burning pile

“Hey, done is done, right? I have this guy in my class who is always saying done is better than good. But he only comes to like half of the classes so I don’t know how much you can trust that advice,” she said with a shrug. She personally liked to excel as much as possible but the closer she got to finishing school, the less she had to give in terms of effort. She just wanted it to be done already. “I mean yeah, basically. Just you know more tests and more tests and then it’ll be official,” she said with a laugh, feeling like all she was doing was reading and taking tests. Was that really the only way to ensure someone would be a good lawyer? There were a lot of people in her class who she was certain would actually make terrible lawyers. “Oh, I’m hardly a superwoman. Now Wonder Woman..I do love those arm braces,” she joked. “But really it feels like such a beast of an experience. I wanted to drop out so badly this semester but,” she shrugged, the year having been a difficult one on my levels. “Are you planning anything for yourself for the summer?”

Honestly 'done is done' was the kind of motto that Jo lived by. It was a surprise to her sometimes that she actually had clients, given her frequent inability to meet deadlines. In her mind, of course, she'd rather have something late and perfect then on time and mediocre, though. "I'd rather have something be done and good, but I guess you can't always have everything." She replied with a laugh. "Well, you've got this far, so what's a few more tests? You'll do great." She had never been particularly good at school, and it seemed if you got far enough and did well enough to finish the school part, some tests ought to be a cakewalk. At Viola's question, she shook her head with a sigh. "Projects, work, nothing special." Hoping nothing terrible would happen in town.. Trying to stay alive. That was the big thing, but she didn't want to bring the mood down by saying it.

rory's always had empathy as a super power, able to feel and read emotions from others quite easily. especially jack though. concern immediately fell upon them, watching the other with soft yet observant eyes as he gave jack the space to tell him whatever he wanted or didn't want. he didn't know what to say. there wasn't anything to say. so instead rory reached over the table and wrapped their arms around jack, pulling him in for a hug, " i'm so sorry, jack. " they both knew rory had always been a hugger. it was in their blood. after a few moments, they finally pulled away and settled back. august smiled and reached forward to take jack's hand and give it a squeeze, " i could always use another friend. if i recall correctly, we were pretty great friends for awhile there. "

It took a minute for him to notice, but Jack's heart had started beating a little faster than usual as Rory hugged him. It had been years and he shouldn't still feel this way, especially after everything he'd had with Matty, but he couldn't helped it. He'd never really moved on, never given himself the time or space to do so. More then friends, he thought to himself. They'd been more then just great friends. But he didn't say that, it wouldn't really be appropriate, he thought. "Yeah.. We were." He said instead, with a slight smile. "I.. Missed you, I think."

[ a starter for @rebelsrebels ]

Lucy knew what Percy meant. She had always told herself that once she went away, she'd make a totally new life for herself. The exact life she wanted, which was definitely not in her hometown - as much as Shrike held good memories for her, memories of family, there was still the itch to get away. "Tell me about it." She said, with a sigh, looking down at her notepad page, which was covered in passive doodles. The rest of the book was full of rambling notes that seemed to lead her nowhere. "But I'm not leaving until I.. I don't know. Figure something out, at least.. I don't know if I can solve this thing, but I can't not try. You know?"

Eli rolled his eyes. Danny, he thought to himself, had taken the things that had happened far too seriously - even though he did feel bad about it deep down, he didn't understand why the other man had to make it so difficult for him to try and patch things up. "Oh, come on, don't play dumb with me. We had lots of good times, I'd even say we were friends, wouldn't you?" He knew, in a way, exactly how the question would be answered, but he asked anyway, hoping maybe the other could forget everything, and they could move on. He was all for that, moving on, really.

He was right - the whole thing had already started to consume her life, a bit. She didn't want to end up in a complete spiral over it, but it was hard. "I kind of…" She sighed. "I kind of came back because of this. Well. I mean. My friend went missing. But it's not just him, it's.. Lots of people and it makes no sense and I just.. I'm hoping I can find out something. Anything, really. I wanna help." She was probably telling him too much. Not that she was trying to keep her mission, or whatever it was, a secret, but still. It was a lot to dump out all at once, especially on someone who had been around when the attacks had actually happened. "But you're right. It does feel a little like falling into a crazy rabbit hole, or something like that. I just want to know what happened to my friend. And to everyone else who's been missing, too."

Davis was already embarrassed by his blunder, so when the woman asked him what store he was looking for - and when he couldn't remember the name of it - it was even worse. Sighing, Davis just shrugged for a moment before admitting, "I actually don't remember what it's called. I'm like the worst security guard ever." But then he laughed - though with very little humor - as he considered, "I guess the worst wouldn't have gotten the stolen merchandise back. At least I did that, right?" He looked at the item in his hand, a black shirt, and he said, "It's somewhere that sells clothes," and then he looked around, realizing he was in an art store. "This definitely isn't the place," he said, "though I swear it was somewhere close." He held up the shirt to the woman, asking, "Do you happen to know where this might be sold?" There was no way he was making a good first impression on this woman, so Davis explained, "Not only am I a new security guard here, I'm a new security guard, like ever. I've never done this before, at least not like...this kind of guard. It's a lot different in the army. But if I could do that, you'd think I could do this because that was way harder." Again he laughed, finding at least a little bit of humor in the situation now. "My name is Davis," he introduced himself. "I just moved here a week ago."

Jo nodded, looking at the item in his hands. There weren't any clothes stores on this level of the mall, but she almost felt bad telling him, considering he seemed so flustered by his mistake already. She'd have to, though, if she wanted to be any help at all. "Maybe Macy's? It's a floor down. I can't say I really shop for clothes in the mall, so I'm probably not the most help in the world, but it's a start?" Most of her own clothes were secondhand, and patched up, though when she was feeling extra fancy, she'd shop at the mall, but that had only happened once or twice since the opening. He introduced herself, and somewhat awkwardly, she put out her hand over the counter. "I'm Jo. Welcome to Shrike Heights, I suppose." She paused, and then asked, "What made you move here? If that's not too personal, just with everything happening, I wouldn't think it'd be the place to choose."

as their conversation went on, rory dared to let blue orbs eye the other, drinking in jack's appearance and appreciating him. they remembered countless nights in bed where rory would take the advantage of eyeing up jack's entire physique while he slept, taking in every freckle, every scar with nothing but appreciation. things were different now. and rory wasn't sure how to act because in their mind, they though that jack hated them. for saying no. for not running away with them. which was something rory regretted all the time. "yeah?" he questioned in response to him saying that rory looked good, with the raise of their brows. their gaze darting toward jack's lip as he bit it before flickering back up, "fine? you don't seem fine." and rory was the king of blurting things out, shaking their head as they back tracked, "sorry it's just. i feel like i still know you. maybe i don't anymore. but you don't . . . seem fine." and maybe rory knew because they weren't fine either. "where are you working now?" and when the question was directed back toward them, they're laughing and rubbing at their nose, "yeah i'm . . . "fine" though they put the fine in air quotes to allude to the fact that they weren't. "i miss you." rory said suddenly, "i dunno . . . maybe we can be friends again?"

Leave it to Rory to cut directly to the point, Jack thought. No, he wasn't fine, but was anyone fine in this town, really? He sighed, staring down at the corn dog before looking at Rory again. "I guess, no, I'm not.. Not really." If he was going to tell anyone about what had happened in New York, why not them? "While I was gone, I.. I lost someone important." He couldn't do it, couldn't keep eye contact anymore. His gaze returned to the food. That was all he could say about it. Even that little bit, it felt too personal, too much - once upon a time, nothing felt like too much. "I.. I'd like that, though. I don't really.. Have a lot of friends these days. So.."

Davis was still getting used to life in Shrike Heights. After all, it had only been a week since he'd been here, and his life was drastically different than it had been back in Boston. Before he'd been a military man respected by both the army and his family. Now he'd been honorably discharged, so the military definitely still respected him, but his family was another story. Thousands of miles from the place that was no longer home, Davis felt a bit adrift. He'd been here before to visit his grandmother before she'd retired to Florida, so the town and the house were somewhat familiar. But everything was so different, and Davis hated the way that made him feel. He'd only been working at the mall for a few days, so whenever he could, he walked around, getting to know the place; maybe if his workplace felt more familiar, he'd be a little more comfortable.

Jo was halfway through her crossword puzzle when the security guard appeared at her counter. She definitely hadn't called for one - it had been an incredibly slow day, only one customer so far, who'd bought some watercolors and left. Other then that, there had just been a few people in and out, looking, but no shoplifters. She shook her head. "Afraid I did not. Though I guess that's a good thing?" She put down her pencil. "Hey, no worries. I'm not busy in the slightest, what store are you looking for?" It was nice, actually, to feel like she was doing something besides just sitting around waiting for people to buy things, and the security guard definitely seemed more then a bit turned around.

his heart dropped into his stomach when he realized who it was, inwardly cursing himself for having such a strong reaction to his childhood lover. what they had . . . it was a long time ago. they were just kids. so why couldn't rory get over it? "oh hi." they mumbled awkwardly, offering the other a shy and awkward smile before taking a sip from the drink in front of them. all of a sudden their throat felt rather dry. curse jack for looking so good. it's like everyday he got more and more good looking. "yeah well, it happens. i'm not really . . . the best at this whole dating thing." it was weird how once upon a time jack was rory's best friend and now they didn't know how to be. they chuckled, nodding their head in agreement, "yeah, i did that anxiety weird spiraly thing i do." fingers nervously tap against their own knee under the table, gaze falling to the table, "you look good." blush tinting their cheeks as they finally willed their gaze to meet jack's, "i mean. you always do." hands make themselves busy, finding the corn dogs and handing them jack's way, "so uh. how've you been?"

Jack could relate - he wasn't great at dating anymore himself. Not that he really did much of it, the most he had was the occassional random hook up, typically people he hoped he'd just never have to see again. He didn't say that, though. There were a lot of things he didn't want to say to Rory, but that he knew deep down he probably should. Rory had understood him when he was younger, was now really so different? He caught the flush on the others cheeks as they met eyes, and wondered whether things could just be like how they'd been before. Probably not. He was still so messed up over Matty - he was probably too broken for things to ever be the same again, with anyone. "I… Thanks. Um, so do you." He said, biting his lip, glancing away from their gaze. "Things are fine, I guess. Just.. A lot of work. You? Besides, y'know. This." He said, gesturing to the table in front of them.

"hey um! would you perhaps be interested in joining me?" cheeks were beat red, standing out all too well against pale flesh, "i was supposed to be meeting some guy but it appears as though he's stood me up. i uh, kinda anxiety ordered." rory said with a chuckle, gesturing toward the plethora of food that took up not one but TWO tables, "and got something from each place. way too much food." irish accent was thick with every word despite the fact that they've lived in shrike heights since the age of twelve. while you could take the lad out of ireland, you could never take the ireland out of the lad. "does a food court feast strike your fancy?"

Somehow, still, all these years later, hearing Rory's voice made Jack's heart skip a beat. Just one, nothing serious - any feelings were buried under fear, trauma, grief, all that shit. But still. "Too bad." He said, struggling to make eye contact for a moment. "About your date, I mean." He wasn't sure what else he would've meant, really, but the words came out without his control. "Uh, sure.. Why not?" He slid into the seat across from Rory. "You really went all out, huh?"

"Oh LA wasn't that exciting," Avery repeated, doing her best impersonation of Lucy. "You've already adapted to the chill cali nature. Wow they got you quickly," she teased but she really did want to hear all about it. The highs and lows and if it all felt worth it, really. Avery had been caught in a state of dreaming so long she forgot that there was a point where things could actually be reality. "Just for me, good. You know I love to read your writing. So a little anticlimactic, huh? I can see that. A lot of the difference is more subtle these days." Avery hated to admit that the difference came quickly with any experience of being in town when any kind of attack happened. Even if you weren't directly involved, there was always waiting to hear which friends were or even just the number of causalities. It never got easier with the time passing, but time was great at creating a false sense security. "But hey now you're in one of my favorite stores. I can come visit you whenever I need to get some new stationary which is more often than you'd think. I got a job at duchess recently so you know, selling jewelry is a wild ride," she joked.

Lucy laughed - it was far from true, she'd never had the chill manner that real Californians had, but she had done her best to play it off as though she did. Maybe she'd been doing a better job then she thought, though, if Avery thought she was 'Cali chill'. "Well, I'll let you know when I'm actually working on something new. I mean.. I kind of am, but it's not.. It's in the works. Nowhere near done. But.. Maybe you could help with it. If you're interested, of course." And it definitely wasn't the kind of fun reading that Avery would likely be interested in. But Lucy still couldn't get over the fact that no major news outlet seemed to be reporting on the killers. Sure, it was a small town, but still. And maybe she could get more of an inside scoop, Avery had been in Shrike for more of everything then Lucy had. "Anyway, enough about me. I bet you get lots of fancy people in Duchess - surprisingly, fancy people do not tend to buy stationary."

William couldn't help but wonder what Noah seemed to also be wondering - who the hell had been good enough to beat his high score? Maybe it was someone who cared about pinball just as much as he did. Maybe once he figured out who it was, they'd become fast friends, and it would be a fun story. It was helpful to think of positives in a situation like this, he decided. "Well, if you find out who beat my score, you've gotta tell me. We could have like.. A showdown. Like it's the wild wild west, or something."

Juni nodded - she wasn't surprised, that one person didn't make all this jam on their own.. That would be a lot of work. Like way too much for her, at least, if she was in the other's shoes. "Sweet." She says, and then laughs. "I mean, like, figuratively and literally." Through her glasses, she squints, looking over the jars of jam. "What's your favorite one?"

“Oh man, I love ice cream.” Noa reached up to flick her fringe out of her eyes. The idea that someone was more into popsicles than ice cream was also borderline blasphemous, but she didn’t fault the girl for her tastes. After all, it had no bearing on her own life.

Maybe they weren't exactly like ice cream, but it was close, at least to Sylvia. The same way sorbet was kind of like ice cream. Though that was probably a closer comparison. "There's a brand that makes a rainbow one, it's really good. Would highly recommend." She shrugged. "Chips? Savory stuff."

"Oh," A deep flush settled over the girl's cheeks, in stark contrast against the pallor of her face. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to like brag. It really was super-duper hard to beat. You did great!"

Honestly, she was probably too nice to even be a nemesis, William thought to himself as he listened to her talk. He sighed. At least she likely wouldn't be trying to beat him again, if she wasn't super into pinball. "Yeah, this machine in particular is my favorite. But I play other stuff too." He gave a half smile. "Yeah? I'm not so great at those ones, honestly."