puritics

[puritics]

who: open [ @aurorabaystarter ] where: hidden gems thrift shop

It was always easy to spot when Cat was excited about something, even to a complete stranger. There was no hiding the wide smile that would take over her face, nor the literal bounce in her step that made her walk look almost like a dance; maybe she could try to hide it more, but why bother? She'd probably start vibrating if she tried to contain all that energy, and that would certainly look a lot stranger.

Though, to be fair, that doesn't denote the fact that Catriona still looks a little strange now, all but skipping across the store with a grin bright enough to rival the sun, her eyes wide and alight with joy, approaching one of her unsuspecting customers.

“ Darling, it would be absolutely criminal if you tried to leave the store without that in your cart today, ” she begins, gesturing to the garment the other holds in their hand emphatically as she speaks. Cat pauses slightly to admire the piece once more before continuing her gentle tirade. “ I would have to call the police; it would be a crime ! That was clearly made for you. ”

[puritics]

“ N-nothing brings a c-community together like yelling at k-kids on the ice. ” Cat barely manages to comment through her chattering teeth, hands buried deep in the pockets of her too-thin coat. She does a little dance, shuffling and wiggling her feet to try and warm her frozen toes, but there is little to be done for her poor appendages. “ You know, I'm starting to think you Americans enjoy t-torturing yourselves; street hockey is j-just as fun, and you can p-play it in the sunshine instead of f-freezing your arses off. ” The playfulness in her tone is almost lost in the shiver she can barely contain. Cat wraps her arms around herself, heavily reminded in that moment of what exactly she did not miss from her homeland: the bloody cold.

who: open where: cooldown ice rink

Sometimes, after a bad day, Nico liked to go somewhere that he was comfortable—and where he'd always been most comfortable? He missed the ice on a daily basis, but he also knew it was an impossible dream. Besides, he was happy—he wasn't where he thought he'd be, but he was happy all the same. Watching the people skate around on the ice. "Some of these kids have some real talent. I should really look into coaching or something. Fostering community or something like that."

[puritics]

“ And good morning to you, too, Iris ! Now that you mention it, I am having a rather pleasant day. Thank you for asking ! ” The cheeky grin on Cat's face matches the teasing tone of her words, though the expression melts into pure astonishment when she glances over to the floral shop and the excess of roses. “ Oh, wow. That is a lot of roses. What'd you do, buy the whole Rose Parade? ” Her eyes light up as soon as the words leave her mouth, an improbable but exciting idea already forming. “ Ooh, we could do a parade ! ”

open - @aurorabaystarter

where - outside of flora and fauna

After Valentine's day, Iris had..well...a lot of roses. Red, pink, white, they were everywhere. So much so that nearly every bouquet in the store had them in some way and still she had extras. "Any ideas of what the hell to do with extra roses? You want one? Or five?"

[puritics]

— welcome to Aurora Bay, [CATRIONA MALLOCH]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [ROSE WILLIAMS]. You must be the [THIRTY] year old [OWNER OF HIDDEN GEMS THRIFT STORE]. Word is you’re [COMPASSIONATE] but can also be a bit [CREDULOUS] and your favorite song is [THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT BY THE SMITHS]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [SEABROOK QUARTER]. I’m sure you’ll love it! ( penned by rosemary )

[ pinterest ]

@aurorabayaesthetic

A GENTLE INTRODUCTION

full name : catriona ealasaid malloch. catriona, meaning pure ; ealasaid, meaning ‘ devoted to god ’ ; malloch, an old scottish surname, meaning ‘ son of ian of the bushy eyebrows ’. preferred name : prefers to be called cat, but has no qualms with any other nickname one might come up with ; does not enjoy the formality that comes with her full name being used, and will encourage any and everyone to call her by literally anything else. birthday : april 9th hometown : glencoe, scottish highlands, scotland schooling : aurora bay college languages spoken : scottish gaelic, english

LET ME TELL YOU MORE

romantic & sexual orientation : pansexual + panromantic traits : + compassionate , empathetic , creative - impulsive , credulous , snoop zodiac : aries religion : agnostic myers - briggs : estp moral alignment : chaotic neutral temperament : sanguine

THANKS FOR NOTICING !

height : 5ft5in fashion sense : could be described as ‘ vintage ’ or ‘ eclectic ’, but there really isn't a name for the style she wears ; she just puts on whatever makes her feel pretty on that particular day, which ends up being something whimsical and different every time. big on flowy skirts and overtly complicated tops. piercing(s) : her earlobes are pierced beyond counting, and there are markings from previous nose piercings on both nostrils, faint scars but there if you look hard enough. tattoo(s) : her sisters dates of birth and birth flowers on her right side, just under her ribs ; has random small tattoos on her arms, varying from cartoon paperclips to gaelic proverbs. jewelry : always layering all kinds of jewelry on top of each other, and never leaves the house without her many rings and necklaces. prefers gold jewelry, but anything handmade will catch her eye immediately. notable piece(s) : is rarely seen without her well-loved tote, a dark brown suede bag that she has very obviously had for at least a decade. is always wearing a gold necklace with a sun pendant on it that says 'best', which is a part of a set ; the two other pieces, one with a moon pendant saying 'friends', and one with a star pendant saying 'forever', are worn by her sisters.

MOST BELOVED

mother : flora malloch — npc. father : unknown. sibling(s) : greer malloch, younger sister — possible wc. lilias malloch, youngest sister — possible wc. extended family : angus malloch, stepfather — npc.

THE MANY LOVES OF CATRIONA MALLOCH

tw: cheating

Fairy tales had always been Cat’s favourite kind of stories, but there was no story she loved half as much as her mother and father’s love story. It was the tale she begged for every night before bed, no matter her mother’s insistence that she must be tired of that story by now; she wouldn’t be for a long time. After all, that story was all she had from her father, as her mother refused to name him, saying it was too painful; when Cat grew older, and fought harder to find out who he was, her mother would reveal that her love, Cat’s father, had never wanted children, and had reacted very poorly to finding Flora was pregnant. He had no interest in being found, and had signed away every single right as soon as possible.

When she was even older, she finally understood that it's easier to forget the pain associated with something, to pretend it was just a story, if you change the names.

Perhaps the pain of rejection from her father would have hurt her more had she not always had her mother's unconditional love. Cat couldn’t help but feel that her father was the one who was missing out, not her.

This was especially reinforced by the presence of her stepfather, Angus, who’d entered their lives when Cat was seven. She liked Angus, and when her mother said they were getting married, she’d insisted on participating in all of the wedding planning. All of it. She’d even tagged along for the cake tasting, and had thrown her biggest and only tantrum when she’d been denied an invitation to the bachelorette party.

To say Angus filled a hole in their lives would be a lie, seeing as the Malloch girls, as they’d called themselves, were whole on their own. He did, however, bring a brightness into their lives that Cat in particular, was thankful for. Her mother had always showered Cat in love and affection, had ensured her childhood was the happiest, even when they didn’t have the most, and had carried the burden of their entire household by herself for too long; to see Angus lift that burden from her mother’s shoulders, to offer comfort for the problems a child should not be privy to, to shower her in the love and affection she so freely gave? It changed everything. Theirs became Catriona’s new favourite love story.

Becoming an older sister was a joy she'd thought she surely must be the first to feel, because there couldn't have been another who had felt as happy as she had on the day Catriona met Greer. When she’d first peered into the crib to glance at the strange creature her mother and Angus had brought home, she was hit with a sense of wonder like nothing she’d felt before; a recognition echoed inside of her that she could hardly put into words, but something inside her told her that the two had been meant to be sisters. The feeling was echoed a year later, when Lilias was born, though their introduction was also uniquely wonderful in its own way. She adores her sister with her entire being, and would burn the world to the ground if it made them happy ( she would feel guilty about it though ).

Her first romantic love came in the form of Callum Brown, the boy who sat beside her in her maths class during her third year of secondary. He’d flirt with her occasionally whenever a math test was getting closer, and then ask her for the answers, which she’d always give. Once, he’d kissed her, right before she had to get on the bus; it was short, sweet, magical. He’d tasted like cigarettes, which she’d convinced herself at the time that she’d liked. She’d smiled every day that week, convinced they were something, hopeful of what exactly that might. Then she’d seen him kissing Ailis, who sat beside him in History, and her heart was broken for the first time. She’d cried over it for longer than she’d thought she loved him, which was the most embarrassing part of it all.

There were a great many loves to follow after, some tales much more interesting and adventurous while others leaned more towards. It all came back to Callum in the end, or, at least, to the love story that had come along with Callum, because history had a habit of repeating itself. Cat would always find herself giving away pieces of her heart to people unwilling to part with their own, always racing to bring happiness to her partners at the sacrifice of herself, and would feel every heartbreak with her entire being; she could not love with anything less than the entirety of her, and couldn't find anyone who loved just as hard. Deep inside, she would always be that little girl who loved fairy tales, who thought there was a happy ending waiting around every corner, so she would always mistake coincidence for fate. 

A love story that could never end in anything remotely unhappy is Cat’s constant love affair with fashion. They’d moved to America in her last year of high school, and she’d gone from rural Scotland with one clothing shop that was mostly farm clothes, to living only a half hour away from the nearest supermall, and walking distance from her very first thrift store. Though she was fond of the colour and brightness of the clothing in the shopping centres, her wallet was not nearly as fond of how much she spent on those clothes, and so her love for thrift shopping took root not long after the move. 

It was the previous owner of ‘Hidden Gems’ who’d given her the idea of pursuing a business degree, telling she could open her own store one day and would be more likely to succeed if she had even more tools to help. Just as she did with everything else in her life, Cat put her everything into her dream, putting in more effort for the schoolwork in college than she ever had with any homework in high school, working as many hours as she could at ‘Hidden Gems’, all while trying to balance a social life. There’d been a test or two she’d barely passed, definitely a couple shifts accidentally missed, and more than one friend who’d been told ‘i’m five minutes away’ when she’d only just woken up, but she made it in the end.

She’d continued working at Hidden Gems at the owner’s insistence, under the title of assistant manager, so as to ‘gain experience managing’, they’d claimed. Cat wasn’t expecting the offer to sell to her, nor could she have said no to the atrociously low price that the previous owner had offered it to her. It was a dream come true, though a lonely dream to live indeed. A yearning for companionship would forever echo in her heart, but she could ignore the pain if she was satisfied in every other aspect of her life, or so she's convinced herself.