bones made of pure light.

Arthur Gustin, Twenty-Seven.Still alive and pretty happy these days, but no amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

[arthurgustin]

irisorchids·:

Esmeray pulled out a pair of shoes with the number eleven printed on the heel, handing them over to Arthur before chuckling at the mans comment “I had it blessed by fairies about four years ago.” She said in a teasing way but it was all in good fun. “No It’s just a regular ball but my father used to bowl in a league back in his glory days and this was his ball.” She tells him “Gave it to me as a gift once he retired.” She tells him. So in hindsight yes it was a special ball but more for the sentimental value rather than actually getting a leg up on the competition. “All of the balls are against that wall.” She tells Arthur pointing at the racks of organized balls that had been cleaned up after hours “Feel free to try out a few if you aren’t sure which weight you like best… first game can be a warm up.” She assures him. 

-

Arthur knows not to believe that it was blessed by fairies, he does, but the joke has him perking up a tad anyway. “Magic in its own way,” he decides a moment later after he hears the sentiment behind the bowling ball in question. Sentimental stuff is far more special than the silly, whimsical stuff by far. When directed, Arthur heads over to the wall of bowling balls available to him. He chooses a ball with exactly no consideration given to the weight, but rather a bright blue color instead - his favorite. He’ll make it work, he figures. He cradles the ball in his hands in front of his abdomen and turns back to face her. “You said this is your parents’ place, right?” he asks, eyes dancing around the room momentarily. “Have they had this place for a long time?” 

[arthurgustin]

heybillywatson·:

“We go to parties sometimes.” Billy not so often as some of his friends, though. A lot of his time is spent in the library, or at home. He’s definitely not the biggest party-goer of the bunch, that’s for sure. Some of them even tease him for taking his studies so seriously. “I brought Josh to one of the parties the other day, actually. It was so much fun. So I do get a break sometimes.” Probably not as often as Arthur would like him to take a break though.

-

“Oh, you did?” Arthur’s glad to hear that Billy does, in fact, take time to do fun things, but he’s even more pleased that he’s taking Josh along with him. “I’m glad. He needs some more friends up here, too,” Arthur replies. “Did you guys have a good time? How was the party?” 

[arthurgustin]

fashionistamaisyackerman​:

LOCATION: Central Park WHO: Open

The pencil between her teeth shifted as she erased something in her journal. An idea had struck her in the middle of her walk through the park and she absolutely had to jot it down before she forgot. Ohh – and she just got a new piece from the thrift shop down the street that would work wonderfully with the dress pattern she had in mind. 

Maisy replaced the pencil with her pink eraser, eyes burrowing in concentration. The woman didn’t bother looking were she was going as she drew and next thing she knew her journal was on the ground and she was steadying herself on the person in front of her.       “Oh my goodness, I am - I am so sorry. Are you okay?”

-

“Sorry.” This -running straight into someone on the street because he’s looking down at his phone- has happened to Arthur enough times now that he’s learned it’s best just to blurt that out from the get-go. Most of the times he gets a snarky comment in return, but this time, he’s almost relieved to hear an amiable voice on the other side of it. Arthur stumbles a little from the impact, but his attention is focused exclusively on the journal as it tumbles to the ground, still wet in some places from the city’s most recent snow. “Your notebook!” he exclaims, rushing to pick it up and get it away from away from the nearby puddles. “Did it get wet?” he asks, holding it up between them to examine it, “is it okay? I’m so sorry.” 

[arthurgustin]

stella-lunden·:

☆✮☆

“Thank you,” her voice is small but she’s nodding, agreeing that she’ll do better next time something important needs to be said. “Yeah I’ll do it like this. And of course I’ll pay for them. That was my plan anyway.” She was going to pay for them even if Arthur *had* brought his wallet. “Okay, what is it really?” 

-

“Nice, thank you,” he says, and he finally kicks back into motion to reach for the door to the diner. He olds it open for her, then follows in behind her and leads her over to the bar. It’s his favorite place to sit, so he can how everything’s made. “Are you happy?” he asks once they’re settled. “With how your life is and who’s in it? Is it all how you want it to be?”

[arthurgustin]

josh-cole​:

Josh’s first thought when trying to find the link between a cow and whoever ‘she’ is, is the connection between udders and the female anatomy, and he slaps both hands over his mouth when he thinks for a second he’d said it out loud. Wait, didn’t they order food already? No, no, he got distracted. “Pizza,” he repeats, tapping away at his phone. “I’ll get three… and sides.”

He chuckles again as Arthur goes on, only escaping more hysterics because he’s half distracted by his phone. “Did you know that GOAT means greatest of all time? Kev said you’re the GOAT last week. I’ll tell ‘im to make up a new… Abrev– Contraction? Acronym?” Josh is adding ice cream and cookies to their order when he adds, “Although you are the greatest of all time.”

“You look like you just had a really good idea,” Arthur says when Josh covers his mouth, but then his eyes are widening and he’s shaking his head to backtrack. “No, you look like you just read my mind. Did you? Because I was thinking four pizzas but then I thought it was too many and that three would be better.” He takes a deep breath, points at him and says, “and then you said three,” as if the words hadn’t come out of his mouth two whole seconds ago.

Arthur shifts in his chair, lifts his legs enough to prop them up on the empty chair beside him now. “Kevin thinks I’m great?” he repeats quietly, lips tugging into a soft smile. “You think I’m great? Aw.” There’s a pause then, before he concludes, “that kind of goat can be okay. I’ll allow it.”

[arthurgustin]

tcmmykane·:

𝕥𝕜~

Tommy has the idea that Arthur hasexperienced several inexplicable events that have led him to hishardheaded supernatural beliefs. It’ll be fun to toy around with him even if Tommy’sunable to convince him of logical, scientific reasoning behind whatever theymay [or may not] encounter. “I don’t think you’re stubborn at all. You’re opento hearing me shit talk, so, that makes you a lot less bullheaded than youmight think.” He says, offering Arthur a wink. “As if I’d take you out hurting peoplewith me. What do you think this is? A one-man purge and you’re my protégé?” Helaughs, shaking his head. “Ah, shit, yeah, reminds me of that show… whatchacall it?” He snaps his fingers a few times before it comes to him, “Taxi cab confessions!You ever see that shit?” He thinks over the offer to go with Arthur, decidingit’s not a bad idea. “Text me next time you know when you’re gonna do it, we’llsee if our schedules match up. I’d love to go with ya.”

-

“You think so? Nice, thanks,” Arthur says with a smile, shoulders straightening a bit with a tinge of pride. He appreciates the compliment, but truthfully it’s the wink that really gets him. He waves him off with a wave of his hand as he takes another sip of his beer. “I’ve already got my plan for the purge so that wouldn’t work anyway,” he tells him, “but I feel reassured knowing we won’t be out murdering anyone. Count me in for whatever else you’ve got up your sleeve.” No harm, no foul; Arthur can be open to just about anything. “Yes, it’s exactly like that,” Arthur tells him about the Uber driving, adding, “people are sharing stories and secrets all over the place. It’s a little wild how what information people will trust me with, honestly.” Drunken declarations of love, childhood traumas, deep dark secrets - you name it, someone’s spilled the beans in the backseat of his car. “Nice. I’ll let you know, I promise,” Arthur confirms with a nod. Motioning to the last token remaining in his little plastic cup then, Arthur asks, “you wanna play the last round? All yours if you want it, but I don’t wanna keep you here if you’re, like, at risk of getting in trouble for hanging out with me.”

[arthurgustin]

cassiebennett·:

Cassie easily falls into step beside Arthur, like a dance that the two of them have been over so many times before. Her brain rushes, attempting to keep up with all of the mans questions that he is throwing in her direction at once “No no nothing like that.” She assures him “I’m just taking a few days off, been working a little much recently.” She admits. “However I’m used to being up late because of work so I find it hard to settle down any earlier than four or five.” She admits to him. Leaving out the dreams she tend to have if she attempts to fall asleep any earlier than when her eyelids simply refuse to stay open. 

-

“Oh.” It’s all he says for a moment as he processes this, all the while scanning the street for the sign for the bakery. When he’s this tired, it’s hard to do both at the same time. “If you’re not working and you’re still staying up that late, what do you do with all that extra time?” he asks after a moment. Arthur comes to a stop when they reach the next intersection so he can look down the side streets for an hint of the shop. When he can’t find it, he looks over to Cassie again. “Working a little much?” he repeats, hoping for her to elaborate. He’s having trouble deciding if he should be worried yet.

[arthurgustin]

jeremiahlodge·:

𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔬𝔶~

“Really?” Jer asks, clearly quiteconfused as he holds the bill in his hand and looks at the man then back atwhere he watched it drop. “I saw it fall?” He suggests, as if that will somehowchange the narrative and make the guy realize it really was his. “Oh, no,I could never take it… it’s not mine.” He frowns, thinking about turning itinto the police and how that will likely not end up in anything fruitful.Suddenly, he gets an idea and turns back to look at the employees at the food cart.They’re looking around for something, it seems, and Jer smiles. “I think it’stheirs.” He says, walking back over to hand it to them, getting the story thatsomeone had paid with the 100 and they were in the process of finding thechange. He’s rewarded with a free churro, which he brings back to the stranger.“You want half? Since you were honest and helped me solve the mystery?”

-

“Really,” Arthur confirms with a nod, explaining, “‘cause I’d always lose it or spend it on stuff I shouldn’t have.” Ironic now given the situation, he thinks. Arthur’s just about to compliment this guy’s integrity when he turns and is off again, headed back towards the food cart. He watches as the guy sorts out what happened, watches as he earns the churro and comes back to where Arthur’s standing now. There’s a smile on his face when he offers him the churro. He shakes his head. “No, but thank you. You for sure earned that,” he says. Arthur did nothing; being honest should be standard, he thinks, whereas this guy put in the effort to make sure the money got back to the right person. “You’re a really good human,” he tells him, tone ringing with admiration. “You’re, like, the kind of person someone is lucky to know, I can tell.”

[arthurgustin]

mrconnorandrews·:

Connor was pleased to see that the other man was appropriately upset about the ridiculously low number and he nodded quickly, “It’s awful. It’s like … right at a quarter of them, I think? But it’s still no where near enough. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what to do. I mean, I guess we can probably contact whatever government office handles the subway stuff? And politicians, as useless as that avenue probably is. I’m trying to figure out if there’s any kind of campaign in the works already to change it though.”

He laughed a little at the other man’s words, “I appreciate the offer, I’m sure we can both figure out a cab or an uber or something tonight though.” he agreed, “I’d say I don’t usually drink this much either, but it’s not exactly true. My sister gets all upset about it, but it’s fun. And I almost never get drunk enough to do something I wouldn’t probably do sober.” he said with a small shrug. Not that that really took a lot off the table. Impulse control was not exactly Connor’s stron suit.

-

Arthur’s nodding fervently as the man speaks, in wholehearted agreement that it’s nowhere near accessible enough. “Yeah, the transit authority could probably tell you if there are any plans already in the works,” he muses, “and if there aren’t, they may be a good place to start.” Politicians, in theory, could be a better route to take, but getting to them is hard. “M’gonna ask around and see if I know anyone who knows a politician. I don’t know one but I bet I know someone who does.” A couple friends come to mind, actually. 

As the man speaks, Arthur takes another sip from his glass, resigned to the fact that he’ll be getting a ride home somehow. “Does your sister get mad when you do things sober, too?” he asks, because it sounds like those activities are one in the same for Connor. “What do you like to do for fun?”

[arthurgustin]

heybillywatson·:

“Yeah, you should meet them,” Billy agrees enthusiastically. “They’re all really nice and super smart. I think you’d like them.” He’s proud of the small group of friends he’s managed to make this far. It hasn’t always been easy for him to make friends, so he’s happy that he’s got some people that willingly spend time with him, and who enjoy his company. “Parties, always. Well, some of them. Some defy the stereotype and don’t go partying that much. But I can suggest a book club at least.”

-

“Nice, thanks. I’m sure I’ll love them,” he responds, and he’s confident about it. He’ll make a book club or a party or a movie night or whatever work if it means that they’ll get some downtime. “Do you go to parties with them?” is his next question, asked in between sips from his mug of champagne. “Because surely you’re not spending your entire day in class or studying, right?” 

[arthurgustin]

irisorchids·:

“Really the only reason we make you rent a pair of shoes is that the dirt from your shoes, that you wear outside, can cause the lanes to be less slippery and require more clean up on Tommy’s part.” She chuckles gently. She’s already pulling a pair of shoes out from their slot for herself when he asks this question. “What size are you?” She asks him. She’s not against wearing regular shoes, she has done it a time or two herself but they had just waxed the lanes a day or two ago and she isn’t quite interested in falling on her ass in front of a stranger while they had a friendly wager in the works. She was pretty confident that she would win and if Arthur thought that she was going to take it easy on him he had another thing coming, Esmeray was competitive by nature. It wasn’t often that she let anyone under the age of ten easily beat her, unless she had plans of hustling them. 

-

“Oooh, that makes sense,” Arthur replies in a mumble, eyes dropping down to look at his old, beat up, and very dirty converse. He’ll make an extra effort not to even go near the clean lanes with these on, lest he make more work for Tommy. “Eleven, please,” he answers her when he finally pulls his gaze from his shoes. He shuffles over to where she is behind the counter to look as inconspicuously as he can at her personal bowling ball. “Is there something special about this one?” he asks after a moment, pointing to the ball in question. “Like it’s not magic right? Well, not magic, but does it have something.. is it gonna be cheating if you use it? That’s what I’m trying to ask.” He's mostly kidding, so he follows it up with a quiet laugh, just to make sure she knows.

[arthurgustin]

legatumhominis·:

“I suppose so. It was the only other time I felt like I could breathe.” Shrugging, his palms smooth along the railing and he lets out a terse sigh. Talking about his childhood was always…difficult. Archie used to say it was because of repressed trauma and he’d laugh at that. Him? Traumatized? It seemed like a joke played on someone else. His father hated it, how good he was at running away. Arthur’s question draws a laugh from him though and Matthew’s expression softens.

“The ocean. Always the ocean.”

Somehow staring down the roaring waves and letting the sound drown out the world calmed him down. It awed him. Even now, he’s only got eyes for the sea, skimming the harbor choked with boats and preparations for the celebrations tonight. The ocean always seemed to be where he found the answers to questions that suffocated him.

“It gets crowded by the beach, but never here…too loud, too smokey, people don’t like when all they can do is look up.” Matthew’s expression falters when Arthur asks about Archie and a soft hum slips free. Shaking his head, he still holds out the ear buds.

“I told him he could apologize to my friend, to me, or he could live with what he decided.” Blue eyes drop from Arthur’s face and his expression is pinched. “I told him I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet and…I don’t know. It’s why I’m here and he’s not.”

-

It was the only time I felt like I could breathe. That pulls a frown from him, a familiar twinge of sadness settling into his chest. He’s torn between asking him about it or leaving it be, but before he has a chance to decide Matthew’s expression softens and it seems like perhaps he’s moved on from the thought. 

“I get that,” Arthur hums, reflects back to when he was a teen. “I had the desert where I grew up and that was good in a pinch, but the one time I was really done with it all I headed for California,” he shares, looking at him briefly before turning his gaze back to the water. “There’s just somethin’ about the water.” Matthew understands that too, clearly. 

He’s a little surprised that he and Archie haven’t made up yet, but he thinks he understands why Matthew is reluctant. “I see,” he replies, nodding as he finally reaches for the ear plugs, mumbling a quiet ‘thank you’ as he takes them. “I hope you don’t feel pressured to forgive him,” he says. “Did he apologize?” 

[arthurgustin]

clairexliu·:

𝒸𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓊

“Oh, it was very gooey.And painful, but I think it’ll be worth it. Having wings is better than being agrub scooting along, right?” She asks, arching a brow. Claire’s as likely as Arthur,it seems, to continue on with an analogy. Especially if it’s a good one. “Didyou know that scientists have discovered that butterflies remember beingcaterpillars?” Interesting, she thinks.

“I haven’t had a chance to getinto the courtroom yet, first day and all, but I think it should be veryexciting. The firm wanted me because of my experience working for the otherside. They think it’ll be advantageous. All I can say is, I hope they wereright.” She laughs lightly again, taking another sip from her flute. “It’s definitelyan upgrade.” She frowns a little at the question, just the most minute downturning of the corners of her lips. “That remains to be seen. I didn’t dissolvethe relationship.”

-

“Absolutely,” Arthur agrees without even the slightest hesitation. “So much better. More functional, much prettier, memorable. Transitions are hard but being a butterfly now is for sure worth it.” He takes another sip from his flute, eyebrows raising in surprise mid-sip at that tidbit of information. “I did not know that but that’s fascinating. I wonder how they determined that.” He’ll remember to look it up later, he’s sure. 

Arthur echoes her laugh with one of his own, reassures her, “I’m sure you’ll be great. I’ll look for your name in the news when you win your first big case.” His laugh is cut a short with a little scrunch of his nose. “Still fresh, huh? I'm sorry,” he replies with a bit of a grimace, because it’s clear he struck a nerve. “You know what, though? They’re missing out on your beautiful butterfly transformation. Their loss.”

[arthurgustin]

itsamandascott·:

location: anywhere on the streets of new york

“Hey!” Amanda called out, running to catch up someone down the sidewalk on the streets. She’d been chasing them through the crowd for nearly a block from when they saw the wallet drop from their pocket (or purse respectively) and was out of breath by the time she finally got their attention. 

Smiling, she held out the wallet with one hand as the other rested on the leg warmers she was wearing. “You dropped this back there. I thought I wasn’t going to catch up to you, I’ve been calling out for you for almost a whole block, but I guess you didn’t pay too much attention cause well, I could have been calling for anyone right? Anyway, here ya go.”

-

With his headphones jammed in his ears and Google Maps relaying directions to him on top of his music, Arthur is oblivious to the woman calling out to him. It’s much easier to listen to directions than to watch for them on his phone when the foot traffic is so heavy, so it’s not until she’s just caught up to him and is by his side that he finally stops.

“Sorry?” Arthur doesn’t even see the wallet at first, only glances down when he hears her reference it. “Oh, I didn’t even realize I dropped it,” he says as he takes it back from her. Briefly he opens it to make sure it’s actually his, but he’s pocketing it a second later. “Thank you so much. How can I repay you?” 

[arthurgustin]

cecebateman·:

“Yes!” Cece was already bubbling with excitement from the day’s events, but possibly having a new hire and a new friend? What more could she ask for? Arthur’s concern was waved off quickly by a nonchalant shake of her head. “Oh no, you’ll be fine, I promise. More or less they just want to be sure you aren’t wanted for murder or anything,” she mused. “That’s not a big deal at all. I mean, we’re lawyers. We see that all of the time.” Although Cece was unaware of the details, she figured Arthur wouldn’t carry on if he thought it anything crucial to the position.

The smile lingering upon her features grew exponentially. Not only because the comment was sincerely kind, but she was relieved to know she hadn’t bothered him. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you. I think you’re pretty awesome yourself.” Cece’s instincts felt as if this was the blossoming of a beautiful friendship. One she could definitely use in her life. “Perfect then. And well, I appreciate you thinking I’m neither of those, but I still wouldn’t care if you said it. It would be kind of funny, actually.” She laughed, nodding enthusiastically at the assumption. “Oh, absolutely I do! I mean, so long as you’re comfortable sharing, of course.”

-

There’s an audible sigh of relief when she dismisses his concern about the background check. “Okay, perfect. I can assure you I am not a murderer,” Arthur promises, and with a quiet chuckle he adds, “I don’t even think I could be. I won’t even step on ants on the sidewalk.” And as long as his civil case wasn’t a disqualifier, he was totally on board. Looking down at the business card she’d given him a few moments ago, he taps it with his finger. “I’ll send you an email so I can get that application and I’ll get it back to you ASAP,” he tells her.

Arthur’s grinning at that. “Okay, ‘old maid’ it is then,” he replies with a playful shrug. Maybe calling her that instead of ‘new lawyer friend’ will make it less awkward if Cece and Spencer were ever to meet, too; Spencer’d be none the wiser that she’s the one he’s talked to about marrying him, and there’s something appealing about that. He nods, smiles.“Yeah, I’ll definitely let you know how it goes. And if we ever get married, you’ll be on the invite list.” 

[arthurgustin]

peter-donnelly·:

Even in a city as big as New York it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you run into somebody you know, and even less so at Christmastime while out shopping for things. Even so, Peter is caught off-guard when he hears a familiar voice say his name, and soon he’s turning to come face to face with Arthur as a smile spreads across his features.

“Hello Arthur!” It was nice to run into him, and Peter laughs at his opening joke. “Actually I came to ask Santa for tips on how he maintains his beard,” he chuckles again and gives his own facial hair a quick rub before breaking into an even wider grin. “And not quite a mall walker yet but I’ll be honest, that day is probably coming sooner than I’d like it to. How about you? What brings you out here tonight? Getting some last minute gifts out of the way?”

-

“Oh, that’s a great idea actually,” Arthur replies, eyebrows raised as he turns his gaze to mall Santa, who does have quite the white beard going. “If you learn anything he useful, you’ll have to let me know.” He pulls his attention away from the mall Santa then and instead lifts up his large shopping bag by way of explanation. “Yeah, picking up a few things still. The electronics store on the first floor has a really good deal on VR headsets right now,” he explains, nodding down to the device in his bag. “What about you? Who are you shopping for? I can point you to the good sales.” 

[arthurgustin]

spencerquinnofficial·:

✑ 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧;

    “For my mom,” Spencer repeats back sternly, the claim sounding final as he gives the man a look that dares Arthur to challenge him. A couple seconds pass though and soon his face softens enough for a smile to creep over it. He’s been caught. “Sure, I’ll take a bunch,” he mutters as he sets the timer up for five seconds. “Ready?” Spencer calls before hitting the button and hurrying back to slide an arm around Arthur’s waist.

After pausing a moment to smile, Spencer revisits their previous conversation as he heads back towards his phone. “Can I make this thing take a bunch of pictures at once?” Spencer asks as he fiddles with the device. “Hey, maybe we should do an escape room,” he suggests, throwing an amused look over his shoulder. “As practice for being stuck in a confined space and all.”

-

Arthur returns Spencer’s look with one of his own, eyebrows raised and fighting a smile just until the man breaks into one himself, and then he’s grinning ear-to-ear, too, as the man rushes over to join him for the picture. He’s got just enough time to wrap his arm around the man’s lower back and turn his attention to the phone before the shutter sound goes off. “Make sure you send that one to your mom,” he teases as Spencer heads back to the windowsill to mess with the phone again.

The man’s next suggestion surprises him a little, but he doesn’t need convincing to agree. "You’re volunteering to be locked in a room with me for an hour to do puzzles?” he asks facetiously, but in the same breath adds, “yes, please. Sign me up.” He’s sure he can find an escape room or two around this area to choose from. “You can record a video,” he suggests then, “and we can take screenshots from it.”