bennieperez

[bennieperez]

Bennie's head flew back in a raucous laugh, and shook her head, even though she was absolutely correct. Truthfully, most of Bennie's clean laundry was currently in baskets that she'll definitely get to ... at a later date than today. At her sister's request she can't help but laugh again, "If it's for your health? I appreciate the consent, but I was totally going to be annoying any way," she says, pulling her sister a little tighter.

"And yet I'm sure that if I come to your place, all your underwear will still be unfolded. Never appreciating the big sister's wisdom," she joked. She knew that Bennie actually took account of her every word and would always come to her for advice- and she always tried to be there, even when her own life was a mess. They hadn't had a quiet morning like this in years and Rosa made a mental note not to take it for granted. "Can you please bug me to remember to take all the medicine? You have permission to be as annoying as you want."

[bennieperez]

Bennie curls up on her side so she’s fully facing the man and inches closer for no other reason than to siphon his warmth in the slightly salty air growing cooler more rapidly than usual due to their proximity to the water. The amount of nights shared here between the two of them are innumerable, what felt like the weight of the world back then resting on each of their shoulders in vastly different ways. Bennie hums and thinks for a moment, making a weird looking expression, before giving a half-sided smile. “Really not much, trying to pace myself with all the partying, preparing for real life to return,” she says, “Haven’t baked anything in a few days, so I’ve nearly gone rabid from withdrawals,” she teases, before an enlightened look crosses her face, “Should we go bake cookies?” she asks excitedly.

@bennieperez

Laurie smiled as he watched her lay back against the wood, quickly following suit and leaning back, placing his hands behind his head. It took him straight back to when they were younger, the two often found this spot to hang out in and had watched many starry nights go by together. The fond memory caused his smile to widen before he turned to face Bennie. “Not much I suppose. Like you say, I’ve been busy entertaining my fans. Other than that, just the usual Laurie antics.” He looked back up at the stars, his mind instantly going to think of Asha as he watched the night sky. “What about you? Catch me up on the life of Bennie Perez.”

[bennieperez]

Bennie's jaw drops in a playful way and brushes the girl's cheek with the back of her hand, "T'sss," she teases, imitating the sound of a hot surface, "What's got you pink?" she asks, once again, completely unwavering in her questioning. At her musings, though, Bennie does put her mind to it for a moment before saying, "How about dark-chocolate-dipped-something?" she suggests rather unhelpfully.

a flush of colour rushes to aylin's cheeks as she nods, looking anywhere but at bennie as she nervously fiddles with the length of a strand of her hair. "he likes dark chocolate, if i'm... remembering correctly. so truffles would be nice, i think. or something with a bit of a crunch to it?" she suggests.

"oh but, something i can pack up and not worry about after dropping it off... something that won't melt so easily, i think."

[bennieperez]

Bennie’s heart felt as though it was beating so fast and hard on her chest, she worried for half a second that Asha could hear it. The most exhilarated giggle passed Bennie’s lips before she rises to clasp her hand around her companion’s, and trekked off to find her victim. Bennie’s spine felt electric with excitement as her eyes scanned the numerous tethers and cleats, looking for an easy target. 

After only searching for a few short minutes, she came upon a small, but not too small, glossy white boat with a loosely tied lasso around the dock. Bennie squeezes Asha’s hand to get her attention, and starts to pull over in that direction. The vessel is uncovered, its steps to enter the boat half heartedly discarded to the side of the dock, and like an angel shining light on her devilish intentions, a gaudy looking keychain sits unassumingly in the cupholder that took Bennie craning her neck to take an invasive look into the boat to spot. “Well look what we have here,” she says, pointing a finger at the keys.

Cheesing like a cheshire cat, Asha watched the shock ripple though Bennie’s expression from her agreeance. Like her counterpart, Asha looked around again, checking the area for literally anybody who could try and stop them. They were far from any other life forms outside of the sea variety as far as she could tell. Sitting up a little straighter with Bennie, Asha was still grinning. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Bennie so tell her that she was joking but it never came. What did made Asha snort and she covered her mouth with her hand. “I might know how to drive a speed boat,” she said with a confident puff of her chest.

Moving to stand up, Asha held her hand out to Bennie. “You coming?” she asked with a mischievous sparkling behind her eyes. “someone’s got to keep their keys on the boat - it’s just the sailor way.” Thought of possibly getting caught and thrown into jail for the night did cross her mind but it wasn’t a jarring enough possibility to stop her from attempting some crazy shit.

[bennieperez]

Bennie leaned in to give Lou a quick but firm side-hug, that conveyed as much gratitude she could muster. Having someone like Louise around made Bennie feel protected in a way that she hadn't really felt before. This carefree feeling that she could be, and act however she wanted and Louise would be there with their infectious smile and twinkling laugh to match. "Or I could pay you in baked goods, and you can help me get better at self defense, and we both can punch losers," Bennie suggests playfully.

"when you have two older brothers and you grow up in gross bars, you have to learn how to defend yourself." they said with a chuckle, tucking strands of blonde behind her ear, "and i will never say no to a free drink. and you don't need to pay me to come to your defense. if anyone's giving you shit, just call me up." lou promised. and if it was anything they couldn't handle, they just hit up felix and tristan.

[bennieperez]

Bennie turns her body to face them as they speak, nodding along with their words, “That does suck,” she agrees emphatically. There had been way too many nights in Bennie’s life that she didn’t remember, and way too many people in this town have seen a side of her that she hasn’t seen (nor wanted to) herself. It’s like dumbbells sitting on Bennie’s shoulders when she thinks about how misguided she got on the road to figuring her shit out. At the time she deluded herself it was ‘what your 20′s are for,’ but Bennie realizes now she went about two football fields past that. “But the worst,” she continues, shaking her thoughts, “is being so gone you get woken up by a kind old lady that just wants her morning paper as you’re laying in her driveway, I think.” she concludes. ”I’m sure she remembers that,” Bennie jokes with a hollow laugh, as she takes a long drag of her cigarette. 

he lets out a hum of recognition. “oof. been there. i get it. ” the last thing felix enjoyed was being not sober in the midst of a large crowd. it was one way to totally freak him out and make his skin crawl. “ at least most people are at your same level. the worst is bein’ in a crowd and most people are sober and you’re just… gone. wake up the next mornin’ rememberin’ all the stupid shit you said and then you know everyone else remembers it too. fuckthat. ”

[bennieperez]

Bennie unabashedly threw her head laughing at that one, covering her mouth with her hand and shaking her head as she turns back to look at the man. At his proposition, she nods, the same fond amusement on her face. At that, Bennie gently pushes him off so his feet return to the ground, using his shoulder to assist herself down much more gracefully. "Thanks," she chirps, brushing the imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Where to now, cap'n?" she asks, with a deft salute.

he’d missed bennie, and he’d missed this. the idiocy shared between the two with ease just because it made them giggle. “nah, there’s plenty of us. we’re just in hiding. incognito, if you will. can’t let anyone know what we’re up to or gen z will come for our knee caps and i gotta run, dammit. makes me feel alive,” milo grins.

“eh, shall we get out of here?”

[bennieperez]

Bennie heartily agrees, and feeds the girl a bite of the cookie she had grabbed after she finishes speaking. "A friend?" she pries unabashedly, "A bitter friend?" Bennie adds with a raised eyebrow accompanied by shoving the remaining piece of cookie in her own mouth. "A bitter friend that deserves a nice treat hm?" she surmises playfully. "You're so lovely, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do for a friend. Maybe some truffles?" she suggests.

it took her back to the days when she’d invite bennie over after classes to bake the evening away when an exam had gotten too far into their heads or the latest drama of the school made her stomach turn. to be able to sit back and watch her now, sampling each of the things she could only dream of making back then made aylin’s gaze soften and her smile gentle. her biggest supporter, she thinks, no matter the dish or dessert. 

“really? i like those too, actually!” aylin hums, coming to stand beside the other woman. “but i’m also leaning towards the orange chocolate, too…”

“hmm…i… i want to make something with dark chocolate… for a friend, you see. he’s… bitter, but, i want to make him something nice. i think he deserves that.”

[bennieperez]

“Who cares if people hate me if I have the best view?” Bennie retorts with a whimsical shrug, “And you should definitely wear high heels. If you mastered them, you’d be unstoppable, I think,” she continues, nodding along with her words. “You’d be like, the tallest person wherever you went... Not that you probably aren’t already doing that most of the time already,” she rambles off, but returns her gaze to Minho abruptly, “But heels would solidify that, and make you seem powerful,” she concludes with a playful wink.

“I’d even do it for free.” Minho put his hand over his heart in promise and bowed his head. “I think so, I’ll check.” He pulled out his phone and quickly typed the conversion into google. This interaction included squinting at his phone for a long moment. “That doesn’t seem right, but it says I’m just over six foot three and a half. That feels too tall, but it is what it is.” Minho put his phone back in his pocket and giggled at her request. “If you want people to hate you, absolutely, and no, I’ve never worn high heels. Should I?”

[bennieperez]

Bennie hardly ever smokes, solely a social thing and only after she’s had something to drink. But it was a nice relief, and something she enjoyed indulging on if for no other reason than knowing it drives her mother up the wall. The quiet cooling air around them, just the sounds of their gentle inhalations between them, added to the calm Bennie was already feeling. “Hiding, for now. Enjoyed them a little too much, I think. Not fond of being drunk in large crowds, had a few too many, and needed a little break...” she answers trailing off. Her voice is soft and lilting, the slightest touch of embarrassment coloring her tone. 

a tiny smile pulled at the corner of their lips, cigarette still in their mouth. they nodded slowly before reaching into their pocket and fishing out their beaten up back of cigarettes. with one hand they passed it over to her, before returning their hand back into their pocket to search for their lighter and doing the same.

“ what’s new with you ? ” they asked after a few silent drags from their cigarette, turning to face her again. “ are you enjoying the festivities or hiding from them too ? ”

[bennieperez]

Bennie splashes her feet idly in the water, swirling them around until the water gets displaced up to her ankles. It’s a fair assessment; Bennie’s younger than the man, and even she feels the effects of the days of partying gone on in the small town, saturating her bones in a new unexpected way. “Hey, just old enough I’d say. Keep trucking for a few more years, you gotta party ‘til you retire, I think,” she teases and warms up to the spot he had taken up on the dock. At his returning question, her face pulls into a lopsided smile as she shrugs answerless for a moment. After deliberating, she tells him, “Not too dissimilar. Though mostly escaping the fact that my mom has sent my family out like little worker bees to talk about Stitches, what with wedding season coming up,” she gripes, tone turning annoyed as she rambles. Shaking herself from the thoughts running loose past her tongue, she returns the smile to her face and shrugs again, “Mostly just some peace,” she concludes. 

There is only one word that could possibly describe how JJ feels as he steps away from the crowd in search of some much-needed quiet: exhausted. After three endless days of partying, and enjoying the music festival, the fourth, and final day of the event finds him winding down in preparation for the work week ahead. While he still buzzing with adrenaline, the fatigue that he has ignored all weekend finally begins to set in, and he finds himself heading towards Oak Castle Harbour. JJ has many memories of sitting by the docks, some good ones, and others not so much. But for now, it happens to be the quietest place in the entire coast. Quiet, but not lonely. “Well, I’m older now, Bennie. I get tired very easily.” JJ remarks in response to the other’s words, and while it sounds like he might be joking, he is clearly not. “I’m starting to think that my partying days are over. I threw my pool party this weekend as my last hurrah, but I think it’s about time that I just accepted my reality.” He admits as he removes his shoes, and crouches down to sit next to her. “What are you doing this far from the crowd?”

[bennieperez]

Bennie can't deny what she was beside herself with amusement at the display, and silently orders the two of them a drink while the bartender himself stands there to witness. When Louise concludes triumphantly, Bennie's jaw is dropped nearly to the floor. "I can't say that I don't love that side of you," she says, and nudges the girl with her shoulder approvingly. "You can't stop me from buying you a drink for that-- hell, could I pay you to be my real bodyguard?" Bennie asks, throwing a look over her shoulder at the group the man that had approached had reentered. They were giving dirty looks this way, but in a fashion Bennie could tell they would look away if Louise flinched in that direction.

they were all too familiar at what it was like to deal with unwanted attention. most of the time coming from possessive men who thought they owned a part of you just because of their attraction. it was precisely why her elder siblings taught her how to defend themself and others. "bodyguard it is." lou rolled up the sleeves to their chiffon blouse, arms crossing over their chest as they matched steps so that they were standing directly in front of the guy, "she's not interested. so fuck off." the dude laughed in her face and put his hands on her shoulders, to try to bypass and beeline toward bennie. lou didn't hesitate to grab the arm furthest to her, twisting it back and pinning him down so that he was bent over, "i said fuck off, yeah?" it wasn't enough to hurt him but definitely enough to take him aback. one of his friends went over to him and she heard her last name being muttered and that was enough to scare him off for real. satisfied, she hopped back to bennie, "next time just say your friends with a mannon and they'll kick his ass. it usually does the trick."

[bennieperez]

Bennie’s smile only spreads further across her face at the confirmation. “Food at the food truck is the most exciting? We really need to go out more often,” Bennie teases playfully as they stroll. The sound of the night settles in around them, crickets chirping, the waves lapping against the boats in the harbor; though the quiet murmur of the crowd that they were slowly getting assimilated to began to drown that out. “Oh I’m great, trying live it up while the fest is around. Been trying out some new recipes, those are fun. The shop is super busy with wedding alterations. Just trying to find ways to let loose,” she rambles, “Such as getting greasy foods and alcohol two days in a row,” she adds. “How’s your week going? Spring is such a lively time,” she asks, musing thoughtfully.

It was quite crowdy and Bella wasn’t really used to it either. She was usually in her work place or with her daughter or with some friends she had in Fairford. She wasn’t really used to big festival like this, but food and music were quite good.

“I don’t see why not! This could be potentially the most exciting thing I did in the last time! How have you been lately?”

[bennieperez]

Bennie practically preens from the praise from her sister, and moves her arm to link both of theirs together as they walked. "You've always been a grumpy old lady," Bennie retorts, "You used to make me fold my underwear," she emphasizes with a roll of her eyes and a warm laugh. The walk in a paceless amble towards their destination, and Bennie takes in the joy of having her sister home. The time they spent together in New York didn't come close to the feeling of home it was having Rosa back in Fairford with her.

Rosa's feelings shifted from confused to startled to thankful when she noticed who the person who had come to her rescue turned out to be. Both because she had avoided the embarrassment of a complete stranger making fun of her cluelessness, as well as because seeing Bennie instantly made her face light up. She hadn't spent that much time with her sister since she moved back, at least not as much as she would have liked, and this suddenly seemed like the perfect chance, even if it was just running errands around the city center. "Your company? Always," she said, holding her close to her side. "As long as you don't make fun of how many meds I have to take. I've turned into a grumpy old lady, Bennie."

[bennieperez]

The comment on heartbreak twisted the ghost of a knife in Bennie’s heart, and she smiled wryly. “Yeah, fish just mate. I don’t think they love. But I bet we miss out on amazing things because we aren’t fish too, y’know? Pro’s are being outweighed here,” Bennie jests playfully. “I think I’d like to be a...” she stops to ponder for a moment, “Definitely a clown fish. You’d be an angel fish of course. Unless you don’t resonate with that, in which case that sucks, since it’s literally your name,” she tells them with dry, but mirthful tone.

bennie was always so nice to be around. she was a breath of fresh air. literally and angel was always grateful to be in her presence. “oh, i will. i will totally pardon you.” they teased, playfully bumping their shoulder into theirs, “this place is kind of a prime opportunity for her. she should try to set up a tent next time. be more official.” at the thought of being fish, they merely just nodded and stared out into the ocean, “suppose everything is easier. i doubt fish have to deal with heartbreak. but then again, fish miss out on a lot of amazing things too.”

[bennieperez]

Bennie ponders and purses her lips thoughtfully, "I mean your secret is safe with me, but is there any particular reason you're keeping your affinity for chocolate under wraps?" she asks with a playful laugh.

Bennie kind of looks around at his question and half heartedly shrugged, "Oh y'know, just perusing the fest before everything gets so crazy. Trying to hit the highlights," she says, gesturing around to the opulently decorated club. "I can only assume you're pretty busy during this season huh?" she returns.

Grey was a bit suspicious about it being only water. He couldn't imagine people drinking water or any kind of juice on this kind of event. Maybe he was wrong, maybe there was still people who didn't like alcohol as much as, well, most of people.

"Strawberry is nice as well. I was always kind of obsessed with chocolate, but don't tell anyone! What are you up to, anyway?"

[bennieperez]

Bennie didn’t step in immediately. She first saw her sister walk by the table she was sitting at, outside of a cafe, and was upset she didn’t notice Rosa in time to say hello-- though the girl did look extremely focused on her phone, so Bennie let her go. It was Rosa’s second time passing her table, still without noticing Bennie there, reading the comic strips out of the newspaper, that Bennie got the gist that Rosa was lost, and she had a private giggle to herself that she wouldn’t dream of doing in front of Rosa. Bennie herself had her fair share of having to  re-learn the place that used to be so familiar. The third time the familiar face passes, Bennie was ready for her, already having paid for her wares, and standing as Rosa continues walking, before she stops in front of a flower shop. Bennie follows suit, and at her audible question, she sighs loudly, “I mean, all you had to do was ask,” she says, slinging her arm around her sister jovially, “It moved four blocks down last year,” she said pointing in the direction. “Care for some company?” Bennie adds with a cheesy grin.

starter for: everyone @fairfordstarters location: downtown

If anyone asked Rosa Perez how stubborn she is, she would just say stubborn enough to refuse to use her phone's map, because she was certain she could navigate her way through a town she spent four years in more than a decade ago, based on sheer instinct and memories that she could as well have dreamed of. If she could make it in New York, she should be able to make it in Fairford, damn it.

Still, even she had to admit defeat after twenty minutes of circling the block without having found what she was looking for. But she would never let technology win- she would ask a live human person, the old-fashioned way. "Didn't there use to be a pharmacy around here?" she sighed, standing on the sidewalk in front of a flower shop.