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"I just don't really have as many thoughts about it," Tricky admitted. "I see it, it's cool, or it kinda sucks but I'll be nice. Addison always is talking about how it makes them feel. It doesn't make me feel any sort of way." He was nodding in agreement about checking out the music, but tripped over his own feet as Loren said it could be a date. He was never really sure where he stood with her - and he knew that was by design. She had watched him fuck up his life on multiple occasions, and this last bout was no different. "You want to be on a date with me?" Grammatically, that didn't sound right, but Tricky couldn't think straight. "Yeah, I - that sounds nice."

it wasn't long before loren's features matched tricky's, an easy grin taking over her features as she shook her head. "there's nothing wrong with that, though. whimsical is fun and all, but it feels repetitive after a while. then again, my preferred method of enjoying art is through music, so what do i know?" bouncing up on her toes almost bashfully, loren cocked her head to the side and watched tricky's face carefully. "if you still wanna walk around with me, maybe we can go check out some of the live music they've got going on? we can make it a date, or whatever."

#tricky gallagher ; threads #tricky and loren 3 #art festival event #pre plot drop

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The ground rumbling was concerning, but the sound that followed nearly made Reid pee his pants. "What the fuck??" Suddenly it seemed like it was raining, but it - hurt?

He let out a soft hiss at Nico's question, shaking his head. "I have no idea - but we should get inside somewhere. If rain hurts, it's probably acid of some kind.... who knows what the fuck is in that crack."

Nico nodded along to Reid’s words, honestly only half-listening as he was still entranced by the music. But then the ground rumbled and the music stopped, and he frowned, tilting his head as the screams started and then there was rain? And it hurt when it hit his skin.

“Ow! Why is the rain spicy?” he asked, frowning at his arm. “Ow! . . . Ow!!”

#reid sakamoto ; threads #reid and nico 1 #art festival event #post plot drop

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"I guess neither of us have talked about it too much," Icarus mused before laughing. "It's so normal for us, I don't think about how we're in a completely different place, and Ezra is the more introverted one." He paused. "Well... mostly. Ezra has a lot of trauma, so sometimes there's roadblocks that come up. There's a lot of new ones now. For the most part, it's almost like we were never apart; neither of us dated anyone in the last five years. There are still some choppy waters now and again, but we almost always make up or find our footing before the end of the day."

“Oh! I didn’t know that about you guys. Wow. That’s really amazing that you found each other again,” Declan said with a grin, the romantic in him thinking that sounded like an incredible love story. “You were able to pick up where you left off? Just like that?”

#icarus desjardins ; threads #icarus and declan 2 #art festival event #pre plot drop

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"It looks really good on you." His face was sincere - she really did look great. "Oh yeah, for sure! Compare it to the ones in the houses we're staying in. Well, if they have a dictionary, anyway. Mine just happened to. There's a ton of books at my place. I'm not much of a reader, but it's not like the library really has space for more, either."

"that's exactly what i did too, i found this dress and since pink is my favorite color i said fuck it. i'm dressing up for me." tatum grinned. okay so maybe she was dressing for more than herself to catch a certain someone's attention and since he's talking to her, it seemed to have worked. "oh my god you think so? we should go to the library one of these days and find a dictionary see if we can play spot the difference." she tried to joke.

#paxton sanchez ; threads #paxton and tatum 2 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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It was a confusing dynamic, but maybe he'd understand if he actually had siblings. "Well, I guess it's good you're not trying to murder each other - there's enough to deal with around here, anyway." Paxton let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh - sorry, I'm Paxton. I'm friends with Tatum, but I'm not gonna feel one way about you just cuz she does. For the record."

"Fuck no! She’s not happy either,” Max said, shaking his head. “She hates my guts, which, I mean, fair. We got an understanding between us. We don’t try to kill each other, but we also give each other shit all the time. It’s a dynamic.” He shrugged.

#paxton sanchez ; threads #paxton and max 1 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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"Thanks," Denny shot Zach a grateful look. "I just need to stop feeling like the sky is gonna fall down on us - I came here with you so we could look at stuff, of course that's cool with me." He gently elbowed Zach in the ribs. "I kind of just wanted to wander around with you today. I'm feeling social enough for just you, honestly."

"that makes sense, i don't get it but i've also never been to new york." at the mention of hanging out with friends though zach tried to think on it and realized he didn't have very many outside of kirby and denny and more so denny lately. sure there was the people he smoked with but that was usually it. "yeah we can go smoke and then find some of your friends, see what they're doing. there's a booth i wanted to check out before this thing ends if you're chill with that?"

#denny tremaine ; threads #denny and zach 2 #art festival event #pre plot drop

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"We do tend to work on things together," Narcissa admitted. "I like having someone to talk out loud to. Reid is helpful, sort of, but he doesn't have the journalist brain. He's just helpful for me to not feel crazy just talking out loud to myself in a room full of papers." She paused for a moment. "I heard you have some photographs - you take any of me?" She playfully bat her eyelashes again. "Because if yes, I feel it's only fair I get to see them."

He let out a laugh, needing it after two very stressful investigations with minimal results. "That's true, you have a lot more charm than I ever will. And different tactics might yield different results."

Sam nodded, glad Narcissa had a game plan. "Definitely let me know if anything stands out. I trust your judgement Narc," he smiled. "Pru's too. Having two sets of eyes may be helpful. It'd be a lot to go over with just one person."

#narcissa sakamoto ; threads #narcissa and sam 2 #art festival event #pre plot drop

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They gently touched her arm, avoiding the irritated spots. "I'm sorry," Ridley murmured, pressing a kiss to Sawyer's forehead. "Uh; no, I think most of the de la Luna clan is here, actually." They let out a soft chuckle. "And even if they are out there, it's not like we're gonna find out until we're freed from this place." They gestured to how it seemed like already, everyone was being told they couldn't leave.

Sawyer lifted her bare arm to show them the red marks on her skin, as if she'd been cooking and got splattered with hot oil. "Guess I got more of it, my clothes seem fine though, so that's weird right?" She sighed and looked around at the doors. "Kinda looked like it was coming from where the crack is...where the festival was. Shit, you know anyone who was still over there?" she quickly looked around at the faces around them.

#ridley kelley ; threads #ridley and sawyer 4 #avant garde event #post plot drop

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Them.

#reid sakamoto ; polaroids #reid sakamoto ; inspo

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#gio rossi ; polaroids

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"Oh." Lance frowned a little bit. "That's - gotta be extra rough for you, then." Huntsville was a nightmare in it's own right, but to have a young daughter? He couldn't even begin to imagine. He couldn't hide the shock at the news. "Well, I guess he was busy the last two years - it's good that they seem to love her just as much, though." He gave her a sympathetic look. "Trying to keep busy is the worst part about living here. It's hard not to get bored and have to fight off the mental demons. I'm also sort of in a rut, trying to figure out what it is exactly I'm supposed to be doing with my time. Maybe I should take up dance classes." He joked.

“The latter, actually. My ex-husband is here and has been for the past two years,” Tali admitted. “We have a daughter and co-parent, so it wasn’t normal for him to be gone so long. So now me and my daughter are here.” She glanced back over to Tish and Matt. “He’s remarried and has a boyfriend as well, apparently, so she’s got all the support and love she needs.” She smiled a bit sadly. “Not sure what to do with myself, if I’m being honest. I’ve started teaching dance classes here in the meantime.”

#lance cerulli ; threads #lance and tali 1 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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"I guess it's a pattern, then," Lance let out a weak chuckle. "He just completely disappeared one day. He was convinced whatever he had gotten into was too dangerous for us to have ties to him. It kind of fucked me up, to be honest." She didn't need his whole sob story, but it was undeniable that they'd both been hurt. "Yeah; if Eric didn't talk about his past a lot, it would make sense why it never came up, but it's also a little bit out of the way, all things considered."

Steph sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that tracks." It felt so surreal to see Eric's brother, she was taking note of similarities already. "We broke up because he was shutting me out, but I still care about him. I got worried when I heard he went missing around here, but I didn't realize you guys lived in this town before."

#lance cerulli ; threads #lance and stephanie 1 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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Delphi didn't have anyone specific in mind, just figured she'd approach someone who was alone and take her chances. As she started across the floor though, suddenly it felt like there were tremors. Another earthquake? No - but suddenly it sounded like something horrible erupted from the crack, and panic settled into her chest.

She did a quick lap before coming to a stop next to Avery, letting out a soft sigh. "Something's wrong." She murmured when the other had to stop streaming to take a breath. "Whatever came out of the crack... I don't know. Water that kind of burns? They're not letting anyone out. Everyone's being told to find shelter at higher grounds." She frowned, turning to the guy who was holding Avery. "Will you let her go, please? You don't need to be touching her like that. Can't you see it's just making her more upset??"

Avery lifted her glass. “Go get ‘em girl,” she said in encouragement, watching her go and curious as to how that would go. She nearly fell out of her chair in surprise when the ground rumbled, all the glasses clicking together as they shook. She glanced around as panic set in and the doors were closed and locked. She frowned, not liking this turn of events at all.

“Wait, wait, let me out,” she said, sliding down from the stool and pushing her way toward the doors. “Let me out! Let me out!” She began to scream, kicking and hitting the guy who grabbed her to keep her from opening the door.

#delphi tremaine ; threads #delphi and avery 1 #avant garde event #post plot drop

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"It's really nice to meet you, Wes," Delphi gave him an easier smile. "I guess that is true - I'm just really bad at social events. My brother - he used to be a pretty big vlogger. I'd go to events with him and just sort of tag along while he talked to people. He was always the more outgoing one. He's in town, but not at the ball, so I don't have my emotional support extrovert to lean on."

Smiling "Hi Delphi, I'm Wesley, but everyone here knows me as Wes." he liked meeting new people, or at least those that he would see from time to time. At the mention of coming to the ball alone "Well, I don't think one necessarily has to have a date to attend. I came on the hopes that I would see a few people I know. if not, that's how one mingles and meets new people, right?" he chuckled.

#delphi tremaine ; threads #delphi and wes 1 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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"He'll just be embarrassed that we're so much better at dancing than him!" Rini snickered, but as she noticed Luca behind the bar, she flushed. "Yes; the bartender. I'll just come to you for some light gossip instead, how's that sound?"

"Yeah it's pretty neat, and the music's good." Paola moved her head a bit to the beat, "Well have to go for a dance and risk Ale seeing us and getting red from embarrassment at seeing mommy dearest dance," she laughed. "The bartender? Yeah I've seen him around." Paola nodded, "Good for you girl," she nudged Rini lightly, "If you need any dating tips don't come to me" she laughed, Paola never had a boyfriend since school times and even then she was far from a model girlfriend.

#rini roberts ; threads #rini and paola 2 #avant garde event #pre plot drop

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"How do people have the patience for things like this...." Faris could barely sit still to save their life; but he marveled at the crocheted items all the same. "Oh, I think that really suits you! Too bad it's getting warmer though... then you can't wear it as much."

“Aww, you don’t have to but that’d be sweet!” Hazel said with a grin. She skipped over to the next table to see what was on it. “Oh wow!! Look at these!!” She picked up a crocheted scarf, throwing it around her neck. “What about this?”

#faris zhao ; threads #faris and hazel 1 #art festival event #pre plot drop

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Faris had been nodding along excitedly with Marcus when the ground started to shake. His expression faltered a little, concerned eyes turning to his brother. "What -?" They barely had time to register what they were seeing before Marcus was already dragging him away, mouth still agape. "Marcus what the fuck is happening what is that??"

"Seems like I got off just in time then. Could always still go by the dancehall. I don't think they'd kick us out for not being on theme. I saw Chloe around here somewhere earlier with her girlfriend. If we can find them again maybe we could all go over in a group so we don't stand out as much not being dres-" he didn't finish as he felt the ground suddenly starting to shake. "Did you feel that?" Then it shook some more before suddenly a huge geyser of water shot up out of the crack. Without any hesitation Marcus grabbed his brother's hand starting to run towards one of the nearby shops.

#faris zhao ; threads #faris and marcus 1 #art festival event #post plot drop