Casey Hinton

[emily-simon]

“Everything, I’m a determined little pup,” she insisted, arms folded across her chest as if that was supposed to make her lanky form and small stature intimidating to any degree. “I taught myself French as a kid, so I’ve got that down pat. And okay, even if I can’t learn complete languages, I’m young enough to learn key phrases! I’d ask all about food in Italian, and where to get the best liquor in Russia. Not that I plan to go to Russia anytime soon, but I always enjoy have a back-up plan. However, if you’d prefer to be called a dick in English, that can totally be arranged,” Emily chuckled, moving to light her own cigarette. “What about you? Specialized in any languages?”

[blowmecasey]

“If you were so fluent you wouldn’t’ve had to go around calling strangers dicks for ‘practice’ now would you?” Casey pointed out before taking a drag. “I don’t think I’m going to do any traveling anytime soon. I’m pretty content with my routine. But yeah, I’d much rather be called a dick in English. Douchebag even, if you’re feeling it,” Casey laughed as he ashed his cigarette. “Nope, just English but I’m pretty fluent in bullshitting if that counts,” he joked as he brought the cigarette back to his lips with a playful smirk on his features. 

[gabaspriest]

Gabe wasn’t so much thrown off by their age gap as he was by the fact that this guy was almost thirty. He didn’t look like he was pushing the big 3-0 but then again — did Gabe really know what a thirty year old was supposed to look like? Not really. He just knew that when he was younger, that age seemed practically ancient, “That’s cool I guess. Kinda sucks that you had to live through two Bush’s. I turn 19 soon.” That was a lie though if he confronted with it, Gabe would probably just insist it was a stretch of the truth. Granted he had to wait another eight months before turning 19 but it was already August and the rest of the months until March could easily fly by just as fast. “Are you kidding? That boom boom pop popcorn or whatever is like $4 for a bag. It’s ridiculous and it’s not even that good. I think she just wanted to act cute or something though. Be a little rebel and say ‘fuck you’ to the system by shoving a bag of popcorn down her shirt because that’ll show them. Kids are dumb. Who knows,” he sighed, scrawny shoulders shrugging to emphasis what a loss he was at trying to wrap his head around that reasoning. Gabe kept himself entertained the rest of the journey toying with his phone, hardly noticing they’d arrived until the warning came, squinting up at the sign that hung above the doorway, “I’ve got shoes on, I’ll be alright, man.”

[blowmecasey]

“I guess, I wouldn’t feel too sorry for me though. You’re going to have to live through this election too and this is a whole lot shittier,” he commented. Not that Casey really remembered H.W. he was just a kid when he was in office and watching the news didn’t really fit into his Saturday morning cartoons regime. Almost nineteen felt like centuries ago and it didn’t help that being nineteen was one of the worst ages. You’re even further deeper in perpetual almost adulthood but still two years away from actually having the freedom to buy PBR legally from a shitty gas station. “That’s such a waste of effort,” he shook his head not even wanting to delve any deeper into this kid’s poor criminal experiments. Before entering Casey stopped in his tracks. “I’m not worried about you getting hurt. I’m worried about you bumping into something and breaking it.” His pieces were significantly more valuable to him than this guy’s safety and once he finally had his attention again and felt he wasn’t going to blindly try and catch a Pokemon or some shit in his shop he opened his door to actually allow a visitor in. “Follow me, I keep my finished stuff in the back,” he said paying little mind to the array of tools and half finished concepts scattered across his work benches. 

[emily-simon]

“I want to be fluent in everything, but I’m very small, so I’ve got to take my time,” Emily reasoned, figuring that this was the most rational way of going about things. “Once I’ve mastered Spanish, then I’ll move onto Mandarin. Maybe Russian after that - maybe Portuguese. Within a few years, I’ll be calling you a dick in every language possible!” She was quick to fish a lighter from her pocket and extend it towards him, a peace offering for the brusque greeting.

[blowmecasey]

“Everything,” Casey reemphasized that was a mighty tall order and doubly so for someone little like her. “Did you learn anything when you were a kid? I think it’s pretty hard to actually learn a language as an adult. Your brain isn’t wired to receptive to that anymore you might just have to call me a dick in your native tongue,” he explained with a laugh. Of course she could still try but she wouldn’t see the kind of success she’d want. “Thanks,” Casey muttered as he borrowed the light and quickly handed it back to her.

[emily-simon]

“A dick,” Emily answered quickly — a bit too quickly, because she had to correct herself, “I mean, you aren’t, at least not that I know of, it’s just the phrasing or whatever. Well, I’m actually vaguely fluent in French, I’m just touching up before moving onto Spanish. It never hurts to be bilingual, and what if I find myself lost in Quebec someday or something? Calling someone a dick just might come in handy.”

[blowmecasey]

Casey laughed as he stumbled through some sort of apology. It wouldn’t be the first, or last, time he’d be called a dick out of the blue. “Wait, you want to be fluent in French and then Spanish? You should be trying to go for Mandarin. I hear that’s the most spoken language in the world. You’d get the most bang for your bilingual-ness with that one,” he advised as he pulled his smokes out of his pocket. Might as well give this girl second hand smoke if she’d already called him a dick. 

[emily-simon]

“Vous êtes une bite géante,” Emily recited from her less-than-academic French phrasebook, curling her makeshift accent around the syllables before glancing up at the poor receiver of that remark with an apologetic grin. “Oh, no, not you — I’m brushing up on my French, and I’m trying to be prepared for anything.”

[blowmecasey]

“I am a what?” Casey asked. Only one of the most basic concepts from French 1 (which he took twice) back in high school. Aside from the names of various pastries that and bonjour was about all he could still muster. “I don’t know if French is going to help you much out here on the streets of Philly. I’m not even sure the French still speak French.”

[ossowskeet-blog]

Ossowski sucked in a sharp breath through teeth. “Alright, final offer: four outta four but I, like, only want midshifts. And my own title. You’re not gonna find a better employee, kid.”

[blowmecasey]

‘It’s sitting at booth at a farmer’s market. There’s only a mid-shift. You can make up whatever title you want. You’re just selling jewelry and pipes.”

[gabaspriest]

“How old are you anyway?” Gabe dared to bring up the age thing, the maturity difference between them pretty obvious but Casey didn’t exactly look old enough to be a friend’s uncle and maybe just a little too old to be their hot brother. He looked stuck in that limbo phase of being a young adult and not-quite having his shit together (like all millennials RIP). “Well you’re walking kinda slow. Your pace is easy to match. Plus, it’s like only bad shit like that happens when you’re trying to be careful, you know? So this one time my friend was trying to steal of a bag of popcorn for who knows what reason and of course that just had to be the only time in her life she tripped over her shoe laces. Fell onto the floor of the store and popcorn went flying out her shirt all over the aisle in front of her. Moral of the story is: shit happens,” Gabe insisted, matter-of-factly even, about to put his FLAVORLESS CONVENIENCE STORE GEM OF A FIND GUM away when the other asked for a piece. “Yeah, of course,” he grinned offering him a stick.

[blowmecasey]

“I’ll be 29 in a little over a month,” he revealed not that he had any shame in almost being thirty. He still had his looks and if marijuana actually was chalk full of medicinal properties he’d damn well live to be 200. Casey didn’t even bother to return the question already knowing that there there was no way this kid was older than 20 and even giving him that was very, very giving. “You’re kind of a shrimp, I don’t want you breaking a sweat just to keep up with me. Also, seriously? Popcorn? First of all that shit’s barely even a dollar and it’ll make you unnaturally bloated. She’d have been caught even if she didn’t trip like a dingus.” Casey took the strip and popped it in his mouth. STILL JUST AS BLANDLY SWEET AS HE REMEMBERED IT BEING A MILLION YEARS AGO AND EVEN AS YOU READ THIS THE FLAVOR IS ALREADY BEING LOST. After falling into an easy silence they finally approached the shop. “Be careful in there. It’s not really cleaned up right now,” he warned as he shoved his key in the door and pushed it open. ‘

[ossowskeet-blog]

“Damn! You drive a hard bargain, my man — I’m willin to compromise and give you a whole two outta four then. You’re welcome.”

[blowmecasey]

“All four, maybe one off every two months. It’s like 4 hours of the day you’re not going to find a cushier job, kid.”

[gabaspriest]

“JLo is that old though!” Gabe insisted (she’s 46 but she might as well be 70 in Gabe’s mind tbh). A little unsure how they even got on the topic of celebs and their ages, he figured he was probably the one to blame, arguing just for the sake of arguing. Just like he’d happily argue that Juicy Fruit is one of the best cheap ass gums out there only being surpassed by Big Red gum okay. At least it wasn’t Big League chew. Slipping the FLAVORLESS gum into his pocket after getting a piece for himself, he quickly matched Casey’s stride as they headed out again, enjoying the FLAVOR of the FLAVORLESS gum. “I can’t say I trust myself to carry a bong all the way home but I might take a look at your bubblers too. Whatever can fit in my pocket, basically. Knowing my ass, i’d trip before I even got a block away.”

[blowmecasey]

“She’s not. I’m older than you, I should be able to remember her age better. You don’t really scream JLo’s number one fan,” he commented. He could settle this once and for all by whipping out his phone but actually taking the effort to google gave him crappy first generation iPhone commercial vibes. “Well you’re able to walk and talk, I’d give yourself more credit than that. Not that I’ll give you a refund if you break it. Once it’s out of my shop it’s no longer my responsibility. Can I have a piece?” Casey asked watching the teen chop down on a slice of the FLAVORLESS AND ALL AROUND CRUMMY GUM ONLY FUTURE SERIAL KILLERS PROBABLY EAT. It’d been probably a decade since he’d last had it. 

[ossowskeet-blog]

“I mean, I dunno about every Saturday — that sounds a lil extreme — but I could definitely do, like, one outta four. Which is basically the same thing, if you ask me.”

[blowmecasey]

“That’s your problem then. I’d need more than one Saturday a month.”

[ossowskeet-blog]

“Yo, d’y’all know any places that’ll 100% hire my ass? Preferably for doin nothin & standin around but I’m not picky. Swear I applied to, like, seven places in the past week and none of ‘em called me back. Startin to feel like this shit’s rigged or somethin, honestly.”

[blowmecasey]

“Depends, are you good at sitting on your ass and have the afternoon free every Saturday?”

[marshallxleexabadeer]

No, it really wasn’t but blame the one barista that actually told him that’s what it was. “Yeah, I only recognize one person in here and that’s the person doing the making of the drinks over there. What’re you getting?”

[blowmecasey]

“I think a lot of students work these jobs. There’s gotta be shuffling a lot when dealing with them,” he shrugged. “Just a cold brew,” he explained. It was easier on the stomach than espresso and hot beverages were never his thing to begin with.

[xxmaddirose-blog]

“So you trying to say that being curious will kill me?” Wouldn’t that be ironic. She makes it through hell and back and ends up dying from curiosity.

[blowmecasey]

“No, it’s a proverb. You aren’t supposed to take those things literal.”

[gabaspriest]

“Probably. We can’t all be JLo I guess. She’s gotta be like fifty by now too,” Gabe shrugged, having no actual idea how old the actress-slash-singer-slash-mom-slash-dream woman was. He could’ve gone for Rob Lowe or Brad Pitt or some other actor defying age but how many of them could put on a two hour Vegas show like Jennifer Lopez at her age? Leaning against the counter, he busied himself with chatting up the poor cashier while Casey fetched whatever he needed to, slapping his best grin on his face as he had them explaining the different lotto choices. Not that he had any intention of actually buying one but it passed the time until he found Casey standing at his side once again, sliding a pack of Juicy Fruit gum over towards the older boy, “Thanks.”

[blowmecasey]

“She couldn’t be that old. I swear she only turned 40 like a couple years ago,” he insisted not that he had any real backing behind that claim. He knew even less about JLo than he did Johnny Depp. For the life of him he couldn’t name a single movie or song she did. Casey was surprised when the kid slid over a pack of flavorless gum. Maybe he should I.D. him before making a sale. He didn’t want this kid’s mom beating down his shop door because she found one of his pipes in their underaged son’s backpack. Honestly, who over the age of 12 bought Juicy Fruit? “You’re welcome,” he responded as he pulled out a wad of crumpled bills that sat in his back pocket to pay for the items in an almost wordless transaction. Casey grabbed his cola and tossed the pack of gum back to Gabe before leading them back towards his shop. “So you’re just looking to get a pipe? I’ve got a couple bongs and bubblers too,” he explained as he thought about his inventory. 

[celebritiesandmovies]

[marshallxleexabadeer]

“Yes indeed you can, I get it done all the time in the summer. Granted, it’s mostly a caramel frapp with shots of expresso but this place usually doesn’t bat an eye? New person I guess.” He shrugged.

[blowmecasey]

“Gotcha,” Casey nodded. So, really it wasn’t a macchiato at all. “Probably, there’s a lot of new baristas at my favorite coffee place right now too. Might be turn around season right now because they’re less busy,” he said accompanying his statement with a shrug of his own. 

[gabaspriest]

“Good question. And I have no idea. Have you seen him lately though? They say hate makes you ugly and that shit is really doing a number on him recently. Fucking old and bloated,” Gabe shrugged, not about to admit that he’s probably seen every Johnny Depp movie under the sun. Fickle ass teenagers. He nearly had to bite his lip to keep himself from delving any further into the whole college thing, wanting to insist there was a big difference between college and high school but he doubted the other cared. Plus he was still in that weird limbo period between the two so it wasn’t like he had much of a leg to stand on anyway. “Sounds good,” he nodded following him in and lingering by the counter to look over the gum, figuring he’d at least give Casey some space to shop since he was being generous with his time already by agreeing to take him.

[blowmecasey]

“No, I haven’t. I don’t really follow him but I figured he’d turn eventually. He’s like fifty by now, right?” Casey asked. He could probably list the number of Johnny Depp movies on one hand his reaction to all of them would be considered a solid ‘meh’ but he used movies as background ambience instead of actually sitting down to be entertained by them. Casey went straight for the fridge that buzzed and ticked and barely kept drinks cold and examined his choices before finally settling on a Mexican coke. He headed to the counter and asked for a pack of smokes before turning to Gabe. “You want anything?” He offered. He wouldn’t mind throwing in a water or something with the purchase of a pipe.