merlerappaport

[merlerappaport]

"I think that's been your resolution every year, P," she chuckled. "At least since we moved here." Merle however was pretty content with her circle of people now, she'd never been one to let a lot of people into her inner circle. "Not so I can torment guys on your behalf? Aw. That was fun," she teased.

⭐ - our muses come up with new years resolutions together

"I mean I'm going to like... try and be better with meeting new people," Piper shrugged as the two chatted resolutions over their glasses of champagne. "I will most certainly not be joining a dating app again however. That was a nightmare I do not want to relive."

@merlerappaport

[merlerappaport]

"I can hardly see your grumpy face under that hood," Merle chuckled as she tried to peer underneath Aaron's mask. "So I'm just gonna assume you're having a lot of fun with me since I can't see otherwise."

@hcleacron

[merlerappaport]

"I think it would be illegal not to, to be honest," Merle replied as she linked arms with the other. "I do wanna stay out for a bit tonight, though. Maybe even until they tell us to go home– I know , so wild of me, isn't it?" she beamed.

"We are planning to go home and play Mario Kart after this... right?" Piper asked with an excitable grin. "It just feels like it'd be criminal not to at this rate."

@merlerappaport

[merlerappaport]

merle rappaport as princess peach from the mario franchise, ft. @piperwilkinscn as daisy

[merlerappaport]

Merle took a few moments to really think about that question. Nowhere had truly felt like home without her brother, and now that Caleb had gone back to the States it felt even less like it. "Home to me is wherever Piper is," she finally answered with a short smile. "So right now? Yes, this is home." Of course Merle thought about New York all the time, but it still felt too weird to be there without Harry. One day it would be okay though, she hoped. "You think so?" she asked with excitement in her voice. "What are some of the things you miss the most? I'll see if I can find some sort of substitute."

"Is this where you consider your home to be now?" Aaron asked, because he didn't think he viewed it as such. It had been difficult for him to settle here and Aaron had always struggled to find somewhere he really felt like he belonged since everything had happened. A part of him wondered if he even deserved something like that. "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try." He added after a moment. "That sounds nice."

[merlerappaport]

"I said I can't wait to see the ten foot tall hippo eat a burger in our bathroom," Merle repeated, knowing it made zero sense. "P. I know you've not been listening to anything I've said in the last few minutes." She wasn't mad, just concerned for her best friend who'd been visibly out of sorts recently. "What's going on? I just want to help in any way I can. I miss seeing you smile," the brunette said as she added her own.

"Sorry I didn't quite catch that," Piper replied tiredly to the other. She hadn't been sleeping well and it was rather obvious considering her usually much sunnier disposition. "Do you mind saying it again?" she asked, trying to bring up the energy to give the other a small smile.

[merlerappaport]

"You really can," Merle grinned, happy to see the other smiling as it was a very rare occurrence as far as she was concerned. "No, it's not the same. But we live here now, there's no harm in finding home comforts on our own turf." And Merle would be glad for that, knowing that she could feel more at home without having to return to the States where all the memories of her brother she otherwise held back would flood back. "Yes, silly," she nudged his shoulder with a smile. "Find a place in England or Scotland where there's blossoms and we can take a picnic or something, make it a little day trip."

"Sometimes I can surprise you." Aaron answered with the smallest of smiles and a gentle shrug of his shoulders, appearing far more comfortable than he usually did. "I suppose there are but it's not really the same." He supposed that was in part because he still viewed America as his home, the problem was that being there tended to incite bad memories for him. "Research on where exactly? You would actually want to go on a trip with me?"

[merlerappaport]

"I can't help it that you just spilt a whole can of coke on yourself, Auggie," Merle giggled as she took her phone out to snap some pictures of the disaster. "You've gotta laugh at the small things. Life's way more fun when you do. Just ignore.. the stickiness."

"No, no, come on. Stop laughing!" Auggie insisted, pushing them plyafully as she tried, unsuccessfully, to contain her own laugher, "No, this is serious. You can't make me laugh."

[merlerappaport]

"Hey, don't apologise. I usually leave you alone when I can hear this going on but we're gonna do something that refreshes your brain so you can come back to it with a fresh head," Merle informed her, without even asking. She knew it was for the best, so even if Piper was annoyed at her in the moment, Merle didn't care. "How long have you been working on it?" the brunette asked, peering closer to the garment of interest. It looked perfectly good to her but of course, P was a perfectionist when it came to this. "Why don't we do some baking or something? Get the heart moulds out, make a red velvet cake. Or some heart cookies? I saw a really great recipe for brookies that I think you'd love."

The room was filled with the rhythmic clicks coming from the sewing machine and the occasion groan of displeasure from the woman when she got the stitching incorrect and had to go back on her design. "I know, M– I'm sorry," came Piper's delayed reply, finishing off the line of stitching she had been running through the machine until properly acknowledging Merle's presence. "I just can't seem to get this garment right– it's driving me nuts," she explained as though it would justify why she'd shut herself away all day. "Unrelated?" Piper seemed reluctant given how absorbed by the design she seemed to be. "What did you have in mind, M?"

[merlerappaport]

"You feel bad for me now, hm?" Merle said with an upturned brow. "I did clarify I was going easy on you. Wasn't going to use my usual tactics for fairness, but I guess since you want to be cocky about it we can go again." Merle didn't even feel bad about it now, since she'd discovered card counting was in fact legal here where it wasn't in the US. It had certainly been an interesting evening out getting thrown out of a casino due to her brother's insistence on using her 'powers' for their own good. "Deal me in again."

"You know, it's pretty poor planning on your part to go up against someone who plays with cards for a living." Xander spoke smoothly, a smirk playing across his features as he picked up his drink, leaning back in his seat now that their little game was done. "I actually feel a little bad for you..."

[merlerappaport]

"Gotcha," she nodded, her eyes scanning the shelves for one final look to find another outfit, but alas, nothing that would go. Merle really took Piper's skills for granted sometimes given this was her selection of choice. "Some less important attributes too, height and bone structure included," she added with a lilt in her voice. "Not really. I'm honestly still finding it hard to move on," Merle replied, this time a sadness present as she spoke. "But I'm going to have to at some point. Figured throwing myself into the deep end would be a good place to start." The brunette pulled up the first dress and tried zipping it herself, getting stuck at the small of her back. "You can call me gorgeous, I'm not exactly going to object to that. I just need other things too," she told him as she emerged from the curtain, turning for Roman to zip her in.

"It just needs something to make it pop, yes." He answered with a chuckle, because it was pretty, but nothing particularly outstanding and Merle deserved to be outstanding. "Good to know I have the important attributes ticked off." Roman spoke with humour in his words when the woman explained, he was the type of person she was catering to. "Have you had your eyes on anyone?" He wondered if this was aimed at a particular person already. "I can't promise not to call you gorgeous but I'll give suggestions where I see fit if that helps."

[merlerappaport]

Merle carefully tiptoed through the materials on the floor in Piper's room, making sure to spot any loose pins amongst the garments. "P, you've been in here for hours," she said, a concerned tone to her voice. "How about we take a break from using the sewing machine and do something entirely unrelated, yeah?" the brunette commented.

@piperwilkinscn

[merlerappaport]

"I never expected that sentence to come out of your mouth, Aaron," Merle chuckled lightly as she admired the trees from where they were sat. "Part of me wants to catch a flight and just lay on a picnic blanket for a few days, the other part of me knows there are places in England that also have cherry blossoms where I could floo to for free." Merle tried not to travel back to the US now unless there was an important anniversary or holiday there, but this was still tempting. "Why don't I do some research? We can take a trip there together."

"Do you know what I'm going to miss about New York at this time of year? The cherry blossoms in Central park. They should be blossoming in about a month..."

@merlerappaport

[merlerappaport]

"What are you doing here?" Merle asked with furrowed brows as she saw Juniper standing at her office door. "This area is for official Wizengamot business only. I don't need you skulking around out there," she huffed, trying to focus on the case in front of her.

@juniperfontaine

[merlerappaport]

"It's a good tactic to scare people into being careful," Merle added to the other's list. "I... really should have done some research before coming here as I don't know the answer to that. He really liked the song 'Love will tear us apart', so I guess the album with that on it?" she said, hoping that it was indeed on an album and she hadn't got the artist mixed up. "Vinyl, please. I have one of those suitcase ones– I know it's not the best but it's good enough for the moment. We mostly play Taylor Swift on it, though," Merle said fondly, thinking of the evenings spent dancing in her apartment with Piper.

"You're alright– I just know some people who knock those things around and scratch them up without thinking. It's mostly to scare them off," she said with a little smile when she recognized how apologetic the woman seemed. "Joy Division? Absolutely– I don't know if we have all their albums, but I can double check for you. Do you know which one you're looking for in particular?" Bekah asked as she began walking. "Also would you like them on vinyl? Or do you prefer CDs?"

[merlerappaport]

"Potential–... like I'd need to add a bunch of accessories to make it better? 'Cause I can do that," Merle told him, holding out her arms for the dresses that Roman had picked out. "Well you also have that too, don't get me wrong. You also have the property of being male, which is what I'm catering to," she replied. "Anything, or nothing?" the brunette asked with an eyebrow raised as she took his arm once again, leading them towards the changing rooms. "I'm going to try these on and you're going to give your opinions, and none of this 'you look gorgeous' crap. Actual, objective opinions. Cool?"

For a moment Roman wasn't sure what kind of welcome his reply was going to receive but she seemed to settle on being flattered after a moment or two which he was relieved about. He'd never intended to insult after all. He chuckled when she grabbed hold of him, letting himself be led around the shop, his eyes drifting over the clothing on the racks. "It has potential." He agreed as they sifted through some of the things, seemingly finding a few he was satisfied enough with to hand them to her. "I prefer to think I have good taste in fashion but we can go with your take if you like." He said with a laugh. "But I also know you would look good in anything. However, you would wear the fuck out of these."

[merlerappaport]

Merle quickly but carefully put the vinyl down, not wanting to do anything to damage it since she didn't intend on buying the one she was handling. "Sorry, sorry. I'll try to be more careful with the others," she said aloud to the employee. "Don't suppose you have any Joy Division albums in stock?" Merle asked as she tried to flick through the ones on the rack she was nearest. "They're one of my brother's favourites and I'd love to listen to them again."

"Keep in mind that if you break it you buy it," Bekah said to the customer when she saw them by the vinyls. She'd seen people break them when handling them before and she couldn't bear to see any more destroyed so perhaps she was embellishing customer policy to encourage people to be careful. "Looking for anything in particular?"