deep breath

[theaftcrlife]

destinypsychic​:

Destiny looked around at the others staring at them and shrugged her shoulders, deciding if they wanted to stare they could. “They’re probably just jealous since we’re clearly the coolest people at breakfast,” she giggles before taking another bite of her waffles. “Yeah, neither can I, dummy.” She sets her fork on her empty plate with a loud clank. “So are you gonna ask me on an actual date after this or what?”

At first, Frankie thought he hadn’t heard her right. Maybe she’d said plate. Or late. But neither of those words made sense in the question she’d asked, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, he blinked back into awareness. Though his stomach was suddenly in knots and his cheeks had grown uncomfortably warm, when he spoke he was grinning. “Who, me? Or did you mean him—” He turned around in his chair, tapping the man behind him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, but I think the lady here would like you to ask her on a date. And I’d advise you not to say no, because, I mean — look at her. One in a million.” 

[theaftcrlife]

rcsearcher​:

Aidan couldn’t help but smile at the other’s clear excitement over his agreeing to go out, “I’m sure I won’t regret it. Unless there’s a hangover involved, because those make it harder to not experience regret.” He blushed a little at the compliment, “I don’t know about it being a super cool hotel. The ghosts kind of put a damper on things, but thank you for including me anyways.” He shut the door behind him, calmly following the other down the hall and into the elevator. When he had stepped inside and the door had shut behind him he spoke again, “sorry to bring up work, but speaking of ghosts… has anything interesting happened yet?” 

“No promises.” Frankie winked, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he backpedalled down the hall. As the elevator ascended, Frankie tried to ignore the sudden drop in his stomach, leaning casually against the wall to avoid displaying his anxieties. “Yeah, yeah, the ghosts are whatever, I guess,” I grinned, as if he wasn’t the most terrified of the crew. He opened his mouth to ask Aidan if the stories were as bad as he’d heard, but decided against it. The elevator dinged open before he could answer Aidan’s question, and he stepped out onto the busy terrace with a slight feeling of relief. “Well, uh—” He wrinkled his nose. “I heard something, when we were shooting, and, uh, felt something touch my arm.”

[theaftcrlife]

destinypsychic​:

Destiny was fully aware that they were getting stared at. The two kids in the corner wearing pajamas giggling loudly was sure to draw lots of attention but none of that mattered to her, she was happy with him right now even if it meant getting dirty looks. “Oh trust me, I look real fine in them,” she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing louder. “Oh yeah? What can I do to make sure I see it?”

Having finished his breakfast, and with his stomach satisfied, Frankie settled into his chair comfortably. He propped his ankle across the opposite knee and glanced around at the other guests. “That’s what they get for inviting a bunch of young ghost hunters to stay here for free.” He paused, picking at the hem of his pajama pants. “Well, come one now, Destiny, do I look like a psychic? I can’t tell the future.” 

[theaftcrlife]

destinypsychic​:

Destiny let out a laugh as she examined what he had worn to bed, having to cover her mouth with her hand since she was worried she was being too loud. “Now those are hot,” she says. “I think I have a pair of cat pajamas somewhere, maybe I’ll have to wear those for our next date.” She pokes at the waffles on her plate with her fork as he speaks, smiling along with his words. “My bad, your highness. I’ll have to see it to believe it.”

Her laugh bubbled out of her, sudden and loud, and Frankie couldn’t help but follow suit, nearly snorting in his enthusiasm. “Thank you,” He found himself winking, “I thought so.” Even though he knew they were joking around, he felt his stomach turn at the thought of a real date. “I can’t wait to see them.” Finishing his coffee, he settled back in his chair. “Well, maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll show you sometime. If you’re lucky.” He shrugged. “No promises, though. I’m in high demand.” 

[theaftcrlife]

spencerfms​:

He continued to stare at the other, and then shrugged, stepping back into the room. “Sure.” He left the door open. “You want something to drink?” He bent down to open the small fridge and then sighed when he realized they hadn’t put anything in it. “We got..uh sink water.” He said, pointing back towards the weird small bathroom.

“No way, dude!” Frankie ambled into the room, grinning. “Sink water’s my favourite!” He sprawled across TJ’s bed, taking stock of his brother’s belongings lazily. “No, no, it’s fine, though. Don’t worry about it. How you finding the hotel?”

[theaftcrlife]

prizrakis​:

“You said it not me.” She responds, although she most certainly said something akin to it in the desert. Mika knew she wasn’t in any position to pick a fight and she had meant what she said, she didn’t have the energy. Not tonight. He was lasting longer than she thought he would have, admittedly, and he was looking at her. Actually looking at her for the first time in she didn’t know how long. She suddenly felt so small under his gaze, guilt beginning to creep in as if she wasn’t experiencing enough tonight. She looks to the side. “Don’t just stand there you look like an idiot.” And to her surprise, he moved, and not in the direction she had expected. 

The moment he stepped in she immediately knew this wasn’t going to be like the last time they interacted. She told herself she had every right to tell him to get out, to apologize to her, to finally say something about what happened all those years ago but truthfully all she wanted to do was to curl up beside him. Nostalgia was a hell of a drug, Mika thought. “I don’t know if they’ll have your weird taste in porn here.” Following him onto the bed, she sits on the other side and crosses her arms over her chest in another attempt to calm her body down. “I’m not a baby.” A pause. “But we can do something trashy, since you suggested it.” She takes a deep breath. “Something really bad. I mean it should come easily for you.” Her voice is quiet but her tone is surprisingly playful, an unfortunate symptom of coping through humor.

When she didn’t forcibly throw him out, he considered himself begrudgingly welcome, settling into the mattress comfortably. “Psh, don’t lie. I know you watch some weird shit, too.” Any anxiety he felt beneath her gaze, any overwhelming desire to pick at their scabbed wounds and unearth her feelings was hidden beneath his faux excitement, though he couldn’t keep his fingers from scraping through his hair and tugging at his t-shirt. As if it mattered what he looked like. As if anything between them mattered anymore. 

He’s a little surprised at how easy it is to read her — he’d thought her body language might have changed, that the signs that had once been second nature to him might have become foreign. But even as he flicked through the TV channels, eyeing her casually from the corner of his eye, he noticed the tension in her spine, the casual tone of her voice, and knew exactly how to read between the lines. “I’m wounded, Antonov —” he paused, gaze flitting over to her with a grin. “Wounded that you would think calling me “trashy” would hurt my feelings. I’m the King of reality TV, the Emperor of trashtown, the reigning champion of cheesy movies.” Finally, he found a showing of 21 Jump Street and, tossing the remote aside, interlocked his hands behind his head. “A classic.” 

[theaftcrlife]

destinypsychic​:

“You caught me off guard, if I knew this was gonna be a real date I would have dressed up a little more instead of showing up in my pajamas,” Destiny said as she looked down at her purple sweatpants. She smiled as she watched him as relief flooded his features. “Nah I think with maybe just a little more practice you could definitely win that crown. Is it a crown? I don’t know, I never saw it.”

Frankie followed her gaze to the sweatpants in question, grinning. “No, no, I think the sweatpants are bomb, dude.” He stretched out his own leg, displaying his baby blue pajama pants that were dotted with little dogs. “But not as cool as mine.” Shrugging apologetically, he resumed his meal. “It’s a title, obviously,” he corrected, betraying his in-depth knowledge of the show. “And my instagram trolls would disagree.” 

[theaftcrlife]

spencerfms​:

Spencer shifted on the bed when he heard someone knocking, hoping that maybe they would go away if he didn’t answer but then he heard the call for his roommate and sighed. He got up and walked over to open the door to see the kid brother. He cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, I got that.” He said, nodding. “Well, uh he’s not here.” He didn’t lead on, as he never even bothered to ask TJ where he was going.

Frankie’s eyebrows lifted slightly, wondering if he was misinterpreting the others’ cool demeanor. “Yeah, uh, I guessed that.” He chuckled nervously, eyes flickering into the room behind him. “Well, I was supposed to go shopping with him — mind if I come in and wait?”  

[theaftcrlife]

thcskeptic​:

“It’s a great gig. As long as the viewers keep us going,” he looked into the camera in a not at all subtle remark, barely stopping himself from making a joke about how everyone should like and subscribe. “You want to slow dance to WAP?” He wondered, amusement passing over his features. He was in better spirits than he had been when they had entered the room and there was a noticeably positive shift in his demeanor. When she drew nearer he wrapped his arms around her waist and began to hum. The moment he began he realized that he couldn’t actually remember any classical music, a realization that caused him to just sort of make something up based on his best guess. He knew it wasn’t good, but it was probably better than just trying to dance in silence. He started to move slightly, swaying in a way he hoped resembled dancing, “i’m not sure I actually remember how to do this.” 

With the distance between them closed, Theo felt Miles’ feelings as if they were her own — and she was glad to find his mood at lifted. Buoyed by his happiness, she found her cheeks stretched into a smile, a lightness taking residence in her chest as she began to sway along to the silent rhythm of his humming. She even let a small giggle slip out in response to the off-key tune, a melody she didn’t quite recognize from any specific piece of music. Still, as they swayed slowly in the center of the dark ballroom, she allowed a brief moment of romanticism — imagining herself in a pearly ballgown as a quartet played a tune. She fell silent, and, after a few moments, rested her head gently on Miles’ chest. 

[theaftcrlife]

thcskeptic​:

“To be fair, knowing things isn’t really my job here. I just show up, talk about how ghosts aren’t real, sit in the dark for a bit, and then go to back to my room to sleep.” He stated, glazing over the compliment without acknowledging it, since he never knew how to respond to them properly. He hadn’t really enjoyed being at work recently, but now he was glad for the distraction that it offered him, and just hoped that no one would notice the vacancy in his eyes. So far, that seemed to be going well, or maybe people just chose not to comment on it if they noticed it. “I wouldn’t subject you to my singing,” he said with a smile, “I can probably hum though. If it starts sounding familiar in a ‘this isn’t a classical song’ way, just ignore that.” 

“Sounds like a pretty sweet gig.” She smiled softly, distantly aware of Miles’ unhappiness. She wanted to ask him about it, to make sure he was okay — the desire to fix his problems tugged at her heart — but with the cameras rolling, and the nature of their relationship, she wasn’t quite sure how to. “Oh no —” She shook her head, grinning. “I want to hear your hummed rendition of WAP.” Laughing softly, she drew near, feeling a split second of hesitation before she brought her arms up to rest behind his neck. It was just a dance, not a declaration of love. “Alright then, let’s here it maestro.” 

[theaftcrlife]

arcmusings​:

“are they the jello kind, though? ‘cause if not then we’re in the wrong establishment.” winnie leaned on the surface in front of her, head tilted toward the other. “did you get a little spooked? need someone to hold your hand next time?”

“Wait — do you think they have jello shots?” Theo looked between Winnie and the bartender, who had overheard her and was shaking his head. “Dammit. I miss jello shots.” She sighed. “Well, two tequila shots, then?” She smiled at the bartender in thanks. “Ha,” Snorting, she raised an eyebrow in Winnie’s direction. “Something like that. Why, are you offering?” 

[theaftcrlife]

nightmxde​:

The moment he cracked his eyes open, Avery was unable to fall back asleep. His covers had been thrown off of him, most likely in his sleep and largely due to the variety pack of nightmares he’d been subjected to after retiring from the first night’s recording. He yawned, stretching across the bed and then popped up from it, looking over to Asher’s bed before he padded over to the bathroom. Emerging a handful of minutes later to the sound of a knock, he was showered and refreshed, a towel draped over his head. He pulled on his clothes for the day and was just thinking about breakfast when he opened the door to find Theo standing there.

A large grin graced his face and he looped an arm around her shoulders in a hug after taking the coffee from her, careful not to spill it. “I love you too much. More than a thousand lifetimes, you glorious human being.” He stepped back and aside to let her in. “Sorry for the mess, I just woke up.” 

Avery hugged her, and his wet hair shed drops all over her shoulders. “Ah, Ave, your hair is soaking.” She shrieked, shoving him away with a laugh and stepping further into his room. “Yeah, yeah,” Waving off his declarations of love, she wandered over to the window, sipping her own coffee. Unlike most of the crew, Avery’s presence had a comforting effect on her — he was one of the few people who didn’t overwhelm her senses with dramatic feelings. Rather, the feeling of Avery’s presence slotted in perfectly alongside Theo’s own feelings, reminding her of home. She’d grown up beside him and, as such, her awareness of him was as familiar as her awareness of herself, as natural as the steps she took across the room. 

“Yeah, I barely dragged myself out of bed this morning. You’d think I’d be used to the shooting schedule by now, but it always throws me off.” As if to punctuate her point, she yawned, hard enough to make her eyes water. “Ugh, see? Now, can I have one of those chocolate croissants, if it’s not too much trouble?” 

[theaftcrlife]

rcsearcher​:

Aidan was surprised by the knock, but quickly stood to answer it. When the door opened and revealed the other he gave him a small smile. “Uh…” He trailed off, thinking about the book he had just put down, but deciding not to mention it. “Sure, yeah. Might as well grab some drinks. I hope that they have the fun fruity stuff, I hate the places that take themselves too seriously.” 

“Yes!” Frankie cheered, grinning widely — more often than not, Aidan rejected Frankie’s attempts to drag him out of his room. “You won’t regret it. We’re two young, handsome dudes in a brand new city, staying at a super cool hotel. It’s like the universe is begging us to have some fun.” Victorious, he paraded down the hallway and into the elevators that would take them up to the rooftop bar. 

[theaftcrlife]

arcmusings​:

tj immediately moved over to his brother, concern written all over his face. “what’s going on? are you alright?” he furrowed his brows, looking him up and down for any indication of what was going on? “are you on something or something?”

“On something?” His head snapped, a deep frown furrowing his brow. “No, of course not, I—” He scratched at the back of his neck, casting a glance across the people surrounding them. “Didn’t you hear that? I heard whispering, and — and felt something.” 

[theaftcrlife]

destinypsychic​:

Destiny smiled a little bit. “I guess I’d have to say yes then, huh?” she raised her shoulders to a slight shrug. She followed close behind him, sitting down and immediately shoving a piece of the fresh waffle she had grabbed into her mouth. She nodded along with his words and tried her best not to giggle at him, she figured that would make him feel embarrassed. “I mean we all die, babe,” she said, sipping on her orange juice. “But no right now I think you’re fine. I definitely don’t think you’ll be winning Next Top Model if all the judges were laughing at you while you were on the catwalk, though.”

“Y-Yeah,” Frankie spluttered out, surprised. “I guess you would.” Grinning, he took another large bite of his food. He leaned forward, chin propped on the heel of his hand, hanging off her every word as she reassured him. “Phew,” He exhaled, flopping back in his chair. “That’s a relief — thanks, Des.” Sitting up again and resuming his food, he smiled again. “Shame about the modelling career, though. I always thought I had a good face for it.” 

[theaftcrlife]

LOCATION: NEW MEXICO

CLOSED STARTER for @spencerfms​

Frankie pounded on the door, making no effort to restrain himself as he waited for his brother to answer the door. “TJ!” He called, antsy and eager to get going. But when the door swung open, finally, it wasn’t his brother on the other side, but his roomate, Spencer. “Oh,” He chuckled, suddenly feeling embarrassed at his enthusiasm. “Sorry — I was just looking for TJ.”

[theaftcrlife]

prizrakis​:

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Their last conversation left a bad taste in her mouth that she couldn’t get rid of, like sour cherries. Mika so desperately wanted to show him that she had the upper hand, that she was the one who cared less, so this was less than ideal. She hurriedly wipes at the tears that were streaming down her face since she had woken up, thankful for the darkness. "I’m fine.” The words come out of her a little too quickly, like she had her answer prepped and ready for anyone who came by despite the fact she looked anything but fine. “So why don’t you piss of, yeah?” She does her best to make her tone harsh to get her message across, but it comes out meeker than she intended as it severely lacks the usual bite her words have. 

Mika balls her hands up into fists but releases them almost immediately. “I’m not— I’m not in the mood tonight Frankie.” Not in the mood for whatever on earth brought him to her room. Whether it was by chance or divine intervention, it was the last thing she wanted. Or so she told herself. It’s difficult to get the words out when she loathed being so vulnerable in front of him. She sighs, looking at him in defeat because she already knew how she was feeling wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. “But…I don’t really want to be alone right now.” It was the most she could say, but she hopes the implication is enough.

“Right, yeah, maybe I should. I’m sure that’s what you’d like. I’m sure that’s what everyone’d like.” The words tumbled out, slick and slippery beneath the alcohol on his breath. He resisted the urge to bounce anxiously on his feet. He never liked having his back open, especially not in the middle of the night in a haunted hotel. His skin tingled at the thought, as if something was watching him from somewhere further down the hall. Why was he even still standing here, anyways? After their last conversation, he was sure he was mere seconds away from having his worst fears confirmed in the form of Mika’s worst insults, so maybe he should do as she said and piss off. 

But she didn’t look fine, and her dismissal lacked its usual conviction, as if something had stolen the venom from her tongue. His expression softened, for a moment, as she looked at him, and he felt some ancient tether spring to life between them. Sometimes, during wars, there were days of peace. Truces struck for the greater good. Frankie could do that — could pretend there wasn’t years of hurt between them. With a reluctant glance over his shoulder, he brushed past her and stepped into her room, closing the door behind him with a definitive click. There was an awkward silence, then he stepped out of his shoes and flopped himself into her bed, grinning. “You get the good channels in here? Either my TV is haunted or TJ blocked my access to the good shit. What are we feeling, horror?” He paused to shudder dramatically. “Yikes, definitely not. Comedy, I think. Or trashy rom com?