if you’re hearing DON’T STOP ME NOW by QUEEN playing, you have to know NATHANIEL BEAM (HE/HIM; CIS MALE) is near by! the TWENTY-EIGHT year old IT TECH AT DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY has been in denver for, like, ELEVEN YEARS. they’re known to be quite ANXIOUS, but being FLEXIBLE seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble JUSTICE SMITH. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those POST-IT CLUTTERED MONITOR, BLUE INK STAINED FINGERTIPS, AAAAA, WOULD YOU STILL LOVE ME IF I WAS A WORM vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around the LAKERIDGE DISTRICT long enough!
TW: parental death
character info –
FULL NAME: Nathaniel Beam
AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 28 / November 27th
GENDER: Cis Male
HOMETOWN: Wapakoneta, Ohio
TIME LIVING IN COLORADO: 11 years
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lakeridge District
OCCUPATION: IT Tech at Denver Public Library
+ flexible, punctual, problem solver
- anxious, pessimist, lazy
He was raised by his moms in Wapakoneta, Ohio. One was a school teacher and the other a psychiatrist.
They always emphasized the importance of a good education.
School teacher mom passed away when he was 14. Nathaniel went from being a happy nerdy kid to being withdrawn and obsessed with his academic performance.
Psychiatrist mom got him into therapy right away. He only went because he thought she'd stop psychoanalyzing him if someone else was doing it. It helped, taught him coping strategies, and got him into journaling to process his feelings.
Nathaniel has been obsessed with all things space since he was a little boy, and up until he started University he thought he wanted to be an astronaut.
He moved to Denver to study Electrical Engineering and Biochemistry at the University of Denver. He purposely picked somewhere out state to get away from his mom, but close enough to drive home for holidays (though he rarely visits anymore).
He hated every second of University after he realized how much math both his Majors involved. The thought of disappointing School teacher mom made him push through.
He also hated all internships he worked and dreaded the thought of grad school.
In the end he graduated with the minimum GPA required and did not make it into grad school.
He worked random retail and foodservice jobs after graduation to keep up with bills while he looked for something that interested him in his field.
Nothing did but he started applying for entry level IT tech jobs because friends told him there's money there (a lie lol) and it's an easy job.
He found an IT job at Denver Public Library, where he has been working since turned 24.
Lowkey feels like a failure for accomplishing nothing significant, being stuck at a dead-end job, and giving up/changing his mind about his dream to become an astronaut. Feels like School teacher mom would be disappointed in him if she was around to see where he is in life
He is still obsessed with space, but more in a sci-fi sort of way than in an actual space exploration sort of way.
Still keeps a journal that he writes in every night but it's less of a journal and more of a book filled with ideas and stories for the sci-fi novel he hasn't admitted to himself that he wants to write.
some random things –
regular at swolemates. stops there in the afternoons on his way home from work.
chronically online. goes by nathalien or astronate, depending.
still living in the wild wild west of rdr2
emily knight's roommate for the past 8 years
wanted connections –
uni friends
besties
gym friends?
coworkers
people he knows from the retail/foodservice jobs he used to work
exes
flings/hookups/etc
gaming friends
enemies idk someone hate me
connections –
armando leal ortega – took his class as an elective when he was a student at the university of denver.
emily knight – roommate and best friend. met online when they were high schoolers. He’s been crushing on her on and off for years.
carleigha ortiz – coworkers and gaming buddies.
zeke loomis – neighbors.
ruriko ito – friends. he attends all her gigs cause she’s the best.
ripley bennett – friend and fellow movie nerd.
charlie jeong – coworkers and friends, helps her with IT stuff.
maia kelly – friends, met through emily.
carter brandt – knows him from swolemates
keyton sousa – neighbors
banks rainier – besties with opposite energies
chance monroe – friends, met through emily.
aria johnson - friends, gym buddies.
owen mason - friends, gym buddies.
"I guess I don't really know what I like. Or what I'm looking for, really." Angelo admits, scratching his chin. Or maybe he just felt like there wasn't a point in decorating. It was only a matter of time before he screwed up again. "Ha. I can barely keep myself alive, Maybe one of those fake plans, though. Some of 'em look pretty real."
“I can help! Not with the first thing, I don’t know what you like. But definitely with the second— if, if you want help, I mean.” He glanced in the direction where he knew the fake plants were, among some other random indoor décor. “The thing is, how are you with dusting? Because fake plants start to look it after a couple month’s worth of dust is sitting on top of them.”
Alex had been engrossed in the new Scott Pilgrim series on Netflix when he heard the knock on the door. He reluctantly got to his feet, unfurling himself from his spot on the couch with a heavy sigh and then plodding across the floorboards in his sock-clad feet. Pulling open the door, a small smile immediately appeared on his features at the sight of Nathaniel. "Hey!" he greeted him. "This is a surprise." Beginning to think you'd forgotten I existed," he added, teasing.
Two things became apparent to Nathaniel the moment the door swung open. The first was that Alex had not been expecting him, which could only mean that the texts about Nathaniel coming over with food from that new Japanese place had partially happened in his head. “Ta-dah!” he exclaimed anyway, holding up the bags of takeaway, because who would turn away a friend who came bearing gifts? “Please, as if I’d ever forget you. I even remembered to bring food.” The only thing he’d forgotten was to ask Alex if he could stop by, but, well. Nobody was perfect. He pressed one of the bags towards Alex and let himself into the apartment, following the glow of the tv into the living room. “No way! I love this show,” he said, recognizing the characters on the tv as he set the food down. “Which evil ex are we confronting this episode?”
"Yeah but you can't have a burger without all the fixings." Though he hadn't gotten any fries, but instead was set to grill some of the vegetables that they could put on the burgers if they wanted. And he was glad for it too when the other already had the oven on and was looking for something to help get the cookies done. "Unless you wanted something else too? We've got time. It's not like we can have a whole meal without dessert afterwards, courtesy of my hero," he joked with a grin as he finished chopping some of the onions before he slid them onto the platter with the rest of the veggies he'd already done.
“Oh, that’s true.” He turned away from the grill and returned to the task at hand, pulling a baking sheet out of somewhere. He set it down on the counter and greased it. “No, I’m good with burgers and chips and stuff.” Nathaniel read the instructions on the box once again before opening it and laying out the cookies on the sheet. “Your hero’s gonna do his best not to eat all of these before everyone else shows up,” he joked back, popping the cookies into the oven. He set a timer on his phone and wandered over to where Chance was chopping vegetables. “You wanna go figure out the grill while I chop up the rest of these?”
"Yeah, I guess. I'm trying to decorate my apartment." And as it turned out, Angelo had very little interior design skills or desires. He really was a less is more kind of guy, but his place was a little depressing, even by his standards. So here he was looking at various trinkets trying to find something that sparked at least a little bit of joy. "So...sort of."
Nathaniel nods, remembering how long it had taken him to properly furnish and decorate his space when he first moved to Colorado. “Wall art goes a long way,” he offers the unsolicited advice. “My roommate’s got a bunch of stuff up and it really makes a difference. Also plants, if you can keep them alive.”
Before he could comment back anything the mission for said apples was on its way and he happily let the other guide him to where he needed to be in order for them to accomplish it. He looked from the guy beside him up to the apples he had been determined to get, giving some thought to the different outcomes. He didn't give much thought to them though because as soon as he heard 'ready' Levi was carefully positioning himself on top of the other guy's shoulders. "Go, go, go!" He laughed, reaching up to grab the apples and accidentally knocking over all but two. "I'm sorry!" Levi calls out, glancing down, "I didn't realize they were going to rain down like that. You alright? I think we're good now. I managed to snag two before disaster struck." Once he was back on the ground, Levi fixed himself a bit, he actually did feel bad about potentially hurting the other with his shenanigans. "Are you hungry? I feel like I owe you more than just a piece of pie after all that. Lunch is on me."
At the other’s signal, Nathaniel pushed onto his feet, hoisting Levi up so he could reach the apples. He tried to glance up to take a look at how things were going, a sort of nervous shriek catching in his throat when the action made him fall back a step. He regained his balance just as apples started raining down on them. “Careful—ow!” An apple bounced off his head, Nathaniel erupting into laughter. “I’m okay! I’m bringing you down now,” he warned before carefully lowering Levi back to the ground. “You don’t owe me anything, don’t worry about it. But I could eat.” He picked up one of the fallen apples and noticed just how many they had knocked off the branches. “Are those two enough for your pies, or do you need help carrying some of these?” he asked, gesturing at the apples on the ground.
"Hell yeah." Ruriko grins, eyes wrinkled in the corners. "I have slightly selfish motivations because I love shopping for things like this, but hell yeah." She didn't have every faith they could find identical towels, but maybe they could find something just as good, or better even, to make up for Nathaniel's mistake. He seemed to want to fix what had happened, so hopefully his good intentions would translate to his roommate in whatever they managed to find. "Shit. Well, that's okay. We can still have a look, just in case. Maybe they'll have brought them back since they're so cute?" She hums, thinking of anywhere else that might stock similar items. "We'll try a few other places, too. Maybe we can find something even cuter, like cats with witch hats and broomsticks."
As (slightly) selfish as her motivations may or may not have been, her enthusiasm for the shopping had a calming effect on him. It made him a little less anxious about the whole thing, and looking at the picture of the bleach-stained towel on his phone didn’t fill him with as much dread anymore. They would find replacement towels. If not the same ones, then cuter ones, Nathaniel decided, nodding along as Ruriko described the cats with witch hats and broomsticks. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay, yeah, I like this plan,” he said, mostly for his benefit. He pushed out any thoughts about what ifs and sat up. “Okay! So Target first, and if there’s nothing there, we’ll look other places.” Still brimming with nervous energy, he glanced over at Ruriko. “How far is Target from here? Are we walking? Should I drive? … Do you want to drive?”
starter: open, no limit @chqstarter
location: late night convenience store
Marley hates shopping late at night. It's quieter, but that's the only merit when the shelves are emptier and there's less staff to help when she inevitably can't find what she's looking for. It's easier these days to pop into one of the many convenience stores along her journey home from Comic Quest and grab a few essentials to last her until she can next go shopping at a more reasonable time, however, that leaves her to make decisions like do I actually need a tub of ice cream or am I just tired and cranky? and, as she stands shivering in the freezer section, lightly dancing for both generating heat and a love of the song playing over the radio, "which flavour should I get?"
Nathaniel really should stop making promises unless he was sure he could keep them. Like promising pancakes for breakfast tomorrow without checking if they had any pancake mix in the kitchen, for example. At least he had remembered to check before bed. Now he was wandering the convenience store in his pajama sweatpants and faded cartoon t-shirt in search of pancake mix. He ventured down the frozen section first, where the pancake mix definitely wouldn’t be, he realized a little too late, and grinned when he spotted Marley by the ice cream. “Don’t you mean flavours? It’s buy one get one, you have to get the two,” he said rather unhelpfully, pointing at the sign.
Emily rolled her eyes with a laugh at her roommate. Of course there weren't lightsabers in this game. That was in space and this was Faerun. She pouted when Nathaniel called Astarion an asshole. "He has trauma, Nate!" Her pout turned into a smile. "But no worries. I can fix him." And Emily has fixed him several times with almost every play through she has played with the game. She bit off a piece of her toast as Nathaniel asked his questions about the magic users in the game. "Yeah, but Wyll is a warlock, so you don't necessarily have to be one. Unless you want to be." She tucked some wet hair behind her ear. "So, in D&D lore, sorcerers are born with magic or they are exposed to unknown forces causing them to have magic abilities. Like, one of my friends in her campaign is playing a wild magic sorcerer and she got powers because when she was a child she was abducted by mindflayers." Emily took another thoughtful bite of her toast as she thought about the character's situation. "But anyway, I'll get dressed and we can start playing!" She grinned at Nathaniel before grabbing her towel and making her way to her bedroom.
“Everyone has trauma, Em, but we’re not all walking around being asshole vampires, are we?” He was just playing along, but couldn’t help the roll of his eyes when she said she could fix Astarion. He fetched a plate out of the cupboard without comment and stacked his tasty toast onto it. He listened with interest as she explained more about the game. Could he just be Wyll, then, if he wanted to be a warlock? She had said he could play as the asshole vampire, so why not Wyll? “Mindflayers? Like the ones on Stranger Things, right?” He knew the show drew inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons, but he wasn’t too familiar with it all. He had probably tuned out when Emily explained it when they had watched the show years ago. “Yeah, okay. I’ll set up,” he called after her as she disappeared down the hall into her room. He took the plate of toast and grabbed a couple of canned drinks out of the fridge and set both down on the coffee table in the living room. He plopped down on the couch and reached for the remote and controllers to boot everything up, settling back against the cushions with a piece of toast while the menu screen loaded.
"Take a breath, man." Angelo chuckles, shaking his head a bit. He and Nathaniel had run into each other a few times, but he wouldn't call them friends. Still, he was trying to be more social, even if it was still pretty awkward on both of their ends. "You find anything interesting here? I don't really know what I'm looking for, to be honest."
His mouth clamps shut with an audible click. He wills himself to calm down, be cool. Why is he always so nervous around Angelo? “Not yet.” The response is uncharacteristically brief for him, but he’s making an effort not to ramble on. “So you’re just browsing, then?”
amara has been working on one of her comic book strips for over an hour, still nursing the glass of wine that was suggested from the bartender. except -- it hasn't exactly been a pleasant drink, and she's currently stuck in a block. she flips over to a clean slate of a page and starts to draw the outline of the person sitting across the bar. she rests her pen and then grabs the glass of wine and taking a sip before making a face. "oh, eugh, wine tastes better as a meat marinade. this is shit."
Nathaniel hid his smile behind the rim of his glass. He didn’t have much of a preference when it came to alcohol, so he had almost asked for the same wine Amara was drinking. He was glad to have ordered a cocktail instead, whatever it was. Something with vodka, he couldn’t remember the name. He took a sip of his drink before setting it back down with a giggle. “Look, I know what you mean, but I’m still picturing you sipping the marinade with a straw and that’s just—” He shuddered.
OPEN — @chqstarter
WHEN — 2:38 AM, on a weekday
WHERE — night and dine
Owen had been camped out at the diner for the last three hours, some insane part of him believing that he could holdout until they began serving breakfast again. There was a plate of hardly-touched fries nudged off to the side of his tabletop, making room for the book that was laid flat between his elbows, his head remaining held up by a combination of sheer force of will and either palm gripping his temples. He'd read the same paragraph nearly a dozen times now — and it was about to become a dozen and one as the jukebox zapped to life again, music filling the diner. I saw him dancing there by the record machine... Every muscle in Owen's body tensed, sharp annoyance making his head throb. How many times could one person want to hear 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'? "At least pick the Britney version..." he muttered, rubbing his face before scoping out the mostly deserted diner, the jukebox user now becoming his number one enemy. "Can we just unplug it!?" Owen called loudly, not really seeking permission from anyone working, or even the other patrons. "I'm gonna unplug it," he decided for himself, already rising to his feet.
Nathaniel was seated at a barstool by himself, quietly tap-tap-tapping at phone screen as he searched for the hidden objects in his game. His friend was working a weird shift tonight and her car was at the shop, so Nathaniel had offered to pick her up after work. He had set an alarm, but anxiety had woke him a few hours too early. He was sure he’d fall back asleep and miss the alarm, so he’d grabbed his keys and drove to the diner to wait. He covered his mouth to stifle a yawn, flinching when the guy complained about the jukebox very loudly. It took him a second to understand what was happening— Nathaneil hadn’t even noticed the music, he had been too absorbed in his silly little game. “Woah, hey, uh.” He spoke up before he knew what he was going to say. All he knew was that he wanted to avoid a fight between this guy and the jukebox man. “Are you sure you wanna do that? It’s not really that loud.” It was, a little, now that he was paying attention to it. “Is it distracting you from your book?”
About ten minutes into her run, Aria fully settled into her rhythm. Until she'd inevitably become too comfortable, indicating her need to increase the pace. Exercise had always been a part of her life, but running in particular was the one that could clear her head most effectively. Between the repetition of the rhythmic steps, and timing the inhales and exhales, it was as close as to meditation as she ever managed to achieve no matter how many times she heard it recommended by pseudotherapists on their virtual soapboxes. After a while, she slowed down speed, getting ready to take a water break. It wasn't until after she had fully stopped and stepped off the treadmill that she realized how tired she actually was. The endorphins were still buzzing around her, though, as she sipped on her water and noticed some of the other members. A soft chuckle upon seeing her friend. Was it written in the stars for their paths to cross so much at the gym, or were they both just unable to allow themselves to rest? "Your form could use some work," she offered her unsolicited feedback, the playful tone of her voice indicating the lack of a single ounce of seriousness.
Nathaniel had noticed her when he walked into the gym but forwent saying hello so he wouldn’t bother her. He could see she was focused on her run, and anyway, he knew he would run into her before he left. He always did. Rather than asking, he had assumed their work schedules to be similar. It must be why they were almost always here at the same time. He was by the weights when she found him a half hour later, focused and determined and maybe slightly hating the set barbell back squats he was completing. Her comment pulled a smile out of him, and a huff of breath that would have been a laugh if he had any air left in him. “My form, is, perfect!” he managed to say, pausing between each rep. He pushed up one last time with some effort and deposited the barbell onto the rack behind him. He held on to it for a second, giving himself a moment to catch his breath. “You focusing on cardio today?”
"Makes sense. Though with this character, I'm sure she could kick ass in the tightest bodycon dress out there," Kendra said with a shrug, flicking through some more hangers. "I mean, it's also just an aura. A feeling like she's beautiful but dangerous, which I can obviously pull off already. I have just the sword for accessorizing though."
“I don’t doubt it, but could you do a high-kick in a dress like that? It doesn’t seem practical. You gotta have room to kick.” He lifted his leg in the laziest demonstration of a kick ever, only to throw her an unimpressed look when she spoke about the aura the costume was supposed to convey. He nodded though, the expression vanishing after she said she already pulled off that beautiful and dangerous aura. “Oh okay, I thought I was going to have to say something about that. So anyway, you’ve got all that down, so we need something that looks regal.” He sorted through a couple of dresses. “So… like. Something green?”
BONNIE WENT alone and she wouldn't take that long, because a mini-me who is very dependent on her, probably was waiting for her at home, and it was with her nanny. She was amused by how the other reacted, but she feigned not noticing anything, instead, she was more focused on leaving this damned maze. How could he forget the path he came? ❛ Okay, let's go. ❜ She gestured to him to follow her and walked by his side. ❛ Is there pumpkin bread? I think I'll try to get one too. ❜ She inquired with curiosity. ❛ So, what do you do Nathaniel? ❜ She kept a small talk to make some normalcy between them.
Nathaniel followed along in a bit of a daze. He couldn’t quite believe this was his life. Actually, none of his friends would. He certainly wouldn’t believe any of them if they told him they’d spent the night trapped in a corn maze with Bonnie Beaufort. It sounded made up. “Yeah,” he said about the pumpkin bread. “There’s candy apples and stuff like that, all sorts of treats. My coworker asked me to get her a pumpkin bread, it’s apparently very good.” His ability to form full sentences in her presence surprised him. He was pretty proud of himself, actually. “Me? I work at the library, nothing exciting. Not like movies! Are you on a break? A vacation?”
"I'm all for getting in the holiday spirit. Usually. I love putting on the cute fall outfits with all the warm and neutral colors. But honestly, apple is the superior autumnal flavor over pumpkin," Ophelia countered pointedly. Despite that, she slid the drink over to the willing consumer. She watched curiously for his reaction before letting out a boisterous laugh. "See! It does not taste good!" Brow furrowed slightly at the thought of a candy corn drink. "I'm skeptical... that sounds like it won't taste good, but I am curious enough to try it." Taking a small sip of his drink, Ophelia found herself giving it a good second before deciding that she didn't hate it. "It's not bad. Not my favorite, but a major improvement than pumpkin spice one."
“Well, yeah, that’s why apple is available all year round. Its clearly the best, and appletinis aren’t half bad either, but this?” Remembering the taste of Ophelia’s drink was enough to make him grimace again. “Like, pumpkin is just… not good for anything. Do we really grow it just to peer pressure people into consuming it during fall?” He ended his rant and watched her take a sip of his drink. “Right!” he agreed. “It’s like they melted down candy corn and put vodka in it, which is not my favorite, but at least it’s not…” Nathaniel grimaced at her drink once again. “That. But I’ll swap with you if you want, because I’m a good friend and I’d hate for the alcohol to go to waste.”
"Well, we seem to have done that already," Mei commented with a gentle laugh, shaking her head at his words. Moving with him down the counter, her gaze fell upon the server as they scooped the sorbet into the cups, idly chewing on her thumbnail for a moment. As he continued, however, she glanced in his direction, chuckling at the suggestion of pizza and nodding along, kind of giving in. "Okay, fine, I can do pizza," she responded. "We could even stay for a little while. But only a little while, obviously," she laughed at that.
“We’re about to,” he said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation as the employee stuck a spoon into each of their sorbets. Nathaniel thanked them as they handed over the cups. He took a spoonful of sorbet into his mouth, savoring it. “Ah, the taste of summer!” He ate a few more spoonfuls on his way out the shop, holding the door open with his foot until Mei walked through. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said, belatedly remembering that not everyone had as huge an appetite as he did. “I could always grab a slice on the way back. Anyway, what’s the plan for today?”
