something in the wind

𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍? 𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍? 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. about dang time too, since he hadn’t done something stupid in the last week or so. but hey     –     it wasn’t as bad as that time he fell into the lake and lost his shoes…     his nice shoes too.     actually, this time was pretty bad too…     covered head to toe in small scratches, his body hurt as much as his pride did as he walked into the shop, shirt and shorts ripped in places that he didn’t even know touched the spiky bushes. what a friggin’ mess he must’ve looked like and the look of worry plastered on the shopkeeper’s face didn’t make him feel any better. “um… i fell?” he replied sheepishly, offering a hesitant smile as he shrugged and heard another soft ripped from the already fragile fabric. 

Sally huffed as she looked him over, shaking her head as she heard fabric tear. “Oh Ron...” She sighed, taking him by the arm and shoulder and leading him towards the back room. Both to find him something to wear temporarily and to see what damage had been done to his body. “Fell in what exactly? It looks like you had a run in with at least a dozen cats and lost.” She shook her head. “Here, put this on for right now.” She murmured, picking up a robe and handing it over to him. “And then let me see the damage.”

It was definitely... a sight to behold, to say the least. The other woman’s arms were overflowing with... so many pies it looked like? What could she possibly need with so many pies? Looking down at her own mostly empty cart, Sally hurried over to the young woman. “I’m sorry, but would you like some help with those? You can use my cart if you want.” She offered politely, offering a small smile.

Sally was working on some sketches for a few new outfits when the bell above the door dinged, signalling a new customer entering. Sally looked about, about to greet the customer, but she caught a glimpse of him before any words could come out. Ron, in tattered clothes, covered in scratches. Her eyes widened almost comically, Sally raising to her feet and gathering her skirts, hurrying over to Ron. “What on earth happened to you?” She asked, looking him over with furrowed brows. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

               JIM WAS SITTING in the tiny backroom of the small parlour, working on some designs which people had requested during the last couple of days. he was completely lost in concentration when he heard the bell of the entrance door ringing, followed by someone calling out for him. slightly reluctant, he looked up from his sketchbook and sighed, putting down the pencil and making his way to the small counter. “ sally. “, he spoke when he recognised the woman standing before him. “ to what do i owe the pleasure ? “, a question accompanied by an arched up eyebrow and a half smile tugging at his lips. 

Sally smiled up at Jim as he came into view, moving closer to the counter. “I actually wanted to bounce some more tattoo ideas off of you. I’m feeling the itch to get a new one again.” She confessed with a soft chuckle, wrinkling her nose. “You and I always come up with the best ideas, I thought we could possibly do it again?”

Sally was a regular customer of the Rat-A-Tat Tattoo Parlour. All of her ink was done there, primarily done by Jim Hawkins. She let herself into the shop, seeing it was mostly empty. Must’ve been a slow day. “Jim? Are you here?” Sally called out curiously, letting herself further into the parlour. Well she certainly hoped he was here at least, or she’d definitely look a little silly. 

☼*·ﾟNODDING along with her as she spoke, Ralph’s face fell. He didn’t think it was all that much of an issue and now really wondered if he needed to upgrade his wardrobe a bit more. Pursing his lips, he shifted awkwardly. “Are you sure about that? I don’t want to take you away if you have other work on, but I’d really appreciate the help. Were we gonna go now or?” Ralph stated. Putting his hands in the pockets of his gym shorts, he was curious if they could find a good set of outfits that would make him look like he actually knew what he was doing with his life. “I think a good set of button ups would be good and I’m curious if I’d look good in one of those vests with a nice pair of pants.”

“Oh no, I’ll be fine. I make my own hours.” She waved off his concern with a smile. “I can go now if you would like. You will need clothes while I’m repairing your flannels.” She pointed out, biting her lip as she looked him over. Of course he didn’t look necessarily bad in his gym clothes, but he definitely would need something else to wear besides just that. “I’m sure you’d look good in anything.” She offered, her cheeks going pink as she slung her bag over her shoulder, approaching him shyly. “Shall we?” She asked, biting her lip before moving past him to get to the door. 

Squealing, she reached out and squeezed Sally’s hand. “That would be so, so amazing! I think it would be up there with my favourite dresses ever, and it would certainly fit the theme. It’d be so pretty, definitely one of my ‘must keep’ outfits.” 

Sally was a little surprised at the contact, but welcomed it with a giggle. “It would be absolutely beautiful!” She told her happily. Her head tilted to the side, brows furrowing a little. “Aren’t all outfits ‘must keep’ ones?” She wondered curiously.

☁*·ﾟSHRUGGING HER SHOULDERS, she tried to play it off as not much of a big deal, because really it wasn’t. “i am very proud, but it’s not all that important. i just help the volunteers get settled. i really do hope you’ll like it there. everyone is so nice,” she explained. camila loved bringing new people to the soup kitchen or any old members coming back. “either way, they’re gonna love having you there! we’ve changed things up a bit and improved our food. there’s some pretty cool stuff. we made philly cheese steaks the other day. super popular,” she explained, grinning. bouncing up and down with excitement, she nodded. “oh please! yes, we’d love that! you can help me out, make the new foods and check up on all the customers!”

“Oh I think it’s very important.” Sally assured her. “Every kitchen needs a head chef right? Or a person in charge?” She asked with a small smile, shaking her head at her. Maybe Camila was simply too modest. “It really sounds like it’s evolved. It was nice before, but it sounds absolutely amazing now.” She wrinkled her nose, grinning at the other girl’s excitement. It was rather contagious. “Oh I’d love to! I’m a cook myself so I’m sure I could help out a little!” She offered happily.

      ╰ · ☠ › LAUGHING, SHOCK NODDED “ yes, i can find new pants if i really had to. i can’t have someone who doesn’t believe in the paranormal fixing up my pants, now can i? “ she joked, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. “ people will do anything for a dollar or two now a days, and i get it. times are tough but there’s other ways to do it. lying and causing pain doesn’t have to be involved. you’re right though –– i’m sure there is far more good in the world than bad, just wish i could find some of my own. “

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m here then huh?” Sally teased, shaking her head as she looked at her happily. “Times are hard... but we should be helping each other, not conning each other for a quick buck. That’s not how the world should work...” Sally murmured, brows furrowing a little. “What do you mean by that exactly?” She wondered, looking at Shock and tilting her head to the side. “You wandered in here didn’t you? This is a little corner of goodness, right?”

He waved away her concern about taking up his time. “Nonsense. I’m in charge of my time, not someone else. I mean it, you need help, you can call me. Alright?” He gave the tip of her nose a small tap, then slipped his hands into his pockets. He shook his head as she apologized. “No need to apologize, Ms. O’Hara. I understand. Busy is good. I don’t fault you for having a successful business. But I do agree, I need to see this movie. Especially if it’s one you’re so fond of.”

Sally’s nose immediately crinkled as he touched the end of it, unable to stop herself from giggling quietly. “Of course.” She assured him, smiling up at him happily. It was nice to see Mr. Bailey again, even if it happened to be in passing. “I really am, it’s pretty amazing...” She chuckled, glancing down at her feet and wringing her hands together. “Perhaps... if you aren’t busy at the moment, we could... watch it?” She suggested. “I was on my way home from work so my schedule is cleared?”

ツ*.:::.* SALLY HAD ALWAYS been one of edna’s favorites. the girl had spunk and a personality you couldn’t help but love. teaching her about clothes, stitches and all sorts of different fabric types was a dream come true. all she’d wanted to have were people that looked up to her, because maybe for a short moment, she could be worth something to people. she wanted the world to see her the way her family did. “and i’m grateful for you, sally dear.” pulling out all of her newer fabrics and all of her dying equipment, she placed it on the floor. heading back to the door, she locked it, as more of a safety precaution. “don’t need anyone coming in and messing up anything else.” spinning around, she grabbed a piece of fabric, cut two small bits away so she could tie it around her waist and handed it off to her. eyes watching her, taking a moment to wonder what she could possibly want in life and gained the courage to ask her. “sally? what are your hopes and dreams?”

Sally took the makeshift apron, chuckling softly as she pulled it on, tying it around her waist. She started cleaning up the mess Edna had made, setting aside all the ingredients she would need to make a fresh batch of cupcakes. She was tossing the burned ones in the trashcan when Edna asked her question, making her furrow her brows. “I’m not really sure...” She confessed, glancing up at her before smiling. “I guess to be happy. To keep my business and to keep my apartment and my freedom. Maybe travel the world... it’s all so big, there’s so much to see.” She mused. “Overall, happiness. How about you Edna?”

☁*·ﾟHER EYES STAYED focused on the girl in front of her, hoping she had a solution to the man that seemed to frustrate her to no end. “that’s good! no one deserves to be caught by someone they’re trying to avoid,” she explained. camila really didn’t like anyone not getting everything they wanted. while yes, she was spoiled and had no excuse, that didn’t mean she didn’t care about other people. in fact, she cared more than most people. “excellent! let’s make him really mad!” nodding excitedly, camila was glad someone else understood her love of the soup kitchen. the soup kitchen could use more people every day. there was no such thing as too many people. “yes, I am. i’m actually the assistant coordinator of volunteers! i’ve been there so much, they kind of just asked!” bouncing up and down as she started walking toward the soup kitchen, she turned to face the girl. “they’re all gonna be so happy to see you! we’re supposed to get in some desserts today too!”

Sally fell into step with Camila, smiling at her. “Sounds very important, you must be proud of that sort of position.” She chuckled, tucking a short lock of hair behind her ear. “Oh I’m not certain they’d remember me, I looked very different the last time I was in there.” She confessed. She was still sleeping on the streets hiding out from Finklestein when she frequented the soup kitchen, clad in rags or clothes that were too big on her. “But it would be nice to visit again, maybe I could help with things?”

“Really? Well, I’m sure you’d be able to come up with something great. Anyone who can regularly make their own clothes is clearly creative.” She knew what went well together, and could put together an amazing outfit - she’d simply never been able to make them. “Princess gown is a must. Something with lots of sparkles attached to it, because glitter was my second favourite colour as a child. Oh, and a flower crown would be needed because I was always obsessed with them. Maybe something like… The fanciest fairy in all the land - sparkly and flowery all at the same time.” 

As Marie described her outfit, ideas began to form in Sally’s head. Flashes of the dress and the different changes she could make and the tweaks she could add. “That’d be beautiful! Oh my God I want to make that so bad. Maybe we could incorporate that with the other dress suggestion you had? The one with the pants underneath?” 

“Theeeeere you go!” he said with a laugh when she started to smile. Her question caused a warm laughter fill the air as Hugo couldn’t help but laugh at that. It definitely wasn’t a laugh to mock her, it was more like just because Hugo found the question funny. “You know there’re a lot of muscles on your face and smiling uses a loooot of those muscles. And those muscles definitely are muscles that need training as well, just like the muscles on your body. So when you smile and laugh more, you train those muscles too. And believe me, I know this muscle stuff”, he added and flexed his arm showing that he definitely knew how to gain muscle.

Sally’s eyes widened at the sight of his arm- his bicep was bigger than her head, how had she not noticed? She bit her lip, looking back at him before giggling a little. “Well, I don’t know too much about muscle myself. This is all soft right here.” She flexed her own bicep, giggling as she poked it. “Yours is a lot bigger than mine, and I’m pretty sure you could use me as a weight.”

“Well, hopefully we’re dressed dark enough that no one noticed,” she said, a smile appearing across her lips when she noticed the older girl was clad in all black too, weather be damned. “Nice to meet you, Sally– I’m Gogo,” she replied, then glanced in the direction of the car that had just driven by. “Trying to avoid someone?”

“I’d like to think we are.” Sally chuckled a little, wrinkling her nose. “It’s nice to meet you Gogo.” She told her sweetly, following her gaze and sighing softly. “Actually yes... did you see that man who came by here in a wheelchair? That’s my.. that’s Finklestein. I'd rather avoid him if I could help it.”

Anyone who encouraged her more out of the box ideas, was always going to be put in Marie’s good books - which was always the better option than the alternative. “Exactly! And who wouldn’t want to let their imagination go wild? It always looks so fun watching events where people can get as creative as they want - and I super want to see what people come up with. Can I ask what your’s would be, or is it a secret?” 

Sally giggled a little, wrinkling her nose. “I honestly don’t know... I’m so used to making my own clothes that I don’t know what I’d make for an event like this. I’m sure I’d think of something.” She mused. Maybe Sarah’s white dress from the movie Labyrinth, but in black or maybe even red. “What about you? I can see you in the most magnificent princess gown.”

“I’ve never heard of a Finklestein before! But I do know a thing or two about avoiding people.” Smirking, Bailey nodded heroicly. “You got it! I’m Doctor Mercado, but you can call me Bailey. This Finklestein, is he mean?” he wondered aloud, looking her in the eyes with a serious look. “Because that’s not okay, and I’m sorry about him. Wait. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’VE NEVER HAD ONE?!” Bailey asked incredulously. 

“It’s nice to meet you Bailey, my name’s Sally.” She told him with a small smile and nod. “And he’s just... he’s someone I’d rather avoid if I could.” She decided with a sigh. She supposed mean was an accurate word to describe him though. Her brows arched at his shocked statement, glancing around to make sure Finklestein didn’t come back to investigate the commotion. “I’ve never had a boyfriend in general. I lived a very sheltered life until recently... Finklestein didn’t like me talking to people in general, there wasn’t ever time to even think about boyfriends.”