Something odd happened for the friends of those who break up, they usually find themselves falling to one side – whether by accident or on purpose, losing a friend in the process. Yaz had never chosen to lose Lucy, had she had chosen to keep Alexander, and now here she was – paying for it. “What the fuck are you doing here?” the words jumped out of her mouth without a single thought, pulling the eyes of all her co-workers onto the two women, “shit, sorry. It’s okay guys, I know her. We’re… friends.” The woman reassured everyone, stepping toward Lucy at a hurried pace, having a reunion with her best friend’s ex-fiancé in front of her uptight co-workers wasn’t Yaz’s ideal Monday back at work. “Hi, yeah, I’ve been working here since I moved half a year ago,” her voice was low as Yaz’s eyes searched Lucy’s face for some kind of answer, “what are you doing here? Are you okay? Are you stalking me?” Finally, she recognised Lucy’s attire, the fresh employee badge pinned to her clothes, “you work here?” Shit.
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the fact that she had elicited such a reaction from someone she had once considered to be her sister was heart-wrenching, but the amount of experience lucy had gained hiding her emotions granted her the ability to only raise her eyebrows at the woman’s words, in only slight surprise. not even seconds later, the woman felt the gazes on them, and she secretly thanked yaz for speaking up so she wouldn’t have to, not the impression she wanted to give on her first day at the new, important job. “really? that’s... crazy,” she mumbled as the two now held a casual conversation, trying to look just as casual so prying eyes would not suspect any discomfort, at least from lucy’s end. she wanted to answer the question, but she wasn’t able to — she answered it herself. in response, lucy nodded dryly. “today is my first... day. deputy d.a.” she refrained herself from adding the word fucking, as her frustration was only hers to deal with. “it looks like it’s going to be interesting... for everyone?”
the moment lucy spotted the photographer on the sidewalk, she approached — almost power walked — and tugged the hoodie of his jacket, intentionally grabbing a couple of his long curls in the process. “you do know it is way easier to say you don’t wanna see me anymore instead of making up a girlfriend, right? or, any other excuse, really?” she wasn’t mad, shown by the slight smile as she tugged, but her tone was firm and to be honest, slightly annoyed. / @fincasey
Ari didn’t have many regrets or fears. The ones he did were poignant, a silent yet persisting reminder in the form of the only person who had single-handedly gotten him out of the roughest patch in his lifetime, but there weren’t many. In the years that followed Nat’s death, Aristóteles had learned to deal with losing the love of his life while raising a little girl all by himself; something he was quite proud of. Bella had easily become his greatest reason to exist and become the best version of himself he could be. Not only because she was his daughter, but because she reminded him so much of his late wife. It was safe to say, Ari tried his best to be the father Isabella deserved, the father he wanted to give to the one source of light in his life.
Going back to New York without telling the Velascos, had been an urged decision, one guided by fear and one that haunted him on a daily basis. No one other than Natalie had ever shown any interest in making him a part of the family, nor Bella, yet every once in a while he couldn’t help but wonder if one day, they’d come and use all he power and money he didn’t have to try and take his daughter from him, to turn her into a Velasco instead of a Pineda. That thought, haunted him every night before bed.
Reason why, as he was returning home from going grocery shopping one morning, Bella at home with her grandmother the sight of Lucy made his stomach drop. Last he ever heard from the Velasco family, they were all in California living the luxurious life they were so used to— what was Natalie’s sister doing at his door? How had she found them and most importantly; What were her intentions. Panic began to set in the moment she questioned about his daughter. “¿Qué haces aquí? ¿Cómo nos encontraste?” he questioned, brown eyes looking at the home that he had been trying for years to make it feel like home. It was nerve-wracking, not only feeling afraid of losing his little girl, but being reminded of what he had already lost. “¿Qué necesitas saber de Isabella? Ella está bien” a pause. “Viene tu padre contigo? ¿Para que quieren a mi hija?”
.
lucy wasn’t ready to find her... brother in law? ex-brother in law? funny how she had never stopped to think about what her relationship with aristóteles would be now, especially before attempting to show up at his doorstep. the thought got an unintentional scoff from her — at herself, sure, but he didn’t know that. the moment she caught herself, she placed her hand on her lips as an attempt to stop any more of her often unintentional attacks towards anyone, in her odd attempts to feel better. funny how she thought she was ready to deal with it — it wasn’t even about ari. it was about nat, about how much she missed her, about how bad she had treated her sister and her partner. it was about guilt and shame and a lot of unprocessed grief, which unfortunately often translated into anger. ah fuck, she should’ve stayed home!
the tone in his voice was not unreasonable. if anything, it was well deserved. but still, even though she knew this, lucy’s eyes welled up: all of those emotions piling up and that tone he gave her were what tipped her over the edge. but she refused to let the tears fall; she used her thumb to wipe any trace of water off her face, before anything would roll down her cheeks. “larga historia,” she half-admitted, as it really was something to discuss at another time. despite every single emotion going through the velasco woman right that moment, she knew where her priorities were. and again, aristóteles’ skepticism was something she had to respect — as painful as it was. “¿dónde está?” she asked, not as concerned as her tone would’ve implied, but curious and impatient. her heart thumped in her chest, so hard she wondered if it would stay there for much longer. her eyes darted around the man’s proximity, but once it was clear bella wasn’t with him, her hazel eyes tinted red by the tears she refused to let fall, settled on him. and his question, again, made sense. lucy’s heart ached so much for how things had happened that she couldn’t get herself to explain everything in that moment, in the middle of a staten island sidewalk. “no, no — mi papá... se regresaron a méxico... ya tiene rato. y pues... por eso mismo. ¿no se acercaron nunca?” she asked, her eyes welling up again. “¿nunca te preguntaron por ella?” her voice cracked mid-question. they never asked her about nat, or about her. by process of elimination, she figured ari wouldn’t have received any questions either. after a hard sniff and a quick fix to her hair, lucy looked back at the young man. “¿te puedo invitar un café, o algo? necesito... necesito pedirte una disculpa.”
The phrase had been in the back of Alexander’s mind for a little over a week now; ever since finding out his lost brother was in New York, living only a few blocks away from him. He had heard his mother spew that saying multiple times when he was younger and although he had proof that pointed to the saying being true, he didn’t quite believe it. Always a ‘reason over belief’ type man, he always found a way to put logic on every indication of fate which so far, had proven him right. For the past couple of weeks, the one event who had managed to knock the wind out of his lungs had been finding Hudson and seeing the life he had, one singularity in the space-continuum he was still learning how to handle and not at all an indicator that the saying that had been haunting him was at all correct.
Reason why, getting off bed after a night of night terrors to a puppy urging him for a walk, didn’t quite surprised him. Another day in the life of Alexander Warren, newly dog dad of a very needy labradoodle who required at least four walks a day. Deeming the day another normal day like any other, Alexander changed into some sweatpants upon leaving his bed, throwing in a big jacket for him and a leash for Pollux and exited his home like every other day, on route to their daily, normal morning walk.
Sooner than not, the agent found himself in Central Park, regretting not getting a coffee on the way to the park with an anxious Pollux sniffing around everything in his path, making acquaintances with whatever touched his nose while his human jogged behind him, only half awake and letting his mind drift for a brief second, an opportunity the canine took in his advantage, using all the force an eight-months old puppy could muster and freeing himself from the loose grasp Alexander had on him, running away from him while looking back at his human, his own chasing game the agent wasn’t aware of until it was too late. Once his half-asleep brain caught up whatsoever, the blue-eyed began calling for his puppy’s attention, running behind him. Eagle eyes scanned the park as his heartbeat began to sound in his ear, horror washing over him when he lost sight of his dog for a little less than two seconds. Then, he saw his tail, dark brown with some snow in it, wiggling as someone gave him attention, a wave of relief washing over him.
Touching his alarm-like heart, Alexander approached the dog and the person, gasping for air as he regarded the woman who was facing away from him “I am so sorry, he ran away from me, I am so glad you cau—” and then, the agent froze on his place as the woman turned around to face him. It wasn’t another day in his routine or another morning walk. It couldn’t be when the mirage of the woman he had loved all those many years ago was staring back at him, holding onto the one piece of his life he really loved. The agent had to take a step back as he lost balance wondering if the woman in front of him was a mirage as the many other times he had dreamed of seeing her again or the real person who had once held his heart in her hands. “Lu?” he finally said out loud, voice trembling like saying the name assured him breaking a spell that had been casted upon him and he was now too nervous to get rid of. That was number two, his lungs suddenly lacking any oxygen for the second time in the span of two weeks.// @lucyvelasco
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the last few weeks had been a bit rough on lucy. her new job, as exciting and good for her as she found it, also proved to be draining — in a personal level. it had been a while since the woman had felt like this, and in different circumstances, she would’ve talked about it with her sister — she would’ve complained to her, she would’ve listened, they would laugh it off at the expense of someone else. the thought made the brunette choke up, and she tried her mightiest to not let any tears well up in her eyes. it was hard, because at the same time, the thought of her sister brought the image of little bella, who deserved nothing but love from the velasco family after her mother’s tragic death, and was instead shunned — as was the memory of the young velasco sister.
“ay, a la chingada, i need air.” she mumbled to herself before she approached her office building, before having to face yaz and a bunch of sexist white men, especially since olympe wasn’t coming in until later — and lucy wasn’t ready for any of it, not that morning. so instead of heading down the sidewalk, she crossed the street and directed her feet towards central park. it was chilly out, the air was crisp and surprisingly clear for the city, and the smile she shared with the barista who handed lucy her coffee was an immediate improvement to her day — she knew it was their job, but for some reason it felt sincere. she wondered if it was going to snow as she sat on one of the park-side benches, an array of joggers and city folk getting their stuff done before the park got full of tourists. and although she knew she was, in that moment she didn’t feel alone. at the very least, she had found her home, despite everything it had cost her.
she sipped her lukewarm coffee and sighed, trying to take in every bit of nature before she had to go lock herself up in her office until her boss got in. she didn’t even see the fluffy puppy coming towards her, but she jumped a little when she found herself being greeted so excitedly, it was like this dog had been her longtime friend. she received the greeting with a warm smile, putting her paper cup on the bench at an angle where it wouldn’t fall (hopefully) and gave the dog her full attention, returning the excitement with some well-earned pets. while she rubbed the puppy’s head, she noticed a collar — soon thereafter, she found the leash. “come on pretty boy, where’s your human? did you ditch them? did you?” she asked as if the dog could answer, and she played with the dog’s ears as she did. it wasn’t too long after that she heard a voice approach, her hands were still holding the puppy and the smile still plastered on her lips. “don’t worry, he’s a good boy,” she started, although her voice got quieter as the sentence went on, and she noticed he didn’t get to finish his — so he was just as surprised as she was. “hi, alexander.” her voice lost all the glee it had held in its tone, a deep sigh coming out as an exhale — had the air been punched out of her lungs? to be honest, lucy never thought she’d see alex again. after everything... after all these years. “you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, and although her intention had been to seem confident and unaffected by his presence, it was obvious she had failed. the tears she had been holding back that entire morning threatened to come spewing out at any moment. “so, um. is... is this your puppy? he um, he came to me like i he’s known me his whole life.” a weak laugh fell off her lips. “or like i owe him money. he’s... very cute.” her voice went from a mumble to a whisper.
ignoring all mixed looks she was getting — ranging from confused to intrigued — lucy pranced across the studio in her yoga pants and sweater, until she made it to luca’s little station area. she placed her hands on her waist and leaned against the nearest wall, close to the device where the music came from. although she was excited ( and to be honest, a bit impatient ) she wasn’t going to interrupt him, even if it all pointed to the routine being about done. when it did, a smile spread across her features. “so,” she skipped the greetings altogether, in a mixture of hurry and excitement. “i found this little studio not too far from here, right? they’re offering bachata lessons. i signed myself up without a) realizing i needed a partner and b) noticing how lowkey sketchy the place looks from the outside. so...” she extended a hand out for the man to take. “partner?” | @lucaxkim
“morning, morning,” lucy greeted as she walked into her boss’ office — still in a respectful kind of way, but a bit less formal than her very first day at the new job. “i have a meeting at one thirty with a witness, and i almost had to fight the other deputy for it — it was so weird. i only managed to convince him because the witness speaks spanish, and he doesn’t. do you come across sh— things like that often?” she sighed before sitting on the opposite side of olympe’s desk. “ but anyway — how is your leg doing? would you want to get some coffee with me?” | @olympb
time usually starts to blur when too much happens, and even for the strongest of wills, things start to slip through the cracks. as if a new job — a role as important as the one she had just obtained — wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, lucy had to add an unprecedented reunion with someone she had been close to, hell — someone she had considered a sister. funny how things as trivial as breakups in your twenties became strong enough to also end friendships. she couldn’t remember what the last time they had spoken was, but looking at yaz there, in the office, brought in a rush of bittersweetness that almost stopped her in her tracks. “good morning,” she greeted meekly, raising a hand briefly. “i didn’t know you worked here,” lucy added, her tone unable to express her nostalgia correctly. | @yazsanchez
she’d had the address for over a month now, but each time she’d thought of going over, lucía somehow talked herself out of it. regardless of her thoughts or her feelings about everything, something told her she ought to stay away — like the devil on her shoulder. she wanted to, though... so bad, she wanted to know what the girl looked like; if she was okay, if she was happy. each time she attempted to make the trip, she got a bit closer. the first time she made it all the way to the subway station, the next time she made it to the ferry, the next time she made it to the other side of the ferry. this time she made it all the way to the street name, frighteningly close to the building number. her heart raced to the point where lucy felt she would faint if she took a step further... but it was also one of those times where, she was so close... even though her brain begged her legs to stop, they wouldn’t. they had a mind of their own, and they made it all the way to the outside of the building... that was when she stopped.
her heart. it was so loud, and her breath was too — like she had just ran a marathon. so many thoughts raced through her mind that she couldn’t focus on just one... and that was just as terrifying. so again, she decided to turn around and leave — maybe next time she’d be brave enough and she’d walk all the way to the entrance. maybe, maybe, maybe. but not this time. she turned and walked, her gaze on the sidewalk underneath her feet, her hands attempting to keep the hair away from her face. her walk came to an abrupt stop when she, unsurprisingly, walked into another pair of feet. she stopped and gasped before there’d be a collision. “oh my god, i’m so—” she began, turning her attention towards the person she almost ran into. every notion of a word left her brain, and she felt her blood run cold. but she sighed at the sight of the familiar face she had been avoiding for so many years. so many. “ay, dios — eres tú.” her tone was more relieved than she thought it would be. funny how, after running for so long, it would be the running itself that brought lucy to ari. “oye, no te vayas, espera. no sé como decirlo, pero te he estado buscando, y... pues...” she faltered. “y... ¿la niña?” | @mexicancharm
have you seen lucy velasco? this thirty-four year old is an assistant district attorney who resides in brooklyn. she has been living in nyc for sixteen years (on and off), and is known to be intelligent and ambitious but can also be suspicious and callous, if you cross them. people tend to associate them with soft cursing in spanish and designer reading glasses.
it’s me, gabs ( a g a i n ) KFJSDKFH idk what to say about this child other than she is a very sad, suspicious cinammon roll — come love her! i’m, as always, open for any plots and connections! give this a like if you’re interested and i’ll go slide into your dms <3
!!! tw: mention of infertility, robbery, death
–– @codstarters
about —
full name: lucía velasco neale
age: 34
birthday: january 6th, 1987
sexual orientation: demisexual/biromantic
gender: cis female
general appearance: pic for reference
pronouns: she/her
bio —
tw: mention of infertility, robbery, death
born in santa clara, cuba to an high school student who couldn’t handle the responsibility of motherhood, lucía lived in an orphanage for girls for a few years of her life, very early years. she doesn’t remember it much, if at all, but she has some pictures of herself as a baby with some of the nuns.
INFERTILITY TW. she was adopted by an affluent mexican family when she was two, after they struggled with infertility for most of their marriage. desperate for children, the couple outsourced. to their surprise, however, not too long after they adopted lucía, their own daughter, natalia, would be born.
lucía and natalia were as close as close could get: they had the same friends, the same activities, mostly the same interests... apart from being sisters, they were best friends. although they weren’t blood related, they were always treated as if they were.
they grew up in las lomas, a fancy neighborhood where fancy families raised their children, with one condition: there was a standard everyone had to meet, and it was nothing short of perfect. so of course, the velasco girls had to be the perfect children. and while it all seemed j.c. penney-catalogue perfect: an accomplished doctor for a father, a busy caterer for a mother, and two perfect girls... the pressure their parents placed on lucía and natalia created a barrier between the parents and the children that was never fully destroyed.
the difference was how the sisters dealt with it. natalia was always so sure, so full of self-love and adventure — she couldn’t care less of what her parents thought of her or her interests; whereas lucía, a bit more desperate for their validation, allowed the constant pressure to get to her and become a part of her.
ROBBERY TW. everything changed when the house staff was held at gunpoint during a robbery. thousands of mexican pesos worth of their belongings were taken, and althought no one was hurt, mr. velasco took it upon himself to never let anything like that happen again — he packed his family up and moved them to california. after all, his wife was an american citizen and the children too, by default, so they had no problem moving. their dad had the most trouble getting to stay with them, but sooner than later the family was all together, living in hermosa beach, ca.
always a smart girl, lucía, now known as lucy, got into high school a year ahead of where she was supposed to be, and she met alex warren along the way. they had a strong connection from the very beginning, and although her conservative parents didn’t necessarily approve of her choice, lucy and alex became a couple.
without many details shared with her parents, the girl moved to new york city with her boyfriend after graduating high school and went to college, no problem. she majored in psychology, eventually went to law school.
while in college, lucy and alex got engaged; she was beyond elated, but never knew how to share the news with her parents. nat was the first to know, and the two fantasized about the wedding arrangements for a while. she was so happy and thought alex was happy, too, it never crossed her mind that anything was wrong until after graduation, a few years passed and alex started becoming distant... so distant that there were days they simply wouldn’t talk to each other, some others they wouldn’t even see each other... and the engagement was broken. last she heard, he moved back to california, and while her heart yelled at her to follow him there — she didn’t, she stayed in the city to further continue her career to eventually achieve her goal of becoming a judge.
still heartbroken, lucy found her sister’s relationship with aristóteles pineda to be infuriating: both from her parents’ influential opinions and her own jealousy from her failing relationship. watching her sister being so in love with someone her family hated was familiar, but instead of supporting nat like she had done with her, she sided with her parents’ — to appease them, since they were surprisingly angry about her engagement not working out — and thus her relationship with her sister started to crumble.
DEATH TW. she kept her distance from pretty much everyone: she didn’t make any appearances back in california when her niece was born, and to this day, lucy regrets it with all her heart. she never really spoke to nat again: she was taken from them way too soon in a tragic car accident, that managed to only kill nat. aristóteles and the child survived.
broken with grief she just didn’t know how to process, she yet again joined her parents’ in their accusations towards the young man, blaming him for the death of their daughter. lucy even went out of her way to make sure she told him how much he was despised by the entire family, how she never wanted to hear of or see him again.
things like these will harden up anyone. lucy placed her focus entirely on her job, working in some legal firms as a paralegal until she made it to the d.a.’s office, scoring a job as an assistant d.a. but as years went by, she realized how nobody in her family seemed to talk about nat’s death, even though they all remained in california and the events would be painful, no matter how much time passed — right? but nobody did.
with a heavy heart and a bruised ego, lucy has recently learned about ari’s whereabouts in the city, and has made it her new mission to apologize for how she treated him and reconnect with bella, her niece, as she is the only piece of her sister she will ever have left.
headcanons —
lucy has tried to channel her negative energy since losing her sister into self-defense. she’s proficient in krav maga and kickboxing!
afterwards, realizing aggression wasn’t the best way for her to go about things (although self-defense has proven to be useful in the city and in the courtrooms), lucy found a healthier way for her to let out her energy: dancing. nothing fancy, she attends zumba classes and loves throwing it back on the weekends lmao
her apartment complex doesn’t allow pets, but she’s befriended a feral cat that she feeds and pets every so often, she calls her bicha.
