[lovelyladydarling]

trampbennett‌:

@lovelyladydarling / @scampjr

he’s spent the evening trying to distract himself, by focusing on absolutely anything other than what went down at lady’s house a few hours prior. dinner at tony’s house had been a pretty nice way to take his mind off of it, and since he came back home he’s been chain-smoking and drinking beer on the fire escape balcony. his mind still keeps going back to it, but this level of half-nonchalance will do, for now. in fact, it’s been a good ten minutes or so since the last time he did think of it — new record of the night, until it’s rudely interrupted…

it’s like spotting a lightning bolt against a black night’s sky: lady is impossible to miss, with the flowing fabric of her sundress and brunette waves blowing in the warm evening air as she walks towards the apartment building. he can’t be surprised, really. whenever one of them had hurt the other’s feelings and caused them to storm off, the culprit would always follow to make things right. is he ready to forgive her yet, though? he’s not sure.

he thinks about calling to her, but figures she won’t hear him from that high up, so without hesitation he bolts back through his apartment to answer his intercom. the second it buzzes, he speaks. “why are you here?— whatever. i’m not buzzing you up, i’m not in the mood to have anyone in here. place is a mess. i’ll come outside.” … click.

“why are you here?” he asks again, face to face this time the minute he thrusts open the door of the apartment building and steps out onto the street. “shouldn’t you be busy having a bonfire in your backyard to burn all the stuff from that box full of trash?” there it is — proof in his words that he’s not over it yet. 

next / @lovelyladydarling

The night blanketed Carthay in a way Lady wished she could share with her best friend over a cup of cheap wine on his fire escape. Their previous conversation replayed in her head like a bad highlight reel and brought a throbbing pain to her temples. She hated fighting with Tramp, but she hated it even more when it was her own fault. It seemed to always be her fault these days when she was so used to it being Tramp’s. 

So, here she was: ready to grovel and, hopefully, get back to normal. The normal she hoped they’d get back to before she’d accidentally reignited a fight. 

She wouldn’t lie: she’d absolutely put on a dress she knew he liked and picked up a pack of cigarette she knew he needed. He always smoked more after they’d had a fight and after a fight this big, he was probably almost out. When she looked up toward his fire escape, she could see a cloud of smoke dissipating into the darkness. It was now or never. 

Reaching out, she lightly tapped the buzzer to his apartment and immediately heard his angry voice. She shrunk away from the speaker a little, almost regretting her decision to come see him the same day of their fight. Should she have given him more time to cool off? She hadn’t even thought of what to say on the way over--what would she say? 

Before she could turn and run, the door in front of her swung open and her heart thumped in her chest. His words hit her face like acid and her shoulders slumped. “Mike, please. I don’t want to fight. Th-that stuff...it means everything to me. You mean the world to me but after you left this last time and said nothing...” she trailed off, turning away from him and lacing her fingers through her hair. How was she going to explain her way out of this without completely coming clean about everything? 

“I didn’t think you would come back, Mike. You have to understand that. You have to understand that I didn’t think I’d ever see you again so seeing all of the things you’d left behind fucking broke me everyday I looked at that photo strip o-or the headscarf or your marked up book pages. I couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t look through those things and wait for you, hope that you would come back to me. You have to understand--please understand,” she begged, her voice wavering and growing louder. Lady was never one to beg, but she didn’t see another way out of this situation. She needed Tramp in her life and she was willing to do anything it took--even causing a scene on his door step--to keep him in it. 

next / @trampbennett

[lovelyladydarling]

peglees‌:

      though the blonde usually expected company  when at another person’s house ,  especially tramp’s ,  peg didn’t mind being alone .  she wasn’t quite sure where he went  —  after all ,  he hadn’t answered her texts just yet ,  but the woman knew well enough that the man could take care of himself .  after all ,  he sure did have her back multiple times before .  either way ,  she decided it was only natural to make herself comfortable in the apartment ,  which included watching whatever old movie happened to be on tv at the moment  &  drinking from whatever alcohol she could find …  until someone knocked on the door .

      brows furrowed as she turned her face towards the sound ;  who could it possibly be ?  he would definitely have keys to his own house  ( or at least she hoped he hadn’t forgotten them )  &  as far as peg was concerned ,  tramp hadn’t been expecting any visits .  putting down her wine glass ,  the blonde made her way to the door ,  hands brushing through her curls as if to make herself look even more presentable .  once her eyes caught side of the person standing outside ,  peg merely tilted her head lightly to the side .  of course .

      ❝  lady .  nice to see you ,  dear ,  ❞  she greeted ,  knowing the brunette wasn’t exactly happy to see her instead of the tramp .  why would she be ?  still ,  peg had never been rude towards the other girl ,  &  she wasn’t about to start now .  there was no reason to .  ❝  i know ,  i know …  mike isn’t here right now but please ,  ❞  she opened the door wider ,  her free hand motioning inside the house .  ❝  come in .  i was just watching a movie anyway .  ❞

Lady stood in the doorway for a moment, dropping her arms to her sides as she felt her happiness deflate. Though she didn’t feel any sort of animosity towards Peg, seeing her standing in Tramp’s door way and knowing the only reason she would be there made thorny vines wrap around Lady’s heart and squeeze tight. Her breath caught in her throat and she blinked a few times to reset her brain, unsure of how exactly to react. Before she could do anything different, she nodded and walked past Peg into the apartment that she was so familiar with. 

Everything looked different without him there. With Peg in the apartment, it didn’t feel like her and Tramp’s place. Did he take her out on the fire escape at 6am to watch the sunrise? At midnight to watch the stars? What secrets did these walls hide about Peg that Lady would never know? 

She went to sit awkwardly on the couch, placing her stuff on the floor next to her. “W-what are you watching?” she asked, motioning to the TV with a stiff hand. She wasn’t sure what it was about being around Peg that made her feel like a fish out of water, but she was unable to relax here in the space that had always made her the most comfortable. 

[lovelyladydarling]

scampjr‌:

“Patricia,” he whined at her. Keeping his head hidden from any possible blasts from the espresso machine. “I shouldn’t be protecting myself from the explosion, rather i should be protecting myself against you.” Joking around by moving the laptop in between them, acting as a line of defense from her. “Don’t ever invite me over for a night of Final Destination, you’ll be the one making theories over explosive popcorn.” Scamp felt at ease with her, not minding the teasing and happy about the easy flow of the conversation.

“I really want to believe in what you are saying. To repeat the words to myself until it actually manifests itself like that,” he said, voice filled with hope. Scamp wasn’t sure he was a complete person, not with the way his parents controlled most aspects of his life. Going away, leaving, to search for Michael had been the first thing he’d truly done for himself without telling them. But even that seemed stripped from anything to do with himself, and everything to do with his brother. “Has he found himself, though? Because even now i don’t know who i am.”

Scamp laughed softly, patting her hand gently leaning closer across the table. “What we should want is not necessarily what we need,” he replied, trying to catch her eyes with his own. “So your best friend hates your boyfriend, and your boyfriend hates your best friend. How exactly does that make you feel? Having two guys that are supposed to be equally, and yet not, special to you not get along?” 

Lady shrugged and tried to keep the smile off her face, attempting to look as serious as possible about this conversation. For some reason, when other people called her Patricia, it sounded foreign. Sometimes, she forgot it was her name, honestly. Other than her Aunt Sarah, nobody called her Patricia--it didn’t seem like it belonged to her like Lady did. Maybe Scott wasn’t ever meant to know Lady, though. Maybe he was meant to know Patricia. “Is explosive popcorn really the worst way to go? I think that’d be better than being smushed by a ferris wheel!” 

Tearing off the corner of the tart in front of them, she popped it in her mouth and chewed as she listened to him. Just looking at him, she could see some sort of inner turmoil stirring inside. She wished she could help him more than just a meaningful conversation. Did he have a picture of his brother, so maybe she could see if she knew him? “Maybe you’ll find yourself here. It seems to be a running trend with Carthay. Bodes well for your brother, at least,” she said with a small smile. 

“Yeah, you’re telling me. If I could want what I needed, this wouldn’t be happening,” she said, the edges of her voice bitter and tainted. “They fight constantly. I just wish...I wish he knew how much he meant to me. No boyfriend is ever going to take his place. I’ve told him that, but I don’t think he believes me and I don’t know why or how to make him,” she said, her words spilling out before she could stop them. 

[lovelyladydarling]

trampbennett‌:

after giving her a good look at it, he examines the photo strip in his hand and smiles weakly. the memory of that day is still fresh in his mind, as if it were yesterday. how young they were. the problems they had in their lives were so different to the ones they have now. those problems melted away, though, as soon as they had fled from tony’s together in a fleeting burst of spontaneity and impulse. they had kissed, that night, merely hours after meeting for the first time. then he had proceeded to retreat a little in the weeks that followed — of course, they had met again, but he realized his intentions pretty quickly and made them clear to her as soon as he could. he was no good for her. he was trouble. he could be her friend, but nothing more.

her friend… here, in her living room almost exactly seven years later, he’s so much more than that. he’s her best friend, her confidant, her shoulder to cry on, her drinking buddy, and much more. so why, in front of him, are all of her keepsakes and memories of times gone by with him — shoved haphazardly into a previously discarded cardboard box?

“i thought you said this was just junk,” he breathes, trying to calm the feeling in his chest that has started brewing. “when i came in here. you just dropped it onto the floor. it’s like that, is it?”

he places the photo strip to one side and starts rummaging through the rest of the contents. aside from the tiffany blue scarf, the copy of his favourite book, the polaroids, the photo strip — there’s more. some of the antique shop finds they had discovered together. a map of places they’d planned to visit together someday. a notebook of bucket lists they’d made together. sure, the rest of the box is just old junk, but somehow that makes it feel worse. was that all that these things were, too? old junk?

“well— anyway, lady… i better be goin’. dinner at tony’s place tonight.” he shrugs, standing to his feet and grabbing his jacket. he’s seen enough.

he’s out of her house like lightning, and he closes the door behind him as if to signal he doesn’t want her to go after him, but it seems pointless since she will, anyway. in what feels like one swift moment, he’s in his car, slammed the door and heading off back on route to little san fransokyo. if she has something to say, she can follow, he supposes.

Lady sat next to Tramp, her legs folded underneath her and her hands laced through her hair. She looked down at her lap, unable to look at her best friend as she listened to his shaky breathing. She focused on her breathing--making it quiet, making it steady--and tried to find the words to say that would make this terrible situation better. 

Listening to him speak sounded like she was underwater. He was so far away from her right now, miles away from her small bedroom in Carthay. How was she going to explain that she’d put all of the things that reminded her of him into a box to give away after he’d abandoned her this last time? How would he understand that after he’d gone, looking at that Tiffany headscarf and his favorite book made her feel nauseous? How could she tell him that looking at that photo strip from the first day they met--her favorite day, even now--made it feel like her heart had been ripped out of her chest? In what world would he understand her desperate need to let him go? 

For the first time in a long time, she swallowed her words and listened to him speak. His voice broke and it felt like a punch to her gut. “Mike, please...” she started, holding her head in her hands. Her voice sounded muffled in her own ears, like it was coming from someone else. She couldn’t explain this one away. She didn’t know how to tell him this one thing without telling him everything. 

As he stood up, she only watched him go for a moment. He probably needed to be alone--she knew that if she’d found a box of things like this at his house that he dubbed “old junk,” she would need to process that in the comfort of her own home with nothing but a bottle of wine and some old movies. His footsteps echoed down her hallway and for a split second, she was ready to let him go. 

But of course she followed--she always followed him. 

Picking up the pace so as not to miss him, she yanked her front door open and ran down the steps. “Mike, I--fuck!” 

His car made its way down the street and she stood on her porch, arms crossed over her chest as she watched his vintage Cadillac disappear from view. She took a deep breath in and let it out, her shoulders shaking a bit as she mentally screamed at herself not to cry again. 

How would she ever make this okay? 

[lovelyladydarling]

trampbennett‌:

he’s about to set off, knuckles tensing as he grips the handlebars, but her question throws him completely off guard. it forces him to face the fact that he doesn’t exactly want to go home either, or for her to, for that matter. the day has kind of felt as if it would last forever, and now it’s really over. he’s not used to this. he’s used to fleeting, shallow, lustful attraction. dates that last two hours behind a locked bedroom door. not… this. not boardwalk strolls while the sun is setting around you and turning everything gold. not feeling empty in the pit of his stomach at the thought of leaving someone’s side when it’s all over.

he knows that this isn’t a ‘take her back to your place’ kind of situation. not that those were bad, in fact, they were certainly easier to navigate. but she has to go home. “well… you have to, miss lady,” he says, just before setting off. “which means you’ll just have to promise me we’ll see each other again. okay?…” he smiles to himself, already excited by the possibility of spending time with her for a second encounter. and a third. and a fourth. and a fifth… 

“now — which way to your place?”

____________________

the purr of his motorcycle’s engine has visibly disturbed the peace in the quiet cul-de-sac, as bedroom lights illuminate one-by-one as they pass through. “shady oaks? more like shady fuckin’ pines. it’s like eleven p.m! this ain’t like little san fran. that place never sleeps,” he chuckles, climbing off of the vehicle outside of sarah’s house and extending a hand to help lady steady herself. “oh… right. quiet.” he lowers his voice, trying his best to stifle his mischievous laughter as he almost instinctively walks her to the door.

“y’think you can get inside without waking anyone up..?” tramp whispers, standing on the porch. “like i told ya’, i won’t be happy if your aunt tries to get me arrested for kidnapping or anything…” he winks, nudging her playfully. 

the two of them stand there, waiting in the moonlight. it’s almost as if they both know there’s one final thing that still needs to happen, but they just don’t know what it is yet. he takes the opportunity to look at her, smiling, and breathe it all in— hoping he really will get to see her again.

“i had a great time. wasn’t something i’m used to but… i’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.” be still, his beating heart. “so… thank you. and now that you have my number in your phone, i better see you again soon.”

he’s about to turn on his heel – to leave the night alone without taking its one last risk, which hangs in the air, there to be taken. he doesn’t know what he did to deserve the events of the past couple of hours. in fact, he knows he hasn’t done anything to deserve it. but in this moment, right now, he swears to himself for the first time that he may actually believe in fate. his head is almost screaming—

KISS HER YOU IDIOT!

tramp steps close to lady, peering down into her eyes with her face mere inches from his own. he won’t move any further, at least for a moment. he’s waiting for some kind of indication from her. when he glances at her lips, she does the same to him, and he can’t help but smirk a little as he notices her rise to her tiptoes a little. do it, before it’s too late.

his lips softly meet her own as both of their eyes flutter closed and his hand finds its way to her hair, which he entwines between his fingertips as the world seems to stand still for a moment.

once the moment is over, there’s only one thing left to say, really. the only thing he can say as he tries to calm the butterflies in his stomach. 

“goodnight, lady.”

Lady kept her lips turned towards his ear, her eyes exclusively trained on his mouth as it moved. She barely registered his words, completely hypnotized by his lips. She was never one to make the first move--Lady liked being chased, she loved feeling wanted--but Tramp made her want to try something different. Tramp made her want to do a lot of things differently. 

“I guess seeing you again doesn’t sound like a terrible idea,” she said, slightly tightening her grip around his waist and leaning into his back. She could’ve stayed in that moment forever, suspended in time on the boardwalk with this guy who had completely turned her head upside down in the course of one day. The rumble of the motorcycle beneath them brought her back to reality and she took a deep breath in an attempt to mentally prepare herself for this day to end. 

____________________

As they neared her aunt’s house, her heart fluttered with the anticipation of the night’s end. She was unable to fully form responses to Tramp’s jokes about Sarah’s ritzy neighborhood. His voice carried through the corners of the cul-de-sac, echoing off the houses and rang in her ears. When they parked, Lady hurriedly removed her helmet and placed it on the back of the motorcycle, raising one finger to her lips and shushing him through her own giggles. 

“If you wake her up, I’m not sure there’ll be a next time,” she said quietly, grinning as she took his hand and ran up to Sarah’s covered porch. The light next to the door glowed dimly. She never turned that light off and didn’t seem to understand the correlation between that habit and the light never lasting more than a few months. 

She looked up at the dark house, comforted by the fact that it seemed everyone was fast asleep. She’d never had to sneak back into her house before, but she was sure she could manage without waking up her aunt or cousins. She turned to Tramp and nodded, a smile sitting comfortably on her face. “Yeah, I think I can manage getting back inside. Thanks for bringing me home even though I’d rather be anywhere else right now,” she joked, stepping ever so slightly closer to him. Lady Darling, when did you get so bold? 

Kissing someone had never seemed like such a good idea. Lady had always been a take it or leave it kind of girl when it came to guys--they were nice, but nothing special. With Tramp, everything felt urgent and messy. The air around her felt like it was moving too fast and making it hard to breathe. He made her want to leave this house behind with nothing but her favorite red lipstick and nowhere to go. 

“I think you can probably count on seeing me again,” she said quietly, biting down on her bottom lip as she tried to gather the courage to push up on her toes and finish what they’d both clearly started. 

Then, he did it for her and the world felt like it was exploding. Tramp’s smirk before their lips met burned in her brain as her eyes closed and she balanced carefully on her tip toes. All at once, she felt every color she’d ever seen. Her foot unintentionally popped up behind her and she cursed herself for being the most stereotypical teenage girl who ever existed. 

Had there ever been a kiss like this before? 

When it was over, she stood back at her normal height and looked up at Tramp. Her head swam and she let out the breath she’d been holding. Without thinking, she raised her hand to her lips and let her fingers touch them as she stood there slightly shocked. He began to turn away from her and she didn’t move from the spot; her legs felt like they were made of lead. She would probably have to sleep on the front lawn. 

“Goodnight, Tramp.” 

[stellina-4ever]

[lovelyladydarling]

stellina-4ever‌:

Adelaide Kane photographed by Hudson Taylor - September 2018

[lovelyladydarling]

had any good cries lately?

Yes, always. Haven’t you? 

[lovelyladydarling]

trampbennett‌:

her ‘shall we?’ causes him to, almost instinctively, extend his elbow out to the side in order for her to slip her own arm into his. what can he say, he’s old fashioned. well, at least in his charm. maybe if his morals could follow, he wouldn’t have wound up as the kind of person who’s reputation leaves him almost… ashamed to be walking beside this well-to-do beauty with her squeaky-clean image. he knows that if anyone who knows him sees the two of them together, now, walking arm-in-arm, they’ll pity her. he’s been around the block a few times, and word travels fast around here. it’s a shame, because he… kind of has a feeling that he’s smitten by this girl. like she could be the one person he’d give up his old ways for. the sleeping around, the never calling back, the new squeeze every other week. sure, he’s just met her, but call it a hunch.

they walk onto the pier, where there’s plenty of ways to entertain themselves, but most of all he’s just happy to be in her company. “let’s see. hmm. ice cream first, okay? all the ice cream you can eat. your aunt’s fucking blind if she thinks you need to watch your weight. then…” he looks around. “arcade games. if we’re gonna be friends, miss lady, then i need to know whether or not you can kick my ass at tin can alley. but i’m gonna predict right now that the answer to that is no.” he teases, looking at his boardwalk companion with a smile. the sun is starting to set, and he can’t help but steal glimpses of her in the basking in the golden hues. 

a few hours pass, which lady and tramp spend fully immersing themselves in all of the enjoyment paradise pier has to offer. the rides, the snacks, the games, looking out at the ocean once they reach the end of the pier. he can’t remember the last time he’s smiled this much. his face still aches from it at the end of it all, when all that’s left of the sun is a tiny sliver at the horizon. 

“well, then. i guess i better take you home, huh? before you get grounded or something,” he jests, starting off on a slow stroll back towards the pier’s entrance / exit. as they walk, one last thing that he wanted to do catches his eye. “oh, we have to do this first. c’mon,” 

he takes her hand and pulls her to the photo booth. “never done one of these. looks like fun,” he says, guiding the two of them inside of it. the booth is tiny, the walls of it squashing them in like sardines as they sit side by side. he inserts a dollar and… “ok, so what do we do—” FLASH. “oh. i didn’t even expect it to—” FLASH. “oh. okay, moves quick—” FLASH. “piece of shit. i wasn’t ready for any of those—” FLASH. print.

back at the bike, he’s looking down at the photo strip prior to climbing on. “well, it’s a shame i clearly forgot how to smile in there. here, you have it.” he slips the photo strip into her hand and climbs onto the bike, helmetless a second time after making sure lady took it again. “remember what i said, okay? hold on tight.”

Lady loops her arm through Tramp’s, tucking her body close to his as they walked down the decaying wooden boardwalk of Paradise Pier. She could feel the weathered knots beneath her flats and the salty air hit her in the face as they strolled closer to the ocean. She knew there were a million people around them--half of the town spent all of their time at Paradise Pier--but the only other person she could see was Tramp in that moment. As the sun went down and a chill crept over Carthay, she stayed close to the man who had saved her from a night of ridicule and turned her brain to mush as soon as he smiled at her. 

If people were staring, let them. There was nothing that could ruin her high as they stopped in at an ice cream stand and each walked away with a cone. The knot in her stomach that felt like it had solidified the day she moved in with Sarah was slowly untying itself after just one afternoon with Tramp. For the first time in a while, she felt like she could finally exhale. She listened to him speak, immersed in the experience of it all as the sun shone on both of them 

“If I knew what tin can alley was, I could probably give you a definitive yes on that but for now...” she trailed off, looking up at him with a smile and taking a lick off her ice cream cone. “Right now I’ll let you be better.” 

---

At the end of their day, Lady was full of happiness. Everything around her looked more vibrant, shone brighter, and felt...different. She didn’t feel like the little caged animal that her aunt so desperately tried to depict her as. She finally felt like her own person. The entire day had felt like a dream and she really hoped she wouldn’t wake up from it at the end. She wanted to get back on Tramp’s motorcycle and ride straight into the horizon until they fell off the edge of the world so she could hold onto this feeling forever. 

So, when he pulled her into the photobooth, it felt perfect. 

“No, no you go--CLICK--and then--CLICK--again--CLICK--one more--CLICK--and done,” she said, unable to stop smiling even after the last photo was taken. She looked up over his shoulder as he grabbed the photo strip and sighed happily. He clearly wasn’t ready for any of the photos and she looked a little purposefully pouty. They were everything she needed them to be. 

She stared down at them when he placed them in her hands and tucked them safely into her bag just before he put the helmet back on her head. She adjusted it slightly before getting back onto the motorcycle and grabbing onto Tramp almost instinctively. She sat up and rested her chin on his shoulder, turning her lips to his ear. “What if I don’t want to go home, Tramp?” 

[lovelyladydarling]

what was the last time you were jealous?

What was it about? Probably Tramp being Tramp. When was it? Probably five minutes ago. 

[lovelyladydarling]

summer anthem?

In general? Have to go classic Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey, every single year. 

For Hot Girl Summer? 

Take Me by Aly & AJ 

Got My Number by Kim Petras

Karma by Marina 

Gimme Love by Carly Rae Jepsen

Bloodline by Ariana Grande

[lovelyladydarling]

how do you feel about sulley leaving?

Kind of strange, actually. I know he’s got to do what he’s got to do, but it’s weird to think I won’t see him for…however long. I’ll miss him, but I’m sure things will be okay when he gets back. 

[lovelyladydarling]

What is the most illegal thing you have ever done?

Trespassing, maybe? I may have accidentally taken a pair of sunglasses from Target once, but I’m pretty sure I went back and paid for them when I realized now that I’m thinking about it…so probably trespassing. 

[lovelyladydarling]

[lovelyladydarling]

trampbennett‌:

“lady. that’s… very fitting.” he smiles softly. “anything but patricia. got it.”

“you’re exactly right. i like your style.” he reaches down to pick up his helmet, and upon straightening again, stops for a second. she really is the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on. now, this ol’ tramp of a guy has known many beautiful girls. and guys, too. they come and go through the doors of his apartment like it’s no tomorrow. but this girl… she has those eyes that you could melt into for hours. it’s easy to get carried away in them. 

“—oh, yeah, here. you’ll need this,” he says, stepping towards her and carefully slipping the motorcycle helmet over her pretty little head. “and hold on tight, okay?” he commands, before slipping on his leather jacket and taking a seat. “you have to, or else you might fall off and your aunt would slap me with a massive lawsuit and manslaughter charges, so do as i say… okay?” once she has taken her seat, he reaches behind him and takes each of her wrists gently in his hands and places them around his waist. “…tight.”

it’s a good thing she can’t see him blushing.

he quickly realizes once pulling away from tony’s that he has no idea at all where he’s supposed to go with the girl in tow. he’d usually just go home after work. relax and drink beers with his roommate. but this poor girl has just been publicly ridiculed by her own family in a busy restaurant, and he doesn’t think that taking her back to his shitty little shoebox to find dodger potentially… doing god knows what is the best way to cheer someone up right now.

after a moment of wracking his brain, he has just the place. paradise pier — he’ll buy her an ice-cream, maybe win her a stuffed toy on one of those boardwalk arcade games. she’ll forget all about her rotten relatives in no time. he smiles to himself and gets on the road finally, jetting off down the route to the location.

the ride there is nice. he can feel the locks of hair which poke out of the bottom of helmet, whipping against his back gently as the wind blows them around. there’s something comforting about her embrace around his torso, but he tries not to romanticize it too much. he just met her, right?

they finally reach paradise pier around twenty minutes later, and tramp parks up the vehicle nearby before hopping off of it and extending a hand to lady to help her up. he lifts the helmet off of her head and places it on the seat, dying to know what she made of the journey. “so, how’s about that, hm? wasn’t that fun?” he chuckles, helping her adjust a few strands of hair that were messed up by the headgear. “i bet when you woke up this morning, you could’ve never imagined you’d be riding passenger on a motorcycle before sundown, did you?”

Lady can’t help but look around at all the people passing by them and staring, her stomach bubbling in anticipation of the day’s activities. Had it been any normal day, the stares being thrown her way would’ve driven her wild. She hated people talking about her around Carthay, going back to her aunt to snitch on her, whispering around the town about what she was doing like it was any of their business at all. With this guy though--with Tramp--she didn’t care if anyone talked. In fact, she wanted them to. 

The panic began to set in when he placed the helmet over her head, muffling her hearing and sticking her hair to her neck. She looked at Tramp for the first time and smiled. He was a bit disheveled and someone who, on any other day, she probably would’ve walked right past on the street. His careless nature and sense for adventure made him all the more attractive to Lady and she was glad he’d swooped her up at the end of his shift. 

“This feels slightly less glamorous than they portray it in the movies, doesn’t it?” she said, swinging one leg over his motorcycle and sitting down behind him. A soft smile spread over her face when he took her wrists and wrapped them around his waist. She leaned into him when he turned around, holding tight to this virtual stranger who she felt she could trust more than her own family. Lacing her fingers together to get a tighter grip on Tramp, she rested her head against his back and braced for them to kick off. 

What in the world was she doing? 

Carthay’s familiar streets rushed by and she popped her head up a little bit to see where they were going. Was this how fast her car usually went or were they going faster? This was as close to flying as Lady imagined she would get, albeit a bit terrifying. She recognized the spaces around them as they got closer to Paradise Pier, which she guessed was their destination. If she’d been able to speak to Tramp at that moment, she would’ve thanked him a million times for taking her to the perfect place after such a rotten day. 

When they stopped, she took his hand to get off the bike and her legs nearly crumbled beneath her like a newborn horse. She held onto Tramp’s hand and steadied herself before shaking out her hair after the helmet was removed. “No, I definitely figured it would be after sundown,” she smiled, her hand still firmly in his as she looked up at Paradise Pier with stars in her eyes. It had always been a favorite place of hers and she had a feeling today’s memory at the pier was going to take the very top spot in her list of best days. 

Finally letting go of his hand, she began to walk toward the center of the pier where all of the lights were beginning to turn on in preparation for darkness. She turned back to Tramp and nodded her head toward the action. “Shall we?” she asked with a smile, the sun setting over the two like an invitation to venture further into the night together. After the day she’d had and the irresistible smile on Tramp’s face, Lady was more than happy to accept that invitation. 

[lovelyladydarling]

dodgingworries‌:

dodger was, for lack of better wording, so fucking ready to get totally shitfaced. absolutely schnockered. it had been a really long week and slipping away to get drunk off his ass at a seedy bar where noone knew his name sounded like heaven. the absolute best course of action, no doubt.

halfway to the bar counter, however, he heard someone call his name. he winced. who the fuck-? he turned on his heel towards the voice only to find- “oof.” with his usual swagger, dodger made his way over to where lady was sat, undoubtedly a few drinks in judging by the way she’s called out to him. “miss lady, what’s a pretty lil’ socialite like yourself doin’ in a shithole like this?” he echoed, taking it upon himself to sit with her.

dodger’s fingers twitched, drumming absently against the wooden table. “you don’t look so hot, chickadee. you upset or somethin’?” he hummed, debating ordering the alcohol he’d come in for. maybe it was better to stay sober for this? at least for now.

Lady had nearly forgotten she’d called Dodger over to her until he appeared in her wobbly peripheral vision. She turned her entire body to face him and rested her elbow on the scuffed bartop, propping her head up with her hand. Her blinking was slow and her head felt congested. In Lady’s swirling brain, the best way to fix that was to take another drink off her gin and tonic and throw a lazy smile in Dodger’s direction to show just how level-headed she was in that moment. 

She swallowed a hiccup. “Don’t look so hot? That is not a very nice thing to say to me in my clearly fragile state. Probably tell me I look hot instead and then ask me what’s wrong or something,” she said, her words sloshing together. She licked her lips and balled her hand into a fist for a moment, closing her eyes to steady herself before blinking them open again to look at Dodger. 

“Listen,” she started, sucking in a deep breath. She patted the seat next to her and motioned for him to sit down in big, over-exaggerated arm movements. “You, sit. We, talk. What are you doing in this bar? What am I doing in this bar? What is anyone doing in this bar? You tell me,” she rambled, swirling the half melted ice around in her cup. She straightened up a little bit before slumping back down and looking over at Dodger with solemn eyes. 

“Can this conversation stay in this bar, Dodge? I know we...with Mike...but I need this to stay right here,” she said, forcefully jabbing her finger into the bar to drive her point home. “Right here, with us.” 

[lovelyladydarling]

scampjr‌:

Scamp wanted to jump up on in his seat to look around the coffee shop scared, glancing down instead. “Dammit. Now i wont actually admit that I’m scared about the idea of that happening. I’m a big boy and i can deal with reckless fears such as this,” he replied, laughing at himself. Quietly lifting his laptop satchel besides him, acting as a defense between him and the espresso machine.

Rubbing his chest in thought as he got lost in them, wondering about everything that had happened in his life. “I hope your words are strong enough to manifest such a thing into the world,” sighing with a sad smile. Talking about his brother an the problems that he seemed to be dealing with, trying to find someone that he didn’t even know anymore. “It’s sad to think about it, though. The idea that we’ve both have completely different lives. That he is a completely different person now, and has grown without me.”

“No,” he settled a hand on top of hers. “We agreed that we’d share what seemed to be bothering each other. No one issue is bigger than the other, Patricia.” Scott could understand wanting to escape from a topic that didn’t make sense even to ones self, but never diminishing it for anything. “This person you are dating. Do they know what you are going through?”

“Oh wow, you’re going to sacrifice your laptop to the benevolent espresso machine? If I’ve learned anything about Final Destination, it’s that it will find a way around whatever defenses you put up,” Lady said, laughing a little and sneaking a peak over at the espresso machine again. It would definitely do quite a bit of damage if it were to explode and make for some very differently interesting news in Carthay, where much of the news focused on who was dating who or who needed to be dating who. ESPRESSO MACHINE EXPLODES IN CARTHAY: SHUTS EVERYONE UP ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS FOR 5 MINUTES. Sounded like a good headline to Lady. 

She hated that she couldn’t make Scott’s brother magically appear in front of them at that very moment. She wanted nothing more than to make this guy’s heart whole again--which was strange, considering they’d only met half an hour before. For whatever reason, she felt some sort of deeper connection with him even though she didn’t even know his last name. “Maybe now that you’re two complete people on your own though, it’ll be easier to come together and be brothers. Sometimes you need to go away to find yourself and that can heal your relationships in ways you could never have had you stayed where you were,” she suggested. 

Lady felt comforted by his words and sighed deeply, her shoulders heaving and falling. “No, he doesn’t. They actually hate each other. Enough to fight nearly every time they see each other and for my current...uh, boyfriend, to be the source of all of the fights with T--my best friend. The relationship I’m in now is good for me; it’s beneficial. He’s the kind of person I should want,” she said, looking down at her lap and letting her words trail off. Lady had a hard time putting into words how she felt about her relationship with Sulley. She knew how she should feel, but not exactly how she did feel. 

[lovelyladydarling]

starter for @dodgingworries

why lady always seemed to end up at this one particular dive bar when she waded deep into her feelings, she was unsure. something about the dark amber lighting and wood paneled walls soothed part of of her heart as she nursed what had to have been her fifth gin and tonic of the night. weeknights were slow at this bar, which made it that much less likely for someone to get a picture of carthay’s sweetheart drowning herself in booze on a weeknight at 9:30pm in the corner booth of a bar with a deer head on the wall. 

she needed to stop letting this whole “tramp and peg are casually fucking around” thing get to her, but tonight was not the night for that. tonight was the night for getting hammered. tonight was the night for forgetting, not for getting over. 

the door opened for the first time in hours and she instinctively turned to look at who else needed a bit of liquid therapy tonight. her face fell as she recognized the person immediately: dodger. she was sure to be caught now. 

her head told her to duck down and lay low, but before she could stop herself, her mouth was open and she was slurring, “hey, holmes! what’s a guy like you doing in a bar like this?” in his direction. that didn’t even make sense, but then again...what did these days?