❜▇ — BLESSED • DREAMS • HALL ░ [O]

[Dangerosa]

Ethan hummed a note in curiosity, wondering what the stranger could have been doing wandering the halls at night. Of course it could have been any number of things from work to classes to spending a night in town, but the last didn't seem to be in character for the girl as she approached the table almost timidly and did seem to have an air of innocence about her. Although he could be mistaken. There were those who, although appearing as though they would never know anything about the darker side of life, were quite well versed and knew far more about night life and life on the streets than he would have ever imagined.

But as he continued to eat his breakfast and watch the two women interact, there was something — he just couldn't put his thumb on it — that indicated, at least to him, that he was right to make that assumption about her. She played with her hands and her coat, seemingly nervous, though whether that was simply from force of habit or a nervous tick was something he couldn't be sure about. Still, he couldn't see himself ever being able to imagine her out in a bar or club. She was just too quiet for that.

A moment more of hesitation, a flicker of her eyes between the spot he had offered her and the seat Dalia had offered, had Ethan barely able to hide the slight smile that pulled at the corner of his lips. To hide it, he leaned back in his seat, picking up the napkin and wiping his mouth, momentarily avoiding eye contact with both ladies and looking out the window while a decision was made. If asked, he wouldn't be able to adequately state what it was about that moment that made him have such a reaction. He couldn't even rationalize it in his head except to say that to him it was always easier, he always felt more comfortable sitting beside a peer than someone he believed to have already made something with their life.

Mentally shrugging the thought away, as he put the napkin back down beside his plate, he looked up when he saw the waitress returning with two more glasses of orange juice, one of which Dalia gave to the new girl before proposing a toast to new neighbours. That was something he most certainly could drink to. This morning was turning out to be altogether different from any of the others he had had previously. Instead of a breakfasting alone in his room or at some coffee shop down the street, he was with interesting company. Well he could say with certainty that one of the ladies he was breakfasting with was interesting. The other, he was still trying to decipher and didn't even know her name.

It was only as they each took a sip from their respective drinks that the dots connected and he looked to Dalia with his surprising and a understanding lighting up his eyes. When they'd first made their orders, she had requested an orange juice with 'something extra' added to it. As what returned was a rather fancy looking glass of orange juice, he didn't really think much of it until he caught sight of their neighbour's reaction to the drink. Not quite juice then, and what he had taken for a light blush might just be a result of the drink.

Ethan gave her a brief smile, while Hajime introduced herself and said a little about her time at Blessed Dreams Hall. To be honest, were it not for Dalia pointing out that they were neighbours and Hajime confirming it, he probably never would have known about her. As a neighbour, Hajime was very quiet — they all were to some extent and for that he was grateful. Though he did live on the top floor so if ever there were kids running around in any of the other rooms he couldn't hear it.

"It's a nice to meet you Hajime," he replied with a smile. "All the residents I've run into seem very polite and respectful, and I don't think I could say anything against any of my neighbours." And even if he could, he wouldn't it voice it out loud unless it was to such an extent that he could't tolerate the distraction anymore.

"What brought you to Kingston?" he asked after giving Dalia a moment to comment on what Hajime had said. "Are you studying at the University or looking for a change of pace?"

The purpose of the question was two-fold really. One, to see if his earlier guess about her nightly habits might have some merit; and two, to perhaps see if they had something in common besides their living arrangements. Ethan almost hoped she was a student or college-age so he would have someone he could relate to outside of work. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he did feel that since arriving here, his social circle had decreased enormously. He had met Litia, and by extension Kyler and Jona, and now Dalia, but with all of them he could still feel that there was a slight gap between them. On a certain level he would say that the gap between him and Dalia wasn't much of an issue, but he knew that it would take more time before he could ever really feel as though they were on the same level.

"Dalia mentioned that you seem to be out a lot at night. If you're a night owl, maybe you'd join us one evening downtown." He glanced at Dalia with a somewhat sheepish and apologetic smile, not wanting to put her on the spot too much. "As long as it's alright with you. I wouldn't mind spending more than one evening in your company."


tab tab tab ⟦ 𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ⟧ Bar tab tab ⟦ 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 ⟧ Dalia, Hajime tab tab

Night Mary Annette

[quote"Dun Jihn"]

[IILovelyAmarathII]

The male shyly looked at her, and quickly returned the handshake. It wasn't before long she heard the tapping of dress shoes behind her. Her ponytail swished and swashed in her amusement as the young girl gave the handsome, silky dark haired man a coy flirtatious smile. Aquamarine eyes brightened up they looked up into his ruby ones. She warmly pulled him into a snug hug as she closed the space between him and her. Flattered by his compliment, she slightly giggled and said sweetly "As do you, Dorian." He returned her hug and pulled her in closer with both of his arms. Her lips puckering downward her chest feeling such a strong and broad chest. Their shared embrace was smoothly finished when he slowly loosened his embrace.

The two both made their attention by to the young writer, She was sure by now, that most people would thought them to be a thing, not that Juliet minded. After he introduced himself and offered his aid, with laptop in hand the other dark haired male quickly gave a wave of decline and rushed away. Juliet's eyes widened in amusement and she cocked her head upward to Dorian and chuckled said nonchalantly "Awe, I think we scared him off, no matter, Dorian care to join me in usual morning cappuccino time?"

Pleased by his response she walked with him in unison to the entrance of the hotel. Looking back at him she smiled saying "I'm sure Noel will be down in the kitchen to join us soon enough." Dorian was one of Juliet's first few friends at the hotel. She taken nicely to his clever charms, and him to her ways of art. She can remember their first steamy encounter. Gullible as she was she listened to his charms and flattery of her work and how much he wanted his own self-portrait. Juliet of gave in and followed him to his room, of course it was one night she wouldn't forget.

As they made their way to entrance of the hotel she lead the way to the kitchen. Outside the double marble doors she could hear the sound of Casey's voice and another voice. It was deep, smooth sounding, and very apologetic like towards the other woman. Juliet nervously peeked in to see just who Casey was talking to. She backed up a little as she was caught off guard by the alluring smell of cinnamon coming into her nostrils. The young girl took in the smell and she moaned softly to herself, the fragrance itself was like aphrodisiac.

Aquamarine eyes looked over to the rack of cinnamon rolls of the far side of the kitchen and she followed their voices once more. Juliet saw the face of Casey, she looked a little irritated, her face grimacing in pain. Another headache perhaps? Juliet thought trying to infer where her grouchiness was coming from then, there was him. Juliet's face flushed into a shy pink as she admired the tanned man from afar. This was when she knew she was sheepishly staring for too long as his eyesight lingered over to her direction. She quickly pulled herself back into the safety behind the door of the kitchen and took a deep sigh. When Dorian finally caught up to her, he arched his eyebrow and gave her that face of What's wrong.
The blonde nervously messed with her ponytail and sporadically laughed saying "Oh! So that's what happened!"

As she gave the male this look of play along Juliet fumbling with her nervousness when in unison with Dorian, walking backward as she eyed her cute pink apron from afar. The poor thing did her best to not pay attention to the new, and godly handsome new resident and Casey as she carefully moved to counter and to the other side of it bending down at a silver bar in which her apron laid neatly on. Putting it on she went toward the cabinets brought out four cups. Opening up the refrigerator, she pulled out the small silver pitcher of milk she had made the previous evening and started the cappuccino maker. She got the pitcher to the right temperature and took her time preparing the special cappuccinos with her famous coffee art that she had practiced for about a year now.

She mixed the foamy milk and coffee into a fancy flower pattern into three cups. One for herself, one for Dorian, and one for the mysterious new person that she assumed could possibly be the new hotel Chef. The last cup she filled with a warm soothing green tea for Casey. Juliet had set down Dorian's in front of him and placing her's beside the area where she was going to sit down, on a silver platter she carried the remaining two cups towards the new resident and Casey.

Her nerves cutting into her and she almost hit the counter, and she straightened up a bit smiling brightly. Walking towards Casey she warmly said "Good morning Casey, You're looking beautiful as always, even if you seem to a bit under the weather today. Here have a few sips of this, you'll be back to usual self in no time!" Carefully, handing Casey the green tea, her left hand partially shaking as trying not to drop the cup and her right hand gracefully angled the silver platter more toward the middle of her hand. Juliet's attention turned towards Stefano, adding another beaming smile. "Good morning to you as well. I assume from the alluring smell of the cinnamon rolls, that you're the new Chef yes?" She gently handed him the last cappuccino and sheepishly said "Please enjoy, and welcome."Juliet quickly moved back to her seat of the bar opposite of Dorian admiring her work and taking off her neon yellow Jacket as it became warmer and unzipped the pocket that was in the back of it pulling out her sketchbook. Taking a few sips of the cappuccino she hummed out her favorite song.

--------------------------------------




Noel couldn't really blame the woman for not texting him about carrying the bags, it was still early in the morning and It was still awfully chilly outside. He listened and nodded in agreement. Smiling he said "I'm glad you had a good time." His smile lowered though has he thought about his family that him and Juliet left behind. He continued to listen attentively, but tilted his head at her joke. "I'm sure they're just being your typical parents, I mean you're having twins and that's not going to be easy to handle on your own." When they made it in, he sat her bags on the kitchen counter and shuffle them around in neat manner where she would have more space on the counter if she needed it.

Noel met her into the living room, and he liked the idea of cooking breakfast for everyone, and agreed quickly. Noel wasn't too confident in his cooking abilities, but He had a feeling that with Vivianne and him cooking together that things will go smoothly. Noel patted her on the shoulder and said "Cooking breakfast with you is going to be wonderful, I'm sure we will come up with a amazing dish together! No need to bring anything as I'm sure we will find everything in the main kitchen. " Noel said excitedly.


Carefully, guiding her down the stairs he could hear many voices already coming from the main kitchen. The redhead heard his sister's and chuckled. Noel heard the sheer nervousness in her voice and muttered out the words "Ooh boy, I wonder who's made her this nervous?" He heard Casey thanking Juliet for Green tea, and the sound of unfamiliar man's voice. Looking back toward Vivianne he smirked at her and said "It looks like we missed our chance cooking together, maybe next time." When the two of them became closer to the double doors of the kitchen, his stomach growled at the smell of the overwhelming aroma of cinnamon. Noel watched as Juliet walked to Casey and the new resident and he smirked as he saw her fumbling around.

Gave his sister a small wave as she took her seat across from Dorian. Pulling a Chair for pulling a comfortable leather chair for Vivienne rather than a bar stool, he helped her to her seat. Noel gave a friendly nod to Dorian and said to Juliet half jokingly "Hiciste ahorrar algo de Vivienne y yo ¿no es Julieta ?" (You did save some for Vivienne and I didn't you Juliet? ) Juliet smirked at him back and said with her accent coming out "Ah , sí , por supuesto! Veo que has encontrado Vivienne ¿verdad hermano?" (Ah, Yes, of course! I see you found Vivienne didn't you brother?)

Juliet moved from her seat excitedly and went over to the Auburn haired girl. Juliet bent down toward her belly and began to rub on it softly she looked up at Vivianne and asked "How are the little ones?"
Noel prepared what was left of Juliet's cappuccinos for both of him and Vivianne and handed hers to Juliet to give to Vivienne. Walking over to Casey and the new resident he said to the male with tanned skin chuckling "Welcome, I'm Noel, and I'm sure you have met my younger sister Juliet already yes? I hope she didn't give any problems. Were you the one who made the cinnamon rolls? They smell delicious! " Looking toward a cup that the man had sat down he looked back over to Juliet and back over to Casey and asked "Did you and our new resident get Juliet's usual treat as well?"



「 Main Kitchen 」▪「 Dorian, Vivianne, Casey, Sefano, and Noel」▪「Extremely nervous, Cheerful」
▪「Attire」▪ 「Hairstyle」▪
▪「Music」
▪「Writer's notes/ occ」






「 Vivienne's room, Main kitchen 」▪「Casey, Stefano, Vivienne, Juliet, and Dorian」▪「 Lively」
▪「Attire」▪ 「Hairstyle」▪
▪「Music」
▪「Writer's notes/ occ」 - @Everyone: All the proper edits are made.






Satellite O Love




Psycheotic




Chilled Chai Tea




Okami_Kurisutaru




Peacock Catastrophe

[KTGomasaur]

I feel the tempo rise, my eyes open wide
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

↬ ♪♫ I feel the well that is my heart overflow

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx→And now I'm losing control

Two classes down for the day meant it was his lunch break. he had just over an hour of time between his classes. if this were any other day he would get the chance to sit down eat and grade some papers or write up a test or assignment but instead he had other things to do. He had to go check on the kids, thank Rory again and rush through traffic to make it there and back in time for his next class. He would likely be eating his lunch while driving. A sigh left his lips as he made a quick stop at his office grabbing his lunch and coat before rushing out. He heard Prof Peterson chuckle, as he quickly left their shared office space, it was well known by now that when his brows creased and he sighed it would be something to do with his kids. His brow stayed firmly creased as he left the large building heading for his car.

~

Jona was forced to look at Mabel with a noticeably reddening face as she continued talking and handed her dirty dishes to Jona who took them from her without complaint with a quiet and kurt ”Thanks. ” As Mabel continued telling the kids that she was busy.

Litia visibly deflated, knowing her plans were now ruined, but she had at least enough tact not to complain about mabel having things to do all she said was; ”Okay, have a good day.” Anyone that could hear on straight could hear the sulking tone of her voice. Jona frowned at the behavior hitting the back of her head causing Litia to glare and stick out her tongue.

Jona only rolled his eyes, his attention to mabel once more. ”Sorry for bothering you than, i’ll make sure to tell my dad. Litia got in trouble so we’re home for the day.” he quickly explained this just incase mabel still wanted to go. Than grabbing his sister's arm he continued ”we’ll get out of your hair, have a good day Mabel” He than dragged the sulking sibling behind him leaving, once they had left the room Litia whined under her breath and Jona continued to frown ”Stop it, what did you think you were going to do anyways, we just came for the dishes than we were going to head back anyways. ”

Litia’s pink eyes looked at her brother, it was obvious to both of them she had just lost of hairbrained plan to get out of whatever boring things she would have to do today - not that she would admit that. ”I wasn’t planning anything.” Jona’s eyes didn’t believe her but his mouth stayed shut as they descended the stairs and returned to their home. Upon entering Jona put the dishes in the sink while Litia threw her bag down and took off her coat. when Jona was done that he promptly returned holding out his hand to his sister who groaned but knew what he wanted. she grabbed her phone and put it in his hand. Jona’s pocketed it before taking off his own coat, her first job was doing the dishes.

~

Kyler didn’t speed too much on his way back, he took a longer route to avoid the noon traffic, so he went a little faster to make up for the distance. His hair was now pulled into a ponytail, something he had to do as a precaution when driving since it was liable to impede his view. He arrived at BDH parking and moving hurriedly. He had warned Jona he was coming before leaving the school. Opening the doors he headed straight for the stairs surprised when he saw both Rory and Mabel there. Despite his urge to rush he slowed and regarded the pair ”Nice to see you up at a decent hour Mabel and Rory thanks again, I’m sorry about asking you to help out of the blue like that, but I’ve already used as many family emergencies as the college will allow at this point. Hopefully it wasn’t too troubling.” He gave each a soft smile. rory and Mabel were much older than his own kids but in many ways he often regarded them as his ‘children’ all the same, cooking for them from time to time and ensuring they had everything they needed, able to offer support as a grown adult. Though in the case of Rory he had offered help as an adult himself on more than this occasion, and he was aware both were full grown, he still had a semblance of obligation to care for them as he did his own children.

Both greeted him, Rory saying as always that it was no trouble. Kyler none the less thanked him again ”thank-you again I hope I don’t have to trouble you again before next month. Sadly I would offer to treat both of you but my lunch is not long and the drive isn’t short. I have to check on them and head out again. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to properly thank-you again Rory.” A kurt wave and he was headed up the stairs his pace once again increasing. He made it to their apartment in record time, coming in to see a Litia sitting at the table sulking while Jona did his homework across for her, it was obvious she had nothing to do, though it did see that two of Jona’s textbooks were on her side, she had possibly been going through them. Perhaps she’d skip yet another grade and end up in Jona’s classes.

Upon their father’s entry Litia did her best to pretend she hadn’t heard anyone come in while Jona’s head turned and he smiled giving a ”Hey Dad.” Kyler’s expression softened for his son but after greeting him his face hardened and turned to Litia. She was grounded, no TV for the rest of the week, something she saw as completely unfair. She had to explain her behavior and her lack of remorse worried Kyler further, though he didn’t have the time to have a full blown conversation right now he promised to that night before dinner. In addition to the lack of TV and her cell phone she would take on Jona’s chores for the week since she had inconvenienced him as well which as expected caused her to storm off to their room and slam the door. Jona and Kyler’s expressions matched at the sound. Kyler than said goodbye to Jona and to the door separating him from his daughter, she did not reply.



♪♫ Let go of everything you have inside
xxxxxxxxLet it show, you no longer have to hide

◈Where:At BDH
◈With:Each other
◈Mood:Irritated, frustrated.
◈OOC:If anything needs changing just wave, I specifically left his fly by of Mabel and Rory vague but if anything needs changing just let me know.

So many reasons to live I need to let them show♪♫
I've made the hardest mistakes I need to let them go

[Okami Wolfen]

Golden eyes reflected the screen from his phone as he checked the time. A dark hand brushed through his brunette hair with the red ends, soon he would have to venture out for his community service. Today he would be cleaning up litter along the highway and major roads. Rory thought he may need to change into something that did not make him look like he just rolled in the dirt all day. A soft sigh escaped from his soft lips while he looked at his phone once more, his thumb clicked on his call logs, gazing at the second name on his list which was Mabel. She would have been the first, but after the call from Kyler this morning it bumped her down.

Rory pressed his lips together in a slight frown. He felt empathy for her, from her voice over the phone last night. He was not even sure what he would say to her if he happened to see her today. His first instinct was that he wanted to hug her, to tell her that it can get better; but even he knew that was a lie. Rory's finger found their way around the pendent on his necklace. The one his little brother had given him when he was younger. The day before the tragic accident to where his brother and both his parents would be killed, leaving Rory alone. To go into foster care until he was eighteen. He had always blamed himself for that night...He shook his head to clear his mind from those events. He had to keep pressing on, to aim for his future. Just like his parents and little brother would want for him to do.

It could be the reason Rory felt like he had to be a role model to Kyler's kids. Even though Kyler and himself did not get off on the right foot when they first met. Kyler despised Rory for being a criminal, for knowing the false "facts" that sentenced him to jail time. Eventually Rory was able to get through to Kyler and now they could be seen talking and joking. Rory picking up Litia from school when she was in trouble. To Rory, he saw himself like their uncle, though he would never admit that to them, or Kyler, in person. He just felt, within himself, that no matter what were to happen, he would have to help protect the kids.

Shortly after his thoughts clouded his mind once more, a familiar voice brought him back. A simple statement that had a hint of sass to it (as he called it), which could only come from one person he knew; Mabel. He was actually a bit shocked to see her move from her room, but he has remembered that this was the time of year she would visit her brother's grave. Seeing her come and go since he first lived here. Along with the main reason she had called him last night. Though his first reaction to her statement was a gentle smirk that spread across his lips until she immediately adverted her gaze from him to her feet, his golden eyes looked towards her body language and his smirk faded. "Well, I had been cleaning up the garden. That was until our dear friend Kyler had asked me to pick up Litia from school. Though I didn't really have much time to clean up before the taxi arrived." He said softly.

A few more voices came around, his golden eyes went to the doors of the building to watch Janus rush past them up the staircase, Juliet and Dorian walked by them and off to the kitchen. Rory could smell a faint scent of cinnamon come from towards the kitchen area and it made his mouth water. His stomach began to slightly grumble when he realized he had yet to eat. Though his eyes and attention went back to Mabel, "I know it's usually just a you thing, but if you'd like. I could join you? Just until I have to go for my community service hours." He offered. It wasn't like he wanted to just butt into her routine. Rory just wanted to be there for moral support, maybe even as a shoulder to cry on if she would allow it. Soon Noel and Vivienne came walking down the staircase and past them. He gave them a quick smile, while they too headed towards the kitchen. It seemed there was a party he would missed. Oh well. His golden eyes went back to Mabel once more. Gazing at her black hair that hung in front of her face. A part of him wanted to grab her and pull her into a comforting hug, but even him, himself, wasn't sure she wanted to be touched right now. As it seemed to Rory, she could break down at any moment and he did not want to make it anymore hard on her.

Another familiar voice broke his attention away from Mabel for a moment, Kyler had returned back to BDH to check on his children. Had Rory really been standing in the same spot for a couple hours or so? Where did the time go? Rory rubbed the back of his head gently, "It's not a problem, really Kyler. I don't mind at all." He said after the pink haired male apologized to make Rory go and get his children from school. Rory understood, using up all his vacation time Kyler could not do it himself for the rest of this month. Rory did not mind at all. Once more the teacher apologized and rushed up the stairs to check on his kids. Rory chuckled softly to himself. He really needed to show that guy how to not apologize for situations like those.

WITH➤MabelXXXXXX

WHERE➤Bottom of Staircase/LobbyXXXXXX

MOOD➤ConcernedXXXXXX

OOC➤Hope this is okay for you Psy:3 I felt like including some of the residents in my post because, let's face it. It's bound to happen frequently XD. People walking by others, etc.
EDIT:: Forgot Kyler's interaction but I fixed my boo-booXXXXXX

Psycheotic

KTGomasaur

[Satellite O Love]

He was fairly certain that half the building thought he was a lunatic. It was really too bad there wasn’t any money in that. People had been running the other way from Janus like he was Frankenstein’s monster (minus the pitchforks on behalf of the angry villagers) since he first learned to speak. The reason was clear: speaking was the first step to cognition and (sexuality aside, thanks Dad), Janus’ brain was wired funny. Not “haha,” funny since he could have built a career if he were some sort of comedic savant; no, he was nearing tinfoil hats level of funny.

At least his almost-ex-boyfriend (almost a boyfriend, not almost an ex) could claim that it was always entertaining. There was something to be said for the unique. Unless his individuality prevented him from interacting with other humans normally. Case in point: Janus relived the last few minutes of his life like he was having a war flashback and kicked the sad remains of his former laptop just for the principle of the thing. Everyone was being perfectly polite and offering him assistance, clearly sensing with lightning accuracy and speed that he somehow needed his electronic companion for work or school (that last bit was his own wounded pride trying to right itself. He’d always been told he was young looking for his age and hoped that track record was still…well, a record). And what had he done? Acted like a total nutcase.

He was now full circle. Janus concentrated on his breathing, ramping down the heart rate to a steadier pulse. His dark eyes slowly closed as he continued deep breathing, intending only to take a short rest as no one in his right mind would want to actually fall asleep with his upper body on the bed and his legs resting on the floor like he was trying to make a human slide from the linens down to the carpet at his heels.

An indeterminate amount of time later, his ever-insatiable phone came to life with a resounding chorus of Brittney Spears’ Oops, I Did it Again. Janus must have jumped about a foot in the air. His back immediately protested his sudden moment and he collapsed off the bed into an undignified, skeletal pile of writer. Janus groped blindly for his shrill phone and was greeted with an image that always made his heart do its uncomfortable flip-flopping in time with his stomach. Angelica (that’s “An-hel-i-ka,” thank you very much, Mr. Blackburn) Marquez was not only an editor for Braun & Morris publishing, she was also something of an agent for Janus. It was Angelica who had tirelessly trolled the forums for self-published hopefuls and pulled out Janus’ five am ramblings about a plucky party planner and her demon/vampire/millionaire boyfriend and decided that they could really make some money off of it. Janus wasn’t sure if the more shocking revelation was that it took off like a dilapidated house on fire or that Angelica had been willing to work with someone like him for more than five minutes.

Regardless of a rocky beginning, Janus knew he could trust Angelica to be in his corner. She’d even confessed one evening when she’d had a few too many mai tais that if Braun & Morris even considered dropping “Syndra,” she wouldn’t hesitate to retire from the editor biz to be an agent for “talent” like Janus full time. Despite the immense goodwill Janus usually felt for her, the picture he’d snapped (like a ninja) during a particularly harrowing writer’s convention was anything but. She was into all sorts of natural beauty treatments which, on that morning, had included a green seaweed face mask, towel turban, and a fluffy Miss Piggy bathrobe. The whole look was offset by lamb slippers and a poisonous look on her face as she’d realized, in that moment, Janus hadn’t come by her hotel room to make sure she would be awake in time for the 8am “The Dead Doornail: Metaphors and You” panel. To be fair, the evening before, she’d recanted his first embarrassing attempt at a play that had already been thoroughly savaged by her fine-tuned editorial sense in front of an entire room of bestsellers. She was lucky Janus only wanted a humiliating picture and hadn’t decided just to up and leave the conference altogether.

The green-faced glare was like a death knell as Janus accepted the call. Or Facetime. Angelica’s dark eyes and know-it-all-grin (which he meant in the most endearing way possible, of course) were both perfectly outlined, as was her immaculately curled hair. With that level of smug satisfaction, she may as well have been Janus’ long-dead tabby after she’d dragged in a freshly killed lizard to lie upon his pillow.

“Janus! You’re looking…uh…like you stuck a fork in the outlet, if I’m being brutally honest. Nevermind. I’ll turn that wide-eyed horror-heroine frown upside down when I tell you that Give ‘Em Hex is now in its second printing! There’s even talk of an international release for the first three books in the series. It’s a great day to be Syndra, mijo.”

Janus wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that other than vaguely glad that he’d definitely be getting an advance to immediately put toward his current residence. He managed what he hoped was a winning smile and pushed himself back on his unsteady feet.

Angelica wasted no time in continuing, “Speaking of, I would have thought you’d be lit by the sickly glow of your laptop screen, typing away on that useless drivel that we’re all aware has zero chance of getting accepted as an actual production. Our Skype chat was supposed to begin half an hour ago…”

Janus coughed guiltily and jumped over the wreckage of his laptop to turn on the lights. He then switched the camera feed and highlighted the sad remains of his work laptop. “Yeah, about that. I stayed up all night crafting my masterpiece, but there was a little accident…”

To her credit, Angelica managed not to explode on him immediately. The fury was clear in her cocoa eyes, though, and she pursed her lips into a hard, thin line before saying, “I guess that explains it. Well, I know you have backups, but you do realize that we’re only halfway through the first round edits of Syndra’s latest, right? You have another computer?”

“Uuuuhhhhhhhhh. It’s in the shop.”

A pregnant pause followed and Janus still didn’t have the nerve to turn the camera back around and face her like a man. She had to glower at the tops of his shoes instead. “Do I even want to know what happened? No, I don’t, so don’t try and tell me. So let’s just move on. Do you have a way of getting access to a computer before your other is returned?”

Janus bit his own lip then. He’d already rejected the help of his wide-eyed, chipper, supermodel neighbors. He wasn’t sure he could get the nerve to awkwardly ask for their assistance after he’d rushed off with nary a word in his own defense. So that meant he’d have to either dip into his savings to buy a low-grade computer or else use the public library. Neither were good options.

“Yeah. I’ll figure something out even if I have to contend with public masturbators in the library.”

Angelica couldn’t help but smirk at his doomed utterance, “Yeah, like you have the patience for that. If you don’t have a temporary measure by tomorrow night, I’ll expedite a laptop from the office here to that hotel you’re calling home, you talented little recluse. On your dime, of course.”

Better than nothing. And he could always buy a new laptop when he got his advance. Even better if the idea for a new series he’d sent in the other day could get traction. Speaking of – Janus reversed the camera and tried to configure his features into the smile that softened even the toughest woman’s (said woman being his mother, who was maternal only when appearances mattered) demeanor. “I’m glad you called, actually. Speaking of Syndra, have you had time to go through that rough draft I came up with the other day?”

Angelica’s dark complexion lightened considerably, which was automatically the opposite reaction Janus was hoping for. She narrowed her eyes and looked to the side, idly shuffling papers like she was seeing if she’d somehow misplaced a digital document. “Yes. I remember the email. I’ve…”

Janus’ stomach sank. Sure, it wasn’t a polished attempt, but since he was proposing an entirely new series, the details could change immensely depending on what the publisher execs thought was “hot” in fiction. He sighed and said, “No good?”

Angelica pursed her lips again, but this time in thought. She needed to work on her bedside manner, “It’s not that, exactly. No one was more surprised than me when you decided to put aside that drivel you want published under your own name and hash out something new. But B&M doesn’t really publish mysteries…”

Janus’ metaphorical hackles rose with that, “Cloak and Dagger Books is a subsidiary of B&M that exclusively publishes mystery novels. I put way more hours of research into the murder plot than I ever did in the fashions worn by Delilah, half of which are based off of video games I remember from my childhood.”

“Delilah’s outfits are charming. She’s got a line directly to the fourth dimension after her bonding with Silvio. No one expects her to don skinny jeans and a tank top.”

“Don’t defend her! So what’s the problem, Angelica? Is it that my main character is gay?”

Her gaze went askance and Janus’ voice raised in proportion to the level of scandalized he felt, “It IS?!”

“No. Stop. No. You know that B&M has always been LGBTQ friendly. But it does have to do with your main character, Rodney Dangerfield.”

“Rodney Dangereux. And yes, that name is just a placeholder…”

Angelica waved her hand like it didn’t matter, “Whatever. The point is, I showed it to Paul and he said…well, that Rodney wasn’t believable as gay.”

There was another long pause after that, but this one was less outrage and more deranged confusion. Janus realized his mouth was open in total astonishment, and thusly picked it off the floor before saying, “You all are aware I’M gay, right? A gay man. Homosexual. Romantically interested exclusively in members of the same sex?”

She waved again, much to his irritation, “One could argue your total lack of a social life makes it questionable if you even like humans, much less men. But that’s not the point. Paul said it could have some promise, but you’re going to need to change up Roddy.”

“Rodney.”

“Yeah. Maybe turn him into Rachel! You write women well for a gay man. But we can put the mysteries aside for now. You need to concentrate on Delilah and her misadventures with her supernatural friends and lovers. You’ve broken into the mainstream, and that’s hard to do, much less only five years into your career.”

He’d been told that, read it thousands of times online (along with less flattering treatises on how the supernatural lovers books had been done to death), but Janus somehow didn’t want his claim to fame to be under a nom de plume. He was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he wasn’t destined to be a playwright, but that didn’t mean he wanted to live in Syndra’s shadow for the rest of his life.

Angelica tried another winning smile and said, “I’ve got a meeting in five, but I wanted to touch on one last thing before I go. There’s a convention coming up in a few months and I’ve already been asked if Syndra can show up for signing and as a guest on a panel specifically for paranormal romance. Your fans love you, but even they aren’t made of patience. Perhaps it’s time to come out from under Sydnra’s skirts and engage with your fans in person.”

He felt vaguely panicked at that notion, especially the bit about emerging from some poor woman's skirt. Angelica saw his pallor somehow changed to sheet-white and wisely decided to not push any longer. She said a quick farewell and the call cut out, leaving Janus with nothing but his own worries and thoughts.

Janus puttered around his room for a little while after that, picking up discarded clothes and reference books. It didn’t take more than twenty minutes for the put-upon novelist to feel the walls closing in. Without a computer to distract him, he was soon pulling on a fresh set of clothes, toeing on his shoes, and grabbing his keys.

The only problem was he didn’t know where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. Work was out of the question for now, but he also wasn’t sure he had decided to buy a new laptop. Janus sighed when he was halfway down the hall and his steps slowed. He made it to the staircase and the leaned against the railing. Chatter from the public rooms below drifted up, reminding Janus yet again what a strange, aberration of a human he was. The thought of having to pass people by just to get out in the open air suddenly paralyzed Janus, stalling him further. He debated going back to his room, but somehow he knew that he’d end up turning right around and coming back after only a few minutes.

where? SECOND FLOOR LANDING/NEAR STAIRS tab tab who? ALONE WITH HIS DEMONS tab tab mood? LOST

ooc! n/a

[KTGomasaur]

Reenie brightened considerably. She hated burdening Ashleen, but she was comfortable with the other woman and did enjoy her company so even though she knew she might inconvenience Ashleen she still couldn’t help but brighten knowing that Sheleen when be coming with her. Being with a friend made any chore fun. ”Great!” Ashleen opened and closed the door for her but thankfully as far as Reenie’s doors were concerned she was usually capable of doing it herself. Since holding a key and turning a regular knob was rather hard when using feet she had replaced any of the round knobs with lever handles, and a code to get in and out rather than a keyhole. The door to get in the building was also fancy, no knob in sight using a handleset, and since it used to be a hotel it didn’t need a key to unlock it from the outside, which had been a relief when Reenie had first come to view the apartment and it had even contributed to the decision to come to Blessed Dreams Hall though obviously not the only reason. Some would say the lack of a lock meant that solicitors could come and a decrease in security but Reenie for one was happy they had yet to make it into a lock though she had been practicing turning keys with her feet at physio, it would still be rather hard to take off her outerwear shoes and socked every time.

The door locked automatically and they headed down the stairs Reenie could hear some commotion coming from the kitchen which brought her pause craning her head to try and see what was going on, but despite her curiosity she resisted going over but commented ”Wonder what’s going on in there.” She gestured to the kitchen with her head in case there was any doubt to where ‘there’ was. while she gave the direction one last look she headed for the door to leave, Ashleen opening it for her once more and closing it behind them.

They would have to grab public transport since neither owned a car. It was a short walk to the bus stop, where Reenie brought up some light conversation while they waited. Asking Ash how Majesty was doing and what she had been up to lately. The bus pulled up soon after and Reenie hip pushed her purse onto the card scanner. it picked up the bus paypass in her wallet, honestly she would have been screwed without all the new tap technology, her card were placed so in her purse so she just had to press it to any pad that accepted them, whether it was a interact machine, bank machine or paypass system like the ones the buses had. She smiled and waited for Ash before they headed onto the bus, thankfully it wasn’t crowded and they found a pair of seats together.

Her eyes looked out the window for a moment her green eyes watching as buildings, street lights, pedestrians and cars moved by she spent so much time cooped up in BDH she didn’t get to see what was going on around town that often, even when she felt like socializing and drinking there were plenty of other tenants in BDH that would happily share a drink or two with her, Ash being at the top of Reenie’s list.

The only reason she ever had to go out was when she went on dates which as of late had been seldom. Her mother heavily encouraged that reenie should find a good man and get married so she could have a partner to help her out but reenie wasn’t even sure if she could get married. She did like both males and females and she wasn’t against the notion in any way but since losing her arms relationships tended to go south fast. She had issues with long term commitments. Sex was fine and she enjoyed it, and dates were fun but her partners… when they started out the partner would awkwardly not know what he or she should do for Reenie and what they should let Reenie do herself and after that awkward faze, as they got closer they tended to air on the side of helping too much. She knew that was because their affection was growing and that a partner wants to take care of the significant other, disability or not but most of the time they overstepped what she wanted, helping too much babying and having someone running around her, pushing in her chair, cutting up her food and even going as far as trying to feed her usually made her end the relationship quickly, disliking the fact that she was treated like an infant. She knew it was there way of being nice but… she needed to feel she had some independence left, it was sweet that people wanted to help her but when she was smothered that much she felt small, and like a burden, like she couldn’t survive on her own and not in a good way. She wasn’t so in love with her partner that she couldn’t be without them in a romantic sort of way but that her partners believed she was so inept that they were ‘saving’ her or the only thing keeping her going. It didn’t help that she had more money than she knew what to do with, and that attracted the wrong type of person.

her eyes turned back to Ash and she wished she could find a partner like Ash. Ashleen helped her here and there making her breakfast in the morning, opening doors and doing the dishes but she didn’t cut up Reenie’s food for her or offer to feed her. she had also thankfully never tried to dress her either. without being told Ash knew where the line was, and that was a godsend in Reenie’s eyes but that’s why she wasn’t going to push for anything more than friends, if their relationship took a nosedive like all those before… Reenie would be left without a friend that really seemed to understand her, and it wasn’t worth the risk. She bent her head to the side scratching her ear with her shoulder.

She resumed conversation wondering suddenly ”Did you need a lot of stuff besides Majesty’s food?” She was trying to think of how many groceries they might come back with. If Ash was getting a large bag of food than another bag or two of groceries and Reenie would have two bags of her own not to mention some booze… it might be easier to take a taxi back to the hotel building. It wouldn’t be that expensive and it wasn’t as if Reenie was hurting for cash. ”If we have a lot maybe we can cab back.” She had used the taxi services in the past, and she was a special customer so the company knew her when she called the operators. she was happy they didn’t send handicap taxis her way but most notably the drivers knew they had to do things like put on her seatbelt and load and unload the groceries on and off her shoulders. It bothered her that something as large as a taxi company had adjusted to her disability but she was paying them for their service so it wasn’t as bad as someone simply taking pity on her and helping the poor cripple thinking themselves as doing some good deed.

Taking a taxi was nice once ina while, but she tended only to do so in a situation she would have used one had she still had her arms. She had a lot of money, mostly because she didn’t squander it. She could definitely afford to. She had fought in the army and had been injured while on duty, so she was ‘honored’ by the country, and given a very nice ‘pension’ with a large garnish of compensation added to each month. Not that she could do much with it, not having arms made quite a few things more difficult, but at least she could comfortably live on her own and afford to spoil the friends she had. She also could afford to drink a lot, though she did make sure she wouldn’t turn into an alcoholic, only drinking when she was in a good mood and staying away when she knew she was blue.


XXXXXXXXXX

❀Reenie is on a bus.
✿Still with Ashleen
✾She feels pensive
❁ Rambled on a bit with this post sorry @_@

[KTGomasaur]

I feel the tempo rise, my eyes open wide
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

↬ ♪♫ I feel the well that is my heart overflow

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx→And now I'm losing control

Kyler checked the time concerned about traffic on the way back. He gave Jona one last thankyou and goodbye, asking Jona to text Kyler when his sister came back out of their room before heading out again. He didn’t lock the door behind him, since he didn't worry too much inside of BDH. It had proven a rather safe environment, it helped that they knew several of their neighbors, many of which Jona knew he could go to for help should something happen. A deep sigh threatened to worsen the worry lines on his forehead. Thus far the pink haired man had managed to remain looking young, but his kids were just about teenagers, and he was fairly certain that this period of their life would condemn what youthful looks he had left. If the worry lines across his forehead, and bags under his eyes were any indication toward the future he should expect. He ran a stressed hand through his pony tail, resisting the urge to unto the binding and play at his hair as he sometimes did when he was stressed. He was about to jump back into his car, undoing his hair was pointless when he would simply have to pull it back again.

Kyler’s hurried pace was re-established for only a short while, as his pink eyes looked up to watch where he was walking they collided with a tall lanky figure. Short black hair, pale skin, and shoulders that were slumped. Not a sign of good spirits, even from a distance Kyler easily recognized Janus Blackburn. They both lived on the second floor, Janus was a well known neighbor, he often spent time in the second floor library and shared Kyler’s enthusiasm for literature. The man seemingly worked from home though Kyler hadn’t been able to squeeze out the man's actual occupation as of yet, but he didn’t leave BDH often from what Kyler could see. None the less Kyler appreciated anyone that had good taste in literature and he definitely believed Janus had good taste, a a knowledge possibly even more vast than his own. Kyler was supposed to be in a hurry but despite himself he slowed and stopped close to the man touching him gently on the shoulder to get his attention.

”It’s been a while Janus, You look rather down? No work to do on the computer today?” When the other turned to face him Kyler noted the large bags under his eyes and how pale his skin was getting, likely due to lack of sunlight. Never mind how skinny the other man was, even more so than Kyler himself. the pink haired man knew he wouldn’t be cooking for Mabel tonight so maybe he would make something for Janus instead, he certainly wasn’t the picture of health, though that did nothing to diminish his good looks. he still had a handsome face, and he was definitely still seen as a attractive but Kyler commonly looked for signs of malnutrition in both his biological children and the few tenants he fed, so it was no wonder he noticed Janus’ skinny waist and thin face.

He listened as janus retorted, and his eyebrows rose when he found out Janus had no computer at the moment, the thought of Janus without his computer was a strange one. On most occasions when Kyler saw the man he was sitting behind the bright screen of the device. He wondered if the man had been without the tool before. Than again it might be good for someone like Janus to take a break from the harsh light and get out, though kyler couldn’t exactly take than man for a walk in the park, another thought took route ”I’m heading back to the college, I’m on my lunch break right now, had to check on my kids… would you like to come back with me? My next class has several literature enthusiasts, that I’m sure would benefit from some book recommendations, many of them are aspiring writers as well, hoping to get published one day. I personally have no idea how that sort of thing works, so having someone else they can ask questions would be a good help. it’ll do you good to get out of here once in awhile. ” He smiled good naturedly and then added ”And if that doesn’t interest you I can give you access to the school’s computer lab and it’s massive library, I’ll give you my access pass. You interested?”

At the very least the computer lab and library should be tempting. His University was the largest in Kingston and of course boasted an extensive library and state of the art computers. Though Kyler hoped Janus would be interested in sitting in one of his classes as well. It was true many of his students asked for recommendations especially for their end of the year assignments and even for their own personal pursuit of literature. Since his class had a waiting list and was generally sought after in the university, most of his students had a love for literature and weren’t simply there to get an extra credit. This meant his class was very engaged and had a passion for the subject. Kyler wasn’t sure what Janus’s actual profession was but he had his suspicions it had something to do with books, whether he proofread, worked for a publishing company or wrote himself, any angle would be a good help for those students he had that were interested in working in the publishing industry or were hoping to become published in the future. Kyler had always loved literature and had a bachelor in english but he had never aspired to become a writer of anything other than textbooks his calling had always been teaching so he was clueless when it came to getting original works published. Even if Janus had a limited knowledge it would likely outdo Kyler’s own.



♪♫ Let go of everything you have inside
xxxxxxxxLet it show, you no longer have to hide

◈Where:At BDH
◈With:Janus Blackburn
◈Mood:Enthusiastic, hopeful
◈OOC:Don't know if this give you enough, if it doesn't just tell me >.<

So many reasons to live I need to let them show♪♫
I've made the hardest mistakes I need to let them go

[o n i t s u n e]

║█⋮Kitchen ║█⋮"What is wrong with me..." ║█⋮with people; talking to Noel


Josephine arched her brow in question at her new companion. It seemed unlikely that the owner would send just a regular resident to handle new tenants, but who was she to question it? "Alright... Kyler then." She smiled at him once more, this time with more of an awkward expression. She wasn't going to admit that she was embarrassed, but she was. Anyone could have been standing in the lobby and she was just lucky that, even if it wasn't the owner, it was the person she was supposed to be seeing. 'That's what you get for assuming things, Jo...' She thought before quickening her steps to match the golden-haired man's as they ventured up the long staircase toward her new room. As they continued to walk, the man had now turned to her in attempt to make friendly conversation. Jo hadn't quite recovered from her previous embarrassment and inconspicuously began to run her fingers through her hair in nervousness. " How long exactly?" She paused and choked when she realized she hadn't specified what she meant. " Err... How long have you lived here, I meant." This minor error caused her face to flush slightly. She was getting frustrated with herself, and when they had finally arrived to her room, it was a welcoming sight. Unfortunately, he was still standing there staring at her. 'Did he ask me something?' She'd gotten lost in thought, and wasn't paying attention to what he might have said. She laughed, trying to diffuse whatever tension was lingering. "Ah, um, yes." Jo attempted to answer as vaguely as she could, but by the confused look on Kyler's face it wasn't the answer he was looking for.
"S-sorry... I spaced out. Do you mind repeating that?"

Fortunately, he didn't seem to be phased by her anxiousness and just laughed it off. He repeated the question once more. Jo raised a hand to her face and began to rub her temples, cursing herself quietly in french. She then looked back to sunshine man and gave him an apologetic look. She was not herself today. "Ah, where I came from? Some ragtag city a couple hours from here. Not the kind of memorable place that people would have heard of. Tahyrst, is the name. Don't suppose you've been there." She shrugged and awaited his response. At the moment all she wanted to do was get this over with. She had an interview at a cafe in just a few hours. That gave her enough time to finish up this tour, sign the paperwork, and get out of there.



✥━━━━━✥━━━━━✥━━━━━✥━━━━━❥


Thankfully, she had managed to get through the motions thus far. Her luggage had been carried up to the room before she'd arrived, and she had gotten to take a small look around the resort. Jo took her time to note the location of both the kitchen and library, and get a few quick glances at the other parts of her new home as well. After getting a good bearing on her surroundings and signing the paperwork to live there, she had decided to enter her designated bedroom once more. The tired woman ascended the stairs and after finding her things by one of the doors, she slipped within. It was a very quaint room, high up on the third floor of the hotel, lined with large windows. Josephine wasn't thrilled about the large glass-pane windows, gauzy curtains, and decorations in hues of subtle copper, light gold, cream, and pale sepia, all of which gave the walls the illusion of a tent... but frankly, she wasn't thrilled about much of anything. A sigh escaped her. Just what was she getting himself into. A girl like her being in such a place seemed unlikely. But ignoring her overwhelming thoughts at the moment Josephine moved to the window.

From her current vantage point, it was easy to see passing cars and pedestrians making their way through the city to get to their desired location. Josephine frowned, the bridge of her nose crinkling slightly with the narrowing of her eyes. This new lifestyle was going to take some getting used to. Kingston was nothing like the slums of Tahyrst. "Guess I should venture around a bit more," she grumbled, and turned her head over her shoulder, back at the room. It was a huge relief when she spotted the decanter of brandy and the wooden box of fine cigarettes. At least, when the day was over, she would be able to unwind with some of the indulgences of her old home. And, depending on how things went, maybe she could drive her customers away with smoke. That particular thought brought the faintest smile to her face.




✥━━━━━✥━━━━━✥━━━━━✥━━━━━❥


Jo descended the stairs and arrived in the kitchen, where she stood, a bored, though not impolite, expression on her face. As it turned out, she wasn't the only one who had the brilliant idea to visit the kitchen, and Josephine watched everyone as she entered.

She was nervous, that much was obvious, but she had every right to be. Mostly everyone in the room seemed to know one another, and her Jo just stood there like an outsider. Three men and three women. Was there some kind of party happening, or was this a normal occurrence here? Lingering aimlessly for a good few moments, Josephine was at a loss. What was she supposed to do in this situation? Maybe she could just walk out and hope that no one would notice her? No. If someone did notice her they'd probably think she was being rude.

Jo observed her future neighbors, her brow furrowing ever so slightly. They were certainly energetic... The blonde brushed a hand through her hair and wondered if she should address one of them. She had expected the people from Kingston to be different from her own people, but surely these people were not at all the typical inhabitants of this city. None of them carried the snobbish city persona-- other than two of the older residents. One with raven hair and ruby eyes, and the other with... A huge rack, and a seemingly irritated look on her face. Jo smoothed her expression and took a step towards a younger man with red hair. 'Be pleasant', she reminded herself.

"Hope I'm not interrupting something here," she said, announcing her presence at last. The young woman winked casually--neither deeply nor referentially (considering the two had never met) , and certainly not in a romantic fashion, but just to lighten her nerves a bit. It was more of a playful wink, really, but that was all she could stomach right now, before extending her hand in greeting. There was a moment of silence as her jaw visibly clenched. "The name's Josephine, but you can just call me Jo. I just moved in," she said, extending a casual name for his disposal--a name she typically went by. Her uncle could call her Jo. Her younger sister used to call her Jo. And, Jo supposed that it was the only she liked to go by. Her parents were the only ones that referred to her by her full name. After everything that had happened she had probably grown to hate the name.

"Did I happen to stumble across an exclusive morning party of sorts?"

{{ooc: Rushed and ew. Imma try working on my writing a bit more. I've been trying to write without inspiration and it's awful. Sorry Chai if Jo didn't interact with Darion much. I was trying to kind of leave it open so he could do whatever he wanted to do. Plus I know you're sick. I'd love it if he were to join everyone in the kitchen though~ }}


IILovelyAmarathII


Chilled Chai Tea


okami_kurisutaru


peacock catastrophe

[The Midnight Sepulcher]

❥ Locale: Restaurant/Bar
❥ Mood: Allured
❥ Now Playing: ♬♬
❥ With: Ethan, Hajime

▂ ▂ ▂

Days like this had long since faded away from Dalia's memory, or at least, she thought they had. The bright, natural light of the sun invading the glass of the windows, illuminating what was once a much dimmer more demure setting into something livelier and more vibrant, coinciding exactly when it seemed that business was picking up. It was almost as if the people arriving here slightly after eight o'clock knew the drill. The day began for the patrons then, right around nine o' clock - it was a time to meeting with familiar friends and observing new possibilities that could spring up from such rituals. It was odd, how that worked, after all. You meet with the same people each day, discuss the same things, and yet the world always seems ripe for the picking when such a startling and radiant light shimmers through the wide breadth of the windows.

Dalia never stuck around long enough to feel that way. It was a light that she almost actively had avoided for quite a long bit of time. It really didn't suit her attitude at the time - dwelling in a comfort zone enveloped in the tight embrace of the night, a cloak which only enhanced her mystique and dulled any guilt she felt about erasing herself from existence and purpose and becoming little more than and illusion. But as the bright lights of that near-to-nine o'clock sun crept in and highlighted the hazy glaze of her vision, the ember that she had shown to Ethan a few moments earlier in their discussion seemed to flare up to a bit more ferociously. That is what Dalia possessed after all - subdued, controlled intensity. Such to the fact that one could feel her dormant, but powerful energy begging and pleading for its way out, trapped and boxed inside a package with pretty and exquisite trimmings. The fire that she doused with alcoholic beverages and dull discussions, choked out with smog from elegant cigarettes, and wrapped up tight in the uncomfortable fashion of tailored garments.

That fire is what gave her dances a magnificent feeling, as if those in the audience could see the pain of rejection and being obscured, as if they could empathize with her need to be known, but to protect that innocent, delicate soul with a moniker and AKA. That desperate burning ember that raged to always be relevant, to forever stay young, to be remembered eternally and held within the soft embrace of acceptance and validation. To expose fragments and pieces of her former self - enough to relate, to connect, to feel a piece of yourself inside of her, but to twirl it away in a whisk of contemporary movements and complex gestures that ultimately served as both shroud and exposé.

This same smoldering energy crept out as she spoke to Ethan about music or even as she patted the seat next to her with a suggestive glance to her new guest. The tightly wrapped, latent confidence that said she knew exactly what she was doing, and exactly how to conduct herself in each and every social situation. She was as illusive as the smoke of her favorite past time, capable displaying honesty and reliability, but also possessed aura that could ensnare someone if she ever saw so fit. She wasn't in her best days - but for her current audience, her level allure seemed to be quite enough.

As her hand rested on her cheek, she watched Hajime adjust herself nervously, giving off perhaps the inverse feeling that the elder woman displayed. Hajime didn't look altogether different than how Dalia did when she first left the expanse of country pastures for the busy and bright lights of a western city. She was innocent, subdued, and likely eager to impress - someone didn't have to be a psychic to immediately recognize this trait, one that was commonly shared but young women who were out of their comfort zone, or as the girl stated living on their own. Dalia just remained in the same position as Hajime introduced herself and answered her question, wondering in the depths of her mind if the girl shared perhaps a similar fire, perhaps artistic, perhaps not, that seemed mutual between Ethan and Dalia. Though she hadn't heard Ethan play yet, she could tell just from how they related to one another about the very reason for making music that his soul could be actively poured into the pursuit of his craft. Was their something that caused this seemingly shy, reluctant, neighbor to shake off those nerves? It was these kinds of things that Dalia perused and sifted through in her nightly discussions at this bar - and frankly never hit gold. Not that she fully expected to, but she did wonder if the woman she had passed every single night would indeed prove and interesting and engaging as the handsome young man who seemed quite mature for his age.

Easily bored, the woman had been thoroughly entertained so far in her day, and the cool, innocent aura of her company, particularly Hajime, gifted her a wellspring of assurance and child-like intrigue. Her eyes lifted from their languid gaze, and into an intrigued glitter as Hajime took the drink with only a little bit of hesitation. Her reaction - priceless. As an experienced drinker, she could the reticence of the young woman as she took a sip.

Something was off, wasn't it? Not quite right? Indeed, that was the feeling of you loosening up, losing a bit of inhibition, sinking into another version of yourself that could take the world at face value without a care.

As the young girl's body straightened up to be a bit more clear in her responses, Dalia didn't do much movement from her position, just shifting her netted hand slightly on her luscious cheeks and bearing that knowing smirk which Ethan had became so familiar with over their short breakfast thus far. Was it merely coincidence that her quiet and seemingly intriguing neighbors would meet here on this day? That a night owl would slip into the morning, a musician meet a dancer, and a shy and subdued young woman would be enraptured into a group of strangers? It seemed an incredibly odd occurrence, and it was this type of serendipitous twists that Dalia's life had been utterly lacking.

She could feel the pressure of the pin in her leg beginning to make its way back to the forefront, and that is when she sensed Ethan catching on to her morning drink, to which she just gave him an faux-innocent, girlish shrug, as if to say "you caught me red handed~". As Ethan inquired about Hajime's activities, Dalia took a deep, long sip of her drink, completely intending to drown away the oncoming pain from the pin - that, and seeking to perhaps quench her inquisitive fire and true self a little bit, at least, subconsciously. Without fail, the drink lulled her back into a place of more euphoria and intrigue, and away from a bleaker reality of pain and reminders of her own mortality.

Almost like a black widow perched in the back of a web, ready for descent, Dalia lazily washed into the conversation in a delicate tone with a velvet smooth texture. Since she parsed her words, at least, when she wasn't the subject of conversation, they seemed incredibly measured and poignant. She enjoyed having time to think about what she would say, how she would say it, and just how much meaning someone would take from her words. For the moment, she felt important again, and it wasn't as if she'd remove her crimson soaked claws from such a ripe opportunity so freely. With lucid intonation, she floated out -

"Oh, you have been quite the neighbor, I'd say." she tapped her nails against the soft foundation of her face, using the other to move her force around her unfinished egg, playing with it for kicks, as she had been instructed on the farm so many times not to do. "Quiet. Never a complaint about my records playing, if you heard them." The lush wave of words retracted and she looked out the window at a couple crossing the street before chuckling in a feminine and haughty way, before shrugging her shoulders and exchanging a glance with Ethan. "What else could someone who loves the finer things possibly ask, am I right?" Her question was relatively rhetorical, but she definitely felt that Ethan would relate to needing a quiet and focused setting to pursue his passions. Nearly all people did, if they had any desire to become great at what they did, or, at the very least, feel great about what they did. In this manner, Hajime was the peak of an exceptional neighbor. Someone of her age would likely be blasting music, arguing with a boyfriend or fighting with their parents over the phone. Youthful exuberance at it's very worst. To be surrounded by a more mature younger energy appealed to the older woman, and as such, she was sure to lay on the compliments to her constituents thickly. She legitimately had taken an interest in both of them, casual as it may be, and that youthful portion of herself, almost long lost, felt a inkling that something substantive could be formed on the fertile soil of this meeting.

Dalia picked up the drink with the hand that had played with the fork, lifting her head off her cheek and taking another sip, holding the cup and jingling her ice as she so often had done during this entire discussion, as if in thought.

"Likewise, I'm glad I haven't been a bother to you. Either of you. I'm doing something right then." she said wistfully, her eyes narrowing, hoping that her statement indeed help true to form. As Ethan suggested that they go out as a group, her eyes expanded as she looked at the young man with a bit of surprise. Whenever one was lulled into a sense of comfort by his calm, youthful aura, he indeed still possessed the confidence and leadership of a man . Ethan seemed the type to always open the door in front of a lady, and to do so with pride. These values and confident suggestions were never rude or out of place, they were natural to him, which was a testament to how he must have been brought up.

This was backed up by his statement to Dalia about not minding to spend more than one evening around her. Though they had yet to meet for their first official evening, she took a sip of her drink and gave him an easygoing glance. He certainly knew how to make a first impression, and he was capable, whether he knew it or not, of making someone feeling important and welcome - obviously a feeling Dalia was long vacant of. A bit of a flatterer, this one.

She gathered her thoughts and looked over to Hajime, no confidently jingling the ice.

"Yes, yes, you should." She took a sip of the drink and smiled at Ethan in confirmation before turning back to the girl beside her. "The night around here is a marvelous time, as I'm sure you are already aware, being one of the few I see waltzing around in it." She chuckled a bit, sitting the drink of the coaster and returning to rest her hand on her cheek, looking at the drink she offered Hajime periodically, comedically hoping she'd continued her awkward assault on Dalia's passively aggressively forced gesture.


"Of course, it'd have to appeal to your interests." Her eyes again narrowed as she deliberately held out the rest of her sentence for effect. "And what are those, Ms. Keita?" Ethan had asked about the girl's reasons for staying at the BDH, and Dalia, her interests around the premises. Together, they'd be able to form a plan of action for how perhaps the rest of their time at the hotel would be spent. One thing was clear however, and that was the social interactions and dynamic of the fourth floor would never again possess quite the same feeling.

▂ ▂ ▂

Dangerosa

Ecchi Pantsu

[Unedited Sky]

Hajime smiled at Ethan in a friendly manor, he said that he was happy to meet her and she was also happy to meet him in all honestly, Hajime as a person was rather friendless, just a girl with a long list of acquaintances, she wouldn’t rush to call Ethan or Dalia friend either, but things were going better than they did when she met people at school. She wasn’t forced to communicate with these two, due to a project or because they needed her help figuring out an equation, she was here because Dalia had wanted to meet her, and Ethan was also very welcoming, maybe this could be something different from her normal routine with people. Maybe she could make something happen here, and in turn make something happen with the others that inhabited BDH. Ethan said that all those he had ran into thus far had been pleasant, though Hajime could say the same. But people had secrets, everyone was capable of having a kind exterior while being something completely different on the inside, Hajime herself had such secrets that sometimes ached to burst from her, she wasn’t special in that regard.

Dalia seemed to share Ethan’s sentiment, in a more direct way, namely she thought Hajime to be a well… quite a neighbor, she went onto list traits that Hajime would admit embodied her rather well. ”I’ve heard your music playing sometimes, but it has never bothered me. I often wear headphones while I’m studying so it’s never been much of a distraction.” Hajime explained, she wondered if the explanation was a pleasing one however, because Dalia’s attention seemed to filter towards the window, Hajime followed her gaze for a moment, but saw nothing that would hold her own personal interest which caused her to wonder what exactly it was that Dalia could have seen that would make her chuckle. Her confusion continued when Dalia turned to Ethan and spoke again, about the “finer” things in life. Hajime would just have to accept that there were things that she just wasn’t going to understand. No matter how confusing.

Ethan was speaking to her again, though his question to her was a bit…."What brought you to Kingston?"

Hajime’s face fell at that, ’Was my English that bad? Do I really sound so foreign?’ she thought to herself, her confidence suddenly taking a hit. Ouch. ”Oh, uh….I was born here.” Hajime answered wearing a gentle sort of smile, her eyes closed for the briefest of moments, when she opened them again they were downcast, and then they flickered up quickly, she looked around for a waitress, she was going to order that specialty dish, something for her to tuck into occupy her mind and body with, make her feel better, but alas she saw no waiter, looking down again she ended up looking directly into the drink that Dalia had gotten for her. Unthinking Hajime lifted it, forgetting the strange taste, she took down half of it, trying to wash away the awkwardness that had settled in. It helped, as did Dalia speaking again, giving her something that would hold her attention. The emphasis on the word something in her statement caused Hajime to wonder. She couldn’t get a read on the woman, not at all. She never knew if the emphasis she applied were just because it was her way of speaking or because she felt that there were many failures that had been a result of her trials, and that she was glad to be successful in something. Hajime nodded to herself for a moment, mulling something over. ”I doubt there is no end to the somethings that you could do marvelously.” She stuck her statement out absently, as she took another sip from her cup, the taste growing on her a bit, and she was trying to add somewhat to the innocent cover of her words.

Words coming from the blonde male helped her in her cover, she looked over the rim of the cup at Ethan as he extended a ‘sort-of’ invitation to her for a night out downtown, being if Dalia was okay with the gesture, looking over to the redhead Hajime wondered what her response would be, and she was actually unsurprised to find that Dalia thought it to be a great idea, stating so in her own special way. Hajime felt her more natural smile returning, as she returned her glass to the surface of the table. She opened her mouth to speak, but Dalia put forth another statement, that formed smoothly into a question. One about her interest. Hajime hadn’t been expecting that particular question at least not yet, not with the added pressure though self-imposed, being that her interests lining up with the planned outing would be ideal, Hajime truly didn’t know what to say, it was like being couched towards an uncertain goal, she had tons of interest, but which would be relevant now.

With a mental shrug, Hajime just chose to keep it basic. ”My interest? Well, nothing special really. I like art, I guess you could say. Well I own a camera and I carry it everywhere with me, so I suppose it’s more accurate to say that I love photography. I have a shelf filled with various books, albums, and magazines, lined with the most stunning…. She realized she was rambling a bit, and smiled softly. ”shots.” she finished clearing her throat. “I sing, sometimes not very well,” she added that last part as a bit of a joke really, just in case they would try and ask her to sing for them, as people usually did. ”I also play piano, I’ve taken both courses in vocal and piano when I was younger.” She explained, ”And….I guess architecture…well, I like roof tops, so tall building would probably be more accurate, there is something about being high up that makes me feel….feel I don’t know, it’s just this feeling I can’t describe.” She said softly, absently, she supposed she should mention that she had a very large interest in food but she wouldn’t. Instead with a shrug she said. ”You know, just the finer things in life. Hajime finished with a little laugh.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

始Location:: Restaurant
めWith:: Ethan and Dalia
初Thoughts:: What are my interests?
めSong playing:: [MV] ELUPHANT(이루펀트) _ SimSim(심심할때만) (Feat. SoYou(소유) of SISTAR(씨스타))

[Dangerosa]

Were it not for the fact that he was sure that it wouldn’t be appreciated by Hajime and he was nearly positive that Dalia wouldn’t want any attention drawn to it, Ethan would have laughed. As it were, his eyes lit up with a form of laugher of its own and a smile threatened to pull his lips upwards until he looked away from Dalia. That subtle reaction and acknowledgement of being found out was girlishly cute. A charm to it that was attractive in its own right and perhaps even innocently beguiling. Ethan had never really been one to indulge in certain vices — drinks, drugs, coitus — despite the almost overwhelming appeal of such activities to those in his age range. He didn’t quite understand the need to do so or why it seemed to permeate society to such an extent. Dalia perhaps had a reason for such an early morning drink, though what it was, Ethan could only guess : to clear her thoughts, to allow her mind to drift, to feel more submersed in the moment, to maintain that allure of mystic in a setting which forbade the use of smoke. And perhaps it was none of those and something altogether different.

The thoughts came and went in an instant, following the rise and fall of the dancer’s voice as she responded in turn to Hajime, and as they shared a look, he could only smile back and nod, a humming a soft note of agreement to her statement. An environment that was quiet and free from outside distractions was always best for concentrating of perfecting a skill or talent. For that he was grateful to both Hajime and Dalia for being such good neighbours.

Though in the next second, Ethan was blinking in confusion as he heard Hajime's response to his question. It threw him for a moment as he wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to it or to her for that matter, since that hadn’t exactly been the type of answer he was looking for with the question. But perhaps he had worded it badly and it was just a misunderstanding. Ethan was silent for a heartbeat as he collected his thoughts, trying to form his words in a way that would not cause Hajime any more discomfort.

”I’m sorry if the question upset you,” he started, keeping his words measured and his eyes on her face, hoping that she would look up at him again. If she did, she would see the apology in his eyes. He had’t meant to imply that she was born elsewhere with the question.

”I only meant to ask what brings you to BDH. You mentioned that you’re living on your own, so I was asking if it was for school or if you simply wanted a change of pace. If we were to go out one evening as a group, it would be nice to know what your schedule looks like or any activities you enjoy so we can plan on a night that would be enjoyable for all of us.” he gave her a small apologetic smile, then finished off the rest of his drink while thinking of the ways that could have gone better.

It helped that Dalia seemed to smooth over that rather awkward moment in the conversation with a comment confirming Hajime’s invite to spend a night on the town with them. He had an urge to ask, seeing as Hajime was born in Kingston and according to Dalia spent a good deal of time enjoying the nightlife, what places she would recommend, but it bit his tongue and held back on it for now. Maybe later when they actually had something confirmed he would bring it up. For now it was still a matter of if, not when.

Instead, he payed more attention to listening to the soft lilt of Hajime’s voice and being about to make it out over the growing murmur of conversation around him. They’d been in the bar for while a while and it was slowly starting to fill up with more patrons as the city started to come fully awake and show to visitors and residents alike the true nature of Kingston.

As with most cities, Kingston seemed to wake up and come fully alive with the passage of time, coming fully awake for a brief moment when the sun descended and making their way back to their beds by moonset and only a few hours before the sun was to rise again. It was strange and unfamiliar, but wonderful to watch all the same. An excitement building in the air with the sounds of the voices around him that was contagious. A type of energy that appeared lacking in the suburbs, but grew in strength and intensity the closer one went to the heart of the city. It was like a spark that travelled from person to person, imperceptibly through the air and yet it was almost tangible.

That spark, the feeling of being energized, grew as conversed with Dalia and Hajime, even more so when he heard of the latter’s shared interest in the arts. With interests in photography and having studied music and taken voice lessons when she as young, Hajime seemed very well rounded, and, he supposed, perhaps someone who might not look at him as though he grew a second head if ever he started speaking of the influences of Haydn on Mozart.

”I think I would like to see some of the pictures you’ve taken one day. What particular subject do you photograph most often? I can imagine you’d have some incredible shots from the rooftops.”

He couldn't help but smile as she described that feeling of being on the rooftops. Ethan could only imagine that the sense of freedom, and perhaps euphoria, that she got from being up high, was similar in some respect to that which he got when playing music and how Dalia felt when she danced. It was just that incredible out of body experience that one got from pursuing something they enjoyed and immersing themselves in it so completely.

"Maybe, if your schedules allow it, we could visit an art gallery then end the night at one of the lounges in the city,” Ethan gave both ladies a hopeful smile, wondering if that would be one way they could, at the very least, take in a bit of each of their interests and make the most of a night.



tab tab tab ⟦ 𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ⟧ A Bar tab tab ⟦ 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 ⟧ Dalia, Hajime tab tab

Night Mary Annette

Dun Jihn

[The Midnight Sepulcher]

❥ Locale: Restaurant/Bar
❥ Mood: Measured and Reassured
❥ Now Playing: ♬♬
❥ With: Ethan, Hajime

▂ ▂ ▂

Dalia could say she was ultimately pleased with the overall outcome of the conversation. The fact that Hajime hadn't been disturbed by her records playing was a hidden relief - but it wasn't purely motivated by the desire to be polite. Dalia was just the sort of woman who wished to keep the solitude of her room just that, unless she found herself wanting for company. She played the records at a volume which was probably above medium, venturing towards the realm of loud, but the walls of the hotel were the older type - thicker, bulkier. To her, at least, they seemed to absorb the sound and bounce it right back, making the room somewhat of a container for the classics, and a bit of the newer material she liked to play.

The last thing she'd want is for someone to interrupt a moment like that, so the reassurance that she'd never disturbed a soul was much appreciated. It wasn't as if she pranced around her room in the same distinguished manner that she had presented herself here, after all. Her crimson locks became disheveled and frayed when she pursued her free time, her lustrous lips losing their lively sheen in the comfort of her own dwelling. She became just a woman dancing, reminiscing, enraptured in her past - vanishing in the moment. In that alone time she indulged every possible vice she could to feel whatever sorrow she held wash away, and to be consumed by the dance and the music. It didn't used to be that way though - she used to be able to be stone sober and still enjoy herself. Now it seemed like she was stuck in a perpetual state of buzz, letting the world provide her languid gaze with whatever sensory overload she could squeeze in. She felt more, she felt deeper, she felt something by attempting to numb herself. It was truly strange how empty sobriety now felt....but she couldn't unspin herself here. This contained, more glamorous version of herself was the one she fully expected to show Ethan later, and Hajime too, if she so chose to tag along with them.

The image could not unfold, not for a moment, not until someone could show her their vulnerability first. Any smart person would always wait for such a moment before showing a bit of their own hand. For now the mystique that surrounded her in the present moment would do nicely as her sword and shield in the action packed comings and goings of the day time. This was a time when you didn't get to pick and choose what you did, what you did pick and chose you, snatching you into spontaneous events and misadventures, such as the one they found themselves in at the current juncture. Dalia needed to be relaxed and at ease for this challenge, she'd taken it on willingly, and this step outside of her shrouded comfort zone, the cloud of impermeable smoke, would require her to delicately waltz through it by only ever so gently sprinkling details of herself around the conversations.

Dalia could feel Hajime's voice drop in response to Ethan's questions, but it didn't set off anything atypical in her mind. Her neighbor was quiet, and seemed mostly consumed in her own thoughts. She was delicate in her own way, and the somewhat sullen response seemed right in place for someone of her age - one where you are still discovering who you are, where you are truly going, and what life has in store for you. Dalia didn't shift her gaze much after responding in kind, until Hajime coyly dropped a compliment to her after taking a long swig of the drink that the elder woman had supplied to her. Chalk it up to losing inhibitions, or simply youthful bravado, but Dalia responded by clasping onto her own glass delicately and giving Hajime a small grin and a set of narrow, knowing eyes, before tipping up her own cup and taking a brief sip.

Dalia was a victim to attention and compliments, after all. Who could blame her? Any time she heard her name, or the sweet reassurance of a sincere word, it invoked something in her. It was fleeting, but not unlike the manic applause and delirious cheers of the crowds who had filled those city nights. It was love, in some form, if only for a second. Validation that she wasn't plain, or ordinary - that she exuded something special. Even in her older, less glorious days, she impressed herself with the ability to still emanate a glowering image of confidence and importance, and it ruffled and inflated her like a white swan preening itself on an open lake. She seemed to use such comments like solar energy - using them to break her lull and maintain her interest, like a rope out of the vacuous pit she'd dug for herself in the hidden underbelly of her self-esteem.

She hadn't responded yet, in fact, when Ethan smoothly issued an apology for perhaps implying she wasn't from the area. Though, Dalia never had taken it in such a way. She wasn't surprised by either reaction, in communications it was quite easy for someone, especially someone of youth and inexperience, to perhaps take a perceived slight from a casual conversation. When you hadn't fully recognized yourself, separated and confidently exerted your will, it was easy to think for others instead of truly thinking and abiding within yourself. She found herself more drawn to Ethan's maturity and ability to deftly, if unnecessarily, clear any misgivings before they were ever able to spring themselves further. Dalia had seen and been in far too many of these talks, and for the age range of her company, especially those who were newly acquainted, nothing about it stuck out as particularly abnormal or notable. Only the resilience of the two and how easily they were able to continue their conversation with agile tact. She liked that.

Setting her drink down on the coaster, she spoke in a low voice, being somewhat overpowered by their surroundings.

"Oh, why thank you. You are far too kind." Her words possessed the intonation of Grace Kelly or Gloria Grahame, a throw back to the flickers of the yesteryear. As if she'd practiced countless hours to perfectly deflect and absorb a compliment given by man, woman, or both. Her eyes again raised up as her dimples and ample cheeks pushed them northward behind her still ever-present veil.

With that simple phrase, acutely applied, she turned her gaze away from the conversation, but not her attention. She humble placed her hand on her cheek and listened, intrigued in hearing the interests of their new guessed and how she secretly hoped they'd indeed match up with those of Ethan and herself. As her gaze drifted away, she looked out onto the streets again and watched the people go, letting Ethan and Hajime's voices be the background music to her as she continued to let the alcohol take its journey through her, giving the environment a heavier, more colorful feel. She found herself slightly leaning on the window, her long nails tapping against the glass as her ears stayed attentive and waited to hear something to again draw her out.

As Hajime finished, and Ethan commented on her photography, Dalia leaned back in, after what seemed to be careful thought, grabbing her glass once again.

"It's wonderful to capture things in the moment." She added a "mhmm" to the ended of her words as she seemed to hum and glide through them. "I like to think of pictures as capturing the soul of that time, the atmosphere, the feeling. I can see why it interests some people so much." She herself had many photos from her times as a dancer, but she withheld that bit of information to save for a time when it could be more intimately shared.

"I share Ethan's sentiment. Seeing your work would be interesting, to say the least." She nodded, rotating the glass in her perfectly manicured nails. She looked at it, watching what was basically ice and diluted liquor rotated around the bottom, the crushed ice jingling at her cue.

"And it seems today is our lucky day." She parsed, making a coy smile at Hajime's reference to her earlier quote about finer things. "Just talking with Ethan momentarily as a kindred spirit, its great to meet someone else who has an interest in singing, music, and just generally art itself....." she let the words float and mingle in the area for just a moment.

"Music to feed the environment, dance to be within it, and pictures to capture it. It sounds like a very interesting meetings of the minds to me."

She took a sip of her drink, only briefly, then set it down, finished. Fully interlocked in her buzz, she set both hands on her cheeks, delicately, as if going to rest her head on a cloud. Her comforted look gave the same insinuation.

"It sounds like a good time. The lounge I had mentioned is on a roof, and there, I believe you'd get the chance at the ever so rare night photograph." She hummed cutely to herself, before closing her eyes and seeming to dream of that moment, and how it would be, three strangers with at least similar tastes sharing some time.

"A gallery doesn't sound like a bad idea either."

Dalia was pleased that Hajime had some much versatility within the arts at such a young age. Sure, Dalia herself had wished to sing, or perhaps pick up a formal instrument herself. She'd wished to become more immersed in such things as art and photography - and though she did possess a knowledge of them, in some respect, dance was her one and only true passion. Through it, all other things flowed. Her art interests were those of things in motion, her music - intended to match her steps. The sound of the instrument? A means to provide her own freedom through her expressive movements. It was all linked, and it was the only thing that could truly fill her core with a sense of purpose and belonging. Which made it all the more devastating when dance as a career was lost to her, it is why she searched for meaning now, even amongst these new strangers.

She hoped that BDH brought the hope out in her again, and this was a step towards it. Dalia was done drinking how, and she was satisfied with Hajime's participation in it. It made her feel a bit more complete in a way, that someone would embark on the journey of drinking this early with her - even if it wasn't completely willing. She now fully leaned her hazy glance outside, wishing for the thing that would perfectly top off a round of drinks and a delicious breakfast - a cigarette.

She shifted around in her seat, taking a hand off her face to search her bag and find her golden cigarette case. She moved it to herself near the window, and gently flicked it open once, glancing inside to check the amount, and then shut, before flipping it in between her fingers dexterously.

It would be lovely to spend a bit of time outside of the hotel - at night - with others. Why not? But another dark night wandering, with the freedom to smoke and drink at her leisure wasn't the most terrible consolation prize.

▂ ▂ ▂

Dangerosa

Dun Jihn

[Unedited Sky]

”It’s okay! Honestly.” Hajime responded to Ethan holding her hands up in a way that was meant to defuse any tenseness in the room. She just couldn’t take the apologetic eyes that Ethan had set on her, it made her feel terrible for showing how his words had affected her, it put him in an odd space, and was ruining their conversation. Or so she felt. “It was just a misunderstanding after all, sometimes those things happen.” Hajime said scratching at the back of her head ”Jeez you idiot” she thought critically to herself wincing as Ethan made his intentions more clear. “I’m living on my own, mostly of my own choice, I just wanted to give it a try, and my parents agreed to allow me to move out of the house, though they are only a mile or two away.” Hajime said which was mostly true, though she didn’t admit that she was moving out to try and escape from the smothering pressure of her parents. “Also, I’m just a high school student, so I wouldn’t have to move for that just yet.” Hajime informed him with a little bit of a smile, she was almost in college, but she didn’t think she looked mature enough to give off the visage of a university student. But maybe she was wrong.

She was glad that they had come to this hurdle and managed to find a way over it, and that things seemed to be patched up, it could have been worse, a lot worse. From Hajime’s experience watching from a distance misunderstandings turned into drama. She was glad to have ducked that bullet, and that the conversation was flowing, she had been sensing for some time now that these two were very well acquainted in their short time, based on her being the center of their questioning, she was feeling a little bombarded, and outside of dinner with her parent’s or school presentation she had never been in the hot seat like this. ”I think you two give me a little too much credit, I wouldn’t use the word interesting to describe my photo’s they are just your average run of the mil photos. No real subject, but I guess you could call me a street photographer.” Hajime said timidly, playing with her hands in her lap. She was suddenly nervous at the prospect of having to show her album. She didn’t want to disappoint, but she also didn’t think she had much of anything to offer that would impress them. “Never been to an art gallery….or a lounge…” she said in response to Ethan. Was that something that people her age did? She couldn’t fathom where in the world she would find the time, when she wasn’t doing homework, she was studying like mad.

Hajime felt that maybe she shouldn’t flare or posture confidently with her words. “The finer things in life.” Who did she think she was? She could tell that Dalia had made a not of that even if it was a minor one, and the smile she gave, told Hajime that there was something cooking behind the scenes, problem was, she had no clue what. Dalia’s further statements didn’t reveal much either.

But she did know now that the lounge was on a roof after all it sounded interesting.

”Be my subject?” Hajime offered Dalia, forgetting her own cautious thoughts moments before.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

始Location:: Restaurant
めWith:: Ethan and Dalia
初Thoughts:: Feels like I’m being splayed on a table.
めSong playing:: Plasterbrain – Modal Shanghai

[Dangerosa]

Only high school? Ethan gave Hajime a somewhat appraising look. She certainly didn’t strike him as a high school student, and she seemed remarkably talented. It was surprising and quite frankly, he was a little impressed. This was his first time living away from home and he found it, initially, to be quite challenging. There was so much that he never quite realized that he took for granted before. Even the simple task of going to the fridge and opening it up to look for something to eat… more often than not, the small fridge in his apartment was empty. It was only on those weekends where his parents came to visit where he coud ever say that the fridge was full and even then, by the end of the week it was back to being empty once more. Grocery shopping, it seemed, was not something he enjoyed doing.

”You’re very independent for a high school student. Quite impressive actually,” Ethan remarked with a smile. He almost wished he’d had her level of confidence and maturity when he was in high school.

Hearing Hajime downplay the potential interest in her photos made him hum almost inaudibly in thought. It was always interesting to hear someone else being modest about their skills and abilities. At least that’s what he took the high schooler’s timid statement to be. Mature, independent and, based on the number of extracurricular activities she was involved in, he would assume she was quite accomplished, Hajime seemed to be the type of person who would have an amazing collection of pictures and still call them average.

In some respects, he acted similarly when comments were made about his playing. To his ears it was never good enough. Never seemed to capture the right emotions, he was never sure if he could even capture the right emotions and portray them to a listening audience. Others seemed to see the image he was trying to paint with sound, but it never seemed to reach that seemingly unattainable level that he was striving for.

For Ethan, street photography, urban photography, always seemed more down to earth. There was something more physical and tangible to the photos that presented a city in a way that made the viewer pause and reconsider what he thought about his surroundings and see them in a new light. And he was nearly certain that Hajime’s photos accomplished that goal in some way or form. They could be phenomenal when he saw them or they could be ‘average’ as she described them, but he believed that regardless of the quality, they would still possess that something which would make them worth looking at.

In that, as in most things that they had discussed this morning, Dalia’s words lent some more weight to his thoughts, supported them in a way. Her voice drifting into the conversation, her words somewhat ethereal, rising above the low din of conversation in the bar and carrying with it, the weight of an authority and the confidence of a hollywood celebrity.

”If you have time, even if we don’t all go to the art gallery as a group, I’d recommend you take a trip. Maybe you’ll find an inspiration there or pick up a new technique by looking at other’s work.” It certainly happened to him on more than one occasion where, regardless of what he was listening to or viewing, there was something about the artist’s performance that spoke to him and inspired him to do better in his own work.

”For now, maybe we can set a date to visit the lounge,” he stated, his voice trailing upwards slightly as if to suggest it was more of a question than a statement as he looked between Dalia and Hajime. ”It could be a good break from studying and homework and maybe the background of the lounge would be an ideal setting for your picture of Dalia,”

There was a teasing look in his eye, and he wondered if this had anything to do with the way Hajime had seemed to debate which seat to take when she was called over to their table.

”What more can you tell us about the lounge? The more you describe it, the more eager I am to spend some time there one night.”


tab tab tab ⟦ 𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ⟧ bar tab tab ⟦ 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 ⟧ hajime & dalia tab tab

ooc://sorry it's short >.<

Dun Jihn

Night Mary Annette

[The Midnight Sepulcher]

❥ Locale: Restaurant/Bar
❥ Mood: A bit more intrigued, and feeling informative
❥ Now Playing: ♬♬
❥ With: Ethan, Hajime

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Dalia was content to contribute in a somewhat minimalist fashion to the conversation, there was an engagement in itself from drifting outside in a cumulus manner, watching the two younger acquaintances familiarize themselves further. She'd likely have quite a bit more to contribute, but she found herself languishing in the heavier feeling of tipsiness, knowing she was close to reaching a zone where she'd be more absent than present if she continued drinking. Self-aware as ever, this creeping suspicion caused her to push her glass away from her and towards the center of the table, her purple eyes trained upon it for only a moment, leaning herself back into the soft padding of the seat and momentarily closing her eyes, as many older people do, to focus and collect herself, inhaling quietly but deeply as she let the words of Hajime and Ethan go in her ear and around her mind, gently soothing her as she tuned out the other people around them.

"Never been, hmm?" Dalia perked up, her gaze opening from behind the veil, the soft sway of her voice carrying lightly as she again placed her elbows on the table, leaning her head on the top of her hands and rocking back and forth a bit, as if she'd deeply thought about all that was said for quite long enough.

"I believe what Ethan says is very true. You can grab so many different kinds of points of reference in places like that." She smiled at Hajime slightly, and nodded to Ethan in reassurance, playfully moving her delicate chin on the upper portion of her clasped grip.

She couldn't help but agree, after all, it seemed true enough to her that witnessing the work of others was a sure way to inspire further work within oneself, and this went

double for either the lounge or the art gallery. They could see artists perform their own unique forms of expression above the city of Kingston, or simply stroll through the more stationary glory of someone's hand drawn art. The still landscapes and portraits that not only captured moments but alternative fields of sight, what doubled as freedom of expression and the definition of success for those who were creatively inclined.

"Doing something like that alone can be rewarding...." she said, her low eyes giving a knowing glint. "Buuuut in a group you can actively share the ideas between one another, perhaps expediting your own creative process, hmm?"

She chuckled slightly, the red blush underneath her veil seeming to grow from her morning drink. But all signs pointed to the fact she was at incredible ease, overjoyed with having company for the first time in a while, or at least, company that shared somewhat of a common interest with the fading star. She stayed at ease for that moment, before perking up for a moment at the request for her to be the subject of a photograph....

How long had it been? Every photo that she had in her room was certainly dated. She'd perhaps made a secret oath with herself to not take many photos of herself after her injury, perhaps fearing that all that time in the hospital had done more damage than the slow accumulation of years. But she hadn't been asked to be such a subject in many years, and the feeling of being wanted for such a thing made her heart flutter, even if it wasn't a professional work. It spun her mind back to a time of happier memories, and the feeling of attention, no matter how minimal, caused the purple oceanic glance she possessed to quiver and tremble ever so slightly.

She lifted her head up and looked at her nails, breaking her eyes from the both of them and looking squarely at the table, her perfect white teeth exposing themselves beneath the obsidian veil.

"I wouldn't mind being your subject at all, dear." She cooed, before looking at Hajime from the side of her eyes, and then focusing on Ethan.

"You have a good sense for atmosphere, Ethan." she said, placing her hand back underneath her chin and putting both of them together again for her usual pose. "If we were to take a picture anywhere, that is a place I'd recommend - after all, you can see a good bit of Kingston from the top of the building, and the colorful lighting would contrast nicely with a dark night, or so I'd like to think."

She nodded happily, but her voice still moved at the pace of poured syrup, sweet and sultry. She looked at both of them, rather content to tell them more about a place she rather liked to visit.

"Ah, it'd be my pleasure." She leaned back in the chair and grabbed her glass, not to drink, but simply to rotate and keep herself focused during her description.

"Well, as I said, there are many local acts that play there during there night. The place itself has three floors, a bar like this at the bottom, another in the middle and the more lively section up on the third floor. You can find any variety of music there, and with the nature of the city, quite a bit of new faces."

She nodded a bit, looking out the window some, probably towards the area where the lounge was, exhaling.

"You've got a rather classic set up on the first floor, a more modern feel to the second - their a bit louder. On the rooftop it can range from relaxed to very active depending on the crowd and entertainment - but you can get marvelous view as well as some decent bar service."

She placed the drink down on the table and sat back in her seat, crossing her arms with a small, earnest smile.

"I think the weekend would be best for something like that, we'd get the most life out of it. But I'm not opposed to some night during the week."


Dalia gave them both a nod, before signaling to the waitress she was finished with her portion of food and drink - any more and she'd be in a place mentally that she'd rather not. Additionally, she was due for her second dose of medication, no point in overdoing it with a painkiller on the way. She'd just have water for the moment until their bill was secured.

With a quick whip of her nail, the waitress noticed her, but signaled that she needed just a moment to which the elder woman nodded patiently, turning her attention back to her new acquaintances. It was fun learning more about them, but also sharing the details of places and things she herself had found interesting and probing for a mutual connection.

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Dangerosa

Dun Jihn