The Thought Of Everclear Made Salem Shudder A Bit In Disgust. "everclear? Is That Even Legal To Serve

salem wasn't sure what hiyori meant when she asked if she'd be open to an adventure in the woods but salem rarely said no to a spontaneous adventure. when the two ended up foraging in the woods with the foodies club, not even salem could have predicted that on her bingo card for the day. "you got the berries right because they're yellow," crouching down to examine them a little better. "i know for a fact most yellow, green and white berries are poisonous." she could explain why she knew that but telling people she spent a lot of time in the woods ( doing witchcraft with her friends ) as a teenager wasn't something you just sprinkle into conversation. "the mushrooms however are kinda tricky but i usually just play it safe and say they're poisonous if they're white in color or have those little bumps on them. your theory would be a cool story idea though."

( open ! ) starter location -> jardín botánico, foraging with the foodies club.

crouching down in front of a winter bush of unidentifiable berries, right beside a clump of oddly shaped, white mushrooms, hiyori sets her chin in her hands. "i'm a little concerned," she starts, "that the berries are poisonous and the mushrooms will transform us into monsters that the government will then hunt us down to experiment on." she sighs. "this is all i've got," she says, showing the other her pretty woven basket, laid with a checkered cloth, on top of which were a handful of leaves and flowers. she's surprised there's life at all in the cold chilean winter, but she's not surprised as how she was daydreaming in the middle of the explanation of what was okay to forage and what should be left alone. "i feel like i'm going to fail the pop quiz," she remarks. "what did you get?"

status: open @valpostart location: cerro barrón street market

"i love this place, i absolutely love it." salem said enthusiastically to the other while holding up her bag of treasures. she'd spent most of the morning at the street market shopping around for things to put in her temporary place in viña del mar to make it feel a little more like a home to her. to no surprise though she mostly purchased jewelry and a few articles of clothing for herself. "i know i'm probably going overboard and i look like such a fucking tourist but i'm a sucker for hand made things. why aren't you as excited as i am?" she said slightly offended the other wasn't sharing her excitement.

the reaction didn't surprise her but salem couldn't help but laugh at her response. "milani stop!" she said before playfully rolling her eyes. "not too much okay? he's actually great. i'm just starting to feel like he may be better off without me and my bullshit." salem didn't have the best track record with men, her last relationship was an absolute dumpster fire. traumatizing would be an understatement. "this is going to disgust you but i'm actually so in love with him it makes me want to run away from him you know?" it sounded crazy but it was the truth. she flashed milani a smile at her compliment, "you're sweet. i'm not even sure if i'm in the place to hook up with anyone truthfully but it may be nice to meet some new people while im here."

               those   were   always   such   great   words   to   start   a   conversation.   milani   wished   she   was   sitting   in   a   swivel   chair   so   that   her   turn   towards   salem   had   a   much   more   ominous   affect.   she   settled   for   clutching   her   luke   warm   cup   of   coffee   up   to   her   chest   as   she   watched   salem.   milani   didn't   even   need   to   hear   the   rest   of   the   question   to   give   out   her   very   sound,   thought   out,   and   unbiased   opinion:   "   HELL   yes.   "   there   was   plenty   of   emphasis   on   the   hell.   "   are   you   joking   ?   easiest   answer   i   ever   could've   given.   i   never   understood   what   you   saw   in   him.   or   why.   just   know   that   you   should   get   out   while   you   can.   "   she   concluded,   eyeing   the   dress.   "   honestly   ?   you   could   walk   into   divine   in   a   trash   bag   and   hooves   and   still   get   attention   with   a   face   card   like   yours.   "   milani   said,   playfully   taking   salem's   chin   between   her   thumb   and   index   finger   for   a   brief   moment.   "   but   i   would   go   for   something   shorter   and   boobier.   "

"unfortunately my black cat stevie is so territorial and eats up so much of my attention that even if i could ethically own a real flamingo, she wouldn't allow it. she's basically my landlord at this point." she teased before giving birdie a playful nudge. the comment about the dominguez-herreras made her giggle. "funny enough i actually have. guess they're rubbing off on me." she smiled and gave birdie a reassuring nod at the choice of necklace. "that's actually perfect for you! the color suits your personality, you're like human sunshine. it'll be my birthday gift to you and anything else you come across here that you may want." salem had a habit of spoiling the people in her life but she didn't mind it, plus birdie had been such a great friend to salem in the short time they'd known one another.

birdie stops herself from apologizing again — old people pleasing habits die hard, and it takes them a moment of opening and closing their mouth before their brain catches up, “ okay — fine, but you know that’s hard for me. i think it would look cute !  i’d say you could get a real flamingo, but that just seems cruel. “ eyes widen for a moment as she looks at salen, a little nervous laugh falling past her lips, “ you been hanging out with the dominguez-herreras recently ? that’s a them thing to do. “ which birdie can rock with, in the event it’s not their own blood. a pause, “ i like amethyst, it’s pretty. buuut — what about this one — ? “ birdie holds up a little citrine necklace, the bright yellow color stunning in the light, “ it matches your amethyst one, even the shape. so they’ll represent us both ! “

"yeah, you are an asshole actually." salem replied, only half serious. she looked down at their hands as he grabbed hers and listened to him speak. his reasoning made sense, sort of...but she knew how bad his mental health could get and had seem him through bad times in the past. she couldn't really understand why this time would be any different. "well you hurt me anyways so..." her voice trailing off for a moment before continuing. "we've been through so much. i know you believe that you were sparing me a lot of pain by ending things but you did the opposite. i felt like shit about myself when you left me and i was in a really horrible place. i guess i just figured after everything we'd been through we truly could get through anything. i would have seen it through with everything you dealt with but you really didn't give us a chance to at least try." she started getting emotional as she spoke, there was so much hurt coming to the surface from the past couple of months. could she really just forget about all of that and move forward with him? salem was a little surprised when he said he hadn't slept with anyone else while they were apart --unfortunately she couldn't say the same but that was another conversation for another time. "i believe you when you say that." her eyes met his when he cupped her face in his hands. leon looked so defeated from it all it broke her heart. if anything she was more upset that he didn't let her be there for him. "that wasn't your decision to make for me though. i get you didn't want me to feel trapped or whatever but it wasn't fair of you to decide that for me. i would have stuck around, we could have worked it out somehow." letting out a sigh she pulled back as his thumbs grazed her cheek. she missed him terribly and felt way too vulnerable in this moment to his affection. "I love you and i'm sorry you were having such a hard time, i really am but...." her nerves starting to get the best of her. "i'm just tired of breaking up and i really need to think about things. we're gonna go through plenty other hard times and we'll be apart for long periods of time with the both of us being musicians and i wanna feel secure with you but i don't right now."

leon nods his head, everything she's saying is totally valid right now. "yeah, i'm an asshole," he sighs with the littlest nervous grin. the only thing keeping him together right now is knowing that he really did have the best intentions and it was all a miscommunication problem. "listen, sal," the blond runs a hand through his hair before getting a hold of her own hands. they're cold and he hates it, it hurts. "what i meant was that i didn't trust myself, or my mental health, not to hurt you, you know? exhibit a," he shrugs his shoulders, hoping she would understand. "imagine how shitty i would've made you feel if we kept in touch while i was dealing with all of that. i didn't trust myself enough to be an adult and not lash out at you if i was feeling particularly stressed or depressed one day. i never, ever," he emphasizes the word and holds her hand tightly so she can feel how sorry he is, "meant to hurt you. i never meant to make you feel like i wanted to, i don't know, fuck someone else because my dick thinks on its own. i didn't, alright? i didn't fuck anyone else. i need you to believe me, sal. please." leon makes a bold decision and runs his hand up to cup her face. "and i honestly didn't think she would've died so soon. i've heard stories about people with alzheimer that live on for more than five, ten years. and i didn't want you to feel trapped in that. you don't deserve that." his voice shakes, he needs her to know where he's coming from and how sorry he is. "i really do apologize. it's no excuse but i guess the fear of you leaving me because i turned into such a stranger, a cruel one, would be too much. maybe it's one of those rip-the-bandaid things before you'd do it for me. i guess i would've rather hurt you first so you didn't have to put with my shit. i know it's not... it's not fair and it maybe doesn't make much sense to you right now, but sal," he looks into her eyes and grazes the pad of his thumbs along her cheekbones. so fucking pretty. "i swear you would've hated my guts. i wasn't my best self. i'm only my best self, or i try to be, when i'm with you." leon falls silent for a few seconds. "i'm sorry i didn't trust myself enough to do it alone. i love you. i understand if you don't wanna see me again. i just needed you to know everything"

closed- for @hntedhouse // drew location - casa dragones

"so like, every time i play can i keep being these cute ethereal elf characters? or do i have to switch out every once in a while? i saw in a reddit thread that using the same character in different campaigns is obnoxious ." salem was virtually clueless when it came to d&d. she'd been dabbling in it only for a short while but she was already having a hard time keeping up with everything, luckily for her that's where drew and birdie came in to help. "you and birdie are like my guru's when it comes to this. i'm trusting you not to make me look like a complete idiot when i'm officially ready to do my first campaign." she said with a laugh.

"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.

as salem plucked a few grapes off the vine she chuckled at solana. the age difference between the two of them seemed to slip her mind until it was mentioned. solana always reminded salem of a big sister no more than a few years older than herself. "you talk as if you're like....prehistoric babe. you're still pretty young. there's no real reason why you can't go on a bar crawl with me or be backstage at a concert." giving the other a playful nudge. she didn't have many older friends but it was refreshing to be around new people with different hobbies than hers. "i'm just now getting into it really and the most i know is that i hate those dry bitter red wines." she scrunches her face up at the thought. "i just don't have the taste palette for it honestly. whats your favorite?"

the joy radiating off of salem was infectious, and the slight ache in solana's cheeks from smiling so much was proof of that. " oh, super believable. " the comment accompanied by a soft bout of laughter. " now don't get me wrong, that's not a dig about who you are as a person. " she told her, plucking a few more grapes from the vine before tossing them into her basket. " you're young, there are way more fun things to do at your age. " truthfully, she would have been more surprised if she was a wine connoisseur. " i know i didn't do my first wine tasting until i was at least your ago. i just didn't have the palate for it back then. " now having a glass at the end of a long day was one of sol's preferred ways to unwind. at the admission, she rested a hand on salem's forearm, giving her a faint shake of her head. " i would never. "

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   !   "