#teduardo

[dvstpan]

call 🌕 tinky

[ring, ring, ring]

DUSTY: Hey... Are you okay to talk right now?

DUSTY: I, uh... I just wanted to talk to you. I miss our apartment and stuff.

[dvstpan]

closed event starter for @teduardo

Popping over to the little outside tables set up in front of one of the local food joints, he snuck around the side when he spotted Teddy, managing to creep up behind him to press a kiss to his cheek. “Happy pride! I think my legs are dead,” Dustin complained as he slid to sit beside his best friend- and of course, roommate- at the little patio table outside with the umbrella hovering over it. Looking over at him, he fixed his sunglasses and reached out to pat him on the arm. “You hanging in there? It’s been a madhouse this afternoon. I hope you could still enjoy the music without getting too fucked up by the crowd.” Genuine concern for the other seeped into his voice, knowing anxiety and crowds didn’t mix all that well. As someone who sat in lectures with hundreds of other smartasses day in and day out, he’d gotten over any bequeathed anxieties for it fairly quickly. “I could still use a drink after all that, though. Now that I’m done playing for the day, I just want a really fucking colorful Cosmopolitan. Drinks on me? I never brought home something for your birthday. You should kick my ass for being a forgetful little shit with a photographic memory, because it’s kind of a contradiction. How many Cosmos do we want to bet I can guzzle before I get my ass up on stage for a really bad rendition of My Heart Will Go On?”

[dvstpan]

closed starter for @teduardo!

Everything was all prepared, pre-planned and waiting for none other than his most beloved roommate, Teddy, once he would get off from work and end up back home. Scratch that- Dustin was pretty sure everything was all put together, going through the checklist in his head and on his phone a multitude of times to ensure that it was. It was absolutely necessary for everything he worked so hard on to play out just perfectly. Rushing around the apartment the majority of the day, making sure he hadn’t scheduled anything in at his place of work today so that he could get it done and have the time to do so, he finally felt like it was just right and as it were supposed to be. After a long and drawn out conversation with Muppet on whether he should put a tortoise in icing on the cake- to which Muppet wasn’t incredibly helpful- he had finally settled on saying fuck it and doing it anyway, managing to draw the tiniest of birthday hats on said tortoise, given he could not put a birthday hat on Jerome himself. He did consider, briefly, making a tiny birthday hat for Steve Irwin, while he was taking the cage out to set on the top of the breakfast bar so that the gang could all be present for it, but it seemed like it might be a moot point if he even managed to pull it off. If it were made of treats, Steve would have just eaten it anyway. Once everything was set up and prepped, he found himself sitting at the stool in front of the bar, spinning himself in circles and absently reading an article on his phone to pass the time. Ever since he had moved to Crownsville, he was grateful to have someone like Teddy. Given the real reason that had driven him to flee Manhattan at high-speed, he deemed it was his best option to live with a roommate again. The apartment in Manhattan had grown too lonely, too quiet, and too quiet meant he was left with his thoughts. Thoughts turned into other voices that weren’t his and those turned into a chaotic dissonance of paranoia that grew and grew until it had been made to burst. For no apparent reason, either. It had just happened. Living with someone else kept his sanity in tact, along with providing the comfort of having someone to come home to, listen to making noise when he was up late working and didn’t want to listen to music, and occasionally end up sleeping next to. The latter half, in which, he couldn’t even show his appreciation for enough-- it was nice to be able to know that someone would be there if he needed it, if something went wrong like his heart stopping again. Their friendship was exactly what he needed at exactly the right time, and Teddy was incredibly sweet and soft, matching their personalities. Nothing could be more perfect for Dustin, and he was incredibly appreciative that Teddy had been more than happy to have a roommate. Their paths crossing had been inevitable, simply perfect, in such a way that it wouldn’t make sense for it to never have happened, and Dustin had always believed in the inevitable. That if it was meant to happen, it would have, in a thousand lifetimes, thousands of different ways but all the same. Dustin didn’t rightfully believe in romantic soulmates, and he didn’t take to the idea that he would ever love anyone in that sense, so it would make sense to him if he had not one, but two platonic soulmates to make up for such a loss. Lost in his thoughts and mulling it over, he realized that time was getting closer for Teddy to head on home.

text: TEDDY [sms] dusty: Hey!!! [sms] dusty: Let me know when you’re heading home!! I blocked the apartment door to clean behind the fridge!!

It was a white lie, but hopefully enough to not seem suspicious. Now all that was left was to wait for the text in return, which sprung him into action. Without the text, he probably could have guessed based on the time that his phone read-- he just wanted to be certain. Getting off of the stool and darting around the apartment again like a chicken with his head cut off, going into his room and digging his lighter out of the mess on his desk- had to be a fire hazard, no time to care- he returned to the kitchen, bringing Jerome with him in tow. The tortoise would, hopefully, behave himself and stay on the counter for his act of grandeur. Tying up the presents he had bought carefully with ribbons, talking to the three of them while he attempting to make the bows look as eloquent as he could physically manage- these are the hands of an engineer, not someone who was a professional gift wrapper, mind you- he stepped back to look at them, furrowing his brow with his hands on his hips and his lighter grasped in one hand still. Tilting his head to the side, he asked the trio, “Look good, boys? Of course it does. It looks beautiful, it’s perfect-- fuck it, you’re all giving me the silent treatment.” Checking everything over one more time, he then bounced his way around the apartment to turn all the lights out. Arriving back at the breakfast bar, miraculously not tripping over a very excited Muppet, he ran his hand through his hair and pulled out his phone for a flashlight, lighting the candles and seating himself at the stool again, shooting another brief text.

[sms] dusty: Nevermind, I moved the fridge back! Left the door unlocked for you.

Rubbing his hands together and then putting his phone away in the pocket of his skinny jeans, brushing wrinkles from his Goonies shirt, listening for the familiar sound of the doorknob jiggling that would be preceded by footsteps. Finally, the door opened and the light turned on, and Dustin blew on the kazoo he’d left on the table and thrust out his hands, exclaiming, “Surprise!” Getting up from his seat. he gestured toward the cake again and continued in song, “Happy birthday to yooouuu! Happy birthday to youuuu! Happy birthday, dear Teddy, happy birthday to you!” Grinning wider and approaching him, he spread his arms for a hug and gushed, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! The gang and I have been practicing the birthday song, but they’re not very good at listening to me!”