white lies.

“Troll?” Alice questioned as she squinted her perplexed eyes, playing along with the boy’s fable. Treading closer, her footsteps remained light and careful, just in case he decided to ‘gobble her up.’ “You’re not at all hideous enough to be a troll,” she mused, now at an interesting distance as she knelt down to his height. “Do you often feel like a troll, pretty rose?” Alice continued to tease, her tone derived of humor, however, her eyes danced with a playful light. Ignoring the mention of a toll, Alice was unsure of whether she wanted to know what he had in mind— especially due to smell that lingered on his tongue. 

Jesse’s eyelids felt heavy, and his cheeks numb from the cold wind his olive skin had been exposed to for a bit too long. He still managed to grin through his still slightly slurring words. “Well, I’m wearing a nice Italian boy now...” He paused, only to raise his gloved hands to shape them into the form of crooked teeth. “I’m a bit toothier otherwise.” 

Jesse thought to ask the blonde what brought her to this spot, but the same question could be asked of the boy and his answer was quite blurred from the fast night before. 

It seemed that in Coolsville, despite the events of just over a month ago, nothing seemed too different. For a little while it did, people were more paranoid, more on edge. You’d walk the streets past nightfall, and they’d be empty. It would be a ghost town. Pale light casting down on dead streets. But now, it wasn’t quite the same, but it was no longer different. There was still talk about it, still the hushed rumours of who killed the dead girl. But they weren’t so much fearful of a killer on the loose. Everyone seemed to be doing it more for the gossip. To stay in the loop. Much like the time someone defaced the town statue, or an long time family left the town. No one cared. But they still spoke.

“I’d offer to come, but we all know who Pete likes more.” Levi mumbled looking back to Jesse, not quite aware of how close the two sat. He never really was though. He wasn’t thinking of the proximity of Jesse, or the fact that even through their coats, he could feel the warmth from Jesse. Instead, he wasn’t quite thinking of anything. He just continued to tease the brunette beside him. “I’m certain if you do a favour for him we’ll get a discount.”

"Hilarious. Maybe you should go then since you’ve got all the great ideas.” His hazel eyes rolled, and a suppressed laugh left lips. His eyes stayed on Levi, even as he idly adjusted after his response. Unlike the oblivious boy who sat next to him, Jesse paid attention. He was almost always aware of when Levi’s blues were on him and listened to the undertone in his voice when the name Jesse left his mouth. He couldn't help but to watch closely. 

Arching her feet, the porcelain doll lightly tiptoed along the abandon tracks. Her presence, a welcoming contrast of white amongst the woodland’s murky browns and withering leaves. Her footsteps would fall closer to the edge within each take, leaving her with a mere inch away as she neared the end. One more step, l'appel du vide. She could hear the void call out to her, however as she glanced down, her clouded blues caught sight of the prince-less rose. Levi’s rose, as she came to word it. Taking the long way down, Alice quietly approached the florist. He was a dazzling thing, a charmer that lured in victims with honied words into a web of lies. “You didn’t fall, did you?” The blonde questioned, knowing fully well that ‘the fall’ wasn’t as dramatic as she made it sound.

Jesse was still even as he heard the light footsteps approaching, but he stayed motionless, silently hoping that somehow he might be invisible to whoever. Disheveled, he always looked, but not quite like he looked on this morning. Undone was a better word to describe his appearance after a night of rolling, dancing and whatever else he might not remember. “Fell…” His first word came out husky and he cleared his sore throat before continuing. “Well, I’m actually the troll that guards this bridge. You’re gonna have to pay the toll.” Finally he hazel eyes finally opened, though still squinted, to see who was there.

Hey, Em. “Mm?” She placed the bouquet of gerberas down and turned to face the boy. Emma’s eyes met his as soon as he was done raking his eyes down her body, something that instantly made her posture straighten, something her grandmother once told her made her look more confident and made her breasts look better. God knows that was the only department she wasn’t completely confident in. 

Emma’s eyes immediately widened slightly at the pose of his question, the corners of her lips turning upward. This was definitely not what she was expecting out of her visit. A small giggle escaped her lips and she could feel the tips of her ears get hot. “Sure,” Normally Emma would have just made another attempt at friendship with him but this was a step she wasn’t too upset about. 

Jesse shifted on the stool behind the register, moving his sketchbook into a more usable position before his deep voice rang out in the small store again. “Awesome. You can sit on that flower crate, unless you just wanna stand the whole time.” He motioned with the slightest of nods to a free space between two buckets of fresh flowers where another, missing one, belonged. A space he kept clear for his seat when the only other worker was in and he had nothing better to do than be there too.

This was Jesse’s element, but he wasn’t all that confident that the outcome would satisfy him. Lately he could never be satisfied. He plucked the pencil from behind his ear and started with anchoring shapes, not worrying about Emma just yet. His words were slow, distracted when his words came again. “I’m not gonna pose you because that’s uncomfortable for everyone... But if you wanna do something comfortable, go for it...” He paused again, finally looking up from his paper to the blonde. “and don’t worry about freezing. People are just being assholes to you if they won’t let you breathe while they work.”

While Levi trampled the dirt that held decaying bodies beneath him, walking across the ground, accusing the boy he finally came close enough to see visibly against the dim moonlight, the truth was he wasn’t so innocent in the crime himself. There had been many times in the past where he’d provided Emma with a freebie in exchange for a piece of information that could inevitably used to rile up her brother once again. “Provider my ass,” Levi muttered, taking a seat where the other had offered some stair to spare. “Mines for a worthy cause, if you want to fuck her you don’t need to be giving away our shit. Take her a six pack of beer or some crap. She’s an easy fuck Jesse.”

Send me an ask with a location and I’ll write a starter based in said location for your muse.

CAFE

CAMPGROUND

CHURCH

CLUB

DINER

FLORIST

GYM

HOME (YOURS)

HOME (MINE)

LAKE

LAUNDROMAT

LIBRARY

MOTEL/HOTEL

PARK

POOL