I can't help it, man! I'm all about stupid!

[onteamdyson]

Who: Kenzi Malikov and EVERYONE?!
Where: The nail salon, Rumlow's gym, Steve/Nat/Bucky's house, Main Street
When: April 1st to 5th
What: Catch all log for shenanigans, bonding, mischief, and conspiracy theories
Warnings: Will update as needed.
[Open]

I will match your tag style, prose or action! Either is fine!


Getcho nails did

Work for a living? Does she look like a chump?

...Apparently the answer is yes, because she DOES have a job. She doesn't remember ever applying, but she also definitely remembers working here and doing peoples nails and actually having fun most of the time. It's a creative outlet and it gets her off the couch and out of the house. Working doesn't give her time to mourn the loss of video games she thought she had and ... a person she just can't quite remember. Plus, she's got actual bills to pay now. She's not squatting in a crack shack with--... SOMEONE! Who is it?

It's fine. It's probably not important. She's got a life to worry about. A fresh start. Who needs to steal and con when you can apply rhinestones to peoples fingernails for eight hours a day? Hard work. Honest... work.

Whatever. It's fine. Come on in, sit down at her station, and let her rescue your cuticles. Damn.



He's never coming out.

Kenzi is starting to think she married a workaholic. Which is honestly hilarious considering she is the exact opposite. Of course, it's not all work for Rumlow. He gets to do pretty much his favourite thing ever, which for some reason is lifting weights and getting sweaty and teaching other people how to lift weights and get sweaty until everyone is just lifting things for HOURS! It smells like gym class in there. Probably because... it's a gym. A gym that is open FOREVER which means he leaves the house early and doesn't come back until late.

Eventually, it occurs to Kenzi that she actually misses her husband when he's not home, and that leads to her either visiting him while he's at work and she's on lunch or waiting outside until he's done work so they can head home together.

Watching people get buff gets boring after a while. Seriously, there's only so much ogling a girl can do before she starts to get antsy. Rumlow's busy. There's no way she's gonna touch the equipment when she could just be sitting around instead. The railing out front is a good a spot as any. Fresh air, peace and quiet, lot's of-- UGH, it's boring out here TOO! Someone please talk to her before her eyes roll out of her skull.


How do you even neighbour?

Knock Knock! Now that everyone's no longer dying, Kenzi finally got to bake a fresh batch of cookies to deliver to her neighbours. Okay, mostly they're for Steve, but she knows Bucky's probably going to inhale a few and she'd be super stoked if Nat had some. She hasn't actually talked to Steve since the "accident" and she hasn't seen Bucky or Nat since the party.

Enough of her memory is back that she's... conflicted... about things. Some stuff just doesn't add up, some stuff feels too real to not be true! It's hard to sort out. Kinda makes her head hurt. What she does know is that Steve was super freaking nice to her and she didn't even recognize him and she needs to do something nice to apologize/pay him back. She also knows that she really does care about Bucky, even if he's mad at her for a stupid reason.

Even if he might not actually... be...

No. Nope. Don't go there. Shake it off, Kenzi. Smile.

She continues to wait patiently with the container of cookies in her hands.


Choose your own adventure!

Not feeling any of the above? Hit me up with something else!

Comments

Railing Greetings

[toten_sie]

He has a house, but so far, he still hasn't been there. The idea makes him uncomfortable for reasons he can't explain and doesn't know how to address. He's been told he has a business, but that's even stranger, honestly. So instead, he's been wandering around town, trying to find something that pings on something. He's looking up at the sign on the building when he sees the exceptionally bored looking woman and, just a little awkwardly, he offers a little wave.

[onteamdyson]

The little wave catches her currently rolling eyes and draws her gaze to the... incredibly tall dude doing the waving. She stares at him, trying to keep her jaw from hitting the floor, before slowly raising her hand and waving back JUST as awkwardly.

"Hey." Her hand comes back down to keep her steady on her precarious perch and she smiles. "Are you here to train?" Because the guy is massive. Seriously. What the hell else would he be here for other than getting MORE massive?

[toten_sie]

The answer is a blink of confusion before he turns to actually look at the sign and- oh. Boxing. Well, that makes that make more sense. But no, he shakes his head. He's not here to train. He was just saying hello.

...which he should probably verbalize.

"I just thought I'd say hello."

He considers how to address his status since he wants to say that he's new here, but apparently, he's not. Apparently, he lives here in a house, working at an animal shelter. But he doesn't remember any of that.

He considers just being honest, realizes it might be awkward, then reconsiders since it sure seems like a lot of people have the same problem as he does. Which has made him a little suspicious, truth be told. Which changes his mind.

"I don't remember anything about this place, so I thought I'd walk around and see if it helped. I just got out of the hospital."

[onteamdyson]

"Oh." Well that's... sweet? Definitely unexpected. It makes her smile even brighter, though. People in this town do tend to be overly friendly, but it still surprises her sometimes. It feels more genuine in this instance, too. Not forced at all.

Her expression changes at his follow-up response. She's hopping off the railing and moving closer before he even says hospital. "And they said your stuff was with the Sheriff, right?"

What's today's date? Right. It's April. The first of the month. Her voice takes on a hushed tone and she scans the area for any nearby cameras. "Was there an accident?"

[appetitive]

Magnus has spent a couple days refamiliarizing himself with the town that he'd made him home, wandering the streets while keeping an eye out for employment or perhaps just entertainment. He has no recollection of whether he has a job or not, but having moved to Wayward Pines so shortly before the accident that had taken his memories, perhaps that just makes sense. Nothing is striking his fancy, though, until he spots a nail salon tucked between two larger businesses. He doesn't even glance down at his own nails before opening the front door, certain that the color must have grown out while he was in the hospital.

Glancing around, he strides in and gives the room a charming smile. "This salon wouldn't happen to serve cocktails while I wait, would it?"

[onteamdyson]

"I fricken wish." That is one charming smile, good sir. It's infectious and Kenzi immediately smiles back, "It would make working here a lot more interesting."

She's pretty sure she could still do nails drunk. The level of excellence could PROBABLY still be upheld. She'll have to try it out on Rumlow sometime just to make sure. Right now, she's got a potential customer and that means cash monies and also a brief end to her constant boredom.

"If you want, I could get you some orange juice from the back and add rubbing alcohol to it but you have to promise not to sue me when your insides melt."

[appetitive]

Turning his focus on the woman who responded, he steps closer to converse with her directly. "Oh, I doubt this place doesn't have its own brand of interest. Beauticians hear the best gossip, you know."

Getting his nails done while both he and the artist were drunk sounded incredibly fun, but the offer of rubbing alcohol makes his nose scrunch up with distaste. He offered a hand to shake and replaced the grimace on his face with a smile. "Magnus Bane. I'll keep my internal organs intact and go for the standard manicure, then. I wouldn't be fit to sue, but my husband might go wild trying to avenge me."

dem nails.

[ceoinstilettos]

[ pepper is on the verge of losing what’s left of her mind, because she still can’t remember where she works or, more importantly, what she does. she swears she’s going to get a phone call about how fired she is in the next few minutes, but when it doesn’t come she expels another sigh and decides to leave the house for some fresh air. maybe her employer thinks she’s still at the hospital or she’s on fmla… regardless, driving herself crazy isn’t going to help. the least she can do is try to relax as her memories slowly but surely come back to her. ]

[ and that’s how she ends up at the nail salon. ] Good afternoon. [ giving kenzi a smile she takes one look around and feels instantly better. it has been a while since she’s been able to treat herself… but don’t expect her to pick an interesting color at least not without some coercion. ]

[onteamdyson]

[That... is the fanciest lady... that Kenzi has ever seen walk into this shop. And of course, she happens to catch Kenzi with her feet propped up on the chair next to her, holding up a comic book (with what appears to be a filthy, pirate romance novel hiding behind it). She immediately drops her feet and stashes her literature under her work space, trying to smile invitingly instead of wide-eyed, wondrous, and awkward as fuck.]

Hey! Uh-- Hello. Good... afternoon to you also. [Nailed it. Smooth, Kenz.]

How may I be of service? [Okay, now it's too much. Tone it down. Take it back like three notches.]

[ceoinstilettos]

[ as pep browses through the assortment of polish colors she looks over in kenzi's direction, ] I hope I didn't interrupt. [ she doesn't mean anything by it, but instead uses it as something of a segue. ] What were you reading?

[ selecting a neutral color ( no surprise ) she returns to the counter. she smiles easy, hoping to cut the tension her presence seemed to generate. ] I was hoping to get a manicure. It's... [ she bites her lip and lifts her gaze in thought for a moment. ] it's been an interesting couple of days. [ and she'll leave it at that. there's no need to get into what she remembers of her life story. ] I figured what better than going to the nail salon to both relax and pamper myself.

HE'S COMING OUT (not of the closet).

[comesfrompain]

By the time he gets out, it's not super late. Still, it's enough that he decides to ask another of his employees to close up since he's got no classes to coach. Rumlow sort of figures Kenzi is either still waiting outside or she's found a bar to chill in where he has to come and fetch her. Fortunately, the moment he steps outside, there's Kenzi, swinging her legs as she sits atop the railing. It's kind of ridiculous how endearing she is, and Rumlow still doesn't really know how he landed a girl this cute.

He saunters up to her, sliding a hand across her shoulders and leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, hope you didn't wait long," he says, glad it's warming up and she hasn't been sitting out in the cold. She could have just waited in the gym, but Kenzi always tells him it smells -- not that he can tell. He's used to it. Or he just doesn't mind it. Probably a bit of both.

[onteamdyson]

"Hey!" She beams, turning her head to demand a REAL kiss instead of just settling for that adorable one on her cheek. "Nah, not too long. Just forever."

She could wait inside the gym, but the weather really is getting nicer and and she likes to people watch. As much as she complains dramatically and loudly about most things in life, she's actually pretty content. Especially when Rumlow is finally done for the day.

"Help me out a sec, I think my butt has fused to the railing. There's some kind of permanent indent in there now." She gets her arm around him and uses him to steady herself as she gets down, stiff and a little sore from sitting there so long. It's her own damn fault. She knows this. "How was work?" God, they're so domestic. It's so WEIRD!

... But kind of nice?

[comesfrompain]

Of course his wife gets a real kiss, pressing against her without letting her fall. He snorts at her hyperbole, arm coming off her shoulders to take hers and help her poor, fused butt off the railing. He glances back and lets out a low whistle.

"Look at that dent you left," he remarks, completely teasing. She melds to him and he enjoys the feel of her body against his. He hums at the question, taking the light punch she offers in her revenge. "Work was fine. Thinking about pushing some flyers around town to increase customers or something."

The problem with a small town. Not everyone's into boxing, and the majority of their clientele is men. Which Rumlow doesn't really mind, but it might be nice to have some girls for variety -- maybe keep Kenzi company instead of ogling her like that one guy he had to chew out today.

"How about you?" he asks as they start to set off back home.

for DAMON!

[onteamdyson]

It's been a while since Damon Salvatore rocked her entire world. Wait--... no, not like that, you perv! They are both happily-- .... They are both MARRIED! One a little more happily than the other. It's not like that. It's worse. You don't just go around dropping truth bombs on people in cars that don't belong to either of you and then drift off into the stormy night never to be seen again!

She knows where he works! Mostly... because her cousin works for the guy. It would probably be weird if she asked Bucky to give her a ride, right? Right. She's gotta head there on her own and call Damon out and confront all this realness because she's done freaking out!

... She's ALMOST done freaking out!

Kenzi grabs the door and swings it open with determination and vigor! Today, they settle this! Not that there's really much to settle, honestly, she just wants to talk and hash things out and see where he stands on the whole this is a fake reality thing and nothing is real and everything is a lie forever. You can't just leave a person with those kinds of thoughts, okay? It's a lot to handle.

"Hey, Damon! You got a sec?" Or a few secs. Like. Minutes. Or possibly a half hour.

[unforgivably]

One a lot more happily than the other, but that's not something Damon Salvatore advertises. On the surface, he's happily married to his high school sweetheart.

Damon hears her footsteps first, even over Stefan working on the car, thanks to vampire hearing.

Setting paperwork next to his neglected reading glasses, (seriously, Pines Damon, get it together), Damon holds his hand out as if to say have a seat. He's up, then, moving to close the door behind them.

"To what do I owe this drop-in, Kenzi?" He knows to what. There are cameras. He hopes she realizes this. He's not as quick to take her into his mind. She's not Jaiying or Malia and it had gone so well with Jefferson. Read: not. It looks like the code's the thing for now.

[onteamdyson]

She realizes. She's aware. The cameras in public were one of the first things she noticed. Then in her house. Then in other buildings. Basically everywhere! They're not hard to spot when you're used to avoiding them for the sake of lifting wallets.

It's why she didn't bust up in here talking about shit right out the gate. It's why she calmly has a seat and tries to act normal. "I was wondering if I could ask you some stuff about... cars."

Soooooo normal. No one is EVER gonna suspect anything.

"I'm just, you know, starting to wonder... how to deal with owning... two of them. I mean, my old car is... mostly bits and pieces by now, but I'm not sure how ... shiny... and awesome... this new car really is." IT'S A CODE, DO YOU GET IT? Of fucking course he does, this is the worst attempt at being secretive anyone has ever tried in their entire lives.

[bechdelpls]

[ She spots Kenzi at the railing through the viewfinder of her camera. It's how she's been looking at most of Wayward Pines over the last few days, keeping the whole thing at a safe distance while she smiles her way through the anxiety of amnesia.

She's remembered a few things. Mostly about high school, her parents. Why she has a one-bedroom mobile home.

But when she spots Kenzi, there's a flood of familiarity, memories of nights spent in with booze, throwing popcorn at each other in the movie theater, the first time they met when Sarah got her nails done. She lowers the camera on its strap around her neck and keeps herself from running at her friend, barely. ]

Kenzi!

[onteamdyson]

[Yes, that is her name, but who is-- Kenzi peers at the camera before she sees the FACE! She has a similar flood of memories, culminating in a name and a wide smile.]

Sarah! HEY!

[Her friend can mostly keep from running, but Kenzi can't keep from leaping off the railing and gathering Sarah into a HUG that would be tighter if it wasn't for the camera between them.]

I haven't seen you in a while! Girl, how the frick are you?

[bechdelpls]

Way better now. [ She grins. ] Kinda having a fuzzy memory day. Or week. Did you hear about the accident? It must have been news, I mean there were like twenty of us.

Railing

[abnormalsadist]

Shiba's strolling around, cutting school because he can. When he sees a lone lady looking bored out of her skull at the gym, he feels he could sympathize a little. After all, that's how he felt before all this happened.

"Is this the part where you say Romeo?"

OMG I REMEMBER ZOMBIE LOAN

[onteamdyson]

Who the hell is talking-- oh. Some dude. Kenzi scrunches up her face at that cheesy-ass line and holds up her left hand, waving so her ring glints in the light. She's taken.

"Probably not. I'd rather skip the poison and everyone dying because two teenagers couldn't keep it in their pants. I'm too old for that shiz." Not too old, however, to be loitering outside a gym! She's grateful for the distraction, though.

ee yesss :D It is my fav

[abnormalsadist]

Aww. Shiba gives her a smile that's both accepting and a shrug.

"Love transcends age, or so they say. I haven't lived long enough to tell. But Shakespeare must have done something right." He tucks both hands in his pockets and just loiters around nearby. He could go in but the amount of testosterone and sweat in there is just a bit much for him.

[paragon]

Steve had seen Kenzi at Bucky's party, which had struck him as a given the moment he'd caught sight of her even as he'd known the truth of the situation. Or part of it, he'd realized a few days later after talking with Bucky, and he'd regretted then that he hadn't spoken to her. Rumlow may not remember the kind of man he is, but he will sooner rather than later, and when that happens she'll be right in the thick of it.

She also thinks she's in love with him, from what Bucky's told him, and Steve doubts anything he has to say will make a difference there. Not if Bucky hasn't had better luck. Which wouldn't exactly stop him, given the opportunity, and so he's kept his peace and his distance for now.

But he remembers her now. He remembers Bucky being angry that she'd eloped with Rumlow, like this town had needed something real to put there to justify his visceral horror of the man if it couldn't explain it away in its entirety, except it falls so far short of the mark that it's obscene.

So he's a little surprised to see her when he opens the door, with a little more history alongside it in his expression than when she'd bumped into him before.

"Kenzi," he says, then glances down at the container in her hands, understanding. "Come on in."

He steps aside, holding open the door.

[onteamdyson]

At least he didn't turn her away or shut the door in her face. Not that she really thought either was a possibility with Steve. Even when he wasn't even trying, he was just a nice guy. A good guy. Always had been? She could see it so clearly in her minds eye, a much younger version of herself following a much smaller version of Steve around with Bucky and Nat, trying to catch up and hang out with the cool, older kids. It's not real, but it's a nice memory. They're all happy memories.

"Hey." She steps into the house and looks around, feeling familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. "I made these. They're probs not great, but it's like the only thing I can do in the kitchen without involving casualties or the fire department."

Rumlow does most of the cooking, thank god. But that's probably not something she should bring up right now. Especially not when she's finally on her way to patching things up with her possibly-fake cousin.

She hands the container to Steve, trying to look less awkward than she feels. "I wanted to apologize?" That shouldn't be a question. "For not recognizing you. And for being shifty as frick. And... just in general, I guess."

[paragon]

He takes the proffered container with a grimmer expression than a tin of cookies really warrants, looking from it to her. "You don't have anything to be sorry for." It's not precisely a reassurance, coming from Steve, so much as a pointed truth. "I didn't know you either, remember? We can't help what they put in our heads."

It's also not something he's expecting her to answer to right now, it seems, since after another moment he turns around to lead them through the foyer. "Don't think you can be any more dangerous in the kitchen than Natasha." In the living room he sets the tin on the coffee table and pops off the lid while Liho comes up from behind Kenzi to slam his body affectionately against her calves. Steve takes out one of the cookies and bites into it, giving her a small smile after swallowing. "Not bad."