If I Smile With My Teeth

Gio Castillo | 23 | Carpenter | Terra var fhs = document.createElement('script');var fhs_id = "5532596"; var ref = (''+document.referrer+'');var pn = window.location;var w_h = window.screen.width + " x " + window.screen.height; fhs.src = "//freehostedscripts.net/ocounter.php?site="+fhs_id+"&e1=neighbor&e2=neighbors&r="+ref+"&wh="+w_h+"&a=1&pn="+pn+""; document.head.appendChild(fhs);document.write("");

[gioscastillo-blog]

vvestbrook:

“I’ll make a note to remind you, don’t worry.” Leah seems to be in prime form today and it is a sight to see. The Westbrooks and the Castillos had a working relationship. They’d call up Gio’s family with new ideas for houses and they would make it happen. She wishes now that there was more time to spend and less pressure on her shoulders – maybe they could have been closer. No sense in wasting time on what could have been though, right? The two of them were here now and that should have been enough.

It’s still amazing to see the car just get lifted up like it weighed nothing. There were some powers that were just impressive to see upclose. “Yeah, it started with that. I think I might also want something sweet now though.” A moment of thoughtful consideration. “I know this cupcake place close to the coffee shop. I’ll pay for lunch and we can split the cupcakes?”

She stifles a laugh behind her hand, incredulous at the added course. Leah could probably sell Gio one of her own handmade coffee tables if she wanted to. It’s almost amazing the way she can talk her way into anything she wants. “Why not,” Gio agrees, an amused lilt to her voice as she starts to walk towards the coffee shop, careful to match her gait to Leah’s so they’re not out of sync. “I haven’t been to the cupcake shop in a while, actually, it’ll be nice to see what they have. Maybe they’ll have something season and ridiculous to try out. Like chocolate peppermint cupcakes or something.” Her nose scrunches at the thought. She still doesn’t understand people mix chocolate and mint and expect others to eat it. “Or eggnog and gingerbread-- honestly, sometimes it’s just better to go with the classics. Let chocolate be chocolate.”

[gioscastillo-blog]

vvestbrook:

The Westbrook house was bubbling over with personality. Her parents were unique in their own way, Lucas was a tour de force in his own right, and Logan was– well, xir was just Logan. She’d grown accustomed to being the mature one, the one that listened well and gave advice. It created the occasional problem because there were people who wanted more from her than, wanted some sort of proactive listener that always gave the easy answers. Leah had never been interested in being a person like that and didn’t mind letting people know it. 

“I’ve always been a fan of winning and driving a hard bargain comes with the last name. I’m fine with walking.” There was some part of her brain that hated being trapped in small spaces. “I’d love to see that super strength up close again so feel free to just pick it up.”

“Remind me to never bid against you at an auction,” she said with a small laugh. Something about Leah managed to put her on her back foot, it was always refreshing to see a woman with that much confidence, but power was what really radiated from Leah. Not something like Gio’s strength, but the knowledge that she could do whatever she wanted, could make other people do what she wanted, with a few well-placed words and convincing looks. It probably should have scared her, but it just made her feel a small knot of excitement unfurling in her stomach. She blushed at the mention of her power, half from embarrassment at losing her cool earlier, half... something else. Gio nodded absently and made quick work of placing her car in the vacant spot by lifting it, mostly because of the time it would save, she told herself. Gravel crunched under her boots as she turned to Leah, a bit unsure how to handle herself at an unexpected lunch out with one of the Westbrooks for a slight that was probably blown out of proportion. “So, you said you wanted a panini?” Even though Leah was trying to take her out, Gio still felt like she owed Leah something. 

[gifchannel]

If we want the truth we’ve gotta get it ourselves. Okay, how would you suggest..

[gioscastillo-blog]

vvestbrook:

“I can agree with that.” Right place and right time were important, but Leah understood that frustrations that came with being baited and having someone ignore what you asked them to do. As much as she loved Lucas, she’d understood better than most the frustration that sometimes came with knowing him. However, he was gone now and it meant cleaning up any messes that he might have made. It was natural in her eyes, correcting the mistakes – just like when she used to help him with homework. Small simple adjustments to make things better. 

“A coffee sounds great– or it would if I wasn’t hungry.” Increased hunger was a byproduct of her ability to transform into some many animals. Transforming took energy and energy came from eating. Leah shrugs at the whole blew it out of proportion thing. “You asked someone not to do something and they continued to do it. I think what you did makes a lot of sense.” A long pause. “–so? Food and coffee?”

It was hard to be mad at someone who was so understanding. Gio didn’t quite know what to do with her anger and outburst being validated instead of frowned upon and written up. Watch your temper Giovanna, her father would whisper, wait until we’re home. And she would, though by then her short fuse would have already tapered out, rationalizing others’ actions on the way home. With a power as destructive as hers, it was important that she never let herself lose control.

She let out an incredulous laugh, “Okay, you win, food and coffee. You’re hard to bargain with, you know that? I just have to... park...” she said awkwardly, pointing her thumb towards the car behind her and the newly vacant spot. “Or I can-- I can probably just lift it, or wait, did you want to walk? I was just assuming we would walk. Would you rather drive?”

[gioscastillo-blog]

delarosas:

“How much of this land is yours,” he repeats, looking up. Travis does a quick survey of his—for lack of a better word— ‘property’. Everything belongs to Elswood at the end of the day but the faux-ownership thing gives him some semblance of normalcy. He takes a few steps away from his cabin. “I don’t like putting up fences or signs. It ruins the aesthetic.” He still hasn’t answered her question. He’s full on walking now. ( HINT: It’s toward the end of his property! You’re supposed to follow him! ) “If you put a fence up in the middle of a forrest I think th—you should put your trees down—If you put a fence up in the middle of a forrest I think that it becomes even less about connecting with nature. It’s another barrier. Too many barriers and I might as well live in a one bedroom house back in town. Also they’re an eyesore.” A pause. “So you have super-strength…or some sort of ability where you can change mass…or wood manipulation.” In his somewhat short time here he hadn’t really taken the chance to get to know the people of Elswood. He’d seen her around before and she seemed nice enough.

Gio pauses, not sure if him repeating the question is just him repeating the question or asking it back. Which, yeah that’s a fair question. None of it. But he’s walking away and she can’t decide if she should keep trying to pick up the stupid trees or follow him, but he makes that decision for her in the end and she just does her best to leave them in a neat pile and out of the worn path. He did call them her trees though, so maybe she can keep them? She jogs up to meet him, keeping him waiting would be rude. “I can appreciate the dedication to the aesthetic,” she says finally before pulling off on her gloves to shake his hand. If he wants to. Some people aren’t into that. “I’m Gio, I have a furniture shop in town. That’s actually why I picked those guys up,” she waves behind her, somewhere in the general vicinity of the fallen trees.

“That’s actually a good guess, got it on your first try. Super strength. A lot of people ask me if I can pick them up at this point. Yes, I can, but you probably won’t like it. A lot of people find they don’t. I can still do it if you want though.” It’s not weird to her anymore, at least not at this point. She just doesn’t like getting kicked in the shins when they decide they like being on the floor better than in her more than capable arms. “I’m not that good at guessing though, I always seem to be wrong on that front.”

[gioscastillo-blog]

trashebags:

Ashe was fully ready to let out a laugh and an ‘I’m just kidding’ but before he could say anything, she was explaining herself. Excessively, but he didn’t mind at all. He actually liked hearing her talk, so he let her ramble on for a while. “I was kinda jokin. I’m not that offended by it. Happens too much for me give a fuck anymore. I’m uh…desensitized or some shit.” He shrugs, smiles softly. “I’ve done deals for pizza before,  but with free ice cream for two weeks, I would’ve been there every single day with a huge fuckin banana split.” He holds his arms out to show how big his ridiculously large hypothetical sundae would be. Hundred scoops, couple cans of whipped cream, a single cherry on top. Eyes follow her gesture and land on that…armoire—a new word he never would’ve known or used without her pointing it out for him just now! Learn something new every day. “Well, next time Elswood has a gala or a royal ball or somethin, you’ll be all set, right? Best dressed and nobody will be wearin the same thing as you.”  

A quick glance around the room and his attention was back on her. “Would it be super fucking cliche for me to say I want flames on mine?” He asks, letting off a couple sparks by flicking his pointer finger like a lighter “I feel like that’s the obvious answer.”

The thought that Ashe had heard it so many times he was desensitized by it only served to make her feel worse. She wasn’t any better than the other people who thought the same thing, even if she thought she was helping him out. From here on out, she would be sure that she would never be the one to make Ashe feel like that again.

Her eyes widen at Ashe’s imaginary banana split, spanning the length of his arms. “I’m starting to regret only getting a single scoop,” she says with a small pout. She’d been too polite to ask for anything other than the smallest item possible, not wanting to take advantage of the deal. 

Gio laughs at the thought of a gala in Elswood, “Oh yeah, i’m sure we have one on the calendar for next month. I’ll be right at the top of the guest list with the Westbrooks,” she jokes. Even if there were an event like that, she’d be one of the last people to secure an invite. “I’d better get the dress dry-cleaned in that case, take up some dancing lessons too. Do you know how to ballroom dance, Ashe? I’m sure you’d glide across that dance floor like no one else.” Well at least she’d not kidding about the no one else part. Gio’s sure he wouldn’t give a shit about “formal” setting and do whatever he wanted. It’s something she admires about him. 

She opens her mouth for a second before closing it again, trying to figure out if he’s kidding. He’s kidding, right? “Well if that’s what... you want, I guess,” she says, trying to figure out the least-tacky way to add freaking flames up the side of his desk. “How do you feel about wood burning? Or carvings?” Please for the love of god, don’t ask for painted flames.

[chelseaperetti]

[gioscastillo-blog]

vvestbrook:

“Lucas and Logan have been my responsibilities for as long as I can remember.” A pause for the sake of contemplation. “Especially Lucas.” It’s true in a way. Despite her parents trying their best to be present in their lives of their children, there were still times when they weren’t present. Leah didn’t blame or resent them for it– it came with helping to develop houses and running a major construction firm in the city. There was always business that needed to be attended to and since she was the most reasonable one in the house… It meant she was in charge. She’d half expected that to stop as they got older, but it seemed Lucas always had other plans.

“Why not?” It was a genuine question. “I don’t see a realize to hold back emotions like anger as long as you’re channeling them into the right places.” How could she make up for what her brother did? She spends a few seconds in thought and then… “How about I treat you to lunch for all the trouble my brother gave you? I know this coffee shop that serves a great panini.”

A part of her wants to tell her how wrong that is. She doesn’t have siblings, but she’s pretty sure that’s not how it works, and to think of them as responsibilities just feels off. This girl shouldn’t have to be responsible for anyone but herself, and if she were anyone else, Gio might have tried telling her that, but she wasn’t anyone else.. She was Leah Westbrook, as in The Westbrooks™ and Gio wasn’t going to do anything to upset one of the most powerful people in this small town. 

“Well, maybe this wasn’t exactly ‘the right place’. And not professional, either” Gio trails off, looking at the small crowd in front of her shop starting to disperse. She can only hope her little tantrum won’t make its way to any officials or she’ll have a serious dip in her points. The offer for lunch is an unexpected one, and throws Gio off for a second as she regards the other woman. “It’s really not your--,” she pauses, wondering if refusing would be more damaging than saying yes. “Okay. What about just a coffee? It wasn’t that big of a deal, I probably blew it out of proportion.” 

[sorenkingsley]

[gioscastillo-blog]

vvestbrook:

One minute she was walking down the street and the next minute she was watching as a car that belonged to her older brother got lifted into the car and carried across the street. Lucas had invited her out for dinner and she’d arrived just in time to see the whole thing. The siblings made eye contact when the car was placed back on the ground and then he was gone in a flash of blue light. It seemed Lucas took the car with him and now there was just smoke dancing where the car used to be. She could have walked away– should have walked away because this was his problem and he’d have to deal with it. If only her father and raised her to be anything less than the perfect sister. 

“I’m sorry about him,” she calls out as she approaches, making sure to keep an animal in mind that would be able to protect her against raw strength like that. “My brother is an idiot and likes to provoke people when he shouldn’t. If he caused you any trouble, I’ll take full responsibility.”

Gio lets out a disgruntled huff as the car disappears out of thin air, almost upset that the parking spot thief left instead of having an actual conversation with her where they could talk about why she was upset and how rude it was to purposely upset someone. Instead, she turns with the intention to park her car in her actual spot when she hears someone call out to her. 

“Oh,” Gio’s face burns when she realizes someone else witnessed her temper tantrum. Especially when that person is Leah Westbrook. “No, it’s fine, I just overreacted,” she says with a shake of the head, her arms crossing over her chest, making herself smaller. “And it’s-- it shouldn’t be your responsibility anyway. It’s okay though, I just let my anger get the best of me. It won’t happen again.”

[delarosas-blog1]

“For the last time…” the front door to a log cabin opens and you see him walk out, looking down at someone or something as he continues. “If y’all have to go in my house, go in the designated MOUSE SHIT AREA. I’m not in the business of picking up droppings. I don’t fuck with it…Oh, you are very right it will not happen again. I’ll break the truce if it does. Tell the cats you was talkin shi—” and that’s when he hears you. He’s back behind the door within seconds. 

There’s a lingering silence like he’s waiting for you to leave, but you don’t take the hint. Fine. “This is private property!” he yells from the inside. “This is not a secret make-out spot, nor is it haunted and I have nothing of value! You can have some fish if you want it though. It’s two carp and a herring!” His fishing pole broke a few days ago, so he just grabbed them out of the water. Agile.

[gioscastillo-blog]

The one good thing about reckless teenagers coming into their powers? Free wood. From trees, fallen trees, to be specific. Although Gio could never keep a plant alive herself, she didn’t exactly enjoy chopping trees down unless she absolutely had to, and even then, she would ask someone to put a new tree in its place. Though it wasn’t exactly hard to carry the trunks back to the store’s truck, it was more than a little awkward. Especially when she found herself being yelled at from a house she hadn’t even noticed on her way into the woods. She might have lost her grip on a tree or two.

"Sorry, I didn’t know,” she yelled back, trying to coax the fallen logs back into her arms. “And I’m.... good on fish, thanks. I’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes!” But a step towards the truck she looks at the wood in her arms and purses her lips. “Um, sorry to bother you again, but how much of this land is yours?” The clearing these trees are from were about a quarter of a mile from the house, and though she previously thought the woods were public property, she didn’t want to get in trouble for stealing.

[gioscastillo-blog]

Gio wasn’t one to lose her temper easily. She understood that people had bad days, that people made mistakes, said things they didn’t mean, and she could handle that. Calm herself down, rationalize, and move on. But this car was in her parking spot in front of her store for the fourth time this week, even after she left a polite note on the windshield yesterday with a smiley face. Sinking back into her seat she tried to calm herself down when she saw the owner of said car was still in it. Before she recognized the seatbelt sliding off or her hand on the door, she was out and walking towards the stupid spot stealing car. She considered rapping gently on the window to have a talk with them when she saw her note crumpled up on the dashboard. Before they had a chance to get out, Gio lifted the car up and walked it across the street to a parking spot in front of the park. Even though it would have been satisfying to let it drop, she carefully lowered the car back down and made sure the owner saw how disappointed she was. “Stop stealing my parking spot, it’s very rude.”

[gioscastillo-blog]

trashebags:

“Spice or Spiceworld?” he cringes at his own words as they come out of his mouth. He shouldn’t know that. Shit, that’s embarrassing. There’s a shake of the head as he takes in the all-too-amusing image of splintered wood haunting her dreams instead with angry tree monsters and the like, and files it away for future doodle ideas. When she points him in the direction of the back room, he follows. She sure doesn’t waste any time. The box finds a new home on the table and he quickly makes his way to her after. He surveys the standard shit. Very Ikea. Very contemporary. Not very Ashe. When she makes mention of a potential lack of points, a hand moves up to his heart. He’s hurt. Wounded, even. “Everyone assumes I don’t have points. Not you too, darlin. Not you too.” There’s a pause. “Okay, maybe not enough points for somethin real fancy, but I’m not completely broke is my point.” His attention is back to the desks now. “I like, them—don’t get me wrong—but I’d love something custom.”

“Spice, duh.” What kinda question? “Though, I do have both. And the movie. But that’s besides the point,” she waved him off, the Spice Girls were definitely important, but at this moment slightly Less Important.

For a split second she freezes, seconds from apologizing before she remembers how to handle situations like this. How to backtrack, how to save someone’s pride. “I didn’t mean to assume, it’s just what we were talking about earlier, even if we were joking, I wanted you to know the offer was real. And some people don’t like to spend their points on things like this anyway. Some prefer to save up for those big old houses in the center of town or get their kid instruments or whatever. So I’m just saying, if you want, I deal in trades too.” She smiles dreamily as she remembers the time she made a deal with the ice cream shop owner. “One time I got free ice cream for two weeks for a carved bedside table set. Hands down the best trade I’ve ever made. See that armoire over there?” Gio gestured towards the giant piece she’d been working on earlier. “The lady i’m making it for offered to make me a dress for it. Like a really nice one. I don’t know what I’ll do with it, but it’ll be nice to have. So it’s not like a handout or special treatment or anything, just business with a different form of currency. Or you can use those rupees.” She wrinkled her nose at the ‘suggested’ designs she made for the town. “And believe me, it’s not bad to want your furniture to have some character. I don’t really like those either. But hey, to each his own coffee table, right?”

[gioscastillo-blog]

trashebags:

Someone who plays along is always fun. Most people go ‘just give me the fucking pizza’ and go about their day. “We’re only accepting euros and rupees today, actually. Tomorrow we’re on cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and Dogecoin, to be a little more specific.” He laughs to himself at the joke he’s yet to make because he’s a fucking loser “Oh, I don’t have a bedframe. Break ‘em way too much for that.” A+ humor. “I do need a drafting desk, though.” Okay, he’s actually serious about this one now. No bullshit. “We should set that shit up. Plan. Connect.” 

“Damn, I just used my last euros to get a Spice Girls CD,” she tries not to grin. “I’ll be sure to go down to the bank before it closes to make the exchange.” Not that one exists in Elswood, but she’s heard of them, when her grandma talks about her years before. Always with a slightly haunted look in her eye. Almost wistful, maybe even guilty. “Only thing worse than a heart-breaker; a bed breaker. The thought of splintered wood keeps me up at night.” She’s surprised by his interest in actual furniture though. It was a joke but, she did just finish that armoire from hell and needs another project to work on. “Really? Well-- you can set that down over there, by the way,” she says, pointing to one of the many tables crowding the backroom. As good as the pizza smells, her brain is now in Building Mode. She pulls him in to take a quick look. “We have a few desks over here, you know, your standard Minimalist Elswood Aesthetic, but we make custom furniture too if you don’t like any of these. I like making secret compartments, actual drawers, that sort of thing. And if your points aren’t... well, I really don’t mind working something else out.” The Castillos have been known to make trades, bartering outside of the point system if people aren’t exactly model citizens. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a good coffee table. 

[fffurnitures]

[trashebags]

“Ring-a-ding-ding, I got a supreme pizza with your name on it straight out the firey coals of LUIGI’S COMMUNISM KITCHEN. Elswood doesn’t even have a Luigi as far as any of us know but damn, that son of a bitch makes a really good deep dish.” He’s really not supposed to say all that when someone answers the door, but fuck it he’s kinda blazed. “So are you payin for this in cash or credit?” Ah, that classic Elswood-has-no-real-currency humor. Check his Twitter for tour dates for his upcoming show Money? In This Economy?

[gioscastillo-blog]

“Cash,” she said, an amused smile making its way onto her face for the first time on this very stressful day of the last-minute rush ordered very freaking complicated armoire. “Are Canadian dollars okay? Yen? Pesos?” But she makes the Point transfer with a few simple swipes on her phone, both to the pizzeria itself and the fifteen percent tip to the only delivery person that keeps her pizza piping hot. “Or do you want to pay for a custom bed frame with regular pizza installments? I can work out a very reasonable payment plan.”

[rosabi-az-deactivated20180702]

[chinaofrps-deactivated20180604]

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