ArchivedLogs:Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue
Dramatis Personae Liv, Jack, Sergio
In Absentia	2016-01-31 "No gold sequins. Not for church."
Location <XS> Cody and Jack's Dorm - FL2
The influx of new students this year has led to a bit of overcrowding at Xavier's, and it is starting to show in the dorm arrangements, many rooms like this one refitted for three students where they had once been built for only two. The standard two closets have been joined by a large armoire against one wall; three dressers have been moved in, three desks. A bunk bed on the left side, a lofted twin with its desk underneath it on the right. (Sergio --> Jack): Uh. UHHH. Emergency. (Jack --> Sergio): What's wrong, Serg? A few minutes pass between the time the last text message is delivered and the light but rapid knocks on Cody and Jack’s bedroom door. On the other side, Sergio let’s out a breath of exertion. In the hallway, he struggles to keep steady with a stack of dresses draped over his arms. Various heels and flats hang from the fingers of one hand while the other barely keeps a grasp on Tiffany’s heavy, hot-pink bin of beauty supplies. Sergio’s hay colored hair is frizzy and simultaneously greasy. His flushed face still shows the signs of previous failed makeup attempts. Jack's starting to get worried when he doesn't get a reply. He's about to send another message when there's knocking at the door. Hopping down off the top bunk where he'd been working on some homework, the invisible teen is just lounge pants and a t-shirt with a big question mark on it today. No shoes as he pads over and opens the door. He stares for a moment when he sees Sergio, glancing into the hallway as if expecting to see someone chasing his friend and then stepping aside to let Sergio in. "Did your...closet explode or something?" he asks, thinking it is something that could actually happen in this school. Unamused, Sergio raises his eyebrows very sharply. His eyes narrow into thin, flat lines, "Just help me /not/ look like Little Bo Peep woke up in a crack den, please," he demands of Jack quietly, stepping on past the other teen and crossing into the room they once shared. He drops everyone on his old bed and brings both hands up to his forehead, "I have to go to church with these people in an hour, dude!" Both of Jack's sleeves rise up as if he's holding his hands up apologetically. "I uh...I'll do my best," he offers awkwardly. The room seems freshly cleaned and Jack closes the door as Sergio enters. He lets out a breath when his friend brings up church, stepping over to the bed to look at the clothes. "They picked this stuff out for you?" he asks, picking up one of the dresses. "Err...we should probably start with washing your face to get the rest of that stuff off you," he says after a moment, dropping the dress again. "Yeah, Mrs. Newetner sent them over." With an overwhelmed sigh, Sergio raises both hands into the air. He just stares down at all of the things for a long moment, "Right. You're right." In a fog, he reaches for the plastic bin and struggles to unlatch its lid, "She had something- She had face wipes or something-" "H-hey, it'll be okay," Jack replies, reaching out to help open the lid. "I've got some wash things in my desk too. From when I had to...wear the face paint," he says, awkward once more. "We uh...I'll be honest, Serg. I'm not sure about fashion stuff. We might need some...extra help." Sergio waves around the packet of towelettes, “What do you mean?” He blinks, looking down at Jack’s jeans and hoody. Then, he looks down at himself ...in jeans and a hoody. The expression he wears goes grim. “Do you think? Cody?” He scratches his scalp. "I mean I'm...kinda lost. I can help a little but...I'm really out of my depth here," Jack admits sheepishly. "Who knew, being gay doesn't make me a fashion expert," he jokes. When asked if Cody is a good choice, Jack chuckles. "No, he'd probably...be about as much help as me. I was thinking...Liv," he says, taking his phone out of his pocket. And provided there's no objections, he starts to text the green haired girl. (Jack --> Liv): Morning, Liv. Serg and I need your help with something... Liv is currently in her room, at her desk, actually doing school work. A book is propped open on her desk and she lounges casually, wearing a comfy t-shirt and sweats. Her phone is currently shoved in the bottom of her bag, so when it starts buzzing with Jack's text, it takes her a few minutes to dig it out. Then another couple seconds to reread his message a handful of times with a confused look on her face before she responds. (Liv --> Jack): with what? o.O "What did she say?" Sergio asks too quickly, reaching to snatch away Jack's phone, "What did /you/ say?" Rotating to get the invisible boy in the screen, the sound of the phone's camera shutter sound chirps. He clicks send on the selfie, flapping the phone back to his friend. (Jack --> Liv): Attachment. Opening the attached selfie, Liv actually groans at the sad state of Tiffio. She rises from her chair and lays down on the floor, reaching under her bed and feeling around until she pulls out a handful of magazines. Tucking them under her arm, she leaves her room, sending out a quick message before she shoves it in her pocket. (Liv --> Jack) On my way A couple minutes later, there's a sharp rap on Cody and Jack's door. "It's me!" Jack opens the door a moment later, just in lounge pants and a t-shirt with a question mark on it. "Hey, Liv," he greets, stepping aside to let her in. "And really, Serg. I wouldn't say anything bad," he says, closing the door behind Liv. "Dude," Serg sits down on his old bed in the pile of poofy, juvenile-looking dresses, drawing up a towelette to wipe carefully around his eyes and face, "I'm freakin' out." He briefly lifts back up to push one of Tiffany's shoes out from under him. For what little can be said of Sergio's skill in this particular department, Tiffany is at least well-stocked. The former beauty pageant contestant has left behind a veritable Sephora arsenal. Liv smiles as Jack opens the door. "Hey. How is he?" she asks, slipping inside the room to get a better look at Sergio. That smile doesn't last long. "Oh. Um...well, this is gonna be tricky," she says, taking in his current state and what might need fixing. "So uh, what's goin' on?" "I know. I'm here for you," Jack offers, wishing he could do more. "Well..." he trails off in reply to Liv, empty sleeve gesturing to Sergio. "I'd try to help but I have no idea what I'm doing so..." he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Serg needs help getting ready for church." “I just think that the standards that society sets for women is unreasonable,” Sergio, a sudden expert as of this moment, widely side-eyes Jack and Liv. He tosses a wipe into the nearby trash bin before pulling out a second and continuing his task. "Well, you /do/ know you don't /need/ to wear makeup, right?" she asks, glancing to the Sephora collection uneasily. "I mean...at the very least, build up to it. Let's work on your clothes first?" She takes a step back, looking over the various clothes piled around. "Church, huh? So something nice then. What do we have?" Jack stays nice and quiet at Sergio's expert opinion. He leans against his desk and listens, there for moral support. When Liv asks about the clothes, Jack stands up straighter. "Allow me," he replies, concentrating. Using his telekinesis, he lifts all the dresses Sergio brought in and spreads them out so Liv can see them all. Sergio brings both hands to his cheeks. He just shakes his head. All three of the dresses are rather cutsey. The first is a knit A-line in a Barbie light purple hue with a Peter Pan collar with a matching belt. The second is a pastel pink frock with cap sleeves, lace overlay and a shiney pink ribbon tied into a bow at the back. The third is actually gold sequins. All in all, they might not be so bad to someone more warm to the idea of wearing dresses. "I have-" Sergio digs into the pile of shoes on the bed, pulling out a reusable canvas bag that had been hidden there, "-accessories." He frowns helplessly over at the other two. Liv bites on her bottom lip as she looks over the dresses. "No gold sequins. Not for church," she rules out immediately. "The other two dresses are...a little Barbie but they'd work I guess. Maybe that first one?" she says, motioning to the one without the bow. She glances over towards the pile of accessories as they're brought up. "Let's not accessorize too much. Maybe a bracelet or two if you see any you like? Shoes...well, shoes can be tricky. Maybe...white or silver? Oh! Leggings! Do you have leggings or tights?" The more she looks around the clothes and other fashion items, the more she gets excited, a grin growing across her face. Jack moves around things as requested. The sequins are set aside and the first dress floated forward. Accessories get floated the same way for ease of browsing and helping to see how things look together. He might not know fashion but at least Jack's good for viewing stuff. "I have Long Johns," Sergio offers not-so helpfully. Watching the purple dress come forward, he moves to pluck it up from the air and hold it up against himself. He moves to stand somewhere in the middle of all of the floating bracelets, earrings, necklaces, headbands, flats, heels, and wedges. Wide-eyed and vacant, he blink-blinks. Liv nods slowly as she looks over the floating options, offering Sergio a pained smile. "Right. You're really new to this. Sorry," she says, before looking over the jewelry again. "Ok, um...no necklaces. You can pick earrings if you want. Something small, doesn't matter. Bracelets...what about that one?" she says, motioning to a silver chain bracelet floating by. "That's cute." She looks down towards the shoes. "I would suggest you get some practice walking in heels before you actually wear them somewhere. Oh! These are cute!" She picks up a pair of black lacy flats, looking them over closely in her hands. "These could work." "Walking in heels is not easy," Jack mutters. There's a story in there somewhere but he's not offering it. He continues moving things around, necklaces carefully placed back into the box. Bracelets and earings are grouped together and moved in front of Sergio to pick from. "Long johns probably won't help," he adds. "The bracelet does look nice," the invisible teen chimes in, hoping to sound helpful. “I’m probably just going to avoid them for uhm, ever,” Sergio shifts his gaze to follow the heels as they are filtered out of the selection process. He brings up a hand to gently pluck up the bracelet, which he fingers and holds the little metallic piece up to compare it to the earrings, “What about hair? How does yours always look like that?” He pouts, making a big show of shrugging, “I just always put mine in a ponytail.” Jack just winces as the hair talk begins. He knows less about that than he does about clothes and make up. "Are you using that same shampoo you did before?" he asks. "If you want something else, I'm planning on going into the city today too...I can stop and pick something up..." Sergio almost looks a little bit hurt that no one brought this up sooner. He lets Liv touch his hair all she wants, slyly reaching up and picking two tiny stud earrings out of the floating array, "What's wrong with the shampoo I used before?" He whines, voice going a tad higher as he defends his choices, "It's everything in one!" Liv winces a bit as Sergio argues with them. "Nothing...inherently," she says, glancing over the strand in her fingers before she drops it. "But hair is different and what was good for Sergio might now work for Tiffany. I would suggest getting separate bottles. Just try different brands and see what you like." She looks over everything again and suddenly starts giggling. "I-I'm sorry. I just...never expected to help my dead ex-boyfriend pick out dresses and accessorize. Y'know?" She quickly stifles her grin and attempts to keep a straight face. "Sorry." "Different hair needs different stuff," Jack shrugs. "I mean you and me didn't use the same shampoo, right?" he asks, even if they probably did borrow one another's supplies a few times. The sudden giggling has him tilting his head to the side, shirt collar dipping a little with the motion. No comment though, Jack glancing at Sergio for his reaction. Sergio fumes at Liv, shaking his head a little. There's the hint of amusement in his narrowed eyes, but he contains it, "Oh, so you just wake up that way?" He rolls his eyes, obviously pretty skeptical. Unable to help himself, he breathes out a laugh along with Liv's giggling, "Alright, alright. I don't have time to go get all new shampoo and conditioner in time, though. What can we do /now/?" Pouting, he tilts his head to put in the earrings. "Like, this bag Mrs. Newetner gave me has every gadget on earth. Can't we uh, use science to solve this problem?" Again, he looks around as if Cody might appear from thin air, "Where's Gadget Boy?" "I just take care of it. I use hair masks and hair spray on occasion and...ignore me. I don't want to overwhelm you." As Sergio begins questioning what to do, she gives a shrug. "You can borrow my stuff in the meantime, I guess." She suddenly ahs and reaches for the magazines she's had tucked under her arm this entire time. "Before I forget, these will help some." It's a collection of several magazines from scattered months: Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Cosmo. "Just to get you started." "Cody's working on a computer thing," Jack replies with a shrug. "Went to use the soldering iron down in the workshop," he adds, an unseen smile on his lips. "Wait...hair mask?" he seems confused by the idea of such a thing. "What sort of gadgets did she send?" he asks, lowering the rest of the floating objects into neat resting places. “This seems like a whole .../lifestyle/,” Sergio puts in the other earring, “I don’t know. Like… pluggy-inny ...hair ...machines.” His mouth tries to frown and smile simultaneously.” “Okay. Can I-can I borrow conditioner from you? I can go wash my hair and-and change into this dress. ...and then, can you uhm? Help me dry my hair so it doesn’t get all like THIS?” He nods a lot, “Please?” Freeing both hands from the jewelry, he places both on Liv’s shoulders. Sergio’s attention goes from green haired girl to invisible boy, “I need you guys to Katniss Everdeen me. I need you guys to make me look good for the Hunger Games.” Liv suddenly giggles again. "A hair dryer? Yeah, being a girl is tricky. Once you get used to it, you'll be fine though. Or you could just be a tomboy and wear t-shirts and jeans." As Sergio approaches her and rests his hands on her shoulder, she nods solemnly. "May the odds be ever in your favor. And yeah, I have everything in my room. Use whatever you need." "I'm more the guy that helps you get the weapons ready than the fancy costumes," Jack chuckles, shaking his head. "But I'll help any way I can," he says. "We should probably wait awhile before we graduate you to the dress that bursts into flames too." "Well, they're Catholic," Sergio tosses the dress over his arm and starts to collect the things they decided on, readying himself for the make-over montage to come, "So, what? Broadsword? Bastard sword?" He starts shoving the accessories that they didn't choose back into the canvas bag, "Alright. There's like forty minutes. I can do this-" The teen shoots an urgent look up towards his friends, "Thank you. /Thank you./"