Zombae

Braxton shook his head when she spoke, “Nothing that can’t wait.” He said, which wasn’t technically a lie. It was a sensitive case for many reasons but the fact that he had not eaten or take a break yet didn’t exactly help anyone. He took the seat opposite her, letting his eyes glance over her a bit discreetly before he opened the bag. “How have you been?” He asked her out of curiosity, “I thought I had scared you away that night at the movies.” He added with a teasing smirk. He had enjoyed himself, it had been nice spending some time with her just out and about like that. “Do you want one?” He asked as he got up to get some plates for the food.

She rolled her lips together as he spoke, suppressing the smile. She chuckled at his comment, and shook her head “No, not at all. I had a really good time” she said honestly, although it were still up in the air if the night had been a date or not. She was too afraid to ask and he’d never specifically said it was or was not. “School’s been a bit hectic.” she shrugged, “and working.” her lips crept into a smile. She nodded a bit as he offered her a muffin “That’s why theres two” she joked, flashing a playful grin.

@ashtontnhqstarter​

Sam had been working a lot of extra hours at work lately because one of his co-workers had come down with the flu so he was covering shifts.  Due to this he had to stay up well into the night every night and it had been over a week since he’d had a decent amount of sleep. It was due to this that he was nearly falling asleep at the diner table while he waited for his coffee and breakfast. Sam nodded off for a second and opened his eyes to see someone looking at him. “Do you ever feel like there isn’t enough hours in the day?”

Zelda sat in a booth, her laptop open and her fingers steadily typing away at the keys. She’d hit a minor grey period where she was just feeling a bit lower than normal and had fallen behind on coarse work after taking some time for herself, plus the extra shows she’d been putting on. Now she was playing catch up and was burning out quickly. Her attention being caught by the male across from her, she exhaled a laugh at his question, it seemed she’d been asking herself the same question before nodding. “You’re telling me” she agreed. “I swear I blink and the whole day is gone.” she chuckled, staring at him for a moment- probably a moment too long but she couldn’t help but feel like she’d seen him before.

 Braxton had spent most of the morning and the afternoon scanning through some of the town’s work contracts. It was a lot harder than heh ad first anticipated it would be as it was local and therefore sensitive. His boss, however, had trusted him with it as it seemed like having an outsider not from Ashton dealing with it a lot better than to be in the middle of it himself. He looked up when he head a knock on his door, which was left open in case anyone would need him for something, and he had to look twice when he spotted the familiar face. His lips grew into a smile as he put the paper in his hand down on his desk. Was he surprised to see her? Absolutely, but in a nice way. “Hey stranger.” He grinned wider back at her, standing up from his desk and walking around it before crossing his arms a loosely across his chest while leaning up against it from the other side. He smirked a little teasingly back at her as she spoke, “I am always busy, but I could do with a break.” He shrugged, before cocking his head a little to the side, “Thank you, that is very kind of you.” He said with a smile, “Please, take a seat.” He said, gesturing towards the couch to the side. 

Her lips tugged upwards as he smiled at her, not seeming to be bothered by her visit, which she was thankful for. She knew she could come off as clingy or overbearing if she wasn’t careful and it was something that often chased off people in her life. Her eyes drifted over him, taking in the view of him in his suit as he leaned against his desk and she gently bit down on her lower lip before walking into the room and sitting in the seat across from him. “I hope I’m not intruding on anything important” she extended her arm out to hand him the bag.

 Braxton shrugged, “Well I figured at least we have an option. I wasn’t sure wether you’d want to be in the car or not.” He told her before he offered her a slight smile. “Well if you are dressed warm enough I don’t mind getting some chairs?” He said, “But if you’d prefer the car that is fine too.” He added. He was fairly relaxed himself, which probably didn’t help.

She rolled her eyes amused and exhaled a breathy laugh. “You are so much help Braxton” she nudged his arm gently. “I don’t mind the whole drive in vibe” she mentioned, unsure if it was too date-ish, something she still didn’t know if she was on. Her eyes searched his carefully, attempting to get some sort of answer. “Just I dunno, its cute but if you wanna sit with everyone else thats okay too” she rambled a bit, panic setting in as she worried that it may seem she was pushing for it to be more romantic than he’d intended. “I dunno.” she brushed her fingers through her hair. “I’m really not picky.”

“I guess I would be better off just getting used to it and then I won’t be surprised about it anymore.” Anthony replied with a small shrug. It was taking him longer to adjust to his new life than he originally thought that it would. He shook his head at her question. “No, I came to keep on eye on my little sister but she is happily off with a group of her friends and probably happy that I am not watching her like a hawk.” 

She nodded “right” she laughed in agreement. “Oh” she exhaled a laugh “I see, big brother duty” she hummed a bit, knowing her brothers did things like that back when she was younger. Part of her was grateful her brothers were back in New York, because she was sure they’d still be following her on dates or just out with her friends. “Can I ask why you feel the need to?” she asked curiously.

Braxton shrugged back at her with a grin, “What can I say? I try my best.” He joked back with her. He nodded back at her, “Alright, just let me know if you change your mind.” He added with a shrug. He was still deciding wether or not to get some popcorn for himself. Brax made sure to lock the car after getting out himself, looking over at her with a slight smile before he let his eyes glance over the crowd. “Well, it might still be some chairs for rent, if not I can always park the car over in the drive in section and we can watch it from there?” He suggested, thinking both were good options. 

She looked over at him, “oh.” she looked out at where they had set up chairs then back at the car. “I... didn’t even think about it” she laughed, rubbing her elbow. “Uh... I dunno.. if you want to go find a seat we can” she turned her attention towards him. “Or if you wanna sit in your car-” she trailed off, rolling her lower lip under her teeth, unsure of how public or private he’d intended this to be.

 Carter rolled his eyes at her comment again, “I like to refer to is as an iron wall or something, you know; it is a lot harder to break down if that is the case.2 He half joked back with her. “I think the key word is yet.” He added with a wink, before he shrugged at he let his eyes glance over her, “Nah you are alright.”

She chuckled a bit “Oh I’m fully prepared for you to eventually get sick of me” she laughed then shrugged. “Only alright?’ her brow quirked. “Oh no dear Carter, I am fantastic” she teased, “But you’re okay I suppose”

“I guess I should get used to there being so many people at events honestly. There always seems to be, even though Ashton is a small town.” Anthony replied, shaking his head at her. “Two heads are better than one, right?”

She laughed a bit and nodded in agreement, “Yeah it seems like the last few have been very packed” she smiled. She nodded “You’re correct” she laughed, “So this way?” she pointed towards the direction he’d motioned to before and headed that way. “Hope I’m not stealing you away from anyone” she exhaled a laugh, more so the fact that she didn’t want any unwanted drama from someone who thought she was looking to do anything more than find food.

 Braxton nodded slowly back at her, “Fair enough I guess.” He chuckled in response to her words. He was just glad she didn’t seem persistent about it, even though he was pretty sure he could suffer through if she insisted on one. “I think they can. Like I am pretty sure that like 5 minutes into this one, I’ll be able to tell you what it is about.” He said with a smirk. He shrugged, “I mean, I’ll try not to, but if I do I guess you’ll just have to slap my arm or something to wake me up.” He added with a teasing wink. He let his eyes glance over the crowd and nodded, “Yeeah.. Seems like the whole town is here.” He said, “Do you want some snacks or something? Then we can go find a place to sit?”

She laughed softly “Well aren’t you just a blast.” She teased, reaching over and tapping his arm. She shook her head slightly as he asked if she wanted snacks, her nerves while slightly settled were still very present and it made her a bit nauseous. “I’m okay for now” she said as he parked, slipping from the seat and walking around to meet him at the other side. She crossed her arms gently over her chest, unsure if holding his hand would be acceptable. She still wasn’t sure if this was a date and he hadn’t given any hint to what this was, maybe he didn’t know himself. “So” she said after a moment. “Where do you wanna sit?”

“Oh don’t worry about it, it’s no bother really.” Anthony replied, sending her a soft smile. He hadn’t really been doing anything important really so it wasn’t a huge deal anyway. “Yeah, I am surprised with how busy this place is honestly. I didn’t expect it to be so big and there be so many people here.” He added with a small chuckle. Granted, he seemed to think that about every event that he went to since moving here. “I think it’s over there.” He added, gesturing towards his left. “I think I could use a snack too honestly, so maybe we can go find it together.”

She smiled, happy she hadn’t bothered him and nodded in agreement “Yeah its a bit overwhelming.” she admitted with a laugh. She looked towards where he was pointing then back at him as he continued to speak, “Oh really?” she asked, not wanting to put him out. “Yeah... okay thanks” she nodded with a small smile.

Braxton shrugged, “I mean, I am not huge on romantic movies my self, honestly.” He said, “But I did assume the point of the genre to be like.. Happy endings, or like feel good? I don’t know if that even makes sense.” He laughed, as again it wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. “I am not saying that.” He said, looking at her with a smirk, “But if you really wanted to then sure. I’d maybe be willing to give it a go. I can’t promise you I won’t make fun of it or even fall asleep, just so you know.” He warned her. “I mean I’d rather sit through a horror movie than a romantic one, honestly. As long as they are not too.. Messy. But to be fair, some horror movies are rather predictable as well in my opinion.”

She chuckled softly “I’m not too into romance movies either... like I said but sometimes you just want a feel good hopeless romantic thing“ she chuckled then nodded “Oh... yeah suppose most movies can get a bit predictable if we’re honest.” She smiled “You’re gonna fall asleep on me....wow Brax” she teased with a shake of her head. Her eyes drifted towards the park “wow its packed”

Braxton looked over at her with a smirk, “That you are indeed.” He nodded gently. He was pretty sure he didn’t know everything there was to know about her yet, which was why he was grateful that she had agreed to spend some more time with him. “Is that so? That sounds bit depressing.” He laughed back at her, “But I guess those are the kind of love stories that wins like awards and such.” He added with a shrug. “Does this mean you are going to start trying to make me watch romantic movies then? Going forward?” He asked a bit teasingly, hoping that tonight went well and that she would still be up for.. hanging out as he preferred to call it. “It wouldn’t ruin it.” He shrugged, “Besides, I can just wash it and it’ll be as good as new.”

She smiled slowly, “Is it depressing?” she asked curiously, humming in thought. “I dunno its just... like you know they end up together at the end of the movie and its just predictable” She shrugged then laughed “Oh you’d be willing to suffer through them for me?” she asked with a wide grin “Nah, they aren’t my favorite but every once in a while its okay to watch them” she chuckled. “I’d be more than happy to bug you with all my horror movies though” she grinned looking over at him.

ghostlyxz​:

Carter grinned back at her, “Mhmm..” He uttered not totally convinced, but then again he wasn’t going to push it. He barley knew her after all. “Right.. I see, but I can’t say that O can relate.” He shrugged back at her. He rarely spoke with or had deep, meaningful conversations with people. He liked keeping people at arms length. “Yeah I guess you are right. I would have usually have walked away by now.” He added with a shrug, or have attempted to take her home, but he hadn’t been doing much of that recently.

She smirked at the look of not buying her answer, then laughed at his next comment. “Oh right of course not. Mister stone wall around my vulnerability.” she teased although she could be the same way, especially if people were getting close and she got scared. She smiled warmly “See, I’m not completely terrible to be around then I suppose. Especially if you haven’t gotten tired of me yet.”

 Ethan looked over at her once more, “I mean they are always on the look out for new people.” He informed her in case she was being serious. “Where do you normally volunteer?” He added out of curiosity, thinking maybe there were more places around that needed help. “Yeah, that much is for sure..” He nodded at her words. He would most likely not have had he not run into Vanessa and experienced what he had. “His name is Billy.” 

She smiled and nodded “Oh normally up at the hospital” she replied. “I work with the kids a lot, spending time with them and kind of just being their friends. I also started working with some of the elderly people in Pine Acres Retirement Home as well.” she smiled “But literally anywhere I can kind of squeeze into I’m totally for.” she smiled and gently scratched the pup between the ears. “Hello Billy. You handsome little man”