Art for Art's Sake

[Arscapi†]

((Roman's reactions, such as they are, was approved by BetaKnight who's allowing me to GodMod Roman since she's computer-less at the moment.))

"And, whoa! Mile per minute with you, eh? I'm basically wearing whatever shows off my legs. I don't have the bust for an elegant dress, so it'll probably be a simple cocktail dress. Tan maybe." Meghan said.

Samaya made a face then quickly schooled her features. Tan, really? It's prom, go crazy, besides me and tan don't go well together. Samaya thought looking down at her own tan skin. I was thinking more along the lines of an aqua or an orange. It was then that she glanced across the table at Roman. She struggled to stiffle a giggle at Roman's expression as Meghan announced that they all go shopping together. She doubted Roman had even accompanied Alex to look for her dress and yet Meghan seemed to think he'd want to go with them. She actually didn't have a problem going with Meghan, she needed a dress and if the girl trusted her maybe she'd accept that ride. Samaya didn't buy for a minute she lived so close to school.

She was going to come up with an excuse to bail both the guys out when Jimmy blurted out his invitation. Samaya's eyes widened and a glance back at Roman showed that he was just as shocked as she was at Jimmy's announcement. She leaned forward, with the pretense of working on her vase, but watched through her eyelashes to see how Meghan would react. Would she actually chose her own good time over Amanda's? It'd be a first.

[BetaKnight]

"I'm going to prom. You can go with me, if you like."

Roman's jaw dropped when Jimmy blurted out his prom invitation. Wow. Way to 'No Guts, No Glory' it, man. Realizing he looked like a fish, he snapped his mouth closed.

This whole situation was kind of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. First, Meghan suggested going clothes shopping in the mall, which he didn't even do with his sister. At least, not without some kind of bribe first. Then Jimmy just dove into the shallow end of the pool by asking Meghan to prom. And he was amazed that Samaya had not given herself a sprained muscle in her eyes as she tried to unobtrusively watch what was happening while working on her vase.

The silence at the table stretched out while they all waited breathlessly for Meghan's answer. Roman fidgeted in his chair, squirming. This was torture, making Jimmy wait like this while the specter of a public denial and equally public humiliation hung over the poor guy's head.

Before he could stop himself, before he could even really think about what he was doing, he called out in a low, sing-song tone. "Awk-ward."

[Arscapi†]

Samaya nodded in agreement at Roman's statement. She then scooted her chair closer to Roman. "So, Roman what do you think of my vase so far," she said holding the light blue vase up for his inspection. "Do you think I should go with a brighter color? Is it weird to paint flowers on a vase?" She asked in an attempt to give the other two at the table some privacy. At the moment they were simply sitting and staring at each other. She then lowered her voice so that only Roman could hear. "Is it me or did that come completely out of nowhere? Are you going to prom?"

[BetaKnight]

The whole situation had reached British farce levels. Meghan and Jimmy were busy engaging in their own little Mexican standoff, silently staring at each other in an attempt to wait the other one out. Samaya scooted over next to him and kept up a steady stream of one-sided conversation in a partially successful effort to distract from the debacle that was Meghan and Jimmy, or Megmmy, as the school gossips where sure to dub them.

As the drama ratcheted up with each passing second and Samaya obliviously leaned over to whisper to him, Roman fought down the urge to laugh. Not a nervous laugh, but an honest-to-god-from-the- bowels-of-his-soul laugh. Subtlety, thy name is not Samaya. Instead, he just smiled indulgently at her utter lack of James Bond smoothness and answered her question.

"I think someone taught Jimmy that ladies like spontaneity, which I've found does not pay off as well as doing some homework and getting the lay of the land first. Hence, our stare down o' awkwardness." He nodded his head towards the other teens.

"And yes, I'm going because Alex found a date so now if I don't go, I'll never hear the end of it from my mother. I don't know what I'm gonna do for a date, though. To be honest, there's no girl that I've got crazy romantic designs on, misplaced or not."

Roman didn't even bother to lower his voice like Samaya had. He just looked pointedly at the silent duo. If Jimmy and Meghan didn't like being talked about, they could just stop staring at each other like a couple of mimes and actually interact with him.

When neither one responded, Roman shrugged and picked up Samaya's vase. "I think you'll need to do bright colors to replicate that pattern accurately. And flowers might give it more of an indigenous people feel. What about you? You got plans for prom?"

[Elma†]

((Sorry D:))

Meghan batted her eyes rapidly, nervously. She'd never been outright asked like this before, and right in front of a crowd. She didn't know the boy, and he looked huge compared to her. She was thin, and his arm looked as huge as her waist. He seemed nice, just a bit.. intimidating.

"Sure." Meghan spoke faster than her brain could register. Oh my god, did I just say yes? She blushed as her mind caught up with her mouth. "I'd love to go with you Jimmy. It beats being Amanda's bitch this prom." She tried to smile back, being as kind to Jimmy as he was to her. She didn't have much experience with men.. well, not on a human level any way.

Call it rude, but her focus shifted entirely from Samaya and Roman. Besides, it seemed like the two were off in their own conversation anyway. Instead she was drawn to Jimmy. Me..?

[decoy73]

Jimmy didn't know how much time it had been. He guessed about thirty seconds. Samaya and Roman had sort of separated into their own little group, but Jimmy had seen Roman's jaw drop and Samaya's eyes bulge momentarily. The invite had taken them by surprise as much as it had Meghan herself. Hell, he hadn't been thinking when he had asked her (Had they known each other a little more, it would have been less of a shock, but Jimmy and Meghan only knew each other peripherally). Given the attitude Meghan had shown, he didn't know which way she would go. Either she would say yes out of some sort of self-interest (she couldn't defer to Amanda all the time), or her co-dependence would win out, and she'd say no. Then Meghan spoke:

"Sure." Meghan paused momentarily. "I'd love to go with you, Jimmy. It beats being Amanda's bitch this prom." Jimmy resisted the urge to show any sort of surprise or idiocy in celebrating the fact that he had just gotten a date for prom. More importantly, she actually seemed to be worth the time and effort to get to know. Instead, he just smiled.

"Cool. When should I pick you up?" He regulated his voice to sound casual, but grateful all the same.

[Arscapi†]

"I think someone taught Jimmy that ladies like spontaneity, which I've found does not pay off as well as doing some homework and getting the lay of the land first. Hence, our stare down o' awkwardness." He nodded his head towards the other teens.

"I think you'll need to do bright colors to replicate that pattern accurately. And flowers might give it more of an indigenous people feel. What about you? You got plans for prom?"

Samaya stopped to consider his advice and then picked up the brush dipping it into a bright blue. She applied the brush to the vase for a moment. "Not everything spontanious is romantic," she said returning to their previous conversation. "A burp for instance, totally not romantic. I'm going to prom, by myself right now. Although hey now that I think about it, we could totally go together. That'd get both of our parents off our backs. What'd you think?"

[BetaKnight]

I'm going to prom, by myself right now. Although hey now that I think about it, we could totally go together. That'd get both of our parents off our backs. What'd you think?"

"Brilliant!" Roman said in a Scottish accent, mimicking the Guinness commercials on tv before reverting to his normal voice. "That's a great idea. We can do the whole thing low-key, if that's all right with you. I'll borrow my dad's car, we can do dinner some place kinda casual, beat the steak house rush. Have a nice, kick-back prom without all the crazy drama." He stared pointedly at Meghan and Jimmy who were still involved in their own little scene as Meghan finally agreed. What a great reason to go to all that effort. To avoid being someone's bitch, he lamented with a shake of his head. Poor Jimmy. That is going to be such a dysfunctional prom night.

Turning his attention back to Samaya, he continued. "So anyway, just let me know what color dress you settle on, so I know what color corsage to get you. Oh, and after prom, how do you feel about astro bowling?"

[Arscapi†]

Samaya picked up the brush again and made quick work of adding flowers. "I think that's all I can do for now. I don't want the colors to run," she said and then picked her little vase up carefully and returned it to the shelf it'd come from. One more day and it should be completely finished.

She returned to the table and realized that Jimmy and Meghan still seemed to be lost in their own little world. Glancing down at her watch she realized it was getting late. She smiled at Roman, "Looks like it's time for me to head home. I've got a couple of dresses in mind, when I make my mind I'll call and let you know," she promised. Bending down, she retrieved her backpack from under the ceramics table and placed it over her shoulder. "See you tomorrow," she said to Roman and waved at the other two, not that they noticed.

((Samaya continued in Dear Agony, Love Hatred))

[BetaKnight]

Roman watched as Samaya wrapped up her work for the day. He nodded in agreement with her assessment that there wasn't much else she could do to it without mucking up the design and pattern.

As Samaya pointed out that it was getting late and she would call him later with more details, he glanced at his wrist. Alex should be done by now, he thought with relief as he smiled and returned Samaya's departing wave. I'm so ready to get out of here today.

Looking at Jimmy and Meghan, Roman planted his hands on the table and pushed himself to his feet. "Oh, would you look at the time," he softly exclaimed. Feeling supremely confident that they were still completely caught up in each other, he smugly added. "I'm sure my sister is waiting for me, so I'll catch you two wacky lovebirds later. Good luck with your prom plans. You two are gonna need it."

Grabbing his messenger bag, Roman headed for the door, off to track down his twin.

((Roman Jackson continued in Cook Until Done))