sink or swim

Hey! I swear I saw CHRIS PINE last night but it was just COSMO FABRAY. The 35 year old MALE [he/hIM] is a CEO living in UPTOWN. I heard they're BRASS, but also FEARLESS.

Kiara shrugged. “That’s a fair point.” she said, taking the last swig from her glass before flagging down the bartender to order another. “I own a jewelry store. A fine jewelry store.” 

“A jewelry store? That’s pretty cool. I don’t, I mean, I guess I have my own business but definitely nothing like that. There’s not like, a store front or anything. Just me and my apartment.” Taylor thought about what it would be like to own a full business and not just herself and her phone.

“That’s actually really cool.” Kiara smiled. “My parents just kind of pulled my name out of thin air and my middle name is after my great-grandmother.” she said, nodding as the bartender brought her a new whiskey and coke, taking a sip. 

“Yeah? I mean, names that just vibe are cool too. Don’t have to live up to anyone in particular, ya know?” Elton shrugged before taking another sip of his drink. “I have no idea what Kiara means. I do know she’s the baby lion in The Lion King 2 though, so that’s dope.”

@ofmicahkeys​

New York City had been everything Taylor ever wanted. It had everything between each borough, each house, each person. Sure, The Bronx wasn’t exactly the same as Astoria in terms of her own culture, but she learned a lot. Coming to Chicago was completely new. She was able to experience everything she had in New York, but on a different scale. Things were skewed in other directions, but the city still offered everything she could ever want to explore.

Taylor had made a couple friends through her time in Chicago. She also made some friends through her work, but the two never overlapped, at least that she knew of. Her job meant a lot to her in terms of making her feel wanted. She spent half her life wishing she could just vanish. She wanted nothing but attention....but the attention she got was never good. Taylor thrived online. It was everything she had ever wanted, and she was getting paid for it. 

Sometimes she saw their faces, sometimes she didn’t. She had a whole system rigged up and a spreadsheet of her loyal consumers. Some were strictly textual, some video, some just wanted to watch, some wanted custom content, some were a mixture. She had a lot of things checked off ehr wishlist, but not many people offered to buy her groceries when she didn’t have enough to eat. Not many bought her clothes she could wear going out for a normal day. Not many struck up a friendship with her that wasn’t just sexual, but he did. 

Taylor stopped looking at her phone when she just about ran into somebody. When she saw his face she froze almost like she had seen a ghost. She didn’t know the protocol for situations like this.

@chasingpcvements​

@maribellebrite​

Looking at the other with a bit of a lost look for a moment , frozen as she realized she had ranted to someone not listening before letting out a slight laugh and shaking her head . ❝  shit , i’m so sorry , i was just ranting on while you’re not even paying attention or probably interested . forgive me , ❞  alice said with a soft smile on her light pink glossy lips . ❝  so , what are you more into – if you don’t mind my asking ? ❞  at the moment she was roped into this conversation after ranting mostly to herself out loud but she was still not interested to know the other .

Harper chuckled a little at her response. “No it’s cool, I actually thought you were my friend who...is somewhere.” She had been dragged out and now that she was looking at the other woman, she wondered how she was paying so little attention that she missed this was a complete stranger. “That’s my bad for not realizing. Sorry. I dunno,” she shrugged. “I’m more of a.. jeans, flannel, tank top or tee or something. Chill, I guess. Comfy?” 

The raven haired woman listened to the other spill his tale of the reason he was down at the bar, nodding along. When he finished, she took a drink of her whiskey, looking back over at him. “Damn. That’s a mood killer right there.” Kiara said. “Elton, hm? Like Elton John?” she rose an eyebrow. “Nothing wrong with hitting it up right here.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “exactly like Elton John.” He didn’t mind being named after the musician. It was a bit odd for him considering his style of music or the fact that he did the screaming and voice changes in the songs. Especially compared to his twin. But, he liked his name. 

Listening to him as he spoke , the palm of her hand holding her chin , arm resting on the table as she looked to him with curious chestnut eyes . ❝  sounds like it’s possible for even your mom to forget sometimes – which , i’m so sorry to hear , ❞  the latina said , pulling some at her sleeve , taking her hand away from her chin as she did this . a slight chuckle escaping as he continued , almost forgetting his own age . ❝  you both have tattoos ? how do your jackets differ ? ❞  mari asked , as she didn’t know much about him , let alone his twin and she was curious to learn more . ❝  i’m also twenty-seven , no twin but i can imagine that sucks – but can i maybe see your tattoos ? ❞  the asked with curiosity laced in his voice as get pulled out his notebook with his free hand .

“We sure fuckin’ do,” he nodded in a matter-of-fact way. “I’m more of a jean jacket patch kinda guy whereas he’s a leather jacket kinda guy. Depends on the day, but for the most part our style differs at least a little. Since we both have this glorious mane,” he waved his hands around his waves. When it came to his tattoos he lit up like the Forth of July, as if he hadn’t been that expressive before. “What don’t I have is a better question.” He pushed back his sleeves to show each arm covered in a a myriad of colorful art. They were more illustrative, a retro approach that was fitting of his name with a more twisted theme to fit his personality. “I’ve got some on my chest, back, legs, but I don’t think they’d take too kindly of me taking off my pants either to show you the melting smiley face on my ass.”

“Okay, that’s a fair point.” she laughed a little. “What’s your reason for being out at the bar tonight?” Kiara asked, tucking some hair behind her ear. “Oh. I’m Kiara by the way.”

“Exactly. Me? My reason? It’s simple,” he leaned in, his elbow on the bar. “So I was out at the studio laying down some sick ass bass tracks, the crowd is screaming chrissy, chrissy, chrissy, that’s my bands name by the way. And I’m just rocking out,” he started to head bang lightly, waves moving freely before sitting back up straight. “Things are wild, right? And then the IC pops on saying great work, we’re done for the day. Bubble popped, Kiara. A total buzzkill,” Elton continues to speak with his hand that’s still holding the bottle, pointing it towards her. “So here I am. I’m just bored and thought ‘hey, Elton,’ which is my name by the way. So I think ‘hey, Elton, how bout you go socialize down at one of the 8000 local watering holes’. So here I am.”

Grayson listened to the others whole family of musician inspired names and he just blinked because he couldn’t believe that he was hearing this right now. “Holy moly, that’s wild.” He mentioned to him as he smiled wide. “I love that you guys had a little them going on for all of your names it’s a really cool part of your family that not a lot of people can say that they have honestly.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool I guess. Both my parents worked touring with bands, like merch, sound, whatever they did back then. Seemed fitting. Each picked someone when naming us. So like, ma named Mickey and pops named me.” Elton did think it was pretty special. He liked his naming story. He knew not everyone could say that. 

Kadri wasn’t usually the talkative type but she needed some advice on what to wear to an event for a book she wrote, she wasn’t being credited as an author obviously but she still wanted to dress nicely for the event in hopes that she could meet someone who finally could get her name out. “I wanted something that looked good on me but not too good that it made me noticeable and I…” She trailed off when she noticed the other was only pretending to listen. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bore you or anything I just ramble when I’m nervous.”

Harper shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. It’s fine. I dunno. I’m not great with this type of stuff. I don’t ever dress up unless I’m going to a wedding or something. She couldn’t think of the last time she wore a dress. “I think you could find something better than that. I mean, it’s kind of important for you, isn’t it? That says more.. your cousin’s sweet sixteen kind of deal.”

Kiara rose an eyebrow and shrugged, tilting her glass towards the other as if to say ‘cheers’. “That’s completely fair. If I didnt have a business to run, I would get completely shit faced.”

She chuckled a little, lifting her bottle in a ‘cheers’. “Guess it just depends on how you want to feel in the morning. Even hungover, she still considered herself top of her game when she was working, she had to be. It wasn’t that her drinking was a problem, not yet anyway. She knew restraint. Today was just absolute shit. “What kind of business?”

“Y'know after twenty seven years you’d think she’d be able to tell the difference. Wait, what if you are actually Mickey though because she couldn’t tell the difference.” elli pauses to take a sip of her drink as she points a raised brow in his direction. “ Ever think about that? ”

“Don’t do that shit to me. I’m not drunk enough for that. Or high. No. No no no. No.” Elton shook his head. “No thanks. I’m already at that age where the new Batman movie is, like how old Bruce is. I don’t need another existential crisis this year, Care Bear. I’m filled up on those. Fuck.”

raising a pointed brow to the other elli sighed loudly and defeatedly. “ You’re not even listening or looking at anything I’m pointing out are you.” she teases taking the chance to plop down besides harper. “I’m not so good at this stuff either, but at least i’m trying to make it fun.”

Harper looked up at Elli with a small shrug. “You know I’d rather do anything but clothes shop. I don’t know why would of everyone in the whole city, you decided I’d be a great shopping partner.” At least she appreciated the time with Elli, and the lunch. Clothes were always a tough subject for her. She spent so long just wanting to wear women’s clothing, not that she was highly feminine or anything when she started. She still didn’t like wearing dresses. “Fine,” she got out of the seat and walked up to a rack of sweaters, holding up the most hideous one she could find. “How about this one,” she grinned.

“Oof. Now, that’s no fun.” Kiara laughed. “At least it wasn’t a day straight outta hell.” she shrugged. The raven haired woman pursed her lip out in thought even though she already knew the answer. “Well. I’m at the bar. That should give you an idea on how I am.” she laughed before taking another sip of her drink.

Elton shrugged. “Hey, some come to celebrate, to get lost, to get drunk, to vibe. Could be a lot of different options.” He assumed it wasn’t a great day based on her tone, but he wasn’t there because he had a bad day, he was just bored.