Sunflowers, Sometimes, Keep it sweet in your memory.

     ara’s hand raises to shield the summer sun from her eyes. the heat was something ara never could get used to but the iced latte in her hand was the saving grace for her at the moment. she’s raised on her tip-toes and her eyes to look over the crowded street, before back at her phone checking the time. she is early for their meet up, admittedly, but ara was too excited and knew the sunny weekend would bring out the tourists in waves so she decided early was better. she settles back onto her feet, checking on her canvas bag and the second drink she had ready for emilia settled on the curb. 

     she really did miss her friend. when they finally found the time to meet up both were dying to just hang out. they had decided to go painting, just like they did when they were a school. although ara had been studying history, emilia was the one to show her the wonders of painting. one day ara joined emilia on an excursion into the woods to find some scenery to paint and they ended up making a habit of it ever since. now, ara’s archaeological work took her around the more secluded parts of the island and she knew just the place for them.

     ara head tilts back up to scan the street and spots a familiar head of hair peaks out of the crowd. a smile blooms on ara’s face and she barely contains her excitement as she waves, “bonjour, ma chérie!”

     ARLO GRINS AT ara’s disgust, only laughing at her reaction. “what? you’re supposed to tie the stem in a knot in your mouth. proves if you’re a good kisser or not.” he laughs and wrinkles his nose. “i can’t do it very well, so… i don’t know what to make of that.” she’s not wrong in saying that everything is romantic to arlo— it’s pretty accurate, honestly. arlo finds the smallest of details to be romantic: whether it’s the breeze coming off of the ocean or the order in which someone’s fingers touch your hand as they go to hold it, there are so many things that make life romantic to him. he sighs softly and smiles at ara while she rests her head on the surface of the bar. he pauses for a moment, lips pursed before he turns behind him and pulls out a small takeaway container. he sets it down in front of her and pulls out two forks from behind the bar, then opens the container. inside is a slice of wedding cake, which mrs. sheridan had slid to him as he was running around during the cake cutting ceremony. “you have to share, though,” he tells her as he picks up a fork for himself. “and what’s the problem with finding everything to be romantic?” he retorts, head cocked to the side. “not everything, though. there are plenty of things that i find to be turn offs.”

     her eyes light up like a toddler in a candy store at the sight of the cake. she only managed to grab a small slice of the heavenly dessert earlier, which admittedly, made her slightly mopy for a few hours -- maybe it was the french in her, but pastries, and cakes especially, were her weakness and, of course, arlo just really knew the way to her heart. she picks up the fork and watches as arlo opens the container, practically giddy from the sweet smell. As soon as a piece finally lands in her mouth, she’s beaming. “of course, i’ll share!” she says, mouth full but smiling the brightest smile she could muster. it is the little things, like cake, that could just make ara feel on the moon. 

     “i never said there’s anything wrong with finding everything romantic,” she counters, booping his nose with a bit of icing from the cake. “but you really do find everything romantic...” her tone matter-of-fact and her lips press into a thin line in an attempt to be serious. “okay most things,” she finishes after a pause to deliberate, and dives in for another bite of cake. “but it’s still a lot!” she mumbles around the cake defiantly. 

 Esme was all for; fantasy, alluring- enchanting, the idea some true love exists or even a love like the other two. Yet she knew it was all fairytale mind set and she was realistic when it came to relationships, people now a days don’t do things like her minds creations. “It’s a beautiful thought, that it will eventually come. I think if you stay open to it, it surely will.” Nodding with some encouragement. “I’m Esme by the way.” The brunette offered her hand.

     “oh, yes! sorry - i’m ara,” she suddenly remembers her manners and fumbles the cup in her hands before managing to get one free to shake esme’s out-streched one. “enchanté.” she loved making new friends, but she thought herself too awkward at times. ara was grateful that esme had found her pleasant enough to introduce herself. looking around, she spots a vacant corner at the back of the café and her eyes light up. she looks back at esme with a warm smile, “would you like to sit with me?”

florian smiles, a lazy but genuine smile. he doesn’t hate ara. he never had. he was hurt, and for so long, that made him angry. but now that he looks at her, sitting right there across from him, florian realizes that he doesn’t feel anger or hurt anymore. he has moved on at last. his head and his heart are somewhere else now and that makes their time together feel like a faraway dream. almost like someone else’s life.

“truth be told,” he starts, taking a pause to bring the vape to his lips. “this is like the fourth time i’ve been stuck on an elevator, but it’s definitely the first time they make me wait so long to get me out.” and also the first time he gets stuck with an ex, romcom style. but he doesn’t say that. usually, florian wouldn’t be so chatty after such an annoying incident. but this is not the boss florian of paris. in kaos, he feels worlds more relaxed. so he carries on talking. if only because ara is the only poor soul that can listen right now.

“i don’t understand how they have the nerve to say this is not an emergency. what if one of us is claustrophobic? or if we run out of oxygen and die?” he shakes his head, a small chuckle coming from his lips.

     “well, i can’t say i’ve been made to wait this long in a stuck elevator, either -- and while i’m not sure about the oxygen part, at least we aren’t claustrophobic.” ara chuckles, looking around the small lift before her eyes fall back onto florian. there seemed to be a serenity between them that, although ara wasn’t sure when it settled in, she allows herself to bask in that peace. that is until ara’s stomach rumbles loudly suddenly, snapping her out of it. she clutches her stomach and sighs softly with a frown, “sorry, i didn’t get a chance to eat earlier.” the momentary surprise of their situation made her forget about her hunger, but it didn’t forget about her, apparently. 

     she rummages through her bag in hopes to find a snack she might have forgotten in there but after a minute she gave up, “well, while it may not be the oxygen or claustrophobia, hunger may be what gets me in the end.” she jokes in a huff, dropping her hands from her bag defeatedly.

 “I suppose it’s easy to feel this is the right place for such a thing, the atmosphere in itself is alluring to those in a love haze.” She replied softly, with a shrug. Sure she was happy for them, but on the flip side… Why not some where more? The beach, balcony of the hotel looking over the mountains. List could go on but she dragged her gaze from the scene towards the girl. “Not like that no, and to be honest love is far from my reach at all.”

     ara hums in agreement, “oh i understand,” she empathsizes. “that kind of love is far from my reach too. but, i don’t mind. i know i’m surrounded by love regardless, and that kind of love,” she looks over to the happy couple, who were still receiving congratulations from onlookers, “i know it will come eventually.” ara smiles at the other sincerely, “there’s enough love in the universe for everyone, it’ll come.” she sips on her drink, licking the foam off her lips contentedly. 

florian clicks some red button and suddenly, there’s a voice speaking greek from the other side. he takes a step back, leaning against the elevator wall as he lets ara take over. a sigh of relief leaves his lips, someone will come to help then and before they know it, he’ll be out of there. that’s how things are done when these things happens in the kering headquarters or his yves saint laurent office. but florian is not in paris in a private, million dollar building. the message coming out from the other side reminds him as much. and so florian slides down the wall, sitting down on the floor with an annoyed groan.

“thank you,” he mutters, but the words are not genuine, instead, they are laced with bitterness. florian was sometimes a horrible boss, and if this was happening back at his job… well, let’s just say heads would roll. but there’s not much he can do right now but sigh dramatically, pulling out a small black vape pen from his jean pocket. 

his eyes finally fall on ara, and he observes her closely. it’s the first time since he saw her again in kaos that he actually takes the time to look at her and pay attention. all those other times he was just too busy looking for a quick way out. she looks exactly as he had remembered. and she is very damn beautiful, flo has to give her that.

florian raises his shin, bringing the vape pen to his lips and breathing deeply. he’s not in the mood to be hostile. he doesn’t have the energy. truth be told, he doesn’t really care as much anymore. as he lets out the smoke, he finally speaks to her:

“not exactly how you imagined to spend your morning, right?”

     her eyes flutter open at his words, but her heart still pounded. through the ribbons of steam, their eyes meet and she’s relieved. relieved he was being friendly, well as friendly as he could be given the circumstances, but she knew it was a lot. when they were together she knew how he could be to those he resented. the shunning, the palpable loathing, everything - it was something ara never wanted to be on the receiving end of. not because it was terrifying but because the people who did receive that treatment were people who had hurt him. and then she hurt him. she experienced both extremes of florian’s passion, the love, and the hate. something that still exhausts her to think about.

     “no, not exactly,” her words were soft, scared to break whatever seemed so fragile in this elevator. it felt like the peace ara so desperately wanted between them for so long, but she didn’t want to give herself hope too soon. so she forces her mind to surface back to shallower thoughts, to not think so deep, back to the situation at hand. “i-” she starts, “i don’t think anyone imagines this for their morning.” she finally huffs out almost comically, because their situation was ridiculous the more she thinks about it. a light giggle escapes her lips and she couldn’t stop the small wave of laughter that followed. even after everything, it was almost like a habit ingrained into ara’s subconscious. after a while around florian, her fears just slipped away and she relaxed. and that thought brought about another wave of chuckles. 

for @aramintiax· .

  Kaos was like the place of ‘happy endings’ the whole cafe quieted down, Esme standing next to another as everyone stared at the couple. Some cheesy move of the whip cream asking an ‘important’ question. Of course someone thought that a beautiful island would be the propose, maybe un-doubting-ly lining him up for high expectations on future events. Oh could that first anniversary is going to go, baby announcement. Unconsciously she shuttered at the all too perfect life being laid out in front of them. “Sad – I mean..” She blinked a few times glancing at the closest person. “Imagine if she had said no.”

     ara guess she should have been used to this by now. ever since she moved to this scenic, almost paradise-like island, the tourists who visit always have something extravagant or dramatic up their sleeves. but even growing up in the south of france, well aware of the things tourists do when they are on vacation, there’s still something about this place, this island, that makes people do the most. she’ll admit it, she’s a hopeless romantic herself, she understands them, there is something magical about this place - the way the sunshine soaks into your skin, the breeze feels through your hair, how the sea hugs you as if you were a long lost friend - it’s different, and she can tell by the way tourists act. and although this was one of the tamer acts, still, she stares at the couple, stunned slightly. but she smiles for them, clapping along when the young woman finally says yes. her head turns to the person next to her, tilting her head at the whispered comment. she pauses, understanding where the other is coming from, “well, this - isn’t for everyone,” this type of act, suddenly and publically putting someone on the spot, “but all we can hope is that people know what’s right for them, i guess.” she offers a pensive smile, and takes her drink from the counter, thanking the barista. “and i guess, this isn’t for you is it?” she humours, taking a sip of her tea latte.

open !

     ARLO HAS KNOWN the sheridans ever since he came to kaos for the first time. in fact, he had worked on and off at the bella donna hotel when he first got here, before landing a more permanent gig elsewhere. besides his art, which isn’t nearly as lucrative as arlo would hope, arlo has taken a liking to his career in hospitality— he’s rather good at it, too. he loves talking to people and listening, and having been in kaos for close to two years has given him a plethora of suggestions as to where tourists should venture to. nonetheless, he finds himself lending a helping hand at sophie and lisa’s wedding, standing off to the side and running around if needed. now, of course, he’s leaning behind the makeshift bar at the reception, a jar of cocktail cherries in his hand as he slowly stirs it around and watches people slow dance. he notices the other standing not too far from him, doing precisely the same thing: watching. arlo smirks.

“can i get you something?” he asks, to break the silence. he grabs a spoon and scoops out a cherry, then offers it to the other with a grin. “slow dancing is a bit awkward, isn’t it? sure is romantic, though.”

     after a sip of her drink ara reflexively opens her mouth to bite down on whatever arlo spooned her. but as soon as the maraschino cherry hit her tongue her nose scrunched up and pulled the cherry back out, dangling it by its stem. “eww,” she laughs, “why would you feed me this whole?” she turns and plucks off the stem, tossing it into a nearby bin before popping the cherry back in her mouth. she slides back resting her elbows onto the bar, looking out into the crowd swaying to the music. it had been a magical night, the ceremony, the vows, the party. seeing two people in love and happy always hit ara’s heart differently, every time. “mmm,” she hums at his comment, and looks at him after a moment, “everything is romantic to you.” she smiles then flutters her eyes shut for a moment. the alcohol she had tonight wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to make everything feel light and floaty, almost dream-like. she slids her head further down, resting ontop of the table. “what you could get me is maybe some real food?” she asks, batting her eyelashes up at him as she gives him her best pout. “please?”

location: some bar

status: open

“listen to me i know i have been here for hours doing work at this point,” she said pushing her laptop in front of her talking to the bartender that was refusing to get her another drink even though she only has had one drink because she was so distracted with her work at this point. resting her elbows on the bar top and intertwining her fingers she tilted her head having a staredown with the other. “just get me another drink and i’ll be out of your hair. i just need to finish this next statement for work. trust me it will be like i was never here.” she said before turning to the other next to her. “won’t you tell him that? i’ll leave. i swear. i just want one more drink and do my work in peace.” 

     the late afternoon sun reflected off the cobbled streets as ara stepped out of the museum, causing her to duck back indoors to shield from heat. she chose her favourite little pub near the museum, thinking she could get a quick snack and drink before going home.

     it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lights of the pub as she smiled at one of the bartenders, taking a seat at the bar. though just as she slid on to the seat she overheard the conversation next. she glanced over at the woman and the bartender she was vying with. “huh?” ara was suddenly met with two pairs of eyes, realizing she was staring. “oh uh-” she looked between the two people, before deciding, “could i have two beers please? and some fries? thank you.”

    after a few minutes, two bottles of beer and a basket of fries appear in front of her. she slides one of the bottles towards the woman, “i hope a beer is ok.” she takes a bite of fry and slides the basket over too, “you can have some too, if you’d like.” she offers with a smile. her eyes flick towards the laptop the woman was so focused on and she couldn’t help but ask, “what are you working on?” her curiosity getting the best of her.

 open.

  “Okay I can explain I totally s–” She stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that it wasn’t one of her bosses glancing over her paperwork. God if she had to admit the selling of her translations it’d be an… interesting conversation. The raven haired let out a sigh and moved closer to them, “–always digging nose into German folk lore?” Brow lifting up as she swiped the papers out of their hands. “You know some people kill for this knowledge, you know how long it took just to get the originals here.”

     ara doesn’t mean to pry, really. she’s not usually this brazen to approach a complete stranger and do what she did, but when it comes to things of history, sometimes her interest just overseeds any ration sense she has. “i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to- what are you working on?” her curiosity was hard to deny, she just needed to know.

back on his workaholic days, florian would wake up every day at 6:00am and one hour later, he was already on his way to his office with one coffee in hand. now it’s been almost a year since the last time his mornings looked like that. yet it still feels refreshing to be up and about in the early morning. it puts him in a good mood. today he has a meeting with the director of the kaos museum. florian can’t be still for too long and his mind is already working on new ideas of how he can make himself useful. taking over the family’s art foundation might be one, if only to honor his mother’s memory. 

florian made sure to have a quick espresso before leaving his house this morning, so he’s already wide awake and functioning by the time he gets to the museum. there’s a hint on a smile on his face as he wanders around. he had never been here in the morning and it looks almost ethereal. it makes florian feel as if he has traveled to another time. he almost takes the stairs, but for some reason, flo opts for the elevator. he’s already inside, clicking on his floor when he hears someone outside. he has manners so of course he holds it, waiting for whoever seems to be in such a rush. “putain, i should’ve taken the stairs,” he thinks to himself as he finds ara walking inside. he had completely forgotten she worked here.

florian winces, then tries to move to his little corner of the elevator. this would be over quickly and he can pretend like it never happen. but then she turns around to look at him. and then the elevator comes to a halt. “i really should have taken the stairs,” he thinks again. he stays frozen for a second, trying to process what is going on. what feels like a rom com cliché suddenly seems to be his reality. when he finally recovers, he doesn’t speak, immediately, he turns to the little board filled with buttons, quickly looking for the red emergency one.

      ara watches as he fiddles with the buttons of the lift, wondering why this had to happen to her, and today of all days. finally, florian seems to find a panel to flip open and presses the emergency button. there was usually a half an hour break between the night guard and the day guard, before the museum opened. she glances at the time on her phone and it was right in the middle of that period. ara sucked in a breath of air, hoping there was a guard there early for their shift. it only takes a moment before the comm statics to life and a voice comes through, “Γεια σας?”. ara recognizes the voice and her heart leaps a little, silently thanking the heavens for someone answering, as she moves towards the speaker, “Καλημέρα, Damion, it’s ara, um- we seem to be having a bit of trouble with the lift in the east hall. uh- it stopped moving.” “oh, miss ara!” 

     for several minutes ara tries her best to explain their situation and damion speaks on the phone with the fire department, trying his best to sort of the situation. ara’s heart sinks when she hears him sigh. “i’m sorry miss ara, there’s not much we can do but wait. the storm last night knocked out the power for this side of the island. they said it may take up to an hour for them to arrive, since it is not technically an emergency and both you and mr. agreste are not in any danger.” ara takes a deep breath at the news, why is she not surprised. she already was late and missed breakfast, so what’s another power outage tragedy to add on to the morning. she knows it’s a little dramatic but she can’t help it, especially when she’s is trapped with someone who either stared at her with daggers in his eyes or fled to be the farthest away from her, and she was also hungry. “i’ll inform the director of your predicament. try not to worry so much- you too mr. agreste. you’ll be out soon enough. we’ll try to conserve the backup power, so we’ll have to stop using the comm for now. i shall update you when i can.” “yes- of course. thank you, damion.” 

     her back presses against the wall of the elevator and she sinks down, her skirt pooling around her like a dark lagoon that could perhaps just swallow her up. but it doesn’t so she just rests her head against the wall, closing her eyes, trying to ignore the thumping of her heart because she could feel his eyes on her.

@aramintiax· !

     WINE DRUNK, AS per usual, arlo’s seated outside at a cute little restaurant with ara. the sun is setting, casting a gorgeous orange blanket on the land like mother nature herself is tucking the world into bed. cruise ships in the distance bob on the water, birds are chirping, and the tourists are all out. the weather is perfect, really, but when is it not in kaos? it’s a gorgeous night and this particular restaurant had a great deal on half priced bottles. so, nearly two bottles of wine polished off, arlo and ara are quite intoxicated. they’re laughing, as they usually are, and he extends his arm across the table lazily. he lowers his head so his cheek is resting on his forearm and he lets out a sigh. “ara…” he hums. “could i–” he laughs. a hiccup interrupts him and his eyes droop for a moment. “could i get your– your blessing?” he snickers again and lets his eyes fall to a close. “i don’t have parents that could dispro- approve of someone, so– you’re the– the next best thing.”

     though the sun was setting and the night air began to chill, ara could feel nothing but warmth. maybe it was the warm ocean breeze drifted through the street and the faint glow of street lights that gave the illusion of heat, or it was just the alcohol. ara tossed her head back again in a rumbling laugh at something arlo said. they had been at this for a couple hours now, since the late afternoon heat made them take shade under the patio umbrellas of the little restaurant by the shore, and they had been drinking cool wines and several other cocktails thrown in there. when her body settled she stretched out her hand to meet arlo’s across the table and laid her cheek down in a similar suit, closing her eyes while her fingers played with his. “hmm?” she hummed for him to continue as she let the sound of waves slowly lull her into a calm from the high she felt. hearing arlo’s little giggles as he tried to get his words out didn’t help, but when he asked for her blessing, her eyes fluttered open in curiosity. she sat up a little, of course, he could tell her anything, but there was a seriousness in his voice that sobered her up a little. “Qu'est-ce que c'est?” she smiled gently, head tilted.