— ☼ peach, plum, pear

“Oh, no, I am full of myself. My coffee just isn’t melty.” They weren’t afraid to admit that they were full of themself. In their mind, they may as well be the best person in New York, so what was there to not be full of? “Good. No one should be ignoring me, have you seen me? Why would anyone want to ignore this?” they gestured to themself, taking another sip of their coffee. That’s true, though, and they nodded at her comment about them having to be good at their job. “You were working? Why? You realize that it was a gala for us to attend, not to work.” But she made another fair point - they hadn’t been paying attention to the entertainment enough to recognize her. Though there had been a few nights where they’d been out at bars with live music to later sleep with the bassist, or the singer, or– never mind, Alexander. “I wouldn’t have worked that event no matter how much they offered to pay me.”

“mhm.” gwen still wasn’t convinced - about the coffee. really, she aspired to have alexander’s level of confidence, maybe it would keep her out of trouble. or at least phoenix’s bed. but she wasn’t that lucky, she guessed. “you should ask someone who blatantly ignores you.” she didn’t know if that person even existed. she thought they probably didn’t. “to be honest, i’d rather work. any time people talk to me at galas they want something from me or santos - and it’s usually santos.” she wasn’t an assistant so it got annoying. “the pay was great, though. i might treat myself to a vacation.” she thought she deserved it, even though gwen didn’t think she knew how to take a vacation.

Kim just sighed. “Yeah, they probably wouldn’t.” Which was so annoying. If it were up to Kim, everyone would work on their own schedule as they needed to. It was the only way to live life. Unfortunately, it was an unrealistic expectation for most. She scooted out the way to let Qwen pass by finally. “Well, I’m guessing I’ll still see you later then? Don’t think the stairs get you out of cardio.” Kim teased. 

gwen scooted by, groaning and tilting her head back because yeah, cardio was her least favorite. “you’re killin’ me, kim.  when i die of too much cardio you’ll know it’s all your fault.” alright, gwen was being dramatic now. she’d asked kim for cardio specifically because she hated it. after a second, she huffed and took a seat two steps above her. “can i ask you for like, stupid advice? like, the kind i know but need to hear from someone else. that kind of advice.” kim generally got the most stupid of gwen’s rants, because it turned out when gwen was trying to distract herself from hating her life while sweating up a storm she was pretty talkative.

“My ice isn’t melty,” they mumbled under their breath, taking another sip of his coffee. Maybe they’d try it her way next time, though he’d never admit to that. “Thank you for noticing.” Alexander then smiled - glad to know that they’d been admired even from afar that night. “No, I just know how to dress myself and how to find good clothes to do that. I’m talented, what can I say?” Then they paused, trying to think back on that night. “I’m sure you looked good, too.”

“sure. just like you’re not full of yourself, either.” gwen liked that about alexander so she wasn’t saying it to be hateful - more just to tease them. “you’re hard to ignore.” it was true; they always showed up dressed to the nines in a way that made every eye pull towards them. if alexander was a shining beacon than gwen was their foil, a shadow going unnoticed by design. “you kind of have to have a good eye for your job, so it makes sense.” well, they didn’t have to, because gwen had had her fair share of mediocre photoshoots. but alexander was good at their job, so. “as long as i look passable i’m not worried about it. i was working, anyway.” she’d told anyone who asked that she was hades, but really she just felt most comfortable performing in concert black. “entertainment doesn’t get much notice.” gwen hadn’t had to schmooze all night and she’d loved it.

           it’s  a  planner  filled  with  color  coded  information  about  how  her  day  was  about  to  go  spread  out  in  front  of  sunnie  .  her  day  is  jam - packed  ,  and  it’s  only  nine  in  the  morning  but  she’s  already  overwhelmed  .  for  the  last  hour  ,  she’s  been  assisting  with  interviews  and  filling  requests  for  vacations  ,  so  somehow  color  coordinating  her  planner  is  keeping  her  sane  .  ‘  huh  ?  ’  she  questions  idiotically  ,  gripping  her  pink  pen  .  ‘  i  just  ,  uh  ,  it  keeps  me  from  losing  my  head  …  color  coordination  i  mean  .  ’ 

gwen was all for color coordination and organization - even if she didn’t really do any of that. the most she had was important dates shoved into her calendar of performance days or gigs and that was about it - and they weren’t color coded in the slightest. “this would overwhelm me. i’m not sure how you even make time to color code at all.” considering the booked state of sunnie’s schedule it didn’t seem like she had much time for anything. or perhaps... nothing. she had no time for nothing, which was gwen’s favorite thing to do.

“  flying  is  relaxing,  ”  nan  shook  her  head  with  a  soft  smile.  “  that’s  always  my  favorite  part  about  vacations  –  flying  myself  to  and  from  the  destination.  it’s  beautiful,  being  the  reason  you’re  above  clouds  and  mountains  instead  of  just  sitting  and  observing  it  from  a  window  seat.  ”  most  people,  she’d  imagine,  would  be  afraid  to  operate  a  90,000  pound  machine  thousands  of  feet  up  in  the  air,  but  nan  was  obsessed  with  it.  her  mind  was  only  ever  clear  when  she  was  flying  because  controlling  a  jet  required  that.  it  forced  her  to  be  calm,  to  reign  in  her  emotions  that  were  always  on  a  ten  and  focus  instead  on  a  few  buttons  and  a  screen.  she  chuckled  sheepishly  at  gwen’s  comment,  pushing  a  lock  of  hair  behind  her  ear.  “  i’m  really  considering  a  vacation.  i  feel  like  i  need  to  just…  leave  masters  for  a  week,  but…  i  don’t  know.  seems  dramatic.  ”

gwen shrugged her shoulders; her job wasn’t relaxing to her. handling copyright was mostly just stressful and required her to make a lot of trips to legal. since she had friends in that department it wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t very often when she fucked off and decided to not work to hang out with them. “i wouldn’t be able to do that. i don’t even have my drivers’ license.” granted, it wasn’t like she needed it in new york city, but still. “do it. unless you really want to sacrifice a relaxing vacation for other people’s drama. which isn’t worth it, in my opinion. if other people get to be dramatic so do you... not that going on a vacation is even dramatic.” 

phoenix wasn’t one to involve himself in his brother’s love life– but he wasn’t even surprised in the slightest at gwen’s remark. “ eh– i don’t see it.” he saw it though, and he understood it– griffin naturally attracted people from all walks of life. he was happy when she agreed anyway despite her initial and present reluctance. he took her hands in his and led them to a spot on the dancefloor, right in the middle of all the duos dancing. he positioned himself to dance with her as respectful as possible– left hand on the small of her back, right hand waiting for her left. “ i’m sorry–” he blurted out, something he’d blame the two drinks he had on.

gwen knew it didn’t matter if phoenix saw it or not - that was the reality, seen or not. “uhuh.” griffin was a light and the people at masters were moths, eating dust... and crayons. she let him take her hands and lead her to the dance floor. a whole lifetime of ballroom dancing lessons and yet this was weird to gwen, phoenix asking to lead her and... with an apology? she hesitated before placing her hand in his, placing her hand on his shoulder, unable to keep eye contact. “for... what?” he was pretty rotten to her in general, so was this a blanket apology or was he trying to apologize for something specific? 

nan  parted  her  lips,  fish-mouthed  for  a  second,  and  then  closed  it,  remaining  silent  for  a  beat.  “  i…  i  just  think  going  on  vacation  right  now  sounds  nice,  ”  she  justified  lamely.  was  gwen  anti-vacation  ?  had  she  told  nan  that  once  and  it  just  never  retained  in  her  mind  ?  “  and  i  never  have  to  buy  plane  tickets.  i  just  fly  myself.  …is  that  why  you’re  confused  ?  i  guess  i  am  adding  to  the  carbon  footprint.  ”  

"i’m saying it’s a vacation so why would you fly yourself. don’t you want to like... relax? not worry about that stuff?” well, nan was a professional, so maybe it was less stressful to fly herself than to be flown. gwen didn’t know the statistics of these things. she just knew she’d hated and been bored on every single flight she’d ever been on, jet or not. “you deserve pto. it’s not about that.” 

his head snapped up immediately, confused eyes shooting towards her. “why wouldn’t i take the opportunity to become lord asher?” asher questioned back, the same amount of confusion laced in his tone. if he were being honest, he was off his shit when he made the unnecessary purchase of buying a small plot in scotland. it wasn’t like he paid for it, he knew to be smarter than that. he purchased it under his boss’ account. 

“how do you know you’re actually a lord and you weren’t just scammed by someone that took a photoshop class in high school?” gwen remembered seeing those ads circulating, but thought the whole concept was pretty stupid. god forbid asher of all people held the power of a royal title... “does that hold any legal weight or is it a piece of paper?” 

quinn glanced up from her scrubbing the marbled floor of her office and wiped her brow with the back of her pink rubber gloves, “cleaning relaxes me.” she dropped the soft cotton rag into the bucket of soapy water, sighing as the subsequent splash landing on her black cigarette pants. she cursed under her breath, “treacherous wench.” 

gwen pursed her lips thoughtfully, eyes narrowed. she didn’t doubt that cleaning relaxed quinn, but there was a designated staff for cleaning their offices so it was kind of a moot point... couldn’t she just go home and clean? “are you sure you’re alright? did something happen?” gwen knew stuff had been happening with her, but the amount of times she’d complained about phoenix was bound to get old and was always the same story so she never brought it up.