— NEON ANGEL

     “But- “ He paused, dramatic affect. “- wait for it…” another trailing off. And he’s back with the kicker- “This ISN’T a corndog -” he’s laughing at his own words, because this has been the argument all along. As dumb as it is. “And what if I BRING IT to you? C’mon- just TRUST ME on this one,” 

not only is roxie a terrible liar, but she’s also kind of a pain the ass. despite this ( and steve will take this to his grave ), she’s sort of the only person other than robin that he cares to engage with in any sort of conversation during mall hours.

“you’re out of your mind, you know that?” but steve can easily see how someone like roxie would be able to pull it off — national news, exclusive interviews, some forced crocodile tears that the cameraman zooms in on to really drive the point home. throw in a couple of pictures of her holding up her pom-poms and it’s fodder for the masses; a cautionary tale. he looks up and down the empty cement loading dock and tries not to think about how the sight gives him the heebie jeebies, for lack of better words.

“come on, let’s go back inside before we get real kidnapped.”

        “ aw, c’mon, steve ! just think about it ! ” smoke trails as she rushes to get in front of him. busted vans skid across pavement. ash sprinkles to the floor. the fizzling cherry points at him and gestures as she stares back at him. “ i can make you the hero. we can put your stupid pretty boy face everywhere. a guy with hair like that who found america’s sweetheart in ditch could get a modeling contract. easy ! ” a grin, borderline menacing. cherry drags against concrete, leaving a trail of black ash — she’ll save the rest for later. 

     note to self don’t go to a summer camp in indiana. it might just be a million times worse than attending school with all the same, stereotypical, children of religious parents that the state was full of. still, without any of her real friends around, alyssa was hopeful to make some sort of connection with anyone where they could just talk without any of that egotistical, entitled bully vibe. so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she made her way to her cabin. the cardinal cabin, it made sense to name the cabins after bird, sort of, but honestly it sounded kind of dumb to her. not that she would ever really admit that. alyssa tried to never let a negative thought come out of her mouth. if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. something a lot of kids here from the bus ride alone needed to learn.

     with a sigh, she bosses her bag onto one of the beds. at least she was away from her meddling mother for a while. alyssa was about to take a seat on that bed and organize her things when she heard the cabin door open once more. a quick turn of her head as she let a light smile grace her features, glancing at the girl who soon entered. “oh hey.” she mutters, suddenly finding herself a bit socially awkward. 

        cardinal cabin. jesus fucking christ, couldn’t they come up with something a little more original ? roxie didn’t want to be here — but it’s an alright paying job with minimal manual labor. all she has to do is flash smiles and make sure kids don’t break their legs or whatever. simple enough. her duffle is held close, hands uncomfortably gripping the strap slung over her shoulder. there’s still a queasy feeling in her stomach from the long bus ride coupled with someone getting motion-sick all over her shoes. just her luck. a feeling of dread ; doom. maybe she should’ve stuck to the mall. that probably would’ve been a lot better than this shithole. in theory, roxie loved the idea of camping and getting away from drama and jobs and standards or whatever. looking up at the sky through jagged pines felt like a solution. but the smell of budding mold and summer sweat reminds her that this isn’t going to be a paid vacation. the door swings open with a nauseating creak that can’t be heard over her headphones. as she scampers silently towards the bunks, she removes her headphones and drapes them around her neck — ‘ oh, hey. ’

      “Well, no. It’s not exactly- Wait, you see …

               – c'mon, just give it a CHANCE!”

“of course you fucking scared me, there’s no one else out here. jesus…”

he hates closing by himself. hates that robin got to leave early tonight, and hates that he’s standing out here in the back alley with two full bags of trash, the dumpster on the far side of where the loading docks are. it’s all a little too cliché horror film setting for his liking. steve didn’t used to scare easily, but well… shit happens.

“what are you even doing out here? shouldn’t you be closing too?”

@hxdxgun​ : “  you’re not coming with me , end of discussion .  ”   |   apocalyptic inbox memes .