2024-12-30 - Crochet: A Gateway to New Friendships

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: Hi, this is Sadie right? Got your number from someone that told me you might have a 6.5mm/K crochet hook on hand?

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: sorry, this is super random.

[TXT to Zara] Sadie: Hi! I have four of those because I kept getting the wrong kit!

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: oh no, lol. I have one ordered, but it's going to be a few days and was hoping to get started on a project sooner than that. If it's no trouble, I can swing by whenever is best to pick it up, if it's available for borrowing?

[TXT to Zara] Sadie: Of course! Who are you? 😂

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: omg, sorry. Zara, work security here at the park.

[TXT to Zara] Sadie: Zara! Hey new friend. We’re in 402 if you wanna come by or I can meet you somewhere?

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: hi 😀 and i'll come to wherever you are. won't ask you to go out of your way when i'm the one requesting something. if you're home, i'll head that way now, if not, I'll meet you there whenever you are.

[TXT to Zara] Sadie: Yeah come on over. Do you like tea?

[TXT to Sadie] Zara: love tea. i'll head that way, shouldn't be more than twenty minutes. thanks again!

After the whole knock knock part, Sadie ushers her guest into the apartment she shares with her little sister. Louise might be an adult, but she's small so it still counts as little.

The interior is... we'll say 'fun'. "I put a kettle on, water should be ready in a minute. Have a seat. You're tall!" She leads the way to the kitchen area and pulls out one of the stools at the island.

Sadie's apartment is nothing short of eclectic and while it's not something Zara would have chosen, she can certainly appreciate it all the same. "Thank you," she offers before the remark on her height. Z just grins and shrugs a little bit as she settles onto the offered stool.

"This is a great space that you've made for yourself," she offers back with in a low alto, smooth and very-slightly accented in a Polish lilt. Z is mostly dressed for the warmth. She wears a gray sweater and zebra-printed scarf with long, tight, black thermal leggings.

"Thanks! I like weird stuff." Aaaand it shows. Sadie is dressed comfortably, a loose grey sweater over a thinner pair of leggings because she's at home; her socks are thick but more in a 'these are basically slippers' kind of way.

"I like your scarf," she says, as she prepares two mugs. One has an alien on it flashing a peace sign and says 'Good Vibes Only'; the other has Ghostface's face on it. "What are you working on that you need the hook for?"

Zara grins gently at Sadie's obvious admission. There's absolutely no judgment in the way her weird stuff is looked at and studied. Sadie does appear quite comfy.

"Oh--" She looks down almost as if she's forgotten what scarf she'd chosen. "--thanks," comes her earnest reply with gratitude more seen in her eyes than her lips or heard in her voice. Even Sadie's mugs are all over the place! Aliens, playful platitudes, horror movies...the works!

"I've making beanies in my down time. I find that a lot of people move up here and aren't at all prepped for how cold the winters can be. So, I dish them out sometimes when they come through for their security orientation."

"That's a really nice thing to do. Do you ask them what color they want or anything? I can never guess colors. Some people just know a person's vibe." Whatever else she'd say on that subject is interrupted by the kettle. eeeeee

Sadie goes to it, takes it by the handle with a potholder sandwiched between it and her hand, moves it to another burner. "Do you have a favorite kind? I have," brief detour to the little wooden box that holds all the tea boxes, "peppermint, chamomile, lemon ginger, I also have English Breakfast if you need a lil oomph."

"Nope," comes a half-playful, half-serious reply in regards to colors. "They're all beautiful and show be happy to have something to keep their skulls from freezing." Zara lifts an eyebrow that's somewhat stern. "I don't really know that kind of vibe. Not when it comes to colors. But trouble? Yeah, I can sniff out a troublemaker early on."

Off goes her hostess to tend to the boiling water. Zara smiles softly and leans back against the wall with arms idly crossing over her chest. "Peppermint sounds great today."

Again, Z looks around and considering the decorations about the place. "So..how much of this did you bring with you and how much have you collected since you've been here?"

"Oh yeah? Gettin' anything from me?" Sadie gives her guest an impish look.

"Peppermint it is!" She goes through all the motions of tea preparation and when she's done she sets a steaming mug (Good Vibes Only) in front of Zara with a little bowl of lemon wedges that explains why it all took a few extra minutes. "If you like lemon with yours. I'm way into tea." She steeps her tea bag, the little string caught between two fingers.

"I brought nothing with me." Grinning, she looks around at her space and shrugs a shoulder. "I came here with a suitcase, pretty much. This stuff all came together after a lot of visits to thrift stores, weird auctions, stuff like that. What about you? How'd you get here? Not here like... my apartment." Duh, Sadie.

Zara laughs softly and nods. "Overloaded, actually." As if that look Sadie shoots her hadn't been enough of a tell on how much trouble she is, the mere desire to be 'read' by her gift is answer enough. "You're more than a handful, I bet."

"Sure, I'll give a bit of a squeeze." Of lemon, of course. She reaches for one and does give a little spray of juice into her cup. But then...she takes the rest of the wedge between her teeth and tears the front from the rind to chew it up and swallow. He swipes her bottom lip with her thumb and grins a bit. "Don't want scurvy." A brow hitches playfully before going quiet again.

"Wow, this is an awesome collection." Zara takes her teacup and helps herself to a small, first sip. It's hot, minty and simply perfect. The question gets turned to her and she wets her lips before beginning. "I've been in professional security for a while. Corporate, personal, everything in between. Spellbound offered something a little unique and I wanted something a little unique."

One of those arched brows hitches higher. "Didn't expect how unique it would be, though."

"More than a handful? High praise." Yes, Sadie is very into being who she is, no question about that. The lack of fear when it comes to really just going in on that lemon is met with an impressed lift of her eyebrows. "Woooow. So it's like that. I'm trying to think of a way to one up you but other than just shoving an entire lemon into my mouth I'm out of ideas."

She settles into one of the other stools at the island counter and leans on an elbow, turned to face her guest. "Oh I can definitely see that. You look super strong. Have you ever had to like... I dunno, do anything crazy? Knock someone out of the way of a bullet or something?" It's possible she's seen a lot of movies. Maybe too many movies. When the potential to talk about the unique of it all arises she jumps on it. "I know, right? I always thought I just had a green thumb."

Zara gives Sadie a playful smirk and nod. It's exactly like that. And Z can tell, of course. She's got a good gauge on the rabblerousers. Sadie seems to very much be one of those, in her own way. Her host seems impressed with the little bit of lemon action and Z laughs quietly. "I can run out and get you one if you want to give it a shot..." No, she doesn't actually expect Sadie to take her up on that.

The remark comes on her physique and Zara smiles softly and nods, but a quiet chuckle sounds in her alto-tone. "No, I'm not that fast. We do get some weirdos in the park sometimes and they don't always like to go quietly. Especially the really drunk ones. So..." Oh, there are a ton of stories in regards to that of course. Most of them are mundane and uninteresting, at least to her.

But then Sadie mentions something about her gardening prowess and Zara gives her a slow nod. "Aaah...that's one of the new things you got around here, yeah? I'm going to have to get you over to my place to convince my irises to forgive me."

Zara should be careful about making such offers. First, Sadie shakes her head. "Nah, that'd be silly." ... "I have more over there." Indeed, in a little basket just over there, there are some lemons. "Dare me to do a whole one?"

As with lemons, stories are also not something Sadie can resist. "Okay what's the craziest story with the weirdest weirdo you've had to chuck out? Keep in mind it doesn't have to be real to count." Imaginary stories are just as good in her book. The question is: which is more challenging, remembering a good one or thinking one up?

A nod answers first, as she was in the middle of a sip from her cup, but she follows it up. "Yeah. It's extra weird because my grandma taught me all about green things when I was a kid, and I've always been good with them? So at first I didn't really think anything other than 'wow I like... levelled up or something'. Not that I could actually talk to them. Irises are finnicky but I bet I can persuade them. What about you?"

Zara doesn't see much silly about the challenge, but Sadie's swift 'gotcha' has her grinning a bit more broadly. "I double dare you." Z hoists a brow high and pulls those lips to the side. Her request comes for a story and Zara gives her host a nod, thinking for just a moment. There are too many to choose from so it's not so much a challenge of trying to think of one, but trying to think of only one. "Let's see..."

"The worst was probably a super drunk 'alpha' dad that was really loud and obnoxious, berated some poor corndog vendor to the point he made the kid cry. His wife--bless her heart--was trying to do everything in her power to calm him down while wrangling their kids. The oldest one was crying because of embarrassment and wanted to leave so bad. So I had to 'deal' with him. Just 'fyi'? It doesn't matter how many times you try to get used to pepper spray, it still burns like a bitch."

Zara takes a drink of her tea when Sadie continues. Her lips curl a bit, listening to a fond story of yesteryear. "I'd like that. Any help would be appreciated." Then it's her turn to answer about what Spellbound has 'gifted' her with. The truth is? Even she doesn't know the whole truth. Not yet. But some of it has made itself known. Though...how does one describe just becoming more of a general badass? Because that's what she's gotten: better at dishing out and taking a beating. "Well, uh.." It might just be easier to show her. Zara extends a palm and spreads her fingers apart. And her nails grow and grow and grow a few inches until the points become razor sharp. "Not the most exciting, but in my life of work? I suspect it'll help one day."

Sadie's view on this alpha dad is clear: ew. Her nose scrunches like somehow she can smell the impotent anger, but then her eyebrows shoot up. "Wait, he pepper sprayed you? What a fucking dick!"

As vile as that is, she can't help the perk that precedes being shown that 'gift'. She's just ever-curious, nearly to a fault, and the reward is good. "Woahhh. Can I?" The hover of her hand makes it clear she's asking for permission before touching.

Zara smiles and lifts her brow for a moment before shaking her head. "Oh, no no. I said that bad. We were struggling a bit and I pepper-sprayed hm. But being that close, I got a little blast myself. Happens, and it's expected." She lifts one of those shoulders again and grins. "He's not welcome at the park anymore, obviously. But..yeah. The rest of his family were so embarrassed. Feel bad for them."

Z gives Sadie a nod with a tug of lips to the side. She keeps her hand very still so that no move she might make will harm Sadie. "Be careful. They're sharp AF." An understatement if ever there was on.

"Oh okay. I didn't know you can get like... secondhand pepper sprayed. Still. That sucks." But at least that person is out for good, thanks to Zara. "You're a major badass."

Once given permission, Sadie goes in with a light touch. Careful. "Wow. Are they... do you know what they're made of?"

"Oh, for sure. It sucks a lot." An understatement, but there's no need to get too graphic about it, about just how messy it can get. That's not something most folks need to see. Sadie compliments her badassery and Zara grins a bit and winks easily.

She keeps her hand very still for as long as Sadie examines. "Not exactly, but..never really thought about it really. Just assumed it was super-keratin or something." But, that question has her thinking. They are exceptionally strong and sharp, so maybe there's something more to it than just a natural material.

"Met someone the other day that has fangs, like a..vampire or werewolf or something. Pretty crazy. Guess I'm kinda glad I get this over that." Her lips twist a little bit, but she doesn't go into details as to why.

Zara won't have to hold her hand like that for long at least. Once Sadie's had a moment to admire those claws, she lets her new friend have her hand back. "Fangs? Woah. I know I heard that someone has a tail. Or can sometimes have a tail. And wings? I dunno if it's the same person. I can just do plant stuff." No cool physical weapons or anything for Sadie, womp womp.

She spots that little shift in Zara's expression and tilts her head. There's a look in her eyes that suggests she has questions. But first! "Oh shit, lemme get that hook." Because that was kinda the origin story of this hangout. Not that it means Zara is dismissed, because Sadie will continue to play hostess and get to know the other woman for as long as she's willing to stay.