maybe i shouldn't try to be PERFECT. i confess, i'm obsessed with the surface. in the end, if i fall or if i get it all, i just H O P E that it's worth it. last year i fell flat on my face, and last month i knew somethin' should CHANGE. last week i started over again, ask me and i'll TELL you how i've been. don't get me started. you've got me nervous to speak, so i just won't say anything at all. i've got an URGE to r e l e a s e, and you keep tellin' me to hold on. you've got me NERVOUS to move, so i just won't give anything to you. you got me TURNIN' all around to be who you need me to.
He smirked, and rubbed at his eyes with his left hand. “Nuh–” The groggy man started to speak, but his voice caught in his throat. Roosevelt cleared his throat again, then said, “No, your shoulder isn’t boney.” It was a lie - her shoulder was boney, but still appreciated. He put the phone and headphones into the pocket of his hoodie, and sighed as he scooted against the side of the bus to make sure she had enough room on the seat. He wasn’t ignorant of his size, and knew he took up a lot of room when he was sat properly in a seat. “So, uh- How long did you let me use your arm as a pillow?”
deciding not to say anything about his obvious lie, she shrugged at the question, checking the time on her phone even though she hasn’t been keeping track. “ it’s gotta be, uh, about two hours now. the bus driver came back to check on us and i told him that we’re homeless and just need a place to chill. he was really nice about it, actually, told me he’d do his best to miss the potholes, ” she rambled, unable to stop the word vomit around strangers. “ sorry, that was a bad joke. it’s only been like, three minutes. ”
zahia thought fashion articles could be so needlessly censorious. she’d recently come across some that condemned pastels and rose-tinted glasses as “terrible” fashion trends, with which she strongly disagreed. pastels and rose-tinted glasses were gorgeous, adorable! the outfit she’d just caught a glimpse of, on the other hand…. “ya rab, low-rise jorts,” she muttered, averting her eyes from the ghastly clothes.
almost spitting out the hot chocolate that she just took a sip of, veda couldn’t help but laugh at the comment the girl next to her made. she caught sight of the person wearing the particularly bad item of clothing, and hid another laugh behind her to-go cup. “ are high-rise jorts better? ” she asked jokingly, but she let out a disgusted groan at the thought. “ oh my god, that would be so disturbing --- like high-waisted jeans, but ... jorts. ”
TIME: 11:42 AM
LOCATION: On a bus/train, on his way home.
After an 18-hour shift, it took extra effort to get out of the hospital and onto a train to head home for a couple days. He was up for about 10 hours already on the day he was called-in, making it about 30 hours since he had sleep. All he could think about was some last-minute Christmas shopping, and how badly he missed his bed. Dr. Collins looked anything but professional in black sweatpants, a Golden Girls graphic tee, and a dark green hoodie only partially zipped up. A black beanie was snug on his head, and Delta Rae played from the headphones in his ears loud enough to block out commuter noise. He sat on the seat by himself against the window with his small duffle in his lap, and head leaned back on the metal bar as his eyes eventually drifted closed.
A bump in the road shook him awake, and as he slowly came to Roosevelt realized he’d slid down the seat a little with his head rested on someone’s shoulder. He cleared his throat, and quickly corrected his posture. “I’m so sorry,” he said groggily as he pulled the headphones from his ears, and hugged his bag to him to make more room for the other person in the seat. He had no idea when he drifted asleep, how long he’d been out, or when the person sat beside him. Red-faced, he couldn’t look at the other person, and could’ve dropped dead from embarrassment right there in the seat.
with soil caked under her fingernails and smudged into her shirt, and her hair barely held up by the bright green elastic band in it, veda knew she was a sight. in new york no one would’ve looked twice at her, everyone there all too used to weirdos and just hoping no one would flash them. but as she stepped on the bus in kingfield, she held her head high and tried her best to ignore the looks she was getting. with christmas right around the corner and procrastinators flocking to her store to order bouquets last-minute, she was just about ready to punch the little old lady that looked at her like she was some kind of hoodlum.
the only open seat was next to a big guy that looked as tired as she felt, and veda could understand why no one was sitting next to him. but he was fast asleep and she spotted a golden girls shirt underneath his hoodie, so she figured it was harmless and sat down as quietly as possible. sleep was something she valued and would never deprive someone else of, so she decided to go with the flow when his head ended up on her shoulder, pulling out her phone to keep her occupied. she had no idea how long it had been before the guy was startled awake, making an apology that she dismissed with a hand waving in the air. “ don’t worry about it; i’m honestly impressed that you didn’t wake up earlier. i’ve been told i have bony shoulders. ”
at the latest it was happy hour, which was a perfectly fine time to start drinking, though athena wasn’t intent on over doing it, at least not this early. nursing a glass of rum and coke, the brunette sighed as a person came to sit beside her. there were plenty of open seats at the bar so that they didn’t need to sit right next to her. “ if this is for a tattoo consultation, you're going to be disappointed, i only do them at the shop. ”
after her day started with a particularly frustrating customer at the flower shop, she quickly decided that she was going to have to drink the memories away so she couldn’t dwell. so after her relief came, she took a different route home to stop at the bar, sitting in the first seat her eyes landed on. a little startled that the person next to her was speaking to her, veda just waved a dismissive hand at the other girl who she recognized from the tattoo shop. “ don’t worry, i wasn’t planning on bothering you. i just tend to sit here because old man mccreepyson tends to sit over there, ” she said, motioning to the other side of the bar where the man unsurprisingly was.
reading the local newspaper usually wasn’t his thing. it had been more a of thing his parents’ preferred to do, it was how his parents had gotten their news and he was surprised the local newspaper was still in business. for once he had looked over almost everything on his various social media platforms on his phone, so he thought what the hell, might as well read the newspaper while he waited for his food at the local diner. though most of it seemed to be feel good stuff for the town, “ there’s a dog on the front page of the paper. a dog. is this.. is this even actually news? ” he said out loud to no one in particular.
playing toon blast on her phone while she waited for her food, veda couldn’t help but hear the distinct rustling of a newspaper somewhere near her, catching her attention. people actually reading newspapers always kind of shocked her, since the internet and television are a thing, but whatever, she wasn’t going to judge someone on how they got their news. “ well, it might not be news, but it’s what the people want, ” veda replied, even though she had no idea if he was even talking to her. “ i mean, most of us are pretty easy -- we see a dog, we buy the thing with that dog on it, because everyone loves dogs. it’s good marketing, is what it is. ”
what’s up, my dudes !! it is me, admin el, and first of all i wanna thank all of you for joining !! you’re all super awespme in my books. second, here’s my garbage girl veda, and she’s got a lot of issues but pls love her down ?? alright, i’m done talking now lol
･ﾟ✧ cindy kimberly + cisfemale + she/her — have you noticed veda cosmatos around, the twenty-one year old that is from manhattan? i think they’re a florist around here. i ran into them at the diner the other day and found out that they have a snake on their hipbone. they seemed kind of evasive & apathetic, but also pretty serene & charismatic. i think victorie barnes has a mark like that, too. small world, huh? el, 21, est.
background !!
veda was born to two 17 year olds who got pregnant by accident
of course they thought they were gonna be together forever, but he split about 2 months before veda was born
so she grew up with just her mom, who worked like crazy just to afford a little two bedroom apartment in manhattan
& while she didn’t have the big christmases or 20 birthday presents, her mom always gave her the love & attention she needed
& although she wasn’t blessed with money, she was blessed with looks
& when she was 16 she started scamming guys on the internet, sending them fake nudes while they gave her money
she liked being able to help out her mom and for the first time in her life, they weren’t struggling
& when she turned 18 it became more of a irl sugar baby thing, but she’s smart and always figured out how to get out of actually giving them the sugar lol
but one of the guys became way too possessive and stalkerish around the time her mark appeared a lil bit after she turned 20
so she packed up her mom & her stuff & moved to kingfield bc she’s always been a secret romantic
& she’s been here for about half a year now !
personality !!
she’s one of those ‘hide the pain with a joke’ kind of people
she’s very good at deflecting & using humor when she doesn’t wanna talk about something
& sometimes her decisions hurt other people but .... thems the breaks, ya know
& she can be pretty cunning when she wants something rly bad, but most of the time she has an ‘i don’t care’ attitude
but she usually comes off as a pretty funny & easygoing person, even though there’s a lot under the surface
but feelings are lava so
& that’s all i’ve got ! unfortunately i won’t be home until 9/10 tonight, but i’ll be mobile for anyone that wants to plot !! just like this and i’ll shoot you a message !
