She Nodded As Jack Explained About The Ivy Upkeep And The Idea Of Planting Trees. Hey, He Was The Professional

She nodded as Jack explained about the ivy upkeep and the idea of planting trees. Hey, he was the professional after all. Whatever he thought best. If Madi didn't know too much about something, she tended not to care very much and often trusted the judgment of those around her. It was probably a habit to break, remembering Grace and Dominik and the people in her past life who swore they had her best intentions to only fuck her over after she fully pledged her loyalty to them, the world painting her as the villain in the process. "Looks like you have an eye for this sort of thing." She hoped the compliment towards him would ease her as well. Of course, she wasn't naive enough into thinking this would be a friendship, but she didn't want to seem like a hoity toity bitch either. "What got you into like, all of this?"

When he questioned her request about no water, Madisyn shrugged. "Those water features give me the major ick and honestly, the sound of running water kinda freaks me out." She'd never admit it to the full extent, but there was something extremely anxiety inducing about the sound, which was ironic considering it was a major feature of prime relaxation. "That's like, not an issue, right?"

A desire for colour made sense—a space to match the energy of the person dwelling in it. It was exactly how his garden had been back home in Burlington. "Something to keep you going in the dark. I can do that," Jack agreed. Though the winters were harsh out here, there were plenty of plants he could install to combat the dreary season. He'd always loved the splash of pink provided by cyclamen as they poked their heads free of snow on the ground. Edgeworthia with its frilly skirt-like flowers provided both scent and a pleasant few, even when the trees were bare. Hellebore, iris, and pansies all did the trick nicely too. They were all hardy perennials too, which would make life easier and save him from replanting entire beds every year. "Ivy's good, but it'll take some decent upkeep in the spring. Might be worth planting a few more trees down there too," he suggested, looking towards the bottom of the garden.

The request for no water took him by surprise. People with this much space often took it as an opportunity to add in some kind of water feature. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Can I ask why?"

➥ tagging @themadisynhuang

With the dire lack of In ‘n’ Out — the one fast-food burger on the planet that was actually delicious — the only thing in this town that came close were the burgers at Waterway Diner. They were far too greasy, and the meat a bit too chewy for Madisyn’s liking, but she wanted a burger, and it was a better look to support a local business than going to the chains dotted around the downtown area. Also, if she couldn’t have In ‘n’ Out, she wasn’t slumming it at McDonalds. 

So she was on her way in when her phone buzzed, and she ended up spending fifteen minutes talking to the farm manager, like the early evening was a fucking prime time to talk about livestock and agriculture. She was going to get a double beef burger just to be spiteful. When they finally hung up, she used the black mirror of her phone to check the face was still flawless, when the world’s most annoying, grating voice rattled her eardrums.

“Ugh, I knew you knew who I was,” She remarked, gritting her teeth at…Jamie? Jenny? Who fucking cared? “Y’know, it’s not good customer service to bully a well-paying customer.” 

➥ location: waterway diner ➥ status: closed starter for @themadisynhuang

Often, when Jeanie was involved in questionable situations (and it really was getting to be often now) the root cause could generally be narrowed down to a real lack of impulse control on her part. It wasn't as if she went looking for trouble, it was more like the social version of poking a bruise. A bad idea, but she couldn't help herself. Which was exactly why, after spotting Madisyn outside the diner, she ignored all sensible thoughts such as 'leave her alone and just go inside to meet the others like you're supposed to' and instead made a beeline right for her. It was too good of an opportunity to miss.

"Maddie the baddie!" She greeted brightly. dancing her way over. "How'd you enjoy your VIP night at Aurora? Was MILF city everything you dreamed it would be?"

The idea of a 9-5 was severely depressing to Madisyn, so she tended to honor that she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted as much as possible. Unfortunately in a town like Blue Harbor, her options wre slim to none, thus finding herself at Aurora more often than not.

Tuesdays were some sort of student night or something, always having a buzz, the dancefloor and the bar area filling up quickly, and Madi enjoyed it mainly because a lot of these kids didn't quite know who she was. They sensed that there was an air of infamy about her and treated her with respect, but no one ever seemed to Google her. It was like, being at like a masquerade ball or a Halloween party or something.

After making friends with someone in the bathroom, adjusting each other's makeup, Madi could feel her age (ew!) catch up to her, and decided to call it a night. Despite the sweaty atmosphere in the club, she knew the crisp night air would feel like ice to her little native Californian bones, and opted to stay near the doorway as she waited for an Uber driver to accept her ride.

It was when her friend from the bathroom ran by, grabbing Madi by the arm and dragging her outside. "What the fuck?! It's freezing!" She complained, only stopping when he offered her the bottle, to which she took, helping herself to a sip, wincing as the liquid burned the back of her throat, though at least warmth bloomed from her chest, making standing outside more bearable.

"Where did you get this from?" Madisyn wondered, handing it back to him, wiping the excess from her mouth with the back of her hand.

for: anyone! @bluestarters location: aurora

For a Tuesday night, Aurora was jam packed - which was saying something. Leo was used to a crowd at the club, but he felt especially sardined as they made their way to the front of the line, as desperate for a drink as everyone surrounding them. A thin layer of sweat coated their forehead and smudged the coal that’d been smudged under his eyes by a girl in the washrooms an hour ago, the two of them bonding over a mutual hookup and a line of whatever she’d offered to him. Already impatient as they were, Leo just felt himself grow more annoyed - if anything, their next move was meant to be helpful. One less person for the bartenders to worry about as he helped himself, stretching forward and splaying himself across the bartop until he could clutch onto the first bottle in his range. “Oh, word.” Leo nodded appreciatively, Casamigos label flashing at him - bucket of ice water dumped over his head and ruining the moment when he heard one of the bartenders shout; Hey, what the fuck! A beat passed as Leo made eye contact with them before they were darting off, letting out an adrenaline-fueled shriek of delight as they pushed their way through the crowd, only skidding to a pause when they noticed someone they recognised. “Yo!” He hollered, grabbing his new-found companion and, to their detriment, accomplice, Leo huddling in close to them and concealing the tequila bottle between them just as a security guard huffed past. The man looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. “Ha! Asshole! Helen Keller can see better than you!” Pausing so that he could properly celebrate their victory, Leo uncorked the bottle with his teeth, spitting it onto the ground and holding the tequila towards the other, saccharine grin all but taking over his face, cheeks already aching. “You first. I’m feeling generous.”

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE 1.03 | The Slump

Brenda Song