our brains are sick, but thats okay

Trace. 21. Some say I'm half fish.

[trace-perry]

I think I do too. There’s not a lot of beaches around here so I have to wait a little while before I can do that again. Unless there’s an indoor pool that needs protecting! But then there wouldn’t be much of a point for putting sunscreen on my nose and that just completes the look! Really? That’s so cool that your family followed! Do you see them a lot? We should! Or I mean I should because I don’t expect you to invest money in my personal warmth. But my day is good! I just got out of practice. How about yours?

[wtffelicity]

We could always get you one of those tanning laps to hang over your lifeguard’s chair, then you’d still need the sunscreen. You’d just have ignore the funny looks you get and remind them that you’re from Hawaii and the sunscreen nose in mandatory in order to save lives. I know, I’m so happy they’re close. I do! I go over to my mom’s practically every weekend. You’re more than welcome to come with one day if you’re in the mood for a hoemcooked meal! I mean, if it’s not weird for me to offer that, you know. But what if I was planning a surprise? Ooh, you’re starting up practice? When’s your first meet? I really want to go to one. I always love going to watch things I can’t do, it makes things more interesting. It’s good! Other than the fact I lost a piece of paper out of that packet. I’m just really hoping it didn’t have anything important on it, oh god. 

[trace-perry]

That's a great idea! I can get one of those menu looking reflecty things too to illuminate me even more. I really have lost a lot of tan from summer anyways. I think they'd just see I'm very serious about my job and they'd feel even safer! Aw that sounds like fun. I miss my parents so I wish they would be closer but I also like living in Hawaii I don't want them to leave. I would love to! I make home cooked meals for myself like every night but it'd be nice to have somebody else's cooking! They don't start till December! But I would love for you to come to one! Oh gosh, I hope not either. Maybe if it does you can just explain to your teacher that the winds didn't want you learning that topic.

[omarmix]

Liam fondly watching Niall prank call a store

[trace-perry]

Exactly! I’m used to an ocean breeze not this malarkey! Not that cold is malarkey I’m sure a lot of people like the cold but it just makes me feel like a Popsicle. Is Michigan where you’re from? I don’t think I’d survive. I’ve been here like three years now and it seems like every time I start to get used to it, it’s time to go home for break.

[wtffelicity]

I think you belong on a beach in your little lifeguard outfit and your whistle, not this cold business. Don’t let them make you feel bad, though, everyone’s used to different things. It is! I moved here last year for school and my mom followed soon after with my brother. Oh god, I’m sorry. We should get you one of those heated coats and some ear muffs, even if it doesn’t get that cold. How’s your day going other than the cold wind?

[trace-perry]

I think I do too. There's not a lot of beaches around here so I have to wait a little while before I can do that again. Unless there's an indoor pool that needs protecting! But then there wouldn't be much of a point for putting sunscreen on my nose and that just completes the look! Really? That's so cool that your family followed! Do you see them a lot? We should! Or I mean I should because I don't expect you to invest money in my personal warmth. But my day is good! I just got out of practice. How about yours?

[trace-perry]

All this wind is absolutely crazy! I wanted a mask just to kept warm because it felt like my ears were getting frost bitten and then everybody told me I was ridiculous because it’s not even that cold outside.

[wtffelicity]

Oh, but wind is always so much colder than the rest of the air, oh my god. I don’t think you’d last very long in Michigan, Trace. Not that that’s a bad thing! But it gets very very cold there in the winter time.

[trace-perry]

Exactly! I'm used to an ocean breeze not this malarkey! Not that cold is malarkey I'm sure a lot of people like the cold but it just makes me feel like a Popsicle. Is Michigan where you're from? I don't think I'd survive. I've been here like three years now and it seems like every time I start to get used to it, it's time to go home for break.

[wtffelicity]

I can’t believe the wind today. I was reading a packet I need to finish for next week and walked outside and it completely disappeared! I ran around for about twenty minutes trying to collect it and oh my god, I bet I looked ridiculous.

[trace-perry]

All this wind is absolutely crazy! I wanted a mask just to kept warm because it felt like my ears were getting frost bitten and then everybody told me I was ridiculous because it's not even that cold outside.

[thedaliypayne-deactivated201603]

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

“You think so? That’d be really awesome to pay for my housing here. My scholarship decided not to cover that part, so some money would be nice.” She laughed, not thinking anything of his comment until he started apologizing. She only started laughing. “Trace- You’re fine. I didn’t think you were. But if you were, then I take it as a compliment.” She started laughing again, only trying to lighten the situation and try to make him feel a bit better about stumbling over his words. She found him rather adorable and thought he was funny for how much he apologized–only to realize she did the same exact thing. “It’s good, I promise! I didn’t mean it in a bad way at all, oh god.” She laughed with him, “You should! But I don’t know if the height of your laundry basket will effect how easily you’ll amke friends. Both of ours were pretty high tonight.” Felicity grinned when he handed her the Poptarts, shaking her head at how nice he was to her already. “Thank you, master chef!” She laughed and sat next to him on the table, kicking her legs a bit as she ripped open the wrapper and started eating one of the poptarts, laying the other one in her lap. “I understand, don’t worry. Maybe you could be a swim coach? Or even a teacher? Is there a YMCA or something like that where you live where you could be a mentor? Have you liked being here so far? You can yell at me to stop asking questions any time now, I mean it.” She laughed and nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm. “I am! We actually just finished one up about two weeks ago, but auditions for the winter musical should be coming up within the next week or so. I think it’s supposed to be The Sound of Music this year. I can get you free tickets, if you want to go! I’d love for you to go. I just like seeing people I know. Oh god, I’m sorry. It was an honest mistake, it’s easy to get lost here, it’s a huge campus! Especially when the buildings are connected like this.” 

[trace-perry]

"I do! You just put some jazzy music in the back ground and talk in a peppy voice, which I think you have down and then tell people to lift laundry baskets and get their dream body! Make sure you only have to do like five minutes a day though or people get sick of it." He laughed, letting out a breath of relief when she didn't seem completely offended by his comment. Of course he hadn't meant it in a rude way, he found her to be very pretty, but he wasn't bold enough to say that out loud on purpose. "Ohhh. Okay. Good. I didn't mean it in a bad way, I promise." He nodded, just wanting to reassure her in case she had any doubts. "That's true. I'll just have to knock them down because that seems to be working pretty well right now! But maybe if we're down here more often to do laundry, we won't have such high baskets!" He opened his bag of chips, and pulled one out before he held it out to her to see if she wanted some. "You're welcome. This isn't one of my better meals, but I had to work with what I had." Trace laughed. "Yeah! That's what I was thinking like teaching little kids how to swim. And I did a lot of lifeguarding stuff back home, so that's what I wanna continue to do as soon as I get to go back. It's a lot of fun." He grinned just thinking about Hawaii. "You can be Maria! She's the only character I know. But you can be here, I can see it." He nodded. "I can definitely come then. I'll cheer inappropriately loud every time you come on stage." He laughed. "It's very weird, I had no idea what I was getting into. At least we don't share bathrooms, I would feel weird sharing bathrooms with so many girls."

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

“Well thank you for noticing. I don’t think many people have asked about my regimen, so thank you for that, too. Oh my god- I didn’t even think of those.” She started laughing as she pictured if the fictional episode had been real and how she’d look with fake, buff arms. Felicity was happy to see that she hadn’t scared him off just yet; she was sure her comment about her backside was going to get him, but he just laughed along with her. “Good idea, because if there’s a lot more people like us out there then this world is a very danger place and we need to be the ones to make it safer. Or at least give someone else the idea. Oh god, well, I don’t think you’re the only one. We’re still young, you have your whole life ahead of you! I mean, I can hold onto that information. You kind of remind me of a teddy bear, so it’d make sense if you were hairy.” She raised her eyebrows as she laughed, just waiting to see his reaction to her words. Her smile only widened when she saw him blush. “I think you’re right. The world isnt’ ready for our stand up.” She laughed, “Exactly, see, you get it. You need to just start carrying your laundry all around campus and running into people until you have a whole new group of friends.” Felicity dropped a few quarters in and started the washer before laughing, “Wait, really? You’re so nice, wow.” She grinned, following him to the vending machine. “I think I’ll go with the blueberry poptarts. They’re incredibly filling.” She smiled, “Do you want to be a child therapist? Not like a child yourself, but– You know what I mean. I’m a theater major. If that doesn’t let you know how weird I might be, then I don’t know what will. Oh my god. Was she mad? That’s too funny, I’m sorry.” She laughed, covering her mouth.

[trace-perry]

"Maybe you should start making work out videos, because whatever you're doing is really working for you." Trace joked, before thinking about his statement for a moment. "Not that I've been checking you out! I just meant it to go along with the joke! Not that you're not in good shape because I'm sure you are. I just haven't even taken a second to think about it because I haven't checked you out because I'm just digging this hole even deeper and I apologize." He turned bright red as he spoke, not even sure how to fix what had slipped out so he decided to just leave it alone and go onto the next subject. "I do? Well that's good I guess. Because I get a little bit furry. Especially now since we're just practicing right now." He laughed. "Exactly! I should start doing laundry more often, I can make lots more friends." Trace looked over the vending machine, getting himself a bag of chips, then getting Felicity the Blueberry Poptarts. He pulled it out of the slot in the bottom, and handed it to her. "Dinner is served!" He grinned, and walked back over to the table in the middle of the room, hopping up onto it. "Oh gosh, no no. There's very sad stuff that happens. I don't think I'd be good at helping I'd just be sad for them. I just thought it'd be interesting! My Mom really wanted me to go to college, and I had a full ride here, and I decided I might as well. But I just wanna do something where I can swim every day." Trace nodded. "You're a theatre major?! Are you in any shows right now? I want to go see one! I saw one with a girl one time my freshman year and it was very good. She was a little bit mad but then she explained to me where to go and I packed all my stuff back up right away."

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

“That’s exactly what I meant. I wasn’t sure if raw noodles sounded as right.” She laughed, lifting her arm a bit as she let him squeeze them, even flexing a bit to play along. “I spend a lot of time lifting laundry baskets. You wouldn’t believe my routine.” She kept laughing, thinking it so funny that they were already talking up a storm and it had only been a couple of minutes. She just liked that he didn’t seem completely deterred by her constantly stepping over her own feet and trying not to sound weird. She always got better with her words the better she got to know someone; it just took a bit longer with attractive guys. “That’s such a good idea. It’s almost 2016, though, they have to be close to inventing some kind of invisible protective force-field that you can wear! Then it really would go with everything. Probably- I should call my mom and tell her I’m not ready to be an adult and move back home and try this whole college thing in a few more years. Are you a swimmer? Do you have to shave everything? Is that a weird question? Don’t answer that, oh my god, I’m sorry. It’s okay, I have a lot of junk in my trunk. If that’s the saying these days.” She laughed and shook her head, not taking any offense to what he said; he seemed to be in the same boat when it came to putting his foot in his mouth. “I can relate, trust me. Most of the time I don’t finish my joke because I’m laughing so hard, though, so they have reason not to understand a word I’m saying.” She shook her head, “It’s so nice to meet you! Sorry it had to be this way, jeez. Oh god, no- It was a joke, I swear. I don’t think my mom could sit still that long.” Felicity grabbed her basket and walked into the laundry room, heaving the heavy thing up onto a table before she began separating her whites and colors. “We should go get snacks from the vending machine and just make a whole day out of this.” She grinned at him as she loaded her laundry into one of the washers. “What are you studying, Trace? Are you over in Stockard? I’m just assuming that’s why you’re in here since the only other option is Crosby and as far as I know, you’re a guy.”

[trace-perry]

"That makes sense. Because I don't know how you could be so toned otherwise! That's the kind of muscle you only get from laundry basket lifting. Or those fake muscles Spongebob had in that one episode." He just continued laughing, surprised that they seemed to make a connection so quickly. Usually, Trace's attempt at making conversation were awkward at best and it threw a lot of girls off, but he didn't get that vibe with Felicity. She seemed to be putting up with all of his rambles right away. "That's very true. Maybe if they don't have it by the new year we can talk to the science department here about making something and we can patton it! I'm really not either and I only have like 3 more semesters before graduating, and I really don't know what I'm gonna do with myself after. I don't even know how to properly vote in an election or do taxes. I am! And I do. But only for meets. So I'm kind of hairy all over the place right now, but you probably didn't need to know that." He blushed a bit, realizing it was probably a weird thing to say to someone he had just met. "Maybe we just shouldn't be so hilarious, Felicity. Other people don't understand!" He grinned. "Oh gosh no, don't worry. I promise, it's okay. This is the best way to meet people in my opinion. Not all that partying and Tinder dates and whatever people are doing these days." Trace set his basket up on the table, and separated everything. "Ooh, yes! What do you want? I'll go get dinner. My treat." He laughed, pulling out his wallet as he walked over to the machine. "Pediatric psychology. What about you? But I am. I accidentally walked into Crosby my first day here though and I was very confused when I was unpacking all my stuff and a girl walked in claiming it was her room."

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

Felicity had always been the worst when it had come to watching where she was going, whether it was walking in the street or walking to class, there always seemed to be someone or something in her way, and she certainly made contact with her every single time. The best part was how when she was on stage or on the volleyball court, things were completely different. She was good at both of those things, only ever falling or diving to the ground when she was required to. She just didn’t seem to have a knack for doing the same thing in every day life. She felt terrible for knocking the boy’s clothes to the floor, but she couldn’t help but just laugh at the whole situation. What a way to meet someone. “My arms are a lot stronger than they look. They might look like wet noodles, but they’re actually strong noodles.” She kept laughing, sort of uncomfortable with her own words, but also still just finding their whole situation a bit funny. Fizz quickly gathered her things together and stood up, making sure her newly formed mountain of clothes wasn’t going to fall again. “I agree. Bubble wrap and a helmet and knee and elbow pads. I’m surprised my mother hasn’t already found me one. That’s what should be in my care package. Not that I’m about to reject packages of Girl Scout cookies. You haven’t? Maybe you need to start doing squats, too! They really can do a lot more for you than you’d think.” She was making sure his clothes were all accounted for before continuing. “This was bad, I feel like we should be exchanging insurance information.” She laughed at her own joke, only to start laughing harder at his mention of the polar bear, “No, no, I knew what you’re talking about. Oh my god.” She laughed, holding her stomach for a moment before taking a breath, “I didn’t know a Tuesday could be so fun, eh? I’m Felicity, by the way. In case you didnt’ see my name embroidered in my pants.” She blushed a bit more, but just ignored it, still laughing a bit to herself, “Want some company while you do your laundry?”

[trace-perry]

"They're like noodles before they get cooked!" He reached over to feel her muscles, giving her arm a squeeze. "Oh yeah. Definitely uncooked noodle strength." He laughed, hoping it wasn't completely weird of him to reach over and touch a stranger, but he figured after sorting each other's dirty laundry out, they had to be at least on some type of friendship level, even if they had only been talking about ive minutes. "Maybe you can get multiple helmets and elbow pads so they can match all your clothes! You'll never have to worry about the fact they don't go with your outfit. Maybe it's just something you're expected to take care of when you're pretending you're an adult in college. And then your parents only buy you the fun stuff. Like Girl Scout Cookies! I haven't! But I don't think it'd be good for me to have a big butt anyways, it'd make me a lot less aerodynamic in the water. Plus I don't think I could pull it off like you do--Not that I was looking at your butt! I was just saying like that you said...that you--I have no idea. Oh goodness. I'm so sorry." Trace shook his head at himself, knowing that was more than likely just going to be the first of many slip ups with Felicity. "Oh good. Because sometimes I make jokes and nobody knows what the heck I'm talking about and I'm just sitting there laughing and they all think I'm weird." He laughed. "But I'm Trace! You have your name embroidered on your pants? That will make sorting all of this so much easier!" He joked, and picked up his laundry basket as he finally started making his way into the room with her. "Of course! It looks like we both might be taking up all the washers between the both of us, so we'll just have to talk to each other."

[trace-perry]

Text → Trace

Trent: Maybe one day, probably not within the next six to nine months considering all she'll want to do is kill me until a few days after the kid's born

Trent: I'm gonna have to get to reading some baby books to know what the fuck I'm doing man

Trent: I mean, I'd like more than anything to actually try things out with her, but I know she's still hurt from her last boyfriend and all that mess. It's shitty that asshole had to go and ruin things for her.

Trent: trace why aren't you out chasing tail yet?? Whatever happened to the cheerleader I tried to set you up with??

Trace: Well after that you guys can bond and probably fall in love, that's how all the movies work! Plus like if you're really good to her during the pregnancy, she'll probably fall in love with you even sooner than expected!

Trace: You should do that, they're probably very useful. And go with her to the doctors appointments and stuff, you probably learn a lot

Trace: But you're not her ex boyfriend so maybe she'll realize that and things will go okay

Trace: We had a very nice night together and I made her breakfast the next day and she thought that was weird so she left and I had to eat four pancakes all by myself and realized we were definitely not on the same page of what we were doing

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

Felicity wasn’t the most coordinated person in the entire world, and add the fact she had a towering basket of laundry obstructing her focus, it was inevitable for her to run into something. She just hadn’t anticipated it to be another person. She couldn’t help but blush madly–not only was it another person, but it was a boy, and he happened to be a very, very attractive boy. Her cheeks and neck were as red as could be, but she tried her hardest to keep her cool. She’d never been the best at talking to guys, but she wasn’t about to shy away after she’d just knocked all of his stuff to the floor. “Oh god, no, I wasn’t either. It’s hard carrying a ten foot tall laundry basket when you’re half its size. I’m so sorry.” She laughed as she continued grabbing things and sorting through them, throwing some things into his basket and some into hers. She smiled sheepishly when he sat down in front of her, letting out a laugh, “Oh god, yeah. I am. I’m fine. I mean- I fall a lot. Especially on my butt, so it’s like I’ve developed a little bit of cushion back there. Not that I have a big butt or anything. I mean, it’s not small, but it’s not like Nicki Minaj– I’m gonna stop talking.” She put her hands over her face to try and cool off her cheeks, only to peak through her fingers and laugh, “What an ice breaker, am I right?” 

[trace-perry]

Trace really wasn't too coordinated either. He seemed to be more natural in the water rather than just walking around on the street. He was constantly running into things, or tripping over them. It was like he had been at sea for years and hadn't gotten his land legs back yet. That, on top of the fact he usually spoke with out thinking, ended up getting him into quite a few situations like these and he had a tendency to embarrass himself quite a bit, especially around girls he found attractive. And when he relaxed a bit and got a better look at the petite girl he had knocked over with his giant self, he knew things were just going to go downhill for him. "I'm surprised you were even able to carry that much stuff, the basket might be bigger than you! That's okay, I promise I dedicated all night to doing laundry because I've put it off for way, way too long." He laughed, trying to pick some of his things out of her pile of things, doing his best not to awkward touch anything that could have possibly been her underwear. "Do you? That's okay, I run into stuff all the time, so maybe we should just both be wrapped in bubble wrap. Especially because I haven't developed any extra padding. That sounds like something that comes in handy. And I didn't know butts could come in handy for much so that seems like a good thing to me!" He grinned, as she blushed, surprised that he wasn't the one over talking just yet. "We didn't even have to figure out how much a polar bear weighs!" He laughed, before realizing his joke probably didn't make much sense. "Because like..they weigh enough to break the ice and yeah.”

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

[wtffelicity]

Felicity wasn’t one to have a specific laundry day–she’d let her clothes pile up, and then once she realized that she was missing a few things that she tended to wear on a weekly basis, she’d finally pull herself from her laptop or her studies and pack her heaping mound of clothes down to the laundry room. She knew she probably looked silly, considering the pile of laundry protruding out of the basket in her arms was actually taller and wider than she was, but she never learned to be a little bit more punctual. She also didn’t care when she’d drop things or get odd looks from her peers for not having a better system of transporting her dirty laundry down to the main floor of her building; this was how she did things, and no one could tell her to do them differently. Today, she’d decided it was finally time for a trip downstairs and packed up her basket as full as it would go. She managed to get everything in and out of the elevator with no problem, and was now on her way to the laundry room. Right she went to turn into the door way, however, she felt herself collide with something taller and a little denser than she, and found herself on her butt on the floor, with her clothes scattered everywhere. “Oh my god.” She said under her breath, but she couldn’t help but start laughing, only to look up to see what she’d collided into–another person. “Oh– Shoot– I’m sorry! Are you okay? Oh my god, I can’t believe I did that. I’m sorry.” She said, trying to help him pick up his laundry, along with her own.

[trace-perry]

Trace was having a bit of trouble looking where he was going. His own laundry basket was obstructing his view, and since he was using his chin to balance it, anything just a few inches below his line of view was completely out of sight to him. So when he made his way down the stairs from his dorm, and to the main floor where the laundry room was located between the two dorm buildings, he hadn't even realized anybody was coming right towards him when he turned the corner. When he collided with the other person, his basket fell from his hands, sending a majority on his laundry to the floor, where he saw the small girl plopped down on the ground in front of him. "No, don't apologize! That was my fault! I didn't mean to. I wasn't looking where I was going. And I'm pretty sure I've been putting laundry off for way too long, it might all start moving on it's own, I apologize." He leaned down, to try and gather up his own laundry but when he realized all their things were now mixed in together, he decided to just plop down in front of her. "Are you okay?" He asked, trying to grab a few more of his things.

[trace-perry]

Text → Trace

Trent: You know I've been trying to figure it out for about two months now and it's just easier to accept and move on

Trent: hiss back and see what she does

Trent: Fuck omg i'm already scared

Trent: Thanks man!

Trent: Uhh, no. I don't know what we're doing. I just told her I really wanted to be in the baby's life. I don't think she's ready to hear how I feel lol.

Trace: Maybe she's just afraid to let her nice side come out and she'll get nicer eventually because she realizes she's comfortable around you!

Trace: I really really don't want to do that

Trace: You've got a while till it's here though, right? You'll have time to prepare!

Trace: Oh. Yeah it's probably a good idea not to rush things, just figure it out as you go. Are you moving in with together?

[trace-perry]

Laundry Day || Felicity&Trace

Now that swim season had started back up, Trace's schedule had gotten rather busy. School was never something that came too easy for him, so whenever class was in session, he had to make sure to put all of his effort into it so he could keep his scholarship and finish up his degree. Trace really didn't have plans to ever actually have a career that went along with his degree, but it definitely was a subject that had always interested him, and he knew his parents were rather set on him going off and getting a college education just in case he did find any future opportunities that required one. But whenever swim season did come around, it always took up quite a bit of his time, and he didn't always get the chance to do things that were necessity, and laundry was one of the things he had put off. But today, he finally had a day with out practice, and a week where he didn't have too much school work due, so he made his way down to the laundry room rather late that night, with his basket, piled up high enough to the point where he was resting it under his chin so nothing would fall out on his way there.

[trace-perry]

Text → Trace

Trent: no she's terrifying i'm afraid if this kid's a girl they're gonna team up and kill me in my sleep

Trent: YEAH

Trent: I MEAN I'M TERRIFIED AND I MIGHT PASS OUT IN THE DELIVERY ROOM

Trent: but i'm so excited man shit. I've always wanted a family

Trent: after everything with Lucy I never thought it'd happen

Trace: I don't know how so much rage can be compacted into such a small little body

Trace: I bumped into her the other day by accident on my way over and I'm pretty sure she hissed at me

Trace: I think as long as you don't look down below the belly then you'll be okay!

Trace: I'm happy for you, Trent!

Trace: Are you guys together now? Or still doing your thing where you're not together but doing things that people who are together normally do.

[trace-perry]

Text → Trace

Trent: You know Tabby

Trent: she's pregnant

Trent: and it's mine

Trace: I do! She's a little bit scary

Trace: BUT SHE'S VERY NICE I'M SURE ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW HER

Trace: wait, really?

Trace: REALLY? That's so exciting!!!