#feat. lucas

[artificerdusty]

who: Dustin Henderson & @sinclairss where: Yoda's apartment (Lucas pays the rent)

After another unsuccessful search for Luke, complete with another Hawkins perimeter search for any gates or electromagnetic disturbances of any kind, Max had gone home. Or, somewhere. Dustin didn't really know where she went-- he never had. But he was glad to finally have Lucas alone, because he'd been buzzing with questions since he'd found them in their compromising situation earlier this morning. The second the door clicked shut, Dustin listened for Max's footsteps to recede and turned to Lucas, with an only-slightly-crazed look on his face.

"Okay! So!" he said, expectant eyebrows raised at Lucas. When his friend didn't jump at his prompt, Dustin crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, come on. Tell me! What's going on between you two?" he demanded, then looked around the room to avoid Lucas' eyes. "You don't have to... it's okay, obviously, I'm over it." And he was! The tightness in Dustin's gut when he saw Max was so much more than an unrequited middle school crush-- it was a longing for simplicity. For a time before shit got so... complicated. God, he hated being an adult. More than that, he hated how completely he'd messed everything up. Maybe it was too late for him, but it definitely wasn't for Lucas.

Dustin doubled down on his line of questioning, threatening: "Just tell me or I swear to God I'll call Mike! And we'll fucking... we'll fucking wet willy you!"

[akeem47bell]

who: Akeem Bell & @sinclairss where: Lover's lake

As much as Akeem thought Hawkins was... well, whack, everytime he got a call from Cole Montgomery, he was reminded all over again how glad he was to be here and not in LA. He didn't know what Max was thinking, leaving him with some white dude who did labor law. The fuck did labor have to do with Akeem? He went out of his way not to labor, and Max knew that damn well.

But, well, there was other shit on her mind, obviously, and Akeem had basically decided that she wouldn't ditch town until that one kid was found, so he decided to do his part. He didn't really have a flashlight or anything, but he had a lighter, which he brought with him on the trail by the lake. Of course, pulling the lighter out reminded him that it'd been at least two hours since his last hit, and he couldn't do something as fucked up as look for a missing kid sober, could he?

So Akeem lit up in the woods, puffed on his joint, and held his lighter up as if it was illuminating anything other than his own hands. It was so dark that he didn't even notice the other until their shoulders brushed, and Akeem let out a breathy laugh. "Oh, shit, you're that dude!" he exclaimed, clicking his lighter to inspect the man's face. Yup. It was him-- the guy who'd been... weird at the school but then, like, way cooler later. They had to stick together, anyway.

"'Sup, man, what you doing out here? You need a ride?" Akeem hadn't seen any other cars in the parking lot... or, at least, he was too distracted trying to stash his stash in the trunk so no fucking kids got too nosy. But anyways, he rocked forwards on his feet toward the dude. "You need a hit?" he offered, before thinking again. "Who are you, by the way?"

[artificerdusty]

"Willa-bee, I swear, Katherine said she got her cable fixed. You're not gonna miss Kim Possible," Dustin swore up and down, willing his daughter to believe him and get in Katherine's station wagon. "Ew, dad! Don't call me that anymore! I'm not a baby!" she protested, nose scrunched halfway up her face. For a split second, Dustin wondered if that's what he'd looked like, all those years ago begging his mom not to call him Dusty-bun in public. Time was a circle, or whatever Mr. Clarke used to say.

Dustin beelined inside the theater, for no reason other than to get an overpriced soda and people-watch for a while-- something to do that wasn't melt into his sofa and mindlessly click through the same six channels-- but he stopped short when he saw a familiar frame hunched over the pinball machine. Without waiting for an invitation, Dustin dug his hand into Lucas' popcorn bucket, tossing a few kernels back as he watched Lucas' technique.

"No-- no! Lucas, you've got to be kidding me. You're so shit at pinball!" he groaned, watching Lucas shoot the ball off too fast. "You should've trapped it there," Dustin instructed. "Can you even still do a death save?" he taunted, now just trying to get under his skin.

"What are you doing here anyway? Isn't it kinda sad for a grown man to see a movie by himself? Or, like... creepy?"

who: lucas sinclair & open! where: the hawk. what: avoiding real life tbh.

the hawk had always been a place of escape for him going back to summer of ‘85. in some ways, things were simpler then. steve had been able to sneak them in the back, so lucas and his friends smuggled in their own snacks and sodas and watched double features free of charge. sure, there was that whole mindflayer thing, but it was also the last time he and all of his friends had been all together (and all in (mostly) one piece).  he missed it.

plus, this place had air conditioning, unlike his shitty apartment. he’d just finished up watching miama vice. he’d caught talladaga night last week, so lucas was pondering the merits of the remaining offerings while standing in line at the snack bar with his empty large popcorn bucket. he wasn’t really interested in spending another six bucks on a movie he didn’t even really want to see. hey, he was a teacher, alright? he didn’t make the big bucks. plus, he had another mouth to feed now. lucas made a mental note to stop at melvald’s on the way home so the-cat-he-didn’t-own wouldn’t eat him in his sleep because he’d forgotten to get kibble. again.  the popcorn refill, though? that was free. 

he checked his phone while the bored teenager behind the counter refilled his bucket. and then he spotted the pinball machine in the corner of the lobby, which was way more enticing than another movie. this reminded him of his childhood, too, of racing his friends to beat their high scores at the palace every day after school. change jingled in his pockets as he made his way over, propped the popcorn on top of the machine, and popped in a couple of quarters. 

dark eyes focused on the game in front of him even as a shadow fell over the glass. “you mind?” he asked without bothering to look who’d invaded his space. “working on a high score over here.” 

[moe-broey]

Mmy.... Three (3) Sharena side story Dragalia Lost screenshots.......... 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥🧍

[euphoriclusts]

closed starter for @tkachukmatthew

laughter fills the room the moment his mother leaves it, hiding his face against the other's neck. "phew. that was a close one."

[thursdaygrl]

closed starer for @antivencm

"if you're planning to kill me, you might want to be a little more discreet." carlotta hid the way her heartbeat picked up speed behind a measured look, eyes landing on the person across from her. she exhaled, pursing her lips. "and if this is about my husband, you might want to take out someone he actually cares about. one of his horses, maybe? piero can't stand losing one of his investments."

[lovecharged]

CLOSED for @luriddaze // lucas & asher.

"you know what could be a fun game?" he's a teacher, so he's good at entertaining and knowing how long to leave someone hanging before ultimately getting to the point. "talking through stereotypes. british and american edition. you offer up british ones and if they're true i'll do a shot, and then i'll offer up american ones and if they're true, you drink -- what do you say?"

[mvnghacs]

Well, seems you and I haven’t talked in a bit. We need to change that. I miss you so whenever we’re in the same place we need to find time to hang out. I’ll be upset if we don’t. @yxkhei

[spilladabalia]

Calibro 35 feat. Alan Sorrenti - Ti Chiami Diabolik

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Alice Cooper - Lost In America (feat. Slash)

[artificerdusty]

@sinclairss

pinball wasn’t his best game by any stretch of the imagination. actually, the only arcade game he was worse at was probably digdug. but he still had the high score on this particular machine, probably because it was seen as kind of a relic now. kids these days. his gaze didn’t lift from the game as he spoke. “what do you think i am? some kind of rookie?” unfortunately for lucas, as he was trash talking, he took his eye off the ball and lost it. 

he played it off like he’d done it on purpose and made a show of taking his next shot, careful to shoot it off to the right so that he could pull off the move dustin had mentioned. it took a little more effort than it had when he was twelve, but he rocked the machine up on its side to save a lost ball, using geometry to bounce it back through the paddles and back into play. “guess there’s a reason i still have the high score on this machine, huh?” as if on cue, he lost another ball.

instead of taking the final shot, lucas kept it in the starting spot and reached up to eat a handful of popcorn. “what’s sad about it?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “i don’t have to share my snacks and i get to pick the movie i want instead of switching off every week. and i get to pick the seats i want.” he launched the ball and refocused. “what are you doing here anyway?” his tongue pressed into his cheek. “i don’t see any kids here. so technically, you’re here by yourself, too.”

Dustin happened to find great comfort in the fact that some things never changed. Pinball and Lucas Sinclair were two of those things. With the funeral coming up, and once-familiar faces returned to town, it was easy for Dustin to get bummed out about what could've been. Who he could've been, where he could've lived, what he could've done. But all of those things would mean missing this: pinball with Lucas.

And watching Lucas suck. "Dude, stop trash-talking when you're making rookie mistakes," Dustin egged him on, though he watched in awe as Lucas rocked the machine and somehow saved it. "Unbelievable," he scoffed. But just as soon as he'd earned Dustin's quiet, Lucas lost another ball and Dustin exclaimed: "Ha! What was that about a high score?"

Dustin shrugged. It didn't sound all that bad, actually, he just much preferred going to movies in a group. "Don't you like talking to somebody about it afterwards?" At the mention of not sharing his snacks, Dustin took another handful of popcorn from Lucas' bucket. He chuckled at Lucas turning his words back on him, and shrugged, "Drop off. Katherine... doesn't like coming by the house if she can help it," he admitted, with a glance at his feet.

[p3cc4tum]

Kai, how do you deal with your old friends trying to interfere with your experience on the team?

"I try to ignore them, but it's a bit annoying sometimes. Or a lot annoying. Like, some of them just keep trying to drag me down for making it on the team instead of supporting me. Also it just feels like they're kinda... boring and I'm not sure why we're even friends to begin with. Like, nothing against them personally, but I have no common interests with most of them. They always just wanna hang and study or watch the most boring movies ever, and none of them goes to the gym. It feels like a waste of time sometimes hanging out with them, so if they try to talk me out of being on the team, I mostly just break off the friendship, to be honest."

[beesofter]

closed starter for @popcultr continued from here.

"were where?" he questions playfully, as if he's already forgotten the information entirely, tapping his nose knowingly and throwing a gentle wink her way. lucas hadn't paid much mind to her dress or how short it happened to be. that wasn't any of his business, though he had noted how beautiful she looked generally, which was inappropriate enough. "yeah! it's not been too bad. it's been a while since i've gone out like this, so it felt like the best time to do so - having something to actually celebrate an' all!" being a teacher, he had rules to obey and he followed them meticulously. one was to remember that he had standards to uphold, outside of school as much as inside and he'd be damned if he let anyone down. so, he wouldn't drink much and he'd be more uncle - making sure his drunkard friends got home safely - in their own ubers that he was prepared to book. "what about you? has it been a nice few weeks celebrating the holidays?"

[lyrics365]

Summer on You (club edit)

We were in love with the sun/x2 sippin’ a c**e and rum Way head up in the clouds but when I look back now Ain’t nothing else I would do When I spend the summer on you Our troubles all under rocks /x2 filling our plastic cups Don’t bother if inside we spend those long hot nights Until the sky turned blue When I spend the summer on you I spend the summer on you When I spend the summer…

[euphoriclusts]

closed starter for @hcneysckles. based on this.

days had turned into weeks, and it had been years since he'd seen her last...though it had all started feeling like decades to him. so much so, who he'd been before all of this felt like a stranger to him. someone he barely knew existed, let alone knew intimately at all. there had been whispers of a safe zone, and he knew he had to get there, regardless of how challenging the trek would be - and it had proved to be the second most challenging part of this entire ordeal. though quite far behind that fateful day. the day that saw him feeling, becoming, being well and truly alone. lucas knew he could not give up, however. he knew he had to persist. to survive. the blond figured that there was a lot she could forgive, but not him admitting defeat. wherever it was she was now. all he could hope was that she hadn't suffered, and that she wasn't now a wicked beast that he'd seen so many others transform into.

laughter fuelled by relief fills him the moment he spots the place that had been so perfectly described to him. careful and hesitant steps are what he takes as he nears the area, heart pounding hard against his chest. so much so, a part of him is concerned that it'll somehow give him away, that it'll take away his chances of finding some semblance of normalcy, within this incomprehensible situation. hands raise in the air the moment he comes across some figures, ready to undergo any tests or questioning that they expect of him. whatever he needs to do to rest easy, even for a few hours.

once in, he finds himself scanning the area, trying his utmost to become somewhat acquainted with the surroundings that should be, for all intents and purposes, his home from now on. or at least a suitable refuge. home ceased to exist a long, long time ago.

[wesxevans]

be honest... do you have any regrets?

A lot.

I regret not leaving Massachusetts sooner, I regret not being there for my little sister more, I regret being so angry at my older brother for so long, and I regret spending the last year out of contact with my mother because I have no idea how my little brother is doing.

I regret hurting Liza’s feelings so much when we met. I regret hurting Rowan the way I did. She didn’t deserve that.

@thelizaxevans @theameliaxevans @jaredx @lonelyhcart