First Time Meetings (Cadence and Nora)

[Deleted]

Sapphire....no, Noa. Noelle.  

Despite despising the name, a lifetime of being called by it had conditioned Noelle to only respond to that name.  Even to instinctively think of it first when considering how she would introduce herself to others.  Even four years of insisting she be referred to by her middle name hadn't been enough to erase that habit.  

Oh well, Saph---Noelle would get used to it one day.  One day, it will be so natural to her that she'd forget entirely what her given name really was....unlikely, but it was okay to dream, wasn't it?

While she wasn't initially happy about having to move out to this tiny city of Pilot Ridge to be closer with her sisters, Noelle was actually quite excited about living out of her parent's home for the first time, together with roommates. It was a new experience that she was well looking forward to.  

The both of them were coming by today so they could all get acquainted with one another before they actually started living with each other. She hoped to make a good impression. Noelle was wiping down the table and rushing around taking care of miscellaneous last minute things when a knock came at the door. She smiled, running a hand through her recently trimmed short hair and nestled her other hand on her hip. “Whew….okay, here goes nothing!” she said with a nervous breath. Noelle pat her hands clean on her leggings, then quickly walked to the door, opening it warily with a meek peek through the crack and a welcoming smile on her lip. “Hi! You’re here, awesome!” The slim brunette pulled the door open further and stood against it with one hand gripped on the edge and the other gripping nervously on the hem of her white t-shrt. “Thank so much for coming! I’m, uh….” Noa looked back towards the living area, noticing a few things she’d forgotten to put away. “Don’t mind the mess, please. Um...come in!”

[Cadence Blake]

Cadence had never lived with anyone besides her parents. Even so, she had never been without her own personal space; oftentimes she was left alone and that was how she had liked it. Her father was a veterinarian so he was often working late hours, and her mother was rather bohemian, creative, an artist. Out of the three of them it had been Cadence who'd made the most noise; her mother is deaf so out of habit they seldom communicated verbally.

At least now it would be a nice change when one ran out of toilet paper to have someone you can actually call out to for assistance.

Whoever Cadence was paired with in the end, she hoped her roomates would at least be both hospitable and minded her space as she required it. She was sure that she could manage any other personality trait thrown at her. Her trick in reading people was to look for the very worst in them; that way you learn what you're dealing with allot sooner than later. Sure, it may seem like a rather pessimistic way of looking at others but it had worked for her many times.

The best accomodation she'd been able to come across was a three bedroom apartment with two bathrooms, a decent kitchen and a balcony that overlooked Pilot Ridge from the East. The balcony was a pretty big plus, but it had been the two bathrooms that were the deal-breaker when she'd first seen the advertisement. She would need to get used to walking up three floors in order to get to it though, and at least she wouldn't have luggage next time.

Said luggage wasn't actually all that diffiult to lug up the stairs; it was just a small case, the wheels useless for going up the stairs unless she wanted to give the other residents the impression that somebody was treating them to a very unwelcome drum solo as they ascended the staircases. So she held it by the handle, switching arms from time to time when the strain became a little too much.
A small trickle of sweat ran down her forhead and into the corner of one of her eyes, blurring her vision momuntarily, which she swiped at irritably with the back of one hand. At least today she'd dressed fairly comfortably; a peach-colored sloppy long-sleeve top addorned her torso, a pair of frayed grey denim shorts sitting snugly around her lithe waistline, and a pair of ugg-boots finishing off the simple ensemble.

At the top of the stairs on the third floor, she searched for the correct door number, grateful now for the smooth floorboards underneath the wheels of her case. Letting out an audible sigh, one clammy palm running through her short locks of ebony hair, Cadence let the case go, and raised one fist to knock lightly upon the door of the apartment.

Bouncing on her heels, Cadence hardly noticed the movement off to the corner of her peripheral vision, instinctually taking half a step away as a copper haired young woman entered her vision. Cadence stared at her, wondering briefly if she too would knock upon the hardwood door.

It reminded Cadence briefly of a situation when you're standing at a pedestrian crossing, having just pressed the traffic light button your own self when the next person comes along and presses it another two or three times as though paranoid that the first time you'd done it had somehow been all for nought, or it might somehow magically make the lights change in your favor sooner depending on the amount of times you'd press it; similar to knocking, apparently.

There was eye contact, a strained smile, and Cadence tore her eyes away from the other young woman as the front door opened... just a crack, enough that Cadence had to lean slightly in order to actually make out at least one third of the face peering back at them.

It took another two seconds before the face behind the door deemed it safe enough to open the door wide enough that she and this other girl - who looked very familiar, she'd certainly seen her around - could enter as they so chose to. After giving the other girl the option of entering the room first, Cadence squared her shoulders, and pushed herself forward, all the while concious of strange eyes burning into her.

The other young woman who'd neglected to introduce herself - but neither had they so far, so who was Cadence to judge - immediately began to fuss, offering her apologies for the mess. Cadence smiled her amusement, one brow arching as she looked around the neat living quarters. So, either their new friend here was making too much of a fuss, or it may have had something to do with an OCD quirk.

"Not a problem," Cadence offered each a smile, shaking her sleeves down her arms so that they covered her hands. Her big amber eyes drifted around the room as she introduced herself. "I'm, uh, Cadence. Or just Cadie... or whatever. Up to you two."

Notes;; There we go! I hope it's an alright start.

[Elanora Brennan]

The last time Nora had lived away from her mum it was to live on campus at Hammel and it had been the worst experience of her life. Being constantly surrounded by all those Meta humans had been draining on her and contributed to her withdrawn nature. Now she was pacing outside an apartment complex. She had already met the Noelle who did the interview to secure a bedroom and she had been pleasantly surprised and relieved to find her to be a non meta, it would be nice living with someone she didn't have to worry about receiving constant headaches from. Nora was nervous still as today she would meet the second person who would be sharing the 3 bedroom apartment, part of her hoped for another non meta but she knew the odd's weren't in her favor, not in a town like this.

Calming herself with a breath she hoisted her small backpack up to sit on her shoulder, her mum would bring the rest for her later this afternoon if all went well. Taking a better grip on her motorbike helmet she entered the building and started climbing the stairs. She soon noticed a girl with short black hair carrying a small suitcase around 1/2 a flight of stairs ahead of her. She could sense the girl was meta, her shadow manipulation power was like rolling shadows in Nora's mind undulating and knocking against her skull with more substance than a shadow should contain.

It was all just in Nora's mind though, each power behaved a different way when it entered her mind to let her know a meta was nearby, some like the shadow she knew the meaning of. Others she wasn't sure, it was easier to recognize a power if she had encountered it or something similar in the past. As they both continued to climb, up one flight, then the second and started on the third Nora wondered if this girl was the other flatmate, and it was confirmed for her when the girl approached the door she was aimed for and knocked. Knowing there was no need to knock again Nora hung back a little and waited for the door to open.

The black haired girl offered Nora to enter first but she shyly stood back and motioned for the girl to go first, she wasn't the best at meeting new people. Once the girl entered Nora followed in behind and listened quietly to the exchange between the two girls. Noelle was stressing about the so called mess and Nora was a little relieved when the other girl waved her off, the apartment was practically immaculate. The other girl introduced herself and Nora decided she should probably do the same, Noelle knew her name from the interview but this new girl didn't.

"I'm Nora, and Candice is right it’s not a problem" she said shyly looking around, there was one or two items that hadn't been put away but it was nothing major and nothing Nora couldn't cope with. The girl was so nervous she didn't even realize she had totally put her foot in it and called the new girl by the wrong name despite having just heard it moments before.

[Deleted]

Noelle had met the red haired girl before, Nora, when she came over for the initial interview, but Cadence had done her’s via phone and so this was the first time the two of them had met face-to-face. Well, the three of them now. She had a special interest in Nora as she had found out that she possessed the same meta-power as her younger sister. Mind you, she knew it wasn’t more than a coincidence, but that might have been a small point in her favor when choosing among the applicants.

Cadence seemed to be just as pleasant a person, with how easily she brushed off Noelle’s fuss over the ‘mess’. “Ah ha ha, great,” she responded, nervously brushing a lock of her bangs out of her eyes. She really wasn’t a neat freak, but it was a habit that she’d gained from her living at home, an expectation of her mother’s to always keep their respective areas clean. Noelle was still getting used to the idea that, no, everything didn’t have to be perfect. It was okay if something was out of place.

“So…Cadence,” she said, repeating the name to get used to the sounds rolling off her tongue. “It’s good to meet you! Finally…I’m Noelle, we spoke on the phone?” Nervous didn’t even begin to describe the young woman trying to play hostess. She was caught up in the excitement of having roommates. Who were girls. It wasn’t that Noelle didn’t have her own collection of girlfriends, but maybe her impression of what a group of female roommates were supposed to be to each other was putting her on edge. Actually, she didn’t know what to expect. Noelle had roomed with guys before while away for track meets and such, but never with girls. At least, not like these two, presumably. Truth be told, ever since high school, Noelle often had trouble making lasting friendships with girls. Call her a little foolish, and maybe it was a little against every logical thought she had in her head, but Noelle wanted them to be friends. Good friends. Best friends, maybe?

The first step would be to actually figure out what to do from here, but Noelle found herself staring between the two other girls with an open mouthed smile almost as if she expected one of them to make the next move. Nervous much? “So….” she started, panning her eyes awkwardly. “I have snacks!” she said with almost too much enthusiasm, holding up her hands as if asking them to wait there. “Um…wait there. No, sit down. I’ll be right back.” Damn, she was making a bad first impression, wasn’t she? she thought as she sped to the kitchen to pull a vegetable tray from the fridge. “Is there anything you guys won’t eat?” she asked, calling from the kitchen while she cut the plastic from the packaged tray with a small knife.

[Cadence Blake]

Cadence emited a short puff of air from her lungs, sparing Nora a quick withering glance at the complete mispronounciation of her name. Well, it was more a matter of the redhead mishearing her completely. "No, not Candice. It's Cadence", she corrected, covering up her irritation with a tight smile.

She couldn't really stay irritated over it though. That happened from time to time; the Cadence to Candice thing. She saw where the confusion came from, but the ratio of people who'd seem to hear her introduce herself as Candice instead of Cadence was higher than it should be.

Back into things though - Noa's nervous jitters were as infectious as they were charming. She gave the impression of someone warm-hearted, if not a bit overanxious. Cadence could understand why; the girl had two complete strangers standing in her home, ready to move into it, and apart from what they learnt of eachother through a couple of interviews, they knew next to nothing about one another. Cadence had at least spoken to Noa over the phone, but this was the first time she'd come anywhere remotely close to meeting Nora. Cadence supposed she was a little nervous too, though for the sake of their hostess/roommate's own nerves she was attempting to keep it a little more well hidden. However that didn't stop her from glancing around somewhat awkwardly as they all stood together.

It was nice to be able to finally put a face to Noa's voice since this was the first time they had officially met since speaking over the phone. Cadence hadn't been sure what she'd pictured her new roommate may look like simply judging from her voice, but she wasn't afraid to admit that she was pleasantly surprised. Noa was very pretty with her pale features and short dark hair. The jitter's were endearing, and complimented the other young womans charm.

Now that she was thinking about it, Nora was quite easy on the eyes as well, with her copper-red hair and pixie-like features. Cadence didn't really have a "type" - she'd doubted she'd actually go anywhere near either of them in regards to courting. Men or woman, it didn't matter all the same to Cadence, but she had barely moved in and she was discreetly "checking out" her new roommates. Ugh, she felt like such a pervert. Friends. The three of them were going to be friends. Right? Hopefully. Both girls seemed pleasant enough. Cadence could certainly sense the beginning's of some camaderie between the trio. It'd be nice to have a couple of friends to come home to each day.

Cadence exhaled quietly - in relief this time - when Noa suggested snacks. Rather, she announced the snacks with alot more zeal than one would have expected. Cadence watched as Noa bustled off to where Cadence suspected the small kitchen must be, and wasn't sure what to do with herself; whether to find a spot to sit, or stand as she was. Her luggage was fine where it was for now, so running a hand through her short black hair, she made a beeline for the couch, hoping that it was long enough for the three of them.

She made herself comfortable, adjusting her sloppy jumper so that it lay over her lap, her arms criss-crossing loosely over her stomach as she slouched into the cushions. There was a call from the kitchen, and Cadence found herself shaking her head as she responded with, "It's fine! I'm not a picky eater."

In actual fact, her mother had once commented that Cadence ate like a bird, and weighed in about as much as well. She didn't do breakfast in the morning, might eat a piece of fruit for lunch, and then ate a decent meal late in the evening. Her snacking was kept to a minimal as she tended to get IBS. A little too-much-info, but who was going to read her thoughts - unless one of them could read her thoughts. Shit (mind the pun). They'd probably have to discuss what it was each of them could actually do.

Cadence glanced up at Nora, uncomfortable about maintaining a steady eye contact while she too decided what it was she was going to do with herself now that they'd been invited to make themselves a little more comfortable. "Um, so..." Cadence began, sitting up just the slightest bit more upright. There was a few-second pause as she wondered where to begin. "Where are you from?"

[Elanora Brennan]

Nora could see the meta girl was pissed at her for getting her name wrong and though she tried to cover it up, the smile was tight and forced and Nora felt bad, she really did need to listen better than people introduced themselves. “Sorry Cadence” she said uncomfortably head bowed slightly feeling ashamed for getting it wrong, and taking extra care to pronounce it correctly in her apology not wanting to get on the bad side of a future house mate, that would make for awkward and uncomfortable living conditions.

Nora watched as Noelle headed into the kitchen to get snacks, Cadence made herself feel right at home when the girl told them to sit down. Nora was a little jealous of how easily she took those words immediately flopping down on the couch as if she had been living here for years and it was nothing unusual. Nora looked around and letting the bag fall off her shoulder to be caught in her hand she placed it down on the floor against a blank wall out of the way. Turning back to the room as she heard Noelle call from the kitchen, Cadence replied instantly and once she was done Nora responded as well forcing volume into her voice. “I uh eat most things…” she called out.

Deciding she should probably sit instead of continuing to awkwardly stand in the middle of the room she headed for the end of the couch and perched on the edge. Not yet able to relax as easily as Cadence was, she looked across the couch to where Cadence was when the girl spoke to her again. “I… grew up in Australia… how about you?” She answered only stammering a little, she was better when other people instigated the conversation but she was still awkward and hoped that would ease as she got to know these girls.

[Deleted]

Noelle stood awkwardly between the two other girls, unsure of what to say over the small dispute regarding Cadence’s name. This wasn’t going to cause a problem between them, was it? Not right off the bat? They hardly even knew each other yet!

This was partially why it was so hard for Noelle to get along with girls. They seemed to take such offense at even the slightest little hiccup in a conversation, and that ended up resulting in bad first impressions and enemies for life. Why were girls so catty with each other? It didn’t make sense to Noelle. It’s why she preferred hanging out with guys, because they just said what they thought, were straightforward, and she didn’t have to think too hard about reading into subtexts and allusions behind seemingly kind words. Passive aggression, if you will. Noelle hated that shit.

But she was still determined to make this work, somehow, because what sort of roommates lived with each other that couldn’t stand one another? That just didn’t make sense, to always be in conflict over silly things. So that’s one reason why Noelle was so anxious. She wanted their roommate-ship to start on a positive note, not an adverse one.

She smiled boldly upon hearing that neither of the other two girls were very picky in their eating habits, which gave Noelle some relief as that meant that she wouldn’t have to worry about being selective with any meals she might prepare for the three of them. Certainly, she didn’t plan on making them supper every evening, but she wouldn’t put it past herself either. She’d gotten into the habit of making more food than was necessary for the sake of feeding tens of growing boys on occasion. Again, it wasn’t because it was expected of her, but because she felt like it. And they seemed to like her cooking. If a one of them said anything about her job being in the kitchen because she was a woman, they’d get a laugh followed promptly by a ‘fuck you’ and some quip about their mother.

Noelle’s grin was perpetuated by the initiative of conversation between the two other girls. She was afraid that they wouldn’t want to talk to each other. She tossed the plastic seal into the rubbish container, then grabbed the vegetable tray to take out into the living room. The tall girl walked with heavy footsteps, despite being bare footed, and once the tray had been set on the coffee table, she plopped down onto the carpet with a loud thump and crossed her legs. “I hope this is okay,” she said, reaching for a carrot and dipping it into the ranch. She chomped on it like a rabbit. “Australia’s cool,” she interjected with interest. “You’re not from the U.S. either, aren’t you Cadence?” Noelle pointed with an underhand finger to the dark haired girl, still chewing on blissfully on her carrot. “What brings you guys to the States?”

[Cadence Blake]

When meeting strangers for the first time - even those you're going to be living with for an X amount of time - most people felt at least a little awkward didn't they? Right? There were going to be a couple of awkward pauses that they'd each have to take in their stride. As Unique 11 once sung, you've got to keep on moving.


So that was precisely what Cadence planned on doing when she had decided to ask Nora where she was from; she had picked up on the fact that her copper-haired roommate was at least Australian, but she was curious as to which state she belong to in particular. However, Australia was the only answer she received. Oh. Cadence pressed one of her thumbnail's under each of her fingernails on the opposite hand; a habit she'd developed a couple of years ago. It didn't hurt, not really anyway. It just served as a distraction of sorts.


This was okay though. The apartment was nice, well furnished and clean. She wondered what her room would be like. Would it be small or would it be decent-sized. She hoped that her roommates wouldn't get too irritated with her taste in music. That was nothing thing; when she was studying, she felt that it was a necessity to have music playing in the background. So if this would be the case, she figured she might have to invest in a pair of headphones.


In the meantime, the sound of a fridge door being opened and closed followed by glad-wrap being stripped from what Cadence supposed might have been Tupperware or a plate broke the quietude.

She was about to answer Nora's own query about where she'd been from originally, when Noa's heavy footsteps prompted her to turn to face the tall young woman holding a vegetable tray, watching as she placed it upon the coffee table in front of the three of them. Cadence could smell the various dips, and smiled as she looked at each snack, eager but unsure of where to start.


As though she'd been part of the conversation the whole time, Noa slipped comfortably back into it as she decided to first sample a carrot. Cadence reached forwards and took some celery, and uncertain of which dip to try, she opted with having the celery stick as is. Actually, something that she would need to remember next time she went out for groceries was that she should pick up some peanut butter. The combination of celery and peanut butter was a strange one, but the contrast between the healthy snack and the thick pasty consistency of the peanut somehow complimented each other quite well in a weird way. Perhaps that was something she could try and convince her roommates into trying another time.


"I'm from New Zealand," Cadence explained as Noa showed curiosity as to where she was from in between crunching her carrot, . "The north island," she decided to keep the conversation flowing. Cadence had retained the kiwi accent, even after living away from home so long. Her E's still often sounded like I's, and her I's sounded like U's but when she made a conscious effort, she was getting better at mimicking other accents well enough she could pass as someone who'd lived there for a long while. "Very green, and very beautiful."


Cadence smiled at her roommate's, biting down on what was left of her celery stick as she relaxed further into the chair. "Are you comfortable there?" She asked Noa with a small frown, "Don't let me kick you off the couch." As it were, Nora was sitting on the arm rest furthest from her. "Also, since we'll be living together for a while, is there anything in particular we should know about each other?" She asked after a short pause, leaning over to grab a carrot this time and try the dip that Noa had first chosen.

[Elanora Brennan]

Nora was interested to head Cadence was from New Zealand, she couldn’t help thinking of the semi joking, semi real rival between Australia and New Zealand. For some like her it wasn’t even a thing, however some people took it way to seriously and she couldn’t help wondering which side Cadence was on in regards to it. She didn’t feel comfortable asking though so she remained silent as she reached forward and selected a carrot stick from the plate dipping it into the same one as Noa not knowing what the dips were and deciding going with the same one was the safest bet. She pulled back and took a bite, it was ranch, and she could cope with that, leaning back she continued to nibble on the carrot, content to let Cadence do most of the talking.

Nora did wonder about Cadence’s avoidance of the question as to what brought them both here, from her power she knew that Cadence would have likely come here for school, however she knew Noelle wasn’t powered. Would Noelle know about the meta’s and their school, or would she just know it as a fancy snobbish boarding school. “My mum and I moved here to be closer to her brother, he moved here with his wife years before us and she wanted to be closer to family” Nora answered, sure it wasn’t the full reason, but hey just in case Noelle didn’t know about the meta world it was the safest option right?

Nora looked back to Cadence as she asked if there was anything they should know about each other… she wondered if the girl was trying to fish and find out if her and Noelle were meta, she supposed it was something she might have had to do too if her power had been something other than meta sensing, she decided to keep it simple and let Cadence know about her power later, she didn’t want to keep secrets from her housemates but at the same point some humans didn’t respond well to meta humans and she didn’t want to be part of a confrontation if Noelle was one of the haters. “I suffer from migraines on occasion, so if I’m being extra antisocial just leave me to sleep it off and no one will get hurt” she answered with a slight shrug that was her main issue a housemate needed to know about her right? Other than that Nora was a quiet person who mostly kept to herself and spent her time drawing.

[Deleted]

“Oh? That’s cool, New Zealand,” Noelle said in-between loud crunches of her carrot. She swallowed then grabbed another, sticking in the blue cheese dip this time. The third dip there was an artichoke dip, but she would hold off on trying that one right away and give one of the other girls a chance for first dippings this time. “That’s where they filmed the Lord of the Rings, isn’t it? It is really pretty, huh?” Of course, everyone knew that, but whether that had anything to do with the ‘north island’ or any of the others was unknown to Noelle. She knew absolutely nothing about the country itself.

Cadence had the right idea about where to steer the conversation next. That was the whole point of the three of them getting together and sitting down for the first time, so they could learn about each other rather than jumping into this whole thing as strangers. Noelle let Nora go first, nodding along as she nibbled on a series of carrots, celery sticks, and cherry tomatoes.

“Hey, that’s like for me too,” she pointed out, literally pointed up at Nora with a stick of celery. “I had to transfer out here to watch out for my little sister. She’s going to school out here, and my mom didn’t want her to be out here alone.” Noa didn’t mention anything about her elder sister though. That woman was such a scatterbrain, Noelle barely wanted to acknowledge her existence…besides, bringing her up would just put Noa in a bad mood.

She nodded again to Nora’s short explanation. “Oh, okay, that’s fine,” she assured her, holding up a steady hand. “I’m not that loud of a person - I mean, I can be - but if you just tell me to shut the fuck up, I don’t got a problem with it.”

Noa took it upon herself to jump into another question. “So…” she started, resting her elbow on the table, and her chin against her palm. She grinned between the two of them. “What do you guys do in your spare time? Anything I should be worried about?” Noa chuckled, as though she just asked them if they were secretly criminals or something like that.

[Cadence Blake]

This was good. Yes, this was a good start. At least they were breaking the ice, learning about each other.

Nora hadn't mentioned a father when she explained what had brought her here. It was her mother, uncle, aunt and herself. It did stir some curiosity as to why that had been, but these were probably things not to pry too far into while the three of them were only just starting to get to know one another.

It did seem appropriate that Nora also mentioned that she suffered from migranes. Cadence felt a twinge of sympathy; they were a tough enough thing to handle on an odd occasion let alone regularly enough you felt the need to tell other people about it. "That's fair," Cadence smiled kindly at Nora. "But if you need anything while you've got a migrane though, just give us a shout. I don't mind helping out."

On her other side, Noa had clicked onto the fact that the Lord Of The Rings trilogy had been filmed in New Zealand. "Yeah! The films were all shot at a few locations from North to South, but the hobbit holes were built in a place up North called Matamata. They're still there!"

It was Noa's turn then to give each girl a little insight into how she'd ended up here, and of a couple of her more prominent quirks. It seemed that both Nora and Noa were very family orientated, which stirred a little homesickness within Cadence's stomach. She missed her own parents, even if they did Face Time every other day.

"It's not easy being away from family, huh? Especially if you're fairly close." Cadence leaned in to grab a cherry tomato this time, tossing a couple into her mouth and enjoying the juicy squish as she bit down. "But you two get to see yours often enough, right?"

 
Cadence looked between her two roomates, feeling as though this was all going fairly well. They'd covered a couple of the more important questions during their little getting-to-know-you lunch at least. The next thing would be finding out how well they all coexisted together.

"Spare time?" Cadence popped another cherry tomato into her mouth, smirking when Noa asked if there was anything to be worried about. "Apart from voodoo rituals and goat sacrifices?" She gave a little shrug, smothering a cheeky grin. "Well, I listen to allot of music; don't worry Nora, I'll have my headphones hooked in. It just helps me study so if you need me during my studying hours just give my phone a buzz. I should probably mention that I have a "no touching" rule," she added, the smile loosening as she began picking at her nails again. "It's nothing personal. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea if I flinch away. It helps if you ask first. We all have our quirks, eh?"

[Elanora Brennan]

Nora felt relieved when both girls didn’t get upset or annoyed about her migraine information and in fact were supportive and offering to help where they could if it came to it. Other than her mum she hadn’t really had that before, most people just got annoyed with her for hiding out or being antisocial. “Thanks, I appreciate it” she said with a smile, she settled back on the couch a little and listened to the other girls talking about New Zealand and how the Lord of the Rings movies where filmed there. It had taken Nora a long time to come around to the movies but she didn’t mind them now days and though she knew they were filmed in New Zealand she found Cadence’s insight interesting.

“I see my mum all the time and my uncle occasionally” Nora said nodding as she reached forward taking a few celery sticks and cherry tomato’s sitting back and munching on them as she listened to Cadence recount her spare time activities. She laughed at the voodoo rituals and goat sacrifices pretty sure she was joking…. Right? She could totally respect the girls no touching rule, she wasn’t an overly touchy person herself maybe from being so isolated for all these years but still she would make sure she remembered.

“I spend most of my free time riding my motorbike or drawing, how about you Noelle?” curious to see what the non-powered girls hobbies would be. So far she was pretty happy that she could be content here sharing the house with these two girls, they were both definitely more outgoing and open then she was but that wasn’t a bad thing maybe they could help her come out of her shell more.

[Deleted]

Noelle, truth be told, had never had anything stronger than a simple headache, so the idea of how bad a migraine could be was completely foreign to her. The only reason why she had any sympathy at all was because her little sister, Ruby, suffered from them on account of her meta power. At least, that’s how she understood it. Noelle might claim that she takes far too good care of her body to fall victim to headaches and other random pains most people suffered from. She hadn’t had a cold in years either…

But back to the situation at hand, Noelle thought they were getting along well so far, finding out each others limits and interest, and a little about each other’s backgrounds. She was glad that Cadence was so readily offering additional information about her home-country, especially regarding the LotR filming. Noa’s eyes lit up with interest. “Really?” she asked with obvious excitement. “Wow, I’mma have to go there someday, that sounds like it’d be amazing to see!” Maybe she’ll take Ruby there in a couple of years, after she graduated?

“Mm, I think me and my little sister are pretty close, but I think she misses me more than I miss her,” Noelle replied with a shrug. “I’m from California myself, and actually this is the first time I’ve lived away from home,” she admitted. “So I can’t say I’ve been gone long enough to miss anyone quite yet.” Noelle shifted her weight, uncrossing her legs and sitting with one knee up and one knee parallel to the floor. She rested her elbow off her knee and used her other hand to hold up her litheness.

The thin girl laughed at Cadence’s next response, her cheek filled with a small combination of celery and ranch which she pushed off to the side so it might not sputter as she chortled with amusement. “It’s only a problem,” she started with a finger pointed up, swallowing that bolus in her cheek about halfway through. “If you’re also dancing around naked. Then it’s just plain indecent.”

Noelle did find it curious that Cadence didn’t like to be touched, though. Noelle, conversely, was a very tactile person. Very physical, so it wasn’t uncommon for her to grab at people from behind, cover their eyes playfully, and roughhouse on the living room floor. She didn’t expect to be able to do that with these two girls…but the notion of not being able to touch was again, completely foreign to her. “Okay, if you say so,” she said a little stiffly, nodding. “I might forget though, so if I screw up, you’re free to shove me off and not speak to me for a week or something.” Trying to turn it into a joke was what she did when presented with something unfamiliar. Hopefully that wasn’t uncalled for?

Nora had some interesting hobbies, though, and the mention of motorbikes had her smiling, as if she were in the presence of some secret gangster biker. “That’s pretty cool! What got you into motorbikes, Nora?” That sounded like it’d be quite the story. In comparison, Noelle thought that her own hobbies were pretty unexciting. “Oh, me?” she started hesitantly. “I run. I’m an athlete, running specifically. Well, sometimes I wrestle too, but that’s more for fun, and because who doesn’t like beating up guys twice your size, right?” Noa gleed a smile and pumped up a fist, flexing her arm to shamelessly show off her muscle.

[Cadence Blake]

Cadence hadn't always gotten along very well with other people. There were personality clashes, there was tension, arguements were common, slamming doors and crossed arms a staple of the strange friendships she'd formed. She'd say things. Snippy comments would be made. She would lose some and then she'd gain some.

Cadence had known too many people in her life who, stranger, aquaintance, friend or relative, were lower and higher than she was. They hadn't gotten along because they hadn't meant to get along. And that had been that. She stayed in her place, being a little strange and cynical, and they stayed in theirs. And for the most part, everyone around her was happy enough to stay in the places she'd marked them with.
She hadn't needed to change her perspective to fit anyone into it.

And then there were these two. Cadence could see herself trying. Maybe it chalked down to the fact that they were going to be living together. Heavens forbid it might have just been as simple as the three of them were getting along well. Whatever the case, Cadence wasn't about to let a nice situation go to waste.

It was nice that both Noa and Nora were close to their families. She appreciated Noa's honesty regarding her sister. It was normal. There were days in which she was sure she missed her parents more than they missed her and vice versa. A week could have gone by before Cadence would even realize that she hadn't given them a second thought.

"I kinda love that you're all chill about a goat sacrifice but a naked rain dance is probably a step over the line." Cadence snickered, trying to ignore the nerves that were usually so well hidden away far behind sticks and stones begin to jumped into action.

She knew it was a peculiar notion that someone would regect physical contact. It had been something that she had struggled with understanding it herself in the beginning. Cadence could see in Noa's expression and in the tone of her voice that there was a sort of feeling of regection there as much as there was understanding. Which was understandable. But it would save her from needing to make any hasty explanation in the future.

There had been one time where an old highschool friend had decided to jump on her back for a piggyback ride. Without thought, Cadence had automatically thrown her shoulders back, tendrils of shadow wrapping around her body as though in understanding her instinctual need for protection. Despite Cadence's repeated attempts at offering an apology, their friendship split apart.

How many times had she been called unreasonable by the same people who claimed they would be supportive of her.

She shook herself mentally. None of that. Focus on your roomates, she told herself. Nora ride motorbike, she was also an artist. Best to refrain from asking if she could draw people, and more specifically if she could draw her. Aparenty artists didn't like that. The interest in motorbike riding was pretty cool, too. Cadence made a mental note to ask Nora about that in a moment. Noa beat her to it by asking what had gotten her into riding.

Noa enjoyed running. Track, perhaps? The wrestling was intriguing, and Cadence chuckled, a grin reappearing upon her face when Noa flexed her lightly toned forarm muscles.

"Brava," Cadence said in earnest. "Remind me to have your number if I need a little muscle in the future."

[Elanora Brennan]

For the most part Nora was pretty content sitting back and letting the two other girls do most of the talking, once she got to know them better maybe she would find it easier to relax around them and find conversation easier. Then again maybe she will just continue to be awkward and hide in her room, only time would tell but whichever outcome she had a feeling these two would be pretty easy to live with which would be good.

“My whole family have always been into motorbikes, my mum and her dad got me into them the most, grandad used to renovate vintage bikes and we would always go on rides together, so once I was old enough I moved from pillion rider to actual rider” she said with a slight shrug to Noelle’s question, a small part of her shocked with herself for telling that much about herself without speaking the words too fast or stumbling over them. She smiled lightly, maybe these two would be easy to get along with and could help her break her social awkwardness.

Nora stretched forward and collected a small arrangement of carrots, celery and cherry tomatoes in her hand before re-positioning herself into a more relaxed position on the couch. She sat back picking at the food in her hands deciding as nice as the dips were that she liked them best without anything else. She listened as Noelle revealed she liked running and wrestling, and Cadences quick thoughts about having Noelle’s number in case she needed any muscle in the future.

“So Noelle, are there any in house rules we should know to avoid being victims of your wrestling skills?” Nora asked not wanting to accidentally upset the girl and end up in a head lock or something, not that Noelle would necessarily react with violence she didn’t know her well enough to know how she would react yet but rules were always good when sharing a space right?