ARLO HAS KNOWN the sheridans ever since he came to kaos for the first time. in fact, he had worked on and off at the bella donna hotel when he first got here, before landing a more permanent gig elsewhere. besides his art, which isn’t nearly as lucrative as arlo would hope, arlo has taken a liking to his career in hospitality— he’s rather good at it, too. he loves talking to people and listening, and having been in kaos for close to two years has given him a plethora of suggestions as to where tourists should venture to. nonetheless, he finds himself lending a helping hand at sophie and lisa’s wedding, standing off to the side and running around if needed. now, of course, he’s leaning behind the makeshift bar at the reception, a jar of cocktail cherries in his hand as he slowly stirs it around and watches people slow dance. he notices the other standing not too far from him, doing precisely the same thing: watching. arlo smirks.
“can i get you something?” he asks, to break the silence. he grabs a spoon and scoops out a cherry, then offers it to the other with a grin. “slow dancing is a bit awkward, isn’t it? sure is romantic, though.”
it had all started with a mysterious white envelope and a present, tied with a golden bow, beckoning rory to unwrap it. ‘to the dearest todd’ was inscribed in beautiful calligraphy on top. her step-father, yes, but who was sending gorgeous gifts to the now-dilapidated villa? there was nothing rory liked more than a little bit of intrigue, and she’d barely shot out the text to her stepfather before she was opening it, carefully as to not make a mess of it.
and now, here she was. she’d picked a pale yellow sundress to wear with a dainty gold chain to adorn her neck. weddings for rory had been a bit of a sore spot in the past. a life full of your mother’s men will do that to you, but she was determined to make this one different. to not make any trouble, for once. problem was, the bar. she was stalled at it, the words ‘gin rickey’ on the very tip of her tongue, ready to spill out along with all of her resolve for the night. her gaze shifts from the bar to the people desperately, in hopes someone would be out there, reading her mind, telling her to keep it in control, for once. of course, nobody is there, and she’s left turning back to the bar, a sinking feeling in her stomach. “what? uh— no, i’m good.” it’s a bit distracted, but it’s all she can do right now. “romantic yeah...but awkward? sometimes even boring? i’d wager that too.” she’d never been much of a romantic.
