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 Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:40 am
Quote: Webs have begun to appear all over Destiny City at an alarming pace; at first it doesn’t seem like anything to be concerned with—at first. Maybe a web over a window or door frame is the worst you see, but there have been reports of webs that cover a whole tree or even entire cars. The media cites changing weather patterns and, even though you don’t see any spiders, it’s clear you might have a problem.
Chase didn't particularly like being out around the public when he felt like his careful grip on his self control could slip and be lost with the right trigger. Yet, he felt more capable of containing the beast that rattled it's cage over and over again in his chest when he was Chase and not General Labyrinthite. Besides, he had to go out for a meeting with the executives at Renegade Media as his buy out moved forward, much to Levi's dismay, and he'd gotten a call from one of the newer hirers who was concerned about...an unusual amount of spider webs popping up along the outside decor.
When the man had arrived he had been surprised to see that the outside windows were completely covered in webbing with no spiders to be found in sight.
If any of that creeped inside...
He could already see something forming in the corners that were too high for their newest shift to reach. Son of a --
His phone buzzed in his pocket, a request to meet up from Trey Cameron, to which he replied he could come down to Just Add Coffee if he was willing to deal with divided attention. Entering the cafe, he headed straight for the back, preparing to deal with this unsightly webbing.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:52 pm
Plans for the benefit were moving along smoothly, to Trey's mind, but there were some parts that needed approval before he could move forward with them. The young man cradled an iPad in his hand as he walked, long fingers splayed across the back as he scrolled through his notes.
We need to cement the venue... I have a couple of quotes on cost... List of DJs to provide music to pick through with samples... It was all neatly arranged and color coded to make it easy to find. The last thing he wanted was to fumbled about looking unprepared once he made it to the coffee shop and his 'client'. He wasn't entirely sure what to call Chase Black. They weren't really... friends, and while he was helping him plan this event, he hadn't really been hired to do so. It benefited his mother's business, of course, but forging some sort of relationship with this man seemed the ultimate goal.
It would help if he could get a better read on what Chase thought of him... but it always seemed like the other man was holding back. Allowing the interaction, but not wholly participating in it. He'd gotten closer to Chase's girlfriend Priscilla, if anything... but he'd learned early that was a dangerous road to appear to pursue. Not that he had even thought of doing so... if anything, he felt more attraction to Chase's calculating amber eyes than he did 'Prissy's' vapid, sly smiles.
The wind caught at his hair as he turned the corner and he tucked it absently behind his ear, narrowly missing a slouching line of cobweb slung between a building and the old fashion sign that hung above the door. He jerked to avoid it, a grimace crossing his face. I don't know why people find those fake webs so attractive for Halloween. It has to be a b***h to clean up after...
He'd been seeing them more and more often recently, but with the approaching holiday, he'd chalked it up to celebrants getting a little too into it all. Up ahead, the sign for Just Add Coffee hove into sight and Trey quickened his pace, tucking his iPad against his chest in the crook of his arm and straightening the blue patterned scarf around his neck. The bell above the door rang as he entered and he let it fall shut behind him as he paused to sweep the interior with his eyes, searching for the familiar shock of pink hair he'd come here to see.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:04 pm
Despite his height a ladder was still necessary when it came to tending to things on the ceiling and that would be where Trey find Chase. In his hand was a duster that he was swiping across every nook and cranny that didn't have tape or directions up. Holiday decorating wasn't something he cared about but his baristas, and more importantly his customers, cared and therefore the cafe was decorated appropriately.
On the counter top were carefully carved pumpkins and a tombstone cover across the front. All of the pastries were spookified; pumpkin shaped cookies, bat brownies, and the like.
To compete with the local Starbucks's he had allowed one of the baristas to make a blended 'graveyard ghouls' drink. If asked, he wouldn't be able to explain what was in it and he wasn't part of the drink crafting for the night anyway. He was present to deal with a business problem and finish some schedules, ones that would have to wait until after his impromptu meeting.
He spotted the somewhat familiar purple and blue of the man's hair out of the corner of his eye and he climbed down from his spot on the ladder. "I'm almost finished, if you'd like a drink let the barista know then take a seat and I'll be with you shortly." Straight to the point with only slight pause for him to take in Trey's attire.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:46 pm
It was warm inside, a comforting wash to banish the chill out of doors. Surprisingly, Trey found Chase up on a ladder, apparently... dusting? Not exactly something he expected from the owner or manager of a shop (didn't he have people for that?), but it wasn't ultimate that important. A flicker of surprise and then it was gone, the smoothness back in place as the young man pulled the messenger bag from his hip to slide the ipad into and free up his hands.
"Ah! Sure. Thank you for meeting with me. I promise this won't take long, I just have a few decisions that need made and then I can get out of your hair." Trey said, his voice light and breezy. This wasn't supposed to be a terribly serious visit and it was nice that it was somewhere less... formal. Seeing the place where Chase worked was a clue into some of what he kept so carefully guarded and details were carefully filed away.
Though I don't know how much paper bats and plastic pumpkins mean to him, but its worth noting he's willing to allow them at all.
Sweeping forward from the entry way now that all his things were secure, the lanky, graceful stride took him face first into something gossamer and invisible. Strands of nothingness touching his face and Trey started rather dramatically at the sensation, rearing back and ducking, as though he could avoid was was already attached. <********!" He gasped out, strangling down the exclamation to nearly under his breath. He knew with panicked instinct exactly what he had just run into and it took a moment for the logical, higher thinking part of himself to take control again, pushing down images of small, black things crawling over his skin and into his hair as sick dread crept down his spine to cramp his stomach. A spider web, here inside the store... and a real one, judging by the way it clung.
Knowing he was making a road block of himself, Trey managed the few steps that took him out of the high traffic area by the door and then he stopped dead, wiping stiffly at his face while his brows tightened above his eyes. The young man managed to hide most of his fear under the blanket of years of training, but the mask was... awkward, and not as polished as it had ********, why did it have to be spiders... and the most awful timing. He could only imagine the scene he'd made before he'd regained control... but at least he'd done so quickly.
There wasn't a tremor in his fingers, but he was quick to take off his bag and the scarf around his neck to deposit them on a table, working quickly to unbind the end of his thick, silky hair. God, if one of those things had gotten into his hair... The creep factor was over a ******** me..." He breathed as his fingers worked, his mouth pinching.
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:08 pm
Chase had been part of Just Add Coffee since he had been eighteen, which meant that six years had passed since he'd first shown up in the coffee shop to fill out an application. He lost track of how long it had been since he had bought out the original owners, a pair of brothers, when one of their health began to wane and they couldn't afford to keep the place running. He had overpaid, but it had been worth it at the time.
Now, he had more money than one person would ever need. But that was nothing new, he had grown up a child of old money with a frugal father who had an excellent mind for business. The very same mind he'd impressed upon his son who had stepped into his shoes too easily, despite his fears of being just like his father.
Trey would see slivers of his youth built into the walls of the building and how he allowed whimsical things, like Halloween decorations, fill the counters and walls. Renegade Media was not afforded such whimsy, but the fashionable young man would learn that eventually. If he managed to get through Chase's rigorous assessments.
"There's no need to rush," he offered, returning his attention to the task at hand while subtly (or not so subtly) watching the man move from the corner of his eye.
It was the exclamation that gathered his full attention and he exhaled slowly, carefully stepping from the ladder until he was on the tiled surface and could cross over to him. At first, he said nothing because he wanted to observe how Trey handled himself after clearly being startled and perhaps upset.
Certain that he had walked over rather quietly, he spoke up. "Do you need a hand?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:44 pm
It wasn't comfortable, knowing that he was showing cracks in his facade to someone he didn't fully trust. It left him stiff and formal when Chase joined him, the soft voice sounding at his side before he realized the man had moved.
Shoving down his embarrassment, he waved a hand at the hair he had gathered over his shoulder to spill down his chest to his waist.
"I'm afraid I ran afoul of one of those webs that have been plaguing the city this time of year." He said, trying to keep his voice light. "If you wouldn't mind, could you just... look and see if I've picked up the owner of that web. I'd rather not find it later."
Bits of web clung to the indigo strands, and to his fingers as he tried to work them through it. It made things... difficult, and on the verge of quickly becoming panic level again, but the need to keep a brave face gave him something to ground himself with, a stone to stand on while the fears clawed at his ankles.
"I don't mind spiders so much when they're where they're supposed to be. Namely, outside in nature. I'm just not keen on them inside, or worse, on me." He offered, by way of explanation.
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:38 am
If he sensed the uncomfortableness in Trey, Chase didn't comment or let it show. Still, eyes of whiskey-gold observed him with clear sense of evaluation, his mouth closed and no signs of a smile even teasing the corners.
"The webs have been troublesome," he offered, shoulders lifting in a slight shrug. His gaze followed the long braid over Trey's shoulder and slowly climbed back up to meet the man's gaze. Fingers drummed against his thigh before he nodded, gesturing for the man to turn around so he could take care of his request.
Surprisingly deft and gentle fingers slid along colorful strands while he looked for the culprit of the webbing that had managed to make it's way indoors. "The interesting thing about these webs is that I've yet to find a spider."
He had lost track of how many webs he'd cleaned up, but he'd seen neither hide nor hair of the creatures who spun them.
"Everyone has something they don't care for, or are afraid of. It's human nature, don't you think?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:43 pm
No comment was forthcoming about his 'squimishness' over spiders, to which Trey was infinitely grateful. It wasn't exactly a... manly reaction to them. Not that he'd ever been someone to care about societies standards for masculinity, but you could never be sure who did, and Chase was not someone he wanted to put off because of it.
Chase nodded and Trey dropped his eyes as he turned, offering his back. He felt fingers in his hair and the fine wips at his nape rose, startling him with the tingle of awareness. Which was honestly dumb, how many hundreds of hair dressers and random other people had had hands in his hair over the years? At least the comment about not seeing spiders was a comforting one, easing the tightness across his shoulders.
Trey resisted the urge to nod while Chase had hands on his hair, but he did hum an assent.
"Not care for, certainly. Even afraid of, I'd dare say. The way my younger brother acts, you'd think dirt was a personal affront." The thought of it pulled a small smile from him, his hands still as they held his bag against him. Head bowed, waiting patiently, he felt surprisingly at ease and wondered where the sudden sense of trust came from. Or maybe not trust, in the long term, but temporarily granted, under duress. Still.
"Is there anything you don't... care for?" He asked without turning his head.
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Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:16 pm
When he cared, Chase was a surprisingly courteous man who took great care when it came to tending to things such as Trey's hair given the man's fear that spiders might have made a home in his long hair. Nothing the slight tension he wondered how many people the man allowed in this close of a proximity in situations that weren't premeditated.
Trey was proving to be an interesting young man, one who clearly wished to please or be praised, and was willing to work hard. Chase appreciated that and it was something he admittedly looked for when he was evaluating someone.
"It's important to approach things, like spiders, with caution." He offered, stepping back once he was certain no more webs lingered. With webbing all over his hand, he stepped towards the counter in the center of the building to fetch some napkins to clean his hand off temporarily. "Is it easier if someone does your hair for you?"
He looked up from cleaning off his fingers, napkin pressed against his palm as his thumb slid along it, to consider the question. "Hard to say. I'm amicable about most things." The things he didn't care for weren't exactly something he could express, yet, to his companion.
"You could say I don't care much for monotony, but not in the way you don't care for spiders or your brother might not care for dirt." A hand gestured to one of the open booths and he plucked a binder from the counter as he deposited the napkin in the trash.
He'd wash his hands in a minute.
"There's business to attend to though, isn't there?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:14 pm
When Chase stepped back, Trey's hands immediately went to his hair, smoothing through it to find it smooth and un-stickied. He swept it over his shoulder and shook his head as his hands fell into the familiar motions of braiding it. It took no thought, really, he'd done it so often. He knew the feel of it, how the hair weighed and how thick it needed to be.
"I've got it, don't worry." He said with a lightness he was finally starting to feel again. There was still a sting of embarrassment, but that would fade once they got to work. Something he was quite eager for now. Put this little outburst behind them.
Trey hurried to follow when the other man grabbed up his binder, winding his way through the tables as he finished off the braid in his hands and tied it off with the binder he'd removed earlier. It draped properly now, the braid thick over his shoulder while the long strands swept to frame his face. He slid into a boot as he pulled his bag over his head and settled it beside him, his tablet finding the table as he began to pull up the things he'd wanted to discuss with Chase.
This, at least, he was comfortable with.
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:57 am
Whiskey eyes studied the way Trey's fingers automatically pulled through his hair and watched as deft fingers plaited it back into a braid like it was a second thought, an unconscious act. There was a curt nod before Chase was sliding into the booth and pulling out his phone to check a few emails while his companion got ready.
From there it was easy to settle into more serious, business aspect things. While the meeting was somewhat impromptu, by the time it was done Chase found himself more and more pleased with the work that Trey was willing to put in and how the charity ball was coming together.
When his companion left, Chase promised to be in touch and might have even offered what almost looked like a pleased smile.
He did, after all, have plans for Trey.
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