A World Without Fences

[scampcomehome]

SCOTT TAVISH "SCAMP" RICHARDS

For far too many years I lived the life that others chose for me; a captive of thoughts that were not my own. But I fought my way to freedom on the road of self-discovery, and I'll fiercely guard this liberty of soul.

—John Mark Green

Nicknames: Scamp & Scotty Pronouns: He/Him Birthday: October 27th, 1987 Magick Status: Werewolf Nationality: American Ethnicity: White Accent: New York Height: 5′10″ Build: Lean Complexion: Fair to tan Eye Color: Brown Hair Color/Length/Style: Brown/Fluffy Short/Combed Tattoos: N/A Piercings: N/A Daily Jewelry: What would you find if you Googled them? His father's law firm, his travel Twitter/Instagram, & some accolades from his time in law school. What natives would know about them: He's the pizza delivery guy, hangs around with Lucky & Jasper, complete flirt (with the skills to back it up). Other: He is probably on some websites like Are We Dating The Same Guy? for his reputation as a player. He travels a lot so there's not that much overlap but there's some! [ Bio ] [ Werewolf ] [ Statistics ] 

[sylvia-marpole]

save the books! {open}

[sylvia-marpole]

"Enough. I think I'll have to dry it out in my apartment thought. Last thing I need to do it put them away right away and then they infect the rest of my books!" She had seen those videos, book lice, book mold when you didn't pull out the books often enough and Sylvia was a book hoarder.

"But me? Oh i'm fine. A little water won't make me melt."

[scampcomehome]

"Should have seen what happened to my copy of The Bramble Bush by Karl N. Llewellyn back when I was a 1L," Scott joked. "I got caught on campus in a torrential downpour and forgot it was in my backpack. Poor thing was barely recognizable by the end of the semester." He laughed, that faraway memory feeling like a lifetime ago.

He looked her over, agreeing that she seemed fine but mostly admiring her. "I'm glad that you'll remain with us. I'd hate for such a lovely lady to depart so soon." Scott winked, stepping half a step forward. "I'm Scott."

@sylvia-marpole

[sylvia-marpole]

save the books! {open}

[sylvia-marpole]

Sylvia couldn't help a good deal on books, they weren't even on sale and yet two new series by a writer she loved? That was a great deal.

The grin on her face was palpable.

Yet she hadn't noticed the clouds, the darkness that was sneaking over her. She did however feel the water droplets and the panic set in as the sound of rain got closer and closer.

She didn't look before she ducked into the nearest door, the books were more important. It was worth the look on others faces.

"Rain and books don't mix?"

[scampcomehome]

It wasn't uncommon for rain in Swynlake, it was honestly one of Scott's least favorite things about England, but for it to suddenly start downpouring as he walked back toward the Cinema from the shops was an odd one. He had just narrowly avoided stepping out into the rain from his last errand when he was face-to-face with a beautiful stranger.

"Suppose they don't," Scott chuckled. "Hopefully you were quick enough to save them. Are you alright?"

@sylvia-marpole

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

"Scott's very worldly," Lucky voiced, teasing, when the protests about broccoli on pizza came up, although more worldly than himself and he couldn't really deny that. "He's just tryin' t'survive small town life these days."

Lucky stepped around Kurt while he was busy heating up his food, because he wasn't going to leave Scott just starving in the living room, of course, so he retrieved a few more plates from the cabinet.

"What's your fancy cat supposed t'be eatin' t'night anyway?" Since she would start nosing around if everyone but her was eating, and honestly he lost track of all the different cans and bags that Scott kept in one of the cabinets for her. Besides, every now and then it didn't hurt to appeal to her good side with a few treats.

"Isn't an emu just like a big chicken anyway?" Lucky mused as he collected pizza for their plates and set them aside for a moment until Kurt was finished. "Got drinks in th' fridge too," he informed him; hopefully seeing that space was relaxed would help him, in turn, shake some of the obvious tension lurking at the edge of his eyes.

Whatever he'd been through he was wearing an awful lot of it like a second skin and Lucky knew that exhausting feeling.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

"Small town life is getting easier these days," Scott conceded, "though it's helped by running the Lounge. Just working at the Pizza Planet might have killed me." The truth was the change that had made all the difference had been moving in with Lucky but it felt especially corny to say so in front of the new kid. Scott didn't want to change Kurt's mind on giving them a chance by getting all sappy.

"Well I'm fine with just.. pepperoni? Cheese?" Kurt shook his head. "And 'm from a small town. England is the weird part for me." He was going to try and pass on any 'exotic' flavors until he got his bearings.. and even then emu felt a little too extreme still. Who thought of these things?!

Kurt maneuvered where he needed to go, grabbing a soda from the fridge and settling himself onto a nearby chair. It wasn't positioned the best for conversation but he figured he'd make less of a mess in this spot than if he tried to sit with Scott and the cat.

"Boheme's on the Norfolk lobster one tonight," Scott chirped as he noticed that Lucky had grabbed some food for him as well. "She didn't seem to like the Devon crab, unfortunately. Not quite to her liking."

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

"I don't get it either," Lucky added, watching Kurt trying to figure out the strange whims of feline behavior. It made more sense some days but others he had no idea what to expect; the cat might sprawl on the sofa next to him while he was playing his guitar or she might decide to throw all the papers with the restock orders for the concession stands all over the living room floor if he happened to forget to put them away after he'd gone through to order things.

"Oh, it can go wrong," Lucky felt it was a bit of a cautionary tale even if he was mostly joking to lighten the mood since Kurt looked about as apprehensive as Lucky figured he might have been in that apartment. But just getting a good look at him confirmed his suspicion that was bound to be the case anywhere; he must have been through a lot.

But that story wasn't one he needed just yet.

"Broccoli on pizza might just be an affront t'sound reasonin'." As he had learned from experience.

The kitchen was near enough and the floor plan open enough that he caught Scott watching out of the corner of his eye as he urged Kurt into the space, grabbing a plate for him and retrieving a few white and red Pizza Planet boxes from the fridge to set on the counter for him.

The microwave, which Lucky and Scott were in fact too American to live without, was also within reach on said counter as well since Lucky had no aversion to the idea but some people did not like cold pizza.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott debated following Kurt and Lucky into the kitchen but decided that three was definitely a crowd in that room. "I'll have to grab ours in a minute," he murmured to the orange tabby, his cat purring loudly in her cozy little sweater. Scott snapped a photo of her, preparing it to post on her Instagram account that was solely dedicated to her wardrobe.

"Broccoli on pizza? That's a thing?" Kurt asked, personally offended by the idea. He shuddered at the thought, glad to see some regular pizza options when the boxes opened. He grabbed a slice of each topping option, glancing at the microwave as he debated his options. He did eventually cave to pop them in the machine as the fridge temperature was just a tad too cold for his liking.

Scott rolled his eyes despite knowing the other two couldn't see it. "Broccoli pizza isn't that bad! It's pretty popular in Brazil!" That tidbit didn't seem to convince Kurt any but Scott wasn't phased. "I've also had mango pizza in the Philippine's and emu in Australia." He was pretty sure Kurt's whole face lost some color.

Whoops.

"Y'all're.. somethin' else." Kurt seemed to be questioning a lot of his life's choices.

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

"Yeah, that one..." Lucky just gave the cat a glance; he still thought the whole thing was a little strange, yes, but it was Scott's cat so maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. He definitely shouldn't have been surprised by the outfits, and the fancy cat toys and all the other little things like the equally fancy cat food and everything else that went along with the smallest and yet somehow most expensive resident of the apartment. "Ya get used to it."

And it wasn't like the cat was bad or anything, was friendly to a fault sometimes actually; just wasn't something Lucky had ever really considered having around. Closest thing he'd known to something like that was West's old barn cat that lazed around the porches and chased mice.

He couldn't really picture Boheme being much of a mouser.

"Won't subject ya t'either of our attempts at cookin," Lucky informed Kurt, "but we're both good at orderin' out so the amount of leftovers we have round this place could feed an army." Or more specifically two wolves, and maybe not even that too close to the full moon. "Most of it's pizza right now though."

This was of course one of the benefits of Scott's job.

Lucky figured it was a little daunting for Kurt to be there since the apartment carried so much of the scent of the day to day. His and Scott's existence was worked into every inch of the place from the floor up because they had been the ones living there since the apartment had been rebuilt, saturating the space with memories written into familiar scent and the things that filled that little corner of life; wolves could be a bit territorial but he was trying to be welcoming and keep the conversation light.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott plopped himself down on the couch, allowing Lucky to play host for their new guest. Boheme usually immediately jumped up to sit with him but, instead, began circling Kurt's legs. The newer wolf stiffened, clearly unsure how to respond to her affections. Scott decided not to help, just watching it play out. Boheme was gentle, making little infinity symbols between Kurt's legs, until the man relented and leaned down to pet her, upon which time she decided to abandon Kurt to finally join Scott on the couch.

"Think Bo just wanted a proper greeting," Scott chuckled as he scratched her behind the ears.

Kurt shuffled after Lucky without responding to Scott, unsure how to proceed there, and instead focused on the food offerings. Which... yeah, the offerings were pizza. "Well, even the worst pizza is still pizza," he shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Can't really go wrong there, right?"

Scott glanced at Lucky's face, trying to get a read on how the leader of the pack felt about the whole ordeal. He hadn't meant to spring this on Lucky, hadn't known he'd run into a lost wolf on his outing that day, but just like when he'd brought Boheme home, it seemed that Lucky was taking it all in stride.

Lucky seemed to take everything in stride, really.

"Well then pizza it is. Help yourself to.. really whatever. The cheeseburger mac pizza's pretty good. I promise I had no hand in crafting any pizza."

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

"Don't know tha it gets much easier t'make sense of," Lucky confessed before he drew his hand back after the greeting; some days it felt like all the things that should have made sense simply decided not to, magic or otherwise.

There were a lot of unanswered questions; how it was that Kurt had ended up on the other side of the world because that accent made it clear he'd been raised a little closer to the part of it Lucky was familiar with, and what sort of trouble might have still been following him were the most pressing concerns.

But that also wasn't any way to start a conversation without it sounding like a bunch of accusations and he didn't want to do that. He still remembered a few encounters himself first meeting folks both outside of it and even in town itself when questions had been jarring throw at him so directly, accusations when he'd done nothing at all but happened across another person.

It hadn't been that way much back home, and Lucky still carried home with him so the world pressing on his resolve there hadn't been enough to convince him to turn away from what he knew when it came to caution rather than hostility towards strangers.

It had almost sent him running though with no place to run to at the start, and if Kurt were in a similar position the next place he stopped to catch his breath might have been a lot less friendly.

Best place to start was the obvious; making sure the guy had some real food. Something as simple as that could make a world of difference in how comfortable folks felt around strangers. Adaline had done her best but the concession stand was a poor substitute for an actual meal.

"Might wanna have this conversation upstairs," he suggested to Scott, since Kurt was already more comfortable with him, "after some actual food."

The lounge was upstairs, so was the apartment; he left it unsaid it was Scott's choice which felt more comfortable. Lucky figured in a town like that a little hospitality for the sake of the worn out and world-weary sorts was reasonable.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott heard the suggestion and immediately began to flip-flop on which location would be better. The apartment was more private and they would be able to speak much more openly but there was also that sheltered feeling to it tucked away there. Most people still didn't even know that they lived there so that was a pretty big secret to give up, right?

Well, if Scott had held any hesitation, Kurt then made eye contact with him and he caved. Kurt already knew his biggest secret, after all. It was hard to argue against him knowing the smaller ones too. Plus he'd need to know how to properly find Lucky & Scott in the future.

"Yeah, c'mon. You're gonna be fine." He led the way upstairs, checking over his shoulder before unlocking their apartment door to let everyone in. Boheme strode forward, confused why the pair of men would be home so soon and even more confused by the presence of a stranger.

"A cat, hm?" Kurt acknowledged, "Not sure what I expected but... a cat in a sweater wasn't it."

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

Because he knew him, Lucky wanted to argue, because Scott wasn't a stranger anymore when things started to fall apart around town.

Scott was standing there looking at him like he had answers, like he knew how to fix the things that went wrong and how to save the folks that needed saving and Lucky wasn't sure he really knew how to do either of those things.

And some part of it, he was certain, was that little notion in the back of his brain and now that he was properly part of the pack that Lucky being a leader meant he understood how to handle things. But part of it also was Scott just always seemed to think there was some deep insight to the way he went about things when there really wasn't, when most of it was just that he tried to be a better person anymore to make up for the times he hadn't been so great at doing that in the past.

But there was no arguing it, if he had tried to Scott would have pointed out things would be fine, somehow, because Scott believed things would be fine now and that hadn't been an easy place to get to. It wasn't a place he wanted to see Scott lose either, not when it had come with confidence and a sense of security for the other wolf.

He could practically hear Roland's voice in the back of his mind calling him a pushover.

"Yeah, alright," Lucky shook his head, casting another glance at Kurt. Whoever the guy was at some point he had been someone's kid, maybe somebody's brother, uncle, cousin, even friend; everybody meant something to someone and that made it a lot harder to justify just walking away.

"Not th'best idea if ya don't know where yer goin' yet," Lucky addressed him, "folks round here are usually pretty friendly, lot friendlier than most outside town, but ya still probably shouldn't go runnin' off just yet."

Wasn't that the strongest impulse though? He'd felt it himself plenty of times when he had been alone traveling; run. When you were alone and you didn't have anywhere to go you ran.

"M'Lucky," he offered, a place to start. And by the look of it he wouldn't have been too surprised if the truth was the stranger barely even knew what he was doing. Stray wolves seemed to be one of two types for the most part; on their own because they didn't want much to do with other wolves or alone because life had thrown those circumstances at them and they didn't know what to do with it.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

There was something about the way that Lucky studied Scott in moments like this that had Scott forgetting just how much younger Lucky was than himself. Scott might have had the years on Lucky but Lucky had the wisdom and compassion. Scott had never needed to consider the weight of what the world could do until he'd become a werewolf but Lucky had been born with these weights already resting on his shoulders. He just seemed much more knowledgeable and understanding of the world and the people within it.

That "Yeah, alright" held much more weight than it sounded like, at least to Scott.

Kurt watched the pair of wolves seem to hold a whole conversation with such few words and wondered just exactly what he'd gotten himself entangled with. Scott had been nice, if a little eager, but Kurt didn't know how to back out of this even if he'd wanted to.

"S'literally my first day today," Kurt chuckled. The Southern accent was strong as he spoke and Scott blinked. Kurt had spoken so little before that Scott hadn't really caught just how strong it could be. "Kurt Nixon," Kurt shook Lucky's hand. He couldn't shake the feeling he was making a deal with two of the kindest devils he could find. "Not quite sure what's going on but.."

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Always There || Sucette

[collette-richards]

“I left him.” Collette said quickly.

“We were on a vacation. I…” Collette’s voice was rushed now. It felt wrong for what she did even though it was most certainly the right thing to do. “I put the ring on a napkin and disappeared when he stepped into the shower.”

The corners of her eyes winced and she felt tears coming up. The tears didn’t even make sense but they always came. “I felt like it was my only way to leave…I ran and never turned back..” scrunching her lips from side to side she looked across to her brother and sighed. “It was almost two years ago Scott and the problem is…he didn’t seem to care until a month ago…I get about 40 calls from him a day.”

Collette shrugged. “I don’t know what he wants but he just won’t let up. I can’t tell father because how embarrassing….”

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott nodded, glad to hear confirmation that Collette wasn't still with that man. It really was for the best that she had gotten away and that sounded like the safest way to do it. He knew he would have done the same, taken the path of least resistance to get away from an unsafe partner, but he knew that it didn't necessarily boost one's confidence in the choice.

"Good." He nodded, taking her hand and squeezing it. "You did good, Cole. You should absolutely run if you're unsafe and get as much distance between you." Scott took a deep breath, trying to curb the anxious and defensive brother feeling that was bubbling up. No time for his own anxieties here, this was about Collette.

"Well we'll just have to figure it out together, yeah? It's not like I'm calling home but I'm here with you every step of the way. And I've still got my license so if we need to fight this in the courts.. Well, dammit, we will."

@collette-richards

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

He had very little doubt the stranger also wasn't aware of what he was too; it was hard to mistake that sort of thing as a wolf. But the full avoidance of any type of reaction probably meant it was something the guy assumed he might not be obvious about. And he wouldn't have been to anyone else.

As Kurt edged away towards Adaline, who was trying to convince him that popcorn wasn't real food, Lucky's attention shifted back to Scott.

The lobby was empty that time of the late afternoon, unlikely to pose much of a threat of interruption from anyone but Mr. Godfrey or Nye, so he wasn't too cautious with his words.

"Opportunity," Lucky repeated, certain Scott knew the definition of the word and it was certainly not a strange wolf suddenly at the front door. It hadn't been with Scott either. But he understood the instinct; that's what it was, instinct. One Lucky hadn't felt much back home where there was such a lim margin for folks to be the sort of unfriendly parts of the rest of the world could be.

Which made him wonder how the guy ended up there; the accent wasn't British. If he had to guess it was definitely American, but not the same version of southern as his own. He set the thought aside for the moment.

"This being tha' safe place, m'guessin'," Lucky concluded, although he didn't sounded annoyed about it, just a bit amused Scott had just decided that was the case.

"Adaline," Lucky called to her with a hint of a roll of his shoulders while she was in the middle of pushing a pretzel into Kurt's hands.

She took the cue immediately and smiled at the poor guy. "You'll be fine," she added before flittering off to the ticket booth where she could at least act like she wasn't watching.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott would argue that a strange wolf suddenly at their front door was certainly an opportunity. Was it the opportunity that Lucky likely wanted? No, of course not. Probably less wanted than Boheme being brought home by Scott just a little while ago. Was this who Scott was now? The stray adopter? It seemed so.

"Well, you ended up being the safe place for me to land. Why wouldn't we be the safe place for him?" Scott wasn't going to back down on that argument, even if he was a tiny bit embarrassed to admit it. The feelings thing was always a little awkward, though he wasn't ashamed by his friendship with Lucky in the slightest. Scott just wasn't the best at recognizing his emotions more than anything.

Scott knew Adaline was likely still eavesdropping but when she fluttered off, Kurt was left standing there with a soda, a hot pretzel, and a look on his face that illustrated just how out of his depth he was.

"I can, uh, go?" Kurt offered awkwardly. "If this is... inconvenient?"

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Family is a Choice || Scan

[bad-moon--rising]

Most days he spent half his time in the office; now that the cinema was starting to gain some real momentum again there was no shortage of work to be done. And that suited him just fine, he liked to stay busy. Which meant that day he was playing phone tag with a few companies trying to track down digital copies of the FNAF sequel people had been asking about; it was a bit outside the usual style of the cinema but it was hard not to give people what they wanted.

Especially when he knew they would have no problem selling out in the screening rooms equipped to run the film.

He was finalizing a few details when he heard Scott from what sounded like the other side of the lobby.

Adaline was a blur of motion, as usual, as she studied the stranger for an instant; poor thing looked about ready to jump out of his own skin so she flashed her brightest smile and ushered him over to the concession stand. "Well, we don't have a four star restaurant but we do have a kitchen so at least something like real food."

Lucky heard her chatting away as he headed out of the office, but he hadn't quite gotten sense or scent of the newcomer by the time he'd spotted Scott. "I know tha' look, it's th'... probably trouble look," he greeted Scott with a chuckle, only then noticing the guy following Adaline like a puppy while she tried to hand him a half dozen different things.

Scott might show up at any given time with people in tow, that wasn't usual, but another wolf was a first, and Lucky recognized that about the stranger immediately.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott watched Kurt follow Adaline reluctantly, looking more and more ready to jump out of his skin. Scott was pretty sure that he must have looked similar when Lucky had found him. It was odd to think that that was where he had started. On the run, no one to turn to, and completely homeless.

He could probably recommend the Ivy Grove, Kurt would be safe there, but Scott had left in a flurry of pent-up emotions that had little to do with the b&b itself but, rather, his own fears during everything with Gaston.

"Anything hot's fine, even if tha's just popcorn," Kurt murmured, hands deep in his pockets like he might fall right in and be taken away from this conversation.

Oh yeah, this was going well.

Lucky clearly clocked Kurt right away, there was little getting past the leader of the Blackwater pack, and Scott laughed nervously. "I wouldn't say trouble so much as.... a new opportunity." Was that convincing? No way to know. "I kinda.. found Kurt while running errands... and I kinda offered him a safe place to land?"

@bad-moon--rising

[scampcomehome]

Our DOUGHmain || Scam

[pall0r-mortis]

"Maybe a long time ago before my mother left, but I don't remember that far back," he shrugged, it felt inconsequential anyway; people mostly asked questions like that as a way to talk about their own plans and he assumed Scott would do that anyway so he didn't need to elaborate.

What was he supposed to do? Be that loser who put up decorations and waited for his father to notice? Paul would have just gotten on his case about wasting time anyway and the holidays were a mild reprieve from that since his father had been gone most of them and staying in California.

That year Paul was still gone entirely, practically something to celebrate but he just felt strange trying to make that looming house anything near to festive.

Scott had a sister? Well, not information he needed but sometimes he found out the most random things about his coworkers. He figured the part about the Cinema though, so far as he knew Scott was always there even when the lounge wasn't open because he was friends with the guy who owned it or whatever.

"I'm trying to envision what sort of poor soul had to survive growing up with you," Sid mused, although it didn't have much bite because family was a weird topic. The discovery that Scott had some lurking around town had come as a surprise; that was basically an automatic guarantee of holidays, wasn't it? People spent time with family.

"Right, you're from America," Sid was so used to so many different people from different places in town that he usually didn't keep up. "Not really a thing on the Boiling Isles either," he remarked as he moved some empty trays back under the front counter.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott winced, not subtly, at the mention of Sid's mom leaving. "Sorry, man." That sounded rough. He'd never lost a parent, his dad had remarried Scott's mom before he was born, but he knew that his sisters did still feel the pain of their mother's passing. Thankfully Scott's mom was absolutely the mother that stepped up. His parents weren't the best, he couldn't say that, but he was glad they had both been around.

He was debating what to say when Sid instead made the jab about Scott's sisters. It released the tension, just a little, and Scott decided to allow the change in the subject. "I've actually got three older sisters, triplets. Annette, Collette, and Danielle." He shrugged, his heart still hurting at the separation from most of his family. "Collette's actually here in town, as I said, but we grew up in New York City." Sometimes that felt like a lifetime ago.

"It's wild how different the whole world is. I've traveled all over the place and still get surprised by the differences. I've never been to the Boiling Isles, though. What's that like?"

@pall0r-mortis

[scampcomehome]

Always There || Sucette

[collette-richards]

Collette knew Scott was going to say that. Problem was she was hoping that he would pick the present. There was a chance him and Mal knew one another already since he had been her longer…but she just knew they would love each other. Who couldn’t love her…and who couldn’t love him!

At least she would be the grand finale and make all this horribleness sound a little better. Like maybe she was on her way to a real happy ending.

With a loud gulp she ran both her hands through her auburn hair. Stressed.

“Well there’s been a lot obviously. Moving to Paris so long ago. I don’t necessarily share everything because you know daddy would get more than upset.” She shrugged guilty. “I don’t need to worry him that much so I try to handle all my faux pauxs myself.”

Ok just say it.

“So I met this guy. Money. Standing. Career. You know the big three. Plus honey he was stunning.” Sebastian was like a demi god. “We got wrapped up in this whirlwind romance. I latched on and..” Collette felt like she was going to explode. It was so embarrassing!

“…we’ll all of the love bombing turned into control and not the fun kind.” Always hoping to lighten a mood with a joke. “Sebastian comes from a very powerful family and he had our life planned out for us and I felt boxed in.”

Collette’s eyes fluttered as she looked up finally and across form her brother. Hoping he would tell her to just shut up.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott knew that Collette didn't have the best track record with her past relationships. Scott didn't blame her, not really. She was caring and compassionate and clearly a romantic. He had always admired that about her, found comradery in their kindred spirits, but that meant that when she started talking about the money and career and that the guy was hot... Well, he wasn't surprised.

"Sounds like the sort of trap that I'd fall for," he said it jokingly but he meant it to sound comforting too. He wanted her to know he didn't judge her for getting into a relationship like that. The problem was, though, that clearly there was a worse shoe about to drop.

"Listen, Cole, whatever this is.. I'm here for you. Is he still after you?" He leaned forward, concern pinching his features. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't going to tell her to shut up. He wanted to make sure she was safe.

@collette-richards

[ralph-wreckin-reilly]

Sunk Cost || Scoff

[ralph-wreckin-reilly]

Ralph smiled small as the bottle was placed on the counter. Scott was a pretty cool guy, all things considered. He admittedly was a little jealous of him at first, what with how close he seemed to Elsa, but it eventually became clear nothing was going on there. Elsa just had a lot of friends like that, which shouldn't be a surprise.

He took a sip easily, with the bottle not even cracking. Actually, the last few times he'd been called to the cinema, he hadn't broken anything. It gave him more confidence in his repairing abilities, even if they remained mediocre at best.

"Hmmm," he hummed as he listened to the explanation. Honestly, that was better for him than anything technical, which he had no idea was being talked about. "Let me take a look."

As he placed down the tool box and started to open up the cabinet, he asked, "So how're things here? How's Lucky doing?"

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Since moving to Swynlake, Scott found his abilities to socialize shifting. He was still an extrovert, still fueled by talking to those around him, but he felt less of that rush to do the most. He used to always be on the move, always run from one place to another without the thought of slowing down, but that had all changed.

Scott now found himself considering whether or not the fridge was stocked and how much time there would be between shifts to grab a coffee with a friend.

Priorities changed, Scott couldn't have anticipated that.

Scott hopped up onto the counter, trying to be out of the way but nearby in case Ralph needed anything. Besides, he didn't have much going on today that would require him to leave the Lounge. The space was quiet, the soft sounds of moviegoers downstairs floating up to them as if from another world.

"Things are good! Business is lulled a little, that time of year I'm told. Lucky's busy as always and I'm trying to make sure he's using his off days well but..." Scott chuckled. "It's just a lot. Maybe one of these days I can convince him to do a group outing. Us two and then you and Elsa. Catch some dinner or something."

@ralph-wreckin-reilly

[scampcomehome]

Always There || Sucette

[collette-richards]

Having a brother was just so different. Sisters always had a look to give or a comment to make. Brothers through they at least listened and then reacted. Scott never projected and deflected his problems back on her either…she trusted him.

Passing her excitement about him actually enjoying responsibility didn’t fade into the darkness either. Collette joined in with how proud she was. The cinema was vintage and fabulous.

Just now it was time for her to be honest and well…that was hard!

“Well should I start with my relationship now?” She smiled but it went to a guilty look. “Or what brought me here…” yikes… “or my relationship before that…”

Collette really wasn’t short on scandals.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

Scott's brows rose up his face when she was talking about her relationships. The pair of them had never been the best at relationships, just full of whirlwind romances and ill-advised connections. Scott knew that somewhere online his name would be in a list of men that people should certainly avoid if he were to appear thanks to his habit of disappearing so suddenly.

He wore that like a badge of honor.

"How about you start at the beginning? How did the last one end and why are you here? Then I need every juicy detail on this new relationship! Shit, Cole, I'm sat!"

@collette-richards

[scampcomehome]

Our DOUGHmain || Scam

[pall0r-mortis]

Sid said nothing; it was obvious Scott wasn't going away and futile to press the issue. The man could get unrelentingly stubborn, although it was obvious he only did that when the mood hit him. Otherwise Scott was just the picture of cheerful, extroverted energy, wasn't he? If not around Pizza Planet than at the Cinema; Sid had been dragged to a few events there, enough to know him and the guy who owned the place probably had something going on since Scott ran the bar upstairs when the place had reopened.

Did he care about the details of Scott's personal life? Not especially, but maybe he had been paying a little more attention lately for one reason; Scott very likely dated a lot and Sid? Never. So he was trying to glean any information he could about how to at least look like he knew what he was doing with Jesse and his sources were, unfortunately, rather limited. Mary and Scott were practically useless in that regard but it was better than nothing, probably.

"Not really," he shrugged, "never have." It was a waste of time by Paul's assessment; no family to celebrate that part of the season and the religious aspects didn't apply in following his Patron.

He knew Scott would likely jump to the conclusion that it was because he was dark and dismal, or some other nonsense when Sid...had always envied the idea of the holidays but certainly wasn't going to say that. He'd learned early on though it was another thing that didn't fit into the rigid expectations and rules his father had.

"I'll be working so you can do whatever it is you do," Sid concluded. And keeping Mary company, since she usually worked through the holidays as well.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

"Nothing?" Scott was surprised that Sid never had celebrated anything. Sure, Sid was a bit of a Doom & Gloom type guy but it was shocking to hear that the kid hadn't done any of that stuff. Scott wanted to ask if it was for a religious reason, he remembered things like Jehovah's Witnesses that didn't celebrate holidays or birthdays back in the States, but he figured that was probably ruder than he wanted to be.

Instead of prying, Scott tapped his fingers against the counter. He didn't know how to continue the conversation necessarily but luckily Sid provided him a perfect jumping off point!

"Oh, I am gonna be doing a movie day," he laughed. "Gotta take advantage of my Cinema access. Plus I want to do a gift exchange with my sister. Got her a new tennis bracelet since the Lounge has been doing well." Scott wasn't someone who had a lot of money anymore but it felt less like a Brink of Homelessness situation these days and more of a Normal Guys Can't Buy Everything They See situation.

He poked over at Sid, curious what the grumpy guy was thinking. "Isn't it bullshit that England doesn't have to do time-and-a-half? Like, you'll get that because our boss is night but... damn." Scott had, truthfully, never worked a job that required him to work holidays before moving to Swynlake but that was baffling to him.

@pall0r-mortis

[scampcomehome]

Our DOUGHmain || Scam

[pall0r-mortis]

The temptation to go kick one of the chairs out from under Scott was one Sid was barely winning the battle against.

"Don't you have dishes to wash or a floor to mop?"

Unlikely, but the less than subtle way to convince Scott to stop torturing him. Not that the words sank in much; Sid didn't dislike the holidays, he just didn't know what to do with them. Everyone else had some overwhelming idea about what to occupy themselves with but Sid didn't. The only positive to holidays was his father was almost guaranteed to be at some work party, far away.

Different situation but no less true that year; Paul would not be haunting the house with his demands that year. Practically reason to celebrate.

Scott would be... somewhere else, Sid didn't know where but the guy had friends, family probably.

@scampcomehome

[scampcomehome]

"Nope," Scott responded, letting the 'p' pop dramatically. "The newbie mopped before they left and we haven't had any orders to build up dishes. It truly is just... a hell sort of night here. And I'm not willing to risk the Overlord's Wrath by fucking off to play games by myself. Besides, that's just sad." Scott shook his head in exaggerated disappointment.

It was easy to ragebait Sid. Scott did it all the time! In fact, it really was one of Scott's favorite pastimes these days. He didn't need his Pizza Planet job anymore, he had his hands plenty full with the Cinema Lounge, but it was a job he typically liked to go to for the people.

Sid might not have been his favorite person, but he did like the ribbing they gave each other. Scott would be devastated if that just poofed away!

"Do you, like, celebrate anything around this time of year?" He didn't know Sid well enough to really ask anything more specific. And sorcerers tended to be especially wide in the spectrum of observances so he'd learned not to assume anything.

@pall0r-mortis