ofalchemyy

[ofalchemyy]

"you never know until you try," austin agreed while lifting his glass in a mock toast. he chuckled softly and spun the phone back around to peer down at the photo. the cat cafe was one of austin's haunts, not adri's. she was a good sport, but he wouldn't call her a cat person, exactly. "i'm gonna tell her you said that." his brows knitted together as sebni tried to hum out the bridge of one of adri's songs. it sounded familiar to him but was definitely not one of hers. "oh my god. i'm going to airdrop you the album right now. put it on in the store this week and report back." he paused to respond to a text before looking back up at sebni and pointing at him with his free hand. "and! you have to text that girl this week. deal?" he held out his hand for a gentleman's handshake. to austin, it was practically a binding contract.

“ Yeah, that's fair. Who knows? She might even be the one, yeah? ” Sebni had doubts about that, as he always does, but hope can be a meaningful way to spend time. Definitely much better than moping around on his own, sulking about his lack of romantic adventures without actually getting in one. He squinted to get a better look at the photo, oblivious to Austin's irritation, “ Oh, she's a cat person? Yikes, ” he teased, making a face, before looking up, as if trying his best to remember a half-forgotten memory. “ Of course, I have, ” he hasn't, even though he raised a bottle to her greatness. “ My favorite's the one that goes na-na-na-na, doopy-doopy-yeah, hmm-hmm, hmm... ” Sebni started humming a song that was definitely not Adriana's...unless Adriana had a song that was basically Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso, though he most likely thought it was SNL's "original song" titled Domingo. “ She's a great musician, for sure. You're one lucky dog, man. ”

[ofalchemyy]

before he'd moved to new york, austin hadn't really seen a lot of shows. he'd briefly dated a broadway starlet, though, so he'd been inducted into the way of the theater the hard way. now, he kind of liked them. plus, starlight had some of the best food he'd accidentally stumbled across. he glanced up from a mozzarella stick and a waiter giving an inspired performance of legally blonde to stare blankly at the person who'd walked up to his table. he pointed a cheese stick at her. "i like your spirit. you don't have to pay for my food, but you have to tell me what the meal is. i've only ordered appetizers and a milkshake so far." he punctuated the sentence with a big sip of his strawberry shake. "i'm austin. who are you?"

who: victoria okoro & open ( @bfmstarters ) where: starlight

As she made her way into the familiar Starlight, she spotted the person sitting at the table she'd been headed for and froze in her tracks. Sure, it would make more sense to simply accept a different table, but something in her had her walking over to the occupied table anyway. "Excuse me," she started, having just reached the booth in the corner. "Sorry to bother you. I know this may sound insane, but is there any way I could join you at this table?" Victoria knew it'd be a long-shot, but she was trying to stay hopeful. "I'm about to start previews for my musical, and right before I open a show, I always come sit at this table and have the same exact meal. I know it's incredibly superstitious, but it's tradition." Maybe they'd either take pity on her and let her join, or find her crazy enough to get up and leave the table behind. Either way worked for her. "I'd happily pay for your meal," she added. Surely that'd help sway things in her favor.

[ofalchemyy]

austin hummed thoughtfully around a mouthful of nachos and chased it with a sip of his drink before pointing a finger-gun in winter's direction. "okay, but sometimes taco bell hits the spot. like it's the best after a night out, you know?" his eyes narrowed slightly as he sized the guy up. he figured if winter had a boyfriend, he must not be one of those people, but you could never be too sure, really. "which flower shop? i was always buying bouquets for people i owed apologies for for a while." he shrugged. "it's not bad. back to the grind next week, though."

" 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨𝐨. not the stuff you get from taco bell or chipotle, you know? " winter took another sip of his drink before he tackled all the questions. " well, he's a florist. it's sweet. i love how much he loves flowers. and i'm a congressman. so i'm always going back and forth from here to dc. and football. i knew i recognized you. that's cool. must be nice having a little break now. "

[ofalchemyy]

"and even if you did, this one wants to talk to you!" austin gave him an exasperated sigh and a shake of the head as he settled into his stool, an arm draped around the back of the empty seat beside him as he narrowed his eyes slightly, though the mildly irritated expression melted from his face as soon as sebni mentioned adriana. his mouth relaxed into a fond smile as he tapped his phone on the top of the bar and slid it over to show him a snapshot of adri with a cat they'd met at the cat cafe. he was more of a dog person, really, but he couldn't deny that the ginger tabby looked pretty damn cute nuzzling into his girlfriend's neck was cute. "she's good. have you listened to any of her stuff yet or are you still getting to it?" pop was never austin's bread and butter in music, but he loved a good concert. and since that one he'd seen adri perform in, he was all about her discography. "she's writing some songs about me and they're great, man."

“ Which part? ” Sebni quipped, agreeing with Austin's long look. Beggars can't be choosers and all that, right? Besides, he wasn't that much of a catch either. He was definitely lucky the girl had given him a chance, and he should definitely be more grateful. Besides, Austin was right. It was too early to tell. He was just overthinking things. Again. These things take time, don't they? People need to know things, be comfortable, before they even think of settling. “ I will, I will. It's not like I have better people to talk to, ” he quipped again, implying Austin was a terrible person to talk to, even though that wasn't the case. Far from it. He has a girlfriend, so that's proof he was at least a better conversation than Sebni. “ Unlike you. With your girlfriend. How's she doing, by the way? ”

[ofalchemyy]

"you asked," austin said with a laugh. he sobered up at her reaction to his advice and folded his hands beneath his chin as he watched her with his head tilted slightly. "your way sounds more fun, but it also sounds like a pretty good way to get fired." austin's mouth twitched as he hailed the bartender down to order yet another round of shots. he drummed a beat out on the top of the bar. "so i guess it depends on how much you like your job. or how much you need it?" he quirked a brow.

While Maddie had been the one who started the teasing and asked the question, she narrowed her eyes at the man who answered it. That grin was all but telling about what on earth he could be thinking. "Can't tell if that's a 'tmi' both, or not but I don't want to know. Tell your girlfriend congrats anyway on her song," she laughed.

There was already a look of clear exasperation when Maddie heard the proper way of handling things. For someone who, at the best of times, held the mentality of an eight year old, this sounded like a far less satisfying way of dealing with anything. "Really? Writing shit down like a tattler and go to HR?" the blonde's tone held a slight edge of teasing judgement, her expression with a quirk of a brow. "You know, for a guy who's buying shots for everyone at a bar on a casual afternoon, that is not what I thought you were going to say,".

[ofalchemyy]

"this place has the best burritos. tacos aren't bad either, though." he crunched on a chip and settled more into his seat, sipping idly at his drink as he waited for his entree to arrive. "what's he do?" austin wanted to know, leaning his elbow on the counter. "...what do you do? i play football, for what it's worth." he offered a smile.

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, winter's expression stayed the same. a smiled widened as he grabbed another chip and dipped it in the salsa. " i really was craving some good mexican food. waiting on some tacos as we speak. " he responded. " plus, my boyfriend is working an event, and i'm here for the week doing some events myself, and today is my only day off, so i'm enjoying it with some good food. "

[ofalchemyy]

austin casually tossed a look over his shoulder at the girls as he passed his empty glass over to the bartender and requested another. when he turned back to sebni, he leveled him with a long look that quite plainly said you've got to be shitting me. "you do realize how hypocritical that is, right?" he punctuated the question with a laugh and a shake of his head as he accepted another beer from the bartender and took a sip. "you never know until you try, right? and even if she's not the one, you can't figure that out after one conversation." he tapped the phone number with a hand. "you better call her. i'm gonna check in in a couple of days."

“ A little bit, ” Sebni admitted, even though it wasn't as hard as he expected it to be. The awkward part was getting himself started, finding the motivation to do so, rather the first few words, the opening line. Once he started talking, however, everything just fell into place. He wasn't that smooth, and he even stumbled once or twice, but he got the job done. At least one of the girls found his awkwardness cute. Poor girl. “ I guess she is, ” he heaved a sigh, turning his attention to the given number.

Then he realized he was probably being rude. The girl had given him a chance, and he was acting like he was better than her? Yikes. That's not what he wanted to portray, not what he wanted to feel, not what he wanted to be.

“ I mean, she's very cute. I think I got lucky enough to even catch her attention, ” he started scratching the back of his head. Damn right he got lucky. He wasn't that handsome or that tall or that talented. If he were the girls, he'd probably just ignore himself. So he should really be more grateful than choosy. High standards are only acceptable if you can fit them yourself.

“ Uhh, well, the other girl was more confident, I guess. This one was a little...excited, like she doesn't do this often or no one asks for her number, so I'm not sure... Maybe she'll end up very clingy? ” Can he take care of someone clingy? He can barely take care of himself.

[ofalchemyy]

austin proceeded to order them both another shot before answering. he lifted the glass in a mock toast before taking it, following it up with a bit of lime and shaking his head with a laugh. "i mean, i'm on it sometimes. i don't like listening to myself talk. and i like listening to him talk less. do you know how much i listened to that shit growing up?" he sat up a bit taller in his stool and let his voice go a bit higher, mimicking his older brother's teenage voice as he said "austin you know you'll never win a ring if you don't stay in shape." he shook his head as he flipped the empty glass over and slid it across the bar towards the bartender. "like i didn't outpace him in the combine! asshole." it was said fondly, though, the corners of his eyes crinkling a little bit. "how are the kids? and when's the last time you and my big brother got out without them, hm?" @catalinawalker

Catalina liked how close the Walker family were, plus they had welcomed her into their ranks which was a relief when she’d first started dating Dallas. There were so many of them she’d worried it would be like invading a secret club but actually they were there with open arms, and now she felt truly like one of the family. So much so she would hang out with her brother in law even without Dallas, they just enjoyed each other’s company. Hearing the question she looked at him steadily for a couple of seconds in silence, proceeding to slam her shot of tequila and bite on the lime in her hand before speaking. “Obviously. Are you telling me you don’t? That’s not very supportive Austin. Where is the brotherly love?” @ofalchemyy

[ofalchemyy]

closed starter for @catalinawalker

"be honest," austin said as he threw back a shot of tequila while sitting at the bar of fiesta lime with his sister-in-law. "and don't worry. it's between you and me" he flashed her a playful smirk and pointed a loaded nacho at her. "do you actually listen to dallas' podcast?"

[ofalchemyy]

austin wrinkled his nose and let air out of his puffed up cheeks slowly. "i know this may shock you, man," he said, combing his fingers through his hair. "but some of us survived on cliffs notes and the movies." he considered it and came up with what, to him, was a good compromise. "i'll add the audiobook to my phone for my morning runs. best i can do." he shrugged but then his face morphed into a proud smile. "good. can't wait to see you." his family came to his games whenever they could, so austin liked to repay the favor whenever he could. and, really, learning all those lines seemed way harder than playing a game.

𝐥𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 to look at his cousin. " you're lying? you're absolutely lying, oh my god. you've never read the book? like it was mandatory to read that freshman or sophomore year. " well, you have to read the book sometime. it's my absolute favorite growing up. " which was true. he loved reading the book, that he has read it over 10 times in his life. which is a lot for one book. at least to him. " the play is pretty good. " he grinned. " okay good, cause i'm going to save a whole row for the whole family to be there to watch opening night. "

[ofalchemyy]

nodding and giving sebni an amused smirk, austin nudged him with his shoulder again. the movement turned into a playful shove at sebni's admission. "see! was that so hard?" he nodded at the bartender to get them both another round as he turned to look at his friend and finish off his current beer. he traded it for the new one with a quick thanks and took a big sip, catching the two women out of the corner of his eye and clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth sympathetically. "win some, lose some. she's cute, though!" austin kept his voice low but his tone light. "what about the other girl did you like? and what about the one who's number you got don't you like?"

“ Did it? ” Sebni winced, grabbing the bottle to take a quick gulp. In his head, he probably looked like an idiot. He tried his best to charm his way uninvited into the conversation at the table, and while he succeeded in that regard, he hated how it felt so forced, so dishonest. Then again, he was probably just overthinking again. “ I got someone's number, ” he took a paper from inside his jacket, revealing a handwritten set of numbers on it. Sebni beamed, rather proudly, before he took a good look at it and realized something that made him frown. “ It's not from the girl I liked. Apparently, she already has a boyfriend, but her other friend seemed too eager to give her own number to me, ” he winced again, shaking his head. “ I don't think the friend's my type, but beggars can't be choosers, right? ”

[ofalchemyy]

"fuck yeah," austin said, grabbing the chair across from her and turning it backwards so he could straddle it, arms draped over the back as he reached for one of the treats. "i'll take a vanilla latte. iced. thanks." he took a huge bite and hummed thoughtfully. "what did i just eat?"

open stater for @bfmstarters where: aroma delights.

"I cannot eat all this food," Ayla let out a light chuckle as she glanced down at the array of pastries she'd acquired, all for an instagram review. Now she was a parent she'd ended up taking on more reviews and vlog type content, so here she was. "Please, help me. I'll even buy you a coffee to wash it down with."

[ofalchemyy]

austin blinked at her. "could you do that?" he finished off his cookie and then his drink, pushing the empty mug aside and ordering a water as the waiter passed by to snag their empties this time. he'd had more than enough. "forget it. i'm sure you could. what would be the hook?" he broke another cookie in half and held out half to her, like that made it more acceptable to be eating another one. "like, why should i download your app instead of one of the dozens of others?" after finishing the cookie, he continued. "the royal i. not me personally. like you said, i'm all set. and it's awesome, thanks for asking." he flashed her a smile.

he sighed heavily, thinking of the new contract on his desk. the ink was barely dry, but he'd signed on for two more years. privately, austin was thinking this might be it, that he might need to call it quits after those two seasons, but he didn't like to dwell on that fact too long. "make that bank, amen." he tapped the table in front of him to punctuate the sentence, tipping his chin slightly. "fine. you get a pass. but answer your texts every now and then, yeah?" he clicked his tongue and held out his hand to shake. "you got a deal." @rowanvankessel

“What?! How did I not know this. All that time we were together and you didn’t think about sharing those sage words of advice with me then?” Pretending to be indignant, as if this was brand new information to her rather than something that most women knew by heart at a surprisingly early age. A barking laugh at the mention of a dating app, something she signed up to and deleted with alarming regularity - the only one she was perpetually on was Raya but even that was a horrific place. “Maybe I should make my own dating app - can’t imagine it would have me doing any worse than I am now. We’re not all blissed out with a new significant other. How is it in your ivory tower?” She teased with a small smirk. 

Her smile softened as he ‘cheered’ her cookie with his own, a sweetly innocent move, it was moments like this that had her really missing Austin. They’d been far from perfect but he’d made her feel safe a lot more than she did now. “I’ll put you in as part of my rider, then it’ll be a none negotiable. Give a girl a break for it taking so long to get together, things have been busy as fuck, and you should know as well as I do that our career paths have a time limit. We have to make the money while we can.” A perpetual source of stress but she didn’t add that part. “Fucking done, you, me, Berghain - make sure you pack your leather harness.” She teased. @ofalchemyy

[ofalchemyy]

austin shrugs. "i mean, that's part of it. i'd probably get lost if i went by myself. but i just like traveling with friends or doing new things together. i'm an experience person, you know?" kind of like how he'd bought tickets for his nieces for disney on ice every year since they'd been born or how he took his parents to see bruce springsteen because he knew his dad loved the guy. he always had fun watching people he cared about have fun. so why not take a trip abroad with a friend? it made total sense to austin. he turns on a heel and walks backwards along the bench, reaching the end and hopping off and using his free hand to do a gymnast's pose. "i'm an athlete. i got coordination for days." he fell back into step with maxxie, sipping idly at his tea and nodding along. "okay. why those places, then? what's the best part about each of them?"

he  scoffs  out  a  chuckle,  shaking  his  head.  “ i  don’t  think  anyone  can  pull  off  being  fucked  out  of  their  minds  at  like…  nine  in  the  morning.  not  even  someone  as  adorable  as  me. ”  it  was  a  joke,  given  by  the  dramatic  pose  he  does  afterwards  to  get  his  point  across.  maxxie  isn’t  super  confident  about  his  looks,  but  he  wouldn’t  say  he’s  insecure  either.  his  physique  is  something  he  focuses  on  more  than  most  things,  really.  perhaps  the  most  ironic  part  of  this  situation  was  that  maxxie  wasn’t  someone  who  was  easily  embarrassed  at  all  –  but  what  happened  to  him  did  the  trick.  how  does  that  even  manage  to  occur  to  begin  with?  it  almost  felt  like  the  universe  was  laughing  at  him,  pointing  a  finger  and  all.  he  isn’t  expecting  austin’s  proposition  in  the  slightest  bit,  and  he’s  even  waiting  for  the  other  to  throw  in  a  quick  just  kidding  afterwards,  but  it  doesn’t  occur.  he  isn’t  sure  how  to  respond,  mostly  because  he  can’t  decipher  what  his  intentions  are  behind  his  words.  “ please  –  you  just  want  me  as  your  tour  guide  because  i’ve  been  there  before.  you’re  not  fooling  me  here. ”  his  tone  is  playful  and  light,  but  his  heart  is  pounding  in  his  chest.  the  younger  male  grins  at  his  following  statement,  nodding  his  head  enthusiastically.  “ i  love  the  beach  as  well. ”  he  just  loved  nature  in  general.  even  the  desert  or  watching  the  pouring  rain  behind  his  windowsill  was  therapeutic  for  him.  he  watches  as  the  other  jumps  on  top  of  the  bench,  his  grin  only  widening  as  a  funny  thought  pops  into  his  head.  “ careful  –  make  sure  you  don’t  fall  on  your  arse  and  bruise  both  your  cheeks  while  you’re  at  it! ”  he  couldn’t  imagine  something  similar  happening  to  austin,  but  he  had  to  throw  that  in  there.  “ i  really  don’t  know.  there’s  too  much  food  variety  in  new  york  to  just  pick  one.  i’m  a  vegetarian  anyway,  so  i’m  picky  about  a  lot  of  food.  i’ll  get  back  to  you  on  that  one. ”  while  maxxie  didn’t  judge  people  who  ate  meat  at  all,  he  did  think  killing  animals  for  food  was  very  inhumane,  but  that  was  another  topic  entirely,  one  that  he’s  sure  a  lot  of  people  don’t  agree  with.  “ i  can’t  just  pick  one,  but  my  top  three  are  probably  fiji,  ibiza  or  iceland,  subject  to  change  at  any  given  moment,  of  course. ”  they  were  very  odd  places,  one  far  too  different  from  the  other,  but  he  couldn’t  just  pick  one  place  he’s  been  to  that  was  his  favorite,  he  had  far  too  many  places  he  loved  to  pick  just  one.

[ofalchemyy]

with a wrinkled nose, austin took another sip and swirled the contents of his glass, making the coffee beans in the center of the drink shift. "nah, not too often. i'm more of a dive bar kinda guy." he held out a hand. "i'm austin."

Willa scrunched her nose. "Yeah, you might not be sleeping anytime soon," she warned. "Probably too often," she admitted, taking a sip of her drink. "You?"

[ofalchemyy]

chuckling into his plate of nachos, austin made the sign of the cross at sebni and bowed his head like he'd just given him a blessing. that old catholic upbringing come to life. he shifted in his seat and ultimately ended up scooting over two stools so that he could get a better view of sebni and the girls. he ate a couple of nachos like this was the best reality tv show he'd ever seen. and maybe it was.

austin raised his eyebrows and held up his hands, palm-up, eyes wide. "so?" he pushed another beer towards sebni and clinked his own against it before taking a sip. austin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, wiggling a little in his seat. "what happened, man? it looked pretty good from here..."

“ Uhh, maybe? ” Sebni gave Austin a shrug, trying to play it cool, but it was more than obvious that he was in fact a love at first sight kind of guy, much to his own chagrin. Personally, he would never admit to it, but deep down, it was the most trouble he's ever had when it came to dates. “ Alright, alright, ” he heaved another sigh, shifting his attention toward the girls and their table, and whispered a prayer in his head. Sebni wasn't that religious, but he'll take all the help he can get. “ Wish me luck, my brother in Christ, ” he gave Austin his famous last words and was off to the races.

At first, Sebni was all smiles, even though deep down he was all nerves. At the girls' table, he introduced himself with a playful smirk, looking like he was having the time of his life speaking with them. At one point, he even took out his phone, looking like he was getting someone's number. Or giving them his. Sebni might not look like it, or act like it, but when he needs to turn up the charm, he can absolutely do so, given the right incentive. How else could One More Page survive with him at the helm?

When he came back, though, he slumped on his chair with a big sigh, “ Well... ”

[ofalchemyy]

"sure is. i'm the luckiest guy in the world." he really believed it, too. for a long time, austin had been all about fun: nothing serious and nothing too deep. but as he'd gotten older, he'd seen his older brother get married and have kids and he figured out that he wanted that. once football was done, he wanted someone to spend his life with, who understood his personal brand of humor and wanted to travel the world with him and spend lazy sundays in bed together. he was starting to think that maybe he'd finally found that person after about a year of dating app failures and bad blind dates. and it'd all happened because he'd gone to the biggest concert of the year and had gotten the opener his number. the rest was history. austin grinned over the salted rim of his glass. "i'd like to think we're both a little guilty."

austin leaned an elbow on the bar and his cheek against his fist as he listened to her describe her coworker. or boss? austin was beginning to piece together that she must work in the entertainment industry or something. a couple of years ago, he would've been all in on scheming pranks to get back at this person. but at his big age, he knew better. he leaned towards her conspiratorially. "document everything. see if you can record it. is new york a two party state?" he looked toward the bartender, as if they might have the answer to his question. the guy just shrugged. "or just go to HR. that's what they're for, right?"

Maddie nodded her head rather excitedly. "I have! I mean, I've definitely seen that name pop up in a few places. Wait, so she's... your girlfriend?!". The blonde would be lying if she said she didn't get star struck when it came to celebrities. Even hearing about one or someone connected to one who was just starting out was a pretty rare occurrence - and Maddie did love being happy for others. It was clear in the way the other spoke that he was full of pride. "About youuuuu, huh?" Maddie dragged her tone in jest, because it was so adorable how the man was practically gushing. She looked at the screen, committing the picture of the song cover and title to memory so she could look it up again later. Quirking her brow, the blonde teased yet again. "And is it you who's guilty, or her?". "Okay well, that might be an issue," Maddie took another drink, sucking a breath through her teeth as she bore the burn. "It's not that I don't do my job well. It's just that they - this person - is downright mean. I could probably do everything perfectly right and they'd still tell me I'm fucking it up,". She suddenly sat up. "Maybe, maybe I could mess with her morning coffee. Or, or! Hide her clothes and her costumes, right before a show,". A smirk grew on Maddie's lips, believing that these were the most devilish ideas anyone could ever think of.