@sarcaasmic said, "[ JUMP ] — sender excitedly jumps into the water, receiver following suit." | still accepting !
❛ wait ! ❜
the summer sun beat down on district ten and the flat plains having little in the way of shade during the hottest months . it was the kind of weather where even the cows preferred to stay in the barns until it cooled around dusk . abilene had been watching ellie since her games , and when the younger girl had finally had a spark in her eyes talking about going swimming she couldn't say no .
ellie had bolted towards the water before abilene even had her shoes off . abilene's lips were pulled into a grin as she tried to take off her other shoe . ellie jumped into the water with a splash , and abi was just a few steps behind her . she stopped just a step away from jumping off of the same ridge that ellie had and leaned over as though inspecting the water .
❛ you sure there aren't any gators ? y'know , if i get eaten up by a river monster i'll have no choice but to haunt you . ❜
There she was. Sitting in the living room of that pathetically small house, eating dinner with her father.
Rafe checked his watch. Twenty more minutes and her father would have to leave for work. He knew that. He knew the man’s working hours and how much time he spent at a local bar afterwards. Leaving his only daughter all alone in the house. He knew which nights of the week he usually was out longest. Thursdays. Oh, he knew what that pathetic excuse of a father was doing on Thursday nights. She didn’t though. Or maybe she did? Should he tell her?
Rafe licked his lips as his eyes moved again to the window of the house on the opposite side of the street. He looked out of the car window. It was the same spot he had parked his car for several weeks now. No one noticed. No one cared in this neighborhood. He hated being this deep into the cut. It made him edgy. But it was necessary. Because of her. It was all because of her.
He saw the front door open, checked his watch. Right on time. He leaned back in his car seat, hiding in the shadow and waited until her father had driven past him in that old car of his. What kind of father leaves his only daughter alone at night and in this part of the island? He should protect her. Oh, he hated that man, despised him for his negligence.
Another hour passed. She had cleaned up the dining table, washed the dishes in the kitchen sink. The lights in the living room went out and on in her bedroom. Rafe got out of his car and crossed the street. It was dark. The only working street lamp several yards away. He walked round the house. Not making a sound. He walked to her bedroom window, stayed in the shadows, hidden from view, he could see inside. The curtains never quite closed. He saw her moving about. Then sitting down at her small desk, scribbling into a notebook. A grin appeared on Rafe’s lips, excitement spreading through his whole body. He could hardly wait to read again what she had written this time, or what she had drawn. His fingertips itched to trail over the lines of her drawings.
No, he would be patient, he reminded himself. His hands balling into fists. Soon. Soon. Very soon.
About two hours later, she switched off the lights in her room.
Rafe waited for another hour, just looking at her window, waiting until his eyes had got used to the darkness again, so he could see everything. He could see everything clearer at night. He could hear everything clearer at night. His thoughts were louder at night.
He looked around, just a precaution, then walked over to her window. The house had just one floor, so it was easy to climb up that window. She had left it open again. Letting the cool night air in. She shouldn’t leave her window open at night. Not in this part of the island. Not with her father gone for the night.
He cautiously pushed the window up and climbed inside without making a sound. His feet touched the floor and he breathed in, breathed in the same air she was breathing. His eyes moved to the bed in which she was lying, breathing calmly, sound asleep. He couldn’t see her face. He had to get closer to see that. No, he mustn’t be that impatient. First things first. He went to her chair, picked up her clothes. The clothes she had been wearing that day. The scent of her all over them. No, he mustn’t be greedy. He couldn’t just grab that shirt and take it with him. She would notice. He lifted it to his face, closed his eyes and his lips touched it.
A rustling sound made his head turn and the shirt dropped back to the chair. He moved quickly, moved to the corner of the room, deep into the shadows. Even if she woke up and turned on the nightstand light, she would not be able to see him. But he saw her.
Tommy made his way to the pub, hands deep in his old jacket, as he always did. For a young man, he had the routine of an old one. His parents left, and gave him the option to come with, but he had decided that the farm was where his heart was, at least for now. He’d like to travel, to see some of the world, but for now, he was content with his animals, his kitchen, his friends, and the pub in town. A converted cottage, it had the homeliest feel an establishment could have.
He made his way in, and found his usual mates sitting in their usual corner, with their usual drinks, a beer already awaiting him. He didn’t tend to drink a lot, seeing as he was up early most mornings, but he liked to be social all the same. He cheer-sed with the lads, and some of the girlfriends, before he let his eyes wander around the room. Usually it was the man who ran the shops son, who sang on Friday nights, but he noticed there was a new face stood at the microphone that evening. A girl, who he had not seen before. There were a few tourists in town so perhaps she was one of them, or maybe she was a professional and he didn’t realise she’d booked the place for the night, but either way, she had the most angelic voice he’d ever heard.
He sat with his friends, but faced in her direction so he could see the singer, she was gorgeous too. At the break between her songs, when the girl was to take some water, Tommy made his move, and not without some laughs from his mates which he just shook off. “Hey” he smiled, almost out of breath from having rushed from the table to catch her before someone else could. “Hey…you’re um…you’re really good…could I maybe buy you a drink? Now, or after you’re finished?” He asked and gestured to the bar counter. He didn’t care that some of the locals were watching him, somewhere, he had found the courage to go up to the pretty singer, and he wasn’t going to be scared off now.
🎁 – Does your muse celebrate their birthday? If yes, how do they celebrate? If no, why not?
Birthdays in the Cameron household were a huge thing – if they were Sarah’s birthdays. Rafe couldn’t really remember celebrating his birthdays like that, but he still remembered what he got for some of his birthdays.
On his 5th birthday Rafe got a plushie whale, he loved so much, he carried it around everywhere and lost it to the sea when he threw it from his father’s boat in a rage fit and it didn’t swim back to him, though he waited.
On his 6th birthday he got told that he would have another baby sister and that was the best present ever.
On his 9th birthday he got forgotten, since it was just a few days after his mother was gone and never came back, though he waited.
On his 11th birthday he got a drone, which he crashed into the rooftop that very same day. He didn’t care. He didn’t want it anyway. He wanted a Ken doll, so his sister would let him play with her and her friends. But dolls are not for boys.
On his 14th birthday he got a watch and a punch with the fist from his dad, because he cracked the glass when he got in a fight at school.
On his 16th birthday he got a car he crashed that very night. He wasn’t a bad driver, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had failed the driving test. He was a good driver, he was just drunk. Very drunk.
On his 17th birthday he got his first line of coke from a guy whose name he only learned later.
On his 18th birthday he got told that he was an adult now and needed to get his shit together.
On his 20th birthday he got so high, he forgot himself.
“Someone get the fucking door!” Rafe yelled from the kitchen where he was looking inside the fridge trying to find something edible between all that superfruits and no-carb-bullshit.
The doorbell rang again. And again.
He slammed the fridge door shut. “GET THE FUCKING DOOR!”
The doorbell rang again.
Rafe was fuming when he stormed to the door and pulled it open.
And then he froze. Looking down, he saw her.
“You.”
Strange girl was standing in front of his door.
For seconds he just stared at her, totally taken aback. Then a grin formed on his lips.
“Are you stalking me?”
“Oh my god, Rafe, can you like not scare my new guitar teacher away?” Wheezie had come up from behind him. Rolling her eyes, she pushed Rafe aside – only Wheeze would dare to do that – and she grabbed strange girl’s arm, pulling her inside. Wheezie immediately started babbling, and Rafe only understood a fraction of it, because his little sister had the habit of talking too fast and in a kind of foreign language he didn’t comprehend. She talked about tiktoks and dragged strange girl up the stairs with her.
Rafe closed the front door. He frowned. And followed them upstairs, because this was his house and what was that pogue girl doing here anyway?
Reaching the top of the stairs, he saw Wheezie’s door close. He hesitated, just a second, then walked to the door. His hand almost touched the handle, then stopped. Instead, he decided to listen, leaning closer to the door.
📸 Send me a picture of your muse, for my muse to react to!
“This is not commercial.”
Rafe Cameron, CEO of OBX Records, looked at the picture and frowned. Danny had been babbling about some new talent he had discovered, but he always had. So Rafe hadn’t paid much attention to what his creative director had said about the kind of music this singer-songwriter was supposed to make and why it was so special that Danny had come up with it to him. Danny always came up with something and it was always some bullshit that wouldn’t sell. Rafe hadn't been appointed CEO of the label because he was one of the artsy minds of the industry looking for new groundbreaking shit. He had been hired to make the hard decisions, to get the company out of the red. And he was good at that. The creatives might not have liked it and might never tire of pointing out that his predecessor always left the creative decisions to them, was always open for new talent – yeah, but his predecessor was the reason why they were in the red – according to the board anyways. So that guy had been fired and Rafe was the one sitting in the chair in the office on the top floor now. Anyone who had a problem with his style of management could just leave. – Oh, and he had made quite a few of those pretentious artsy folk leave. Fired about a dozen in his first week as head of the label.
Danny had stayed and remained a nuisance.
Rafe was still holding the picture. Still looking at it, frowning – either considering something or dismissing it, you could never tell.
There was something about this girl. The way she looked at the camera. No, it wasn’t about the grainy vintage look of the photo. It was her. ‘Ethereal’ popped into his mind and he frowned some more.
Rafe’s tongue flicked out, wetting his lips. He reclined in his chair, scratched his chin.
Danny had started talking about the next potential talent in his pile, some wannabe Ed Sheeran.
“Send her in.”
Danny stopped talking, clearly confused, because that never happened. He wriggled about in his chair in front of Rafe’s giant desk.
“Send her in, I said.” He was waving with the picture impatiently, and Danny hurried to get out his phone, calling the front desk assistant to send Miss Eleanor Owens up to Mr. Rafe Cameron’s office. Immediately.
( @sarcaasmic ! ) ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤellie is injured !
abilene's stomach sank as another hour passed in her room without ellie . there was a light in the room but it buzzed loud enough to keep them up at night and abilene wasn't wholly convinced that it wouldn't 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐄 one day , so she kept it off . she'd lit a few candles and sat by the window trying to make out a shadowy figure that looked like ellie between the fedra soldiers and the raindrops , but curfew had started 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 ago and she'd seen neither hide nor hair of her friend since the previous day .
in the other room her brothers slept quietly with only the occasional creak of the bed or quiet snore to break up the silence . her attention was pulled from the window when the doorknob jiggled . she rose slowly from her chair , heart pounding , and stretched onto her tip toes to peer through the peephole . on the other side of the door she saw a woman with strands of blonde curls weighed down by the rain .
abilene pulled open the door and grabbed ellie by the arm , pulling the woman inside before shutting the door as silently as possible . no one was allowed out of their homes once the sun set and abilene was not willing to upset any of the fedra agents lingering outside of the complex .
❛ where the hell were you ? ❜ she whispered , thick brows furrowed over her hazel eyes . ❛ you 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐃 you'd be here before curfew and . . . ❜ her gaze moved down ellie's form , soaked by the rain , and her lips pursed . ❛ why are you limping ? ❜
@sarcaasmic sent , ❛ i don't want to be alone tonight . ❜
❛ i'm not known for my outstanding company . ❜ colt grumbled , though he made no move to force ellie out . his eyes , nearly as dark as the night around them , looked over to her once before flickering down to the table . ❛ you're letting all the cool air out . ❜ he waved her in and took another bite of his food to distract himself from the sour feeling that seemed to linger in his body whenever the season changed to summer .
