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

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.

[onteamdyson]

Oh, not even! [No interruptions here! Just saving her from boredom. There wasn't any bodice ripping going on in that chapter, anyway. Right... maybe don't fess up about the pirate romance to the customer. Keep up the zombie apocalypse comic book facade!] Just some stupid... comic book. Apparently I didn't bring my full collection when I moved, so I'm stuck with sub par publishers.

[Really, Kenzi? Does this lady look like she gives a shit about comic books? Come on. FOCUS! Nails. Manicures. Professionalism!

...Actually she can totally relate to life being a little too interesting around here and relaxation being a necessity. Kenzi returns the smile, relaxing a little and setting up her station eagerly.]

Well you're in luck. I majored in pampering, small talk, and general badassery at beauty university. I have a phd in cuticle science. Have a seat. I'm Kenzi.

[ceoinstilettos]

Don’t say that. It’s not stupid. [ she hadn’t caught the name of the comic kenzi was reading before she had stashed it, but she seriously doubts it’s stupid. ] Aren’t there any comic shops here? [ or were they the ones stocking their shelves with crap, to, uh, put it lightly. but it’s alright, kenzi, it’s just small talk. pepper might not be a comic connoisseur, but she can hold her own. fake it til you make it. ]

[ pepper follows her to her station and takes a seat as she starts setting it up. ] I knew I chose the right salon. [ not that she noticed an abundance of nail places. ] I don’t know many women who have majored in badassery and beauty so I guess we have a little something in common. [ since the comic avenue hadn’t worked out so well. ] I’m Pepper. Has this place been open long? [ she doesn’t remember it, but that doesn’t really hold any water, since she doesn’t remember much of this town. ]

[onteamdyson]

You're into comic books? [SERIOUSLY? Talk about not judging a book by its cover. The book in question being Pepper... not her whole book within a book trick.] Nah, there's like... the general store and garage sales if you're lucky. If you want anything with substance, you have to-- ... [Leave town. Kenzi frowns, but shakes it off quickly.] You just have to know where to look.

[Hey, the lack of competition keeps business booming enough for Kenzi to have time to read! Pepper's enthusiasm is infectious. She's quick witted and warm, Kenzi can really appreciate it. She likes the woman already.]

Yeah! A few years. I've been working here since my husband and I moved to town. [As far as she can remember, anyway. That's the story. The white gold ring with black stones is pretty obvious when she takes Pepper's left hand and starts to buff and shape the woman's nails.] What about you? Just visiting? Or here to stay?

[ceoinstilettos]

[ into them is kind of stretch. ] I don't mind them. It's just another way of telling a story. [ xxjustxx because they were full of pictures didn't mean they didn't have substance, something she's sure a lot of people assume. ] I heard there was a book store, but I guess it's slim pickings there? [ she raises a brow, but because kenzi catches herself pepper just shrugs it off. ]

[ true! but even if she had some competition pepper's sure she still wouldn't have to worry. she's been here, what, about three minutes and already she feels at home. that's not something she can say about all of the places she's been, but kenzi makes it easy to feel welcome. ]

[ it's hard not to admire the ring she's wearing, the black stones a beautiful contrast to the band, which, in turn, only serves to accentuate the stone. she smiles. ] Congratulations. And here to stay. My boyfriend and I have a place here, and we've finally decided to try to make it our home. [ once again, she finds herself looking at kenzi's ring. one day, maybe. ] But it needs a little updating and an accident set us back a bit. I had all these plans and... maybe I'll remember them.

IM SORRY IM LATE

[onteamdyson]

Yeah, the book store is more romance novels, DIY projects, and reference books on the most boring stuff to ever exist. [Not that she's complaining about the romance novels at ALL!]

Thanks! [She beams, obviously proud of the ring and her marriage. Rumlow's a great guy. Super hot. Totally ripped. Treats her like an actual princess but at the same time doesn't let her get away with shit and makes her work for her own damn self instead of just throwing money at her whenever she asks. Honestly, she's pretty damn happy with the situation. If only it were real...]

Boyfriend, huh? Getting a place together is pretty big. Don't let the accident mess you guys up too much, they're more common than you think. [Almost like a monthly occurrence or something.] It'll come back to you. I promise.

it's fine!

[ceoinstilettos]

So it’s not all bad then. [ not that she’s going to open. admit to it, but she also reads romance novels from time to time. call it a guilty pleasure. ] DIY projects… [ oh dear. ] I guess I’m going to have to make sure Tony doesn’t stumble across them. I think we’ve already got about [ she tips her head in thought, humming as she counts the number of things they talked about. ] eleven different projects planned. [ and that’s just what they talked about. she knows tony has even more stewing. ]

Mm… but I remember another house, a beautiful place on the water… [ bits and pieces of a place they shared in malibu. ] It’s strange, not unlike that, y- yeah. I heard the accidents were kind of a regularly occurring thing. Does anybody know why?