Wanderlust

It’s not necessarily a secret, but it’s also not something she puts on display to everyone she meets, that Faye is a fan of photography. Most of the photos in her penthouse were taken by her own hands, and Bruno’s shop is one of her favorite places to end a long day. He’ll talk just as much or as little as you need him too, he’s knowledgeable as fuck about his products, and his business isn’t 100 percent legal. But is any business in Dayton perfectly on the up and up? “Bruno Bruno Bruno, today was a drag. I need to be dazzled.” She leans on the counter, chin rested upon her hands, pleading tone to her voice. “Please tell me you have something new and shiny and exciting for me to play with.”

She was going to be late by 45 seconds. Freya had wanted her back in the office with the black coffee in ten minutes. She’d almost made it, almost, if the asshole in the elevator had held it for her she would have been right on time. Brook’s chest tightens as she beelines towards the desk, making sure her hands don’t shake, that the coffee holders are settled just right on both cups, that there are no droplets. Maybe she’ll be lucky and Freya was busy on a call, pre occupied, wouldn’t notice. She tries very hard not to look suspicious as she takes her temporary seat, temporary because it seemed like she only ever had a moment or two to sit between sudden tasks. When she heard movement behind her she turned, trying to be as still and calm as possible. “Miss Beltori, here’s your coffee. Two cups, black, no sugar no cream, hot but not scalding.”

Emerson had been hanging out in the comic shop for the better part of an hour, tucked in a corner flipping through pages but not really processing the stories within. Her mind was a restless hum and she wasn’t willing to pay full price for drinks tonight. Which meant she needed to wait another 30 minutes until her favorite bartender came on. Wanting to get ahead of any potential hindrances to her plan, her gaze locked onto someone who looked just the right kind of nerdy to work there and possibly hold some level of authority. “I have a question,” she begins with a smile. “Well, two actually. The first is what time do you close. And the second question is only necessary if the answer to the first question is that you close sometimes in the next half hour.”

“Bentleeeeey. I brought pizza, come help me before it becomes an upside down doorstep pie!” It could be said that perhaps moving to a strange new town with your older brother was weird enough on its own. Moving there when you were both terrible at adulting and most especially cooking was well...great for the local restaurants. Probably terrible for their wallets. She made decent money as a PA, though her new boss terrified her to such a degree she wondered how long she was going to last. “Hurry hurry, my arms are turning into noodles!”

“So there I am, about to go enjoy my leftover dumplings from our chinese food binge the other night, and of course I get a call. This guy is like whisper shouting into the phone, I don’t know how else to describe it, I don’t understand how someone could do both at once, but he did. And he’s asking me for advice on how to get something out of his ass.”

Emerson pauses to take a bite of her pizza, it was imperative to get at least one slice down while it was still warm and gooey. When she was satisfied she sacrificed her slice back to the plate so that she could let her hands gesticulate as the drama of the story demanded. “I’m trying to figure out what the hell he’s got up there and he doesn’t want to tell me, he’s just asking me if he can do crunches or something to gravity whatever it is out.” She stifles a snort, then remembers she’s with the person she doesn’t have to stifle her crude mocking amusement in front of and lets out a deep laugh. “Billy I swear to god...I swear to god, when I finally get him to confess...here he’s at like a sex toy party...and he wanted to get a one time use out of some anal beads that were for sale. So he took them out of the box and brought them to like a private play space at the party and got them stuck. And wanted to get them out without a scene so that he wasn’t forced to pay for them.”

She’s hysterical now, a mess of gut wrenching sob laughs. Almost crying as she tries to get out the next bit. “I told him....I...told him...that I would have to send an ambulance and that next time he ought to keep in mind that you have to have permission to try before you buy and once something is up your butt it’s generally non returnable my friend.”

Location: Mum Tried Tattoo Parlour

Starter // @wanderlustxrp​

Tiernan’s looking for the perfect music to play over the shop’s sound system - Faye’s coming in for a tattoo, one that Tiernan is happy to do free of charge - and needs to set the vibe. The two have been close friends since meeting last year when Tiernan rolled into town, and the time they spend together is both cherished and absolutely wild. She adores Faye, adores how much fun they have together, even if it means toying with Tiernan’s ‘sobriety’. It’s been a long time since she’s felt any sort of genuine connection to someone, and Faye offers her that with no fine print. 

She settles on a playlist they built together before getting her station ready and cracking open a fresh box of black gloves. When she hears the door chime, she practically squeals, sliding back on rolling stool with a kick and grinning from ear to ear. 

“Hey babygirl,” she greets Faye, “C’mon in, I’m just about done setting up.” She gestures to the tattoo stencil of the split cocoon she drew up earlier in the day that’s sitting on her station. “Come look what I got for ya.”

~~

Faye is picky as to who she actually allows herself to grow fond of. Friends are very rare. The world is usually much more manageable when whittled down to enemies or people who had lucrative purpose. But Tiernan was one of the few individuals who filled her up with a sense of calm connection, an understanding and a desire for companionship. This wasn’t her first tattoo but it was going to be the first one she’d had done in Dayton, by Tiernan. 

“Hello gorgeous,” she greets, sidling up beside the brunette and placing her lips against her temple. That was the best part of their friendship. It was in turns platonically affectionate and sexually charged depending on the day and the mood. With no strings attached, no conversations needing to be had, they just were what they were and how they were at any given moment. Her eyes take in the tattoo stencil, and normally Faye works hard to hide her approval, to only give sneak peeks. But for Tiernan she beams and lets out a sound of contentment. “It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I pictured. You are so damn talented.”

–

“….Squirrely.” Elliot repeats, obviously put off by the word she’s chosen to describe him. He knows he looks like a fucking mess, but part of it is a physical manifestation of obsessive compulsive disorder. It can’t all be tied back to the fact that he is sick, and painfully so. She doesn’t know him. He honestly doesn’t know her. She’s another face around Dayton - that’s all he can really say on the matter. 

The food she’s now playing around with is making him sick to his stomach, and he swallows past the bile in his throat before bowing his head to stare at the table. She’s going on about being too drunk to clock him, and he doesn’t really take offense to it nor does he care much. Elliot has his own shit to worry about - like wherever the hell his plug is–

But she seems to know where he might be able to find someone else, so he lifts his head almost too enthusiastically. “…I need blues,” he tells her quietly. “Or…patches or…” he hesitates. On really bad days, he dabbles in darker shit - literal dope - but he’s too scared to say it. “Downers,” he finally mumbles. “I need downers.”

~~

He needed a hit. You live in a town like Dayton and you learn to spot withdrawal symptoms from a mile away. Her dancing around the topic was simply because she was not a nice person and she found it fascinating to watch him squirm. The way he lifts his head like she’s offered him a million dollars is also highly entertaining. “I can get you blues and patches. Benzos too and some Xany. Dope I can’t get into your hands tonight but I can give you the number of someone who will never make you wait once you get a repertoire with them.” 

She doesn’t act as a connection or a sales pitch for dealers for the money. She dabbles when the mood hits simply for the thrill of it. If she got a little cash out of it, that certainly wasn’t a bad thing. She wonders if this guy is new to town. He’s careful with his name like he’s waiting for the law to come out of the woodwork, as if he’s used to these sorts of conversations having to be under the radar and in alleyways. None of that necessary in Dayton. “What do you say?”

Faye smirked in a way that quirked her brow and set a twinkle in her eye. The girl was stunning, her smile was surely one that lit up a room as soon as she walked in, and Faye felt like she had to impress her. Faye often felt like she had to impress everyone in Dayton but that was clearly never going to happen. Still, it was - in her mind - better to want to impress rather than wanting to hide away from everyone, scared of how they might judge her. She’d once felt this so deeply it hindered her growth. Now, well, she was changing. Was it for the better? Only time would tell. “Sense memory.” Faye noted in a soft voice. “Even just the sight of a cigarette triggers a response in your body. Isn’t that fascinating?” Her smirk evolved into a full blown smile as the wonder of science rushed through her. Well, the one thing that hadn’t changed was she a total and complete nerd. Faye’s neck began to feel hot as a blush crawled up to her cheeks. There had only been two people in her life to call her cool and neither were people she trusted. “If it looks like I’m about to cry it’s one hundred percent because I am.” Faye rambled innocently. Yet another thing that hadn’t quite changed. “I could reference books all day but half the time when I do people around here look as if I’ve grown a third head.” She pocketed the cigarette, knowing she’d be asked for one later. She may not smoke but she’d come to start carrying packs of cigarettes purely due to the amount of times she was asked for one. As if she looked like a hard ass. She looked no softer than a Pomeranian. Although she didn’t quite have even the bark of a Pomeranian so there was that to ponder. “I think you’ve become my new favorite person in this place but don’t tell Evie that. She’d most likely shave my eyebrows off in protest.” Faye nibbled on her lip and gave a low chuckle, “I-I’m Faye. By the way. Oh that rhymed. Not my intention but very cool it happened like that. Please, carry on talking about literature….”

~~

“Oh is that the word for it? I just know it’s weird and occasionally inconvenient but also fascinating. Which is how I feel about a lot of things.”  Her voice trails off for a moment, she gets distracted by the way that smile blossoms like the sun peaking out upon the world with suddenness. “Oh no, don’t you cry cause I’m an empathy crier and I will cry too.” She took a step closer, fingers that had been worrying at the fabric of her shirt relaxed and a smile of her own. “I thought I was going to book bond with someone at the park the other day, but it turned out he was using the book pages to roll joints and I....” Brook had to stop and clutch her chest as the horror she’d felt resurfaced. “I didn’t think I was going to find someone to share book quotes with. Like the relief I feel.”  The name Evie hits her consciousness with a burst of...maybe...perhaps suspicion. But she let it go for now, wanting to focus on the brunette in front of her. “I like rhymes. Or words that start with the same letter or have a similar sound being close together. It makes talking feel like dancing, like singing to each other without a melody.” This was probably too forward, this was probably going to come off weird, but she couldn’t stop the words now, they were swan diving off her tongue with reckless abandon. “To uh...to take the vibe of one Carly Rae Jepson...Hey I just met you, and this is crazy. But we both like books. Do you want to have a book club with me maybe?”

One might assume, with the calling that Tate did pursue, that they would have a wealth of knowledge in regards to that question that was provided to them by the stranger. However, they were of the kind not to indulge in most vices besides perhaps alcohol with a wealthy and insistent client. They did, though, tilt their head, and their brows did raise in surprise. The woman lived in Dayton, with all its indulgence in those vices that come easily to the addictive human nature, and yet did not know? Ah, as the early British would say, how jolly green!

“THC will give you a high,” they explained in plain words.

Brook doesn’t mind the plain words response, in fact she’s grateful for it. Simple is better or else she’ll overanalyze and overcomplicate things. And aside from that the reply hadn’t come with condescending tone. “Ohhhhhh.” The sound is drawn out, neutral. Brook had never been high, but she didn’t think it was something she’d like, though she had no qualm with people who did. “I think the caffeine does enough damage so I’ll go with the high free options. What’s your favorite? Do you have a favorite here?”

location: heaven’s door strip club

        kenny has always admired girls confident enough to strip. sure she did it herself online but that was different, it was from the comfort of her own home. the blonde often found herself at heaven’s door so she could get fucked up while staring at all the beautifully talented girls and tonight was no exception. ordering a few pornstar shots she sat at the bar threw one back. “ugh, i wish i had the confidence to go up there. they look like they’re having so much fun, don’t you think?” kenny said over the music as she looked to the person beside her leaned against the bar.

~~

Faye was a strong believer that striptease was art. It was dance, it was seduction and human need turned into expressive motion. “As far as I’m concerned strippers are athletes. You know what kind of core strength you have to have to throw your limbs around so gracefully and get all your clothes off while displaying yourself with the perfect finesse? And my god have you ever taken a pole dancing class? The upper body muscles, god damn.” She shoots the girl a smile, intrigued by the longing in her voice. “Maybe they’re having fun or maybe they aren’t. You strip and you also become a bit of an actor. It’s your job to make them think that dancing for you, seducing you, is the most fun they’ve ever had in their lives.”

“what? isn’t this what makes you cool around here?” faye said around the unlit cigarette resting between her lips. she was careful not to bite down, afraid what substance might leak its way into her mouth. even after having a relationship with someone who used to smoke about a pack a day, faye didn’t have the balls to try any sort of addictive substance. it wasn’t that she frowned upon them. no. it’s just that she didn’t trust herself. she was so wound up and in control that one small taste of freedom might just do her in. “what’d the one kid say? ‘its a metaphor’. i honestly hated that book. there’s far better young adult novels to break a kids heart out there. but… here we are. youth literature only being put on screen if it involves some sort of tragic death.” she smiled slightly, trying to show that she was fooling around. honestly, she had no idea where this was going but evie said that she needed friends. this… well, this was her shitty way of trying to make friends.

~~

“No I get it, art in motion, hold your hand over the flame but don’t let it burn you. I guess it’s cool enough.” Brook gave a shrug. “I’ve never liked the smell of cigarette smoke so I guess the sight of a stick, even unlit, just makes me think of that smell.” She gives a shudder as she remembers her childhood best friend’s mother, who always stank of nicotine and made sure to get close to your face when she spoke to you. “But on behalf of your lungs I’m very happy to hear you don’t actually light it. And I am absolutely enough of a nerd to know you’re quoting The Fault in Our Stars and to be quite honest that is the thing that makes me think you’re cool.”

The redhead sat on the barstool, alone, nursing a glass of cocktail as she sat there letting the world around her in the bar pass her by. Eden was not one to do online dating mostly because the people she had met up were mostly bad and worse; although she had decided to give it another go with the online dating thing. So, she downloaded the app again and did some trawling. As she sat on the bar stool and finished her third drink, the redhead lets out a sigh; it was obvious that her date bad bailed, flaked off, did not show up. And that was a rather small regret. Taking a step off from the stool, Eden realized that she had drunk just a tiny bit too much to get behind the wheel and drink. She looked around and walked up to someone she seen sitting alone as well. “I’ll give you fifty bucks if you give me a lift home?” Eden offered them.

~~

The redhead had bled in and out of Emerson’s foggy mind throughout the night. She gave off immediate bad girl vibes, and Em had been hoping to watch something illicit or exciting happen. Instead there was an approach, a proposition and not even a dirty or taboo one. How disappointing. “Fifty whole bucks, gosh you mean it? That’ll absolutely take care of my rent for the month, wow you are so kind.” Truth be told Emerson definitely didn’t turn down extra cash. “Tell you what, if nothing distractedly disastrous happens between now and the bottom of this gin and tonic, I will give you a lift home.”

Devi was, for the most part, out of her element within Dayton. Initially, she’d been so excited for the adventure. To go someplace new. Someplace that was meant to always be a party. However, the Brit didn’t realize what that meant until she got here. And even then, Yasmine and Maggie (particularly the latter) had been protecting her from the craziness of the town. Going on a nighttime run at the beach, she took the time moment of peace to enjoy it. To get to breathe for a little bit. The lights of the city was behind her and she watched the waves, the moonlight reflecting off of them. She could’ve sworn that she heard someone nearby and instantly looked over, ready to offer a warm smile. “So beautiful, don’t you think? I love watching the light on the waves!”

OPEN STARTER: on the beach in dayton // @everyone

~~

There was a slight chance that she’d stolen some very nice whiskey from the party. In Emerson’s defense, the host had been stingy and boring, hadn’t even offered good snacks, which led her to conclude that the theft was due karma. The whiskey was good too, though perhaps she was further gone than she thought from her spot nestled on a rock so that the sand didn’t scratch against the soles of her bare feet. “Oh I guess. The beach is okay. Not a huge fan of ocean views at nighttime, gives me too many Jaws vibes.” Her head tilted to the side as she took in the females attire. “Are you...are you running...like sporty yay healthy lifestyles running...at 11.30 at night?”

It has certainly been a while since Gabe had even went to a social party or something similar along the line. But after having an invite given to him by a regular patron to come over to their shindig, Gabe found it hard to resist the invitation – mostly because nowadays he had more time to leave early from the bar and leave for other things that he liked to do back in the days when the man has more time for evening soirees. So, he actually came over to the place of interest, stumbling a little at the doorway, clad in all black: black shirt, dark faded jeans and a leather jacket, as the man ruffled his hair and looked around – the bar was packed, the place was lively with people and Gabe felt underdressed a little bit as he walked into the place and headed inside to the bar and bought out some drinks. Make it five bottles, as the bartender walked to him and asked him. “One more?” Gabe asked, pointing at the five empty bottles of beer already. He was still okay, and only having a light buzz. He has quite the iron liver and could pretty much drink anyone under the table, as he looked around the place.

~~

“Careful now, Gabe, or I’ll start to think the only reason you popped into this party was to get liquor on the house.” Faye’s tone was teasing, she was always quite pleased with herself when she could actually get Gabe to show up to one of the casino’s parties. Perhaps the text message invite that mentioned her complete lack of undergarments had helped inform his decision. “One more, two more, I’m never worried about you unless your head hits the bar. You know I like to spoil you when you pay me visits.” She’s three beers in herself, not that she can’t handle her liquor, but she prefers a slow controlled buzz that lets her keep her wits above everyone else. Never be the drunkest person in the room, that’s how she’d been raised. “Aren’t you going to tell me what you think of the party decor,” she playfully pouted, gesturing the brand new chandelier, the banners, the new fountain. 

Location: Tits, Clits, Bong Hits Muse: Renan

Open starter

Orange? Why would anyone in their right mind ever want to put plain orange in a hookah. Renan had, had enough arguments about this with his staff to know that he was very much alone in his thinking and yet he still found the customers surrounding the very back booth to be out of their god damn minds for ordering such a flavor. It was part of what he found alluring about the craft. He had the opportunity to mix the variety of flavors his store offered to create as close to a unique experience as each customer could get and yet they went for the plain jane. His fingers were flying across the keyboard on his phone as he shot off a text that was filled with far more vitriol than the situation called for and as he hit send, questioned what had him in such a mood. Perhaps it was the lack of buzz and excitement TCBH was having for a Sunday evening, perhaps he just needed to get laid, or perhaps he was rightfully annoyed with the group of giggling orange suckers in the back of his establishment. Either way he found himself justified until the clearing of a throat reminded him that he was still minding the front while his runner took their break. 

“Apologies. Checkin on my dog back home. Making sure he hasn’t totally destroyed my couches. What can I do you for?” He said with a butter smooth cool as if to cover up for the nonsensical rage boiling beneath the surface. 

~~

It was...well...it was definitely an interesting name. The kind of name that made Brook blush and feel nervous about walking inside the building. Out of place, out of sorts, but you were supposed to find your soulmate in expected places right? You found them in the midst of uncomfortable adventures you didn’t mean to have and then suddenly that sordid sad moment was the best thing that had ever happened to you. It seemed to Brook that there was an equation to love that she just hadn’t gotten the math right for yet, and perhaps the many strange smells within this shop were the missing variable.

His voice scared her, made her job and let out a small squeak. “Oh I don’t know, I mean I’m not sure. How’s your couch?” She takes a breath and tries to reign in her nervous rambling. “That is to say, I hope your dog didn’t destroy your couch and I’m...not sure what you can do me for because I’m not entirely sure I know what’s happening here?” Her brows furrow with confusion as she glances to one of the odd contraptions a couple seems to be smoking out of. “They’re pretty. They kind of look like fancy candlestick holders at the top.”