SCOPAESTHESIA

location: some bar

status: open

“listen to me i know i have been here for hours doing work at this point,” she said pushing her laptop in front of her talking to the bartender that was refusing to get her another drink even though she only has had one drink because she was so distracted with her work at this point. resting her elbows on the bar top and intertwining her fingers she tilted her head having a staredown with the other. “just get me another drink and i’ll be out of your hair. i just need to finish this next statement for work. trust me it will be like i was never here.” she said before turning to the other next to her. “won’t you tell him that? i’ll leave. i swear. i just want one more drink and do my work in peace.” 

Gideon was not as notorious as Cora for working past regular business hours, however, she seemed to enhance his habit of answering emails past 6pm. As she tapped away on her laptop he found himself staring at the same glass of whiskey for over 30 minutes. Highly unusual. The bartender had become fairly annoyed with the lack of buying that had been going on. “As much fun as it is to watch you on your laptop,” Gideon began, turning to face Cora as she continued to work, “I don’t see the need for me to be here.” He managed to get the ever-so-irritated bartender back over, ordering another for himself and then whatever weird beverage Cora had been drinking. “Why do you always pick bars for this? The coffee shop trope get old?”

 open.

  “Okay I can explain I totally s–” She stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that it wasn’t one of her bosses glancing over her paperwork. God if she had to admit the selling of her translations it’d be an… interesting conversation. The raven haired let out a sigh and moved closer to them, “–always digging nose into German folk lore?” Brow lifting up as she swiped the papers out of their hands. “You know some people kill for this knowledge, you know how long it took just to get the originals here.”

Elaine was always up to something that was far beyond the scope of Gideon’s minimal knowledge, so naturally, he was always being nosy about it. For a man who could barely read half of the English things he needed to read, it was faintly amusing for him to be glossing over pages that were written in German. “Are you one of those people?” He inquired and pulled his glasses away from his face. “You kill someone for these papers? Is that why they took so long to get here?”

“Who doesn’t have an ex that has fucked them over? One of my ‘favorite’ exes threw me into the back of a cop car and decided to use that opportunity as a platform to talk about how great she is and how it’s “not a surprise” that I’d be in the back of a cop car. I think she forgot about all of the bullshit stunts she pulled while we were together. Like setting my truck on fire and letting all of the horses loose on the town.” 

"Not anymore. I’ve gotten my stupid routine down now.” 

“Well, who hasn’t? I mean, I don’t try to make a habit out of it but... I can’t say that it’s never happened.” 

acai berry: what is something you’ve always wanted to try but have been too scared to?

“Not sure, I’ve done a lot of shit in my life that’s gotten out of hand. Maybe one day I’ll go home.” 

bay rum: if you drink, do you have self control with it? “Now? Yeah. Maybe not so much twenty-some years ago, though.”

ivy: what are three albums that really define you or have shaped you as a person?

“Three albums? I’ll make it short and say probably anything Hank Williams Jr ever did.” 

acai berry: what is something you’ve always wanted to try but have been too scared to?

aloe botanic: are you always up to date on the latest fashion trends? do you switch up your look often?

bay rum: if you drink, do you have self control with it?

cilantro: describe the perfect dinner.

earth: what is your strongest personality quality?

egyptian musk: how do you respond to people flirting with you? do you enjoy it?

forest rain: how long do you think you could survive in the wilderness?

french vanilla: what does love feel like to you?

fresh cut grass: when the weather is warm, what activities do you do outside?

ginger lily: do you think you have maternal instincts? if someone needs to be taken care of, do you take up the task?

honeydew: describe an ideal day out with a friend.

ivy: what are three albums that really define you or have shaped you as a person?

lavender: do take therapeutic baths after a long day? if so, what do you put in them?

lemon verbana: do you believe in "forgive and forget"?

passion flower: when you have a crush on someone, how do you show it?

patchouli: if you could only keep five possessions, what would they be?

pine needles: how do you break bad news to someone?

plum blossom: how do you dance to your favorite song?

rain: is it easy for you to bounce back after being sad? do you hang on to your sadness?

sage: if you could give someone one piece of life advice, what would it be?

sea mist: how would your friends describe you?

She could tell he was debating something, probably whether he should have lied to her about who he was but considering how most people knew everyone else on the island, she would have found out eventually. “Mmhmm” she said, giving him a serious look as he launched into some clarification, something about not being a landscaper and she couldn’t help but have a little fun and tease him a bit. “So I should delete my tweet recommending you for everyone’s landscaping needs?” Cass asked, eyebrows raising, her lips turning up at the corner in a coy smirk. “Scouts honor, I won’t tell anyone you’re helping me out.” She said with a soft laugh, a possible promise hidden in her words but only there to be broken if she felt like it. “I wouldn’t exactly say they’re dead, but…maybe?” Walking over to him, Cass held out her phone with a picture of the current situation on the balcony. A lot of plants in various stages of life and death.

Gideon rolled his eyes at her little joke before muttering to himself idly as she walked over. He glanced at the photo on her phone and his brows instantly furrowed. Many of the plants in the photo were just dead and others were well on their way to a Rubbermaid grave to be picked up with the rest of the garbage. He glanced between her and the photo a few more times for good measure before shrugging his shoulders. “Alright, well, I’m impressed by how many of them are dead and dying.” His brows rose as he thought and he scratched the back of his head before sighing. “Alright, what... uh, are you looking to do with this space? Do you want a lot of green? Flowers? Or do you want it to be functional like a vegetable garden? I mean, you got space but it’s gonna have to be cleaned up and sorted out before you get anything else in there.” 

“Don’t blame Donna,” Cass couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard that and it gave her a small sense of….maybe, happiness? ( she wasn’t sure ) that he felt the same way about random people approaching him. “You guess?” she repeated, giving him a once over. “I promise I don’t bite and I pay well if you are, in fact, this famed Gideon.” She found money was a great driving force around here. “I’ve pretty much moved into the top floor of the Bella Donna and I think the plantlife out on the balcony could use some help. I was hoping you’d be my hero since you are, well, the plant guy.”

He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth as he silently weighed the options of suddenly not being Gideon. The option of just saying he wasn’t and sending her after someone else whilst he made his escape was tempting and the route he truly wanted to go. However, his better judgment escaped him. “Alright, let’s get one thing straight here,” he began and waved a hand at her. “Before you go around telling more people about this, this is not my day job. I’m not a landscaper or any of that shit. Now, do you know what you got out on your balcony? And is it dying or just straight-up dead?”

"I wouldn’t say it was necessarily something I liked about myself, but it was definitely something that was part of me. I had this thing with a girl in college and, well, she wanted this perfect husband type. I tried that route out for maybe a month and a half before we broke up. The husband routine wasn’t really my thing and the night we broke up I got handcuffed and thrown into the back of a cop car late by an exr. So I guess she made the right call.”

Sky: Do you read smut/watch porn?

“Regularly? No. Maybe when I was sixteen.”

Electric: Do you prefer lingerie to regular underwear?

“Depends. Is this a special occasion?”

Sapphire: When was the last time you had sex?

“Really getting into it, huh? It’s been an amount of time. I’ll say 3.”

“I don’t got that much time, you heathens.” 

“Oh, no. No marriage. Won’t be having any of that, thanks.” 

Cobalt: Rough or soft?

“If you want to get all serious we can go slow, but...”