hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

[hopexwagner]

She held up her bag and looked at her sister. "Same as you." She said and made her face as she picked up a napkin before putting it in the bag she had. "Uncle Nick roped me into doing this. He was supposed to work with me, but he took off in some boat." She said and looked out over the water. It was ridiculous, honestly. And seeing Verity there, it was more ridiculous than she thought. "You just do this for fun? Got the whole small town princess thing down, huh?" @veritywagner

Whenever Verity was not working, she usually tried to focus her time on the people she cared about. It was why it had only taken a phone call from her uncle Nick, asking if she’d be able to help out cleaning up the lake, she had said yes. She always had a hard time saying no to the man who practically raised her. However, when she had been handed a vest, gloves and a bag and started walking along the shoreline, she felt a drop in her stomach when she yet once again stood face to face with the last person she wanted to run into; her younger sister. At her snark comment, Verity immediately rolled her eyes, before reaching down to grab a beer can from the ground. "Picking up trash, obviously." She told her, before placing the can in her bag. "Why are you here?"

[hopexwagner]

She nodded and looked at Remi, finding it adorable as she explained what happened. "It can be. Doesn't sound like it was too bad, though, and they should've told you before." Hope pointed out. She didn't want the other to blame herself for the situation. "I am." She nodded and stood up a little. "There's a specific detergent I have to by. Though, buying new clothes every day wouldn't be a bad idea. I should've told my parents I needed to do that growing up." She laughed a little before reaching over and taking a pen and and writing her name and number on it before drawing a heart and kissing the napkin, leaving a lip mark on there with her lipstick. She handed it to Remi and smiled. "I gotta go, but you should call me sometime. We need to hang out." She turned to leave before looking back and winking at her. "Bye for now, Rem." @remingtonelliot

END

Working as a barista was no dream job for Remi, but that didn't stop her from trying to put every bit of effort into it. Whether that meant remembering someone's usual order and having it ready for them before they ordered or helping someone find a new favorite, she drew some small sense of satisfaction out of doing a good job. The momentary panic of checking for allergies dissipated, Remi let herself take a step back, letting go of the drink with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I uh - someone the other day had a bad allergic reaction and it's like actually kind of scary," she explained, giving a nod to Hope as an encouragement to take the drink now. "Are you allergic to laundry soap? How do you...wash clothes? Do you just have to buy new clothes every day?"

@hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

[hopexwagner]

"Oh, I know." She smirked at Remi and shrugged. If she was honest, she would walk away and add creamer and sugar in the coffee when the other wasn't looking. It was a weird habit of hers, but it was something she always did. "I'm just curious." She grinned and watched as the other worked and made her a drink before it was pushed towards her and she picked it up. She was about to drink when she jumped at the other's yell and then a laugh escaped Hope. "No, you're good. If it was laundry soap, we may have an issue." @remingtonelliot

Remi winced, not at all having meant to make Hope feel bad about her choice of coffee. "There's like totally nothing wrong with black coffee, for the record," she reassured the other woman with a sheepish smile before her head quirked to the side in thought. "But, trust me, totally way more fun options. Mmm...here, I got you." After a moment of drumming her fingers on the counter, Remi made the decision on a good drink to mix up and set to work on it. "This one is like, not necessarily the most popular, but it's not super sweet, so you might like this one better." Remi finished mixing up the drink, a cinnamon cold brew, before pushing it across the counter. "Maybe this one." She paused for just a moment before her eyes flew open and she reached to grab the drink back, a flare of panic bursting as the memory of the accidental allergic reaction with Gabriel flashed in her brain. "WAIT. Sorry. Wait. You're not allergic to cinnamon right?"

@hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

closed starter for @johnnyxwagner location: his house

Hope barely knew her cousin Johnny. The two had met a few times when she was younger, but then that stopped and since she had moved to Kismet Harbor, she had interacted with him a few times. She had seen his kids a lot more because they would come over to her uncle's place. Hope really wasn't a kid person, so she tried to stir clear of them as much as possible. Today, though, her uncle Nick had to run to the bookshop and asked if she would drop Naomi off at Johnny's. She didn't have time to say no before she was tossed the keys to his usual car that had the car seat in it and he was off in the truck. The three year old stared at her and Hope stared back before she struggled to get her in the thing (which provoked tears) and the whole car ride to Johnny's was just the toddler crying and Hope freaking out. Finally, they got to Johnny's place in Cresthill Meadows and she got the crying child out and she rushed to the door; pushing on the doorbell frantically.

The door opened and she looked at the familiar face and she handed him Naomi. "I don't know what's wrong. I was trying to get her in the seat and she started crying and then wouldn't stop and I don't know how to calm her down."

[hopexwagner]

closed starter for @veritywagner location: lake elred

Hope wasn't the kind of person that liked getting dirty. Sure, she liked long walks, but that was usually down the street and not so much in nature. She was a city girl, after all, and cleaning up the lake was not something she'd do out of her own free will. Her uncle, though, had other ideas and volunteered her to help clean up the lake. He had brought her up there and talked to some guy from fish and game for a moment before he went off in a boat to help and left her with a group of others with trash bags and gloves to pick up garbage from around the area. She scrunched up her nose as she bent down to pick up a chip bag and tossed it in the bag. "Gross." She commented and looked up to see her sister there. "Great. What are you doing here?"

[hopexwagner]

(c)

[hopexwagner]

She smiled at her. "Then as soon as I can, I'll get you a copy." Felicity would be the first she actually told she'd do this with and honestly, it was nice. Right now, the other had no obligation to her to say if the book was good just because they were friends or anything so she could hopefully count on an honest review. "Tell me about it." Hope shook her head. She knew how complicated family could be. "Then I'll see you there one day. It was great meeting you." @felicityxnovak

END

Felicity tilted her head to the side, though only slightly. "I'd be honored to read it, really." She said and it wasn't just out of politeness for having just met the woman. There was an unmistakable sincerity. "Family can be complicated," a sigh pushed over her lips and for the first time she was saying it from experience. "You should," she smiled at the woman, "It's good energy and really good snacks." @hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

[hopexwagner]

She smirked at her sister and laughed a little. "Please, don't flatter yourself. Not everything is about you, Verity. I'm sure you know that well enough by now." Hope crossed her arms and smirked. "Oh, I remember. I remember you getting sent away. You still drinking or did your life magically get better out here?" She asked before she smirking. "Thanks. I'd send you a copy when it releases, but you're more of a movie person." @veritywagner

END

Verity let out a breath that was almost a laugh, though there was nothing funny about it. “I'm flattered.” she said, her lips curving into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Glad to know I at least survived the first ten pages, if not page eleven.” She said before she added. "Regardless, I am sure you pictured me every time you wrote whatever gore your might have been writing." Her gaze lingered on Hope for a moment longer. “And yes, I stayed with him. Mom made sure of that, remember?" She was quick to remind her even if she was very grateful for her uncle. Her arms still folded like armor at the reminder. “Whatever, congratulations on the book. I’m sure Uncle Nick was thrilled to help you polish it up.” @hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

She nodded. "Getting smaller every time I talk to people." She commented. It seemed everyone knew people in her family and she wasn't used to it being in all positive light. "Yep. I see she talks about me." She wondered if anyone knew that Verity had siblings. "We have another sister too. She's younger than me." Hope explained. Another nod came from her as she listened to the woman. "Nick is nice. I'm still getting to know Johnny and his family." She had only really seen them a handful of times over the years when she was little and now that she was in town, she was seeing them a little more. "That's a nice deal then. I may have to stop by soon." She shrugged and took a breath. "Well, I should go. It was nice meeting you." @solanaxortiz

END

Solana offered her a warm smile, "Small town," she laughed softly with her statement. "Verity's sister?" The brunette couldn't remember Verity having a sister but they weren't all that close. "Nick and Johnny are good people though." She smiled, "I see Johnny's kids at the dental office where I work." And she always enjoyed seeing Zoe and Logan. "Sometimes they do, though I think that is more if they were published with someone here or not." Though she didn't know all of the logistics. @hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

Kathryn Newton as Hannah Doctor Odyssey, S01E13

[hopexwagner]

Kathryn Newton as Brittany Winner WINNER 2024 | dir. Susanna Fogel

[hopexwagner]

She shook her head. "Honestly, it's not a big deal. I'd like to give someone my book since I'm sure no one in my family is going to care enough to read." Her immediate family, that was. Her uncle would probably do it, if he read. And maybe her cousins or something. She was still trying to figure out her relationship with them. "Wow. I may have to stop by then. It sounds like it'd actually be a good time." @felicityxnovak

"I wouldn't say no to a signed copy but I will absolutely pay for it," she told the other, not one to take free handouts. "I am in it," she nodded her head, "They're not just reading mom books, don't worry. Nor is it recipes disguised as fiction. That was a new one for me." She laughed softly, "We read a dark thriller last month that left a few people, myself included, spiraling for at least a week." She told her, "And a dystopian before that. We tend to vote on a genre and then vote on a book. We all get to bring one in the genre to vote on as well." @hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

"Exactly." She said and shook her head. "That'd probably be better for them in the end. She looked at the coffee cup in her hand and then at the other. "Sad caffeine. You make me want to try something else." She sat the cup down. "Why don't you make me the most popular coffee drink here then. Maybe it'll open my eyes to something outside of black coffee." She smiled at her. @remingtonelliot

Remi didn't know what weight Hope was carrying, but could sense that there was some tension there. Though she carried her demons differently, there was always a level of kindred spirit when she could tell someone else had more to them than unending levels of happiness. "Yeah, at that point they kind of might as well just swallow a few of the free sugar packets. It's basically what they're drinking," she agreed with a shrug. Remi liked a sweet treat as much as they next person, but even she had to stop and cringe at some of the orders that came through. "Is your coffee okay, though? Not too bad for just a cup of sad caffeine?"

@hopexwagner

[hopexwagner]

KATHRYN NEWTON Maje Previews SS25 Collection in Los Angeles | October 17, 2024