livin' la vida loca

“Oh, god, you’re amazing,” Parker gasped, opening the container to allow her to put in the last four.  She closed it instantly and then she placed it inside her zipped-up purse, breathing a sigh of relief.  “I’ve been working with spiders for my whole college and post-college career and I’ve never just scooped them up so easily like that.”  She had just bought the spiderlings; she would’ve been devastated had they died or gotten away.  “You can call us fur moms, too,” she laughed.  “I’ve got plenty of the hairier species in my collection.”

“I just have a really weird relationship with living things in general,” Saskia explained, laughing a bit. “Though I took a different path from Biology after my Bachelor’s, living things in general still have a pretty big space in my heart. Though, I’m still a bit skeptical with some bigger species,” she admitted.

@vestalanding​

Parker pressed her hand against her forehead.  “Oh, no — oh, no no no no no.”  As much as she wanted to blame the seller, she could only control herself; and thus, it was her fault for not double checking that the sketchy, wet bag was still dependable and that the containers were secured.  Since she didn’t, six spiderlings were now out in the open grass.  She dropped to her knees, one plastic container in hand, trying to see where the creatures went after everything had fallen through the ripped bag, the lids having been only half-twisted on.  The moment she saw shoes opposite her, not five feet away, she exclaimed, “Wait!  Wait, wait, don’t move, please.  Just — just stand right there and I can gather them all up, I swear; just give me one minute.”

Saskia was slightly chuckling when she heard the other’s words. “I’m sure you’re looking for these little creatures,” she then bent down, showing her hands, with two spiderlings on each hand. If there are fur moms, what would you call someone who takes care of these... young ones?” Saskia asked.

“Oh, my God. My poor car.” And her poor wallet. “Why would anyone even break my car’s window? I don’t have anything of value in there.” / @vestalanding​

“Oh shit,” Saskia winced as she saw the other’s car. “I’m not a detective or something, but maybe the cameras would help? I mean, I’m sure there’s gotta be a cctv somewhere. I’m sorry this happened to your car, though... God.”

@vestalanding​

“I wanted to kick that guys ass so hard his vertebrae would pop out of his mouth one by one like a pez dispenser.” Wesley admitted with a sigh, referring to the rather drunk man who had just been making a scene at the bar. “But that would have been ‘unprofessional’ of me, still throwing him out was satisfying.”

“The whole kicking thing would have been better to be honest,” Saskia shrugged as she took a sip of her drink. “Also, screw professionalism in times like this. Kidding though.”

“it’s like you read my mind.” calliope spoke, eyes staying locked on saskias eyes, raising an eyebrow as she spoke “why can’t we do both?”

“We can go to my place if you’re okay with it. A bar would also be good, if we’re not on the kind of friendship where we go to each other’s place yet,” Saskia giggled.

“i just can’t deal with ruining a perfectly good book.” calliope tilted her head as she spoke, keeping her eyes locked on saskias face, a smile spreading across her lips as she felt the others hand on her hair “i sure hope you do.” she nodded her head, running her own hand through her hair.

Seeing the smile on the other’s face, Saskia couldn’t help but smile back. She leaned a bit, still maintaining a considerable distance between them, “would you like to drink with me, Calliope? Or just go somewhere relaxing, if that’s what you’d prefer?”

SAF: The neighbors keep blasting Baby Shark.

SAF: Like walls-vibrating-and-water-shaking type of blasting. And it barely covers the screams of their baby. I'm this close to have a mental breakdown.

SAF: Do you have music suggestions before I go insane? (Although it's too late) I'll take anything at this point, as long as it makes noise and it doesn't involve awkward dancing children.

SAF: doo doo doo doo

SAF: Save me from my misery asap

Saskia: Listen to anything by Hozier. Hozier's songs are relaxing.

“So I was at the store and this little girl, maybe around four years old, stuck a heart sticker to the back of me chair. Honestly, kids are the best.”

@vestalanding​

“Kids are adorable. I don’t mean this to be a competition but my nieces and nephews are also like that. At least towards people they like. You like kids? Or have a kid of your own?”

“I need to stop reading true crime stories, it’s starting to freak me out. Like, is someone following me? Did I lock the doors last night? I’m so paranoid now, this is why I should just stick to history. Plus, now I’ll never look at a Lululemon the same.”

@vestalanding​

“It’s the books you’ve dog-eared following you, don’t worry, no one big. Also, what’s with Lululemon? I’ve been sticking to true crime podcasts lately, especially those female criminals one. I listen to them to fall asleep.”

“Don’t you get fidgety just sitting still?” Christian asked as he eyed the children splashing around at the other end of the pool with jealousy. “I mean, there are so many fun things we could be doing. Like…we could have a race! Or we could go out on one of the little boats! I’ll even let you push me in?”

@vestalanding​

“A race?” Saskia laughed, “well, we could sneak and use a little boat each. Why are you exactly staying here, though? I’d like to have some tequila right now, though. A good day for it, I think.”

“I’m not a woman who’s hard to please, so just chillin’ on the beach with a strawberry smoothie?”

“When I was in school, I earned this gold trophy for participating and winning a science competition --- yes, I am that nerd. So, I’ve had it for years and most of my friends wanted it so bad, but I will never sell it. Even if the richest person would offer me too much. I mean, that’s basically the first I’ve won at such an early age!”

“Horror, mystery, thrillers, basically anything on the darker side.”

“You should try Mary Higgins Clark, then. She writes good suspense novels. I just couldn’t get enough of her, to be honest.”

“Not really. It sounds like people have a weirdly intimate relationship with books, but to each their own. Who am I to judge?”

“I’m people. But yeah, you’re right. There’s no use judging them. They’d still dog ear pages whether we judge them or not. Anyway, you don’t read any novels?”

“that’s what post it notes were invented for, dear saskia.” calliope offered the other a soft smile “you can not judge all you like, i’ll do the judging for you.” she laughed “post it notes are the worlds best invention. period.”

“That, I know. But I preferred writing on the pages. Sometimes, the notes lose their stickiness. So imagine having to pick stuff up because notes just keep falling.” Saskia smiled at the other, then tucked a few strands of the other’s hair behind her ear, “I totally agree with you on that, Calliope.”