Realistic or Modern 𝓐𝓷𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓻 𝓑𝓪𝔂(open)

Aurora Taylor: Moonlight by The Sea

The last hour of Aurora's shift continued to tick by, and with there being no new customers Aurora simply smiled and made her way upstairs, past the kitchen and into the bedroom. If anyone did want to have a poke around the shop, the bell would alert her anyway.
The bedroom doubled as an art gallery as one room took up the upper floor. The cotton sheets and wool blanket of a Queen sized bed lay unmade and a large dog bed sat in the corner. Beans was curled up in it, his head perking up as Aurora made her climb upstairs.

A half-finished canvas awaited her and the woman threw on an apron as she got to work. She had the background in place, that being a field with the Alabama sun rising in the background. With a few strokes of her brush, the sun was in place. Next, she got to work on two figures in the field. Beans watched as Aurora's gaze moved between him and the canvas, and within minutes a fine silhouette of a smaller Great Dane was in the field, practically floating as the dog ran like the wind. The next to be added was a shape Aurora was all too familiar with, for it was a face she always tried to remember.

An elderly man with a cane was the next to be added, a cap protecting his brow and balding head from the sun and overalls and boots in place of a fine suit. She made sure to add a smile behind the man's bushy, grey beard and took great care to get every single detail right. A few minutes later, he was in place behind Beans, chuckling as the Great Dane bolted through the empty field.

The third and final shape to be added was Aurora herself, her typical dark clothing replaced with farming overalls. Glancing back and forth between the canvas and a mirror hanging on the wall, she captured a smile.
As the woman finished the painting, she took one step back and smiled, resting the end of the brush against her lips.

"This one's hanging up in the kitchen. What do you reckon, Beans?"
The dog gave no response other than his head lightly perking up at the sound of his own name being called.
"I'll take that as a yes." Aurora smiled.

The painting was left to dry and Aurora made her way back downstairs to the shop, the apron still covering her. There wasn't a whole lot of time left on her shift and at this point she couldn't wait to get off, for the night was still young and she already had plans.

Izzy saw how the light illuminated the tree in the tree lighting event, how the black of the night changed to a constellation of small bright lights … and she saw it on the screen of her cellphone thanks to someone streaming it.

The truth is that a holiday like the tree lighting meant a lot of work for Izzy, more people entering, buying and leaving the goods they sell, with their extra dose of impatience and bad humor that would prolong from the afternoon to the very last hours before the tree lighting, the last minute customers were the worst, she thought.

But now that the day and the tree lighting were finishing she and her father prepared to close her family’s grocery store. While he did the accountability of the day in the cashier box, she finished of lifting and accommodating bags and boxes here and there.

She could hear the steps of her younger siblings already upstairs, normally she would have gone upstairs to share a moment of joy with the rest of the family as she had done the years before.

But this year she couldn’t think in something more boring that doing so, she loved her parents and siblings, but she knew the routine that would come, she had her dissatisfaction written in her face and fortunately an old customer called requesting a few items to be dispatched to her house.

The store didn’t have a delivery, it was more like a favor to a good and old customer, but for Izzy was a blessing. She quickly wrapped the goods in a paper bag and get on her bike, and defeated her father’s arguments by saying “Mrs. Smith is around 80 years old, and she always forgot to buy something, besides her house is not that far from here”.

Mrs’ Smith house was failry far from there, but Izzy didn’t care and her father was too tired to continue arguing, Izzy got a jacket and left the store, she will pass by the place where the tree lighting took place, she was happy to see it and feel she didn’t miss that event entirely this year ...and also because she had snicked out with a box of cigarettes in her pocket.

Lokna Harrow

"Why do I always have to be the one to worry while you do as your heart pleases?" Loky talked through laughter. They broke the hug and Coopa the big furball as he was nugged himself right between the sisters. He was begging pets as usual. She had never seen him be serious. Not for a second when she was around at least. "Hey Coopa Troopa! Did you miss me?" She scratched him behind the ears and from all around the head. If there was ever a heart she had it was his. That pup basically grew up in her arms and then grew out of them and now she has her own eco friendly heater/companion. The trans was cut by Ri as usual. She looked up and so did Coopa confused why the divine scratching stopped. "Yeah! Ummmmmmmmm no! Sorry I am really bad at remembering people buuuuuuuuut by the way my sister act maybeeeeeee you were the girl she had fling with?" Her phone in the pocket buzzed (again! That was happening way to much for a day) and what looked back at her wasn't pleasant. It was a text from Ryn-ryn in the old chat. She had almost forgot about it. The Anchor Bay sirens. That name was inspired by the Gotham City Sirens but maybe that's just the name she chose. The question reminded her that the time had passed away quickly and she should probably go to the party and just blend in if she was lucky. "Oh shut! Bye sis gotta run I have a party to attend" She pressed a kiss on Ria's cheek, nuzzled Coopa and as a good measure gave a quick hug to the Adi girl.
She ran through the city with her hair and scarf flowing in the air trying not to slip and fall while texting.
To the chat ( Dazzle and AshleyTheNarwhal )
Hey Ryn I am off to the party I don't know about you.

Loky reached the intended house and saw as a guy went before her. Well she observed it from the far. She made her way into the building and was absorbed into the mass. Well not really. She found a nice and cozy wall to lean against and took a deep breath. "Okay Mal this is your chance to look normal" There was no backing out now. She was at the party.

Mention
Daniel Reaving
peachpuff

Elowen Reed
Location: Traveling around Anchor Bay
Outfit: (in picture, just with her glasses on and a pair tights underneath her skirt.)
Interactions: Remmick( Elf_Ruler )
Mentioned: N/A
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Elowen chuckled at his comment. "I wouldn't say it's a confusing town. It's just my inner gps tends to malfunction.....a lot. I got lost on the way to the tree lighting twice today," She said with a sigh. It was probably more like four times, as she also got distracted and turned around a bit. Not that she admit that aloud. She didn't need to embarrass herself any further. She didn't pry when he just said life happened so he stopped visiting. While she was interested to see if there was a story behind it, she wasn't going to dig any further. She continued walking along listening to him and smiled, mentally thanking him for what she took as a compliment. Who wouldn't be happy at being called nice? "Hmm. I don't mind any age. Well except college students. I would prefer to work with highschoolers or younger," She paused thinking about her question for a moment. "Well, i'm not really sure why I decided to be a teacher. It just connected with me? It's hard to explain I guess. " She answered, not really sure why she had chosen to be a teacher. It was just something she had been interested in since she was young.

"No no no you're not prying too much. I'd say something if you were." No she wouldn't. Elowen noticed as they walked around that time was still a thing and it was getting darker. "Why don't we head toward the shop areas?" She suggested, her eyes glancing around at the street lights (if there are any). Elowen had a huge fear of the dark and anywhere she thought would have light was the first thing she could suggest. Subconsciously closing her eyes and shivering at the thought of the dark. Trying to keep her worries at bay and the conversation going she forced her attention back to Remmick. "What does the future hold for you? I-I mean career-wise. Like what interests you or what you want to be in the future." She asked, stuttering a little mid-sentence.

Ryann stood there with Ethan, when he told her his name she smiled, though she already knew his name she didn't want to admit it and feel creepy. "Nice to meet you Ethan, my name is Ryann." she said just as awkwardly as he did. "I've seen you around town a couple times, I've just never talked to you before." she admitted. "I work on Main Street." she said trying to make it seem like she wasn't the town stalker. "I kind of know everyone."

Just when she said that her phone buzzed in her pocket so she looked at her smartwatch. Loky responded saying she was going to Richie's party, she smiled at her watch then stopped realizing she probably looked like a weirdo. "I uh...am on my way to a party...so I guess I'll see you around?" she said with a smile. She would have to spill all of this tea once she found Loky at the party.

mentions: Daniel Reaving Jaellagirl

Greyson smiled at Hayden "It's been good man, how have you been you absolute unit??" he asked excitedly. The party was really bumping and he was excited to spend time with his friends. Hayden mentioned playing a game of pool. "Hell yeah dude, the drunker I get the better I am." He laughed a bit. "Ill be right back I'm gonna grab a beer." He was gone and back within a minute. He stood and waited for the table with Hayden. He was really starting to feel the beer, this was his fourth one. "I think I'm ready to play>' he said as the people on the table left. "You wanna rack up my friend?" he asked going and grabbing a stick with his free non beer drinking hand.

Mentions: Dazzle

Natalie Dwyer

Natalie turned around, she didn't really recognize the voice she heard right away. Everyone in town knew her for the most part, she had just expected to see one of the coffee shop regulars. But, she hadn't expected to see Julian. Her eyes went wide, "Julian??" And her lips slowly curved into a smile. "I didn't know you were back in town?" Natalie reached forward wrapping her arms around Julian's shoulders, embracing him quickly before letting go.

She took a step back to give the two of them some space. "I'm.." She thought about it for a moment. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and placing her hands in her back pockets. She didn't really know what to say, she wished that she had listened to Julian on his advice when it came to picking a college, but she just fell short. She didn't want to make the wrong decision and ran out of time in the end. It was embarrassing to say the least, and she didn't exactly know how to tell Julian that. "I decided to take a semes....-year.." She said unconfidentially, "off from school, and work for a bit." She bit the corner of her lip, hoping her might buy it. "What about you?? How has school been treating you? What have you been up to?" She smiled brightly up at him.

Julian was pretty much her only friend in High School, if you could even call it that. They would spend all there time in the library studying for their ap classes. And never really saw each other outside of school, but still, he was the only one she trusted when she went through all of her issues in picking a college. He was there for her and her indecisive self.

q r o w

Clayton Moore
Clayton let his arm fall to his side, he realized that the friendship that he thought had survived all this time hasn't really ever been what he believed it was. Mags was colder than she had ever been before. Understandably, he could see that she was going through a lot. And even though he didn't deserve to be the one who felt defeated, he felt like he couldn't reach her. He had always been able to reach her. But I guess that is what moving away did, he didn't know her any more. He thought that nothing would change. And he regretted having let everything change. He should have fought harder. The mother who raised the women he once loved, and still did in some ways, was dying. Vic was all that Mags had, he Clayton knew how close mags was to her mother and couldn't even imagine the amount of heartache she was feeling in that moment.

Clayton could see that Magnolia was trying to put on a brave face, but the walls were cracking. And maybe no one else could see that, but he did it. He could see that every part of her wanted to breakdown, but she never would like herself give in to that. Magnolia was too strong for that, she didn't want help to hold herself together, she did that all on her own. It was one of the many things Clayton admired about her. But she didn't need to do this alone. "You don't always have to be the strongest one in the room Mags."

It hurt, to say the least, when Magnolia said she wasn't letting him come back. He looked down at his his feet, everything she said hurt. He always had thought that they were so much more. That she never needed him. When she brought up him never wanting to be stuck in Anchor Bay he lifted his head to meet her eyes. "I wish you had." He reached out to her, just like it was old times. Taking one of her hands in his for just a moment, he gave it a comforting squeeze. "I would of given up a lot for you." He said silently, dropping her hand before she could pull it away from him.

It wasn't right, the way he was feeling. He wanted to fall right back in to how it used to be, home meant more than everything to him now that he had been away for so long. But he was engaged, to someone who loved him. Despite her not wanting to leave Cali for the entire month, but that was understandable, taking off a whole month from work wasn't easy when you were new. Clayton had already made a promise to someone else, someone who loved him. Mags had made it clear that they would never be anything more than friends again.

Elf_Ruler

Harper Anderson

Harper wished she was better at hiding her facial expressions. But they tended to be relatively easy to read. As he was deciding she put her weight onto the counter. "Is that all?" She said raising an eyebrow, he seemed to want to say something else. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Harper bit the corner of her lip before shrugging her shoulders and turning around to make him his drink. "Don't worry about it, what else have I got to do?" She smiled as she turned around sliding his glass across the counter to him. Harper would have loved to close up early and go home. But it was her job to make the tourists feel welcomed, so she needed to bite it.

"Oh yea? Was it your first tree lighting? How magical was it?" A slight sarcastic tone came off the tip of her tongue, as she rolled her eyes playfully. "I haven't gone since I was a kid." She leaned forward resting her elbows on the counter and placing her chin the palm of her hands.

TexasKingPin

Aiden
Aiden had kept an eye on Cassidy as they walked towards the house and he could see that she was messing with her ears, was the music to loud? He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, so he stayed close to her just guiding the way up to the house. It was when she tugged at him that he stopped completely. He leaned down to hear her a bit better, “I don’t actually know the song. I don’t know many pop songs.” He wished he knew more pop music but that was just knowledge he didn’t have. He frowned a little, “Are you okay?” he could still see she was messing with her ears and that’s when he noticed the aid and he understood. She must have a hard time hearing. He of course didn’t say anything about it and tried to act like he hadn’t seen. If she hadn’t told him then he wouldn’t ask. His place was to be a good host for Cassidy.

He pulled her aside a little away from the music so it wasn’t blaring, and she could have a moment to get her ears dialed to the right frequency. He still was keeping an eye out for the trio but right now he knew Cassidy needed to get herself situated especially at a party, “It’s going to get really loud once we go through the doors. These parties are never quiet,” he chuckled just a little because in all actuality he had only gone to a couple of the parties, but he wanted Cassidy to be prepared especially because he didn’t exactly know how her hearing aid worked.

Daniel Reaving
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Remmick
Remmick kept his eye on Elowen only through his peripheral vision, he was glad to know he wasn’t prying in on her life. He was just trying to make a friend and make it through this town. If anything, he was just trying to keep himself distracted from the pain of home. It was hard for him to be in a house so full of sadness no matter how much brightness Viv had. For Remmick seeing his aunt the way she was made the house feel small, dark, and cold. It was like the life was dying from the house just like from his aunt and it made everything hard for him. Of course, he wouldn’t dwell on the thought. He nodded as they made their way to a more lit part of town and he shrugged off his jacket, unzipped the inner lining and handed it to Elowen, “I saw you shiver. It is cold.” He put his outer layer back on and continued walking with her.

Remmick wasn’t entirely sure what the future held for him, “I don’t know what the future has for me. I’m kind of drifting along right now. It’s been a hard couple years for me and I’m just going with life and following where I’m called. Sometimes it calls for chaos and sometimes it calls for peace and friendship. But the future is still an open book.” He wanted to have bigger plans set up, but he couldn’t. His family came first and right now life had called him to help watch over his cousin and aunt no matter the cost to anyone else. In the end it would build character for him, and maybe he could figure out exactly what he wanted from life.

floral
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Magnolia
Mags could only shake her head at her ex, he was always so positive, and she never was. She had always had to be strong for him and for her mom. It wasn’t like she could be weak when everyone had needed her, and when she had to fight her own battles. Mag had grown harder since Clay had left and she hadn’t really let down her walls for anyone. Maybe Nat, but even then, it was more to just complain about people than it was to project how she felt about everything. “That’s where you’re wrong, Clay. I have always needed to be the strongest one in the room. You didn’t see how people looked at me with you, you don’t see how people see me now. Everyone loves you, so you don’t have to be strong.” She wished he wasn’t so oblivious to the world and how the world saw her. If she cracked even once in the public, it would be the end of everything for her.

That one moment and he reached for her hand she felt her heart break a little more and she couldn’t let that happen, not in front of him. She had done the damage and she was to live with it forever. She could feel the need for space because she knew if he kept talking that way, she would let everything out, “I didn’t need you to give up everything. I tried and as heartless as I am, you deserved better than here and better than me. You deserve more, and I deserve this town. I always wanted this; you knew that going in. You didn’t and that was your choice to make. Maybe, you shouldn’t have come back. I don’t need you to help me, Clayton. I’m not some fragile blonde who needs a hero.” Mags hated the words coming from her mouth, but she hated how much she loved him still. How he made her feel more emotions than anyone else and all she wanted to do was cry about everything, but that was selfish and letting him go was her way of really loving him.

Dazzle