the end of eras

Mateo

champagne, cocaine, gasoline
and most things in between

"La Verbena it is. We will figure out the rest from there, even if that is just more of the same," Mateo confirms with an easy nod, carrying the bag along with them as he ushers them through the parting crowd and to the schooner moored nearby. Her lavender is in full bloom with the sunnier days, and although the cascade is not as majestic as it will be come Longheat, the scent of it shrouds the little skyboard as they climb aboard.

"Down we go," Mateo says cheerfully, insisting Ever goes first down into the cabin, the botanist on his heels. "I thought about making some tea, but then I thought you might want this instead." This happens to be a hot water bottle wrapped in one of the aviator's sweaters - one he'd left at La Verbena for long before he'd become purple and then back again, having been stored safely away in Mateo's closet.

"I would like to ask you some questions," he continues softly, offering out the weight and warmth of the hot water bottle and gesturing for Ever to make his way either towards the patchwork sofa or into Mateo's room. "But I do not expect you to have to think very hard about the answers. Would that be okay?"

I roam the city in a shopping cart
a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm