go dumb shit

When's your birthday?

cute.  the  word  loomed  over  her  head  like  a  cloud.  not  one  threatening  to  spill  rain  or  contribute  to  lighting  strikes  across  the  skies.  one  that  half  blocked  the  sun,  the  kind  of  cloud  that  everyone  wanted  to  go  away  so  the  sun  could  come  out  and  play.  surprisingly,  lucy  liked  the  cloud  blocking  the  sun,  just  as  she  seemed  to  like  the  idea  of  being  described  as  cute.  the  corners  of  her  lips  threatened  to  pull  upward,  recounting  the  other  words  scott  had  seemed  to  call  her  when  they  spent  their  night  together.  something  along  the  lines  of  pet  names,  but  the  memory  had  been  faded,  along  with  her  drunken  state  that  night.  

With his gaze focused keenly on Lucy's lips, watching as they pursed and pouted, it took a second for him register what actually came out of her mouth. Scott blinked in surprise at the attitude switch up, swiveling slightly to watch as the brunette made it a few steps farther down the sidewalk without him, only her prompting jumpstarting him into motion. "Oh, yes, ma'am, right away," he answered with another low chuckle as he turned to catch up. He was tempted to tease her again, in usual Scott fashion, and say something along the lines of not remembering her being this bossy in bed, but refrained instead. He could play nice sometimes. He quickly fell into step beside Lucy, matching her pace while she took the lead. "So... you do actually remember my name, right?" he asked after a beat, unwilling to settle into any awkward silence for long. Scott adjusted his grip on the box full of old vinyl records. "You're not gonna hit me with a 'bye, Seth!' when you drop me off at the shop?"

She watched him come to terms with whatever it was he was trying to say — 'you alright, Scott?' was on the tip of her tongue when all was placed. Placebo effect. "Oh baby, no." Micah took another quick pull from the joint, let it sit. "That kid was probably, most definitely high as fuck." Sorry to it. "But what's worse? Au natural or . . . fiber glass particles?" Cigarettes, so much worse. "—did you do that? Act drunk off the wine in spaghetti sauce stuff?"

'Huh' was telegraphed across Scott's face, slowly coming to terms with the reality of contact highs being legit before he snapped out of it, scoffing and adamantly denying, "Pssh, no, no -- no way! I was never that dumb." Perhaps a little too adamant there. "... buuut there may have been a barbeque where I got a little overzealous sippin' on a ginger beer." He'd most definitely thought it was alcoholic and that he was getting away with something. Scott's nose scrunched, cringing for his child self as he relived the moment. "But the bottle was green! It looked like a Heineken!" he said in his own defense, raising his beer to take a drink now.

"This flat ass hasn't gotten any complaints yet," he countered with an undercurrent of laughter, glancing back in Mitchell's direction before adding on, "and neither has my love life." Although that wasn't quite as true. Scott was well-versed in the art of explosive breakups and anonymous hookups more than he was at keeping any steady relationship alive for more than a few weeks. With the current state of his life, he just wasn't cut out for anything serious. "Is that why you're out here dog walking?" Scott asked, nudging Cujo along as the trail came to a steeper incline, encouraging the dog ahead when he was trying to play with Cheesecake instead of walking forward. "Trying to score points with this blind dude?"

Madison enjoyed hiking for two reasons, the first is because it kept her in shape for her job at Sirens so she would always look good and two it was a distraction and she could escape with her thoughts. She had been thinking of adopting a dog to join her and share her love with, the nights could get lonely when she couldn't sleep. She was on a trail with her airpods on when a dog came out of nowhere and came running to her. It was a cute beagle and it clearly belonged to someone. ''Let's find your owner huh?'' Madison smiled and got the pup to follow her. She frowned as it started to rain but she was determined, relieved when she saw a male figure not far from her. ''Hey! Is this cutie yours?'' She yelled out to him.

Scott's head turned, perking up (ironically enough) much like a dog would to hearing its name being called. He jogged ahead a ways, catching sight of the stranger through the thick stripes of redwoods that lined the winding hiking trails. His shoulders slouched in relief when he spotted Cujo sitting at her feet, nonplussed and going at an itch behind his ear. "Something like that, yeah," he answered, exhaling a chuckle like they were both in on an inside joke. "I'm more of a glorified dog-sitter right now, so I woulda been in some deep shit if I didn't find him. Thanks for catching him." Scott crouched, scrubbing the top of Cujo's head affectionately while slyly sliding his collar back on, careful to tighten it an extra notch.

Hiking was... fine. It could be fun, honestly! If you were headed out to a sweet camping spot, or maybe only out for an hour, but he and Nilay had long since passed the two hour mark, and Scott was beginning to wish he'd brought his earbuds along so he didn't have to rawdog the sounds of nature. "Please," he scoffed, having never in his life 'taken five' on anything, although he couldn't deny that he'd been dragging his feet and lagging behind Nilay. He glanced over, eyes narrowing into a telling squint at the sight of their smug look. "If I wasn't still getting over a cold, I'd be smokin' you right now," Scott argued, a joking grin pulling at his lips before he continued, ample showmanship oozing into his tone, "In fact... race you to that redwood!" He was three strides ahead before he'd even finished the declaration, running up the path ahead of Nilay.

It was just beginning to rain in earnest when Scott caught the sound of someone presumably calling back to him. His direction shifted, helpfully turning down a fork in the path, relieved when he almost immediately spotted the stranger in the distance, beside not just a bicycle but Cujo. The dog perked up at the sight of him, seemingly unphased by the rain as he clomped back towards him. "Cujo," Scott exhaled in clear exasperation, head shaking as he bent to get the collar back on the canine as quick as possible, "why you always gotta pull stunts like this, huh?" Standing straight again, Scott narrowly missed a happy lick from the pup, thankful smile turned back to the other. "He didn't run you off the path or anything, did he?" he asked, gaze quickly scanning both him and his bike for injury or damages. "I swear he's gonna cause a ten-car pile-up one of these days."

"Scottie, Scottie," she tsks as he meets her where she stands with an obedient beagle lying by her feet. Despite being very much a "cat mom," she did have a way with animals since she was a child. Far more palatable than dealing with human beings every day. Ellie was out on her usual Sunday stroll. It started out by the harbor, but with all the thoughts filtering through her head, she found her way out on the trails. Her phone off, with no one to bother her but the birds in the trees and the rustling of leaves by a passing creature, it was peaceful. "How dare you let Cujo out of your sight! I thought you to be better than that," she smirks as she bends down to rub the belly of the beagle. "Better clear out before we get trapped in the storm."

Ellie's scolding tone had Scott almost immediately rolling his eyes. It was a truly dramatic display, with his head cocking back and to the side, long strides slowing to a molasses-like crawl for those last few yards to meet her. "Cut me a little slack here, I'm a first time pet parent," he argued in his own defense, watching as the blonde reached down to dote upon Cujo. Scott wrinkled his nose at the doofy dog, watching as he wriggled happily and showed off more of his belly, tongue lolling -- the traitor. Ellie was probably right about the weather, summertime cloudbursts the most temperamental, but as he crouched to reaffix (and tighten) Cujo's leash and collar, he glanced over with a teasing squint to quip, "What, scared of a little rain?" He was prepared to pose a triple dog dare like they were kids again.

she  wasn’t  entirely  prepared  to  run  into  scott  so  soon.  lucy  did  not  mean  to  ignore  him  on  purpose  or  forget  to  call  him;  in  fact,  she  wasn’t  entirely  sure  if  she  had  his  number  saved.  either  way,  the  guilt  settled  in  her  stomach  at  the  sight  of  his  boyish  grin,  her  chest  tightening.  scarce.  she  had  never  been  described  as  such,  which  only  made  her  laugh.  a  soft  chuckle,  one  hidden  behind  the  curve  of  her  palm,  the  crinkles  around  her  eyes  evident.  “miss  me  already?”  she  teased,  eyebrows  shooting  up  in  a  mocking  expression.  it  was  sarcastic,  of  course,  as  lucy  was  well  aware  her  hookups  never  really  missed  her.  they  mainly  thought  of  her  once  in  a  blue  moon,  when  they  were  feeling  lonely  or  just  ended  a  relationship.  but,  she  supposed  this  was  under  different  circumstances.  lucy  never  ran  into  the  people  she  slept  with  unless  she  sought  them  out…but  it  seemed  the  universe  wanted  to  laugh  at  her  a  bit. “scarce  is  a  weird  to  describe  me.  though,  i’d  probably  aim  for  mysterious,  gorgeous,  perhaps  a  bit  weird.”  she  scrunched  her  nose  up  at  him,  crossing  her  arms  over  her  chest.  “what…what  are  you  doing  on  this  side  of  town  anyways?”  curiosity  crept  up  her  spine,  her  gaze  shifting  over  scott’s  form.  

His smile softened and widened, relaxing into it as Lucy's shielded bout of laughter hit him. "Something like that, yeah," he confessed, paired with a casual, jerking shrug of his shoulder. She'd been on his mind, in a passing sort of consciousness, but he couldn't say that 'weird' had been a descriptor he thought of for her. Unknown and exciting, yes, but also -- "Cute not on that little list of yours?" he chirped in another quick tease, watching the bunny-like wrinkle of her nose before her question brought him more into the present again.

This was certainly not the first time Cujo had done his disappearing act and somehow wound up in the arms of Saylor. In Tule Bay, the dog seemed almost magnetized to Foggy Bottom, dashing away from the Grainger residence to sniff around the trailer park, intent to chase the roaming stray cats or sniff around flowerbeds. It made sense that he'd wind up finding Saylor here, too. "And I'm starting to think you're luring him away on purpose," he told them, brows raising and eyes obviously tracking the other's reach into their pocket. Scott didn't much mind if Cujo got extra treats or even got a little chubby. A part of him was still stubbornly refusing to admit that he was the dog's owner now, trying to keep him at arm's length. Rather than interrupt their bonding session, Scott offered the collar and leash to Saylor. "I'm surprised to see you all the way out here, man. Feelin' introspective?"

he'd heard the excited yips of cujo before even seeing him, a fond smile crossing his features as the small dog came running up to him, ears flopping and tongue wagging. it didn't register until he was already on his knees, fingers scratching behind his ears in greeting, that his owner was missing, no sign of scott alongside his supposedly faithful companion - although, as the fog settled along the tree-line, he could hear faint yelling. "guess you got a bit too enthusiastic, didn't you?" his eyes rolled fondly, head shaking in amusement as he led the dog towards what he hoped was scott's voice - not wanting to extend his worry any more. it didn't take long until the other man came into view, his own concern eased as cujo bolted back towards scott as if he'd never abandoned him in the first place. "i swear i had no intentions of dognapping - he just came barreling up to me."

Cujo tore up gravel as he raced back towards him, circling Scott with excited leaps as if their reunion was a total coincidence of fate. "Trust," he started with a breathless laugh, nudging Cujo's muddy paws off his knees to crouch and slip his collar back on, "you would have a way easier time dognapping him back at the house. Around here he's liable to lead you off trail and straight into Bigfoot's lair." Scott's gaze lifted to grin at Adem, palm slicking down Cujo's coat with a few solid pats to calm the dog before he was standing straight again. He gesture ahead, back beyond the other while asking, "Were you still headed up before he caught you, or going back down?" Leash firmly in hand, he was suddenly in less of a rush, never one to be outshone in athleticism. Scott liked to pretend he didn't have a competitive streak, but Adem had probably picked up on it after all of their 'casual' runs together.

closed starter with @scottgrainger | location: streets of old cascade | when: mid-afternoon on a warm day

The collision was his fault, really. He'd not only come to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk, but stooped to set a box at his feet and then frown at his phone, fruitlessly trying to figure out where the hell he was going. You would think after living in Cascade for all his life he'd already know where the record store was, but a place called Bigfoot's Scratch didn't exactly call to him. So, when someone inevitably faceplanted into his chest, Scott answered with an oof! and a steadying hand catching the other's arm before they could go tumbling.

Where: The Niner Who: anyone! @cascadestarter When: Later Evening

"Are contact highs even real," Scott began to muse, eyes slowly narrowing to a thoughtful squint, "or is it all just, y'know..." - subliminal? No, that wasn't right. He continued to fish for the word, finger swirling beside his temple, coming close to admitting that he was maybe (definitely) tilting a little too deep into crossfaded territory before it clicked and his face lit up brightly. "Placebo! The placebo effect. It's just that, right? Like when you tell a kid there's wine in the pasta sauce, so they're laughing their ass off during dinner and shit."

It was somewhere between Mary and Minnie that he realized it was Mitchell shouting back to him from around the bend. Instantly, Scott's tense shoulders relaxed, practically snorting as his eyes rolled in exasperation. Sure enough, there they were, the pair of promised canines and his friend trotting along back to him on the trail. "I wouldn't put it past you," he answered with a slanted smile that veered towards a smirk. "C'mere, you little shithead -- not, you, the dog," Scott joked, glancing at Mitchell before he crouched to slip the collar back on Cujo, tightening it just a notch to be sure they'd make it back to the car. "How far did you guys go?" He asked, not at all inviting an extension of the hike, already turning to head backwards along the winding path, but now with company. "I'm feelin' like I spent my whole damn morning out here."