Once I Ran To You

   “i bet you say that to all the people that visit,” kai light-heartedly teases, walking up to the bar, offering him a friendly grin. they quirk a curious brow when the gus tells them about the mocktails they were trying, intrigued by what he could’ve come up with, “of course i’ll be the taste tester, you kidding? i bet they are going to be out of this world.” they sit down at one of the bar stools, “ohh! do one of them come with a cherry? i’m kinda craving one of those little cherries, you know?” they laugh a little, their friendly grin turning into a warm smile, “how are ya doing, gus? how’s business these days?”

“Just the person I wanted to see.” Then again, that’s something Gus said whenever he was working the bar at the Seahorse. It got him better tips and made the customers feel more at home. “I’m testing new mocktails and need to know if they 1) taste good and 2) can simulate the real thing.”

“my body was used to it when i was in my 20′s. now it’s cracking when i move my neck wrong,” jon chuckled, despite feeling like he did. he hummed when the other shared his hangover remedy, “yeah, it actually makes sense,” he nodded. “winter signature drinks, huh?” jonathan’s attention perked up a little bit at those words but he scrunched his nose up a bit. “but you’re not making me taste test them, are you?”

“i can literally hear my jaw when i chew and it’s rather unsettling.” he said with a sigh. “but thats what happens when you have TMJ. i’m stressed even when i’m not stressing.” he paused. “uh... yeah i expect you to taste test them. otherwise, why the fuck are you here?” gus stated with a laugh. 

“in my defense… those two were the only ones planned,” she said, pointing to tucker and milo. “those two were happy little accidents,” she said, then pointing at leah and brandon. “and this one was a surprise too, but not nearly as scary as the first two,” hailey said, gesturing to sadie, who was getting closer and closer to falling asleep. “kids aren’t for everyone. my dad keeps asking me when i’m gonna get married - i’ve been married for twelve years. he says ‘yeah, but i want you to marry someone that likes woodturning as much as i do, the one you have now is scared of sawdust’. and mom always asks when we’re having another baby - sorry nonna, but sadie’s two months old. no more babies from me, build-a-baby has closed its doors,” hailey said, rolling her eyes a little with a small chuckle. “i don’t blame you, though - i didn’t even get to start my party lifestyle before i started having babies. my idea of partying now is half a sip of wine and falling asleep fifteen minutes into my favorite movie,” hailey said.

“I was the same way,” Eli admitted. “Did a lot of things to break my mother’s heart.” There was a bittersweet feeling of mixed pride and regret. Eli had been a rambunctious child since his early days. He’d made a lot of decisions in his teen years that he regretted. A lot of things that he didn’t want Noah to do himself. “You never realize how stressful kids are until you have your own, y’know?”

“Can’t say I truly know but I will take your word for it.” He said with a laugh. “Not sure when or if I’ll ever have a couple kids of my own.” Gus shrugged. “Is this your only one? Or do you have more?”

to: anyone! ( @moorbrookestarters​) location: somewhere in moorbrooke time: afternoonish hours?

CALEB

   caleb always enjoyed his daily walk around town. for him, it was always a great time to catch up with the local townspeople. it was also a great way for caleb to get to know the new town he was still settling down in. currently, he found himself walking down the street with a bag from ryhall’s cranny in one hand, happily enjoying the cool air, making his way towards delia’s cafe. he wasn’t on his way to work, but he couldn’t help but hang around the place even when he was off.  it was secretly a way for him to get to see his father more; even though he knew he needed to address that situation sooner rather than later, he didn’t hesitate to take advantage of all the moments he could form before everything was to come out. 

    as he walked, he noticed the person in front of him accidentally dropped their wallet, but they hadn’t noticed. he doesn’t hesitate to run up to pick it up for them, “oh, excuse me!” he calls out, “sorry to interrupt your day, but, i believe you’ve dropped your wallet. wouldn’t want anyone to lose that, now would we?” he softly chuckles, holding the wallet out for the person to take, offering them a charming, warm smile.

“please, lower your voice,” jonathan let out a groan as the other kept talking to him, and frankly, he barely even had any idea what they were talking about. he barely knew what was his name. “drinking this much at my old age is way too dangerous and i’m going to be hungover for two weeks now,” he mumbled and looked up at his companion, giving them an apologetic smile. “sorry, you have my full attention now, what were you telling me?”

@moorbrookestarters​

all gus could do was laugh. “you think by now your body would actually be used to all this by now. my trick to avoiding a hangover is to not sleep until after i’ve had a gallon of water and at least 4 ibuprofen.” he mused. “i think half your attention was more useful but i was asking which of these cocktails should be the winter signature drink of the new year.”

location: the park time: afternoon status: open @moorbrookestarters​

the second she got to the park with the kids, she instantly regretted it. brandon was doing tricks on the playground equipment, tucker was complaining because ‘public restrooms are disgusting, mom’, and milo insisted he was ‘hot as lasagna’ because of the jacket he was wearing, but with it being chilly, hailey didn’t want to take the chance in letting him take it off and him ending up sick. it wasn’t freezing but there was a little chill in the air. her boys were relatively easy kids compared to some stories she heard of other parents’ sons, but milo… he gave her a run for her money. it didn’t matter how many times she told him ‘don’t do this’ or ‘don’t do that’ because he might get hurt, he took that chance. while the older boys were on the actual playground, the four-year-old was climbing on a small stump and jumping off - and hailey told him he might hurt himself, but he didn’t care. he was ‘brave’, he said. so she shrugged and let him do what he wanted. it wasn’t a high stump, just a few inches high, but there was still always a small chance of minor injury. and that’s exactly what happened two seconds later - milo lost his footing and fell on the grass, which made him whine and hailey sigh to herself. “’let’s have another baby,’ i said. ‘it’ll be fun, we’ll have a house full,’ i said. ‘this will be the last baby, it’ll be the easiest one,’ i said… i was wrong. he’s the daredevil. don’t have kids - it’s a trap,” hailey said, gently rolling the stroller that held the youngest - and last - mason child back and forth to lull her to sleep. 

who: open @moorbrookestarters​ where: somewhere public

Elijah noticed just a second too late. It was almost as if everything had happened in hyper speed. One moment, Noah was walking calmly by his side, the next his hand was pulling something out of someone’s pocket. “Noah,” Elijah scolded, grabbing hold of the three year old’s tiny hand. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Apparently I’m raising a pickpocket.”

“My mum raised a pickpocket too. Couldn’t keep my hands to myself until I was about... 10 I think? Had a run in with the police that scared the shit out of me over some pick n mix.” He mused. “It’s alright, I think he just grabbed an old receipt.”

GUSTAF “GUS” ANDERSON ( HE/HIM ) is a CISGENDER MALE, THIRTY-THREE year old SEAHORSE COCKTAIL BAR OWNER who has been living in Moorbrooke for ONE YEAR. They were born on JULY 15th and right now, they are currently residing in ELMSETT GREEN. It has been said that they look suspiciously like REGÉ-JEAN PAGE and if they had to choose a song to describe themselves, they would choose TAINTED LOVE by SOFT CELL.