paintedgxld

[paintedgxld]

brows perk in interest at tristan's words, grin remaining as he nods. "hit me with it," cash leans against the bar, ready and willing for whatever tris has in mind. he was here for a good time, after all. and that meant win or lose. though, he could admit he was fairly good at these types of games. what with all the practice they'd had over the years.

tristan snatches up his drink and, once the customary little cheer is given, he downs it in a quick gulp. the burn is something warm, comforting, and familiar. it carries the promise of forgetting and a night of total irresponsibility. "it's much needed," he agrees with a nod and a grin, eyes scanning the room. "but let's make this interesting, yeah? i have some games i've been sitting on, but when you lose you need to be able to pay up. you in? they're guaranteed to get you in the right headspace to hit up the club next."

[paintedgxld]

open starter location: somewhere off campus

"tell me that you've been stargazing, and i mean away from the city." cal turns toward the body beside him. "it's one of the most beautiful things you could ever see. everyone should do it before we die," he cringes internally, a little bit, at his last choice of words.

[paintedgxld]

a breathy laugh leaves cash at connor's words before the man speaks. his head nodding in response, "it's important to have balance." although, he could truthfully say that he thoroughly enjoyed outdoor activities. especially the climbing kind. there was something not only freeing, but healing as well, when drinking the fresh air in. "the top of this will be worth it." he motions toward the cliff above them.

— with : cash alexander ( @paintedgxld )

connor adjusts the strap of his backpack and glances back to where cash is, half a step behind him on the narrow trail. the sun’s just starting to dip, painting everything in that golden, almost cinematic light.“bet you’re regretting last night’s tequila now, huh?” he calls over his shoulder, a grin tugging at his mouth. the air smells like pine and sweat, and there’s a steep incline coming up that he’s already dreading.

[paintedgxld]

truth be told, charlotte had seen him coming but decided she could use a game or two to keep herself entertained. it had been a long day after all. a smirk plays at her lips as she eyes him, hands finding her coffee - the ice clinking against the glass as she takes a small sip. "you're on drugs if you think i'd spend my hard earned time asking you for anything," she quips with the raise of her brow.

— with : charlotte harrington ( @paintedgxld ) — where: the brew house

connor slides into the chair across from charlotte, tossing his backpack carelessly on the floor. “i figured if i didn’t show up, you’d just keep texting me, so here i am.” he leans back, casually scanning the room as the barista hands him his drink. he knows charlotte’s probably already mentally preparing some snarky response to his interruption, but it’s a game they’ve played for a while now—one that’s part annoyance, part enjoyment.

[paintedgxld]

closed starter: @goodgrac3s location: harrington estate

charlotte carries herself up the stairs in a hurry, joint already lit between her lips. "don't you do pilates or something, hurry up!" she calls behind her, although she's fairly certain kit could be watching the driveway for their mother to turn back around. the door swings open to lizzie's room, still looking untouched. she wondered if her mother even let them search in here. eyes flicker from pile to pile, debating where to start when she hears footsteps behind her.

[paintedgxld]

cash pulled the door open, grin only a few seconds delayed when he realized who stood at his doorstep. "you brought the drink, it's only fair i get the food," he offers to take the bottle from her grasp and pours their first glasses. sliding one over the kitchen island for her. "this must be celebratory, i know you've been hitting the books this week. when do you find out?"

WHO: Anyone! Feel free to assume connections.

"Hi! I come bearing my beautiful face and something fun to drink," she smiled as the door opened. Nina had just awakened from a three-hour nap after taking her MCAT. After pulling all-nighters all week, she finished the test feeling somewhat satisfied with her performance. Now, it was the waiting game. She had thirty days to find out if she was smart enough to get accepted into medical school. Until then, she needed to find ways to keep her mind occupied. She figured that anything that took her outside of her apartment would be a good option. "I could go for some Mexican food right now. It's on me if that helps!"

[paintedgxld]

charlie nods solemnly, "of course she would have." the blonde allows a small smile to light up on her face for a moment. although, it would always make her feel uneasy hearing this perspective from one of her sister's loyal followers. followers whom only saw the side of lizzie that she'd carefully chosen, a different version of her for each circumstance. charlie's gifts from lizzie contained venom and blackmail, with a touch of sisterhood whenever she wanted something. charlie nods once, lips pursing together when the word taken falls from his lips. she looks away as he holds himself together, rocking back on her heels in brief discomfort. "were you at the party that night?" a hint of disbelief rolls off her tongue, although she's morbidly curious. in an exhale replying, "no," all by its lonesome in response to his question.

Cedar was never good at reading people, it was something he struggled substantially with- so standing here in front of Charlotte, he couldn't help but wonder if she enjoyed his company or if she was just entertaining his condolences. "I did. I thought really highly of her." He nodded quietly. It took everything in him to mask the fact that his face wanted to light up at the other's comments. She would've loved me? The thought made him feel warm and buzzy. "Do you really think that?" The idea that she might've liked him too gave him comfort. "Yeah. I mean, we lost the odd family pet growing up, and I lost my grandpa to cancer, but I was like three, I don't really remember it." He hesitated before continuing to speak. "No one's ever been... taken." He couldn't bring himself to say the word. "Is..." He hesitated again, this time choking back the tears that were sitting at the surface, begging to be let out. "Is it your first loss?" He wiped at his nose with his sleeve.

[paintedgxld]

closed starter: @cloudbtw sound claim: fill the void

charlotte's fingers graze the keys beneath them, voice filling the air in a quiet hum. she turns toward the band, finding her seat before the keyboard. she tests the notes, knowing only a melody. which she allows her drunken body to sway along to. one hand brings the last of a joint to her lips before she puts it out in the ash tray beside her. eyes flicker to each person in the room, finally landing on cloud as the corners of her lips twitch. she's too far gone in the moment, years of music lessons that she hated, coming to fruition in someone's dusty garage...

her heart pounds against her chest to the rhythm of the bass behind her. voices blend together into a single electric roar as she moves toward cloud on stage, not regretting for a moment getting behind the microphone to sing a song they wrote together. char's body presses up against his, her eyes sweeping the crowd as they scream for them. she can barely make out their voices but it doesn't matter, this is a high she's never known - surging through her like lightening. one hand travels up his arm as she makes her way around him, watching him perform as she does. feeling nothing but the energy of the music as it comes to it's natural conclusion. she can't help herself from throwing her arms around cloud, grin plastered onto her face in amazement and disbelief alike. it was just the distraction she needed. "are you fucking kidding me?"

[paintedgxld]

"haven't slept," and not for a lack of trying. it was simply one of those nights. he runs hand through his hair tiredly, "what about you?" he motions for junho to join him in grabbing a late night snack from a nearby food court. he was sure the other man could hear his stomach rumble from where he stood.

open starter!! location: carver hall

It wasn't uncommon for Junho to be the last student at carver hall. At night, he preferred to study away from the dorms so that he wouldn't be tempted to go to sleep or disrupt the others. Upon hearing some footsteps, the man glanced up from his laptop to the approaching figure. "Trouble sleeping?"

[paintedgxld]

the man shifts uncomfortably in his seat, jaw clenching and unclenching as he ponders her questions. what was he to say about his encounter with the now dead girl? it's not like he'd planned for any of this to happen starting with their break up, but the least of which being lizzie's death. and what had he said to her, could he recall? a few drinks in meant an already buzzed cash, behaving purely on emotion. his memory of the day was hazy, coming back to him in pieces. raised voices, old wounds torn open, running down the steps of a building. the first, second, and third burn of liquor down his throat. lizzie's gaze meeting his, her hand on his arm. the door slamming behind them, her back against the wall.

he blinks, eyes locking with ava's and he realizes the silence between them lingered a beat too long. he clears his throat and glances at the now luke warm coffee between his fingers. "not much, besides telling her that we'd split." he wasn't sure how answering these questions was supposed to make her feel better, and so he figured it was best to keep it vague. besides, he could see the hurt behind her eyes so plainly - it made him want to take her in his arms and fix it. even if he didn't know how. he'd fix it, for her.

It’s  moments  like  this  that  Ava  wishes  she  could  hate  him,  wishes  she  could  ball  up  her  fists  and  pound  the  guilty  self  -  righteousness  right  out  of  his  chest.  She  doesn’t  want  to  be  owed  anything.  She  wants  Cash,  her  Cash  -  the  one  that  stood  in  the  bedroom  of  her  humble  dorm  at  the  end  of  last  semester,  vowing  to  give  her  the  future  they’d  always  fantasised  about.  Not  the  Cash  who  ran  into  the  arms  of  the  one  person  who  would  hurt  the  most  at  the  slightest  hurdle.  Is  this  who  he’d  always  been?  Had  he  just  been  waiting  for  an  excuse  to  fall  into  Lizzie’s  bed,  and  had  Ava  given  him  the  enabling  shove?  The  notion  that  she  might  be  the  orchestrator  of  her  own  misery  should  come  as  a  shock,  but  it  doesn’t.  Self  -  sabotage  seems  to  come  as  a  skill  already  perfected.  

Ava  shouldn’t  be  asking  these  questions,  knowing  exactly  how  her  chest  will  feel  when  it  tears  itself  open  from  the  recount  Cash  provides.  How  painful  it  will  be  to  illustrate  the  scene  in  her  head.  But  she  can’t  help  herself,  she  has  to  know.  In  a  way  she  hopes  that  it  will admonish  any  belief  that  maybe  he  had  initiated  things,  and  not  just  been  taken  advantage  of,  in  a  pain  so  particular  to  them  that  Ava  could  maybe  even  sympathise.  Lizzie  the  opportunistic  jungle  cat,  pouncing  on  her  prey.  After  all, his  version  of  events  is  all  she  has  now  anyway.  Lizzie  isn’t  about  to  refute  him.  She  takes  a  shaky  sip  of  her  coffee,  eyes  now  fixed  on  Cash  where  they  couldn’t  look  before.  She  knows  his  tells,  or  so  she  thinks.  Together.  It  makes  her  wince,  souring  the  espresso  flavour  on  her  tongue  even  though  she  has  braced  for  it.  “What  did  you  talk  about?” She  probes.  “What  did  you  tell  her  about  us?”

[paintedgxld]

she met his lingering stare with a playful smirk. "such a gentleman," she tells him slyly. nodding her head along to his question, she places a hand delicately through his arm, guiding them toward the door. their driver already waiting outside with an unopened bottle of champagne. the sight of which caused a giggle to leave her and she steps toward the open door. without missing a beat, she takes the waiting glasses and fills them both to the brim. “to us; the beautiful reckless,” she offers, slipping a tiny pill onto her tongue before taking a long deliberate sip.

"You're always worth the wait, of course." He smirked, eyes raking over her. "I have to at least try if I'm going to be worthy of standing next to you." He took the glass, noting that she didn't tell him what was in it but downed it anyway not really caring. He trusted her and he'd drink pretty much anything. "You ready to go now finally?"

[paintedgxld]

time jump: at the party

laughter fills the air as a man drops from the keg, face flushed and grinning from ear to ear. cash's hands clap together in his own amusement while their shots slide toward him and tristan from across the counter. "this is the kind of let loose i was talking about," he nudges tristan before bringing his own tiny glass to clink against his friend’s.

tristan squints at the phone, but it doesn’t take long for recognition to hit—his face shifts, matching cash’s excitement as he takes in the poster and the address. “perfect,” he says with a small nod, stopping as they reach the main campus entrance. “come by mine around seven? we’ll start there and just... go with whatever feels right. no plans, no pressure.”

they clasp hands for a second in their signature handshake that had evolved slowly but surely over the years, then tristan rolls his shoulders and turns, heading into a slow cooldown walk back to his place, already half-thinking about what the night might turn into.

[paintedgxld]

charlie rolls her eyes, although she understood the joke perfectly fine. amused smile reaches her lips, while she'd remained silent in order to observe amyra's backtracking. the mention of how much she'd had to deal with, things that other people couldn't handle, causes her brows to raise. "please at this point you're just blowing smoke up my ass," she waves her off with a flick of her hand.

but her gaze falls away from amyra when she mentions the arguing. specifically, the jealously. and while charlie knew by now that she'd never apologize for her shortcomings in their relationship, it still felt a little like picking at a fresh scab. "mostly arguing and jealously, though," she comments as though it were a jest - it wasn't though, was it?

again char finds herself waving off the words of the other, nonchalantly with her hand. "of course not," she shakes her head with furrowed brows. "but fuck it," which had easily become a motto of hers at this point in life. especially in the last week or so. even though she absolutely adored her chosen field of study, it wasn't the time to get into it now.

"you're doing pretty ok for someone with permanent damage." amyra's reply came out with an easy smile before she proposed how her words could be perceived. she cringed immediately. this is what she got for drinking three or four pineapple passion fruit whiteclaws before leaving to go to the darty. "shit, i didn't mean that in a mean way. i meant...that you had to put up with a lot of bullshit other people couldn't put up with." she turned her attention from charlie to the road ahead, hoping she had done enough to explain herself.

amyra chuckle, she knew all about the harrington stubbornness from first hand experience. lizzie regularly brought up petty arguments from when they were fourteen. but maybe that's why they had stayed friends for so long. they were both unable to let things go. amyra's stomache turned at the vaguest mention of what they had. "yeah, it wasn't just arguing and jealousy." , she mumbled towards a street light. when they called it off she tried so hard to convince herself she hated charlie. she wanted to believe she was manipulative and a nightmare to be around. but in hindsight amyra realised that maybe she was being petty.

amyra raised an eyebrow at the nonchalant dismissive way charlie mentioned therapy. she was pretty sure the blonde was a psychology major. but that wasn't something they talked about much ; academics weren't something amyra liked to have in-depth conversations about. so she could have misremembered. "i don't think therapists are meant to phrase it like that. but you're the expert so i'll take your word for it." , amyra remarked before saluting charlie.

[paintedgxld]

he can't help but chuckle lightly at her words, her forwardness did not come as a shock to him. nor did it offend him while he shook his head at her words. she was merely sticking up for a friend, he wouldn't expect any less from her. "did one of your boys tell you that?" the words come out before he can stop them, it wasn't his goal to piss her off but he's sure he'll exceed it now. the playful smirk fades from his expression, only slightly as he works to keep up a facade. ever a chameleon in the face of confrontation. "i know, i was there." and he knew that part of him couldn't be so bitter that anyone would bring it up. he couldn't say that he wasn't relieved, however, when the bigger news from the following day overshadowed his argument with ava - if only temporarily. "not that i owe you an explanation, but we were already split up. anything else?"

               something  about  good  humoured  people  ticks  her  off.  sometimes,  she  makes  an  exception,  like  it's  been  with  cash  for  years,  ever  since  a  way  was  found  for  him  to  enter  her  closest  circle  through  tristan,  and  then  ava.  but  she  can  count  on  her  hands  the  private  interactions  they've  had  over  the  years,  and  maybe  that's  what  emboldens  her  to  be  so  bitchy.  "how  would  i  know?  you  cast  a  wide  net,  i've  heard."  her  eyebrows  raise,  lips  growing  into  a  smirk  that  is  more  ferocious  than  she'd  like.  oh,  she  loathes  to  be  pitied.  this  guy  better  not  be  pulling  this  right  now.  "do  you  thought  it'd  remain  a  secret  that  ava  dumped  your  ass?  you  weren't  exactly  trying  to  hide  your  little  fit  in  my  party."  another  reason  for  annoyance  to  rise;  she  can't  take  it  out  on  ava,  so  he's  the  chosen  one  to  suffer  under  her  venom.  "how  can  you  mess  up  so  bad  when  you  have  someone  that  good,  huh?"

[paintedgxld]

charlotte nods her head, slowly and subtly as she rolls the joint between her fingers. her gaze is fixed on him in quiet observation before speaking and it takes all of her self control in order to not laugh out loud when he calls lizzie damn near perfect. of course it's exactly the image lizzie had coined for herself. and it only proved to her that there was no way in hell lizzie knew who he was - as he had told her himself. "well, i am glad to hear you thought so highly of her," her voice is smooth. betraying none of the amusement just below the surface. "it's really too bad she didn't get a chance to get to know you. i think she would have loved you," she offers a polite smile as she makes her play. "that's very kind of you, cedar.. is this your first loss?"

Cedar's face turned slightly into that of confusion. "Me?" He asked with a bit of a emotionless chuckle. "Nah, she knew nothing about me. No retainer. I don't think she even cared about my existence." He let out another chuckle, this one even drier than the prior. "No sarcasm ma'am." He smirked. "Again, I just thought she was really cool. I don't think there's such thing as a perfect person, but she had to have been close, y'know?" He nodded with a sympathetic smile as the girl explained her relationship with Lizzie. "I'm so sorry man. It's gotta be so hard." He hesitated looking for the right words, knowing that he'd realistically never find them. "Do you have a lot of support? I'm sure you're overflowing with friends, but I'm always here. If you need."

[paintedgxld]

his brows raise at the mention of another party - given how the last one had gone for him, he could use a little change of pace. "say less," a smirk tugs at the corner of his lips when he pulls his phone from his waist bag. "i was already thinking about going when i saw their post earlier... i know just where we can go, right before we hit up opulence." he turns the phone to show tristan the post, grin spreading wider and his eyes light up. it was already shaping up to be a good night.

tristan eyes his friend with mild concern, tempted to dig into that a little bit more, but instead ultimately grins again. "couldn't agree more," he says. "if ever there was a time, it's now. hey - i still have some of that stuff we picked up a couple months ago. you doing anything tonight? we can do a little pregaming and then see what's going on. classes just started. there has to be at least a party or two. worst comes to worst we can always hit up opulence."

[paintedgxld]