#ac:chase

[nevertoomuchcake]

Chase was fuming after he saw the newspaper, Elli's name printed with something so cruel. Had it been himself he wouldn't have felt quite as upset, probably chalk it up to someone with bad tastebuds and vent by cooking to spite them. But to pick on Elli? She was one of the best cooks in the city. This was an utter lie and he was ready to fight over it. He sat back against the casino bar, ignoring his job to check in on her first: "hey el are you ok who do I need to beat up"

It was only when Elli heard Butters’ little mews of hunger did she drag herself from the couch. She couldn’t ignore the little girl and she was still have trouble managing the apartment on her own. Or rather, she couldn’t get to counter tops like she wanted. 

As Elli was pouring food into her bowl she felt her phone buzz. She set the cat food before Butters who’d been trying to climb Elli’s legs. But once the kitten was occupied she picked up her phone. 

A message from Chase. She knew what he was talking about, obviously, but there really wasn’t an answer to his question. Nor did she feel angry or violent towards anyone… just hurt. Still, seeing his message pulled at her heartstrings and a small, one-sided smile formed on her lips as she typed a reply.

[ To Chase ] No need!Haha. But I appreciate the offer. 

[ To Chase ] I’m not even worried about it. Got a successful bakery to run after all 😃

Her smiled waned after sending the last message. Everything she typed was true, though the “successful” bit may be a little stretch. After all the business was too new to really tell if it could be deemed such. Elli hoped that it showed that she was confident about it, even though that was the last thing she felt at the moment. 

She turned her eyes from the phone and looked down at Butters sloppily eating her food. Reaching out she scratched behind the kitten’s ears, wishing she could stay home with the little guy instead of facing the world. Just crawl into bed and forget about everything she’d read. 

Except she knew better. Her Gran’s words echoed in her head, 'Life moves on.’

[living-loving-molly]

"Hey Molly," Chase called in to her office as he came into work, tapping the lottery tickets against his hand as he settled against her door frame. "Heh, I didn't tell you my tickets were "NEON P" did I yet? Had to redraw the second N, I was pretty upset but--" he paused, tapping the tickets. "Anyways, I got some cars from you in the lottery. I don't really need three, you wanna buyback the sedan and motorcycle so I don't have to pawn them?"

She looks up from the new menu she had been working on, glancing from her friend to the tickets in her hand. She can’t help but snicker at ‘NEON P,’ shaking her head. 

“Oh, that’s a shame- we could have framed them after you turned them in,” she said, setting her pen down and sitting back in her seat.

“Oh yeah? Are you sure you don’t really need three?” She asked, a slight smirk on her lips as she quirked her brows at him. She laughed through her nose, before nodding her head. 

“That’s fine; we can do that, though I thought you said you had wanted a motorcycle before...” she said, scratching her cheek as she wondered if maybe it might have been someone else. Biting her lip in thought a moment, she glanced to an envelope on her desk before- “Oh-” She picked it up, giving it a light toss in his direction so that it landed on the edge of her desk.

“You forgot to collect your money from that girl that runs the bakery the other night; maybe you were just distracted from how cute she was,” she said, wrinkling her nose as she lightly teased.

[living-loving-molly]

Setting the Bar || Molly & Chase

She recalled rumors circulating not too long ago about the possibility of a nightclub being built within the city. She supposed she wasn't too surprised, a few months later, that the nightclub evolved from the whispering a of possibilities to a business slated to open within the next few weeks. It was a great idea, in all honesty, aiding with the development of Altelia's nightlife; currently only survived by the few bars, movie theater, and Molly's very own Casino.  

The club was in need of a bar setup, to be organized with glassware, tools, and utensils, and of course, to be stocked with booze. So when Molly had caught wind of what the club needed, she had no restrictions or qualms about  aiding in anyway she could. She had even taken to asking Chase if he'd be interested helping, as he was just as knowledgable with barest up and bartending as she was.

While the Winery could only provide some of the liquor needed, Molly had taken to ordering everything else through her imports distributors. Once everything had finally arrived, it was time to get started.

Molly stood before a number of boxes, hands resting on her hips as she looked them all over. Silently observing, she pondered for a few moments more before finally speaking.

“How fast do you think we can get this place set up?”

@i-chase-that-feeling

[nevertoomuchcake]

A gift bag was left at the bakery, inside with a note that said simply: "Happy Vday Elli! I know it's not as good as your cakes but I tried. I hope you like it. ♪Chase" Inside of the bag was a chocolate cake with an attempted design of roses on top (clearly under-practiced), and a jar candle (Fresh Baked). Also included was a flute cleaning set, with an added note "Mine was wearing down too so I got you one jic"

Elli found the gift bag on the bakery’s counter. She asked if anyone had forgotten it, but when she received no response she glanced inside. Noticing the card she pulled it out and read the contents.

Smiling to herself, Elli appreciated the sentiment though she doubted Chase’s cooking would be anything less than stellar. She looked into the bag and saw the cake the letter spoke of. The roses looked a little shaky, but they were easy to mess up without practice.

But that wasn’t all. The candle instantly took her attention as she opened it up to inhale its scent. It was delicious and she couldn’t wait to use it at home. Then there was a flute cleaning kit which brought back a flood of memories between the two of them back in the academy. 

Elli smiled fondly at her gifts, grateful to have such a dear friend. 

[living-loving-molly]

When Chase came into work at the winery, he brought in a gift bag and left it on Molly's desk for her to find. Best when he wasn't around to get embarrassed, after all. Inside were two jar candles (Turquoise Sky, Crisp Morning Breeze), a small chocolate cake, and two pages of lyrics written out with a note on top: "I wrote a song for the casino show for you to sing. If you like it. I wrote the music too let me know if you want to hear but I only have the flute. so. Happy vday Molls ♪Chase"

She was certainly happy to see a bag left on her desk that morning, though its contents were not what she had expected. She appreciated the candles, already planning to use them tonight when she took her bath to unwind from the day. And the chocolate cake was definitely something she could enjoy then too (I mean who wouldn’t eat chocolate cake while taking a bath; that is the life.) 

But what she liked-no, loved most was the song. Pages in hand, she took a seat as she carefully read through them, a smile on her face as she could only imagine what the melody sounded like. Though, she did not need to hear it to decide it was something she would like to perform; she could tell from the lyrics alone it would be great.

Reading through them once more, Molly carefully set them aside, making a mental note to talk to Chase about hearing him play it for her. 

[gildeddpages-blog]

Singles Night Or Something [Chase/Gill]

@i-chase-that-feeling

After a long day of selling wine, there was nothing more that Chase wanted than to be home drinking a bottle of said wine. He hadn’t asked what Gill was going to be doing for the day before now, mostly because he’d assumed that the other man would be going on a date. Whether that was with his current ex-girlfriend or a new interest, Chase didn’t try to wonder at it too much. No reason to feel like he should see Gill today, after all. He could give him his gift next time he caught him.

The redhead was surprised when an aroma greeted him at the door, however, wafting against the apartment door as he closed it behind him, bewildered and unsure whether Gill had decided his date should be in the apartment.

“Yeah–” Chase hesitated at the door as he watched Gill set the place, realizing quickly that there was no one else there. Whew. He started into the room, smiling sheepishly. “No, I didn’t yet– huh, I thought you were going out. Heh, I was gonna surprise you with your gift basket on the counter and everything.”

“Oh. Really?”

Gill paused, looking between his room mate and the plate of food. He fell silent for an uncomfortable second, then two, before shrugging. “Well, I’m not going out. So. Don’t worry about it for now. Eat before it goes cold. Stuff’s always going cold on the table and I finally caught you fast enough, so.. whatever.”

He huffed a short sigh through his nose, sounding a little exasperated for his efforts— despite the lingering, quiet happiness for actually having timed something right for once, thank goodness, especially today of all days. He shifted his own plate of food into the spot in front of his own chair before moving off to the fridge. Chilled wine may have been a social faux-paux in most circles, but it was the only way Gill cared for the drink - and if he’d intended to share this bottle, he’d serve it the way he could stand to drink it, thank you very much.

He corked it, then poured two glasses - finally taking a seat with both and setting them between both settings. “There. Enjoy.”

[gildeddpages-blog]

Homecoming [Chase/Gill]

Gill’s meticulousness had fallen by the wayside in the few weeks he’d been left alone in the apartment he shared with his friend Chase. While he hadn’t made it quite to the level of disarray that one might deem “untidy”, the fact that not just one, but two separate coffee mugs had been left only lightly rinsed in the flat’s sink despite the fact that his room mate would likely be coming home today said a lot about Gill’s state of mind.

Said state of mind was, at the moment, buried in a book, as it usually was. It was a little more engrossing than previous attempts to get into it had been, in fact, because Gill had unconsciously shifted into a fetal position on one side of the couch, curled around the novel in his hands, staring at it like it contained the secrets to life, the universe, and everything.

Or maybe just like it contained a particularly disturbing horror novel.

A newly acquired green bike had been propped against one of the apartment’s walls, as Gill hadn’t known exactly what to do with it once he’d actually gotten it into the building. His attention span hadn’t exactly lasted long enough to do anything about this, or the coffee mugs, or even the mostly-empty fridge.

@i-chase-that-feeling