buttercup

“I’m so happy you’re here!” Sterling ran towards her friend and gave her a big, squeezing hug in return. “I’ve missed you too! We have so much to talk about!”

"I know, it seriously feels like forever," Rowan said with a nod. "Work at the hospital has been absolutely insane and on my days off, I’ve literally just been bed rotting at home. I feel terrible for not making it out here to see you sooner."

“ I want something real though. Not something with a shiny social media filter over it. “ there’s a photo on his Instagram he has where he was holding Sera after he won custody of his siblings. If he was going to show parts of his life on social media he wanted it to be filled with the genuine joy he felt that day. “ so you think that sort of love is instant ? Like one day you look at them and you realize that’s the one out of a sea of people?” He asked glancing back to Rowan. It sounded awfully romantic but he isn’t sure that’s what his life is meant to be. “ I’m out of practice being romantic Ro. Wanna spend a day helping me figure out how to flirt again “ he joked but he was hoping that wasn’t on the table. Something tells him he’d be embarrassed.

Rowan nodded as she listened, a few bleached strands of hair falling into her face. "I mean, I get it," she said, tucking the stray pieces behind her ear. She had to admit her own socials were no different. Sure, she looked like she was having fun in some pictures, but others were entirely for show. Places she’d visited just to say she had, or people she’d met for a single night and never saw again. Still, it didn't stop her from believing. "Yeah, I guess you could say that? It sounds silly, I know. But as a girl who loves with an all or nothing mentality... I think I kinda got to hope it's true."

Open starter: @aurorabaystarter Location: anywhere your heart desires

"Wait, which era are we on when we're talking about Barbie, though? Like magic, fairies, and the Nutcracker, or the era of Mojo Dojo Casa Houses and existential crises?"

“ Rowan don’t start that, cause you know I can’t be a hundred percent sure on anything being a babies or a dogs “ Arkin admitted as he glanced back over to his partners friend. It was one of those things though where most kids toys could easily be exchanged for a dogs toy. “ Kai does not have that. I’m already restless enough at night, I don’t need DJ Baby making beats in his nursery all night . “ @rcwan

"Arkin, he's your kid. Literally." Rowan asked, sounding genuinely bewildered. "How have you not mastered the art of identifying toys?" She dropped down to eye level with the toy, observing it with a frown. "This legit has the fuckin BarkBox logo on it. So, I hate to break it to you buddy, but you've legit been letting my nephew play with a chew toy. Which is kinda like totally fitting anyways. because that kind of stuff always ends up in their mouth but still."

closed starter: @rcwan

"Right?" Rowan agreed, looking over the menu. "And I heard they're actually generous with the food. It's not like Chipotle where you have to beg for extra," not that she would-- she was no tanka jahari.

"gardening claw gloves! used to use them all the time at my old job." sebi nods as if the item didn't make him look like wolverine or edward scissor hands. "helps turn the soil and dig holes — of course."

Rowan let out a long breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Oh, thank God," she laughed. "I thought they were starting to sell Furry accessories here." She looked up at the male, still a bit confused by his last comment. "Turning soil?'

"It looks like a dog toy, but sexcapades have gotten pretty gnarly, so God knows if I'm correct, anymore."

Her eyes go wide as she stares at the toy. "God, that’s... ugh," she mutters, dropping it back where it was before she can even finish the thought. "Like, to each their own, I guess but that's crazy."

“ my TikTok algorithm is a nightmare. I am never seeing any of that stuff. And I don’t know if I would want to, doesn’t it seem manufactured and fake ?” Sully asked before the topic of Sterling came up. He knew Liza more because they had been friends for a long time but he knew about Sterlings romantic situation. “ he’s in the bakery a lot. But that just seems like a proximity thing. It doesn’t see like she was out here deliberately trying to get an actor as a partner. Like good things happen when you don’t force them” sully explained and he didn’t think he wanted to date someone who was famous or rich. He just wanted someone who would accept him for all his anxieties and the baggage he carried. Which was probably impossible.

"I mean, obviously. But realistically, it's whatever they make it out to be." At the end of the day, life was pretty much what you made of it. Well, that was the theory, at least. Rowan shrugged and took another pull of her cherry cola slush, only to stop a second later. Hands flew up in a panic as the realization hit her and how her words may have sent the wrong message. "Oh god, no! I didn't mean it like that," she insists. "I meant it’s like... a movie. Think Starstruck. That old Disney one, yeah. They were just kinda meant to be and it's like totally romantic, y'know."