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[garrickxvelour]

His horse let out a small bray and he released her reigns to stroke her neck. "Are you now? That sounds wonderful. Merrock's the town for it, if you're planning on staying here with her."

The rhythm of his horse's hooves filled the space between them, clip-clopping on the dirt, crunching leaves. Garrick caught Cage's gaze. "Ah, not much. I've tried it only a handful of times, but I do enjoy going sailing or going on boats when the opportunity presents itself. Do you sail at all?"

"No, but," he let out a small, almost sheepish laugh, "my girlfriend and I are looking into buying a farm together, actually. So if that happens, I would like to get some animals. More than just the chickens and the ducks, you know?" Really build the life that he had figured he would always someday settle into when he had the opportunity.

"Yeah," he smiled at the thought, leaning into the easy gait of the horse and letting his eyes lift up to the trees beyond where they were riding. "Do you fish or anything?" he tore his eyes away to look over at Garrick. "It's a great spot for that, too, but even if you don't, I've already taken out a boat just to float around for a while, truth be told. As long as you know what you're doing and don't get stranded in the middle of the lake or anything."

[garrickxvelour]

It had been some time since Garrick had the opportunity to speak about teaching. Part of reminiscing carried a twinge of regret. Remorse for his old life. Nostalgic for the thrill he would get the moment he stepped into a classroom. A quiet snort slipped through his nostrils. "I don't think my students would have agreed with you, but I thought I was cool." Outside of missing the joy of educating, there was truly nothing like a friendly student roast from eighteen year olds, bantering with him surrounding his issues with technology, teaching him modern slang that sounded way too foreign from his mouth. "I'm not teaching at the moment, but for the pleasure of instructing college students you need a Master's."

Within minutes of Beck being there, it felt comfortable. Easy conversation flowed, intersected with little swigs of beer and light laughter. He held up a bashful hand. "Hey, I had to work with what I had. And it worked." Garrick took another sip. "Predictable, but neither, honestly. I personally loved the rest of the Cullen family more than Edward or Jacob."

If there were more professors and teachers like Garrick, Beck might have been more inclined to pursue higher education. He'd always thought he'd go, but he'd never decided on anything and life kept working out anyway. "I bet you were the cool professor," he mused, "with analogies like that." Beck loved learning, that wasn't the problem. He was self-taught in a lot of things, but sitting through class after class, being forced to take classes he didn't need and wouldn't use to meet some requirement, it wasn't exactly motivating. Especially with professors being such a mixed bag. "What kind of degree did you need to be able to talk about literary booty calls?" He teased, then another question popped into his head, "do you still teach at all?"

Taking a swig from his bottle, Beck thought there was little better than having a beer with a new friend. Something about the ease it brought, like they were already old friends. Laughing at the parallel, he made a mental note to ask Shosh if she would agree with that, not that he doubted Garrick. "And that was a selling point?" He joked, "I was surrounded by women growing up, I couldn't escape it. I'd might have rather watched Jane Eyre. But I gotta ask, whose team were you on? The creepy guy who'd watch her sleep without her knowing like a weirdo or the best friend?"

[garrickxvelour]

His laughter rumbled out of him, blending in with the surrounding bustle and chatter. He wouldn't say that he was drunk. Yet. Only coasting on the gentle buzz, sinking into the energy around the bar. Garrick's lips quirked up, mischief lacing through his tone. "Yeah? You want embarrassing secrets?" He cocked a brow and pointed to her with the bottle of his beet. "I'll share some of mine if you do, too."

Shoshanna laughed at Garrick's company, thankful for the company. And the conversation, since she didn't seem to be able to focus on the football playing overhead long enough to understand what was actually happening. Go sports? Either way, talking to Garrick was much more interesting. "No, not nearly enough! Give me details! I want to know all your embarrassing secrets." Shosh said with a teasing grin. She was mostly kidding.

[garrickxvelour]

Her question pulled a snicker out of him. It was stereotypical—reading while working at a bookshop. Passing the time between rushes in the only productive way he knew. His eyebrows wiggled, amusement curling at his lips. “Technically I still am. But I’m the only one here and it’s a slow night. So feel free to browse or keep chatting—either one is okay with me.”

Garrick caught the light flicker in her eyes, voice remaining polite with her intrigue. Shoving a hand in his pocket, he smiled as he said, "I have to say, I really like it. I don't plan on it being my long term career, but for now, I'm enjoying it." With his free hand, he grasped hers and gave it a small squeeze. "Pleasure. I'm Garrick."

If there was one thing that Summer was good at, a hidden agenda if you will, it was that she was capable of reading a situation and the room; the sliding of the bookmark into the spine of the book a clear indicator that she had stumbled in and onto something; "Are you even on shift?" it sounded like it was delivered with sarcasm but Summer was genuinely trying to help the other out; "Because I am more then happy to continue browsing if you wanted to get back to your book there"

Again it sounded like it was given with a high dose of attitude but Summer really was independent enough to scowl the shelves if he wished to be left to his own devices; "And what a job that is" looking up at the rather tall male who had saddled up beside her; "I've always thought working in a bookstore was kind of cool you know, but I never saw myself doing this long term" always finding herself needing a more mentally stimulating job; "I'm Summer by the way" holding her hand out to the other; "You'll probably be seeing a lot of me around here" // @garrickxvelour

[garrickxvelour]

Touchback was slowly becoming a part of Garrick's casual rotation of nighttime spots to hit. Especially, now, when fall sports were in full swing. He was seated beside a woman, Shoshana, engaged in an extremely animated conversation. Partially, it was fueled by alcohol. He was sipping on his second beer, smirking behind the lip of his glass. "Yeah? I thought me summarizing the night by saying I drank too much was enough? You want details?"

who: shoshanna & OPEN (0/7) when: an october saturday, early evening where: touchback

It wasn't often that Shoshanna found herself at a sports bar, but what could she say? If Taylor Swift can get into football, why couldn't she? Okay, so maybe she was more here for the buffalo chicken egg rolls, but nobody needed to know that. Shosh sipped her beer, staring at the person beside her at the bar with wide eyes. "Okay, but then what happened? I'm invested now, you can't leave me hanging like that."

[garrickxvelour]

Garrick hummed and slipped a small bookmark onto the open page, marking his place. "It's alright. I tend to pass out recommendations, though I know it's not for everyone." He shrugged, eyes softening apologetically. His interest piqued at her request, though. "But horror? You've come to the right place, during the right season, might I add."

He stood up behind the counter, sliding out to sidle closer to her. The more she spoke, he started to recognize flecks of an accent curling around her words. Softer rhotic R's, a lighter cadence—juxtaposing the harsher New England speech patterns he'd grown so accustomed to. Running a hand through his hair, his lips slipped into a lopsided smirk. "I do. Don't worry I'm not some strange book fan being nosy. I get paid to be nosy and help patrons."

There was a kind of nostalgia that being in a bookstore brought her, perhaps it was the times that she went to the library as a kid and sat in a quiet armchair reading and consuming as much media as she could or perhaps it was the weird draining but somewhat cherished memories of study sessions back in high school, either way there was definitely a fondness when it came to being in a bookstore.

"It's not actually, don't get me wrong I appreciate it and it's beautiful but it's definitely not up my alley to read" admitting to the other truthfully; "I am not looking for anything oddly specific but perhaps something on the horror side of things, doesn't have to be non-fiction" a majority of it was but Summer wanted to provide options to the other assisting her; "I take it you work here?" / @garrickxvelour

[garrickxvelour]

Garrick snickered. "Unless you still live on the family farm, maybe a cow would be quite a large pet. Though, they're so sweet and loving, so I wouldn't blame you if you get one and sneak it in."

His body shifted with every step of his horse—back straight, hands on his reigns, ears attuned to the gentle clop of hooves on dirt. Casual knowledge of Cage was limited for him. Outside of recognizing him as a rugged, outdoorsy type and a Newman sibling, that was pretty much the extent of it. "I haven't gotten the opportunity to explore much on my runs. I can imagine how peaceful it is out there. Sitting my the water and soaking in the cool air."

"I get that," Cage nodded his head, dropping a hand to twist his fingers into the horse's mane, brushing through the strands. "I'd love to get a cow someday for similar reasons, sort of like a pet. I'm not sure I could convince my girlfriend and her daughter that we needed to eat the cow, anyway," he admitted on a laugh, looking over at Garrick. "So it would defintiely be a pet." One that would inevitably get a lot of love, too. "No, it's great. I love fall for that reason, we don't get those random record breaking hot days that you see down south sometimes, you know? Just nice and crisp," perfect for walking downtown in a flannel shirt with a coffee in hand. "Absolutely. Favorite spot for that is out by the lake."

[garrickxvelour]

Yes, Garrick would admit it—he was a little intoxicated. Between some hard ciders and pumpkin beers, he'd reached a level of alcoholic function that slightly impaired his directional skills. While roaming through a maze. Not that he was the most trustworthy of guides when sober to begin with.

He had just started to believe he got his bearings when a body appeared in front of him. An unfamiliar man, just as confused as he felt. "Ah, shit, sorry for spooking you." Garrick offered him an apologetic smile before glancing around. "Seems like I'm just as lost as you. I've been trying to walk down this path to see if it'll lead me someplace different. But I haven't been able to figure out if I'm going in circles."

who? chandler and @garrickxvelour where? harmony ranch - corn maze when? sometime during creek fest

Okay, so maybe Chandler wasn't exactly Nami from One Piece. He couldn't read a map, and his method of figuring out cardinal directions was to point in a random direction and declare that it was north. But many fall-themed mixed drinks later, he was convinced that this maze would be a piece of cake and boldly entered it. Worst case scenario, he'd just retrace his steps and head back through the entrance. That was, until he'd been in the maze thirty seconds and already forgot if he had turned right or left to get here. After what he was convinced had been an hour (but was really only twenty minutes), he needed to give up and admit that he was totally fucking lost and that he hadn't seen this much corn since he lived in the midwest. But what else could he do except wander around aimlessly until he found his way out? As he fruitlessly turned yet another corner, he jumped back reflexively before he even realized there was a person coming from the opposite direction. "Shit, sorry." He mumbled, then ran his head through his hair. He did it whenever he was either drunk or stressed and considering he was both right now, it probably looked messy as fuck. "I'm guessing you don't know how to get out either?"

[garrickxvelour]

Early evening on a Friday wasn't exactly the most eventful of nights at Bookends. Most townsfolks made their way home after work, looking forward to spending the night with their families, wandering out on the town for dinner and drinks. Garrick had taken a seat behind the desk and cracked open a book he'd been casually flipping through. Lavender mist filled the air from a diffuser sitting atop a table.

A voice greeted him and he glanced up, meeting the eyes of a blonde woman. "Oh, hi there. Welcome in." His eyes crinkled with a smile and he held up his book. "It's a poetry collection by Louise Glück. I highly recommend it if poetry's your thing. Are you looking for a book in particular today?"

Location: Bookends

Status: Open

Context: It's after work on a Friday and your character is witnessing Summer winding down in a book store looking for a new recommendation

Tagging: @merrock

Books were something that Summer loved to indulge in and right now she was quite literally flying through them, then again the recommendations she had been given weren't exactly the thickest of books but it still excited her to even think about taking a trip to the store to find something new to read, the problem now was what exactly; "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt you there but I was wondering if you could tell me what you're reading?" turning to the person beside rather invested in the book they were holding.

[garrickxvelour]

Garrick pushed air out through his nose, a laugh coming out more as a snort. "Oh, God. I'd like to say no, but honestly, I probably ended up making a similar comparison to get a chuckle from my class. It worked to keep them engaged, so I took it." The detail of Beck not being the college kind of guy didn't take Garrick by surprise. The energetic-spontaneous air about him didn't lend him to staying seated in four years of university classes. "But I absolutely wouldn't let those jokes fly with teenagers in high school. I couldn't handle the angry calls and emails from parents."

The bottles clanged against the counter as they slid closer to him. Garrick picked up the drink Beck passed over to him, wrapping his fingers around the top to pop it open. He dropped the metal cap onto the counter with a quiet ting, smirking. "I look forward to hearing more." Taking a drink, his lips still curled from behind the lip of his bottle. With a light sigh, he leaned a palm against the edge of his counter, shoulders slouching as he said, "To get my students through reading Jane Eyre, I would tell them that it was the mid-19th century version of Twilight. And promise to show them the movie at the end of the semester as opposed to showing them a film adaptation of Jane Eyre."

"Ha, knew it," Beck replied, proud of his pretty accurate assessment. Though he missed the professor thing, it wasn't actually a surprise. "Did you make that booty call analogy in your classes? Because that might have made me more interested in English classes." However, he usually was in Shosh's English classes, so that wouldn't have helped any of his teachers a ton. They could have set themselves on fire, and they'd still be fighting her for his attention. "But I didn't actually do the college thing and that's not really something teachers in high school say to their students."

He probably should have had more skill before suggesting improvisation, however, he trusted Garrick's skill level. Besides, worst case, the beer was great. "I have great ideas all the time," he said as he tossed one across the island to Garrick before grabbing one for himself, "you'll learn this more as we get to know each other." As he opened his, he invited, "alright, let's have another Professor Garrickism. What else have I missed from classic literature?"

[garrickxvelour]

CINNAMON ROLL DAY! -- @garrickxvelour

To one of the sweetest guys I have gotten to know, happy cinnamon roll day! I hope that this treat puts a smile on your face. Thank you for always being so kind to me.

x Livvy

[garrickxvelour]

"We mostly collected eggs from our chickens and some milk from cows, but if I'm being honest, our livestock really felt more like pets." Garrick gave his horse a little pat on the neck, running his fingers through her mane as she clopped along the path. Eyes scanning the collections of trees lining the dirt path, leaves turning from green to the beginnings of red and orange. "Thankfully, Maine doesn't get too hot so fall has a nice crisp air to it. It's much more comfortable for both the horses and the riders now." His gaze landed back on Cage and he added, "Taking in all the fall foliage is beautiful."

A smile touched his lips as Garrick talked about the animals that they had on the farm, figuring it to be a pretty good variety of things to take care of. "Did you do anything witih them, like dairy or eggs, or were they more of farm pets?" Cage and Colton had chickens, and a few ducks, but they were pets. Ran out to the car to greet them and everything. Someday, he'd have horses, maybe a couple of cows, but his mind was still churning with those possibiities, now. "Fall's my favorite time to be horseback. Especially once the leaves change," he nodded ahead at the trail, canopied by trees. "In a few weeks, this'll be gorgeous."

[garrickxvelour]

I'm sorry to hear about that. For as comfortable as music can be, sometimes it can really hold on to pain like that. Did you have specific songs you would listen to together?

I would say a bit deeper then that, my parents passed away a few years back and we were very close so sometimes it makes me miss them hearing songs from those times.

[garrickxvelour]

behind closed doors

It's no secret that Garrick has a complicated past. One filled with shame and too much liquor, heated arguments and slamming doors. Another clouded with longing, grief, and panging regret. His relationship with his most recent ex, Natalya, forever sunk its claws into him and changed him as a man. Linked below are two playlists that cover the span of the immediate aftermath of their breakup—anger and acceptance

[garrickxvelour]

"Funny you should say that." Garrick snorted at his observation, lips quirking into a wide smirk. "I was a bit of a kiss ass in English classes. And then I ended up becoming an English professor, so then I got to set the rules."

His expression sobered, gaze flitting down to his counter to shift around some of his ingredients, making a clearer collection for what they needed. The baking sheet and some parchment paper pushed aside. "Improvised beer cake sounds good." Garrick pointed at the six pack in Beck's hand and added, "I like that. Let's crack one open to kick us off, yeah?"

Laughing, he thought for a second, "well, there can be some romance in a booty call if you really try. I haven't ever looked at it that way, but I absolutely will now. Excellent analysis, I bet you were fun to have in English class." He could actually picture that. Not in a class clown way, but in an 'actually knew the material and context probably better than the teacher' way.

"You are prepared," he commended, which aside from not having a kitchen, was why Beck was not the one hosting this boys' night. "Beer cake it is, then," he said, trying to remember lessons he'd learned along the way. "Dry ingredients first, right? Actually...beer first. For the chefs."

[garrickxvelour]

Garrick stepped alongside his horse and hoisted himself up into the staddle. Feet in the stirrups, he got himself situated, eyes following Cage as he did the same. "We had a mixture of livestock, actually. Two horses, a couple of goats and cows, chickens, too." Garrick held onto the reigns and guided his horse to follow his new riding partner. "Especially during the warmer months, it's a great time to take advantage of it. It's peaceful."

Offering a warm smile, Cage nodded his head, "good to meet you, too." And it was, because although he had definitely seen the other man around town, it was nice to actually get the chance to introduce himself, share a conversation. Get out on horseback, too. Given that it had been a while, it was nice to have the opportunity now, at least.

His interest was sparked when Garrick mentioned a farm, tilting his head to the side, "grew up on a horse farm?" he asked curiously, nudging his horse forward carefully as they began to ease onto the trail as a group, settling back into the saddle comfortably. "Now and then, not as often as I'd like to, but I try to make some time to come out when I can."

[garrickxvelour]

"Maybe if we don't have the right candy for them, they'll band together and riot. Start hurling some pumpkins at us," Garrick said with a snicker. He hoisted up his pumpkin for emphasis, giving it a light tap with his free hand. "They can be hefty weapons if you put enough oomph behind them."

Vince chuckled a bit with a nod. “That’s probably why they’re a staple of spooky season,” he laughed. “Maybe the gremlins will throw them at us if we make them mad…” he shook his head with a grin. “Yeah, they should put those warning labels on these things. Like when you buy a new couch. ‘Caution… giant pumpkin’.”