Mason Carmichael

Mason Carmichael | 36 | Drug Trafficker | Costello Crime Family

[moody-mason]

check-yesjuliet‌:

She turned on her heel to level her brother with a look. “No, it’s really not. You’ve seen my place. What makes you think this is anywhere near how a human is supposed to live?” Since he’d spent the last few years in prison, Jules was going to let that slide. Maybe Mason was just used to the sparse nature found in his cell. Well, no more. Not for her brother. Not as long as she could afford to help him. Even if they didn’t share the same style, there was no way he was going to look like he lived in a half-way house. “Just let me help. If you’re worried about the money, don’t be.” She didn’t particularly want to go into detail as to where her money came from but there was no doubt in her mind that he already knew exactly where it did. 

Her lips pursed as she made herself comfortable on the couch next to the man who raised her. Even though he was her brother, he was the closest thing to a father besides the one who used to beat her. Jules tucked her feet under herself and threw a look at him. “You act like I said your baby was ugly. You can’t deny this place is a mess.” And then her heart dropped as soon as she heard him say the words. It was one thing for him to know and another altogether for him to bring it up. “Y-yeah.” Shit. She hated that old stutter that made itself known whenever she let her nerves get the better of her. “Mason, please don’t look at me like that. I make good money. We really don’t have to talk about this.” 

“Whoa, hey. It’s a pretty big step up from my digs a few months ago. That was inhumane, this isn’t.” Mason knew it came from a good place but he wasn’t loving the attitude here. His place was fine and when he started working full time again he’d be able to upgrade. He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Jules, I’m fine. You don’t have to help.” He already knew where that money was coming from, as they were about to discuss, so he didn’t really want to profit off that. It would feel too weird. 

Mason exhaled smoke with a huff, vaguely amused at her persistence on this topic. “All right, so it’s not spic and span or whatever. Not like I’ve been here long.” It wasn’t exactly a total mess, either, but apparently she had high standards now. But then it was on to serious business which she clearly didn’t want to talk about, given the way her expression fell and that stutter came back. He felt a pang about that but they still needed to have this conversation no matter how hard it might be for both of them. “We really do have to talk about it, actually. Makin’ good money is no excuse. I’m not gonna have my baby sister workin’ in that kinda business. You did what you had to do while I was inside, I get it, though I kinda wish the Costellos took better care of you than that. Either way, I’m out now, there’s no need for it. I’ll talk to Cassandra and she can move you to somethin’ else.” He was trying, very valiantly, to keep a hold of his temper but his tone was still pretty firm. If she put up much more resistance about it he might snap and that was never good for anyone. 

[moody-mason]

aaron-murphy-green‌:

Aaron laughed. “Totally, man. Who doesn’t love more cheese?” When it came to people with strong opinions, Aaron tended to just agree with whoever was there with him. Fights were bad for business and tended to harsh his high. “Hey it’s cool, they always pay, eventually. I have a complicated system of credit that maintains the ecosystem of Chicago’s trendy hot spots.” Aaron didn’t want any of his clientele to get roughed up, though admittedly it would make collection easier. It would just make him feel bad. Letting the topic switch to the bane of meth and how it was really making his job harder, and just offended him as a businessman, he shook his head. “I had to like, learn chemistry and invest in testing kits and shit. It’s one thing if you’re stepping on it with baby laxative or something, that’s business, but meth is vile.” Aaron always tried to have a decent quality of coke when he sold it, around 80%, but that was hard to get these days. 

They got to the pizza place and Aaron requested a private booth, where he spread his sketchbook out to show his map. “Okay so I made a map legend down here. See, these are regulars, these are clubs where I hit up for deliveries or general business, and these are areas where there’ve been police raids or a lot of attention, I stay out of those in case it’s a sting. Getting pinched is a bitch.” He pointed to each corresponding symbol as he explained his system. “I marked areas that’ve become more low-traffic in blue ink here, whereas areas that’ve seen an uptick in business interest in red. Then over here you have areas that are time specific. See, the college campus you don’t need to hit all the time, just during certain weeks, those are marked with the symbols to indicate which month to visit. Farther over is the pier, which gets hit when the summer rowing crews start in and want to party afterwards. And then there’s things like concerts and house parties that are more fluid, I have a social network where people get benefits for informing me about stuff like that. Generally these days, I don’t really have to work to get a product out, it sells itself, but I like to keep up the entrepreneurial attitude to the whole thing in case I have to switch markets.” Aaron was incredibly proud of his map, which had no words on it, but was instantly readable to him.

They apparently agreed on the value more cheese brought to a slice of pizza though Aaron didn’t seem to want Mason to pressure his clientele to pay up. “Fine, but if they fall too far behind someone’ll have to pay ‘em a visit. Wouldn’t want anyone starting to think the Costellos are gettin’ soft.” Least of all the Sinclairs but that went without saying. “Meth is pretty fucked up.” There’d been more than a few meth heads in jail with him and that was not a place Mason ever wanted to mess up. He’d stick with coke, booze, and the usual party drugs. 

Once they were in the booth at the pizza place, Aaron got down to business which Mason appreciated. He leaned forward to look at the map (which, to him, seemed mostly like a bunch of coloured lines and pictures) but listened to the explanations. It was damn good and clearly Aaron had a system but he wondered if it would be of use to him or really anyone else. There weren’t even any words explaining what each colour meant. “Damn, that’s some good work. I’m gonna take a picture of this but I’ll probably have to text you askin’ what the hell it all means every once in a while.” To that end, Mason pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. “Sounds like you’re doin’ well, anyway. Got it all figured out. You ever think about movin’ up, going bigger? You run shit like this I could probably use you at my level.” 

[moody-mason]

sofia-costello‌:

Sofia rested a hand on his arm and flicked a drop of sweat away from Mason’s cheek. “I like my liquor like I like my men, strong, rough, and bad for me.” It was a borderline cheesy line, but who the fuck cared. “Whiskey sour. With a cherry on top.” She had, at one point in her adolescent career, allowed the nickname of Cherry Costello. For some reason, she’d thought it made her interesting. She’d grown from then, of course, but maybe Mason would remember. “I had a huge crush on you growing up. My brother Ezra used to tease me mercilessly about it. He said you’d never want to sleep with a jailbait tentpole.” That had been when Ezra had still been using, and cocaine had had a habit of making him mean. “What do you think? Is he right now?”

The line made him grin even as his eyebrows went up. “Looks like you came to the right place, then.” Mason probably qualified as all of those things. He ordered her drink and a neat whiskey for himself. “Didn’t they used to call you Cherry for a while?” Mason did, in fact, remember that though he’d always personally thought it was a poor choice. “I remember that. You tried flirtin’ with me a lot. But he’s right, you were jailbait.” She was asking about now and maybe the night was taking a different turn already. Fuck it. He wet his lips. “Seems to me like we’re both adults now. And if you’re dancin’ is any clue, I’d be crazy to say no.” 

[moody-mason]

sofia-costello‌:

Sofia laughed and flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. “Can’t get anything past you.” She wondered how far he was willing to go, flirting with her and all, but resisted the urge to push it for now. Matty would just replace him with someone boring if he complained that his charge was trying to climb him like a tree. After all, Matty thought of her like his sister. Shuddering at the thought, she let Mason pull her onto the dance floor, where it was too loud to talk unless you pressed very very close to someone. Not that she had much to say right now. 

After far too long dancing, or not nearly long enough because Mason’s smile had not lost its effect, Sofia tugged on his arm and pulled him over to the bar. “I need a drink. And some air. You’ve got me all hot and bothered.”

“That’s right. I got a sharp eye.” This was all fun and games, really, and Mason wasn’t expecting it to lead to anything. She was a little young, after all, same age as Jules but they were both adults so if that’s the way the night went, so be it. Then again, she was real close to Jules so it might not be the best idea. He wouldn’t worry about it for now and just see what happened. He was pretty willing to go with the flow on this kind of thing. All he was focused on right now was having fun and apparently being a distraction for Sofia from her grief. That suited him fine. 

They danced for quite a while before Sofia pulled him over to the bar, chuckling at her comment. “I’m not gonna apologize for that. Drink first, then air?” He could use a drink himself and leaned an elbow against the bar, catching the bartender’s eye before turning back to Sofia. “What’s your poison?” 

[moody-mason]

check-yesjuliet‌:

Mason could have wanted any number of things when he called and asked her to come over. To her, it hardly mattered because after so many years away from each other, there was that need to be around her big brother that never went away. She suspected that it would be that way no matter how old she got because of the way they grew up. He had always been there for her no matter how broken she got. Only one person would accept her for who she was and that was her brother whose apartment she was about to take over for a bit. The buzzer went off to allow her into the building and she made her way upstairs, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. 

The door opened almost as soon as she showed up and it made her smile at the way her brother greeted her. “Hey Mas!” She chirped back at him as she wrapped her arms around his middle. “We really have to get you some new furniture. And by we I mean me because you are awful at decorating.” One quick look around the room told her that it would be a quick flash of her card and she could figure out the decor in here.

Mason hugged her back, still smiling at her chipper greeting. He’d missed that, hell he’d missed her. The visits and phone calls just hadn’t seemed like enough when they were used to spending so much more time together. He made a sound of disbelief and looked around the room when she commented on his furniture. “There’s nothin’ wrong with this stuff. All the basics are here, that’s what matters, right?” So maybe the couch looked distinctly second hand and it didn’t match the chair or the coffee table but the TV was a decent size and worked and the furniture was at least comfortable. That seemed to be the most important part. 

Letting her go, he headed over to the couch, tapping his cigarette off in the ashtray on the coffee table. “Thought I taught you better manners than comin’ into someone’s place and startin’ to criticize right away.” He was mostly teasing and leaned back, assuming she’d make herself at home without him having to invite her. “We gotta talk about somethin’, though. I heard you’re workin’ at the Roma? As an escort?” He took a drag from his cigarette but watched her, a bit of a harder look in his eyes. It was clear already that he disapproved. 

[moody-mason]

sofia-costello‌:

Sofia tilted her head and gave Mason her best “who me?” look. “Do I look like a bad girl?” Mason had been the first man she’d ever tried flirting with, admittedly not well, but she’d had plenty of practice. Flirting with your friend’s hot old brother was practically a rite of passage in life, but she’d never quite gotten over the little thrill she got when Mason smiled at her. The man should’ve been in movies instead of threatening people and whatever else he did for her family. At the very least, he should’ve been on a billboard, shirtless and oiled up. 

“If I had to ask, then it wouldn’t have been as fun, would it?” Looking him over approvingly, she slipped her arm into his. “So, are you going to show me a good time, or are you going to be boring like Matty and expect me to stay at home and braid my hair?” Of course, if he’d wanted to go back to her room, she wouldn’t have discouraged it either. But she suspected her mother might disapprove. “I wanna dance with somebody.” Half-singing the old Whitney Houston song, she shimmied next to Mason. “Dance with me.”

“Definitely.” Mason didn’t hesitate to respond, though he was still smiling. He figured that’s what she wanted to hear, anyway. He remembered before he’d gone to jail and when her and Jules were still in high school how she’d flirted with him. Mostly he’d laughed it off and thought it was funny but she seemed to have gotten better at it in the intervening years. Flirting was fun so Mason wasn’t about to complain. Besides, she wasn’t a teenager anymore. 

“Guess not. You’re lucky you got stuck with me.” They linked arms and Mason didn’t mind, glancing around at the already fairly crowded club, doing a quick sweep for threats before he turned his attention back to her and chuckled. “I’m always up for showin’ you a good time.” His smile grew wider when she sang and danced a little, amused. “Sure, why not?” He led her out onto the dance floor and stayed fairly close, for security reasons, obviously. 

[moody-mason]

aaron-murphy-green‌:

The question of who had the best pizza in town was a hotly debated subject, one that Aaron of course had an opinion on, but that he was wary of declaring. As a non-local, he understood that deep dish pizza for some reason made people insane, so he just shrugged, his usual answer to anything he felt even slightly hesitant about saying. “They’re both great, how can you choose? Pizza Stop’s closer though.” He flipped back through his notebook and consulted it. “And two of the line cooks are in deep for their coke, along with one waitress and the manager. Not that that’s weird, half the restaurants in the area want blow faster than I can buy it. I only deal it directly these days, nose candy is getting expensive. I heard people are cutting it with more and more meth, I have to keep track of my product or I’m gonna get a bad reputation.”

“Pizza Stop’s cheesier, gives it an edge.” Mason didn’t get hugely fired up about pizza but he did have an opinion, of course. It was hard not to in Chicago. He frowned hearing about how apparently half the staff still owed them money. “Sounds like they need to be reminded to pay up.” Mason was more than willing to play that role, he’d done it several times in the past. Sometimes he broke bones but it didn’t really bother him that much. People paid their debts to the Costello family and that was part of the reason why. The information about the coke was interesting and he filed it away, both for business and personal reasons. “Meth, huh? Shit. I’ll have to be careful with my big orders too, then.” He’d clearly have to buy from Aaron if he didn’t want to get totally fucked. Not that he’d done much coke in a while but he liked to party sometimes and didn’t want to get too messed up. 

[lowkeysebastianstan]

(x)

[moody-mason]

aaron-murphy-green‌:

“Man, the system’s rigged against me so many different ways, I don’t even notice most of the time when a new one pops up. American Dream, gotta love it.” The mention of Juliet had not gone unnoticed, and Aaron again wondered how Mason was so calm about his sister’s line of work. Not that being a working girl was a bad thing, of course, but someone like Mason might not feel so woke about the whole thing. It just went to show that you couldn’t judge. “Hey, I’m happy to be your spirit guide to the underworld, man.” Aaron, who would have been as surprised as anyone else that he’d accidentally made a reference to Dante, dug through his backpack and pulled out a notebook, which he flipped through. It was full of sketches of abstract shapes and seemed to be entirely gibberish, but a section featured a map that was accurate down to street numbers and landmarks, with symbols sketched all over. “You wanna grab a slice and I can break down the basics, then we can do a ride through?”

“Oh yeah, it’s the best.” There was unmistakable sarcasm in his voice. American dream his ass. At least he’d managed to do okay for Juliet and himself and that’s all Mason really cared about when it came down to it. “Good. Seems like I need one, at least for this first little bit.” Mason glanced at the notebook Aaron produced but none of it made sense to him so didn’t bother much with it after that. Maybe it was encoded or something. Whatever, as long as it helped them get through this. Mason nodded at the suggestion. “Sure. The Pizza Stop still the best place in town or did Gino’s finally step up and knock them out?” It was vaguely frustrating to have missed out on five years of changes in the city and the world in general but Mason was doing his best to adjust to them. 

[moody-mason]

sofia-costello‌:

@moody-mason​

Now that the funeral was over, Sofia was left somewhat untethered. That was new for her; she’d always known what to do with herself. Except now all she could think about was that she was pretty much useless as a person. That and that her dad was dead. Her friends’ dads sometimes died young; heart attacks, mostly, a stroke here or there, cancer once or twice. She was the only one whose father had been murdered, and it made her friends weird around her, like it was contagious or something. She’d taken to going out with a wilder crowd, which went against the advice of everyone who’d spoken to her about the last time. But of course that was kind of the point, wasn’t it? 

She knew Matty was pissed at her, that she was making his life difficult, but at this point, it was kind of nice to have someone give a shit where she was, so why not play it for all it was worth? And it wasn’t like she wasn’t following in the footsteps of pretty much all of her siblings, so consider it a family tradition. 

She’d been told she’d get a new bodyguard, someone who could “handle her better”, which she was looking forward to, because really, she probably did need to be handled at this point. And she loved a challenge. 

“If I’d known all I had to do to get you to hang out with me was make a few mistakes, I’d have started being bad months ago.”

Security detail wasn’t exactly Mason’s prime gig but he generally did what was asked of him and had some experience with it. He was good at protecting people when he put his mind to it considering he’d been protecting Juliet her whole life. When Mateo had called him and told him, exasperation in his voice, that he needed someone capable to look after Sofia and given him the job, Mason hadn’t minded. It wasn’t like Mateo was a pleasant person to be around these days but he was high enough up in the inner circle that he had Mason’s respect and watching out for his sister’s best friend was hardly a trial. Mateo knew she already liked him so figured it was less likely that she’d escape from him so here Mason was, showing up for the job that was likely going to be part of his life for the foreseeable future unless Mateo changed his mind. Mason had sympathy for the family in a sort of abstract way. He’d hardly been upset when his parents finally kicked it but that was a different situation. According to everyone, Sofia wasn’t coping well so Mason could at least go along with her for the ride of her grief and make sure she didn’t get herself killed (or into any other kind of similar trouble). 

“Here I thought you’d always been bad.” He smirked, amused, finding it easy to lay on his charming veneer with Sofia. Mason was still a little out of practice with that but no better time to practice it up than with her. If he slipped she wasn’t likely to react too badly, either. Besides, she knew him pretty well from her friendship with Juliet anyway. “I didn’t realise you wanted to hang out with me so much, either. Should’ve just asked.” 

[moody-mason]

@check-yesjuliet​

It was about time he and Jules had a particular chat involving her line of work. Now that they’d gotten Marcel’s funeral out of the way, there was no better time. Not to mention, now that things were probably going to go south real fast with the Sinclairs, Mason wanted his baby sister in a safer profession than seeing a whole lot of strange men. Anyone could get to her that way and he wasn’t about to let her stay in such a position. He intended to tell her all of this and that she could get a job doing something different (much different) at one of the other Costello owned business and he could probably talk to Cassandra and make that happen for her. It wasn’t like he didn’t want her to work, though he did want her to focus on school more. Mason had never been overly interested in education for himself but he sure as hell thought it was important for his sister. 

To that end, he’d invited her over to his place so they could talk about things. It was kind of strange not living together considering they’d done it since he’d gotten her out of their childhood home until the time he’d gone to jail. They were both adults, though, and she already had her own place so Mason had had to get his own apartment. He’d just buzzed her up and was waiting for her to come to the door, smoking because he usually was now. It wasn’t allowed in his building but fuck them. He opened a window and that was about the only concession he was willing to make on that point. The door opened and he smiled as he saw her, walking over. 

“Hey, Jules. How’s it goin’?” 

[moody-mason]

aaron-murphy-green‌:

Aaron couldn’t really tell if Mason had prison abs or not, but it seemed like a nice compliment, and he looked jacked everywhere else, so there was at least a 50% chance it was true. “Can’t complain, life’s been okay to me. They keep making new anti-vape laws, I’m gonna lose my shit, but you know, small potatoes. You look good though. Juliet must be glad.” Considering Mason’s legendary and notoriously overprotective nature, it was probably best to avoid the subject of his no-longer-jailbait sister. “You back in business or you taking some time off?” Aaron generally didn’t keep track of what went on above his pay-grade. Really not his business, and knowing that sort of stuff just made you very arrestable.

Mason nodded as Aaron explained, making a sympathetic sound as he mentioned the vape laws. “That’s shit but they’re gonna try to nail us wherever they can, apparently.” It’s not like Mason was particularly surprised by that but it was still annoying. Aaron mentioned Juliet and his eyebrows went up slightly. “Yeah. She is.” Sure, it wasn’t uncommon knowledge in the Costello organization that he and Juliet were siblings but it seemed strange for Aaron to bring her up like that. Whatever, maybe he was just being paranoid. “Time off? Shit, I’ve just had more time off than I wanted to so I’m definitely back. That’s why I wanted to talk to you, get the lay of the land again, who’s still doing what and all that. Seems like a lot of my old contacts dried up.” 

[moody-mason]

chanelxalbright‌:

Chanel was quickly learning how blunt her new companion could be. Another side effect of worrying for his sister, or an actual character trait, she couldn’t tell. Either way, she needed to drop her publicist act of spinning stories to leave out details or else their back and forth would continue with him just getting more frustrated by her non-answers.

“Yes, I work for the Costellos. I’m their publicist, actually.” She paused and considered the second half of the question, the one he most likely was more interested in. “I met her because of Luca, which I guess you could say was because of work. I was a personal assistant at that time, though.”

At the mention of Marcel’s name she felt a tug at her chest, reminding herself why she had been out in the middle of this chaos to begin with. Not that she could actually forget. His need to find his sister had helped her mind switch gears, however, and she realized she was no longer running on autopilot. Now that they were walking to Cassandra’s house, she was realizing just how stupid it had been for her to go out like this. Anything could have happened. Lucky for her, all she found was a man desperate to keep his family safe, and she could understand that during this time.

“My name’s Chanel. I think our timelines just barely miss each other… I’ve been working for the Costellos for about eleven years, but half that time was spent at the Roma. I guess it was a couple years ago that Cassandra thought I was better suited as a personal assistant, and even more recently as their publicist…” She wasn’t sure he actually wanted to hear her entire story, but for some reason the moment she started speaking it all just came pouring out. Perhaps it was her own way of keeping herself distracted from what may wait at the Costello household.

Mason wasn’t normally so blunt, though he was clearly capable of it. With strangers he actually tended to be pretty charming and well-spoken. Then again, normally he wasn’t worried about whether or not Juliet was alive and a few months fresh from prison where he hadn’t had much opportunity to be charming and well-spoken. If this all didn’t go to total shit, maybe they’d have a different encounter some other time and he’d take her for a drink or something. 

At least she was finally giving straight answers, that was a relief. “Publicist, huh? Ok.” Mason only had a vague idea at the moment of what a publicist did but it was good enough for him that she worked for the family. Mason made a face at the mention of Luca again. “How come everything keeps comin’ back to that kid lately?” Maybe it just did where his sister was concerned but that wasn’t really much better in his mind. 

She gave him her name and a bit of personal history, at least how she’d moved up in the company which didn’t really matter to him but whatever. “Guess we’d have run into each other sooner or later, then. Sounds like you already know where I’ve been the last five years with your ‘timelines missin’ each other’ comment.” Not that it bothered Mason if people knew he’d gone to jail. Hell, maybe Juliet had told her. Or maybe it was just her job to keep track of shit like that. 

[moody-mason]

I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to save me This all or nothing really got a way of driving me crazy I need somebody to heal Somebody to know Somebody to have Somebody to hold It's easy to say But it's never the same I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain

[moody-mason]

chanelxalbright‌:

“Work? Or maybe a friend of a friend, I guess…” She wasn’t actually sure how to answer that initial question. Juliet had first been introduced to her because of her and Luca dating, but then she had also started working for the Costellos even after they’d broken up to which Chanel had more a stake in knowing her. Fellow employees of the Costellos weren’t necessarily her business, but making sure none of them messed up the image she was attempting to keep for the family certainly was. Juliet never posed a threat to that, however, so their relationship had always remained cordial and professional.

Quickly following after him, she huffed a little at his curtness though she decided to write it off since he had other things on his mind. “They might not necessarily be hanging out, it might just be because the Costellos practically have a fortress of a home and they’d be willing to take Juliet in for safety since they seemed to like her well enough when her and Luca had been dating. Regardless of the fact that they’ve broken up since.”

Attempting to keep pace, she crossed her arms over her chest as a cold wind picked up and she regretted not taking the opportunity to prepare more for going out in the middle of fall, in the middle of a blackout. “So…. You’re Mason, right? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard talk about a Mason being Juliet’s brother…”

“Well, that’s specific.” Mason commented, wryly, not having much patience for people who danced around the truth. “You work for the Costellos too, then? That how you met her? Or what?” Maybe he was just too tired and stubborn to let it go but it seemed important that he get this straightened out, not that he was sure why at the moment. It might have been just so he could focus on something else rather than his constant worry for Juliet’s well-being. 

She explained why Juliet might be at the Costellos place and it made sense. “Guess that tracks. They’ve probably battened down the hatches pretty tight since someone took out Marcel.” Mason was angry about that in a sort of abstract way. He’d liked Marcel well enough, as a boss and leader, though hadn’t really known him on any kind of personal level. It was more the principle of the thing that offended Mason. The Sinclairs had come for their leader and that sure as hell meant war. He’d be happy to fight in that war and fuck them up as much as need be but only because they’d swung at his team first, so to speak.That kind of thing just couldn’t go unanswered. 

It was chilly out but Mason barely noticed, his steps determined since he knew where he was going and she seemed to be catching up if not keeping up. He glanced back when she asked him his name. “That’d be me. Can’t say I know who you are just by lookin’ at you, though.” 

[moody-mason]

check-yesjuliet‌:

At this point, Juliet had practically blocked the guy’s mug out of her memory and it wasn’t exactly on her to-do list to conjure it back up. Besides, she ended up having too good of a night after that to ruin it with the fear-stained bit. “No. I don’t remember his face. If you want a description of his hands I could help you out though.” Developing a selective memory had helped her get through her job at Roma. At first it had been difficult, the revolving door of men through the club. She had to smile and play the game but at least in the end there was always payment. That she could look forward to. “And no. I don’t need you to talk to my ex for me. It’s fine. If anything, I need to learn to let shit go.” It was her own fault that she was still so hung up on Luca. There was no one to blame but herself. 

Mason was always going to be the only one who got the real Juliet, nothing held back, but that didn’t mean she wanted him going after everyone who made her cry. Then she would never learn her own lessons. She giggled at the way he instantly reacted to the gross memory. “I still can’t eat applesauce.” She said with a shrug. Before she could argue, Juliet took a good look at her big brother. The bags under his eyes, the frown lines around his mouth, it all screamed of how exhausted he was. Had he spent the last day looking for her nonstop? Now she just felt bad. “Fine. Let’s go. It’s my turn to take watch. You look so old when you’re tired.” She grabbed a bag of gummy worms off the shelf and headed back toward the door. “I assume the car is out front?”

Mason gave her an odd look. “Hands, really? That’s what you noticed about the guy?” He shook his head, thinking it was weird but whatever. He likely wouldn’t be able to track someone down based on a description of their hands so he’d have to, grudgingly, let it go. “If you’re sure, but I’m always happy to give him a talkin’ to, just remember that.” Mason would leave it, for now, since she seemed to think it was partially her own fault or something, which obviously wasn’t true. Still, he could shelve the Luca thing for a while. 

“Me neither.” Mason suppressed another shudder, trying to repress the applesauce memory as best he could. She didn’t have a choice about going to the Roma but at least she was agreeing without much fuss, other than a dig at his age. “I’m gonna remind you of that when you get to be my age. See how much you appreciate it then.” Mason followed her and nodded at the question. “Yeah, out front.” They left the store and he took a look around to make sure no one was in the vicinity who looked like they might try to jump them. It wasn’t like he couldn’t have dealt with it but he really didn’t want to, tired as he was. He unlocked the car and let them in, immensely relieved that he’d actually found her and that he could finally stop worrying. Starting the car, he smiled over at her. “Think I’m gonna sleep until this whole blackout thing blows over and I don’t care if that’s three days from now.” With that announcement, he pulled away from the curb and headed towards the hotel. 

END.

[moody-mason]

aaron-murphy-green‌:

@moody-mason​

Aaron anxiously awaited Mason, who’d messaged him requesting they chat. Mason had gotten out of lockup recently, and thus was in every way more legit than Aaron, as well as being kind of intense. They’d been friends, or at least friendly, before Mason had gotten pinched, so Aaron hoped he wasn’t about to be told he was being moved back to a street corner or something. 

“Sup man! You look good! You got prison abs and shit!”

Mason had been out of prison for a few months now but he still felt like he was getting his bearings. He’d started working again but he needed someone who’d been working the whole time he was inside to give him the lay of the land, let him know what was what and who the players were, if they’d changed much. Aaron would know so Mason had called him up, assuming their friendly relationship still stood. “Prison abs?” Mason smirked as he approached and looked down at his stomach. “This shirt must be tighter than I thought. How’ve you been?”