Mariah Kenmore

Mariah Kenmore | She, Her | 34 | NASA Engineer |

[mariahkenmoreblog]

ofbecketts​:

Beck’s home was an eclectic mix of things that his father had left behind after he died, some of his mother’s things, taken out of storage a couple of years back, and his own trinkets and photos from traveling around, his collection having steadily grown. On the wall directly in front of the front door, there were some photos from his childhood but mostly photos from his travels, cheesy pictures in front of the world’s biggest thermometer, holding beers on the beach with fireworks exploding behind him and his friend, kissing one of several flings he’d had while he was on the road. While they were often associated with painful memories, they were also times when he’d been happy, and Beck was learning how to take the bad with the good. They were a reminder that everything in life was a balancing act, and it was rarely as easy as categorizing things into wonderful or terrible. However, the most prominent feature of his home was stacks and stacks of records, piled up wherever there was room, along with an entire bookshelf of cassette tapes, scattered around the record player with a gaping mouth, a Dizzy Gillespie record still balanced on the turntable. In essence, his home reflected him: a mix of contradictions, all drowned out by a constant stream of music. “Okay, yeah, let’s hear it,” he said with an encouraging smile. She seemed shy, which certainly wasn’t a problem for Beck—he’d worked with students who barely said a word, and most of the time, they ended up being better than the ones who would talk his ear off. He tilted his head, watching her hands carefully before taking his pencil out from behind his ear so he could make some marks on her music. “Here and here, I think it might be easier if you try this fingering,” he said, labeling the notes with numbers that corresponded to her fingers. “And make sure not to forget the accelerando here,” he added, circling the notation in the music.” He bit the inside of his cheek before remembering to offer some encouragement as well. “It looks like you aren’t too rusty, though—that was pretty good,” he said with a reassuring smile. 

Mariah had been in the midst of playing when she saw his movement out of her peripheral vision. He was taking notes. Taking notes on her playing. She hoped it was good things. She had been practicing after all. She hadn’t breathed since after starting so she took a deep breath once she was finished instantly slumping and relaxing a bit into the piano bench that she was sitting on. She pressed her lips together tightly as he told her the things that she had done wrong with the piece. She knew that she hadn’t touched a piano in a very long time up until a few weeks ago, but it still upset her that she didn’t get things right. He complimented her and she shrugged. “I’ll be better next time. I...I will practice after work.” she told him with a firm nod. Looking around his house, it did seem a bit disheveled. There were all kinds of trinkets and photos along with a huge amount of records all over. Apparently, he liked records. “You have a lot of records...Records collect dust which harms the quality of them.” She had read that in a magazine at the doctor’s office. Probably wasn’t the right thing to say when first meeting her teacher. “I...I’m sorry. I...” she said shaking her head before looking around. “Is there something...something that you would like me...to play?” she asked softly.

[mariahkenmoreblog]

teresapreston​:

KENMORE, MARIAH —

          “Fuck,” she murmured under her breath. People apologizing profusely the way the other woman was, were both her kryptonite and something that angered her the fuck off — but clearly something was ticking her off and Tess could even sense a hint of nerves behind her tone. She busied herself in picking up her things from the floor, quite satisfied that nothing too big seemed to have fallen the bags she was carrying, and people who had stopped to look at the both of them, seemed to have returned to their life seamlessly. “It’s not your fault, not mad— I promise. I just… well, physics and gravity had been my enemies today and I swear I’m going to willingly commit to a mental institution if I have one more run in today, I mean— what is even the fucking probability, you know?” Tess pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes at herself while getting up with the bags safely hanging from her arms with all the items inside them. She never needed a drink more than she needed now, but it’s not like she had the choice. “Anyway, thanks for helping me, earlier today someone actually poured their drink down my silk blouse and didn’t even offer a napkin, so in terms of run ins today? You’re pretty solid.”

Mariah swallowed nervously as she finished picking up her things and tucked some hair behind her ear. She could tell that the woman seemed to be annoyed and irritable with the curses and comments she had said. She immediately believed it was because of her and wanted to disappear from the this place as fast as possible. She nodded softly as the woman said that she was not at fault and that she wasn’t mad. It didn’t seem that way, but she had to take her at her word. “Physics and gravity don’t actually work that way...but...I...” she stopped herself and shook her head realizing a few moments later that the woman was being sarcastic. “The probability of bumping into another person is probably much higher than you think, but you have to think of the circumstances such as how many cities are in the state your are referring to. Then you would have to calculate how many people live in that city. Then you would have to consider if you want to calculate the chances of running into someone you know or someone you don’t. Those all would be drastically different amounts.” she explained taking a breath. Math was kind of her thing too. “You’re welcome.” she said quickly before listening to the woman continue. “W...why would someone pour a drink down your blouse?”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

teresapreston​:

KENMORE, MARIAH —

          Tess could pretty much swear at that point that she had desecrated something holy. Had the last guy she had slept with been a priest? She didn’t think so, there was absolutely no memory of a clerical shirt lying around her house. Either way, she still needed to figure out which expensive artwork she had shat on, or where she had gotten so drunk she might have broken something considered divine, because her having caused a multiple casualty accident might be the one reason why these mini-accidents were happening to her today and they kept throwing her off her game. The first one was a slippery scissors when a man had his brain exposed on her surgery table. Then she just started knocking off things and people. She was pretty much convinced that someone had laid a curse on her and that was not nice. At that point, Tess turned around expecting the worst and inside that shop with so many expensive china she was not willing to pay back for — especially since most of them were so damn ugly — she kept herself away from what could be broken. She didn’t know where the need to buy kitchen-wear came from, but she registered out of the cashier a good amount of hundreds of dollars in new pans, some cutlery and some whisks. Spending money calmed something within her, but it never really got near her dear alcohol. Nevertheless, she was leaving the store carelessly for someone who almost knocked over a table with some fake fruit on the middle of it, so she shouldn’t have been surprised when she met face to face with someone and there was a lot of clattering on the floor, both from the pans and from the contents in her purse. “Really?” She wasn’t speaking to the woman who had hit her, not in the least, in fact, her eyes were looking upwards as if she believed in anything like that. “It’s fine,” she waved dismissively, at the woman this time around, “I have been a bullseye for people today, so it’s not your fault— well, not completely anyway, but deities have something on me and I need to figure out what the fuck it is so I can apologize in a saense.” Tess said as she picked up things from the floor.

Mariah was horrified. These are the kinds of situations that increased her social anxiety. Bumping into someone and spilling their stuff meant that she had to talk to that person and hope that they didn’t get angry with her. She pulled her earbuds out of her ears and put them in her pocket before picking up some of the items that had fallen out of her bag as well. She was about to apologize again when she heard the woman express ‘really’ with some frustration. Her lips instantly closed and she looked down sliding things that belonged to the other woman to her one by one. “I...I’m very sorry. I...I wasn’t looking where I was going. I...I’m sorry.” she said softly before the woman spoke again. She pressed her lips together softly and looked at her with some confusion. “I...I think I just wasn’t looking where I was going. I don’t think you need to apologize to a deity. It was simple physics and gravity.” she said in a soft mumble expecting to see the woman’s eyes to glaze over. It happened whenever she brought up science in a conversation with another person.

[mariahkenmoreblog]

ofbecketts​:

Beck was used to teaching students who were much younger than Mariah, but it didn’t faze him to open the door and see an adult standing there. “Are you Mariah?” He pulled his beanie down over his hair a little more as he nudged the door open with his foot so that there was enough room for her to walk in. “Come on in. Piano’s right over there.” He gestured vaguely towards the corner of the living room in his ranch home—which had once belonged to his parents, now both gone—where he had set up an upright piano with stacks of sheet music shoved into a tall bookshelf nearby and an old-school metronome balanced on top of the piano (decoratively) and a digital metronome sitting on the piano bench (practically). He pulled up a chair next to the piano and invited her to take a seat. “Your mom said that you have some experience, right? You remember anything or not so much?” He usually started working with students after a brief assessment, which was what this was. He couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised to see that Mariah was an adult after speaking with her mother over the phone, but there were plenty of reasons why things might have worked out the way they did. He decided not to ask—it wasn’t his place.

Mariah took a breath as the door opened. She nodded softly as he asked if she as Mariah. He seemed calm, cool, and collected as she walked inside his house quickly gripping the sheet music in her hand a little tighter. The house seemed nice enough. Some things were dated, but Mariah wasn’t much of an interior designer herself. Her mother had bought a lot of the furnishings and placed them strategically around her house. Mariah often wondered if there were secret cameras so her mother could spy on her. She looked in the direction he waved his hand and saw the piano. Her feet took her to the instrument and she sat down. She put her half crumbled sheet music on the stand and stretched her fingers a couple of times. She had practiced for a few weeks feeling like she should impress the teacher who was more than likely expecting a child and not the adult sitting at his piano right now. She looked at the metronomes and her nerves had her tense softly. Her anxiety was already pretty high now she had to keep up with the beat of that old instrument. Mariah moved a bit further down the bench as Beck pulled up a chair to sit closely. She reminded herself that her old piano teacher had to sit there to see what she was doing. Beck was the same. “Umm...yes...I...I started when I was about three and...I stopped at ten. I haven’t sat at a piano since that time. I...do still have some skills. I...I started practicing again once my mom told me she set all this up. I’ve been practicing this piece for the last few weeks. It’s Lacrimosa by Mozart.” she said softly before biting her lip as she set her fingers in the correct spots and started playing keeping her eyes on the sheet music and only there.

[prettyhopelessfools]

Neck Deep

[leucisticraven]

[mariahkenmoreblog]

Where: Beck’s House in Bougainvillea Park For: Beck

Piano lessons. Mariah couldn’t even remember the last time that she had piano lessons. Maybe when she was ten? She remembered coming home and running to her dad’s home office crying that she couldn’t do it anymore. That it was taking her away from studying space and the stars and she just wanted to do more of that instead of sitting at a piano every Saturday morning. There was a talk between her parents. She knew her mother left frustrated and her father left victorious. She never touched a piano again. Until today. Her mother had strongly encouraged her to take up lessons again because she was isolating on the weekends. Her mother being the teacher and fixer that she was immediately set up lessons again so that she would have to interact with just one person hoping that it would make it easier for her to interact with more people. Even, in her thirties, her mother was asserting what she felt was best on her and Mariah went along with it grudgingly. She took a deep breath and smoothed her hair as she made her way to the house that turned out wasn’t far from her own. There were a few old pieces that she vaguely remembered playing as a child so she found the sheet music online and printed it bringing it with her to this first lesson where the teacher would assess her skills. Far quicker than she expected, Mariah found herself in front of Beck’s door. She cleared her throat softly and knocked on the door softly. 

@ofbecketts​

[mariahkenmoreblog]

open

Where: Mainstreet, Downtown Monleon

Mariah sighed as she walked the streets of Main Street. There were so many people and her anxiety was thrumming in her chest. She had brought her earbuds with her to help her cope. She found if she listened to an interesting podcast as she moved along large groups of people that she would feel less anxious. It was the times when she had to go into stores and take the earbuds out that were still difficult. She usually shopped online, but she couldn’t. Her mom was coming to visit during the weekend and she knew she had to get her house looking much better than it was. There were tons of star maps and engineering books on her shelves, but decorative pillows and paintings there were not. She told her mom that she won some specially commissioned art pieces at the gala and her mom insisted she come to her house so they could find the perfect places to put them around her house. While it was always great to spend time with her mom, Mariah knew that she would not appreciate the shabby furniture that was placed around her home. Mariah preferred comfort over looks and matching, but her mom was the exact opposite and would be horrified if she didn’t have different things to pull everything together. So here she was, shopping for her home. She pushed open the door of the next store and bumped into someone. Her mouth opened as things spilled out of their hands. “Oh...oh no. I’m...I’m so sorry. I...I will help you.” she said nervously as she took her earbuds out carefully before bending down to help gather what was spilled.

[wyattmontgomery]

open starter @monleonstarters​ location: moleon memorial hospital charity gala

Wyatt was completely out of his element that night, knowing that it probably showed. He supported local fundraising initiatives, but his teaching salary did not leave a lot of disposable income for attending charity galas - the only reason he was in attendance that night was because a colleague had given him her ticket after she fell sick. After texting the babysitter for the fifth time that night to check in on Noelle, Wyatt plucked another champagne flute from a passing server. “Have you tried any of the cocktails yet? If so, what would you recommend?” he casually asked the person next to him near the bar. He was usually a beer drinker, at least when he did go out for a pint or two. But there was a long list of cocktails, keeping with the 1920′s theme -  Sidecar, The Southside, French 75 to name a few. There was the usual Old Fashioned on the menu, but this was his opportunity to explore different options rather than getting the safe one.

[mariahkenmoreblog]

Mariah wasn’t going to come. She was just going to lie to her boss and say she got a stomach bug that day and couldn’t make it. That was the plan until a bunch of her coworkers started texting her asking where she was. She was okay with lying to one person, but a bunch was just too much for her. That meant getting out the dress her mother had bought and sent to her for the gala and putting it on along with the shoes, hat, jewelry, and gloves. A quick FaceTime with her mom helped get her make up done and she was mom-approved to go out amongst people. She had to do this every time she dressed up because if it was up to Mariah, she would go out in her jeans and t-shirt or not go out at all. She got in her car and drove to the hotel where the gala was being held. She had managed to go to the table that her job had secured and was seen by her coworkers who were simply checking her name off a list that she attended. There was some talk, but not much. It seems only a few other scientists and engineers were the party type. Her other coworkers were building their liquid courage it seemed. Mariah figured she had been here long enough and saw her escape by going to the bar. She would stand there for awhile and once her coworkers were really drunk, she would duck out of the back and go home. She was standing at the bar when a man spoke to her. Her body tensed and then she took a breath like her mother reminded her so her anxiety wouldn’t totally overtake her. “I...I’m sorry...I...I don’t drink. I’ve seen a lot of the drinks made...and...they look very pretty. I’m sure any of them would...would be delicious.” she said with a small nod and grin as her eyes went back to her work table before sneaking a glance at the exit door behind her. One of her coworkers looked over at the bar and she turned slightly to look as though she was engaging with the other man at the bar. “Which did you...plan on sampling?”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

Mariah’s Outfit to the Gala

[mariahkenmoreblog]

logandanvers​:

𝖬𝖠𝖱𝖨𝖠𝖧 𝖪𝖤𝖭𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖤.

“Cosmos,” Logan repeated, committing the name of the documentary to memory. “I’ll be sure to watch that. I grew up watching Star Trek with my mom – it was one of the things we bonded over – and I was always amazed by it. By space. I don’t know why I never tried to learn more. I guess I found it intimidating, because the universe is so… big. Not that I need to tell you – you know.” He couldn’t fathom possessing even half of the knowledge she carried with her, but he was more than willing to exchange some basics about hockey if it meant that he’d be able to learn more about her work and what existed beyond their planet. Hell, he was willing to forgo boring her with the details of the sport he played to just listen. “That sounds like a sport I’d be willing to give a shot – let me know when you come up with a name, yeah?”

Focused on pitching the ball as far as he could for the dogs, Logan missed any cues or indications that Mariah was even the slightest bit nervous. He flashed has a smile when the dogs bolted off together, showing no signs of slowing down, and nodded in agreement. “Alright, we have ourselves a deal.” He was grateful that she took his fascination in stride – not too many people could handle such intense curiosity. “If you’re involved in the briefing or get to talk to them, you gotta tell me what that’s like. I can barely wrap my head around going up there. Imagine how small everything looks… Have you seen pictures or video?” It was a lot to process, and far more interesting to him than his own career, but she was asking questions. “Losing out so close to the final round sucks, but it just means we have more work to do.” He was optimistic to a fault, and it extended beyond him. “The launch is going to be successful. NASA wouldn’t do it if they weren’t sure, right? So you gotta believe everything’s going to go to plan. As for playoffs – when we lose, the season’s over and we go golfing. It’s tradition. And now I get to do what I’ve been looking forward to: enjoying the time off before training starts back up and the new season begins.” A beat passed before he shifted the conversation back to her. “Maybe this is lame, but the launch talk has me thinking: do you have a favorite planet? Or star? There’s a lot of them, so I don’t know how you’d be able to choose, but I feel like it’d be hard not to have a favorite.” 

Mariah smiled softly before nodding. Her eyebrows rose as he mentioned his interest in Star Trek. “I used to love Star Trek. I watched it with my dad. I wanted to work on the ship. I...I thought it was real and my dad didn’t have the heart to tell me it wasn’t.” She had planned it to be her adult life job. She couldn’t complain though. Working for NASA was a great adventure and career. She nodded softly. “Space is ongoing so I can understand your thought process. It can be extremely intimidating, but also incredibly fascinating. And a reminder isn’t bad. I don’t claim to be a complete know-it-all about it. It’s far too vast for anyone to be a know-it-all about.” She chuckled softly and blushed at his question. “How does hoopball sound? Would that make a good sport name?”

Her brown eyes followed the ball and the three dogs running after it. “It’s....it’s a deal.” she nodded softly trying to keep herself composed and cool. She had to be composed and cool as her legs started shaking softly. “I hope to be that special to be in on the debriefing. I know that they are supposed to be sending data back after they get settled which may take awhile. Supplies were sent up before they launched that they need to locate and retrieve. If I see any video prior to the public, you will be the first person I call.” she grinned over to him. “Their training was very extensive and intense. Not many people make it to an actual launch. So many people drop out because the training and tests are too intense.” She winced a little as he explained what his losing meant. “I’m sorry you are missing the next level. Could you gather data on everything that went wrong and make improvements for the next time?” she asked. She wasn’t sure how sports fully worked, but it sounded like they needed a bit of a data gather and debriefing. “At least you get to do what you enjoy now. Other than golf what will you be leisurely enjoying?” she asked looking over at him. She sighed softly and shrugged. “All the coordinates and simulations look favorable, but you never know until you’re actually there and having it. There are millions of things that could go wrong. We hope just like everyone else that it all goes right and we gain more knowledge than we’ve already had.” Mariah smiled softly. “Well all of the planets have their special qualities so picking one is just nearly impossible. I do have a favorite phenomena that happens in space though.” She looked back down at her phone and began pulling up a video. “This is what happens when a star dies. It explodes creating a nebula which is dust and gas spreading slowly into the universe. Isn’t it beautiful?”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

evierhodcs​:

Evie scoffed with a laugh at the mention of a difficult situation. “I personally thrive in them, fixing them and all. But I guess, as they say, prevention is better than cure. Better to avoid it totally than have to fix it.” Truth be told, if difficult situations didn’t arise, Evie would not have a job. She blinked twice when the other woman mentioned not liking coffee at all. “I mean, I get that - lattes are more my speed than black coffee. But matcha is actually tea-based - very caffeinated though, so if your hangup with coffee is the caffeine content then it’s best to avoid the matcha,” Evie explained, taking a sip of her drink. “Not super often, no. I usually go to the smaller café near to my office, but I was out today so I stopped by. Plus, my rewards were expiring soon, so it was the perfect opportunity,” Evie stated with a shrug. “What about you, you a regular here?” she asked, in an attempt to be polite. The woman seemed awkward and not one for conversation, but Evie liked getting to know people - you never knew when you’d need them.

Mariah was a bit shocked when the woman said she thrived in difficult situations. She had heard of people like that, but she never counted on meeting one. “That must be a very resourceful trait. I like to avoid disasters when I can.” Mariah liked to avoid all social interactions if she was honest, but there was no need to share that. She nodded softly as the woman spoke about the differences between matcha and coffee. She didn’t know that her tea had more caffeine in it, but that wasn’t the reason she didn’t like coffee. “I actually don’t like the taste or smell of coffee. It turns my stomach. Even with sugar or that cream stuff it still has this underlying taste of harsh copper or rust even. I just don’t like the flavor or aroma.” she said shaking her head. It mostly applied to when a cup of coffee was in front of her. She wasn’t as bothered standing in a coffee shop with the aroma, but a cup in front of her made her gag on a few occassions. Mariah nodded as she explained her reason for choosing this little cafe in particular and took some sips of her warm drink. “Yes, this is near my job. I work for NASA so it’s not far from here.” she nodded when she realized it was her turn to share. “What do you do for a living?”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

logandanvers‌:

𝖬𝖠𝖱𝖨𝖠𝖧 𝖪𝖤𝖭𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖤‌.

“The sun is a star?” Logan asked, mildly incredulous, drawing back slightly in his spot on the bench as the three dogs bounded up to him at once, the tennis ball snug in Amelia’s mouth this time until she deposited it in his hand, drool and all. “Damn, you really do learn something new every day. I need to start watching documentaries about this stuff.” Mariah’s position at NASA was one that Logan knew and understood little about, but he was always interested in what she had to share in their passing conversations at the park. It seemed far more worthwhile than anything he’d done in his own profession. 

Her question of whether his sport involved hoops or bats drew a hearty laugh from him. “It’s a stick, a puck and a net, but it’d probably be more fun with hoops and bats. You might be onto something there.” Chuckling, he accepted the ball when it was returned by Galaxy and tossed it for the dogs once more. “Yeah, I’ll be around more often – and hey, that means I can fill you in on hockey, if you want, and maybe you can teach me more about space? And the launch? Is it just the spacecraft going up there? Like, empty? Or are you sending people or some sort of equipment?” The questions tumbled out of him in quick succession, prompting him to pause to draw a breath. He didn’t want to completely overwhelm her. “The playoffs were… a little disappointing. We finished in the second round; could’ve been worse, but it was rough to lose the last game, game seven, at home. If I’m being honest, though, all of that stuff just seems so unimportant compared to space. I mean, something you worked on is going up there! That’s incredible. When’s the launch?”

Mariah bit her lip softly and rose her eyebrows as Logan seemed impressed by the bit of knowledge she dropped on him. She didn’t think it was that earth shaking, but she was more happy that his eyes didn’t glaze over like most people’s did. Galaxy came over to her briefly as the dogs waited for Logan to throw the ball again and she pet him softly before watching him run off. His mention of documentaries instantly peaked her interest. “There are so many phenomenal documentaries about the sun and stars in general. You should definitely look into the Cosmos. It explains things wonderfully and tells you how absolutely amazing our universe is.” Mariah could talk all day about space. It was the one subject that she didn’t get anxious about or overthink her answers. 

She looked at him hopefully and laughed a little after his. It was hard not to. Logan’s laugh always seemed to produce a laugh in others...well at least her. “Oh, a puck, a stick, and a net. I have to remember that. Maybe I’ll make up the next new sport with my answer.” she shrugged and smirked softly. Yeah right, the girl that knew absolutely nothing about sports actually creating one. That would be the biggest joke in all the universe. She grinned as Galaxy found the ball and brought it back to Logan wagging his tail happily. Her heart crawled into her throat as he told her that he would be willing to teach her about hockey and she could teach him about space. “Um...okay. That...that would be fantastic....or cool. Yeah, cool.” she nodded as nonchalantly as she could even though her heartbeat was pounding in her ears. His question were a bit rapid fire, but Mariah was able to keep up. “It’s set to happen Saturday afternoon weather permitting.We are sending people up in the spacecraft to stay for a portion of time. And they will be conducting some experiments up there. It will be an amazing feat to find out all the exploration data and experiment data. I hope I get to review it and even speak with the astronauts or at least be in on the briefing.” She really hoped she was invited in to it. She nodded showing she was understanding his perspective of the playoffs. “I’m sure that’s extremely disappointing. I suppose it would feel like not having the space launch on the first scheduled date. I know I was disappointed about that.” she frowned. Mariah smiled softly and nodded. “I feel pretty special. I hope it lasts during blast off. I calculated everything right, but you just never know until it actually happens. Please don’t downplay your career. It’s very important to you. So what happens after you lose the playoffs?”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

logandanvers‌:

𝖬𝖠𝖱𝖨𝖠𝖧 𝖪𝖤𝖭𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖤.

Mariah was welcome company in the park, which was otherwise comprised of owners who seemed disinterested in engaging in socializing. Always keen to chat, Logan sometimes had to remind himself that there were people out there in the world that just wanted to be left alone. Reading body language was fundamental to understanding where someone might be on the sliding scale between an openness to talk and do not, under any circumstances, acknowledge me. While Mariah had been somewhat immersed in whatever she was reading on her phone, he didn’t register any outward appearance of her being conversation-averse in the moment, especially when she waved back at him. “Yeah, but it said on Twitter that there was some backwards-moving universe or something that ran parallel to ours. Are you telling me Twitter is wrong?” he joked, grinning over at her. Lily had given him the don’t believe everything you read online pep talk a thousand times, and he knew better, but making a wisecrack was all too easy in the presence of such stunning intelligence. He wasn’t even sure he knew what empirical evidence was. “Yeah, everything’s alright! I was on the road for a bit. Playoff season. But that’s done and dusted, so you can expect to see this mug hanging around here more often. What’s new with you?”

Mariah was usually to be counted among the vast amount of people in the park that wanted no conversation with others. She had learned how to hold a book or her phone in a way that would give people the idea that she didn’t want to be talked to. However, she had also been guilty of people watching lately. She happened to be inconspicuously doing just that when she heard Logan’s voice and waved at him. Of course, that would invite him over to her. She smoothed her hair down a little as a gentle breeze blew it. She gave him a half smile. “If Twitter is correct then the sun isn’t a star that we revolve around.” she said chuckling a little at her own joke. It was a joke that she frequently told herself in her head. Maybe it was a bit funnier in her head. She nodded as he told her that everything was fine and was relieved. On the road. Playoff season...right, he did played that sport...what was it again? “Hockey! Right you were competing in hockey. Is that the one with the hoops or the one with bats?” She had never given any interest into sports. She frequently got them confused from different conversations that she overheard or on commercials, but that was about it. “Oh, so you’ll be at the park more often...That’s just phenomenal.” she said happily. Maybe too happily. She recollected herself and shrugged. “Nothing really. Still working for NASA and taking care of Galaxy. Right now I’m looking for the evidence of a budding galaxy by looking at star maps from the past two years. I plan to gather evidence and write an essay on it with the correct evidence that will be peer reviewed. The new space launch is also happening pretty soon so I’ll be there for that as well. I helped engineer the door on the spacecraft at work. It’s a bit overwhelming and exhilarating all at the same time. Were your playoffs successful?”

[playtymeisover]

[fashiontribe]

ig tikasumpter

[logandanvers]

📍 𝖬𝖮𝖭𝖫𝖤𝖮𝖭 𝖣𝖮𝖦 𝖯𝖠𝖱𝖪 with @mariahkenmoreblog​.

Being on the road, on and off, for the better part of the year meant Logan was only privy to the joy of taking the Danvers dogs to the local off-leash park when his scheduled allowed. It was precisely why he took the time in the off-season to bring them by and let them run wild with other dogs in the area. Socialization was important for them, and it was a good opportunity for him to do his share of it, too. Pet parents were always eager to talk about their dogs; it was an easy conversation starter that opened the door to learning more about his neighbors. Sat on the bench at the edge of the park, he pitched a tennis ball across the grassy field and watched as Bruce and Amelia chased it down, his Australian Shepherd outpacing his sister’s chocolate Lab. When the pair of dogs returned the ball to him, a third dog was following close behind – Galaxy, he realized, which meant Mariah was nearby. Glancing about the park, he soon located the dog’s owner. “Hey, stranger!” he called out before tossing the ball again, sending the pack of dogs running off once more. “How’s it going? Hey, I gotta ask you about the stuff in the news – is it true? The stuff about a parallel universe? NASA doesn’t have to know you told me. Just blink twice and it’ll be our secret.”

[mariahkenmoreblog]

Mariah wasn’t the best in public, but she knew her dog, Galaxy, loved the dog park. He was probably the friendliest and most social dog there. He loved getting to be around other dogs and people as well. Sometimes, Mariah felt guilty because she knew that her dog thrived around people and she just didn’t so she tended to stay inside instead of go out. She happened to be in one of her guilty moments as Galaxy brought his leash to her to go for a walk. Their walk ended them up at the dog park. Galaxy settled with a group of dogs running from one end of the park to the other while Mariah settled on a bench scrolling through star maps. She had completely lost track of time until she heard Galaxy’s bark and looked up seeing he was waiting for someone to throw a ball. That someone was none other than Logan Danvers. She gave him a shaky wave as her stomach clenched as he made his way over to her. She hadn’t seen him in awhile and had almost forgot about him until just that moment. She always got a bit more nervous around him and she wasn’t fully ready to admit why. She gave him a small smile as he spoke. “I...I told you before, Logan that parallel universes are just something in comic books. There has been studies, but no empirical...evidence to suggest their existence. The studies have not even been peer reviewed so it’s just...people theorizing and grasping at straws in an attempt to get some kind of recognition and fame at the cost of serious space study.” She licked her lips and looked around the park. Had she said too much? She never knew the right thing to say. “You...you’ve been away. Is everything alright?” she asked taking a breath.