Girl on Fire

[ RAVEN MOFFITT. 24. PANGENDER. SHE/THEY] is here! They’ve lived in Silver Lake for [ 2 MONTHS ] and are originally from [ SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ]. They are a [ BARTENDER AT LOS GLOBOS/STUDENT ] and in their downtime love [ VOLUNTEERING ] and [ WATCHING OLD MOVIES ]. They look a lot like [ FOLA EVANS-AKINGBOLA ] and live [OASIS APTS].

“ I feel like saying ‘oral’ doesn’t count. I guess listening? It took me a long time to learn how to open up about my feelings and to be honest, I was kind of garbage at listening to other’s feelings since I was a lonely and selfish teen, blah blah blah. I think unbiased, non-judgmental listening without telling someone what to feel or think or do, not offer advice because ‘you’ve been there’ or to say ‘ oh yeah me too so I get it’ and just listen quietly while someone gets something off their chest is just the best thing you can do. You’d be suprised ho wmany people don’t get that.”

“ I have more public indecency charges than I’d like to admit. Sometimes when the mood is right, the mood is right... I’m not proud of it but... well, I’m only human.”

“I’m actually just here to restock the ribs, seems like they’re going over well,” Deon says as he lays an aluminum serving tray onto the table before adding. “Careful, it’s hot.” 

 Hands on his hips, he looks over the spread on the tables, doing mental inventories of the food that remains to see if there’s anything else that he needs to grab from the truck.

“Might need more coleslaw,” he adds, mostly to himself, before he turns to the young woman. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude –” he apologizes before offering his hand in introduction. “I’m Gideon, I donated the food for the day.”

Mind trained on ( or more like dreaming of) getting someone to take over so they could have a coffee break, Raven looked up at the man in their dazed state to notice the tray. " Oh, awesome, thanks. We're running a little low," Raven noted as she set the plate to the side. It was quickly picked up and handed to the next person in line as Raven grabbed the tongs and rested them in the tray before moving it to the side. With a nod for the cook to come around to the side and out of the line, Raven didn't bother with anything before grabbing the tray, the sides cool enough to handle quickly. " You can just set it right here. " They noted, nodding towards the now-empty burner. As the tray was replaced, Raven worked on taking the few pieces left and stacking them on top the fresh ones so nothing went to waste, smiling at the man as he spoke again.

" Looks like it." Raven agreed as the old tray was discarded in the recycling, the foil from it placed over the fresh food. " Raven." She introduced with a smile. " And thanks for the donation — people love barbecue, so you can never go wrong with that." Raven chuckled. " You just donating for today or do you own some kind of barbecue joint around here? You seem to know your way around a grill."

one plate per person . pssh . to patch that seemed ridiculous , for he could easily wolf down five plates with second , third and fourth helpings , followed by a dessert and a soft drink to wash it down . given his small frame it was unbelievable how he was able to pack so much food away and not show it . surely , if they boiled things down to biology , he should’ve been the size of a house by now . licking coleslaw from his thumb as he took the serving , his quiffed head nodded back in raven’s direction . “ mhm . i’ll definitely be headin’ for the desserts . what have you got – ice cream , cupcakes , those little coloured jellybeans in jars ?! “ as usual when it came to food he found himself getting carried away in a fantasy of his own creation . patrick was silverlake’s excuse for willy wonka , minus the purple cape and oompa loompa’s ( he was sure he could get levi to help out around the fictional factory ) .

“ so , “ with his mouth full , he gestured to the surroundings , “ – what’s all this for ?? “ 

The person who addressed them looked young — maybe not young enough to be a part of the program itself, but Raven could see the furious apatite they had, and having once been a youth on their own struggling to make ends meet, Raven wasn't going to shame the guy for fulling his belly while he could. " There's chocolate cake, snow cones, soft serve and I think popcorn..." Raven informed the guy as she handed the stocked plate to the next person in line. " There's also napkins and a sink right over there..."  She chuckled, sure the guy would like to clean up a bit. Grabbing another plate, Raven began to auto-pilot through serving again as she looked between the plate and the young man. " Community outreach for the youth. Everyone gets together and donates time and food for the youth shelter and group homes in the area, but it's open to families, too. The 'inner city' types." She noted with a scoff. She hated the term and hated even more how people who didn't have a trust fund were labeled even when people were claiming to help them. Having lived on both sides of the fence, Raven was naturally touchy on the subject. " Take it you're not with any of them, huh?"

Jameson took the paper plate from the woman for the sole reason that he didn’t want to leave her hanging. Despite being the grump that he was, he still had some manners. “Is that for volunteers as well?” he asked as he looked around. “I’m actually here to help out.” He forced a smile on his face that lasted a few seconds. “Sorry, I know I’m a little late,” understatement perhaps, “but I figured since there was still a line… going extra hands wouldn’t hurt.” He probably should have been looking for the person spearheading the whole event, but he didn’t want to make a big fuss about it. He just wanted to know where his station was so that he could get to work. “Anything I could help with?” asked the man in his southern drawl. 

Eyeing the man as he spoke, Raven twisted her mouth for a moment in a look of disappointment. She wasn't uptight, but the even had been going on for an hour, and showing up that late was just one of those things that looked bad. " The volunteers are allowed to have the same amount as everybody else." Raven noted, trying not to narrow their eyes at Johnny-come-lately. " You were supposed to be here an hour before the event started, you know? To set up..." Raven scolded lightly before letting out a sigh, never one to let their anger get the better of them. Plus, he was a little handsome, and Raven was a little shallow. " Come on," They noted before waving over another helper to take her place at the station. " There's a ton of boxes and trash to throw out, and I'm guess that you weren't the only one late, because they've been needing someone to make the rounds to check that everything is within the park's rules for events."

“Oh, no. I already had my own barbeque-thing” The studio she was contracted under, making use of their resources in bodies and that hit home for the founder who was also around, slinging slaw. “This is for the big guy in the back.” She nodded, in his direction. The only big big guy sitting by a tree. “Dan. He just got his cast off his leg and I think it must’ve took him longer than the fifteen minutes he told me to get here. Maybe a double slaw? He’s nice. Not that that’s like a requirement or anything but, I think he’s lying about how far he comes.” 

Looking up as the blonde spoke, Raven paused, not to check her out (or at least, only that) but to try to recall her face. They had rules set in place that were meant to make sure there was enough for everyone, as the food didn't come for free just because they were giving it away at that price, so naturally, hearing that the woman had already had her own made Raven retract her hand. Charity had to come before her own opinions, and she couldn't give special treatment. " Oh, well..." Raven paused, thinking it over as Blondie spoke. Dark eyes followed in the direction the woman pointed out, and sure enough there was a man parked on his ass, looking their way. It seemed like enough to consider her source. " Well, I don't doubt the cast thing, but I can't really dish out extra. " Raven admitted, though it seemed to sound in her mind like she was judging. Even if she could, he didn't seem to really need extra, in her opinion. " Are you with him or something?" Raven asked, sure they weren't together, but he could have been her dad or something, and Raven didn't want to insult the guy either way.  " You're sure he didn't have a plate already?"

“Oh no.” Maggie hummed as she looked at the other. She had shown up simply just to marvel at everything that was happening but she hadn’t wanted to actually take anything, that she would have rather left to the people that needed it. “I was just wondering if you needed any help, any clearing or anything that needed doing? You all seem to have been working so hard today so I wouldn’t mind lending a hand.” It wasn’t like she had anything else do be doing and there was nothing wrong with putting a little good karma back into the world when you could see others doing the same. “Though I might end up at the dessert stand later if there is anything left once people start clearing out. Can’t let any cake go to waste.” 

Raven paused when the small woman spoke, triggering them to snap back to the present from wherever  thoughts drifted when auto-pilot mode was switched on. Looking the tiny brunette over quickly, it was obvious that she wasn't one of the kids at the event or someone looking for a plate more now than before, but Raven hadn't seen the girls face before that moment. Brows knitting together, Raven didn't mind the offer, but also knew that there was a system in place as well. " Are you one of the volunteers?" she asked as she handed the packed plate to the next person in line. Judging the brunette's eagerness, Raven gauged the situation for herself, and decided that she may not have been one of the people who signed up, but just someone inspired to do a good deed. Either way, Raven felt bad about putting a stranger on trash duty or something, but wasn't in a position to delegate, not having organized things. " Well, all the food is supposed to be handled with care by the staff and touched and stuff as little as possible so that anything left over can be given to the shelter, so..." Raven paused. " Maybe if you want you can find one of the organizers? We're running a little low on plates and forks..." Raven offered, knowing it was better than giving the girl literal garbage. “Or maybe you can add some more ice to the drinks cooler...”

“Sacrilege. It is one of the best cult movies of all time.” He hissed back at her. “ It has Jack fucking Bauer as the vampire and the soundtrack is better than most soundtracks today.” He said and then physically winced. “ Oh god now that is terrible. Almost as bad as Speed 2.” He laughed. “ I got to say though.. Edward scissor hands is epic.”

"Hey, you asked." Raven chuckled. " I'm not saying I'll turn my nose up at it or Goonies or Labyrinth or whatever— the 80's were a great time for cinema, mostly, —but if you ask me to choose, I'm never going to pick any of those over cheerleaders that fight the undead. I'm not ever sorry about it." Raven chuckled, no shame at all in the shallowness of their comment. Grabbing the album, Raven smirked as the stranger kept talking, mocking offense, so it seemed, at Raven's preferences. " Hey, you didn't say soundtracks, you said movies. I guess if we’re talking OST, I can’t say I remember one song from the Buffy movie... Mostly because cheerleaders...”

Giving back was something that had always been important to Raven. It could have just been that they were good natured by default, or a result of memories of the people who gave to them and their mother when they were in need. Whatever it is, Raven could never say no to a good cause, which was why they were currently at a park dishing out food into paper plates, the person next to them handing them out to the people that came near.  Food always brought people to events, and Raven hoped that they would give as they got in return, but that was only a hope. She knew some people were just there for the free food and so that their kids could get their face painted, and that there was no policing this, so they focused on filling plates instead of their inner sense of justice.  

Heaping some coleslaw on the paper plate next to the bbq and the fries, Raven was almost on auto-pilot as she handed the plate to the person who suddenly was beside her. “ There’s a one plate per-person rule, but if you’re still hungry after that, there’s a table with desserts and stuff somewhere around here.” 

WHERE: random house party

Grabbing a bottle of whiskey, Goldie thought she was being sly. Except she wasn’t and the look on the other person’s was the ultimate proof. She hid the bottle under her blazer and tried to act casual. A chuckle escaped from lips as her gaze with the other’s. “You saw nothing!”

The music playing was terrible. Raven wasn't the type to act like everything mainstream was terrible, but brought out the pretentious snob in them and Raven couldn't help it. They had always been more social, and that meant making enough friends to always be invited to parties and outings. However, Raven couldn't recall who it was that was throwing this party, the invite coming from a friend-of-a-friend via word of mouth, leaving Raven without knowledge of who to ask to put something good on. As they wandered the party looking for whomever had a remote control in their hands or seemed to be looking through a playlist on their phone, they passed the kitchen, noticing someone who appeared to be crashing swipe a bottle and freeze as they realized they were caught. Raven couldn't help but crack a smile, shrugging it off. " I didn't pay for it." They mused. " Besides, I'm willing to look the other way as whoever stocked the bar takes the L for that in exchange for making me listen to shitty music."

Meanwhile at Cosmic Vinyl

ft: open to all @slchat

song: Cry little sister - Lost boys soundtrack

Axel was in his element, it was his day off and he was using it to fill up his record collection. His long, lean, almost ethereal frame lent over the record stack as he skimmed through looking for a specific record. His blond curls fell forward over his handsome face until a smile broke through when he picked up a record. In a sleeveless black top and black ripped jeans and dirty, studded converse and with a cigarette behind his ear and some black raybans hooked on to his t-shirt  to show off a tanned, toned collarbone, Axel was at his most relaxed. He turned and faced the nearest person to him with a curious gaze. “ Quick question, Lost boys… Eighties cult classic or shitty vampire film?”

Khalid, Kid Cudi, Pink Sweat$, H.E.R., and a few others were some of the favorites on Raven's list of artists that they were hoping had vinyl record versions of their albums ever since an impromptu trip to a thrift store ended in Raven purchasing a really cute record player that they had nothing to to play on. While Raven never got hung up on having some sort of aesthetic, they were in love with the idea of adding a retro layer to their small-but loved place. A few hits and misses left them with some of their list checked off in addition to great finds like Marvin Gaye and MJ, Raven reaching out to grab the only Tribe Called Quest they say when someone called their attention away. The question was random as fuck, but random af was right up their alley enough to answer. "Shitty vampire film all the way. Have you seen the original Buffy movie? It's the literal definition of ' so bad it's good'.”