the light is toying with you, and you like it. all of this because the darkness is now always overhead. that. that is what arriving means. [...] wellesley hastings
fifty-eight, reservation ecologist @ grand hazel nat'l park.
( @npbulletin ) kaede let out a huge gasp as she violently shook the can in her hand. “noooooo,” she cried out and hung her head in defeat. the nozzle on her sunscreen can fritzed out on her and really… kaede was devastated. her extra can was so far away. life always throws tragedies at you when you least expect it.
❛ oh, shoot, ❜ wells says, immediately turning ‘round at the overheard remark and crowding over the younger woman. ❛ that’s a bummer, ❜ he adds, the look on his face almost seeming as if he’s forwarding his condolences — but then he smirks: his hand goes inside his jacket, taking out a travel size sunscreen, delivering it to the other with a flourish, as if doing a magic trick. ❛ boy scout motto: be prepared! ❜ not that he was actually a card-carrying boy scout, but it feels like she doesn’t really need to know that. ❛ hope you’re all good with sunscreen gel, though — not quite a spray, but it’s better for your skin. supposedly. ❜
Juxtaposed in the frame’s foreground, Anya nodded at the camera. “That’s so true. We need to save the trees, even beyond places like here at Grand Hazel.” She smiled when Wells asked if it was for TikTok. “No, I don’t think I’m ready to break into full on influencer mode yet. I’m just making some YouTube videos for my family and friends, maybe some other curious minds. Kind of like my diary for the summer, but in video format instead.”
❛ even beyond places like grand hazel, ❜ he echoes. ❛ i agree, i agree. ❜ nodding alongside his words, he tries his best to think up of something to continue the segment — but comes up blank. ❛ oh, phooey, ❜ he exhales, finally drawing back, his face now half-hidden just somewhere beyond the frame. ❛ sorry, did i ruin your take there? ❜ registers her words, humming thoughtfully: ❛ so like — a vlog, right? i once had my students do a requirement like that once. ❜ as if saying: see, i understand what you’re talking about! ❛ you should totally let — uh, management know you’ve got something like that cooking! maybe they’ll make you some kind of, uh, brand ambassador or somethin’ like that. ❜
❛ nah, ❜ he says, ❛ my phone is right here. ❜ and with the word here, he opens his outdoorsy jacket to show the pocket sewed on the inside, where he always kept his phone — and where it is currently missing. ❛ well, shoot. ❜ before a quizzical look shows on his face, adding: ❛ but i haven’t been in discovery canyon, though… ❜ voice petering out as he holds his hand out as if asking to check if the phone might, nevertheless, still be his.
“Is there anything you want to share with our viewers at home?” Anya asked with a laugh, spinning around so the camera, on its selfie stick throne, caught her fellow co-worker in the frame. It was just as important to her to capture the smiling faces she spent each day of the journey with, as it was to capture their beautiful surroundings.
truth be told, wells has always been camera-shy: not exactly out of technophobia — as far as he’s concerned, he’s kept up with technology pretty well, thank you very much — but more so out of a shyness he’s never quite grown out of, fifty-eight years and counting. ❛ uh, ❜ is the first thing that leaves his mouth, and it’s about the only thing that does leave it for a too-long amount of time. ❛ save the trees? ❜ he hazards, before grimacing: sheepish at giving such a boring one-liner. ❛ is this for the park or is it for your — ❜ quick, wells, think: what newfangled social media are the kids using these days? ❛ — is it for your tiktok? ❜
location : rec room
time : late afternoon
status : open, @npbulletin
she looked down at what remained in the box, knowing she couldn’t ( shouldn’t, really ) have any more if she wanted to escape the afternoon without an incidental sugar rush. harper hadn’t meant to eat quite so many donuts, but just one was never enough. especially when they were so damn good. clearly the bakery she'd visited in her off time had made a killing off her today, and no doubt would continue to make one as long as anything vaguely sweet was involved.
“want one?” she asked holding up a take-out box of treats towards the person. “i got talked into getting a dozen, and i seriously can’t eat any more of them.” one look into the box would show that a quarter of the dozen donuts were already gone, and harper was a bit of a snob when it came to bakery items. she couldn’t handle eating leftover, semi-stale baked goods the next day. “i can’t eat all of them myself,” she added, a small smile on her face as she lightly shook the box as though it would make them more appetizing than they already were.
❛ i don’t see what’s stopping you from having more, ❜ wells remarks, but he makes sure not to question his stroke of good fortune too much — and risk losing out on a free doughnut from a kindly coworker. ❛ was there a promotion going on in the bakery that you couldn’t let up, or are you just that easily talked into things? ❜ the question could have been construed as rude — and, honestly speaking, it still might be — but the curiosity in his delivery and the thoughtful expression that danced about his face speaks volumes about the genuine nature of his query. as he asks, his hand already reaches for a doughnut… but stops just as his fingertips is about to graze one. ❛ would you judge me too terribly if i ask you what flavours there are left, and i make a decision based on that? ❜ a chuckle punctuates his words, the tip of his nose turning rosette: he’s clearly embarrassed by even asking such a question, but — hey, he can try his luck, right?
☼ congratulations, wellesley hastings, you’ve been accepted as a restoration ecologist at hampton valley in grand hazel national park this summer! we could tell from your application that you are bored and restless, so we are so pleased to welcome you from pearl city, hawaiʻi for your first summer on staff. hopefully you can check writing the great american novel, stopping climate change, and skinny dipping in a hot spring off your bucket list. please consult your employee handbook with questions!
QUICK INFO.
NAME: wellesley hastings NICKNAME: wells AGE: fifty-eight PLACE OF BIRTH: monaco city, monaco NATIONALITY: american GENDER: cisgender man PRONOUNS: he/him ORIENTATION: bisexual RELIGION: buddhist PARENTS: marianne & stearns SIBLINGS none LANGUAGES: english, mandarin ( fluent ) ʻōlelo hawaiʻi ( conversational ) EDUCATION: institut montana zugerberg, university of michigan - ann arbor ( environmental engineering ) INTERESTS: the outdoors, nature, literature, climate activism HOBBIES: nature photography, hiking, writing, photography
PERSONALITY.
mbti. istj-t enneagram. 1w2, the activist instinct. so/sx neuroses. dyslexia character inspo. zhongli, genshin impact / jing yuan, honkai: star rail / ango sakaguchi, bungou stray dogs / rhaegar targaryen, a song of ice and fire / pepper potts, mcu
earnest, well-meaning, intelligent, passionate
bored, restless, spoiled, single-minded
BIOGRAPHY.
his parents met each other in a chance encounter at the 32nd venice biennale. it was a meeting that charmed them both, but neither of them acted on their feelings until they met again in paris fashion week but a few months later. one thing led to another, and wellesley was thus born.
his parents' union, however, is short-lived. it became increasingly clear as time passed that whatever attraction the couple had was borne from mere momentary passions. rather than live together and stew in potential bitterness, the couple decided to split amicably. as his mother's occupation often took her out of the country, wellesley lived with his father in hawaiʻi and would accompany his mother on her travels during the summers.
wells once dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but settled instead into the far more grounded life of a college professor teaching water resources engineering at the university of idaho.
he retired three years ago aged fifty-five — almost absurdly young for a professor, but his means allowed him to pursue the possibility — and had planned the time to work on the great american novel (the plot and genre of which is always changing, whenever you ask him!) but a very bad case of writer's block convinced him to go find something else to fill his time with.
wells found his position through the national experienced workforce solutions, a non-profit that works with government agencies in promoting age-diverse workplaces.
2087
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