summertime-riley

[summertime-riley]

fierce-sasha-mckenzie:

“I try to be magnanimous.” She paused. “Sorry, that’s probably too big for you. Charitable, selfless, giving, benevolent. I believe in helping out the less fortunate.” She gave each syllable a little extra zing as she enunciated each word.

“Are you some sort of stalker? Because, if I’m being honest, you could do so much better. I could suggest like, half a dozen guys in town you could stalk without ruining whatever no doubt low reputation you have.” Tucking a hand in her jacket pocket, she sighed, resigned. “If you must know, I’m engaged in a long-term operation to destroy his reputation. I’m only telling you this because no one will believe you.”

“I know what magnanimous means,” Riley lied, unable to help but snap when she felt condescended to. She frowned, as Sasha continued talking, and talking. This girl sure did like the sound of her own voice. Riley had half a mind to stand up and leave in the middle of Sasha’s spiel.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of her stalking Jesse. “I’m not stalking him,” she said, shaking her head. “Though I’m pretty sure every guy in this town is trash, so you can keep your suggestions to yourself.” She tilted her head. “That’s cute that you’re trying so hard to get Jesse’s attention, though I should probably warn you that Jesse Childs doesn’t care about anything or anyone.”

[summertime-riley]

fierce-sasha-mckenzie:

Sasha gave her patented “win the contest and then kick second-place’s ass” smile that she’d picked up doing pageants, and placed her fingers in the steeple of power she’d learned during a power moves seminar her mother had dragged her to. “You’re new, so I’ll let you off with a warning. This time.”

Glancing down at the coat, Sasha raised an eyebrow. “And why, exactly, do you know Jesse’s jackets so well that you can pick one out from a distance?” Since didn’t bother denying it, though the suggestion that they were together was … not unpleasant? But also weird? She was going to have to unpack that later. “I stole it from him.”

“How generous of you,” Riley snarked, more amused by Sasha’s steepled fingers than intimidated by them. She earned Riley’s respect for keeping up, at least. However, that didn’t mean she was going to get the truth.

“I’ve seen enough of Childs’ jackets to recognize one,” she answered cryptically. “You stealing it from him doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not dating, by the way.”

[summertime-riley]

fierce-sasha-mckenzie:

Sasha let the napkin drop from between her fingers in a delicate but vicious manner. Tilting her head ever so slightly, like she was going to share wisdom or a delicious secret, she leaned in a little. “Close, but not quite, peach. I’m Sasha. And you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not self-righteous, I’m just a bitch. So I suggest you be nice, unless you want a demonstration.” Leaning back, she giggled. “J/K! That would be so sinister, wouldn’t it? I’d have to plot revenge against you, build up some sort of Count of Monte Cristo esque plan, it would be so exhausting. Who has the time?” Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she took a tiny violent bite of her donut. “I mean, unless I decided it was worth it to utterly destroy your life. But you’d have to be a serious thundercunt for that to happen, right?”

Riley snorted. “You can go ahead and try if you want. Fuck, I could use the entertainment.” She shook her head, pretty sure there was nothing about her life anyone could destroy that Riley hadn’t already herself. She looked Sasha up and down briefly, wondering what kind of a name was Sasha.

“So how come you’re wearing Jesse Childs’ jacket? I didn’t think he was seeing anyone.” If anyone asked, Riley was only observant and not at all invested in the mayor’s son’s life. She absolutely didn’t care what he was up to or what kind of friends he made, she was simply nosy and desperate for entertainment.

[summertime-riley]

fierce-sasha-mckenzie:

Some sort of blonde was insulting her. So nice to be home again. “Oh gosh, what a rude thing to say. Did you mean to say that out loud? I’m so embarrassed for you.” She turned and picked up a napkin, handing it to the blonde. “Here. Just in case you start spewing anything else out of your mouth unnecessarily. Wouldn’t want to make you look any worse than you already do, would we?” Smiling in her best ‘don’t try and fuck with me, I’ll win’ look, she tilted her head. “Have we met? I feel like I know all the bottle-blondes in town, but you definitely stand out to me.” 

Riley looked at the proffered napkin and raised her eyebrows. “Wow,” she said, not taking the napkin and shaking her head instead. “And I thought I knew all the self-righteous bitches in town, but I guess I missed one,” she said. “Let me guess. Your name is something like Caitlyn or Jennifer, right?” She knew this probably wasn’t a great way to start off getting to know the girl who apparently felt comfortable enough with her half-brother to wear his clothes, but she honestly didn’t care much at this point.

[summertime-riley]

fierce-sasha-mckenzie:

Sasha had to spend an entire night in a clean room at the hospital having all sorts of tests run on her because some asshole had mailed in a stupid envelope filled with powder. She apparently wasn’t going to die, which was great and all, but she was still pissed as hell and bent on revenge. Bearing that in mind, she changed into her revenge-seeking outfit, combat boots, tight jeans, her “Blue Lives Murder” shirt, and a leather jacket she’d stolen from Jesse Childs. She couldn’t exactly kick in doors and demand answers, but she could sure as hell just … send out the general message that she was neither dead nor amused. 

Revenge required snacks, so she headed for Sweet Cheeks. Just as she was about to salve her deep dissatisfaction with the world by biting into a jelly donut, she noted she was being observed and haughtily put the donut back in the bag. “Reports of my demise are highly exaggerated.”

After stopping by the Sheriff’s Office to make sure Jesse’s truck wasn’t in the parking lot--therefore signifying that he wasn’t in the building and therefore was probably safe--Riley decided to stop by Sweet Cheeks to calm her nerves and get ready for her shift with some coffee and a bagel. She usually avoided carbs (unless it was alcohol), but she was stressed and thought she deserved to treat herself after the Jesse-induced headaches she’d been getting ever since the incident at the community center. (She still wasn’t going to call or text him, of course.)

When Sasha came into the bakery, Riley thought she recognized the leather jacket the girl was wearing. After careful inspection, she deduced that it was in fact her half-brother’s jacket and she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this information. The girl looked somewhat familiar herself, but Riley couldn’t place her. She didn’t go out of her way to get to know the people of Muddy Waters, so they could’ve passed each other by on the street their entire lives and Riley would really have no idea who the other was.

She couldn’t help a snarky response to Sasha’s statement, however. “How unfortunate,” she said mildly, still curious as to how the girl came to be wearing Jesse’s jacket, but not about to play all her cards just yet.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus nodded. “That’s fair.” He offered. His enthusiasm dimmed when she warned him to find someone who could help him, confused as to why he would need that for his small operation doing work under the table. 

“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry. I’m good for it.” He promised her.

“Okay,” Riley said, deciding she had to just trust him, though that was difficult for someone like her. She gave him a brief smile, and a pat on the shoulder. “I let you know when you can talk to the girls,” she said, before heading out of the bar.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus wasn’t sure who he’d partner with on this. He didn’t have any friends left in Muddy Waters that he could trust. He nodded as she mentioned her cut, already sure that he’d have no idea how to figure out a percentage of anything.

“Thanks.” He reached for the napkin, pulling a pen from his pocket and jotting his number down. He paused and then wrote his name down above it as well before handing it back to her. “And let me know what you want. We can work out a time to work on it.”

“Yeah, I still need to think about it,” Riley admitted, though she was starting to form an idea in her mind of what she wanted. She folded up the napkin and slipped it into her purse. “Definitely see if you can find someone to work the numbers for you, though,” she said, as she finished her drink and slipped her purse over her shoulder. “I don’t want to promise the girls discounted tattoos only to find out you aren’t able to make this work.” She gave him a pointed look.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus didn’t even have to think about it, ready to agree to her terms before she even spoke them. He paused when she asked about his math, doubt openly crossing his features.

“Not… great.” He admitted hesitantly. “How hard can it be, though? It’s not like I’m planning on reporting this to the IRS.” The only reason he even knew that reporting income was a thing was because of Teddy, Atreus knowing next to nothing about how legal businesses were operated.

“You should probably make sure whoever works with you is good at numbers,” Riley said absently. “Or at least make sure you keep track of everything. Even if you’re not planning on reporting it, I want to make sure you don’t mess up my cut.” She finished her drink, moving to stand, then.

“I’ll get the word out around Saint Sabrina’s. I’ll let you know if anyone is interested.” She slid a napkin toward him. “I’ll need your number.”

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus shrugged. “What do you want?” He asked curiously, his expression open. “I could pay you a percentage of commission for every new customer.” He really had no idea how business worked. Ash might have been a terrible boss to work for but at least the guy knew his way around finances.

Riley thought for a moment. “A percentage sounds good. Also, a free tattoo,” she added. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she figured it was better to negotiate it now then later when he maybe wasn’t feeling as generous. “How good are you with numbers?” she asked, wondering if he knew anything about how to run his own business. She didn’t know much herself, but she did know you had to be good at numbers or at least be able to hire someone who was.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

As someone who never had a plan for anything, Atreus was drawn like a moth to the flame when other people seemed to have the ability to make them. For the first time since that morning he felt a flash of optimism thanks to Riley.

“Could you introduce me maybe?” He asked hesitantly. “I wouldn’t want to intrude, but I do want to keep working.” He smiled as she said that he could do better with Ash. “I could totally make it worth your time.” He promised earnestly.

Riley smirked faintly at how earnest Atreus seemed. She took a drink of her refilled glass, narrowing her eyes at him briefly when he said he’d make it worth her time. “How exactly are you going to do that?” she asked, definitely not willing to go the extra mile to help him out if there wasn’t anything in it for her.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus wasn’t entirely sure if she was being patronizing or not but it didn’t really matter to him much. He probably deserved that. He knew he was being a basic bitch about sitting in a bar despair ranting at strangers. 

He perked up when she asked about commission work, not having thought beyond just general hopelessness since Ash had told him he was done. “I…. hadn’t thought about it.” He admitted, turning towards her further. “That sounds nice, though. I mean, Abil and I have been pretty much running the place anyway.”

“Yeah, you could advertise at St. Sabrina’s,” Riley said with a nod. “I’m pretty sure a lot of the girls would commission you. Maybe ask for a discounted price, but with enough work, you could probably still break even and make a profit.” She shrugged. “You could do so much better without Ash as a boss.” She shook her head, as though that should’ve been obvious, tossing back the rest of her drink and gesturing to the bartender for another one.

[summertime-riley]

atreus-trower:

Atreus was trying to be cool about the whole thing but the truth was that he was absolutely devastated over losing his job. Unable to go home for fear that he might not get off the futon until the landlord found him being eaten by rats six months later, Atreus was at Troy instead drinking his face off as if that was somehow less pathetic.

“So then he fired me on the spot. After making me work for free.” He rambled to anyone who would listen to him. “How was I supposed to know that the guy who signed up for a blind date was going to be marrying my boss the next day?”

“Wow, yeah, that totally sucks, dude,” Riley said with a slow nod, not really sure why Artreus was rambling to her of all people about this, but when she heard he’d been fired, she couldn’t help but gain interest. This was the only tattooist in town, and she still hadn’t decided what she wanted for her first one. He couldn’t get fired. At least, not until after she’d gotten a tattoo. She wondered if he’d be willing to work from home.

“You thought about doing commissioned work or something?” she asked, absently twirling her straw in her drink. “Work from home? Be your own boss?” She grinned and gave him a wink. “Can’t get fired, then.”

[summertime-riley]

text to jesse

Jesse: You started it

Riley: yeah to see if you were ALIVE

Riley: and you are so you can stop texting back now

[summertime-riley]

text to jesse

Jesse: Ok you win. Clara has no idea

Jesse: Do you want me to show you how to block a number? It's easy

Riley: or you could just stop texting me

[summertime-riley]

text to jesse

Jesse: Sounds just like what a Clara would say

Riley: omg i'm not that selfrighteous bitch ok??? stop texting me

[summertime-riley]

text to jesse

Jesse: Wait is this Clara

Jesse: Are you stalking me under yet another name

Riley: no this is not fucking clara i just wanted to make sure you were still alive stop texting back

[summertime-riley]

text to jesse

Jesse: I don't know a Riley but still touched you care

Riley: hilarious. I'm guessing since you finally fucking answered you're not dead which is all i wanted to know so bye then