despaiiring

[despaiiring]

bisou (kiss): what’s your favorite place to be kissed?

" In bed. Nothin' like a goodmornin' or a goodnight kiss. "

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W : WEDDING. would your muse get married? why / why not?

" Did that once. I'm good. "

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romance

R   :   ROMANCE.   is your muse a romantic or a cynic?

" I was a romantic as a boy. I grew up. I know love is real and all around n' I respect that my experience ain't the same as everyone else's, but love always comes to an end. "

[despaiiring]

O : ODE. does your muse have a way with words?

" Only in terms of writing legal essays. Never got below a B+. "

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🚶

Introduce us to an NPC: Ginny Birdman, his ex-wife

" I don't much like talkin' about her anymore. It's... Man, it's painful. She's still the world to me. I know I wasn't what she needed anymore, probably haven't been for a long time, I get it. She needs someone on her level, truly on her level. I was real smart and she still ran circles around me. She can do a sudoku puzzle in seconds, minutes. Easy. I mean, whip smart. Which, of course, means she's funny as Hell. Not overly kind or nothin', but she never needed to be because everyone just automatically respects her off the bat. You know the type. Just real, real wonderful. "

[despaiiring]

Parapluie

parapluie (umbrella): favorite kind of weather?

" I'm from Nebraska and I was always right smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. Bein' there, you get used to it. The sirens and all, and the drills in school. I really liked sitting out on my porch on those storm days - before the rain really started to fall. The skies'll get all green and the hair gets all hot and electric. I love it. I miss it all the time. Ain't got shit for storms out this way. "

[despaiiring]

F : FLIRT. is your muse good at flirting? how do they flirt?

" Heh... Ah... No. No I am not. And even if I were, I'm too old for it now. When I was tryin' to win over my w— my ex-wife I spent a lot of time bringin' her flowers and starin' at her hair. A lot of time proof-reading her papers. She never was the candlelit dinner type. "

[despaiiring]

" It's, er, well. " Freddie taps the tabletop with the pads of his fingers, his coffee not quite half-drank and getting cold in front of him. The speed dating has been a failure on all counts, most particularly in the flavor of his too-fancy coffee. " We're the Gutter Sluts. The name's a hand-me-down, " he adds sheepishly. The boys are the reason Fingers had felt inclined to show up tonight, so he puts in the effort despite hating every minute. " You a bowler? A boney-fide kegler? "

closed starter: @despaiiring

where: driftwood. Can be during the speed dating thing or they could’ve just run into each other and started talking

“So you have a bowling team?” Soren sipped his coffee as he tried to make conversation. He wasn’t much on bowling and had completely forgotten people would bowl for more than just trying to find something fun to do on a Friday night. “What’s the name again?”

[despaiiring]

closed starter for bo / @borawinters

located at the burning of the exes bonfire

" The way this thing is advertised I'm afraid you're going to have some very confused patrons showin' up to the club with their stuffed animals and love notes. " Fingers shakes his head as he appraises the large bonfire - not yet lit - and feels vaguely privileged enough that he's not only managed to hang out with Bo outside of bowling practice, but that he's getting to help with the pre-party set-up. He turns to Bo, arms crossed over his wide chest, as he considers his words. " People ain't very smart, Bo. You can't trust them to read. "

[despaiiring]

" You tryin' to get me to do your dare for you? " Fingers tsks. " Shit outta' luck, my friend. Never been inked and never will be, thank you very much. "

who: @despaiiring where: outside cresent moon

"Hey," Cole's voice was quiet as he stood outside the tattoo studio. "I was dared to go and get one of those stupid little hearts tattooed on me and that sounds like a scam, you don't feel like a new tattoo do you?"

[despaiiring]

Aurora Bay Bowling Leagues

Interested in starting your casual bowling career? This is where to look! Every Tuesday and Thursday at Rock N' Bowl the Aurora Bay Sports Association hosts its league games for all of the registered teams. League teams consist of 6-8 players, with four main bowlers and their 2-4 alternates. The current winter season runs from January to mid-March with points being tallied and trophies awarded at the League Championship Ceremony on March 8th. Spring Season begins immediately following the Winter Championship.

Tuesday League Teams:

☆ The Ball Busters

Members: Alabama Marie (captain), Bernie Cho, Camryn Hendricks.

Thursday League Teams:

☆ The Gutter Sluts

Members: Fingers Odell (captain), Bora Winters, Benji Hyun, Will Myers, Gideon Green, Marcus Young, Colton Crane.

[despaiiring]

The unexpected thing about moving from Bumfuck, Midwest to the coastal, cultural mixing pot of Aurora Bay means that Fingers regularly runs into people of all walks of life instead of the same 10 people he's known his whole life. Meeting folks from other countries has been both exciting and enriching; it's thrilling to meet someone who has a British accent outside of his television set. Enough so that his mouth twitches up into a smile that he just barely contains to normalcy. Bora never said anything about Will being British!

" Pleased to meetcha, Will. Happy to have you on the team. " Fingers is used to the question - and the stares, and the feats of gymnastics that people's eyebrows do when they hear his name - so he's not so upset to have to explain it again. " I, uh. Well, I promise I'm not tryin' to brag or nothing, but I was a bit of a pinball-head back in the day. Won some competitions, nothing big. But I picked up the nickname during my contest years and it stuck. I s'pose it works doubly being a bowling team now as well. "

"Oh, I don't know about that—" Will replied humbly. Bowling wasn't exactly something he grew up doing. In fact, he was sure that no one in his family had ever set foot in a bowling alley. His parents were likely rolling around in their graves. The sports he did participate in and his general athleticism made him a slightly above average bowler however. "Beginner's luck, probably."

Bo had sent a text asking if he was interested in bowling, unveiling an layer to his friend he hasn't expected. At first, Will had expected it to be some kind of joke. Another surprise of the evening was how much he'd enjoyed it. So much so, he'd asked if he could join.

The name Fingers made Will's lips twitch humourously. He had heard the name, and it made him internally chuckle then, just as it did now. "Will," the Brit mirrored the introduction, extending out a hand. "I have to know how you earned that nickname."

( @despaiiring )

[despaiiring]

" Ah, well... Hm. "

Benji has a point - one that Fingers can't exactly argue. Still, he waves off the logic as though it's a buzzing fly. " It's ironic. I think. Do I consider myself a slut? No, unless it's just me and a box of powdered donut holes on my recliner. Do I throw gutter balls? Occasionally, sure. But Gutter Sluts isn't about being literal or honest. It's about fun! And we're having fun, right, Benj? "

Fingers claps his hand on Benji's shoulder, 100% genuine despite his face looking just as gruff and emotionless as it usually does.

Benj stares at Fingers with a deadpan, devoid of any amusement. Did Santi know about this name before mentioning it to him? At least he’s not stuck walking around in a shirt that says Gutter Sluts.

Wait, do they have team shirts?

“Isn’t the name a bad omen, though? It’s almost like it’s saying we love throwing gutter balls or something.” It doesn’t, but it’s Benj’s attempt at reasoning.

@despaiiring

[despaiiring]

" You're telling me. I started going to the gym a few weeks ago to keep my strength up 'cuz the last thing I need to is to be even more embarrassed at the doctor's office. It'll be bad enough facing the ' you're getting older ' conversation without telling them I did whatever I did at a bowling alley. "

Fingers nods in Gideon's direction, nothing more than a jut of his chin. " You must work out, right? Your biceps are what cartoon muscles are based off of. "

"I don't think it ever hurts to have a guy in the wings," Gideon wagers as he takes a drink from his own coffee.

He never so much minded the taste -- he had withstood years of new employees making their first batches on the industrial at the diner, so he'd learned long ago that coffee was coffee.

"That way we can sub someone in when we need it. Personally, I'm not getting younger. Who knows when I'm gonna throw my back out."

@despaiiring

[despaiiring]

DAVID HARBOUR

Stranger Things S01XEP01 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"

[despaiiring]

👪

👪 …someone in my muse’s family.

" I'll always take the opportunity to talk about my GamGam: Miss Shirley Odell, sweetest damn lady in the whole world. Strongest, too. I know everybody says this stuff about their family but I really mean it. I think if I look back on my childhood with my old fart brain now, I could find a lot of flaws in that woman - I mean, it took me forever to realize that the reason her breath always smelled like peppermint is because she was drinking Schnapps like water - and I'm sure my grandfather would have some choice words as well. None of that matters to me. She fit her life around making mine good and that will always sit right on my heart. "

[despaiiring]

talk about - santi!

" A good, good man. I don't think strangers walk into pubs and spend their time thinkin' whether or not their bartenders are good people, but at the Four Leaf you don't have to guess. Y'just know. I mean, he'd probably deny he did anything wonderful for me, but that man really saved my life. After I made an embarrassment of myself all over his establishment, sure, but he really did change my life. This isn't an ad for Four Leaf, I swear. " @santiagodeleons