anoetics

[anoetics]

"    you're a grown man. why don't you like cursing? is it, a religious thing? cultural? just impolite? i understand any of those in a personal context, but, in a movie? are you mormon? i've never met a mormon before.   "

jackson wasn't sure of anything she just said to him, the words flowing too fast for him to catch on. "... um, yeah. ask away." hopefully whatever she had to ask wasn't a summary of what she just told him.

[anoetics]

"    oh, don't worry. no one important. i'm like batman. i only kill like, pedophiles and tax collectors.   "

"oh, man. and if i just ate there last night ? which poor soul is sitting in my stomach ? "

[anoetics]

it's earnest in all the right ways and all the wrong ways, the kind that always seems to make the corner of her mouth twitch up and make her wonder if she's laughing at them or with them or both.   "   what kind of things do you like for dinner?   "   she counters, smiling lazily, like it's a negotiation and not an invitation. she likes to be challenging more than she likes a challenge. 

Jack does his best to mask his dismay, though there's still an unbecoming pout to his mouth, all shrivelled up like he's in a kid in a mood about it. It's only that he's never heard brunch being described that way. He goes out to brunch with Emma on the weekends all the time. There is a moment where he thinks she might just not be interested so he mentally notes that if she rebuffs him again, she'll stop for real. But there's nothing wrong with a little persistence. "Oh I bet. Thrifting's getting really trendy, or so I've read. Especially with the young people. Not that we're young, but you know what I mean!" Jack feels especially old when a gaggle of teenagers come into the cafe with their hyper-specific orders. "What time do you get off? I could be convinced to do dinner."

[anoetics]

she's not heartless:   the earnestness of the response is at least a little charming, if not a little optimistic in a pathetic sort of way, at least in her cynic's mind. wanting to be more for someone almostneverworked out    —   but she decides, in this moment, for once, to not be a bitch. she nods understandingly, and takes a sip of her drink, deciding a breezy move-along rather than full-throated support is less embarrassing, more true to her feelings, and probably most importantly, sympathetic to the fact that lou looks as if he's seen a ghost. the crux of it all is she wants sawyer happy.   "   you guys know what you're gonna order?   "

not that lou had been the one in need of growing. sawyer had been the immature one: stuck in the past, making one poor decision after the other. and it's a miracle he gave her a second chance. all things that would take the heat off lou. all things she could never tell her sister. it's an egotism that brings forth a gnawing guilt, still sawyer cannot bring herself to offer up the truth. she wonders what lou thinks of her for it. reaching beneath the table, she offers fingers intertwined, and above, a combative attitude for her sister.

  〝 you sound like a cop. 〞 

[anoetics]

"    if you... want me to... don't...   be a freaking...   public nuisance!   "   through gritted teeth, she sounds shrill even to her own ear as they tug back and forth. athleticism aside, lenora was ordinarily prim and proper, and no amount of pilates classes & years-abandoned sports could make up for the fact that she simply didn't have the right instincts. she winces and falls back from mj, her grip loosening   —   instincts be damned, she had the crazy   —   and she tightens it again,body-checkingthe much smaller woman with her hip as hard as she could, praying   (ha!)   the lit joint falls to the ground. 

she didn't actually think lenora would do it. and while mj stumbles off the swing, the joint stays pinched between fingers. christians sucked, and girls from high school even more so. this event alone justifying all those sundays slept in and every single instance of playing hooky. but she didn't want vindication. she wanted a freaking smoke.   〝 let go of me, you psycho! 〞 a tug of her arm, she kicks lenora's shin.

[anoetics]

"   not having? i'm at least a stone's throw from menopausal, thanks. and adoption is a thing, double thanks. and no, you're in no position to have kids right now. yes, you'd be a good mom someday. can i have a bite of your pancakes?   "

  〝 do you ever regret not havin' kids? 〞   @anoetics

[anoetics]

"   you're imagining an idealized smurf-life here. and a pornographic one. i'd be fucking miserable if i was smurfette. no one but men around, and also, your dad is there. your spiritual dad, and your real dad. and he hates you. and his name is gargamel. i mean, she doesn't even get a name. brainy smurf. dopey, or whatever the fuck. she's just...   smurf girl. hey, we should start a protest or something. maybe get some signatures.   "

  〝 then what's the point of her? i thought it was a harem type situation. i always kinda respected that. 〞  

[anoetics]

"   isn't that a little men are from mars of you?   "   a nudge back, more in jest, but with a smile.   "   i'm always nice to you. though i think 'really, very' could offset the sometimes. makes it sound like sometimes i just... above and beyond.   "

〝 sometimes i think you're from another planet  . 〞   an affectionate nudge  .   〝 and sometimes i think you're really very nice  . 〞  

[anoetics]

"   didn't anyone ever teach you that lying is unbecoming? or, i don't know, a sin?   "   a square of the jaw, frustration blooming in her chest. of course, honesty was never at the top of lenora's list of virtues. her list of virtues, despite the efforts she made to appear otherwise, were rather short. obedience didn't feel like a particularly glamorous skillset. but still: acting as the enforcing arm of rules & order, at least, is a good enough distraction from the thrumming of things very unruly and unordered in her head. she reaches out an arm, grabbing mj's wrist roughly.

so much for a moment alone. one that she'd gone out of her way to enjoy, too. away from the trailer park, away from people as a whole. her next drag is prolonged, intentional and the exhale is no different. mj determined to aggravate if she is to be bothered.

  〝 father pete touched me in my no-no place. 〞 obscene allegations are delivered deadpan, little indication of words spoken in jest—but less so in truth. 〝 dare you to make me. 〞

[anoetics]

a tilt of the head, a careful step forward, and she eyes the shelf, and then faith. lenora smiles primly.   "   are you going to ask nicely?   "

faith stretches  ,   reaches upwards  .   and all her weight presses into the very tips of her toes  .  still not tall enough  .   a frustrated huff  ,   dark eyes turn on lenora sharply  .   〝 aren't you going to be neighbourly  ? 〞

[anoetics]

"   a cuss—   you know, many people think art is supposed to be provocative. not always comfortable. and even if you disagree, you're in good company with the MPAA. who actually warns you about stuff like that. so just for future reference:   an R-rating is probably not the best for someone who gets a little too itchy around F-bombs   ...   can i ask you something? strictly out of interest. and just for full disclosure, you're not getting a refund.   "

"it's an absolute cuss show, not something enjoyable. i thought i'd stick it out, but it just got worse and worse. i don't even want to see the end, i just want my money back."

[anoetics]

"   well, just because you seem so trustworthy a stranger, i have an arrangement with one of the frycooks at judith's. do not get the burger there. or the meatloaf.   "

"where'd ya hide them ? " he looks at her now with curiousity. the sarcasm is clear, but this girl is funny. funny in a way he wouldn't see back home. "legally, i can't say anything to cops, y'know ? "

[anoetics]

"   doesn't really matter if none of the other smurfs are gonna care about whether she's a hottie with a blue body or not. they don't even have dicks. donnie darko taught me that.   "

  〝 smurfette was a stupid, shallow smurf, who only had her looks. 〞  @anoetics

[anoetics]

"   do you legally have to say that? professionally? also, do you legally-professionally have to take me in your little truck over there?   "   sienna hates fuss, sienna hates losing money, sienna hates annoyances, sienna hates being embarrassed   —   not that she was capable of the feeling, of course, but the optics of the scenario lended itself to the sensation. she figures she might actually be embarrassed for once if she goes home and dies of a brain-bleed.   "   i resent the implication my family would be litigious in the event you were loosely to blame for my death, by the way. they'd definitely rather have you come to thanksgiving dinner than me.   "   that part was probably actually true.

〝   unfortunately  ,   head injuries kind of get you a one way trip to the er  .   better safe than sorry  .   and i'd rather not get sued if you have a bleed on the brain and i let you go home  .   〞    zach could do this in his sleep  ,   minor road traffic accidents were a walk in the park  :   no bullets  ,   no missing limbs  —   usually  .   then again  ,   maybe bullets and missing limbs were a walk in the park compared to sienna kinney  .   〝   look  ,   i can't make you go  .   but i am good at my job  ,   and in my professional opinion  :   i'd like you to get checked out  .   〞

[anoetics]

her eyebrows raise, and sienna's amusement lowers, the potential for a banter shriveling up and dying on the floor in front of her when he seemingly takes it as full-throttle genuine, which strikes sienna immediately as his... entire vibe. she shrugs half-heartedly.   "   brunch? i'm neither twenty-two and recently engaged nor forty-five and recently divorced, so. no. also, generally i'm around here in the mornings.   "   she gestures around to the thrift store, in all its glory. there's one other patron at the moment, an eighty-something year old woman across the store and out of earshot. she flicks through a rack of blouses.   "   gets really crazy in here.   "

Jack waits with baited breath. She's really considering her answer which makes her think it must be good. Maybe it's coffee, now that would be soulmate material. He's hyping her potential answer up so much that when he does hear her answer he's a little surprised, brows shooting up — mouth parted into an 'O' shape, mostly because he has hardly anything to contribute about it, but that's okay, since, like, he wouldn't want to be a mansplainer anyways. "I've got all day." And the set-up is clear as day, he's gotta at least try. "How about you tell me about them over brunch?"

[anoetics]

lenora bites the inside of her cheek, eyes narrowing. she'd been looking to frustrate, to control, to chastise, and she'd gotten what she wanted, but it wasn't as satisfying as she would have liked it to be. but there were rules, and they were followed for a reason  —  and lenora had very little patience for people that always seemed to be able to break what she couldn't.   "   i don't know, what traumas in your life made you a bummy pothead? just put it out.   "

she keeps the joint lit and between two fingers, refusing to put out anything with more than another drag in it. not the most perceptive, still mj knows lenora to be full of it. just another zealot bitch from her past in the church, throwing a fit simply because she can.

  〝 who died and made you narc of the beach? 〞 

[anoetics]

she looks back and forth between them, considering. it wasn't that she hated him. in fact, considering sawyer's tastes, lou holstad was a rather tame choice. she just always wanted more for sawyer:  more than being relegated to a romance with some nobody from their hometown, when she was as fantastic as she was, as accomplished as she was. but all things considered: sienna was a nobody from their hometown, too. she almost shudders at the thought of the kinship. regardless, it was hard not to be protective anyway.   "   can you give an elaboration on growth? maybe, like, 3-5 bullet points? with examples? i like examples.   "

hindsight is twenty - twenty, and with her impaired vision, the fact hits sawyer right about now. not only is her sister insufferable, but it also occurs to her that they never talked about it—the big, inflammatory why of their break-up. sawyer hadn't told anyone beside teddy, and while she'd asked lou to keep it from his dad, she hadn't exactly slapped a gag order on him. sienna finding out … even after five years, it's not ideal.

  〝 oh my god. 〞  exasperated mere minutes into it, she directs her frustrations towards the oldest, tone reprimanding.   〝 vengeful, really? 〞