Salem Could Understand Why He Was So Angry But She Wasn't Used To Him Being This Way Towards Her. It

KIANA LEDÉ via tiktok . ( ♡︎ )

Kate Chopin, from The Awakening

cybermuses by mar. she/her. 29. est. dependent muse for VALPOHQ.

˖ ✶ ˙ ˖ ✶ salem west - INTRO. PINTEREST. ˖ ✶ ˙ ˖ ✶

her gaze was focused on an older calico cat as sade spoke. the other's comment raised excitement in salem's plan for another fur child. "please don't tell me that...then i'll have to be inclined to take one home and explain to stevie why she suddenly has another sibling." as the cat climbed into her arms she smiled up at sade trying her best to be normal. "you're not really supposed to pick one per say. you have to let the cat come find you. it's what the cat distribution system is all about after all. stevie was a kitten on the streets of new orleans when i found her." she let out a small giggle as she stroked the cats fur completely in awe of the different color patterns on it's fur. "if i could take all these home with me i would but my apartment would look like this cafe. i'm too young and hot to be the seven cats lady yet. but one more won't hurt right?"

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏────────────────────

-ˋˏ ‏‏‎ ‎꒰ ‏‏‎ ‎🪐 ‏‏‎ ‎꒱‏‏‎ ‎ ──‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎sade  knows  you're  not  supposed  to  pick  them  up.  you're  supposed  to  let  the  cats  come  to  you.  but  they're  so  cute  !  and  fluffy  !  and  salem  wants  one  (  and  sade  thinks,  with  a  face and a voice  like  that,  salem  should  get  whatever  she  wants.  )  surely  one  little  squeeze  wouldn't  hurt.  .  .  reaching  her  hand  up  to  scratch  her  finger  against  the  chin  of  a  particularly  affectionate  tabby,  she  glances  down  towards  salem──  who  seems  to  be  pouring  the  same  affection  over  a  different  kitty.  "  aren't  they  rescues  ?  "  she  wonders aloud,  "  i  think  that's  the  whole  point  !  but  how  are  you  supposed  to  pick  which  one  you're  going  to  take  home  ?  "  captain snuggles  would,  probably,  not  appreciate  a  large  feline  friend  in  the  house.  he's territorial. it  doesn't  stop  sade  from  wistfully  hoping  she  could  also  take  one  of  them  with  her,  too.  "  wouldn't  you  feel  bad  about  leaving  all  of  the  others  here  ?  " 

if you could pick any one of your friends to set you up on a blu date, who would you choose and why?

"probably milani because she's so particular about things that i know she won't set me up with any losers. but she's also so particular in the sense that she would refuse to let anyone near me so i probably wouldn't be on a date at all."

"listen, i can respect the culture but not necessarily want to partake in it okay?" salem responded with a chuckle. "plus i don't care what science says, no amount of alcohol can kill the fact that literal feet were in there." despite the gross display in front of her salem gave birdie a nod in agreement to more wine. maybe it was her buzz or just the fact that she was in birdies company but salem didn't think she'd be enjoying herself this much at a winery. "as long as it's not any of that dry and bitter stuff we tried earlier. merlot was it? way too mature for me, i want something a little more on the sweet side."

" it's grape-treading, salem. it's culture. " birdie says it in a very over-dramatic, matter-of-fact tone, clicking their tongue, " and i don't think any icky foot bacteria can survive during the wine-making process. with all the alcohol and stuff. and they use wine presses now, duh. " a pause, eyes watching the people in front of them stomp away at the grapes in a large barrel. is that a barrel ? trough, maybe ? " that being said, that looks like a textural nightmare, so we're not doing it. more wine, maybe ? " of the not-food variety.

salem didn't intend on stealing rohan's cat, technically, but when she came across the cute orange creature she assumed it was a stray and had the bright idea to bring home a friend for stevie. her brain was buzzing with ideas for how the two cats could play and the matching outfits she'd already been plotting on putting them in. secretly she was hoping no one would come looking for it but after some back and forth in the group chat salem realized she did in fact already have a home. the owner in question though was unfortunately it was rohan.

"actually, it's me being a good cat mom and it's you being a horrible cat dad by letting her roam so far i was able to snatch her up. you couldn't pull yourself away from the ocean for two seconds to check on her? truthfully i think she’d be better off with me." salem replied sarcastically as the two sat on her couch observing the napping cats. "you know, if i didn't believe in karma i would have stayed silent in the groupchat but i'd be inconsolable if my cat, stevie which is her name by the way, went missing and i couldn't find her."

closed  starter  for  SALEM  (  @cybermuses  ) location  :  wherever  the  kitty  cats  are  at  right  now  lmfao

-ˋˏ ꒰ 🐚 ꒱ ── boat  cat  does  look  comfortable,  curled  up  in  the  basket,  sleeping  next  to  the  second  cat,  the  black  one,  exactly  like  the  picture.  it's  a  fact  rohan  can't  deny.  he  never  worried  that  she  was  in  the  wrong  hands, really the cat has always come and gone as she wanted,  but  he  did  have  a  lot  of  questions  that  were  left  unanswered  :  how'd  she  get  here  ?  where  did  salem  come  across  her  ?  did  she  know  anything  else  about  this  little  orange  cats  other  alter  egos  ?

"  so  is  this  like.  .  .  some  kind  of  messed  up  cat psychological experiment  thing  ?  "  he  asks  her  dubiously,  "  you  just  go  out  onto  the  street  looking  for  other  unsuspecting  cats  and  then  play  matchmaker  ?  bring  them  home,  set  them  up.  .  .  "  he  gestures  vaguely  towards  the  napping  cats  with  his  hand.  that's  a  weird  hobby,  he  thinks,  ever-curious  to  see  just  how  the  tabby  ended  up  in  this  most  recent  situation.  "  hope  they  live  happily  ever  after  ?  "  he  points  to  the  second  cat,  the  culprit  in  question,  "  can  i  least  know  their  name  or  is  that  an  impolite  thing  to  ask  ?  " 

salem cleared some space on the table for him and shook her head. "you weren't interrupting at all! i'm never going to say no to having someone keep me company." she replied with a reassuring smile. "a true artist? that's new....i've never gotten that before but i'll take it." she let out a small chuckle. her definition of a true artist was someone like her personal hero stevie nicks. "not so much a masterpiece, more so a recording schedule and a lot of boring details i have to jot down for this album. i did start writing a song earlier though so i guess we can call that little bit a masterpiece." salem closed the journal to focus on the other. she'd seen taj around before and knew of him but never really had the chance to actually interact with him. "i'm salem by the way. but besides the smoothie what have you been up to so far today? "

taj had hardly left the house in general anyway. between training for his fights as if he was about to be the next coming of rocky by getting up at 2AM and jogging to crashing around 12PM midday for only 1hour close to 2, taj didn't have the most steady of sleep schedules. it was a big part of why he didn't have many friends since moving three years ago. he made the best of his off days, when he knew he didn't have any fights scheduled and tore away from his two bedroom apartment in spite of temptation. he had ended up wondering about almost like a little puppy in search of adventure and found himself at casablnca blooms and coffee. he was actually trying not to be too obvious glancing towards the beauty in the corner just scribbling away in her notepad. he was so bad at approaching people that if she hadn't suggested for him to join her, he probably would've missed the opportunity. taj was a lot of things, shy was around the 20th of them. he got up trying to remain casual and seem not to eager that someone had noticed him instead of blending in with the dozens of faces. the smoothie in his right hand, he slid into the booth across from her. "I didn't want to interrupt a true artist at her work," he smiled nodding at her journal. "creating a masterpiece in there?"

"i figured maybe we could just hang out like we used to. i also have this song i've been working on and i need your musical genius." salem said after stepping inside. the tension between the two of them lingered in the air as she made her way to the kitchen to set the food down on the counter. "i also came over because i feel like i need to apologize. i know things have been weird between us lately and i just feel really bad about it. plus im actually sober this time so maybe it won't be a complete disaster." she nervously laughed at the last part, the last time she came over things went horribly and resulted in her leaving without the two of them really getting a chance to talk about the breakup or even about how leon felt about everything. salem wasn't sure if that would even be discussed tonight but above everything else she really just missed her best friend.

sundays can be a drag. especially since you still haven't recovered from partying -and more- from two days ago. the headache was gone but he was just, so tired. maybe it wasn't that he went that hard with the booze or the drugs, he doesn't remember doing too much. but seeing salem there, it made him miss her so bad that his body was literally aching for her. he sits on the living room sofa, scrolling through the ubereats app on his phone when he hears three knocks on the door. frowning, leon wonders who it is. he opens the door and is surprised to see her. she looks so good in his bowie t-shirt, and whatever she's got in her hands, it smells great. when salem opens her mouth, his heart melts. a small smile creeps onto his face and he pinches the bridge of his nose before letting her in. "i haven't," the blond closes the door behind him. "thank you."

the party is crowded and salem is hoping leon doesn't make a huge scene in front of everyone else. she didn't blame him for being upset about the other guy but she wasn't doing it on purpose to piss him off. as she finished her drink she was caught off guard by leon suddenly taking her by the arm and into one of the empty bedrooms. "that wasn't aggressive at all..." she said sarcastically after leon pushed her up against the wall. salem was visibly irritable at how confrontational he was being and looked down at the ground as he spoke to her. "i'm not being mean! i'm just confused as to why you're being so aggressive right now? i wasn't flirting with that guy to piss you off. i didn't even know you were going to be here." she replied in frustration while looking up at him, the two of them being inches apart from one another. drama aside though she had to admit he was looking really good tonight.

her sarcastic words go into him like a dagger. what is she mad about now? "aight," he scoffs. looking around, leon recognizes a few faces here and there. the terrace is basically packed and there's no way he can talk to her right now. not now when his heart is beating faster and his mind takes him to inappropriate scenarios in front of other people. "c'mere," he simply demands as he grabs her by the elbow and leads her inside. the fact that she seems to be doing okay without him is killing him. and she'll regret it. once they reach the stairs, leon basically drags her up to one of the empty bedrooms and locks the door behind him. it takes him a split second to push her against the wall. "stop being so fucking mean to me and look at me. look at me," he insists.