[neskook]

I’m gonna be fine ...

[gullivermcpherson]

ɢᴜꜱ ʜᴀᴡᴛʜᴏʀɴᴇ:

A wrong turn, and Gus had ended up on the harbor while on a walk with his dog, Poppy. He didn’t mind as it was a nice day out, and he was free. He was in the middle of thinking what to get at the grocery store for the week, when he felt someone’s shoulder bump into him. “No harm, man.” he said with a smile. Poppy stopped in her tracks to sniff out a leaf. “Don’t eat that.” He said to her, causing the dog to whine a bit. “Sorry, she’s kind of spoiled.”

His surprise faded into joy and a smile lit up his expression at the sight of the dog right below their feet. It almost made him regret not bringing Boden with him on his trip to the market, but he was sure that the puppy would have gone absolutely crazy over the smell of fish and paired with the fact that they were still working on leash manners, Gulliver knew it would have been more of a mess than anyone would ever be pleased with. “No apologies needed,” He shook his head, glancing at the dog once more. “I’ve got one at home too, he doesn’t seem to be a big fan of walks on the leash though, what’s your trick? Is there a trick or is it just kind of a ‘you get what you get’ with dogs?”

[gullivermcpherson]

location: catch of the day, mahonia harbor status: open @redwoodstarter

From being raised on the harbor itself to spending five years with his dad on the docks learning to pull up the best catch, Gulliver was no stranger when it came to fish. So when he decided that he wanted to clean up the backyard, finally getting rid of the weeds and overgrown vines that plagued his childhood adventures, and invite some friends over to have a small fish fry, he knew what kind of fish would be just right for the job and set out in the fish market to find it. Just like every morning at the market, the sun was barely above the mountains, leaving the cool morning air and the icy chill of the freezers to swirl around him, blue flannel sleeves rolled up his forearms as goosebumps littered across his skin. The cold barely ever bothered him though, over the years of working with ice cream and the year and a half of owning his own shop and spending almost every waking moment in some kind of freezer or cold prep room he had become accustomed to the feeling. Before his mind began torturing him with a surly rendition of Let It Go, a movie he begrudgingly watched with Lily and would never admit to actually enjoying, Gulliver set to the task of walking down the concrete aisles of the fish market, completely focused on observing the selection and prices of the day so much that his shoulder bumping into someone else’s caused him to choke on his own breath. After a few short coughs in attempt to find air again, he glanced wide-eyed and apologetic at the person who’s path he had gotten in the way of. “Woah, hey, sorry about that.”

[gullivermcpherson]

scoop into gulliver’s i n s t a g r a m;

ft. redwood carnival & boden

[gullivermcpherson]

location: paws up rescue status: open (2/5)

Business at the shop had settled into the steady stream of summer customers, the lull in the chaos that his life usually was led him to the animal rescue almost daily, browsing the cages in the kitten room and the kennels that housed every and any dog imaginable. It didn’t take long before he picked up a few light volunteering hours there, an hour or two a week that he could help out and lend a hand, giving back to the community that supported his business. What goes around comes around, right? Plus, it didn’t hurt that being able to spend that time with the animals at the rescue filled the slight desire in his heart to take one home himself. His Ma had been taking more hours at the diner as of lately and their tiny house by the harbor had grown quieter, the time spent sitting silently at his desk as he drew up flavor profiles made him consider the idea of bringing a pet into their family. The idea had been successfully sated. That was, at least, until Gulliver received a call while he was flipping the shop’s open signed to closed one evening, asking him if he would be open to fostering a puppy just dropped off at the rescue. 

He only considered saying no for a split second before he was agreeing  and locking the shop door behind him, his old truck making quick work of the downtown end-of-the-work day traffic as he navigated the familiar streets of Redwood Bay to McLoughlin, soon finding himself browsing through the well-known rooms of the rescue, wiggling fingers through the kitten cages as he waited for the facility’s vet tech to finish checking over the puppy and okaying him for the trip to Mahonia. The door to the cat room creaked open, the person looking around briefly before Gulliver addressed them. “Looking to adopt?”

[gullivermcpherson]

location: chinook point status: closed for @landryleona​

He hadn’t expected the feelings to grow after their shared kiss at the festival. Maybe he had been stupidly expecting her to regret it, to continue with their lives as friends as thought the moment had never happened, but she hadn’t and with every bout of laughter, every bright smile, every goofy rambling speech on random movie trivia when her eyes would light up and her hand motions would become more dramatic - with every little thing Leona Landry did, the feelings trickled in. As the weeks passed by, Gully found himself thinking about kissing the woman again. The time was never quite right though. Leona was a hurricane of a person and he found himself racing to keep up with her, the moments they managed to spend time together outside of his work at the ice cream shop and her work at the theater were always busy, always doing something, always moving along at a pace that didn’t allow him to work up the courage to pull her close and kiss her back.

Not that he could complain. Kissing wasn’t a priority to him, but spending time with Leona was. He’d be okay doing anything as long as it was with her, and more often than not, they would end up doing anything, usually ranging from normal evenings like movies at the drive-in or quarters spent in the arcade but sometimes he’d find himself standing at the bottom of the terrace on the exterior of the town hall because he had stupidly found himself saying that he didn’t think she’d be able to sneak into the building after hours. Whatever it was, they were doing it. Tonight though, Gulliver had sent her a text to meet him at Chinook Point, the tall lighthouse looming over him as he made his way up the small hill with his usual hiking backpack slung over his shoulder. He found her waiting for him on a bench near the edge of the cliff that overlooked the rocky shore of Oregon, it was all a view he’d never get tired of. Taking a seat next to her, he slid the backpack to the ground below them, unzipping it and pulling out two beer bottles before holding on out for her. “Help me sample a new combo from Starling’s? I think it’s some kind of lavender and... honey? Might pair it with a cool vanilla bean or lemon zest, seems summery.”

[gullivermcpherson]

ʟᴇᴏɴᴀ ʟᴀɴᴅʀʏ:

She grinned, eyes going wide in feigned exasperation. “It was. My aim is immaculate. Everyone says. Leona Landry, she never misses.” She said, flashing him a grin of unearned confidence. Something that was undoubtedly, unquestionably a lie — she considered herself a woman of many questionable talents (that were much more like party tricks than anything of actual skill), but athleticism had never been one of them. A childhood with a lot of siblings had meant she was a scrappy one, but if her mercy ‘C’ in high school gym had taught her anything, it was that sick WWE moves didn’t necessarily translate to actual athletic skill. 

At his question, Leona let out a laugh, immediately covering her mouth with her free hand in case the sound were enough to draw in the people she was now confident had not followed them. “If I, a respectable theater manager asks you to — because our lives may depend on it — then yes, yes I do.” She half whispered, grin curving her lips as she shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Respectable.” She repeated in an amused whisper as she took in the man with a tiny of bit of ice cream still in his hair and an easy smile. She had seen Gulliver McPherson in business mode, she was sure — but it was difficult to align that man with the one before her. She never had been much good with serious, to the frustration of anyone who had ‘expected more’ of her. It was cliche to say ‘life is short’ — she knew that. But that didn’t make it any less true, and she didn’t believe in wasted time. “You wouldn’t.” She gasped, fixing her eyes in a short-lived glare. Impulse control — that had never been one of her strengths, either. In the span of time it took Leona’s gaze to flicker from Gully’s eyes to his lips, she had shifted to her tiptoes, pressing her lips against his. It felt easy — the right thing in that moment, neatly tucked away behind vendor booths, ice cream coated lips and the heat of the escape still on their cheeks. Maybe it had been the wrong thing — a perfect way to damage a perfectly good, uncomplicated friendship. That was a problem for another moment. In this one,  Leona Landry was concerned with nothing else. 

An eyebrow raised, mouth half-open as Gully began to testify just how serious he was about selling out the woman in front of him when lips pressed against his own, stealing any words that would have been uttered before they even touched the warm spring air. The rustle of the townspeople could be heard on the other side of the tents and booths they were nestled between, but he was only concerned with the sound of blood rushing to his ears as the tips set fire to his skin as the smell of ice cream and everything that was Leona Landry surrounded him, clinging to him just as the lips on his were. His mind whirled as he kissed her back; ever so slightly, so respectfully, so completely Gulliver. His heart great, straining against his chest with every beat, thumping in a rhythm he wasn’t even sure had ever existed. But it did, because there he was, hiding behind booths in the middle of the town festival kissing one of his best friends. Was this how his friends in high school felt when they talked about kissing girls under the bleachers during football games?

But as quick as he found himself melting into the moment he was already pulling back, gaze glancing over the area surrounding him as though he was searching for someone who may have witnessed what just happened, if only to assure himself that he hadn’t just dreamed the kiss entirely. From the lingering feeling of soft lips against his, Gully knew what had happened was very real and after searching for any type of regret in Leona’s eyes and finding none, he left a tender grin pull on the corner of his mouth as his hand, finally dropping from its previous entanglement, brushed over his hair and he cleared his throat. “That was a nice, uh... distraction,” His voice accented with a soft laugh and a teasing look in his eyes. “You may be cute, but don’t think I won’t still sell you out for my own honor.”

[gullivermcpherson]

scoop into gulliver’s i n s t a g r a m;

ft. @landryleona & boden

[gullivermcpherson]

ꜱᴀɴᴇᴍ ʀᴇɪᴅ:

She couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as he bumped into her lightly, giving a nod in agreement. Even if they’d spent a considerable amount of time in the same town, neither had really crossed paths much until more recently, by way of Lily. But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy what times they’ve gotten to hang out, Gully was sweet and non-judgmental, she could see a friendship here not dissimilar to her best friend’s. ❝ Exactly, I mean even vegans can enjoy their own type of ice cream, there’s really no excuse. Anyone who doesn’t like it, just as untrustworthy as people who pour milk before cereal. ❞ Attempting to keep a serious facade, before snorting a laugh soon after. ❝ Speaking of, we should definitely get some after this, ice cream I mean not cereal, cause now I’m kinda craving. ❞ At the same time Sanem had gotten her phone, tapping away a quick google search and pulled up a Home Depot guide, handing it to him. ❝ Maybe that’ll spark some help ? ❞

Listening as he spoke about his own night at the gala, she gave a small smile. ❝ Guess I’ve rubbed off on her a little, always trying to get her down to the studio, and she did agree to Latin dance lessons. Sounds like you had a fun night though. Yeah Grayson, I heard, well I think everyone has at this point, but that was, wild. Can’t say this town doesn’t know how to throw an event. ❞ Blowing out a small exhale then, she’d been in the garden when it happened, after her talk with Lily, though she felt awful for the councilman, she was glad something bigger overshadowed her train wreck of a presence. Giving a small pout then. ❝ Yet people still think chivalry’s dead, you’re too sweet, and I definitely appreciate it. ❞

His face scrunched, eyebrows furrowing an a dramatic manner. “Milk before cereal? Now that’s just insane.” Pouring his milk before cereal definitely wasn’t something he found himself chaotic enough to do- what happened if you poured too much? Or not enough? Plus, there were different amounts for different moods and flavors of cereals. Some required just a small amount of milk to maintain ultimate crunch while others provided a good base for drinking the flavored milk at the end. Whatever amount of milk cereal called for, the only person who would pour their milk before their cereal had to be a true sociopath. “I’m always down for some ice cream, in fact, ice cream sounds so much better than fixing a broken sink that I know nothing about.” Gulliver glanced at the guide on the phone she handed to him for a moment, scrolling through absentmindedly before handing it back with a nod. “You know what? Let’s go get ice cream, the sink can wait one more day.”

In his opinion, the sink could have waited forever if the bucket wasn’t so gross to empty each day, but there was a good chance that he’d possibly be standing in Nailed It for the better half of the day before he even came close to figuring out what he was doing. The entire town could walk by and try to help him out and he wasn’t ever sure it was going to click. Ice Cream? Kitchen appliances? Those he knew something about. But plumbing? That may be worth the expense at the end of the day. “No thanks needed, it’s what good people do,” Gulliver shrugged, running his hand over his beard before turning to her, impatient to get out of the hardware store he’d been standing in for what felt like an eternity. “C’mon, let’s go get that ice cream and maybe you can help me brainstorm some cool cereal flavors for the shop, because now that you mention it, some childhood Saturday morning breakfast specials would be kind of sweet. Who wouldn’t want to mix Cap’n Crunch in their ice cream?”

[gullivermcpherson]

ʟᴇᴏɴᴀ ʟᴀɴᴅʀʏ:

If she was certain of anything in that moment, it was that no one in attendance of the event was more suspicious than the two quite literally running away from the scene of the crime, weapon still in hand. Her only goal was to get just far away enough from the undoubtedly angry pair for some plausible deniability. That, and that Gulliver McPherson had unfairly big strides. Already half out of breath from the effort and her own laughter, Leona nearly doubled over, she pulled him behind one of the less crowded vendor booths in the unlikely event they were being tailed. At the quip, she let out a still breathy laugh. “That was not my fault. If you were just… three feet taller, I would’ve nailed it.” She defended, squinting in playful embarrassment at her own weak defense. 

She peaked around the corner, “Here’s the story,” she started, giving his hand a light squeeze as if it emphasized her instructions. “We did nothing. It was a bird — you know how seagulls are — just, scooped it right up. We saw the whole thing, ran in terror in case we were next.” She said, grin curving her lips as she finally concluded that they were not, indeed, being chased. “Because, you see officer, my friend here is terribly afraid of birds. They’re always after him — one of those lifelong vendettas, you know? As soon as he sees one, he takes off. I was just makin’ sure he was safe.” She continued, leaning into the New Orleans drawl she lost the better part of a decade ago. 

Gully snorted with a huff of laughter shortly following, a playful roll of his eyes only punctuating his response to her claim. “Because my height was clearly the variable off in that situation.” Poking at her enough to ruffle feathers and get a rise out of her had always been a favorite past-time of his and even though they had very nearly escaped what could have possibly been a sudden and terrible fate, that hadn’t changed. The hilarity of the situation was still coursing through his body and he truly couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun, always distracted with work, underneath a pile of paperwork he never desired to be responsible for. A childhood joy that he never quite was able to experience had always existed with Leona, finding it easy to let go of the day’s trouble and melt into the excitement of the moment with her.

“Seagull... okay...,” He repeated slowly, eyes squinting in intrigue as he followed along with her insane, and slightly comical, story that her native accent weaved with ease and he couldn’t help but wonder how many stories like this Leona had come up with in her past. Was this her tenth? Or her fiftieth? Had she lost count as she grew so good at it? Whatever number her storytelling list settled at, there was no mistake that each one prior was just as entertaining as this one and he found himself chuckling along. “So, you want me... a respectable Redwood Bay business owner, to lie? How dare you think I’d stoop that low, Miss Landry.” Another soft bout of laughter as he leaned closer, a half-smile lifting up the corner of his lip as Gully offered an alternative, voice low and a mischievous glint in his gaze. “It seems I have no choice but to tell them the cold, hard truth. That is was all... your... fault.”

[gullivermcpherson]

location: pier in mahonia harbor. status: closed for @lilywhittaker​.

The sound of water lapping against the secluded pier grew louder as Gulliver approached the area with his truck, Lily in the passenger’s seat, windows down, and the sun beginning its descent which cast a pink glow far off into the distant ocean. He had been tempted to blindfold her and make it a real surprise, but the last thing he figured she needed was a complicated birthday surprise. The idea came to him as a reprieve, allowing him to take a break from the anger and confusion he felt over Levi’s death and channel it into repaying the sweet birthday gift that Lily had sent him earlier that week. He knew that if the situation had sent him spiraling as it had, she must be struggling much harder and as one of her close friends, he’d go to the end of the world to bring her back to a happier reality. 

Though it may be some time before the woman actually moved on from the loss, Gully knew from experience that mourning does eventually end and normal life resumes and he couldn’t help but wonder if they may be able to help each other move on from the loss. It was one of his goals for this birthday surprise, but if nothing else he hoped it would at least bring a smile to Lily’s face and so he parked the truck at the beginning of the pier, hopping out to move around the truck and pull open the woman’s door for her, motioning to the pier where, out on the very edge, set a blanket with a lonely picnic basket. “Surprise,” He offered hopefully, metaphorically crossing his fingers that he hadn’t wasted both of their Friday nights on what could be taken as a lame gesture. “He would have done something stupid romantic like this for your birthday.”

[gullivermcpherson]

ʟᴇᴏɴᴀ ʟᴀɴᴅʀʏ‌:

Leona grinned, expressing giving way to a sigh that fell somewhere between ‘dramatic’ and ‘full theatrics’ on the emotive scale. “Film references are like, the one thing I have, McPherson. And here you are, giving me no credit for my greatest talent.” She rolled her eyes, playful muttering something about ‘wasted effort.’ Then, crinkling her nose, she nodded. “It was, by the way. A threat.” She added, even if they both knew she was all bark. Even then, her ‘bark’ was more like a ‘yip’ from a dog with a Napoleon complex. 

Her jaw fell open in feigned indignation. “Only like…” she started, squinting as she held up her thumb and forefinger, measuring out a tiny distance between them. Then, after a moment’s thought, she widened the gap to about an inch. “This worried.” She said, smile lingering. Her pride in her minor attack was short-lived — so short-lived, that she didn’t see the retaliation coming until it literally hit her in the face. She gasped, the cold immediately sending a shiver down her spine as she shook off the offending ice cream. She let out a breath, shaking her head. “You’re dead. So, so dead.” She threatened through her own laughter. 

She was at the disadvantage of him absolutely knowing a counter was coming, so she acted quickly in scraping her spoon along her the top of her own bowl, immediately using the spoon like a small catapult. She watched as the ice cream sailed neatly over his head, seeming to defy both time and gravity as it lofted through the air. Realizing with a spare second of horror that it was going to absolutely land on a couple with their backs to them, Leona quickly shoved her spoon back into her own ice cream and took a firm grip on Gully’s hand. “Run.” She urged through breaths of laughter, more or less dragging him through the park before the weaponized dessert could find it’s mark. 

He knew as soon as the ice cream connected with smooth skin that the decision he had made was a big, big mistake. What had seemed right in the moment now filled his soul with dread as he watched the woman next to him realize what had just happened, the cold ice cream beginning to drip as she gasped. Leona Landry was a lot of things, many of which Gully had been lucky to learn over the years they spent as friends, but someone who left revenge unsettled was not one of them. In fact, as she spoke with the shadow of a threat looming over them, only parted by the sound of her laughter following, he knew immediately to expect retaliation. The rest of the festival seemingly faded away in those seconds, the very few that played out in front of him like slow motion, a witty retort on the tip of his tongue that never made it to being voice, his words instead falling out in a firm, rushed tone, his curved grin betraying the fear bursting through his veins as she bent her spoon full of ice cream back just barely. “Don’t you dare.”

Gully’s futile warning came too late and his eyes scrunched closed, bracing for impact. The impact never came. Instead, he dared to peek the second he heard the plastic of the spoon bounce and his face still lacked the feel of cold cream. “Shoulda guessed you’d miss, your aim is as good as your- oh shit.” The slow motion of the moment seemed to quickly return to full speed ahead as he followed the expected trajectory of Leona’s ice cream scoop only to see it sailing swiftly toward an unsuspecting couple nearby, his own shock interrupted by a hand in his, pulling him away from the scene of the near-future, unintended crime of cold cream to the back. Her laughter was contagious causing bouts of his own to spill out as they ran breathlessly through the park and the festival, only waiting until they stopped far enough away from their previous spot to gulp in much needed breaths between the laughter that filled his chest, eyes shining with amusement as he looked to her, hand still unintentionally held in his. “Guess your aim is just as good as your detective skills are, huh?”

[gullivermcpherson]

ᴊᴜʟɪᴀɴ ᴇʟᴅʀɪᴅɢᴇ:

Julian felt like he should leave and let the guy have his moment, but he thought it would make the situation worse for him to dip in and dip out of the store like that. Deciding he definitely wasn’t going to ask about Zehra, but still not knowing where to go with it, he just nodded and walked closer to the bar. “Ice cream, totally,” he nodded as his eyes scanned the menu, but he couldn’t concentrate with the thick air of tension between them. He let out a sigh and brought his eyes down to Gully. “Would screaming at someone you barely know help? People yell at me a lot. I’m totally chill with it.”

As the anger crept through his veins, pounded against his chest, the underlying cause of it appeared; cautiously and slowly as though it would be spooked away with even the slightest movement - confusion. The news of the fire, Levi really being gone began to seep into his thoughts, his heart. But the confusion only caused the anger to grow, to roar an ugly head that Gulliver barely recognized. He suddenly longed for the busying hum of customers and the company of the others that worked there. A distraction, in the very least. But instead, it was just him and the man who walked through the door and an ice cream tub that was currently down one lid. “I don’t think so,” He mumbled, shaking his head as he gripped the ice cream scoop so tightly he was sure it would explode any second. “I just… fuck. You always think you have more time, you know? More time to spend hanging out and more time to fix things and more time to… work things out and the next thing you know is you don’t have any more time left. One minute you’re asking to taste pistachio ice cream and the next you’re… you’re just… he’s just gone.”

[gullivermcpherson]

sneak peek into gulliver’s p l a y l i s t s (ft. @landryleona​): 

“And when the tears you cry   Are all you can believe  Just give these loving arms a try               

                   And have a little faith in me.”

[gullivermcpherson]

A delivery box with the Sweet As Sugar logo is accompanied by a note, as well as a helium birthday balloon:

Gully,

I’m so sorry that I’ve been distant lately. Things have been rough, and I wish I could’ve done more but I promise I’ll make it up to you.

No one I know loves ice cream as much as you do, so I hope that you appreciate the on-brand balloons and cupcakes (I sampled the strawberry one, it’s divine). Don’t eat them all in one sitting.

Happy birthday, Gully. You’re finally the same age as me, if only for a week. I hope the next year brings you all the joy you deserve.

- L.W. 

[gullivermcpherson]

ᴛᴇꜱꜱᴀ ɢᴀʀʀᴇʟ‌:

@ Brews Brothers Downtown

It had been a relatively calm night in the ER, and - thankfully - Tessa’s last night shift for the foreseeable future.  She couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought of getting back on a normal human schedule. Her circadian rhythm had been out of whack for way too long, and she knew that if it stayed that way for much longer it might never be able to get back to normal. The smile only got wider when she finally heard her name called to pick up her coffee from the counter. Head in the clouds, she barely even noticed that she bumped into someone as she tried to hurry to the counter. “I am so sorry, it’s been a long night. Excuse me…”

Purchasing coffee outside of his typical morning coffee brewed at home was something out of the ordinary for Gulliver, reserved only for days when he had run out of time in the morning or for days where he just needed a little extra treat to get him through the days. Within the week since the festival, he found himself, scatterbrain and all, walking through the doors of Brews Brothers more often than not on his breaks from the shop. There was still a sense of lingering anger and sadness he hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with, but he knew throwing ice cream lids wasn’t going to help. Maybe, Gulliver figured, continuing to move with society until he figured it out would help. Which is how he found himself in a crowded coffee shop just a few blocks from his shop, laptop tucked under one arm as he grabbed his coffee with his free hand and turned around, intent on finding a table near a window and instead, bumping into another body, a familiar light voice reaching his ears. “No prob- Tessa?” He questioned, head tilted. “Hey, how are you?”

[gullivermcpherson]

landryleona‌:

location: redwood festival.

“Karma,” she hummed, flashing him an innocuous smile as his little sputter. Leona laughed, shifting her weight to her tiptoes, as though that truly elevated her 5′4 stature. “Mayor’s just a figurehead. I’m behind the curtain.” She said with a feigned nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. She patted his back, three little taps, letting out a barely bitten-back chuckle at his near death experience. “That’s what you get for stepping to Leona Landry. Tell all your friends.” She said, nose crinkling in thinly-veiled amusement. “Please don’t die on me. Choking to death on ice cream at 27 years old is a really ridiculous obituary — and I haven’t even filled out my Ice Box punch card yet. Think of my dreams.”  She teased, hand lingering between his shoulder blades for a breath before falling away. “Think you’ll pull through?” She asked, playfulness giving way to something gentler for an almost indiscernible moment. 

She laughed, lower lip going between her teeth and she narrowed her eyes in contemplation. “You raise a solid defense, McPherson. You know what I have to say about that?” She asked, leaning in just slightly as she subtly scooped up the tiniest bit of her own ice cream with her index finger. Her expression shifted into a small grin, voice low. “Good luck proving it.” She almost whispered, neatly tapping her ice cream coated fingertip on his nose. 

His eyes rolled, as they usually did, at every word that fell from her mouth. Leona was... ridiculous at best, a teasing friendship that he found made her ridiculousness all the more endearing. They weren’t childhood friends like he was with Riley or Lily, but Gully had never felt like time determined the success of a friendship and he was more than enjoying the jabs she offered, even if they sounded more threatening than not. The pats on his back calmed the cough, a certain comfort offered by the touch. “That sounded like a threat, which only means I feel obligated to tell you that I just pictured you as the old dude behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.” He laughed heartily, the festival goers wandering around them and yet, he felt himself living only in this moment. 

“You worried about me dying on your watch?” Gulliver joked, eyebrows raised with the question as if he were taunting her, just asking for her to retaliate. Retaliation came sooner than he had expected and the feeling of a cold, quickly melting substance startled him. “Wha- hey.” His voice mocked offense but his lips curved into an amused grin nonetheless, eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head. It only took the second a melted ice cream drip hit his mouth, dropping from the tip of his nose, to decide that the best way to defeat Leona was with her own medicine. “Don’t say you didn’t ask for it,” Gully warned lightly, his spoon dipping into his ice cream before taking the spoonful and plopping it against her cheek, the wet smack leaving most of the cold cream sliding against her skin, a laugh falling loudly from his mouth.