〰 Intense Stares (again)

"Oh yeah", she glanced at one of the books towards the top of the bag. "Religious Ethics and Constructivism: A Metaethical Inquiry. Just something fun for bedtime, you know how it is." Her tone was dry but her sharp features had softened the moment she had spotted Birdie. At one moment in time she might have very much considered the title in question just that, fun, but as of late Zahra hadn't exactly found any of her research books or research papers page-turners.

Zahra nodded as Birdie offered to help. Deciding against arguing and claiming she didn't need the help, she bent down to reach for a few hefty titles and handed them over. "Thank you. It was a pain to get them here."

It often felt like there was never enough time in the day to get to all the hobbies she wanted to. There were so many books left unread, movies left unseen, albums left unheard, and knowledge left unknown. It was one of those things that Birdie tried to accept best she could and not dwell on too much. And thankfully she could do just that as she spotted a familiar figure on the steps.

Her eyes immediately landed on the other's bag, her shoulder hurting at the mere thought of carrying it herself. "Just finish some light reading?" Her question was more of a lighthearted jest than anything else. "If you want, you can take some of those out and hand them to me to carry. Might be a little easier than trying to lug that thing inside as is." With her own hands empty, she didn't mind helping out and it was hardly an inconvenience.

"I don't know, could be both," she pointed out, eyes nailed to the balloon as she thought through her strategy, "plenty of relaxing things are also real dumb. That being said, you could win a record."

who: open (@bhqextras)

where: early after noon, any day, aura music festival

what: doing an activity at one of the vendor tents (making rave sprouts, laying in hammocks, palm reading line, sitting inside the giant parachute, playing balloon darts, making signs, or face painting - pick your muse's favorite!)

Sherri sighed, scrunching her nose at her current task. "I can't tell if this is relaxing, exciting, or just — dumb." She blurted to the person nearest her.

"Oh, I'm sure. I have always enjoyed bickering with grown men who seem to think the only things worth studying are business and engineering. They never seem to like my research topics. It's great, really," she sneered. Despite the road block she had hit with her work, Zahra still considered the material itself fascinating; the lustre of academia she had once so enjoyed had simply disappeared. "Pancakes do sound good," she admitted, eyeing the options listed on the menu. While she was a decent home chef and could feed herself no problem, none of the things she whipped up were anywhere near gourmet. "Are you real hungry? I kind of want to order a bunch of things. Never been here before."

"Honestly the best part was telling people what my various research papers were on. Like, 'oh Violet dear what are you studying this month? Just animal mating habits. The gorilla were particularly passionate.' Always fun to see people's reactions." She said with a chuckle. She took a sip of her water. "But I'm sure it'll get easier once you aren't being graded. But until then, you know I'm your gal." At that point the waiter arrived and dropped off their drinks. Violet still didn't know what she wanted to eat. There were too many good options. "I'm thinking pancakes. What about you? Their eggs are good here."

“i am afraid that if i open myself i will not stop pouring. (why do i fear becoming a river. what mountain gave me such shame.)”

— Erosion // Jamie Oliveira

"I get that," she replied, deep in thought as she watched the puppies go about their business. While more of a cat person, Zahra hadn't been able to resist the chance of seeing a bunch of puppies competing in fun little competitions. She might have looked just a little intimidating in her all-black outfit and a rather stern look on her face, but there were very few things she adored more than baby animals. Besides, it was a good excuse to get out of her apartment during the daytime. "Have you already picked your favorite to win?"

status: open starter location: bark park, manhattan

excited about the puppy olympics, quinn was equipped with her water bottle at hand, standing right outside the fence to admire all the cute puppies that are partaking in the puppy olympics. "you'd think i'd be more excited for the actual olympics, but here i am more interested in cute puppies doing their own right by my house, i'd take the puppy olympics over the real olympics any day. although i will say from what i have seen on tv for the real olympics, quite impressed, but again, more interested in these cute puppers." she smiled and chuckled while looking out at all the puppies running around while participating in the events they were enrolled in. @bhqextras

"I get that. I'm kind of doing the same thing," she admitted with an equally uneasy smile that disappeared within seconds. Well, she certainly stressed over work and spent an ungodly amount of time staring at her computer screen. "It'll take a while to figure out what you like doing, especially here. There's so much to do and sometimes that can be a bit overwhelming." She remembered just how spoilt for choice she had felt when she first moved to the city. Zahra had been eager to try absolutely everything to the point where she hadn't known where to start.

"Well, I mean I do like visiting the museums, or art galleries if that's your thing." She shrugged, kicking a pebble along the street as she walked. "There's tons of good live music as well. I tend to take advantage of that. Just depends on what you like."

Matt let out a chuckle at her question, shaking his head and then looking back a her with a mortified look and a shy smile. "Honestly? Work." He chuckled. "That's as far as my plans go right now. I go to work, I come home, eat, sleep. Then work again." He slipped his hands into his pockets and bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn't proud of his routine but he hasn't felt like doing much else for a few months now. Matt carried all alone a baggage way too big for his poor back.

"What do you like to do around the city for fun?" He asked, curiously, not wanting to dampen the mood, so he offered her a kind smile. "Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you."

Zahra managed a brief smile as she glanced at the blonde. "I should ask that very same question before I check out this sort of a haul. But I guess reading is a huge part of my job, so I should prioritise it." Should being the operating word. She did read, quite a lot actually, but unfortunately most of it did not have anything to do with her research project. "I understand. Somehow getting books and thinking about them can be much more exciting than actually reading them. I guess we're all just spoiled for choice." She had always prided herself in being well-red and aware of all the new releases, but lately finding joy between the covers of a book had proven difficult. "Two books seems like a pretty sensible choice, though."

it was rare that Tavi had the time to read. Still, she always found them a nice little escape from the real world around her. She knew that many people found comfort in browsing bookstores for hours. There were books she bought too, her favorites lined her shelves at home, but for something like this, a book she might need to lay on the beach with friends for a few days, something simple, she always loved being in a library, a sanctuary for many, and the best public service by far. she's got two books, a little saucy romance, and a biography of a dancer she's been invested in lately, and for her even that feels like a lot, but then, oh. she compares it to the person outside, large ikea bag full of books on their shoulder. "no asking. well, maybe asking, just wondering how you find the time? I feel like my pile of books to read is neverending and truthfully, daunting." she admits, a sheepish smile on her face.

Zahra couldn't count the amount of times she had been chastised for being too direct or straightforward, but she honestly could not understand why it was such a problem. She had just saved herself precious time and energy by deciding they would leave at that very moment and head elsewhere. Somewhere with better beer, no doubt.

"No. Midwestern. Went to university here, though." Explaining she had done her doctorate in the city sounded awfully pretentious and she didn't care to discuss the subject in the slightest. She reached into her pocket for her cigarettes, holding one up in the air. "You mind if I smoke?"

Theo was pleasantly surprised that the other took their offer so quickly so they flagged the bartender, pulling out their phone to pay for both their drinks and jumped down from their stool. "Lead the way, love." They followed after the brunette out onto the New York streets they are still so unfamiliar with. Manchester is far from a small town but nothing compares to this, not even close.

"Are you a proper New Yorker, then?" they asked, curious.

She grimaced visibly before nodding. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she hurried to assure despite feeling anything but fine. Still, it was none of this stranger's business and not something she wanted to burden him with. "It's just hot. It was quite the way to get those books here." Despite her resistance, Zahra did eventually sit down, the physical exhaustion catching up with her. "Thank you. I'm Zahra, by the way. Thank you for you help."

The change in her demeanor worried him immediately. He frowned and stepped a little closer but not too much as to invade her space. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked, looking around the library. "Do you want to maybe sit down?" made a move to lead her to one of the chairs nearby, not able to actually grabbed her because his arms were full of her books that they hadn't returned yet.

"Probably easier said than done?" she suggested carefully. Zahra wasn't an expert on firefighting as a profession but she couldn't imagine flexible schedules were one of the perks. It had to be frustrating for both of them and seemed to cause quite a bit of conflict. She coudn't say she envied either of them. "It's an intense job," she added after a lengthy pause. She had always been comfortable with what some people deemed awkward silences, quite at home with the stillness of it all. Normally she didn't mind being left alone with her thoughts whereas lately she had found herself running from them, desperate for any sort of distraction, no matter how mind-numbingly dull. Dragging the books around had worked for a bit, the physical discomfort stopping her from mulling over everything else. "I don't know," she muttered, feeling deflated both physically and mentally. She had spent so much time working towards the life she now had and somehow it felt like such a waste, something not worth the time and effort she had put in. "Impostor syndrome, I guess. Happens to most people at some point."

“—it’s fine,” he said with a faint shrug, a gentle smile adorning his lips. “she is right; I need to lay off some shifts,” saying it out loud was not just admitting it to Zahra that he knew it was him who had fucked up, but to himself too, that the only way to fix this was to make more time for her. as of now, he spent more time at work, at the station, than at home with her when it should be the other way around. it might have been entirely unintentional this happened, but the result was still the same ( and he would find a way to fix this, besides apologizing to her and making more time to actually be present ). a frown formed on his features at her following words. since they first met he knew she loved her research projects, and seeing the lack of excitement in her tone, her admitting it, seemed to him a little odd, coming from someone as dedicated and hard-working as her. and maybe it was part of the issue; the expectations she set for herself as opposed to what she felt. “you shouldn’t be anything, and perhaps that’s part of the problem…” he offered in a matter of fact tone. “something troubling you?” he inquired, not out of curiosity, but genuine interest of what was going through her mind.