#thread:henrietta03

[rhia-falla]

who: @cinnamonfm when: nye party where: hamptons house

The second Rhia received a text from G, her eyes scanned the faces of her peers. They all collectively received a text then grew somber. G's instruction affirmed the narrative Rhia constructed that this anonymous person was attempting to lead them to the truth about Greer's murder. Whatever details were exposed tonight might lead them closer to who had done it, and Rhia eagerly wanted to do her part in clearing a potential suspect. It felt futile to trust the FBI when it'd taken months just to declare her disappearance a murder case. Somehow, G knew details the police didn't, and this knowledge tempted her to place her faith in their intervention instead. She was frightened of G and their capabilities, but there was a growing concern they would never receive closure without G's assistance.

Rhia eyed Heni all night, keeping an eye on her even as she gossiped with others. Preferably, she wanted to wait until Heni had a few drinks and let her guard down. She suspected she'd get little out of the woman if she went into this like an interrogation, so instead Rhia plotted to gain her trust and coax the truth from her. If she felt like she could rely on Rhia, there was less of a chance she might hold back. Rhia approached Heni warmly, encouraged by their recent encounter that seemed to chip away some of their walls toward each other. "You having fun, babe?" she asked politely. "Anyone ask to be your first kiss of the year yet?"

[rhia-falla]

That seemed strange... A woman of Heni's nature, likely to clash with Greer's from time to time. It was as she said; they knew each other for almost their entire lives. They were important, invested figures in each other's lives, and in all those years they had never had anything more than a lighthearted squabble? Not only that, but she was quick to hop on the defensive. The question was as deftly delivered as Rhia could manage, yet still seemed to trigger some reflex in Heni to hide something... Or was Rhia simply overthinking it? "Really? Not even once?" Rhia probed with a raise of her eyebrows. She shrugged as her initial answer to Heni's question. A part of her felt guilty for going about it this way. She reminded herself it was for Greer's sake, and it was hard to be certain of anyone not being somehow involved. "Just figured you might have some insight is all." Her lip stuck out in a pout, the toe of her left heel tapped anxiously against the floor. "Best friends fight, but they're supposed to forgive each other, right?" She shook her head, perhaps that couldn't be right. Or she was a fool to believe she meant anything nearly as dear to Nate as that. "So. What do you do when they stay mad at you?" she asked, sincerely. It was easy to deflect attention onto her own matters, a concern that hovered like an asteroid in orbit.

The mere mention of Nate's name is enough to paint a grimace across her features. That fucking thorn in her side. And then, to top it all off, G had basically demanded that she speak to him. Did blackmailers have complaints departments? If so, Heni would very much like a word.

The grimace remains for a moment, before morphing into a look of surprise at Rhia's next question. Something behind Heni's eyes shift, some unmistakable veneer of self-preservation hangs over her. It's the way things always go. Greer is brought up, and Heni clams up. "Sure, yeah, we did. I've known her since we were kids." She shrugs. "Never about anything serious, though. Why are you asking?"

[rhia-falla]

Surprised by the natural laugh that slipped, Rhia covered her mouth as if done at an inappropriate time. A blunt enough suggestion from Heni, and one that even Rhia couldn't reject. Who here could enjoy themselves? The night was ruined by G before it even had a chance to begin. Guilt engulfed her following the thought, semiconscious of her reasoning for standing in front of the brunette.

"I was planning to kiss Nate last year," Rhia admitted with a small shrug. Her eyes drifted, uncomfortable with the reality the two hadn't moved any closer since then. "I think we were in a fight at the time or something," she tried to recall with a shake of her head.

Rhia's teeth scraped her bottom lip, knowing the words she wanted to say but fighting to get them out. "Best friends do that, though," she said quietly. Some more than others, and perhaps Nate and Rhia even more than most. She let the words hang in the air, allowing both herself and Heni to soak in the chunk of her heart Rhia so casually tossed on the floor between them. "Did... did you and Greer ever fight?" she asked softly, as if not to startle Heni with the gravity of her question.

"You should go get that checked out," she quips back, eyebrows raised in faux challenge. The only person having fun tonight (and she was willing to put money on this), would be G. And something in her had trouble reconciling that that person could be Rhia. Logistically it didn't make sense - considering the blonde's two stints away from Ogden, but it was more than just that: she just couldn't see Rhiannon committing to G's cruel bit.

"Hasn't everyone?" Heni laughs, being acutely aware that her own track record was more 'sleep with your enemies' than 'kiss your friends' at the minute. Maybe she needed to change that. "Unless your friends are bad kissers. Don't think you can ever come back from that."

[rhia-falla]

Heni's no nonsense attitude felt refreshing, the more exposed she became the more appreciative she was of it. "I'm having fun," Rhia protested, though this was solely to get a rise out of Heni. The night was fine, albeit slightly uncomfortable. She laughed, though Rhia had done her fair share of kissing semi-strangers. Not tonight, but when she had been a lot more open to sharing herself. "What about a friend? You ever kiss a friend for New Years?" she asked lightheartedly. Rhia certainly had, but part of her understood that wasn't a universal experience. She kissed a lot of her friends, partially out of curiosity, sometimes out of attraction, and other times purely from affection. "Less of a mono risk, and kinda fun if you're both drunk enough."

Heni had toyed with the idea of leaving her phone behind in her room before going to the party. Going off-grid was terribly on-trend, wasn't it? And while the Hamptons weren't exactly 'van life'-adjacent (thank fuck, Heni couldn't imagine not having running water), it would be nice to have some brief respite from the internet. And yet, she'd brought it with her all the same, rationalising it with a huffed 'what if something were to happen' to silence her own inner critic.

And then, inner critic be damned, something had happened. And Heni is lucid enough to understand that if someone's name was sent to her, then her name must then inevitably also have been sent to someone. But as the night progresses, and no one shows up to demand she divulge anything, the anxiety dissipates like water on a hot stovetop.

"Are any of us having fun?" She shoots back, eyebrow cocked, voice laced with an acerbic little laugh. Because, really, what had this year been if not a joke? "No, no one. But if I'm being honest, I don't believe in New Year's kisses. Kissing a semi-stranger is nothing but a surefire ticket to mono."