fall apart (twice a day).

[text] if by heartfelt you mean something like[text] ‘i wanna raw this dude i saw at the park today’[text] then yes you were right[text] i’m so heartfelt i know :-)

with a quick scooping motion, clem dove a bouquet of three or four fries into leander’s near-melting shake. she didn’t hesitate for a single second before shoving the sweet n’ salty concoction into her mouth, a sticky drip of chocolate glistening on her bottom lip. ‘ holy fuck, this tastes like heaven ! ’ she mused, immediately going in for seconds. clementine wasn’t a stranger to absurd food creations. she could often be found making kabobs out of red licorice and skewered strawberries. boring was poison for clem; she needed new and she needed strange. ‘ well — ’ clem began with a hum, licking her fingers and contemplating leander’s very serious question. ‘ flying is the first thing that comes to mind. but i think i’d really love to … control time. or ice breath. that’d be dope as hell. ’ laughing, clem raised a brow at the boy, as if to say ‘ what about you ? ’

Leander felt a surge of pride when Clementine began to take his fries and dipped them into his chocolate shake. He clasped his hands together and a grin spread across his face at the girl’s reaction to the taste of his odd combination. “Please, help yourself,” He commented, and then took some fries for himself and began the process of eating them with the shake. He’d much rather share than see someone watch him eat. Leander tuned into what Clem was saying as she began explaining the superpower she’d have. “Flying lowkey scares me,” He chuckled. “I don’t think I’d have that power at all,” He said before raising his brows and nodding at her. “-Ah, those last two sound great. Although, I think you’d get more use out of the whole time control thing, y’know? But, as for me, I think I’d have that power that you can like get people to do whatever you say. So, I guess: mind control... but, I don’t want to sound like I’d make people do bad stuff,” He laughed. “I just don’t like when people say ‘no’.” He pouted and then smiled again and ate some more fries.

lips pressed together at his response. it felt like she was being interrogated, almost, the way he spewed out questions like that. and while ferris was no stranger to being questioned, it didn’t mean she necessarily enjoyed it. “ both, i suppose, ” she answered finally, with a little nod. usually people would eat on their breaks or play around on their phones or hang out at other booths with their friends, but ferris much preferred to enjoy the fresh air all by her lonesome and she was often successful given the fact people mostly left her to be by herself. that was how she liked it, anyway. she watched him eat curiously, thinking that his snack choice seemed like a bit of an odd combination, but she wasn’t in any position to judge anybody. “ not that i can recall, no. i don’t eat that stuff often. did you— invent this ?? ”

[text] Yeah, I’m always still up lol.[text] It’s late but I’m not sleeping soon either so...[text] Midnight walk through town? You down?

ferris was accustomed to sitting alone, just her and her busy mind. she had her chin resting upon her palm, eyes glazed over as she stared off into the distance. head in the clouds, she didn’t seem to be paying too much attention to her surroundings, so it was a bit of a shock when someone slid in to the spot across from her. blinking back into reality, she lifted her gaze to meet her co-workers, shifting slightly in her seat as he went on. the redhead’s brows knitted together slightly, a bit confused as to why he wanted to share food with her. “ i’m not really that hungry, ” she admitted, lips pressing together in the tiniest of smiles as she straightened up her posture a little.  “ but i’m sure it’s delicious. ”

If it was one thing Hayden loved, it was carnival food. Hayden had made it a tradition to go to the Moon Valley Amusement Park to get a funnel cake and a coke at least once a month. His metabolism was fast enough and if it meant he could flirt with the girls at the food booths, then it was a pretty solid tradition to uphold. He kept to himself today, considering all of the girls at the booths were busy with tourists. He shoved a bite of funnel cake into his mouth before he noticed a guy walking towards him with fries and a milkshake. “Listen dude, if it’s one thing you need to know about me it’s that I never say no to free food,” Hayden replied before patting down on the table, offering his company the opposing seat. “What are your hours like here? Are you on your break?”

Here she was, ingesting a bacon and cheese hamburger with fries and a milkshake. A delicious and wholesome American meal that was both fattening and ideal for a road trip such as this. When Leander approached her table with nothing but a shake and fries, Ivy’s brows furrowed into a frown. “Jeez, you make me look like a pig in comparison to what you’re having.” With that, she took another bite of the greasy burger. “How are you living off of just a shake and fries? Back at college, there were so many girls who drank those protein smoothies. Don’t tell me you laced some protein into their signature shakes.”

     one eye closed slowly, her hands bringing the camera up to her right eye. the view was amazing and the camera seemed to love absolutely everything in moon valley. reagan took a quick burst of photos and then pulled the camera down to look at them. a satisfied smile appeared on her face as she walked away from the glowing ride. it wasn’t even night time, but the ride was brighter than her future. reagan sat down at a table, taking a look through her camera roll and deleting the dumb photos - like blurry ones or failed selfies. when a voice drew her attention away from her camera, she looked up in curiosity. the people here were of a different breed, in a good way, and she had never been so welcomed anywhere in her life. “ are the fries good? “ she asked, reaching out to take one before hesitantly dipping one into the shake. “ i’ve never had the food here, the guy at the motel said to not eat it. “

Leander had to admit that spotting a girl carrying around a camera seemed intriguing enough, and he silently wondered if she was some type of photographer or maybe a journalist. Being his gregarious self, Leander unabashedly set his snacks on the tabletop in full view of the two of them; ready to be shared. “The fries here are amazing,” He responded. “Especially if you get them fresh,” He explained, cracking a smile as the unfamiliar brunette fished out a fry and dunked it into the cold chocolate shake. “The guy at the motel obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Leander commented with a scrunch of his nose. He hated when people bad talked Moon Valley’s attractions because he felt a sense of pride in living there for so long. “What did you think? Good, right?” He questioned, happily, and then continued on. “—Are you staying at the motel?”

eli was enjoying his hamburger and scrolling through his instagram when he was suddenly distracted by a boy sitting next to him. he turned his face from his phone and saw leander. this town was so different from his hometown. even after three years, he hadn’t gotten used to how easily you ran into people you knew here.

“is this one of those trendy and ‘hip’ things that you youngsters do nowadays. cause i wouldn’t know. i’m literally a grandpa soon. also that sounds gross” eli teased, taking a look of the salty fries next to the sweet and syrup-filled milkshake.

Growing up in Moon Valley, Leander was accustomed to popping over to people’s places unannounced or simply inserting himself into conversations had by the locals and tourists alike. Leander half-snorted and half-laughed at the fact that not only did he get called trendy and hip, but he also got labelled young as well. Most days, Leander wished he was just a few years older — it would certainly help with how serious people took him; even though he was jovial most of the time anyways. “No, no, I wish I could take credit for inventing this but it’s been around for some time now. All I know is that a really creative and genius person decided to stick a fry in their shake and the whole world was changed for the better from then on out,” Leander claimed with a sly smile and then chuckled again. “It’s not gross, I promise!” He said before nudging the milkshake and basket of french fries toward Eli a bit more; urging him on. “Come on, grandpa. What have you got to lose?”

big, emerald eyes followed the sway of the pirate ship pendulum — left to right, right to left, left to right, and so on. clementine sighed into her raspberry slushy ( the second of that afternoon and by no means the last ) as the nevada sun burned down, calling upon the brittle wood of a decade’s old picnic table from beneath the small girl’s perch to soak up its heat. ‘ we’re all going to melt, ’ she murmured to no one in particular but without any doubt. in mere minutes, the entire population of moon valley could drip, drip, drip into puddles. in the blink of an eye. a single breath ! the corners of clem’s lips turned down into a scowl. what a horrible way to go, she thought. though, when a somewhat familiar boy with hair that went up like ocean waves plopped down next to her, clem’s face turned up into a smile. with her fingers dangling above the carton of fried potatoes, she gave her new company a happy half-squint. ‘ if i eat your funny snack, does that mean i ALSO get to be a superhero ? ’ clem always wanted to learn how to fly. 

It was refreshing, to say the least, to be greeted with a semi-familiar warm smile that almost rivaled the Nevada heat. Leander offered his most generous grin back to the girl who had chose the picnic table as their spot to loiter as well. He watched as she hesitated over his french fry basket and then clocked the playful squint she shot his way. He let out a light chuckle at her question and nodded his head. “Yeah, definitely,” He chimed. “But, only if you think it tastes good,” Leander teased as he added and then nudged the fries and milkshake towards Clem more so that she could have as many as she wanted. “...But, I think the real question here is: what would your superpower be if you were a superhero?” Leander questioned, wondering aloud. “Your answer could change everything.” He joked.

Marian looked up from their serving of loaded nachos, arching their eyebrows at the suggestion. They’d heard of fries dipped in milkshake (they weren’t a complete barbarian, thank you very much) but so far they’d never really felt the urge to try that particular combination out. “Well, if that isn’t a bold claim,” they snickered and reached out to nab a fry. “Are you sure you want to go that far? I could pretend I didn’t like it.”

After a second of contemplation they also nudged their nachos in Leander’s direction. “Since you’re sharing with me, take one. Wouldn’t suggest dipping that into your milkshake, though.” They grinned.

Leander smiled and then nudged the basket of fries a bit more towards Marian when the other reached for one. “What can I say? I’m just bold in general,” He shrugged, joking around, but then he narrowed his eyes at his companion. “You wouldn’t dare,” Leander pointed out. “And, besides, this combination is so good that I don’t think that you could even lie about not liking it...” When Marian procured their basket of loaded nachos for Leander to try as well, the younger male nodded and then chuckled. “Thanks, and don’t worry,” He said, reaching out to take a chip from the basket. “I’m not a fool. I know to keep nachos and milkshakes separate,” He chuckled and then popped the chip into his mouth. He then set his shake on the tabletop as well so that the two could have access to their mini-buffet. “But, tell me what you really think about my combination? Have I successfully converted you into a true junk food connoisseur?”

The day had been incredibly hot, and the patrons were whiny as ever. Rose had finally gotten to her break and was excited to reread through her copy of Little Women that was dog-eared and bent in so many different directions from years of use. She turned to the next page and looked up when a voice started talking to her. It was a familiar face, one of her coworkers that she met a couple of times. Rose kept mostly to herself, so she gave him a quick smile before setting her book down next to her. She had already eaten her lunch, but she wasn’t going to be rude to unexpected company. 

Rose raised an eyebrow at his offer. “You know, I’ve been told many times over the years to not accept food from strangers. I think I might have read Snow White a little too much as a kid,” Rose replied with a smile.

holy shit! did you see that? oh wait, that’s just leander holme, the local manu rios lookalike. apparently, he’s been in Moon Valley for nineteen whole years! they’re very freethinking, but also pretty undisciplined, which is why: starry nights, denim jackets, novelettes, and rainbow rays of light describes their vibe effortlessly. I wonder what this nineteen year old hopes to discover in good ol’ Moon Valley.

* LEANDER HOLME // AESTHETIC 001 .