📍location: Schomburg Center, The Annual Women's Musical Festival
“Give me that—where did you find this?” Thiffany whispered loudly, her voice barely hidden beneath the music that filled the room. She had no one to accompany her to the festival. Everybody had bailed and made excuses, but she knew most of them dreaded sitting in a room listening to jazz music and lectures. So she had used her blackmail material and emotional manipulation tactics in order to drag Elias, of all people, there. And now she was dealing with the consequences.
"Have you got even an ounce of shame on you? What is this?" Thiffany asked in both amusement and perplexity as the woman walked toward her. She had been in line for quite a while, promising to arrive early so they wouldn’t have to wait too long before going in. And she was right to do so: it was barely 10 o’clock, and the place was already packed.
"I know we don't know each other that well, but you can talk to me, ok?" She looked at the younger girl face with soft eyes. They were just closing and finishing their shift, the rest of the staff cleaning up around them. It had been a busy day, so Thiffany didn't have time to check on her during it, but she definetely noticed the girl wasn't her usual self that day.
"Hey,hi, um... hello,” Ben called awkwardly, one hand raised to get the person’s attention while the other grabbed at the fabric of his pants, trying to subtly free himself from the thing attempting to eat his leg.
“Is this…” He waved his hand in the air, gesturing toward the dog growling and forcefully tugging at him. “…yours?” he asked, a strained smile on his lips as if he were trying to act like the situation was completely normal and as if he wasn't extremely scared and uncomfortable.
Atlas was absolutely stir crazy. Another weekend of snow so bad that neither he nor Mulder could go outside lest they risk getting lost a few steps outside of the building. That was why, despite his rather nice coffee machine in his apartment, he was sitting in Deja Brew with his laptop set up for editing. Normally Atlas wouldn't have dared such a thing because his focus was tenuous to say the least. Case in point, Atlas had barely opened up the video he wanted to post before he was chatting. "No, what I'm saying is that they have perfected the process of making oat milk to where we can steam it into an extremely decent cappuccino. No need to keep cow milk as the default."
"Have you taken into consideration that oat milk is simply nasty?” Thiffany said with a smirk, wiping the table beside her brother’s laptop. She was short-staffed today and had to fill in the gaps. She didn’t mind, since it gave her a chance to chat with the people who came in and out, which she loved to do. “Extremely decent is not extremely good, baby bro. I only keep it on the menu because that’s the only thing these Gen-Whatever types drink.”
who: elias & open ( @arconiastarters )
where: deja brew
DEJA BREW IS PACKED, a common occurrence for an apartment complex as big as this and being the only coffee shop within the walls of said complex. So it's a little bit of a surprise when Eli manages to get a whole table all to himself after getting the biggest coffee the girl at the counter would sell him. He's just about to take a sip of it, fingers already pulling up his FYP on TikTok, when a shadow blocks the overhead lighting. "You can have the extra seat, but fair warning. All I've talked about lately is Punch the Monkey and I have a lot of feelings about it."
Ben hugged his drink closer to his chest, his anxiety spiking as people around him pushed and shoved past him. He wasn’t sure why he was there, but he hasn’t really left the house since he arrived, and he needed to push himself so he wouldn’t fall back into old habits.
So he nudged his way inside and scanned the room for a place to sit, until his eyes landed on gold. The guy was handsome, and there was plenty of room by his side. See? Leaving the house doesn’t hurt that much. Except maybe it does, because now he has to either pretend to know what this guy is talking about or spend his time there standing.
“Um… I think you meant Donkey Kong? Like the video game?”
( amber riley, female, she/her ) ✧ ⸻ was that THIFFANY WILLIAMS walking through the doors of the arconia this morning? i heard they just moved in to PARTMENT 902 from ROAD ISLAND, U.S.A, The 40 year old works as a/an MANAGER AT DEJA BREW seems like they’d be NURTURING but also a little bit EGOCENTRIC. whenever i see THIFFANY, i always think of SPICY PERFUME, FADED BAND T SHIRTS AND KEYCHAIN COLLECTION.
✧ ⸻Thiffany was born and raised in a deeply musical and deeply religious family. Her mother was a music teacher at the very school she studied at, and her dad owned a small recording company while playing the piano at the church on sundays.
✧ ⸻Watching this, her and her older sister, who were like two peas in the pod, would daydream of music, and having a career in it. They started by singing together in the church, than at small events and competitions held near by where they lived. They became a semi-famous duo around their neighbourhood, but that wasn't enough. By the time they were in their early 20s, youtube came around. They started a small channel, mostly doing covers of Janet Jackson songs, but it quickly grabbed the attention of a few people. Things were quickly looking up for them. Too quickly.
✧ ⸻ Her sister, being too flirty for her own good, ended up getting pregnant in a one nigh stand. Their parents and siblings were disappointed, their overly religious house became hell, but Thiffany stood by her. Her sister, on the other hand, didn't show gratitude, and spent more time checking their now abandoned YouTube channel comment section and complaining about how everything was ruined than looking out for her kid. She complained and whined until one day she simply left, deciding to chase the dream on her own, leaving her own child behind.
✧ ⸻ Thiffany took hold of the situation, and quickly became a serogate mother for the child, applying herself in growing as an adult to give them a better chance in life. She studied food business, as she was already working as a bartender in a place that deeply appreciated her work. She became a manager there in no time, until a better opportunity in New York City appeared.
✐ᝰ PERSONALITY:
✧ ⸻ Nurturing and Hospitable.
✧ ⸻ Innovative, peculiar and quirky: She doesn't follow anything just because it's "in" and she doesn't do anything in order to fit in.
✧ ⸻ Detached, rational, centered: She doesn't get emotional easily, and likes to think herself as above that sort of thing. Sometimes she can come off as apathetic because of it. She is the kind of person that thinks "if i can do it, so can you" without taking anything else into consideration.
✧ ⸻ Fun-loving, easy-going, outgoing.
✧ ⸻ Loyal and responsible.
✧ ⸻ Egocentric and materialistic: Everything should be in the way and order she likes it or no deal!
✧ ⸻ Independent
✧ ⸻ Charming and Flirtatious.
✐ᝰ MISC
✧ ⸻ She is the manager now, but she misses being a bartender. She loved making drinks. She still makes them for anyone that comes over.
✧ ⸻ Her music taste is all over the place. Her favorite musicians are both Janet Jackson and Slipknot.
✧ ⸻ Cannot swim and is deeply scared of the ocean.
✧ ⸻ She got asked her hand in marriage in front of her old job, and she declined out of embarrassment.
✧ ⸻ She is obsessed with cooking shows. She watched every single one available on streaming.
✧ ⸻ She has a collection of scrapbooks she has build over the years.
✧ ⸻ Loves vídeo games and by that she means she loves the sims and stardew valley.
☆ NEPHEW: [early 20s, any faceclaim]: Thiffany has raised her nephew since she was very young, and made everything so they would grow firm and strong despiste their mother's disapearence. They live together in a one bedroom apartment, as for now.
☆ REGULARS TURNED FRIENDS (OR LOVERS): Deja Brew is one of the busiest place in town, and it is granted that Thiffany being the manager knows everyone that comes in and out of the place.
☆ COWORKER [antagonistic]: Someone who wants to take Thiffany's place as the manager.
☆ EX-BOYFRIEND/ALMOST FIANCÉ [any age and faceclaim]: Someone who was deeply in love with Thiffany, but that could have worked out. If only they haven't asked her hand in public, right in front of her workplace, without talking to her prior.
☆ FLINGS [any gender, age or fc]: Just people she can be romantic interested in in general.
( sam reid, male, he/him ) ✧ ⸻ was that BENJAMIN HUDSON walking through the doors of the arconia this morning? i heard they just moved in to PARTMENT 302 from MELBOURN, AUSTRALIA. the 39 year old works as a/an FLORIST seems like they’d be EXPRESSIVE but also a little bit SENSITIVE. whenever i see BEN, i always think of SUPERHERO COMIC-BOOKS, FISHING TRIPS AND COZY SWEATERS.
✧ ⸻The only child of Lilian Roy Fitzgerald, a kindergarden teacher who split her time taking care of her own and other people's children. She was good at it.
✧ ⸻ His father left him when he was still in the womb, and his mother never told him why. He tried to make contact with him as an adult, but the man didn't want anything to do with him.
✧ ⸻Regardless of that he had a great childhood, although he was rather sheltered and spoiled. A mama's boy and a teachers' pet to his core.
✧ ⸻Ben always has been unsure of himself. He spent too much time trying to please others: to be the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect boyfriend, that he would neglect his own wants and needs to the point where he wasn't sure what he really wanted. It took a long time (and a lot of pain and despair) for him to accept himself as bi.
✧ ⸻He had a dream of becoming an actor, and he was getting there. From commercial role, to small TV appearences in australian TV shows, he was next to getting his big shot. Or so he thought. Another client of his manager, a far bigger and more important one, was caught in a big scandal: he was cheating on his wife. The manager, scared of smudging the man's "wife guy" persona, sold Benjamin's own personal business out as an exchange. "Rising Teen Heartthrob's Secret Gay Affair." BOOM. Closeted gay relationship beats cheating on your wife everytime.
✧ ⸻He wasn't brave enough to face it. He didn't went to interviews to talk about it, he didn't went to his twitter to thank his very small fanbase for their support. He simply gave it all up. He couldn't handle people knowing something he wasn't even ready to admit to himself.
✧ ⸻It took a long time for him to get out of bed, and when he did, he did so with a new attitude. He realized he wasn't sure of who he was, and he was gonna find out. He set himself up for backpeck travelling, getting to know himself by getting to know other people, other cultures. His third place for living after 5 years of starting this trip is nowhere other than the U.S.A. And what better place to start than the big apple?
✐ᝰ PERSONALITY:
✧ ⸻Expressive and honest: Benjamin might be a bit timid and soft spoken, but it's interesting to notice that he vocalizes everything he thinks. Sometimes he can come off a bit blunt, but people are quick to excuse him.
✧ ⸻ Socially awkward and formal: He doesn't understand irony and takes everything literally. He also has a hard time just letting lose. Spontaneity is a word that doesn't exist in his vocabulary.
✧ ⸻Overly-sensitive.
✧ ⸻Loyal.
✧ ⸻Excitable.
✧ ⸻Guilt-prone, cowardly and a people pleaser.
✐ᝰ MISC
✧ ⸻Ben has been diagnosed with autism barely two months before getting to Arconia.
✧ ⸻ He is a big geek. A lover of comic-books, vídeo games, cinema. Catch him at a comic book-store or at a the theater any time he isn't working. Or puzzling a puzzle. He loves those!
✧ ⸻ He is allergic to berries. Any type of.
✧ ⸻ He rehearses conversations in his mind prior to having them. From phone calls to doctor appointments.
✧ ⸻He loves 80s new wave and gothic music. Surprisingly.
✧ ⸻ He has a pet-snake named Elvira.
✧ ⸻ He is a hobbie collector. If there is a workshop taking place, you bet he will be in it.
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