Casper

Hey watch your back! That’s [Caspian “Casper” Lewis ]. People say [He] has/have lived in [Shadyside] for [26 years]. I heard they are a [26] year old [drug dealer]. Don’t you think they look like [Angus Cloud]? They remind me of [bloody knuckles,holes in walls, discussing conspiracy theories late at night, the smell of Febreze masking marijuana, mini ziplock bags,listening to podcasts, black eyes, profanity, layered shirts]

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“Maybe I will.” Penelope mumbled, then chuckled a bit, although it came out cold and humorless. “Have you been around for long? Do they really do this every year?” Sometimes, Penelope wondered if maybe it was better to just pretend to be local, but that was almost impossible in small towns. 

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     “Alright” she nodded gently. She might not have hit him, but she couldn’t say that she’d have been particularly happy if he hadn’t said anything first. “Got it” Delores nodded, trying to take in everything he was telling her as she held the new position he’d moved her arms into, squinting as she peered down the side of the gun before taking a shot, a splatter of paint landing below his and slightly to the left, which she supposed she couldn’t complain about given that she probably would have missed the tree entirely before. “Not bad..” she grinned, looking at the splatter for a second longer before she turned to look up at Casper. “Thanks, you’re really good at this”

“I’ve had practice.” He shrugged moving away from her. “Alright well, I’m on the offense team, clearly. Duty calls and all that. Try not to get shot out here alright little Val?” he said to her turning to head back into the forest.

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“You say that like it doesn’t mean we can’t attend? A festival that happens every year is still important to attend. Of course I didn’t want Valentina alone, we haven’t hung out together in a long time.” Cris mused as a part of him hated the very thought she’d rather spend her time away yet at the same time a hidden part of him could understand why…but he’d never admit that out loud. “Sounds like a plan man, let’s get there before the tourists do” He mused, following after the other.

“I say that because you’re acting like it’s an obligation. It’s just a thing that happens in town. Like a Christmas parade. No one’s going to notice or care if the Estradas aren’t here.” Caspian shrugged. That was just his opinion anyway. He let the topic of Valentina go. It wasn’t his place. “Sounds good to me I’m starved. What do you want?”

TJ had no intention of seeing Casper or any of those old associates every again. Even if it was a small town, he as convinced that he would be staying away from this part of it. He had made himself that promise when he returned a few weeks ago. But apparently, someone else had different ideas for him. “I am.” He said in reply to Casper’s question before handing him an envelope. “So do you know why this was in my mailbox this morning?” When TJ had opened the envelope addressed to him and saw the drugs that were looking back at him, he had a hard time putting the envelope back down. It was simply signed ‘from a friend’ and while he knew it was most likely Cris fucking with him, he hadn’t wanted to see the other man so he thought Casper was the better option to talk to.

Casper took the envelope and looked inside. He sucked his teeth, tossing it through the open door behind him back into the house. “Wasn’t me man. You know my rule. But I’m sorry about that. I’ll ask around, find out who’s screwing with you.” Casper reassured him. “You doing alright?”

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     “Oh, uh, sure…thanks” she nodded, taking a step back from as she held up her gun, glancing over at him expectantly for pointers. “I can see that…I don’t really watch a lot of movies, honestly. I’m more of a book person” Delores admitted. Even then, action movies weren’t exactly her thing but she had seen one or two. “Do you…I mean, do you handle guns a lot?” she asked, just trying to make conversation, although, she felt like she was only feeding into the whole kid sister thing by asking. 

Caspian walked over to her, deciding to not answer that particular question. “I’m going to touch you so don’t hit me alright?” he said. He repositioned her hand so she could hit the trigger easier. then he lifted her arms a bit. “ keep the tank pressed against your shoulder. it will help with recoil and the shakiness. Now aim at that tree, exhale and hold your breath. aim down the side of the gun.” he coached her, doing it himself as he talked. he shot, a big blue splatter on tree trunk a few meters away. “now you try it.”

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     “Right. Well, um, I hope you’re having fun, anyways” she sighed, still feeling bad. He didn’t seem too phased by it, however, so she tried to push past it. “No, I played last year but I got shot. A lot.” she shook her head. She’d had so many bruises, but it had only motivated her to win this time around so she could rub it in her siblings faces. “I thought I’d give it one more try but I’m not really great at this stuff”

“well here, let me see what i can do to help you not get shot this year. Show me how you hold your gun.” he said moving back to see what she would do. “Most people’s problem, is that they think they know what they are doing because they've seen a few movies.”

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Esther smiled brightly at him. “Hi!” she said, as cheerful as ever. “I was looking for salt and vinegar chips. I found sour cream and onion, which are still good, but salt and vinegar are my favorite. I can usually find them cause most people don’t like them as much as I do.”

“aww sorry ma’am. we actually had them expire so we threw a ton out the other day. I’ve got an order come in this morning we didn’t get to unpack yet. Let me see if we got any fresh bags in.” he said knocking on the door behind him. “Nug! get out here man.” he said before walking towards the back. A kid came out, sitting on the stool where Caspian had just been. “what’s up.” he nodded to the woman.

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“That makes the most logical sense, plenty of tourism this time around, might have something the recent murder” Cris shrugged it wasn’t as if this town wasn’t use to those with morbid curiosity stopping by and seeing if the curse had been real all those years. “Its the Annual Meteor shower everyone makes an appearance, and since my parents didn’t feel like it here I am” He mused honestly.

“It’s a festival. Not a mob meeting. Just admit you didn’t want to let Valentina come alone.” Casper called the the guy out on his bullshit. That was one thing about Caspian, he wasn’t afraid of Cristiano. He hadn’t always been like this, and he hoped if he called him out enough he’d eventually look in the mirror to what he became. “Either way you’re here and im high. let’s get food.” 

@unfriendlyghcst​ Event Starter!

Cris wasn’t much  for the festival of it all but Val had expressed excitement at being here so of course he decided to tag along. He was looking around Vendor Row to see if their was anything that would be a good quick bite for the both of them since she signed up for that whole capture the flag thing. “Casper, nice to see you here, did you bring Nugget with you? This definitely seems like his type of fun time” he mused looking at the other.

“Nah he didn’t want to come until later apparently. Said he had business to handle.” Casper shrugged. He never treated Nug like a kid, and he wasn’t about to today. “Figured we could switch off. Lots of tourist who wanna be in another mind state for the meteors later. I’ve been racking up.” he told Cris.”What about you man? This ain’t usually your scene.”

Closed Event Starter for @unfriendlyghcst​

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     Delores whipped her head around, hypervigilant as she assessed her surroundings because she was not looking to get shot tonight if she could help it. A sudden sound breaking the silence startled Delores and she backed up quickly, wanting to give herself time to prepare or hide but instead she let out a soft hmph sound as her body collided with something hard. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry” she flushed, looking up at the man. He was oddly familiar but Delores was struggling to place it. Either way, he was on her team and so she tried her best to relax for now. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m cool.Don’t worry about it Little Val.” Casper said to the girl. He was used to seeing her around Cris and Valentina when Cris was one his well, better behavior. But he didnt know much beyond her being Valentina’s little sister. “You seem a little jumpy. First year?”

Penelope would love to pretend to be having a great time. Truthfully, though, all she had been doing so far was stare across vendors row at Bellamy, hoping they were having a nice time. She decided the best course of action was to attempt to blend in, if only for Bellamy’s sake, who would probably be worried if she just stood there doing nothing. Though eventually everyone else would also find her ominous if she didn’t at least try. It was with that mood in mind that she turned to the person next to her. “So. A bonfire.” She started, already not knowing where to go from there. “Why couldn’t we have it in a warmer month?” She said, sinking into her own blouse. 

“I think you gotta take that up with the stars man.” Casper said from his place beside the bonfire. He had been zoned out staring at the flames, but the girl’s voice knocked him out of it for some reason. ”They’re the only reason we have this whole thing.”