a smile of petals and thorns

alright, so maybe she could have waited for atlas to finish doing whatever it was that they were doing. honestly, though, hadley didn’t have the patience. she was wet from the sky suddenly deciding to pour rain on her and itching for something sweet. if only she’d driven here and brought her skittles. ah well, good thing she had wanted to pick up lock-picking as a hobby. placing her backpack at her feet, she dug around for the kit before withdrawing with a cry of triumph. well, hopefully she didn’t break anything.

approximately seven minutes later found haddie kicking off her sneakers and dropping her bag to the ground. locking the door behind her without even looking, she swung by the kitchen to drop her backpack, and the bottle of wine she’d carried with her, on the counter before moving to search for atlas in their own apartment. luckily, the running of the shower basically answered her unspoken question right away. humming, the brunette let herself into the bathroom.

this brain- couldn’t have made it to where i am without it. a true blessin’ from beyond.

I hate olives and I don’t think I could look at them everyday for a year, let alone eat them for a million dollars. 

an ideal date, huh. honestly, babe, anywhere my partner and i can just hang out and chat together. maybe a chill dinner and one of those movie theaters where you can put the arms up so that we could cuddle and shove snacks in each others’ faces.

oh shit!! the zombie apocalypse? well, i guess the first one would be to grab ammies and attie and make sure the two of them are safe before we go and raid the nearest field and stream and pharmacy to stock up on supplies. we probably will need to go grocery shopping too, right? then, we probably need to find a good spot to hole up until we can establish a solid place where we can cover our cute butts and defend against the zombies. i guess it’s not a really detailed plan, huh. plus, for all i know i’d be one of the first to turn into a zombie seeing as i work at the hospital and all.

gotta say, probably getting to see patients discharged. the strength people can have is amazing. how the human body can rebuild and learn how to adapt boggles my mind sometimes. in terms of funny stories, there are plent of those. one of my favourites is this guy whose reaction to anethesia was basically him being high as hell. i swear to god though, this kid quoted the first half of the bee movie to me without a pause before promptly bursting into tears and garbling about how bees deserved the same rights as people. i thought that was just a meme, but apparently this guy was so dedicated to his memes that he memorized the bee movie script. i really wasn’t sure how to handle that situation. like, what am i supposed to do about that? i don’t know anything about legislation beyond simplicities. 

i’m definitely a fan of apple cider. don’t get me wrong, pumpkin spice is pretty good as well but there’s just something so warm and homey about apple cider.

i think the feeling has always been there but it wasn’t until i learned more about gender that i could put a term to it. i think i was in my late teens when i figured it all out. 

it wasn’t actually my first choice in profession, but i felt as though it was the best way for me to- well, i think the best way to put it is ‘atone? helping people, saving lives and all that. what i gave up to get to this point. it’s a means of retribution.

Amy got up from the floor and unplugged the earbuds after pausing the music, smiling in an apologetic way. “ I know, darling. I’m sorry, I’m just a bit…jumpy lately. ” Amelia couldn’t help but be a little surprised, Hadley finally had a day off and chose to spend some of it with her, the older woman never failed to make Amy feel deserving of love and that was completely new - Ellen tried, but it is you mother obligation to love you, right? God knows how many times Hads fixed Ammie’s bleeding face before the younger one finally realizing that there was something more about it. “ You treat me so well darling, wine, dine and everything nice! ” she said, the smile growing bigger. “ Can you wait five minutes while I take a quick shower?   You can sit at the benches and tell me about your day.  ”  Without waiting for an answer, Amelia took her towel from a backpack and walked into the bathroom’s direction.

 The elder hummed, nodding her understanding at Amelia’s comment. It was understandable, what with the unfortunate discovery on the fifth of september. There was an eeriness that had filled the air around Salem and many were feeling uneasy due to it. Personally, death was a major part of Hadley’s everyday life and the only strange things she found about the whole ordeal was how the body was found and the scream that had occurred in the early morning. “I’m sorry, babe. I should have been more careful,” she objected immediately, waving off the other’s apology to replace it with her own. 

Amy was getting ready to close the gym after a long day of work, shaking her hips rhythmically to a song that played on her earbuds and cleaning some yoga mats with alcohol - that was probably the worst part about working there, germs. Ignoring the disgust of it, she kept cleaning carefully, so deep into her thoughts that she almost screamed when someone stepped in front of her. Lying a hand on her chest, Amelia took a long breath and rested a finger on the bridge of her nose before talking. “ You shouldn’t scare people like that! What are you doing here? We are closed. ”

Hadley had practically skipped her way to the gym, delighted in having a day off work. She’d managed to get some chores done and snuggle with Baloo all before Amelia’s work day ended. This meant that she could go and spend time with the woman guilt free for the rest of the night. It wasn’t as though the two had made plans or anything. No, this was entirely Haddie’s idea, though she was certain Am wouldn’t mind. It could be somewhat difficult to find time with Hadley’s twelve hour shifts at the hospital and overloaded schedule. She was almost tempted to suggest the two of them move in together just so she could see her friend more often and save both of them the trouble of meeting up. 

squinting at that same word, babe, nate brought his drink back to his lips for a forced sip, something to break eye contact and keep him from being forced to speak in the simple interest of just replying. placing it back onto the tabletop, the male took a moment to gather himself and remember that he was going to play civil for the time being instead of just, basically, chewing her head off in three words about using pet names. “it wasn’t charm, by the way. it was purely a plan because i was bored,” he admitted, all truthfully and probably sounding a bit too harsh, simply from his flat toned nature. “and i’m a buzzkill mostly because everything, to me, is done on my terms. i don’t have many morals but i have some sort of … i guess you could call it, code. people will want to do stupid things and i’m always the one to say no or i’m that guy to take a simple conversation and make it into a detailed explanation. buzzkill.” 

realising after a brief moment that what he said was essentially what he was complaining about - what people thought about him being a buzzkill - nate licked his lips as his eyes darted to the nearly empty cup sitting on the table, a large hand twisting it in a small circle. “however, just so you know, i was mostly bored but i wasn’t just bored or curious - you’re beautiful, and i noticed.” finally, the blond shot her a sort of nate-esque smirk, something that probably should be taken with a grain of salt. unfortunately, hadley didn’t know nate and didn’t know his intention, or how serious the smirk was ( or wasn’t ), which only benefit him when it came to messing with her in the long run. 

“what if i bribe you with iced coffee, or a tea? less heart-attack inducing because it’s majority whitener,” he joked. yes, a joke. about milk. nate gave her another smirk, eyes moving to break contact and dance around the other cafe patrons a few seconds later. he always found it weird that, despite being so odd, he found himself in these completely normal situations - getting coffee on the way to work - without trying. before, he had to learn what to do and understand what people expected, whether it be from movies and television shows or from experiences with others. yet, his addiction to coffee helped him do something so normal without thinking about it. his eyes moved back to the person across from him at the table, his smirk disappearing as he adjusted himself and tried to decide whether it was time or leave or continue a typical conversation. “you didn’t tell me what you did,” he observed. 

a slight smirk curled at her lips as she lifted her hand again to twirl a strand of hair. his words simply had her raising a brow, unmoved by his words. as far as she cared, it may not be charm to him, but the plan required a use of mind games and that could be termed as charm in her head. round and round, she spun her hair. wrapping it around her finger and unwrapping it as she listened to him attentively. done on my terms and code stood out to her. his choice in diction was peculiar and the way he spoke about how people percieved him was detached and uncaring. he clearly thought such people to think of him in such a way was more of an inconvenience rather than hurtful. “i mean, i’m having a great time. guess you’ll actually have to try harder to get me to label you as one or you just need to find better peple to bug.” then again, she was pretty easy going so it took a lot to get her riled up. 

hadley took a sip of her coffee, humming happily after swallowing the caffiene down. fox eyes flickered down for a moment as his lips curled into a sort of smirk that told her he was up to no good. “so bored, curious, and open to chatting with a beauitful someone such as myself.” which was somewhat amusing considering she was definitely not looking too sharp at the moment, or at least not as sharp as she typically preferred to look. “sounds like just another weekday,” she responded, bemused by the compliment. she had patience who would attempt to woo her often and a pretty face could rarely get her to swoon. she was more engaged because of his words and the comment on her looks left her more disengaged rather than interested.

He got more of an answer than he bargained for. More of a rambling, lack of sleep response that she explained away with just how long she’d been working. He wondered once again what she did for a living that she’d bring tourists into the situation. He had his own feelings about the tourists who were attracted to this town. Especially this time of year. Always in the fall, people flocked to Salem to try and uncover something spooky or haunting and he always wondered what kind of things people left with. The local shops that capitalized on people’s fascination with the history and the hollywood lore. 

His smile was more genuine this time when she admitted she wasn’t good at small talk. He hadn’t been planning to say anything about it, used to people rambling at him. If it wasn’t in their nature naturally, the uniform usually brought out some comical, at least, ramblings from people who acted like they needed to cover something up when they had done absolutely nothing wrong. It came with the territory. “Yeah, usually you’re supposed to take a breath,” he told her jokingly. “Let the other person get a word in.” It was said all in good fun and he hoped that the smile afterwards was enough to get that point across. He tipped his head to the side, relenting at least, “But they do have really good burgers here.” 

Picking off a tomato from her burger, Hads chomped on the fruit/vegtable with a pout. She really couldn’t stop her mouth from running once she got going. One of her negative attributes to some, but she’d otherwise claim it as an special ability when she managed to chat circles around people. Though, this wasn’t really on purpose and more of an effect of how she couldn’t shut up. His response seemed to have her relaxing a bit further into her sweatshirt, fox eyes studying his smile thoughtfully. She licked her lips, a genuine smile of her own twitching at the corners of her mouth, before she replied. “Hey, you could haven interrupted!! Plus, I have great breath control. I can hold mine for longer than average, I think.” She lifted her hat to smooth back the mess that was her hair before putting it back on backwards to get a better look at the guy. “I’m not sure what the average time is for breath holding though, so don’t ask.” 

tilly rarely finds herself in situations in which mother nature betrays her in some way. she likes to think that it’s because she puts an effort to deserve gaia’s graces while she’s walking among her creation. so needless to say, she’s not one to worry too much about getting hurt whenever she’s out in nature even though, logically, she should. but then again, this isn’t mother earth’s fault - it’s human disrespect that is to blame. thankfully the universe conspired to send someone her way to rescue her - someone that actually shared her values. “right!” she replies fiercely. “they really… disrespect what keeps them alive,” she huffs. “and- ow, really hurt other people in the process.”

the girl reaches for the other’s arms carefully as to not lose her precarious balance. “you’re a good person,” tilly tells them. “i’ll definitely ask for blessings in your name later then, since eternal gratefulness is off the table,” she giggles a bit before hissing again because ow, does her foot hurt. once she finds a reliable grip on her rescuer’s arms, tilly is able to very slowly walk away from the water. she slips a couple times, not being able to trust her left foot with her weight but thankfully, she doesn’t fall. eventually the blonde is able to sit herself down at a rock just on the shore. the relief from taking her weight off her foot is short lived as she stares at it. she didn’t notice as much blood while inside the water. “oh goddess, i hope i don’t need stitches.”

“funny how people do that,” hadley agreed, brows furrowed as they studied the water around the stranger’s feet. they couldn’t pick out what had caused the injury, especially with how the water was taking on pink tones from her blood. “don’t know what they got till they fuck it up completely,” they muttered, nose wrinkling slightly in show of their contempt with how polluted the earth is. it was wild how people seemed to ignore the signs until it was too late- in multiple situations not just pertaining to the earth. 

a startled laugh escaped them, brown fox-eyes flickering to the stranger’s face before down at her feet. “careful,” they chaisted softly, before their tone returned to its even volume. “i don’t know about that, babe. i’m just trying to pay my dues and it seems a bit counteractive to leave someone in need.” plus, one good act doesn’t erase any bad ones. in their mind, they would forever be paying off their father’s sin. this- this was just a normal day for them and the gratitude, though sweet, was wholely unnecessary. “i wouldn’t say no to the blessing thing though. i could always use some’ne to throw some luck my way- if that’s how it works.”