rainbow

“Don’t they only card for rated R movies when you’re under seventeen?” He let the question slip out before he actually gave it any thought, realization soon enough dawning on him. “Oh, oh; now I see why you’re annoyed,” he couldn’t help the laugh that followed his words. “If it makes you feel any better, I normally get carded any time I buy alcohol.”

“Yepp. So they thought I was under seventeen. Which is great, let me tell ya,” she pushed her lips to the side as she gave a small sigh. “I do, too. We just have baby faces, I guess. Means we’ll look good when we get older, apparently.”

“True, and I had some bangin’ lingerie picked for it, too.” Amari laughed. “I’ve worked hard for this body, and I’m damn well gonna dance while I still have it. But it’s weird, right? Taking your clothes off in a club owned by your ex?”

“You do give off sort of college girl with a fake ID vibes, if I’m being perfectly honest.  But I wouldn’t put it past a dude to take his bad mood out on someone, especially a woman who looks like, well, you. I  also feel like it could’ve been a total creepy moment and he was trying to get your name without having to ask if he thought you were cute,” she says almost offhandedly, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s a weird, sort of creepy moment, and you feeling weird about is valid  but the one thing you can take from it is that you’re going to look like you’re in your twenties when you’re in your forties?”

“What does that mean?” Violet looked at the woman, tilting her head for a moment. “Maybe, but he could have just said something instead of making me give an id,” she pushed her lips to the side in thought for a moment. “True, but I mean, it still kind of sucks to still be ided for things, you know? And then you have to find your license and pull it out and then put it back while you have your hands full with food. Not too fun.”

       “As long as the nice part overweighs, what does it matter? Everyone should be allowed to be a little brat sometimes.” Emily didn’t understand the people who were constantly brats, but she knew she could be a bit bitchy at times as well. “You’re right. But I kind of weird my parents would forget me too every time we left for a vacation.”

“True. I’m only that way around certain people, so that’s really the only time i can be bratty. If you’re mean to me, I’ll give it right back at ya. Plain and simple,” she smiled at Emily, giving a shrug. “I was raised by my grandma and she has forgotten me at the mall before, but that was kind of my fault for hiding in the round clothing racks.”

“Gotta love that movie theater bureaucracy. I think they stopped carding me when I hit thirty.” He smirked, shaking his head amusedly. “Or he was on some sort of power trip. I wouldn’t put it past these guys – you see how much they charge for popcorn these days, right? Something shady’s going on there, you can’t convince me otherwise.”

       “Oh, Luna is the same. I think she’s a lot like me in that way. I wouldn’t be able to be mean to a stranger either,” she admitted with a small smile. Emily was aware that she was too nice for her own good at times, but she just couldn’t change that. “Maybe not safe. But it would definitely be fun. I always watch that movie before Christmas and I never stop wanting to try it out.”

“I have my moments. I can be the nicest person in the world or I can be a brat. Really no middle ground, sadly. The nice part is more often than anything,” she gave an innocent shrug, her eyes staying on the woman. “Oh, I always wanted to. Although, I’ll never understand how they forgot a child. Seemed weird to me.”

“Well, if you’re asking me, definitely older than eighteen, but not by much,” she teased, flashing the other woman a grin before shrugging her shoulders. “But yeah, man, all the time back in high school. Though, I guess back then it was completely valid that they did it. Can’t say I’ve had anyone get weird about it since I’ve been of age, though. I think I give off the vibe that I don’t have time for any bullshit.”

“Then I’m saying you look twenty one. Plus a few years,” the redhead smiled, giving the childhood friend a nudge. “Well, that’s not fair cause when I was in high school, I was thirteen. I was in college by the time I was actually allowed a license. I don’t know how my grandmother let me go to college without having a heart attack, to be honest,” she made a face as she thought about it. “Yeah, I can see it. Good thing you’re nice to me.”

Brushing her shirt down as she rose from her chair, Tyler stayed in place for a moment before she was prompted forward. There was very little about the therapy appointment that she was interested in, but it was something that was heavily suggested for her as she began her recovery process. “Much? Kinky,” she mumbled back in reply as she fell into step with the therapist, making their way back into the office. Roxie stayed right at her feet, nose prodding into her leg to keep her going forward. As they reached the office down the short hallway, Tyler plopped into one of the chairs, immediately letting her hand sink into Roxie’s fur as they sat down. “So, um. I don’t really know what the point of all of this is, but….here I am, I guess.” There was a lot that she was internalizing, not talking about, and holding in, but she certainly didn’t see herself going down that path any time soon. Mostly she was just doing it to appease the powers that be who were helping handle her transition back into the civilian life.

“I do what I can,” she smiled as she sat down on the couch beside the woman, setting the notepad beside her, not wanting to use it yet. “I know how you feel with therapists. I went to a few before I became one. It’s hard to talk when you don’t know if they understand or you think you can handle it on your own. I’m not going to force you to talk about anything, which is what I’m promising, but I do want you to know that I’m here for you. We can talk about whatever you want. But I would like to get to know you as a person. I will introduce myself as well,” she smiled as she set some of the red hair behind her ear. “Alright, well, I’m Violet. I prefer first name because I just feel weird when people call me Ms Michaels. Not my thing. Anyway, I’m originally from LA and went to UCLA. My grandmother raised me and she’s a firecracker still. The reason I became a therapist is because I have PTSD myself. I was in a very bad relationship and it ended even worse. So I moved here and now I try to help people. If they let me help them, anyway.” Taking a deep breath, she played with her nail, a trait that formed after she moved to Seattle.

closed starter for @violet-michaels​

Tyler had been sitting in her truck outside of the therapist’s office for the better half of an hour before she finally stepped foot through the front door. Her service dog was at her side, nosing at her side to keep her walking to the front desk. “Ah - yeah…Tyler. Harrison. I’m…a bit late,” she mumbled to the receptionist, shrugging helplessly. It had to be something they saw a lot, people not showing up on time to appointments. It was her first one, so she probably should have made more of an effort to get there in a timely manner, but instead she was there twenty minutes late and with a skeptical gaze. Given instructions to wait off to the side in one of the chairs, Tyler took her seat, eyes drawn to the ground until she heard the door open up again to the back offices, a young looking woman stepping out and calling her name. “Sorry for being late,” she greeted, one hand curled into the fur of her dog as she got up, awkwardly waiting for instruction.

Pushing away the paperwork she got into the garbage, Violet gave a sigh as she ran her hand through her red hair. A part of her was hoping that the move to Seattle a few years back would have kept her past in LA, but it always seemed to follow her with random letters from the court. Once her eyes caught the time, she looked at her calendar for the day, noticing that the new client was a little late. Nothing unusual. Even Violet was late to her first appointment with a therapist. It was an adjustment to accept that you needed to get help and it wasn’t on Violet to judge. When she got the notice that the woman showed up, the redhead slowly stood up, walking out to the waiting room. A smile formed when she saw the woman and what looks to be her service dog, giving a small wave. “Oh, don’t worry. You’re here now, that’s what matters. Come to my office. I won’t bite much,” a small smirk formed, almost to relax the woman beside her.

       “It was just an idea,” she pointed out, a small smile playing around the corners of her lips. “Okay, okay, I take it back. I actually tried to teach Luna that, but she won’t even bark when someone’s ringing the bell. I guess she wants me to die,” she joked, rolling her eyes. “So maybe a Home Alone trap isn’t such a bad idea.”

“Matilda is the most friendliest dog, but that isn’t always a compliment. When I want her to protect me, she basically just ignores it and barks at her reflection,” the smile grew on her face as she nodded. “I think it would be fun to do a home alone trap. Always wanted to, but I don’t think it would be too safe.”

“I think they’re required to. And some people just have a really shit sense of ages, so I wouldn’t take it personally,” Kenzie suggested with a half shrug. She certainly wouldn’t place Violet as that young, but there were plenty of people that likely would just because ages were hard to determine at times. “I doubt he was doing it on purpose to be a dick, but…also entirely possible that he was.”

“You would probably get it. We both look younger for our ages. Although, in my case, I guess I look about eighteen. I thought I at least looked older than sixteen, but apparently I was wrong,” she pouted a little, her shoulders dropping. “You ever have that one movie worker that stares at your id as if you duct taped it and hid all the info?  Cause literally that’s what he did.”

        “Or maybe he thought you look cute and wanted to know your number and address,” Emily suggested, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She also had to show her ID more times than she wanted to admit considering how old she was, so it was a struggle she knew all too well. “If I were you, I’d check the lock on the door a little more often now,” she added teasingly.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true. At all,” the redhead pushed the thought away, giving a small shake of her head. “No, don’t say that. I might have to train Matilda to attack who comes into the apartment now. Or set some sort of Home Alone trap just in case.”

“So there I was, literally half naked in front of my ex-boyfriend, in his own club!” The brunette scoffed, raising her glass to her lips again. “Asolutely not the way I wanted to run into him, and surely not the way I wanted to start my job at LUX. I don’t even know if I can step foot back in there.”

“At least you weren’t fully naked? That’s always a perk,” Violet gave a small shrug. “At least you have the body for it, right?”