mercury

Going out without security wasn’t anything new for Ariella. She felt like she didn’t need it. She could stand up for herself. That was until she was surrounded by paparazzi, which happened the moment she stepped out of the gym. She had yet to finish her at home gym, which is something she should’ve done months before but she’d been so busy doing everything else that was the least of her worries. She pulled her hood over her head and shoved her sunglasses on her face in attempt to shield herself from the harsh flashes of their cameras. She didn’t ever stop to talk to any of them and so she wasn’t even sure why they tried. The moment she made it to a familiar doorstep, she ran up to the door and rang the doorbell. She hoped whoever was on the other side of the door would let her in long enough for her to call a cab to take her home and get her out of this situation that she’d put herself in once again.

mercury opened the door to ariella, looking over her shoulder at the crowd she brought with her. his face had a scowl on it, not appreciating the extra attention to himself. ❝yes?❞

she’d never had him come by her place before. in fact hannah wasn’t aware ryder even knew where she lived, but before another word could be uttered, he was shirtless in her hallway, tightly wrapping his black v neck around her hand. “ yes, yes, i do. — — welcome to mi casa, ” she gestured for him to follow her down the hall and into the laundry room. grabbing her first aid chest from the door, hannah motioned for him to help open it. “ it’s … it’s definitely still bleeding, ” she observed. “ god, just looking at you is making me cold, ” she murmured randomly in an attempt to distract herself, reminding of the fact that her brother had left some clothes in the guest room that ryder would likely fit into. “ yeah, i don’t, ” hannah answered perhaps a little too bluntly, when he mentioned that she probably wouldn’t trust him to stitch her hand up. “ i’ll trust you enough to help bandage it up though. ” she peered back up at him, not moving as he gently rubbed the skin of her wrist. “ didn’t know you knew where i lived, though i shouldn’t be too surprised. everyone here knows everyone’s business. – – kind of weird that you came just when i needed a hand, sure you haven’t got a sixth sense? ”

a small smile sneaked upon his lips as he briefly scanned hannah’s casa. ❝it’s nice.❞  he complimented as his attention returned to following her down the hall and into the laundry room. he stretched his arms out to grab the first-aid kit and easily opening it, fishing around the many band-aid to find something that could help trap the blood like a pad. ❝that is generally what gashes to your hand will do to you,❞  he lightheartedly joked. ❝i’m not cold. don’t worry about me. can we worry about you first? i mean i know me being shirtless is totally distracting you but try and keep your panties on, okay?❞  he teased in a joking manner. ❝nice. gotcha, don’t trust me.❞  he repeated. ❝maybe i do have a sixth sense,❞  he said coldly, letting go of hannah’s wrist immediately and turning his back to her. ❝come on let’s go. i have my motorcycle parked. let’s get to the hospital.❞   

the wine bottle in hand smashed against the hardwood floor of her stairs, her knees bound to bruise considering she often did like a peach, but what was more concerning was the glass that had pierced through the palm of per porcelain hand. blood began to sleep slowly, though difficult to tell given the red wine surrounding. the smell however, was strong to her sensitive nose; pungent metallic and tangy. the doorbell rang, a faint alarm in the distance. shutting her eyes, she removed the shard from her hand. a self destructive part of her wanted to smash her other hand too, for the sake of symmetry or consistency or control. she wouldn’t allow herself though. couldn’t. shouldn’t. wrapping her bloody palm with the bottom fabric of her shirt, hannah bit her free hand with her mouth in effort to prevent from hurting herself any further. the doorbell rang again. she peered through the telecom to sight a familiar face. a part of her wanted to tell them to come back another time, but she figured she might actually need a helping hand to the hospital. stitches. great. “ i’ll be there in a minute, ” she yelled through the mic, rushing to the kitchen, she hissed loudly when she released her bloody hand from the grasp of the shirt, wrapping it tight with a clean hand towel. the bottom of her tshirt was now drenched in red. she stepped toward the door, unlocking it with her right hand. “ hey, sorry, i, ” she gestured behind her, though it wasn’t really helping her get her words out. instead she scrunched her nose at the smell of the blood, adjusting the grip and pressure of the towel against her palm.“ um, what are you doing here? ”

ryder leaned against hannah’s doorframe as he waited for her to open the door. he had heard that things between her and niall didn’t quite work out so he wanted to see how she was doing or more specifically ask her out to dinner, but his plans were forgotten when his eyes trailed from her face to her bloodied hand. he had dealt with wounds worst in his lifetime so he knew what to do instantly. he had never been to hannah’s home so his next best option was removing the black v neck t-shirt from his back. he enclosed her wrist in his own hand as he carefully wrapped his shirt around the wound. ❝do you have any antiseptic? we should clean the wound the best we can before we stitch you up. you probably won’t trust me to do the job myself so i’ll drive you to the hospital. you made quite the mess babe.❞ he smirked, thumb rubbing circles on the skin of hannah’s wrist. ❝why i’m here isn’t important.❞ 

sometimes, jenna zoned out, and other times, she was internally questioning why she was in the situation she was in. the girl was sitting by the bar, having just finished her lunch when someone walked up to her, asking her about who she was, questioning her on little details, and well, jenna was starting to get annoyed. “oh look, my friend is over there. sorry i have to go,” she stated, pointing towards the familiar face she saw. “quick pretend we’re friends so i can get away from that creep over there,” she told the individual, smiling brightly at them.

ryder slurped on his milkshake, nodding his head as the music continued to play from his headphones. he was unfazed as jenna stepped in front of him and began babbling. her mouth opening but ryder didn’t hear her words. he pulled the right headphone from his ear. ❝what?❞ he questioned with an annoyed expression.

ZAYN: alaska made me watch a horror flick with her and then she left me by myself and now i think i might have every light on in my house

ZAYN: i probably wouldn't be that paranoid but it was based on a true story and so all i keep thinking about is how history can repeat itself

ZAYN: basically the point of these texts were to ask you if you could distract me

RYDER: me? of all people?

“ you’ve hit the nail on the head. sure, let’s do this right here, right now, ” hannah answered, as if it was completely appropriate to race in a crowded bar. “ we’ve even got spectators, to make sure all is fair. ” she soon shook her head, quickly ordering herself a glass of red, before turning back to the lad beside her. “ i think i may still have a scar on my arm from where you rammed me into the sand. you owe me like, 5 million dollars, this body is insured. ” she graciously thanked the bar tender for her drink, before pulling out her card. “ in all honesty, i snuck my way over here because i figured the line was moving more quickly, and i was correct, ” hannah shrugged, “ would you like a drink? ”

ryder brought the dirty shot glass to his lips, his mouth spreading across the rim in a silent smile before he knocked back the shot of whiskey. now, sure it wasn’t the classiest of bars in the hamptons but it got the job done. ❝as if you minded having me on top of you,❞ he retorted, wiggling his index finger in hannah’s direction. ❝insured? i had no idea i was talking to such hollywood royalty here. should i repeat what i said? as if you minded having me on top of you, your highness,❞ he added in the last snarky remark with a bow of his head. ❝woah now, i’m more of a wine and dine kind of guy.❞ he defended as a seductive joke, tilting his head back to let out a hearty laugh. ❝sure. you can buy me a drink. i’ll make sure not to spill it all over your insured body.❞

having not known his siblings had passed, hannah was silently surprised by his use of past tense. in fact, it stung a little. “ i’m sure your sister was quite the looker too then, ” she remarked. her smaller palm collided with his briefly, before returning to swing comfortably at her side. “ have some tshirt designs back to me by the end of the week and i’ll get production started, ” hannah replied, easily playing along with his joke. “ you may, ” she answered. his bout of laughter as he knocked her to one side, only made her laugh harder and she paused for a moment, pressing both palms to the side of her face. “ my cheekbones are going to ache tonight, ” she declared. “ you didn’t actually the race, there was no finish line, ” hannah pointed out matter of factly, the cheeky look on her face serving as an indication that she was ready to sprint off yet again. 

mercury took a moment to think back to the memory of his sister, xemara. many people here at the hamptons most likely remembered her since she was once a resident. her fire red hair was her staple. his eyes fluttered shut and a smile played at his lips as he conjured up the image of their constant negligible bickering. ❝eccentrically beautiful, but i think you could give her a run for her money.❞ he did not want to dwell on his comment for long. women never made him anxious before but for some reason his courage was nearly nonexistent with hannah. ❝i’ll get right on that,❞ he promised. ❝i hope they do ache so you are reminded of how comedic i can be. there is that painter stereotype that we are all emo and have no sense of humor.❞ he rolled his eyes and shook his eye, completely disagreeing. he liked to think he was pretty funny but then again he always had a big ego. ❝i am not afraid to tackle you into the sand. look at you being cheeky even though you know i won.❞ his eyes were trained on hannah’s body, paying attention to whether or not she was about to start sprinting down the rest of the shore.

“ stranger things have happened. people are plenty fucked,” hannah noted, a smile etched onto the edge of her lips as she watched ryder shiver exaggeratedly. “ maybe that’s why i haven’t gotten around to getting it yet. ” the lion king had always been her family’s favourite disney film, and the song played a rather integral part of her childhood, though it wasn’t as if she really needed it enshrined on her body forever. she pondered if she’d ever experience anything that needed to be permanently inked on her body – – given how good her memory was, she silently hoped that would never be necessary. “ that sounds really special, ” she grinned as he explained the story behind the tattoo, expressions softening at the mention of his siblings. “ hi five, ” the brunette uttered when he mentioned that they could all hop on the ‘i hate rumours’ band wagon. “ hannah bates photographed with an unnamed friend, ” she muttered in a mocking voice, “ what a fucking slap in the face. ” when he gestured toward the bush, she simply rolled her eyes, a glint of laughter hidden somewhere in her deep blue irises. “ okay barry allen, ” she deadpanned, “ did you just.. muwahahah? ” she mimicked his voice through a fit of laughter. 

❝people are plenty fucked,❞ mercury agreed, placing the palm of his hand over his chin, feeling the stumble prickle him; he made a mental note to shave when he got home. ❝they were better people than me, and mercury was quite the looker, you know us being twins and all.❞ he spread out the palm of his hand, it seemingly engulfing hannah’s as the hands collided for a high five. ❝so when are we collabing to make t-shirts for the club?❞ he joked before gathering his breathe and shrugging. ❝i may or may not have. can i plead the fifth?❞ he questioned before matching hannah’s laugh, gently knocking his body into her own. ❝i won the race. barry allen is a suitable name for the champion.❞

A strange, bemused expression softly cast over her face, eyes wide and calculating. For a moment it remained so, before the sharp. discerning look was quickly replaced by something vague and warm. “She’s grateful,” She responded, lips parting on an exhale before spreading into a smile. “That you want that for her,” She tacked on as an afterthought. Fragments weren’t really her thing, to say the least. “But right now, it’s not feasible. She has this big, billion-dollar project coming up, which means late nights until that pesky perfectionism is satisfied.”

Whenever she felt even moderately out of place or awkward, she had a tic. It wasn’t anything special and everyone had one of those. A tic or a tell that gave them away even when their facial expressions and body language might not. For some, it manifested in a twitch of the nose or the mouth, biting nails, tugging at fingers, or toying with a lock of hair. For Vale, it was always more of the same, letting her chestnut locks down only to soothe down her hair and tie it up again. She practiced that ritual then, making sure her hairband was tightly wound around the thick of her hair. “Plot twist. One or both of us is in a persistent vegetative state and are experiencing an alternate, nightmarish universe where gigantic cheetos can run and win a presidential campaign.”

With the ball back in her court, Valeria wondered if she should just call it a day and leave Ryder to whatever broody, artistic boys did with their free time. After all, the world of machinery and loose parts beckoned her, like always. A beat passed before the brunette adjusted the strap of her messenger bag on her shoulder and saying, all too seriously in a way that contradicted the playful edge in her gaze. “I have two hours before my Muay Thai class and there’s a new cafe by the boardwalk. I hear their donuts are good, but as a scientist, I prefer forming observations though trial-and-error.” The brown-eyed girl tugged at the string of her hoodie. “Would you be interested in lending yourself…to science for a little while? A second opinion will mitigate any confirmation bias in the final report.”

mercury understood the attachment to an important job; he knew the long hours, the overwhelming responsibility and most of all the consequences if the job was not carried out effectively. he nodded his head briefly at valeria’s truth. however, it did not stop him from wishing she would take time off to care for herself and live out her youth with trips across the world. ❝perfectionism seems like a pesky curse if it subtracts hours of beautiful sleep from your busy schedule.❞ he tilted his head upward, allowing his hearty laugh to flow melodically. if only it were a nightmarish universe. ❝can you pinch me to wake me up? i don’t appreciate cheetos fucking up society even more.❞ mercury held out his tanned arm for valeria, urging her forward to pinch his skin. he couldn’t hide the smirk playing at his lips, turning his head to the side to try and hide the smile on his red flannel clad shoulder. ❝for science huh? sure, let’s go test out these donuts in a metaphoric non-date scenario.❞