warm me up, and breathe me

“The shelter named her Meg but that seemed too reminiscent of Family Guy. It did remind me of Hercules though, but I couldn’t oversee the bad sit-com connection. So I’ve decided to start calling her Lady. I feel very Frank Sinatra when I say it.” He traded glances between the dog and Rosie. “Elvis, like the king? That’s a cool name, I’d just fear that his love for peanut butter and bananas would become too ravenous to the point where it’d effect your relationship. But if he can control his urges, I’m happy for y’all.” He teased.

“Oh, fancy. Kind of makes me think of Lady and the Tramp, but sure, Sinatra works, too,” the smile grew on her face with a nod. “Elvis was my favorite singer as a child and I knew that was going to be the name of my first dog. But he does love his peanut butter. I tried bananas but he must not have liked the texture. He’s the best guy I’ve ever met, I’ll admit.”

Loyalty and trust. Those are the most important qualities when it comes to anything. If I don’t trust you, we aren’t friends. Plain and simple.

I’ve been lucky and only had maybe two horrible clients. They were telling me what they wanted to wear, only to exclude the fact that they did not have a great relationship with the brand. That can really limit things and I don’t think some realize it.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Before you say anything, yes, I am capable of putting thought into things. Anyways, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m pretty lonely. When I’m at home, when I’m at the studio. I spend a lot fo time alone. I could get an assistant but they’re expensive and thought of spending that much time with someone is a nightmare. Especially someone I’ll be bossing around who will eventually resent me. So…” Asher explained, sitting more upright to continue his speech. He leaned over the side of the couch, scooping a dog up into his arms with a goofy smile. “I decided to adopt a dog! She can’t talk back, she’ll love me unconditionally, not to mention she’s adorable. What do you think?”

“Hey now. I wasn’t gonna say anything because people say the same thing for me. My assistant is decent, though, so I can’t complain. That’s why I got Elvis though. He’s my other half and I literally take him everywhere. She’s adorable though. What’s her name?” Rosie smiled as she went to pet the dog.

“That’s possible. I did get off on the wrong stop twice today.” Dalton admitted, “I’m a barback. So I do everything to help the bartenders. Which, unfortunately for me, involves sharp objects.”

“Oh, I do that all the time. But I also always forget where I’m going, unless I’m going home. I know that route pretty well,” the petite brunette smiled at him. “Oh, makes sense. I can tell you I am terrible with knives and I buy as much as I can precut so I don’t have to take a trip to the er over being clumsy.”

“I need a good story for this.” Dalton held up his hand with fresh stitches across his index finger. “Because slicing limes is not going to impress anyone and I might as well milk this.” He narrowed his gaze in thought, “Like I fought some knife wielding weirdo dressed as Cookie Monster on Halloween… Or something.”

“A knife wielding weirdo dressed as Cookie Monster? I don’t want to be mean, but I think that the pain meds were sinking in a little too quick,” she scrunched her face as she saw the bandage. “Why were you cutting limes?”

“How long have you lived in New York?” she asked curiously. She knew herself, that when she moved to Florida for a few short years, the heat always got to her at first, but eventually her blood thinned out and she got used to it. Until she moved back up North and nearly froze to death while getting readjusted. “Luckily it’s still hoodie weather, and not ‘freeze your ass off with four feet of snow’ weather yet. If so, I’m not sure how this Poison Ivy get up would work. But that’s smart thinking with Vanellope, and the tights will keep your legs warm.” She turned to pull out a few accessories out of her bag as she laid out her costumes, an almost wicked grin spreading across her lips at the wonderment of whether or not the bars would have candy-flavored drinks. “Of course they do. They’re the ones that get me into trouble. They’re sweet, and you don’t even taste the alcohol, which is why you get drunk before you know it. I know for a fact that there’s a jolly rancher shot, if that’s your thing.”

“Um, about six years ago? Seven maybe? But I go back to LA a lot, so once I got used to it a little, I would go to LA for a month for work. I never really got fully adjusted to it,” it was one downside to her job. She was always traveling to where she couldn’t really adjust to one temperature. She was either going to LA for events or traveling the world for fashion shows. “True. That’s very true. What’s rough is Elvis is white and he blends in with the snow. I think I lost him only for him to be in front of me,” she smiled as she looked down at the dog. “I also love Vanellope’s attitude. She’s very sassy and I love it. I think that’s why I also chose Veronica. It’s a personality that I don’t have.” Rosie smiled big when the other brunette spoke, giving a small shimmy. “Yes please. I need to just relax and have fun. Get drunk off candy drinks and let loose.”

“Not just all coffee, right? Too much is actually really bad for you, soda, too.” His health nut side bringing out his concerns. “So, it takes longer than a few weeks over all?”

“Oh, no. I drink a lot of water and green juice in the morning. But I do rely on coffee more than I should,” she scrunched her face as she shrugged innocently. “Yeah, I would say it’s a good month. Picking the outfit, getting it fitted and ready for whatever event they are doing.”

“Ugh, yes. Damn LAX. I’ve flown in there many times, whether traveling for pleasure, deadheading, or flying the plane. I’m fortunate enough through my job to be able to get free flights on any of my airline’s flights, as long as there’s space, so I usually fly first class, because why not? Yeah, the only thing I can do with jet lag is cope with it, usually staying in my hotel room.”

She took her proposition and thought about it as she explained the costumes she had decided on before giving a firm nod. “I believe that would work perfectly. Luckily it’s cool weather sure, but not frostbitten cold as of yet, so we’ll be able to show a bit of skin for the more adult side of the evening. That and we’ll be indoors, so yeah, we should be fine. Also, Veronica? Brilliant. You can pull that off rather well. Now, let’s put our size to good use and get out there with the best of them and get chocolate wasted!”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be used to cold weather. When I was a kid, I didn’t have to wear a jacket over my costume like most of the kids here have to do. Kind of why I chose Vanellope. She has a hoodie,” the petite brunette smirked with an innocent shrug. “I don’t really have Veronica’s personality, but I got the hair and I figured I can work with that. Plus, I was easily able to grab a dress that Veronica would wear at the office. Oh, chocolate and candy wasted. The best kind of wasted. I wonder if they have candy flavored drinks.”

“So, it’s safe to say you’re going to be running off caffeine and sugar for a long while or is it just for the first few weeks?” Unsure of how the whole process works. He had a model friend of his, but it wasn’t necessarily the same celebrity realm that Rosie worked in.

“Oh, I live on caffeine. Whether it’s award season or not. It’s my unhealthy addiction,” Rosie scrunched her face as she shrugged. “Some clients are easy and fast then there’s the hard ones that take forever to try on four dresses.”

“Yeah, layovers can be nice, if they’re not like 45 minutes, 1 hour, because you would be so damn rushed, especially if you have one at O’Hare or Hartsfield-Jackson, since those airports are fucking busy. I’ve had flights where I was a passenger on where I’ve had someone do shit that got on my nerves, like remove their damn shoes. Thankfully, it looked like we had different final destinations. Hell, I’ve been flying commercial flights for nearly 20 years, and jet lag still kicks my ass.”

Take a vacation that’s longer than a week.

Maybe a Reese’s Cup? I don’t know why. It’s really the only candy I eat. Or should I turn into a candy that no one likes like candy corn? I don’t know which would be better.

“Hey that’s a really cool idea thanks, and a costume I could easily get. Putting the candy in your hair for Vanellope would be the tricky part maybe a hair clip or something, I think it’d be cute. Old or new Mary Poppins?

“You can pull it off for sure. Not many can. I think I would do colorful hair clips or maybe clip in wrapped candy, so it doesn’t destroy my hair. I love her sassiness, so it would be fun to do. Oh, the old Mary Poppins, for sure. I love the new one, but I’m a sucker for the original with Bert. He’s a dream man even though he is pretty much always covered in soot.”