#2 wips open and i can't manage to add anything for either of them

[vinmauro]

wip weekend challenge

so here are the snippets per my poll found here. i don't know how to do math so i can't figure out how to do sentences per vote. so instead i'm doing each of them with sentences per total votes. so 24 sentences across the board. (next time i do a poll i'm going to add a little "acey's rules" where i change the rules based on what math is easier)

below are each of the snippets and hopefully for wip wednesday y'all will be excited to see more from these guys. & since bartender au was the winner i did write specifically more in it i'm just giving you a snippet of 24 ish sentences. also i don't want to spoil so i gave a snippet from tied part 2 rather than 3 but i promise i did write 24 sentences!!

another life

“No, I don’t think you want to,” her voice was soft but there was something else in it. Something a little sharper, hidden beneath the hurt she felt, hiding within the words. She didn’t think that he wanted to do this, that he wanted to end what they had. Because neither did she. Does he think that she does? There was another long stretch of silence. He fidgeted whenever he was upset or stressed, she could tell he was spinning his rings on his fingers, chewing on his lips. She knew everything about him. Or she thought she did. She liked to think she did. “Then what are we doing? Are we going to keep fighting for another six months until one of us ends up cheating and getting caught?” She closed her eyes when he spoke. She didn’t need to look at him. “Fuck! We don’t need a messy divorce on page six, right?” The word hung between them. Divorce. It was so final. It was so full of pain and anger and exhaustion from months of fighting. Months of growing apart. She had a tour coming up, he had a movie. They were going to be separated anyway so why not go for it completely? Sever ties between them, divvy up the things they own together, and figure out who gets the house in Beverly and who gets the apartment in New York.

daydreams

“You good, man?” Argyle’s voice filtered through Jonathan’s thoughts or lack of. It was almost like static was in his brain instead of the usual thoughts that kept him up at night. Without realizing it, he had calmed down, he had shut down his mind and breathing felt easier. He looked up at Argyle and blinked a few times. Is he good? “Yeah, I’m good,” he watched Argyle place the joint somewhere safe and moved to open up the side door. All of the smoke that seemed to accumulate inside the van began pouring out, it hit the sinking light of the sun in a way that made Jonathan giggle. Well, anything will make him giggle now, but it was kind of pretty. With slow hands, he managed to pick up his camera and take photographs of the last remaining tendrils of smoke. He hoped they’d show up the way he thinks they will. And without any warning, he turned to snap a picture of Argyle, who was half sitting and half lying, with a smile on his face. It was wide, close-lipped but it reached his eyes. He looked content. He looked beautiful. But he wouldn’t say that out loud. God. If he did that would be embarrassing. “Do you want to go hit some golf balls?” Argyle was already moving, not even waiting for Jonathan to say anything, grabbing a couple of golf clubs from beside Jonathan. When did they get there? And a bucket of balls. They were really going to hit some golf balls. He placed his camera down in its bag, keeping it in the van as he very slowly moved out. Or maybe he was moving regularly and his brain was thinking it was slow. Either way, he felt wobbly on his legs and every step made him laugh a little more. So, is this being stoned? He felt floaty, like a balloon, and if Argyle wasn’t going to hold on to him he was going to float away.

tied pt 2

The early morning light was a blueish gray, casting an eerie glow over the street. Birds sang in the trees, the morning routine uninterrupted as usual. Too early for the paperboys, too early for the commuters. No, the world around the house slept on, unaware, blissful. Peaceful. They knew, of course, as the whole town knew, of the tragedy that occurred in this house. What they didn’t know was that inside this house lived ghosts. Shells of the people who live here. The constant daily reminder that one does not. An empty bedroom left untouched and eagerly waiting for its occupant’s return. An empty fourth seat at the table, an empty spot for her to stare at while her father stayed quiet and her mother—her mother didn’t know what to do with herself. Swinging from her grief, one minute she’s inconsolable with loud sobs wracking through her body, sure to wake the neighbors and the next she’s putting every ounce of anger and hates she has toward the only child she has left. They didn’t know. They didn’t know the weight of grief that hung around the Cunningham family. They could see it, evident in their polite smiles and eyes full of condolences. They’re so sorry for the family’s loss. But they don’t know. They don’t know the depth of this loss. She is still finding herself falling into the deepest pit of loss with no telling when or if she’ll ever find the bottom. When she thinks she can’t possibly cry more, she manages to cry silently in her room. Sleep evades her. She’s watched the sun come up for days now. She barely eats. Both out of her grief and out of fear of her mother’s pointed wrath. She doesn’t take calls. She hasn’t called her worried boyfriend. She couldn’t deal with the outside world. Not yet.

bartender au

Nancy was about to open her mouth but luckily, for everyone in close proximity, someone else yelled from their spot a few feet from the bar. And continued to talk at high speeds as they neared the bar. “Good! You met! Argyle, Nancy this is Eddie Munson. He’s like some rockstar turned solo act or whatever. Anyway, he’s stranded here, in town, so I figured he could stay with us. What’s another body, yeah?” Robin Buckley loved to take in strays. Anyone who seemed down and out and needed someone to pick them up by the scruff of their neck. When Nancy landed in the city a year ago, Robin was the first person she sought out because she knew Robin. Before she got popular here before anyone knew her from social media or from performing when she was just a band geek that went to her college. Robin took Nancy in without even a second to think about it. She simply said sure. Eddie seems to be another stray. “No.” Was all Nancy could say, shaking her head as if it would make a point. As if she was the one who paid the rent or bills when she was not. Argyle had the apartment covered while Robin did the bills and let Nancy stay on a pull-out sofa in the living room. Even Steve paid his way through making family-style dinners for them whenever the four of them are home together. It isn’t often but it’s pretty appreciated. “Rob, I’m going to have to side with the angry one,” Argyle was using his apology voice, trying to let Robin down in easy and soft tones. “Wait, why?” Robin was looking between her roommates with confusion, her brows furrowed and her blue eyes almost clouded. “Theory three,” was all Argyle said and Nancy watched Robin’s confusion worsen before theory three dawned on her as eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened into a perfect circle.

before sunrise au

Someone had walked into the back of the train car, where he was sitting, and took a seat from across him. He was tall with long, black hair and there was something about him that caught Steve’s attention. He gave Steve a polite smile, one that he returned, before trying to go back to reading. “Sorry,” Oh good, he’s American. At least by the sound of it. No more language barrier. It’s been fucking hard being on a completely different continent, in different countries, and each of them looks at you like you’re the enemy because you only speak American English. “Do you know what they’re arguing about?” Steve had to laugh with a shake of his head. “Unfortunately, my time in high school was not spent learning and mastering the German language.” It was spent usually thinking about girls, occasionally boys, and trying to get Nancy Wheeler to fall in love with him. What a waste of four years. “Right. That’s German? Damn, makes sense then. We are in German-speaking lands,” the other guy looked around at the car, then out the windows, as if he was just now realizing where they were. “I was fine in Spain. I mean the vernacular is completely different but I could at least understand it, y’know?” “I take it you know Spanish, then?” “Yep, first language.” Steve was now completely forgetting about his book. There was something about this stranger on the train that captivated him. Maybe it was his cool exterior. Maybe he was just hot. Either way, Steve wanted this to keep going. Whatever the fuck this is.

^ most of these have been written on the fly so there isn’t a whole lot of editing going on.