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 Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:02 am
Quote: Shock Mark (15) : Thunderstorms are common this time of year, but what’s not common is the number of people reported being struck by lightning. Strangely, people are surviving with only minor, if any, injuries at all. Being struck can feel like a static shock, or can feel like a sudden flash of heat, and targets are left with a strange lightning mark across their body. Though the marks will fade, for their duration–up to a full week after being struck, you might notice that you are more prone to static shocking yourself or others, and you may notice electronics charging or overcharging and malfunctioning. The marks can take longer to fade at player discretion, or players may choose for them to leave pale scars, but otherwise there are no lasting effects.
It had been a long day already, and Ariel was more than ready to be home. He’d switched shifts with someone last minute, but that meant that he was working a near-double and he was more than exhausted by the time he got off of the bus and started the trek home.
The rain was good inspiration to get home quickly; it was cold and darker than usual, even if he was bundled in a warm coat. The thunderstorms had been horrible this year, and two of his coworkers had been struck by lightning, and though one was back in the next day--bragging about his scars--the second was at home on the fourth day of being in 'too much pain to work'.
Ariel didn't know what to believe, but he knew he was not in the mood to add 'struck by lightning' to his extensive list of bad luck. It felt dangerous to even bring an umbrella, but the storm seemed to have lessened significantly by the time he got off of the bus so he thought it was worth the risk.
His umbrella kept most of the wetness off of him but by the time he reached the covered walkway it was already an unwanted weight. He shook it off as he walked to his apartment. He’d been attentive and mindful of everyone else who was out, and kept a good grip on it as he walked.
His hair was tied in a low ponytail and he walked with his head down. The rain made it hard to listen to the world around him, but there were no splashing footsteps hurrying after him. He could have taken his time but he just wanted to get home. Maybe take a bath. Definitely head to bed. He worked again in the morning and he wanted to make sure he had plenty of time to get there.
His keys were already out but his hands were cold. He wasn’t wearing gloves, and as he approached his door, he dropped his keys. Maybe it was because of the new charm he'd fixed to them; the brightly colored purple stars were a gift from a coworker who had too many, and he couldn't just say no when she was insisting on giving it to him.
The keys slid right from his fingers, but he was quick to dip down and fetch them. He fumbled only briefly, looked around, and then slid his key into the lock.
Well, he tried. He fumbled the key again, but it didn’t quite seem to fit.
He frowned and nearly dropped the keys again, but he was quick to catch them. He tried putting the key in again, and then a third time upside down, but it wasn’t quite fitting. And then, frustrated and too eager to get inside, he just turned the knob and–
It opened. Without hesitation.
There was a brief moment of panic, but it was his own anxiety building up. Maybe he’d been so tired he just didn’t realize that he’d unlocked it, and–
He stepped inside and was greeted with light. Movement. Eyes.
There was a brief moment of absolute panic at the thought that someone had broken into his apartment.
And then, a longer moment of panic when he realized he wasn’t in his apartment.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:19 am
Not just eyes, but a flurry of movement as a decently sized black object rushed towards the man in the doorway, boofing in greeting and immediately slobbering over as much of the man as she could manage.
“Ah, Harrison, no!” Casey was quick to try and stop his dog from intruding on their guest’s space. He had a pot of spaghetti in one hand and reached with his other to grab for her collar. Her collar sported the Opal star charm that he'd picked up from one of the stalls on his way home that day.
“I’m so sorry, she’s harmless,” he needlessly explained. He knew who the man was, even though Ariel had never been in his apartment before. Casey had moved into his apartment shortly before Ariel moved into his. They’d crossed paths before, been polite neighbors, knew each other’s names, but he knew Ariel worked weird hours.
He also knew that Ariel seemed easily distracted and nervous about things. He was always looking over his shoulder, like he was expecting someone there that wasn’t, so Casey didn’t want his dog’s friendliness to make Ariel want to avoid him completely.
“Are you hungry? I made way too much pasta,” he said a bit breathlessly now that he’d managed to grab onto Harrison’s collar to pull her back, showing the full pot of pasta to Ariel.
Was it weird that Ariel randomly walked into his apartment? Kind of, but it wasn’t as though Casey ever locked his door. Harrison was good at announcing anyone, and his apartment was notably sparse when it came to possessions.
He had a couch that was obviously second hand. A small coffee table that had various stacks of papers and bills and dog toys. A television that looked like it was at least a decade old, but still flat screen. An arguably small bookshelf that seemed like one more book would make the cheap particle board shelves break, as they were already bowing from the weight. There weren’t any photos or artwork on the walls, but that was easily explained by not wanting to pay for repairs at the end of the lease.
It didn’t look as though Casey had guests over often, if at all, but despite the random clutter, the apartment was kept neat and probably as clean as Casey could manage with his own long hours of working and taking care of his dog.
His light brown hair wasn’t too long, definitely not long enough for a ponytail, even a small one. Although there were a couple times he had to shake the bangs that had fallen out of the cheap plastic barrette from his eyes, what with his hands being full. His eyes were a light blue and he was in simple jeans and a hoodie that had been patched up after various tears, likely dog related.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:28 am
Ariel was frozen in place, which wasn’t often his usual response but it felt like everything just came crashing down all at once. What was Casey doing in his apartment? Why was his dog here? Why was Casey–
Oh, right. This wasn’t his apartment.
Ariel felt dizzy and his face immediately burned.
He knew Harrison was harmless, he’d met her before and she’d always wanted to make friends. Casey had insisted she was harmless twice before and she’d only ever seemed to want to play. She was obviously a horrible guard dog, though.
“No, I’m so sorry,” Ariel said, and held up his free hand in apology. “I don’t know what happened, I dropped my keys outside and wasn’t paying attention.”
He should have been, though. His apartment never smelled this nice. Although, he and Casey probably could have competed for who had the sparsest apartment. He wasn’t planning on staying here for very long though; it wasn’t worth it to move in when you were planning on moving out soon.
“I didn’t mean to just walk in like that. I’m so sorry,” he said again, because even if Casey was being a good sport about it, it was still embarrassing. How was Casey not throwing his whole pot of pasta at him and telling him to get out? Why was he inviting to share? He should have been yelling for him to get out or siccing his dog on him.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 11:51 am
“What are you talking about? I invited you,” Casey smiled, hoping to ease Ariel’s worry. But then he paused and made a face and quickly shook his head, which meant he had to shake his head again because his bangs got in his eyes.
“I’m not… that wasn’t a gaslighting comment. The other week, you said you hadn’t had time to make anything for dinner so you were going to get takeout and I offered for you to stop by any time,” he explained and gave a somewhat awkward half shrug to try and make it a little less awkward for Ariel, although he supposed that defeated the point if he was awkward, too.
“You looked really tired and were kind of in a hurry, so maybe I wasn’t very clear that I was actually offering instead of just saying things for conversation, so that’s my fault,” he quickly added, because in retrospect he kind of rambled a lot anyway, so maybe trying to understand what he was saying was difficult.
“Um… but I really did make too much pasta. I mean I tried putting in only half the box, but then more fell into the water than I meant, and I couldn’t just put them back, so I ended up dumping the rest of the box in the water, but realized that was probably a horrible idea and I just wasted whatever I won’t be able to eat. I mean, I’ll probably be able to eat it -- would eat it. I uh… guess I wouldn’t mind the excuse to not have to eat it all,” he laughed, but it was short lived and he shuffled his feet a bit as his arm holding the pot shook from the weight. It was already drooping instead of being held up horizontal to the ground.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 12:22 pm
He was going to make Casey drop his whole dinner. His mind was both churning rapidly while simultaneously going nowhere, so in the brief panic he managed to realize that he was probably worried about his dog getting out or something.
He couldn’t clearly remember their conversation last week but it sounded right. Casey was always so sweet and polite. He had good manners and seemed like he had a good heart. Ariel didn’t spend much time with him; he wasn’t there to make friends, but it was difficult to ignore the polite charm he always seemed to exude. Even now, when Ariel had walked into his apartment.
Hadn’t even knocked, just showed up.
He should have backed out and closed the door but that would have been so rude. He moved mechanically and took one more step inside so he could close the door behind him.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, “I think I do remember you saying that, but I didn’t mean to intentionally barge in like that. If I’d meant to, I would have knocked. You–”
He paused and looked back at the now-closed door before he returned his attention to Casey. “Your door wasn’t locked? Is it broken?”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 12:41 pm
Once Ariel stepped inside and shut the door, Casey gave Harrison a warning look, before letting go of her collar and finally shifting his hold on the pot of noodles. She was a good girl and wagged her tail and sat when she was told, but she inched her way closer to Ariel, obviously looking for attention and pets.
“Don’t worry about it, I promise,” he insisted, but took the opportunity to quickly step back into the small kitchen so he could set the pot down on a cool burner. “I don’t mind. And Harrison doesn’t mind, do you girl?” he grinned, which was followed by an awkward little laugh when he was asked about the door being unlocked.
“Oh, well, no, it’s not broken,” he grinned sheepishly over his shoulder, but was already pulling two plates out of the cabinet. “I just sometimes forget to lock it, is all. I end up getting distracted by Harrison-- trying to get her leash off, or… well, I don’t have much for anyone to take. If someone is trying to steal anything then they must be worse off than I am, right?”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 2:25 pm
Ariel had nothing against Harrison; he’d had a dog growing up and he was comfortable around them. He’d only met her before when she was on a leash but he wasn’t intimidated–especially because she had just let him walk into her house.
He didn’t move from where he stood, but he did extend a hand to pet her while she was inching closer.
“You should always lock your door,” he cautioned. “Sometimes people don’t show up just because they want to steal something.”
He was trying not to be too serious, but–it was dangerous! Someone could come in and hurt him! Or steal Harrison.
Out of habit, he locked the door behind him. Just to be safe. “You should be careful,” he insisted. “Just in case.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 4:47 pm
Casey laughed, not because he thought it was funny, but because he couldn’t decide if this was something he’d expected from Ariel or not. He seemed like he was the kind of guy to nag about things like safety, but also seemed very distracted and preferred not to get involved with other people. Not that Casey blamed him! Some people were just exhausting.
“That’s really sweet. You’re sweet. You shouldn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself,” he promised. Whether or not the door was locked.
“Would you like something other than water? I have uh… juice. It’s apple. I also have some bottles of iced green tea, but they have a best by date of a month ago -- that’s why they were so cheap, I guess -- and they’re not cold. Oh, but the apple juice is cold. And the water is filtered.”
He worked on getting the plates of pasta, tasted the sauce once more, before pouring it from the saucepan into a bowl so that Ariel would be able to put on however much or little he wanted. Balancing both plates and bowl, he made his way back out into the living room where he placed everything down on the coffee table.
And then muttered apologies for having everything piled up. He gathered up what he could and set everything under the table for the time being.
“Does this work? Sorry, I only have one chair. I guess I wasn’t really prepared to have anyone over. You’re the first to take me up on my offer!”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 4:55 pm
Was he sweet? He thought he was just being practical. His face was still burning and the coldness of the weather outside was temporarily forgotten.
He wanted to suggest that he could have been a robber, or a crazed maniac, and just busted in here while Casey was distracted making dinner. And then what! Would he have offered him dinner then, too? Well, maybe he could take care of himself. Dinner smelled so good that he didn’t even realize his mouth was watering until he tried to speak again.
Ariel meant to insist that he didn’t need anything–didn’t even need to stay for dinner!–but Casey made it sound so welcoming. How could he just leave if he was the first one to take him up on his offer?
“No, no–water’s fine,” he insisted, and finally set his umbrella down against the door. He shifted a bit nervously and put his bag down too. “I’m a little wet from the rain. I don’t mind sitting anywhere.” He started unzipping his boots. “I don’t want to get anything wet, though–do you have somewhere I can put my coat?”
The words felt wrong on his lips, like he was saying something silly or incorrect. His mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton and he was still reeling from the embarrassment of–well, all of this. How was Casey so calm? How was he so polite?
Oh–wow, though, he really did look like he’d made too much. That was one less thing to feel bad about.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 5:06 pm
“Oh, here, let me help you!” Casey was quick to offer. “Harrison, don’t you dare,” he warned, watching as his dog’s attention was drawn to the unattended plates of spaghetti. He crab walked between the couch and coffee table and turned so he could gently take hold of the wet jacket Ariel was still wearing.
“I’m so sorry, I should have offered you a place for your coat right away. Ah, I have a coat closet. It’s um. I mean, there’s room for coats, I just haven’t completely unpacked yet so there’s some boxes shoved in there,” he winced sheepishly, hoping that Ariel wouldn’t judge him too harshly. He stepped over to the closet, peaked inside, and seemed to change his mind and pulled out a hanger after shaking off whatever was already on it, and offered it to Ariel.
“Probably best to just put it on the door knob,” he confessed. “It’s just messy. I get overwhelmed with stuff so I just kind of um. Shove it out of sight.” Which probably explained why everything was relatively sparse but still a bit cluttered.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a jacket on. You’re thinner than I thought you’d be. Oh, wow, I didn’t mean anything bad by that. Just, I mean, I can’t tell with the jacket on. But that just means I’m glad you’re here so we can both have dinner!”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 5:25 pm
Ariel opened his mouth to protest, but Casey was already helping him and he couldn’t muster the willpower to reject him–especially not when he was being so polite, and apologizing for things that weren’t even his fault.
He flushed again when Casey noted that he was thin, and he looked down as if he needed to confirm it. Immediately, he started fussing with his shirt to try and fill out a bit more. “I like the jacket, yeah. It’s just been so cold lately. And this weather,” he gestured vaguely behind him. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Your place is nice,” he insisted, then. “Mine doesn't look so different. I haven’t really settled in, I’ve just got the necessities. I don’t even think I have a,” he paused and gestured towards the kitchen, “I mean–I don’t even think I’ve used the stove once since I’ve been here. I haven’t unpacked enough yet to let it get messy.”
Wel, technically he hadn’t really even brought enough for things to get messy. His necessities were packed in a bag by the door and everything else was there because he’d moved in to find it there.
His apartment wasn’t much of a home but it was a place to sleep at, and that was all he was looking for right now.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:37 pm
“You think so?” Casey stared at Ariel in surprise, apparently pleased by the compliment, and a bit flustered by it. “I haven’t really been able to settle in either. I would like to get a nicer bookcase. I tried putting everything out but, um, I had a hard time deciding what books I wanted to look at. I mean, I read them too, but some have nicer covers. Oh, and I needed to empty out the closet a little. There’s still another couple boxes of books. I like books. Probably too much. I get a lot of them at yard sales and thrift stores though, so they’re not in the best condition, usually,” he rambled, but set the wet jacket on its hanger on the doorknob and then turned to usher Ariel over to the couch while shooing Harrison away.
“If you’d like, I can cook for you.”
Wow, even Casey realized that offer was probably completely out of line. He winced and shuffled a little as he moved around the coffee table to his side.
“I like cooking. I don’t usually have a lot to cook with, but if you tell me what you like I can keep an eye out for things. Oh, you’ll have to tell me if the sauce is too sweet. I might have added a little too much sugar,” he frowned, but had already poured a decent amount of the red sauce over his pasta, and pushed a fork that was mismatched from his own over to Ariel.
He really hoped he was coming across as friendly and not weird…
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:27 pm
Ariel let himself be guided to the couch, and if he were being honest, he was very glad to have an excuse to sit down. He was tired after working all day, and Casey’s couch was more comfortable than the one back in his apartment. He was too busy appreciating how much nicer the couch was from the bus seat he’d just come home on.
“Oh, thank you.” He accepted the fork and prodded the bare noodles for a moment before he ladeled a modest amount of sauce onto his noodles, paused, and then added a second scoop. “I like sweet sauce. I’m sure it’s fine.”
It didn’t look like strawberry syrup, and Casey was sharing it despite how he’d awkwardly arrived here. He’d have eaten a plate of dirt if Casey had insisted.
He glanced at the bookcase, and all of the assorted books. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds as he mixed the sauce into the noodles. “I don’t want to impose. I really didn’t mean to walk in like that. I’ve got some money, I’ll–you should let me pay you. Especially if you don’t have a lot to cook with.”
This could have been leftovers, a full meal for tomorrow.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:08 pm
At first Casey shook his head. “Oh, no, it’s really no problem. I don’t mind at all.”
But then he paused in his twirling of noodles on his fork so he could glance curiously over at Ariel.
“You’re not imposing. But… you look like you could use some more to eat, especially if you haven’t even used your kitchen. What if I make you some food that you can keep for meals, and give me some money so I can get more ingredients?”
It was just a neighborly thing, right? And he liked helping people out. And Ariel looked like he could use some company. And a full stomach.
Harrison seemed like she was not happy to be left out of the conversation, and wiggled her way under Ariel’s legs so she could get between the two and climb up onto the couch to let out a huff and take up every bit of space that she could.
Casey laughed, although he gave Ariel a bit of an awkward smile. “Sorry, she’s harmless but she gets jealous I think. Harrison, please. You know Ariel.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:48 pm
She sort of knew him; he was a stranger in her house. He turned to face her, blinked at the nose only inches from his face, and then couldn’t help but laugh. It was a nice break so he could collect his thoughts before he answered. His lips felt numb and tingly so he supposed he must have already been pressing them together too tightly.
“She’s fine. She’s sweet.”
He leaned forward a bit more so he could pull his plate closer. He took a small bite at first and then let out a contented sigh because it was good, in the way that frozen dinners and fast food weren’t.
He would have pet Harrison if he understood what her rules were, but she didn’t seem like she had many to worry about.
“It’s been a while since I did much meal planning or preparations. I’ve never really been a great cook.” He could make a few things, but nothing worth the effort when eating alone. He didn’t really keep a good enough schedule to justify trying to plan dinners, but–
He took another bite and it was just as good as the first one. It was hard not to just speak with his mouth full. “This is really good, Casey.”
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