moving backwards

she could never tell when ethan was being sarcastic, so the safest thing to do was assume he always was. but that didn't stop her from taking even the snarky remarks as compliments. "you're right, i am the jewelry expert between us." she conveniently left out the part where most of her knowledge originally came from binge-watching 'hardcore pawn' when she'd first arrived in the states, as if it were some kind of cultural initiation.

"Forgive me for not wearing a suit." He wore button ups most days and yet she was going to judge him for wearing a t-shift that still cost a half day's work at minimum wage, that seemed typical. Ethan wasn't sure why Belle seemed so utterly convinced that he couldn't dress himself and got his wardrobe from Goodwill, but there were certain arguments that were nothing more than a waste of oxygen.

A smile was all she offered in response, knowing well she hadn’t asked without the knowledge of it being vacant. It simply felt polite to ask. “  But if I were…?  ” she asked, pressing back the humor his words evoke. “  Does my bible frighten you so much?  ” It wasn’t more than a joke, of course, though her bible was nothing to take lightly. “  Seems a bit silly, if you ask me.  ”

"Not scared of religion." He rolled his eyes at the very idea, and didn't bother telling her that his parents were religious, his mother especially so. It didn't change anything, didn't make him some lost little sheep, and Ethan tugged on his sleeves in an effort to keep his hands covered. "Are there any other books you read?" She had to be able to talk about other subjects, even though Ethan realized he'd been the one to bring it up in the first place.

She made a face at him - resisting the urge to stump her foot like an insolent child. “  I just wanted to know.  ” Mena replied, letting the gloom of not knowing control her tone. Settling her into a slow whine. Leaning closer to him, she suggested, “  It can just be our little secret. No one has got to know.  ” She figured asking one of the kids would have gotten her a more straightforward answer, but then what excuse would she have to approach him?

"It's not like a Christmas present where every box is a surprise, you get to see the boxes before you bid." He didn't understand why she cared unless she was trying to make sure he wasn't regifting anything. "Maybe alcohol, everyone likes that." Not true, and everyone had different tastes, but maybe she'd get off his back if he gave her a clue. "Maybe I'll ask the kids for better ideas, Rory is full of them." She also seemed to think this was a second coming of Christmas, or a chance to make the ultimate birthday gift, something like that, instead of a way to get money out of people twice over.

event: rooftop inauguration written for: @reveriesbased

"Are we supposed to tell people what's in our baskets? I thought it was anonymous." Dante admitted as he tried to remember where he'd put that leaflet so he could double check the rules. Still, a basket of coffee supplies? He would have suspected it was Mena. Once upon a time, he'd even bought her a basket like that, but best not to think about things like that. "I know we're bidding on them, so it only needs to excite one person."

event: rooftop inauguration written for: @reveriesbased

"Would it stop you if I said yes?" Ethan asked as he looked up from his phone, frowning a little at her accusation. "Considering you don't have a bible in your hands to thump me with or however else you guide people to see the light, I don't see why I'd be hiding from you."

Even if her intentions had been to play it cool and have a light evening between them, Dante’s responses quickly mellowed her out. Distant and bored as they had been for a while now. Talking to him was difficult when there weren’t specific points to bring up. When they had nothing but themselves to address. She shouldn’t have cared by this point. How long had it been, now? Ten - maybe eleven months? Even longer since their fighting had begun. His callousness should have been normal,  but she knew the man beneath there. Or so she thought she did. Filomena saw traces whenever the children were around. That night for instant, which had driven her to want to stretch out their night. Connect in some way. “  Right. Of course not.  ” she replied with less wit than she had before. Picking out the topmost game - battleship, ironically so - she clocked the door then moved to where he positioned himself. “  Not quite, the hot chocolate was all the rave tonight.  ” Mena smiled, thinking back to the foam covered lips and the joy their daughter displayed at their ‘homemade’ movie theater. “  Who’s, where?  ” she moved one of his cushions to the ground so she could sit across from him and reached for her beer. 

"Guess I got the blend of cayenne and chili powder just right. Or maybe it was the whipped cream," He suggested absently, watching Filomena like one might watch a snake. What a funny, strange thing - he used to keep up with where she was so that he could reach out to her, so he could help her if she needed it, but not there was only wariness brought by a fractured trust. "However the lady wants it." He could move however she wanted, agreeable to her in a way that used to be out of love, but now came from exhaustion. He didn't want to fight, didn't want to be stuck with lingering feelings, and didn't want her ambivalence. Dante was grateful that she was lenient with the kids and their time, was glad that she didn't make it any harder on them, but that didn't mean that it was any easier on him to be around Mena because of it. "Best two out of three, or until we're ready to scream?" It wasn't entirely a joke as he opening up the box and started to sort out the pieces so they could get set up. "Ladies first." He muttered agreeably, playing along and still dreading whatever polite socializing she had in mind.

“  How do you even know about this?  ” she inquired, also wondering why she had yet to hear about anything until then. Granted, Guadalupe had been far too engrossed in her church. Though she enjoyed the sight of all the Christmas decorations still up and lighting up their space, her pastor wasn’t keen on the amount of electricity it used up. Something which made no sense to her since they didn’t pay for it themselves anyways, but it also wasn’t her place to contradict. “  I’m sure they’ll find them in no time. I can’t imagine anyone actually wanting to steal some tools.  ” Though why they had left them out and about also made no sense to Lupe. Whether they could or couldn’t go into people’s homes however, and if they did would anyone even fess up to having taken them, she didn’t really know. The last time she’d seen the tools, much like Dante had mentioned, they’d been left on the 7th floor hallway by the entrance of the terrace. “  You would think they have insurance, if anything. Easy to replace since they’re so careless with their equipment. Are you helping them look or something?  ”

"I don't know how helpful I am. I've been asking people I see, but there's no guarantee they'd tell me the truth even if they knew something, and trying to bang down doors isn't my job. Like you said, there should be insurance, as well as a cushion to cover unexpected costs, so I don't know why they're making such a fucking big deal about something that was their screw up." Sure, it wasn't all small stuff, Dante hadn't memorized the full list of missing supplies, but it still wasn't his fault or his responsibility and he didn't understand why some company that had to be making a good profit on the job was so insistent on making their own screw up into an entire apartment building's problem. "At least the shit is almost done, then it won't even matter. What's the odds that the remodel won't even be worth all the time and chaos that went into it? Remodels usually aren't." Especially not if they also managed to bring up the price of rent. It wasn't that it was an extreme amount compared to some places that Dante had seen, but still, who wouldn't prefer to have the money in their pocket at the end of the day?

if she were being honest, belle all but stopped listening at the mention of a five hundred dollar reward, her ears only perking up once again at fourteen k. her mind immediately drifted to everything she'd left sitting in shopping carts accross half a dozen websites. or that bag she'd been eyeing in the window a block away from work. "that's if it's real." she said with a scoff. "you'd be surprised how many men buy moissanite thinking a woman won't notice." belle glanced down at ethan's phone, wondering what exactly he was looking up to come up with those numbers. "and how is one supposed to dress to look for a ring?" she asked, laughing at the sight unfolding in front of them. "okay but say we do find it, surely he'll be sticking around for the rest of the day. what if he catches us? are you gonna drop down on one knee and fake propose? do you think he'll buy that i'm dating you. no offence."

@fem1nine

"how's my favorite construction worker in the whole wide world?" belle asked sweetly, shortly after opening the door to dante's apartment to find him sprawled out on the couch. she offered him a soft smile before turning back to the box she'd hauled down the hallway- a new vanity table she'd ordered for herself and hadn't even attempted to build. seemed like a dante job. "are you busy? i'm pretty sure the instructions to build this thing are in mandarin or something. i need help." her lips formed into a pout, her voice bordering on whiny. "in exchange, you can have my old one for rory. pretty sweet deal, non?" // @reveriesbased

"What do you want, Belle?" He asked in a voice tinged with fond exasperation, tipping his head back at the sound of the door opening. Chances were that he should make more of an effort to keep the door locked, but with the kids running back and forth between apartments and forgetting keys… it was simpler. But it also meant that more than just his kids could pop in and Dante rolled off the couch before stretching his arms above his head. "I'd ask if you ordered from Ikea, but that would be Swedish. You know it would be easier for me to put it together at your place so we don't have to move the finished product through the halls, right?" Chances were that Belle convinced someone else to get the box there for her in the first place, but Dante wasn't going to pretend that she needed to bribe him into helping her.

cell phone headcanons