[open] life is a flower

[broshaw]

Who: Sharky Boshaw and YOU!
What: Flower Power baby!!!
When: Across September
Where: The laundry room, Bobby B's, and the usual hot tub prompt!
Warnings: General Sharky warnings apply (so check his info post)

[laundry room] hyssops
[Sharky's breakfast had taken place in the buffet, next to a bunch of tall purple flowers that were actually super pretty. By the time he finished, he found himself suffering from an intense need to do some late spring cleaning... some fall cleaning, really.

Anyone who comes into the laundry room today will find it completely stuffed with various bits and bobs: old Tommy Bahama shirts; denim jeans from the diner; swimsuits; leather boots; and a whole pile of absolutely trashed clothes from his arrival back home. Sharky is in the midst of it all, stripped down to his boxers (out of respect for the young impressionable eyes on the ship!), his boombox playing a variety of disco music at a frankly obnoxious volume. He's hand-washing his boots while all of the laundry machines rock and roll.

The second the effects of the flower wears off, he'll abandon almost all of this mess for someone else to clean up, but right now? Right now, he is single-minded on his task, to the point where he won't notice if someone else comes in.]

[bobby b's] purple hyacinth
[He'd thought they were just more intense cleaning flowers, but the joke's on him! Hyacinths are a completely different kind of flower, and they do something much worse than turning him into a temporary clean freak. This one is a straight-up bummer.

Sharky can be found suffering from an intense bout of remorse in the evening, sitting in the back of Bobby's with a pack of cigarettes, his boombox, and a half-drunken bottle of old, expensive whiskey. Despite his bleary eyes, he isn't anywhere close to passing out, too busy going over the last fifty-ish years of his life and picking apart all the ways he's fucked up his life.

For some reason, he's picked some twangy indie-sounding chorus music to listen to, although at a much lower volume than he usually bothers with. Country music is the traditional music of a sad Montana boy, but he's fresh out, so he's making do.]

[hot tub] pansies
[What is with this dude and the color purple??? Anyway. After dealing with chronic cleaning and a level of regret that normally only comes after a long night of getting cross-faded, Sharky's doing his best to avoid any and all flowers!

Unfortunately, the hot tub is slowly being crowded by thirsty flowers; his usual 1 AM skinny dipping sesh means tolerating whatever fucked up thing said flowers are going to do to him. After about five minutes of standing nervously around in his shorts, he decides that they must be safe enough, so he shucks off his clothes and plops down in the hot, bubbly water that he knows and loves so well.

No drink this time; instead, he's just quietly reading a Nancy Drew book and enjoying some peace and fuckin' quiet. The boombox, a constant companion these days, is set up by his towel, playing the BeeGee's greatest hits at a normal volume. Sharky sings quietly to himself as he reads, and it sounds so normal to him that he doesn't even realize his mouth isn't moving while he does it!]

[wildflowers]
[hmu for something specific, or set up a prompt with a flower in the header and I'll roll with it!]

Comments

Laundry

[ring_for_giles]

[ Blaring disco music means Sharky, which means it was only a matter of time before Giles showed up. Especially given the location.

And if he spends a moment or two or three just watching before he draws attention to himself, well, that's neither here nor there ]

Would you like some help with that?

[broshaw]

[He startles briefly, mostly because he wasn't expecting anyone to show up in here. Like, seriously, how often do people even use the laundry room anyway???]

Oh! Heyyy, babe. Ummmm, yeah, maybe? [He has a flicker of the weirdest sensation -- guilt, but like the kind you get when your grandma walks into your room and loudly declares it to be a biohazard.] I think I'm usin' the machines wrong or something, 'cos even after stuff gets dry I keep finding like. Spots and shit all over things. And then I try to hand wash it and, ummm... I guess TB isn't designed for heavy-duty scrubbing.

[There is in fact a small pile of sopping wet clothes near the sinks, most of which have been pretty thoroughly scrubbed. Like, maybe with sandpaper? Man, he is NOT good at doing laundry.]

[ring_for_giles]

It really isn't. [ The true bane of his existence: synthetic fabrics ]

We can see what's salvageable, and then I can show you how to remove stains without damaging the fabric further. If that's agreeable to you?

[ Giles could just take over. Turn Sharky out, and have the whole lot cleaned to perfection (and neatly ironed, of course) within ten minutes, twenty at the most. But he's not going to do that. Because he knows how demoralising it is to not be given the opportunity to improve, and he doesn't want to give the impression that he doesn't believe Sharky capable.

And because he doesn't want to inadvertently become Sharky's valet as well as Ossie's.

That would require far more thought and negotiation than this moment warrants. ]

[broshaw]

[there's a brief second where Sharky looks like he might actually cry in relief.]

Yes, please. Usually I just sorta chuck the old shit out, either back into the store or over the railing, but I just. I gotta clean.

[he hasn't had enough encounters with magic to completely understand he's being compelled, but he sure isn't going to like it when he figures out what's going on!!!]

[ring_for_giles]

[ Right, jacket off and sleeves rolled up (with only the faintest hesitation about baring his forearms), ready to sort through the sodden mess. He doesn't start right away however, instead stepping towards Sharky, concern filtering onto his face as he reaches out to gently hold Sharky's cheek ]

Are you feeling alright, my dear?

Hot Tub

[yourexoduslaughing]

[There is a slight blur and there's Flan, margarita in hand. She spots Sharky, lets out a gleeful sound and sets her margarita down.] Oh!! Sharky!! I'll be right back! [And then she's off, falling through the floor.

It's about ten minutes and she's back, this time with a pitcher of margarita, and she's traded the swimsuit for a cover-up. She gives him a friendly grin as she sets the pitcher down and takes off the cover-up, letting Sharky see how far down her freckles go (pretty damn far). Flan gets into the tub and settles down in the hot water.] There, no more trips! The worst part of skinny dipping is not bringing enough drinks with you so you gotta get dressed and like, I hate putting on a bathing suit when I'm wet-

Oh! Love your singing voice!

[broshaw]

Oh, hey -- [oops, there she goes! damn, that margarita looks tasty. he should've gotten one of those before he hopped in...

ten minutes is just enough time for Sharky to actively stand up and slosh towards the temptation sitting there, but then Flan is back, with plenty of margaritas to go around!]

Singing? [he isn't singing! not aloud anyway, and now not mentally, because that's turned into a running "tits tits tits freckles boobs" train of thought that. yeah. he can't hear it so much because he's too busy staring at her boobs.]

[yourexoduslaughing]

Yeah, Tragedy- [What she has to say about his singing is derailed by the chanting train of thought about her boobs. Flan just laughs and leans forward, giving him a show, not questioning why she's hearing stuff when his mouth is closed. After all, she's been around long enough not to question why Sundries gives people the things it does.] They're nice, right? I don't wear a lot of low-cut stuff 'cause I like everything being secure, but it's fun to let 'em run free!

[And since he's set the tone, she happily takes a look at what Sharky's got packing, and claps her hands together.] Oh nice!! Pratt said you were huge and you super are!! [She settles in the water and offers him her glass in case he wants a sip, since he's being so thirsty and all.]

[broshaw]

[he didn't MEAN to!!! -- oh right Flan is chill, she's not gonna give a fuck. man, he sure is] (glad Kim isn't here, she'd slap me then sic Nick on me just for a gander at that MILFy bod)

[oh, NOW he can hear it.]

Huh. Oh, [dick-shaped compliments are still compliments!] It's gotta be one of my best features. That an' my sense of humor. [heheheh] (kinda weird Pratt's hyping my dick up) ANYWAY yes please lots of alcohol now. Fuckin' flowers, man, I'm gettin' soooo sick of this magic bullshit... [he makes gimme hands at the glass]

[yourexoduslaughing]

It rules! But like, honestly, I like your face more! You've got a nice jawline and a totally sweet beard too! And you're hilarious and you know it, which is like, so important! It's good to appreciate what you're good at! [She hands the drink over to Sharky and gets a leg tucked under her.]

Oh!! Is it a flower effect? Ooohhh that's annoying! But like, don't worry too much about it! I went on a date with a guy with projection telepathy and he got sooooo nervous about it but like, it's cool! Also!! If it helps any, he only brought your dick up 'cause I mentioned I saw a dude with a big dick walking around naked late at night, and he told me that if he was kinda feral looking then it was Siffleur, but if he was porn-star big, then it was probably you! [She sets her arms on the sides of the tub, enjoying how nice it is to do this without a suit for once. Adult-time absolutely rules. Sharky rules.] You like, only come up in a my-best-friend sorta way, not a unrequited-crush kinda way! It's like April hyping me up! Though April would explode on the spot before describing my tits as anything except like, the thing that ruined their night but that's just 'cause they're violently asexual!"

[There's a faint doppler effect to Flan's words, her internal thoughts echoing everything she's saying out loud. Not a lot being held back over here.]

hottub

[busball]

[Klaus is out walking when they hear the sound of loud BeeGees in their mind, which is pretty much the strangest shit that's ever happened to them...and they've been in totally strange situations before. Only it sounds like Sharky.

They can hear thoughts about the hottub as well, so they make their way there, pausing and eyeing the flowers around the hottub.]

Dude. Did you get new powers or is this a weird flower thing?

[broshaw]

[Sharky sinks further down into the water, until most of his beard is submerged.]

It's a weird flower thing, [siiiiigh] but I'm not givin' up so easy this time. Not if it means givin' up the hot tub, too!

[busball]

[Klaus watches him quietly for a moment before nodding.] That's fair. I mean, I don't think that I would give up if someone could hear my thoughts. I mean, it's on them if they want to know what crazy stuff is in my brain, right?

[broshaw]

I guess I was just hopin' for (privacy) some peace and fuckin' quiet for once. Feels like everything's been happenin' all at once now that we're on this fuckin' "everything has to suck if we wanna survive" path. At least the renn faire world had turkey legs. And (no magic) people came back like right after they died instead of takin' three days...

[busball]

[Klaus fidgets slightly and nods.] Yeah. It's been a lot. Um. Do you want me to go? I'm not very good at peace or quiet and I'm like...you know...uhh...me.

Bobby b's

[millay]

[Maeve came in for a drink herself, but it's less of a sad thing as it is a silent reprieve from the myriad of flowers that are making them feel various things.

Seeing Sharky in the corner looking particularly upset makes her frown slightly.]

Hello, darling.

[She moves slowly before settling in next to him.]

I decided to skip seeing if you needed company and came over on my own.

[broshaw]

[he jolts briefly before he looks up at her, clearly lost in reverie. which is wild, because he doesn't even know the real definition of that word!]

Ohhh. Uh, hey, Maeve. [he gives her a weak-ass grin by anyone's standards, especially his own.] You can totes join, but I'm not supes great company right now.

[millay]

[There's a soft smile as she lightly touches his shoulder with her own.]

You don't have to be great company all the time to be worth spending time with, hm?

Do you need to talk about it? Or do you need a distraction instead?

[broshaw]

Ummm... I dunno. [he makes a face at his boombox, reaching out to turn it off] What I need is to stop listenin' to shit that's gonna make me feel worse. And I guess I need to go hide in my room until all these fuckin' flowers are gone. If they're ever gonna get gone...

[millay]

[Maeve nods at his words quietly.] I’m sure they’ll get gone eventually, darling. Most things here don’t last forever. But we can do whatever you think will help. And if you feel the need to dump everything your feeling unceremoniously into my lap, I can handle that.

Bobby B

[knotawolf]

He winces as he passes the open door of the bar; something about that music is the right twang to hurt his ears, it's almost like it's hitting a high-frequency that's specifically designed to not be ignored.

Huffing he goes to find the source, making grumbly noises to try and drown it out. "Stop it!"

[broshaw]

Sharky can't say he blames Yufei for that reaction -- PEG music fuckin' sucks. It's just, you know, the only thing that he has that reminds him of home. Which sucks even more, like, c'mon, man!! He'd take surfer rock over Peggie bullshit! Hell, he'd take that awful rap music the Highwaymen always blasted!

"It's terrible, I know," he groans.

[knotawolf]

"Then why are making it!" He glares at the boombox and it suddenly goes to static, which isn't much better at this volume, but isn't giving him the urge to start howling along.

[broshaw]

"Hey, man, don't bust my radio with your telepathy or whatever!" The complaint is offered in a tone of voice that implies he's equally as happy to not listen to more of that shit as Yufei is.

"It's the closest I got to Conway Twitty, okay? I'd listen to the BeeGees, but I don't wanna taint the best music on the ship with bad vibes, man." He lifts his glass, realizes it's empty, then goes to fill it up again. "You wanna drink?"

[knotawolf]

He stops glaring and the radio comes back into tune singing about water washing away sins as Yufei grumps about it.

"Can't. Or eat." He perches on the back of an arm chair, crouched down with a soft jangle from the keys hanging off his belt. "You said the ship 'runs on vibes' and now vibes are bad? So ship can't run?"