#: /‏‏‎ ♯ verse: 03. … i know a place. '

[curseplay]

@whitelace sent : i just wanted to see you one more time. [ ACCEPTING. ]

❝ oh, ❞ she says plainly, because it's not the answer she was looking for. paris stands and stares at her from atop the stage before going back to coiling amp wires.

SILK is getting big, but not we have a whole team of roadies to help us deconstruct the stage big. not yet. lauren and andie have paid their dues, but paris sticks back, rattled enough by the sight of valerie in the audience to be rendered mostly useless. at first, they'd assumed the footfalls across the now - empty room was one of them coming to pack her ass up. but no, there she is, with those flaming locks of auburn hair just like dolly parton warned everyone about.

paris isn't lucky enough to assume this will end well. "well" being . . . valerie pressing her hands to her heart and professing that breaking up was a mistake. no, if anything, she's en route to smash their guitar over their head.

one more time, as in . . . i'm hoping never to see you again. except for maybe tabloids in the aisles of supermarkets someday.

❝ did you enjoy the show ? ❞ they ask, cringing slightly as their voice echoes across the venue. they don't think they'd be able to if the roles were reversed. ❝ i saw you in the audience. that's why i tripped over my foot, ❞ among other reasons.

[curseplay]

@axeattitude gets a starter. 🖤

❝   okay, do me a solid and let me know if this sounds like a bad idea, ❞    they're almost manic as they speak, pacing back and forth, eventually hopping up on a futon and holding their hands out as if bracing him for what's to come. this should be indication enough that the idea probably isn't a GOOD one. still, paris has been sitting under a black cloud for so long that they can't really tell luck from misfortune anymore. that's why she needs a third party input, a third party who knows what he's doing. who's been around. a third party who will give it to her straight.

❝   —  picture this. i'm at a house party, alright ? a college shindig at some rich kid's place. i end up making out with this girl in a closet and think like, nothing of it. afterwards, i play around on guitar with someone else in the basement and get their number. they text me the next day and ask me to make their duo a trio, but when i go to meet them, their partner is the girl i made out with. and they're exes, ❞          paris leaves out the part of the story where they said an emphatic YES, I'LL JOIN YOUR BAND ! as that detail would take away from the advice part of kerry's reply.        ❝   is this like, gonna shape up to be an icarus kind of situation for me ? because i really wanna get out there, kerry. and this might be my best bet, ❞   

[curseplay]

@byheaven sent . . . from valerie: last night i went to meet you, and you weren't there. [ ACCEPTING. ]

❝ i told you practice might run overtime, babe, ❞ now that she's officially been inducted into the band, it's crunch time. lauren's label contact told them to have an EP's worth of presentable demos ready by the end of the month . . . and since she and andie have been working together for years now, there's a lot of ground for paris to make up. ❝ i had an idea to rework a riff during the last ten minutes and things just kinda went haywire from there, ❞

oh, if only valerie had been there to see it. she would have been so proud of them. it was the kind of creative thinking worthy of a record deal. if they continue on this wavelength, SILK will be signed without a second thought.

paris stands before her in the doorway and waits for a smile. a question, asking them to elaborate on what it is they'd done. when it doesn't come, they sigh, reaching forward to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her in against them.

❝ — hey. i'm sorry. i've just . . . we really need to impress this guy if we want a shot. my brain's been all one - track lately because of it, ❞ they give her hip a squeeze, bleeding excitement once again. ❝ let me make it up to you now ? huh ? any way you want me to ? ❞

[curseplay]

@crushsung sent: i don't even know where you're from.

❝ uh, small town ohio, if you can believe it. far from here, ❞ and that's about as far as she'll allow herself to be pried open in reference to life before LA. if you ask her, it's mostly nonessential to who she is now . . . an entirely different person than the paris that would climb trees in the woods behind her house and drag race in her older brother's truck. ❝ — this is very coveted information, by the way, ❞

they don't think they'll ever go back. they don't want to. unfortunately, they're still new enough to california that if she were to say that's where she was from it would be a fairly obvious lie.

paris smiles in an attempt to move things along, away from her. ❝ what about you, huh ? where do you hail from ? ❞

[curseplay]

@record1ng sent: when's the wedding ? [ ACCEPTING. ]

if there's sarcasm tinging lorelai's tone, paris can't comprehend it. a look of clear surprise passes over their face as they consider what such an event entails. caterers, photographers, planners and more . . . not to mention the lifetime commitment and involvement of family and friends. they've only just started dating whitney. and yeah, the fact that she's a bigshot influencer with over nine million instagram followers leaves them little room for privacy, but still ! they weren't expecting such a question, even if they are moving pretty fast.

❝ — the wedding ? ❞ they parrot rather unintelligently into their mic. oh god, her team is gonna cook her for this. whitney is gonna cook her for this. ❝ oh man, haha, your guess is as good as mine ! ❞

they thought throwing a laugh in there would make things better, but now they're not so sure. paris sits up a little straighter in their seat and smiles a jittery smile in lorelai's direction. ❝ i'm like . . . we're just chilling now. just chilling. having fun, in a committed way. ❞

[curseplay]

@godlessgrl sent: okay, well, obviously, why would you lay it out like that ? because it sounds insane. [ NO LONGER ACCEPTING. ]

❝ it doesn't sound that insane ! like, really, what's the difference between breaking into someone's house and showing up there uninvited ? ❞ probably quite a few things, but paris is largely uninterested in having her logic brought into question like this. what she's more concerned about is getting into this celebrity house party in silver lake tonight. if the door is open, will anyone really notice if they slip into a place that big ? ❝ my main point, q, is that we have gotta get out of this apartment. we have spent too many nights of our young lives cooped up in houses without dance floors and in - ground outdoor pools, ❞

paris came to LA to live. if they're not going to take advantage of what's around them, what's was the point of running away ? yeah, they're absolute nobodies right now, but the only way to become somebodies is by putting themselves out there. she hops up from her spot on their dingy couch and stands in front of quinn, blocking her view of the television.

❝ will you come with me if i agree to stop saying we're breaking into someone's house ? 'cause i'll stop saying it like that if you do, ❞

[curseplay]

starter for @godlessgrl 🖤

she walks through the door to their shoebox of an apartment smelling of grease and sweat, a bag with various leftovers for herself and quinn in her fist. no, being a line cook isn't the most glamorous job in the world, but it does come with its perks. for example, paris paid for absolutely NONE of this food.

❝ honey, i'm hooooome , ❞ they joke, bending down to pet jackrabbit as he greets them at the door, tail wagging. from there, paris meanders their way into the kitchenette, hoping to find both quinn and a chair to collapse into. they've been on their feet for hours, after all. ❝ — guess who brought home dinner after a long, torturous day on the line. i'll give you a hint : her name starts with P, and she's the best roommate in the entire world. ❞

[curseplay]

@godlessgrl sent: i know how to act like i'm fine. [ ACCEPTING. ]

❝ okay, so that's the plan ? just putting on our brave faces and seeing where they take us ? ❞ paris doesn't hate those odds. like quinn, they know how to save face when it counts. call it a product of their similar backgrounds . . . of being raised in suffocation, but still having to look like you're breathing. they fix their posture beside her and throw a thumb up. ❝ i think i can handle that, ❞

it's hard, being little fishes in the big pond that is LA. paris knows she would have been able to navigate on her own out of pure drive to succeed, but that doesn't mean it's not nice to have a partner in crime. they have her back in a way that would be blindly loyal if quinn didn't also have their best interest in mind.

all around them, more established members of the scene mingle. paris searches for a conversation that's open - ended enough to allow them in. then, she elbows quinn. ❝ you ready to jump in ? we're jumping, we're jumping now, ❞

[curseplay]

@selfruin sent: 📞 . . . for a drunk phone call . [ ACCEPTING. ]

they just played our songs back to back. back to fucking back on some random— random radio station ! [ they're being carted home from a party, any news they give hot of the presses and delivered from the lap of their bandmate where they rest their head. ] i told everyone to shut the fuck up . . . and then talked the whole way through about how that's daisy, my friend daisy. we used to work together ! we used to want to make it big ! we fucking made it big ! same station, same time !

[ its been a long time since they've talked, but paris watches daisy . . . watches the six like a hawk. a proud hawk. ] i miss you, babe. you're so beautiful— your voice and your face and your . . . soul ? your everything. you had me so fucked up back then. and now you got whole world fucked up. tell all those silly boys that if they— i'll fuck 'em up if i have to. if they hurt you. i'll go down swinging for you if y' ever need me still.