The Realist

“Oh stop you’re so sweet. Officially I can speak Italian and Spanish. I am thinking about learning another language though. It’s been sitting there in the back of my mind for a while now. I might go for all three Romance languages and learn French.” She shrugged. “The world is my oyster.” Hana exhaled at the memory of her old job. “I was a personal assistant to some jerk. It was lame, the boss was trash. I quit on a trip to Italy he took me on. That was fun. Scary, but fun.” Hana took a very long sip of her drink. “I did get a short vacation with Eva though. So small victories.” Hana had subconsciously taken Eva’s hand while she spoke about that chaotic time. Eva in response leaned on Hana’s arm. “We tr-traveled… Traveled to Roma… just to leave after we got there.” Eva giggled. “A four hour journey." 

“That’s awesome. I only know Spanish and that’s only because of my family. I never really got the chance to learn anything else yet. French would be useful considering how many countries also use French. Is it harder to learn languages as an adult?” He asked genuinely curious. He became bilingual at an early age so he wasn’t sure how  it was as you got older. “Is there any language you would want to learn that isn’t as universally used?”

Jay fell quiet for a moment when he heard Hana explain her job situation in the past. He had to admit the whole situation sounded like a nightmare. “ If you’re going to be stuck somewhere you could do worse than Italy, but that still sucks that you went through that sort of thing. The vacation seems like it’s worth it. “ He added with a smile. 

“ Wait it’s really that long? I had no idea. Did you see anything?”

who: @james-herrera​ where: outside an auto shop

It’s car maintenance time! Matt’s capable of doing these sorts of things himself and has now and again. Just he likes to help support local businesses and this one has been his go to since he moved to Seattle. Plus the owner’s pretty cool. After he was given the estimate how long it’ll be he stepped outside and went for a little walk around the area. He was thinking about his plans for the weekend and felt nervous. A lot is taking place and all he can hope is he doesn’t make an idiot out of himself in front of people at the award. As he walks and thinks he sees Jay. Jay? That is the last person he expected to see. “Jay! Hey man.” he waved as he jogged over to him. “Didn’t expect to see you over here. It’s like destiny or fate or something.” he laughed.

Jay had a tendency to postpone things until the last minute. Maybe it was because he never grew out of his procrastination or that he was just incredibly busy with work all the time, but it didn’t really matter. Because here he was spending his whole day now running errands.  He sat on his phone looking through some emails, before sending Harlow a quick text. He looked up as soon as he heard a familiar voice and gave Matt a smile. “ Hey, long time no see” Jay replied before standing up to greet the other man. “Fate seems better than me waiting at the last minute to get thing’s done. How are things? What have you been up to?”

The moment he lifted her to hold she felt her body able to relax. She didn’t expect him to be home yet. HOME. She felt as if this was her home now, she had spent so much time here over the past couple months. The two of them were working on things. It was not a quick process, but it was a step towards their future. “ I have been staying here the past couple nights. I hope that it’s okay. “ She knew it wasn’t a problem. His place just happened to be closer to her job. That extra forty-five minutes in the morning helped her feel a little less tired. She would definitely sleep better now that he was home.

“ How about you make it up to me later for being gone so long. “ She teased placing a soft kiss on his lip biting it softly before she pulled away. Dragging herself away from Jay to tend at the dinner she had been throwing together on the kitchen. Harlow was trying to get her life together by prepping her meals before hand. “ Are you hungry? “

A smile crept on Jays face at the mention that Harlow had been staying at his place. They had been in this place once before and yet thing’s felt so much different now. They had been through tragedy and yet there was a new energy that the pair hadn’t had when they were together once before. It made Jay hopeful that thing’s were going to be better than ever even if they were taking their time with tings. “ It’s more than okay. I wish I was here with you, but I am happy you feel comfortable here again” He noted before kissing her. 

-

“I wasn’t trying to be right,” Ben huffed as he leaned against the bar, drink swirling in the glass he held. “Think of it this way, you take their word, and it’s seen that you’ve shown growth.” Ben offered a polite smile before he took a swing of his drink. “All you can do now is hope that your next day at work doesn’t involve similar comments or incidents.”

“You did have a good point though and I appreciate the honesty” Jay noted. He  looked over to Ben and gave him a nod before finishing off his glass. He knew the other man wasn’t trying to be right in the situation, but sometimes honesty and seeing things from the other perspective was needed. “ That is true. I ty not to rock the boat too much, but I might just need to swallow my pride...as much as I don’t want to” He added with a sigh. “ If I play the game a bit maybe they’ll eventually leave me alone”

“An architect! Shit that’s cool!” She felt a little bad for not hiding her enthusiasm but she knew nothing about that profession. “I should have prefaced that I’m the worst to talk to about quitting. I didn’t quit in the smartest of ways. But fuck it right? Life is too short.” Hana being the designated driver wasn’t drinking tonight although she wished she had alcohol while retelling that story. The club soda bubbles didn’t hit the same after giving bad advice. “Oh yeah I finally got a job as a translator. I did remote stuff for a while now I’m an office lady. Don’t quit if people are relying on you like that. Finish a project get your money, and then leave. Your position seems way more important than running around on useless errands for absolute jerks." 

Jay was a little surprised when her heard her response to his profession. He thought his job was cool, but he never expected anyone else to share the sentiment. It brought a soft smile to his face as he acknowledged how kind she was being. “ Thank you. I think it’s really cool. It’s a lot of sitting at a desk, but I love it” Jay replied with a nod  of thanks. “ I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but can I ask what you did?” He asked, knowing he would drop the issue if she wanted him to. “ Now see, that is a cool job. What languages do you speak?” He asked before nodding his head at her advice. “ Yeah, honestly it takes so much time to work on a project and to scrap thing’s that’s a lot of time and resources. I think that’s why I get so disheartened when they want to change stuff so severe”

Harlow was finding herself at Jay’s more and more lately. They enjoyed their time together and the moments when he was gone or they were apart, was when she wanted to be with him. Harlow had stayed at Jay’s a couple of times at Jay’s while he was out of town, tonight being one of them. It had really slipped her mind. it had been a long day at work. She had a glass of wine in hand now when heard the door open and her name being called. Harlow placed the glass on the counter before running down the narrow hallway into Jay’s arms. “ Hi. “ She spoke in a soften voice as she placed a soft kiss on his lips. Glad she had decided to stay they night at his place last minute. “ I missed you so much. “ Her body weight fully leaning into his, their past now melted away.

This was where Jay always wanted to be in his life. All the work he had put in to making his life a good place had in so many ways finally paid off. It was a reality Jay never thought he would have made it to. Especially when it came to him and Harlow. Deep down in his heart he had hoped to make things work again with her, but the fact he was coming home and hearing her voice made him smile brighter than he ever had in his life. They still had a lot of things to deal with but they were heading in the right direction. 

He wrapped his arms around Harlow as soon as she got close enough to him and picked her up. “ I missed you too. “ Jay smiled, before kissing her back. “ I didn’t think you’d be here but I was hopeful. Honestly, its the best welcome home I’ve ever got”

-

Ben tilted his head toward Jay’s direction at the confession, but he merely shrugged his shoulders in understanding. One can easily take every rude action to heart, and understandably so. The issue was, it usually got to the point with the target of the attitude taking it far too personally. “Now, that doesn’t mean that they should have been rude, but you just never know what happened before. Try not to get too offended.”

Jay believed he had thick skin. His childhood had built him a little tougher, but at the heart of it; he was a sensitive soul. He wanted to succeed in life and being hit with not constructive criticism but insults, did affect him. But he knew Ben was right he needed to not be offended by it. “ That is a good point. When you are your worst critic, you don’t expect someone else trying to apply for the position. “ He replied trying to make a joke of the situation. “ You’re completely right though. “ 

“The usual issue of me misjudging exactly how tall I am,” came Jonah’s very casual response and he shook his head, the lightest of laughs escaping. The other man made a point, though, these kinds of things did happen to everyone. When he continued, he nodded his head, mouth curling up into a smile —- any excuse to continue a conversation about one of his main hobbies. “Truthfully, neither have I, think I need a little more motivation, so…” He held the book up very slightly and shrugged, “That was my thinking.”

Trivia night wasn’t something Hana was the best at and Eva has a very specific set of trivia stuff swimming in her head. The two figured they were set up for hilarious failure. She realized about halfway through the man’s rant she was being spoken to. Something about tearing his ideas apart. “That’s why I quit being an assistant. The clientele sucks. What kind of work do you do? Or did you do, if you quit…" 

Jay knew that his mood was not the best for the environment, but he needed to rationalize a couple of things out loud before he could let it go. “ I work as an architect. So if I quit it might affect any of my other projects. “ Jay replied before taking another drink from his glass. “ Did you find work pretty quick after quitting? I keep wondering if I should just refer the guy to a different architect and save myself the stress”

Jay had felt bad that he had been busy with work lately. His job had taken him out of the city for a little bit, but he had to admit he was happy to know when he came home there would be someone happy to see him. Harlow and him had lived a hard life both separately and together. Being in a place where that was in the past for them and they were trying again while already married was something Jay looked forward. If he had been told this was his life a year ago; Jay would have been surprised but eager to move toward the future, because as he pulled his stuff out of his car, there was a level of excitement at the thought that Harlow might be there at his home. Jay opened the door and looked around to see if Harlow was there or working. “ Harlow?” He asked with a half smile on his face. 

“I won’t go into detail, it’s a pretty pathetic story from beginning to end,” was Jonah’s simple response as he shook his head. A laugh did escape, though, and he leant down to retrieve the book from the floor, immediately flipping it over and flashing the cover at Jay. It definitely wasn’t anything worth the attack upon the other, but on days when he had to have something, he was rarely patient. “Hiking around Europe. Not actually any rush to get it, I doubt I’ll even get there, but…” A casual shrug followed.

Benjamin had a weekly routine: after working a full week, he would go to the bar and have no more than two drinks. Maybe a conversation would strike between himself and another patron, or someone would join him that he already knew. It wasn’t the wildest of routines, but it was what worked for him. This time he went with an acquaintance of his, one who really seemed to have had a rough day. He swirled the dark drink in his glass and listened closely to Jay as he spoke. “Do you think they were under some other pressure? Made them act out like that?” Benjamin suggested before he took a sip of his drink. 

There was a part of Jay that was stuck in his feeling’s as he took another drink from his glass, but he knew the other man had a point. As much as he wanted to not take the situation to heart, but the other perspective was helping him keep his feeling’s in check. “ I never considered that. Before I was and architect, i used to wait  tables, so I have this thing about no matter what being kind to the people that are trying to provide a service, but there are always other factors in play. “

Jack needed a moment to himself, and when Jay suggested drinks he thought why not. Noah was with his sister, and he could use some guy time after everything that was happening in his life. Seeing Serena again, he might need a few drinks. “Yeah that can definitely be bullshit. I don’t see why there isn’t a better way to go about it.” He shook his head, “I think your designs are great.”

Jay didn’t have too much in the way of an ego. He was raised to always be humble, but in cases like this he truly felt like he deserved to be proud of his work. For his clients it was just a building, but architecture was his life and his way to help provide for his family. He did deserve to have some pride in what he did. A sense of relief left his shoulders as he heard Jack talk. He didn’t feel as stressed knowing that his thought process wasn’t completely unfound. “ I don’t want to have someone in the middle soften the blow, but I would just like honmesty without the harshness. “ He added before a small smile fell on his face. “ Thank you. I genuinely needed to hear that. “ Jay nodded at Jack’s compliment. “ Enough about me, how are you lately?”

Jay normally didn’t like to drink when he was frustrated. It was one of those thing’s he honestly tried to do in general. Getting drunk was normally reserved for when he felt like crap but to be fair today hadn’t been the best sort of day. He let out a sigh though as he finished his drink and began to talk to the person who had accompanied him to the bar to unwind. “ I don’t get it. “ Jay began as he shook his head. “ I know people are allowed to dislike the work that I do. I am happy to take criticisms and modify idea’s, but holy shit, it sucks to have someone just rip apart my designs to my face. Like why address it like that, you know?” The architect replied as he thought back to this mornings fiasco. 

Open Starter Pike Place Market @seattlehqs-starters​

Skye hummed to herself as she walked through the farmers market. The airpod in her ear playing something reminiscent of the backstreet boys. It wasn’t the most apt music to be picking out her bachelor viewing food, but it was making the shopping experience a little more entertaining. 

The blonde stopped at a bread stall, jaw a little eskew at all of the different types of loaves. If there was one thing Skye loved more than pizza and her job, it was bread. “Holy shit!” She preened, picking up a fresh loaf of sourdough and squeezing it. 

Despite the squished appearance, the action made her happy and she looked at the person beside her. “Okay, feel this bread. It’s fucking amazing.” 

Jay liked to cook when he had free times, despite the fact he never had any free time normally. As a result he took extra care in making sure he had a fully stocked fridge for him and Harlow for when the occasion actually arose. The market was always the best place to go, but also it was a nice way to avoid the sad lighting of super markets. 

As he moved to grab a couple things, the architect was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone’s voice. “ Wait what?” Jay replied as he had to process what was said to him before looking down at the bread in her hand. He moved to give the bread a quick squeeze before laughing a bit at the randomness at the situation. “ You know what, I’ll give you that. That is pretty great bread”

for: @seattlehqs-starters​ location: the story keeper

Jonah should have known it would be a problem when he reached up to grab the book a shelf or so above his head. The combination of the height and the fact he needed to lean over someone crouched down looking at something on the bottom shelf, had of course meant disaster was coming. Sure enough, the title slipped from his fingers just as he laid a hand on it, tumbling down to the ground and missing the person who was down there by only a centimetre or so. Immediately he cringed, cursing, and then said with a shake of his head, “That’ll teach me for trying to be clever. I’m sorry. You okay aside from a mild heart attack?”