* . ∙ • ✧ * sloane harmon.

[ SLOANE HARMON. 31. CIS FEMALE. SHE/HER] is here! They’ve lived in Silver Lake for [ 3 DAYS ] and are originally from [ MANHATTAN, NEW YORK ]. They are a [ PSYCHIATRIST ] and in their downtime love [ SKIING ] and [ SHOPPING ]. They look a lot like [ NINA DOBREV ] and live [ IN OASIS APTS ].

Axel pulled her close to him to make sure she was afloat and hummed against her lips, as he felt her soft, warm hand to his face, it felt nice to be touched by someone and he realised how touch starved he had been as he held her in his arms. He pulled back slightly and with his nose touching hers, he smiled. “Do you push all your friends into the pool or just me?” Axel teased breathlessly. “That was a pretty shady.” He joked and pulled away to splash her and laughed. “My hair is ruined” Axel pouted playfully shaking his loose curls and then running his fingers through his hair to slick it back of his face to show his bone structure of his his high cheek bones and square jaw.  He let her go slowly and then swam round her. “ Its not as cold as I thought it would be.” He murmured as he swam back to face her. “Although we should get out soon or Chuck might see us.” He smiled and then swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out to sit on the edge. “ Want to go and dry off in my place with warm towels and hot coco?”

Sloane’s weight rested upon him and her legs moved aimlessly around in the water below. She’d always found a pleasure in the water, her passion to be beneath the depths resurfacing the more seconds that passed. However, her schedule had always been hectic and her first choice of swimming venue would have been anything other than Oasis’ filthy pool. As he spoke, her eyes drifted from the water to meet his line of sight. “We were never friends,” she said forthright with the corner of her lips twisting upwards into a grin. Although, that expression soon became wiped from her face as his demeanor changed and suddenly it seemed as though they were just friends messing around in the pool after hours. Perhaps a kiss that wasn’t coerced by a booth wasn’t as big of a deal to him as it had been to her. Maybe he did this all the time with his ‘friends’, she thought. Her arms extended, once he’d left, to keep herself afloat. “Maybe I want Chuck to see me. If he sees me wet through I could seduce him into lowering my rent.” It was meant to be a humorous remark, but her tone suggested that the previous event was playing on her head. "You're right. We should get out." 

Axel had only looked away for split second and he was being pushed in. “ Holy crap.” He yelped and grabbed her, pulling her into the water with him. The cold water waking up his senses as he broke the surface with a laugh. His normal perfectly sculptured hairstyle, now a mass of natural curls as his eyes mirrored the light blue waters. “That was mean.” He pouted playfully. “ I think you should apologise.” He swam up closer and smiled at her before seeing Chuck’s car pull up behind her in the parking lot. “ Shit.” He ducked under the water and pulled her under knowing that there was a rule that no one was allowed to swim at night. Under the water he reached out and held her close and swam to the surface after a few seconds and checked that Chuck gone. 

Keeping Sloane close, he smiled.“ I have nights cloak to hide me from their eyes.” He murmured the line from Romeo and Juliet as he was inches away from her. Axel’s usual cocky demeanour was washed away when his blue hues locked with her dark ones, he moved in slowly and closed his eyes, hoping she would not back away or splash him, and kissed her softly. 

Sloane shrieked as she hit the water below, not really thinking her plan quite the full way through. What did she expect? “Oh my god!” She exclaimed, flapping her arms around and unintentionally splashing him — while attempting to depart from the pool in an effort to save her appearance. Soaking wet with not so waterproof mascara staining her cheeks wasn’t her finest of looks. “I’m going to look like a wet dog! I need to get out now.” Although, her escape didn’t prevail as she felt herself being dragged under, panicking for a moment until she felt Axel wrap himself around her. 

As they resurfaced, she took a long drawn out sigh with her eyes watching as the man in the dark, she assumed to be Chuck, made some distance between himself and pool. Well, it was too late now to hide herself away. She only prayed that nightfall had been her ally in this endeavor, and Axel didn’t see the state of her. 

Spinning around in the water, she noticed their closeness and her breath hitched — either from the cold temperature or his repeating of a line she vaguely remembered hearing Leonardo DiCaprio recite. There wasn’t much time left to process it however, as their lips met and Sloane found herself returning the gesture. Her hands rose to cup his face, resting her arms against his chest to try and keep herself afloat as her mouth moved gently with his. 

When her dark hues locked with his light ones, he felt something he couldn’t explain, like a nervous excitement that flowed through him. “  I disagree. I think you are the prettiest.” He said with a small smile then bit his lip wondering if that sounded weird. He then let out a laugh at her shouting at the neighbors. “ That’s why I have so much velvet and warm fleece in my place. It muffles the sound.” He chuckled and then nodded. “Sure.” He fell silent for a moment then after the sound of palm trees in the breeze and cars going past in the distance, he placed all his belongings back on the lounger and then spoke again.” I come out here to stargaze when the world gets a bit to chaotic. Its kind of peaceful. Watching the water and then looking up at the sky.” He stopped talking and smiled down at her then gazed at the water. “ I wonder if its cold?”

The blush that had rose to Sloane’s cheeks became obvious and she turned away, trying to conceal the smile that continued grow and compliment her features. She believed she was by far the furthest away from ‘prettiest’ but it was still nice to hear. “Velvet and warm fleece. I’ll have to remember that.” Sloane repeated, making a mental note within her head. She listened to the rest of what he had to say, describing his night — and she could definitely relate. Perhaps that’s why she’d found comfort in his apartment. It wasn’t stargazing, but it was an escape of sorts. However, it had been awhile and her frustration had tripled since her last hangout.This would be how she justified her next move, as she vaguely heard the sounds of intolerable music coming from her neighbors. “Why don’t you find it?” She laughed. It was almost too perfect, him standing there, all set up and just begging for an accident. With a swift motion, her hands reached forward and gently pushed him. 

Axel looked up at her trying to gauge a reaction. Was it bad? He bit his lip  as she walked down from the balcony and smiled softly when she looked at it. “  You are pretty.” He replied and nudged her and then rubbed the back of his neck. “ I’m ok I suppose.” He mumbled and closed the book then looked up over at her neighbors place. “ Is it really loud tonight? C’mon I’ll make us some coffee and make some food if you are hungry and then you can crash over with me.” He walked over to  his belongings and then packed them away and smiled at her. “Lead the way Juliet.”

Her cheeks only reddened more with his compliment, and her eyes drifted from his for a brief moment while she tried to hide the embarrassment of her nerves. However, in typical Sloane fashion, she decided to play it off. “Not as pretty as some of the other people around town. I mean, everyone who lives on Silverwood practically looks like they walked straight out of a magazine... and they probably did.” She teased, as she took another glance at the book. “Oh yeah,” She groaned, her head lifting to view her neighbors’ apartment. “You’ll probably be able to hear them from yours!” Her voice shouted, in an attempt to coax the noisy residents outside, but to no avail. With a sigh, she chewed her bottom lip. “Can we just stay here for awhile? If you don’t mind. The pool — the water calms me.”

Holly had to admit this was something they did a lot. People watched. They’d enjoyed it since they were a kid. Back then it was all the tourists running around the city, those coming back and forth from the ferry port. When they’d worked there it had become even easier of course. As Sloane spoke, they cast a glance in her direction and let a breath go. It was a fair question really. “I guess so, but I saw a lot of different sides of New York,” they commented with a shake of their head. “The last year I was living there, there was nothing fairy-tale about that.” Thinking back to that apartment honestly made them cringe. “Depends on the person. As soon as I’ve got a little more money I’m out of here.”

Sloane couldn’t relate — she’d only ever really seen the more pristine parts of New York. However, that had been down to her parents and their attempts to shelter their daughters from an early age, which was something she had carried over into adulthood. “I bet it’s still better than here,” she said, quietly.  The apartment complex hadn’t been at all like the ad had described — not that she was expecting an Oasis, but at least somewhere with less rust. “We should go together. Move somewhere new and far away, like Australia or New Zealand.”

brando: close enough but no its not lolol

brando: dont need to worry about it

[ attachment sent — https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTg7qoZb1oFJ4Rixmxa_Y6M0YOeCyxzb5O56A&usqp=CAU ]

brando: just a regular goof

sloane: oh my god

sloane: I'm a cat person but that is the cutest dog I have ever seen

The corner of his mouth plucks its way into a smirk, her statement isn’t completely untrue, but he isn’t the type to brag about his conquests. He finds that makes it easier to add to them. “I don’t know what you’re on about.” He muses softly, tongue pushing into his cheek as he pushes the smirk off of his face. His brow raises ever so slightly as she makes her way around the stand towards him, though his feet quickly end up following her lead. “That doesn’t very charitable, Ms Harmon.” Luke counters, still, a chuckle falling from upon his lips. “Yeah? You think the convoy of kissees’ are giving you the plague?” 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Sloane goes to tease, as she begins to walk in the direction of the large wheel in sight. “I’ve seen some of the people that book appointments with you at the hospital. I’m confident that some just come to try and flirt with you.” She laughed. “They all want to be Mrs Doctor Lucian Harvey.” And she wouldn’t blame them, he was definitely easy on the eyes. “Does charitable mean contracting syphilis, because if so then just call me the wicked witch of Silver Lake. I’m out.” Her body shuddered at the thought, as she dragged him gently into the queue for the ride. “Can you die from someone kissing you?”

derek: then you gotta hang the knife glove up for like 24 hrs duh!

derek: thats exactly what a murderer would promise.

derek: seriously tho- no serial killers allowed. u shouldnt be doing that to people anyway there are better hobbies. like smoking mad pot or something. do u need a blunt?

sloane: do you actually think I'm a serial killer?

sloane: I'm not btw

sloane: that'd be too messy and too much cleaning to do, I mean I love cleaning but blood's really hard to get out of stuff

sloane: ...I imagine.

A beat passes, he needs it to absorb the information and figure out whether the warm flush that had washed over him was actually down to alcohol or not. Drinking should not involve this much thinking. 

“Okay, hold up… Is there booze in here, or am I a guinea pig for your gazebo effect?” 

“Ah, now that would be telling.” Sloane teased, a hint of a smirk present among her features. “Huh, gazebo?” She stifled a laugh. “I might have to start calling you Eddie from that clown movie.” A hand extended in his direction. “But you can call me Sloane.”

Axel got up and walked over to the balcony and gazed up at her with a smile. “Its cool with me.” He said with a shrug, the smile staying in place till she mentioned the book. “ oh that’s just a sketch book. It started off for sketches of outfits.” He ran over to pick it up and then took it to the balcony and opened it to the page of her, holding it up for her to look at. “ But then I started drawing everyone in the town. This was my latest.” He said as a blush covered his face. “I hope that’s ok.” He fell quiet and then tried to explain himself. “ Its coz I hadn’t seen you for a while so I just drew it out of memory. I have pictures of others as well.” He said trying not to sound too weird. 

Sloane could vaguely make out her appearance within the pages, and suddenly her cheeks flushed red. Don’t embarrass yourself. At his mention of not seeing her for awhile, she felt awful — but at the same time didn’t want any inclination that she perhaps enjoyed their moment at the kissing booth more than she let on. “Hang on Romeo, I’m coming down.” Descending the stairs from the balcony, she reached the pool and stood in front of him, her view fixated on his drawing. “Wow,” she said, in awe. “That could be a reflection. Actually no, you’ve made her a lot more prettier than me.” There was a quiet laugh, as her eyes flitted between the page and him. “You’re really good.”

Meanwhile at Oasis apts.

Its was evening and Axel had a night off from Dungeon. He laid on one of the non broken loungers outside by the pool and gazed up at the stars as he smoked and drank a bottle of beer. There had been nights like this before. Where he just took time to let the world move around him. His small speakers were under his lounger playing life on mars by David Bowie  He was in an old checked suit and white shirt with a designer belt  and next to the speakers was a sketch book which caused the wind to flick through the pages, occasionally falling on a page of a picture of her amongst other people in town. He heard a noise upstairs and then saw her. “ Neighbours giving you shit?” He asked softly to @sloaneharmon· “ Need to stay with me?”  He asked as he tapped his ash.

Despite her attempts at friendliness to her neighbors, Sloane still struggled when it came to the frustratingly loud sounds that emanated from the stoners’ apartment next door. After what was almost absolutely a heated discussion, she departed from their home, slamming the door behind her and huffing as she leaned over the balcony that overlooked the pool. Noticing Axel, however, she straightened her posture, her fingers curling around the railing. “Oh, I —“ She paused. Since Valentine’s Day, she’d made a habit of avoiding him which had been unnecessary, for sure. But she missed him, a lot more than she had been willing to let on. “I mean, if you’re busy or — I mean it’s fine if not, but,” Her words wouldn’t come out. “Yes. That would be nice.” There was another pause, before her eyes fell to the book curiously, but trying her best not to be nosy. “What’s that?”

“What’s in this? ‘Cause I can’t taste the alcohol, which feels kinda dangerous.” 

“Maybe there’s no alcohol at all, and I’m using you as an experiment to see if people feign being drunk through the placebo effect.”

derek: hey i got a wrong call I think from this # last week sometime, which is fine!

derek: but i'm goin through my phone looking for contacts to hit up about playing go karts so if you aren't a serial killer and maybe wanna play some IRL Mario Kart definitely hit this # back!

sloane: what if I'm a serial killer AND want to play irl mario kart?

brando: public service announcement

brando: if you see something that looks like a bear walking around redcliff

brando: dont freak out

brando: i have acquired a new fluffy friend

sloane: it's not an actual bear it is

-

His fingers are already plucking his wallet from his front pocket, he didn’t often carry much cash, but here he was, pulling out a twenty as he chuckles softly. “I don’t tend to pay women to kiss me, theres something a little weird about that.” His shoulder falls into a shrug, the kissing booth is innocent enough, a peck here and a peck there. “C’mon Sloane, at least take me on the ferris wheel first.” He’s joking, clearly, be the shit-eating grin that sits upon his features. “Come find me afterwards, might be able to find you some substitute mouthwash.” 

“Oh, I bet women just throw themselves at you, Lukey.” Sloane teased, as she walked around the stall, slipping her arm around his while taking the twenty with her hand. Tucking the money swiftly into her pocket — she’d add it to the pile later — she began to drag him as far away from the booth as possible. “I’ll take you to the ferris wheel right now if it’ll get me away from here,” she moaned. “I might need more than mouthwash. Maybe a full check up.”