Realistic or Modern The Kids Aren't Alright | Main

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum Browne

A blanket fort. Zach had built a blanket fort for them to hide away. For them to have a peaceful moment without the world barging in. She couldn’t help but smile at the boy who had pulled her into him. Sure, the past couple weeks had been mostly silent, but this moment made up for it. He had candy and a movie for them to watch and this was all his planning. She couldn’t even begin to imagine where he had gotten such a crazy thought but for now, she was going to be happy. For now, she wasn’t going to linger on anything but what was right in front of her. As she followed into the precarious fort, she snuggled herself into Zach, bringing his lips to hers before reaching to press play on the laptop. Were they going to watch the movie? Probably not but she was still going to press play. He had gone through all the effort she would at least let them start the attempt of watching.

She let her hand slide into his and let her head crane up to look at him, “This is wonderful. It’s nice to take a break from the adventures. I enjoy us time.” She reached to the bowl to grab candy and she could feel the fort begin to shake, “Not that I don’t love this fort but why is it teetering?” she couldn’t help but giggle at the fact that maybe her boyfriend wasn’t a handyman. Not every male could make a blanket fort out of a couch and some chairs…and whatever else Zach had decided to use in his construction. Of course, once she grabbed the candy, she cuddled back into Zach breathing in his scent. He smelled of pine and mint? Tatum couldn’t quite figure out the other scent but she didn’t care. For this moment his attention was only on her and hers was only on him. This was a moment she wished she could freeze in time. A moment where they were happy, where there was no fighting, no Twitter. It was their world and she wanted to stay in their world. Because moments like these were her perfection.

Mention(s): Interaction(s): lion.

 

[Taco]

MOOD: Feeling good, albeit a little anxious.

LOCATION: Spooning!

basics

MENTIONS:
Dazzle (Harper + Hayden)

INT:
Dazzle (Hayden)

tags

TL;DR: Just chillin' in line, ya dig?

tl;dr

Michael Gray

So...a cat with a human face or a dog with human hands?

Standing in front of the ice cream shop, anxiously biting his right thumbnail while he scrolled through his phone. He was beginning to worry that he misread the text or, even worse, Hayden ditched him for a hot blonde. He hoped to God that wasn't the case. Michael always thought that he and Hayden were an odd couple. Hayden was the popular football player and Michael was the not-so-popular kid that asked weird questions on Twitter and got in trouble for not paying attention in class. It was a strange dynamic the two had, but it worked for them.

When Hayden suddenly appeared behind him or rather made himself known to Michael, he jumped back with his hands up in an almost karate-like pose. Once he realized it was just Hayden, Michael's face went red and he shrunk down a little bit, his hands falling to his side.

It was true that Michael was an oblivious person. Oftentimes, he was daydreaming, completely disconnected from the world around him. His attention came and went throughout any given conversation as he drifted to and from his mindscape. Michael didn't know exactly why he was like this. He just couldn't help it. His family teased him for it all the time, calling him scatterbrained and whatnot, but Michael only ever paid attention to half of the insults.

"You know me, Hayden. Head in the clouds." Michael gave a sheepish smile to his friend, "But saying I'm worse than you is a stretch, I think."

Michael shrugged as he followed Hayden into Spooning, even though he was behind him, "Oh, uh, y'know...the beach. Just soaking up some of that morning sunlight. You know me..."

Michael got in long line behind Hayden. It was much busier than Michael had hoped, but a completely empty re-opening was a ridiculous thought, "I don't know. I'll have to look at what they have." He said, and that was the truth. Once they reached the front of the line, he would probably spend the next five to ten minutes looking at all the flavors that Spooning had, scrutinizing each one with incredible diligence. And then he would, no doubt, decide on the same flavor he always got. Mint chocolate chip.

"Hey, um, how's Harper doing? I know that she was in the hospital for a little bit. Is she, uh, is she alright?" He was trying to make conversation as they waited in line. It certainly wasn't his forte.

code by valen t.

 

[KingofAesir]

MOOD: Kindy depressy stressy

OUTFIT: here

LOCATION: Beachy

basics

MENTIONS:


INT: Harper Dazzle , Max Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR Happy to be out of prison

tl;dr

Sawyer

I'm Georgia Peachy, believe me.

Sawyer was taken aback by Harper as the other girl fell into the sand next to her and yanked her up by her wrists to give her a hug after she had climbed down off the rock she had been sitting on. Harper wasn’t the most touchy-feely person alive, which made she and Sawyer complete opposites and often made Sawyer sad. But, she’d take a hug where she could get it. She let her arms wrap themselves around Harper in turn, squeezing lightly until Harper loosened her hold on Sawyer’s neck and leaned back just looking at her. Sawyer offered a gentle smile as the other girl looked her over before it contorted into a surprised grimace as Harper reared back and let her fist connect with Sawyer's shoulder. Gasping, Sawyer reached up to rub at the shoulder with a hurt expression blooming across her face that was too exaggerated to be real. That expression dropped swiftly into a very real faint frown that knotted her forehead at the center and darkened the energy that had emanated from her just seconds ago. It had been difficult for Sawyer to banish that nagging whisper clawing its way into her head that just repeated that this was her fault. But, it wasn’t. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be or she might never forgive herself for it. Sawyer wiped away the dark clouds covering her expression and instead replaced them with a roguish grin.

“Well, I’m sorry for saving your leg.” Sawyer’s words were plainly sardonic, “You should be thinking me, woman. Otherwise we would’ve had to cut it off or something.” She decided it better to avoid the second part of Harper’s jest just to move forward. Sawyer had already spent all of two weeks hitting herself over the decision to go to that god forsaken place at all. In fact, she was certain that she wouldn’t be able to enter another abandoned building again for a while without having weird stress flashbacks about her friends almost dying. Sawyer shivered at the thought of stepping foot into one again, she’d already had plenty enough collapsing ceiling nightmares for a lifetime. She hadn’t noticed that she’d withdrawn into her head until Harper was saying something about her dad punishing and standing up from the sand. Sawyer shook her head and returned her grin. Watching Harper move to lean against the rock she’d climbed off of and waiting until she was sure the other girl wasn’t going to fall over any time soon before speaking.

“Well, I did kind of promise him before we did all that shit that I wouldn’t go trapezing into danger anymore.” Sawyer rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly, “I’m pretty sure he considered never letting me leave the house ever again.” She sighed and fell back onto the sand again, not caring that there were annoying little grains of the stuff sneaking under the flowy shirt she had on. Apollo suddenly stopped running around like a bat out of hell and trotted over to sidle up to Sawyer’s side and lay his head on her chest, as if he had sensed a shift of emotion in the very air.

“I’ve never seen him cry before.” Sawyer spoke more to the wind than to her companions, a hand finding its way onto Apollo’s head, “He said I was just like my mom. I’m pretty sure that means Mama Andrews was also mentally insane.” Her smile was diluted and weak but it was there nonetheless.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Distant

LOCATION: The beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Harper Dazzle
Sawyer KingofAesir




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[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR
Social awkwardness

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

Fearing that somehow the worst part of me was actually all of me

Harper braced herself on Max's shoulder to climb down and reunite with her tall blonde companion, but Max stayed back up on the rocks.

He didn't know why, but all at once he felt out of place; like he wasn't supposed to be here anymore. He couldn't even begin to describe how relieved he was to be on good terms with Sawyer again, but... now it felt weird. Was he just supposed to talk to her like always, or were there new rules now that he'd been out of the picture for ten days? Was he supposed to apologize in person or just let everything drop? He felt there was an indeterminate space; suddenly unfamiliar with where all the lines were, and he feared he might overstep. He didn't know what was allowed anymore.

And if he stayed back, at the very least he was saving Harper the trouble of having to be his interpreter.

Don't burden her.

So, as he'd done all the past two weeks, he kept his distance.

Pulling Zach's jacket tighter around him, resting his elbows on his knees, he just watched Harper and Sawyer talk, seeing their expressions tip back and forth between comical and serious. Surely they had a lot to discuss after everything that had transpired, but they'd kept in touch all that time, hadn't they? They were still as close as ever. At least, that was what it looked like from up where he was.

Even with the full sunlight and Zach's jacket, it seemed to have gone cold. It felt wrong to just be sitting back like this. He was being weird again, and he knew that, but he didn't want to make a move that would cross a line.

Would it be rude if he left?
He could make up an excuse and...
No.
Max was no good at lying.

No good at anything.
Should've just stayed inside.

He let his eyes wander back to the ocean, looking to find some distraction in the coursing waves and flocks of white seagulls. No use, but it felt weird to keep staring at them. They were fine. It was fine. He was fine. This was uncomfortable, but it was fine. Or, at least, it would be. At some point.

Eventually, he thought, he'd figure out how to navigate this awkward space he'd created.

For the moment, it felt better to leave it untouched.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: Feeling... Better.

OUTFIT: Outfit

LOCATION: Bench across from spooning

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Taco (Michael)

tags

TL;DR ice cream

tl;dr

Hayden Anderson

you get what you give

Hayden and Michael had more in common than it would seem. Even though Hayden was more social of the two of them, they got along well. Michael had been a welcomed distraction after everything that had happened earlier in the year that he had moved. Michael was always cracking a joke or asking weird questions that would make one think. After Hayden had lost his mom and Tatum had broken up with him, Michael was able to distract him from his own problems. And because of that Hayden took him under his wing.

“How was the beach? It must of been cold this morning.” Hayden thought about how the sand would take on the temperature of the weather. In the summer your feet would burn as you ran to the ocean, while in the fall and winter the sand was colder than ice, loosing the feeling in your feet way too quickly. He didn’t know how Harper could stand it, but she had always felt connected to the ocean.

“Everyone who gets in line behind us is going to hate you.” Hayden chuckled as he nudged Michael with his elbow. “You can read what they have right there.” He pointed up behind the counter to the menu, “But then again, you might not be able to see that far, you did miss me sitting right in front of you.” Hayden rolled his neck, with half a smirk plastered on his face.

Hayden didn’t expect the next question from Michael, he wasn’t sure why he didn’t.

At this point everyone knew what had happened at the Hawking House. At least everyone they were close with. Hayden’s smile dropped, being reminded of how that night had ended, after having spoke to Tatum about everything that had happened to them, for her to turn around and tell him Harper was hurt.

He rubbed the back of his neck before he let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding in. “She’s…” Harper was okay now, she had been more shaken up from her nights at the hospital than anything else. Being stuck at home the following few days didn’t help either. Harper was more comfortable than Hayden staying at home, but she still had her reservations… Her fears about being at home, as did Hayden. “She’s okay now… She’s back at school, and I think she’s hanging out with Max today.”

“Honestly, I think being at the hospital is what truly shook her up more than anything.” Hayden knew that Harper didn’t like to share her fears with anyone, but Hayden had a lot of trouble keeping his own mouth shut over any situation.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: sorrow

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: The Jetties

basics

MENTIONS:

NA

INT:
KingofAesir (Sawyer)
Chimney Swift (Max)

tags

TL;DR enjoying the beach

tl;dr

Harper Anderson

when you wear a mask for so long, you forget who is behind it.

The wind blew over them, picking up the sand and other debris swirling around before it dropped once again. Harper’s hair got stuck in her mouth and covered her eyes, once the wind had stopped, she pulled all of her hair to one side, tucking it behind her ear. “It was fine.” Harper covered the pain of the experience she had at the hospital with a sarcastic smile. Of course, she knew that Sawyer and Zach had done the right thing. It didn’t mean she had to like it. “Cutting it off may have been preferable if it saved us from a trip.” Harper choked out a laugh.

Harper listened intently to Sawyer as she told her and Max about her dad’s reaction. “I think that just means he cares.” Harper almost wished that her father cared enough to punish her for being reckless. But she never expected him to truly get over Angela. Harper felt for her father, unlike Hayden, she could forgive him for the horrible decisions he kept making. Maybe she shouldn’t, maybe he didn’t deserve that kind of kindness. She was sure many people would say he didn’t.

But—

He was still her dad, the only one she had, the only family she had left besides Hayden. Just the idea of abandoning him when he needed her most, that hurt her.

A somber look crossed her face as Sawyer spoke about her father breaking down. “That must have been hard.” She pressed her hands into the rocks, trying to find some grounding supports from nature.

She smiled lightly as Sawyer mentioned that Mr. Andrews had compared Sawyer to her mother. “Despite agreeing that you are in fact, mentally insane.”

“I think your father was your mom was adventurous and strong like you.” Harper reached out her good foot to poke Sawyer in the side. “Always wanting to take matters into her own hands, save the world.” Harper tipped her head to her shoulder. Neither she nor Sawyer ever knew her mother, but Harper figured that if Sawyer was like her, she must have been an amazing person. Harper wished that Sawyer had gotten to know her mother, even just a little.

But maybe that would have been harder. Harper knew first hand how hard it was to loose someone you loved and cared about. Maybe Sawyer was better off not remembering her.

Harper turned to Max who had gone quiet, she signed ‘what’s wrong?’ Which became a phrase of second nature to her. Harper had just wanted a good day, a quiet day, and though she was surrounded by close friends of hers. No one seemed to be having a good day…

‘Do you guys want to get food?’ She signed, knowing that this was a phrase that Sawyer knew well. “I think we could all use something to eat.”

code by valen t.

 

[Soap]

Katherine Navarro
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”

@Princess.Navarro has set their status to:
Study Date, anyone?

@Princess.Navarro has set their outfit to:
Cold & Cozy-ish

@Princess.Navarro has interacted with:
Lemon

@Princess.Navarro has mentioned:
N/A

@Princess.Navarro has tagged:
Elf_Ruler​

In all her years of living— god, she sounds like a fifty year old man— the point still stands, though. Katherine has never met a more childish girl than Lemon Pierce. While in some ways it seemed to be endearing, others, it was just… shocking. The brunette was set to chat about the book, “I—“ but that was before the girl took a bite of her ice cream and had done the most utterly absurd antics ever. The type of thing you’d see a four year old do when they’d just gotten a brand new toy with the promises of more. Lemon had practically done a happy dance from a single bite of ice cream and Katherine reacted with a roll of her eyes.

“You’re overreacting, it isn’t that good.” It wasn’t as though she was about to try her own to make her statement seem more true, she’s tried it before, clearly she’s tried it enough to become a regular in her younger years.

Despite her words, the hint of a smile played on the edges of her lips.

She rose an eyebrow at the note covered textbook, Katherine should’ve prepared herself for the endless amount of questions she seemed to have— for both, her, and physics.

She didn’t say anything about it, instead flipping her own textbook open instead of leaning over as they sat across from each other.

“Okay, let’s start with… one of these?” Katherine picked up a blue note, a peeling sound followed after and she held it close enough for her to read.

“Thermodynamics. Is there something specific you’re confused about? It’s just heat, work, temperature, etcetera, and their relations with—“ Katherine glanced up from the book to see Lemon, barely even paying attention, but Kat didn’t say anything for the first few seconds, at first she decided to let her have her fun or, to wait and realize how much time it took until she realized she was staring at her.

But Kat had gotten impatient merely a few seconds in, she wouldn’t have come if Lemon’s plan was to stay on her phone all day.

The brunette extended a hand, and a manicured nail gently found it’s way under Lemon’s chin, bringing the blonde’s gaze up to meet her own.

“I have you for the next hour, so, I do expect to have your undivided attention, Miss Pierce.”

To be completely honest, Katherine had only offered to tutor on the hope of learning a bit more about the perky blonde, getting her alone was something that’d been on her mind; and if she had to teach to do it, so be it. Katherine could be an amazing teacher. She just needed a student who was actually interested in learning.

There wasn’t any harm with teasing her a bit about it too.

That alone was Katherine’s fun.

Fun might be a good idea. But the question was, however would she to keep the attention span of Lemon?

Well, what would children like?

“How about… we do a reward system, hmm?”

Katherine placed the ice cream in the middle of the table prolonging the contact she made with her hands as she plucked Lemon’s phone out of her hands, soon to join the ice cream.

“You seem like a smart girl… in a way. I think you’re just lacking the motivation.”

º º code by ditto º º

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

Lemon had already lost her attention for physics with Kat her phone had distracted her, well more like Hayden had distracted her. She was sure there was a big smile on her face ash was messaging him back. Studying physics even the very start just wasn’t enticing her. Physics was dumb it wasn’t like she would use this after high school, so why did she need it now? It seemed like a waste for her to spend her energy on something she wouldn’t learn. But she had agreed to it. But texting and messaging was far more enjoyable than first laws, and zero laws, and stuff about heat. All it did was go in one ear and out the other for her. She could never retain the information. How was she expected to pass her class when her teacher was a bore and he had a monotone voice that only droned on and on. Kat was prettier but still physics just made Lemon want to shut her brain off and only do things that were fun.

Her attention was pulled away from her phone by a slender finger and Lemon had never had anyone grab her attention like that. Lemon was shocked and then her phone was gone. Lemon could barely process what was happening, Kat’s stare was almost intoxicating…almost. Lemon had to blink a few times before she pulled her chin from Katherines finger, “If I get an answer right, I get the phone back, Miss Navarro.” Lemon really had no confidence, but her phone was on the line and Lemon needed it in case her dad called her. She had to answer quickly to avoid any suspicion from her old man. So of course, she would study and pay attention to Kat. However, it was one of those moments where Lemon couldn’t explain that the fear of her phone was fear of punishment.

She turned her attention back to the sticky note on her book, “I don’t get all these thermodynamic laws. They are confusing. Why is there a zero law? Wouldn’t that be the first law? But then there is a first law. Temperature I kind of get but I always forget the conversion for Celsius to Kelvin and then I get the answers wrong.” Lemon looked at the brunette expectantly if she had to pay attention then Kat was answering all of her questions. “Also how do heat and work, like work together. Why are there different types of work and different forces? Don’t we only have gravity? So why do we have an opposite gravity force?” Lemon let her questions continue on before she finally stopped and looked back at Kat.

It wasn’t like Lemon was trying to be difficult for Kat…well maybe a little but she did agree to this and Lemon was well confused by all of physics. Every time she thought she got it she’d get an answer wrong but maybe this time she would get one equation right. She just wished her motivation was more for Kat and less because of the impending fear sitting and filling within her stomach. Her ice cream had started to look less appealing as the knots grew bigger in her stomach. No. She was fine, and Kat wanted her to learn so everything would be okay.

Mention(s): Dazzle Interaction(s): Soap

 

[Taco]

MOOD: Feeling good, albeit a little anxious.

LOCATION: Spooning!

basics

MENTIONS:
Dazzle (Harper + Hayden)

INT:
Dazzle (Hayden)

tags

TL;DR: Just chillin' in line, ya dig?

tl;dr

Michael Gray

So...a cat with a human face or a dog with human hands?

“It wasn’t that bad, really. I mostly went for the atmosphere. It’s calming and people aren’t usually there that early in the morning.” Michael said as he shuffled around in their spot in line. It was a nervous habit of his, along with biting his nails. He could never really sit still.

Michael rolled his eyes with a half-smile, “My vision is 20/20. Like, I can see that you forgot to put on your clown makeup today.” Michael chuckled at his own bad joke. He may not be the wittiest, but at least he tried. But when it set in that what Hayden said was probably true and the ever-growing line of people behind them would absolutely despise him for taking so long, he felt a wave of anxiety crash over him. Maybe he would just order mint chocolate chip right off the bat.

Despite Michael’s poor skills when it came to reading social situations, even he could notice the shift in Hayden’s mood when he mentioned Harper. He bit the inside of his cheek as Hayden spoke, silently wishing he never brought his sister up at all. It's not like the two of them were particularly close. He had heard about her being in the hospital and it was the first thing that came to mind.

Nodding, Michael glossed over his mental list of names he was familiar with. It wasn’t very long, but he knew he recognized Max. He snapped as the realization hit him, “Oh, Max Berko—something? The revolutionary? That's cool.”

He bit his thumbnail again as he thought about his own experiences at hospitals. He had never been admitted into one himself, or at least he couldn't remember if he had been, but he could vividly recall visiting them to see his father. He despised hospitals since then. They brought back memories that Michael tried his best to forget, pushing them deep down and ignoring them. Michael had never really thought about it before, but he and Harper had a lot in common. Hating hospitals was just one of many things.

“Yeah, I get that. Hospitals aren't my favorite place in the world either. They, like, just give off bad vibes, y'know? Sadness and sickness and death.” Michael glanced at his friend, searching for any validation in his expression. His opinion on hospitals was...incredibly strong. Certianly more intense than he let on. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and averted his gaze to the floor, “Um, anyway, what were we talking about?”

code by valen t.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: excited

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift Dede

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Meera Desai

Be a little clumsy.

“Pffft-” Meera stifled her laugh with a hand over her mouth, unrestfully grinning with warm rosy-colored cheeks. Her bum front of seriousness expression lost it’s zest of acting, “Trust me a little! I promise I am not here to throw a flip flop at you again...pinkie promise!”

Meera Desai’s speaking voice was like a hummingbird; it substandardly ruffled her words at a tempo of a mile a minute. Then, like a drinking beak on a flower, the compulsion of syrup and molasses lazied the speed and caramelized it.

With little momentum, she extended out her pinkie awkwardly. Realizing that it must’ve come off odd, she subconsciously tucked her hand back onto holding the volleyball.

Desolate in distractions, her attention wavered to where her eyes could bask on the water. She turned direction as the lapping waves took the incentive to do the same. Walking forward with the two, she profusely thought about wording her sentences. There was so much to read at the beach away from the mighty blue like the sand that crinkled in shape as prints of feet stepped over and on it. And, there was also so much to say. Where would she begin? Abruptly, her ears picked up on a polite drop of sound. With an awed expression, she was sure that it had come from the second boy. Throwing her head back over the sun-hugging shoulders of the dark brunette, she grinned at the other boy. His face, studied with greater clarity, was fluorescent of the mounted phase of the sun; his quiff blonde hair was golder than gold. His brown eyes were not subtle, but the amber that will eventually sit on the ocean midday.

“Hi! I’m Meera!” She enthusiastically introduced, tossing him the volleyball over the brunette. Irrelevantly she mused,“Let’s play catch and throw while we walk!” Then, back to the tense brunette insisted, “Don’t worry uhm-, we won’t hit your head-”

She leaned her body back in anticipation to the second boy, “Let’s not hit his head!” She said, blanking. What was she doing again?

There was something black and blue about the dark brunette that she had met earlier. His eyes were different to his friend’s; they were darker. Concealing like the peeling bark of an ordinarily beautiful tree. Could it be heavier or the inconsequence of the angle of her glancing up at him?

She closed her mouth and then opened it more softly. “I actually have wanted to say I’m sorry for a while now…” She professed, let her hands swing lightly, “So, I am sorry! Truthfully! I thought you hurt Graham that night at the party, and in the moment I became mad. Very mad. I also did not know that the one big kid would beat you up so bad-” She winced, before becoming alert and switching to punch a zealous fist into her palm. “But, I will not let that happen anymore.”

“Because. You,” she exclaimed rigorously, “Are. My. New. Best. Friend.”

The second boy, within time, shot back the volleyball, and she sent it over again.

She cornily threw her head back to the other boy, “You too!”

Maybe they could be Graham’s too?! Graham… Lazily, her eyes began to dreamily flutter at the sea as did her light blue blouse as the outdoor wind pulled. With a side-glance, she noticed the ball coming back and her reflexes shot back up.

“There is a slight problem though,” she tugged on her lip, “I do not know your names! Or anything at all.” The trio had moved quite a bit in their conversations. They were fairly closer to the harbor where a few boats were tied to the moorings. Among the many, she was sure she saw a single silhouette tending to a boat.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: ????

LOCATION: The beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Meera lion.
Stu Dede
Oliver @Me



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[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR A ragtag group of kids become the crew of an impromptu sea voyage

tl;dr

Janitor Toothrot

Most of the world is covered by water. A fisherman’s job is simple: Pick out the best parts.

Sure enough, the wizened custodian had just returned to his boat for the day, surely to slip off into the foggy Atlantic and submerge back to his underwater lair.

It was actually rather unsettling to see this man in full natural sunlight, instead of the harsh flicker of Parish Bay High's florescent ceiling lights (or the undulating shadows of a sea cave.) He wore the same workman's clothes that he was seen in during the school day, which somehow enhanced the notion that he might be somewhat omnipresent. He just appeared in the flesh wherever he needed to, and slipped back into the shadows when his deed was done. Now that he'd been spotted outside the confining walls of the school, it was now clear that he could show up just about anywhere. Somehow the passing thought of stumbling upon him in the frozen foods section of the grocery store was even more terrifying.

As the kids drew near enough to realize who it was that awaited them at the end of the pier, they'd been detected. At their footsteps, he turned silently to face them. There was absolutely no earthly reason for the man to move so soundlessly on a creaky wooden dock.

His all-knowing eyes shifted from Oliver's pigeon-toed fidgety stance to the petrified Stu's frozen stare, his brow furrowing for just a moment before he nodded ever-so-slightly and turned over to Meera. It was ominously clear that he'd identified the two boys as the pair who got cruelly imprisoned in the second-floor bathroom just two weeks prior. The enigmatic janitor had broken them from their confines, but both had somehow come away from the experience still convinced that Toothrot the Fish Man was out to get them. This much was clear in their terrified silence.
All three, though, were underclassmen students of PBHS. They spent their educational hours spelunking in Toothrot's janitorial lair.

"Lovely Saturday." Crawled his voice up from the depths of his hollow throat. Once again his voice was an indeterminate smorgasbord of accents. Herman must be from everywhere and nowhere, or some place yet undiscovered.

But as odd and bewildering as the man was, he was far from the only eccentric face out here. Really, an interesting trio of children were the three of them: Meera all squirrely and excited over the little wooden fishing boat, Stu quivering like a mouse under a cat's eye, and Oliver looking very much like a bird that, should it try to fly off, would crash into a window.

Toothrot was silent for an uncomfortably long time, seeming to take note of the awkward glances that passed over the group as the moment dragged on.

"Aye, it's you three from the old Parish Bay!" The otherworldly janitor sounded much too jovial about the miserable mildewy public high school. The one scrubbing the grime and spills ought to hate it the most, no? He turned his attention back to the tallest of the three: "Still on the mend, are ye?" Oliver's hands grasped at his sides and his attempt at an answer was just a ragged and wordless respire of air. Inexplicably, Herman seemed to understand perfectly well. "Right good to see you've made a friend, French." Again, where had he learned Stu's name? Well, the pastor's son had to be known a bit, and yet now it seemed oddly psychic.

While the boys seemed inches from fainting dead away, little Meera seemed totally unafraid, instead eying the boat bobbing lightly in the salty depths in fascination.

Toothrot's vessel was a wooden skiff that, while relatively fresh-looking, was a model that wouldn't have looked out of place in 1850. It was like it was stolen to this place with a time machine. Regardless, it had surely been on many a dark ocean voyage. Though it likely sailed alone for most of the year, there was plenty of room in it for the two boys and Meera.

"Kids these days don't learn these things, aye? The Parish Pointers used to set asail by yer ages." Whatever era of history he referred to was never fully eexplained. One had to imagine it was 16-something when the town first settled by the ocean's edge. "But better late than never, as we say at Parish Bay. Them kids don't be turnin' in thar old Algebra sheets. ...Anyway, if you've the time, you three are welcome to buckle down in the old boat and we'll tour around the harbor. Promise she's as safe as she ever were." That last bit drew into question, yet again, exactly how old the boat was, nor its owner. And yet somehow, its tilting on the silky blue waves was strangely inviting. "I've no idea why they don't teach yer sea-going Parish heritage anymore..."

code by valen t.

 

[Qwertycakes]

MOOD: Chill

OUTFIT: here

LOCATION: Cheer practice @ school football field

basics

MENTIONS: Kat, Hayden


INT: Ivy Chimney Swift

Ashley tamarapasek

Dustin

tags

TL;DR: Claire arrives at cheer practice, says hello to friends, terrorizes Dustin a bit

tl;dr

Claire Malkovich

Pull me closer if you think you can hang...

Claire made her way onto the football field, striding gracefully through the grass in her sleek black sneakers. She absently gathered her thick mane of golden brown coils into a high, fluffy ponytail, securing it in a hair elastic as she walked. Ah, cheer practice. Claire Malkovich loved cheerleading. What other extracarricular combined three of her favorite things: dance, tumbling, and sexy little outfits? Not to mention all the glorious attention. The literal job description of a cheerleader was to scream for attention. Commanding attention was not only Claire's forte, but her comfort zone and overall default state of being.

And Claire was a decent cheerleader, if she did say so herself. Sure, she could put more energy into making her moves look perfect instead of eyefucking every cute guy she happened to see sitting in the stands, but whatever. The squad this year was shaping up to be a dumpster fire anyway. Kat, their new captain, was used to a competitive level squad, and that would take real work...ugh. Still, Claire might be willing to apply herself...especially if it meant making Kat happy.

Sauntering across the field, Claire grinned at the sight of a new friend, the amusingly feisty, foul-mouthed Ivy as she passed by. "Hey, bitch," She grinned and threw an arm around around the tiny, raven-haired freshman for a quick squeeze before moving on to mingle with the rest of the squad.

She glanced around the field, immediately honing in on the only male presence, happy to see they had an audience today. Not the gorgeous Hayden Anderson this time, unfortunately. But the dweeb from her English class that was lucky enough to catch the tail-end of tryouts, when the rain had basically turned practice into a wet t-shirt contest. He was perched on the bleachers like a good little simp, chatting with his target, Ashley, who stood on the field with the other girls, stretching and awaiting practice to begin. Dorky as Dustin was, he was cute enough that Claire had to mentally give the freshie props for having this older boy so obsessed with her. She must give it up good, she thought.

Claire slithered up behind Ashley and draped her arms around the taller girl, peeking up at their cheering section from behind her. "Hey, Dusty, here to support your girlfriend again? You can watch me shake my ass too, I don't mind." Her comments made the boy blush profusely, much to Claire's satisfaction.

With a smug laugh, she released Ashley, flitting off to start stretching with the others. Stretch out left arm, stretch out right. She flashed a grin over to Dustin, winking as she bent over to stretch her legs with a well-timed booty shake, once again happy to see she'd flustered the boy into looking away sheepishly.

The whole stretching session, Claire's chocolate brown eyes were discreetly surveying the field for any sign of their captain, quietly growing more and more restless when she never turned up. "Where the hell is Kat?" She finally blurted out to nobody in particular, a hint of impatience in her voice. So they could begin their practice, of course. It wasn't as if Claire had been looking forward to this for days, an opportunity to spend time with the supremely gorgeous and magnetic fucking goddess that was Katherine Navarro. No way.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Power Trip

LOCATION: The football field.

basics

MENTIONS:
Kat Soap
Lemon Elf_Ruler
Dustin Qwertycakes

INT:
Claire Qwertycakes
Ashley tamarapasek

tags

TL;DR Cheer practice gets spicy.

tl;dr

Ivy Dawkins

I'm gonna make sure I get the last laugh

Claire Malkovich's arm draped over Ivy's narrow shoulders, and the tiny impish freshman responded with a playful elbow to Claire's ribs. "Who're you calling bitch, bitch?" Ivy feigned deep offense. "Bitch, noun: Claire Malkovich. You type bitch into Google and it's like 'did you mean: Claire Malkovich.' You open the encyclopedia to 'Bitch' and it's just your bitch face, bitch." Once she'd repeated the term so many times that it the feel of it rolling off her tongue was completely weird and no longer felt like a word, she smiled, tossed her hair, and patted Claire's elbow. "Hi, bitch."

As far as Ivy was concerned, this was as close to a perfect Saturday morning as it could get. Sunny and cool, an open field with just her and her miniskirt-clad cohorts.
And that curly dork kid sitting on the bleachers, but he didn't count and Ivy was kind of amused by the attention they garnered from the boys lowest down on the pecking order.

But there was one thing that made today especially tantalizing, and Claire finally came to the realization of the missing piece of their little puzzle. The one that boosted Ivy right to the top of their literal and metaphorical pyramid.

"Kat," Ivy mused in a slow, pleased sort of drawl, "will not be joining us today. She's Spooning a fruit." She blinked and then suddenly cleared her throat as if she misspoke, tapping her chest with her fist. "AHEM-- sorry. Excuse me. Kat is with Lemon, Spooning." She could no longer contain her grin and she erupted into a fit of giggles.

Ivy had heard through the grapevine of Twitter that Kat had taken a leave from squad drills to give Lemon a... private tutoring session. At Spooning.
Unfortunately for Ivy's crass humor, no part of this was a euphemism. Kat really was tutoring Lemon in Physics, and Spooning was simply an ice cream parlor.

By the time she finally stopped laughing at the thought of Kat lovingly caressing Lemon's flaxen tresses, she quickly resumed composure, spun to face Claire head-on, and widened her stance to an authoritative power pose. "And you'll never guess who Kat ascended to the throne." Her hand lifted to the top of her head and slowly gestured down her body to her knee. Her toothy grin widened to a maniacal expression of glee. "I am the captain now."

She was quickly overcome with the need to gloat this news to every member of the squad before she led them in their ritual stretch. The first to catch her eye was the small and doe-eyed Ashley Park, sweetheart of the nerds. Surely Dustin was here to gawk at her especially. Ashley attracted nerds like moths to raging bonfire.

That gave Ivy an idea.
An awful idea.
a wonderful, terrible, awful idea.

Strutting, practically skipping across the field with her flashing brown eyes locked on the back of Ashley's head of braided hair, she caught her fellow freshman by the waist and spun her gently to her view. "Soooo, who does it better?" She raised her brow and tilted her neck to meet the best impression of Kat that she could conjure. "You're all mine for the morning. The captain expects excellence." Her eyelids lowered just a bit, her eyes kept in view by the angle of her chin. "I trust you've already limbered up, but we got a few secs before I have to crack down on the squad. So what's good, Ash? Had a fun Friday?"

Her eyes slowly turned to Dustin and her smile became a shifty smirk.
This practice was going to be fucking fun.

code by valen t.

 

[Dede]

MOOD: peak stu

LOCATION: beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift lion.




--------don't type anything after this comment--------



[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR
just read it

tl;dr

Stu French

Little hi little low little hey little ho

Stu tried to keep up with the two, and though he was physically there and feigned comprehension, nothing made sense to his little mouse brain. Flip flops? Pinkie promise? . . .What’s going on?

The girl was quick, hopping from point to point, mesmerising to follow. But he nodded along interestedly, because the thrill of pursuit made him feel a little smarter, and being around a girl actually made him feel normal and more like the other boys. It was an irrational fear really. Kind of like how Oliver was with crabs. But girls were people too, so why did every contact with them have to play out like a close encounter of the third kind?

He’d much rather be afraid of crabs than of girls. And how come Oliver could talk to girls? He talked to Ashley, even Genieve talked to him. Maybe girls liked him because he was smart. Stu didn’t know anywhere near as many sea turtle facts as Oliver did, and he didn’t know how to spell as many big words.

The volleyball struck his side and made him leap a salmon out of a summer stream.

He chuckled nervously and went after the ball that was rolling toward the beach. Running back he tripped over the sand, and only saved himself from falling by clinging to Oliver.

“I think. . . I really like your name,” he stammered out of breath. Not because he was tired from running but because he was talking to a girl. “I. . . I don’t know anyone else called. . . called Meera.”

Cue the awkward silence. He threw back the volleyball but was afraid of hitting her so it ended up in the sand between them. “Woops, sorry!”

She called him her best friend, which was really nice. But how could they be best friends when he didn’t know the first thing about her, and she didn’t even know his name?

“O. . . oh, I’m Stu. Short. . . short for Stuart, that’s me. And he’s—” Stu turned to Oliver, in case he wanted to introduce himself. “I think. . . I’ve seen you in class,” he said. “I’m Stu there, too. But sometimes people call me Neck Tie.”

Suddenly he lifted his eyes and froze completely to come face to face with the one and only.

The man, the fish, the legend. . . He who must not be named.

He tried his best not to freak out in front of Meera. That would leave a terrible impression, kind of like peeing in front of Genieve and he hadn’t really recovered from that. No wait that never happened. It was just a big fat lie!

“W. . . we were just—” Stu made an attempt at a sentence, but he was worse talking to Toothrot than he was with girls. “--leaving.”

Gradually edging towards Oliver he whispered in his best friend’s ear. “What’s. . . what’s he saying?” As far as Stu was concerned Toothrot wasn’t even speaking English but some underworld tongue that he wasn’t to understand.

A feeling of dread settled in his stomach. Toothrot knew his last name. How. . . Why did Toothrot know his last name? Then it struck him that everything Ivy said was true. Toothrot had marked him for death. Oh no, oh God no. He was too young to die. . .

While all this was happening Stu very sneakily stepped behind Oliver, hiding himself from Meera. And even more sneakily he slipped out of his jacket and inexplicably took off his shirt, turning it inside out. And he put his jacket back on and zipped it all the way up, praying no one noticed.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Whoa


LOCATION: The Beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Stu
Meera
Herman

tags

TL;DR A close encounter with Parish Bay's cryptid janitor.

tl;dr

Oliver Dreyfuss

How lonely it is, to be drowning in a place where everyone can swim

Flip-flop…?
What was Meera talking about?
Oh.
Oh no.

Oliver remembered very little of the minutes leading up to getting pulverized by a crazy person at a beach party, and of the few days after that. What little he retained was mismatched and foggy: just snippets of memory without context.
Oliver didn't remember the flip-flop, but as soon as Meera said it, he remembered her. On the beach, with the boy and the crab and Tatum yelling and… all of that.
So she threw a flip-flop? At him, or…? Why would she do that?

Much like his memory of the beach party, Oliver registered and understood only fragments of the conversation happening around him. Stu, looking as anxious as Oliver felt, gave Meera his name and seemed to pause for Oliver to join the introduction.
He didn't. Oliver's words caught in his throat and his teeth were clamped over the knuckles of his right hand, red marks and small bruises marring his skin from his fingers all the way down to the base of his palm.
So Stu clumsily carried on the conversation by himself, valiantly facing his girl phobia while Oliver simply tried to hang on to what was happening around him.

Stu was an intrepid one. From his beach-going escapades to his brush with death at the Hawking House, it was clear that Stu's bravery was shaken only by pretty girls and murderous fish men. Oliver's list of fears was more extensive, but right now he actually felt a lot better than he looked. Some might take his anxious hand-biting and inability to bring himself to speak as a sign of unbridled terror, but those who were familiar with him knew that was just Oliver being Oliver. He was just... like this. Most of the time, anyway.

Meera and Stu continued meandering across the beach, and Oliver followed after at a stilted and unsteady pace, up on the front of his feet which further crippled his balance. The volleyball kept bouncing back and forth between the other two, but Oliver seemed unable to pay it much mind. His eyes twitched and closed, only opening for split moments to instinctively stay guided. As they climbed up onto the docks and walked towards the edge, Oliver's startled dark eyes opened one more time and found themselves staring down at a saltwater-encrusted boot. A voice overhead, the deep tones of an unknown world.
The janitor.

Oliver's whole skeleton froze and locked into place. He was still half-stepped forward, leaning over his foot and overbalancing to the right, his hands raw and bleeding at his sides, one by his pocket and subconsciously ready to grab for his blade.
The ancient moldmancer and hallway wizard seemed to be in strangely high spirits. Friendly in the way that a rural mailman would be, not at all the demeanor expected of an ocean-dwelling lord of despair.

In one moment, before Oliver could stop it, grey eyes locked on brown and a comment came directly his way.
"Still on the mend, are ye?"
Oliver felt his heart drop into his stomach and he coughed out a wordless stuttering husk of a phrase. Toothrot seemed to understand the response, nodding sagely and continuing along.

Stu was overcome with terror and dashed behind Oliver, leaving the shivering knife-carrying boy at the front of the pack. Cast alone in the gaunt and towering shadow of the eldritch janitor, Oliver turned white as a sheet and his eyes fogged up and twitched side to side, suddenly feeling his legs start to give out and his knees lock. A burning sensation clawed through his throat as if he were about to be sick, but nothing came and the wave nausea just stuck in his chest. The ground seemed to start to tilt under him.
Oh no.
Oh no, oh no.
Oh no no no, oh no. No. No.
Thinking fast, Oliver swallowed his breath and quickly curled in on himself at the waist, scrambling his mind for a way to keep his heart steady enough to support blood flow to his brain.
Think of something.
Sea turtles.
Loggerheads. Caretta Caretta. Largest hard-shelled turtle; larger than the green sea turtle and Galapagos tortoise. Low reproductive rate: only about 4 clutches every few years. Easily identified by large skull size with maxillae that meet at the midline of the palate, wide eye sockets, large space behind the eyes.
State reptile of South Carolina…

Oliver had straightened up again, shifting one foot back to steady his stance and slowly moving his hand bit by bit away from his knife pocket, breathing in slow-drawn gasps. Around him, everything seemed to have defied reason: Meera totally unafraid and happily eyeing Toothrot's small wooden ship, the man himself seeming all the more bright and amicable, and Stu… taking his clothes off behind Oliver's back.

Suddenly Oliver was too confused to be afraid, crossing his arms and bouncing on his heels in an agitated but not-panicked repetition. He, too, found himself turning his eyes to the boat.
Late September was not the time for sea turtles to be roaming the north Atlantic. They'd all traveled off to warmer waters, but… Oliver had never been out on the ocean before. Ever. There was way too much going on, and every thought that came through his head seemed more and more unsure.
But really, the way the tide swayed and caught the sunlight was absolutely fascinating to an aspiring marine researcher. Calming, in a weird way. Oliver almost forgot about the hordes of crabs lurking in the shallows...
Almost.
Not quite.

code by valen t.

 

[KingofAesir]

MOOD: FOOD

OUTFIT: here

LOCATION: Beachy

basics

MENTIONS:


INT: Harper Dazzle , Max Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR Happy to be out of prison

tl;dr

Sawyer

I'm Georgia Peachy, believe me.

It was weird to think about her dad crying. Of course, it wasn’t like he was one of those stone-cold emotionless guys who tried to act like having feelings was girly or something, he had feelings and he showed them very often just not in a tearful way. In fact, Sawyer would even say that Oliver was even a little more emotional than she was. All children probably go through a little trauma the first time they see their parents cry because, up until that point, most kids probably saw their parents as some sort of big strong superhero and superheroes didn’t cry...at least not on screen. But that was when they were children, sitting there as a whole teenager and watching your dad cry for the first time, because of her no less, was a whole other world. But Harper was right, it had been hard and Sawyer wasn’t only just realizing it. Sawyer had been thinking about it for far too long. She’d been letting that guilt chew away at her and really needed it to stop before she fell apart at the seams. Harper’s words halted her spiraling train of thought and set it on different tracks.

Save the world, huh? Sawyer grinned and sat up from the sand, suddenly feeling a whole lot better. Oliver had always told her that her mother had been too stubborn for her own good. Maybe Sawyer really was a carbon copy of her mother, except for the whole sexuality thing of course. Sawyer sometimes wondered what everything would be like if her mother had still been alive. They might never have left West Virginia. It was weird to think that if Eliza was still alive Sawyer might still be living in the house down the street from her mother’s parents that she’d spent the first year of her life in. Sawyer didn’t remember much of anything about her birth place so it was hard to imagine at all. Sure, she’d seen baby pictures of her in the house or at her grandparents, but other than that there wasn’t much to remember. Anyway, if she still lived in West Virginia, she wouldn’t be on the beach right now and she never would’ve met her friends. Besides, it made no sense to Sawyer to get all sad over her mother, after all, Sawyer had never even known the woman. There was nothing to miss if she didn’t remember anything about her in the first place and there was no grieving to go through. She’d seen Harper go through losing her mother and Sawyer didn’t think she could have ever recovered from something like that.

“You’re right, I am quite the hero.” Sawyer jumped up from the sand and Apollo followed after her, once again matching her energy and resuming his running around. She brushed the sand off of her shirt and everywhere else it had managed to stick to, “ I did, walk across a dangerous floor and break down a door to save you and Zach’s dumb ass.” Another grin permeated her face and she walked over to wrap her arm around Harper’s shoulder. The other girl turned to Max for a brief moment, signing something that she was pretty sure meant what’s wrong followed by something else that she most definitely knew what it meant. Food.

“Yes. Duh. I always wanna get food.” Sawyer turned to find her dog, “Apollo! Come on! Stop trying to attack the ocean!” Apollo looked up from where he’d been barking at waves lapping the sand in front of him and ran back over to the three of them, settling himself right next to Sawyer’s feet.

“Where do you guys wanna go?” Sawyer signed and spoke at the same time, for Max’s sake the best she could.

code by valen t.

 

[Soap]

Katherine Navarro
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”

@Princess.Navarro has set their status to:
Study Date, anyone?

@Princess.Navarro has set their outfit to:
Cold & Cozy-ish

@Princess.Navarro has interacted with:
Lemon

@Princess.Navarro has mentioned:
N/A

@Princess.Navarro has tagged:
Elf_Ruler​

Lemon had entirely too many questions. Katherine found herself taking a deep breath before continuing or answering any of them, merely blinking her way and taking a moment to process everything that transpired in the few seconds that passed. While she understood Lemon needed some help— she didn’t expect that she’d needed it this bad. Not that Katherine is judging, Physics just didn’t click for most people. At least she was being honest about the things she didn’t know, the fact that Lemon truly didn’t get most of this didn’t sit too well with Kat, she wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t exactly expecting to teach her much of anything.

She hardly knew Lemon, for all she knew it was just a ploy to get to know her, but while Lemon was oh-so-curious about Kat and vice versa, she genuinely needed the help to pass the class. Whether or not Katherine was attracted to her, she couldn’t of just given up.

The brunette is a lot of things, but she doesn’t go back on her word.

She said she’d help.

And so, she did.

“The reason why there’s a zero law, is because they had already established the first three laws when they realized that they needed another, they didn’t want to cause confusion because the laws were already so well known— they couldn’t possibly name it the fourth law because it was the most fundamental law, it’d come after the first three, and that just wouldn’t be logically correct.” To be fair, there were moments when everything about everything felt logically incorrect sometimes. Everyone had that moment where it just was, ‘well, why didn’t they do this instead?’ It’d save time, be easier to explain and understand in the long run.

But alas, nothing was easy.

The whole point would be gone if it was easy.

The point, you ask?

‘To figure out the inner intricacies about everything, only to fail to teach the next— but succeed the second.’

Katherine furrowed her brows for a moment in thought, and decided to get up from her seat and take the one next to Lemon, picking up her own pencil and opening up a page in the notebook that sat in front of her. “I used to do that too.” Kat said, explaining that she’d forget to convert the temperatures as well— when she was thirteen, of course, but she wasn’t about to admit that.

“It was some work, but...” Katherine trailed off, ignoring the close proximity with Lemon as she wrote in the corner of the paper, something small enough to notice, she hesitated for a moment and decided to draw a heart— in her defense, she never used to actually doodle that, but Lemon simply seemed like that type of girl.

It was just a symbol, don’t make it something more than it is. “I’d mark most of my paper as a reminder.” The girl held the pencil out back to her, not bothering to shift away and allowing their personal space to be nonexistent for the most part.

“... So, heat and work. They’re related, but they don’t exactly work in the way you think, while work can be completely converted to heat, you can’t do vice versa. Heat can’t— as a whole, be transformed into work energy. We have different forces for different things, Contact forces— is… tension, friction, air resistance, spring. At a distance, there’s gravitational pull, electrical, magnetic, all of this can’t be applied to just one force because they all have different reactions, you know?”

Personal space was completely thrown away at this point, as great as it’d be to notice how close they were, Katherine was completely focused at the task at hand. Clearly too interested in explaining to even notice.

Katherine had many pros, one of them— was her intelligence. It was the only thing she prided herself off of when she was younger, although it wasn’t like many people praised her for it.

When certain moments like these came to light, a fraction of the girl she used to be was practically splayed for everyone to see.

Kat wasn’t sure if Lemon was even understanding most of what she was saying, but she hoped so. She wasn’t exactly the greatest tutor. Granted, Katherine didn’t tutor people, period.

“As for gravity, is— well, alright. ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’ It isn’t the greatest explanation as to why, but think how the sun revolves around us, the Earth attracts the sun with the same exact force… thinking smaller though, the Earth attracts you and you attract the earth with forces that are equal in magnitude and direction, but of opposite sense. Of course, that same force will have a much greater effect on you than on the Earth, the same applies to the sun’s combination to the Earth. That’s your equal and opposite force. Get it?” At this point, Katherine isn’t sure what more there is to get. Learning this had been much simpler than teaching— and this is only a few minutes in.

…

Maybe she’ll get the questions right?

After all, her phone was on the line. And god forbid a sixteen year old girl like Lemon Pierce would go a whole hour without her phone.

—

The last hour that passed had only proved Katherine’s point. Motivation was a funny thing. Whenever you were convinced you’d get rewarded, suddenly the brain cells would start flowing. Lemon had gotten more than a few questions right and thankfully, Katherine had explained most of what she was confused about— whoever was teaching at PB had barely given her the chance to do decent. See, Katherine never understood that. A teacher’s job is to actually teach, not to throw a test on you and expect for you to know all of these things already when they don’t give the time of day to answer the questions that should be asked, but instead they merely expect you to find things out of your own accord.

And that alone was completely outrageous.

Lemon had wandered off into the bathroom a bit ago, and Katherine found herself staring at the candy that was now drowning in the pink liquid that was once ice cream. Nails tapped impatiently onto the table and a sigh escaped her while a squealing child ran past the table, bumping into the chair beside her and Lemon’s bag fell to the floor.

“Oh! I’m so sorry.”

The father’s apologies was met with a glare, a glare that he was too busy to pay attention to before running after his toddler who was too busy screaming her head off for another scoop of ice cream.

Katherine rubbed at the temples of her head to fight off an oncoming headache from the scents and sounds that were coming from the shop.

The brunette leaned down to pick up the bag and the contents that fell out. A pack of gum, chapstick, the deodorant was a bit of a surprise, and that horrifyingly adorable ‘lemon’ wallet she owned, the novel that Katherine suggested and she let out a huff of breath, clearly amused as she placed the things back into g.

A book that found it’s way under the table caught her attention, it looked like something a twelve year old would’ve decorated, and curiosity had gotten the best of heropening it only to be met with a diary entry.

An eyebrow raised as she skimmed the first line of words, and Katherine shook her head, closing the book. As tempted as she was, it wasn’t right.

Even if there might’ve been an entry with her name involved— it wasn’t her place.

If anyone knew how important privacy was...

It was Katherine.

She hesitated for a mere moment before placing it back into the bag, right as Lemon walked out of the bathroom.

Great.

“I... you need not to worry, I didn’t read your deepest, darkest fantasies about me.” Katherine dusted herself off and lifted the bag off the floor, handing it out to Lemon, furrowing her brows in confusion and a grin appeared onto Kat’s face not long after,noticing the glasses.

“Oh? Did we become a scholar in the ten minutes you were gone?” Katherine asked, packing up her own contents into her bag before glancing back at Lemon.

She knew they couldn’t be prescriptions, Katherine had her own social media obsession for a week or so, and Lemon was the star of that.

What?

“I’d say it fits you, even if glasses aren’t a personal preference of mine.”

º º code by ditto º º

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD:

LOCATION: The beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Harper Dazzle
Sawyer KingofAesir




--------don't type anything after this comment--------



[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR
Let's go get food

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

Your face can't show what you're hiding in your hands.

"What's wrong?"

Max flinched and turned red like he'd been caught committing a crime.

Harper.
Of course she noticed he was being fucking weird.

He had to answer her question. No way around it, no matter how much he wished it had never been asked, or how much he wished that he could turn back time and figure out what he could've done to seem more... chill.

He never meant to worry Harper. Or Sawyer. Or anyone, ever, but especially not Harper. The last thing Max ever wanted to do to her was waste her time and attention with his own problems. Everyone expended too much energy on him-- he wore his heart on his sleeve and kept drawing concern that he didn't want or deserve.

Parasite.

Harper's question went unanswered for a short pause.
In two seconds, fifty different emotions crossed Max's face. He caught his breath, appearing to think for a second before giving his answer to the question: an almost humorous, open-handed "Nothing at all."
He had nothing more to say after that.

From his perspective, he had no reason to say anything else. Harper didn't actually want to know, did she? Whatever he had going on, she didn't need that dropped on her right now. Neither did Sawyer. This was a nice normal Saturday, not fucking therapy.

Thankfully, at least for now, Harper shifted gears to another topic. He knew, though, that his lies were paper-thin and he'd likely have to face that later.
He just really, really didn't want to deal with that kind of attention right now.

"Do you guys want to get food?"

Max nodded along, seeing Sawyer's enthusiasm and knowing Harper had wanted to earlier. Besides, he knew he was going to regret it if he didn't eat at some point. Not that he hadn't been eating today. He had… well, technically.
Tea and a fistful of tortilla chips was not a meal.
Even when he could be bothered to eat, Max wasn't really feeling up to food prep these days. The thought of actually getting things organized and going through the steps of making something seemed tiring.

Sawyer asked where to go. Max shrugged and looked to Harper in a you take this one sort of way. He was past the point of having preferences, and Harper really deserved to pick her favorite after everything she went through these past few weeks. If he'd had it rough, Harper had been hit one after the other with everything that hurt her the most.

And yet somehow, she looked fine. Max knew better... she was just much better at lying about being fine. Harper hid her pain behind smiles and platitudes. Max just clumsily shoved his to the side and prayed people would at least pretend not to notice. Yet again, something Harper did with skill and experience.
Harper learned, and she changed. That was the widest distance between the two of them.

Max had returned to watching Sawyer and Apollo, both brimming with the same energy and excitement. Sometimes it seemed like not a thing in the world could bring Sawyer down. Just watching her made Max feel practically dead by comparison. Sawyer was made of titanium. Her tall, strongly built frame fit her brash and fearless personality to a T. Even her dog seemed to match her liveliness. Out of all the living people Max knew, Sawyer was probably the most alive of them all. Almost everyone in Parish Point had faded a little along the way, like ink under blazing sunlight. Sawyer seemed impervious to the effect, but it occurred to Max that this impression may be little more than a facet of the distance between him and everyone else. He never really knew how people felt, did he?
Everyone saw right through him, and he was left guessing. It felt deeply unfair.

Life wasn't fair, he knew.
But it always seemed to disproportionately smack him upside the head every opportunity it got. Max attracted Murphy's Law like a magnet, and he carried with him lingering concerns that his poor luck bled off on other people. But yet again, he had no way of knowing.

code by valen t.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: oddly happy

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Zach's house

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Zachary Lee

Surf's up.

“Teetering-” Zach interposed, taking Tatum’s face in his hands and finding the loveliness in how invaluable the expression that was presently on her face was.

He didn’t really listen when others laughed. Only related to Tatum Browne did he himself feel a reaction—what he would do to hear her laugh all the time. The later part scared him. Exempting those thoughts only replayed her valentine lips, “I love you.”

She didn’t realize how much those words had been written into his mind. Definitely not in the shifting movements of her fingers breaking apart her candy wrapper or through the oblivious leaning into the shelf of his marble chest. Or, rather, she too, kept it in her thoughts. Somewhere.

Zachary Lee, who was already bottomless and facedown going nowhere good, wanted to take her with him. Who would even want to come down with him? With a partial view to her, under the limited excellence of a roof of flung blankets, his mouth smiled wistfully. For no particular reason, it was becoming more clear to him.

He didn’t previously return those words because he feared. But, quietly true, it was also because he did love her. I don’t want you to come down with me, Tatum Browne. I don’t want you where I am.

Even if he'd have to forever drift, hiding behind the smile that had strained on with the grasp of that understanding, he’d go on for her. Separately, eventually. He had to be killing her by not returning those words. So, maybe he’d go back to drinking out his guts to make up for it, and waking up staring at that empty ceiling grey in the face. The same life of repetition.

He did have an extraordinary sense of self, still. He’d enjoy it all for how many days there were left.

“How about now?” His defensive, yet strangely soft comment resonated, his eyes open as he leaned in for a kiss, “You still think I’m a bad architect?”

His long lashes fell over his smooth olive skin and his straw-haired, messy locks brung a strong daytime of early amber over his forehead. It was just like the first time they had kissed, a bahamian swelter of flirtation and humor acting on their lips. And, like the first time they had kissed, it didn’t happen right away. There were those innumerable seconds, a chaste share of mischief, madness, and mercy between their unevenly growing smiles. There was an automotive mingle of wild berry. Less than minutes old of candy stayed behind as his lips locked onto her cool lips. Bloodless velvet on velvet, he kissed her like he missed her. His arms comfortingly pulled her closer.

Evilly, he repeated as he leaned down on her again, “And, now?--”

Their lips almost touched again.

That’s when the ceiling came down for the second time that month.

The failure of a fort did not disappear.

He broke out into a laugh.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: Feeling... Better.

OUTFIT: Outfit

LOCATION: Bench across from spooning

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Taco (Michael)

tags

TL;DR ice cream

tl;dr

Hayden Anderson

you get what you give

Hayden shrugged, he couldn’t stand the feeling of his feet freezing against the cold sand, but he realized he was alone in that thought. The thought of his feet going numb against the cold grains of sand, well that just made him shiver. Usually whenever Hayden spent time early at the beach, he would just sit up on boardwalk. He wouldn’t walk down on the beach in the early morning unless it was above 70* degrees.

Hayden returned Michael’s sarcastic look with his own. “That’s what a good sleep will do to you, you should try it sometime.” Okay maybe Hayden hadn’t slept well, granted it had been a long time since Hayden had slept peacefully in his own bed. He always got up early for conditioning on Saturdays after most likely a night of being walking around aimlessly till he got too tired to stand. With Harper’s injury, he stayed home more, staring up at the ceiling watching his fan turn around, and around, and around.

“Yea, the ‘revolutionary’ or Max Berko-IwontadmitIminlovewithHarper-wizt.” Hayden let a chuckle out from deep in his throat. Max and Hayden happened to be in the same grade, but Hayden always felt like he was so much younger. Max was always overreacting to everything that was said, trying to protect Harper with his life, when there was nothing to protect her over.

Hayden nodded in agreement. “I think Harper is more effected than me…” Hayden could have gone on to why, but he stopped himself, he could tell that Michael didn’t really want to go into why hospitals were the worst and all the emotional trauma that they had experienced at the location. Hayden felt stone cold for being able to ‘handle’ hospital visits still. But, when his sister was there, he felt like he was reliving his mother’s illness all over again. But, Harper wasn’t sick, she just needed stitches, and the doctors only wanted to watch her for a few days because of risk of infection. He didn’t need to worry, he just had to keep moving forward.

Hayden pressed his lips together thinly. What had they been talking about… “Oh… I honestly forget.” Hospitals had taken over every thought on his mind and he figured they also took over Michael’s. They hadn’t even noticed that the line had moved forward a good couple of feet. Hayden quickly took a large step back to meet up with the rest of the line. Hayden thought about something distracting that could change the topic entirely. Something happier. “Can you believe someone put a bowling ball through this place?”

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: Happy to eat

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: Dojo Sushi

basics

MENTIONS:

NA

INT:
KingofAesir (Sawyer)
Chimney Swift (Max)

tags

TL;DR food at Dojo Sushi

tl;dr

Harper Anderson

when you wear a mask for so long, you forget who is behind it.

Harper had been hoping that she would have received a real response from Max, but she saw he took the chance at a change of topic. She didn’t turn away from him, watching his expression for a moment. She wondered what must have been bugging him, she knew him well enough to know there must have been something. But—

Maybe she didn’t know Max as well as she thought she did. Maybe he was fine, and handling everything better than she realized.

Harper turned to watch both Sawyer and Apollo jumping around in excitement at the prospect of getting food. Harper felt her stomach rumble, maybe skipping breakfast hadn’t been her best idea. Surviving on coffee alone only covered the feeling of hunger and not for long. But, getting out of the house this morning, after being stuck her redundant repeating schedule, between school and the dark space she called a home.

It was hard to walk quietly around with a limp. Though she was grateful for the microwave Hayden brought up to her room for the time being. Keeping her from having to do too much walking through the house, she could easily stay on the second floor without having to go further than the bathroom. Though, eating Kraft Microwavable Mac and Cheese got old fast.

Which had Harper craving sushi and dumplings, that was what she had been craving for the time she was held up in the house. “Dojo Sushi anyone?” She wiggled her eyebrows with a big smile on her face.

------​

Harper walked through the doors to one of her favorite restaurants, she walked up to the hostess desk asking for a table for three. Harper sighed as she looked down at Apollo, who Sawyer refused to leave in the car. “And one service dog.” Once the hostess turned back around Harper gave Sawyer a look for her stubbornness. When it came down to it, at least Apollo was a good dog he would just lay under the table and likely beg for scraps. Even if ESAs didn’t have the same accommodations as Service Dogs, at least he acted like one.

The hostess led them to a corner table with half a booth and two chairs on the other side. Harper slipped her way into the seat by the wall, unfolding her napkin to place it on her lap. “I already know what I’m getting.” Harper smiled and did a little dance as she thought about her sweet potato maki and the vegetarian dumplings.

“I missed this place.” Harper felt like she had been stuck in her house for an eternity, finally having escaped a tower of isolation to be reunited with her best friends. “Do you guys want to share a few things or get your own? I’m thinking Sweat Potato Maki and Veggie dumplings.”

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

As Lemon listened to Kat, she slowly began to understand a bit more of what was actually happening in physics but to be fair she was still confused. Afterall, Lemon wasn’t the smartest person, she wasn’t dumb, but she had her struggles and Kat. Well Kat was really smart which was intimidating for Lemon, but she needed the help and at least she was understanding more now than she had ever understood in class. As Kat explained, Lemon took notes alongside to make sure when she forgot she would have the notes to explain everything she had learned for the day. For her it was a goal to at least pass the next exam, all she wanted was a passing grade. Getting an A would be far from her reach but a C, well that was more of a plausibility. She let her eyes catch the glances of Kat, but she couldn’t get distracted. She had to focus. Do well, pass the test, keep your phone. Lemon had to constantly remind herself of these things and to not stare at Kat from the corner of her eyes, but that was far easier said than done.
When she finally got to have a break from the tutoring Lemon quickly made her way to the bathroom, she sent her dad a quick text, letting him know she was still at the ice cream shop with Kat, before she quickly snapped a selfie of herself with her glasses. She had them mostly for reading, but they weren’t prescription. She wondered if they were too much, turning her head in all directions, looking at every angle. Afterall she wanted to feel and look smart, but confidence was hard. Lemon had made enough dumb mistakes that if she could convince herself she was smart then she would feel it. As she finished messing with her glasses, she took one last glance in the mirror and made her way back to Kat.
It was the sight of Kat holding her diary that struck fear in her heart, she was quiet as she tucked the book back in her bag. She was more worried about the contents of it becoming known. It didn’t have all her past memories due to the fact that it was newer, but she didn’t need anyone reading anything. Her mind could barely comprehend Kat’s comment about the glasses, but she snapped out of her fear and gave Kat a bright and cheery smile, “You think so?” she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, “I have to look the part.”
Her eyes glanced at the pink pool the gummy bears were in, “What a shame. Those gummy bears went from a pink wonderland to a pink disaster. Why don’t you like glasses?” her head tilted just a little as she finally sat back down across from Kat, carefully holding her bag in her lap. She couldn’t risk her diary falling out again. It wasn’t that Lemon didn’t know she should leave her diary at home, but she couldn’t leave it. She had always brought one with her, but she had always been so careful. She made sure it was protected and watched, but now she was ever more vigilant about where it was in respect to her.

Mention(s): Interaction(s): Soap

Tatum Browne

Tatum couldn’t help but giggle at her boyfriend’s offense to the word teetering. She wasn’t lying to him and she really loved the effort he had put in for her. Sure, he didn’t quite get her favorite candy, but he was close and to her that meant more than anything. After the past couple of weeks, they had she was thrilled to see an effort and to feel like he actually wanted to be with her. She needed it more than she could ever fully express to him or to anyone. To have candy and a “private” place that was all for her and Zach, well she couldn’t think of a better way to spend a weekend. As he moved in closer his lips mere centimeters from hers teasing her she couldn’t help but smile. She had forgotten what these moments were like. The ones that seemed so far away when really the magic from the beginning had been pushed aside by being at different schools and making different friends. The magic was still there though in these moments. These small precious moments. She waited until his warm lips were off of hers, “You’re a cute architect.” She let her hand play with the small strand of hair that had fallen in front of his face. As he came back down, she didn’t even have time to react.
It was only seconds, but they were covered in blankets and Zach was laughing harder than he had in a long time. She couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. They were no longer in a fort but they were now one with all the blankets. He was still close to her, “You’re still a bad architect.” She could only imagine the mess that lie beneath the blankets as she pulled him back to her, “But I never did like good architects. To pretentious.” She let herself enjoy this moment of romance, this moment where she knew she loved him and though she was dying from not hearing them back, he just needed time. Like Hayden had said before.
She let herself think back to a year ago when things were simple and this was that moment, “Zach, thank you.” She placed her lips to his cheek, “This, terribly built fort is fun, and I don’t mind staying in the blanket avalanche as long as I’m with you.” Zach meant everything to her and no matter what everyone else thought her relationship was good.
She couldn’t help but giggle at each kiss exchanged between them, she knew nothing more would happen due to his sister still being in the house, but this was all she needed from him. All she had wanted from him, the moment where she didn’t need to think of home, but instead think about the warmth of being wrapped up in him, smiling, laughing, and the movie was all but forgotten to her. She didn’t need it she was content; she was blissful and nothing could ruin her moment of joy. Well, Mr. Lee coming home could or even Rose, but they weren’t doing anything wrong. The blankets probably didn’t make it seem that way though.


Mention(s): Interaction(s): lion.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Quiet

LOCATION: The Beach -> Dojo Sushi

basics

MENTIONS:
Zach lion.
Tatum Elf_Ruler

INT:
Harper Dazzle
Sawyer KingofAesir




--------don't type anything after this comment--------



[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR
Things are awkward but it's cool and it's lunchtime and no one is having a crisis

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

Your face can't show what you're hiding in your hands.

The group plus Apollo pulled into the parking lot beside the restaurant. Max found himself having to stop and lean back against the hood of the car for a moment while the others climbed out, waiting for his stomach to stop twisting up.
This was another thing that was really unfair for Max: Supposedly, at least according to one 1800s account, deaf people don't experience motion sickness as often. While this claim is largely pseudoscientific, Max still wound up thinking that even the little things he was supposed to have in his favor had turned against him. His luck really was that terrible, wasn't it? He could find a way to break his arm while making toast. He could accidentally burn a village down with a birthday candle. He'd be the one kid who died during the SAT so everyone else would pass.

...In retrospect, motion sickness was okay. At least this kind of thing cleared up after a few moments.
And hey, maybe Max was being a bit hyperbolic, but one had to admit it had been a rough September. Everything he'd done had gone so spectacularly wrong that he could be excused for thinking he was cursed.

Once he was sure he was done with his bout of car nausea, he quietly followed the group into the restaurant.

Dojo Sushi was situated in a quieter part of town, not too far off from the beach. Max had been here before, maybe once or twice. His family didn't really eat out much-- in no small part due to his parents working wildly different hours and leaving Max home alone more often than not. So really, it was kind of a nice change of pace for him. A different environment seemed to lift some of the fog from his head; letting him see and feel things without fighting a constant need to apologize for the space he was taking up in the world.

Max noticed Sawyer had brought her dog in with her and, immediately suspicious, he curtly prodded her arm for her attention. He lowered his brows, gesturing to Apollo trotting along beside them as they followed the hostess. He hadn't gotten the memo that they were pretending Apollo was a service dog so he wouldn't get left behind. "Why? You can't do that." He wasn't sure if Sawyer would understand the sentence, but she should be damn well sure what he was on about.
But it seemed the hostess couldn't understand either, which fortunately killed any possibility that Max could have blown their cover. The tired boy rolled his eyes, arms folding over his chest.
More often than not, he was the only one who cared about rules. As much as he ran afoul of them, he actually very much valued lawfulness. It just so happened that it was usually the authority that broke the rules the most. That was where Max got into trouble. He wanted fairness, even if that meant pushing against people with more power and influence than he could ever have. And he always took the fall for it. None of his protesting, letter writing, or attempts to budge the system had gotten him any more than shame and mockery from both his peers and the adults.

Once they'd been led to their table, Max took the seat across from Harper, knowing she'd likely still have to be his go-between for most of the afternoon. Harper seemed to be in high spirits, but genuinely this time. She had still been through hell. They all had, and he knew none of them were as 'over it' as they'd ever let on. Oy, he certainly wasn't. But if any of them could take comfort in something like this, he was happy to see Harper happy.
That was all he ever really wanted.
If the people close to him were safe and content, that was all he could ask for. He would do anything for that.

His thumb flipped the laminated pages of his menu, but he was watching Harper more than he was reading it. Her smile, her excited little dance, the shade of her long wine-colored cardigan in the warm lighting. She was here a lot, wasn't she? The beach, her favorite restaurant... it was probably nice for her to be visiting her favorite places after everything that had happened. She had been stuck at home most of the time since, he was sure. Well, he had been too, but of his own choosing. He wasn't even grounded after that night (thanks Zach), he'd just been too numb and fatigued to do more than the essential motions of daily life. Since he'd moved into Parish Point, his was the longest he'd ever gone without seeing his friends.

It wasn't as though Max was new to being lonely. He never had friends before Parish Point, and even after that, he spent most of his day at Hartfield Academy by himself. Tatum was his only friend in his grade, and she couldn't exactly have every class with him. He hadn't seen Tatum either since 10 days ago. She was dating Zach, and Zach had...
Zach had done a lot. Max didn't even know how much, or why, or what that guy was even trying to do when he stranded Max at the Hawking House, told Max's parents he was having an intimate encounter with himself and with Harper, made him swap clothes for no reason, and... all of that.
Max's hand had drifted back to the collar of Zach's jacket. It had started pinching at his neck; as if the jacket itself had a mind of its own and was nagging at him the way Zach would have if he was here.

Once again, it was Harper's hand that pulled Max out of his thoughts.

“Do you guys want to share a few things or get your own? I’m thinking Sweet Potato Maki and Veggie dumplings.”

Max, with his head stuck in the clouds, had completely neglected to look at his own menu. He coughed, still fidgeting with Zach's collar and struggling to maintain a semblance of eye contact. "I'm good either way." He started indecisively, then realized he was being passive again and that was probably annoying by now, and quickly forced himself to decide. His hand spun back for a moment before continuing at a fast and awkward pace. "I... yeah, that's good with me if you wanted to share. I haven't been here in a while. I don't really know what's good, but... I can probably eat most of this stuff, and I'm not picky, so..." he trailed off, giving an apologetic side-wave of his hand... something that had become habitual. "...Sawyer?" He turned back to the tall blonde and her dog, shifting uneasily in his seat and wondering if the restaurant staff was ever going to catch on that Apollo wasn't exactly allowed to be there. "Do you know what you want?" He phrased his question carefully, trying to slow himself down and make sure Sawyer was understanding. Without Harper, this would be unbearably nerve-wracking and he'd probably have wanted to stay home.
He relied on Harper too much, didn't he?

Max hid his hands in Zach's jacket and leaned back from the table slightly, the color slowly fading from his face. Then he managed a faint smile, turning his eyes back to Harper. She was enjoying herself, wasn't she? That was all that mattered at this moment in time.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Giddy

LOCATION: The Elliott Residence

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Nils TexasKingPin

tags

TL;DR
Peter gets to leave home for the first weekend ever and it's super super exciting

tl;dr

Peter Elliott

No one to tell us no, or where to go

Nils' knock at the door had been timed and expected by the family within. Everything was already set and positioned just inside, springing into motion as soon as the light tap on the wooden frame was heard.

Maribeth Elliott's blonde head peered through the glass panel of the door, raising and lowering her eyelids until she confirmed who was waiting on the steps. Her red-tinted lips pressed into a thin but welcoming smile as she opened up the house to Nils. Even to an outsider, it was crystal clear where Peter's own affected social mannerisms came from. "Nils! Peter's all ready to go. I can't tell you how excited he's been. Oh, no need to step in, he's just over here. One second!" She paused not for a moment in her greeting, giving a polite nod of her head to underline that she intended a swift return. Her glossy high heels clacked away on the hardwood floor as she made her way to the arching open entrance to the dining room and ducked her head in, lightly clearing her throat for Peter's attention, though she already had it by then. Her teenaged son had already jumped out of his chair and skipped up to the front of the room, stopping only to listen to a speech he already knew and expected. "Your bags are already in the den, sweetie. Can you carry them to the car by yourself, or should I--"
Peter eagerly jumped on the pause, careful not to seem like he was cutting off.
"I got it, it's okay! Thank you, love you, I'll call tonight at 10, okaythanksbye!!" His well-elocuted but frantic voice speedran through his socially mandatory script as he hurriedly across the room, giving his mother a one-armed hug goodbye, and came out of the next room five seconds later with a large black suitcase in each hand. A sing-song toned "You boys have a good time!" Rang out from just inside before the door closed.

As soon as the blue-painted glass-paneled front door closed with a click, Peter's routinely perfect posture immediately relaxed, the lowering of his neck and shoulders making him seem an inch shorter but a mile more comfortable. He even ran a hand over his meticulously styled golden-brown curls to tousle them into something less picturesque. He smiled-- there was something undeniably rehearsed about all his smiles. Never too wide or too small or too toothy or too forced, always the same crease under the eyelids to highlight a genuine air.

"Oh my god," he breathed, seeming so much different now that he was speaking without already knowing what to say. "Wow, thank you so much for getting all this to work out! I mean… yeah, just thank you. I'm all set. I have everything, and like-- probably some stuff I don't really need, but that's okay. I had a whole packing list made for me." His trademark awkward laugh broke his smile into a truthful grin. He tilted his head up to meet Nils' eyes more closely. "So, you're ready, right?" He realized before he even finished the sentence that it was a dumb thing to ask, and his voice cracked and tripped over the last two syllables as he hastily redirected the question to the less painfully obvious "I mean… where should I sit? I can keep my bags with me or put them in the trunk, I don't mind either way, it's just, like, wherever there's more space, right? Right." Free conversation seemed to thrill and confuse Peter far more than it should any high school sophomore. Still, he approached it with tenacious curiosity rather than fear. Well, maybe a little fear… not fear so much as nerves, but that was how new things always were. And this was probably the newest venture he'd yet to attempt. Outside of school and school-organized events, Peter hardly ever found himself with family-free time on his hands. His parents weren't cruel or even particularly harsh, just… nitpicking and overbearing. Clicking their tongues and folding their arms in displeasure every time he poked a toe over the lines they'd drawn. And Peter, curious but not openly rebellious, never thought to brazenly defy expectations.

Until now.
For the next day ahead, the world was his oyster. Peter had never understood that particular idiom, but nevertheless he used it. The point being that he had free reign to try and experience whatever came his way, with his wise and admirable (and unfairly beautiful) tour guide at his side. One of the things Peter liked about Nils is how he wasn't at all overbearing. It wasn't like he was going from one hand-over-hand lead to the next, always following dutifully along in someone's footsteps. Nils' company didn't just change his lens, it widened the periphery and gave him a bigger span of experience.

code by valen t.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: excited

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift Dede

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Meera Desai

Be a little clumsy.

Parish Point dock was exactly what its name is- a dock, but it was no ordinary dock. Acquainted with both the upside and downside of the town, the port was a gateway between the towns. It was usually popular with a scene on summer days. When the sky was cloudless and the sun was a facet of sweating heat, it would be a parentage of fast living where boats rowed the water with perceptible sails and European flushes on starboards. In autumn, however, the sand folded over in a cream crepe texture emptily, adorning the sides of the water bank. A thick bricket of woodwork made a pathway to the boats. And even then, there was much space that made the air in the vicinity far cleaner and saltier. While being a dock, it looked more like another rag of the beach. A few yards before the water, a thinish man turned around. Besides him, a spot was taken up by one large and v-shaped boat, which was structured much like a canoe rather than a regular steam and electric boat. With one single level of story, polished wooden edges, it hardly looked like it belonged in the mass of blue.

But, it did.

“Woah! You guys already know each other?” Meera surprisingly inquired with a float of words that was child-like.

In fact, the owner had a significant amount of admiration towards it, so much so that it caught Meera Desai’s enthusiasm. Wriggling on her feet, she casually said, “I think your boat is beautiful, Mr. Toothrot!”

“Don’t you guys agree?” She remarked, elbowing her two new friends. Listening daringly with a deepended interest, she stared at the boat, then at the old man. He had a delphic face with creases of wrinkles that dipped at the lids. His voice had been produced like he was always addressing the drag of the day. Parish Point port, even if a total of only four people were there, was feeling like a good Saturday. This was the perfect location for this boat.

“We would love to come with you, sir!?” Meera eagerly asked and declared, “I’d like to come if you will have me! Teach us the ways to the ocean!” She rested one her light sun-soaked elbows on the shoulder of the blond, “We will behave. And, try-”

The volleyball cradling her other arm slipped through. Luck sided with her as it confidentially only yielded downwards into the boat.

“Ah- sorry,” She appologized, persistently.

Sauntering over to the boat, she bent over to the boat pooled on shore. Tumbling into the boat, she gave a soft yelp when the water sloshed up at the sides. It had been her first time on a boat. When she stilled, the water smoothened out to ripples. Her painted face raised up to meet the three. The hues of glowering yellow advanced onto her pupils.

“Will you two take that as a sign?” she optimistically smiled at the two boys.

code by valen t.