Tala wasn't really one to go out for drinks, but she did enjoy making her own at home. After a busy day at work, she could really use a glass of wine, at least, but she was all out. It had been a while since her last trip to the liquor store so she decided to stop by on her way home. She grabbed two bottles of wine, one of rum, and another of whiskey. She was able to manage to hold two bottles in each hand, but she didn't realize that she put her phone down on the shelf until she didn't have a good way to place the bottles down. "Could you grab that for me and just slide it into my pocket?" she asked the first person she saw.

she didn't know what she was doing here, not really. darla didn't do much drinking beyond the cheap liquor at the grocery store, or whatever her friends buy her at the bar. how she ended here was either out of pure luck, bordem, or both. browsing the aisles, the voice called out to her, causing  "um ---" she shifts from leg to another, blinking once, twice. "do you need me to carry one of those for you? and your phone." darla doesn't want to come across like it's an impossible ask, but the older seemed like she'd need help before the glass bottles slipped and shattered across the floor anyway. "i was on my way out."

“Apparently a lot,” Garrett said, with a small laugh. He thought that zombies had gotten pretty overdone, but people are obsessed with the undead. “That’s true, they killed the kind of hot girls in the Walking dead but the cutest girl always ends up surviving, which is why Maggie is still kicking,” he added, with a small laugh. “Nah, the nice thing about being in between projects is that I have a lot of free time.” 

"i think they don't wanna ruin a good thing, and will do anythin' for a lil' bit of cash." that's most hollywood anyway, so she's not exactly surprised. but end that shit already. "okay, well, we might have a few different ideas of hot --- or cute, for that matter." darla likes to think she's the former, but she's definitely the latter. would she survive a zombie apocalypse? "ah -- well. at least one of us got breaks in that place, had me runnin' ragged since i was in diapers." though not exactly her fault. "and you're payin' for lunch, mr. gym rat."

"bugs?" she repeated, her eyes widening slightly, "alive or dead - doesn't make it any better." well, it wasn't the weirdest thing she had heard, but still made her wonder who thinks that's a good idea. analu was in for a treat, one of the people she definitely didn't want to think about she saw too often in her childhood home. "you're right, but at least last night was fun. won't take back those blissful couple of hours."

"yeah --- dunno. he was weird." who in hollywood isn't? truthfully, she doesn't think there's a lot of them there. partially why she wanted out. "i promise i won't bring any bugs to parties you have, though." as some sort of peace offering, like people would think otherwise if she didn't say it. is it possible to tell that darla isn't an amazing speaker off script? "would you do it again, even if it means you get another hangover? think that's the worst part, even if you're not thinkin' about it in the moment."

“Another Walking Dead spin off, because we haven’t beaten that show to death yet,” Garrett said, with a small laugh. He had been to poppies before, mostly to get I’m sorry flowers but he didn’t see the point in sharing that. “Yeah, I got filled in on all the craziness that’s been going on. Glad to see you’re still standing,” he said, with a small laugh, wondering why no one bought the rights to this story yet. “Actually, do you want to get some lunch or something, I’d love to keep catching up.” 

"jesus christ --- how many zombies can they outrun before their legs start gettin' tired? i'd prefer if this place was overrun by zombies instead of killers." it'd make for a better movie after all, though she doesn't want to give anyone any ideas. halloween is coming up and darla's half afraid someone is going to die or going to pull a prank and scare the shit out of the town. or both. "what, you didn't think i'd make it? i'm way too cute to kill. it's like, kicking a kid down. or stealing their ice cream." she doubts that it's even close to the same vein, but would she know? "yeah, yeah, we can do that. you're not busy?"

she's only been to one funeral --- well, one she'd rather forget, even if meant forgetting the woman who was behind everything. thoughts hadn't lingered to the aftermath of them much. mostly trying to get out of there, never letting anyone see tears fall despite how much they want to. "i'm sure you see it a lot, though?" head tilts. question more than a statement. it would make sense, giving their line of work. "the sparkles might be a bit too much. maybe you could have, like, tissue and candy doggy bags for when people leave? or would that be unprofessional? i know it'd make me feel better, personally."

"so do i carry bread in my purse? or tell fey she needs to add it to the menu?" she can't help but laugh, which wasn't helpful for the pounding in her head. she questioned why she decided it was a good idea to go out today to begin with. "trying to forget while trying to have fun - it worked, for a couple of hours, but hey that's still something, right?" it was a sweet escape, too bad it can't last longer.

"well --- maybe not that, but i don't think carrying loaves around at a party would be a bad thing. definitely not the weirdest. i had someone bring in like, bugs that were trapped in some kind'a like, weird material for a show n' tell." exciting story, darla. "the bugs were dead. he didn't bring live ones. for the record." head shakes, shrugging. "it depends on what you're tryn'a forget. like. if it's something you'll never see again, that might work. but probably not if you're gonna run into them on the street, y'know?" little miss issues is giving advice now. "though 'm not a therapist. sooo." shrugs.

“Yeah, I have a few projects lined up, but they’re still in the casting phase so it will be a little while. I could throw in a good word for you if you’re looking for work. What do you do while you’re in town?” he asked, leaning against the wall, keeping out of the way of anyone trying to pass. 

"yeah? like what?" doesn't have the heart to say that acting, maybe, possibly, was left in the past --- she doesn't to drudge up memories when she's cut the leash fully off. "oh! i work at poppies, sometimes. it's real cute in there." not that she knows fuck - all about flowers, but hey, it's money. "could do without all of the weird stuff going on, though." murders aren't exactly something to qualify as weird, but okay.

“I have a few friends, I could probably put more effort into making some more,” Jade said, with a small shrug. “I’m from Denver, Colorado,” she answered, before taking another long sip. The best, non book, thing that came out of the party was probably meeting Eden. She had solid best friend potential, outside of that she mostly made more mistakes than anything else. “What about you?”

"there's a lot of nice people 'round here --- and i can be your friend, if you want. i was a pleasure to have on set and have decent manners." she won't burp without saying excuse me, which counts. "oh, i've been there. it's really pretty in the fall, isn't it? i might be a west coast girl but i don't think anything tops the foliage in new england, unfortunately, 'cause that means it gets fucking cold right after." chuckles, brushing her hair away from her face. ""m from los angeles, though 've been here for a lil' minute now."

"you can say that," if getting yourself drunk to forget about way too many things can be considered fun. and after make a fool of yourself, because you have free access to all the contacts in your phone. "everything is balanced out now, because i'm having a horrible time with this headache. this caffeine can't work fast enough. next time i'm not getting this drunk."

she's been on the receiving end of a hangover once or twice --- doesn't like to be too free with her outings, inhibitions always catching up to her in only a matter of time. "apparently if you eat a ton of bread in between drinks, it, like, soaks up the alcohol? somethin' 'bout it being like -- with your kidneys or something. i don't know." probably an old tale one of her older co-stars told her at some point. "any reason y'went all out? or jus tryn'a have fun?"

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“I get that LA can be a lot without having a break here and there. Are you planning on doing any other projects soon? From what I remember you were good, really easy to work with,” he said, thinking about the last time he saw her. 

"as of right now? not really." doesn't have the heart to tell him she's essentially left it all behind to do ---- whatever this is. her mother would be disappointed. "oh, yeah, that's what everyone says." darla can't help but chuckle. "are you? doing projects after your little refresh and relax, i mean."

“This is actually where I’m from. I grew up here I just move between here, LA, and wherever else a lot based on what project I’m working on,” Garrett explained, before wiping the machine off and giving her a playfu bow to fit her princess attitude today. “What made you move here of all places?”

"really?" she'd assumed he was just an la thoroughbred, that he had only been out of the city for shoots. she can't tell him the real reason --- trying to find someone who may or may not be her dad would be embarrassing if it was found out that they weren't. "kinda just hit it on a map with a dart, you know? needed to get away." 

“I did go to the party,” Jade said, with a small laugh. “I was plenty social and probably got too drunk but I got some good information about the way people interact in a small town,” she said, before realizing how work centered she was. “I wasn’t only working, though, I totally let loose,” she added, although she knew she let herself get too carried away with the party and had no intention of repeating it. 

"oh good -- thought i was gonna have to do a whole kind of tour, make you some friends." not that the older asked, but darla likes a project and hates the idea of people being .. alone, for the most part. by choice or not. brows furrow at her words, giving her a once - over. "where are you from?" made it sound like she's not from around here ( neither is darla, so no harm, no foul and all that ) . "oh! that's good. yeah. that's one'a the good things about the parties in this place, you can always let loose."

Garrett took a second to look at her before giving her a smile. “Of course you can go first, Darla,” he said, with a playful tone. “You’re the last person I expected to see around here. How have you been?”

"yeah, that's what i thought." a bit more cockier than she'd usually be, espicially in a place that she's not exactly fit into. but she knows garrett, at least surface level, so darla thinks she has a bit of a right to do so. "you're definitely like, five years late on that --- moved a whiiiile ago." shrugs. takes a sip of her water, not even moving yet to use the machine. it was mostly just a joke to see how he'd react. "i'm fine. what're you doing here?"

“Yes, exactly,” Jade said, with a small laugh. She knew that it wasn’t a genre that’s for everyone but she didn’t really mind. “Mostly just writing,” she admitted, with a small shrug. “I did go to the one bar that one time, but I got kind of bored so I was mostly reading and taking notes on my phone.” 

"you got bored at the bar?" almost incredulous --- maybe she goes a bit too often, considering she tries her best to have fun after not being able to for so long. at least, on her own terms. "that's just not right. did you go to the party?" she, unfortunately, was out of town. but it seemed fun! "i heard it was … a lot. that's surely not boring."