‘ ᴵ ˢʷᵉᵃʳ ᴵ ˡᴵᵛᵉᵈ ,

a rowdy string of insults would hurt less than this. micah wasn’t expecting much, but julian disregarding her existence altogether hadn’t been an option she’d considered in her carefully crafted, long forgotten game plans. the shiba inu promptly obeys, and the gust of wind that follows after him is strong enough to knock her over— the sting of cold hurts as it numbs her, but it’s not something micah has time for and hastily runs after julian.  ‘  hey, i’m SORRY! i—  ’ she rushes to say, taking long strides to catch up with him; even longer to keep up.  ‘  ’m sorry i left, ‘kay?  i should’ve told you— shouldn’t have gone all radio silent on you; a call… ANYTHING.  ’  her voice is hushed and pleading; small, even if she’s being loud and clear.  ‘  the shitty ass text— i’m sorry. i knew you’d try ‘nd stop me. i couldn’t—  ’  words fail her, thoughts and apologies flashing far too fast for her to pick one and fully lay it out. micah reaches out, fingers clutching onto his arm, pulling him into a stop with a pathetic amount of strength.  ‘  just— stop. say something— please.  ’

She snorts, short and bitter. “ What? So you can be a dick right back to me? That’s very ten minutes ago. NUH-UH. I’ll stop with the whole woe is Julian thing, but … ” Legs are tucked under her, and she’s poised forward in an effort to show she’s about to stand, excitement only getting the better of her. “ I am getting us shots. You to forget your relationship drama, and me to forget I was ever coerced into thinking I had to apologise for anything, ever. ” She’s on her feet now, headed towards the door without an answer. “ What’s your poison, Fault in Our Stars? ”

she rolls her eyes, a quiet snort joined with the sarcastic movement. “ can’t believe you’re too much of a coward to admit it … ” a laugh. “ i watched you lust over emma frost, so you can’t even try to tell me you read comics for the plot alone. ” a pause at his words, before she erupts in laughter. “ yeah, yeah i do. just like i play videos games for the cute girls. ” she shrugs her shoulders, giving him a dirty look. “ i’m doing it faster than you were. ”

she smirks, tilting her head slightly as he changes the film. “ if it makes you feel any better, juju, i objectify women just as much. ” chuckle escapes lips, and then she folds her legs under her, pretzel style. “ i’m sure my observation of how attractive chadwick is won’t set it back too far. i mean, part of it’s being treated as equals, and men objectify women all the time ! ” it’s said as a joke, a shrug of shoulders paired with it. eyes narrow at him when she notes that he’s not just searching the movie. “ gimme that, ” she says, snatching the remote from him. she snorts, shooting him a look. “ are you saying you don’t ? isn’t that like, 90% of the reason guys read comics ? because the girls are hot ? ” 

She’s never been the best at sympathy. She’s always wanted to be — she’s always cared. But it had been, since childhood, a nature that was secondary. She’d loved plenty of people, certainly, but she’d hardly ever cared for anyone as much as she did herself. Self preservation had always prevailed. And that’s why it shocks her, when she says ( to someone just moments ago she’d been insulting as if her life DEPENDED on it ) — “ I’m sorry. ” Frown deepens, and she tries to cover it with the beer pressed to her lips again, another long sip. It’s almost gone now. “ She didn’t say ANYTHING? That’s kind of a cunt move. ”

@meteovoid !

she tosses her worn-out backpack onto the back seat of her brand new car— a tricky statement, considering it’s sort of an upgrade from her last vehicle and a staggering downgrade from the last bed she slept in; definitely the type of car that will NEVER be missed from the streets of las vegas. a win, all in all, and she has to cherish those meaningless victories from wherever she finds them.

even in a town she dared call home for three years, micah feels lost; like she’s adrift, bobbing in the waves in the middle of nowhere under the blistering sun. she takes a look around and sees NOTHING of value, yet EVERYTHING’S exactly the same and it offers a sense of familiarity that’s oddly comforting. she meanders downtown without an exact destination ( more like, avoiding to the one place her feet would drag her too if they had free will ), hears a dog bark somewhere and in a blink of a second, a three-legged, tail-wagging shiba inu circles her excitedly, with more barks to spare before he lays down, belly-up and tongue out.  ‘ hi, baby! ’  the words resist against her tongue as she scratches his tummy, and micah, despite the joy that seeing carl brings, feels uneasy. carl is never out alone, and it means juli must be around too, so she tenses up when shortly after she notices another presence within proximity, anxiety bubbling underneath her skin.

micah’s mathed out the scenarios, the different outcomes that the first interaction with julian after ditching jericho would result in, calculated probability versus the unmeasurable factor that love’s supposed to be and she NEVER wins ( it’s not really what she’s after, anyway ). she had picked out the words, with caution & care, and designed a speech, a confession of love that would award her with something akin to absolution. she forgets all of it as she looks up, a tentative smile spread on her lips, bracing herself from the first blow.

‘  leash laws exist for a reason, y’know?  ’

“ you’re fucking crying your eyes out, juju. and there’s nothing wrong with crying like a girl, you ass. ” eyes narrow behind glasses and she gives him a look that says ‘ whatthefuck, dude. ’ she shakes her head, then sighs, deciding it’s not worth arguing it with him — he’s right, they probably should just change movies. “ okay, okay. we can watch that, but only because chadwick boseman is singlehandedly the most attractive man i’ve ever seen. in my entire life. ” she flops backwards over the arm of the couch, then raises her head to shoot him a quick, playful wink.

“ You started it ! ” It’s a CHILDISH rebuttal, one that comes so instinctively she wonders if it’s lost meaning. But really, he had. THIS TIME, at least. She’d come with the intention of apologizing, and look where she’d gotten herself. She always did this. The aggression, the bitchy comments, the escalation of the tiniest of disagreements. It made her uncomfortable to see him candid rather than firing back something about her height or how often she found herself making out with strangers in the corners of the parties they both found themselves in attendance at. It made her less proud of her comebacks, and more ashamed that she said them in the first place. But admittance of this, perhaps, was a step too far. “ I didn’t know, ” she tells him, the mocking usually in her tone entirely disappeared. “ Why? That’s burning question, by the way, not being a bitch. ”

HERE’S THE STRANGE BIT : there’s a general vibe, maybe, of sarcasm, but delaney decides not to act on it. instead he just smiles, and it pulls at the lines on his face, casual and easy. “it being a little something or other has never stopped me before,” he quips. he’s still grasping the flowers tight, and digs through his pockets for something or other to tie them off, make them easier to hold. “how you know anything about running a business? or flowers?” from anyone else it might be a bit sardonic, too cruel, a test-me sort of inquiry, but there’s something about him that’s genuinely curious.

     the initial comment forces a loquacious boy to go mute : eyebrows coming together, looking as dumbfounded as one could. oh great, he’d offended the one gay guy in a mile’s radius. “ i don’t ! ” he’s quick to hop on the latter topic, hoping his other commentary would go forgotten. “ but hell . . . you give away free shit you lose money. we’re trying to make a profit here, bud, and that’s no way to do it. you even go to business school ? college ? let me guess . . . high school drop-out. that’d explain it. basic math, dude. basic freakin’ math. ”

Pippa wasn’t always the — nicest. Most eloquent, or gentle in her words. Or as Julian put it, ‘ politically correct. ’ In fact, most of her comments towards him seemed to the antithesis to it, but it wouldn’t save him from being insulted by her again for just the same thing. “ You know, your whole, I’m too cool to see my friends every day, don’t be so politically correct, sitting grumpy in the corner thing is the PEAK of toxic masculinity. ” She scoffs at him, for emphasis, but her heart isn’t in it. Her own beer is sipped from again, this time more of a GLUG reminiscent of her nights doing keg stands. Knowing her, she’ll end up there tonight too. At the sound of his last comment, however, the back of her neck burns red. And she doesn’t know if it’s partial inebriation, or her own insecurity at how lonely things can be, but she immediately SNAPS at him.  “ I have more than one friend. Or, did you forget your very own ex? I mean, they clearly did. Kinda sad, though, that after George and Micah you’re still a virgin, but … hey, how are you guys doing, anyway? Things all peachy in homeless chic paradise? ”