Welcome to Gaia! ::

"What the hell is up with you? So what if I didn't 'pologize," the restrained man managed to choke out as Micha's grip became tighter and tighter. The blonde cocked his head to the side contemplatively as his bent arm slowly straightened until he'd clear lifted the other man off his feet. "Isn't it customary to apologize for your wrong doings?" The other boy who bumped into him had apologized after all...their eyes met and he watched as the other man's eyes widened with fear and surprise. and then glimmered in epiphany.."Okay, I'm sorry for bumping into you."

Micha seemed to consider his words for a moment and then relaxed his grip, turning around to walk in as though nothing had happened. He didn't see the deep resentment in the other man's eyes as the tavern doors swung open and shut....he didn't hear the words he whispered.
"b*****d...I'll get you for this."

The place was nearly empty. How ironic was it that the one day he decided to come in, the bar decided to close? He shoved his hands back into the coat pockets and walked on in.

Terrence beamed when Corliss took his hand and skipped next to her, already forgetting about his recent collision. He could hear some commotion ahead of them, but never even wondered if the stranger he ran into was part of it. By the time Corliss had led him back to the tavern, practically no one was there and whatever he had heard was already over. "There's not a whole lot here, huh?" He whispers up to Corliss after peeking past her into the building.

Corliss looked levelly at the man who approached her. "Yes, of course we are." Her gaze dared him to say otherwise. She wasn't going to be turned away just because she happened to be a bit younger than the others...and Terrence wasn't going to be rejected, either.

"I'm guessing we're supposed to be here, then," she said after a little while, assuming her carefree attitude again. She walked past the man, dragging Terrence behind her, and took the first seat she came to, looking around curiously.

((I apologize sincerely for my absence, but it is quite a time-consuming task relearning how to walk. Alas, my dear fellows, this fool has managed the impossible: I stand on my own two legs again biggrin Thank you for your patience!!!))

Watching them enter, Lark culd only shake her head in dismay. Children. Really. It was... it was... dsigusting. The boy, he was no more than ten, maybe nine. He would grow up in a life of misery and woe. Then again, there wasn't too much a difference between the life of a Resistance member and an average citizen: both seemed to be dying off at alarming rates. It was more and more common to stumble on a corpse coming home from work, and the carrion that were now ever-present were all too eager to set in on the feast.

But were these kids aware of what real pain was? Had they ever been tortured? Had they ever tortured someone? Were they virgins in the harsh ways of the world, or were they experienced veterans? She couldn't even grasp how to deal with a sniveling, blubbering traumatized kid. It was simply too much. Clenching her fists, now with something to preoccupy her mind with other than the recetn death of her friend, Lark crossed the room to that drunken b*****d and leaned on the counter next to him.

"If you have any sort of conscious, then listen," she whispered, her eyes checking the dull reflections of the beer glasses opposite. There were only a couple people within ear shot, but they were in a heated discussion and had no ears for whisperings. "I'm all for giving my life to the Resistance: I know what kind of hell most certainly awaits me. Death, things worse than death even. But those two, the boy especially... they have no idea. and once they're in, they can never get out. I'm not too savvy with the others here, and I need back-up if I am to present this problem to the leader. I need your help."

((Oh, glad you're better! I didn't know you were sick >.> So totally understandable! Congrats! biggrin ))

Corliss began to get a bit bored with the lack of activity. She stood up and said at a fairly high volume, "Hey! We gonna start this thing or what?"

She grinned down at Terrence. "Not much to look at, are these bums?" she whispered with a smile.

The congregation had already turned away and were talking amongst themselves. Jack was glaring at its center, his eyes never leaving the leader as he tried to call the group to order so that he could proceed with the meeting. Jack slid heavily from the barstool, yanking Hunter forward with a hand at his shoulder.

"We still have a voice and they haven't shot us yet," he muttered, patting Hunter on the back to make him stand up straight, "so we ain't done." He cleared his throat and tapped his foot expectantly, gaining the attention of the sentries and a few Resistance members.

"So who, then, my intelligent and respectable leader, could we possibly find to replace a man such as you, if any tragedy were to befall you suddenly?" Jack's voice rang strong and clear, with little of his level of intoxication apparent in it. The whole room went silent now. Some of the members glanced between Jack and their leader, and sometimes to Hunter, who was responsible for this mess and had somehow gotten Jack to speak. "I'd say a child of twelve might be appropriate. Hell, maybe even fifteen, if you are as good as I hear."

That had definitely gotten everyone's attention. Many of the group's members were snickering, barely hiding their cold sneers behind locks of hair or raised hands. Other members however- especially the older women- had a sudden dawn of horror on their faces. Jack shrugged at them, looking unconcerned. In his mind though, he was going over conversations from the past that he had caught in the bar. Conversations about new babies born and new children killed. His eyes scanned the crowd, and he targeted a certain face.

"Emily," Jack said to a frail-looking woman, cutting off whatever retort the leader had. His face had become pink and it was plain in his eyes the things he wanted to do to Jack at that moment, but Jack ignored him and pressed on. "Don't you have a boy at home? Sixteen, right?" The woman starred at him with hollow eyes, her head shaking slightly.

"Oh, I remember now," Jack said nonchalantly, pacing in front of Hunter slowly. "Your boy died. Shot, I believe. Oh, but you have a little girl at school right now, don't you?" The woman gasped and began to nod, deciding against it a moment later and shaking her head. The movement made her look like she was tossing her head about wildly, and perhaps she was. Tears dotted the corners of her eyes, but she made a frantic gesture with her hand across her face to hide them. "She is only eight, but if you pull her out of school now and start her training, by ten she might have a good enough shot to be a 'Replacement."

Jack stopped pacing just as he reached Hunter's side and the stool, dropping down heavily into it and placing his elbows on the counter. The Resistance members around the table had exploded temporarily, all of them trying to talk at once. Alone at a table, the frail woman wailed, holding her face.

"Well, whatever happens now Kid, at least we tried." Jack dropped his head, and his voice sounded distant once more. He drummed his fingers on the table idly, gazing through the dusty floorboards. Even if the leader chose to listen to them, which was unlikely, Jack and Hunter would forever be on his bad side. Things were surely about to get quite unpleasant. Jack tapped his hand on the counter, thinking a drink would make the situation a bit more bareable, but his hand remained empty. He sighed, realizing too late that Hunter had taken the drinks from him a while ago. "They can write that on our headstones."

((Tameka got banned; this is my other account. Sorry for the sudden shift. Welcome back, Anex. Wasn't sure what was going down with this game. biggrin ))

Terrence sat up straight the entire time Jack was speaking about children. He tried to look stoic, though his chubby cheeks did not really help. He knew all the grown ups were looking toward him now; he was the youngest in the room. Everyone else was a grownup. He also never considered that Corliss might be too young; she always seemed like a grownup to Terrence. Maybe if Terrence acted more like her, no one would think of him as too little. He felt bad for the crying lady, though. Just because they were supposed to be the big, strong Resistance didn't mean they had to be mean.

He smiled up at Corliss when she interrupted his thoughts with a whisper. But he still thought he should do something. "I'll be right back!" He replies cheerfully, slips out of the chair and goes over to the crying lady. He puts his arms around her without saying anything. He didn't care if that made him a kid; better a kid than a bitter drunk making old ladies cry.

Willhelm opened the door of the tavern and entered calmly, he knew he was late but it didn't bother him. Unlike many of the other members, he wasn't afraid of the Resistance and it's leaders. He had never been the type of person to be intimidated by others. Besides he had once been told by one member that the leaders appreciated the talents Willhelm had acquired through his life as mercenary, unfortunately that member had been killed recently. Willhelm felt a sudden twang of sorrow as he remembered the young man's face. He had failed a mission and one of the Resitance's hitmen had delt with him.

He looked around and noticed the commotion. A crowd had gathered around a sobbing woman. "Must have missed the fun," he muttered to himself, feeling his anger rise. They have a very unique way with people here. Walking over to the bar he saw one of the leaders talking to the bar tender. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was trying to frighten the young man and once aagain Willhelm's anger began to rise.

The leader had left before Willhelm had reached a stool. "Beer please," he said to the bar tender, then turned to the other man at the bar. Willhelm knew the drunk and actually liked him. "Get one for Jack too." He put his hat on the bar and turned in his stool, facing the wall behind the bar. "I wasn't aware that the resistance has a take your children to work day," he muttered to the bar tender, nodding his head to the side in the direction of the two kids.