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I Live I Die I Live Againnn Im Coming With My Army Of Skeletonsssss

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TAG WITH @dylan

POSTED ON Jul 16, 2023 6:26:20 GMT

Being on this side of the country was... oh how it vexed him. He got booked for a small venue, and went to an outdoor fest after because he had nothing better to do. In either case, Damien heard a door creak open. Delwyn wore an all-black denim ensemble, with platform ankle-boots that made him two inches taller.

While the soft yellow lighting, exposed brick, and leather furniture put him at ease, something was off. It felt like a living room in a nice suburban home, and... hardly any people in it. Eyes scanned the room, seeing a few chairs arranged in a circle with no room to slip in.

So imagine the surprise on his face when Delwyn sat at the counter, only to be face to face with that goth boy who was so... forward with him online. "...Do you come here often, Hot Topic?"

He said, working up a smirk, which didn't reach the skin around his eyes like a smile would. Even when he tried to soften his face, those eyes poked people, like he was trying to pry them open and find something. "I'm just playin'. I wanna vodka-redbull, but what would you recommend? I'm all ears."

DAMIEN RUSSO

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dove

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december 31

black city, unova

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bartender / thief

grunt

5'7" / 170 cm height

so sweet with a mean streak. cigarette daydream.

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TAG WITH @damien

POSTED ON Jul 25, 2023 4:45:22 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","damien-wrap"]

[attr="class","damien-main"]

[attr="class","damien-words"]

Fuck it was slow. [break][break]

Damien hated working weeknights for this very reason. There were some regulars trickling in, but it was otherwise dead as a grave this time of day.[break][break]

Ah well. At least he could just chill behind the bar and thumb through his phone in the meantime. Zev Harcourt would have probably wanted him sweeping or doing some barback shit, but fuck him. Like hell Damien was gonna bust his ass when the boss wasn't even around.[break][break]

He was cool with just hanging out — until an unfamiliar voice beckoned for his attention.[break][break]

"..." Damien looked up, his expression immediately hostile. Who the fuck was this guy? He was acting real friendly for a stranger...[break][break]

Hold up. Now, he'd swiped through what felt like a metric fuckton of matches on AmiGo this past week. Faces had really started to blur by the time Damien had gotten bored of the app. But dylan sayer's deadpan mug was really starting to seem familiar, the more Damien looked.[break][break]

"...Ha! Wait, that you, Hex Boy?" The lightbulb went off, and with it the bartender's face softened into a wicked grin.[break][break]

"Nah, fuck the vodka-redbull. That shit's too mainstream. Try this," Pocketing his phone, Damien went to work grabbing all the necessary ingredients for the cocktail he had in mind. [break][break]

"It's called a Grave Digger. Little cider, some whiskey, splash of ginger beer." He slid the glass tumbler across the bar.[break][break]

"You're a mortician or some shit, right? Figured it'd suit you."

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NOVEMBER THIRD

spikemuth, galar

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TAG WITH @dylan

POSTED ON Jul 25, 2023 8:03:42 GMT

Damien's demeanor softened, after an initial shock. Dylan had, maybe, been too familiar with a stranger. He needled Yujin over the same, and maybe had some underlying issues. But he'd never forget someone's face, or pet-name for him, for that matter. He laughed a little, and leaned on the counter with an elbow, resting his head in his hand.

Dylan's time on Amigo was interesting. He just seemed to attract every type of weirdo. He could fill a Pokedex with all the people that wanted him. Nonetheless, it was another game on his phone to him, right up there with MTG, Mahjong, and Go.

A lot of things are like Go, really. Place a stone. Take a stone. Put yourself out there the wrong way, and someone will eat you up.

He offered a sheepish grin as Damien started to come to life, and start putting him onto something strong.

His voice came out low with a slight rasp, like he was pushing it from the back of his throat. "...You sure know how to make me feel welcome."

The glass tumbler slid across the counter, and he caught it in one hand. Dylan held it up and examined the drink, before taking a sip. Something bitter and fruity. He liked him already. "I don't wanna oversell it. I did two years and an apprenticeship, and then... I started having stress-related ulcers so I quit."

He had to stick the landing, he thought, slowly drinking it as they talked. "...This is incredible."

DAMIEN RUSSO

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played by

dove

he / him

december 31

black city, unova

gay

bartender / thief

grunt

5'7" / 170 cm height

so sweet with a mean streak. cigarette daydream.

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128 posts

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TAG WITH @damien

POSTED ON Aug 20, 2023 16:54:34 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","damien-wrap"]

[attr="class","damien-main"]

[attr="class","damien-words"]

"Well shit." The bartender exclaimed flatly, sounding more surprised than sympathetic. [break][break]

"Did the dead bodies start to freak you out or something?" Wasn't there a video game about that? Damien vaguely remembered it popping up on his PokéTube feed. The Mortuary Assistant... or some bullshit like that.[break][break]

"What do you do now, then?" Dylan had to pay the bills somehow. They all did... which was why Damien stuck it out here, even with a tightass boss like Zev Harcourt. He'd never met a guy with such a huge stick up his ass before.[break][break]

As their conversation continued and dylan sayer tried the offered drink, Damien was pleased to hear he enjoyed the taste.[break][break]

"Glad you like it. Let me know if I can get you anything else."

[attr="class","damien-notes"]

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played by

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Prince of Darkness, DJ Sorrow.

he him

NOVEMBER THIRD

spikemuth, galar

questioning

MUSICIAN

civilian

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I Live I Die I Live Againnn Im Coming With My Army Of Skeletonsssss

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TAG WITH @dylan

POSTED ON Aug 21, 2023 2:33:32 GMT

Damien's reaction, even his surprise, felt like a relief. Like someone finally got it. But his next question had Dylan scrunching up his face, trying to remember those days. "...Dead bodies, sure. I might be desensitized to injuries and death at this point. But also... I was a symbol of every other med-student failing. I'm right there if you're bad at your job. And people didn't like thinking about it, or me for that matter."

He felt kinda bad, hogging the conversation. Dylan raised a brow, pushing a question back. "What did you do before this?"

Bartending had to be tough. You're on the hook if people die, and playing social-worker for people in a bad place in their lives. Dylan smiled at him. Maybe they weren't so different after all. "I'm a part-timer at an office, but I just started turning a profit on my music."

D-d-d-d-d-DJ Sorrow. He had his beloved vodka-redbull shot down. In either case, Dylan's eyes lit up as he talked to Damien. Dylan was gonna get wasted, sure, but he wanted to remember most of it. Damien was a real sweetheart. "...A jägerbomb with monster-energy."

DAMIEN RUSSO

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played by

dove

he / him

december 31

black city, unova

gay

bartender / thief

grunt

5'7" / 170 cm height

so sweet with a mean streak. cigarette daydream.

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128 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @damien

POSTED ON Nov 8, 2023 2:42:50 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","damien-wrap"]

[attr="class","damien-main"]

[attr="class","damien-words"]

Damien? A sweetheart?[break][break]

Nothing could have been further from the truth. dylan sayer was in for it if he really thought that.[break][break]

But DAMIEN RUSSO had a job to do. So he put on a pretty face, approximating a smile as best he could. It came easy, considering how many years he'd been bartending. [break][break]

He could play sweet, but it didn't come from the heart.[break][break]

"That's rough." The dead bodies and the judgement and everything.[break][break]

"Me?" Damien raised a curious brow, but decided to work and talk at the same time. His head ducked behind the bar to grab two new glasses for the jägerbomb, then the needed liquids for the cocktail.[break][break]

"Nothin' much really before this. Just helping out around the neighborhood, shit like that." He left out all the illegal crap he'd been made to do.[break][break]

"Definitely not anything like making music." He slid the jägerbomb across the bar top for Dylan to down. "What kinda stuff do you do?"

[attr="class","damien-notes"]

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NOVEMBER THIRD

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TAG WITH @dylan

POSTED ON Nov 10, 2023 11:31:55 GMT

Damien kept talking as he was working. There was something interesting about that. Even in the heat of battle, Dylan tended to get caught up talking, and let his pokemon figure it out. "...It's not that bad, all things considered."

Did things around the neighborhood. Dylan arched a brow, but he didn't say much. In fact, there was an audible beat, a pause before he replied. "Like... a lot of service industry stuff? Public works?"

The cold glass slid across the counter. Dylan's hand opened to catch it, the condensation pooling on his fingers. He smiled, the first drink having definitely hit him in that moment. He wasn't drunk yet, still cogent enough to hold a conversation. "I feel like... you ought to find some art form that speaks to you. To make a space for you and your feelings that don't get to come out."

But Damien asked about his music specifically. Dylan bit his lip, and glanced aside. Where would he even begin. He sipped at his drink, and pulled out his phone and wireless earbuds. He held the case out for Damien, all the while queueing something up. A chugging guitar part slowly led to rattling 808s, and a voice drenched in reverb. And yes, dear reader: he's pronouncing it "skellington", like Jack Skellington(?)

DAMIEN RUSSO

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played by

dove

he / him

december 31

black city, unova

gay

bartender / thief

grunt

5'7" / 170 cm height

so sweet with a mean streak. cigarette daydream.

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128 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @damien

POSTED ON Dec 10, 2023 18:27:00 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","damien-wrap"]

[attr="class","damien-main"]

[attr="class","damien-words"]

"Like..." Fuck, how to answer this? "Just odd jobs for people. Errands and crap like that, ya know? It didn't pay for shit," And it got him mixed up with some shady ass people.[break][break]

"So I started bartending when I got the chance." Though the pay wasn't much better. [break][break]

When dylan sayer started talking about his art form, Damien nodded along, this time genuinely commiserating with the guy.[break][break]

"... yeah, I get that." Music had always been an escape for him. His home life had been shitty, his responsibilities overwhelming from a young age. It was nice to get lost in a song and not have to worry for awhile.[break][break]

When Dylan lifted his phone to show off his work, Damien took one of the offered earbuds and plucked it into his ear. Some dope music then flooded his senses, causing his eyebrows to shoot up in surprise. [break][break]

"Hey man, this is actually pretty sick."

[attr="class","damien-notes"]

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played by

VAPES

Prince of Darkness, DJ Sorrow.

he him

NOVEMBER THIRD

spikemuth, galar

questioning

MUSICIAN

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I Live I Die I Live Againnn Im Coming With My Army Of Skeletonsssss

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TAG WITH @dylan

POSTED ON Dec 13, 2023 6:19:10 GMT

Everyone had to do what they had to do. Dylan was more or less the same: in the arts you either go viral, even if your intent is only to have a middle-class life, or never leave your dayjob. He just got out, but the threat was still there. "...You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess."

He smirked, before sipping at his drink. Dylan was finally getting there, face going slightly pale. He looked at Damien intently. His song about collecting skulls was probably not the place to lead "uncomfortable feelings finding their place" to. "Thanks. I couldn't help but notice... black metal guitars are really brittle and distorted, like a synthesizer. And people put synths in their beats..."

He said, trying to get Damien to keep talking to him. "Did you ever create things to get it out? I mean, we all drew as kids..." Anything to stop him from clicking play on something else. From hearing the wet smoker coughs he left in, the loud "let's fucking gooooooo"...

DAMIEN RUSSO

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played by

dove

he / him

december 31

black city, unova

gay

bartender / thief

grunt

5'7" / 170 cm height

so sweet with a mean streak. cigarette daydream.

awards

128 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @damien

POSTED ON Dec 20, 2023 19:52:52 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","damien-wrap"]

[attr="class","damien-main"]

[attr="class","damien-words"]

DAMIEN RUSSO leaned against the bartop, his elbow propped on its surface and his chin cradled in an upturned palm. This position offered a companionable closeness between the two men as they conversed and shared tidbits of their lives with one another.[break][break]

“Create things, huh? Let’s see…” He’d been too busy trying to take care of a million siblings to create anything of substance. It’d been an odd mix of hectic and lonely back then. Barely any time to himself to really make things, be it art, music, or otherwise.[break][break]

“As a kid? Nah. Nothin’ worthwhile. But when I got my license and my first bike? Yeah, kinda.” Here his tone got a little more excited. [break][break]

“The thing was rusted out and barely ran. I had to put it back together piece by piece. It was a bitch to do.” But Damien was proud of it. It was something he’d created with his own two hands, sort of. Hours at the salvage yard and a good portion of his meager earnings went into that bike.[break][break]

“I guess you could say I put a lot of what I was feelin’ back then into that work. Still do, I suppose.” Damien was being more open than usual. For whatever reason, dylan sayer’s easygoing attitude made the conversation flow freely.[break][break]

“You sound like you know what you’re talking about. How long have you been making music?”

[attr="class","damien-notes"]