#echo.talks

[dissonantdaydream]

where; hex girls with; open

echo wasn't on the stage tonight which was altogether fine with her. while the tips weren't as lucrative, people were less prone to gawk and stare at her while she was behind the bar. unfortunately, they were still keen to talk. "mm." she hummed and found the bright metal shaker filled with ice. she picked it up and started to rattle it loud enough to ignore the next question. admittedly, the selkie girl was not the ideal conversationalist. it wasn't that she was necessarily opposed to the idea at large. she liked people who could comfortably talk to her. the problem was that most people just talked at her, and there was no desire in her to respond to that anymore. "mhm." echo poured the drink and set it along with a small napkin which had the word 'hex' embossed clearly in the corner on the bar top and nodded. she turned away from them and onto the next patron, lifting an eyebrow as if to ask 'what will you have?'

[dissonantdaydream]

maven and echo had always taken care of each other, but in very different capacities. maven was a nurturer. he was loving and comforting, secure and communicative. while he might not be very grounded or practical, that never mattered much. he was a walking, talking life jacket for someone like echo who, on the other hand, was more like a warning flare. she preferred to preserve that rare light in her brother and tackle any necessary harshness directly with her own. echo did whatever was necessary to make sure they had what they needed. sometimes that just meant making enough substantial cash that maven never needed to take some soul crushing office job. sometimes it meant more significantly more unpleasant things. today, it just meant making sure to pay him for what she was taking so that his generosity didn't get the better of him. "we can wait if you need to." she offered, but not with a lot of commitment. echo was ready to be in the water.

maven gave a hefty sigh, not so much at his sister, but at the fact that she had tossed money onto the counter. it was a fight he would never win, having told her many of times that she didn't need to worry about paying for anything in the shop, but she insisted. he shook his head before he gave her a smile, grabbing one of the containers of wax. "you want to head out early today, i take it?" the shop would be fine, he could lock it up, it was only a half hour from his associate coming in. "i'll wax up our lake surfers, should be plenty of waves to catch today."

[chuufairy]

.

[dissonantdaydream]

where; somewhere public with; open

"looks worse than it is."

[dissonantdaydream]

[dissonantdaydream]

echo lifted a hand and greeted jackson with the briefest wave. he was nice. there was always some wild rabbit of a conspiracy he was chasing down and babbling about it in the meantime. he was totally in his own little world, and there was not a mean bone in his body. plus, he was never handsy which was always a relief. echo snorted a chuckle and nodded. she began to mix the syrup and soda in a glass. "vi is in the back still." she garnished the glass with a cherry and set it down with an embossed bar napkin in front of him before adding a paper straw next to it. "what's the show tonight?"

“Hi, E.” Jackson said with a grin. He liked Echo, she was a great listener and she never told him he talked too much. Maybe it was a bit weird to hang out in a strip club but not actually watch the shows, but everyone thought he was weird anyhow. He's fine with people finding him odd. “Can I have a Roy Rodger’s? The show starts in a few hours but I wanted to stop in and say hi to you, Vivi and the others before heading over.”

[dissonantdaydream]

it technically wasn't even a lie because water was genuinely echo's favorite. her father's notoriously foul temper only worsened when he drank, which turned her off of it. echo only committed to drinking if she thought she was going to be alone. however in those cases, echo tended to prefer something a little dark and stormy. "you're welcome..." she spoke aloud for the first time. there was something pleasant about this man that echo couldn't quite place her finger on, something unconventionally patient. he stood out amongst the leering patrons. "..tariq." echo gestured with a nod of her chin back at the stage. "not watching?"

a flicker of a smirk appeared to tug on the corner of tariq's lips as he watched her fill the glass with water. he nodded his head as she sat the glass down. "touché." he had asked for her favorite and that was what he had gotten. he picked up the glass, using his finger to push the straw to the side before taking a large drink. he set the half-empty glass back onto the napkin, before meeting her eyes again. "i'm tariq." he said in way of an introduction, though refrained from asking her name, if she wanted him to know, she would tell him. "thank you for the water, by the way." tariq hadn't come here to drink, anyways, so he intended to stick with what she had given him.

[dissonantdaydream]

echo recognized the watchful eyes of the man who took a seat across the bar from her. he had been in the crowd several times when she was on stage. it didn't look like he interacted much, but sank to the back of the room and disappeared quickly. at first she was worried that he remembered her from a poster or something. although if he did, he was keeping the information to himself. echo grabbed a glass, scooped ice into it, stuck it beneath the tap, and filled it with water. she put a straw into the side and set another embossed bar napkin down before sliding the drink over to him. then waited to see how he would react.

tariq hadn't been a frequent visitor of the hex girls club until recently. he had only been there a handful of times since coming to town, always because someone had dragged him in there. it wasn't that he thought there was anything wrong with the club, its patrons, or performers, simply that it wasn't his scene. well, that was until a couple of months ago when he had seen a dark haired woman with big, dark brown eyes on stage. he had watched her from afar, admiring her from a distance. he found himself drawn to come back more and more, leaving shortly after he dances ended or not even bothering sitting down if she wasn't there. he had almost made a quick departure tonight, before he caught her eyes at the bar. he made his way through the crowd and took a seat on one of the barstools as he patiently waited for a couple of obnoxious men to finish telling her about things she didn't seem the least bit interested in. when she had arrived to him, he tilted his head to the side. "what's your favorite drink? i'll have one of those."

[dissonantdaydream]

echo nodded. she agreed to swap shifts with one of her coworkers whose daughter had a ballet recital tonight which meant her day was free. so there should be no problem with spending said day out on the water. echo used a finger to tap the bell again and pointed to the hand-written sign above it that read 'ring for help'. maven was perhaps the best at understanding her silences. then again, her brother was the only one with first hand experience of their father; of all the things echo would not say. she set a small handful of washed and ironed one-dollar bills on the counter and signed the word for 'wax' at him.

who: echo / @dissonantdaydream where: cortés cove

"just a moment, i'll be right out!" maven's voice carried through the store as the bell on the counter rang out. it was just him and a couple of workers that he had hired, meaning normally they were working shifts by themselves. he was busy waxing the side of a kayak when he had heard the sound. "how can i hel-" the question died on his lips as he made his way out from the back and saw his sister standing out the counter. a grin took over his features, "wasn't expecting to see you til dinner. everything alright?"