Somewhere Only We Know [Rya]

[Anjali Kedar]

The more comfortable Anjali got with herself and her sexuality, the more open she became with it.  It had happened so quickly, feeling as if it had been overnight.  One day she was shyly admitting it to a friend, the next she was going to LGBT functions at the bar and then she was full on making out with a woman in her apartment.  A date.  That's what they'd called it.  It had taken her life by storm, and once Anjali realized how completely not frightening it all was, she found herself easing more into the public eye.  Not that she wore rainbow banners or anything, but she was far more comfortable in her own skin, and much less afraid of her parents finding out.  If they did, though.. Anjali didn't like to think of what might happen, what their reaction would be.  But they were far away and she had little to fear from them at this point in her life, so why not enjoy it?

For now she was spending as much time at the LGBT Youth Center as she could between school, work and her social life.  It helped her ease her way into the community with which she felt she belonged, and to find people to surround herself with in order to not feel so completely alone.  Though she had made a handful of friends already who swayed the same way she did.

Work had just ended and Anjali made her way to the center, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, smelling vaguely of lavender scented oil. The problem with teaching yoga was she always smelled of oil afterwards.  It was an extra step she always took, not necessary, but she enjoyed using it in her class during the end meditation.  She found it relaxed everyone a little more and had gotten compliments on the practice of rubbing it into the temples of her students.  But then she smelled like lavender for the rest of the day.  No sooner had she walked in the door that she saw a girl who looked familiar.  Where had she seen her?

The bar!

What's her name again?

"Hey!" She greeted enthusiastically, as was typical of her.  She smiled, hiking the bag on her shoulder up a little further.  "What's up?"

[Aryana Darcy]

There was a time in Rya's life where her insecurity of her sexuality manifested in promiscuity with whomever she deemed attractive enough; she found it to be a definite way to learn her sexual orientation, as hands on experience seemed to be the way to go for the Hydrokinetic. However, Rya never held the belief that she necessarily needed to interact with the rest of the 'community' she found herself in. Hell, the Brit still didn't, but after the bar the few weeks ago, well, she found there was far more in going to the meetings than just clapping and admitting hard times. There were plenty of genuine people sitting in the meetings, male or female, and the free drinks never hurt any, either.

While not a girl who attended every meeting that was set up, Rya came occasionally when she felt bored, or wanted to get away from the woman in the apartment that had once seemed so appealing after her own graduation. That excuse led her to several places, whether it be a few more hours at the art supply store where she worked, Carter's place, the gym, coffee shop... The list of places could go on. There were many times she even ventured to Burlington for a night out, but tonight was not one of those nights.

She loved her mother, but god damn the woman sometimes failed to understand her.

Lounging around with a bottle of water in her hand, Rya could be found leaning up against the wall and taking a moment to herself. The LGBT center may have been in Pilot Ridge, which happened to be the Meta capital of the United States, but that didn't mean they were all meta-human and therefore used to the sight of a Hydrokinetic messing around with the liquid in her bottle. Instead, she pressed the plastic bottle to her lips as the scent of Lavender hit her and a relatively familiar face approaching her. The name that went along with the face, however, eluded Rya.

"Hey," The Brit offered with a cool smile, "There isn't much to be quite honest." Part of the Brit was pulling at a potential name, but came up short. Maybe something with an A? It wasn't common, but in the end, if she didn't remember, she'd simply ask if it wasn't brought up.

[Anjali Kedar]

She smiled and gave a nod.  "Yeah, here either." She agreed looking around.  Not too many people around yet, or if there were they weren't anywhere to be seen.  Not easily anyway.  "Just thought I'd come around, see if anyone needed help with anything.. or like to see if anyone was just, yah know.. here."  It sounded dumb even to her.  "Of course someone would be here.  I mean, someone's usually here, right? Every time I come here there's someone here anyway.  Someone's always around.."  She was repeating herself as she rambled on like a lunatic.  Stop moving, mouth!

"Anyway.." A hand swiped over her hair, pushing back a few of the random stray hairs that had come loose from her ponytail, swaying into her face and constantly tickling her nose.  "So, how about the other night."  She gave a little laugh.  What she remembered of it.  The whole evening seemed sort of a blur, where she didn't exactly forget anything, but her memory was definitely on the foggier end.  "I'm going to sound like a total asshole, and I'm sorry, but for the life of me I can't remember your name.  I'm sure you told me but I drank way more than I should have that night.  And on the same note, I'm sorry if I was being obnoxious.  I don't really have a filter to begin with and alcohol inhibits what little I have, so if I was being anything like how I'm being now? I'm really sorry."  Her grin was apologetic and a little bashful but completely sincere.

[Aryana Darcy]

The consistent rambling of the girl in front of her pulled at her lips, the smile she so rarely offered being presented, a physical manifestation of her own amusement and a small breath of laughter topped it all off. "I'm just here, so." There wasn't much else she could say to respond to Anjali anyway, but she was curious to see the reaction that her words stirred up, if there were any at all.

Given that the timing was well before the meeting, and Rya simply wanted to see the happenings before the meeting began, so when she had arrived there was slight disappointment. That was, until that moment. Instead, she found herself quite engaged in what the other woman was offering - a decent conversation and a nice sight. A hand raised to dismiss the self-deprecating comment on her part, a gesture that wasn't even intentional by any means. "Not remembering my name is far from an asshole move. I rarely even give it out. Rya," The hydrokinetic started. "My name, I mean. It's Rya. And your name?"