⋆◞⃕ 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗖𝗨𝗧 Ꮺ is a dependent writing blog for 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝗀𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗁𝗊 .. hosted by soap ¡! ៹ 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗍.
ꗃ 𝖼𝗈𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗋 𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘆 … forty. semi - retired nhl player.

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Kiana Khansmith
Xuebing Du

titsay
Jules of Nature
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me

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cherry valley forever

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
occasionally subtle

#extradirty
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Janaina Medeiros
will byers stan first human second
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda

Love Begins
ojovivo
hello vonnie
Peter Solarz
seen from United States
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@r0ughcut
⋆◞⃕ 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗖𝗨𝗧 Ꮺ is a dependent writing blog for 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐𝗀𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗁𝗊 .. hosted by soap ¡! ៹ 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗍.
ꗃ 𝖼𝗈𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗋 𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘆 … forty. semi - retired nhl player.
★ ˖ ⊹ 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟. bonnie's apartment. ↳ 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 … @r0ughcut
trigger warning: the following thread contains themes of child loss , pregnancy loss , depression and emotional distress.it is being posted for ongoing plot development and character exploration. reader discretion is strongly advised. if any of these subjects may be upsetting or triggering for you, please prioritize your well-being and refrain from interacting.
› 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : private ( utp, @youstride ) 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 : outside cooper's place.
cooper has long since given up pretending the move is organized. half his life is still packed into mismatched cardboard boxes , each one labeled in thick black marker with deeply unhelpful descriptions like SHIT , MORE SHIT , and KITCHEN ? one particularly overstuffed box slips from his grip as he hauls it up the porch steps , spilling a tangle of hockey tape , old photographs , and enough loose batteries to power a small town. he stares at the mess for a beat before scrubbing a hand down his face. " right then , " he mutters dryly , “ any chance you've got a stronger back than me , or are ya just gonna stand there enjoyin' the show ? ”
› 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : private ( utp, @heavensentmp3 ) 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 : pet rescue.
he didn't mean to stop in. that's what he'll tell anyone who asks. now there's a gangly mutt with one floppy ear pressed against the kennel door staring at him like they've known each other for years. cooper crouches , rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “ don't look at me like that , mate. i've barely got my own life together. “ the dog thumps its tail harder. he sighs heavily and glances toward whoever's nearby. ” think the little bastard knows i'm about to make a terrible financial decision ? ”
BARRY SLOANE as Joe 'Bear' Graves in SIX (2017—2018) Episode 2.02 Ghosts
open starter: the hideaway, closing time sunday night
closing the bar was honestly nadia’s favorite shift. she could play her favorite song on repeat for hours without someone trying to change it or tell her their wrong opinions about it. the song was blasting and she sat on the bar top counting her tips for the night. just enough to make rent but not pay for utilizes or food which she knows means that she was going to have to do more posting when she got home. she was in her own mind set that she almost didn’t hear the bell above the door indicating someone was coming in. she swore she locked it an hour ago but maybe not. she turned to look at the person walking in. “i am so sorry. we are closed and i must have been the idiot that forgot to lock the door. we should be back open tomorrow morning and if you tell the morning bartender what happened, we’ll get you a free drink on the house. does that sound reasonable?”
⋆◞⃕ accustomed to late nights , twenty-four-hour bars , and cities that never seemed to sleep , cooper still hadn't adjusted. in his opinion , the town practically tucked itself into bed the second the sun went down. every place worth drinking at seemed to lock its doors before he'd even decided whether he wanted another round. he was deseprate for a drink , now leaning heavily against the doorframe. his knuckles were wrapped in gauze , blood already seeping through in angry red patches. exhaustion weighed on him more than the injuries did. it showed in the way he swayed slightly on his feet and in the rough scrape of his voice when he spoke. " shit , love ..." his laugh was humorless , little more than a breath through his nose. “ that's sweet an' all , but i just need a beer. ” his head tipped back against the doorframe with a dull thud. for a moment he closed his eyes. " this town ... " he muttered. “ everythin' fuckin' closes so early. ”
jason dorsey had exactly one inch on cooper riley and he made damn sure everybody knew it. the moment cooper squared up , jason straightened to his full height , shoulders rolling back as he closed the remaining distance between them. standing toe to toe with a veteran player twice as respected and ten times as accomplished should have made him think twice. instead , it only seemed to encourage him. there was a smugness to jason that bordered on pathological. the sort of confidence that could only come from a lifetime of never being humbled when he deserved it. the grin spread across his face the second he saw cooper react.
there it was. that flash behind the eyes. that tightening in his jaw. the subtle shift in his posture that screamed he'd struck a nerve. jason felt a rush of satisfaction bloom in his chest. he hadn't been looking for a fight nearly as much as he'd been looking for confirmation , and cooper had handed it to him on a silver platter. " there it is , " jason laughed , pointing at him as though he'd just won some prize. " i knew it. "
his smile only widened when cooper didn't immediately back down. if anything , the tension made him more animated. jason had always been the kind of guy who poked at loose teeth just to see if they hurt. " can't even blame you , riley , " he continued , shaking his head with exaggerated understanding. " she's funny , she's cute , got a great pair of tits n'ass. " the smirk never left his face. if anything , it settled in deeper. because at the end of the day , jason wasn't trying to win the argument. he wasn't even trying to be right. he was trying to get under cooper's skin , and judging by the look on his face , he was succeeding beautifully.
jason made a crude gesture with his fist , pumping it up and down. " tell me cap , you need a little blue pill to get you going or do those pretty little eyes do enough ? "
⋆◞⃕ cooper moved before he even realized he'd made the decision. one second jason was standing there running his mouth , the next he was stumbling backward from the force of the shove. the television droned somewhere in the background , a laugh track from another room carrying through bonnie's apartment , but cooper couldn't hear any of it. all he could hear was the blood rushing behind his ears.
“ the fuck did you just say ? ” his voice was low and terrifyingly calm. he crossed the distance between them before jason could answer. a fistful of shirt bunched in cooper's hand as he grabbed the younger man by the collar and yanked him forward hard enough to nearly pull him off his feet. years of hockey fights had taught cooper exactly how to control another man's balance. years of being a kid getting into too much trouble had taught him exactly how much force it took to make someone understand they were in danger. " say it again , " he growled. “ go on. ” but jason didn't need to repeat himself. cooper had heard enough. he'd heard bonnie's name dragged through the mud. heard that disrespectful tone. heard the implication underneath it all. and something inside him snapped. the punch landed hard enough to turn jason's head. the crack of knuckles against bone echoed through the apartment and cooper felt it all the way up his arm. for half a second there was silence before he grabbed jason again , hauling him upright by the front of his shirt like he weighed nothing.
“ you little shit. ” the words hissed through clenched teeth. “ you think that makes you a man , huh ? talkin' about her like that ? ” another violent shake followed. “ you think because you're young and pretty and everybody's spent your whole life tellin' you how fuckin' special you are that you get to run your mouth about people ? ” his grip tightened. “ that's your problem , dorsey. nobody ever taught you there are consequences. ” cooper was breathing hard now , his chest rising and falling beneath the stretched fabric of his shirt. the anger radiating off him was almost physical. because this wasn't about him. it would've been easier if it was. he could take a hit. take an insult. take whatever jason wanted to throw at him.
but bonnie ? bonnie , who opened her home to half the goddamn team when they had nowhere else to go. bonnie , who spent her life fixing problems she didn't create. bonnie , who somehow still found reasons to care about people long after they stopped deserving it. and this prick thought he could stand in her apartment and talk about her like that. “ you don't get to disrespect her in front of me. ” the words came out immediate. absolute. another yank of jason's collar. " you don't get to talk about her like she's some fuckin' conquest. you don't get to reduce her to whatever pathetic bullshit is rattlin' around in that skull of yours. "
his jaw flexed. for a moment it looked like he might hit him again. god knew he wanted to. his fist was already clenched , already ready. but beneath all the anger sat something worse. something he hated. because jason had unknowingly touched the one thing cooper never let himself think about for too long. bonnie could leave. she could walk away. she could wake up tomorrow and decide she'd finally had enough of him. and cooper knew she'd have every right to. that's what made him dangerous. that's what made his stomach twist every time another man looked at her. his eyes darkened. " you wanna hate me ? " he asked. “ fine. get in line. call me a washed-up bastard. call me a fuck-up. christ , i've got ex-teammates sayin' worse.” he leaned closer , crowding into jason's space. “ but you don't ever talk about her like that. ” the words came out as a growl. “ because she's ten times the person either of us will ever be. ” then the truth slipped out before he could stop it. before pride could catch it. before common sense could drag it back down his throat.
“ and if you speak about my girl like that again , i'll put you through the fuckin' wall. ”
› 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 : private ( amara rhodes, @lovehards ) 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 : strip mall.
⋆◞⃕ cooper turned the tiny dior lip tint over in his massive hand like it was some kind of fragile artifact. honestly , for the price of it , maybe it was. the little bunny charm dangling from the side caught against his thumb as he inspected it again , expression pinched with concentration. “… this is it , huh ? ” skepticism dripped from the question. the tube looked ridiculously small sitting in his rough and calloused palm — like something made for a doll instead of a real human being. but the bunny ? yeah. he knew bonnie would like the bunny. cute little pointless shit always managed to win her over somehow.
his thumb brushed once over the cap before he glanced toward amara , narrowing his eyes slightly like he was still suspicious this entire shopping trip had been an elaborate setup to rob him blind. “ well , ” cooper muttered with a reluctant sigh , slipping the lip tint carefully into the sephora bag , “ i’m takin’ your word for it. ” then , after a beat , he pointed at her with mock seriousness. “ especially since i got you ice cream. ” another pause. “ double scoop too , by the way. don’t think that goes unnoticed. ”
❛ ⅋ 𝐢. 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 ( @r0ughcut ) ━ setting description : bonnie's apartment.
🏒 ﹕ ʚɞ jason genuinely enjoyed being a problem. not the accidental kind either — the deliberate, grinning, poke-the-bear-until-it-snaps kind of annoyance. he carried it like a talent. especially now that cooper’s spot sat open like fresh meat in the water. vacated. ejected. whatever word people wanted to use to avoid saying public implosion. either way, jason saw opportunity. and if getting under cooper riley’s skin came with it? even better.
bonnie’s apartment had unofficially become neutral territory for the team. players wandered in and out often enough that nobody really questioned it anymore. shoes kicked near the doorway. protein shakes abandoned in the fridge. hockey games muttering from the television at ungodly hours. jason showed up uninvited more often than most, usually because boundaries were more of a suggestion to him. thankfully, bonnie wasn’t home. that made this way more entertaining.
jason leaned against the kitchen counter with all the lazy arrogance money and good genetics could buy, eyes dragging toward cooper with poorly concealed curiosity. there’d been whispers for months now. too many looks between the two of them and way too much tension. the kind people noticed even when they pretended not to. “so are you two like…” he lifted a brow, pretending to search for the right phrasing before giving up entirely. “fucking?”
the word landed blunt and unapologetic, exactly how jason intended it to. subtlety had never really been his thing. he wandered toward the fridge before cooper could answer, attention snagging on an instax polaroid tucked beneath one of the magnets. jason plucked it free carefully between his fingers, studying it with a low hum.
“can’t even blame you, riley.” his grin widened slightly as he admired the photo. “she’s cute.” he tilted the polaroid toward the light. “like…dangerously cute.” then came the smirk. the inevitable smirk. “would’ve gone after her myself if she wasn’t apparently into older dudes.”
⋆◞⃕ bonnie’s apartment was warm in that dangerously domestic sort of way. soft lighting, worn blankets thrown over the couch , the smell of takeout and expensive candles mixing together in the air. neutral territory. the place everyone somehow ended up after games , fights , long nights. mostly because bonnie always had better snacks than the rest of them and an inability to tell people to get the fuck out. cooper had gotten used to it , maybe too used to it.
which was exactly why seeing jason dorsey in her kitchen like he belonged there made something ugly twist low in his stomach. the kid was everything cooper hated — loud , reckless , arrogant in that effortless way only younger men could get away with. worst part was , jason reminded cooper of himself before life sanded the edges down into something meaner. the shaker cup hit the counter harder than intended at the question. the protein powder rattled inside it violently. “ i don’t think that’s any of your business , mate , ” cooper answered , voice low and thick with that manchester gravel. controlled , barely.
he tried to let it die there but , then came the next comment. the alpha territorial bullshit. like bonnie was something to win. something to claim. and suddenly cooper couldn’t hear the television anymore , all he could hear was blood rushing hot behind his ears. because beneath the anger was the real problem: jason wasn’t wrong. bonnie could leave. anytime she wanted. she could walk out and choose somebody younger , easier , less fucking broken. somebody who didn’t carry around enough baggage to sink a ship. and the fact that cooper knew that — really knew it — made him vicious.
his hand shot out fast , snatching the photograph from jason before he even fully realized he’d moved. the taller man stepped in immediately after, chest to chest now , broad frame looming hard into jason’s space. years of hockey fights radiated off him instinctively. shoulders squared. jaw clenched. eyes dark.
“ fuck did you just say ? ” quiet. which somehow sounded more threatening than yelling. cooper’s fingers curled tighter around the photograph as he stared him down. the muscle in his jaw ticked once. twice. “ go on , ” he muttered , breath hot with anger. “ say it again since you seem so fuckin’ brave. ”
most laugh at the thought of a brand-name store being someone's sworn enemy, but merrick had his gripes about this one in particular. messes with the palate, he says ⸻ makes it difficult to taste anything other than that artificial alcohol smell that clung to your clothes. " right, " he rolls a green bottle in his hand, unaware of scent before he pops cap off and gives a sniff, disgust quick to spread across his features as he shoves it behind something that looks like it hopefully smells better. " they also love puppies 'n rainbows. you don't know a damn thing about women, do you, coop ? "
" 'm gonna have t'judge you. you're the one who asked me t'come along since gianna and bonnie are close, " they had to be the worst duo to consider sending out shopping for gifts ⸻ one being the ultimate sap, the other ... well, he'd get there. " why don't you just get her some flowers ? a nice dinner ? show 'er chivalry ain't entirely dead. i'm sure she'd like that a lot more than ... " he takes the offered ribbon-clad box, squinting at label. " ... a thousand wishes. maybe grant her one that ain't gonna have'er smelling like she just walked off a disney channel set. "
there was an inadequacy cooper felt around merrick that he’d never admit out loud. not even at gunpoint. maybe it was because merrick and gianna looked solid in a way cooper had never managed to be with bonnie. effortless almost. like they’d figured out how to love each other without turning it into a bloodsport. meanwhile cooper and bonnie had spent years circling each other like a housefire neither one knew how to put out without burning alive in the process.
so the second merrick mentioned flowers and dinner, cooper reacted exactly how he always did when something hit too close to the bone — mean first, defensive second. “flowers ? dinner ?” he scoffed harshly. “she isn’t my fuckin’ girlfriend.” the words came out sharper than necessary. immediate and instinctive. like he needed to kill the implication before it could settle into something real.
he shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket, jaw tightening. “just doin’ somethin’ nice so she gets off my ass,” he muttered. even cooper didn’t sound convinced by it. his eyes drifted briefly, expression flickering into something quieter before he caught himself. “besides,” he added gruffly, trying to recover, “she’d probably look at flowers like i’d committed a fuckin’ crime.”
a pause. then, lower:
“wouldn’t even know what kind she likes anyway.” liar.
( open starter from alexander errington ! ) alex scrolled through his phone, brows furrowed deep. he had been at this for twenty minutes, watching short videos on what memes meant. memes. what even are memes? what makes a meme a meme? he had so many questions. he sighed, rubbing at his temples. "apparently, we are all classified under categories. gen alpha? what next—beta, omega?" he grumbled, "wouldn't it be easier to just say what year they were born in?"
⋆◞⃕ he visibly stiffened at the words alpha and omega. for one horrifying second , a deeply cursed memory resurfaced — bonnie doubled over laughing while trying to explain fanfiction to him , shoving her phone in his face as he read something so psychologically damaging it nearly made him religious. cooper blinked hard like he could physically shake the memory loose. “ mate , ” he said flatly , already grimacing. “ don’t ever say that shit again. ” he took a long pull from his beer like it might disinfect the conversation from his brain cells. the glass hit the bar with a dull thunk afterward. cooper's eyes narrowed when he noticed what they were looking at. immediately suspicious. “ and put that fuckin’ app away. ” he scoffed. “ that stuff rots your brain. ”
⎯⎯ wants to stop him but it's already too late , has made it a point to not go anywhere near those scents that emulated food almost a little too well , nose scrunching as candle lifts to his . " what did i just tell you ? " feels like she has to wrangle him , eyes scanning the display before she plucks a more digestible scent from the batch , champagne toast , sweetness that was more subtle than the last . lid is popped off and candle is held up to his nose for a sniff , eyes unable to help their roll as they start what she only knows will be a back and forth volley and her asking a question and him avoiding it until one of them finally gave up . " come on , coop . . . a grumpy old man like you doesn't just walk into a bath and body works looking for a gift on a whim ⸺ either you did something or you're trying to impress someone , " both viable options , but one more likely than the other . " so spit it out or i'm gonna find the worst candle in here and stuff your nose in it , " threat is empty and they both know it , yet still , she's holding another scent to his nose , cactus blossom , citrus scent trapped in a neon pink container no one could ignore . " does she even like pink ? "
⋆◞⃕ “ it’s complicated. ” cooper said it like the words physically pained him to admit. like complicated was the closest thing he had to a language for whatever the hell this thing with bonnie had become. he shifted his weight , suddenly taking amara’s teasing a lot more seriously than he probably should’ve. “ technically , we’re coworkers , ” he muttered. “ she handles press for the team. ” a slow breath pulled into his lungs and — christ — the tips of his ears actually reddened. a rare enough sight on cooper riley to qualify as a public event. “ she’s been around since … ” he paused , rubbing a rough hand over his jaw. “ shit. since i stopped actin’ like hockey was just an excuse to get pissed and punch people. ” his mouth twisted faintly after that , something self-deprecating slipping through. " been with me since i started takin’ any of this seriously. ” for a second he looked exhausted by the weight of it. by memory. by himself. his eyes shut briefly , shoulders rising with a heavy inhale before he finally admitted the thing eating him alive. “ i fucked up , amara. ” it was a quiet and honest confession. “ fucked up so bad i don’t think there’s a way back from it this time. ” he opened his eyes again , and there was something worn out in them now. not angry. not defensive , just tired. “ but somehow … ” cooper huffed a small laugh through his nose. “ somehow she still stayed. ” his gaze drifted out toward the night beyond the balcony. thoughtful. almost disbelieving. “ gives me endless amounts of shit , mind you. ” another faint grin. “ but she’s still there. ” a pause. “ still sittin’ in the front row after every bad hit , cheerin’ for me like i ain’t already halfway to the fuckin’ penalty box. ”
𝞋𝞎 ˖ ⊹ heat unfurled hot and filthy inside bonnie the second cooper dragged her against him. her back arched instinctively at the force of it , breath catching hard enough to hurt. she could feel the anger pouring off him in waves — sharp , ugly , intoxicating. and the worst part ? some sick part of her loved when he got like this. her wrists twisted once in his grip , not really trying to escape. testing him. feeling the way his hands tightened automatically around her.
⋆◞⃕ cooper felt the air leave his lungs the second bonnie pressed against him like that. fucking hell. he hated when she got like this. no — worse — he loved it. loved the venom in her mouth , the fury in her eyes , the way she could stand there shaking with anger while making him hard enough to hurt. it made him feel sick in the head. made him want to grab her and ruin her composure piece by piece just to prove he still could. his hands , once curled tight into fists at his sides , moved to her hips instead. fingers digging into soft flesh before sliding upward along the curve of her body. slow enough to feel her breathing hitch beneath his touch.
“ look at you , ” he muttered darkly, eyes dragging over her face. “ mouth runnin’ like a fuckin’ brat while your body gives you away. ” his palms covered her breasts fully , rough thumbs brushing over her nipples through the fabric until he felt them harden beneath him. cooper groaned low in his throat at the gasp she let out. pleased by it … addicted to it.
cooper pressed harder just to hear it again , his cock twitched hot and heavy behind the denim of his jeans. angry with it , aching. he rolled his hips against her instinctively , letting her feel exactly what she did to him. “ yeah , ” he rasped against her ear. “ that’s right. ” another grind. slower this time , filthier. “ got me hard just from runnin’ your fuckin’ mouth. ” his hand slipped down her spine toward the curve of her ass , gripping it firmly enough to pull her tighter against him. cooper’s breathing had gone rough by then , uneven from the effort of holding himself back.
“ y’know how many nights i jerked my cock thinkin’ about that tight little pussy ? ” he whispered viciously. “ thinkin’ about how fuckin’ pretty you sound when you’re close. ” his mouth found her jaw in a hot open kiss. another just beneath her ear. then one dangerously close to her lips without actually taking them. “ all desperate and shaky … ” he murmured. “ cryin’ my name like a dirty fuckin’ girl. ” his teeth grazed her skin lightly before soothing it with his tongue. the contradiction of him always cruelest when he was being gentle.
“ that what you wanna hear , hm ? ” cooper taunted softly. “ wanna hear how i’d bend you over my knee and spank that attitude outta you ? ” another grind of his hips against hers. “ cause you keep pushin’ me like this , bon … ” his voice dropped lower “ and i’m gonna forget why i came here in the first place. ”
while jude has hardly spent much time that he consider memorable within a bath and body works, he is aware that his apartment back in chicago had a rotation of different hand soaps from the store. though, that is more to do with his mother setting his housekeeper loose with a credit card and that meant discovering the multitude of smells that one place could concoct. “ depends … do you only like the color blue when you get gifts ?? ” jude replies with a snort, removing the lid of a random candle and bringing it up to sniff. it tickles his nose in a way that’s not entirely pleasant, almost making him feel like a sneeze was coming before placing it back. “ buying a girl a perfume is always a fifty-fifty shot of whether she likes it or hates it. ” jude takes squints at the box in question. “ are you gifting this to someone you hate ‘cause that shit is ugly and smells bad. try to find the black cherry merlot candle. i used to use the hand soap a lot and i remember it smelling pretty decent. ”
⋆◞⃕ the man couldn’t quite suppress the laugh that escaped him at jude’s brutal honesty. low and rough around the edges , it rumbled out before cooper shook his head in mock offense. “ oi , fuck off , ” he muttered , holding the gift bag up defensively. “ this is not ugly. ” he pointed toward the little plastic bunny keychain clipped onto the ribbon with the confidence of a man desperately trying to convince himself. “ look. ” another point. “ it’s cute. like one of them … labubus or whatever the fuck they’re called. ” a pause. “ … alright , maybe a slightly concussed one. ” even cooper didn’t sound fully sold on it. then came the candle scent. his brow lifted immediately. “ black cherry merlot ? ” he repeated slowly , like he was tasting the words and finding them suspicious. he twisted the tester open and gave it a wary sniff before recoiling slightly. “ that smells like a retirement home trying to be sexy. ” another sniff , this one more offended than the first.
"sure," aurora nodded her head, trying not to flash of look of pure horror and concern as cooper was failing epicly at gifting something for someone else. "i mean, do you even know what the special lady likes? her favorite scents, notes? i know this place can be overwhelming, but you need to have a starting point, the basics," the girl explained. "right now? it seems like you know next to nothing."
⋆◞⃕ a quiet sigh of relief escaped him , shoulders easing for what felt like the first time since stepping foot into the store. finally — someone speaking a language he could halfway understand. “ yeah , ” cooper admitted with a low huff of a laugh. “ you’re right about that. i don’t know shit about any of this. ” his gaze drifted over the endless rows of perfumes and lotions , looking thoroughly outmatched by all of it. like he’d accidentally wandered into enemy territory armed with nothing but blind optimism and a debit card. “ ah … ” he scratched at the stubble along his jaw , thinking. really thinking. “ she always sorta smells like strawberries. ” something softer crept into his expression then, almost absentminded. “ sweet stuff , y’know ? ” he murmured. “ like … sugar and shampoo and whatever the hell girls put on their skin. "