// 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"I'm not taking it out on y-- You know what, never mind," Dom says, rolling his eyes at Azra, even though he surprisingly found comfort in this. Even though Adee tried to kill her, and she was still recovering from her injuries, she was still the same person he'd always known. She didn't change, not for anything or anyone, and he had to begrudgingly respect that. "Keep forgetting to," he admits with a shrug. "Of course I'm winning these stupid fights with these stupid people. What, d'you think I'm just getting shit faced every night and beating people up for no reason?" Dom asks, scoffing. That was exactly what he was doing, but in his eyes, he always had a reason. Or at least always found one before he throws a punch. "What about you? It's getting a little quiet on the Azra front nowadays. That fight with Vera made you hang up the boxing gloves or what?"

Dominic should be grateful Azra is being seen with him, because even though they were friends, and she secretly did care about him, she was no stranger to cutting off the lunatics to protect her image. But in some way, she related to him, the anger at least. She felt angry too, all the time. If it wasn't about being nearly killed, it was losing people, in death and in life. "Well, get it together. Everyone already side-eyes you, the least you can do is not turn into a twig along the way." Then she'd really start ignoring him. "Yeah, that's exactly what you're doing. But you don't have to convince me, really, I'm like the least judgmental person in this awful town." Of course, she was judging Dom, but it was mainly because he just seemed to be throwing his life away because he didn't know how to deal with anything. "Wow. That is so insensitive, Dom. I'm a changed person. That and the night Verity turned into a rage monster is the same night Adee decided it would be fun to stick a knife in me," she retorts dryly, tone laced in annoyance as she rolls her eyes.

It doesn't take long for Azra to show up after he's arrived home from work. He had just finished refilling the water bowls for his cats when he hears the door, rushing to open it. "Hey," he says, smiling, glad to see her. Her presence has been so good, it made everything a little more bearable and lighter. With the deaths starting again, he's been irritable and on edge, anxious again when they were supposedly promised to be safe again. What the hell is going on in this town? "Sorry, I haven't yet changed my shirt. It's got Ash's fur all over it." There's a sheepish expression as he looks down at it before starts to reach down to kiss her cheek, only for her to extend her hand, putting the bag between them. "Why are you returning it? Didn't we agree it's yours now?" The smile on his lips gradually starts to disappear as he catches on Azra's change in demeanor, the way she doesn't look at him, and the way her tone sounds unusually detached. His brows furrow in concern. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asks, then shakes his head. "Wait, come in first. Sorry," he adds, moving to let her in. Maybe it's the fact that he's already anxious, but Azra's visit doesn't seem to be something that'll bode well. He doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but he can't it when she looks nervous and avoidant. They've been hanging out for a while, have seen her what she's like when she's happy, when she's upset, when she's angry, so he likes to believe he knows her enough to predict the current situation.

It was about protecting herself. Because deep down, maybe Azra didn't like herself as much as she portrayed, and cutting things off, ruining them, or accepting something superficial as she had done with Ren countless times already, was her way out. She knows she should be considerate, that it's obvious what happened with Adee affected him, and maybe even what's happening now is hurting him too. But why should her own feelings come second? Why should she accept less than what she wants because he isn't ready? "It's fine. I was just stopping by." Her eyes glance down at the fur-ridden shirt, purposely keeping some kind of distance between them. Azra had a plan, and even if it was poorly made one out of her own insecurities and anger, she would go through with it. "I don't want it anymore," she says, referring to the shirt, and also indirectly referring to what they had. She didn't want to walk inside, didn't want to linger or make this any harder than it already was. Her face was blank, but Azra was well aware of what was running through her mind. That she was breaking her own heart before she could even give it to him. She doesn't hate him, but right now, she also doesn't want to be near him, stepping inside and making sure to keep herself grounded and collected. "I think we should end…. whatever this is." It hurt so much, but what was she really ending? A friends-with-benefits situation? She'd done that plenty of times, yet back then, it was easy to say she was bored or that she didn't care as justification. Now, the words couldn't leave her lips, and Azra still couldn't bring herself to be mean. "I don't want it anymore," she repeats her same words, but this time, it's entirely too clear as to what she's referring to.

Aslan just nonchalantly shrugs at Azra's words. "What, can't I ask a simple question? Maybe there's some drama happening that I don't know about?" he jokes. Aslan doesn't care to join in drama most of the time, unless it brings it some sort of entertainment and to add a little bit of fuel to the fire. Otherwise, he'd rather just watch from afar. "You think they realize I'm the better sibling?" he teases, moving to sit down and lean back, brows furrowing a little, because he finds it odd that her outspoken attitude isn't always met with open arms when him and Azra weren't that different in that regard. "People are so pissy lately anyway, everything gets to them." He nods. "She doesn't support anyone but herself." He chuckles. "Clearly no one stands her and she doesn't care."

"I don't have drama with anyone. I'm a delight. If anyone disagrees, then that's their problem, not mine." Azra hardly cared about who did and didn't like her, let alone some country soundcloud bitch who'd fuck any guy in sight. "No," she retorts bluntly. Because of course, she's better than Aslan, in her mind at least. On the outside though, he was clearly the preferred one, whether it be because she was more abrasive than him, or because he was simply a man. "That should be her sign to leave town on the horse she rode in on. Who would even stay in a place where no one likes them?" It sounded stupid to her, and as similar as she and Rory were at times, she'd hardly associate herself with someone so idiotic.

azra: at least she talked to you

Sarah 📲 Azra

"I can't keep the job of a photographer if you're the only one I'm taking shots of." He points out, Noah will be the first one to agree how beautiful Azra is, however he sees beauty in many places and people and he thinks they're all worth capturing. "Now, give me some credit here. Someone can look good, but look completely out of place in pictures." He's worked with people who weren't giving the camera anything until there's someone to give them pointers. "And a phone can make some pretty good quality photos, but you can't beat an expensive camera and someone who knows how to edit the shots after."

"If I pay you enough, of course you can," she adds. "You wouldn't ever want to work for a magazine or something? You know, like Vogue or whatever the other ones are?" It would be lame if he wasted his talent taking pictures of every 6 and 7 around town. "Hm. That sounds like a problem average people have to go through." Azra had an inflated ego, naturally, so she'd never seen a bad picture of herself, at least one that hadn't been erased from the world. "I guess you have a point though. For regular people, you must be like the lord and savior making them look good."