#featheredmusing

"you're so much prettier up close than on that stage." victor tells her, then dropping her hand. he gestures over to the small table in the room, where the complimentary champagne and flutes were, and usher her towards her glass. "were you able to look over all the paper work?" the male asks, standing behind her as he reaches past and fills her flute. "you saw that all your NEEDS will be taken care of?"

The soft weight of Amara's arms around his shoulders from behind was the first thing in days that could instantly knock him off course. Hayden let out a long, deep sigh, finally leaning back into her embrace as he reached up and covered her hands with his own. "A minute?" He let out a soft, but tired chuckle. "You know as well as I do that a a minute in this room usually ends up being three hours. You're playing a dangerous game with that timer." He followed her gaze to the monitors, where a visualization of the Orion capsule showed it as a triumphant speck against a vast digital void. "Not quite at the moon yet, however, they're beyond high Earth orbit and are in deep space, so they're getting pretty close. About more than two-thirds of the way there. But everything is going according to plan, and it's exactly where it needs to be. If it continues that way, they'll reach the far side of the moon tomorrow. Or Monday, rather."

"Right? Don't you think we should do this way more often, even when it's not Valentine's Day?" Ainsley beamed, her face flushed a warm, wine-tinted pink. The room was a chaotic mess of discarded popcorn kernels, empty chocolate wrappers, the sound of music blasting through the speakers, and the glow of the television, but in this moment, it felt like the only place in the world that mattered. She reached out to grab her wine glass that had been sitting unoccupied for a good fifteen minutes, finally taking another sip of it as the song came to an end. "Honestly, men are so exhaustin'. But this? It's just so easy. Like, this is... Everythin', y'know?"

“i don’t think they’re home yet,” ravi admitted as soon as he saw them come through the door. but something in him shifted the second he noticed them. his roommate had been seeing them for a while now, and no matter how much he tried to stay out of it, he couldn’t stop thinking about them. every time they showed up, it pulled his attention without trying. “hey,” he added, softer this time, stepping a little closer, trailing after them. “what’s going on? you seem… pretty upset.” he hesitated for a second, not wanting to pry but also not really sure how to just ignore it either. “i’m sure they’ll be home any minute,” he said, falling back on what he knew, his roommate’s schedule practically second nature at this point. “why don’t we just… watch something for a bit? might take your mind off it.” it wasn’t much, and he knew that. but he was trying. and maybe he was crossing a line, maybe he shouldn’t be getting involved at all, but there was a part of him that just couldn’t stand seeing them like that. "i know i might be the last person you want to talk to but i'm here."

"s’not the same, baby." harper purred, the smirk upon their lips purely smug. blue eyes drank in the tiny girl's form, preying upon her. they nodded at the question, blonde hair spilling forward. "big difference, gracie. i can show you, if you want."

"Ok, so do you wanna vent or do you need to just drink and forget? Because I'm happy to offer either."

"Ok, I'm not trying to be a nosy asshole, but I have to know.... How did it go?"

"god—that fucking sucks." elijah chuckles. his hands raise with the shaker and the drinks pour into the glasses soon after. "but the REAL question is," he slides her glass over to her before taking a sip of his own, "and you have to answer honestly." eyes lock onto hers. this is serious. "did you..." he stifles a laugh. "sleep with him after that?"