Monty-santos‌:

seboriley‌:

“Dude, I’m kidding,” Sebastian assures, a little laugh bubbling up his throat as he tries to soften the blow. “What, they don’t bust your balls in Europe like they do in the good ‘ol U-S of A? We still got that on ‘em?” He offers a clipped but not insincere thanks, grabbing the handle of the knife and working it through a lime. “Well, might as well have some. No point in wasting a perfectly good lime. But if we’re going all out, we gotta find the salt…” He starts pulling open cabinets with reckless abandon, finally catching sight of a shaker and pulling it out. “’Kay. Lick your hand, Benny boy.”

He was always a wound up drunk. He did things he wasn’t supposed to and got angry at useless things. However, he was going to laugh this one off. “No one in Europe even has a sense of humor,” He joked. He waited patiently for the salt that Sebastian was looking to discover. “Too bad we aren’t taking body shots.” He hadn’t done that in years. It seemed like a younger Ben thing to do, especially when he was crossfaded. “To the New Year,” He cheered before he moistened the back of his hand. He poured the salt on his hand and licked it, realizing that his hands were probably pretty gross. Oh well. Germs take a break on New Year’s Eve. He threw his head back as he took the tequila shot. He then began to suck on his lime. “I’m ready to do another one, not gonna lie.”

monty-santos‌:

“I don’t know, not all mall Santas are that way.  Or I”m assuming, I don’t actually know,” Monty shrugged, though he couldn’t really imagine places hiring drunks for a job that required them to be around children all day, “I don’t think so, it’s jsut for the donkey.  Though any kid who sends letters to Santa gets a response, which I think is pretty cool.” 

He was just going by the reputation that mall Santas had. They were always a version of a bum. “Who the hell is writing all of those letters back to those kids?” Someone had way too much time on their hands. “I think France should be focusing on other things, if it were up to me,” Then again he wasn’t in the French Parliament. “I spent some time there, I would know. They also aren’t huge fans of Americans, especially when I told them that I was from the City.” 

kirbcy‌:

The moment Blur burned down was the moment that Bishop went missing. Well, in spirit. His body was present at every meeting, his mind spewing nothing but business, curbing any condolences with a glance that kept it business. His phone was a log of unanswered messages and emails from friends and family. The only hope they had was to turn it into business and he may answer, but only in regard to business. This holiday was the first time he had been to a social event since Celia’s death, and bitterness was on his tongue just like the scotch. This was an attempt to get some bearing back on his life, despite the fact that he was not ready to face any of it. 

Benjamin found himself loosening his tie a bit before stretching out the kinks in his neck. He did not miss all of these people, but he sort of did miss the partying. Once he spotted Bishop, he walked right on over to him. He had a soft spot for the Kirbey’s for some reason.“Hey, Bishop,” He said nonchalantly. Ben didn’t want to sound like he was sucking up to his brother-in-law. Even if he was. Sue him for wanting to be liked. Wait, no, don’t sue him. “Are you enjoying yourself so far?”

what's it like being back in the city?

“It’s starting to feel like I never left. Shit goes down around here that wouldn’t happen anywhere else.” Sometimes he felt like New York was suffocating. “And it wasn’t this cold in some areas of Europe.”

monty-santos‌:

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried to check out more than two at once,” Monty chuckled, as he started looking around and picking and picking a direction, “Going to Times Square is pretty much the opposite of the point of wandering around.  It’s way too crowded,” he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets, “And think about it. Most of them have vacation time that they can have whenever they want, so they’ll try to go in what they think is the off-season, which is why they’re here.  Or it’s the only time that they can get off.  Either way it’s not the same ones every day, and I’m sure that there were people who thought the same thing about you when you were traveling.  I just try to let them do their thing, because they’re happy and not really hurting anyone. Plus they boost the city’s economy and that’s always a good thing.”

“You should try that next time and see how many they let you take,” He suggested. “Let's go to the library first and do it.” Ben always likes to test the limits and see how much he can actually get away with. Although that shot him in the foot on New Year’s Eve. “But New York City? Out of everywhere? Why not the Keys or the Bahamas? Who would want to vacation here?” Maybe it was because he grew up and he wasn’t very fond of the city. The city has always been the place where he has fucked up the most. “I never looked like a tourist,” He argued, “I fit in all around Europe.” He insisted. “I mean the economy would be fine without a billion tourists. It costs five bucks to get water at some places here. And people around here will pay for that. I think it’s more of the desire to live here.”  

@quinnxarchibald

The amount of guilt that Ben felt towards a certain someone was a bit overwhelming. How do you apologize for screwing your best friend over? Quinn was probably the closest friend that he had. And he ruined it, all because of the fact that he was so desperate. His ex-best friend was the reason that he was back. Thankfully, he hadn’t run into him yet. As per usual, he spoke too soon. Fuck. He wasn’t ready to face Quinn. 

He wasn’t sure if Quinn noticed him yet, but Ben didn’t want to take any chances. He tried to find a hiding place but everything was too obvious. He didn’t want to seem like he was avoiding the other man, not when that was exactly what he was doing. Ben panicked and gave Quinn a slight smile.

“Hey,” He blurted out. He wasn’t quite sure how to act. Should he act like nothing happened? He wanted to apologize but he knew that was going to be a bit hard for him. “It almost feels like old times around here.” Ben was pretty sentimental and just downright stupid sometimes. Why would he start off by saying that out of everything?

monty-santos‌:

“That sounds beautiful, I’ll have to make sure to go there sometime,” Monty smiled, even though he had no idea how he would ever be able to afford it.  Though it still was on his list.  “See I don’t know if the idea of being a third wheel is super appealing, but thanks for the kinda offer,” he chuckled, “plus I didn’t really have the money to just go off and travel.  The volunteer work I did gave a little bit of a stipend, but it was mostly just for clothes and food and basic living expenses.”

“I’m really surprised you haven’t been. I feel like it’s on everyone’s bucket list,” Ben said with a shrug, “Are you sure? We’re a lot of fun. One minute we’re in Portugal and the next, we’re in Spain,” Ben exclaimed. He liked traveling and not being tied down to one city. “They should give you a nice vacation for helping out. What sort of volunteer work is it anyway?”

taterodriguez‌:

“Parties in the Upper East Side are the only good thing about Manhattan,” Tate had grown to detest Manhattan and everything it had stood for.  The drama and politics of it all had grown to be too much and sometimes they wish they had been able to abandon it all and leave the way Monty and Ben had done, but they had unfortunately set roots here.  “Honestly, don’t let them get to you.  They feed off of drama so just don’t give it to them.”  Tate gave a shrug of their shoulders before sipping their vodka.  “Don’t be a stranger, I’ve heard the food is pretty good.”  Tate boasted playfully.  “Only since you haven’t had the chance to taste my food.”

“King?”  Tate hadn’t been able to keep track of people these days especially if they hadn’t been around since their days of Nightingale Prep.  “Why does that name sound familiar? – Anyway, congratulations.  I’ll drink to that,” Tate chuckled before finishing their vodka.  “Please, I’ll never say no to that.”

"Have you been to SantaCon? That comes in a close second,” He had never been but he heard about it. People dressed in Christmas gear while drinking. Now that sounded like a good time. Tate was giving some good advice, advice that Ben should probably listen to. However, most of the time, information went in one ear and out the other for him. “It’s hard not to when I guess I’m this drama filled apparently,” He confessed to them. “I’m sure it is,” Was it as good as the food he had abroad, though? That was the real test. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“King Kirbey, she’s the hot blonde at this party,” He pointed out, shocked they didn’t know exactly who she was. “And she’s Bishop’s sister,” He added, seeing if it would ring any bells. “Thanks, I’ll drink to that too,” He decided. “How about we skip the chaser and go right for some shots?” Ben suggested. 

chessieabernathy‌:

Ben didn’t pry, and Chessie gave him the same respect – It’s what made her enjoy their banter, knowing he wasn’t going to bother her about who she’d slept with recently, nor would she ask him about Quinn. She gave him an eye roll, a scoff following, as if he’d insinuated something beneath her. “I can name a few things I’d rather do than drink an ‘ice cold beer’, but I don’t want to scare the rest of the guests with graphics,” Chessie poked, before gesturing to the bar they had set up in the corner of the living room. “If you stopped your moping for half a second, you wouldn’t have missed one important detail.”

“Please don’t. Let's keep this party PG-13. It’s fine, no one around here could even come close to making the beer they had in Greece. It was amazing,” Ben was always reminiscing. “Hey, I am not moping. That’d mean that I’m trying to have a bad time and I’m not trying to have a bad time at all. I’m just waiting for the drama because I know it’s inevitable,” He considered himself above drama and all of the Upper East Side antics at this point in his life. “I guess I’m going to have to have a gin and tonic like a barbarian.” He was teasing her completely, only because he liked the wisecracks they were both able to deliver. 

wrenabernathy‌:

Wren knew the appropriate response was to say he’d prefer beer, but he didn’t. And, when he was feeling fine he could easily just agree with what he should like best and leave it at that, but when he was stressed he slid into type A personality overdrive and he followed his daily schedule even tighter than usual. “I’d have to go with the milk, actually,” he said, but then gave an apologetic smile to the other - letting him know non-verbally that he wasn’t trying to be a buzzkill on purpose. “Anyway, uhm - Chessie told me you’ve been holed up here for the past few weeks. How’s that going? Did she and Ophelia drive you crazy yet?”

What was with no one around here liking beer? He just figured that he was extremely cultured compared to the rest of them. “You’d voluntarily drink milk? Only nutcases do that,” He added. “Are they supposed to be driving me crazy? I’ve tried to not be too much of an intrusion on them since this is their place.” Ben tried to be as respectful as he could in their penthouse. He felt like an intrusion less now but O still scared him a bit. He was getting along with Chessie pretty well. “I’m just thankful for a bed and some coffee in the morning. Your sister’s a pretty good house host.”