#aprtmnt20

[centralperkfamily]

“ Hey, Mon? Can I ask you a cooking question? ” Chandler pokes his head into the apartment, his face and messy hair looking as if he'd just went through a culinary war zone, and the look on his face is desperately miserable ( or miserably desperate ), “ Does this look even remotely edible? ”

and he proceeds to procure from behind his back a dish with a sad black mess on it that might have been food in its previous life

@aprtmnt20 ( Monica Geller ) gets a starter from her culinary disaster of a best friend because I just thought this might get cute 🥹 fair warning, he might be in a relationship or more like that type of situation he had back in season 2 ( I think? ) when he was having a purely sexual relationship with a woman who had a husband and a boyfriend and Chandler was trying to pretend he was fine with it but really he wanted them to be dating like normal people because usually he is a decent enough cook but when he's trying to do something well for someone he likes, he might fail spectacularly from pure nerves

[wildschemes]

@aprtmnt20 asked — "a laundry room humming with fluorescent lights."

nails tap impatiently on the nearest surface. it's only been ten minutes, but to rachel, it feels like a lifetime. had she known how laborious laundry was before throwing away her old life, perhaps she would have just married barry and called it a day. and yet, here she was, setting a specific day aside to do laundry. most days, she was happy. truly, deeply happy. today, however, was not one of those days. she felt stuck and forced into a life that didn't feel like her own; the very thing she had run from. "mon," she turns, facing her friend. "— please tell me this gets easier ... and i don't just mean the laundry, well ... i would like laundry to get easier too, why i have to fight people to get to a machine is just ... i—" she pauses, having lost her train of thought after all of the rambling. "i didn't make a mistake, did i?"

[centralperkfamily]

[ from here ]

@centralperkfamily ( Joey ) asked:

Can I braid your hair?

@aprtmnt20 ( Monica ) replied:

“ you  want  to  braid  my  hair? ”

monica's  words  come  without  much  thought  to  the  original  question.  they  just  instantly  fall  from  her  lips  in  response  to  the  request  at  hand.  a  request  that  was,  well,  pretty  unexpected.  especially  coming  from  joey.  eyebrows  knit  tightly  together  in  consideration.  joey  tribbiani  just  didn't  seem  like  the  hair-braiding  type.  sure,  it  could  be  seen  as  an  intimate  gesture—  but  not  intimate.  not  the  kind  of  intimate  that  he  would  use  his  time  for.  unless  it  turned  into  some  kind  of  sensual  massage  or  something.  

she  shakes  the  thought  from  her  mind  and  once  clear  of  what  joey  could  turn  the  gesture  into,  a  better,  more  important  question  comes  to  the  forefront  of  her  mind.  “ wait. . . you  know  how  to  braid  hair? ”  

❝ Yeah. Why? ❞ Joey's brow furrows in response to her instant & surprised question, clearly confused as to why she would feel the need to clarify.

Monica's TV on, they are both occupying the familiar yellow couch, sitting close enough that he could braid her hair without any of them having to change their positions too much; he even washed his hands after munching on her freshly baked buns so they are clean & her hair is right there, the length they are at now familiar to him enough he shouldn't have any trouble; why not braid it?

Then her second question comes, and Joey almost recoils with a look of offence on his face, his voice going slightly high-pitched as he retorts, with a clear 'do I need to remind you?' undertone:

❝ Of course, I do! I do have six younger sisters, you know? Who do you think braided their hair when they were little? ❞

( While Papa provided for their family, Mama was almost always busy with the household, no less or maybe even more daunting job as Joey learned from observation, keeping their large family clean, dressed, fed and taken care of – which was no picnic, let him tell you – day after day, year after year, so babysitting duties were often delegated to Joey, the only boy, the second oldest child and self-proclaimed mama's little helper, from as early as he could walk and talk )

But that's the kind of offence that melts away easily ( that's Monica we are talking about, how can he be mad at her for long? ), so not a moment or two later he gestures towards her hair, eyebrows raised slightly as he asks again:

❝ So, can I?.. ❞

[tapedwrists]

“I’m fairly certain that’s mine.”

gabe glanced down at the takeaway coffee cup in his hand. the one that definitely did not say gabe on the side. he grimaced. "oh, shit, yeah, you're right." he gave a sheepish smile and handed the cup over. "sorry about that. i was kind of on autopilot, i guess." he'd been staring at his phone, in truth.

[fallingpettals]

❛  why did you leave without saying goodbye?  ❜   /  to  phoebe

multiple occasions shuffle through phoebe's mind, aware she's done it a bunch of times and there was no way she'd be able to recall which one monica was referring to. she also didn't have a proper answer to her question, since it was something she simply did when she felt ready to go home. it wasn't personal, nothing caused it, she just missed her couch. but she'd never want monica to feel bad. she was one of her closest friends! definitely one of her top three. ❛ oh! well, i'm saving the goodbyes for when i die. ❜

[c0eur]

@aprtmnt20 asked: why are we whispering?    /  rachel  

nestled into the well - loved couch near the counter in central perk, shoulders hunched & voice hushed with gossip on the tip of her tongue ── this was simply one of her favorite situations to find herself in. was she on the clock? yes. was she still wearing the apron she'd already spilled coffee on once today? also yes. but this was important! and gunther would understand . . . hopefully. " because he's right there! scarf, blue mug. don't make it obvious. " her whisper is harsh, practically hissing. her latest coffeehouse crush in the same room with her best friend . . . it must have been a sign. " he's been in here every day this week. and he's gotten two refills just today. oh! ── he also almost bought a scone. that means something, right? "