* 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 .

tw: divorce.

TAKA: Teddz babe u have no idea how happy I am rn to (figuratively) see u. All ur messages just now came thru.

TAKA: The thread by which I am hanging is v v thin but u/ur messages would never ever be irritating to me, I promise.

TAKA: Let me give u a quick rundown of my day thus far. Woke up choking bc I had snorted my own blood, blood also all over my face and pillowcase.

TAKA: [attachment: a mirror selfie from that morning in his bathroom, with bedhead and a stream of blood running from his nose over his lips]

TAKA: Went 2 check on store and there was a gd branch thru one of the front windows. Cleaned up glass and cut my hand a lil. Had to cover up the broken window w/ a tarp.

TAKA: [attachment: a photo of the damaged storefront]

TAKA: Not long after I got home Nana got into the pool. That dumb dog does not know how 2 swim and was freaking out. She scratched up my chest bc I took my shirt off 2 get into pool. Another nosebleed after blowing my nose bc ofc I'm fucking sick. And need I mention the lack of hot water in MBG???

TAKA: [attachment: a more recent mirror selfie in his bedroom, shirtless, hair and jeans wet, dog scratches on his chest and more blood coming from his nose]

TAKA: So if I rly need anything sweetheart it's probs a fucking break. And ig a fucking blood transfusion soon 🤬

TAKA: But anyway srry 4 unloading like that, how was ur day?????

THEO: We live in the same neighbourhood, dear. You do know we could actually see each other, right? I really wouldn't mind having a break from only seeing the family.

THEO: They're all staying with me, the whole Becker bunch, since we've decided it's safer to be in my home. And though I do love them, they're starting to drive me up the wall. Who knew family could be this stressful under certain circumstances?

THEO: Holy hell.

THEO: Seems like you've had quite the grim day, huh? You really look like you do need a break, love. Are you feeling better right now? And how's the pup?

THEO: Oh, me? Definitely nothing quite as eventful as that. The weather's been making my asthma act up a little but I'm not as affected anymore. The perks of pushing my boundaries and running around in the rain back in London as a child, I guess.

THEO: And we don't plan on opening the store until everything's cleared out. It did take some convincing to keep the two old men inside the house, they're growing more and more stubborn as they age but I'll check up on the bakery in the days to follow. Hopefully we luck out and there isn't much damage to deal with.

THEO: But are you sure you don't need anything from me, specifically? Can't help but to worry about you.

THEO: And, I'm not sure you're aware, but I can make the best flu-fighting vegetable soup known to man. You could always stop by, if you wanted to?

closed starter ft. @theodorefm​.

“Does it ever get boring? I mean, compared to your old job, this can’t be as exciting. Certainly Roswell itself isn’t.” After coming into the bakery a few times since their first strange, fumbled conversation, Ki-jung finally realizes where he’d recognized this person from. It isn’t as if they know each other, but sitting in here this afternoon, nursing a pastry with nearly all of the other customers cleared out, he feels like striking up some dialogue certainly won’t hurt. It’s possible he’ll be kicked out soon anyway; he can’t imagine they stay open super late. Most places around town don’t, unless specifically catering to such things. “When I lived in New York, my parents used to drag my ex-wife and I out to Broadway shows all the time. And by ‘all the time’ I mean ‘far more regularly than is ever financially warranted.’ Good thing they paid.” 

As the shop starts to slowly empty out and the sun starts to set outside, Theo’s left pretty much by himself out front. Usually, he’s someone that prefers to be hidden away in the kitchen, working away on exciting new recipes whilst his parents took care of the business part of it all. But he definitely wasn’t complaining when it was his turn to watch out for the bakery. He hums in response to the costumer’s curiosity, left side of his lips quirking up slightly as he starts to wipe a few tables before it’s time to close. “I’m afraid you’re talking with the wrong person about the definition of boring.” Theo jokes, a small chuckle following. “It’s definitely a completely different lifestyle, and I do miss how it used to be at times, but I think I’m at that age where a more calmer way of life just sounds more appealing, you know?” He shrugs. Or maybe it was just a Theodore Becker thing. “I take it you’re not a fan of theater, then?” He stops, a hand coming up to rest on his hip as he looks at the other. “No judgments here, of course.”

THEO: hey!!!! i'm hoping my "checking up on you" messages aren't irritating or inconvenient

THEO: but this is me checking up on you again. 😬

THEO: are you holding up alright? do you need anything??

THEO: are you on your way back already?

THEO: messages have been taking forever to go through but it's been a couple of hours and we're all worried. are you alright??

closed starter: @theodorefm​​ location: theo’s house.

“ EDDIE ! ” echoed the sound of sam’s voice throughout his older brother’s kitchen, almost a cry of pure desperation as he searched for the bloody oven mitts or anything that he could use to prevent hurting his hands when he’d removed the cookies from the oven — the smell of burning already prominent around him. “ god-fucking-dammit. this is an emergency, hurry the hell up ! i’m burning the cookies—AGAIN ! ”

his brother’s voice instantly startles theo, disrupting the kisses he was planting to his cat’s head as a huff of frustration passes his lips, already fearing what the younger had gotten up to this time. “i am coming, samuel.” he says still in the living room, carefully placing little shira onto the floor, when the smell of burnt cookies hits him and he’s dashing towards the kitchen. “what the fuck, sam?!” theo’s quick to grab at the nearest dishcloth whilst opening up the oven, pushing the smoke away towards the window. “how on earth did this happen? the cookies were supposed to be in there for fifteen minutes and i only left you alone for five!”

for:  @roswellstarters​ 

location:  crashdown  cafe,  sometime  late  evening.

❝  can  i  get  you  anything  else,  or  were  you  intending  to  HOG  the  booth  for  another  two  hours  ??  ❞  even  a  feigned  attempt  at  something  congenial  couldn’t  mask  her  frustration.  in  all  her  years,  &&  in  the  million  lives  she’d  lived  since  then,  there  were  two  things  for  sure,  and  one  thing  for  certain  ( CUSTOMER  SERVICE  WAS  ANDREA’S  FORTE. )  with  a  split  shift  &&  fleeting  across  town  to  cover  an  odd-job  in  the  meantime,  the  ravenette  hadn’t  been  off  her  feet  since  the  angry  red  numeric  of  her  alarm  awoke  her  this  morning.  and  if  it  hadn’t  been  made  evident  by  the  snide  remark,  her  patience  had  been  worn  thin.  nonetheless,  andrea  refilled  the  patrons  drink,  AWAITING  at  the  edge  of  the  booth  for  their  retortion.

Theo hadn’t even noticed that it had been a while since he first sat down at his favorite booth at Crashdown, one that’s next to a window in the back of the restaurant. It had a nice view of the rest of the place and it wasn’t in the middle of traffic of people in the busiest hours—plus, the wait staff didn’t mind much that he sat there and completely zoned out whilst reading, as it happened more often than he liked to admit, but the noises of the place kept him less lonely. The voice has him looking up from the book he’s currently holding, nearing its end already, the tone used making his brows furrow in confusion. “I-I’m sorry, were you talking to me just then?” He questions to make sure, gaze traveling towards nearby booths only to see that they were empty. As was most of the restaurant. “I-Is there a problem?” He frowns, starting to wonder if there’s some sort of policy as to what she’s complaining about but the other employees didn’t apply to him because he always tipped generously. “I, uh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized it had been that long.” Theo smiles sheepishly.

with: @theodorefm​

In any other home, the turnout would’ve been overwhelming; but the luxurious halls of Taka’s too-big home held the crowd well. People still spilled out onto the front and back lawns, but after all, why waste all of that space? While he enjoys living a life of luxury, the structure and the property it sat upon often feels too big, empty, quiet, and lonely for Taka and his three little dogs. His motivation behind agreeing to do this mostly stems from a desire to liven things up in the joint.

The host, however, is quickly finding that he’d actually rather be upstairs, chilling out in bed with his dogs and playing Stardew Valley for hours on end.

A few drinks are downed in an attempt to help Taka loosen up a bit—it’s his birthday party, after all, and he’s meant to be having fun. He drifts through rooms to check out the scenes, being recognized by some partygoers (he’s hard to miss, after all) while still being a stranger to many more. Friends are spoken to, and thanked for showing up; but the petrol in Taka’s tank seems to be running low dangerously soon. That’s the danger of being an ambivert (with depression he’s also in denial about having), hitting the wall always seems to feel so random; and it leaves him wondering if anyone would notice if he clocked out for a little while and disappeared upstairs.

Long, lithe frame is propped against the doorway between the formal dining room and the main living area, and Taka sighs into his drink. He’s had several so far, and the effects of the East Asian heat flush are taking him over, making him feel so much warmer in this already crowded house, and turning his face and chest a deep pink, though it’s not quite noticeable in the ambient lighting. He’s burning up, and the thousand-dollar silk shirt that was already hardly hanging onto his body begins slipping down a shoulder, which he doesn’t bother fixing. He’s taller than pretty much everyone else here, so it isn’t difficult for him to watch bodies move and keep track of faces. When he finds the one he’s been quietly searching for the entire time, Taka feels his spirits lift indubitably. 

“—Oh mammamia-ma, ma-mamma mia-ah, you wanna touch my body, I say you’re not allowed, you wanna handle me but I’m a bit too much—”

Their eyes meet, finally, and Taka holds it there for several long seconds, smirk curling up on his face. It’s all for delicious dramatic effect, and the drinks he’s had are making him crave that bit drama. He knows he’s sexy, knows he could have any man he pleases without so much as lifting a finger, so why is he trying to make a more conscious effort into seeming desirable? Oh, he knows why, trying to make himself the center of attention of this one specific man, wanting badly to be wanted by him, and screw everybody else.

When he finally makes his approach, Taka’s shirt is further sliding off his shoulders, exposing more of his perfectly shaped upper body; the fresh air on inflamed skin is also sweet relief. “I’m so happy you could make it, Tedders,” he speaks, stepping in close as his baritone doesn’t project well over the loud music (and of course an excuse to get closer). “You right? Finding everything to your liking, sweets?”

When Theo had been told that the whole town had been invited to the party that would be taking place at Taka’s house, he had a hard time believing it. But as he watched the house only continue to fill up with people he hardly even recognized proved him completely wrong. He should’ve known better than to doubt his friend would pull something like that, he just couldn’t imagine why on earth anyone would want to throw such a large party. Or maybe that’s just him. He loved people, loved to talk to people, but anyone who knew him was aware of the difficulty that he had when interacting with strangers—sometimes even acquaintances—so this definitely was not his scene.

Despite his nerves, he obviously had showed up. Wouldn’t miss it for the world, especially because it wasn’t just some party as it was Taka’s birthday. And his friends were important as hell to him.

Throughout his time there, Theo had managed to at least spark up some conversation with friendly faces or people he was somewhat familiar with from the bakery but he was still incredibly out of his comfort zone, eyes always traveling towards the door as he thought about leaving. But he hadn’t even ran into the birthday boy yet, he couldn’t just show up and not talk to the host—what kind of friend and guest would he be? His parents had raised him with manners, after all. And so he goes for another glass of wine instead, buttons of his shirt undone as he has more skin out on display than most people at the event had ever seen from him, but he couldn’t bare the heat the alcohol had rising up his chest plus the amount of people in his surroundings. 

Lips around the glass, Theo finds a quieter corner to stay until he spots someone else he knows in the crowd. Or until someone approaches him. Back against the wall, he sighs as dark eyes jump around, slight frown on his features. The loud music making it hard for him to focus on anything else, but that is until his gaze falls on the one person he’d been hoping to run into from the moment he had stepped into the house. It wasn’t a weird thing to want, of course not, especially since they were friends and said person was the one throwing the party. Silently, from the distance, he keeps his eyes stuck to Taka for a few moments until he looks right back at him. Theo’s first instinct is to look away out of pure embarrassment from being caught but he doesn’t, almost as if he’s unable to shift his gaze away from the other’s face. Instead, he forces himself to keep the eye contact when he notices Taka is practically daring him to do so, feeling as the heat pooled on his cheeks and down his chest, where his heart rate started to pick up when the other made the move to approach him.

Clearing his throat, he downs the rest of his wine and discards the empty glass somewhere close by, he looks back at Taka. “Ah, wouldn’t miss it.” Theo replies, curves of his lips upturning into a small smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m good, I’m good. I was, uh, well, only thing I couldn’t really find was you. I was afraid the party would end and I wouldn’t even have the chance to say a hello to you. Would’ve been a real shame, no?” He cocks his head to the side lightly.

to: Anyone! ( @roswellstarters​)  location: Taka’s birthday party (pool side)

Even if he had only really spoken to a few handful of people, Samuel was having a blast at the party. The music was filling his veins with a rhythm he hadn’t felt in a while, causing his body to naturally sway along with every other song that blared over the speaks, he gave silent kudos to whoever put the playlist together. With a red solo cup in his hand, filled with a drink he’d been babysitting for what felt like the majority of the evening, he makes his way out towards the pool area for a bit of fresh air. As he sits down, barely dipping his feet into the cold water, he hears someone approaching. “Oh, sorry! Was this your seat?” He quickly asks, starting to stand up, “I just saw the first open spot and figured nobody was sitting here. Sorry about that! I guess that’s what they mean by assuming, right? It makes an ass out of you and me.” He pauses, suddenly hating himself for saying that, looking at the other with an apologetic gaze, “I mean, it’s just me. I’m the ass, not you, I didn’t mean you. Uh…right. I’m going to go jump into the deep end of the pool now.”

          as the house continues to fill up with all sorts of people he didn’t really know enough to carry a conversation with, theo started to grow more nervous. part of him wanted to come up with some sort of excuse in order to leave, though he doubted anyone would even care if he had decided to disappear, and the other part wanted to keep on making an effort to be there for the birthday boy. he then decides to drink another glass of wine, the buttons of his shirt undone as he starts to heat up from the alcohol in his system, and he steps out into the pool area to take a breather. before he can as much as react to the younger male, words are being sputtered out in his direction, causing him to chuckle a little for seeing so much of himself in the way samuel reacts. “no, no, no. don’t worry about that. i’m not, uh, here for the pool. i just really needed to take a breather—there’s too many people inside, you know?” his nose scrunches up. “you can have the spot, alright? don’t worry, i’ll just-look, i’ll sit back here in one of these chairs.” 

Ali shook his head, “Nah, you’re fine man. Accidents happen.” he said, pulling the picture up. “And sometimes, accidents can be good. The photo turned out better than I thought.” He added, turning the camera towards him. “You’re quite a photogenic person. Plus candid photos are usually the best.” he then thought of something. “Stay right where you are.” he said, stepping back some and lifted the camera back up at an angle. He focused it better on Theo, blurring the background a picture. Once it looked exactly like he wanted, he snapped another picture then pulled it up on the screen. “yup, you’re pretty.” he said with a chuckle and shows him the picture.

          theodore had always hated being the center of attention, obvious in the way the blush in his cheeks deepen as the other goes on about how he’s photogenic, shaking his head a bit. “ah, well, that’s subjective. at least i don’t look like a blurry creature out of a horror movie or something of the sort.” he responds, trying to ignore the compliment. dark eyes widen a little when the attention continues to be stuck on him, the camera now being pointed exactly in his direction but he tries to relax, following the photographer's directions. he should’ve gotten used to that by now, seeing as he used to be under the stage lights of broadway for a living, but nowadays he just preferred to be the one behind the camera. “ah man.” theo huffs a small chuckle. he leans to look at the picture. “that’s, uh, you have real talent. thank you. but i-i-i’m positive there’s more interesting people to take pictures of here. i mean—have you, uh, even seen the host? that’s-that’s someone worth taking pictures of.” he awkwardly rushes through his words.

location: taka’s birthday party! Open: everyone ( @roswellstarters​ )

 Ali walked around the party, hands in his pocket with his camera hanging around his neck. He smiled, at the scene happening around him. He saw a moment that would be perfect to take a picture. So he raised his camera to his face, looking through the viewfinder and clicked on the shutter button to take a picture. At that exact moment, someone stepped into the frame the moment the picture was taken. “Oh uh sorry, I got you in the shot.” He said pulling the picture up and showing them. “I can delete it if you want.”

          it’s painfully obvious that theo isn’t accustomed to attending such huge parties by the way he’s just nervously standing around, chewing on the insides of his cheek while nursing a glass of wine. not even when he lived another life did he enjoy these sort of events, because despite being someone that liked being around people, he always found it way too hard to actually talk to them. but he’s trying his hardest, if only because this was a dear friend’s birthday. thinking he’s been in the same spot for too long and not wanting to be that awkward guy, he attempts to move to the other side of the room, only to be caught by someone’s flash. “oh no no, that’s okay. i don’t mind it. and i should be the one apologizing, you know, for stepping in your way. i-i’m sorry. didn’t mean to interrupt you doing your, uh, thing.”

THEO BECKER attends TAKA’S 32ND BIRTHDAY.

for: @theodorefm​ location: rhys’s place time: the night before his birthday

It had been one of those days, the type of days that caused Rhys to reach straight for a bottle of red upon stepping through the door. Within the space of minute, he had the bottle open, a glass poured and had flopped down onto the couch to mindlessly watch some shitty Netflix documentary. Three hours ago he’d had to inform an already tearful mother that, yes, their daughter did have leukaemia and there was absolutely no guarantee that the brutal treatment she’d soon be subjected to would actually make any difference. Those were the type of days he hated, the types of days he dreaded going into work to face. A complete contrast to those filled with sprained ankles and confirmed pregnancy news. It left a dark shadow over the rest of his day, made him not want to go home because he knew he would dwell.

His birthday was in a little over four hours and needed a distraction. Without much thought he’d pulled out his phone and sent a voice message over to Theo. Actually talking to him right then on the phone was out of the question, he’d only babble, make it so incredibly obvious that he didn’t really have it together… although he supposed the message had already done that.

“It’s me. Rhys, obviously. If you don’t have anything going on right now, I’m pretty much demanding you come ‘round and drink with me. I have this amazing bottle of Merlot I opened five minutes ago and you can’t miss out on this. —- Okay, it’ll probably be gone by the time you get here, but point still stands. It’s my birthday tomorrow. Let’s fucking celebrate!!! I might even have cake here… somewhere. If you can’t, I get it, whatever. So, just in case, nos da.”

          weeks prior, theo already had made a mental note of at least making a cake to celebrate his best friend’s birthday, since the other had been with him through thick and thin over the years, he couldn’t simply pass by the important date without doing something for him. and he cared too much about rhys to do that, too. his week at the bakery had been packed with orders as business started to pick up again, which wasn’t something he complained as it kept him busy, and still he made time to work on the birthday gift for his friend—nothing too fancy but hopefully enough to make rhys smile a little on his day.

          it’s late when theo receives the message and without having to even think about it, he’s getting into his car on his way to lunar crescent, the box with the cake next to him. he figures rhys would want to have a night out on his actual birthday, and though he loved his friend to death, that wasn’t really his scene. not anymore, at least. and he’d probably end up staying back at home. doesn’t take long until he’s knocking on the door and being greeted by the figure of his friend. “i’m guessing that wine of yours is gone by now, huh?” he teases, the box heavy on his hands. “didn’t even wait for me to get your party started... ya know, that makes me very sad.”