Open RP Post

[aucourant]

[ Give me a starter, a prompt, or just a blank top level. Anything goes. ]

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[trigeminalheadache]

[aucourant]

This was supposed to be an important client dinner. RGM showing a prospective new client that they were committed to rebuilding their image. But due to overworked staff, miscommunication, last minute schedule changes, and maybe one or two betrayals, it was Connor alone in Central City. He wouldn't describe the task as daunting, but not only was his own job on the line but the position of the entire Mink Group was at risk. They needed this contract or they were all out of jobs. Something about pulling their weight.

The first step that hadn't gone well was that he was supposed to be meeting with a man named Harrison Wells. He'd even worn actual slacks and a button down shirt for the occasion. Trying so hard to be actually professional. But then he felt he'd been dumped on....a doctor? A very attractive doctor, but how could Caitlin have anything to do with the brand and image of the company? Wasn't she doing the actually important work?

Okay, maybe that was wrong. The actual first step that had gone awry was that the company never reserved a car for him. Which meant Taxis. THEN he got dumped on Caitlin. He stuck to the plan. Tried to take her to dinner to show her a proper, professional image. But he didn't know the city, and the cab driver dumped them in the wrong place. He suggested they walk the rest of the way, it wasn't terribly far, when the sky just tore open and started pouring on them.

"Oh, come on!" He bellowed at the sky. "OH! This place looks like it has something vaguely like food!" He proclaimed before grabbing her by the arm and hauling her inside what he assumed to be a Japanese restaurant. At least he hoped it was. And not just an office that really liked bamboo.

[trigeminalheadache]

If she didn't know any better, Caitlin would have sworn that Dr. Wells did this to her on purpose. Not only on purpose, but he enjoyed doing this.

While he didn't share everything on his schedule with her and Cisco (or really, much of anything), this meeting with people from RGM had been something of which they were all aware beforehand. Then, a couple days before, Dr. Wells had been called away on some emergency business. Cisco would stay at the Cortex, of course, tracking police and criminal activity for Barry, and if anything went wrong, medical-wise, she would just be a phone call away. She couldn't very well argue with her boss, now, could she?

Except the people turned out to be a single man in a taxi who clearly wasn't expecting her. She couldn't tell if it was just because she wasn't Dr. Wells or if it was because she was a woman or any other number of variables. Maybe he'd just had a bad trip down.

Once the driver dropped them at the wrong place and it began to storm, she knew it was just a bad day all around. And when Conner had yanked her out of the rain, she stumbled over her heels, landing on her ass just inside the door. "Ow."

She grabbed onto his arm, using him to leverage herself back onto her feet. "I've been here before. They definitely have food."

[onlystarisee]

Time passed. Life went on. Tess grieved, and threw herself into science. Into repairing S.T.A.R Labs. Into taking care of the motley collection of people who she’d sort of adopted. More than ever in the wake of Eobard’s betrayal. Sleep wasn’t important, and she did her best to keep her emotions, her grief and betrayal to herself. Barry and the others had enough to deal with.

But time passed. And her determination to salvage something of S.T.A.R Labs’ reputation led her to the world of PR. She’d done what she could in the wake of the explosion, but she was a scientist first and foremost. The basics she could handle. She didn’t have the expertise for more. She needed help.

That was how Connor entered her life. She hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected HIM. But there he was. And he didn’t seem to be leaving any time soon. She was pretty sure she should mind. But she didn't.

[aucourant]

The STAR Labs assignment was one that Connor had dreaded at first. Everyone at RGM treated it like a joke. No one wanted it. Spin a positive image for the most notorious scientific company in the country? Was that even possible? Plus there was all that ribbing Connor got over the dam CEO. Every time that bastard held a press conference big enough to make national news, he just shut himself in his office until he could no longer hear Tom and Hector snickering.

But then he got to Central City. Then he met Tess. He met her team. And once everyone got passed the strangeness of it all, they started working quite well together. He found himself actually looking forward to his trips to the lab. Something he hadn't thought possible. But it was totally professional. Completely.

It was his first time returning. They'd found a direction for the campaign. Something that might actually work. He'd taken it all back to his team in Chicago. They'd mocked it all up. With all of the proofs in a book tucked under his arm, he strode confidently into the massive building. He tracked her down to where ever she was working, not having called ahead. Why not surprise the woman who was quite possibly his most favorite client?

Without a word he just leaned into her office. A precarious angle, supported by only one hand gripping the door jamb. The smile plastered on his face either meant he had great news or he was up to no good. Really with Connor, it could be either. Or both.

[onlystarisee]

Tess was usually in her office, when she wasn’t in the cortex. And she’d been there most of the night. And the morning. She’d had... she wasn’t quite sure how many cups of coffee at this point, but she was on at least her second or third pot. It had been a long night, and there was a couch in her office but she hadn’t gotten around to actually using it yet. Of course, she wasn’t that tired, either. She was used to late nights.

There was a clearboard there, too, tucked away in the corner behind her desk, and she was scribbling away on it, working on one of her more important side projects. She wasn’t sure there was a way to reverse what the particle accelerator explosion had done to the metahumans it had created, but she had to try. Had to try and fix what Thawne had wrought. Stretching tiredly, she turned at the sound of footsteps, expecting Barry, or Cisco, or Caitlin, come to check on her.

Oh.

Conner was an unexpected and very pleasant surprise, and it earned him a delighted smile that lit up her face. Glad to see him? Oh yes. She was quite fond of that smile on his face. No matter which of the three possibilities it ended up meaning. “Conner! Hi.” Setting down the marker in her hand she came around her desk to greet him.

[aucourant]

Dropping the proofs among the stuff on her desk, he gripped her by both shoulders in greeting. He looked so very pleased to be there. To see her. He should feel bad, honestly. Since he apparently resembled her late husband, sort of. For all he knew that could be the only reason she liked him. Some weird, twisted, recapturing of things lost long ago. He was still working out just when those things here lost, though. He wasn't exactly in the loop on what exactly was going on in Central City, but he was bright enough to pick out that she lost Harrison long before everyone says he died. There was something definitely hinky going on there, but he'd find out in ways that didn't involve directly asking.

"Tess! I've got--" Then he frowned, looking at her a little more closely. "Nope. That's going to wait. Because you look wrecked. Which means we're leaving. Getting coffee. Breakfast. Maybe taking you for somewhere to nap. Or get some sun. Anything that isn't staying cooped up in here. Come on." He already had his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to lead her out of the lab, not taking no for an answer.

[inkingfeathers]

It isn't the first time he's gotten a call out of the blue from an advertising firm, not even the first time it's a firm in a different city. It's good timing, he's just finished off place cards for a wedding and nothing else needs to be started for two weeks, so he hops on a train—he always takes the train when he can, flying is…still a little weird, even after this long—and it's a long trip but a quiet one, the best kind. He gets some work done, a few example pieces for this new client. Even as bumpy as the train gets, each pen stroke is flawless, but why not? He might as well use what he can do, as well as he can do it. It isn't like they'll know he lettered all of this on the train, right?

Pen heads up the stairs with the crowd and out the front doors at Union Station and takes a few moments to get his bearings back. It's been a while since he's been to Chicago, somehow he just hadn't gotten back here since…is it the 60s, really? But New York is hard to leave sometimes, it's one of the things he likes about it, that weird sense of permanent impermanence. It changes all the time, but something fundamental stays the same, and now he's romanticizing the city he lives in instead of walking to the Metro or getting a cab. Good, Pen, great start. Feel the dedication.

He's still early to RGM, portfolio in hand, and he's pointed upstairs, and then he's pointed along the floor until he finally pokes his head in the door marked 'Connor.'

"Hey. Are you, you're Connor? I'm, ah, I'm Pen Gregory, I think we have a meeting. Soon. Not yet. I'm early, sorry, I can wait out here…" He glances over his shoulder at the bullpen, assorted couches, nothing much like a waiting room. "…somewhere."

[aucourant]

Connor sat on his couch, feet propped up on the table, hands folded behind his head. Eyes closed. Against the opposite wall was a huge display board tacked all over with bits of what appeared to be printer paper attacked with ball point pen and yellow highlighter. They couldn't exactly be called drawings, but there were a lot of boxes with squiggles and stick figures. Half sheets, crudely cut or torn, proclaimed various brand names. Pretty big ones, too.

At least Connor HAD been working. At one point. By the slight tilt of his head and relaxed droop of his jaw, he might have possibly fallen asleep. Which was surprising given the three extra large (and empty) cups on his desk. He snapped up the moment he heard Pen's voice, though, looking around like a child who'd just been caught red-handed. He squinted at the man in his door, startled and perplexed.

After a few moments of awkward silence, his face suddenly brightened. "Pen!" Then his face scrunched down, and he said softly to himself, "....I had a meeting with someone named Pen?" He shook his head, and brightened again. "Right! The letters guy." He got to his feet and started gesturing for him to come inside. "How could I forget that? The letter guy named Pen. Makes total sense."

[inkingfeathers]

"Heh, yeah, it's a little on the nose, isn't it?" Pen admitted with a sheepish duck of his head as he stepped inside, looking with interest at the board. Looked like two or three projects at least, in the brainstorming phase. Some pretty impressive clients too. Working hard, if the empty coffees were any sign, not to mention the mid-day nap. But hey, sometimes that helped the creative process, right?

This was one of those more casual places, which made him relax a little bit. It was always a little bit of an unknown, dealing with a new group of humans, but he knew the types he got along with the best, and they were never the type to stand on ceremony.

Pen unshouldered his bag and reached inside for his portfolio, including the pieces he'd done on the train. "I wasn't really sure what you were looking for, exactly, so I just brought a little of everything," he started, handing it over. "Place cards and invitations, a couple family trees, there's, uh, an illuminated Bible page somewhere in there. Kinda whatever you want."

[mostlyajerk]

"What are you doing here?" Hartley frowned at Connor, then decided to just walk past him and keep walking. At this point, he could presume that he'd follow along. "Did you get lost or can't you understand simple instructions? Wait. Don't tell me, I already know you can't."

Something worth remembering with a smile, because there was a special charm to getting a one night stand to ultimately whine with need while sucking on your underwear and writhing on the floor. Especially given the context of how annoying Connor could be, it had been highly satisfying. Which didn't mean he appreciated being stalked.

"We agreed on one night. You're pushing past the one and that ought to be an easy stat to remember and it's not even night."

[aucourant]

Connor knew that being there was quite possibly the worst decision he could make. Especially since he was blowing off some client meeting back at the office to do it. But how was he supposed to focus? He'd never had sex like that. In his entire life. Usually he was the one setting up one night flings and avoiding any and all contact after. But no one had quite been like Hartley.

"I know, I know," he said, sticking close to Hartley. The fact that he wasn't being threatened or kicked out was promising. "Look, usually that's what I do. One and done, and it's over. It's easier that way, right? But I figured...why not give it another go?" Words were failing. How could words be failing him? He was a writer. A pretty damn good writer, and he could chat people up like nobody's business. But how did he express that he wanted to be reduced to a quivering mess all over again?

[mostlyajerk]

"I don't know. You tell me why we would give it another go." Hartley checked his watch, still waking, apparently not of any mind to change of cancel his plans for Connor. But the man wasn't exactly a threat, so there wasn't much issue to be taken with him keeping him company. Might make for an entertaining walk, if nothing else.

Maybe he shouldn't be surprised. Giving someone so very vanilla in experiences a taste of what else there could be and how how desperate they could get, he knew that the rush that came with it could almost be addictive. He'd been there, in a way. Just a lot younger and even less experienced. "Because I'm all set actually. Fun as it was."

There was some unique satisfaction to be gained from shutting someone up who was asking for it like that.

TFLN Overflow -- 7/1

[aucourant]

01. I wish they could condense everything I needed, nutritionally speaking, into mike and ikes

02. nothing like Chinese food and masturbating on a Saturday night

03. and the mascot is a pinecone. its really no surprise that people here dont get laid

04. [ Text him ]

For mostlyajerk

[aucourant]

[ from here. ]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you probably have other attributes working in your favor. I mean, you have to. It's simple math, really.

[mostlyajerk]

I'm a bit of a math wiz, but you'll still have to explain that calculation to me.

For catchacold

[aucourant]

[ from here. ]

Scared? Who's scared? Not me.

[catchacold]

Just a normal amount of freaked then.

For queenleftbehind

[aucourant]

[ from here. ]

I'd say more a rock, a hard place, and something kind of firm and unpleasant. Because you could be totally bluffing on one or more things. And I could be walking right into some sort of weird trap.

[queenleftbehind]

Walk into many traps set up by random people you text, do you?

For parvos

[aucourant]

[ from here. ]

No, I'm a FUN influence. Not a bad one. Without me you'd be Boring Golf Guy. No one wants to be that guy.

[parvos]

I am not the Boring Golf Guy!

...am I the Boring Golf Guy...?

For expediting

[aucourant]

[ from here. ]

I'm having A crisis of some for. Still not sure if it's existential or not.

01

[inkingfeathers]

Is that because it's hard to find the time to eat like a person or because you just like mike and ikes that much? Because those are really different things.

[aucourant]

Can't it be both? Or neither. I like neither. It's just such an easy delivery system, and they're practically pill shaped. Think of all you could do if you didn't have to stop to eat all the time. Endless possibilities.