Robert Murphy Brooks

ooc: Here’s my gnome loving head chef. 

Stats

Name: Robert Murphy Brooks

Age: 36

Birthday: March 11th

Gender/Pronouns: Male (He/him)

Relationship status: Single

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Length of time in Salem: 36 years

Occupation: Head Chef at Kingfish Grille

Faceclaim:  Colin O’Donoghue

Siblings:  Kira Ruby Brooks (younger sister)

Likes

Cooking, that witchy shit, horoscopes, art, lockpicking, gnome collecting,

Dislikes

Sudoku, hot air balloons, going to the post office, muggy weather

Music

The Hu, Heilung, Warduna, SKALD, Lost In Grey, Einar Selvik, Forndom, Sowulo, Heather Dale, Mightnight Syndicate, Lisa Gerrard, Loreena McKennitt, Dead Can Dance, Hagalaz Runedance...

Personality:

Artistic, cocky/confident, rebellious, flirtatious, heroic, passionate, compassionate, egotistical, sardonic, a little bit hedonistic...

Things Of Importance: 

Friends: Jamie, Matty

Coworkers:

Other: 

About

Born and raised in Seattle, the oldest of two to the Brooks family. ­Robbie was a rather expressive child. Art was something he found himself immersed in. Painting, sidewalk chalk, music... He was picked on for his hobbies but he always said he could draw better so it didn't matter if they laughed. When it came to other people, he didn't like watching other people suffer. If he could jump in and help someone he would, even if he was the smaller one and had no chance he still tried. Robbie walked to the beat of his own drum. He didn't care about being told what to do and when to do it. He'd do things in his own time, his own way. He realized he was a bit of a charmer early on and often used his good looks to get what he wanted or get out of trouble he absolutely got himself in. He developed a Ce' la vie attitude.

His parents were keeping themselves afloat when they had another child. Robbie’s younger sister Kira Ruby. The two bonded immediately and remained close over the years. Thick as thieves. Kira being the exact opposite of Robbie, took the more sporty route in life. She often visits him at his apartment.

✨

“Oh thank goodness.. I thought you were going to request for something bizarre like Mint Chocolate Chip. And no offence but that is the oddest tasting ice cream I have ever tried.” And the first time she did was also the last time she has ever tasted the minty delight. There’s something to be said about being innovative when it comes to food but there are also some classics that should not be toyed with. Laela took his phone and keyed in her phone number, leaving a missed call on her phone so she knew how to contact him come the day and then she had a thought, she wondered whether she should save her contact on a different name just to surprise him. “Oh trust me, this is the most exciting I’ve ever done in quite awhile. And you know, I don’t think I ever asked for your name but I did ask about your dating stories.”

That was absolutely rude of him to go this long and not introduce himself. "I'm Robbie Brooks. Guess I got too caught up in the ice cream conversation." He wasn't even sure if he'd caught her name yet either. It would be bad if he admitted that he'd forgotten his future date's name already. "Any fancy spellings for your name?" Oh god his dating stories. He could write an epic saga about some of them. It almost felt a little inappropriate to discuss it now. At least it could be on their date. Pre-date was fair game. "It's a lot, I'm a bit of a serial dater. Dates are fun." 

✨

“What about ice cream flavours? Any flavours preference?” She thought it would be polite to at least ask. “If you say mint chocolate chip then I might have to rethink that date. Just a little bit.” Well that was a joke even if she did cringe at the thought of the usually green tinged dessert that reminded of nothing other than toothpaste. When he suggested a date, she realised that this was actually happening and all chances for him the play it off as nothing more than a tease was out the window. “Sundae on a Sunday sounds great. Should I uhm.. give you my number or something? This.. is kind of new for me if you can’t already tell.” 

Robbie thought about it for a moment. "Oh I'd have to say anything caramel, or butter pecan, oh coffee ice cream. To die for." A twinkle in his eyes followed his recollection of favorite ice cream flavors. Robbie then took out his phone and handed it to her. "New isn't always bad. I like new adventures." He winked at her.  

“I agree completely, it also depends on what kind of night you want to have. Some people just come out and don’t care what happens while others like to be aware. I’ve been on both sides.” Vivian remembers the nights when she was younger when she had no care in the world. Sometimes she still longs and indulges in nights like those still. “The cringy moments are amusing as hell though, maybe not to look back on but for people watching. That is one part of my job that is incredibly amusing. I suppose I can see if you’re going for a night out not wanting to restrict yourself. As long as you’re not harming others right?” 

"What's a harmless 'I love you,' every now and then?" He laughed. Not so much in a dating sense either. He definitely told his old friends while drunk how much he loved and appreciated them. The waitstaff started bringing out the food they ordered earlier. Including Robbie's aforementioned lobster roll. "This is a thing of beauty. And we're one step closer to the mystery cake." 

.

“That’s impressive, working your way up from prep to head guy,” Gabriel complimented.   And it was genuine.  He’d moved around a little in his primary jobs, but nothing quite that vertical.  In fact, he’d been told it wouldn’t be possible for him to press further into management than he already had without a more advanced degree.  When that hadn’t interested him, he’d jumped ship for a federal position instead. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being biased in favor of what you’re doing now.  I feel like, to some extent, I’ve always been looking for that kind of excitement to go to work each day.  Do you have long hours, or is there some freedom?” 

"You're too kind." Robbie smiled. But he was genuinely proud of himself as well. "It's all I've ever wanted really, my own restaurant. And while Kingfish isn't fully mine... it's close enough." There were still other people's names on the lease. While an integral part of running the place it wasn't Robbie's restaurant. One day he wanted a place with his name on it... but he'd probably have to pass on most of his duties to someone else. "Definitely have long hours. You blink during the summer or holiday seasons and suddenly the month is over." He shook his head. "Some days I just go home and sleep until the next day. If you ask the restaurant gods nicely you can get some free time here and there."  

~

Ezra couldn’t help but laugh, still half-chewing a marshmallow. “Made their own shelter? Like, using things they find around the woods? I mean I like to pretend I’d be able to survive in the woods on my own and stuff, but honestly I would have zero idea how to build a shelter without, like, directions. I mean, even with directions I’m not really sure how to do it,” he pointed out, his eyebrows rising. He took out another marshmallow and offered it out to Robbie. “But hey, I can dance, so I’m not completely useless.”

"Yes, absolutely correct! I'd love to do it one day. Maybe a little closer to home if things go wrong..." He said the last part a little quietly. Not that he doubted his abilities, but he couldn't control the weather. "Useless, never." He shook his head. "I quite like having you around. And I've already got the information stored in my brain so. We'd be perfectly okay building one from scratch." He took the marshmallow and ate it. They did have food but honestly he fully expected to fill himself up on smores at least once before this trip was over. "I brought a new cooking kit too. And I'm really excited to use that...." He wasn't embarrassed about nerding out over his camping gear. He just hoped Ezra didn't mind listening to it. 

✨

“The colourful sprinkles and mini marshmallows sound good?” She could not help but laugh. This ice cream date with a movie had been just casually mentioned by her earlier on because she thought it was a cute idea. But she never thought he would think so too since he had been on far more interesting dates considering his experience in comparison to her. “Oopps… Sorry.” She cringed. “I didn’t mean to sound as if I was interrogating you. Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me. I’ve been told that it might actually get me in trouble someday.”

"Those are the best kind." He could feel a joke about bringing the chocolate syrup but Robbie kept it to himself. "You can ask me anything you want. I'm an open book. But I'd like to save some mystery for the date. Which we still have to pick a date and time for." He was more than happy to set a day. If anything it might be better if he had offered his availability first. "I do work... a lot... Life of a chef and all. I am free this weekend though. Sundaes on a Sunday?" 

Harper smiled at that. “I suppose they could have been more subtle about that” she said with a shrug. "But hey, at least they managed to keep it a secret up until then, right?" Besides, they had to get Robbie here somehow. Then she said. “It looks pretty impressive” she said. But then she added “I've done my best to avoid ruining any of the surprise until now. Don't go making me trip up at this point.” She did her best to look stern, but failed and dissolved into laughter.

He was so bummed that he couldn't have any details on his cake. His coworkers were hushed about it and he didn't know if it was here yet. He did hear a rumor it was running late though. "Can't blame me for trying." He shrugged. If he'd only waited a few moments he'd have his answer. The person on cake duty finally arrived. "Sorry I'm late! Someone tried to claim our cake." They exhaled. "Some dude was going to arrive at a retirement party with a birthday cake." Robbie wasn't allowed to see until it was placed on the back catering table. A numbered candle was stuck in the cake and the started singing happy birthday. It was a gnome cake. He couldn't have asked for a better cake. "I see why he couldn't walk out with my cake, aside from the fact my name and happy birthday are written on it." 

  Jamie had been so crazy busy that he did not remember when last he and Robbie really hang out. He missed his best friend and there was a lot for them to catch up on and the trip was perfect for that. Jamie had made tons of snacks and also gotten others snacks from the store as well. “Sure, it’s been awhile since I have used my photo skills. I should have found my old camera,” he smiled as he placed the bag of snacks down. 

“You are always ready for anything.”

He wasn't sure when he'd picked up this habit of needed to be prepared. The easy answer was his time in boy scouts but that was a lifetime ago. However if he was doing anything, he was well prepared to do it. "I figure we're a long way from Seattle for anything inconvenient to happen." They were making stops along the way but there were a few stretches where it was just the road and no civilization. "Is your phone better at pictures or navigation? You can use mine for pictures but one of our phones has to be on GPS." 

.

Mads definitely pulled a face as she pretended to consider it all.  In reality, she was already sold.  The more spontaneous side of her nature could absolutely rule when she wasn’t on-call or due at work the next day.  This was also probably the first time since she’d moved she could really afford to let it have its moment anyway.

“Okay.  You probably had me before cake, on account of your face looking like that and the fact that you’ve already wasted some time with me.”  She gave him a genuine smile.  “Who are the fun people to hang out with, present company already included?” 

"Oh it's definitely not time wasted. Especially if you like my face looking this way." He winked. "It's my morning crew at Kingfish. They threw this all together for me and kept it a secret. I was a little suspicious when they insisted I go to Rooftop 27." The room wasn't exactly fully but it was filling up. It seemed everyone that needed to be there had already arrived. They had done their best to throw in something gnome themed. A Happy Birthday banner with the tiny creatures on either end hung on the wall and some balloons had gnomes on them too. The napkins and plates came from the restaurant itself. "Do you want anything to drink or eat? There's plenty of food." 

✨

The petite brunette was surprised to say the least and it showed in the way her cheeks were turning a light shade of pink. She really had thought he was joking, she even gave him room to take back his words but he didn’t. Actually he did quite the opposite really which left her even more stunned. “O-Ohh.. Well I wasn’t expecting that.” She stammered while she awkwardly fumbled with her nearly empty cup. “I uhm.. Did the idea of ice cream and netflix intrigue you?” Try as she might to play it cool, she definitely was failing because she could barely even look at the man. He seemed far too confident in himself while she was could barely stop herself from blushing like a high school girl meeting her crush for the first time. “You don’t think you’d know from the start if the person is the one?”

"It sure does. Think about it, you go buy some  flavored syrups, some toppings, and a variety of ice cream flavors. Got yourself an ice cream sundae bar." He didn't want to seem too pushy so hopefully this kept the mood light. Except she asked a pretty deep question. "Oh that's a heavy question. I think it varies person to person. I think it takes a little time. But that's from my own life experiences." He rubbed the back of his neck. It might not be the answer she wanted to hear but he couldn't lie about something that big. 

Vivian was always impressed when people brought up decent points, she never really gave people enough credit. People always had to prove it to her. “That is a good point. People’s priorities can change though which can make it even easier to go back on their word.” She admitted before shrugging, intrigued by the offer. “I can’t say no to that, its hard to find people who want to have thought provoking conversations over drinks. People seem to lose a lot of common sense when they have more than a glass.” Of course she knew deep conversations were the last thing on peoples mind where she bartended. But to be honest it probably wasn’t really on hers either. 

"I can handle my alcohol. I also don't drink to get wasted. Does that make sense?" He decided to switch from shots to cocktails. Couldn't exactly converse with someone while slurring words. "I do enjoy a good drunk conversation. I've been in stitches from laughing or unfathomably confused." With that he found a new topic to bring up. "The whole 'drunk words are sober thoughts,' agree or disagree?" 

~

Ezra looked at the tent, and then at the instructions that Robbie was holding. This was definitely not something Ezra felt confidently about. That said, he didn’t mind the nature. If it came down to it, he’d sleep under the stars, no problem. So he just grinned, tapping a piece of the tent supplies with the toe of his shoe and then plopping down in the dirt with his legs crossed underneath him. 

“It’s okay. It doesn’t have to, like, look good, right? Just has to be up enough to protect us from the elements?” He wiggled his fingers at ‘the elements’, as if they were big and scary beings that might get to them. Then he was reaching over into one of their bags, pulling out the plastic wrapped marshmallows and carefully tearing into them so he could pop one into his mouth. As long as there was food, Ezra would be a-okay.

Things seemed a little easier as the tent was unboxed. It did have a million parts. It was mainly the support beams that needed to be assembled. Robbie found the stakes for the tent, then started working on the tent.  "That's the plan. Make it last the weekend." Robbie agreed. The weather was clear, but the moment you let your guard down is when something happens. "The park wouldn't allow us, but I saw one of those 'outdoor camping without a tent' videos where they made their own little shelter. One day though." He shrugged. 

✨

“I feel like some people find it simple - they meet someone new and then they get along well, then they go on a date. Then next thing you know, they’re already planning on moving in together and then a wedding… I guess some people are just lucky in that way huh?” That probably sounded a little too fairytale-esque but then that should be no surprise considering what a hopeless romantic that Laela was. She did still believe in love, although she has not quite found it just yet. This time she tried again to flag down a waiter but was ignored for the second time and now she wondered if there was something about her that even the waiters decided to not pay attention to. “I’m sorry?” She looked at her new acquaintance as if he had just told her that the sky is falling. Then she let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “Funny. For a second there I actually thought you were serious.”

"I am serious. I'm genuinely asking if you want to go on a date with me." Robbie reiterated. "It doesn't have to be tonight, it can be whenever you want, wherever you want." He'd already started thinking of some ideas based on the things they'd talked about. The ice cream date seeming more and more interesting the longer he thought about it. "All that other stuff involves commitment. You don't have to worry about marriage or living together right off the bat. Just have fun with the person your with and let time sort out everything else."

.

“If it was mainly whiskey, you might be okay.  The alternative, I guess, is hydration.”  She grimaced when he mentioned whipped cream.  “That has plenty of places to show up, but I prefer it not on my shot.  Maybe on my hot cocoa if I’m splurging there.”   That also wasn’t that common for her, but she’d led with the word ‘maybe.’ 

And then he was listing off a couple of her favorites and all she could do was stop sucking and then smile.  He was clearly happy and enjoying himself and, really, she wasn’t trying to ruin it at all.  “You’re welcome.  It’s nice to see someone enjoying a night off.” 

His sweet tooth would also be satisfied by the mystery birthday cake, arriving later. "You're welcome to stay and enjoy yourself here. There's plenty of room, and food, and drinks. And there will be cake later. So double the fun." Seeing as everyone had finally arrived he'd overheard something about moving to the event room. So they wouldn't be in the main bar area. Which was a relief. "We're all relocating anyways so it will be a little quieter I'm guessing. Seems to be the thing with most event rooms anyways."