Saturday Night, post show.
Ms. Thew's troupe has finished another round of theatre, where Nicole Greenester, royal of the rains, does battle with the menacing wizard Torry. Torry, as well as the other heroines of the tale, Ronia and Simone, have gone away to their rooms in the Gatewater Hotel. Ms. Thew is busy negotiating with future venues in the hotel's casinos. As for Nicole herself, she’s preparing for bed, in a hotel room shared with her close friend and accuracy writer for the troupe, Hally Aneluto.
Neither has had a chance to speak to the other all day, and while Nicole works on a few stretches to the beat of math rock before jumping into her bed, Hally has been occupied with things the performer had said on-stage in the last show of the day. Things that she was unsure how to interpret. She had seen Ronia and Simone say similar things to one another, phrases that the former called “lame flirting". Hally didn’t know what to make of it, and being stuck to her own thoughts for the entirety of the evening left her distraught. Right as Nicole finished a set of arm curls, Hally began to ask.
“Nicole, were you uh, talking about me, then?”
“Huh? I didn’t hear the question.” Nicole responded, removing her headphones. Her friend struggled to muster the nerve to ask again; normally she would have a guidebook for asking questions like these, as if interviewing the subject of her inquiry. But Hally knew everything about Nicole, and all the books about relationships she read throughout the afternoon and evening could not give her any means of strategy to asking this question. What if she said yes? What are you supposed to do next?
What if she wasn’t? No, that’s not a bad thing per se, right?
“Uhhh, Nicole… In your last performance, you were monologuing about someone who ‘seems cold but is sweet and structured, like an ice cream bar’ and ‘is so much more knowledgeable and studious than I'.”
“Mhmmm, it was a bit difficult to fit that into the act. I am terrible with keeping my individual thoughts straight.” She smiled sheepishly.
Oh no. Hally still struggled to come up with a coherent follow-up in her mind. Knowing Nicole’s track record, this meant that her words lacked actual a degree of conviction to them. She could easily be talking about another well read, distant person, or be referring to one of her bits, right?
“Any reason you were asking?”
“…It’s just that I’m wondering. Were you, uhm,” Hally paced herself and took a small breath,
“Were you referring to me, by chance?”
It only took Nicole maybe a second or three to respond, but Hally in that moment couldn’t stop thinking about alternate possibilities, like that asking her question was accusatory in nature. Why did it feel so heavy?
“No, yeah! You’re my best friend, y’know? We’ve been through so much action in so little time, I just never got to say that.”
“Ah. O-oh.” So, we’re best friends. Granted, Hally never had a good grasp of friendship. Even though the events of the Tempest had thrust her into a group of people she can now trust, rely on, and confide in, she wasn’t sure what that specifically was, nor if it could compare to what Nicole was stating.
“Wait, I said something bad, didn’t I?”
“No!” Hally impulsively reached for Nicole. “Er, I don’t know!”
“You don’t know if I said something bad?” She began to frown with worry.
“Nono! It’s not you who said something bad! I… just don’t know!”
“Hally, Hally, it’s okay. It’s alright.” Nicole gave more of her arm to her friend.
“I think I have you rattled by my words. Have I made you uncomfortable?”
Hally remained silent. She didn’t want to say she didn’t know, and she didn’t want to guilt her friend any more for whatever she felt.
“Hmmm, I think I should ask a better question. What can I do to make you more comfortable?”
Hally stayed quiet a little longer, but gripped Nicole’s hand as she thought of a response. She was worried that Nicole was just being kind and gracious in the moment, that eventually they would return to theatre and fighting the Tempest. Sure, they would still be working together, but would they just be allies indefinitely? That wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t optimal. But why wasn’t it optimal to just do that?
But what if Nicole still considers you her best friend when everything is said and done?
What did Hally Aneluto actually want?
The answer.
“I want a hug.”
“Certainly.”
She embraced her dear friend. For how long, she didn’t know. She knew this wasn’t the complete answer to her questions. But for now, at least, she could feel a sense of being just…
okay.