lone wolf

dominic hartford. thirty-five. lawyer.

[dominichartford]

juliuskinnaird‌:

The comment made Julius chuckle and he was sort of glad his comment hadn’t been taken in a bad or weird way. After all, men complimenting each other was still sort of a taboo – not to even mention when it was a stranger doing it. “There’re a lot of people training on Sundays, so I guess that means something is wrong in multiple people”, he grinned. “I’m just one of the lazy ones on Sundays, because the rest of the week I’m always on the move.”

“Always on the move, yeah? What do you do for work, then?” he asked, with interest. His own job kept him more or less chained to his office, so it did feel nice to get out on the weekends and actually push it with his exercise routine. He made some effort during the week, but nothing like he did on the weekends. “My job is pretty demanding, but not physically, fortunately.”

[dominichartford]

quintojebois‌:

[dominichartford]

juliuskinnaird‌:

The laugh from the man made Julius grin – he knew very well he must look rather hilarious standing there half asleep and not registering that well what people talked to him. Julius’ brow raised at the comment and even though the man had a shirt on Julius was rather sure this guy definitely didn’t have anything else but muscle in his body. You could see that just from his arms. “Don’t take this wrong, but you either like food too little or you punish yourself too much.” Right after saying that he realised how it really wasn’t the best thing to say aloud. “I mean, to me it looks like you’re in a really good shape.” Surely Julius was in pretty good shape himself as well, but now that he eyed at this guy in front of him he felt like he himself wasn’t in shape at all.

The comment sounded like a positive thing and Dominic smiled appreciatively in response. “Ah, probably the latter. I’m out here running on a Sunday, so there must be something wrong with me,” he chuckled, tossing his hands up. It was just part of his routine that he wasn’t ready to let up on yet. Plus, his daughter being as active as she was, he had to stay in shape as best as he could. “Thank you, though. I appreciate that. I do my best to not let myself go too badly.” It was always a risk the older he got. 

[dominichartford]

juliuskinnaird‌:

To sleep or not to sleep, that was the question that was going on in Julius’ mind. He did feel sleepy, extremely sleepy, really, but he wasn’t sure should he go back to sleep at this hour or should he try to stay awake in a way or another. Coffee might be the best first aid and after that he could start thinking another ways of getting himself awake if the coffee wouldn’t be enough. He lift his gaze to the jogging man, probably stared at him for couple of seconds too long before realising he asked a question from him. “Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Just half asleep, really.” At the same time Julius realised he was standing in the middle of the street and he took a step to the side so he would be closer to the building next to him so people would be able to go past him without an issue. Julius glanced at the man’s feet and chuckled. “I wish I’d have that kind of energy right now.”

Just the blurry attention from the man was enough to show how tired he was and Dominic gave a laugh in response. He’d been there plenty a time himself, pulling all nighters at work and struggling to get up the next day to head back to the boardroom. “Perfectly understandable. It’s a Sunday, after all,” he agreed warmly. That was the best day to sleep in, if you were given the chance, though it didn’t seem like the other man at all had been afforded such an opportunity. Huffing out another laugh, Dominic patted at his stomach with a quick grin. “I don’t know that it’s even energy, just blind adherence to a routine. I like food a little too much, so this is my punishment.”

[dominichartford]

juliuskinnaird‌:

Sundays were good days because on Sunday’s Julius didn’t have work to do because there was no mail to deliver on Sunday’s. At least he didn’t have any to deal with. Usually Sunday’s meant he could sleep as long as he felt like, but today his friend had woken him up way too early – around ten in the morning because usually Julius had been up for hours by then. His friend wanted to meet up with him in half an hour, which meant Julius had to get up from bed and pretend to be awake as he walked out of his apartment and out to the street. He didn’t even get to walk a whole block when his phone rang and his friend’s name flashing on the screen. “What? You gotta be kidding me. I just-… okay, fine. Bye.” He hang up and just let out a loud groan. His friend just called to let him know there was a change of plans and he couldn’t see him right now, which meant Julius had gotten up from the bed for nothing and now he was standing in the middle of the street feeling like falling asleep right there right now.

Despite the fact that it was the weekend, Dominic still had an absolute load of things to get done. Errands, transporting his daughter about the town, and getting his morning run in were all still on his list of things to get done. First, he figured he would finish off his run before it got too, too hot outdoors. His feet were pounding against the pavement when he saw a man in the middle of the street looking fairly upset. He didn’t usually pry into people’s lives, but the man looked upset and the traffic wasn’t exactly going to slow down either. “You alright, man?” he asked, as he jogged over, a quizzical look in his eyes.

[dominichartford]

reesespieces86‌:

“You know…if you need disguises, I know a place,” she joked, wiggling her eyebrows. By place, she meant her costume collection at the theater of course. Some costumes may look a little ridiculous for a spectator at a soccer game, but that was beside the point.  “Oh I don’t know. That’s a question for Kenzie. The big piece is still getting researched to find out all we can about it. I did keep the coins I found, and I mean - I think it’s legal? If not, well…blue always did look kinda decent on me I think.” Again, she was only joking, though part of her really did hope that a couple of coins she copped from a shipwreck wouldn’t land her behind bars. Eyes glanced over in the direction of the painting he was referring to, her feet taking her over to it. It was a rougher paint job than the one she found, but it was still a beautiful piece and given the description of his home, it’d probably suit it very well. “Oh look! The artist even hid little things in it. Like here,” she smiled, pointing out a piece of marine line shadowed in the painting, that one wouldn’t find unless they really looked at it.

“Oh, do you now? And what disguise would you recommend for me?” he asked teasingly. It was an absurd thought, he certainly wouldn’t go that far overboard to embarrass his daughter. Not unless there was a good reason for it. “Ah, well, hopefully that isn’t going to be the case. I don’t think prison would be...at all a good time. Luckily for you, I do know a pretty fantastic lawyer.” He didn’t exactly delve into that type of law, but he had a smile on his face regardless. One of the best things about art was how many things popped out at you even after you’d already seen the painting before. The subtle details and little hidden things that artists put in their work was what made it all the more interesting. “Oh, wow, I hadn’t even seen that. This...may just be the winner I think.”

[dominichartford]

reesespieces86‌:

“While you get excited?! Oh dude…clearly you haven’t seen me when watching a hockey game. I can get pretty fired up. Granted this is soccer, and not hockey and I don’t really know much about the sport, I’m going to cheer my heart out, so you might have some competition on that front,” she winked with a wide grin. When asked about her diving adventure, her grin only grew wider as she gave an excited nod. “Both actually! At times I kinda felt like Ariel from The Little Mermaid just dancing around while fish of all kinds, colors, sizes swam around us. But we did find this really old monument type of artifact thing. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but it had to be something worth finding since my cousin’s face lit up like a Christmas Tree when we found it. She has it now, researching it to see what it is. It was my first find so I was really excited about it and even more so to learn about what it is.” Looking at the painting while he spoke about what he liked and what he didn’t, she paid attention to get a better understanding of what he was looking for. “Fair enough. How about over there? “ she motioned with her hand to some more paintings on the other side of the booth.

“Deal. We’ll be thoroughly embarrassing and my daughter will kick us out and I’ll never be allowed back at another game, so...I’ll sneak in with a hat and sit in the back and probably still yell,” he joked. His daughter always threatened to ban him from games, but he never missed one no matter what. “That’s...actually really neat. I didn’t know you could still find things like that out in the ocean. And you’re allowed to keep them even?” He didn’t know anything at all about the subject, but it seemed like it would be an incredible time regardless of if you found something or not. “Let’s see...hm. Maybe this one,” he suggested, pointing towards one that was on the other side of the booth. It had a bit more of the vibe he was looking for, even if it was a slightly rougher paint job.

[dominichartford]

andrew-ces‌:

Andrew chuckled and shook his head. “Listen, most athletes are superstitious people in a way, I mean we will never say it’s a ‘ritual’, something like a routine instead because well, you don’t want to see it as a good luck ritual or something because then one night you realize you left your lucky sleep wear at home miles away and you don’t want to be the person that can’t perform because something went wrong with your ‘ritual’ but a lot of years ago I played an almost no hitter game… Well I did, because I was relieved in the 7th so what happened after that wasn’t on me so I like to keep that same routine and it involved carrying around some old stuff in my wallet… There’s even a condom that expired like five years ago but it is still there.”

Dominic understood the whole superstitious athlete thing. He saw it in his own daughter at times when she was busying herself trying to get ready for games. He’d never understood it, but he didn’t judge it. “That’s fair enough, I suppose. How big of a routine do you have planned out that you have to follow? I’ve heard some people have just absolutely insane things they stick to. Really can throw you out of whack if you mess it up, I take it?” He’d seen Kaileigh melt down before over one small little change in her procedures.

[dominichartford]

andrew-ces‌:

“I finally feel like myself again.” Andrew said scratching his beard as he ordered another beer at the bar. “I didn’t know the beard made that much of a difference, I got freaking carded at a liquor store… Though the guy saw my blockbuster card when I was fishing for my ID and just said ‘never mind you’re old enough’ I wished I was actually underage and just fooled the dude instead of just old.”

The story resonated with Dominic quite a bit, though even without a beard now he was pretty sure he’d never get carded. “Enjoy it while you can. I started getting carded less and less and now they all just give me the sad, oh you’re so old why would I ever card you look.” He chuckled mirthlessly under his breath. “Blockbuster though, really? How on earth do you still have one of those?”

[dominichartford]

dr-rhys-gillard‌:

“ I swear my dog literally does things to annoy me. He is like a three year old jacked up on sugar.” Rhys sighed as he picked up the panting pug who started to nip at his fingers. “honestly if I can handle this I can handle anything.” He said with a chuckle. 

“Oh, my friend, you clearly haven’t ever tried raising a three year old jacked up on sugar before,” Dominic laughed, head shaking as he watched. “Dogs are tough sometimes, but man...kids are a whole different level.”

[dominichartford]

alyssatykman‌:

Alyssa bit at her lip, nodding slowly. She hated that people could usually tell how nervous she got around them. It had been years since she’d started trying to work on herself and even still there were moments that she couldn’t get a handle of her nerves. “Oh, no it’s like…fine, I just…thought I was…talking to myself in my head,” she admitted, sheepishly, her eyes flashing towards the ground as she tried to calm herself to some degree. “But oh, that um. Probably a Nintendo Switch? That’s like…good for younger people. Or anyone, kind of. But um…more for kids. Is she…she’s a kid?”

“Happens all the time when I’m working on things,” he replied, warmly, hoping a little bit of commiserating would continue to reduce any nerves she felt. It wasn’t something he liked to see, younger women in distress, as it only reminded him of his own daughter. Maybe it was the father in him, but he felt compelled to help as best as he could. “That sounds right, though. She’s just starting high school, but I still think of her as a kid, yes. A Switch, of course. She has me try and play with her sometimes, but I’m just not any good.” 

[dominichartford]

reesespieces86‌:

“See! This year is just flying by! We’re going to have to get together more often so this doesn’t happen again,” she determined aloud. “September,” she repeated more so that she’d remember. “For sure, let me know a time, date, and location, and I’ll be there to cheer her on. Might have to inform me of the colors too. Wouldn’t want to cheer for the wrong team.” Finding a booth that appeared to cater to marine life as the main subject, she ventured in, inviting Dominic to follow. “Oh yeah? My cousin took me exploring not too long ago. We went down to look at a shipwreck and it was honestly one of the best times of my life. I haven’t been able to be in the water with manatees yet though. Haven’t even seen any, unless you count the manatee tank at Epcot.” Glancing around, her eyes spotted a large painting that would look great hanging above a sofa in a living room. It had to manatees swimming over coral reef with the reflection of the sun beaming through the water. “What do you think of this one?”

“Certainly. Perhaps at one of Kaileigh’s games, you can sit next to me while I get excited,” he chuckled. He wasn’t one of those crazy parents that ran around yelling at their kid on the field, but he was a loud cheering party for his daughter. He couldn’t help that. “But, of course. She’ll be in purple, very easy to pick out.” That was one benefit of being with the Orlando City youth soccer clubs now, the uniform was unique and easy to pick out. He had an impressed look, the idea of diving in a shipwreck actually sort of neat to him. “That’s incredible. Did you see anything exciting at the wreck or just some fish and such?” There were probably a lot of wrecks out there with various treasures waiting to be found. Or, more likely, a lot of them that were just already dredged through. Lifting his head to take a look at the painting she’d chosen, he took his time, thinking it over to see if it might fit in. “I like it, it’s beautiful, but not quite right. There’s a little too much color with all the coral. Maybe something a smidge blander would fit better.”

[dominichartford]

bethany-siegel‌:

“I didn’t really care about myself. I cared about everyone else around me and I cared about helping others, but when it came to myself, I didn’t care,” Beth admitted as she didn’t really know why she was sharing it. “And then when my parents died, I just gave up. I got pregnant with Naomi not too long after it happened and she was my salvation. It was like she was a gift from them.”

Dominic listened politely, nodding here and there as he let her talk. It didn’t seem like the type of conversation to interrupt in any way, so he remained quiet until she had finished. “That’s what kids are, honestly. A gift. They find ways to change people and make lives better, even when it seems everything is going wrong.”

[dominichartford]

alyssatykman‌:

It would be just her luck that somehow her voice would be just loud enough that someone would think she was talking to them and, on top of that, that the someone would be a rather burly looking older man. Her eyebrows furrowed with concern briefly as she glanced over at him, a glint of mistrust visible in them. “Oh, ah it’s um. It’s an uh…it’s from a game. A video game. I guess you…don’t play?” she replied, words coming out in a halted stutter that was typical for her when interacting with nearly anyone for the first time.

Generally speaking, Dominic had a fairly good intuition about things and his perceptive skills were usually spot on, but it wouldn’t have taken anyone with much talent at it all to realize something had deeply startled the younger woman. Maybe it was just his sudden response, but he felt it ran much deeper than just that. “My apologies if I startled you,” he said in a calming tone, taking a half step back to make sure he didn’t impose any further threat in her mind. “I  don’t really, though, no. My daughter has ah...one of those game systems, though. It’s got the..Mario on it?”

[dominichartford]

alyssatykman‌:

After being out of town for a month, Alyssa’s plane had finally landed back in Orlando, bringing her home for some much needed rest. She was still in a state of utter shock that her gaming team had won their big tournament, instantly making her a multimillionaire. Most of it would be invested back into their brand, but the money that was pouring in for them now was an astounding amount. Tired as she was, Alyssa couldn’t bring herself to sleep, instead wandering down the street to the festival going on. She found herself at an art display, looking at some extravagant paintings of various video game characters. “This is…woah,” she mumbled softly, flipping the price tag over in her hand. “This would be like…crazy right?” She wasn’t talking specifically to anyone, mostly to herself, but her voice carried loud enough that the person walking by could hear her.

Wandering through the festival was just something to do while he was on break from work, really. Kaileigh was at school now, giving him more free time than he knew what to do with. There was no specific destination in mind, just the thought that he wanted to kill some time outdoors before it was back to the grind. Head lifting when a voice started to speak, he glanced towards the indicated painting with a confused look. “I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what that is on the painting,” he chuckled, figuring it was just his older age coming into play. “But, if you like it...I don’t see why it would be crazy.”

[dominichartford]

bethany-siegel‌:

“Yeah, it does. Even if he’s a pain in the butt most of the time,” she rolled her eyes with a smile, watching Naomi for a moment. “So roughly ten years can be a phase or is that just me being a bit of an idiot? I was that Upper East Side teen that was able to get into the clubs and let loose. Like that show Gossip Girl. Then I just didn’t care when I lost my parents. Naomi is why I don’t do that anymore.”

“That...is a long phase, perhaps, but maybe,” he replied with a half laugh. He’d never had the time to get that crazy in his youth. He’d been married young and had Kaileigh young as well, so his whole life had been devoted to his family. “And I...can’t say I’ve ever seen the show before or...heard of it either, but. It’s good I think that things changed with your daughter coming into the picture.”

[dominichartford]

reesespieces86‌:

“If I remember correctly, the blizzard came around the turn of the new year, and it’s the end of August, so…” she thought aloud, almost cringing. “Not that much of an exaggeration. But no need to dwell on it. The important part is that we’re finally reunited and we’re all doing well.” Learning about the activities of the man’s daughter, she nodded her head with an impressed expression. “Competitive Soccer League, eh? You’ll have to inform me on when her next game is, so I can go out and support her and the team.” When asked what she was going to do with the time she had freed up as a result of hiring more staff, she scrunched up her lips. “Yanno, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. But I’m always open to suggestions,” she laughed. Mind coming up with ideas and eyes scanning the various booths for something that fit what they were looking for, she stopped to look at her friend when he mentioned sealife. “You know. I didn’t even think of that. Marine life is well…life. I don’t know if you’ve ever dived down below the surface, but it’s a whole other world down there and it’s mesmerizing. And Manatees? The ocean’s teddy bear. There has to be someone who specializes in capturing its beauty around here.”

“Wow, that’s...a damn long time,” he said with a wide eyed expression. It had been far longer than he remembered since that had happened. Sometimes life just passed by too quickly and looking back, he was starting to think that were the case here. “I will, though. Her games start up in September, so it’ll be a busy, busy start to the season.” He was excited as could be about it and more proud than he’d ever been of his daughter. Chuckling, Dominic lifted a hand in front of him. “Not sure I’m the one to ask on that one, I don’t know what to do with free time myself. If Kaileigh is busy and I don’t have work to get done? I’m lost.” Usually he defaulted to reading a book or, on rarer occasions, watching a film. “I have before, actually. On vacations and such, I’ve done the whole scuba thing. It’s incredible. Plus, yeah...manatees are pretty great, so I don’t know. That might be nice to have hanging up?”