potassiumboron

~I'm drinking coffee on a trampoline~
Original poster
MYTHICAL MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
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Online Availability
3pm - 1am (GMT / BST)
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  1. Beginner
  2. Elementary
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  4. Adept
  5. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Nonbinary
  4. Transgender
  5. No Preferences
Genres
Monsters, supernatural, fantasy, romance, criminality, slice-of-life (modern or set in past, usually with some twists)
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"You know, I'm sure Victor would have liked this. His favourite pub, his friends, you being here... He'd have loved this."

Nina, the woman who had taken Victor in with her off the streets, was currently sat at the bar of the little pub, nursing a glass of gin and tonic and absently stirring the cocktail stick around the drink. On the one year anniversary of Victor's supposed 'death', she had decided that throwing a get-together in his memory would be worthwhile. A year on, and she definitely wasn't over his death yet. She had spent ten years raising him, from the age of 12, and they'd gone through some hard times together, namely the months they'd shared together on the streets. He may have gotten into some pretty shady things in terms of the people he had hung out with, and the drug culture that enveloped him and Hazel, but that didn't stop Nina loving him like a mother would a son. Now, having lost him, it took everything not to let her life go to complete shit. As distraught as she was, she still had to pay the bills and continue going to her little job at the supermarket. As tempting as it was to just ignore it all, she knew Victor wouldn't have wanted her back on the streets again because she just gave up.

For someone who'd spent half her life homeless, Nina didn't look it. She'd pulled herself together the moment she got an apartment ten years ago, cleaning herself up and making sure never to regress into that state again. She had just turned 40, but her style hadn't changed for ten years straight - she wore anything colourful and bohemian, which definitely suited her down-to-earth and carefree personality. Now was no different. Even if this was a party dedicated to Victor, she still wore her bright red trousers and surprisingly fashionable khaki jacket, with flowers and beads sewn into her dyed black hair.

"I am glad you decided to come," she said quietly to Hazel at her side, offering her hand a supportive squeeze. "I... know you've moved on, and Andrew is very nice, but it doesn't mean you should forget Victor, I suppose. And you both loved this pub, hm?"

Admittedly, Nina had regretted deciding to throw the little party in the pub. She knew that Hazel had moved on from a lot, including her reliance on drugs, so being in this pub wasn't particularly wise. Victor had worked here, and most days, he, Hazel and a few other regulars hung out and got high, even if Victor was working. It was that sort of establishment where anything went down, although they weren't necessarily bad people. Just... troubled, and despite what people might assume, the regulars had rallied together to put on some sort of event - food was spread out on tables and the alcohol was free. None of them had a lot of money, really, but given how liked Victor was, it was the least they could do.

"Where is that fancy-pants boyfriend of yours, then? I've been waiting, like, weeks to meet him properly. Does he think he's too fucking posh to be in a place like this?" Mumbled the bartender -Trey- as he absently slid across a glass of wine to a waiting customer, leaning on the bar with a wide grin. The man had worked with Victor, and while it as never confessed, the two were unspoken best friends. Trey had made an effort to look nice and smarten himself up, given the event. He slicked his blonde hair back and shaved properly, rather than walking about with unshaven stubble, as well as replacing his usual bomber jacket with a more subtle suit-jacket - one he'd stolen from a store, but the sentiment was there.

"Oh, Andrew is lovely. He said he wouldn't be long, didn't he Hazel? Don't scare the poor guy, Trey. He... He's very nice."

"Yeah, he sounds like a right laugh. Does he stop you coming to the pub, Hazel? 'Cos you haven't been coming here for the last two months. Me and the guys miss 'ya," shrugged Trey as he took a long inhale from the joint in his hand - he figured that Victor wouldn't have wanted him to stop, regardless of the situation. "...Victor wouldn't care that you're in a new relationship, y'know that? He'd be glad you're happy, and me and the others are happy for you. We ain't judging."
 
With a good bottle of whiskey in her one hand in a cigarette in the other, Hazel soon regretted coming within the first fifteen minutes. She had spent the last year dealing with a mix of emotions - none of which were all too positive - and while she used it as a form of inspiration, she knew that she was going to do all of her whole vices in one night alone. Yeah, Andrew wasn't much a fan, but she was pretty fucking sure that he had no room to talk when it was the anniversary of her former boyfriend's death.

She had been quiet most of the party, only occasionally talking to Nina when she wasn't staring at the bar and ordering more drinks. For months, she had blamed herself for his 'passing', and the criticism only hit harder when she began to date someone else. She was often accused of moving on too quickly, or for changing too much, but her style was still pretty consistent, and she wasn't some loser who abandoned having a fun life, she just blamed her own drug addiction on their misfortunes. She enjoyed the occasional shot of vodka, and still smoked weed often, but the harder drugs she was used to sharing with Victor were pretty much off limits.

Her mind only stopped once Nina had taken her hand, only for Hazel to begin to tear up. She had tried holding in her emotions the whole night, desperate to seem bigger than the situation, especially after having all of her and Victor's close friends throwing a party. While some would insist that Victor be celebrated in a light, joyful manner, it was hard for Hazel to not grow emotional when the very night her boyfriend was going to propose, he was shot in the head. So, with Nina's tender hold, Hazel used a free hand to wipe away her tears with a sniffle.

"Andy should be here soon, yeah. He had to stay late at work, so he promised to meet me up here. Knowing him, he'll be way too overdressed, in a suit and all that, so that'll at least be funny to see, right? God, I fucking miss all of you," she admitted, and offered a smile despite her continuing tears and he croak, subsequently due to her emotional state. "I'm sorry I haven't really talked, seriously. I've just... I've been trying to get better, you know? I'm trying to find positive outlooks, I-I don't want to just lay in bed all day focusing on his death. I... I think he would want me to be happy, right? A-Anyway, guys, please don't make fun of Andrew. He's a total nerd, but I promise that he's at least nice. He's been uber supportive of me, and if he says even one bad thing about you guys, I'll personally shove this cigarette into his face. Trey, can you get me another glass? I'm thirsty."" She commanded, a spark of her normal bossy personality shining through as she chugged back the drink with ease and pushed it forward.

"Seriously, though. I don't know how I could thank you all for this. I mean, you didn't need to go this far. A small little party would be nice, but to have free drinks and to close the bar? That's just ridiculous."
 
"You are kidding, aren't you? Vic practically embodied this place, you know? It'd be wrong if we didn't shut the doors and put something on for his memory. Honestly, I'll go without getting paid this week if it means giving Victor this kind of celebration, I guess. The guy deserves us commemorating him, even if it's in some rundown bar with a few bowls of salted peanuts and endless amounts of alcohol. Then again, that's probably how he'd have liked it," grinned Trey, resting his arms on the bar and, after casting an eye over the few people in, smiled to himself. He'd grieved just as much as Hazel and Nina had, but he'd also held back from being too emotional. It wasn't going to play well with some of the tough characters that came in if they saw him red-eyed and teary behind the bar-- though he always figured he'd just blame the weed if they confronted him about it.

"I take it that's your guy, is it? Poor bloke looks lost, Hazel," the barman snorted, wiping the surface absently with a rag as he nodded towards the doorway where, just as described, Andrew stood looking lost and intimidated.

This, after all, wasn't a setting he was particularly used to. He was brought up in the fine end of town, on a private, gated estate. He was born into money, and he definitely didn't like overstepping that boundary. However, today was a day where he had to force himself to put on a brave face and hide his annoyance. He was well aware that the day was utterly comical, given Victor wasn't dead, but his father had made it evidently clear that he was to spend the day looking sympathetic and making sure that nobody had any doubts towards the death. He thought his father was just being paranoid - how could anyone doubt Victor's 'death' when he was literally shot in the head? Nevertheless, he'd gone out of his way to date Hazel, and now he'd turned up at her ex-boyfriend's anniversary party.

He realised immediately that he stood out like a sore thumb in his fine, expensive suit, but the benefit of that was the ego boost it gave him. He felt like he was much better than anyone else in the room, and he had to fight back the urge to grin as he quietly headed over to his girlfriend once spotting her. He didn't really know what his feelings for her were. He did surprisingly like her... but it was all a lie, and he had to remind himself that nothing about their relationship was right. He was with her because his father was paranoid that, alone, she would begin to question Victor's death and the circumstances around it. Essentially, Andrew had a job to do in simply keeping an eye on the situation, but that didn't mean he could stop himself liking her a little.

"This is nice," he quietly smiled, nodding his hellos to Nina and Trey, while gratefully accepting the bottle of beer handed his way. "...You sure you want to stay? I... I know it's not easy, and nobody's going to blame you if you left, you know? I'll stay with you if you want to stay, definitely..."
 
"Of course I want to stay. These are my friends, and I haven't seen them in, like, a year. Besides, this is a good opportunity to meet them, you know?" Hazel offered, though she wasn't a moron. He was a complete opposite to her and her friends, even down to their visual style. It was probably the heavy amount of alcohol that made her snort childishly at the sight, to see Andrew standing tall and proper adjacent to a man who looked like he hadn't bathed in a week, his head pressed to the table.

Patting an empty seat besides her, she put out the cigarette in the ash tray before taking Trey's blunt without a word. They had their fair share of nights where it was just her, Trey, and Victor, relaxing in the park after dark with the 'best shit' they could afford, and knew better than anyone that her taking a long needed puff was justified. She made sure to blow the smoke away from her boyfriend, though, and mentally cringed at just how vanilla he was.

"Look, I know you don't want to be here. I'm sure you'd rather be home, watching hockey on the TV or something, but it means a lot that you came. I promise you that it really means a lot that you showed up," she explained to Andrew, and shyly took his hand in hers, though immediately felt nervous doing so in front of her friends. "You should relax, really. I don't want the guys here to think you're an utter nerd, because no offense, babe, you look like one. I mean, fuck, how much hair gel do you have in your hair? It looks rock solid. I don't know how you can stand working at that bank or whatever. Anyway, I know you've never had a proper introduction, but this is Nina and Trey. They were both really close to Victor, a-and I'm sure that you'll get along with them well..."
 
"I wanted to look my best," he responded while self-consciously touching up his hair as best he could when it was mentioned. It was true enough that he wanted to look good. It didn't matter that he would be in a pub with people who probably couldn't even afford the face cream he bought - any opportunity to dress smart and show himself off, he'd grasp with two hands. Even if that place was the remembrance party of his girlfriend's ex, though he justified his efforts of showing up with the fact that Victor wasn't dead, so he didn't need to feel guilty or wrong about anything.

Observing the people he was introduced to, it took a whole new level of effort to fight back a grimace. His eyes did drift from the colourful Nina to Trey, focusing more on the man given he was the one who had thrust his hand forward in greeting with a lopsided, lazy grin. Clearly, Trey was a little high, and from the scars on his arms, weed wasn't the only drug he had an affinity for. His efforts of looking smart didn't correspond with Andrew's, and the latter found himself thinking that the bartender was probably just another poor, drugged-up idiot. Though, he still shook his hand with the smile he'd practised on his way.

"Nice to meet 'ya, Andy. He's real cute, Hazel," grinned Trey as he grabbed a bottle from behind the bar to take occasional sips from. Unlike Andrew, Trey didn't immediately judge, even if it would be easy to, with Andrew's expensive suit and his proper accent. Instead, he smiled at him and decided that he was polite, friendly and definitely nice enough. If Hazel liked him, he didn't have any arguments. Besides, he was cute. That was usually enough for Trey to like someone. He'd come out as gay when he was 14 and had spent every week since then gossiping about the latest guy he'd found attractive with Victor and Hazel. "Hey, mate, we can put the TV on if you wanna watch the hockey. I mean, I don't think Victor would have cared if we had the TV on. He was always watching the soccer whenever he was working, so he'd probably encourage it. Hell, he'd be moaning about how fucking depressing it is in here right now."
 
"He'd probably say that we all looked like total losers," Hazel added, as she absently adjusted her velvet turtleneck. "I mean, Trey, look at you. You look like a little kid without a beard, don't you think? Hey, it's nice to see you looking all proper for once, though. Seriously it's... it isn't his funeral, right? Like everyone said, this is time to celebrate, and I already went through one bummer day dressed in proper clothes. Ugh... Yo, Andy, you can at least take off the jacket. Relax, will you?"

As she spoke, the effects of the weed clearly helped with her bitter mood, it being one of the main reasons she smoked. It helped with her anger issues better than anything, other than much harder drugs. Unlike Andrew, it was the reason she clearly didn't care for Trey's far less superior look, or his many scars. Hell, she shared some of the same ones, but she was just much better at hiding them when she was dragged to some fancy party Andrew held, that of which were nearly complete opposites of the environment.

Often, the parties were blinding white, in contrast to the low lit brick walls. Hazel was often forced to wear some proper red dress with the jewelry Andrew spent way too much on. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the finer parties, sure, but nothing compared to being able to be openly affectionate with the locals without fear of being judged. With a soft grunt, she moved to grab a plate of chips and a sub, beyond proud of Trey for having some proper food outside of the old candy in the quarter machines, or the notoriously soft peanuts he often just tossed to the side. She offered the bartender a thumbs up in approval, and offered Andrew a bite. Yeah, it wasn't caviar or exotic fish, but it was a damn good sub.

"Ugh, we should go out after this. Maybe to the park, like old times? I mean, it isn't cloudy out tonight, right? Nina, you can come if you want. We could just relax and star-gaze. It was one of Victor's favorite things, after all. I... I'd like to think that he can, like, see us or something. How cheesy does that sound?"
 
"I do not look like a little kid. I look smart and clean and... yeah, I look dumb, don't I? Fuck, if Vic is somewhere looking down at us, I bet he's in fucking stitches, seeing me dress up like this. But hey, if I can amuse him, I'm sure it ain't a bad thing," shrugged Trey as he absently scratched his clean-shaven cheek, still finding the sensation odd. He'd had the unshaven, stubble look since he was 18, and even at the funeral, he hadn't really gone as far as shaving it all off.

Now, he'd be lying if he said he didn't find the sight of Andy shuffling from foot to foot, anxiously keeping a hand over the pocket with his fancy iPhone amusing. Hell, it was hilarious. He was on edge and clearly unused to being in this sort of environment, but Trey at least admired him for it. He didn't have to make the effort, especially when the person who'd 'died' was the ex of his girlfriend, so Andrew earned a few brownie points for showing up and being so understanding.

"Yeah, stargazing sounds cool. I know Vic liked that. I'll bring some beers," shrugged the barman in agreement. Usually, there would be beers as well as drugs, but given Andrew and Nina would be there too -presumably-, Trey wisely chose not to make drugs part of the deal. Besides, Hazel seemed like she'd moved past that, apart from the occasional smoke of weed, and he really didn't want to be responsible for introducing her back to the harder stuff. He was proud of her for cutting them out, even if his usage had only escalated since Victor's death.

"I... don't think I'll be able to. I have a lot of work to finish." Andrew piped up, drumming his fingers on the bar with the practised apologetic smile. In truth, he did have work, so it wasn't a complete lie. He just didn't tell her what sort of work he needed to complete - the work at his real job at the facility, which was long overdue. "But... hey, you go out and enjoy yourself. It sounds fun, anyway..."
 
"But you of work? Now you have to go back? That's bullshit. It's not like you have work to bring home, since you never do. Like... I get it, you think you're too good for my friends, huh? Clearly you don't want to be here, and at least you were nice enough to pretend that you didn't care," Hazel declared bitterly, a grimace on her face as she returned to the stool.

"I'm going to hang out with my friends, you can go home, or work, o-or whatever. I won't be back until later, though I'm sure you'll enjoy some peace and quiet, huh?" She continued bitterly, though she did eventually stop, only to begin to cry again. The mix of alcohol and weed hit her like a wall, especially once realizing just what she was doing. She was at a fucking party, with friends she avoided for a year, and with a man that she felt didn't really care for her. Wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her velvet dress, she set her head against the bar with a whimper.

"I... I'm sorry, Andy. You can leave. I-I didn't mean to be rude, just... I'll be home tomorrow morning." She eventually said after some time of silence, her tone clearly more deflated than angry as she kept her face pressed to the aged wood.
 
Silently staring at her for a few seconds to try and let the words sink in, he reacted instantly by rubbing her back, hoping that would show that he was doing his best and that he did care. That was partially true, anyway. He did care about Hazel, even if he really shouldn't get emotionally attached, but her friends? Victor? He couldn't give a shit about them, for obvious reasons.

"I have work to do, that isn't a lie. If I didn't care, I wouldn't have come, you know that. I... I wanted to come to support you, to meet your friends. I've always said you should hang out with them a little more, but you weren't ready, and... look, if you need me to apologise for being obsessed with work, I'm sorry... but it does pay for the house and our vacations and... everything we enjoy in life, right? I want to provide for you and buy you nice things. Can't exactly do that if I don't keep up on my work," he pointed out, as gently as he could as he quietly offered a kiss to the cheek, whilst forcing back a grimace at the smell of marijuana. He didn't -and couldn't- judge her for it on this day, but he did hope she would cut it out come tomorrow. He didn't particularly like sharing a bed with someone who did drugs, however harmless she said weed was.

"Yo, we understand that you gotta work, don't we Hazel? Hey, we'll have fun, or have you forgotten how fucking fun I am? Hell, if I was straight, I'm sure you'd have wanted to date me. Victor just met you first, and I just decided I was gay," shrugged Trey, trying to diffuse the tension with his usual comical drawls and lazy grins. "...We can even get that pizza Vic liked, yeah? Eat that, chill out under the stars, it'll be fun."
 
Accepting the kiss without hesitation, she offered one in return once peaking her head from the bar. She knew she would always love Victor, everyone did, but Hazel wasn't afraid to be openly affectionately in front of her current boyfriend, even if it was just a small amount. She had gone much further with Andrew, though, and would never admit their heated makeout sessions. Whether Andrew was genuine during them or not, Hazel never really noticed.

With a light frown, she offered Andrew a light squeeze of his hand before glancing down at her phone for the time. With a grunt, she decided to get to her feet as she swallowed back the next shot of vodka with ease. If she was going to go out to the pizza parlor she had specifically avoided for months now, she needed to be as far from sober as possible.

"I'll see you at home, okay? Don't overwork yourself. Sometimes you gotta focus on yourself - on us, you know? I've got my phone on me, if you need anything." She insisted, despite the fact that her voice began to slur. "Trey, can you close up early?"
 
"Hm? Oh yeah, sure thing, babe. Take it easy on the vodka though, yeah? I know it's been a while since we hung out properly, but I know what vodka does to you the day after. You'l be throwing up and complaining that you shouldn't have had vodka, hm? I mean, hey, if you want to throw your guts up into the toilet for an hour tomorrow morning, you drink up as much as you want," laughed Trey as he quietly -but effectively- motioned for the other customers to finish their drinks and head out, which didn't receive as many arguments as he thought. Frankly, those in the pub were usually too drunk already to care.

"...I'll call you later, around ten," continued Andrew, worriedly looking her over with genuine concern. He may not be completely honest, but he did like her and care about her more than he was supposed to, which was why the sight of her downing back the drinks made him grimace-- though he realised he ought to let her deal with the day the way she wanted. "I'll make us breakfast in the morning, how about that? As both an apology, and to soak up the alcohol. Some greasy bacon and eggs will go down great tomorrow, I'm sure. I... Anyway, it was lovely meeting your friends. We should meet up again soon."

Now, Nina was mature enough to realise that the offer wasn't binding, but she still admired the effort, smiling as Andrew headed off before getting to her feet herself and wrapping the hand-knitted scarf around her neck. "I'll probably head off too. I'm too old to be staying up past midnight. You kids enjoy yourselves though-- if you need anything, you call me or come visit anytime. You too, Trey. It's pretty empty in my place right now, I could do with the visitors, to be honest. I can't keep adopting in the stray cats. One more, and I'll get that crazy cat lady label."
 
"Hey, you should wear that label proudly!" Hazel gushed, as she watched Andrew slip out of the admittedly sleazy bar. "God, I wish we could have a cat. I feed the strays, but Andy is allergic to them, so I can only feed them on the terrace or deck."

As she spoke, Hazel had to steady herself a bit against the edge of the bar, though she was sober enough to walk. With an annoyed grumble, she pulled the other woman into a tight embrace, sniffling. Hazel had seen Nina as her own replacement mother, after all, especially once abandoning her family and losing her real mother. Keeping their close embrace, she did reluctantly pulled away.

"I'll stop by next Monday, how does that sound? I fucking miss you, you know that, right? I want to pet all of your cats and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Andrew is at work all the time, and it gets lonely, yeah? Hell, you're both invited to my place if you want?" She babbled, her voice cracking a tad at growing emotional, though she forced back tears. With a final peck to the woman's forehead, she let out a sigh and offered a crooked grin to Trey.

"Let's get some pizza and fuck some shit up, yeah? God, it's been so long. We should go to the junk yard, break some car windows like we used to. It would be great, you know? Ugh... I feel tough." She grunted, her fists clenched emphasis. "I'm not going to let myself be a pussy, yeah? People die all the time, s-so let's honor Vic properly by doing some crimes."
 
"I mean, that sounds totally fun, just as long as we don't go overboard. Remember last time? Victor got way too into it and, like, almost broke his fucking hand. How am I gonna pull a guy if I have some fucking bandage around my hand, y'know? So, sure, let's go smash some shit up, but let's be careful about it. Some cautious destruction, yeah?" He grinned, abandoning the smart suit jacket he'd been wearing and tugging on his usual hoodie and basketball hat, after ruffling up his previously gelled, slicked back hair. He'd only made the effort for Victor, but he realised far too late that his friend wouldn't have cared how he looked. Hell, Victor would probably want him looking as he normally did.

Pushing himself up over the bar, being far too lazy to walk the few steps out the side, he cracked his knuckles and offered a brief wave to Nina before glancing towards his friend again. He may not have seen her in a few months, but things weren't at all awkward between them. He'd slipped right back into the friendship as though he'd never been apart from her, which was one of the reasons he'd always liked Hazel. Nothing was difficult or complicated with her.

"So, pizza? I mean, it's got the whole emotional attachment because Vic loved it there and they gave us pizza for free, but the guy working there is pretty cute. Is it selfish that that's the main reason I wanna go there? Flirt some over a slice of pizza~? Vic wouldn't care, he was always trying to set me up, right?"
 
"Cautious destruction? Isn't that just a bit of an oxymoron? I want to get fucked up." She insisted, and kicked her boots against the brick wall, scraping off excess junk. Glancing at her more professional attire, she offered a scoff in her own disgust before trailing down the streets, being far more comfortable at night. "Look, do you still have that bat in your car? Or maybe, like, a metal pipe? That would stop you from being such a pussy. You don't punch a fucking window, why did neither of you understand that?"

With a huff, she folded her chest as the two walked in silence for a moment, though once the pizza parlor was brought up again, she grimaced. The pizza was shit, and the general environment was far from sanitary, but it was a lot like her friends as a whole. They were unsavory characters, only ever getting along with equally or worse off individuals, and it made her relationship with Andrew all the more strange. She would insist opposites attract, though.

"Yeah, I want to go. I haven't had greasy junk in forever, Trey. I want my body to hate me in the morning, you know? If that means I have to swallow, like, a whole pizza on my own, I'll do it. It'll be fun - hey, maybe you'll meet some hot pizza delivery boy who thinks your outfit is suave~!" She cooed.
 
"Oh yeah, 'cause I'm really dressed to impress right now. A hoodie and a baseball hat is really fashionable. Fuck, I look like a little kid since I shaved, you said it yourself. At least I looked relatively suave before," shrugged Trey as he absentmindedly kicked a stone along the path, even though they were plenty of empty cans and food wrappers littered around the sidewalk that would have made better options. The area clearly wasn't the cleanest, or the nicest, but he didn't really care. He knew he had no chance of getting out to somewhere better, like Hazel did, but he didn't really want to. As far as he was concerned, the area was his home, and while he definitely didn't hold it against Hazel for moving out of it, he did think it was a little wrong of her not to visit. However, they'd had that discussion already, and he was smart enough not to bring it back up again.

"Hey, the pizza guy is pretty cute, I guess. You know, I went there last week, and he's dyed his hair platinum blonde, it's pretty fucking hot, actually. I saw him smooching up with some girl about a month ago, so perhaps he's not into guys. That'd suck. When's the last time I even had a boyfriend? Like, you had Victor, now you got this fancy guy."
 
"Hey, Victor wasn't straight, right? Remember that night when we had, like, all of the guys down at the club come over and hung out? There were, what? Three girls? In a room of, like, ten guys? That shitty game of spin the bottle was so weird. Like, I know Victor really loved me, but he seemed pretty unaffected by kissing a guy. Not everything is so black and white, Trey." She reminded, before offering a light push. With a grunt, she rummaged through her purse to grab a ponytail band and tied up her long locks, her hair easily beginning to bother her the more it blew in her hair. Not to mention, it's perfectly straightened appearance was just too pompous, the outfit was enough on it's own.

"Life isn't about getting with someone, you know that, right? Like, if you just jump the bones of the first guy willing, you'll just fall out with them. Have you tried that Grindr app or whatever? I'm sure there are plenty of hot cuties there." She teased, before staring up at the fritzy sign of the local pizza place. There was nothing special about it, visually, and it held the exact same basic look that every locally owned, stereotypical Italian pizza place, bar the custom made mascot. Forcing back the urge to cry, she trudged on into the parlor with pursed lips. "Let's get the Hawaiian, alright? That was Vic's favorite - unsurprisingly. He had shit taste."
 
"Obviously I haven't tried Grindr, I'm not totally sure what that even is, Hazel. I mean, Victor was the one who hooked me up with guys. I wouldn't know how to start a conversation, hence why I've lusted after the pizza delivery guy for the last five years without saying more than 'hi' to him," grumbled the tall man as he trailed into the pizza parlour, immediately smiling to himself at the sudden nostalgia he was hit with. Granted, having Victor at his side would have made everything better... but he thought that was pretty much impossible. Having Hazel, though, was just as good given the time they'd been apart.

"He never had the greatest food sense. Didn't he eat ice cream with BBQ sauce once? I'm sure the guy was off his fucking head," he continued, whilst happily setting himself down in the booth the three had religiously sat in together. "I don't really like savoury stuff with sweet, so I'm gonna get the pepperoni, alright? I don't think Vic would mind."
 
"I don't know what Nina was feeding him to make him so fucking weird, but they weren't all terrible. The sauce tasted alright on salted caramel ice cream, you have to admit," she insisted, sliding into the booth herself as she felt the worn down leather covers. She grinned wickedly at the carved heart and her and Victor's initials inside it, the little vandalism made just at the side of the booth, below the cooling vent. Running her hand along it sentimentally, she used her free hand to set her head on it carefully, huffing.

"It's that gay dating app everyone is flipping out over, how have you not seen it? Trey, I know how absolutely desperate you are, so wouldn't it be a good idea? I want you to try it with the pizza guy, but you can only stay behind and waiting shyly for so many years. You need to get some proper dick, it's almost annoying. I can't be your wingman all the time, for fuck's sake," she whined, only really perking up once being served a proper Coke. "God, I bet Vic would probably agree with me."
 
"You know, when he comes through the door, I'll go right up to him and ask him out, how about that? I'm not desperate, just... I'd like to have sex, sure. It's been a while, but god, you and Victor were relentless. Like, I appreciated the help, but Victor especially tried every day to get me with someone. Like... I am pretty handsome, I can get a guy when I want. The time hasn't been right to introduce myself to the pizza guy," he defiantly shrugged, despite the small pout that had found its way onto his face which, when he didn't have his beard, made him look more childish than ever.

"Look, does it matter? I'm just glad we're hanging out again, bickering. What the fuck have you done without me? I mean, I can't see you hanging out with Andy's friends. Are they really posh? Do they sip champagne and eat caviar?" Trey drawled with a faint roll of his eyes. "I mean, it sounds fun and all, but that ain't you, is it?"
 
"Super fucking posh. I decided to wear a regular jacket once, to one of Andrew's friend's parties, and the amount of bitter words I received was pretty sad. Like, so what? I enjoy wearing things that are comfy sometimes! Do you think those women wear exclusively, overly bright and sparkly ball gowns? I don't think so. The thing is, too, I was wearing a really nice pant suit!" She ranted, her hands raising in frustration.

"His friends are massive cunts, let's just keep it at that. It's disgusting, you know? They have no chill, like... they act as if they have a stick shoved up their asses at all times, that's no way to live. Andy's like that, too, you know? He's gotten better, but when I first met him, he refused to eat Lucky Charms! Yeah, it isn't that shitty bran flakes he gets from Whole Foods, but it works just fine. I told him he needs to treat himself sometimes, seriously. I just got him to drink soda, isn't that fucked up?"