[Sometime during AU week]

[the_ex_in_xp]

[meanwhile at the dorms, a half-pirate and some girl who managed a +3 lockpicking skill in her bag of tricks are trying to break in to "their" room]

This lock is way more sophisticated than the others. You'd think they were worried about unsavory people trying to break in...

Comments

[the_ex_in_excessive]

It's a lot of self-portraits in the section I'm on. There is one of you, though...

[the_ex_in_xp]

[raising her eyebrows a little]

Oh?

[the_ex_in_excessive]

[turning the book around to show you; it's a photorealistic sketch of Ramona reading a book, likely done while hanging out within the last month, not that either of them would be able to tell that specifically]

Pretty impressive technique...

[the_ex_in_xp]

[looking at it for a moment, because it's not like she can tell technique, her art skills are even more limited]

...at least I don't have a mohawk. I was beginning to worry.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

Seriously? I didn't even think about that. This was sort of what I'd imagined...

[the_ex_in_xp]

[smiling slightly in the way you can tell she was joking, mostly to cover up a lack of other things to say because she's awkward when talking about herself, even an alternate universe version]

Not really, but it's in black and white, so that leaves out whatever bizarre colors I've dyed it...

[the_ex_in_excessive]

Yeah, true. It's something dark, though

... I guess I'm pretty jealous of me, now that I'm looking at this stuff.

[the_ex_in_xp]

[doop dee do finally getting the right combination of things to unlock her other self's password and snoop through her laptop]

...why's that? The art stuff?

[the_ex_in_excessive]

[it is definitely not just the art stuff]

Yeah. She's really good.

How's the laptop?

[the_ex_in_xp]

You're really good too. You guys just work with different subjects.

[browsing through the folders, but pulling up her playlist in case she needs an easy answer]

I just got it opened. It looks like--holy crap, it's 2015. There's music on here I haven't even heard of.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

2015, seriously? Wow. This place's us don't look any older, though. Maybe they got pulled forward in time too.

[the_ex_in_xp]

Or your other self was being generous in her realistic drawings.

[but she's seeing if there's any photos on here to confirm and of course it would be hidden away in some boring task directory folder, and she's not saying she found it but her expression is doing that for her]

[the_ex_in_excessive]

Ramona? Did you find something?

[she says before trying to peer over your shoulder]

[the_ex_in_xp]

Um--

[not saying anything really, just looking like she got caught in a compromising position because, well...remember all those embarrassing photos she took when Roxie was in her girly and super nice status effect phase? This is where she hid them. Including the one where she's sneaking a kiss and Roxie is caught mid-surprise]

[the_ex_in_excessive]

... well that's not what I was expecting at --

[going pretty silent once she gets to the kiss, though]

[the_ex_in_xp]

[pulling the laptop screen down, not quite closing it, but at least keeping it so it's not just hanging in the space between them]

Rox, I...

[the_ex_in_excessive]

[actually surprised and not sure what it is you're gonna say, so she's mostly just making a nonverbal "huh?" kind of noise]

[the_ex_in_xp]

[...didn't really have anything planned other than "keep her from seeing the picture" so let's enjoy this silence that's going as well as a vegetarian buffet for sharks]

...it's not what I was expecting either.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

[nodding a little]

... I mean. I don't know. I'm happy for them.

[the_ex_in_xp]

They look happy...

[flexing her fingers into fists, because she's pretty sure touching is a bad idea]

I guess the differences are more than a couple of dye jobs for me.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

It's probably me too. Like maybe that me is less...

[sighing and shaking her head]

Less a lot of things...

[the_ex_in_xp]

No, don't say that, Roxie. It's not you.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

Well it's not just you either. Don't say that.

[the_ex_in_xp]

[pushing the laptop off her leg, an undercurrent of anger that she's usually much better at controlling coming out in her voice before she reins it back in again]

Yes, it is! I'm the one with the League of Wronged Exes, not you! I mean, what kind of an asshole ruins seven peoples lives' just by dating them?


...and you were the one I hurt the most because you didn't deserve any of my shit.

[the_ex_in_excessive]

Ramona, you didn't ruin their lives.