any way the wind blows

“It’s called snake, you’ve got to use the little arrows on the keypad to get the snake on the screen to eat all the little dots, but as soon as it eats them, it’s body get’s longer.” Rafael explained to the other, his brows furrowed and tongue poking out the side of his mouth a little in concentration. “And the real bugger is that if you go the wrong way, you could eat your own body and it’s game over.” He continued, before looking up from the device to the other. “But something tells me that’s not what you asked me and I simply go away from myself. What were you saying again?”

"Does it have to eat though? Can’t you just avoid those dots and move around forever? I mean, how can you actually win in this?” Chase continued asking. It wasn’t wat he was expecting to hear in response to his earlier question, but now he was invested in learning more about that game.

“Oh no, please. Sing as much as you like, I won’t complain. I tend to do the same. I’ve been caught out here jamming to ABBA, Ed Sheeran, The Beatles, and more.@

"It’s relaxing, isn’t it?” Chase asked. Whenever he had a song stuck in his head, he needed to let it out sooner or later, or his head would probably explode at some point. He certainly never wanted to find if that was going to happen since he was very attached to all parts of his body.

“I know, I know, I’m pretty amazed with myself too,” Callie said with a grin. “I’ll happily accept your firstborn in thanks for introducing you to the best kebab in the entire world. You’ll have to come feed it of course and put it to sleep. Oh, and take care of it whenever it’s crying. Basically I just want to be the fun aunt who makes it giggle. Sounds good?”

"Sounds like a decent deal,” Chase nodded in agreement. “If I ever happen to have a kid, you’re welcome to it. Dogs not included,” he quickly added. There was no way he could ever part with Scone, so he needed to make it clear.

“Whatever you’re interrupting me with better be worth it because you just scared that poor butterfly that was nesting in my hand away,” Hal commented furrowing her brows at the other. “That was prime Instagram material right there. I hope you’re happy.”

"I sort of think it would be much freely flying around, but whatever floats your boat,” Chase replied, shrugging. He wasn’t really a fan of doing things for them gram, nor he tried to understand people who did it. “Anyway, there’s toilet paper stuck to your shoe. Thought you should know.”

scorpius: I know, I was hoping that when I volunteered they'd pair us together. For the same reasons you have, so I don't have to keep worrying about you.

scorpius: But I'm safe, I promise. I'm just working on trying to evacuate people from the area and I can check in every now and then so you know I'm okay.

scorpius: Hopefully this won't last too long and we can be home with Scone before midnight.

chase: we should order in

nick: if i reply, you'll have evidence that can be used against me if i ever piss you off so i'm just going to keep quiet

“Well maybe sometime you can show me the older songs you mention.” Ellie suggested. “I would give yourself more credit.”

"Sure thing. There’s a bunch that needs all the recognition,” he said passionately. Chase was rather proud of his taste in music and he never hesitated to mentioned it whenever the occasion called for it. 

“Is that so?” Lyra giggled at his response. “Well I’m honored to have heard a sneak preview. You must absolutely tear up the stage at karaoke night. Have you actually gone to karaoke before? I feel like you’d have so much fun.”

"If I ever decide to put together an album, you’ll be the first to know,” he winked at the blonde. “I’ve been once or twice with my sister, but we got a private room. Don’t think I could do anything of sort with actual audience.”

“Chase,” Jonah said in greeting, beaming as the man realised he’d been caught in the act, “I don’t mean to interrupt. Just wondering if you know where Scorp is. Have you seen him?”

"You’re not interrupting,” Chase quickly assured the other. “Scorpius? Umm... I’m pretty sure he should be back soon, had a meeting earlier but you know, he’s not one to stay longer than necessary,” he chuckled.

Al shook his head, “Nope. I was just looking for somewhere quiet. I can find somewhere else though.”

“It’s fine, there’s enough room in here for the both of us,” Chase smiled briefly. “And I promise not to sing out loud. Gotta go back to the office soon anyway so..,” he shrugged.

“To let it all out? In a singing mood or is it because you have other things going on?” There was a pause before Hugo shook their head. “Sorry, that’s none of my business. I just know sometimes I do things because they let me get my frustrations out in a more positive way.”

"I’m sort of the same. Sometimes there are just too many things in my head, don’t even have to be serious ones, and I guess I just need to blow off some steam or else I may explode.” Chase actually did mean that in the literal sense. He had found that whenever too many thoughts accumulated in his head, it was harder for him to keep his powers in check.

“I’m not going to lie,” Aria began, a smirk on her lips. “I was totally tempted to join in there but the fact of the matter is, no one needs to hear dogs howling if they don’t have to but if you need a back up dancer, that is something I can do.”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh and he remained smiling when the other finished. “If I ever decide to give another performance, I’ll remember to let you know and you can definitely join me. I’m talking about dancing of course, we wouldn’t want people to leave,” he grinned.

“Don’t stop on my account,” Brodie told the other, a small smile on his face that he hoped didn’t come across too much like amusement. “I totally get it, sometimes that perfect song comes on and you can’t help but just get lost in the moment. I mean it could be worse, you could have sounded like someone swinging a bag of cats against a wall. But your voice is pretty nice.”

"I think I let it all out now, but thanks I suppose,” he nodded at the other. “People rarely come here so it’s a place where I can just forget myself for a moment,” Chase explained. With how intense his job sometimes got, having a place like that was very much needed.

“OneRepublic, huh?” she remarked once the other noticed she was standing there. “Nice choice. I haven’t heard that song in a while,” Aryana admitted. “Thanks for reminding me of its existence, I needed to add some new songs to my playlist anyways,” she added, pulling out her phone and typing it in. “Any other recommendations? Preferably without a whole performance.”

"You’re welcome,” Chase replied, smiling awkwardly. Well then, that seemed like a nice turn of events. “I suppose I could suggest a song or two, but do you mean just out OneRepublic repertoire or just in general?” He decided to double-check.

“It’s not… It’s not something I want to talk about, alright?” He muttered quietly, hoping no one was listening to them. “It’s a bit embarrassing and let’s just leave it at that, okay?” Nick definitely was not going to confess what happened when there were other people around. But even it they had been alone, he would still be hesitating. 

"Embarrassing or not, it still happened,” Chase muttered. He only wanted to make sure his friend was fine. Besides, embarrassing stuff happened to to Nick all the time and he never tried to hide it before. Chase sighed loudly, shaking his head. “Fine, I’m not going to push. But you should really see a healer and have it checked just in case.”