🍇 the fall is colder, but its warm all the same 🍇

[graftage]

WHO: Steinbeck and...you!
WHAT: Open prompts and closed starters for the fall!
WHEN: Fall time baby!
WHERE: Everywhere
WARNINGS: will update as needed, but its steinbeck, what do you expect

bingo

Comments

[graftage]

[He rolls his shoulders back in a slight shrug, letting out a sigh. He's smiling, but...]

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I mean, this place is nice, but...

[associative]

[ He nods, crossing his arms. ]

It's not home, right? Do you have stuff to do back home?

[ Gaku figures that most people here do, but he's curious nonetheless. ]

[graftage]

...

[He looks pensive.]

Yeah. I do. But its more of a "I need to finish things before I can go home for good" sort of thing.

[associative]

What kind of things do you have to finish?

[ Probably not idol work... ]

[graftage]

...I have to clean up someone's dirty work.

sorry for the delay!!!

[associative]

…Dirty work? What do you mean by that?

[ He thinks he knows what Steinbeck is talking about, but… might as well ask, right? ]

[graftage]

It's complicated.

I...used to work for an organization. Have to clean up what that organization did.

[associative]

...Sounds shady.

[ The lack of any specifics, that is. ]

So, was it actually shady?

[graftage]

[Now he laughs.]

Shady as hell.

[associative]

[ He can't help but laugh a little bit himself. ]

Like... money laundering? Hitmen? Illegal gambling?

[ Look, he's just naming things he knows that shady organizations do. ]

[graftage]

Ah.

[He's stretching his shoulders back as he tries to figure out how to respond.]

A whole bunch of stuff. But namely, it was one guy throwing his money and weight around to get what he wanted. Even if it meant trampling over others to do it.

[associative]

Did you like that job?

[ It's honestly quite the description, and he really can't tell what Steinbeck's feelings are just from that. ]

[graftage]

...It paid well.

[....]

[That's probably the best he can say about it.]

[associative]

I guess if it pays the bills... that's all that matters, huh?

[ He knows a lot of people here have a lot more to deal with back home than he ever did, so it's not like he can judge Steinbeck for it. ]

[graftage]

Not my bills, but yeah.

[A sigh.]

Money makes the world go round, and all.

[associative]

[ Not his bills? Then... ]

So you're helping out family?

[ It's the first thing that Gaku thinks of, what with his own family being a priority for him. ]

[graftage]

...

[.........]

Come from a big family. So, a lot of bills.

[associative]

[ Ah... makes sense. ]

I hope what you do helps you make those bills. How many siblings do you have?

[graftage]

[Haha, well....does it?]

Two sisters and a brother. I'm the oldest. Got a lot of cousins, too.

[associative]

[ Gaku, at least, won't be questioning anything about family, that's for sure. ]

Ah, so you gotta take care of everyone, right? I don't have siblings, but that's how I've always imagined it.

[graftage]

[A nod.]

Yep. I gotta. Because the world is cruel. And people who work hard don't even get a fraction of what they're owed.

[associative]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I like to think that working hard is enough, but if you don't have someone with the right connections looking out for you, it can be impossible to move up.

[graftage]

Not even just impossible. The people up above push you down lower than ever before if they can.

[He's bitter.]

It's the worst.

[associative]

Or they hold you up just so they can use you to make money.

[ Gaku's bitter too, though for a different reason. ]