fancy feet

addy: that's all i'm tryin to do

addy: i don't think i have the means to make my own newspaper company.

bailey: I CAN FUND IT

bailey: A QUID PRO QUO, IF YOU WILL

morgan has never been great at facial recognition; remembering somebody she’s had only a few interactions with merely by their features is a rarity, but not even morgan could forget  cat-hating-bailey; a first impression such as theirs really can’t be forgotten. she even remembers his name. however, she’s surprised by his greeting, or perhaps lack thereof, and her eyebrows raise. not only is this more or less what she was  thinking, she can’t help but wonder what on earth his problem is: what did she ever do to him ? “wow. thanks — ?” is all she says, eyebrow still slightly quirked as she jabs at the floor number; the elevator still hasn’t moved, despite the doors being sealed shut. after a moment of silence, fiddling with the strap of her bag, morgan  impatiently pokes the button again, to no  success yet again. it’s too late to reply to his remark, but that doesn’t stop her from doing so, and if it makes her look as though she’s  responding to something that was never said, then so be it. “what’s that supposed to be mean ?”

          bailey, with his faltering memory and attention span the size of a squirrel’s, finds himself raising an eyebrow at morgan’s words. both at her first remark ( apparently it’s a crime to speak your mind ) and her second, more delayed one, “what i said.” it’s too simple of a reply for someone like him and he seems to realize that because the next thing he does is step forward. he attempts to use his hard gaze, brown hues dark as ever, to push the other out of the way of the control panel without physically doing anything. it’s as if he believes he has some sort of special power to do so. whether it works or not, he reaches to press at the button of the floor he needs ; again, like he has some sort of special powers to make the elevator work when morgan couldn’t.

ollie: that's right, bet you didn't think i'd actually do it

ollie: YEAH RIGHT YOU WISH

ollie: i'm oliver bennette the most precious fucking being in brighton, i'll fight you if you think otherwise.

bailey: i dont think anything, not one bit

bailey: I DONT GOTTA WISH WHEN ITS TRUE ALREADY

bailey: fight me lmao

betta: I do read the news but the only thing I hear about u in it is how u get arrested all the time :/

betta: ok is my girl elizabeth ok with it though

bailey: not true

bailey: i sAID YES

bailey: WE'RE BUDDIES

the irony of the situation was not lost on him. conversing civilly with bailey when he was feeling the worst he had in weeks struck him as more than just odd, but he didn’t really have the energy to be contentious. it seemed like bailey was taking a day off from being a self-absorbed bastard anyway. november reached up with his free hand to rub over his gaunt face, trying to keep himself awake. his cheeks were aflame and his eyes were burning with moisture. it was hard to focus on the words being formed by the other male’s jittery mouth. he wasn’t sure if he really was as nervous as he seemed or the shakiness of his own vision was to be blamed.

“of course you do,” he said, his nose wrinkling before he took a sip of his coffee. the warmth of the liquid running down his throat was a welcome feeling. “don’t know which meme you’re talking about actually…” he sounded a little disappointed with the admittance. nova prided himself in knowing a lot of memes. he would have to be looking this one up asap. his eyebrows raised, misinterpreting bailey’s statement as an insult for a moment before he realised how tired he must look. he didn’t comment. he was probably just sleepy which didn’t make for an exciting case when it came to how ‘crap’ he looked.

it was hard to imagine himself as having even a small shared history with the rude, obnoxious american, but there it was. a detail. he had just spoken nova’s mother tongue — or rather, his mother’s mother tongue. romanian. even if he hadn’t understood what he said — he did, despite not knowing much romanian himself, he would have followed after him just to ask the question that suddenly seemed pertinent. “you know romanian?”

          nova really must have been feeling like crap to admit he hadn’t heard of the infamous gavin meme bailey had mentioned. if it had been bailey, he would have at least p r e t e n d e d to know what the other was talking about, not so much because he didn’t want to make a fool out of himself, but because he w a s himself. or maybe he just didn’t know the guy well enough to blame his personality on his tired facial expression.

          when he was given the chance, he held the door open for the other, a small smirk making its way onto his face. the question he had been asked was unusually civil and positive. frankly, he took pride in being able to speak about his mother tongue, “yeah, i was born in romania. but i did a lot of travelling and ended up here.” curiosity only deemed on him once they were inside and engulfed in the heating of the café, probably because his mind started to thaw out. “why? w a i t—how did you know that was romanian?” a small chuckle even left his lips, as if he thought he was dreaming. often times, whenever he slipped up and spoke in the different language, it would either confuse the other person or completely go over their head. he had never met anyone in brighton who actually spoke it, but he didn’t get his hopes up. recognizing a language didn’t mean the other could speak it, let alone understand it.

       at first she was sure that she was going to say no, but she can’t now that he’s practically proposed a challenge. how is she supposed to let that go? she was just as attractive and just  as kissable as bailey was, if not more. “is that a challenge?” she questioned, reaching up to pull her hair elastic out, letting her hair cascade down her shoulders.  addison turns to face bailey, both her hands resting on her hips as well. even if it wasn’t a formal challenge she’s going to turn it into one. 

         “how about this,” the blonde walks around bailey and over behind the makeshift kissing booth, glancing out around the pier at all of the people still whispering about earlier. “whoever can get more kisses at the end of the day is the winner. and the winner gets to pick whatever they want for the prize. anything.” competition has always been a weakness for her, and that might be because she grew up with an older brother and he turned everything into a competition. in turn addison had a tendency to turn things into competition as well; and something tells her that bailey is going to have a hard time turning this down. “unless you’re scared you’re going to lose.”

          many people deemed bailey childish because of the way he acted; he couldn’t help wanting to have fun when his childhood had been anything but. that was why his eyes glittered with a sense of valiancy at the mention of a challenge. he carefully watched addison: the way her hair fell onto her shoulders, her palms perched on her hips, and her feet carried her to the cardboard booth. despite her confidence, his ego still assumed he would win, but competing would be enjoyable nonetheless. “i’m not scared i’m going to lose—i’ll have you know that i’m not scared of a n y t h i n g,” he insisted.

      “oh, you can’t break character too. maybe if you act like a chipper young lad, you could pull it off and get tipped. really getting a tip afterward is the ultimate challenge,” charlie added, starting to wish she could come up with something a little more challenging. they could play a game of accent challenges all day, but she figured even that would start to get annoying. “next customer you serve, okay? i better see you patting someone’s head at least once,” she continued, certainly doing her best to make it harder for bailey, but she figured he wouldn’t have a problem with it in the end. it was then when charlie’s attention shifted to the customers who just walked in, and while she was seating them, she eyed the front, wondering who would be subject to bailey’s prank. 

ollie: pics of my asss? hold on

ollie: [ insert image of ollie's ass bc he's extra ]

ollie: i have actually

ollie: but funny bc i'm more precious

bailey: wha

bailey: damn you got me good

bailey: sucks bc my ass is better tho oops

addy: that's bc i don't have one dumb dumb

addy: if i did you'd have been on the front cover ages ago

bailey: you sure know how to get on my good side

“well, it’s nice to meet you bailey cooper. see, now I know who you are!” betta chuckles and crosses her arms. she’s a bit confused by the sudden switch of language but doesn’t bother to ask, afraid the the movie star will break out into anger. “how about we start off slow and you sign the little case the rosin is in? that way every time I use it on my bow, I’ll think of you!”

@baileycooper

     she hasn’t seen bailey in a while – weeks even. so, naturally, when she does run into him again, she’s able to push aside her near constant annoyance with him and allow them to fall into bed together. pip doesn’t question why he’s been so uncharacteristically absent from her radar; not at first, anyways, but now in the morning afterwards and cuddled in the familiar warmth of his duvet, she’s curious. a finger prods into bailey’s sleeping side and she rolls onto her stomach so as to better watch him stir to consciousness. “oi,” her voice sounds pleasantly creaky after their antics and she fights off a little smile. god forbid she thinks on a memory with bailey with any sort of fondness. pip waits for him to rouse before continuing. “why haven’t we done this in a while?” 

     sunny doesn’t buy it for a minute. he knows bailey is the very kind to spin tall tales and, for the most part, he doesn’t mind the lies. they make for solid entertainment and if one of them happens to be true one day, sunny would be nothing but pleasantly surprised. “you’d make a great carnie,” he agrees with a soft hum, eyes half closing as warm palms stay affixed to his head. begrudgingly, sunny has to admit that the touch – though unnatural and odd – is actually rather pleasant. hopefully, bailey doesn’t mess up their carefully coiffed lavender hair in the process but that concern aside, he’s actually enjoying the head warming. “can’t say i’ve ever been promised a human brain in a will before but i suppose there is a first time for everything.” sunny blinks up at bailey, smile growing on his lips. “give it a shot then. it’ll be nice to know my future in time for the new year and all that.”

bailey’s reaction seems a bit belated, a curious thing with anyone who’s got the knowledge and observation skills to notice it. of course, hadley isn’t in the habit of drawing attention to his more subtle nuances – particularly the ones he’s rather certain he prefers to keep hidden – and he chooses to ignore this one too. the smirk is there now, after all, and that’s what matters in the grand scheme of things. his nose twitches when it’s poked, and one of his hands comes up, fingertips against his bottom lip, and his grin not fading from his lips the entire time it takes bailey to get through his idea formulation process. he’s kind of adorable, hadley thinks. he’s a cotton-tail bunny. or maybe he’s a fox, and haddy’s the bunny. 

“that’s a pretty picture your painting.” compliments hadley, hazel eyes on the sky as if he can see everything that’s just been drawn out in the clouds through the sweep of his hand. that’s not the case, of course, but he can pretend with the best of them! even bailey cooper, who just so happens to be the best of them. “i don’t have much to contribute to the start-up funds – maybe i’ll break my piggy bank when i get home and see what’s going on.”

          “funds shmunds,” bailey waved a hand in the air as if he could get rid of all their problems with that simple gesture. “i got all the money we could ever need.” it was true—the green stuff was something he had way more of than he needed and he didn’t really throw it away willy-nilly, so he did have lots to spare. that didn’t completely secure his retirement as one of complete wealth, but he tended to push those thoughts away.

          “hadley, this is seriously the best idea i’ve ever had other than my own clothing line. it could be a t t a c h e d to the store we open together,” because he has just made hadley a co-founder of bailey’s boutique, “like the disney store! you know when you go in and there’s always a place to colour pictures and watch music videos? that’s exactly what it’s gonna be. people will walk in for clothes and there’ll be a kissing booth with your name written all over it within our store so that they get an extra treat! who doesn’t love extra treats?”

he wakes with a slight groan, stretching out his legs in front of him. he was never one for holiday festivities, especially since his family was a quiet bunch when it came to the holidays. but with having bailey cooper as company during this time, that wasn’t going to happen. it only took a few drinks and giggles until will was tipsy and actually enjoying new years. who knew he’d spend it with bailey of all people. though he won’t admit it, he was really happy he did. minus waking up with a slight headache, it was still worth it.

will rubs at his eyes as he hoists himself from his bed, almost tripping over bailey as he makes his way around him. playfully he rolls his eyes before getting onto the floor beside him, reaching over to shake him awake. “ you ready to meet the oh so infamous richard harris or what ? ” he asks with a laugh, moving to sit up now. | @baileycooper

          loneliness is inevitable for bailey cooper during the holidays. spending them with will was admittedly a fun change, but he had to remind himself what his plan was over and over again. getting a few drinks in him helped numb the guilt and tone him down so that he didn’t seem like too much of a nuisance before he was granted the luxury of a one-way path to fame ( or at least that’s how he sees it ).

charlie: you and me both tbh

charlie: idk why but mum joined me in so many activities as a kid before realizing i was a lazy bum of a child with a short attention span

charlie: i think we have a couple pictures in an album of me during one of the recitals (well actually the only one i was in)

charlie: but singing skills....you'd have to get me drunk

bailey: can u fax those to the office closest to my apartment so i can go get them

bailey: i dont have a fax machin