Girls' Night [Sweet Princess Iris]

[kennedyk]

Kennedy's laid out several blankets and pillows on the distressed hard-wood floors of her top-floor apartment. It was a long day at work, but thankfully a productive one. Several customers came by to commission her after visiting her booth at the art festival, something she'll call a win. Now that there's a nice open space on the floor free of her canvases, paints, and as clean as it's been since she's moved in, Kennedy pops a big tub of Neopolitan ice cream into the freezer and sets a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice to chill. She picked up everything from the market on the way home.

"I hope Iris doesn't mind eating on the floor..." she worries, but furniture such as a dinning room table really seemed like a waste of money when she needed the space for her art. She shrugs, figuring her new friend will be so excited, she'll love absolutely everything. Laying a box full of jewelry-making supplies on the floor along with their stash of beads from the festival, she pulls out her notebook, quietly working up a quick sketch of the man Owen she met at her booth as she waits for Iris.

Comments

[littleredsiren]

"Hot... dads?" she laughs. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Thank you!" she grins, digging through the box. "I wanna make one for Eli, if that's okay!"

[kennedyk]

"Sooo good," Kennedy grins, resting her chin on her hands. "You'll understand soon, my child."

"Go for it, girl. I'll make one for Owen, think he's a pink man or a bright purple man?"

[littleredsiren]

"Can we watch that next then?" she asks, incredibly curious about what's so amazing about this movie.

"Hmm... Pink. He seemed very sad when I spoke with him. I think it'd cheer him up."

[kennedyk]

"Um yes! I actually have that one in my very small collection."

"Pink would look lovely with his eyes," she jokes, grabbing a few beads. "Did he? He seemed to cheer up a bit the more we talked."

[littleredsiren]

"Yay! So that's next?"

"Yeah, I think he was maybe having a bad night. He was very cheerful for awhile though! He told me about his old job on the boardwalk," she explains with a smile.

[kennedyk]

"Most definitely! And I'm going to watch your face the entire time because I want to see how you react to every scene," she grins.

Kennedy frowns. "I'm glad he was chipper some. I think I had a vision about him...before I met him."

[littleredsiren]

"Really?" She cocks her head slightly. "Can you tell me what it was? I mean, if it's private, that's okay too!"

[kennedyk]

"I don't know what happened, but about six months ago, I saw a man sleeping. And a woman kept telling him to wake up. It was very sad and I don't think the woman made it...Owen kept looking at the painting I made of it."

[littleredsiren]

Iris shivers, frowning. "Do you think it was him? And someone he knew?"

[kennedyk]

"I really think so. It felt like him, if that makes sense."

[littleredsiren]

Iris chews on the ends of her hair, thinking. "He got really upset after telling me about his old job on the boardwalk... Maybe that had something to do with it..."

[kennedyk]

Kennedy reaches up, gently tugging Iris' hair out of her mouth. Instead, she hands the girl a brush to fidget with. "He did mention he used to work at the Boardwalk. And he's in a wheelchair. I feel like in my vision, the man had been sleeping for a very long time. Like...he was in a coma."

[littleredsiren]

She takes the brush, fiddling it between her fingers. "Maybe that's why he was in the wheelchair... Your legs can kind of stop working well after you've been stationary for so long, right?"

[kennedyk]

"Mmhmm, that's what I'm thinking." She bites her lip. "Who was the woman...she seemed kind, warm. Someone who meant the world to her. But she also felt distant like she's not...around anymore..." Realization hits her and she frowns.

"Oh God, I think he was in the paper! A story about a resident waking up. That must have been him. I can't remember how long it had been, but he was in a car wreck of some kind."

[littleredsiren]

Iris hops to her feet with a gasp. "Hold on. Stay here."

She scurries out of the room, down to her apartment, and comes back up with a bunch of papers in her hands. "I save papers," she admits. "Wanna see if we can find anything more about it?"

[kennedyk]

Kennedy too kept papers....and covered them in paint. These are much better taken care of. "Yeah, not to be nosey, I just...want to know what not to say, you know?" She grabs a stack and starts thumbing through.

[littleredsiren]

"I know what you mean... I don't want to cause him any distress because I brought up bad memories, you know?" She hums a song softly as she flips through the papers, searching for his name anywhere she can find it.

[kennedyk]

"Right? I'd hate to stick my foot in my mouth first thing." She flips through about half the stack before shrieking. "Found it! I found it!" Spreading the paper on the floor between them, she starts to read the article. "A car wreck that took the life of his partner, Abi...oh God, that's sad."

[littleredsiren]

Iris sucks in a tiny gasp of air, biting down on her lip, hard. "He was in a car wreck too?" she murmurs, leaning over Kennedy's shoulder to read. "When did it happen?"

[kennedyk]

Too? Kennedy glances back at Iris with a questioning look but doesn't ask what she's thinking. Instead she holds the paper for Iris to see. "A year ago. He's been in a coma."

[littleredsiren]

Iris catches the look and ducks her head sheepishly, realizing she'd never told her about the accident. "I was in a car accident when I was six. Both my parents died and I had a brain bleed that took some of my memories," she explains. "I guess that explains the wheelchair. You stay in a coma that long and your muscles go super weak, right?"

[kennedyk]

Kennedy frowns, giving Iris an apologetic look. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry to hear that," she says, wrapping an arm around Iris' shoulders. "It does. Which hopefully means he'll be able to get back to his old physical condition at least."

[littleredsiren]

She shrugs but leans into her friend's hug anyway, reveling in the warmth. "It's okay. It's been a long time since it happened. It only hurts a little to think about now," she says, giving her a comforting smile. "Maybe I'll be some use to him. I could probably share some coping mechanisms, though I was six when it happened so my mind was a little more malleable to loss, I think."

[kennedyk]

"Mm, yeah that's true." She nods. "Even if you were young, he might respond well to someone else in a similar situation, you know? Just knowing he's not alone."

[littleredsiren]

Iris nods, following her line of thought. "I just have to find a way to bring it up with out like... triggering PTSD or anything."