in retrograde

Robbie and some of the other firefighters had spent their morning at a local elementary school for career day. After hours of carrying kids and giving them rides on the big red fire truck, they were finally going back to the fire house for some R&R before his overnight shift. The truck stopped at a red light and Robbie peered out of the passenger window when he noticed they were at a stop next to a person he thought he recognized. “Hey! I’m off for a few hours, want to grab lunch?” @slchat​

-

Anna preferred o walk everywhere she could - leftover from growing up in Manhattan. She had never adjusted to the driving culture in LA, and when she heard a shout from a passing vehicle, she looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry?” she said, popping out an earbud, pointing one finger to her chest as she glanced around. There was no one else around, so the male hanging out the side of the passenger ruck had to be trying to get her attention. “What did you say?” 

Open Starter | @slchat When: Sometime in the afternoon  Where: Any local coffee shop or café

Writers block was a killer. Sienna could write about Asian cuisine or London scenery until her fingers were sore, but she couldn’t seem to write the kind of stuff you could make a career out of. Current events, true crime, fiction, everything else felt foreign to her. It was ironic, really, that anything could feel foreign anymore considering how much time she spent away from home. Nimble fingers hovered over the backspace key, mind scanning the word document over and over for errors missed or incorrect punctuation. Something was missing. 

“Hey,” she turned toward the person near her, voice barely above a whisper as she didn’t want to be too much of a bother. “Do you mind looking this over for me? I’m supposed to be writing this article for a local paper back in New York about pop culture and how it’s changed with the rise of social media - boring, I know, but if you could just give me your honest opinion..” 

-

Anna glanced up when she heard Sienna’s voice, tipping her head to one side. The two women had met up for coffee, deciding to do some work together at one of the cafes, falling into companionable silence. “Of course I will,” she said, holding her hand out so Sienna could slide the article towards her. “I can’t promise how much I’ll help - haven’t lived in New York for ten years now, but I’ll see what I could do. And not boring at all, don’t put your writing down like that.” 

     What Joseph said or didn’t say, when he said it, all these little details strayed so easily from his mind and memory. The edges of things frayed and the ends mixed together to create muddy middles between one thing to the next. He could have sworn he had mentioned it to Anna, but now that she was saying she hadn’t heard about it, Anna turned into somebody else in his recollection of having told someone. But whom? Who had Joseph told about The New Yorker?

Never mind, it didn’t matter because he was telling her now. He almost apologized for not saying something sooner, but as Joseph looked up form his phone, his heart swelled with gratitude when he saw how excited she was for him. He reached over and brought her in close to him, giving her a big smooch on the cheek and playfully squeezing her. “You’re too cute!” He said as he eased his hold on her, settling them into the spooning position that they were in before, but not before giving her one last sloppy kiss on the opposite cheek. This was his way of thanking her for being supportive. “It’s just something I was sitting on for a while, but finally found a way to write it. It’s not too long actually, so I can read it to you if you want?”

-

“Okay, now you’re just being cheesy,” Anna said, laughter bubbling through the words as she tried to squirm away from Joseph and the sloppy kisses he was now planting on her cheeks. “How am I cute? I’m happy for you. Any good human being would be. It’s exciting,” she added, stretching back out into her position beside him, a smile on her face as she looked over at him. “I’d love to hear it. An exclusive first reading from the author. I must really be special,” she said teasingly, reaching out to lightly tap one finger against his nose. “If you don’t mind, though. I can wait and read it once it’s published, if you’d rather.” 

Just as soon as Anna realised it was him, Ben’s smile became bright and he immediately returned the hug, pulling her in close for a moment. “Been a while, huh?” he questioned with a chuckle. He had absolutely no idea if she was still going to meetings or not, but seeing as he hadn’t been and was the actual worst at keeping in touch with people, it wasn’t going to be likely that he would know. “Yeah, likewise. Not much free time at the moment.” Although that was usually a good thing for him. “But I’m good, could go so far as to say really good,” he added with a light laugh. “How about you?”

-

“Definitely a while. Too much of a while,” Anna said, a soft smile on her face as she took him in, nodding her head slowly. “Not much free time in a beneficial way, I hope,” she added lightly. She certainly liked to be busy, but in a slow paced way, not that that made any sense to most people besides her, but she knew all to well the feeling of being busy to overwhelmingness, so she hoped that wasn’t the case with Ben. “Really good?” Anna echoed. “Well, now we really have to catch up for real. I’m good too, though. The norm, for the most part, but that’s how I like it.” 

“You said it,” Dallas concurs, with full awareness he would never say something of that nature about nature but it was nice to hear nonetheless. Different strokes for different folks and all. At the mention of gardening he makes a face like he’s been caught out, that was definitely something he fell down on and she had inadvertently reminded him that he needed to mow the lawn when he got another spare second. 

“Sounds like you got some real green fingers. My kid keeps asking to grow vegetables out back but I got no idea how that’s supposed to go.” 

Anna let out a laugh at his obvious grimace at the mention of gardening. “I try my best,” she said, shrugging her shoulders up before tucking her gloves away, brushing off her hands of any lingering dirt. “I’m more of a....aesthetic gardener, then practical, so I’m afraid I’m not much help with vegetables, though,” she admitted. The only thing she had that she could eat off of was an orange tree, and that had been there when she moved in. “You guys could learn together though, if your daughter wants to do it. Bonding experience, and all.” 

with: open @slchat​​​

where: world red cross day @ the reservoir

when: 8th may

“Your position is all wrong.” he speaks softly as he falls to his knees beside the person on the floor currently trying to pound life into their dummy, his own dummy lining up besides theirs. “Hand, goes here—” he begins, lifting his hand up to show the heel of his palm before placing it down on the breastbone of the dummy, his free hand moving to greet the other, fingers interlocking. He shifts on his knees, positioning himself with straight arms, shoulders in line with his hands before pushing down with his body weight. “You wanna get around two, two and a half inches deep.” He pushes down a few times, sound of air escaping his dummy before he lifts himself off of it, relaxing back against his bent legs to sit upright, his hand raising to signify two inches between his finger and his thumb. “You wanna try again?” 

Anna liked to be certified in CPR since she had people come into the acupuncture clinic for all sorts of health reasons, so this definitely wasn’t her first time taking one of these classes. At Lucian’s note, she looked up, her eyebrows raising. “Wait, what? I’ve taken like....four of these certification classes in the past. How has no one ever told me I’m doing it wrong this whole time?”

     A smoothie did sound appealing, but Joseph wasn’t sure how much he wanted to make one, so he stayed quiet for a moment before peering down at Anna with a wry grin. “I’m okay, but if you want one, then I guess I can make us some,” he said with faux exasperation, squeezing her hand lightly as he got up from his spot. 

When he returned to the couch, he came with their water and a bowl of fruit, all cradled awkwardly in his crossed arms. “I figured we can just snack on ‘em,” he said, picking a berry and tossing it up to catch it with his mouth. He smiled proudly at her when he did. Then Joseph reached for into his pocket and took out his phone. As he unlocked it, he told her, “I’m waiting to hear back from that guy from The New Yorker. He seemed interested in the story I was working on when I told him, so I finished it quick and sent him a final draft.”

-

“I’m fine, I’m just trying to be a good host,” Anna protested, one of her fingers holding onto one of his as he got up from the couch, tightening for a moment before she let Joseph go, shaking her head a little bit at him. When she saw him coming back into the living room after a few moments, arms full, she got up, quickly grabbing the glasses of water before he could spill them, raising an eyebrow up at him when he tossed the fruit - the proud smile was just too cute, and she couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. 

“Wait, you didn’t tell me you were sending him something?” Anna said, looking over at Joseph with wide eyes. “That’s a really great connection to have wanting more of your stuff,” she said, her tone impressed as she watched Joseph, her eyes on his face as he checked his phone, as if trying to gauge he got any news just from his expressions. “What was the story?” 

     Things being as undefined and casual with Anna as they were was enough to keep Joseph coming around. Somehow, his disappearances and days of silence didn’t seem to bother her as much as the past persons he had dated. Not that was the only thing–she was pretty, passionate, inspiring–but it certainly helped. Right now, this little fling between them was going well. Joseph had had a good week: he texted her everyday, even brought her lunch at work a few days prior, and now they sat on her couch, spooning while some show she had picked played. Their attention alternated between it and the occasional commentary and playful banter between the two.

Moving from his spot and, consequently, displacing Anna from hers once the episode ended, Joseph sat up and stretched. “I’m going to get a glass of water, you want some?” He offered, absentmindedly trailing his fingertips over her curves while he spoke and waited for her answer. // @anna-ines

-

Anna was - for the most part - content to go with the flow. She wasn’t the type of person who needed to know exactly where she stood and what was going on and what other people wanted, instead happy to let things happen and believe that at some point, it’d work out how it was supposed to. Which was sorta how things were with Joseph. They had been dating for a few months, and it was just....easy. Casual. Which Anna was always down for. 

They were curled on her couch, semi paying attention to the TV, but mostly distracted by each other, Anna shifting upright when Joseph sat up. “Yeah, I’ll take water,” she said with a stifled yawn, her hand reaching for the fingers that he was lightly trailing against her skin, intertwining her fingers with his for a moment, giving him a small smile. “I have some fruit and things in the fridge, if you want a smoothie or something instead,” she offered.

“I knew I could count on you.” He chuckled. Leave it to Anna to adopt neglected plants. “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think I could work from home. I would get bored eventually.” He admitted with a grin, shrugging his shoulders. “That’s an option but that also means I have to take pictures, get back to the messages and deal with the shipping.” Which wouldn’t be an issue if he didn’t work too much. “Six years is a long time.” Matt nodded. “Where did you used to live?”

-

“Well, you’re also an actor. Working from home fundamentally wouldn’t really work,” Anna pointed out, returning Matt’s grin with one of her own. “Plus, I have my clients coming in and out, so it’s not like it’s just me sitting at a desk. I couldn’t imagine that at all,” she admitted. A nod followed Matt’s points - it was a lot of work. “In that case, just leave them on the curb, put a post online, people will come grab it before you even turn around,” she suggested. “Rehab,” Anna replied with one arched eyebrow - it was true. She had ended up moving to Silver Lake almost immediately after leaving the in patient treatment she had undergone. “No, um. Well, yeah, but before that I was on campus at UCLA, moving around every year, if not every semester.” 

“so i have a dilemma…i want to get a tattoo but i’m absolutely fucking terrified of needles. any advice?”

@slchat​

“Deep breathing, centering yourself, practicing mindfulness and meditation so you can stay calm while they do it?” Anna suggested, shrugging up one shoulder. “Works for acupuncture.” 

for: @anna-ines​ location: outside bliss

It had been a while since Ben had been to any kind of meeting, instead losing himself in meditation and his work —- thankfully nothing too stressful right now and a project he was enjoying. Because of that, there were various people he didn’t see too often and Anna was one of them, who he just so happened to have spotted after stepping foot out of the frozen yogurt shop. It definitely came as a surprise, but he was quick in calling out to her to try and get her attention before she disappeared again. “Hey… thought I was never going to see you again,” he said with a shake of his head and a laugh.

-

Anna turned at the sound of the familiar voice, a smile spreading across her face wen she saw Ben, immediately turning on the sidewalk to greet him with a hug. She was in and out of meetings nowadays, usually going to about once a month, so she knew she missed people frequently, but it had been forever since she had seen Ben. “It’s been so long,” she exclaimed as she stepped back, a hand resting on each of the male’s shoulders as she took him in for a moment. “I’ve been busy, but around. How about you, how have you been?” 

where: silver lake meadows 

when: april 30th.

Rubbing his hands together to try rid them of excess soil as best as he could, Dallas takes the coffee he’s offered gratefully, glad to be using his day off to at least feel like he was doing something useful. He blows on the lidless black beverage as he glances around, glad that there would be something tangible that he could show his daughter in the future and say that was partially his doing. 

“Not a bad turn out,” He remarks to the person closest to him before he takes a drink. 

“Could be better, but it could be worse,” Anna commented lightly, pulling her well worn gardening gloves off of her hands as she glanced around, taking in the people. “I mean, it’s the least we can do, right? The planet gives us so much, it’s such an easy way to say thank you,” she added, a small smile on her face as she spoke, truly in her element whenever she was able to be surrounded by plants in any form. “And I’m not going to lie, it’s totally making me want to revamp my entire front garden.”