Excitement fills Cassia, making her fidget and trill anxiously. She thinks she's planned for everything for her sleepover tonight, this being the first time she's ever had all her friends over at once. She still can't believe she convinced mom and dad, always thinking they were more likely to let her go to another's house than have so many kids over at once with just the two of them as the adults. If there was anything Cassia knew about her parents - especially dad - it was that they often imagined the worse to happen to the house when they were outnumbered by kids. Granted, after all the trouble Cassia and her brother - still - get into, it's a reasonable concern.
Restacking her magazines, each personality quiz marked in every issue to find easier, Cassia jumps with a yelp when the sound of the doorbell echoes through the house. She's been waiting all day for it, but the loud chime still surprises her when it cuts into her train of anxious thoughts and she knocks over her neat stack of magazines.
"Crap," she curses under her breath, but quickly abandons any chance to reorganize everything when another - almost annoyed - ring fills the house again. Mom and dad most likely want her to answer it seeing as how it's bound to be her friends ringing the bell instead of any unannounced visitors this late into the day. "Coming!"
Running out of her room, rounding the corner, and hopping down the stairs two at a time, Cassia nearly crashes into her brother as he heads for the door. She grunts at his body in her way and pushes at him, growling in frustration when she knows he's making an extra effort to get in her way.
"Move it!" She bounces on her feet to see over his shoulder and keeps trying to butt her elbow into his side. "Damo!"
He trills and looks back at her. "Oh, Cass. When did you get here?"
"Move. It." She narrows her eyes at his feigned surprise. "You know I've been here this whole time. Now let me answer the door!"
Shoving with the flat of her hands, she pushes on him enough to get him to step aside, though not without hearing an earful of his own laughter. Spirits, does she wish he'd hurry up and go to someone's house or something instead of watching vids in the living room, where he can always bother her and her friends right as they come in or head to the kitchen for snacks. At least with him gone to spend time with his 'friends,' Cassia doesn't have to deal with his stubborn teasing.
She rushes to the door and jerks it open, grinning when she sees her first guest of the evening, Mimi Nelson. Mahogany hair pulled into a braid and already dressed in her loose pajamas, the shorter girl grins and nearly drops her pillow as she and Cassia hug tightly. Stepping back after a big squeeze, Cassia smiles and purrs as she waves Mimi inside, happy that the girl's mom was confident enough to let her walk over on her own.
"We'll take that to my room," she says as she leads towards the stairs and up. "I'm so excited!" She grips her hands together and chirps, turning back to walk backwards once the two of them reach the top of the stairs. "I got movies, and music, and lots of quizzes we can take. Oh! And food. Lots of junk food." Cassia growls as she glances towards the banister and living room below. "I even hid it from my stupid brother."
Mimi wrinkled her nose up at his mention. "Is he still treating his bedroom like a one-man brothel?"
Snorting, Cassia nods and lets Mimi step into her room first. The lights are off except for her lamp, throwing the room into a dimmer, more comfortable atmosphere that'll still allow them to read when the sun goes down, but not be kept up when they begin to tire. "Of course. But mom and dad made him leave if he's going to be doing any of … that tonight." She smiles and pats her bed. "You can put your pillow up here. We'll make beds later."
"Awesome!" Mimi throws her well squished pillow onto the purple comforter of Cassia's well made bed. "And no boys allowed tonight," she shoots Cassia a toothy grin, before noticing the spilled pile of magazines littering the floor. Seizing the top issue, she quickly begins flipping through the pages in 'Steller Girl' until she reaches the article she searches it for.
"Did you see the story they did on Brutus Apatio? The super hot Clawball player?" She asks, turning the magazine to present Cassia with a topless photo of the brown plated, blue eyed turian. Cassia can tell why the words 'Well Toned Heart-Throb' span the top of the spread in bright colors to catch the attention.
She has to admit that she agree wholeheartedly with Mimi. Brutus is gorgeous with his toned, lithe form and flawlessly polished plates. Even his cream colony paints swirling over his eyes and sweeping down his crest pop against his eyes and plates.
Cassia thrums at the man's picture and takes the magazine, grinning at her friend. "I like his waist the most. Look how tiny it is!"
"He likes reading biographies and playing with his pet varren," Mimi says, leaning over Cassia's shoulder to read the article and interview within. She sighs wistfully. "A man who loves reading and pets? He's the whole package."
Cassia trills as she daydreams before blinking in surprise at that. "Well, let's say 'reading biographies,' because I don't really want to be thinking about boys who just read any kind of thing." She pokes out her tongue, knowing her brother likes comics and loves varren. It's bad enough Alexia has a bit of a crush on him, so Cassia would rather not give the girl chance to compare if Brutus comes back up once everyone is here.
"Who else is coming over tonight?" Mimi asks as she bends down to look through the rest of the magazines.
Cassia hums as she helps to gather up magazines once Mimi checks the cover, decides it's not what she wants, and hands it over. "Gelta and Alexia are coming over too." As if called, the bell chimes and Cassia drops the pile on the side table. "That's probably them. Finally!" She rushes to the door and stops, looking back to Mimi. "If my brother comes up, just yell at him or throw something." She snorts and adds, "He'll probably deserve it."
Leaving Mimi to go through the magazines and make some kind of organization of the pile, Cassia takes the steps two at a time again and runs in front of her brother with a glare. He grins and holds his hands up in mock defeat before leaving once more, but Cassia knows this won't be the end of it. She doesn't worry, though, she's sure she and her friends will be prepared. If only she can keep Alexia from making herself look foolish by ogling Damo. The rest of them will have to remind her how much of an ass he is before she goes and lets him know of her crush.
He'd never let them forget that.
Pulling open the door, Cassia smiles at Gelta and Alexia both giggling and chatting on the porch, also clad in their pjs. She trills when they both grin and rush into the house for hugs, the three of them squeezing tightly even with pillows and backpacks full of more things to do and clothes for tomorrow.
"We're all here," Cassia says more to herself than the others as she jerks her head to come in. "I'll make some popcorn, but you can go up. Mimi's already here."
The two girls' grins brighten as they rush up one set of stairs each so they don't bump into and slow each other down. Cassia giggles at their shared excitement, happy that she isn't the only one really looking forward to tonight once it finally gets started. Now she just needs to get their snack supply started. Going into the kitchen, she growls at her brother having found her stash, a knowing rumble in his vocals as he makes a show of digging through her things.
"Mom and dad got those for me," she says, walking over and jerking a big box of chocolates out of his hands, but he seems unconcerned when he chuckles and turns back to the cabinet for something else.
"Strange … I don't see your name on anything." He grunts when she ignores him and pokes him in the waist with her talon.
"Move." Huffing, she uses her hands to push him away from the cabinet and to the other side of the kitchen, far away from her food. "Go find your own snacks. There's plenty around the house somewhere."
Damo shrugs and goes to the fridge, grabbing a Tupari. "Just thought you'd share. Didn't know you were hoarding it like the universe's ending." He leans a hip on the counter to watch as she sets a bag of popcorn in the microwave oven. "Besides, you can't eat everything."
Cassia smirks and lifts a brow plate. "Oh? Watch us."
Damo rolls his eyes as he pops open the bottle of his drink, but doesn't move when Cassia tries to grab the door to the cabinets right below his hip to get to the bowl. She sighs, asking, "Do you have to be such a pest tonight?"
Damo hums, mouth plates to the lip of his bottle. "No … but that's boring."
"Why don't you go find someone to … you know …." Cassia waves her hand, not really wanting to say it.
"Have sex with?" he says, grinning at her obvious discomfort. "You can say it, you know."
"I don't want to," she explains with an eye roll and annoyed mandible flick, thankful when the microwave pings in completion. "Finally." She huffs in relief before snatching the bag up, ripping it open, and dumping it into the bowl. A few pieces miss the bowl, but she knows Xero will be right on the case as soon as he gets up of his lazy butt to look for where Damo has gone.
"What? Not picking that up?" Damo points to the floor as Cassia passes, but she ignores him.
"Xero will get it," she says as she rounds the corner and starts up the stairs.
"You're making my varren fat!"
She ignores his shout, knowing full well that varren is, if anything, definitely not fat with how much Damo plays with him out on the beach or includes the varren in some kind of training. Making her way back to her room, she finds that the others have already thrown on a movie - one of Cassia's favorite musicals about a princess rescuing herself from her own prison and teaching the princes how to fight. Grinning at the obvious decision and how much her friends really know her, Cassia sets the bowl down between them all sitting on the pillows she brought up earlier and set on the floor before taking a seat in the open space of their circle.
"Look what Alexia brought from home," Gelta says, passing Cassia a large, pale green bag. Inside the bag are colorful, small jars of different colored paints, an entire rainbow of shades and hues.
"It's nail polish," Alexia says happily, leaning over to reach inside the bag, and searches around the bottles, the glass jars clicking before she fetches one with swirling purple and silver. "We can do manicures while we watch our movie."
Cassia thrums excitedly, admiring the beautiful polish named 'Aurora Purple' and imagining how shiny it will look on her five small talons. She's never really thought to ask about it when her mom has the occasional color that usually only lasts a few hours before the paint cracks and mom curses it all, just removing the color with a foul smelling chemical. Seeing the colors now, though, Cassia just may have to learn how to keep the paints in tact, the idea of expressing herself with color on her talons just too good to pass up.
As the bag makes its way around the circle for each girl to choose their color, Mimi sets her chosen color on the floor beside her as she scoots to look at Gelta. "I can do yours Gelta, if you do mine next," she says, holding out her hands with palms up in offering.
"Sure!" Gelta eagerly hands Mimi the bottle of bright pink nail polish and holds her hands out to be painted. Mimi shakes the bottle, it making a small clicking, before twisting off the top and wiping the small brush on the lip of the bottle to get rid of excess paint. She takes one of Gelta's hands in hers and immediately sets to work painting with a practiced hand.
"I'll do yours Cassia" Alexia's voice pulls Cassia out of her concentrated gaze on the little brush leaving a bright pink in its wake, and she chirps in both surprise and anticipation as she offers the younger girl her hand.
It isn't long, silence not even settling on the group, before the sound of the movie is drowned out by Mimi speaking. "Have you guys seen the newest kid in class?" She smiles and her eyes brighten. "Tigran Gables?"
Cassia chuckles as Gelta rolls her eyes, mumbling, "Surprise, surprise," teasingly.
Mimi scoffs and rolls her own eyes. "I just love how his eyes can look brown one minute, and green the next." She smirks and bites her lip, lowering her voice as she looks up from her work. "And have you seen his abs? He must live at the gym."
Alexia doesn't respond, obviously disagreeing of the assessment, and that only makes Cassia thrum louder in amusement as Gelta waves her free hand. "Sure, he's pretty good looking…. But Kamala D'misa has the most graceful body I've ever seen. She goes to dance classes with your mom, right, Mimi?"
Mimi nods, nod looking up from switching her attention to Gelta's other hand. "What about you, Alexia? I bet you think someone else is cute from school"
Cassia cringes, hoping Alexia has found someone else to make goo-goo eyes at since the last time the two of them talked, but her hopes are dashed when Alexia blushes slightly and bites her lower lip. She looks up to Cassia, guilt almost flickering over her eyes if not for the obvious joy at being asked. "I think Damocles is really handsome."
Cassia groans, thankful when Mimi steps in before she has to. "Ew," she says, drawing out the word as she wrinkles her nose, "Damo?" She sniffs and shakes her head. "He's gross! He makes a big show every time he burps and is constantly making rude noises under his breath in class. You don't think he's cute!"
"He has really pretty eyes," Alexia defends and Cassia, Gelta, and Mimi all share a exasperated look. "And he's not always gross, he can be really nice sometimes. He's even walked me home a few times from school."
"He's kinda sluty," Gelta says, casting a dubious look to Cassia and she shrugs, not one to actually deny the truth of the matter. Damo does sleep around with a lot of people, a lot of the time, even if Cassia knows there is a deeper reason than just 'easing stress,' "I heard he slept with Nero Agustan last week, and Sasha Banks the week after."
"Yea." Mimi shakes her head once more before returning to her work. "No, Damo is annoying and gross, not cute." An air of finality fills her tone, and Cassia hopes it'll be the end of the matter, but Alexia is nothing if not determined - just like her own mom.
Cassia clears her throat to distract Alexia from her defiant glaring in Mimi's direction. "Let's make a deal not to talk about anyone in the house? Please?" she asks the group, glancing sideways at Alexia.
"You guys asked." Alexia pouts her lips as she strokes the purple over the talon on Cassia's ring finger.
"New topic," Mimi says, enough of an agreement to the request. "If you could travel anywhere in the galaxy, where would you go and why?"
"I'd visit the Citadel." Gelta's voice contains a dreamy quality as she smiles and looks at the big picture on Cassia's wall from 'Fleet and Flotilla' where the characters announce their shared love overlooking the fancy Presidium. "It's supposed to be even more beautiful after the repairs and restoration. And there's shops and food from every single race! I don't even know what I'd do first, but if I ever got the opportunity, that's where I'd want to go."
Cassia has never been to the Citadel, but has heard the same from vids and other children whose families often take trips off of Virmire. Going to the massive station is just too dangerous for her own family with so many governments looking for Cassia's parents, treating them like criminals. At least on Palaven, they have their dad's friend, the Primarch, supporting their visit and not telling everyone they're all supposed to be arrested. Cassia just wishes there were more people out there who agreed.
"Well, I'd go to Thessia," Alexia says, moving her attention to finishing up Cassia's other hand. It seems like she needs more coats for Cassia's talons, but she figures the polish just isn't as thick as her face paints. That makes her wonder just how it'd be if she brought the paints as the nail polish next time to a slumber party.
"I love how beautiful Thessia looks in the vids and pictures. I heard they rebuilt it better and more beautiful than before." Alexia holds Cassia's hand up to examine it with a smile. "What about you, Mimi?"
"I'd go back to Earth," Mimi answers with a slight frown to her features. "My dad was from a country called France. It's supposed to be one of the 'jewel cities' of Earth. Pristine waterways, gorgeous art, and amazing baked goods. It'd be kinda nice to see where he was from."
Mimi once told Cassia what little she could about her father, and even that was all learned from her own mother's tales. The same age as Cassia during the war, Mimi doesn't have memories of him before he was killed during the fight against the Reapers. Cassia knows enough from her own parents and their occasional episodes of PTSD that it's best not to dwell on those lost to the war.
Cassia rumbles soothingly to her friend. "If you let me, I'd go with you, Mimi." She smiles when her friends look to her curiously and she shrugs, smile spreading over her mandibles. "Mom and dad don't like Earth - or - they don't like the Alliance, so they don't go to Earth. But I want to see the planet my mom grew up on, even though she doesn't tell me where on Earth she grew up."
Mimi smiles and nods her head once, a warm light returning to her eyes at the idea. "That'd be fun."
"Let's play truth or dare!" Alexia cut in, holding out a vial of gold nail polish to Cassia to paint on her nails. "I heard that's what the older girls play at their sleep overs."
"How do you play that?" Gelta asks, pausing in her work of painting Mimi's nails an iridescent green.
"I know this game," Cassia says as she paints a steady streak of gold down Alexia's first nail. "You choose one. Truth means you have to say whether or not something is true when everyone else asks, and dare means you have to do what they tell you to do. Like … 'I dare you to color your hair' or 'Is it true you like so-and-so.'" She glances to Alexia and asks, "Right?"
"Right!" Alexia grins, bouncing lightly in excitement. "Who wants to go first?"
Mimi volunteers, glancing up from where Gelta holds her hand and paints over her short pinky nail. "I will."
"Okay, truth or dare, Mimi?" Alexia asks and all of them stop to look up to her, Cassia and Gelta out of curiosity of this game and Alexia with a giddy smirk.
"Hmmm, truth," Mimi responds, waving her hand in the air to dry the polish on her nails faster.
"Is it true that you kissed Tiberius Ramous?"
Mimi flushed a bright red before grinning, apparently proud of herself. "I french kissed him. It was pretty fun, too."
The rest of the girls squealed with laughter and Gelta sits up on her knees, obviously comfortable enough with how the game will work. "I wanna go next! I choose truth too."
"Is it true that you wear your brother's underwear to bed?" Mimi grins mischievously, making Gelta's eyes widen.
"Where'd you hear that!?" Gelta demanded, jutting out her bottom lip as she narrows her eyes.
"So it is true," Alexia says conspiritally and Mimi tips over laughing.
"They're comfortable and baggy. I wear them as sleep pants, sometimes. Don't tell him!" Gelta flushes a shade darker and pulls her lips into a tight line. "And I don't wear ones he's used! Ew! I only get the new ones!"
Cassia snorts and giggles, cutting off the sound with an innocent smile. "I believe you," she says, biting back her giddy chirps and struggling to hold her mandibles still. She understands the concept of wearing the bigger clothes. She sees mom do it plenty of times with dad's shirts, claiming they're more comfortable than any human clothes.
"Alright, then you do it," Gelta says with a slight pout, but Cassia knows her well enough that she isn't too worried of the girl being mad at her.
"Alright, alright." Cassia hums in thought, tilting her head as she closes the gold paint. "How about dare?"
"Hmmm." Gelta hums and looks around to the other girls before coming up with a dare. "I dare you to… make out with this magazine cover!" Gelta holds up the photo of human actor and singer Emilio Murillo, lips faux puckered already as he graces the cover of a Hollywood themed magazine with a glossy picture.
Cassia holds it at arm's length, nose wrinkled up until Alexia giggles and adds, "And you can't just press your mouth, that doesn't count because you don't have lips."
"I'm not licking a magazine," Cassia protests, pretty sure the taste will be worse than the embarrassment. Why did she chose dare again?
"That's the dare!" Alexia says, pointing a finger at her with a grin. "If you don't do it, than you have to go out in the living room in front of your parents and run around flapping your arms and screaming 'the sky is falling!' without giving them an explanation."
The other girls laugh and Cassia grunts at the mental image of that. She'd rather not make herself look ridiculous in front of her parents - and especially not in front of Damo. Sighing, she takes the magazine and opens her mouth, sticking out her tongue. She doesn't really know how to kiss, but she's seen it in movies. Granted, most of the pretty actors weren't kissing a flat surface like a weirdo. Swiping her tongue over the picture's lips, she hears the others giggle and snicker, and her mandibles flick in embarrassment. She gives one more lick before pulling it away.
"There." She grunts before sticking her tongue out, the taste of magazine not too appealing. She grabs some popcorn to cover the taste, happy to see that her nail polish doesn't smear with the buttery food.
"Your turn, Alexia. Truth or dare," Mimi says as she reaches for her own handful of popcorn, she and Gelta bumping hands and giggling.
Alexia swallows her bite and bounces on her butt. "Dare!"
A wicked grin curves Mimi's face as she glances to Cassia. "I dare you to go downstairs, walk up to that gross pig Damo, and kiss him on the mouth!"
"Nonononono," Cassia chants, shaking her head as her vocals rumble in disgust. "Nono …." She sees Alexia blush and grin in excitement. "No."
"Do it!" Gelta cheers. Soon, Mimi joins in on a chorus of "do it! Do it!"
When Alexia nods and stands up, Cassia groans and covers her face with her hands. "This can't be happening…."
Alexia can't seem to get out of the bedroom fast enough, and what's worse, Gelta pulls Cassia to her feet as the other two girls pull her to the railing of the upstairs to watch from above. Cassia, unable to look away in hopes that maybe her brother will be surprised - maybe even thrown off balance - by the kiss, looks between her fingers as Alexia moves to the living room before hesitating. Gelta and Mimi whisper and giggle to each other as Alexia blushes and plays with the hem of her pajama shirt before nodding her head and closing the gap. Cassia knows Damo hears her, but he doesn't respond up until Alexia stands in his way for the vidscreen and, just as he moves to ask why, grabs his face and presses a wet smooch to his mouth plates.
Gelta and Mimi burst into laughter as Alexia blushes brighter and quickly runs away from a stunned Damo. Cassia takes a bit of joy in the confused look on his face, and lets herself giggle at finally knocking him off his high horse. Watching him glare up at them, she smirks and pokes out her tongue up until Alexia rushes into the bedroom with her head down in embarrassment. She and the other two girls follow Alexia into the room, laughing and hiccuping at the scene, but at least Alexia wears a giddy grin on her lips.
Maybe the fact that her brother just got attention even during a girls only night is okay when it happened this way.