the hug is immediate, and velvet freezes for a second. she can't hide her startled reaction, though she tries to cover it up by putting her arms around ivy and squeezing her back. uninitiated contact always throws her for a loop, and depending on what it is, she sometimes can't help but react with disgust. this time she managed to recover quickly sheerly because it's ivy hugging her-- if it had been anyone else, she might have pushed them off.

recollecting herself, velvet flashes a smile at ivy. her delcatty approaches and rubs up against ivy's legs, purring. "you like it? i've got whole boxes of merch back at my apartment. i'll share some with you if you want!" she's always happy to talk shop, but the more important thing right now is to relieve ivy of her luggage.

velvet sets off, indicating for the other woman to follow her. "here, gimme a bag," she offers as they walk. "we're not far from where i live."

[ ivy ashton ]

outfit reference!

"this is killakee!" velvet introduces the two of them. the delcatty lets out a little meow, and then ivy asks velvet where she lives. "naww, i have my own apartment," velvet explains. "i gotta live on my own or else i'll go crazyy... need my own space, y'know? money's a little tight since the band is just starting out, but it's worth it." she moved out of her parents' place as soon as she could. she couldn't stand how closely they watched her.

she sets off, killakee following at her heels. it's about a ten minute walk to velvet's place, which is in a three-story building. they make their way up the stairs, and velvet pulls her key out in front of her apartment door, unlocking it.

inside is a sparse one-bedroom apartment without much furniture. there's a couch and a tv, and a tv stand, and some plushies littered here and there, as well as bags of pokemon food leaning against the wall. it's only one step above a 'male living space', really...

[ ivy ashton ]

the plushie ivy grabs ahold of is a gengar plushie, squeezably soft and with a poseable mouth and tongue. there's others here; most notably a salandit, a skitty, and a zorua. it looks like even velvet's choice in pokemon are goth. the last time ivy would have met velvet in person, when they were kids, she was... a little more preppy, probably? she reinvented her image around the time she turned 18, something that came as a shock to her family. the moment she'd graduated high school, she'd moved out and become a new person entirely.

velvet plops down on the couch next to ivy. killakee hops up, even though she's not a skitty anymore and takes up a lot of space, stretching out on top of the two girls. "that tired, huh? what about food? i was gonna order takeout."

[ ivy ashton ]

killakee simply readjusts as well, settling in more comfortably between the two girls. the delcatty vibrates with contentment as velvet scratches her around the ears. "of course there's good food around here," velvet says. "i'd prob'ly have moved away if there wasn't." she considers herself something of an aficionado on the various takeout places in her area, given that she's not much of a cook and she tends to be too busy to do so anyway.

she pulls out her phone and scrolls through it. "what're you feeling like? we got pizza, noodles, burgers, curry, poke..." pretty much anything ivy might want, delivered right to their doorstep. "ooh, there's a place that makes some bangin' sandwiches nearby. the owners are from paldea. i guess sandwiches are pretty big over there for some reason?"

[ ivy ashton ]

velvet tries to hide a flinch as ivy looks over her phone. the problem is she has plenty to hide, so if an inopportune message came through at the wrong minute, she could be in serious trouble. thankfully, no such thing happens, and velvet expertly wipes away her nerves so they don't show on her face. "they've got, like, almost everything," she says. "roast beef, seafood, sausage, chorizo, curry and rice... i really like their ultra zesty sandwich, it's got a lot of great stuff in it."

over the next few hours the two girls will grab their food and settle in. velvet will suggest watching a horror movie before bed, something that makes her gleefully cackle more than frighten her. but she's always kind of been like that, always searching for the next fun thing to keep her busy. hopefully ivy won't have nightmares that night thanks to velvet's choice in movies.

as velvet dozes off in bed, she can't help but wonder if this might be a mistake leading to something terrible in the future. after all, ivy is so... good. and velvet isn't. will she realize, one day, that her cousin is going down a different path?

[ ivy ashton ]

THREAD CLOSE! <3