  let  me  know.”  swishing  the  mimosa  beneath  her  nose,  she  squealed,  “half-naked  guys?  ugh!  i’ll  have  to  have  a  strong  word  with  them. gross.”

[avdaciter]

Aeri would be lying if she said that living with a dead being had been the most comfortable living arrangement she's ever had. It was home and she wouldn't have it any other way. Ender had way about her that made Aeri feel like she hadn't been an only child all her life, and the sweet, sassy ghost had introduced Aeri to the sacred habit of having girls nights. It meant no work, just fun. Sweet songs playing in the background, mimosas, doing each other's nails, gossiping about people's wrongdoings —after all, it wasn't their fault some people kept feeding them with things to talk about, right?

"Jesus, Ender. Warn me before you bring up something disgusting like this." Aeri playfully did a little gagging motion before making a face to her best friend. "I mean, I get wanting to be different, but... the back of her neck? Here I thought I was extreme for wanting to get my nipples pierced." She shook her head. "Did you do it, though?" Her hand reached for the mimosa in front of her and Aeri took a sip from it, to down the weird in her mouth that the talk about the neck piercing had left there. "Did I tell you? Apparently, your friends, the ghosts, now want me to go to the cemetery at late hours to catch half-naked guys there... the hell?"

@avdaciter      /       ENDER + AERI'S APARTMENT   ,     with     aeri .

their  shared  space  was  no  joke .  prints  and  posters  lined  the  walls,  neon  lights  that  cast  the  apartment  in  soft  pinks  the  moment  the  sun  went  down,  and  a  velvet  green  couch  that  ender  would  have  died  for  —  had  she  not  already  been  dead.  girls  nights  were  sacred,  untouchable  ;  she  would  cancel  anything  if  it  meant  curling  up  with  her  roommate,  finding  a  nineties  romcom  on  netflix,  painting  each  other's  nails  and  gossiping  about  whatever  came  to  mind.  “did  you  hear  about  the  booking  i  had  the  other  day?”  ender  was  lacquering  her  fingers  with  a  deep  red,  “she  wanted  the  back  of  her  neck  pierced.  i  know  i'm  dead  and  all  but,  yikes,  that  made  me  feel  nauseous.”