champagne supernova / JADE

[William Archer]

The morning had broken quietly that day; although Will had switched the lights off when he'd stumbled into bed the previous night and the curtains were drawn, they were far too thin to wrestle against the light of the sun, and he lay underneath the heaped duvets, articles of unwashed clothing strewn around him. Often in the mornings he awoke far too early and simply lay awake, staring at a spot on the carpet or one of his ragged posters on the wall, conscious and yet not fully aware of the world, still enveloped in a dream. His dreams were never very terribly vivid, and so usually he'd spend quite a while puzzling over them, attempting to piece them back together - it was maddening, because as soon as he'd try to recall a dream it would float right away from him and frustrate him to absolutely no end, and he'd only remember certain erratic elements to it. 

After a while, he kicked the duvet off of him, wriggled upwards and reached groggily out for his cigarettes - as he did everyday. Will had never been much of a person for routines, but slowly he'd developed one, and although on occasion it made him feel restless, it helped him, on the whole, to get a tighter grip on the world. Retrieving his tobacco, skins and filters from his bedside table, along with an ashtray he'd dumped on the floor, he set about rolling, trying, as usual, to allow the bare minimum of tobacco get on his bed sheets and, as usual, utterly failing. The first fag of the morning always marked the true beginning of the day - the hazy half-hour in which he tried to retrieve his dreams he considered something akin to an interlude, a section of time that didn't really count, whatever. There came the usual scramble for his lighter, which he always managed to leave in an idiotic place - he found it at last in one of his shoes, swearing spectacularly - and, propped up against the pillows, he began to smoke and rejoiced in the fact that for the past few days, he hadn't been waking up with a feeling of dread hanging over him, irritation clinging to his skin. For the past while he'd felt rough and raw and heavy, a pain settling in his chest and weighing down hard. But since he had seen Lara - since that night - he'd felt far better, relieved, even. Cleaner. As though he had a fresh slate. A smile quirked up at the corners of his lips, and he finished his cigarette and made his usual way towards the shower, stretching. 

He emerged wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt of the absolute lightest material he could find, because quite frankly he wanted to soak up the heat of the summer as very best he could, toweling his damp hair and yet not putting an awful lot of effort into making it dry. Ambling into the kitchen, he draped the towel around his neck, his short hair sticking up chaotically, and grinned, met by the sight of Jade, the sunlight streaming in through the windows of the apartment. Jade and Neil had become family to Will in the time that he'd lived with them, and he was incredibly fond of both of them, although at times he didn't show it quite as much as he knew he ought to - Jesus, he thought disgustedly. He could be such a moody bastard sometimes.

This morning, however, was different, and so he sauntered in, reaching out to ruffle Jade's hair and popping a kiss on the top of her head, saying carelessly, "Looking sharp as ever, Jade. We'll have to chase all the lads away from you." Darting over to the other side of the kitchen, he began tinkering around the sink, claiming his tea cup and saying, "D'you fancy a brew?"
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ooc. hope it's okaaay??

[Jade Pereira]

It had become something of a routine for Jade to always be the first one up among the three who shared the flat. She supposed it was because she hardly ever stayed out late at night like Will and Neil seemed to. Well, Neil had been going out comparatively less over the past few weeks, but she hadn't wanted to prod. She knew something was up with him - probably something to do with McLaggen. Brianna, she corrected herself inside her head. She knew Brianna now; she felt like she should be on a first name basis with her. Being on a last name basis with someone was only acceptable to her if she barely knew the person, or if she didn't like them and this didn't want to dignify them by addressing them by their first name.

At that moment, she was sitting at the small table in the kitchen, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cheese sandwich in another. Realising that her thoughts had drifted away from her again, she remembered that she needed to talk to Neil about Brianna - and it had to be done soon. If she didn't, things would definitely blow up when he found out that she'd been to visit her; especially since they never kept things from one another. Jade honestly didn't know how Neil had managed to get himself involved in so much drama, which all originated from one drunken mistake. Why did it have to happen? It had ruined two people's lives, one of who was still suffering the repercussions. To be honest, she couldn't stop thinking about Brianna and her ordeal - which was why she needed a distraction.

Almost as soon as she thought that, she heard stirring from one of the bedrooms and smiled slightly. Finally, someone was awake. Now, she could focus on talking to them instead of thinking about Brianna. She quite hoped it was Will, actually - Neil being the one to interrupt her thoughts at this moment would not really be very conducive to her thought process. In fact, it would probably make her think about it more. She was going slightly crazy with worry when, five minutes later, Will walked into the kitchen, his hair dripping. She smiled as he walked over to her, and said teasingly in response, "Ooh, look who's talking, Mr. Stud. We all know you get ten times the girls I do. Not that I get girls. But, you know what I mean." In response to his second question, she just shook her head, indicating her coffee mug, which he probably hadn't seen. She made a motion towards the chair, hoping that Will wasn't in too much of a hurry to sit down and talk to her. She really needed a distraction.

[William Archer]

"Nobody can resist Mister Muscles, it's true," Will said buoyantly, although mainly mockingly, turning and flexing. Although he had quite a fair amount of strength, and wasn't exactly unfit, he'd always remained rather wiry, and he was thoroughly aware of his fact, pulling a series of odd expressions as he flexed, making it clear he was taking the piss. He began spooning sugar into his cup and chucked in a tea-bag along with it, as the kettle boiled, before sauntering over to the table and flopping down across from Jade, giving her a cheeky grin and waggling his eyebrows. "No dashing princes taking your fancy these days, then?" He shook his head, most sombre indeed. "You and me both, Jade. All of this romance lark isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Out of habit, he reached for his fags in his pocket again, laying the equipment out on the table and starting off the process all over again. He wondered if he ought to tell Jade about his seeing Lara again. Neil knew the entirety of Will's family history, and Jade knew just about as much, but Will tended to be quiet about certain things. Or rather, he would never bring them up straight away - he simply waited for the right time. He still hadn't informed Neil of his breaking into his old house and reuniting with his sister. They hadn't had a proper moment together yet, but when they did, Will would give him every single detail.

He didn't put much thought into whether or not he should tell Jade, for William Archer was not a bloke who put a great deal of thought into anything. He rarely looked before he leaped. He simply plunged into things, and so, before he could stop himself, he was saying, a grin that wouldn't budge on his face, "I spoke to my sister again. Few nights ago."