jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
jumbrello
Offline
◤▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔◥
◄xxPercy Ignatius Weasleyxx►
◣▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁◢
—————————————————————————
◇xxx❖xxx◇
◄xxPercy Ignatius Weasleyxx►
◣▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁◢
—————————————————————————
◇xxx❖xxx◇
- As he did every morning, Percy Weasley woke early. He wore his usual uniform, his tie perfectly straight on top of the plain white shirt. All of this was topped off by a faded black cloak, so worn it was really closer to a shade of gray. His mother had bought him new clothes when he became a Prefect in his fifth year, but by age fifteen, he’d already shot up as tall as his father and didn’t grow much past that point. He’d always hoped that he’d even out, grow a little broader like Charlie, but it simply didn’t happen. He was every bit the image of his father – tall, a little gangly, freckled, with a red shock of hair and the occasional need for glasses (though he did his best to avoid wearing them, resulting in a staggering clumsiness of his long limbs). The coup de grace of the whole ensemble was the Head Boy’s badge, which he affixed to his chest just right. He spent more time polishing that badge than his wand, his shoes and his glasses combined.
Before the majority of the castle was awake, Percy always did a round through the halls to make sure everything was in order. He’d convinced himself that his presence was absolutely necessary for Hogwarts to continue functioning properly. Of course, he was absolutely correct. Without him, things would have fallen apart.
But eventually, his duties were complete and it was time for breakfast. He made his way to the Great Hall and there were a respectable number of people there. He paused in the doors, his eyes skimming the space for Penelope Clearwater, his girlfriend of nearly two years no, though he didn’t like to brag. He thought they were supposed to eat together, but it didn’t seem like the Ravenclaw girl was there yet. Ah well, it wouldn’t kill him to sit with his own house for once. And, luckily enough, his lazy twin brothers weren’t there yet. That was by far the most exciting thin that had happened to him thus far. He could scarcely stand sitting there to bear their torment. Wasn’t it the older brother who was supposed to torture the younger ones? It didn’t seem to work that way…
In any case, he was quite pleased to have the chance to eat breakfast in peace. He crossed to the Gryffindor table and sat opposite Thalia Lorcáin, whom he was quite comfortable with. She was in his brothers’ year, sure, but he’d grown up next to her and she’d always been nice to him, though he felt sure that she favored his immensely more exciting siblings. Still, he’d always liked her and found her company more enjoyable than most. ”Good morning, Thalia,” he greeted her with a warm smile when he sat down.
Just because he liked her, that didn’t mean he was any better at talking to her than he was at talking to anyone else. Percy didn’t have the gift for locution that some of his other family member’s possessed. He didn’t like talking to others. It made him nervous, which made him stuffy, and which, in turn, made him sound like an uptight p***k. He was shy and he’d found it was just better that he kept his mouth shut than spout off and offend people who would otherwise be his friends. So, rather than try his hand at small talk, he flipped open the newspaper.
Like a good, upstanding wizard, Percy had brought with him a copy of The Daily Prophet. He’d tucked it under his arm on the way out of his dormitory. He read it every morning – one must stay up to date on important goings on, mind you. It was a habit he’d picked up from his father and had maintained from childhood, when he would sit on his dad’s lap, his nose close to a mug of Earl Grey that always smelled strong. The steam would warm his little face while he shifted in the man’s lap and gazed at the paper held out in front of the both of them, pretending he understood what was going on. Mind, now he could actually read and he was far too big and sophisticated to sit on his father’s lap anymore. But the tradition had stuck and even at Hogwarts, Percy Weasley sipped on tea while he read through the entirety of The Prophet. He never ate more than a muffin or biscuit, but the tea was an absolute must. It was a good, respectable way for the Head Boy to start his day.
At least, that’s the way he saw it. There were those who didn’t agree. Namely, his younger brothers, who found the ceremony needlessly pompous, as they viewed nearly everything he did. Of course, there weren’t many things he did to dissuade them from this habit.
At that moment, Fred and George entered the Great Hall with Lee Jordan. Fred motioned for the other two to stay quiet as he snuck towards the long Gryffindor table on his tiptoes. That drew a few stares, but Percy, with his nose buried in the newspaper was entirely oblivious. With a dramatic show, Fred crossed his lips with one finger, wanting Thalia to stay quiet. He winked at her. From the start, the twins had ushered Thalia into their inner circle and expected her compliance in most things. That didn’t mean they always got it. Fred pointed that same finger high in the air before sticking it in his own mouth and pulling it out once again, sopping wet, with a flourish.
It was time for the morning’s Wet Willy.
jumbrello
Offline
- xxxxx(☾✸☽)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxℝoseLyraWeasleyxxxxx
『xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx▷ move while you're ❤ watching me
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxdance with ⇎ the enemy
i've got a r-remedyxx➸
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx』”Go away, Hugo!” Rose snapped. She was trying to read, btu it wimply wasn’t going her way. Hugo just wouldn’t shut up. Rose loved him, but she loved him in a way that only a big sister could – she required that he be at least two continents away from her for ninety-eight percent of the time. Unfortunately, they were rarely more than two floors apart. That was one of the best things about coming to Hogwarts – she was in gryffindor and he’d been placed in Ravenclaw. She might have been disappointed at not being placed in the same house as her brother, but breaking with family tradition had some advantages. When she got really desperate, she could always retreat to the seventh floor and the safety of her Common Room; the same luxury was not afforded to her on the Hogwarts Express.
”But don’t you think it’s weird that she’s working so much?” Hugo asked as if he wasn’t aware she’d just dismissed him. He was a clever boy; Rose knew better.
”No, I don’t,” she retorted shortly. Their mother always worked long hours and, the way their father told it, that’s the way it had always been. She’d thrown herself into whatever work presented itself – school, S.P.E.W., it didn’t matter much. It wasn’t really surprising to Rose that she was busy over summer. She didn’t bother raising her eyes from her book, hoping he’d get the hint. She’d had enough of this conversation over the summer and was quite done with indulging him. ”Mum always works too much.”
”But never this much… I mean… Dad doesn’t work all the time.”
”And Dad never would. He’s Dad. She’s Mum. She’s always worked harder than him, Hugo. It’s not weird.”
”I think it’s weird…”
”Well, you’re wrong.”
”And you’re being a stupid jerk,” he snapped. A true pair of Weasleys, it was only a matter of time before someone turned red in the face. This time, it was Hugo. Rose smiled. She knew what would happen next. Her little brother was unfailingly predictable. True to form, he stood up and left the compartment with a huff. He left her in solitude with her book, finally.
There was only one problem… Now, she couldn’t focus on it. She sighed, dropping the dome on her lap, open with the pages face down. Rose was of the firm belief that N.E.W.T.s needed to be prepared for long before term started. Already, she was behind. Her head dropped back and she stared at the ceiling. If she was being honest with herself, it was odd that their mother was working as much as she was. Sure, she’d always been pretty busy, but not this busy. Rose had never had reason to feel particularly neglected before, but when she’d come home for the summer, she’d expected her mother to set out a study regimen for her. Her upcoming exams were hardly mentioned that summer at all. It was fair. Rose was of an age when she should be responsible for her own studying and their mother was busy revising yet another edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It was just odd that, for the entirety of summer, they’d seen precious little of Hermione Weasley. It was weird, sure, but Rose – ever her mother’s daughter – was staunchly in denial of any explanation for it beyond what she could prove with tangible evidence. She wasn’t the sort of girl to make up fantasies without proof. As a Prefect, she simply didn't have time. She was generally inclined to just look at the logic of a given situation and logic said that their mother was just unequivocally busy.
Logic didn’t entirely dissolve the uncomfortable twinge that was growing in her stomach. It was a twinge that could only be overcome by her second great love – food. Her first was books.
As if on cue, the snack trolly came passed her closed compartment door. Rose abandoned her book on the seat beside her and rushed into the hallway.
”Something off the trolley, dear?” the plump witch asked.
”Yes, please,” Rose chirped with a brilliant smile. I’ll have… three chocolate frogs, some Bertie Bott’s, and two pumpkin pasties.” She dug in her pocket for some sickles and exchanged them for her goodies. Normally, she was quite reasonable, but every girl had their weakness; hers just happened to be sweets.
She returned to her seat and dumped her respectable pile on the seat beside her book. Now that she was thinking about it, she was really looking forward to the start of term feast. In that spirit, she picked up a pumpkin pasty, unwrapped it, and took a large bit. Yes, there was absolutely nothing better for relieving one’s anxieties than a pumpkin pasty.
- outfit//... [train]
jumbrello
Offline
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- ✚✚✚✚✚ let it be, and come to me with the look in your eyes.
xxx]will you break and take all the words from my mouth?
when all the ❥ pretty girls can't measure to you??xx◢◢
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
- Remus dug in his pocket for the little jar of frogspawn that his mother had bought for him for potions. Paradoxically, Remus didn’t think frogspawn was best used in potions at all, but instead felt assured that he could come up with some better use for the gooey substance. He unstopped the cap and dug a little plastic spoon from his pocket. He’d nabbed his weapon from the snack trolley as it had passed him earlier. The only thing that was missing was his victim and he had a very particular one in mind. He'd recently become aware that there was one particular lady at Hogwarts who was in need of some concerted heckling.
He frowned as his bright green eyes scanned the hallway for her. He could really use a Marauder’s Map that worked for the train. The actual Marauder’s map was tucked away safely in his trunk. James had plucked it out of their father’s desk when he’d been in school. Now that he’d graduated, he had little use for it and had passed it along accordingly. Rather than put it in the hands of Albus, who was rather quiet and didn’t have much of a propensity for mischief making, or Lily, who was a girl, James had passed it on to Remus. Unsurprisingly, Remus thought that James had made just the right decision. He, of course, had spent many years idolizing James. He sought, above all things, to emulate him. So far, he was doing pretty well - he was certain he hadn't been considered for the Prefect's position, was clever enough to pass his classes with minimal effort, and was the best Chaser the Gryffindor Quidditch team had since James left. No matter that James only left a few months ago - he was still the best. It drove Albus, Lily, and their parents mad, but Remus didn’t care. James was cool and so was he.
Mind, this may have had something to do with the fact that he was the youngest Potter, the darling, and got away with more than all his other siblings combined.
”Oy! Remy! Hugo greeted him. The ginger edged past the crowds in the hallway to stop by his side. Remus grinned, but could only pass Hugo a fleeting glance before his eyes continued their fervent search. He didn’t want the goop to start dripping prematurely. ”Does Lily ever act like a total, stuck up harpy?”
”Of course,” James laughed. She was a girl, wasn’t she? He couldn’t help but laugh, though. He and Lily got along pretty well, when he wasn’t showing off for his friends anyway. And he knew Rose and Hugo did too. There wasn’t much he didn’t know about his extended family. He couldn’t begin to imagine what had gotten Hugo so ruffled. ”Always. That is how they work, isn’t it?”
Hugo was not impressed. Remus just snickered, which earned him a shove. He had to steady himself with a hand on the wall so that he didn’t drop frogspawn on his shoes. That would be a disaster. They were new. That was not an owl he wanted to sent do his mother.
”This isn’t funny!” Hugo protested indignantly, but the mood passed as quickly as it had come when he realized what Remus was holding. He looked at it cautiously. ”What’s that for?” he asked cautiously. He raised his red eyebrows. In response, Remus passed the full spoon under Hugo’s nose, causing the other boy to flinch back.
”It’s a welcome back present,” he answered with a grin. Now that the moment had passed with his friend, he resumed his search for Lacy again. Now, Remus wasn’t naturally cruel. He didn’t make a habit of flinging frogspawn on pretty girls just for the heck of it, but Lacey Malfoy seemed like just the kind of girl who was in need of pestering. Why? No particular reason, other than that he wanted her attention and this seemed like a sure fire way to get it.
”Remus, I really don’t think you sh-…” but Remus couldn’t hear him. His eyes had finally settled on the object of his desire and his lips cracked into a wide grin. Remus held the spoon upright and braced his thumb against the curve. Impervious to Hugo’s warning, Remus let the glob fly straight for her head. He dropped the spoon to his side and staggered back theatrically to admire his handiwork. There was no better way to get a girl to look your way than to throw something nasty at her head, right? Right. Remus chuckled, quite pleased with his cleverness.
Hugo, at least, was not.
”What did you do that for?” he hissed and threw his head around. Remus could only guess that he was looking to make sure that Scorpius was nowhere to be seen. Remus wasn’t scared, even if he was. He ignored Hugo and raised his hand to wiggle his fingers at Lacey, who was infinitely more appealing.
”Hey, Malfoy! Good summer?” He called out. He left his friend and sauntered over to her with a bounce in his step to charm her with his most winning smile as if that was fair payment for his trick. The dastardly spoon, he slipped in his back pocket, out of sight and out of mind. ”Well, you look just spectacular! Good to see you didn’t just sit around on your bum all summer and let Scorpius have all the fun. Where was my invitation? I was sure we discussed me coming to visit over break…” With his hands on his hips, his brow tucked down as if he were legitimately offended that he hadn’t gotten one. In fact, as stuffy and unappealing as a summer at Malfoy Manor sounded, he couldn't honestly say he'd have rejected one.
- outfit // ...
jumbrello
Offline
- BELLOWSFIRExxxxxx
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ⇙ ⇙
- my body tells me no-o-o
xxbut I won't quit
〖〖 cause I want ✖ ✖ more
xxxxcause I want xxxxxM O R E!!!
- ✖ ✖ oh, it's my roadxxxxxx⇍
and it's my ( ☀ ) war
│║█║█║▌│█│║║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║▌│█║▌│║║█▌│█│║▌║║█║▌│█│║▌║│
- Bellows Fire could only take so much of the Healer’s fretting. Really, it was a simple procedure. Bellows was sure he could have done it on his own. Sure, adult hosts were becoming harder and harder to come by, and harder to subdue, or so he’d heard. But those were only rumors. He had faith that this Soul was quite capable of managing the burden. ”You should relax,” he instructed as if he had some authority in the situation. ”He only whimpered once or twice. I’m sure he’s fine.” Bellows had seen Souls implanted in four-year-old hosts who screamed and wailed for more than an hour. This Soul had far more reason to make a fuss and he wasn’t. He was fine
Bellows Fire was born in the Vulture World. Earth was his only other home. He had cycled through three Vulture hosts, finding himself very well acclimated to the natural instincts of the Vultures, which were, all together, not entirely kind. That was putting it lightly, the way a Soul would. There were some who would claim, and rightly so, that Bellows Fire had been touched by his previous hosts. He too, was not entirely kind. That, he was used to. Impatience was a relatively new feeling for him. Apparently, it was a trait that his new host possessed in abundance. He tapped his foot while he listened to the steady beeping of the monitors set up to the Soul on the table. One would think he could manage to open his eyes. It felt like it had been hours.
He rolled his eyes as the Healer shushed him. ”Of course… We wouldn’t want to put too much on him at once,” Bellows returned snidely. He was just talking. The Healer could stand to get off his a**.
Finally, the Soul managed to open his eyes. Bellows crossed his arms. He supposed the Soul deserved a few minutes to get acclimated to his new host. He kept his mouth shut, for the moment. It was a struggle. He kept his mouth shut, but an annoyed huff escaped his nose when the Healer started his own line of questioning. Apparently, that was okay, but he couldn’t ask his questions.
Expecting Bellows Fire to hold his tongue was absolutely ludicrous. Once Adrian opened his mouth, Bellows had decided immediately that his light voice and tentativeness weren’t going to fly. To Bellows, he sounded weak. Bellows didn’t need a weak Soul helping him, he needed one with some gusto. Adrian would have to pick up the ball quickly.
”It isn’t theft,” Bellow corrected tersely. This got him a sharp look from the Healer, which he ignored. He raised one eyebrow. He’d never understand the inclination of some Souls to use their host’s name. It just seemed silly to hold onto something so trivial. And he was right - Adrian was a silly name. Nevertheless, it was not his place to comment. It was, however, well within his rights to remind this particular Soul that his body was his and his alone. ”It’s your name now, if you desire it. I’m sure the host doesn’t mind. Mine’s Bellows Fire,” he said with a grin, hopeful that they were finally getting somewhere. Of course his host wouldn’t mind. Adrian Calum Hayes, at least as he had been, was gone.
”Now, if you don’t mind accessing your memories, I’d like to know just how Adrian managed to get into a well populated city unnoticed. He was with someone, another human, I’m sure,” Bellows said the word ‘human’ with clear disgust. Even he thought they were vile, violent creatures. Earth was much better off with Souls. The humans destroyed and killed everything they touched. ”I want to know where she went. He must have known something of others out there.”
”This is not the best time…” the Healer admonished. Bellows felt his jaw clench in response. His job as a Seeker was every bit as important as the Healer’s.
”Every minute I don’t get my answers is another minute those humans have out there to entrench themselves. A wasted minute is just one more in which we don’t have peace. It’s another minute that one of our kind could meet their final death. We don’t have many minutes to waste.” His voice was marred by his clenched teeth. Bellows narrowed his silvery blue eyes at the Healer. When he turned them back towards Adrian once more, they were hard. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. ”Do you know where she was headed? Are there others nearby?”
jumbrello
Offline
█xx█xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEMMELINEREBECCAALBRIGHTxxxxx
- ✔✔✔ i've seen more places ∞ than i can name
xxxxxand over time they all start to look ⇄ the same
but it ain't that truth we chase ( ❂ )
xxxno, it's the promise of a better place ❥❥❥❥❥
- ↘↘xxbut all this time I've been chasing down a ⓛⓘⓔ
xxxxxxand I know it for what it is
but it beats ☽☽ the alternatives
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxso I'll take the ⓁⒾⒺ
▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄
- Em had never been so alone as she felt now. In fact, she’d been just about as not alone was it was possible to be. She’d had a family – mom, dad, dog, and a twin sister, Evelyn, who was almost literally attached to her hip. But they were all gone now, except maybe the dog. The parasites didn’t seem to have much interest in dogs, at least as far as she could tell. Hell, it was just a matter of chance that she wasn’t a parasite too.
She was supposed to present her proposal for a new product in Civics and Economics later that day. What product? She had no idea. That was part of the problem. She’d procrastinated. She had a presentation in a matter of hours that she was in no way, shape or form prepared for. Nervousness turned her stomach that morning. She’d taken that, mixed in a healthy dose of truth stretching, and turned it into a sick day. She was old enough to stay home and so her parents went off to work and Evelyn, ever the good student, went to school with her well-prepared-for speech.
Emmeline was in high school. Her biggest concerns were whether Tyler Johnson was going to ask her to prom, unfinished projects, and if she was ever going to understand the practical use of Algebra. That day, she was particularly concerned with finding decent daytime television.
Having gotten off school at 3:15, Evelyn got home before their parents. Emmeline knew something was wrong immediately. She sensed it in only the way a close sibling could, but she couldn’t put her finger in just what was wrong. Evelyn was as affable as ever, but that didn’t ease Emmeline’s worries. She called their friend Allison, who assured her that everything was fine in the blandest way she’d ever heard Allison talk. At the best of time, Allison was longwinded and easily excitable. This conversation was short. Thinking back on it, that should have been a clear warning.
At the time, she’d pushed it away and continued flipping through the channels while Evelyn went about her business in her room and their parents returned from work. They were only there for a little while before the three of them left for a PTA meeting. Emmeline couldn’t remember that a PTA meeting had been scheduled, but she’d never paid much attention to those things. Evelyn had always been the clever, involved one. Emmeline like track and soccer, but she could do without sitting in the library in her free time listening to parents try to figure out prom decorations.
It was a particularly long PTA meeting. By the time that they got back, Emmeline had completely forgotten her prior anxiety. It was late, but when they returned, that uncomfortable prickle of the hair at the back of her neck returned. It got worse when she looked into her mother’s eyes. Perhaps the lighting was wrong. Maybe she was sick… Feverish, even. Right, that had to be it.
Emmeline’s brows tucked down when she watched Evelyn carry a strange, shiny box under her arm. There was something about how she moved about it that told Emmeline her sister thought it was very important, but she’d never seen it before. Whatever it was, Emmeline had the distinct impression that she wanted to stay the hell away from it. The box and her sister disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later, her mother called her in for dinner. Emmeline went; she had no logical reason not to. That was, at least, until she saw the small knife her father had his fingers wrapped around. He held it by his side, almost discreetly, but Emmeline saw the glint of the sharp blade in the bright kitchen light. That wasn’t the only thing glistening. She looked to Evelyn, seeking some kind of explanation for the strangeness of the scene, but her eyes were glowing. Well… perhaps glowing wasn’t the right word, but they reflected the light in an entirely inhuman way.
”Come here, sweetie. Everything’s all right…” Her father stepped towards her with a warm, kind smile, as if he did not realize how startling it was to see the knife gripped in his fingers. Everything was most certainly not all right! Their eyes were shining! They were all smiling at her like she as some kind of skittish dog that they were trying to coax closer. It wasn’t freaking happening! This was some freaky, horror movie esque- end of the world s**t and Emmeline was having no part of it. Her father reached for her arm and Emmeline shot back. She did the only thing she knew how to do – she ran. In her pajamas and bedroom slippers, she bolted out of the house at a hard spring. Her sister might have been the clever one, but Emmeline was a track star.
Em shot up on her cot with a gasp. Her forehead was covered in a cold sweat and her heart was racing in her chest. The dreams had gotten so much worse since she’d lost Adrian. As if the guilt of abandoning him wasn’t enough, she was reminded of all the people she’d run from, all the people she’d left to their fates, nightly. She ran her fingers through her hair, working it out nervously. She’d left him. Had she had any choice? She hadn’t seen one at the time other than run after him and have a parasite implanted in her head too, but that didn’t lessen the blow of letting him go. She felt like she’d betrayed him. She didn’t even have anything to show for it. Her breath escaped in a shaky stream and she threw herself out of bed. She did her best to clean herself up in the dim light of the cavern. At this point, her appearance didn’t matter much, still, there was no reason to give up entirely. Her morning rituals, simple as they were, still had hope in them. When she gave them up, there’d be nothing left. She couldn’t let that happen.
”Em!” A high-pitched voice called out from the center of the field when Em finally made it to the central part of their complex. Em had ditched Emmeline a few years back, it was too long and fluffy. There wasn’t much romanticism left in the world and she preferred to keep her name short, utilitarian. She smiled in return at the little girl who threw up her arms in greeting. Em passed a nod to the girl’s mother before she stepped onto the field. She’d been there for the little girl's first word and that was a precious gift. She was still tiny, but it was heartening to see a kid. She was quite fond of Laura. She thought Evelyn would have been too. She was bright. She certainly lifted moods in the complex like no one else could.
A gruff chuckle carried to her from the center of the field and John, an older man with a gray-flecked beard leaned on his plow as she approached him. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned. He had kind eyes. ”Well, if it isn’t Miss Emmy Albright, freshly rolled out of bed to come and help us all. Glad you could join us,” he teased her with a sarcastic lilt. Okay, perhaps she’d tolerate Emmy on occasion, but only from John, who could get away with just about anything. He was jovial by nature. It was hard to get mad at him. She rolled her eyes, shoved his arm, and snatched her bag of seeds from him.
”Well, don’t try to keep me from it,” she snapped back, but she did so with a smile just for him. For the remaining people, there were few of them enough that anger and dissention didn’t often have a place among them. It was certainly too early to quarrel. There was work to be done and precious little time to dwell on the past with so much work to be done. It was a relief.
jumbrello
Offline
Name: Nichole “Nikki” Anne Prichard
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Occupation: Waitress
Personality: Stubborn, Untrusting, Untrustworthy, Defensive, Selfish
Brief Bio: Nikki was the unfortunate sort of girl who “got in with the wrong crowd,” according to those who worried about her. In her opinion, she was born in the wrong crowd; it was never a choice. To say she has daddy issues would be an understatement, but she prefers to keep what happened between her and her father to herself, so don’t ask. Whatever the reason behind it, she spent the majority of her teenage years doing everything she could do get back at him. For better or worse, it worked, but it left her with a little problem. At sixteen, she had Tyler, dropped out of high school, and got the hell out of dodge. Since then, she’s taken what odd jobs she can to make sure there’s food on the table. Nikki would be the first to say she wasn’t up to being a mother. Under normal conditions, she fell fatefully short – staying out late, drinking, and, since Tyler started school, she’s been of practically no help with his homework. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him. Far from it, and damn it, if it kills her, she’s keeping that boy out of harm’s way. She can’t shoot a gun, but she can swing a bat as well as the next person.
Face Claim: Olivia Hallinan
Played By: jumbrello
Samples: [samples]
Name: Tyler “Ty” James Prichard
Age: 9
Gender: Male
Occupation: Student
Personality: Quiet, Kind-hearted, Studious, Clever, Stubborn
Brief Bio: All his life, Tyler has only had one person – his mother. His dad’s been out of the picture since the beginning, though he’s never gotten a clear answer about why he’s not around. Of course, that’s nothing strange for Ty, who hasn’t met any of his other family. As such, he’s very close to his mother, despite her shortcomings. At school, he’s always been quiet, even to the point that his teachers have contacted his mother out of worry. Since the outbreak, Tyler has been terrified, though he tries not to show it, especially in front of his mother. Already, he has developed a sense that it’s his job to keep her safe and not the other way around, likely the result of her inability to take care of herself very well. He doesn't think about it that way, though. She's his mom; she can't do anything wrong.
Face Claim: Quinn Lord
Played By: jumbrello
Samples: [samples]
jumbrello
Offline
- ”Go to the house, Tyler.” Nikki snapped, her tone leaving no room for argument. They were out in the open now and she wasn’t wasting any time dallying around waiting for the Walkers to find them. She was a survivor and he would be too.
”The only on un’s who’re gonna survive are the ones that’re already runnin’…” the man with the copper beard had mumbled as he slumped over the bar. Nikki was familiar with his face. She didn’t know his name, but the locals called him Red. Nikki didn’t consider herself a local. She had very little desire to stay in the Podunk town for very long. Unfortunately, living in the city was expensive, so she didn’t have many options. At least people here tipped well.
Red’s meaning was lost on her. She got that there was an ‘epedimic’ sure, but that didn’t mean she was ready to drop everything and act like a chicken with her head cut off. She had more sense than that.
Though, perhaps it would have been prudent to pay a little more attention. Red was acting strange, even for Red. She went about her night, waited on her tables, collected her fair share of tips (and then a little extra), and by the end of the night, Red was still sitting there looking liable to pass out as any second. He was pale and sweaty. More importantly, Nikki wanted to go home. Tyler would probably already be asleep, but if she got lonely, she could always call over Stephen. With that in mind, she moved over to touch his back and mustered up her most convincing smile.
”’s time to go home, Red,” she chided gently, putting all her weight on one leg so that her hip jutted out to the side. Her head cocked slightly to match her lopsided grin. Men were suckers when you acted like a bimbo, at least, normally they were. Red didn’t even look at her. His eyes were closed. There was something oddly still about the middle-aged man… Was he even breathing? Maybe she should be worried...
That was until he jerked anyway. His head snapped towards her and his blood-shot eyes narrowed in on her face. A guttural snarl escaped him that had Nikki jerking back her hand and darting back to put a table between her and Red. The table didn’t seem to perturb Red in the slightest. He lunged at her, his fingers grappling and stretching towards her face, but each time she moved back, he compensated. Another growl and she turned her back to make a sprint towards the door. Red wasn’t exactly the spriest man around, but he was a good half foot taller than her. Two long strides and she could hear him behind her. She was gonna die... No the ******** she wasn’t! She couldn’t leave Ty. A fresh burst of speed shot her forward, but it wasn’t necessary.
A shot cut the sounds of growling and heavy, forced footfalls behind her. Nikki couldn’t help flinching, but she looked back anyway to see Red fall in a heap to the floor. Dark blood seeped out of his head. She swallowed audibly, fighting the urge to be sick that the sight and adrenaline had awoken in her stomach. In that spirit, she looked up from the disgusting pile of Red to see Jesse, the cook, standing behind the bar with the shotgun they kept back there in case of emergency held tightly. His arms were shaking, his eyes so side that she saw the whites all around. And you know what? She didn’t ******** care. She was out.
Red was right – to survive, you needed to know how to run. Nikki might not have been good at many things, but she was damn good at running. Sometimes, that just meant staying the ******** out of the way. She and Tyler had hidden out at Stephen’s abandoned house for a while. It was one of those lovely little old homes with two stories and doors at nearly every room change with old fashioned locks that Stephen's grandmother had kept in working order, God bless the old fashioned broad. It was easily defensible, and that’s what was important while people ran around screaming. No one looked twice at the unimposing house at the end of the street.
Now, things were getting tricky. There were too many Walkers and it was only a matter of time before the soldiers sniffed them out. She needed to get Ty the hell away from here and so she packed their backpacks full of food, water, all the essentials, grabbed her bat, and opened the front door for the first time in what felt like months but was only a few days. Fear made everything slow and sharp.
”Go,” she hissed, receiving only a frantic look in return. They’d gone though the plan before they left their haven. The old truck parked beside Stephen’s house didn’t look like it could take them ten miles, much less the hundreds they needed to traverse. There was a car up the street, though, that looked promising – a little silver thing, practical, a Honda. Nikki favored Mustangs, personally, but she needed something with good gas mileage and she needed it from the kind of family that would keep spare keys in their house. A Honda owner seemed like her best bet.
In the end, she had to grab Ty’s arm to compel him to move. Yeah, maybe she felt a little bad about dragging him along when he was scared, but she wasn’t leaving him alone for even a second. She was saving his life and he’d just have to get over it. They moved quickly and silently against the edges of the houses towards the one she was aiming for. In their yard, she let go of his arm to pick up a rock that idiots wasted on money for to edge their perfectly trimmed gardens. What she’d seen as a waste of time before was working in her favor now. She was seconds from knocking it through the formerly pristine home’s window when a harsh voice behind her made her stop.
”Freeze,” the deep male voice commanded. Her jaw clenched furiously. Really?! This was really happening to her…
With one hand still clenched around the rock, she raised both arms and turned around to survey the soldier. She couldn’t see his face behind his protective mask. Nevertheless, she glared at him.
”We’re not infected,” she snapped. In a tank top, shorts, and boots, it was fairly obvious that there were no bite marks marring her pale skin. Instinctively, Nikki knew that wasn’t enough to save them, but whatever the soldier’s orders were, it took a man of steel to shoot a woman and a kid on their own. Or, so she thought.
Tyler’s clothes weren’t so revealing as her own. The soldier turned the gun on Tyler and an angry hiss slipped through Nikki’s lips. She’d kill him…
”And him?”
”Show ‘im, Ty…” Nikki instructed, doing her best to keep the anxiousness and fury from her tone. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw him roll up his sleeves, his pant legs, and lift up his shirt, doing a full three-sixty. That wasn’t what she was concerned about though. Far more interesting to her was the Walker creeping up behind the soldier, who was too distracted threatening her son at gunpoint to notice. Far be it from her to point it out to him, and Ty was turned around completely.
One snarl later and the creature had sunk its teeth into the soldier’s shoulder. She had no doubt that he was wearing thick clothing, but hours of observation had told her that it didn’t matter. Nothing could keep a Walker from its meal but a hard blow to the head. The soldier cried out, jerked back, and his gun went off. Nikki suffered a painful moment of panic and fell to her knees, jerking Tyler toward her. His eyes, the exact shade of her own, were wide with horror, but other than shock, he seemed unhurt. Gripping the tops of his arms, she surveyed him just to make sure. "You're fine... You're fine..." she repeated over and over, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him.
The world wouldn’t cut them a break though. The soldier was becoming a meal, but either the smell of blood was so potent that it drew the attention of other Walkers or the gunshot did. Whatever the case, all those in the immediate area turned towards them.
”Get in the car!” she shrieked as she pushed off the ground. There was no time to look for a key, at least until he was safe. Maybe once he was locked in the silver Honda, she’d make a go for the house, but not before checking the car itself. This time, he didn’t need any dragging. He sprinted to the car and yanked on the back door.
”It’s locked!” he yelped, his voice high with panic.
”s**t…” Nikki darted around to the front of the car. Her fingers groped under the front, hoping to find a key hidden there. It was too much… Very few people were that practical. She didn’t have time to really make a thorough search though. One of the Walkers ran at Tyler. God damn it! She owed him more than this. She ran at the creature, switching the bat back to her right hand while she did it and brought it against the Walker’s head with a sick crunch. It toppled over and she swung down again. Brains splattered all over her boots and she flinched. She had to remind herself that she wasn’t really killing anyone. They were already dead, and she didn’t want to join them.
”Mom!” She spun back towards him, only to see another coming at him. She threw him back against the car behind her. He wasn’t dying here, damn it. He wasn’t! They'd have to go through her first.
jumbrello
Offline
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗xxxxxxxxxxx
██ █ xxxxconfidentiality ⓘⓢ a virtue of the loyalxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
as loyalty is the virtue ⓞⓕx f a i t h f u l n e s s ━━ █ ██xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝xxxxxxxxxxx
██ █ xxxxconfidentiality ⓘⓢ a virtue of the loyalxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
as loyalty is the virtue ⓞⓕx f a i t h f u l n e s s ━━ █ ██xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝xxxxxxxxxxx
x
x
x
x
x
x
- █║█║▌│█│║║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║▌│█║▌│║║█▌│█│║▌║║█║▌│█│║▌║││║▌║││█║▌│║║█
- "Hey, you! Yeah, you! Shaddup I'm talking!" I just finished talking. See? Now I'm thinking/doing/thinking about doing things. It's more like not running away (dot com), except it's more like thinking about doing things (dot com). Blah Blah Blah, SPACEFILLER YA!
THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! "THIS IS SPARTA!" THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! "THIS IS SPARTA!"
Well, kinda...
"Actually, it's Troy!" Seriously, wtf was Paris thinking? Dragging my a** into his bootygrabbing. I get YANKED behind Achilles' chariot. Totally L-A-M-E! You'd think that the ignorant cad would have the good sense to send back that little blonde tramp, but whatever. Instead, I die. How is that fair? I mean really, is that face worth a thousand ships? Is it worth your brother having his skin torn off his body by being DRAGGED ACROSS HOT SAND? I don't think so! ET TU, PARIS?! No one appreciates a hero.
Maybe that doesn't actually happen here, since... "That's right! It's really Atlantis! THE LOST ISLAND OF, son. Lots of green things and not a lot of swimming... absolutely no sunlight. It's a wonder we don't all have Seasonal Depressive Disorder... MAYBE WE DO. That would explain my brother is so effing uptight. You know... that could also be explained by a multitude of other things..." Under the ocean, we are (<< Yoda speak). I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. I like fish. AND DOLPHINS!
THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! "THIS IS SPARTA!" THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! THIS IS SPARTA! "THIS IS SPARTA!"
K, peace, Imma go ride a dolphin now, as that's what we Atlantians do. And no, that is NOT a sexual pun. She doesn't have fins. BACK OFF!
jumbrello
Offline
- Avery might have been slightly deterred by the slow start of things, but it wasn’t a [i[complete disaster, so she was holding out on passing any judgment. That was, at least, until the guard from the Mistari lands approached them and things took a swift turn for the worse.
How dare he seek to make this any more difficult for them? Cayden especially. Avery did not yet know Dinah well enough to be properly indignant on her account, but she thought he was being unacceptably rude. Had not the Avians been, if not friendly, at least polite to Dinah? Avery had an impressive amount of tolerance and empathy for most things, but the guard was engaging in needless mudslinging in the most unconstructive way. And why? Because he was jealous? He’d put them all in danger because Cayden, or Dinah rather, had stepped on his manhood, figuratively speaking, of course.
Selfish, ignorant, loathsome, horrid b*****d… Oh dear…
Avery had spent the brunt of her youth amongst the detached. People who saw things, but did not care. Despite her patience, despite her empathy and general concern for people, or rather, because of it, she did care. That’s what had always distinguished her from her kind, and sometimes, when one cares too much, it takes a very negative form. Like Cayden, she was glaring daggers at the guard. It was the kind of stare that, while given, concentrated all the power one felt one had into a steady stream of distain; the kind of stare that was meant to see if you could set someone aflame just by looking at them; the kind of stare that might make a person think that she was trying to steal his soul, if one believed Avians were capable of that sort of thing anyway. Most importantly, it was the kind of stare that compromised her nearly unflinching control.
When she realized what she was doing (and luckily, the majority of people hadn’t, as they were too busy watching Cayden and Deccan’s minor standoff), she averted her eyes. She looked at the ground, not because she was ashamed, but because she was not entirely sure what she’d just done. She had no mirror and couldn’t know for sure, but hoped that they hadn’t changed. She took one… two… three deep breaths before she felt entirely herself again. Assured that everything was normal, she glanced at Bastion out of the corners of her eyes. Her lips twitched into a small, resigned smile as if to say, ‘What can you do? He’s obviously an idiot,’ and she let it go.
---------------------------
Waiting quietly was something that Cayden was exceptionally good at, but he was beginning to get the impression that Cecil just wasn’t going to say anything at all. He watched her garnet gaze turn from him to his escorts behind him. Even with his reserve, it was completely beyond his ability to refrain from a small, amused smile. It wasn’t as if it was a source of pride that he’d been able to frighten a small child. In fact, that in itself was a shame. Cayden had never thought of himself as particularly frightening. That wasn’t to say that he had a lack of confidence in his military prowess, he simply did not have the natural weapons at his disposal to really make himself a threat. He could merely imagine that, if he frightened her, Bastion would seem quite monstrous.
It would take time for these encounters to become normal, or even tolerable to most, but Cayden was patient, so when Dinah offered him a small smile, his own was resigned.
That smile tightened perceptibly when Deccan approached them. Cayden was of the mind that, given his generally precarious position, he should work to make himself amenable, if only for the moment. He hadn’t, of course, expected the guard to make it entirely possible. His efforts and intentions were wasted from the very moment the t**t opened his mouth.
However darling Cecil may have been, Cayden’s eyes were locked on Deccan for the entirety of his languid, dangerous approach. His molten eyes tightened when the snake glared at Dinah. He sucked in a slow, agitated breath, a fruitless attempt to calm the bubbling, vile hatred that was working its way up from the pit of his stomach. When their eyes met, it overwhelmed his better senses. Suddenly, it seemed like a much better idea to reach out and bash the man’s nose in with the heel of his palm than it had before.
Cayden had never before envied a Serpiente’s ability to hiss. It has always seemed banal and crass to him, a kind of immature spitting contest for children and the uncontrolled. Now, he longed for some unquestionable, physical expression of his absolute disdain; a command of sorts, a warning to back down lest matters get out of hand. As it were, he was limited both by his own biology and his proper manners, which required him to bear the insult with a steely, untouchable demeanor, just as he’d born everything else the fates had thrown his way. Somehow, standing where he was now in a place of relative political peace, he found the prospect of a battlefield less bothersome than the forced company of this man, at least, if it were only himself he had to worry about.
Not only was he limited by his civil sentiments, but he was also held back by love and the fact that, though he could claim Dinah as his wife, he could not claim that he loved her. This made him feel somewhat less justified in his reaction. It was just his luck that Deccan gave him the excuse of insulting the entirety of his people to explain his anger.
To his credit, Cayden was not afraid of Deccan. No amount of chest puffing or jewel-eyed glaring would get him to cower from him, especially behind his mate. Cayden stepped forward, all but bristling with indignation. His palm settled on the center of Dinah’s back. As much as he didn’t mean to play the possessive male, it was a role he was falling into quite easily. The gesture was meant to accentuate the point that they were partners. Meaning, of course, that Dinah was his partner and, at the moment, this allegiance would put her at odds with her hotheaded guard. He did have to account for Cecil. A firm propagator of personal space, he did try not to invade the little girl’s.
He had to be careful. He was always having to be careful. It was infuriating. Then again, it wouldn’t do to go insulting the whole of the Serpiente people when he was surrounded by them. He edged forward, his eyes locked on Deccans, speaking directly to him, as it seemed the guard lacked the spine to do.
”I can only image that she found her former company lacking.” Yes, obviously this was going quite well. Cayden honestly didn’t know whether it would look worse for him to insult Deccan or to take the insult lying down, so, for once, he went with what he wanted to do, or some version of it. Again, he couldn’t just go bashing people’s noses in whenever he got miffed, and Deccan was sure to try his patience quiet often.
”Now, now, Deccan. Rats it a touch unfair,” Nara chimed in as she bounced towards them. She was much more at ease now that they were back on familiar territory and just the sight of the dancer’s nest had calmed her nerves. Not to mention, now was just about the time things started to get really funny and she was excited to see how they played out.
Per Dinah’s command, she’d gone to the Nest to retrieve Eve. She could have stayed there, really, having fulfilled her duty, but where was the fun in that? You see, when she’d told Eve that Dinah wanted to see her, she’d left out the important matter of why and where she’d been. It wasn’t kind, but it also wasn’t her business to go about trying to explain Dinah’s actions to anyone else. All right, she could have been a little more helpful, but she deserved a good laugh after the last couple of days. As such, she’d escorted Eve, following the trail of concerned murmurs to the center, where they found their monarch.
That was not to say that she didn’t want to be helpful. She wasn’t entirely above putting herself to good use. She stopped at Deccan’s side and, to all parties, it might seem like that’s where she aligned herself. It only seemed that way, though, as she’d taken their newfound closeness as an excuse to curl her arm through his. Such closeness was not unheard of, but he could not mistake the sharp squeeze she gave his bicep. It was a preemptive measure, as it didn’t seem entirely ridiculous to go ahead and start holding him back. ”Rats might make one think that they’re unclean.” She spoke to him, just him, and ignored the Avians and Dinah entirely. This was due in large part to the fact that Dinah was holding Cecil and Nara never had figured out just how to behave around the child. To be frank, she found the girl almost as toilsome as Deccan did. ”From where I’m sitting, they look perhaps a little too clean,” she said, indicating not only Cayden’s smooth jaw, but also the stiff way the small group was standing. ”Gerbils would be a better analogy.”
And, though Cayden was no more pleased to be called a gerbil than a rat, he let it slide. Loathe be it for him to admit that he’d grown fond of Nara, but she was less of an ignorant cad than Deccan.
”Look who I brought,” Nara sang merrily – perhaps the only person in their cluster still capable of good humor – indicating Eve just beside her.
