#phxstart

    “   some douche bag keeps buying me drinks.  this message you’re gonna help me send is way overdue.  “  rose slides the drink to them,  careful not to spill more than condensation.    “ from him,  to me,  to you.   de nada. “

taking bear with her for a walk through the gardens was a fairly regular occurrence - sure, she could run with him around their neighborhood, but sometimes she liked to stretch her legs a little further, treat herself to some froyo and let bear run himself ragged. he was always quieter at night when she did, a little more settled and with the weather refusing to change from summer to fall ( her two years in the city told her there was no seasonal change for her, not anymore ) he’d been more restless than normal.

he was a well behaved dog, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still just that - a dog who got excited, and though he was good about staying close when he was off leash, he took off without warning, stella almost tripping over herself to catch up to where he’d gone, licking another’s hand and spinning around for them, clearly lavishing in the attention. 

“you’re going to spoil him,” she teased lightly, kneeling down to clip his leash back to his collar. “he loves attention - as if i don’t lavish him in it enough. sorry about this - he didn’t accidentally nip you, did he? he can do that when he’s overly excited.” 

“Oh my god, this smells amazing.” So good that he’s talking to himself out loud. He’s been standing in this aisle for a good twenty minutes, holding a bottle of laundry detergent in each hand. “You know, I never used to be this like,” he says idly to a person nearby, “But this new detergent smells like a fresh summer’s day and I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Oh, come on... Have a drink with me.”

         It was a habit at this point in time. Phoebe would happily blame her job for it, honestly. The way she so easily stuck her nose into things, in-tune to the conversation next to her. A young girl, talking over the phone to what she could only assume to be her mom, or a friend maybe. But she was having relationship troubles, of all things. In Phoenix, of course. Phoebe could never understand why anyone would want to stay with a cheater, work through it even, but she dealt with it all the time. It was tiring, exhausting. Was she watching the girl now? Subtly. Body language, expression, all of it. People deserved to be loved by the right person. She was almost so consumed by her thoughts - actually, she was - she didn’t even notice the person taking a seat across from her, not until the scrape of their chair being pulled in sound in her ears. Dark head of hair whipped around quickly, a look of guilt flashing across her features, “Did you say something?”

   sid finds sworn enemy in a bar,  circa ten pm,  cornered in a bathroom.   she lounges pretty and thin under a young woman’s nose,  and she’s gone the next second.  snorted.  &.  as for the woman---  did i mention how young she is?  too young to be here.  well,  she straightens up,  donning satisfied smirk,  and as for the sound that leaves her mouth?   it’s familiar.  as familiar as the snort,  as this scene.      someone far away yet beside her sounds annoyance at the woman who is sid,  stood frozen in the doorway,  easy to skirt past.   this is fine.  her thoughts,  right now,  are memories:   and they are censored.  nobody is allowed to see them.   just know that they hold sid hostage for a good ten seconds too long,  before she finds her footing again--- returns to the party,  remembers how to breathe.    breathing is good  &.  there’s not enough air in here;  does no-one else think so?  jesus christ.    she abandons the bathroom,  the queue,  anyone she came with in search of the emergency exit.  this is not an emergency though.  this is fine.   so desperate to reach it,  she slams into about a million shoulders;  broad and dainty,  she doesn’t discriminate.  of course,  she’s the cause of a few spilled drinks,  she feels them soak through her shoes.  apologies?   no.  “ fucking move, “   until sid’s in the alleyway outside.  the chill is nice,  so is the large gulps of air,   palms flat on the wall,  eyes closed.  this is what absolute, skilled concentration looks like.

Bodie was well aware the moment his mother found him the first thing she'd notice was the wedding ring on his hand or the hickies hidden underneath his shirt collar. In the moment she'd notice that he could all but feel the world famous backhand of his thoroughly scandinavian mother against the back of his head with a few choice curse words and then tears of happiness at her son having run off and gotten married without her knowing. He could handle his parents reaction to having spent the last month in flying under the radar settling into married life. Bodie however knew his wife's parents were more likely to try and kill him sure they would be royally pissed that their high society former debutant had abandoned their silver spoons for plastic sporks at a county fair. Watching the center of his world run off into the crowd to squeal and share the news of her elopement with some of her friends she'd made while dating Bodie he drank the lemonade shakeup she'd handed him with a smile mentally preparing for the tidal wave of drama about to hit when his family found him at their favorite festival / fair of the year. "Is one supposed to win all the giant stuffed animals for them once your married or is it enough to have gotten her a four carat diamond? Both? Got to know how to plan the rest of the fair before my mother kills me for getting married by Elvis"

WHERE? ⇢ could be anywhere that makes sense honestly! the world is your oyster.  

WHEN? ⇢  monday, june 28th, 2021, approximately 5pm.

                    "Oh, come on! I need your honest opinion, alright? Complete honesty.” Abby was spinning as she spoke, a bit of nerves underlying her tone, hands on her hips to smooth any wrinkles there in her new dress. It was a little absurd that she scrambled to go out and purchase a brand new dress for mediation with her soon to be ex-husband over the ability to see her daughter a bit more, something that fell on her own shoulders with her incapability of being a damn adult, considering the woman just about had one for every occasion already stored away in her closet. But, well, as the date grew near, Abby grew a bit more irrational and assumed things like showing up well dressed would earn her a leg up in the mess she stepped in. “Too sexy? Too timid?” The brunette questioned, nose scrunched, before she stretched her arm out to swipe her drink from the table beside her to down just about half of the liquid. “God, this is so stupid...” Abby muttered under her breath.