[openish] where do you go with your broken heart in tow?

[benhargreeves]

Who: Ben + anyone
What: A catch-all
When: November through December
Where: Anywhere!

[ Poke me at platoapproved#9602 on discord or platoapproved on plurk to plot something, or feel free to leave a starter!]

Comments

[hersay]

Allison nods, understanding. She'd do anything for Ben, too, although for Allison, that feeling is mixed with all kinds of complicated guilt about Ben's death. She'd do anything for him, but even so, she still couldn't save his life.

Allison laughs a little. Her old job is easier to talk about, as long as Cho doesn't pry too deeply.

They're all right. A job's a job, but I did love it.

Allison lets Cho read that, then follows up with another message.

What's you life like? You've got great taste, that doesn't come from just anywhere.

[tenuefarfalla]

"Thank you so much." Cho reflexively checks that her earrings are hanging correctly, and smiles. She's not sure what Ben has told Allison about her life, but if her answer is too vague, she'll probably ask for clarification, right? "It was part of my family preparing me for my future." A future as a trophy wife in the point one percent, a shallow and meaningless existence, a life of no lasting consequence. She's not sad that she's left that behind. Some days she marvels that she ever had the courage to take that first step, which seems so small now - but had felt like leaping into an endless black abyss at the time, but she's happy that she did.

"What's the best role you ever had?" She's so much more interested in Allison's life than she is in her own.

[hersay]

Allison latches on to Cho's vague phrasing. Allison comes from a family of secrets and buried resentment, and manipulation, unfortunately, came a little too naturally to Allison. Which is why Allison tends to read vagueness as deliberate, as someone hiding something. But on the other hand, Cho seems so friendly and she seems to want her and Allison to get to know each other, so how much is she really trying to hide?

Guess your planned future wasn't getting marooned on a distant planet?

Allison smiles playfully. She'll opt for humor -- easy enough for Cho to deflect, but there's enough of an opportunity for Cho to elaborate on her past, if she wants to.

Allison taps her pencil, thinking, trying to answer Cho's question. She's had a lot of roles, and it gets hard to keep track.

I liked my roles in smaller films best. The ones early in my career.

The bigger the movie, the more cookie cutter the part sometimes

[benhargreeves]

Ben can hear them chatting away on the other side of the door - or, well, he hears Cho, and he assumes that Allison is responding during those silences - but he can't hear the words themselves, and is too distracted to really pay much attention. He has fussed and fussed and all it has done is made him feel more anxious about the whole thing. Luckily, he at least has the self-awareness to notice that is what is happening, and cut himself off.

He comes to the door and opens it just a crack, peeking out and waiting for both of them to look over before he says:

"Okay, so. This is. This outfit."

And Ben opens the door the rest of the way, stepping out. He had finally landed on having the shirt tucked in, but it's only a second before he's plucking at it nervously, muttering:

"I wasn't sure if I should... have it like this, or out. And I just- I don't know, what do you guys think?"

He is desperately aiming for nonchalant, but he knows Allison and Cho will see right through it, so he gives up and just gives a loose, wordless shrug, face burning. He really is trying, though.

[tenuefarfalla]

Cho's reluctance in situations like this one comes almost entirely from a desire to not be a downer. It took a bit of trial and error for her to figure it out. But Allison has some curiosity left, clearly, and it's not as though she's afraid to share it. So she elaborates just a little. "Definitely not, no. I'm not sure anything prepares you for this. My family has money." She doesn't say it like she's bragging or like she's apologizing for it. It's just a statement of fact for her. It's the way life is. It also adds a little context to the next bit. "Preparing me for my future was about securing an advantageous marriage. Making the... correct connections." Being a high value product, but Allison has probably lived in the Hollywood bubble long enough to know that without Cho having to say it out loud. In any case, life has thrown her a few curve balls, instead, and she's rolling with it.

She's also very interested in hearing more about Allison's career and perhaps a little more bout her absolute favourite job, when Ben reappears. "You don't have to fidget with it," she tells him right off the bat. "It fits you very well and you look very handsome. It would look nice untucked, and it looks nice tucked in. I think you could maybe even get away with half-tucked. What I want to know-- what I think we both want to know, is how do you think you look? When you saw yourself in the mirror, what did you like? Is there anything you're particularly unsure about?"