Barrett Karofsky. Seventeen years old. Lima native. McKinley senior. Brother. Son. What else do you want?
{
}
“Stop. Stopstopstop. You are—” [ Nadia slaps at his arm with one of her hands. ] “Positively, absolutely the worst. I don’t drink ever, and I have super-low tolerance. So you can imagine when one of those…lacrosse goofs starting putting drinks on the table and Moira gave me one…I had no idea.”
[ Nadia pulls at the ponytail at the back of her head, sighing with relief when the pressure dissipates just a bit once it’s undone. ] “…Thank you. I’ll be fine—I think we have coffee at home. Oh God, Gran-Gran’s going to see me and murder me.”
[He only laughs harder when she smacks at his arm, shaking his head a little bit.] “Drunk ass.” [He says with a snicker. He rolled his eyes a little bit at the mention of the lacrosse guys. Right. Of course they were making people drinks. They also better keep their asses there and clean up all the vomit they’re probably inducing.] “Never take your drinks from someone else, Di. Rule one.”
“Well what kind of neighbor would I be if I didn’t look out for you…” [He smiles gently, but his face is pulled back into concern at her last statement.] “Oh shit you are screwed… Wait, are they still awake? You could sneak in… I might be able to get you up to your window… Or I suppose you could crash at Casa Karofsky. Pop won’t mind.”
“Don’t laugh at my misery. I’m not looking at you,” [ She rubs at her eyes with her hands and keeps them there until she sees spots in the darkness. ] “But I can just tell you’re going to laugh.”
“One…drink? One.” [ She affirms. If the passenger seat could just open up and let her die in the bowels of the car she would be extremely pleased. ] “Nataly—Nataly. Oh my God. I must’ve been…acting like a complete…idiot.”
“Not laughing.” [Is what he said, but he said it while he was laughing. Okay, he couldn’t help it.] “Sorry, sorry I’ve just never actually seen you get drunk before.”
“One drink? How’d you pass out from one drink…?” [He asked slowly, eyebrows knit in confusion. Shit. Did someone slip her something? Someone was gonna get their face busted in…] “I have no idea, honestly. I didn’t find you until you were passed out. So I just carried you to the car and now here we are. Need coffee or anything?”
“…..Dear Lord.” [ She presses her forehead to the cool glass of the passenger-side window, her eyes still closed and her face wrinkling with the slight throbbing pain in her head. ]
[ She shifts her head a bit to look at the driver, the images of passing threes becoming a headache-inducing blur, and she frowns. ] “…Why are we in a car? And why do I fee like a truck ran over me?” [ Nadia tries not to focus on the thought that they’re probably driving away from the party and therefore away from the big-bash she heard everyone tittering over for weeks. ]
[He glanced over to the side when she began to stir, and he couldn’t help the slight smirk that was playing across his face.] “Hey there, Jones.” [He said, a slight chuckle in his voice.]
[His eyes drift back to the road, signaling and turning his wheel slightly to hit the exit that he needed.] “We’re in a car because someone passed the hell out at my birthday party… Which is also why you feel like shit. Don’t worry. Nataly found you and I said I’d take you home. How much did you drink?”
[Nataly looks at him long and hard. The care with which he looks at Nadia is heartwarming, and she feels her resolve start to slip.] “Karofsky…”
“Take care of her or I kill you with my bare hands. Call me once you get her home. If I don’t hear from you within the next hour, I will find you.“ [She locks eyes with him.] “Understand?”
“Course I’ll take care of her.” [He nods at her warning quickly.] “Got it. Will do. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”
[He reaches across to gently grab Nadia. He stands back to his feet and carefully lifts her up, cradling her easily. She doesn’t weigh very much. He’s used to dead lifting a lot more, really.] “It should only take me about twenty minutes to get her back home.”
“She didn’t mean to. Someone handed her booze…and well, this happened.” [She shifts, using one arm to brace Nadia when she begins to slide off the other girl’s shoulder.]
[A reluctant look crosses Nataly’s face.] “Listen, Bear…It’s not that I don’t trust you…but I’m not so sure I wanna let her out of my sight.”
“Dammit, Jones. You never take your booze from other people. Rule one.” [He mumbled, shaking his head a little bit. Well, at least Nataly had gotten to her before some douche tried to take advantage of her or something..]
“I’d never hurt Nadia.” [He shook his head slightly.] “Plus I’m better at taking heat from Mercedes… I’ve been doing it since I was about seven…”
[Nataly narrows her eyes. Never has she seen this much emotion from Bear…does he…? She sends that thought out of her head. Her first priority is Nadia.] “She’s going to be fine. Killer hangover tomorrow, I think.”
“You, my friend, need to update yourself on tonight’s relationship drama.” [She laughs quietly, but her lack of amusement at the matter is noticeable.] “He’ll be out here soonish. I’m gonna let him wrap things up — I mean, no matter what time either of us get home, we’re gonna be in soooo much trouble.”
“Yeah, I would imagine. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually seen her drunk before.” [He chuckled slightly, eyes still locked on the girl he grew up next to.]
[His eyes shot up to Nataly, head tilting slightly.] “Somethin’ happen? I haven’t seen Rolls since the beginning of the party, really. Mostly been occupied with the football guys… Hey, you want me to take her?” [He looked back down at Nadia.] “I mean, I have to go that way anyway. She is my neighbor, after all.”
[Nataly brushes back some of the hair from Nadia’s face.] “…I’m not sure? I kind of just found her like this — well, she was awake then — about an hour ago, and brought her to one of the bedrooms to sleep it off. We’re waiting for Ed to get back so he can drive us home.”
[She smiles weakly up at him.] “…having a nice night so far?”
[Barrett makes his way over to the two, dropping down to one knee next to them.] “She’s been this way for an hour? Damn…” [He tilts his head slightly, eyebrows knitting in concern.]
“Are you sure Edward isn’t… erm… preoccupied with Roland? ‘Cause last he told me, he was planning on… preoccupying… him…” [He lets out one awkward chuckle, shaking his head.] “I’ve been having fun, yeah…” [He says, once again turning his attention to the passed out girl, tilting his head. He reached out and poked her shoulder once.]
[Nataly sits on the front steps of the Corcoran Lake house, ignoring the cacophony of the raging party behind her in favor of keeping Nadia leaning against her shoulder.] “Happy birthday, dude.”
[She gives an awkward glance over to her passed out companion.] “Um, this isn’t what it looks like?” [A beat.] “Okay, it’s exactly what it looks like.”
[Barrett turns around from his spot leaned up against the front stairs, slightly startled by the sudden voice.] “Thanks.”
[His head tilts slightly as he looks down at Nadia, then back at Nataly.] “Is that Nadia? Is this where you’ve been all night?” [He looks back to his neighbor, shaking his head slightly.] “How’d she get that drunk that fast…?”
 | Anonymous asked: 2, 24, 31, 34, 43, 45 |
2: Do they have any daily rituals?
He has to run every day. It’s therapeutic for him, really, as well as a good way to keep in shape. When the weather permits, he takes a few laps around the block every morning before school, as well as usually around dusk. If the weather is bad, he’ll use the treadmill in the basement of the Karofsky home. There are very few days in the past five or so years that he hasn’t gone for at least a jog. He also speaks with his little sister on a daily basis, and feels that his day is weird if he doesn’t.
24: Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?
Surprisingly, Barrett is very good with history. It’s very finite, but not in the complicated way that math is. He understands it very well, and likes the fact that it never really changes, you just get deeper into it. His favorite aspect of the subject is American History. He really enjoys learning about the American Revolution. He cares more about his academics than he likes to let on, because he knows that realistically, football will only get him so far. He’s good, but he’s nowhere near NFL quality, so there’s no point in banking on that.
31: Most prized possession?
He’s got this gold watch that he doesn’t really wear much, but it’s kept safe in a box in his room. It’s from several generations back of Karofsky men, and it’s engraved with a calligraphy ‘K’ on the clasp. He breaks it out sometimes on special occasions, but for the most part, makes sure to keep it locked away, far from damage.
43: Religion?
The Karofsky Family is largely Catholic, but David and his children do not regularly practice. When Barrett was young, he recalls going to church very often with his Grandma and Grandpa Karofsky. His father tends not to attend Church too often, mostly due to their views on his sexual orientation, and in turn, Barrett doesn’t attend very often. His religious views are not something he really dwells on often, and one could consider him teetering on agnosticism. For the most part, he doesn’t question faith, God, or heaven and hell very often.
45: Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?
Deeds. A lot of time, Barrett isn’t great with words. He doesn’t know how to express emotions properly, partially due to his father’s tendency to bury his emotions. He’s just not an expressive kind of guy, and instead chooses to back up his beliefs through actions. If he’s your friend, you can tell through his loyalty.
