comfort in darkness.

Closed: @sidthorne

Paperwork was the worst part of agreeing to start a record label with his fellow musician friends. A necessary evil is what they all tended to call it, something they had to do in order to reap and spread the benefits of having a label that catered to their needs somewhere other than Los Angeles or New York City. He almost forgot he had a meeting with Azra that day until she greeted him. "Oh, hey!" Sid was actually really happy to see her because it meant he got to procrastinate even further with the added benefit of it being for a good reason.

Anyone who saw Sid and Colton together probably thought them an interesting pair. Where Colton was all sunshine and rainbows, Sid was storm clouds and heavy metal music. They didn't really make sense as friends but something about a shared experience of addiction really brought people together. If it hadn't been for Sid's mentoring, Colton really didn't know where he'd be right about now. "Now how you gonna say you don't love the sunshine? It's good for you! Get that vitamin d, my guy." He slapped Sid on the back and laughed as he shook his head and looked back out at the street fair and people mulling around. "I'm alright. Had a tough few days honestly last week but I kept myself busy and it's been okay since then." There were few people that Colton would talk so candidly about his struggles with but Sid was one of them. He understood.

"I'm not a fucking plant. I don't need sun, plus ultra violet rays cause cancer. That's why there's supplements, bud." Which Sid needed to get better about taking but that was not the point. There was no way he was about to admit there was any benefit to walking around under a big ball of fire. Sid coughed when he patted him on the back which made him laugh because hell if it wasn't a sign he should cut back on smoking. "Those days are usually the times they say to get to meetings or give someone a call, like a sponsor or a sober friend." He quirked an eyebrow up at him and offered a smile, if there was anything the singer knew it was the difficulty of reaching out. That was what that first step was all about though, wasn't it. "These things always get to me," he motioned around the fair. "Never did like being around a bunch of people though."

"Oh so cool. But you gunna laugh at me if I tell you I also had to pull the lyrics up on google to make sure I wasn't spelling anything wrong?" In his defense, the girl was going straight to the booth at the fair to get it done. He wasn't going to make her have a tattoo that was both unreadable and spelled wrong. Brooks was so bad with names it was honestly kind of embarrassing. So one of the things his manager sat him down and made him down when he moved to Nashville was go over the names of some of the bigger players in the industry. The man holding the slushy beside him was one of those faces, but it took a few seconds for him to put the face to the name.

"No judgement here," he exhaled a quick laugh from his nose. "I'm a high school drop out and have to look up lyrics all the time. Especially if people as about the old stuff." There were a few songs he would always be able to recite off the top of his head, just by how many times he sang them. "That's why we practice right?" Otherwise the band would forget the music, or they wouldn't be in sync and he'd forget the audio queues for parts of the song. It would all be a disaster. Besides, and he was sure the other man could relate, after you've written enough songs things could get jumbled. Especially when asked to remember a random line on the spot. Even more so when it came to Brooks, he had to assume, who had extremely lyric intensive songs.

“Oh don’t even worry about that,” Emilia said quickly. “I’ve been told I’m extremely good at one way conversations.” Laughing a little bit, she leaned against the barrier they were standing by. Silently she was patting herself on the back for finding someone who apparently had a sense of humor to bother about this. Emmy had the horrifying thought that he’d tell her to fuck off and she’d have to face another twenty minutes of small talk with a man who was as interesting as a wet paper bag that her friends wanted her to date. Turning back to the stage as her new companion spoke, she snorted. “Yeah I have…honestly it’s how I’d be if I was starting a band…I couldn’t pick just one name. What one are they going with today?”

Sid let out a quick chuckle at her response. "I got two modes, one word responses and rambling on for too long." That was normally reserved for interviews and those close to him, however. It was said most of the band couldn't get a word in around him which he was trying to get better about but they never seemed to care much. "I picked out the name of my band when I was fifteen, before I even had a band." Now that he thought about it, it was kind of funny it stuck as long as it had. He paused to listen to the lead singer's intro and welcome to the small crowd that gathered. "Asteroid Cows," he answered, looking over to his new companion again. "Not an awful name for an alternative punk band, I guess." Sid shrugged because honestly what did he know? As long as the fans like it, names didn't seem to matter a ton. "What would you name yours?"

A skeptical feature graces her features as Sid speaks, before a small laugh follows as she accepts the offered treat. Chloe trusted the man, given the mentor role he’d taken on after they learned they had far more similarities than initially realized — Despite the obvious differences in outward appearance. “I’m not sure powdered donuts are the best replacement,” Chloe points out, pausing to eat the donut in question. “But I’ll let it slide this time, because these are fantastic.” The light tone doesn’t last as long as she’d hoped, when he asks about the elephant in the room. She appreciated having someone care about her well being, even if it felt strange to discuss openly. “It’s intense,” she nods, before adding a shrug. “Nothing unmanageable, you know? I just avoid bar carts and play lame carnival games instead.” Surprisingly, the street fair wasn’t too tempting — Though she had a feeling once the sun went down and kids left, it may be a different story. “I’m more worried about when I start touring again.”

"Nope, pretty certain I read a study about it. Sugar helps cure addiction." Of course now Sid was talking right out of his ass. He did plenty of reading but it wasn't about addiction or anything related to studies. Then again, he could have but he doesn't remember. "Junk food is better than regular shit anyways. Life's too short to waste on spinach." Or any other vegetable for that matter. Even though he's been forced to consume them a lot more in the past year. Apparently all the partying, fighting, and crazy stage antics caught up with him. He looked over when Chloe answered and nodded knowingly. "Yeah, it's a lot. Social events are my, what's that word," his brow furrowed and he ticked his fingers trying to remember what his therapist called it. "Trigger. I fucking hate that phrase but it's true." With both his and Juliet's positions it was kind of hard to avoid, however. "I usually hang around the music or the food." He nodded to her further concerns and sighed, motioning off to the side for her to follow him. Once away from people he handed over the rest of the donuts to her and lit up a smoke. "See," he started as he took a drag and exhaled smoke away from her. "What worked for me was coming up with an action plan. I don't go out after our set, I go say hi to any fans lingering outside and head straight to the tour bus." It had him catching shit from other bands they toured with but he didn't care about that anymore. "Then I eat, call Juliet if she's not with me or turn on some show or something till I fall asleep. The temptation is still there but not as much, you know?"

"And I think you're just being mean to yourself." He pointed out with a knowing look. His arms moved around her in return and held her tight to him. She was safe, he was safe, not a single thing could even try to get between them. Decorated hands and fingers moved slowly down her spine and up her arm. He rested his chin on top of her head, his eyes closing just a moment to relish in the warmth moving through his body that felt so much colder without her near it. "What? Me?" Sid pulled back to look at her with faux shock and offense. "Can't I just compliment my gorgeous dark goddess of a wife without there being some underlying purpose?" In her defense there was plenty of reason to worry he may have said or done something he wasn't supposed to. He had a long history of inciting fights, snapping at people, and generally being aggressive when he could have chosen to defuse a situation. "I've been off to the side, watching bands like a good boy. Promise. Only yelled at one person." Who deserved it because they were drunk and running into everyone. He grinned down at her moving in to steal another kiss then dot a few more across her jawline.

starter for: @sidthorne location: street fair

"What if someone did spit in my food, Colt, what then?" He answered in a flat tone. No one did, yet. That he knew of at least. Though he wouldn't put it past someone to do. "The only thing I like in that series is live music and even then it may be questionable." He offered the other man his fist to bump quick in greeting. Colton wasn't the worst person to have around, that optimistic attitude could be draining but he could entertain it for awhile. "How are you doin', man?" Sid did like to check in every so once and awhile. He couldn't remember when he saw Colt last but he knew he had been doing good last time they talked. "Besides being in love with the evil day star."

Wes was in his element, having a grand ole time smelling all the good food, trying some new beer, and being with Diego. However, he figured that if he was going to smoke, he should probably stand off a little to the side. "I should, could've lost it by now though," He had a habit of misplacing things even in the span of a few minutes. It was in his pocket, though. "If I'm cowboy, does that mean you're tattoo boy?" He chuckled, as he offered him the lighter.

Seemed like him and the cowboy had something in common when it came to lighters. Sid snorted a laugh and nodded. "Heard that," thankfully the man did have a lighter and his nic fit was coming to an end. He lit his cigarette and handed the lighter back over. "Cowboys have tattoos. But, I'll take it. I've been called much worse." Sid exhaled the smoke and hummed, satisfied in that moment. "Thanks, by the way. I'm Sid." He gave him a nod, because at the moment he was his favorite person in the world.

— who: anyone — when: Street Fair — where: Outside The Tin Roof

Anyone that knew Sid well enough (or hung out with him longer than an hour) knew he had a sweet tooth. He couldn't even blame it on any of his old vices, either. It had been that way ever since he could remember. When he saw the rainbow slushie things coming from the Tin Roof area, he had to go get one. Lucky for him they had it in a non-alcoholic version as well. He stuck around to watch the drag show, always a fan of the work that went into them and sometimes discovered a tip or two from them. It was rare, but it happened. Either way, he was entertained. When Brooks approached him he already recognized who he was. Though he didn't look like the type of guy who normally listened to indie rock, he most certainly did. He listened to almost everything.

She knew she should've just gone to the fair alone. But instead, Emilia found herself walking down the lanes of booths with her college friends who were insisting on finding her a date for the rest of the evening. Which would've been fine, had her friends had any sort of standards besides man with a pulse. After they started yelling to get the attention of the third man that was not Emilia's type, she melted into the crowd, grabbed a drink and tried to avoid her friends. But that plan wasn't a long term one, and she knew she'd have to get them to back off some how.

Sid frowned at first, then it melted into concern when she explained further. He looked for her friends and debated the situation. Scariest looking guy here. Sid laughed. "Probably the least talkative, too." He could play the role, though. Easily putting on the mask of performer to oblige for as long as he could manage because he understood how shitty it could be to be forced into meeting and talking to people when you just want to have a good time. "Don't worry about it. I'm not offended," he paused. "Yet." The intimidation factor was something he liked about himself, he also liked that most people avoided talking to him. It let him enjoy being in public a lot more. "Alright, so this band that's about to get on stage. They have changed their name three times and I'm starting to think they're pulling one of those Mouserat things from Parks and Recreation. Have you seen that show?" This was his best attempt at riveting conversation. All he had in his arsenal was music, random television shows and films, and Batman. Not something that carried well from person to person.