Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2022 1:59:12 GMT -8
OOC Note: This is an already-written piece that I realized I never truly shared on a board for everyone to read. Welcome to the archives.
Original name: "Happy Birthday, Football Fan! Love, Musician"
Time: November 6th, 2020 at 10:30 PM EST
Location: daaaah heeeeeeeeouse
Logan and Faye sit in their bedroom, both dressed in sleepwear. It’s dark out, and Logan is off work having just watched wrestling. His favorite wrestler (who looks a little too much like Faye with green hair) won tonight, so all is well on that front for the time being for once. But more pressingly, today is his birthday.
Faye Brown: "Is this where you thought you'd be at 28, birthday boy?"
Logan Bailey: "No, ma'am... honestly, I thought I'd be a NASCAR driver by now. Not even a good one, either, more like one of those start-n-park drivers who only get four chances a year to win some actual money. Why do you ask?"
Faye Brown: "No reason, I just figured I'd ask. I never took you for a NASCAR guy on top of everything else."
Logan Bailey: "That was actually my first sport that I was into... uh, let me ask you the same thing: is this where you thought you'd be at 30?"
Faye breathes in a little as a frown crosses her lips. She sits up, legs folded criss-cross, and folds her hands together before placing them under her chin.
Faye Brown: "Well... let's analyze my life up to now, why don't we? In 2018, I both married and divorced a pro-wrestler. I released two albums that I can't even legally say are mine nowadays. Nowadays, I work at a small retail store in eastern Tennessee after losing my apartments in both Chicago and Syracuse. I couldn't even go to college because nowhere local would admit me. Logan, my dream was to open for Metallica by now. I think I can safely say this isn't where I thought I'd be at 30 at all. A close approximation of this when I was 16, maybe. But not... 30. Not 30."
There's bitterness in Faye's words. Shakiness. Logan can’t help but be worried.
Logan Bailey: "I... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked..."
Faye raises her eyebrows as she looks to Logan with a hint of reassurance.
Faye Brown: "What-NOOO, no no no nonononono, it's not your fault! Shit, Logan, you're the best thing to happen to me since you scooped me up! People say 2020 has been shitty, right? Every day I've spent living since October of 2018 until the second you picked me up off the streets was that. Yeah, when I was with my label, I was making enough money to exist on my own in a fairly expensive part of Syracuse, but that's all I was doing: existing. I didn't have anyone to talk to, or to call and chit-chat to. Nothing like that. I had no friends, I had no enemies, I was a ghost in basically every sense of the word. Yeah, I had a couple one night flings here and there, but when you're single and put in the effort, who doesn't? The second I got cut from my label for "budget cuts," a ticking time bomb started. No one was hiring, then this virus came in and fucking wrecked any chances I had at getting anything resembling income in the state of New York. This time bomb finally exploded about 9 months later, when I got kicked out and I ended up where you first saw me. I know I've told you before that I think you represent hope to me, but Logan, I don't think you fully understand how much you changed my life by stopping to help me out when you could have went to the Carrier Dome alone."
Logan sits up as Faye tells her tale.
Logan Bailey: "You had mentioned a lot of that, but I had no idea it was that bad for you up there... if I had known, I'd have tried to get you out sooner."
Faye Brown: "I wouldn't have taken the help back then. I would have been a bit too stubborn for my own good. And that's not because of you, it's more that I would have been dumb."
Logan purses his lips as he looks at his girlfriend with a solemn, though somewhat saddened look on his face. There's nothing he can say after that. Faye sighs and slowly scrubs her open hands over her face.
Faye Brown: "But no... this isn't at all where I thought I'd be at 30."
There's a beat of awkward silence.
Faye Brown: "I'm sorry to bring down the mood like that. That's not fair to you."
Faye reaches over and hugs Logan around his neck and shoulders, kissing the back of his head.
Faye Brown: "Look... I’m not, nor have I ever been, mad at you. Nothing that happened was preventable, and there’s nothing you could have done aside from when you first met me. Again, you’re the best thing to happen to me in two years. I... do have a present for you that I was going to give you before you asked me that. Just look under the bed."
Faye releases Logan so he can go look, and without a word, he reaches under the bed. He feels something leathery.
Logan Bailey: "Wait a minute... what did you...?"
Faye Brown: "You'll see, hon. Keep diggin'. Whoa, wait, don't fall off the--!"
As Faye says that, Logan falls head-first off the bed.
Logan Bailey: "OW!"
Faye Brown: "...bed...though... you OK?"
Logan Bailey: "I hit my head..."
Faye Brown: "I heard... you OK, though?"
Logan Bailey: "Yeah, I'm fine... can you get me a light?"
Faye Brown: "Absolutely, I'll get you some ice, too."
Logan Bailey: "Thank you..."
Faye gets out of bed and runs to the kitchen. She grabs a flashlight, then runs to the freezer and grabs an ice pack. As fast as she can, she turns on the flashlight.
Faye Brown: "Incoming ice!"
She places the pack onto Logan's back.
Logan Bailey: "AH!"
He reaches at his back, grabs the ice pack, and places it on his head. He then sees a light shine under the bed and spots his birthday present. Logan gasps in child-like wonder at this.
Logan Bailey: "Faaaaaye! You shouldn't have!"
Faye gets to her feet, keeping the light under the bed, though it's now turned off now that he sees his present. She gets back onto the bed on her front, facing where Logan will eventually pop up. He does indeed pop up with his present... presents, actually: a football with a Georgia Tech logo on it, a custom Georgia Tech jersey that says "BAILEY" on the nameplate and the number 7 on the front and back, and a 1/24th diecast Ramblin' Wreck. The look on Logan's face can best be described as "child-like glee." Faye smiles sweetly at Logan's reaction.
Logan Bailey: "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE! OH MY GOD, I COULD KISS YOU!"
Faye Brown: "They had just arrived today while you were at work. Now... go look in the closet."
Logan sits his presents down and goes to the closet. In there, he finds another Georgia Tech jersey, though it clearly doesn't fit him. On the nameplate, it says "BAILEY" and the number is 17.
Faye Brown: "If I'm going to be going to every Georgia Tech game with you, I may as well say I'm a fan myself, right?"
Without a word, Logan tosses Faye her jersey as he puts his own on.
Faye Brown: "I'll learn how to throw a football so you and the boys have another someone to play with after work, too!"
Logan Bailey: "Oh, well I can teach you how! You take the ball..."
Indeed, Faye grabs the football.
Logan Bailey: "You see the laces? Your ring finger should be on the first gap between laces, and your pinkie should be on the third."
Faye Brown: "Uh-huh..."
Faye then puts her other hand on the other side of the ball.
Logan Bailey: "Yeah, there you go! Now toss it to me holding it like that."
Logan holds his hand open for a catch. He had played some high school ball, but couldn't reach college, hence why he knows what he's talking about even with the bump on his head. Faye tosses the ball to Logan with two hands, and predictably, it doesn't go very far. It goes maybe to the end of their bed.
Logan Bailey: "With one hand, babe."
Faye Brown: "Oh!"
Faye reaches for the football, and does the same motion to throw, but with one hand instead of two. It goes a little further, to the point that it flies off the bed and onto the ground right in front. Logan picks up the ball.
Logan Bailey: "OK, watch how I do, and try to catch it. You gotta put some spin into the ball. Release from your fingers, not your palm. Like this."
Logan throws a weak spiral to Faye, who bobbles the catch five or six times before miraculously (and very awkwardly) catching the ball.
Faye Brown: "I think I've got it..."
Logan Bailey: "She said ever so confidently..."
Faye does indeed "got it," as she throws the same spiral back to Logan, who effortlessly catches it with one hand.
Logan Bailey: "Yeah you do! We'll practice more when it's not 10:30 at night and when I don't have a headache."
Faye Brown: "Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. Aaaaaanyway, do you like our presents?"
Logan Bailey: "Like is an understatement... so is love... adore seems right. So yeah, I adore these. Thank you soooooooo much, babe..."
Faye Brown: "Of course, Logan..."
With that, the two share a long kiss on the lips. Logan has improved since Halloween on that, on top of everything, clearly.
Original name: "Happy Birthday, Football Fan! Love, Musician"
Time: November 6th, 2020 at 10:30 PM EST
Location: daaaah heeeeeeeeouse
Logan and Faye sit in their bedroom, both dressed in sleepwear. It’s dark out, and Logan is off work having just watched wrestling. His favorite wrestler (who looks a little too much like Faye with green hair) won tonight, so all is well on that front for the time being for once. But more pressingly, today is his birthday.
Faye Brown: "Is this where you thought you'd be at 28, birthday boy?"
Logan Bailey: "No, ma'am... honestly, I thought I'd be a NASCAR driver by now. Not even a good one, either, more like one of those start-n-park drivers who only get four chances a year to win some actual money. Why do you ask?"
Faye Brown: "No reason, I just figured I'd ask. I never took you for a NASCAR guy on top of everything else."
Logan Bailey: "That was actually my first sport that I was into... uh, let me ask you the same thing: is this where you thought you'd be at 30?"
Faye breathes in a little as a frown crosses her lips. She sits up, legs folded criss-cross, and folds her hands together before placing them under her chin.
Faye Brown: "Well... let's analyze my life up to now, why don't we? In 2018, I both married and divorced a pro-wrestler. I released two albums that I can't even legally say are mine nowadays. Nowadays, I work at a small retail store in eastern Tennessee after losing my apartments in both Chicago and Syracuse. I couldn't even go to college because nowhere local would admit me. Logan, my dream was to open for Metallica by now. I think I can safely say this isn't where I thought I'd be at 30 at all. A close approximation of this when I was 16, maybe. But not... 30. Not 30."
There's bitterness in Faye's words. Shakiness. Logan can’t help but be worried.
Logan Bailey: "I... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked..."
Faye raises her eyebrows as she looks to Logan with a hint of reassurance.
Faye Brown: "What-NOOO, no no no nonononono, it's not your fault! Shit, Logan, you're the best thing to happen to me since you scooped me up! People say 2020 has been shitty, right? Every day I've spent living since October of 2018 until the second you picked me up off the streets was that. Yeah, when I was with my label, I was making enough money to exist on my own in a fairly expensive part of Syracuse, but that's all I was doing: existing. I didn't have anyone to talk to, or to call and chit-chat to. Nothing like that. I had no friends, I had no enemies, I was a ghost in basically every sense of the word. Yeah, I had a couple one night flings here and there, but when you're single and put in the effort, who doesn't? The second I got cut from my label for "budget cuts," a ticking time bomb started. No one was hiring, then this virus came in and fucking wrecked any chances I had at getting anything resembling income in the state of New York. This time bomb finally exploded about 9 months later, when I got kicked out and I ended up where you first saw me. I know I've told you before that I think you represent hope to me, but Logan, I don't think you fully understand how much you changed my life by stopping to help me out when you could have went to the Carrier Dome alone."
Logan sits up as Faye tells her tale.
Logan Bailey: "You had mentioned a lot of that, but I had no idea it was that bad for you up there... if I had known, I'd have tried to get you out sooner."
Faye Brown: "I wouldn't have taken the help back then. I would have been a bit too stubborn for my own good. And that's not because of you, it's more that I would have been dumb."
Logan purses his lips as he looks at his girlfriend with a solemn, though somewhat saddened look on his face. There's nothing he can say after that. Faye sighs and slowly scrubs her open hands over her face.
Faye Brown: "But no... this isn't at all where I thought I'd be at 30."
There's a beat of awkward silence.
Faye Brown: "I'm sorry to bring down the mood like that. That's not fair to you."
Faye reaches over and hugs Logan around his neck and shoulders, kissing the back of his head.
Faye Brown: "Look... I’m not, nor have I ever been, mad at you. Nothing that happened was preventable, and there’s nothing you could have done aside from when you first met me. Again, you’re the best thing to happen to me in two years. I... do have a present for you that I was going to give you before you asked me that. Just look under the bed."
Faye releases Logan so he can go look, and without a word, he reaches under the bed. He feels something leathery.
Logan Bailey: "Wait a minute... what did you...?"
Faye Brown: "You'll see, hon. Keep diggin'. Whoa, wait, don't fall off the--!"
As Faye says that, Logan falls head-first off the bed.
Logan Bailey: "OW!"
Faye Brown: "...bed...though... you OK?"
Logan Bailey: "I hit my head..."
Faye Brown: "I heard... you OK, though?"
Logan Bailey: "Yeah, I'm fine... can you get me a light?"
Faye Brown: "Absolutely, I'll get you some ice, too."
Logan Bailey: "Thank you..."
Faye gets out of bed and runs to the kitchen. She grabs a flashlight, then runs to the freezer and grabs an ice pack. As fast as she can, she turns on the flashlight.
Faye Brown: "Incoming ice!"
She places the pack onto Logan's back.
Logan Bailey: "AH!"
He reaches at his back, grabs the ice pack, and places it on his head. He then sees a light shine under the bed and spots his birthday present. Logan gasps in child-like wonder at this.
Logan Bailey: "Faaaaaye! You shouldn't have!"
Faye gets to her feet, keeping the light under the bed, though it's now turned off now that he sees his present. She gets back onto the bed on her front, facing where Logan will eventually pop up. He does indeed pop up with his present... presents, actually: a football with a Georgia Tech logo on it, a custom Georgia Tech jersey that says "BAILEY" on the nameplate and the number 7 on the front and back, and a 1/24th diecast Ramblin' Wreck. The look on Logan's face can best be described as "child-like glee." Faye smiles sweetly at Logan's reaction.
Logan Bailey: "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE! OH MY GOD, I COULD KISS YOU!"
Faye Brown: "They had just arrived today while you were at work. Now... go look in the closet."
Logan sits his presents down and goes to the closet. In there, he finds another Georgia Tech jersey, though it clearly doesn't fit him. On the nameplate, it says "BAILEY" and the number is 17.
Faye Brown: "If I'm going to be going to every Georgia Tech game with you, I may as well say I'm a fan myself, right?"
Without a word, Logan tosses Faye her jersey as he puts his own on.
Faye Brown: "I'll learn how to throw a football so you and the boys have another someone to play with after work, too!"
Logan Bailey: "Oh, well I can teach you how! You take the ball..."
Indeed, Faye grabs the football.
Logan Bailey: "You see the laces? Your ring finger should be on the first gap between laces, and your pinkie should be on the third."
Faye Brown: "Uh-huh..."
Faye then puts her other hand on the other side of the ball.
Logan Bailey: "Yeah, there you go! Now toss it to me holding it like that."
Logan holds his hand open for a catch. He had played some high school ball, but couldn't reach college, hence why he knows what he's talking about even with the bump on his head. Faye tosses the ball to Logan with two hands, and predictably, it doesn't go very far. It goes maybe to the end of their bed.
Logan Bailey: "With one hand, babe."
Faye Brown: "Oh!"
Faye reaches for the football, and does the same motion to throw, but with one hand instead of two. It goes a little further, to the point that it flies off the bed and onto the ground right in front. Logan picks up the ball.
Logan Bailey: "OK, watch how I do, and try to catch it. You gotta put some spin into the ball. Release from your fingers, not your palm. Like this."
Logan throws a weak spiral to Faye, who bobbles the catch five or six times before miraculously (and very awkwardly) catching the ball.
Faye Brown: "I think I've got it..."
Logan Bailey: "She said ever so confidently..."
Faye does indeed "got it," as she throws the same spiral back to Logan, who effortlessly catches it with one hand.
Logan Bailey: "Yeah you do! We'll practice more when it's not 10:30 at night and when I don't have a headache."
Faye Brown: "Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. Aaaaaanyway, do you like our presents?"
Logan Bailey: "Like is an understatement... so is love... adore seems right. So yeah, I adore these. Thank you soooooooo much, babe..."
Faye Brown: "Of course, Logan..."
With that, the two share a long kiss on the lips. Logan has improved since Halloween on that, on top of everything, clearly.
