stagebystage

[stagebystage]

@slightlynyx

They reached a point in their ascent that had begun to leave a burn in Gabi's thighs and glutes, they weren't superhuman for fucks sake, making it a point to concentrate her breath into even deep breaths through their nose, slowing their pace fractionally, more and more of the surrounding city becoming visible as they moved higher and higher, overtaking quite a few of the smaller buildings that would have blocked out their view. Finally coming up to their destination, Gabi took the last few steps upward, leaning back against the building for a moment to catch her breath, eyes examining the short catwalk to the door she'd hopefully have to pick again. "Do me a favor?" they grinned, "Don't watch me do this, yeah? You're gonna give me performance anxiety."

[stagebystage]

@savagc

"Honestly if you're really willing to put up with me for a few weeks I'd love to come on up, we can get something on the books before you leave, it'd probably be a lot easier to plan it out while you're still here next to me and we aren't playing text tag." she grinned, playfully bumping Corey's shoulder with her own. The slight chill in the breeze, cooling the still-wet tips of her hair, made her shiver for a moment, glad they were almost to the restaurant, her growing hunger making her eyes and mind definitely bigger than her stomach but she'd have Corey and Juneau there to help her out.

[stagebystage]

@savagc

" For now just an overall clean, not looking to get into the nooks and crannies but I'm trying to actually make a difference here if I end up not completely over this and still have the time to I might start a deeper clean, which I totally wouldn't expect you to hang around for." she paused for a moment, "Not that I expect you to hang out for any of this." her eyes squinted, thinking she sounded ridiculous but the words continuing to spill out of her mouth. "I wouldn't mind just sharing space with you while you get your reading done," she thought she concluded with a bit of a huff, her eyes darting back to her propped-up cell phone, quickly adding "You can definitely turn back now though." her nose scrunched, feeling scattered, her current environment not helping.

[stagebystage]

@savagc

Two plates balanced in her palms Kayla maneuvered through the kitchen easily enough, bare feet padding against the cool linoleum flooring. Carefully folding her down at an awkward angle, she sat on the ground without asking for assistance or dropping anything. "There's five of them and rumors of a series in the works." she hummed a chuckle, "There are four books from Bella's perspective, a little side novella from a character we meet in the third movie, and the author rewrote the first book from Edward's perspective." she info dumped, choosing to busy her mouth by taking a bite of a wing, air hissing in between her parting teeth, nerve endings warning her that the bite was entirely too hot.

[stagebystage]

@savagc

𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐘:

kayla seemed to be getting all of the food situated so the least corey could do was grab the drinks. she tucked two bottles of water into her arm and then stood there at the open fridge door for a moment, contemplating grabbing a third bottle just in case. it was decided against, mostly because they didn’t have a sauce that was terribly spicy on the wings. they’d chosen mostly mild flavors. aside from the mango habanero. even that one was tolerable when submerged in ranch dressing. two bottles of water should suffice. corey carried them back to kayla’s room, only pausing to grab a few napkins up that had come with their take-out bag. juneau was settled enough, her energy waning for the day. back in kayla’s room she sunk down to sit on the spot of floor where they’d been previously, and she set the bottles of water down in front of each of them. “how many of these movies are there?” she asks, with a nod of her head to tell kayla that she was ready.

"Only five," Kayla huffed following behind Corey, hands holding their plates of food, she carefully lowered herself to the floor, her legs crossed and breath held as she carefully set the food down, a small puff of breath pushing past her lips in relief as she managed without causing an absolute disaster. "I would have personally loved another couple books and in turn a few more movies but I don't know if anyone else would really agree with me there." she hummed a laugh, "There's just a lot of characters I would have like to see a bit more of, but alas." a lopsided frown tugging down her expression, knowing she'd probably never get that outside of fan-created fiction.

[stagebystage]

@savagc

𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐈:

she quirked a brow upward as she settled in for the hopefully quick, ride. “i’ll pay you fifty bucks to be one of those girls so that i don’t have to.” she mutters, loud enough for him to hear but...her tone didn’t really convey that she meant it. ‘meaning it’ came more as an after thought, one that had her tilting her head thoughtfully. “or a hundred.” she tried harder to sound like she meant it...but she had to admit that she didn’t really pull it off. sari sighed and rested her head back into the seat, allowing her eyes to close for a moment before quickly realizing that wasn’t a safe thing to do while taking an uber. her studious eyes opened again and they watched the road and her surroundings more vigilantly.

Smile filled with amusement, Alex's eyes flicked up to his rearview mirror to look back at her for a flash of a moment, his eyes fell back on the road. If he was being honest, he'd have probably done it if she'd been serious, especially with how much she had jokingly offered, though Uber probably wouldn't like it if they found out. "Is there anything you'd like me to put on?" his chin gestured to the center console, some top forty hit station on but muted, it was really only to be polite, they weren't at all too far from the target, they probably wouldn't even make it through two songs.

[stagebystage]

@savagc

𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐈:

she just wanted to go back to the time before she’d made dani so uncomfortable; she could say she was sorry over and over again but...had she even done that in the right way? and would doing so now just shine a blinding light on something they wanted to just let go? would it make it even more uncomfortable. in the moment she really just hoped physically moving forward would allow them to emotionally and mentally, or whatever, move forward. as she got out of the van the cold damp air cleared her head, and when she stretched her body a bit...she was grateful to find that she hadn’t slept as poorly as she had feared. what little bit of soreness she’d acquired from sleeping in the passenger seat of the van had been chased away by the few hours she’d gotten stretched out on the warm rug on the floor nearer to the space heater. she felt fairly good. her hands jammed down into her pockets and she set her eyes on the nearest street corner. cars passed there, the streets sloppy from rain, a few people walking down the sidewalk in light jackets. she got her bearings fairly quickly as she approached; there were a few cafes on this street, some thrift shops, a few fancier boutiques further down; they’d be able to find a place to eat, especially at this hour. nothing looked busy. she scuffed her boots coming to a stop and turned back towards the van, seeing dani emerging...sari quickened her pace. “i don’t know about you...but i could go for some kind of breakfast slop of hashbrowns and eggs...” she eyed dani lightly as she reached her. “anything sound good?”

Hands buried in her pockets in an attempt to warm her chilled fingertips, Dani was usually a huge fan of mornings like this but today all she wanted was some goddamn sunglasses and a handful of Excedrin "I know it's not breakfast but I'm totally craving a sloppy joe, and like elementary school mashed potatoes." Sari's use of the word sloppy to describe the breakfast she wanted having sparked the thought in her mind, the idea of soft bread and warm ooey gooey sauced burger meat sounded like heaven coating her raw and sore throat, paired with some hot sauce it might even help the sinuses she could feel beginning to ache and stuff her nose.

[stagebystage]

13 hours and I get to start another adventure with the love of my life, 13 hours and I get to finally hold her again, but rn I get to do my best to watch her back while she waits for her flight in a Buccees parking lot 🥲

[stagebystage]

𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐀:

relief reached her in multiple ways, all at once the moment that kayla straddled her thigh like she did. she had knots in her stomach, neediness pitted there, a need to be touched and a need to keep touching kayla. it was hard to fathom only one or the other, so when she felt wet heat press to her thigh she sighed against kayla’s cheek and raked her teeth more roughly over her own bottom lip. her eyes fell down between them and she only got a moment to savor the sight of kayla leaving a shimmer on her thigh before her eyes fluttered back, her head lulling into the crook of kayla’s neck as she felt her fingers pushing inside of her. the ache erupted, made her thighs fall open a little more. she managed to get her hand down to kayla’s hip to flex there against her soft skin and pull kayla down against her thigh harder while her own hips rolled up eagerly against her fingers.

     Kayla  rolled her hips to press her thigh firmly against the back of her own hand, her fingers rocking into Luna more firmly, lips pressing firm kisses just beneath the shell of Luna’s ear.  Her breath shuddering at the feeling of their bodies being so closely intertwined, her heart thumping wildly in her chest as she was overwhelmed with the warm press of Luna’s stomach against hers, a duel mixture of need and affection making her chest feel so tight. Her lips trailing down to Luna’s collarbone she carefully removed herself Luna’s thigh, instead sliding herself down the length of Luna’s body, anticipating a while from Luna because of the physical distance she was putting between them, peppering kisses along her ribs, she did her best to keep the rhythm of her fingers constant, even when her shifting bent her wrist in an awkward angle.    

[stagebystage]

𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐀:

her eyes moved to exposed skin on kayla’s arm, a patch just below her shoulder where shadows were surfacing in the shapes of the branches somewhere above the canvas sheltering them. she liked the area surrounding the lake; she liked a lot of areas they’d traveled through, and of all of those…the lake did seem to be more quiet. in truth she could see them in so many places, and maybe that was why they had yet to settle anywhere just yet. there was still a tangle of eagerness to explore, in her stomach. “north of donner falls…it’s nice too.” she liked the color of the water there, the bright blue against the red rock, and still the backdrop of dense evergreens and snowy peaks. luna hummed contently, “we should go to the lake today.” she brushed her lips lightly over kayla’s shoulder. “we could fish.”

.

      “We could fish.” Kayla hummed in agreement, her smile widening and eyes filling with amusement and affection, she wouldn’t mind a quick swim either, the weather had been on the warmer side, her days usually ending with her shirt clinging to the small of her back, a hankerchief dabbing at the back of her neck and her upper lips, a cool dip and some hot fish sounded perfect. “We could spend the night up there.” she suggested, imagining the moonlight streaming down across the lake, the orange of their small fire lighting up the earth and casting shadows. 

[stagebystage]

𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐘:

she shrugged lightly. “i think with bingo probably.” she had never been to a bingo building that wasn’t teaming with old people, who were in turn teaming with more energy than corey had ever seen them exhibit.

.

     Kayla’s brows furrowed, lips slightly parted as she waited for her mind to formulate an appropriate response but was failed as she tried to comprehend Corey’s thought process. Her eyes squinting for just a moment before deciding perhaps the best course of action her was to just let it go. The house creaking as the wind picked up outside that creeping discomfort settled more heavily in the pit of her stomach. “C’mon, it probably isn’t a great idea for us to be up here, who knows how sturdy the roof is after all this time.” she eyed the ceiling warily, shaking her head to herself as she replayed Corey’s words in her head.    

[stagebystage]

𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀:

she had just barely caught the sound of kayla adding the locks to the door, but she was focused more on getting into her suitcase for something more comfortable. it wasn’t a production; she didn’t bother laying her case down and unzipping it fully, instead she knew where she’d placed things enough to open it just to grab out a softer pair of cashmere shorts. sitting on the edge of the bed she unfastened her thin leather belt, her tweed shorts and worked them down along with the patterned nylon covering her legs, and then she worked on the new pair of shorts and stuffed what she’d been wearing back into her bag. that was it. she was comfortable enough in her fitted tee but she did pull of the long thin rosary from underneath and slipped it over her head to leave on the nightstand for now. then she walked towards the ac unit embedded below the window but was only halfway there before she realized that…wasn’t where the ac unit was. “damn…” she only breathed the word and then turned her head to run her eyes over the papered walls in search of a thermostat, which she spotted closer to the door by the bathroom. her eyes touched on where kayla had placed herself and she passed her. “colder is okay with you?” she asks, reaching to tap the temperature button lower.

.

    “Absolutely.” Kayla hummed, she always loved sleeping in the cold, it was one of the reasons she loved camping in the fall and winter, sure she still liked heading out in the summer and spring but she hated the tossing and turning in her tent, unable to get comfortable not matter what she did due to the smothering heat, She’d been so annoyed when she’d purchased a camping fan meant to hand in your tent and help cool the space and all that it did was blow hot air in her face. Unlacing her shoes, Kayla tried not to sit too awkwardly, pulling her phone from her pocket and glancing over her notifications clearing anything that didn’t actually need her attention, an odd nervousness swirling in her stomach. 

[stagebystage]

𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍:

“oh shit, retro.” she grins a closed the door of her truck behind her and brought the engine to a roaring life. there were a lot of candies like that, that she forgot even existed. the reminder brought a nostalgic warmth to spread through her, a pink that she even felt on her cheeks. “i haven’t seen those in awhile…but i bet we can find ‘em.” she couldn’t say for sure though; but she was willing to bet somewhere in town would have them, if not the theater. before she pulled away she leaned on the frame of her open window. “there’s a dusty old party city…like a block that way. they have a lot of random candy.” she flashed a smile and then put the truck in gear and started out of the lot and on top the road in the direction of home. suddenly the coffee creamer in the passenger seat seemed futile because the craving for coffee was gone with the morning. 

.

     Dani couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a Party City, there was a vague memory of the store sometime in her teen years, something along the lines of her cousin needing a wig for a halloween costume. It seemed that the store wasn’t as popular as it was when she was younger, especially around Halloween. Dani hadn’t gotten to do much Halloweening in in her teen years, she’d been allowed to dress up and go trick or treating when she was still small but the year she turned eight her parents had become more devout in their Catholicism and the holiday had been deleted from their calendar. She’d always loved the fall, the chill in the air, the rain, and the changing of colors, the excuse to layer and bundle up. She remembered that first year, being the only kid in her class to not wear a costume to school, she was still given a small bag of candy by her teacher but her parents picked her up early and she wasn’t allowed to attend the fall festival her school put on every year. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t dressed up since then, there was no one or anything stopping her from doing so since she left. Maybe this year she’d actually do something, even if just for herself, she was a long ways away from the fall but it was still something to ponder. Quinn seemed interesting, a lot warmer than most were to her especially given the circumstances. She wasn’t going to pretend to know the least about the other woman but there was this gravity about her that seemed to pull at Dani, made her want to linger in her orbit. She knew she’d have to stay on the edges of it all, for her own good but she couldn’t help her curiosity, her need to observe.

     The walk to the party store was quite, but still scenic though if she was being honest she wasn’t sure there was anything you could do in a town like this that wouldn’t be scenic. The nostalgia of the town paired with the backdrop of the mountains made her feel like she was in one of those coming of age movies about some high school girl living in some little town with dreams of the big city. Pushing the door open, Dani understood that Quinn had been very accurate when she’d called the place dusty. The store seemed somehow sterile even with all the colors plastered on the walls, the checkered floor that had obviously once been black and white was a shade of light and dark grey, the display balloons stapled to the walls had lost their shine beneath a thick layer of dust, the aisle seemed to have the bare minimum of items, only one employee leaning over the counter boredly, thick flames and a scraggly mustache. “Welcome to party city, let me know if you need anything.” the man spoke in a monotonous voice, obviously ready to go home. She smiled awkwardly, her eyes quickly finding the candy Quinn had mentioned, and grabbing a small basket to fill with random handfuls, her fingers feeling grimy and gritty from the dust that seemed create a thin film over the wrappers, trying her best to pick from the bottom of the bowls to avoid as much dust as possible. He wrung her up quickly, and silently and she was out the door as quickly as possible, the deep urge to wash her hands crawling across her skin.    

[stagebystage]

𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐘:​

her partner was somewhere just above her, safely away from the water’s edge on higher ground. that meant a small climb for corey to reach them and a potentially dangerous climb down for them to reach water if they couldn’t find and outlet source, some kind of trickling stream down into the sea. they’d need the fresh water source. she heard the whistle back and glanced up spotting her partner just then, not clearly but through ferns and brush. it was enough to recognize kayla, another woman similar to her in stature and from corey had noticed, very capable. it felt like a good start for them both. 

there had been a few weeks of training and briefings filled with information and protocols where they’d been able to size up competition, and potential partners, even if that was all randomized in the end. all corey knew now, was that she wasn’t against kayla, and vice versa. she dug the toes of her boots into damp moss and soil on her climb up to higher ground, finding a path that was gradual and not too steep; a path that she was confident she could fortify for them. 

she felt anxious, ready, wanting to get started on securing them a solid start. when she reached what felt like the top of the climb one palm touched down on the moss to steady herself due to the ground being so slick with moisture and then she was upright fully and looking to find kayla. “thank fuck you’re not a dude.” she mumbles.

    She took advantage of the time it would take the other woman to reach her to start at clearing an area for them to build their temporary shelter, putting material she thought could be useful in a small pile by where she hoped they would build their fire for the night. Thinking over what other female contestants she knew of that had a build similar to her, she was one of four female contestants that season, one woman was built very solidly and was tall, at least six foot two she was pretty sure was named Anna, making Kayla feel tiny in comparison, then a blonde that was just a bit thinner than Kayla, a bit shorter named Brooke that absolutely rubbed her the wrong way, but the woman below seemed to be the dark-haired woman below she was like ninety nine percent sure was named Corey, one of the only people Kayla couldn’t really get a good read on.

       She wouldn’t say that she was sizing people up during training and prep for the season but she was also definitely sizing people up, it would be a tactical mistake not to. She watched how comfortable people felt handling certain materials, people's willingness to listen to the instructors and local guides when they were being taught about local flora and fauna, when regulations were being discussed basic first aid being taught. She measured their confidence, noted the contestants that seemed to be arrogant, smug and over confident in their abilities which in her experience meant they would be the most likely to make stupid mistakes, the one’s to slip and accidentally cut themselves on their hatchets and knives, the ones' who would think themselves immune to cholera and dysentery. She had noticed a bit of over confidence that seemed to emanate from Corey often making little comments under her breath about the people around her and very obviously judgemental of the others in the room, she was cocky but not in a way that she seemed to think she was above learning, which was enough for Kayla to think she could have definitely been paired with worse, like the big burly full bellied man that had made a stupid comment about how she probably had no idea how to process an animal. 

     She could hear the footsteps growing closer and closer as she started scoping out what trees she’d like to start working on cutting down to build a tripod for their tarp. She couldn’t help the amused smile that tugged at her lips, not sure if the brunette realised how loud a voice could be in the silence of the woods or if she had meant to be heard. There was a weird part of her that was kind of nervous about formally meeting her partner and was just now really realizing that she would have to deal with this person constantly for what she was thinking would be at least two months, she didn’t even see her roommate that often. She didn’t think she had spent that kind of time with anyone since she was probably a toddler and needed adult supervision.      

[stagebystage]

𝐍𝐘𝐗:

fair trade; good. nyx nodded once and then decided that on the side of her mind she would meal plan a little and go over the contents of her fridge and cabinets so she could decide what she wanted to make verses what she could make depending on what she had at home. there were staples she always had on hand, basics enough to make, pork, chicken in few varieties, chow mein and pot stickers and fried rice, but she didn’t keep other ‘basics’ like duck in her freezer as readily and it had been about two weeks since she’d spent an entire day cooking meals and freezing portions so that she had food after work with little effort. after gabi started up the ladder nyx started up and lingered a good eight feet behind her so that they both had space, and as she climbed she peeked into dusty dark windows for any hints at what the building held; but she wasn’t able to make much out. only its obvious abandonment. 

.

     Gabi was glad she lived a pretty active lifestyle otherwise the climb up the multiple flight of stairs would have probably left her huffing and puffing, “You doin alright, grandma?” she called behind her, glad the rain hadn’t picked up, the water still falling in a light drizzle, their face starting to accumulate enough mist to being to form small drips. They needed to get 14 floors up and were only about a third of the way up, they was fairly certain Nyx would be fine but they weren't going to give up on the chance to poke fun at the only slight difference in their age. They were high up enough at this point that they could see over the roofs of some of the smaller buildings in the surrounding area, a good spot to scope out new places to check out. “Let’s go!” she called out, quickening her pace with an almost manic grin stretching her lips. 

[stagebystage]

𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐘:

she kept her clothes tucked into her arms for few long seconds after the bathroom door closed behind kayla, eyeing her bag and then glancing around the space to find where the washer and dryer was. she didn’t think kayla would mind her tossing her laundry into the machine but she didn’t want to assume that there weren’t already planned loads that kayla might want first, so she opted to just shove her clothes into her small canvas laundry bag with the rest of her things. juneau was sniffing around at her feet now while corey dug into her bag for a pair of socks and pulled them on, and then her boots she left mostly unlaced because they were fitted enough to not need tight threading. her hair was fine in a messy damp ponytail for now so she just decided to leave it, and focus instead on making sure she had little things she needed in the back pocket of her jeans, like folded cash and the one card she had. then she whistled softly get juneau’s attention, making sure she knew that the upcoming outing was going to include her coming along, by pulling her leash out and having it ready in her hand.

.

     “Ready to go?” Kayla asked, peeking her head out into the hallway, reaching blindly behind her door for a worn leather purse she was using more and more rarely. “I think I’m more and more up to the challenge of ordering one of everything on the menu.” she laughed, “That being said the more I think about it the more I think that they would absolutely hate us.” her smile tugging further, she was absolutely not willing to be banned from somewhere that she ate so regularly. “Are you ready Juneau?” she tried not baby talk the pup but her voice instinctively raised in pitch. 

[stagebystage]

𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀:

she sometimes found herself wishing that she was more adept to a cluttered lifestyle, even a touch of eclectic collecting would be a step in a good direction, because it felt like such a vibe to spend an afternoon or a late night to reorganizing and purging. she sighed and rested her chin on her folded arms, her phone propped on the couch in front of where she was laying on her stomach. hana’s eyes dragged slowly over her space, and yes she had some busy shelves and a few wicker type baskets that she could go through but it would only take her a few minutes at best and what was the point? closets….she did have a few closets she could get after. but alas, comfort of the couch held her right where she was. for now. her eyes were settled right back on her phone screen as kayla showed her what she was working on. she could see the piles of things behind her and smiled softly. “i think i’d have fun with that. is it a universal thing that has it easier to clean other people’s houses than your own?” she asks, before she nodded. “all day if you want, or…morning?” it was morning where kayla was, almost noon where she was, and she had no plans. “you might even motivate me to get something done.” but for now co-existing felt nice. she pushed herself up with her phone and stood to walk into the kitchen, placing her phone propped on the counter and going to her bag to dig around for her airpods. they would be necessary if they were both moving around.

.

    “I think cleaning other people's stuff is way more fun, you’re being helpful and not technically obligated to help so when you’re sick of it you can just leave and not have to deal with it anymore.” she shrugged with a single shoulder, she’d never cleaned anyone’s room that wasn’t family, her brothers often bribing her with promises of snacks or take out and the occasional ride somewhere before she got her license. “I mean I don't really have anything planned for today so I’m here as long as you’d like to be.” she smiled warmly, not at all opposed to the idea of spending the day virtually with Hana, it would help her stay motivated and on task and she’d honestly take anytime Hana was willing to give her, they both had pretty packed schedules and while they still managed to spend evenings occasionally chatting, facetiming, small texts throughout their day longer video calls, especially this time of day, weren’t as common. Eyes taking a glance at Hana’s kitchen Kayla realized her mistake in not having eaten something before beginning this endeavour, if she finished half of the mess  within an hour she’d order herself something as a treat.