f r e e d o m

Take me up to the North side Let me sleep under the pines Where the starlight falls upon my face And the redwoods whisper lies

[gcvalas-blog]

sunnydefazzio·:

“that damn desk clerk’s supposed to let me know when the elevators work,” she muttered. she had a strange relationship with the desk clerk. they acted more like brother and sister and there were times she’d make things happen that he wouldn’t or couldn’t. “he called me twenty minutes ago saying he was gonna come visit — he’ll freak if he sees me like this, he’ll know what was going on and then he’s gonna start lecturing me.”

“You can always try the buttons,” he suggested lightly. “Worst case, you end up waiting around the lobby for a few minutes and take the stairs when the elevator doesn't come.” Best case, the elevator was working, and she didn't have to wait for someone to tell her as much. Win-win--or close enough, anyway. Jack worried the inside of his cheek between his teeth--weighing whether or not he was actually going to voice the thought--before finally offering, “If you need a place to just, sort everything out or whatever,” he gestured vaguely to her dress and the pair of underwear clutched in her hand, “I’m just up on the fifth floor.” It wasn’t like he’d gotten very far down the stairs before running into her, in any case, so she wouldn’t have far until the landing.

[gcvalas-blog]

sunnydefazzio·:

“they got the elevator fixed?” she asked. as long as she’d lived there, she always used the stairs because there was always something wrong with the elevators. maybe if she paid more attention, she’d know when things were actually up and running. “could’ve been. fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” she muttered.

He offered her a shrug. “I guess? It’s been running every time I’ve needed it.” Which was usually only when he had something too heavy to be willing to lug up five flights of stairs. Otherwise, he tended toward the stairs for the extra exercise. “Was he not supposed to get there before you?” he asked as he actually took in her disheveled appearance.

[gcvalas-blog]

ftspcncer‌:

      “ you ask a lot of questions, ” spencer jokingly replied with feigned suspicion, as if the questions weren’t valid and everything she said made perfect sense. she really didn’t expect anything less though. in fact, she might’ve been worried had he just gone along with it from the beginning, with no questions asked at all. “ hmm, yes, there is a right answer, i’m just not sure what it is, ” she added, while looking at her phone once more with a puzzled look on her face before tossing it down on the cough beside her. her brain really needed a break. “ honestly, it’s nothing important. i took some pictures downtown the other night and i can’t decide which one i like the best, even though they kinda all look the same. i don’t know, if you feel like a certain number is just speaking to you… let me know.” she explained—or tried her hardest to—shrugging as she looked over at jack, “ anyways… what are you up to? ”

“I’ve gotta make sure you’re not plotting world domination or something over there,” Jack teased with a lopsided grin. He turned to better face her as she regarded her phone again, shifting his computer to the arm of the couch to get it out of the way. “I don’t know if there’s a number speaking to me, but if you want a second opinion, I can always take a look.” He shrugged.

 “Not much,” he answered, turning his laptop so she could see the page of weather information he’d been browsing. “Trying to decide how much I trust the forecast for next weekend. I was thinking of trying to get out to the coast to get some surfing in. There's a state park over in Delaware that's supposed to be a good spot, but I don't wanna make that drive if the weather's gonna be shit.”

[gcvalas-blog]

sunnydefazzio·:

yes, her dress was on inside out. and yes, those were her underwear she was holding. she got a phone call while she was at ‘a friend’s place saying her father was stopping in for a visit… so she had no choice but to get dressed and rush from the bottom floor apartment to the seventh floor for get decent and make sure the apartment was clean because god knows pop would yell at her about being ‘just like ya brothas, a slob’. as she ran up the stairs, she stopped when she saw a familiar face. “hey! you seen my pop come this way? older, kinda has a culdesac hairline, probably wearing suspenders, orthopedic velcro shoes and probably sweating buckets and struggling to breathe headed to the seventh,” she said quickly, out of breath herself.

His nose buried in his phone as his roommate continued to text updates to their joint grocery list (probably going through the fridge and cabinets now that one of them was actually going for groceries), Jack had just drifted to one side of the staircase at the heavy footfalls of someone else running up the stairs and intended to let them pass. At her hey! he looked up with a faint ‘huh?’, a little surprised to hear her voice. It wasn’t like they knew each other all that well--a few brief interactions, and somewhere in there swapping numbers and exchanging a few texts. Once her question had actually registered, he shook his head. “I haven’t seen anyone on their way up.” No one but her, anyway. “But uh, I thought I saw the elevator heading up when I passed it. Could've been him?”

[spidey-man]

[gcvalas-blog]

bcntlcvs·:

“ so i told myself i would try my best t’ stop smoking, but with the way life’s just fucking me silly it’s way harder than i anticipated. ” bentley says before lighting up & taking a drag, stepping away from the person inches away. “ sorry, don’t wanna like … give you whole secondhand n’ shit. don’t want that on my conscious. ” he adds before waving it away.

"Oh, uh-" Jack turned his body so the rumpled pack of cigarettes he'd just fished out of the pocket of his coat was visible to the other man. "I think the ship's already set sail," he joked, rattling a cigarette free. He lit up quietly, returning the pack and his lighter back to the pockets of his jacket once he was exhaling smoke into the air. “That’s good, though. Trying to quit, I mean.”

[gcvalas-blog]

ftspcncer·:

       spencer always enjoyed the days where she could hang out at jack’s apartment, regardless of the fact that she wasn’t really even doing anything, but that was a welcomed change to her frazzled brain, between balancing work and upcoming finals. she was just thankful that he was here and that she had a place to bring her frazzled mind to. granted, she hadn’t said much since she settled on the couch and got caught up momentarily on instagram–her intently indecisive nature not able to settle on which picture of the city lights from a few nights ago to post. yes, they all looked more or less the exact same and yes she could feel her brain melting more by the second, but yet she was oddly determined to sort it out. “hey, i need your help,” spencer spoke up as she finally took her eyes off her phone, “can you pick a number between one and four? and this is… important, so, choose wisely,” she didn’t give any other context, yet she still felt like it was a reasonable request. @gcvalas

Whether or not they actually engaged with one another was less important than just sharing a space, as far as Jack was concerned. He was still getting used to having her so close by again, and was more than happy to just have Spencer over while she did her own thing. After it had become apparent that she wasn’t likely to resurface from her phone for a while, Jack had settled back into his seat on the couch with his laptop, content to surf the web and occasionally glance up to whatever movie was quietly playing on the television as background noise. He looked up at her voice, a confused frown forming on his face as her request registered. “How am I supposed to choose wisely when I’m just picking a number?” was his immediate response instead of an actual answer. “Is there a right answer?” Was he needling her? Maybe. But what kind of older brother would he be if he didn’t occasionally give her a hard time over something silly? “What’s this for, anyway?”

[gcvalas-blog]

hi babes! local cephalopod here! i just wanted to make it known that i finally got a full bio page up, which you can find here if you’re interested <3 i’ve got some connection ideas down at the bottom, too, so bonus! also, i’ve been plotting with a handful of folks and trying to jump on starters, but i realized that the one i posted never ended up displaying in the tag?? idk, man, but you can find that here if you’d like! i think i’m all caught up on the replies i owe, but if i missed one, come slide into my dms. but also feel free to slide into my dms to plot in general, i’m usually lurking <3

[gcvalas-blog]

wydaugust·:

      august’s head moves along with the beat of the old tune playing in the dive bar. it was long overdue – a night out. mind you, he felt slightly old agreeing on going out for the trivia night, but it was supposed to be a 90′s themed one and gus is in fact a 90′s kid, no matter how annoying the expression became. “to be completely honest.. i’ve never been to one of these trivia nights..” he murmurs as their waitress drops off a few of the devices that apparently allows you to play and follow along on the tv screens. he supposes assuming you would download some app on your phone was a bit too advanced for this establishment. “there’s a good chance that i’ll possibly, definitely, be shit.”

Admittedly, Jack had initially started trying to get to know Spencer’s roommate out of step-brotherly protectiveness. But the more they’d talked over Jack’s handful of months living at Mulburry, the more he’d settled into the notion that Gus wasn’t half bad, and Jack had started to branch out further into making friends territory.

“Really?” Not that he had too much room to talk--it was his first time being to one to make the suggestion to go to a trivia night. He took a swig from his beer and reached out to slide one of the devices across the table to himself. “They’re kinda hit or miss, depending on the crowd,” he confessed. But the drinks at this one, at least, were discounted, which was a nice bonus. Jack huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Don’t worry about that, man. If we’re shit, we’re shit. It’s whatever, long as we’re having fun.”

[gcvalas-blog]

dxstafford·:

D tilted her head upward. She hadn’t heard the other person come up behind her. The Aquarium gift shop was particularly empty, as it was a weekday and most of the school groups weren’t allowed in. “You need some help? I promise that plush dolphin isn’t going to solve whatever problem you think it will.” She said offering a smile. Customers usually appreciated a bit of honesty when they were considering buying an admittedly overpriced souvenir.

Jack had never been particularly drawn to the aquarium as a kid the way he had other places in the harbor, but he’d found a newfound appreciation for it after moving back to Maryland. Something about the generated waves for some of the exhibits and the open-air portions with seabirds soothed that need for the ocean he still had trouble shaking. But bailing on most of his plans for the day because he’d needed the weekday quiet-but-not of the aquarium had maybe not been his finest move, especially when he didn’t think he’d be able to actually talk about it when it came time to face the music. Hence his visit to the gift shop, hoping maybe he’d get inspiration for some way of making amends without actually having to say anything.

He startled a little when he realized that the woman was addressing him, but recovered quickly enough, a lopsided smile spreading across his face. “You mean the pink dolphin doesn’t scream ideal apology gift for missing lunch with my roommate?”

[gcvalas-blog]

livcnc·:

      “the worst thing about spring is how beautiful it looks outside, but it hasn’t actually heated up much..” vana regrets only throwing her denim jacket on as the wind blows around them. “so you get dressed thinking it’s warm out, because look!! –” she reaches a hand up to the sky, pointing at the sun shining brightly. “the sky is blue and the sun is out, but how was i to know there’d be this cool breeze??” she lead them into the coffee shop, ducking inside quickly. “here i was thinking i’d order an iced coffee, but not so much anymore. – what do you want?? my treat!!”

“You know that’s what the weather app on your phone is for, right? Someone who actually knows what they’re talking about makes sure you know how warm or cold it’ll be so you can dress accordingly?” He was only teasing, though, amusement in his voice and a grin on his face. Though he might not have necessarily looked the warmest, between the thick leather of his jacket and the substantial material of the undershirt beneath his button up, Jack was arguably warmer than her. “Hey, no,” he was protesting immediately, “I was the one who wanted to take a break from studying and dragged you out, I’m paying.”

[fluffygif]

[mingrose]

What happens when I talk to myself

[gcvalas-blog]

thcosawycr·:

        “don’t people join actual pool leagues and have real games and trophies and shit??” he muses, picking up his bottle of beer to down a large gulp. theo shakes his head some, a low sigh falling past his lips. “i’d come in last for sure. dunno if practice would really help, man.” as theodore laughs, he slides his hand over his jaw, up until it’s combing through his hair some. there’s a slight playful glare thrown towards his friend and he points the pool cue at him. “shut up and drink your beer, gavalas.” he repeats with a bit more oomph, eyes still narrowed at the other. “least if you drink more we’ll be on the same playing level.” he adds now with a shrug.

"Yeah, there's like, competitions and tournaments. I think there's a world championship or something?" Not the sort of thing he'd watch, per se, but he'd seen clips from something on his occasional passes of Youtube while looking for more complicated shots to add to his repertoire. "Not with that attitude, it won't," Jack teased.

He held up his hands in mock surrender at Theo's quip, before taking several demonstrative gulps of his beer. "You know you don't have to get me drunk to go easy on you, you can just ask," he said with a grin as he shifted his attention back to the table for his next shot.

[herseybitermiszamanla-deactivat]

[gcvalas-blog]

what would be a deal breaker for you? either in a friendship or a romantic relationship

“Dishonesty. Especially in a relationship. It’s about trust, you know? And if we can’t be open and honest with each other, I don’t see how it can work.”

[gcvalas-blog]

What ‘little things’ seem to bother you more than they bother other people?

“Not a lot? Most of the stuff that’ll drive me nuts before it’ll bug anyone else has to do with my tinnitus in one way or another. Like, those old lights that buzz really loudly? Or electronics that make high-pitched whines? If I can hear it, it grates on my nerves pretty quickly.”