“I don’t understand why Alec keeps trying with her. She doesn’t want to change or learn. She’s addicted to the Hollywood lifestyle. At least Marianne truly is the woman we read in tabloids growing up,” May snickered woefully into the phone’s receptor. Once again the step-sister was back in her life, and she wasn’t pleased about the return. Marianne Webb had been terrible to her from day one, intentional or not. She was the one who May could feel the harshest judgement coming from. She was the biggest cause for insecurity in her relationship with Alec.
“She’s gotten better at hiding her addiction, at the very least.” May thought she was alone in the house. She sat in the solarium with a glass of wine balanced between her fingers. She sipped it as her sister mouthed off about the other woman’s alcoholism. May wasn’t a catty person by nature, but she didn’t like Marianne Webb.
“She’s a spoilt brat, really. It’s like she’s a pre-teen in a thirty-year-old woman’s body. It’s absolutely mental.” She hadn’t heard the footsteps but she heard the terse ‘excuse me’. May whipped her head around and froze. How much Marianne had heard was beyond her, but it was clearly enough to know that she was the subject matter. “I’ll call you back,” May breathed into the phone before quickly hanging up.
“What were you saying?” Marianne seethed, arms crossed, toe tapping.
May stood and smoothed down the front of her dress. If she was going to do this, she was going to look well good doing it.
“I was saying that you’re a spoilt brat and I don’t think you deserve the respect that Alec gives you.” There was no real point in beating around the bush. “That man has given you far more chances than anyone should give. You may not like me, or me with your brother, but I’m here to stay Marianne, and if you are, too, you ought to be less superficial and more responsible for your actions, which I would think you would have learned after the three or four times you’ve been in rehab or arrested for a DUI.” That one was a bit of a snipe. May remained unapologetic. “If you act respectful, you’ll get respect back. Right now, you are nothing but shallow and abrasive towards me. All of our previous interactions would suggest that you don’t deserve my respect, so I’m not going to give it. You’re not a thirteen year old in private school. You’re a thirty year old woman. Start acting your bloody age, Marianne.”
who would be the one to randomly adopt a puppy without consultation? kellie and stephen would be very concerned about this because they already have two, kellie, but he’s too much of a softie to make her take it back or anything
who would force the other to take aesthetic pictures of them? lol kellie
who would do stuff they think is stupid just to make the other one happy? for the most part they genuinely enjoy the things the other things do so i can’t really see this being an issue but it would probably be stephen.
who picks out the horror movies to watch just so the other will cling to them? stephen, except he knows he’s also going to get hit because kellie is going to punch his arm for it before cuddling in.
who is constantly studying and who is constantly trying to distract them? well, although they are no longer teenagers, kellie is the one who is constantly trying to pull stephen away from the work that he brings home or from the new book he is reading because “i deserve more attention than some dead trees, stephen anthony.”
who initiates the facetime calls whenever they’re separated? kellie and then stephen spends five minutes trying to figure out how to answer it smh
who is more likely to storm out after a fight and who is more likely to cry when they do? stephen is more likely to storm out and kellie would cry but only after he’s gone :(
who stays up way too late binge-watching their favorite shows? kellie and then stephen gets to hear exactly what happened on all of them the next morning over breakfast.
who bites the other’s ear when they’re feeling frisky? kellie pls
who sprays the other with water when they’re washing the car? KELLIE PLS stephen is quite disappointed by her lack of concern over the drought they are having in california
who has more fun decorating the house during holidays? kellie but they both have far more fun when they do it together, and that’s going to be even more true this year when it’s their first holiday season as a family (:
who is more likely to give the silent treatment when they’re mad at the other? stephen is.
who plays with the others’ hair more? stephen
who is more likely to climb all over the other one when they’re bored? kellie and she recruits the dogs when she’s doing it like please just imagine stephen quietly reading in bed and the next thing you know kellie has both the corgis up on top of it and they’re trying to lick him and she’s trying to kiss his nose and his face is all scrunchy and he’s complaining except not really like please just imagine this scene
who tries to kiss the other as often as they can? they both do
who pouts when the other one tells them to shut the fuck up? kellie because she’s the only one who talks enough to get told to shut the fuck up lmao
who initiates the sex and who walks away when the other is riled up? kellie is definitely a more frequent initiator than stephen (or at least, she was before her uterus decided that it wanted a baby and left poor stephen out to dry) but stephen ain’t rude enough to leave her hanging pls
who always forgets the umbrella and who holds it when they actually have one? neither of them would forget it but kellie would complain that it doesn’t match her outfit well so stephen always holds it
who demands showering first in the mornings? stephen is always out of the shower and in the kitchen before kellie even gets out of bed
who sneaks into the shower with the other one in the mornings? but he’s not opposed to rejoining her
who prefers riding the roller coasters and who prefers playing the games? they’re both the rollercoaster type until kellie’s competitive nature comes out and they just have to win that damn stuffed animal (even though they give it to the dogs when they get home)
who will text the other one thirty times in a row until they respond? neither tbh
who always forgets to charge their phone overnight? again, neither of them.
who comes up behind the other and slide their hands into their back pockets? kellie
who tries to get hugs from the other as often as they can? stephen likes kellie’s hugs okay she is short and cute and he just loves her ok
who is louder and who constantly has the tell the other to be quiet? lol kellie is the loudmouth here but stephen only shushes her half the time
noey
who would be the one to randomly adopt a puppy without consultation? i would say noah in a heartbeat except with a kid he has to be responsible and shit... but it’s still noah
who would force the other to take aesthetic pictures of them? lmao 100% naomi and noah would leave her sarcastic comments about them on instagram like “spoiler alert she was actually watching a kid eat shit on the other side of the street”
who would do stuff they think is stupid just to make the other one happy? noah
who picks out the horror movies to watch just so the other will cling to them? noah has a no horror movies around bailey rule that generally extends to his entire life so sorry naomi
who is constantly studying and who is constantly trying to distract them? noah is hands-down the biggest distraction on the face of the planet like hello please do not do whatever it is you are doing
who initiates the facetime calls whenever they’re separated? probably noah
who is more likely to storm out after a fight and who is more likely to cry when they do? neither, tbh? but if it’s happening, noah is the one storming out and naomi is the one crying.
who stays up way too late binge-watching their favorite shows? they’re both sitting on the couch stuffing cookies (the store-bought kind, sorry naomi) as they watch the 16th episode of friends in a row when suddenly they realize that it’s four in the morning
who bites the other’s ear when they’re feeling frisky? noah
who sprays the other with water when they’re washing the car? noah because he’s kind of an ass like that
who has more fun decorating the house during holidays? naomi is the one with the etsy shop so idk you tell me lmao
who is more likely to give the silent treatment when they’re mad at the other? neither tbh?? like what is the opposite of the silent treatment because that’s what noah would give and i don’t see naomi as the silent treatment type
who plays with the others’ hair more? noah
who is more likely to climb all over the other one when they’re bored? noah, in the metaphorical sense. and bailey is the one doing the literal climbing over both of them when they ignore her for too long.
who tries to kiss the other as often as they can? noah (:
who pouts when the other one tells them to shut the fuck up? noah lmao and then informs naomi that he’s pretty sure they didn’t teach that kind of language in church on the one occasion that he has to use as an example
who initiates the sex and who walks away when the other is riled up? omg noah and then naomi pls this is so them i am laughing
who always forgets the umbrella and who holds it when they actually have one? noah says that umbrellas are for squares but if naomi insists, then he will hold it for her he supposes
who demands showering first in the mornings? naomi
who sneaks into the shower with the other one in the mornings? noah
who prefers riding the roller coasters and who prefers playing the games? noah is the one dragging naomi around to do everything because shit, if he dropped money on this then you bet your sweet ass that he is going to get the most out of it
who will text the other one thirty times in a row until they respond? neither
who always forgets to charge their phone overnight? naomi but noah is the one who stops texting in the middle of a conversation because he forgot to charge his phone and can’t find the charger
who comes up behind the other and slide their hands into their back pockets? noah
who tries to get hugs from the other as often as they can? naomi??
who is louder and who constantly has the tell the other to be quiet? lol
⌆ stephen paces. he does it almost subconsciously when he’s really agitated, but he can walk in laps around a room when he’s worked up about something. it’s a way to channel his energy into something that is even vaguely constructive. it’s like jiggling his foot if he can’t stand up - it funnels his nervous energy into a physical outlet so he can keep his mind clear and lucid even though he’s bogged down with these thoughts.
⏀ it’s a shy smile. stephen smiles like he has a secret and he wants you to pry it out, like he knows something about you and wants you to find out what it is. it’s an almost teasing smile. it’s the same one that he has when he tells kellie that he misses her. it’s a smile that invites you to smile with him if you’re in on the emotion, because it’s seeping out around the edges because he can’t quite contain whatever thought brought it to mind and has to let a flash of his private thoughts show on his face.
⇅ stephen stares off into space, intently, almost like he’s trying to read the answers out of the blank air in front of him. his eyebrows crinkle over a little bit when he thinks, helping him focus in on that invisible spot in front of him that holds all of the truths and the silences that he wants to interpret. when stephen is deep in thought, he’ll stare right through you and make you feel like he doesn’t even realize that you’re in the room because he’s so affixed on that spot.
❧ stephen sleeps like a solider, like a man who has had to make the most of sleeping in tight spaces with a narrow edge of comfort. he sleeps rigidly, on his back, with his arms at his side. sometimes, he’ll shift onto his side, but he moves very little in his sleep, maintaining his sleep space in a narrow place. he struggles at times to share a sleeping space with others, even kellie - he likes having a defined section of bed and even when his hand is resting on her waist, there’s almost inevitably some small separation between their bodies.
✑ they’re two sides of the same coin. she is the orange and red flame to the fire while he is the icy blue core, where it burns hottest but casts less light than the periphery. she is the sound that fills every corner of the room, the kind of sound that people cannot tune out even if they wanted to, and he is the air that absorbs the sound, transferring its waves so passively and reflexively that he hardly notices that he’s doing it. they wear different faces, present in opposite ways to the world and yet the metal in between that connects them is the same metal, rendering them inseparable.
✜ military. back straight, shoulders back and with a slight tension between them, chin up. even when he’s relaxing, stephen maintains a more rigid posture than most do, one that is always conscious of the space he is filling and how he is filling it.
❖ his hands are intelligent. his hands carry the weight of the years of his life, the worries he has borne etched into the creases and folds. the proof of this lies in the many scares he bears, the callouses built up through the years softened now to the point where they somehow seem like they’ve always been there and belong perfectly. they have percussion and delicacy when they need to. they do not shake or falter. like stephen generally, there is a determination to their actions and purpose to the things they do.
❞ “what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” - henry david thoreau
§ stephen will go silver before he goes gray - his hair will slowly begin to frost in his late forties, the hints of silver appearing by his temples and slowly progressing from there until it’s taken over his whole head.
❤ those who know him know his affection when they receive it. it’s there in that special smile that he reserves for those who will understand it and know what it is trying to convey. it’s there in the way his touch is somehow more gentle as he pushes that strand of hair out of your face or helps you hold the bat as he takes you to your first softball practice. it’s there in the way he leaves the book on the bed with a flag on the page he wants you to turn to, something that he read and then thought of you during. it’s there for those who know where to look.
✭ his dog tags. his military tags are a reminder of the journeys that he has taken in life, both literal and figurative. they’re a reminder that he joined the military when he was looking for an escape from his life, that he stayed in the military when he realized the places it could take him and the things it would open him up to and the ways it would expose him to the world and challenge his thoughts in ways he never thought imaginable. and they’re a reminder of the fact that, in the end, the military was what made him realize that there was only one place that he truly wanted to be.
takethenumber69 replied to your post: does anyone have an opinion on these shoes like...
can you walk in them omg i would see if you could walk in shoes w/o a heel first! :)
i've tried other floating heel shoes on and they're not so bad? it's just like balance or w/e!
one of my friends has a pair and she loves them, but she says the only time she has trouble is going downhill....which i would avoid anyway in these, lol
