Josephine

26, coach, sister, grump

[joeyjosephine]

doctorjames-md​:

Colton looked over at the girl’s drink before he smiled a little. “Vodka ginger doesn’t sound too bad.” Colton said as he let a smile grace his lips. He looked back over to the shelf. “I don’t drink all that much, or at all. So this is all new to me.” Colton said as he looked back at the girl. “Probably should have come out with a friend who knows what they are doing.” Colton said as he glanced over at the bartender. “And I don’t think he is happy that I’m not ordering anything.”

“It’s a good starter drink. Screwdriver, also good.” Joey cut herself off from the tangent she was poised to go on about the various drinks she’d had her sisters foist off on her, and shrugged, “I’m sure you’re not the worst person the bartender has seen tonight, and if you’re not drinking much-slash-at all there’s basically no way you ever will be, if that helps. Not that it’s any of my business, but any reason why you’re not a drinker? You don’t look 21, and you’re here so religious stuff seems unlikely.”

[joeyjosephine]

puckingsully​:

“Top 5 sounds like a yes, I’ll take it.” Sully knew Joey wouldn’t give in so easily, but that didn’t make him push her buttons any less. It was what they did, what they always did. He feigned shock at her question, putting a hand to his chest for a moment. “An incurable hoe? Josephine, you wound me.” He dropped the act and shrugged. “I wouldn’t say ‘incurable’ really. I’m good, for the most part. Oh, hey, I got a cat! You should meet him, he’s pretty fantastic.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you’re not actually answering my question, just saying how you feel about it. And then trying to distract me with a cat. But to be fair it’s working, so I wanna see a picture.” It was probably for the best he’d dodged the back-asswards relationship question she’d thrown his way, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know. Really, what would have even been a good answer? Yes he was still banging anything that moved? No he was in a happy relationship and had introduced her to his parents? Actually I’m still pining for you and have taken a vow of chastity until fate brings you back into my arms?

[joeyjosephine]

avabinoche​:

Ava felt a margin of relief hearing Joey validate her own thoughts, the whole ordeal had been leaving her feeling moody and exhausted since she began. “That’s exactly my point, I would appreciate if they respected my work. Yes, you may give a subject or direction you wish for the outcome to have but in the end, it’s my freedom of expression, my artistic freedom.  I can paint what I want. They can’t say I’ll buy your painting but accentuate the line or make it blurrier here or use this or that color” she paused to let out a frustrated breath, shaking her head. “I’m always open to criticism but there is a limit”. She took an appreciative sip of her own drink, attempting to let her struggles wash away. She hated being in a bad mood. By the time she looked back up, she was smiling once more and lifting her shoulder. “It appeared I needed to vent a little,” she laughed, hopping up onto the ledge beside her and laughing louder. “I’m already the coolest person at the party” she teased, winking gently. “Enough about me, je me promène, what interesting things have transpired since last we spoke?” 

“Vent all you want, that’s what I’m here for. If it helps, I get how much it sucks having people like, try to force you to make decisions the same way you would when the whole point is that you have different skill sets and make decisions differently. Some people just think knowing a few things means they know everything.” Shrugging, she swirled her drink, glad at least that if nothing else frustration hadn’t dented Ava’s confidence. “Interesting is certainly one way to put it. I ran into this guy I used to be friends with in college, and then like the next day met his- I don’t think she’s a replacement for me, that’s not fair, but they’re clearly really good friends, so that was weird.” Making herself breathe deeply, Joey fiddled with the buttons on her cup, “It’s all weird. I feel like an ass because we stopped talking, but if we’d tried to stay close I would’ve just screwed myself over career-wise, and I had kind of expected to have a few more years before the whole ‘regretting every life choice’ phase started, y’know?”

[athenaselene-g]

Running late was a horrible trait that Athena had. It was never on purpose, but once she started talking, she didn’t stop. Which led her to run late and bumping into someone. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I was trying to get the bus. Which just left,” a small sigh formed as her hand motioned to the now driven away bus. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t hurt you did I?”

[joeyjosephine]

There were good headphones, and too good headphones, and as Joey caught herself on a newspaper stand and clutched her smoothie to her chest, it occurred to her that maybe these were too good. Turning quickly, she got herself steady, already shaking her head as the woman apologized, “No blood no foul, are you okay? I swear the busses at this station run early, which is completely bizarre.”

[doctor-doctor-harris]

Colton reached up and adjusted his tie again as he looked around the bar. It was crowded, which Colton figured was normal for a place like this. He made his way over to the bar and sat down on a stool. Colton looked over the shelves, trying to figure out what he wanted to drink. He didn’t come out often or drink, this was all new him. Colton glanced up when the bartender approached him. “Oh uh I’m not sure what I want yet.” Colton forced a smile as he looked back at the bottles on the shelf. “I’ll let you know.” Colton said as he glanced at the person next to him. “Any suggestions?”

[joeyjosephine]

It was, in her defense, incredibly uncommon for Joey to find herself at a bar alone, nor had it been her intention. Not her fault she’d been dragged out and summarily abandoned by a work acquaintance, to find herself at the bar alone and strongly considering re-downloading tinder. Someone fit into the slot next to her, not terribly unusual, but none of the frat-bros or club girls had bothered to talk to her, and she hastily set her beer down to pretend she was functional, “I’m probably not the one to ask, I get the same 2 things every time I’m out. If you’re into mediocre beer or vodka ginger, though, I’ve got you covered.”

[joeyjosephine]

saffronharlow​:

So this was the girl. Saffy raised one slim eyebrow and let her eyes scan her for a moment before giving a slight nod of approval. She was cute, Saffy couldn’t deny that. The amount of information she knew about this woman was honestly a tad unsettling and it was definitely really fucking weird to be seeing this girl outside of the pictures Sully had shown her. “Uh…Saffy,” she responded, forcing a smile that most likely came out as more of a grimace. Saffy really didn’t do pleasant but she didn’t want to scare the girl off if only for Sully’s sake. “He’s my friend…I guess”. She didn’t use the word ‘best’, that wasn’t something she’d ever admit out loud no matter how true it was. “He talks about you all the time, it’s fucking pitiful. He know you in town?” she was distracted from the answer when her phone suddenly started buzzing which only drew her attention back to the frustrating she was dealing with. “For fuck’s sake,” she growled, rapidly tapping her finger on the screen. 

Twisting a hand into her ponytail, Joey nodded, “That’s cool, I’m glad he’s got.. friends who aren’t meathead jocks. He’s obnoxious without someone to treat him like a normal person.” Snorting, she screwed up her face, “Or more obnoxious, I guess. Yeah, though, he knows I’m in town, I ran into him yesterday.” The urge to defend herself (god knows from what) rose in her throat, and Saffy’s phone troubles were all that kept her from launching into some kind of melodramatic speech about it all. “You okay? Someone wrong on the internet, or something?”

[joeyjosephine]

puckingsully​:

“Yeah, sure, but I’m the one you watch the most, right?” Sully looked over Joey with a smug grin. “You know me, crushing those limitations left and right. If you can’t get better at something, why bother getting out of bed in the morning?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation, Sullivan. But you’re top 5 at least, and not just because you’re in market.” Joey wasn’t going to lie and say she watched every game he played, because even she didn’t have  that much energy or time, but honestly, it was more games than not. Not something she was up to sharing. She wasn’t really up to asking too many personal life questions, either, but that didn’t shut her up when it damn well should have. “So for real, how have you been? Still an incurable hoe?”

[joeyjosephine]

saffronharlow​:

“Yeah…that’s the one” Saffy confirmed, though her eyes were still narrowed in concentration probably coming off as more of a scowl than anything else. It tended to be her default expression no matter what she was feeling. Something was attempting to wiggle its way to the front of her mind and she was debating whether or not she wanted to put the effort in to remember or simply walk away and forget the entire interaction. She was sure he looked like a fucking psychopath glaring at this random girl on the street. And then it hit her and her face smoothed from irritation to a lazy eye roll at her own stupidity.  “This is gonna sound super weird and feel free to tell me to fuck off or whatever, but do you know a Sully?” her brows raised as she waited for any sign she knew who her stupid best friend was cause Saffy was one thousand percent sure this was the chick he’d spent the majority of their friendship fawning over like a lovesick puppy. “Big head, bigger ego, dumb face? Hits a piece of plastic across ice for a living? Ring any bells?”

Later, Joey would wonder if everyone around her could actually see every thought in her brain screech to a halt, or if the utter shock and confusion had been (hopefully) mostly invisible. If nothing else, she would pretend her face didn’t do whatever stupid slack-jawed look it had actually done, as she blinked at the woman who she still didn’t actually know from Adam. “Huh. I- um, okay. That is not where I thought that was going to go. Sorry, I’m trying to- yeah, I know Sully.” Pausing to breath, Joey laughed only a little hysterically. Was this a girlfriend? Probably not, even Sully wasn’t stupid enough to describe an old flame that well to a new girl. And whoo boy was she not up to examining why it stung more to realize he’d probably just replaced her, and with a much cooler-seeming model. “We were friends in college, haven’t talked in a while, but apparently he hasn’t changed much. I’m Joey, hi, unless you already knew that. Did you already know that?”

[joeyjosephine]

saffronharlow​:

The only reason Saffy had stepped out of the flow of sidewalk traffic was because the directions she’d been following on google maps had suddenly decided to stall. She hated her piece of shit phone, what was the point of her paying all this fucking money if all it ever did was cause her grief and make her want to chuck it off the nearest rooftop. She wasn’t the most tech-savvy, all she ever really did with the thing was look up weird videos on youtube and text the few friends she had but god forbid she try and do something of importance. If she was stuck in a jam and in need of quick assistance she’d be shit out of luck. 

“Fucking hunk of useless plastic” she snarled, jabbing her finger aggressively against the screen and probably doing more damage than good. She barely registered the girl beside her and fully intended to ignore the girl only glancing up to shot her an unimpressed scowl but instead, her brows were furrowed. She looked familiar. Hella familiar. She couldn’t place how and wondered if she was just another regular at the bar she just happened to recognize. If that was the case she was definitely planning on making a quick exit, there was nothing she hated more than seeing people from work outside of work. But something told her that wasn’t it. “Yeah, grandmas are weird I guess” not that she would know, she’d never met her grandmother. “You ever been to the Malted Dog, shitty bar about four blocks from here?” she suddenly asked, the nagging feeling she knew her persistent. 

Joey wasn’t entirely sure why the woman was looking at her like that, not quite accusatory and not quite suspicious, just weirdly, but it wasn’t like she had anywhere else to be at the moment, and a mildly bizarre conversation with a stranger would probably be at least a good story. “I think I got dragged in a couple times by my old roommate, maybe? If it’s the one with the busted claw machine by the bathroom then yeah, like twice. Do- um, why? I’m guessing that wasn’t a sales pitch, cause no offense or anything but it sucked, but I assume you don’t just ask random people if they go into this one particular bar when they stop long enough near you.”

[joeyjosephine]

harrison-bennett​:

“My bad, sorry.” Harrison said, pulling a slight face. “That’s probably a good idea, but just don’t go hanging around in any dark alleys. Y’know, just to be safe. But, sure, it’s all exactly like the tv shows.” He chuckled, nodding his head. “Florida. That makes sense. I understand now. Honestly, my mom is the same and she lives here in the city. She’s convinced I’m like some tv cop. Totally got no real idea of how it actually is in reality.”

“I do try to limit my alley-lurking to daylight hours, much easier to take in the scenery that way.” Joey nodded, faux-sincerity holding for just a moment before she cracked a grin at her own dumb joke, “Florida does tend to explain things. But I think a lot of people buy all the cop show stuff, nicer to think that everything can be solved with magically high quality security footage and a DNA test than what I assume is a lot more grunt work. But that’s probably a fairly depressing line of thought, and not random chitchat. I’m Joey, by the way, nice to meet you  now that we’ve had like, a full family history discussion.”

[joeyjosephine]

puckingsully​:

“Hell yeah,” he replied, glad she’d seemed to agree to seeing his family. Little victories, right? “Ben’s actually living here in Chicago, he’s a doctor and all that shit. Tyler’s either with Milwaukee or Manitoba’s AHL team, I can’t ever keep them straight.” He waved off his twin brother, not wanting to lose sight of the better statement she’d made. “Josephine Trujillo, you watch me play.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Sully raised an eyebrow at her. “I knew you couldn’t be ignoring me for shits and giggles. Clearly, you’re just too busy running the Tanner Sullivan Fan Club, huh?” He reached out and playfully punched her arm. “I should have known you’d be my biggest fan.”

“I watch lots of people play, I’m a sports fan, it’s in the job description under ‘drink cheap beer’ and ‘get mansplained at’.” She knew, perfectly well, that he was doing the thing where he got her riled up and spitting vinegar for funsies, and it was still too much fun to cut it short, “I should’ve known your ego wasn’t going to get any smaller, but I hadn’t realized it was capable of getting even bigger. You’re a medical marvel.” 

[joeyjosephine]

avabinoche​:

“If I do go mad on paint fumes what a fitting descent into insanity it would be” she grinned, greedily accepting her drink. Joey always got her order correct and she thoroughly appreciated it. Not that she was very particular about what she ate and drank, despite being raised by a chef her palette was fairly versatile. But she enjoyed having someone know her well enough that she didn’t need to remind them of her preferences. She took a healthy gulp of the drink and let out a sigh. “I am working on a commission and the subject is proving to be  pas si bon, not so good” she confessed, staring thoughtfully at her colored fingers. “Though I believe it is the client that is creating the stress rather than the painting. They are very critical and I don’t enjoy having so many constraints”

“That seems dumb, why even hire an artist if you’re going to be all persnickety about it? Isn’t the point to get the artist to make the art?” Sucking down more iced coffee than was likely healthy, Joey shrugged, parking herself on a ledge to bask in the summer sun. “Not that I know anything about it, but still, seems counter-intuitive. I’m sure it’ll turn out amazing, though, your stuff always does, and they’ll tell all their rich, art-commissioning friends about you and you can go be famous and make everyone feel like they’re not as cool as you at parties.”

[joeyjosephine]

puckingsully​:

“I’m pretty good at flying under the radar,” he said with a huff, but the grin on his face gave away that he was joking. “Seriously, though, I can do undercover if you want.” Sully took a moment to take in all of Joey, smiling to himself at how nervous she seemed. At least that made two of them, right? “Chicago’s good. I mean, about as close to being a hometown boy as I can get, that’s gotta count for something, right? Mom and dad come up a lot for games, too. They’ll be glad to hear that you’re in town now, actually. Mom might make you join us for dinner sometime. Wait, sorry, did you say you keep an eye on my stats?”

“Oh, yeah your parents are great, I’d love to see them whenever. And your brothers, too, they doing well?” If Joey-four-years-ago could see her now, she’d kick her own ass. The past one, that is. As it was, she was mostly just proud of herself for not going all babbley and trying to make excuses she didn’t owe for actions she knew had been the right thing to do. He was a superstar, she was a comfortably lower-middle-class coach, no amount of distant past was going to make that not the case. “Of course I keep an eye on your stats, dumbass, it’s basically a compulsion. How else am I supposed to effectively armchair quarterback when you guys are on tv?”

[joeyjosephine]

chesneyrags​:

Chesney had paused to listen to the girl’s conversation, as rude as it may be, just because she seemed exasperated. If she needed to feign an excuse to get this girl off the phone, she absolutely would. Instead, it seemed the call ended. “Oh,” she said with a laugh, running a hand through her red hair. “I was worried it was some guy giving you a hard time. I was so ready to feign an emergency if you needed an out.”

Snorting, Joey shook her head, “I definitely appreciate the thought, but no, just a change of pace from the usual gossip about Janice breaking the HOA golf cart rules and griping about my cousins. I’m not sure even a fake emergency could’ve cut off one of those rants.”

[joeyjosephine]

harrison-bennett​:

“I mean, she might have a point. That show has… a lot of heavy shit.” Harrison nodded. “I’ve seen it a couple of times, and I’ve gotta say, it’s enough to put anyone moving here, but things aren’t nearly that dramatic all the time. If it was, I’d definitely be in the market for a new career.” That was a lie, Harrison loved his job, and he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. It was the only thing he’d ever seen himself doing, to change now, he couldn’t picture it. “I’m guessing she’s not close by then?”

"Huh,” Joey scrunched up her face in distaste, “that’s... not terribly comforting. I’m going to continue believing the really bad Criminal Minds killers are mostly fictional, so please don’t tell me if that’s a delusion too? Or I’d never leave my apartment.” Shoving her phone back her pocket, she shook her head to his question, “Florida, one of those retirement communities. Apparently exposure to that much concentrated golf course made her forget Baltimore was- well, Baltimore. But she’s happy, so I guess I can live with the angsty phone calls.”

[joeyjosephine]

noahatwd​:

Taking a much-needed break from… well, doing nothing since it was his day off but still – the day just seemed to drag on from the moment Noah woke up. He rifled through the snack assortment messily displayed on a wire rack at the corner bodega. Grocery shopping was definitely on his to-do list this week but quick runs such as this one helped him push it off at least another day. He lit up as his eyes fell on the last pack of Combos Pizzeria Snacks. “Score.” Heading for the cashier as the front door swung open, bells rang to announce a petite brunette’s entry. He shot her a polite smile, overhearing an older voice flowing from her cell phone that brought his smile to a quiet laugh.

“You gotta humor her,” he shrugged in response. “I have one of those back home. Remember the killer clowns in 2016? I’m pretty sure I ran out of minutes. I was annoyed as hell; she would call me in the middle of the night just to ask if I was okay because she had a bad dream or a ‘bad feeling.’ I mean, in hindsight, that would’ve been a shitty way to die. At that point, I would want someone to lie in my obituary, tell everyone I saved a drowning puppy or something.” Noah was all too familiar with overprotective grandmothers checking in – he moved out from under his grandmother’s wing in Tennessee and to New York City at just 18 years of age. To his grandma, that’s basically like letting a toddler move out. “Trick is to beat her to it with a proactive solution but don’t overdo it on the details. ‘Did you hear about the break-ins in the area? Yeah, I’m getting an alarm installed and I don’t go out after dark.’ Leave out the murders that happened along with ‘em.”

Joey listened to the man’s monologue in baffled delight, digging a diet dr pepper out of the display case and nodding as though she could totally relate, “I’m gonna be honest, I think I’m around a lot fewer murders than you are, but I will absolutely keep that in mind next time. Definitely might come in handy if my usual ‘throw my sisters love lives under the bus and see what happens’ schtick doesn’t work.” Grabbing a bag of beef jerky (and not the doritos calling her name) Joey paused, “Wait, do you mean your grandmother thought she was having psychic premonitions of killer clowns? Or just like random bad stuff and the clowns were in the news?”

[brin-jacobs-deactivated20200918]

Ava had been deep in thought, her fingers, stained red and purple from a painting she’d just finished less than an hour ago, drumming against the exposed skin on her knee through the rip in her jeans. For the last few weeks, Ava had been diligently working on new paintings, attempting to get her name out there. She sold quite a lot of old ones, some particularly hard to let go of. But it bore no fruition. It had appeared she was to be yet another nameless street artist with no other talent but that of her trade and it had baring down hard on her usual bubbly mood. She was desperate for the distraction of a good friend to keep her thoughts light. She was brought back to the present at the rhythmic sound of feet steadily approaching, with a bright grin she pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and into her hair. “Ah, Bonjour!” she called when her friend came into view, springing onto her feet to greet them with a tight hug and a chaste peck on the cheek. “Today you have saved me mon ami, I was dying to get out of the studio for some fresh air and sunshine” 

[joeyjosephine]

The morning had been long and Joey had spent most of it desperately reminding herself that she really did love her job, even when her players seemed to be reenacting Lord of the Flies, but without any of the rationality or clarity of purpose. A break and some company was just the ticket, and she returned Ava’s enthusiastic hug as best she could without spilling either of the beverages she’d brought. Handing one over, Joey beamed “Hi love, always happy to help. At least if you’re out seeing me, you’re not going slowly mad from paint fumes. Making anything good? I’m liking the color story you’ve got going on.”