“oh,” Comes Out Her Response, Followed By A Nod. Jackie Takes A Glance At Their Surrounding For A

although the night shifts at the hospital are getting easier to manage by now, rachel couldn’t deny that she still loses track of time now and then. having been a morning person for most of her life, she finds it weird to go bed at the time she usually wakes up and start her day when it’s already noon ⸻ it’s a routine that she’s slowly getting used to, and to avoid going out while she’s recovering from a night shift, she would usually opt to cook for lunch. rachel has always been the type to favor homemade food over anything else, but after staring at her almost empty fridge for a hot minute, she realizes that she might have forgotten to do grocery shopping that week. well, it’s not like it never happened before.

after much contemplation she decides to go out, thinks it would be a good idea to have a walk and eat outside for a change. rachel stops by plantas atlas on her way, something that she does out of habit since moving into the area. how could she not? it’s the only place she knows she could find felix, and despite her own stomach growling she couldn’t help but wonder if he has eaten, if he’s doing well at all. rachel doesn’t really expect he would emerge from the back door, just like the other times she’s come here, but there he is. she finally manages to catch felix at the right time and yet she freezes in her spot, unsure what to even say first.

“would you even pick up if i call first?” she asks, although she already knows that he wouldn’t. it’s why she chooses to linger around his plant shop instead; it would be harder to avoid her if they run into each other like this anyways. “i came here to see you,” she admits, tears welling up in her eyes. “i was just on my way to get lunch. have you eaten yet?“ 

( @detruines )

this is quickly becoming a habit; felix falling asleep at plantas atlas, whether it's over inventory or simply a bottle of something a little too strong for even his taste - his clothes rumpled from an unsteady sleep each morning as he tries to leave unnoticed, like some sort of late night call. it's not his fault that on most days - it's already dark by the time he gets out of the shop; it's not his fault that he's scared of - not the dark - but driving in it. it's one of those fears that grip him as hard as he grips the steering wheel, knuckles white with the anxiety. he probably couldn't drive, even if he wanted to; his body reacts too physically to the memories.

so he sleeps there, sometimes - so what? it's never been a problem before; nobody stops him out of concern, nobody checks his whereabouts. nobody disrupts his routine. but it's half - past noon, and he's slept in - and god, there's this crick in his neck that makes him feel like he's one second away from just being stuck at an angle, permanently; and he needs coffee. badly. so he slips out of the backroom, and out of plantas atlas - already open, already in full swing - in his wrinkly, day - before clothes with his head ducked down... and runs into no other than rachel. "oh - christ -" it's too late to turn back around; he's already lingering in the doorway for far too long than he personally likes. he hates people lingering in the doorways - it's either come in, or get out.

"- what are you doing here?" it comes out harsher than he expects it to - a combination of a bad night's sleep, and genuine surprise; caught off guard. "ever thought about fucking... calling first, sometime?"

although their words should’ve made her heart flutter, somehow they just leave a bitter taste in her mouth. there’s a sudden urge to bite back at spencer, but she has never been the type to lash out at somebody, even if she’s still upset that they just upped and went on with their life one day. “i know,” jackie responds, grinning cheekily. “you must be going through some crazy shit if you’re out here trying to contact demons. what have you been up to without me, huh?” although it comes out as a silly banter, she truly wants to know all about it. there are so many questions she wants to ask, but for now she decides to bite her tongue ⸻ she doesn’t want to risk scaring spencer off now that they’re here. “oh, i’m just visiting my cousin. he’s a really busy man, so i had to come here and find him myself,” she chuckles. taking a moment to gaze at spencer, she wonders if they would stick around this time, or maybe they would try to run away from her again. either way she thinks it’s worth a try, so she asks, “do you want to check out this bar together? see if we could find any ghost or demon to contact?” it’s her way of saying we should definitely talk. “pretty sure they got some spooky ass drinks we could try too.”

i could never forget you, they should say, but instead settles for, "you're hard to forget." despite going no contact, spencer thinks of jackie often, thinks of reaching out, trying to mend things. but they haven't, clearly, as they're standing shell-shocked in front of her. they know that jackie knows they meant what are you doing in chile, but they only hum in reply, "mm, right. i had the same thought, was hoping to see if could contact any demons. brought my ouija board and everything." they joke, trying to act at all like this is normal, like they haven't been ignoring their connection for so long, "i... well, it's a complicated answer," not really, "just been going through some personal bullshit and my mom used to take me here as a kid. just needed a break." they shrug, "now your turn. what brings you to chile? other than trying to find a ghost at this bar, of course." they resist the urge to move closer. even after all this time, there's a natural draw, there's a palpable connection that's hard to shake.

the sudden nudge on her ankle makes rachel jump in her seat. if this was some other time she would have been upset that vanni almost gave her a heart attack (well, he still did though) on purpose, but once she manages to process what he just said, rachel shakes her head gently at him. “sorry about that,” she sighs. must be the lack of sleep i’m getting these days; somehow the words get stuck in her throat ⸻ it’s not her turn to tell him about her life updates yet, so she takes a small sip of her tea, hoping it would keep her stay focused this time. “what were you saying just now? i’m sorry i wasn’t listening- i mean, i did, but then i don't know what's gotten into me.” she offers him an apologetic smile. “can you tell me about it again? you said it’s an important life update.”

who: vanni && rachel ! [@detruines] where: little leaves

little leaves meant a lot to vanni for more reasons than them being blooms & coffee's competitor (if you see him sitting in little leaves, no you didn't). it was the place that vanni associated with being productive and work on whatever project he was working on and he had the person he was sitting across to thank that for. amongst all the places they had gone for him to be tutored, little leaves was his favorite. "¡che!" he nudges her ankle with his foot, a habit that he didn't seem to grow out of in all his years of knowing rachel. "the fuck are you looking at? you've been spacing out this whole time i've been trying to tell you about an important life update." he turns around in his seat and looks behind him to see if he can make out who or what rachel was looking at that was more important than him catching her up on his life.

Upgraded (2024) dir. Carlson Young

while it’s true that jackie is heading towards caos tattoos, she doesn’t rush over when she notices the shop is being closed right before she could even get there. it’s not like getting tattoos is one of her plans tonight ⸻ jackie was just hanging around the area when she came across the tattoo shop earlier, clearly still open by that time so she wanted to check it out, and since she’s already here it’s only right she gets a new tattoo, right? “well, there goes my luck,” she sighs, feigning a disappointed look. “don’t you have like new client privilege or something? i’m only late by what, five seconds?” jackie is not usually a demanding person, and she’s not trying to be, but she thinks it would be fun to try and convince him anyways. “come on, i just wanna get something easy and sweet. what are you in the rush for anyways?”

for: open @valpostart. where: caos tattoos, quilpe.

the shop's 'open for walk-ins!' motto has long reached its limit. elias can see the figure walking up from the window, but he's already set on locking the door. open sign, shut off. keys, in hand. steps out and swiftly locks it without making the effort to buy them any time. turns, speaks aloud: " we're open late, but you're just a little too late. " a sorry attempt at a light joke— a make up for the rushed door slam.

“hey, good morning!” she greets rania back, mirroring the smile on her face as she takes the cup of coffee with both hands. “this is so sweet of you, rania. thank you so much.” rachel already had her daily dose of caffeine earlier, but she wouldn’t mind another one. “everything’s good, we’re doing so good.” for once she’s being honest, although it wouldn’t be wrong to see it as some sort of manifestation too. “i mean, manifesting is really just you believing in something hard enough it becomes real, and i do believe in your manifesting power! today’s going to be an easy day for sure,” she agrees, taking a small sip of her coffee. “yes and yes. can’t take good care of other people if you don’t take care of yourself first, right? what about you? everything’s good with you too, i hope?”

for @detruines where? the hospital!

"good morning!" rania chirps, handing the other a fresh cup of coffee and flashing her a smile, "how we doing? everything good? sleep deprivation hitting?" she takes a sip of her own coffee, humming, "today's going to be an easy day. i'm manifesting it. not that i believe in manifestation, but that's what all you young people say now, right? you're manifesting and the aura or whatever." she waves this off, "anyway, are you drinking enough water? did you eat breakfast this morning?"

“so you’re one of those good kids who just eat everything, huh? that’s cute,” she tells adem, head tilting to the side as she muses. “i’m sure your cooking is not bad. if it was she would have told you earlier, right? i know some kids can be brutally honest like that. just give her a little break, babes. it’s okay to not eat your veggies sometimes.” jackie would know because she’s been there, done that too. “do i eat vegetables?” she repeats his question playfully. “well, yeah, i do now! but there was a time i really hated it too, just like emmy. my parents never really cared about it so in the end i just went back into it myself. i could say i’ve grown, ” she laughs. “now that i think about it, maybe it’s some sort of a rebellion after all. have you ever talked this out with emmy though?”

"well, i ate vegetables when i was her age!" not that he had much of a choice, "my sister and i ate whatever. and emmy did eat them, but then she turned eight and suddenly... it's all ewww gross, baba." adem shakes his head, "do you think this is some sort of rebellion? she's growing up on me and suddenly my cooking is bad?" or maybe his cooking isn't that good. he made a note to ask ysla. and also rohan, for a more blunt answer, "well, when did you start eating vegetables? do you eat vegetables?" he hopes so, but he will withhold judgement regardless.

#that’s me right now

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”

— Mandy Hale