anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

"Yeah," he nodded his head. Life pulled him in a different direction and it had been against his will for a few years. The time spent completely isolated, wondering when it would be his last day, had put the nail in the coffin for his relationships with his family. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't his fault, no, but there were repairs to be made. He'd made the most headway with Cohen since moving to Kismet. "Right," he couldn't relate in a way that Sebastian was explaining and he wasn't about to dive into the reasons on why he couldn't relate, "yeah, I know. Life's complicated, but," he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "How are you liking your new job?" @sebastianxthomas

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from," Sebastian replied, a hint of empathy in his voice. "It's tough when those family bonds get strained, especially when life pulls you in different directions. I mean, I can relate to feeling like the older sibling—sometimes it just creates distance, no matter how much you try to bridge the gap." He paused for a moment, taking in the memories of those days spent with family, and continued. "I get that whole work-oriented mindset too. It can consume you, and before you know it, you're sacrificing connections that really matter. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but I guess we all navigate through our own mess in some way or another." He gave a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Just know that it’s never too late to try and mend things, if that's what you want or you can eat to much and move across the country like me" he joked. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

When Brody agreed to come in, he remained moved to the side until his younger brother was all the way inside. Anthony shut the door behind him, leave it unlocked in case his brother decided to make a quick escape at some point. It's not like Anthony would blame him. "It's-," he shook his head, "I understand, really," he started, moving towards his small apartment-sized kitchen, "you want something to drink?" He questioned, opening the fridge for himself, figuring the two could use an ice breaker of sorts. "Where are you comin' from?" @brodyblake

As Anthony froze before him, Brody mimicked the action. While he knew his brother was alive and had for months, there was something different about seeing him in person and it felt like a wave of emotions hit him. Things he had pushed down a long time ago were coming up, but at this point of his life, he was quick to shove it back all down. Clearing his throat, Brody nodded his head. "Yeah. I'd like that." He said; still just staring at his brother while taking it that this was all real. He walked inside the place and took a breath as he finally averted his eyes and looked kinda around but didn't take in any of his surroundings. "Mom told me you were..." He trailed off and looked back at Anthony. "Sorry it took me so long to get here." @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

"I can tell," he was proud of his younger brother, truly. Anthony had never imagined a moment in which he would be able to feel like this again. The two years spent wondering at what moment would be his last moment, he thought of all the things he should have done differently in his life. Anthony was trying to atone for the past since his arrival in Kismet and his relationship with his brothers had been top of the list and now a primary focus since his marriage with Liliana was a complete end. "You'll end up doing it when the time is right, even if there's really no such thing," he cracked a small smile, "but with you two, I bet there will be." @cohenblake

END.

Cohen had always looked up to his brothers, doing his best to admire who they were in comparison to himself growing up, but something about Anthony had always been the one that Cohen pulled to. Especially once he'd met Liliana; it had always been it's own bit of inspiration and admiration in what he wanted out of his own relationship with the girl he was going to marry. He was sure he'd never told him that - he'd been far too caught up in causing trouble to have done so - but now that Anthony was back, Cohen was enjoying as much free time with his oldest brother as he could. They had a lot of time to catch up on after all. "Of course, man. Always." the younger male encouraged, but it was the truth. It was only when Anthony said he was smart though that Cohen felt his cheeks flush. He certainly didn't feel very smart sometimes. "Thank you. We're trying to be smart about it." Cohen answered for both of them, despite the fact he wasn't entirely sure Courtney felt the same way. "I just want to know I can take care of her and a baby, and at this point in our lives I don't think that would be possible." @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

He nodded his head along to Travis' words, "Yeah," he had to agree with both their sentiments in regard to weather. "Everything goin' well with the pregnancy?" Anthony questioned, genuinely curious. He only wanted the best for Liliana and honestly, he knew that was with Travis. Anthony had never deserved the woman in the first place. @travisjackson

He nodded as he looked to the sky for a moment. "That's true. I thought the same." Plus with the baby coming, he wanted to get one more in, but he wasn't about to rub it all in Anthony's face. "It depends, really. Sometimes it's fine and others is colder. Last year was definitely worse." Travis told him as he got into the kayak. "Always does no matter where you live it seems." @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

"Makes sense," not that it really did to him because Anthony did not have that type of relationship with his brothers. They'd been close, once upon a time but he had always been significantly older than them. His disappearance never helped any of the relationships, not that it was his fault. "Yeah," he chuckled with Sebastian's words. Sweet and cheesy weren't his thing. He'd been like that when courting Liliana once upon a time but it was a lifetime ago and he was a much different person. "Gotcha," he gave a nod of his head, "I get that," though the wording was different than he had heard before "I've always been more work oriented myself." It was the straw that broke the camel's back in his own marriage. Well, one of the straws. @sebastianxthomas

"It's not really to bug her, but I enjoy teasing her, so it just makes it better," he joked. He knew he had to get away from New York after what had happened. His name was in the trash there for something the restaurant owner had done. "She is pretty cool." he knew she was nice and made friends with most. "Ah so sweet and cheesy makes me sick" he laughed. "But it's sweet" he smiled. "I went on the road of work she went on the road of love." why they had each other for so many years and Sebastain did not. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

"Yeah," Anthony gave a slight nod of his head, only barely moving his chin with Dylan's words. It was nice to branch out. That was something he had been trying to convince himself of and it was painfully clear to him that it was not nice. High Pulse was exactly the last place that Anthony felt like he fit in at and even in standing out, he was entirely out of place. "Sure," he flagged down the bartender to order them each a drink, figuring it was a better way to break down the walls that separated the two of them. "Oh, uh," he reached up to rub the back of his head at his brother's question, "fine," he started, "work's been good, probably slowing down as the cold weather comes. Can't imagine people are gettin' their cars detailed as it gets cold." He shrugged his shoulders, "What 'bout you?" @dylnxblk

Dylan laid his glass down on the bar top and listened to his brother, as best he could over the music. Hearing the reason his brother was here too felt weirdly familiar to Dylan's own reasoning. A rare instance of him having something in common with one of his elder siblings. "Yeah it's nice to branch out." He shrugged, trying to be all nonchalant about it all.

When Antony suggested getting Dylan another drink he lifted his glass back up and finished it off. "Absolutely, thank you" Getting a bit drunk tonight wasn't his original plan, but he was going to need a few more if he was going to navigate this interaction.

"So, how's things?" Dylan asked, clearly a little cautious to do so. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

©

[anthonyxblake]

Anthony gave him a small smile, “Yeah,” he continued to push the kayak into the ocean. “seems we aren’t going to have weather good enough to do this much longer. Figured I’d get one last go in,” he shrugged his shoulders as he loaded himself into the kayak, “I hear the winters can get pretty brutal around here,” Anthony commented, “New York wasn’t great either,” not by a long shot, “ocean makes everything a bit more extreme, huh?” He tried to joke with the man. @travisjackson

With the baby due soon, Travis thought he'd do one last meeting of lake legion and get on in his kayak. He felt it had been a minute since he had gotten out in the water and he was gonna miss it, but he had a great excuse coming along. Travis had his kayak out and he was making sure his phone was in the waterproof case and attached it to his kayak in case Lili called, there would be no issues. Hearing someone, he turned around and his heart fell for a moment before nodding. He always felt bad when it came to Anthony and he wished all of this was different for the man. "Morning. And yeah. It's good to see you too." He paused to finish what he was doing. "Seems we had the same idea, huh?" @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

Laughing with Cohen was unusual for him but it was something that he had been growing more used to since living in Kismet Harbor. Cohen had been the first brother that he had really reconnected with. Anthony hadn’t seen or heard from Brody in over eight years and while Dylan lived in town as well, there still was work to do there. “I appreciate it, Cohen,” of course, there was the sentiment that family was always welcome, but Anthony never wanted to assume. A lot of things had changed in the years of his disappearance and Anthony hadn’t been the best person prior to disappearance, anyways. So, he was working on things but knew that he was far from perfect. “I get that,” he nodded his head. When he and Liliana had previously talked kids all those years ago, they were in a much better position that Cohen found himself in right now. That was the air force money, primarily and Liliana had a career of her own. “You guys are smart,” he told his brother, “most people would have kids without thinking of things like that.” @cohenblake

Listening to his brother laugh made Cohen join in, nodding. It felt good to be able to joke with his brother again; the Blake family had missed out on so much time during Anthony's disappearance he'd always wondered if he'd ever be able to make up for it again. But now that they were in the same town, it seemed to feel a little easier to get there. "Of course, but you're family and family is always welcome. No invite needed." He knew that deep down Anthony knew that, but Cohen knew it was his job to make sure his brother did know. Whatever he needed to do to make him aware. Though at the comment of rotting away, Cohen nodded, looking at his brother and smirking slightly. "Yeah, there's no need. Not when there are so many people around you that would love nothing more than to have your company." he shrugged; while his comment was sincere and genuine, there was a small part of him that felt a sense of embarrassment at affection towards anyone aside from his wife, but, in this instance it felt as if it were needed. It was Anthony's question that caught Cohen off guard and he nodded, looking at his older brother. "I think we will at some point but when is still a question." Cohen shrugged. He and Courtney had talked kids their entire lives and how excited they were to have a tiny version of one of them running around, but now that he was an adult with responsibilities, Cohen found it hard to see himself as a father. "I just don't think I could allow us to be selfish and bring a kid into the world right now when I can barely survive taking care of us." @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

The long swing of the drink that his brother took was fairly on par for their interactions. While he had grown close with Cohen since moving to Kismet Harbor, but with Dylan, things were still strained between the two of them. “Don’t think it’s either of our scene,” his shoulders lifted in a shrug, “friend told me about it and I’ve been told to give more things a shot.” Anthony told his brother. The latter of his statement was told to him by his therapist, but he wasn’t keen on revealing that to his brother. “In need of another?” He gestured to the man’s drink, indicating that he was in need of one himself. @dylnxblk

Ever since ending up in High Pulse a week back by complete accident, he had grown to like the place. It was cheap, the music was sometimes good, and the people were always super nice, and it felt like an easy place for him to branch out a little, though at times he did feel a little out of place, he was trying not to.

Taking a short break from attempting to dance, he headed to the bar and ordered himself a vodka. His eyes flickered around the club, freezing like a deer in headlights when he saw his brother, Anthony. Fuck. He debated running off into the crowd, or heading for the bathroom, but it was soon too late and Anthony was coming towards him.

"Ant." Dylan muttered back, taking a long, long swig of his drink. Ever since everything that had happened, happened, he didn't have much of a relationship with his older brother, mostly down to Dylan avoiding the situation a little, and knowing his brother might not approve of his little bros change of lifestyle in recent years. A lifestyle that he could tell Anthony had no idea about, just judging by the look on his face seeing Dylan here.

"Didn't know this was your scene, Anthony." he nodded, taking another swig. As if it was anymore his sort of scene either. As much as he tried to make this lifestyle his own, it was obvious he stuck out a little in this sort of club. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

Anthony nodded his head, “That’s nice of you, though,” he had done something similar. Though, it wasn’t to bug his siblings. He had moved to Kismet for a number of reasons.  The first was that his wife was there – except now she was his ex-wife. Their marriage had essentially been nulled after his death, so they weren’t even married when he came to Kismet Harbor. The other reason, which had been a happy coincidence, was that his brother Cohen and Dylan lived in the area. “Courtney has been great,” he told Sebastian, “her and Cohen make a sweet couple.” @sebastianxthomas

He had always loved that he was anything but shy and was normally the one you could not miss in the room.He had no issue meeting Anthony, his brother-in-law. "Same here," he said about the beer. He wasn't that picky about what he drank. "I feel that" with nothing really going on. "I needed a new job so I looked where Courtney lived for the fun of it and found Rustica Steakhouse" he smiled a moment. "But same here, they have told me little bits about you." he knew something about the man being missing but didn't ask for the details. "So for work but mainly to bug my sister" he joked with a laugh. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

Anthony had not been expecting company. He had the day off from work and had done some light cleaning around the apartment. It wasn’t anything special and while he was meticulous in his work at the dealer in cleaning cars, he hadn’t been as apt in keeping his own space clean. However, the therapist he had been seeing told him a clean space could foster some more positive thoughts in his mind. Getting up from the couch, he set his beer down on the coffee table and went to open the door. Once the door opened and revealed who was standing there, Anthony froze. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating his younger brother being there. Cohen had been back in his life the longest, Dylan and him were still adjusting and well, he hadn’t heard or seen Brody in over eight years. “Brody? Uh- come on in,” he offered, “if, you want.” @brodyblake

closed starter for @anthonyxblake location: anthony's place

It had been months since Brody heard that his older brother was actually alive and he was still processing the news. He hadn't seen the man in over eight years just from being away himself and he had barely coped with the idea of him being dead. The idea of seeing him again made him more nervous than anything ever had. But he found himself outside of his brother's door and after standing there for a good fifteen minutes and getting strange looks from the neighbors that came out, he finally knocked on the door.

[anthonyxblake]

Anthony nodded his head along to her words, “Hopefully this winter isn’t too bad, either,” he wasn’t sure that he was ready for a brutal winter his first year in Kismet. Regardless, Anthony had always been able to overcome any situation, especially something as small as weather. “Of course,” his tongue wet his lips as she questioned about his work. “I think there will be enough work, people still like clean cars in the winter,” at least, he assumed they would. “But I guess there’s only one way to find out. If it gets too slow than then I will look for something else.” He told  Liliana, “I, uh,” he reached up to rub the back of his head, “I’ll let you go, I know it’s not late but wouldn’t want to keep you. It was nice seeing you,” and he wasn’t entirely certain if it was, not yet, but he wasn’t going to say otherwise because he wasn’t really sure how he felt. @lilianaxjackson

Liliana figured that acting normal was key. Walking around him as if on egg shells wasn't going to do either of them any good. Besides, the last thing she wanted was for them dreading running into each other. So she took a breath to shake off the nerves, and then shrugged. "They're pretty okay. The wind can be very cold, we had a snow storm almost two years back, but last winter was okay in my eyes. Nothing a scarf and beanie couldn't fix." She answered, waving away his apology concerning her migraines. "It'll be fine. The sooner I can sleep the better." Since her migraine medication wasn't allowed during the pregnancy, she just had to suck it up. "Yeah? Will you be looking for something else for the season, or will there still be enough to do?" Truthfully, she had no idea what it was he did these days. They'd discussed it briefly when they had attempted to revive their relationship, but it hadn't stuck with all the noise happening. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

"Yeah, Anthony," he confirmed the other's words with a nod of his head. Reaching out, they shook hands and Anthony settled back onto the barstool at Mad Monk Brewing. It was a local place not too far from his own that he had become quite the regular at. It was a different vibe than he was used to, if he was being honest. Yet, Anthony was about embracing the change, at least as best as he could right now, all things considering. "Not much," he chuckled, ordering a beer from the bartender that approached, "nice to finally meet you, I've heard a bit from Courtney and Cohen. What brings you to Kismet?" @sebastianxthomas

Sebastain had only heard about Anthony and had not met the other man. Due to what happened with him, this would be the first time they met. But his sister and Cohen could not make it, for one thing or another. Sebastain, too, only knew the other from the photo so he looked around tll he heard his name. "You must be Anthony," he smiled as he sat beside the other male. "What's up, man?" he asked as he shook the other hand with a smile. @anthonyxblake

[anthonyxblake]

starter for @dylnxblk

location: high pulse

Someone had told him to try out High Pulse when he asked for recommendations for a place to drink. He'd been in Kismet a while now, but had just got around to trying it out. The other bars hadn't been calling his name and well, as soon as he stepped into High Pulse he realized that he didn't fit in there. He was far too old for anything that remotely resembled a night club and as Anthony high considered turning right back around. However, it was through the flashing lights that he thought he saw his brother. He made his way to the bar to confirm, "Dyl?"

[anthonyxblake]

starter for @travisjackson

location: lake legion meeting

As the cooler weather approached, Lake Legion would be getting together less but there were still a few people foolish enough to brave the waters cold temperatures if they tipped over in their kayaks. Anthony had been enjoying getting out, even if he didn't always end up talking to someone. There was something peaceful about kayaking. Anthony was dragging his kayak over to the low spot on the beach next to someone else that was already getting ready. "Morning," Anthony gave a nod of his head, only then looking further to see that it was Travis, "nice, to, uh, see you again, Travis."

[anthonyxblake]

starter for @sebastianxthomas

location: mad monk brewing

When Courtney had told him that her brother was now in town, Anthony thought it would be worth extending an effort to get to know him. Courtney was his sister in law and therefore, Sebastian would be considered family as well. He had invited both Cohen and Courtney as well, but their lives got the better of their schedules and Anthony was left to get to know Sebastian on his own. "Sebastian?" Anthony walked up to the man that they had showed him a picture of, "Anthony," he held out his hand in introduction.