mxslug

[mxslug]

“Do I actually want to do...anything? No. I don’t. I just need more than minimum wage, man”

mxslug​:

“I saw some ad online. Said it was easy to learn and you can make money pretty fast. But yeah…I guess now is as good a time as any.”

“I mean, is it something you want to actually do?”

[mxslug]

“The beach?” Slug looked over to Rory with an exhausted expression. As much as he didn’t want to go, as much as he would rather set himself on fire than see Amelia right now, he couldn’t say no to such a sweet face. “Y-Yeah...yeah. We can go.” He nodded and turned his gaze back to the road. Slug continued to drive with a little moment of quiet between them before he could really form his words. “If you’ve gotta break my heart one day...please let me down easy.” He said with tears welling up in his eyes. What Amelia did to him hurt him more than words could say. He hadn’t felt that kind of reject hit him so hard in a long, long time. “Because I love you, Rory. I really do. And I dunno like...if you don’t want me anymore just like...tell me. Because I literally cannot go through this shit again. I can’t do it.” His voice cracked a bit at the end, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked forward. “I can’t open up my heart anymore like...Rory you’re the last one. So if you need to leave me please just spare me the bullshit and tell me straight up instead of stringing me along for years.”

mxslug​:

“I thought so too, Rory.” Slug sighed softly as he held Rory closer, kissing the top of his head. All of the bullshit was getting to him. His love for Amelia, the haunting thought of his ex, not know what he would do with his life, the looming addiction hanging over his head and telling him to come back—it was always so overwhelming, so terrifying. And the worst part about it was that unlike some scary movie you could watch and get over it was his real life. “Let’s just go.” He walked Rory to the car and opened the door for him.

As they drove, he could feel it weighing on him, and his anxiety getting the best of him. It felt like everything around him had gone black with the exception of the road ahead. He could feel his fear creeping up his body like a snake ready to attack until he reached over and grabbed Rory’s thigh tenderly. The feeling of Rory beside him snapped him out of his dark haze and he glanced over. “Can you promise me something, Rory?”

Even just the way that Slug held him, and kissed him on the crown of his head. It was so endearing that if Rory weren’t as sad as he were, he would probably just have melted. There was a storm brewing in both of them. Maybe it was based on different things, and maybe they’d find themselves erupting at different times, but it didn’t matter. “Can we… can we go to the beach, Slug? I need to talk to her, but I can’t do any of this without you.” He sat in the car, nerves all but taking over.

They were both silent and that felt strange. There was rarely ever a silence between them. He just wanted to curl into Slug and forget about the rest of the world. That would have been a lot easier. “What’s up? I’d promise you the world if I could.”

[mxslug]

“Nah uh...like they teach you how to program and code and shit? I dunno. I haven’t looked much into it.”

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

[mxslug]

“Nah. I ain’t never coded. That’s why they do the boot camp. It’s teaches you don’t it?” He asked as he crossed his arms to try and get a little sense of comfort back.

—— slug.

“I ain’t never heard of a hackathon.” All this info was a bit overwhelming for Slug…and god it was delivered so fast. “I dunno if you know this but…I’m not a generally very smart guy so everything you’re saying absolutely went in one ear and out the other.”

“It’s like a case competition, except you actually get to make the prototype! A panel of judges evaluate your solution and-” she paused for a moment when she caught the other off guard, immediately scouring for a much simpler way to explain things. “Ah, um… let’s break it down, shall we? Have you ever coded before?”

[mxslug]

“Aww did I make you all nervous?” He teased and gave a friendly push to his arm. “Ah you know. The usual. Working at the drive in. Oversleeping in my van. Dealing with stupid bullshit. The reg.”

mxslug​:

“Bootleggers. That way you can both wine and dine me.” He nodded and stood to stretch. “So, other than playfully bein’ a skeez, what’ve you been up to?”

“Fair enough. I don’t think I can eat anything for a while, my stomach is still all up in a knot. Definitely not made for this kind of lifestyle.” He chuckled and began walking towards the bar. “Not much, honestly. Saving cats from trees, mostly. What about you?”

[mxslug]

“They sure are somethin’. Hottest legs in town.” Slug laughed as he walked towards where they wanted to go. As soon as they got behind her booth he very gingerly set her down. “Told you, I got you.”

mxslug·:

“Oh I most definitely can. And now that you’ve challenged me, I will.” Slug smirked playfully before he swept Babs off her feet with ease, looking down to her with a big ol goofy grin. “I told you I could. You weigh like…nothing. It’s easy.”

Babs lets out a loud yelp of laughter as Slug sweeps her off of the ground, gripping at his shoulders as if there’s any danger of him dropping her when she knows for a fact that there isn’t. “How dare you,” she says in feigned offense. “I at least have some muscle weight, check out these legs, they’re killer,” she insisted, extending one of her legs with the skate on the foot.

[mxslug]

“Oh. Welcome then. Where bouts are yah from?”

mxslug​.

“I ain’t seen you around before…New to the force..?”

“new to frostford, but not the job.” she tells him simply with a smile. 

[mxslug]

“I think it depends on where I go? But when I saw it they have like free trials kind of. Yah know to see if you’re good at it.”

mxslug​:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“Aren’t those expensive, though?”

[mxslug]

“Hm?” Slug turned to see Isaiah and smiled. “Oh, hey man. Yeah. I’m totally down. Especially if you’re the one buying. But I’m letting you know now I’m probably gonna order something more than onion rings.”

@mxslug

When Isaiah spots his friend, he jogs over to catch him. “Yo, Slug! Just the guy I wanted to see. You hungry? I’m dying for a burger and some onion rings from Hogtied. You in? I’m buying.”

[mxslug]

“The farm?” Slug wasn’t quite used to that kind of hard labor but he’d helped him dad out on stupid bullshit around the house so helping out with this seemed easier. “How uh...how much would I make?”

mxslug​:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“Well, I never did understand all those ones and zeros, but if it’s what floats your boat then there’s no point in wastin’ your time, kiddo. Take the leap before ya’ end up wonderin’ why ya’ didn’t. If you need extra cash, though, you could always start takin’ hours down at the farm. It’s not playin’ around on any computers, but… we got cows. And they both start with a C, so - close enough, right?” 

[mxslug]

“No but...it makes good money. So I thought maybe I’d try it. Yah know if I work hard enough...I just wanna get out of my brother’s hair.”

mxslug​:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“Is that somethin’ you even wanna do? The codin’ bit?”

[mxslug]

“Mr. Delgado, I appreciate your enthusiasm but putting false hope in me ain’t doin’ me any good.”

mxslug·:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“You know if you did, you’d probably be really good at it. Why not actually look into it?”

[mxslug]

“ ‘Cause I ate one on a dare when I was seven. So instead of getting bullied for it I just embraced the name.” He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “When you’re a dumpster fire of a person the name just kinda fits. What’s your name? You look like an Amanda to me. Tell me I’m right.”

mxslug​:

“This room 100% smells like cigarette ash and B. O. People call me Slug and you’re telling me I’m wrong?? You’re crazy lady.”

His name is slug and I’m the crazy one? She thought to herself before politely smiling, “Why slug?”

[mxslug]

“This room 100% smells like cigarette ash and B. O. People call me Slug and you’re telling me I’m wrong?? You’re crazy lady.”

“i think you’re wrong,” she stated, quickly adding, “sorry.” ( @frostfordstart​ )

[mxslug]

“Thank you, Maggie...you’re always so sweet. I just wanna hug you sometimes.”

frostfordstart​:

mxslug​:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“That’s not a terrible idea, y’know. I think that’d actually be a good thing. You know you have my support.”

[mxslug]

“Yeah. But I live with my brother. I stay in my van ‘cause I don’t wanna be in his way but...I dunno. I think I should get my own place.”

mxslug​:

“Maybe I should go to one of those coding boot camp things. Then I can at least get my own place.” ((@frostfordstart))

“Don’t you have your own place?” She looked confused. “You live in a van, right?”

[mxslug]

“I thought so too, Rory.” Slug sighed softly as he held Rory closer, kissing the top of his head. All of the bullshit was getting to him. His love for Amelia, the haunting thought of his ex, not know what he would do with his life, the looming addiction hanging over his head and telling him to come back—it was always so overwhelming, so terrifying. And the worst part about it was that unlike some scary movie you could watch and get over it was his real life. “Let’s just go.” He walked Rory to the car and opened the door for him.

As they drove, he could feel it weighing on him, and his anxiety getting the best of him. It felt like everything around him had gone black with the exception of the road ahead. He could feel his fear creeping up his body like a snake ready to attack until he reached over and grabbed Rory’s thigh tenderly. The feeling of Rory beside him snapped him out of his dark haze and he glanced over. “Can you promise me something, Rory?”

mxslug​:

Texting Amelia today was the worst decision he’d made in years. Here he was, opening his heart to the woman he’d fallen for and waiting for her to be ready to be with him, waiting for her to love him back, and it seemed like she really didn’t give a fuck about him. Which was odd to him seeing as she made it out like he was her weakness and she would drop everything to be with him. He thought they had something–something real. But it opened his eyes. All this time, he had this underlying love for Rory that was just an unspoken truth between them. Even when he was with Amelia, Rory would come in and out of his mind like a song he’d gotten stuck in his head. Rory was the one that loved him, that was there for him, that didn’t make him wait around like an idiot. And what the had was so good, so beautiful. 

As Slug drove to pick up Rory, he smiled for the first time that day. Because he knew seeing Rory would mend his broken heart. He knew that as soon as he heard his voice every anxious, angry, destructive thought would leave his mind. But…then he realized he’d just kind of said I love you through a text. Which was quite literally the shittiest way of saying that ever. “Fuck!” He turned his music up loud, screaming to it to let out the frustration in his head as he hit his fists against the wheel as tears ran down his cheeks. How could he let all this shit get to him? It wasn’t like him to care so god damn much.

He stopped outside of Rory’s mom’s place, resting his head against the wheel and taking a deep breath even while his car was still blasting grungy rock. He turned off the car and sat for a moment, pulling his way out of his scrabbled thoughts and doubts and slowly sitting up and getting out of the car. He wiped his tears away as he approached the house, smiling down to his favorite person sitting on the porch. “Looks like today was a cry it out kind of day for both of us.” He chuckled softly before taking Rory’s hand and pulling him up and into his arms. 

Even a month ago… Rory didn’t know he’d be in this situation. And yeah, a month ago, Amelia wasn’t back, nor was Slug in his life in this specific capacity. So… everything had escalated really quickly, which made everything that much harder to process. Why had he spun his web like this? Why had he complicated it all up so much? Sure, it was wonderful to be allowed to love whoever he wanted to, to kiss whoever he wanted to, without fear of getting hurt… in one sense. But… it was confusing. He had too many feelings.

Bon Iver’s voice matched this sort of hollow nothingness that felt like it was taking over. Maybe he wasn’t making this any less complicated by going to Slug’s… but it was a place where he knew he’d feel appreciated. And loved… apparently. So.. it was the choice he was going to make. Sometimes Rory wondered why anyone put up with him at all.

The car rolled up, and Rory pulled his headphones out, eyes spent from crying. “I don’t wanna grow up, Slug. I thought when I got older it would get better.”