soul to squeeze @rafacarreno - Tumblr Blog

Pedro Pascal | He/Him | Cis Man | Have you met Rafael "Rafa" Carreño yet? They’re the 44 year old teen social worker that lives around West Point Homes. I think they’ve lived in Seattle for his entire life. From what I’ve heard, they’re communicative but they can also be weak-willed if you get on their bad side. When I think of them, I usually think of In the Aeroplane over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.

#sewa.intro

delilahcarreno-blog

"A little too old for...what? Charity?"

It wasn't what Rafael meant, and they both knew it, but that didn't stop her from pressing the matter further anyways. "So you clean up a bit. Shave, wear something a little nicer than usual..." Delilah's nose scrunched as she looked at him, eyes roaming over the features she'd watch grow and change over the years, somehow more handsome than the day they'd met. Back then, she wouldn't of thought it to be possible...but then again, there were a lot of things she hadn't thought to be possible.

It was safe to say that the opportunity to pimp her ex-husband out (for charity!) definitely hadn't been a thought that'd crossed her mind before now.

"You'll definitely be needing a haircut." It was how she'd gotten him to do most things she was asking of him, by acting as if he'd already agreed. "Seriously, you're looking shaggier than Serj, Raf." As his former hairdresser, it was painful to witness.

rafacarreno

Rafa frowns, hand going to the back of his head. It's not that he doesn't take care of himself, because he does, it's just that sometimes he neglects the haircutting thing, or the shaving thing, or leaves his clothes unfolded too long and they get all wrinkled.

"Oh, so suddenly I'm doing it?" he says, but only because he knows Delilah knows he'd do it if she really needed him to, regardless of whether or not it would be his first choice. Plus, she's usually right about things. "Serj looks good. And so do I, by the way, one of the kids told me she thought my hair looked 'lit' since I let it grow out. I know you're just trying to get me to let you cut it, and I will let you, as will I consent to your auction thing, if --" he puts emphasis on the word and leans forward, "you let me talk to Theo and Sadie about the slime thing."

#c #c: delilah

closed starter for @sxdiecarreno at rafa's house

He wouldn't have needed to know Sadie was coming over to know it's her walking down the hallway towards his office. Maybe it's something that happens for all parents, like it's some inherent thing where you can just feel your children close by, he's got no idea, but he really believes he could pick out his daughter's footsteps out of a million others. When she's halfway down the hall he stops trying to pluck his way through a Bob Dylan song and switches to Californication, something he knows by heart because he'd played it for Sadie so much when she was little.

"Good news and bad news, Sades," says Rafa as soon a she comes into the office, still quietly playing the melody. "Bad news is your brother's a tiny criminal. Inevitable, I guess. Good news is he might start being able to help me pay my mortgage. Other bad news is that I'm completely sure you helped him," he raises his eyebrows at her, "so now I gotta do the dad thing."

#c #c: sadie #:(

murphyaltman

"Men have it so easy. They come in and have a or squirt... I mean, the seed." She grimaces because the word ejaculation without gagging while sitting in front of him with the taste of yesterday's jack and coke still on her tongue seems impossible. "I don't know why men don't breast feed. They should be the one to wake up with these engorged...." She catches herself and takes a sip of her coffee.

"All kids should have parents but not all parents should have kids." But she was also too young to start thinking about waddling about with someone else's life in her stomach when her own was a mess. "I'd need to be doing something with someone to risk having a kid so I think we're safe."

After a long sip of her coffee, she adjusts herself on the couch. "Buddy." It comes out like a curse and it's mainly due to the built anger against him. "It's a bad someone! Let me play out the scene: I'm having fun with the girls, drink in hand, penis decorations all over. I'm making note of that cause I did all the work and Stephanie is a liar because she did nothing. That's besides the point. But then — ding dong — a police officer or fireman comes to the door. No surprise there, we're expecting the stripper. It's all fun in games until buddy strips naked, head between her thighs, lifting her up, laying her down in ungodly positions." Her head shakes. The sights would be with her forever, she fears. "Then he has the nerve to ask me for a smoke. After not talking to me for ages!"

rafacarreno

Rafa shakes his head and lets out a surprised laugh. Murphy's relentless bluntness — probably enhanced by the hangover, but maybe not — is consistently refreshing. It's one of the reasons, he thinks, that Theo likes her so much; not just because she's funny (though that too) but because she's so accessible. There's not much guessing where her head's at, and it's a quality Rafa's always respected in people, because not many have it.

"Now that's an adage," he says, grinning. "Too easy for shitty people to become parents, huh?"

At the mention of Buddy, Rafa's eyebrows raise. He's spent two decades watching them grow up, like two lines just a degree shy of parallel, always moving towards each other but never quite getting there. He'd always believed it would happen eventually, until one day it became suddenly clear he'd missed something. And of course, he hadn't felt it was his place to ask, so it had become a game of waiting until one of them inevitably cracked.

He waits until he's sure she's finished, waits a few seconds, and finally asks, "Why haven't you and Buddy talked in ages, Smurf?"

#c #c: murphy

henryxmonroe-a

There were moments within the privacy of his office that he wished he'd taken his business courses a little more serious. It wasn't money that concerned him, seeing as his yearly contracts had lined his bank account with more funds than he'd ever know what to do with. Knowledge was power though, and it was knowledge that he hadn't taken too serious. Palms faced the other as he lifted his hands in defeat, the statement being one that even Henry couldn't argue against. "I think you're right, but I'm not that guy who can sit around and look at a decent view all day. Seattle didn't have to welcome me the way they did and now I sort of owe this city a lot. It feels like I could still be doing more though." He was a firm believer in giving back, but how much could he give before he'd paid back even an ounce of what the world had given him? "I'm down at the community center a few times a week and I spend a lot of time at the animal shelter. I'm getting some details worked out with this sports complex about helping out with some upcoming classes. You know, I'm always looking to get into something else. Seriously, if you know of any place looking for a helping hand, I'd like to offer my time."

rafacarreno

"We're always looking for people to do activities and presentations at Insight," Rafa tells him, trying as he does not to get his hopes up. Getting a famous hockey player to come talk to the kids would be cool as hell, and he doesn't doubt Henry's desire to be an active part of the community, but people like him also have only so much time on their hands. "I like to get folks who'll feel a little more relatable to the kids when we can, you know? A lot of these people with degrees and years of experience in the field can't get through to them the way that — I mean, for instance, the way someone they've seen playing hockey on TV could," he grins. "No pressure. We've got a nice big field, you could even do some field hockey with 'em one day, they'd love it."

#c #c: henry

zerolawrence

Zero wasn't one to gloat, he really wasn't, but when Rafael Carreno was involved it brought out the worst in him. "I bet you're regretting that walking stick now, huh?" He teased, leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree that offered some shade from the glare of the sun. Unlike Rafael, Zero showed no sign of having completed a strenuous hike up the hill except for the light sheen of sweat that glistened across his chest.

"I told you we could have taken a rest if you needed it."

rafacarreno

"Shut up, you little asshole," Rafa says, still out of breath and with laughter just beneath it. He finds his own tree to lean his back against while he digs his water out of his backpack and tries not to chug it, which he only manages by reminding himself he'll have an even worse stitch in his side if he does.

After putting the bottle away again, he walks over to Zero's side of the trail and looks out over a steep hill leading down to a lake. It's not a new sight, yet he feels overcome all over again with how pretty Seattle is if you just leave the damn city for a couple hours. '"Damn," he says, "at least it's always worth it, huh? Nature wasn't fuckin around with the Pacific Northwest. I gotta do this more often before I hit the wrong side of forty-five."

#c #c: zero

wells-hannah

random quotes from my oth rewatch ( 21 / ∞ )

delilahcarreno-blog

@rafacarreno

#ft delilah #UGH!!!

lucianaortiz

Her brow raised as the other mentioned having wanted to fly, though never actually pursuing it. "No, I didn't know that." It was an amusing thought, the man she'd grown close to being a pilot, though nothing of his own fault, of course. It was just like imagining your dad doing insane things that he told stories about as back in my day tales. She honestly couldn't see Rafa doing anything riskier than accidentally using too much lighter fluid on the grill. "What made you want to fly? Now I'm curious." Her lips curved into a slight smile as they walked along, her gaze searching for something to point out and tell him about as he asked about the size of planes she flew. "I fly a Boeing 737 now, it's like the medium guy of them all, but the dream is flying an Airbus one day. It just requires a whole lot of additional testing and legwork because the pits are so different. But it's on my bucket list."

rafacarreno

"Ah shit, that's fucking cool," Rafa says, shaking his head. He probably couldn't have picked out a Boeing 737 or an Airbus from a lineup of planes (had the names not been printed on the body), but he remembers perfectly well being much younger and having a short phase where he'd been into reading about aircrafts, so he can at least picture it vaguely stacked against everything that's already in his head about commercial airlines. "You'll knock that testing out no problem, just gotta stick with it. I wanted to fly just 'cause it sounds awesome," he laughs. "Can't imagine that feeling, bein in the pit. If I ever did it, I'd wanna fly a helicopter, though, I think. You got that huge window, must be an insane feeling."

#c #c: sunny

cemile-sahinx

closed starter: @rafacarreno

Cemile opened the door of the kennel, gesturing for Serj to follow her out. The dog eagerly trotted by her side, wagging his tail and sniffing the air. As they emerged into the bright sunlight, she saw Raf waiting for them by the entrance. Releasing the leash, she smiled at the sight of the duo. Serj was one of her favorite patients, and because if it, a friendship between her and Raf blossomed.

“Serj is as healthy as could be. You did a great job.” She rubbed behind Serj’s ear, a bright smile lighting her features. Straightening her stance, she looked up at Raf. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while since we caught up.”

rafacarreno

"Alriiiiight," says Rafa, crouching to scratch behind Serj's ear as well and let the dog sniff him happily. "Good report card, buddy, you're gettin treats when we get home." As he stands, Serj barks like he'd understood the promise, which sometimes Rafa thinks is quite true. "Thanks, Cemile. I'm good, same old stuff, you know?" he jokes. "Can't complain. Well, could complain, probably, but won't. I'm easy to please — weather's gettin nicer, I'm happy. How bout you, anything fun on the horizon?"

#c #c: cemile #pls it's perfect!!!

lastedqz

closed starter for @rafacarreno at the bar

sierra had just enjoyed the day alone, mostly thanks to the babysitter she hired last minute. once she deep cleaned her apartment and took herself on a run, she thought maybe a few drinks would make this her ideal day. being a social butterfly is one of sierra’s best qualities and she can make a friend in a matter of minutes. that was why she enjoyed going to the bar, just so she could meet as many new people as possible— it was like a game to her. as she walked through the bar sipping on her drink and chit-chatting with everyone around, she spotted a man she had yet introduced herself to. “here’s a not so familiar face.” she exclaimed as she sat down across from the stranger. “what brings you here?”

rafacarreno

Somehow, the atmosphere of a bar setting has always been a relaxing one for Rafa, who's even been known to sit at a bar rather than a quiet cafe or library or his own office to catch up on his chronically-overdue paperwork. That's not the case tonight, although it had been meant to be — he's merely been sipping his beer and chatting with the bartenders while the sportscasters on the TV are beginning to talk about March Madness. It's not one of his usual haunts, although he has been here once or twice before and he's almost sure he recognizes the woman who sits down across from him, even if she clearly doesn't recognize him back.

"Boy," Rafa laughs, "if only everyone had your social prowess, huh?" He lifts his drink and nods towards the television, "Indulging my inner child, I guess. And putting off work while I'm at it," he tacks on, grinning. "You get paid by the bar to do this to everyone?"

#c #c: sierra

deaniewagner

The ten year anniversary of her father's arrest coming up quickly, which meant that media was renewing their interest in the Olympus commune and everything that went along with it -- Netflix documenatries, Dateline specials, a TikToker doing a fifteen-part series that went viral.

It was giving Este an ulcer (metaphorically).

So she was doing her best to track down the people who had been in her life then -- when she'd first entered the 'real world' -- and basically plead for them not to give interviews.

Rafa had been one of those people.

"You remembered my name," was her knee jerk reaction paired with a grin. She had been Esther Bellows when they had met, so it meant a lot to her that he'd noted her name change and respected it even now.

"Yeah, sure," she answers with a nod, stepping over the threshold when invited and standing before him.

"Are you a hug person? I feel like we should hug."

rafacarreno

"You bet I'm a hug person," Rafa grins, and with that consent he hadn't even needed to ask for he pulls her into the kind of hug that so many kids in his groups clearly don't get at home, and which they so badly need. He rubs her back and lets her be the one to pull away, then gently knocks her chin. "Damn is it good to see you, kid. You look great."

And he couldn't mean it more — every kid who comes through his groups is someone he'd go to bat for and while by the time they leave most of them are in significantly better places than they were when they first joined him, it's not always the case. Nor does he ever usually have a chance to check in with them later in life, so to have one of them find him so many years later is the kind of thing that breathes new life into a job he's been doing almost fifteen years.

And of course, Este Strauss is a special case in and of herself; he remembers all too vividly the young woman among several others who'd come from the raided commune that had been all over the news.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" he asks, leading her into the living room to sit down. "I wanna hear everything you been up to, I got all afternoon for you if you want it."

#c #c: este

delilahcarreno-blog

Hoping their daughter would learn a lesson and buy her weed from a dispensary...these are not the kind of problems Delilah had envisioned them having in the future while pregnant with Sadie, that was for sure. It was almost a little funny to think about, Rafael's words managing a small but amused smile on her lips, even as her eyes rolled at his dramatics...but it would be a little sad too, if she allowed herself to think on it for too long. The things she'd envisioned for their future versus where they sat in their present.

Sat across from each other in a home they don't share, a space they'd never occupied together, and never would.

"A crime, truly," is her sarcastic agreement, another long sip taken from the bottle of water, if only to hide her smile behind, one that almost threatened to turn down at the edges.

"One out of two isn't bad." Her shoulders lift in a shrug, "at least you know Sadie'll put you in a nice retirement home when the time comes." Theo might be Delilah's only hope, she couldn't afford to cross him.

The brief silence is not an uncomfortable one. Nearly thirty years of knowing one another, Delilah does not know if she'd ever felt anything but comfortable around him.

Her immediate instinct is to roll her eyes at his threat to crash any of her future events, but the offer does spark something in the back of her brain, an idea forming.

"Actually...I do." Her eyebrows raise, her amusement only thinly veiled, "there's a charity event that I'm helping put together for the hospital next weekend." She leaned back in her chair, one leg crossing over the other as she tried and failed to suppress her grin. "A bachelor auction." In the spirit of Valentine's Day, of course. "And I am a few bachelors short..."

rafacarreno

He can see it the second his joking comment goes from an annoyance to having sparked an idea because of the way Delilah's eyes light up in that familiar way of hers. It's still one of the most attractive things about her, how ambitious and creative she is, even when — like now — her ideas are at the expense of his pride.

"As flattering as I think that's supposed to be," Rafa says dryly, as she gives him that self-satisfied little grin, "don't you think I'm a little old for that? Just 'cause you still look thirty-five doesn't mean the rest of us do."

#c #c: delilah

murphyaltman

She watches Theo run off and smiles but it leaves her depleted and without energy as she drops her head back, mouth hanging open in order to take a moment to welcome the pain of her pounding headache. But that doesn't last long, not with the dogs barking and Theo yelling. She can only thank pharmaceuticals at this point. No children and... "oh, do you have Ibuprofen or anything?"

A hand reaches out to squeeze his forearm as a thank you before she walks into the living room that's a lot quieter than the chaos happening in the kitchen. Lying down on the comfortable couch, she lets her feet hang off the arm rest while she waits for the caffeinated brew.

The noise of nails on floorboards prepare her for the excitement of Serj, sitting up to leave him enough room. Her hand runs over the dog, always having a love for animals.

"I don't know how you do it. This morning might have tipped me towards never having children. That and the loss of teeth and then the whole ripping situation." She says as she takes the coffee, bringing it to her lips. "I've been better." She eyes him. "I had a bachelorette so I slept at one of the girl's house last night. You'll never guess who I saw."

rafacarreno

Rafa grimaces around his coffee at the phrase ripping situation. There is truly, in his most humble opinion, no one braver than anybody who's ever given birth.

"Aside from that part," he jokes, "the good stuff always outweighs the hard stuff, at least for me. But it's not for everyone, and that's okay. I obviously fell into it by accident and it happened to work out well in the end but overall my advice is that if you don't feel ready, don't do it. Can't take back havin kids."

As much as he hates to hear Murphy say she's been better, he doesn't grill her about it just yet, and anyway she thoroughly piques his interest with that tease of information. "Oh yeah?" he says, eyebrows raised. "Is it a good someone or a bad someone?"

#c #c: murphy #pregnancy tw

closed starter fr @zerolawrence on a hiking trail

"Goddamnit," Rafa huffs, cresting a steep wooden staircase set into a hill that Zero had reached the top of several minutes prior, the vantage point from which he'd watched Rafa struggle up the final twenty or thirty stairs. His knees are starting to burn, his thighs are definitely already burning, and if he's not careful, he's gonna be doing the rest of this hike with a deep stitch in his side. Clutching it, he pants, "This is only slightly less humbling than last time."

#c #c: zero

budddywells

Buddy looks from the water bottle to the man holding it once he was inside his car, the sound of his seatbelt clicking into place following. Sometimes Rafael could be so Rafael-y that it still managed to take him off guard, despite the fact he's known him his whole life.

No matter what he tried to push the other's buttons, from the petulant disobedience of a boy to the reckless actions carried out by the man that boy became, he had never managed to push his patience far enough that he stopped answering the phone.

He wishes he could find something to say that could show that he was grateful for that much, but he couldn't, so he didn't.

"Nah, it looks worse than it is but it doesn't even hurt bad. Doubt anything's broken." Plus, that would just incur another bill that he didn't want to worry about. He twisted the cap off the water and took a gulp of it, a grimace following as the act of swallowing the liquid hurt due to a combination of too many cigarettes smoked in quick succession that night and too much alcohol consumed in less time.

The silence that followed as they drove wasn't comfortable, at least not for Buddy. He was on edge and it was entirely self-inflicted.

"If you got some shit to say, I'd rather you just come out and say it now."

rafacarreno

"Who the hell you think you're talkin to, huh?" Rafa says, his tone light save for the very real note of sincerity behind it. He glances sideways at Buddy again, at the bruise around his eye and the look on his face like he's just been through hell, and he thinks of all the adults in this kid's life who have failed him on so many different levels in so many different ways, and it makes the lashing out make a terrible kind of sense. "If I got shit to say, I'm the first one to say it. Thought you might need a little time to decompress from whatever kinda night you just had."

Turning onto his street, he says, "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But if you do want to, we can. Stays between us, you know that."

#c #c: buddy

henryxmonroe-a

He gave a grin towards the man's response, his own self-awareness being the only thing that kept him from taking minor offense. It wasn't that he lacked the intellectual capability to understand, it was patience he struggled to grasp, along with an attention span that allowed him to work through anything that couldn't be solved in a matter of seconds. "Food for thought, huh?" In college, he'd taken the easy way out in an attempt to focus on his budding collegiate career, but thanks to his girlfriend at the time and now ex-wife, she'd help to ensure he got the most of his education. A quiet hum of laughter slipped past his lips; it wasn't easy getting to where he was, but he couldn't complain. "I guess you're right." His body ached from the amount of time he'd played, but by comparison to where some of the world sat, he was fortunate. "It's why I try to help out where I can. Figured if I got lucky, the least I can do is help other people find their luck too."

rafacarreno

"Food for thought," Rafa agrees with a smile. Unbenknownst to Henry, of course, it's an expression Rafa's always liked because of the implication that the mind needs feeding just as much as the body does, if in a way that can sometimes be harder to achieve. "That's good of you — I'm sure it's pretty easy for a lot of ex pro athletes to sit back and enjoy their money and early retirement. I've always been kinda on the fence about the whole thing, honestly; on one hand, I'm not sure how much any one person owes their time and energy and money to their community when we live in a society that makes it really difficult sometimes to worry about anybody but yourself, but on the other, I'm a pretty firm believer that athletes are way overpaid," he grins, "and that we'd all be a lot better off if we focused more on community than the individual." He shrugs, sipping his beer. "Anyway, yeah, good on you. What kinda stuff you do, outside of running the bar?"

#c #c: henry

lucianaortiz

She only managed to get a good look at the other once she stepped back and her gaze met that of a familiar man, one she'd grown to know well over the last few months, especially where barbeques and beers were concerned. "Well, well, well, look who the cat dragged in on a particularly cold day." A chuckle fell from Sunny's mouth as she teased him. "If I had known it was you, I would have made sure to put my full weight behind it." Her fingertips dropped from her head after soothing her skin to a point where she couldn't feel the lingering pain any longer. It was barely a bump, definitely not something she needed any remedies for. She'd had far worse scrapes over the years, especially since her mode of transportation for her entire childhood was a Razor scooter that had been passed down through at least a dozen kids to the point where the handlebars were wiggly at best and the brake had stopped working. "Just call me Taylor Swift." A shrug lifted her shoulders before she smiled at him, "Sorry, you're too old to understand that reference. Have you been here before? I'm here so often they should put me on the payroll, so I'd be happy to show you around."

rafacarreno

Rafa rolls his eyes, grinning, at the dig at his age, although in truth he doesn't get the reference. In spite of hearing about Taylor Swift from every other teenager in his groups and having plenty of respect for her as a businesswoman, he can't remember if he's ever actually sat down to listen to her music — which is less to do with her than with his aversion to pop music in general.

"I've been here once," he tells her, "years and years ago, like, when I was in my late twenties. So yeah, unofficial tour sounds awesome. You know, I used to wanna fly," he says as they start walking, "I never considered it seriously or anything, but I thought about it when I was still trying to figure everything out. What's the biggest plane you've ever flown?"

#c #c: sunny

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