#thread: arlo

She was wasted, and she knew it. As much as she wanted to fool herself, it was extremely likely that plenty of folks around her realized it too.

The room spun around her highlighted blonde head as she slipped into a booth at the local diner. Maybe some coffee would sober her up, she thought to herself as she swayed slightly in her seated position. Could she even afford a cup of coffee? The thought sent her clumsy hands rifling through her pockets and emerging with a small mass of crumbled bills and pocket change that spilled from between the cracks of her fingers and clattered loudly across the table. Maybe if the crowd in the diner hadn’t been a mix of older couples and hungover students she wouldn’t have earned as many side eyed glances for her sloppiness, but where they had sobered up by now Seneca was still thoroughly inebriated. 

Seneca wasn’t even remotely bothered--or aware--of the looks she’d earned herself. Instead, she was mostly focused on flipping the menu at the table back and forth looking for something she wanted. Her eyes drifted slowly to the wad of cash she’d placed at the seating across from her, where someone would have enjoyed the meal with her--if I had any friends who could stand to put up with my shit. There was a $20 bill, which meant there should be enough for her to eat, but her thought process quickly shifted to how ridiculously hungry she was as she leaned forward against the table. 

dusk had fallen over the irving founders festival like a thick blanket, the newly darkened sky’s impact lessened some by the bright lights throughout the park. if it hadn’t been for the way it all brought a new ambiance to the scene, the passage of time probably would’ve gone unnoticed by the crowd—august included. but it wasn’t the blackened sky or stage lights or lit food stalls that now caught her attention. no, the source of glow that’d fascinated her came in a much smaller form. having approached one of the many firefly-filled jars that’d been stacked alongside the stage, she gently pressed her fingers to the glass. “what do you imagine would happen if we just started letting them out?” august asked just loud enough for arlo to hear, gaze still fixated on the little enclosure; the way the bugs’ light illuminated her fingertips, revealing a blush of blood underneath the surface. after a couple seconds, however, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure he’d heard her. “one jar every few minutes and i doubt anyone would even notice until they were all gone.”