thatsamilkshake | St. Louis: The Coffee Shop Across The Street From Francine's Dorm, Wednesday Evening

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St. Louis: The Coffee Shop Across The Street From Francine's Dorm, Wednesday Evening

Wow, a red-letter day for Francine: the first time since she'd left Fandom that she actually missed the ability to fume her way over to Caritas and order whatever the heck she wanted without getting carded.

Not that she'd ever done that while she was there and not thinking she was someone else -- she just missed the ability now. Peppermint hot chocolate just wasn't the same. Francine sighed and glanced out the window at the sidewalk; at least the drink was warm, unlike the cold, grumbling rain outside.

Oh God, someone was waving at her from the gym next door. Pigtails, leotard, bright, wide smile... Any other time, maybe, but the last thing Francine wanted to do right now was talk to someone who would bounce in her face.

Which was why she immediately grabbed her phone and held it to her ear as if she'd just received a Very Important Call. Don't make eye contact don't make eye contact don't make eye contact...

[Open for actual calls/texts, because scaring the frak out of Francie is fun. Francie, on the other hand, is not very fun at all right now. A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Also given the hour and my threat-level-violet headache, SP is the name of the game; pinging in late/tomorrow is fiiine.]

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Dinah wondered if this was Margy. Or someone else; hmm. "Franciiiine," she said, raising her voice to a level that wouldn't get her caught up on a rooftop, but might be heard by someone standing close-by. "I told Kyle the truth and the whole truth. Pleeeease, I need your help!" She paused, then said even more loudly, "It's private." A sniff. Then a hiccup.

Give her a second to work up some fake sobs, Francine. She never had to cry on-stage.

"The whole truth? That always goes well." Oh, did someone sneak a few packets of Cynical & Low into her drink?

Francine gave Casey another look of UM, possibly more awkward than the last, and the ponytailed blonde finally made an O of her lips, nodded, and brought one finger to them, backing away towards the counter.

Safe for the moment, at least.

More sniffling, and then gulping wibbling, and finally a whispered, "I can cry really loud now if you need me too?"

Francine snorted at that, though it was only funny in the sense that if Casey had come in ten minutes earlier, Francine could have done that herself, thank you very much.

"No, you're good. She's off ordering coff--- uh, some kind of wheatgrass and whey thingy, actually."

"So, do you love me forever now?" Dinah's voice stayed low but sounded more normal now, as she sat back on her heels, keeping her eyes on the street below, watching the approach. "Who was that? And what was that about dancercize?"

Granted, Dinah could talk about parkour and tai chi and kick-boxing with the best of them, but she didn't expect everyone to share her enthusiasm.

"Forever and ever and Tuesday," Francine assured her, breathing a sigh of... well, some of it was relief. The rest was just sigh. "That was Casey, the girl we met at ComicCon. She teaches aerobics just down the street."

"Wait, the -- bouncy blonde, right. You're not up for dealing with her today?" Dinah tilted her head. "Are you up for talking to me? 'Cause I don't have a crisis, but I won't bug if it's not a good time, you know."

"Oh God, are you kidding? Don't leeeave me!" Which, on reflection, sounded kind of awful if you looked at it from the wrong angle, and Francine was very good at that today. "I mean. You're an exception to all blonde issues." And boy oh boy did she have those.

"Awwwww. I love being the exception. And of course I won't leave you. Unless someone robs the bank across the street, and I'm having my doubts," Dinah said, settling in to listen. "What's the trouble, bubble?"

Luckily for Dinah, Francine was no longer at the wibble-and-make-no-sense stage. Mostly. Unless you were Arthur.

"Blonde issues. Just not the bouncy kind."

Dinah would've happily stuck with her if she had been, but the imminent crimefighting might've made that worse if she had to leave.

"And I'm thinking not Casey?" Dinah checked. "Is this about Katchoo, or someone else?"

"We had a fight." So that would be Katchoo, yes. Francine wasn't sure Casey was capable of fighting with somebody. "We haven't had one that bad since... God, I don't know. More than a year ago."

"What about?" Dinah asked, frowning, trying to remember anything going on a year ago this time. They'd been together by then; getting ready to graduate... before telling Francine's mom anything. That was all she was sure of. "Was it the same thing, or something different?"

"It was...stupid." Francine had already started to come to that conclusion; it just didn't make her feel any better about things. "She was sketching me and... it was just dumb. Me, not the sketch."

"You're not dumb. So it had to have been about something, right? What, did she sketch harsh?" Dinah couldn't believe that; Katchoo adored Francine. "Or did she not want you to see it?"

"No. It was gorgeous. It just... It was like this person Katchoo wants me to be, not who I am."

Dinah bit her lip, not saying anything at first, considering that. "Not realistic? Too pretty, almost?"

"Kind of. And I... I dunno. Too...personal. And that was with clothes!"

"So you were feeling exposed? Kinda?" Dinah asked, sitting back on her heels. "Not like a photo, where it just shows what's there."

"Well, I wouldn't want her showing naked photos of me to her art teachers either!" Francine, you left that part out. "Oh, um. Also she wanted to paint me nude, and she was mad 'cause I didn't want to. And she brought up my mom, like everything I don't want to do is because of her and I can't live my own life."

Or...possibly Francine brought up her mom, but why let accuracy get in the way of a good righteous brood?

Dinah winced at that and shook her head. "Okay, that wasn't fair, talking about your mom. Especially if she was asking you to do something that's hard for you... I mean." She blew out a breath, and sighed. "I gave Kyle copies of the photos from the lingerie part of the photo shoot. 'Cause he asked. But I told him he really, really can't share them with anyone. Some stuff's... well. For me anyway. It's private." She was quiet. "Do you think you'd ever want her to paint you like that?"

Dinah wasn't sure she could've done it, if it came down to it. Not even if she was wearing her Canary mask so no one would know it was her.

"I don't know." She'd thought she was... kind of... maybe... not okay but willing to try it because Katchoo wanted it, but when push came to shove...push came to shove. "You're okay with Kyle having those? I'd be... oh god, I'd at least be worried what might happen if somebody else found them."

Dinah turned red underneath her mask, and she found herself fiddling with the vambraces on her gloves. "Sort of? I mean. It felt stupid, not to give them to him, when he'd already seen me pose like that in front of a couple dozen people. At the time it didn't seem like a big deal." She let out a breath. "But yeah. I worry about him pushing the wrong button or attaching the wrong file and ... I mean, they're gorgeous pictures," she interrupted herself. "And they're not obscene. But they're not art. They're Victoria's Secret type ... demi-porn. But that's not who I am, you know? And explaining why to anyone else-- I'm not sure they'd get it. Kyle gets it, he just thinks they're pretty." Or hot. Same thing. "I try not to think about it."

She was quiet for a minute. "I'm sorry you guys had a fight about that. But I get it."

"That's... yeah. Maybe, you know, if it was just for us?" Maybe. If the nudity was Francine's only problem - and just the thought of that word made her wince. "But Katchoo says art's supposed to be to show the world what the artist sees."

"Like those glamour shots, for people's anniversaries." Dinah paused, and said, "I think maybe I'll ask Kyle if he'll pose. Fair's fair, you know?" It would put them kind of on equal ground. Maybe she wouldn't be so self-conscious of those photos, if he reciprocated. "Hunh. So ... yeah, she wouldn't be up for keeping that private, and it's *her* art, so I can see her being touchy about that. She wants the world to see you naked?"

Okaaaaay.

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