ancient history

nate: so you lost your house key?

nate: have you tried retracing your steps?

astrea: it appears that way

Though Molly rarely indulges the sentimental side of himself, he’s touched by her words nonetheless; a soft huff of amusement allowed as he spares her a dry sort of smile. “Sappy,” He chides, “though I – I mean. Thank you.” Awkward despite himself when forced to express genuine emotion; though, he does his best. You ground me, he thinks pointedly at his best friend, you make me feel whole. Unspoken gratitude exchanged in the form of his shoulder bumping against hers. Similarly to Astrea, he’s unacquainted with such an easy sort of fondness; raised to believe that the right to feelings are earned. Praise only extended if something impressive is preformed. Which, in Molly’s case, was rare in the eyes of his father; his mother a free thinking women, though she was often too involved in her own circumstances. It’s refreshing, he supposes, to know how Astrea feels. The words, “plus you’re annoying, so maybe that will snap my mom out of it,” bringing the two back into familiar territory. And Molly rolls his eyes fondly, the packed bags nudged in Astrea’s direction for approval. He snorts. “Your mother couldn’t get enough of me if she tried,” He drawls in return, “– But, maybe our combined antics will satisfy her need for attention.” Inwardly, he begins plotting; Molly’s sense for the dramatic second to none. “Even if going blind is a little extreme … how could she possibly gaze upon my face if such a terrible event were to occur? Bet she hasn’t thought of that.” With that, he lifts his shoulder in a shrug; a playful smirk pulling onto his lips. “Worse comes to worse, I read to her from one of those trashy romance novels and she makes me her new husband. Problem solved – she’ll never bother you again.” 

finding no verbal response, astrea decides to stick her tongue out at him. it’s her default that she’s taken with her from childhood. “shut up, you looooove me,” she says, puckering up her lips and making a move towards his cheek. she shakes her head and smiles, though it’s directed at the counter. molly can’t possibly know that he’s made her laugh. the nudge on her shoulder is fully welcomed. it’s an unspoken gesture, but astrea knows what he means. me too. in astrea’s family, it is better to be seen and not heard. unless you were mrs. abernathy, then by all means the louder you were the better.  it took a long time for astrea to come out of her shell, her childhood marked by silent reading time and the quiet game until she met molly. astrea remembers the day she met molly very well. he was tall and he talked a lot. intimidating but nice. she looks at him now and doesn’t understand why she was so afraid of him in the beginning. astrea examines the bags, knowing more or less that her mother would not care of their contents-- but it was the thought that counted. “you’re practically twins, i hate it” she says. astrea and her mother could never connect the way mothers and daughters should. it appeared astrea was more interested in ancient mummies than middle school boys. she snorts, shaking her head. “as soon as she sees you, she’ll claim that she can see. it’ll be a miracle. twenty bucks, i’m telling you.” astrea picks up a bag or two and sighs. “yeah but the problem with that is that you’ll be my step dad.” she visibly shudders. “and no one wants that.” 

nate: oh yeah sure thing

nate: but, how did you get locked out of your place if you don't mind me asking?

「*.: ｡☾*ﾟ s t a r t e r - 001 ; open 」 after turning down yet another of her bosses’ offer for an assistant,  sybil had gathered her things and placed her papers into her bag. she had work to submit to someone else’s assistant, and she was contented to walk the few blocks to drop it in the mailbox. she loved fresh air and she loved to wonder if the new blooms outside of her apartment recognized her after a winter of barren bark. maybe she would stop at the cafè down the block and grab some tea on the way back. she wondered if she should stop on her way there and bring the assuredly frazzled assistant some tea. it wasn’t that sybil didn’t need an assistant─she very much did─it was that she desired the clutter of time and papers that took up all the space in her apartment. she wanted to delve into character studies and research her next subject. she wanted a distraction. 

at the last moment, sybil stuffed some of the chocolate chip cookies she’d made the night before into a glass storage container, sealing the top with a pale blue lid. sending a text to tell of her departure and imminent arrival, the small beauty adjusted the bag on her shoulder and locked her apartment on her way out. the light breeze brushed her hair back as she bounced down the steps to the walkway and began her stroll.

“oh, that was your name? thanks for reminding me, beautiful.” he riposted, misplacing the book in his hands onto the cart that she was pushing, not caring much. eyes widening slightly at her verbal retaliation, he presented a dimpled smile, knowing it would get her upset even more. “woah there.. feisty, huh? i think you’re a little too loud for this job, sweetheart.” ricardo then placed the book back onto the shelf he took it from, realizing she’d be even more upset. it wasn’t like he enjoyed being an asshole to people, but his arrogant nature just rubbed off on people. “i’m trying to get a lowkey photoshoot for the gram, care to help me? i mean, ash, i know we have a weird past, but we were close friends at a point. a bond like that doesn’t just die.” he expressed, his hazel eyes meeting hers. “if anything, we can take one together..get you a couple thousand likes.”

astrea couldn’t help the frown that appeared on her face. ricardo always had a way of getting under her skin. she usually prided herself with her calm composure, but astrea knew she was actually an open book. “i know you forgot things, what with the size of your tiny brain.” she crossed her arms over torso and rolled her eyes. “you...came to the library to take pictures? but...the books?” astrea raised her eyebrows. “friends? i thought you forgot about that, too” she murmured, dropping her eyes for a few moments. astrea scowled. “no thanks, i don’t want to be seen with you.”

nick meant to take his car today, but it wasn’t that far and he enjoyed any type of exercise he could get. he had his air pods plugged in, blasting one of his favorite emo songs, a gondola ride in paris by the messenger. he has changed a lot from the person he was, but he still enjoyed his proper emo hard ass rock songs – it would probably always be a part of who he was, he loved heavy instruments being played. he’s not paying attention because he feels himself bump into someone, knocking some of their groceries to the ground. when he see’s who it is, he can’t help but feel guilty, even though it’s been years. “no… that was my fault…” he says, bending over to pick up the stuff she had dropped and placing them into her bag again. he wants to apologize for being so mean to her in high school, but he can’t get himself to do it. he’s sure she hates him and he doesn’t blame her, he definitely didn’t have the best past.

astrea straightened out her bags and looked forward, mumbling a soft thank you. she didn’t know what else to say. nick had never been kind particularly kind to her before. frankly, she never thought she’d see his face again once he dropped out of school. but of course, in a city as large as this, only astrea would run into her past bully. she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “long time...no see...” astrea murmured, raising to her feet. “um...how have you been?”

starter for @aastreaas· 

eyes fixated at the words on the page, ricardo swiped his thumb across the leather hardcover novel to get the effect that he was reading. was he? hell no, maserati’s don’t read. they get read to. and ricardo was no stranger to that. he was actually in the library to take some pictures for his instagram. as an influencer, keeping his social media up to date was important. the only thing he cared about more than his presence was his looks, and ricardo knew he looked damn good. a loud snap after three seconds of self-timer startled those in the library adjacent to the model, but he really couldn’t care less about the others, that was until he saw a shadow over him. tilting his jaw up and removing his fake glasses, he rolled his eyes. “oh, it’s you.. not surprised you’d be in a library, toots. i thought when you got hot, you grew out of your nerdy phase.” ricky stood up to face astrea, teasing smirk on his lips as he shrugged, light eyes following her every curve. ricardo thought the lady was rather beautiful, but considering their history, it’d be easier for him to be closed off. “guess looks can’t save ‘em all, huh?”

another peaceful day at the library. astrea pushed a cart of books down the aisle, content with the quiet sound of pages turning and minds working. however, her focus shifted once the sound of a snapping photo reached her ears. astrea peeked over the edge of the aisle and frowned once she realized who it was. she walked over to him and placed her hands on her hips. “astrea,” she reminded him through a fake smile. her eyes followed him up as he stood. “i work here, actually” she responded, a certain bitterness to her voice. “you’re a jerk-” astrea starts before biting her lip. she didn’t want to disturb the other people in the library. “what are you doing here?”

“𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍'𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ever listened to any of my songs? of course i’m a poet. you think i came up with the lyric “fuck that get money” without having been a poet?” he smirked. maybe that wasn’t his most profound lyric, but certainly others he’d written had been. the lyrics he’d scrawled on the wall last week were to their newest song they’d released – specifically the lyric ‘maybe i would like you better if you took off your clothes’. “i know you’re wondering what inspired that lyric. if you must know, some girl said that to me. guess she didn’t like my personality, can you believe that?” he motioned for her to follow him. “c’mon, i’ll show you my bedroom – that’s where i keep all the interesting stuff, i swear it’s not a ploy to get you in bed.” 

she sneers, her nose scrunching up in disagreement. “i was thinking of ‘you’re intertwining your soul with somebody else.’” astrea would recognize talent when she saw it, even when it came from someone like axel. blue eyes were fixated on the messy sharpie scribbled on the wall. she wondered if they ever repainted, only to mark it up again. “no,” astrea replied flatly. “don’t know why she would ever say that,” the gril responded, light steps following axel. “don’t worry. i wouldn’t find myself in your bed even if it was the last bed on earth.” she frowned. okay, maybe not her wittiest come back. “you know what i mean,” astrea muttered.