Would it be enough if i could never give you peace?

﹃﹄

lucas flashes a smile, broad and warm, a common way he greets the people he knows and cares for. pulling back the metal chair, it makes a brief scraping sound against the wooden floor. the waiter, noticing a new person had arrived, brings lucas a glass and extra table water. he happily pours himself some, “this looks amazing, ruby. you’re extremely talented.”

....

“thanks, but would you wear it. from a practical standpoint?” maybe she shouldn’t have used her friends as market research but in a place like this it was all ruby had. she’d learned already to not go sending things off to other designers who would absolutely try and steal her designs. “so what have you been up to?”

letting out a small huff of the vape that her friend had given to her, sabrina had been in her own little world, her head in the clouds as she did so. it certainly helped that she had already been higher than she had intended to be today after she had finished her last class of the day. as she had been bumped into by the other, she was finally able to get out of her daze, coming back to reality. letting out a small laugh, she quickly stood up with her vape in hand. “blimey, dude, am i okay? i honestly have no clue like my head hurts like a fucking bitch, but i don’t think i’m hurt?” she admitted, laughing uncontrollably, making it obvious that she was high. “it’s funny, don’t you think? even if i was hurt, i don’t think i’d even be able to feel it.”

....

“jesus, sab, i didn’t even notice it was you.” her headphones now out of her ears as honey looked over her little sister. it wasn’t like she didn’t know what people looked like when they were high-- she’d been in the olympic village after all-- but it was strange to actually see it in her little sister. “yeah i can see that. you feeling like-- you?”

surprise indeed. she did adore seeing her best friend, though making time for it was exclusive to holidays and facetime calls. the years were marked in how much older his son had gotten, a near decade of distance and still, she thought the world of her best friend. smile bright, theo whipped her head around and tiptoed to search for jack, nodding excitedly before she stepped back and held his hands, bouncing from foot to foot in an animated hyperactivity. “you mean you’re back? like, for real? bloody hell, mate, way to bury the lead!” she giggled, surging forward to hug him again. “did you manage to get taller?!”

.....

“hence, surprise.” sure he could have told her during a phone call a week earlier that he was going to be home for good but then eric wouldn’t have gotten to see her full reaction. “i am officially back, i thought it might be good for jack to grow up in the same place we grew up. not like he can get away with too much when we know every trick in the book.”

﹃﹄

amina lets out a humoured bout of air. some often said the doctors desire to help people, but her moments of apathy conflicted, and maybe it did. she didn’t really have much sympathy that tried to make peoples lives harder, or reacting without using their brain first. “common things that happen to doctors. a lot people wanting medication i can’t and won’t give them too.” the doctor rests her cigarette back between her lips, “more eventful than most — yourself?”

....

ruby really didn’t envy the woman, at least the worst she’d ever had to deal with was someone not liking how something sat and it had been something ruby could fix if she wanted to. “i can’t imagine how crazy that would get. at least you get to feel like you’re helping the other people who don’t suck though, right?” she smiled a little bit and shrugged, “well a drink bottle exploded all over my brand new sketch book so not as much fun.”

- - -

Fliss was just waiting for her sister to be on her lunch so they could go out together, already having posted a notice on her own shop door explaining her absence. She was sat at one of the tables, book in hand and bag on the floor, while trying really hard not to listen in on the poor guy explaining himself, but tit’s pretty difficult to ignore someone when they make eye contact with you. A sheepish smile stretched her lips upwards as she nodded. “I won’t lie, it sounds like you were. Did your date have somewhere legitimate to be or are they escaping through the toilet window as we speak?”

....

Oh god, it really didn’t look good for Benji at all and he just knew if it got back to his family and friends they were never going to let him hear the end of it. The man dumb enough to end up on a date without knowing it, and the woman was just someone who had been in the B&B, he was trying to be nice. “I think she’s ducking out through the toilet window. I didn’t think I was that bad, though maybe mentioning it was a date could have been an idea. I would have let her down gently.”

Ian looked down at his phone and grimaced. “Well, I’ll definitely need a new one. It’ll start to chip real bad. It’s fine though, I can afford it. I needed an upgrade anyway.” He took a cigarette out of the box in his pocket and lit it, inhaling quickly as he then blew out the smoke. 

“Ian, by the way. I think I’ve seen you around. You’re that twin, right? One of them, anyway?” his eyebrows raised as he inhaled once more, being sure to blow the smoke away from her. “I’m from the less important Locke family. My sister works over at the general practice.”

....

“I’m sorry. Again. I probably won’t stop apologising for it.” She felt bad and Honey tried not to look overly awkward. Shrugging at his words, she nodded. “One of them. The athlete one.” Bringing it up before he could ask, if he was going to. In Honey’s experience it tended to come up but she had signed up for it when she had made a profession out of sports. “Honey. And yes, that is actually my name. The lifeguard twin.”

~

Matteo had been on the swim team back in his school days. He hadn’t been their star or anything, but he’d been good enough to consistently make it onto their best team. Somewhere in a box in his basement he was pretty sure he still had the trophies and medals to prove that he’d once been good at something other than school and music (though anyone that knew him wouldn’t comfortably refer to him as an ‘athlete’). Now it was just a good workout now and again, when he was feeling energetic or just needed something different to do. He’d just finished swimming a few laps, and had pulled himself out of the pool to sit on the edge, stretching an arm across his chest and raising an eyebrow at the kid who ran by him. No judgement, Mattie knew he’d been an excitable kid at one point too, but he glanced over at the kid’s guardian when he heard Eric speak. “So when I see him get into your car later, I don’t need to call the police about a kidnapping at the public pool? Good to know,” he replied, smirking.

....

This place had been his home for so long and Eric was going to be on edge for a while as he thought about coming back to it. What people might say, what they might think. Especially when they did the math on the young teacher and his son’s age-- even in a bigger city he’d heard about it, about how irresponsible he had been to become a teenage father. “Yep. No need to go calling people and drawing attention. I am the person responsible for his existence.”

__

“All that makes me think of is A Song Of Ice And Fire,” Jade said. “But maybe I’m thinking the wrong thing. What did you have in mind? Something like Shadow and Bone, with pure darkness and sunlight? Or perhaps a classic angel and devil situation? Scratch that, perhaps we go with Seelie and Unseelie faeries. When do you want to workshop this idea?”

....

“Never watched that. My ex actually thought I’d find a baby name from it and you know... Sansa was sounding pretty good.” Shrugging, “Firstly working off something in the public domain to avoid any copyright infringement suits. Those aren’t pretty and people are coming after even the smallest of businesses. I do like just good and evil. Black versus white. I have time later this week.”

Lawrence had yet to figure out what it was, but he was certain that it was an uneasiness that came in the presence of children. He couldn’t remember a specific instance, but there was eeriness. It was caught between caution and a longing. Once again, he couldn’t find the word for it but he was comforted by the thought that there simply wasn’t one at all rather than one he couldn’t find. 

“Spitting image,” He nodded, watching the child run off again. “How old is he?”

....

“Except for the blonde,” Eric agreed. Probably the only thing that Jack had gotten from his mother, otherwise it was all Eric. And he was okay with that, especially around people who didn’t know him. Didn’t know enough for the whispers. “He’s ten. So we’re past that fun age where he doesn’t talk back. It’s kind of fun.”

.

“It’s nothing…” Victoria cordially let out a soft laugh to cover her flustered face, “Lost in thought, as one is prone to do…” Feeling like her body was frozen in time for more than a few moments, she had to think of something to say that wouldn’t completely incriminate her. People talk often, and as often as Victoria spoke to her parents, she could only assume Ruby spoke to hers. Everything felt like a show nowadays. “How are you? And your family? I can’t imagine there’s been a lot of…. peace. Amongst anyone, really.”

....

“totally get it.” It wasn’t an act to be nice, it was just who Ruby was and always had been. Unless the woman gave Ruby a reason to be an asshole, she wasn’t going to say or do anything to her. Though she was pretty sure she was incapable of being horrible anyway. “I’m good, they’re good. It’s just all been-- good.” Not the entire truth but why bring up so many atrocities when she didn’t have to. “I think people have been looking for reasons to fight lately.”

﹃﹄

“sorry darlin’, didn’t realise i was disturbing.” lucas conveys, as he paces a step back from the table. the powell father had spent all lunch taking inventory at the bnb before the tediousness of counting towels began to wear on him. he decides to take a walk around town to stretch his legs, enjoy some fresh air before getting back to work. “i was just wondering if you’d like some company from friend with semi-decent conversation skills.” he sports a smile, resting his hands on the back of the chair rest. “but i’ll let you finish your business.”

....

“lucas, took me a second to realise it was you.” she liked being outside, the sounds of the small town passing her all the time enough to keep her mind clear. not that it was working at all and ruby did need the distraction, something to clear her mind a little bit to get this to work. “well i’m not going to say no, please sit. sorry.” sliding the notepad over so he could see it she spoke again, “you’re a guy. would you wear something like this?”

- - - 

“Yeah, you can give me back the quid this drink cost.” Fliss teasingly sassed her older sister, placing a full glass down in front of her and sliding into the seat across the table, clutching her own half-empty drink in her hand. A quick glance at the paper sat before Ruby told Felicity all she needed to know about how the drawing was going. “Still struggling along with that one?” Her voice turned sympathetic - her artistic skills were slim to none but there had been many times where she couldn’t quite get a bouquet right and started over at least five times. 

....

“Yeah... or I could just accept it as a gift from my darling little sister,” Ruby teased back, putting down her pencil to replace it with the drink. A welcome distraction, the blonde just needed to step back for a moment or two to really see what she wanted this thing to become. “Yeah. It’s like I know what I want it to be but it also has to be practical. And my fingers just don’t want to do it.” Taking a sip of the drink she shrugged, “I’ll figure it out.”

cecilia needed a moment to clear her mind, just a moment. overworked and exhausted from the overtime this week - dealing with angry drunks and ignorantly flirtatious customers had almost pushed her past her limit. a nice casual walk through the park always helped her ease her racing mind, something she had been doing since a teen. she looked around the square quickly, then back down to her phone. she stopped to change the current song when suddenly someone crashed right into her, knocking her cell out of her hands, cracking the screen  [fucking great]. she sighed, another one bites the dust, “i’m fine, my phone on the other hand…” bending down, cecilia then paused - recognizing the others voice, quite frankly it sounded identical to hers. “you’re gonna have to fix this.” she chuckled, turning to her twin and handing over the broken cell.

....

well at least the face that she had bumped into was familiar, one that honey saw herself every day when she looked into a mirror. it could have been a hell of a lot worse and she knew it, at least this was someone she could tease even if she did feel bad about the phone. “ah yes, i’ll have to use my powers of youtube investigation to see if i can fix it myself.” turning the phone over a few times in her hand. “or like-- time for an upgrade maybe and i just helped see it?”

Aimee waited until the woman left Benji’s table before making a b-line towards it. She put her hands down on the surface of the table, keeping her eyes on the male. Her eyes drifting towards the waitress when she made the comment, nodding her head in agreement before her gaze moved towards Benji. Her eyebrows raised up when he commented how he it wasn’t a date, brushing her tongue along her lip, preparing to give him the speech about what a date actually looks like but the words left his mouth before she could. “Yeah… Maybe that’s why she left?”

....

The surprise and slight amusement was clear on his face and Benji felt-- well stupid was the only word he could really use. Had he know that had been the intention of the woman when she’d asked for coffee he would have said no. “I-- wow I didn’t even click to that. If I had known I would have upfront told her she’s not my type at all.” It was only really known around town that he didn’t fate, the custody of three younger siblings making it hard, or him not want to.

Ian nodded before smirking and looking up to the familiar voice. “Oi! Bruv! How are ya, mate!? And you know that asking me to surprise you is a bloody dangerous request, right?” he asked, winking over at the other man. Eric and Ian had been in the same year at school together but he always got along better with Theo. They’d been best friends ever since he could remember so growing up, Eric was a common face he’d see at home. 

He began mixing up something a little more special for his old friend in the way of a bourbon sour. He began by pouring the whiskey into a shaker full of ice as well as some lemon juice and some orange flavored simple syrup he’d made himself. He put the cap on it and began shaking quickly and soon, it was ready. He poured it into a short glass with ice in it, straining the liquid and then garnishing with an orange slice and cherry, passing it over with a straw. 

“Tell me what you think.”

....

“Surprise.” He hadn’t told anyone that he was coming back into town, not even Theo and Eric still hadn’t seen the other man’s younger sister. There was something about watching people’s reactions to the man being home that was making him smile and Ian’s was one that he knew all too well. “Do me a favour though? Don’t tell Theo-- I’m going to surprise her too.” 

He’d take his chances with whatever the drink was, grinning as he watched it being mixed. He hadn’t been much of a drinker, losing most of his adult life to fatherhood. Not that he would complain, he loved that part of his life too much. Taking a sip, he pulled a good face, “It’s different. But I like it.”

he cast a sideways glance at the movement of her hands. though his default interactions with strangers had been apathy, there was something in human instinct that told him to look when someone moved. he had assumed her possession a book, as he had, but hers was something way out of his skillset. he loved art: the ink permanently etched in his skin and the theme of his bar were enough to hint at that, but he hadn’t ever been good at it. “y’welcome,” he breathed, shifting focus back to the paragraph before him, thumb pressed in the sweet spot between pages that forced the paperback spine flat. he wasn’t good at conversation, but companionable silence wasn’t a bad alternative. 

....

the sounds of nature, of people, of just... life... were ruby’s idea of asmr. it got her out of her head, freeing. a huge part of why she had done so much better in the small town than she had ever done in london. it had taken her a week to get this design to a point that she wanted to add colour and really think about making it a reality, and she would feel accomplished once it was done. she’d never much liked coloured pencils though, pulling a blue watercolour marker out of her bag to start. only a couple of minutes into her work when she felt the release of pressure as the top of the pen snapped, ink spilling over her book. “oh shit.”

__

“Nimueh,” Jade repeated. “It’s quite a stupid name. As for Bly Manor, it’s quite nice for what it is. I do recommend you watch it.” Little else would be said in front of their current boss. “Faeries? What do you think we should do with that? Something light and springy? Or something a bit more dark?”

....

“I think it’s cute. Probably a good thing I don’t have kids because I would actually use it.” She’d floated it once or twice in her early twenties and it had never been knocked down at least. “I’ll have to see when I have some time.” And then a shrug, “I’m not sure. Maybe we could do some cool fire and ice sort of thing where we go with both. Good versus evil?”