Golden Days

@bigapplebottom​

“He’s drinking again. I know it,” Spencer says to the TV, hitting buttons on his controller as his character gets shot at again. “Is he even going to meetings?“ He barely got a glance of Jordan at the Halloween party, but he did see him pass by cradling a drink that looked nothing like his usual Redbull or Cola order. “Does he think that I wouldn’t catch on if he was using again? I– Jack, are you even listening to me?”

He’s pretty sure Spencer hasn’t realised that he’s the one that’s been shooting at him since this round began. He watches the man try to reload his gun again instead of shooting back as he hits the wrong button for the millionth time. “I’m listening,” he mumbles, sending a final fatal shot before running from the scene. “Uh... No, I guess he hasn’t been around as much,” Jack says. “He goes with Sam mostly, but not as much as he used to,” he tells him. “What makes you think you could tell?”

Location: public library (any in NYC really) time: UTP

Jeremiah wasn’t really sure if his brilliant idea to study and deal was actually innovative or sort of sad. It had come to him some weeks ago — his PhD courses were more demanding, he needed to spend more time hitting the books. The solution to this apparent problem was to just deal straight out of the library. People could (and would) hit him up, he’d send them his location, and the transaction would be made inconspicuously. Usually the money was digitally sent via cashapp, Venmo, or ApplePay, and the products were typically tucked into one of the compartments of his bag. People could walk up and ask to borrow a pencil for weed, a highlighter for x or molly, a post-it for cocaine — the list went on and on.

He was lost in thought, elbow resting on the table, forehead leaned against his hand as he tapped out a rhythm with his pencil. There were books strewn about his table, his book bag in the mess, but he wasn’t thinking about class. He was wondering when dealing drugs had become so normal that he thought doing it in a public library of all places was not only acceptable but smart. The silhouette of a person came into view, pulling Jer from his thoughts. He blinked a few times, doe-eyed as he looked at them. “How’s it going?”

-

He’s never picked up from such a public place. Jack’s deals are usually much less theatrical. Usually, his dealer will buzz his apartment and Jack will invite him up for a couple rounds of Call of Duty or just to share a line and talk shit before the guy leaves. This is new. His usual guy is out of town for the week and passed Jeremiah’s information onto Jack before he left, but he’s having a hard time believing that the kid he’s looking at now is the one that’s supposed to be selling him cocaine.

“Not... bad...” he says at length, glancing around before he lowers himself into the seat opposite him. “Jeremiah?” Jack asks, raising his phone to signify they’d spoken briefly via text as well as exchanging money. “I gotta say, you’re not what I expected.”

꧁꧂

S T A R T E R

- streets of nyc

getting kicked out from a poker club wasn’t on flora’s radar that night. she wasn’t bad at the game at first but other players started noticing her c h e a t i n g and distracting other players. seeing the first person on the street after exiting the club she can’t help but make light of the embarrasing situation “now that’s how you win at poker!” while being escorted by bouncers

-

Something about a movie theatre always hits better than watching a movie alone in his living room. Sure, he was technically still watching the flick alone in the theatre, but he was among a diluted audience, so he likes to think it doesn’t count. He’s half-way into his second tub of popcorn (after getting through the first before the movie ended) as he passes the building, chuckling as the woman is escorted out. “No, that’s how you get kicked out of a casino,” he muses.

☼

He almost bites, mouth opening to correct the man right before he remembers exactly what kind of smart-ass he’s stood beside. “Very funny,” Josh says with a roll of his eyes, although he still follows Jack’s finger, squinting off towards the corner of– “Woah,” he mutters. “Central park looks… crazy.” The closest edge of the cut-out is obstructed by more tall buildings, but the green grid stretched back in a perfect rectangle like somebody just selected a space in the middle of the city and hit ‘delete’. He didn’t even know there was a lake in there somewhere.

Clearly, it’s less of a wonder to Jack, who already nudges him away with a sarcastic remark. “How was I supposed to know?” Josh asks in a chuckle, eyes still on the park, looking over his shoulder as he’s lead towards the other side of the building. He’s faced with less greenery. More buildings sprout to all different heights and make the city look even more like a maze than it feels when you’re among it.

“Alright…” He narrows his eyes as he looks over the fresh view. “I… have no idea what I’m looking at here.”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Jack chuckles, leaning crossed arms against the balustrade as he looks over at the view. “Here,” he says, swaying to the side enough to nudge Josh with his shoulder before he’s pointing again. “Soho’s over there,” he says vaguely, finger circling the general area. “The hotel’s one of the taller buildings but...” He trails off, squinting as he tries to pinpoint it. “Yeah, I d’know, I don’t think you’d see it from here. I--”

“Hey, want me to take your picture?”

Porn and a few fumbled night stands are his guide these days. It’d seemed a little cringe worthy but what he lacked in experience Matthew was eager to make up with enthusiasm. Careful. He wants to ask, but that’s not why he’d invited Jack over in the first place. Maybe it wasn’t his place to ask. All he knows is that slow smile is enough to have him forgetting about satisfying his curiosity. “Yeah,” he agrees in a whisper, blue eyes hooded as he considers Jack’s lips. It’s a relief he doesn’t have to wonder long if they’re warm or soft as they look. Thank god he’s spared from small talk or his nerves would get the better of him.

A pleased little sigh slips free between them and he can’t help the way his cheeks burn a little feeling Jack’s fingers at his hip. Nice place. Oh god it’s cliched and nearly terrible as half the porn videos he’d watched. Sure it feels a little pathetic that the familiarity has him a little more at ease. Right, he could do sexy. Wanna give me the tour? Nodding a moment, not trusting his voice, his fingers settle at Jack’s belt loops instead. “I’m sure I can squeeze in a grand tour.”  Looking up at him, he leans up to steal a chaste kiss before stepping back away from those hands. It’s different from that day at the bar where he’d felt nervous and nearly stammered, no, now Matthew is settling a bit in his skin.

It also means he leads the way further into his apartment and with a tug leaves the towel around his hips somewhere on the floor.

Jack wouldn’t mind him naked, he reasons, after all he remembered one thing about him. He was a busy man. Matthew turns and drops to the bed, looking up at Jack with a slow shy smile and an invitation of spread legs. “Cmere. I told you I’d make it better for you.”

The kiss is a good indication that the man’s lack of experience doesn’t stunt his skill. Maybe Matt wasn’t lying when he said he said he made up for it in enthusiasm, Jack thinks as the man leans in for another brief kiss that only leaves him wanting to tug Matthew back over and take a little more. Instead, he lets him slip from beneath his hands and lead the way.

There’s not an ounce of interest in him for the rest of the apartment as he follows Matt through to his bedroom, his eyes barely leaving the man for long enough to take the room in as he spends the short journey to the bed unbuckling his belt. Stepping between the legs that part to accommodate him, Jack places a hand on the back of the man’s neck. His fingertips crook briefly, sliding over the side his neck, thumb nudging his chin lightly before moving back again. “You did,” he agrees, a soft chuckle in his words.

Blue eyes watch him through dark lashes and Jack finds himself leaning down, palm flat against the warm skin of the other’s thigh and lips parting against Matt’s. He’s not hard, but they can make short work of that, his tongue licking into Matthew’s mouth as his hand smooths over his thigh.

starter : open

location : out of line tattoo shop

Nothing much was going on that day.

It was a Monday and business was about as busy as expected. No scheduled slots, just a couple walk-ins since the morning and some teenagers asking if they would draw their tattoos for free.

He found ways to be relatively there, present but not particularly wanting to interact with anyone at the moment. A pencil scribbled back and forth on paper in a worn out binder while indie rock blasted through the plain white earbuds on either side of his head. His eyes were deep in focus on a graphite drawing, what appeared to be an owl with eyes that were almost life-like. Underneath its chin sat tucked was a full moon, and below that gardenia augusta bloomed, seemingly soaking in the moon’s light.

In the middle of shading the dark background, Zeke had no idea that anyone was watching him draw. He was so fixated on where his pencil lines were going that even the music seemed to fade out of existence.

He didn’t notice until someone tapped him on the shoulder, effectively taking him out of focus and causing him to turn around in mild irritation. Just when he had gotten to a place where time could pass…

“What?”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

“Touch-ups,” Jack repeats, slightly impatient. The guy looks like he’s never done a hard days work in his life, sat scribbling in his notebook and somehow managing to ignore the only customer in the shop. It’s not exactly the warm greeting he received from Sam a couple months back.

Shrugging his jacket off, he folds it over one arm and takes a seat beside the man’s desk. “I spoke to Sam a while back about getting this fixed up a little,” he tells him, bending his arm to show the tattoo on his forearm; piano keys fading. It really was meant to be an act of rebellion, but Jack never was the ‘cool’ type. He really thought that his passion for the piano was worth a lasting mark. Jack’s not sure, but he’d guesses that it was only a couple of months before he never touched a piano again.

“Only just getting the time to actually book an appointment. Can you do that?”

✑ 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧;

    No, Spencer does not feel even a little bit smug that whatever confrontation took place was about him. And no he isn’t desperate to know every single last detail of what was said about him. Because Jack is bruised and bleeding and– “How did he say we met?” He finds himself asking. “No– don’t answer that. Not the point.” Jack and Spencer are just as bad as each other.

“Oh, jeez. Move,” he instructs, nudging Jack to one side to open the cupboard beneath the sink and pull out a clean dish towel. It’s definitely not for this purpose, but he’d rather dirty one dish towel than have to go back and re-mop his entire kitchen because he wasted time looking for the correct equipment. Spencer runs the cloth under the water before manoeuvring Jack to face him and carefully presses it beneath his nose. “What did you say to make him switch up on you like that?” Spencer asks with a frown.

There were times that he’d catch him gritting his teeth. Who did this? or Why are you upset? or something to the like. Archie would always keep it bottled up though. “He was never the violent type.”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Jack mutters, “Should have known really. Why wouldn’t he be just like the rest of his family? That Matthew guy, didn’t he take a swing at you just because you knew Archie’s name? They’re all so possessive,” he complains. “And, for the record, he didn’t say how you met. Like you, he’s dead set on keeping the wool over my eyes.”

☼

“Oh, I bet,” Josh says. Because it’s true, he doesn’t doubt that Jack has full control over every aspect of his life. It’s just a shame that Josh doesn’t quite think that’s what it’s all about. Some of the most stressful parts of Josh’s life are the ones that require the most control. The rest is the good part.

Either way, as far as he was concerned, they’d already called it truce when they said goodbye and thought they’d never come across each other again. Still, though, he nods with a small smile before they step out of the automatic doors. “So what are the chances of seeing the hotel from up here?” He asks as they walk away from the elevator.

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

“The Plaza?” Jack asks innocently, feigning ignorance as they reach the barrier where he rests his elbows on the metal. “Pretty good-- see.” He points out to the distance, although he doesn’t look for long enough to actually pinpoint the building. Jack knows it’s around there somewhere, though. “Right there, in the right corner of Central park,” Jack drags it on, nudging Josh with his elbow before he finally gives up the act.

★

Zoey flipped the card over so that it laid face up on the table between the two of them. Once flipped the card was reveled to be nonother than The Tower card. She chewed at her lower lip glancing up at Jack “Well we are not off to a very good start.” She admitted. “In a reading about love this card represents a sign of real turmoil in the relationship, present or past. It can imply huge fights, lots of emotional unloading and sometimes betrayal.” She informs him. “However this can also be positive if you find your way through all of the emotion and arguments and conflict, but still find each other at the end of it all.“ She informs him. 

She shuffles her cards again until yet another card fluttered down onto the table, this time landing face up. The Two Of Cups making its way onto the table. “So this card  indicates a strong bond between two people and often reflects the commitment made to one another within a monogamous relationship.” She informs him

“So what I have gotten out of this so far is that you were most likely in a relationship at some point and there was some type of betrayal or something that drove the two of you apart.” She speaks, not looking at him directly. “The second card is telling me that you are currently involved in something that you are slightly afraid of because the connection is there. The monogamous part indicates to me that loyalty in a relationship has always been a bit hared to come by.” She informs him. There was still one more card needed to be pulled but she figured she would give him a little rundown of what they had already determined from the cards.

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Her introduction to his reading sent Jack’s stomach turning. Off to a bad start? Well that’s not what he wants to hear... Although, it doesn’t take long before her description of the first card is correlating with his past. The sour memories shouldn’t bring any form of happiness to him, but if some greater being decided the story was worth recalling, it must mean that history is coming around again.

If Jack would have had an active social media back then, he’d suspect the woman had Facebook stalked him. So many points in her reading could have been way off (the fact that she could read that he had a relationship history at all is a damn miracle, having come here in the first place mainly because he’s shit out of luck) but no, it all checks out.

“I could have told you that,” Jack tries to joke at her last statement. “I guess that means that the two readings overlapped after all,” he notes.

“So what does that mean?” He asks. “That I should go for it? Take a step back?” Jack knows what he wants, but Jack doesn’t want to make a fool out of himself... Would it be worth it? Making a fool out of himself for some guy? Jack supposes he can’t be that interested if he’s having doubts based only on his self maintenance... Right? 

Jack is a little intimidating as usual but Matthew is getting used to it, knowing it’s inexperience talking when he worries just for a second. There’s an answering smile and he doesn’t mind so much when Jack crowds in close. It’s nice to feel wanted instead of walking on eggshells worrying that saying the wrong thing would mean he’d ruined it all. For a moment he feels guilty about not reaching out more to Billy, trying to see if he wanted another date. But it was a two way street wasn’t it? And they weren’t going steady so they were both free to do what they wanted.

Jack’s hand feels nice on his bare skin and he can’t help that shy sort of smile at first.

“Wanted to make sure I wasn’t all sweaty for you, at least not yet,” Matthew says with a hum, finding that thrill in looking over Jack. He looks nice, all put together smelling like cigarettes he probably just smoked. Standing in nothing but a towel, he’s got his hands on Jack’s chest and blue eyes lingering on the curve of a pretty cheekbone. “This is new.” Reaching up, his thumb strokes gingerly under it. Biting his lip a moment, there’s a step back leading further into his apartment. Jack didn’t need the tour just yet, though Matthew will give him one if he wants it. He’s a little more brazen these days, all too eager to find a new reason to try new things.

Noses brush and Matthew lets his fingers stroke along Jack’s jaw, into his hair a bit. “Let me make it better for you?” Just a chaste little kiss at first while his hands smooth down to his belt with a small smile. “Will you show me what you like Jack?”

The bruise on his face is only just starting to fade. It’s not at it’s worse but anybody that hadn’t seen it as such would know no better. He lets Matthew take it in, wondering how long it’ll be until he finds out who was behind the bruise. “Careful,” he mutters, although the fingers just barely soothing over it don’t hurt and his languid tone prove as much. Jack doesn’t feel a need to explain and he guesses Matthew’s not overly interested in the story either. They’re here for a reason.

He can’t help the smile on his face. Everything that Matt says is so textbook; the kid’s definitely been getting tips from cheesy videos online. At least he’s got the confidence, though. The last thing Jack needs is to come all this way and hold the guy’s hand through it.

“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Jack asks, his other hand catching Matthew’s chin to nudge his face just slightly. He only has a couple of inches on the man, but the slight shift makes for the perfect angle and Jack brings their short conversation to an end with a press of lips. He’s good at this; dominating a kiss. Being busy as he is, Jack’s never scared to move things along - to get to the point. The hand on Matt’s hip tightens as his head angles, fingertips slipping through short strands of hair, and the kiss is relatively brief, just enough to cut through the initial greeting and make his intentions clear.

“Doesn’t he? You’d think the stairs would get easier after this all time, but they don’t,” Arthur tells him, huffing a laugh to try to cover up the fact that he’s a little out of breath too. Arthur fumbles with the settings on their Keurig, and soon enough he’s got a cup of coffee brewing for the man. He leans against the counter as he waits for the mug to fill. “You’re here to hang out with me?” he clarifies, tone a little doubtful. “I’m happy to have the company, don’t get me wrong, but I’m grumpy and I don’t-. I didn’t plan stuff for us to do, y’know? I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay if you came here for Spencer.” 

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Although Jack had come here to meet Spencer, it’s not necessarily a disappointment to be met with Arthur instead. Hanging out with his best friend is, of course, always great, but it’s not until he’s around someone like Arthur that Jack realises how much he benefits from... Well, someone like Arthur. One thing he’s been lacking since Texas is the way the man makes him think like he does, even if sometimes Jack finds it just a little overbearing. “You don’t have to plan stuff to hang out,” Jack tells Arthur, realising that maybe it’s him that needs to rub off on Arthur a little bit today. “We could just... play video games, or just talk. I like hanging out with you, you know."

☼

“You are so different these days,” Josh informs the man with a roll of his eyes. “Yet exactly the same.” He knows Jack well enough to be well aware that his choice of name is intentional. He’s trying to prove a point: that he doesn’t like this; Josh moving on, being happy pretending all of that stuff from before never happened. It’s clearly working better than whatever Jack’s doing though, if he’s having such a hard time letting it go.

Leaning on his side against the back wall of the elevator, Josh says, “it’s all I ever wanted,” with a small shrug. “It’s all you wanted, too, if I remember rightly,” Josh adds. He can’t let Jack get away with questioning the life he’s worked so hard for. “So which one of us is really settling? Because here I am in New York with you, having a great time, but soon I’ll be back in California with my boyfriend and my white picket fence. What else do you have? You’ve got more to you than this, Croft”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Being stuck in the situation that they were back then, their standards weren’t exactly high. If Jack knew that owning a successful business and being a bachelor in New York would be an option for him, he’d have picked it over a picket fence without a second’s thought. Probably.

✑ 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧;

    It’s about damn time, Spencer thinks as he heads for the apartment door, beyond desperate to drink the coffee he’s been anticipating all morning. The shoulder-barge comes so suddenly that it takes a second for his eyes to catch up with his brain and replace a brief spark of anger with concern. Blood. By the time he’s aware of the flash of red, Jack’s already past him and leaving Spencer following for answers. “Archie? What the hell are you talking about?”

He doesn’t get a good look at the damage until he’s at the man’s side and Jack’s smudging blood over the freshly polished sink. “Jack,” Spencer snaps, ignoring any mention of coffee now. “What the fuck happened?” He gets a hand around the man’s wrist before Jack’s able to attempt cleaning his face. “You fought with Archie? Jesus, your face.”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Jack lets Spencer have a moment to take it all in - one last look before he tugs his wrist away and begins to collect water in his palms, splashing his face. “Don’t make a huge deal out of it,” he warns. “But--” Jack pauses briefly to carefully wipe over his face with wet palms. “Archie and I got talking about you- just smalltalk, really,” he says offhandedly, wincing when he smooths his fingers over a sensitive spot on his cheek. “It was weird. Felt so possessive, like he was trying to one-up me?”

          an open mic gig at a local coffee shop was the last place lachlan expected to find himself, but he’d ended up in weirder places before. he was drawn in by the sound of music, not one to just pass by when he heard a tune he liked. he stepped inside and sat down at a table as the latest performer seemed to be finishing up their set and handing off the mic to the next person; a boy that couldn’t be much older than eighteen with an acoustic guitar in hand. lachlan couldn’t help but grimace as he looked him over, expecting nothing short of a cover of wonderwall and flat singing.

          he’d sat through a song and a half before he felt his patience wearing thin. his prediction had come true; the kid couldn’t sing to save his life and his guitar was all kinds of out of tune. “kid’s shite,” he grumbled, clearly a little too loudly as he garnered the attention of a few people sitting adjacent to him. “what? i’m just being honest.”

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

They didn’t realise there would be live a music set playing when they agreed to meet up at the coffee shop, but it was an added bonus - least for Arthur who was tapping his foot away to the beat as Jack and Spencer bickered across the table throughout their entire catch-up. Anyone would think that Arthur was the third wheel, if not for the fact that almost every word shared between Spencer and Jack are usually curse-words or light-hearted insults.

Spencer and Arthur’s taxi had arrived so Jack stayed at the table as he finished his coffee and scrolled through his emails. The music, admittedly, is getting a little worse throughout his visit, but Jack is definitely not in total agreement with the outspoken guy at his side.

“You think you can do better, big guy?” Jack challenges.

★

Zoey isn’t sure if Jack believes he is doing a good job hiding what he is actually looking for in this reading. She isn’t sure if it works for the people around him in his life or if she has just gotten so used to reading people these days. Whatever it may be it is clear that he is searching for something more specific than he is letting on. He’s hoping that this reading will give him a yes or no answer to whatever it is that he is thinking of right now. Zoey can’t help but admit that is one of her favorite things about this part of her job. She loves finding out secrets and details about peoples lives that they normally wouldn’t give up to just anyone. Occasionally she’s also been tipped a pretty penny to keep the new found information out of the wrong hands. 

She leaned back in her seat for a moment before shuffling up the cards that she had placed between the both of them “Now I must inform you that whatever this reading tells you is completely up to interpretation and can in fact be changed, I mean no ones destiny is set in stone.” She informs him as his first card of the reading flutters down onto the table. 

• 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙩 •

Twice now Jack has thought he’s found the one: the first time, his heart was shattered so badly that he swore he’d never put himself in that position again and certainly wouldn’t make someone else feel that way; the second time, he did exactly that. Plans of a long, happy life with someone he connected to like nobody else, and Jack trampled on it until whatever love was there was no longer distinguishable. Years of reflection had him convinced that his actions were those of fear, of not being ready to go through it all again. In reality, Jack supposes he was just a shitty guy back then. Whether that was a result of the fear, he doesn’t want to admit.

Jack likes to think he’s ready now though.

“Okay, spit it out,” Jack says, but the nervous laugh in his words gives him away. Is she stalling? It can’t look that bad for him, can it?

The door opens and he barges right past, empty handed and with a palm cupped over his nose as he paces right through to the kitchen. A friendly greeting is at the back of his mind as he reaches the sink, bloody hands flicking on the faucet as he tells Spencer, “that Archie is a fucking psychopath,” rage in his voice and a tremble in his hands. Adrenaline had left him dumb at the scene, but now all he feels is anger as he runs his fingers under the tap.