He swears, he was just right there. Ian can’t fathom how he managed to lose a whole grown man. In a crowd like that of 986, they would generally part for him– not tonight, it seems. Standing in one place, he waits for the other to wander back from wherever he went. It’ll happen, eventually. Always does.
Rubbing at the back of his neck, that whisper of discomfort creeps up his spine. He hates when this happens. A sharp eye is kept out, and upon noticing another standing nearby, he gives a halfhearted smile before feeling that tell tale discomfort that only ever means one thing: a dog nearby. “Fuck. You got a tissue or a napkin or something?”
“Uh, maybe?” Kal frowns, hastily unclipping his leather messenger bag ― he has come straight from the hospital after his shift, a rare moment of luck in which he’s got a decent pocket of free time in the evening instead of some ungodly hour well after midnight. He feels like he should have pragmatic essentials like a travel pack of Kleenex, instead of four blue pens rolling at the bottom of his bag (each of them purchased when he thought to have lost one). Fortunately, he does manage to fish out crinkled cafeteria napkins.
“They’re clean, I promise,” he adds, grinning lopsidedly as he hands them over. “You alright, dude?”
A small groan of frustration escaped her lips as soon as she heard a very familiar voice tell her good game. It had been a good effort, she’d give herself that. As soon as she looked at Kal, Josie sent her co-worker a playful glare, shaking her head. “Oh, so you’re making fun of the Giant Jenga newbie, very charming,” Josie playfully remarked, tilting her head to the side, “Keep going, please. Kick me while I’m down.” She let out a small laugh. “Think you can do better?”
“Whoa, Jose, no! Nothing but sincere love and support from me this evening. I wasn’t taking the piss, I swear,” Kal claims, jumping to defense as his free hand flies up to rest on his chest in mock horror. “Okay, maybe a little bit, but the look on your face was pretty damn hilarious.” Laughter bubbles out of his throat as he shakes his head; party games have never been his forte. “Just wait till you see me play. I’m abysmal.”
LOCATION: Giant Jenga Game
STATUS: Open (for the event)
This was only Josie’s second time coming to the market — all the other times, she was too wrapped up in herself to even bother leaving the house only to find herself surrounded by an overwhelming crowd. Now? She was in a Jenga battle against someone she had never seen before and she was having fun. The problem was she had never been good at games and as she pulled a giant jegan piece from a place she shouldn’t have, everything came crashing. “Oh no!” She let those words draw out, eltting out a laugh as she shook her head. “Guess I was feeling too adventurous and that bit me in the ass,” she commented to no one in particular.
Eagerly watching the jenga game unfold with a drink in his hand, Kalyan lets a loud, dramatic oooh fall from his lips as he watches his co-worker get absolutely demolished. “Good game,” he announces, solemnly shaking his head. “That was the most exciting thing I’ve seen all day.” He’s only half-joking, of course. The ER sees more than its fair share of excitement ― if it can even be called as such. “Craniotomy? Easy as hell. Jenga? You need patience, strategic planning, spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, virgin blood, planets aligning in your favor―”
【 manish dayal, cisgender man, 36 】 this just in - KALYAN THAKKAR has been in wickway for TWO YEARS. apparently HE is a TRAUMA SURGEON and a CIVILIAN, or so HIS passport says. so far it’s known that HE favors CEE’S DINER, and resides at ELRY CAY. HE is also said to be HOPEFUL & COMMUNICATIVE, but also INDECISIVE & COMPLACENT. at the end of the day, HE can be described as TIRED LAUGHTER, COLD BED SHEETS & LIMINAL SPACES.
BACKGROUND
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan to first-generation immigrants from Vadodara, Gujarat.
In a typical fashion, his parents wanted him to become either a doctor or a lawyer, get married to a nice girl and settle down, maybe with a kid or two. That was their vision of a happy, successful life. And to be honest, Kal didn’t see anything wrong with it, mainly because he didn’t know what made him happy — but his parents always wanted the best for him, right?
So life as a pre-med student at University of Michigan was pretty okay. Life as a medical student at Penn Med was also pretty okay. Although he wasn’t zealous about his choice of career like some of his peers, he liked it well enough to keep himself on track. After graduation, he started his residency at the university hospital. The next three years were a blur of overnight shifts, shitty coffee, bleary eyes, and missed calls from his friends and family. After receiving his permanent license, he went on to start his fellowship training in trauma surgery.
Despite all this, despite his hectic life, he couldn’t help but feel strangely empty inside. His life was like a giant puzzle missing the pieces that should go right in the middle. He didn’t hate his job, but he was doing it because he was good at it and it was the only thing he’d ever known. No goals, no ambition. He was just content. Satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied. He was okay. Just pretty okay — that was his life.
Then, bad news came in the form of a phone call from his sister, all the way from Miami, Florida. A car accident had broken her pelvis in three places, leaving her temporarily wheelchair-bound for six weeks. It was by no means an easy decision to make, but Kal opted to move out of Pennsylvania, applying for a position at a hospital in the island of Wickway. There was brotherly concern, there was boredom — the major reason, however, was that he couldn’t resist the itch no longer. The itch for something to change. Moving to a new state, surrounded by unfamiliar streets, perhaps this could be the breath of fresh air he so craved.
And that was two years ago. His sister has long ago made a full recovery, but Kal is still lost, detached, a secondary character in a film that is his own life. He is looking for a way out of this rut, wondering if this is all adult life amounts to be; he is reaching out his hand, yet for what he does not know. He yearns for something unnameable, ungraspable and vague, something he does not comprehend himself. What he does know, however, is that he cannot stop searching. He will not live like this, unknowing; he will not die like this, unknowing.
Work is exhausting, yes, but Kalyan is one of those rare optimists, naturally happy-go-lucky and tough. He has to be. It takes a certain degree of conviction to retain hope when one sees death everyday; underneath all the casual jokes and cheerful laughter, his strength lies, unyielding, like a keystone.
TL;DR + SPICY STUFF
a tl;dr version: local man discovers medical degree is useless in mid-life crisis
when will his life begiiiin
well guess what he’s got a surprise coming his way bc hey! turns out this town has a rich ass history of organized crime. what a way to [ spice girls vc ] spice up your life
one of those people who uses “dude” as a gender-neutral term. unless ofc the other person is uncomfortable with it
boi hasn’t realized this yet but he is very bisexual, that’s gonna be a Fun Discovery
