just lean back and let it go

“I’m not too picky at the moment,” Bridgette replied, setting her book down on the table to look at the bartender. Aside from traveling when she was younger before high school or to see relatives, she hadn’t really been traveling. It was one thing she hated that she was robbed of when her powers were taken. It was one thing to take away her powers, but it was another for the Council to tell her she couldn’t travel or go to a school outside of Edgewood. It only made her angrier. “New Mexico? Really?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Where’d you go specifically? What’d you see? I was thinking of going to somewhere like Amsterdam, Budapest, Bangkok, Venice…maybe even New Orleans or San Francisco.” 

Ronan felt her eyes on him as he worked a dried soap spot off a glass; he nodded and answered, “Yep, was me and a few friends, somethin’ of a school’s out present to ourselves. None of us had passports, and New Mexico ended up bein’ as far as my buddy’s shitty van carried us before it croaked. Lucky for us some folks were already out there ‘nd helped us salvage what was left of the trip. Explored some small towns, weird local fixtures, ‘nd other general... weirdness hidden in the desert.” With the spot cleansed, Ronan placed the glass in line with the others and draped the towel over his shoulder. “Sounds fancy. What made those places make the cut?”

“And milk usually a safe bet to get.” Has this man just been going up and down every aisle hoping for something to click? Dominic glanced down at the almost empty cart. He didn’t want to be rude, but he just had to know, “Who wrote this anyways? Surely you could use context clues to narrow this down?“ He leaned forward again to look at the next clue. “That’s gotta be ‘apricots’. See how there is a down thing at the beginning of the word and an up thing at the end of it.”

Ronan nodded once, and then again with confidence. “Yeah, for sure, that milk goes... so fast.” He could count on one hand how many times in recent history he (or Cameron) had voluntarily consumed milk. Then again, he and Willow did use some to make brownies the other night... “Uh, that’d be my brother. He’s not big on clues, makin’ sense, or for answerin’ his damn phone, either.” Ronan noted the other man’s observations as he read the last line again. “Shoot, if that actually says apricots then this’s gotta be the weirdest shopping list I’ve ever seen.”

“At this point I genuinely don’t think I know the difference.” She laughed, knowing full well that it didn’t matter to her what the answer to that question is.  “I will admit it did start with joke watching and then it got me hooked, so take that what you will.”  Willow shook her head at the memory, “Honestly I’m surprised you didn’t have to burn the bar down just to get rid of the smell.” Willow had to fight the urge to automatically turn down any help.  She was always incredibly stubborn, a side effect of living with her parents, but since meeting Ronan and moving to Edgewood she tried to curb that side of her.  “Sure!  You can get one of the big bowls and put the chips in it.”  Alright so it wasn’t a big task, but Willow genuinely thought she was getting better.  “Honestly it’s pretty much done.  It just has to cool down so we don’t burn the roof of our mouths.”

“Ain’t that how it normally goes?” Ronan snorted at her response, clearly amused. “But nah, I think that place might honestly be like, immune to fire ‘nd forces of destruction. ‘Member I was gone for a bit over the summer? Left Eve in charge while I was gone and the place was still standing when I came back.” Ronan suspected that, much like the rest of the Ashland pack, the bar was simply too stubborn to allow any kind of change to take hold. But at her response, Ronan nodded and set about pawing through the cupboard from an appropriately sized bowl. He spun it around a couple times as he set it on the counter and poured the chips into it. “Very true, but this stuff is the best when it’s still hot... and we do heal pretty fast, so,” He trailed off with a shrug and a small smirk. “It’s almost worth it.”

“Okay, so like, what’s the best place to travel to?” Bridgette asked, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She blew a bubble with her gum and then popped it loudly as she flipped through the travel book she’d recently purchased. “Or, like, where’s the best place that you’ve been? Preferably outside of the US or on the west coast or east coast of the US. Definitely not the Midwest and definitely not Texas.” She was trying to better herself, or at least kick her nasty habit, and she figured that the best way to do that was to leave Edgewood. As much as she loved her home, she’d never gotten to see the world as an adult and it was a place filled with bad memories. It seemed like the best move for her. 

Ronan stood on the other side of the bar wiping down glasses, only half listening to the young woman grumble and flip through the pages until it became obvious she was speaking to him. “Guess it depends on what kinda travelin’ you’re lookin’ to do,” Or what you’re runnin’ away from, Ronan thought, remembering how quick he was to leave home. “Think the coolest place I visited might be New Mexico. Met a lotta interesting people down there, too.”

Trevor: Have you met me? I’m definitely the dumb blonde who dies first…

Trevor: Well with that segue, how can I refuse? Let me find out if the teenager has plans or if he can fend for himself and I might be able to get away one evening this weekend. 

Ronan: ...maybe. But hey you might be able to fix the conveniently sabotaged getaway car

Ronan: Just make sure ur wearing more than a towel when you go check out spooky sounds

Dominic wasn’t in any particular rush in his grocery shopping, but this guy was standing in one spot a good long while, just looking at his list. Well, he decided to just move past him and come back down this aisle later. It would suck though if he forgot to circle back and didn’t realize that he was missing pasta sauce until he got home and Maxine asked if he brought it.

To his surprise, the stationary shopper called to him as he wheeled his cart past. Okay, he could help the guy who was clearly struggling. Dominic moved his cart to be parallel to the aisle right in front of the other man’s cart so that people could still pass. “I’ll take a look.” He grabbed the list and squinted his eyes, tilting his head so the right pair of his glasses were looking at it. “Oof, that is some tight scribble. That’s definitely ‘milk’ at the top, but I’m not even sure where on this list refers to this isle. This one may say ‘alfredo’ or ‘fritos’.”

darkevangeline​:

To Ronan: If it’s any consolation he didn’t tell me he was going anywhere either.

To Ronan: Excellent. I guess I should warn you now that I banned Larry from coming back… 

To Ronan: Rosé. Never thought we’d run out of pink wine but there’s some new woman coming in lately, likes to sit at the bar and look like she’s about to cry. She’s your problem next time. 

To Evangeline: Not super reassuring, but good to know, now we both can kick his ass

To Evangeline: Fuck that explains the missed calls from him and Don, what’d he do now?

“Honestly about the same.  Started a new Netflix show so that’s of course what I’ve been letting consume my waking thought.”  Willow laughed as she placed her items on the table.  Sure she should have been used to the small town life by now but she got bored every now and then.  “Well if we’re going by smells alone then I guess I do have them beat.  I remember walking in the next day and having to walk out right away.”  She rolled her eyes before exaggerating her words.  “Oh definitely.  Bobby Flay has nothing on my Buffalo Chicken Nachos.”

“Naturally, naturally--is it any good or just bad enough to keep you comin’ back for more?” Ronan was way behind on the new releases on the streaming platform. More often than not, it was Willow’s binge cycles that kept him in the loop of new releases. “Fuck, yeah man, that shit was no joke!” He said, snickering at her performance. The glass bottles clinked in the six pack as he tucked them in the fridge to chill. Taking in the state of the kitchen, he leaned against the fridge. “You got that right, Bobby Flay can suck it. Before we call him up and issue a challenge, ’s there anything you need help with in here?”

Willow grinned when she read his response, happy to just have something to do on her day off.  Plus any day spent with Ronan was a good day in her book.  She was making the last needed touches to her dip when the buzzer sound went off.  She ran to the front of her place and let him in. “Hey how are you?”  She greeted before immediately helping unload the groceries he brought in.  “Please tell me you’re a fan of buffalo chicken because let me tell you this has to be one of my favorite things I’ve made in a while.”

“Hey! Good, good--lotta the same old, same old. You?” Ronan returned as a greeting, flashing a smile at Willow. He bumped the door closed with his hip and followed her into the apartment with the rest of the grocery haul. “Oh when it’s done right, absolutely. Someone at the bar made some for New Years’, did not turn out great.” The smell still clung to some parts of the bar, but Ronan caught a whiff of her creation and perked up. “That smells awesome though, am I talkin’ to the next Iron Chef?”

Willow was standing in front of her open fridge trying to figure out what she wanted to make for herself.  It was her day off and frankly she always felt a little lost when she didn’t have anything to do.  Luckily just as she was deciding on her meal, she received a text from Ronan.

To Ronan: Sure! If you buy some chips I have enough fixings here to make us a good meal.  Think of it like nachos on steroids.

She didn’t wait for an answer before she started on the dip, knowing it would probably be done by the time he arrived.

Ronan felt his phone buzz at the end of the aisle and pulled it out. He let out a chuckle as he read it and typed out his response.

To Willow:  Haha sounds awesome, I’ll grab a couple bags And some beer, because why not See you in a bit! 

Trevor: I know, I know, you’re lucky to have me. 

Trevor: Wow thats a glowing endorsement I will never be able to get out of my head next time I’m out that way.

Trevor: Foolproof.

Ronan: Lol I think you’ll be alright, you’re pretty enough to make it to the end of the movie

darkevangeline​:

To Ronan: Well your brother also disappeared into nowhere shortly after you did, leaving me to run a townie bar by myself. What could have possibly gone wrong?

To Ronan: Let me know how happy to see you they look. 

To Evangeline: Wtf? Bastard didn’t tell me he was going anywhere I’ll get on him about that. You should’ve told me I could’ve found someone else to help you out :\

To Evangeline: I’ll have a camera ready to catch their reaction how about that

To Willow: Hey I’m at the store by you, need anything while I’m over here?

Starting with the next shopper that tried to pass him, he said: “You got any idea what this says?” And showed them the list of chicken scratch.