the sharpie was still fresh on the disc--letters drawn carefully in a sprawling script. GALENTINE’S 2K19. it was a yearly tradition, the mix cd for margie and one for her siblings, niece, and nephew. often there’d be a fresh batch of sugar cookies, whipped up by joey and the youngest ryan kids, but since valentine’s day had been on the wednesday after a long stretch of days at the diner, it would have to wait for the weekend.
it was a quiet night at the ryan home. katie and eddie were out on their respective dates and the younger kids were at a birthday party for one of gabe’s classmates. it was the perfect night to go out with margie and pick up some cheri’s dairi or grab a drink together. both dateless and burdened with limitless responsibility, the pair could use a night off. as the doorbell rang, joey hopped up--knowing that her mother was never going to answer it for her--and greeted margie at the door. “happy valentine’s day !” she beamed, blonde curls falling over her shoulders as she pulled open the door to invite her in.
full name - jospehine harper ryan
nicknames - joey, ryan
gender / pronouns - she/her
date of birth - july 12, 1995
place of birth - boot hill, arizona
citizenship / ethnicity - american / irish, english, scottish, icelandic.
religion - atheist
socioeconomic status / political affiliation - lower middle class; liberal.
marital status - single, though may depend on verse.
sexual & romantic orientation - bisexual.
education / occupation - waitress.
languages - english, some spanish
faceclaim - maika monroe
hair color / eye color - blonde / brown
height / build - 5′6″ / slender
tattoos / piercings - earlobes x 2. a few cartilage piercings. tattoo of ‘the moon’ tarot card on her left forearm. ‘x’ on her right middle finger.
distinguishable features - big brown eyes, wild blonde hair
MEDICAL INFORMATION.
medical history - anxiety.
known allergies - none.
visual impairment / hearing impairment - none.
nicotine use / drug use / alcohol use - very rarely will she smoke a cigarette or use drugs. drinks socially. smokes pot socially.
PERSONALITY.
traits - ( + ) amiable, stalwart, imaginative ; ( - ) melancholy, reserved, petulant
tropes - small town boredom, desperately looking for a place in life, mommy issues, relative button, perky goth, cool aunt
temperament - phlegmatic
alignment - lawful good
celtic tree zodiac - holly, the ruler
mbti - infp
hogwarts house - hufflepuff
vice / virtue - envy / diligence
likes / dislikes - fairy lights over a dark tapestry, old victorian houses, cats, a new pair of tights with no snags in them, a soft knit sweater, lavender lemonade, almond cookies, the sound of fallen leaves crunching underfoot / people who dislike children, drunk drivers, the after-church sunday rush at the turquoise star diner, ants, boys who are music elitists.
quote - “she tastes like nectar and salt. nectar and salt and apples. pollen and stars and hinges. she tastes like fairy tales. swan maiden at midnight. cream on the tip of a fox’s tongue. she tastes like hope.”
FAVORITES.
food - bacon cheeseburger, and sweet potato fries. no mayo.
drink - strawberry milkshake
pizza topping - jalapenos, chicken, and pineapple
color - black and pink
music - dark synth, black or thrash metal
books - we have always lived in the castle, by shirley jackson, gothic or romantic literature
movies - suspiria, night of the living dead, uncle buck
curse word - bullshit
scents - peony, pumpkin, rain
dare she say it: eri’s enjoying herself. the boot hill rodeo was not what she expected simply because she didn’t know what to expect—zero standards mean zero disappointment!—but she’s surprised by how much fun she’s having. it helps that she’s been with good company; she’s sure she’ll miss them all when she’s finally gone, just a blink down the highway.
“oh. my. god.” eri gasps as she beelines for the animal area, stopping just in front of a group of goats, their beady eyes staring blankly back at her. “wait—-” she swivels back to face joey. “they’re not gonna, like, bite my hand or something if i pet them, right? you never know. maybe they’re secretly evil goats.”
the animals are always joey’s favorite part of the rodeo. she can remember the fat little orange tabby she had as a kid and wishes she had the time to get a pet now. maybe once katie and eddie were out on their own, but for now it just wasn’t in the cards. she’d never outgrown the petting zoo, even if the older kids had, and she was happy to be with eri and not just gabe and isabelle who, were at this moment, cornering a baby pig and trying to win it over with their sugar cones full of overpriced animal feed.
“i mean, they do have those crazy pupils.” joey laughed, gesturing ahead. “that and the horns? no wonder people think they’re satanic.” of course, they were cute and funny--climbing anything they could find and eating what they couldn’t climb ( including a fateful incident where a goat had once tried to eat joey’s hair last year ). “they’re so cute though ! i heard people do yoga with them in the city. do they have that in la?”
Ady had been minding his own business, wondering whether it was worth staying and hanging out at this event that felt so foreign to him, when he was dragged into conversation. He stared, stunned, at her for a couple of moments before the request registered in his brain, and then he still had to stare for another short moment to make sure he’d understood correctly. By the insisting look in the other’s eyes Ady guessed that yes, it was, and he slowly glanced about, trying not to be obvious as he scanned the crowd.
“Okay so, A, no she didn’t spot you…. at least not from what I can see. And B, who the fuck thinks a fashion choice like that is appropriate in any situation? I know this is supposed to be a good southern rodeo and all, but I also need to have a word with whoever thought it was okay to sell something as hideous as that.” He’d had only had a beer or two…. but he also might have been smoking something more than cigarettes around the back of the church earlier with some of the other youths he’d met through his time in Boot Hill, so he was gonna blame that for the fit of giggles that burst over him as he glanced back up at the denim dress and back to the other who’d spoken to him.
despite the covert nature of their conversation, joey couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh as the man spoke--raising her eyebrows in surprise and amusement. “oh, my god. shhh--” she held up her hands in weak protest. “--she’s going to look over here.” it truly was a fashion travesty, but she’d been so caught up in worrying about having yet another acrobatic conversation with her that she hadn’t found the same humor in it. now, having it pointed out to her, she couldn’t seem to fixate on much else.
“listen, i’m pretty sure they hand out that uniform to elementary school teachers and couponers on their thirty-fifth birthdays or something.” mrs. valdez was a perfectly nice woman, but her fashion sense was permanently stunted to 1990s elementary teacher chic, bordering on state worker fashion a la dress suits with nylons and walking shoes. “i mean it’s like the same as being stuck wearing the cheri’s dairi uniform.” okay, so there’s no uniform that rivals a floor length denim skirt, but the pool of comparison wasn’t that deep. she had to draw from somewhere. “thanks for having my six.” she joked as if they were on some covert mission. “are you new in town? i feel like i haven’t seen you before.”
there’s nothing like a cold beer on a warm sunny day, and while the designated space is quite crowded, it gives the whole place a pleasant little buzz of conversation in the background. he’s a couple of drinks in, the simmer of warmth from alcohol under his skin and more than half-done with his current pint. lennox spends the time people watching, letting his blue gaze swivel from person to person as they went about their afternoons. a couple smile and wave, eager to greet him - mainly neighbors, though len does spot a few of the towns less polite company make u-turns or find other places to be when they catch sight of him at the edge of the beer garden. he should’ve known better than to expect nothing but above board behavior from them during the festivities.
he’s placing his drink down on a nearby table, free hand going for his sunglasses to push them up against his forehead despite glare from the sun, when movement to his direct front gives him pause, caught mid-motion. the wafting of smoke that dissipates catches a little in his throat but he swallows the urge to cough as he tries to keep up with what’s being said by the blonde. vaguely his eyes travel over to the woman in question, amusement twisting his lips when len recognizes her, and looks back down with a nod of acknowledgement. mrs valdez hadn’t looked particularly inclined to come over, and a second risk of a look confirms that, so he aims a conspiratorial smile down at joey, “ luckily for you she’s busy ordering herself a drink, you’re in the clear for now kid. ” his tone is wry as he finally finishes the motion and puts his sunglasses away in his pocket.
of all the people in the world, it’s a deputy that stands before her and assists in her in avoiding mrs. valdez. he’s as apt to get the kids taken aware from her as their busybody teacher is. she doesn’t have much pull as a waitress for putting them through school and, as it is, they’re mostly living off darby ryan’s life insurance and the 401k that felicity cashed out when she was asked to resign from the dentist. there’s no money to put any of the ryans through college, but there’s at least enough to raise four kids on and support one useless adult. joey hates when she thinks ofher like that; it seems unfair, and yet joey has lost just as much as her mother and she still gets up everyday and makes the breakfasts and packs the lunches. it’s a tough world, but joey’s tougher than her mother. some days she wonders if that’s a good example for the kids or if it’s making them soft.
“that woman has been hassling me for weeks about parent teacher conferences.” she has to be careful what she says. “my mother hasn’t been able to make them, because they’re always on days she works.” except felicity ryan hasn’t held down a job since joey’s sister heather died, but probably deputy holm doesn’t know that. she tells people her mother cleans houses because it’s an easy cover. the town is small, but there’s enough of a population for it to work. everyone asks for felicity ryan’s card, but--sorry ladies, she’s full up on clients right now. she doesn’t even clean her own house. no, it’s mostly joey--though katie and eddie do their own laundry and dishes now and the kids help with a few chores here and there. it’s a good cover. “i hate being the messenger.” she jokes, taking a drag of her cigarette. “thanks for looking out, deputy.” she tells him, grateful for the back up even if it’s from someone riskier than mrs. valdez. “how are you enjoying the rodeo? i can’t believe they let you have a day off to come out and have a beer.” she smirks, tipping her head to the drink.
ALEC HAD BEEN to enough rodeos in his twenty-seven years that he knew the ins & outs by heart. He’d thought he might get bored of them one day — & that might well be true — but he still enjoyed the festivities to this day. Mind you, it was much less exciting when you weren’t with a group of friends who were drunk & egging you on. At least Alec got his own little thrills when he was in a crowd.
He certainly looked the part, wearing flannel & blue jeans. He was one of the only people who’d bothered to dress up but what could he say? he was an Arizona boy through & through. When Joey approached him, Alec was surprised, though he didn’t make a scene. His eyes merely drifted to the target in question — the woman seemed to be shopping for something, eyes fixed on the table in front of her. “negatory, ma’am, but I got eyes on ‘em.” Alec jerked his head to the side, indicating that they should get out of there if they didn’t want to be caught.
mrs. valdez was among the more suspicious of gabe and isabelle’s teachers. perhaps it was because she was so fond of gabe in her class that she was more nosy as to their lives. on more than one occasion she’d considered trying to clean up felicity’s act and bring her to a conference just to validate the story. except that her near catatonic state wasn’t convincing anyone. no, better that felicity ryan be perpetually unavailable than present. unfortunately, in the ryan household she was both.
pleading eyes fixated on the man’s face as she waited for him to answer--a man in arizona flannel. “ma’am?” she let out an amused exhale through her nose and shook her head. “none of that, but--” if he said she wasn’t looking, joey was brave enough to venture a glance back. no, mrs. valdez’s eyes on her. god, how fucked up was it to dodge a woman for caring. “--yeah, you’re right.” she nodded forward. “lead on.” she said with a smirk and a giggle. it felt more like film noir than rodeo.
