careful what you wish for

This restaurant was one of the finest in the country and when his mother sent him a VIP pass to get in, Gaston was beyond excited. Normally, he’d have to attend these things as a family gathering, but being able to attend on his own was much better. Now, he could hold himself high, not having to be pushed back by his father who was the light of the Legume’s during previous nights out. Hopefully Gaston could go to places like these more often once he started becoming more recognizable in the American world. For a split second, he thought maybe his thoughts were becoming truth when a blonde girl started speaking to him from behind. “Oh! You want to sit with the lovely Gaston Legume! Yes, my dear, yes, I’m glad that you recognized me!” He called for a waitress and got them ahead of the insanely long line that they’d otherwise have to wait in. Tragic, truly, but at least that was the case no longer. “I’m not sure why I didn’t do that sooner,” he joked with her as they walked to the table. As they sat down, he introduced himself. “I’m Gaston Legume by the way.” Holding out his hand across the wood, he smiled. “You already knew that though. Most people do.” He chuckled before continuing on. “What I should be doing is asking the name of you! The lovely fan! Tell me! Please! I’d love to know who you are,” he smiled at her expectantly.

From the minute this man opened his mouth Astrid knew she was going to regret this whole interaction. She recognized him from the compound. He was regularly in the gym, often seeing him there when she went to work out. He always seemed like an asshole. It was good to know that she was right, as she was with most things. Following him to their table she rolled her eyes and mocked him while he was facing away from her. Taking the seat across from him she looked up from her menu, “Astrid Hofferson,” Reluctantly she took his hand and gave it a firm shake before going back to the menu, “I actually didn’t know that and I’m not a fan. You should get out of the habit of assuming things. It’ll bite you in the ass.”

Not to sound like she practically lived on the internet, but Ariel was always looking for something to do. She scoured online for the best places to eat, and a restaurant had popped up in her recommendations, one touted to be ‘very famous’ in the area. She’d passed by it more than a handful of times, and the line had always been too long whenever dinner time came around. But she was still curious to try, and that’s how she found herself queueing up to try their food. It had been half an hour and the line didn’t seem to move at all, making her sigh softly. She spun around as someone spoke to her, a tiny smile on her face as she recognized the girl. “Astrid, hi!” she whispered. “And yeah, sure, absolutely! Dinner’s always good with two. Have you eaten here before?”

Astrid felt like it had been so long since she last seen Ariel. Well, she’s seen her around the compound and they would acknowledge each other but she never had the time to stop. She did distinctly remember the red-head not being able to talk though. Imagine her surprise when Ariel turned around and spoke up! “Ariel, I didn’t recognize you. I see you’ve moved up to whispering.” She said impressed by the improvement. “No, I haven’t but it’s supposed to be good so if it isn’t I’m tearing this place down.”

Astrid Hofferson: Task01 ↣ Mixtape: For the Fearless

“and they roared as loud as thunder 

and carried lightning in the strike of their cruelty,

but what are thunder and lightning

to fearless girls who are used

to carrying entire storms 

and hurricanes

in their fingertips?”

-nikita gill // for the fearless

Astrid Hofferson: Task 06 ↣ Reflection

↳ “beware; for i am fearless, and therefore powerful.” -mary shelley, frankenstein

Thank god the girl was headed there anyways. Chris nodded, trying to look humble to her kindness. 

“Thank you. Yes, I’m afraid to overestimated my navigational ability and was also too rushed to pick it up just in case. I will definitely bring it with me in the future.” He smiled sheepishly, although he was kind of impressed by his own English. He knew he was inconveniencing her with just his presence so he would try to be as unassuming as possible. The last thing he wanted was to piss people off.

She could’ve scoffed, ‘overestimated my navigational ability’ it seems like that was everyone around here. “You and every other new Astranaut,” Astrid said with a roll of her eyes. Honestly, in this day and age, the map was probably on their website. This guy was just lucky that she was headed there anyway. She quickly stepped back inside without another word to the man. Grabbing her gym bag she stepped back out and locked the door behind her. “Astrid Hofferson. We’re taking the stairs down, it’ll be a good warm up.”

She didn’t take everything so seriously; Astrid didn’t know her at all, making the response annoying. “I don’t…” she whispered, but stopped there and just started following the other blonde. Tink had never been to the stables before, so this would be her first time. It wasn’t starting out the greatest, that was for sure. She was heading there with a grumpy blonde and herself, another grumpy blonde. What a pair; they were quite the duo. Astrid was also a bit taller than Tink was, making the walk an annoying half-jog for the tinier one of the two.

“Is this far away?” Tink asked, realizing that she probably sounded like a whining baby. “I’m fine walking, just curious.”

Astrid sighed, she was so used to Tink coming back at her with a comeback of some sort. She knew Tink didn’t take everything seriously. If anything Astrid would even admit she did. Her roommate was supposed to be the fun one dragging her to do things. The situations being switched was weird. “No sassy reply? Not even a glare? You know you’re throwing off our whole dynamic.”

For some reason, Astrid was still determined to lighten up Tink’s mood. Why she was putting in so much effort was beyond her. The little blonde she wasn’t making it easy that’s for sure. “Yeah, we’ll be there soon it’s not too far. Even if it was it’ll be worth it.” At least it would be for her, she didn’t know if it would be for Tink.

Just because it was a new environment, it didn’t mean he was allowed to slack off on his routines. His training had to still be maintained. So, as per usual, he woke at 5am in preparation to go practice the morning away in the gym. Of course, this was only his first day at the compound and he didn’t know where the gym was exactly. The lady at the front desk had told him but, naturally, his mind was flighty and despite his confidence in its location at the time, Chris was now unsure where to turn. 

In his white t-shirt and track pants, he sped through the halls with determination but, unfortunately, not with direction. Originally he had went to where he thought the gym was only to find a dead end. Soon enough, he had no idea where he was in the compound at all and he was already behind schedule. No one was really around this early in the morning so there wasn’t even a soul to ask. Eventually, seeking no other option he could think of in his worried state, Chris knocked on the door of the room he was nearest to. He shook his head, already frustrated in himself for being a nuisance.

“Uh, hello. Hi. Um, good morning. I’m sorry to bother you but do you happen to know where the gym is?”

Whoever this was, they caught Astrid at the perfect time. She was just about to step out for her morning trip to the gym. However, it still confused her when she heard a knock at the door so early in the morning. The blonde glanced at the room down the hall, Tink was never awake at this hour and she wasn’t about to let anyone wake her up. Astrid made her way to the answer the apartment door. Her face was stony as the stranger spoke. “Yeah, I was just on my way,” She nodded, looking over the man. The Astra Initiative was gaining new members everyday and Astrid found that each one was terrible at figuring things out themselves. “May I advise you to have the compound map on you next time? It’ll save you the trouble of interrupting people’s daily routines.”

Shooting her a grin Merida tucked her hair back behind her ear and patted her now skinnier jeans, “And hey, you look great too. Guess a couple of years really does wonders to people, huh?” She just hopped her mum would see it that way one day too. “It’s really is a small world. I’m hoping to bump into someone famous next,” she grinned again. “Oh! The archery dream, hitting targets. And y’know, I kinda want to go to space one day,” she shrugged not having really thought much about it since being accepted. “What about you? What’s your dream?” Merida couldn’t deny her curiosity. 

Astrid gave the other a small smile at the compliment, “Thank you, you wouldn’t think a few years would make much of a difference.” Rather than taking her comment as intended Astrid thought of how fair it was to accept someone famous into the Initiative. “You really think they accept celebrities?” Astrid wouldn’t think so. If they were famous chances were that they already had the money to achieve their dreams. Why would they need the Astra Initiative? If she was as wealthy and respected as her friends from back home she probably wouldn’t even be here. Sadly, determination only got you so far without funds and education. “Space, really?” She hadn’t expected that to come out of the redhead’s mouth. “You really took the phrase ‘shoot for the moon’ seriously.” “Being a pro equestrian, but also being an equine vet. You could say I like horses.” She said with a shrug.

Tink shook her head sadly. “No, no… it’s fine.” In reality, she’d rather have just left the decorations up and tried to ignore them (though she knew in the back of her mind that that kind of wishing was unrealistic), but once Astrid had already started tearing everything down, she knew that she’d never have the guts to tell her roommate the opposite of what she obviously wanted to hear. She wouldn’t on any given day, so there even less of a chance of that happening on a day like today. And the fact that she bothered the other girl only made Tink feel worse. “Sure. I understand,” was all that she could muster. It felt like the world around her was just getting worse and worse; getting drunk sounded pretty good right about now.

“Okay, let’s go then,” she replied to the order, nodding her head. Tink knew that she wouldn’t be getting out of these plans, so she just decided to run inside and grab her leather jacket (even though it was July) jacket, then rocked back and forth once on her feet. She was trying really hard to seem normal. It probably wasn’t working. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she stated, scrunching her lips to the side.

Astrid tried her hardest not to huff. In her eyes, Tink was being dramatic. From their time together she knew that her roommate wasn’t this meek girl that she was seeing in front of her right now. Yes, the little blonde had her mopey moments but feeling sorry for yourself didn’t accomplish anything. She knew that Tink had fire and whatever it was that made her birthday so bad shouldn’t have taken that away. “You shouldn’t take everything so seriously.” Oh, the irony.

With a nod, Astrid followed Tink inside their apartment. Quickly she changed out of her sweaty clothes. That shower would just have to wait until after their visit to the stables she supposed. The blonde met her roommate outside their door. “Alright let’s head out then,” she said leading the girl down the stairs, out the building, and in the direction of the stables.

“Oh, no, wai-,” Tink started, but it was too late. Astrid was already half-way done with ripping down the colorful paper. “Okay then…” She looked down at the ground, not bothering to watch her roommate work because it was probably already done anyway. A response wasn’t easy to come up with to the following suggestion. “Uh… sure? But only if you’re okay with that though and I’m not just a bother to you.” Tink knew that the self-deprecating addition would probably annoy the other girl, but it just kind of popped out of her mouth. ‘Word vomit’ if you will. Plus, she was already hurting with the memories of her family, so that was the mood that she was in; it was inevitable that those feelings would affect her mood.

Astrid looked down at Tink when she spoke up, “Did you want to leave it up? Because if you want to we could.” In reality, the taller blonde hated the decor. If it was up to her she’d rip the whole thing off and send it to the dumpster without a second thought but this was for Tink’s birthday. If the girl wanted it up when who was Astrid to fight her on it. “Don’t get me wrong, most days you can be but like I said, today I could use the help.” Honestly, she would rather do it all on her own but this was an attempt to get Tink’s mind off of things. It seemed like the day was one that held a lot of emotions for her. Astrid didn’t care about all the history behind her birthday and why it seemed to upset her. If Tink wanted to talk about it then she’d listen but it wasn’t her place to pry. Better to get her roommate out of the house and thinking about something else. “Come on Tiny, I got the perfect horse for you too.”

@astridhxfferson

The coffee shop was the busiest he’d ever seen it, the line went out the door and most of the small bistro tables were taken. After ordering a cup of coffee for himself, Toulouse managed to secure a table toward the back of the room, set apart from all the hustle and bustle of the rest of the busy shop. He’d already begun to unpack his art supplies, preparing for a few hours of mindless sketching before he inevitably returned to the constellation compound for the evening. Opening his sketchpad to a fresh page, Toulouse took a moment to glance around the crowded cafe, searching for even a little bit of inspiration. What he hadn’t expected was to see a familiar face. 

Though the two of them had been assigned to the same tent on the camping trip, he hadn’t really gotten to know Astrid very well. She didn’t seem particularly friendly but she didn’t seem entirely unfriendly either. Knowing that there weren’t many open seats for her to choose from, Toulouse smiled and waved her over to his table. “You are Astrid, right?” He asked in a lilting French accent. He then motioned to the empty seat across from him. “You can sit here if you like.” He wasn’t entirely sure she would accept his offer but it was more polite to ask. 

She doesn’t want to admit it but Astrid was a coffee addict but she did depend on it most days. It helped her wake up in the morning and got her through some long nights. She also simply enjoyed the taste. It practically ran through her veins at this point so, it wasn’t a surprise that that morning she headed to the coffee shop near the compound. She had run out of coffee at home and decided to buy another bag of beans. Since she was there anyways the blonde saw it as an opportunity to get out of the house and get her work done in a different setting. However, Astrid didn’t expect the place to be so packed. After picking up her cup of coffee from the barista she stood there for a good few seconds scanning the area for a table. She was just about to give up and go back home when she was waved over. 

The camping trip seemed like it had happened ages ago but she still recognized Toulouse. They didn’t become very close on the trip, not that Astrid expected to. He was nice enough and definitely pulled his weight on the trip so, she didn’t mind his company. “Yeah, and you’re Toulouse, right?” Pulling out the chair she took the seat offered to her, “If you’re sure you don’t mind, thanks.” Setting her cup down she pulled out her school things from her backpacked and laid them out. She was sure to keep her stuff on her side of the table seeing as he had as much stuff as she did. “So has inspiration struck yet?”Astrid asked nodding her head at his art supplies. She vaguely remembered him sketching things on the camping trip.

It was hard to tell if she was being serious of not, but Merida made a mental note to keep Astrid in mind when she knew her form was back on top and that she would be hitting the bullseye without second thought. Which would be soon, she hoped. “You’ll be first on my list to call.” The nagging thought in the back of her mind seemed to fade at the confirmation that they did in fact know of each other and Merida gave a grin, thinking of the one and only time they had in fact met. It had been right after she had cut half her hair off in an act of rebelion against her mother, the poor woman had nearly had a heart attack. “Longer hair,” she said, pulling on one of her curls that had come out of her messy ponytail, “And my sense of fashion has upgraded from baggy jeans.”

All Astrid could do was give the girl a grin. She wasn’t too sure if Merida would keep her word or if she was just going along with the banter, but she really did hope to see her at her best one day. She was sure it’d be a sight to see.“It’s a good look,” she said with a chuckle. “Either way, it’s good to see you again. Funny how we cross paths in California of all places.” Astrid didn’t expect to see Merida ever again but she could see why she was accepted. She was talented and seemed driven, someone that the blonde could finally see herself getting along with here. “Just ‘cause I’m curious, how’d you get into Astra? Was your dream to shoot trees or to stop wearing baggy jeans?”

Squinting, Snow assessed everything wrong with the girl in front of her. She spoke with such harshness to a stranger who was being nothing but polite. In fact, she was basically spitting hatred her words. The way she looked was disheveled but that was easily situational and not how she usually appeared. The attitude was very possibly situational as well. It became increasingly obvious to Snow that she had interrupted a bad day. Even so, Snow considered no situation one that excused such crudeness. For example, to tell someone of a different ethnicity to go back where they came from was also very harsh in this day in age. Even though she had reason to believe that the stranger was actually from another country while Snow was born and raised in America. Plus it was a compliment for Snow to imply that the stranger had a respected opinion that could prove useful. Everything she said seemed to be twisted by the other, kind words into a mocking tone to make fun of Snow with. Perhaps she was some kind of bully around here? 

But between the uncouth looks and attitude, it certainly added to Snow feeling superior to Astrid. Of course, Snow truly felt she was superior to everyone. Her kindness was but a tool used to convince herself she truly was the best. She didn’t really know where to go from here though. She was quite blatantly being dismissed and there wasn’t much she could do to help the girl’s unfortunate condition.

“I’m sorry again, miss. Really. I didn’t mean to upset you so much.”

This conversation (if you could even call it that) had lasted long enough. Actually, she never wanted to have it in the first place. Maybe if the woman had caught her at a different time in the day, in a different scenario, things would have gone better but Astrid highly doubted it. The blonde knew she was being difficult but there was something off-putting about this woman. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what exactly. Call her crazy, but the woman was just too polite. Whatever act this was Astrid wasn’t buying it. Half of her wanted to go even further just to see if she could find a crack in the raven-haired woman’s facade. However, it was neither the time nor place for it. Afterall, she was still sweaty and covered in mud. “Of course you didn’t. Hope you have better luck with the next person you ask.” The snarky tone she used betrayed the kind words. She brushed past the woman hoping that they wouldn’t cross paths again because next time Astrid couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t push the girl to her limits.

My muse having a good ol’ cry.

The emphasis that was put on the word made Tink nervous. Apologizing so much was just a habit that she had, and it was a hard one to break at that. What can you even do when someone says that to you? Apologize again! It was a terrible, unending cycle that Tink despised, but couldn’t stop. “Okay…” she simply whispered, looking down at the ground and just barely avoiding her constantly made mistake of apologizing a second time at Astrid’s words. Tink wasn’t sure how to respond to Astrid’s statement, so she just simply nodded, not daring to look up again. She hated making her roommate upset in any way, shape, or form because the other blonde was just so damn scary. Tink wasn’t in the mood to be scare right now, it was just making her even more sad. A single tear slid down her cheek, and she desperately tried to keep that fact from Astrid. She knew that the other would probably just tell her to grow up and berate her for crying.

Astrid caught the tears welling up in Tink’s eyes before she turned away. It made her sigh, “Here, I’ll help you take it down.” She started by tearing down the disaster on their door. The taller blonde grabbed the decorations stuck higher knowing that Tink wouldn’t be able to reach. If she was this embarrassed by the door Astrid couldn’t have her struggling to reach and having a breakdown on her. At this rate, she could only stand one of her roommate’s meltdowns a month at most. Astrid didn’t know how Tink liked to handle these situations, but she found that the best way to deal with them for her was to redirect. “Do you want to come with me to the stables? I could use the extra hands with the horses. You could even ride one if you want,” She shrugged her shoulders trying to keep as casual as usual. This was her attempt at providing comfort the only way she knew how.