eat shit.

[ ECHO PETRAS. 32. FEMALE. SHE/HER ] is here! They've lived in Silver Lake for [ 5 YEARS ] and are originally from [ BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA ]. They are a [ FORMER MISS LOUISIANA, NOW OWNER OF K.O. ] and in their downtime love [ VISITING SHOOTING RANGES ] and [ BINGING 90'S SITCOMS ]. They look a lot like [ LYNDSY FONSECA ] and live [ IN SILVERWOOD TERRACE ]. 

hi it’s me, fish, with her lizard king yeehaw child, echo.

"I mean, I have stuff, but no- I don’t own anything.  Which just means nothin’ owns me.”  He listens intently as she dissects their heist and his charade, smirk growing slowly into something wider as he does and ultimately nodding in agreement with her suggestion.  He knows the tone, could probably fake it in a dire situation: do you have *any* idea who I /am/?  The thought of it has him laughing hard and everything about him is bright when she returns the bottle clink.

“Echo?  Hey, like the dolphin!”  Derek points out with a chuckle, taking only a second delay before wincing at himself and crumbling to more laughter.  "Christ, I’m fuckin’ /dating/ myself.  How old are you, Echo Galaeus?  Do you know what a Sega Genesis is or do I need to keep an eye out for a chaperone ready to kick my ass for talking to you?“

No, nothing does own him. In the same breath, nothing truly owns her -- she is about as untethered to any one thing as she's ever been. He laughs freely but she holds back, snickering against the mouth of her bottle. It'd be easy to be envious of him, but that ship had sailed a long while ago. She's just as free. Echo takes a generous gulp of her drink, yet nearly threatens to spit it out the second he pegs her name for something she doesn't expect.

“I don’t even remember the last time I had a protein drink,” Ronit smiles as she takes a sip, “but you’re right, it tastes just like the kind of cereal I try not to eat anymore. It’s nice to have those in healthy?” she says with rising intonation, hoping that the drink was indeed a healthier choice than the sodas from the stands she had walked by. “Well, ‘recently’ - about eight months ago? I lived in New York before that, which obviously also has a large Pride, but it always somehow passed me by. But I’m originally from Jerusalem, and compared to Jerusalem’s, this is-” she paused, looking for a fitting word “-a bit overwhelming. ‘This sort of thing’ meaning working the Pride festival?” 

“I haven’t had Fruity Pebbles since... man, maybe since I was on the road? We used to travel a lot with my family, kind of only ate granola bars and cereal for a couple of months. Tastes nostalgic to me, but also like you’re cheating on a healthy thing. I like it.” Setting the drink mixes aside, Echo leans against the stall’s side with a gentle nod as she listens intently to her. “Jerusalem? That’s neat, I’ve never been. Farthest I’ve been from the States was France. M’originally from Louisiana, but -- nothing’s like Pride in California. And ‘this sort of thing’ is more like... events? Socializing? More of a homebody type than anything.”

thank god somebody had their head screwed on straight . fletcher had been caught in the crossfire of pride , never actually intending to attend but being forced to thanks to a rather ill-timed commute back home . “ you’ve made my day , “ he breathed to echo , thankfully taking the drink and knocking back a hearty sip , “ i’m glad somebody around here is relatively monochromatic and isn’t trying to hand out free hugs . can you tell i’m not really into all this . i’d rather be training rather than stuck in a sweaty mess of people with issues recognising personal space . “ 

          “Oh, so you’re tellin’ me this isn’t alcoholic?” Mercy teased with a slight smirk, raising the drink to her lips and taking a quick sip of it. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t picked up on the other’s similar accent because it partially why she felt so inclined to take the drink to begin with— it was just something about it that drew her in and it felt like a relief when the other mentioned it as well. “Definitely ain’t weird because I was itchin’ to ask you the same question,” she remarked, placing the drink in her grasp onto the table as well. “I’m from Georgia .. Madison, to be exact.” The town’s name leaving nothing more than bitterness upon her tongue, “What ‘bout you? And as for the face tattoo, I say you should get it. Why not? Seems like the perfect time to do it.”

orla: you want me to swing by the dispensary for u? 😂

orla: oh gross. thats far too many fake friendly conversations for anybody

orla: i cannot promise either of those things, we are pretty much glitter free so far at the moment so now is probably the safest bet

orla: we're going to the chalk thing first tho

orla: promoting or distracted and checking out the other stalls? 🌈

echo: 😂😂😂 greatly appreciated if you do

echo: Mm, you're telling me. Got a few new clients though so that's always a plus for my busy schedule.

echo: Oh there's a chalk thing? Cute. They did a really good job with the even this year.

Kaycee was interested in stopping by the K.O. stall both for the drinks, but possibly, also, conversation. She wasn’t as much of an expert in kickboxing as someone who owned their own studio, but it was a hobby she had taken up back in Georgia, and she missed having those classes to look forward to. “Healthy for you and it tastes like one of the best cereals? I’m in.” Kaycee smiled, mesmerized by the colors of the drink as she accepted it “Thanks. So far it’s been pretty great! I’ve probably spent more money on food than I should, but totally worth it. How about yours? Have you been working the stall the whole time?”

Beau’s grin widens from ear-to-ear as Echo’s eyes almost bulge out of her head at the cowboy hat in his hands. Her reaction is better than he could have imagined, a mix of shock and delight tinged with something else. Something akin to unbridled happiness. Figure it would come at Dallas’ expense, but Beau would be lying if he said he couldn’t wait to see the look on his brother’s face when he handed him the cowboy hat. “As much as I wish you could bask in this moment,” Tucking the cowboy hat beneath his arm, Beau presses his lower back against her stall, crossing his legs at the ankles. “Your face is a dead fucking giveaway, Galaeus. He’ll know something’s up the minute he clocks you.”

“What? I am not a dead fucking giveaway. Have you seen me act? I’m good at acting when I really need to.” But maybe not when it directly comes at the expense of Dallas getting a pride-inspired cowboy hat. Then again, he knew her better than he knew herself sometimes; time didn’t change that. Echo rolls her eyes, grabbing one of her own drinks to take a brief sip. “At least do me the honor of recording it somehow. Who else on the fire squad’s here, Joey? Ask her, I trust her to get a good angle.”

orla: i just got here. havent you been here like an hour? 😂

orla: you want us to swing by?

echo: Yeah, an hour too long

echo: talked to about 26 people and I'm ready for a nap.

echo: This shit is exhausting, how the hell do people stay out to party this long?

He takes the drink, admittedly a little gingerly, turning it in his hand to view the contents, unsure just how healthy this was, but thinking it was a good pitstop before taking on the obstacle course. “I dunno Echo—” he remarks with a chuckle, his attention shifting to look for his younger brother ( the main reason he was here anyway ), but JJ wasn’t seen for dust, probably near the tattoo stand faux inking himself up for the day. 

“You know what, I’m gonna be smart and just trust you on this one.” A settling thought as he raises the drink to his mouth, almost surprised that it did indeed taste of Fruity Pebbles, “aye it’s ‘aight, you guys been busy down here?” 

"Mm, should always trust me. I know what’s best --- though, really it’s my one employee who knows best. Nutritionist, kinda keeping a watch on contents. Better than the celery juice that you can request.” 

“Oh, please, you don’t have to do that! Lemme pay!” Joey objects, fishing through her fanny pack to find some singles that she’d stored there before handing them over to Echo. “Fruity Pebbles, huh? Gotta love that nostalgia factor,” she grins before taking a drink and nodding her head to confirm that the beverage was definitely true to taste. “It’s going better now that my nose stopped bleeding – got clocked by some dude on the obstacle course. How’s yours going?”

“C’mon, you do not have to pay me for this. You’re doing me a favor by taken a few off my hands before I gotta start making the crazy concoctions. I am many things, but a mixologist is not one of them. I’ve been leaving them up to Ellie.” At the mention of her nose, Echo’s face drops as she walks around the booth. “Oh, shit, Joey, are you ok? Mine is going... much slower and less violent than yours, apparently. I can put whiskey in one of these, if you need it.”

           WITH her eyes being more focused on the celebrations around her, Mercy hadn’t even noticed that another had been approaching her until the sound of the woman’s voice echoed in her ear. “That’s sweet of you, thank you. I love fruity drinks, so I definitely ain’t complainin’,” she replied with a grin, fingers wrapping around the drink being handed to her. “So far it ain’t so bad, but I literally just got here like a second ago, but my hopes are set high. How ‘bout you? You enjoyin’  yourself?”

Beau wrinkled his nose at the rainbow protein mix, fairly certain that anything healthy and nutritional for your body shouldn’t come in varying shades of red, orange, yellow, purple and blue. No matter the occasion. “I’m good,” He says, holding up a hand to indicate as much. “So far so good,” Beau says, leaning against her stall, “Los Angeles does Pride a lot differently than back home does.” Not that he can remember most of them, his early twenties are a whiskey soaked haze, especially any surrounding Manchester Pride. “It’s been fun though. I’ve stopped by a few stalls, even managed to find something for Dallas.” He says his brothers name with a mischievous glint in his eyes, pulling the cowboy hat he had been carrying behind his back for Echo to revel in like a Magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Ronit is definitely keeping to the edges of the party, strolling from stall to stall. She feels too old for this but she also can’t bring herself to go home - after all, this is part of why she has moved to America, right? She gladly takes up on any distractions and smiles as she is handed a drink: “Oh, thank you! May I ask what that is?” How has pride been faring her? “This is actually my first Pride in this town. It’s impressive, I have to say. Is it always this big?”

“It’s just a vegan protein mix with a few vitamins mixed in. I don’t need anyone dehydrating out on the street since this thing’s slated to go on for a long while. Plus, my kid sibling’s roaming around here somewhere.” Offering a small smile, the woman drops her hands on her hips with a huff of a sigh. “Oh, wow, really? First one? Feels like this year is bigger than most years, but m’usually not doing this sort of thing. You just move into town recently?”