|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 2:34 pm
 Welcome to the Ball! (Open RP)Word Count: FIN
RP link
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:36 pm
Nature vs. Nurture (Howl + Tara)Word Count: 3,295
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:39 pm
 Reminiscing the AftermathWord Count: 993
This left Franz's roommate all along in the dorms. Howl, however, did not feel a hint of loneliness. No, he had actually shut the door to the room, and then turned to his newest prized possession.
"Oh, Viola, I have been feeling rather down in the dumps lately."
Viola was his pot of Violets which had barely started to bloom recently, small pale purple flowers just peeking open a smidge. Howl was a firm believer of talking to your plants, though today's conversation would be more therapeutic than anything else.
Obviously the plant was not going to speak back to him, but the teal-haired figure still sat himself down in his chair and eased himself closer to the pot lingering there. His fingers drifted to touch a leaf, which seemed to have recovered nicely from its stay with Miss Calintha Johnson. The poor girl had the best intentions, but she indeed had no talent for flowering plants.
It wasn't Calintha who was bothering him, so he simply brushed her back into the depths of his mind as he began to speak again. "I find that I have rather mixed feelings about my most recent outing with Mother." His hand drifted to his cheek, as if remembering some sort of pain there. His beautiful hand remained there at rest for a bit as he recalled the scenario.
___________________________
It had been a lovely little outing away from Hillworth, until he saw them together. He had just finished speaking with a small group of his peers and began to make his way back to his mother's side, like a good son, but found she was no longer seated where he left her.
After a bit of searching through the various crowds, he found her dancing with some stranger. He seemed middle aged, middle classed, and aesthetically pleasing. Howl had learned how to appreciate the aesthetics of a man or woman, but it was never a personal attraction when it was a man. Just a fact. Whoever his mother was dancing with was dashing.
And Howl could not help but watch the pair like a hawk. He was not necessarily a jealous young man, but there was this strange sense of duty he felt to making certain his mother was being proper. Did the man she was dancing with not realize she was married? She was wearing her wedding ring, but the man seemed to be rather flustered the whole time he danced. He didn't even walk his mother back to the place she had been sitting. How absolutely rude! Mother managed to drift back to him, and shortly afterward, they had left.
On the ride back to the hotel, he managed to get a small bit of information on the man who danced with her. Apparently his name was John Rae and he used to be a baseball player. Mother had easily labeled him a Yank, and though she remained absolutely charming during the encounter, she was absolutely uninterested in him.
They arrived back at the hotel, no incident. Howl stayed the night, and was to return in the morning back to his school. Anastasia was a busy lady and couldn't stay much longer than a day.
It was on the ride back to Hillworth where the effeminate lad could no longer bear holding back.
"Mother, is there a reason why you danced with that man last night?"
The woman glanced to her son. "I told you last night, the man asked me. It would have been rude to decline."
Howl knew this as a fact. Yet he continued to press on. "You could have told him you were married. It is a perfectly fine reason to decline a dance."
He also had a point, yet the woman's eyes narrowed as they remained steady upon the lad's. "It was no concern."
"It was improper of you to be cavorting about like that as if you were a single woman..."
Howl's words were cut short by a stern "And I did not raise my son to become a petty stalker!" Her open palm smacked forward against his cheek, a rather loud slapping sound echoing throughout the vehicle. The lad hissed out slightly from the stinging sensation vibrating throughout his cheek, but he said nothing more.
"You have no right to lecture me, Son!" She turned away, and the conversation was over.
The teal-haired boy retreated from the conversation with a simple "...yes Mother. I was out of line." When he returned back to the school, he still had a vivid red mark along the side of his face. Neither the woman nor the boy explained the mark, and it went ignored.
___________________________
"I honestly do not think I was out of line. I was just trying to be a good son."
He was still talking to a plant. Obviously, there were still no replies, but there still seemed to be some sort of relief he was getting from saying all of this aloud.
"There really has been a change in Mother ever since the situation with Miss Wheaton. She would have never dared to strike me like that before." He sighed. "I can understand where she is coming from. It must have been a shock to her system when she was called by the police over that situation."
He paused.
"She must be ashamed of me."
There was another pause, though this one was longer, more drawn out. He sighed once more, blowing the hair out of his line of sight once more.
"I apologize Viola. I suppose I can try to talk about something a bit more lighthearted." His hand rubbed at the cheek which had been struck, but he kept his word. No more depressing talk, just casual talk about his day from this point forward.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 11:29 pm
Much ado about Mothers (Howl + Edward)Word Count: FIN
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 6:35 pm
Endless Sands without shoesWord Count: 464
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:52 pm
A Grain of Sand (Howl + Boreas)Word Count: 8,666
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 12:24 am
A Whole New World (Howl + Boreas + Nelumbo)Word Count: 1,049
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 8:26 pm
Are you friend or foe? (Raite + Scylla + Howl + Boreas)Word Count: 929
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:12 am
[B6] Stage One: Shifting SandsWord Count: FIN
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:18 am
How much He was MissedWord Count: 1,156
(Note: Not to count towards any sort of RP requirements) If it wasn't for all of the tubes and machines surrounding the teal haired figure, it would have honestly looked like the person was merely asleep. Everyone in the hospital knew that wasn't the case. At least 75% of the current occupants in the hospital were coma patients due to that mysterious plague of sorts. Visitors came in and out daily to visit their loved ones.
Yet the lovely teal haired figure had not received any visitors initially. The parents had been contacted, but they had not shown up. Hospital staff knew that meant the parents lived outside of the city. With the city quarantined for that short period of time, it wasn't too surprising the parents had not arrived.
It was the first day after the quarantine had been lifted. A rather handsome looking couple approached the front desk, arms locked rather formally together.
"I beg our pardon, Miss," an eloquent voice with a British accent prompted. The woman behind the desk glanced up tiredly and found a man with teal hair, glasses, and an absolutely pleasant expression on his face. Such a strange color of hair on a middle-aged man, even more so with the suit he was wearing.
"Is there something I can help you with, sir?"
The man glanced to his wife, who was an absolutely gorgeous brunette, then nodded his head. "Yes, if you would be so kind, could you tell me which room Howl Wickham is located?" He chuckled lightly, as if to put the woman at ease, noting "We are his parents and have not been able to visit due to the quarantine."
The woman's features lit up at the mention of the quarantine. "Oh yes, that must have been difficult, not being able to see your child." With a relieved smile, she gave the pair the appropriate room number and the couple were on their way. They easily were able to find the room, but the pair stopped right in front of the door.
"Dearest, are you certain you will be able to handle this?"
The woman nodded her head solemnly, her guilt seeming to consume the closer she got to her child.
Her husband lifted his hand and gently squeezed the arm that was locked with his own. With that subtle gesture of comfort, they walked through the door. A black-haired nurse was in the room and looked absolutely startled that the door had opened so suddenly. "Oh, excuse me, I'll get out of your way!"
The teal-haired man released his hold of his wife's arm and simply waved a hand at the nurse. "Oh no, do not mind us, Miss. We are just here to visit our son. You may continue to tend to your duties." There were several patients in the room, but the brunette immediately went to the one with the lovely teal-haired figure.
Rather stupidly, the nurse repeated "...son?"
"Yes, our son." The man smiled kindly, even though this woman had obviously just insulted the masculinity of his child. It happened often enough. With a slight nod, he then joined his wife. The pair remained quiet while the nurse was in the room, though the brunette did reach to touch her son's hand. It was only when the nurse finished her duties and left the room that any sort of conversation seemed to liven up the room.
"How could this have happened, Nigel?"
A hand touched her shoulder. "You already know the answer to that, Anastasia." There was a slight pause. "It is a mystery that has yet to be explained. An unknown epidemic."
The woman's fingers twitched against her son's before she squeezed a bit. There wasn't a response from Howl. Anastasia's teal eyes watered slightly at his lack of response. Silence filled the room again until she asked another question.
"Did we do the right thing in sending him to Hillworth?"
Nigel had this ability to hide his emotions that was unrivaled. He was a businessman, through and through, and had to use such skills on a daily basis. So right now, even when his wife asked such a pressing question, the man was able to reply in a completely pleasant, professional tone.
"We did as the lawyers advised. If we had not, he would have needed to move even farther away from Westdale. Meadowview was not willing to take him into their program due to his record. It would have been even more difficult to visit him if he had not come here."
Solemnly, the pretty woman uttered "Yes, you are right."
The hand on her shoulder squeezed slightly. "Dearest, you need not blame yourself. This has nothing to do with your harsh words with our son."
And then Nigel's cell phone rang. Simple trilling ring tone, nothing fancy. Purely professional. Such a businessman. He squeezed his wife's shoulder and walked out of the room, merely to leave Anastasia alone with her slumbering son.
For a moment, she remained silent, just simply gazing over her son's face. How had he been so fortunate to inherit her looks? A lifetime of teasing, and still such an upstanding young man, despite his occasional mistakes. Her fingers dared to thread themselves through his teal locks. The hair didn't look as clean as Howl would usually keep it. It felt disgusting under her fingers, but she ignored such an observation for now.
"I am sorry, son. I cannot believe I said such cruel things to you. You are my son. My one and only. I know now that you were only looking out for me. I need you to wake up so I can properly apologize to you, my son. I cannot tell you how I will apologize, for it will ruin the surprise."
She somehow managed to find the strength to offer a smile to her son's closed eyes. "So you need to promise me that you will wake up, Howl."
Another voice spoke up with the same tone he had been using the whole visit. "You need to promise both of us you will wake up, son. We will both be waiting for you." Anastasia glanced behind her and found her husband had returned to her side. He smiled and mentioned "Ralph does not seem to understand that when I say I will be taking personal time off, that it means I will not be flying back to England for our meetings."
He extended a hand to his dearest. "Come now, we must not linger too long or we will wear out our welcome. We will see him again."
With that small smile still upon her lips, Anastasia nodded, accepting her husband's words as truth. The pair exited the room and the hospital in a manner very similar to how they had entered. Arms entwined formally, displaying their devotion to each other in a fashion that was perfectly acceptable. Perhaps they were hopeless optimists, but at least they were hopless optimists together.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:57 pm
Is this Reality or Is this a Dream?Word Count: 815 One day he had been walking along the sidewalks, then mysteriously transported to a mysterious almost never-ending desert. His bare feet had been burned by the hot grains of sand, his thirst had been overwhelming, and yet he had been able to locate others. He had been able to find some sort of shelter. A bizarre room of treasure and deadly creatures. He had stared a Djinni in the eyes and lived to tell the tale...
...or had he?
Things got blurry after that point. What had happened? Everything had faded to a white, and time almost seemed to stand still.
Yet within a single blink of the eye, time once more began to shift back into gear. Everything still seemed a bit blurry, perhaps a bit slower than he was adjusted to, but it was no longer all white.
Howl's eyes had opened as his head rolled to the side a bit. The first thing he saw was a vase of flowers. They weren't roses. Whoever supplied the flowers knew Howl well enough. Roses were too common place, even if they were lovely. No, in the vase was a bouquet of white lilies.
A faint smile seemed to curl upon his lips as one word simply whispered through his mind. Beautiful. Not having the strength to stay awake too long, his lashes sunk down to cover his eyes again, once more slipping into the land of dreams.
Time didn't stand still this time. Perhaps it was a blessing, or perhaps it was not. The lad did not know. All he knew was the world was rather hazy when he seemed to gain any sort of recollection. The table with the lilies was there again, but this time someone was immediately next to him, holding onto his hand gently. Her hair was a deep brown color, draping down past her shoulders all the way down to her waist. Her eyes were kind and a very familiar color. Her lips were curled into a soft smile.
"Mother?" he said, though he really couldn't tell if he had said the word or merely thought it.
The hand upon his squeezed gently, and in response, his own naturally attempted to curl about it. It felt so warm.
In a gentle tone, the woman spoke to him. "That is right, my son." For a time, all she did was look at him, as if cherishing the moment. Yet, when she spoke again, the words would come out as a surprise to the teal-haired fellow.
"I am truly sorry for what I had said to you, son. I should not let one mistake ruin our relationship as parent and child. Both your father and I had such high expectations for you, and it truly disappointed us that you made such a foolish mistake over a girl. Our disappointment should not have turned into anything so sour as harsh words, or in my own case, a grudge."
She sighed, as if slightly strained.
"Is that all I am to you, Mother? Am I just a disappointment?"
His mother looked as if she had just been shot through the heart with such a question. "No! You are anything but a disappointment, my son! Your father and I love you dearly. If anything, our disappointment was in ourselves, not in you! I just think that we... no... that I did not want to confess to such."
Something wet fell upon his hand, but it was too hard to see at the moment.
"Are you crying, Mother?"
Her head bobbed up and down in a smooth motion. "We were afraid we had lost you. Our only son. We should have been there for you more often, my son. Work should not have been an excuse to shun you from our lives. Nobody is perfect, but you are the closest thing we could have asked for in a perfect son. Even with all of the neglect, you were always loyal. You cherished our family above all else, and I do not think your father or I could have asked for anything more."
"Do not be sad, Mother..."
"I am not, my son. I am just happy you are okay. I promise you, I will be in your life more, as you will be in our own." She lifted his hand up to her lips and gave the fingers a small, endearing kiss.
"I feel tired, Mother..."
Laying his hand back upon the bed, the woman stood up and leaned over him, pressing a faint kiss on his forehead. "Then you should rest, my son. I will be waiting here for you when you wake up."
Obediently, teal eyes shut once more. It was so surreal. Had he been dreaming? Or had his mother actually been there? Whichever case it happened to be, for the first time in a long while, he finally felt at ease.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 10:57 pm
I Slept, Then You Slept...Word Count: 822 He had been released from the hospital. Nothing exciting. Apparently the Lilies and his mother had not been a dream, but a very drug-induced reality. And now reality was no longer hazed like some beautiful dream. His hair was far from presentable, so in an effort to make it less noticeable, he put it in a low ponytail. It was greasy and almost felt slimy to touch. And unfortunately for Howl, his hair was touching his scalp.
Mother had managed to find a condo in the city (though it was mostly thanks to her publicist), and in this current worried state she was in, had convinced herself Howl was not ready for Hillworth yet. Being a good son, he did not disagree with her. However, he had somehow managed to persuade her into allowing him to gather a few things from his dorm room. Rather than make two separate trips, it was decided that going straight from the hospital to the school, and then afterwards to the condo would be the best course of action.
The driver took Mother and Son to Hillworth. Though Howl locked his arm with his mother as a proper escort, it looked more like the brunette was merely giving her son enough support so he could walk. They walked into the office, and after a bit of an exchange with the current secretary, Howl was permitted to go up to his dorm alone. Anastasia had been warned of the dangers of the school. She was not about to set foot in the hallways. The lovely woman took a seat upon one of the chairs set up near the Principal's office, crossing her legs elegantly as she watched her son wobble off to the hallway.
Howl felt like a puppet on loose strings. It felt as if his legs were drooping extra low. As he made his way to the dorms, he couldn't help but notice how empty the hallways were. Had something happened while he was in that coma? Howl felt as if something was quite off. The long-haired lad attempted to clear the thought out of his head, replacing it with the notion that Franz would be his usual self when he returned. Howl somehow managed to stumble to his dorm room, and once he managed to get the door open, he could not believe what he saw.
The room was absolutely deserted. It wasn't simply the fact that Franz wasn't in the room, but more the fact it looked like nobody had lived in the room for weeks. Dust, spiderwebs, and Viola, poor POOR Viola was crinkled up, dry and dead. His roommate was a busy body, but he would have never let any of this happen. Franz was too particular to let a room go to such hell. The teal-haired fellow hobbled in, stopping at his desk and gently touching a finger to a brown shriveled leaf upon Viola.
"Where is he?" Another thing that bugged Howl was Franz's absence. If one person knew the blonde's schedule, it was Howl. Franz was usually in the room around this time of the afternoon. It was possible his friend had added yet another daily chore to his list of many duties, but that would not explain the condition the room was in.
With such a question now tickling his brain, the lad gathered the few things he had come for. He gathered his writing quills, inks, and then Viola's pot before attempting to make his way back to his mother. Each step he took back, one name seemed to echo in his mind.
Franz
By the time he made it back to the office, all he could seem to hear was the repetition of that name. He didn't hear his mother's polite prompting of "Shall we head back to the car?"
Instead, he made his way to the secretary's desk.
"Might I inquire what happened to Franz St. Germaine?" It was a rather blunt question for Howl Wickham, which showed where his mind was at right now.
The Secretary glanced up from the work she had been doing on the computer. "Mr. St. Germaine is in the hospital. He was found unconscious a short time after the epidemic. I believe they said his coma was not associated with the epidemic since it happened too late."
A hand settled itself on the effeminate lad's shoulder. A familiar voice whispered into his ear "You look like you have just seen a ghost, my son."
The secretary didn't seem to care and easily went back to what she had been working on.
"Come now, Son. Let us go back to the condo and talk this over."
Howl wanted to say Yes Mother, but all he could manage was a numb nod. Once again, the woman had to lead the boy, supplying her son as much support as she could.
He was going to need plenty more support to come.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:51 pm
Oppression Never Sleeps (Howl + Janice)Word Count: 1,984
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 7:17 am
One Year WiserWord Count: 626 September 30th. Howl Wickham was one year older and one year wiser. That was how the saying went, as he recalled. Seventeen years, and the conclusion he came up with about the saying was that it must have been a gradual evolution. He did not feel any wiser. He rarely felt wiser.
It was now a bit over a year since he had come to Destiny city. The previous year, he had been too disoriented to truly reflect upon his birthday. He was trying to adjust to the schedules, the activities, and figuring out where any of the places of interest in the city were. This year, things were depressingly calm.
There was no Franz there to snap the teal-haired lad out of his mood. It had only been last year that the blonde managed to find the time in his busy schedule to help the newest student at Hillworth forget about adjusting and remind him to celebrate. "What good is having a birthday if you don't celebrate it?!" Franz did not seem to have any problem putting one of those childish cone-shaped party hats on Howl's head with a snap of the little elastic string.
Naturally, Howl winced at the subtle sting of the elastic. "I feel rather silly, Franz." Teal eyes met his roommate's honey colored ones. His friend seemed to be beaming until delicate fingers attempted to remove the festive hat.
"No! Come on, be a bro and leave it on!" the boy protested. Franz did not acknowledge personal space rules and soon enough had managed to tangle his fingers within Howl's. Perhaps it was a bit childish, but the blonde was quite insistent that the hat remain on Howl's head. "You don't have to be so formal all the time, you know!"
"It is the way I was raised, Franz." Howl's fingers retreated from his head, and soon enough he began to work on untangling his fingers from Franz's. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually the mess became two sets of fingers again.
Thinking back, Howl could truly appreciate such a simple memory. After that, all Howl and Franz had done was talk. Nothing in particular, but it was something pleasant. Unfortunately, Howl was not the sort to hoard objects, so eventually the birthday hat had been thrown away. All he had left from the previous year's birthday was Franz's present. It was a simple personal organizer, but something very "Franz" to give.
The teal-haired figure sat at his desk, and carefully picked up the novelty frame on his desktop. He slid out the photograph of Amelia, the whole reason why he was now in Hillworth, and replaced it with something new. In a sense, he wanted to thank Amelia. If she had never requested that restraining order, Howl would have never met Franz. He slid the photograph of Amelia onto his desk, face down as always. The frame, however, now was set down facing out, revealing his new selection of photograph. It was nothing fancy. It was a photograph of two teenage boys (though one would question if one was really a boy or not) in their school uniforms, smiling to the camera. The blonde had his arm about the teal-haired lad's shoulder.
Howl leaned back in his chair (but was careful to not teeter his chair back so it was balancing on two legs) and sighed. He now had to put on a pleasant face. Mother and Father had scheduled a dinner outing. It was a pleasant gesture. They were obviously trying to make more time for their son, despite the situation. With a small nod to his new photograph as if he was saying goodbye to a person, the teal-haired boy left his relatively empty dorm room.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 7:29 am
Daisies (Howl + Vanessa)Word Count: 2,022
RP link
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
