Bella attends her classes with faultless punctuality, every time. She sits in the second or third row on an aisle in the middle section of seats, in the classes that take place in big auditorium lecture halls like the main section of Bio; she's willing to put herself closer to the professors in smaller classes like OS and of course her flute chair (third; she hasn't been quite ridiculously showoffy enough to climb beyond yet) is assigned. But right now, she is in Bio, learning tidbits about auxin and tropisms that the textbook didn't cover fully. She's running at about one and a half speed, just enough that she can trivially listen to and process the lecture against her memory of the text while also permitting some mind-wandering. She liiiiiikes her cognitive speedup power.
regularsized
"...Please tell me more about your boyfriend," Bridget requests, "if only so I can erase the image of you dating Alice Cooper from my mind."
Janine laughs.
Janine laughs.
self_composed
"That's actually one of the reasons he goes by that name, if I recall correctly," says Bella. "He's - hm, I don't think I actually have any picture of him handy, I should fix that for just this sort of situation. He's tall and he's got wavy brown hair just shy of shoulder length and he makes extremely distinctive facial expressions that defy verbal description. He sews dresses and bakes."
regularsized
"He sounds fascinating," says Bridget. "Does he or does he not wear stage makeup on a regular basis?"
"I have never seen him in any," volunteers Janine. "But I have not seen him that many times."
"I have never seen him in any," volunteers Janine. "But I have not seen him that many times."
self_composed
"Makeup very occasionally, but not stage makeup. Dresses, though, he will occasionally wear."
regularsized
"A long-distance relationship. Congratulations. I've never been able to hang onto one of those."
"He visits a lot," says Janine.
"He visits a lot," says Janine.
self_composed
"Yeah, we keep in close touch," Bella says.
[You're being talked about,] she informs Alice. And turns the read on, because why not, she can speed up if she needs to in order to juggle two conversations.
[You're being talked about,] she informs Alice. And turns the read on, because why not, she can speed up if she needs to in order to juggle two conversations.
edgeofyourseat
Alice is in the middle of making dinner. Currently that means sitting on the kitchen counter in his lair, waiting for water to boil.
[By who?] he wonders, smiling at nothing in particular. Bella has that effect on him.
[By who?] he wonders, smiling at nothing in particular. Bella has that effect on him.
self_composed
[Me and Janine and my biology study-buddy Bridget.]
"No, he's not in anything at the moment, although he has a lovely little startup business for the dressmaking - Janine is among the customers," Bella says, waving a hand at her roommate.
"No, he's not in anything at the moment, although he has a lovely little startup business for the dressmaking - Janine is among the customers," Bella says, waving a hand at her roommate.
regularsized
"They are beautiful dresses and I wish I could afford more of them," says Janine.
"Maybe I should look him up," muses Bridget.
"Maybe I should look him up," muses Bridget.
self_composed
[She wanted one for Bio and I like her. She's actually got a doctorate in physics and she's just being weirdly thorough about going back through school for medicine.]
"If you want a dress I can put the request through for you," Bella offers.
"If you want a dress I can put the request through for you," Bella offers.
regularsized
"I think I'd want to know what his dresses are like first," says Bridget. "No offense, but I expect your opinion to be biased."
"I could show you the one he made me," says Janine, "but it is not really representative."
"I could show you the one he made me," says Janine, "but it is not really representative."
self_composed
"I have two," Bella says. She gets out the little black dress and the autumn one. "They're different for everyone, he does everything custom."
[I'm straight, Alice. I guess she's kinda nerd-pretty? Glasses, brown hair, doesn't dress like she expected to leave the house on any given morning?]
[I'm straight, Alice. I guess she's kinda nerd-pretty? Glasses, brown hair, doesn't dress like she expected to leave the house on any given morning?]
regularsized
"...I like," says Bridget, quite sincerely.
Janine gets out her own example, of which Bridget also voices approval.
"What kind of commissions does he take? What's his price range? Not too exorbitant, I hope."
Janine gets out her own example, of which Bridget also voices approval.
"What kind of commissions does he take? What's his price range? Not too exorbitant, I hope."
edgeofyourseat
[I like her already!] says Alice. His mental image is not very precise, but is more or less accurate.
self_composed
"It's been about a hundred bucks per, depending on the design. He doesn't really care about the money, he has enough, but he doesn't take every order that comes in," Bella says.
[She likes the dresses, too. She might want one.]
[She likes the dresses, too. She might want one.]
regularsized
"Does he expect creative input?" asks Bridget, as Janine puts her dress away. "Because I have no creative input, I just know I want one."