[ 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.