* 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 .

dan dooley

“The Death of Icarus”, by Alexandre Cabanel (1823–1889). French painter. oil on canvas

“you  any  good  at  this  shit?”  he  has  no  idea  what's  happening  —  it's  like  a  free-for-all,  considering  the  fact  that  he  lost  the  plot  halfway  through  whatever  this  was  supposed  to  do.  sage  is  sitting  with  his  elbows  on  his  knees,  slouched  over  in  defeat  about  it.  it  just  feels  a  bit  silly  about  it.  he  looks  over  at  martina,  investigating  their  ..  thing.  “y'wanna  ditch  this  and  go  to  the  bar?  or  food  truck,  maybe,  if  you're  not  drinkin'.”  he  is  –  clearly. 

to say they are invested in what they’re doing would be an understatement;  the craft station is right up martina’s alley,  and they’ve been building a small wooden house for their niece for a while now.   they can sense sage’s frustration,  though,  and they can’t help but huff out a laugh at his hunched posture and his defeated expression.   they inspect their handiwork,  smile at it fondly,  and carefully glue the last tiny piece in place—they can totally finish this up at home.   “   pft,  of course i’m drinking,   ”   the reply arrives with a roll of their eyes,  although the gesture is full of fondness.   “   who do you think you’re talking to ?   ”   martina stands up in a second,  putting the small house inside their bag.   they tumble some of the things that are on the table in the process;  they pay them no mind.   “   i’ve been dying for a good moscow mule since i arrived,  but i thought it was too early and wanted to have something in my tummy first,  but i’m ready now,  so …  let’s go !   ”

"god, could they be any more obnoxious?" natalia huffed, her eyes fixed on the group of college guys (frat boys, or maybe tech bros, she could only assume) over her sunglasses. when one of them tried to look her way, she only scoffed, letting her head fall back as she turned her attention back to martina. "i thought there'd at least be people worth looking at here.

a snort vibrates from martina’s throat,  and their eyes roll,  amused,  behind the darkness of their sunglasses.   they hadn’t been paying attention to whatever natalia was looking at,  but there was something they could disagree on.   “   that’s because you’re looking at the wrong people,   ”   they state,  nonchalantly,  as their gaze drifts in the opposite direction where a group of giggling girls seem to be having the day of their lives.   “   women never disappoint.   ”   that isn’t completely true,  of course,  martina has a string of stories where their heart has been broken to prove the opposite,  but you’ll catch them dead before admitting girls can be as terrible as boys.   “   and if you ask me,  i think they’re always worth looking at.   ”   martina smiles to themself,  waves to one of the girls who looks their way and giggles,  and then turns to natalia.   “   how is it,  by the way ?   to live in the hell of liking men ?   ”

" okay ! " she said, clapping her hands together excitingly. " i am so going to the sundae ice cream bar. please, tell me you're coming with me ! " it was no secret that hadley was already having some fun at the beach party. one thing about her ? was she had simply always loved being down by the beach. " maybe afterwards we can go listen to the music ? or watch one of the movies. i don't remember what they're playing right now, but we should sooo go check it out ! "

“   dude   ”   martina starts,  their shoulders sagging,  their eyes closing tiredly.   “   i’ve been at that station twice already,  and don’t get me wrong,  they’re delicious,   ”   that’s why they’ve been there twice so far,   “   but if i have another ice cream i’m gonna puke,  for real,   ”   and yeah,  that’s not hadley’s fault,  of course,  but if there’s a window to complain,  god knows martina zhong is going to use it.   they look at hadley then,  and sigh,  defeated—she looks so excited about it that something moves inside marti,  something they loathe,  but that ultimately makes them relent.   “  if you really wanna go,  i can go with you.   and then we can go do the …  other things you proposed,  i guess.   ”   they try to play the nonchalant,  the cool,  disinterested fella with a shrug,  looking around before looking at hadley once more.   “   it’s been ages since i’ve had the time to watch a movie,  so that’d be nice.   what are they showing again ?   ”

as soon as the bell chimes to the bakery, it caught hadley's attention. her main focus at the moment was to start fixing things up around here. getting one of the cupcake and cookies displays fixed was the first thing on her agenda to do. freshly baked pies, eclars, and cheesecakes were all being baked. the smell evident throughout the entirety of the bakery. glancing over to martina's direction when they had approached the counter. " woah.. okay, wait. are you saying that my éclairs aren't fresh — ? " hadley paused, giving a martina a look with a playful roll of her eyes. " i always bake my desserts fresh, i'll have you know.." within the tone of voice, hadley could sense that martina was only kidding. " oh my — wait. " a gasp left hadley, rethinking about it. " you didn't actually think it was stale last time, did you ? or are you messing with me because you think it's funny ? " now the thought was in her head about sellling desserts that weren't nearly as good as when they were first made. “  how many more do you need ? a dozen ? “ she asked. ” and this time.. they'll be fresh from the oven. ”

the smile on their face was mischievous,  making the green of their eyes sparkle when they noticed hadley had finally caught up to their joke.   it had been funny to see her struggle at first,  to see her believe something had truly been wrong with her baked goods,  which,  in all honesty,  was an insane thing to think,  considering they were not only delicious all the time,  but absolutely excellent,  too.   martina leaned on the counter,  relaxed,  their elbows carefully placed on its edge.   “   of course i don’t actually think it,  hadley,  please,   ”   their eyes rolled to the back of her head,  a gesture that intended to be annoyed but came up more endeared than anything else.   “   you know i can complain about a lot of things about you,  but never about what you bake.   otherwise,  i wouldn’t be here all the fucking time.   ”   they straightened then,  moved to be right in front of the display case,  and studied the sweets exhibited there.   the glass compartment was still being filled,  but what was already there was enough to make martina’s mouth water.   “   damn,  those brownies look insane.   are they fresh ?   ”   they asked,  annoyingly,  their smirk back on their face.

“  OH  MY  GOD  !  ”  marlowe  exclaims  rather  loudly,  picking  up  a  stray  cat  that  has  wandered  into  her  guitar  case.  the  feline  doesn't  fight  the  sudden  grab,  soft  purrs  vibrate  out  of  its  chest  as  marlo  wraps  its  soft,  furry  body  into  a  gentle  embrace.  “  i  feel  like  i  totally  know  this  cat from somewhere.  “  big  doe  eyes  gaze  insentively upon  the  feline's  face  for  a  moment,  a  beat,  and  another,  then  she  audibly  gasps.  ”  oh  !  this  is  my  mother  !  "  lips  pull  into  a  wide  smile,  eyes  shift  expectantly  at  the  other  person.

martina has always had a liking to wander palmview streets,  they enjoy the views,  the kids playing around,  the different,  thriving businesses,  and the people they feel are theirs.   they like to breathe in the fresh air coming from the shore,  walk at a leisured pace,  and find things that amaze them.   this time is no different.   as they walk down the street,  a rather loud exclamation draws their attention,  and they smile at the sight of a young woman with a cat in her arms.   however,  what they hear next makes them frown.   “   y-your mom ?   ”   confusion taints their features,  and they tilt their head as they near the girl with the guitar case.   “   what do you mean it’s your mom ?   is she like a witch who can turn into a cat or what ?   ”   martina huffs a laugh,  letting the other know they’re obviously joking.