SIMPLE MAN

"A man needs something he can hold onto. nine-pound hammer or a woman like you. either one of them things will do" grayson cox / 30 / greenwood / carpenter + construction

[graysoncxs]

12, 17, 20

12. How do they behave within a group? What role(s) do they take? Does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? Why?

He’s usually the reliable one in the group or the one complaining that he didn’t want to be there. He can be a bit of a yes man, always saying yes to doing the things no one else wants to. For an example, if he and a group of friends went camping, Grayson would be the one finding firewood, setting up camp, barbecuing food for everyone. He’s dependable. 

17. How do they view and feel about relationships, and how might this manifest in how they handle them, if it does?

He treasures his relationships - both romantic and platonic. He puts everything into them, even if he’s a quiet soul from time to time. He’s endlessly devoted, and sometimes that can be a bad thing.

20. What kind of activities, interests, and hobbies do they have? What significance and impact do these have in their lives, both positive and negative?

He plays guitar, a handful of other instruments, and writes lyrics. It’s one of his favorite things to do. He has an amazing voice, but he hardly shows anyone his music. It’s just a way to get the things out he can’t bring himself to talk about. It brings him peace. He also loves wood working, but that comes with his job.

[graysoncxs]

7, 9, 14

7. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed?

He cares deeply about the people closest to him. He’d do absolutely anything for them. He is all about staying true to himself and not becoming his father’s son. He believes in working hard and earning a life that’s humble and everything he needs. It’s why he can be a workaholic sometimes. He wants to make himself proud, but the day has yet to come. 

9. Do they dream? What are those dreams like? 

He dreams of a good life with someone by his side. He dreams of being in love again, because for so long that felt impossible. He dreams of finding his purpose and feeling like he’s worth a damn. 

14. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult?

previously answered.

[graysoncxs]

1, 6, 14

1. How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy?

Grayson is truly a gentle giant. He’s tall, but due to a bad back and too many nights of working too hard, he carries himself slowly and deliberately. 

6. How do they greet the world — what is their typical attitude towards life? How does it differ in different circumstances, or towards different subjects? Why do they take these attitudes, and why do they change? How do these tend to be expressed?

He has had the philosophy since he was a kid that the best way to make the world a better place was to stay a simple man. His father was quite the opposite, and Grayson wants to be nothing like the man. He finds certain things in life to be beautiful, but his purpose remains unknown. Grayson only ever talks about life in the songs he writes.

14. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult?

He is the best person to call in an emergency. He’s level-headed and a quick thinker. However, he’s devastated when he fails to fix something. A difficult situation would be something he simply couldn’t control.

[eastcliffroleplay]

MEME MONDAY

( comprised of questions from here )

Send and pick numbers 1-23 to other participating member’s inboxes to ask questions. Anonymous is allowed.

REMEMBER TO REBLOG IF YOU’D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE!

INDEPTH CHARACTER QUESTIONS

PHYSICAL PRESENCE AND GESTURE. 1. How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy? 2. How do they position themselves in a group? Do they like to be the center of attention, or do they hang back at the edges of a crowd? 3. How do they dress? What styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? Why? 4. Where and when do they seem most and least at ease? Why? How can you tell? 5. What energizes and drains them most? DISPOSITION AND TEMPERAMENT. 6. How do they greet the world — what is their typical attitude towards life? How does it differ in different circumstances, or towards different subjects? Why do they take these attitudes, and why do they change? How do these tend to be expressed? 7. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed? 8. What kind of inner life do they have — rich and imaginative? Calculating and practical? Full of doubts and fears? Does it find any sort of outlet in their lives? 9. Do they dream? What are those dreams like? 10. Are they more shaped by nature or nurture — who they are, or what has happened to them? How have these shaped who they’ve become as a person? 11. What kind of person could they become in the future? What are some developmental paths that they could take, (best, worst, most likely?) what would cause them to come to pass, and what consequences might they have? What paths would you especially like to see, and why? CONNECTIONS WITH OTHERS. 12. How do they behave within a group? What role(s) do they take? Does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? Why? 13. What kind of relationships do they tend to intentionally seek out versus actually cultivate? What kind of social contact do they prefer, and why? 14. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult? 15. How do they present themselves socially? What distinguishes their “persona” from their “true self”, and what causes that difference? 16. What do they need and want out of relationships, and how do they go about getting it? 17. How do they view and feel about relationships, and how might this manifest in how they handle them, if it does? ACTIVITIES AND PREFERENCES. 18. What do they strongly like and dislike, in any category? Why? 19. What are they likely to do if they have the opportunity, resources, and time to accomplish it? Why? 20. What kind of activities, interests, and hobbies do they have? What significance and impact do these have in their lives, both positive and negative? 21. What is their preferred level of activity and stimulation? How do they cope if they get either too little or too much? 22. Is there anything that counts as a “dealbreaker” for them, positively or negatively? What makes things go smoothly, and what spoils an activity or ruins their day? Why? 23. What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why?

[graysoncxs]

averycohen​:

Avery knew from the moment that’d she’d overfilled her basket at Al’s supermarket that she should’ve asked to borrow Christian’s car to run this particular errand but it was already too late. So she struggled all the way from the supermarket back to the apartment, taking a very slow and steady pace as she quietly cursed herself for not planning properly. The journey hadn’t been too bad but as she reached the stairs in the apartment block, her arms and legs had began to ache. 

Spotting Grayson as she took the final few steps onto the apartment floor, Avery once against cursed herself, she’d nearly made the journey without anyone spotting her stupidity. She only just opened her mouth to protest his help, more for her own dignity, but she hadn’t managed to get any words out before he simply relieved her of a few bags. “Thank you.” She blushed, smiling a little as they walked towards her apartment. “It seemed I needed more than I than I first thought.” She tried to play it off, when in reality she’d only got so much because the majority of it had been reduced and would go in the freezer for use at a later date. Any savings she could make when it came to grocery shopping was a bonus.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her as he carried them into her place. Grayson set it down on the counter and even took the liberty of taking some items out to clear away the bags they came in. “A lot of groceries is better than no groceries,” he told her before nodding towards the direction of his place. “I frequently forget I need food to survive and... well, l can’t even tell you the last time I picked up groceries.” The man had always been overly responsible, mostly due to being alone so much as a kid while his mother worked. But Grayson was so used to taking care of people around him that he often forgot to look out for himself. “Alright, I won’t cramp your evening. Let me know if you ever need help with anything, okay?”

[graysoncxs]

adriannaknox​:

“Okay, if I’d known you were going to be this rude then I would’ve turned down your offer.” She teased with a laugh as she hugged him back, looking up at him as she shook her head. “Just because you’re a giant and I find heels very uncomfortable, doesn’t mean you get to be mean.” Ade joked, gently reached over the space between them and pushing his shoulder playfully. She missed him. She always enjoyed his company and he was one of the few people outside of her usual group of friends, the majority of them being from the station, that she spent time with.

“Yeah, you better be buying after those comments.” She smirked, taking a seat beside where he’d been sat originally. “When you getting those locks cut, huh? You’ve got that scruffy looking going on.” Her smirked remained, gesturing with one her hands at his face with a quiet chuckle. “Though to be fair, it works for you.” The brunette wouldn’t deny that, he looked good. “Anyway, come on, catch me up on what’s been going on with you.”

.

It was already nice seeing her, hearing her fight back his little comments he purposely gave just so she would comeback at him. “Sounds like a lot of excuses,” he added as he walked her over to the bar. Grayson took a seat and ordered them a drink, remembering what she liked even though some time had passed. 

As she commented on his appearance, he looked at her with a playful shocked expression. “Look who’s the mean one now. Scruffy is just your way of saying I look like a mess,” he teased. To be fair, he kind of felt like one, but he did his best to keep up with his beard at least. A haircut had just been slipping his mind all too often. “Well, I quit construction. I’m working as a carpenter full time now. I like it, you know. Still working like crazy though.” The bartender slid their drinks over and Grayson was quick to take a swig of his own. “How about you? What’s new, ace?”

[graysoncxs]

atticusmercer​:

“Ouch.” He chuckled, clutching at his heart with his free hand. “You wound me, I thought we were bros.” He chuckled once more, rolling his eyes at his friend as he took another swing of his beer. “Look, I’ll be honest with you, of course I miss having you on site. The guy I’ve got now is alright but he ain’t you.” He was sappy for a moment. “Though if we are talking about who misses you the most then my mom claims that title by miles.”

“Of course he isn’t, because I’m the best,” he playfully gloated. Grayson let out a small laugh and nodded his head thinking of Atticus’s mother. Grayson had always been a charmer when it came to mothers, and he didn’t mind that. It was always nice talking to his mother, especially while his was many states away. “That sounds about right. How’s Mary doing, anyway?” he asked, playfully using her first name. 

[graysoncxs]

zoladavis​:

Frowning slightly as the confession spilled out of him, Zola struggled between confusion and amusement. That she wasn’t expecting but suddenly it clicked for her, why he seemed so natural at surfing and she felt slightly stupid for not putting it together before, noting her lack of attention. It was nothing unusual of her, though.

When he finished, Zola hesitated to speak for a while before finally a laugh escaped her lips. She laughed not exactly at him, but rather at the prospect that someone would lie just to be around her. Zola’d had enough people tell her she came across as intimidating, partly due to her carefree nature mixed in with the secretiveness. But she didn’t think it was enough for someone like Grayson, who she imagined to be sure of himself, to find excuses to spend time with her. Still, it was an innocent lie that she couldn’t possible be offended by. Instead, she felt slightly shy, unsure of what it really meant. 

“Wait, so you’re telling me you pretended to not know how to surf for the sake of my company? When you could have just asked me if I wanted to hang out outside of our classes? Which, by the way, I would have easily said yes to,” she pointed out as if it were obvious, an embarrassed smile stuck on her lips as she spoke amusedly. But could she really say she’d given him any signs that he could confidently do that? She wasn’t sure. “That’s weirdly endearing, actually.”

.

Her laughter was to be expected, though it made him wince slightly in embarrassment, that smile not faltering on his lips. He knew it was confusing, and hell, even he was confused by it. What compelled him to lie and stick around, he wasn’t so sure. It had been a while since he met someone new that he genuinely liked to be around. Zola was a breath of fresh air and he... well, he was an idiot.

Raking his fingers through his wet hair, he pushed it out of his face and looked down at his board still smiling to himself. At least she was nice enough to admit she would’ve said yes to the idea of hanging out. “I mean... Yeah, I guess I did.” He laughed and looked over at her with a shrug of his shoulders. “I figured you probably get creeps all the time who try to hit you up after a lesson. I didn’t want to be that guy... Though I’m starting to see lying and taking lessons I don’t need is almost creepier.” 

Relief found him knowing she found it at least a little endearing. That was better than anything. “Well... I don’t know. I’d like to get to know you more. I don’t like most people, but you? You’re alright.” He flashed her a grin. 

[graysoncxs]

hayleysdavenports​:

“For Chey?” A smile grew on her lips. “How many? I can’t really suggest anything too specific for her. You can’t put her in a box.” she grinned. “I say take a few different flavours and let her taste all of them. I think she’ll be far more happy with than than a bunch of the same ones.” She chuckled and had a look at her watch. “Thank you, it’s been fun doing this. I hope I won’t take too long to finish up and join all of you down there.” she mused. “Can’t miss all the excitement.” Being here in the truck was exciting too but she had a feeling Chey would actually kill her if she didn’t show up. Not to mention, her cake was sitting in her fridge.

She had a point. When it came to Chey, variety was always best - and of course, more the merrier. Grayson wasn’t going to argue with that logic, though he would’ve taken whatever Hayley threw his way. “That sounds perfect, then. I’ll take a box of different flavors. Surprise me.” Looking back down the beach, he then glanced back at Hayley and smiled. Luckily there was no one behind him in line for the time being. As much as he loved Chey, he still struggled to feel comfortable at parties. Good god, had he really turned into that much of a recluse? “She’ll be happy to see you. She has nothing but good things to say about you, y’know.” Grayson smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know this is kind of random, but do you need any help finishing up here? I don’t mind lending a hand.” 

[graysoncxs]

athenalewis​:

“Oh god, no, never, I could never.” The brunette was quick to blurt out as she covered her face with her hands, a faint blush rising to her cheeks rapidly as she soon realised how she sounded in that moment. A few seconds later she dropped her hands as she rose to her feet by his side. “I knew I would be terrible at volleyball.” Athena shook her head, brushing the sand off her knees. “Are you sure you’re okay? You took a pretty hard whack, are you sure you don’t want to like sit for a minute and make sure I didn’t give you a concussion or something?” She felt awful.

Both her sincerity and embarrassment was undoubtedly cute. Grayson watched the woman squirm as she tried to make sure he was okay. He let out a small laugh and shook his head at her. “I’m fine, Thea. Promise.” Moving some of the wood he was carrying to one side in the crook of his arm, he motioned towards the beach where others volunteered to set things up. “In exchange for almost giving me a concussion, you wanna help me build a fire?” 

[graysoncxs]

alexdavenport​:

As the other mumbled, Alex looked over at the kid at fault, who did not seem to be bothered by the fact that he had knocked a grown man out. “A triplet? Imagine the horror.” She joked back, relieved that he was joking around- that had to mean that he was feeling fine enough to continue with the rest of the day. “Well then, at least come up with a better story than being hit by a kid who wasn’t lookin where he was throwing stuff.”

He looked at the woman and felt a smile curve on his lips despite that constant throbbing of his head. She had an infectious smile herself, one he couldn’t help but copy. “Maybe I’ll say I got in a fight. You know, one of those chivalrous kind of fights where I was defending someone’s honor.” Grayson let out a low chuckle and shook his head. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” 

[graysoncxs]

hayleysdavenports​:

Setting up a dessert truck for the Bonfire had taken up more time than she imagined and hadn’t exactly fit into her budget either. But Hayley was finally doing something which she wanted to do in a long time and it made her happy to know that she had managed to pull it off. She had been planning this for a while, but only as she and the girls who were helping er served her customers that evening did she realize how much she had missed this. It was before Heather was born that she last done anything like this, but this was a reminder of what she wanted, reminder of her dream to have her own little bakery one day. “What can I get you?” she asked the next person in line, a bright smile on her features. @eastcliffopens​

Not wanting to show up empty handed to Chey’s party, Grayson found himself suddenly in a line for a dessert that she would surely love one way or another. As he got closer, he noticed the woman in the truck and realized he had seen her before a handful of times. Between Atticus and Chey, they had the same circle of friends and he had always meant to get to know Hayley more. Especially from how highly they spoke of her. Once he was next in line, he gave her a small smile and nodded. “Hey,” he greeted casually first and then glanced at the little menu. “I’ll take whatever cupcake you got. I’m actually grabbing it for Chey, so whatever you think she’ll like... This is an awesome setup you have, by the way.”

[graysoncxs]

harlskincaid​:

“Shit,” Harley groaned when she turned around and watched the stray ball hit the male. Running over, the brunette lifted her hand in an apologetic fashion. “I’m so fucking sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to throw it all the way over here but it got out of hand.” Her features grimaced as she plucked the ball from the ground. “Are you okay? No bumps or spots appearing before your eyes?” She asked him, looking him over to ensure she hadn’t knocked the wind out of him too much.

Gray looked up at the woman and rubbed his head a bit before giving a sheepish grin. “It’s all good, just caught me by surprise.” That was a lie - it was pretty painful, but he didn’t want to admit such a thing. That girl had an arm on her. He pushed himself up and shook off some sand as he reached to retrieve the wood that fumbled out of his arms. “There’s a few bumps and spots, but I’m sure they’ve always been there.” With his height, Grayson couldn’t help but feel as if he was just a moving target. “That’s one hell of a way to grab my attention, though,” he teased and shot a smile.

[graysoncxs]

alexdavenport​:

It had to be the first event that Alex didn’t have to be on shift for, and, quite frankly, she liked it. It was nice to just relax, maybe have a drink or two, and interact with people; not that it stopped her from still keeping an eye out on just about anything that would seem off. So when a voleyball flew back past her, she turned, just in time to see someone else fall a victim to it. Putting her drink down, she rushed over to the man, who, at least seemed to be fine enough to talk. “Are you alright? How’s your head? You’re seeing just one of me, right?”

The kid who threw the volleyball his way only laughed before retrieving the ball. “Yeah thanks,” he mumbled to the kid as no apology passed their lips. Grayson began to dust off the sand and then rubbed the spot on his head as a bystander came to his aid. He laughed a little embarrassed and nodded while looking over at her. “Oh, so you’re telling me that you’re not a triplet?” he teased, pretending as if he saw three of her. He shot a smile and let go of his head before nodding. “Sorry, yeah, I’m good. Probably going to have a nasty bruise, but what’s a party without one?”

[graysoncxs]

athenalewis​:

“Watc-” Her words were cut short as the volleyball collided with someone and Athena soon broke into run to go over and help the person who had been struck. “Oh my God, Grayson.” Athena gasped as she realised who the ball had hit, crouching down at his side. “I am so sorry, are you okay?” She quickly apologised, concern for his wellbeing clear on her face.

Looking up at Athena, he pushed the feeling of his head throbbing aside and found her to be a sight for sore eyes - even if she had just hit the living shit out of him. Squinting to keep the sunlight out, he let out a small laugh. “You can tell me if you hate me. No need to kill me with a volleyball.” He pushed himself off the sand and brushed it off his skin before he reached down to pick up the wood he had dropped. “I’m fine, Thea. I was just thinking I could use a bump on my head to really pull off this whole look.”

[graysoncxs]

OPEN LOCATION: sunset lake SETTING: bonfire 

He was never the type to venture off to the town’s events, or at least he hadn’t in years, but it was his best friend’s birthday weekend. Grayson felt obligated to make an appearance on her behalf, knowing she’d drag him to it, anyways. He volunteered to help set the fires up around the beach. Pulling out wood from the bed of his truck, he made his way over to build up a fire until suddenly a volleyball came crashing into his head. Dropping the wood, he fell back with a grunt and his head began to throb. “What the hell?” he mumbled before looking up to see who had tossed it his way. 

[graysoncxs]

@averycohen​

The man moved his head, small cricks and cracks came from his sore neck as he fumbled with his keys to his apartment door. He felt exhausted, just as he did every day, but fulfilled from the hard day of work. He worked too much, something that was told to him often although their words fell on deaf ears. As he began to unlock his door, he remembered suddenly how vacant his fridge had become and knew all too well he didn’t have anything for dinner that night. He let out a low grumble of disappointment, and just as he was about to step inside, his neighbor appeared up the stairs struggling with one too many grocery bags. He smiled and closed his door, stuffing his keys back into his pockets as he walked over to her. “How are you not falling down those stairs with all of this?” Grayson grabbed some of the bags, not allowing her to protest or deny his help. “Look, I’d rather help you with these than call the paramedics once you fall down and hit your head.” The man always hid his altruistic traits with a hint of grumpy humor, though his smile always told another story. She knew he would’ve helped her even if it was only one bag.