“I wonder if I can toss all my loans into that boat,” she paused for a moment. “Will they disappear out of existence or?”

“that is an interesting take on burning boat. i’d definitely like to know how that turns out for you.” he said, looking over to the already half full boat from the citizens things they wanted to purge.

“This is freaking serious, don’t distract me.” Maisie said as she stood back in line once again. Having just been beat on the rock wall, Maisie was annoyed to no end because the little ass wipe that had beat her had also decided to taunt her the whole way up and down the wall. She was already on edge from being at the Burning Boat festival anyway but getting up this rock wall against her opponent would be just the thing to get her back on track. Or a drink. But first things first. @treehill-starts

chuck smirked, there wasn’t much he knew about Maisie from the little weekend they had a few years back but he did remember she was very competitive. “so no talking before hand? just go straight into the grit of it? could have sworn you liked a little foreplay.” he was of course teasing, but he would stay out of her head and allow her the chance to beat him.. if she could. he finished tightening his harness and looked over to the blonde. “whenever you’re ready.”

Ellie knew that she needed to talk to people; to be social is what they called it but she didn’t really excel at that. It was why she was better being in a room talking about strategy over anything else. It made sense to predict the next moves instead of trying to have a conversation where no one knew what point A or B were. “It kinda does – I mean all of our challenges and – things matter but you do not have to disclose it,” she said before smiling at the offer, “Deal. But I should warn you I have been stuck in ships for weeks and have gotten pretty well.” 

she had been stuck on ships for weeks? now that was curious, maybe she understood all too well of what he was thinking about. “now either you’re a pirate or in the navy or marines, which one is it? i can totally see you rocking that eye patch thing, having a parrot on your shoulder.” he joked lightly, trying to keep the mood light. “i was a marine.”  he explained to her, getting the bartenders attention and asking for a refill on what he had just polished off.

Maisie made her way over to the bar, asking for her usual, a vodka soda with a splash of pineapple and a water. She had been hoping to catch Riley for a moment but instead had just ended up ordering a drink, deciding to wait and see if she might appear. Maisie’s day off was tomorrow so she happened to be in no rush but one drink would be more than enough for the night. When it arrived she took a sip from the straw, eyes perusing the rest of the bar until she locked eyes with someone she had not expected to see. Yet, she was definitely pleasantly surprised. Maisie took matters into her own hands as she often did, crossing the bar to take a vacant seat beside him. “Well hey stranger.” 

@chuckscolnik

chuck had been frequenting tric, he knew it wasn’t a good idea given both of his parents were alcoholics yet here he was. the male sat there, drinking the scotch on the rocks that he ordered and he mostly kept to himself. he didn’t want to take the chance of getting into another bar fight and ending up needing stitches, again, because his mouth worked faster than his brain did. then he saw her, maisie. it had been a while since he last saw her and it wasn’t on the greatest terms. this should be fun. when the leggy blonde came over and joined him he offered a lopsided smile. “maisie.” he greeted, lifting his drink to her. “long time no see. how have you been?”

Marley clicked her tongue at the drunken arrogance that rolled off his lips. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol talking or the blunt force trauma to his head. “The latter I assume,” she nodded off the brutish comment feeling sorry for the young man on the other end of the cot. This wasn’t a new process for her; most nights, she was called to the pit to do a head CT and exam after copious rumbles from the gallows of Trics’ parking lot. Marley gently tap his chin to look at her, shining her flashlight into his eyes to measure his body’s reaction to pupil simulation. “That’s me,” she smiled. “From the looks of it, you may need about fifteen but I promise to be gentle.” Marley rummaged through the steel lined cart for a sterile bin for the glass. 

“So, what happened?” 

honestly? chuck was a mess and that much was obvious, especially now when he was still half-drunk and talking nonsense with glass hanging out of his head. it wasn’t an ideal situation, especially since his doctor was as attractive as she was but he was undoubtedly just another drunken, annoying, patient. when she tapped his chin he looked up at her, following the light source with his eyes and he smirked a little when she smiled. somehow she reminded him of someone, he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “meh, honestly i’ve been through a lot worse than fifteen stitches.. like getting the glass in my head in the first place.” he said, but it was more than that. wounds in the line of fire and all of that. “guy was a dick. he was being an obnoxious asshole, kept messing with a few of the women at the bar so i may have said something a little.... less than nice to him and here we are.”

chuck had to do a double take, had he really heard what he just thought he had? lydia scott just asked if she could kiss him. the older male was stunned, he looked away from her while he tried to process what she just asked about him. had he thought of it? yeah, he definitely had. but if anyone was off limits in this town, it was her. she was jamie’s little sister and they had been like brothers most of his life. “lyds.. you know you’re gorgeous, you don’t need me to tell you that. i’ve always thought you were.” he started, his foot tapping on the ground as it always had with his nervous tick. how did he go about this? “we both know that if i kissed you jamie would chop my balls off and feed them to a lion or something –– but for the record, i have thought of it.”

“thanks for that,” she said as she proceeded to pull herself on top of the barstool and taking her beer as she brought it closer to her. it was strange to be of age and be allowed to be here, usually, Celeste had been the one that had managed to sneak her into these places and had always given her drinks behind the bar tender’s eyesight. Then after the incident that she had, she had given up drinking completely but she was willing to start every aspect of her life again. It was strange to be 27 years old and have no idea who she was still. At least when she had the uniform on things made more sense. “how drunk you are about to get? – oh are we celebrating something or going through something?” the top of her bottle fell onto her lips, “You don’t have to share but I probably won’t remember anything after tonight so there is that.” 

talking to strangers seemed better, easier even. all of his friends and family knew things that he didn’t want to discuss but this beautiful brunette? all she knew is that they were getting drunk and that was more than alright with chuck. “it’s getting through something, but the what i’m getting through? doesn’t matter. why don’t we make this interesting? play a game of pool and make a drinking game of it?”

‘‘I can imagine man, I heard a half story about what happened? But if you want to talk, I’m gonna be around from now on?’‘ Jamie offered, giving Chuck a shrug. It was odd, sitting in Tric drinking with Chuck- it felt like old times, but it wasn’t, everything was different, everything. ‘‘Lydia’s got the kids out at the Beach for the weekend, I didn’t want to be in the house alone.’‘ 

chuck and jamie had always been friends, ever since they were five and six years old. it hadn’t started that way, but jamies kindness turned chuck around just as it was now. the male nodded his head, holding his drink up almost like a cheers. “thanks, jamie. it’s a lot.. i don’t want to get into the details but i was dishonorably discharged for friendly fire only the other was a traitor and it was self defense –– but no one believed me.” he shrugged, knocking back more of his drink. “yeah.. about that.” chuck started, a little more serious than he had been even a few seconds ago. “i’m sorry man, about.. well.. not being able to make it to the funeral. nothing i say is gonna sound like anything other than an excuse, but if you need anything from me now you only need to ask.” 

Marley navigated through the pit with precision. Her eyes tipped down to the delicate, silver linked watch that hung along her wrist. Fifteen minutes and you’ll be off for the next twelve hours. As much as she enjoyed devoting the vast majority of her time in this hospital, she desperately needed a glass of wine and a bubble bath. Her sneakers squeaked against the sparking linoleum to the beat of the constant beep of her pager.  “How’s things looking down here, Mary?” Her fingers wiggled out to take the tablet off her hands. She hummed whilst looking over the man’s chart. Possible concussion, lacerations to the face, and foreign object embedded in the skin. Marley thanked Mary graciously at her tender and thorough mark up before peeling back the curtain.

“Rough night?” Marley questioned. She plucked a pair gloves off the wall, unfurling her stethoscope from her neck, applying gently pressure to get a read on his vitals. “I can’t say I hope the other person looks worse but equal? Your blood pressure is a little higher than I’d like it to be but that’s par the course for the state you’re in.” She stepped back for a moment to grab the metallic tray and forceps. “Once I remove the glass and stitch you up, we’ll send you home with aspirin and ointment to keep the wound clean.” 

chuck was trying to focus, he was still a bit drunk and the glass in his head wasn’t helping matters any –– his own fault he was in this mess, he supposed. the male sat up a little straighter, looking over at the blonde when she questioned him and he raised a brow. “guess you could say that, or that of a night well accomplished? depends on how you look at it. don’t worry ma’am, he is just as bad.” he may have been a little worse, but he didn’t need to brag about that, not with the pretty doctor anyways. “perfect. how many stitches do you think we’ll need here..” he said, leaning up to see her badge. “doctor blackwell?” he asked, giving her his best version of a charming smile, or as best he could right now.

noah smiled, taking another sip of his non-alcoholic drink right before he was greeted by the other officially, “how are you dude?” he questioned him, “it’s been a while since i’ve been home i feel like i’ve missed out on knowing what people are up to now-a-days. anything big changed for you?”  –– it was true, being away there was only so much he could keep up with on social media, especially knowing people only posted so much of their lives on social media, putting on their best face. 

“i’m alright, living and all of that so i can’t really complain, right?” he said, then he drank down a lit more from his beer, enjoying the pleasant sour taste it gave off and he nodded a little bit. “a lot, actually, yeah. i was in the army and now i’m not, now i’m back here and slinging in a food truck.” he said, raising his brows and he shrugged a little, it was what it was but he wasn’t going to give noah the full details. “what about you, anything new going on?”