Status: Open @valpostart Location: Cerro Barrón Street Market

"i'm not working on anything special at the moment. i was just trying to de-clutter my brain instead of my usual avoidant behaviors. the biggest perk about finally leaving the house so far has been running into you though." salem replied with a smile. it was nice seeing esme in a normal social setting, typically she was feeding salem drinks los fantasmas. "not dead just....dead adjacent i guess?" she teased. "i'm okay though, i needed some time to rot and not be around people. i am sorry i've been ghost. but more importantly how are you?"

             ꒰ა  ♡  ໒꒱--— the  sight  of  salem  is  a  welcome  one;  esme  hadn't  seen  her  in  a  minute,  and  while  she  had  reached  out,  she'd  always  been  a  proponent  of  "giving  people  their  space".  she  knew  salem  would  come  back  out  into  the  land  of  the  living  when  the  time  called,  but  that  didn't  mean  she  missed  her  any  less.  her  smile  is  bright  as  she  slides  into  the  seat  across  from  her,  burgundy  nails  tapping  against  the  coffee  she  cradles  in  her  hands  (  snickerdoodle  coffee  with  cinnamon  and  two  extra  sugar  packets  today  ),  "  watcha  workin'  on  ?  long  time  no  see,  thought  you  died  or  something.  "

the thought of everclear made salem shudder a bit in disgust. "everclear? is that even legal to serve inside a bar to actual living people?" she said with confusion before shrugging. truthfully she'd take anything at this point. "i trust whatever concoction you come up with. i just need to not feel how i'm feeling right now which is a lot of guilt and a just a little bit of shame." she wasn't proud at leaving the way she did that morning but she was a little embarrassed that she had to get absolutely wasted to talk to him. salem listened to esme and nodded. she was right at it being different considering leon was her ex-whater. "i have no idea what i'm going to do about it.." pausing for a moment before taking the drink from esme. "but i do think it'll be smart to stay far far away from him until i figure it out right?"

             oh,  okay,  they're  starting  off  strong  today. esme  blinks  for  a  moment  before  nodding,  turning  to  look  at  the  various  bottles  of  alcohol  behind  her  and  cringing  a  bit,  "  i  could  give  you  just  straight  everclear,  but  i  would  think  you'd  want  to  ...  enjoy  it,  no ? "  an  everclear  cocktail  sounds  disgusting,  so  esme  decides  she'll  put  some  flavored  moonshine  in  something  pretty  and  get  salem  fucked  up  the respectable way.  her  eyebrows  raise  a  bit  at  the  start,  though  by  the  end  of  salem's  sentence  she's  shrugging,  "  i  mean  –  no ? i  don't  stay  longer  than,  like,  seven  am  with  any  hookup  i  have.  that's  weird.  "  a  pause.  she  shouldn't  be  the  pinnacle  of  advice  for  this,  "  it  ... might be  different  when  it's  your  ex-boyfriend-it's-complicated-weird-thing,  though.  what're  you  gonna  do  about  it ? "

salem grabbed the flowers and started cutting the stems as leon spoke preparing them to go in the vase. they were beautiful and normally something so simple would make her feel like the happiest girl in the world but the longer she looked at them the sadder she got about things all over again. his comment threw her off for a moment and the most she could manage to reply with was a chuckle at first. how was she supposed to respond to that anyways? "well, i've been here and i haven't left so i'm not sure why it's so weird for you without me. shouldn't be the other way around?" the words blurted out of her mouth without a second thought. it was probably a bit harsh but it was the truth. before she could respond to his question he ripped the band-aid off for the both of them and decided to address the elephant in the room. she nodded as she placed the flowers in the vase and looked over at him. "you're right, we should talk about things. i'd love to know what you're doing here and why you've suddenly just barrelled back into my life like things didn't end the way they did. it better be one hell of an explanation too." things were different this time. her guard was way up with him.

leon chuckles at her teasing, he'd missed her so fucking much. "they're no pastel de choclo, but i figured you'd like them better," he attempts to lighten the tension that's building between them. it could easily be cut with a knife. after salem starts small talk, leon twists his lips out of nervous habit. "it's been fine. not the same without you." it's actually been weird as fuck. he doesn't feel as connected to the city as he used to. adjusting back to the valpo lifestyle has been complicated, especially because he's really tight on money right now, and everything's even more expensive than before he left. oh right, and the weird feeling of not being cooped up in a house with his grandma and his teetering-on-alcoholic mother. "you?" leon huffs out the word, but clearly he'd rather talk about the elephant in the room right now. "actually, listen, i'm really so fucking sorry, sal. can we sit down and talk about it? please." he doesn't expect the conversation to bring everything back to normal. she has all the right to not trust him right now. he knows he fucked up. he didn't mean to tho. leon loves the woman standing in front of him with all his messed up heart. it beats faster as the words roll out of his mouth. he wonders if she can hear it.

Kiana Ledé

salem let out a small chuckle at her response. with all the hand made pottery and jewelry it was understandable to feel a little cautious. "i'm sure you're not that clumsy. but if this isn't really your speed we can do something else maybe? i just thought this would have something for everyone." still being very new to the area meant salem had so much more to explore which made her open to other people's interests and it was nice to be able to make new friends in a different scene. it was a good distraction for her anyways. "seriously i'm open to anything. birdie convinced me to let them teach me about dungeons and dragons and we spent hours the other day playing. at this point in my life im very easily influenced." she said jokingly.

in  all  honesty,  there's  still  quite  a  few  places  aviva  hasn't  explored  yet.  between  working,  and  trying  to  make  sure  her  life  doesn't  implode,  making  sure  birdie  doesn't  kill  anymore  innocent  plants,  or  that  charlie  isn't  rearing  his  big  forhead  back  into  her  life  (  more  on  that  later  )  ,  it's  been  a  bit  difficult  to  go  out  and  do  things.  an  eyebrow  raises  slightly  at  the  sight  of  the  bag.  if  she  was  braver,  she'd  be  able  to  do  the  same  —  but  also,  as  silly  as  it  sounds,  she  doesn't  want  to  intrude  on  her  cousins  house.  it's,  like,  a  respect  thing,  she's  sure.  "i  just  —  i  dunno,  i'm  really  picky,  you  know?"  kind  of.  "and  i'm  afraid  if  i  touch  anything,  it'll  break.  bull  in  a  china  shop  deal,  you  know?"

salem smiled as leon wrapped his arm around her and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. it was refreshing the way they fell back into the groove of their relationship. "well...it's cute but not enough for me to want to buy it." she shrugged before placing the ring back down on the table. salem took his hand in hers as the two continued to walk by the various souvenir tables before stopping at a shaded off spot beneath a tree. "well usually i'd want to be backstage but i think i want to watch from the crowd this time." leaning back against the tree she draped her arms around his neck looking up at him. "that way i'll be able to get better pictures of you and i can vlog some of the performance for you if you want." salem had been taking pictures of leon on stage since the two became friends and it ended up becoming a reoccurring thing when they officially started dating. "who knows, maybe i'll run into jlo in the crowd and we can finally become best friends."

leon chuckles and turns the camera off. "okay so first, i'm not shoving the camera in your face, so relax," he teases as he puts the device back in his backpack. "vivi loves you. you know that." the man puts an arm around her waist as he too focuses on the souvenirs. magnets and notebooks and rings and macrame bracelets. "i like this one," he smiles pointing to a silver-colored ring that has a tribal pattern. "they're too small for my fingers tho. maybe you should get it." he squeezes her tighter against his body. being back together with salem feels natural. he'd missed her too much. having his girl back on his side is what makes him happy. "do you wanna see my show from the crowd or backstage? i can get you a pass."

salem's instagram !! @valpoinspo

tbh salem has a weird relationship with social media. she's a little more private about what she posts and is very big on using the close friends feature (she's too lazy to keep up with a private account lmao) if she weren't a musician she probably wouldn't want such a big presence online. her typical posts are random things like stevie and her friends and plants.

when salem left sariyah for a moment to go take a call from her mother in the bedroom it seemed like the other had everything under control in the kitchen. she came over to hang out with salem at her rental and said she'd found a recipe online she wanted to try. while salem chatted away with her mom on facetime she started to smell something burning and the blaring of the smoke alarm proceeded soon after. "uh- i have to go mom. i think something is one fire." she said a bit confused before hanging up and rushing into the smoke filled kitchen. "oh shit! okay..." she exclaimed while trying her best not to panic, it didn't wouldn't help any if the two of them were freaking out. salem noticed the stove and oven were already turned off (smart move on sariyah's part) before she proceeded to open up the balcony door to air some of the smoke out. "it's okay! we just need some ventilation in here. is your arm okay? did you get burned?" she was a bit flustered as she opened the oven door to let the smoke out. "we should probably step out on the balcony for a bit, yeah?"

status / open , ( @valpostart ) location / either her place or the other muses place teehee !

               the   soup   on   the   stove   was   boiling   to   the   point   of   bubbles,   which   she   could've   sworn   her   tutorial   said   would   happen.   (   specifically,   it   said   a   slow   boil   but   what   was   happening   then   was   more   like   the   race   of   the   jets   in   a   hot   tub   producing   bubbles   ).   any   confidence   in   her   meal   was   quickly   washed   out   by   the   pop   of   the   soup   pot   boiling   over.   but   that   only   seemed   to   be   the   catalyst.   as   she   reached   for   the   knobs   to   turn   everything   off,   ignoring   the   burn   of   being   splashed   by   the   liquid   battling   to   get   out,   smoke   began   to   peak   out   of   the   oven.   when   the   wailing   of   the   alarm   started,   her   own   surprised   scream   matched   its   pitch   as   she   backed   away   from   everything.   "   i   don’t   know   what   i   did   !   "   she   exclaimed   as   she   heard   the   rushing   of   footsteps   entering   the   kitchen   and   raised   her   hands   if   in   surrender.   sariyah   couldn’t   pinpoint   where   she   went   wrong.   perhaps   the   smoke   pooling   out   from   the   oven   like   it   was   a   magician’s   trick   was   an   accumulation   of   many   mistakes.   if   she’s   asked,   however,   she   couldn’t   tell   you   what   those   missteps   looked   like.   “   what   did   i   do   ?   what   do   i   do   ?   i   don’t   know   !   i   didn’t   mean   to   !   ”   embarrassment   overtook   her   as   she   looked   to   the   other   in   the   room   probably   wondering   the   same   thing   she   was   :   what   the   hell   happened   ?

salem giggled at luna's response. most of the time luna was in some sort of platform boot and after a while the different styles kind of meshed together in a way. "unfortunately for me i didn't inherit my mom's eye for the little details in fashion but those shoes are super cute." she said reassuringly. "you should see if you can get a brand deal with demonia or something." luna fit the brand's aesthetic perfectly. a big smile stretched across salem's face at luna's reaction. she'd been missing all her close friends terribly the past couple of weeks and was just happy everyone had been giving her the space to be by herself for a bit. "i've been good! i'm working on new music and trying to just hone in on creating again so i've been in a better headspace. a more creative one, finally." she sipped on her coffee and nodded. "i found a cool place here where i can record which is perfect." valpo had become like a second home to salem and truthfully she had no intentions on going back to new york anytime soon. "i really want to work on the whole album here from start to finish if i can. speaking of which i desperately need some luna magic on it." she exclaimed trying her best to contain her excitement about the possibilties. "but enough about that, how have you been? anything interesting going on lately?"

               maybe   if   her   wardrobe   varied   in   color   or   style,   the   black   platform   boots   with   the   broken   heart   buckles   and   chains   hanging   from   the   sides   would   be   recognizable   as   being   new.   though,   she   guessed,   the   pout   on   their   features   would   work   to   serve   the   same   purpose.   "   what   do   you   mean   ?   i've   never   worn   these   out   before   today.   "   they   looked   down   at   them   briefly,   before   releasing   a   sigh   and   making   a   mental   note   to   go   shopping   for   some   more   boots   later.   the   shoes   resting   at   their   side   were   soon   forgotten   at   the   sound   of   salem's   sweet   words.   a   slut   for   reassurance,   it   always   make   luna   light   up   when   they   heard   they   were   missed,   or   thought   of,   or   even   just   someone   they   were   happy   to   see.   "   ay   que   amoroso   !   "   she   nearly   squealed,   her   hand   coming   across   the   table   to   take   hold   of   salem   with   a   small   giggle.   "   nothing   dramatic   about   missing   someone   !   especially   if   the   someone   is   me   because   i've   missed   you   too   !   "   they   explained   scooting   the   chair   more   under   the   table   and   leaning   forward   on   it   to   give   salem   their   full   attention.   "   how   have   you   been   ?   where   have   you   been   ?   don't   leave   any   details   out,   i   feel   like   i've   missed   an   entire   lifetime   !   "