CLAIM WHAT'S YOURS

INDIE OC MULTI MUSE. 18+

[blud-rite]

MOVED TO @BLUDRITE.

[skullfck]

Looks like Willow might be starting to catch on. Hawk smiles a bit, amused at her suspicion. 

He accepts his role as buffer without missing a beat.         “Uh-huh. Got some free kids that came with the wife. And then we had another back in January.”

Ever the proud dad, he’s eager to produce the photos on his phone, of which there are many. He scrolls through them, pointing out Lillie, Walker, the twins, Autumn, and of course little Sunny. With a couple of drinks already in him, it’s easy to go on tangent after tangent about how perfect they all are, how cute, how he’s so happy to have the family he always wanted. 

Eventually he catches himself, laughing.

          “Somebody shut me up ‘fore I get kicked outta here for being too lame.” 

[blud-rite]

“Aight, aight — ‘nuff, ‘fore I die of cute overload.” Jay eventually says, to Hawk’s statement. He loves kids. He does. But he didn’t come to a bar like this to look at Hawk’s slideshow. He smiles, leans behind Willow to clap Hawk on the shoulder. “They’re gorgeous. Congrats.”

While this goes on, Willow seems to have spaced out. Looking across the room at the door, watching diligently. Ears perked, alert. Jay sucks on his cheek, faltering as he considers touching her shoulder to bring her back to the room.

“There’s a book fair happenin’ downtown next weekend. Ya hear about that?” He asks, hoping to lure her back. No bites.

[blud-rite]

@id1eyouth

[blud-rite]

His eyes crinkle at the corners with laughter and remain there with his lingering smile. Jay waves his delicate fingers in a fluttery greeting and takes a sip of his beer to avoid staring at the poor girl too much as she does as Hawk suggests and parks herself between them.

There’s a bit of awkward shuffling; she pushes back her stool a little to open a semi-circle for them to speak in so she doesn’t block one from the other or swivel her neck around too much when one or the other speaks. Jay observes that she likes to lock in on whoever is speaking, to watch as well as listen.

“What’d you say to that poor old lady?” Willow is teasing him. He answers, grinning.

“Told her that the banana bread she gave me the last time I came over was the best goddamn banana bread I ever had.” He grins. “And that she should open a fuckin’ bakery.”

Willow is amused, giggles, still shy but warming up by the second. He looks at Hawk and then at Willow.

“Drinks for you two?”

[skullfck]

Hawk settles in, watching the two, trying to get a read on their chemistry. So far so good, he thinks. Willow gets comfortable pretty quickly—more quickly than usual, he notices, though maybe that’s because she’s already semi-familiar with Jay—and Jay himself is friendly and charming, sweet. 

Promising. Hawk smiles, hopeful. 

          “I’m always down for another drink. And Willow needs one,”          he says, nodding toward the bartender with a smile.          “Refill for me. And whatever the lady’s havin’.” 

[blud-rite]

Willow orders a rum and coke. Not her usual, Jay notes faintly - but who is he to gatekeep? It might also be creepy to know what her order is, having barely exchanged three words with her before today. She narrows her eyes slightly at him, then glances back at Hawk with faint suspicion. Says nothing, though. Of course. Jay relaxes.

“—Has Hawk showed you pictures of his daughter yet?” Willow asks abruptly, just before he can start to lay on the charm a little and ask her something about herself. Maybe it’s a bit soon to start flirting, he un-puffs his chest, deflates, but smiles.

“Naw,” To Hawk: “You got kids? Show me.”

Girls love when men are good with kids.

[blud-rite]

Jay sighs, letting the tension pour out of his shoulders as the beer fizzes in his stomach. Hawk seems to have a pretty high opinion of him -- or at least a higher opinion of him than he does the other men that Willow finds herself with. Should he worry about that, too? Maybe he shouldn't worry at all. This is nothing serious. It's just drinks.

He shoots the shit with Hawk a little more, sports talk, baseball, some anecdote from earlier today about an old lady he sometimes fixes things for beating him over the head for cussing in front of her. Willow arrives halfway through an eruption of boisterous laughter. She appears out of nowhere behind them. Jay notices her and slaps Hawk on the arm to point her out.

"Hi," She seems shy. Nervous. Smiling along with them as she tries to understand a joke she wasn't present for.

[skullfck]

Hawk turns, smiling brightly when he sees Willow.          “Hey!”

He shifts over to another barstool, pulling his drink along with him, so that she may sit between them. Knowing she may be a bit hesitant, he slaps his abandoned stool once for encouragement. C’mere girl.

          “Jay was just tellin’ me ‘bout how he got in trouble with some old lady for bein’ a dirty-mouthed scoundrel,”          Hawk says, waving the bartender over again.          “But he’s gon’ be on his best behavior for you. Ain’t’cha, buddy?” 

[blud-rite]

His eyes crinkle at the corners with laughter and remain there with his lingering smile. Jay waves his delicate fingers in a fluttery greeting and takes a sip of his beer to avoid staring at the poor girl too much as she does as Hawk suggests and parks herself between them.

There’s a bit of awkward shuffling; she pushes back her stool a little to open a semi-circle for them to speak in so she doesn’t block one from the other or swivel her neck around too much when one or the other speaks. Jay observes that she likes to lock in on whoever is speaking, to watch as well as listen.

“What’d you say to that poor old lady?” Willow is teasing him. He answers, grinning.

“Told her that the banana bread she gave me the last time I came over was the best goddamn banana bread I ever had.” He grins. “And that she should open a fuckin’ bakery.”

Willow is amused, giggles, still shy but warming up by the second. He looks at Hawk and then at Willow.

“Drinks for you two?”

[skullfck]

Hawk laughs. Willow will like that chivalrous shit, too.

          “Sure it’s cool,”         he says.          “I mean, if she thinks it’s cool, then it’s cool. I ain’t her keeper.”

Although it may seem that way at times. Like when she’s hanging off him as if she’s one of his daughters, or his girlfriend, or some weird mixture of both—or like now, when he’s the channel in which to access her. He knows how it looks. Sometimes he’s self-conscious about how it looks.

          “And she’s comin’, so—she must think it’s cool. Besides, like I said, you’re better than the fuckin’ losers she’s always hangin’ around.”          He adds proudly:          “Like me.”

[blud-rite]

Jay sighs, letting the tension pour out of his shoulders as the beer fizzes in his stomach. Hawk seems to have a pretty high opinion of him -- or at least a higher opinion of him than he does the other men that Willow finds herself with. Should he worry about that, too? Maybe he shouldn't worry at all. This is nothing serious. It's just drinks.

He shoots the shit with Hawk a little more, sports talk, baseball, some anecdote from earlier today about an old lady he sometimes fixes things for beating him over the head for cussing in front of her. Willow arrives halfway through an eruption of boisterous laughter. She appears out of nowhere behind them. Jay notices her and slaps Hawk on the arm to point her out.

"Hi," She seems shy. Nervous. Smiling along with them as she tries to understand a joke she wasn't present for.

[linusbenjamin]

Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman American Psycho 2000 | dir. Mary Harron

[carmen-berzattos]

THE BEAR 4.10 "Goodbye"

[ohmovie]

ROBERT PATTINSON as Neil TENET │ 2020

[skullfck]

Hawk chats up Willow for a few moments longer, then hangs up upon assurance that she’ll come soon. He smiles at Jay, looking very pleased with himself.

          “—She might,”          he says, catching up after a brief lag.          “Fuck you, I mean. And your dainty ass hands.”  

Absentmindedly, he taps his fingers against his glass, watching Jay. He does have nice hands. Willow will probably be into that. Girls are always into that. 

He hopes they hit it off. There’s a bit of worry, too, though—for both of them. He’ll ignore that for now. 

[blud-rite]

Too late now for worry; ball’s already rolling. Hawk has set it in motion, Willow is on her way and Jay is feeling a little hopeful about his chances - if not a little bashful.

“Man, you can’t be talkin’ about a lady like that.” At least a respectable one like Willow. Or like he assumes Willow is. Hawk doesn’t seem to have much respect to go around, and they’re pretty close — so maybe he’s out of line for saying anything at all, even jokingly. Jay sips his drink and casts a glance to the door, still laughing a bit to cover his nerves. “You sure this is cool?”

[id1eyouth]

@bludrite

[blud-rite]

Jay keeps up with Hawk easily. He could do with winding down a little before she arrives. He keeps his eyes on the bar as Hawk makes the call. He’s got the kind of nerves that tickle your stomach. He isn’t sure why. He doesn’t get nervous about girls, usually.

[txt to: hawk] ummm. i am always cool. but ok i can answer

True to her word, Willow picks up. Jay can hear her voice on the other line, though he tries not to listen in too much.

“Hiya, handsome. What’s going on?”

[skullfck]

           “Not much. Just drinkin’ with a friend,”          he says coolly.

There’s the urge to shove Jay into the deep end immediately. I have a guy here who has a big fat crush on you, come link up—but he resists. It would put Willow in a weird spot, and she’s in no position to handle being put in a weird spot.

       “You know Jay, right? Handyman, handsome, kinda rugged and delicate at the same time?”          he goes on.          “Him, I’m drinkin’ with him. We need a chick to balance us out. Come hang?”

[blud-rite]

Jay turns red, a little. Rugged and delicate? Way to sell a guy. That next round of drinks was completely necessary - not that it takes that little to get him a little buzzed. He can handle his drink better than their incoming guest. After a little hmm-ing and haa-ing, Willow agrees to join them. It wont take long; she lives close by.

“Rugged, yet delicate?” He laughs. “Fuck me and my dainty ass hands.”

He looks down at ‘em. Nimble. Good for the kind of work he does on the betting machines, on the wiring for the overhead lights - literally any of the smaller, more finicky mechanical jobs.

[blud-rite]

[iamhavingsomuchfun]

[id1eyouth]

your ex bf looks at you like this and basically says he wishes you were dead

wyd

[blud-rite]

“Ex boyfriend is a bit of an extreme thing to call it.”

[blud-rite]

Jay thinks Hawk is pulling his leg a bit. But he isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth; he orders another drink for the both of them and then takes a breath. Shrugs.

“If you think she’ll come hang, it’d be nice to at least introduce myself. We’ll see about the wingmanning. She might not turn out to be my type once we get talkin’, yanno?“ She seems very much like his type, though. It’s more an issue of whether he’s hers.

If the bar is in the ground, though... Maybe he has a chance. He does think he’s a good dude, himself, so there’s that. He grimaces, then drinks some more.

“Fuck it. Yeah. Call her.”

[skullfck]

          “That’s the spirit, man,”          Hawk says, grinning and clapping Jay on the back.          “Hell yeah.”

He waves the bartender over and orders them another round, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Before he calls, he shoots her a text:  𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊  𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕.  𝚗𝚘𝚝  𝚊𝚗  𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢  𝚋𝚞𝚝  𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔  𝚞𝚙  𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢.  𝚋𝚎  𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕

He pounds the beer as soon as it arrives, hitting the call button raising the phone to his ear.

[blud-rite]

Jay keeps up with Hawk easily. He could do with winding down a little before she arrives. He keeps his eyes on the bar as Hawk makes the call. He’s got the kind of nerves that tickle your stomach. He isn’t sure why. He doesn’t get nervous about girls, usually.

[txt to: hawk] ummm. i am always cool. but ok i can answer

True to her word, Willow picks up. Jay can hear her voice on the other line, though he tries not to listen in too much.

“Hiya, handsome. What’s going on?”

[skullfck]

          “Aw, don’t say that. If I’m honest with you, man, she’s got no standards. The bar’s on the floor. The bar might even be underground. Just ‘cause she’s cool don’t mean she got taste,”          Hawk laughs.          “You’d be an upgrade from what she usually goes for.”

They may not be super tight, but Hawk knows Jay well enough by now to know he’s a good guy. He’s earnest, and he seems caring. Willow could use somebody like that in her life, especially right now. She spends too much time with ‘complicated’  (read: terrible)  people. Even she must know by now that her usual circle is antithetical to real healing.

          “Don’t be so defeatist. I’ll wingman ya. We can call her right now, if you want. I know her ass ain’t doin’ anything.” 

[blud-rite]

Jay thinks Hawk is pulling his leg a bit. But he isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth; he orders another drink for the both of them and then takes a breath. Shrugs.

“If you think she’ll come hang, it’d be nice to at least introduce myself. We’ll see about the wingmanning. She might not turn out to be my type once we get talkin’, yanno?“ She seems very much like his type, though. It’s more an issue of whether he’s hers.

If the bar is in the ground, though... Maybe he has a chance. He does think he’s a good dude, himself, so there’s that. He grimaces, then drinks some more.

“Fuck it. Yeah. Call her.”