𝑬𝑷𝑰𝑷𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑰𝑬𝑺

Laurie scoffed as he pushed past her, rolling her eyes before shutting the door. Reluctantly following him into the living room, she raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ve ever picked up a fishing pole, figuratively or otherwise,” she commented, more to herself as her brother kept ranting. About what? She was trying to figure that out in real time. Laurie stared at him, eyes squinted as she tried to keep up with one sentence but then he’d go on to the next one. Something about hooks and baits. “Oh my God, shut up about the fish metaphors!” she finally exclaimed, rubbing her temple. “Why the hell do you need my advice for? Maybe she just doesn’t like you!”

Using her finger, Laurie carefully wiped a part of her bottom lip. “You should hire better covers, then,” she responded, closing the lipstick tube. When Jade confidently declared that everyone liked the high note, she stifled laughter under her breath, but couldn’t do much to hide the amused grin. “Well, you certainly have the fucking ego for pop-stardom,” she pointed out with a smirk. “So, how’s the penthouse doing? Guess you haven’t burned it down yet.” Grabbing her phone, she leaned back in the chair, glancing once toward Jade. “Miss me yet?”

Jordan was in the process of wondering if they should be slow or fast when bringing it home. Careful was obviously the better choice, but what if things got melty and mushy? Well, it was a milkshake though, so— “Yeah, maybe separate could be good! Just in case,” he replied after finally cutting off his internal rambling. “Do you think we can use one of the diner glasses for it, like this one?” He gently tapped at the milkshake glass again, furrowing his brow before laughing. “Or is that, um, not allowed? Not that the milkshake wouldn’t look great in the to-go cups either!”

Jordan smiled at his friend’s acceptance, though paused at the following remark. He nodded a couple of times. “I think you guys are meant to be friends forever,” he declared, maybe half to himself since it seemed like an absentminded thought. But he meant it either way. “Maybe it feels… weird right now, but… it’ll be okay.” He chose to believe it would be. “Do you maybe wanna go grab a milkshake or something?”

Jade carefully lifted a cotton pad doused in makeup remover to her lid to gently wipe the shimmery, glittery makeup from it before she glanced at Laurie in the mirror of the vanity. "You pay attention that much to my shows that you noticed that?" It was a tease, an obvious one, with the corners of Jade's lips lifting into a smirk. "I'll have to tell the President of my fanclub that he has some competition apparently." Her gaze fell back to her makeup and onto the other eye she moved to clean that off as well. "Maybe I was feeling extra. Kinda like you are right now. What's your deal?"

Laurie opened her tube of lipstick, though glanced to the side to roll her eyes at Jade. “Funny,” she sarcastically remarked, looking in the mirror and reapplying some lipstick. “My deal? What, you mean aside from almost fighting your stupid guard in the hallway? He’s annoying as fuck, by the way.” She didn’t even know the dude’s name but that didn’t matter. “I’m in a perfectly normal mood,” she declared, flashing a smile. “Maybe you’re just not used to me giving you compliments without immediately insulting you after.” She paused before huffing and correcting that point. “Not that the high note thing was a compliment. I didn’t say I liked it.”

Laurie really didn’t have to give much photography direction to Elya, which couldn’t be said for some other people in the city. One time she asked that happy-go-lucky sunshine boy from Frenchie’s – Justin or Josh or whatever the hell – to take a photoshoot of her on the corner block. Long story short, he sucked at the task and it was a miracle she didn’t strangle him. After posing in model mode by the willow tree, Laurie came strolling back to get her drink. She furrowed her brow at the comment, glancing over at Elya before just shrugging. “You wanted to drag me to your farm and show me something with your pig or goat or whatever, I don’t know.”

“Oh, okay! I, uh, just hope all of this stuff will work for now,” Jordan said, smiling at the present supplies. He was starting to draw something with a red marker, trying to do some outline thing, looking back and forth between the milkshake and the notebook page. He reached out to the milkshake glass, turning it around a little to see another angle, still in awe of what it looked like too. “This really is a great idea! You’re really creative,” he commented. “Maybe we could bring one home for Angelie to try too? I, um, can’t remember when she’s working next.”

Think cutie patootie. Laurie raised an eyebrow as her eyes followed Elya’s attention. “Mmm, I was thinking more hot girl summer, actually,” she pointed out as she eyed the chosen tree, meanwhile she was standing there with a cute little flower behind her ear. But she sighed and rolled her eyes when she remembered the current season. “Even though it’s… lowkey still spring—okay, whatever.” Stepping over to the nearby bench, she placed her latte down and then started walking. “Get all of the angles!” Laurie casually called without looking back, sauntering over to the willow tree.

Okay, well, Laurie supposed that was true or whatever. She kind of knew what color Elya’s eyes were too. But the point was—Yes, absolutely. For fuck’s sake. The blonde took a sip of her latte at the wrong time, almost choking on that now in place of her spit just moments before. She survived a heated bathroom make-out with Savannah Fell, but if anything was actually going to send her into shock, it might just be Elya Yildiz. “Oh—” Laurie managed to get her quiet coughing under control after a moment. “Fine. I guess I can tolerate an impromptu photoshoot,” she murmured, flashing a smile. “I’ll even let you choose the backdrop.”

What building? Laurie’s response was a blank expression before she inhaled a comically deep breath and just looked at the sky for a few moments. Patience wasn’t really one of Laurie’s natural traits, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone. But over the years, she had certainly at least tried to learn patience with Alyssum. The comment about the dresses did make her laugh. “Oh, you mean like how you made me do like twenty spins in a row last time and I almost fell on my ass?” she smirked and rolled her eyes.

Jordan considered his friend’s uncertainties, looking past the bridge again in thought. “Yeah…” he started. “Maybe I could, um, tell her you asked about her? Or well—do you still have her number?” Unless, well, Angelie blocked him. Glancing at Danny again, he smiled at his hair color. “I like the blond! I think it’s cool,” he complimented. He had never had his own hair dyed before, and hadn’t done anything special other than basic haircuts. Blond era Jordan Aslani would be a wild sight to see walking around Hiraeth.

Lenianna shifted around the counter so that she could slip onto the stool beside Jordan, watching as he took out and then laid out all of his supplies on the countertop. "These colors are perfect! I bet the more vibrant it is, the more likely people will order it," Lenianna mused, already reaching for a bright sky blue before she paused. "Is it okay if I use your things too?"

“I think so too! Eye-catching stuff! I, uh… feel like that always works on me in most stores too,” Jordan admitted. He picked up a yellow and a red marker, trying to decide which to start with. He hadn’t noticed Leni’s initial hesitation, but glanced over after her question broke him out of his thoughts. “Yeah, of course! You can use anything. I kinda need to get some new stuff… a lot of my supplies are a little old. Sorry if some of the markers run out of ink.”

RAIN SPENCER in THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY

Legacies 2.08 - This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent

There were other people who might have gotten their hand slapped away. The pathing of Elya’s hand, however, was left unblocked as the blonde just allowed whatever was happening, albeit with some confusion. Then a blue flower was positioned behind her ear. She tightened her jaw, internally choosing to blame the sun for the warmth in her cheeks instead of this slightly farmer’s gentle act. Suddenly, Laurie couldn’t really remember what she was just complaining about, managing a laugh that almost had her choking on air instead. “Obsessed with me enough to know the exact shade of my eyes?” she quipped, breaking eye-contact to stare at some random tree. “Do you want a picture to put in your wallet too or something?”