Lee Daniels is the name

“That’s… Really sweet. Most people like getting things for free, but aren’t so willing to do something for free. Gotta love youtube, it’s the idiot’s guide to everything - explains why I use it so often.” Biting her lip to hide a smile at his expression, she gestured towards his face. “Like that, but more intense. Honestly I kind of get why people think it’s weird. The first time someone tried to teach me, I went into a panic cause it doesn’t seem like humans should bend that way.” 

Lee shrugged. “I would’ve liked it when I was learning, why not give it to someone else, ya know?” And its not like he needed the money. He was making enough money doing shows. “That sounds so terrifying. Like what if your body just... snaps, or something? What do you do?” It was a morbid thought, but a legitimate one.

Elliot mumbled a oft thank you to the other, her hands still resting against the table even as she sat. “Are you sure? I don’t want to like disrupt your alone time or anything like that.” She smiled warmly.

Lee shook his head. “Nah. I get enough alone time. Its nice to have some company.” He held his hand out and introduced himself. “I’m Danny. And you are?” He had no idea why he’d chosen to introduce himself as his stage name. He wasn’t performing, and when he was in his hometown, it made no sense to go under that name.

       ‘ I THINK I WILL TOO  ’      a court summons … she bites her lip.    adding another thing to her criminal record probably wasn’t the smartest idea.       though compared to punching a guy  & getting deported,    it was nothing.      she smiles menacingly as the male digs himself in to a bigger hole,    ‘ you   REALLY  should  —  but at least you recognise that. ’   now she didn’t need to kick him too.

Lee wanted to laugh at her reaction. Nobody liked going to court. He had to admit, her confidence was making her hotter, but he had to remind himself that he had a girlfriend. What a horrible boyfriend he was. “Noted. I’m done talking... Anything else you wanna say?”

“Do you miss it? Not that focusing on music is a bad thing but… you can still miss something even if the alternative is better, right?” And that was exactly why she really should think what she said through, it would surely cut down on the rambling she was prone to. “Practice makes perfect? I already have a few party tricks though, and all I need is to twist into some position most people wince at.” 

“Yeah, I do. A lot. I was thinking of maybe doing some lessons again, but for free. Since I know a lot of people can’t afford guitar lessons. I sure couldn’t. Thank you, youtube.” Lee himself winced, probably mimicking the faces she’d seen. “I’m sorry, what? I’m so scared to ask to see one of these positions.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m okay! Don’t worry, I’m all good.” Elliot rushed out, smiling over at the other. “That really would be nice, thank you. I’m sorry to be such a bother, I hope I ave interrupted you doing anything.”

“Okay...” She sounded sure of herself, but Lee didn’t feel confident about that. “Here, just sit down here.” He tried to guide her to the seat in front of his, and waited until she was seated before he spoke again. “No, you weren’t interrupting anything.” He gave her a (hopefully) reassuring smile.

                “it’s a youtube red series, we’re on season 2 of it but it’s about the different lives of kids in l.a. they all reside in different parts and have different status’ but they all connect through a deadly game. it’s like nerve but you have to play and once you play, you can leave unless you die.” he shrugged, but griffin loved his projects they were something he held close to him. “it was okay. booze, hook ups, fights — everything you’d expect from a halston house party.” levi was a cool guy but he didn’t really interest griffin that much. “have you considered any schools?”

“Holy shit, that’s so cool. Terrifying, but really cool. I’ll have to check it out.” Lee didn’t have youtube red, but he’d buy a subscription if all the shows on it were as good as that one sounded. “It’s expected, but its also fun drama. Well... I guess its not fun for the people involved in the drama. Um, no, not really. I didn’t particularly like school,” Probably because he was only in an actual school for 6 years before he stopped going. “And I’m not too interested in going back to one.”

“What are you talking about? I regularly quote Spanish Buzz in conversations? Are you telling me that it isn’t the most relatable thing ever?” She gasped, sarcasm evident in her voice. Not that she was anywhere near fluent in the language, but that fact didn’t need to be said. “Really? Is giving people lessons a normal thing that you do? That trick does look cool, I tried once but ended up hitting myself in the head, so… I didn’t try again.” 

Lee laughed. “You’re right, it is relatable.” He nodded his head, trying to hide his excitement. If there was anything he loved more than making music, it was teaching it. “I used to, before I moved. Then I did it for a little while in L.A but I wanted to focus more on music. The trick takes a couple tries, but you get it. You just have to try it again. That way, next time you have to show off any cool tricks at a party, you can just whip out your sticks, and do it.”

“most people who leave their hometown left it for a reason. they don’t really want to come back for more than the holiday season,” she commented, though she shouldn’t just let his words stand. “i’m barely a city girl and i always tell people i am whenever they ask why i wanna leave halston. i like it here, but the view of skyscrapers is so much better,” she said softly. “o-oh, i wish i only smoked on off days. i have a wax pen, so that shit is basically an everyday thing. it’s terrible,” she added, “that’s good though– work is a good way to keep busy. stops me from acting a fool too often.”

“I left for work. Came back for work. Nothing wrong with Halston.” Lee smiled. There were some things wrong with Halston, honestly that list could go on forever. “I try to come back as much as possible, cause I know my family misses me more than they let on. I can agree with you there, the city is much nicer to look at. All those lights.” He sighed. “Okay, I was downplaying it so I didn’t seem like some sort of pothead. Its an everyday thing for me too, even when I’m working. In my defense though, some good work comes from being high.”

         ‘   FRANKLY,     i don’t care what he likes.  ’      she liked living in a world that wasn’t doomed to be under water in the future.    that   rich asshole   doesn’t seem to care about that.  okay,  maybe it wasn’t the best idea to kick the mans car.    violence tends to go against everything she believes in    &   it was    kind of    the reason she wasn’t in bali right now.   the thought alone made her sad.       ‘   cute …   am i a puppy or  something?  ’  

“I think you’ll care when he sends you a check for “damage to his car”, or a court summons.” Lee shrugged. It was a bit of an exaggeration; he doubted the guy who the car belonged to was even watching them right now. “Okay, cute maybe wasn’t the right word. You are kind of hot, but that is completely inappropriate and I should stop talking now.”

vulcan: have you seen my car keys? i can’t find them anywhere and i gotta get to work.

vulcan: are u home?

lee: no and no

lee: i dont live with u anymore, remember?

“If you’re able to quote any movie, Toy Story is a decent pick. I mean ‘oh great, great, yeah and if anyone attacks us, we can blink them to death’ is a great line. Probably not one that’s gonna come in useful a lot, but still.” She finished with a shrug. “Seems kind of complicated to me. Maybe anyone who teaches people how to play drums, makes sure that the person is cool first.”  

“I was thinking more of when Buzz spoke Spanish, which you can’t use in any conversation but its funny. Even funnier when they don’t speak Spanish.” Lee laughed out loud. He loved to confuse people whenever he spoke Spanish. “If you ever need any help, I’d be happy to teach you. Oh, definitely. When my friend wanted to teach me, one of the first things he taught me was that spinning drumstick trick. I definitely looked cool.”

       ‘    WHO’S CAR IS THIS?!   ’    words full of rage,    lou puts her hands through her hair in stress.     she stands on the curb as if it were her own personal soap box.     a car beside her wearing a clear green sticker on the windscreen,    ‘   newsflash:   putting an     i care about the environment    sticker on a mercedes benz ? — ’    she gestures to the vehicle,    though no one is paying enough attention to notice.    ‘ is like putting a cow on the logo for a steakhouse.  ’    hands on her hips,     she stares back at the item of interest.    next thing she knows,    her foot slips  &  hits the bumper.     ‘  my bad. ’   okay maybe she kicked it on purpose.     

Lee didn’t know what to say as he watched the woman talk. Or rather yell. He decided it might be nice to say something when he watched her kick someone’s car. “Hey, uh, its not my car, but I don’t think its safe to kick it. The owner of that car is some rich asshole and I don’t think he’ll like you kicking his car. No matter how cute you are.” He wished he could slap himself for saying that last sentence. It was not appropriate.

    ❛ good to know. i’ll keep that in mind. ❜    she let her lips curl into a smile before she teetered on her feet.     ❛ have you talked to v since you’ve been back ? ❜   

Lee tried to keep his smirk from showing, but failed horribly. “We hung out a couple times... Why do you ask?”

“Oh lots, like the ability to quote Disney movies at the weirdest moments. Playing guitar is pretty cool, isn’t that one of those talents that everyone wants to have? That and drums - neither of which I can play. Well… I can’t play them well at least.” 

“I can quote maybe three Disney movies. And all three of them are the Toy Story movies...” Lee frowned. Was Toy Story even a Disney movie? “Well, yeah. But its not that hard to learn so I don’t find it that cool. But drums are really cool. I’ve never met anyone who played drums that wasn’t cool.”

It had been a bit of a day for Elliot. Deadlines had stressed her out, she’d been working on her first ever dress commission for someone and on top of that she’d had a disgusting feeling of dizziness and fatigue dragging her down all day. She dumped her stuff down on the table closest to her, her hands steadying herself as she felt her head reel. “I’m sorry…” She mumbled, eyes finding the person at the table and shooting them a gentle smile. “Just felt a bit dizzy for a moment.”

Lee shook his head and stood up. “No, its fine. Are you okay?” He walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked like she was ready to faint, and Lee didn’t feel confident that he could do much for her if she did. “Do you wanna just sit down for a minute?”

“Sounds like a pretty good friend. Showing people good food is the best show of friendship that there is.” Chuckling as she finished, she gave a half-shrug at the next words. “That’s what I’m here for - to come up with reasons why you should never feel guilty for eating too much food. It’s a talent really.” 

“That is a good talent. Any other talents you have? My only ones are playing guitar, and I guess making music? Don’t think they’re nearly as cool as giving people a good reason to be unhealthy.”

“i suppose they do have some things in common. but halston is about a million times smaller, but that’s not always a bad thing,” she shrugged. max liked the familiarity of halson, but sometimes how connected everyone was drove her crazy. “yeah that’s pretty much it. work and spending time with my family.”

Lee nodded. “It’s not. It was nice to come back to Halston every so often, so that I didn’t get too bored of Los Angeles. That... doesn’t get boring? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a family and work kind of guy. All I do is work. But you don’t didn’t do anything wild and for yourself? Do something no one would expect from you?”