âHiâŠâ Elena said with a hint of surprise in her voice as she saw Riley. She hadnât seen zim in quite a while, though that wasnât entirely zir fault. She had also been somewhat distant lately, quieter, throwing herself into unhealthy habits to cope rather than rely on the friends she still had left. Without a word, Elena walked towards her friend, pulling her into a hug for a moment. âYouâre not the only one that was distant latelyâ she told zim as she pulled away, offering an apologetic smile. âAnd I did get your letter. Thank you. That was a very nice gestureâ.
Feeling arms suddenly around zim in a tight embrace broke Rileyâs walls for a quick moment. The artist shook a bit and zir eyes misted up for a moment while ze tried to will zimself not to cry before the hug ended. Riley had been expecting some resentment, not immediate acceptance. âI just feel like such an asshole for ignoring so many texts and calls and not being there for anyone...thatâs not what good friends do.â But after a beat of silence ze added, âIâve missed you all a ton. Do you want to grab some food or something? My treat.â
Javier wasnât entirely sure what to make of the question. Neither him nor Riley would tell the full truth, that was clear to him. He didnât think it was that strange that Jonas could be so amazed by the essence of The Grid that the two of them had translated to color, form and words. After zir words he knew it was his turn to swerve the topic of their conversation in the direction they chose, a direction that was as far away as possible from their secret. So the writer smiled with ease at zim and then looked back at Jonas. He was good at putting on a mask, giving some truth to the act of pretense. âWell, in my case Iâve always been been heavily influenced by magical realism and surrealist narratives. So I said âWhy not try that?â. Gain inspiration from surrealist artists, try to bring truth, realism and genuine emotion in the most surreal of situations and settingsâ. Not the truth, not a lie either. âI think in general we gained inspiration from those things that caused an impact on us, be it literature, films, video games. Even true experiences we both have gone through but placed in that imaginary contextâ he said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, gauging the guyâs reaction to their answers. âWhat did you enjoy most about it?â he asked, curious to know the perspective of one of their readers, but also trying to gain some control over the conversation.
Jonas nodded slightly along Rileyâs answer. âInterestingâ he mentioned after ze spoke, his attention shifting to the writer afterwards. He was expecting answers like that and the two of them delivered them in a very believable way. Anyone else would have taken their words at face value. âSo The Grid didnât in any way influence your work?â he asked in a very casual way, steadily looking at one and then other. He was almost daring them to try to lie to him again.
@rileyfairbanksâ
The artist froze at the others words. His piercing gaze made Riley extremely uncomfortable. Ze was thankful that Javi was standing so close to zim because it gave zim the slightest bit of confidence. No one else was supposed to know about The Grid. But if he was asking them point blank, then there was no point in playing dumb. After a beat with adrenaline pumping through zir veins, ze finally broke the silence. âHow do you know about the Grid?â ze asked in a hushed tone.
âYeah, itâs a very acquired taste,â Sal conceded with a nod. He wasnât expecting much upon his return, but a couple cups and snacks sounded great. The snacks especially, and his stomach even gave a slight rumble to remind him that he hadnât eaten yet since his sprint away from a potentially smelly assailant. He placed the tequila down on the table and his own beer next to it before sitting down. He grabbed one of the cups and started to pour the tequila in. âTell me when to stop.â
Riley carefully eyed the cup as Sal poured. Once about two and a half shots worth was in the shot ze gave a short; âthatâs plenty.â Then, ze took the cup back and filled the rest with orange juice. Riley awkwardly took a sip and zir eyes darted over to Sal every now and again. Ze really didnât know him that well, but it felt odd to just drink in silence. âSo...did you attend any interesting lectures at the retreat?â
Maya put up her hands, ânope, not my thing either. Trust me, thereâs no crush here at all. I meanâŠIâm not blind, heâs attractive, but, I donât know. I donât know enough about him I guess.â Not only did there need to be physical attraction for Maya, there also had to be an emotional one as well. Every person she dated, sheâd gotten to know first, it never felt random like sheâd just picked someone out of a crowd. Itâs that exact reason she hates online dating. The topic shift to her dad drowns out the thoughts she had previously, but Rileyâs touch brings her back to reality again. A soft smile presses against her lips as she squeezes zir hand. âI know. Thank you, for always being here,â Maya says sincerely, sighing lightly as her hand falls back onto the bed. âI think I just need to get my mind off of it for now. Thereâs nothing I can do about it here, so,â she shrugs lightly, biting down on her bottom lip. Itâd only make her feel worse to talk about it now. Best not to.Â
Her knee injury is a perfect distraction from that. âYeah itâs pretty gnarly right? I donât think itâll scar, the bruising makes it look worse than it is.â After the amount of running injuries sheâd had in her time running track, this felt like nothing. As soon as Riley confirms that yes, ze would like brownies, Maya leans forward to reach for her duffel bag. After a moment she pulls out a bag of brownies and tosses it to Riley. âThe good stuff,â she chuckles, leaning back into her set of pillows. âSo what was the deal with this art critique anyway? Come on, you gotta tell me, Iâm dying to know!âÂ
Riley nodded in agreement. âYeah, heâs an enigma. I gotta know someone before I can really find someone attractive.â That hadnât really been the point ze was trying to make. Being in such close proximity to Maya got zir heart racing yet again. And with the liquid courage fueling zim, ze considered saying something. âOf course, Maya. Youâre my best friend in the world, and my favorite person really. You know Iâm here for you whenever you need me. So for now, letâs just do something fun, to get your mind off things.â There was a slight slur to zir words as ze adjusted the slightest bit to be a bit more comfortable for her to lean on.
âThat kind of stinks - cause you know what they say...â Riley trailed off. What did they say? âScars are sexy or something, right? Not that you need anything else to draw appeal or anything.â Riley stopped zimself talking there - glad that Maya was grabbing brownies.Â
âYou, Maya Hadler, are an ethereal, angelic being. Thank you for sharing your bounty,â ze grinned reaching in to grab one. But zir look soured at the question. âThey were just commenting how my work has no impact - yes it is visually appealing, but it has no substance beyond that. Not âtrue artistic visionâ.â The artist scoffed thinking about the exchange. âDo ya wanna watch a movie or something? I donât wanna talk about that jerk or I might get emotional.â
Sunday is our honesty hour day. Todayâs the day you get to tell the others something youâve always wanted to say on or off anon. If you want to participate please reblog this so the other members know theyâre welcome to send you confessions. Have fun!
Sal was just on his way back from his lunch break, deep in thought about a discussion heâd just had with a supervisor. He was walking so fast and was so distracted he didnât even notice the person on the ground until he was nearly about to step on their feet. He sidestepped and cleared his throat, about to apologize when the person stood up. Once ze was facing him, he realized it was Riley. He didnât really care why zeâd been on the floor, or what ze was doing at the moment, but it was odd to suddenly see zim after so long. It seemed like a lot of people in the group were having trouble with Kishanâs death and the Gridâs shutdown, so they were taking their time and space as they needed it. Sal wasnât the type to really reach out to people to hang out, so he hadnât been all that concerned. âUh, itâs fine. Gotta take some time for yourself sometimes.â
âOh, uh, okay...â Riley shuffled the letters back together and haphazardly shoved them back in zir backpack. It made sense that Sal seemed unbothered by zir disappearance - the two werenât extremely close but ze was still a bit fidgety. âHow, uh, how have you been? And howâs everyone else doing?â There was the temptation to straight up ask whether anyone was upset with zir absence, but ze thought better of it. Would Sal even know something like that?
Figuring out where ze could drop off a letter to someone was a challenge. Some of her friends were graduate students and had an office or mailbox for zir to place the note in. A few of the others, ze knew where they lived so the note could be delivered there. But, there were a few that ze was unsure of where to deliver the note to. For now, ze stuck with the easy ones and spent the day going from place to place dropping of notes. In some cases, that meant getting down on the ground and sliding a note under a door. Which Riley felt a bit weird about. Hearing someone behind zim clearing their throat, ze froze. Oh god, what if it was a security guard or something? Ze would be screwed, especially because ze was still coming down from the night before. âI swear, this is not something sketchy...Iâm just dropping off a note for a friend.â That was before ze noticed exactly who was starting at zim. âOh...uh hey. S-Sorry for ghosting you all the past month or so..um, I have a letter for you if you want it...or I may have already dropped it off, I canât remember.â
Summary: Tid-bit about whatâs been going on with Riley since the death of Kishan
Dates: March 16th - April 20th
Word Count: 914 words
Trigger warning: Mention of death, drug use
Tagging: @sal-rizzo, @javier-silva, @zara-mayfield, @maya-hadler, @wes-lamar, @baileyfuge, @elena-arias. @shadia-abassi, @june-maslow, @nick-flood
The passing of Kishan had brought up a wild range of emotions for Riley. While the two hadnât exactly been best friends, the two were still close. It brought up memories of Alex. While ze still thought of zir brother often, now the memories felt near impossible to escape. The few times ze had been around zir friends made the emotions tougher to process. Not that it was anyoneâs fault, but around them, ze could tell that someone was holding some emotion or another back. That, or someone broke down. In turn, ze had a difficult time speaking about zir own issues. Riley wanted to help the others, but didnât have the emotional reach to.
Instead, ze withdrew. More or less completely. Riley ignored texts and calls from all the others, aside from a question or two here or there. Even when ze took a moment to respond to a text, the answers given were short, one worded answers. Nothing of substance, and usually a lie about how ze was doing. Logically, ze knew they would be there for zir if needed, but it felt like too much of a bother. All of them were going through the same grieving process. They didnât need the burden of taking care of another friend when they were all struggling taking care of themselves.
On a whim, Riley left for the week of spring break to visit zir family. So much of a whim that the artist told no one of zir whereabouts for the week. Including zir adviser, Dr. Graham. During this time, ze spent some time getting emotionally rejuvenated. Both zir parents were warm to zir time home and they shared fond memories of Alex. Overall, it was what ze needed. With the emotional breakthrough, ze had planned to do something nice for the others when ze returned. Perhaps have a small gathering to make up for zir short absence. It would at least ease the feeling of guilt that resided in the pit of zir stomach that grew a little larger each time ze neglected to properly speak with zir friends. By the end of the break, Riley had started purchasing supplies and was getting ready to set a date for the event...
Until speaking with Dr. Graham. Between the shut down of the grid, attempting to keep up with web-comic (mostly old edits since ze hadnât exchanged more than a few words with Javi in the time before spring break), and the emotional turmoil ze was struggling with, progress with zir thesis came to a grinding halt. Which didnât make for a happy adviser, and instead left zim with a pissed off one. The day after returning from break, the two had a meeting which turned into Dr. Graham expressing his disappointment in zir progress - or lack there of. If ze did not get zir act together, ze would need to find another adviser. Ze had talent, along with a piss poor work ethic, which he had no time for. As did anyone else in the artistic community, he informed zim.Â
Riley has never been one to take criticism well, even with how often an artist has to face it. Rather than reach out to friends for support, ze dove head first back in to work, practically moving in to zir office and not leaving until ze made something of worth and impressed zir adviser.
Most of this time, ze was struggling with feelings of inadequacy. All of the work ze managed to create was sub-par at best. Instead of fueling zir muse, grief and isolation was a sack of bricks. But ze continued to try everything ze could think of to get the creative juices flowing. After a week and a half of torn up canvases, new attempts meant reaching out for other sources of âcreativityâ. Some of the students living near Riley were not subtle about their weed usage and asking around, ze was able to get hooked up with a local dealer.Â
For a while, it was helping. Rather than facing an onslaught of emotions at each failed attempt, ze could push forward or let zimself stop and take a breath. It seemed to be the solution, so an increasing amount of zir day was spent high. Progress on a piece was being made. Things would be okay.Â
Unfortunately, ze hadnât taken into account all the money that had been thrown away. With the added expenditures of the impromptu vacation, drugs, and lack of income from freelance art, zir card was declined when going to buy groceries. Later that day, the poor decision making manifested in zir breaking down while teaching. Riley needed a healthier outlet. Ze needed friends back in zir life.
Finally, ze plucked up the courage to reach out and contact the others. It was a source of fear for zim - that abandoning them for so long would have burned those bridges. But ze still had to try. A text seemed to impersonal, and an in-person conversation was terrifying. Instead, Riley settled for a happy medium - a letter. Riley slipped a letter to each of zir friendâs inboxes. Most of them went along the lines of;
 Sorry for disappearing from contact and ghosting you. I was having trouble processing...everything. I care deeply for you and feel terrible that I was ignoring everyone for the past five weeks. Iâm ready to be a better friend now if you all will still have me.
As she begins running circles along Rileyâs back, Maya lets out a light chuckle. She didnât really think something with Sal was going on, but she thought she might as well ask. âHe does have that hot mysterious quality to him as well, but I feel like that could definitely be dangerous,â she says with a raise of her brow as she looks down at Riley. Ze seemed to be enjoying the sensation of her fingers running through zir hair, so she kept doing it. Hangovers were the worst, and sheâs sure ze might experience one tomorrow morning. Especially if zir at an eight right now. Maya sighs, âyou know just the usual. When I left for this retreat my dad wasnât doing so well. But weâve got an on call nurse, so Iâm sure heâll be fine without me there, itâs justâŠscary being far away.â What if something happened to him and she couldnât get there in time? What if heâŠshe didnât even want to finish that thought.Â
She smiles though, nudging Riley. âBut I appreciate the fact that I can still be fun to hang around,â Maya says, sinking deeper into bed. At least she didnât smell like skunk and the swelling in her knee went down. âNope, itâs didnât get us. But I did fuck up my knee, look,â she leans up a little and pulls her pajama pants up so Riley can look at her bloody, gashed up knee. âSome tree trunk got me good. But we were running really damn fast, so it doesnât surprise.â Still hurt like hell regardless, but at least for now itâd began healing. She falls back into her set of pillows and pushes her sketch book farther away so theyâd have more room. âSo is it bedtime for you, or do we stay up a little longer chatting? I just remembered I packed brownies, too, if you want some.âÂ
Riley let out a hum of agreement. âYeah, and dangerous is definitely not my type, I donât think. Sounds like youuuuâve got a bit of a crush though, huh?â ze teased, but ze felt zir heart squeeze a little at the thought of Maya having feelings for someone else. Even drunk, however, ze refused to let that show and worked to shove the feelings down. The mood shifted at the mention of Mayaâs father. Riley reached out to grab Mayaâs free hand and rub zir thumb over her knuckles. âItâll all be okay...and Iâm here for you whenever you wanna talk about it, you know that, right?â With that, ze looked up at Maya through zir lashes, completely sincere.Â
Seeing the gash on her knee, Riley winced. âJeez, that looks gross and painful...but it could be a pretty cool battle wound in the end. Doesnât look deep enough to scar though.â Part of zir was tempted to touch it, but common sense kicked in before curiosity could. âBrownies sound so good. Iâm sleepy, but Iâve got the spins majorly, so I wanna stay up until they pass over...â
Sal nodded and started back toward the door, pausing with his hand on the knob as he tried to think of what heâd seen in the fridge. He hadnât brought any mixers because he preferred to have everything straight, and he couldnât remember if heâd seen anything in their own fridge that could be used. âSomeone mightâve brought some type of juice you could probably use,â he suggested before heading back to his own cabin and grabbing the bottle of tequila from where heâd left it on the kitchen counter. He checked in the fridge, too, and found some orange juice, but that was all he saw. âFind anything?â he asked when he returned.
With the mention of juice, Riley gave a short nod and got up to explore. Not much luck on first glance. There were a few beers, some milk, and orange juice. Ze opted to grab the orange juice. It had a âsplash of mangoâ so that would be bearable. And, then, ze found the chips zeâd bought at a gas station on the way up. Before too long, ze knew ze would want some food. âNot too much for mixing, but there is some OJ, so Iâll use that. I am way to weak to drink tequila straight. I was surprised there are no limes in the fridge. I grabbed us two cups and some snacks.â
With nothing else to do after work now that the Grid was inaccessible, Sal found himself at his favorite bar near school a little earlier than usual. He almost always stopped for at least one drink on the way home there or at a place near his apartment, but now that the Grid was down, he had a feeling heâd be spending even more time at the bars. Just as he was starting on his second beer, he noticed a familiar face come in. He tried to catch their eye and pointed toward the seats next to him. Months ago, he probably wouldâve actively avoided any kind of contact with the people from the Grid outside the computer room, but a lot had happened inside and outside the game since they first found it. If they couldnât figure out what was wrong with the Grid, not seeing these people almost everyday would be strange.
@rileyfairbanks @june-maslow @elena-arias
Ever since the Grid had been shut down, Riley had been out of sorts. Most of where zir creativity derived was lost, and now ze didnât know what to do. Added in was that odd fanboy that felt suspiciously involved in all of this. Was the shut down zir fault? After all, ze did make the âGridâ more or less public knowledge by publishing a web comic - in short, Riley found zirself out at the bars at a higher frequency than was typical. But seeing Sal wave zir over as ze walked in did surprise zim to some extent. âHey Sal,â Riley began awkwardly wandering over to sit beside him. âI was about to say Iâm surprised to see you here, but I think weâre all dealing with this...thing, poorly.â
Javierâs eyebrows rose a little when the guy addressed his mistake in the email. That was a pleasant surprise. He could have not said anything about it but the fact that he was offering an apology to Riley was something the writer really appreciated, and he could imagine ze appreciated it even more. It was a cordial gesture, and that made his first impression of Jonas begin to shift in a positive direction. He glanced at zim and then back at the guy, since that was pretty much the same question that had been on his mind.
Jones offered zim a small smile, glad to have gotten that out of the way and that ze had accepted his apology. Zir question was one that he expected to be asked at some point since it was the very reason for this meeting. âYeah. Iâm not an artistic person in any way, but I always find it fascinating when people like you create something that inventive and that out of the ordinary. Iâm just curious where you got inspiration for your comic. Or should I call it graphic novel?â he asked with a brief chuckle, unsure of whether or not they thought âcomicâ was somehow less of a piece of artistic work. âI mean, the imagery is so out of this world and the emotions that you managed to convey through the poetryâ he went on, looking at Riley and then at Javier in turn. âSo yeah. What inspired that?â.
@rileyfairbanks
Hearing the question, Riley tensed subtly. That was not a subject ze and Javi had discussed. Thankfully, the man kept talking for a moment which gave zir the opportunity to think of an answer. âI do like the sound of graphic novel, but I canât say Iâm too picky about whether someone calls it a comic either - especially since it is on a web comic website.â An awkward laugh passed zir lips. Something about the intensity of his gaze made zir a bit uneasy. âOh, Iâd have to say its a mix of things. Some cartoons, and then other parts drawn from this video game the two of us got into recently. I canât really remember the name of the game off the top of my head...â with that, ze glanced to Javier for some help on the subject. The Grid was a secret, even if they were now publishing a comic about it.
Maya bites down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing but fails miserable. âOof, an eight or something? Thatâs pretty wastedâŠâ she chuckles, placing a hand on top of Rileyâs back. Ze would definitely be feeling this tomorrow morning for sure. Itâs a good thing she brought aspirin with her. Maybe itâd go well with some orange juiceâŠshe made a note of that for tomorrow. âOh? In the cabin with SalâŠdrinking? Is something going on there?â She inquires, lifting her hand once Riley turns to sit with zir back against the mattress. Instead her hand runs through zir hair, because she knows that Riley likes it when she plays with it. If anything itâll probably soothe the drunk effect to some extent. âNo silly,â she chuckles, ânuts as in crazy or hectic.âÂ
She slides deeper into the mattress, letting her shoulders rest on top of her propped up pillow. âAw, thatâs sweet. Good to know Iâm not the worst company ever,â Maya smiles, tapping zir head softly before she continues to run her hands through Rileyâs hair. âSorry your day sucked, though.â Whatever happened with Riley, sheâd have to ask zem about it tomorrow once ze sober up. Hm, how was her evening? Not horrible, she thinks, shrugging lightly. âNot horrible? I actually went out on a run with Sal earlier today, we ran into a skunk, it was nuts! We ran back to the cabin as fast as we could, I thought my heart might fall out of my butt or something.â She laughs, thinking back to earlier today. It really did get the blood flowing though, so she supposed it still made for a great run.Â
Feeling Mayaâs hand on zir back, Riley settled in a bit more, getting comfortable. There was a slight feeling of spinning in the room and ze felt like just closing zir heavy eyelids and falling into a deep sleep. But there were important things that needed to be said, so ze would force zirself to stay awake. Hearing the question, ze stirred a bit. âGoing on there? What? Me and Sal? No no no...I mean the guy has an aesthetic I can appreciate, but I know nothing about him. No, nothing going on there.â But just as ze gets flustered from the situation, a hand runs soothingly through zir hair. Riley leans into the touch.
âWhyâs your life nuts right now, anyways? You okay? And psssh, donât sell yourself short. Youâre the best company to have.â With that, ze got even cozier beside Maya. But ze could feel zir heart racing in zir chest. For a while now, ze knew that zir feelings were developing beyond that of their platonic friendship, but the last thing ze wanted was to loose Maya. When she mentioned a skunk, Riley pulled away for a second to smell the air. âWell it doesnât smell like skunk in here so it sounds like you were spared. I bet that must have been the fastest youâve ever ran.â
Sunday is our honesty hour day. Today, the others can send confessions on or off anon and you can only post (with a reaction gif of your character if you want) but not reply. Have fun!
pixelskylines
areudirty
gummygunk
blakekathryn
dailybridgerton
izzy806
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