that's life

meredyth & mya & leonette & liane

[fuckyeahantoniathomas]

[victoria-pedretti]

LILY JAMES ▹ 22nd British Independent Film Awards ▹ ph. Dan Rowley

[janhvikapoors]

[teensatanist-deactivated2020112]

Courtney Eaton for @xkarla

[ofsolstice]

the wall nightclub ; tytos + asher + liane + harry.

@ironwrath​ ; @xwesterosi​ ; @stompingonadreamau​ 

nobody had ever accused him of being a good dancer - legit, never - but after a few drinks in a hot and loud nightclub, who could really tell the difference anymore? definitely not him. the music was deafening: drowning out any thoughts he could even think to have, and drumming an impossibly thunderous heartbeat against the walls. tytos was already buzzed, a thin sheen of sweat across his forehead and cheeks pinking even under the flashing neon lights of the club, painting his features in greens and blues and blinding reds. somehow, he’d ended up with glitter smeared across his hands, and the political fixer grinned roguishly at a few strangers in his path as he wove through the packed, gyrating crowds to join his friends again. 

they barely ever got a chance to hang out like this - everyone with their busy lives and unforgiving schedules and mysterious lives, but they were a mismatched patchwork of buddies and they’d finally, finally gotten a friday night to misbehave. “ okay, just one more drink, guys! ” tytos huffed as he slumped down into the seat, offering a honeyed, hazy smile to his companions ( and fuck, they were a brilliant bunch ) as a server set down of unholy electric blue shots. he’d asked for something that would give them all a headache they would feel in their teeth - it wasn’t always they got to get shitfaced together. also his favourite colour was blue, so whatever. tytos picked up his own glass, straining to be heard over the music but still grinning ear to ear already. “ and if you can guess what’s in it, i’ll take two! ”

[ironwrath]

not that asher would ever admit it to any of them - not that asher ever admitted anything to anyone - but he always felt just the slightest bit out of place with this group. they were all so professional, while asher was just about anything but. the flashing lights, the beat he could feel in his bones, the free-flowing liquor already making his body feel light - quite the feat in itself - well, nothing could make a group feel more united, asher was sure of it. and besides, it’s not like the lot of them ever cared that asher was usually in a leather jacket rather than a suit, or that the last time he’d spoken to liane it was from the back seat of a cop car after yet another bar fight. hell, half the time he figured it was why the kept him around.

always prone to emotional extremes, and even moreso while rapidly approaching drunk, he knew better than to dwell on whatever stresses he may feel. instead, asher leaned back in his seat, letting the conversation and the music wash over him. the blue shots were truly atrocious to look at, but asher just grinned and grabbed the unholy concoction, making a show of swirling it around, of lifting it to his nose and sniffing it. “fuck,” he laughed, making a face, “don’t do that. it smells like poison. you trying to kill us, ty?” nevertheless tilted the shot glass back, downing it like a pro. “yeah - that’s definitely poison.” asher shot a quick prayer to whatever gods were listening in the loud club that he wouldn’t get called into work in the morning.

@stompingonadreamau​

[stompingonadreamau]

Liane wasn’t sure exactly how she found herself within this little group of friends. They all had some different sort of backgrounds and probably would never have been paired up together otherwise, but they were good people, and quite frankly she didn’t care for many people otherwise. Margaery was probably the only other person she could stand, and partly because she had to as her business partner. Still though, she did like the woman and admired her. It wasn’t often she found herself at clubs, she wasn’t a huge fan and frankly preferred a nice jazz club. However, Tytos insisted and there was no arguing with him, she would use this as leverage to drag them all wherever she wanted for the next outing.

The oddly vibrant blue liquid set in front of her made her face scrunch in disgust, but like everyone else, she quickly downed it and flinched. “Tytos, what in the world did you make us drink!” She asked, loudly as to be heard over the music. “I think I would literally drink gasoline before I drank that again.” She added, sipping the iced water that was also in front of her, eyes gazing around at the club goers, full of judgement and annoyance. 

@xwesterosi​

[stompingonadreamau]

D E S M E R A

Desmera hated meetings, despised them even. She hated pandering to the men who thought they could manipulate her, hated making nice with the women who glared at her, and in general, wished she could dispense with formalities much of the time. [ It mattered little that she wasgood at them. One did not always have the luxury of being good at what one liked. ] She’d spent the morning meeting with several different art galleries and museums that wished to borrow a painting in the vast Redwyne collection; it was one of Desmera’s favorites and currently hung above her bed, though she wasn’t going to tell them that. The afternoon had been much of the same and her smile had become more brittle. After spending hours smiling and shaking hands and negotiating, she was ready for a bit of a break.

There was a diner near her last meeting and though it wasn’t the type of place Desmera usually frequented, she craved the solace its anonymity would likely provided. “Hello,” she said, her voice perhaps a little stiff from all the talking she’d done that day. “Coffee, please. Black.” Desmera chose a small table near the corner and leaned back in her chair, exhaling heavily. “I don’t suppose you have any pastries?” she inquired.

The woman Mya was met with at the door was quite beautiful, she almost thought that she had to have been in the wrong place. It wasn’t that they didn’t ever see anyone pretty around the diner, it was just so clear this woman did not frequent such a mom and pop type of establishment like this. While beautiful and elegant, it was clear she was exasperated and frazzled. Mya didn’t hesitate to pour the woman a mug of coffee and set it in front of her.

“We definitely do! Let me see what’s left.” Mya walked over to pastry case and sifted through what was left. All that remained was a blueberry scone. She quickly plated it and brought it to Desmera. “I only have this left, they’re amazing, but I know not everyone is a fan of blueberries. It’s the end of the day here, so it’d be on the house if you’d like it.” Mya tried to choose her tone wisely, the woman already seemed a little on edge, likely from a stressful day, but she didn’t want to cause offense by offering up something for free as if she needed charity.

[stompingonadreamau]

S Y L V A

Sylva’s headache was monstrous - she had known it would be when she’d gone for after-work drinks with her team the night before and decided to take a week’s worth of stress down a peg with a seemingly endless stream of Dornish sour that tasted like home and now, regret. She’d slept nearly all day but by some grace of the gods had managed to wake early enough to find something good to eat still open.

“Coffee, please. Black.” Sylva said, sitting down as far from the windows as possible and verytentatively taking her sunglasses off, uncaring of the fact they looked like they were in the process of closing - she wouldn’t be long, and if she tried to move too fast from where she was, there was a high chance she might be sick. Best to stay here, test these waitresses patience, and hope nobody from the gallery saw her here shoveling the copious amounts of fried food she was about to order into her face. A little regret plagued her, however, when she looked up from her menu and saw how tired the waitress seemed beneath that smile - even Sylva’s prevailing selfishness was not strong enough to withstand the thought of imposing on a pretty girl with better things to do. “You know what, I’ll take it to go with whatever you’ve got that best cures hangovers. Anything you can recommend? My brain long slipped out of my ears so decision making is kind of beyond me right now.”

The woman seemed pretty hungover, a malady that Mya was all too familiar with, both from firsthand experience and the fact that she saw a plethora of customers just like her each weekend, especially on Sunday’s. At her initial order, Mya nodded her head, curls bouncing slightly as she waltzed to the counter and grabbed a freshly brewed pot and poured it into a mug. She set the steaming cup in front of the woman before calling to the kitchen. “I’m gonna need a hangover special over here!”

Mya gave the woman a smile and shrugged. “You’ll get a heaping plate of fried and greasy. I won’t be offended if you put on those sunglasses, by the way. I have been there a time or two myself.” She joked, simultaneously wiping the next table over and replacing salt shakers and sugars, neatly arranging them. She had quite the nack for chatting and working all at the same time. She was a pretty successful multitasker at this point. “It always seems a good idea at the time, huh?” She continued. “Were you celebrating anything?”

[stompingonadreamau]

[ mya stone ]

The day was chaotic, Mya was certain she would snap and quit, and yet she always managed to keep a smile on her face and a polite tone. After all, her tips pretty much depended on all of that despite her feelings. She knew she really needed to step it up too. Edric would be off to college so soon, Barra needed a good pair of running shoes, and the twins were definitely going to need braces within the year. Her head was spinning with all of the big costs that would be coming so soon, but still she pressed on. They may have only been her half-siblings, but they held her whole heart and she was willing to do whatever it took to take care of them.

It was near closing time, Sunday brunch had been chaos and the diner was a disaster, Mya and a couple other waitresses began sweeping and wiping up tables, while there was still a few more minutes left until official closing, she prayed that no one else would walk in. Sure enough, as she was bent over sweeping under a table, the bell chimed signaling someone had entered. She let out a soft sigh, wiping the tired look off her face, and turned to smile at them. “Good afternoon! Have a seat wherever you’d like!” She said, going to put up the broom before walking up to them. “What can I get you to drink?”