chaotic soul

camila flores. 33. tattoo artist and parlor of tit for tat

[camilaflores]

INTRODUCING:

NAME: Camila Flores

NICKNAME(S): Cam, Mila, Flores

AGE: Thirty-three

ZODIAC: Saggitarius

RESIDENTIAL AREA: Jackson Hill

OCCUPATION: Tattoo artist and owner of Tit for Tat Parlour

LENGTH OF RESIDENCY: On and off

POSITIVE TRAITS: strong, quick-witted, protective

NEGATIVE TRAITS: impulsive, stubborn, vengeful

A LITTLE MORE:

Trigger warnings: abandonment tw, child services tw, miscarriage tw, addiction tw

Camila knew the feeling of abandonment and loneliness long before she could place it. Placed at four years old, she grew up in homes that were often crowded where she received the bare minimum— until she was swept up and taken elsewhere.

The moving from place to place happened more frequently as she got older. The placements were worse and worse, mainly because no one really wanted to take in older kids with a slew of issues due to the trauma they'd lived through. 

Much like the children in the home, she was troublesome. It wasn't because she wanted to be but she didn't have any other way to get the emotions out nor did she have the skill to verbalize what she was going through. Therefore she found herself falling into the wrong group, using alcohol and drugs as a means to escape the world she was in.

Eventually, she found herself in a bad relationship that ended with her being pregnant. It was the one good thing in her life, until it disappeared too. 

The constant loss made her find solace in art, using it as an outlet to get her emotions out when nothing else worked. She dabbled in many mediums but always returned to drawing. A few pieces were sold to friends and family, using the money to keep herself afloat until the last few years before she turned eighteen when things turned south in the homes she lived in.

Eventually, after a fight that almost got her put into a juvenile institution, Camila left to live with her friends, going from couch to couch until she reached the age of eighteen and was no longer considered a ward of the state.

From then on, she began to work odd jobs until someone mentioned an apprenticeship. It took her many years to finally find a shop that would take the chance on her and she completely fell in love. It wasn't the easiest of experiences as she was often seen as less skilled than the more seasoned artist but she kept her head down and continued to train at her art.

Without money coming in, she decided to dabble with onlyfans and found herself making good income. A lot of it she managed to save as she continued to live with roommates, until she had enough saved up to buy a space of her own. It took years; a lot of sweat, blood, tears and hard work for her to finally be able to open up her own shop and for it to grow the reputation that it now has in town.  

POTENTIAL CONNECTIONS:

FOSTER CARE: Some of the people she would have grown up with while in the system. They could have looked out for each other, maybe they lost touch or did their best to keep in touch. Camila ran off before she turned eighteen so this could potentially be the person she stayed with if they're older

EMPLOYEES: She owns a tattoo parlour called Tit for Tat that she payed for and has owned for the last few years. These people would have helped her take it off the ground and she's internally grateful for them.

EXES: People that she was with throughout her life, even the big ex that she finds herself going back to even though they're kind of toxic for each other. He would have also been the guy she was with during high school potentially.

BAD TINDER DATE: She uses the app as a hook up site, even using her only fans at times as well so this could have been one that went bad or they could have just hooked up and then not gotten along or she ditched them.

CAT AND MOUSE: A person that she hasn't given a chance to because it's so much more fun just making each other jealous and kind of playing pull and push. There's some feelings, but she isn't sure what yet.

[thesunbums-deactivated20250630]

WHO: Anyone (4/5)

WHERE: Any restaurants of Woodside!

Josie stepped through the thick layers of fresh snow, her boots crunching with each step as she walked towards the front of the restaurant. The storm had come in fast, leaving behind a city that still felt in recovery mode, half-frozen but alive with the buzz of people trying to return to normal. She rounded the corner to the entrance, her breath visible in the air, but something was reassuring about the warm light spilling from the restaurant windows. She spotted her friend standing near the door, likely trying to fight the same cold Josie had been battling for days. "Looks like you survived, and you haven’t turned into an Eskimo. That’s a win, right?" Josie called out with a grin, her eyes glinting with playful warmth despite the exhaustion she was feeling. She gave a small wave before continuing, her tone a little softer. "How'd you make out with all this madness?"

[camilaflores]

"Barely." Camile had been exhausted from sitting in front of her window, praying that the snow would stop because she'd convinced herself that her power wasn't going to remain on and she'd just freeze, but not before she'd die of thirst because her pipes were surely going to freeze. "I'm exhausted and I almost killed myself trying to shovel. I don't know how the people who live in this kind of climate do it." The ones who had to deal with this a moutn of snow in a few hours, all winter long. "What about you? Hopefully you didn't panic as much as me and were able to at least get a few hours of shut eye in a warm, cozy bed"

[wrongtvrns]

"Oh my god," the brunette exclaimed as she chuckled and shifted closer immediately to gingerly take Camila's arm in her hand, "you smashed a little too hard, huh? What'd the asshole do?" Surely this was due to an ex-lover that had fucked her over. It almost always was. "The guy at the front can get fucked. He should be well versed by now on why people go to rage rooms." Kira released her hold on the brunette's arm and returned some space. "Good," she smirked and raised her drink in cheers, "until the next free therapy session at least we have these." The alcohol might not have been free but the discounts were nice.

[camilaflores]

"He just breathed. There isn't anything that man can do that won't piss me off." More than that, she just hated that she was so affected by it and there was no way to hide it. "He should be grateful. I feel like scorned women probably keep him in business. He's lucky we don't turn the bats on him or anyone else for that matter. We're dangerous, and a hell of an aim." She'd done damage she didn't know she could do in that room. "These are our rewards or our downfall to make more stupid mistakes which will land us in the smash room again in a few months."

[engineeered]

Her response answering his previous wonders of how much time between being unblocked and noticing made him smile. Proof. Cesar and Camila were connected. Even months of no-contact couldn't make them miss each other's beats.

As for Camila's question: Did he miss her? He'd thought of her, had felt compelled on several occasions to drive by her shop. On lonely nights, there was deep impatience. How long would she freeze him out this time? It felt ridiculous to stay away when he knew they would come back together. Cesar respected the dips of their dance, though. Maybe he had missed her, but it hadn't felt like yearning. It had felt like waiting.

Now that the wait was over, however, all those muted feelings of hurt pride and incompleteness without her swelled so they could be heard. Like always, he mistook them for something else. The toxic intensity mislabeled as love.

Cesar considered flipping the script, to remind her she unblocked him, but he liked to flatter her. Even when she was being a brat, he wasn't above being sickly sweet. Especially now, when she just invited him back into her world, he knew it would be better to go along with it. His thumbs spelled out the words, "I'm still missing you." It wasn't a lie. He wanted to feel her against him in an embrace; his senes were hungry for her. Then, as a quick follow up (no shame in double- triple-texting when it came to them), "Come to my show tn and I won't have to anymore." Promptly, he sent her the flyer containing the time and place of where his band was to perform. He drummed his knees as he waited for her to respond.

[camilaflores]

Camila couldn't help but curse herself at the familiar leap in her chest whenever they got to speaking after a long period of time. It reminded her just how little work she'd actually done at trying to move forward from their chaotic and toxic relationship. Now she was beginning to question how much she actually wanted to move past it, and how much of her actually enjoyed it.

"Are you now?" She typed back with interest as she sat up, cross legged. The phone was flipped downwards with each reply, unable to look until she heard the ding indicating he'd written a reply back. It made her feel like a giddy high school girl speaking to her crush and she hated it. Luckily, her walls were the only witnesses to it and they wouldn't dare tell a soul.

"So I can watch all the girls fangirl over you or are you going to make it clear that you want me there?" She typed back with a devil emoji attached to her message.

"Are you gonna dedicate a song to me?" With their back and forth, she wouldn't be surprised if he did dedicate a song to her and it wasn't romantic but more a diss track to his ex— which in thise case — was her.

"Make it even better. Are you going to get me breakfast in the morning?"

[wrongtvrns]

❛ OPEN & KIRA. — GRUB STATION AT ACTON AVENUE.

"I know this was a political move by the mayor but I feel like I should say thanks for footing the bill for my free therapy session." Kira wore a dimpled grin as she sipped her hot chocolate. Even if she could've easily afforded it for whatever reason the whole scheme of things pulled her out and had her going straight for the rage room at Action Avenue. The advertisement had listed many things but considering how life had been going as of late it practically spoke to her soul. "Are you having fun?"

[camilaflores]

Camila couldn't help but laugh as she twisted her wrist to show a cut along her arm which was the result of shards of a television jumping back towards her while she was breaking it. "I think that I need therapy after that rage room. Even the guy at the front was judging me, I could feel it." It had been fun, despite being a little worrisome for her, once she realized just how much anger she had pent up. "I'm having a good time. I love anything that's free so this has been the best."

[wrongtvrns]

"I'll take my chances," he grinned a bit unsure there was a versio of Camila he didn't like an enjoy. That could be due to never having been on her bad side, and not that he ever wanted to be, but Bear had absolutely felt like he'd dealt with some of the worst things in life. It was a challenge ( he welcomed no one and nothing to take ) to even shake him at this point. Slight smirk now hanging there, he tipped his head at her threat... she would be the first. But then he pressed his lips together and appreciated her confidence in him. "Thank you," Bear voiced but struggled with too much warmhearted sentiment coming his way, praise wasn't something he was used to. So, he squeezed her leg and joked, "you didn't hurt yourself with that, did you?"

At her counter it only took him a second to consider and then Bear nodded easily. "That's fair." It'd taken a lot of time and hard work to figure himself out, and that had only come by seeing the bottom. He didn't want the same for Camila and he'd be there to support but at the end of the day it was her journey and her discovery. "Don't be like me and take up too much time figuring it out is my only words of wisdom." Sometimes, looking back, it was disappointing to see how much life had been wasted. For some reason as he led his friend out of the diner he'd expected her to balk and back out, say something about not wanting to jeopardize their friendship. Now, Bear wasn't trying to ruin it, but he also thought if their bond was strong enough then there was nothing to worry about. Plus, as a friend, this was him seeing to her happiness. At the direction Bear nodded and led Camila to his truck where he opened the passenger door for her, he was all in but he kept waiting on her to back out.

[camilaflores]

Camila had no doubts that he'd been able to handle the worst parts of her. She'd done so when he was in the depth of his darkness but her issue was more around allowing people to show up for her after growing up with her back constantly against the wall. It was a work in progress but she was getting better at showing up for herself and trusting people to do that for her as well. "It hurt a little bit," she held up her hand and showed the small amount of space between her index finger and thumb. But in truth, she was a little in awe of everything he'd done and how far he'd gotten on his own. It took a lot to change completely and walk away from the vices that had their hooks in him so strongly.

While she didn't know what she wanted immediately, she knew that she wasn't in a rush to figure it out. Especially since she'd been involved with some relationships that weren't exactly the healthiest— many of which she hadn't been able to shake even at this age. The least she could do was find someone who would make her scream and her legs tremble and then figure out if their personalities meshed well together enough to start something romantically. Not that she suspected that was bear. Frankly, she was still half wondering if he'd eventually laugh at her for going along with it this far and turn the truck around to some dinner. Her gaze flicked towards him while he drove them and she narrowed her eyes, reaching over to let her hand wander over his thigh. It was a test, part of her wanted to see if the touch would freak him out as they'd never exactly ventured down their route during their friendship. "Have you thought about us doing this before?"

[dcsiderivm-deactivated20250421]

Daniela's life had felt like far too much of a dumpster fire lately, so being there for any woman who needed an excuse to get away from someone in the bar would always be a bit of excitement she could relish in. She was also welcome to new friends, especially at the moment, so she saw this as killing two birds with one stone. "Thank you! I feel like I haven't been complimented for my good looks in ages." She teased, though the kids at the hospital called her pretty every day. When the woman decided on a beer, Dani told the bartender to bring over that and a dirty martini before she smiled back over at her. "Don't worry, you deserve this drink for dealing with that guy." She offered. "You also don't owe me a thanks for it. I was about to be sitting here alone tossing back far too many cocktails to drown out my personal issues, so I'm grateful to have the company." Maybe the other woman wouldn't agree once the liquor started hitting Dani's veins and she started spilling her guts, but this still had to be better than being harassed by a man. "I'm Dani, by the way. Are you a local? I feel like your face is vaguely familiar, but I don't think we've officially met before."

[camilaflores]

"I hardly believe that's true. You're gorgeous." She didn't seem much older than she was but her beauty wasn't something that could be ignored and she was sure that she got complimented countless times. If only because there were some people who were that forward. Camila could be one of those people but only if the situation was the right one as she was highly aware of how uncomfortable it could make someone. "Well, I'm here to listen if you want to talk about your personal issues because you've kind of helped solved mine." It was either she find someone to drag her away or she deck the man given how many times she'd told him to get lost and he wasn't taking the hint. "It's nice to meet you, Dani. I'm Camila and yes, I grew up here for the most part. Bounced around a lot as a kid but I own a tattoo shop in town."

[clemcntia]

              Ah… men tended to be like that, didn’t they?   Overbearing and sometimes, they would invade your space like they owned the place. Awfully terrible they were. At least, this one here seemed safe and sound, playing pretend that she and Haliya were old friends catching up. As she was getting closer to her 40 than she did her 30s, Hali could understand how female support would always come in handy. “Some people don’t know how to take a no for an answer and that’s frustrating.” She stated to the other, before motioning to the empty stool, letting her sit first, before doing the same. “I’ll have a gin and tonic. You said you were eating your fries? Let me buy another portion for you.”

[camilaflores]

"I feel like that's a trait a certain demographic of people have." Mainly men who were cocky and full of themselves, especially if they were around their age. But that was her experience. Normally, she was better at being clear about her intentions and not being interested in attention, but she'd genuinely believed that he was trying to be nice. There was also the fact that he had a ring on his finger which had lulled her into a false sense of security. "I think I'll have one, too." Camila said and began to refuse that she bought her food but she decided to let it go because it seemed to be a gesture to make her feel better and she appreciated that. "I'll get the second round, or whatever you'd like to eat."

[engineeered]

@camilaflores Late morning

Despite the cold pinching his cheeks pink, Cesar felt good. "I feel good," he had even told his housemate in the morning when they crossed paths. Cesar had just entered their home after taking Romeo for his morning walk. Maybe he had had a good dream. He couldn't say. All he could do was grin and feel smug.

What to do when you're feeling so good? He pondered lazily as he ignored his work. He slid his thumb across his screen, scrolling his socials and taking a sip of coffee. The steam curled up onto his face, soothing his skin so he forgot about the biting cold from earlier. Yet, the color crimsoning his features was due to something else entirely.

On his feed was a selfie of Camila. He poked at her handle, landing on her profile. He let out an amused hum. Cesar was finally unblocked. As he went through her latest posts, catching up on everything he had been forbidden to see the past few months, he wondered how long he had been unblocked. Was this recent? Or had it taken him some time to realize? No matter, his cheery mood made him confident it was a sign.

Opening their thread, he sent her a message. "Nice to be back," he wrote in the chat box. Cesar hesitated, hoping to come up with something more clever, but nothing came. Camila would answer. At least that's what he assumed considering this new development. He pressed send. While he waited for her to respond, he went back and read their old messages. Through them, he could tell when they were on good terms, fighting, broken-up, together. Everything came back to him, making him feel restless. Excited. It was good day that was turn into a good week that would turn into a good life. Cesar felt it.

[camilaflores]

Camila went through moods. There were times where she hated everyone and everything, forcing her to go through a blocking tirade which usually started with Cesar. It was only when she found herself feeling good about herself—usually wearing something hot and revealing— that she decided that she'd unblock certain people only to ruin their day by reminding them what they lost.

It had been a few hours and she continued to tap her phone screen, awaiting a notification she knew would soon come. Perhaps in the form of a text, maybe a like, perhaps a clever line on her latest picture.

It was when she watched her latest client head out the door that she turned to her phone and smirked at the screen. He'd taken the bait.

She got herself comfortable, bringing her water and ipad to the back room so she could put her feet up and have a little bit of fun. "It didn't take you long to realize. Did you miss me that much?" she texted back to him, closing the screen once the message was sent to go through tik tok.

Their relationship always had big ups and downs, leaving her a mess most of the time but she was hooked to the chaos and the familiar feelings that only he could give her. She hated to admit it, but she was hooked despite knowing how horrible and toxic they were for each other.

"it's okay to admit you did." she added to the message after a few minutes.

[wrongtvrns]

"Well, that depends... what does an annoyed and pissed off Camila look like?" A smirk formed on his lips. Sure, he'd likely been on the receiving end in the past. Especially when considering how Bear used to be all those years ago but he didn't have those most solid memory of those times. "If something happens and I feel like I'm gonna break," Bear paused, at this point his sobriety wasn't a fragile thing, "I'll give you a call. You'll be first on the list." A list of one. For a long time now Bear's life had been sure and steady, other than facing some difficult losses pertaining to his job or tough days, there wasn't much to it. But he did appreciate having someone in his life that wanted to be there.

"What is it you're wanting then... because it's not even clear to me." She seemed to lean and hint one way and then start leaning the other way, it was confusing and men were rather simple. "If all you want is a hookup then that shouldn't be hard at all to find." Especially with how attractive Camila was and to learn that she was struggling with it told Bear she was thinking way too hard on it and complicating it when it didn't need to be. "Then do that," he chuckled softly, "can't have it both ways, Cam." But, ready to leave, and with ideas she'd set in his head, Bear reached back for her hand as he strolled toward the exit. "Your place or mine?" Blue eyes glanced at her just before they passed through to the parking lot where his truck was parked not too far away.

[camilaflores]

"Your worst nightmare, for sure." She said with a nod of her head because she could be relentless and a bit vengeful. It wasn't anything to be proud of but it was a side of her that existed. Likely something she'd need to work out in therapy once she grew the nerve to actually go to therapy and face all the trauma she was harbouring. "I better be the first person, but I don't think you're going to break." Certainly it would only be normal for him to feel that way but he was better, and stronger, than she'd ever witnessed him being before. "I know I have told you, kind of. But if you needed to hear it again, I'm really proud of you and how far you've come. It's no small feat." It was impressive and while she always liked every version of bear she'd seen, this was her favorite.

She tilted her head and grimaced because she couldn't exactly tell him straight off the bat. "Maybe I don't know what I want." She admitted to him. Sure, she wanted a decent fuck. She'd gone through way too many mediocre ones to know that she atleast deserved to find someone who would take the time and energy to return the favor. She narrowed her gaze and waited for him to laugh and indicate he was teasing but when it didn't come, she swallowed hard for a second. "Yours." It was always the option she chose in case she needed to make a quick escape. But this was her friend, someone she cared about, so it would naturally complicate things regardless. She followed, mainly intrigued to see if this was going to happen or not. Partly feeling he was testing her just as much as she was him.

[smthliminal]

"Oh, sounds familiar," Tomiko pulled a guilty face and did her best to hide her grin. "Me, whenever I get on Wikipedia, and then start clicking links. Hours later I'm so far from where I've started." Petite shoulders shurgged. "At least I know the complete history of wind surfing and more than I ever needed to know about the Scottish Highlands." Sadly, Tomiko didn't even need to be high for any of that to happen. She was quite simply a lovergirl for knowledge and reading, didn't seem to matter what it was. "Okay but a BDSM master could be fun," brows waggled at her friend, "if the guy wasn't fat and hairy you should absolutely check it out and report back." At first she frowned learning that her friend pitied her, then she ended up laughing at Camila's commentary about bringing her alcohol. "Just make sure it's disguised well. Whiskey in a coffee cup, vodka in a water bottle — you get the idea." Head nodded and soon a frown settled into her brow as she looked up at her friend. "What's up my lovergirl, why are you trying so hard for dates lately? Are you lonely?" No judgement because Tomiko would get that. "You know," she paused, blowing out a sigh, "I always hated dating. The whole idea of trying to find someone is just weird. Why can't my soulmate come find me in my house or here at the store while I'm reading and we just live happily ever after?"

[camilaflores]

"Isn't wikipedia not a credible source because people can just go on there and write whatever they want." She felt like she remembered something like that from school but every time she read something off of the site, it did sound genuine and true. But her friend was clearly learning things off of it and taking it for face value. The idea of a BDMS person was a fun time but she had trouble with the whole master part of that equation. "I don't think I'm made to just sit pretty and do everything I'm told. I can be obedient to a certain point but I'd miss testing the limits and being a little rebellious, too much. I'd piss them off just to get punished, mainly." Camila also liked to be in charge from time to time and that might not go over well with someone who liked to be called master. "I'm not lonely or trying to find a relationship but it would be nice to just have someone consistent to fuck and maybe a person who I can depend on. I'm so annoyed with the people that I meet and wasting even an hour speaking to them only for them to be the scum of the earth." But maybe, there was some small part of her that was lonely and just wanted to be able to wake up to someone.

[wrongtvrns]

At least one of them was sensible. One too many times Genesis' impulsivity got her into hot water and she wasn't the best when it came to discernment in many situations. "A moral compass, huh? What's having one of those like?" She'd imagine there was much less stress and drama in Camila's life. Not that her friend would be without, because who was, but it likely was nice not living in a state of how much worse can it get? Only to realize had she made better, rational decisions then she wouldn't have been in certain predicaments. "Oh my fuck... is he one of those that calls himself 'a car guy'?" Gen rolled her eyes and mocked simultaneously. "What a fucking tool." They'd made it outside the hospital doors and she paused for a moment. "I don't think I have any, I'm not due for a couple of weeks, but we could always stop at the store on the way... get some eggs and bologna."

[camilaflores]

She couldn't help but laugh because the moral compass she had was one she'd just recently grown and was still trying to figure it out. "I'll let you know once I get the hang of it because it's clearly no been working in my favor." After all, she was already agreeing to do something to the man to get back to him. "He's one hundred percent a car guy. Frankly, he could fit right in with the guy that was on the weird obsession show and used to fuck his car." So maybe his love for his car wasn't so intense and physical but it wasn't that far off. "He really had me fooled but it didn't take long to see how gross he was." That's what happened with clients because she never did too much of a deep dive onto people who booked her for tattoos like she did dates. "Let's do it. We'll shove some eggs in his gas tank and hide it in his tail pipe— the stench would be ungodly."

[dcsiderivm-deactivated20250421]

After a grueling shift, Daniela had headed down to a bar just to grab a quick drink before heading home. She had no intentions of staying long at all, just enough time to pour back something that would burn the back of her throat as it went down. She was heading right for the bar when she heard the voice, and then saw the woman coming her way. Surely this wasn't directed at her, right? Wrong. Furrowing her brows as the women came closer and pleaded for her to play along, she knew exactly what was going on here. "Sorry I'm late. You know how hospitals can be." She stated as she engulfed the woman in a tight embrace. God, men not being able to read the room when they were being too annoying clearly hadn't changed yet. "But it's good to see you, gorgeous." Pulling back from the hug, Dani grinned. "First round is on me since I was late. What are you having?" She asked as she took the woman's hand and started to lead her to an opposite end of the bar.

[camilaflores]

Camila was happy to find someone who was a true girl's girl. There was no question asked and she was immediately engulfed in a hug and led somewhere else. She lived for those type of people. Camila immediately played along, moving closer to the woman who made her feel safe and secure. "It's good to see you, too. You look hot, as always." She'd shower her with compliments for doing what she was doing. "I think I'm just going to have a beer." She'd already had a few drinks and knew she would need to slow down if she wanted to keep her wits about her. "But I think that I'll get this round because it's the least that I can do." Camila told her once they were on the other side of the bar and the man had lost interest. "Seriously, I appreciate it so much."

[intcrmezzo]

"Oh yeah, tons of fans — I'm a favorite." The sarcasm dripped heavy and thick like syrup. "If only there were away to make a successful OnlyFans off of that I'd be living in Fat City." This woman's desperation for a hand spoke volumes in the way Tanner hadn't actually ran her off and had her decide waiting for a tow truck would be best. "I'm not really a storyteller," Tanner commented, eyes drifted to the indicated flat tire. "Unless you're a fan of horror," she added and headed to the trunk. The tools were out but it looked as though no progress had been made. "Even then, no one really needs to hear my bullshit." Head nodded at the woman's comments and then held up a finger with a silent message that she'd be right back. When she returned she had her jack in hand and crouched by the tire. "Do you know what caused the flat?" Tanner was only asking because there was possibility for repair, which some places didn't charge for, rather than having to replace. While she waited on the information Tanner set up the jack and lifted the vehicle, then began working on the lug nuts.

[camilaflores]

"I'm sure there's a place for that on the internet. You can wear a nice little set of overralls and then look at the camera and explain what you're doing— I can see you making a few people's day. Enough that they'd be willing to help you out with good money." Camila knew nothing about cars so she'd pay a monthly fee for the sight of the other and also because she'd genuinely be learning something. "Horror, huh? That bad?" Camila nodded her head while she looked from her and to her car. "You've got me interested but I'm getting the vibe you're not one to talk about yourself so I'll spare you." But she still wouldn't be opposed to hearing, maybe it would make her feel better about her own shitty upbringing or life. Peering towards the flat, she nodded her head and then pointed towards the nail. "I ran over it and then not even a mile later, it was on the ground."

[clemcntia]

          It had been a while since Haliya had had a night out. With two books’ deadlines to meet, podcast scripts to write and a ten-year-old at home who still liked hanging out with his mom and still found her cool, Hali couldn’t remember the last time she put on a sexy dress and matched it with a nice pair of heels just because she could. But, she had just finished the second segment of one of her books and had sent it to her agent, who, by the way, insisted she’d go out and celebrate it. Once Hali was inside the bar and had shrugged off her coat, she was almost immediately engulfed by arms and a request from a stranger. “Are you okay though? Like–safe?” She asked the other, worried that the situation might be more serious than the other was letting on. When she pulled away, Haliya had a smile on her lips to join in on the woman’s little acting.

“Right? It’s been a while! How’s your brother doing?” Her voice was a little louder than usual, only to ensure prying ears would be hearing a nice conversation between two friends. “Let’s go get ourselves a drink, c'mon!” The brunette said, already moving towards the bar.

[camilaflores]

Camila nodded her head, realizing that maybe she should have started off with the fact that she was safe and while the man she was trying to get away from was harmless— he was still very much a man which meant that any rejection wouldn't go down well. "I'm fine. He's harmless but I don't really want to waste energy on having to explain to someone why I don't want to hang out with them while I'm just trying to eat my fries in peace." She said with a roll of her eyes. The mere fact that she said it aloud was fuelling her and made her want to return to the man and deck him straight in the face.

"He's been good. Getting married next month." She lied with ease despite not having a brother at all. "You missed out on possibly being Ms. Flores by a few month." She teased further as she ended up walking away with her and away from the man. "I owe you so much! Any drink you want."

[wrongtvrns]

With Camila wanting the same promise in return is when Bear balked a little. There was a slight twist in his chin and he leaned back in his seat a bit, a sigh exhaled through his nose. Anyone else he'd likely blow off the request altogether and change the subject, but she was different, and he'd just finished making a comment about fair exchange. "Does this mean that we're just not going to call each other?" Bear laughed. Neither of them wanted to be a burden on their friendship or to have the other see them in a different light. "I promise to try." Only because Bear didn't normally reach out to anyone. "How about that?"

At the pushback, Bear's brow creased, "why wouldn't you?" Then his head shook. "Maybe you need to be screening these better. Just because a guy looks good to you or says the right things..." Most men at a bar were just looking to get theirs. It was the reason they went out and approached a woman in such an establishment. Outside of drinking of course. At the comment of not teasing her, the man got to his feet with a smirk on his lips. He set some cash on the counter to pay for their food and coffee then pocketed his wallet. "Well, I don't want to be an act of desperation, but..." Bear nudged her leg to get her to stand up, "come on."

[camilaflores]

"I'm going to call you." Camila promised him, if only because he'd made her feel too guilty not to call him now. "You told me that I was making choices for you and it wasn't fair. Of course I'm going to call you after all that spiel." Her hand waved in the air before she rolled her eyes, feeling the weight of his words. If only because she knew she'd done it multiple times ever since he got sober as to make sure she didn't put anymore pressure on him and his fragile state. "But you better try hard because I expect that we both lean on each other, and if I find out it's just me, I'm going to be annoyed and pissed off. You don't want that, do you?"

"See, this is when it becomes too much." She wasn't looking for a partner to share her life with at this stage. Not that she was opposed but it wasn't what she initially wanted, so with the talking phase, the screening phase, then having to shave herself from nose to toe— she didn't have energy to do anything but lay there and most guys wanted her on top. "I'd rather just plug in my toy and be done with it, you know." Her brow furrowed for a moment when he paid and rose, nudging her to follow him. She didn't know whether he was serious or not, but she found herself rising to her feet to follow after him with mild curiosity. "Where are we going?"

[camilaflores]

open to: anyone

where: local bar

"There you are! I've been waiting for you," Camila called out as she began to direct herself towards the first person who caught her gaze. After spending the last ten minutes trying to get the man who'd bought her a drink at the bar to clue in that she didn't have the energy, or desire, to continue speaking with him— she had to move to more effective methods. "Just pretend you know me for a few minutes and then I promise I'll let you get on with your night. Maybe head to the bar with me and I'll get you a drink." As long as they put distance between the weird man and them, Camila wouldn't keep them hostage for much longer.