moondust

“Seriously?” Avery asked exasperated. She inspected the area in order to confirm that there was no damage on her car, running her palm over the spot. “Are you sure you’re not hurt? No pain in your neck, or anything?”  She asked with a sigh, finally resigning herself to the situation. “A wormhole?” Avery cocked an eyebrow at the mention of it. “You’re telling me that you threw your car in reverse over static on the radio? You realize you could have a pedestrian, right?”

Biting down on her bottom lip, Shiloh said nothing as the girl inspected the area she’d bumped. Sure, Shiloh had insurance, but she’d rather not use it - god knew how high her premiums would jump. “No, I’m all good. I was going like... 5 miles per hour. You’re all good right?” The brunette sighed and Shiloh couldn’t tell if that was a good sign or not. “Not over the radio. Over a wormhole. Very different, although they are connected in this instance so I see how you could get confused.” Laughing, Shiloh shook her head. “I doubt it.... no one’s been down that trail in years, not after everyone stopped coming back. At least, that’s what the local guide book says.”

“I mean…” he began, listening again as the slight wailing became a little louder through the static that blasted from the stereo. “I mean, it’s weird, yes… But…” he trailed off for a moment, eyes narrowing in thought. “It’s probably just some stupid kids interrupting the signal, you know? Nothin’ to do around here but something like that,” he said, brows furrowing when the static seemed to abruptly stop. He lingered near the stereo, leaning over the seat to listen carefully to the stereo speakers. “I swear I hear breathing,” he said, knowing anyone on the street that could see them right now probably thought they had lost their minds.

The sound became louder, as if to prove Shiloh’s point and she waited for Max to agree with her, he had to - after all, wasn’t that just further proof? And then he opened his mouth and that pesky word popped out but. He paused thinking harder and Shiloh stared at the radio, waiting to see if it did anything to stop Max’s excuses before they came. “I mean...” Shiloh started when he spoke, realizing he did have a point. “I guess. But why just in this one zone? Is their signal not strong enough? And why the sound behind the static?” Shiloh opened her mouth to continue on, but stopped when she noticed him leaning closer to the radio. I swear I hear breathing. Shiloh moved closer to the open driver’s side door, motioning for Max to turn the volume up. Hesitating a few moments, Shiloh tried to place the sound, her eyes widening when she did. “Holy shit, I think you’re right.”

DING… “If you’re THAT guy again who came in yelling to me about your car, like a freakin’ five year old boy,I’m NOT gonna give it to you. I can’t give back what’s been payed.” It’s been a hard day at work, OBVIOUSLY if you’re a mechanic, everyday is a hard day at work. “Should’ve read the receipt, asshole” She said underneath her breathe then let out a scoff. “If you’re not that guy, were closed. Sorry”

Awkward..... Shiloh was on the verge of turning and walking back out when she realized it’d only make her seem more like THAT guy. And then she’d never actually get what she came here for. “Um, no it’s actually the girl with the broken heater. Well actually, the girl whose father’s heater is broken. I just wanted to know what you were thinking timeline wise for that repair - not that there’s any rush since it’s still August, but still... Autumn is coming.”

“ i was thinking of hosting a poetry slam down in the coffee shop sometime this month but i don’t know how many people would be interested.. should it be kept as a poetry slam or do you think i should think even bigger and just host it as almost a talent show. if it were to be a talent show, there’d be no winners or loser just everyone gets to show off their talents. what do you think? “

Shiloh was surprised that someone was bothering to ask her opinion on something, a poetry slam no less. It wasn’t as if she was the most literary person in town. “I mean like.... maybe not a talent show. That seems a little bit too much like middle school yeah? But if you wanted to get other stuff in than just slam poetry maybe make it into an open mike night? You could get comedians and vocalists to perform too then....”

✧・ﾟ: * — “one downside about working in retail is the amount of clothing that ends up on the ground. like, these items are expensive, at least show a little respect.” devi sighed and set her coffee cup down on the table. she had a short break from the store and chose to spend it in the coffee shop, re-energizing so to say. waving off her troubles, she leaned forward. “enough about work, we need to go out tonight. no ifs, ands, or buts.”

Shiloh had actually had plans tonight - her first night (and most likely only) this week where she didn’t need to stay late and run files to her boss as she reigned down hell upon a courtroom. She’d known just how to celebrate too - a local abandoned bed and breakfast on the outskirts of the woods where animals appeared only to never be seen again. But then again... it sounded like Devi had had a rough work week too. Maybe a drink or two wouldn’t hurt? Sighing, Shiloh’s hands wrapped around her to go cup, the warmth seeping into her always cold fingers. “I guess I could go out for a little bit - as long as it’s not a rager. I do have to work tomorrow morning.”

“ can you believe i have to go to, not the next town over or the town after that but THREE towns over just to get my job and be around decent makeup? “ pearl moved whoever’s items where on the chair before sitting down next to the other. “ it’s just a travesty in my personal opinion.. no one was sitting here, right? whatever, i don’t even care i’m just pissed off on how much gas i’m spending just to get to work. “

Shiloh hadn’t realized that the mostly empty seat across from her was up for grabs, but as the blonde moved her bookbag, Shiloh realized she thought wrong. Pausing her podcast, she tugged an earphone from her ear in order to actually hear the other woman. “I uh- Yeah, that sounds like it really sucks. What is it about three towns over that has good makeup though, like.... is there none here?”

     “It’s all fun and games until a kid throws up in the pool,” Jason sighed heavily and stared down at his coffee. He had been let off work early because of another toddler related incident. Third time this week, it would’ve actually bothered him if they didn’t pay him for the hours he would’ve worked, but his manager was generous and paid him double for the inconvenience. “It’s not even really a  problem for me, but like, the poor janitors at the pool  deserve better than that. You would think people would teach their children not to go swimming right after they ate but…” He shrugged. It wasn’t really his problem after all.

Popping open a bag of cheese puffs, Shiloh settled on the couch beside Jason. “That’s a rough day of work. Poor guys, I bet they really wish you guys would make a no toddler’s rule. But I guess that’s out of the question yeah?” Plucking a curl from the bag and tossing it into her mouth, Shiloh grinned to herself. “Maybe you could have extended adult swim only? Or pay the janitors extra for the days they have to clean up toddler waste?” Dusting her hands off by brushing them together, Shiloh reached for the remote. “Oh well, at least it means that we get more time to catch up on Ancient Aliens. This one’s supposedly groundbreaking.”

the male’s face remained NEUTRAL as his hazel hues watched the area in front of him. always analyzing every detail over and over again, it’d become a habit. “do you think that if i threw these raisins at them, they’d notice?” to say he was BORED would have have been an understatement.

Things with Gilbert had been weird as of late. While the two had been inseparable soon after Shiloh had moved to Bonehill, their similar senses of humor clicking perfectly, he’d grown distant. Shiloh got it, she knew what it was like to lose a family member, after all - hadn’t that been the whole reason she’d moved here in the first place. Though perhaps her mom was merely misplaced, not lost.  But despite her best efforts to give him some space but also be there for him, she’d somehow ended up with Gilbert farther away from her than she had hoped. Pretending as if the last week of unanswered texts and brushed off invitations didn’t exist, Shiloh surveyed the targets silently, shrugging her shoulders. “They look wrapped up in each other enough not to. Though land one in their milkshake they’re sharing and they might.”

she was taken aback by the sudden defensiveness coming from the girl. hermione took a careful look at her bumper, honestly not entirely phased by the damaged, but being hit in general. she desperately just wanted to get off the road. “yea-” she was again cut off by shiloh continuing to explain her mistake. despite her uneasiness, hermione entirtained the idea of a wormhole on the road. “tell me about it” she blurted out, right before the other could continue cutting ehr off. she entired her car and turned the station to 97.3. “i think that’s just static cara.” eyebrows furrowed, she exited the car. with nothing better to do and a desperate need to not think about driving she said “”you;re off the hook if you can show me any proof of a wormhole.”

The other driver seemed hesitant, as if unsure of Shiloh (after all, she had just backed into her car, who could blame her?) or of the idea of a wormhole, though Shiloh was unsure which of these she was more skeptical of. Her speech was halting, but perhaps that was because Shiloh kept interrupting - she did have a terrible rambling problem that once she got started, she couldn’t stop. Though when the other suddenly told her to tell her about it, Shiloh was more than happy to comply. “See, it seems like just static yeah? But that’s the proof itself. After all, 97.3 is a local program. Theoretically, there should be no static. There’s nothing to block it here, after all the frequencies of the drive through microphones and the radio are different. So unless there’s some spy in the Burger King who works for Taco Bell and is using a walkie talkie to correspond with their superiors, there’s no reason for there to be a disturbance in the frequency the radio wave uses... hence a wormhole.”

“Shiloh. You hit my car.” She said, in a pinched tone. “You better be so thankful there isn’t any damage. I know accidents happen, but if there had been, you would have been met with fight and fury for a while.”

Shiloh winced at the woman’s tone, knowing that yes, she had in fact hit her roommate’s car and no, bumping was not a completely different phenomenon separate from hitting a car. “Yes, but there wasn’t, so there’s no fight and fury right?” She raised an eyebrow, expression hopeful. “And is it any better if I say that if any damage had occurred, it would’ve been in the name of science?”

Max tried to process all of the information Shiloh was sharing with him at such a horrifying speed. Placing his hands in front of him in a bid to get her to slow down, he shook his head. “Look, it’s fine. It’s whatever. I have dents all over this fucking thing, doesn’t make a difference to me,” he said, brows furrowing slightly when it had finally registered the information she was sharing with him. “Wait…” he started. “What station did you say?” he asked, moving around the vehicle and opening up his station wagon’s door. He played with the dial until it landed on 97.3, glancing behind him. “This one?” he asked. “Jesus… Eerie,” he mumbled to himself, attempting to listen in on the noise behind the general static.

Shiloh knew she had a bad habit of rambling - it’d always been something her mother had borne with a smile and a warning to slow down so that she could understand her. Noticing the similar warning in the way that Max held out his hands, Shiloh paused, taking a deep breath, allowing him to catch up to where she was in her train of thought. Max turned on the station, the eerie static humming in the air between them. If anyone in this town was going to hear the noise, it’d be Max. After all, he was the one who saw doors move all by themselves and papers swirl in the air with no breeze present - her companion for each haunted location she dragged them to in the middle of the night. She did feel bad about his car, but it was just a bump and like he said, there were dents all over the rustbucket. “It’s off isn’t it?” she asked after a few beats, letting him hear the sound for himself. “Like I’m not insane right?”