✉ ☯

taterodriguez‌:

Tate was sure that when he spoke of unfinished business to attend to that it had something to do with Quinn and that Tate would get some type of earful about it later this evening.  “That doesn’t sound fun,” Tate said simply.  “You should come to a party because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.  It’s an opportunity to have fun and let loose,” Tate sipped from their glass again.  “Honestly.  Not a whole lot.  Running a restaurant, writing books, you know… nothing too exciting.”

“Wife?  You’re married?”  Tate gave a raise of their brow.  The last thing Tate would’ve expected Ben to return home with was a wife, if at all.  “I mean, O has a pretty big heart, so that doesn’t surprise me at all.  It’s good that you had somewhere to stay when you got back, though.”  Tate should get an award for the amount of civility they’ve been able to maintain because they’d imagined the day that Ben had the gall to return and what would happen.  But, they’d leave that to their brother.  “I’m sure she’ll find me somewhere,” Tate chuckled.  “I don’t mind.  You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“I haven’t been in the partying mood since I’ve been back here,” He admitted, “I’ll make a real appearance when I’m ready. I’m not prepared for all of the questions that people are going to ask,” They were so accomplished compared to Ben. All he did was travel, meanwhile, they had been doing actual shit. “Good for you. I’ll have to try out the restaurant one of these days. Although, I’m expecting some sort of special treatment when I’m there,” He was fully joking, he figured no one around here would ever give him special treatment again. Especially if Tate knew what he did to Quinn. 

He forgot that not everyone knew that. “Yeah, thanks to the dude that officiated it in Greece, he married me and King,” They arrived in New York without securing a place to live so it was really lucky that O took both of them in. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Do you want another drink?”

chessieabernathy‌:

“Quinn didn’t hit you so hard you forgot why everyone stayed over last night, right?“ She pointed out the obvious, nodding to the snow piled up on the terrace. Chessie paused for a moment, before grumbling as she sat her mug on the counter with a dramatic thud. “Fine,” Her resolve didn’t last long.The desire to smoke easily outweighed the desire to stay inside. “I’ll go put on pants,” she grumbled as she walked away, leaving him to return to her room and change. It only took a moment – Swapping her robe for a pair of sweats and an old Yale sweatshirt, pack of cigarettes and lighter in hand. Holding them up for him to see, Chessie gave him a smirk. “Happy now?”

Was that anyone that didn’t hear about that? “I know why everyone had to stay over, I remember most of the night,” He knew there were some fuzzy moments but for the most part, he remembered the big details like getting punched in the face. Ben poured himself a cup of coffee as he waited for her to come back out, changed appropriately for the weather. He took a sip before she returned and then greeted her with a nod. “As happy as I’ll ever be,” He teased, before heading towards the door. It was a lot colder than he expected but he figured he’d warm up soon as soon as his cigarette was lit. “So did anything eventful happen last night? Besides Quinn taking a sucker punch at me?” It wasn’t an Upper East Side party without shit happening. 

monty-santos‌:

Monty had been spending more time than usual at the shelter. Partially because he knew that winter was the time that they needed the most help, and partially because the closer that it got to New Year’s the more anxious that Monty felt himself getting.  And his go-to strategy for that was to find something else to focus on in hopes that it would just go away.  It wasn’t a very good strategy, but he felt like it was at least keeping him somewhat sane.  It was better than spending all of his time thinking back to his arrest. 

But with all of that on his mind, he didn’t even really notice Ben was there until the other man spoke to him, snapping Monty out of his thoughts.  “Yeah, I’m ready for it to get less cold. I’ve never been a huge fan of winter,” he nodded at his friend as he kept his hands burrowed in his pockets.  “Well, that’s the shelter that I volunteer at,” Monty explained, pointing at it with his head, “so I was just on my way there. What about you?”

There was no reason to lie to Monty and yet, he felt the urge to. Telling the truth meant vulnerability and he refused to feel that way most of the time. Ben cleared his throat as he shifted his weight. What the fuck was he doing here? Why was he even around here? 

“I’m going for a run,” He lied as he looked at the other man. Lying was so effortless to him. “Well, I was, and then realized I definitely wasn’t dressed appropriately. it’s funny that we ran into each other,” He chuckled, trying to keep the attention off of himself. “Can you skip and join me? I was just about to check this new place out down the block.” It wasn’t really that new. It just hadn’t been here the last time that he was here and he definitely wasn’t here to check it out.

He felt like human wrapping paper wearing his festive suit. If he was put under the tree, he could probably have passed as a present. When he was younger, he loved Christmas. Well, until his father told him that Santa wasn’t real. He was still trying to adjust back into the Upper East Side party manner. At least he had alcohol as a social lubricant. “You know kids in England leave Santa some beer. Do they not think he could get drunk?” He asked, “Imagine consuming that much alcohol in a minimal amount of time. He wouldn’t legally be allowed to fly that sleigh.”

seboriley‌:

“That is what I’m here for, my friend,” Sebastian assures, clapping his hand down hard on Ben’s shoulder blade, tapering it off with a couple more pats as he prepares a couple of the aforementioned shots with two easy pours. Well, easy if you didn’t pay too much mind to the little puddle forming beneath them, slicking up the bottoms of the glasses. “I’m a lot younger than that tower,” Seb mocks, feigning a cheap English accent he’s definitely learned from Harry Potter marathons. “Ugh. Can’t it be your New Year’s resolution to take shots without a chaser or something? I’m getting very tired of tracking them down for you.” His temper dissipates just as quickly as it forms, though, and he’s already turning towards the kitchen to start a hunt for limes, shot glasses balanced between his thumb and forefinger on either hand. “But, since it’s the holidays, I’ll make an exception.”

He wanted to be as drunk as Sebastian was at this point. A shot or two would for sure send him that way. “You need to work on your accent.” Ben could probably do a better accent than him at this point.  “Can it be your resolution to stop complaining so much? I’m asking for one thing. It’s good that you’re exercising that brain of yours.” He teased. If Sebastian was going to tease him, he was going to do it right back. “I’ll take pretty much anything at this point, my regard for taste is going out the window.” 

seboriley‌:

“Dude, I’m kidding,” Sebastian assures, a little laugh bubbling up his throat as he tries to soften the blow. “What, they don’t bust your balls in Europe like they do in the good ‘ol U-S of A? We still got that on ‘em?” He offers a clipped but not insincere thanks, grabbing the handle of the knife and working it through a lime. “Well, might as well have some. No point in wasting a perfectly good lime. But if we’re going all out, we gotta find the salt…” He starts pulling open cabinets with reckless abandon, finally catching sight of a shaker and pulling it out. “’Kay. Lick your hand, Benny boy.”

He was always a wound up drunk. He did things he wasn’t supposed to and got angry at useless things. However, he was going to laugh this one off. “No one in Europe even has a sense of humor,” He joked. He waited patiently for the salt that Sebastian was looking to discover. “Too bad we aren’t taking body shots.” He hadn’t done that in years. It seemed like a younger Ben thing to do, especially when he was crossfaded. “To the New Year,” He cheered before he moistened the back of his hand. He poured the salt on his hand and licked it, realizing that his hands were probably pretty gross. Oh well. Germs take a break on New Year’s Eve. He threw his head back as he took the tequila shot. He then began to suck on his lime. “I’m ready to do another one, not gonna lie.”

buffy-seymour‌:

“What can I say? I like new beginnings.” There was something hopeful about New Year’s Eve and the new year. It was full of potential and hope and change. “Actually, 2018 was a very good year for me. I’m just excited for 2019 to be even better.”

"It’s not really a new beginning. Time is just a social construct. We might not even be living in the actual year 2018,” He lectured, “And there’s no way of knowing. So really can you be optimistic about a concept?”

I like airplanes. I like anywhere that isn’t a proper place. I like in betweens.

Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 7: Brief Lives. (via thequotejournals)

seboriley‌:

Sebastian decides to roll his eyes in lieu of dignifying the accent comment with a response. He has more pressing matters to deal with than perfecting his fake accent that is an awkward mish-mash of the loose-lipped slur of Rupert Grint’s accent and the prim, articulated poshness of Emma Watson’s. Not that prioritizing has ever been Sebastian’s strong suit. “I’ll stop complaining so much when you give me less to complain about, how ‘bout that?” Sebastian retorts just after a little scoff jumps up his throat. “Got ‘em,” Seb cheers, snagging a bag of lemons and limes from the bottom drawer of the fridge. “Find me a knife?”

“For the record, no one’s making you talk to me.” Ben was over pleasing everyone around him. He did that when he was under the Vanderbilt rule, which caused him to virtually live a double life. He didn’t care about pleasing Sebastian or giving him things to complain about. He started digging through Arlo’s kitchen, hopefully, he wouldn’t mind. Finally, Ben hit the jackpot and handed the knife over to Sebastian. He didn’t trust himself to open a bag at this state. “Are you going to have a lime too or just let the tequila burn your mouth?”