Ofzahras - Strange Places

"I wouldn't dare to try. You're evidently much braver than I am," she chuckled in agreement. "I know. I used to think I was pretty good at all that stuff, knowing what's new and hip. And now I'm the sort of person who uses the word hip unironically." She waved her hand flippantly at Violet's compliment. "You're one to talk. I am sure all the heads turned when you walked in." It didn't seem like an overestimation by any means, and Zahra had never been good at giving out meaningless words of praise.

She could feel her cheeks warm up as Violet inquired about her dating life. "Not a chance. Not that I'm against it, but I just haven't even thought to consider it," she admitted. "Oh, no, can't have you do that. How about you? You have your eyes on anyone?"

"God, and then you try to explain landlines to them. Oh do I feel old then! I like being in my thirties honestly but with the way tech moves sometimes I feel older. Still, we look beautiful, you especially." Violet said as the day unfolded around them with pleasant chatter. "So anything else new? You seeing anybody? Or is the thesis your one and only right now? I have some people I could introduce you to if you're interested."

"Let's try taking one handle each. I think the bag will hold, it has so far." Obviously that didn't necessarily mean anything, but going through the books and putting them in the other woman's backpack seemed like an impossible ordeal after the journey she had taken. "And it's only few more feet. Should be fine." The amount of library trips she had taken had at least taught her to prepare; far too much of her modest storage space had been dedicated to different types of bags, the small ones stuffed inside the larger ones just like her mother had done with the trash bags under the sink. "Not sure why I picked what feels like the hottest day of the year for this trip, though."

"aaaalright. Come on, then," Isabelle's now on her feet, striding toward Zahra with an air of someone who has just been graciously faced with a challenge. She's not excessively strong, but what she is, is stubborn and bored out of her mind, and the poor woman looks like she's two breaths away from passing out in fucking 300 degrees. “Okay... how about I pick up the right handle and you, the left, or- mmm. We could like maybe put half of these in my backpack? Carry half-and-half.” She has a strawberry-pink backpack on her back that matches the floral designs in her vintage vans. She places her hands on her hips and eyes the bag thoughtfully.

Zahra glanced down at her feet, deeply embarrassed by the reality of her situation. "Kind of, if you can call me covering my fridge with the due date receipts a system. It has worked pretty well so far. It’s definitely not aesthetically pleasing in the slightest, but gets the job done.” Zahra wanted to be one of those well-organized Excel and spreadsheet type of people, but so far she hadn’t picked up the needed skillset, nor the motivation.

The rigidness in her voice had dissipated slightly, making her sound less defensive, leaving behind just the very obvious physical and mental exhaustion. Still, she seemed to pick up as Birdie described what she had been up to. “I mean yeah, that’s definitely work, but it at least sounds like you’re mostly enjoying it. That’s good.” Thank god she could already see the book drop and would soon be rid of her shameful cargo. “Have you found anything interesting? Could definitely use some recommendations.” While she had never played an instrument and could not say she was a particularly gifted singer, music had always been one of her dearest hobbies and one of the main reasons why she loved living in the city. "Oh? That sounds exciting."

Birdie didn't buy a word the other said, but she was willing to drop the subject. After all, she found out years and years ago that it was impossible to force any sort of change upon someone else, it was something they had to do themselves. "Right." She continued to make her way into the library with the other, "You must have one hell of an organizing system to make sure you don't catch a bunch of late fees for these things." If she checked out this many books at a time, she was liable to forget a good chunk of them and create a mess for herself in fees.

"Somewhat." She responded to the question. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take my own advice as of late. I've been spending a lot of my off time looking into some of the local bands for some new stuff for the station, which might bring about some fun, but is still technically work." That part was hard to set down with the incredible music scene in the city. "Who knows, maybe I'll go to that Devil's Night coming up at the She Shed for non-work related fun."

Singles mixers - or mixers of any kind - weren't exactly Zahra's scene but she had made a promise to a friend. Said friend had been terrified to go by herself but had managed to hit it off with the first person she had struck a conversation with. Zahra had been left to fend for herself and had taken to people watching from a blessedly quiet corner. Eventually she had ran out of her drink and was making her way towards the bar when someone stopped her. Oh, she had been in her situation before and hurried to nod eagerly. "Yeah, I was just coming to look for you. That Jenga isn't going to play itself," she confirmed, mustering an apologetic smile as she nodded towards the very opposite side of the space. "Shall we?"

STATUS: open @bhqextras

LOCATION: Singles Mixer @ Puzzles, Manhattan

When a friend suggested a night out, Devi pictured something along the lines of going out dancing at Club 51, not a game night at a singles mixer. She supposed it was better than getting dragged along to something that felt a little more desperate like speed dating, but she still couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment with how she was spending her night off. To make make matters worse, she had just been stuck in what felt like the world's longest game of darts with someone who made watching paint dry seem more exciting than holding a conversation with them. At the suggestion of a rematch, she immediately panicked and locked eyes with someone else who was nearby. "Oh, I would, but I already agreed to a game of Jenga with them." She tried her best to communicate with the other using her eyes, "Isn't that right?"

"It does sound nice, and I'm glad you liked it. I don't think I'm much of a beach person myself," she admitted with a shrug, "not that I've really tried being one." She wasn't entirely sure when she had decided she didn't care for lounging around in the sun but apparently she had done just that at one point in her life. "Luckily there are some beaches not too far from here. So, you know, you can still enjoy that even if it isn't quite the same."

"Well, this is my second time around living here. I first moved here to do a PhD program ages ago. Finished that and worked elsewhere for a bit. Now I'm back." She looked down, almost embarrassed for sharing something that felt both meaningless and hugely important at the same time. "I guess you could say I liked the city enough to move right back."

As they sat down, Matt picked up the menu as well and looked over the pasta section of it. "Can't go wrong with a good pasta, right?" he gave a small nod and chose what he was going to eat before he looked up, putting the menu down to answer her questions.

"Honestly, I loved LA, yeah. The weather is great and living near the beach is not half bad." He chuckled. "And I loved my house there too. I never imagined moving back to the East Coast but a really big work opportunity came up so I was happy to take it." Matt trailed the edge of the menu with his fingers, lost in thought for a moment before he looked up again. "What about you? Why did you move to New York?"

zahra hamed character inspo task

fox mulder (the x-files) cassie thomas (promising young woman) abby sciuto (ncis) jo march (little women) ambrose spellman (chilling adventures of sabrina) river tam (firefly & serenity) beth harmon (the queen's gambit) nomi marks (sense8)

"I can imagine. Did you like LA? I mean, I feel like it would be vastly different from New York. Never been," she admitted. While she had nothing against he West Coast, California or even Los Angeles, she had never had any real reason to visit. The family she had in the states lived mostly in the Midwest, and she had spent her adult years in the Southeast and East Coast. "Different vibe, right? I guess you could say the weather is nicer."

Zahra didn't have to open the menu to know what she wanted. She could be a creature of habit, often frequenting the same restaurants she had once deemed good. Still, she took a look as if trying to make recommendations. "All of the pasta is pretty great. Can't say a lot about the meat since I don't really eat it."

They took a turn around the corner and he followed her to the place she knew as they continued chatting. He found it really easy to talk to her even though she seemed very serious and wanted to shake him off at the beginning, she warming up to him apparently and it felt nice. Uncomplicated. "I've lived in LA so I'm pretty used to having options of things to do. Too many options actually. When I first got there at eighteen, I wanted to do everything all the time. The last couple of years I was in bed by ten." He laughed at himself. Thirty-nine hit pretty hard.

Once inside the place, he rubbed his hands together, looking around. "Okay, what's good here? I'm actually starving." he chuckled.

While she had always been independent and quite happy to do things by herself, going to a Halloween party alone had felt quite wrong. Well, she mostly didn't like the idea of entering the party alone and didn't mind the group had scattered within the first ten minutes. Apparently she hadn't been the only party-goer left to their own devices. Finishing the drink she had been nursing for quite a while, she nodded at him in acknowledgement. "The best," she agreed, trying to spot her own group of people. It was a pointless task with the amount of people packed to the venue and she soon gave up, coming to the conclusion she would find them later. "Sure, why not. Sounds like a good idea right about now."

Open Starter For: Anybody @aurorabaystarter Location: Sharky's Monster Mash

Oliver wasn't feeling like himself lately, but that's when his siblings had shown up into town and they surprised him. He was glad that they were able to come for Halloween so that he could party with them. He hadn't partied much with his younger siblings since he was always worried about taking care of them. But as usual, they took off with someone random and Oliver, dressed as Harry potter, found himself alone. He ordered himself a drink at the bar and he looked around while he waited. He looked to the person who was closest to him and he smiled, "It's so nice when you're deserted by people who came to town to see you." He chuckled a bit. "I was going to take a shot, are you interested in joining?"