fingers crossed

barrett "barrel" pierceson. 19. usa. volatile constructs. culinary arts major, law minor. bisexual boy. sweet tooth. lock and shock are more than family. that's all you need to know, really.

[bryantforrester]

Damn it. Bryant shook his head quickly. “no, no, no. You didn’t…you didn’t do anything, I promise. I’m just…I’m fine. I’m okay. Just, uh…thought of someone.” His voice cracked, and he furiously scrubbed at his eyes with his sleeves. He looked down at Barrel’s concerned face and tried to give the younger boy a reassuring smile. “I’m a sad old man. You’re, like, three years younger than me.” He frowned in thought. Oh, man. I am old. That also means I gotta keep my gay under wraps. I can’t go after a freshman, that’s like…creepy. I’m too old for him. He shook his head out of his thoughts. “Sorry, I was just…thinking again.” 

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“Are you sure?” Barrel asked, reaching out to hold the other’s hand, though he soon moved his grip to his wrist. He knew that, when he was sad, it helped to have a reminder that there was someone nearby who cared. “No, no... you’re not a sad old man. Far from it! Just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean anything.” He rubbed Bryant’s arm slightly, trying to offer him a reassuring smile. “Well... I’m here if you want to talk about anything.”

[talcotthester]

“Gambit has the power to channel potential energy into objects, and that energy soon transforms into kinetic energy with an explosion.” He explained. Instead of telling his power, Sparky showed it off by making a stream of electricity between his two hands.

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“Oh. Well, kind of, I guess? I don’t really even know how it works. My hands get kinda tingly and then... boom. Literally.” He gasped when Sparky showed off his power, moving in close. “Wow... Can I touch it?”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@bryantforrester:

“Yep,” he said awkwardly. Barrel might of been the positive one, but Bryant, well. He tended to dampen the mood. He was trying his hardest not to, though, because he liked Barrel, and didn’t want to scare him off. “Not really. You’ve got plenty of time. You’re a freshman, aren’t you?” Bryant laughed, “Alright, alright. Um…what about brownies? My mom used to make these really good vegan brownies on special occasions, like…” He trailed off. His mom was making brownies on the day she was… He frowned, choking back tears, thinking about how the whole reason he and his father found her body was because the brownies had burnt and the smoke alarm went off, and they’d gone into the kitchen, and found his mother. “Actually, just, uh…forget it.”

Barrel nodded eagerly as he walked alongside Bryant, hanging onto his every word. He liked talking to Bryant. He was... interesting, but in the most mundane of manners. He liked that. “I am a freshman,” he smiled. “A fresh man, really. Well, not really, but you know. Same principle.” He ran a hand through his hair as Bryant spoke, lighting up when he mentioned brownies. Now those he could make. “Oh, I-” He cut himself off as he heard the other begin to choke up, heart stopping. “Hey, hey...” He stopped his own steps, turning the other towards him. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to cry... What did I do?”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@tyronesparky221:

“So, you’re like Gambit from the X-Men comics?” He asked, raising a brow.

“I haven’t read the X-Men comics, but, uh, I guess. If he also blows things up. What’s your power?”

[bryantforrester]

Bryant felt a little insecure. “I wouldn’t say ‘in touch,’ more like ‘I’ve lost control over’ them,” he mutters halfheartedly. He tries to shake himself out of the dwindling path into sadness he’s on, focusing on Barrel. “I’m sure you’ll find something; you don’t have to decide right now. You’ve got plenty of time to figure it out,” he assured. He blushed, “Oh, you don’t have to, really.” he insisted with a laugh. 

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“Oh. Well, even so. At least you know who you are with it,” he smiled, still trying to find the bright side in things. It was how he worked - always attempting to be the optimist, no matter the situation. Of course, that didn’t always work, but... “I guess so. But still, shouldn’t I kind of have my life figured out at this point?” Shaking his head, he elbowed Bryant gently. “No, no, really! I like baking. Just give me the food and I can try to make it.”

[rachel-letdownyourhair]

Street Art | OPEN

[rachel-letdownyourhair]

She nodded her head. “That would be nice, actually” she admitted with a gentle smile. Rachel looked to the boy, thinking for a moment. “What inspires you?” she then asked him.

[barrelingthrough-blog]

Barrel thought for a second, tapping the chalk on the pavement. “I like spooky stuff. Scary movies. Candy. Food in general. Good music... I don’t know. I can’t really draw some of those, you know?”

[talcotthester]

“So, what’s your ability, then?” He asked, looking at Barrel and trying to come up with some kind of educated guess. Though once he finished, he was as clueless as ever.

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“I can blow stuff up,” he giggled. “Volatile Constructs, it’s called. But yeah. Explosions. Pew-pew and all that.” He smiled, trying to make his own guess about Sparky. “I’m assuming your nickname has something to do with your power?”

[horriblexdecision-deactivated20]

“Sounds like you have a massive sweet tooth.” He concluded with a light chuckle. “I don’t think you would like cherry brandy though. That burns all the way down.” Flynn actually liked that, just like most other booze he consumed now and then. Never too much though. “I know, I know. Actually I don’t particularly like chocolate, but as long as there’s alcohol in it it’s alright.”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“I do!” he giggled, ruffling his colorful hair. There was no secret around his sweet tooth - everyone knew that he was rarely seen without candy in his pocket. “Oh... that doesn’t sound too nice. I like sweet stuff, not... alcohol. Or burning stuff. Anything like that. But I’m glad you like it. Where did you try it first?”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@bryantforrester:

“Oh, trust me, it’s not. I cry when I’m sad, I cry when I’m angry, I cry when I’m happy…it’s not fun,” Bryant insisted. He smiled at Barrel’s confidence. “I’d say I understand, but I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since I knew what they did. That does sound fun, though. I took a cooking class in high school, but I dropped out because the stuff they made was never vegan, and I’m not creative enough to do it vegan myself.” He shrugged. “I’m boring; my favorite food is salad. But, if you make it and it’s vegan, I wouldn’t deny it.” Did that count as flirting? Nah. ‘Course not.

“You cry all that much? Really? I don’t think I cry more than once in a week... But I guess it’s good that you’re in touch with your emotions, you know?” Nodding slightly, he swayed his hands as he walked alongside Bryant. “I wish I had something like that. Nothing just really stood out to me. So I figured I might as well get some food out of it. That sucks that they wouldn’t let you have vegan food, though.”  Barrel grinned to himself, making a mental note to whip up some good salad later. “I’ll definitely do that. Any dessert to go with it? I can ask for some vegan stuff in class.”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@lostmyslipper-ella:

A soft, warm chuckle of laughter slipped from Ella’s lips as she was glad to see that her sweets were at least placing a smile and brightening up someone else’s day. At the same time, her candy gave her the opportunity to meet a new face, something so rare for her back at home. Smiling warmly at the stranger, the blonde shook her head at the offer of peppermints for repayment. “Oh, no, no please, continue to keep those. It’s perfectly fine really.” Realizing that saying no might have sounded offensive she quickly spoke again to rectify her sentence. “I mean I do like mint, it’s very refreshing, but I’ve had enough chocolate today to last me a while. If you would like some more go right ahead and grab some! I managed to get far more then expected. I’m Ella by the way.”   

Barrel’s cheeks were flushed as the other spoke to him, his hands wringing slightly. He wasn’t exactly used to being caught in the act, and when he did, there was usually a lot of yelling and running away. This person, to his surprise, didn’t seem too fazed by his actions. They had even offered more to him. Slowly, he moved to sit beside them, still holding out his candy. “Oh. Well, you know, you can still take the mints. For when you’re in the mood for them. I don’t like taking from someone without making up for it.” Smiling at the name, he nodded slightly. “Ella. I’m Barrel. Well, Barrett, but everyone just calls me Barrel.” Looking over the other’s belongings, he furrowed his brow. “What are you doing?”

[rachel-letdownyourhair]

Street Art | OPEN

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@rachel-letdownyourhair:

Rachel smiled. “Thank you!” she replied. She nodded. “It is a shame, but not all art needs to be permanent. Some is fleeting and cathartic. But perhaps I should take a picture!” she said, taking a moment to think, before pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. “Hm? Oh! No, go ahead! My chalk is your chalk” she said, laughing lightly.

“Yeah, I think that’d be good,” he nodded slightly, taking a pale blue piece of chalk. “That way, it still kind of fades away, but you’ve still got the memory of it, you know what I mean?” Thinking to himself, he knelt down next to the artist, looking over in their direction. “What do you think I should draw?”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@626-shiloh:

Stitch joined in the laughing fit as Barrel’s laugh was contagious. He was beaming with pride that he came up with that pun on the spot. “Are you serious? I’m the first person to think of that? That is amazing!” Stitch’s face scrunched up with laughter as he held his stomach. “But it’s obvious, how did that not come up earlier?”

Barrel laughed louder, his stomach starting to hurt from the force of it. “I have no idea!” he grinned, shaking his head slightly. “That’s literally genius. I can’t believe it...” He giggled, shaking his head slightly as he tried to calm down. “I’m changing my nickname to that.”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

@tyronesparky221:

“Nah, I got it.” He said, soon finishing. He perked up when he realized this was a new person. “’Sup I’m Sparky. Well, name’s Tyrone, but most people just call me Sparky.” He said, holding out his hand to shake.

“Just wanted to make sure. That kind of looked like it hurt. Sparky, huh? That’s a cool name! I mean, Tyrone is cool too. Sounds like a tough guy. Tyrone. I’m Barrett, but you can just call me Barrel.” He took his hand, shaking it once before dropping it. It was all too formal for him.

[horriblexdecision-deactivated20]

Flynn squinted his eyes a little at Barrel’s sudden change of behavior. It wasn’t disappointing to discover that he was not going to answer his question. Rather it was interesting that he had something to hide. Enough proof for Flynn to assume that neither of them engaged in a lot of legal businesses. He smirked in response and nodded. Of course he wasn’t buying that response. “Filled chocolates.. preferably with cherry brandy. What about you?”

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“Filled chocolates,” he repeated, nodding slightly. Now this was a topic he could stick with. Candy wasn’t just his expertise - it was a passion. A single suck of a lollipop or chew of taffy could bring a smile to his face. “That’s a good choice. I’ve never had cherry brandy ones before. Maybe I’ll have to try them.” Thinking a moment, he nodded, “I like lollipops. And red gummy bears. And Skittles. But I also like Hershey Kisses, you know? There’s a lot.”

[spacestitch]

“If you do, you have to teach me. I’d like to know if shit is being talked about me.” He joked. “Yeah. Well I guess I just watched too many movies. I just thought everything would look like New York city or something. Stupid I know.” Stitch tried to hide his ignorance. “Go for it. Hey, sucking at something is the first step towards being sort of good at something, you know. It took me months to get that song down just right.” Stitch encouraged Barrel. He slowly stepped back, giving Barrel a chance to play on his own. 

[barrelingthrough-blog]

“Oh, yeah, of course! I mean, I don’t think I’d talk bad about you anyway. You’re my friend, right? And I don’t talk bad about my friends.” Shaking his head, he smiled up at his new friend. “Nah, not everything does... Sadly. They should really just make more movies about, like, the suburbs. Or farms or something. I’m sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations.” He quickly turned back to the guitar when he was given permission, nodding softly. “Right... Okay...” He began by playing one of the chords he had been taught, strumming loudly. Bobbing his head, he began to place his fingers just anywhere on the frets, causing half of it to sound decent and the other half like a dying animal.

[rachel-letdownyourhair]

Street Art | OPEN

Artists are not unlike writers. Both experience creative block at times, and both are sometimes struck with inspiration which forces them to write or paint or draw right then and there.  Rachel knelt on the cold concrete, an assortment of coloured chalks messily lay beside her. She had colourful stains across the palms of both her hands, and in front of her lay an unfinished drawing of purple flowers under a starry sky. As she reached for a pale pink chalk stick, she saw a shadow cast across her. “It’s not permanent, it’ll wash away when it rains” she assured the person before looking up with a smile.

[barrelingthrough-blog]

Barrel furrowed his brow as he stared down at the drawing, studying the purple and pink design. “It’s pretty,” he commented after a minute, his usual smile spreading across his face. “It’s a shame it’ll wash away, though. I mean, you should take pictures or something. That way you can remember it.” Crouching down beside the blonde, he turned his attention toward the container of chalk. “Mind if I draw a bit? I won’t mess yours up. Promise.”

[lostmyslipper-ella-blog]

Ella had decided in taking a break from her studies by taking a walk around the school grounds to find somewhere nice to sit and eat a snack. It wasn’t long until she came across an empty table and seated herself comfortably beside it. Opening her bag, the blonde took out a mug that contained some small chocolate bars and happily proceeded in indulging her rather sweet tooth. She was about to pull out a book to read, when instead she found herself taken a back when someone grabbed a piece of chocolate from her mug. Looking at the person now, Ella simply smiled before speaking.

“Would you like another one? I have more than enough.” 

[barrelingthrough-blog]

Barrel hadn’t thought the other would notice. He had a few peppermints left in his pocket, but he was absolutely craving chocolate, and not the bittersweet kind they baked with in class. So, when he saw a new person carrying around a little mug of candy, he thought he had hit the jackpot. He would pay the other back later, of course, even if they would never know it. Of course, their words surprised him, especially with a mouth already stuffed full of the sweet. Chewing a few times and swallowing deep, he managed a sheepish smile. “Oh, uh... sorry. I didn’t think you’d notice. I can get you some more. Here, uh... You like mint?” He held out the candy from his pocket, smiling down at the other.