Goth Graces [open]

[Sidra Cotton]

The rhythmic thrumming of the sewing machine stopped, making the music of E Nomine seem that much louder in it's absence. Finally, finally she was done. Leaning back in the canvas directors chair Sidra used at her work table. There had been an influx of corset orders over Christmas, and several that came after from other costumers who'd gotten money for the holidays.

The last one had just been finished off and her hunched back could rest. They said that those who work at a computer or in a seated position needed to get up every hour or so to stretch, but when the gothic girl got into her zone there was no stopping. Not until the item was done. Now she could get the orders out and reopen slots for more. Though she knew she had to be careful not to overwhelm herself. There was school after all. Meddlesome classes.

A bellow interrupted her favorite German Goth band which simply could not be. Narrowing her eyes at the door, the eldest of the Cotton children paused her music stream and rose with only a tiny grunt. Too long in the same position did not good circulation make. Her left leg was completely numb and with every step grew closer to the infamous pins-and-needles feeling Sidra so despised.

Pulling her door open, the cosmetically white face with dark eyeliner and wild hair falls glared out at the offender.

"Do you always announce yourself with such noise?" Her tone was acidic, but that was just Sidra's way. If the person she wasn't talking to wasn't her father, sister, brother, or mother (though the latter was rare after the divorce) then they were just screwed. Unless, by some miracle, they were able to sneak their way into the goth's good graces.

Perhaps it wasn't the best way to greet her roommates when they came in, but she had a reputation to uphold and after her kindness towards Avery Sidra felt the need to amp up the bitch.

[Stella Pinyin]

”No, Celeste, bad!” Hearing the slightly accented tones of Stella Pinyin rise above normal was an oddity. But her cat had decided it was time to explore the top of one of the shelves in the common room of the dorm, and Stella couldn’t reach the wretched animal. The sight that greeted Sidra as she opened the door was that of the pure white girl, clad in a black and white spotted dress, attempting to balance on one of the comfy chairs to try and reach her rather amused looking cat.

At the hostile tones of her rather intimidating room mate, Stella started and almost toppled, but caught herself against the wall. Her eyes were wide, the pupils twitching as always as a tongue tided Stella tried to word an explanation. Celeste, seeing an opportunity, leapt from her shelf and slid between Sidra’s legs to hid in the goth girl’s room.

All Stella could do was watch in despair, then look to Sidra with a vaguely terrified look on her face. The goth was quite unlike anyone the albino had ever met before; she seemed to purposefully make herself almost as pale as Stella herself. Was there such a thing as albino envy? Was that it? Despite being dorm mates Stella had not spoken much to the rather scary student. Indeed her usual reaction was to find a way to avoid her as much as possible. People who listened to music like that had to be a little, well, strange.

”Ah, sorry,” she started, not sure if she should move towards the dorm room or not. To avoid looking completely pathetic, Stella called to her cat in chinese. ”Celeste, come here, now!” No good. ”I didn’t mean to, ah, announce myself, I just, my cat you see...” Stella couldn’t make out much past Sidra, but Celeste seemed pretty content to sit tight.

[Cecilia Light]

What a day? For Cecilia, it really was one of those days. The ones where things just seemed to flow, no problems at all. She had a nice walk down main since it was the weekend, picking up a shake and enjoying the nice weather. A nice walk, bought some clothes and a new pair of converse shoes. It was great, really. She saw all the regular ghosts around town, the creepy guy at the florist, the woman that is always lying in the middle of the street, even the cowboy who always rides through town that time of day. They all adressed her by her name with a hi, and she responded with a wave. Really, some ghosts can stay earthbound by choice, even though some time she will have to cross them over into a better place. But not now, it was too good of time to worry about that.

Walking into the dorm building, Cess made her way to the stairs and marched up quickly, three bags in one hand and her cellphone in the other. She never really used to shop, ever. But she has money, she is supporting herself. Walking to the end of the steps to the first floor she then heard the familiar bark. It was Felix, panting and running up to her. Sitting she smiled at him. She was the only one who could see Felix, besides she was his world.
''Hey boy, hey Felix. What are you doing'', she said in a petting voice as he excitedly wagged his tail and circled her. He was a really good dog, except he still get rough when he sees Stella's cat Celeste. They can't tell but Cess has to listen to him barking at at her.

Getting to the door she heard the goth music from inside. She guessed Sidra was home. It wasn't like she didn't like Sidra, it is just that they are so very different. Cess was the nice, quirky girl who did well in school and hates to hate where Sidra is the intimidating goth girl that has never really been interested in talking to Cess, even though they live in the same dorm. So taking a breath she opened the door with Felix by her side as she walked in. Looking to Sidra and to Stella she put on a smile.

''Hi girls, whats up?'', she asked and put her bags onto her bed, turning to them with a look of interest, slightly nervous but the rest was just friendly.

[Sidra Cotton]

The cat.

Was in.

Her room.

If Sidra's ears could smoke, they would. She didn't mind dogs or the cats in general, but the one rule she'd been very firm in mentioning when she met the cat, was that it was to stay out of her room and out of her fabric stocks. Now the feline beast was within her territory doing God knew what to her things. Turning her glare back to Stella the goth pressed her painted lips into a thin line. About to let fly a series of words cleverly disguised in hisses, she was stopped by yet another roommate's appearance.

"What's up?" Sidra repeated almost disbelieving. "Her cat just bogarted it's way into my room." Not quite the truth as the door had been open and the cat took on the opportunity to explore an otherwise closed off space.

The room in question was the usual Dorm room, but filled with everything dark she could get her dad to send her from home. The black and burgundy sheets, most of her Living Dead Doll collection, and storage bin up on storage bin filled with bolts of fabric. She'd done her best to make the space her own, but it wasn't. A fact the goth was reminded of daily. A fact that burned her.

"Get.it.out." There was no 'please' in her vocabulary so far as the school knew. Not once had it been uttered in anyone's presence that she could recall. In all honesty she knew nothing of her roommates beyond one was an albino and the other looked like a cheerleader.

She hadn't gone out of her way to greet them when they moved in after the twins had moved out. She'd been through a few roommates by this point and didn't expect the new set to last any longer than the old ones. She kept to herself and they kept to theirs. If she passed them going to class or meals, that was one thing, but other than that no pleasantries were exchanged. It just wasn't her way. Defense mechanism? Maybe, but not one that Si would ever admit to.

[Stella Pinyin]

If looks could kill... Stella would be very dead. ”I am so sorry, I didn’t, she didn’t, I mean,” the girl was wringing her hands as she looked from Sidra to the newly arrived Cecilia to the blur that was Sidra’s room. Never mind that she had no idea what bogarting was, clearly it was something bad by the way Sidra was spitting it out.

”Celeste,” Stella commanded, begged, pleaded, ”Come out now,”. She asked in english and chinese, but the cat had fond a blot of dark green velvet and was doing her best to make herself a bed. ”Can I, I mean, can I get in,” for all that Sidra had commanded the white girl, she had yet to move out of the way and there was no way Stella was going to try and push past the terrifying goth girl to get to her cat.

Stella had registered that Cecilia was there, but given the stress the current situation was placing on Stella’s own sensibility, she wasn’t really sure what to say. ”She never does this,” Stella added in ernest.”She’s usually well behaved, I’m sorry, I don’t know why she’s...”

[Sidra Cotton]

Sorry? The albino was sorry?! It was so ridiculous Sidra might have laughed if she had been anyone other than herself. As it was she didn't, her eyes became thin slits as she shifted to the side, barely enough room for Stella to get past in order to retrieve the interloping feline. The goth's head turned to watch as the meek girl went after the cat.

Who was sitting on a bolt of green velvet.

White fur. Green velvet. A promise to her customers that all her corsets were made in as allergen free an environment as she could provide.

Fuuuu-

Both hands came up with fingers curled into clawes to grip the back of her own neck. Sidra tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, doing her best not to commit murder. A task in and of itself. It wouldnt' look good on her school record if she put two (or even one) white head on a spike outside her room as a future warning to others. She doubted she would be permitted to sew in prison. So, ultimately, it was best if she didn't actually kill the other girl and her pet.

Deep breaths, Si could almost hear her dad. Deep breaths, Si. This too, as all things, shall pass in time.

It just needed to hurry up and pass already.

Dragging her hands down from her neck to grip her shoulders and squeeze, Si lowered her chin so that she could turn her head and look back into her room and watch the progress of cat wrangling.

[Cecilia Light]

Wow, tension you could cut with a knife. Cess stood, looking from a stuttering Stella to a stressing Sidra. This was fun. Sidra was completely over reacting because of Celeste, who was a good cat. But Sidra on occasions could win a medal as a cold hearted bitch. Not that Cess would say that, but it was true. And it pissed her off a bit. Stella, worried and sorry went to get Celeste and Sid freaked out majorly. Like psycho majorly. As Stella justified that her cat was a good cat, she had to back her up. After helping Stella's parents to cross over into the light, her and Stella had gotten a bit closer. So stepping forwards arms crossed she looked to Sidra.

''Listen Sid. She is a good cat. It is probably my dog Felix. Cat's are deceptive to sensing spirits and well, I have a ghost dog haunting me. He has probably been scaring your cat'', she said and then looked down to Felix sitting and winning to her. He was cute, and a good obedient dog. She would have loved to have him a live, patting and playing. But she had him now, and at least now he wouldn't rip her stuff up.

''Sorry Stella'', she said, appologizing about her dogs behaviour. Even though Stella wouldn't know it, but Felix was sniffing her but and Cess smiled at Felix for a second. Little marley of a dog. But really, Sidra had to be nicer.

[Stella Pinyin]

With the air of one edging along a foot wide ledge on the edge of a bottomless abyss, Stella slipped past the goth and into her room. It was so... gloomy. Stella went straight to her cat and, sensing she was in trouble, Celeste bolted for the bed. With a bit more riding on her catching the damn thing, Stella reacted quickly and spun around to follow the white streak. Grasping the animal by the back of the neck, the equally white girl muttering at the animal under her breath in chinese. She was not promising her food, that was for sure.

The velvet was fine, except for a few white hairs here and there. Still, Stella looked at her heavily made up roommate and offered quickly to replace it. The girl was quite honestly terrifying Stella, the light in the room starting to dim slightly and sinking under her skin. ”Sidra, I’m so sorry, really, I didn’t...”


Fortunately, someone else was helping the quiet girl along, someone who wasn’t so tongue tied or terrified. A ghost dog? That explained a lot. So Celeste hadn’t just been misbehaving... racked by guilt, Stella quickly scratched her cat’s ears with the mental promise to get her sardines.

”Thank you Cecilia,” Stella murmured, worried the other girl might made Sidra angry... angrier. ”Sidra, can I do anything to make it up to you? Again, I’m sorry.”

The light was getting dimmer; Stella’s control over her powers was minimal even without added emotional worry. It had been a while since she’d caused a blackout... maybe Sidra would cool down before she lost it and subsequently helped Stella loose it.

[Sidra Cotton]

To say that Sidra was jealous of the two roommates abilities was to be mild. One had regular conversations with ghosts, and the other did this awesome thing with light and dark. What could she do? Go intangible (and subsequently lose all her clothes because they weren't affected) or do the hard body thing. How did that go with anything she was interested in at all?

Nope. At least not that she'd figured out yet. Which was annoying. Why couldn't her mutation have been something more interesting. Sure, there were bound to be people who would have loved her... abilities, but she was not one.

"Good cat or not," she shot back, "I have a guarantee to my customers that their goods are made in a hypoallergenic atmosphere." One of the reasons she never let her brother help when she first got started. Not that she'd had many customers then. It was only when she'd edited her 'about me' section on Etsy to hide her age that people started paying attention anyway. Damned age biasing. Most of the kids here seemed to be from independently wealthy families. Honestly, Si had no idea how her parents (read: her dad) were affording the tuition for a boarding school. A boarding school that had to have a high insurance cost. She hadn’t asked either. Afraid of the answer.

The apologies came as Stella seemed to be sucking all the light out of her room. Not a bad thing, strictly speaking. All things considered Sidra liked it darker in there. With strategic lighting to give an eerie glow to the Living Dead Dolls. The only part she needed lit was her work station, and only then when she was actually working.

What had her dad encouraged her to do the last time they'd talked? Be nicer to the people around her, maybe they were having just as difficult a time as she was. While Sidra doubted it, the advice had come from her dad. And she was willing to listen to him above anyone else.

Eyes drifted up to look at the ceiling light fixture/fan as it dimmed. With a mental groan, Sidra held up her hand, “No, it’s fine. I can use the first two wraps of the velvet for myself. I’m not allergic to cats. Or, you. The green would look awesome against your skin.” True as it was, she was more or less trying to follow her dad’s urgings. Her family, her tribe, had been torn asunder by her mother’s discovery. A life of lies.

“How about this,” attempt number two, “I’ll use the velvet to make you an underbust- no, you don’t have to tight lace, but it’d look great on you. You don’t have to pay me for it.” Was the other girl one of the wealthy-family ones? “Just... be advertising?”

Shooting a glance at Cecilia she arched her eyebrows silently asking if the other girl was happy?

[Cecilia Light]

Well.. This was just awkward. Goth verses albino, but Stella was in fact Cess's friend. But Cess was not sure about Sidra. She seemed to have something again her, even though Cess had never done anything to her. She had just been around. But maybe it was just Cess's present that bothered Sid. Maybe she just liked being alone. Cess would sometimes wish she could be alone, but that was never a factor. Between the living and dead, she was never alone. But none of that now, she had to get ready. But first she was going to see how this harsh battle between Sid and Stella would pan out.

Stella was worrying and Cess was sympathetic towards her. The girl wouldn't hurt a fly, and if she did she would be sad about it. Cess wanted to tell her to let it go that it was alright but Stella was seriously freaking. Cess sighed but then her eyes widened when Sid was being....kind of nice. Commenting possitively on Stella's complextion, offering to do her a favour. When she was finished she gave Cess a 'happy now?' look and Cess just gave her a warm smile and nodded slightly, and then turned back to her bed.

Walking over, she went to her bed and sat, looking into one of her bags for the new pair of converse shoes she bought. It was only today did she ask Robbie on a date. And in an hour, she was to meet him. And she couldn't wait so in her free period she bought some shoes and a new pair of jeans. But the shoes she left over with Stella and Sid. Looking to Felix, she clicked for attention and pointed to the bag.
''Bring me the bag Felix. Come on boy'', she said and the obedient and trained dog turned his head to the bag and a second later he walked over to the bag, sniffed it and then picked it up by the handles with his mouth and head propped up he walked over to the bed and Cess took them. Now, Cess would have seen her dog do that with a smile on the face. The other girls would have seen a bag be picked up and move bumply and swaying through the air to Cess. Taking it she told Felix goodboy and got the shoes out and checked them out. They were really high hightop connies and had multicolored graffitti styling on them. Smiling, she got the white skinny jeans out of another bag. Walking to the closet she got out a white russel brand t-shirt and her light brown coat with wooly frilling on the collar. Great! She hoped she looked good for him, she hadn't been on a date for a while. Hopefully, it will go okay.