𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

( michiel huisman. male, he/him, my girl + the temptations. ) that’s ROGER WHITTAKER hanging in that gang of friends? i heard they’re a part of the ECLIPSE pack. rumor has it they’re THIRTY-SIX years old. currently, they’re posing as a OWNER at RIVERDALE DINER, and during dark you can always find them going home to THE BRONX by CAR. (deanna, 26, she/her, est) 

she doesn’t even know what to say to his comment, too consumed with guilt. the more that the conversation continued, she had to come to terms with the choices she made AND realize how shitty they were. did her mom ever feel like this? she often wondered if she started over – got married again, have kids – forget the ones she raised. her own flesh and blood. 

some tears escaped her eyes, causing her to instantly wipe them. she knows she broke his heart, how he had to raise their son on his own. being in the same room as him was her hell - simply because now she had to atone for damage she caused. she put her own selfish mentality above the man she loved and the child they brought into the world. 

“i’m not sure.” saying with a broken tone, noticing how he didn’t say anything to her apology, it hurt but she was in no place to be forgiven. it would take time or i could just never happen. “i would… i would like to stay.” she was being honest, not even thinking of the pack home that she was alpha of. “i want to stay, rog.”

—

ROGER GLANCES AWAY FROM HER WHEN HE SEES TEARS FALLING, wanting to grant her a few moments of privacy in her emotions, and also because he didn’t trust himself to see her so hurt. there was no right way to go about this, but roger wanted so badly for someone to have written a guide to this :   how to deal with your ex-wife coming back into your life. what he’s doing now didn’t feel like the right moves. he only looks back at her when she brings up sticking around, his own eyes turning glassy. roger doesn’t know what that meant—if she wanted to stay for max, for him, because she missed new york—but he’s almost afraid to ask. he’s not sure he wants to know the answer.

“ okay, ”   he exhales out after a pregnant pause, realizing he should say something to her words, but not really sure where that is to say. it’s not like it’s his decision whether she stays or goes—makara’s already made it abundantly clear she does what she wants.   “ and thank you, for the apology, ”   roger adds hesitantly, feeling like he should acknowledge it.   “ i... i hope you can understand that if you want to see max, you’re going to have to prove to me that you’re going to stick around. i don’t want him to get his hopes up. ”   roger doesn’t wanna get his own hopes up, either, but he won’t mention it.

She immediately shakes her head in answer to his question. “No. I spent a little bit of time on the south coast and then Madrid, eventually moved on to Portugal and well… The short answer to that is no.” she smiles, stopping herself from rambling on. “Kind of.” she answers his next question more thoughtfully. “I’ve been in New York for longer than any other place, so I suppose this is home for now.” The words that came out of her mouth were strange for her to hear back. She’d not ever called somewhere home because she always knew her stays were temporary, and calling New York home made it feel more permanent. As if banishing those thoughts from her mind she quickly changed the subject. “What about you though? Becoming beta so quickly. How did that all happen?”

Status: Open starter Location: Anywhere

“If you don’t mind me taking up a minute of your time, I just have a couple of questions.” she spoke as she approached the other. “Do you enjoy romantic comedies or dark and mysterious thrillers? Would you rather drink beer or wine? Would you rather eat a home cooked meal or get take-out? And finally… Are you free February fourteenth?” Aslı askes the other, smiling playfully.

“IT’LL BE CLEARER WHEN YOU KNOW THE DETAILS.” He can understand the state of confusion Roger’s in right now, and it’s valid when he was only recently bombarded with something like this and doesn’t even have the full story. “If you need anything, I’m around.” He fully understands that this is something Roger might want to do by himself, he’d feel the same way if the roles were reversed, but issues related to family, to siblings specifically, always bring out the protective side of him. “He’s gotta pick himself up for the sake of the pack. It doesn’t deliver a good message.” But he’s betting Roger’s fully aware already.

     “I’M A SEAMSTRESS,” becca answers, surprised that he seems to be interested in her work. or he’s just being polite. “it’s not a lot, but i really enjoy it. and now you know where to go if you ever need anything altered or anything.” 

     “I’M SORRY I’M LATE,” talia says somewhat breathlessly, heels clicking against the pavement as she approaches roger. she won’t tell him that every dress she owns is thrown across her bedroom because she couldn’t decide what to wear until she had facetimed zehra. “i lost track of time,” she laughs at herself, stepping forward to give him a quick hug. because she’s thinking they can do that now, right? “you look very nice.” she just hopes it isn’t obvious she still gets nervous for their dates.

featuring :   @noirettes​

Dahlia knew she was late to her shift, but she hadn’t planned on a sketchy babysitter that didn’t show up. She hadn’t planned on showing up tot he diner with both kids in tow. At least they had something to keep themselves occupied with crayons and coloring books. She would likely give them her phone before the shift was over, to keep them out of trouble. While she was clocking in, she came out to notice the kids had somehow cornered some poor soul in a booth. “We will give you this one in a lifetime drawing for five dollars.” The smaller of the two kids pipes up excitedly, “It has stars and and glitter!” Dahlia did her best to usher them away with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about them. Kids go sit in your booth, your pancakes will be out in a few minutes.”  She gave them a pointed look as they did a retreat back to their booth. Her head shook as she took out her notepad to get the person’s order. “Didn’t realize I was raising little art representatives.” ​​

“ IT’S FINE, ”   roger chuckles fondly, smiling to the kids as they go back to their room.   “ i asked what they were doing. i didn’t realize you were bringing them today. ”   it’s not like he hasn’t allowed her to do it before—it’d be pretty hypocritical, considering the amount of times he had max hang out in his office on the off chance he couldn’t find a sitter.   “ i have nabi babysitting max at my apartment, if you want me to bring them over there ?   so you don’t have to worry about them here. whatever you want, though. ”   he’d definitely have to warn nabi first, but she was his best sitter in his rotation ;   if anyone could deal with it, it’d be her.   “ rough morning ? ”

makara’s brain was going a mile a minute, deep down the death of rosamie was a part of the reason why she is back. the other seventy percent had to do with the feelings she had pushed down for so long. since the death of her father && what he had said to her about the family she had upped and left, her actions began to haunt her. 

the actions that she had complete and total control over, but with the way her brain was thinking that was the only choice. it was what she witnessed all the adults in her life do when the going got tough; leave. roger didn’t know how her mental health was deteriorating because she hid it, she wanted to be the perfect wife… the perfect mother. she never wished on anyone to deal with the werewolf curse, especially her own flesh and blood. which added to her mental strain. 

she remembers how roger still tried for a year after she left, sending her pictures of max to keep her updated; in hopes she would return home to them. what did she do? never respond, but she saved the pictures. her actions were not excusable at all and all she wanted was roger to just let her have it. “i didn’t have your phone number…” saying in a low tone, it would just remind him about how she got a new cell phone to push them away further. 

“i just… wanted to come back, okay?” her voice now higher, tears threatening to escape her brown hues. she refused to be her mother, even though the apple didn’t fall far from the tree at this point. “i’m here and there is absolutely no way i can tell you how sorry for what i did, rog.” 

—

“ MY PHONE NUMBER HASN’T CHANGED, ”   he says matter-of-factly. roger has to fight himself to keep his voice calm and blameless, because while he wants to yell and point fingers at makara—he’s also so grateful to be in the same room as her again that he’ll be on his best behavior. she absolutely broke his heart, not even as a wife but as the mother to his child, but roger can’t pretend like he doesn’t care about her any longer, either. their relationship is certainly not the same as it had been, and it’s doubtful they could ever get to where they had been in the past, even if they wanted to. but she’s still another planet in his orbit, even if the distance is lightyears apart. the planets are bound to meet eventually, which is where they are now.

roger takes a seat on the arm of the couch, lips pursing unhappily as he watches her. he doesn’t LIKE seeing her like this ;   he doesn’t like feeling this way around her. there was a time when he considered her the love of his life. she was his favorite person for a long, long time. it feels wrong to watch her come close to tears and not open his arms for her, but they stay limp at his side, almost afraid to move.   “ how long are you here for ? ”   he asks, quietly. it hurts HIM to ignore her apology, but he also doesn’t know what to do with it.

     TALIA KNOWS SHE’S FALLING HARD, and she knows she is by the way she enjoys listening to him laugh, even if it had been a ridiculous question. talia’s breath catches as his arm goes around her waist before she relaxes into him. if she could, she’d stay like this as long as she could, but it’s an art museum and where she works, and she’s regretting them going on a date here. but talia also thinks it’s a good thing, considering she has to be professional and not like a touch starved girl with her crush. “you’ve convinced me,” she says teasing. she wonders if he’s happy because of the painting or if it’s because he’s with her despite it all, and she’s hoping selfishly that it’s the latter. talia sighs before leaning away from him slightly, instantly missing the warmth of him. “yeah,” she nods as she looks up at him. “i think we’re closing soon anyways.” and thankfully, she doesn’t have to be one of the people closing. 

You should reach out to him. The many times she had done that in the past, and yet Beck did what he wanted to do. Why was now any different? Mia knew that Roger kept to himself and when he mentioned something, it was for a reason. “Did…” she pauses before taking in a breath. “Did he do something, to you? or someone else?” or did something happen to him. She was lost in thought.

“YOU KNOW NOW.” He understands where Roger’s coming from, James would feel the same way. He had thought the same way on the daily when Thea ran away, wishing he had saw the warning signs better. Maybe then he could’ve stopped them from fleeing home for three years. He can’t help it - he has to scoff at Beck’s excuse. It’s a stupid one and he hopes Roger knows it. “I’m not sure what’s going through Beck’s head.” Clearly nothing logical or wise. “You talk to your sister about it, understand what it is exactly and make sure the guy is out of her life for good.” They may be broken up, but the guy may still be lurking around. If it were Thea that went through that, James would track the guy down and teach him a lesson, though he doesn’t explicitly state that to Roger, knowing the other isn’t one with violent tendencies. A lot of that would depend on how open his sister would be with Roger, but Roger’s always been a calm guy in approaching things, as far as he knows. “Christ. Is he usually like this?”

𝚂𝙷𝙴   𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚂   𝙷𝙴𝚁   𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳   𝚃𝚁𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶   𝚃𝙾   𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙻   𝚃𝙷𝙴   𝙻𝙸𝙴 .      but   roger   was   smarter   than   that ,      she   was   kidding   herself   by   thinking   she   could   get   away   with   it ,      her   brother   knew   all   her   tells .      initially   she’s   confused   by   his   close   proximity ,      still   she   takes   his   hand ,      unprepared   for   what   he’s   about   to   say   next .      when   the   words   fill   the   silence   between   them   her   body   feels   numb ,      all   the   air   seemingly   sucked   out   of   lungs ,      a   sickly   nausea   pierces   in   stomach .      he   knew .      roger   had   found   out ,      after   trying   to   keep   it   quiet   for   so   long   𝚑𝚎’𝚍   𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗   𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍   𝚋𝚢   𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚔   𝚘𝚏   𝚊𝚕𝚕   𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 .      ❝     i-….     ❞       if   she   couldn’t   look   at   him   before   then   she   certainly   couldn’t   now .      shame   spreading   over   features   when   she   turns   away ,      guilt   also   bubbles   to   the   surface .      she   still   blamed   herself .

     IF THERE’S A PAUSE IN THE CONVERSATION, becca doesn’t notice, comfortable with the silence. she busies herself by looking around the diner, and she’s been here plenty of times to visit ollie, but she’s normally talking to her friend then. roger’s voice brings her back to the conversation, and she nods her head. “i was, yeah.” becca had fun with ollie then, until she realized that it was her best friend kissing the woman she’s had a crush on for awhile now. but becca’s already drank her sorrows away for that, so she thinks she’s fine now. becca just hopes it isn’t obvious on her face. “not personally. i mostly would work with her models and designers under her.”