he's a doll!

Name: Kenneth Sean Carson Nicknames: Ken, Dollface Age: 34 Height: 6′0″ Sexuality: Bisexual/pansexual

Woody smiled, thankful for the compliment. He didn’t go around thinking of himself as some hot shot or anything, but he liked to think he was good looking enough and sweet as pie when he wanted to be. And when it came to dating, Woody was the type to put in his all to treat his girl right. Still, it wasn’t necessarily the meeting someone that always caught him up. After all, charming as he was, Woody was a sucker for a good friend first, and he didn’t like to put pressure on a relationship to be anything more than that without knowing for sure if the other party felt the same. 

It left Woody with a lot of friends, at least. Couldn’t complain about that. “I don’t have much trouble when it comes to shaking a girl’s hand or telling her she’s pretty. The trouble is usually in getting the ending right.” Hell, even with Barbie, he’d fudged things up a little, and now their relationship would always be a little tricky, wouldn’t it? “I don’t think dating apps are going to help my problems. I just need to be smarter.”

~

     Ken cocked his head to the side with a slight frown of confusion as Woody claimed to have trouble sticking the landing when it came to flirting with women. He was unsure exactly where the issue would come from; there should be none if the man would just be himself when chatting with a potential date—he was a guy with both good looks and personality. There was nothing not to like, unless he really just fumbled when it came to actually asking someone out. “What is it, do you get ahead of yourself come on too strong? Or not strong enough—do you just wait for them to make the first move?”

    There was an amused smile on his face as he tried to diagnose the other man’s dating issues. Officer Hanks was the kind of person who seemed to have his entire life together, and while Ken felt like he himself was struggling in many aspects, romance was one field he had never had much trouble with. Apart from the fact that he had never really gotten over his ex-girlfriend and was still dancing around his lingering feelings for her to this day, trying to be just best friends...But that was pretty much a different category. He could still meet a beautiful woman and wind up on an impromptu date, which seemed to be the area Woody needed help in.

Anastasia could have breathed a sigh of relief. She had been rejected before, and it always stung, especially when she was putting herself out there this boldly. But this time the cute guy with the perfect smile was giving her his phone number and Anastasia felt like singing. Maybe she would sing, later, in the shower. She’d sing until someone came along shouting at her to shut up, but she’d still sing. Just quieter. To herself. 

She took his card with a smile, blowing on the ink for a moment to be sure it was dry. It was also a total move, but one he presented her the opportunity for. Anastasia smiled wide, shrugging and trying not to seem too excited that he wanted her to call him. Who called anymore? This was so romantic already, even if the beginning was a little rocky for a moment. “Well, I promise I won’t keep you waiting too long. It’s too hard for you to ask me out otherwise.”

~

    He stood for a moment, smiling at her when she made it clear—if asking for his number wasn’t enough of a hint—that she wanted him to ask her out, and wondered if now would be too soon to take her up on that. After all, if neither of them were busy for the next hour or two, why shouldn’t they spend a little more time talking before parting ways? It would make planning an actual date much easier if they got to know each other a bit better and find some common interests, before he ultimately called her up to ask her. Hedging his bets and providing her an excuse to decline, he asked, “I don’t suppose you have to run and catch up with that friend of yours just yet? We could go grab a cup of coffee, if you have the time.”

“Listen, Kenneth,” she began, looking him dead in the eye and blinking at him again. “I am trying to take in your vision without commenting. I’m being nice and stuff.” Not that his design was bad or anything, she just had her opinions and knew he probably didn’t want to hear them right now. “My eyeliner is fine, but thank you for worrying, babes. I appreciate it. Besite behavior, really.” She wanted to cringe at herself. She didn’t know why she couldn’t just be a good friend or whatever, but she was doing her best. “Go on. I am going to be stone.”

~

     Ken shook his head, still smiling as she returned him a spoonful of his own medicine, full-naming him right back. It was a testament to their lifelong friendship that they could tease each other so easily, but for some reason the simple sound of her calling him a bestie didn’t feel right. That word wasn’t enough to describe what they were to each other—it was too light, too casual. But he wasn’t going to complain, at least not aloud. “I’m almost done anyway,” he replied after she finally promised to stay still, giving her a cheeky wink. “There. Now what do you think?”

He did the move - the one guys did in movies and t.v shows - the kiss on the back of the hand that can either be chaste and cute or just plain creepy. When it came to this particular case, Anastasia was trying to resist the urge to giggle like a school girl. Her hand tingled where his lips had brushed against her skin and his hand had held hers. Ken Carsons, her mind echoed, and she made a mental note to go full stalker on his socials later. 

She wondered, idly if he was meaning to flirt with her, and her suspicions were at least a little bit confirmed when he complimented her looks. Anastasia did giggle then, flattered. “Me? Oh, you- Well, you make me want to ask you more questions. Like…” Was she really going to make a first move already? But he was just so cute. She cleared her throat and smiled at him, a twinkle in her eyes. “Does a handsome gentleman like yourself give out his phone number to a woman as beautiful as I am?”

~

    As cool and collected as he acted on the surface, Ken never felt quite as smooth on the inside as he presented—he couldn’t be sure he was on the right track until he actually stuck the landing. Anastasia asking for his number assured him that he was interpreting their flirtatious conversation correctly and he almost gave a sigh of relief, a bright smile spreading across his face.

@elsardelle

    “Beautiful. Intelligent. Unreachable. We dated back in the day but I’m not sure she ever really opened up to me. That’s okay, though—some people just aren’t meant to be. I would still call her a friend. Just, fair warning: don’t ask her to take her gloves off.”

     “You like it? It’s—” he started, picking up on the mention of smelling good and automatically beginning to respond by sharing the name of his cologne before he fully processed the rest of that comment. “Entirely inappropriate,” he finished, giving her a second look. He wasn’t offended by any stretch—Ken had done plenty of exploring in his days abroad, which included no-strings-attached hook-ups—but in a professional setting...Well, Sibella was a customer. There wasn’t room for messing around.

     “A little of both,” Ken confessed, trying to tame the smile that automatically found its way on his face and ending up with a slight smirk. For the most part, he was a gentleman, but he couldn’t deny that he did enjoy seeing the blush that graced Anastasia’s cheeks whenever she was feeling shy. And it was all too easy to earn that effect with a simple flirtation. “If you could see yourself, you wouldn’t blame me.”

     “Barbie, you know I love you—but if you keep blinking, this eyeliner is going to go all the way across your face,” Ken promised, sitting back and viewing his work so far. He was usually pretty good at maintaining a deadpan, but he couldn’t help the smile sneaking onto his face as he saw Barbie’s expression, and he was soon laughing. “I’m serious, Barbara,” he added, trying in futility to return to a straight face. “All the way. Your whole face.”