𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔲𝔭

gareth sato "When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape.”

[garethsgreat]

𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕠 - penned and cared for by luna, est, she/her

-- [introduction] -- [tags] -- [headcanons] -- [connections]

[edensbingham]

closed starter for @garethsgreat at his and jeff’s apartment

Eden got off work and got some stuff to make dinner and wanted to actually surprise Jeff with it since he usually was the one who cooked for her at the diner. She figured he was still at work and she hoped Gareth was home so she pulled up to the building their apartment was in, grabbed her bags, and headed up there; knocking on the door. “Gareth? Please be here. These bags are heavy and I really don’t want to carry them back to my car.”

[garethsgreat]

On his days off, Gareth did his usual routine of eating his weight in junk and sitting around listening to old records. He was just in the middle of it when he heard the knock through the muffled sounds. He pulled his bag of pretzels up to his chest and opened the door, crumbs falling out as he gave a half grin. “At your service, miss.” He said casually, holding out his arms so Eden could set the bags on them. “Whatcha got planned? Am I invited too? You can say no but I will be in my room weeping.”

[garethsgreat]

location: eddie’s trailer when: evening with: @sarcasmco​

“Dude. I’m not going to be able to make pumpkin pie anymore. That’s sick.” Gareth waved his hands out in front of him in outrage, replaying all the information the news spewed out earlier that day. Sure, he was making jokes but in reality, he hadn’t stopped thinking about the circumstances surrounding the two patches. It was the same thru line that kept popping up -- that sludge. The sludge that Gareth jotted down in notebooks, had weird theories in lists that made no sense to anyone but him. It felt insane to be considering all of this but it was too weird. It was not right. He played it all off as a joke only for the sake of saving face. “And they were fine...what last week? I don’t get it. Do you get it? Because I definitely don’t get it.”

[wcaringthin]

where: haunted barn (wright’s patch) when: spooky scary night time with: @garethsgreat

Why Jeff agreed to go through the haunted barn in the first place, he has no idea (except he does, and it was to save face rather than admit he gets precious little enjoyment from being scared). He’s tripped on Gareth’s stupid mummy costume three times already, and his nerves are decidedly frayed at the edges. “Dude, I’m going to need you to either walk a little faster, or let me go in front,” Jeff mutters through clenched teeth, doing his best to disentangle himself from the length of bandages caught around his foot. “I swear, if I end up on my ass surrounded by creeps in masks because of your costume, I’m locking you out of the apartment.”

[garethsgreat]

Gareth might have been a little bit of a coward when it came to every day but for a good spook at a fair? He loves it, lives for it in fact. That’s exactly why he dragged Jeff out there with him, walking slowly on purpose to really relish in the moment. “Are you really going to be cool to go in front, Captain Weenie?” He laughs a little at his friend’s expense, kicking up some loose bandages that hung from his shoe. Making his way in the dark, Gareth nearly trips over a hay bale and lets out a dramatic shriek that eventually turns into a stupid bout of laughter. “Five bucks says you run out without me.”

[garethsgreat]

lilysortega​:

x

That was definitely a way of looking at it. So far, there hadn’t been news of anyone who passed during the storm or missing so for that viewpoint, Lily could understand where he was coming from that at least it wasn’t worse. However, she wasn’t so sure it wasn’t. The storm brought on bigger hope that her daughter was out there. She heard her. And that meant something. It had to have. “Yeah.” She said softly before she watched him closely to see how he acted with her question. He seemed confused and that made her heart fall a bit and her eyes just stared while he tried remembering. Her heart sank more and she sighed. “I… I heard…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’ll sound crazy and I’m not crazy.” She said and looked back at him. “I heard my daughter.”

just from the way lily’s expression shifted, gareth pieced together what she meant. it sunk his stomach down to the very pit of his body and his mouth fell open wordlessly. he wished he could tell her he had. he would have taken getting bitten by bats if it meant he could offer her some good news but here he was empty handed and every word of consolation seemed useless. it was one thing to not know about her own daughter but to hear her, to be that close -- gareth would probably never understand pain like that. “I don’t -- I didn’t, I’m sorry.” he stuttered out but kept his composure, his eyes trained on the side of her face. “I don’t think you’re crazy. not even a little bit.”

[scphiafms]

location: the three squares diner

closed starter for: gareth sato ( @garethsgreat​ )

       back to normal. sophia really did want to use this phrase as a sign that things were in full swing around here. however, this past month or so has proved one thing — the things happening around here weren’t normal. for that reason, she wasn’t even going to say anything. instead, she was going to sit down in one of the seats and enjoy her lunch in peace.        “ thank you! ” she exclaimed, watching as the waiter took her menu away after she ordered. tapping her nails against the table, she heard the music playing in the background and looked around the diner. it was almost as if nothing happened. moving a strand of hair from her face, she leaned back in her seat and noticed someone. while he may not be looking right at her, he was looking in her direction, which caused her to turn her head just to try and see what he was looking at. eventually, she looked back, a smirk on her face. “ is everything alright? ”

[garethsgreat]

normalcy never appealed to gareth more than it did these days. the weird, the strange, the freakish -- all up his alley until recently. now all gareth wanted was his grilled cheese and to know that his second family didn’t have any other problems to worry about. so he did what he could, sitting his happy little butt in one of the seats and forcing the Jeffersons to take his money. 

with the diner in full swing again thankfully, that meant gareth was set to wait like any other customer for his order. it wasn’t their fault he had the world’s worst attention span, his foot already tapping on the stool underneath him. gareth’s eyes wandered to a spot just beside a customer’s head and for a second, he thought maybe he broke his staring problem when the women called him out. “Oh, I have this problem called ‘hungry blank face’, where I stare at the nearest waiter or the kitchen to see if I can use my mind powers to get the food to cook faster.” he chuckled, already picking up a napkin to start folding it like a swan. “Pop thinks I’m scaring the customers so I’ve probably got to stop doing that. ”

[garethsgreat]

lilysortega​:

x

Lily looked down at the candy as he offered it to her and gave a quick, polite smile before taking it; playing with the wrapper between her fingers. “No, its okay.” She assured him. The last thing Lily wanted to do was make him feel bad or anything. “I got to cover quick. It’s fine.” She said and looked him over. “I know. Its crazy how different things happened to all of us.” The woman sighed and her eyes gazed over the few people in the room before back at Gareth. Now was the time. “Gareth… did you… Did you happen to hear a child at all? While we were at the mall.”

“well I’m glad it wasn’t worse,  you know?” no matter what, gareth had this bleeding heart for people. he wanted to help, wanted to do what he could and it sucked to feel helpless. he nodded slowly, fiddling with a loose strand on his jeans. “a child?” gareth’s brows furrowed at the question, not expecting that to be what lily needed to know. the events of starcourt were still kind of blurry in his head, a mess of quick moving moments that he couldn’t make heads or tails of. still, gareth saw how serious lily was and he wracked his brain, trying to play over what he did remember. “no, i mean I don’t think so but i think my head is all kinds of frazzled. why? did you hear something?”

[upsidedownism]

OPEN: anyone WHERE: heather holloway’s driveway .

jonathan didn’t want to part with many things that were currently in heather hollway’s driveway but he knew that he needed to given that they needed a new camera. the one that they were loaned wasn’t great, but it did the job. sometimes jonathan wished that they were born richer to be able to afford all these things but they weren’t blessed with that fact. “this vinyle of the clash and the smiths is pretty cool- i had gotten it signed by them personally and am willing to negotiate the price if you want,” he says with a small smile, but won’t ever let the other know how much the record had meant to them. they needed to continue working, even if it meant selling things that meant a lot to them. 

[garethsgreat]

“what? no way.” gareth had to admit that the stuff jonathan was shelling was pretty cool and tempting at the same time. it only took a glance at the array of items set out to know that they weren’t just any old ordinary junk that people kept hidden in their attic. no, this all had value and he was guessing that was the point. “do you really want to sell this stuff, man? because it’s got pretty cool history behind it. if it were me, i’d keep it.” he shrugs, carefully getting his grubby fingers off the vinyl. “when I was really down and out, I did the whole lemonade stand thing but you know, for stuff that isn’t lemonade if you know what I mean.” gareth mindlessly picks up a knick knack from another table, gently passing it between his hands. “I could give you twenty bucks for like, a handful of grass. i’m an easy customer.”

[garethsgreat]

wcaringthin​:

Once Jeff had been assured of his family’s well-being (and that the Three Squares itself was still standing), his next point of call had been to go looking for Gareth. When he’d expressed his intentions to his mother, however, she’d given him such a look that he’d immediately sat back down, cowed into eating a seemingly endless supply of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while his dad bandaged up his arm. Flow Jefferson fully intended to go out and find his other son himself.

In the end, it proves unnecessary. Gareth comes barrelling into the kitchen, and Jeff turns from where he’s started pacing, raising his hands to ward the other man off. “Gareth, wait, I’m covered in sh-” But it’s too late, Gareth’s arms are already around him, and Jeff can’t bring himself to pull away. He holds him tightly, rubbing absent circles into his back as he notices his laboured breathing - did he run all the way here? “I’m sorry,” Jeff says, against all logic, his voice rough with emotion. “I’m really glad you’re here, man. I was going out of my mind - I didn’t even know where you were.”

there was nothing in the universe that could keep gareth from jeff right now. he hadn’t come this close to losing someone important to him in a long time and just knowing that a nightmare was almost a reality had him clutching jeff for dear life. “don’t be sorry, shit.” he mutters into his friend’s shoulder, pulling back to get a good look at his face. “I got stuck at that hell trap mall but that doesn’t matter. what matters is that everyone’s good, right? we’re all good.” reminding himself of the place produced a shiver that gareth attempted to hide so he tucked it in, focused on what really mattered after the storm. “what about you? why are you all bandaged up? and why is mom still making pb&j’s?” the humor popped out without meaning to, his defensive mechanism really working overtime. 

[garethsgreat]

location: downtown hawkins with: @sarcasmco​ - lia

when times got tough, gareth always flickered back to his hobbies to keep him distracted. sharing a place with jeff meant not wailing on his drums at all hours so one of his only forms of escape was good old dnd. it must have been well over a year since he’d played properly after the disbanding of the club but that didn’t mean gareth didn’t keep up. with his notebook in hand, gareth went on a walk through the busted up downtown area, flipping through pages as he muttered to himself. he didn’t pay much attention to the people around him as he did so, completely lost in his own train of thought. 

[garethsgreat]

12. what is something that will always make your muse laugh?

people falling. silly animals. fart jokes. pudding for some reason. sucking the helium out of balloons. sticking straws in his nose. hiding jeff's shoes.

[garethsgreat]

lilysortega​:

x

She could sense the distance in him. She knew it well, if she was honest. She was doing that herself all day and was feeling it coming on right now as she sat down and listened to him talk. The question had it all coming back. The hearing Natty’s voice, the cracking and shattering of glass, the screeches and wings of the bats, the feeling of their claws and tails (bats usually don’t have tails) hitting her skin… Thinking about it made her tremble and she swallowed for a moment before nodding. “I’m okay. A little scratched, but its okay.” She assured him. There were scratches along her skin here and there and her ankle still hurt, but she was okay for the most part. “Did they get you?” She asked; holding in what she really wanted to ask him: if he heard or saw Natty.

gareth usually knew how to comfort people. he said something silly, got a smile on their face, and cleared their minds of whatever was plaguing them -- this time though, he didn’t think he had it in him or worse, he didn’t think it was right. the gravity of the situation dulled his usual shine and gareth only thought about those demon bats screeching, echoing in the high walls of starcourt. still, gareth tried to keep his bleak demeanor to himself, reaching into his pocket and offering lily some candy he kept in there for safe keeping. “I’m sorry. I mean, I’m glad they didn’t get you too bad but I’m sorry.” He muttered, rubbing his hands over his knees. “Just a few bumps and bruises from trying to get away. I’m good though, just - trying to be here for everyone.”

[garethsgreat]

😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

gareth is kind of a weenie. he can admit that fully. he's not a fighter, he's a lover and he'll definitely run at the first sign of danger when it comes to himself. if he's scared for his friends though, he'll put on a brave face and go to bat for them in a second. he'll fight if he has to but only for certain people. that being said, he's definitely not the best at throwing punches but he tries.

[garethsgreat]

location: three squares diner with: @wcaringthin​ - jeff

it was not the best idea to be hightailing it through main street, dodging debris just to find one of his best friends. he could have waited, gone back to the apartment or maybe the hospital. he could have been logical but since when was he ever logical? so gareth ran to his second family, ran to the jeffersons at rapid speed. they had to know where jeff was, someone must know. the nausea that came with his worry was getting worse by the second and only grew when he burst through the doors of the diner to find everyone with concerned looks on their faces. “is he here?” gareth walked toward the back without an answer, eyes wide until he found jeff -- bandaged up but alive. “do you want me to go insane??” were the first words out of his mouth before he ran and wrapped his arms around jeff, his body completely out of breath. “I was scared, you asshole.”

[lilysortega]

closed starter for @garethsgreat​ at the hospital

Lily couldn’t help staying at the hospital. She was walking around aimlessly as she searched for any sign of her daughter. She had to be there, right? There was no way she couldn’t be. Unless she was going insane, she had to have heard her daughter at the mall and maybe she was an idiot, but she felt that had to mean her daughter, her Natty, was alive. And if she was, she would be at the hospital, right? That’s what she had to believe. She was still mess from the hours before when they were found. When she was found. And all she was doing was wandering and talking to people here and there to make sure they were okay. Like Gareth now. They had seen each other in the mall and now that she was passing by, she wanted to make sure he was okay. After all, those bats (where did they come from?) were scary. “Hey, Gareth. How are you holding up?”

[garethsgreat]

gareth felt a little guilty taking up space in the hospital. he knew people there, everyone did, but the tension on everyone’s faces made him feel like a burden by just standing there. a nurse rounded the corner and gareth made himself scarce, backing up until he was out of the way -- his back pressed up against the nearest wall as flat as he could be. “oh, hey.” gareth looked up when he heard his name, his skin more pale than usual. “I’m fine, just...” he trailed off, shaking his head and offering lily a nearby seat. it all still flashed in his mind, the bats and the noise, all of the chaos. it only made his suspicions about christopher and the town that much larger. “I’m okay.” he finished, turning to her. “are you okay? did those...things get you?”

[garethsgreat]

wcaringthin​:

Date. Will studiously decides not to read anything into Gareth’s choice of words, because he obviously didn’t mean it like that. He’s just being nice, because he’s always nice - unexpectedly so. “You don’t have to pay me back,” Will says hurriedly. “Honestly, you’re doing me a favour. At least now I don’t look like such a loser.” This is the second time in recent weeks that Gareth’s rescued them from that particular fate - first at Reefer Rick’s, and now here. It’s like he manifests whenever Will’s feeling especially socially awkward. “So, who’s not fun?”

“I’ve gotta give you something. you’re gracing me with your presence right now.” if anyone else said it, it might have sounded like a joke but gareth was serious. he was all smiles as he took an obnoxiously large spoonful and tried to balance it on his nose. “who said you’re a loser? I don’t see a loser and even if you were, I’m a bigger one so it cancels out.” he nudges the sundae closer to will, tilting his head to look at them properly. they had the same sort of hunched posture that gareth had grown to notice, a fact that wasn’t lost on him. if shoveling ice cream into his mouth nonstop, might help will out a little -- hell gareth was happy to do it. "the blonde guy with the dumb face. we have beef that goes back a while. it’s a long story.” 

[lilysortega]

closed starter for @garethsgreat​ at starcourt mall

The storm outside seemed never ending and as much as she didn’t want to sleep, Lily was getting tired. She had seen some people find pillows and blankets, so she went into JCPenney’s and got herself something before trying to find somewhere to set up a bed for the night. Upon walking around, she spotted Gareth, who she knew from being friends with Jeff and even coming into the library himself. She moved over to him and smiled as she offered him one of the extra blankets she grabbed. “Not sure if you’re tired, but a nice blanket never hurt.” She said and smiled. “I got a pillow too. I figured at a time like this, no one is going to care if we use these. And if so, I’ll pay for whatever I use.”

[garethsgreat]

there was something about being locked up that had gareth running a mile a minute, his stamina lasting him only so long before he calmed down. he finally stopped buzzing long enough to make eye contact with lily, immediately stopping. “ma’am, much obliged.” gareth tipped an invisible hat toward her like all those guys in the westerns or maybe it was those british shows, he couldn’t remember did, bouncing over to take her up on her offer. “I know the guys who work over there and trust me, they definitely don’t care. They can’t expect us to sleep on the ground anyway.” bringing the blanket to his chest, gareth felt oddly comforted by having something solid to hold on to. “everyone’s been turning down my idea of building a massive fort by the fountain but who’s to say I can’t make my own. I don’t know if I can sleep knowing what’s out there.”