darpow

[darpow]

Do you realize how full of yourself you sou-- who am I kidding? Of course you do, you're used to it, that's probably why you said it! I'm getting the impression that you're going to murder me, actually, but that also would not be all that surprising, I guess. Joy and fear, all wrapped into one big, beautiful, colorful boom.

No, it's too late, you've said it now. I'm going to be THE thing you miss the most when you're dead in the ground. Deep, deep in the ground...if you know what I mean. They happen because they bring joy, not because of a holiday.

[darpow]

Just a little bit! I didn't want to overdo it or… more accurately? Embarrass myself in front of everyone else out there that was doing way, way better than me. Hey, as long as you got out there and had a good time, that's all that matters! Did you end up kicking some ass while you were playing volleyball? Take down a lot of people that thought they were better than they were? That's true. Seafood is the beginning and ending of this town. And maybe some blueberries for dessert.

Did you manage to get out there on the water? I took a chance and tried it out, and it was pretty cool. Harder than I thought. But still a lot of fun! Volleyball was great! Got some competition going there, and it was great. Thankfully sand is soft, so there is that. Seafood. That’s just the answer, Dare. The town loves its seafood and it’s probably the best I’ve tasted in a long while. That’s pretty much the tagline for this place! And it works!

[darpow]

It's summer time, I have more days like that than I probably should… but I tell myself that I can since I'm not teaching at the moment! But they do still like it when I show up at the historical society to get some work done, so I try not to be too lazy or too much of a give-up-too-easily type when I know that I have responsibilities r whatever else. Absolutely, that's going to be so special, you'll have so many big and little moments watching her go through these new phases. Hey, that would be fun! Does she show any interest in taking hikes with you? I know that the state park offers a lot of nature programs for kids, too, I bet that she could get involved in those and learn all about safety and everything to go with it before she tackles the trails! Make life a little easier for you in the long run. God, no. Walter and Gale would get sent home all the time, one for being too lazy, one fore being too friendly or excited, I'm pretty sure. Oh, nice! I'm glad that you got out there on the board for a bit, and if you only got knocked down once, that's not so bad at all, right?

Yup, exactly. Listen, I won't tell anybody. If you did it this morning, man, it can be our secret. What I hate about that is how we can never tell what days will do it to us. If I had a planner or something to allot those days, then it wouldn't be so bad, but even if you plan mental health days or whatever, sometimes your mental health really has a mind of its own. I feel like that pun has layers. Yeah, she's super stoked! I do have that aw, man, I can't believe it's already here, but I'm so excited to see how she turns out. It feels like such an honour to be able to watch her grow up. Whatever she does, I'm down for. I just hope all those jogs I take with her in the carrier, and did in the stroller when she was a baby, let her jog with me as she gets up there. All I ask is for family hikes, the rest is history. Could you imagine if we also had to deal with sending our pets to school? I guess we could say obedience training or camps are similar, and I saw this video about dogs getting on a bus for that, but that's only for weeks, not years! I did surf whilst I was at the carnival, Gabby was kind enough to watch Nat as I took out some waves. Only one took me out this time.

[darpow]

"That's because you're organized and smart," he said with a grin. Too many people didn't think that far ahead, wouldn't even consider setting an alarm to not miss out. Darrius was like Alice, though -- he probably would have set an alarm, too, if his anxiety and excitement to sign up for classes hadn't had him up at the crack of dawn, refreshing his paper. "I could see you being persuasive with your letter writing," getting her way just because she really, really knew how to construct a well-worded letter that got her point across. A thought that he kept as he took a bite of the ice cream. "Excellent choice on these flavors."

"I always would put reminders on my phone to make sure I'm right on time to sign up for the class," Alice said with a nod. "And then if not, I probably would write a letter to the dean asking to make an exception," she smiled. She decided that doing so would help her chances, which it did. "Which I have done before," she nodded. "Cheers," she chuckled, holding up her ice cream cup in a toast.

[darpow]

I actually did have my entire life flash before my eyes when Noa took me on one of those drop rides at the carnival, and one of my last thoughts was, 'oh God, I'm going to miss Chetan so much.' Except not really, I'm just trying to make you feel better. You know, even though it's nearly two weeks too late for fireworks, I'm still hearing people set them off.

Blah blah, your lips keep moving but I'm just hearing bullshit. As per usual. You would miss me immensely, so maybe it's time to think about being nicer to me to keep me around for longer, because I'm a special guy. One of a kind- and I was going to watch fourth of july fireworks with you and everything.

[darpow]

"I need to gain my mojo back," he said with a huffing laugh, unable to help his smile. Although being able to win her a stuffed animal or some other prize that she was super into would be a good added bonus of also feeling good about he fact that he wasn't a giant man baby about scary amusement park rides. Probably. Hopefully. But he instantly relaxed at the feeling of her hand rubbing his arm, leaning down to press a kiss to the side of her head and letting out a content breath. "Good. That's probably the best thing that a guy can hear," or the nicest thing that he could hear, in particular. Glancing out at the line of games that were set up, he contemplated. Goldfish were too easy, probably the same with soda. The darts, sure… maybe the strongman? How hard could it be to whack a target with a giant hammer and make the bell ring? "That one," he said, pointing and lifting his free arm to make a muscle. "Think I can do it?"

Noa's head tilted back as she laughed. The vouchers she slipped into her back pocket, they'd be good for another night. Maybe with one of the ladies on her Lane. "You don't need to do anything," she said, rubbing at his arm. He could have cried on that ride and it wouldn't have changed one bit of her perspective. "You know I always feel safest when I'm with you." They made a leisurely pace onto the fairgrounds, the crowd of couples and families mingling around the various stalls and rides. She'd always loved how a field could be transformed over a weekend, unpacked from trucks and turned into a wonderland of sorts. "But who am I to turn down the chance at one of those bid ole stuffies? What's your best game?"

[darpow]

Free vouchers to get on that ride again were… well, they were Noa's to share with her friends, or to give to some adrenaline-chasing kids that wanted to get on but mom and dad said no. For as much as Darrius liked the memory of what happened on that Devil's Drop, he kind of thought that the devil could keep his drop for himself. There were other things that he had on his mind, and other ways that he could enjoy the carnival with Noa. As he tugged her through the exit and back into the stream of people, he puffed up his chest a little bit. "I feel like I need to do something manly like win you a giant stuffed animal or… a bottle of soda," which was probably easier than one of those ridiculously oversized plushies. But after pouting on the big, scary ride, a game seemed a little easier. "Something I can win with my feet on the ground, yes, please."

They were a rock in the stream of angry patrons, flooding off the ride. Noa couldn't have cared less. She was wrapped in Dare's arms, nearly off her feet as she leaned into the kiss. It was sweet, the passion behind it contained for now, but it was every emotion she'd felt these past six plus months wrapped into motion. She shivered from the goosebumps breaking out over her skin. It was only once they separated that the world came rushing back in. The carnival operators offering free rides, the crowd around the Devil's Drop being slowly dispersed, the dusk giving way to the deep violet of an early evening. Noa took the free vouchers with barely a glance at the worker, her gaze was with Darrius.

"We need to celebrate a lot more than that," she said. She took his hand, interlacing their fingers and giving it a squeeze. "Let's stay on solid earth for that though. Deal?"

[darpow]

The penny dropping might not have killed the man, but Noa's threat definitely scared him off, and Darrius was just about to comment on that when he heard her voice, instead, feeling the grin that had spread across his face simmer down to a sincere smile. "We better be… I'm hanging on to that." Or, more accurately 'thaaa' before he was plummeting down towards earth and then the ride came to a stop, and he found himself letting out a breathless laugh, instantly jumping out of the harness and brushing himself off, as though something horrible could have happened while he was up there. For eighteen million years, it had felt like.

He didn't really hear what anyone was saying, no apologies or explanations, not the cursing carnival-goers that were flooding out around them to head for the exit. No, he was too concerned with wrapping his arms tightly around Noa and pulling her in against him, kissing her deeply and for what felt like forever. He basked in that moment, cherishing every second that her lips were pressed against his. It wasn't until someone behind them cleared their throat and he realized that everyone had vacated the area, that they were waiting for them to move that he let out a laugh, dropping his hands from Noa's face to her hands, gripping them tightly and back-stepping towards the exit. "We need to celebrate surviving the ride." Among other things.

"This high up? Worst they'll get is a bruise." Megaphone man was now telling them it wouldn't be long. The little 'thanks for staying calm, miss' tossed in at the end, sealed his fate. "Though I wish it would do more." She tossed one of her pennies down, watching it drop uselessly a few meters from the man. The message seemed to be received though as the megaphone dropped down and the man placed away.

"Oh," she smirked, "we're getting that happy ending, love." It was a whisper, a promise, something that the wind off the ocean carried into the sunset. She was close enough to see the curve of Darrius's eyelashes when the ride clicked back on and the floor dropped out from under them. She gave a startled yelp, gripping her restraints. The wind whipped at her, and the adrenaline pumped into her veins. She hardly cared for the operator's apologies, for the outpouring of useless words. She hardly even cared for megaphone man shaking his head a few feet away. Once the restraints were loosened she was up and she was in Dare's arms. She was standing on her toes to kiss him. This fall - now this one - she wasn't ever going to recover from.

[darpow]

"And hope that you're a lot faster the second time around than you were the first," he agreed with a laugh, "because otherwise, you're going to end up in the same boat. And unless it's a required class, eventually you're going to stop trying to get it just out of frustration." Once, twice, sure… but throw out that third time of trying, someone was bound to lose their patience. Following after Alice, he dropped down into the seat across from her, making himself comfortable. "This is the life, right here."

"Yes! The most fun and popular ones are always like that," she nodded at him. "Then you always have to wait for the perfect timing before being able to register again," Alice said. She had experienced that before while working on her journalism degree, and she would have to wait until the next registration to try and get into the class she wanted. "That would be... that also would be something I would be into," she said, taking her seat at a nearby table, nodding at Darrius to join her.

[darpow]

"Only way it could be more Merrock is if they had a lobster flavored sno*cone," he grinned, even if the idea of it pretty much made him want to gag. Although he was a big fan of the seafood in general, that didn't mean that everything in their small town needed to be themed after it. Especially not ice cold, refreshing desserts. "Okay, yes, that sounds like heaven," he laughed, and then shrugged his shoulders, "but I don't think I would ever want to do music any more professionally than on this level, you know?" He had started out in the band just filling in now and then, had eventually started performing regularly with them. But rockstar life? God, no, definitely not for Darrius. He liked teaching and spending time with his girlfriend far more than that. A slow, amused smile grew on his face as she talked about the old jazz musicians, bouncing music off of each other, coming in to play. "That… yeah, that. We could do something like that at The Mirage."

"That might be the most Merrock thing to do, so, yes," Ivy grinned back, now determined to find them a bucket of sno*cones with Darrius. If they couldn't get one at the event? Then, Ivy was even more determined to make one themselves, decorate one for each band member even. It would be perfect. "So, what? You're saying those pups couldn't come on the road with you? You REALLY think that Unknown Destination's first stops wouldn't be to the best food around? That would absolutely be my first stop at any of our World Wide tours. Drugs, sex and rock and roll meet a new type of rockstar -- Food, dogs and sleeping right after a show." Nodding at Darrius' the cogs in Ivy's head started to turn. "Yes! Exactly that! We could have a free play where it was kinda like those old jazz musicians bouncing off of each other. Then, we could have organized acts, solo acts...I think we got something here, Dare."

[darpow]

"Is this one of those things where we figure out that dropping a penny from this high up can kill a man?" he asked with a laugh, looking at the penny in her fingers. Wasn't there some story about dropping a penny from the top of the Empire State Building and what it could do if it hit someone that was walking by below? Although… this wasn't nearly as high up as that building. Probably. "But it might send them a message," he offered her a quick smirk, before reaching to curl his fingers around her hand, closing her fist. "Or, you keep the penny as good luck for a special night. That seems like a good idea."

"I was going to say that it would be kind of romantic… but I think getting to live would be a little more of a happy ending," he agreed with a laugh, leaning in a little closer as she did the same, feeling a smile touch his lips, and moving his gaze from her lips to her eyes, and back down, his smile growing a little more playful. She leaned in. He leaned in. He was a breath away from kissing her… when the floor gave out beneath them, and he jerked back in his harnessed seat. His laugh was loud, surprised, full of amusement -- and maybe a little disappointment at the kiss he didn't go -- as they soared downward, faster than he had expected, but she was right: it was a rush.

Noa felt around her pockets, finding a bit of loose change from when she'd bought cotton candy earlier. "You think we should show 'em what we think of their advice," she held out a penny, cheeks red from the very idea. "Or, on second thought, should we not anger the ride operators?" The sun was almost down now, dipping beneath the tree line to the distance. It was a magnificent sunset, the clouds above it streaked in red and orange. Maybe it wasn't such a terrible time to tear down that last wall between them. She couldn't imagine forgetting this view, this man, or this oncoming night.

"I'm going to be so pissed if we die right now," she said. "I'll come back and haunt the shit out of our memorial." Her words were soft though. She leaned into Dare's touch, testing the boundaries of their restraints. There was, she realized, just enough give between the buckles for her to shift toward him a few inches - just enough for him to do the same if he decided. "I'm not mad about that" she confirmed. "All good things in time." And then she was leaning forward, her eyes falling to her boyfriend's lips. The machine clicked a few times behind them, but she gave it no thought as the distance closed between them.

[darpow]

TASK #28 LET'S GET PHYSICAL

Darrius's face claim is the very handsome Aldis Hodge. He very closely resembles him, with not a lot of changes! He stands at six foot one, and is very well built from all of the time spent in the gym and running, and is proud of his physique, although not in an overtly obvious 'feels the need to show it off' kind of way. Darrius is the kind of person that takes care of himself, and it's evident not just by his physique, but the way that he dresses, his skin, his nails, his facial hair... he's always well put together.

As tempting as it might be to say that he likes his abs or his arms and knowing he worked so hard for him -- it's easy. Darrius likes his smile. But he wouldn't knock his sense of style, either.

There really, honestly aren't a lot of differences physically between the face claim and the character in this case. Darrius doesn't have any tattoos, and he doesn't have any piercings. He doesn't wear glasses or have anything that really sets him apart.

That being said, Darrius does take good care of himself, as mentioned before. He has a skincare routine, and while it might not be a ridiculously fancy one, it's one that keeps his skin soft and smooth. He washes his face several times a day, uses sunscreen when he goes outside, sunglasses on bright days to take care of his eyes, all of that good stuff. And he isn't afraid to take a day at the spa when he feels like he needs it, or going to the salon to get prettied up when his hair is getting long.

Darrius keeps his hair short, most of the time. Just enough that he can say he has hair and show it off to anyone who might doubt it. He's never really grown it out longer than a couple of inches, and mostly lets it be styled in its natural texture. But occasionally, he has gotten creative with it -- but he prefers the upkeep of something simple. He almost always has facial hair. Now that he's older, he's gotten to the point where he doesn't feel like himself if he doesn't have a beard.

When he needs to dress nice, he dresses nice. He has jackets with elbow pads! At work, he's very business, with sweaters and slacks, or button-down shirts and nice jeans. Shined shoes, never muddy or scratched. If he can go a little more casual, he does. Jeans and a t-shirt or a hoodie, a lot of layers, a lot of jewelry, a lot of thrifted designer pieces that he rescued from oblivion. And the man can wear a suit, too, cleaning up really well when it comes to galas or other fancy events in town when he needs to show up and show out. He sleeps in boxer briefs and sweatpants, and probably has more work-out clothes than one human being should, as well.

[darpow]

"When those cravings hit, you don't really care what time of year it is," he said with a laugh, shrugging both of his shoulders. But it wasn't wrong -- sometimes you wanted ice cream no matter what the weather was doing outside. Besides, they made holiday and winter themed ice cream, didn't they? "Kind of hard to go wrong with ice cream. Have you ever tried a flavor that just... did not work?"

"Ice cream in the dead of winter," she laughed, considering the idea. "Not the worst idea I have ever heard." Sometimes, you just craved ice cream no matter the weather conditions. As testers were handed over the counter, she took both, handing Darrius his. After a few, she turned to him with a smile. "They are all good!"

[darpow]

"They should really know that telling people not to panic actually makes them panic," he said with a low laugh, craning his head a bit to see the people down below with their megaphones in hand, realizing that it was the kind of thing that should only take place in movies, ordinarily. A scene that most people would laugh about. Or, now, his reality. And he was stuck in it. "Reassuring," he said with a roll of his eyes, but the smile on his face said that it was actually amusing. "I hope that they put it right here, on this spot. Something to be cherished and remembered forever."

Seeing the glint and sparkle in her eyes, Darrius offered her a soft smile, reaching his other hand across to cup her face gently, brushing his thumb under her eye. "Yeah," he said gently, leaning in a little closer towards her, as much as he could when they were strapped into a harness on a ride, high up above the rest of the town. "Really?" he asked, unable to help his soft laugh as she admitted that she had been waiting for weeks to find the right moment, unable to hold back his smile. "Apparently all it took was a little life and death situation on an amusement park ride, who ever would have thought?" It would be a story to tell, he knew that much. The kind of thing that neither of them would ever forget. "I've wanted to say it, too. For a long time. Longer than I knew."

"Don't feel too bad." There were two operators now, talking into what looked like walkie talkies and someone on a megaphone telling them to stay calm. (Which really wasn't helping the matter.) "Maybe they'll build us a nice memorial. We'll be etched into Merrock's history forever." It was good to joke through the trickle of anxiety. She'd never wish this situation on anyone, but to be up here with Darrius was a best case scenario.

There was a gentle ringing in her ears after she confessed. There would always be a part of her that shied away from this vulnerability and, in the heartbeats between when she said it and Darrius spoke, she was in free fall. Having him catch her, made goosebumps break along her skin, and a smile crack across her face. She felt her eyes misting and she blinked to try and dispel her tears. To those below she knew it would look like distress if she started wiping at her cheeks. "Yeah?" she asked, her voice softer and dipped in emotion. For her, despite everything, it was a perfect moment. One she would remember her whole life. "I've been sitting on this one for weeks, Dare. I didn't know how to just come out and say it."

[darpow]

"Which is no easy feat," it was hard raising a kid, not that he knew from personal experience, but just from watching the people around him and living in the world that they did, he could tell that it wasn't something that came easily. That it was something that took a lot of hard work and effort. So if they came out to be good people… that was something that people deserved credit for. "Too much sadness in doctoring," he said with a scrunch of his nose, shaking his head, "history, at least I know what I'm dealing with, there." Sure, there were always things that popped up and made you feel a little sad, but it was different. Better for him, somehow. "Yes. Obviously," he laughed, nodding his head, "and it's the kind of musical number that ends up winning you a Tony and putting you on the map, too." The sort of thing that any good ice cream eater wanted, why take a trophy that looked like ice cream cones when you could go home with a Tony, instead? Obviously. "Yeah," he said with a small smile and a nod, "I can imagine eventually you go home with a story that you don't want hanging around in your head. Whether it's from you, or the other person. But you're right. There's an advantage there! It would be irresponsible of you not to take it."

"Neither did mine and I think they both raised two delightful contributions to society. More than two in both of our cases," it was refreshing to know that even with the influence of both Aisha and herself, Darrius would never stoop to her level. In the beginning, there had been a sense of suspicion cast on Darrius from Adya -- how could someone be so nice? So patient? Even in the face of provocation, Darrius was unshakeable. "You'd have made a wonderful doctor, we need more people like you." It's an offering, a kindness to Darrius in the midst of her mischief. "The man being the Merrock Ice Cream Shop run by the BENEFACTOR who does a musical number with us at the end after we're all hunky dory or whatever? I see the vision." Another lick from the ice cream and it was still good despite the fact that it was not her usual. At his question, she does not meet his eyes but at the ice cream itself. "Nik and I used to all the time," she doesn't want to talk about it, not really, but it's easy to let her guard down around Darrius. "Now I learned better than to get into competitions with my coworkers. Besides, trauma surgery offers a world of nasty that some of these other fluffy specialities couldn't even touch. It wouldn't be fair."

[darpow]

"Good way of looking at it," he said with a warm smile, nodding his head. While Darrius was sure that there were people who would rather complain than be happy, he found it hard to do anything but enjoy what he was given, make a good time out of it. "We'll complain while smiling and saying thank you. Y'know, sort of acknowledging that it's a great time, but having our 'next time…' note cards ready for when they ask for suggestions." Even if some of those suggestions were probably not going to win people over. It was the thought that counted. "I'll be the one pissing myself," but he paused, tilting his head to the side. "Actually, no. I'd talk to them, but only if they had cool history lessons that they could teach me," which seemed right up his alley. Asking the ghost about the history of the house they lived in. "I very much so do," he grinned, before rolling his eyes when she hinted at other people not being as happy, "grouches. Losers. Don't listen to them."

"I always tell myself, it could always be worse too. Just because it's not my thing, that doesn't mean shit. As long as we get beds, showers, some sort of shelter from the elements.. we can't really complain too much. But that doesn't mean I won't complain if I'm uncomfortable!" Sylvia knew that she never shut up, so she wasn't even going to pretend. She would accept the lodging experience of this trip, knowing that they had been on previous trips that were more luxurious and in her comfort level. This wasn't her favorite, but it wasn't the worst that it could be, by far. "Just like we can do a real haunted house for Halloween and I'm more than happy talking to the ghosts where I know other people would be pissing themselves," she shrugged. It was all personal preference. "Appreciate fashion and appreciate anything and everything your girlfriend suffers through for beauty too!" That was something that she encouraged of all men in hetero relationships. "I try! At least you trust me to help you. other people.." she looked around, shrugging.

[darpow]

"Just what I've always wanted," he laughed, trying to imagine what it would be like to not just go viral… but to go viral from being terrified on an amusement ride at the local carnival. The local carnival in a tiny little town that not many people knew about. He supposed, in a way, this would put them on the map. Literally, and figuratively. "Here I always thought that I would go viral for discovering some ancient, historical artifact in Merrock, not having a tragic ending with my girlfriend thanks to a faulty ride," but he was grinning as he said it, until those damn gears shifted and Noa's hand tightened around his, and then his grin faltered a bit as he tightened his squeeze, too.

"None of my sisters really love cooking, she'd probably give you the recipes," he said, the words coming out without much thought behind him as his head reeled over what she was saying, letting out a rush of a breath that ended on a laugh. He watched her face, his grip loosening the tiniest bit on her hand, not because he wasn't scared anymore, but because he relaxed, because he felt lighter, he couldn't think about free falling through the night air when he was free falling through the universe. He had known for a little while, unsure of when he had decided for sure, when his heart was certain. But he had always been waiting for the right time, always waiting for the perfect moment. Sometimes, it didn't need to be perfect. It just needed to be dangling above your the local carnival. "I love you, too, Noa."

"Just think," she said, "we'll be on the news, on TikTok, some niche little YouTube channel might just make a video about us." She was mostly trying to distract Darrius now, make him laugh and forget the fact that they were stuck some fifty plus feet in the air. After this maybe they'd avoid the ferris wheel. Stick to the rides that didn't leave the ground. She gripped her boyfriend's hand a little tighter as she heard some gears in the machine whirring behind them.

And maybe this was a terrible place to be having this conversation. Maybe she should wait until they were Earthbound again, but there was no stopping it once the floodgates were open. "Your mom's cooking is exquisite," she conceded, her voice a little lighter as her heart made a beat against her sternum, "but I was in love with you long before tasting it." It was a relief to let the words drop, to have them carried on the sunset breeze. She held Darrius's gaze as she said it, secure in the conviction. It was still a free fall, still a leap, but with Dare those never felt as scary.