Tom

"I don't think I have a least favorite thing about them, maybe their busy schedule. I worry that they're insecure sometimes though just with some of their mannerisms." 

"I still have to cook them dinner, if that answers your question. No, but I'd like to be...maybe. I don't know if they're that kind of person. "

@alexanderkaufman

.

“That’s good then! I just kind of like all animals, I wish I had more pets when I was a kid but I was really only allowed to have a fish. My dads said that having a dog or a cat would be too messy and that our couch would be ruined by the end of the week… It was a really nice couch.” Joey said with a small shrug of his shoulders, although there were plenty of options to avoid pets from getting on couches, but it didn’t seem like his dads would budge into something like that - living with a goldfish was more than enough for Joey, but now he liked having Pickle.

“Oh yeah, that usually works. I forgot bar things existed, but I can totally do that! You should come with me, maybe you’ll get lucky too! There’s plenty of gay people out in New York, I think.” He said with a chuckle, as he thought about how fun it would be to have a night out - he mostly just stick to the events that happened at Masters, but he was willing to go out of his way and have some fun with his friends in other places. “Yeah, I think it looks good… I watch videos on Youtube and hope that it looks alright, but no one complained about it.” He said with a shrug. “But I haven’t had a buzzcut in years, I think last time I had one was in junior year in high school because I was sad about my ex-boyfriend… But now I can just get one to look hot!” He said with a smile.

“What kind of fish did you have?” Tom asked perking up a little. They didn’t meet too many fellow fish pet parents out in the wild. “My parents were similar about that. My mom claims she’s allergic to dogs but I don’t believe her.” Tom’s house growing up was also full of really nice couches. 

Tom couldn’t tell if Joey was being serious or not right now. Surely the pool he drew from extended past the guys that hung around the building. Masters was huge but it was still a puddle compared to the ocean that was New York City. Arguably one of the queerest cities in the world. It was becoming clearer to Tom that Joey really needed a night out and Tom would happily be their wingman if he needed. “What are you doing tomorrow night?” Tom asked. “I think I know just the place and it isn’t even that far from here.” Tom didn’t know much of the city but they’ve still found pockets they liked. “No it looks good, I wouldn’t have guessed you did it yourself. But yeah, go for it. Summer’s the best time,” Tom encouraged. Maybe Tom could live vicariously through that big chop. There was no way they’d part with their own hair, 

.

“Thanks, that’s really nice of you… But I don’t think Lumpy would appreciate the company. I can’t speak for Pickle because he’s usually nice around people even when he’s hiding something, but I just think Lumpy only likes Parker, he’s kind of mean.” He said with a small nod, as he thought about all of the times he had tried to pet Parker’s cat and it had just run off hiding somewhere - there was even a time where Joey thought he had ran off but he was only hiding in the closet, so that crisis was adverted.

“Honestly, it’s not even about timing… I’m just trying to look for someone to hook up with. It’s been like a week… And I feel like I’m going crazy.” He said with a small sigh, shaking his head slowly - maybe he shouldn’t be talking with Tom about these stuff, but the two were friends, so there was nothing with that - right? “A haircut? I don’t know, I usually cut my own hair… And I think it looks pretty good. I even shaved it once and I looked hot. Maybe I should go back to the buzzcut.” He said with a small chuckle.

“Cats usually like me. I think they can sense I’m not a dog person,” Tom joked but he got it. He couldn’t imagine living with cats that weren’t actually his own. Pets came very infrequently throughout Tom’s life. His parents had a beloved cat before he was born and mourned that loss well into Tom’s childhood. Fish were more Tom’s speed even though they rarely completed the elaborate obstacle courses he’d put in their tank. 

“Well, then it sounds like you’re just looking in the wrong place. Just put on something hot and hit up any of the gay bars tourist frequent. I promise you won’t have any trouble,” Tom offered. It was a tip they’d discovered when they were still one of those “tourists”. “I get it though. I’m picky with hook ups too,” Tom confirmed. In an ideal world they’d know the person before ever even kissing them and yet... “You cut your own hair?” Tom asked. He wasn’t surprised, a lot of guys did but he himself would never touch a hair on his own head. One bad impulse chop and a few excruciating months of fluffy grow out kept Tom from making another attempt. “I mean a buzzcut definitely sounds like it’d keep you cool. I don’t think I can picture you with a buzzcut. I haven’t had a buzzcut since I was like... eleven, maybe?”

east  absolutely  wasn’t  doing  his  ( prospective )  job,  but  he  was  still  having  fun …  in  his  brain.  he  giggled  to  himself  before  attempting  to  capture  the  attention  of  the  first  person  he  saw.  “ hello! ”  his  british  accent  piped  happily  from  behind  the  reception  desk,  chin  in  the  palm  of  his  lightly  tattooed  hand,  “ how  are  you?  also … can  i  share  an  idea? ”  the  man  grinned,  excited  to  share  his,  in  his  mind,  phenomenal  idea.

If Tom was down in the lobby it meant he had time to kill. In his line of work taking mental breaks was a crucial part of the creative process and he’d been on his way out of the building to grab something to drink when East stopped him. “I’m doing pretty good,” he confirmed. “What kind of idea is it? This one doesn’t involve a bunch of sugar, right?” Tom confirmed. Usually when they got together Tom would get a stomachache from all the candy East put at his disposal... which was always East’s idea. 

it was with great hesitance that alice had agreed to meetup. as the cause of luke’s death and of various masters employees getting interrogated, she’d made the official decision that she was a harbinger of doom… but this wouldn’t take long. she could go back to a life of self-pity and self-hatred within the next few hours, then simply fall off the face of the earth – with more money ! and wasn’t that just everyone’s dream ? 

when she was officially invited into tom’s apartment ( as if she were a vampire ), she took the bag of pre-rolled medicinal joints from her purse – tom would be her best, most lucrative, and apparently only client. “ i’ll drink whatever, ” she stated. unless that drink was wine – no longer her taste. “ y’know that billy idol song, though ? ‘whiskey and pills.’ ” which she had, naturally, brought with her to indulge in while tom smoked their weed and the two watched… whatever he’d picked out. “ so what’s on the docket ? ”

“Okay cool,” Tom said relaxing a little. He usually had a bit more back and forth when setting things up but Tom could tell now wasn’t the time to bother her with needless texts. He would’ve known by now if she had a real aversion to a drink having been to a bar or two with her. “I even have my spherical ice cubes chilled,” he...flexed? Whether or not he was venturing into food nerd territory was yet to be explored. They thought they were cool at least. “I don’t know that song but my dad likes Billy Idol a lot,” Tom shrugged as he lead Alice into their apartment. He was young guy in Seattle during the 90's afterall. 

“Well, assuming the copy isn’t all messed up...” Tom lead as they grabbed the DVD they’d bought and presented it to Alice. Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School was one of the few Scooby Doo movies Tom actually had strong memories of in the franchise. There was no way it wasn’t high in Alice’s list of favorites, right? “When was the last time you watched this?” He asked. It’d definitely been kicking around in the thrift store for a while but that was part of it’s charm Tom thought. “It’s yours by the way. I was gonna just give it to you at work but I didn’t know if you had a way to play DVDs.”

@ᴛsᴅʀɪsᴋᴏ ᴜᴘʟᴏᴀᴅᴇᴅ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴘʜᴏᴛᴏ:

Photosynthesizing. ☀️🌻

"'Press your pencil lighter.’ It was probably drilled into my head by every art instructor I ever had.”

𝑾𝑯𝑶 ? @masterspost· !! 𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 ? masters’ entrance . 𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 ? friday morning .

*   ⸻    GISELLE COULDN’T WAIT for the weekend , and her perfectly manicured nails impatiently tapped on the desk as she just wished it to be lunchtime already . “ oh ! good morning ! ” , her eyes shifted from the screen of her computer to the person passing by , but a frown quickly formed in her face . “ you don’t look great . ” , her words might have sounded a bit harsh , but it was true . they didn’t look their best . “ are you sick or did you have a big night last night ? ” , while she was suggestive , she still wore a straight face , blinking her eyes almost innocently .

Tom almost called in today but decided against it as soon as they realized Masters was very well air conditioned and that’d been what he’d gone without last night. It’d been miserable and Tom was surprised by what little, clammy sleep he’d gotten the night prior. “My A.C. broke at home,” Tom explained. They were never going to get used to this heat and they were unsurprised by her comment. He looked disheveled walking into the building. 

Alexander laughed at their words, leaning against their hand after propping their elbow up on the table. Reaching for another fry, they raised it up to Tom’s lips, trying to get them to stop overthinking things. “This isn’t, like, our first and last date,” they pointed out. “You can cook for me next time. Besides, these fries are really good, and I’m not going to eat them all on my own.” Once their hand was free, they popped another fry into their own mouth, washing it down with another sip of their drink. “I agree,” they commented. “I got blackout a few times in college, but, like… waking up with that headache and not remembering where you’d been, or– or who you’d been with, or any of that? That sucks. I can’t believe people actually do it for fun. Like, it’s some people’s goal during a night out, which… weird.” They shrugged, one of their legs bouncing lightly under their table.

“So you’re from Seattle?” they asked - they weren’t sure if Tom had already mentioned that. If they had, well, Alexander could blame it on their own forgetfulness. They had a one track mind, and almost every single thought in their head had dissipated when Tom had spread their legs apart with their foot. They were still trying to carry on the conversation despite the fact that Tom was very obviously teasing them, even if Tom didn’t know that themself. “Yeah, I know my way around pretty well… would you want to go back to yours or mine after this, or would you want to go somewhere else?” They knew the city like the back of their hand, navigating it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. They just weren’t sure what Tom was looking for out of this outing of theirs. “The botanical garden here is in the Bronx, so it’s, like, two hours out of our way. Maybe some other time, though,” they suggested. They hadn’t been to the botanical garden since they were in college and they’d had a nature-based assignment, but it could be fun to go again after all these years.

There was plenty to do around them - but it was New York, there was plenty to do no matter where in the city you were. “We could get pizza, if you’ve never had artichoke pizza there’s a good place a few blocks from here. There’s also a jazz club and a comedy club both not far from here. But… if you do want to go back to either of our places, that wouldn’t be a problem with me, either.” Taking another fry, they bumped their foot up against Tom’s, practically daring them to push their legs apart again. They could be a tease if they wanted to, they could challenge Tom all they wanted. It was just Tom’s choice to decide where the night would go from here.

Tom ate the fry that was offered to him. It was probably the sweetest way someone had told them to shut up in a while. “I’ll definitely be cooking for you,” Tom confirmed glad that they now had the ability to prepare a little more for that next date. Even in his ridiculously small New York kitchen he’d still be able to impress. Tom was in no rush to get there though and Alexander was right-- the fries were good. Tom was eager to be in the moment even though they could tell they were drifting away from the present conversation. They were happy Alexander couldn’t relate. Tom’s mind didn’t dwell on it much nor did they care to continue the conversation about overdoing it. Tom agreed even if they’d come to that conclusion the hard way. The party lifestyle wasn’t so easy to just say no to as Alexander was making it seem. 

Seattle was a much better subject. “I am, yeah. I grew up in Mercer Island which is like ten minutes from Seattle and then moved into the city after high school,” Tom explained though they doubted that Alexander knew much about the area. If they were back home they would be taking the lead a lot more. Especially hearing that the nearest botanical garden was two hours away. That was  not the kind of detour Tom wanted to take tonight. “Wherever you’d feel most comfortable,” Tom deferred again. They were used to winding up wherever the wind took them and Tom wasn’t picky. Their apartment was fastidiously clean and he had no problem inviting Alexander back to their sanctuary tonight if that’s what Alexander wanted. Tom was also more than willing to take a wildly overpriced Uber back home from Alexander’s if that was more convenient for them. They were accommodating to a fault. 

Pizza, clubs, distant botanical gardens all sounded like fine ideas... for a later date. Tom’s memory of Alexander lived in a very provocative corner of their mind. Alexander’d been on his mind more than a handful of times when Tom was in need of some late night... inspiration. Tom didn’t want to come off as brash but they both knew the next stop would involve shedding some clothes. They bonded over their sexual chemistry and exploring that further was clear on both of their minds; the teasing wasn’t going unnoticed by Tom. Especially not when they slipped their hands under the table and rested them on Alexander’s knees, which in hindsight wasn’t the smartest move because they instinctively inched their way up Alexander’s thighs as they spoke. “I’ll be honest I just want to get back to a room with you after this,” they admitted finally putting into words what they both were skirting around. His hands stopped mid thigh before they could go too far. If Tom wasn’t careful they’d end up slithering under the table here and this wasn’t somewhere he wanted to get kicked out for being indecent-- he liked this bar. Tom went ahead a nudged Alexander’s legs together with a smirk as they tried to turn their attention to the food and drink before them that frankly wasn’t dwindling away fast enough. “Where’d you say you live again? You’re not here in Greenwich, right?” Tom asked before munching on a few fries. 

𝐖𝐇𝐎: joey wilson & @tomdrisko·· 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: july 7th, 2021 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: break room

“Well…” Joey said as he took a seat next to Tom in one of the couches in the break room where he would spend a lot of time - he would be lying if he hadn’t taken a couple of naps on those couches before, but it didn’t seem like anyone had complained about it - or at least he didn’t know about anyone saying anything. “Guess I’ll just stumble on home to my cats, alone.” He said with a sigh, as he leaned back on the couch and threw his head back as he turned to look at Tom.

“Can you believe I’m going to spend another day with Lumpy and Pickle? I feel like anytime I try talking to anyone in this office, I just get rejected. Could it be happening? Am I finally losing my charm? I think I look good still, right? i still look hot?” Joey asked with a small frown forming on his face, letting out a sigh as he waited for the other to answer.

“I’d stumble home with you to your cats,” Tom promised not that their offer wouldn’t be the same. They weren’t on that level with Joey anymore. Sure, had Tom thought about bring Joey home for a couple of drinks early in their friendship? Totally but they were content with the platonic direction things had taken. Still, Tom was well aware Joey was a catch. 

“Sometimes paths just aren’t meant to cross or the timing isn’t right doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you. You’re still hot,” Tom offered up as sympathy. Tom faced their fair share of rejection and heartbreak and it never felt good when it came from a place they couldn’t avoid. “When was the last time you got your haircut? Sometimes if I’m feeling off like that I get a haircut and helps me start over and feel on my A game again.” 

Tom was becoming more on edge the more settled they got at Masters. Something sinister lurked in the belly of the beast they all worked in and Tom couldn’t figure out why. Everyone was an adult and lived lives and experienced moments of growth and change and it put a vile taste in their mouth watching someone dredge up people’s pasts and personal business. Still, despite Tom’s efforts to stay out of people’s business (unless it was brought up to him directly) it was impossible for it not to trickle down to him. It didn’t take very long when it involved someone they considered to be a new friend either. 

He regretted the google searches they’d made trying to piece together how Alice could’ve done...that. The remorse didn’t come because of the information he’d found, that was a harrowing experience and Tom saw Alice in the right even if the law might say otherwise. No, it came because she hadn’t been the one to inform him. Any feelings of guilt he might be experiencing he pushed away when they finally were able to hang out with Tom with the promise of weed (that she is supplying but Tom is funding), drinks, and a copy of Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School they’d happened upon while thrifting and had to pick up with her in mind. Hopefully the comfort film could take her mind off things. Tom was in the middle of making simple syrup when he heard his apartment buzzzzzzz. He turned off the burn, tidied what miniscule mess he made before opening the door. “Hey,” Tom greeted her with a smile. “I forgot to ask if you liked whiskey because I’ve got all the stuff to make a good sour tonight but I’ve got vodka too.”