saturn return

once one of the liveliest corners of the party, the balcony had cleared out for the britneys' set, and now it seemed everyone was too busy clambering up the band's asses to find their way back to it. luckily, that left the space wide open for yewande's drunken, pensive taking. "the place to myself!" she cried drunkenly over the london sky, arms outstretched until a noise caught her attention. startled, she whipped around to put on her newfound pr face, a bubbly grin with hands cinched demurely behind her back. her face fell, some mix of relaxed and disappointed, when they saw slater. "i mean, there does appear to be a fire escape, but i wouldn't recommend it. front door's probably the best move anyway, i've been watching and you've got loads of fans waiting for you down there." they smiled toothily at slater, no indication of their dismay. perhaps the label had made the right move giving her the pr relationship after all; she wasn't a bad actor.

SLATER BLINKS AT THE SHIFT , brows arching slowly as they stare at the other deadpan for a moment . it's a beat before they're blinking as they fully register her words . " yeah ?" they take four steps over to the fire escape , instrument calloused hands resting on the railing as they lean over it to take a look . the route looks rickity as fuck and the chances of a railing collapsing and them breaking a limb is high . slater curses low . " fuck , man , that's a death trap ." they pull back with a distasteful twist of their features , huffing out a small breath . " bullshit ..." it's with that that slater pushes off the railing and moves promptly to leave , making their way all the way back to the balcony door before their eyes land on her a second time then , narrowing thoughtfully for a beat as they glance over her before , " were you just yelling by yourself ?" they ask bluntly , brows pulling down in bewilderment . " like over the railing or whatever ." another beat of thought . " you high ?" it's an honest question . it's quickly followed by a tilt of their head . " crazy ?"

narrowed eyes land on slater as they cross paths once again . v doesn't care much for the dig , but regards the other more with curiosity than annoyance . she's sure she's not the only one wondering about just how the britneys got that performance slot , though her theories pull from her own distrust for the label rather than the animosity fans have already started displaying online . for the most part she didn't really care , but now dnd was unsurprisingly getting dragged into the narrative and that's a surefire way to get on v's nerves . her eyes follow the gesture towards the bartenders and it induces a roll of her eyes in response . with a cross of her arms , she shrugs at slater's question . ❛ i've heard worse , ❜ is what she comes up with first . ❛ did you enjoy your performance ? ❜

SLATER'S BROWS ARCH AT THE COMMENT , not in surprise or even incredulity , but perhaps in something resembling amusement . " heard worse , huh ... " slater replies as they squint at the bartender's behind the bar , watching as they scramble about as they wait half impatiently for their drink . their jaw shifts thoughtlessly , " alright ." the words are accompanied by a shrug . after all , slater knew the performance was good , knew they were good . asking what v thought was really more to see what she'd say than anything else . you could tell a lot about a person from that alone . " i enjoy every performance ." slater replies simply at v's question , moving to pull their sunglasses back up on top of their head to watch the bartender's more intently because where the fuck was their drink ? the hell ? their brows furrow . " i love performing and i'm good at it ." the bluntness of the reply is distracted as slater reaching glances at v with half interest to add , " if i hated it i wouldn't be here . why ?"

@charxma @k4rmic

SLATER'S BROWS ARE FURROWED AS THEY TRY TO PLACE THE FACE BEFORE THEM . not their strong suit , in all honesty but everyone had their talents . a fan ? it wouldn't be the first time , honestly . slater's fans always did have the habit of being more than a bit rabid . but that's not it , is it ? slater's eyes narrow in a squint . it's not until the laugh that the face is placed , that slater is able to fully register her between one blink and the next . it's probably the bitterness that does it , that slips things into context in a way little else would . after all , slater would know the look of jilted competition anywhere . she's sure seen it plenty . the realization colours their gaze as their brows raise , and before they can think better of it ( or perhaps tati or rock could think better of it on their behalf ) a huff of laughter escapes them as well . " ... oh , you're pissed ." slater acknowledges in something close to amusement , their gaze flicking over her with newfound interest . their rare grin is crooked , eyes lit with a fire that only victory can bring even as they shrug and move to finally turn that tap off . " that's fun ." slater moves to wipe at the water on their jaw with the back of their hand , nodding belatedly to say , " but yeah , i did . it was hot as fuck up there ." it's then that slater meets her gaze in the mirror , brows arching as their jaw shifts in an attempt to smother their mirth . even still the question leans towards smug as they ask , " you like the show ?"

" LOOKING FORWARD TO IT ." slater replies replies , the usual sarcasm perhaps softened at the edges with a certain amount of fondness that maybe only rock has reserved . after all , it was always just a bit harder to be a dick to rock . mei , moderate difficulty , tati , easy as fuck , but rock has been a bit trickier to get into it with since slater was fucking fourteen . it was just fucking tricky with a motherfucker wouldn't bite back . something slater could swear the other was well aware of and now actively taking advantage of but -- whatever . they'll allow it . they liked them decently anyways . after over a decade there was really no taking it back now . " honestly , if you wanna do that instead they're all yours ." slater replies with a casual frown and shrug , head shaking a bit in easy acquiesce even as they allow rock to bump into them without protest . " don't even like the kid that much to be honest ." slater feels something in them relax slightly at whatever this was wasn't going to go online , which was a small mercy in the assurance that whatever this photo was wasn't going to end up with their head photoshopped onto a horse or something . or worse . at rock's instruction slater's middle finger is already up as the photo is snapped , smile too wide and unnatural in the fact that it doesn't meet their eyes , but they figure it works . " you starting a scrapbook or something ?" slater asks lightly after the flash has finally faded . a blink to fade the spots from their dilated eyes before the sunglasses are swiftly put back down . " fan page ?"

“No. Her crazy’s a bit extra.”

at the sight of slater , it takes everything in v not to chug down the full glass of jack and coke she just poured . she takes a heavy swig instead , trying her best to look nonchalant ( incredibly tough for an incredibly chalant individual ) . ❛ drinking . that allowed ? ❜ she wasn't completely sure what she'd done to end up on slater's shit list , but she had an inkling ever since they'd started doing promo and she'd caught slater behind the camera rolling their eyes at her answers . determined to get through this interaction with as little grief as possible , she responds with a chuckle , though it lacks mirth . ❛ funny . ❜ another heavy swig . ❛ you here for a drink or something ? ❜

AN ARCH OF SLATER'S BROWS . " are you asking me for permission ?" a long look followed by a shrug , followed by a sarcastic , " sure , yeah . go for it ." slater isn't sure why the label would ask perhaps one of the most fluffy sunshine people they'd ever met to play at being so tough . maybe sadism . maybe for humour . after all , even slater thought it was near comical sometimes . doesn't mean it wasn't also kind of annoying . and if it was annoying for them , they can only imagine how much it pissed v off . and yet nothing was done about it . one thing slater can't stand is a lack of backbone . their eyes narrow at v's offer , incredulous as they offer a deadpan , " you're seriously making the drinks ." the incredulity in slater's expression doesn't wane . their expression twists . " you do know you can say no to shit , right ?"

It was a gentle furrow as they tried to recall what Slater's gestures might've insinuated, but it eventually clicked. She pulled out the necklace, "This one?" it was a decent choice, they were right. They picked the earrings themselves, new set to match the necklace. But she ended up not liking them so she took them off and reached for her vape. "Mei's gonna be there tonight," Tati treaded carefully, not looking over at them as she spoke, her focus was on her phone screen.

" IT WAS LITERALLY TWO ." slater's tone is deadpan as they arch their brows tati's way , their own eyes rolling in response to the expression on her face like some sort of domino effect . unfortunately , even years of proximity couldn't do much for incompatibility , and while some part of slater grudgingly has to admit that they perhaps function better with tati more than most other people , that doesn't quite mean they have to like it . their partnership felt like something that was welded into slater's skin more forcefully than voluntarily , a piece that irritatingly near perfectly fit despite their distaste and years of protest . and yet fit they did . and well too . they had the fucking decorated albums to prove it unfortunately . and now they were fucking stuck with her . forever , presumably . slater resumes their search for their lighter with renewed urgency . " if she calls a meeting just don't fucking go ." slater replies bluntly as they turn their jean pockets inside out before huffing and promptly beginning to look inside their boot . " i sure won't ." the boot is taken off and turned upside down . no lighter . jesus fuck . " and you're really going to talk about my shampoo when you probably use that vegan-natural-no-aluminum- tree- hugging -sun-salutation bullshit for deodorant ?" the look slater shoots tati's way is bland if not for the glimmer of amusement in the depths of their eyes . the finger they give tati is held high . " bite me ." a twist of their features as they move to pull off their other boot and upend it once more . the curse slater utters is quiet but sharp in annoyance at the search , a distracted huff escaping them as they begin to , quite seamlessly begin to look through tati's shit for a lighter instead . " and stay the fuck out of my hair ." " can't believe you're kinkshaming the fucking bee ." a drawer is opened , the contents squinted at . no lighter . the drawer is slammed closed . " kinda fucked up when you think about it . thought you loved nature ." another drawer is opened , glanced over , shut . " did you watch it sober ?" a squint tatiana's way as their eyes glance over her scrutinizingly before they're turning back to their task with a roll of their eyes , " because if you did you didn't do it right ." slater is in the midst of looking consideringly at tati's suitcase before their next words catch her attention , her gaze flicking to them to say , " considering i barely want to go to this thing in the first place , yeah , i'm down ." an arch of their brow . " we could also just fucking ditch . that's an option ." the implication that they ditch together is one that slater doesn't fully register in their search , ringed fingers carefully picking through tati's jewelry collection in hopes of finding a fucking bic lighter . or even one of those shitty novelty ones . matches . slater will take fucking anything at this point . this one ? slater's glance to tati is narrowed in bewilderment . " what ? no ." their gaze falls back to the task at hand distractedly . " the one you wore to that one after party with the — is this fucking mine ?" the ring glints in the lights of tati's room as they pluck it from her collection , her eyes narrowed as she turns the thing this way and that in effort to place it . it was either hers or it should be . the thick ring is being turned over in their fingers until the mention of mei , at which point slater freezes for a full second before , " ... i'm not fucking talking about them right now ." the narrow of their gaze is a palpable thing , their eyes hardening before the ring is tossed back into the pile dismissively with maybe more force than necessary . the clench of their jaw is tight as they resume their search for a lighter with perhaps more force than required . " mei can go fuck herself , how about that ?"

" LIKE WHAT ?" slater can't help but ask honestly , their features twisting in bewilderment at the concept that something could be worse than filming a tiktok right now . getting a tat , they would do . a piercing , they would do . weird drugs ? they'd do it . they can't help but feel like their boundaries are actually pretty flexible . the acknowledgement is accompanied by a mental pat on the back as they take a gulp from their drink , only for their nose to wrinkle at the mere mention of the word 'selfie' . it is after a long , hard look at rock that slater sighs , moving to set down their drink on the nearest surface which just happens to be a guy passing by with a tray . the look the waiter shoots them is one slater doesn't catch as they nod to say , " fine . this is my last one of the year ." preferably , at least . slater has no problem with starting the year strong . they move to put their sunglasses on top of their head to meet rock's eyes with their own dilated pupils , brows arched to ask , " where you want it ? here ?" a vague gesture around them .

DAISY JONES & THE SIX — Track 8: Looks Like We Made It

"I know your capacity to give a fuck about appearances can only be observed with a NASA engineered modern sort of telescope, but if you could maybe not talk too much shit tonight that would be so so awesome. I'm gonna be drinking so I will not be putting out any fires, but I'll have those sweet indica gummies on me at all times so if at any point you feel the need to badmouth Taylor Swift or punch someone in the face please come find me, yeah?" she took another shot and slid the bottle their way over the messy kitchen counter. She had yet to decide what she was going to wear tonight, how they'd all get there, how long they'd stay. Tati wanted to talk about it, but they'd learnt long ago it was futile to plan out events that never, not once, actually went according to plan. "With that out of the way, I wanna talk about that movie you've recommended. I watched it last night and it is hands down the worst thing I've seen in months are you sure you're okay?" she tried to control a laugh, but a mixture of gummies, alcohol and a strawberry vape made it near-impossible to display amusement. "Come on, help me pick out some jewelry, I want to look hot tonight."