[ ALEX FITZALAN, CISMALE, HE/HIS ] shh ! RHYS TAYLOR, the ( TWENTY-ONE ) year old THIRD year MUSIC WITH PSYCHOLOGY major from BRIGHTON, UK, is known as a RUBY around here. HE was invited to join because OF HIS CHARM AND ABILITY TO WORK UNDER PRESSURE, and now, they’re here to stay. HE reminds me of THE LINGERING TASTE OF CHERRY CHAPSTICK ON YOUR LIPS, MESSY HAIR PAIRED WITH NEAT CLOTHING, and TEXTBOOKS AND SHEET MUSIC SCATTERED ACROSS A DESK.
hello friends !! i’m so happy to be here :) you can call me bren, and this here is my messy boy rhys :-) i’ll try and keep it brief under the cut but if you feel like diving in, you can find his bio here !! i have some wanted connections here but give this a like or hit me up and i would be more than happy to plot something out !! ( tw: mentions of infidelity and dementia )
rhys is an only child, born in london and raised in brighton. his mother is a wedding dress designer and his father is a therapist. his father cheated on his mother when rhys was younger and he kind of wishes they got divorced but they didn’t. their relationship is rather cold and obligatory at best ! love to see it !
rhys has always turned to music as an escape and as it turns out, he’s pretty gifted. he started piano lessons pretty young and picked up a guitar not long after. he definitely prefers the latter. he’s obsessed with learning and the challenge that comes with music— he has perfect pitch and a natural understanding of it all
as rhys got older, he’d visit his grandparents in london. besides spending time with them, he’d busk in the city for fun, perform at gigs, play a few shows for bands missing a member. it was exhilarating for him, and he’s always liked the attention and the challenge performing posed for him,
his grandfather developed alzheimer’s just a year before rhys was going off to uni. this has since been a big burden on his grandmother’s shoulders ( i imagine he calls her every sunday, without fail, so please tease him relentlessly for it ) and watching his grandfather’s memory deteriorate has been tough. the one thing that seemed to help, even for just a few minutes, was when rhys would play the stones on the guitar for him.
he will not whip out a guitar and play wonderwall at a party, don’t worry. he’s not really the singer/songwriter type: he loves instruments and composing, and he wants to get his masters in music therapy to help dementia and trauma patients !
that being said: he’s a third year ruby studying music with psychology ! he’s very passionate about his studies. ask him about it and he might not shut up, and he might cry over a good guitar solo here and there
personality-wise, rhys is very dedicated, driven, egotistical, and confident, though it comes across as arrogant a good portion of the time. he’s very comfortable with himself and absolutely loves people. he’s fine on his own but he really thrives around others— he’s also a huge fucking flirt.
romantic, magnetic, very caring but rather annoying, he’s the kind of guy that you’re either trying to tune out, rolling your eyes at, or admiring from afar. he tends to make terrible decisions because he rarely thinks them through, especially when it comes to anything involving love and lust
he has two tattoos: one is the good ol’ box tattoo circa the 1975 and an outline of a dog on his thigh. does he have a dog ? nope. was he drunk when he got it ?? 100% and he’d do it again honestly
he’s always, always down to do anything. want someone to walk with you around the block ? want to slam a few drinks in the middle of the day ? spontaneous weekend road trip ?? 99% of the time, rhys is there. he’s a really loyal friend in that sense !
if you text him late at night he’s probably awake. not even bc he’s a fuckboy but he just rarely sleeps and does a lot of work at night
an emotional, loving drunk. he will hang all over you and shower you with love and compliments. he’s pretty social and touchy-feely in general so consider it an amplified version of himself when he’s wasted
tldr; with calloused fingers, messy hair, a song constantly stuck in his head, and this incessant need to charm the socks off of people because he has an inherent fear of rejection, rhys is a sweet, passionate boy. he truly is an all-or-nothing kind of person that lets his heart lead the way !
remember when i said i’d keep it short lol anyway like i said, i have some wanted connections but i’m 100% down to plot anything !! my discord is baby b#6428 if you prefer to skrrt over there. i’m a sucker for an in-depth plot so if that sounds like your jam, let’s do it up !!
it feels like they are slipping lower and lower into an indefinite limbo, no answers to be found and increased security measures that make her feel more claustrophobic than safe. as if there wasn’t enough to worry about between classes and exams and already having one missing society member, but now a fellow and entirely unrelated student was missing and it seemed no one was safe. it is hard for her to wish for things to go back to normal if she didn’t even know what was supposed to be normal anymore. it’s hard to tell if josie’s tempo had slowed due to gradual close of the piece or if it was because her thoughts were too far elsewhere to make it through again, but the last note lingers long enough to meet his words, josie’s eyes lift to meet his own. ❝ you mean that actual music happens when you actually practice it ? ❞ and she managed a small smile in response, her next words an obvious tease in return. ❝ who would of thought the two of us would ever manage that ? ❞
❝ it could sound better, ❞ she offers with a small sigh, offering the words of her mother before she even realizes it. some things, josie supposed, she still held on to too tightly. ❝ i don’t mind the repetition so much, just waiting for the day you realize i’m a lost cause. ❞ it’s a deliberate tease, a certain warmth and lightness that has been harder to wear around campus these days. her gaze is trained where her fingers brush lightly atop the keys in an absent pattern, gaze lifting to meet his own at his words. ❝ a ridiculous curfew, at that. or that the room or the building is off limits, or we’re actually supposed to return to dorm room solitude indefinitely. ❞ and as much as she knows that perhaps they should make the most of their practice time, josie’s all too eager to agree to leave early. ❝ i think i’ve let this piece occupy enough of my brain for today. i was thinking about grabbing a hot chocolate, care to join ? ❞
IT'S AN INTERESTING dynamic between rhys and josie, their relationship this weird product of old habits mixed with the confines of a secret society. nonetheless, taking the otherwise scandalous aspects out of their connection leaves them with a sweet friendship, one that rhys doesn't mind poking fun at and clearly, neither does josie. he laughs at her comment and stops his pacing, body facing the piano she's sat at. "if you told me that last term, i wouldn't believe it," he teases. brows furrow at her words, lower lip puckered just a bit in contemplation and, frankly, disagreement at her slight self-deprecation.
"you're too hard on yourself, josie," rhys tells her simply. "i wouldn't tell you you're getting better if i didn't believe it. it'd be a waste of both of our time, quite honestly." both hands land on her shoulders and he pats them a few times before moving away. his eyes roll at the mentioning of the curfew. he'd be lying if he said he didn't have a slight underlying fear of the mere reason the whole campus was on lockdown, the harsh realities of missing students really starting to nestle into his bones but at the same time, rhys has never been thrilled at the idea of someone telling him to do something. nonetheless, he's not about to cause any more problems than the school clearly already has, but where was the harm in a hot chocolate? he reaches down to grab his bag on the floor, along with his coat, and he shrugs it on. "absolutely," he agrees while handing josie her coat as well. "how are you feeling about all of this, by the way?" he manages to ask after a brief beat of silence. he smirks. "not the music. i know you're about DONE with it," the brunette laughs. "no, the, um–" index finger spins in a circle, as if to specify everything going on. "–you know. recent events."
"I KNOW YOU said dry january, which—" he's teasing as a sour expression forms on his face, a little shrug of his shoulder while he holds a bottle of wine up as he stands at mia's door. "–questionable decision, even for you, i figured it'd be nothing short of rude to come over empty-handed." he flashes her a grin, typical of rhys taylor, before he steps inside. he's got a bag on his shoulder, too, a backpack with SOME schoolwork that inevitably won't be touched and clothes and a few other essentials. he turns into her kitchen and plops the bag on a chair, then starts to unzip it.
he starts unloading a few items: the bottle of wine in his hand gets set on the counter, followed by a bluetooth speaker, a gerontology textbook, a toothbrush— "i feel like i should just get an extra one and leave it here." he pauses, brown eyes shifting up to mia. he laughs. "i'm just saying. holly and i always have extra toothbrushes in our bathroom. people think it's a nice touch." he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a container, which gets set on the counter and he nudges it towards her. he pauses, then bends down until his face is level with the container. "fucking hell, did the icing stick?" he takes the container lid off slowly and grunts. "thought i was being careful, too. a tesco cupcake in case you really ARE doing dry january."
𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 — closed to @rhystcylor
𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — rhys’ apartment
“fancy place you got here,” vanessa teases as she makes herself comfortable on rhys’ couch. “do you have any fancy snacks to match? sparkling water, vintage wine, expensive smelly cheeses.. i need something seriously tasty to make up for the shit-show that’s strathmore.”
RHYS GLANCES OVER at vanessa while she plops on the couch, eyebrow quipped as he shakes his head and twists at the cork in the wine bottle in front of him. it comes off in a dramatic POP and he sets it aside to pour two glasses. "i'll drink to that," he mutters as he walks back over and hands her a glass. "i'm afraid all i have to offer are my good looks and this bottle of white wine i found in our fridge." he takes a seat on the edge of the coffee table in front of vanessa, a smirk behind the wine glass brought to his lips. "hope that suffices for the time being."
IT LOITERS, THIS feeling— grief and dread sure do look the same under otherwise dreary skies and a lack of sunlight. he's already opened up to rose about the fear of losing his grandfather, about preparing for the worst that truly doesn't feel like it can be dodged at this point. being honest with her and hollis has been good; it lessens the burden that such a thing naturally carries but he hasn't been completely honest with her. because when it rains, it POURS, right? it can't just be one thing at a time: it has to be all at once.
he's rolling up the straw wrapper into a tiny ball in between his index finger and thumb while they sit at a bistro cafe just off campus, one of the first they'd discovered their second year. he's staring at it and CONTEMPLATING the right words to say. it was already a feat that he got rose out of her room to stop obsessing over the missing peoples cases— he desperately didn't want the conversation to steer that way, too. "i was kind of seeing someone," he manages, nearly blurting out the words faster than he can pull them back. it's this moment he decides that rose deserves the truth, but he deserves the protection just a bit more. "it wasn't anything too serious." a shrug of his shoulder and he grabs his iced tea and brings it to his lips. he takes a sip and sets the glass back down. "we were doing long distance." a lie. "but she ended things around new year's. which..." he smirks to himself, though it's somber. he sets the balled up wrapper down and picks up his fork on his plate, pointing the one end at rose. "SUCKED, if i'm being quite honest. but it might as well have happened when it did, right?"
THINGS FEEL RATHER heavy, a sting of dread seems to linger across the entire campus like a fog creeping against the ground. coming back from chamonix and immediately being put on a lockdown due to another missing person case is nothing short of nerve-wracking. it's times like this, as rhys stands above josie in an empty practice room in the music building, eyes intent as they watch josie play the grand piano, that almost brings solace to the whole situation. NORMALCY. jesus, they could all use some sense of normalcy nowadays. her playing slows and rhys nods, then turns away and lets her finish. "is this what happens when we actually practice piano during these lessons?" he teases while he turns on his feet to face her again. he grins— it's a feeble attempt at poking fun despite the circumstances.
"that sounded really good, josie. i know it's a bitch to play it over and over but i hope it's helping, and i hope you can hear the improvement like i can." he glances over his shoulder at the door, maybe a bit too quickly, before he looks back at the amber. "i'm half expecting someone to burst through the door and tell us we're past curfew or some shit. i reserved this room for another–" he glances at his phone. "–another ten minutes. we can call it quits early, if you want."
"still up for debate, i think. get back to me after graduation and if i'm single and without a job, then no, it wasn't worth it. or if i’m missing— too soon?"
was strathmore your first choice? what were your other choices?
"strathmore definitely wasn't my first choice. i had applied to schools with bigger music programs: king's college, cambridge, university of birmingham, and the royal academy. got into all of them ( did not tell my secondary school girlfriend about the last one, since she ended up going ) but i had given strathomre a shot and decided i didn't want to go into such a music-heavy program to begin with. strathmore was a perfect balance, i think."
have you ever played someone a song you wrote about them?
"oh, sure. i mean, i've shared lyrics with people but as far as properly playing, i think i've only done that once or twice. it’s a bit intimate to just do, isn’t it?"
