Realistic or Modern The Kids Aren't Alright | Main

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: ????

LOCATION: The open sea

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.

The mop master took no offense whatsoever to the moniker Mr. Toothrot. He chuckled in amusement as Meera rambled in excitement, pledging herself and her nervous companions to the voyage before abruptly tumbling herself and her volleyball into the skiff. "Aight down there?" He bent back over the edge of the dock to inspect for damage. Seeing none, he nodded calmly and gave just the faintest hint of an all-knowing shrug. Evidently, Meera was just as dyspraxic and spatially challenged as Stu and Oliver. Were all the young rabble in Parish Point this gawkish and clumsy? One had to imagine it was so, since there were hardly any counterexamples to be found at Parish Bay High.

The three of them really did make a perfect team of sailors, though. If they could hardly stay upright on land, they'd move with the waves just fine. That was definitely how that worked.

"I haven't got life jackets fir ye, so we'll be doing it like the old days and just promising not to lean in over the edge. Get it? Got it. Good." The time-worn sea traveler gave a hand gesture that was half a thumbs up and half a finger-gun. An incredibly odd thing to see a man who was simultaneously 50 and 170 do. "A shame it would be to have to fish you like cod out of the water." another quiet and bewildering laugh. He seemed confident, though, that there would be no untimely deaths out on the salty harbor. Two of the three looked less assured.

The timid boys, though, didn't take too much coaxing to climb into the boat. Once Meera situated herself all ready to set sail, Oliver followed, still chalk white and stammering, knees quivering as he curled up on the long, thin bench. Stu stepped aboard soon after, and once the crew was assembled, the mythic janitor took to the bow and readied the expedition. He took to this with all the calm nonchalance of a suburban dad on a golf cart. Just a normal Saturday for him, the journey of a lifetime for the oddball pack of teens.

"A right good day it is, too." Herman loosed the rope binding the skiff to the dock, and the small wooden boat creaked and tilted free, bobbing left and right on the slow waves. "Look how still it is, aye? Been choppy since the storm." In but a moment, their little ship had slowly drifted away from the docks out towards were the sun sat high over the rocky edges of the beach, stretching out into the vast and open ocean. The kind of breathtaking visual moment that called for a dramatic crescendo in the background orchestral. Cinematic. "A bit farther out's where I did spot a pod of pilot whales early in the month. They'd best not come that far up to the shore, I have thought--"

Somewhere beneath the wavering surface of the water, a bitter and vengeful hermit crab scuttled over the sandy ocean floor, eclipsed by the shadow of the boat. Its feelers twitched as though somehow through the briny waves it could smell the blood of a mortal foe.

code by valen t.

 

[Dede]

MOOD: peak stu

LOCATION: at sea

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift lion.




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[/COMMENT]

tags

KITKAT COUNT
2 flattened kitkats remain in his pocket

kitkat count

Stu French

Little hi little low little hey little ho

“We would love to come with you sir!”

There must be a word in the English language that expressed the breakneck levels of disagreement that was coursing through his veins as Meera proposed a boat trip with the fish-monster-janitor.

Maybe it was a diversion. A clever one at that! Obviously Meera was luring Toothrot into a false sense of acquaintance while they prepped their legs to make the dash for their lives. Meera was a clever girl with an IQ in the triple digits, and that’s probably why she was Oliver’s friend.

While Meera talked, and Oliver stood dumbly, Stu pondered their escape route. The inside-out shirt had given him a modicum of defence against the master of the dark arts. It had bought them time to escape Toothrot’s clutches of evil and make for the safety of those higher rocks, and— Oh, Meera was getting in the boat.

“W... What?”

His face paled to a shade close to white. His jaw dropped widely and his open mouth diverted the flightpath of a beach-fly.

A desperate hand clutched the back of Oliver’s shirt, pulling warily. No way in hell they were getting on that boat! No way!

Oh... they were getting on the boat.

Stu wasn’t sure why he was climbing over the gunwale of that sad little dinghy. It might have been a fault in the wiring upstairs that made him seek certain death. More likely, he did not want a girl to think he was afraid of the sea! And since she had already gotten on the boat so carefreely (that she tripped), to make a scene now would bring a whole lot of humiliating attention to himself.

Plus, he couldn’t let any danger come to Meera. She didn’t know how dangerous Toothrot was. Was she not there when Ivy gave her all-important PowerPoint presentation?

It was safer that they all went, and as the three were on the boat, he was thinking that he had lived a pretty decent life. He had enjoyed many KitKats and fed many ants in his locker. If he died today it wouldn’t have been all for nothing.

He was full of reluctance as Toothrot began to loosen the rope and push the boat out toward the sea. He scrutinised the man without a bink, forever expectant of that shapeshifting moment. When he got bored of looking at Toothrot’s dishevelled face, he turned instead to look at the water. And the warmish breeze and the bright ripples of the sea put an unwitting smile on his face.

It wasn’t so bad on the water. Of course he wasn’t to know about the army of crabs lurking on the seafloor. There wasn’t enough space on the little dinghy for an Oliver freak-out.

Now and again he was turning to look at Meera, too, briefly glimpsing the features of her face though he quickly shied away and pinned on the waves.

They were far enough now from the shore that the water was deep enough to take on bluer hues. He looked at it all with wonder, a boy who had never been exposed to such seafaring adventures. The thrill was in his eyes as leant over the edge and touched the water, wondering if they would see his friend Willy all the way out here.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Ocean Adventure Time

OUTFIT: Can't Have Nice Things

LOCATION: The Seven Seas

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Stu Dede
Meera lion.
Herman

tags

TL;DR Oh my god oh my god the ocean is so cool you guys.

tl;dr

Oliver Dreyfuss

See the line where the sky meets the sea?

Stu and Oliver were silent, but Meera was chatting away at hummingbird speed, as though this were the best day of her entire life. Oliver, spared from passing out only by the broken-record turtle monologue looping around his mind, was shaking like a leaf; breathing in shallowly through his nose and out through his gritted teeth. And yet, his deep brown eyes no longer held the wild terror of a spooked horse. He watched the sun glisten on the slight sway of the water, thoroughly entranced by the grey-blue Atlantic. A small school of tiny silver fish swam under the surface, scattering as they dove under the boat. Oliver softened, hands ungripping from his sides and tapping lightly at his cheekbones.

It was no surprise at all that Oliver was fascinated by the ocean: a vast and unknown world, two miles deep on the average point, almost 5,500 miles across the Atlantic. Most of that depth and distance was unexplored; untouched by humanity. If anyone made it down to the bottom of the ocean, they’d be totally alone. Swallowed by the total darkness and the immeasurable pressure of the water, floating forever in the cold silence with creatures humans may never meet. One could never return from the bottom of the ocean: the decompression would cause the nitrogen in the blood to suffocate the person from the inside out. But more interesting than that was that the sea was home to the love of Oliver’s life, the majestic marine turtles. All seven species, beautiful and solitary and devastatingly rare.
The ocean was also chock full of arthropods.
It really was wonderful and horrifying in equal measure, then.

Oliver’s weird thought tunnel about being sucked down to the bottome of the ocean was cut short when Meera’s volleyball bounced away over the edge of the dock, followed by its owner when Meera tottered over and fell into the boat with a splunk as the water splashed up the sides. Oliver flinched, the rapid resurfacing of his consciousness stunning him into a confused trance. Every time a thought started, another interrupted it and sent it flying out his left ear, over and over and over…

Stu had the back of his shirt, trying to tug him back away from the water and the janitor and the boat, but Oliver didn’t feel it. His gaze had gone vacant, eyes drifting back and forth without focusing for a moment, then--

Meera wanted them to join her in Toothrot’s boat, didn’t she?
Oh no.
Oh no no.
That was a terrible idea, but Oliver wasn’t able to fight off whatever delirious state forced him to agree. He didn’t even realize he had climbed over the edge of the dock until his feet stumbled to the floor of the boat. His muscles had just decided to do that for him, without prior consent from his brain. But once he’d tipped onto the wooden bench, there was no going back up. Clutching his knees until his bitten knuckles turned white and rocking himself lightly back and forth, Oliver felt Stu plunk down to his right and reality flooded back in.

They really were going out to sea. The three of them and Herman the diabolical fish man janitor. The little skiff was loosed from its mooring, and tipping about on the water, they drifted away from the dock, off from the shallows out into the deeper harbor where the sandy ocean floor was swallowed up by the water’s own shadow. Stu leaned out over the side and skidded his hand over the surface, Meera seemed to be soaking in the thrill, and Oliver couldn’t help but pull himself out of his huddled crouch, sitting up with one of his knees on the bench to get a better look out at the deep blue line that traced the curve of the planet. Something so geometrically perfect about it all… this impossibly wide open ocean was the world that sea turtles navigated with compass-like accuracy, following the currents and magnetic pull of the earth itself.

There was so much unbridled perfection out here on the ocean that Oliver had entirely forgotten that he was actually trapped on a small ship with a suspected evil fish person. Hey, how evil could an ocean monster even be? They came from a world so thrilling and undefined that the laws of morality didn’t apply out here.
This must be how pirates felt. Good and evil just blew aside in the wind off the sides of the ship. No need for trust, or paranoia, just living in the moment and doing whatever strikes interest. Oliver had brought himself up as a little criminal, maybe, but who gave a damn.

He caught himself giddily hugging his arms in, rocking back and stifling an overexcited laugh.
Oh.
Oh god.
Amazing.
He knew how to laugh after all.

code by valen t.

 

[tamarapasek]

MOOD: Playful

LOCATION: Football Field

basics

MENTIONS:
Soap
INT:
Qwertycakes
Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR She interacts with the guests

tl;dr

Ashley Park

I've been thinking about you. Wondering if I'm caught up in your head at night.

.


Ashley strode onto the field with a giant grin on her face. It had been a couple weeks since she'd started, and already she was having the time of her life. Sure everybody here could be nicer, but then again so could she. They weren't referred to as ''Cheer Bitches'' for being especially nice people were they? But the benefits definitely outweighed the nastiness of some of the cheerleaders. Besides cheerleading was perfect for her. It had been forever since Ashley had done dance, and it still felt like she'd only quit yesterday. Plus there was the added bonus of the outfits they got to wear. If she could capture attention for just one moment, without any strings attached, then she would gladly wear anything.

Cheer was the perfect way to obtain temporal attention. Plus she'd already been working towards a spot as Kat's favorite member. She'd heard so much one time, and it took all her strength not to squeal and throw her phone across the room. She was the favorite. And unlike her relationship with Dustin, she knew exactly how to keep herself in the good graces of Kat. Do whatever she says, and don't say anything embarrassing. Kat was symbiotic like that.

Joining the other cheerleaders for the usual morning stretch, she was pleasantly surprised at the sight of Dustin sitting on the bleachers. "Hey Dusty!'' She dashed over to jump him. To what she was sure was his surprise, she climbed up on the bleacher herself to glomp him into a hug though she had to sort of position herself to sit on his lap so she could do it.

It had been around two weeks since she'd last hugged him. That day he gave her the stupid pin she still kept on her backpack. She prayed that he didn't notice how obvious it was that she missed doing it. How she was hugging him for just a few seconds to long than a purely platonic friend would. Coughing awkwardly, she scampered off of the bleachers though she still kept conversing with her friend.

Her eyes widened, as from behind her she felt an arm slither around her. She began seething when she realized who it was. "Claire!" She exclaimed, with an ever so slight scowl on her face as she proceeded to flirt with her-well not her man. Just Dustin, who sadly would never be hers. ''A. He's not my boyfriend and B. If he were my boyfriend then he wouldn't be able to even think of you.'' She snarked at Claire, though she knew she it wasn't fair of her.

As she prepared to do her stretching, she was interrupted by another cheerleader. Much to her surprise, she was dragged around by her waist by the much more enjoyable Ivy. ''It's hard to say.'' She attempted to keep her voice steady as if she weren't cackling like a hyena on the inside. ''Let me try.'' With the clear height difference between the two girls, it was easy to do her impersonation. She tilted her head upwards, turning on a bitch face that greatly differed from her usual perky demeanour. ''As captain of the illustrious Parish Bay Pirates I have only this to say, Tardiness. Will. Not. Be. Tolerated. Unless of course you want to try to get into the pants of a citrus.'' she repeated, imitating the harsh voice of their captain through her ridiculous statement. ''How fun could my friday be without you to liven things up?'' she joked, in response to her query.

code by valen t.

 

[KingofAesir]

MOOD: FOOD

OUTFIT: here

LOCATION: DOJO

basics

MENTIONS:


INT: Harper Dazzle , Max Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR the gang goes to Dojo and eats dumplings bro

tl;dr

Sawyer

I'm Georgia Peachy, believe me.

Sawyer knew the waitress that greeted them when they entered Dojo and she knew that that waitress knew that Apollo definitely was not a service animal. She watched the girl eye Sawyer over Harper’s shoulder, one blocky eyebrow raised in a questioning arch. Sawyer didn’t know how Harper didn’t recognize Mckenna Atwood, Harper had been to literally almost all of Sawyer’s basketball games and Mckenna was literally her starting shooting guard. The dark haired girl must have seen the desperation in Sawyer’s eyes because she seemed to accept Harper’s explanation without a word. Sawyer’s shoulders sagged visibly and she watched Max sign his question to her as they followed after Mckenna to their table. She frowned at him and pointed outside, rubbing her arms up and down and shivering. It was, in fact, not cold and that was a complete lie and they both knew it. Sawyer sighed and shrugged her shoulders, deciding to try a different tactic.

“He has separation….” Her fingers paused, she didn’t know the sign for anxiety, shit. Sawyer pulled out her phone and just typed the word anxiety in the notes app and showed it to Max just as they arrived at their table. Satisfied, she gave him a beaming smile and slid into the booth next to Harper. She picked up the menu Mckenna had laid in front of her and kicked up her feet into the chair across from her so that her legs were laying across the gap under the table and sticking out the other side. Her eyes skimmed the menu momentarily and she hummed a little diddy under her breath but the pictures didn’t keep her attention for long. Brown eyes flicked up over the top of the shiny pages and caught a glimpse of Max who was most assuredly not looking at his menu. Sawyer smirked and slid down further in the booth, pulling the menu up over her face to cover her giggling. It wasn’t but a few moments later that Harper had decided she was ready and was asking them if they wanted to share and was saying something about vegetables and sweet potatoes. Sawyer almost gagged. She sat up in her seat as Max signed back to her totally confidently, because he had definitely been looking at the menu that whole time, and then shoved his hands right back into...that was Zach’s jacket. Oh, she was so making fun of him for that.

“No, ma’am.” Sawyer signed, and spoke aggressively, “I want meat. I’m ordering pork Xiao Long Bao so Max can’t eat it.” She chuckled, “ And, uh, probably Baked California.” She turned back to Max and grinned at him.

“So, are you and Zach boyfriends now? Sharing clothes is a big step.” Never. Letting. This. Go.

code by valen t.

 

[r e i]

ISABELLA ALEJA EDISON-ROSE

mood: angry and tired + location: at this moment running for her life + outfit: xxx + tags: Elf_Ruler

Isa woke up in a bad mood, maybe because she was up half the night with a very strong headache due to a nightmare. The nightmare, was on the more normal side that she had every so often, it began with her running. She hears someone screaming her name angrily and she knows that if she gets caught then she's gonna get her ass kicked. So she runs but she never runs fast enough and they always get her, hurting her until she admits that no one would love a fuck up like her, and that she was worthless. She wakes up with sweats or a scream. Noah, her closest friend and fellow drug dealer always seems to be there when she does. He gave her some tea, and told her that she should go back to sleep but he knew that she wouldn't. She never goes to sleep after a nightmare, and he knew that she was going to break down. Noah knew that she never wanted anyone to see her do so, so he left back to his room and listened as Isa finally cries.

Isa broke down in tears, and cried. After what seemed to be forever, she got up and dressed and left. Not even bothering to take her phone. She didn't want anyone to find her. She wanted to be left alone. So she left. She spent the early morning walking around town, watching the sunrise. She went to her favorite hiding place which was a hill by the edge of town. Isa sat down and just watched the sky as morning came and went. It had been several hours before she decided to get up again, and walk back into town. On the way to who knows where as she was just letting her feet lead her to whatever. Kids were playing with a soccer ball, and kicked it to far towards her. She looked at them and then back to the ball, she was about to kick it towards them when she spotted someone that she wanted to hit in the face with a ball. So she aimed for him, and kicked hard. Only that it wasn't heading towards him, it was heading straight for a cop car and crashed into the window loudly. Two cops who saw the entire thing, started to chase her. She curses under breath as she runs. Bumping into everything and everyone, she kept running. Once she hid in an alley, she looked for someone to borrow a phone off of, and quickly logged into twitter. She asked if there was an house she could hide in, and luckily Tums answered and her house was empty. She hands the phone back to the stranger then the cops spotted her again.

Isa runs off again, heading off towards Tatum house. Trying to lose the cops that were gaining speed. Today was a bad day for Isa.

coded by natasha.

 

[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 looked over to Sawyer who had herself buried behind the menu. She just smirked and shook her head as Sawyer said she was getting herself anything that she did not have to share. “You’re.” Harper picked up her own menu, turning it over in her hand. “A jerk.” She looked up at Sawyer from the corner of her eye, the sarcasm dripped off her tongue as she placed her menu back down.

“Well, Max.” She turned her attention to him, speaking as she signed across the table. “I guess we can share if you want.” She nodded as he agreed once again to the idea. “You should pick something out that you like too.” Harper tapped her finger on the menu sitting in front of Max.

It took them a few minutes to gather everything they planned to order; small talk occupied the trio while they waited on their waiter to greet them. Soon an older man came over to the table, placing three waters down in front of Max, Sawyer, and Harper. The man introduced himself and asked who would like to order first, pen and paper in hand.

His eyes fixed to Max first who was still playing with the Menu. “Did you need more time.” Harper leaned forward in some sot of automatic dive in protection for Max.

“Yes, we’re going to have vegetarian dumplings, and a double order of sweet potato maki.” Harper gestured between Max and herself. “Also, are the spring rolls fried in a vegetarian oil? Or is there contamination.”

The waiter rolled his eyes, Harper hadn’t seen him here before. She was used to her regular waiter Sean. But— he must have only worked in the evenings. She rarely came to Dojo Sushi for lunch, and if she did, she got her food to go. “I’ll have to check.” He chewed on the side of his cheek.

“Oh- never mind then.” Harper picked up her menu and Max’s tapping it on the table anxiously before handing it back to the server. “We’ll just get the maki and dumplings.”

Sawyer took her turn ordering before he asked about drinks once again. “I am all set with water.” She caught Max’s eye as he signed ‘me too.’

As the sever who never bothered to name himself turned around walking towards his POS system and hopefully input their food correctly. Though Harper wasn’t too convinced he would get it write, or on time.

“Too bad Mckenna isn’t a server yet, she so much nicer.” Harper sighed, resting her chin on her hand as she turned to Sawyer who began making comments about Max wearing Zach’s jacket. Harper giggled, lightly slapping Sawyer on the shoulder with the back of her hand. “I said the same thing!”

Harper threw her head back, laughing a bit harder as she tried to recall what she had said to Max earlier. “I thought that he was more upset about the threesome because I was included.”

Harper nudged Sawyer with her shoulder. “He would of preferred if it had just been him and Zach.”

“But— it fits Max well? Doesn’t it?” Harper raised her eyebrows as she interlaced her hands together, stretching her arms forward. She brought her shoulders up to her ears as she laughed lightly. “I’m sorry Max. It’s just so hard not to.”

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Distressed ™

OUTFIT: Zach's Jacket: who wore it best?

LOCATION: Dojo Sushi

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Harper Dazzle
Sawyer KingofAesir

tags

TL;DR
Oh boy

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

I don't know how I would even start.

"He has separate--"

Sawyer forgot the word and dropped the sentence, but Max put the pieces together. Separation anxiety.
Don't all dogs kind of have separation anxiety? Max had never had a dog of his own, but it sure seemed like that sometimes.
Anyway, what a bullshit excuse for violating the rules. Max gave an indignant roll of his eyes but ultimately gave up trying to push the issue. What was he going to do, write a note and tattle to the manager? He wasn’t that kind of a jerk. Uptight, maybe, but not a snitch.
Besides, Sawyer was a force of her own. She did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. It would have been aspirational if her antics hadn't almost gotten them all killed last week.
Max wasn't over that. Maybe he’d never totally let it slide, but he felt it was better to pretend like that whole thing never happened. Right now everyone seemed mostly themselves, and that was more than he could ever ask for. They were all still here, still okay… things were alright. No need to drag up anything that would overturn the peace.

Harper reached out and tapped Max’s untouched menu.

“You should pick something out that you like too.”

Max nodded hesitantly, hands tensing as he went back to the pages.
He really didn’t have any preferences or want anything in particular.
Food didn’t interest him like it used to, but he wasn’t about to admit that openly… they might get the wrong idea. Wrong idea about what? He didn’t know. Just the wrong idea.
Anyway, it couldn’t be that hard to just pick something he could eat and continue the afternoon like normal, but he quickly found himself drowning in the list.

Just pick something.
Anything.
Come on, it doesn’t matter. Just something.
You’re being so fucking weird.

It felt like barely five seconds had passed before their waiter arrived.

Harper asked if he needed more time, Max quietly nodded yes and proceeded to ignore the whole exchange. By the time he looked back up, Harper looked a little put out. Rude waiter? He had to assume, but she said nothing and he didn’t ask, instead giving a wince and a shrug that turned into a very small “Sorry.” It was just an expression of sympathy, but something about his face made it almost look like a personal apology. As if somehow he had something to do with whatever just happened.

Sawyer was quick to lighten the mood, though. Well, lighten in that characteristic Sawyer fashion where she just completely short-circuited his whole brain. The tall blonde really had a talent for that. She didn’t even need to finish signing the word ‘boyfriend’ before Max’s eyes flashed with half fury and half panic and he swiped his hand to cut her off. "NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"
This was very clearly more than a playful ‘stop it’, though. He was serious.
Harper had quipped along, probably before she saw that he was taking this much harder than intended. She’d never poke at a sore spot… that just wasn’t who she was. It wasn't who Sawyer was either. She definitely didn't mean it like that.

"Stop. Enough. None of that!! NO!!" He thrust his hands to the side violently enough to almost tip him straight out of his chair.
"Harper, not you too! You know!! You were there!! I didn't want to swap clothes with Zach!! I didn't even know that was what we were doing!!!" The joke seemed to have struck several nerves. No one had any reason to know the extent to which the threesome rumor affected him, but Max was genuinely shaken by the allegation that he was in an intimate relationship with Harper and Zach. Not just because his family actually believed it, but…
There were a couple of reasons, none of which he was entirely secure in. It just hurt.
“Not funny. Knock it off. Both of you.”

Looking around, he saw he'd attracted some odd looks from the other patrons of the restaurant. He cringed back, suddenly flustered and helplessly grasping for a different approach.
"I just-- Zach's jacket. I'm just keeping it around because I have to return it. He won't drop by, so I just have it if I run into him… also, it's cold. I mean not really, but-- never mind. I haven't had time to do my laundry, so this was the only clean thing…"
He trailed off with no intention of finishing the thought.
It really did look like he was trying to make excuses to cover something else.
...in a way, he kind of was. Max had more than enough time to wash his own jackets over the last week. All he had was school and work, and the rest of that time he'd just been lying on his bed staring at the ceiling and wishing he was tired enough to just sleep until his next necessary task.
He hadn't even forgotten. Max had a problem with forgetting things, but that wasn't the problem he'd been having lately.
He hadn't had the energy; the basic motivation to do the bare minimum.
And besides that, Zach's jacket was... more than that, right now. Another thing he didn’t think he could ever fully put into words.

“But— it fits Max well? Doesn’t it?”
Max’s heart just about stopped. He turned a deep shade of red, raised his hand only to grasp wordlessly and drop it limply back onto the table. He slid back in his seat and half hid his face in his hands. His light blue eyes turned glassy as if he were about to start tearing up, but eventually he just started laughing. He felt certain he'd just invented a whole new emotion and he wasn't sure if he liked it or wanted to drop dead on the restaurant floor.
Oy, vey.
Fuck.
He had no reason to be this flustered over something so harmless.
“I... it doesn't fit that well-- I mean... whatever. It’s fine.”

He really needed to stop saying that. It was getting really old.

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

As Lemon stared at the line for the ice cream a small frown had formed on her face, she had wanted more. Not that she needed it, but she had study and earned herself a second scoop. But her heart felt low because the lone was so long and she didn’t want to wait, she knew her dad had wanted her home at a certain time to help with the whole moving process of Orlando. Not that she really wanted to help her cousin, but family duties were a priority. As she messaged on Twitter Hayden had offered to let her stand with him, and though it would upset others he was being nice, and she could buy his scoop or scoops? Would he want more than one? But she could buy their scoops. Her eyes looked to Kat, “I’m going to get another scoop. I’ll be back.” She gave a smile before she looked through the line for the brunette boy.

When her eyes landed on him, she smiled and walked up to him, giving him a small tap, “Hey, umm mind if I join you? Ice cream is on me?” she held up her lemon covered wallet. Hayden was nice to her and she really liked his attitude, plus he had wanted to hang out and she had a free moment for him. No studying, no physics, and ice cream. It was a great way to become better friends. Well she at least hoped he considered her a friend because she considered him one.

Sure, she hadn’t hung out with him much, but she really couldn’t not without raising suspicion of her father. Or without feeling obligated to tell her family that she was making friends with a boy. She hated the questions; she hated the concern in their eyes. It was something she didn’t want to see; she wanted her parents to trust her. She knew the rules. Her eyes kept on Hayden as she stood with him. He was so easy to talk with, and to also practice flirting and all those things that most teens did years prior. So Lemon was glad that Hayden, even though unknowingly made her feel like she wasn’t a social outcast when it came to flirting. Or even just talking with someone who was cute. He didn’t hold the intimidation that Kat seemed to have, well at least in the eyes of Lemon.

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

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Wakin'upinthamornin... thinkin' about so many thiiiings

LOCATION: Nils' Car

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

I'm being pulled in a new direction

Peter froze up with a pained "ooh..." As Nils buckled under the weight of his duffel bag. Really, he should've expected that. The bag probably weighed as much as the boy himself did. "Sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Jesus, are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse Pete.”

Nils' comment got a nervous giggle out of Peter as the smaller of the two hurried over to pop open the trunk. "Right? I mean... I'm only gonna be gone two days. I probably didn't need my computer, my homework, and like... basically all of my clothes." He smiled the same pressed smile his mother had as the second bag went in and the trunk slammed shut. "Mothers, right? I don't know if she thinks I'm doing a photoshoot or if she thinks I'm going to pee my pants every single day of this trip." His laugh faded into a sigh and he propped an elbow on the door. "They really love me."

Once inside the car, though, he seemed to perk right back up. This really was probably the most exciting thing he'd ever done-- here he was on the precipice of being marginally independent for a whole 48-ish hours. This was monumental.
Well, monumental to a sheltered suburban teen. He had a very low bar for thrills.

Peter had mentally steeled himself for the onslaught of flirtatiously-angled ribbing Nils bestowed on him every chance he got, but absolutely no man nor god could have prepared him for the latest accosting.

“How was school? How’s your boyfriend Graham?”

In the silence that followed, one could have heard a pin drop or a blood vessel burst.

Boyfriend Graham?
BOYFRIEND GRAHAM!?
Boyfriend.
Graham.

A long and painfully awkward moment went by as Peter stared thoughtlessly into the invisible abyss.

"My friend Graham is doing great!" The emphasis on the word 'friend' was as painstaking and precise as if he were trying to teach a foreign language. He grinned, but it did nothing to conceal the fact that he was shaking like a chihuahua, leg bouncing at the speed of sound. "School is pretty okay! I mean it's great! The moss project got an 89, which i mean, like, that's a pretty good grade! We did good. Real good. Super good." His hand cycled through just about every gesture of approval in his cultural zeitgeist.

Nils was something akin to a defibrillator. The shocks he delivered were viscerally agonizing, and yet gave an undeniable burst of life. A weird analogy that Peter thought of but was way too apprehensive to put out into the world.

He instead scrambled his social chessboard and tried to change the subject.

"What's up with you? I mean, the Apple Festival is coming up-- like, do you usually go to that? I mean... uh... who doesn't like apples? Apples are pretty great." He didn't know what language he was speaking anymore. "I like the kettle corn." He almost said kill me now. Kettle corn was the closest appropriate approximation of those syllables that his brain would sputter out.

code by valen t.

 

[PenguinFox]

In the time since the adventure at Hawking House Lulu had never felt more imprisoned in her entire life. Getting home so late with torn up clothes was cause enough for grounding, but the lying to her mother's face was far more egregious. While Amalia Woods had no concrete evidence that Lulu had not done a photoshoot she didn't really need it. She assumed her daughter lied to her and that was enough. Lulu was not to leave the house for any reason besides school for three weeks, and two of those weeks would be without her phone. Most of the time the girl spent on the upper floor of the house. Other than the kitchen, dining room, and sunroom she had everything she truly needed was on the second floor. Her room, her father's study, and the spare room that her parents allowed her to use for any various art project she was working on were all upstairs. It was very convenient for avoiding her mother. She had no reason to go upstairs herself and Lulu wanted to keep a safe distance from her at all times. The Woods girl was not good with confrontation and yelling; tending to shut herself in the prison of her own mind and break down externally. It wasn't a guarantee that her mother would yell at the sight of her but Lulu didn't want to take the chance and make things worse.

Most afternoons Tallulah spent reading and painting, evenings spent sitting out on her balcony looking out into the forest or up into the starry sky. The more time that passed the more she worried about the promise she made to Graham. She still had yet to take him ice skating like she said she would, but was technically not allowed to for a few more weeks, and that was assuming that her sentence wasn't extended. She didn't want him to feel like she wasn't going to keep her promise, especially because the whole reason she was doing it was as a sort of apology. As terrifying as the thought was, she was coming to the conclusion that she would have to sneak out.

Lulu spent her whole life doing what she was told and doing the best she could to live up to most of the expectations of her. She had never really done anything like sneaking out before. Except lying to her mother's face about going to the Hawking House...now that she thought about it, maybe Sawyer was indeed having a corrupting influence like she said she would. Not that Lulu really counted sneaking out for this reason as a bad thing. Perhaps the blonde would have advice on how to sneak out?

When Mrs. Woods left the house to do some errands Lulu snuck downstairs and found her phone. There were several messages from Max but she didn't open them. She had tried to explain her thought process and the timeline but he either didn't understand or was trying to get her to tell him what he wanted to hear. The last time they interacted they kept going in circles of not understanding what the other was trying to communicate. It began to feel like he was yelling at her, and even though she knew continued communication was the only way she could set things straight she broke down. She would have to get a mediator to help her not shut down at some point, but currently she was short on time. She had no idea how long her mother would take and needed to get advice on sneaking out.

As it turned out Sawyer was a self proclaimed expert at sneaking out and Lulu had to admit, her plan seemed sound. Amalia Woods didn't really check up on her ward often and when she did it was only ever a cursory look. Using a decoy in her bed would likely be a good enough to not arouse suspicions. Once it looked vaguely as if there was a person in her bed she went out onto her terrace and climbed down.

It wasn't a long walk before Lulu was standing outside the dorms of Hartfield. She knew exactly which window to go to that was Graham's. Thankfully his dorm was on ground level. The young girl was afraid of doing damage by doing the cliché 'throw a rock at the window' so she opted for just knocking on it. This was all very exciting and terrifying for her; she was even shaking from nerves and excitement. "Graham! We're going ice skating like I promised!" she said cheerfully once the boy had opened the window. A wide grin rested on her face as she rocked back and forth on her toes. "Don't worry about skates, they have them there." Dazzle

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Wakin'upinthamornin... thinkin' about so many thiiiings

LOCATION: Nils' Car

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
TexasKingPin

tags

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

tl;dr

Peter Elliott

I'm being pulled in a new direction

"Oh! You guys have a booth! How did I not know that, oh my god, I've been going to this thing like every day since forever and like-- oh yeah no, I definitely knew about the booth. Whoops." Peter had once again started talking before he started thinking, and his eyebrows contorted as if that would assist in recalibrating. "Riiight. It's like... not... not a good brain day today." Even he didn't know what he meant by that. He prayed to whoever or whatever was listening in on his thoughts that Nils wouldn't ask.

The time it took for Nils to breathe out a sigh and readjust in his seat felt like a lengthy intermission: enough time for Peter to lace his fingers in his lap, straighten his spine, and think nice normal boring thoughts as he watched the trees rush by through the window.
Parish Point, in spite of all its oddities and quirks, was beautiful. Sometimes it felt like its own little world, perhaps just because it was the borders of Peter's own experience. Well, he'd been other places: the next town over where his dentist's office was, Boston a couple of times, a few vacations. But those were all just part of the same upper-middle-class social performance that he practiced day in and day out at home, so it hardly felt like an exploration. This short adventure across town felt like the farthest he'd ever reached.

But before he could relish that moment any longer, Nils was done sighing and continued

“I think I’m gonna take my camera to the festival, I might need a handsome assistant though to help me.”

'handsome assistant' knocked the wind out of Peter for a moment, but that was more the kind of thing he'd prepped himself for. The polite smile only wavered into distress for maybe half of a second. Because, hey-- photography was something he could handle. He wasn't a photographer per se, but he took the class in school and he could manage his Instagram account okay, so that was something at least. Nils always had an air of cool confidence, which made Peter's gut instinct to believe that he had a BFA. Was photography something one could have a degree in or was it more like a certification thing? Peter didn't know if photographers really needed a degree. His parents always said that Art Majors were just the long and expensive road to being a stripper.
Peter didn't think that was true, but he found he had no solid argument as to why so he never argued the point. Not that he ever argued with his family about anything. It wasn't like he was scared of them or anything, but he'd sort of grown into a philosophy of not pushing any boundaries. With anyone. Ever.

"Oh yeah! I could totally definitely help. Photography is the other honors class I take. The other... other other one is History, but that's like, uh, less relevant. Anyway, I totally understand like angles and lighting and stuff, or even if you just want me to carry your equipment, I could..." Peter made a framing gesture with his hands, eyes sparkling with a sort of confused excitement. "Yeah."

He very deliberately chose to ignore the handsome part.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: concerned

OUTFIT: Black hooters top, black jeggings and black sneakers

LOCATION: town center/green

basics

MENTIONS:
NA

INT:
r e i (isa)

tags

TL;DR Walking through town, dissociated

tl;dr

Maxine Rhodes

she wears darkness, like some wear the little black dress

Maxine hadn’t been up to much the previous week, she had gotten a job at the Hooters outside of Parish Bay. They only would hire her as a bus ‘boy’ as she was too young to work the floor as a waitress. Maxine’s life has been rather… Quiet… To say the least. A couple gross men hitting on her, it wasn’t anything different than what she was used to. The same thing would happen in the apartment complex she lived in.

At least she was safe at work.

Maxine only worked the morning shift that day, and she happened to be walking home from it. Or well, at least walking back into the town center. She didn’t exactly plan to go home; the day was barely started.

Headphones blasted panic at the disco as she walked through the center of Parish Point. Her hair pulled back into a high ponytail, a black hooters top that was a size too small with long black skinny jeggings. Maxine walked with a purpose through town, she wasn’t about to be stopped even if she had no idea destination in mind.

Maxine’s thoughts were convoluted, she was worried about her mom, it had been almost two whole weeks since she saw her last. As far as Maxine knew her mom had been showing up to work at least, since the diner hadn’t called to ask where she was. Then again, she could have easily given up her shifts to Josie, like she always did when she was on a bender. How so many people could let her get away with her actions, Maxine couldn’t understand.

But— at the same moment. Maxine was worried.

She wanted to know where her mom was, she wanted her to come home. Even if she was only passed out on the couch. She just…. Missed her…

A flash of black caught Maxine’s attention out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly on her heal, spinning around to see the back of a familiar head running across the town green. It had been almost two weeks since Maxine had heard from Isa. She had gone completely radio silent. It was rather normal for her to do so, but not usually without saying something to Maxine first.

Maxine pulled her headphones out of her ears and quickly stuffed them in the front pocket of her jeans. “Isa!” She called out.

Isa didn’t turn around; in fact, she ran faster. What Isa was running from this time, Maxine didn’t know. But if she was running, it was likely for a good reason.

Maxine pushed off the ball of her foot, chasing after Isa. Maxine moved quickly, dodging the crowds of people who were out of a nice fall stroll through town. Finally, Isa was within her grasp, reaching forward she grabbed Isa by the wrist.

Isa swung around, fist raised, before she saw it was just Maxine. “Isa. What the fuck.” Maxine whispered harshly, before she dragged her off behind one of the shops buildings. “Who are you running from?”

code by valen t.

 

[Kyon]

ARLO BAILEY

Arlo rests his forehead on the steering wheel of his Honda Civic. His cupholders both have empty coffee cups and his floor is littered with trash. On his dashboard is a little bobblehead of a Hawaiian man playing a ukulele. The dashboard is sticker-bombed with colorful, goofy stickers that he found on Amazon. In his back seat is a guitar case about the size of a ukulele. That's Arlo's travel guitar that he brings everywhere in case he's hit with inspiration. He lets out a deep breath and clears his throat and leans back in his seat. He puts his hands on top of his head and stares out of his windshield. His face is expressionless and forlorn. He takes a good hard look at himself in his rear view mirror. Arlo's eyes are blank and cold. "I need a break," he whispers to himself. A break from what? He doesn't feel like he's done anything new or fulfilling at all in years. "A break from doing nothing. Why do i still waste all my time?"

"Ughhhh." Arlo buckles his seat belt and puts his car into drive. He needs something for his sorrows. Then it's straight to work, whatever that means. Apparently Spooning just reopened, which is fantastic. Self-indulgence is the key to finding happiness. At least for the moment. Arlo connects his phone to bluetooth and blasts some pop-rock at full volume until he arrives at Spooning. As he pulls into a parking spot, he respectfully turns the volume down so he doesn't bother anyone else at the shop. He takes his time before going into the store. He surfs Twitter for a hot minute and quickly becomes distracted from the task at hand. The corners of Arlo's lips finally curl upward at the corners as relatable memes reach his eyes.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: oddly happy

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Zach's house

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Zachary Lee

Surf's up.

“...As long as I’m with you.”

Her voice faded, some way like ice in a cold drink. With a confusion strong within him, he shrunk back imperceptibly from her on them.

“What are you going on about not liking pretentious architects-” He teased, evading the forefront of his invisible flinch. Relentlessly, the words still got to him, and he had a beating moment where a light spade of flush read over his face.

His tongue flicked against the side of his cheek, “Baby, that’s an insult. I am the pretentious architect.”

Less than an hour had passed as they roomed under the hills of daisy white blankets, beneath the world of where light was thickly unforgiven and they were disquietly laughing casually while enthusiastically shifting. For what feels like a millennium, Zachary Lee was miraculously on a feeling that the fourth of July had come early; there were fireworks in his chest as he felt Tatum’s heart thumping just as willingly against his. The back of the ground was soft like a lawn against his heavy head.

“I could stay like this forever too,” he said, with a broad stare and sparkle in his eyes that consumed her dark pupils. His thumb idly caressed her cheekbone. Under the surface, he was desperate to hold onto this feeling. If it were like catching fireflies, would it all be gone tomorrow? Marauding pride, he improvised,“But- I am going to cook for us-”

Try, anyways.

He was always going to take risks when it came to impressing Tatum Browne.

With a waywards grin, he spoke, “Come watch me. I can become a pretentious cook too. Chef Lee, has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Abstractly, he pulled himself up, throwing the blankets over his heads. Standing up with a disarray of parted gold hair over his untired blue eyes, he stretched in a sparse arch. His spoor of steps, a couple out her direction, stopped so he could part his lips and say, “Actually, no.”

“I’m not going alone over there, and I’m not leaving you alone here.”

He did that too much lately.

“You’re coming with me, Tatum Browne.” He rejoined back over to her, rooted with his words, and offered her a hand. Enclosing their knuckles together, he led them to the kitchen. Picking up his father’s apron and through manual struggle, he tidied it behind his back. It was a bland work that slid onto him with vanity. He stared at the counter, then the white towels, and then flickering from the coordinated cupboards.

“What do you want on the menu?” he inquired, rubbing his elbow. Cheekily, he needlessly flirted,“Except, me and you of course.”

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.

Meera Desai

It was them against the big mighty deep.

Her mousy brown hair shone brighter than the midway sun and stretched as long as the distance they had sailed on the maritime Atlantic. The water flowed simply when it was this free, each curl of water soaring with it’s own foaming wings, and striking out against both the grey rocks and ivory clouds. For Meera, everyday had been similar to the next- it was nondifferent. The rhythm of life she used had become dull and overhard, so right now, the ocean was her escape room.

It was magnificent.

She had imagined this many times over in her dreams, but in reality it was ever delectable and memorable. The ripe yellow sun atop the high-grade motion of down and up of blue, created ornamental jewels that made something so deep and limitlessly empty crystalline. It was globe-spanning, with a deluxe hint of foreign. It was picturesque, a getaway around the world. In the midst of Toothrot’s unspoiled rowing, she was grandly and bashfully smiling.

It was Meera’s mainstreet to keep conversations going in her quirky octaves. It had been her happy habit.

“So, I was abandoned,” she said to the trio, in the middle of a story on her wooden seat on deck. She passionately slammed her fist into her palm, “My mom said wait in line, I just have to get one more thing from the fruit aisle, and then the line moved up and it was our turn. The cashier looked at me.”

She noticed the blond who went by French; he looked at her with some theme of appeal.

“So, so-I looked back at him too. Like, Like this-!” She resolutely imitated the expression to the blond, two fawn eyes unblinking and wide-eye bright. Then, she gave a soft smile, and turned to the quiet brunette who had been slipping his afternoon to her stories.

It was also a curse.

One second of looking askance unintentionally, and you could be throwing yourself off the edge of the boat into the hungry raging water thundering beneath. From the sheer disadvantage of being too comfortable and rollicking without precaution, it was true. Meera Desai did knock herself off the boat. Her disgraceful arms recklessly tipped her gone like doomsday on the horizon, and the adventurous world that was once waiting to be explored, was put on pause for another second. She was a girl overboard.

“The term is overboard, right?!” She shrieked after a plucky cry, a taste of seaweed distinctly on her tongue.

Those were the only words that instinctively and mundanely left her mouth. As the waves dysfunctionally tickled her breathing, she began regretting the choice, which for someone so singularly competitive for adventure was new. Eagerly, she fought to keep her head above the water, swishing water in her mouth. A true headache spurred in tow. The panic began to develop in the pit of her stomach, adding weight to her sink, letting the waters pull her down with ease. She wanted to regret the choice, but nothing can be done, because she didn’t. She couldn’t regret it. Her eyes start to wearily blink, and she sucked in a breath to hold. Suddenly, it wasn’t so bad. It’s calm. Underneath the water was something that would make her do it all over again. It was the first blue that gave her a sign that this year would be more human and alive than she’s ever had. Like this was her first birthday, the water wrapped her up in its arms, coaxing her thin but graciously flexible limbs to swim. The once angry waves calmed to a gentle touch. Now, being overboard didn’t seem too bad.

All she would have to do is swim to the surface. Could she do that?

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Back to our regularly scheduled panic

OUTFIT: Can't Have Nice Things

LOCATION: The Parish Point harbor

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Stu Dede
Meera lion.
Herman

tags

TL;DR Meera is drowning and Oliver is freezing up and not being very helpful

tl;dr

Oliver Dreyfuss

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

The joys and thrills of the open harbor were snatched away in an instant by a heavy splash off the starboard side. Oliver's first instinct was to flinch away from the splash and cover his ears, but when his eyes flicked to the side, Meera was out with her head just above the water, her arms thrashing the surface as she seemed to bob up and down, lower and lower into the waves each time. She cried out something Oliver didn’t understand, and then she dropped below the surface, visible only in blurs of colors a foot or two under the rippling waves off the boat.

His slow reaction time caught up: Meera had fallen over the side of the ship. Meera wasn't swimming back. Meera was drowning.

Oliver's heart seemed to sputter and he grabbed Stu by the arm to point him towards what happened, but he pointed and made no sound: the vocal folds of his throat had given out and left him yet again with only silent and shallow gasps.
Then there was nothing but the empty space next to him, the icy saltwater that had splashed over the side of the boat onto his shoes that was now bleeding into his socks, the ringing sound in his ears, and no Meera. Oliver's hand fell away from Stu and he froze up.

In the seconds that followed, so many things happened that Oliver had no chance to register all of them, and his brain, immediately flooded and overwhelmed, chose to shut him down instead... pulled away into threads of disconnected ramblings that weaved and braided into each other as the whole world became nothing but a dizzying blur in his periphery, suddenly feeling as though he were underwater as well, watching everything happen from below.

Drowning... drowning he knew about. He knew very much about drowning, actually. He spent so much time reading about sea turtles and the oceans they inhabited that he couldn't help but be keenly aware of the perils of aspirating water.

Drowning can occur in just ten to twelve minutes.
With a single explosive exhalation and rapid inhalation, sea turtles can quickly replace the air in their lungs, preventing drowning--
Drowning can occur after inhaling less than a quarter of a cup of water, even less for children…
Meera is a child…
Meera is dying
But the Atlantic is cold.
Cold.
The breath-holding ability of sea turtles is affected by activity and stress, which is why turtles quickly drown in shrimp trawlers and other fishing gear--
The Atlantic is very cold.
Leatherback sea turtles are so successful at regulating their body temperature that they have the ability to maintain a constant body temperature of up to 18 degrees above or below the ambient temperature.
Cold water slows the heart rate and tightens the capillaries, forcing blood flow towards the heart and lungs. This can give more time, if--
Meera is dying
Still dying

Oliver wasn't a strong swimmer. There was absolutely no way he'd be able to pull Meera back to the boat himself, and even in his blind panic, he knew that. The only thing he could do was alert the only adult aboard... but unfortunately, that was past the extent of his grounding in the situation. He found himself unable to speak up or reach out to get the janitor's attention.

He seemed to be trying to say something now, but produced nothing but a panicked groan in the back of his throat. At some point he must have been biting his hands: his right hand was dripping trickles of blood and his left was still drawn up by his face, now drumming his temples like he had been earlier in the day. His white fingers tapped one after the other down from the tops of his ears to his cheekbone, his eyes forced shut and mouth still stammering out incohesive and barely audible jumbles of half-words and meaningless sounds.
Oliver's underdeveloped ability to handle crises led to him omitting fight-or-flight altogether and simply shutting down instead. He'd entered a state much the same as he had when they had to unstrand a whale from the shore; losing awareness of his surroundings and moving only in small repetitive self-regulating motions. This response actually had some uses: to start with, Oliver was neither a fighter nor an effective runner. He had his knife, but that was only a last-ditch defense he used in situations where he'd effectively already lost. And as for running, he was far too off-balanced and uncoordinated to get very far. But if, for example, he had to hide away in a small space for hours on end to escape someone's potentially violent wrath, he was very well adapted to that.
But for a situation like this, where time was of the essence and a capable swimmer was needed, Oliver was all but fucking useless.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: ???

OUTFIT: Outfit

LOCATION: In Spooning

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
@Taco (Michael)

tags

TL;DR ice cream

tl;dr

Hayden Anderson

you get what you give

Hayden had been rather enthralled within the menu ahead of him, there was only five people left. How this line had gone on for so long. People had obviously missed the ice cream parlor. Hayden had been trying to convince Lemon to join him in line, since she wanted another scoop of ice cream and the line out the door was rather intimidating. He hadn’t expected her to actually take him up on the offer, Lemon didn’t seem like the type to break the rules, and that was something that got instilled in elementary school as the worst thing you could do to someone. Not that Hayden thought anyone would truly care if Lemon stepped in front of him. Heck there had been someone behind him that decided they didn’t want to wait for ice cream, she could just take his spot in line if she decided to ‘break the rules.’

Hayden smirked, chuckling to himself. It was only when he felt a small tap on his bicep that he was brought back to reality. Now only three people were left ahead of him. “Hey, of course you can join me.” Hayden looked at the lemon covered wallet and just dropped his chin with the biggest smirk on his face. “That is the most adorable thing I have ever seen, Sour.”

Hayden hadn’t seen Lemon in person, since the beach party besides when they would pass each other in the halls. Though they had talked quite a bit on twitter and have tried to work together to figure out what was going on with Oli. Hayden didn’t know the kid well, but he seemed to have something going on that he wasn’t letting anyone know about. Hayden was sure that Oli should have stayed in the hospital longer than he was. When he dropped him off, he seemed way worse off than Oliver was now acting.

“How’s studying going? Physics is the literal worse, I don’t know how I even passed last year.” Hayden stuck his hands into the front of his pockets, shrugging his shoulders high up to his ears. “Is Kat a good teacher?” Hayden didn’t know Kat very well, the most he really knew about her was that she was related to Ben and was now cheering for Parish Bay.

The line moved up again, and Hayden looked back up to the menu. “How was the butter pecan? Best you’ve ever had?” Hayden raised his eyebrows chewing on his bottom lip. “I think I might get the mint chip.” Lemon had offered to pay for Hayden’s ice cream in exchange

code by valen t.

 

[r e i]

ISABELLA ALEJA EDISON-ROSE

mood: angry and tired + location: hiding with maxine + outfit: xxx + tags: Elf_Ruler Dazzle

Isa was tired, but she kept running. She didn't want to get caught by the cops, she of course didn't have anything that could make this even worst but the cops in this town never liked her anyway. Maybe it was because she wouldn't rat out her supplier nor would she rat out other drug dealers which they first arrested her when she was around 12 years old. The main reason for that is that her own foster brother was one of the dealers in this town, another reason is that if she talks, she's dead. The people she works for, are the type of people who would hold a grudge if she would to even think about opening her mouth. She has too many people she cares about, that would be targeted if she opened her mouth so she kept her mouth shut. Ever since then, they have been itching to get her for any little thing that they could have. She doesn't particularly wants to spend the night in jail so she keeps running. She hears someone calling her name.

Isa thought it was the cops calling her name, so she ran faster. She thought she was free and clear, but someone grabbed her wrist turning her around. She raised her fist immediately, about to punch the living daylights to who ever grabbed her when she looked and saw that it was Maxine. "Shit. " She utters as she brings her arm back down. She was breathing heavily, her fight or flight instincts coming into play instantly. Maxine drags her away behind a shop building, Isa lets her to the fact that she really really just wants to fucking stop running for a minute and rest. Once they are fully hidden, she leans against the wall and looks down. "Cops. I um...kinda used a soccer ball to smash a cop car window, and they saw. I was originally aiming for the chief though. " She just groans and kicks the wall. "I just ran, I'm heading towards Tums but I left my phone and everything at Lucky's apartment because I didn't want to be fucking bother." She hears shouting and groans again "I don't want to fucking go to jail right now. Damn it. Fuck. I'm so fucking tired. "

That was the truth, she was so tired. Isa had disappeared these last two weeks because she was tired. She didn't want to be found, she wanted to disappear and be left alone. It wasn't like she didn't just leave without anyone with a clue of where she could be. Maxine knew that if she needed to find her in a pinch that she was at Lucky's most likely. Only a few people knew of her connection with the boy, and that was because of her. Her and Lucky's relationship was a complicated one, one that started in the darkest of times. Memories that she didn't want to talk about again, and ones she would have to explain if she told anyone about him. So she asked him to keep it a secret. She only told Maxine, because if she couldn't find her, she could at least go to him. The girl was her little sister, and her family. She needed to make sure she was ok, seeing a lot of herself in Maxine. Isa just looked at Maxine. Anyone who knew Isa and like really knew her, could see that she hadn't slept and that she was stressed out. She just wanted to stop running.

"Sorry for almost punching you. Kinda thought you were a cop and like I said, I have no intention of going to jail right now. Especially not today, not in the greatest of moods. "

coded by natasha.

 

[Kyon]

ARLO BAILEY

Arlo scrolled through a couple more tweets before finally getting bored and locking his phone. He took out his keys and simultaneously unbuckled his seatbelt. When he got out of his car, he noticed the massive line trickling out of the entrance of Spooning. "Oh jeez..." he sighed. He threw his hands into his pockets and made his way to the end of the line. A few familiar faces from school stood ahead of him. He kinda hoped nobody would go out of their way to talk to him so he didn't have to put the energy into a smile and conversation. At the same time, he wished someone would ask him about his day. This internal conflict kept him longing for friends and yet continuing to distance himself. He didn't mind the peace and quiet that comes along with avoiding new relationships and drama, but he always craved the sort of friendships you see in the movies and shows. Those shows where a group of best friends get a bite to eat every day at the same café and talk about the latest drama or their next adventure. Arlo had always wished for a movie life.

As he stood in line, Arlo noticed the smiles and laughs of couples and best friends as they conversed. God, if only his forsaken charisma would allow him to spark up some conversation with strangers and make some new beginnings. 'How does my dad always manage to do this every day?' Arlo's dad is a salesman, the epitome of charisma and sparking conversation. They could be anywhere, be it a store or a library, and his dad would be there chatting some random dude's ear off for what seemed like forever. Just ahead of him in line was a cute girl, so Arlo thought he might practice on her. He took a deep breath; his palms and forehead began to perspire. ~Anxiety~ An icebreaker or a conversation starter, anything just to get the ball rolling. Blanks were drawn at every corner of his mind. If someone were to start a conversation with Arlo there would be no issue. Arlo is actually pretty good with conversation, but starting one with a stranger is just completely hopeless for him. His head fell low and his gaze moved to the ground.

Then, as if sent to him by God in that moment of stress, a crisp, golden opportunity presented itself to Arlo. The girl's shoe was untied! 'Oh my god, perfect!' It was so simple. A solid excuse to talk to her without it sounding or being weird. Sometimes, life just works out. "Excuse me," Arlo began, tapping the cute girl's shoulder. She turned around to face Arlo with a wide eyed look of curiosity. "Your shoe's untied." Arlo put on one of those closed eyed smiles that you give when you're trying way too hard to be friendly and pointed downward. 'Hell yeah! I'm in.'

The girl let out a soft smile and replied, "Oh, thanks!" She bent down to tie her shoe. "No problem," said Arlo. Once the girl tied her shoe, she turned back around to face the store, acting as if Arlo didn't exist anymore. Arlo's face froze with that smile for a moment before slowly turning to a frown. His head hung low again. 'That didn't get me anywhere,' thought Arlo in disappointment. Hopefully one of these days he'll figure it out.

 

[ALittleRedLie]

Winnie always took her time when it came to getting ready. He had told his twin sister that she looked okay in what she was wearing when they arrived at their house. A bright yellow tracksuit getup, but she insisted and changed. Now he sat in his car, waiting for her to get the hell out, so that they could go. He didn’t feel like talking to his mom at the moment, she had said some hurtful things about his pansexual sister to him before they had left and he had attempted to defend his twin, but in turn his mother had said some hurtful things to him.

It isn’t for another seven minutes before Winnie finally steps out of their two-story house. Chance abandons his scroll through twitter as she gets into the car, throwing a duffel bag into the back seat. You owe me $30. His sister says and he scoffs, the tweets between her and Oliver coming up in his mind.

He pulls out of the driveway and makes his way towards the beach, driving a little bit over the speed limit. Winnie doesn’t complain, but he can tell she’s questioning why he was in such a rush. He drops her off at the beach in record time and sped down to the grand reopening of the ice cream shop. And now he was the one taking his time.

He sat in the parking lot facing Spooning. His mind goes over the past few days he spent with his sister in Orlando. Chance was not ready to come home to Parish Bay. The trip he and Winnie took down to Florida was a break from the constant façade he had to put up when around his peers or his mother. Granted, he wouldn’t have to hide much if he told his sister. But he was scared. How does one go about telling someone else that they’re…gay? Bisexual? He wasn’t even sure, so maybe he was overthinking things.

But as he hurried to the ice cream parlor because he heard that he would be there. It was confirmed that Chance wasn’t overthinking things. He liked a guy. He had practically thrown out his sister when they arrived at the beach before leaving her to get to his true destination. Sure, he was still putting up a façade, but for now he was exploring things.

The smile on his face is luminous and is so easy for him to put on as he tries to give himself a pep talk in his car. Chance was a 6’0”, 190 lbs., soccer player and track star, he had the confidence of super model, and the personality of an angel. Why was he so nervous? It’s not like he didn’t know how to talk to others or command the attention of a room. So why was he so nervous?

He looks around his environment and notices many people that he’s acquainted with. Chance even sees him, and his heart rate gets faster, and his palms get sweaty. You’re not asking him out, just say hi or don’t. It won’t matter!

Chance takes a deep breath, fixes his hair in the rearview mirror, and steps out of his car and towards the door of the shop. The bell dings and Chance makes a quick look over the store, for now he avoids making eye contact with anyone rather deciding to come up with some game plan while he got some ice cream.

He makes it to the end of the line ready to pay the cashier for his three scoops of rocky road, his favorite flavor. Someone calls his name from the crowd of patrons and he turns around, an automatic smile on his face.

Hey guys! How’s it going

Chance Matthews
mood: tired, nervous| outfit: XX | interactions: ALittleRedLie (Winona) | mentions: Chimney Swift (Oliver)

Winnie Matthews
mood: bored as hell | outfit: XX | interactions: free | mentions: ALittleRedLie (Chance); Chimney Swift (Oliver)

Ughhhhhh. Winnie's voice echoes across the barren beach. She was BORED. The teenager sat on the golden sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, and her body a safe distance away from the water. Win hated the water and the ocean, she barely liked the beach, but she could not deny that it was a beautiful view. So, despite her feelings, Winona could always be found somewhere around the beach, always a safe distance away from the water.

Her trip to Florida was a good pause on the life that she had in Parish Bay, she could easily find entertainment. But now?!?!? All her friends were off doing who knows what and she hasn't necessarily been in the loop, so she has no idea what's going on. Except for with Ollie, he happened to be somewhere in the ocean and there was no way in hell was she getting on a boat and floating out to her doom.

Jesus Christ, she was missing Florida and that's saying something.

Chance was able to find something to entertain him, something about ice cream. Or was it sushi? Winnie didn't know. He had offered to take her, but Winnie needed some time alone before interacting with anyone. Just for a little bit. They were only home (after driving for six hours) for a few minutes before grabbing a few essentials, doing a few chores, and heading out. They hadn’t even properly greeted their mother which Winnie knew she was going to hear about when she got home later.

Chance quickly dropped her off at the beach and left, she was sure she hadn’t even closed the passenger door all the way. But oh well, his problem now. Winnie’s car was in the shop after a little fender bender on their way back from Florida, but she didn’t have a problem walking. She ran track for six years; she’d better not have a problem with walking.

It’s another 15 minutes before Winnie decides that the overbearing silence was suffocating enough. So, while standing up to brush the sand of the back of her short brown dress, Winnie makes the decision to follow up on Chance’s offer. She’ll go for ice cream. Not sushi. (Another thing she hates about the ocean). The girl heaves the duffel bag that she brought with her over her shoulder and trudges up the small incline away from the shore.

Winona doesn’t want to be bothered on her way to the ice cream shop, so she puts headphones in, hoping that the resting bitch face that she has will deter people enough. The ballerina was the opposite of her track star brother. She couldn’t go up to people and demand attention or demand that they become her acquaintances. It’s why she had a small number of friends. She was picky and cautious. She wasn’t going to be mean, always nice to those who she considered barely acquaintances or complete strangers, but she didn’t click immediately with everyone on the first day of knowing them. It took at least two to three weeks for her to get comfortable with Ollie, not like it was easy for him to open up to her too, but beside the point.

It was easier that way. Never know who you can trust right?

It doesn’t take long for Winnie to get to the ice cream parlor. From where she stood, she could see that it was a little packed and she stops and really contemplates if she wants to go in. She can see a few people she recognizes, a few that she could call friends. And she could see some people that she had seen around the small coastal town, but never interacted with. She almost turns away, but her brother catches her eyesight and waves her in.

Fuck. She sighs out but she puts on a small smile and steps into the parlor shop. The bell over the door signifies her arrival and many people turn their heads to see who it is.

 

[Dede]

MOOD: peak stu

LOCATION: at sea

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

For someone who was stuck on a boat sandwiched by two of his worst fears, Toothrot and a girl, Stu was relatively calm.

He’d never been on a little dinghy at sea before. The result was something both claustrophobic and liberating—the perfect balance of grief and joy that held this typically excitable boy in equilibrium.

He never stopped to wonder how they stayed afloat. They were four on a boat that was as aged and tattered like the man the legend the fish himself. But the ocean was without vengeance. The waves rolled coolly and strange shadows teased the sighting of his whale friend. The breeze parted his hair the wrong way and made him squint perpetually like he’d just tasted lemon. Stu was the most awkward he had ever looked.

She had him in a trance. Mesmerised by a story of something as mundane as a supermarket visit, he only listened, incapable of any coherent response. And when mid-story she held his gaze, he simply melted like a KitKat left out in the sun.

Hers were the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen. They were dreamy opals dancing in the strong sunlight. They were even prettier than. . . than the eyes of a sea turtle!

Stu was in such a daydream that he almost didn’t notice her falling into the water. The splash made no dent in his ears. Were it not for Oliver’s trademark panicking they might have gone ashore a member short!

But now he was aware. His best friend’s panic was as contagious as any airborne pathogen that plunged whole populations into a world of lockdowns and Zoom meetings. There were stories told at school of great white spottings and of giant octopuses that feasted on unsuspecting swimmers. Stu scanned the waves for their approach. For now the Jaws and the Krakens of the sea existed only in his vivid imagination. But boy, was Stu’s imagination vivid.

Meera. . . Meera was in clear and present danger.

Without much thinking this boy-superhero made the leap of faith into the water, after the girl whom—it bears saying—he really liked a lot lot lot.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: (Splashing Sound)

LOCATION: At Sea

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Meera lion.
Stu Dede

tags

TL;DR
The kiddos are falling left and right over the side of the boat and Janitor Herman Fish Man is fishing them out

tl;dr

Fish Man & Turtle Boy

And when you're a Professional Pirate, you're always in the best of company

The unmistakable splash of a blundering teenager toppling over the side of the boat rang out into the salty winds. Within perhaps twenty minutes, the one warning they'd received had gone completely unheeded and they were jumping like rats out of a sinking ship. Only the ship was perfectly afloat, and there was simply no need to be disembarking in favor of watery doom.

"The term is overboard, right!?"

"That it is!" The man didn't at all seem to be in a panic, as if he'd been in this exact situation dozens of times. In all likelihood, he had: he carried the affects of someone who'd sailed the waters of Parish Point for centuries if not millennia. And perhaps, if there was ever an age or era when he was young, he'd have learned the ropes of rescuing wayward adolescents from a premature death at sea. Calm but quick, he stalled the skiff, pulling the oars up to turn around and look for who had tumbled into the sea.

The starboard side was missing a member. Oliver, who had just moments prior been caught up in the thrills of sailing the open seas, had crashed back into his characteristic shivering and stammering, weakly pulling at his blond best friend's arm and pointing off the side just as the top of Meera's head sank below the surface. Toothrot turned 180 degrees in a fraction of a second, pushing the boat just a half a yard closer to where she sank down and rolling up his dusty workman's sleeves. With one arm, an old gent who resembled a gnarled birch tree plunged a hand into the freezing Atlantic and hauled up a coughing and shivering but safe little Meera, as easily as if she were a slippery mackerel. And with the help of one more arm to bring her up over the edge of the ship, he gently set her on the floor of the skiff and made sure she was safely hacking up all the water from her lungs. The feats of the man who swabbed the halls and sailed the seas were extraordinary and baffling and completely beyond explanation. The Captain of the Parish Bay Pirates made the laws of reality look more like vague guidelines that were easily overstepped with a little know-how and wisdom. "Yer alright; a little dip in the sea like that never killed no one. But you'll want this, I imagine" Once Meera was breathing out more air than ocean, he shrugged off his leathery overcoat and blanketed Meera's shoulders with it. "All's well that ends well, as they say. Aye, that were one of the worst plays I ever saw..."

The tallest of the nerds was still white as a sheet and muttering nonsense, rocking back and forth on the bench and cradling his bitten and bleeding hands close to his chest. "Don't ye worry, lad. Open yer eyes, she's right as rain--" but Oliver kept twitching and stuttering, unable to cough up an audible word though he seemed to be trying to.

Luckily, the scene spoke for itself.
Yet again there were only two out of three aboard.

As the Unearthly Janitor he had turned his back to fish Meera out of the ocean, Stu went over the other side in a heroically stupid move.

code by valen t.

 

[tookamodernman]

location
the ice-cream parlor
------------------
track
freak baby
- razorbumps

ATTICUS M. FURLAN.

The bliss of summer had just passed. Running around town, laughing until his stomach hurt, hanging out with his friends. They were just memories now, it seemed. Saying goodbye to his old home was not fun for Atticus, and he would miss it. But Parish Point was his new home.

It wasn’t so bad. Though it wasn’t much, the small town had a charm about it. It wasn’t that big of a change, moving from one small place to another, but he was still getting used to it. His arms hurt from carrying all the boxes and furniture, helping his parents unpack and making their new house a home. The smell of autumn was creeping into the air he breathed, and the scent of school was overbearing. It was the last thing he wanted to think about – so much to get familiar with and, of course, all the new people. Attic had only seen people his age when exploring, but he had never actually talked to anyone.

The music blasted in his ears as he walked down the street, backpack slung over his shoulder, his board strapped to the front. He didn’t stick out among all the people he passed, but he got some looks from individuals who had obviously never seen his face before. Tired from all the work it was to move into a new house, Attic had decided to take a break and go off on his own for a while. Their home wasn’t too far from the central part of town, so it didn’t take him too long to get to the ice-cream parlor. They had driven by a couple of times while doing business around the town, and that’s how it had spotted it. Seemed pretty new, and quite lively.

As he approached and came to a halt in the back of the long queue, he kept his head down, not wanting to get any unwanted attention, his music still blaring in his ears.
.

coded by incandescent

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: way too awake for how early it is

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: greenhouse/ice cream

basics

MENTIONS:
Soap (Josie)

INT:
Kyon (Arlo)
@Open

tags

TL;DR Enjoying some new found freedom

tl;dr

Astraea Dupante

there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy....

Astraea had woken up Saturday morning with a pep in her step. She was still getting used to be able to sleep in on the weekends. And Ironically, she was so excited to be able to sleep in, she wasn’t able to. Before, when she was a student at Hartfield Academy, she was always up at five am to get to the indoor turf field for soccer, whether it was AAU or her school team. She never stopped moving, between practice and study sessions. A year ago today, she would not have had time to meet up with Josie to get ice cream, at a grand reopening of all things.

Since her excitement had gotten her up way too early, for the average teen. She would have to occupy her time with something. At least for another four hours.

Astraea has trouble getting out of the routine of needing to do her homework every second of the day. She had already finished her AP Biology homework, which was basically all repetition at this point. Hartfield had gone over this unit in a matter of a week when they had been in this unit for a month at Parish. Astraea could have probably done the work while she was sleeping.

Astraea took no time to get dressed, throwing on a pair of black jeggings and a jean jacket. Slipping into a pair of moccasins before she went running out the door. She wanted to go to one of her favorite places, somewhere she had not gotten to enjoy in quiet sometime.

She headed towards the community garden’s green house. They spent their time growing flowers for the community garden to plant around the gazebo in the spring.

As she walked into the green house, she was hit with the humid warm air the smell of plants and earth. Light and fresh, almost like she was in a-whole-nother world. Astraea felt something come over her as she relaxed into this atmosphere that felt like home. She made her way over to a white lily that was growing out of a clay pot and lightly cupped the pedals, bring them to her nose as she took in the deep sent.

If you had asked Astraea how long she had spent at the green house, she would not have been able to answer. However, what she could tell you was that a wave of hunger had finally hit her. ‘shit’ She thought to herself as she pulled out her phone to see the time was 12:04.

“Spooning opened an hour ago!” She groaned, she had meant to be there at the opening, hopefully to get to the front of the line, or in hopes of just supporting her favorite business.

---​

Astraea quickly made her way out the door, at least she had not kept Josie waiting. She had not texted her yet asking where she was, so Astraea figured she must have been running late as well. Maybe she had gotten distracted herself, just like Astraea had! That must have been it.

She found herself skipping across the commons as Spooning came into her sights. Astraea waved to a couple friends distracting herself from the oncoming traffic that was the line entering spooning. Astraea did not look forward until it was too late, she had collided with the unlucky soul who happened to be at the end of the line.

“I am so sorry!!” She blurted out once she had found her footing beneath her. Astraea looked up at the older boy, she could not recall if she recognized him or not. But— that was more than likely her own fault, her later years had been incredibly focused on school and soccer. She never really had time to meet others.

Astraea brushed a few fingers through her hair anxiously. “I am sorry if we have met before, your name escapes me if we have.” She looked at his face, trying to decipher if they had met before. “I’m Astraea!”

“Isn’t it so great that Spooning is reopening!! I can’t believe someone threw a bowling ball and wrecked the place.” Astraea bounced on the balls of her toes biting her lower lip, she looked over the boy’s shoulder hoping to get a glance at the menu. “I hope they have raspberry sorbet.”

code by valen t.