𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆

august reed.

[reedaugust]

“ hey, mr. stone? “    august asked, knocking the open door in the room the older was in. he’s never really thought much of the man apart from the fact that he looks dangerous and short-tempered and gus was too chicken to approach him when the news of his uncle being an ex-brotherhood member came out. now that they were almost leaving, gus thought it was now or never. jack was the only person nearest who might have known his uncle back in those days- or at least the only one he knew of, and he always wanted to know if he enjoyed being there ( it is quite literally august’s only way to decide if he should trust the man who raised him or not. )    “ i have something to ask. am i interrupting? “

starter for @jvckstone​

[desperate-housewives]

[oofsebastian]

@jrzimmerman + @reedaugust + @itsaidanblack

[reedaugust]

riaflicke​:

“Do you ever, you know, do anything with your drawings? You’re good at it,” Ria said offhand. The compliment was genuine, despite their tarnished past. “I was just cutting through to see who I could find. I really should be studying, if we’re being honest, although I’m not in the mood.” She set her hand in her chin to let him process her joke for a while. It was a pretty good one if she did say so herself. “Mmm, I didn’t know Gallagher bred evil. Always seemed like it was destined for a bunch of goody two shoes.” @reedaugust​

          “ thank you! “    he wanted to make a career out of it but his parents just didn’t have to agree with it.    “ they’re mostly for like, memories. but i wanna get into an art career after this so i consider this practice. “     gus was also supposed to be studying right now, but he got completely sidetracked and went drawing instead,    “ ah, i know the feel. i’m supposed to be studying too. “    gus chuckled at that,    “ i mean we’ve been through blackthorne so yeah. “    

[reedaugust]

ofloudvoices​:

a starter for; @reedaugust​

He was sitting outside on the grass, trying to finish his homework for the day in the sunshine when someone all of the sudden blocked the source of light. He hesitated for a second before he raised his gaze to land on the source of the shadow. “Hey Gus, can I help with something?” he asked softly, not wanting to sound annoyed because he wasn’t. Just surprised, that’s all. 

gus was walking around the grass, looking for a place to sit. he stood stationary to look for a few empty tables but luck wasn’t on his side- guess he’ll sit on the grass. his thoughts were interrupted for a moment when clement ( who apparently was right behind him the entire time ) called.    “ oh, sure. what is it? “    he asked.

[reedaugust]

ofnatashas​:

@reedaugust

natasha had to admit, she had spent way too much time watching the boy that sat across from her drawing. she daydreamed about it, about him, about the way his pencil moved across the paper so eloquently, about his brow furrowed in concentration. she sat up from the grass and moved to sit beside him when he started packing up and putting things away. “i’m sorry to disturb you but…i noticed you drawing. do you mind if i see what you’re working on? i’ve never been great at art but…i do appreciate it a lot and there’s little to no outlet to admire it here.”

          drawing wasn’t a new look for august. he did it a lot, and his current sketch book was almost full but he just got a new one from roseville so that was settled! he was just working on sketches he thinks would fit the last few pages, and it was purely coincidental how his sketchbook is getting full as the semester ends. drawings that showed finality or the relief of a dark time hopefully getting over were what he drew right now and it ranged from random people he saw stressing over their exams and other students cheering as they end. he was gently cut out of his trance by the girl who sat beside him.    “ sure, “    he smiles. he shows her the pages he was filling and it’s as if he was waiting on some grand, career-ending criticism on a sketch but he also oddly feels a bit chill about it.    “ anyone can do art, really. it’s mostly how it makes you feel. “

[reedaugust]

itsaidanblack​:

      “Uh, sorry. It’s your mum, by the way.” Aidan offers, as if that would help in any way. “You left it on my bed, so…” He tries to defend, feeling cowed by his own actions, a feeling he resents. 

      He chews the inside of his mouth for a moment, pondering whether or not to say anything, before he glances over at his roommate. “Are you alright, mate?”

          “ i know, “    he says, coming off a bit pissed.    “ i didn’t- “    oh. no wonder why he forgot to find it this morning, he placed it on the wrong bed.    “ ah, sorry, “    gus says, sitting on his phone and scrolling through his mother’s text. she was angry- as expected, and gus was waiting for her to call him which would be his death sentence. he puts down the phone, covering his face with his hands before running them through his hair with a sigh.    “ no, “    he says, nervous.

[reedaugust]

august was still a bit awkward about landon- especially after last time. but he agreed to going to this one because seb won’t stop bugging him about it, and he needed to study for final so this is technically hitting two birds with one stone, right? and what better buffer for an awkward situation than sebastian castillo? gus is sitting in the library with landon and things were quiet. it’s been almost an hour since their agreed time an two things are happening: landon and gus are still in awkward silence, and seb was a no show.    “ is seb coming, or not? “    he asks landon, breaking the silence.

starter for @specdracers

[reedaugust]

vgdemy​:

          she busies herself with her sandwich, trying to fully wrap her brain around the concept of a spy school with every bite, thinking how it’s nothing like how she imagines it ( she blames years of watching spy movies ). the idea of an institution solely for espionage isn’t inherently evil, she thinks, much like intelligence agencies aren’t. then she goes to thinking about just how strong and intelligent these people are ( people her age ), and gus is one of them. the blonde looks at him curiously, “do you think if you taught me well enough, i could make it as a student here?” grace already knows the answer ( a big fat no ), but she’s always wanted to see how far her intelligence could take her. “i mean, i got into georgetown, right? that has to count for something,” she shrugs.

          “ uh, yeah, “    he says matter-of-factly. gus completely believes she’d be able to make it in gallagher.    “ with my abysmal teaching skills and your general amazingness, you’d definitely make it here. “    he says that with so much confidence and genuine belief in her he might just be able to will it into existence.    “ speaking of, “    he says, changing the topic for a bit,    “ what did you study in georgetown? and what’s it like? “    blackthorne and gallagher weren’t typical schools. they held rigorous combat trainings and taught things very out of norm from what he’s heard and as of right now they had just caught the man who killed two people. suffice to say, it played out very much like a movie- and he wondered what it was like to live a different normal.

[itsaidanblack]

( closed starter // @reedaugust​ )

      When Aidan entered his dorm room, skateboard tucked loosely under his hoodie-clad arm, he’d thought nothing of August’s phone lying on his bed. He must have thrown it onto Aidan’s, not paying attention, but as the brit set his board down and began untying his black Vans, the phone buzzed, its screen suddenly on and beaming light into the relatively dark room. 

      “Gus, mate, your phone’s goin’ off.” Aidan calls out to the empty room. He doesn’t necessarily mean to snoop, he just peers over at the bright light that practically beckons him in. “…Mate?” Aidan calls out, again, as his eyes skim over the words on the screen. Oh. Oh. 

[reedaugust]

          he forgot to bring his phone today. while he could’ve very easily ran to the dorms to get it back, everything about today was fast and hectic. there were hardly any breaks- save for lunch, where he completely forgot about his phone which lead to him spending the entire day without it. now, he was just tired and sleepy and mildly anxious because mother hates it when he doesn’t answer and he’s probably missed a billion calls by now. 

          essentially dragging himself through the entire floor, he finally arrives at the room... where he sees aidan, his roommate, looking at august’s phone on aidan’s bed. he looks incredulous, walking quickly to his phone and grabbing it out of the bed.    “ dude! privacy! “    he scolds.

[reedaugust]

oofcori​:

oooh, shopping ! cori was sure that a bit, or a lot, of retail therapy was the sole reason she could get over anything that life threw at her. she especially loved shopping for OTHER people, too, so she was more than eager to help solve gus’ jacket dilemma. “ i don’t think too similar exists — if you like it then get it ‘cause i love it. it looks really good. ” cori nods, of course he looked great in his other one, but that didn’t take anything away from her statement. “ but maybe we should find a different one as well so you have options. ”

          gus nods,    “ you have a point. “    he knew he could always count on cori for clothes and stuff. he was wondering how he never clicked with her back when they were in prep school together. he holds on to the maroon jacket and looks around until he finds another rack with a black hoodie that had roses embroidered on both sleeves.    “ oh this, “    he smiles, putting the maroon jacket back on the rack and grabbing the other one,    “ it has roses!! “

[reedaugust]

riaflicke​:

Ria craned her neck over to see what Gus was up to. It didn’t look like school work, so she didn’t feel as bad about interrupting. “Whatchya drawing?” Around them, she heard the low volume chatter of study partners and the distant sound of the water cooler bubbling. They weren’t in the midst of people pulling their hair out or an eerie silence. So she didn’t feel bad about striking up a conversation. After all, casual conversations helped balance out the stress of school.

And having a true friend was something that Ria realized she had taken for granted for so long. High school was a blur, but once arriving at Gallagher, it was needed. Even the gen eds were stressful and enough to make you want to just curl up and disappear if you didn’t have an outlet. “What’s this secret twin’s name? Goose?” She put on an overdramatic Frenchesque accent, butchering the pronunciation of Gus.

@reedaugust​

          “ just a character from this game i used to play, “    he said,    “ what were you up to? “    the library wasn’t as crowded today and the librarian was busy doing something else to notice so they kept talking at a relative volume. the joke on his secret evil twin took a while to simmer in gus’ head and he just kept thinking about an actual live goose until it clicked,    “ oh, i get it, “    he laughs a bit at the realization,    “ but yes, my secret evil twin’s name is goose. “    gus says, in a mix of the overdramatic frenchesque accent mixed with his own actual accent.    “ he’s heir to an evil conglomerate dedicated to dominate the world. “

[reedaugust]

itslunaberrales​:

“ gus ,  amore  mio… if  it  is  not  A - worthy  by  now , it’s  not  ever  going  to  be . ”  she  joked , though  slightly  serious . “ listen–  i  understand  that  this  final  report  is  putting  a lot  of  pressure  on  us  for  our  grade  this  semester . but  we  did  the  readings . we  did  the  research . there’s  nothin’  to  worry  about , trust  me . ”  she  reassured  calmly , trying  to  ease  her  classmate’s  nerves . “ you  do  trust  me , right ? ”

“ that’s not exactly comforting, “    he chuckles a bit, still nervous but calming down.    “ but yeah you have a point, “    he sighs, closing the laptop after saving the document.    “ i trust you it’s just... you know that feeling where you studied for a test but you still failed? “

[reedaugust]

specdracers‌:

     “no, no. stop,” landon shakes his head, brows furrowed together. he instinctively takes a step forward to gus, not caring how awkward it has been with them. “i should be the one apologizing.” landon bennett? admitting he’s wrong? that never happens. “because i went mia for a bit,” he admits nervously. landon kisses and does plenty more with other people, but when it comes to his friend, it becomes so weird between them. “i mean, it was just a little peck, no biggie.” it most definitely is not a no biggie.

          no biggie. huh. that was definitely not a no biggie. gus steels himself a bit, his voice hides a very slight undertone of pain at that. he nods and says,     " yeah... no biggie. "    maybe landon was just at a loss of words, or maybe it was a slip of tongue, but it kinda hurt.    " look, landon. i can't do this right now, "    gus says, almost sounding a bit annoyed. what he said wasn't just to get away from the situation, he really doesn't know how to handle it and how long until he says something he might regret. they addressed the big elephant in the room but it was like gus was putting it in a temporary stasis, something to talk about when he's better equipped emotionally.    " i'm really sorry, i'm just tired, "    he says, taking a step backward a bit.

[riaflicke]

“You know, hanging out with you never gets old, Gussie,” Ria said in a jesting tone as she settled down across from him at a seat in the library. ‘Hanging out’ was a stretch, she saw an open seat, a face she knew, and decided to strike up her usual banter. They’d known each other for quite some time now, and she took their friendship as a win. Well, if it could even be called a friendship. Maybe borderline acquaintances. Was that a thing? It was much improved from what it used to be in high school, she’d give it that much. Sure, she poked and teased him a lot, but it was all in good fun. At least she found it fun.

A moment of silence passed and she blinked a few times, looking at the boy across from her. “Wait, I mean, no one is actually sitting here, right?”

starter: @reedaugust​

[reedaugust]

          gus liked hanging out in the library. it was quiet, ambient and cold and it made his brain work- and it was just the right amount of boring that makes his drawings look better. so naturally, gus was in the library, drawing a character from a game he used to play and it was fun. it was swell. his social battery was slowly going up and as if on cue, ria arrives. he smiles.    “ thank you for the reassurance, “    he chuckles,    “ i was very concerned with my abilities as your staple banter friend. “    ria was fun. she was chill. before blackthorne they were very not chill but now they’re chill. chill enough for banter, but while he knows it was all in good fun, some of them kinda made him doubt a bit.    “ my secret evil twin was sitting there, but go ahead. “ 

[skinnydied]

when the sky is a certain color and you’re outside and your entire being aches

[reedaugust]

vgdemy‌:

          if there’s one person she could easily forgive ( though she still uses the term lightly these days ), it’s august—or gus, as he likes to be called now. if anything, knowing him and his story softens her view on the school, and how she’s feeling overall. she might always be one step away from completely losing her mind, but gus is an anchor, reminding her that there’s normal outside of this. at least, her version of normal.

          it’s nice feeling like she’s fourteen again, and in her natural habitat: a place somewhere perfectly breezy, under the sun, and with someone she loves. she leisurely leans against the hilt of the table, taking a sandwich from gus and makes a face at self-defense classes. “it’s going as good as it can get; my hands hurt from the punching,” she pouts, “i wish you were the one teaching me all this… spy stuff. it’d be easier for me to learn with you around, you know? like when you helped me do math homework.”

          a lot of roseville reminded him of home. everything felt so normal; no parents bugging him and telling him he isn’t enough, and the way everything felt so light was a great breather from the darkness that surrounded gallagher. being friends again with victoria brought a whole wave of nostalgia back to him. it reminded him of all the time they spent before they were separated and how things were fine for once. he knows normalcy isn’t something he should be expecting now but that doesn’t mean he can’t make his own.

         gus took a bite off his apple, listening to what victoria had to say about their self-defense classes.    “ listen, my majors aren’t that combative- except for the hand-to-hand portion, so i’m not great with that, “    he said,    “ but i am an assimilation student so maybe i can help you out with that? “    never in a million years would he have expected saying that to victoria but here they are, guess this is their normal now.

[reedaugust]

          this report had to be spotless. there had to be no errors. gus was stressed out way too much over this but he really didn’t want to accidentally make any mistakes, especially because this was a group project and he didn’t want luna to have a low grade because of him. he’s been reading over their report on mexican culture about three times now, just to make sure it was perfect and the library’s quiet made it a bit easy for him to stress.    “ you think this is alright, right? “    he said, eyes already tired from all the reading.    “ i’m sorry, i stress a lot over this kind of stuff. “

starter for @itslunaberrales​