Surprisingly not many people actually thanked Colt for his service. half of the towns he moved to were base towns and the civilians there saw so many service members that it was hardly news while the other half tended to be more in line with what he would consider a college town and, really, for the most part students didn’t have a particularly high opinion of the military, especially once they knew what his actual job within it was. “Oh, you’re welcome.” He rushed out, even after twelve years he still never knew how to respond properly.
“You say that now but I think we make those photojournalist’s lives a livin’ hell over there. I remember this one kid, Jacobs, man my boys joked on him all day long. I think he hated us more than the enemy did.” He laughed.
“I work on the base just outside of town, actually. I moved here about three years ago, comin’ up in January.” He couldn’t actually believe he had been here that long. It seemed like only yesterday he had been sent home from his last tour of duty, a bullet wound in his shoulder and half of his squad coming home in caskets.
He shook that from his head, though the gnawing need to get a drink had already begun to claw at his stomach and chest.
“Well, even if you do enjoy bein’ on the sidelines do you think I could interest you in a drink?”
mitzi couldn’t help but giggle and slightly pout at the news of poor jacob. she was glad that, although she got a few looks of dismay and some rude responses, she didn’t know ‘pain’ like that. “oh, gosh, that poor guy!”
“that’s so neat! and me too!” she exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. “well,” she quieted down after realizing her unnecessary outburst. “i’ve lived in baltimore my whole life.. but i’ve lived in the apartments nearby for almost 3 years on my own, so.” she smiled at the thought, before shrugging away the idea sheepishly since it probably wasn’t much of a feat to the gentleman.
his question made her slowly raise both brows. “uhh..” though she wasn’t much of a drinker, was she going to let her fear alone keep her from enjoying a few sips with a handsome man at a winter wonderland ball? absolutely not! “yes.” she decided, beaming broadly and turning off her camera.
her tone sounds doubtful when she talks about his macho beauty and it makes him scoff, mocking offence before he flexes his arm, pointing out his barely-there bicep and he goes to retort, but then the genuine compliment comes and he’s not sure how to respond to it. elvis drops his arm and tugs at his shirt slightly, bashful, “y’think so? thanks, mitz! flattery’s always nice but when a beautiful girl like yourself gives it, well, that should keep my ego goin’ for weeks!” his tongue is peeking out from between his teeth playfully, before he scrunches up his nose. now, elvis doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable or anything, but he knows that she really should document herself and her own beauty once in a while, but he understands the dread of being shoved into the centre of attention, “well, uh, can y’take selfies with these things?” he points at her camera, “we’ll get one of us both, yeah? i can hang it on my fridge!” he laughs, hoping that’s a safe compromise.
“shush!” mitzi grinned widely in response, her cheeks now tinted an obvious pink. compliments, even just casual ones, always got to her that way. her eyebrow shot up at the proposition, and she liked the compromise.. and she didn’t think she had any selfies with elvis just yet. and they both looked nice, so it was a perfect opportunity! “aw, that’s actually a great idea!” she said it without thinking, almost frowning afterwards. “sorry, i didn’t mean... that you don’t have great ideas. i just mean — ” she stopped herself before she made it any worse. “sorry. let’s just take the picture?” she squeaked out, smiling before getting up close next to him, hoping she didn’t look too terribly awkward. she pointed the camera at them, but even holding it at arms length was doing them no justice. she laughed a little at herself, and went to hand the camera to the other. “here, i’m too short!!” she pouted out, clearly never living down the history of her height of 5′1. “you’ll have to take it. just hold it up and hit this button when you’re ready.. and beware the flash!!” she instructed, beaming and beginning to pose once more.
like the natural attention-craver he is, declan finds himself comfortable in front of the lens. at home, really, as if he were meant for it. what more could a man who spent his childhood waist deep in fashion magazines want, anyway? his pose comes effortlessly, as does the next one. quite frankly he’s just as excited to be the subject of a photo as she is to be taking one. once the pictures are snapped he closes the distance between the two and cranes his head over her shoulder to get a peek at just how photogenic he really is. “wow—not to be THAT bitch, but what an iconic moment.” he lets out a little sigh of contentment, placing a hand against his chest. “are these being posted somewhere or are you just a little weirdo collecting photos of people? because i’m fine with either, honestly.”
mitzi nods enthusiastically, always ready to play the hype woman. “so true!! you are that bitch!” she agreed before giggling nervously, squinting her eyes in some thought as she tried to gather her answer. “um... kind of both? they’re being posted everywhere, i think, so look out for that! but i like collecting my work, too, which now i’m thinking may actually be a little.. weird? since no one really knows. or thinks about that... or asks...” she trailed off finally, wringing her hands together a moment before shrugging. “oh, well!”
The woman’s excitement and sunny demeanor was infectious and although Colt usually tended to remain stoic even in situations where it wasn’t completely appropriate to do so he found himself smiling back at the girl just as brightly. “You ain’t gotta thank me, ma’am. If anything I should be thankin’ you. I think the last time I took a picture in uniform was,” he tilted his head, his eyes squinting as he thought about when the last time he had actually taken a picture in uniform was. It had to have been on his last deployment. “Well when I was overseas, but that uniform ain’t nearly as nice as this one so-” He trailed off with a breathy laugh. It might have been a small town thing, but once you got him talking he’d talk your ear off if you let him.
“I’m from Georgia, but you mighta guess as much.” He chuckled. He had been all over the world but he had never been able to get rid of the accent, if anything he felt like it was getting more pronounced the older he got.
He brought himself back to the task at hand and set his hat carefully on his head, making sure it was straight before settling into an awkward pose. He had never been great at taking photos. “I hope you’re gettin paid for this. You’re missing one helluva party behind that lens.”
her brown orbs never left his as he spoke, and she smiled. mitzi wouldn’t have minded if he talked to her for hours longer, even if she had a job to do. sure, she’d be a little stressed, but she loved listening to others and giving them her full attention. her eyebrows perked up then. “well, thank you so much for your service!” she exclaimed. “i’m sure all your uniforms were nice. it’s my pleasure to take a photo of you in any of them, anyway,” she said and giggled, rocking on the heels of her feet a few times.
“ohh, that explains the accent! are you just visiting the city?” she asked, already curious. she hadn’t left baltimore much, and her mind began dreamily wandering, pondering what overseas and georgia were like.
“oh!” she remembered, too, that she was supposed to be taking his photo when he began to put his hat on. she backed up to get him into frame, adjusting the lens, and snapped one or two photos, checking her screen to make sure they were good ones. “thank you! they’re awesome,” she told him as she looked through the ones she’d gathered so far. “luckily, i am! it’s something i do on the side sometimes.. but i’d probably do it anyway,” she admitted and glanced around the room to see all of the people shaking their butts and drinking plenty. she laughed softly. “don’t worry,” she paused to whisper to him, as if telling a secret. “i don’t mind.”
where was the food? that was elvis’ priority the moment he entered this place. after all, he’d separated himself from his dreamcast to come to this thing, it made sense to jump straight from one thing he loved to another. elvis tried, he really did, to seem like the brooding, uninterested type, that he couldn’t care less if he was here or not, that he was too cool for this kinda’ thing, but the facade faded the moment he arrived and his giddy, not-so-inner child broke out at the sight of the decorations and the sound of the music and the elegance of everyone around him. who was he kidding? this stuff was awesome! to others, he may have looked a little awkward, just stood in the centre of the room gawking at everything, but he was in his own little world, until – “uh?” everything processes slowly in his brain, then he looks at the camera. oh! he chuckles, “i knew you’d recognise my macho beauty one day, mitz, was only a matter o’time,” there’s a stupid grin on his face, “y’can have one o’me if i can get one o’you afterwards, y’look amazin’!” he’s being sincere, the other truly looks beautiful. mitzi was always a solid ten in elvis’ eyes, but now she was just … woah.
playfully, mitzi rolled her eyes at elvis’ reply, the big grin she got when around her friends arriving rapidly. it wasn’t going to budge now, especially as a few soft giggles left her. “oh, hush. macho beauty? what a strange way to phrase it!” she said between laughter. “you do clean up super nice, though,” she assured him, hoping it didn’t sound like she was denying anything he’d said thus far. elvis did clean up super duper nice actually, and for a second, it had taken her off guard. she’d looked him up and down a few times now without even realizing it. she bit her lip suddenly when he decided to compliment her in return, blushing a bit. “hmm, i don’t know if i can make that deal! it’s funny, but i’m not really a PICTURE-Y kinda gal..” she trailed off as if that made any sense, her photography camera in hand the entire while. she gave a small, shameful shrug and a cheeky smile.
drunk on a mixture of wine and holiday cheer, declan’s got a little more pep in his step than he normally does, which is quite a lot to begin with. but any excuse to dress up and drink is a good one, and it’s nothing but expected that the night would turn out this way for him. he’s a social butterfly, flitting around all night to different people, both familiar and the opposite, making pleasant conversation and having manners for once, but he stops dead in his tracks when he sees the young woman cupping a camera in her hand. he wastes no time flashing her a charming smile, gaze flitting down to the camera in hand. “are you kidding me? i was BORN to have my picture taken, girl,” he assures, perhaps a little too excited about the whole idea, but he swears he was a model in a past life. “you may absolutely take my photo. in fact, i insist that you do.”
mitzi ALMOST jumped in excitement, a little too over enthused about just taking photos. but she’d had some people who waved her off, or simply acted like they hadn’t heard her. which wasn’t new to her at events like this, though she might’ve been a little discouraged. some people just weren’t photogenic, hated pictures, were tired of cameras, or just figured they were too good for them. so when someone liked and wanted their photo taken, she was ready, all eyes and all camera. “yay! alright, strike a pose!” she instructed, beaming. she snapped a photo or two, checking the screen to make sure they were as she’d hoped, and she couldn’t help the happy ‘eep’ that left her lips (and immediately regretted it). “thank you so much! you look awesome,” she told him, showing him the photos she’d taken.
Colt didn’t really know why he even took the time to come to the winter wonderland ball. It wasn’t exactly his scene, with overflowing towers of champagne flutes and polite small talk with what seemed to be a majority of the city but the ticket money did go to a good cause, even if he always felt a bit silly walking around in his dress blues.
“A picture?” The request took him off guard and his eyes darted around to see if the woman could possibly be talking to someone else, she had to be. There was no way she was asking him.
“Uh, well I have to dress like this at these formal sorta events,” He explained with a bashful dip of his head, “but sure, if you wanna picture I’d be happy to oblige.” He said, his accent thick as he smiled encouragingly. He reached for the white hat that had been tucked carefully under his arm but hesitated before quirking an eyebrow at the girl, “You want the hat on or off?”
mitzi watched as he glanced around, scared she’d made him uncomfortable, but her smile never faltered. “i totally understand!” she exclaimed, giving a chuckle and an eyeroll with the idea. she never dressed up too fancy, but this formal event did call for all the trouble. it was either look really nice, or be prepared to be stared at — and not in the good way. and he looked really nice. “thank you,” she said excitedly. “i love your accent, by the way!” she was a sucker for accents, but who wasn’t? mitzi brought a thinking finger to her lips, clearly concentrated, looking the man’s outfit up and down before her eyes flickered to the hat, and then back again. “hmmm, definitely on.”
“a picture of ME?” jeremy immediately was dabbing, ridiculously so. “hell YEAH. i didn’t trade my yeezy’s for NOTHING tonight. have you seen this PINK SUIT? tell me, who could pull this off? who? only someone with this much melatonin, and that’s the truth.” he threw up the peace sign next, as if the world was his photoshoot, before grinning and straightening back up. “how ‘bout instead of hiding behind that camera, you have a drink? you look pretty awesome YOURSELF, you know. gotten a photo of yourself yet? i’m the master of a good selfie.” that was a lie, but it was a PHOTOGRAPHY camera. what’s the worst that could happen?
a giggle escaped mitzi, but it quickly turned into a look of sheer horror. “you traded your yeezy’s?!” her horrified expression slowly disappeared as she studied jeremy’s suit, the shade of pink complementing his skin tone perfectly. “it does look like it was worth it!! i have seen — and love — your pink suit!!” she nodded in agreement, a big, amused smile plastered on her face. “that is the TRUTH!” she echoed, giving him a few celebratory claps. he did look stunning. next, mitzi brought her camera into position, the flash of the snapping photo illuminating everything around them. she glanced at the screen to make sure it was good and grinned. “thanks, it looks great!” his next words made her shift on her feet and look off into the ball. “hmmm, i don’t really drink that much. and it’s sort of like drinking on the job.. maybe just one, though!” her cheeks flushed a pink similar to jeremy’s suit and she shook her head immediately, laughing. “thank you, but there’s no way i’m getting into any of these pictures tonight.”
being asked to photograph the winter wonderland ball wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to her. she did spend more than enough of her time to look decent, and unless the mirror had lied to her, mitzi didn’t look HALF bad. so she was determined to make it a nice night, worthy of her make-up and hair efforts! she walked along the ballroom, her camera’s strap around her neck. she set her eyes on someone dressed incredibly and she was in awe, her gaze starting from their toes and finding their face. she caught their eye, and she blushed instantly, a short laugh escaping her nose in embarrassment. “sorry! can i take a picture of you?” she raised a brow, gesturing with her camera in hand. “it’s okay if you say no. you just look, um — amazing!”
“success looks like.. not having to look at price tags when you shop? or when your parents say they’re proud of you. oh, or when you get enough points on the chick-fil-a app to get a free sandwich!!”
sunny exhaled, a cloud a smoke escaping her mouth as she stared at her phone, wishing she hadn’t just had the conversation she just had with her father. everything was fine, but talking about ‘when i’m gone’ stuff just depressed her. she didn’t want pop to ever be gone, even if he did get on her nerves. so, she walked out of the party to sit outside and smoke, and at least try to keep calm, but the sniffling (and the tears that were still wet on her cheeks) made it obvious that she was upset.
it was all just getting to be a little too much. the commotion, the music, the people.. it wasn’t necessarily her style. plus, mitzi’s arms were starting to get tired of holding her camera to take all the photographs, so she needed a break. and a breath of fresh air. after getting outside, she began to take her first deep breath of the cold crispness before she heard a few, soft sniffles. her brown orbs found the familiar female sitting alone, the lights from the ball illuminating her damp cheeks. mitzi walked over to plop beside her. “hey..” she slightly cooed. “you don’t look so... sunny. are you okay?” she frowned. “— sorry. that was.. stupid. i mean, what’s wrong?”
✧ —* » [ vanessa hudgens, cisfemale, she/her, 23 ] FIREFLIES by OWL CITY? whenever i hear that song, it reminds me of MITZI SANTOS. maybe because they’re DILIGENT but also NAIVE. they’ve been living at mulberry apartments since MAY of 2016 in APARTMENT 105 and have 1 ROOMMATE. ( HAPPY WORKING SONG BY AMY ADAMS (EMPLOYEE), PRETTY WHEN YOU CRY BY LANA DEL REY, SPACE SONG BY BEACH HOUSE ) [ lu, she/her, 18, est ]
hey guys it’s lu, also known as poo, jk, anyway, i play harry too, n i’m here to give u his polar opposite, in all ways :’)
basics:
* mitzi was born on september 7th, 1995 & was raised in baltimore her whole life. she is currently working 2 jobs + attending college.
* she’s a virgo and bc i love irony and also bc im garbage, she is also an actual ‘virgin,’ (pertaining to the concept cough cough) but!! she has assumed her sexuality is pansexual regardless of this. she just wanna love ur soul.
* she is the middle child of the santos siblings (WC!!). she has a slightly younger sister + and older brother, faceclaims upt!! pls bring me the wholesome family i need lmao. they are half filipino (dad’s side), half german/native american (mom’s side). hmu with questions or further plotting!
* she is a baker at goose pie’s as well, and she is also a photographer!! she does weddings, birthdays, any special events!! she’s v talented at taking photos n editing them, and its one of her most loved hobbies + its extra money hehe
* she wants to teach high school ap literature & composition, as she loves the youth and teaching in general. more into reading than writing, but she adores both, and she could analyze a book for days even if she knows the author didn’t mean for it to be that deep... but she tryna educate the future tho ya feel me. she’s currently in uni for this and is v close to graduating (yay student debt!!)
* she has been in the mullberry building for almost 3 years, so feel f r e e to assume connections!!
personality:
* mitzi is sometimes outspoken and can get ‘smart’, but that’s bc she is a lil smart and (as i said) loves teaching!! even in every day conversations. but don’t worry, she is just as kind as it gets.
* she has the moral compass of, like, jesus....... she is so down to earth and would never hurt anyone intentionally. she’s usually on the receiving end of hurt, always getting trampled over bc she’s, at times, too sensitive, trusting, and loving.
* she’ll always be there for u, and will always be silly to try and cheer you up. she’s trustworthy and a problem solver!! she’s a modest, yet hopeless romantic too, but that’s her dirty secret, but if she ever fell in true love, she’d be so fucked bc it’d be so wholeheartedly she wouldn’t even know what to do w herself.
* despite all that, she IS the type to give u realistic advice, just in the sweetest way she can lol... she isn’t outgoing or crazy, but she’s willing to try n have fun!! she be high and drunk on life!! she also needs 2 be pushed out of shell more bc she can b a nervous, skeptical bean smh :/
i’ll add to/revise this as i go but yeah!! hmu here or on discord for plots :)
annaxmalina
germansingergirl
vaporwave
izzy806
origamiaround
dededos
romaincrisis
snowghoul
