eroltilki

[eroltilki]

BERK CANKAT Elif Demiralp, 2016

[eroltilki]

"I think I'm a goner, at this point," Erol admitted, glancing at the woman beside him and offering her a smile that was somewhere between genuine amusement and begrudging acceptance. For as much as he'd protested the idea when they'd headed for the event that morning, Erol was absolutely confident that they could make it work if Emre really found a dog he had his heart set on adopting. His general difficulty when it came to telling his son no when he rarely asked for much of anything was something he'd have to deal with in his own time but he was fairly confident that hurdle wasn't something he'd be clearing any time soon. "We already have a dog but I don't think I'll be able to say no if my son finds animal he might want to adopt, like, no matter what it is. It probably helps that our dog is really sweet so I know she'd be fine with any other animal we brought back into the house." He sighed, shaking his head before he laughed softly. "You probably had the right idea― coming to check it out without your little ones, I mean. I'll be lucky if my son only finds one animal he wants to adopt."

@carmencarrillo

It didn't take much for Carmen to be drawn by Erol's expression about the allure of the animals, and as she listened she couldn't help but smile sympathetically as she overheard his comment. Approaching him with a warm smile, she nodded in understanding. "Tell me about it. Those puppy dog eyes can be impossible to resist," she countered with a chuckle, glancing over at the variety of adorable pets begging for attention. As Erol mentioned his son's desire for another dog, Carmen's smile widened with amusement. "Ah, the power of persuasion, that's partially why I'm alone and not with my children. I know there's no way I'd make it out of here without one - or three - if I'd brought them with me." she remarked, amused by the universal struggle of parents giving in to their children's requests. "It looks like you're in for some new furry company though, think you can make it out of here without another one or are those tiny paws and adorable eyes going to convince you?" @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

"Well, I'd be happy to help you track 'em down, in that case," Erol said, his smile equal parts embarrassed and slightly lopsided as he glanced towards the woman at his side. "Y'know, considering it's a little bit my fault that you lost track of them in the first place." Although they'd only been in each other's company for a grand total of five minutes he couldn't quite imagine Mei giving him a hard time simply for trying to help her in some small way and he was reasonably confident it wouldn't take them an insane amount of time to find her family. It was crowded, to be sure, but not impossible to navigate by any means and he had over thirty years of experience navigating the city in general to give them a little bit of a helpful nudge.

His smile only widened as he took in the photo she was showing him and his gaze shifted back to Mei in short order. "Aw, they're cute," He said, reaching for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and flicking through it until he found a photo of his son― showing it to Mei with a smile. "My son's running around with his friends right now but he might come back sooner than later to check in. Where did you wanna start looking?"

@meicarrillo

Mei was grateful that they lived in a town where if you did happen to drop something, people would pick it up to give it back. When they lived in Denver for example, if you were to lose something, it was gone. Her kids had to learn that the hard way. It wasn't easy but most things kids were to lose thankfully were replaceable. " Oh no, everyone here is great. " Mei spoke honestly she hadn't really met anyone in the town who was rude. Sure there was a fair share of grumpy people but they were never rude.

Mei had gotten separated from her wife and kids when had been stopped. " Sure, I don't mind. I'm actually looking for my wife and kids. I don't think they could have gotten too far. " Mei said as took a quick scan of the area with no luck. " I'm Mei. It's nice to meet you Erol. " Mei spoke softly as she extended a hand to him before pulling out her phone to see if they had called. With no lucky she showed home a photo of her wife and twins. Two dark-haired, fair-skinned children smiling happily.

[eroltilki]

Erol held a hand over his heart with a broad smile― he'd never been the sort of person to shy away from being altogether obvious about how he was feeling at any given moment and he wondered, briefly, how apparent it was that he all but swooned every time Dilan complimented him or said something sweet to him. "That's what I like to hear," He said brightly, ducking his head to kiss Dilan even as he continued to smile. "I'm just happy to be in your life so I'll take most handsome guy, for sure." He finished, his cheeks dimpling as his smile widened. He shrugged, "I'll take silly. I like silly and it made you smile so it's a win-win for me, y'know?" He smiled crookedly, "To the mango wine, baby. Do we have a back up in case it's just awful? Or do we just have to accept defeat then and there?"

"It's one of many reasons why I love you," Dilan quipped back at him as he feinted his own disappointment, "you certainly are the most handsome guy in my life," she batted her lashes up at him as if to apologize for missing stating that in the first place. "It might be," she pushed out her lips in thought, "it doesn't say, so that will be a surprise." A laugh bubbled over her own lips with a shake of her head, "It's not silly, okay maybe a pinch silly," she held her thumb and pointer finger closely together, "but it made sense to me." Dilan leaned into him a moment before the line shifted them to the front where they stepped into the wine tent. "To the mango wine, then?" @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

"I'm happy to help," Erol assured her, bright and eager― a familiar note in his voice, by all accounts, the puppy-like energy to help people something that had followed him throughout his life and seemed reluctant to leave him even as he grew older and felt a bit silly for reacting in such a way to... well, almost anything. "It's really busy out here, like you said, I can't really blame you for losing track of it. Stuff like that happens to the best of us, right?" He continued, offering her a warm smile. "Are you running into a lot of really rude people out here today?" He asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows as a frown tugged at the edges of his mouth for a fraction of a second before he glanced around― as though expecting one such rude individual to appear out of thin air for no reason at all.

"I'm just sort of wandering around right now if you'd like some company?" It was an almost reflexive offer even if it was one he recognized might have been slightly bizarre coming from a complete stranger. "I realize that might be weird to offer so you're absolutely under no obligation to say 'yes'. At the very least it'd probably keep anyone from messing with you." He finished the statement with a shrug and a decidedly sheepish smile. "I'm Erol, by the way."

@meicarrillo

Mei glanced up from her stroll, her cheeks flushing slightly at the unexpected interruption. Her almond-shaped eyes widened as she registered the stranger's friendly demeanor and the object he held out towards her. She paused, taking a moment to assess the situation before a warm smile spread across her face, dimples appearing at the corners of her lips. "Oh, thank you so much!" Mei exclaimed, her voice carrying a gentle lilt. She reached out to accept the item, her fingers brushing against his briefly as she did so. "You're absolutely right, I did drop this. I can't believe I didn't notice. Thank you."

She glanced down at the object in her hand, a small trinket that held sentimental value to her. Then, her gaze returned to the man before her, curiosity sparking in her eyes. "And no, you're not bothering me at all. It's actually quite nice to have a friendly encounter like this during the festival hustle and bustle. "

[eroltilki]

"Oh, that's all, huh?" Erol asked, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend as he offered her a smile that could truly only be classified as Puckish. "I guess I'll take that. It's not because I'm the most handsome guy in the whole world, though? Disappointing." He sighed deeply, shaking his head as though it were the most disappointing bit of news he'd ever gotten in his life. Given how long they'd been friends it wasn't unusual for him to tease Dilan but it felt particularly delightful to do it now― an added layer to all of the ways he loved having Dilan in his life and what their relationship had been and what it had become. "Mango wine? Is it like, bubbly? I'm game for it either way but I feel like sparking wine is like, particularly spring appropriate." He wrinkled his nose with a soft laugh. "Does that make sense? It sounded silly outside of my head."

@dilanxbarak

"Good," she smiled as Erol gave her a firm nod in agreement to her request. Dilan's heart fluttered as his lips pressed against the top of her head. "I know that you have," it wouldn't be the first time that the brunette had let herself go in front of Erol after a few glasses of wine. However, it would be the first time since their being together as a couple. "It's why I love you," Dilan had no hesitation in bringing the words up now that they had already been said once. "Hmm," she looped her arm through his own as she grabbed the menu out of her bag, "I was thinking we could start with some of the sweeter wines prior to adventuring out, but they do have a mango wine that I didn't get to try last year." @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

― SETTING: take it outdoors event, summit lake. ― AVAILABILITY: closed for elijah falvey. ( @elifalvey )

There was so much going on during the spring festival that Erol often found himself all but throwing a mental dart at a map and hoping it'd land on something he wanted to do when it came to planning his time during the festival. He'd made the split second decision to head to the kayak race Take It Outdoors was putting on― though how he'd gotten Eli to agree to tag along was still a bit beyond him. It was more of an excuse to catch up with his friend, anyway, as he had no real intention of racing but no problem attending the event. He glanced at Eli from the corner of his eye as he sipped on the water he'd brought as they lingered around the lake. "You look a little tired, man," Erol said lightly, turning his full attention towards the other man and offering him an easy smile. "How've you been? Busy with the kids?" They could keep it to the usual catch up topics if that was what Eli needed but Erol wasn't blind and he wanted to make it clear to his friend that they could talk about anything and he'd be perfectly happy to listen.

[eroltilki]

― SETTING: near the below zero stand, downtown. ― AVAILABILITY: closed for mei carrillo. ( @meicarrillo )

Several years ago, Erol had made the conscious decision to give everyone in the company― himself included― the week off to enjoy the spring festival with their families or simply in whatever way allowed them a solid week of rest. It was his first day in the week that Emre had wanted to do something with his mother and Erol had agreed readily― co-parenting wasn't the easiest thing he'd ever done but it was perhaps the most fulfilling. Albeit, he thought as he lingered downtown with a sample cup of ice cream in his hand, a bit lonely. He was wandering a tad aimlessly― pausing to chat with people he knew and generally trying to enjoy himself when his gaze shifted towards something on the ground a woman ahead of him seemed to have dropped. He jogged to retrieve it and hurried to catch up with her, a welcoming smile already tugging at his lips. "Excuse me, miss? I think you might've dropped this," He said, holding it towards her and hoping he'd found the right person. "Am I right or did I totally just bother you for no real reason?"

[eroltilki]

― SETTING: barks and recreation adoption event. ― AVAILABILITY: closed for carmen carrillo. ( @carmencarrillo )

There was, Erol had stressed to his son before they'd left the house, absolutely no reason they needed to go to the adoption event they were holding in town. They already had a dog, after all, and Zara was in perfectly good health and got plenty of attention from both of them― they were fine without another pet. Sound reasoning, he'd thought, and it had been shattered entirely by his son's pleading expression and now Erol was wandering around the adoption event with one eye on his teenage son and another on all of the animals who seemed to be having the time of their lives. "God, they're all so cute," He groaned aloud, to no one in particular, though he recognized that his voice had a tendency to carry. "My son wants another dog, I think." Erol continued, glancing at the nearest person and tilting his chin in Emre's direction as he smiled softly. "I tried to say no but I caved to the puppy dog eyes."

[eroltilki]

For reasons he hadn't been fully prepared to tug the threads of― Violet had decided to visit just in time for the week of the spring event and Erol hadn't wanted or even thought to deny Emre any time with his mother. It had left him with more alone time than he'd been expecting but he was more than happy to shift his focus towards spending time with his girlfriend. "Yes, ma'am," Erol said with a firm nod. The crinkles that appeared around his eyes when he smiled gave the game away entirely even as he tried to keep a straight face and he leaned down to kiss the top of Dilan's head, the huff of laughter that escaped him ruffling her hair as he pulled away. "I've had plenty of practice, for starters, but I like to think I'm pretty good at it, by now." He was smiling in full now and drew a cross over his heart with his index finger as he grinned at his girlfriend. "I got ya covered, baby, don't you worry. Anything standing out to you? I'm willing to be a little adventurous about it this time."

@dilanxbarak

starter for @eroltilki

location: the grape escape tent, wine tasting, downtown providence peak

Dilan's hand was laced with Erol's, right where it belonged. Sharing Selvi for the event, she had taken the opportunity that while her daughter was spending quality time with her father's family to spend some one on one time with Erol. "Don't let me have too many," Dilan teased as they waited in line to get into the The Grape Escape wine tasting tent, "I am much more of a lightweight," the whole nine months of not drinking while she was pregnant, plus she had not exactly indulged since giving birth either. "though, I trust you'd take good care of me."

[eroltilki]

Erol couldn't help the laugh that rolled through him and he offered Freddie a nod and a smile. He was still a hopeless romantic in spite of his own divorce and he was happier than ever when it came to his relationships and especially his relationship with Dilan now that they were dating. It was all too easy for him to hope that anyone who wanted to be happy in their relationship, whatever that meant, was something they could achieve. He wasn't going to pester the guy anymore than he already had as they drifted away from each other but it was certainly an interesting conversation to mark his Valentine's Day. He could say that much, at least. "Thanks, man. Good luck to you if you end up taking the leap."

@freddiefkncrane

Freddie wasn't sure what he had been hoping for the man to say, but Erol's response left him wanting. Perhaps he had asked to get some direction regarding his future with Carla, perhaps it was stupid to be looking for indirect advice from a stranger in a coffee shop. He nodded slowly, nudged forward to the order counter as the person ahead of him stepped aside to pick up their coffee elsewhere. "Uh.. yeah, I guess." Not exactly a ringing endorsement for getting married.. not a cautionary tale either. Freddie shrugged a shoulder, putting his order in, his mouth feeling a bit dry. Fucking Valentine's day. He paid and shoved his money back into his pocket, giving the man a slight nod as he began to drift off the line. "Good luck on the next one?"

[eroltilki]

"Lucky me, huh?" Erol mumbled, his eyes closed and the smile on his face so wide and earnest that he felt his cheeks twinge from the force of it. He felt like he could float away altogether and be perfectly happy to do so in that moment. He wouldn't and couldn't for obvious practical and well, physics based reasons but he was elated in a way he couldn't remember having felt about all too many things. It seemed to be a familiar feeling where Dilan was concerned, though, and he was all too happy to appreciate and cherish the feeling. He was still smiling when he pulled away and kissed Dilan again just for good measure before he took her hand and grinned crookedly. "To the penguins? We still need to ask them for long term relationship advice," He joked, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he smiled.

Three words. Three words that made her insides feel like they were being tickled by a thousand butterflies. Her heart raced with the words that he spoke, followed by them being repeated once more. It wasn't that Dilan didn't feel the same but she hadn't expected Erol to speak the words so soon. With his forehead rested against her own, she reached up, cupping his cheeks as she pulled back to tip her chin to look up at him. "I love you." It wasn't that she loved him because he loved her. She had loved him for much longer than she had ever been willing to admit to herself. "I really do." She pressed up on her toes, touching her lips softly against his own. Now, all she had to do was hope that if they ever made it to the altar, she wouldn't be left standing there alone. @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

"It was rhetorical, Sam, keep up." Erol drawled in return, forcing his expression towards neutrality for all of three seconds before a smile curved comfortably at his mouth― his dimples on display for a moment before his head turned towards the board at his feet and he made quick work of removing the remaining nails and studying the wood around the board he'd just pulled with a furrow between his brows. "We might be able to salvage a decent chunk of the wood that's already here, actually. There's rot in some spots but not enough that I'd say we have to scrap it completely." He was talking to himself more than anything but he glanced at Sammy as if to reassure himself that the other man had heard him before he quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "Did you want to try and salvage the original wood wherever we can? It'll be cheaper, obviously, might just take longer to pull everything."

Erol nodded slowly and offered his friend a sheepish smile. "Fair enough, dude. You guys just seem joined at the hip sometimes and I'm probably too nosy for my own good? My sister thinks so, anyway." He said with a chuckle. "What's the grand plan for this place, by the way? Like, what're you thinkin' you want it to look like when all's said and done? I'm betting we'll make it happen no matter what but I'm curious."

@sammypersaud

"You're right," Sammy lightly admitted, a teasing scoff falling from his lips as his shoulders lifted in a shrug. "You'd be a horrible friend." There was no world where he actually believed Erol had the capability to be a horrible friend and especially not to him. He was grateful for it, not having a ton of people he actually kept close enough to have a beer and work through the stress of rebuilding his porch from the decaying scraps they were quickly finding. It was similar to trying to build IKEA furniture with someone — it had the potential of wrecking a friendship if it wasn't strong enough.

"You would be a horrible friend if you burned all my money though, just saying." An amused huff fell from his lips as he grinned at the man nearby. "But I'm going to wager that neither of us are going to do that, so rebuilding it is. Doesn't have to be perfect, but I'm willing to invest enough in it to make sure I'm not getting any lawsuits because someone fell into it." It would probably be Ingrid who, in the end, filed the lawsuit, a thought that caused him to chuckle. "She's good," Sam finally nodded, though he wasn't sure he had much more information than that. He may have been willing to ask her help to pick out paint, but it wasn't like they were dating or anything. Not at that time. "Last I heard she was messing around with some dude who works part-time at the pool in Claret. We're just... hanging out right now."

@eroltilki

[eroltilki]

"No, I mean..." Erol's mouth tugged downwards at the edges and he sighed softly. It wasn't something he'd articulated to many people― the fact that he was worried that his feelings for Dilan, as strong as they were, would somehow be too much in the grand scheme of things was difficult for him to express. He wasn't embarrassed about the feeling but for as much as he'd always been able to support the people around him and listen without much trouble he'd always had the slightest bit of an issue with reaching for that help himself when he needed it. "I just... feel things in a huge way in like, every possible situation, y'know? And I'd really hate to overwhelm her or something by just... being too much?" He hated how uncertain his words sounded but offered Dylan a smile even as he shrugged. "I might be overreacting. They've all met, though, to answer your question― Em loves Dilan and he's obsessed with Selvi," Erol said with a soft laugh. "I'd be happy to talk to Theo, of course! I don't see him nearly enough and I think it's only fair if I get to pester him as much as I pester you," He teased, his good cheer returning in short order. "You guys thought about what kind of dog you might want?" He asked curiously, perking up noticeably as the conversation topic shifted.

@dylan-westwick

"Oh c'mon! I could never top your place in his life. You kiddin' me?!" Obviously she knew that he was indeed kidding with her, appreciating the nickname as it reminded her of her mom who she missed even though it had really only been a month or so since she'd been here. "Well that's good, Emre I'm sure would let you know if there was anything, I'm sure." She felt like Erol's son was pretty good about talking with his dad. And that open communication was something that Dylan hoped that she could also capture for herself in her own parenting of the twins. She wanted them to know they could come to her and Theo with anything and they were open to talk about it with them. No question was off the table. "Yeah? And by scaring her what do you mean, if ya don't mind me askin'? I mean she's also got Selvi which I mean obviously she's still a baby. Have Emre and Selvi met? Or even Emre and Dilan?" No matter what, she felt like there was no way that would scare Dilan away seeing just how good a father that her significant other was. At least Dylan didn't think so. "Yeah, but I definitely think you should talk to Theo too though. I think that'd be great actually. Don't you guys?" She asked the twins as if they were going to just answer her with full sentences out of the blue. "We also talked about gettin' a dog too." Dylan said that with excitement because it'd been quite some time since having a companion other than Johnny Boy.

@eroltilki

[eroltilki]

'What would be the point in that?' It wasn't a response he'd been expecting but it wasn't as though he knew the stranger with any degree of depth― so he wasn't altogether certain what he'd been expecting when he'd asked the question. He allowed the silence to spread between them for a moment as he shuffled forward in line and turned to glance at Freddie again. "I guess I couldn't tell you that, man. I've been married before and it didn't work out so I'm not an expert on it. It's not like it's a requirement for anything." He said with a shrug. "If you have a partner and you feel like that's the thing to do, I guess."

@freddiefkncrane

Freddie gnawed at the inside of his cheek. He'd blown money on more frivolous things than a private island. His own estate was full of antiques and art pieces he could hardly recall the value of. Would Carla even want something that grandiose? She was nowhere near as materialistic as he was, though she rarely said 'no' to a nice gift. But an island? The stranger's question brought him out of his own thoughts. "Me? Married?" his brows knit together. "What would be the point in that?" @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

It was remarkable― the way every fiber of his being seemed to shift itself towards Dilan every time she looked at him; he was so utterly in love with the woman in front of him it felt like he could float away on the lightness it inspired within him. There was a point of warmth in his chest that seemed to spread to every part of his body and it would have been overwhelming if it wasn't something that felt so right. He smiled, his heart pounding so furiously he could hear the thrum of it in his ears. "I love you," He said, with both a bone deep conviction and a gentleness that came so easily to him and seemed to come that much easier where Dilan was concerned. "I love you," He repeated, a bit louder but no less warm. He rested his forehead against hers and hoped, for a brief and frantic moment, that it wasn't too soon― that he wasn't making a mistake by telling her so soon.

Dilan looked up as Erol stopped walking as she was tugged closer to him. She was smiling as she made her way towards him, his hand reaching up to her face. As their lips met, Dilan rested her hands on his hips to brace herself against him. Her head was in the clouds when she was around Erol, their noses nuzzling against one another as he pulled back from the kiss, "I think so, too," she whispered back as she was unable to remove the smile from her lips. It tended to be permanently on her face when the two of them were together. "I bet they could, they seem like good advice givers," she hummed playfully with the thought as the two of them began walking once more. "Yes, Erol?" Her gaze lifted to him as he questioned. @eroltilki

[eroltilki]

"That's some heavy lifting for a bottle of rum to do," Erol said lightly, the edges of his mouth curving towards a smile before he could stop it. It was more than a little amusing to hear and more than a little interesting to wonder how he could drum up a selection that would serve that purpose without being wildly expensive― unless that was also what Reggie was going for.

"Follow up question," He continued, already wandering towards the rum aisle and glancing over his shoulder to ensure Reggie was following him to some extent. "How much are you looking to spend? 'Cause that's gonna dictate a lot of what we try to find, obviously." He'd never actively dropped an insane amount of money on alcohol before but he'd definitely spent over a hundred dollars on it before and wanted to be at least moderately prepared for that to be the case if Reggie needed something particularly good. "As long as you don't go for something that's like, three hundred dollars or some shit, I think we oughta be fine."

@reggiefalvey

"I think that's law of attraction, or something like that." Or he had seen something about saying yes to the universe and had equated the two in his mind after finding out, definitively, that law of attraction wasn't about being so attractive it was criminal.

Not only was this Erol surprisingly kind, he also seemed to be more knowledgeable than Reggie was in the very thing he wanted a recommendation on. He could have asked the cashier, but he had a sneaking suspicion that would be how he would end up paying through the nose for something overpriced.

"It's for a friend, we got into a stupid fight and I was an asshole about it." Story of his life. "So I want something that will say, I know I was a dick, I won't do it again. Hopefully."

@eroltilki