#dakotaxmp

[mpxalexander]

Crystals and Chaos

To start of a chaotic friendship with @dakotaxmp

A soft curse rolls off his lips at the loud noise that results from the Quartz bumping against the shelf on its way down to abruptly meet the floor. To be fair, he tried his best to cushion the fall with his foot. This, however, only changed the trajectory of the crystal from hitting the ground and risking a chipped corner to being kicked up with what he thought was a tiny bit of force and smashing hard against the floor instead.

For a second, he just stares at the tiny clear splinters that once formed the whole crystal, frozen in confusion as to how it all happened. Raising his hand and offers his most charming smile to the only customer in the store. “My bad.” his voice is a blend of apologetic and cheerful.

Alexander isn’t a clumsy person, and usually his reflexes are quick enough for him to be able to catch it. So why exactly did he just make a fool of himself? Well…a very handsome distraction.

Moments before disaster, his eyes were busying themselves by glancing at the man. Though, his personal definition of ‘glancing’ would border on ‘staring’ for others. Hunter’s friend, who is patiently waiting for his boss to return from his lunch break. He believes his name is Dakota. Or at least something along the lines of that.

Secretly, his gaze travels from the stranger’s side profile, down to his shoes and back up again while Alexander makes his way over to place the box in his hands onto the counter.

“Excuse me,” the smile hugs his words as he positions himself next to Dakota—a little closer than he intended to—his finger absentmindedly pointing towards the door behind him, “just gotta get something out of that room there.”

[mpxdavina]

The Medicine Ball

@dakotaxmp

The busy spell just calmed down. It appeared that as the cold persisted on the island that many of the demis had not taken the necessary precautions to protect their health. She was glad she had made her employees a daily round of immunity protecting teas, or by now, she sure that they would have been under the same circumstances of the customers that they had throughout the morning.

When another man approached her stall, she saw some of the more similar symptoms of a cold. A small frown burrowed on her visage, concerned about the other. Once he was close enough, she finally spoke up. "Welcome!" She speaks warmly to the other. "Where you seeking a certain type of tea? I might have some recommendations."

[mpxkaya]

❛ touch me, and you're dead. ❜ He says waking up with the light touch on his arm. He sees who it is and relaxes a bit. “Oh, it’s you, never mind.”

Kaya chuckled.

She'd been around many people who'd said the same thing if she accidentally disturbed their sleep, and she knew —or at least, liked to think she did at least a bit— Dakota enough to be sure he wouldn't really hurt her. "I'm sorry, I woke you." Her voice was soft, with a gentleness to it that felt almost foreign.

"Are you okay?" It hadn't been long since she finally met him. The Dakota that always seemed to be in Noel's memories from when they were young and exploring the world on their own. He'd told her about all his friends, even when he couldn't tell them about her. Noel had shared many things: their friendship, the brawling, the bickering and experiences he got to live beside him and Invidia and in all of them, Dakota always sounded strong, fierce — so alive with that spark of old magic that drew similarities between them.

A younger Kaya thought he sounded like the coolest guy around, especially when he gave Noel hell. "I can bring you a jacket or something if you're cold."

[mpxnoel]

❛ sometimes i wonder if you're in love with me. ❜ He’s kidding!

Dakota nearly has him choking on his drink. The audacity this man has sometimes!

Noel turns to him with bewilderment plastered on his face. He'd been taken by surprise and that was not something so easily achieved, he had to give his friend that. In all the years they'd known each other, it was safe to say that the one causing such reactions was Noel, so the change was welcomed even if it was surprising. "You're a couple years too late, I like the other cousin."

He was back to his usual self, face relaxed and eyes filled with jade tinted mischief as he plotted his revenge. He'd get back at Dakota, even if that cost him an arm and his neck. "But..." he carried on, leaning back while brining his glass of whiskey back to his lips. "You do look quite charming when you're threatening me. It's quite enticing, if you ask me."

[khonshu-mp]

Khonshu shook his head regarding the flowers. "No, green is more her style. Maybe if the flowers were more darker shaded but more of the greenery. Think of her house - it's amazing. There's green plants everywhere, inside and out but it's so everywhere! Vines wrapped around and scattered."

He cleared his throat before rubbing his head. "Money tree. It sounds interesting...I don't want to keep you, you seemed busy when you stopped earlier. Could I have your number maybe? And reach out of I have questions?"

Khonshu wasn't sure how this would go - but either way he was now more educated than when he was when he first sat down with his drink. He stared at the flowers and grew melancholy. "I'm sure Heather will love them."

//

  He’s searching the wealth of photos on his phone for the one that’s of his friend. It’s a little harder than expected to find a good photo of Heather. Not because he doesn’t look good when he’s stationary. It's just the part about him being stationary long enough for anyone to get a good photo that is a little difficult! He’s always laughing or moving in ninety-eight percent of the photos and when he does manage to sit still either he took the photo himself or it’s the work of someone extremely close to him who has his attention. Dakota stops his search though when the other says that they know Heather

   His eyes lift and there’s a question that lives in them but for the moment he says nothing. Instead he gives a little nod and just pockets his phone again. As he does so, he listens to the rest of what is told to him. Discreet he pretends he didn’t hear the tension in the other’s voice about Heather, nor the mumbling that passed about plants surviving. Dakota is good with plants and he credits it to carefully learning about them over the years.

   Though, if anything, he also credits his skills with them now to the amount of times he failed to care for plants he had in the past. 

  Patient he waits for the other to make his way through sharing that he wants to try and keep a plant to show that he can to someone he cares for. A girlfriend. The dots are coming together slowly to something that Dakota was briefly told by Heather in passing but he doesn’t say anything other than, “I get you. I have this thing where I want to show I can stand on my own if I need to a lot of the time. It’s both saved my ass and at times almost got me killed.”

  The seat is offered and though he does have a bit of a schedule to keep today, he figures it can’t hurt to help a little. He settled down in the seat and then looks to the other man. “Uh..” he starts and then laughs before he dips just a bit again, “I’m Dakota.”

   Then he starts in, “Some of the easiest plants to keep alive are succulents and cacti, but like…it’s basic as hell to have them. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice and all but when it comes to, I guess, showing interest in her interests, it might go a little better to kick it up a notch. Think..mmm,” he pauses to drum up some plants he knows from memory. “You could get a Cast Iron plant… Or some other type of small indoor tree-like plant. Ooo! Like a Money Tree! They’re kinda cute and grow really well indoors and you only need to water it when the soil goes dry.”

   He stops before he gets swept away, “Or were you thinking more like flowers? Because that’s a whole other ball game and does require a liiiiiiiiitle bit more care.”

[mperik]

❛ i needed to eat. you do what you have to, to survive. ❜ Dakota shrugs but it’s clear the memory of what he did was unpleasant.

“I understand, and I don’t judge you for that.” 

Erik stated, simply and with a smile as gentle as the vernal breezes. He recognised the other man’s unease, yet chose to stay in the spectator zone and let Dakota process the feelings himself. While they had learned each other’s face and name through Erik’s visits to Honeypot, they were not yet friends, and even between friends, there were things left unspoken. 

At another time, Erik may consider digging deeper into Dakota’s psyche, to learn about the man he used to be. Yet for now, the son of Apep was happy to play the role of a good listener, also a loyal customer. 

“May I have another beer, please?” He asked, pushing his empty mug quietly back to Dakota. Pausing for a second, he then added. “And if you don’t mind, I would like a bottle for takeaway as well.”

[exmphades]

❝ Please come home for Christmas ❞ My muses begs for your muse to come home for Christmas. || Dakota worries the hem of his shirt as he looks at Hades who cleans up around the restaurant. He hates seeming so scared but he can't bear the idea of this not being a thing, "Hades...you'll be here..I mean in town for Yule ...right?"

meme: jingle bell memes

He’s in the middle of wiping down the last table when Dakota speaks up. Rather than giving another order for him to do like he expected, he’s asked a very hesitant and almost scared question, which has him looking up for a moment at his young friend, taking in his entire demeanour before he looks back down at the table to wipe the last part of it. He lifts the chairs then to put them on top of the table so the floor can be swept next, but rather than start on that, he walks back over to the bar to drop his cloth in the sink and then just wordlessly wrap up Dakota in his arms.

“I’ll be here,” he says easily. “While you’re open. After that I’ll be going home to my wife and I doubt anything short of a major emergency is going to be a good enough reason for me to leave her again for the night.” He smiles softly, because these words are not so much about his wife’s opinion but rather about the plans he himself made for the evening that he hopes she’ll enjoy and that he won’t want to not be a part of at any point throughout the evening.

“Why?” He asks after a moment of silence in which he’s just been hugging his young friend close, giving the affection freely, even running a hand through Dakota’s hair with warm gentleness. “Did you make any big plans with someone else and promised I’d be there too without asking me first?” The joke comes easily, to allow some lightness in Kota’s chest, since it’s clearly been full of worries.

[mpxyumi]

first day;

@dakotaxmp

Yuyan was not exactly nervous for her first day at Honeypot. Well, not about the job itself, really-- the only thing she was nervous about was her own ability. She had not had a job since she lost her leg, so she just hoped it would not act up and make her a burden. But it should be fine. She just had to be careful, as always.

So she walked into the restaurant fairly confidently, making a conscious effort to keep her gait smooth and try not to limp at all; moreso because she did not want customers to see her weakness, since she had divulged her disability in the interviewing process. She felt pretty good, all dressed up in her waitstaff uniform and ready to go. It was important to approach new things with a positive mindset, after all.

She paused at the front of the dining room, scanning the place for the owner. He was pretty nice, which also helped soothe her worries. Once she spotted him, she made her way over to greet him. “Alright, boss, put me to work! I’m totally ready.”

[mpxvalentina]

pranked by the universe~

from here with @dakotaxmp​

They were on their way to the park when Dakota came to a sudden halt in the street. She played up the “dumb rich girl” act often but Valentina was anything but. Valentina can’t help but follow her friend’s gaze. Easily finding who had Dakota’s attention before chuckling at his very visceral reaction to the gentleman down the street. Making a comment about the past as he looked as if he’d seen a ghost, a very attractive ghost too. “Dios Mio, is correct, Dakota. Who is that gorgeous man and why are you mad about it?!” The demigoddess chuckled at Dakota then as he spoke up towards the sky. She needed backstory and she needed it now. The curiosity was driving her crazy given the reaction he was having here in the middle of the sidewalk.

She linked her arm with his and guided him into the cafe right next to them to get his attention somewhere else. Getting them into a comfortable spot at the window, so she could see the handsome guy across the way but also keep Dakota from embarrassing himself. “Wanna tell me what that was about now?”

[mpwukong]

cont from here w/ @dakotaxmp 

“Hmm” with a lazy, somewhat tipsy, smile Wukong leans his cheek on a rolled fist and watches the other as he flits around behind his bar, leaving the strewn piles of CVs momentarily as he shifts towards him. Wukong liked the other’s sentiment, he wasn’t a bad person after all, and such genteel acts of compassion were nice to see, even if he could not say he shared the ability of their sentiment. Besides, forgiveness in its purest form is something that sits well with him, as he is such a troublemaker he’s often found falling on the good graces of others forgiveness. That, and a charming smile, had gotten him far indeed. 

At the mention of his drink the god’s eyes glance down and noticing his fruity concoction had become just ice, so he quickly nods in enthusiasm and sits up to push the glass forward. “Yes, please and do you have any of those little straws?” Lifting his fingers he tries to gesture the unfolding of a small parasol, before leaning back is long form against the back of his stool. “Do those resume’s have any pictures?” he enquires with a rather suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows that would make any HR representative grimace. “For a medical opinion, obviously-” he coos, boyish grin in full force.

[mpxalexander]

Just keep…swimming?

a chaotic swimming session with @dakotaxmp the only one patient enough to deal with Alex's dumbassery

It took a fair bit of convincing to get Dakota to join him for his planned workout. And to tell the truth, Alexander still wasn’t fully certain he’d show up. All he could do was hope and wait. 

Slightly out of breath and his hair dripping wet, he sat on one of the rather uncomfortable stone benches close to the wall. Sanya never claimed he’d be waiting to get in the water. Though, to be fair, he did try to show patience. 

But under the curious eye of a particularly conspicuous senior swimmer, he felt more at ease with most of his body below water. And only after they exited, and the demigod finished the lap he started, he allowed himself a short break while he waited for his swimming partner of the day. 

That was, of course, if he didn’t change his mind after all. With his phone now safely tucked away in a locker with the rest of his stuff, Alex couldn’t exactly check his messages every couple of minutes. 

Surely, he thought, a quick peek at his notifications couldn’t hurt, could they?

The contrast between the dark shade of the tattoos that littered his skin and the white color of his swim shorts became only that much more obvious when he stood up. A small puddle of water pooled at his feet, barely noticeable amongst the countless others on the floor. 

For a moment, Alexander looked at the floor. Regarded it, like he was playing out important scenarios in his mind. Would any of his siblings be around to see him, they’d recognize the expression on his face. The scheming face of a madman. 

Would any of his siblings be around to see him, they might even try to stop him in his endeavors.

But they weren’t around to see him. Nobody was in the currently empty pool. 

The realization of his potential to do whatever he wanted drew a small smile onto his face. 

His gaze fixed on the door to the showers for a moment before it wandered to the pool wall until it landed on the ladder closest to it. Alexander then mentally counted the steps it would take him from the wall closest to him to the edge of the pool. If he didn’t miscalculate his own abilities, it would be three. 

Just three steps.

The risk of slipping and smashing up his face on the concrete floor was considerably smaller if he’d just walk up to the edge and jump in from there. But by this point, he made up his mind that he wanted to enter with some sort of flip. Maybe a front flip? Or a side flip?

He wasn’t really sure on that—he tended to make decisions like these while he was in motion. And unfortunately for the face he was risking on smashing into concrete, walking up to the edge just wouldn’t give him enough momentum to decide. 

Three steps. 

Glancing at the frosted glass door to the showers once more to make sure nobody was coming before taking a final look around to make sure no employees were close by, Alexander walked over to the wall to him. 

Three steps.

A deep breath preceded his sprint—in which he thankfully didn’t slip—before he jumped as far away from the edge as possible. The front flip he found himself in wouldn’t win any metals at a competition, but it was of solid enough form to get him into the water just the way he planned to. 

He willed his body to stay underwater, his feet finding the wall closest to them and pushing his weight off to boost him towards the ladder he saw earlier. With a mind that wouldn’t shut up under any circumstances, Sanya challenged himself to get to the other side without swimming up to get air. A task that wasn’t too hard considering his love for sports of all kinds and the competitions of who could hold their breath the longest amongst him and his friends back home. 

Only when he eventually made his way over to the other side, did he notice that he miscalculated the line between the ladder and the door. So instead, he grabbed onto the edge of the pool and pulled himself up, arms tensing under his weight. 

[mpxblairkim]

TV Re-runs | Blair & Dakota

@dakotaxmp:

Dakota is flipping through channels behind the bar of Honeypot and had paused on an old re-run episode of Wizards of Waverly Place when Blair had piped up. In truth, he didn’t even realize that he had stopped for so long until she had spoken up from her place not far from him. Turning a little red in the cheeks Dakota laughs, deep and happily, before he shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m a sucker for Disney,” he admits. “TV wasn’t really my thing too too much when I was growing up but I liked this show. It had a relatable family on it and..well the theme song used to get stuck in my head a lot. Strangely only when I had to remember important things.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. Being a musician back in high school meant that Blair often found herself engulfed in her music; during the time when she wasn’t off causing trouble, that is. She’d never been much of a pop music fan though, let alone a Disney music fan, but there was a humour to those shows that she always appreciated.

“It’s funny; I thought I could learn English from watching these shows,” she explained, but shrugged her shoulders, “And then I realised that it didn’t really work and I didn’t want to study either so... my English is still shit.” She laughed, her statement having been accented by one of the few English words that she knew well.

[mp-santino]

[ seduce ] for your muse to touch mine sexually

It was later in the night and Tino had been hanging around Honey Pot waiting for his boyfriend so they could head home together. The older liked to help out around the restaurant when he could. Most of the time he was just cleaning up, busing tables when things got too busy. He didn’t mind at all. 

With the tables clean and dishes washed, Santino came out to find his boyfriend watching him as he counted the money for the night. The raven bites his lip unable to really help himself as he comes up behind the younger wrapping his arms around his waist. “Chores are done, mi amor...is there anything else I can do for you..?” he grins hands slowly descending down Dakota’s thighs squeezing. 

[exmpxfelix]

you’re a real hero. don’t ever forget it.

Prodigal Son Starters: Accepting

“Psh, that’s a little dramatic...” Felix replied bashfully, waving a hand. “It’s not like I cured cancer of something, anyone woulda warned you about that kitchen fire if they could--” Which was not true in the slightest, especially considering the price he knew he’d be paying, but he liked to assume the best of everyone. After all, it would be mean to not tell someone about something like that. No, not just mean; negligent! It was his civic duty. 

But, speaking of prices... “Oh, shoot,” he murmured, staring at his phone’s lock screen. Why had he set a password on his phone? That suddenly seemed like the stupidest thing he, a notorious amnesiac, could have done. Especially because, suddenly, any numbers of importance had flown right out his ears. “Weird question: do you know when my birthday is?”

[mpxkaya]

His response is surprising enough that her expression flattens. Noel enjoyed giving her such replies all the time, the quirky bastard. Dakota didn't make her feel like smacking the back of his head for it, though, so she chuckled instead, trying to ignore that his words actually carried harsh truths.

"By all means, dismantle the institutions in power."

She rolled her eyes in a playful manner, leaning against the bench with arms crossed while she watched the sleep roll off from his face. He looked like he'd gone through a marathon... being dragged by his feet. It was nearly comical, but she knew better than to make light of it. "It's half past eleven." It was a rare sight to have her out before two pm, but it just so happened there were some errands she needed to run. "Well then, I can treat you to some food if you'd like. It's time for an early breakfast."

Sight for Sore Eyes \\ Kaya & ‘Kota

Making connections again~ Continued from here with @mpxkaya

//

  Her familiar face makes Dakota remember that his choice in sleeping on a park bench is a worrisome thing for the average person to see. Especially in a city like theirs where it wasn’t really done. Back home in California- sure, not all that weird to find people sprawled out on benches, doorways and even on the sidewalks at times. But here? Nah. Her familiar face also makes him remember that he had spent last night drinking far too much with Ryul, Heather, Noel and Invidia.

   “Okay is a social construct made by the Big Cheese in charge to keep us going to our capitalist prisons- I mean jobs.” The answer is not a real one save for that it’s too real where it hits. He closes his eyes again as his stomach protests his waking state- loud and angry it demands attention soon. “I’ll be Gucci as long as I eat something before my stomach eats itself.”

   He sits up and yawns before stretching his arms overhead and actually assessing if he’s doing alright today. The hangover he’s sporting is going to be a pain but nothing he can’t handle with good food and taking it easier at work later. Her offer of a jacket is a nice one but if he starts moving around he’ll get warm enough. It’s early in the day when the cool of the night is still there before noon will heat away the midday.

  “Mm, no coat.” He answers and moves to stand fully now. He twists at the waist and his spine gives a satisfying pop that he hums about before pushing his hands over his face and up into his hair. “What time is it?”

[mpxchaewon-blog]

“If you got nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose.” (You can’t take anything from me if I’m willing to part with everything.)

"That... yeah, that makes sense, but like, isn’t that a pretty sad way to live? Sure, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, but the second you gain something you have something to lose, which means that in order to have nothing to lose you have to spend your whole life being miserable and lonely and stuff, you know?”

Chaewon had no idea how or why she was discussing philosophical stuff with this blue-haired stranger, but hey, he seemed really nice! Though she should probably find out his name, first. “I’m Chaewon, by the way, I probably should’ve said that,” she glanced at her phone’s clock, “half an hour ago.” And she gave him a bright smile.