the light

“No, not really. It usually takes me a while to notice people in that way.”

“She’s been doing really well for the most part. We recently moved out of my parents’ place, so getting used to her new room and all of that has been bit of a challenge for her but she’s doing great. I think she’s on the cusp of learning to read, that’s very exciting for both of us.”

“My mother’s day was nothing short of lovely, thank you for asking. My youngest brother flew in from California and I got to spend time with my entire family, that was really nice. Buying things for my mother - or my grandmother, really - is really difficult so we tend to go for experience type of gifts. I do see my mom almost daily but it’s good to be reminded to celebrate everything she is and all the things she has done every once in a while. The fact that I’m a mom myself makes everything all the more exciting.

Hana’s getting ready to finish kindergarten now and I honestly can’t believe it. She has really flourished into this unbelievably kind and creative little person and I could not be happier. She has made loads of new friends and watching her navigate those friendships and new experiences is such a privilege.”

The woman’s bright face caught her eye but it was only until she’d gotten a better look at her down the aisle that she realized who it was. “Oh my god, Noor? Hi! How have you been?” She couldn’t help but chuckle at her mother’s day makeover. “I, for one, think you look absolutely lovely. It’s a wonderful mother’s day gift.”

While her expression didn’t shift all that much, Noor had to admit she was pleasantly surprised to realize who the quote unquote stranger was. “Lexus. It’s so good to see you,” she replied, the tone of her voice warm and genuine. “I’ve been good. Busy, really, but things are getting a lot less stressful. How are you?” She nodded in agreement when Lexus praised the gift she had received. “Thank you. She was so happy about the end result and I couldn’t just let it go to waste.”

“Sorry, I’m a little sleep deprived. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or real.” She lifted a hand to rub her forehead. She just needed to get groceries so she could go home, eat, and nap. She was up super early from floor setting for the boutique she worked at.

“No need to apologize. We’ve all been there, I know I have.” Noor wasn’t a stranger to feeling so tired she couldn’t quite tell what was real and what was not, and couldn’t blame the woman for not being sure whether her hairdo was simply a trick of her exhausted imagination. “It’s a bit... different. My daughter is five years old and she obviously thinks everyone should wear dozens of hair accessories on a daily basis. The bolder the better.”

“Oh, wow, told you Hana’s got a bright future ahead of her. I mean, look at that. Her makeup styling is absolutely impeccable. That slightly crooked girrafe-looking clip on your head? My god, it’s stunning. Lady Gaga? Beyonce? are, uh, shooki-ing, as the kids these days would say. ” She was pretty certain she’d gotten the phrase wrong, but the blonde was too languid today to correct herself — having just finished calling her mother, hearing nothing but a frail breathing on the other side of the phone and panicking a bit whenever it’d go silent. Mother’s Days had always been a bit finicky for her - both good and bad fragments intertwined together, but she tried to keep herself intact, to pull through clenched teeth so she could continue putting extra effort to provide the children she was working with some sense of familial atmosphere and make up for they’d never felt, or lost, hopefully. She smiled at Noor. It’d been awhile since they last talked, and a lot had happened ever since. “Need some help with your, uh, shopping?” 

A laugh escaped her lips. “I feel like some celebrities could have really used her fashion tips for this year’s MET gala. Had she been in charge, straight men wouldn’t have been showing up in their usual black suits. Not without, I don’t know, accessories made out of meters of tulle, and bedazzled scrunchies.” As much as she enjoyed her rather simple and downplayed outfits, Noor had to admit she hoped Hana would keep her flare as she grew up and came to her own. “I don’t know enough about youth slang to comment on your word choices. Please report back to me if you find out it’s not the right word, preferably before I start using it in the hopes of appearing more youthful,” she added jokingly but with a straight face as she continued picking up the items from her list. Noor had thought about Heather, had wondered how life was treating her, so the fact that she had managed to run into her without even trying did make her feel strangely relieved. She seemed to be doing alright. “I’m almost done here. I wouldn’t mind a bit of company, though. How have you been? Busy, right?”

Alright, he laughed just a little seeing his neighbor in the produce section with all the bright accessories. Mismatched eyes studied her while he leaned against his cart, elbows resting against the handle, passing the snarky remark of, “I missed the memo that it was Eighties Day.” Straightening with a wicked smirk when she addressed him at last, another laugh bubbled up in his throat then. “Oh, shit… I remember those days. Wasn’t Mother’s or Father’s day celebrations, just two little girls insistin’ I needed a fuckin’ makeover.” Memories fondly rested on his two young sisters as children before turning to the present, attempting to brush off the twinging longing to have that all over again. Wouldn’t one think he would be sick of it, after raising three little kids on his own and herding them around the foster homes? Straightening and rubbing a hand over his arm sheepishly, as if he would be caught redhanded for the thought, he returned his attention to his friend. Babysitting her daughter once in a while felt like the least he could do for caring for his brother a couple years ago when Orion had been hospitalized. “You look fuckin’ fantastic, by the way, you’re rockin’ it. You should let her do your hair all the time.”

Noor rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the genuinely pleased look on her face. As far as she was concerned, running into Cyrek only added to her already brilliant day. “That’s your problem, isn’t it?” she pointed out with raised brows, her words followed by a soft burst of laughter. While she wasn’t normally one to venture outside in flashy fashions - her wardrobe was full of black and muted colors - she couldn’t have possibly said no to her daughter when she had asked whether the hairstyle was pretty enough for her trip to the grocery store. “Mmhm? I think little kids should have more of a say in how we all present ourselves. Surely the world would be a much more interesting place.” She paused for a moment, then nodded. “I am sure you looked nothing short of brilliant. Do you have any pictures?” Noor couldn’t help but inquire. The way Cyrek spoke of his siblings warmed her heart in a strange way and reminded her of just how happy she was to have him be a part of her own daughter’s life. “Hana agrees. She has told me, in no uncertain terms, that it’s quite unfair she doesn’t get to do my hair daily when I’m in charge of doing hers. That being said, I like to think she carries the rainbow clips and bows with the sort of style and dignity I don’t possess,” she stated, feigning upset as she reached to make sure the masterpiece was still intact. “You’re welcome to pop over if you’re ever in need of a hip new hairdo. I am sure Hana would love to treat you to a little hairdressing session. She already thinks you’re way cooler than I am.” 

Daniel gave a proud smile as he slid over a plate of Chilaquiles to the person sitting on his table. The restaurant was closing but Daniel though he could give the costumer something special on the house for being a decent patron. And  Chilaquileses just happened to be his speciality. He looked at them with anticipation in his eyes. “So? Tell me how it tastes.”

Truth be told, Noor had been preparing to apologize for taking her sweet time - or entering the restaurant so close to closing time - and couldn’t quite believe she was now receiving free food. “Well, it looks brilliant,” she commented with a nod before taking a bite. A smile spread across her features. “It’s really good. What’s in them?”

“I need your advice. I met this guy the other day and he’s really hot and friendly and great in bed and I don’t know if I should call him. I don’t usually talk to one night stands, so this is really new to me. I tried making a list of pros and cons; so far the top pro is that he makes the best waffles I’ve ever had and the top con is that he has a two year old…”

“I don’t think you should,” Noor replied after Leia had explained the situation fully. “I mean, you can do that, of course, but it might get messy. You say the fact that he has a child is the biggest con about the whole thing. I don’t know, I personally wouldn’t want to risk building any sort of a real connection with someone who wasn’t comfortable with the fact that I have a child. Someone might get hurt.”

noor was born born in astoria, queens & was raised between nyc and her father’s native saudi arabia. she’s the eldest of four siblings and grew up to be kind of the stereotypical first-born daughter. responsible, dutiful, thoughtful and caring while also being quite bossy. noor likes to be in control and has established ways of completing most tasks.

growing up, noor was bit of an overachiever and people-pleaser. It took her ages to learn how to live for herself instead of the authority figures in her life. she now has absolutely no trouble saying no; it’s near impossible to get her to do something she deems uninteresting or waste of time.

noor was quite young when she decided to pursue nursing as a career. she got her bachelor of science in nursing from adelphi university in garden city, and also met and married her now ex-husband during her university years.

she got married at 21. the couple separated four years later, during which time noor was pregnant with her daughter hana. noor is a single mother - her ex-husband isn’t really in the picture - but has ample support from her parents and siblings. she’s incredibly family oriented and prioritises spending time with them over most things.

noor and her daughter moved in with her parents when the divorce was finalised. they’ve recently moved out but still live in the same apartment building bc of course they do.

she hopes to return to university in order to get her master’s degree in nursing in the near-ish future. for the time being, however, she’s mostly very content with the way things have turned out, even if her life hasn’t necessary gone the way she expected.

while not necessarily the most expressive or openly emotional person around, noor is genuinely very caring and will go out of her way to help just about anyone. she also loves kind of dumb jokes and puns.

seems to enjoy discussing really gross things & doesn’t always remember other people don’t necessarily want to hear about all the disgusting details of her job.

loves really bad horror movies - the gorier the better - and will invite friends over to watch the worst ones she can find. will spend hours on end visiting thrift shops & garage sales in order to find her next fix. 

regularly sleep-deprived, especially after her night shifts. i would imagine many of the townspeople are used to finding her dozing off in pretty silly places.

she’s quite tall at just shy of 5'10’’ & kind of gangly. tends to move like a newborn deer unless she’s paying attention to her movements. that being said, noor is not entirely hopeless when it comes to sports as she used to play soccer for over fifteen years.

noor doesn’t drink & has most likely never set foot in a nightclub. that being said, she will gladly visit more chill bars and pubs in addition to always being the designated driver.

i might head to bed pretty soon - have to get up early for work tomorrow - but i will have a proper look at the starter tag & reply to bunch of them tomorrow! 

“I dare you to run around the block naked for thirty seconds.” Cody grinned as he looked over to the person next to him whom he had been playing truth and dare with. So far there had been only truths and he thought it was time he made things a little bit more exciting. “Come on. I know it’s cold but it’ll be pretty quick. You know what? I’ll even run with you if that makes it easier.”

“No, absolutely not.” There was no way Noor was not about to even entertain the idea. Playing truth and dare with her was undoubtedly quite dull as there was simply no talking to her into something she didn’t want to do. The fact that she preferred to keep a lot of things private probably didn’t help. “You can do it, sure, but I’m keeping all of my clothes on, thank you very much.” 

Dexter was sitting in the grass, his photography equipments next to him including his tripod, a bunch of extra lens and his laptop. He was fiddling with his camera when he looked and suddenly saw a golden opportunity. The redhead smiled wide as he got up to one knee. “Would you mind if I took a picture of you?” He asked, his voice rising in excitement. “I’m sorry. The view is just perfect right now.”