❝ and remember, loneliness is still time spent with the world. ❞
B A S I C S –
Name: Dugan Beake
Nicknames: Duckie (most commonly known as).
Birthday: May 1, 1991.
Pronouns: He/him.
Gender/Sex: Cisgender/male.
Sexuality: Bisexual.
Occupation: Owner of Well Played Game Cafe.
P E R S O N A L I T Y —
+ Resourceful, well-read, faithful. - Passive, cowardly, boring.
While Duckie comes alive at the D&D table or late at night in his friends' basements, he can, more often than not, be mistaken for an armchair or a fleck of dust with just how un-outstanding he is. He's quiet and keeps to himself and prefers to avoid attention where he can, though when it comes to his successes and achievements he'll always accept compliments with a genuine smile and gratitude.
A R R I V A L — ( 1995 )
Moved in with his aunt and uncle when he was four years old and hasn't left Aurora Bay since.
E X T R A B I T S —
– Duckie has one D&D group that he's been regularly DM'ing for since he was in high school. They don't get together as much anymore, but they've been playing in the same world that Duckie's built the whole time, doing different adventures with different characters when one of their OC's inevitably dies.
– Has been dumped by every girl he's been with. He has a habit of getting very complacent in his relationships and pulling away emotionally but struggles to be the one to end things first; he'd rather become a lame, silent boyfriend and get dumped than be the one to admit that things are over himself.
– In general, very bad at sports, but he played volleyball through high school and still enjoys a good beach game if there's one going. He also plays pickleball with his family.
– Has a very large LEGO collection displayed neatly in his office space and around his room. He enjoys any sort of miniature building work, and has started buying the super intricate kits wherever he can.
C O N N E C T I O N S —
TBA
B A C K G R O U N D —
tw: parental drug use, death of an estranged parent, foursome mention? lol
- duckie's parents were never cut out to be parents no matter how deeply they loved their son. and they did love him, as much as they could, until their love of partying (and, namely: heroin) overtook their lives. margaret beake, knowing she'd never be the mother her son deserved, evevntually relinquished custody to her sister when dugan was only four years old.
- jacob and aimee beake took in duckie like their own. aimee had just given birth to her own son, gregory, who they nicknamed goose because the whole family thinks they're soooo funny.
- duckie and goose grew up like real brothers, not knowing they weren't until late in middle school when jacob and aimee, spurred by a school project about genealogy, eventually sat down with duckie and explained everything. he was understandably hurt, and the information had a heavy impact on the relationship between him and who he knew as parents. fortunately, their relationship recovered with time, and duckie came to peace with everything.
- at the end of high school, margaret beake passed away, and the chance to know his birthright mother disappeared. it was a weird phase of grief - one that he still hasn't figured out how to process, though he's stopped trying to. his father is still out there somewhere, either unable or unwilling to reach out.
- duckie and goose are best friends. obviously they've gone through their fair share of shit and arguments, but time has only strengthened their bond. although technically cousins, they'll always be as close as real brothers
- college was eye-opening in a lot of ways for duckie. he discovered his bisexuality in a big splash: a night of d&d ended in a raunchy foursome that left him desperate to explore even more
- duckie's only goal since high school has been to open a place that would harbor safe hang-out spots for nerds and freaks and losers. for years after college he spent his time making miniatures to sell and had a small successful business with that, but he wanted a true storefront: a true safe space. so he began collecting, and scouting, and crafting up a plan.
- four years ago, duckie opened Well Played. it's his pride and joy and he spends most of his life there, either helping in the kitchen or DMing games on weekends where he can. he also, as a favor to the family (because he would NOT hire him naturally) has goose around as an employee. it's put a little strain on their relationship because goose sucks at anything work related, but it's manageable.
" Okay, what do you think, " Duckie says, and then holds up two different snack packages. " Overpriced pizza flavored Pringles? Or overpriced gummy worms that expire in a week? "
closed starter for iris alderidge / @theirisxalderidge
located at craft house
" I feel like I've been waiting in this line for hours, " Duckie says with a sigh. No matter which one you go to, craft stores are all the same; there will only ever be one attendant at the registers, and they will always be swamped with an older woman and her fifteen expired coupons. " It can't be that difficult to run one of these registers, right? Maybe I should offer to hop on and help. "
" Thought maybe our laundry got mixed up, but, um... " Duckie lifts the pair of underwear between them, the lacy thong hanging limply off of one of the tight rolls of quarters he always brings with him to the laundromat. " These don't seem like your, uh, style. "
" Wow. Kinda messed up seeing you outside of the cafe, " Duckie says, trying not to hover too closely to Noah, who he's spotted near the canned beans. " I started to assume you only spawned when I got within ten feet of the entrance. "
" I don't want you to think I'm some weirdo, " Duckie says, a strong start in the direction for getting this guy to think he's a weirdo. It's bad enough he'd noticed at all, and worse that he's waited until the stranger was about to leave to mention any of this. " But your Catan strategy was... Wow. I mean, I don't think I've seen anyone sweep like that outside of tournaments. "
who: open [ @aurorabaystarter ]
where: hidden gems thrift shop
It was always easy to spot when Cat was excited about something, even to a complete stranger. There was no hiding the wide smile that would take over her face, nor the literal bounce in her step that made her walk look almost like a dance; maybe she could try to hide it more, but why bother? She'd probably start vibrating if she tried to contain all that energy, and that would certainly look a lot stranger.
Though, to be fair, that doesn't denote the fact that Catriona still looks a little strange now, all but skipping across the store with a grin bright enough to rival the sun, her eyes wide and alight with joy, approaching one of her unsuspecting customers.
“ Darling, it would be absolutely criminal if you tried to leave the store without that in your cart today, ” she begins, gesturing to the garment the other holds in their hand emphatically as she speaks. Cat pauses slightly to admire the piece once more before continuing her gentle tirade. “ I would have to call the police; it would be a crime ! That was clearly made for you. ”
Given his size, Duckie often finds it hard to go out in public without at least a minor amount of staring at some point during his journey. There is never a grocery store visit without someone inevitably asking for help reaching an item on the top shelf, and he's rarely made it through a day at work without a couple of giggling teen girls pointing over their bagels and Uno cards.
Therefore it's not as surprising as it could be when he holds up a plain blue short-sleeve button-up to his chest in order to check its length against his torso and is immediately interrupted by a particularly exuberant shopper.
" Uh, " Duckie says smartly, his glasses sliding down his nose. There isn't anything exceptional about the shirt, except for maybe that it seems it's going to hang in just the right places over his gangling body, but that's why he'd reached for it in the first place. Auntie Ma has been super into embroidery lately, and she'd requested something to experiment on for him; apparently, he'd fished a perfect catch on the first try. " Thank you. I, uh, picked it out myself. "
A poor attempt at humor. Story of his life. Duckie makes note of the pieces the woman has in her own cart, and he nods toward them. " I see you struck gold too. "
" All of my friends are married or have been single most of their lives, so... Eight? I didn't go to the bonfire, though. That could be a factor. " Duckie swirls his spoon through the bowl of ice cream that is slowly turning to soup with every passing moment. He'd taken one bite and realized 'olive oil and sea salt' was not for him, but he's not one to fight for a free bowl or even fork over a few more dollars for a flavor he can stomach. " Did you skip town that weekend on purpose? "
