-- the great undoing

[xx] something 'bout a summer in the south, sure shines like gold down these old, round bale river valley backroads, way back in the holler where the grass grows -- god almighty, baby, we were that close

[rianward]

Lee snorted, not dignifying Nick’s claim with any more response than that. He didn’t have to be especially close to the guy, or have a longstanding friendship, to know he was full of shit. Nick didn’t find baseball boring, and likely, even after he eventually retired, never would. “What else do you have going, anyway?” Lee asked. He had vague recollections of some kind of work being done to his friend’s house, but that aside … his schedule was nearly as open as Lee’s. MLB career aside, of course. “Hm, as long as you don’t give my name to your coaches, sounds very much like a you problem,” Lee joked, though in truth, he’d never want to put Nick in that situation. Not of getting yelled at, not of being unable to play — none of it. “But, yeah, sure, HORSE it is.” He even managed to keep a straight face at Nick’s clearly doomed shot, grabbing the errant ball before setting up his own, much more reasonably distanced, shot. Which teetered on the rim embarrassingly before finally going in. “Are you gonna blame that on luck, too?” | @nikolashatzi

[nikolashatzi]

"We're in the middle of baseball season." He said like that was easy enough, "I have 16 games in the next two weeks. Half of them are out of town. Practice literally everyday of the week." He paused, "I'm having some remodeling done on my house, and it's going over schedule of course. So when I'm not at practice or at a game I have to be on the phone yelling at my contractor for not being done." But they were also only allowed to work when he wasn't home, on the other hand, he wasn't home a lot so they should of had plenty of time. "See, I'd tell them your address so they knew where to send the hitman." Nick joked, but it was half serious. He had his face on a banner outside the stadium, he was kind of a big deal. Not here, but that was why he moved here, to be a normal person.

Nick watched as Lee took his shot, the little voice in his head daring it to miss, only for it to ultimately go through the hoop. "I think thats the beginner kind." He he said with a laugh, jogging where the ball bounced, only to bring it back to where Lee was standing. Nick looked at him for a second before taking his shot, the ball doing the same thing it did for Lee, only to miss going through the hoop, "I think this one is an underdog story."

[shanayaxsanghvi]

Kaira was frowning in his direction now especially since he was clearly getting annoyed with her. It was something that should bother her, but at this point she felt like they'd been friends for long enough. If he actually couldn't stand her, he knew he could just tell her and she'd get out of his life. "No no, I don't expect there to be mice in your home," she shook her head quickly before continuing. "Okay I should probably explain more...basically when there are open doors when they're hauling things out or bringing things in, sometimes critters can get in without anyone noticing. That's all I'm saying." She was probably pushing him to the point of becoming exasperated with her and so she'd end up toning it down before this entire evening was a bust. Because she actually needed an evening where she wasn't watching mindless television and revising her novel. "Okay I'll go put it in there..." she heard his words and rolled her eyes before continuing the walk to the garage and popping the lasagna in there before she returned to where he was. "I brought the lasagna for you, I have some at home so I'm not craving Italian food...and since you said your oven isn't working, I figured Mexican or Thai sound good to me. But if you want to do something else, I'm game for that too." | @nikolashatzi

[nikolashatzi]

"Same logic," he paused before pointing at her, "every time you bring the groceries in, there's gonna be a mouse that follows?" Which if he thought about it for more than the insane comment that it was, he could see how she would connect those dots, but his central heating and air was on, and they shut the door to keep it nice in there. It was a perk of working inside most people overlooked when it came to construction, never got hot. Besides that, you ask someone to shut the door when they're done going through it-- most of the time they listened when he was the one footing the bill. "Bad time to tell you I'm not a huge lasagna guy?" He asked almost laughing, because well, he really wasn't, but he would have ate it. At least while she was there. He was a professional athlete, it was dense in the wrong kind of calories. "Mexican is better." He said with a shrug, "Thai has too much sodium."

[deanharlan]

Clearly Dean had approached someone that didn't have the time nor interest in helping him out, and that was okay. Seeing how glued they were to their phone and the long wait for a reply nearly had him stepping away. It was his bad, he'd interrupted anyway. Which was a funny turn of events. Usually he was the one being interrupted no matter what he was doing. "Avonlea Terrace," he repeated and pointed somewhat randomly, "and that is... which way? A point and I promise I'll stop bothering you." ( @nikolashatzi )

[nikolashatzi]

"Yeah." He said rather matter of factly, like this guy should know where it was, but maybe he wasn't from around here. Which was a bit hypocritical coming from Nick's mouth. He wasn't from around here, but when you lived a place long enough, its like you might as well of been. "I don't know if you can get to it walking." He looked beyond the other, "it's like ten miles that way." He finally pointed the way he came. But he'd driven, parked and then made his way to the sidewalk. "Something to make up for?"

[shanayaxsanghvi]

Kaira was overdramatic and if anyone questioned it she'd answer it with a simple 'I'm from New York', as if that was enough of a reasoning as to why. But now she was just grinning at the other man before nodding, "I am being dramatic, it's part of my appeal." She didn't really mind the renovations especially since the workers weren't actually there right now making noise, and if he was dealing with it, she certainly didn't need to complain. "Okay, don't hate me if you haven't thought of this before...but like mice? I just always worry about places under construction having mice." Maybe this was why people regarded her as being spoilt at times because she'd never actually been living through construction work, and would mostly move to a hotel if she had the ability to. But she was clearly being more annoying now and so she relented. "Is your fridge plugged in at least? Then we can leave the lasagna in there for now...and get some take out? I'm craving some good Mexican or Thai food--what do you think?"

[nikolashatzi]

"Part of your appeal?" He asked before rolling his eyes, if that was appealing he didn't want to know the unappealing parts. He didn't have it in him to even think about anyone that was mildly dramatic, just the thought of it. People were crazy, women were awful and that was a hill he would die on. "Kaira." He sighed, "why would there be mice in my house?" His eyes rolled again, this time without permission, the kind of roll that his mom used to tell him if he kept doing that they'd stick like that, and at this point, he kinda wished the would. It would be a whole lot easier than all of this. "Nothing has changed just because they are doing a remodel." He couldn't even wrap his mind around they way she thought. It was insane and he wasn't an insane person. "Not the one in there." He pointed to the kitchen beyond the plastic walls, "one in the garage should be." He said with a shrug, "oh, mexican or thai so you bring lasagna?"

[shanayaxsanghvi]

Kaira shook her head when he told her that the construction workers did give him a date of completion but clearly they'd surpassed it. "You shouldn't even be living in this...war zone," she mused before nodding proudly when he expressed disbelief at her little declaration of cooking. "I've lived alone for awhile Nick, I had to learn." Not to mention she actually really enjoyed being in the kitchen, testing new recipes on her guinea pigs aka. her friends like he was. But when she asked about the working appliances and heard that they were working currently on the kitchen, she knew the lasagna was either going to be wasted or she'd end up taking it back home. "You're an amazing host," she said with a friendly enough eye roll before letting out a thoughtful sigh. "Alright you missed the last option of heading to my place with this lovely lasagna, but for me it's a toss up between you taking me out somewhere for dinner or heading to my place because while I adore you--I don't want to get sick from being in this construction site." She murmured before looking around, as if waiting to see something fall in front of her. | @nikolashatzi

[nikolashatzi]

"Right." He said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, "a war zone." He said, almost in a mocking tone but somehow managed to keep it at bay. "It's not a war zone, you're dramatic." In the grand scheme of things, it was pretty clean. They cleared out when he was home, cleaned up after themselves. Sure. The furniture was covered in plastic and he had a few places with plastic walls, but it was par for the course. Maybe he should of cared more, and he did a little, but he wasn't home enough at the moment for it to be an inconvenience. Nick couldn't help but laugh at her, he wasn't a good host, he was something, but not that. "Jesus Christ." He rolled his eyes, he couldn't help it, it was the brink, "why on god's green earth, would you think that you would get sick by being in here?" He paused, "what diseases do you think live here?"

[rianward]

“You can try,” Lee countered cheerfully, utterly unphased by Nick’s smack talk. He may be a professional athlete, but he wasn’t a professional basketball player. Besides, Lee himself had his own fair share of athleticism, so aside from the height difference, they were fairly evenly matched when it came to basketball. Plus, Lee actually had been practicing, but he’d let whatever skills he’d gained speak for themselves on the court. “Personally I think you’ve got enough pro-sports to be contending with, actually, but hey—you wanna add more to your plate, it’s your plate.” Laughing, he tossed the ball Nick’s way, adding, “You wanna actually play, or you wanna play HORSE, or something?” | @nikolashatzi

[nikolashatzi]

"Baseball is boring." He said as he continued walking up to the court, it was a bold faced lie, especially coming from his mouth. He was the shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, it was arguably the most exciting position in baseball, and to be honest, he loved it. He couldn't imagine doing anything else. "Plate's basically empty." He said as he set his duffle bag down, only to pick up the ball on the side of the court, "should probably go HORSE." He begrudgingly agreed, "four game series starting tomorrow and if you break my ankle or something I'll get yelled at." He almost laughed, but it wasn't a joke, and he didn't feel like getting yelled at, he was a grown ass man. But, where he stood, clearly way too far away, he took the shot, yelling "Kobe!" as it missed the basket. "You lucked out." He shrugged, before finally making it to the bench on the otherside.

[nikolashatzi]

who → @nessituran where → brunch and barrel

"Can I get an autograph?" Nick smiled and nodded, "of course, no problem." He said as he scanned the room looking for an out, seeiing a familiar brunette was his ticket. It was his favorite meal of the day when he could manage to actually make it happen, and usually, especially here, he always could. But he was a generational talent, and that spanned well, the generation. It didn't help that he was named People's Sexist man, but he was engaged at the time, so he didn't care. But he wasn't anymore and now it followed him-- haunted really.

"Would you mind a picture?" The girl continued with a smile and it took everything in the man to not sigh, "of course." He said again, like it was his only programmed response. She sidled up to him, and he put an arm around her shoulder and smiled as her friend took the picture. They swapped, he repeated the process before looking to his exit, "hey, I'm actually meeting someone, so if you wouldn't mind." Nick smiled one more time before walking to the empty seat, momentarily at least, with his name on it, "you don't have to eat with me." He said, an apologetic smile on his face, "but if I could steal twenty minutes I'll owe you one."

[nikolashatzi]

who → @cariakaratan where → mac and cheese food truck I just made up

This truck was a ghost story to him at this point. One of the main reasons he'd moved to Covington when he was traded to the Braves was the treat of this food truck. It came here and another town he couldn't place, but he'd heard it was the best mac and cheese, there was none better. But with his baseball schedule, it was nearly impossible to catch. But here he was now, and it was like the man was star struck. "So." He said, walking up to a girl, "I don't walk up there and look like an idiot, is it more of a subway style situation or a set menu situation? I've only heard rumors."

[shanayaxsanghvi]

Kaira didn't cook for people often but Nick was a friend and so she'd shown up at his place with a casserole dish filled with lasagna and rolled her eyes as soon as she heard his loud yell from inside. Truly it seemed like the construction for his place had been going on since she'd arrived in Covington all those months ago. "Honestly...did they give you any type of ETA? Or is it all just up in the air? Because I've gotta say...it looks like you're squatting here as opposed to living here." She mentioned with a wince as she stepped over the threshold. "I brought lasagna but...now I'm curious, are your appliances at least still working?" | @nikolashatzi

[nikolashatzi]

"You'd think." He said with a sigh as he dipped through the construction to find Kaira, "they did, but here we are, and it's not done." The home had been sold to him as needing a little TLC when he'd moved to town, he didn't spend a lot of time at home and he didn't plan on spend a lot time here either, so it made sense to fix all the stuff he didn't like about it, but on the days he was home it was more than an inconvenience. "You know how to cook?" He asked, finally reaching her, looking down at the dish in her hands, "unfortunately--" he started, "they're currently on the kitchen. I can offer you a microwave, a variety of menus or a ride to somewhere else to eat." He almost laughed, "host of the year, I know."

[nikolashatzi]

who → @kairaxjoshi where → nick's house (avonlea terrace)

"You're just gonna have to go around it!" Nick yelled as he heard the door chime. He assumed it was Kaira because well-- that was the only person he'd expected over, but shit, maybe it would have been anyone. The remodel was starting to get a little ridiculous. It'd been going on for the better part of six months at this point, now that baseball season was in full swing, he'd requested the few days he was home a month they not work, and this was one of those days. "You'd think they'd be done by now, but here we are." Mild frustration in his voice, "still looking like we just started."

[nikolashatzi]

who → @leeabhrams where → park basketball courts

If he had been smart, he'd of used his days off to rest, relax, anything but more outdoor activity, but it was something about being outside. Maybe it was something in the fresh air that was addictive, because it surely wasn't the basketball. Hell, if anyone ever saw him play and do so badly, he was sure it'd be all over the internet in a second, but that was the perk of deciding to live in a town thirty minutes away, rather than Atlanta. "You know I'm gonna kick your ass this time, right?" Nick laughed, as he walked up to the court, "I've been practicing." A lie, but it didn't matter, "semi pro, almost."

[deanharlan]

friday, april 13th, 2024 ; anytime. → at the walk shopping strip, downtown. for: anyone.

"Hey, uhh, sorry to bother you..." When he'd set off from his hotel the goal had been to find a flower store or whatever but Dean had gotten a little sidetracked when spotted and was only now on the hunt. "You know where there's a flower boutique or somethin' around here?" He'd walked up and down the strip once but maybe he had missed it somehow, or maybe it was in a different part of town. Covington wasn't super familiar to him. He didn't want to overwhelm Neslihan but despite their encounter Dean wanted her to know he was still thinking about her. "Any place that sells flowers is fine. Or do you just pick 'em yourself?"

[nikolashatzi]

"Flowers?" He repeated, empty minded, not actually paying attention to whoever was talking to him, eyes glued to his phone. Maybe a few seconds longer than he should have let the pause go before Nick looked up, "uhm-" he looked around like he'd forgotten where he was,"not on this side of town." He said after establishing his path. His days off were filled with emails and texts, hell his days on were filled with them too but on the days where he could idle, they seemed louder, "pretty sure the only flower shop in town is in Avonlea Terrace."

[gaybuckybarnesss]

THEO JAMES Dolce & Gabbana 40th Anniversary Party