Nursling of the Sky

Grey, she/they, 23, PrideU Lit Major ___________________________  Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again - The Cloud, Percy Bysshe Shelley ____________________________

[jere-me--oh-my]

The Prodigal Returns - Open

broodingdove·:

“Gotcha, let me see…” they looked down at their lap and didn’t find bodywash, and then watched over Jeremy’s shoulder as he searched for what he needed. “I don’t see it here, is it not in there?” they asked. pointing at the bag in front of Jeremy. It looked like potentially he was going to have to run back in for one single thing, which Grey has definitely done before but it’s so not fun. “I’m Grey, by the way,” they said after a beat. 

-

Jeremy stuck his arm inside his rucksack, rooting around to shuffle everything so he could actually see down to the bottom. “Ahhh. That is a negative, I’m afraid. This is a bodywash free zone. Guess I’ll have to go and treat Mr Moon to an encore.” Whoops! Well, no wonder he’d had a nagging feeling he couldn’t remember packing it. “Jeremy,” he smiled to them. 

[broodingdove]

Grey started handing back the shopping items they were holding protectively in their lap, letting Jeremy figure out how to Tetris his belongings back into place. “Oof, sorry about that,” they said, standing and brushing off their knees, offering Jeremy a helping hand to stand up as well. “Nice to meet you Jeremy.” 

“So, are you in uni too?” She kind of assumed every young person in this town must probably take classes, and those who don’t still go to all the parties. 

[jere-me--oh-my]

The Prodigal Returns - Open

broodingdove·:

Grey snorted. She knew that feeling, clumsy and ditsy as she was. “Understandable,” she assured. Not only has she done the same exact thing, forgetting what she bought just a few minutes ago even though she had a written list, but she also tripped on the grippy mat outside the door and spilled her items across the floor once. Luckily there were no spills, but her cereal was crushed and dented from catching her fall. “Thanks!” she said, looking down and tugging at her pant leg with doing a joyful little shuffle at the compliment. “Here, let me help you,” she said sitting down next to him on the curb and grabbing some things, settling them in her lap so they won’t roll away.

Ooook, they were going to help him! Well, what were the odds he was going to get robbed of some groceries, right? Pretty low, this was Swynlake! “So I’m looking for some bodywash? Should be in like, a green bottle I think it was, greeny-blue, something like that? If you see it and I’m just being oblivious, let me know, yeah?”

[broodingdove]

“Gotcha, let me see...” they looked down at their lap and didn’t find bodywash, and then watched over Jeremy’s shoulder as he searched for what he needed. “I don’t see it here, is it not in there?” they asked. pointing at the bag in front of Jeremy. It looked like potentially he was going to have to run back in for one single thing, which Grey has definitely done before but it’s so not fun. “I’m Grey, by the way,” they said after a beat. 

[jere-me--oh-my]

The Prodigal Returns - Open

broodingdove·:

“No! You’re golden, babes,” Grey assured, with a breezy smile, gesturing for him to keep doing what he was doing. She side stepped Jeremy, bending over the curb to re-lace her sneakers. She was on her way into Moon Market for a few things. Tea, Honey, Bread, Peaches, Apples, Granola, Yogurt, Cold Brew, Candy & Snacks, Candles. She was also on the hunt for literally everything Halloween themed, as it was officially the season. 

She looked over at him again as he rummaged through his many bags. “Did you lose something?” She stood up, dropping her phone into her bag and righting it onto her shoulder.  She gestured a little awkwardly at all the bags, silently offering her support if he needed someone to hold things.

[fit] 

He gave her a smile as she came down to his level for the moment. “Oh, only my marbles,” he joked easily, looking at his bags in defeat. “I am having a total moment. I can’t actually remember if I picked up something my Mum asked me to, so-” he gestured at the bags in front of him. “Figured I’d better check before I went home, you know? Hence cluttering up Mr Moon’s pavement. I like your trousers by the way, good colour.”

[broodingdove]

Grey snorted. She knew that feeling, clumsy and ditsy as she was. “Understandable,” she assured. Not only has she done the same exact thing, forgetting what she bought just a few minutes ago even though she had a written list, but she also tripped on the grippy mat outside the door and spilled her items across the floor once. Luckily there were no spills, but her cereal was crushed and dented from catching her fall. “Thanks!” she said, looking down and tugging at her pant leg with doing a joyful little shuffle at the compliment. “Here, let me help you,” she said sitting down next to him on the curb and grabbing some things, settling them in her lap so they won’t roll away.

[jere-me--oh-my]

The Prodigal Returns - Open

Jeremy Johnson was still jet-lagged as hell. But after spending three days lying in his childhood bed groaning every time anyone opened a curtain, he had been forced to go out to the shops and ‘get some Vitamin D.’ There was a whole section on his Mother’s shopping list dedicated to ‘Jeremy’s Uni things.’ Which was kinda cool! 

But as he emerged from Moon Market - which still felt the same - the jet-lag was kicking back in again. He stared at the shopping list in his hand. Had he actually got everything? He couldn’t remember packing bodywash into either of the heavily laden tote bags he was carrying… or the rucksack on his back. Ahh, nuts. Now he was going to have to check huh? He stepped to one side, setting down the totes and beginning to rummage through them, before a shadow fell across him and he looked up. 

“Uh, hey? Sorry, am I in the way?”

[Fit check]

[broodingdove]

“No! You’re golden, babes,” Grey assured, with a breezy smile, gesturing for him to keep doing what he was doing. She side stepped Jeremy, bending over the curb to re-lace her sneakers. She was on her way into Moon Market for a few things. Tea, Honey, Bread, Peaches, Apples, Granola, Yogurt, Cold Brew, Candy & Snacks, Candles. She was also on the hunt for literally everything Halloween themed, as it was officially the season. 

She looked over at him again as he rummaged through his many bags. “Did you lose something?” She stood up, dropping her phone into her bag and righting it onto her shoulder.  She gestured a little awkwardly at all the bags, silently offering her support if he needed someone to hold things.

[fit] 

[dr-drckken]

@broodingdove

[dev-morey]

The Rain Has Gone? || Gouache

broodingdove​:

The magic drain hadn’t effected Grey as much as others, her magic was physical, and her wings were already a nuisance more than they were an asset. Their size made them almost purely decorative, because it was too exhausting to fly everywhere. So, when the drain started to effect people, she didn’t really notice. She’s always been clumsy, and a little ditzy, so she didn’t recognize the symptoms as anything other than normal. 

“I’m okay,” she replied, with a sigh and a shrug, “tired, definitely. What about you? I can’t even imagine.” Devyn has such a wonderful gift, that helps them do the thing they love most, to have that disappear has to be extremely scary and frustrating. Unlike other people who are finally feeling normal for the first time and enjoying it. 

Devyn winced at the question, knowing that Grey was under a completely different point of view of Devyn’s situation. Devyn was glad, however, that she at least didn’t seem like she was suffering from this. It made them feel much less guilty about what they were about to say.

“To be honest? I’m kind of glad my powers are gone. I don’t like confusing people and I just really want to spend my time clear-headed. I’ve never felt less confused!“ They glanced around guiltily again, making sure no one was paying him any mind. “I kind of hope I don’t get my powers back once it’s over…”

[broodingdove]

"Yeah I get that," she said, nodding soberly. She followed his eyes around the room. She didn't want Devyn to feel guilty about enjoying time without his powers. "I don't think you're the only one who feels that way," she replied in a low voice. Elliot definitely seemed a lot happier, being able to sleep through the night was a plus.

"I'm sorry that it's such a challenge normally," she said, gently touching Devyn's arm. She chewed her lip. She doesn't really have any room to judge. She had no way of knowing how taxing a power like Devyn's must be.

[elliot-morey]

Sunlight For Days {Grey & Elli}

broodingdove​:

Grey hadn’t seen Elli with so much energy in…ever. He seemed in his element spending time with the kids. Grey tried to stay close to the outside as much as possible, making sure there were no wipe outs that resulted in tears and scraped knees. 

She grinned wide, waving at Elli as he came over to her. “Yeah I learned my lesson not to pick up a toddler unless I want to forfeit a handful of feathers,” she replied, waving at a trio of little girls who were pretty dazzled by her earlier. They scurried away, caught staring. 

“You look really good,” she said, before blushing and trying to recover, “I mean you look like you’re feeling goo- er, you look happy.” 

Elliot grinned at the wording, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her to work through whatever it is she wanted to say. “Do I not look happy normally? Or handsome? I’m a little worried now just how you see me on a normal day?” Elliot teased though he knew what she meant.

“I’ve gotten a bunch of sleep lately and apparently that mean people have a lot of energy. Can you believe that? Sleep means energy.”

[broodingdove]

“No you do!” she laughed, covering her cheeks with her hands and laughing. “You are totally normally happy and handsome, guh!” She shook her head and rolled her eyes at her own stupid slip up. Though, Elliot very graciously took pity on her and let her off the hook. 

“That’s really good,” she said, they only talked a little about Elli’s power, but she does know it can really affect his day-to-day, especially where sleep is concerned. “Any particular reason why?”  

[elliot-morey]

Sunlight For Days {Grey & Elli}

Elliot was nearly bouncing off the walls. He was usually impulsive and up for anything when he was on minimal sleep but when he was on a full 8 hours, every night.

Well he had energy for days.

Elliot loved it.

He also needed somewhere to put all this energy so when his brother was looking for a helper for a summer program with kids, he had no problem volunteering.

It was one of those days he was sitting out of Primary as some kids ran around outside when he spotted Grey.

“Careful not to get too close. I have a feeling these kids would love your wings.”

@broodingdove

[broodingdove]

Grey hadn’t seen Elli with so much energy in...ever. He seemed in his element spending time with the kids. Grey tried to stay close to the outside as much as possible, making sure there were no wipe outs that resulted in tears and scraped knees. 

She grinned wide, waving at Elli as he came over to her. “Yeah I learned my lesson not to pick up a toddler unless I want to forfeit a handful of feathers,” she replied, waving at a trio of little girls who were pretty dazzled by her earlier. They scurried away, caught staring. 

“You look really good,” she said, before blushing and trying to recover, “I mean you look like you’re feeling goo- er, you look happy.” 

[dev-morey]

The Rain Has Gone? || Gouache

Devyn Morey needed advice from someone that was affected by the magic drain but not a member of his family but also not a sorcerer or werewolf or vampire or pixie or cursed storybook prince where this was, like, life threatening if the magic went away for good. Which, well, made their options pretty limited. They texted Grey to meet them at Chippamunka’s so that they could eat while they spoke and added a quick TBH: I need to vent and I need advice. Milkshakes will help with that.

They sat in a back booth where their conversation could be a little more covert and waved Grey over once they saw her. They glanced around to be sure none of their other friends or siblings were nearby and then leaned forward in their seat conspiratorially. “Hi! I guess to start off I need to know how you are handling this whole magic crisis thing that’s going on. Are you OK?”

@broodingdove

[broodingdove]

The magic drain hadn’t effected Grey as much as others, her magic was physical, and her wings were already a nuisance more than they were an asset. Their size made them almost purely decorative, because it was too exhausting to fly everywhere. So, when the drain started to effect people, she didn’t really notice. She’s always been clumsy, and a little ditzy, so she didn’t recognize the symptoms as anything other than normal. 

“I’m okay,” she replied, with a sigh and a shrug, “tired, definitely. What about you? I can’t even imagine.” Devyn has such a wonderful gift, that helps them do the thing they love most, to have that disappear has to be extremely scary and frustrating. Unlike other people who are finally feeling normal for the first time and enjoying it. 

[broodingdove]

sebastian-morey​:

.

Sebastian noted the spilled drink and the furious attempt in trying to rid their bag of the bright red liquid, his brow raising a good bit. “…I’m fine… I’d ask how you are but it seems like I can see the answer.” The man teased, looking down at the stain before he gestured towards the bartender on duty. “…could I have a glass of club?” He requested, ignoring the slightly odd look he got in return as he turned back to Grey with a shrug of his shoulders. 

“..I have no idea if it’s true.. - but I’ve always been told that club soda’s better for getting stains out.” It didn’t…really make any sense, if you asked him, but.. he wasn’t going to argue with science. Especially not when a tote bag’s life was on the line. “..just uh - don’t quote me on it if it doesn’t work.” 

Grey laughed breezily, waving it off, “I’m fine too, just having a kind of unlucky day,” she said with a shrug, pushing the bag away from herself, “red dye has just made itself my enemy.” She pushed the tote away from herself, trying to neatly stack her belongings in an unassuming corner of the table to make room for Sebastian. 

She supposed there must be some merit to what people say about knowing a lot about a woman based on the contents of a her purse. Did Superman say that? Someone definitely said that. Either way, she’s wondering now what a copy of Love Poems by Pablo Neruda, the pages stained and starting to wrinkle from being wet, notebook, filled with annotations (also slightly stained), a well-worn unicorn wallet, a bag of pens that says “Pen Orgy” on it, coconut lipgloss, four hairties in various colors, a set of keys on a bright purple lanyard with no less than eight keychains on it, and a bottle of ibuprofen says about her.  

“Oh, thanks,” she said, taking the glass gratefully, using yet another napkin to try and smooth the dye out of her bag, “honestly, if anything, I can just tie dye it, right?” She gestured to the seat opposite her, “did you want to sit down?”

[sebastian-morey]

I know You know || Greb

@broodingdove​

Seb was getting a little more adventurous these days. 

Sure - his allergies still weighed him down heavily, but you know what didn’t? His crushing fear of hurting people. His fear of causing some kind of mass disaster or harming the people of Swynlake or his family. 

Ever since the magical drain had started, a lot of people had been panicking. Rightly so, Sebastian assumed. There were plenty of Magicks that heavily relied on their magic! Isaac did! Fairies, sorcerers, all those types he was sure weren’t happy with the current state of affairs. For people like himself though? That had… what he liked to call inconvenient magic? People like Gem? Like Devyn? 

This was… excellent. 

So Sebastian was more willing to go out and about these days. Finding himself at places like Pixie’s or in the town or at events. Today, he found himself near the company of one person he was pretty sure his brother had been interested in a fair bit. Now.. he had no idea the status of that - but… it wouldn’t be brotherly of him to not try and pry in on that, would it? Plus they were friends with Devyn or whatever, right?

“…hey.” Sebastian called out gently, smiling softly when they turned in his direction. “…Grey, right?” 

[broodingdove]

Grey had just finished her shift at the gym and she had time to kill before she had a dance rehearsal so she was looking for something to do. She’d been to Pixies once before because she heard on campus it was the place most people go for drinks after class. Not that alcohol is going to improve her footwork, which is already clumsy at best. It’s just been a rough day. 

She’s always been a little bit of a clutz, but recently it’s been kind of ridiculous. She thought maybe she’s just an exceptionally bad dancer, but it’s been happening at work too. She tripped up the stairs twice, heading into the breakroom, and then tried to lift a measly 30 pound weight back onto the stand and nearly dropped it on her foot.

And now, she spilled her entire Dirty Shirley all over her tote bag, and was trying to get bright red grenadine out of beige canvas (it’s not going well). 

“Oh, hi! How are you?”

[broodingdove]

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

@gem-morey

The moment that Grey walked into this party she knew she was out of her depth.

She had assumed, having gone to frat parties in America, that the "open to everyone end-of-the-year uni party" would be totally chill in comparison. She had very clearly forgotten that British kids have been drinking legally for way longer than she has, and beyond that, she's a total lightweight. She just watched four guys pour what looked like an entire litre of cider down their throats each and then start talking about properties of physics, or something? Like they were completely sober? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Grey quietly made her way to the kitchen, took a shot of very cheap vodka that burned so bad she had to stifle a cough. She looked out over a sea of vaguely familiar faces, hoping no one noticed her handle her liquor like a big baby. She hasn't really made any friends outside her artsy little cohort, but that's because she hasn't tried very much. She's usually an extrovert, she's usually fabulous at making friends, but she's been off her game since the move. Especially recently...she's been more or less hiding in her room and squirrelling junk food for sustenance for the last several days.

Just when she was considering giving up on this outing, and returning to the comfortable embrace of Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Red Bull and Queer Eye, she saw Gem from across the room. The only person she knew by name.

The only thing she really knows about him is he's Devyn and Elli's brother, was lowkey a dick to her that one time, that he's actually really funny on twitter, and that he accidentally set his family's booth on fire at the Farmer's Market. Is that enough to start a conversation on? Probably...not.

Another shot will help.

She knocked a second one back, with more grace than the first, but her lips still screwed up in a sour expression after swallowing. She then tried to gracefully cross the room, but crowded spaces are a winged-girl's worst nightmare, and she ended up bumping into and excuse me-ing basically everyone on the way to him.

"Hi," she said, huffing and smoothing her hair out, "you, uh, probably don't remember me."

[broodingdove]

gem-morey​:

broodingdove​:

Trouble - Smokey Quartz🔥

Mentioning Devyn made Gem’s eyebrow raise. It also made him a little more cautious. He didn’t want this getting back to his little sibling, though he was sure Devyn would just shrug it off as Gem being Gem and not the fact that Gem was actively selling drugs to people. After all, Devyn did work at the hookah shoppe, so they weren’t exactly straight edge.

“It’s a party, do I need a reason to be here?” Gem asked with a snort, leaning back against he wall and shrugging.

Yeah, as he looked out over the crowd, he was realizing he was getting too old to be hanging out with uni kids, but they were the best buyers. And as long as Devyn had another year at school, he could make it work. Say he was visiting his sibling…or maybe he’d just start selling primarily at Pixie’s and such. That was probably safer anyway.

“You know, you could just answer a question instead of being super vague,” she said, though without any heat, “I’m not interrogating you, I promise.” She picked at her manicure, trying to think of something better to talk about, seeing as Gem doesn’t want to talk about himself. 

“You work for for your parents, right? And, you’re working on tech for the musical? Are you enjoying it so far?” Grey had seen people in passing when she was on her way to rehearse and she was fairly certain she saw Gem (or a Gem-like person) wandering around looking somewhat official with a power tool. 

[broodingdove]

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

@gem-morey

The moment that Grey walked into this party she knew she was out of her depth.

She had assumed, having gone to frat parties in America, that the "open to everyone end-of-the-year uni party" would be totally chill in comparison. She had very clearly forgotten that British kids have been drinking legally for way longer than she has, and beyond that, she's a total lightweight. She just watched four guys pour what looked like an entire litre of cider down their throats each and then start talking about properties of physics, or something? Like they were completely sober? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Grey quietly made her way to the kitchen, took a shot of very cheap vodka that burned so bad she had to stifle a cough. She looked out over a sea of vaguely familiar faces, hoping no one noticed her handle her liquor like a big baby. She hasn't really made any friends outside her artsy little cohort, but that's because she hasn't tried very much. She's usually an extrovert, she's usually fabulous at making friends, but she's been off her game since the move. Especially recently...she's been more or less hiding in her room and squirrelling junk food for sustenance for the last several days.

Just when she was considering giving up on this outing, and returning to the comfortable embrace of Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Red Bull and Queer Eye, she saw Gem from across the room. The only person she knew by name.

The only thing she really knows about him is he's Devyn and Elli's brother, was lowkey a dick to her that one time, that he's actually really funny on twitter, and that he accidentally set his family's booth on fire at the Farmer's Market. Is that enough to start a conversation on? Probably...not.

Another shot will help.

She knocked a second one back, with more grace than the first, but her lips still screwed up in a sour expression after swallowing. She then tried to gracefully cross the room, but crowded spaces are a winged-girl's worst nightmare, and she ended up bumping into and excuse me-ing basically everyone on the way to him.

"Hi," she said, huffing and smoothing her hair out, "you, uh, probably don't remember me."

[broodingdove]

gem-morey​:

broodingdove​:

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

🔥

“What are you, a narc?” Gem asked with a snort.

No. She wasn’t that. (Probably.) She was just a novice who wanted to seem cool. Well, sorry, asking people where they got their drugs was not cool. It was a faux pas, if it was anything. That was fine, though, because it meant she was interested. That was all he needed. Though, he’d have to be careful. Grey was Devyn’s friend. And he didn’t need his little sibling poking around in his business.

He carefully plucked the joint from their fingers and took a drag. After he blew a smoke ring, just to show off, he handed it back to Grey.

“No, ‘course not,” Grey replied, gesturing to the smoky air as if to say why would I take a hit if I was going to narc? 

As if knowing what he was thinking about his younger sibling, she mutters, “I’ve never seen Devyn even drink.” She chews on this thought, it’s entirely possible they do and Grey just hasn’t seen it, but now she’s wondering if Devyn wouldn’t approve of her getting cross-faded at a party with his older brother. She’s kind of lucky Devyn’s been pretty chill about her hanging out with Elli. 

“You never told me what you do here,” she pressed, remembering her question from earlier, because, why else would someone be spending their night at a lame dorm party if they didn’t also go to school here. “Do you live on this floor? I’m on the same floor as Devyn.” 

[broodingdove]

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

@gem-morey

The moment that Grey walked into this party she knew she was out of her depth.

She had assumed, having gone to frat parties in America, that the "open to everyone end-of-the-year uni party" would be totally chill in comparison. She had very clearly forgotten that British kids have been drinking legally for way longer than she has, and beyond that, she's a total lightweight. She just watched four guys pour what looked like an entire litre of cider down their throats each and then start talking about properties of physics, or something? Like they were completely sober? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Grey quietly made her way to the kitchen, took a shot of very cheap vodka that burned so bad she had to stifle a cough. She looked out over a sea of vaguely familiar faces, hoping no one noticed her handle her liquor like a big baby. She hasn't really made any friends outside her artsy little cohort, but that's because she hasn't tried very much. She's usually an extrovert, she's usually fabulous at making friends, but she's been off her game since the move. Especially recently...she's been more or less hiding in her room and squirrelling junk food for sustenance for the last several days.

Just when she was considering giving up on this outing, and returning to the comfortable embrace of Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Red Bull and Queer Eye, she saw Gem from across the room. The only person she knew by name.

The only thing she really knows about him is he's Devyn and Elli's brother, was lowkey a dick to her that one time, that he's actually really funny on twitter, and that he accidentally set his family's booth on fire at the Farmer's Market. Is that enough to start a conversation on? Probably...not.

Another shot will help.

She knocked a second one back, with more grace than the first, but her lips still screwed up in a sour expression after swallowing. She then tried to gracefully cross the room, but crowded spaces are a winged-girl's worst nightmare, and she ended up bumping into and excuse me-ing basically everyone on the way to him.

"Hi," she said, huffing and smoothing her hair out, "you, uh, probably don't remember me."

[broodingdove]

gem-morey​:

broodingdove​:

🔥

“No, I’m just telling you,” Gem said, flipping the joint around so that she could take it from him. He refrained from rolling his eyes, because he could tell she was a little hesitant. A little awkward. Which meant this was delicate. He had to see if she had any experience, because he wasn’t really looking to get anyone new hooked.

That wasn’t what he signed up for and not really something he wanted on his conscience. Thanks. Plus, inexperienced people were gonna be messy and he didn’t feel like babysitting.

He watched as she took the joint with his eyebrows raised casually. “You know how to hit that?”

Grey took the blunt from him, going to take a hit and then furrowed her brow. She looked at it and hesitated, “It’s just weed. Isn’t it? They have weed in California, you know. Like, lots of it.” She took a pull and held it out for him to take back as she blew the smoke out with a slow breath, “Like large amounts, in big dispensaries, that people go to like grocery stores.” Was Grey one of the people who bought tons of weed, and weed-type accessories? No. Heck no. Did she know how to smoke without looking like a total dweeb? Also no. She hid a cough in her elbow. 

She’d almost forgotten she went from a state where it was very legal to do some drugs, and the drugs that aren’t legal, well, that’s pretty normal to do too, to a country that controls the sale of cough medicine to ages 18+. 

“Where’d you get that anyway?” If she gets anything out of tonight, a hook up for the occasional party drug wouldn’t be so bad.

[broodingdove]

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

@gem-morey

The moment that Grey walked into this party she knew she was out of her depth.

She had assumed, having gone to frat parties in America, that the "open to everyone end-of-the-year uni party" would be totally chill in comparison. She had very clearly forgotten that British kids have been drinking legally for way longer than she has, and beyond that, she's a total lightweight. She just watched four guys pour what looked like an entire litre of cider down their throats each and then start talking about properties of physics, or something? Like they were completely sober? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Grey quietly made her way to the kitchen, took a shot of very cheap vodka that burned so bad she had to stifle a cough. She looked out over a sea of vaguely familiar faces, hoping no one noticed her handle her liquor like a big baby. She hasn't really made any friends outside her artsy little cohort, but that's because she hasn't tried very much. She's usually an extrovert, she's usually fabulous at making friends, but she's been off her game since the move. Especially recently...she's been more or less hiding in her room and squirrelling junk food for sustenance for the last several days.

Just when she was considering giving up on this outing, and returning to the comfortable embrace of Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Red Bull and Queer Eye, she saw Gem from across the room. The only person she knew by name.

The only thing she really knows about him is he's Devyn and Elli's brother, was lowkey a dick to her that one time, that he's actually really funny on twitter, and that he accidentally set his family's booth on fire at the Farmer's Market. Is that enough to start a conversation on? Probably...not.

Another shot will help.

She knocked a second one back, with more grace than the first, but her lips still screwed up in a sour expression after swallowing. She then tried to gracefully cross the room, but crowded spaces are a winged-girl's worst nightmare, and she ended up bumping into and excuse me-ing basically everyone on the way to him.

"Hi," she said, huffing and smoothing her hair out, "you, uh, probably don't remember me."

[broodingdove]

gem-morey​:

broodingdove​:

🔥

Gem rolled his eyes as Grey leaned against the wall next to him. At least she had the sense to keep her distance. There wasn’t a lot of this room in the place anyway and he had already staked himself out a nice little corner by glaring at anyone that tried to get close enough. Which worked, except for people like Grey who thought…what–

They were cute enough to get away with it?

He didn’t acknowledge her, going back to looking out over the crowd, looking for any potential customers. Gem had a goal. In order to make what Roscoe expected, he needed to make at least a couple more quid tonight. This was the only reason he rolled his head in Grey’s direction, blowing smoke from the joint between his gloved fingers out of his nostrils in her direction.

“Maybe if you were a little drunker or–” he lifted the joint to his lips and sucked in a breath “–a little higher, you wouldn’t notice the shit music.”

Grey turned her head away, though, she managed not to cough around the smoke Gem blew in her direction. She quirked her lip to the side; considering. She’d only been cross-faded two times in her life, and both times left her massively hungover and out-of-commission the next day. The first, was her high school graduation. The flashes of memories of that night lead her to believe that maybe it was epic, but mostly, she remembers totally destroying her white graduation dress making out with Scott Greenberg on Mikayla Finch’s lawn. 

“Are you offering?” she asked, extending her hand for him to pass the joint to her. Something in her wanted to rise to the challenge. Like he was testing to see if she could actually hang, and something about his dumb face made her want to out-party him. 

[broodingdove]

Trouble - Smokey Quartz

@gem-morey

The moment that Grey walked into this party she knew she was out of her depth.

She had assumed, having gone to frat parties in America, that the "open to everyone end-of-the-year uni party" would be totally chill in comparison. She had very clearly forgotten that British kids have been drinking legally for way longer than she has, and beyond that, she's a total lightweight. She just watched four guys pour what looked like an entire litre of cider down their throats each and then start talking about properties of physics, or something? Like they were completely sober? Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Grey quietly made her way to the kitchen, took a shot of very cheap vodka that burned so bad she had to stifle a cough. She looked out over a sea of vaguely familiar faces, hoping no one noticed her handle her liquor like a big baby. She hasn't really made any friends outside her artsy little cohort, but that's because she hasn't tried very much. She's usually an extrovert, she's usually fabulous at making friends, but she's been off her game since the move. Especially recently...she's been more or less hiding in her room and squirrelling junk food for sustenance for the last several days.

Just when she was considering giving up on this outing, and returning to the comfortable embrace of Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Red Bull and Queer Eye, she saw Gem from across the room. The only person she knew by name.

The only thing she really knows about him is he's Devyn and Elli's brother, was lowkey a dick to her that one time, that he's actually really funny on twitter, and that he accidentally set his family's booth on fire at the Farmer's Market. Is that enough to start a conversation on? Probably...not.

Another shot will help.

She knocked a second one back, with more grace than the first, but her lips still screwed up in a sour expression after swallowing. She then tried to gracefully cross the room, but crowded spaces are a winged-girl's worst nightmare, and she ended up bumping into and excuse me-ing basically everyone on the way to him.

"Hi," she said, huffing and smoothing her hair out, "you, uh, probably don't remember me."

[gem-mohanty]

Once upon a time, Gem had fantasized about college parties, the way that all young boys did. (Well, as all young boys were expected to do.) He romanticized getting so drunk he couldn’t see straight. Dancing along to music with friends that he didn’t have. (At a party, anyone could be your friend if you paid the right price for it.)

He had never been a big party person, but bored in jail, you imagined yourself as a hero with a thousand faces. The same stories playing out again and again with only slight variation.

Now, he found them boring. Lackluster. He was too old to be hanging with these kids. Even if he desperately didn’t want to be. He couldn’t help but look at them and see them all fresh faced and carefree and realize that even if he had been able to go to college parties, he never would’ve related to these people.

But he still smiled and joked around and integrated himself so that he could push his products and make a couple hundred quid.

He was scoping out the crowd, a wad of cash already in his pocket, when the bird with the wings (ha), approached. Oh, he knew her alright. She had ate it on her bike a few weeks ago. And apparently was Devyn’s friend. And had gone on a date with Elliot.

Didn’t mean Gem had to be nice to her, though. She wasn’t Anna. (And was Gem nice to Anna? Debatable.)

“Nope, I don’t,” he told her, staring blankly at her.

[outfit]

[broodingdove]

Grey rolled her eyes, "I fell off my bike? And like, shattered my phone? You gave me points for style." Okay, hearing it out loud, this was potentially, maybe even objectively a bad idea. I mean, does this guy have to make it difficult to like him? Elli and Devyn both have shit in their past (Grey doesn't know all of it, but she knows it's there), and neither of them act like momentous dickwads because of it. So, what's Gem's thing? Is it worse? Does that really make a difference? Either way, it's not her business, so she really shouldn't be hypothesizing.

Grey leant against the wall and crossed her arms, "I'm Grey," she says, a second attempt at a conversation, "Do you go here too?" She hadn't seen Gem on campus at all, and she felt like Devyn would've mentioned if their brother was taking classes as well.

She scanned the crowd again. "Uhg, this is so dumb," she muttered, mostly to herself, picking lint off her sweater to distract herself. What is she doing? Maybe she needs to accept that this is a pointless distraction from everything else. "This is literally the second time they've played this dumb song tonight and I didn't get here that long ago."

[song] / [outfit]

[waitingona-mirabel]

Signed, Sealed, Delivered! | Butterfly Wings

broodingdove​:

Grey was keeping to herself, one of her headphones in. She didn’t really know anyone on the committee, well, she knew of a few people, but she didn’t know them, except Anna. Which is why joined Anna on music committee, and stuck to her at most of the meetings.

Being on the music committee has yielded mixed results. On the one hand, Grey is very much broadening her music tastes searching for “vibe-able” songs, on the other, when she found a song that scratched the brain itch, it was all she listened to. All this to say, she’d been listening to Stupid For You on repeat for ten minutes.

According to Devyn the song was #claimed! by Devanna, which…yeah, technically he had a whole point there, but that won’t stop Grey from wrecking her Spotify algorithm this month listening to it.

“Hey!” Grey said, making more room for Mirabel to sit next to her, pausing the eleventh repeat and setting her phone aside. “Yeah, I know, I totally, kind of, a little bit, stalk your insta,” she admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear, “your art is really cool.” She grabbed another envelope, “I’m Grey, I’m on music.”

[fit] / [song]

Mirabel raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn’t think anyone outside her family and her Swynlake Secondary friends even noticed her Instagram. She certainly didn’t have the kind of following Isabela had. So that was, honestly, a nice little boost. 

“Aww, thank you.” Mirabel blushed a little bit at the compliment, but quickly moved on. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Grey. That’s a cool name,” Mirabel said, smiling to herself as she added a stamp to the envelope she was working on and tossed it into the pile. “Do you go to Pride U?” 

Mirabel didn’t, of course, but… there was a part of her that was kind of thinking about it. It made more sense to go back to Bristol, of course, because transferring was a hassle and you had to think about credits, but Mirabel wasn’t even sure she wanted to do the same program anymore (what would she do instead? She had no idea!) So she found it kind of helpful to talk to Pride U students. See what they thought of it.

[broodingdove]

Grey smiled back, continuing the process of fold-stuff-seal-stack onto her neat little pile of finished invites. "Thank you, I picked it out myself," Grey teased, wiggling in her seat and fluttering her collar with pride. "I do, I started this year after I moved from the States. I'm a lit major, focusing mainly on poetry - analyzing and composing - it's been really great so far, honestly. I like it here a lot better than at my last school."

She hesitated, sealing another envelope before revealing, "It was a predominantly mundus school with a big frat culture, so uh..." she winced, "that didn't work out well for me." She unconsciously drew her wings in tighter against her back. "Trans? And Wings? Forget it. It got...well, you can imagine," she exhaled sitting up a little straighter, "it's a lot better here. I'm not the only trans person, and I'm not the weirdest person either. Do you go to Pride U too?"

Grey paused, squinting at Mirabel and then asking, "Also, do you have Virgo somewhere in your big three? You're giving off real Virgo energy. Hm, or maybe you're just a big sister? I'm a Leo/Sag/Sag."