#missretros

[crisisbabe]

melissa's smile remains stagnant on her face. cheerful and open and not at all reactive to the body that lays a mere foot away. if anything , there's now an added fondness that glints in her eye as she looks from the dirty dog to @missretros. the kitty cat club has been looking for new recruits , and it seems like maybe she's found one in hannah.

' i don't even really know how it happened. '

when the girl speaks , however , melissa does shift. brows scrunch , a knowing , comforting eagerness as she moves in closer and puts a hand gently on the other's shoulder. " he was a dirty dog , hannah. you did what you had to do. " there are so many of them hiding in hatchetfield. too many. it's up to people like them to keep the town safe.

" don't worry , no one will ever even miss him. " they never do. it's why melissa and her friends have never been caught. it's hatchetfield , people go missing every day. and those like the body before them now , aren't even people. " but i'll help you clean it up. it'll be so fine. " her smile is back , exstatic and wild. " we got this , girl ! "

[crisisbabe]

smoking is a nasty habit -- which is why he quit almost a decade ago. still , sometimes the urge sneaks up on him , an incessant itch that no matter what he can't quite scratch. it usually happens when he's presented with a difficult case , a kid whose gone through more than any kid should. his mind mulls over the details , but his heart screams for something to numb the well of emotions. he knows what its like to be a kid dealing with the unthinkable , the loss of his dad , like his smoking habit , hasn't quite settled the way he thinks it should after all this time. so , when those feels get too big , he's figured out a system: he walks. the whole length of hatchetfield -- or at least as much as he needs before the emotions feel manageable. until he stops feeling like a part of him is drowning.

tonight , though , it isn't a case that's brought him out at dusk , sneakers almost worn down to his heel. tonight it's a different kind of heartache he just can't seem to shake. time's been passing quick these days , an existential kind of worry creeping up on him. and while he can chalk it all up to the birthday just around the corner , that isn't the reason. not really. stopping now to give his legs a break , duke sits down on a bench overlooking the lake. the sun is barely more than a sliver in the horizon , but the red of lingers. he closes his eyes and sees it still , that red. the way it morphs in his mind , taking the shape of a woman whose hair could rival even that kind of vivid beauty.

❛ what are you doing out here by yourself? ❜

the voice breaks duke out of his thoughts , though the face he finds when his eyes open is the very same he'd conjured in his mind. @missretros is a sight to behold every damn time he sees her , and despite the heartache that still hasn't settled , he finds himself smiling up at her.

" hiya , darlin', " the words slip out , sweet and warm and too familiar. shadows surround them , that last bit of sunlight slipping away , and still she's as shining as ever. he scoots over a bit , giving her some space on the bench to join him. " i could ask you the same , but something tells me it might just be the kind of night for a walk. "

[crisisbabe]

staring down at the nearly lacerated skin on the pads of his fingers , pete struggles to comprehend how something like this was even possible. there were still two weeks of camp left , and i theory , it should be a free for all. no more jerries to worry about , just a bunch of teens in the woods. how come he's been filling his days working himself to the bone -- literally !! -- making arts and goddamn crafts ? it's a rhetorical question. obviously. the answer stands before him , ax peaking out from behind her. grace fucking chasity. sure , he's grateful that she saved steph's his life , but come on ! now , he can't help but look at @missretros with a cross between disbelief and frustration.

' monster ? who's the monster here ? i have done nothing wrong ! '

" grace , you gotta be kidding me , " he does to pinch the bridge of his nose , only to wince at his stinging fingers. in a near hysteria , he waves his hands out in front of him for her to see. " look at them ! this is from hours basket weaving and making friendship bracelets. i don't even have that many friends ! "

[perkysbud-a]

she's a 10, but she won’t sing when you tip her AND she makes you wait for what feels like five fucking years for your hot chocolate >:(

" do you want me to sing and dance or make you a hot chocolate, suspenders kid? " she asked bluntly, scoffing a noise with a roll of an eye. what the fuck kid wears suspenders and a bowtie?

emma's a ten, but . . . / accepting!

[crisisbabe]

usually , gerald doesn't bring his patients home -- preferring they do the deed in his office. it's easier that way , hotter , too. not that it would be his first choice of fucking , those women never are. every now and then , though , something like professionalism takes the rhinoplasty off the table. this latest tryst isn't the first time he's plowed the broad , but it was the first time they'd done it in his bed. if he closed his eyes , he could almost pretend it was linda. he might have even called her by his wife's name before shooting off blanks. after that , it was a rush of picking up clothes , kicking her out , and cleaning up the mess they'd made.

though , apparently , he hadn't cleaned good enough.

the panties are peaking out from under the bed , a clear as crystal sign of what had gone down earlier that day. maybe , if he really thought about it , it hadn't been a mistake. maybe a part of him wanted @missretros to see it , to prove that they were both playing this sexy ridiculous game. maybe it would be just what it took to get the missus all hot and bothered.

❛ you think i’m jealous? ❜

" now why the hell would i think that ? " gerald's words drip with a kind of cheaky sarcasm -- though there's a sharp edge to them , too. unexpected , but not surprising. he cocks his head , licking his lips as he looks his wife up and down. god , she's hot. he crosses over to her , making sure that he stands right above the place where the panties lay. " so ...are ya ? "

[doesntlikemusicals]

❛ paul... if we get through this, i would love to just see a nice silent movie with you. but in case we don't... kiss me? ❜

this isn't how paul imagined their first kiss would be. and he has imagined it. the first time he imagined it, they were outside of beanie's after he stayed late while she closed the shop. eventually, he got a little more imaginative, and they sat on a bench at the park as they leaned in for their first kiss. but this? they're surrounded by twisted metal and debris from the helicopter's crash landing. the air smells like smoke and burning metal. emma's hurt. and while he miraculously walked away from the wreckage unscathed, he's felt better.

still, she's right.

paul has every intention of making sure that emma gets out of here. he's not as confident, however, in his escape. he wants to reassure her that they will see each other again, but he can't. she'd call him out for lying anyway, more than likely. he stares down at emma. his heart races one million miles per minute, and his mind won't shut up. but he manages a small nod as he tells her, ❝ okay. ❞

with his go-ahead, emma leans in. as soon as he moves to do the same, she sputters and coughs up a bit of blood. he feels a few warm droplets speckle his face. under any other circumstance, paul would be horrified. he'd recoil. he'd wipe furiously at his face to get the blood off. while he does have to suppress the urge in order to avoid it, he stays where he is as she apologizes. he shakes his head.

❝ it's... ❞ anything he can think to say comes out horribly awkward in his head, but he wants to reassure her that it's okay. paul places his palm against her cheek and brushes most of the blood away from her lips with his thumb. some of it smears onto her chin and cheek, but he ignores it and quickly follows the motion up with a kiss.

his imagination, dull as it is, could never have conjured what kissing her would actually feel like. and while this is by far his most unconventional first kiss with someone, it's undeniably the best one. he prays, silently, with his lips pressed against hers, to whatever other strange forces might exist unbeknownst to him that it won't be their last.

@missretros sent: sender kisses receiver to say goodbye. — emma!

[unclewiley]

Moving to the midwest was on their mother's bucket list for some godforsaken reason, but the three kids were determined to make her happy. Landing in Hatchetfield had been great at first and truly, for him-- it continued to be great. He loved it here. The business was doing well and he was in a relationship with this cute girl-- hell, he felt on top of the moon. He was pretty sure things were getting pretty good for Frido too with his attempts at wooing that Beanie's girl. He didn't know the full details of what was going on there, but he knew his brother had recently come into the shop late a couple days. Not that either was telling their mother about these situations, not yet at least. Angie found out about Ivy because of a lipstick incident when Antonio came over one afternoon. But that had been a week ago and since then he was just coasting through his fine life-- having a damn good time.

Today he'd promised @missretros he'd take her to Pasqualli's for lunch. Frido would join if one of them didn't have to man the shop, but alas they had yet to really hire anyone else. He'd take Angie to lunch a different day while Antonio watched the shop-- but today it was him and Angie's time. So picture this: there they're sat, food in front of them and Antonio talking his sister's ear off. He's going on and on about the types of people he sees come into the shop, but also throwing things about Ivy into it all. He was like a proud boyfriend who didn't know how to shut up despite their relationship still being so new. It's in all this yapping he notices Angie poking at her food rather than eating it. He has no idea the folks she's run into in this town, but something is bothering her and he asks bluntly with a small laugh what's eaten at ya, angie? because clearly you ain't doin' the eatin'.

❛  i'm ... scared.  ❜

Antonio's smile faltered just slightly, eyes matching the sentiment. He paused then furrowed his eyebrows together, speaking quieter, "Scared? Someone say or do somethin' to ya? You okay?"

[unclewiley]

@missretros continued from 🪓

The birthday comment raised his brows, amusement dancing in his amber hues and lips twitching just slightly. He wanted to retort with something about how that must be nice, but he doesn't. He says nothing instead giving her the chance to consider him further-- view him and decide what she was going to say next. He knew her name and that was alarming in itself and he was sure that his appearance was too. Out of all the Spankoffski offspring... Kairos was alarmingly similar to their father. Perhaps that's what enticed T'noy even further with his existence or maybe that was part of T'noy's doing. Maybe he had some say in just who he leaned into with his looks and if he was meant to replace his father...

He tilted his head at the mention of asking if he was new this semester, asking if she was being volunteered to give a tour again. He chuckled low and gave a small shake of his head, "No." It was all he said at first, letting the single worded response hang thick in the air. He wanted the tension there to be sliceable. Wanted her to feel uneasy and unsure of who or what he was. Wanted the concern and worry of his presence to fill her-- he could already see the recognition in her gaze, recognition that didn't know how to piece together on why he looked the way he did.

"I'm not a student," he answered finally, head tilting the other way almost animatronic like, "And I'm not looking for a tour." He blinked at her then shifted where he sat, sitting up and away from the back of the chair until he could rise up from it. The motions nearly stiff in nature. When he was at his full height, a few rows back from her, he started to speak again, "But I am here for you." He took a step down away from the seat, making his way across the aisle in slow steps until he was at the stairs. "I've come to offer you something, Janey--" he uses their father's nickname for her, lips twitching and eyes glinting, "Think of it as a gift of sorts really, from me to you." Pause as he stopped at the row she's stood in, "A blessing from your dear old big brother--"