Tandy Bowen doesn't have to pick between (cloakndagger) wrote in repose,
Under the lights: Tandy/OPEN
Tandy was super here for the bonfire. There were a multitude of reasons why Tandy was not the guy for Solo cups and open fires, largely they related to safety concerns and proximity of flammable substances to aforementioned open flames. But he was having a supremely challenging week. Having secured actual work - work which could be declared to an accountant, work which he could talk legitimately about when being interviewed for open roommate spots in legitimate, totally upfront housing situations - his boss had decided to flee town with an offer of a reference.
Tandy had mulled that over for a good hour on the bus to the Capital, because a reference could not be traded in for cashable benefits. Like broccoli, or toilet paper. He was a health-conscious guy. Mostly, it was the years and years of no insurance and the cost of a cold or a trip to the ER for his mom had been black and white (or, red and white depending on how low the bank account was running) and partly it was the abuse of prescription drugs that took place in what now passed for his familial living room. He didn't drink, he didn't smoke, he didn't abuse prescription painkillers, he was pretty straight for a guy who made his money running online scams. Although it was totally legitimate to target existing criminals for hacks, because anyone looking for weird shit online that was definitely illegal in all the states deserved to lose some cash before he turned over their IP address to the cops.
Either way, he was having a weird moment. He had toe-stepped towards a practical, lived reality arguably one that was more substantial than girl!Tandy's had ever been. And now it was up-ended. So Tandy was drinking. He was a beer in, the bottom of his Solo cup was starting to break beyond the glassy lip of liquid and the traceries of foam, and he was sitting just beyond the leap of the flames where he had no material fear of getting set alight. Under the string-lights, which were observably pretty, and he reached to set down his cup and accidentally elbowed someone coming from behind when he did.
"I am so sorry." If they were wearing their beer, they were probably mad.