if it makes you happy.

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If Kansas City was an adventure for most people in town, Emilia was one of the more well-traveled. That thought saddened her. She couldn’t imagine living her entire life in one place – despite the fact that she’d done just that… and even chosen to return early. But she knew she had an adventurous spirit inside of her. Somewhere… deep… inside. Or maybe she wished that she did. “You’re not,” she offered, hoping that was enough to comfort her friend. “Does he still need help? I’m sure I could put in a few hours here or there, or find someone to. Especially if it’d help you get some more rest. You can’t push yourself like that too often, you’ll drive yourself mad. And then you’ll drive me mad, and we can’t have that… can we?” Emilia chuckled, hoping Jas had enough of her wits about her to recognize a joke when she heard one. “I wish I had something interesting to share. But work’s been slow, and nothing seems to be going on that can top… y’know… not even the Fall Festival.”

“He does it to punish me, I’m certain of it,” she half laughed - not that her father really would. The two of them had a strong dynamic, and if he hadn’t needed the help, he wouldn’t have asked. “I think he’ll be okay now - he’s probably gonna have to hire someone part time for a little bit, with all these extra people coming through now. Business is booming.” A roll of her eyes - it seemed excessive, but trauma whores would do what they wanted. “Honestly, you’re lucky things are steady and slow - last night I had a group of college guys who kept trying to slap my ass and find out more about what happened. I thought Mason might put them through a wall if I didn’t tell ‘em to fuck off first.” It was entertaining, at the very least. “How long until this shit dies down? Surely even a fall festival can’t be enticing enough for people to check out bumfuck, nowhere.” 

Yona made a mental note to never mention trees ever again. That wouldn’t be easy, but she would have to try. It was that or have to face sheer embarrassment at one time or another. “Ugh, no, I can’t have anyone ruin Tiktok for me. If we want to really keep away the invaders, we could spread rumors that it turned out to all be an elaborate prank… Is that too unkind? I just want the research team to stay away, and it’s inevitable that you get to be the first line of defense.” It was Yona’s firm belief that food service was by far the most difficult of all professions, and that was why after one fateful college semester, she had never returned to that line of work. Jas was made of iron for being able to put up with this much nonsense. “But really, isn’t there something we can do to keep town from being overrun by too many gawkers? I’m willing to get creative- especially if it’s fun for us.”

closed starter for @jasbutler ; fall fest haunted house

Mason was often too busy to really enjoy the Fall Festival; he usually manned The Grill until about five, drove home to collect Loki, then booked it to the Jefferson farm to set up camp with his pet raccoon. The kids loved him and Mason charged $2 a pop for an instant Polaroid “signed by Loki”, which was really just giving the picture to him play with for a few seconds before Mason drew a sloppy L on it. Then there was the tip jar, which was pretty easy to fill when he turned up the charm.

But the Fall Festival is different this year and it’s not hard to pinpoint why: strangers. New Hope was a very small town but the annual festivals still drew in a few extra people from surrounding areas. This year there were more than a few and Mason suspected they were all crime tourists hoping to catch wind of the current tragedy under the guise of supporting a community and a young girl who had just suddenly lost her whole family.

It wasn’t a good look but damn if it wasn’t good for business.

Mason had packed up with the hay ride started, made the short drive to his house to give Loki a rest and put his money away. Usually he’d just call it a night, his early morning shift already calling his name, but then Jas texted him.

Jasmodeus😈: get back here loser, we’re going to the haunted house

If there was one person in New Hope that Mason would do just about anything for, it was Jas. Well, Jas and her father. When he’d broken down, it was them who’d taken him in. Her dad worked on his truck and Jas insisted he stay on the couch. She got him his job at The Grill and more often than not, they worked the same shifts until he was on his feet again.

So of course, going back is a no brainer.

“What’s up loser?” he says when he finds her by the caramel apple stand. “Give me some of that.”

“Absolutely fucking not,” she argued back easily, “get your own. I saw that tip jar - flirting with the closeted dad’s in town really made money easy tonight, did it?” 

There weren’t a lot of newcomers to New Hope - not that Mason was even really that, anymore - but even fewer their age who stayed and liked the place. She’d frequently asked him if he was insane - it wouldn’t have been outside the realm of possibility, really - but he seemed to check out fine, and while he was the complete opposite of Asher, Jas....well, she put up with him, mostly. 

( Okay. So he was like, one of her best friends, whatever. Cry her a river. She wasn’t about to get mushy about it. ) 

The haunted farmhouse was a tradition for them now, the two of them seeing how long they could hide away fooling around inside of it before someone noticed - last year they’d managed to get her shirt off before they were found - and she was bored and restless with the hum for chaos running through her blood these days. “You weren’t really gonna leave me hanging, were you? This year has the best challenge - there’s a billion more people here, and I’m willing to bet I can’t even get my hand down your jeans before you give us away this time around. Don’t you wanna horrify some nerdy podcaster looking for his big break?” 

“No, but we’re in Kansas. The only guaranteed topic of conversation – in every conversation – is the weather. It’s almost like you haven’t lived here your entire life,” Em replied, trying her best to be patient with her friend that clearly was having a rough go of things. Maybe it was work. Maybe someone hadn’t cleaned their dishes after dinner the night before. Or maybe it was just the doom and gloom that hovered over the town these days. “It’s not global warming. It’s climate change,” she chided. “Plus, you’re acting like I went out on some world tour. I was in Kansas City. Trust me, it wasn’t that much of an adventure.”

“Still more of an adventure than most of the rest of us,” Jas reminded her. The truth was, Jas had never wanted to leave. Could have, her father constantly telling her if she just applied herself, she could go out and get a college degree, see the world. It was boring. The world was more of the same shit that happened in New Hope - at least here, she had the safety of those she’d known her whole life. “Sorry for being a bitch. I’m just tired - dad needed help at the shop early this morning after I worked all night, so I slept for like - an hour. My poor body isn’t running like it used to,” she teased, a grin in Em’s direction. “C’mon, tell me what’s up - something interesting to keep me going through the next 24 hours til I can pass out again.” 

“Ugh,” Sam threw her back almost with a hint of drama. Scratch that, it was definitely dramatic. “I so wish for some good grilled cheese right now,” It was her hunger that spoke out of her, and she knew that there was probably something at home, but home equaled Andrew and she didn’t want to deal with that. “Thanks, Jas, let’s go with a club sandwich. Plus, you gotta be careful, this is the only place I would ever go to eat in New Hope - the choice is scarce anyhow.” Sam admitted but a cheeky smile rolled off her tired expression. “It’s so strange being back. The school has changed a lot, I will give you that.”

“It has?” 

Jas could believe a lot - not gullible, necessarily, but eager to find out anything interesting to make time go past in this tiny town. ( Leaving wasn’t an option - not one she’d ever seriously considered. They went to St. Louis once, and it was the worst trip of her life. A bird had literally shat on her after she threw up coming down from the Arch. ) But the school being any different - that was a stretch too far, even for her. “Did Mr. Stevens finally admit why he looooves coaching girls soccer so much? Or has a cheerleader finally thrown herself off the top of the pyramid in a ritual sacrifice? The place always seemed the same to me, but I dunno, it’s only been a few years since I graduated. Must be different for you, since it was like, an eternity ago.” 

“Maybe I could call the diner’s line more so you can pretend to be tied up talking to a customer.” Yona flicked some whipped cream right back, and had to stop herself from sticking out her tongue and being too childish. She wanted to have some of the moral high ground here… however that could be defined. The curfew was worthless, and she’d rarely abided by one unless it was convenient for her. “I said at a tree, not in a tree. You really don’t think I could climb a tree anymore? …Remind me next time we see a tree.” Hopefully it wouldn’t be a really difficult tree. With her luck, Jasmin was going to find the tallest tree stripped of good climbing branches.

“I’m worried as far as ‘how many strangers with podcasts are going to show up in town’ but nah, the farm thing’s definitely run its course. Just because the guy out there did something like this once doesn’t mean they’re coming back here. Should we invest in security cameras ourselves?” Yona didn’t honestly think it was the son either- from one kid who wore too much black clothing to another. It could be cool to find out more about the why, but not with these leads. It was best to put this one out of mind for now. 

“Don’t think I won’t, Yona-Bee,” she grinned, already planning on where the tallest tree she could think of was. Probably at the edge of the farmlands, but it was easy enough to lure Yona out there with the whine of boredom and the possibility of an adventure. 

“favorite person is my honorary title here. but you’re, weirdly enough, probably a close second?” she chuckled teasingly. she was grateful for jas. it always helped to have a babysitter, but one that she trusted, her daughter idolized, and could also provide milkshakes? it was pure luck.. she’d probably do anything for her, at this point. “someone’s gotta make sure everything’s running smoothly out on the farm.” she trusted the farmhands entirely, but it was still her parents baby. and their parents before them. and besides, writing wasn’t always a source of steady income. busy was all she knew. it was practically apart of the culture she grew up with on the farm. “I don’t know.. drinking beers at the bar with the same people I went to highschool with is getting a little old.” doing it a bit too much in one night had given her a daughter that she’d be thankful for forever, but she learned her lesson from that. she took a thoughtful pause. “i’ll take a break though, I promise. maybe someone cool will be passing through the middle of kansas and wants to stop at a tiny bar and a town that just had a multiple murders?” did people outside of new hope even know what was happened? she had no idea. 

“i mean, if you wanna fuck a true crime groupie, just sign up on reddit and start posting your own theories,” jas snickered; she didn’t really see the problem with drinking with your high school buddies - after all, most of hers were back, the group of them in their own little niche, running around behind the scenes. the ‘cool kids’ were making their money ‘blogging’ or disappeared entirely or something else, but maybe in another ten years jas would also want a break from asher and yona and em. 

( doubtful. ) 

she handed over the milkshakes, waving off the money josie tried to hand her to pay for them - she truly was the worst waitress. “just text me a time, and i’ll be there. i ain’t got much else going on, and i could use a distraction with the booger. count me in.” 

Asher shifted a little uncomfortably at the mention of the main suspect, the last remaining member of the Ellis family.  They weren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination but they’d occasionally run into each other at the diner or he’d come into the gas station always blasting heavy metal from his oversized headphones.  Often times Asher saw a lot of himself in the other boy, thinking he could be capable of something so heinous caused knots to tangle in Asher’s gut.  

As the milkshake is slid in his direction he stops it and wastes no time dipping his finger into the whipped cream at the top.  “I give it another week before they start pulling people in at random.  I don’t exactly hold up well under authoritative scrutiny,” Asher chuckles.  It’s not like he really had anybody to have his back besides his friends.  His dad wasn’t exactly well liked himself around town.  

A brief pause overtakes them as Asher sips from the milkshake.  “Do you think he did it?”  He asks curiosity getting the best of him.  “I mean he was just a kid too.”

Jas swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the weight of the matter in her own stomach. Sure, the town was against the kid and his dad right now, but how long until the cops - Wonder bread white cops - started looking for anything that stood out. Like her father, or herself, or Asher - there wasn’t a lot of diversity in rural Kansas, but any of it did manage to catch the eye of someone who just wanted a conviction. 

“Is it wrong to say I want him to have done it?” she asked, admitting the darkest thoughts inside out as she stole the cherry from his milkshake, even though she had a jar of them next to her elbow. “If he did it, they don’t gotta go looking for anyone else. Because if they start looking....” 

“Are you so sure about that? Because by the look of things, they aren’t all that great.” Andrew remembered Jas. Even though he had been gone for such a long time, he still remembered the faces he used to see on a daily basis, some had changed, some probably didn’t even recognize him anymore, but he knew who Jas was and that she was close to his family, more so his sister. 

Did she actually look fine? Not so much. Did he regret slightly coming in today? Absolutely. “What do I owe you the honor? I was planning on eating, but seeing how much of a life risk this place has turned into, I might reconsider my initial plan and go back to the whole yeeting myself out of this establishment. I am too young to die.”

“C’mon, you’re like sixty now. A perfectly acceptable age to die. I can even sign at your funeral - maybe the seminal classic, Wind Beneath My Wings. Make them truly question the nature of our relationship.” 

“Are you certain that’s not some type of a fire hazard? Do we need to call the fire department or something?” Sam was a natural worrier, and things like that almost went hand in hand with her job. She was practically trained to notice the hazardous surroundings. “I’m starving so if we don’t need to call 911, I’ll just take a sandwich or something.” She waved off the suggestions, still a little uneasy over the situation. “So how did this happen? Is there anyone else around here to help?”

“That would be how this happened,” she replied easily enough, waving off all the concerns of the other. “All my cooks called out, and I’m not really supposed to cook more than eggs. I’m awesome at eggs - not much else. I was trying a new grilled cheese and my bag of chips was too close to the edge. Promise, we’re good.” She whipped out her order pad, thinking about the options she had - “I can make you a BLT - I got some bacon on standby, don’t worry, no stove needed - or a club or tuna or something. Hell, I even got PB&J - plus fruits and veggies. You name it, and as long as I don’t gotta turn something on, I can make it. What’s your poison?” 

With an apartment that had yet to finish its renovation and the urgency of not eating every single one of his meals at his mother’s house, Andrew seeked out easier ways to feed himself during his breaks and most of all, small chances to spend some time with his girlfriend. Things for certain weren’t perfect between them and he was, desperately, trying to hold on to small things that would bring back moments of good memories they shared in the past.

As he walked in on the diner to get some burgers and fries for the go, the first thing he noticed was the burned smell and the scene in front of him was definitely one he wouldn’t be able to explain to someone later. “I am with the small impression that I just might have interrupted something?” He said by the door step, brow raised as he took a few steps inside of the diner. “I hmmm do you need any help? Things won’t start exploding, right? Because if that is the case I’ll yeet myself out of this place real fast.”

Jas snorted, unable to help herself as she shook her head - “no, things aren’t exploding, you don’t gotta yeet yourself,” she mocked lightly, though it was always good natured. Another returned child of New Hope, she recognized Andrew if only by association - his sister was around her age, and she’d never left town once. She remembered everyone, even if they didn’t remember her. 

“I should be fine,” she said, wiping herself off on her apron, leaning against the doorjamb and raising her chin in his direction. “To what do I owe the honor? I’m assuming you want real food - you’ll have to give me a few minutes, but I can probably clean up enough to make something edible. Maybe. I make no promises you won’t get food poisoning, but the cooks all called out tonight, so you’re stuck with me.” 

“a coveted award that only what, 9 kids get a year?” she thought out loud, recalling how many months school was actually in session. she smirked. “definitely proud. while it’s not life changing by any means, I’m just glad people are realizing how fucking good my kid is.” comments about her role as a mother (when they were good, at least) were always appreciated, but after 6 years, she still hadn’t gotten down how exactly to respond to them. hyping herself up in response felt a little.. much. single parenting was hard. so instead, she smiled gratefully at the approval of her request, making sure to pop a few extra bills in the small tip jar that was on the counter as jas got to work. 

“thanks, I appreciate that.” she paused. “i’ll definitely tell her. or if you wanna tell her in person, she’s practically begging me to get out of the house this weekend.. wanna stop by for a few hours? won’t be gone long. cannot believe i’m placating my kid’s need to get me to socialize, but as always, there’s a tip of a freshly collected carton of eggs– picked by the student of the month herself this time–with your name on it. she actually wants to help nowadays, and it’s beautiful.”

jas had grown up with one parent - who knew where the fuck her mom went, if she was even alive, and so she had a soft spot for the single ones that littered their small town. there weren’t many, but watching how much josie loved dallas made a small part of her ache, not that she’d ever admit to it. she loved her father, and he’d done anything he could for her - and would do anything for her. she couldn’t imagine how hard it was to do. 

“well, god knows we need some good eggs in the house,” she replied with an easy laugh - she inhaled them, really, when she was drunk from a night of too much booze. “and i can’t deny her if she wants to see her favorite person - or, more importantly, if you wanna go out. you need to have fun,” she said, eyes wide as she stared at josie. “you work your ass off, babe. you need to take a break now and again too.” 

Yona leaned her elbows on the counter, and considered Harry’s suspicious motivations. “’Kay, well I’m reassured now that I know nobody’s doing meth in the kitchen. You know Harry three hundred and seventeen times better than I do.” Since Yona didn’t know him at all, that was safe to say. Getting herself legitimately kicked out of one of the town’s few establishments wasn’t her favorite idea in the world.

“Curfews don’t do anything except ruin trick-or-treating. I don’t even remember when curfew is supposed to be- that’s how little I pay attention to it. Besides, living in the middle of nowhere’s always been dangerous. Literally nothing’s changed, and clearly none of this affects us.” In Yona’s mind, this was all a fascinating story that had was completely self-contained. If anything had happened outside of one troubled family, she might have other feelings, but it wasn’t worth pinning the blame on anyone at this point. Fascinating, but not worth compromising her own safety. A house wasn’t more protection than the cover of darkness. She ran a finger over the bottom of the glass. “If you never want me to visit you at work again I can go bother someone else. The gas station is only thrilling for so long. And I guess I could hang out at… a tree. That seems safe.”

“Don’t be a loser,” Jas said, flicking some whipped cream at Yona. “You know I love the company. I’m bored outta my mind here - I already ruined Mason’s crossword puzzle book he left behind and I need something to keep me from taking a nap.” Not that it would be the first time - or the last, she was sure. Sometimes the benches on the booths were just too comfortable. 

josie couldn’t disagree, dallas definitely needed those things. “if you’re sure? next time though? it goes pull, aim, squeeze, sweep. waving it around like a crazy person probably won’t do much good when a fire is a few feet away.” she teased, nodding in agreement. it was a small town. clumsy diner works was hardly a reason for someone to call the fire department. especially with what was happening in the town as of current, too. “in the car, happily engrossed in something on her ipad.” josie responded. “the newest new hope primary school student of the month has requested milkshakes for dinner. can’t argue with that, right? helps me out a bunch too since I don’t feel like cooking. think you can handle two rocky road shakes to go?” she asked, pulling out a few bills from her wallet as she spoke. 

“huh.” it sounded simple enough, but all that training had gone in one ear and out the other - maybe now she’d be better prepared, or at least, not cover the entire place in foam when the oven caught fire again. really, she just shouldn’t have been left alone - easiest solution, really.

Oh well, Yona’s superior grilled cheese idea would have to wait for another day- if she remembered it. With a grateful smile, she accepted the hand, and stood up. One problem down.  “You’re the expert on food here. Since you spent so much time around it. Learning by osmosis probably has some validity to it.” 

Yona hadn’t been expecting to get paid for any of this. It didn’t really compute. Friend in trouble… help friend and make some terrible jokes along the way. Of course she wasn’t going to say no to an offer like that, though. “Oh my gosh, yes please. You’re one hundred percent right. I’ve never had a better milkshake than one of yours.” Sure, she’d take it, though. Who was going to turn down free stuff? “Are you sure that Harry never set up security cams… and straight-up doesn’t watch them unless he feels like it? Having someone watch the tapes every day is like its own job if you don’t know what you’re looking for.” Suddenly this idea made her a little concerned that it might have a touch of reality attached to it, and looked around for where cameras could possibly go. If she were a super secret spy camera, where would she go… Probably somewhere to try to catch customers rather than employees lightening up a boring shift.

“Pretty sure,” Jas replied dryly, setting the cup in the mixer before working to prepare her own. Novelty of the job - she wondered how much money dear old Harry really lost when she was on shift. No wonder she hadn’t had a raise in years. “He’s too cheap to invest in that when no one’s been arrested or actively shooting up meth in the kitchen. So long as we keep that shit outta here, I think we’re safe from him.” 

She shook the whipped cream, swirling it around the glass cup before presenting Yona with her specialty - basic, for the night, but the next food order hadn’t come in yet so she couldn’t load it up with all her extras. “Why you out so late anyways,” she asked, shoving a straw into her own cup and drinking straight from the mixer when it was done. “Shouldn’t you be like, abiding by the new curfew or something? Never know when dead beat Johnnie Walker’s gonna come bursting through town again.”