hope that you'll always stay gold

…

“I don’t know,” she dropped her voice, not wanting to offend anyone who maybe was listening in.  They were in public, after all.  She understood that sometimes a little bit of listening in happened when you were in close quarters.  “weird stuff is happening in this town.  A shapeshifter or an alien or something wouldn’t surprise me.  But it’s really you!”    It made her sad that Garret didn’t want to marry her, it was true enough.  She was glad that he was going after want he wanted, but she did wish it hadn’t taken him so long to realize that what he wanted wasn’t her.  “I just – wow, you’re right, I totally should have been expecting you to pop out at some point.”  Ash was funny like that, always doing the unpredictable thing.  “maybe.  But I’m really, really, really glad you’re here.  Where are you staying?  How long are you in town for?”

“maybe i am a shapeshifter. what do you know?” ash raised her eyebrows suggestively. she didn’t really know what to believe about taos, other than the fact that whatever was going on around there was weird as fuck. “pop out?” ash mumbled as she frowned with a soft smile. yeah, audrey’s brain worked in strange ways sometimes. that was for sure. “that’s right, yeah, i am a jack in the box after all.” she shook her head lightly at her friend’s antics before shrugging. “i just got a cabin with clyde if you wanna crash when you get sick of your grumpy sister. i bumped into her by the way – interesting type that one. very broody.” ash grinned before making a slightly grumpy face, attempting her best alex impression.

“Vibing?” He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the other’s choice of words. Maybe it was a good thing Oak was like this, instead of distraught or any other similar state of mind. Might as well roll with it. It’s not like Ethan was looking to be in a down mood anyway, so he’d take all the positive energy he could get. But when they winced, he grimaced a bit and nearly reached out. “Be careful. I’m sure you want to get out of here as soon as possible… But that’s good. I’m glad.” He thought if there was anything he did need but soon found nothing and was slowly shaking his head. “No, I’m alright. I think it’s all just sinking in, so I need to process that… I’m also a little hungry somehow,” he chuckled. “But mostly alright. Thanks for asking. I know it’s not the usual topic, but this could make one hell of a podcast episode I guess, right?” Ethan added in an attempt to keep the mood light.

“mhm, ‘think that’s what the kids call it these days. you really not down with the cool kids, ethan?” oak grinned, carefully leaning against his bed for a moment. they weren’t as steady on their feet as they wanted to – but if they were gonna have any chance of getting out of the hospital any time soon, they needed to convince the nurses at least. ethan? not so much. “they’re not letting me out until they’ve checked out my head properly. something about a concussion – i don’t know. it feels fine.” oak shrugged, quickly glancing back up at the picture above ethan’s bed as if taking it by surprise would help them figuring out the trickery behind the moving trees. they were still blowing in the wind though. or maybe oak was. that part was uncertain. at the mention of hunger though, oak lit up. “yo, hang on.” they mumbled before padding back to their own bed and picking up some stuff. “these nurses are funny, man.” oak almost giggled as they made their way back to his bed, dumping several cups of jell-o onto the table next to it. “okay, okay. so you know i’m queer right?” a light chuckle slipped out. as if anyone didn’t know they were. “they brought me the whole jell-o rainbow.” grabbing a cup, they held it out for him. “so – we’ve got two working arms between us – so we should probably be able to figure out how to open this thing, yeah?” oak smiled, tilting their head slightly before adding a nod. “yeah. i guess it would be kinda weird not to address it at least. you up for coming on and having a chat once we’re both – y’know – less hopped up on painkillers?”

…

“You’re right,” she conceded, laughing at the idea of wolves in the ninja turtles masks.  “Mutants would be way cooler – and kind of a wildcard.  How do you get rid of them?  Or maybe we don’t – maybe they’re crime fighting mutants and just got some signals crossed.” She had always been good at molding herself into whoever it was that she needed to be for the company she was in.  And it didn’t take much to figure out Ash.  She turned her stool so that she was facing her and leaned in, a small smile playing at her lips.  “Freya,” she offered her own name in return.  “and I’d love that.  I know all the best places.  Some are crowded, some a bit more intimate.  Something for everyone.”

“maybe we just have to deal with them, hm? maybe they’ve just come ‘round to finally get rid of the humans for once.” ash grinned, putting her glass down onto the bar. “ah.” she tilted her head slightly as she moved closer to the other. “the goddess of love and beauty. didn’t think i’d run into her in this hellhole.” leaning against the bar, ash moved their hand closer to her arm, letting a finger trace along her forearm. “that sounds like a lot of fun.” 

…

She had been smiling the whole time, but it only grew when he called her on her shit. “Okay, oh wise one.  Enlighten me.  I could see how the travel part of the Olympics was cool,”  She took a loud slurp of her drink.  “Were you at the very first ones?  Athens, right?”  Was this what she was going to be like when she was old?  It wasn’t so bad.  He still got to have fun, and he was cute enough, in an old man sort of way, to still pull someone as hot as El Evans.  Although maybe he was younger when that happened.  Man, she’d have to google him more extensively later.  “Damn, see this is why I’m in STEM.  Reading comprehension skills suck.  Even still.”  

“ah yes, grasshopper. i was snowboarding at the very first summer olympics. that is entirely correct, young one.” he teased, raising his eyebrows as he slurped up the last of his slushee. at least cami brought some entertainment to town – something hux desperately needed after the week he’d had. “no idea how you even made it to college, kid.”

benita shrugged with a smile, ‘ i’ve been here since i was nineteen, so it’s been a little while. it started as a vacation sort of, i was filming here and just loved it really so i couldn’t go home. ’ she smiled fondly at the memory. ‘ nice to meet you, ash. i’m benita. ’ if the other recognised her but didn’t know from where, she was sure she would now, she didn’t like it all that much when people recognised her because she just wanted to meet people as benita, not benita the actress.

“ah, so it can’t have been that long then.” ash smiled, raising her eyebrows slightly. “filming? that’s interesting. you seem familiar somehow – anything i might have seen?” she tilted her head as she finished her drink, gesturing at the other’s. “can i get you another?” she smiled, praying to the heavens that she would say yes. she was beautiful – and there was no way ash wasn’t gonna shoot her shot at least. “benita. that’s cute. i like that a lot.”

“I know you’re right, but it’s hard to stop thinking that way regardless,” he chuckled humorlessly. If there was one thing most people were good at, it was overthinking. Or dwelling. That was a close second. “It’s alright,” Ethan insisted at the help. He didn’t want to put any jobs in jeopardy or pry too much for someone he didn’t know that well. “I don’t want to seem… weird or anything by sneakily getting information on them. I’d want my privacy respected if it was the other way around.” He nearly wished he didn’t feel that way so he could take Hux up on his offer, but couldn’t.

“Anyway, it still doesn’t all feel real. I know it happened, but I also wonder if my mind is playing tricks on me or if people will jump out from behind furniture to say surprise, it was all a hoax.” Ethan rubbed a hand over his face, unsure if he was even making sense. His dose of pain medication wasn’t enough to make him ramble in circles, so it was probably just lingering shock and disbelief at being in the middle of it all. “Thank you though. I appreciate that and I’ll try not to feel too badly over it… It’s just tough. I feel like you know what I’m talking about though so I appreciate the listen. How are you holding up?”

“it is. but it’s also not gonna help anyone, you know.” hux was good at telling other people that – not so much at owning up to it himself. he nodded slightly, at ethan’s response. it was a fair one. but he wouldn’t have been himself if he didn’t offer at least. “that’s fair.” he agreed with a small shrug as he leaned back into the chair. 

“i – know a thing or two about, you know – feeling like you’re not pulling your weight.” hux gave him a weak smile before shrugging again. he was struggling with the guilt, but he didn’t really feel like he had a legitimate reason for his emotions either. “eh, you know. i’m fine. don’t feel like i have any reason to – complain, you know? i wasn’t there – not like in the middle of it anyway. so i just – don’t think i have the right to feel much more than everyone else in town. if that makes sense.”

“Honey there is plenty to talk about, if anything else you can just talk to me about the kids. How are they getting on?” Carrie knew it was difficult to talk about things like this, even she liked to stick to logic and that didn’t work considering what she’d seen. !There was nothing you could’ve done Hux, and Oak is, fine, I suppose. Or at least trying to be.”

“they’re doing alright, i think. you know – jax is just being – jax. taking care of their mama and their baby brother. and beau is just – y’know, he’s almost five – doesn’t really understand what’s going on.” hux shrugged, taking another sip of his beer. “‘guess oak is being their – stubborn self, huh? back on their feet and making sure this place is still – good to everyone. i’ll tell you this though – they’re even more of a hero to jax now than ever – think they saw what happened out there.” he gave carrie a genuine smile. the pair had meant a lot to him ever since they came to taos – and maybe even more so to jax. it had been good to have role model around for jax when they started figuring themself out. while hux always tried his best to understand and grow – it was good for jax to have people around to show them that life could be good to them as well. “and you? you know you’re allowed to not be fine, right?”

x

“Not sure this is the place I would have picked for a vacation.” Piper mused, kinda unimpressed. Of course, being a ski resort town, so it was a vacation town, but not the place the brunette would have chosen. Even less so with all the shit that was happening this season. Which was just insane. Shaking their head, Piper took a rather long swig of her drink. “I mean — the excitement is nice.” Was that fucked up? Yeah, probably. And honestly, people getting mauled wasn’t exactly something Piper was thrilled about - they weren’t great with gore. But anything that broke up the boring stretch that was the coming winter season was somewhat welcome. “Usually it’s boring as fuck.” 

“mh, i didn’t really pick it either, to be fair. i woulda gone somewhere warm. not this place. this is like my – hell. there’s no way hell is as hot as they say. if they really wanted people to suffer, they’d make it this cold.” a small grin settled on ash’s lips at the other’s comment as she took another sip of her drink. she was right. it was kind of nice. “you’re right. i’ll take some drama any day of the week.” she agreed, putting her drink down. “i’ll take it you’re from around here then?”

Aspen quickly nodded at Riley’s question, her smile brightening to a grin to have the company. Of course Carrie followed them closing the door carefully behind them. She’d been careful recently. “Don’t be silly there’s not exactly a vibe and these are perfect. Oak is, coping, I think, they’re at work right now.”

…

It was a relief really.  She could go back to causing trouble quicker if her car was fixed – and as much as she didn’t know that she liked Alex Rhodes, she seemed competent when it came to a car anyway.  And maybe a few other things.  “Oh god, thank you so much.  I really am an idiot, that’s what I get for letting the sticker fall off.”  She gestured out to her car parked near the garage entrance.  “That’s me right there.”

“you’re good. don’t worry about it.” alex gave freya a smile as she made her way to the door. “alright, just pull it in here and i’ll get it done right now, yeah?” she nodded, crossing her arms as she leaned back against one of the work benches in the open space. the two had never talked that much before – freya had almost seemed to keep her distance, and alex wasn’t entirely sure why. maybe she was just hard to approach – something she didn’t mind all that much.

Carrie couldn’t help but laugh at their summing up of the place she’d called home for so long, then again she had to admit something had changed even with the news authorities were trying to put out. “Well, I have to admit there’s been some exaggeration there. We’re a mountain community, wild animals are common. No, mutants, no aliens and certainly no one ripped to shreds.”

“mmh, ‘guess that always happens when shit goes down, doesn’t it? people go off the rails and say whatever kinda shit they can for the hype.” ash shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. she hadn’t been in town for long – but apparently it had been long enough to get filled in on most of the crazy rumors going around. “that mean you from ‘round here then? ‘cause it seems the tourists are a bit more shaky than you.” 

…

She waved off her questions with a smile.  She’d love it all in the end and that was all that mattered.  The dark green would look nice as curtains.  Or maybe a sheer overlay to some black curtains.  Although, that might look a bit too vampire-y for Alex.  Hmmm.  

She grinned as Alex agreed easily.  There were so many possibilities that she knew her sister would like but wouldn’t do for herself.  A nice, leather couch for start.  Oh and maybe she could manage to make some end tables out of car parts.  And she knew she hadn’t touched a drum set in years but maybe putting an old one together somewhere would be a nice reminder, or a display of some sticks or memorabilia at the least.  She didn’t know how long she’d be here, but at the very least she could make sure Alex had a nice place to rest and feel at home rather than just somewhere to sleep and cook and all that other stuff you did.  “Absolutely.  Extreme Home Makeover  Sister Edition.”  That show had been the best.  “And the added bonus of me actually knowing you means you won’t end up with a window slide or a mural of Spongebob or something else stupid but well-intentioned.”

“you try anything like that and i’mma kick you out the house in five seconds flat.” alex chuckled as she started the car. as she pulled out of the lot, she glanced over at her sister. there was no question that there had to be thoughts roaming around in her head about what had happened with her and her now ex-fiancé. and while alex wasn’t one to pry – she also knew audrey would brush off anything and move on, full speed ahead. and she also knew that wasn’t always the healthiest way to go about handling things. and she hadn’t heard too much about what exactly had happened yet – maybe it would be good for her to get something off her chest if she needed to. “so – are we gonna talk about garret?”

…

She usually approached Riley with a plan, and in a place that was a bit less family friendly.  But today she had no real plan, just a case of boredom she couldn’t quite shack and a rare free evening with no work or social responsibilities.  She leaned back, watching them work and waiting for them to acknowledge her.  She knew they would eventually.  She was a fucking delight.

Was Riley alright?  She wasn’t sure, but she also didn’t care enough to press them on it.  If they said they were alright she wouldn’t question that.  “Something like that,” she answered with a smirk, leaning forward just a bit.  “A sense of boredom I can’t quite shake.  You doing anything interesting?  I could do with some entertainment.”  That could go a million different ways, and she truly did not care which Riley latched onto.

…

“I just am kind of questioning your tastebuds, Grandpa,” she sighed, only managing a frown for a few seconds before smiling again.  Was she a fan of this dork?  Absolutely – not because he could do tricks on a piece of wood though, but because he was fucking hilarious.  “Please, does anyone under the age of 63 watch the Olympics?  No – although I guess that is pretty cool.  Your are probably really good at your little tricks.  But no, I didn’t realize you were married to the lead singer of my favorite band.  Good for you dude.”

“okay, just because you think it’s lame, doesn’t mean everyone thinks it’s lame, you know. you got some kinda god complex or somethin’ goin’. world doesn’t revolve around you, kid.” hux smirked from behind his slushee. cami was interesting. one of those kids that knew just how to push every button he had – but he still didn’t really mind all that much. “ah. el. yeah, we were never married – i was just hitting that.” he grinned with a tilt of his head, before shaking his head and chuckling. “yeah, no, we have two kids together though. so i did something right.”

RILEY .

                    gratefully taking the joint from riley’s hand, q almost snorted at their statement.  “ feel free to get whatever you want, ”  she said, immediately taking a puff.  it wasn’t often she let herself indulge, not yet having gotten used to the luxury to partake in such activities without needing to consider the possible ramifications to her career.  with competitions basically running year-round, she’d never really been able to play into the whole ‘stoner snowboarder’ vibes of it all, even if the mandatory drug tests only ever came up in the higher level competitions.  she exhaled, releasing a content sigh along with the smoke. “ so where d’you want to eat ? ” q asked, handing the smoke back to them. “ i’ve been craving a good burger recently.  or maybe thai food.  or barbecue ? ”

…

She laughed, shaking her head.  “I mean – the pizza in Boston is fine, but there’s something about this that tastes like home.  I spent my whole life running away from this town, but maybe growing up is realizing that home isn’t so bad, especially when it starts to mean more than just the house you grew up in.  She relaxed into them and their touch as she ate her piece.  

She knew that they were right, but god it was hard to remember that when it constantly felt like she was running out of time.  She was barely 26, and she felt like she was at a point where her choices and her actions were very much going to decide the direction her life took.  When she was younger there was still time to change her mind, to make mistakes.  But now?  She wasn’t in school anymore – she was a doctor.  She wasn’t the student, not really.  Obviously there were still lessons to learn throughout her residency, but she was expected to know what she was doing now and to move forward with her decisions confidently, and that was scary.  But it was partially why she was here, trying to fix things with Riley.  And that mattered a whole lot more than a mild case of imposter syndrome.  “I know,” she said softly.  “but I’m glad you’re here to remind me now.”  She rolled her eyes.  “Okay, but I’m not –” she paused to yawn loudly.  “tired.  At all.  I could stay up another six hours probably.  But you should definitely sleep.” 

“i never really saw home as the house i grew up in. i don’t think i ever really knew what – home meant. maybe i still don’t.” riley chewed their lip, letting a finger trace along one of saiya’s ribs. they had never really admitted that. or even really talked about growing up. no one had asked – and riley wasn’t one to just dump things on people who didn’t care. but saiya seemed to care. and maybe that was a good thing.

…

She had baked and baked and cooked at Alex’s, liking the way it filled her sister’s house with homey type smells.  The curtains she had sewed weren’t perfect, but they were a nice dark green that reminded her of some of the trees in Taos.  She’d make her sister’s place a bit happier before she went.  That was her new goal.

She was lost in thought when someone approached her table, and when she looked up she dropped the coffee she had lifted back onto the table with a clatter.  “Ash?”  She gasped, standing up.  She reached out and poked her arm – but when she was satisfied that her friend was actually there she broke out into a wide smile.  “Oh my god!  Ash, what are you doing here?  I missed you!”

“who else would i be?” ash smirked, frowning slightly at the poke that came from audrey. she was a weird one – that was for sure. but ash loved her all the same. whenever she had needed something – audrey had been there. and ash would always be thankful for that – the last thing she could do was be there for audrey if she needed something. especially if she was planning on eventually dealing with what had happened. “what are you talking about? wasn’t like i wasn’t gonna follow you out here. i owe you that much, aud.”