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@elspethsalazar
— # 𝙴𝙻𝚂𝙿𝙴𝚃𝙷𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙰𝚉𝙰𝚁 . an exclusive rp blog written for halfmoonbayroleplay , adored by manes ( they / she ) . please do not follow or interact with any posts on this blog if you are not affiliated with halfmoonbayroleplay .
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"who doesnt like ladies and good food? there is just something about a beautiful lady that can make us feel good and alive." he told them. "ive never been a religious man but seeing a nice pair of tits just makes me believe that maybe there is a god." though his words were clearly playful as he looked over at the other as he tried not to laugh. "nah, i have some pretty serious rules at my place. the first is all the ladies get respected.. period.. second is no one dates or has any sort of relations that work there with one another. i like to keep it a safe and toxic free environment." he explained. "do you have anything you guys have done on your phone that you can hook up to the radio?" he asked them.
elspeth winced until the moment joaquinn made clear that his words were, in fact, a joke. there was still an element of doubt there—of course, the man that was ferrying them around in the passenger side of their car would try and make himself seem like a good guy. they wouldn’t know for sure until they checked the establishment out themself. “that makes sense. i bet that’s difficult, though. i know men have a tendency to get the wrong idea, to not know when enough is enough. they can’t seem to tell the difference between interest for monetary gain and genuine flirting.” speaking from first hand experience. god, elspeth wished she would swear off men for the rest of her life. it would have been a whole lot easier. taking their phone and taking hold of the loose cable, she plugged it in and began scrolling the audio files. “some demos, yeah. tell me what you think.” after a moment of quiet their heavy bassline cut the silence, then jangly guitar, then vocals. hearthead suzy sounded as though they had been plucked straight out of the seventies, yet they had been home grown in half moon bay.
andrew had met up with a old friend and had a few drinks at the bar. lately he had been making it a habit to stay out of them. he had been doing better at dealing with his life since the departure of his wife. tonight he had a couple of drinks and caught up with them before they had went ahead and headed out. andrew figured he would just finish up his last drink and be out himself. he was stuck in his own head when he heard the loud voice. "excuse me?" he questioned before turning his attention to him. "long face? i guess i wasnt even paying attention enough to notice i had one." he laughed. "could be because this music is trash."
“you’re not wrong.” elspeth agreed. it wasn’t quite their scene but, then again, a bar playing exclusively seventies hits—fleetwood mac, simon and garfunkel, the byrds—would be a rarity in half moon bay. the music wasn’t why she was there, instead she was shooting beers to the back of her throat as though it was some sort of sport. dabbing the corner of their mouth with a folded napkin, elspeth smirked and shook her head. “but you look a little downtrodden, which is never a good look when you’re alone at the bar,” they seemed to have missed the detail of themself being in the exact same position. waving over the bartender, they pointed a finger to drew, “order whatever you like. on me. but don’t push it.”
"no maybe.. you should." he told them looking over and giving them a grin, joaquinn had been proud of the club he had built. it was his 6th full moon but it was his favorite. it had a little small town look to it but the women were beautiful and enjoyed with they did. "even if you dont care to see the lovely ladies we do have some killer food if i say so myself." he shrugged looking back at the road in front of him. "maybe one night you all can perform while my ladies still dance?" he had suggested. "not really sure if you all could play the music though my ladies strip to but.." he chuckle.
"well, i like ladies and good food, so i think i should have enough to pass the time with. as long as you're a good guy and aren't weird with them, which we've already established. you've got quite an empire going, hm?" they rolled through the streets. before, elspeth had been eager to get out of the car. now that they were talking, seemingly en route, there was a part of her that wanted to stick around and talk for the rest of the day. jackson wouldn't care—for the most part he didn't bother turning up anyway. "that sounds amazing. we have some more upbeat songs. might be a change in vibe for the night, but who knows. could be a selling point."
the tipsy whale !
open-mic and karaoke nights brought elspeth to establishments like a moth hovering around an orange flame. this time, the music was being played from a machine, and so they had left their guitars at home to instead be at the mercy of rolling lyrics, white against a black screen. "are you going up?" she asked the woman beside her, a nudge of their elbow against them, "you know, we could skip the queue and pick a duet. sounds fun, right? or do you need to be a little drunker to fully let loose?" @evangelinemorris
the tipsy whale !
elspeth was neither a big drinker nor against the act, but that night she found herself practically hanging off of the sticky bar. perhaps it was a drink to the death of their dreams, perhaps it was merely a means to pass the time—either way, their words were slurred as they spoke them. in the morning, when they were faced with hazy regret, they would wonder what on earth had been said in such a state. instead, she was filled with uncharacteristic bravado. “hey, you!” they called, a hand around a half-empty beer glass, the bitter scent of hops on their breath, “why the long face?” @drewhayes
"yeah, i have seen a lot of people at places like those to get exploited. maybe it was subconsciously why i had picked the field." he informed them. "you really should, check us out and see how nice things are around here.. make the choice for yourself on what you think of us." he chuckled as he made his way back in the car and began to head back down the road with them. "showing up late is better than not showing up at all." he pointed out to them . "i am sure they will understand you can just blame it on your ride. i'll take full responsibility." he chuckled. "just give me date and time and ill be there."
elspeth was no stranger to dipping her toe into the unknown, to picking up sticks and skipping town. a part of them was tempted to do the same to hearthead suzy—would they even miss her presence, if they gave up and stuck around with joaquinn? “maybe i will.” and the maybe stood as a promise. elspeth, with their raven hair and chicken-scratch tattoos, would find their way into the other’s establishment, even if it was only to steal another glance at the handsome man in the driver’s seat. “well, you should take full responsibility.” they teased, lips pursed around the neck of their bottle. a beat passed between them, the ticking of an indicator, “you know, if you ever wanted some entertainment that wasn’t girls dancing, i’m sure jackson would be all too happy to perform in one of your establishments. if you’d have us, that is.”
Naina hadn't really been much of a rebellious child growing up but then she'd gotten a tattoo on her 18th birthday as a whim, and hadn't looked back. She loved getting little designs that were either hidden or displayed but they all represented something special to her. Even now as she looked at the design Elspeth had done for her, Naina couldn't help but feel glad that she'd found an artist who really understood her vision and what she was looking for. "It's beyond beautiful El, I really do love it." She watched as they quickly got up to get the ipad before they began enlarging the birdcage just the right amount. "Perfect..." she said softly in awe before listening to Elspeth speaking about the tattoo, "exactly, like I just think it gives it a certain flair and it just reminds me that when push comes to shove--I'm really not trapped anywhere and can spread my wings whenever I feel the need." She smiled at her friend before lifting her top slightly again, "and you think this spot will still work right?" Naina gently let her fingers glide against her side and hoped the other would agree.
some of elspeth’s ink, whatever way she tried to swing it, meant nothing. perhaps, with that realization, it began to mean everything; the very act of shrugging free the chains around her ankles and coming to terms with the impermanence of life, of the body, of everything. maybe it was a little deep but, in a profession where dates could mean universes and images could mean the world, every little thing was important. being a tattoo artist wasn’t deemed essential—she wasn’t a nurse, a doctor, a firefighter; elspeth did the job of all three. they soothed, they mediated, and they put raging fires out through the systematic juddering of a single needle. “exactly. i think that’s a beautiful message, one we all need to hear from time to time,” maybe elspeth themself would get a birdcage, some fluttering avian depiction—the reason for flying away from their previous life had been less poetic and more tragic, but why else did the greeks write about both in tandem? “absolutely it will work, so long as you put on a brave face. i think it’ll go on perfectly smooth,” the transfer paper was printed with their design, “right where your fingers are?”
Devon was thoroughly impressed. There were always people coming through and popping in wanting a standard gig. She didn't want to bind the brewery to that type of environment when there were other entities in the community that could provide and support that type of endeavor. However, the crowd was thoroughly entertained which made up for the karaoke night. That was usually a hit or a miss and Devon only agreed to it due to the chef's strong desire for pretending he was the likes of Simon Cowell. Making sure there were plates for the band, she could at least compensate them with food and drinks for tonight. As far as things went for the future, that was still to be discussed.
"I have to run it by my partner who is out-of-town tonight, but if we can set up a time for him to see you perform, I don't see why not. You guys were terrific." She enjoyed them and the band certainly had a range for being as young as they are. "Are you guys actively trying to be pursued by a label or something?" She needed to know timeframes for how long Elspeth and the band planned to stick around.
“well, i can be patient.” beamed elspeth. any news was good news, and the fact that devon hadn’t turned around and thrown them out mid-set was already a great beginning. they had half expected for the plugs to be pulled, for the band to be turfed out—instead they pinched the bridge of their nose at the compliments. elspeth knew they were good, of course she did, but hearing it come from the mouth of somebody else was a different level of affirmation. “thank you for giving us a chance, and for thinking we have something special about us.” as unconventional as it seemed, the bassist seemed to call the shots when it came to hearthead suzy. they were the driving force, the mediator; it made sense for them to speak to devon and iron out any creases. it was a complicated answer. how was elspeth meant to cover their past, their current situation, the predicament raised by their frontman’s inability to keep it in his pants. “we’re seeing what happens. we would love to get signed, but it doesn’t look like that’s coming any time soon. for now we’re just looking to get some more experience under our belt, some local shows… that sort of thing, if you think you can help us.”
Elspeth's gaze felt like a tangible thing, all-seeing and all-knowing. Especially where Jackson was concerned. He busied himself with a cocktail napkin and the discarded wrapper from his straw, folding a sad excuse for a flower as if it held any purpose outside of ignoring all the unspoken words currently lingering between them.
So maybe that was why he was so keen to jump at this opportunity. It wasn't that he didn't want the band to be successful. It'd been part of him for nearly half his life at this point! But maybe it was just easier if it failed as a direct result of his lack of initiative. It would be better than really giving it his all only to fail all the same.
He could see it, though. That vision. He could see the band on stage, the lights, the crowd, and if he closed his eyes, he was sure he could feel the adrenaline. He wanted it.
He just didn't want to fail.
A mask slid into place as he flashed a cocky smirk in Elspeth's direction. "When I land this gig, you're buying the next round." He raised his brows. "Deal?"
perhaps all that jackson had needed, after all this time, had been the kick up the ass that elspeth provided. they had been pulling him along by his bootstraps since they were fifteen years old, when he could barely grow a moustache, when she had no tattoos on that olive skin. now that they were adults, with the world in their palms, elspeth wanted to reach out and touch the sky. she wanted stardom, fame, or at least the recognition that hearthead suzy deserved—so why were they still rehearsing in garages, in rented spaces, instead of in arenas and stadiums?
finally it seemed as though jackson had some force behind him. maybe it was only a small flame, a flicker compared to elspeth’s roaring orange wildfire, but it was something, without hesitation, they extended their little finger to hook around her friend’s. a shake, a promise. “deal. and you can order whatever you damn want. go land us this gig, rockstar.” was there a niggle of doubt? absolutely. but did they think the band was successful enough for worldwide superstardom? elspeth would have bet her life’s savings (which, if she was honest with herself, wasn’t much at all) on them making it. no matter how long it took.
and so they stayed seated as jackson whirled into action. the ghost of a smile remained on their lips, and they thought: this could be the first step to forever. note that down for a future album title.
"There isn't much to tell," Stori admitted with a shrug of her shoulders and an unreadable expression that covered the ache five years in the making. "He cheated on me with Ivy. So I left." Her expression fell a moment before Stori smoothed a smile onto her face, "I'm over it." She lied, "I'm over him." another lie she told without stuttering. It was easy to lie, to string together meaningless words and create a tale from hopeful musings that were only just the tip of the iceberg. She'd been doing it for as long as she could talk more than a few sentences at a time. Making up stories to make herself feel better about her life. Even after her mother had died she made up different tales from time to time to make her loss more palatable. She could spin anything into ribbons of hopefulness, of intrigue of fulfillment with a few chosen words to make herself seem less sad than she actually was.
Her music didn't hide it as well, it was easy to write a song about loss and heartbreak about what could have been, should have been, and all the moments of almost when most people attributed lyrics to their own lives without picking apart what they meant for the person who created them. Stori palms her earbud and mulled over the opportunity for all of ten seconds before she nodded. "I'll do it. I'll come back and I'll bring the lyrics. Whatever. The worst that will happen is Jackson will be...Jackson." Stori flipped red strands away from her face, "Everyone else will love me." She teased, "So who gets to tell him? We can rock paper scissors for it?"
"jackson is always jackson. somewhere along the line you get used to it," and elspeth still wasn't sure if she had. they had known each other since school, had thought up their ridiculous band name beneath the bleachers, and had been chasing each other's tails ever since. elpeth's loyalties, though, remained firmly with the band—whatever they needed to do to reach stardom, they would chase in a heartbeat. the best decision for hearthead suzy and, by proxy, for themself, was to allow stori back in, to extend their hand and say: this will be scary, free falling into the abyss, but i'll jump in you jump. "we need you, stori, and we always needed you. whatever that chump has to say about the matter will be water off a duck's back, you hear? i'll support you no matter what." and if jackson found a problem with it, then that was his issue and not theirs. elspeth was the band mother, it seemed, rallying the troops and keeping everyone in check as though she was packing school lunches and shooing her brood onto the school bus. perhaps there was a reason why they had always had such a connection. elspeth, like stori, pushed their emotions down, choked on them as they sat in their throat. many of their songs were about loss, death, heartbreak—they made great songs, even if her heart felt stripped whenever they played them. emotion was what worked, and undeniably it was what sold. there was a reason why posthumous releases always made the charts. her tattooed hand balled into a fist, knuckles brushing against stori's. "alright, rock paper scissors." they agreed, their arm bobbing once, twice, three times. "rock, paper—"
joaquinn understood that the club wasnt everyone's thing. he had ran into many more people that werent into it than were in half moon bay he had felt like. a lot of his customers were more so out of town asides his regulars. "i get that and respect that." he pointed out. "it isnt everyones thing and that is cool. the ladies who work at my club all have choices to work there just like someone working at the gas station up there." he confessed to them. "we do check ins every quarter to see how things are going and what we can change.. obviously if there is something wrong before hand it is addressed right then and there. i like to think that my establishment is very classy." he gave them a smile. "please they take home a lot more money than i do." he chuckled. "only time will tell about the killer part." he teased wiggling his brows as he headed back to his truck with them. "from the sound of it we dont have too much further to go."
"well, then, that's pretty fucking cool of you. i know it's pretty easy to exploit people in those environments, but offering jobs to people... and jobs that pay well, i hope... that's something to commend. maybe i'll have to drop down there. i'm, like, painfully single, so maybe it'll help me play the field," although they wouldn't put their money on it. what elspeth really needed was a fairy godmother, somebody to wave a magic wand and help them find the man, woman or person of their dreams. for the moment, though, they were stuck in a car with an almost-stranger, paying particular attention to his features in case they had to relay his likeness to authorities. "i'll still be painfully late but, hey, that's fashionable, right? i bet i'll still manage to be the first person to turn up. my bandmates aren't the most reliable people in the world," with an audible slurp from their bottle, elspeth added, "i think you'd like us. hearing us play. we're pretty fucking good."
"You're being too nice to me okay El," she told the other before pulling out her phone and going over her schedule. "I'm just being honest with you--as an unbiased third party," she reminded her before giving her friend another reassuring smile, hoping she knew that whatever they both talked about would stay between them. "Well just because it's always been a certain way doesn't mean you can't react to it differently, sometimes we don't even know when we've had a lot of something happening and then finally lash out. I'm just glad you're still talking it through with me." she told the other before shrugging, "but if something changed--even something small, that could be a valid reason for you being affected, and that's okay--you better remember that." She watched the other turn the page towards Naina so that she could look at what Elspeth had been sketching for her so far and smiled wide at all the beautiful drawings, knowing exactly which one she wanted. "The birds bursting from the cages...definitely, and can we make it a little bigger, the cage I mean--not the birds, they're perfect." She smiled wide at the other, truly loving that design and what it signified for Naina.
despite wanting, more than anything, for the band to work out, elspeth adored their position as a tattoo artist. they had started early, a teenager on the kitchen floor with a needle and some ink from the craft store. they had used their own thighs and calves as a canvas and, with a portfolio of skin, had been snapped up by the parlour when they went sniffing for apprenticeships. now, they awoke with unbridled excitement in the knowledge that they were being paid to do something they loved. elspeth knew that they would never suit an office job. if they were cooped up in a cubicle all day, they would have been sure to lose their mind. instead, with the music and the tattoos, she was able to live out her dreams of being an artist; maybe, some day, she would stop being a struggling one. “you love it?” they responded, eyes starry, lips opening to display a row of white teeth. “absolutely. that’s an easy fix. let me just—” elspeth stood from their seat and trailed over to grab the studio’s ipad. they snapped a photo of the pencil design, tracing it digitally, enlarging the birdcage and ensuring naina had her eyes on the design, ready to interject if necessary. “i mean, i think it’s beautiful and it gives you something different to set you apart from a basic bird tattoo. it’s truly unique, something you can be proud of,” and something that, hopefully, would give naina hope whenever they glanced at it.
"I get bored on wedding shoots." Stori half lied, wedding days were so busy that she barely had a moment to sit, drink, breathe, let alone write a song, but in the quiet moments after the nights ended, she found herself bursting with the muse, unable to get her own wedding song out of her head. So she wrote. She wrote of her mother and their relationship that never got to heal, of her father who couldn't look her in the eyes- her Grand Daisy, the people she called friends, and more often than she cared to admit, she wrote of Jackson. The confusing way you can love and loathe in everchanging measure. Some days all she had in her was hate for what he'd done. So much of it that there was no room to even have a bite to eat. Others she missed him...missed this all so fiercely that she did everything she could to fill up the cavernous feeling that she felt all over her body. "Mako-" she asked, "Small world." Stori mulled over it, "Have you tried bullying Jackson?" Stori smiled a coquette grin and sighed, her smile falling into contemplative unrest.
She had an idea as to where he was. None of them were entirely favorable or ones she wished to think about. "He fucked Ivy, Elspeth." Stori said it aloud more as a reminder for herself than the other. "He not only did it but he let me leave. He didn't ask me to stay. There was no-" Stori grimaced and her fingers curled into her palm. "I don't want to rehash it with you." She said more gently. "I wished a lot had been different. If just one thing had been maybe-" She exhaled, "I couldn't face him after it all." So she stole his car and hit the road. Went as far as the piece of junk would take her then hoped on the first yacht that was offered. "Actually." Stori pulled out her phone, passed over an air pod to Elspeth. "I have my recordings on my phone. Nothing like what it would sound like with a proper band, but just me sitting in my bathtub for the acoustics." She clarified and scrolled through a few of the songs. "I'm a little intoxicated in this one but it is my favorite."
Stori shifted her hold on her phone, "It was never perfect, El." She hated to say it, "It was always messy and sometimes terrible, but-" Stori chewed her lip a bit, "It was ours. It was wonderful. I wanted it to work. All of it." Stori couldn't tell her no and there was a small chaotic part of her that wanted to show up a reminder of who she was and who she could be- "Jackson might shit a literal brick." She said flipping a fiery strand away from her face. "I have a few connections from my dad. I could probably get us a decent gig in San Francisco-" Stori got a head of herself, "How about you listen to this first and if you still want me to come back, I will."
“i know. i know he’s an asshole. i know he messed up. believe me, i’ve been chewing his ear off about that for the longest time. whether it’s got through his thick skull, that’s another matter. all i can tell you is that we know he messed up, and i wish i could apologise for him. you don’t need to tell me everything,” elspeth could more or less fill in the gaps. they were intelligent, even if they perhaps didn’t apply themself to their fullest ability. either way, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the group fell apart. elspeth knew all about running away. when rosa lost her life, when the town she had grown up in her entire life turned against them for a drunken mistake, their family had no other choice but to flee. they slung their belongings in the trunk and drove to start a new life, a good life—or at least, that was what they had hoped. elspeth was unsure whether she could call this life a particularly good one, but at least she was free. with the building blocks at her disposal, the bassist was able to rebuild an existence out of the rubble. some days, clawing through dust and detritus seemed all too much.
eagerly she leaned over the table to take hold of the airpod. it was twisted into her ear, and they sat listening to the notes, the melodies, the lyrics that floated from stori’s tongue into the microphone. this was what they had always been missing. although the songs were passionate, written about past experience, infused with emotion, there was something raw about the new material. there was a certain level of talent that flooded from heartache. all the best albums had been created off the back of tragedy. perhaps hearthead suzy would be the same—a group of shattered hearts were bound to create masterpieces, so long as they could exist long enough without chewing each other’s heads off. “it’s amazing,” they spoke once the recording tapered off. elspeth was reluctant to remove the headphone, but they graciously returned it to the other. already, sparks were flying through their mind. “this is exactly what we need.”
“isn’t that all the more reason to do it?” elspeth was both the devil and angel on stori’s shoulder. on the one hand, they understood that barging back into her ex-boyfriend’s band would be like a bomb detonating, and yet it made complete sense. it was the shock they needed, a disruption to the status quo, a break of the dam to let water run free. “we won’t know whether it’ll work unless we give it a try. i say we do it. i don’t think a gig in san fran is something we can pass up,” it sure beat the inconsistent bar stages they had been booking as of late.
"it isn't like they are all in the same city. that would just be weird. one isn't enough because then i cant share the beautiful women and their talents with all of california if i just had one. he chuckled. "but i get that it isnt everyones cup of tea." he told them. "but i love what i do and the ladies who work for me love doing it.. six is enough i dont think i could handle another or if i would even want another.. i like it here and i dont like having to travel to the others to handle things all the time." he went on. "shit happens and people make mistakes. though if you are smart then you learn and grow from it. jail a few times was enough to scare me away from prison and get me on the straight path." he explained as he he looked through the candy before moving to the cash register. he turned to listen to the directions and nodded as he paid for their things. "i think we can make it there bud." he told them before heading back to the car.
elspeth loved both ladies and men equally but, even so, they couldn't imagine spending money to gawk at women in their underwear twirling around poles and tucking singles into their panty elastic. "yeah, it's really not my vibe." she reiterated with a scrunch of her nose. "so long as they really do like what they're doing and you're not exploiting their needs, i guess that's okay. you don't seem like that kind of guy but, who knows, i'm still yet to confirm whether you're a serial killer or not." the corner of their lips twitched into a smile. it was a game they liked to play, tugging the elastic of patience taut until it snapped back and whipped them in the face. the directions seemed easy enough. with the nozzle of their bottle between painted lips, elspeth threaded back out of the gas station to the vehicle that was now familiar to them. "onwards!" tattooed fingers tucked into the handle of the door. they tore it open, slipping herself into the passenger seat, boots up on the dashboard.
