💻 ｔａｎｎｅｒ 💻

lydia clenched her jaw, her chest twisting as she realized that of course he wouldn’t be happy-go-lucky going into the fall semester.  his emotions had probably been thrown for a loop. “oh right, i heard about that,” she said, looking over at him with a bit of pity. “i’m sorry, i always liked you guys together,” liddy tried to keep her comments somewhat short in case he didn’t want to talk about it.  she gave him a soft smile, giving him a soft nudge with her fist “yeah, you know what?  junior year is gonna be it for us, i can feel it.  there’s something in the wind, it’s going to take us places,” she teased.

Tanner nodded his head softly, awkwardly. He liked them together too. But that was a thought he needed to stow away for now before he slipped back towards memories of Star Wars sweatshirts and an Ibizan sunrise. Straw to mouth, Tanner sucked up a large mouthful of coffee. “I mean, some private jet’ll probably whisk us off to Cabo or somewhere.” Mostly a joke but this was Yates they were talking about. “Seriously though, I gotcha. Got the go ahead to work on a design project early which on the one hand... stress... but on the other... fucking exciting. And nerve wracking so— a lot.”

                    The boy’s jaw cocked to the side and he let out a light laugh. Laced wings. Something about that was extra funny as he sat there in his position, hat on, fingers covered with sauce. Only after did he really consider how he’d specifically said ‘her’, a delayed thought. It took a few moments to piece something together, start saying something, “… I mean that,” The male reiterated, a small laugh finding him, if not for his lackluster answer than still the undercurrents of the term ‘laced wings’. After a moment he went for a napkin, wiping off his fingers and his mouth, “She keeps coming over here and talking to you. That means something.” Harry added then, looking back at the male, and there was assurance in what he was saying, if not full on support. Recollecting, when they were all at camp he noticed Tanner had had a girl with him. The one who came up to Harry later and point-blank started asking about his penis— that one, although it was almost comedic now as he thought about it, but he knew well enough to not bring that up to him now.

                    He didn’t know her name anyway, but what mattered is that he hadn’t seen her with him around Hastings since. He could not blow off this pretty waitress like this, Harry would not allow it, so he shook his head, “Before we go you need to at least say something. I’m holding you to it.” The male gave him an amicable nod and a smile. It was flatted though with the male’s next question, and although he’d been drinking there was something still tentative feeling about it. As if there was a reason he shouldn’t be having a good time. The male put down the wing he was working on, “… Yeah, this is great,” The boy glanced around briefly, nodding, removing his hat, and it was. This is what people wanted— what they should want. Something a little somber found him, and in tangent with the memory of the girl he’d seen Tanner with at camp also came memories of the girl that had been with him. Henry. He’d been so distracted recently he hadn’t thought of her in a few days. Until now. Harry looked back at Tanner then, before reaching for his own drink, giving him a small smile while trying to smother the thought, “I thought it would be different, but, this is great.”

Discarding what had to have been his twentieth chicken bone into the basket, Tanner wiped at his face with the back of his hand. Not nearly as effective as a napkin, a smear of definitely-laced sauce spread across his cheek. The waitress in question was currently at the bar. She stood with one foot poised on the railing, her elbows on the counter, and her ass stuck out. As respectfully as one could look, Tanner eyed, egged on by Harry’s words. Just as soon as he allowed himself to look, she glanced right back at him. Reflex was to look away. “Maybe it just means she’s a good waitress,” Tanner countered, busying himself with another wing. Twenty-first was the charm. “And, you know, maybe she just actually wants computer help. I mean, that’s why she gave me her number. Computer help.” It wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibility. There was strong memory from high school that Tanner doubted he could ever completely scrub away. The details could be watered down to popular girl, Computer Education, and doing the majority load of a group project. It was a needed milestone in the nerd timeline.

Chomping into that next wing, Tanner was oblivious to how his words might not have been good timing. He’d meant it vaguely of course but that didn’t mean one slip couldn’t shoot a brainwave off towards Henry. He knew the feeling, just swap one girl out for another. Carmen. “I know what you mean. I don’t remember why but I feel like... I remember there being roller skates?” Tanner dropped his half-eaten wing on his plate to point across the table at Harrison. “Also... also you haven’t blown out a candle yet. That—” Tanner shook his head, deciding that this was just as unacceptable as Harry likely found him not stepping up to the plate with their waitress. “We should fix that. Yea, we should fix that. Also maybe... shots?”

mornings were when parker got her real workouts in; the nighttime runs with tanner were just for fun. she was nowhere near as dedicated as a lot of other athletes ⁠— something her coach and trainers gave her shit about constantly ⁠— which was why the fun runs had become so ingrained into her schedule. it was a compromise in her mind, and an excuse to not go to the gym for a single day. she deserved some fun too, didn’t she? her ears perked up as tanner’s voice carried through the cool night air, and she jogged in place as she spun around to face him. “you getting soft on me, isaacs?” she grimaced at the words, jogging back towards him. “ah, shit, i’m starting to sound like grey. please push me into the lake; i’m begging you,” she joked, still marching in place to keep her heart rate up. “do you wanna keep going, or should we just head back? i can totally carry you back if you pass out, but i don’t exactly want to, y’know?” 

Tanner started with his eyes closed, focus set on getting his lungs to function properly again. It just didn’t feel like enough air was getting in there. Was this what working out was like again? He opened his eyes to a squint, grimacing. “Yea, I can... I can do that I just, uh... might need to do an I-owe-you on, uh, on that.” Something told him he didn’t have the strength to shove an ewok into a lake, let alone the force that was Parker Hassan. “No, I can manage.” Tanner finally let his hands drop down to his sides with a big sigh. He watched for a few seconds, in awe that she still managed to jog in place. “Can we walk back though? Like, slowly? Talk, play twenty questions. Anything but running.” He exhaled hard. “Fuck, two miles was ambitious.”

“hm.  fair question.  i like to think yes, but realistically?  look at me.”  orpheus flexed dramatically, like he was on some reality tv modeling competition or something.  “these muscles are all for show, baby.  very little function there.  i think i could definitely give a hilarious attempt.  when we’re at sea level and not on a roof, i think we should give it a valiant effort.  what do you say?”  orpheus teetered for a second, not in any danger of slipping, just falling on his ass, but he recovered.  he looked down at tanner.  “oh, i was totally just going for description.  but adventure sounds even better.”  he contemplated for a second.  “unless you wanted to smoke more.  what?  no, why would you put peanut butter on a burger?”

Tanner blinked slowly, doing as instructed and looking at Orpheus. Definitely a specimen. Felt like the right terminology to use for him: vague but like he was something to marvel at. Question with Orpheus was whether that marveling was done out of amaze or concern. “Fuck, sure,” he nodded, slowly rising to his feet, his hand coming down on Orpheus’s shoulder to steady himself. Why’d they think the roof was a good idea again? “You gotta test the... hypothesis. Just, um, can we... hmm, do that on the grass? Maybe en route to burgers?” The image of that favorite burger  of his lulled him into a daydream sort of state. The juicy burger. The golden bun. The crumble of potato chips offering the perfect crunch. “Because it’s good. And it helps the, uh, the chips stick to the burger. Oh.” Tanner looked up at Orpheus through lidded eyes. “Yea, I need a burger.” 

@tannerisaacs​

                    He was drunk. It was his birthday. His friends had, somehow, figured out that this was in fact the case and in a group intimidation effort had told him they’d be taking him out to dinner. These were facts. How he’d ended up at a place called Hooters with a party hat on his head and twenty wings in front of him was entirely an enigma. One that could only be contributed to the bottle of Schnapps that had been shoved into his lap on the Lyft out of Hastings and his impish friend group. It had been instilled in him on the ride over that this place would help him ‘get back onto the saddle’, and he didn’t exactly know what that meant until he’d arrived. The weight of that statement though really only sunk when the waitresses had pulled him up from his seat and proceeded to do the Hooters Hokey Pokey around him. Holy shit.

                    In a more sober mindset he would’ve been outwardly impartial to the restaurant, if not full of pity for it, but he was not sober. Tanner, someone that was more than an acquaintance but less than a friend sat across from him, and after moving another clean bone to side he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “Man, this is the best meal I’ve ever had,” He told him, earnest, if not grave, “I’m ser— I’m being serious right now.” The male smiled, amused with himself. Although Harry didn’t find the thought morose, he hadn’t done anything like this for his birthday since he was a child. His father ordered a pizza some of the years and gave him his gift, but nothing like this. Even then, those memories were fleeting and not even real memories anymore, too overplayed, too overlooked. The boy moved to his drink then, eyeing the waitress as she came up once more specifically to Tanner and said something that Harry couldn’t quite hear over the noise. His eyes followed her briefly as she walked away, smiling, “You know, you should really do something about that.”

There was video evidence on his phone of Harrison Hadley having a genuinely good time at a Hooter’s restaurant on Tanner’s phone— sacred content that, despite the pull, would be kept stored on a phone as opposed to shared. Yes, clicks, many of them, would accumulate from such a recording but? None of that was of interest for Tanner. Likes were less valuable to him than the personal experience. The other moments just existed as praise towards his occupation. And, if he had any say in the matter, there was really only one thing at this birthday that deserved praise. “Right? I mean, I’ve had wings before... good wings too... but these?” Tanner squinted upward, pausing mid-head nod. “Feel like these got to be illegal? Right?” Then, leaning forward slightly, a tipsy Tanner opted to ask, “Should I ask her if they lace these or something?”

Speaking of her. There had been a particular waitress that had shown an interest in Tanner, subtly at first and then more obvious as time went on. He had excused it as just a friendly connection, used to collecting female friends, especially recently. So when the waitress had learned of his computer skills and asked for his help with her computer the following day, Tanner had not seen it for more than it was. Mid-bite of a chicken wing, Tanner’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? That?” Mid-bite, he shook his head, sure that Harrison was just blowing it up versus his underselling. “So... is it safe to ask if you’re having a good time?”

liddy raised her eyebrows, but her face soon broke into a smile.  her fingers were still wrapped around the warm paper coffee cup as she peered over the old wooden desk at her friend.  “eh it was…fine,” she said, her eyes looking up at her forehead as she went over the summer’s various events. “but i’m good, really.  and weirdly enough i’m kind of excited to get back into the school year swing, you know?  i need the structure,” she wiggled a pencil between her fingers.  “what about you?”

“I get it, don’t worry,” Tanner nodded along because, out of everyone, he was probably one of the only ones that understood the desire for class. While a break was enjoyable, he thrived off a bit of schedule, especially now presented a circumstance that drew him inward. “Summer was nice, but, uh, I don’t know if you heard but Carmen is taking some time... you know, away. So—” Tanner shrugged simply. Better to keep the details sparse, easier then. “It is what it is. Ready for, uh, Junior year though.”

“Can’t say I’m too interested in it. Uh, don’t really have any plans to try it, also don’t plan on making any. Sorry, but, you know... who knows? I don’t know. No?”

“Didn’t, uh, expect someone to put it like that, but, uh... okay. I guess I’m not really looking for anyone right now. I’m pretty, um... content hanging with Orpheus and Lydia and, you know, Saf and people? Think I’ll sit at the metaphorical fire station a bit longer.”

he turned his head to tanner, trying to look more supportive and less sympathetic.  orpheus knew how shitty that could feel.  “noted.  hopefully, we never reach that point.  but if desperate times call for desperate measures?  i’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you myself.”  he punched tanner in the shoulder lightly, trying to brighten his mood.  or at least take his mind off of things.  “deal.  talking sucks.”  orpheus scratched his head, trying to think of a way to distract him.  “in all fairness, i was hoping you’d pick talking so i didn’t have to scramble for something.  but i got this.”  he sat up, ignoring the fuzzy feeling in his brain from going vertical too quickly.  “okay.  best burger you ever had?”

Tanner’s head lulled back further, lines furrowing deeper as his brows stitched together. He dipped his gaze down, silently considering Orpheus before speaking. “Could you even do that? Like, carry me?” Lazily, the boy rose his hand and poked his friend’s bicep. Impressive. Over-the-shoulder though? Definitely piggy-back. While Orpheus stood, Tanner remained seated— the high had undoubtedly hit him hardest. He’d need a hand and at least one extra minute before he was ready. “Is that, like, a... describe it question? Or is this a, uh... a, uh, adventure thing?” Fuck knows he couldn’t be trusted to grill one up even sober. “You ever have peanut butter on a burger?”

tousled blonde curls popped up from the open book at the sound of the paper cup landing on the desk.  a smile instantly spread across lydia’s face at the sight of tanner, and selfishly- at the scent of hot coffee.  she grabbed the cup for a quick sip, tasting the familiar notes of hazelnut.  “oh it’s perfect,” she grinned, “thank you.”  she took another generous sip, thankful for the boost of caffeine.  “so what brings you in, do you need me to wave some late fees or are you just in need of my incredible company?” she asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

“Do you want me to be honest?” Tanner asked, fully teasing in how his head titled to the side. It was an act he couldn’t keep up for long, quickly shrugging his shoulders soon after her question came. “Kidding. Honestly both, really. Got like—” He scrunched his face, trying to do the mental math of how long it’d take to code his homework. Then, throw in and add those few hours of distraction. In the end the answer was: a while. “— a good bit to do. Kinda wanting to put it off so if you’re down to tell me about your summer, how you are? Ready for it.”

there was a small part of orpheus, probably the old daredevil lizard brain, that always thought  ‘what if?’  wherever he was out on a roof like this.  would he stick the landing?  would there be an orpheus-sized hole in the brick below?  tanner’s voice pulled him out of red button territory.  “i was worried you were gonna start to smell if you stayed in your room any longer.”  totally untrue, tanner was a very clean man, but it was easier than being real with him.  “getting high never hurt anybody.  probably.  anyway, you’re not a downer, dude.   don’t even worry about it.”  he gave his friend a reassuring pat on the leg before he lied back against the roof.  “if you wanna talk about it, i’m all ears.  and if you don’t, i’ve often been told i’m incredibly distracting.”

Tanner nodding along slowly and softly. His room had already always been a bit of a mess and then, well, this just added to it— throwing in take-out containers and a specific sweatshirt he wasn’t quite ready to wash. “For future reference... I give you full permission to just, you know, shove me into a shower if I reach that state.” He’d even offer to give it to him in writing. Tanner was heartbroken, sure, but he didn’t want to be sad. Pathetic. Words he’d heard too often attached. Especially when he’d come so much closer to better descriptors: fun, nice, chill. “No,” Tanner shook his head slow. “Feel like the last thing I wanna do is talk about it.” If he focused on it, he focused too hard. Distractions were what he needed, hence the weed. With a short laugh, Tanner gave Orpheus a lopsided smile. “Yea, I’m sure you have. Curious what you have up your sleeve, or whatever.”