theo-mccarthy

[theo-mccarthy]

"What kinda friend would I be if I didn't come get you? Beside... the gossip fuels me," she teased, leaning over and nudging them as she drove before just shrugging it off. Also, as bad of a situation as it might have been for Corey, it was still nice to get to see them. A long time friend of hers that she was always happy to see, even if it meant being at the police station at stupid times in the morning when she had a business to run.

Theo was sure that she wasn't with it enough to try to figure out a combo that she really so chose one of their own and didn't change any of it, pushing the menu away from her and looking over at Corey again, a sigh leaving her lips. "Go on there... are you gonna tell me?" she asked, head cocking to the side as she waited for the other to begin explaining themselves.

Corey was a pain in the ass. They knew that much. It wasn't the first time they'd got in trouble, but they usually managed to avoid actually getting arrested. Most officers didn't even bother with the little things like fights, unless someone really got hurt, but Corey had been pretty out of it. "I love your willingness to pick me up from jail first thing in the morning," Corey answered, taking Theo's phone and sending the text for her.

It was lucky The Mesa was open twenty-four hours. Corey usually wandered in there after (or during) a night of drinking and debauchery. They went for the pancake combo with an extra side of scrambled eggs for the protein, habitually checking their phone again to see if Andie had tried to contact them, which of course, she hadn't. "So you gonna ask me what I did to end up getting arrested last night or do you just accept it as a normal part of my dumbass nature?" They were starving, had a headache, and needed coffee.

[theo-mccarthy]

[theo-mccarthy]

Couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips, shrugging her shoulders at his words. "Sorry, I gotta admit that I'm not a miracle worker... or witch. Whoever could get you them joints easier," she tried to tease before letting a small sigh out of her mouth. "I haven't been for a few weeks. I'm sorry for that," she said, looking down at her feet as she kicked the dirt around slightly. Business was certainly booming, for the good or not wasn't a question she wanted to answer, and she felt bad that she hadn't had time to check in all that much. "I just wanna pull my weight, you know?"

Caid was always some sort of exhausted. Today was no different. He winded his ugly, jugheaded roan horse up the allyway and away from the cattle. The constant movement of cattle meant that dust was constant, dust mixed with fine amounts of cattle manure. Local farmers came to haul away some of the dirt to help with fields. Where Caid could, he reduced waste — as did many of the people in his industry. Today, he was streaked with dust and the exhaustion had sent in a hard line on his face. He noticed the silhouette before he really noticed her.

He snorted at her, "Unless you can get me a new set of joints..." He swung a leg over the ugly ass roan named Alf for the obvious comparison. "It's quiet enough," he said with a shrug, meaning he was fine, most everything was at the moment. Isn't that how it always was? Fine till it wasn't.

[theo-mccarthy]

Theo held her hands up to try and plea her innocence, nodding to show she totally understood Julie and what she was saying. Theo knew she was like a car with nine lives almost when it came to luck and somehow working her charm to get Julie to fit her in without being scheduled. “Hey, I’d never abuse the puppy dog eyes too much. I promise,” she joked along, a chuckle following before nodding again. She followed the other through the shop, smile at the others if she made eye contact with them.

“Nah, I think you said it perfectly there,” she teased before choosing what she wanted to and writing it down in her notes, ready to call and ask for that favour to bring it over. Theo knew the quicker she was in the chair, the more time Julie could relax after doing her hair. She wanted her to have as long as a lunch she could, considering she came and disrupted the peace. Calling, using her charm and the mention of the order being for Julie, the order would quickly be on it’s way over to them soon, so Theo quickly got in the chair and in the chair. “I think pretty much the same, but I just want it to frame my face a bit better. I definitely trust you with that.”

"Let it be known, puppy dog eyes will lose their charm if my schedule can't be rearranged," Julie quipped. She happily led Theo towards her chair. The other hairdressers and nails techs chatted happily with their clients. It was a busy day for Shear and these days that was becoming more and more common. Eventually, they'd need some new girls to work, but the problem was they needed more room. Some of the stations were already cycled between some of the women and it was a pain having to lug tools and supplies in and out of the salon every day.

The thought fell to the background as Theo flashed her phone screen. Julie lightly tapped at the screen. "Just a pistachio latte from Perk and a croissant -- don't correct my punctuation, I've been to plenty of places but France wasn't one of 'em," Julie said as she shook out a cape. "I think if you call over, you can convince one of the baristas to do a drop-off. They owe us since Janie brought them some tamales last week -- that aside, what's your vision today, darlin'?"

[theo-mccarthy]

It was at these moments she both loved and loathed the fact TJ had known her since her younger years. Was one of the people who knew almost everything about her, bar a couple of things and even then they weren't such 'important' things. She couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips, hiding her face in her hands as TJ tried to help her through it. Wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or blushing at the words that came from them. "I'm the biggest wuss right?" Theo posed, but honestly didn't want the answer.

Theo stretched her back out when TJ had finished, nodding her head and standing up. "I definitely need a cigarette," she almost groaned as she followed them outside, picking up her own pack of cigarettes and her lighter from her own jacket. She took one out, putting it in her mouth to light it. "We need to get together soon for a hang out. I haven't spent one on one time with you in forever," she almost whined.

TJ grinned to themselves as they worked, because Theo was wincing and looking in the other direction in the hopes of hiding her face. "Hang in there. Few more minutes." This was the kind of tattoo TJ could do in a couple of hours. All black. Small. Not super detailed. The branches were the most finicky part. "You're so tough. The toughest, babygirl," TJ teased, laughing softly.

"I'm fine. Been pretty booked up over Christmas and New Years. I've been trying to keep an ear out in case anyone has any good gossip." By gossip, they meant anything relating to Obsidian and Grayson's death, but the police were seemingly doing a good job obscuring the details from the public. "There. Let it sit for five minutes, then I'll take pictures and wrap it properly." TJ cleaned off the excess ink and wiped down the skin with anti-septic before putting a temporary dressing on it. "Smoke outside while we wait for some of the redness to go away?" They suggested, standing up to grab their jacket.

[theo-mccarthy]

Her little friends dates with Shawn was something she massively looked forward to. Talking to someone who understood what she had been through, and conquered, felt like coming home each time they talked. She was sure no one knew as much about her past as the other did and it was purely because they both were dragged up the same way. Thankful to have someone else that totally understood her thoughts and feelings. Having someone like that was priceless. It was also nice to sit in her own establishment and be looked after rather than run around after her own customers.

A content sigh left her mouth as she got comfortable at the perfectly picked table, passing a menu over to Shawn. She knew it wasn't her first time being here, but she liked to let the chef change up the menu every now and then. Didn't want to get too comfortable, right? "It has been pretty crazy recently... but I ain't sure if it's the good kind," she half admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "I been running about like a headless chicken sometimes."

~~*~~

Shawn had always had a very special relationship with Theo. They were both raised by the Cowboys, Theo in the literal sense after she was left on her own, and there was something very unique about that life. Being a part of them without being a part of them. It was a delicate balance and both of them had managed to strike it somehow. "Of course," Shawn allowed herself to be pulled along. She was really proud of what her friend had built here. They'd both come a very long way from running around the bunk house.

"I know what you mean," she sat at the table and shuffled in the chair slightly, "Feels like our quiet little town has been up ended lately but at least you're getting some good business out of it. Or," she smirked slightly with a tilt of her head, "At least I hope you're getting some good business out of it."

[theo-mccarthy]

Took a deep breath and exhaled as the other got into her car, gripping the steering wheel and nodding. "I don't count any debt, you idiot," she try to tease, waiting for them to be in properly and ready before she began pulling away from the police station. Wanted out of there as quick as possible and she was sure that Corey felt the same, after spending all night in there. Well, assuming they had spent their whole night in there anyway.

Theo shrugged her shoulders before laughing to herself. "You love my colloquialisms or whatever they're called," she waved off as she began to drive to the new destination rather than Corey's place. A big word for her to use before a morning coffee, so she was pretty proud of herself for that one. "Yeah, food is definitely on you this morning. Gonna have to text one of the others that they gotta open up for me," she said, signalling to her phone. "Do it for me while I drive?"

Corey was stubborn enough to walk home if they couldn't get a ride, but Theo was a real one. "Thanks," Corey said. "I'd say I owe ya, but that stack of debts is probably piling up." Corey was the type who would be there for a friend, too, if the situation was reversed, but it seemed like they'd been needing people more often than not recently. They smoked the cigarettes Douglas had returned to them, cigaratte smoke mixing on their clothes with the smell of jail cell and the lingering booze of the night before.

"Dirty stopout is crazy," Corey snickered when Theo pulled up, climbing in and buckling up. "You say the most Irish shit sometimes, I swear to God." Corey desperately wanted a shower. Theo's air freshener was gonna be working overtime. "Let's get breakfast," they suggested. "Go to The Mesa or something. Eggs, bacon. I'll pay." Maybe if they offered to feed Theo, she wouldn't ask too many questions about what had landed them in the drunk tank for the night.

[theo-mccarthy]

Grin could not have been wider when Julie agreed to help her, clapping her hands out of excitement and sheer relief that she didn't have to come back another time. She wasn't sure if she had the time to do that and knew better than to know Julie would rarely have free time herself. "Thank you," she thanked, nodding her head.

"I'm making a note to bring the puppy dog eyes out when you finally get mad at me for showing up last minute tryna get in with you," she joked, shooting her a playful wink before pulling her phone out. "What do you want and I'll go get it? Go wild, I owe you big time. You're like my guardian angel or somethin'."

The thing about having the only salon in town was that walk-ins were even more likely because where else was anyone supposed to go? Their friend's bathrooms with inappropriate developer and not a single pair of gloves. So, when Theo McCarthy strolled in with a wide smile, Julie looked up from her tablets with a light roll of her eyes.

"Lucky for you, flattery and puppy dog eyes do get you somewhere when it comes to me," she returned to the tablet and looked for a gap on the schedule, "Well, how about this? I take a half lunch and you order us coffee from Perk?"

[theo-mccarthy]

Who: @kincaidhollis Where: Matacuna Feeders When: present

Took an afternoon off from her own stuff to make her way to Matacuna Feeders to visit Kincaid. She tried to do this every few weeks, making sure she had enough help at The Outlook to help with anything she could for the Cowboy Mafia and especially making the time to make sure there was nothing else she could do. Walking up to the other, she pushed her hair out of her face and put on a bright smile as she waved at him.

Looked at the watch on her wrist, one of her dad's most prized possessions that she took as her own, before laughing. "Almost like clockwork every time I turn up right?" she teased before finally stopping in front of him. "Just thought I'd check in, see how things were going. Seeing if you needed me to do anything," she posed, shrugging her shoulders as if it was something little.

[theo-mccarthy]

Who: @shawnbetancourt Where: The Outlook When: Present

It wasn't unusual for Theo to be rushed off her feet, especially with work. What work that would be, she wouldn't let on, but you could always see her running about here, there and everywhere. However, New Year and all, she was trying to make a conscious effort to take some time to herself, even if it meant grabbing a quick bite to eat at her own establishment.

Waving Shaun over the moment she saw the other walk in, she grinned and ran over to her. "Ready for our little lunch date?" she teased before linking arms with her and leading her to the table she specifically saved for both of them to eat at. Far away enough from all the other tables that they could talk about virtually whatever they needed or wanted to. "Sorry for being so quiet for a while. Busy days and all that, how you been?"

[theo-mccarthy]

Who: @juliettacrowe Where: Lost Horse Saloon When: Present

Sigh falling from her lips as she traipsed into the bar, slamming down on a bar stool with a large sigh and resting her head against the counter. God knows what had been on these counters over the years, but in that moment Theo really just didn't care. If the day wasn't long enough just by working on her own today in the gallery. Her staff needed some much needed rest and Theo was more than happy to cover the shifts. What made her busy day worse, was a call from her sister. Hadn't heard from her for years and it was clear the call had thrown her off.

Hearing footsteps from behind the bar, she bolted up with a small, yet obviously fake smile. "Hey you," she greeted Jay Jay, a sigh following her words. "I need something strong. I can leave my car here right?"

[theo-mccarthy]

Theo was just getting to The Outlook, opening up everything and getting ready for the day. Setting her bag down, opening blinds, that kind of thing. She had a mental to do list every time she opened up herself, ticking them off one by one that she almost tuned her phone out when it began ringing. "Hello?" she answered, noting it was Corey. Now, what did Corey need from her so early in the morning?

Rolling her eyes at their words, she sighed deeply down the phone. "You know what time it is right?" she asked, not being able to help the laugh that left her mouth as she grabbed her keys, already walking towards the front door and on her way to her car, locking up on her way. "Give me fifteen and then I will be there," she simply said, cutting off the call and jumping back into her car.

The journey to the police station was safely one of the journeys she would always know like the back of her hand. Had a visit a couple of times when she was a teenager, before she figure out how to be more sneaky with her jobs. It was an easy journey and she was there in no time.

Pulling up, she rolled down her window and beeped her horn to get Corey's attention. "Hop in you dirty stopout," she joked before gesturing for them to hurry and get in the car, letting out a sigh and relaxing in the driver seat.

Starter For: @theo-mccarthy Location: Local Jail

"You sober now?" Came the call as Officer Douglas wandered into the holding area, keys jangling from his belt. The sun was barely peeking through the bars of the holding cell, slithers of light slipping through the small window in the space on the other side of the bars where the officer was walking. Corey knew Dougas. Benefits (or downfalls) of a small town. Corey let out a small grunt in response.

"Sober enough. What time is it?" Sleep had only came because Corey had been too drunk to resist it anymore, in spite of the cot in the cell being uncomfortable as shit. "I gotta go home and feed my cat."

"Like 7:30am. You know I could hold you up to 48 hours before I have to file charges."

"You want the pleasure of my company for that long? I'm touched." Corey had sobered up since the arrest, enough to not be quite as combative as they had been the previous night (or the early hours of that morning).

"Lucky for you, I'm in a good mood. And you must be sober now. Last night when I read you your rights and asked if you wanted to call a lawyer, you said 'get bent, you think I have lawyer money?'"

Corey snickered. "Yeah, sounds like me."

Officer Douglas unlocked the cell, gesturing for Corey to follow. "No charges this time, but the next time you might not be so lucky. Not everyone is as understanding as I am." Douglas gave Corey a sad smile. "I was sorry to hear about your mom."

Corey nodded. It was just a little bar fight. Nothing serious. But the owner had called the cops, and since Corey had started it and been the more drunk of the patrons, they were the one shoved in the back of the cop car. "Thanks." They weren't going to go into any more detail than that, and kept quiet while Douglas processed the paperwork for their release and handed them back their belongings.

"Sign here to confirm I've given you back your stuff."

"I had another fifty dollars in here," Corey lied, checking their wallet, and their deadpan joke prompted a simple eye roll. "Corey..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." They were already signing the papers. "Tell your sister I said hi."

Corey waited 'til they were outside before turning their phone back on, scrolling their contacts. Shawn was an option, but Shawn was sure to give them an earful, so they called Theo. "Hey, can you pick me up? I'm at the police station."

[theo-mccarthy]

Who: @julie-hollis Where: Shear Beauty

Theo never usually had time to step foot into a salon, but when she did there was only one place she was going to get sorted. Walking in, she had a wide grin on her face and waved at everyone before walking right over to Julie. "Hi lovely," she greeted her, leaning against the counter. "I'm bad... I didn't make an appointment but is there any way you could fit me in sometime today?" she asked, puppy dog eyes as she really tried to work her angle, but she couldn't take herself seriously for more than two minutes, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "No, honestly. I'm sorry I didn't call ahead of time."

[theo-mccarthy]

A few 'oohs' and 'aahs' of pain left her lips, half trying to keep her eyes shut and half opening to continue her conversation with TJ. It wasn't like she would trust anyone else to mark her body for life anymore and the exact tattoo TJ is now covering up is the main reason no one else is trusted. That and the fact the paid had been so close since they were practically kids.

"No... it's fine. I'm fine," she almost gritted through her teeth before shaking her head, turning away from them. God, she felt like an idiot feeling like she was experiencing this much pain, not that TJ would judge her for that. She laughed at herself, using her other hand to hide her face. "God, I swear I'm tough," she joked, chuckling before turning to look at TJ again. "I had to make some excuse to see you. Too busy for me to just drop in anymore," she jests, teasing them, but she was pretty busy herself too. Business had somehow been booming and she was making as much use of her time as she could. "How have you been anyway?"

Starter For: @theo-mccarthy Location: Outlaw Ink

"I know, I know, wrist is sensitive, and this is bigger than your last piece, but we're almost done, okay?" In TJ's tattooing experience, most people struggled with places like wrists and ribs, areas without a lot of flesh. Hands and feet were also sensitive and since it was a cover up - covering an old, badly drawn butterfly with a tree of life, it had a lot of solid black in it.

TJ liked tattooing friends. It meant at the very least, they'd have someone worth talking to while they worked. Having a boring client or a client that grated on you was annoying, especially for a big piece. This one wasn't too big, about the width of the whole wrist and circular in shape, but cover-ups had to be dark, unless the piece was really old and faded, which meant more pressure. "You know, you didn't have to pay me to hang out. Nice though. Two birds with one stone," TJ teased. They'd been best friends with Theo since middle school, but their jobs had kept them busy over the holiday periods.

[theo-mccarthy]

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒

Name: Theodora "Theo" McCarthy

Age: 32

Occupation: Owner of Outlook

Affiliation: Fingers for the Cowboy Mafia

Gender & Pronouns: Woman (she/her)

Faceclaim: Katie Gavin

𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐍

tw death, drugs

Theo was the youngest child of Tamara & Finn McCarthy and had an older sister, Tiffany, by a few years. Her mother came from a long line of women who had girl names beginning with ‘T’ and Finn was more than happy to give into his wife and let her do what she wanted with the two girl’s names. Theo was just five years old when she told everyone to stop calling her Theodora, to call her Theo. It became her identity from then on.

She was always close to her mother’s side, her mother a painter and artist and it giving her an insight to the art world, something she fell in love with since she could remember. Her sister couldn’t be more opposite of Theo and was always looking for something to do with law, despite her parents always asking her to rethink her decisions.

As a kid, Theo never understood why they asked Tiffany to rethink her law career. Surely any parent was happy when their child was saying they were reaching for the court-esque stars, but it looked like they were scared of it. They were scared of her falling into that life and Theo always tried to figure out why, but they were never going to tell a child. It wasn’t until she was just fifteen that it clicked in her head. Always heard whispers of The Cowboy Mafia and what they stood for, what they did, but she was sure she never knew anyone personally who was an affiliate of them, or worked for them. You’d always hear in school that you think the guy down the street might have been doing a deal for them, but nothing was ever confirmed. Then her whole world changed she opened the door that one day she was home from school with a stomach bug. Her father clearly didn’t know she was home, word hadn’t got back to him and there they were, other Cowboy Mafia members to come to see her father. How has she gone fifteen years without knowing her father was involved? He has kept it so quiet. Everything had changed for her then.

By seventeen, her sister was twenty and away at law school, despite her parents best efforts to stop her, and Theo’s too for that matter, but nothing worked. She was attached to her mother at the hip and always worrying about her father, worried he’d get hurt or arrested or something, but they never spoke about it with her. In fact since that one day when she was fifteen, they never spoke with her about it at all. Still, she never thought she had to worry about her parents going off to visit some family in Phoenix, her mother’s family (Finn was Paxton born-and-bred), and both her parents getting hurt. Remembers getting the call at 2 in the morning, home alone, and no sister to support her or comfort her. Both her parents, gone. Car accident they said. Overturned truck, had no chance. It took a week just to sink in that she was alone.

That’s when The Cowboy Mafia helped her. She didn’t wanna go to her family in Phoenix and there’s no way that Tiffany was coming back to take custody of her seventeen year old sister. Only one year until she was eighteen, she didn’t see the point. It’s when they stepped in to look after one of their own. Well, Finn was one of them, and Theo was now the daughter he left behind. They kept her afloat until she was eighteen and in turn she started doing small jobs for them. It wasn’t big, but they certainly went legal. Mainly to do with drugs. Felt like she couldn’t fuck that one up all that much.

After Tiffany found out that Theo became ‘one of them’ she disowned her, and the family name, but Theo was okay with that. Tiffany never really felt part of the family anyway and she felt more looked after by her parent’s friends than by her older sister in her whole life. Tiffany gave up everything, giving Theo the house and all the money that was left to them, and with that Theo opened ‘Outlook’ to feel like she could keep the spirit of her parents alive. It was opened when she was twenty one years old, and never thought it would still be open to this day, but here it stands. Her mother, in the sense it was all things art and all things she loved, and her father, in the sense she let The Cowboy Mafia do business out of Outlook if needed too, and still did the odd jobs here and there. Used the sales to help wash drug money for them and did arguably anything she could to repay them for helping her in her worst moments.

She thought about selling the family house, but never could. The essence of her mother and father were in every piece of that place, no way she was letting that go. It’s now her home, her childhood home. It’s never not been her home and she wasn’t giving that up.

𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐂

Theo has never had an issue with her affiliation to The Cowboy Mafia. In fact, she willingly joined them. To her, they were the family who took her in when she had no one, when her sister wasn’t there for her, when no one else made an effort to make sure the girl who lost her parents all in one night was okay. She owed her life to them, which sounded dramatic, but it’s true. Who knew where she could have ended up if they didn’t help her? Keep her going? It gave her something to keep working towards. Her only goal in life is to keep the spirit of her parents alive and having her art shop while still helping The Cowboy Mafia makes her feel like she’s close with both of them in some way.