candy flashes a grin at the other, “considering i do hair for a living, i would say i’m pretty good at it.” she didn’t want to toot her own horn but she could give anyone a make-over anywhere. “here, turn around and let me take a look.”
Candy's smile proves to be infectious. Even if the situation is pretty dire in terms of strangers being mean to her (one of her nightmares), this is a lucky turn of events. She turns around, shaking her head a little so her hair could move and settle more properly. "How about it? I mean... my mom's hair stylist is the one who was on this..."
“Oh, I know better than to tell a woman how to wear their hair, plus I love yours,” Milo assured the other. “And I’d like specify, I don’t want to change you, but having a new wardrobe for going out, it’s a good way to make the night more exciting, plus you’re stunning and should show yourself off. Any no nos in regards to wardrobe or makeup, though?” He asked, already pulling open the door for them to leave.
Laika pondered the question. Doing something entirely new in a way that was entirely her would make for an interesting challenge. "I don't like high heels," she answered. She had one too many memories of toppling over in them whenever she had to wear them for formal events for her to be ready to it in a club. Especially with alcohol in the mix, which would make it 10x more likely for her to fall over.
A deep breath slipped out as she spotted Marina step in between her and the other, followed by a heavy sigh. Noa usually had no problem with a difficult customer, but there was a rare occasion when one is more troublesome than she'd have liked. Giving a small nod at Marina, she glanced back at the customer, waiting for him to take the advice and leave it at that. The customer scoffed, obviously annoyed by the fact that two women were telling him how to workout. After a series of curses, though, he finally bowed out and grumbled something about finding a man that knew what he was talking about.
"Well that was certainly something," Noa finally said, shaking her head in disbelief as he walked away before turning to Marina. "Thank you for stepping in, I wasn't sure if he was going to flip entirely on me or something and I have to admit, my knowledge outside the studio is limited." She admitted with a soft chuckle, "Though I do know what common courtesy is."
Marina watched the guy crumble with a mix of annoyance and pride. As he stalked off, she shook his head. "It's no problem. Seriously. I'm built for this kind of... dominant feminine intimidation. I just wish you didn't have to deal with it. I like to imagine that the yoga studio is where everyone gets peace from the guys like that. And... I guess it's also where they teach common courtesy, because I can tell that that guy isn't stretching."
"Not particularly, I believe in things I can see, and surely with the technologies we've developed we'd have found something by now," Feyza arched an eyebrow. "Hm. I'm sure others have the... opposite opinion. I'd definitely try and broaden your dating pool, however."
"I think my dating pool is broad," muttered Marina, despite having had 0 luck with dating in the past months. "I just think that you're underestimating how fucking big space is. Like... it's so huge. And space exploration and research is so expensive and difficult that what we know is just the tip of the iceberg... they're so real."
〔 amber riley, 36, cis woman, she/her ) cleo sheehan was seen listening to “ together again ” by janet jackson. cleo is a social worker and known to be vivacious & flaky ( harper )
𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜
full name ~ cleo rose sheehan
birthday ~ NOVEMBER / 25 / 1986
job status ~ employed as a social worker
relationship status ~ (currently) single
orientation ~ questioning
𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘 (tws : death, depression)
cleo rose sheehan was born in huntsville, with both of her parents in the picture. her dad worked as a car mechanic, while her mom stayed home to take care of her. she was welcomed into the larger sheehan fold, where she was surrounded by a close, large family.
she was five years old when she met daisy schumacher, who quickly became her bff. as kindergarteners, few adults had faith that the two girls would actually stay best friends for the rest of their lives, but they insisted that was the case. it might’ve been defiant stubbornness, or divine luck, but those two five year olds were right. they carved out their own little social niche, and even developed a secret language (which was quickly forgotten, since regular english was easier).
cleo’s next best friend was introduced to her when she was 11, and her mom gave birth to her younger sister. cleo took to the older sister role quickly, and soon she was volunteering for any extra time she got. this came as a relief to her mom, who’s second pregnancy was much more difficult for her. even if cleo wasn’t at an age to really understand postpartum depression and the medical aftermath of an emergency c-section, she knew that she needed/wanted to help.
school was, in comparison to her home life, a place of lightened responsibility. many subjects came naturally to her, but the ones that didn’t usually had at least one nerdy guy in the classroom who’d let her copy off his homework. she learned pretty young that being nice to a gawky dude made her life easier, until very suddenly, it didn’t.
both cleo and daisy feel a certain amount of shame over the fact that their first falling out was over a guy. they were 14, just starting high school, and daisy was obsessed with a guy known in their school for having facial hair and a love for golf. cleo wasn't head over heels for him, but he once wrote an entire essay for her: he had caught her crying and stressing out over how she couldn’t finish an essay on macbeth in time, since she was taking care of her little sister the night before. he was the knight in shining armor who wrote it, and asked her on a date. she said yes, and it sparked a fight that (momentarily) ended her 9 year friendship with daisy.
they refused to talk for six months, and cleo found a new little friend group. it was hard for her to battle the feeling that she didn’t quite belong there. she got along with them well enough, but she couldn’t quite feel like she was part of the group. after six months, when she and daisy reconciled over some schumacher-standard brownies, cleo felt that she knew exactly where she was supposed to be.
any order that cleo’s world held crumbled when her mom died. as a 16 year old, cleo didn’t quite understand how she was supposed to cope with a world without a mother, especially when her father was so grief-stricken that he could hardly get out of bed. it was at the funeral when the stars aligned for her, and cleo found purpose in the wreckage. as a hymn played, cleo looked over at her five year old sister, and decided that the only way out was through, and she would carry his sister as far as she could.
she went to grief camp that summer, where she got to spend time with counselors and social workers alike. she worked through all the steps with a single minded intensity, taking mental notes with the hopes of bringing them home and taking her family through healing. everything else fell to the side, and she spent her summer with family (which included the schumachers).
she had a rocky start back at school, where her grades took an immediate and understandable plummet. cleo got dangerously close to failing her junior year, but was saved by a mix of cram sessions and teacher sympathy for her situation. by the time that senior year rolled around, she was facing a new normal. the academics were easier to stomach, and she had a strong sense of what she wanted to do. she wanted to become a social worker, to use all that she had learned and shared with her family to save the world.
her self-sufficiency seemed to be a siren song to a handful of guys in her grade, and she indulged in some casual dating. emphasis on casual, considering that she never fell in love with any of them. she just had fun on arcade and movie dates, and let guys buy her dinner. it was a perfect setup, until prom season came around, and cleo watched on in abject horror as two guys attempted a promposal at the same time. this ended in a fistfight in the middle of the cafeteria. cleo decided to go to prom with friends instead.
cleo went to college soon after, and majored in social work. among the classwork and social scene, she got into her second falling out with daisy, which was sparked over daisy getting an invite to a sorority that turned cleo down. cleo took this news with a level of derision (“why would they pick you and not me??”) that sparked an hours-long fight that kept most of their dorm floor awake. they decided that their 13 year friendship had reached a conclusion, but this conviction lasted for a month.
cleo’s first long-term relationship came in her junior year, when a ta asked her on a date and promptly swept her off her feet. gone were the days of high school guys fumbling over compliments, and cleo loved every minute. that is, until he pointed out that every single time anyone in her family called, including daisy and her family, she would take it. no matter what. he expressed that he was worried that she would always choose them over him, and her response was a dumbfounded “of course i always will. that’s my family.” he ended things pretty soon after.
with graduation came a new level of excitement, since cleo was finally able to do the things she always wanted to do. she jumped into social work with zeal, and quickly found that it was an impossible job. luckily, according to her words, “i’m an impossible woman”. she found little ways to handle it all, but after three years of being bombarded with the worst of humanity, she was nearly ready to give up entirely.
daisy convinced her to take a break and go on an extended vacation, so cleo put in a sabbatical, and let herself be whisked away to brussels. schumacher money plus sheehan charm turned out to be a winning combination for having a fabulous vacation, and when it was all over, cleo had a photo album of european locales and a million stories to tell her clients.
this became her new cycle: work until she was about to burn out, and then jet off to some lovely spot to recharge. her and daisy’s final falling out came during one of these vacations, where they had a long, loud fight about every issue they’d ever had while stranded in miami. the cell service was terrible, and cleo was haunted by a recent death of a client, and it got ugly and mean. they brought up beef from elementary school. there was no clear escape, since there were no taxis to be found. they spent exactly five minutes apart, trying to find the way back on their own. at the end of the five minutes, they realized that they were walking down the same street, just on different sidewalks. cleo crossed to daisy’s side, and they made up.
in the years after florida, cleo and daisy went to japan, and most recently, a cruise on the caribbean. she also went on approximately 42 first dates, none of which turned into a relationship longer than six months. it turns out that for cleo, when the loves of her life are already family and work, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for another person. there’s still that little question for her, that romantic part of her that wonders if there is something that’ll find her one day.
that leaves her where she is now: she’s recently had her 16th work anniversary, and she celebrated it with daisy by getting herself a hamster. the hamster is a male named primadonna, and she dotes on him as much as she can.
“Not like, actual magic, Jessie,” Julius shot her a quizzical look. “I mean like when they take their bra off without taking their shirt off first. Baffles the hell out of me,” They admitted. “Oh right, duh. I’ll just walk around shirtless with my jacket. It’s a look, right? Your shirt will look like a crop top on me, which I could pull off, but it is soaking and I am not about that feeling.”
"It's about the sleeves," Jess explained. "Once your arms are out of the sleeves, anything is possible... I just need to... hmmm..." she looked down at the sopping wet top, and tried not to feel a flush of panic at the sight. "Should I just throw the shirt away, anyway? I mean, if we just put the other shirt on top of it... I don't want to carry it around and have my hands smelling like stick cocktail all night."
Nico liked the fact that he and Jess could still be friends. There weren't very many of his exes that he could say he actually still liked to talk to, let alone actually sit down and have coffee with. He focused on stirring the sugar into his coffee as he listened to Jess and he really did feel excited for what it was that she said. "Yeah? That's great though! Maybe your petitions helped these kids see that it could be done," he responded optimistically, recalling all too well all of the petitions. He had signed every single one-- and spent countless hours trying to convince others to do so as well. "Maybe you could, like...go back and volunteer and help or something?" he suggested, though he wasn't entirely sure what that would even look like. Or if it were possible. "Though you're probably too busy, huh?"
"I am pretty busy... but maybe coaching could help with some writer's block." She tried to take a bite of her pastry, only to put it down when it was leagues too hot. As she waited for it to cool, she considered her next thought. "But they don't take people from off the street and just let them coach, right? They probably wouldn't let me."
closed starter for @sliceofsky ( javier and daisy )
"i know when we were younger we said we wanted to do this, to make sure we could both have our families and would never be alone but are you sure you want do?" javier asked. it seemed absolutely insane and he was sure people were going to judge, but the plan and money were already in place so surely it wouldn't be that bad.
Sure, Daisy could admit that it was a bit of a bummer that she didn't find her One True Love by now. Maybe saving the world was her One True Love, or maybe it was her platonic soulmates thing with Cleo, but it landed her in the same place: 36, unmarried, and with her family not-so-patiently waiting for her to just tie the knot already.
"Yeah, I am," she answered, taking a sip of water. Having a 'are we still engaged???' dinner might usually be awkward, but with a friend like Javier, she didn't feel that at all. "I'm just shocked nobody snatched you up. But if it means that we're going to be the ones with the wedding of the century? I'm not mad at all."
"Understandable, the town is pretty. Honestly I feel like a runway model with it flying all over the damn place," She huffed, desperately trying to smooth it down. "I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?"
"You look like a runway model, might as well feel like one too," Daisy said, trying not to sound too in awe. People in this town were too damn pretty, she thought. "No, no harm done!" she looked around. "I just wish it wasn't so busy out here."
〔 poppy drayton, 28, cis woman, she/her ) jessica caesar was seen listening to “ only wanna be with you ” by hootie and the blowfish. jess is a romance novelist and known to be brainy & moody ( harper )
𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜
full name ~ jessica maria caesar
birthday ~ MAY / 29 / 1994
job status ~ employed as a romance novelist
relationship status ~ (currently) single
orientation ~ heterosexual
𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘 ( tws : cheating , divorce )
Jessica Maria Caesar was born right at the beginning of the summer, a week or two overdue. Her dad was a grocer, and her mom was a singer-turned-nursing home assistant. They met at the grocery store, which was apparently inspiration enough for Jess to have a veggie-themed nursery.
“Growing up”, for Jessica, was a bit of a misnomer, since she spent the first 12 years of her life stubbornly short. She was made fun of for that fact, but the gentle teasing turned darker when her social awkwardness and love for lord of the rings made her genuinely unpopular. She found herself outcasted for most of her young life, and she poured any loneliness into long, fantasy epics. Jess read, and read, and read some more: people who did try to talk to her would often be treated to long descriptions of whatever series she was four books deep into.
Junior high brought the first big changes for Jess, who had a growth spurt and a first boyfriend at the same time. Both taught her that not only could she be pretty (her middle school boyfriend made a point of reminding her every morning), but also a little mean. She made fun of the people who were cold to her, first behind their backs, and then to their faces. The relationship petered out, but the lessons stayed with her.
As she entered high school, she loved three things dearly: fantasy, football, and fantasy football. She developed a space on the internet fairly early, writing fanfictions and beating her dad in fantasy football drafts. In her sophomore year, she made a big splash by trying out for the football team, even if it was all boys. She knew that she had a killer kick, and the football team wasn’t even that competitive. The coach dismissed her outright, and she organized a protest. The protest didn’t exactly take over the school, but she made a name for herself.
Even if she was ultimately unsuccessful in her mission to be the first girl on the team, she decided to capitalize on whatever popularity her project won her by running for student council. She befriended Julius, and ran on the Julius/Caesar ticket. The wordplay was strong, but not strong enough to get them the win. What she got, however, was a bit more precious, since it earned her a connection with Julius.
For a stint, she dated Nico Manning, who was not only ridiculously cute, but also super sweet. The cracks showed in their relationship when school became an issue. It was her everything, and his… not much. They ended things when college application times came around, and it set in that he wasn’t all that interested in the future that she wanted.
As high school came to an end, she was dead set on Harvard as her next step. When she didn’t get into Harvard, she cried her eyes out. And Julius, much to her surprise, was there with open arms and a shoulder to cry on, even though she thought that they’d never stay friends. The next time she needed a friend, when her mom and dad told her they were getting a divorce, he was there for her again. Strangely enough, he just… stayed in her life. She never expected it, but after a few years of keeping in touch, he kind of became her best friend.
It wasn’t Harvard, but Huntsville had a college with a creative writing major, and Jessica put her whole heart into that. She wanted to embark on a fantasy epic series like the ones that raised her, and she split her focus in two ways. Half went to her creative writing portfolio, and the other half went to the epic college romance she always wanted. She found a great guy to do it with, and they were together for a couple months, until she walked in on him cheating on her. With his boss. It was bad.
Jess swore off men after that. She figured that after dating a literal model in high school, she might have peaked a bit too soon. That didn’t keep her from occasionally striking up romances, but each was more ill-fated than the last. She chalked it up to bad taste in men, and hoped that her luck would improve.
When Jess graduated college, she jumped headfirst into a market that didn’t really want what she was selling. She tried desperately to publish her high fantasy, even though her agent said that the only marketable part of her work was the romantic subplot. Said agent, who Jess was kinda-sorta-friends with, asked Jess to write a romance novel. It took a year or two, but Jess caved, and delivered exactly what her agent wanted. Much to Jess’ chagrin, it was a success, and everyone wanted more romance novels.
After pitfalls both in her love life and her career, Jess has decided that she’s going to stick to herself, and her little circles. How successful this will be remains to be seen.
"I've told you, time and time again. I'm not interested, I don't give a shit and--" Noah glanced upwards, brows furrowing. "Oh," He sipped at his coffee, shaking his head. "I thought you were someone else. Sorry."
"Don't shoot the messenger," Daisy said with a sheepish laugh, holding both hands up in faux-surrender. She looked down at the petition in her hand with a wary glance. "Did one of my volunteers already ask you to sign? I'm sorry, if so..."
quinn looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping her chin as she thought. "well when i was younger i couldn't hold a pencil correctly. it took me years to learn how, even after the normal age the people learn to write." she said. "my fine motor was horrible."
Wally felt a few conflicting emotions. First, he felt a rash of shame- even though he used to have the ability, holding a pencil at all wasn't something he could do anymore. Then, he remembered not to judge his PT progress, and that it was far from a judgement on him. "How did you used to hold it?" he asked, trying to press through his moment of hurt.
"no, we're completely out of tortilla chips, which i told you we would be if your delivery truck - which was already disastrously late - didn't get here two days ago! and here we are, two weeks after my chips were promised-" "mommy, can i play pretend?" monifa placed a hand over the phone and smiled warmly. "of course baby, just be safe, remember no climbing on the tall chairs," she said, kissing eko's head and watching her tromp off. "now as i was saying-" by the end of the phone call, monifa had gotten the entire order comped and the assurance that her tortilla chips would arrive the following morning. "hi! welcome to starry skies drive in! i'm ekundayo - what movie are you here to see?," came eko's small voice, and monifa smiled until she heard another voice, at which point she rushed to her daughter. "eko, baby, you can't talk to strangers when mommy's not around," she said before finally glancing towards the other half of the conversation. god. would there ever be a time when she would see him that didn't cause her stomach to lurch out of her mouth. "wally-," she breathed out, subconsciously nudging eko behind her. "hi. sorry, she just - um - eko, why don't you go find byron? ask him about film preservation again!" once she was out of sight, monifa turned back to wally. "long time no see," she said, her halfhearted attempt at a joke.
Driving up to Starry Skies in his modded van was nerve-wracking enough, just because of the possibility that he might see Monifa. If anyone asked, he was just there to see the new Transformers movie, but no man in his right mind would be this nervous about Transformers.
Reaching the window, he was shocked to find a young girl by the tickets. He was thrown, at first, by the fact of Monifa running a theater that employed children, until he recognized something in the young ticket counter. Something about her eyes was familiar, and he wondered if he might be talking to Monifa's niece. Then, a terrifying thought: those aren't Monifa's eyes, they're mine. He dismissed it. having children was a dream that died in the accident, and he wasn't going to chase it.
"One ticket for Transformers," he said, before he could see Monifa in the window, coming close and giving the young girl (Ekundayo, he reminded himself) some good advice. As she left, Wally heard the word "mommy", and everything flipped on its head.
This is Monifa's kid, the one who must be... he tried to do the math. How old was she? Could it...? His eyes were wide, and the gears in his head were turning at top speed as he offered her a small smile in response. "It's been forever, hasn't it? Well, uh- your- the ticketer is doing great, by the way, she's a pro already."
It was supposed to just be a stupid physical, one that they had been reluctant to actually schedule and had pushed off just because there wasn't a pressing need to spend her afternoon in the waiting room of a doctor's office, and now she could say that she was right. Scheduling the physical was a terrible idea because it had landed her right next to Oswald Moody. They jiggled their foot impatiently, willing the nurse to come in and announce Mia's name or Wally's name or just to have the entire waiting room suddenly need to be evacuated just to get them out of this damned situation.
And then Wally broke the tense silence and Mia exhaled swiftly, "There it is," they muttered, the jiggling of their foot halting now. "Are you still stuck on that?" they questioned, glancing over at Wally and for a moment they were back in high school, in that classroom, and you know what? Despite everything, she didn't regret it. Not for a moment. In fact, they decided to stubbornly stick by that decision they had made years and years ago. "I'm not going to apologize for it."
"Good luck getting me to get over it when it meant missing one of the most legendary nights in the history of our high school. I can't think of a single good outcome that came out of that snitch. I was far from the only person cheating on that test, anyway, which makes it extra unfair that I got in trouble... I'm just lucky I didn't sit by you in any of my other classes, otherwise I might've missed on prom, too."
"One of these days, it'll be my autograph they ask for instead," Wynn couldn't help but tease Cary, though personally he was fine without being asked. "Not sure what they'd do with it, though I guess one can truly say they've made it when a fan tattoos their autograph on their backside, huh?"
Cary sighed, feeling nostalgia through him. "That was one of my proudest days as a weatherman," he admitted. "I would've never guessed that it would happen, but some people really form a devotion after tuning in so long. And when you bring a little bit of character and flavor?" he snapped. "You got them. The hearts and soul of the town is yours. And your name is on someone's backside. It's amazing."
"Obsessed may be a bit of a stretch, though I'd argue you certainly make me want to actually tune into the weather for a change," Flynn's lips curved upward into a smirk, eyeing the other shamelessly up and down. "You're an attractive man, what can I say?"
Cary tried not to preen too obviously. It was good that he was inspiring viewership, right? "I think it counts as obsessed if we keep running into each other like this." After all, what other excuse could there be for being in the same place the third time that week? "But... thank you. For the compliment. And the ratings. Audience members like you are what keeps 'The Weather Up There with Cary O'Hare' on the channel."
The way the other looked around, clicked in Adam's mind. "Oh," A laugh escaped his lips, "You know, it's rather refreshing to have someone not know who the hell I am, and stare at me because they think I'm attractive. Which I'm guessing is the truth? Unless I have something on my face, in which case this is about to get real embarrassing real quick."
Cary could feel himself get flustered. "Oh, well- I mean, I don't know your work super well, at least not enough to know your name but... I'm sure that I recognize you," he said, before feeling a rash of shame. Ugh. "I'm kind of a local celebrity, so I get the... having people look at you in public thing. Totally."
