Salem Frowned A Bit When Noticing The Grape Juice Splatter All Over His Shirt. Poor Drew Was Kind Of

"we've been separated for so long i forgot about how bad of an influence you could be on me, mal." salem smirked while grabbing her bag and rummaging through it before retrieving a flask. as teens the two were a public relations nightmare together but salem always felt like mallory accepted her for exactly who she was. despite salem being so reckless at times when they were younger their friendship ended up surviving the test of time. "i filled this up before i left in case there was only wine at this thing. i hope you still love tequila."

taking a sip from the flask salem passed it over to mallory soon after. "you have a point, i guess this isn't the setting for everyone to be in their feelings but i'll definitely take the private show." salem teased. at the mention of leon's name she smiled for a moment and shrugged slightly. "we've never been described as disgustingly cute, more like a tad dysfunctional but i'll take it." the two had been a lot better lately and salem was trying her best to make sure things stayed that way. "honestly? i really didn't think i could either. i even ended things twice but i guess when you know you know. he's also been super patient through my bullshit." her interest suddenly peaked on mallory's romantic life. "speaking of significant others who's your current victim?"

"Don't tell me you're thinking of tapping out this early. The Salem I know would keep going until we're shitfaced." Mallory answers with a pout. She needed the liquid courage seeing as it was her first performance in months. Truth is, Mal already had a bit to drink before she came to the festival. But a little more alcohol never hurt, right? Reconnecting with Salem after years apart brings a sense of nostalgia and comfort to Mallory. It takes her back to the good memories she had back in then. "Salem, baby," she says, taking a second to down her drink before continuing. "Do you know how difficult it is to choose which songs to perform? I wanted to sing 'Tummy Hurts' and 'Snow Angel' back to back, but then I thought, 'this is too sad for the festival'. I want people to shake their asses and have a good time, y'know?" "But I can give you a private show…but I don't think Leon would like that," Mal adds with a chuckle. "Speaking of, you two are disgustingly cute, you know that? I swear, I could never do that."

salem, what's your dream date?

“why? do you know someone who wants to take me on one?”

salem could understand why he was so angry but she wasn't used to him being this way towards her. it felt weird and uncomfortable and as she sipped on her water she thought about how coming over was a huge mistake. she was probably better off just hanging out at the bar. "it's not that i don't want to be with you it's just-" she paused for a moment and thought about all the things her and her therapist had talked about after ending things with leon. it was apparent she struggled with stability and romantic relationships weren't her strong suit, unfortunately leon was on the receiving end of her issues. "i'm just really fucked up. i don't know how to say it right now. my head is a mess but i don't enjoy hurting you and you've never been the problem." salem shrugged. she hated that she was drunk right now and that things weren't coming out the way she wanted them to. as he got up and grabbed a blanket from the closet she rolled her eyes. sleeping was the last thing on her mind right now. "i don't want to sleep. i just want to talk to you. stop being so mad at me and just fucking talk to me." she replied in frustration while grabbing the blanket from him and placing it next to her on the couch.

"and you know?" leon looks at her as he sits on the armrest of the couch, alluding to if she at least knows what she says to herself. what's going on. he scoffs with a sad smile as he turns his attention to his hands. black chipped nails that he'd painted for the gig that happened several days before. it's crazy. to really think about how he hoped she'd show up. "a week, huh?" leon bites at his lower lip, "what is it? do you not want to be with me? please tell me straight because i can't keep up with the headfucking, salem. i can't." the blond is head over heels in love with the woman that sits a few inches away from him. but she's been hurting him too much and if it's just because she can't break up with him for whatever reason, at least now he's giving her an opportunity to get out. before she absolutely destroys him. he sighs and runs a hand through his curls. "you should sleep." leon stands up from the couch and goes to the closet on the wall. he takes out a blanket and hands it to salem. it won't be much use with the heat of the summer upon them, but he can be nice and care for her still.

salem let out a small laugh, they were both in the same boat. she had almost no impulse control when it came to treating herself and seemed to be everyone's go to shopping partner back home and with everything she had going on in her personal life currently the retail therapy served as a good distraction. "you put me in a thrift store or a street market this one and i could do actual damage. so unfortunately i'm not going to be the friend to steer you away from spending a little too much." she teased before giving jamie a smile. "i'm kidding don't be sorry, but if you want we can go grab something?i'm pretty flexible when it comes to dining out. i actually wouldn't mind some coffee." salem said reassuringly.

jamie’s  always  been  the  time  of  person  who  enjoys  exploring  whenever  he’s  on  vacation  or  at  a  new  place.  his  mother  was  the  complete  opposite,  always  having  an  itinerary  of  places  she  wanted  to  visit  or  dine  at,  and  while  jamie  can  see  the  appeal,  nothing  beats  just  wandering  around  to  see  what  a  city  has  to  offer.  that’s  how  he  came  across  the  street  market  one  day  and  it’s  become  a  staple  for  him  to  visit  and  meander  about.  it’s  even  better  when  you  come  along  with  a  friend  who  can  point  out  things  he  may  have  originally  missed.  ❝  i  always  end  up  walking  out  here  spending  more  than  i  probably  should  have,  ❞  jamie  admits  with  a  slight  chuckle  as  he  unconsciously  twists  one  of  the  rings  around  his  finger.  what’s  said  next  has  chocolate  hues  widen  and  blink  over.  ❝  oh,  shit.  do  i  not  seem  excited  ??  sorry.  i  bet  your  place  is  gonna  look  awesome.  my  stomach  is  kinda  raging  war  on  me  right  now  i  was  just  thinking  about  what  i  was  gonna  eat  for  lunch.  ❞

"listen, compared to all the others i'm seeing this is objectively bad. it's okay to laugh." salem chuckled while leaning back in her chair and eyeing the other popsicle stick houses around her. "it's not that you're creatively challenged but maybe this form of art just isn't your strong suit, or mine either for that matter." other than making music and writing salem hadn't really attempted any other forms of art like crafting or painting. she never really had interest for it. a sigh of relief left her lips at the mention of drinks. "please! they'll 'be on me for making you suffer through this embarrassing activity."

in  all  honesty,  aviva  doesn't  know  how  she  keeps  getting  into  these  ...  creative  situations.  it's  like  the  universe  wants  her  to  be  damn  picasso  or  something,  and  it's  just  not  happening.  not  in  this  lifetime  and  probably  not  in  the  next.  "demolished?  that's  kind  of  harsh."  a  chuckle  as  she  glances  over  at  the  other's  work.  it's  better  than  hers,  after  all.  her  own  head  shakes,  a  sigh  of  defeat  as  she  focuses  back  on  hers.  "i  don't  see  how  they  do  this  —  and  they  say  kids  do  this?  am  i,  like,  creatively  challenged?  what  is  the  secret  to  this?"  she  leans  back  in  her  chair.  "i  need  like,  a  drink.  and  ten  minutes  ago."

status: closed for @alkaliineee // solana

salem beamed as she strolled through the vineyard with solana. she couldn't contain her enthusiasm as the two picked grapes and placed them in the basket. "i'm super excited for this, can you believe i've never done a wine tasting before either?" she said to the other. grape picking and creating your own wine was completely different from salem's typical idea of fun but she was quickly starting to adapt to trying new things while living in valpo. "please don't roast me too hard on how little i know about it all." she said a bit embarrassed. "my parents are more of the whiskey in a dive bar types than wine sipping on a vineyard you know?"

"she could but she's not rude so instead i just get passive aggressive stares from her. we're connected like that." salem teased, she probably sounded like a crazy cat lady but she was kinda okay with that. "things like music, my thoughts....nothing too crazy. i figured instead of doing impulsive things when i'm in a weird headspace i should write first and see where that takes me." she nodded. "does the old guy at least pay well? and you should have definitely taken the lizard as a pet."

"the cat could, kinda. could just scream at you until you got the message." at least he assumes. never had a cat himself, but seems like something they would do. "things like?" sue him for being curious. "errands. killing time until the old guy who wants me to fix his laptop decides to call me." joys of self-employment. or something like that. he shrugs, settling into his chair "i saw a lizard outside on my way here, so pretty good all things considered." god forbid he think back more than 20 minutes for that answer.

when salem told luna she wanted to get out of the house and explore she didn't anticipate a shopping binge at the street market. despite luna's despair about whatever they had going on being able to reunite with them was exactly what salem needed, it was comforting to know that she had someone familiar in valpo that didn't resent her at the moment. "you know you could just talk to me about it right?" she flashed them a smile in response to the comment about the necklace. salem placed her bags down and began rummaging through her totebag. "i know my life is a mess at the moment but you may need this more than me." she shook her head while pulling a black obsidian stone out of her bag. "wallowing isn't on the agenda for today but if i have to sage you from head to do in the middle of this street market i will. im fully armed."

               the   walk   was   meant   to   be   good   for   them.   a   good   time   with   an   old   friend,   the   sun   on   her   skin,   breathing   in   fresh   air;   it   all   was   meant   to   make   her   feel   better.   and   for   a   short   while,   it   had   worked   !   then   they   passed   by   a   couple   of   buskers   playing   lo   hice,   te   dijé   and   luna   was   reminded   why   they   were   dragged   out   of   their   bedroom   in   the   first   place.   "   daniel,   me   estas   mantando   that's   why   !   "   it   was   their   favorite   band   after   all.   who   hardly   tour.   and   who   decided   to   go   on   tour   smack   dab   in   the   middle   of   their   finals,   and   filming   of   '   klara   and   the   sun   '   meaning   that   she   wouldn't   be   attending   any   shows.   meaning   they   were   in   utter   despair.   "   this   is   really   pretty   by   the   way,   it'll   look   great   on   you.   "   they   pointed   at   a   necklace   in   salem's   ever   growing   pile.   though   their   tone   made   it   hard   to   believe,   luna   really   did   mean   it.   they   were   just   dramatic,   and   couldn't   muster   up   the   enthusiasm   for   the   words   because   her   soul   was   crushed.   "   how   much   longer   until   i   can   go   back   to   wallowing   ?   i   love   to   wallow   "

"i guess i just figured the person who owned the cafe actually owned the cats as well. maybe they're just loaning their cats to us to distract from the terrible coffee." salem teased while petting a smaller black cat that resembled stevie. "im almost sure im like a cat whisperer because i haven't come across a single one that doesn't like me." chuckling at spencer's comment she looked over at the other for a brief moment. "you could pretend to pass out or something. i'll stash two in my bag while you create a diversion. i just hope you're a cat person because you're definitely taking one of them."

spencer lifted an eyebrow, shrugging at salem, "i mean, what can they do to you? complain because you're giving them a good home? call the cat police? there's probably too many cats to keep track of here anyway." they looked around, a cat perched on the table adjacent to them, "plus, i dunno, they seem drawn to you, they should let you have one free of charge." they stated, "ask the staff which one they like the least, bet they'd let you have that one." they joked, scratching one of the smaller cats behind the ears, "if you decided to opt for stealing one instead of asking, i'll create a distraction for you." they half-teased.

status: closed for @acosmicdisappointment // mallory

"you know, in retrospect this probably wasn't the best idea." salem let out a small giggle before finishing off her fourth cocktail from one of the food trucks. when mallory suggested a pre-show pregame salem agreed without hesitation. now the two were drunk, or at least salem was, an hour before mallory's set. "we can either keep going or we can stop and try to sober up before you go on. either way im happy, i just need to be a little coherent for leon's set at least." she teased before pulling her phone out to check a text. "by the way, i am kinda pissed you aren't performing tummy hurts."