ren farber . 30 . tour guide . bronx
hold my hand and float back to the summertime
tangled in the willows now our tongues are tied
how can I believe you?
how can I be nice?
tripping around the tree stumps in your summer smile
Not everyone can say they’ve been to the Big Apple, but [ SERENITY “REN” FARBER ], a [ 30 ] year-old [ CIS FEMALE ] has lived in [ THE BRONX ] for [ 30 YEARS ]. This is the city of dreams and [ SHE ] knows it, because they came to NYC to be a [ TOUR GUIDE ]. Living in the city means they meet all kinds of people, but everyone always seems to think they look like [ ZOE KRAVITZ ]. They even got away with free cab fare once because of it! [em, 21+, she/her, est]
hey friends! i’m emily, but you can call me em
this is my girl serenity, but you can call her ren
i’ve got a lil stats page here but here’s some bullet points to get us started!
she’s been living in the bronx her entire life. she was an only child, and bounced between the apartments of her divorced parents, both of whom she loved with her whole soul
she’s still close with her mama, but her dad died when she was 15
she’s always been an explorer, and prides herself on knowing every inch of this city (the easiest way to impress her is to show her someplace she’s never been)
she’s worked as a concierge at hotels before, but she doesn’t like being stuck indoors, so being a tour guide is more her vibe (although it does pay less)
being the free spirit she is, she loves to go out and be young/wild/free/etc. …or she did, before she got pregnant
her baby’s 10 months old now, and adorable af. his name is max, after her late father, and he was very much a surprise. he’ll be even more of a surprise to his father, whenever ren decides to tell him...
nowadays you can find her working/exploring/roller skating with a baby in a stroller, but otherwise, she’s the same person she’s always been
plot with me! i’d love for ren to have friends and family and enemies and lovers and everything in between <3
One of the simple pleasures as a young doctor not on call for the first day in what felt like forever, Taylor Morel found himself in Prospect Park going for an extended run. He’d always done what he could to stay in shape, which most days consisted of a short routine on the treadmill in his apartment or if he was lucky a quick run close to the hospital. But for days like this Tay found it a nice change of pace to head down to the park and try to do a complete lap right around the trail. Ear buds planted firmly in his ears as he jogged along the pathway, listening to a Spotify playlist, he took his eyes briefly off what was up ahead to check out some of the scenery to the side. When he looked back he realized, almost too late, that he was about to crash into somebody just up ahead and stopped just short of them coming the opposite direction. Apologetically he pulled the buds out of one ear.
“I’m so sorry about that, I should have looked where I was going better. Are you okay?”
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Max was getting too big for his baby bjorn (which Ren would never admit to being emotional about), so Ren had taken to roller blading around with him in a stroller. It was basically a roller coaster for the eleven-month-old, who giggled the entire time and inevitably lost at least one shoe. The kid was always taking his shoes off and throwing them around; no one had warned her about this part of parenthood.
She tried to keep her eyes on the path ahead of her, while also scanning for lost shoes and toys, and also trying to keep an eye on Max. So she probably should have seen it coming that she’d almost run a man over with the damn stroller, but she didn’t see him at all until the very last second. Screeching to a halt, she braced herself, preparing for Max to cry and for this man to yell at her for not paying attention... but neither happened.
Max was, as usual, giggling happily, and the stranger she’d almost killed was apologizing to her. She blinked, and smiled, and took her own earbuds out, breathing again. “No, God, that was entirely my fault. This new Beyonce album has pushed me to frankly dangerous speeds on these skates,” she smirked. “Sorry my kid laughed at your almost-death, too, damn. Apologize to the nice man, Max.”
The record shop was Rhett’s favorite place to be, honestly. It was the one place he felt nothing went bad and he could spend as much time as he wanted there without being stared at funny. Plus, he got to listen to free music and claim he was browsing. Free was good. As he perused through one of his favorite sections, his brow raised and he grinned, “Pirate metal is ace.” He said, “It just makes you want to stand on a table and just start screaming sea shanties.”
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“Well, shit, now I feel like I’ve been wasting years of my life!” Ren said, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. “Why do we never stand on tables and scream sea shanties, Rhett? What the fuck have we been doing with our time?” Smiling, she shook her head, grabbing a few albums from the pile. “I definitely have to buy these, now, and we’re going to learn every word. Deal?”
Sloane had the idea of incorporating records into one of her designs for her final project at FIT but she hadn’t really processed just how dusty the store was going to be. Now starting to wonder if she should have just ordered them online to save herself the chore of traipsing all the way to the bronx. Hearing a woman speak she looked up, small frown causing a crinkle to appear between her perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Excuse me? Pirate Metal?” Silent as she considered the genre. “The last thing I need in my life is to listen to something that utterly stupid.” Was her take on it when she finally spoke.
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Ren faked a smile and looked this woman up and down. She tried not to be judgmental, but it was always in her nature to mirror whatever energy another person gave off. Even when she didn’t want to, it wasn’t always something she could help. It made her a bit cranky whenever Max got into a bad mood, but she just had to spend a bit of time with Blake to calm back down. Now though, the judgmental moodiness seemed to be creeping through her, and she tilted her head, batting her eyelashes. “...Okay. Cool. Well, the Taylor Swift albums are over there, seems like that might be more your vibe.”
☆゚*·゚GRINNING EXCITEDLY, KIANNA grabbed a couple of the records she had in her hands, just so she wouldn’t lose them and bounced over to the record player with her. She placed her stack down and looked down at the record, really curious as to what this was going to sound like. “If it’s anything else, I’m not sure that I want it. Because that just sounds like the most brilliant combination.” Kianna laughed, practically jumping out of her clothes with intrigue. “If this sounds like I think it will, I may need to have a pirate night at the restaurant.”
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Ren held her breath as she gently placed the record on the player, and the stylus on the record. There was the comforting crackle that always accompanied vinyl, but then the sound of Pirate Metal blasted (maybe a bit too loudly) through the air. It sounded exactly like what she’d expected it to, and she beamed, bouncing a little happily, before turning it down slightly. “Oh, no way, you have a restaurant? That’s so bougie. ...I’m not sure pirates ate very well - scurvy and all that - but you could just serve seafood. What’s the restaurant called?”
“Yeah? You think I could pull off being a pirate?” Jack mused for a moment, a grin eventuall spreading on his face. A partly unbuttoned shirt and cool pants, along with a sword? Yeah, he could go for that. He’d just really have to grow his hair out, but why not? “You mean to tell me that you just happen to have two swords for that? Cause if that’s the case, then hell yeah I’ll do it.”
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“Dude, hell yes. I think you were born for it. Frankly, it’s weird that you’re not captaining a ship right now,” Ren laughed. Biting her lip, she craned her neck, looking around the shop for anything that might resemble swords. There was a lost and found beside the cash counter that had two mismatched umbrellas in it. She gestured for him to wait for her, and scampered away and then came back with the umbrellas, ignoring the half-hearted protests of the cashier. She tossed Jack the bigger of the two umbrellas with a smirk and picked the Pirate Metal record back up. “You ready for this?”
“Morning,” he replied with a lower timbre, a crack rolling in his throat. His body so tired that even if vocal cords were spent. He peeked at her, her angelic face shining right at him in the light shining through the curtains. He fought hard to keep his gaze steady as he stopped kissing her face. He hadn’t intended to wake up now, but she was awake and smirking up at him. He’d gather all strength to see the way she was looking at him now. It made him feel like the sun. He propped himself up to hover over her with more stability. “I can’t sneak off while inside you.” He said with a knowing smirk of his own which ended up growing into a unabashed smile. “You need a day to recover?” He questioned as he returned her kiss. He pulled away wanting to hear her repeat it. Leo looked down at himself with a little nod, giving his lower half silent praise to affect her mobility skills. “Does that mean round twelve then? Or is it thirteen?” He asked so smug and proud of himself as he skated his fingertips on her bare arm.
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Ren buried her face in Leo’s shoulder as she laughed, but couldn’t bear to look away from him for too long. “Fair enough,” she said, as her eyes met his again and locked there. Maybe it was silly, but she felt like she’d captured some sort of exotic animal, and she needed to appreciate every second before it ran back into the wild again. It took a ridiculous amount of effort to lift her heavy hand up to his face, but the need to touch him outweighed the need for sleep - again.
“At least a day,” she smirked. “That was some Olympics level shit.” Sex had always been their thing - their home, their happy place, their love language. They could communicate through it; anger and bliss and everything in between, and last night had felt like no time had passed at all since they’d last been together. Although, the last time, they’d been nine years younger. “There’s no way you have energy for that right now. You’re an old man now,” she teased, “it’s okay to need rest.”
“What the fuck?” Jack questioned the woman, and to a complete stranger, he would have been intimidating. But his tone was joking, and a smile that came with it showed anything but anger. “What do you mean- you don’t know what Pirate Metal is? It’s only one of the most epic genres out there!”
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Ren raised an eyebrow, but then slowly nodded. “You know what... that actually checks out. If I had to picture the type of human to listen to something called Pirate Metal, I feel like my mind would create... this,” she smirked, gesturing to this man’s entire being. “Question - if I put this record on right now, what’s the likelihood that you’ll swordfight with me? Pretty good?”
Blake hugged Ren back as best she could without squishing Mira, pressing a loving kiss to her friends cheek before ushering her in so she could shut the front door as quietly as possible. Although actually if her daughter woke up now at least she knew she’d be more than happy to be passed across to her auntie Ren for a cuddle, for some reason she seemed to be calmed down a lot easier by Blake’s friends than by her own mother sometimes. Not that she was complaining, whatever did the job was fine.
About to argue when she was told to sit down Blake opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again, knowing full well it was a futile because Ren would hear none of it. So doing as she was told she cradled the bottom of the sling as she sat down so as not to jolt the baby, mouthing the words ‘thank you’ silently as Ren headed to the kitchen. Luckily thanks to the apartment not being all that big the two rooms were one and the same, so the girls could keep chatting even while the drinks and cakes were being fetched.
Glancing down at the still sleeping baby she was confidant she wasn’t about o wake up and steeled herself for the risky task of transferring her into the bassinet that still sat next to the sofa. Gingerly settling her before moving her hands away, eyes locked on Mira as she sniffled, tiny body wriggling for a second before she settled once more. Success!
“Oh yes, news! Do you want to do small talk or do you want me to dive right in?” The brunette giggled, reaching out to take one of the coffees to cradle in her hands, it might be warm outside but thanks to the sun not hitting the windows of the apartment directly at this time of day it wasn’t too hot in here. “I can do either.” Except she was almost visibly giddy to tell Ren the update about her and Beau. Anyone could see that.
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Once the tray of cake and coffees was set on the table, Ren had to sneak a peek into the bassinet before she sat down. She’d long since mastered the art of tiptoeing and half-breathing so as not to wake up a sleeping baby, since her own had been the lightest sleeper known to man in his early months. Mira seemed to be a great sleeper, though, and she looked absolutely beautiful doing it. It seemed like every day, Mira was looking less like a generic squishy-faced baby and more like a real human person, and Ren could clearly see all the bits of Blake and Leo that she loved.
It would probably always be a bit weird that the two people who had held the biggest pieces of her heart had made a child together, but Ren could never think about the weirdness when she saw Mira. All she saw was a teeny tiny person who held a big piece of Ren’s heart all on her own.
“Oh come on, you know that was a rhetorical question,” Ren teased, coming back and pulling up her feet to sit criss-cross on the couch, before grabbing her own mug of coffee. “The kids are adorable, the weather is nice, the Yankees are doing great, blah blah blah, now tell me your news!”
☆゚*·゚GENERALLY, WHEN KIANNA cooked, she enjoyed music playing in the background. She usually enjoyed fun pop hits, but lately, she found herself bored with the music. It was time for something fun, and perhaps a bit older. There was a possibility that it could inspire her to create some new recipes! And that was how she found herself at a record shop, going through records that she wouldn’t usually go through. Lifting her head as the girl next to her spoke, Kianna couldn’t help the laugh that escaped through her lips. “I’ve never heard of it either, but I think there’s a record player in the back. I heard one of the employees talking about it when I walked in. Should we check it out?”
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“Oh hell yeah we should,” Ren beamed, hopping down off the table she’d been perched on. “I was hoping you’d ask.” She skipped over to the record player, barely waiting for the woman to follow, bringing the sole record from the Pirate Metal genre along with her. “Do you think it’s like... those TikTok sea shanties, but with shredding electric guitars? Because I can’t imagine it’s anything else.”
Even though August lived in Queens, the selection of vinyls were the best at this little shop in the Bronx. He wouldn’t mind traveling there to see what their daily selection was. He was in the shop when he noticed a girl speaking as she was sitting on top of a table going through some different albums. “Pirate metal? I’m not even sure that I’ve heard of that before. That actually sounds pretty crazy.” August laughed softly as he shook his head a bit. “I don’t know if I do want to listen.”
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“Yeah, you look a bit too soft to handle Pirate Metal,” Ren teased, hopping off the counter and bringing the strange record over to the player. “What if I listen to it with the headphones, and then you can decide based on my facial reactions whether or not you want to listen too? Is that fair?”
“Serenity,” he murmured, his eyes barely opening up a squint before shutting again. His eyelids were heavy from the lack of sleep. He had really exhausted himself. Every single one of his muscles had tensed and relaxed repeatedly throughout the duration of their night together. He couldn’t believe the night to be true even as he was laying on her bed with her scent engulfing him with her skin upon his. He opened his eyes fighting against the fatigue to glance down and see that her eyes were already open. He shut his own again but in favor of losing a sense in order to focus on the way her skin felt on his lips as he kissed her forehead a couple of times. “Why are you up? What time is it?” He asked inbetween peppering kisses.
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Ren smiled as her face was peppered with kisses, the fear abating for now. All she felt was safe and warm and happy, and she traced her fingers along his arm, as if to remind herself he was really here. “Good morning,” she whispered, “Just making sure you didn’t sneak off in the night,” she smirked, as though she hadn’t actually been afraid of that. She repositioned herself a bit, a sleepy little hum escaping her as her leg wrapped around his and she gave him a soft kiss. “I called in to work. I need a day to recover.”