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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 9:53 pm
Connie gave a snort..and maybe a bit of a glare, before entering her own wall of book upon books in the bookshelves. Everyone leaves trails, one way or another. I just need to find it.Listening to the information he did have made her curious but hearing the information he need...she admitted it was making her even more curious. Besides what would someone his age want with this kind of information? She had was lost to her thoughts as she watched him passing by the books with ease when he mentioned helping her with her own ghost. It made her want to confront him again, remembering his comment when he first told her he was headed to the library. "Such a tease.." She offered before pulling the book on the shelf and another that might be helpful, but continuing to look. "Does Destiny City have some kind of manifesto for when people move here? Maybe it would have something...or tracking down his family line. Surely he would've went somewhere he knows. Or at least knowing the people there."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 10:31 pm
Eion shrugged as he came to a stop. Before him sat a wall of texts, largely in Chinese, to which he frowned. Hadn't there been anything useful for soon-to-be-transplants in China?
"His son thinks he went back to China. Probably the same province. Probably in an area with his family. I want to look at the province in which they married — he might still be there.
"Usually people don't migrate far from family." I didn't in some ways. "I doubt he did." Eion reached out with a nailed finger to touch spine after spine, tracing over call numbers until he found one nearing the number on his post-it. Finally he slipped one from the shelf and found a blessedly necessary English translation mirroring every page. With a small sigh vented, Eion pressed the text to his chest. One more, and that one fell in Connie's hands.
"I don't know that he moved here with his family." With a roll of his shoulders, Eion cocked his head and leaned against the very edge of her aisle. "If he did, he's gone now. I can find an American address." He closed his eyes momentarily to mull over the usefulness of the information. Was there purpose in finding his old DC address, if ever there was one? Licking his lips, he opened eyes and responded. "Might've left a forwarding address." Unlikely if they divorced under bad terms, but not impossible.
There was simply so much to sift through, all for a person who was indifferent to being found. What would come of searches for people who tried to disappear? For desperate refugees? For traitors?
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 11:06 pm
"Yeah, family can be pretty important...even if they're butts." She sighed. Surely even if it was bad terms causing this guy to flee, and most likely it was, he cared? But if he ghosted his own son... "If we knew what year he moved here...there's always Census. But that damn seventy-two year rule.." Grumbles. Her own frustration from Genealogy but she knew now it could be applied to more than that. "Wonder if there's a way to track mail like that..." Connie thought out loud, "Even if he didn't have a forward, he's got to have mail going somewhere right? I mean even dead people still get mail for a good while afterward." She glanced over as Eion found himself at the end of her aisle. Connie almost wondered if he was trying as she scanned the rest of the booked in that section. She turned to make her way back to him, offering the books to him. Strickenized I think my mind is yelling at me, but I'll try for one more reply after this I hope. lol
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 11:29 pm
"Do you know what it's like for your family to leave you?" The question was asked simply, if sharply. Eion set his jaw as he stymied what he could of raw nerve. The months were unkind with their concessions to new wounds, to fresh scars. And for reminders to crop up in benign commentary —
Sighing through his nose, he returned to the topic at hand. "I don't know if he ever lived in Destiny City. They divorced before Xi-Wang was born. The father may not have known." Xi-Wang himself was convinced that his father never knew. He remained firm in his depiction of his mother as vindictive and spiteful; that she would conceal such a fact was not beyond her own considerations. Eion's shoulders dropped ust enough to suggest his disappointment, though in what or whom was unclear.
"Nearly twenty years passed." A knuckle rapped smartly against a metal divider. "He fixed his mail by now. Any PO box might be abandoned." But he would check as a necessity.
Accepting the books, Eion gave a cursory thumbing through their pages. "This will do." Both in Chinese as his luck would have it, subtitled nonetheless for English filing systems. Perhaps Xi-Wang could provide a translator to find the information he needed.
The lack of address stateside burned him, however; if he had any indication that Xi-Wang's father lived in the states at all, beyond suspicion, their search would prove far easier.
"So." Eion shut the book definitively, its heady thump drawing attention. "Your ghost."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 11:43 pm
Almost every single day. Connie's mind muttered as she shot Eion a look to match his sharp tone. She held it to herself, taking in the new information and adding a new layer to the mystery. Feeling about ready to just look up the name and contact every single one of them. She sighed, knowing it would take too long. Connie brought her attention back to Eion, looking at him closely again before cocking an eyebrow. "What about that?" Did that sound too condescending? Challenging? Did she care at this point? Was he just pulling her along now or did he really know a way to help her.. Strickenized Ooook, maybe a little more if you're still good. Now I'm curious. XD
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 1:15 pm
Her glance said more than any retort, however versed. But last he knew, and last Facebook suggested, Connie Salvatore still had her family. Her friends. Her life at large. She still attended HITS in an effort to secure the best grades and meet her family's expectations — just like the rest of her classmates trapped in the same rat race. So what happened in that ostensibly perfect cluster of a family? What could their recent move have incited?
Occam's razor. She was likely just annoyed at his tone.
Eion smirked wryly. The gesture creased his face in a manner that betrayed his youth — it sat foreign in the midst of teen years. "You want to find him, don't you? So what do you have?" As he waited for an answer, he rested the stack of books perpendicular to his hip. His narrowness afforded very little leverage unless he cocked his spine just so.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 2:31 pm
"Besides looking like you.." Connie crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised for a moment before thinking through what she had gathered so far..not that it was much. "Well..he originally went missing while we where out on a beach trip. I...had went to find him so we could hang out again. That's when his brother found me to ask if I'd seen him and that he was missing.." She looked away then, shifting her weight. A small laugh. "I was actually going through a really hard time when he suddenly resurfaced again... I didn't want to push though, it was just nice having a friend again." She sighed heavily and shrugged a bit. "He disappeared again at the end of the year. Of course with the holidays, I got busy again. Thankfully family trees make good gifts." Connie smirked. "Then of course the end of school wrap up. Testing. Crap." Her eyes raised again, rubbing out her crinkled brow. "You boys are gonna give me wrinkles," she teased, "I'm too young for this."
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 3:37 pm
Eion's gaze found the floor while he listened, nodding only occasionally. That his brother paid attention enough to notice they visited with each other astounded him; Erol hardly took his attention off himself. But he gave his brother too little credit — now he had no brother. The thought soured to bittersweet, lingering, a faint chill he couldn't displace.
The rest was simple. A recount of there then back then there then back. That she looked suggested something of their friendship. That she still remembered him, she still searched for him, she still thought of him said something more. Connie wasn't Sinope — he risked nothing toward that terrible implosion twice over, but their friendship might salvage into something else. Something still distanced from the way he used to be. Eion Risk wasn't the meek, polite, milquetoast boy that Elex Yorke was raised to be.
And Connie changed, too, in a short span. That duress strengthened her. Could she see that?
But her comment brought cause for levity. Eion shifted his head this way and that, as if weighing the credence of her statement, before raising a brow with a shrug. "I've given worse.
"Come." Eion straightened to height, framed books between hands, and paced past his company in search of a desk. Cubbies for the solitary often lined the walls between neatly spaced windows. Too narrow they were for the recalcitrant few, but modern and sensible enough for proper casts of gold-woven light into the space. Eion expected her to follow with her conversation in tow. He chose a seat not far from their aisle where upholstered armchairs faced across a low coffee table. He dropped in smartly where the springy seat tried to devour him.
"My mother says that hope is a dangerous thing." That he quoted anything from her left a sourness in his mouth that clouded his tongue. "You know disappearances in DC are commonplace, right? Anyone can go missing on a trip home. On a trip to the store. On a trip to the beach. People disappear all the time and no one gets closure. Maybe your friend disappeared. Or he went back to wherever he left to first."
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 4:45 pm
Connie watched as the older boy pondered her statement, feeling as though she was being judged by Eion. That he was taking on some kind of case. Another command from him. But again she followed. What secrets did he hold? What if this was pointless? Not that she had much else to do today. He own work and then portal. She simmered before following after his footsteps. She had to admit she felt a bit pleased as they came upon the sitting area, glad to take a break. Even if she knew this also meant she would dumping her feelings onto someone she just met. Even if he seemed to want to help, if made her feel guilty. A sigh as she shrugged off her backpack, setting it and her skateboard down gently. Listening as she nestled her way into the chair, folding up her leg so that it rested under the other. Taking in a deep breathe for the talk that he started, locking away what childish thoughts still danced around in her head. "If I didn't have hope, I would've lost myself a long time ago Eion...before even coming here." Her words where cool and smooth, but weighted like bricks. She felt lucky to have been bathed in the Moonlight, as she knew she could've easily be caught in anything else. "I suppose.." Connie agreed, though a bit roughly and leaving his statement in the wind. "More so than a normal city, I would think. "What do you think of this city Eion? I also suppose you've been here a while."
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 2:54 pm
Eion watched her intently. She spoke sparingly, as if she never quite found the trust or inclination to express herself in full. Hope isn't the only savior. His rescues had nothing to do with a blind faith in the future, in change, in better circumstances. That Connie floated herself on hope defined the river of differences cutting between them.
He wasn't human anymore, yet here he lingered in a human space. How much of what he thought was youma now? How many of his experiences deviated him so integrally from the boy he used to be? The differences must be in his head, for Connie very nearly recognized him as Elex at first glance. Elex still reigned in how he looked and held himself — even if Eion was bolder and sharper. Even if Eion wrenched himself out of cloth half-cut.
That she deflected was of interest. He pursed lips in thought, casting his gaze about while finding their surroundings wanting. He was used to starker places.
"I like it here." He let the words linger. "Even with the disappearances. Life here feels ephemeral — like your routine could change at any moment. Like you can't build barriers against this volatility. There's a romance in it that —" He paused, then scoffed at himself. What a time to wax poetic. After a c**k of his head, he returned to the subject. His tongue rolled against his lower lip for a moment. "I think the people here are more robust for what they face.
"Look at you," he cited with a tilt of his head. His hands laced over his lap.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 9:07 pm
Connie leaned into the side of the chair, pressing her elbow into the arm so she could use her own as a rest. Resting her face into her palm she had to admit she was a bit let down by Eion's original answer. It made her wonder. Who did truly like it here though? The clueless and the evil? The protectors or the broken? And which was he. She could help but smile slightly though as he went into his poetic spill, making a face when he stopped as if to say too bad. Robust. Such a funny word. She supposed everyone in this city needed to be then didn't they. What happened to those who weren't.. Then his words made her straighten up a bit, almost as if to guard herself. "Me..? Strong?" Connie made another face, this time wondering what the hell he was thinking. "I don't know about that. I've buried myself in excuses instead of working towards.." She sighed. Working towards being a better Senshi. She frowned and looked away. "You don't even know me.."
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 11:20 am
'You don't even know me…'
"Mmm." Eion ran a finger along his jaw as he looked out toward one of the windows. "I must be thinking of someone else. Mistaken identity," he added as his gaze shifted back to her conspiratorially.
"I can help you find him. You just have to ask — unless you're afraid of finding ghosts." His arms fell across his lap again as he waited for an answer — a yes or a no, a maybe, a go to hell. The seconds between them felt surreal yet dreamless; like he was trapped in a world he half-wanted to escape and half-wanted to watch. Like he hadn't yet stepped out of the boyhood he so wanted to leave behind. Maybe he should leave Connie to her mourning without poking holes in it. But the decision was in her hands now; what would she want?
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 5:39 pm
Connie felt her blood go cold at his question. Her eyes squinting as if she was trying to burn a hole in the floor, before turning to look at Eion again. Taking in every detail of the moment. Of him. She felt like she was about to sign a contract with the devil. Could he really help? Would it come with a price? She straighten up as she took a breathe in, her hand holding her chin gently. "Can you help me?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:45 pm
"We'll find out, won't we?" Eion asked the question as he rose from his seat. The books weighed impatiently in his hands, and such a discussion required a more private venue.
He could corrupt her, he knew — bait her in with information on Elex, that he himself was Elex, and reveal the monster that was Elex and Eion. Her reaction wouldn't matter — a General Sovereign needed no time to teleport to his location and press a hand through all the defenses she erected. So ended Connie Salvatore, so began a new lieutenant. And while Connie had spirit, while she had drive and strength and a disposition that allowed her to follow, he faced the penalties of poor mistakes once already. Heliodor still hung about his neck and grew ever heavier.
"Come on. We need a better place to discuss this." And his books required checking out. He needed a library card, an ID. So much was left for later purchase and he wanted none of it visible to Connie — not yet. "Do you know the café by Romano's? Meet me there."
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:22 pm
Connie felt has if she would explode in that moment, watching as the boy not much older than her, raise from his seat. Listening to the way his jacket shifted. How his 'fancy' leggings just hardly caught the light. The heels of his boots shifting the carpet. She rose too, taking his ink black hair before coming to his eye. The dark ones that so much reminded her of Elex. Maybe they where related and he just didn't want her to know. Connie shifted her weight before, after what felt like a life time, turned to pick up her backpack and skateboard. As much as she loved cafés she couldn't help but wonder how that place would be better. Connie shrugged it off though, accepting that she would step up for whatever was coming next. "Sure, sure.." She replied. Maybe he'll at least bye me a drink. She grinned. "See you there." Connie sighed and turned to leave, dreading the many stairs ahead. Strickenized Sorry for the wait! ;3; Jake's scope is tomorrow but after that all should be normal again. lol
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