Lily walks into her apartment and is met with the glorious sound of laughter. She can almost feel the positivity being emitted from the living room and can't help but smile at the energy. Happily, Lily kicks off her shoes and walks into the living room. "LILY!!!!" shouts Marlene and she practically jumps on Lily like a dog happy to see its owner. Quite frankly Marlene always acts like that around their little friend group. Lily adores her for it.
Marlene is by far the most successful of all the artists living in their apartment. She's a musician and gathered a nice sized following on tiktok through thirst traps and clips of her live shows. Still, she chooses to live with all the girls. In all honestly, Marlene is scared of being by herself. Thankfully, she almost never is. Dorcas, especially, makes sure of that.
Lily embraces her friend back. Marlene has her legs wrapped around Lily and she's still screeching. Only now it seems louder since it's right in Lily ear. She doesn't mind. After what's probably an awkward length for a hug Lily drops Marls back on the couch and observes the rest of the room. Everyone is home at the moment: Marlene (obviously), Dorcas, Mary, and Pandora.
Dorcas is a freelance model. A very talented one. Not being signed to an agency makes jobs harder, but Dorcas has always wanted to make decisions for herself and so she likes hand-picking her jobs. She actually almost signed with an agency one time, the money seemed really great, but they told her to lose a few and she immediately decided solo was best for her (it wasn't wasn't first time she had an experience like that). Dorcas spends much of a time poking fun at Marlene and scaring off all the men they meet when they go out. Lily has known her the shortest but still they are close.
Mary is a Poet. She does mostly spoken word, but she has collections that she's self-published and peices that have been printed in Literary Magazines. Really, Mary is so talented. Many of her poems focus on the beauty of little details. Mary sees everything, she knows everything, and she's always right. She has a way with words that captivates everyone, especially Lily.
Last but certainly not least, Miss Pandora Rosier. An abstract painter as well as amateur Tarot reader. She tends to give off a slightly uncanny feeling to people upon first meetings. Lily is fairly certain this is because of her almost ethereal look and the fact she carries crystals and cards on her at all times. She may be a real witch, but the girls choose to not look too deeply into that thought. Despite all this everyone who really knows her can see that she's such a sweetheart.
The first person to speak to after Marlene is Dorcas. "Wow you'd think you went to war with that greeting," she says. "She practically did, have you met some of the models she photographs? The fact she's not in a constant state of panic is incredible," Mary replies. She's not wrong. Marlene is mock pouting and Dorcas looks like she almost falls for it before she realizes, it's Marlene. Marlene is a bit dramatic. Then Dorcas smiles to herself in a way Lily can tell is meant just for her. Dorcas can't really hide things on her face. She often says it's 'her greatest curse'. Lily thinks her greatest blessing is that Marlene is oblivious to her so obvious feelings.
Finally Pandora speaks up, "How did the shoot go?" Lily smiles at the look on her friend's face. She can tell Pandora really does care. "It was lovely. This one wasn't for a collection of mine, it was an engagement shoot for these lovely women and I've never seen two people more enamored with each other. I loved it. They were so sweet they had their own vision and I just loved to feel apart of their love story." Lily doesn't miss Mary's smile when she starts discussing the incredibly specific poses the women wanted. She's sure Mary knows the reasoning behind every little action.
"OH that's so lovely!" Pandora exclaims, "I love seeing people in love its so heartwarming!" She speaks like she doesn't see Marlene and Dorcas every single day Lily thinks but keeps to herself. Pandora already knows everything going on with them. She does daily readings on all the girls and they both keep pulling the Two of Cups. According to Pandora, "all the cards they pull have been hinting at romance and I've seen them together enough to know that the romance is blooming right there."
"Guys we should do something," Marlene says with an excited look on her face that unnerved all the girls. "Like what?" Dorcas replies. Lily and Mary share a look that says they know where this is going. "I wanna go dancing! Let's get dressed up and go to a club or something," Marlene practically begs. With a small sigh to herself Lily says, "I'm in." The rest of the group looks on in shock. She's almost always the last one to agree to this kind of thing. A loud cheer comes from Marlene and now nobody can contain themselves. They all start giggling and running to change. Some of them exchange clothes, they do hair, assist with each others makeup and in about 45 minutes they all feel amazing and are so ready to go.
And so, they all go to a club. The girls dance and drink a little and have fun. Pandora gets tipsy and gives some random guy a reading at the bar. He seems content with the results and infatuated with Pandora. Mary tells the rest she sees Pandora gazing at him all night. Marlene and Dorcas dance more than any of them, which is a miracle considering Dorcas is in 6 inch heels. Mary and Lily flirt with some people, but eventually end up talking and laughing in a corner.
At 2:30 Mary rounds up the group and calls an Uber for them all. Marlene almost throws up in the Uber but eventually makes it to the bush outside their apartment building. Pandora holds back her hair and the rest gather around. They end the night all passed out in the living room. Early in the morning, Lily wakes up. She's squished in between Dorcas and Mary. All of them are in aassive group cuddle and Lily thinks this is the happiest she's ever been. She loves these girls more than anything in the world.