* / spots !

/ sean !

sean chuckled at her response. oh how he missed ellie’s dark jokes. truthfully, the man was glad to be back in one piece. his life before deciding to go to the army was at a standstill. he didn’t know what he wanted out of this world and cars were, at the time, beginning to become unfulfilling. after the shooting and breaking things off with ellie he didn’t feel like he had a purpose in life. he tried things again with emma before leaving for service but it just wasn’t the same. being back from the army has given him more hope that he can amount to so much more.

“you won’t, i’m here to stay.” he shot her a warm, yet assuring smile – even if those words were bullshit to ellie’s ears. the ex soldier was looking forward to hopefully getting to know the red head again and he wanted her to know that even if she wasn’t interested in him romantically, he still would be a friend. sean wouldn’t bail on her like last time. he was also ecstatic to be working on cars and bikes with tracker; not only doing mechanics but more exciting things like mods – tricking the vehicles out technically and aesthetically. 

he was happy to hear the woman was still writing and editor in chief. ellie was one of the very few people he knew that were so determined and motivated – it was inspiring. the girl always amazed him with her talents and drive. “well, if anyone I know could make a story about a laptop-snatcher an interesting read it would definitely be you, nash.” sean grinned, “you could write it like a comic or something – get jimmy to draw it out for ya.”

his grin grew wider when she asked to sit before him. he was taken aback, but it was a wonderful surprise. maybe he would get another chance to prove himself to her. “nah, the seat’s all yours!” he took another sip of his coffee as he watched her sit down. “so, how much more time at university do you have left? got any plans after graduation?” 

* / ellie ;

ellie was glad to hear that sean was here to stay—though she didn't let that get her hopes up too much. toronto was a great city, sure, but there were other opportunities elsewhere... and it was sorta in-character for sean to jump ship anyway. still, it was nice to imagine having an old friend back, even if the old friend was an ex.

"that's definitely... a choice." she laughs, shaking her head. she's sure a comic would appeal to some of the student body, but the core had a reputation to uphold. and unfortunately, that reputation didn't include other mediums of storytelling other than written journalism and photography. "i'm not sure it's very the core-esque, so i hope it'd still be an interesting read sans-comic format."

ellie takes the seat across from him, a small smile spreading across her face. she was worried she had been too forward, but this was sean. as much as he had hurt her and despite the amount of years they had spent not talking, ellie couldn't help but be reminded how good and normal she felt around sean... and she sorta craved that feeling again—as friends, obviously. she wasn't naive enough to think that they could work like that again ( or so she told herself ).

"actually, this is my last year." ellie says proudly, letting her eyes meet sean's. she had forgotten how blue his eyes were. even at the cost of sounding cliche, ellie could only describe his piercing blue eyes as a tone of lapis or sodalite—shiny, deep, and mesmerizing. she tears her gaze away and lets out a breath. "i'm looking at a few internship positions, but nothing concrete just yet." she shrugs. ellie had thrown her entire being into the core that it was difficult seeing beyond that. maybe she'd freelance? or maybe she'd swallow her pride and call caitlyn? or maybe she'll freeload off paige and marco again and move in with them. "so, in other words, no plans just yet."

/ sean !

sean was taken aback by the hug the red head pulled him into, although he wasn’t complaining. the man wholeheartedly thought she would have ignored him or replied with some passive aggressive remark. even though ellie could be rough around the edges, he knew deep down she was much more than that – or at least he used to – though her response to seeing him assured sean that the same ellie was still in there. he knew she always cared for him, that’s why he loved her so much back then and even a part of him still.

a grin danced upon his lips and he was unable to make it go away. now that his nerves were somewhat relinquished all that washed over him were feelings of  excitement and awe. the girl looked just as beautiful, if not more so, than she had when they dated in high school. “i was in the army,” he nodded, “luckily i’m done with it – thank fuck.” he let out a chuckle, “i’m back here living with tracker, i guess toronto couldn’t keep me away forever. third times a charm, eh?”

the man took a sip of his coffee. “how about you, el? running the news here with your killer writing skills? i’d love to read your work sometime.” he always knew she would go on to do amazing things and he hoped she was still going down that path.

Originally posted by starhaze-archive

* / ellie ;

ellie couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. she had a rocky relationship with the military, considering her dad had been deployed for a majority of her childhood and teen years. so when she heard through the grapevine that sean had joined the army himself, a part of her—a part that had no right being so—was unsettled. hearing sean say he was over and done with it, however, made ellie feel a little lighter. truly, thank fuck. "well, i'm glad to see you back in one piece." she jokes half-heartedly. a quick flashback to seeing her father back for the first time made her smile falter, though she hoped he didn't notice.

"hopefully we don't scare you off for a third time." ellie simpers. and she means it too. a lot of things have changed around toronto, and seeing sean gave her a sense of stability. she liked stability... even though paige had been talking her ear off about how boring her life had become. 'you've gotten bland on us, el,'

ellie raises her eyebrows and pats her laptop bag, suddenly remembering why she had arrived at the dot in the first place. "actually, yes. i'm working at the core right now as the editor-in-chief." ellie beams. she was flattered sean remembered how much she liked to write.  "i mean, it's just university and campus stuff right now. i'm not sure if you're interested in reading about the latest laptop-snatcher scandal at toronto university." ellie says blandly. don't get her wrong—she loves her position at the core. but she's been at it for a year and campus journalism isn't something she's interested in doing for the rest of her life.

Oh great, fend off a mental breakdown while worrying about her kids in front of the guy she had thought about for years. Yup, that was exactly how she had planned her night to go. Georgia fought off the tears, not wanting to show any vulnerability in front of Joe. The entire town had seen her as something she wasn’t, a PTA mom, the mayor’s assistant, the mayor’s girlfriend. She had been so many other things not noticing the way her children were coming undone like the cheap clothes she once wore. 

A quick recovery leading her to sniffle as she covered it with a laugh. “Is that a way of telling me I need to stop babysittin’ my drink and just chug it like I’m at a kegger?” She swirled the red wine in its glass looking at the way the dark red turned lighter towards the top. Taking a small sip she let the flavors sit on her tongue as she shrugged. “It was a business opportunity I didn’t think you should’ve passed up.” Really she just liked proving one person wrong and proving herself in another way to get Paul’s attention. “I think we can still go a little lower,” she joked. “I could’ve said you wanted to just close up shop and run a soup kitchen.” Her lips pouted a bit as she recovered and focused on just the sound of his voice. “That coulda been your own platform to run on. Coulda beat out Cynthia pretty easy on that one.” 

* / joe ;

“i mean, chugging your drink only puts money back into my pocket, so...” joe trails off. he smiles slightly at her laugh. this was good. well, as good as it could get while talking to a woman experiencing a parent’s worse nightmare. or at least, that’s what he had imagined it to be. the closest joe was to a parent were to twelve chickens, six cows, three sheep, and two horses. and he’d be devastated if even one escaped. 

“Only because they are too nice. They’re try to give them away to the poor before they take them themselves.”

* / fiona ;

“But I am here now. So what do you want me to do?” Zig asked. He sent her a cute pout. 

* / esme ;

“People are just assholes and nothing seems to be going right for me today.” Maya replied with a shake of her head. “I didn’t exactly get the name of the guy who insulted my music, and as for the school stuff I don’t really think you should give a stern talking to my professor’s if I’m being honest.” 

* / zig ;