C H A O S R I S I N G

He had been scrolling through social media on his phone while he waited for her to finish trying on dresses. Her voice pulled him out of his doom scrolling and his jaw dropped slightly. “I, uh, yeah. You, uh, you look like a princess.” He’d always thought she was gorgeous but like this? So happy and carefree? It was no surprise that he’d fallen for his best friend. Mike just hadn’t had the courage to say it.

Trixie could feel her cheeks burning at the way Mike gazed at her. It reminded her of those romcoms she had seen time and again where time slowed down when the guy looked at the girl in a pretty dress. This was the moment, but—maybe she was just overthinking it. “You sure it’s not too much for Vanessa’s party?” She asked curiously. 

‘Trixie?’ Peri sounded confused at the sound of her twin sisters voice but it was quickly replaced by a beaming smile. 'You’re home! When did you get back?’

“I got back this morning! I traded my flight to fly earlier and in return, I got to ride first class, FOR FREE!” Trixie beamed excitedly. “But, ‘nuff said! I brought you goodies!!” 

@hxneybees​

@lostxones​

@lostxones​

@lostxones​

He glanced around the room as she went to go change, suddenly embarrassed at the disarray his place was in. Mike had never been the neatest unless he was expecting company and it was safe to say, he had never seen this coming. While she was gone, he lit what few candles he had, leftovers from an ex-girlfriend. They lit up the living room enough that nobody was in danger of stubbing their toe on any furniture. “A game? Uh, yeah, yeah, that’d be cool.” He had been dying to get to know his neighbor; he’d just been too much of a chicken to go introduce himself. “I don’t think so? I mean, I feel like a lot of people don’t know their neighbors anymore.” 

Her eyes looked around curiously, though she could definitely tell that Mike wasn’t the neatest, but he still made an attempt to in his own way. She found it endearing, in a weird way. Her eyes landed back on his with a smile and she nodded with a bright grin to his response. She was excited to get to know the boy she often exchanged shy waves and glances towards. “You think so? Huh...I guess you’re right. I knew most of my neighbors growing up, I think because most of them I went to school with and all. Hopefully that doesn’t make me one of those busybody neighbors,” She smiled sheepishly. “Should we do 21 questions or would you rather?” 

Vivian sat staring at her phone, for once not knowing what to do. This thing.. whatever it was that was forming with Nessa was actually making her nervous. The fellow brunette was her best friend, and she didn’t want to risk losing her if thing went sideways. This trip to Italy could solidify it one way or another and Vivian didn’t think she could handle it. Regardless, a suitcase sat packed and ready at her front door. She groaned aloud as another text from Ness came through. “What the fuck am I suppose to do..” She mumbled to herself.  [TEXT] Vivi: Nessa, I don’t.. I don’t know if I should go.

Vanessa made a concerned face at the message. Not too long from now, the raven-haired girl would be on a trip to Milan and it wasn’t like she could say no, especially the fact that this was her career that she’d be saying no to. As much as she wanted to turn back and convince Vivian to stay, there were some things she couldn’t sacrifice. 

[ V - Text ] Vivi. This is a now or never situation. You could go and let all of your worries melt away or you could stay. 

[ V - Text ] I really want you to go and I wish I could turn back to tell you to come, but I can’t miss this flight either. 

[ V - Text ] You have 30 minutes to decide, whatever you choose, I’ll respect your decision. xx <3

She was headed across campus towards the wings that held all of the music rooms. The blonde had a keyboard in her apartment but there was something she wanted to try out on a full sized piano. Her head was playing through the song she’d been working on, the one she was headed to play through now. Brushing shoulders with a man as she walked past had Arista furrowing her eyebrows. The scent of humans clung heavily to everyone on campus but he smelled different. Her nostrils flared as she tried to identify the scent. His voice stopped her in her tracks, and the woman turned, lips already turning up in a smile. “Did I?” As far as she knew, she hadn’t. Arista was sure she would have heard it. But he was cute, so she couldn’t resist the flirty smile. 

Sulley nodded, sure he wasn’t exactly telling the truth, but there was just something about her, from the smile and the way that she looked up at him that had him completely entranced by her. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it was of much significance, but, just in case,” He held out the pen towards her. In the back of his mind, he still tried identifying her scent. She didn’t smell human, but he also knew the scent of a vampire as well. Maybe she was masked, hiding from someone. 

“A towel? Oh, uh, right. Yeah…” Shaking his head, the man let out a soft laugh and shut the door behind her. “Uh, wait here a second.” Disappearing down the hallway, Mike grabbed a towel from the closet in the hallway and grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his room. Soon, he was walking towards her with the clothing held out. “Here, uh…these will probably be a little big on you but at least they’re dry. The pants have a, uh, a drawstring so…they should work…I think.” He held out the flashlight he was holding before turning on the light on his phone. “The bathroom is the first door on the right…you can change in there while I try to find something else to light up the living room.” 

Trixie nodded and let out her own soft giggle. She waited patiently for Mike to return, her curious eyes wandering around the darkened home, the only illumination being the occasional flashes of lightning. She smiled shyly and took the clothing and wrapped the towel around her small frame. “Thank you. I think this’ll work! And first door to the right, got it,” She nodded and lastly took the flashlight. She followed Mike’s directions, first door to the right. She quickly dried off and changed into the clothes he gave her and took down her hair to let it air dry. She took a breath, emerging from the room to where Mike stood. “So um...since we’re gonna be here a while, at least until my dad makes it back, did you...want to play a game? You know like one of those ice breakers since we kinda know each other but kinda don’t? Is that weird?” She nervously rambled.

Emrys didn’t make it far, and despite her quiet voice he heard her speak. One part of his brain was trying to figure out why she seemed familiar, while the other was wondering if the reason she stared at him was because she felt them same? No, that would be insane, He had never seen her before and wished never to see her again at this rate, but his curiosity got the better of him this time. Slowly he turned and faced her once more, looking down at the cane in question. The shaft was as black as onyx, while a silver skull wearing a crown sat at the front fo the handle. A subtle nod to who he was that no one ever caught on to. “What of it?” he asked her, voice still firm, but softening ever so slightly. 

It was a strange and surreal moment. It seemed like he had recognized her in the same way she found him familiar...but neither one wanted to say anything. She understood, though. She didn’t want to be seen as insane, it was bad enough they had spent the last five minutes at each other’s throats. In any case, even if he was familiar...it would probably be the last time they’d see each other. At the cane, she carefully revealed her arm. “It matches my birthmark, well, the skull does. I never understood why I had it...and um...I’ve also seen the cane before too,” She responded before letting her arm fall back to her side quickly. 

Henry sat when Lula pulled him away from the golden, but she could tell he was still eager to play with him. They really did need to work on his manners still. Lula smiled at the man before her. “Okay, good. I know dog park’s can be a little overwhelming to some dogs.” She let Henry go, and the lab instantly went over to Charlie and started sniffing him, then nudging the tennis ball towards him. “He’s an absolutely gorgeous golden retriever. What’s his name?” The blonde asked, moving to sit on the ground by Apollo, feeling a bit better about the interaction.

“Oh, trust me, been there done that. This big guy right here was a nervous pup when I brought him here, but within the first hour he wound up making friends like you wouldn’t believe. This little guy seems to be a social butterfly too,” Apollo complimented with a bright grin. Charlie excitedly sniffed the pup and excitedly wagged his tail when the ball was brought to him. He nudged the ball back to Henry encouraging the pup to go for it. “Thank you! That’s my Charlie right there. He and I go way back. Who’s the little man over there?”