wilbaumann:
@desmondlevy
Wil was fully aware that his neighbor wasn’t the biggest fan of him. That didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to pretend like he thought they were buddies though. So, when the landlord informed him they needed to come in to fix something in his bathroom, he collected Bear and headed over to his neighbors. When Desmond reluctantly opened his door, Wil gave him a big smile before pushing past his to step inside his apartment.
“I know you saw my messages so I’m assuming you don’t mind if Bear and I hang out here for a little while they work on something in my apartment, thanks!” he said before turning to walk to his living room so he could take a seat.
...
Wil was one of the last people Desmond would choose to spend his time with. He was loud, cocky, far too familiar with Des for his own good, and had convinced himself that they were best pals. Seeing him through the peephole, holding his overgrown rodent of a dog, was just about the last thing Desmond wanted to deal with. But he knew already that Wil had invited himself over while his plumbing was being worked on, so it’d be easiest to just rip the bandaid off now.
“Hey - okay, yeah, come in,” he muttered as Wil pushed into the apartment with very little regard for him standing there. “Yeah, I saw, but I’m in the middle of something right now.” Grading papers, that he could very much do with company, but he very much didn’t want to. “Don’t you have a girlfriend you can go bother for a few hours? I’m sure the both of you would have a lot more fun if you were to do that.”
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deathfeigned:
A subtle nod, a pensive nod. She extends her arm and taps off the tall stack of ashes sitting on the end of her cigarette — take that Shelley Duvall, I could easily beat ya record. This certainly wasn’t where she imagined herself, not in the slightest. She’d imagined starting a family with her wife, settling somewhere comfortable and seeing the tots off to kindergarten, to high school, to college … but she can’t go home anymore. She’d somehow found herself making a deal with a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and she can never go home again. “Well, mystahry zippo lighta’ man, what was it?” Raised brows as she inhaled that cancerous smoke residing within tiny deathstick – “What was ya big dream?”
That’s a loaded question. Desmond didn’t even think he knew the full answer to it. Technically, he had his dream. He’d always wanted to teach, to get paid to flaunt his knowledge and have a dedicated audience for it. He just never wanted to be so goddamn lonely doing it. Being alone had been fine when he was a kid - honestly, it made him feel cool to not need anybody. Now it just sucked. He had some people in his life, of course - Merrill, Rhiannon, unfortunately Wil. But it wasn’t lost on him that having made three friends in his entire life was a very, very lonely life to lead. “To be happier,” he finally landed on after a considerable pause to think. “But I reckon the same could probably be said for most people.” He flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette to the ground before bringing it to his lips again. “Yours?”
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silvrscreened:
starter 01.
who: open starter
where: local coffee house
normally, rhiannon had been beyond prepped and ready for the day. perhaps it was her lack of sleep the night prior, or her current annoyance with the set manager from today’s shoot, but she felt entirely off. she was long passed just being tired, at this point in time her patience had been worn so thin she couldn’t bare the thought of sending one of the poor interns on set off to fetch her morning coffee—they were underpaid as is, they didn’t need to witness a grumpy rhiannon as well. with her insistence, rhiannon finds herself foisted upon the lunch rush crowd circulating about her one current favorite coffee houses—she’d somehow managed to pinpoint one in each part of the city.
the faintest attempt to obscure her identity from possible fans at the venue, sunglasses remained perched on her nose even as the woman awaited her order: a grande caramel macchiato with vanilla cold foam and two pumps of chai and a shot of espresso. was this the furthest she could stray from black coffee while still getting her well needed boost of caffeine ? absofuckinglutely. when her order is announced from behind the counter, the woman rises on her heels and makes haste to retrieve the entirely too specific of an order. had only she expected for someone else to arrive at the counter at the same time she had. maybe they had the same order, maybe they misheard it, but how common was her order anyways ? a moment of hesitation buffers between the realization and the words that spill from her lips thereafter, ❝ uhm, i’m pretty sure that’s my order. ❞ she was sure of it—though this was only a reliance on intuition rather than fact—from the looks of it, the name on the cup was hardly legible enough for either party to make out.
...
Rhiannon had been texting him intermittently throughout the morning and it was very evident she wasn’t in the best mood. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, something about the project manager she was dealing with that day being a dumbass - just a lot on top of what sounded like a bad day to start with. When she mentioned going out to get herself a coffee, Desmond asked if she wanted company. He wasn’t really terribly into hanging out at coffee shops, especially not so close to lunch time, but he could sense that she needed the outlet. And he needed a break from grading the essays his students had just turned in the day before. If he had to read one more garbage take over Frankenstein before he got some coffee in his system, he feared he’d have a meltdown.
Her mouthful of an order always made him want to laugh, though he resisted the urge as he requested his usual medium caffe americano. “Maybe next time you can get a little bit of coffee in there with your sugar,” he suggested, a joke he’d probably made a dozen times over to her by this point. They didn’t have to wait too terribly long before their orders were called, and while he grabbed his off the counter no issue, someone else grabbed Rhiannon’s. The interaction was brief, as the person apologized profusely and handed over the drink, but he watched as their expression shifted curiously as they looked at his friend. He cleared his throat before they could respond. “No worries, thanks,” he told them, gesturing for Rhiannon to follow him to a table. “I just saved you from one of those annoying ‘how do we know each other?’ conversations. Feel free to thank me,” he invited, plopping down in a chair and sipping gratefully from his coffee.
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drcat:
“to be honest, i shouldn’t be here.” her words are followed by another swig of her drink—a margarita with extra lime. she glances at the time on her phone, sitting atop the counter in front of her with a nearly-dead battery. catalina sighs wistfully, though the calm expression she wears tells that she’s already come to terms with her fate. “i’m at work by 7:30am every day.”
“Neither should I,” Desmond responded through a sigh, bringing his beer up to take a drink. He was usually a lot better about this, but he was too many drinks in to care. An alarmed look did cross his face as she spoke again, looking over at her incredulously. “Seven-thirty? Jesus. And I thought I was being brazen with my lecture at nine in the morning.” He lifted his glass to offer a toast. “Look at us, making bad decisions. How fun.”
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rue-bennett:
ANDREW GARFIELD
MAINSTREAM (2020)
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merrillsol:
this attachment between them could only end badly for the pair, and she knew it. they knew so much about each other, but so little too. he didn’t even know about marley, not that anybody else did either. except for paris, but that was a given with how much he knew every aspect of her life so well. every fibre of her being tells her to stay away from desmond, but she can’t force herself to, no matter how much she tries. it’s not something she understands, but merrill has always been one to go with the flow, and she’s decided that’s the best method to go with here.
she looks over at him, the corners of his lips turned upwards and she can’t help the loud burst of laughter that falls from her lips. “holy shit you can’t even pretend to be mad! bitchass.” she smirks, his words causing her to raise a brow. “oh here he goes, ready to teach again,” she sighs mockingly. “and yet i’m probably the best friend you’ve ever had, so i’m definitely worth the effort of five friends,” she agrees, cocky as ever as she clocks out, running to his car. “i had a salad for lunch so as expected, i’m absolutely starved.” she confirms. “so i’ll be super nice in exchange for panda express.”
It struck a very faint chord in Desmond when she mentioned that she was probably the best friend he’d ever had - because she really was right. He wasn’t a likable guy, by most standards. He wasn’t good at getting to know people enough to come across as likable, so he often just didn’t try. Merrill had become a very big exception to that. He didn’t know why, but she’d made it a goal early on to stick around and annoy him as much as possible, whether it was trying to get him to take her places or drunk texting him all throughout the night. She’d succeeded, no doubt about it, and he’d grown painfully fond of her without meaning to. Honestly, more fond than he’d like, but it was a little too late for that acknowledgement. They were both in a little too deep already.
"Would you prefer I actually get mad at you? Because I seem to remember someone getting teary eyed when I snapped at them over waking me up too early last week. Thought it might’ve been you, dunno, could be wrong.” Desmond shrugged. “Pretty bold of you to call yourself my best friend. You know I have a whole life outside of you, too?” He scoffed at her, though they both knew he was kidding. He really, truly didn’t. “You’re definitely top five though, Mer, don’t worry.” He followed her out to his car, stopping to unlock and open the passenger door for her before getting in himself. “We’ve had Panda about three times in the past week. Can we get literally anything else?” he requested, glancing over at her as he started his car. “We can even go to an actual restaurant if you’re extra nice to me on the way there.”
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giftedburnout:
The smug expression falters for a moment, but only just a moment. DING DING DING @/PAR1SSUXXX; A NEW CHALLENGER HAS BEEN UNLOCKED! This only means trouble, as Paris felt that he himself was the only one fit to be the trickster of the town. Nothing to do but to build upon the lie until his challenger gives up, right? “Uh, yeah, Elaine. But she got a few details wrong you see ; she said he’d plummet to his doom due to faulty wiring and the snap of the cables. But what actually happened was far more amusing, albeit tragic ; he tripped getting off, and ended up landing JUST SO and impaled himself with his ski poles. He turned himself into a BRUNO MARS KABOB, if you will.”
Paris and Desmond didn’t know each other well by any means, but Desmond knew him well enough to know he was full of shit. Whether that was a personal conviction or actually factual, he couldn’t really be sure, but he would bet anything that this was all a load of bullshit. Paris taking the bait he laid out (Elaine O’Connor was the name of the lady that cut his hair) confirmed it, so it was just a battle to see who would falter first. “Oh damn - I mean... kind of suspicious, don’t you think? All this happens just a few months after those bank robbery allegations came out about him? I dunno, just seems a little convenient, is all I’m going to say.”
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deathfeigned:
“What else is there to brood over, my friend?” A long drag, followed by a deep exhale and her remaining silent for a moment. She’s not the type to go around sharing her business with others up and down the block, no — she’d already experienced the invasion of privacy to a degree so much worse than some of her former colleagues, and the only aspect of this so-called rebirth she’s grown to like is the anonymity. Still, it doesn’t hurt to LET IT OUT, and she’ll intend to do so in as vague a way as possible. “Mournin’ the life I coulda had if I’d made different choices. That’s a loss too, ain’t it? All the things we coulda been … and here we are, none’a them.”
The short and borderline mysterious way she talked was honestly a relief for Desmond. He wasn’t a huge conversationalist by any means, but he knew that smoking with a stranger in complete silence would be more awkward than it’d be if they were chatting. This was like a pleasant in-between. “Fair,” he agreed on an exhale, “I’ll always find something to brood over.” He nodded slowly as she spoke, feeling a little pang of familiarity at what she said. It was definitely a brood-worthy feeling. “Yeah, well. I don’t think anyone winds up exactly where they imagine themselves.” He paused. “Or maybe they do and we’re just fuck up’s. I dunno. Fuck do I know.”
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God i love being left the fuck alone
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@josie-ellis too!
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merrillsol:
it’s a long shift today, and she’s exhausted by the end of it, the only reprieve she gets is knowing that at the end of said shift, desmond will be waiting for her. the relationship between them was weird, different and definitely not something she had ever expected. she’d read somewhere once that the person you love is the last thing you think about each night, and the first thing you think about each morning, and that was desmond. but she couldn’t be in love with him, could she? definitely not. she’s currently giving a talk to a class of children on a field trip and their chaperoning parents, trying not to let her thoughts of desmond affect her working day too much.
the last family are filing out as she notices his approach, an involuntary grin pulling from her face as the man stalks over, a loud laugh pulling form her lips at his words. “congratulations professor grumpy,” she grins, rolling her eyes as she shakes her head. “you can tell the time.” immediately, she’s locking up the enclosure as she finds herself watching him once more. “at least i have friends.” she teases, poking her tongue out.
You could’ve given Desmond a hundred years to guess the kind of person he’d grow so attached to, and someone like Merrill probably wouldn’t even come close to crossing his mind. She was his polar opposite in almost every single way imaginable - something that usually irritated him to no end. It worked with them, though. Desmond would never admit it - to her or to anyone else - but she’d really become the best part of his day. As annoyed as he liked to act when she asked him to come see her or pick her up from work, days where he wasn’t at her beck and call were really no good. She brought out the best in him, which even he could admit was no small feat.
Any genuine irritation over her running slightly behind schedule evaporated instantly when she laughed at him. The resting straight face he wore broke as the corners of his lips tugged upward. “I sure can. I’ll teach you someday, so you never have to waste my time again,” he informed, though his words and scolding tone of voice were entirely disingenuous. The smile he wore made that evident. Desmond watched as she locked up the elephant enclosure, though his gaze averted to cover up any staring he’d been doing when she looked back to him. “Hey, I’ve got you, and you’re the effort of about five friends put together.” He wrinkled his nose up childishly at her in retort. “Have you eaten yet? I could be convinced to get us some food if you’re nice to me.”
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deathfeigned:
“Typical. Always lookin’ for somethin’ in return.” Brows rise as she pulls out her box of Marlboros and trades off a cig for a light. “Might I add another condition to this transaction? Join me in my broodin’, it’s betta than spending a night alone with our thoughts, eh?”
The snarky remark made Desmond roll his eyes, despite the little smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips anyway. “Yeah yeah, life’s unfair and all that,” he mused, taking the cigarette from her gratefully. The suggestion made him pause a moment - she was right, it was either this or go home and listen to his neighbor being loud and obnoxious through their shared wall. This would definitely be a bit of an upgrade. “I could brood for a bit, sure.” He leaned against the wall beside her, taking a drag from his cigarette once she’d passed his lighter back. “What is it we’re brooding over tonight, hm?”
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— @merrillsol
The staff at the San Diego Zoo knew Desmond just as well as they knew their actual co-workers by now, with how often he was around for Merill’s sake. One of her managers let him in today, dismissing him with a friendly smile and the knowledge that Merill was working out by the elephant exhibit. He knew his way around easily enough by now, even though a zoo was just about the last place he’d imagine himself being so familiar with. Hell, Merill was just about the last person he’d imagine himself being so attached to. She was energetic, active, and clingy; pretty much the opposite of the type of person he’d assume would be his favorite person. But she was.
Even if he didn’t know his way around, the warmly familiar sound of Merill’s voice reached him as he got a little closer. That and the stench from the elephant exhibit, but that was oddly less noticeable to him. There were a few people standing near her, asking questions about the animals for Merill to answer, so he just quietly filed into place beside her and pointedly checked his watch. As soon as the family moved along, he cleared his throat. “Four thirty-two. You said you’d be ready at four-thirty. I would’ve abandoned you here if I weren’t so damn nice,” he informed, melodramatically as ever. “Come on. Your friends stink.” He nodded back at the enclosure they stood before and brought a hand up to her back to start leading her away.
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giftedburnout:
A big fan of lying just for fun, he calls the attention of the first person he bumps into on his daily stroll. “Hey, did you hear that Bruno Mars recently died in a ski lift accident?” Paris shrugs nonchalantly, smug expression resting on his face. “Don’t look it up though … just trust me.”
The sudden information came entirely out of the blue, and took Desmond hugely by surprise. He stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprise as the other maintained eye contact with him. His brows furrowed. Yeah, it wasn’t impossible that Bruno Mars had died in a ski lift accident, crazier things happened - the once-believed immortal Betty White just died, so anybody could, really. Still, the smug, almost challenging expression the news was delivered with struck him as odd. He could pull shit out of his ass, too. “God, you’re kidding. A ski lift accident? Isn’t that the exact way Elaine O’Connor, that Hollywood psychic, predicted back in 2017? How horrible.”
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