Timorous' Flower Ball Throw ❀ ✿ ❀ CLOSED - TY FOR PLAYING <3

[Baneful]

Someone was talking to him. Oh god.

Will froze up awkwardly at first, before making himself nod nervously, which didn't answer the question at all. "Uh. Yes.. No. No." he said. "I mean uh. I'm I don't have a career just yet."

He'd graduated from business school, which he'd sort of fallen into as the path of least resistance. He couldn't stomach medicine and he wasn't about to deal with law with his history. Business had felt general, and in the end it had been general. It didn't bring him the kind of joy that he was looking for, which was probably why he was swanning around in coffee shops hoping that somehow he'd stumble into something to do with his life.

"I'm sort of... between jobs right now."

He'd even been thinking about turning his resume in to the baristas, if he was honest, things were getting a little bit desperate.

"The only hole is in my wallet right now. You've... got a really good aim though, wow."

[Toshiful]

"I am about to be between colleges," Henry said. "I hoped a walk would help clear my head." It was, objectively, a lovely shop, bursting with flowers and color and the smell of correctly-brewed coffee.

He rescued his cup again, which was getting cool.

Money wasn't the problem. For now, he didn't have debt, but he had wasted a bit on school, which he had never enjoyed to begin with for various reasons. And it wouldn't last forever. He would have to find something useful to do, which he had a lot of ideas for, and then convince someone else they were useful, which he was dispirited about.

"Your aim was better than mine. I was going to see about lunch. Do you want anything?"

[Baneful]

Will laughed too loudly at the comment about being between colleges and immediately dialled it back with a muffled "sorry". "I know how that feels. I think I finished my degree on autopilot."

It had all been so mind-numbingly simple. He could have passed with honours and could have done so much more than he had, but he'd found when push came to shove that he didn't actually care about doing well; he wanted to do something important, something meaningful and not just earn a fancy letter on a piece of paper.

"I don't know what to do, really. And oh, sure, do they do eggs benedict here do you think? I've just been in the mood." Normally he was unbearably awkward around other people, but there was something about Henry's behaviour that sat right with him and put him at ease. "Failing that, a fairy cake... uh cupcake might be fun, you Americans eat cupcakes whenever you like, don't you?"

[Toshiful]

"It's all so boring that I want to die," Henry said frankly. "I would rather be dead. I know what I should do. But I can't bear it."

He smiled back at the query about cupcakes. It was a strange, lopsided smile that looked insincere, only using one side of Henry's face while the other remained blank. Like someone had studied smiles and had not gotten it right.

"We will see," he said. He had a buttery voice that was suited for radio. Everything he said sounded grave, like he was reading a news report. He found the laminated menu, scanning it quickly. He didn't hand the menu to Will. "You're in luck. They have both. I'll get it," he said, and without much preamble, disappeared to the counter to order and pay.

When he came back, he finished the last cold, creamy remains of his coffee and took a seat while they waited.

"I don't know what to do either," he said, as if there hadn't been any interruption to their conversation. "Or, rather, I have too much I would like to do, but it would be better if it wasn't alone. And I have other obligations, which I am not meeting already."

[Baneful]

Will was shamefully relieved that Henry had covered the bill, already down to the dregs of what he had in his bank account. Some of his funds were still held in a trust, but he hadn't had the energy to retrieve them yet, and he was getting by on what little he could.

"Thanks." he said sincerely when Henry came back.

"I have a degree in business." he offered. "But no "small loan" from my parents to start me off in any kind of enterprise." he made a face.

"I don't know what I'd sell anyway. All I do is tinker in my garage. I've created a few modified engines and things like that, but who is going to buy an engine from a business graduate and not an engineer?"

[Toshiful]

It was odd. He had been ready for a fight about the bill, on the basis of pride, or etiquette, or some other expected pile of social constructs. It felt like dancing when he couldn't dance, and it made him anxious. The heartfelt thanks was surprisingly warm. It was a pleasant surprise. He smiled again, and said, "You're welcome." This simple exchange was one he knew the words to, and enjoyed.

The handsome man mentioned off-handedly he was interested in business, and engines.

Henry looked at him with a sudden interest.

"I know what you mean," he said, "I am an engineer. But not a salesman. And I don't have my papers. I was going to try for Disney, but I can't bring myself to write even one more sentence summarising text." He contemplated his empty coffee cup. "Are you busy?" He asked, suddenly. "Could I see it? Your engine."

[Baneful]

"I'm not busy," Will said with a sigh. "My plans for today were quite embarrassing. I heard the festival was in town, and I was hoping to moon around until something interesting happened."

His roommates had been on his case about footing his half of the electricity bill before he moved out and so he had stopped using the apartment's electricity at all, spending as much of his time out of the house as he could to cut costs. He'd moved out of that situation, back to the place he'd bought when he first moved to the US, which was run down but had a garage he could work in. He was still avoiding using the electricity and It wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world at this time of year.

"You can see it if you like," he said. "I made my solar panels to charge my equipment too." Because that cuts down on costs just a little overall. "Most of my work revolves around motion, from point A to point B."

He chuckled. "Which is kind of ironic, considering I'm going nowhere fast."

[Toshiful]

The cafe food arrived in good time. Henry had gotten a chicken salad sandwich, a bag of chips from a local brand, and an oversized chocolate cookie, along with another latte.

"Oh, to your place," Henry said, surprised and pleased again, "I don't have any plans. I would like to see it in person, yes. I had only hoped you might have a picture on you. But I'd be very interested. Festival?" Henry looked around, and for a moment, he felt unfocused. Festival. There was something important. Wasn't he? Was someone in danger? Or, he had something important to do. Not a walk, he hadn't been going for a walk. Hadn't he been looking for someone?

But the stranger in front of him was so beautiful, and had a warm smile, and this was the most enjoyable conversation he'd had in...it felt like it had been a long time.

Henry took another sip of coffee, and the nagging feeling slipped away.

"It's not so bad," Henry said, "being stuck somewhere. If the company is good."

[Kiwi Squirt Bottle]

FLOWER TOSS
Username: Kiwi Squirt Bottle
Preferences: Periwinkle, Rose
Tickets: 3 = 1, 4, 2
RP: Entirely optional!

DAISY, DAISY
Username: Kiwi Squirt Bottle
Kin: Pending Revelation
Flower: Laburnum
Entry: In the language of flowers, laburnum means forsaken, pensive beauty - this feels perfect for our stoic horn'd goat.

[Baneful]

Will flushed. He'd wanted a picture, not an invitation to his house! He wished the ground would open and swallow him up, frankly. He wasn't sure how he would steer a business one day if he couldn't steer a conversation to save his life.

"I have a picture." he blurted out, fishing out his phone, opening it to the gallery and flicking through until he found a photo of the engine in progress to thrust towards the other man. His clumsy handling of the thing flicked to the photograph beside it instead, which, rather than an engine, depicted a four-foot-tall (and very ugly) plushie of a rabbit with exposed metal legs.

Will talked on as if Henry was looking at his engine. "I think it could revolutionise the battery-powered car market. If it pans out, I might have found an alternative to lithium-ion."

Babbling about his engine was preferable to the flustered feelings rising in him about the other man. Everything felt right, and for some reason, that wasn't very comforting at all.

[Scaramouche Fandango]

FLOWER TOSS
Username: Your forum Username
Preferences: Using how they're labeled on the prize image
Tickets: Add how many tickets you won here
RP: Entirely optional!

[Pandora Talie]

FLOWER TOSS
Username: Pandora Talie
Preferences: Rose, Periwinkle
Tickets: 4
RP: Entirely optional!

1. You manage to get it into one of the lower holes - one ticket!
2. You throw the ball, and completely and utterly miss.
6. You throw the ball and it sails perfectly into the top hole - three tickets!

[Pandora Talie]

DAISY, DAISY
Username: Pandora Talie
Kin:
Flower: Rose
Entry: Roses would remind her of her family especially her grandmother, Rosegrave.

[Fasti]

FLOWER TOSS
Username: Fasti
Preferences: periwinkle, rose
Tickets: 3
RP: /

1. You manage to get it into one of the lower holes - one ticket!
2. You throw the ball, and completely and utterly miss.
3. The ball lands in a middle hole - two tickets!


DAISY, DAISY
Username: Fasti
Kin:
Flower: Sunflower
Entry: I chose the sunflower for my kin, it represents happiness, joy and warmth.
Orange Sizzle would like to make friends with everyone, no matter If its big or small.

[Toshiful]

Henry took the phone that was thrust at him, eyebrows lifting. For a moment, he felt very warm, and his heart caught in his throat in a way that was not entirely unpleasant.

"Do you...like animatronics?" he ventured. "This is very well made. I, um, one second," and Henry dug around in his own bag, and handed over his sketchbook. He was not usually excited, or embarrassed, or any combinations of the feelings he was currently experiencing, but just now it was all of them.

The sketchbook was mostly full of sketches of cute animals. Bears, and chicks, and bunnies, as well as a variety of machines (some piled upon each other that looked like final bosses), with some coding notes and also writing with a language and symbols that were not any known human language, but were patterned enough to betray an intention.