veroníca "rory" flores

“You seemed like you were in over your head when you talked about it before. I have an architectural degree, but…I always kinda thought I’d like getting my hands dirty, and you need some help, right? So win-win.”

“ah, so i wasn’t super suave and assured when talking about fixing up a giant villa on a greek island in the middle of the sea with no previous construction experience? weird.” it really was a win-win, more for her than him and she wasn’t going to pass that up. “architect, huh? what brought you to kaos then? hope you don’t always work for free like this.” 

open

Leo snorted and shook his head. “No, you don’t get it. We do stuff like that all the time like if you’re grappling, someone is gonna put their arm on your neck. It’s just what you do.” His tone was bright and mirthful as he spoke,” he shouldn’t have tapped. He should have just turned his head.” Reflexively, Leo checked his watch, only to see the time and frown. “Shit. Sorry about that, I can talk about this stuff forever. You had to go, right?”

“i don’t why there’s so many rules though. like, if you’re fighting, why not just go for it, 100 percent send?” not that she really cared, but rory was enjoying talking about something she knew nothing of, save school yard scrapes and the occasional intimidation that came from her previous, not super legal job. besides, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to be chatting with a cute man on a beautiful island, it was the least she could do. “i mean, we live on an island and i was pretty mean to you when we first met. i feel like i can spare a little more time.”

“of course,” flo replies, his smile growing bigger when he catches a hint of a smile on her. “i love angsty mains, they are the best. but even they deserve some kind of fun between all the angst don’t you think?” florian has been the angsty main character of his own movie all his life, but through the years, he has also learned to find the fun in between. he has learned to embrace the sunny days in between all the cloudy ones.

“okay, okay”, he nods his head, accepting her answer. “that’s great.” florian knows better than to try to pry into her life. best not to ask why she’s staying sober. he respects that anyways. “then a virgin cocktail might be the best option for you tonight.”

“i think the problem is usually that i’m having too much fun.” she said with a wry shake of her head, poking fun at herself a little bit. “not my fault that the world can’t learn to have as much fun as me.” though with the highest highs could come the lowest lows. truthfully, she was only angsty now because the extreme pressure of not giving herself something she wanted. for a girl used to taking anything and everything, sobriety, even for just a night, was stressful. “i’ll take a virgin cocktail, that would actually be great. i’m rory, by the way.”

     ARLO SHRUGS AND pops the cherry in his mouth for himself, though he definitely shouldn’t be eating on the job. then again, who cares? a) it’s arlo, b) it’s a wedding, and c) the night is starting to wind down. he tosses the spoon into a dirty dish bin and leans on the counter, forearms resting in front of him as he looks over at rory. though he doesn’t know her all that well, he can sense something is off. he quite likes her: confident, quick with her words, poised in a way… there’s something about her demeanor that isn’t exuding such a persona. she looks smaller, even. he’s not about to pry, of course, not at a wedding. though arlo is a sucker for romance and love, he knows weddings can be uncomfortable for others. and while he can’t quite wrap his head around how anyone could feel anything less than genuine happiness and butterflies at weddings, he can set his own stubborn views aside and accept the fact that not everyone lives with their heads in the clouds like he does. “oh, awkward. absolutely,” he nods. “i stepped all over my girlfriend’s feet when we first slow danced. i was fifteen or so, and it was a hot mess.” he presses his lips together. “i guess it’s just romantic with the right person. and the right song, if we’re being honest.” he wrinkles his nose and lets out a sigh. “would a shot of something make it all less awkward? i’ll do one with you.”

a puff of air and a slight upturn of her mouth signified her amusement as she listened to arlo. if she was being real, she didn’t know if she’d ever been in love. there was lust, for sure, and excitement and giddiness, but to be known, and to know another so deeply that you could call it love? didn’t seem like it was for her, at least not thus far. besides, she had a different type of toxic ex that she was trying to get away from, at least for tonight. “timing’s always off.” it was a vague answer to his words, she knew, but making her very pessimistic views about love public in this gentle, beautiful atmosphere just seemed a bit wrong. trying her best not to tense up as he offered her a shot, rory shook her head quickly. “no...not tonight. i’m trying to be good, for once.” god, how she wanted it, or even just a glass of bubbly to celebrate. sticking to sobriety for even one party was proving to be harder than she thought it would be. “i’ll take a sparkling water though, if you have them back there.”

           MAGNOLIA LEANED AGAINST THE WALL, STIRRING A PERFECTLY manicured fingertip in her drink. as she gazed out at the dance floor, her face was slack, conveying her  sheer boredom. ❝ no one is dancing right now. only that one old couple in the back, and they’re not even dancing in a fun way. ❞ her wonderful date was probably socializing, and while she was proud of his graciousness, she was starting to feel bored. ❝ i don’t even know these people. i’m drunk, i want to dance. or do something.❞

this was harder than she’d thought it be. when it came to other people, rory has the stubbornness of a bull, never ready to give in. when it came to herself, it was less so, and the urge to give in and have a drink or two was tugging at her brain. so, a distraction, and if that came in the form of random conversation, so be it. “if you don’t know anyone why are you here?” she was surprised to know that she wasn’t the only one swimming in a sea of strangers.

florian turned to observe the girl more closely as he took yet another sip of his wine. truth be told, he doesn’t recall seeing her around before. but he was already used to encounter all sorts of people in the island. and most of the time he welcomed them into his life with open arms. this was not going to be any different.

“you don’t really..?” pauses, looking at the girl expectantly. dance, he guessed. “c’mon, you’re already here, you might as well enjoy yourself, it’s not like everything has to be like a chick flick.” he smiles, the kindest smile he can muster. it’s his attempt at friendly and charming, and so flo closely observes to gauge if it’s working.

“you’re not drinking tonight? if i might, the wine here is delicious, you don’t wanna miss out.”

“what, i’m not allowed to pretend i’m the angsty main character?” a hint of a smile came to her lips with the words. it was true that rory often got so caught up in her own world that the rest tended to slip away, but with age had come the ability to be broodier and broodier, until dark clouds was the only thing she really saw. 

the smile slips away at his next words though, as she needed any reminding that she was trying to do a sober night. “don’t tempt me.” for real, she didn’t want to think about how sweet that wine must taste. “i’m not the best at weddings, so i’m trying to keep it on the rails tonight.”

                   { open! }

          WHILE STANDING OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL, BEFORE THE wedding began, rhiannon had a perpetual smile on her face. how could she not ? she loved weddings, especially ones for a friend. she loved the flowers, the auras of joy and light — and they gave her hope that there was a person out there for her too, somewhere. but the day wasn’t about HER, of course, it was about sophie. even so, all of the excitement had her fidgeting in a way that made her slip out of the pews to go have a brief smoke. after all, people were still arriving, she had plenty of time for a cigarette. all she’d forgotten was a lighter. almost sheepishly, rhiannon turned to the back of a person nearby, lightly tapping them on the shoulder. ❝ hi. i’m sorry to bother you, i was just wondering if you have a light ? ❞

rory hated weddings. she’d been to a fair few of her mother’s, and ruined a fair few of them too. her view of love had been jaded from a young age, thanks to her mom’s revolving doors of boyfriends, and it had only gotten worse as she’d grown to have her own experiences. she could never understand why people were so goddamn happy when attending weddings. something about the white lace and flowers strewn about just made her skin crawl — or maybe that was a stress response. she was here to change all that though. for far too long she’d avoided weddings, knowing she would just ruin them, somehow. but here she was, at a stranger’s wedding, proving she could do it. Or, she could mostly do it, albeit with frequent slips to the outdoors, where she could take a breath of fresh air and curse in her head at the sky. it was during one of these such trips where, through the string of curses running through her head, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. “yeah no you’re good. here you go.” she tried her best not to scowl as she did it.

when: sometime during the reception . where: the bella donna hotel . who: open .

florian has barely seen sophie or lisa once or twice, but he is surprisingly close to miss donna sheridan. or kinda close. the woman is basically a local legend and she had rescued florian from his drunken adventures once or twice. basically a mother figure for all the locals, flo was grown to love her and so he is thrilled to be here celebrating her happiness, and her daughter’s happiness.

florian doesn’t really like to talk about it, but he loves weddings. a celebration of love, lovers marking the beginning of the rest of their lives together. even if they might end up in divorce. selling the fantasy is what matters. and tonight, tonight looks like a fairytale. the backyard of the hotel is illuminated by little lights on the trees, there’s flowers everywhere, people drinking and dancing, laughing and kissing. 

florian grabs a glass of wine and sits on a nearby bench to observe his surroundings. he sighs in contentment before turning to the person next to him.

“aren’t you dancing tonight?”

rory didn’t know anyone here. not a single soul. she truly didn’t know why she showed up, except for the slight excitement of the unknown. plus, this wedding had been the talk of the island for the past week. not to mention the challenge she’d set for herself: let this be the first wedding you’ve gone to and don’t ruin. her track record was two steps shy of hellish, but she was hoping to break the bad streak at a stranger’s wedding, probably the best possible scenario.

of course, that meant sticking to one rule she’d never stuck to in her life — no funny business. and for rory in particular, that meant 100% sobriety. the last time she’d been sober at a party, she’d probably been all of twelve years old. it was going to be a tough night, and she was far from feeling the lightness that everyone else here seemed to be floating on right now. love. it was a scam anyway. 

“dancing?” she turns to the man sitting next to her, eyebrows flying all the way up. “no...I don’t really...” she didn’t know how to finish that. did she dance? yes. was it this sentimental, sweet shit? never in her life.

open !

     ARLO HAS KNOWN the sheridans ever since he came to kaos for the first time. in fact, he had worked on and off at the bella donna hotel when he first got here, before landing a more permanent gig elsewhere. besides his art, which isn’t nearly as lucrative as arlo would hope, arlo has taken a liking to his career in hospitality— he’s rather good at it, too. he loves talking to people and listening, and having been in kaos for close to two years has given him a plethora of suggestions as to where tourists should venture to. nonetheless, he finds himself lending a helping hand at sophie and lisa’s wedding, standing off to the side and running around if needed. now, of course, he’s leaning behind the makeshift bar at the reception, a jar of cocktail cherries in his hand as he slowly stirs it around and watches people slow dance. he notices the other standing not too far from him, doing precisely the same thing: watching. arlo smirks.

“can i get you something?” he asks, to break the silence. he grabs a spoon and scoops out a cherry, then offers it to the other with a grin. “slow dancing is a bit awkward, isn’t it? sure is romantic, though.”

it had all started with a mysterious white envelope and a present, tied with a golden bow, beckoning rory to unwrap it. ‘to the dearest todd’ was inscribed in beautiful calligraphy on top. her step-father, yes, but who was sending gorgeous gifts to the now-dilapidated villa? there was nothing rory liked more than a little bit of intrigue, and she’d barely shot out the text to her stepfather before she was opening it, carefully as to not make a mess of it. 

and now, here she was. she’d picked a pale yellow sundress to wear with a dainty gold chain to adorn her neck. weddings for rory had been a bit of a sore spot in the past. a life full of your mother’s men will do that to you, but she was determined to make this one different. to not make any trouble, for once. problem was, the bar. she was stalled at it, the words ‘gin rickey’ on the very tip of her tongue, ready to spill out along with all of her resolve for the night. her gaze shifts from the bar to the people desperately, in hopes someone would be out there, reading her mind, telling her to keep it in control, for once. of course, nobody is there, and she’s left turning back to the bar, a sinking feeling in her stomach. “what? uh— no, i’m good.” it’s a bit distracted, but it’s all she can do right now. “romantic yeah...but awkward? sometimes even boring? i’d wager that too.” she’d never been much of a romantic.

“Yeah, sure,” he grinned a bit, noticing she was a bit out of sorts. He woke up early in the morning, but it took him awhile to actually wake up, so he understood her pain. “You have some crowbars or something laying around?”

“yeah, i have tools in the back.” leading him back towards the room, rory wondered privately why she’d even invited him. it’s not as if they knew each other well, but if she was honest she needed all the help she could get. “so, do you make a habit of fixing up random girls houses?”

“Sure, sure, but yelling at me doesn’t really do much for you, now does it?” Warily, Leo turned his head from Rory and back down to her would be mugger, the last the Leo wanted was for the stupid guy to try to get back up. What to do? He supposed, he could call the police but somehow that decision didn’t sit great with him. Leo had never been a fan of the police, and moving to a new country hadn’t done much to endear him to them. His eyes still dutifully watching the other man, Leo spoke again to Rory. “Big man? I’ve never heard that one before now, would you like to call the police or..?” He supposed that passing off the decision to her eased his guilt somewhat.

“yelling is therapeutic, it’s doing more for me than it is for you.” she snarked back, leaning on a post to catch her breath. “yeah, i’m going to call the police now, and they’re going to fuck you motherfuckers up.” she said, looking directly into the other two muggers’ eyes. she would choose to believe that at this moment they backed away and started running because of her, but it was probably because she had gotten some backup. as soon as they were out of earshot, she shook her head and turned to leo. “nah, fuck the police man they won’t do anything anyway.” plus she may or may not have had some illicit substances in her clutch, she couldn’t remember if she’d taken them out or not. or taken them, period. “asshole.” she said, lightly kicking the shoulder of the man on the ground. “i guess i owe you a drink or something now.”

A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “Ah, it’s okay. I’m like five minutes early,” he joked. Obviously she wasn’t going to have been up and ready in five minutes. “But uh, did you have something you wanted to focus on working on today or…?”

“yeah, yeah totally.” she was clearly still a bit asleep as she looked around the house, trying to get her bearings. “actually, i was going to work on the sunroom today. there was a leak at some point in time and the floorboards are all weak and rotted. fancy helping me rip them all up?” hey, she was getting good at this! at least, good enough to pretend like she knew what she was talking about.

andrés is giving rory an annoyed look that she can’t see because he is wearing sunglasses. he feels like dying. but no matter how horrible the coming down might be, the high always makes it worth it. he knows he’ll be reaching for it again soon. “i have no idea,” he sighs, extending his arms across the bar to rest his head on the cold surface. “i don’t remember doing molly last night, or the night before. it’s probably the stupid amounts of alcohol i’ve been drinking. cheap fucking alcohol. that’s why i feel like dying.” this could be true, yes. but andrés was also not about to admit that he has been high on cocaine almost all the time. although if anyone could understand, it’s probably rory. “you are an angel,” he tells her, bringing the drink to his lips to take a sip. it does feel like arriving to an oasis after walking through the desert. andrés takes another sip, a little longer this time. “i don’t know what the fuck’s in this but it’s amazing. veronica, you’re my guardian angel.”

rosesandrorys:

“hey, some of us make a living off of that cheap fucking alcohol.” she teased, both because of her current profession as a bartender and the years she had spent basically living off the stuff. the years that were not yet over, if she was completely serious with herself. “no way it was just bad liquor doing this to you, come on now fucker, you’re stronger than that.” a bad hangover could knock rory out for hours, but it was always worse when she’d mix random substances into the fun. “that’s probably the first time someone has ever called me an angel...i might have to start being meaner to you, you know.” the drink was good though, she knew that. it had been a lifesaver to her many times. “come on baby, take off those sunglasses let me see those beautiful eyes.” she teased, knowing that the bright rays of sunlight peeking through the large windows were probably his kryptonite right now. “if i’m your guardian angel, can you be mine? god knows i need it.”

 “Huh, yeah. I guess you’ve got me there.” Beau chuckled, having to agree with her statement. There was always a sense of suspicion and mystery when it came to Rory. It was one of the many things that made her so interesting. He wondered if that was something she made happen or it was just they way she was. As she went on, he nodded and raised his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. You do whatever the hell you want. Got it.” He teased, flashing an amused grin. “That’s a good point though. You do seem to always get your way with people. It’s like your super power.” He noted, resting his face in his hands as he looked at her. “Sometimes I wonder how you do it.” 

“and don’t you forget it.” she said with a grin, bopping along to the pounding music a bit. that was the benefit of a strong personality and a pretty smile she supposed, though the slightly scary looking in her eyes was always a bonus. “it’s all about the art of persuasion my friend. but i don’t need to be telling you this.” she’d seen him charm people with just the twinkle of his eye after all. “you may not be george clooney, but six-foot-something, olympian with a sexy spanish accent? you know how to work it, don’t even lie.”

@rosesandrorys·

Kyle rapped against the door, this place…really looked like it could use some work. He liked to think he was pretty good with his hands, but maybe he bit off more than he could chew here. Oh well. Maybe he’d learn something.

“Ay, Rory. You home?” he called out curiously. He’d said ten and it was about five til, should have been expecting him.

10 am, and rory was supposed to be awake about an hour ago. it wasn’t anything a makeup wipe and a splash of cold water couldn’t fix, but she needed to get down quickly or she’d never get help on this godforsaken villa. “coming!” she yelled down, throwing her hair up and hopping into the first pair of shorts she could find. skidding down the stairs, rory opened the door with a huff. “kyle. hi. sorry. i was asleep. my bad.” no point in lying now.

the bite behind rory’s words wasn’t missed, but cass didn’t feel badly, not in the way she would have when she was a teen. because there was a difference. “maybe. except i earned my money and not by getting into bed with anyone or walking down the aisle.” there were plenty of things cass was proud of but not sleeping her way through the industry was the biggest one. what she had, she worked for. had she slept with some people working on the shows and movies? yes, of course. how could you not when you were surrounded by some of the most attractive people in the country? her features softened, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. she was getting better at that but the woman had always reacted quickly, usually without thinking through what happened afterward. rory’s intonation made it clear she was unsure whether they really were still family and cass had to agree. when did it stop? did it ever? there were plenty of people from cass’s past that she had completely written off, though they had written her when she made it big. dicks - the lot of them. but rory had always been different. “i guess that’s up to you.” she didn’t want to sway her - if she didn’t want to acknowledge their past, that was fine with cass.

rosesandrorys:

she couldn’t help a huff of laughter at cass’ words, neither of them had really lost their bite in the years that had past. if anything, they’d both gotten harder, like sharpened steel. “that’s not what the tabloids say.” okay, was she just trying to be a little shit at this point? absolutely, but for a girl who’d never had a sister, she was remarkably good at the snarkiness. were they a family? it was hard to tell. honestly, rory was surprised cass hadn’t rejected it outright, perhaps with one of her signature disgusted expressions. “what, you’d call a street rat like me your sister?’ the words were said jokingly, but there was a bit of real surprise behind them. rory was from L.A., had lived there her whole life. she knew how the industry changed people, and how so many people there were trying to run away and never acknowledge their pasts. so many people were trying to be something completely different  — why would cass be different? besides, when people got money, they left people behind. that was just the way of the world, and she’d seen it happen time and time again.