& - yes they know it will pass

Amara nodded along with his words, not taking her eyes off the page as she finished filling in the barista’s beard. “Cocky can be fun,” she said picking up her head finally to meet gaze. “But it usually leads to a lot of unnecessaries.” the said using the term very generally. It could be anything from unnecessary drama, to trouble, or more often than not in her experience, hurt feelings. Another brief moment passed by before the dancer saw just how truly tried her looked. “Is your love life really depriving you of that much sleep?” she asked kindly, but curious nonetheless. Amara picked up her nearly empty cup of tea, the same one she’d been nursing for the last hour since first arriving. Her blue eyes darted down to her book and she felt a heat beginning to burn in her cheeks. “Oh, thanks. I was just messing around,” she said leaning forward on the table as she tucked her hair nervously behind her ear, her arm resting on top of the sketchpad, obscuring the view. She didn’t know why, but her art was a bit like dancing, she loved to do it but it was hard to share that love with the rest of the world. 

“Couldn’t agree more. And there are enough people calling me cocky that I don’t need the pushback from someone like me. It’s always the opposing sides of the magnets that are attracted to one another.” Felix certainly understood the gist of what she was saying; he knew as well as anyone that arrogance was frustrating and only led to difficulties down the road. He himself had gotten into his fair share of drama from his ego alone. He snorted a laugh at her question. “No, it’s not my love life depriving me of sleep. It’s my job. I work at the hospital, and I’m off a thirty hour shift. Pretty brutal, but... I have a hard time turning off my head after a shift like that sometimes. Thus.” He showed off his phone and shook it between two fingers, displaying it to her. “Companionship. Works wonders.” She was seemingly suddenly shy about her work, protecting it from his view, and Felix allowed her to cover it without comment; the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable about something she’d worked so hard to do. So instead, he put his phone onto the table and reached forward, palm extended, to shake. “Felix.”

He nodded  “ exactly imagine how ugly things would get if all men were into the same women.” He replied as he looked at him lifting an eyebrow. “ What are you looking for exactly?” He asked as he looked at him. “What’s keeping you off your game at the moment?”

“I think the last time that happened, a little thing happened called the Trojan War.” Felix let out a breath of a laugh before briefly pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m, uh... coming off a thirty hour shift. I’m fucking spent.”

The man’s next words caused a soft chuckle to escape from Elly’s lips. She was just glad she was able to keep herself from snorting. The way the man said what he said, she knew what he was referring to; and his smile only aided to the overall fact. “I dated a guy with a lip piercing once. There really wasn’t anything special about it… Or maybe he just didn’t know how to put it to good use.” She shrugged. “Regardless, I don’t really find them an attractive asset.” She admitted with another shrug, watching as the man took her advice and swiped left. 

“Well,” Felix said, amused, “there is the matter of a difference in anatomy. Certain, uh... accoutrements may benefit one more than the other.” Modesty never was one of Felix’s strong suits, and neither was mincing words. He locked his phone, attention shifting to the woman in front of him. “There’s also the matter of the fact that I’m abandoning the fruitless attempt at Tinder companionship. Can I buy you a drink?”

Winter: Depends on what you have in mind

To be honest she wasn’t really his type but that did n’t mean he couldn’t admit that she looked really good. “She’s not really my type, to be honest, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see good looking women when I see one.” He replied honestly as he looks at him.

“Yeah, makes sense. To each his own, huh?” Felix hesitated, however, now that he’d heard the other man’s evaluation. “Maybe tonight should be solo.” Felix exited out of the app, letting out a breath through his nose, fingers tapping briefly on the mug of coffee in front of him. “Don’t think I’m really on my A game as it is, and the last thing I need is a reputation.”

Amara had been sitting in the same spot at Cuppa Joe for at least an hour, her sketch pad flipped open and half-finished sketch of the barista on her page while she listened to music. She wasn’t sure what exactly had inspired her to do it, but she’d seen him there plenty and he was always nice enough. The blonde had decided she would leave it for him once it was completed. Her pencil moved on the paper carefully, stealing glances every few moments to capture the likeness properly. She hadn’t even noticed that one of her earbuds had fallen out until the man next to her posed an unexpected question. She bit down gently on her lip as she looked at the screen before her, taking in the image for a moment before giving a reply. “Six on a count of the way they’re standing says, ‘hey look at me, I’m cocky.’” the dancer said lightly, taking the eraser side of her pencil to point out exactly what stance she was referring to. Amara gave him a toothy grin for a moment, hoping it had saved him some trouble as it was a type she knew all too well having grown up with most of them. Some were even friends of hers so she knew what to look for. She dropped her gaze back the page and the project at hand, continuing on with it.

Felix’s eyes were drawn to the woman’s sketchpad as hers were drawn to his phone. It was quite a likeness to the barista. Impressive. Felix had no artistic ability to speak of, unless one counted gluing some glitter onto purses for his sister when she joined the Krewe of Nyx. God, that seemed like it was an eternity ago. He needed to call her soon. He turned the phone back around to try to take in the woman’s assessment. “Yeah, cocky’s not always a bad thing, but in this case... I think you’re right.” Felix, with the bags drooping under his eyes, the caffeine running through his veins the only thing keeping him going, wasn’t much of a catch himself at the moment, and the last thing he needed was someone who was douchey enough to tell him that he looked like shit. “You’re a great artist,” he commented, offhandedly, as though that would be thanks enough for her help.

Tinder. That was an app Elly really wasn’t familiar with; but she recognized it the moment the man turned his phone and gently shoved the screen towards her face. She’d had enough friends use the app over the years that she could identify it; and she’d heard enough horror stories involving swiping right or left or whichever way meant you liked someone that she opted to never give it a go. Someone shocked by his actions, it took her a few seconds to really get a good look at the picture on the screen and process what was being asked of her. “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say he’s a solid six and a half. He’d easily be a nine if it wasn’t for the lip ring.“

It took the woman a few moments to really focus, and Felix could understand why. Thrusting a phone into a stranger’s face, demanding help in hotness discernment... it was all a little much. “Ye of little faith,” Felix commented, flipping the phone back around. “You have no idea how useful a lip ring can be.” His lips were curled upward into a somewhat conspiratorial smile, but still, he swiped left, dismissing the man altogether. “But. I asked for you advice, and I’m taking your advice. Thank you.”

Mallory grabbed the phone and stared at the picture, almost as if she was trying to analyze every single aspect of it like she used to do when her mother took her to the art museums. “I mean, it’s a good picture if you are into guys that look like they are color blind. I hope he is because his choice of colors is making me wish I were color blind,” she said with a shrug. “But overall, in terms of hotness, I’d give him a solid seven.”

Felix hadn’t even considered the quality of the picture. And of course that mattered. If someone couldn’t be fucked to use a decently exposed and saturated picture for their primary photo, how could Felix expect that the guy was anything worth his salt? He swiped left. “Your point about the colors is well taken. I can find someone better. And hotter than a seven, frankly.” Even tens looked for hookups sometimes, and Felix could provide. “Thanks. I appreciate your help.”

Barely even glancing up from his sketchpad as the two sat in comfortable silence in the coffee shop, Naveen had to release a short chuckle. “You’re asking the wrong person,” he told the other with a grin. “Any pretty face and I’m gone.” However, to entertain his friend, Naveen decided to look at the phone. “Solid seven,” he stated simply. “If their bio is empty, though, it’s down to four. Unless you don’t care about that stuff, which is…sort of ridiculous, going just by their pictures.”

Felix snorted a laugh at Naveen’s response, Any pretty face and I’m gone, nothing that he himself was much of the same. He let out a heave of a sigh, focusing back in, lifting his shoulders in a haphazard shrug. “I’m not really interested in personality right now. Just looking for a warm body. Maybe a freak. Freaks never expect you to call them.” Felix was typically upfront about his intentions, at least, and as he swiped right on the bio-less face, he wondered how they’d take the news.

Cooper was sat having a drink and something to eat, it had been a long and stressful few hours so he was more than happy to be switching off for a few hours before he had to go and get a start on everything he had to do at home. Looking at the man’s phone he studied the photo in front of him “ I’d give her a ten, but looks aren’t everything she could be the  most boring women in the world.” 

A ten. That was high praise, even coming from a stranger. Felix quickly turned the phone back around to face him, scanning the features. Granted, attraction was subjective, but... the other man was right. The woman was pretty. Conventional pretty. Felix wondered if she had long nails that would leave marks, or if she screamed. “Fortunately, I’m not focused on personality at the moment. You’re right. She’s hot.” He swiped right.

“Well, what’s your type? I feel like ranking is subjective to the individual.” Zane points out, peering over at the phone that was thrust in his direction. “But if you’re asking me, I’d say a solid six, six and a half. Worth maybe asking out for a drink.” 

“There’s a song,” Felix comments, flipping the phone back around to squint at the alleged six or six and a half to see if he saw what the stranger saw. “It says you’re just my type, you have a pulse and you’re breathing. Pretty much sums it up.” A drink wasn’t necessarily in the cards for Felix. Random sex? That could be on the docket.

[ matt czuchry, forty, cismale, he/him ] ━ hey, I just saw [ felix steele ] walking down the streets of crownsville. they’ve lived in town for [ twelve years ], and you can catch them around town working as an [ internist (doctor of internal medicine) ]. I hear they’re known to be [ reliable & self motivated ] and [ overworked & blunt ]. if asked, they would say their aesthetic would be [ the echoing of a thumping heart, the smell of sandalwood, barren brick walls, rumpled sheets, and a half-finished glass of scotch ].

Olivia glanced up at the question, looking at the man who was currently holding his phone out towards her. She had been lost in her own thoughts for a moment. “Oh…I’d say about a seven. Maybe an eight,” she replied, shrugged her shoulders. She never used Tinder or anything like that before, and didn’t really understand how it worked. “I may not be the best person to ask, though. Dating and hookup apps aren’t my field of expertise.” 

“Huh.” A seven or an eight meant the guy was pretty damn attractive. Felix turned the phone back to face him, studying the image, eyebrows knitting in near concern. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s the bone structure, right? He’s got good bone structure.” His thumb moved. A right swipe. A rarity these days. “Dating isn’t mine. Hookups are about all I have time for. I’m that guy now, even though I swore I would never be. C’est la vie, non? Hey.” His gaze shifted back up to the woman, amused. “Let me buy you a coffee. A thank you for helping me evade loneliness yet another night.”