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Realistic or Modern Cities Never Sleep

Characters
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Other
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  • how he's feeling...



    tired as hell.

















axel



father of all motherfuckers












There's a lot of things people don't tell you before having kids. Like that kids are goddamn weird. Axel had been a weird goddamn kid. Apparently he would stare intently at people's dogs instead of asking to pet them. He would stare at just about anything, really. One day, Ella brought home a glue-and-glitter picture of a creature with multiple eyes and said it was her imaginary friend Bip. And for a month afterwards, Axel had to pull out a chair for Bip at dinner.

It was difficult not to smother her at first, to not be overprotective, to not make every decision for her. But nine years in, and he felt he'd gotten a handle on the whole parenting thing, even when Ella asked for really weird stuff, like to go see a big dumb hole in the ground.

Not that Axel was particularly against seeing the big dumb hole, but he did have to shuffle past a few very aggressive Jehovah's Witnesses accosting him with tiny books.

"The end is nigh, sir," one of them said, "this meteor is a sign--"

"'m not interested."

The proselytizer backed off. Axel had become very happy to be seen as "scary" in his adulthood, since it meant people would leave him the fuck alone when he wanted to be. Especially these people, who just loved capitalizing on the fact that he had a disabled kid. No, Jebediah, God's love can't fix people. If it could, Ella Stefansson would be the least of God's worries.

A small crowd was already gathering near the crater, including a few kids Ella's age. He at least recognized one of her school friends, and her mother hovering just nearby. Nice lady, if a bit neurotic. Nicer than most of the PTA moms, for sure, and her brownies were fucking delicious. Ella was tugging on Axel's finger, looking up at him with a pleading expression.

"Can I go play with Leah?"

"Yeah, of course. Go ape- go crazy."

"Ape?" Ella giggled. "You're funny, daddy."

"I sure am." Nice save. Good job not saying 'shit' in front of your nine-year-old. Ella scampered off to go meet up with her gal pal, while Axel looked over the crater. It really was just a big hole. If it hadn't been made by a space rock, nobody would care, right? Whatever.











































♡coded by uxie♡
 







abigail hargreaves



  • .



The last time Abigail had seen Graham was the night of the storms, he had ran off into the rain and just disappeared. She didn't take offense to this though, as he probably had something else to do besides crash at her place while the rain died down. Though when he asked her about star-gazing the night the meteor made a landing, she was undeniably excited.

Quickly, she begins to get ready, there was no time to waste, especially since she was hoping there would be another meteor shower. There would be a little bit of disappointment if there wasn't, but spending time with her new friend was just as nice. He hadn't mentioned exactly where they were going, but the surprise was all part of the fun that was going to be had.

The girl didn't worry about dressing up too much, there was no need to do so when all that they were doing was laying on the ground looking at the sky. It would be a wonderful experience and a great bonding time. There was still so much that was a mystery about the gentle giant, but Abigail was going to take the time to break past the walls he had built up.

Advancing down the stairs, she arrives into the living room where her parents were. The two were sitting on the couch watching the news about the meteor and how the JW's of the town were talking about the end times. Her thoughts immediately went to Joshua and wondered if he was on the same side as them this time too.

"Graham and I are going star-gazing, I'll let you know when I'm on my way back home." Her parents knew about the man she was speaking about, it was as though he had practically met them already, they seemed decently fond of him from what Abby had told them about the Irish-man. It wasn't too long after that her phone had gone off, alerting her that Graham was there to pick her up.

With a quick hug to both her parents, she was out the door and walking towards the car that was sitting in the driveway waiting for her. Opening up the car door, she slides in and gives Graham her signature smile, "How are you? It's been a while." Genuity seeping through her words, ever since he ran off into the storm, she couldn't help but wonder how he was doing.






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood impatient

location Bridgeport diner

outfit can't look like you're trying too hard

fun fact It is physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky.

tag dear.szmm dear.szmm


Jodie LeBlanc




/* ------ right side ------ */


Jodie's parrot watched incredulously from her shoulder as she applied a light dusting of sparkly gray eyeshadow to her tired lids, accentuating their sunken appearance rather than disguising it. Jodie saw no need in pretending to be flawless and perky when she wasn't. She wasn't about to lie to the world that worked her half to death every waking day. They didn't deserve that. But hey, the glitter was fun, and fun was just what Jodie needed tonight. It had been yet again hard to come by a good time in this city. Since the storm, everything had just schlepped on as usual, and life continued to be an unbearably boring drag. Her opportunities to slip out and enjoy what remained of her youth were becoming fewer and farther between.

Luckily, Reuben Bonilla had shown up in her messages to temporarily rectify that.
Reuben was not Jodie's boyfriend-- Jodie didn't do boyfriends, or girlfriends, or romance. She was far too disillusioned for that saccharine junk. Reuben was a friend. A friend who was occasionally worth the 20 minutes it took to shave her legs in the morning.

Her first stop, when she got to the Bridgeport Tavern, was to walk straight up to the bar and grab the usual pair of drinks. She knew Reuben's drink of choice by heart, embarrassingly... did they do this too much? The idea of becoming attached to someone was positively sickening. Once she had Reuben's drink and her usual rum and coke, she paid the bartender with a polite tip and walked off to the back of the building.

Jodie knew exactly where to find her cop friend. They'd always found their way to the same little booth in the back of the Bridgeport Tavern every time they came here to meet up. Maybe this was becoming a bit of a ritual...

"Hey fucker," she said smoothly, sliding into the booth across from him. She pushed his drink across the table to him, taking a sip of hers with a soft frown. Too sweet. She was going to need to order a shot after this. Bummer. Drinking just got more and more expensive every time she did this.

Maybe it was time to sell her parents' shitty furniture store, buy a motorcycle, run away to Appalachia, and go into the moonshine business. Then at least her drinks would be cheap.

"What's new with you? Any fun arrests lately? Coop been in the tank again?" She idly twirled a strand of her hair, quickly chugging down her drink just to speed along the process. She didn't want to be sober any second longer than she had to.



/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 
















Apocalypse



Cigarettes After Sex








Matteo Wright



  • .




Matteo’s apartment was a mess. There were shelves and shelves of books that sagged from the weight of them all, stacked on the floor. A heavily used ashtray in the center of a scratched coffee table. It was barren, not a lot of actual personal touches despite the personal library that Matt seemed to keep.

And in a corner squatted a massive gray cat that glared at the intruder upon entry. Licking its chops as if trying to decide the exact taste of the boy before it before settling back down into its paper throne.

There were massive stacks of paper upon the floor, and there was a distinct bleaching of all color in the room besides the wood of the furniture.

“Your apartment is nice.”

A simple shrug of the shoulders - small talk had never particularly been one of his strong suits. Both in the classroom, and out of it.

He sat down and lit a cigarette between his lips as Oliver talked. Feet propped up on the table. He raised a hand to stop the boy from continuing to ramble on about psychedelic musicians. “Is this all you came here to do?”

If it was from anyone else, it probably could’ve been taken as rude. But this was a baseline. Friendliness wrapped up in a chain smoking English teacher. In between his fingers sat the lit cigarette, smoke curling upwards as he crossed his legs.

”Do you live alone here?”

He didn’t necessarily like that question. Moreso, he didn’t necessarily enjoy the continual presence of others. He didn’t like having people over. It meant that he had to be… hospitable or whatever. Clean up after himself. Gross.

“I have that shithead.” He waved the hand holding the cigarette towards the cat in the corner. Its tail flicking up and down. Constantly and continually annoyed at existence. “His name’s Plato. And he doesn’t pay rent.”

A joke, but said in such a manner that he sounded almost serious. So quickly that it would’ve been easily missed as well. There was the long drag of a cigarette, followed by the blowing of a smoke ring. “Are you sure your parents aren’t looking for you?”






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood awkward

location rave cave

outfit not what people wear to raves

fun fact 98% of deaf people do not receive education in sign language.

tag Twin Fantasy Twin Fantasy


Max Berkowitz




/* ------ right side ------ */


Max was a bit taken aback by May's signing. Had he told her he was deaf, or had she just guessed that by the way his voice sounded? Max blushed, bracing himself as though he assumed she was about to make fun of him, but she didn't. "I'm Max. Nice to meet you, May." He instantly switched back to his native ASL, feeling a wave of relief. It was nice not having to speak out loud, not having to risk being teased or dismissed.

Something caught his eye about her use of language, though: her movements were free and easy, and her sentence structure was perfect. Not even Abby and Mary were as fluent as this girl was. It was almost like...
"...Oh, you're really good at... I didn't realize. Are you deaf? Or someone in your family, I guess..." He asked, looking almost hopeful, but almost instantly backtracked, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "Sorry. Dumb question. You don't have to answer." Hopefully, she wouldn't be annoyed at him or think he was being intrusive.
Way to go, Max.
Already apologizing.

"I think we go to the same school, right?" Max's awkward attempts at changing the subject and keeping the conversation going were starting to falter. He felt like he was trying to keep a candle burning in the rain, and that much was evident in his almost pained expression. He didn't have anything interesting to say, and it was getting more difficult to maintain his casual composure with every passing second. "I'm a junior this year. Barely made it through." His lopsided, apologetic smile almost faded for a minute. He regretted saying that last bit-- if May asked why he almost didn't finish his sophomore year, he'd have no way of telling her what actually happened. Not even most of his close friends knew what happened to him that year. He'd have to lie to May about it if she asked.

"Maybe we should go in..." He suggested tentatively. "If you're comfortable, that is." Just like Bible Study, his first urge was just to go in and get it over with. But after what had happened at the kingdom hall, going to a dubiously legal rave was probably going to be less terrifying and humiliating by comparison. Hell, if vodka had gotten Graham and Abby through Bible Study without breaking down in tears, maybe he'd have a drink or two and that would help take the edge off here.

Nothing could go wrong, right? It couldn't be that bad. He'd been through worse.




/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood overexcited

location Matt's place

outfit probably overheating

fun fact Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure.

tag qunqun qunqun


Oliver Dreyfuss




/* ------ right side ------ */


"I know my parents aren't looking for me," Oliver replied stiffly, idly picking at the deep scratch wound on his face. "I mean, I don't know that for sure. No one ever knows anything for sure. But I-I think... I think out of all the things that they could p-possibly be doing, I think looking for me is... unlikely." He shrugged, sitting across from Matt on the floor, curled up with his knees to his chest. Talking about his parents' whereabouts seemed to cause the boy some distress. "But it's okay." He gave a wide, gap-toothed grin, along with a shaky thumbs-up, as if he thought Mr. Wright needed reassurance.

Oliver curiously studied the soft white smoke curling in the air from his teacher's cigarette, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
His lungs weren't going to like that.
Then again, his family was full of smokers. His father, mostly, until he left... then one of Oliver's sisters picked up the habit, so he'd been getting used to second-hand smoke exposure for most of his life. That was most likely the reason why everyone in his family had bad lungs, though his mother insisted it was genetic.

Once again speechless, Oliver withdrew into himself and rocked himself back and forth slightly, trying to come up with a reason why exactly it was that he had come here. Matt had asked twice and he still hadn't answered. He did have a reason, but he couldn't say it as it was, and when he tried to find a good lie his brain would only come up with more Pink Floyd tidbits, leaving the poor boy looking stranded and disoriented on the floor of his teacher's house, unable to spit out a reason for why he wasn't at home.

He'd gone through a lot of trouble to get this address, and a lot of trouble to sneak out of his family's apartment to come here... in a lot of ways, it really wasn't safe for him to have done this. Even for Oliver's standards of erratic behavior, this was unsettling.

What was clear, though, was that he hadn't just come here to babble about Pink Floyd.

The boy stood up from the floor and started anxiously pacing back and forth through the cluttered room, chewing the knuckles on his left hand. "Do you think I can stay here?" He blurted out suddenly. "J-Just for a little bit. I can tell you all about the symbolism of Pink Floyd, I promise. I can do it."

Towards the end, he stopped and mouthed 'I'm in trouble.'

"Did you... did you know that Pink Floyd's 2007 tribute to Syd Barrett, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, is just an acrostic poem of his first name? Which actually isn't his real first name. His name... his name was Roger Keith Barrett. But anyway i-it only m-makes sense if I show you. Come here," Oliver climbed over the side of Matt's couch, phone in hand, showing him an image on a darkened, cracked screen. "But I think it was because Syd Barrett was actually.... was actually crazy." Oliver interrupted himself with a bout of harsh coughs, though he quickly recovered. "Sorry." He apologized, flinching back like he'd been hit. "So anyway, can I..."



/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 
















Let's Fall in Love



Finneas








Graham Byrne



  • .




A word to describe Graham: Handsome. And devilishly so. Horribly so. The forbidden fruit that dangled over people’s heads - not that he was in any particular need to keep his beauty from any wandering eyes that wanted to take a bite.

But perhaps that brilliance in his smile drowned out the quieter parts of his appearance that spoke more than anything. Perhaps today his hair seemed to lose a bit of its color. The smile a little bit too forced around the corners.

He was trying, though, to pretend like talking to her wasn’t painful. That being around her wasn’t slowly killing him. That he wasn’t drawn to her like a moth to the flame. He’d always been the self-destructive type - self-sacrificing type.

“How are you? It’s been a while.”

“An age.” Graham said, little bits of that dry humor slipping into his voice as he drove. A little bit over the speed limit, but safe. Steady. “Work’s been a party as always, y’know. Daphne had a bit of stress with the kids.”

Careful as always to not actually mention how he’s been feeling. Because the actual truth of that was perhaps a bit too depressing.

Nothing. Sad? Bad? Tired. Fine. He guessed that he could be fine. Maybe if he was so miserable for so long, then he was just addicted to feeling good, and anything other than that is just… horrid. “How’ve you been?”

Because he couldn’t stay in his own head for too long. It was too obsessed with death and stars for his liking.

And besides, Graham figured that the teenage angst that Abigail was going through probably outweighed his own issues by far. He’d had years and years and years to acclimate to this new kind of normal. Her growth was far more important than an old man’s inability to let go of the past.

“How has the new school year been treating you?”






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 
















Movement



Hozier








Auguste Cortes



  • .




In Auguste’s slow clamber to normalcy, he figured that along the way that he would eventually have to become… social. With people. In real life. Ew.

The party during the hurricane had been a way to ease himself into being a pleasant and sociable person - someone that could talk to other people without melting into a puddle on the floor or punching someone in the face.

And it worked! He’d successfully gotten through the entire encounter without throttling Rat, which by all accounts was a win!

So, with one win under his belt, he decided to move up a little bit in the world and go to a rave.

Probably the worst idea he’d had in his existence on this green earth.

Listen, he may have been an entertainer by trade, but he was more used to causing parties rather than particularly being in them. He liked creation - the act of creating and the act of performing more than he liked the audience crying his name and his lyrics back at him.

But, eventually we all have to face our demons, and Auguste was feeling particularly sociable when he got notice that there was going to be a massive rave at the meteor that had crashed into town a little while back.

Most likely, he would get bored rather quickly and go home after snooping about for a bit. But hey, it was what it was. So he showed up, got a drink, and stood around for a bit, having a lovely time people watching when he felt something enter his pocket.

A lifetime of criminal activity prepared him for this: you never try to steal from a thief after all, and Auguste whirled around and caught the man’s hand.

Short.

But most people were very short to him.

He stared. The man had the look of a deer in the headlights. Brown eyes staring with deep fear as Auguste glared down at the attempted pickpocket.

Auguste, a long time ago, vowed to never hurt another soul. And his resolve had been tested a couple of time… mostly by Rat. But this… Hm. Now. If he slapped the thief upside the head a little bit, knocked a couple of screws loose as it were… Would that really be so wrong?

The musician was in deep contemplation over this moral dilemma when Ren opened his mouth to start rambling off excuses.

What.

Did Ren think he was stupid? That sounded like a fucking awful excuse - like a 5 year old whose parents found their hand stuck in a cookie jar’s excuse.

“Meteor’s got me romantic.”

Auguste barely reacted, his eyebrows furrowing to increase the intensity of his stare. Calm. Controlled. And absolutely not buying a second of Ren’s nonsense.

“Hey, are you single?”

Met with more silence, and a judgemental stare. The slow pulling of Ren’s hand out of his pocket and pulling Ren upwards by the hand he’d grabbed, easily plucking the pilfered object from the thief’s hand.

A pack of gum secured to the hands of its owner.

He returned it back to its rightful place and then unceremoniously dropped Ren to the ground. “... Don’t do that again.”

And then there was the shuffle backwards to give the thief enough room to scurry back to whatever corner he’d been lurking in prior. Lips twisted into the sick smile of a predator about to catch its prey. “Unless you want to continue holding hands.”






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 



















may gu



heavy metal high school girl












It was like a light turned on inside of her brain. He was fluent! Very fluent! Thank god. She was sick of having to communicate with a notepad like some kind of cartoon character. She ended all pretense of signing slow, since he could understand her just fine.

"I'm mute, not deaf." She was the opposite of annoyed. On the contrary, she was extremely happy. Finding someone who understands you really is like being let out of a tiny cage, the indescribable freedom of it all. It was something most people took for granted, so part of her felt like a real doofus getting all excited about it. But whatever, it wasn't like someone could arrest her for being a doofus. What would they do? Put her to death for doofus crimes?

"I'm starting school here this year, I'm a sophomore." She left out the part about her house getting burnt to the ground. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many people with lighters down there, because it would probably send her into a nervous frenzy seeing all that fire in one place. She didn't want to be a downer. "My mom's re-doing my carpet right now, so she told me to find something fun to do." Hopefully her mom would be able to make some new friends. She'd been looking into diner jobs while her father found something more permanent, so maybe she'd have some work pals. Old people need friends, too!

She peered into the cave. She had no clue how deep it went... Or when the fun was starting.

Or if it'd even be fun.

"I'm ready." She'd never really been to a high school party before. She only had one friend for most of her life, and their idea of fun together was just a chill slumber party, maybe re-watching Repo! The Genetic Opera or something. "Unless you're waiting for somebody." He probably had other friends. Her heart deflated a little, but she pumped it back full of air as best she could. Good for him if he had friends to wait for. Who was she to be upset about something so petty?

"It's nice to meet you."

She almost forgot that part!











































♡coded by uxie♡
 









scroll








The Rebel



Kenzie













mood

Amused











outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5e/a5/4d/5ea54dc11a9d86764a7e9f584cc34d60.jpg











location

Beach











interactions

With Alex











tags

Chimney Swift Chimney Swift















Kenzie couldn't help but laugh at Alex's reaction as he exclaimed loudly clearly startled by the jump. Once he realised it was her, Kenzie got off his back and returned his high-five with just as much enthusiasm the amusement of the interaction still very much present on her face. She opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it as the gnawing feeling of anxiety began to bubble inside her, only calming once she closed her mouth again. Alex bit her bottom lip before giving Alex a small smile, one she knew he would get to mean talking wasn't happening for her just yet. When he complimented how she looked, Kenzie grinned before holding onto the bottom of her dress and giving a little curtsey in a joking manner. She turned her attention to him then with a smirk pouting her lips slightly as she looked him over before giving him a nod accompanied with a cheeky smile, a look that he would pick up to mean that she was saying he looked great.

As she looked at Alex, she realised that she had not really been in his company that much in the last few months and slightly frowned before replacing it with a soft smile. The two used to spend alot more time together but Kenzie supposed that since she got more into the party scene she almost left Alex behind in a sense and she missed him. Everything was just so easy with Alex, there was never any drama, he was just a genuine stand-up guy and Kenzie definitely needed more people like that in her life. She felt calm around him and him knowing that sometimes she can just go mute was a relief to her in this moment, she could be quiet without fear of him worrying about her or pushing her. He understood her.

She was broken from her thoughts when Alex spoke again and she looked up to him trying to make some shape with his hand and failing miserably. She knew immediately what he was asking even before he tried to do some sort of shadow puppets with it but she pretended to be confused anyway, squinting her eyes a little as she shook her head, her eyes widened slightly as she looked between his hand and Alex's face. She kept the expression for about 10 seconds before also giving into the giggles, an amused twinkle present in her eyes as she nodded, confirming she did indeed have the shrooms.

Kenzie grabbed Alex's hand and began to lead him towards the dunes where they would be more hidden to take them. She didn't want to be taking them with an audience as she remembered that they can be quite tough to eat as the taste was vile and gag inducing. She stopped walking when he mentioned capri-suns and she turned to look at him with an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow, Kenzie tilted her head from side to side as though weighing up options before shrugging her shoulders slightly in approval and continuing to walk.

Once away from the crowd and hidden in the safety of the dunes Kenzie rooted through her bag before pulling out a rather large bag of mushrooms. She split the amount equally between them, placing Alex's half in his hand before taking her own handful from the bag. Alex looked down at them for a second with a frown, god she hated this part and it never seemed to get any easier. Linking her arm with Alex, Kenzie smirked at him he signature smirk playing on her lips "bottoms up and good luck" she said as she lifted her hand to her mouth. Kenzie raised an eyebrow as she realised that she had just spoken without even thinking about it but the thought and celebration was quickly pushed out of her mind as she bit into the mushrooms and was immediately met with the horrific taste, she grimaced as she chewed. Kenzie looked up at Alex trying to give him an encouraging smile with a thumbs up but she was sure that she just looked like she was in pain and the thought made her nearly giggle as couldn't chew anymore and swallowed what was in her mouth. Kenzie immediately reached into her bag, taking out a bottle of water she took a long gulp of it before offering the bottle to Alex "ok that was pretty horrific but it#s worth it, you ok?"





♡coded by uxie♡
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood psyched

location rave cave

outfit low budget party fit

fun fact It takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour for psilocybin mushrooms to take effect.

tag answer here


Alex Cappelletti




/* ------ right side ------ */


Here we go, magic mushroom time.
Alex held out his hand for the small dry handful of fungus that Kenzie passed to him. Was this a lot for the first time? It looked like a lot, but Alex had no clue what a normal serving size for this stuff was. Still, doing it with a friend gave him the bravery to toss all his misgivings aside and go for it.

On Kenzie's say-so, Alex tossed the whole handful into his mouth, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible. "Ay, that's not too bad." Alex mused, still chewing. "I've had worse." It was undeniably earthy, not unlike eating a wad of dirt with a slightly bitter metallic tinge to it. Totally manageable.

4 seconds after swallowing, though, he had other thoughts.

"Bleehgch!! Oh fuck, not a good aftertaste. Nope. No, sir. Eww."

He dove into his backpack for his box of Capri-Suns, grabbing a foil juice pouch and choosing to impale it open with his hook hand and shotgun it rather than fumbling with the straw. That seemed to cure the temporary affliction.

"Let's give that a 3/10. Okay, that's over and done with. Score. Now let's head inside and grab some drinks and glow sticks, alright? Coolio" Waiting for her approval, the two climbed back over the dunes towards the dark entrance to the cave.

"So like, how long til we start tripping balls?" He asked along the way, regretting his decision to not do any prior research. Was this going to hurt? Was he going to go completely crazy and see God? The possibilities were endless and terrifying. He hoped he didn't try to eat anyone.

Inside the cave, ear-shattering electronic music bounced off the rock walls and seemed to rattle Alex's skeleton. Someone had set up colored lights, tables of drinks, people were running around and dancing and passing around various substances. In other words, it looked like a hell of a good time in here. Alex stopped someone passing out glow sticks and grabbed a few for him and Kenzie. "PURPLE OR GREEN?" He yelled, trying to be heard over the racket, but in the end, he just gave her a few of each and started looping his around his wrists. He motioned with a 'follow me' gesture, hoping to find the next interesting thing with her at his side.

Shroom buddies stick together.




/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 









scroll








The Rebel



Kenzie













mood

T minus 5, 4, 3......











outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5e/a5/4d/5ea54dc11a9d86764a7e9f584cc34d60.jpg











location

Cave Rave











interactions

With Alex











tags

Chimney Swift Chimney Swift















Kenzie watched as Alex started to say that the shrooms weren't that bad, her eyebrow raised as she waited for the inevitable change of heart, it came within seconds of him swallowing and she tried her best to hide the smirk fighting to play on her lips as she watched him scramble and struggle with the capri-sun, her amusement only growing as he shotgun the pouch. "Can honestly say I've never seen someone drink a capri-sun like that" she teased, a playful tone evident in her voice.

Kenzie walked back with him towards the rave, the music growing louder with each step closer "Oh eh it depends really on dosing and person but it doesn't take too long, 30 minutes usually but it can take up to an hour but its usually within the 30 to 40 minute mark." she trailed off as they got the cave and followed him inside. Kenzie started to wonder if she should have started Alex on a lighter dose but taking into account their height difference and weight she believed if anyone took too much it was her, but experience with them meant she had built a tolerance and most likely wouldn't go crazy and try to kill everyone, well .. at least she hoped she didn't anyway but it was too late to worry about that now.

The sound inside the cave was almost overwhelming and Kenzie grinned as she took in the sea of people dancing all around her. She watched Alex grab the glow sticks but couldn't make out what he was trying to say to her, she was about to shout back when he handed her a few of each and she nodded appreciatively before also looping them around her arms, she placed one around her leg at the top of her boot for good measure too and smiled to herself. She could already tell that the glow sticks were going to give them a lot of enjoyment later on and grinned at the thought of it.

Alex motioned for her to follow and Kenzie obliged as they made their way through the crowd. After walking around and exploring the rave for a bit noting the details that had clearly gone into the organising of it, Kenzie suddenly felt a strange warmth begin to take over her body starting at her toes and traveling up into her head. She was about to put it down to being in a hot sweaty cave with loads of people but as she turned to speak to Alex she noticed that the cave itself was starting to get longer and warped. Seatbelts on kids the ride has begun. A giggle escaped her lips as she looked around the room, the colours becoming more vibrant with each passing second. The euphoric giddyness that Kenzie had been looking for now began to overtake her emotions as a genuinely happy smile played on her lips, she realised this was probably the most emotion she had ever shown in front of the majority of the people present but she didn't care it was not like anyone was really paying attention to them anyway. Kenzie finally spun around to look at Alex, eyes wide with excitement. Once eye contact was made Kenzie wiggled her eyebrows at him, the smile still softening her features as she wondered if he had started feeling it yet as well.



♡coded by uxie♡
 







mallory hawke



  • .



The last week had been complete hell for Mallory, school had just started and there were so many people that she didn't recognize that could've been put on the MJC Hottest list. "I'll have to update that later." She thought to herself as she began getting ready for the rave that was happening down by the beach. She was clueless as to who would be there, but she had major hopes in getting completely fucked up.

As she finished up with getting ready, she stopped downstairs to find the house was empty, her parents must've gone out to dinner or something, but they did leave a note on the counter. The note crinkled in her hand as it was picked up and a hundred dollar bill fell out, a smile appearing on her face, "Malbear, we went to dinner, here is some money for whatever you may need it for. Please be safe tonight, we're sure you're interested in this rave going on. Love, Mom & Dad"

Mallory rolled her eyes and let out a quiet laugh, her parents were always concerned about her antics ever since they had to bail her out of jail over summer break, hanging out with the wrong crowd and being involved with drugs and alcohol were her strong suit, and there was no doubt that she would be doing it all over again tonight. The only downside was that she would probably have to pay for the illicit substances this time, but there was enough alcohol at home that she could sneak some with her without the parents noticing.

The sun had started to set beyond the horizon, meaning it was time to leave and make her way to the beach for the party. You could feel the excitement radiating off the girl as she stuffed a bottle of tequila into her bag and made her way out the front door. This was going to be the best night in a while, hopefully getting to meet up with some hot boys and being unbelievable fucked up. Those two things were her main priorities for the night, with hopes that the police were too lazy to actually crash a high school party.

Hopping into her car, the girl made her way towards the beach, you could already hear the loud music echoing through the cave out into the night air. As she pulled up, you could see a group of people crowded around the crater that was left in the ground, many were investigating the thing and others just weren't too interested.

Getting closer to the cave, she noticed Max and some new girl standing outside the entrance, she approached the two and began speaking, "Lookie here, isn't it number 7 at a party..." Mallory looks him up and down and crosses her arms, "You look like a damn lesbian bookkeeper, totes not rave appropro." She gives him a drastic frown, noticing he wasn't responding. "Ugh. This is so lame." Her phone gets pulled out and she starts typing away, flipping it around and showing him what she had just said.






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood stung

location rave cave

outfit not what people wear to raves

fun fact One out of every five US students reports being bullied.

tag Twin Fantasy Twin Fantasy floralmoon floralmoon


Max Berkowitz




/* ------ right side ------ */


By the time Max noticed Mallory, she was already huffing and typing away on her phone, looking deeply annoyed and inconvenienced. She'd tried to say something to him, hadn't she? Max squirmed. Another surge of anxiety crawled up his guts. He didn't know Mallory very well, but what he did know made him wish he'd stayed home.

Mallory Hawke made the list. That list. The list that had him convinced he was too unattractive to be seen out in public. It felt like his place at the bottom of the high school pecking order had been cemented as soon as that list surfaced on the web, and he wasn't even at the bottom of it. Alex Cappelletti, a couple of freshmen, and that weird turtle kid had all gotten worse scores than him on whatever stupid metric Mal and her friends were using, but that didn't lessen the sting of it.

He could hardly bring himself to look at her. Her perfect, polished, lip-glossed presence alone made him feel like he was committing a crime by breathing too close to her.

After a few seconds of typing, Mallory held her phone screen out to him, showing him the words she'd tried to say to him earlier that he didn't hear.

"Lookie here, isn't it number 7 at a party

You look like a damn lesbian bookkeeper, totes not rave appropro."

Max turned a deep shade of red.
Lesbian Bookkeeper?
Hey, at least Lesbian implies you look like you're into girls.
She knows too, doesn't she? Of course she does.
Embarrassingly, Max realized that Mallory wasn't wrong. Just looking at her, and at May, and at all the others surrounding them, he could tell he was way underdressed. Why did he think his usual ensemble would be enough for this? He might as well have worn a prison jumpsuit.
It was a mistake to come here.

Mallory's glittering neon dress told him everything he needed to know. It was too late to go back and avoid social ridicule. It had found him.
God, why do you even try anymore?

He looked back at May, humiliated and defeated. "You can go in without me if you want." He said, out loud, no signing. The last thing he wanted was for Mallory to think he was trying to say something unflattering about her to her face in another language.

If May would rather go find someone else to hang out with, someone who wasn't so embarrassing to be seen with, he wouldn't be at all angry at her for choosing that. He wasn't about to sabotage her reputation along with his, just to feel less lonely for one night.

"Sorry, Mallory. I didn't realize there was a dress code." He kept his words as slow and steady as possible, unable to be sure if his cadence and volume were right. Maybe he wasn't communicating the tone he was trying to go for... he had no way of knowing that, but the vexed look in his eyes gave away that he was more than just hurt by her comments.
Maybe he was a little angry, if he'd allow himself to admit that.




/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 



















may gu



heavy metal high school girl












Things had been nice before she showed up.

May felt kind of awful even thinking something like that -- that was really mean. Surely she had her own problems and her own miseries and her own point of view, but that was hardly an excuse to be nasty to people. And now the only person who spoke May's language was leaving. It was like being shoved back into a cage... And she'd hardly even noticed how Max was dressed, he looked a hell of a lot cleaner than she did on most days.

With her throat scratched to hell, she couldn't speak so much as wheeze, and it hurt. She could almost guarantee this lady didn't speak a lick of ASL -- inconsiderate people just don't bother with stuff like that. Her gaze darted back and forth between Max and Mallory.

Ugh. If only there was a universal symbol...

...

...Well...

She didn't want to earn herself a poor reputation. She wasn't a mean person. And the middle finger was always an option, and that was also really mean and really out of character for her. But sometimes you just get heated and don't think things through. So rather than simply throwing up a middle finger and letting it linger like Eminem suggests, she reeled back and spat on Mallory's shoe. Like a cowboy hocking up a dollop of chewing tobacco. Her face went red.

Did I really just do that?

Her mother had always taught her to stand up for other people, even strangers, unless they've committed a truly evil act. And unless dressing like a librarian counts as true evil, she'd say she had done that, but it still felt wrong somehow. It's probably what Zack de la Rocha would've wanted her to do! If he was here! He'd probably clap her on the back and tell her she did good!

Her eyes darted aside, like a nervous child about to get scolded.

I'm probably in trouble.











































♡coded by uxie♡
 






Eileen




filler



filler



filler



filler



filler



filler






  • home (filler tab)



































Daughter



Mothers










(TW: child abuse)



At long last, there had been no noises from the old walk-in closet for several minutes. Eileen breathed a long, heavy sigh of relief.
Finally, he was quiet.

Now that she was able to walk away from the locked closet door without fear of more screaming, she returned to her bedroom to rest. Her heart rate was up; she was flushed, sweating at the palms, wracked with nerves and exhausted all at once. And she looked a right mess, she knew that much.

With the help of some pale beige concealer, she went to work on her wrists and arms, covering up the purple bruises and red scratches until the surface of her skin was smooth and even again. Perfect. Eileen hated damaging her appearance.
Her sighing stopped when she was finally satisfied that the marks the last argument left were invisible. Damn. That kid just got stronger every time. One of these days he was going to break her nose or something, she was sure of it.
Unmanageable.

Next time he pulled something like that, she was just going to call the police. See how he liked that. It would serve him right to be punished for once. She let him get away with too much; that was the real problem. How else was she ever going to manage? She had her two adult daughters, and another daughter younger than him. What, was he going to lash out at his little sister in this way?
Living with him was a waking nightmare. It was akin to having a rabid dog loose in the house at all hours. A sick, mangy, violent animal that bit at the hands that fed it.

Just as she laid down on her bed and started to shut her eyes, she heard a knock. At first her eyes snapped open, fearing it was him trying to kick his way out again. But no, it was too soft. Too polite.

Slipping a cardigan over her shoulders to ensure that the marks on her arms stayed hidden, she ran a hastily brush through her hair to smooth the tangles and then hurried the door. Maybe it was John... oh, please, let it be John. The perfect person to ease her troubled mind.

But no.
It wasn't John Park. Drat.
It was a pair of kids, maybe around her second daughter Lori's age. They looked a bit too well-dressed and conservative to live in a building like this, didn't they? Yes, they certainly weren't from around here. Why would they come here?
"Oh," Eileen's voice was soft, low, and inviting, her smile gentle and polite. "Who is this?" She masked her dread with calmness and platitudes, but deep down she was terrified that he was going to kick up a fight again. He was silent, for now, maybe fallen asleep or passed out from exhaustion, but Eileen wouldn't bank on him staying that way. She had to figure out what these children wanted and send them on their way before this situation turned sour.








♡coded by uxie♡
 







abigail hargreaves



  • .



Graham jokes about how long it had been since they actually saw each other, the two kept in touch here and there, but never got around to actually meeting up. A smile creeps onto Abby's face at the man. Ever since that night at the Kingdom Hall, he had resided in the back of her mind, a constant wondering of what he was up to and how he was doing, but he always seemed to dance around the question.

He speaks up once more and asks how she had been, along with how school was going, "I'm alright, school is shit as always. I wish I hadn't gotten held back last year, but what am I going to do about it?" Her shoulders move in a shrugging motion, truly unsure of what she could do to get ahead in school other than asking for extra assignments, but who really wanted to torture themselves with extra work.

Abigail looks towards the gentle giant and assesses him, trying to figure out how he was truly feeling, she could tell something was off, but wasn't able to pinpoint it. With a deep breath in, she proceeds to ask him, "Are you sure everything is fine? You can be truthful." Worrying about others was one of the girls fortes in life, if you could give out awards for it, she would have one.

She looks ahead at the road as to not pressure him into giving an answer right away, the silence in the car wasn't too awful, so sitting in it for a minute or two would easily be doable. Rubbing her arms, she hopes that maybe tonight will be the night that Graham opens up to her, he's dealing with something, but what was it? What thoughts were troubling him? Made him run into a hurricane that night?

"If you don't feel comfortable talking about it right now, we can totally wait. I don't want you to be even more upset by talking about it." Abigail turns to face him now, she reaches out and pats his shoulder, and gave a reassuring smile. The last thing that she would want to do is upset the man, he was the big brother that she never had and it was nice to have some "sibling" time.






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 












jane müller

♫/dear jessie - rollergirl/♫



mood

delighted


location

jane's house in foxglove


oufit

5a07b9cd09eaaabaf48ae5e7ea6c3e8e.jpg
82f1b1ba3d5a6b1e4aec48e581019a9b.jpg
d4590c350df293a58f53c4a97cc6037f.jpg
3922c30f3800ace8ca40f2d4563c4629.jpg
d5ccb8af650ece4c8b9494074f094b99.jpg


tag

stella dear.szmm dear.szmm



after the flood, stella had started living with jane in her foxglove heights house to which jane was completely elated over. it was terrible what had happened, but ever since her blonde friend had moved what small amount of belongings she had left in jane’s spare room–jane had loved every second of it and letting stella borrow whatever items in her house she wanted, which never was usually much. even so, the two would frequently get high together every night and make the best of the situation. jane even got a new job at the mayflour bakery in the industrial district with similar shifts as her friend so it was never too much trouble with their schedules.

tonight, they were getting ready to attend some secret party in a cave in between waterfront district and industrial district–apparently these coordinates were rumored to be near the mysterious crater flashing all over the news lately.

“i think it’s aliiiiens,” jane chimed conspicuously, waltzing into the living room half-naked like usual and reached over to pass the joint to her blonde friend, “i mean what else could it be right?--like–like–what if it’s their way of testing us.. maybe the meteor sprinkled some sort of.. of…” she flopped herself onto the couch, thinking for a bit, “--yeah! like some weird invisible alien mist that’s able to track our societal movements.. with microphones and–”

jane saw the look stella was giving her now and she’d break out into a bit of a hearty laugh, “look, all i’m saying is it’s toootally plausible.” it might’ve sounded like a joke from jane to any other person, but stella probably knew all too well that jane was completely 100% serious about the theories she was presenting. ever since they’d met in highschool, jane had an affinity for discussing her wild outer space suspicions.

she stood up, picking the clothes she’d thrown onto the hardwood earlier to try on in front of the new living room mirror. placing the silhouettes over her body she spoke up in amusement, “maybe we’ll meet some cute alien guys or something--god, i wish that would happen to me.” she finally threw on the clothes she’d decided on and got to work on applying her make-up for the evening.



/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.

 






  • Crater















    LOSE YOUR SOUL



    Dead Man's Bones






















    These days, knowing more makes you more miserable.























@RodeoRat



9 minutes ago


















nine lives

 







quinn lee



  • .



A finger points out a constellation. "You can see Lepus clearly tonight!" Quinn exclaims. He takes his boyfriend's hand and raises it toward the night sky. He moves their hands together and traces the constellation in the air. "If you want to find Lepus, you should find Orion first. Lepus is located below. Always look south." He lifts their hands higher and points at Orion's belt.

If Quinn wants to locate Orion, he always starts with the belt.

"Did you know...?" As Quinn rambles about Lepus — It's his favorite constellation. He knows a lot of random facts — he leans against Yoshiaki's chest. They're currently standing on the rooftop — it's a private access — of Yoshiaki's penthouse. "...and then....!" Quinn told Yoshiaki the facts a million times, but his excitement never fades. Stargazing is his favorite night activity.

It's a perfect way to end their date.

"Thank you, Yoshi. I really appreciate this," Quinn murmurs with a soft smile. He turns his head and presses a soft kiss to Yoshiaki's cheek.

Roughly three weeks ago, a severe tropical storm ripped through Joplin. It tore down power lines and triggered a massive blackout throughout the city. The streets were flooded, leaving residents trapped in their own homes.

If they're lucky. A lot of bystanders couldn't leave their workplace or places like the grocery store.

While some citizens desperately sought shelter, a lot of people took advantage of the chaos and looted anything they could get their hands on.

It was pure madness.

Quinn hates to remember the storm. It reminds him of his petrifying fear of thunderstorms. When a storm hits, Quinn is reduced to a panicking bundle of nerves. There's a lot of tears and snot; it's not for the faint of heart. After he moved in with Yoshiaki, Quinn relied on his boyfriend to comfort him.

Unfortunately, when the tropical storm hit, Yoshiaki was stuck at work. Without his boyfriend's unwavering support, Quinn began to panic. He tried to contact Yoshiaki, but every call went to voicemail and every text message was left unread. While the penthouse escaped the blackout — Yoshiaki installed a generator — Quinn was more worried about his boyfriend's safety than the penthouse losing electricity and running water.

After hours of no contact — he left numerous voicemails and text messages — Quinn spiraled into a severe panic attack and passed out on the kitchen floor. Fainting from a panic attack is rare, but it's not impossible. Due to the circumstances, Quinn couldn't handle the stress. When he came to, Yoshiaki was hovering above him in a panic.

He spent the rest of the night sobbing in his boyfriend's arms.

"Today was fun~" Quinn hums.

After Quinn returns from his morning jog, Yoshiaki surprises him with his favorite breakfast: strawberry and cream crêpes and a bowl of chopped strawberries with sugar sprinkled on top. He serves it with his favorite brand of apple juice.

The surprise doesn't end there. Since it's Yoshiaki's day off, his boyfriend takes him to his favorite places in Joplin.

The first stop is Quinn's favorite park. Arcadia Oaks Park is beautiful; it's the first park Quinn discovered when he moved to Joplin. While the park is a little far from Yoshiaki's penthouse, Quinn jogs through the park every morning.

He's use to long distances.

After a stroll through Arcadia Oaks, Yoshiaki takes him to his favorite bakery. He loves to visit Mayflour Bakery after his morning runs. The owner surprises him with his favorite strawberry pastries.

It seems that Yoshiaki called ahead.

Once he ate his pastries and visited with Hana and Amara, Yoshiaki took him to the pier. He loves to walk down the pier and view the ocean. During fair season, Quinn loves to indulge in fair food. His favorite is cotton candy.

Instead of cotton candy on a stick, Yoshiaki guides him to Sunday Funday. His favorite treat is two scoops of cotton candy in a waffle cone with hot fudge drizzled on top.

Quinn tries to pay, but Yoshiaki insists on paying for everything.

For dinner, Yoshiaki surprises him with a romantic picnic on the rooftop. Ordering Chinese food and storing it inside a picnic basket isn't technically a picnic, but it's Quinn's favorite takeout. While he enjoys his chow mein noodles and orange chicken, they watch the stars together.

With his belly full and his boyfriend by his side, Quinn feels like he can do anything. However—

He turns around and wraps his arms around Yoshiaki's neck. "Yoshi..." Quinn hesitates. A part of him feels guilty. While he had fun today, he knows that Yoshiaki is making up for not being there for him during the storm. "You know you didn't have to do this, right?" Quinn appreciates the grand gesture, but he doesn't want his boyfriend to feel obligated to spoil him.

The last thing he wants is to take advantage of Yoshiaki's generosity.





/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 



















axel



father of all motherfuckers












Axel was barely even paying attention to the world around him when he suddenly heard some guy, uh, saying words? He wasn't even sure if he was the one being addressed, mostly because Marceline was a woman's name. Maybe some famous celebrity? Who was also over six feet tall? Are girls getting taller these days? Was he being mistaken for someone else? God, hopefully there aren't any women with my goddamn ugly mug on 'em.

More importantly, this guy was twitchy like a rodent of some kind, slinking and weaselly in body and in motion. A pretty suspicious-looking type, but Axel was hardly any less suspicious looking. Standing next to each other, they could probably be mistaken for a new metal band or a couple of meth dealers -- the brains and the brawn. (Assuming Rat has any brains, which isn't something Axel would know about one way or another.) He didn't really want this guy standing near him, but he didn't want to seem weird and antisocial, especially since people just... made that assumption about him anyway. Pretty easy to do when you look like a cross between The Undertaker and the chick from The Ring.

Still, it wasn't like he had anything better to do than listen. He looked over as the stranger jabbed his finger into a phone screen with a picture of some kid. Oh. Oh, he was missing. A missing kid near a rave is bad news. That's a really great way to get a kid on molly, which was basically Axel's greatest fear with his own kid.

"Um, I haven't, but, uh..." You'd think that having a job literally etching permanent images into people's skin would have made Axel a little better at socializing, but honestly, he never got much less awkward. He looks past the crowd towards his kid, who was with her friend trying to build some kind of sand pile thing. "I can help, I just have to, um... My daughter." He shouted over the crowd, making a few people jolt in shock. "HEY LYNN, COULD YOU WATCH ELLA FOR A SECOND? THANK YOU." Lynn just nodded, possibly unsure how to say no, being a person of relatively meek constitution.

"A bunch of teenagers are holding some stupid party in that cave over there." Axel made a general motion towards the cave mouth. "But, uh, it seemed like kind of a rager... A fucking fun one, probably." For a moment, only a moment, Axel felt left behind by his youth. Despite snorting coke and fucking a lot, he didn't really feel like he did much partying. "It'll be crowded, so, um, I'll help you out." Normally he'd make his assistance optional, but considering there was a youngster involved, he threw that out the window. "That's where I'd assume he is, anyway."

He hoped he looked steely and serious. That was his default, so he probably did.











































♡coded by uxie♡
 






  • Crater !















    STARSTRUCK



    SORRY






















    These days, knowing more makes you more miserable.























@I-SPIT-AT-COPS



9 minutes ago


















nine lives

 







mallory hawke






Max seemed defeated after Mallory's statement on what he was wearing, she knew it wouldn't be hard to come out triumphant in this situation, so there wasn't much satisfaction in the end. Though, he did apologize, it wouldn't change his outfit, "I-.." She goes to start speaking and then gives up. There was no reason to speak to someone who couldn't hear her, it would just be wasted breath.

Just as she was about to turn and walk off the girl who was standing with Max, spat on her brand new shoes. With her face turning bright red she lets out a disgusted scream, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK YOU DISGUSTING ASS BITCH." Mallory turns and stomps away, in search of something to clean off the acid spit from her apparel.

There was no way to one hundred percent describe exactly how she was feeling at the moment except with the desire to get fucked up. Once she found a port-a-potty, she stepped in and began wiping off her shoe, squeezing hand sanitizer all over it to try and get rid of the thought of what had just happened.

Once her shoe was cleaner than when purchased, she immediately pulls out her bottle of liquor and begins drinking it, hoping that this would get her mind off the incident and the thoughts of disgust bouncing around in her mind. Mallory's one and only goal of the night was to get absolutely obliterated and forget the events of the past week.

She danced her way into the crowd, grinding on random guys that she thought were attractive, making her way to the center. The night would only get better if she could get her hands on some shrooms, which Lizard Boy on Twitter had apparently gotten some, so she knew that they were at the party. Her goal now was to find some of her own, which may not be the easiest of tasks.






/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 






Reuben




filler



filler



filler



filler



filler



filler






  • home (filler tab)


































Maximo Park



Apply Some Pressure








Reuben was looking forward to celebrating the end of another busy weekend. He’d worked the Saturday night shift – the worst time to be on duty. It was, however, a pretty good time to make some extra cash.

The day that followed was comparatively easy going. Reuben would get home around 9am to a particularly delighted Francesca with all her demanding, furious tail-waggling kisses. First and foremost, he’d ensure he took her out around Arcadia Oaks before returning to his apartment for a few hours’ sleep. When he woke again, maybe around five, he’d grab something to eat and hit some free-weights for an hour or so. He wasn’t too bothered what he did after that. Sometimes he didn’t mind slouching on the couch with Frankie, flicking through Netflix, Thai takeout in his lap, a cold Chang beer on the coffee table in front of him. Other nights, like tonight, perhaps he would feel up to being a little more social.

Jodie was not hard to be social with. Her and Reuben had met five years ago on a Friday evening, both alone and half cut. He was sat in a back booth of The Bridgeport Tavern on one of his first nights in town, fresh out of the academy, his hand around half a glass of whiskey, trying not to think about his premature departure from MIT or his shit head step-father back in Seattle. Maybe Joplin was a bad idea. Maybe he was in over his head. Maybe Peter was right; eventually Reuben would fuck up his own life just like he fucked up his mom and dad’s. He took a swig of his drink, and over comes Jodie, asking him twenty-one questions about some band shirt he was wearing, sitting herself at the table. They spent the night chatting under the low light of the musty tavern, discussing their woes and their stories. Reuben found himself his first Joplonian friend.

They’d grown quite close after that. Like, quite close. They’d messed around once or twice, ending up back at one of their places after a drink too many. Reuben had no complaints, and he didn’t hear any from Jodie either.

Well, there he was. Five years down the line. Back in the same booth, under the same low lights in the same musty tavern.

He’d changed somewhat since his first drink there. He still had a few band shirts, reminiscent of the old Seattle grunge scene, but they were seldom brought out from the back of his wardrobe. For better or worse, Reuben spent 60% of his time in his police uniform, 20% of his time asleep in his boxers, and 20% in a loose-fitting hoodie or sweatshirt. Joplin was not renowned for its warm weather, even in the height of summer. Bearing any naked arm or leg would be a brave move indeed.

“Hey fucker,” Jodie greeted, sliding into the booth. She pushed a bottle of beer across the table which Reuben received gratefully, a slice of lime included. He wouldn’t allow many other women to buy him a drink, but he would dread to think of the sum he had spent plying her with tequila and rum over the years, and so Jodie became an anomaly. That didn’t change many of the other behaviours Reuben chronically displayed to the opposite sex; in this instance, maybe it was only playful banter. Maybe it was just friendly cheekiness, or maybe he just wanted to push his luck. Nevertheless, he would insist it was all in jest, and he’d smirk and laugh it off; it’s not like he was actively trying to sleep with her. But maybe…

“Hello, peaches.” He smiled, taking a swig of his beer. He smacked his lips, enjoying the satisfaction of that first long-awaited sup of alcohol.

"What's new with you? Any fun arrests lately? Coop been in the tank again?”

Reuben snorted. This was the problem with being a cop, especially in a town with a crime rate almost as high as the population; everyone had questions or fascinations, when in reality Reuben spent most of his time dealing with domestic incidents, overdoses, drunks, and occasionally psychiatric case referrals.

“Oh, don’t start with that headache – Attenborough is a danger unto himself. Fuck knows where he is, somewhere that means I don’t have to deal with him. Fun arrests though? Uhh, let’s see,” he said, looking about the place, as if to collect some remembrance from mid-air. “Picked some guy up for beating the shit out of someone, a Dominos delivery man. Yeah, delivered the wrong pizza or something fucking stupid, I dunno. Let’s see… oh, that woman graverobbing at the cemetery again. What’s she called, Dawn? Diana? She’s about seventy and smells like cat piss. Had to scrub my car out after her....”

Reuben sighed, shrugging his shoulders with a light laugh as if to say Yep, that’s it. Same old, same old.

“What about you? Sold many couches this week? Got any good deals going on lamps?” he leaned in across the table, that oh-so familiar smirk spreading across his face, “Any guys I need to be wary of? Did that homeless one come back? Y’know, the…”

He made a vulgar gesticulation with his hand, earning a defiant look back from his company. He recanted, holding his hands up in admittance.

“I’m joking, sorry, that wasn’t funny. For the record, that guy has an exclusion order from the entire downtown area, so he won’t bother you again. Maybe I got a few slaps on the wrist in there too, just because it’s you.”

He sat back, sipping his drink. He was very fond of Jodie. She was normal, and in Joplin, you clung onto normal wherever you could find it. She was a good friend, probably one of his closest, and he felt a great deal of loyalty to her. I mean, if something was ever going to happen between the two of them, seriously, five years was a long-ass time to wait for someone to make a move other than a couple of drunken hook ups. Jesus, Reuben was going to have to start putting more effort in.





♡coded by uxie♡
 





/* ------ left side ------ */




/* ------ left side info ------ */
mood uhh...

location rave cave

outfit not what people wear to raves

fun fact 16% of young people aged 12 to 20 years report drinking alcohol.

tag Twin Fantasy Twin Fantasy floralmoon floralmoon


Max Berkowitz




/* ------ right side ------ */


Max almost had a heart attack.

Did May really just...?

He had never been so shocked and impressed in his entire life. He stood back. jaw dropped and dumbstruck, as Mallory screamed and stomped off. And just like that, she was gone, just as quickly as she'd arrived. May had done the impossible and made it look easy: she'd conquered possibly the most untouchable bully at MJC. It was like watching someone flip off an enemy queen, knowing they'd face a metaphorical social beheading for doing it.

His new friend had incredible chutzpah, honestly.

"You didn't have to do that for me." Switching rapidly back and forth between two languages had left his signing clumsy and oddly spaced out. He was almost breathless. "I... it was fine. I was fine. That was Mallory. She just says stuff like that. No one ever... I mean you really didn't have to do that."

He paused, reconsidering that his words might seem ungrateful. He didn't want May to think that he didn't appreciate what she did back there. Though he grimaced first, as if in pain thinking about it, he eventually pulled himself together and smiled.
"Thank you."

The two of them finally made their way into the cave, no longer having to worry about being accosted by Mallory Hawke and her pointed commentary. It felt too weird to admit it, but having May around made Max feel ten times more capable of facing the social pressure of being at a party. If she could stand up to Mallory like that, anything was possible. The environment in the cave was thrillingly overwhelming, perfectly suiting the turbulent mood Max had found himself in. Flashing colors, pulsing vibrations, completely unidentifiable smells... it was a mess and it was horrible and at the same time it felt amazing.

"I'm going to get a drink." He said suddenly to May, overtaken by a sudden urge to do something reckless for once. "First time for everything, right? You don't have to if you don't want, but... hey, it could be fun, right?" He was once again thinking back to Bible Study, remembering Graham and Abby and their bottle of blasphemous church vodka.
He wanted to be more like them.
More like anyone but himself.

There was this feeling that maybe, just maybe, he could come out of this a changed person. A coming-of-age experience, right? Or something along those lines. Maybe.
Nothing could ruin this for him anymore.




/* ------ credit -- do not remove ------ */

© weldherwings.
 
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