#ft. echo galaeus

[cricketcampbell]

👀 + name three people you would hate to live with

"Rhys, because then Lorelai would, like, never come visit, and that would make me sad. As much as I love her, Echo, because she seems like the type that would make me get up at like...five in the morning for a run. And Peter, because my bagels, and probably any bread item, would never be safe from his sticky little fingers. Extra bonus answer, because I'm, like, actually currently living with her and hating it: my roommate Chloe."

@rhyswilson (ft. @lorelailewis) / @ecchs / @peterbasara

[santiagodeleons]

👀 + top five most bang'able people in Aurora Bay

"I hate these."

"Bradley, Echo, Joey, Chelsea and Jordan." @bradley-banner @ecchs @joey-madani @chelsabel @jordanmitchell

Send my muse “👀 + a question” and they’ll have to answer with 100% honesty.

[bazhowletts]

closed for: @ecchs

Free drink number whatever-the-fuck had Baz in a slightly more amenable mood than he usually was, which was why thus far he had only leaked one fake news scandal to a press figure and argued with two people by the hors d’oeuvres.

( A roaring success as far as good behaviour went. )

He holds his glass down at his side as he stalks up behind his boss like the world's most annoying apex predator, speaking semi-loudly near her ear as he tried to decipher who or what was holding her gaze.

"What are we looking at?"

[benj-hyun]

# (for echo!)

BEN 📲 ECHO — Look at this caterpillar I saw out in the field today. BEN 📲 ECHO — [ pic of said caterpillar ] BEN 📲 ECHO — Isn't he neat? 🐛

@ecchs

[santiagodeleons]

“ø” (for echo!)

Santiago 📲: How long are we just going to not talk about it? Santiago 📲: I'm curious if there's a specific timeframe, or.

Send “ø” for a LATE NIGHT text.

@ecchs

TEXT MEME.

[santiagodeleons]

Santiago: Bob bitch. 😂 That's one way to put it. Santiago: Don't think you're missing much side stepping that invite. Santiago: You've not managed to make Friday sound less appealing with that honesty. Santiago: I could that or Thursday though, whatever works best for you and your commitment to responsible living. @ecchs

Echo: Who actually wants to attend that shit? I turned them down once before, bob bitch is the worst. Echo: My schedule's pretty packed, but I have a free night on Tuesday or Thursday. Echo: And technically free Friday but that invites the weekend. A week night will make me responsible this time around.

[santiagodeleons]

"I'm starting to see that," He teases, hoping that that extends to all the times she rang home that she disliked him and his company. There was now one instance where that definitely wasn't the case and a date off the back of that just makes him more confident about it.

"Oh, a real place, huh?" The verbiage amuses him, a reminder that they had lived vastly different lives before theirs had converged at Four Leaf, something that intrigues him still. "What counts as real in your books?"

@ecchs

"I'd ask if you wanted my honest opinion, but I have a real dogshit poker face, so no sense in lying."

Beyond getting dressed up and switching a bar for a restaurant, this feels on par for their usual banter.

"If I could've taken you to a real place... damn shame I didn't buy that private jet when I could've five years ago." Echo can't help but purse her lips, forcing back a smile. "Got a whole book of place I could proudly take you."

[santiagodeleons]

"I definitely do, I'm curious what you've got hidden away in here."

He's spent enough time around wealthy folk to know they were as good as a different breed, operating on a frequency that he could never quite reach himself naturally without having to put in a conscious effort to try. Echo didn't quite fit that mould, which made her a standout of sorts.

The fact she liked to give him shit at every turn only aided that.

There's no mistaking the effort that had been put into the spread in front of him when he follows her into the living room, and with no one else around he has to assume she went to the trouble herself rather than outsourcing, and he feels a pang of sadness on her behalf. The snippets he had heard at random when they had managed to not have a conversation devolve into bickering had made it evident how close she and Davis were.

"They're missing out," Santiago says as he reaches down to take a handful of cheese balls, the luminous orange snack something he already associated with her. "Do you just get these in by the truckload?"

@ecchs

"Ha -- only if you want. Half of this place is an echo chamber, no pun intended."

Rumors spread like wildfire in this town, but her rumor actually rings true: Echo spends more time sleeping in the gym than at home, but one could argue that her real passion lives within the walls peppered with chalk dust and old perspiration.

Something a little less sterile. Something a little grittier.

Four Leaf Pub is something of the same, which is why instead of hanging out here she goes there. Now that Murph's gone, she has to face Santiago head-on. No more middle man in their spats.

( Maybe he'd be proud the two were actually playing nice. )

Stepping into her lavishly vacant home, she beelines to the living room with copious snacks and unopened liquor strewn about. "My sibling was supposed to be here today, but they, uh... decided against coming home for the holidays. So I guess I dedicate this spread now to you."

[santiagodeleons]

"I'd bet with almost certainty that it is not."

That was most likely the true horror of it, he thought to himself, giving the structure another quick glance before he's looking to Echo again just in time to get scowled at. It's an expression he's well used to seeing on her features.

"'Cause whatever you'd do to get me back for doing exactly that's got to be ten times scarier than any underpaid actor hiding behind a corner in there. Trust me for twenty minutes, that's all I'm asking."

@ecchs

"Not scared. Apprehensive. Is this place up to code?" Heavens above, she was starting to sound like her mother. Echo inspects the building from top to bottom with a scan of her eyes once again, only for her brain to catch the second half of this twenty questions. His teasing is rewarded with a wicked scowl.

"How do I know you're not gonna just run the hell out of there when some freak jumps out? Leave me out in the damn dust. I don't buy this great protector act, Santiago."

[santiagodeleons]

Santiago: Hey, don't downgrade my membership like that when I feel like I just got an invite to the MET gala. Santiago: Yeah, I was thinking something along those lines. Santiago: All my time in this town and I've tried the lobster there, guess I know what I'm having. Santiago: When are you free? @ecchs

Echo: Ha, a shit club to be a part of if that's the case. Echo: [...] Echo: What, like going to Neptune on purpose? Echo: Arguably a little less comfortable than my bed, but they have damn good lobster there. Echo: I can clean up nice for a night.

[santiagodeleons]

Santiago: It's that exclusive a club? I'm honoured to be part of it. Santiago: And you don't need to let me know your whereabouts. Santiago: Won't stop me from wondering though. Santiago: That's your reigned in? Maybe I should take that missing it back. Santiago: Can't say it'd be the worst thing in the world to see your face across the bar by chance. Santiago: Or at a different bar on purpose. @ecchs

Echo: Travel and shit for work. It wasn't personal, promise. Echo: I considered letting you know but I didn't know if that was something we even needed to do. My excuse was you're probably one of my only three friends in this damn town. Echo: Ouch, out of pocket? I reign it in and stay clean for y'all. Echo: Guess I gotta show up and cause a riot to make up for lost time.

[santiagodeleons]

Santiago: You might have a point. What's the middle ground between those two? That's what I'm shooting for. Santiago: So did I but haven't seen you round Four Leaf really. Santiago: Might have missed the out of pocket things you say when you are there some. @ecchs

Echo: Well you know what they say. People who want to, will. Echo: So 'hi' was blasé but 'are we not going to talk about it' wasn't too strong? Echo: Figured we were both busy and we'd talk about it eventually. Not like I regret it or whatever.

[bazhowletts]

"I'm telling you, that's him."

Baz rarely forgets a face, especially when that face was attached to a human he found annoying through and through. It's why there was no corner of the globe his former neighbor Lottie Rhodes could hide without him keeping their vendetta against one another alive and well.

( The shift from 2023 to 2024 just meant he needed to send her a reminder that he hadn't forgotten that. )

"Good eye. You might be onto something. I need to hear what's going on, we should very subtly shift over that way so I can be in eavesdropping range."

@ecchs

Echo squints, popping a piece of ice in her mouth from her drink as she mulls over this mystery man. But then Baz figures it out faster.

(That's why she pays him the big bucks for only being a receptionist.)

"No goddamn way that's Never Leg." But it is. "He looks so... sad in a suit. All that time wasting all my damn towels and that's all he has to show for it."

As much as she keeps to herself, gossiping is ingrained in her genes. You don't come out a Galaeus without having police-tight tabs on everyone for fun.

"Pretty sure that's not his girlfriend. Look at the Balenciaga. That screams you told me you had money but we're in Aurora Bay at a New Year's Eve party, where's my yacht?"

[santiagodeleons]

"Don't sound too shocked, I've been known to make an effort when it's warranted."

It certainly felt like that was the case as he found himself sat opposite Echo in Neptune, their shared presence there deliberate in a way that was new for them. For the most part, he had mostly seen her by chance -- visits to his bar, frequenting her gym, a spontaneous text at Christmas time.

Though the intention behind the now was different, it didn't feel strange.

"You're looking pretty good yourself, it's making me feel bad for the menu." It's only half a joke as he scans what's on offer, impressed as he often was by, still something of a foodie at heart despite how long it had been since he dawned a chef's hat. "Is west coast seafood naturally disappointing compared to Louisiana?"

@ecchs

"Look who cleans up nice after all."

The bravado doesn't account for the ten minutes Echo sat in her car before driving to Neptune, trying to convince herself he wouldn't stand her up. There's no bullshitting now -- they're here, and that in and of itself is scarier than any glaring spotlight.

(She's testing out honesty, and honestly? She hates it, because she can't help but blatantly give him a once-over in newfound appreciation.)

"I like that color on you."

@santiagodeleons

[santiagodeleons]

Santiago: That's very specific. Santiago: I'd have to set some sort of blinking reminder. Santiago: Hi. Santiago: I was going to lead with that but it felt a little too blase. @ecchs

echo 📲 santiago

continued from [x]

Echo: A calendar year, maybe? Echo: Maybe a day sooner since it was a leap year this time Echo: Hi, by the way. People usually start conversations with greetings.

@santiagodeleons

[santiagodeleons]

"You called."

( Texted was more apt, but the point still stood, if she beckoned then he would show up. )

Santiago doesn't quite know what to make of Echo Galaeus, not in that exact moment as he stands in her driveway for the first time on the heels of an out of the blue invite, or in the grander sense of the whole time he's known her.

Sometimes he feels like she's got a holiday home on his last nerve for how often she dances on it, other times he finds himself so swept up in trading verbal blows with her that the lively atmosphere always found at Four Leaf fades to secondary white noise.

"I could eat." He says of the offer, holding back for once on half-joking and half-asking if he might encounter anything lethal in it. He makes his way up the driveway with her, whistling in a show of how impressed he was as they neared the door.

"This mean I get a tour of what pageant money gets you?"

@ecchs

for: @santiagodeleons where: the galaeus estate (so fancy woo)

The ring cameras alerted her well before Santiago could that he had arrived. Sprawled out on her living room couch, she glanced at her phone and quickly jumped to her feet, abandoning the unopened bottle laying idle on her coffee table.

Drinking was everyone's go-to for dealing with complicated feelings. Usually it was hers, too. Except tonight, where apparently inviting the guy you can't stand to your humble abode sounds like a better option.

Why drink alone, when you can soberly sulk with Santi?

"You came." She steps down her driveway, hands shoved into her coat. "…did you eat dinner during your shift? 'Cus I have leftover pasta I can cook up if not."