days gone.

joan was on her way home early for once when she was stopped by someone with a stack of papers. typically, she would ignore them and go on with her life, but something made her stop. perhaps it was the girl’s politeness, or perhaps it was her pretty face. joan took one of the flyers and looked it over as she listened. she did appreciate art, and it wasn’t every day you could go out and appreciate many different ice sculptures at once. “that’s a long time to display such a fragile medium. i’m impressed with your ambition,” she said as she tucked the paper into her purse. “i’ll be sure to come visit as often as i can, then -- and inform others who may be interested. though, i do have to say -- imagining you with a chainsaw in hand is both intimidating and attractive. how did you get into such a thing?” she asked, genuinely curious. a woman who could wield sharp instruments skillfully was always a woman after her heart.

pierre was used to being the one to come to bed last, his insomnia a demon that would never leave him be. but, as he felt himself growing tired as he read, he noticed that natasha had yet to even come up. it was possible she’d fallen asleep downstairs. so, he got up to go gather the other when he’d stumbled upon the scene before him. he was rather speechless at first, but the news made his heart clench. to hear that one of his good friends was still alive was beyond wonderful news. but, a nagging feeling that andrei would not be happy that pierre was now engaged to the woman his friend was so dearly in love with came to him. it tainted the joy he should have felt, but he put on a happy smile regardless as he knelt down beside natasha’s chair. “darling, that’s amazing. beyond amazing -- a miracle. do not cry! we need to celebrate -- you need to see him. as soon as you can, we shall go to him,” he said. he knew how much natasha loved andrei. he would never do anything to get in the way of her happiness.

yuuri had been on his way to the locker room at the rink when he’d accidentally bumped into someone. he hadn’t gotten any sleep the night prior, so it was no surprise to himself that he would be clumsy enough to do so. still, he immediately went to apologize, mouth opening but no sound escaping. his brows furrowed out of confusion. he tried again, but he still couldn’t make any words come out. he shook his head and put an apologetic hand on the other’s arm, expression more questioning at this point. he mouthed an ‘i’m sorry, i don’t know what’s happening.’

“who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” she asked, giving a haughty huff as she crossed her arms. “i don’t have time for you nor do i wish i had time. you’re pretty useless to me, so, like,” she said, giving a shrug and motioning for the other to leave. but she paused for a moment. “unless you want to do me a favor. could you get me a snack? i’m hungry and you look like you can at least do that. then maybe you can say whatever it is you want to say.”

ayano’s eyes followed the other carefully, practically transfixed. everything else in the world disappeared and somehow she’d forgotten about her senpai. her feet carried her always a few feet behind the boy. she’d already learned his name, what classes he had, and a few other tidbits within a few hours of noticing holden. she’d even picked out one of his pens from his bag, picking up the courage to approach him and hold it out. “holden! you dropped this. here, take it,” she said, not bothering to mention how closely she held it to her face a few minuted prior. she would have kept it, but she needed an excuse to talk to him.

pierre opened his eyes as his alarm was going off, but it was dark and he couldn’t find the alarm in the darkness. had he set it for the wrong time by accident? but, he should still find the alarm in the dark despite that. his hand met his phone, but still he couldn’t see the screen that was supposed to be lit up. his breathing picked up as he passed his hand in front of his face before he stumbled over to search the wall for the light switch. he found it and flicked it on, but nothing changed. “natasha? natasha? natasha, where are you?” he called out, really hoping that he was just hallucinating and this would be over. his voice wavered and it was obvious he was upset and a bit afraid.

a frustrated sigh escaped penelope as she looked up from her notebook, pen dropping onto it with a thud. “hey, you! got an extra pen on you? this one is shit and i have a class to get to in, like, thirty minutes,” she said. class wasn’t that important to her, but it was still important to her that she was good at them. she wasn’t going to let a dumb pen do that to her. “you’re pretty cute, so i might return the favor by getting you a coffee or something,” she bartered. she wasn’t one to beg, so this was the closest the stranger was going to get.

jacob felt absolutely horrible. he was never one to really get sick, but it was as if all that good luck went away and every missed sickness came to him at once. he didn’t have any skills needed to take care of himself, so he was just left to miserably sniffle and cough as he continued on his way to anne’s. he promised her family that he would help them with some chores and he was a man of his word despite his condition. “i’m definitively fine,” he insisted as one of them asked him if he was alright. “i just need to sit down,” he said quickly as he did just that, heavily. “i didn’t sleep to well last night.”

valentine reached out as he approached sebastian from behind, a firm yet gentle hand resting onto the other’s shoulder. “look who it is – my favorite boy. it feels as if you’ve been hiding from me particularly well lately. have i done something to make you more upset than usual? i promise it wasn’t on purpose. everything i do, i do for you,” he said sincerely, his usual snide tone missing from his words. looking at sebastian now, he felt a bit of warmth that hadn’t been there before. “we should spend more time together – i feel we would understand and enjoy each other a bit more.”

willy had expected a regular day a usual -- getting up, getting ready, and then heading to the shop. his life was both routine and exciting at the same time. working with candy was a simple way of making the mundane fun. however, as he got into the bathroom to wash up, he noticed something very off about his appearance. his heart picked up in panic as he spotted the softer features he now had. not sure if this was a dream or not, he quickly called the only person he could trust in or outside of a dream -- maxwell. “maxwell, please. i need you to come over right now. i don’t feel well,” he insisted urgently.

while, originally, nikon didn’t enjoy the town events, he found himself liking them more and more the more he saw clara. she was just so sweet and familiar despite their limited time together. perhaps he was delusional or downright crazy, but he felt like they were connected – truly connected. he was supposed to be here for her in some way, either to protect her or something else. the moment he arrived, he automatically searched her out – finding her alone on the balcony. unfortunately, it appeared there was something wrong if her words meant anything. his brows furrowed together as he tried to remember if he’d done something wrong, something to disappoint her. “why? is something wrong?” he asked though the answer was obvious. but, he wanted to know more, wanted to know if there was something he could do about the particular reason why she didn’t want to see him. perhaps he was the one in the wrong and his imagine connection with her was just that – imagined. “have i done something?”

ariel had been attempting to get in contact with veronica for hours now. her father had fallen ill and wasn’t doing too well, leaving ariel in need of someone to lean on to. that someone should have been veronica -- it was expected of someone you were in a relationship with. of course, ariel understood that things happen and people get caught up in things, but she started to worry that something had happened to veronica as well. she began to panic on top of worrying over her father, frantically getting in contact with anyone who she thought might know the whereabouts of her girlfriend. a few people later and she was led to some sort of house party. okay, a party. you wouldn’t be able to hear your phone going off in there, right? it wouldn’t hurt to check it every once and a while, but it was okay. at least, those were the excuses ariel gave the other. but, instead, she stumbled on a scene that made her already reddened eyes spill over with tears. “it’s not?” she asked, taking a few steps closer just to see who was in the closet with her supposed girlfriend. “i’ve been trying to reach you for hours, and this is what you’re doing? i thought you were hurt. i needed you. but, i get it. you’re still young. you need to have fun. whatever,” she said, smiling despite her tears continuing down her face. “you can have your fun, just never with me again.”

mason had been discharged from the hospital pending that his condition didn’t worsen more than it already had. it was a desperate request of his own -- he wanted to finish up school like every other student rather than waste away in his hospital bed with nothing to do but watch the television shows that began to blur together. however, he was very unaccustomed to the summer heat thanks to air conditioning and was easily overwhelmed. he sat down to dig through his bag for some spare change for a bottle of water from one of the nearby vending machines, sweat already starting to bead on his forehead. maybe he really wasn’t cut out for this. his hand brought up a dollar, but it was just short of a quarter needed for the university’s machine -- it was honestly blatant robbery. “excuse me,” he said to someone nearby. “you wouldn’t happen to have a quarter you don’t need, would you? i really misjudged this whole being outside thing -- if the paleness didn’t give it away,” he said with a breathless laugh.