turn the lights out

tw: SA, substance use

@interchangestarts​

Ravi was wiping sweat off his forehead, the first day of work being quite difficult not tha the’d admit it. That would be bad for his ego. Instead as he smirked, “You’d think this was the perfect time to head out for a drink but here we are…”

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elias had mixed feelings about this whole trip. one one hand he was glad to have a distraction, on another he really needed a fix and this clearly wasn’t the place to get it. “yeah i guess they decided we all needed a cleanse instead.” he responded, shaking his head.

“hey can i borrow you?” angel called, probably on his most polite streak since he had joined the interchange, though that could have been because of how hard he was concentrating, head tilted as he looked at the wall he had just been left to build by himself. “this wall is totally straight right? it’s going to hold a roof…right?” 

( @interchangestarts ) 

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elias wiped some of the sweat that was collecting just under his hairline. this was more physical labor than he’d ever done in his life, but he was (not that he’d ever admit it) kind of enjoying himself. “yeah, definitely.” he tilted his head to the side a little bit. “i think so. i mean, it’ll hold the roof fine enough.”

𝐂://𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐑_𝐏𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐊𝐖𝐎𝐍     ›    𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓  

𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐃  𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆  𝐀𝐓  𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍  𝐎𝐅  𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐄𝐒  𝐅𝐎𝐑  𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓  𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃  𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄  𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑.  it  taunted  her  ,  every  time  she  thought  she’d  gotten  closer  to  it’s  peak  ,  more  would  tumble  seemingly  from  the  sky  .    brighting  as  soon  as  she  saw  her  classmate  ,  ❝  please  tell  me  you’re  here  to  save  me  from  potato  hell  or  at  the  very  least  to  be  much  needed  backup  .  ❞ @interchangestarts​

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the boy furrowed his brows together, eyes darting from the mountain of potatoes to the girl. “depends, what exactly are we doing with them?” he had taken a break from helping with the building process, his arms tired and hair doused in sweat as it was.

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“shit, you’re right. i think i’d lose it if i had to go to rehab.” not that it hadn’t been on the table before. especially when she was still in the system, it’d come up plenty of times but she always managed to talk them out of it. “do they actually watch you all the time?” she’d heard that before but it seemed so invasive…but maybe that was the point. “i have a couple of ideas but, shockingly enough, i think this is going to be a good time.” even river was surprised she was admitting it. sitting up, she smirked at him before standing and walking towards the open windows. “this is something else.’ considering her life up until this point, river would have never thought she’d end up in a place like this.

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“you and me both,” elias responded, a shake of his head following. elias’ parents had threatened once or twice to send him, but only when things were really bad at the beginning. once he became able to hide it from them, they stopped bugging him. “i think so, yeah. to make sure you’re not like smuggling shit.” he figured that was the reason, at least. he’d never been, so he couldn’t be sure. “you think so? i definitely don’t mind a change in scenery and some goddamn warmth for once.” he watched her as she strolled to the window. “anything good out there?”

Elias was the last person December wanted to talk to. He was capable of realizing he hadn’t done anything to him, he had every right to be attracted to River, and why wouldn’t he be? That didn’t keep him from being annoyed before the man spoke the first word. “It’s looking a lot more bitter from where I’m standing.”

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he’d only seen the other boy around maybe once, and he couldn’t place his finger on where. “you sound like uganda has personally offended you in some way,” he joked, but he knew there would be people complaining about this trip. even he didn’t love every aspect of it, but he’d learn to adapt. hopefully.

“So, I have this,” Birdie announced, showing the other the long checklist she’d been carrying around. She realized with her name the activity probably seemed a bit cliché, but she was genuinely excited. “There’s over three hundred bird species here, I’m gonna see how many I can check off before we leave. Do you want to help me try to spot a Red-Faced Barbet?”

@interchangestarts​

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elias’ eyebrows crinkled inward as he looked at the long list in the girl’s hand. “bird watching?” he asked, a bit dumbfounded. there were a million animals here he’d never seen before, but birds? birds were a dime a dozen everywhere else. “what exactly is a red-faced barbet? and why are you looking for one?”

“bastards.” river mumbled, smirking over at him. she knew he understood her on a level not many others did. not just here but everywhere. they were two of a kind and being forced to go clean at the drop of a hat was not the ideal situation. “they must have known. didn’t they send someone to rehab before? now the twats are making us all do it.” but they were making it look like charity. “gonna have to find something else to do with my time.” 

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elias wasn’t looking forward to this, but he supposed it was better than rehab. if he’d been made to go to rehab, he surely wouldn’t have survived it. the boy had tried forced therapy once when he was younger, it hadn’t gone well. “to be fair, this is probably better than rehab. at least we aren’t being watched while we piss and eat.” he shrugged. “what else could we possibly do to pass the time?” he had an idea or two. “actually participate in the work?”

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river laughed shortly, feeling the same way. there were so many people here she would have hated rooming with and, thankfully, elias wasn’t one of those people. laying back on her mattress, she turned her head to watch him before sighing. “not gonna lie about it, kind of a fucking drag they’re so strict on drugs here.” she complained. she had an addiction, river could admit that, but even she wasn’t going to risk being thrown into a ugandan jail. 

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elias laid back on his own bed, turning his head to the side to look at her, the two now mirrored in their position almost as much as their personalities. “no kidding. it’s like the program knew they had a bunch of little druggies under their wing and wanted to force us into being clean,” he groaned. elias was never in denial about his problem. he just never cared to fix it.

@desinbers​

@estcllev​

@rrivcr​

“all i am saying is, anyone that choses to contribute to the co2 levels of this city by using the overground with a perfectly functioning underground in place, is a bit behind the ozone crisis.” there wasn’t judgement or malice in her tone, it wasn’t her place to be rude to people. but if she could educate then she sure as hell would. “mallory, by the way, i promise i am fun even though i don’t eat meat and refuse to get a train or cab anywhere i can walk.” 

@interchangestarts​

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elias stared blankly at the girl. he knew nothing about the ozone crisis or anything climate related at all, nor would he pretend to. he also didn’t care to learn about it either. “sorry, you lost me at co2 levels.” he shook his head as if he were trying to remove the thoughts. “i’m elias. and i’m a lot of fun while also still doing those things. but i guess whatever floats your boat.”

v.

things were weird. like beyond weird, and the atmosphere made every hair on her body stand on end. walking through the halls she kept her head tucked down, focussing on the tips of her converse with every step she took, if she just didn’t pay any mind everything would be fi—. a shriek left her lips as she was pulled into a room, brown hues widening in absolute terror before she came face to face with a - human. she had almost let out her breath but it hitched in her chest once again when elias told her what he had saw. “ you’re not kidding, are you? “ her voice hushed as tears began pricking her eyes. she wasn’t sure what she expected when she left home, what the real world would be like, but riddled with ghosts was something even her imagination couldn’t have dreamt up. 

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while elias’ beliefs about the supernatural were never something he truly considered, he did know that if there was something more out there, he didn’t want to fuck with it. the living had done badly enough to him, he didn’t need some ghosty shit haunting him as well. “no, i’m not kidding,” he mumbled, already regretting having pulled her into the room with him. “it’s fine, i’m sure it’s probably gone now.” but truthfully, he didn’t want to look outside, and he was sure she probably didn’t either.

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“oui, please.” manon pushed with a nod. she needed someone’s actual opinion or how else was she going to learn how to make something people would enjoy? even if building stages in games wasn’t her real path, it was something she would benefit knowing how to do. “thought’s what i thought.” she sighed, sitting down next to him and laying the laptop across her lap. “no, you don’t need to know what to put there but it is helpful knowing it doesn’t look right empty. thank you.”

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elias honestly couldn’t really care less about other people’s majors or school projects. he barely cared about his own aside from the fact that it was what got him away from home and would eventually get him a place in life he desired. he sighed as she sat down next to him. “what’s it for, anyways?” he inquired, figuring her place next to him meant he was no longer going to be relaxing alone.

“Nope especially since this is one of my favorite holidays.“ The feeling of his eyes on her only made her move closer to him, it made her heart pound. “Thanks, you look pretty good yourself.“ She said touching the fabric on his shirt. 

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elias almost scoffed at the response, so typical that she would love valentine’s day. sunny was all things elias wasn’t, maybe that was the fun of what they did. “i do clean up nice,” he replied, a smirk playing on his lips. “who are you here with?”