v. acosta

so he'd been right then. admittedly, a rare thing to happen when it came to milo's hunches, the tendency to overthink or be overly concerned blinding all sides for rational thought. but when he's right, he's always right, and there's a relief in his chest that he made it all the way over.

otherwise, she'd be alone right now, wouldn't she?

the fact he cared enough to check almost made her cry more.

But Jameson is better than Patron, by far.

Aiden would grimace through it if Tori had chosen the Jameson, but he had a bit of a guess she would lean toward the tequila. "That surprises me. Tori Acosta, being out-block-and-bashed by Fairford's annual music festival. I'd have thought you'd be running the dance floor up by the stage." Not an actual dance floor, but the space taken by various patrons to let loose and feel the music. Aiden's watched them curiously from where he's sat on a blanket on the sidelines, unbudging and stone-faced.

For the moment though, she was perfectly contented to relax far away from the crowds and noise. Where an ease tended to rest over the pair wherever they made their perch for the time being.

"course, she's my friend. and my favourite little hobbit."

FAIRFORD MEME #2 — RUMOR HAS IT...

Everyone loves to keep up to date on all the latest gossip and drama that goes on around this town...whether you want to admit it or not. Now is your chance to anonymously (or not) send everyone the juiciest rumors you've heard about their muses.

Rumor has it...

how he hadn't gotten lost on his way to tori's he'll never know, a small mystery he'd leave between god and the last remaining survivor's of his braincells, supposing that perhaps he'd switched to autopilot the moment he'd decided he wouldn't play this series of short texting games any longer. not that milo would consider himself a texter by any stretch, always option for a phone call to wrap up any silliness quickly so he could get on with his day promptly.

but tori wouldn't pick up the phone. and milo needn't anything else to make up his mind.

he'd let her know, of course. a small threat of 'i'll come over if you don't tell me what's wrong i swear to god' even though it's almost midnight and he had work the following day just after lunch. it'd be her own fault for not believing him at this point, he thinks. he's a man of his word, after all.

and what's missing a few hours of sleep when his friends weren't alright?

so here he stands, hands placed on his hips at tori's doorstep after knocking, breathless from the rush over without his truck and rather concerned. it's only when she opens the door that milo's shoulders relax a little, a relief of sorts that at least she would do that much.

until he spots she'd been crying.

today, just so happened to be one of them.

when milo had asked how she was doing in their text conversation, she’d admittedly danced around the topic. when he’d playfully threatened to come to her place if tori didn’t tell him what was wrong, she’d had half a mind to think he was joking. but in his defense, she’d known him just long enough to know he was a man of his word. so while she was still surprised at the knock on her door not too long after the texts ended was beyond her.

she almost didn’t open the door, but at this hour, it could only be milo. and tori wasn’t about to leave him outside, even if that meant him seeing she wasn’t, in fact, alright like she’d lied. wiping at the tears that were on her cheeks, she opened the door.

"Okay, since we're already microdosing the Halloween spirit out here, what's your most irrational fear? I'll go first -- I don't trust birds."

with a nod of agreement, there’s a comfort in knowing that he wouldn’t miss time with her. granted, it would mean that he’s working through all of it, but if tori didn’t mind so much and wanted to be there, he wouldn’t try to deter her either. except of course, if it began to get too late. the last thing he wanted was to find himself worrying about her as she went home. hadn’t she mentioned that she knew aiden and they’d been friends for a while? maybe he could call him, persuade him to make sure she ended up safe…

taking in the length of the beach and just how far they’d gotten – and still having no idea where he’d abandoned his sneakers earlier on – milo takes advantage of holding tori’s hand to gently turn her into a spin, facing back the way they came. he brings her in close to his side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and huffs playfully. “some people would call that bullyin’, ya know. take it to heart and everythin’,” he pouts, putting his now free hand to his chest, even with a grin on his face.

she enjoyed his company for the sake of it, for however long or short she had his attention. so even if visiting him at the bar meant a few short conversations in between other customers orders, she'd take it over not getting to see him due to his busier schedule. tori was known to carve out the time for people she cared about, and unsurprisingly milo had wormed his way to the top of her list.

a soft giggle escaped her when he spun her, tori's arm snaking loosely around his torso as they walked. "oh? bullying? here i thought we were testing out new nicknames for each other." she joked, turning her head up to him as her nose playfully scrunched. "but nah, we're gonna have to come up with better ones, for sure."

THE CHARACTER.

FULL NAME: Vitoria "Tori" Acosta

GENDER: Cis woman

PRONOUNS: She/her

AGE + BIRTHDAY: 29 + October 31, 1993

LENGTH OF TIME IN FAIRFORD: Her whole life

HOUSING: Coral Coast

OCCUPATION: Owner of Main Street Records

THE INTERVIEW.

What’s it like, living in Fairford? Did you ever picture yourself settling down here or did you always know this would be your home?

“Fairford has always been my home. I’m a born and bred native, sweetheart, so I’ve never really imagined myself anywhere else. At least in a permanent sense.” Vitoria mused, biting into a fry. “I considered settling in Ireland permanently, after college when I was traveling. It was the closest sense to home that I’ve felt beyond the borders of Fairford, so you can imagine the temptation for me. But I guess to make a long answer short; I’ve always known I’d end up in town one way or another. And when I inherited the record store, it set things in motion for me.”

If you could recommend one hidden gem around town everyone should try, what is it? What makes it so special?

“Well now if I told you where a hidden gem of a place was, that would defeat the whole purpose of it being a hidden gem. Wouldn’t it babes?” Tori joked before shaking her head. “I’m just messing with you, we don’t gatekeep here. Crusty’s, the pizza place yea? If it suddenly becomes super popular after this and I can’t get a table I’m comin’ to fight. But they make the best pizza, absolutely never fails to brighten my day—or night—depending on when I manage to grab a box for myself.”

What’s your family like? Are you still close, or have you blocked all their numbers?

“My family is…my family.” She snorted in laughter. “Listen, don’t get me wrong, I adore every single one of those rascals. But if you’ve ever met the Acosta’s you’ve probably come to realize we—yes including me—can be a lot. Though that just means any of our parties are very entertaining. I love them though, and I have yet to block them, even if some sort petty feud erupts because you just know I've gotta get a front row seat for that.”

Top five songs currently on your Spotify?

“I can feel the judgement starting…but okay here goes: 1. becoming potatoesby wonderlands x showtime 2. chasing rainbows (remix)by the high kings & badscandal 3. alive by the scarlet opera 4. only time will tell by asia 5. i’ll be waiting - choir version by cian ducrot. I’m sure you can imagine how chaotic my Spotify suggestions are, not to mention my playlists.”

We’ve all had our fair share of shit hit the fan and moments in the sun — tell me about a defining moment in your life, good or bad.

Tw miscarriage, car accident “I was pregnant, back when I was traveling the year after college graduation. I hadn’t told anyone. Then I was in a car accident with some friends and I lost the baby, I hadn’t been very far along but the trauma was enough. After that I was faced with the reality of what I wanted out of life, and how I wanted to live my life afterwards.”

It’s the little things in life; tell me three things that bring you a great deal of joy or put a smile on your face.

“Oh let’s go, these are the kind of questions I love to answer. My Pinterest boards could probably give you better answers but let’s try this. 1. Driving my Bronco on those picturesque summer afternoons that are moving into evenings, where the sun is setting but the air is still warm. Some 80’s or 90’s song is playing on the radio and seems like time is irrelevant. 2. Picking vegetables from my garden, or watering flowers when the sky is that ominous grey and the clouds are rolling in, the smell of rain on the air and the anticipation that that first crack of thunder brings. 3. Working late nights at the record shop restocking for the next day, music playing softly in the background with takeout boxes scattered on the counter.

THE PERSONALITY.

— + enigmatic, confident, warm-hearted, — - impulsive, calculating, cunning