Catching Up

Who: Maddy and Pepper
Where: Pepper's Place
When: Afternoon

There was a large part of Maddy that was really liking the whole idea of continuing to hide under the blankets and wait for the world to just end already, but that meant she was solitary and hiding and her thoughts would go to places that she didn't want them to go, so Maddy cleaned herself up a bit and headed out (after digging out the letter from under the floor board). Money in pocket, her first stop was the locksmith, where she got the key to her 'apartment' replicated. A few copies. One for Roy, one for Ethan, and one for...

Maddy looked at the third key with a frown as she tried to remember who she got it for. "Pepper," she said to herself. "Right." Pepper needed a copy in case something happened with her (Maddy) or she needed a place to crash (Pepper). Shaking her cloudy head, Maddy headed in the direction of the Round. Pepper's apartment was over there and she hadn't seen her friend in awhile. Ducking through the back door of the building, Maddy made her way up to the apartment and hoped Pepper was around.

Pepper had slept away most of the morning, having had a late night the night before, but she'd been up just after lunch and had popped out to the corner store to pick up some basics before she had to be back at the Round again this evening. She hadn't got much - money was still tight, but the income she got from her new job at least covered the rent and basics, she needed to be able to keep up the standard, without it, well, she was still pretty much living hand to mouth, she didn't want to drop below that again. Even this shitty little apartment was better than the alternative. As she climbed the last stair and turned the corner, she saw a familiar blonde head by her apartment door. "Hey, Maddy," she called, hefting the brown paper bag into the crook of one arm and rooting around for her keys.

Maddy was already looking in Pepper's direction when the echoes of footsteps filtered up to her and she smiled a bit when she saw her friend's familiar head turn the corner. "Hey, how're you?" she asked and came to walk beside her as Pepper started rooting for a key. "Here, let me take that. Don't wanna drop it." She reached for the grocery bag so Pepper had an easier time finding her keys. "How've you been?" Her spirits definitely felt lighter just being around with Pepper. Maybe because she wasn't involved in all the drama or because it was just another girl. Either way, Maddy was already starting to feel a little better.

"Busy - kinda outta the loop, I think," Pepper admitted, finding the single key at the bottom of her bag and opening the old door, though with a lock like that a hard shove probably would have done the job just as well. "At least, I'm figuring - haven't seen you around lately, so something must be going on. You ever get things sorted with Dodge?" she asked, referring back to their last conversation, where Pepper had firmly been of the opinion that Maddy Could Do Better.

Dodge. She had been hoping to avoid that subject. "I broke up with him. I think. Can you break up with someone even though you aren't dating?" It seemed like the only word she could use to explain what had happened. Maddy kind of avoided looking at Pepper, instead peering into the grocery bag to see what she had bought.

"With that guy - anything's possible," Pepper said, glad to hear the news. She'd been really worried about her friend. Then again, Pepper's general opinion of guys was fairly low across the board. With Dodge, it was really nothing personal, but more a reaction to what she had been told by Maddy about the girl's specific situation. "As long as you're good with it, then I say define it however you want," she said, watching Maddy root through the bag, knowing there was nothing interesting in there, just some bread, cheese, a half dozen eggs. That had been about the limit of her budget right now, but it would keep her going.

"Mmm." Maddy followed Pepper into the apartment and set the grocery bag on the counter for her. "It wasn't just the... thing we had going on. He was with other girls too, I guess? But he was treating me like he owned me and it's not right and the way he is about Roy isn't right and it just all got messed up." She frowned a little bit and started unpacking the bag for Pepper because she needed something to do. "He's still a friend. He's been my friend for awhile and I had to tell him that his behavior was keeping me from being his friend." She scowled at the bread as if it were responsible for the situation. "It sucks. I hate hurting my friends."

"He was messing around with other girls? Can I go break his nose, like right now?" Pepper asked, getting offended on Maddy's behalf. That wasn't right, not at all. Though it went down in Pepper's biased mind as 'typical guy' - she could believe that of any of them. "But, you guys are going to still be friends? So - that probably means I can't go round and break his nose then?" she guessed. It'd probably be a bad idea anyway - she needed to be more careful of her appearance now that she was properly performing.

Maddy smiled a little bit and shook her head. "No, Roach already gave him a pretty good knock to the head on my behalf." Sort of. That scenario was a bit more complicated but her crying had resulted in Ethan's fist meeting Dodge's face. "He's going by Ethan now. Roach is. Dodge and I, um, we aren't friends anymore. Ethan's moved out. I've cut ties." Maddy's brief smiled faded and she leaned against the counter and chewed on her lip. "It wasn't just messing with other girls -- which apparently was worse than I thought and please don't say I told you so -- but his whole attitude. He would barge into my place even when I wasn't there. He stole my bed once, he treats me horribly. I can't have a friend like that." Which then led to further complications when she thought about the note that he wrote.

"I really have been out of the loop," Pepper sad, acknowledging that. She knew she'd been all obsessed with her new move, but hearing the depths of things really hit home how disconnected she'd been lately. "I'm sorry - I should have been round more," she said, apologetically. "Can I make it up to you somehow?" she asked.

"I haven't been very good company myself," Maddy said. Just ask Roy. "It all happened like, yesterday anyway. So it isn't you being not around. It all just happened really fast." She pursed her lips and started folding the empty paper bag because she really needed something to do. "You know how I am." Trainwreck, that's what. "But, um, he wrote me this and stuff came with it, but I don't exactly... know what to do." She dug out Dodge's letter from her pocket and held it up. "He wrote me this and it's like 'dear god, what the hell am I supposed to do'?" She scowled at it. "I wanna burn it actually. It's hard to be angry at him when he pulls shit like this." Her scowl deepened. "And I so didn't come over here to dump my problems on you. I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out and do girly things or something."

Pepper took the letter a little tentatively and looked at it. She knew her reading wasn't great, and as she glanced it over, she thought that maybe, given enough time, she'd be able to figure it out, but it would definitely take that: time. She looked at Maddy, still holding the letter. "If you'd prefer to just give this a miss and hang out, take your mind off things - we can do that," she offered, both as a get out for her reading, and because it was what Maddy had wanted. Seemed a win-win situation.

She ducked her head a bit and scratched at the back of her neck. She forgot about that sometimes, that Pepper wasn't so good at reading. Just because Pepper had an apartment didn't mean she knew how to read well or anything. Hell, she was still teaching Roy to read. "I'd like that," she said quietly. "So I'm dumping the 'Doll Girl'/'DG' business," she said brightly, taking the subject change by the horns and just marching through. "Except at the Kitten. There I'm still 'Clara', but Maddy Keyes is hittin' the streets from this day forward."

"You are? Good," Pepper said, smiling and leading the way over to the ratty couch and single chair that passed for a living room in the tiny apartment, where the 'bedroom' was only a curtained off area anyhow and everything was just a couple of steps from the kitchen. Pepper had never referred to Maddy as DG or Doll Girl except when she'd been asking after her to other people anyhow. "I like Maddy - it's a nice name, it suits you." Of course, Pepper didn't go by her real name, so could hardly talk. In fact, Maddy was one of the only people who knew Pepper's real name in any event.

Maddy followed, actually sitting on the couch properly for once and laid her head on the back. "Does it? I think Roy said that. Jessie James did too. I think her and I are sorta friends too." She couldn't recall if Pepper knew JJ. "At least I don't want to punch her anymore. But she's nice. What's new with you?" Because Maddy didn't want to talk about herself and she hadn't seen Pepper in awhile.

Pepper laughed at that. "Yeah - generally speaking, not wanting to punch someone's a good sign for friendship. Though, lot of the time, I still kinda want to punch Roy - but that's cos that guy can be a real idiot at times," she said, rolling her eyes as she slouched down on the couch as well, at the other end.

"Yeah, he can be. Though he deserves a medal for putting up with everything that I've dragged him through." Yeah, Maddy felt really terrible about it all and she was trying to make it up to him in whatever way she could. "Does he do the whole cynical thing with you?" she asked Pepper curiously. "I know I might have stupid ideas sometimes, but it's always 'worst things ever' and I don't know if he just does it with me or not." That's... something she admittedly enjoyed about her friendship with Dodge. They both could know that shit was hitting the fan, but for a couple minutes, you could hang out with someone who could say 'it's all going to be alright'.

"Worst things ever?" Pepper asked, tilting her hand to one side a little, thinking about that. "I... Don't know. I don't know that I've ever really thought about it, I guess." To her, Roy was just Roy. Like Dodge was Dodge - she couldn't remember thinking about it too deeply at any time. Maybe she'd pay more attention in future.

"He's honest, which is good," Maddy said because it was good. Roy wouldn't lie to you. "But he's not very hopeful, you know? I mean, I know it's hard. Everyone has shit luck, but it's so hard to convince him sometimes that he's worth your time or worth doing things for. It's just sometimes it feels like he's never happy and I try to cheer him up and stuff, but we usually fight. Or he lectures me." She frowned some. It was hard to be his friend sometimes. She knew she wasn't a very good friend, but she tried. "And sometimes I think he'd just be better off without me." She said it really quiet. It was something Maddy thought about sometimes, how everyone would be better off without her, but it was one that she never outright voiced.

"Oh heck no - nobody would be better off without you, Maddy," Pepper said with some feeling, though casually. It was just something she really believed. "You don't go thinking like that, and if Roy wants to be all down and despondent, then that's his issue. You're not there to be his own personal cheerleader - can't fix people's problems that way anyhow. And anyway, if you're the person trying to cheer him up and you're not there anymore, then that's hardly gonna make things any better for him now, is it?" she asked, in her usual way not paying too much mind if she'd been contradictory or not.

"No, I guess not," Maddy said because even if Pepper was being a little contradictory, she still made a good point. Roy had been in a bad way when she came by the other day and he seemed to have gotten better, although maybe it was because she was distracting him from the problems he had. "But he needs to lighten up. I have no idea how to get him to lighten up. He's going to get wrinkles from all that worrying and frowning." She giggled a bit, thinking about Old Man!Roy. He really was going to get wrinkles if he wasn't careful.

Pepper was aware that this was probably the point where a girl would suggest that a guy needed a girlfriend to make him happier, or more lighthearted, or something along those lines. but she happened to not believe that. Not because she thought it wasn't true - but because she didn't like thinking of girls that way. As something, a possession, for boys to collect, or something like that. As though they were nothing more than a missing piece to make a guy complete. As far as she was concerned, she and every other female in the world, were totally their own person. They weren't to be 'given' to some guy just to make him happy. Said guy needed to learn to make himself happy, not have someone else do it for him. "Maybe you should just let him get wrinkles," she suggested, mischievously, as though it were some grand joke.

That got another giggle out of Maddy and she looked at Pepper slyly. "Or see how fast he'll start growing in grey hair." She thought the gray hair might come faster than wrinkles, but it was honestly a tie. "But enough about boys. How're things going with you?"

Pepper laughed at that, though she couldn't much imagine it, and she went with the subject change. "I'm good - things are... yeah - And, hey - how come I haven't seen you at the Round? You should come, watch me be absolutely fabulous," she said with a grin, joking off the back of the way Maddy sometimes behaved herself, all self-belief to the core.

"I've been working at the Kitten Club, actually," Maddy admitted. "When are you performing next?" She grinned at Pepper's use of 'fabulous' and nodded in approval. "And I have no doubt whatsoever that you are the most fabulous one there. People falling at your feet to get an autograph while you wow them with that voice of yours." There was a definite note of pride in Maddy's voice that her friend had a talent that she could share.

Pepper wrinkled her nose at that. "I'm not sure - generally, I think I'm still working at convincing everyone that I'm as good as the last girl they had. She had this whole 'mystery' thing going on and - that's a really hard act to follow." She'd been employed not only on her voice, but because she was another 'different' person. If nothing else, her hair - or lack of it - made that plain. "But I'm there tomorrow night next. You should come - you will come, won't you?" she asked.

"Anyone can do the mystery thing," Maddy pointed out and turned a little bit on the couch so she could face Pepper more. "It's not really that original. But you? How many girls out there are as memorable as you?" Maddy didn't know any other girl that had the whole bald hair pattern thing going on and Pepper made it work. She'd seen her friend dolled up and was always impressed. "And I will definitely come. As close as I can get and I'll be clapping and whistling the loudest." She grinned and nudged Pepper's knee with her foot. "You just let me know when your performances are and I'll make sure I have that night off of work." Maddy wasn't going to miss a single one if she could help it.

"I don't always know too far in advance," Pepper said, not looking overly happy with that situation. She's been told she'd have a regular slot, but the boss wouldn't commit to telling her a rota of any description. At the end of each night, she's be told when to come back. Asking around, she'd discovered this was whilst she 'proved herself' and that eventually, if she did good, that would all change. She just had to live through it and not complain. "But you'll know when I do," she promised.

"What kind of feedback have you gotten so far?" Maddy asked. "The test run kind of idea makes sense because you're new, but it doesn't mean it sucks. Have they pushed any suggestions on you or anything?" Her mind was already coming up with ideas. Posters or advertisements to get people to go see Pepper. She wanted her friend to be successful and if she could help, she was going to do that.

Pepper shook her head. "Not really - and I'm not too good at that kinda thing. I mean, generally, I just go in and do my thing. I know what I like and they have the house band and everything, so at the moment, we're going through what I know and what they know, but I'm hoping to start learning new, expanding out. Keep it fresh and all."

And it seemed to be working so far, since they kept asking Pepper back. "They don't have you playing that old singer's songs, do they?" That didn't seem very fair to Pepper if they were trying to make her imitate the old headliner. Pepper had her own style and her own flair. "And is there anything I can do to help? They're advertising you, right?"

Pepper laughed. "Oh no - I wouldn't try that! I wouldn't do it even if they wanted me too. I mean, I saw that woman sing and she was good, with her own style type thing and - I don't imitate. So, I went in with my own score, something different. So far, it seems to be working. And - I'm getting my name on the door. But - this is the Round. It's not like the Kitten Club. They don't do much in the way of advertising," she pointed out.

Maddy shrugged with a little smile. "I'm not talking about putting your name in lights -- even though you deserve it. But 'hey, we've got a new singer, come see her' kind of signs might be a good idea. They advertised the last performance of the last singer, didn't they?" She couldn't honestly remember that clearly, but she could've sworn she'd seen some kind of advertisement getting the word out. "If they're not doing it, I will."

"I know they advertised her last performance. I dunno about before that," Pepper admitted. Advertising was writing and that really wasn't her strong point - in fact she tried to avoid it where possible, even if it involved pictures. She didn't like to admit her weaknesses. "You will - really?" she asked. picking up on that and wondering what Maddy had in mind.

A sly grin spread across Maddy's face. "Of course. You're looking at the girl who designs all the posters for those crappy independent plays who wouldn't get anyone to show up if it wasn't for my snazzy posters." They didn't pay a whole lot. The groups had to front the printing costs which meant she had to take a pay cut, but she still made some okay money from it. It just wasn't steady work. "I could do a few for each performance, although it'll be easier once you're steady. You can keep 'em up for longer. And if people like em, they can grab 'em, come to your show, you can autograph it, and then they can show it off." It sounded like a good idea to her.

"Autograph? Don't think so - don't think anyone would ever care that much," Pepper said, dismissing it out of hand, though in reality it was for a very different reason. Realistically it was because if people wanted that, they might want little personal messages and... No, absolutely not. No way. The very idea took away all of her confidence for the whole situation.

"I would," Maddy said. "You could come up with a cool one, like kissing it with lipstick then putting 'Pepper' underneath, so you're telling everyone you're loving them for supporting you." Maddy had total and complete confidence in Pepper and the awesome that was inside her. "It would be your signature, that way if anyone ever saw the kiss prints, they'd know 'That's that wonderful singer at the Round'." Yeah, Maddy liked that idea.

Pepper opened her mouth to reply, then paused and frowned slightly, thinking it over. "...You think people would go for something like that?" she asked, sounding incredibly uncertain about that fact. Of course, it would also mean that she'd have to have people actually interested really in the first place, but the last woman had done it, so it wasn't like it was impossible, even in a dive like the Round.

"I completely and whole-heartedly think people would go for something like that. It's taking something and making people associate it with you. Take me for example. I stand on fire hydrants sometimes. I don't so it as much any more, but when people hear 'DG', I've heard, more often than not, 'Oh, that girl who stands on fire hydrants'. So when people see fire hydrants, they think of me." So maybe that wasn't everyone and maybe they didn't automatically think that, but that's how Maddy viewed it and it was certainly true. She was the one who would balance on fire hydrants.

Pepper laughed at that. "Well, I guess there's worse things to be associated with - though, I'm kind of blanking on what that could be..." she teased, grinning widely.

Maddy poked her tongue out at Pepper. "Of course there's worst things. I could be the crazy person predicting the apocalypse on the street corner or I could smell bad or something." She shuddered dramatically. "You've got the hair and while it's really clear that you're female, it doesn't hurt to do that extra girl thing. So I like the lipstick thing."

"Bright red and glossy, eh?" Pepper joked pursing her lips and batting her eyelashes before rolling her eyes at herself. Maybe that could work - it would mean that if anything happened, she'd be less dependent on being able to write, at least. That was something. "But, enough about me - I want to hear more about the fire hydrants," she joked, winking at the other girl.

"Definitely bright red and glossy," Maddy agreed with a grin. "What about fire hydrants? I stand on everything," she pointed out. Fire hydrants were hardly unique. Maddy had been known to do cartwheels on the railing of the Sixth Street Bridge after all, or jumping fire escapes. "I just haven't done it in awhile because my feet are bigger than they were when I was eleven." She held up her foot, scuffed and ratty shoes tied tight.

"Yeah, I know that - but just wondered if there'd been anything special about them other than the fact they made up for the fact that you're short," she teased. "Since we were talking signatures and calling cards..."

"They were fun and -- hey!" It took a second before Maddy realized that Pepper was making fun of her and she looked around for something to hit her with. "I am not short. I'm vertically challenged!" She scowled a little bit, but there wasn't any anger in her eyes. "I should come up with one too, shouldn't I? For my paintings."

Pepper grinned. "Let's call it, what? Petite?" she suggested, a laugh still playing over her lips as she spoke. "There's nothing wrong with being short - takes all sorts, right? And yeah, you should definitely come up with one too - I think it'd be great."

She mock scowled at Pepper and quietly harrumphed. "To sign my paintings with at least. Right now I just initial them. And you've got the whole kiss thing so that's out." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. I don't like that, not knowing. It's most frustrating."

Pepper thought about it, then shook her head. "Sorry, dear - you're the ideas girl. Maybe you could... I don't know, put little coded messages or something in there," she suggested, not thinking on quite how hard that could potentially be. To her, she couldn't really read or write that well, and Maddy was a lot better, therefore Maddy could do anything.

Maddy tilted her head with a bit of a nod, making one of those 'very true' faces. "I guess it's just harder to think of my own things lately. I do like the coded message idea though. What kind of code though..." Hmmm... and she'd have to start selling more paintings.

"How come you're having a harder time of thinking of things for yourself lately?" Pepper asked, picking up on that and pursuing the point. She might not be the best educated girl in the world, but she cared about her friends and she didn't like the idea that Maddy was losing inspiration for herself.

"I think it's just everything that's going on, I'd rather not think about my own stuff." She frowned a little and shifted further into the corner of the couch, almost like she was hoping to melt into the ratty upholstery. She really didn't want to think about all the things that were going on. "It's easier to focus on someone else for now. I think it worries people less if I'm more proactive in helping people than talking about how things might just be easier without me." She scowled and shook her head. "So I can make a difference and help my friends and make up for all the times I drive everyone up the wall."

"You don't drive people up the wall," Pepper said, reflexively, before amending that. "Well, you don't drive me up the wall, anyhow. So, if you want to think about your stuff when you're round me, you've got license - you know I'll tell you if I think you're being ridiculous," she pointed out.

Maddy smiled a little at Pepper's backpedal there. "I don't know. I just want to forget about it." She messed around with the cuff of her ratty green gloves. "It got worse. The thing with Dodge. It got a lot worse."

"Do you want to forget about it, or talk about it?" Pepper asked her, since she'd said one, then immediately gone on to bring up the subject again, leaving Pepper deciding she needed clarification on that before she went forward.

The girl sighed and made a sort of frustrated growling sound. "Both? I don't know." She turned around on the couch and rested her head on Pepper's knee, staring at the wall and tried to get her thoughts in order. "I hate caring about things so much but I don't know what to do."

Pepper looked down at the other girl and reached to stroke her hair, gently. "Decide that all guys are idiots who aren't worth your time?" she suggested. It was a light, almost jokey suggestion, but it was near enough what Pepper had decided. She wouldn't wish that on anyone else though, not anyone at all and definitely not Maddy.

"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea," Maddy said, closing her eyes as Pepper stroked her hair. It was nice and she could remember Janey doing that when she was sick. The thought caused something to twist inside her chest and she pushed it away, not wanting to think about it. She had meant to visit the woman but things had been so hectic the past few days. Today, maybe. Or tomorrow. "Roy's a boy, though. I can't leave him. Ethan's one too and I already messed things up there and I've got to make it up. So calling them all idiots isn't going to work unless they turn into girls." She sighed. "This sucks."

"You could... buy them wigs and pretty pink dresses and make them pretend," she said with a laugh, her intent now shifted firmly to the ridiculous and cheering her friend up, since she had no actual answers here. She really didn't know what to say or do that would in any way help. So, laughter was it.

And it definitely got a laugh out of Maddy and she nodded her head against Pepper's knee. "Oh, I think that's the bestest idea ever," she agreed, already imagining the look on Roy's face if she presented that request to him. "I think Roy would look good as a redhead maybe," she mused.

"Only if you draw freckles on him," Pepper said, going with the topic since it had got the desired results. "And a big lollipop. Maybe then you could get him to sing and dance like those little girls in the films," she teased, mentally picturing the death look on Roy's face at any such suggestion.

The mental imagery alone was enough to get Maddy into another fit of laughter and she snorted before clapping her hand over her nose. "And curly hair, too!" she added. "With big pink bows." How was she going to look at Roy again, if now all she could imagine was him dressed up in a wig and pink dress.

Pepper sat back against the couch and looked down at Maddy, smiling softly. "Yup, something like that," she agreed, though the smile was more because her friend was laughing again. that had been what she'd wanted to see, all she'd really wanted to see.