Title: Illusions of Control Characters: Dominic Status:Complete
Summary: Dominic has some thoughts about his life up to its current point, and finds that he's rather...disillusioned by it all. Word Count: 853
Notes: Solo x1
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Dominic stared idly at the ceiling of the apartment that he'd been calling his "home" for the past year. It hadn't been so much a home as a place to crash and work though; it may as well have been called his "live-in office" for all terminology did to make this apartment any more his home than his Hillworth dorm was. Thinking about things in that regard, he could almost say that he was actually just squatting there. Waiting for when he was supposed to move out. Move on. Actually take hold of his own life.
He snorted at the thought, his mind rolling back to his father's last phone call. That damned guy. Always meddling. Always messing things up for him. Screwing him over and making plans for him. "It's all for you," he'd always say. "I'm doing this for your future," he'd repeatedly insist. He grew up without any respect for him, and yet there he was, practically at the man's mercy.
His father. Dominic Josiah Styles, Sr.
It almost sickened him that he was named after such an arrogant p***k.
Dom turned onto his side, tucking an arm under his head and proceeding to continue his staring contest with the surfaces of his bedroom. The ceiling should have had a hole bored into it with the way he'd been looking at it; as luck (and common sense) would have it, though, he had no genes in him that would allow for lasers to come shooting out of his eyeballs with deep concentration. Lucky for that ceiling. The far left wall of his room was next, and it, too, was safe from any real damage.
The youth amused himself with thoughts of being fated with powers akin to Superman's laser beams or Cyclops's genetic mutation for a time, but eventually his thoughts wandered back to the less pleasant sort.
When did he start thinking that he dictated his own life? When his father forced him to do daily, rigorous exercise? When the man had the help clean out his room and replaced all of his furniture with new, "more suitable" pieces that would be better liked by his peers. Dominic remembered thinking at the time that his father meant his colleagues, and not actually Dom's classmates. The man hadn't been wrong, though; his colleagues did like the furniture whenever they went around for the first time and his father would let them see.
Let them see that he was a "family man." That he was "all about his boy's happiness." "I'm doing this for them." "My success is the key to their futures." "I'm making sure that Junior has something to his name when I'm gone." "Of course he's gonna take over when I'm past my prime. Why the hell do you think I named him after me?"
In Dominic's eyes growing up, and even right as then as he lay awake in his bed, it was all an act. A play. He might even call it an image. Illusion. Created by his father to project the ideal family of a successful man. To project the ideal first-born. The ideal heir. The ideal son. Yet he was stuck with Dominic, a rebel right down to the core of him.
At least when time came for him to do anything his father asked of him.
He might have cooperated if the man showed any respect for him at all. Any respect for his wants and likes and interests. He might have cooperated if the man had been gentler. If he had shown any genuine concern for his well-being. Maybe. At this point, a big, fat maybe. Still, looking back it wasn't like he'd done any favors for his old man either.
He lived to make the man miserable. Whatever he could do to embarrass the guy while he was in the spotlight, he did. He pulled (mostly harmless…) pranks on him, angered him, yelled at him, nearly threw a fist at him (several times), and even threatened to run away (and he did a couple of times, but his mother brought him back). Even to the point of getting himself shipped off to Hillworth, he went to those lengths, harbored those feelings for years.
In the end, though, what point was he trying to make?
That he was in his own person. Now, his own man? That he could lead his own life? Make his own decisions? That he could do what he wanted, when he wanted, with who he wanted? That he, and only he had control over his life.
Dominic lingered on that thought for a beat, recalling everything that happened since his graduation at Hillworth. Since he awoke as a knight and was proven time and time again that he had about as much control over his life as a rodent scrounging around inside a kitchen in a Parisian restaurant. And, despite himself, he actually snorted. Perhaps out of amusement, perhaps out of annoyance, but he snorted. Even smiled.
"Control, huh?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper as he turned to once again face the ceiling. "Since when?"
Summary: In an attempt to escape a visit from his father, Ashur takes Themiscyra to his wonder. While there, one incident leads to another, soon necessitating his upgrade in order to ensure their safety. Word Count: --
Summary: Dominic, after a bit of prompting from his mother, goes to visit his aunt and meets his younger cousin, Cliff, for the first time. He winds up with a makeshift responsibility in the boy, as a babysitter...how fun. Word Count: 2009
Notes: Solo x4
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"I told them you would visit," his mother had said over the phone one afternoon. Dominic had made the mistake of actually picking up -- he was in the middle of a serious project: repairing his smashed-in alarm clock. At the rate he was going he was considering just scrapping the thing and buying a new one, but his free schedule had kept him from doing so for about a week now. After the call he called it quits and hit the closest Target to pick out a new clock on his way to seeing his aunt's family.
They were surprisingly nearby, he found out after google-mapping their address. Not even 5 miles outside the city. Why his mother didn't tell them they even had family in DC was beyond him, but that didn't really matter at this point. The youth was thankful for the drive; it'd been a while since he went anywhere meaningful. Except maybe a certain designer's apartment to check up on her semi-regularly, but aside from that he really had nowhere else he absolutely had to be. School was out and, in his frustration over what happened with his classes during his first semester, he mistakenly forgot to enroll in summer classes. So.
There he was, with nothing to do for a whole...two and a half months.
Dominic had never had nothing to do for some months now. Not since he started picking up a bit of the slack he'd started leaving in his powered form. Nightly patrols and whatnot. They were more regular now, but still not nearly as regular as they ought to be. Why that was, he couldn't be sure. There was not much else to fill his time, yet…he found very little reason to power up. Personal reasons, at least. Patrols usually ended on a rather boring note and left him exhausted in the morning. It was more trouble when he had classes to attend in the morning, but even now he just felt zero motivation to power up.
Especially not now, when the person he enjoyed going on patrols with most was out of commission for a couple of months. And he was more willing to spend time making sure she kept out of trouble so she healed faster rather than go out on his own and get his a** handed to him by some youma or negaverse agent.
Yeah, he still couldn't hold his own. Yet. Or...you know, that was the hope.
Dominic snorted at the thought as he pulled up behind a nice BMW parked outside a quaint looking house, then pulled out his phone to check and see which house was the one he wanted on the block. His mom had said it'd be a white house with a "ridiculous" yellow door…
"Gotcha." He'd parked right in front of it.
It wasn't exactly "white" per se. It was more...light gray with white trims, window frames, and columns. The yellow door stood out rather nicely against the white accent wall that marked the house's entrance, he thought, and complimented the house well; at least, "ridiculous" was probably among the last words he would use to describe it.
The youth took off his helmet and locked up his bike before straightening himself out some and walking up the concrete walkway and to the door. He took the time to check and make sure his hair was its usual, messy-looking self; he didn't have too much time anyway, as the door swung open as he was fixing a seemingly out-of-place lock to reveal a face that reminded him exactly of...well, his mother. The expression she wore was as bright as his mother's, but she seemed to lack a bit of the authority that he always felt in his mother's gaze.
"Yes?" She sounded like her, too.
"Aunt Juliette?"
Her face lit up at that, and her smile widened quite a bit. "Dominic?" she asked, to which he nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ohh!!" she cried in delight before pulling him in for a hug; Dom wasn't very...familiar...with her, but he tried his best to be polite and return the hug as best he could. It turned out to be a rather awkward encounter, but thankfully she pulled away and he gave her his best smile. "You actually came! Come in, come in!"
Dominic stepped inside and matched the look of the outside to the inside of the house as he took a quick glance around. It was homey despite having a very remodeled feel to it, and boasted an open floorplan with light hardwood floors, solid-colored walls and modest furniture and finishings that seemed to be a cross between traditional and contemporary.
"Your home is beautiful," he commented, though he hoped it didn't sound as practiced as when he was being polite with his father's colleagues.
Her little wave of dismissal told him that he probably didn't. "Please," she said, then gestured down the hallway and started ushering him around. "Your home in L.A. is beautiful. Why your mother lets that husband of hers do any of the decorating is something I'll never understand, though."
She must have sensed the smile that her comment had put on his face, he thought as she gave him a pat on the back. "She's the designer, right? Better sense of taste than that man could ever hope for."
"I always figured it was just all about looking the part for him."
"Pfft."
Dominic gave a chuckle at his aunt's reaction just as they walked into the kitchen-dining-living room area, where some cartoon was playing on the TV and he could see a bit of dark brown hair sticking up from behind the couch. His curiosity piqued for all of a second before Aunt Juliette got his attention again, and had him take a seat at the breakfast bar. Within a few minutes and a bit of small talk he found himself being served a small plate of food and being invited to stay for dinner, which he accepted after mentally checking to see if he had plans later.
"So, my mom told me I should visit but didn't tell me exactly why…" He was picking at the food that was handed to him, though he had his eyes on his aunt, who had already started fixing up dinner. The woman looked to be younger than his mom -- she had what, four siblings? -- but so much like her that it was almost uncanny.
"Ah, yes!" she nodded while she chopped a carrot. Unlike his mom, however, she seemed to know her way around the kitchen. "Yeah, I was on the phone with her the other night and told her that I got hired at a new restaurant just last month." Ah, that explains it. "After we went through the whole congratulatory part of it I started talking about finding a sitter for my son, Clifford. That's him, over there, probably napping otherwise he would have come over here and started butting into this conversation."
There was a motherly tone about that remark, as though she wouldn't be bothered even one bit if her son had come over, and perhaps would have even enjoyed his company. Her eyes were smiling, and when he glanced over at the top of the head of the napping boy, Dominic couldn't help but feel a bit...jealous. But. He popped a peanut into his mouth and chewed a bit before turning back to his aunt.
"And she volunteered me for the job?" he asked slowly.
Juliette paused at that and rested the blade of her knife against the cutting board. She raised her head so she could meet his eyes -- she had the same, brilliant green eyes he was so familiar with -- and seemed to scrutinize him for a second before going back to her chopping. "She said I should meet you. As an adult, I mean. Get to know you and see if I can consider you for the job."
Huh. He'd never handled kids before, but...well, there was a first for everything. Not that he had a problem with them, now that he thought about it. In fact, a lot of the time he liked being around kids. They didn't usually mind him being weird or saying anything a little out of the ordinary, which he would do now and again just to see if they were paying attention. The quiet that followed her statement seemed to her to be a signal for her to keep right on going.
"Cliff's...a handful, if you don't know how to handle him right. He's active and always asking questions. I remember you being on the chubbier side when you were around his age."
Bitter memories flooded his brain before he could stop them. "That was before my father came into the picture," he said, perhaps with a bit more of an edge to his voice than was necessary. She picked up on that and glanced up momentarily from what she doing, but seemed to dismiss it. Out of understanding, he hoped, but as she didn't comment there was really no way for him to be sure.
"So you keep an active lifestyle?"
"I run regularly and get a good bit of exercise in every week, sure."
"Any sports?"
"I've dabbled, but I've never joined any teams or anything."
"How good are you at trivia?"
"I try."
"How's your temper?"
"I get competitive, but never violent." He popped another M&M into his mouth and caught the smile on her face as he did.
Dominic expected some more questions, but his aunt continued on with her work in silence. It was several minutes before she finished dicing the last bit of some ingredient or another -- he stopped paying attention after the onions -- and started getting ready to cook some rice that the conversation picked up again, though she went back to the small talk. The topics shifted from how he did in school (he was honest, and she wasn't impressed) and if he had any other jobs (again, she wasn't impressed) and other such things. It still felt like an interview, but definitely more casual and she seemed to be easing into the idea of him spending time with her son.
Eventually she excused herself and went to wake up the boy, and Dominic, at his aunt's suggestion, helped himself to whatever other snacks there were in the walk-in pantry. It was while he was stacking some Reese's on his plate that he saw a familiar head of dark brown hair coming off the edge of his plate. He lifted his plate a little and there stood a little boy who looked nothing like his mother.
Darker skin with vibrant, almost defiant-looking red eyes. They reminded him a little of Danika's, though hers felt more...spunky. He noted the furrowed brows and the curious look in his eyes, as though he didn't understand what it was that Dominic was doing right then. Dom, in the meantime, finished stacking one more Reese's onto his tiny tower before heading out of the little room and walking right up to the kid.
"Peanut butter cup?" he offered.
The boy blinked at him, his eyes still red and defiant and now somewhat narrowed, as though he was assessing him. Dom simply blinked at the boy that he could quite possibly be stuck with for an indefinite period of time, the proffered piece of chocolate resting in his palm and within the child's reach. Blue and red seemed to clash right at that moment. Then, an instant later those same eyes softened and filled with what he could only think of as childlike delight. Excitement, even.
The Reese's was swiftly whisked off of his palm and replaced with the boy's hand, and he let himself get dragged right back to his aunt who was now working over the stove with two big pots and a pan.
"Mom, can this guy be my new babysitter?" he said, and Dominic couldn't help but smile.
00. RP Log
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:35 pm
ORP
Title: Mistral Tragedy Characters: Ashur, (a lot of knights) Status:Complete
Summary: A series of events leads Ashur and a group of other knights to Mistral, where tragedy strikes in an attempt to retrieve the blueprints for an communication upgrade for knights. Word Count: --
Title: BlackWatch Founding Characters: Ashur, (a lot of people) Status:Complete
Summary: Ashur joins a group of powered individuals on a trip to the moon to discuss the formation of a coalition between senshi and knights. Word Count: --
What is he doing now? Ashur splits his time between the Mainstay (when they're in need of a shields guy, or someone with speed on their side for search and rescues) and the Guard, mainly so he can keep a close eye on his cousin, Sailor Urda, and his baby sister, Jasmyn, both of whom are the only blood relatives he's got left. As far as civilian life is concerned, other than powering down to rest as needed or when he's told to, he basically doesn't have one anymore.
Any big/important things that have happened to him that's worth noting? He's not so much as happy-go-lucky as he once was, though he tries to smile as often as he can manage for his sister's sake. She needs some happy in her life considering the state of the world. After the loss of most of his family he forgot whatever problems he had with his identity as a knight and just grabbed the bull by the horns. It made him reckless for a time, earning him his fair share of scars and causing a few run-ins with the Negaverse that resulted in his near corruption. He's since managed to channel his grief more productively, volunteering to join the Mainstay only when he thinks he can be of some use. Otherwise, he hangs back to patrol with the Guard and makes sure to go around asking if he can be of some help to others around the camp. His priorities are primarily with those he considers family; his cousin, baby sister, and Themiscyra (who he's begun officially dating after an over-extended "it's complicated" phase) are at the very top of that list.
Ashur is late to a pre-arranged meeting with Acrucis, who worries for his sake. He arrives injured, but with her help recovers enough to be able to get back to the hospital at HQ. The two talk, in the meantime, and share their worries -- she worries about his safety, he worries she isn't getting nearly enough rest.
06. [☑] Not Everyone Gets Along╎ Ashur, Acrucis, Wafflefries
Ashur and Acrucis find their way to a camp and stop briefly to rest before making their way back to the main base camp. Along the way then find a knocked out senshi and attempt to help, but unfortunately there is a small misunderstanding and the young senshi leaves on his own shortly after waking up.
08. [☑] The Beginning of the End╎ Ashur, (a lot of people)
A meeting for all Order members had been called to decide on a plan of action to finally push back against Chaos, a meeting that was ambushed midway through by the opposition. Chaos wasted no time in destroying the main camp (HQ) and taking as many lives as they could, and Order was ultimately forced to retreat.
09. [☑] Picking Up the Pieces╎ Ashur, (a lot of people)
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10. [☑] The Righteous and the Proud╎ Ashur, (a lot of people)
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