chaosandcrimson

[chaosandcrimson]

Kitty turned to look at him when he mentioned his mom. She had picked up bits and pieces about Crow's life from comments he had made, but if she was being honest with herself, she didn't know how much she would be able to tell someone about him if pressed for an answer. She wanted to change that. "There's nothing stopping me from going to a museum entirely of my own volition with no ulterior motive," she replied with an innocent smile and a look in her eyes that was anything but. She shrugged casually and glanced at the screen. "We usually did presents after the movie. Or took a break if it was a long one. Out of curiosity, for no reason whatsoever, when is your birthday?"

"I'm starting to get the feeling, I need to readjust what makes me feel guilty when I'm around you," Crow quipped. He hesitated for a brief second before taking his own handful, using his free hand to pop a few pieces into his mouth. His eyes flickered for the screen to her, lips pursed in thought. "Not a bad tradition," he mumbled as he turned his gaze back onto the screen. It wasn't like he hadn't been given a full report on how long Lizzie had been away from the family and where she likely was now.

"My mom use to take me to museums for mine," he said, "But haven't done that in a while. Working this year for it too, so you know?" He gave a half hearted shrug, it was partly true for why that had tradition had ended for him. "So did you do presents before or after the movie?" he asked, well aware of what he currently had stashed in his jacket.

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"Damn," Julie replied with a low whistle. "Yeah, I live with Zel and their brother Ian and we're in the middle district, but we've luckily been spared. I know Avi is crashing with Minnie and Mick. Were you gonna head over there? They have power too."

"I think I've lost track of how long the power has been out actually." They gave a laugh after "What about you?"

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"I don't know," Nicky mused, cocking her head to the side. "Maybe. It would be cool if they did." She went back to the birth chart. "It's neither. Or both, I suppose. I'm making them for my roommates in an attempt to get them into astrology. You remember my roommates, right? Jesse and Kelly. They're both in the music scene, kind of."

"you think they'll stop by?" Sid asked, before looking down at the chart. Their left brow lifted up at the corner. "That for a client or just for fun?"

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"Oh, I see," Helena replied, realising to their chagrin that what they were feeling was disappointment. It did make her chances of winning much higher, but victory wouldn't taste as sweet if she didn't have to beat her fiercest competition to get there. And as loathe as they were to admit it, Aspen was their fiercest competition, bar none. "Well, good luck, I suppose. Guess we'll have to wait for the next one to square off."

"just wondering. I'll be at the one in San Antonio." She'd be lying if she said she wasn't at least somewhat disappointed that Helena was going to the other one. Competition, in their mind, wouldn't be as good. Something she would never actually admit to Helena.

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"I can't imagine living like that," Trixie mused, but her tone was free of judgement; it was simply an observation. She turned her head to look at Chandler on the couch. "Maybe they're good friends? I don't know what the rules are in the corporate world but I'm friends with both of my bosses." Then again, she had also never been to their apartment. Even the mafia had guidelines, and while she would consider both Aiden and Knightley friends, she didn't really see them outside of the clinic. "Stuff with Ian is great!" She sat up with a giddy smile on her lips. "Julie moved in with him and Zel. It gets a little crowded with four of us there, but that got me thinking... Maybe we'll get a place together. You know, in the future, when Ollie inevitably moves in with Sam."

Of course Chandler had let her siblings know that she was somewhere safe while the power had been out, but it was in a very offhand text, and she was hoping both of them would just accept it and not question her - at least over text. She was lying on the couch, shifting a little to answer Trixie's question. "It's.... good." She was choosing her words carefully. "It is super fancy. I feel like I shouldn't be touching anything most of the time. Ven lives there too, but he's been working most of the time, and when he comes back, his personal assistant is usually in tow. Which I feel like is something HR should be involved with, but it's none of my business, I guess." She let out a soft sigh. "How's stuff with Ian?"

[chaosandcrimson]

"Herc Brody," Stevie replied, leaning against the doorframe as she watched Lacey go through their closet. "Honestly, he's a kind of a tool, but his big brother does security for me when I'm on tour and I can vouch for him. Theo's a great guy." She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. "I spend enough time with Onyx as it is. Figured I'd give him a break. Besides, tonight I wanted to hang out with you, and we can go do something else if the party ends up being too much." She snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Oh! It's Greek mythology themed. But dressing up isn't mandatory."

These days, Lacey barely jumped when someone knocked on her door, but her thoughts were constantly swirling with the destruction caused by the state fair debacle, especially with the most recent news article. Glancing up from their phone, they wrinkled their nose. "I mean, shrimp is a great motivator, but would a movie star even want someone like me at their party? Wouldn't you rather take, like, Onyx or someone who would actually fit in?" All the same, she pulled herself up and headed towards her closet. "Who's party?"

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"I can think of worse people to be stuck with," Luz replied with a small smile, looking up to meet his gaze. It wasn't like she was unaware that he was attractive, or in denial about the fact that she was attracted to him, but the tension in the air seemed to have thickened tenfold as soon as they realised they were spending the night together. Or well, not necessarily together, but in the same place. "Yeah, exactly. A very platonic sleepover. Because friends have very platonic sleepovers and that's not strange at all." She cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair as she averted her gaze. "Do you want to finish the movie? I can show you to the guest room afterwards."

It was hard to argue the safety issue, and Lysander had no choice but to resign. "Okay," he let out a soft sigh of defeat. "I guess you're stuck with me for the foreseeable future, then." He was trying to play it off as a joke, but it was hard not to think about them sharing a bed that wasn't hers (don't ask why.) "Well.... yeah, I don't have the same body I did in college, crashing on the couch is actually incredibly painful for me these days." He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, feeling the hot pricks of a flush across his face. "Okay. Yeah. It'll be like a sleepover or something, right?"

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"Well, I might post about it on my social media, but then I run the risk of your gig being flooded with attractive girls that I then have to compete with for your attention," Minnie replied with a playful grin. Taking her phone back, she typed up a quick message with several kissy face emojis and sent it to Dallas, before spotting Mick out of the corner of her eye. "I should probably rejoin my friends, but... I look forward to hearing from you."

"You guys are like me and Hugh, but more... Disney." Dallas giggled. "Oh yeah? Well, your support would be great, you don't need to invite your fans or anything, of course, I'd never expect that." She blinked, startled for a moment as Minnie handed her the phone. She had thought maybe she was reading into the situation; but no, maybe she was right and Minnie was hitting on her. "Well, how could I say no to that?" Taking the phone, she quickly typed out her phone and name before adding a little yeehaw emoji next to it along with the exclamation heart emoji. "I'd love to text you about it."

[chaosandcrimson]

"I won't make you talk about yourself nonstop," Nora replied with a firm nod, holding up her right hand in the scout sign. "Scout's honour." They managed to keep a straight face for a second before snorting out a laugh and shaking their head. "It's a little of column A and a little of column B. Blake has a healthy dose of mistrust toward older male figures. And for good reason." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "He doesn't even like you. It's nothing personal. Just a product of his upbringing."

"A date, I say," Scout laughed. "I can accept circling back, but I'm not here to just talk about myself nonstop, you know." He let out a soft hum. He was lucky that Sailor rarely had much of an opinion of who he spent his time with (when he actually bothered to spend time with anyone who wasn't her, anyway.) "You really think that? Maybe he just needs to meet whoever it is? Find some common ground? Or it's just kind of one of those things where any kind of change is bad?"

[chaosandcrimson]

"Lies and slander," Sam joked back, conspicuously sliding the drink that she had already finished to the side as if Teddy hadn't been the one to hand it to her in the first place. She shook her head in response to his question. "No, we'll probably play it by ear. Honestly, we used to have the issue that neither of our places were ever empty, but now it's the opposite. Trixie spends most of her time at her boyfriend's apartment and Ginny spends most of her time with Blake and Roxas. Not that I'm complaining."

"you're a trouble maker by association, Sam." He joked a little. "I think as long as we keep our wits we'll be fine. Which means maybe we avoid places with alcohol" that was a joke because it was near impossible. But they would just have to limit themselves, it would make for a less rowdy evening. "You have any plans with Fox once this dies down? Gonna shelter at one of your places?" Teddy was mostly curious but he was also just Happy for his friends.

[chaosandcrimson]

"Freezing his balls off because he's too stubborn to crash at my place," Jackie replied, their tone as upbeat as it usually was in spite of the undertone of frustration in their voice. They had a sip of their water and shrugged. "But I think I might have convinced them. I'll find out later if they actually show up." They set the glass down and hoisted themselves onto Leon's kitchen counter. "I totes do not sound like that, by the way," they added, while sounding exactly like that. "But all is forgiven if you feed me."

Leon was watching as they went to grab a glass. Nodding "in see, how is Zep doing with this whole thing?" Leon didn't mind to hear about Jackie's brother, it really just filled the gaps of silence that Leon tended to just sit in. Smiling softly at his siblings generosity and optimism made him laughing a little "Totes!? Like for realzies? I don't think I could handle my sibling being a poser!" He said in his best impression of them. with his brows raised he couldn't help but laugh a little. "Well then I guess we have nothing to fuss about. He continued looking at what they brought over "Did you eat? If not I can make something real quick..."

[chaosandcrimson]

"I like that," Scarlette replied with a small smile. "We're so much more than what we were created for." She briefly dropped her gaze to her phone to see how long they had been talking, deciding that they could afford to go for a little longer and looking back up, her expression slightly more serious. "Even today, there are still some people who don't believe that synths are real people. What, if anything, would you say to them?"

Sadie smiled softly, thinking back to when she first left with James. It was exciting and scary. Too bad it hadn't lasted and he had to ruin everything. "I think when I realized I was created as an art piece that I realized I was more than that and so are everyone else. Were so much more than what we were created for." and that applied to not just synths but humans who had expectations put on their shoulders. "I guess the next generation of Synths? I want to make sure they have a safe world when they get here..."

[chaosandcrimson]

"I know what you mean," Ruby admitted, having another sip of her coffee. "But that's what friends are for, you know? To remind you that the little voice in your head that tells you otherwise is wrong." She smiled warmly before letting out an amused laugh and nodding. "It's a deal," she concluded, clinking her cup against Sammie's.

"I am...Sometimes its hard though. That little voice inside my head that tells me otherwise is such a pain in my ass" She said with a laugh. She never would mention how she delt with it. Some how Sammie had hid her vices and addictions very well. "Oh you know I will, But you gotta let me make the final blow" She said with a laugh.

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Billie laughed softly as she leaned into his touch. She couldn't help but shake her head at him, not because she didn't believe it had been since they were teenagers for him, but because saying it out loud made the fact that they had waited as long as they had feel ridiculous. "God, it's been the same amount of time for me, Teddy," she replied with another chuckle. "For the longest time, I didn't think you felt the same way, and then... I don't know. It never felt like the right time to tell you. I didn't know how to tell you." She took a deep breath and shrugged. "Better late than never though, right?"

He wanted to pinch himself, making sure he wasn't dreaming. He gave billies waist a slight squeeze has she pulled closer. He huffed a small laugh as they both pulled away breathlessly. He could tell how desperate they both were for this. He gently cupped her face him his hand and rest his forehead on hers "were going to be fine Billie..." He said softly a playful smile pulled at his lips. "I can't believe I so so stupid, all this time? When did you-? I mean...God Billie for me it's been since we were kids....well teenagers" he didn't want to let go of her, he just kept his arms tangled around her waist.

[chaosandcrimson]

TOOTHBRUSH.      

[chaosandcrimson]

Roxy let out a soft laugh when she heard exactly what Ozzy said before being pried away from her. Nodding at Andros, she pulled herself up into a seated position and rubbed at her eyes in the time that he was gone, managing to get most of the bleary-eyed sleepiness out of them by the time that he returned and joined her on the couch.

"I could eat," she said with a grin, throwing her legs over his lap and leaning her head against his shoulder. She might not have been comfortable with the label girlfriend, but she had gotten a lot more comfortable with acting like one anyway. "Ozzy is cute. Reminds me of you in the morning when you don't want me to get out of bed."

Despite how much his friends had been prodding him, Andros was still firm in letting things continue as they were with Roxy. They enjoyed spending time together and that was enough for him. He had an amused grin on his face as he tucked his phone away, having snapped a few pictures of Roxy and Ozzy snoozing away on the couch. "Looks like it, think it's time for him to go to his actual mattress," he said reaching to gently take his brother off her.

Ozzy's brow furrowed when he felt himself being moved, his grip tighening on Roxy's shirt. "No...go back...," he whined trying to press his face into her neck.

Andros' eyebrows rose before tugging his brother's hands off her, Ozzy quick to latch on to him with a huff as he sought new warmth. "Be back in a sec," he said shaking his head, an amused grin at his little brother's antics. Leaving for a few minutes before plopping back down onto the couch, "Did you want to turn in for the night or you hungry like me?"

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Ginny levelled Blake with a disbelieving stare before immediately calling him out on his empty threat. "No, you're not," she replied with a grin, reaching up to bop him on the nose again. However, she hadn't expected to get a taste of her own medicine when he brushed his knuckles against her cheek, feeling them slowly heating up at his touch. "Uhm," she continued, blinking as she scrambled to gather her thoughts. "No, we're back at our place now. Mom appreciated getting to stay with the Joneses and all but I think she's happy to be back home." She let out a nervous chuckle. "Stop that."

Blake frowned and rolled his eyes with a scoff, feeling his cheeks flush red, "No," he lied, a smile tugging on his lips again. Glancing down at her, he stuck his tongue out, "Stop," he complained, "I'm taking back letting you come over." It was an empty threat they both knew it, bringing up one hand to brush the back of his knuckles on her cheek. "You and your mom back at your place yet, or did you all decide to start a commune?"