Video - Attempting This Princess Leader Thing

[mal_contented]

[Mal closed her connection to Merlin and considered what he had said when she arrived, about what a princess is here, about leadership. Then she opened her connection to everyone through her mirror.]

"Alright. Listen up. Someone is missing and we've been asked to go help. Those who chose not to. stay in the assigned apartments. Yours or together with others, I don't care. If things go sideways it will be easier to keep you lot safe if we know which one building you are all in."

[A deep breath.]

"For the rest of us. We need to work together. Most of you probably don't know or like me. That's fine. Most of you if I know you... I don't like you. But we don't have to like each other for this. We just need to work towards the same goal. After, if you want to tear into me, fine, you're welcome to try. But until we all come back successful and safe, we are horns out, not in. We are one."

Comments

[strangeandunusual]

"Maybe someday you'll change your mind." Lydia shrugged, knowing that Mal had to be the one to make that decision. Either way, the fact that she was still committing herself to it all was a good sign, and she smirked.

"But I still say I got the coolest roommate. Come on, let's check on the leggings, they should be done. Do you think we can spraypaint the backpacks?"

[mal_contented]

"Oh you very much did. And I got the second coolest," she said with a grin, accepting the change of tone. Welcoming it. "And we can TOTALLY paint the back packs." She headed over to look at the leggings with her.

[strangeandunusual]

"... Oh, these are totally done." Lydia beamed, pulling them out of the tub and holding them up to let them drip, mottled pitch black and purple. "I can't wait to see how they look on you."

She paused.

"I just realized that with everything hanging up to dry in here, we're not gonna be able to use the shower. I bet I can ask Ace if we can use his before we go, he doesn't have a roommate anymore."

[mal_contented]

"What happened to his roomate?" And who was Ace anyay? But she shrugged. "I can shower around if you're showering elsewhere."

[strangeandunusual]

"Crowley was his roommate, but he moved in with Aziraphale because Rose was his roommate, but she moved in with the Doctor and Michael." She rolled her eyes. "We really got lucky, I guess."

She pulled out the second pair and hung them on the shower rod, dye dripping from her fingertips. "I really don't think Ace would mind. He's nice ... even if he's kind of weird. He doesn't like wearing shirts, so he can't get a job at any of the stores or anything... even if he wasn't narcoleptic."

[mal_contented]

"No one LIKES all the aspects of a job, that's what makes it a job. I wish I could get paid for just tagging up the town and causing trouble, but that's never going to happen."

[strangeandunusual]

"Yeah, and I wish I could get paid for taking my pictures without having to suck up to some gallery owner or whatever, first." She sighed. "The art world is insane. If I learned anything useful from Delia, that's probably it. ... Anyway. The stuff in the sink still has to soak for an hour. And I'm thirsty. Want to go grab a lemonade at the Gibson Girl?"

[mal_contented]

She checked on the jacket she had been working on, then set it up to soak the next part. "Sure, why not. Did we leave ourselves any place to wash our hands first?"

[strangeandunusual]

"Um." Her eyes widened, and she laughed in embarrassment. "I totally spaced on that.
There's a really big bowl in the kitchen. We can fill that with water and then flush it down the toilet when we're done. Like those basins in really old houses."

[mal_contented]

She laughed. "Or we could use magic...."

[strangeandunusual]

She held up her hands, her fingertips still deep purple from the attempt at dying Mal's hair. "I dunno, you're better at it than I am."

[mal_contented]

"Doesn't that just mean we need practice?"

[strangeandunusual]

She took a deep breath. "You're right. Cleaning things is supposed to be part of our duties. I need to not be afraid of screwing it up."

She held her hands out in front of her, focusing on the dye and the spots and the dirt under her nails, then thought of what Dreamfinder had told her about picturing what she wanted. Closing her eyes, she took a tip from Mal and added a little Goth flair.

"Beware forswear, and out, damn spot: make clean my hands which now are not!"

She opened her eyes in time to see sparkling red bubbles appear around her hands, as if she'd scrubbed them in magical soap. As they popped, the dirt and dye disappeared, and the purple tinge to her fingertips faded a hue or two. Unfortunately, with each bigger bubble that popped, the colors of the apartment looked a little more dim to her, but she was undeterred and still smiling.

"Mal! It worked!"

[mal_contented]

Mal grinned and applauded. And was very amused by the use of her spell starter. "Very nice. Alright, want to do mine, since you have the spell that works?"

[strangeandunusual]

She nodded gleefully, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, then pulled her focus back in, studying Mal's hands. The trick would be shifting the focus to her, and not just washing herself again. Mal's hands were more slender, her fingernails longer, the kind of hands you saw in magazine ads for fancy polishes. Once she was sure she had a good mental image, Lydia closed her eyes and tried again:

"Beware forswear, and out, damn spot: make clean Mal's hands which now are not!"

This time, the bubbles were the same vivid purple as her friend's hair and had the same effect, but to Lydia, they looked more lavender, almost white.

"I must be getting better," she remarked, pointing. "That looks a lot more like soap."

[mal_contented]

She grinned a bit and flicked her fingers to show them off. "You very much are," she said, proud of her friend.

[strangeandunusual]

"Now we're definitely clean enough to go grab a drink." She beamed. "I think I need it, too, magic is thirsty work."

And dizzy work, she realized, as she turned for the door: but it wasn't as strong as it had been when she'd fixed Mal's hair. It would pass soon enough.

[mal_contented]

She laughed as she headed towards the door, grabbing her knapsack. "It's the couplets. Not sure why but rhymes will dry you right out," she teased.

Call it here?

[strangeandunusual]

She shook away the memory that threatened to rise, of Adam and Barbara's bodies crumbling as Otho droned out those terrible incantations from the Handbook, and focused on the good times ahead. Her new friend. The way this was all clicking. The fact that they were going to go save someone that mattered to her.

"You're not kidding," she grinned, giving Mal a playful nudge on the way out.

Sure. TY for the thread!

[mal_contented]

She chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulder as they headed out.