brick by brick

“What’s with toddlers and phases where they get obsessed with animals? Like, I get that some of the first words we teach kids are that the dog goes bark and the cat meows, but should that really inspire an entire preoccupation with running a rabbit farm out of one’s apartment? I don’t think so. But hey, if anyone has a pet rabbit, I know of a small child who would absolutely love to come visit.”

It sounds about right – Izzy’s the type of boyfriend who wants to singlehandedly take away Cams’ pain. It’s very sweet and makes Cameron feel validated in his suffering while also completely supported for the duration of time they get to spend together, tucked away from the world. He kind of wants that now, to just collapse into a bed and wrap himself up in his Izzy’s arms. The thought draws him out of the present moment enough so that he’s blinking owlishly at Gray at the invitation. Tea? Coffee? For once, it appears that Cameron’s not completely failed at the small talk of standard social interactions and he’s actually being invited someplace instead of left to his own devices. “Yeah! Um, I mean, that’d be… it’d be nice. Tea, please?” he answers, taking every word seriously despite the light tone that may imply otherwise. He genuinely would spend a day inspecting bathroom rails if it meant the chance for a conversation with someone outside his friend group while, simultaneously, drawing him away from another chance encounter with Aiden.

He keeps his eyes trained on the mottled skin, not wanting to look up to visualize the worry he can definitely hear in Gray’s voice. It’s not misplaced – he supposes, backtracking or not, the injuries do look pretty frightening on the surface and he’d hit the ground hard. Cammy allows him his moment before lifting slightly unfocused blues onto the features of his current companion. “Okay…” he agrees after a long pause, hands dropping back down to his sides. “I just…” he’s kinda hit the wall when it came to things to say without belaboring the point and he flushes at his own inability to converse normally. He supposes he could blame it on the crackles of anxiety he feels constantly flickering in his peripheral senses. Maybe him and Izzy could move? “My boyfriend’s gonna be so worried,” he whispers first before repeating it, a bit louder. “If you’re worried, I bet he will be t-too, huh?” It’s not exactly the best conversation prompt in the world but he’s trying.

“You know, that doesn’t sound like too bad an idea. My boyfriend might be a little confused but I’m s-sure he’d help me out.” Now that he’s labeled it, it’s almost as though Cameron can’t stop saying the word. It’s a lot less scary coming out to near-strangers when he’s got a boyfriend as lovely as Isaac. “They’re, I mean, it’s not so bad.” The person stood before him looks far more worse for wear though Cammy would never dare say as much. He’s hardly in any position to be complaining about a few banged up bones. Has he gotten them checked out? Yeah, by my ex. He wants to respond in a monotone, the chilling encounter still fresh in his mind. Instead of unloading his personal baggage onto the kindly unassuming stranger, he lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “No, I guess I – do they really look that awful?” He’s a bit fretful now, turning a worried gaze down onto the swelling of reds and blues.

Lucian was hanging outside the building, the last bit of a cigarette dangling from his lips. The wisps of smoke curled up as he took it from his mouth, and dropped it to the ground, snuffing it out with the toe of his shoe. It was decompressing, but it was also a new place– one with new, well, customers. Definitely a few of his neighbors. His eyes scanned the area, before resting his eyes on someone just approaching the building. Lucian put on his best smile, and immediately strode over to the other tenant, an air of confident around him. “Hello! Hi, I think you might live in the same building as me, but you see, when I came out to have a cigarette, I think I have might have left my keys in the apartment.” That was a lie, but no one could tell with him any longer. The language that explained that long since repressed. “Do you think maybe you could let me in? Sorry to be a bother. The name’s Lucian Baz.”

“It’s no wonder I never went very far with, um, sports after middle school. I’m so terribly uncoordinated, I’ve managed to injure myself in the shower of all places.” He rubs his elbows with a hint of a pout; it’s too warm or else he’d have them covered up most definitely. “They really ought to put a warning on those things – watch your step or slippery when wet or something.” It’s a well orchestrated fib, or at least he thinks so. At least the swelling has gone down.

Being watched is one of Jacob’s favorite hobbies (at least when he chooses to be in the spotlight) so it’s no surprise that he’s living under Gray’s microscope. At the point of his comment a small shiver runs down Jacob’s spine-— it just sounds so sincere. He’s used to empty compliments used as passes to get what they want, but the words coming out of Gray’s mouth are all so different. He actually means them.

When he sees a blush begin to crawl across Gray’s face he almost feels accomplished. He loves getting reactions out of people and this one means even more to him for some reason. “Nowhere near as beautiful as yours-— and I’m nowhere near drunk enough to be admitting shit like that.” He laughs again, ordering another drink for himself, and then looking over his shoulder at Gray. “You want something?” He’s noticed all that the other is drinking was water, but didn’t feel the need to comment on it-— people drink what they drink and he doesn’t want to barge into anyone else’s business. 

A wave of relief hits him. Thank God he doesn’t know who he is. There was this hidden anxiety deep in his brain that maybe Gray did know who he is and what he does. And that he’s just trying to get some for the night. Now that he’s reassured himself that isn’t the case he feels much better. “No, no. But I do sound an awful lot like Beyonce in the shower.”

Gray is extremely flirtatious by nature, and sometimes his words aren’t sincere. However, that’s only with close personal friends whom he knows his flirting will be entirely lost on -- it’s playful, it’s teasing, and it’s never to meet any sort of beneficial end for himself. He’s only ever honest when he’s flirting with someone he actually has a genuine interest in, and he thinks Jake’s smile is beyond breath taking. It gives him the strangest urge to lean in and investigate it, nudge his nose against the corner curl of his mouth and brush his lips to the bow of it. 

There’s a little giggle pulling from him then, a soft tinkling sound to mingle with his flushed cheeks. He’s very flattered by the compliment, even if he doesn’t believe it. It isn’t for feeling self conscious (he doesn’t), but rather that in a comparison, Jake’s smile would win any time. “Roughly how drunk does admitting something like that require, usually?” he’s being cheeky, but he’s also a little curious. “Oh... just a water, thanks,” he can’t drink, and he won’t push his body that way. If Jake finds it strange, he’s welcome to ask him about it. He’s an open book for the most part. 

The voice of someone speaking to him only made him groan even though someone seeing what his deal was, was to be expected. After all he was in the middle of the sidewalk. At least it wasn’t move or some sort of name that would cause him to opened his eyes in a hurry and snap back. Hell, that is what he would do. The rays of the sun was burning and the ground was actually pretty hope, but that didn’t make him want to move. No, he wanted to stay down there for just a little while longer. “I don’t know. I mean i am laying on the ground, the hot ground, how alight can i actually be.” he replied promptly after the groan. 

Ricklyn was tried, a bit to tired to be out and about at the moment but he needed to get things for his mother and brother. No, this time it wasn’t work that had him tired. It was actually his sister, who he just got off the phone arguing with. He would never understand how she could be so selfish knowing what he has to do to help, but at the end if the day he knew that if he could do what she was doing he would. Hell, he even tried to, but sometimes dreams come true and then are crushed. At the moment he just gave up. His leg didn’t want to move anymore or maybe it was just his mind telling him to just lay down. So he did. Right where he was he just laid down, arms and legs spread out wide. It could have looked like he fell out, the dramatic way he just fell down, but he was okay. His eyes closed and he let out a sigh.