#❝ interactions.

[perikocak]

location: somewhere on the beach

status: closed for @noaandreas

"I'd say sorry, Daddy, I've been bad but—" a hand twirled irreverently through the air— "wrong religion and all of that."

Peri wasn't sure how long they'd been stretched out in the sand (no blanket, because she was never that great at fully fledged plans) but the sky had gone dark as ink, broken up only by a smattering of long dead stars. It was at least midnight, if she had to guess.

Which made sense considering how much they had to catch up on.

This was their third weekly vent-sesh and she'd just finished explaining to Noa exactly how she came into possession of Greg, her cat (ie: crawling through a window in Nashville in an act of catnapping, then running like hell). It was a funny story, no doubt, but mostly shared in avoidance of the big stuff. The hard stuff. The 'internally I now identify as broken glass' stuff.

Those were the moments she still kept chained up and to herself. Maybe someday she'd talk about it; if anyone was good for moonlighting as an unpaid therapist it was Noa. Yet, for all the memories and all the trust between them, she couldn't let those wounds bleed out.

Turning over to her side, she ignored that morning's encounter with her mom to simply advise, "I wouldn't recommend spending a night in jail. The beds are shit and the cops stare at you funny when you ask to keep the handcuffs."

[bekturan]

location: bread and butter

status: closed for @dakotaheise

Bek was utterly mystified by the way her brain worked.

The last time she’d seen Dakota she couldn’t remember for the life of her where to find adobo seasoning (was it with the general spices or in the ethnic aisle?) despite shopping at Bell’s all thirty-three years of her life, yet she remembered their exchange, brief as it might’ve been. 

With a warm smile and a near silent self-deprecating laugh at her own shortcomings she wandered over to where Liv’s younger sister sat. 

“Hey, Kota.” The smile on her face grew wider while she paused just shy of the table. “How did you luck out with the rest of that list the other day?” A tiny pang of guilt echoed in her chest at having been called away for work before she could really be much help. “Did you find what you needed?”

[tessabhrams]

location: Covington's 12th Annual Valentine Date Night Auction

status: closed for @drewparrish

Married. Married. Married. Ryan was married—

The realization she'd had twenty minutes ago didn't gently ebb and flow through Tess' thoughts. It hammered around in her head with the gale force winds of a hurricane. Because Ryan, her Ryan, was married. Still married.

And that woman who'd outbid her at the last second? She was Ellie Parrish. His wife.

Maybe she'd only imagined the subtle glee she'd taken in introducing herself by the last name Tess always imagined claiming herself one day. Maybe it didn't matter if she did. Either way, her stomach still roiled at the news. It'd taken her this long to even show up for her 'date' because she'd spent every second since in the restroom, genuinely worried she'd be sick.

Because Ryan was still married. And that made her the world's biggest idiot.

Tess dropped into the seat across from Drew with none of her usual smiles or grace, eyes wide, unblinking, and vacant. A soft, near silent, "Sorry," was all she could manage to explain her tardy appearance.

Honestly, she'd almost left. Sitting there, she questioned whether she should've. The only thing that kept her planted in that seat was the fact that she couldn't stand up Drew so publicly.

Well. That and the fact that it'd raise a lot of eyebrows after she'd practically maxed out his bids, and she wanted to deal with that about as much as she wanted to scan the room and see them. Because they were there. Somewhere. Ryan's wife just dropped a check for five grand to make sure of it.

"Sorry," Tess mumbled again, finally blinking her way out of her silent stupor. "Sorry," She repeated again when she tried, and likely failed, to find the smile she'd spent a lifetime crafting for the audience. After clearing her throat, she murmured, "You probably have a lot of questions right now."

And so long as they had to do with why she'd landed a date with him - her ex boyfriend's brother - and not where she'd been for the last twenty minutes, she'd at least try to answer them.

[camgarza]

location: Covington's 12th Annual Valentine Date Night Auction

status: closed for @arjunshekhawat

It's for charity, Cami reminded herself as the clock neared ten. For charity, for charity, for charity— Her apparent date of the evening stepped into view. She flashed a small, tentative smile in greeting.

She didn't let herself pause to wonder if her ex-husband was watching while she stood up to give Arjun - that was his name, right? - a quick hug. Didn't acknowledge the nerves twisting her stomach into knots, either.

All she said was, "Hi," and it slipped from her just as uncertain as her first smile had been, prompting a somewhat sheepish laugh. "It's, uh, it's been awhile since I've done anything like this."

There was no point in confessing she wasn't even meant to be on that stage for bids. Unexpected and unintentional as this whole sitation might've been, for better or worse she was in it. No need to ruin his night, or his fun, because of it.

So she stood there and kept smiling, unsure if she should retake her seat. "I'm Camila, by the way." Cami for short. "I actually, uh, I think we might've been a grade apart back in high school."

[berksozeri]

location: the dog park

status: closed for @rachelhargrove

"Have you ever seen a more unlikely pair of friends?" A gruff, quiet chuckle scraped at the top of Berk's throat to punctuate the rhetorical question, his eyes locked on Kev and Walter as they chased each other across the park.

Nobody could claim the agile, long legged retriever and tiny little dauschaund made a whole lot of sense; they were about as similar as night and day. 

Although, to be fair, he guessed the same could be said about them. 

The corner of his mouth twitched, a betrayal to his attempted-to-be-stifled smile. Then Berk reached into the paper sack between them and pulled out a bag of chips. Her grabbing coffee for morning meetups, him grabbing lunch if their schedules aligned after twelve— it'd become routine by now.

"So," he paused just long enough to toss a handful into his mouth, his stare volleying between the dogs and her profile, "how's the book coming along?"

[selincakar-archive]

location: the silk road

status: closed for @jesseelmassalamy

Selin never did make it around to help Jesse with that tree. As it turned out, manning a shop solo during the holidays didn’t lend much free time. Not that she was all that qualified on proper Christmas decorating techniques, anyway. 

A Muslim upbringing - apparently half on his part, whole on hers - was one of the newest and unexpected things she learned they shared in common. Okay— so far it was the only thing beyond a shared past in Boston that she knew they shared in common, but hopefully tonight would change that. 

She must have tried on seventeen different outfits before meeting him in town for dinner. Questioned whether he’d meant the invitation as a date or not-a-date double that amount. At least twice she even considered showing up in socks and sandals (I’m not a barbarian, she’d assured him that night, of course they’re fine) but given the weather decided to spare her toes the risk of frostbite. 

Yet all those wonderings and worries and second turned third guesses vanished once they were actually sat across from each other, surrounded by the rich scent of Mediterranean food and quiet chatter.

“I can say ‘tacos please’ in six different languages, I nearly had to repeat ninth grade because of math, and my favorite color is lavender.” Twirling her straw around in her glass Sey smirked. “Go ahead, Mr. Human Lie Detector. Which one is false?”

[ediewelscr]

❝ at holy spirits with @max-cortez —

Edie could feel the metaphorical clock hanging over her head. Except, instead of running out, her time in Providence Peak was apparently due to extend. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that, other than peeved beyond belief that she was still a victim to her father's whims, but for now it was the least of her concerns.

Because if Edie was actually staying longer than intended? She kind of needed somewhere to live, and her furnished rental downtown had an expiration date. One looming closer than she'd like.

Fortunately, she had a laptop, pages of ads on Craigslist to review, and— Fuck it to hell. Her eyes darted for the cupboards across the room. The same ones she'd forgotten to restock with food, let alone booze.

Alright then. No wine. But she had a mostly functional understanding of the city by now and yelp on her side.

Thirty minutes and a bit of quick browsing later she traipsed through Holy Spirit's doors, still dressed in the same silk slip she'd been lounging in made 'decent' by tossing on the closest threadbare sweater she could find. Who cared if it was technically pajamas? Unless you squinted hard it looked close enough to a dress.

And if someone did? Well. She never cared much about opinions.

Correction— She never cared about most people's opinions. Max was, and probably always would be, one of the lone exceptions.

He also happened to be among the speakeasy's patrons, sat just within view. The universe really loved to mess with her heart and her head, didn't it?

She should've turned around. If not to leave, then at least to slip somewhere hidden before he noticed her, too. Instead, the longer she stared the closer she ventured until, without even realizing she'd moved at all, she found herself once more within spitting distance.

Quietly, she cleared her throat. If a melancholy smile radiated in her eyes it didn't quite make it to her lips. "Is this the part where we finally find out if we can exist in the same city again?" Her stare drifted to the empty seat beside him and back, as if saying 'this is a terrible idea, but do you mind...'

[casfonsecasantcs]

with @nathanccrane continued from HERE.

Next to none... but Cas didn't admit as much. She just offered another light smile accompanied by a shrug. "It's definitely a packed schedule, but I've learned to get used to it." It wasn't the first, nor would it probably be the last, time she juggled multiple jobs. "I started working when I was fifteen and haven't stopped since. I'm not sure I ever knew what free time is to begin with."

She didn't care to find out, either, if it came at the expense of those she loved. Mattie would have medical bills pilling up soon; being able to help Boyd cover them all mattered more than a night out on the town.

Fiddling with the pair of mugs while they waited she grazed teeth against her lower lip. "My parents actually moved back to Brazil shortly after I graduated." Much as she'd love to see them again it hadn't happened yet. "This is actually for—" Again, she paused, struggling to define exactly who Matilda was let alone their unusual relationship.

"Well, she's the daughter of a friend, but I've basically helped raise her since she was a baby. In a way I guess you could say I consider her mine, too." Secretly. Unofficially. With the kind of hope she knew better than to hold onto. Pouring their coffees to avoid admitting as much to even herself, she explained, "She has some medical stuff going on right now and Thursday is a really big appointment. I promised I'd be there for it if I could."

[that-sweet-jester]

poor Sevika's been embarrassed ever since, yet still stuck around😔✊

[pauls-mescal]

Andrew Garfield talks to Elmo about grief and the passing of his mother

[rioblitzle]

working retail

[perikocak]

location: alvaro's

status: closed for @niaxbailey

“Hmm,” Peri’s date murmured, considering her with a stare over the side of his glass. “In that case, I guess it’s a good thing she couldn’t make it.”

Sorry, what?

She waited… and waited… and waited some more, but his mouth didn’t twitch. Not once did he break face and laugh. Not even a little bit. Either this guy missed his calling as an actor or he was being serious. 

No. Fuck no. She had to get out of there. 

“I just need to— you need to— Stay. Just stay. I’ll—” be leaving, thanks. Under any other circumstances she wouldn’t think twice about politely ending a date before their food even arrived, but this guy screamed five alarm fire and about a dozen red flags. 

Instead of finishing that sentence with the truth, or even a lie, she made sure to grab her purse and then headed for the hall she thought might lead to the bathroom. Make no mistake— she absolutely would crawl out a ten inch window set five feet high if she had to. 

Thankfully, the woman she nearly bulldozed right through upon rounding the corner spared her that fate. Peri didn’t know her from Eve, but she’d seen a few servers defer to her in a way that screamed upper management. 

“Listen, I will literally pay you for the food I didn’t eat and add on an extra twenty if you let me use your back exit.” To make good on that promise she hastily pulled her wallet from her bag. “That man out there? The one with the—” her hand, wallet and all, did a spastic circle around her own head to indicate some sort of rich boy hair swoop— “has not only called his mother, on speaker, twice since we arrived to ask her what I should order and if he liked Merlot or Cabernet more… but he just told me she was originally meant to join us all along.”

In case it wasn’t obvious, she whisper-hissed, “It’s only our first date!” But even calling it as much was being too generous considering all she really wanted out of the evening was a happy stomach and some ‘knock me out for a week’ sex. 

“Not to be dramatic—” she was absolutely being dramatic— “but if you don’t help me this is only going to end one of two ways.” Peri lifted her first finger for emphasis. “With me chained up in some Karen’s basement because Chad wanted a new toy—” up popped the second— “or with me doing twenty-five to life for utensil-ar homicide.”

She wished she was joking, but if she had to sit through one more minute of his debate between whether or not ‘Mother’ would approve of her nail length or decision to wear red she’d actually, probably, maybe stick a dessert fork through his eye. 

“I know you don’t know me, but I promise you I am not built for confinement. I basically break out in hives if I spend more than a few hours wearing pants.”

[bekturan]

location: Covington's 12th Annual Valentine Date Night Auction

status: closed for @wyattxabhrams

"Waving almost two grand around is a really odd way of asking if I'd like to split a pizza. You know that, right?"

Not that they were serving any 12-cuts with extra olives, extra cheese that night. Bek could only wish to be that lucky. They'd probably end up with those fancy plates with food she neither recognized, nor could pronounce the name of that were finished in point two polite bites.

Still, half amused and half stunned to be sitting there across from Wyatt Abhrams, of all people, she leaned into the tease. "Especially from someone who seems just as keen on avoiding me as he is being in my company." Low, throaty laughter rolled out before she stifled the sound with a quick bite into her lip, eyes glinting and wholly locked on him.

"Seriously, though, I almost feel like I owe you one tonight." It was never simple - deciding what to withold, what to share - but she admitted, "Out of everyone who started flashing their wallets when I walked out there, you're... kind of the only date I wouldn't have been tempted to ditch."

[tessabhrams]

location: his house

status: closed for @ryanparrish

The situation felt a little too close to how she'd shown up at Ryan's door all those weeks ago, the only difference being that time her stomach knotted with what suspiciously felt like hope. This time, as she slid from the driver's seat the only thing Tess could call the beast in her belly was dread.

Unfortunately, she couldn't just get back in the car and continue avoiding this conversation any longer. It'd been long enough since the night of the auction, upset stomach be damned.

Still, her approach wasn't immediate. No. Tess eyed the door to his trailer with a healthy dose of trepidation for a solid minute before her feet finally got with the program.

Loosing a sigh from her lips she palmed her keys, then rapped a few closed fist knocks to get his attention. Assuming he was even home.

Was he home?

She probably should've called first. Except any amount of warning to her arrival would've only given Ryan time to formulate an excuse. An explanation as to how, exactly, he was still married when he'd point blank swore the opposite years ago.

Call her hypocritical (she'd kept her own secrets out of their letters) but the revelation of his absolutely still real marriage vows felt different from not disclosing Waverly sooner. Keeping news of her daughter away from his ears was still a shade dishonest, but it hadn't been a bold faced lie.

Just thinking about their parallel predicaments reignited a searing heat in her blood.

Married. Still married.

Tess barely managed to swallow the sound of her self-directed scoff when, at last, the door swung wide... and there he was. Ryan Parrish. The man she once assumed she'd spend her entire life with and now couldn't help but study like a stranger.

It killed her— Noting that difference between past and present. Between moving home and learning his carefully kept, blissfully wedded truth.

This wasn't how their story was supposed to go.

"I think it's time we talked." To Tess' credit she bravely jutted her chin, but her heart gave an unsteady gallop when she followed with the barbed quip, "Unless your wife is home?"

[camgarza]

location: bread and butter

status: closed for @calliemontgomery

It'd been such a brief exchange - no more than ten or so minutes spent between two women with similar goals - and yet, when Cami's gaze landed on Callie across the room, recognition hit instantly.

Sauntering over, hands loosely slipped into the pockets of her thin jacket, she paused near enough to muse, "I never did bump into you again at the auction. How went your date with that bottle of rose?"

She'd meant to find her again, had meant to suggest maybe one day they meet up to share a bottle wine... and then SImone happened. Faced with a contestant who never showed and a spot to fill her so-called 'friend' thrust Cami out onto stage on a whim.

After that, nothing about the rest of her night went to plan.