be still my foolish heart

Alisa had been out most of day,rehearsals and a photoshoot had tired her out. All she wanted to do was to sleep, but first she needed to grab something to eat and was in no mood to cook. She made her way to the nearest restaurant, a diner so she could sit down. “Oh I could sleep for a couple of days after I eat.”She groaned softly hoping nobody could hear her.

@itneverrainsstarters​

“Tis the season,” Niko commented, glancing up from his sketchbook with a chuckle. He offered her a smile, and a slight shrug. “I’m always one to encourage naps, too.” He grinned. “What’s got you so exhausted?

Hodaya was at Ralph’s, trying to decide which carb to serve with Shabbat dinner Friday night. There was brown rice, white rice, rice noodles, udon, lo mein noodles, chow mein noodles… It was hard for Hodaya to decide. She turned to the person next to her, “Hey, I’m making vegetarian stir fry for dinner Friday night. Should I serve noodles or rice as my carb?”  @itneverrainsstarters​

“I mean I’m the type to suggest you go all in with carbs,” Niko said with a chuckle, putting the package of ramen back on the shelf. “If this is any indication to go by, I say go with noodles. Noodles always make everything better.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Before you say anything, yes, I am capable of putting thought into things. Anyways, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m pretty lonely. When I’m at home, when I’m at the studio. I spend a lot fo time alone. I could get an assistant but they’re expensive and thought of spending that much time with someone is a nightmare. Especially someone I’ll be bossing around who will eventually resent me. So…” Asher explained, sitting more upright to continue his speech. He leaned over the side of the couch, scooping a dog up into his arms with a goofy smile. “I decided to adopt a dog! She can’t talk back, she’ll love me unconditionally, not to mention she’s adorable. What do you think?”

“You can literally never go wrong with adopting a dog, man. I did it for the same reason, and I’ve never once regretted it.” Niko grinned, chuckling. “Dogs are the best thing that ever happened to the universe. You could literally take the trash out and they’ll greet you like you’ve been gone for a year. Who doesn’t want that kind of love?”

“It’s nice to know someone understand”. He said with a sigh listening and nodding a long to what the other was saying “my sisters like my best friend, but she also is super homophobic. They are all constantly making cracks about gay people and it hurts my heart a little more each time”. He said sadly.

“oh i should watch more of that, it’s weirdly soothing to watch people cook. those are the videos i binge on youtube” she laughed a little, still following his lead “i like to pretend i know how to cook, i mean, i guess i’ve gotten pretty decent at like, following recipes? i don’t think i could ever make my own though, i’m not good with the whole what flavors go together thing.” Lakyn smiled, throwing a couple more apples into their cart “hey and since you’re not fully technically hired, it’s brownie points right? they’ll be all ‘look at that guy and his huge heart, we must hire him’ it’ll be perfect, i wont even take any credit for any bakings” Lakyn stopped in her tracks as her mouth fell open “i’m sorry what?! she’s MADE UP?! how could they just play with my emotions this way!! i’ve been picturing this old woman in her kitchen coming up with dank ass recipes and putting them in a simple box form for little peons like me to follow, that’s crazy!”

“That would be impressive given all the knives.” He nodded, considering the story. “I have a short attention span so I get a lot of dumb injuries. It gets boring to just say ‘yeah, I fell’. I’ll fess up later, but at least for a moment they don’t know I’m a human disaster.”

“I feel that so much,” Niko nodded and laughed. “I’ve stopped trying to explain where the random cuts, bruises and scratches come from.” He shook his head. “It’s always better to at the very least pretend you’re not a mess, even if it doesn’t work and people just know.”

   “You are also stuck with me Niko. So we are even,” he replied as he playfully pushed his friend and laughed before sticking out his tongue in a childish manner and gave them a massive grin. “Okay, the shoot fireworks off in my kitchen is out of the question but drag me out of the house to ave fun and stuff, that I will agree with.”

“Oh my god,” Niko laughed and huffed, shaking his head as he nudged his friend back in return. “Why do you have to ruin all my fun? I’m just trying to liven up things for you a little bit, it keeps you on your toes. Sometimes literally if there’s a spill or a tiny fire, you know.” He continued teasing. “We’ve got pizza. How do you feel about going to find something sweet? We’re indulging.”

“I found it in Israel. One of the tiny markets there. I can’t really go there right now because I can’t take off, so I’m hoping my grandmother can send me one in time,” she pushed her lips to the side in thought. “New York would probably have some special ones, but my grandmother likes to bless them before she gives it to me.”

Niko nodded in understanding. “Shit, when you find it somewhere like that, that does make it a lot more difficult to get anything good. Hopefully your grandad can send you one, even for as wonderful as New York is, I’m not sure there’s anybody as worthy of blessing it as your grandmother, right? That’s special.”

“I need a good story for this.” Dalton held up his hand with fresh stitches across his index finger. “Because slicing limes is not going to impress anyone and I might as well milk this.” He narrowed his gaze in thought, “Like I fought some knife wielding weirdo dressed as Cookie Monster on Halloween… Or something.”

“You could totally go with that, or say you had a showdown between Michael Myers and Freddy Kreuger and you escaped with that and your life,” Niko suggested with a grin, and chuckled. “Been there, done that, man. But it’s almost always more fun making up reasons than it is to tell the real story. Get creative!”

“So apparently some of the other professors at NYU are talking about dressing up for Halloween, and I’m not sure if I want to participate in that or not. I mean its been awhile since I’ve dressed up...what would I even go as? I’d have to walk around the campus for the whole day dressed as something...so it’d have to be something I’d be comfortable in I guess. And its only about 3 more bloody days until Halloween!”

“This is when I’d wear my definition of a lazy costume like a track suit and say I’m a broken New Year’s resolution.” He made a face. “Or maybe just slap a name tag on and call yourself god.” He chuckled. “When in doubt, Rosie the riveter is always a good one too!” 

“I know Hanukkah is in two months, but as I was getting the boxes down, Naomi breaks the menorah. Now, I am hoping to find the perfect one within two months when that one took about a year to find,” Aviva sighed as she ran both hands through her hair. “Clearly not my day.”

Niko made a sympathetic face, shaking his head. “Sorry to hear that, I know how hard meaningful things like that can be to replace. Did you find your last one someplace special? Maybe that would be a good place to start.”

“oh, so then granny smiths would probably make a good pie?” she asked, a little confused how that would work “how do tart apples make better pie? isn’t pie like, supposed to be sweet” she asked, holding up a dragonfriut “these are pretty but like, they have very little flavor, i fell for their beauty once” with a shake of her head she put the fruit back down before following him around the grocery store “oh that would be fun! it’s probably not the only place that has something like that too, we could probably find a bunch of places to grace with our pies” she said with a smile “but if we make once of those mint chocolate chip pies, that one will be staying at my place and be eaten by me. speaking of, do you think there was an ACTUAL Betty Crocker, or is that just like a made up name for the brand?”

“I watch too much Great British Bake Off,” Niko offered as an excuse.  “I have some pink lady apples at home already, so we can balance it out with a couple of those. That way it’ll be half and half and nobody can complain.” He grinned and nodded at the dragonfruits. “A lot of fruit is beautiful and then you bite into it and it’s like what is this?” He wrinkled his nose. “Exactly! I think my future work has a list of events going on we could check out.” His eyes lit up at the mention of another pie and he laughed. “Okay, you can have that one but only because if I eat anything else mint chocolate this year, I’ll turn into one.” He thought for a moment before he smirked. “I used to think so, but apparently she’s just made up which broke my heart. They chose the name Betty because it was a really good all American name in the 20s and 30s. Go figure.”

“I know,” she agrees. “You tend to forget the crappy ones, or the ones that were just meh.” She thinks back and can remember some of her own teachers that were that way. “I hope we can keep it going. I know the teachers at my school try to be the best they can. I can’t vouch for other schools, though.”

Henry nodded “oh it would be, but I wonder if that would be a bad thing”. He said with a shrug. Henry sighed “I know, that’s the worst part honestly. Like it shouldn’t be a huge deal, but it is”. He said sadly

  “Hey, you had free choice and it’s not my fault that you liked me and decided you wanted to be my friend,” he replied with a grin on his face. “You should well know that I don’t really have much of a life outside work but…am trying and working on it.”

“Believe me, I know. I got saddled with your mug and you just stuck. Too bad though, you’re stuck with me for now.” He stuck his tongue out childishly at Alec, chuckling. “I don’t think most people have a life outside of work. But that’s what you’ve got me for, to help liven you up a little bit. Shoot fireworks off in your kitchen and all that.”

”Thank you! I was going for the horrifying.” Sam laughed, “I’m gonna be like Cady wearing her ex-wife’s outift to that Halloween party.” the blonde pretended to make a scary face. “Hey, dont’t cut yourself short, you’d make a great Annabelle,” Sam nodded with a smile on her face, “But okay then, what are you think about? What would be more up your street? I’ll help ya brainstorm.”

Niiko chuckled. “That was such a good costume too, I love a good pun.” He grinned at her and let out a loud laugh, wrinkling his nose at the idea. “Maybe not. I feel like the hairy legs might put people off a little.” He squinted for a moment, shoulders lifting in a shrug. “I was Poseidon last year, but this year I want something more fun and a little less geeky, you know? Any ideas are good ideas.”

“Well, she deserved it! Don’t feel bad! Exactly! Like how evil can you be to think doing something like that is okay?” She nods, remember some her own favorite teachers. “That’s amazing,” she smiles. “I love teachers like that; the ones you can always turn to and talk to. The ones who shaped you as a person.”