COSMIC

r a p h a e l l a ! ☾ * ✶ * — so ‘ come home ’ said a voice from the stars

[rvphaellas]

                      “thank you, thank YOU. i’m here all summer.” his grin only doubled in size, hand placed on chest as the sense of ACHIEVEMENT filled his heart. “i’m offended that you even question that, of course i do.” he scoffed, the cigarette balancing between his lips once again as his hand dug into the depth of his pocket, bum lifted in the air as he retrieved the smaller bag; dangling it in her face. as she reached for her phone, his head shifted to rest his chin on her shoulder. pursing his lips together as he waited patiently for the reveal. “cute?more like HOT.” he teased again.

“ GOD, you really are my saviour today. ” she hummed, a mischievous look dancing in her eyes as she watched the bag swinging in front of her. “ we can get into some trouble. for old times’ sake. ” a teasing smirk tugged up the corners of her mouth. neither of them had ever been very well-behaved. “ huh. might get it printed on a t-shirt. you know, like tana mongeau. ” raffi could just picture the look of disgust that would be on her mother’s face. “ i’ll even give you one. ” she added with a wink, but completely sincerely. if anyone was going to print their mugshot onto a t-shirt, it was raffi. 

[rvphaellas]

rj tapped one of his pens on his leg ( a replacement for old, more dangerousplaythings like lighters & switchblades, though that didn’t mean he had entirely left those behind him ), the beat of ac/dc’s back in black soon becoming clear. “ god, i hope this isn’t completely like the old days. “ he didn’t need to relive all of his worst moments - god knew greendale had been the scene of most of them, as his ten years in brooklyn had been … different. better. he smirked at the mention of a bet, some of that missing spark reappearing in his eyes. maybe he needed to stop gambling or making bets, chasing that old thrill, but old habits died hard, & he enjoyed it way too much to give it up. “ ‘course i do. let’s see, let’s see … twenty bucks says we’ll have our first argument by the end of the night, & first physical fight by the fifth night. “

“ depends how much people have ACTUALLY grown up, i suppose. ” she replied with a shrug. raffi doubted very much that things would be much different than when they were back in high school. after all, you can take the kids out of greendale but you can’t take greendale out of the kids. “ twenty bucks says the first argument is tomorrow morning. first physical fight... ” she paused, a look of deliberation crossing her face momentarily. “ third night. ” raff decided on, rather emphatically. “ there’s no way this bunch will be able to wait any longer to throw the first punch. ”

[rvphaellas]

                           “perhaps.” he chuckled, his backside hitting the duvet next to her with a HUFF. he was sure this was the first time he had managed to sit down since arriving at the villa. he grinned with a shrug. “no problem, as well as excitement levels raised, i feel everyone’s STRESS levels are at their peaks, too, so it’s the least i could do.” quitting anything was difficult, especially when you had become so reliant on it. elias had first-hand experience of that. “what do you want from me, raff?” he shook his head with amusement, gaze locking on her own as he tried to read her expression. to begin with, elias didn’t flinch when she shifted but then he got restless, altering himself to face her, too. “again? BABE, i thought i was voted most likely to spend a night in jail, not you.” he booped her nose with his index finger, shaking his head again. “of course i want to see it.”

“ you really are A GIFT to humanity, mr. becker. ” she spoke with a mock deferential tone, before descending into giggles. “ you got anything with a little more KICK than tobacco? ” raff reasoned that if anyone was going to have something fun, it’d be elias. “ a highly detailed account of what you’ve been up to since i last saw you, of course. ” she replied with a faux-petulant pout of her glossy lips. “ what can i say? i’m a woman of MANY talents. ” she spoke with a dramatic flick of her fiery hair over her shoulder. “ here ya go. ” she’s retrieved her phone & pulled up the aforementioned image, a proud beam now settled on her lips. in the image she’s wearing a headband with two alien eyes sprouting from it and grinning from ear to ear, seemingly entirely unconcerned by the circumstances in which she’s being photographed. “ cute, isn't it? ”

[rvphaellas]

━━━     ˊ     *     ♡       ◟     𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓎  &  O P E N !        ┆       SHE  HADN’T  MEANT  TO  VEER off  from  the  group  ,  she  hadn’t  meant  to  seclude  herself  ,  past  honey  would  of  been  in  the  middle  ,  greet  everyone  she  could  with  a  kind  smile  ,  &  she  had  ,  only  now  the  view  had  sucked  her  away  &  while  she’d  promised  herself  that  she’d  focus  on  this  trip &  not  vlogging  ,  she  couldn’t  help  but  film  a  little  snippet  of  the  view  .  moving  slowly  ,  she  doesn’t  realise  she wasn’t  alone  until  the  figure  is  visible  on  the  screen  ,  tapping  the  stop  button  .     ❝            lord  ,  i  didn’t  even  see you  there  ,  i  can  edit  you  out  if  you  want  ?  ❞   she  offers  ,  pocketing  the  device  as  she  smiles  .

ALL IN ALL, raff was looking forward to the summer ahead. surfing, old friends, cocktails. what she wasn't exactly ecstatic about was having to spend it in close proximity to her almost-estranged twin sister. what with honey being out in los angeles, and raff hoping around the world from beach to beach, it was easier to act as though nothing was wrong. she didn’t know how long it had been since she’d last seen her sister. six months, raff guessed. was it at their cousin’s wedding? or a christening? she couldn’t be sure. “ are you going to spend the entire trip vlogging? ” she questioned, with a sharp raise of her eyebrows. 

[rvphaellas]

       ——  multiple times as raffi rambled along, abel tried to say something in return, but was always interrupted by her continuing stream of words. when she finally stopped speaking, bringing the conversation back to where they’d started, he scrunched up his forehead, and looked her up and down, a worried expression on his face,  “ thank god you shut up. i was beginning to think i’d have to call your parents and tell them i broke you ”  he chuckled, before swinging his arm around raffi’s neck and looking down at his friend,  “ so… what kind of mischief have you been getting up to since i last saw you ? it feels like forever ago  ”  in reality it had probably been around a week or so.

“ fuck off. i’m trying to impart my wisdom AND save your life. you could at least show a little appreciation. ” she responded with a roll of her bright blue eyes. they’d always been this way,  back & forth with teasing remarks and witty retorts. raff wouldn’t have it any other way. instinctively her head nestled against abel as his arm curved around her neck. there had been plenty of rumours flying around back when they were in high school that they were more than friends. MAYBE that was true, but only because they were more like platonic soulmates than simply friends. “ forever ago? ” raffi repeated, a smile tugging up the corners of her mouth. “ ACTUALLY, i’ve been on my best behaviour. ” she finally got to responding to his question, flashing him an exaggeratedly sweet smile. 

[rvphaellas]

“i don’t expect everyone to understand my artistry.” unusually for him, however, he was speaking through gritted teeth. he’d typically be able to act composed, unbothered, but raffi… she always made him feel strongly about things. sure, it was much more negative now than it was when they were… well, but her effect remained the same in nature. “what more do you need from my imagination? i’ve worn it out when it comes to you.” imagining what it’d have been like if their respective mental health issues hadn’t gotten in the way, if either of them had pushed aside ego to apologize… he’d done too much of it. would they still be in love if that’d happened? eventually, thinking about it grew tiring. there was nothing they could do anymore.

ONCE upon a time, raffi had understood his art. she’d understood his heart, too, or at least it had felt that way. now he was practically a stranger to her. the boy she had known so well all those years ago didn’t exist anymore. “ i suppose everyone understands it in their own way. ” she spoke with a tiny shrug. indifference had never been her strong suit, & so it was taking every last ounce of self-control she had NOT to snap at him. “ nice to know you’ve been thinking about me so much. ” a perverse smirk slithered its way onto her lips, cerulean gaze not dropping from his face. 

[rvphaellas]

                               “did you NOT read what happened ‘happily ever after’?” he joked, though his expression was serious with a risen questioning brow. her response caused a chuckle to BUBBLE out from his parted brims. “now that would be the life i want to live.” he agreed, leaning against the wall as the two of them spoke. fumbling hands soon retrieved the packet of cigarettes from his back pocket, arm outstretching to her as an offer. he wasn’t going to be offended if she rejected but he thought it was kind of him to ask. “not too bad, i suppose. how’ve you been, baby?” his OLD charm returning as he plopped down on the creation of duvets and pillows she organised, wriggling to the spot she prodded.

“ would this conversation make more sense if i had? ” she responded, a grin spreading across her face. “ strangerville seems pretty wild. ” no surprises that raff would single out that particular universe. “ thanks, cutie. ” she hummed, pulling a cigarette from the box. it’d been three year since she had made a new years resolution to quit ( commitment wasn’t her strong suit. ) “ huh. ‘ not too bad ’. is that all i get? ” she replied, a smirk creeping its way onto her lips. ‘ inquisitive ’ her grandmother had called her. ‘ nosey ’ came the reply from her mother. “ i’ve been amazing. and fucking awful. and everything in the middle. ” she responded, rolling over onto her side to watch him closely. “ i got arrested again. wanna see my mugshot? ” 

[rvphaellas]

“i’m not here for any sappy reunion, drama or who had the best grade talk.” mads said when dropping his things onto the floor with a big charming smile and hands quickly tucked into the pockets of his black distressed jeans. “lets do like we did high school. beer pong, get so drunk we kind of want to drown the memories and find some chick on a bathroom floor chasing white lines.” naturally he raised his shoulders. “normal stuff.”

“ BAGSY being the chick on the bathroom floor. ” it was a joke, but anyone who knew raffi would be aware that it could very well come to be a prophetical statement. “ but i think your luck might’ve run out with the whole ‘ no drama ’ thing. ” she raised her eyebrows, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “ thirty people who have fucked, argued, beaten each other up, been in love, been out of love - all in a confined space for the summer. i’d buy some popcorn if i were you. ”

[rvphaellas]

   ✗  dallas hadn’t even been in the house for a day and he’d ALREADY gotten caught up in one of raffi’s existential monologues — just like old times , he thought to himself with a small smile as he listened to the girl ramble on . he couldn’t remember the last time the two had been alone together , especially since he’d ran off to los angeles with her estranged twin sister , but it clearly hadn’t taken long for them to fall back into old habits — aka raffi rambling endlessly while dallas listened as if she was the most interesting person in the world . his brows perked at her remarks about the microwave and he glanced over his shoulder at the appliance sitting on the kitchen counter of the rental house they stood in . “ now microwaves are killing us ? ” he questioned with a roll of his eyes , not really buying the whole thing . “ what’s next , clocks ? ” a grin spread his lips as dallas continued to unwrap the pizza pop he’d pulled out of the freezer , prompting raffi’s speech on the dangers of microwaves . “are you SURE you don’t want one ? ” he questioned , wiggling one of the pops at raffi before laughing as she regained traction of her thoughts . “ yeah , it’s pretty crazy , huh ? i’m excited to see everyone again though — i feel like i’ve gotten so detached from greenville with everything that has been going on in la , it’ll be good to reconnect . ”

“ microwaves. ” she repeated, a look of sincere concern and conviction flashing across her face. the incredulity of others in response to her varied conspiracy theories never fazed raffi. her eyes did a one-eighty at dallas’s comment, her hand reaching out to playfully swat at him. “ fuck off. you’ll thank me one day. ” but a BRILLIANT smile had dawned upon her faced. she’d missed dallas. she didn’t like him being all the way out in los angeles. but he was chasing his dreams & raff would never want to hold him back from that. it didn’t help that visiting wasn’t really an attractive option; not with honey being his roommate and all. her gaze flickered to the pizza pop, eyes narrowing, before they returned to dallas. “ eh. i suppose we’ve all got to die sometime. i’ll have one. ” she responded with a shrug, pulling herself up onto the island counter. “ dude, it’s weird as fuck. ” raff shook her head a little, swinging her legs back and forth. “ i can’t wait to see what everyone has been up to. like, i wonder if our superlatives have been self-fulfilling prophecies. ” she’d never been much good at staying in touch & consequently had fallen out contact with much of the class of 2014. “ we can fuck around now you're back - like the old days. i just read a wild book on chiromancy, you’ll have to let me try it out on you. ” 

[noorhelmgifs]

[luxxfm]

@rvphaellas

[rvphaellas]

don’s attention was actually piqued when she mentioned the supposed harmful effects of microwaves. “i don’t cook with microwaves anymore. but i haven’t thrown mine out, ‘cause sometimes i need to visualize how something would explode, so i put it in the microwave for 10 minutes. first 3 and it’s already… BOOM… but that’s because i put things like shoes in there. you have to make sacrifices for art sometimes. you can’t afford to cower.” upon hearing this talk of aliens, however, he slowly began to realise who was speaking to him. he briefly glanced away from what he was reading to her, his first heartbreak, before shifting awkwardly back to it. “no, i don’t know why that would be crazy.”

she liked to think she didn’t have much time for grudges; that she had far better things to invest her energy in. and yet, her she was, still harbouring resentment even after all these years. it was like she had a simmering fire in the pit of her stomach that she could never quite EXTINGUISH. “ goodness. how profound. ” a frown had etched itself on her forehead as she watched the boy closely. of all the people in the class of 2014, he was one she was least excited to have to spend the summer with. “ don’t know? and here i was thinking you had at least a little imagination. ” she feigned a look of shocked apology. “ my mistake. ” 

[rvphaellas]

  since graduating, elias hadn’t really kept in contact with anyone but his sister and sometimes abel. his and abel’s friendship came from the ENDLESS smoke nights where they told one another’s deepest feelings. raphella was a friend who elias had made through abel, their friendship eventually turned into a jokey flirtationship; one which he respected AND enjoyed being apart of. his face had been plastered on some areas of town, areas which weren’t in everyday vision though. “no, i’m embracing my inner rapunzel, gosh.” he teased with a shake of his head, SOON strolling to the end of her bed. “i see you’re living out your life as a cat now.” he gestured to the string with his cigarette placed in between his fingers. 

“ fuck me. i didn’t realise rapunzel smoked. ” raff responded, nodding her head towards the cigarette in elias’s mouth. “ yeah. living as a human got a little dull. ” she replied, moving nearer to the boy to dangle the string in front of his eyes. “ i tried to get aliens to abduct me instead, but turns out real life isn’t a whole lot like the sims. ” a half-smile played on her lips, but the statement wasn’t ENTIRELY a joke - her mugshot from trespassing on area 51 was testament to that. “ how’s life been treating you? ” she dropped the string and sat back, patting the comforter beside her. 

[rvphaellas]

rj listened to raphaella ramble, nodding along like he understood what she was saying or maybe even cared about microwaves giving him cancer, when, really, he didn’t give a shit. given some of his more…wild old habits, he’d be lucky if kitchen radiation was what made him kick the bucket, &, frankly, as long as his microwave did a semi-decent job at popping his popcorn, it could do whatever else it liked. as for aliens & government conspiracies, well - he didn’t have enough tinfoil with him to make a hat, so he figured he’d pass on that, too. it took him a moment to catch up to her return to more normal conversation, but when he did, he said, “ oh, yeah. ‘s definitely gonna take some getting used to. i, for one, can’t wait to see who fights first. “ his money was on one of the quieter kids ( they were always the wildest when they snapped ), but he supposed he’d just have to wait & see.

she had always had a tendency of going off on long tangents, and had never really been bothered if people actually LISTENED or not. they mostly didn't, & raff could tell that this was one of those times. “ it’s like we’ve stepped into a time machine. it’s weird. ” being around her class from high school made raff feel like she was a teenager again - not that she’d done much growing up since. “ i doubt you’ll be waiting very long. ” the class of 2014 had more unfinished business than they knew what to do with. “ wanna bet when it’ll happen? ” she asked, with a grin spreading across her lips. her mother wouldn't be best pleased with her, instigating bets on such a topic, but raff had never been much concerned with seeming like a ‘ proper young lady. ’ 

[rvphaellas]

giggles danced across soft lips, her golden irises staring at familiar features .. keeping themselves on their best behavior, not wanting to dismiss the gibberish that stormed around in the air that surrounded them with the playful eye roll her eyes so badly wanted to do .  and the smallest ( that might be a lie, its much bigger to label it as small ) part of her missing the voice of her friend so much that she did not mind at all the talk about the government , and microwaves , and aliens? nose scrunching up , sonya shook her head , she thinks she mentioned aliens. ’ nope , i dont think that was what you were saying , ’ sonya finally broke , her lips being pulled into a gentle smile .. ’ i think you were saying something like how much you missed me? and how excited you are to be spending this entire summer with my annoying ass ! ’ she laughed, head shaking slightly . ’ it is wild isn’t it? it makes me feel like im back in high school .. having to see all the faces i basically grew up with every day for the next few months . '

it was easy to find raphaella a little ... MUCH. but sonya’s friendship was one that had never wavered; that raff had never once doubted. as a child it had always been the ‘ three musketeers ’ as sonya, honey, and raffi had dubbed themselves. sometimes she missed having her very own tiny girl gang, but at least she still had sonya. “ ah, OF COURSE, that’s what i was saying. ” she agreed with a nod and a knowing smile. “ you put up with my crazy voodoo shit, so i guess we’re even. ” raff responded with a shrug, as chuckles spilled from her lips. “ right? it’s going to be weird. i still can’t believe that everyone somehow agreed to this. ” she replied, raising her eyebrows as if to say ‘ buckle up, there’s going to be drama. ’

[rvphaellas]

   the SMELL of smoke was radiating from his body, he wasn’t sure whether it was from his unhealthy habit of smoking TWENTY a day or the soles of his bare feet burning against the heated concrete he walked on. sunglasses on, ruffled almost ‘sex like’ hair dripping with sweat and an unlit cigarette placed in between his lips gave him the confidenceboost he needed. it had been a while since elias was social with anyone but his sister. however the faces of his familiar peers soon reminding him of who he was SUPPOSED to be, the old him before things took a turn for the worst. that signature half smirk returning as he observed the rest of his old class unload their things, hands clapping together then rubbing against the other; shoulders now relaxed but BROAD. “hope y’all are as excited as i am.” he said with confidence, the balancing cigarette stopping him from being as clear as he was able to be. 

she’d long since made herself comfortable on a pile of duvets and cushions, her hands occupied by a piece of string wound up and unravelled over and over again. unfortunately for her roommates, raffi’s idea of unpacking effectively consisted of dumping the contents of her suitcase on the floor by her bed. noting elias’s arrival, her gaze flickered inquisitively up and down the boy. she’d heard snippets from abel of what elias had been up to since graduation, and was even convinced she’d seen him on a billboard SOMEWHERE, but it still felt as though she no longer really knew the boy. “ forgot to pack shoes? ” she questioned, a wry smile tugging up the corners of her mouth. 

[rvphaellas]

“ i think microwaves could genuinely be giving us cancer. i watched a really legit documentary. radiofrequency radiation and all that shit. it’s WILD. our kitchens are killing us. ” her cerulean eyes widened, as though to emphasise the impending doom faced by anyone who happened to step into the radius of the supposedly lethal culinary appliance. “ it’s all the government, though, isn’t it? deregulation and big pharma. did you know they’re hiding aliens from us, too? ” following raffi’s train of thought could be challenging, to say the least. “ uh WAIT, what was i saying? ” she paused momentarily, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. “ OH, yeah, right. it’s crazy that we're all going to be back together after five years, isn't it? ”

[mrbeniciodeltoro]