persephone.

tw: accident, parental death.

“fleetwood mac’s set starts in a few minutes and i already feel sick to my stomach. now, you have to promise me that you’ll slap me and spray me with water if i pass out—i’ve been waitin’ for this show all freakin’ day.”

     “oh, i’m definitely only saying that because of feel good. your music taste is shit,” he lies in a teasing tone. joseph actually really enjoys dialn’s music, knowing that every song she ever showed him proved her taste was far superior than the almost endless loop the clash’s london calling he played. even the melody of her laugh is somehow musical; it makes joseph grin when he hears it. the smile almost spreads even more widely across his face, but he decides to be cool. be chill, he tells himself. “it wasn’t really that bold, to be honest, because i know when you’re having a good time.” his confident reply surprises him as dilan normally has a way of making him second guess himself since he is often unsure if they’re on the same page or not.

“my my, thank you for giving me the confidence and ripping it out of me only seconds later.” dilan responds with her hand over her heart, amusement in her eyes as she glances in his direction for a moment. she didn’t think of her music taste as exceptional in any sort of way, since she’d been mostly in love with fleetwood mac since she was a kid and closed down her heart for any other band—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still appreciate other genres, always a lover of music of any kind, which is no surprise that she was the owner of feel good now. “oh,” she chuckles, brows rising in surprise. “i guess you could say that you do.” her head cocks to the side, trying to play off the blush over her cheeks. “you’re just a really nice person to be around, alright? don’t get a big head over it, please.”

“I was expecting more than this?” Rhys said with a laugh, looking towards her as they began to walk in the direction of the Crashdown. He couldn’t really complain, but as far as he was concerned, Roswell wasn’t all that small, you’d think they’d managed to have snuck in a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts somewhere. “Guess I’ve been lucky in where I’ve lived.” Even though Llanbedrog had literally nothing, you had to head to the town one over to find anything worth writing home about. “Can’t be bothered sums it up pretty well. I have a Nespresso machine that has pretty much gone untouched since the day I bought it.”

“you’re right—a little more variety would be wonderful. and for a town that’s so eager to attract as many tourists as possible, they could put in a bit of effort to keep said tourists around for a while longer. guess the coffee shops weren’t a priority on their list.” her lips pucker out in a pout. “i have a one year old and she pretty much takes up most of my mornin’ time at home, which makes it harder for me to learn how to work that stupid coffee machine. but nebula’s been serving me just fine, with the exception of today.” she complains a little as they turn the corner and soon spot the diner. “we’ll just have to settle for some watery coffee now, my friend. and if we’re lucky, some cold muffins too.”

olivia rolls her eyes in reply, “what? that’s not my problem. you should’ve thought about it before you hired a family member” a teasing tone was clear in her voice, “how about i throw in a free night of babysitting, does that help things?”. she grins back at her sister, “thank-you! you’re the best! yeah, i can do sushi. how about we get some now?” olivia suggest, she’d not had much time to hang out with her sister recently, they were both so busy, “unless you’ve got places to be”.

dilan’s head falls back against the couch as she chuckles, “ you’re saying i should fire you, then? there’s no place for nepotism in my store. ” she raises one eyebrow in olivia’s direction, joking as she nudges the younger with her knee. “ alright. now you’ve won me, i can’t say no to babysitting nights. i love that little bug to death but she does drive me insane sometimes. ” she’s smiling softly, the fondness she has for her daughter evident in her eyes. “ nope. the baby’s still sleepin’ and i’ve made no plans for the day but to hang out with my favorite little sister. ” she winks at olivia. “ we could make a night in out of it, too. wanna watch a movie? ”

“you are allowed to call me adorable, but you’re not allowed to let anybody else call me adorable. i let you get away with more than i should probably let you get away with, but i suppose that just means i’m soft or whatever.” mac couldn’t help but flash a smile in dilan’s direction, hand reaching forward to poke ophelia’s cheek softly, just to try and get some semblance of a smile out of her. “i could always try to talk you up to them as well. if they know you’re my friend, they may be more apt to letting you into the cool little gang we formed. and i gotta tell you, dil, that cake was absolutely worth the embarrassment i just faced.”

“ sweet, innocent mav… i’m so gonna make you regret ever lettin’ those words come out of your mouth because i will be abusing this. just so you know. ” playful as ever, dilan opens a delightful and wide smile in his direction. “ but don’t worry, i won’t allow anyone else to call you that. ” she continues. her smile only grows at the small interaction between the male and her daughter, slightly pulling at her heartstrings. “ you’d do that for me? i’d be forever in your debts. ” she jokes, bouncing ophelia in her lap. “ in all seriousness though, you’re talkin’ so much about this cake that i want to know what the fuss’s all about. you think we’d be able to smuggle one piece of it? ”

in some ways, dilan has taken care of wylie better than anyone else ever has. she’s the number one calming factor in the blonde’s life; one look from dilan, and suddenly she was sat quietly nd breathing deeply, the only way to pull herself out of whatever tizzy she’d worked up in the first place. “yes, i’ve forgotten how to pack,” she mutters now, nose scrunching up in a disgruntled expression as she looks towards dilan. “the last time i took a weekend trip, it was so i could see the nutcracker in london, and by the time i got back i was so jet-lagged i’d lost nearly all of my senses.” her voice nearly comes out in a whine, but as wylie drops down to sit next to her roommate, she let out a soft sigh, hazel eyes searching until they meet her gaze. “we’re going camping outside of town. i think we’re just both feeling entirely stifled at this point, and we need the fresh air and the stars. i feel like the solution to my problem is obvious, i just don’t know how to get there myself.”

their friendship had always been so easy and so natural that it’s hard for dilan to remember what it’s like to not have the blonde around. it’s remarkable how they could balance each other out so well, help each other through whatever mishaps they were caught up in, whether that’d be dilan’s accidental pregnancy or wylie’s camping trip, they knew they’d be able to count on each other. “ you’re not exactly goin’ out of the country, it’s just a camping trip. with the cute guy you’re clearly swoonin’ over. ” she teases, a finger gently jabbing against her friend’s side. “ you can calm down, babe. ” she stands up from where she’d been comfortable sat watching her friend and makes her way towards the bag, decided to help the other out as much as she could. “ we just need to get rid of a couple of items here… okay, maybe more than a couple. you’re really packed for everythin’, huh? you don’t need half this shit, wyls. ” dilan clicks her tongue. “ there you go, makin’ a fuss over such a simple thing. ”

if sparrow was ever blessed with a lottery win the majority of their riches would be thrown in the direction of feel good records . spare time was spent among the crates , flicking through worn LPS and re-pressings , knowing that they were only able to window shop rather than splash out on every 12-inch they wanted . it wouldn’t prevent them from looking , though ; the sheer euphoria rushing through them as chipped black fingertips ran over the over-exposed cover of ‘ bleach ‘ was akin to that of studying alev’s body , committing every scar and ridge of his skin to memory . “ what ?? oh , yeah .. no , i don’t think i can , “ they mumbled , allowing the first pressing ( complete with white colored vinyl ) to slide back into the stacks , “ i can’t afford it , “ 

even if she hadn’t been blessed with the gift of not being able to carry a tune to save her life, dilan had always been a music kid. her dad’s old vinyl collection is what kept her going in dire moments throughout her childhood and then later on, when the world seemed to have fallen apart on top of her shoulders. music is the one constant thing she’s had all her life so it’s no wonder that she ended up buying feel good when the opportunity rose, even if it was in a moment of impulsivity. eyebrows furrow as brown hues move from the album to the other’s face, nose scrunching up lightly. she understands now why sparrow had only been dreamily sighing about the record instead of taking it home with them. “ alright, see, ” she starts, puckering out her lips as she thinks over it for a second. “ i have an used version of this same vinyl at home but it’s only been gatherin’ up dust. ” her head cocks to the side. “ if you’d be interested in it... we could maybe do a swap? you have any valuable finds that i could sell around here? ”

Chiba pulled his jacket to his body and put the package of shortbread on the table. “I don’t share these lightly,” he said, grinning at the other. “So you should feel very special that you get to join in with me with a cup of tea and some biscuits. “They’re not English, but I am one of the few Brits who can say these Scottish cookies really beat whatever we English can bring to the table,” he admitted. He took the cups of tea from the carton and gave the other the assortment of teas he’d gotten from the counter. @roswellstarters​

“ oh, you come bearin’ gifts? you certainly do know how to make a lady feel special on an ordinary friday, chiba. ” dilan teases, playfully nudging their shoulder with a light bump of her knuckles. she helps sort out the table in a more organized manner, eyes falling on the snack he had brought with him. “ that does look delicious. i don’t think i’ve had the chance to try it out when i visited europe–you said it’s from scotland, right? ” she questions as she picks up the strawberry tea to make for herself.

It wasn’t the start to his morning that Rhys needed. He had a list as long as his arm of patients to see and twice as many parents who wanted answers or to cry on his shoulder —- it was like that day after day and it would never change. “Typical really,” he responded with a shake of his head. “Just when I was thinking I was starting the week out on a positive note.” Pretty rare for a Monday really. “Looks like it…” He hovered one moment longer, and then with a decisive nod of his head, turned on his heel to head for the Crashdown. “The lack of coffee shops in this town is still frustrating to me.”

though the job that awaited for her wasn’t nearly as stressful as rhys’, she still always felt a little more anxious than necessary when her routine would be disrupted like that. almost as if she needed it in order to function properly lately—and just when she was starting to think she’d become better at being more spontaneous. the male’s presence, however, it’s more grounding and she’s happy to have company for breakfast that morning. looping her arm around his, dilan starts to drag him along towards the café. “ right?! but it’s a small town, really, i don’t know what we were expecting here. ” a chuckle passes rosy lips. “ you also hate havin’ to make your own coffee at home or you just can’t be bothered? or are you like me and can’t never seem to get the measures right? makin’ coffee shouldn’t be that hard and yet… ”

@dilanfm​​

LOCATION: olivia’s apartment 

olivia sits on her sofa with her older sister, “sooo about that shift i covered for you a few weeks back” she shoots her sister a pleading look, “do you reckon you could do my opening tomorrow?”. it was worth a shot, she always hated doing the early shifts, having to drag herself out of bed and being stuck in the store for most of the day, “i’ll buy you takeout afterwards or something. pretty please?”. 

as soon as the other starts, dilan’s brows are already shooting up, knowing exactly what was going to pop out of her mouth—she knew her little sister too well. “you know, technically, i am your boss. no, not even technically, so cashin’ out favors should not work on me.” the older of the two teases, nose pointed upwards but she ends up grinning. “i am a great sister, though, so i’ll get that for you. and by the way, i’ve been cravin’ sushi lately.”

dilan’s text came on such perfect cue that marley thought that any person a little more spiritual than them would’ve taken it as a sign. they had never understood what or who the sign was from, but she had eventually learned not to ask, answers varied from person to person and it often only served the purpose of confusing them more. train of thought aside, they were glad for the opportunity given right when they were about to rank their brain trying to come up with something to do that night. in a matter of minutes they entered the place, eyes finding their friend with a quickness that resembled moth drawn to a flame.  following a reflex, their hand went to cup her cheek when dilan leaned to kiss theirs, and, even though her fingers were used to the softness of their skin, her mouth still twitched in delight.  “ just the person i wanted to meet, ”  and then they were sitting down and marley had her body slightly turned towards the other as they skimmed through the cocktail list, quickly but meaningfully patting her knee at her words and replying with a chuckle,  “ yeah you look like it. and nonsense, i pay. you’re the one having a bad day- i’m not some sort of monster, ” her mouth twisted and her eyes narrowed in deep thought, trying to find the perfect cocktail to offer  “ i’m thinking negroni - if you’re up for it  ”  something that could sound close to a challenge  “ and then we can either talk about it or we order another one and forget all our troubles? ”  

in the past few years since coming into town, only few people were able to make the woman relax so easily. it’s almost like dilan lived on the edge of a breakdown, falling apart at the seams while trying to put on a brave face for those around her. but with people like marley, she didn’t need to pretend like she was happy because the feeling couldn’t be more genuine there. her hand lands on top of marley’s, smiling at the empathy. “and that’s exactly why you’re undoubtedly one of my favorite people in this town.” her head cocks to the side, more than appreciative of her friend’s support when she needed it the most. one brow raises at the suggestion, “i certainly am. anythin’ that’ll get the job done. we’re here for that, aren’t we?” and a low, delightful laughter passes her lips. “i think we should just forget about our troubles for now ‘cause i’m sure one of us will end up babblerin’ about it by the end of the night. i’m totally bettin’ on myself, by the way.”

location: asteroid belt rink & pin alley

status: open! ( @roswellstarters​ )

“i accidentally walked in on a seven-year-olds birthday party, and he made me put this hat on.” the words came out in a breathless confession, the little cone sitting atop his head going sideways, the direct result of not checking the mirror before entering the public space. “and then i was asked to have a piece of cake, because he thought my shirt was cool. makes me wonder if i ever really hit an age past twelve.” maverick’s brows furrowed as he toyed with the string beneath his chin, gaze finding the person next to him almost expectantly. “how do i look?”

“well, am i allowed to call you adorable or guys like you aren’t into that?” dilan teases, the bridge of her nose wrinkling up as she looks at the other. “i think children’s compliments are the most genuine—as are their insults, and they hurt the most so just be thankful that he thought you were cool enough to deserve a piece of cake and a cute cone hat.” she points out before taking a sip from her lemonade. “was the cake any good? maybe i’ll crash the kid’s party, act like i know the parents there. which is very unlikely because ophie is only a year old but they don’t need to know that, do they?”