⊱⊱⊱ chasing ❤ P A V E M E N T S

[gingerprincessannie]

Aneira jumped a little as the water bottle went flying past her and winced sympathetically when it hit Julian in the head. Ceath's laugh was her favorite, and it was contagious. She found herself giggling behind her hands as the ginger man walked over to check the damage.

* * *

Stan gasped as the plastic bottle rebounded off of his knee. His wide, dark, worried eyes immediately went to Julian, who'd gotten the brunt of the unintended attack. He bristled a bit at the laughter from the pair of gingers. It wasn't funny, he thought. He leaned closer to Julian, only to quickly lean back again as Ceath moved in to check the damage he had caused. Stan glared at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked, turning his attention back to the dark skinned man after only a brief moment.

[Winterling42]

Julian spluttered a little at Skye's insult. He glanced over at the man, a look that was more than half glare, and then transferred it to Ceath. "Yes, thank you." It wasn't quite clear who he was talking to; Ceath or Stan or maybe even Skye.
He stood up, forcing Ceath to back away a little or fall down. Half-turning, he looked only obliquely towards his long-haired suitor. "I may be the only one in this room that doesn't think studying a language as complicated and elegant as English is a 'silly' way to spend two more years of my life. But since it is my life, and not any of yours, I expect a certain amount of respect for it."
He pushed the water bottle back into Ceath's hands, walking past him and shaking his head. "I'll go get the rest of my things. You don't need to help."

[zombliez]

Ceath looked at Julian with desperate eyes. “I can go with you.” He said in an even tone. His amber eyes watched the dark skinned man as he pushed right past Ceath without so much as a word. The young tattooed man was more then confused on what Julian was going on about when it came to the English language and his eyes quickly narrowed at the cause of the issue: Skye. He had known better then to let the rude mouthed neighbor in the apartment on Julian’s first day but hadn’t had the patience to explain to Skye why.

Skye looked at Julian with a hint of surprise. “Well, I didn’t mean to offend sweetheart.” He said in a soft needy voice, looking at the grad student with dark desperate eyes. But the damage had been done, Julian was gone and there was nothing Skye could do to fix it. His chubby hands curled into tight fists as he looked at the wooden door with pure disgust. This had not been what he wanted, not in the slightest. Julian was supposed to find Skye to be the perfect princess and sweep him off his feet, but there had been no sweeping—not yet.

The ginger prince frowned as he watched his new (and maybe perhaps sooner then he had hoped, ex) roommate storm off. The last thing he had wanted was for Julian to find their hall mates unappealing, even if Skye could be a bit much. The copper skinned man turned his attention towards the greedy blonde and glared. “Why did you have to go and do that for?” Ceath’s voice was on the verge of anger, but for the sake of the other ginger in the room, he kept it at irritation.

The blonde glowered at the standing ginger, then at the two seated on the couch around him, and then back to Ceath. “Me?” He asked in an acidy tone. He could not believe that the tattooed man in front of him had the nerve to even imply that it was Skye’s fault. “How dare.” He growled in a threatening tone that would not last very long. “You’re the one who hit him in the head.” Skye finally snapped and then pushed the powder blue lamp off of the end table and onto the floor.

After about a minute of pure shock on Ceath’s part Skye smiled sweetly, “Now who would like some tea?”

xx

Amelia Day blew out a sigh as she peeled her sleek black helmet from her head and rested it on the seat of her YZF RI motorcycle. Her black curls crowded her suddenly and her slender fingers quickly pulled it into a tight messy bun towards the top of her head to prevent the fizziness of it from being seen. The bright city of Megitau was no stranger to motorcycles—they were the continuous pulse that kept the city beating like a drum. Between the universities, the comparative price of bike versus car, and the nightlife it seemed almost guaranteed that Megitau was a place made for it.

Her regular work out day would’ve been much longer and her normally tense body would’ve felt significantly stronger—muscles would’ve been aching and her heart would’ve been beating faster still but the days events had not gone as planned. River, one of the bar’s regulars, had decided to show up at her regular place and regular work out time. Upon seeing his fancy wine red Lamborghini in the parking lot she zipped out of there without a second thought. The last thing she wanted to do was get harassed by a guy with too much money for anyone’s own good. She wasn’t looking for anyone to buy her.

Barely blinking her cornflower blue eyes caught the sight of a young man whose face she had never seen before. He was a tad taller than her and considerably darker as well as beautiful. She wasn’t a fan of strangers and had never pretended to be. But there was something about him that made her bite her pale pink bottom lip and stride towards him on uneasy feet. Her puma tennis shoes hit the crumbling pavement without a hint of a sound. Perhaps it was his awkward fumbling with boxes or his lack luster outfit—but regardless of what it was she was breaking her social norms. Amelia was sure that she would later regret doing so.

“Salut.” she called out to him in her native tongue. Amelia did not have a yelling voice but rather a steady one. She gave him a once over to make sure that he seemed harmless, or at least, harmless enough. Feeling relaxed and far from threatened she stopped at about ten feet from him. Her stormy eyes looked at him with a muted expression. She was a woman made of black and white. She was wearing a black sports bra that left her freckled but toned bare stomach and her more than prominent collarbone exposed. A pair of black exercise shorts hung loosely off of her and black calf socks that matched her pumas hugged her legs tightly. The only splash of color other than her eyes was the pastel pink leather jacket tucked underneath her right arm.

Looking at him for a long, breathless moment, she added, “Would you like some help?”

[gingerprincessannie]

Aneira watched as Julian left, her green eyes wide and wary of the situation. The room was tense and though she wasn't really surprised when the lamp crashed to the ground, a small sound of alarm still escaped her pink lips. Her eyes stayed glued to Ceath, looking to the ginger man for a sign of what to do next.
"Maybe, we should leave," she suggested to Skye somewhat desperately. "I think it would be better if we were gone when Julian gets back." She looked from him to Ceath.

* * *

Stan jumped to his feet when Julian left, and only just stopped himself from reaching out as if to stop him. I like English, he wanted to say. But the dark skinned man was gone before the words could leave his lips.
At Aneira's words, he reeled around to face the small ginger woman with whom he shared a room. "I think we should stay and make sure everything is okay," he argued. "Maybe Skye should be the one to leave. The rest of us didn't do anything wrong." Stan didn't look at Skye even as he directed his comment in his direction. The Korean man had upset Julian so, and Stan didn't want to leave now, while the situation was still somewhat up in the air.

[Winterling42]

"Um." Julian looked around, his chin pressed tightly into the third box piled precariously in his arms. And for a heart-stopping second couldn't figure out any sort of answer for her. Beautiful women who belonged among a pantheon of their own did not stop to ask grad students sloppily dressed in an old pair of jeans and an off-white T-shirt if they needed help. "Yes, really." He said, recovering most of his wits and stepping aside so she could pull a box out of the back of the car. "I don't have a key to get in, yet." He pretended (even to himself) that was the only reason he'd accepted her offer of assistance.
Not particularly looking forward to going through the inevitable recriminations for his abrupt departure, Julian didn't keep a quick pace through the garage and then up the elevator. "Do you live on this floor too?" He asked, hopeful that there would be at least one neighbor who wouldn't be quite as insane as the rest of them.

[zombliez]

Skye didn’t so much as look at Aneira when she made the suggestion to leave. It hadn’t even been a thought that would’ve crossed his mind willingly and the petite girl with the annoying little scratchy voice would not be his voice of reason.

The blonde’s neck cracked as he looked at Stan with vicious eyes and a rueful smile. He couldn’t believe the nerve of his roommate—or the fact that Stan finally found nerve at all. Skye hadn’t known the boy too long, but long enough to know that he didn’t have a backbone or much a personality in Skye’s dark eyes. He was just a lowly shell of a person that didn’t have much of a point other then to blubber around like a fish out of water. He was only necessary on the grand cosmic scale to keep people like Skye reassured that they were, in fact, more superior still.

“What was that Stan?” The older golden skinned man’s voice cut through the air like a readily sharpened knife. Skye’s hands found themselves placed firmly on his hips as he looked at the younger boy sitting on the god-awful couch cushion beside him. Skye’s fingers began to dig into the material of his dress as he thought of how easy it would be to just—

Skye removed himself from the couch slowly and then looked down at the boy. He looked like a small child with his hopeful eyes and nervous body. “Stand, sweetie, do remember that I know where you live.” Skye batted his eyelashes sweetly, though it was very clear that the action was anything but sweet.

Ceath’s first words when the shock washed over him were, “What the ******** hell?” He glowered at the curly haired blonde. “Amelia is going to kill you. She is going to actually kill you.” He looked down at the once simple blue lamp that was now shattered on the ground. His feet mindlessly started towards it, his copper eyes set on the broken pieces. It was the oldest thing in their apartment—it was the last thing she had kept from her parents place and the only practical thing Ealt had ever bought her.

Skye stiffened at Ceath’s voice and looked towards him quietly. “She couldn’t kill me fi she tried.” He decided it was his best route; Amelia wouldn’t do anything illegal as far as he was concerned, and killing was, in fact, illegal. Giving a light shrug he added, “Besides, I didn’t do it. It was Stan. He’s closest after all.” Skye’s eyes flickered at the dark skinned boy whom Skye had earlier reached over in order to push the lamp. He dared them to argue with him.

Ceath found himself angrier at Skye’s inability to admit that it was his fault that Julian left and his fault that Amelia’s lamp was now in pieces scattered across the floor. “Get out.” His voice cracked with uncontrolled anger. Ceatherine Harrison wasn’t one to get angry often, but when he was angry, actually angry and not simple petty anger, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Skye looked from Aneira to Stan and upon finding no help he let out an irritated noise. “Fine, I’ll clean the damned thing up. But you will not tell me what to do, Ceatherine.” He did not say it, but the thought hung between him and the ginger man. ’I could ruin you, and I will if you do not allow me what I want.’

With narrowed eyes Ceath let out a groan and said, “Fine.”

Skye smiled at him and explained that he would be back in less than a minute. The curly haired man skipped out of room and Ceath hoped more than anything that he would decide not to come back.

xx

Amelia glanced at him as he explained he didn’t have keys to get in. She had known Kindle long enough to gather that tenants didn’t receive keys until they were approved to move in. But the obviousness of that seemed to miss the man in front of her entirely and she figured that meant he must’ve been moving in with someone who currently lived in the tower and let it be.

With ease she moved past him and stacked the remainder of boxes on top of another. She checked to see if any of them were fragile in nature and put those at the top; sure of herself that she wouldn’t break them. They weren’t particularly heavy boxes, not to her at least, and so the slow pace the stranger was keeping them at wasn’t very strenuous.

They didn’t talk of anything, though Amelia wouldn’t have minded to hear him talk, for she, herself, would most likely not respond. As they reached the elevator and Julian clicked her floor number, chills ran down her carelessly.

She went through a quick list of who lived on the hall with available rooms and came to the conclusion that none of them had open rooms. Daela and Karl lived in the only single roomed apartment, where as Kai and Faron’s three rooms was filled to the brim with children. Skye wasn’t one to share a room and the other room in his apartment held Aneira who was less then fond of the idea of roommates. This left her apartment the only possibility.

“Sept enfers.” She muttered under her breath in an irritated musical tone, not paying Julian any more mind then she could afford. If she was right, and the nameless dark skinned man was—though she couldn’t fathom why—moving into her apartment, she was certain her and Ceath would get into a fight.

Choosing to not believe it (as over the years denial had become her best and perhaps only friend) she looked at him with quiet eyes. “Are you sure this is your floor?” she asked in the best monotone voice she could muster—years of practice had done her well in keeping her voice even, if only in English. French was a language she would never allow herself to suppress tone in, it was far too pretty for that. English was mediocre in comparison and didn’t rely on tone nearly as much as her flowery native tongue.

[gingerprincessannie]

Stan felt his heart stop as Skye addressed him, a threat in every motion the blonde man made. He couldn't get a word out of his tightened throat and somewhere in the pit of his stomach, frustration at being addressed as a child burned. He was grateful, however, that Julian had not been present to witness him being scolded by his intimidating roommate.
When Skye turned the blame to him, he opened his mouth, only to close it again as Skye looked at him. Admittedly, Stan did not like the idea of angering Skye, especially since Skye was right. They did share an apartment and if Skye had reason to harm him, Stan would be spending sleepless nights in the room he shared with Aneira. He glanced over at the woman who hardly took up any room on the couch beside him. She wouldn't be useful if Skye decided to try anything, he doubted she could even protect herself if it came to it. So he sat and quietly seethed instead.

* * *

Aneira swallowed hard as the tension in the room seemed to close around her throat, lungs tight in her chest as air hardly made it through her lips. She watched the events around her with wary green eyes and jumped when Ceath's voice cracked. She'd rarely seen Ceath so angry, if ever. Her eyes glanced down at the lamp, simple enough, that lay in pieces on the floor. What was so special about it that he was so angry? She decided that maybe it was the situation as a whole that caused the strong emotion and kept quiet. There was nothing she could do to make the situation better and she didn't want to run the risk of making it worse like Skye was.
When Skye left, she looked up at Ceath apologetically. "Maybe he'll stay away?" she said hopefully, but her tone made it clear that she didn't really believe Skye's continued absence was much of a possibility.

[Winterling42]

"Um. Pretty sure." Julian hadn't been worried about getting lost until she said something about it. Ridiculous, of course, and there obviously wasn't a way he could put down the boxes to check the piece of paper in his pocket. "Why, is something wrong?" Even if he couldn't tell what she was cursing by, her tone of voice made it obvious enough.
As Julian stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway he saw several doors open, and one of them (at the end) occupied. A short man with dark hair just barely short of falling in his eyes was leaning against the frame of the door. Well, leaning wasn't quite the right word. The stranger had somehow managed to steady himself while keeping both feet off the floor, pushing his back against one side of the frame and his feet against the other. His arms were crossed, and he looked rather smug.
"Yo! Amelia!" He let himself down from his perch, nearly landing on his face as his feet tangled up. "What's up with the new guy?"
Julian, still resting his chin on the uppermost box, looked sideways– at Amelia, was it? Why would she know about him moving in, any more than he did?

[zombliez]

Ceath stared at the door with hopeful eyes, he didn’t want the blonde to return, even if he knew with all of his might that he would. The loud clacking of Skye leaving the room was comforting, but only a little due to this fact. Ceath wasn’t as oblivious as people liked to believe and he could tell that Skye had his sights set on Julian. As the realization of that fact hit him harder he let out an annoyed groan, “******** me.” Running a hand through his messy red hair he looked at the princess sitting on his couch.

She was pretty, beyond pretty and Ceath wished he could think of a more poetic way to describe her—he could’ve if his mind was only in the right place. It wasn’t, his anger at Skye had not subdued to a point where he could let his mind wander and admire the beauty of the world. The tattooed man was too busy wallowing over the worst parts. “I hope so.” Ceath said in a calmer voice, though there was still an undertone of irritation present in the room.

xx

Amelia looked at Julian as he asked her if something was wrong. Of course something was wrong and the fact that a total stranger could tell that something was bothering only confirmed it. Her normally controlled tongue didn’t even think to give her the satisfaction of staying quiet. “Very.” It was a simple one-word answer, which was more then most could say they received when expecting a response from Amelia Day. Talkative was not a word that could ever bused to describe Amelia Ester Day.

She chewed on her bottom pale lip, clearly not wanting to explain on what exactly was wrong about the situation. She felt awkward enough helping him and awkwarder still for showing even the tiniest bit of emotion.

Amelia glared at Karl, if anyone was to be informed it would be him, which simply frustrated her more. Without saying a word she continued to hold a rather unamused expression. “I don’t know.” Was all the response she offered to give the shorter man in front of her. Her voice was the definition of flat. She hadn’t known, not really. She had an assumption—but that didn’t mean she was ready to admit it by any means.

[Winterling42]

Julian frowned, looking back and forth between Amelia and the short newcomer. "I am standing right here," he said, only a little disgruntled. "You could always ask." He tapped nervous fingers against the edges of his boxes, only too eager to put them down somewhere.

"Well then, who are you?" The stranger put himself squarely in front of Julian, almost erasing him from view.

Julian sighed heavily, pretending to be comfortable with the weight he was carrying (boxes full of books were heavy). "My name's Julian, I'm moving into that apartment to go to grad school at the university." He said, pointing down the hall. "This has been your daily bulletin."

He didn't expect the virulence of the reaction from both the short guy and Amelia. The stranger backed up a few steps, glancing towards the door Julian'd pointed to and then (nervously) at Amelia. "I didn't know anything about it!" He protested, raising both hands in surrender.

[Darkargo]

The door to apartment A creaked open. "Look, Shaun, it's a new person." Angelina pointed her stubby finger at Julian. "Do you want to meet the new person?" Her twin shook his head and darted back into the apartment. Angie shrugged and kept peering out from the crack in the door. Kai strode over to her daughter after being alerted by Shaun. "So there's a new person, huh?" She crouched behind Angelina and looked out the door. "Do you want to go meet him?" Angie giggled excitedly and trotted out the door.

"I thought there was a lot of noise coming from here." Kai scooped up her daughter and smiled at Julian. "I'm Kai, and this is my daughter, Angelina."
"I'm six!" Angie blurted. "And I'm not scared of the dark." Kai chuckled before putting her squirming child back on the floor.
"Do you need help unpacking?" She smiled at Julian. Her daughter was currently running over to Karl and thrust her hands up in the air. "Pick me up like an airplane, uncle Karl!"

[gingerprincessannie]

Aneira turned her head toward the door as there were sounds from the hallway. Voices, all of them familiar to her ears. The pitter-pattering of small feet caught her attention and she cringed internally. She recognized the sound of one of Kai's children, though frankly, she had no idea which one it might be. It sounded like they were greeting someone, the sounds more enthusiastic and cheerful than the normal hellos as they passed each other in the hallway.
"Sounds like they've all decided to meet Julian," she said curiously.

* * *
Stan wondered when Julian would be back. He hoped it would be soon. He wondered briefly if he should go see if he could find the attractive man, to tell him that Skye had left. Maybe once they were alone, Stan wouldn't be so awkward, maybe he could be smooth for once. At Aneira's words, he perked up, eyes immediately finding the door.

[zombliez]

Ceath looked over at Aneira as the young woman began to speak in her chirpy voice, every time she spoke it was like a wave of fresh air to him. He momentarily wondered why she didn’t speak more and decided to ask her about it later. The ginger prince also made a mental note to stop being interested in quiet ladies.

“Yeah?” He asked in mild interest and wondered how Julian would take to kids. The ginger had never thought of asking him—in fact looking back he hadn’t thought about asking him a lot of things. Deciding not to worry about it too much he looked at the dreamy eyed boy sitting on his couch. “Are you okay?” Ceath raised an eyebrow.

xx

Skye, due to a lack of disinterest at the sound of the voices of children, snuck into the apartment across the hall. “There, that’s better.” He announced when he sauntered into Apartment B. The Korean man had changed into a skimpy excuse for a French maid’s outfit—complete with feather duster and lace headdress. The top of the dress was heart shaped and trimmed with floral lace, the apron was naturally white and barely kissed the end of the dress. He had even taken time to reapply his makeup, switching out the bubblegum pink lip-gloss with cherry blossom instead.

Ceath stared at the blonde, mouth ajar and dumbfounded at the sight. For he was sure he had seen that outfit before—just not on the other man. Startled, Ceath fumbled for words. Feeling a bit exposed, Ceath folded his arms over his chest. The ginger prince was no stranger to lingerie, on anyone, but when it was on Skye there was an unnatural discomfort that followed. Clearing his throat his copper eyes looked at the feather duster. “You’re not going to be able to sweep up the lamp with that.”

Rolling his eyes Skye sighed, “Well, obviously.” He walked past Ceath to get the broom from the kitchen. Upon reentering the living room he bent over to begin sweeping.

Running a hand along his face, Ceath huffed at the blonde. “Skye.”

Skye looked over his shoulder at Ceath, “What?”

“No one wants to see your panties.” Ceath said in a disgruntled tone. Without warning or thought, Ceath suggested, “Get on your knees or something.”


Skye only smirked at Ceath. Looking at Stan he asked, "What do you think? Should I bend over or get on my knees?"

xx

Amelia’s heart stopped as the strange man in front of her claimed to be moving into that apartment, apartment b—her apartment. Karl’s protest and the rush of conversation that began to fill the hall thanks to a small child’s curiosity floated past her. Without so much as a noise she carefully placed the boxes onto the ground next to her, making sure they were stable before she allowed her numb feet to carry her forward, passing the shorter man without so much as a look.

xx

out.of.character:: the ********? i ******** up. i ******** up. i ******** up. i ******** up. i ******** up. i ******** up. i ******** up. i'm so sorry. i'm trash.

[gingerprincessannie]

Stan jumped a little as Ceath's question broke him out of his wondering. "What?" he asked and his voice squeaked as it jumped up an octave. "I-I'm fine!" he said, his cheeks burning red as he kept his attention purposefully away from the door.

When it opened though, he quickly turned his dark eyes back to it. His eyes widened briefly and he felt the urge to look away as Skye re-entered in what Stan thought was an outfit that did not suit the man at all. Frankly, he did not want to see that much of Skye. In fact, his mind wandered unbidden to what Julian might look like in the skimpy attire. A small frustrated squeak almost escaped him, but he swallowed it and tried to focus on the somewhat unappealing sight in front of him.

When Skye bent over though, Stan froze and pressed his lips together, biting where he had pulled them into his mouth. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't focus on anything other than what was going on in front of him. When Skye addressed him, he blushed furiously and turned his eyes up to Skye's. "You should put on something more appropriate," he snapped. "You already scared Julian enough. He's never going to want to come back if you keep this up.”

With those words, Stan stormed out of the apartment. Tears were pressing at the backs of his eyes, and he didn’t want to give Skye the satisfaction.

* * *

Aneira didn't know what to make of Skye when he walked in. In fact, her initial thought was whether or not that was the outfit from her closet, then she quickly spotted differences and a sense of relief took hold for a brief moment. The blush that had come over her cheeks, however, stayed longer.

She stayed silent though and glanced at Ceath only to see the same look of recognition cross his face before his expression settled into a look of mild irritation. Green eyes watched the interchange between Skye and Ceath carefully, but she couldn’t stop herself from snorting quietly when Ceath requested that Skye get on his knees to sweep.

It was fine, until Skye turned to Stan. Aneira closed her eyes briefly, one hand reaching to twist a ginger lock of hair around her fingers. She glanced over at him warily. They all made fun of Stan, mostly behind his back, but Aneira knew that the boy had a temper when pushed too far. She waited. Sure enough, Stan practically stood with the force of his emotion as he near shouted at Skye before storming out entirely. She cringed internally at the thought of returning to the apartment with them later for the aftermath and turned pleading eyes to Ceath.

[Winterling42]

Julian made an effort to smile normally at Kai and her girl, shoving Skye to the back of his mind. "Nice to meet you." He said, shrugging his boxes into a more manageable position. "I would shake hands, but…"

"Um, there's really not that much left to do," he said, in response to her offer to help. "There's just these boxes left to move, actually." He glanced over at Amelia, heart thudding in sudden syncopation. "Thank you for the offer."

xxx

Karl grinned and laughed sharply, hauling Angie up into the air and barely managing to support her with elbows locked. He wavered, spinning a little, and put her down again. "You're getting too big for that," he said, shaking out his wrists. "Soon you're going to have to lift me."

The shorter man looked over at the parade of people storming out. His curiosity (not strictly under control in the best of times) got the better of him, and he went to see why most of the people who lived in 'D' had been visiting Ceath. His view was blocked, of course, by Amelia's presence in the doorway, but he got a good enough look to turn and shoo Angie away hurriedly, following the girl down the hall to make sure she went. "Nothing fun in there." He muttered, sincerely. "Just grown ups being…weird." Weird was an understatement to describe Skye.