Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Apr 23, 2019 1:25:14 GMT -8
Allen had approximately gotten home before the asthma attack had gotten bad enough that he needed to sit down and let the meds sink in. Keys were too complicated, and his mom was still at work, so he'd sunk down to sit against his own door, clutching the rescue inhaler in case he needed to take a second dosage. He wasn't really supposed to take a second dosage unless it was really bad, and it did seem to be getting better, just far more slowly than he wished.
He counted his breaths, knowing that his own perception of time was very out of sync with reality, and really wished that it was a little later in the day so his mom would be home. He didn't think he needed to go to the ER, but he was definitely calling his doctor after everything died down. This was the worst attack he'd had in a while. He kind of hoped that none of his neighbors were home because it was embarrassing to be sitting on the floor, wheezing and leaning against his own door because he couldn't figure out his own keys.
Timur Mun
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Jul 28, 2019 18:59:50 GMT -8
Timur had just gotten off work and was headed home. He was ready to be in the peace and quiet, and change into comfy pants and watch tv or something that didn't require a lot of brain energy. He was about to pull out his keys when noticed a neighbor sitting by his door. He debated for a moment just keeping quiet, leaving the man to rest (?) at the front door, but as he heard wheezing, he decided against that. He went over to the other man awkwardly. "Uh... Are you okay?" He asked, not really sure how else to phrase it even though that seemed like a dumb question. He noticed the man had an inhaler in one hand, and realized it must be an asthma attack. Suddenly, he wished he had paid more attention to what his family had done when Aibek was in this situation.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Jul 28, 2019 21:23:17 GMT -8
Allen raised his head to see one of his neighbors. He didn't remember the other man's name, at least not right then, but he had the sneaking suspicion that they'd gone to high school together. He halfheartedly gestured at the keys that he'd managed to drop near his feet and managed to gasp out, "Hopefully getting there, could use a hand with getting into my place. Respiratory attack."
He hoped that that made sense. He was a little bit embarrassed asking for help from an effective stranger in this context, but he was also very much uncomfortable on the floor, and being able to settle on the couch would probably help him get his breath back faster. Warm tea would probably help even more, but he wasn't sure that he could bring himself to ask that of a neighbor that hardly knew.
He gave a slightly awkward smile to the other man and hoped that he'd be willing to at least help Allen get as far as the couch.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Oct 17, 2019 11:31:56 GMT -8
Timur followed his neighbor's gesture towards his keys, picking them up and opening the door. "Um... my little brother has asthma, but he's much younger than me so admittedly I don't much about it," he rambled a bit, running a hand through his hair and resting it at the base of his hairline, "did you like... need help getting inside, or uh... is there anything else I can do? or someone I should call?" He asked. He thought he'd encountered a woman who also went into this apartment occasionally, presumably this guy's mom based off the age she seemed to be. He put his own keys back into his jeans pocket; he didn't want to leave the guy here only to hear paramedics or end up on the news for "the dead guy down the hall" later.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Oct 22, 2019 2:40:10 GMT -8
Allen smiled up at the other man, and said softly and raspily, "Thank you."
He thought about it for a second and said, having to pause for breath between his words, "Help up and into my place first I think. I don't want to impose, but if you're willing to help me make tea, that would help."
He didn't want to bother his mom, and if he needed to, he could always text her, but that could wait. He breathed carefully for a bit and then tried to get his feet under him so he could stand so that the neighbor could help him. It worked less well than he had hoped, and he started to wobble as he tried to stand, not getting very far off the ground. He gasped a few more times and waited for help from the other man.
While the other man seemed familiar, he couldn't put a name with the face, and once he had enough breath, he said, still having to pause between words, "This isn't really ideal meeting, but thank you, again. Um, I'm Allen."
He figured that knowing names was probably better, all things considered.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Oct 27, 2019 20:11:38 GMT -8
"Oh yeah, sure." He said, taking the other man's hand before he could fall and pulling it so Allen could rest his weight on his shoulders. He let out a breathy chuckle and responded, "Timur. And I'm fine with making you tea, as long as you can tell me where you keep stuff."
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Oct 29, 2019 0:07:44 GMT -8
Allen winced a little as he stood, feeling like his ribs were creaking. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to experience. He was surprised to notice up close that Timur was a little taller than he was. Also, of course it was the cute neighbor who'd found him like that. At least he was being nice about it.
Allen smiled, feeling a touch awkward about it as he let his neighbor steer him over to the couch. He coughed a few times before he managed to say, "Thank you, and I think that I can direct you for the tea stuff."
He was relieved to reach the couch and let himself fall a little bit limply back against its support. He knew how to lean back on it in a way that made breathing easier in general.
Once he got a few more breaths into him, he said, "There's an electric kettle on the counter next to the microwave. You can fill it with water from the tap."
He took a moment to breathe again and continued, "Um, there's a fill marking on the inside, but as long as you leave a few inches from the top, it's fine. Once it's full and back on the base, if you hit the temperature setting once it's on if it's not already set to that, you can eventually get it to 80 degrees C. And if you hit keep warm, it won't start cooling back down as soon as it gets there."
He was pleased that he was starting to get more of his voice back. He could tell that the inhaler was properly kicking in finally, though he still felt very shaky, and he was sure that his voice was still upsettingly wheezy. He added, "There's a little orange-brown teapot that's near the kettle, and it has a ceramic infuser in it, there's also a little tin of tea that's labelled in Chinese that should be by it. If it's there, you can use the wooden scoop to put two scoops into the infuser, if not, I'll figure out where it would be and tell you where to look."
He figured that the rest of the instructions could wait, and he paused to breathe, waiting to see how Timur fared with the tea.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Nov 18, 2019 14:35:21 GMT -8
Timur was quiet as he went about making tea, finding the electric kettle a little confusing but ultimately not hard to figure out. He decided he wanted one, or well, a better one. He already had an electric kettle, but it only had one button on it, and that was to turn it on or off. Having one that had temperature settings and the option to "keep warm" sounded very convenient, especially on his days off when he had lazy days, and usually sipped on tea throughout the day.
He looked along the counter, easily finding the tea tin, and not as easily finding the wooden spoon. "I found it." He said simply, scooping some tea into the teapot and waiting on the water. He took this moment's pause to turn around and look to see how his neighbor was doing. "It sounds like you might be starting to get a little better, which is a relief."
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Nov 25, 2019 23:11:44 GMT -8
Allen laughed a bit, the wheezing still rather evident in his voice, and replied, "Yeah, the rescue inhaler always takes longer to kick in than I would like. Doesn't help that one my lungs will never have really enough capacity."
He hesitated, feeling like that was half enough information. Either he should expand on it, or have not said it, and he'd already said it, so he finished, "I, uh, had a collapsed lung in my teens, it made the end of high school a mess."
It occurred to him that if his neighbor had been at Cedar Beach High School at the same time as him, he might know who Allen was just because of that fact. The kid who nearly died in PE his junior year was a pretty narrow qualifier. He felt like Timur looked familiar enough that they might have overlapped in high school.
He noticed that the water was nearly ready and said, "Once the water gets up to temperature, there's a little hourglass on the counter, it's the right amount of time for this tea to steep. Considering you've gone to the trouble of making the tea for me, I'd love to share some of it with you if you're interested. Thank you for your help."
He hoped that this whole ordeal wasn't a strange first or approximately first impression with Timur. It would be nice to have more nearby friends again.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Dec 2, 2019 22:33:09 GMT -8
Timur suddenly connected the dots; he hadn't really known Allen outside of maybe seeing him on campus (or maybe GSA? He didn't want to assume that was why the other man's face was vaguely familiar but also made him a bit hopeful), but it was hard to avoid the news of the kid who nearly died on campus. "Ah, I remember hearing about that." He poured the water into the teapot and turned the hourglass around, then set the kettle back down on the warmer before turning to Allen. "Glad to know you uh... well, the rumors got out of hand, so uh, are alive and also survived that. It was apparently a pretty scary ordeal to the other P.E. students, but I'd imagine most of all to you." He smiled, "Also as long as you don't mind, I'd love to share some tea."
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Dec 24, 2019 0:52:00 GMT -8
Allen laughed, an awkward raspy sound that he didn't particularly love, and said, "The rumors especially got out of hand because I was in and out of school starting not that long after it happened, just out more than in. Still finished on time though, and made it to most of the important functions that I cared about, even if I had to do them sitting down."
He was trying desperately to place Timur. He knew that the other man looked familiar. He didn't think that they'd shared a class. He suspected that Timur had been two grade levels above him, maybe even three, but if he'd heard about the collapsed lung, maybe he'd only been one ahead of him, or had just still been in touch with friends. A vague memory popped into his head, and he said, "I think that I knew you through a club in high school..."
He was tentative about saying it, about getting it wrong, this was someone he barely knew, maybe had known better when he was in high school, but that was a long time ago. It was nearly nine years since he'd graduated. He looked took a sip of tea, trying to think of the right way to say GSA without potentially making this awkward, and the silence of his statement stretched, and he wondered if maybe Timur would fill in the gap for him, that would make it easier.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Mar 25, 2020 19:27:46 GMT -8
Timur flipped the timer after he poured the water into the teapot, but froze there as Allen mentioned possibly knowing him through a club. He had only attended one club in high school, and so he weighed his options; on the one hand, they had just met (re-met?) and so if Allen reacted badly, he could fake remembering he had something important to do and leave. If it actually was true they knew each other (however vaguely) through GSA, Timur could be relieved his cute neighbor was (ideally) also into guys and maybe even found him cute. He swallowed nervously, not taking his eyes off the hourglass as he fidgeted with it (though not enough to disrupt the flow). "I uh..." He began, clearing his throat, "The only club I went to was GSA in high school." He told Allen.
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on May 21, 2020 23:43:55 GMT -8
Allen smiled and nodded, replying, "Yes, that would be the one club I also attended regularly throughout high school."
He tried to figure out what to say after that though. Timur hadn't been in his immediate friend group, but Allen had hung out mostly around the other Chinese speakers in GSA, glad to have a second point of commonality, especially with the one glaring difference. He did remember Timur seeming nice if also shy. He said, "I was a little young for my grade. I, uh, skipped a few grades, so I was eleven at the start of high school. It meant that I was a little bit shy in GSA and in general, but also that I don't look that much like I did in early high school especially."
He smiled as well as he could at the other man, hoping that maybe this would be the start of a friendship. He'd been somewhat covertly admiring Timur when they passed in the halls since the other man had moved in.
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Aerospace Engineer.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/10/1991.
32.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Timur Mun on Jul 15, 2020 10:10:05 GMT -8
Timur breathed a sigh of relief at the confirmation, then raised an eyebrow in amazement. He had been a good student, but not 11-year-old-in-high-school good. Though, that also explained why Timur didn't interact with him. "That's uh... really impressive." He murmured. "I was always pretty quiet growing up, so that's probably why we never really interacted in high school if you were also shy. I've also always been kind of awkward with anyone I deemed a 'kid,' which, at 11, I would've viewed you as such. It's a problem I've - strangely - always had." He let out a short, embarrassed laugh, "my mom always said even when I was a kid myself, I was awkward about being around kids. I don't know why."
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Photographer/Journalist.
Bisexual.
Single.
01/31/1995.
27.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Allen Wen on Jul 18, 2020 13:22:32 GMT -8
Allen let out a small laugh and said, "I mean, because I was so far ahead in school, I never really got used to interacting with people my own age, but also was in a weird place with my school peers. It didn't help with the shyness. I think that I mostly started growing out of it while I was doing community college part time while recovering from the whole collapsed lung experience and the other health complications."
Recovering was a potentially strong term. Allen was much healthier now, but he knew that some of the health complications would be with him for the rest of his life. Learning how to manage might have been a better phrasing, but when he said that, people always got so concerned.
Trying to keep the flow of conversation moving, Allen asked, "Did you just come back to the area recently, or was moving into the apartments more of a moving across town sort of thing?"
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