#th. mari03

[reinaazarolla]

STATUS: Closed for @mari-zuko WHERE: C. Ling WHEN: One night during spring break

Girl's night, a little break from campus, that's what her and Mari planned. It would start as a simple night out getting some drinks but who knows how it will end. Maybe they'll end up at Hex and go dancing, or maybe they'll just go bar hopping in town, or maybe they'll end up back at one of their dorms. Reina may have been hoping for one of those but she'd be happy with anything because it meant spending time with Mari and not spending the entire night alone in her dorm.

Reina decided to wear a light blue, backless, deep v-neck with a ruffled skirt mini dress, accessorized with dainty jewelry - a few rings and bracelets and a necklace with a little airplane that her parents got her one birthday - and paired with simple white heeled sandals. She left her hair down in loose curls and did a light makeup look with just a pop of color on her eyes. Taking one last look over herself in the mirror she deemed herself ready and started making her way to meet Mari.

It didn't take long to get to C. Ling, and it only took a second to spot her friend. "Hey," Reina greeted Mari with a smile. "I hope you weren't waiting long." She hated being the last one at places or being late in general but they didn't have a set time to meet. They just said they'd meet around this time, she was actually trying to show up early.

[reinaazarolla]

Reina couldn't help but mirror the smile on Mari's face after she agreed that tonight would be one like the old days. They'd start here, make their way to Hex, and pretend even if just for tonight that nothing was wrong in their lives. While listening to the other girl, she found herself silently tapping her finger against her glass. Maybe discussing the future wasn't the best idea considering with the events happening probably made people feel more anxious not knowing if today was going to be their last. The future would have to be a talk for a later date, maybe once all this G stuff is resolved.

"I guess it depends," She thought about being stuck in the ocean or in a jungle. "Am I stranded in the ocean with nothing, just hanging on to some drift wood, or am I at least in a little inflatable boat, or any any kind of raft really." Reina pressed her lips together. "I love the ocean but I think I'd have to pick jungle. At least on land I can make a fire to stay warm and to cook with. And I can build a shelter. I feel like if I'm in the middle of the ocean...I just don't have many survival skills for that." Reina brought her glass to her lips and took another drink. "Ooh, do you think that hot bartender is works at Hex? I wonder if they're working tonight."

"You're telling me," Mari agreed, the words ending in a sigh as her eyes fluttered closing, staying shut before she reopened them. As her gaze returned to Reina, Mari shifted in her seat, straightening up and angling herself slightly towards her more, rather than facing forward to the bar. Reina's proposal caused a smile to spread on her lips, tentative at first, until it bloomed into a wider one, Mari letting out a low laugh. "Honestly? That sounds like exactly what I need. What we need," she agreed, lifting her glass to clink it against Reina's before sipping from it. It seemed like something that the whole school needed. Just a moment a way from the mystery and the rumors and the tension that had bracketed campus for the entire year.

She took another, slower sip from her glass, slowly setting it back onto the bar as she thought for another moment. "First - dancing at Hex until we're not thinking about any of this shit that's going on sounds like the perfect spring break night. And second...." Mari paused, her head tipping sideways. "I know you said nothing school related, but the future really feels so...abstract lately. It's so hard to think about anything other than what's going on," she said, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. "But other than that, I'd definitely have to with being stranded in the ocean. You?" she asked, glossing over the surprisingly vulnerable statement to move onto Reina's preposterous would you rather with a crooked grin.

[reinaazarolla]

Reina hopped onto the stool beside Mari, "I see you started without me." Her eyes darted from the wine glass back to her friend. "That just means I have some catching up to do." She laughed before waving the bartender over and letting them know she would like the same drink as Mari. "Yeah, spring break kind of snuck up on me this year, no time to plan a proper trip." That was never a reason for her not to travel. There had been plenty of trips she'd gone on where she just hopped on the next or close to next flight out of town.

"At least not a proper trip to go on with someone. Not that I wouldn't travel alone but it's always more fun to go with people. How come you didn't go anywhere? Would the Dean frown upon his daughter having some fun like a normal college student during break?" Reina raised a brow. She wondered if she had asked Mari to go on a trip so they could get away from campus during break if she would have accepted. They still could, maybe just go for a few days. She'd have to ask depending on how the night goes. A glass of wine was placed in front of her and she thanked the bartender.

"Cheers to a much needed girls night away from Ogden." Reina smiled, holding her glass up. A part of her hoped they could fall back into how they were before Portugal but even if they couldn't she was happy for tonight and the time they were spending together. "We'll have to do these every once in a while."

Normally Mari loved the quiet campus during breaks, but this year, it had felt different. The oppressive silence only interrupted by swarming cops after New Year’s had been worse, but even spring break, when quite a few students and professors had jetted off...it was eerie. She had been all too happy to see that Reina had also stayed and even happier to have an excuse to go out with her. A girl’s night off campus, blow off some steam. Because they were one of few who hadn’t gone anywhere. That was it. And it was well overdue, since Reina had come back.

She was wearing a black corset - lace up sides, a square neckline that made ever her nearly non-existent boobs looks good, paired with a menswear-esque pleated trouser. And flats, considering how much taller she was then Reina (though honestly, Mari sorta liked it). Her hair was pulled back with a small velvet bow, her fingers absentmindedly twirling the loose pieces around her face as she sat at the bar, waiting for Reina. Though she had been quite early - Mari was punctual to the point of it being fault, at least in situations like this. At least it gave her a chance to have a glass of wine in front of her.

When she finally saw Reina, she gave her a small smile in return, her hand already lifting to wave away her comment. “Not at all,” she lied, swiveling on her stool so the brunette could slide in next to her. “You know, I’m surprised you didn’t go anywhere over break,” Mari added after a beat, waiting for Reina to be seated before she spoke.

[reinaazarolla]

Reina took a sip, licking a lips a little afterward and gave her friend a small smile. "The dean is being overprotective the wrong way." She sighed. "The campus is off-putting, it's a bit dangerous more so than usual of course. If I were in the dean's shoes I would have sent her far away from all of this." She took another sip and tried to keep the mood from getting too down. "But let's not think about that stuff tonight. I want us to loosen up, have fun. Pretend it's a time like the beginning of last summer."

The brunette raised a brow. "So I think we have some drinks here, talk about anything not school related, like literally anything else. The future, whether you'd rather be stranded in the ocean or in a jungle, if aliens are real..." She took another drink. "Maybe go check out Hex if we're feeling it later, and just go from there." The point of tonight, at least for her, was to have fun and kind of forget about the real world.

"Oh, it's my first one," Mari said, lying through her teeth at Reina's suggestion she needed to catch up, waving a hand in dismissal. She took a small sip from what was actually her second drink as Reina ordered hers, Mari nodding along with Reina's explanation. She knew that hadn't stopped the girl before - but she agreed with it anyways, not wanting to pry as to what had made her stick around. If Mari hadn't had her father keeping her on a short leash, she would've fled campus the moment she could've.

Though she probably wouldn't have even gone to Ogden in the first place.

Mari shrugged, letting out a low laugh at the question. "He's...just been a bit overprotective lately. With...you know, everything that's been going on." The answer was half-hearted, and not even digging into the surface of the relationship that was between the dean and his daughter, but Mari didn't want to get into it. Couldn't begin to get into it, not without unpacking layers of control and tension that she hadn't even looked at herself.

Luckily, the moment was interupted by the bartender sliding the glass of wine in front of Reina, Mari easily letting a smile spread across her lips as she straightened up in her seat, her own glass lifted as well. "Cheers to that," she said, a hint of brightness appearing in her eyes. She was always down for a night off of campus, frequently seeking them out on her own. It helped her to feel a bit less like the dean's daughter was the largest portion of her personality. "This year has been....weird. Campus is so...off-putting," she said with a sigh. That was one way to describe it.