the heart it hides such unimaginable things

closed with @whykeags. where: Renegade Records

Ashton loved the record store. He came at least once a week, he’d always come here when he was a kid. His mother liked to take them to any sort of place where the arts were, it was her favorite thing. Ashton, growing up in a family or actors and artists, found that music was his favorite. His mother taught him how to use his guitar and well, his voice wasn’t the strongest but that was why his band mates were the ones who did a lot of the singing. When Keagan took over the store, he had no idea who she was, where she came from or how she acquired it but he also knew it wasn’t really his business so he never really asked her. As far as he’d known, it was a family business that was supposed to stay in the family but she was not one of them. He didn’t care though, as long as the shop stayed open. It was one of the places he and Kaia sent time together, his mother and father came here with him a lot and so it was just a huge part of his life. So the girl who’d taken over was just another person to own the shop to him. He talked to her every so often but today, he’d decided to bring her a coffee. Ash tried to figure out what she liked by sneaking peeks at her coffee cups when she had something she ordered when checking out. Today, Ashton entered and walked straight up to the counter, seeing she wasn’t busy and set the coffee down with a cheeky grin. “It only took me like a year to finally figure out what you drink…. For you! You didn’t ask but I delivered! Anything new to see?”

Keagan was working the day shift on her own today. She loved opening the shop alone, and the quiet mornings with the spare customer coming in. After a year, she had learned the faces and names of most of the regulars - at least the ones who stayed regulars after she took over the shop - and was happy to chat to those few when they came in. So, when Ashton walked up to the counter, she smiled. Her brows furrowed when he offered her the coffee, though. 

Ashton had always struck her as sweet as he meandered around the shop, occasionally bumping into displays and the corners of fixtures. He was one of the customers who hadn’t even subtly judged her after she started running Renegade. “You didn’t have to do that,” she said with a small chuckle as she picked up the to-go cup. She cracked the lid to look and saw the foam from the cappuccino still in tact. Keagan hummed and took a sip, squinting her eyes suspiciously at Ashton. “You a mind reader?” she joked as she put the cup back on the counter. “You should check out the new Movements album. I got the pretty black and gold splatter pressing in yesterday. Or the new Oh Sees album. But I got a lot of new stuff in last Friday.”

location; aero cocktail bar with; @asteriastarters​ open!

“Well don’t you look like a pocket full of sunshine today!” Kenzie grinned up at the other as they sat down at the bar. She loved her job at Aero because it gave her reasons to talk to anyone and everyone in town. Not that she wouldn’t have anyway because she was a little too friendly for her own good sometimes. But the job made it easy. “What are you drikin’ tonight? Maybe I can fix ya somethin’ that’ll turn that frown upside down.”

Keagan all but slumped into the stool with a huff. After her full day at the Record shop, she needed a wind down. Had she been back home in Montreal, she would have called up some of her friends for a night at their favorite bar. They would have laughed and drank and flirted with the men who bought them drinks, and K would have gone home feeling like her bad day hadn’t happened. But Montreal wasn’t home anymore. Even after a year in Asteria, she still needed reminding.

“Uhm,” Keagan said, lifting her right hand to support her temple. “Burbon. On the rocks.” She forced a smile at the bartender, hoping that the drink could indeed turn her frown upside down like she suggested. “I'd be a bit more cheerful if I stopped getting chewed out by customers at work, I think. I'm sure you get that now and then too. But the burbon will suffice for now.”