world's bouncing like a trampoline [caitlyn]

[NELL DOE DALE]

live fast, die young, bad girls do it well

Nell loved her job at the casino most of the time, she really did. The exceptions had always been when she dealt with unruly patrons, but she had grown accustomed to that from being a bartender for a year. It came easily now. The other thing that wore on her was the inter-employee drama that came with any job. She stayed out of it. The former happened today, with a woman who lost all her chips on a bluff. It ended up with Nell dodging a shoe. Luckily a floor manager noticed and had security come talk to the woman and escort her out. Nell remained unfazed, organizing the chips back into their rows. Secretly, she was giving the random drunk lady props in her head; that was the first time she had ever been assaulted by a shoes. And here she thought she'd seen everything.

Thanks to it being a long day, not only thanks to the near-assault but because of her heels and the long hours, she was glad when she could finally head out. She changed in the bathroom, pulling on sweats and a tank underneath her light jacket. Nothing felt better than getting out of the worst uniform she'd ever had to wear in her three years working four steady jobs. The only uniform she ever had to wear, as a matter of fact. When she left the casino, she found that the sun was still up and it was much warmer than the permanently air-conditioned building.

Starting up the car, she knew exactly where she was going. See, she had plans. Did she inform anyone of these plans? Of course not. Nell was far too spontaneous to think ahead like that. So when she drove to Caitlyn's place, she knew she would be interrupting something. This was Cait; it's safest to assume she'd be doing something whenever one got into contact with her. Nell thought she kept much too busy, but then she thought of how hypocritical that was when she realized she juggled a job, school, volunteering, and babysitting. Of course, Nell blamed Cait's influence on her because of that.

In any case, she practically skipped up to the apartment, knocking on the door with the back of her head as she smiled cheerfully. Like she hadn't just been almost hit in the head with a size eight Fendi. She waited for the door to open before waving her hand in a wide arc. Her smile said, "Hello, I'm up to something." "Get some sneakers, we're going out." Very unceremonious, but that's how Nell rolled.

outfit.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

May was exam month. Exams typically made Caitlyn want to cry and hide in her apartment forever. This was what she had done this time, too -- well, she hadn't yet succumbed to tears, but she had been trapped in her apartment for a while, coming out only when she had class or when she absolutely had to work. Most of her students' parents were rather understanding of the fact that she had exams, but others get sort of snippy with her when she tried to explain that she was trying to cut back on lessons for a few weeks -- when that happened, she just accepted the lesson dates anyway. She felt too bad for the kids otherwise, and she could never say no to them. The rest of the time, if she wasn't at class or the library, she was in her apartment going over pages and pages and pages of notes, doing math study questions like they were all she knew how to do, and hoping that she developed a photographic memory overnight.

It was a pretty lousy way to live her life, but Caitlyn had always actually kind of been a workaholic, and she did like to keep busy, really. Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of busy that she liked -- rather she just felt like she was drowning all the time, which really wasn't a pleasant feeling. Exams were probably very bad for her mental health... and probably for her actual physical health too, now that she'd thought about it. It was three in the afternoon and she'd just had her first meal of the day, having gotten up early that morning for class and then pored over her notes for class since she'd gotten home. Her stomach felt a little settled, and she felt a little bit less tired, after she actually finally ate something. She grabbed a glass of water before returning to her books, and she positioned herself on her bed surrounded by all her school things, not to move again for several hours, until she heard a knocking on the door.

That was kind of unexpected and she blinked, confused. Her first thought was Matthew because he lived closest by, but he probably wouldn't have knocked. "Coming!" she called out as she tried to leave the bed without disturbing too many papers. She realized after a second that the person on the other side of the door wouldn't be able to hear her all the way from her bedroom, but fortunately nobody was there to notice that slip-up. Eventually she managed to make her way to the door. "Sorry, I was -- oh, hi Nell!" she said, cheering up a little when she saw her friend there at the door. Nell wasn't bad company at all. Caitlyn dreaded the day an annoying neighbour came over or something, when she had all of this stuff to do. "Oh, sorry for the wait, I had stuff in there so it was hard to move." She didn't think it had taken too terribly long to get just to the door, but she didn't really know. The minutes had started to blur into one another a long time ago.

"Sneakers?" she asked blankly, confused at her friend's mischievous smile. Cait almost groaned aloud. She knew that face well enough. "Are we going jogging?" She pulled the door further open and ushered the other girl inside, however, before closing it again behind them. It was so normal to open the door and find Nell standing there, actually, having shown up unannounced, that Caitlyn forget to even be surprised this time. "Wait, what are you doing here? I have... studying to do." She thought of all the work she had waiting for her upstairs, though, and she frowned. That was the very last thing she wanted to do, to be perfectly honest. The stress was obvious in the bags under her eyes, among other things. Caitlyn usually dealt with stress reasonably well, it being that she stayed so busy all the time -- exam time was always a worse time for her than other times. Maybe Nell was right. "Okay, okay. Sneakers? What should I wear otherwise?" She didn't even know where they were going, still, but it would probably be best just to let Nell take care of whatever they needed.

[NELL DOE DALE]

live fast, die young, bad girls do it well

Nell leaned from side to side as she waited for an answer. She figured if none came she would call, just to make sure Cait was okay. How else would she be certain that she hadn't collapsed somewhere and was dying? It often became hard for to spam a friend with texts if they didn't respond to her first. However, her fellow Earth graduate was looking just fine as she opened the door, about to start on a few words before she greeted her. Well...maybe 'just fine' was a bit of a stress. Cait looked a little worn, and that just strengthened Nell's resolve.

Cait apologized for leaving her to wait, speaking of having to move some things. She thought on it, wondering if she was moving out or something. But she waved her hand, said, "Eh, it's fine. The weather's nice. I might have been angrier if you left me out in the snow." Even then, she would have been there, shivering and smiling and saying it's totally okay, frostbite is no big deal. But winter was just a memory and she'd cheerfully bade it farewell while returning to t-shirts and shorts. "What stuff did you have to move?" In her mind, she imagined that Cait was a secret tomb raider with a bunch of sarcophagi in her room and had to hide them before she came in. Or maybe she just forgot to clean. Nell preferred the former theory.

It was all she could do not to laugh when Cait's expression went vacant before she groaned. Instead, she just shook her head when she asked about jogging. "Nah, that's Thursday morning. I'll be here at six. Sharp." It would be quite the unpleasant wake up call. Nell liked to be out and liked to run, but at six in the morning she was stumbling around trying to get ready for school. She couldn't expect anything more from Cait who was probably exhausted half the time, anyway.

Nell walked into when she let her in, looking around the apartment. It was nice, but of course she couldn't see the mess of papers that had become of the fellow Earth graduate's room. At first, Cait argued about the fact that she was in the middle of studying. "Did you know that if you study too much it can be unhealthy and even cause abscesses of your brain?" She nodded her head. It was a scary thought, but she could believe it. That's what she liked to tell her husband. "The best thing to do is take breaks in-between studying. I'm very worried about your health, Cait. Which is why I'm kidnapping you." It was totally reasonable. At least the sentiment behind this visit was serious. She did worry about Cait and she wanted her friend to have fun! And what better way then an indoor funhouse?

When Cait relented, Nell jumped up and grabbed her in a big bear hug, chirping with excitement before she pulled back. Okay, so she may have just really wanted to go. Just a little bit. And she was glad that it didn't take Cait coercion or bribes. Nell wasn't the best at that. "Uhm sneakers, sweats, and a tank or something," she listed the clothes off, counting them on her fingers, trying to think of the best things to be wearing. "You're gonna need loose clothes. But it's not the gym or anything. Well...it's kind of the gym..." She stopped to think of how to phrase it before saying, "It's basically a big indoor funhouse and I've never been there before but I just got off from a crazy day at work and I need it." She said the last part very gravely, as if going to this joint meant the difference between life and death.

outfit.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

Caitlyn had to agree that the weather was much nicer now that it was in winter -- cold had never been her favourite. At least she had an apartment and there was never a driveway to shovel or anything, at least not yet -- that was the worst. Her parents actually usually paid someone to do it, though a couple of times when she'd had to get out there it'd been enough to turn her off of the idea for good. "I'd never leave you outside in the snow! That's just rude," she said as if insulted that someone thought she'd treat one of her best friends this way. "But yeah, the weather's really nice right now." She took a deep breath as if inhaling fresh air, but of course all she got was mildly stuffy apartment air. It was a little disappointing. She sighed when Nell asked what she'd moved. "Nothing, actually. I just have a lot of paper everywhere. It looks like a textbook exploded," she said seriously before giggling a little bit. Even Caitlyn would admit it was a little bit silly.

The idea of going jogging at six in the morning sounded awful, and she shook her head. "Not happening," she told her friend, shutting her down quickly mostly because she knew she was kidding. If Nell had really, genuinely wanted to do that, she might have actually caved, even though it'd probably leave her feeling like she was about to fall over the rest of the day. Then, however, feeling that this sounded mean even as a joke, Caitlyn added with a smile, "Friday at six sounds good, though. Bring water, I'll make snacks for after." Who didn't want snacks after jogging? It was good to have food in the system.

Caitlyn did in fact know this, but it was one of those things that she generally paid little attention to even though she knew that she should have cared more -- things like how she should eat five small meals spread out throughout the day, and how she should get nine hours of sleep optimally, and so on and so forth. She got sick sometimes, actually. It probably wasn't good. "I don't think there are any abscesses right now," she said softly, shifting her eyes up to gaze upward as if she could see into her brain itself. "But I know... But I have a Biology exam!" That was important. She really couldn't afford not to do well on things like that. Still, she sighed, really wanting to get out for a bit, but she was wary that she would never get back to the studying. Nell was great but could be very distracting. "My health is fine, Nell," she protested. "See look I'm standing, and everything, and I even left the house today." Of course she'd left the house to go to class, but... Nell didn't need to know that. Cait paused and frowned. "I'm making myself sound like a hermit," she thought aloud, looking a bit horrified for a second. That was never good. She typically wasn't a shut-in, even if she was busy -- actually, she was rarely home most of the time.

She had already resigned herself to this fate of going out (the horror!), however, and so she just hugged Nell back when she jumped up. "Nell, I can't breathe," she said, laughing softly, but still she buried her face in her friend's shoulder because, admittedly, she had missed the girl. She had kind of missed human company in general. There hadn't been much time as of late to see friends very much. "Um... okay," she said, confused when she was told what to wear. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised. "Big indoor funhouse?" she repeated. "Like the kind with clowns?" She couldn't see why sweats were required for that, but was distracted again by her friend's grave tone. "Wait, what happened at work?" That voice was a little bit worrying, truth be told.

Cait excused herself to go get dressed, however, and -- after spending a few seconds staring at the pile of papers on her bed as if they were about to drown her in them, then shaking her head and declaring to herself that she was losing it -- returned after a bit now in sweats and a tank as instructed, a light hoodie pulled over top. Her sneakers were in hand -- well, in her gym tote bag in her hand, anyway. It had been a while since she'd done anything actually physically active. Volleyball was a fairly constant thing in her life but she'd backed out of everything temporarily leading up to exams. "I think I'm ready to go face the clowns," she joked. Her smile was tired but present -- it would be fun anyway, she was sure. Things with Nell were usually an adventure.

[NELL DOE DALE]

live fast, die young, bad girls do it well

Even though it was an entirely hypothetical situation, it warmed Nell's heart that Cait wouldn't leave her outside if it was snowing. The littlest things meant the most, even things that were only polite. "So rude," she said, smiling after. Yeah, that definitely was not Cait's style. She laughed when she breathed in deep. She imagined the heat would be cranked up were it still cold out. If Cait had heat, because Nell certainly didn't in her old apartment. However, this one was much better than her downtown craphole. Her eyes went wide at the words of a textbook explosion. "Oh man, that sounds intense," she said, before laughing too. The poor girl probably had a lot of exams, didn't she?

Cait turned down her joking invitation to jog at six in the morning, and who could blame her? It was six in the morning That's an unholy hour. "Aww," she said with a saddened expression. But then her lips flipped back into a smile when she said that she would be making snacks. "Snacks? That's it, you're my new jogging partner." She used to go out for runs a lot, but lately she didn't have time. But it certainly was an activity she didn't like doing alone. She didn't like doing anything alone.

Sometimes Nell felt like she was a daily PSA for her friends' and their health. She imagined it got annoying, but she couldn't help it, she needed to make sure they were doing okay. And didn't have any brain abscesses. Her shoulders lifted in a silent laugh as the other girl rolled her eyes up, and said, "I'm sure you'll do fine. You're smart, you could probably pass with one hour of studying." She was overconfident in Cait's abilities, that was for sure. Nell had...not too good studying habits sometimes in that she squeezed it in during breaks at work or when volunteering or her lunch break in school. She didn't have many exams, her Psych and Statistics ones the most important of them. Nell's expression turned quizzical when Caitlyn said, shockingly, she actually left the house. "But for how many minutes?" It may not have made sense, but in Nell's head she was thinking of the fact that the brain needed about fifteen minutes of sun a day. "A very clean and pretty hermit," Nell reassured her when Cait, looked shocked by this revelation before saying, "You're studying, understandable. But I am here to rescue you!" She threw her hands up as if imitating the sun's rays. She'd certainly like to think she was helping her shut-in friend. Who wasn't usually a shut-in; she understood that Cait was a hard worker, which definitely wasn't a bad thing.

Keeping her voice as serious as possible even though Cait wouldn't be able to see it, she squeezed tighter. "Shhh, you don't need to breathe," she whispered before pulling away. Creepy jokes were the best kinds of jokes. And perhaps Nell didn't explain it quite right, judging by Cait's reaction "Nope, clown free. Unless a kid's having a party." Even then, she wondered if there would be? Nell would like to have had a party at that place when she was a kid, it had become the most magical place on Earth to her. She'd never been to Disney World, of course. "More like giant slides and moon bounces and balls and stuff," Nell told her, her voice energized and high. It was intended for kids, but adults could get in too. And they were still almost teenagers kind of. Close enough?

When she asked after work, Nell raised her hands in preparation of the story she was about to tell. "Oh! Well..." she said when Cait asked after the work incident. "This lady lost her money because she bet all of it on a really bad hand, so of course her reaction would logically be to throw her shoes at me." She nodded her head slowly as if backing up the fact that this completely made sense. "I dodged it magnificently. She was drunk, by the way. And was escorted out afterward." She did feel bad, though, considering the woman was so drunk. Nell definitely did not hold it against her. Even though the shoe thing was quite a shock to the system.

Nell waited for Cait while she got ready, and clapped her hands together when she came out with bag in hand. "Them clowns better watch out," she snapped her fingers before walking out of the house and heading out to where she parked her car. "Oh, have you seen Lucille yet? I got her done a couple months ago." She spread her arms wide as she approached the Purple Pontiac GTO, her pride and joy. She'd worked on it for a little over a year and it had been the best project she had. Of course, she had to spend some time telling Cait about this, "Everything's new and no problems with her yet. How do you like her?" She liked to hear people's opinions on the cars, good or bad, especially the paint job. It was kind of flashy, but she had to be after having the PT Cruiser for so long.

outfit.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

Caitlyn waved her hands around in an attempt to physically and wordlessly explain the explosion of papers that had taken place in her room. It probably iddn't work. "It was very intense," she said seriously -- or it would have been if she weren't smiling, anyway. Nell put her in a good mood. Caitlyn liked that. "Yes! I've waited for years to have the honour of being your jogging partner," she joked, but of course she'd enjoy it all the same if that were the case. Cait didn't run very much but maybe she should more -- keep in shape and what-not, though she did at least have volleyball.

Going into an exam after only one hour of studying was a thought that would have actually driven Caitlyn insane, and she looked over at Nell with a wide-eyed expression. "Don't say these things," she half-pleaded, shaking her head insistently. She was glad that Nell had that kind of confidence in her, but it was never good to do that. She didn't want to go in overconfident, either -- a healthy amount of nerves was normal and helpful, right? The difficult part would be drawing the line between a healthy and unhealthy amount of nerves, of course. "Have you started studying yet?" she asked, blinking. There were still a couple of weeks left -- Caitlyn didn't get how people could just study for a day or something and be alright, but some people did leave it off to the last minute.

Caitlyn had to think about that one. Considering she hadn't really lingered outside or anything, it hadn't been very many minutes at all. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I mean I guess that also depends what you mean by 'out', because I had class this morning..." She had taken a brief walk across the grounds to get to class, if that meant anything. Of course, Caitlyn knew that it didn't. "I guess. My hair does look good for a hermit," she said, touching a hand to her hair and tugging on it a little, smiling. Her hair wasn't looking its best, truth be told, but hey -- these were hermit standards. "You should come live a hermit lifestyle with me, though. Wait, unless that doesn't count as being a hermit anymore..." That was probably true. "I don't think it's normal to be rescued from studying..." She trailed off, realizing it was a hopeless endeavour while she watched Nell throw her hands up in the air.

Well, that was a very creepy thing for Nell to say, but Caitlyn just laughed softly, too used to her friend's antics. She rocked them back and forth for a second in this long (and breath-restricting) hug before finally letting go. "You're a very creepy person. You weren't kidding about that kidnapping thing," she said, but it was obviously that they were both kidding, and very silly people who made no sense at any point ever. "Are we going to Chuck E. Cheese?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together when Nell mentioned kids' birthday parties. She had loved those kinds of parties as a kid. Then Nell explained a little mroe, and Caitlyn had definitely not seen that one coming. "We're going to a place with moon bounces and giant slides?" she asked, her eyes wide and surprised, but next second she was grinning, almost laughing at the silliness and randomness of this whole situation. "That... is even better than Chuck E. Cheese." Of course, there would be no prizes or tickets or pizza, but that was okay. At least there'd be no giant mice walking around. She shuddered at the thought -- she was alright with the costume, but sometimes it did make her imagine actual enormous mice, and that was frightening.

That story was actually pretty ridiculous, and Cait blinked her clear, distinct confusion. "Why would she throw her shoes at you?" she asked with an expression of mild shock. That just didn't make any sense. She couldn't imagine that the loss had been Nell's fault, but maybe it was. Then Nell mentioned she was drunk, and it made a lot more sense. She sighed. "Must have been really drunk," she said, shaking her head. "She wasn't wearing like... stilettos, was she? That'd hurt." She had no personal experience of course, but heels were always tougher. Sneakers or something might have been better. Even then, it was good Nell had avoided them.

Caitlyn smiled and snapped her fingers in return. "Especially if they're the attractive male kind," she said, remembering a conversation they had had about this once before. Oh, yes. Caitlyn would not be opposed to dating a hot clown at all, nope. "Oh I haven't!" Actually she didn't really know much about cars at all so it was possible that this kind of excellent work was wasted on her, to be perfectly honest, but she was excited because she knew how long it had taken Nell -- a very long time. "She's so pretty," she said, her face lighting up on sight of the car -- as well as how happy Nell looked, really. There wasn't much she knew about it but it really was very pretty. "So shiny and nice," she said, smiling at her friend before turning her eyes back to the car. Very nice indeed. "Does she drive okay?" She would assume that this was what "no problems" meant, of course. Caitlyn was curious, however, when she tilted her head to the side and asked, "Wait wait, what happened to the old car?" Poor older car, being shoved aside for Lucille... but of course Lucille was just a lot nicer.

[NELL DOE DALE]

When Cait asked her, practically begged her not to say that she would do just great, Nell scrunched her lips together as she tried to think of what she may want. "You are going to do very poorly," she said, taking her words seriously. She wanted to please her friend, so maybe that was the right thing to say to her. At the question, she scratched the back of her neck with a timid expression. "Kind of? I squeeze it in when I can." She didn't have very good studying habits, no, but she did pretty good for herself. Usually she just needed to brush up on certain things while others stuck in her head. "I definitely need to study more on Stats, that class is kind of insane." She'd taken math before, she enjoyed math enough that she didn't just give up on the hard stuff, but Stats was another league entirely. Maybe Cait had similar problems, but she didn't know all of the classes the other girl took.

She nodded her head when her friend said that she had good hair for a hermit. Not totally scraggly like most hermits. Or gray either, she supposed that's what happened when you were up in the mountains too long. At least, that was what she imagined to be a hermit in her mind. "I think we'll need to do some research on that," she said. "Or we can just be shut-in, but that sounds less interesting." She'd already done her time as a shut-in and it did not appeal to her. Not that she would tell Cait that. But she did get cabin fever a lot, even if it was just sitting around in the mansion. She snorted. "Now I don't need to research that. Normal doesn't exist!" So maybe there was normal behavior, as a psych major she knew that much, but she still didn't want Cait to feel bad about not going out so much.

She shook her head at the question of Chuck E. Cheese, and never having been there she had no clue what that was about. But she grinned when Cait seemed to approve of the fact that it was in fact, not this Chuck E. Cheese place. "I have no idea what Chuck E. Cheese is, but I agree, it's so cool," she said, tapping her fists together in front of her. She liked to let the kid in her run free, since she didn't have the chance to go to places like this in her childhood. So she had to drag her friends along, of course.

Nell laughed, seeming completely okay with having a shoe launched at her head. She got over that pretty quickly. "Have I even told you have my stories when I was working as a bartender?" she asked. She had an entire host of them. One of the stories she didn't tell was when she had first started at Corrosion, because it had involved her husband and his switchblade. She nodded her head at Cait's question. "Yep. Designer shoes too. They were pretty nice." She'd gotten them back, at least, it would have sucked had the casino decided to keep them for whatever reason.

Nell nodded her head at Cait's words. "I still owe you some hot clowns." She wondered if any male strippers had the sexy clown as their costume. There was something inherently wrong about that. She grinned wide at Cait's approval of the car, feeling a swell in pride that she rarely ever felt in herself. Her friend was way too nice to her, that was for sure. "Thanks!" she chirped. "She handles great. I mean, the first thing I did was pull donuts with her in a parking lot." That's how she had to test her car, of course. It was fun, especially considering that she hadn't ended up crashing it. Not that it would happen, she was a good driver. "Gwen's still around. I use her for shopping actually." She'd grown fond of the car, and recognized that she would be a necessity in the face of a two-door sports car. It may not have been as flashy as her husband's Aventador, but she didn't like to compare. They were two separate vehicles.

She used maps on her phone to type in the address and handed Cait the phone so she could navigate. As a good, responsible driver Nell didn't like to use her phone at any time. Luckily, it didn't take too many streets to get there, otherwise they may have gotten lost. Once they arrive to the building they went in and paid before going to one of the rooms. Inside was the huge slides and blow up bounces and the climbing area. Music played over the speaker and the place was dark save for the electric disco balls. There were a few children, some teenagers, but it wasn't busy to the point of impossible navigation. "You can take your shoes off, actually," Nell told her. It may be easier, and since Nell preferred not wearing hers, she kicked them off and placed them in one of the cubbies a long the wall, along with her jacket. "What do you want to go on first?" Nell asked as she bounced on her feet.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

Caitlyn's greatest fault was probably that she didn't deal with things very well -- actually, that was to say, she was very precise about the things that she did and the way she did them. When typical bad days and the like came, she became stressed out very easily. This was kind of like that, except that exams were for an extended period of time instead of just one single bad day. She allowed her lip to twitch a little into a smile when Nell said that she was going to do poorly. "You don't have to say that either!" she told her friend, not really upset at all (because she knew Nell didn't mean it, really) but just shaking her head at the whole situation. "I just... need to study." Her friend, on the other hand, didn't seem to be very concerned about studying at all. This would have concerned Caitlyn, probably, but she tried to let her friends do their own things -- and Nell was a smart girl, so Cait was sure she would do just fine. "Math can be insane in general," she agreed with a nod. She was actually not bad at math, but there were times when she wanted to tear her hair out because of it. "What else do you have?"

Shut-ins were alright, but hermits were the ones who did all the really cool stuff. Somehow, it seemed to Cait that she talked about hermits very often with Nell. Maybe this should have concerned her, but actually, considering the way she lived her life, she coudln't force herself to care all that much. "We can take turns being a hermit. Timeshared cave," she said, nodding. "Doing research would be too much work." Caitlyn wasn't opposed to doing hard work, obviously, but she really did not have the time for that right now... or ever. Hermits were interesting and all but not interesting enough.

It was surprising that Nell didn't know what Chuck E. Cheese was, but Caitlyn was used to some of these things sometimes with Nell, and she just smiled. "Chuck E. Cheese is like... I guess kind of like an arcade, but for younger kids? They play games and get tickets and prizes and stuff. And you can have a birthday party there with Chuck and he's this giant mouse... I'll take you there for your next birthday," she said, grinning. It was a joke, really, but Cait wouldn't mind doing that at all if that was actually what Nell wanted in a birthday party. Sometimes it was fun not to have to be overly serious all the time -- she knew that even if she didn't always practice it. "But this place sounds cool!" She was kind of excited to go, now, even if the pile of studying she had to do was still threatening to swallow her whole. She thought about having to sleep on that bed tonight, which would mean cleaning up the papers. Maybe she would crash on the couch.

She shook her head. "Nope!" There had been no bartender stories as far as she was aware. "I bet you have a lot though, huh?" There were so many things that could go wrong with bartending, she was sure. People weren't always fun, happy drunks -- some were violent, some were whiny, and others were clumsy and possibly vomity. That was kind of gross. Cait couldn't cnosider ever bartending, so she was glad that she actually had an okay deal with this piano teaching thing. "Ouch," she said with a sympathetic cringe when she imagined stilettos flying full-speed at her face. "Well, at least she didn't actually hit you. Those were probably way too nice to throw at someone's face, too..." That may have sounded insensitive, but seriously, who had enough designer shoes to be able to afford tossing them at a dealer's face? Cait certainly didn't, and she had lots of shoes.

Caitlyn could certainly use some attractives males in her life, though the whole clown thing would just be an added bonus because then he could entertain her friends too. Plus, who didn't want to be given squirting flowers? Well... she might mind depending on the day, but she was sure clowns didn't actually live their jobs. "You do! Haven't you found any yet? I'm sure they're not that hard to find," she said, pouting and acting like a bit of a brat, but she didn't mean it and hopefully Nell knew that. She just wanted some clown lovin' in her life, come on now. "I bet she does!" she said, smiling at the car. She certainly was a beautiful vehicle. "You actually pulled donuts?" That was a reasonable way to test a car, she supposed. "Well, at least you still use her! Sad otherwise if she just didn't get to see any action at all." Shopping wasn't particularly "action"-filled, of course, but for the average car that was probably the extent of it, except for maye the Batmobile or something.

It didn't take a very long time to get there, and Caitlyn was actually very excited by the time they arrived and went insde. It was dark but lit with some pretty funky lighting -- she didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it certainly was not Chuck E. Cheese's, that was for sure. "Shoes off," she agreed, deciding to put the shoes she had on already and her good sneakers off to the side in the cubby next to Nell's. Her socks would probably be just fine. "Um, um," she thought aloud as she looked around. There was so much stuff, and she didn't know what she wanted at all. "Oh, oh, oh, giant slide!" She pointed over to the nearest one; she looped elbows with Nell and was already bouncing over there, Nell's energy probably rubbing off on her. "Do they have a ball pit too? Because they should totally have a ball pit." Her eyes were big and child-like as she wondered about this, this... wonderful place of stuff and things.

[NELL DOE DALE]

In her second effort to please Cait -- who she believed in her heart would pass, because she was so diligent and awesome -- she cupped a hand over her mouth and nodded when the fellow Earth girl said she simply needed to study. That seemed like the best plan in all aspects. On the subject of math, Nell definitely needed to study. It didn't come easy to her as some others so she looked for ways that she could apply it. "I have Psych and Bio, too. Pretty confident in Bio, at least, I've studied that the most." Psych may be a little lacking, but she always approached her studying confidently, as if she'd already passed the test. Next year she figured it would be worse, even though she would be taking more classes she enjoyed.

As she listened, there was no denying that it sounded like a paradise for kids. She hadn't been too many arcades, but she loved games so it sounded like paradise as an adult. "You would?" she said, her eyes bright when Cait said she would take her there for her birthday. "Maybe not for my birthday though. Maybe for yours!" She didn't celebrate her birthday, in fact she forgot about it half the time. The last time she did something for it was when she turned nineteen and got a tattoo and went to a bar. Legally, of course.

Nell would have to one day share her Tavern Tales, as she referred to them in her head. Corrosion had definitely been more interesting than Blackjack, she had to say. "Yep! Well, of course not all of them are bad. I used to like being a bartender because people liked to tell me things." Drunken sob stories half the time, but she still enjoyed hearing about them. She lent an ear to whoever came to her with a story. She nodded solemnly when Cait winced in sympathy with her tale. "Right? Some people need to respect their shoes more..." Her voice was falsely serious, as she had had worse encounters with people. The casino had never been that bad at least.

Not even Cait's pout could sway Nell's heart, no matter how cute it was. Okay, that was a lie, she was very swayed. "But Caitinaaa, the yellow pages isn't organized by hotness! Or clowns." And how was she supposed to navigate the world wide web? She was technologically inept half the time. On the matter of her very pretty car, she nodded. "Course. And then some drifts, you know...just to test the shocks." She winked. It was fun to do whenever she was bored. But usually she liked doing it with someone else thanks to her whole 'doesn't like to be alone' deal. "I hope she's not too upset by it..." She trailed off, and even though she said it as a joke, she began to wonder. Because, of course, cars had emotions and knew when they were being neglected. What if Cait had a point? What if her car felt bad about being neglected for a shiny new vehicle.

Filled with childhood spirit, Nell stretched out a little, wiggling her fingers and toes, hoping that she didn't tear anything thanks to the strenuous physical requirements. Though she acted like it sometimes, she was not a kid anymore! She had brittle bones and joints. Though she wasn't merciful of them when she raised both her arms in the air and cried, "To the slide!" And maybe then a ball pit, if they had one. She wasn't too sure about that so she told Cait, "They might, but don't take my word for it and cry if it's not true." She matched the other girl's expression with a pout before turning and skipping off to the first slide she saw. Which required a lot of climbing and balance and it wouldn't be surprising if she fell again.

"I'll go first! Time to climb the mountain..." she said as she cracked her knuckles and grabbed hold of one of the handles to climb up. There were no kids on this one so after she made her way up she reached the actual slide, stumbling around like a just-born penguin. Or any animal, but she felt like a waddling penguin on the giant inflated slide. When Cait made it, she sat down and said, "We should go together. Just break all the rules because we're rebels." They were adults, it was okay for them to go together since they wouldn't actually hurt themselves like some kids might. ...Or they might, but it wouldn't be too bad.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

Caitlyn nodded. "I think I have Psych next semester, actually," she said. "Is it hard?" She'd taken a couple of Psych classes before but mostly, they hadn't been particularly strenuous. She did, howveer, also have Bio, which was much more intense. She was good at sciencey things, truthfully, considering her major, but it really was stressful either way. There was a lot of stuff to be done, especially studying. "Hopefully the Bio exam isn't too hard." Her worry was showing again and her forehead wrinkled together for a second before she realized how that might have sounded. "But you'll probably do great! You usually do awesome." That was true. She wished she could be okay without studying as much, too, but unfortunately that wasn't how it worked. She may have been a bit neurotic about this, however.

Nell looked so happy with the idea of Chuck E. Cheese's that Cait actually found herself hoping that the place would live up to her expectations. Maybe she hadn't done a very good job of describing it, though; the Rodents of Unusual Size there were still sticking in her mind. She was so glad that Chuck E. Cheese seemed to have nothing to do with The Princess Bride. "My birthday?" she asked, giggling a little. "That'll be a while, though! I want to go soon!" Her birthday had literally just been the past week -- a pretty uneventful day, actually, but she supposed that was how it went these days. Her friends had been sweet that day, at least. "Maybe just sometime for fun." If Nell didn't want to go on her birthday then she wouldn't force her to, of course. That would be cruel and unusual.

Was bartending fun? Whenever Caitlyn saw a bartender, or heard them talk about it, it seemed to be a mix of things -- on the one hand, most of them liked the actual mixology aspect and, sometimes, the talking to people. On the other hand -- well, people sometimes got ridiculous when they were drunk. "What kinds of things? Secrets?" she asked suspiciously as if she really believed that Nell was hiding something from her. She doubted it, of course, unless the President of the United States had entered the bar at any point to disclose all of his personal secrets to the bartender or something. Now those would be cool secrets to hear. "They do! What if the shoes scuffed? Or what if you decided to never give them back?" Considering the lady had thrown her shoes in the first place, she would have probably deserved to have them taken away. Cait wondered how drunk someone had to be to start chucking stilettos, however.

She giggled at the name "Caitina" -- Nell was always good for picking her up and taking her mind off of things like... She wouldn't mention the E word right now, but it rhymed with "drexams". "Isn't there a Clown Network we can call or something? And ask for the hottest ones?" Actually, she would be highly amused if someone invented something like that specifically for girls like her to dial and ask for a hot clown. She didn't, however, know if she could really date a clown in reality. It might be weird. "You're so wild," she said, blinking a little bit, more impressed than anything else. The car was beautiful, and if Nell knew what she was doing -- and as long as no one got hurt -- well, go ahead, she figured. "Where did you do all that?" She was curious now. "I'm sure she's not too upset. You still go and see her sometimes, right? Shopping trips are fun!" She spoke as if it were about a person after a break-up or something. Poor Gwen had to deal with the abandonment, but luckily cars did not in actual fact have feelings of that sort... or any sort.

The slide was definitely a good place to start, and Cait followed along happily, stretching her arms out a little bit too in the process. It was good to stretch and what-not before physical activity, even if said physical activity involved going down an inflatable slide. "I'll cry, Nell. I'll really really cry if there's no ball pit and you lied to me." She was smiling very honestly, however, and there was really no chance she would cry over that, even if ball pits were the best things ever and she hadn't been inside one for such a long time... or anywhere near one, actually. She couldn't even think of the last time she'd seen one. "You can do it! I believe in you!" She watched as Nell went first, then made her own attempt as well. It had been a long time since she'd done anything vaguely resembling rock climbing, and she slipped the first few times she tried to get a foothold properly, but eventually she got used to it and climbed up with... relative ease, all things considered. Still, she was out of breath by the time she reached the top, and she giggled as she also waddled over and nearly fell over next to her friend, laughing.

"That was too much work, I think. I need to hit the gym more often," she said seriously before cracking up, but it probably had more to do with her bizarre eating schedule and unnecessary stress lately than a need to exercise more. Shhh. "We're the best rebels ever. Look at us," she said, gesturing to the two of them, in their tanks and sweatpants and socks, smiling at the top of a giant inflated slide. "I won't tell if you won't, though?" Would they really get in trouble for doing something like that? Caitlyn imagined that the worst thing that could happen, especially the first time, was a small proverbial slap on the wrist and a "never do that again". She didn't mind so much... and it wasn't like anyone was watching them anyway. "Ready set go!" She counted down very quickly, not bothering to pause even a little, nudging Nell a little with her elbow before taking off with her down the slide. By the time she reached the bottom, she was giggling like a little kid -- her hair a little windswept from the speed down the slide, but her smile bright and happy. "Best. Best thing ever." She turned to see her friend again with the same grin on her face. Her studying lay almost entirely forgotten back at home.

[NELL DOE DALE]

On the subject of whether or not Psych was hard...well, Nell could put it many ways. Like any subject, she supposed. "A lot of it is common sense," she told Cait, a thoughtful look on her face. "It's like other science classes, I think. A lot of terms to remember. But you should do fine! Do you need the class for your major?" She was majoring in the actual subject, so every year she had a psychology class to take, and then elemental classes with her sciences and maths. Seeing as Cait was a science major, Nell believed that she'd be great at it. Nell cupped a hand over her mouth, before she moved it away and said, "You're so nice." The emotion in her voice proved that she wasn't just joking. Compliments never failed to astound her.

Cait mentioning this wonderful restaurant...play...thing opened up Nell's eyes to a whole new world she didn't think could exist. What else had she missed out on in her life? "True," Nell said when Cait reminded her they'd have to wait another year for her birthday. Why did birthdays have to be so difficult? Okay, so maybe she was the difficult one who didn't celebrate her own, but it would just be far too uncomfortable for her. "Okay, it's a plan. And I'll remember it and hold you to it." She'd just have to snag Cait at a time when she wasn't too busy. Which would be never, likely. She couldn't blame her, a lot of the time weekends were her only free time, and the gaps between school and work and after work.

Nell nodded her head emphatically at the question. She did get secrets. She got a lot of things from people who were more open with enough booze in them. "Quite a few secrets," she said conspiratorially. She actually remembered a lot of the patrons who'd come in and talked to her on a personal level. Usually, that kind of thing only happened when it wasn't too busy. "A lot of stories, though. Like if someone was going through a hard time in their life and they needed to vent. Or sometimes they'd tell me really weird things." You could never predict what you'd get as a bartender. In serving someone, you couldn't predict what kind of drinker they would be or how they would react to certain things. She laughed, leaning back a bit. "I should have kept them as ransom!" If only she could do that. She should have been madder, she supposed, but she was too much of a pushover.

Tilting her head as if considering, it took only a second before she was shaking it. "I think the Hot Clown Hotline went under a few years back." A shame, too, she could have used it for Cait! But no, the hunt for attractive clowns was still on and she didn't know where to begin. "And if they're not that hard to find, why don't you try looking?" She said it like an affronted kindergartner getting proven wrong about something. Hot clowns were about as common as shinies in Pokemon games. Or maybe finding a woodland animal in the city. She grinned at being called wild, and when asked about the location, she said, "There's an old store downtown and the parking lot is wide open." It would be difficult if there were a lot of lamp posts, but as it were she'd found it pretty smooth. "And now I'm gonna have to take you for a joy ride later." If she was up for it, of course. Not a lot of people liked the near-death thrill of being thrown around in a vehicle. Hopefully the promise that Nell knew what she was doing might help in that decision.

The threat of tears could possibly be the way to get to Nell. "You wouldn't do that," she said impudently. No, Cait was way too nice to do that. Unless she was really into the ball pit deal. Nell supposed she had to cross her fingers. In any case, it would be quite embarrassing to topple over after getting encouragement from Cait. She had to prove herself to be the graceful lady she was and climb to the top. She laughed when her friend reached the top too, leaning over on her hands. "We're old, this stinks! Soon we'll need walkers!" She supposed it was a good reason to enjoy all that they could now. They wouldn't be this young forever. And she was pretty sure walkers wouldn't be allowed on slides like this.

She nodded seriously when Cait gestured to them. "We're regular James Deans," she said, throwing her fingers up in devil horns. The fact that they were actually two dorks playing on a slide didn't even matter. She tapped a finger to her lips in the universal 'shh' symbol and shook her head. She wouldn't tell anyone that they were complete rebels, doing things on slides they shouldn't. Like going down together. Nell gripped her arm and took off after the countdown, squealing like a child until they hit the bottom where she rolled over to sit on her but. "Ay dios, I didn't expect it to be that high!" It had been a long way down, but she was grinning with Cait and laughing a bit. She moved out of the way and looked around to see what else there was an saw a suspicious looking place.

With an excited gasp, she patted her friend's arm and pointed over. "Look, it's a pit....of balls!" So there had been! She hurried over, skirting around some other teenager and opened the flaps, looking at the pit. She tried to step in, but didn't know how to go about that and just ended up tumbling over into it. "I'm going to drown in the balls!" she said as she struggled, laughing as she said it because she just couldn't resist it. Righting herself, she stared at Cait, wide-eyed. "I've never been in one of these things, I'm afraid to move." How deep was it anyway? This was the strangest place she had ever found herself in, and she didn't even know how to move around in them.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

She supposed that common sense was nice in a class, because it cut down on studying when everything was logical. The much more difficult part was when everything needed to be memorized because there was no easier way to remember it. Common sense, however, and instinct, was much easier. "Common sense is pretty easy," she mumbled, keeping this in mind for later. "Oh, not really! I just thought it'd be fun, actually. Most of my major is like -- Biology and Chemistry and... stuff." They were the big three sciences, really, and she took a number of Law-related classes because they were relevant. Psych was just kind of thrown in there to keep things frehs, in a way. "No," she said softly, smiling happily, "just being honest." Well, she liked to think that she was a pretty nice person, but it wasn't something she was lying about this time. She really did think Nell would do great.

Bartending was probably interesting -- at least, hearing a bunch of strangers' secrets was probably interesting. Caitlyn had yet to ever go spill her heart out to a bartender, but that was mostly because she'd generally had other people to turn to when she needed to voice all of her problems aloud. She hadn't yet managed to get drunk enough at a bar to start sobbing to the person making her drinks. "Like Mean Girls?" she asked, giggling a little. Like, 'that's why her hair is so big, it's full of secrets'?" She hadn't seen a huge amount of movies, but she did remember Mean Girls, because -- well, it was just one of those things to know. "But what kind of weird things?" How weird did it get? Actually... well, it probably got really weird, especially when people were drunk and more willing to disclose random things about their life.

Had there ever been, at any time, in any city, a Hot Clown Hotline? She hoped so just because it would be really hilarious, but also because guys who managed to be fun and attractive were just wonderful. Those, of course, weren't the only criteria, however. "That's a shame. I guess not enough people used it... which is dumb, because I would love to use it all the time." She laughed a little. She could have had dates set up for her next five Fridays! Of course, that was a lie. Cait did not have her next five Friday nights off at all. "And... I'm sorry," she said, giving her friend a saddened look. "Nooo, don't make me look by myself, please! People will think I'm weird! It's okay if we're both doing it." She had, of course, never started looking in the first place, and she would quite frankly be very confused if Nell actually managed to find her a hot clown to date. "As long as it's safe and we don't wind up crashing into something," she said, eyes a little wide at the thought -- the word "joyride" did not sound safe at all, but she wondered what Nell really meant by that.

Would she really cry? No, of course not. There were some things worth crying over but this wasn't one of them at all, and Caitlyn just held her lip for a moment, trying to get her face as sad and pouty as it could possibly go. It, unfortunately, wasn't very successful. "You saw through my act," she admitted after a few seconds of attempting to pull it off. "And I thought I was doing so well!" She clearly wasn't cut out for this acting thing; it was a good thing she had her whole college thing going on, and that whole music business. Drama was clearly not the right path for her. "But the ball pit is serious business so that'd be disappointing. I could be studying right now!" She was teasing, of course. Much as she didn't like to be called a workaholic or something when it was meant in a negative way, she didn't mind so much some joking around with a close friend.

The thought of needing walkers at any point in the near future kind of horrified Caitlyn, but that was because they were young still... or well, young-ish, anyway. It was all relative anyway. Compared to the little ninth graders at school, and even more to some of the little kids wandering around here, they were quite old. "We can't be old and James Deans... And we're too cool not to be James Deans," she reasoned to both Nell and herself, even though this line of logic made absolutely zero sense, but they were there playing on a slide, so she supposed it didn't make much of a difference either way. She couldn't help her giggling as they went down, especially when she heard Nell squealing next to her -- it was infectious.

Unfortunately, they bumped heads along the way, and Cait was still giggling but rubbing her head a little where she'd hit it. "Way too high. And I think I figured out why they have that one person only rule." She laughed. Who cared? She didn't. When Nell gasped suddenly, though, she turned her head quickly to see what the big deal was, and she squeaked a little bit in excitement. She didn't know why, actually, except that Nell was very excited and so she was too. "Ball pit!" That was all she needed before she ran after her friend, making her way through an unmoving crowd of teenagers to jump in, laughing at Nell as she sort of tumbled. "No, don't drown!" She smiled, resurfacing from where she'd landed amidst the brightly-coloured balls. It was deeper than expected, honestly. "There's no sharks, I promise. ...I think. But there might be small children. But hopefully they don't bite." Her eyes widened and she looked down and around as if expecting to see a child's arm waving in the air, like a shark's fin as it swam around.

[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell giggled when Cait made the movie reference, before she realized something. "Wait, does that make me Gretchen Wieners? I don't know how I feel about that." Her dad invented toaster strudel, so she supposed that was a reason to want to be her. Nell tried to think of a strange story to regale her friend with, and one of them came instantly. "Oh, this man came in before and ordered about five Long Island Iced Teas and then he started telling me about his day in rhyme. Which was really funny, but also kind of really weird." And she didn't even find too many things strange in the workplace. Anyone telling her about their conspiracy theories and she'd listen with rapt attention.

It looked like Cait may not be getting her clowns after all. Though that sunk Nell's heart like a rock; she couldn't let her friend down like that. "If you'd only asked me sooner." Nell shook her head. It had only been last year that she had offered to get her hot clowns, and yet the search had been fruitless. Nell sighed when the girl begged her to help her out. "You're right, I mean...two girls looking for clowns, now that's okay." Completely and totally normal, as a matter of fact. Just two girls...looking for some hot clowns. Now she did have to wonder if stripper clowns were a thing. As for a joyride, Nell grinned. She was fast and furious, she knew what she was doing. "One-hundred percent safe," she said, spreading her hands out as if pushing away any doubt in her friend's head. "I have air bags on the door and I've done it a million times." The air bags hadn't even been necessary, and if they had been Nell wouldn't offer a ride with Cait. It was like asking, "Hey, would you like to pet my dog? He's bit me a few times, got some stitches, but he's really friendly."

Laughing as Cait said that she had seen through her act, she shrugged her shoulders. Would she be having this much fun had she decided to crash right after work? No way, and she'd most likely have created a new sleep pattern for herself and that's something she really didn't need. "I know you too well, Cait, you needa get new tricks." A high-pitched yell speared the conversation and Nell looked over before cracking a smile. Kids. They were louder than most barking dogs. A confused look crossed Nell's face when Cait said she could be studying. "I'm sorry, studying? What is that? I have no clue what this stud....ying is?" She pronounced it oddly to keep up the farce that she hadn't ever heard such a word before.

Nell nodded at her friends words, like she understood them completely. "You're right," Nell agreed, because yes, she definitely got what was going on here -- they couldn't be James Dean. They were better than James Dean. At least she thought they had better hair, and that was saying something. "We could be Thelma and Louise. No! Better! We're Cait and Nell." She snapped her fingers, because that's all they needed; just their names. That was bad ass enough, two names that will go down in history for raising Cain in a bounce building.

The one person rule couldn't even count for them, considering they were just too bad ass to follow it. Even though the resulting head trauma may have both had would be an argument for it. Rebels without cause in the ball pit. Even though Nell didn't see the bad ass in running around like a couple of kids, but that's what she enjoyed, laughing as Cait jumped in with a battle cry. Nell did her best not to succumb to the ocean of balls. "If a small child bites me and I die in this godforsaken pit," she said with an air of melodrama, "I want you to erect a statue of an attractive clown in my honor." She made a gasping noise and clutched her hand over her heart before falling back onto the balls. Which, she found out, was not a very comfortable thing to do.

Making a ball angel for a few seconds, she lifted herself up and beamed. "Oooh, lookit," she said, picking up two balls in one hand and another in her left, throwing one of the balls in her left hand first. Juggling them in the air, she looked at them with concentration before feeling comfortable enough with how it was going to talk to Cait. "Okay, toss me a ball," she said, keeping the balls up in the air. She didn't think she had many talents, but juggling was one of them.

[CAITLYN AUBREE SOMMERLOT]

Caitlyn laughed. "Gretchen's not so bad. At least you're not Karen?" she suggested as if this was a reasonable bright side. Actually, Gretchen was probably the most tolerable as far as she was concerned, but then again... it'd been a while since Cait had seen this movie... or any movie, actually. Maybe she should take a day sometime to do that, but she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to manage that. "In rhyme?" she asked, both confused and impressed at once. "Did he actually pull it off? He could be like, the next Dr. Seuss!" Caitlyn wasn't actually that good with words, to be honest -- rhyming all of her speech sounded impossible. She was really much better at other things.

She gave a deep, wistful sigh as if this was highly disappointing. Was Caitlyn that desperate for a relationship that she would really, honestly enlist her friends' help? No, not really, but if a hot guy who could juggle and pull squirting flowers from his sleeve happened to wander into her life, she was certainly not complaining. "I'm sorry! Next time I'll try to ask as soon as possible. But I never really thought about it. Never knew I wanted a clown in my life until you brought it up," she said, smiling, trying to remember the exact details of that conversation. She had no idea anymore, actually, but there were many things like that Cait didn't remember very well; it was hard to keep track of those things. "Yes! And misery loves company." Well, it was as much of misery as it could be when they were just searching for clowns. "If you're sure," she replied softly, nodding her head to show her trust in her friend, though the idea still made her a little apprehensive. She trusted that Nell wouldn't start speeding down the freeway or anything wtihout telling her, though, so hopefully this ride over to the supposed funhouse wouldn't be that bad.

Caitlyn laughed. "What's that saying...? Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Yeah," she confirmed to herself when it sounded right-ish out loud. "I don't think there's anything left that I can learn, y'know!" That was just funny, since she still had quite a bit of school left. As far as tricks went, though, like trying to convince her friend that she really would cry, there wasn't a lot she could do. She wasn't much of an actress, clearly. "It's like, y'know... When you read stuff... and re-learn it... Or something..." She tried to give the most vague description she could think of, scrunching her nose as if in concentration and distaste at once. Well, the distaste part was true, at least. She didn't enjoy studying at all, though she was luckily pretty disciplined with doing it.

She snapped her fingers in return and pointed them at Nell as if to say, "You're a genius!" That wasn't, of course, what she said aloud. "Cait and Nell... Best team ever," she agreed with a nod and a smile. "We could have our own sitcom!" It would actually be a pretty boring sitcom if it were just the two of them, making their way through college, studying, working, hanging out at indoor funhouses... but hey, that was life. Caitlyn was pretty happy with hers. "I'd totally watch it." No, no she wouldn't, because Cait pretty much never watched TV, but that was okay.

As someone who actually really liked little kids -- thought they were adorable, taught them piano, and had two little siblings back at home -- Caitlyn had to say that she wouldn't mind the presence of children there in the ball pit too much. If someone actually bit her, though, she would probably be pretty horrified too. She did laugh when Nell called the ball pit "godforsaken" -- it was nowhere near that bad. "I hope you don't die," she said, eyes a little bit wide, also feeling a little bit melodramatic. "But hopefully none of the kids are rabid. And if they were I'd be worried." Come to think of it, most of the people in this ball pit were little children, or teenagers dicking around and being obnoxious, so they were definitely outnumbered. She didn't think they were being super obnoxious, anyway... "But if that happens, I promise I will. And I'll name him Bobby. Bobby the Hot Clown." What did attractive clowns even look like? The face paint was kind of a turn-off, to be perfectly honest.

Considering they'd just been talking about clowns, she giggled, very amused when Nell started juggling out of nowhere. She watched for a moment with some awe before picking up a ball -- selecting the colour carefully, because these things were important -- and tossing it over to Nell. "When did you learn how to juggle?" Cait couldn't do anything cool like that -- and that was actually a little disappointing.

[NELL DOE DALE]

Nodding her head solemnly, Nell said, "At least I'm not Karen." She didn't like that character at all, considering she had related most to Cady. Foreigner forced into a whole new situation, completely unprepared? She had felt for her, and so Karen had been one of the worst villains in her opinion. Nell voiced confirmation with an "mhmm" sound in her throat. "Pretty sure it was unintentional at first, but he decided to roll with it when he caught it. You know, I wish I could get away with that..." She scrunched her nose up as she tried to think of a word to rhyme with 'that' before sighing. "I guess some people are just better at things when they're drunk." Nell -- for instance -- was boss at cooking when drunk. Some people were really good at video games. Booze could be very amazing.

She looked thoughtful when Cait laughed, telling her she couldn't learn new tricks. They really were old dogs. They were adults, and sometimes that scared Nell. Then she remembered that, for her, there had been no difference between being a teenager and becoming a minor. "I guess now I have to accept you for what you are," she said, as though that pained her. The thought of trying to change Cait was disturbing enough that she didn't want to think on that. Nell's lips pulled into a grin when Cait tried to describe what studying was, but soon after she was wearing a thoughtful scowl. "Mmmm...still not ringing a bell." She would not support any talk of studying, because that's what Cait needed a break from. The word studying was taboo, and also really stupid.

Nell wished she lived in a sitcom with Cait has her heterosexual life mate. Criminal syndicates didn't exist in sitcoms and everything was solved with sweeping pieces of background music and a few hugs. "What would be our theme song?" She imagined an opening sequence in the vein of 80's sitcom with her and Cait and their friends turning and looking surprised by the camera when in the process of doing something. For Cait it might be practicing piano or studying and looking exhausted when she spots the camera, giving a hefty sigh. For Nell, she might be eating carrying a few bags of junk food before looking sheepish when she spies the camera. "And we need a good sitcom name, too." Unless they just went the Cait and Nell route, which could work, but they needed something catchy, preferably with an upbeat theme.

Though she did not say so out loud, Nell truly wondered if kids could have rabies. She didn't want to ask Cait, though, because she felt she had already proven her ignorance enough by asking about Chuck E. Cheese. "What if they didn't get their shots?" she whispered, keeping it as a joke and only a joke. So far she hadn't seen a kid foaming at the mouth, so she figured that they were safe. A sigh of approval left her lips as her friend said that Bobby would be the clown statue's name. "Such a hot name for a hot clown," Nell said, grim because this may have been the most serious conversation to ever pass between the two. At least she would have a monument to commemorate her dive into the pit of balls.

Nell moved a bit so she could catch the ball that Cait through to her and continue to toss the other balls in the air, now needing a lot of her focus. "Huzzah!" she cheered at the success. Unfortunately, unlike some talented people, she could only do up to four of them. "That's another bartending story," she said, her eyes steady on the balls, leaning back a bit so as not to let them come too close. "I went through a Tom Cruise Cocktail phase and decided to learn to flair tend. The first step of that was juggling...mostly with fruits." Then she had taken it up a notch by using bottles instead of produce. Her entire repertoire of party tricks was bartending and card tricks and the ability to send indecipherable texts with enough vodka in her system. "I've considered being a magician, do you think that would be a good idea?" A magician with a degree in psychology. She could do that on the side of...well, whatever she would be doing ten years from now. "I could teach you, yanno." She tossed the balls up so that they fell back into the pit and gave a little bow, impeded by the river of balls she stood in.