the feeling of entrapment was beginning to swell the more the evening developed. for the most part, dakota had learned to cope with the suffocating crowds that went hand-in-hand with the scene. however, blood-thirsty bandslam reporters and prying strangers were another story entirely. the surface was calm, for now, but those anchors were slipping out of his grasp beneath. with a polite albeit forced smile, the guitarist concluded his latest, impersonal conversation ( one that he was sure was aiming to pry for anything worthy of a blog post ) without offering much at all, his gaze landing on the closest person nearby with a wide-eyed look that practically pleaded for saving. “one more interview and i’ll lose my mind,” he admitted, his voice low, “let’s, just— talk about anything until we look too busy to be bothered.”
Truthfully, Mason wasn’t sure why he’d even bothered to come to this ridiculous event -- hosted by Bandslam, of all things. It screamed of a disaster waiting to happen. But now that he was here, he couldn’t make himself leave. Even though he knew it wasn’t true, he felt as though everyone in attendance was watching him. Of course they weren’t --- definitely not, not when there were some major up-and-coming L.A. musicians at the party -- but he didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself. He’d tried to stick to the outskirts of the party at first, but he’d seen a familiar face amongst the crowd and had decided to look for a different hiding spot to wait out the hours. When Dakota intercepted him Mason jerked to a stop, visibly startled. “Oh-- uh-- Dakota,” he stuttered, attempting to gather his wits. “..Trouble with Bandslam already? That was-- fast. What did they want?”
it was unusual for bea to be awake before noon, even more so to see her out of the house ( since days at crashing corners hq seemed to begin after 2pm ), unless, of course, she never went home in the first place. the evidence was there – the smudged eyeliner, bedhead, wrinkly t-shirt that clearly didn’t belong to her, but had instead been picked up from last night’s companion’s bedroom floor ( it was a few sizes too big, with the words “ certified boob inspector ” written across her chest, and stuffed into a skirt that was too tight, short, and shimmery for the daytime ). bea had just rolled out of some stranger’s bed, and stumbled into the jukebox in her four-inch heels, which had already lost their nighttime luster.
she leaned on her counter, charming her way to a free cup of coffee with a coquettish smile and a generous laugh when the barista offered some sorry attempt at a joke she pretended she hadn’t heard at least a hundred times. her head rolled back, eyes fluttered closed, her hand placed lightly on her chest as an airy chuckle left her lips. she made it into an art. the way she looked at him when her eyes reopened, eyelids heavy as she let out the smallest sigh to punctuate her laugh. it was this or going home, and she still hadn’t learned to work the coffee pot on her own.
while she waited, she caught on to the sound of someone saying her name. while it was soft, barely slightly above a whisper, she heard it. the sound came from behind her, so she couldn’t see its source, but she knew that voice. the last time she heard it, it was just like this. she couldn’t see his face either, but she could hear the shock and heartbreak in it. she spun around, and sure enough, there he was. ❝ mason, ❞ she breathed out. the irony of their reunion didn’t escape her. ❝ hi. ❞
Mason was stricken, and he was sure his face showed it. Why had he done that? Why even call attention to himself? He hadn’t meant for her to hear him -- he didn’t want this. He should’ve just stayed quiet, let her get her coffee and go on her way. Pretend he’d never seen her and hope that they never ran into each other again. LA was a big city, it was a feasible fantasy. And in any case, she likely wasn’t going to be here for long. That was how Bea rolled. She never stayed in one place too long; no city or person could hold her down, as he’d learned from personal experience.
Stupid. Why did you have to open your mouth?
Mason’s eyes darted about the cafe, landing anywhere but on her. His chest felt tight already, as if it was hard to breathe. He couldn’t tell if it was from panic or just the sheer pain from seeing her again. He hadn’t heard from Bea since she had dumped him via phone call, and hadn’t seen her face to face in even longer than that. He didn’t expect it hurt this much, if he was being honest with himself (something he rarely did, but apparently today was a day for unusual occurrences).
From that first minute glance he took, he could see that she still looked almost the same as when they’d first met. The messy hair, faded makeup, nighttime clothes that were more appropriate for a club than a cafe in broad daylight. He could already tell what she’d been up to. He might not of recognized it during their first meeting, but he knew her well enough to recognize it now.
The air between the two of them was thick with tension and a million unsaid words. But the time for closure had long since passed. Maybe once Mason would’ve taken this opportunity to ask her: why? But not now. Now he wanted nothing more than to leave the cafe, to go back to his small apartment where things were safe and familiar. In a desperate attempt for a distraction he picked up his cup and took a drink, choking on the cold coffee. When he finally managed to clear his throat, he croaked out a small, “hi,” in response. “I.. didn’t expect to see you here.”
Mason awoke suddenly to the sound of his phone going off, and jerked his head up from where it rested on his desk. He blinked rapidly, attempting to clear the sleep from his eyes before lifting a hand to rub it away. He fumbled to pick up his phone, wanting to shut off the alarm as quickly as possible. Only when he picked it up, he realized it wasn’t an alarm at all. Kit’s contact picture lit up his screen, showing an incoming call from the dancer. Mason quickly answered the call, lifting the phone to his ear. “Kit?” His voice was still thick with sleep, and unfortunately he knew Kit would pick up on it. “What’s going on?”
it sure seems like jade and bea have some unresolved conflict, at least from what we’ve heard. whatever the cause, we wouldn’t mind seeing them duke it out in person (side note: our money would be on bea). speaking of bea, did everyone else spot that awkward encounter of hers with mason at the jukebox? we’d love to follow those two and see what else goes down. otherwise, we get a kick out of watching the tension brew between THE NEW NOW fellas; we’re not quite convinced everything is as happy as it seems over in that band. and not to mention, there’s oliver interacting with just about everyone, especially PANDEMONIUM’s very own manager. that oliver, he sure seems to be hiding something…
Mason sat across from the frontman for The New Now, silently wondering how he had found himself in this situation and how he should react. Sure, he was being commissioned by the band to produce more graphics for them, but their frontman seemed impossible to get a coherent answer out of.
“I.. I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking for.” Trying not to make it obvious, Mason attempted to look around for any other band members that could maybe translate Chet’s requests for him. Or even change them entirely. There was no way the whole band had agreed to this design, right? “You want me to do what?”
The Jukebox Cafe was decidedly uncrowded that particular morning, but Mason wasn’t surprised seeing as most people were likely already at work for the day and it was still too early for them to be on their lunch break. He’d been practically forced from his apartment earlier that morning with a demand that he stop cooping himself up inside his room, so Mason had taken up refuge in the cafe instead. While he appreciated the sentiment and worry being expressed towards him, he did have work to finish by the end of the week and so he’d also brought his laptop with him. Currently, he was holed up in one of the booths in the back corner of the cafe, out of the way of any other patrons.
He’d ordered a coffee -- double shot of espresso, he’d been fighting off sleep deprivation for two days already -- when he first arrived to keep the staff at bay while he worked. Now, it sat cooling by his elbow barely touched. He’d been so absorbed in his work that the drink was left completely forgotten once he’d gotten started.
He distantly registered the sound of the cafe door opening, but paid it no attention. He only paused a few minutes later, when he heard a familiar-sounding laugh. Fingers frozen over his keyboard he looked up, glancing around the cafe for the source. It was probably nothing, he was only close with a few people in LA, honestly, but he couldn’t help but feel like he knew this person, this laugh. His eyes caught on a girl standing at the counter, talking to a barista. He blinked several times, as if that would dispel the image. Before his mind could even catch up to what was happening, his mouth was moving, “Bea?” It was said quietly, barely mutter, filled with disbelief.
Mason trudged into the shared kitchen of his and Ezra’s apartment sometime around nine o’clock in the morning, yawning into the sleeve of his sweater. He’d been up all night working on his latest commissioned project, and had only succumbed to sleep as the sun began to rise at six o’clock. Needless to say, he was exhausted only running on three hours of sleep.
He set about getting himself a coffee, determined to get back to work as soon as possible. As he stood waiting by the counter with the coffee machine whirring to life in front of him, his eyes began to drift shut again. He was jolted back into alertness as hands suddenly grabbed him from behind, sliding around his waist in a hug. Mason let out a yelp, stumbling backwards into the other person’s arms as they pulled tight. “W-Wha--?”
♥ – A romantic hug
☺ – A friendly hug
♫ – A hug while dancing
✉ – A hug goodbye
ღ – A hug in greeting
❣ –A hug after being separated
✪ –A sleepy hug
✢ – An awkward hug
♢ – A familial hug
⊗ – A quick hug
☄ – A long hug
✾ – A passionate hug
☀ – A hug from behind
▲ – A surprise hug
☑ – A polite hug
✸ – A bear hug
✚ – A hug while cuddling
‽ – A hug around the waist
♠ – A squeezing hug
❋ – A silent hug
♣ – A spinning hug
So, uh,,, yeah, I made a second character. Good ol’ Z, back at it again, but this time I’m bringing the stunning Charlie Rowe as my faceclaim! So, without further adieu because this was already almost late, let me introduce you all to Mason!
(CHARLIE ROWE, CISMALE, HE/HIM) i hear MASON GRAHAM has a link to the band THE NEW NOW. the 23 year old is a GRAPHIC DESIGNER FOR THE BAND, apparently. he’s so DILIGENT and LOYAL, but can also be kind of SOCIALLY AWKWARD and INSECURE. i’m kinda interested in hearing more about him. (ZAVIER, 20, THEY/THEM, EST)
HISTORY:
Mason was born in Islington, London, to parents Marie and Victor Graham on the afternoon of November 12.
Marie was a stay-at-home mom, and spent her days with Mason in their large, empty, colonial style home.
Victor was the chief financial officer of some big important company and the sole breadwinner of the family. In short, he was rarely home -- he worked long days, and was gone some weekends.
When he was home, Victor made sure his son was being “brought up right”. He believed strongly in the concept of the traditional nuclear family, as well as old fashioned toxic views on masculinity, so that’s the kind of environment Mason grew up in.
When Mason was twelve his dad got a promotion for a job overseas in California, and the family packed up their things and moved out to Wrightwood to accommodate.
While Mason had had family who lived in the US, he had never visited them or even been outside of the UK before, and so moving was challenging for him.
Mason had always been a shy, kind of socially estranged child, but being The New Kid™ was somehow the worst thing that could have happened to him. Kids in elementary school didn’t like him; they made fun of the way he talked and his accent, and two years passed without Mason making any friends.
High school was a bit better, but not by much. Mason learned how to hide his accent for the most part under an American one, and he even managed to make a few friends through attending extracurricular activities. But, ultimately, they were casual acquaintances at best and they all went their separate ways as everyone moved on to university.
Mason chose to attend university in Los Angeles, and actually got into a program for marketing rather than graphic design. His father heavily encouraged him to go into financial work like he himself had done, and Mason complied because he didn’t know what else he would want to go in to.
So first year of uni goes by. Mason’s still painfully awkward, but he manages to find someone who thinks it’s cute. He ends up dating this girl from a few of his classes, and they got pretty serious. They only dated for a few months, but they were close and things seemed like they were good.
Seemed, because she suddenly dumped him one day and never really gave him an explanation. He was obviously upset, but kind of just assumed he’d done something to mess it all up and let it go.
But then, second year comes around. Mason ends up taking some graphic design course for a mandatory art credit because he’s good with computers and meets a boy who absolutely knocks his socks off. This is Ezra.
This isn’t the first time Mason’s ever noticed a passing attraction to another boy, but as always he tried to push those thoughts and go on with his life. After all, what would his dad say? But Ezra was relentless, and eventually the two of them get together.
Surprisingly, and despite of all their differences, the two actually made a pretty good couple and lasted all the way through the rest of Mason’s time at university, wherein he switched majors after that graphic design class and decided to pursue it professionally.
After he graduated, Mason and Ezra got an apartment together and Mason started work in the field. Ezra had gotten him really invested in the LA music scene, so that’s how he started making a name for himself. Currently, he’s doing work for The New Now alongside Ezra!
PERSONALITY:
Mason is very shy, socially awkward and self-conscious. He’s just one big ol’ ball of anxiety waiting for something to go wrong at any given moment.
He’s also a terrible workaholic. If there’s something that needs to get done, he’ll be up all night for weeks working on it. On one hand, his work turns out pretty good because of it, on the other -- this boy needs to sleep.
But when there’s no work to be done? Mason is such a freaking sloth. He’ll sleep for 14+ hours and lay around in bed all day when there’s no deadlines to stress over.
Tends to look for a negative spin on things, because he’s always looking for reasons to stress apparently. This also means he kinda self-sabotages himself sometimes, unfortunately, and is constantly worried he’s doing something wrong.
A Very Closeted Bisexual™!! Growing up with his dad meant his that less than straight feelings were often buried and repressed, and even now he can still sometimes become uncomfortable showing that side of himself. He’s not ashamed or anything, just overly cautious about people’s reactions.
On that note, feelings? Never heard of her. Mason finds it very difficult to open up to people in general, even about the little insignificant things bouncing around in his brain.
So, yeah! Hmu on discord @ zavier #1358 if you wanna plot something with this bb boy, ig? Or if you have questions because this post is probably a mess lkjhgfds. Also, you can check out my connections page HERE where I listed some wanted connections, but feel free to bring whatever you have in mind to the table as wel!!!
