—— └ᴠᴀᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴀ ғᴏʀᴇɪɢɴ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇᴘᴛ. she’d started working at the age of fifteen and couldn’t actually recall ever having more than two days off in a row to herself. ‘ taking time off makes me feel guilty. i don’t even know what to do with myself anyways. ’ the admission felt odd to say aloud, her mouth snapping shut as soon as the words were out and she vainly wanted to snatch them back. it made her sound pathetic and she hated that. ‘ oh, come on. you should know all about parties. i know you rich boys. i used to clean up after you all when i was in high school. ’ hearing him reminisce as if these events were decades ago rather than just a hops worth of time from the present was funny, endearing to an extent as she scrunched her nose up and smiled at him. part of her paid attention to the red alarms that always went off around him when she idly thought about the fact that she could listen to him forever.
‘ are you sure that you want that? ’ somehow, the idea of being the first person to hear what he was working on felt weighted. she didn’t know anything about music past what she thought sounded good and her small dabbling in writing, but only because she liked poetry. whether or not she was a good judge with any actual credentials was up in the air. her opinion was, admittedly, biased. if she showed her anything, she’d tell him it was good. ‘ i mean like, are you sure you don’t want like someone… better than me to hear it first? ’
her shoulders lifted in a noncommittal shrug. whether or not his observation was true was not for her to contest. she’d never been a fan of elysia talbott and everyone knew it, but luz was her best friend and she loved his kids to death. ‘ you say that as if you never have anything to do. please, you’re ALWAYS busy. ’ trying to be calm and easy was a challenge when he had to go and be so fucking cute. groaning she half-heartedly threw a pillow in his direction, sure she’d miss with her lack of coordination. ‘ you can’t say shit like that. it makes things all serious and like makes me feel like i’m not gonna want you to go back to your own place or leave at all. it’s just …. never mind. ’
“it shouldn’t make you feel guilty. you should vacation with me sometime.” he offered, hoping she would take him up on it. it would be a fun time, plus maybe she would actually relax for once. august was a quiet guy, who definitely didn’t define him by his parties. but he was defined by his father’s parties. well, in fact, august didn’t really know what to define himself as. “hey, we’re not all the same. you were definitely cleaning up after my brother and sisters. that’s not on me.” he chuckled, though it kind of hit him how different the two had grown up. one with it all, and one working hard with to achieve what they got. it seemed unfair. august was here on his second album, part due to a girl, and mostly due to the position he’d been given in life.
bringing himself back to reality, he nodded at her question. “yea, i mean you’re not gonna like drag it through hell right? because i get that enough from my producers and critics.” it was nerve-wracking. he couldn’t show his first album to aliyah, but he knew that she heard it, and he hoped she loved it. “like, the important people have heard it, they’ve been there the whole process. but you’ll be the first who actually matters to me.” he shrugged, not trying to make a big deal out of this.
he feigned offense. “busy? this comes from miss i never take a break or vacation.” he nudged her slightly, but honestly knew his schedule was always packed. plus there was the definite tour coming up...something he had been meaning to talk to juni about but didn’t really want to think about it. “it’s just what? i mean i don’t really have to go...”
