"Am I Hot In These Clothes?"

No. Y'got business to discuss with me? No? Then mind your own. [Citizen of Altelia City] Bank: 51,000G

[acgossip-blog]

I heard from Mark that Vaughn doesn't wipe after he uses the bathroom. Gross!

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

A disgruntled expression settled on Vaughn’s face, his gaze unfocused, as he was once again mentioned in the unsavory section of the paper. Of course this piece of hearsay had something to do with Mark. What a surprise.

His eyes traveled back to the paper, only to realize his fingers had ripped into the pages in his rage. Well, there goes reading about the community college updates. He forcefully crumples the newsprint into a ball and tosses it in the bin before contemplating on leaving a note for Blue.

It wasn’t true, of course. Despite his constant ‘just rolled out of bed’ aesthetic, he took great care of himself (if only so he didn’t spend a cent on healthcare). And he couldn’t care less if other people believed it or not. But what’s bothering him is why he’s been attracting so many irritating pieces of gossip. Unbelievable ones at that. He always made sure to be presentable, and that includes how he smells, so how in blazes do people come up with these?

[acgossip-blog]

There's something... off about Frey... I think she's planning something

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Tch.

Probably planning to break your heart and conveniently forget about you, no doubt.

[illumxnadi-blog]

[BttP] Pup Brigade || Nadi & Vaughn

@thenamesvaughn

Even though he’s already been in this town for a few months, Nadi still found it very hard to acclimate. The people here practiced different customs than the ones in his home country, and they also insisted on asking him annoying, stupid questions. ‘Are you a foreign prince with lots of riches?’ or ‘Do you have to hunt for a living?’ and ‘You must be some super awesome child prodigy warrior, right!?’ oh, and not to forget the, ‘Are you some important person in the witness whatchamacallit thingy’ and just… ugh! The point was, no one treated him like a normal person. Just because he wasn’t from here, and acted a little differently from them, didn’t mean he had to be treated differently too!

Because of his inability to tolerate the other kids for long, Nadi tended to go off on his own whenever he had free time from classes. One of his favorite places to be was the school gardens. It was calm, beautiful, and most importantly, devoid of any annoying people. Well, there were some other students that frequented the place for lunch, or dates with their significant others, but they didn’t bother Nadi, and he was more than fine with that.

Today he was sitting near a flowerbed with beautifully blossoming petunias, taking slow bites out of his tuna sandwich as he idly watched the flowers blow gently in the early autumn wind. The sight calmed him, and he almost considered pulling out his harmonica to play a little tune when he remembered that he – as much as he wanted to be – wasn’t the only person in the garden. If he was on his own, he would have been fine, but playing now would definitely attract an unwanted audience. Needless to say, he was in no mood for any more questions– he got enough of that in class.

Nadi sighs as he leans against the tree he had been sitting under, whistling lowly to himself to make due for the lost chance to play his treasured instrument. He closes his eyes as he does so, enjoying the smell of the flowers and gentle touch of the wind. Just as he’s about to get to a particularly good part of the song, he feels something nudge against his foot. Curious, the 14 year old opens his eyes to see a small puppy in that very spot, sniffing his foot.

His first instinct is to grin widely at the sight of such a cute animal, but he refrains from doing so and watches it with a neutral – slightly curious – expression instead. What was a puppy doing in the school? As far as he knew, pets weren’t allowed… had someone snuck the little one in? Or did it wander in here on its own somehow?

Reaching over to scratch it behind its ears, Nadi pondered over his next course of action. Should he tell someone about this, or try to do something about it himself? If the little pup was lost, he could probably take it home… but how would he hide him from the teachers and other kids? And what if it did have an owner…? Taking him would pretty much make Nadi a thief, in that case…

As the boy thinks to himself, he doesn’t notice the person approaching him from behind.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn squinted against the harsh sunlight that greeted him. He had been looking for somewhere to eat his lunch in peace (and solitude), and the school gardens seemed like a sensible place. His eyes swept the grounds for somewhere to sit.

The lunchroom was unexpectedly crowded today, and the only way he could get a table was if he suffered through lunch with a group. Knowing that quite a number of the student body (particularly the female variety) had a strange burning desire to get him to “open up”, he definitely didn’t want to share a table with anyone.

Other than, perhaps, the transferee who he hardly conversed with.

From the day they first shared a table, he felt that they were going to make great lunch companions. Each attended to his own business. They barely making eye contact with the other throughout the period, much less start idle chatter.

It was like a match made in tsundere heaven.

Despite the lack of interaction, however, they seemed to have this unspoken agreement of saving a seat for the other if they felt like eating in the lunchroom. And today wasn’t one of those days, apparently.

Ah. Speak of the devil.

Vaughn quickly spotted the immediate contrast of a mop of silver hair, other than his own, of course, against the foliage. So this is where his lunch companion has been. He approached slowly, intent on taking the other side of the tree when, as he neared, he noticed another presence.

Was that...?

The pup suddenly yipped happily at his arrival, its tail wagging back and forth as fast as it can go. He blinked in surprise. This was.. There was a puppy on school grounds. Judging from the lack of a collar, it most likely didn’t have an owner. Good. He didn’t want to have to trouble himself with scolding whoever was irresponsible enough to take a tiny thing to school and left them roaming around.

“New friend?” He muttered lowly to the other, situating himself on one side of the tree, opening his container of porridge as he glanced at the other and the pup.

[blue-skadoo-blog]

Home Is Where the Heart Is  || Vaughn & Blue

@thenamesvaughn

Blue stepped out of the bathroom newly dressed and his hair damp from the shower. He had a towel draped over his shoulders so it was easier to rub the access water off. As such, it was a rare occurrence where he wasn’t wearing his signature hat. Instead it sat upon his dresser. He always felt a little weird without it, almost naked in a sense, but at home he was able to ease up a little bit. 

It’d been another hard day at work and he was ready to finally relax for a little bit. Of course the first step in the process was to visit the fridge and pull out a beer. Just as he did so he heard keys in the apartment lock. He back towards the door to see Vaughn walking in from who knows where. Probably one of his jobs. Why would he know, Blue wasn’t his caretaker. 

“Want one?” Blue asked in place of a usual greeting as he held up a beer for Vaughn to see. Even though he wasn’t Vaughn’s caretaker he looked like he had just a rough of a day as Blue. 

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn couldn’t help the relieved sigh that escaped him as he pushed the door open. It had been rough at Barns today, what, with the new animals coming in. Grimacing, he unconsciously rolled his sore shoulder. The cows were particularly rowdier this shipment.

He sluggishly tugged off his scarf, more than ready to turn in for the night, when his roommate came into view with a beer in hand. The violet-eyed man stared in thinly veiled surprise.

Blue usually kept to himself. He preferred sticking notes on the fridge than approaching him, leaving each other to their own devices. Which, of course, was not unwelcomed, by any means. He himself was very much like the other, he noted. That was why they were such good roommates.

Well.. Glancing at the beer in his hand, Vaughn decided a little alcohol before bed won’t hurt. A beer after a day like today was a great way to dull the pain in his shoulder, after all. He shrugged off his jacket, leaving him in a black, long sleeved turtleneck, and gingerly took the item from his roommate’s hand.

“Thanks,” He grunted, slumping onto the couch. Pulling the tab up, he raises it to Blue before taking a lengthy swig.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Kamil stopped into Barns and Noble one day and bought the rare egg advertised on the shopping channel for 15,000G

The register dinged as Vaughn rung up the sale. He reached over to hand the brunet his purchase, being careful not to jostle it. Once that was in check, he nodded at the him.

“Thanks for coming to Barns and Noble. Hope t’see you again.”

Previous Bank: 36,000G

+ 15,000G

Current Bank: 51,000G

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Crash Course || Rachel & Vaughn

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

It was all Vaughn could do to not openly sigh in front of his boss. He had been expecting this talk all week to be very honest. So when Rachel called out to him, it was barely a surprise.

He stayed facing the dogs as she talked about his service, contemplating on how to tell her ‘his side’ of the story as well as pacify her. There wasn’t much. The people who came in here just didn’t seem like people who could take care of animals well. (He wouldn’t admit he just didn’t have a very good first impression from them.)

“.. Y’should really put up a sign for kids t’behave. They were scaring the young.” He said, with a lazy lilt to his voice, masking the annoyance he felt at the memory.

It was true, though. Kids running around, being loud and obnoxious was not only draining for Vaughn, but the loud, foreign noises scared the younger animals. That could be problematic, as it can cause long-term fear, making it harder to housebreak or train them. Finally, he turned his head to look at her. “If they really wanted t’buy a dog, they should’ve bought one regardless of what I do.”

[yomogidumpling]

Rachel listened to Vaughn speak, though it wasn’t much of an explanation for his behavior, but rather a complaint about the customers themselves. She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking of a way to respond that would satisfy him.

She sighed gently, then crossed her arms. “Well, I agree with you about some kids being way too rowdy for the baby animals to handle, that’s not something we, as employees, can control. We can warn the parents that it might scare some of the animals, and they can hopefully tell their children. We can’t yell at the kids, as much as we want to.”

She looked at the pets and rolled out her neck, thinking of what to say next. “And it’s our job to make sure that these people do buy a pet, while at the same time making sure they know what they’re getting into, right? You have to educate them, not steer them away!”

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

It was silent for a while, with the purple-eyed man mulling on what to say. Well, really, there was nothing else to tell Rachel. He still stood by what he said, and he knew she stood by hers, so it would be pointless to keep arguing.

He stood there, watching the pups run around the pen again while he tightened his grip on the broom. He had been sweeping the floor before getting distracted by the dogs.

Vaughn really did believe that family didn’t deserve the sale. The parents were rough in handling their kids, and the kids were too noisy. The wife tried to insist that an all vegan diet was perfectly safe for dogs, and the husband was too busy not paying attention to notice.

He decided to voice that out.

[funlandalice]

Overwork || Open

Alice had been working overtime. Why? Because the investors were on her case. Her family was on her case. She wasn’t getting results fast enough. People in the city hated the company. Everything she was doing was wrong. So she had to work harder, she had to put more pressure on small businesses, she had to win. It was the only way. It’s the only way she’d known her entire life.

It was late. Later than one should be out alone. And it was cold. She’d forgotten her coat at one of the Funland businesses. She couldn’t remember which one it was. Did she leave it at the Recreation Centre? Had she even visited there today?

Why was everything so blurry all of a sudden? Why did her head hurt so much?

All Alice could remember when she fell towards the cold, hard pavement was a figure in front of her.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

It was late. Later, in fact, than Vaughn would have liked to clock out at. But there had been some trouble with the dogs at the shop, so he had to stay back and observe. He hoped the little pup wasn’t coming down with something.

But now he had to brave the harsh winter night. He tugged his scarf higher up to cover his nose, trudging across the snowy landscape back to his apartment. The young man noticed that there were only a few people milling about this late in the night, most of them with varying degrees of intoxication. So, when he chanced upon a young, swaying woman, he thought nothing of it.

That is, until she fell face first into the snow covered pavement.

He sighed, slipping his hands from his pocket. Now, see, Vaughn may be a rude and antisocial prick, but he was a rude and antisocial prick with morals. And knowing said morals would get the best of him if he left her for dead, he strode over to her and picked her up with relative ease.

With the silver haired woman in his arms, he made his way back to the pet shop. His roommate didn’t need any more fodder to add to the strange impression that gossip column gave him, and Chelsea was most likely asleep by now. He didn’t know where Rachel lived.

None of the people who could possibly help this woman out was available; so, with a heavy sigh of resignation, he decided he’ll just have to wait for her to come to in the backroom of the shop.

[nevertoomuchcake]

Cat Chit Chat || Vaughn & Elli

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Without another word, the silver haired employee punched the amount of each item into the register.

Cat Toy Pack - 2,000G

Scratching Post - 3,000G

Total: 5,000G

“I’ll ring up the kitten when y’come to pick’er up.”

Vaughn gingerly handed her the receipt and went to retrieve the scratching post and the toy pack. After making sure everything was in order, and easier to carry for his customer, he nodded at her.

“Thanks for stoppin’ by, come again soon.”

+ 5,000G

Previous Bank: 15,000G

Total Bank: 20,000G

[nevertoomuchcake]

Elli pulled out her small coin purse to take out the correct amount of money. She handed it over to him and took the receipt in exchange. She waited for him to bring over her purchases. After he placed them in a bag for convenience, Elli then looked up at him with a smile.

“Thank you~!” she said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that she was out the door. 

It didn’t take too awfully long for Elli to return home. Once she did she made sure to set out all the goodies she got for the new addition to her home. She teetered about for a few minutes to make sure it was perfect before heading back, practically skipping the whole way there. 

“I’m back!” she called out as she stepped through the door about an hour or so later. The smile on her face was so wide it almost looked like it’d hurt. When her eyes found Vaughn again she bounced up to him. 

“Is the kitten ready to take home?” she asked excitedly. At this point she was no longer intimidated by him for he was now forever associated with kittens. 

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn had just placed the kitten in her carrier when the bubbly young woman came back. He tipped his head at her in greeting, placing the carrier on the counter before retrieving a scrap of paper from a drawer underneath.

“Here y’go,” He murmured, handing her a list of allergens. He gruffly explained each one, like which ones were fatal, and what they did to the animal, whilst he rung up her purchase.

Ragdoll Kitten - 6,000G

Total: 6,000G

After another brusque explanation of how to bathe and care for the kitten, he handed her the carrier. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he paused in his actions. “Ah... We also have a cat kimono if you’re interested in that.”

“Anyway, if y’got any problems, please take ‘er down here immediately.” Now the sentence by itself may have sounded like a friendly suggestion, but with the way he delivered it, it could pass off as a thinly veiled command with a promise of eternal damnation if she didn’t comply.

+ 6,000G

Previous Bank: 30,000G

Total Bank: 36,000G

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Paycheck

Got paid for work at Barns & Noble Animal Shop and Royal Paws Pet Palace, plus some bonuses

+2,000G [Automatic]

+500G [First Job]

+500G [Second Job]

+1,000G [Living with Blue]

+500G [Updated Bio/Diary Page]

+500G [Updated the information docs]

+1000G [Responded to 2 starters: Puppy Love & Cat Chit Chat]

+2,000G [Finished a Thread: Cat Chit Chat]

+2,000G [Started a Thread as a New Member, and Responding to a Starter w/ Gill]

Grand Total: +10,000G

Current Bank Account: 20,000G

Total Balance: 30,000G

[nevertoomuchcake]

Cat Chit Chat || Vaughn & Elli

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn shifted awkwardly. His hands dug deep into his pockets as he watched the young woman stroke the little fur balls. Well, at least she wasn’t running her mouth like some of the younger ones that comes through here. He observed her movements, ready to jump in if things went wrong (mostly for the animal’s sake).

Hm. She was gentle, he’ll give her that. He continued to watch her with the slightest hint of amusement. She seemed to be completely enamored with the kittens surrounding her to notice anything else. He straightened up, however, as he noticed her staring at the ragdoll kitten, before meeting her eyes as she spoke.

“Her,” He corrected, nodding at the small thing. “Little one’s a her.”

Turning around, he motioned for the woman to join him as he made his way back to the counter. Due to the slow days the shop has had, he was able to pay closer attention to the animals and gather information from Rachel. Which is why he was able to make the list he had pulled out from one of the drawers.

“Th’ragdoll’s a sweet one.” He explained, showing her the list he’s compiled about the kitten. It contained the kinds of food she liked, treats, playthings, and attitude. He handed it to her. “Haven’t tried to feed ‘er anything other than store brand cat food, since she might be allergic. Y’can try feeding her your scraps when she’s older, but I can’t guarantee she’ll eat it.”

“Seems to think she’s a queen, that one.” A deep, throaty chuckle escaped him as he said it. However, it was short lived as he cleared his throat and continued, “Don’t give cats cow’s milk. Most of ‘em are lactose-intolerant. I’ll be including a list of food y’can’t give to cats, or dogs, and how and when t’bathe her when y’decide to pick ‘er up. She’s not particular with any toys, but y’should pick up a scratching post, if y’don’t want your furniture shredded.”

The man paused, taking in a breath. That was.. most likely the longest he had to speak in a week. He exhaled softly, wondering if she had anymore questions.

[nevertoomuchcake]

Her, Elli thought, of course the little sweetness would be a girl. She looked back up at Vaughn with a smile “Sorry. She’s so precious~” she said as she stood up. Smoothing out her dress, Elli followed behind Vaughn towards the counter. He pulled out a piece of paper, looking it over. As he did, Elli couldn’t stop herself from peeking over her shoulder back at the kitten pen. Seeing the little fur ball and thinking about how she’d be her little fur ball almost had Elli bouncing with excitement. 

But when Vaughn began to discuss the care and keeping of the kitten she gave him her undivided attention. She didn’t want the man to think she wasn’t serious about the adoption. If he thought she was simply swayed by the sight of a kitten, who knows? Maybe he would’ve stopped the sale? But Elli was determined to be the best mother to the little kitten.

Elli nodded at the store brand food. She wouldn’t want to risk hurting the little girl, so she’d be sticking with the same food. However, when Vaughn chuckled at his next comment it was like a part of his intimidating visage melted away. 

Even as he continued on his lecture, Elli couldn’t help feeling she got the wrong impression of the man. It made her feel a little guilty. Judging someone so rashly wasn’t how her grandmother raised her. 

The speech came to a close. At least Elli thought it did when Vaughn exhaled. It was a lot of information, but she soaked it up like a sponge. It helped that a lot of this would be included in a list that she’d be receiving. 

“Thank you,” Elli said earnestly. “I’m hoping to bring her home today. Though, I think it might be best to take the food and toys over first. I’d like the scratching post and I thought I saw a cat toy pack when I first came in?” she said, looking back to the aisle where she thought she’d seen it. 

She turned back to him, a bright smile on her face. Excitement was taking over her again as she realized how close she was to adopting the kitten. “Would you mind ringing me up, please?”

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Without another word, the silver haired employee punched the amount of each item into the register.

Cat Toy Pack - 2,000G

Scratching Post - 3,000G

Total: 5,000G

“I’ll ring up the kitten when y’come to pick’er up.”

Vaughn gingerly handed her the receipt and went to retrieve the scratching post and the toy pack. After making sure everything was in order, and easier to carry for his customer, he nodded at her.

“Thanks for stoppin’ by, come again soon.”

+ 5,000G

Previous Bank: 15,000G

Total Bank: 20,000G

[ball-of-sunshine]

Puppy Love [Chelsea & Vaughn]

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

The silver haired male had followed the perky brunette towards the dog pen, sighing inaudibly. His previous coworker seemed to display such an alarming amount of hyperactivity every single day, it was baffling.

Still, he tried to put up with it. Chelsea was a small ball of energy, and it got taxing to work with her 11/10 times everyday, but she wasn’t as annoying as that one kid from Trinity Academy. He narrowed his eyes at the memory.

“God damn it, Mark” He murmured under his breath, feeling his blood pressure spike at the thought of him. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his companion talking to the puppies. But before he could say anything, she beckons to him, asking him to join her.

He wrinkles his nose at the offer. Cuddle fest? No thank you. He stared down at the puppies by the pen. They stared back up at him with their doe-eyed gazes.

“…”

Without another word, Vaughn entered the pen and crouched down, letting the puppies sniff at his hand before petting them on the head. This went on for a few more seconds before the puppies got rowdier. Not wanting to hurt them accidentally by swatting them, the man found himself falling back onto his bum with the puppies jumping onto his lap, yipping happily.

[ball-of-sunshine]

Chelsea’s brows shot up with surprise when her companion took her up on her offer, but when she saw the little encounter he had with the puppies, she reckoned they won him over. With a smile she watched as they roamed around him excitedly, welcoming him as he stepped over the metal with ease.

She couldn’t help letting out a laugh when he fell over, completely covered with the overexcited puppies. Even the ones mobbing her before left to greet him with vigor. After watching them with amusement for a moment, Chelsea decided to help out and took some of the puppies into her lap.

“They adore you! Look, they don’t even wanna stay on my lap now that you’re here,” She giggled, seeing one of the puppies hop off and scurry back to the man. The fact that animals were so fond of Vaughn spoke volumes about his character. As his coworker, it was hard approaching him at first, even though they worked together for most of the week, yet all of the pets at the shop got attached to him incredibly fast.

“Did you teach them any new tricks? I think I taught them all to sit before I left.” She ran a hand across the soft coat of the golden retriever laying lazily on her lap, bringing her fingers to rub behind its ears. 

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

“Stay.”

The command was spoken quietly, but still managed to carry the same imposing tone the man seemed to have. He watched as the pups slowed down their prancing, their heads tilted in confusion. They soon halted where they were, head still tilted, and seemed to be waiting for the next command.

“Sit.”

The pups yipped and sat their little furry bottoms on the floor, their tails wagging gaily. A corner of Vaughn’s lips seemed to twitch up ever so slightly at the sight.

“Roll over.”

And just as if a spell had been broken, quite a number of the puppies had begun to run around again, yelping and chasing each other. Only a few seemed to understand the command, and rolled over onto their backs as best as they could. He huffed out an amused sigh, ruffling the fur of one of the puppies that rolled over.

“Can’t win’em all,” He murmurs.

[nevertoomuchcake]

Cat Chit Chat || Vaughn & Elli

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

He immediately noticed her demeanor shifting as he turned around, causing him to sigh internally. It wasn’t even two seconds in and he’s already scaring the customer. Great. He didn’t even attempt to smile, knowing forcing a smile is a lost cost, so he just nodded at her. But a little gentler this time.

“I’ll take y’to ‘em.” The silver haired worker murmured, guiding the woman to the kitten pen. Small mews permeated the air as they neared, energetic yips mixing in from the puppies nearby. At this, he remembered his just-as-energetic ex-coworker before quickly dismissing the thought.

“What’re ya lookin’ for, specifically?” He asked, turning around to face her. Not wanting to scare her even more, Vaughn tried a little harder to soften his gaze; Rachel’s voice ringing in his head.

[nevertoomuchcake]

As the man turned around to lead her towards the cats, Elli was close behind him. It didn’t take long for the two to reach their destination. As soon as she saw the pen full of adorable little fur babies, Elli almost forgot about Vaughn standing next to her. 

She kneeled down closer to the pen so her hand could pet the kittens with ease. A giddy smile spread across her face she touched the soft tufts of fur. The little kittens gathered around, meowing here and there in the utmost adorable way Elli could imagine. 

“Specifically…” Elli muttered to herself. Looking at all the itty-bitty faces. How could she choose? But one face did stick out to her. A little white fluff ball with gray markings and bright blue eyes. 

It was love at first sight. 

“That one,” Elli said, pointing to the ragdoll kitten. She then looked up at Vaughn. “But, I want to make sure I have everything ready for him. What’s the best pet food I can buy? And what toys should I have for him?” More than anything, Elli wanted to make sure her cat was well taken care of, if not a little spoiled. 

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn shifted awkwardly. His hands dug deep into his pockets as he watched the young woman stroke the little fur balls. Well, at least she wasn’t running her mouth like some of the younger ones that comes through here. He observed her movements, ready to jump in if things went wrong (mostly for the animal’s sake).

Hm. She was gentle, he’ll give her that. He continued to watch her with the slightest hint of amusement. She seemed to be completely enamored with the kittens surrounding her to notice anything else. He straightened up, however, as he noticed her staring at the ragdoll kitten, before meeting her eyes as she spoke.

“Her,” He corrected, nodding at the small thing. “Little one’s a her.”

Turning around, he motioned for the woman to join him as he made his way back to the counter. Due to the slow days the shop has had, he was able to pay closer attention to the animals and gather information from Rachel. Which is why he was able to make the list he had pulled out from one of the drawers.

“Th’ragdoll’s a sweet one.” He explained, showing her the list he’s compiled about the kitten. It contained the kinds of food she liked, treats, playthings, and attitude. He handed it to her. “Haven’t tried to feed ‘er anything other than store brand cat food, since she might be allergic. Y’can try feeding her your scraps when she’s older, but I can’t guarantee she’ll eat it.”

“Seems to think she’s a queen, that one.” A deep, throaty chuckle escaped him as he said it. However, it was short lived as he cleared his throat and continued, “Don’t give cats cow’s milk. Most of ‘em are lactose-intolerant. I’ll be including a list of food y’can’t give to cats, or dogs, and how and when t’bathe her when y’decide to pick ‘er up. She’s not particular with any toys, but y’should pick up a scratching post, if y’don’t want your furniture shredded.”

The man paused, taking in a breath. That was.. most likely the longest he had to speak in a week. He exhaled softly, wondering if she had anymore questions.

[acgossip-blog]

Hey, hide yo kids, hide yo wives, and hide yo husbands cos.... That Mark fellow stalks people, and Vaughn & Nadi are among these people.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Sigh.

Even when they’re out of the academy.

Really, Mark?

That blonde haired boot-licker just can’t leave him alone, can he? Not even in the vacuous section of the paper. He palmed his face, trying his best not to remember all those instances where the underclassman just couldn’t shut up, but it was too late.

His foot was already itching to punt another soccer ball to his head, like he used to in training... Okay, well, to be fair; he only did it a couple of times, and the first was an accident. However, since it did reap the pleasant result of silence, he might’ve done it again a couple more times during the next few practices.

His eyes went over the words again and scowled. For Goddess’ sake, why was his name appearing on the gossip column so much.

[acgossip-blog]

I overheard Chelsea telling Rachel she wanted to dress Vaughn up like a puppy and adopt him.

[blue-skadoo-blog]

Blue couldn’t believe what he’d just read. There he was, happily skimming the paper and he comes across his roommate’s name. Granted it wasn’t the most lucrative or reliable section in the paper, but it did beg the question of merit. 

Still, Blue didn’t want there to be any miscommunication between the two of them. So far the whole roommate thing was going great. Blue kept to himself. Vaughn kept to himself. He didn’t want to disrupt that. So, Blue did the only thing to ensure it’d stay that way. 

Ripping the comment out of the paper, he attached it to the refridgerator and wrote below it:

Not in the apartment. -Blue

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn pulled the scrap of paper from the fridge and cursed under his breath. So it seemed his roommate had seen what those low-lives had thought worthy of publishing. He crumpled it up and threw it away.

“Unbelievable.” He murmured, glaring at the garbage bin. He ought to place those leaky mouths in the trash, where they belong.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Shchedryk || Open

Vaughn sighed to himself as he turned his gaze skyward. Looks like the sun was beginning its slow descent down the horizon, meaning the afternoon was slowly drawing to a close. After a few more moments of watching the sky, he righted his head again and fixed his scarf.

New Year.

Another year has come and gone, then. He didn’t really care much for the festivities regarding the event. It was just another day, after all. How can something as insignificant and ordinary as the chiming of the clock at 12 midnight become so celebrated?

It was such a strange concept that he never really understood.

And now here he was: standing at the beach by himself. He hadn’t planned on it, really. He had already been comfortably situated in his room, avoiding any invitations to any New Year parties (he wouldn’t put it past James or Mark, heaven forbid, to drag him to one) when he realized he no longer had coffee.

On other days, he would have placed it on the grocery list and stayed home. But not in this cursed winter weather. It was cold enough as it is with the coffee, and he didn’t want to find out how much colder it would be without.

So he set out to restock, and somehow found himself on the beach with a tin of crushed Coffea berry seeds in one hand.

Well, he supposed watching the sun set before returning home wouldn’t be too bad. He adjusted his scarf again while mentally hating on winter. The sunset was beautiful, but the cold made it harder to stand still and appreciate.

[etherealoracle]

New Year. 

Yes it should be important, but to her it feels like it was still 2000 and people were genuinely worried the world would end. These past fifteen years bled together. She had been in a routine for so long she wondered how much of it she honestly remembered. It was the same as always. Work, go home, read, rest, and occasionally listen to the odd podcast or go shopping if it was required. 

As she normally did. In fact she had her plastic bag filled with sugary snacks she should honestly not eat as often as she did, but her excuse to herself was always she needed more meat on her. 

Sharron adjusted the bags and sighed, having a moment of boredom with her routine. She should do something different. Yeah. She knew what she would do too. Sharron tugged on her scarf and she thought for a moment about where she was before knowingly heading towards the beach. 

The waves were always calling to her and they reminded her of home. Though what she wasn’t expecting was feeling her cane accidentally tapping against someone’s shoe, “Ah- Sorry about that.”

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

There was something about the sky turning shades of orange and pink that seemed peaceful to the purple-eyed man. He exhaled, his hot breath materializing as a thin wisp in the cold.

“Ah- Sorry about that.”

Vaughn has pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a voice breaking the silence. Who else could be here at the beach in this weather, at this time? He turns his head slightly, surprised that he almost immediately meets a pair of milky white eyes.

?

There were quite a number of things pulling at the man’s attention the moment he took in the other’s appearance. One, that she was tall (almost or just as tall as a certain green haired female he knew), two, that she had foggy, white eyes, and three, there was an obvious frailty to her. As if she would disappear into the wind at any given moment.

Remembering that she had spoken to him, he nodded his head in response at her direction before wondering. Can she even see him? His eyes travel to the cane she was holding and figured, probably not. However, he wouldn’t assume such things. Maybe it was hereditary.

“.. S’okay.“ He eventually mumbled, turning his attention back to the sky, moving farther to the side to maintain his personal space.

[acgossip-blog]

I overheard Chelsea telling Rachel she wanted to dress Vaughn up like a puppy and adopt him.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Vaughn normally didn’t read the gossip column on the paper; he only ever read the paper for local news, after all. Besides, there never was a reason to since he’s not one for gossip, nor the people involved in those gossips. But as he was skimming through the rest of the paper, his eyes picked up on ‘Vaughn’ ‘Chelsea’ and ‘Rachel’. 

He paused.

... What?

The man tried to fight the urge to look, but after a few moments, gave up. Who would be writing gossip about him? Their customers at the Pet Palace? Barns & Noble? Chelsea and Rachel were mentioned, so it must have something to do with work. He sighed, wondering if they were talking about his absolutely charming personality as he read the tidbit.

...

Vaughn heaved a sigh as he placed the paper back on the dining table. Now, while he wouldn’t put it past Chelsea to do something so silly (it was just like her to want to dress someone up like that), he believed whoever heard it must have heard the name wrong. He knew the young farmer knew that she can try as much as she wants but there is no getting him in any animal costume.

He might prefer animals over people any day, but dressing up as one is crossing one too many lines.

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

Crash Course || Rachel & Vaughn

It had been nearly a week since Vaughn had taken up a job at the Royal Paws Pet Palace, and it was.. well.. not going as smoothly as he expected (read: a mess). The first few days were filled with families coming in, with their rowdy children touching everything and trying to manhandle (animalhandle?) the animals. He had nearly lost his temper more times than he’d care to admit, but he somehow managed.

What he wasn’t able to manage, however, was forging a good relationship with the customers. He had sent the families home one after the other with no animals and a relationship with him that barely hung on a thread. He had answered all their questions, of course. That was what he was paid to do, after all.

But he answered them as curtly as possible, some of what he said was almost unhelpful when advised to newbies. Now, considering how most of the people who came in had little to no knowledge of animal care…..

Most people would probably blame it on the nerves, as all new jobs tend to bring forth. But with Vaughn, he wasn’t just unused to dealing with people, but he also had been actively avoiding it. He took this job because it dealt with animals and it paid the bills. Not to mention he was saving up for his own ranch, and bumming in his apartment wouldn’t do anything to achieve that…

So, here they were.

@alteliarachel

[yomogidumpling]

Rachel was happy to have new employees, both at the Royal Paws Pet Palace and the Moonlight Bakery. It meant she could leave some of her usual workload to those employees, and she could rest a little easier. However, sometimes the employees had a hard time with the tasks given to them. One of those employees happened to be her new crew member, Vaughn. 

He was highly qualified for the job, what with his extensive knowledge of animals, but his social skills were quite lacking. In a business where one has to get people to like them in order to sell, being antisocial and rude is not the way to go.

So, she had to give him a talk. She wasn’t always good at disciplining people or giving criticism, but she had to muster up the strength and do it! It was for the sake of both of them, she supposed.

“Hey, Vaughn, can I speak with you for a moment?” She approached him, noticing that he was standing about looking at the dogs in their display area. She knew he loved animals, so hopefully she could phrase what she needed to say in a way that played on that. “It’s about your customer service. I’ve gotten a couple of complaints, and wanted to know if you had another side to them.”

[thenamesvaughn-blog]

It was all Vaughn could do to not openly sigh in front of his boss. He had been expecting this talk all week to be very honest. So when Rachel called out to him, it was barely a surprise.

He stayed facing the dogs as she talked about his service, contemplating on how to tell her ‘his side’ of the story as well as pacify her. There wasn’t much. The people who came in here just didn’t seem like people who could take care of animals well. (He wouldn’t admit he just didn’t have a very good first impression from them.)

“.. Y’should really put up a sign for kids t’behave. They were scaring the young.” He said, with a lazy lilt to his voice, masking the annoyance he felt at the memory.

It was true, though. Kids running around, being loud and obnoxious was not only draining for Vaughn, but the loud, foreign noises scared the younger animals. That could be problematic, as it can cause long-term fear, making it harder to housebreak or train them. Finally, he turned his head to look at her. “If they really wanted t’buy a dog, they should’ve bought one regardless of what I do.”