arsonist’s lullaby

arek griffiths - 28 - firefighter

[arekgriffiths]

xelegantxsavagery‌:

Bella visibly relaxed upon assurance that there was indeed no mark. That was the last thing she needed. She could feel the muscles in her face throb from the impact and she rubbed it in a small attempt to soothe it. “Not always, just when I’m feeling invincible,” she commented. 

Arek chuckled under his breath, nodding his head as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Hate to break it to you, love, but none of us are invincible,” he teased lightly, licking his lips as he smiled. It was a joke, but in his profession, it was a hard truth. “Though cats are pretty resilient, with all their nine lives.” 

[arekgriffiths]

xelegantxsavagery‌:

Bella hadn’t expected to be running so late. She pawed through her messenger bag to find her ringing phone, anything to let her client know she was running late. Car trouble had prevented her from being on time again and she was at her wits’ end. Her attention moved from her back in time to walk straight into a door and she stumbled back.

“Ow!” she muttered, rubbing her forehead in pain before turning to face someone. “Please tell me there isn’t a red mark on my face?”

Arek looked up, surprised as he took in the woman in front of him, his cell phone in his hand. He hadn’t been paying much attention until the commotion she caused brought him back to present day. “Not at all,” he told her, reassuringly. He watched her for a beat. “You always open doors with your face? I’d hate to see such a beautiful visage ruined by a wooden door.” 

[arekgriffiths]

agathafriedrich‌:

                     Agatha finished her cigarette by throwing it away in a trashcan nearby. ❛ So, tell me something good. ❜ Maybe news or whatever. The world is filled with bad news everywhere. It’s getting REALLY annoying. 

Arek watched her for a moment, gauging her mood, how she would react depending on what he told her. He decided that it was best not to press his luck. Instead, he went with the easiest option - a story about his job. “Saved a little boy and his service animal from their burning apartment the other day. The kid was having a panic attack and the dog wouldn’t leave his side.” 

[arekgriffiths]

chloeloumoreau‌:

             Chloe smiled enjoying the whole situation. ❛ I’m Chloe by the way. ❜ She introduces herself as she watched the people that were fighting seconds prior. If he’s betting on her, she is down to fight anyone.

“Arek,” he replied, nodding his head in acknowledgement. “Want to heighten the stakes? If I win, you buy me a drink.” He lifted his glass for a moment, revealing he was almost done with his own. “And I lose, I’ll buy you any of the drinks you want. I won’t even limit it to one.” 

[arekgriffiths]

Arek ran through the park at an even pace, his dog, Arson, at his side. The blonde labrador/beagle mix had been his most loyal companion for years now, and he more often than not went running with her on a leash. Today, though, she was off her restraint. He should have known that she would go running off to places she didn’t belong, so when Arson raced over to a stranger, away from him, Arek went sprinting after her. 

“Arson!” he scolded, coming up to the dog and the person she had caught up to. “Sorry,” he apologized, heavily breathing as he slowed down. “Normally, she doesn’t run off.” The dog looked between the two of them, tongue out and panting along with Arek as they both caught their breath. “She won’t bite,” he promised. 

[arekgriffiths]

crossedtherubicon‌:

Some days, Brady wasn’t even sure how she managed to keep herself alive. After waking up and realizing she had no food in the house, thirty minutes before her first meeting of the day, and a lost pair of keys, Brady knew it was just going to be one of those days. Were it not for the fact that she was hungry, she likely would have called off the meeting and just stayed in bed, but food was a sound motivator for Brady. Rushing out of the house with her hair a mess and various things halfway falling out of her bag, Brady jogged across the street to hop into the first cab she could find. Uber and any other ride apps were a no for Brady, who trusted them very little. Not, of course, that a cab was really any better, but the established history of them made her feel slightly more secure with her decision. Tossing her stuff into the cab and vaulting in, Brady looked up with a groan when she realized that someone had just started to get in from the other side. “Fuck. I’ll pay the fee if we can share it. I’m like. Mad late right now,” she pleaded with the other person, her eyes imploring them to cut her a break on a morning that just wasn’t going her way.

Arek shouldn’t have been surprised that someone tried to take the cab that he had fought to grab himself, but he was a little shocked to see the woman climb into the cab beside him, her stuff strewn over the backside of the taxi. Looking at her for a long moment, he waited a beat before letting out a huff and shaking his head. “Fine,” he told her, his voice gruff. He was only trying to get home from staying overnight at some woman’s house, who he had picked up from a bar the night before. “But we’re going to split it.” He didn’t want to be in this girl’s debt, and she did appear to be in quite the rush. “Where are you going?” he asked, as he settled himself in the backseat. 

[arekgriffiths]

rcnegaades‌:

As much as his friends tended to tease him about it Max wasn’t entirely oblivious to other people checking him out; it happened rarely ( at least, his noticing it happened supposedly more rarely than people checked him out ) but he could usually catch a particular look or tell when someone was flirting with him based on their body language if their tone of voice wasn’t giving it away. The flush on his cheeks only deepened as he realized Arek was ( potentially? Max couldn’t be entirely confident in his assumption ) checking him out and the thrill of warmth that shot through his stomach was a fairly significant indicator that he didn’t mind that in the slightest. “Oh, I bet - low centers of gravity and all that, you must have to calculate all of that as you’re doing it,” Max retorted, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth in a pointless effort to hide the bright smile that had settled on his lips. A dimple in his cheek became noticeably pronounced as he attempted to reign in his smile as he listened to Arek speak, amusement dancing clearly in his eyes as he watched the other man, “I don’t know,” he admitted finally, still smiling, “Isn’t that something you’re supposed to tell me, babe?” He quirked an eyebrow, a gentle kind of challenge in the gesture as he allowed his eyes to run along Arek’s frame appreciatively. 

Arek wanted to reach out, touch Max’s face, run his fingers over the dimple in his cheek, but he resisted the urge. Instead, he kept his arms crossed over his chest, fingers itching for it despite it all. His expression was full of amusement, an eyebrow raising at the other guy’s term of endearment. “Well, I guess we’re going to have to see, then,” he told him, watching him check him out, not for the first time, and he hoped not the last. “How about we go get a drink and we’ll see how this goes?” he offered. Every other part of him didn’t even want to do that; he wanted to take Max home with him in that moment and have his way with him for the rest of the night. “I’ll even buy.” 

[arekgriffiths]

chloeloumoreau‌:

❛  people have to stop being so stupid.  ❜

“I couldn’t agree more,” Arek said, placing his glass down on the bar counter, watching the fight break out in front of them. “Ten pounds that this is over a girl,” he teased. 

[arekgriffiths]

agathafriedrich‌:

❛ The thing I care for most is my integrity. ❜

Arek let out a laugh, shaking his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s fair,” he agreed. “But I don’t see how that has to do with our situation.” 

[arekgriffiths]

rcnegaades‌:

“I can see that,” Max murmured immediately in reply, his knee-jerk reaction to seeing an attractive person in his vicinity apparently one that encouraged him to let them know that as quickly as possible - much to his chagrin. “I mean, um, you’re very—” He stammered several useless syllables for a moment before he cleared his throat roughly and lowered his gaze to meet Arek’s in spite of his blush; there’s nothing wrong with being flustered in front of a cute guy, Faulkner, just fucking breathe. The surprisingly soothing voice in the back of his head sounded far too much like his best friend from film school’s, and Max found himself taking a slow breath through his nose and shaking his hands out as though the motion could shake his nerves out through his fingertips. “I’m alright, I promise.” He smiled warmly before he dragged his fingers through his hair absently, “You’re… uh, quite the looker and that’s pretty distracting but it’ll take more than that to knock me off my feet,” He joked, allowing the hand he’d run through his hair to settle on the back of his neck for a moment before he offered Arek another smile, feeling himself relax more and more by the second. “You in the habit of sweeping people off their feet regularly?” Max teased, nudging the blonde playfully in a surge of confidence that made him feel supremely comfortable in his own skin. 

Arek wasn’t sure if this guy thought himself a charmer, or even smooth. He was blushing pretty hard for that. But Arek certainly found him charming, and he smirked a little as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for him to stop talking, his own gaze looking him over slowly before he met the other’s gaze with amusement clear on his expression. “Some people are easier to sweep up than others,” he told him, playing along. “Sometimes I have to trip them myself. Quite the hassle, really.” Licking his lips, his fingers moved against his arm for a moment, and he dropped his arms, loosening up. “And sometimes the work isn’t even worth it.” He pretended to be disappointed in this, watching Max’s face the entire time. “Are you worth it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at him playfully. 

[arekgriffiths]

rcnegaades‌:

Max was, ordinarily, keenly aware of his surroundings. He’d always done his best to be more observant than the average person if only because there were some gaps in his ability to hear things going on around him even with his hearing aids there to help him along. He’d been entirely distracted by his phone and in the midst of sending a text to Charlotte to see if she wanted him to pick anything up at the market before he meandered on home to work or play video games until his eyes fell out— both of which sounded like equally good options. He’d just raised a hand to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose when he collided with someone and felt strong hands reach out to steady him; a flush spread quickly across the bridge of his nose and Max allowed his eyes to drop to meet the other man’s gaze, though all that succeeded in doing was deepening his flush as his brain was quick to note that the man he’d run into was entirely too attractive for Max not to take notice. Perhaps he had a thing for blondes. “N-No, you’re okay,” Max shook his head gently as he hurriedly shoved his phone into his back pocket so he could sign as he spoke, “It goes two ways, right? I think we’re in the same boat so it ain’t no thing.” He smiled softly, only noting the way his twang had deepened as he’d finished the sentence several moments later. “You’re okay, right? I know I’m not like, a muscle man or anything but I’m sure not small. I’d hate to have, like, hurt you or somethin’.”

Arek watched his reaction, watched the blush rise to the others cheeks about being bombarded by him, and then even deeper when he looked him over. Arek knew that he was attractive, and he would be lying if he said that he didn’t like the attention that it gave him. Attention was an attractive man was no exception. As he watched him more, he looked down to see his hands moving. Sign language. He had learned it for training, learned it just in case someone he was rescuing or dealing with at a scene were deaf or hard of hearing. “You’re okay,” he told him, shaking his head as he signed back to him. He would never say that he was fluent in the language, but he knew a good deal of it. Enough to have a casual conversation. “I’ve been hit harder than that. No harm, no foul.” He smiled slightly, licking his lips. “You’re alright, though? I am a bit of a muscle man,” he teased, his smile quirking upward as he smirked a little. He was definitely flirting with him, at least a little. 

[arekgriffiths]

londonxxcalling‌:

Gabriel felt someone collide with him and then hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling. When he felt steady enough, he looked up and saw a blond man. One with no shirt on who was covered in sweat. Gabriel was a happily married man, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate it when an attractive person crossed his path Smiling at the guy, he said “Don’t worry about it.” He was just glad he hadn’t been pushing Wes in the stroller, otherwise he probably would have fallen over it. “I admit to spending too much time looking at my phone while walking for someone my age.”

Arek nodded his head, taking a step back and putting space between the two of them. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back out of his face as he smiled back at the guy that he ran into. “I don’t think that it’s just you,” he laughed softly. “It’s a common thing nowadays. People staring at their phones rather than the world around them.” He placed his hands on his hips. “I’m guilty of it too.” 

[arekgriffiths]

sloanxpierce‌:

With the dawn of a new filming season dangerously close, Sloan had kicked her training into high gear. After spending the majority of the morning at her gym practicing some new maneuvers and working through her strength training program, the rest of the morning was dedicated to a lengthy bout of cardio. She was going at a fairly quick pace herself, music drowning out the world around her. In all honesty, she hadn’t seen the man running either until she felt his hands on her, keeping her from fully wiping out on the ground. Letting out a slow huff of surprise, she tugged her headphones from her ears, eyes a bit wide. “Fuck,” she exclaimed, chuckling softly, eyeing the man’s rather built body.. “No worries there, Hercules. I wasn’t really watching my step either.”

Arek couldn’t help the smirk that formed on his lips at her cursing, a complete contrast between the word and the woman’s small stature. It was cute, even hot, and he licked his lips as he eyed her while taking a step back. “Hercules?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is this a good time to tell you that happens to be my favorite Disney movie?” he teased. His sister loved it growing up, and forced him to watch it over and over. It grew on him. “You’re alright, yeah?” he asked, looking her over again. “You look... quite well.” 

[arekgriffiths]

arducus‌:

Even though Laura had been in the UK for a little over a week, she still hadn’t gotten the hang of her sleeping schedule. Jet leg still plagued her, and she often found herself wandering the quiet streets of the city early in the morning before she headed to work. Today was one of those days. It was still way too cold for her liking, so she wore a scarf and her thickest jacket, as well as some heavy boots. “It’s alright!” she laughed, glad to find herself inches from the ground instead of on it. “I didn’t pay much attention either.” 

Arek looked her over for a moment to make sure she was genuinely okay and not just saying that to make him feel better, but when he saw that she was wearing a heavy coat, he deemed her alright. “Are you not hot?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he placed his hands on his hips. He was in running shorts with no t-shirt and he was sweating. “That coat looks... sweltering.” 

[arekgriffiths]

arducus‌:

Upon actually noticing how cute the guy could be when he opened his mouth, she lightened up a little bit. “We need to change that then,” she told him with a cock of her head. “Tony, two shots–– you pick!” she called out before the bartender could even ask what kind she wanted, holding up two fingers. “My treat.” 

Arek smirked a little, nodding his head as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking the other over. She was attractive, certainly, and he didn’t have work in the morning. He could probably swing this if he didn’t fall asleep before then. “Do you always buy random strangers shots? I’d like to think I’m an anomaly.”

[arekgriffiths]

Arek ran at a steady pace, nothing too much, as he had just gotten off a long, overnight shift at the station and he didn’t want to overdo it. He had disciplined himself enough that he found it almost relieving to go on runs after a hard day at the station, and this day was no exception. He had had barely any breaks between calls, and the run was helping him to clear his mind. That was, until his mind became too clear, and he stopped watching where he was going. He didn’t see the person in his path until it was too late, and he grabbed onto them to make sure they didn’t fall to the ground as they collided. “Sorry,” he said, gruffly. “Didn’t see you. I’m usually a little more aware than that.” 

[arekgriffiths]

pvnctum‌:

“In the market for a rosary, per chance? A woman on the street was handing them out, and I was in too much of a rush to explain to her that I haven’t the slightest clue how to use one …” She glanced at the beaded necklace. “Supposedly it was doused in holy water at Rome and has the Pope’s BLESSING, but I’m a little dubious.”

Arek chuckled under his breath, shaking his head as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers. “I don’t think I’d have any more success than you would with them. Possibly even less,” he admitted. “They’ll tell anyone anything to get rid of merchandise these days.”