#tristan heth

[ilikeit-art]

As above, so below, and vice versa.

A magical sunset over a sea of clouds filmed in timelapse by Tristan Heth.

[mnashton]

Just Chilling

Meg hadn’t intended to bring her work home with her that night, it just sort of happened. 

She spent all day trying to contact the family of Tristan Heth, the Gotham University student who went missing some time before or during spring break. No one at the crime desk followed up on the disappearance, and now she’s trying to get in touch with Heth’s family instead of covering zoning board meetings. 

She’d planned to wait until the weekend to text Riley, but somewhere between calling the superintendent of the missing kid’s Rhode Island high school and hearing his mother cry from 250-odd miles away, she texts the part-time dealer.  

It’s not until she’s boarding a subway car near City Hall and on her way to meet her after work that she remembers the part-time dealer is also a part-time student. It was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to ask if she’d heard any rumors, right? 

One of the underrated perks of living in Gotham, at least in her opinion, is the public transit system. It’s not long before she’s knocking on Riley’s door and already grateful she remembered to wear a jacket and boots. It might be spring, but the temperature feels like it’s dropped 10 degrees since she left work and the sun began to set.  

“Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?” she asks as the door opens, and wonders if she’ll ever stop feeling Weird about buying drugs. How Gotham hasn’t legalized weed yet, she’ll never understand.   

 @hungover-and-broke-student

[mnashton]

Meg loosens her laces and kicks off her boots in the time it takes Riley to pack the bowl and laughs at her comment about the weather. 

“It’s all about layering, I can help you acclimate,” she promises, over-eager as always to help someone new get used to life in the city she unironically loves. 

She takes Bong Jovi from her host with a careful two-handed grip, grateful as always that Riley is A: Kind enough to share it and B: conscientious enough to clean it. As she lights the bowl and inhales deeply, tucking the lighter between her pinkie and ring finger and removing the stem in a practiced motion as she fills her lungs with more smoke than her more modest pipe at home could manage. 

She exhales with no trouble at first, but within seconds she's turning away from the other girl and coughing painfully, handing Bong Jovi back to its rightful owner along with the lighter.

She manages to catch her breath and settles into the haze descending on her. At least until she remembers what Riley just asked her. She folds her legs under her, getting comfortable on the couch as she forces her mind to turn back to Tristan Heth.

Instead of feeling numb like she'd hoped, the profound hopelessness she'd pushed away throughout her workday permeates the smoke in her head as she looks around the apartment, idly taking in the details. 

"This Gotham U student went missing some time just before the break. His parents were expecting him, so they noticed right away but… the cops were shitty and the campus was empty and… now no one's seen him in three weeks," she concludes quietly, looking back at Riley. "And you know what that means. Most likely, no one's ever going to see him again. I'm too late, everyone is."  

Just Chilling

Meg hadn’t intended to bring her work home with her that night, it just sort of happened. 

She spent all day trying to contact the family of Tristan Heth, the Gotham University student who went missing some time before or during spring break. No one at the crime desk followed up on the disappearance, and now she’s trying to get in touch with Heth’s family instead of covering zoning board meetings. 

She’d planned to wait until the weekend to text Riley, but somewhere between calling the superintendent of the missing kid’s Rhode Island high school and hearing his mother cry from 250-odd miles away, she texts the part-time dealer.  

It’s not until she’s boarding a subway car near City Hall and on her way to meet her after work that she remembers the part-time dealer is also a part-time student. It was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to ask if she’d heard any rumors, right? 

One of the underrated perks of living in Gotham, at least in her opinion, is the public transit system. It’s not long before she’s knocking on Riley’s door and already grateful she remembered to wear a jacket and boots. It might be spring, but the temperature feels like it’s dropped 10 degrees since she left work and the sun began to set.  

“Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?” she asks as the door opens, and wonders if she’ll ever stop feeling Weird about buying drugs. How Gotham hasn’t legalized weed yet, she’ll never understand.   

 @hungover-and-broke-student