evie let out a breathless, wheezing giggle, instantly melting into the embrace despite the ridiculous tangle of denim, fleece, and oversized knit sleeves. she peered down at the teddy bear paws currently resting on the wet stone steps, then up at her sister's multi layered silhouette. it was an incredible look; like the midway point between a sleepy college student and a cryptid hunter.

"first of all, eonni, my shift isn't for hours, so stop apologizing," evie whispered, though her voice still bounced off the bronze monument with vibrant energy. she locked her elbow securely with charlotte’s, offering a burst of warmth against the creeping chill. "second of all...you totally broke our pact and went snooping on the forbidden boards! i knew it! the liminal plane theory is classic midnight forum brain rot, but honestly? seeing this gap in person, i kind of get the hype." she leaned their combined weight closer to the monument, her eyes narrowing on the strange, off center alignment of the metal boots. the fog seemed to thicken around them, turning the surrounding pine trees into towering, watchful giants.

"catacombs? oh, absolutely," evie eagerly agreed, her free hand coming up to tap her chin as her thoughts raced ahead. "think about it. the old logging families had to hide their bootleg moonshine somewhere during prohibition, right? or maybe the town founders built an entire inverted replica of the main street right beneath our feet just to mess with future generations. if the statue is moving, whatever is shifting underneath must be massive. like a giant brass gear turning in the dirt."

she nudged charlotte with her shoulder, a wide, mischievous grin splitting her face. "good thing you brought the supreme investigation outfit. if a trapdoor opens up right now, at least your feet will stay comfortable while we drop into the abyss."

"those transatlantic joints are an entirely separate affliction," saffy drawled, slumping a few degrees deeper against their stool as they watched riot’s dramatic migration around the partition. with a slow, effortless extension of their arm, they caught a leaning tower of vintage singles a millisecond before riot's sleeves could sweep them into the abyss. "you're trying to use two hands for an alphabet that only requires one, which means your extra limbs are just generating noise. you look like a magician who forgot how the trick ends."

there was a easy understanding in the way saffy watched them slump into the adjacent seat. they knew riot had landed in this mossy, rain slicked corner of the continent with a defensive shell, expecting nothing but a grim exile with some distant family line. but as was accustomed, the rat tag assembly of spins crew swallowed them whole, providing an island of dusty plastic and loud amplifiers that kept their eccentric edges intact. saffy had picked up on that burgeoning loyalty early on; the unspoken code of a city stray who finally found a porch that left a bowl out.

"don't pop a blood vessel over a simple greeting," saffy muttered, the dry delivery carrying a faint, unspoken fondness. they’d never actually admit aloud how much they respected the hustle, or how cool it was that riot had spent their off hours staring at a glowing screen just to untangle a foreign dialect to greet them. a lazy pivot of their stool sent their dark dreadlocks drifting over their shoulder like heavy rope as they swept a clean square on the dusty timber. they hoisted their right hand, letting it float loose but steady in the pale morning light filtering through the front window.

"look here," they commanded with an easy, low energy patience, forming a clean, single handed pattern near their chest before dropping it into an open, inviting motion. "that's the introduction. none of that double handed gymnastics you were trying to pull off. just easy, simple lines." then, keeping their expression entirely vacant and deadpan, saffy seamlessly extended their middle finger skywards for a beat of perfect, comedic timing. "and that," saffy concluded, a tiny, barely there smirk finally twitching at the corner of their mouth as they let their hand drop back onto the counter, "is the local punctuation mark for when some middle aged vinyl purist tries to explain post punk to us. try it again, slow mo."

Kekoa had assumed that the wedding had been kept under wraps considering the shock that rippled through the town when Jax showed back up with a wife in tow. Kick didn't know the Copeland's well, or interact with them that much, but his Granny saw Jax's mother a few times a month at one of her many get togethers, and an engagement would've been something Mrs. Copeland talked about. "Hey, good for you, guy," Kekoa said, smiling broadly. "You've got to do what best for you and the missus." He let out a low whistle of appreciation as Jax explained how well his trip went. He'd never been to Italy, but it was top of the list for sure. "That's how I'm trying to be... exploring the world and shit with my person." Kick didn't know who his person was yet but one day. "What the hell are you doing back here? See everything Italy has to offer?"

"Oh, yeah, you know it," Kekoa beamed. "Just had this killer show at the bar a few weeks ago... packed house... people were coming in all the way from Seattle. We've got a few gigs scheduled for the rest of the summer... you've gotta bring the wife to one, I want to meet her!" At the mention of his grandmother, Kick's whole face lit up. He loved no one more than his Granny Lou and it legitimately thrilled him that Jax was asking about her. "She's so good, man, we just had her annual a few weeks ago and everything checked out perfectly. Healthy as a horse." Kick had been so anxious in the days leading up to the appointment, and so incredibly relieved when everything came back normal. He knew he couldn't get her to live forever, but he needed at least another 10 years. "Makes me feel good, you know? Like I'm doing something right."

the leather strap slid against his jacket as jax laughed, he nodded along in total agreement; a solitary existence tucked away in the shadows sounded like a miserable drag for anyone, let alone someone as vibrant as kick. when a stray finger nudged the camera body resting against his ribs, jax ducked his head, his hand traveling up to rub the back of his neck with a slight, self conscious shrug. there was a trace of vulnerability in the gesture, the lingering hesitation of a guy still finding his footing in a brand new passion. "yeah, it's pretty fresh," jax admitted, his gaze dropping to the dark metal housing of the lens. "picked it up while i was away. there were just so many incredible sights to see out there, a phone screen didn't do it justice." his mind drifted back momentarily to those first dizzying weeks abroad, before he’d even set foot in italy or crossed paths with flora, when he had simply wandered across europe, letting the sweeping landscapes slow his racing thoughts.

hearing kick's casual take on the pinehaven gossip mill brought a faint smirk to jax's lips, well aware of the shockwaves his sudden reappearance with a wedding band had sent through his mother's pristine social circles. he deeply respected how quickly kick brushed past the scandal, offering his genuine support instead of the usual prying questions the country club crowd loved to dish out. as the talk shifted to italy, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, painting his thoughts in the golden, sun drenched hues of the mediterranean coast.

"i definitely didn't see it all. i probably could have spent a lifetime exploring every nook and cranny with her" jax admitted, his tone dropping into an unmistakable affection that always softened his features whenever he spoke of his new life. yet, the invisible tether of the family business had rendered that beautiful reality finite, a heavy corporate weight he couldn't completely outrun across an ocean. he shook off the fleeting somberness, looking back up with a supportive smile. "you'll get there, man. and when you find your person, the whole world opens up."

the news of packed bars for the band and the fans traveling down from seattle had jax grinning widely, reaching out to punch kick's shoulder in congratulations. "count us in for a summer show, absolutely. flora loves live music, and i'll make sure she gets to witness the legend firsthand." but it was the update on granny lou that truly dissolved the remaining tension in his shoulders, his expression melting into something entirely gentle. "you're doing an incredible job with her, kick. seriously, she’s lucky to have you looking out for her, and you should feel damn proud of that."

he hitched the camera a bit higher on his shoulder, gesturing with a subtle tilt of his chin toward the steeper, winding trail that cut upward through the dense evergreens. "i'm actually going to hike up toward the ridge to catch the last of the afternoon light before i head back down. you should tag along if you're looking to waste some more time out here. i promise to keep the camera pointed away from you unless you want to practice your best bigfoot poses."

the confines of the projection booth was where darcy consistently found herself, the cement walls feeling in part like a second home. the girl was loading up the second film of the night, watching the strip of film thread itself through the feed systems as she powered the projector. the faintest picture reflecting off of the painted steel structure. while the movie began to roll, darcy briefly peered at the time on her phone -- having been expecting a certain someone twenty something minutes ago.

shreya slid into the designated metal seat, the vinyl groaning slightly under her weight as she abandoned the professional posture she’d been forced to maintain all afternoon at the county building. she propped her elbows on her knees, leaning forward to peer through the small rectangular slot where the concentrated funnel of light pierced the heavy dark, spilling out over the gravel lot below. "you're entirely too forgiving when sodium is involved, darce," shreya murmured, her lips curving into a rare smile that only ever seemed to surface when she was surrounded by the reilly siblings. she watched her friend collapse into the adjacent chair, the flickers of an opening sequence painting her features in shifting shades of silver and neon. "though i suppose a little bribery is standard protocol for a twenty minute delay."

down on the main field, the mass of metal hoods and windshields gleamed like the shells of sleeping beetles under the moon, each vehicle a tiny island trapped in its own capsule of static laced dialogue. through the glass pane, the massive outdoor screen came alive with the dramatic silhouette of a gothic manor house, the orchestral swell from the distant speakers filtering up through the concrete floorboards as a faint, low vibration. darcy was already working her way through the top layer of the grease stained sack, the bright kernel dust staining her fingertips. it was a familiar tableau; the two of them hiding out in some makeshift sanctuary while the rest of the world ran on a standard schedule.

"so, what exactly is this masterpiece you're subjecting the local youth to?" shreya asked, nodding toward the screen where a storm was currently brewing over the painted cinematic horizon. she reached over, casually hijacking a handful of the snack from the bag between them. "is it the one where the monster turns out to be a manifestation of repressed grief, or just a really tall guy in a rubber suit? because after dealing with the county commissioners, i'm severely hoping for the rubber suit."

jia was in today, overseeing that the new apparel that they'd gotten in was properly displayed. the mannequins poised behind the glass panes that peered into the boutique, their figures draped in the latest midsummer fashions. it had been a week or so since minerva had asked for jia's assistance with a pair of clients, and it was safe to say that the proximity to the woman meant to be her ex fiance had been occupying more of her thoughts than usual.

a knowing warmth bloomed in temperance’s chest as she watched the director piece herself back together, the scattered fragments of her focus snapping back into place like a lens finding its mark. she simply shook her head, a soft, understanding gesture that seemed to dismiss any need for excuses before they could even form. "there is absolutely no need to apologize," temperance murmured, stepping closer until the space between them felt like a shared confidence, letting her eyes drift to the bundle of untouched silk before jia. "the mind is a treacherous wanderer when it finds a particular path it wishes to retrace. sometimes, it demands to be followed."

she did not press further into the fog of jia's history, choosing instead to offer a gentle, non judgmental presence that allowed her friend to breathe. turning her attention back to the task at hand, temperance let her palm brush against a nearby hanger, her imagination already weaving tapestries of color and form. "as for the affair, it is a rather grand celebration for the school board," she explained, her voice carrying an artistic lilt as she painted the scene with her words.

"nothing so rigid as a uniform, but it certainly demands an aura of elevated majesty. penny requires something that feels like midnight oil and brilliant intellect. something to command the room without screaming for it. and for our brilliant girl, olivia, i think we ought to begin with your freshest treasures. i want to see the pieces that possess a certain spine, something that declares her arrival before she even speaks."

"Twelve hours?" She repeated, leaning against one of the closed cooler doors and bugging her eyes out at Ziggy. "Like straight? When do you sleep, for real?" She laughed. Sugar pulled open the door she'd just been leaning against and grabbed a Calypso. Then she grabbed another one because she could never chose between flavors. "And people are there the whole time? Just watching you?" The world of streaming was brand new to Sugar and extremely interesting. She wondered what stopped people from getting weird on a live stream? Everything new fascinated her, especially when they were being done by a cool as hell person - which Ziggy was. "I envy your stamina, I don't think I could do anything for twelve hours straight without completely losing it." Not these days, anyway.

"twelve hours is just a light warm up, bro," ziggy snorted, using her elbow to shove a couple of electric purple cans into her precarious arm bundle. she watched sugar juggle the dual glass bottles, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "and yeah, straight through. sleep is basically a myth until the patch notes are live. i usually crash when the sun starts violating my screen glare."

she shifted her weight, the heavy pendulum ropes of her braids brushing against her fleece as she watched sugar’s eyes expand into saucers. the unparsed curiosity radiating off her friend was kind of endearing; most of the old money ghosts back in manhattan just scoffed at the digital realm, but sugar looked at the concept like it was some wild, unexplored frontier.

"it’s a literal zoo in the chat, not going to lie," ziggy continued, navigating their snack mountain toward the registers. "you get the ride or die tech heads who actually help me sniff out syntax errors, and then you get the absolute trolls. but i’ve got my moderation bots trained like attack dogs. anyone tries to get weird or step out of line, they get slapped with an instant banhammer before they can even finish typing."

she cascaded the hoard of fiery chips and neon aluminum onto the counter, a loud, metallic symphony against the formica. she flashed a quick, silver glimmer of her grill as she glanced back over her shoulder. "honestly, your brain mutates into a different gear once the adrenaline spikes and the chat is moving at top speed. you should come sit in the studio tonight. watch the madness unfold from the safe side of the glass. it's random horror game roulette tonight, i unearthed some deeply unhinged, sick nightmarish shit buried on twitch that we're gonna mess around with"

Evie & Tatum & Ariel - ℕ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕐𝕠𝕦

We Used To - Vera Blue // Team - Lorde // On Call - Kings of Leon // Man! I Feel Like A Woman! - Shania Twain // Seventeen - Haley Blais // Waste - Foster the People // Are You Bored Yet? - Wallows // As It Was - Harry Styles // Never Forget You - Noisettes // we were girls together - Delaney Bailey // You're Gonna Go Far - Noah Kahan // Friends - E^ST // Back 2 Good - Matchbox Twenty // Dead Girl Walking - Jensen McRae // making the bed - Olivia Rodrigo // Golden Days - Panic! At The Disco

                                                         𝒸𝓁𝒾𝒸𝓀    𝓉𝑜    𝑒𝓃𝓁𝒶𝓇𝑔𝑒 .

sunny   ,   eli       ⁞     the   cave   ,   mumford   &   sons       ⁞     more   like   you   ,   capital   soiree       ⁞     new   soul   ,   yael   naim       ⁞     second   chance   ,   shinedown       ⁞     party   in   the   u.s.a.   ,   miley   cyrus       ⁞     pinch   me   ,   barenaked   ladies       ⁞     we   come   running   ,   youngblood   hawke       ⁞     i   don't   want   to   be   ,   gavin   degraw       ⁞     be   not   so   fearful   ,   a.c.   newman       ⁞     turnin'   ,   young   rising   sons       ⁞     northern   downpour   ,   panic!   at   the   disco       ⁞

"I do know that, yes," Sachin agreed casually. He was a man who liked to have his way, no matter what the situation. He leaned over, looking to the mess under the sink and his nose wrinkled in... disgust, perhaps? Not only had he underestimated the state of things in this place, but also how interested he actually was in being apart of it. Had his curiosity been satiated? Sachin's gaze drifted back to Ada... it was too late to back out now, it seemed. Not that he would. He didn't revoke offers once they were made.

"Expecting me to work quietly is, in fact, entirely unreasonable." Sachin said. "I can talk about myself, if you'd rather?" He gave her a cheeky smile. He still waved a hand for her to show the way, and followed behind her. Glancing down at his very expensive shoes he wondered allowed, "Will be shoes actually get ruined? These are quite nice." It was rhetorical... kind of.

the resident wordsmith seemed entirely armored against her finest verbal artillery. ada observed the subtle wrinkle of his nose as he peered into the shadowy, cobwebbed cavern beneath the basin framework, an unspoken calculation happening behind his eyes. she knew that look; it was the exact moment an investigator realized a routine assignment was actually a logistical quagmire. yet, true to the stubborn nature she was beginning to recognize in him, he didn’t retreat toward the safety of his book lined sanctuary. "if you think you can negotiate a monologue into the contract, you’re mistaken," she shot back, refusing to concede a single millimeter to his cheeky insolence, even as the knots in her neck finally began to untangle.

when his eyes descended to his spotless leather footwear with that muttered elegy for their impending doom, a sudden, bright laugh escaped her. a ghostly echo of the woman who used to exchange razor sharp repartée over dry martinis before her world was pulverized into divorce decrees and plaster debris. "those sleek kicks are going to look like casualties of a volcanic eruption by five o'clock," she warned, a grim little spark of glee warming her tone as she hauled the corroded flashlight from its cardboard perch. "so say your final goodbyes to luxury craftsmanship now. the dampness rotting out this foundation doesn't care about luxury branding."

she wedged her frame into the suffocating gap alongside the raw skeleton of the island, the splintered floorboards chewing into her knees. it was a far cry from running a metropolitan press room, but her internal posture remained fiercely upright as she pointed her pencil toward the tarnished, verdigris coated plumbing. "now, catch the copper joint right where the main pipe splits," she commanded, shifting her weight to give him room to ruin his wardrobe. "and keep the beam steady. if your plotting abilities are even a fraction as developed as your talent for trespassing, you can narrate exactly how your multisyllabic hero plans to escape his next cliffhanger while i wrestle this century old metal into cooperation."

Ebon pocketed his keys and let Ada lead the way towards wherever she was taking him. "Chronological breakdown?" He said, taking off his hat so he could run a hand over his head. "Starting from when?" He'd lived in three states in his first three years. Ebon had suppressed most of his memories from before Esme was born, but there were still some interesting facts floating around in his brain. He supposed the adrenaline junkie part (if it could even be called that) had started in high school.

"I think the rodeo is the most interesting part," Ebon decided after doing a mental scan through his entire life. The rodeo was the most exciting part, at least. "Fuck, I don't know..." He chuckled, shaking his head. "You just let me know which parts you want to know and we'll go from there." He gave Ada a sidelong glance, raising his brow. "Off the record..." Ebon said. "I can't have my name popping up in any of the town's gossip rags." He was mostly joking, and his tone indicated as much, but he did want to keep a low profile.

a sudden bright pop of laughter sparked by the mental picture of a miniature cardboard version of him circulating among collectors. she began leading a path through the dense, slow moving carnival crowd, navigating around strollers and oversized stuffed pandas with a nimble, city born agility that didn't waste a single step. "a trading card?" she asked, her attention locking onto the detail like a detective finding a hidden fingerprint. she tilted her head back, scope sweeping over his features, trying to superimpose a glossy, youthful athlete's smile onto the unreadable face she usually saw behind the counter at hank's. "oh, absolutely not. i am tracking that down on ebay the second we get back within wifi distance. i don't care if it costs me a fortune in shipping."

she paused at the edge of a brightly lit food truck, the sweet, greasy scent of powdered sugar coating the night air. she pulled a crisp bill from her purse, exchanging it for a massive, absurdly golden slab of fried dough, which she immediately held out to him like a trophy. "we are starting at the very beginning. genesis. page one," she declared, her eyes flashing with a mix of untamed curiosity and mock investigative authority. "i want the entire map. you don't get to just summarize a whole life in a single paragraph when you have a literal athletic portfolio hidden in your closet. though, i suppose i can grant your request for an off the record status. my metropolitan background didn't prepare me to write about livestock anyway, and i highly doubt the pinehaven gazette is ready for a front page exposé on the mysterious past of its favorite woodworker."

she tore off a piece of the pastry, her posture straight and alert as she leaned against a wooden picnic table, completely ignoring a nearby speaker blasting high volume bass. "but don't think that means you're safe," she added, a witty, competitive grin softening the edges of her lips. "off the record just means i can't publish it. it doesn't mean i won't use it to blackmail you into helping me haul that massive porcelain sink upstairs this weekend. now, start talking. how does a boy with a trading card end up learning the structural limits of cedar beams in washington?"