Okay, so she wasn't, really. It seemed like a lot of work, and she wasn't someone who did a lot of home cooking beyond the basics or who particularly liked having fresh herbs or veggies or whatever, and she lived in an apartment, anyway, so it wasn't like she could make something particularly extensive regardless. But Alistair was on her that she ought to pick up more hobbies--and maybe he had a point, she supposed. She spent a lot of time online, between her job and her off-work stuff, and maybe she did in fact need to do something with her hands.
Like, she did in fact leave the house. She turned up for theater shows and to audition when there was a part that she felt interested in playing, and she'd had a great time recently playing Frenchy in a local production of Grease--frankly, not getting cast as Jan had been a win, but she was pretty used to fighting getting typecast. Yeah, she was a big girl, but that didn't mean she had to play the big girl roles.
Fortunately, her directors usually got that, and if they didn't, well...that was their problem, not hers. And she had a great time with it; sure, her main job wasn't in theater--though she supposed that if any of the theaters she knew needed a Social Media Manager she'd be all too happy to apply--but it was still her first love, and she knew she had big stage presence.
Also, it had been her first production in...a while. Longer than she liked to think about. The director had been glad to see her back and auditioning, and she'd been excited to get back up there, to no longer feel like trying to do things was too much effort, to be doing something more than just doomscrolling for hours because she didn't want to think about anything going on.
Yes, okay, she had definitely been depressed for a long while. But she was getting out of that rut. She'd watched Heated Rivalry on the recommendation of some of her 911 fandom friends, since all of them really needed a break from the "will they or is the show playing with us" of good old Buddie, and she was definitely one hundred percent obsessed, and the fanfic words were flowing again at speeds that they hadn't for a very long time. It felt good, to care about things again; she wanted to keep doing that.
and maybe, okay, that meant that Alistair had a point and she ought to try to pick up another hobby, especially since the run of Grease was coming to an end and while fandom was perennial, things were starting to get real weird in Heated Rivalry fandom and Blair maybe knew she'd do well with another outlet, so she didn't obsess about whatever drama was going down or get really weird and in her own head about someone leaving a mean comment or something.
Getting a little indoor herb garden, thus, seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan. She could set it on her kitchen windowsill and take care of it however much she needed to; even if she never used anything from it, it'd look super cute and Instagrammable, and that was always a plus. And it would give her something to feel accomplished about, which she supposed was also useful or whatever.
It just also felt...a little bit lame. Sure, she was definitely thinking about it. Sure, she liked the idea, and it would be fun. But the thing was, it was also essentially just dumping water on plants and trying to fiddle with how much water exactly. Plus, it was more hanging out at home, tending to little plants that would be relying on her.
Terrifying. And if she wanted something at home to rely on her, she might as well get a cat or a dog or a pair of rabbits or something, because at least an animal could show her actual affection in the way a tiny little plant couldn't.
Also, if she got into horticulture, she feared her own desire to monetize the hobby somehow. There were so many ways, from actually picking up cooking to doing cutesy little Etsy crafts or whatever, and frankly Blair didn't think she needed the added stress.
So...maybe something that would get her out of the house.
Anything physical was out. Jogging, going to the gym, dance lessons, all of those things were for people who liked being gross and sweaty. Blair did not like any of those things. So, "active" hobbies that would definitely get her outside but that totally sucked and were one hundred percent miserable, entirely off the table. No way, no how, no one was going to trick Blair Holmes into being more active and whatever. Simply not her style in any way, shape, or form.
Crafting, she supposed, might be nice. Maybe she could look into some classes at a local rec center; surely somewhere had pottery classes or painting classes or something like that. It would involve investing a lot of time and mess in art supplies, but those classes were usually group activities, so...that would certainly get her out and being social?
Oh, maybe she could take Olivia to one of those little paint your own mug places for a date. That sounded cute, and while it wasn't exactly giving herself a "new" "hobby" to "fill up her time," it would be a fun little trip with the girl she liked, and that would do in terms of being a baby step of getting out and doing fun things, right?
And, okay, like...maybe Blair was happy with the way things were? The more she thought about picking up some new hobby just to fill extra time, the more she felt exhausted. She had things she liked doing, she didn't need to do more things just to fill someone else's idea of what she wanted.
...But maybe a pottery class did sound fun. So maybe she would look that up, at least.
[wc: 1039 words]
