J,GoB, Thursday Afternoon

[doctorgingerspice]

Guess who's back, back again?

That's right, folks, a mere two weeks after he was convinced that he was in fact leaving Fandom to go back home to Chicago, one William Halstead was back, and one of the first places he'd headed was the bakery.

To be fair, it had been several months from Will's perspective, not just two weeks, so he had actually been gone a significant amount of time, really. And there were some not-insignificant things that were accompanying his return: one, the adorable dog currently tied up just outside the bakery. And two... the fact that he looked like he'd been hit by a car.

(Because he absolutely had.)

But never mind that; he was back and he had a heart-shaped doughnut and a Wordle to figure out. Going back to 2019 had broken his winning streak, so now he had to start all over again.

[ooc: opennnnnnn.]

Comments

[begmetwice]

Irene was out and about and trying to put together last-minute touches for the party today, and you know what kind of a distraction she did not need? A cute dog outside the bakery and a heart-shaped doughnut inside.

But here we were.

"That," she told the injured-looking man and nodding to his doughnut, "looks like a great treat. Downright inspiring, even."

And normally she was very strict about such things! Oh well. Blame party stress.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Jelly-filled, too,” Will offered with a smile. “Which makes it even better.”

[begmetwice]

"A man of taste," she remarked, clutching a hand dramatically to her breast. "Is that little darling outside yours, too?"

She wasn't much of a dog person, but she could appreciate cute things.

[doctorgingerspice]

“That’s Kol, yeah,” Will confirmed, grinning a bit wider as he glanced out the window at said adorable dog. “I forgot to ask about the hotel’s pet policy,” he realized. “Guess I’ll find out.”

[begmetwice]

"Forgiveness rather than permission," Irene advised with a wink. "So, did you run into something out there that I ought to look for?"

She gestured out the window, keeping her tone conversational, but she'd not only noticed his injuries but taken stock of the sort of injuries. Something vehicular, if she had to guess.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Nah,” Will said dismissively. “Well. Cars, I guess? But they’re not too much of a problem here.”

[begmetwice]

"Well, that's a relief," she decided, starting to wind idly towards the counter. "I hope you're all right?"

He didn't really look all right, but he was acting like he was, and that usually said more.

[doctorgingerspice]

“I’ve felt better,” Will admitted. “But, you know, I’m not dead, so I guess that counts for something, right?”

[begmetwice]

"Cheers to not being dead," Irene declared, giving him a little salute. She herself enjoyed not being dead just about every day, actually! "It's a low bar to clear, but one that we should all be proud to clear, all the same. I'm Irene, by the by."

She fairly sure she recognized him, the way you'd recognize someone you'd seen in a bar because your town only had two bars so you were probably going to see the same people.

[firehousehimbo]

Like, okay, Buck knew you shouldn't pet strange dogs...but he was gonna do it anyway. The dog was cute! He would have stayed longer but donuts called to him.

"Will! You--look like shit." Well said, Buck.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Good to see you too, Buck,” Will said, laughing.

And then grimacing a little because ow, recent pneumothorax.

[firehousehimbo]

"What happened?" Buck asked. "Should you be eating donuts right now?"

Buck's mother hen'ing wasn't like other people's.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Uh,” Will had been about to make something up and then realized, oh, he didn’t actually have to lie anymore. “Someone tried to kill me.” That totally deserved doughnuts!

[firehousehimbo]

"Cool." Look, clearly Will was okay, so he could say what he was thinking out loud. "I mean, horrible, clearly, but also action movie stuff. Was there a reason or was it some rando?"

[doctorgingerspice]

That fluttery feeling in his chest at Buck’s ‘cool’ was totally due to the recent injury and not anything else, clearly.

“I was kinda responsible for this guy and the rest of his family getting arrested,” Will told Buck. “So naturally the first thing he did after getting out was T-bone my car.”

[firehousehimbo]

"He's in jail now, right?" Buck asked.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Oh yeah,” Will nodded. “Doubt they’ll let him pull the whole ‘good behavior’ early release thing again.”

[grenadesandohana]

Steve wasn't sorry about the pizza thing last night, but it never hurt to ply Danny with baked goods after poking him right in the New Jersey about pizza.

"Holy shit," he said, staring at Will as he came in. "Did a car land on you?"

He didn't even notice the dog.

[doctorgingerspice]

“T-boned me, actually,” Will corrected.

[grenadesandohana]

"Shit," Steve repeated. "Was it those assholes you mentioned before?"

Because he'd go wreck them right now, Will.

[doctorgingerspice]

“Yeah,” he grimaced. “Got out on ‘good behavior’,” he scoffed as he made air quotes to accompany those last two words. “But they’re all back in jail now. Again. For good, this time.”

[grenadesandohana]

"Well, that's good," Steve said. "And not to be all 'why are you here' but...what brings you back?"

[doctorgingerspice]

Will shrugged. "Well, Natalie and I broke up," he shared. "And- I don't know. I thought when I went back everything would just be, you know, normal again? But it wasn't. It didn't feel as much like home anymore."

[grenadesandohana]

"Aww, brah, I'm sorry to hear that about Natalie," Steve said, looking sincere. "Let me buy you a bear claw."

The food of heartbreak, clearly.

[doctorgingerspice]

Well, at least it had been long enough from Will's perspective that most of the sting was gone. "You don't have to do that," Will protested, but it was basically a token protest. "But thanks." Cause he was still gonna take him up on it.