aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

It’s a good question, one he isn’t ever sure he had one singular answer for. “Is any sort of soup or pasta dish a cop out? Those are usually really easy to do, but I made a cajun seafood pasta once. If you like shrimp and spice, that’s a good one.” It isn’t commonly made, not like the grilled cheeses he makes for him and Nikki.

“Not sure if it’s a cop out, but I really have a good time with having to get creative with cheap ingredients.”

Ramen from those dollar packs or taking boxed mac’n’cheese and making it more than that nonsense, or adding flavor to chicken nuggets. None of it compares to soups or pastas, though.

“That’s alright. I’m not great at baking either, I don’t like the exactness of measurements. It throws a tantrum if I add half a teaspoon too much of something or other.”

@lucydriscoll

"What's your favourite dish to cook?" Lucy asks, whole heartedly. She loved learning interesting tidbits about the lives of her friends.

"I don't know, I guess that talent gene missed me. I like to bake every now and then, but it doesn't taste anything close to what mum and Liza can come up with." She shrugs, however Lucy doesn't feel despondent about that fact.

— @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

"We already had this conversation though," Aiden argues back. "But sure, put a pin in it."

Aiden gladly takes that out, even though it is his fault for getting to this point in the change of topics. It doesn't help he digs his heels in when he is insistent about something, but he easily relents and throws the towel in for this one.

"Don't apologize. It's not that big of a deal." Aiden shrugs and waits for the bartender to return with the spoon Ramsey requested. "No, but it keeps the coins out of the glass. But go ahead, get your spoon, and we'll figure it out."

@missxrivera

Ramsey glanced back at Aiden and shook her head. The topic of porn was so random but she knew they both sort of walked into that conversation on accident. “I’m not having this conversation with you “ she laughed glancing back to him. Mostly because it was something she really didn’t watch. Her expression shifted again as she looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. “ I was trying to be clinical versus saying the word dick” Ramsey added shaking her head. “ I’m sorry. the whole game sort of lead to this topic. It did sound gross in theory “

“ I feel like you’re being dramatic “ Ramsey replied shaking her head. It wasn’t her favorite topic at all but it didn’t ruin her night. “ that sort of defeats the purpose of me getting a spoon. Unless pushpenny needs one? “ @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

👥 + silas!

“I never said this out loud to anyone, because it wouldn’t have been right, but at the time he disappeared because he got charged and sentenced, I was mad at him. I guess because after losing my dad, then Phoebe, and it was him. Might’ve been why I never visited or wrote to him, which looking back, it was better I didn’t.

He didn’t need that while locked up. I also couldn't be mad at someone for the law catching up to them when I did the same things. Pot calling the kettle black and all that.

I got over it, doesn't bother me any now."

@silascody

[aiden-stevens]

👥 + mack!

“Don’t tell him this, but I sorta look forward to bleaching his hair. It’s more fun than I ever expected it to be, and he can hold and pass a spliff while I’m doing it. If it gives him something to be happy over, then yeah, sure. I can also trust him to play a good playlist while I do it.”

@mackmontgomery

[aiden-stevens]

I. What makes them feel safe? J. What is their greatest weakness? K. What is their greatest strength?

- what makes them feel safe?

“I’d say now it would be knowing the people I have in my life are here for the long haul. For better or for worse, because I know I’m not much to write home about. I’m a loyal friend, but sometimes I know I’m more trouble than I’m worth, but they stand by me. It’s actually given me reason to think beyond tomorrow. I don’t mind thinking about the future now knowing they’re there for it.”

- what is their greatest weakness?

“That’s a toss up between my temper and my lack of brain-to-mouth filter."

- what is their greatest strength?

“Not giving a fuck about how I’m perceived. Means everything I say and do is intentional, which is a whole lot more than can be said about west coast Barbies and Kens. They’re just as fake as plastic.”

[aiden-stevens]

“I couldn’t really ask around about it, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I got kicked out and my mom didn’t give me much time to get my stuff together or to find a place or even plead my case, but it’s whatever.” 

The threat he never took seriously put him in one of the better situations he could ask for. Really, with everyone he liked right there, loneliness didn’t loom overhead as much as it used to. He has also become more of a homebody, but that might have more to do with his money being siphoned into rent checks and utilities.

“Nora?"

Aiden squints in thought and says, "If you mean by me sharing space, then yeah, and that's been going well, but we both get up to the same shit." That same shit that landed them in the back of a police car only months prior, and that same shit they are both trying to avoid getting into again.

"I don't ever count, but enough that you have your work cut out for you."

@phoebekeller

Phoebe can't help but chuckle as he starts complaining about the rent. She's been paying it for so long that it barely bothers her anymore. Sure, it eats up most of her income, but that's just how it is. It's how it's been since she turned eighteen and aged out of the system. "Yeah, I could've told you that before you made the big move. At least having a roommate helps. I tried doing it on my own for a while... Now, that was shitty."

Despite how unlikely it seems that Aiden is living with someone else and enjoying it, she's happy that he is. Phoebe would be lying if she said she didn't worry about him isolating himself. "I'm glad. Maybe she'll push you out of your comfort zone a little."

She nods, taking the Sprite from him and taking a big gulp. It does what it's supposed to and gets rid of the cheap vodka taste. "Oh, really? How many have you had?" @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

"The people who talk less always have more. Or almost always," Aiden remarks. He's watched his mother make moves in the background, between taking all she could from his father, and working to get a leg up in her career, but she is the only example he can fall back on.

"Money doesn't mean much after you're dead, though. So I don't get why any of those dumb fucks would rather struggle while alive just to have something that looks nice."

@shynenotshane

"um, yes, i suppose i am," shyne said with a slight chuckle following. taking a sip of his drink, being only his second currently, unsure how many he'd have really, but he'd probably have a friend or uber or something take him home regardless. "i don't think you're wrong about that. i believe it's a lot of people want to be rich and want the most talked about cars and such and don't realize how pricey it can all really be."

[aiden-stevens]

"Are you really going to pick a fight with me right now?" he sighs, craning his head back against the book shelf to glare at the ceiling. "This is supposed to be a sanctuary from all other bullshit, so let's call a truce before we get into it over nothing."

Aiden can't risk his social battery running out again over so little. To make a point, he turns on the flashlight on his phone and points it at Phoebe for a beat to say, "Not so dark anymore." Though he is careful to not shine it in her eyes so she can't nag at him for that before he points it at the wall to keep some illumination.

Then, he does fall quiet. That discomfort he's felt all evening is put into words out loud. The things he told Mack are coming out of someone else's mouth. Aiden frowns, and he wonders if that's the issue: stagnancy.

"You have a job," he replies. "You have a job and you support yourself. And some people have all the balls in their court and still have next to nothing, but you sorta had cards stacked against you and you're doing alright, aren't you? You shouldn't worry about any of the shit people might think, especially most of our old fuckhead classmates."

That for him isn't the problem, and he does slowly admit, "Feeling stuck sucks. I get it. And I don't like it either."

@phoebekeller

"Excuse you, it's not my fault you're hiding out in the dark," Phoebe argues, taken right back to when they had both hung out in the very spot back in school. Oftentimes, these moments were spent bickering.

"Yeah, the playlist sucks. It's kind of what I expected, though. They didn't have any taste back in high school, they don't have any now," she points out with a chuckle. She accepts his cup, taking a sip before passing it back his way. "The people are getting to me more than the tunes, honestly. It kind of sucks telling them I have the same job I did back then. It's embarrassing. I have nothing to show for all the years that have passed." @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

Aiden makes a sound to acknowledge Spencer, just to let him know he's listening. There's no use in trying to pry further. "I don't want to hurt people," he does clarify. "Some people just deserve it when they're being fuckheads."

His idea of what falls into the parameters of 'fuckheads' might greatly differ from the next person. He isn't going to tell Spencer is can just be an odd look when Aiden's in a piss poor mood.

"Easy? I think Tony Hawk wouldn't say it's easy. Unless you're saying recruiters pop by the skate park and just pick a kid that looks like Justin Bieber just to cover all demographics." He pauses and squints, giving Spencer a once over. "Except you don't have that old Bieber hair, but skaters in the 2000s had that swoop."

@spencer-sarmiento

Spencer glanced back at Aiden a little confused; but he didn’t really understand what he was getting at. Sure he’d been in fights but he didn’t want to get into them. He was more defensive versus offensive. Never the type to start something or throw the first punch. “ not without prompting. I don’t walk around finding an excuse to hurt someone. Not my vibe “

“It’s just making sure you’re not a total jerk and all that. Like be a good dude and it’s pretty easy to have a career in this field. I gotta enjoy it now while I can cause I don’t think my bones wanna be doing half pipes when I’m 40” he added before laughing a bit at the chicken suit conversation “ oh man must be me then. You never know when you need it “ @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

Happy National Friends Day!

— @mackmontgomery @ambivalenceshefelt @noralevin

[aiden-stevens]

Aiden let's her in close proximity, Nora being one of a small handful allowed at least while he is inebriated, watching with entertainment at the attempted high five. He barely moves a muscle to help her in it. "Sooo gross, actually," he murmurs with a light laugh and snort at the idea of nostalgia.

"Y'know what's not gross though? And I say it is all the time, sober me, who kills cute things, but Mack and Cricket look really happy, don't they? I like that. I like seeing them like that."

It very well might be the only time Aiden admits it out loud, and to Nora who he has no doubt won't go around spilling what a- "Fuck, I guess I am a softie." At least Nikki isn't around to point it out. Nostalgic might not be the word he would look for, though, as he sees those familiar faces around her mingling with all the new ones.

Aiden frowns in thought, peering down the hallway in the slouch he started to make Nora's hold around his neck easier to hold.

"Everything that was fun about it wasn't high school related." He stops searching for nothing to meet her eyes. "Getting high or drunk during lunch, or skipping or fucking with peoples' things."

He supposes there are good memories mixed in there, through all the mayhem caused and consequences they dodged. As much as they could, until they were caught, and then Nora's dad always got them out of trouble.

Aiden raises his brows in interest at her proposition, and he shouldn't. He told Mack he wasn't looking for trouble, not as he's been keeping his nose fairly clean. But there's that familiar mischief in Nora's eyes.

"If it's just sneaking around, then sure, but we can't break or vandalize anything, I your dad probably wouldn't bail me out."

@noralevin

"Okay, clingy," Nora scoffed, reaching out to push Aiden right back, but the accusation was undermined when her arm immediately slung itself around his neck and she went up on her tiptoes to hold the position.

"Oh, dude, that's sick. I am...also drunk." She grinned and grabbed his hand to force him into a limp high five. "And I haven't actually be hanging with anyone, really. I got weirdly nostalgic for this place, which, gross, I know. Spent most of my night walking around and thinking about the shit we used to get up to. High school was kinda fun, huh?"

Now that she was over a decade out, the old remnants of teenage angst had mostly faded into (at least mostly) fond memory, and their high school years had taken on a slightly golden sheen of sentimentality.

It was that same sentimentality that had her eyes lighting up a little. "Look, I know we're being adults or whatever — and we've literally been doing such a good job — but... we could do something kinda dumb. For old times' sake. I'd bet you any amount of money they haven't fixed those cameras up on the roof."

@aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

"Wrong on the voluntarily part. Nikki twisted my arm."

Though Aiden knows she would argue it didn't take too much twisting to convince him. Nikki had that convincing charm about her. Aiden also knows she can be very persistent.

"Not you, thinking about if you date wanted to keep you at his side. Some people are clingy, but that wouldn't work for you if he was, would it?" he drawls, bored sounding, and returning his attention to the smiley face he is scratching into the wall. "I been wandering. Checking in on things, seeing what's still here and what isn't."

He blows air to get rid of the residue, and there it is, white etched against brick red, and Aiden steps back. "Mine and Phoebe's hiding spot in the library is, and so are the cigarette burns in the rug. Don't know if anyone else uses it to skip now, but I hid out for a bit. And I don't see my dickhead math teacher's name on the faculty list. So maybe she was transferred or quit."

@priyaxdesai

"I'm looking at you voluntarily setting foot in this place again." Priya shot back immediately, a smirk firmly plastered on her lips as she walked towards her friend. Aiden's surly attitude never fazed her a bit--in fact, she took great joy in riling him up whenever she could.

"I do, but I'm also not so controlling that I need to have my date attached to my side the entire evening, so I decided to just take a little walk Maybe reminisce a bit?" She told him easily, looking down the hallway before she looked back to him- and what he was doing. "And it's going alright, yeah. How about you? Other than apparent delinquency."

[aiden-stevens]

"I don't think Lucy dances," Aiden interjects, his only attempt to try and derail Nikki's very solid point. Is he that much of a pushover? He definitely isn't a softie.

... is he? No. Definitely not.

"Besides, I gave Cricket a dance at her birthday, so she doesn't get a second one. Only you." He gets caught up dancing at these things more than he likes to admit, he even recalls taking Sage out onto the dance floor two New Years ago. Aiden needs to learn how to say 'no' so he doesn't actually become this Benedict Bridgerton person.

But Nikki is right about one thing, and it is that her date Alfie is a nice, sweet guy. Safe to say, Aiden gets it, and that protective flare in him died down the more he got to talk to him.

"I'd just run, really. Far and fast, and you'd never catch me, because that's better than being gawked at for playing dead in the middle of the floor." It also avoids the risk of being stepped on. "One," Aiden reminds her, trekking after with less resistance.

@ambivalenceshefelt

Nikki raised an eyebrow, already grinning. "You say one, but we both know you're a softie so..one dance with me, one with Phoebe, one with Lucy, definitely one with Cricket..." Nikki listed "Wow, Benedict Bridgerton, your dance card is full already." She pulled him toward the dance floor, "Also, my date definitely won't mind cause he's an absolute sweetheart, thank you very much." Which was true, Alfie was the sweetest, he wouldn't mind letting her dance with Aiden.

Then, as the intro to a very non-Lifehouse, non-Goo Goo Dolls song started up, she shot him a smug smile. "Relax." she drew it out "I know your taste. I wouldn't ruin our one" she said pointedly "dance of the night on Iris..unless I wanted to see you physically drop to the floor and pretend you're dead." || @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

It's definitely something he's getting used to, but it doesn't make it hard to sleep. It's not as suffocating as the silence of his mother's mansion. "Rent sucks, by the way. I know no one likes it, but it really sucks, and I didn't realize how much of my paychecks it would eat." It was the harsh reality he was hit with when he saw his savings starting to deplete.

The savings built on all the allowances Anastasia threw his way for not being around...

"Company is nice when you like the company too. I wouldn't live with many people, because I'd probably crash out at some point, but not with Nora." He'd consider Mack, too, because that would an endless party. Nikki would be fine most days until she picks up a knife, then Aiden might just end up stressed out more often than not.

Phoebe's twisted expression prompts a snort from Aiden, and he's already searching through the coolers to find a can that he cracks open. "Want this to chase it? It's Sprite. You're gonna need it because you'll need a couple more shots in a bit to catch up."

@phoebekeller

Aiden had a point. He wasn't usually the type to do things he didn't want to do, but that didn't mean he was comfortable at those events either. If he was, he did a damn good job of acting like he wasn't. Phoebe was outgoing and got along with most people, the complete opposite of Aiden. She often wondered how they found their way to each other at all.

"Yeah, that's sort of what happens when you live surrounded by other people. You hear them, you know, living. They probably hear you walking around, too," she says, as if there hadn't been times when she'd cursed her upstairs neighbours for stomping around too loudly. "I have a roommate too, now. Makes the rent a little less painful, and you're right about the company being nice."

She took the shot from him with a smile, downing it quickly. Her nose wrinkles in disgust as she tries not to gag. Not the best vodka. "Thanks, that was disgusting." @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

“Can’t tell me you actually like reading the thesaurus or something.”

He huffs and keeps the comment about The Bible to himself. Someone might be listening, and that’s not an argument he’d spark just for the hell of it. The book Lucy provides works just fine.

“I don’t read books. Besides, what’s anthology even mean? That’s a made up word.” He turns with his arm dangling out the window for the smoke to drift outside. Just as he did when they were kids. “I have some Jack if you want a sip.”

He pulls his cup from the window sill where the whiskey sits within, accompanied by nothing but a melting ice cube. “That’s not weird. Well, unless the date is weird. Who is it?”

@lucydriscoll

"Not possible, there isn't any." Lucy grins up towards the familiar face. She knew he'd stumble upon her at some point. Lucy had hung around with the boy for a while earlier, however finding herself a tad overstimulated from the lights and sounds the blonde had found an empty room just off from the gym to centre herself. She didn't go to her own High School Prom, for many reasons, so it felt strange attending as an adult. But at least she got to wear her pretty pastel yellow dress, even if it clashed a little with the theme. At least now in her twenties there were no bullies that would tease her for reading in the corner.

"Take this." Lucy reaches out to pass a short novel she'd already read this evening. She's not shocked at all it was used to prop up a window. "You should read it some day, it's very good. Anthology Series with a lot of short stories." It was worth a shot.

"I needed a break." She shrugs, "I danced for a bit. Had some champaign that made me red in the face, and the music got a little overwhelming. Also my mum has a date, that was a little weird." "I promise I won't be here all night."

— @aiden-stevens

[aiden-stevens]

Mack's dismissal of Nosfer-whatever the guy said to him immediately settles Aiden down from searching for a reason to set off a verbal flash fire in his defense. He might be Cricket's friend too, but there would be no hesitation to step into hot water there if it was to throw an insult right back. It doesn't mean Aiden doesn't make any sort of face at the word 'drama'.

"Say less," he murmurs back, quick to tote behind Mack. He doesn't even feel bad for interrupting his time with Cricket, as much as Aiden has to say they're gross and gooey being all couply, he doesn't really mean it. He likes to see them happy.

The offer there intrigues him enough. He wonders if there is any sort of trouble he can get into.

"Tempting, but I think I already gave the payback I wanted back in 2014, and it got me expelled. I would've gotten away with it, if not for a snitch that I thought was a friend."

Mack would never, and for a beat, Aiden wonders how different high school would have been if he had Mack here. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten into all the messes he created for himself. Mack's always had his best interest at heart, and that sort of generous compassion might have been something that kept him from veering off track into bouts of self destruction.

Wondering is useless when the past is already written, Aiden reminds himself.

"I know there's more than just my graduating class here, but it feels fucking weird. It's like a reminder we all really don't go anywhere. Even Nora came back. I don't know, was high school a shit show for you?"

It's something Aiden realizes he has regrettably never asked about. He never asks about much.

"Would you have gone to a prom a decade after your last one to see all your old classmates still here?"

@mackmontgomery

Just as he's about to promise Aiden that there's nothing rude or unwanted about his interruption, he's cut off by a drive-by Ziggy Kyeon who was emanating an energy that he could now recognise from encountering it at his or Cricket's when he had shown up for some emergency or another.

( He's not convinced he actually knows what that word means. )

"Inside joke," He says to Aiden as he dismisses it, doing his utmost to see the positive side of things -- it was an improvement compared to that time he had called him New York's Biggest Mistake.

He can tell from how fast Ziggy's talking and how intently Cricket was listening that whatever it was was something he didn't want to hear the ins and outs of first hand on a fun night, he would much prefer the Mack-packaged rundown his girlfriend would give him the next morning.

"Let's get away from all that before we're sucked into the void of whatever drama it is," Mack says lowly as he starts to usher Aiden away with him, unwilling to let the night be a complete waste for his best friend who he doubted even wanted to be there, "You got any fun acts of delayed vengeance you ever dreamed of committing if you were back here that would require a really tall accomplice? I can do all the reaching or be a reaaally good lookout."

@aiden-stevens