James was growing a bit agitated by how many people had brought their kids to the rink today; he’d wanted to get in some conditioning training before the next hockey practice, but he couldn’t very well work on lateral hops in the sea of children. And he could absolutely forget about doing shuttle sprints, although the idea of showering children with ice as he skidded was tempting. Murph glanced around the rink, squinting a bit to see if anyone from his team had shown up, and seeing as they hadn’t, made a mental note to shoot them a text as a warning that the ice was far from empty. He skated towards a gate, easily gliding around a parent that was using one of those penguin shaped aids that were mostly used by children. It was there that he spotted Ian, a figure skater that Jamie had constantly tried (and failed) to befriend. Stomping the ice from his skates, Murphy nodded at him.
“Pointless trying to skate in all this,” he muttered, thinking that while they may be on feuding teams, that Ian could appreciate that. Although James did wonder if he’d try and wade in to get some practice in himself. “Is there some event going on that I’m not aware of? Or is it just a normal Wednesday afternoon sort of thing?” he asked, sitting to unlace his boots. James glanced up, hoping that Ian wouldn’t move on from rejecting his attempts at being friends, to full on ignoring him now.
If you saw Kyle walking down the street right now, most wouldn’t recognize her. She had traded in her jeans for a pair of tapered trousers. Her plain white tee shirt was swapped out for a nice blouse, and her army jacket was nowhere in sight, instead she wore a well fitting blazer. And her shoes? They had a heel on them. Hair straightened and a nice sprinkling of makeup on her usually bare face, it was like she was a new person. In all actuality Kyle had been out running big girl errands for the day. She had stopped off at the bank earlier in the day to open a new account, one that wasn’t connected to her parents, and after that had stopped off at a relators office to discuss apartments. Her parents hadn’t been joking about pressuring her to move out, they had given her a date and everything.
The second she had left the realtors office, the brunette had pulled her hair back into a low ponytale to at least get it out of her face, but that didn’t do much to help. She felt weird right now, in this get up, and wanted to get back to her house asap and change. Turning a corner and seeing her parked car in sight, the girl was thrown when someone sent a greeting her way. She was so honed in on getting to her car she kind of forgot she was in public, on a busy street. Turning to the guy who had spoken to her, Kyle couldn’t help the small laugh that left her lips when she saw the chocolate covering his teeth and lips. “Hey. Uh, want a tissue. You kinda- you got chocolate all over your mouth dude.”
Jamie gave a goofy grin, wiping the corners of his mouth with his thumb and forefinger, before sucking the chocolate from his teeth. “I’m alright,” he chuckled, hopping down from the wall and pushing the other half of his candy bar into his pocket, and then shoved his hands into his back pockets. After a moment, he frowned at her, trying to place her. “Hey, I know you from somewhere, don’t I?” He asked, and then his eyes went a bit round. “Oh wait,” he stuttered, giving a small chuckle. “Hey, you’re Kyle McIntyre!” He stated, wagging a finger at her as he stated it, and then quickly pulled the finger away with another nervous laugh.
“But you knew that,” he commented. Hell, James had seen her many times shredding up the mountain; his friend Beatty had pointed her out one day near the Lodge. “Everyone knows that,” he added, with another little laugh. Jamie raked a hand through his dirty blond locks, suddenly feeling a bit strange. He’d never really considered himself to get antsy around famous people, and yet here he was, babbling like a moron. “I’m James,” he stated suddenly, holding out his hand like a dolt.
“Oh cool,” She smiled, not really aware of the rivalry between the two teams, or at least didn’t know beyond the statement of a couple girls she skated with. “My brother plays hockey.” She told him, for no reason other than if there was any animosity then she was bordering both sides of whatever was going on. It was practically in her blood. Her brother wasn’t local, he’d not come to Kingscrest with them, but she thought it counted anyway.
“Sacha, nice to meet you.” Sach smiled kindly. This place had been so welcoming so far, and she appreciated it greatly. They were both tourist towns, except hers was for skiing, and she supposed it was different because she was a local before but people didn’t reach out like this to her back home. Perhaps she should have been the one chatting it up to visitors. “So what’s there to do around here? Other than skate.”
James beamed at her name, giving a little nod as he put it to his memory. "Oh, there’s loads to do. More touristy things to do in West Vale to be honest, but here there’s the cinema down that road,” he commented, pointing to the road across the street. “Deja Brew has the best coffee in the world, and that’s just this way. But you’re not to tell any of the tourists about it, otherwise it won’t be a secret known only to East Valians,” he added seriously. Well, mock seriously; it was a small town. “Where’re you headed? Need a guide?” He asked with a hopeful smirk.
It wasn’t often that a gorgeous blonde stranger happened across his path and was talking to him. Maybe if they got to know each other a little better he could bunk off the first couple hours of work and hang out with her this afternoon. He was sure it wouldn’t be too busy, and he was on sweep duty anyway. People wouldn’t notice if a few pieces of popcorn were left for a couple hours. He hoped she’d say yes, but in reality, he was just a stranger, (literally off the street), and her first impression of him was probably somewhere along the lines of ‘silly, sloppy stranger’. However, if he could change it to ‘charming, silly, sloppy stranger’, maybe they’d get somewhere. “I’m much cheaper than the tour guides offered in West Vale,” he added with a saccharine grin.
Sach watched with raised brows as he went to clean himself off, and ended up giggling when he just smeared it across his cheeks. She shook her head no with a smirk, he most certainly had not gotten it. She was about to say something properly, but he got to it first. “There you go.”
It was strange how many people were starting to recognise her, but she kind of liked it. It made her feel more at home here, and like the rink held a proper community with a space for her to take. “Yeah, I’m on the skate team.” She looked him up and down, wondering whether she’d seen him before but there were so many new names and faces that she couldn’t place him. “Are you a skater too?”
James beamed as she let out a cute laugh, glad to have been the one to have caused it. “Oh, nice,” he commented. He should’ve known that if she looked like a ballerina and he thought she looked familiar from the rink, she must be a skater. “Eh, I’m on the Kingscrest Knights. So that’s probably where I’ve seen you,” he commented. He pocketed his wrapper and hopped down from the wall in front of her.
“Name’s James,” he rhymed with a crooked grin. “What’s yours?” Jim asked, straightening out his wrinkled shirt a bit. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to his being on the team, as there was a bit of animosity between the two teams that James didn’t quite understand. She didn’t seem the type, but then again, he’d only known her for twenty seconds.
Although her roommate was constantly nagging her to eat better, it only drove Karley to bring chips and junk home more out of pure spite. If she was going to die then she would die doing what she loved and, quite frankly, that was scooping french onion dip up with some Lays chips. So, Karley took a trip to the bodega to bring a bag, of what was bound to be another push to Ian’s buttons, home.
While weighing the pros and cons of cookie and cream vs chocolate crisp rice, Karley noticed the snowboarder and hockey player placing the kitkat back like a sad poverty stricken child in some Christmas movie. It took her 5 seconds to make a decision, 5 seconds to go up to the register after him, maybe half a minute of flirting with the cashier, and 3 seconds to pocket the left behind kitkat while the guy was distracted. Some could call it stealing, but Karley waved it off as generous acts in a time of recession.
The girl followed James until she found him sitting on the brick wall and people watching the people that probably could have afforded to get both the candies, unlike them.
“Happy National Egg day, kid.” she said, tossing the candy bar up to him and ignoring the fact that James was 2 years her elder. “Kitkats don’t have eggs, but whatever. It’s a holiday. Celebrate.”
Karley stuck the toe of her shoe in a divot in the wall and managed to hoist herself up after some grunting. “You know, you kind of look like Linus sitting up here. Ya know, from The Peanuts.” she stated, unwrapping her own candy and taking a bite. Mouth still full, she nodded her head and pointed at the kitkat she had gifted him. “If that shit tastes better than a regular chocolate bar that’s because I didn’t pay for it. Everything tastes 50% better stolen. You ever shove a small rotisserie chicken in your bra? It’s like fine dining in France.”
After a beat (and another bite of her Crunch bar), Karley cut to the chase with her intentions. “Heard a rumor that the skates took your ice again.” she started, pulling a voice recorder out from her pocket. “You got a comment about it, Mr. Murphy?”
James raised his brows as the candy bar was chucked up to him, and just barely caught it in his free hand. Part of him wanted to offer her a hand up, but he was far too amused watching her clamor up beside him, and also a bit thrown off by the candy gesture. She must have seen him trying to pick one; while it was a sweet thought, he felt a little embarrassed that she felt the need to do that, almost as if she was pitying him. Embarrassed, of course, until she mentioned that she had lifted it, which caused him to grin.
“Cheers,” he started, but before he could respond to anything else, she pulled a recorder on him and he tossed his head back slightly with a single chuckle. “Oh right, the Bard,” he commented, and then shrugged his shoulders. “I have no comment on that, but I will admit to one thing,” James said, leaning in towards the recorder, eyes darting from it back up to meet Karley’s eyes. “I have never shoved a small rotisserie chicken in my bra,” he stated deadpan, before sitting back up with a grin, taking another bite of his snickers bar.
On a spur of the moment thing, Sacha had offered to go to the grocery store for her mother. Partly she just wanted to get to get out of the house and partly she felt the need to stretch her legs, they ached from her morning gym session, that kind of wobbly but really nice ache where you knew you’d really pushed and done something that was new to your body. She didn’t have a session at the rink today, there were kids lessons that afternoon so she was free sailing until the following day.
As she walked she fiddled with the zipper on her over the shoulder handbag, wind blowing against her and sending her hair behind her. She passed a kind of shifty looking shop and was glad that she could shop at Ackerman Groceries, it seemed cleaner and safer and when it came to her grocery stores, she’d always been a bit of a snob. A man grabbed her attention with a smile as she passed by, and she paused at his question, but not to answer it. “I’m sorry, you’ve got a little something…” Little something was a kind way to put it, but Sacha was one to beat around the bush in almost every situation. “Just here.” She pointed to where the chocolate stained his face, but mirrored on her own.
James sucked his teeth, knowing full well that they had chocolate between each one, and raised his hand to where she was motioning. “What, here? Oh, that’s embarrassing,” he stated, and dragged the back of his hand away from his lips, pulling the chocolate clear across his cheek, leaving a little streak. He knew what he’d done, but he looked at her and raised his brows. “Did I get it?” he asked, playing at oblivious, before cracking a grin. The boy pulled the sleeve of his checked shirt down over his hand and wiped away the mess after that.
“You look familiar,” he commented, nodding his chin towards her. “You ever around the rink?” he asked, knowing she wasn’t on the hockey team, but having a suspicion that he’d seen her there before.
James stood in La Bodega with a snickers in one hand and a kitkat bar in the other, trying to decide what he wanted to spend his last two dollars until tomorrow on. The thirty dollars he had left in his jacket pocket had mysteriously disappeared in the night, and while he was almost certain his dad had nicked it, he was not in the mood to start an argument with Rod while he was drunk. The fact that it was four in the afternoon stood as an indicator that his father was already well into whatever he’d used his son’s money on, and it just wasn’t worth the headache. Murphy set the kitkat down and moved to the cashier to check out, sighing as he smoothed out the two crumpled dollar bills before setting them on the counter. Tomorrow he’d leave the money in his account after direct deposit, instead of risking it going missing as cash at home.
The blond’s pocket jingled with the few coins he received in change as he walked out of the bodega, and started down the street. He had a couple of hours to kill before he had to go into work, and he decided that a little people watching would be easier than stopping home to pick up his gear for the rink. James plopped down atop a stout brick wall and kicked his heels against the stone as he ate his candy bar, eyes scanning the passersby. “How’s it going?” He nodded towards someone that looked at him, giving a chocolate coated grin.
• James Murphy • Rudy Pankow • 22 • Kingscrest Knight • works at Buck’s Cinema • heterosexual/heteromantic • Birthday: August 10 •
tw: parental death, alcohol abuse, abuse
Then:
Until he was thirteen, the most James ever heard from his father was the occasional post card, and his yearly Christmas visits. Jim grew up near Newry in Ireland, in County Armagh with his mum. He understood that his father had to travel a lot for work, as he was an American soldier, but in the still moments that he was alone, James couldn’t help feel the abandonment. He threw himself into sports to avoid the silence; any time of day he could be found playing footie with his friends, sparring with sticks as swords, or playing rugby on the school pitch. But at thirteen, his mum fell sick, and the two of them moved to Kauai where his father was stationed. There was a whole other sense of loss at that, leaving behind his home and friends, and James took up surfing. He became a regular beach bum, and spent most of his days by the shore. He lived and would die for his friends, which often got him in trouble at home, and with local authority.
One night, while at a party, James got the phone call that his mom had gone into the hospital. By the time he found a friend that was sober enough to drive him there, it was too late. He arrived at the waiting room to find his father crumpled forward in a chair. James was seventeen at the time. He and his dad brought Brigid’s ashes back to Ireland so she could be buried in the family plot, and while he was there, James decided that he wanted to stay. He told his father after the wake, but Rodney wouldn’t have it. It was during this argument that his father informed him that he’d been stationed in Colorado, and that he’d have to start all over again. Determined to stay with his aunt in Armagh, Jamie packed his rucksack with the few outfits he had brought, and headed out to leave. This was the first time his dad struck him, and would be far from the last.
When he first arrived in Kingscrest, James was determined to hate it. He kept mostly to himself, rejecting any attempts at friendship from his peers. He wasn’t planning on being there long anyway, why get close to anyone?; he’d leave in a year and never look back.
It wasn’t until his gym teacher heard of his surfing past, and encouraged James to take up snowboarding that changed things. When Murphy fell in love with that, and revealed that he actually quite missed sports in general, his gym teacher suggested he try out for one of the school teams. After forming friendships with his teammates, and found an outlet for his pent up anger and angst, the grand ideas of leaving town after he turned eighteen all but melted away.
Now:
James still lives at home despite his father’s explosive temper. Ever since his dad retired, every night that Jamie is at home tends to end up in a fist fight with a drunken version of his father. Generally, instead of being home while his dad is conscious, James spends most of his time in the town and with friends. He doesn’t really understand the whole rivalry between the Knights and the Swans, other than the mild annoyance they can cause when his team wants to use the rink, and is usually good natured around them, other than the occasional teasing.
Headcanons:
his accent gets heavier when he’s flirting with a girl he fancies
does long stand up comedy from memory
won’t really fight for himself, but if anyone messes with his friends, he’s the first one to throw a punch
likes to sit around in West Vale and speculate to himself about the tourists walking by
wants very badly to move out of his house, but worries his dad will drink himself to death if he does
will do anything anyone says if they dare him to
never makes his bed/room is a mess of clothes, sports equipment, and comics
terrible at math, and always, always uses a calculator when checking people out at the cinema
doesn’t talk about home life, or about how his mother died. very reserved in that sense; doesn’t open up about anything too much
pushes feelings down and deflects, often throwing himself into snowboarding or hockey practice to block out thoughts
jumps before looking type
thinks he’s an amazing cook, but basically only knows how to make pasta and grill burger
can drink anyone under the table (he told me to add that but idk if that’s true or if he’s just trying to show off)
more to come...
Personality:
+ kind, dedicated, humorous, creative
- careless, hot tempered, self deprecating
ooc:
hi! i’m mary and i don’t know what i’m doing 92% of the time!!
‘fun’ facts:
i have a lot of family in ireland and basically put that into james’ character bc i miss them and want to go back nearly every day
i have a mustachioed cat that i probably could not live without
tumblr roleplaying is where i met my very best friend in the world and will fight anyone that says online friendships aren’t real
all of my characters share my birthday which is super cool of them bc i have a terrible memory
i know next to nil about hockey but tg for google, right?
peter pan is my favorite story although he is not my favorite character (is he really anyone’s?)
i’m a christian and i gotta tell ya: canon jesus is better than fanon jesus
i love hiking, disney movie maratons, wine, drawing, and hoodies
i nanny for a family with six kids, so i can be a bit scatterbrained pls don’t hate me for it
i almost added three separate bullet points: one for movies, one for shows, and one for musical artists that i like but this is all extra enough
