we keep living anyway

Athena Blair. 27. ADA. Death doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes and we keep living anyway.. We rise and we fall and we break, and we make our mistakes. And if there's a reason I'm still alive when everyone who loves me has died, I'm willing to wait for it.

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen​

 “What can I say, this holiday has done me some good after all.” He smirked back at her before he shrugged his shoulders gently at her. He was a lawyer after all, he had to be quick on his feet and this banter with he was nothing but some harmless fun. “Yeah?” He smirked again, lifting the glass back up to his lips only to take a sip off it, “Do you have anything in particular in mind?” He added out of curiosity, wanting to make sure they were on the same page and that he wasn’t just reading into this. 

“Slightly jealous, not gonna lie. I really need to take some time off and just relax for a little. Not use my brain for a few days,” she nodded in thought. But there are times she felt like she would never be able to do that. “I have a house nearby and we can use for one of the more obvious ideas,” she let her eyes scan him again, giving a nod. “That’s if you want to.”

[athenablair-c]

itsethanroyce

 Ethan offered the other woman a slight nod, before he went to sit down next to her. He pulled the dog lead close, asking the dog to lay down as it was sniffing at the smell of the fries she was eating. “Sorry, I guess the short walk we did landed him with an appetite.” He attempted at a joke. 

Dark eyes moved down to the dog, giving a small smile as she paused from her laptop to let the dog smell her. “Would it be okay if I sneak him one?” She couldn’t deny that dogs were her weakness, but she really had no time to take care of a dog when it comes to work. “Just one, I promise.” 

[athenablair-c]

itswillowcreed​

“Oh right, right.” Willow nodded, sipping off her coffee a little before another smile quirked back upon her lips. “I see! That is a shame.” She added, glad at least her parents had made her stay. Not that not staying had ever been an option, not that she knew off anyway. They rarely went to her school meetings it seemed. “That is a good point. You seem to have done well for yourself.”

“I was kind of annoyed. But I was also five, so I probably had no real right to decide on what grade I should be in. I’m just lucky my sister was a year above, so if I ever needed her, she was right there for me. Which happened a few times. Just small child fears and she would come into the room for a few minutes, stay with me and then go back to her class.” She smiled at the memory. She missed that bond. “I hope so. I question it sometimes though.”

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen

 “Right, feisty is one word for it I guess.” He teased her further before bringing his glass back up to his lips once more. Brax looked over at her again, smirking, “I mean.. I am technically on holiday..” He said with a shrug, “So I guess I should try and enjoy myself a little.” He added with a smirk. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, as long as some ground rules were set as he should know better than to mix business with pleasure. “Charm huh?” He chuckled, “I guess we are going to have to see about that.” He added with a wink. 

“You’re killing me today. I think you got a bit too much rest. You’re coming up with some comebacks,” she smiled softly as she shook her head. Giving a small nod, a smirk formed on Athena’s face as he spoke. “I really think you should enjoy yourself. And there’s a few ways to do that,” a brow rose for a moment, eyes scanning him. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to hook up with another lawyer, but the more she thought about it, the more tempting it got. “You’ll be impressed,” she smiled as she took a drink of the whiskey.

[athenablair-c]

thealexandriaroberts

“Which is understandable too.” Alexandria replied knowing it was one of those things that was hard to get over. “Trust me, I understand the stressful thing a great deal.”

“It is, but they are preventing themselves from seeing their granddaughter because of it. Which, I think is more important than anything.” But that was probably just her. “What do you do?”

[athenablair-c]

beaupalmer​:

Beau’s blog followers were dying for new content, and he couldn’t blame them, you can only milk mass disappearance for so long before it gets as tiring as the last season of Game of Thrones. He needed something new to report on–something crazy. He was counting on alien abductions, but he would settle for less.  He pointed at the other and smirked mischiveously, “You,” he called them “Tell me something crazy. It doesn’t have to be true, but, like, don’t tell me if it’s not true. Make me believe it’s true.”

@ashtonhqstarter

After a long day in court, Athena was feeling like her brain was exhausted and the only thing she needs right this moment is a stiff drink. As she saw a man walking towards her, she rolled her eyes as she realized who the guy was. One of the people in the town talking about the case that she is working on. “No,’ she raised a brow at him. “Don’t feel like it.”

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen

 Braxton shrugged back at her, “That is fair enough, but sometimes it is good to to think before you speak as well.” He added, at least in his opinion it was. Maybe he was just a bit more considerate like that. She did seem to be a lot more blunt than he was. He let a slight chuckle escape his lips as he looked back over at her, licking his bottom lip ever so slightly, “Is that so?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her as his eyes wandered over her once more. “And you think that is a good idea, do you?” He added with a teasing smirk. “I mean, I am a lawyer and I wouldn’t consider myself a handful, so I guess you are just the exception.” 

“I do it sometimes. Better than never. I blame my grandma. She was a feisty woman and I think I got that from her.” She knew that she should watch her mouth more. She hated that there were times she got herself in trouble, but she learned to live with it. Raising a brow as he watched his reaction, the Filipino gave a small smirk. “Yeah it is so. I think it’s a great idea. Do you think it’s a good idea?” Maybe she was being a bit more forward than most women are, but with the alcohol, she definitely had more confidence.” Scrunching her face at him, she gave a small shrug. “It’s just part of my charm.”

[athenablair-c]

itsethanroyce​:

Ethan was out in the park, waking one of the dogs from the rescue center that he had started working at since dropping out of college. Even though things in his life was seemingly starting to fall back into place, he knew he still had a long way to go before he could consider himself better. He continued to walk down the gravel path before he reached an area where there were a lot more people than he had expected, but instead of panicking he let his eyes wander the area. He spotted someone seated on a bench alone, and he decided to walk over, just until it had cleared up a bit. “Um hi.. Excuse me.” He said, “Would you mind if I join you?”

@ashtontnhqstarter​

With a somewhat decent day outside, Athena figured that she could have lunch as she works on some paperwork on her laptop in the park. Normally she just took it back to the courthouse, but she needed out of there for some time. She felt like she was living there over time. Zoned out as she ate some of the fries as she typed, she looked up when she heard a voice. “Uh, sure. Yeah, go ahead.”

[athenablair-c]

thealexandriaroberts

“Yeah maybe. People dealing with grief do and say a lot of things.” Alexandria replied knowing she’d dealt with that sort of stuff at work a fair bit.  “No, I totally get what you are saying. Sometimes it is just hard to get through a day and you need a reward.”

“Yeah, it was a lot of anger for a while. Now it’s just hitting them hard.” She knew that they still aren’t fully able to handle the truth. But she had a feeling that’s what it’s like when you lose a child. “Exactly. Especially with stressful jobs.”

[athenablair-c]

itswillowcreed

 “That is fair.” She nodded back at her, “I only have a bother as well.” She added with a faint smile. “Ah right, yeah that makes a lot of sense!” Willow smiled back at her, “I am the same, so I get that, honestly.”

“Yeah, she’s technically my half sister, but we never treated it that way,” she gave a small smile. She knew she didn’t look like her sister because of their different ethnicities, but it never bothered them. And they both respected their own backgrounds as well. “I honestly would have wanted to stay in my grade, but my parents made the decision for me. I guess they ended up being a bit right though because staying in my grade would have probably been easy for me.”

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen

 Braxton laughed back at her, “Right, right - Compliments does seem like they are rare coming from you, but I will make sure to save it in my memory to remind you time and time again.” He winked at her. “I would prefer it if you spelled it out to me, honestly. I am on holiday after all.” He smirked back at her before he continued to sip off his drink. “Handful huh?” He chuckled, “I have been called worse, so I guess I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you. You really are on a roll today, you know that right?”

“I can’t help that I’m honest. Why should I beat around the bush? It’s easier to say what I’m thinking,” she gave an innocent shrug as she looked at him. Her bluntness always got her in trouble. “How can I say this? Let’s just say I’m curious on what you’re hiding under that suit,” Athena took a drink of the whiskey. Once again her being forward could probably get her in trouble. She did work with him after all. “I’m being so nice today. You’re lucky. I know I’m a handful, too, so maybe it’s just a lawyer thing.”

[athenablair-c]

thealexandriaroberts

“I haven’t heard a saying about that, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Alexandria replied with a small shrug. Some sayings were more local things and such anyway. “Although I do agree, some days are worth celebrating surviving.”

“Probably my parents’ thing. Especially after we lost Izzy, they seemed to say that a lot more often,” she nodded for a small moment, taking a deep breath. “It’s like those mental health days, you know? Those days where you don’t know how you did it. We need to celebrate those days. Now I sound like one of those weird motivational speakers. I don’t like it,” she scrunched her face.

[athenablair-c]

itswillowcreed​

“Oh right!” She said with a nod. “I thought as much, but I wasn’t sure.” She added with a lighter chuckle. Willow shrugged back at her, “I mean, moving up twi grades does sound pretty smart if you ask me.” She winked back at her.

“My only sibling,” she gave a small nod. “I don’t like to think of it as being smart because I worked just as hard. School wasn’t too easy for me, so I like to think that I love learning and worked hard to get to that level, you know?”

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen​

“Wait, did I just hear you right? Did you just admit to being the second best at something?” He teased her with a smirk. Not words he heard coming out of her mouth everyday. He raised an eyebrow at her a bit intrigued, “Yeah? Care to elaborate?” He asked her out of curiosity, not sure what she was aiming at but she sure had peaked his interest. “Nah I am a lawyer remeber, its not my style.” He at winked again, still only teasing.

“And you’ll never hear it again, so take that in and rest on it,” she rolled her eyes, immediately regretting that she said it. She will never live it down. Especially from Braxton. “I mean, I could spell it out or I could let you figure it out for yourself.” She really thought it was obvious, but maybe she was more lucrative than she thought. “Man you’re a handful. In a somewhat nice way.”

[athenablair-c]

itswillowcreed​

 “Izzy?” She asked her out of curiosity as she wasn’t sure who she was referring to even though she was pretty sure it must have been a family member based on the rest of her words, “I take it you are like really smart then.” she chuckled. She wasn’t exactly unintelligent herself, but she preferred to take things slow and at her own paste. 

“My sister. Isabelle, but we called her Izzy. I couldn’t say her name when I was little so it just kind of stuck for me.” And then everyone else just started using it, so Athena may have started that small trend. “I wouldn’t say that. I love learning and because of that, I moved up two grades.” She didn’t like the idea of being called smart. She didn’t think she was in all honesty. 

[athenablair-c]

itsbraxtonallen​

 “I mean it is not like we are the only lawyer firm in town.” He shrugged back at her. Sure they were one of the best, but it wasn’t like people didn’t have other options. Not that he minded, he had work at the end of the day. “What do you suggest I do then? For fun I mean?” He asked her out of curiosity before sipping off his drink. He let his eyes wander the room once more, “I mean, I am not so sure about that..” He teased her with a smirk, “But you certainly aren’t the worse.”

“You guys are literally the best when it comes to family law. And I’m second best. I mean, I do have family law under my belt from when I lived in Georgia. I just prefer criminal,” she shrugged. Family law just didn’t keep her attention as much as it should. But she did work in that area, so she likes to think she’s up there on the list. “I can think of a few things, but it really depends on your style.” A small smirk formed as she took a drink of the whiskey. “Wow. Way to woo a woman, Braxton. You could have at least just lied to me.”

[athenablair-c]

itswillowcreed​

“I don’t understand how you so that so well.” She said a bit in ave with the other female. Willow was used to pretending herself that everything was okay, but at the end of the day she was also very emotional and she didn’t thing she could stick it through an entire day in court like that. “I see! I only have an older brother myself but he was too busy with himself and his own stuff to worry much about me. Not that he really had to, because I was a good girl.” She chuckled.

Athena couldn’t help but give a shrug in thought. She didn’t really know how she did it, but maybe over time she got used to doing it. Especially after losing her sister. “I guess over time I just lost the whole feelings thing.” That was a good enough reason she thought. “Izzy had her hands full. We are a few years apart age wise, but school wise it was only one year because I skipped a few grades. So we got on each other’s nerves because of it.”