"I've never been too good at this kind of thing," she grins impishly at the man in the chair, tall and dark and broad -- angles and planes and starkly handsome. He's not what she's used to but he's exactly what she wants and she doesn't know why - perhaps it's the way he smells, the way he carried himself the first time she saw him. Perhaps it's the fine cut of his suit, the gleam of his shoes or the perpetual five o'clock shadow that cuts across the dusky skin of his jaw. She doesn't know his name -- she never knows their names because it's the way she likes these things to happen.
"I'm Lila," she lies as she nestles the bowl of popcorn between his splayed thighs. She's been known as many things, but Lila has never been one of them. Her graceful hand dives into the bowl of popcorn and she delicately nibbles on the kernels one at a time, something akin to a hamster devouring a special treat (no, that's wrong, she'd never be caged - perhaps a woodland squirrel, soft and innocent -- but even then, that's wrong because she is not prey, she is not prey, she is not prey.
He says nothing, but shifts in the chair.
She dusts the salt from her hands and idly twirls on her toes before making her way to the small table next to the man. He watches her with something that might be interest. It might be terror.
He's been bound in the chair for a few hours, his wrists taped to the arms of the sturdy thing, and his ankles to the legs of it. A large swathe of the stuff is stuck across his mouth.
The irony seems to be completely lost on him that the duct tape is pink camouflage -- pink camouflage, as if that would save anyone!! -- but she finds humor in it just as she finds humor in the large tattoo that's scrawled across his shoulder. She doesn't look at it too long, because doing so makes him an actual person and not a plaything.
"Now, don't be afraid," she croons softly, those pale fingers ghosting over a shockingly large array of knives -- some serrated, some not, a few of them in varying colors and all of them covered in some sort of rust. Except it isn't rust, it's blood.
She starts humming Auld Lang Syne loudly and slightly off-key.
"Happy New Year," she whispers. The knife is buried to the hilt in his chest, just left of his sternum -- it's long and slender and deadly and it's her favorite because it slides so nicely between the bones of their ribcage -- and fireworks sound outside and his blood is hot on her skin as it slowly gushes against her pretty ruffled dress and causes her long, thick black hair to clump.
She doesn't mind.
She kisses his chin, his jaw, feels the fight drain out of him.
"Happy New Year," she whispers again as the knife slips free with a wet thock and clatters to the floor, soon followed by the bowl of half-burned popcorn. She settles herself in his lap as he draws his last breath, and it's beautiful and powerful.
Finn's head was beginning to throb beneath the faint, buzzed feeling that edged his mind. He was still angry that he was stuck out here, alone with who might very well be the biggest kill joy he had ever met, while the count down began, loudly, inside, reminding him quite clearly of what he was missing. In just thirty more seconds, it would be midnight, marking the end of one s**t-tastic year and the start of another, but at least if he was inside he'd be warm (as he was beginning to shiver) and he'd be having a good ******** time (as he now puffed and scowled down at the ground, pulling out his phone to look up the number to a taxi that could take him back to his hotel) and best of all, he'd be surrounded by beautiful people, people with warm lips, soft tits, and hard......
10....
He flicked his cigarette to the ground with a disgusted sound in the back of his throat.
9.....
His gaze lifted to look at the only other person within distance, a man who had, at some point, decided to dye his hair pink. Somebody who looked like he should have been interesting, and exciting, but who seemed anything but.
8.....
He smiled, gaze flat, making the expression look rather dangerous, almost evil.
7....
What did he really have to lose?
6....
Nothing, that's what. They'd never see each other again.
5
Finn glanced back to the door, waiting, appearing much more calm, and non threatening.
4....
He turned on his heel in one quick motion.
3...
He crossed the short distance between himself and the other man, hand reaching out to grab his arm.
2....
He yanked him, reaching with his other hand to the mans other arm to turn him towards him, hoping that with the element surprise on his side, he could hold him in place and do this quick.
1...
"Happy New Year." He murmured, and yanked the man towards him, mouth finding his, pressing against it rough, hard, obtrusive, for as long as he could manage before the other man managed to get away from him.
And then he let out a hot breath that curled into steam in the chilled night air and laughed, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.
Paige's grin grew into a full-fledged smile at the other woman's boisterous response to free booze -- and ********, if it took free booze to keep the woman close just a little longer, Paige was totally down for it. They could take it out of her paycheck for all she ******** cared.
"I'm Paige, and I sure as s**t ain't supposed to be drinking on the job," the tall blonde woman laughed and poured the brunette another drink. "Where'd your friends go?"
She realized, of course, that it might become stunningly obvious that she'd been paying real close attention to the woman, but ******** if she cared. It was New Years Eve, and Paige deserved something nice every now and again.
She slipped the fifty into her pocket with every intent on slipping it back into the woman's purse at the first chance she got before pouring the other woman three more shots of the sparkling violet vodka.
iloveyouDIE
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:20 pm
[ Weatherford, tx ][7:51 pm]
Horace checked his phone, the light illuminating his face, making him look just a little older. His snapchat got one 'lol', a 'happy nye dude', and two drunken selfies. His grandma hadn't texted - probably didn't realize he was gone. "Weatherford's got a s**t-ton of peacock ranches." He pinched the bridge of his nose before snapping his seat-belt open. Time to chase tail. Horace leaned over and kissed her quickly. "No laughing at me."
The aftermath of the peacock chasing was one peacock picture, including Horace with a goofy smile, one blurred picture of a peacock (this one white) trying to bite Horace, and one picture of the herd running away. He collapsed in the car seat with a groan. Lifting the phone, he shot one more pic of Peyton. His friends would suddenly find themselves the recipients of all of these pictures, with the following tags: 'whoa, chasing cocks on nye, peacocks', 'they don't like me sad'. 'what're you up to', 'alternative to c**k-chasing'.
Prolixity
hello have some annoying
Enoh Love
texts for you two
[ Fort Worth, tx ][9:47 pm]
"Yeah, we can hit up Estevez's frat. He told me they get crazy." Horace had, quite recently, been jaunting all around the country to check out colleges - California, Florida, here. And Horace liked keeping in touch with people. That was how he knew his friend's frat would have a party - Estevez had been bugging him to come visit. Horace didn't ever want to attend TCU, but... no one should pass up free booze. With his hand, he tugged her closer and pressed a biting kiss to her shoulder. A surge of possessiveness rose in him and he hoped (futilely) none of the college boys would hit on her.
He parked the car, nearly taking out a bike rack. Shooting off a quick text to Estevez, he grinned at his girl. "Let's go crash a party."
Beejoux
The Semblance of Unity
Predestined Victim
Offline
Nothing Yet Crew
Obsessive Stargazer
Offline
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:21 pm
[ New York City, New York ] [ 10:45 p.m. EST ]
At the click of the line connecting, the words just spilled out without warning.
"Hey, Clerise. Listen, I was--oh. Sorry. Happy New Year." Mimsy allowed only about a half-second of a pause. "Have you heard from daddy, by chance? I'm in New York, and I was supposed to meet him for dinner, and...well, he isn't here. I waited for three hours."
cherno astra
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:28 pm
[ University of Florida Dorm Party, Florida ] [ 10:05pm ]
"TO PASSING FIRST SEMESTER!" Harley cried, cheering with the other two girls she had come with; her bestest of best friends, both classmates, one dorm mate, and neither of them knew whose party this was. Word of mouth had got to them, and that was that. Not that it mattered; a party was a party, was a party. Their red solo cups clunked sloppily together, and the red head cut a laugh as some beer sloshed from her drink and onto her wrist. Funny. It always was.
She drank quickly, hoping that nobody would notice that she was still a good two years short of being legally able, and let out a satisfied gasp once she finally came up for air. It was about the time that she surveyed the room she was in, happily looking over every person she could lay her bright blues on. A lot of them were strangers, but there was one -
"Hey~" She whispered to her friend, not taking her eyes off of the brown haired man at the other end of the room. "Isn't that - hey, you're not Sarah!" The boy that was standing where her friend had once been gave her a look, and finally walked away, leaving Harley to do a shocked survey around the area. Sarah was gone. Georgia was gone. They had abandoned her! Those bitches.
Except she couldn't stop grinning. Oh well, their loss!
Her empty red cup was put down before she fixed her clothing, tried to smooth her unruly hair, and finally adjusted her small boobs (and the motion reminded her that she needed to check her phone, though she did not). There. She was ready to say hi to that dude who was leaning against the wall like he owned the ******** place; she had to admit she liked that he had that sort of presence in a party like this. It made him special, even beyond the recognition.
"Hey~" She tried again, this time as she slid up to the somewhat taller man. "Aren't you that hotty that grades Professor Dickhead's papers?" Probably not her best opening, but it was said happily enough, and with a silly little grin that was not at all spurred on by the watered down booze she had sloshing about in her stomach.
Her phone was continuing to buzz in her bra, and loudly, but she ignored it for the time being.
beejoux
the semblance of unity
sorry horace your c**k-chasing's being ignored in favour of classroom hottie brb
Ripley had been more than happy to ignore the world around him. To pretend the screaming from the club behind him (and from down the street, and across the street, and all over the ******** place) wasn't happening at all. He wanted to see the stars again, and that was it; the sense of impending doom did not reach the pleasantly tipsy man.
The hand on his arm was a surprise, and the way the world wooshed before coming to an abrupt halt was also somewhat of a concern. He had opened his mouth to let out a cry of surprise at first, and then a few sharp words of rebuke, but both of these things went unspoken as a set of lips pressed against his own. He tried to protest what was happening as that obtrusive and rough kiss continued, and the moment he realized what was happening he leaned his head back, breaking the kiss as he pushed himself out of that confining grip.
"The <********>, dude?!" Ripley gasped in surprise, wiping his mouth off on the back of a gloved hand. He levelled a seething glare at the other man before stepping away, trying to keep his distance once more.
seussi
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:46 pm
[ Detroit, Michigan ] [ 10:34 PM ]
The door opened for a second time in the span of minutes, a tall, heavily pierced man with purple hair and a rag-tag assemblage of clothing strolling into the bookstore, a large grin on his face. Outside, the city was alive with people heading to whatever party or gathering they had made their plans attend.
Tommy, however, had made no such plans. He was a free spirit, content to let life lead him to whatever adventures lay in store. He'd wandered the streets, put on a couple of small shows for the tourists, had made a few dollars, and had been invited to various events.
But instead he found himself here, in the shop that he knew he would find Chance working in, a man whom he had only barely met, had briefly spoken to, but one whom he had found interesting, intriguing, and best of all, quite nice to look at. Tommy knew that, in a few days, he'd be moving on, finding a new venue, traveling across America to continue to scrape together what amounted to a living for himself. So, maybe that was also why he'd found himself here, hoping to capture for himself some few more brief moments before this man was out of his life, quite likely never to be seen again.
The pale, freckled, and nervous looking teen had not been expected, and Tommy lifted an eyebrow briefly before greeting them both, arms spreading, palms upward in fingerless brown leather gloves as he gave a small bow with a grin before speaking, his voice lilted with an Italian accent.
"Ah, good evening! I was walking by and could not help but notice that you are here, still, when, perhaps, you might find that coming out with me to be much more genial." His words were directed at Chance, and were punctuated with a wink before he motioned towards Oliver.
It was a short time before Finn could reply, as he continued to laugh to himself, fingertips coming to rest lightly against his bottom lip, where he could still feel that eager kiss (that had not, by any means, been returned). He was no longer cold, his face flushing quite warm from the moment, his heart having picked up speed in his chest. It wasn't the most shocking thing he'd done in his life, but it certainly had been one of the most spontaneous, and despite the other man clearly being quite unappreciative of the gesture, Finn had found it rather enjoyable.
"Oh come on now. Don't be such a ******** baby." He finally managed to say, watching as the other man backed away. "You ******** needed that."
Don't ask him to explain his logic behind that one, but Finn definitely felt that it was true.
Enoh Love
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:33 pm
[ Times Square, NY ] [ 9:24 PM ]
He dragged his phone away from her. "Excuse me, those are my private messages you're definitely not reading," said Gale indignantly. He debated pushing Nora's face out of his line of vision, but decided against it in the end, because she was much taller and much stronger than he was.
"A bite to eat sounds great," he said, hoping to distract her from his texts, because it was hard enough already for him not to be distracted by them. It was true that Lina was not his girlfriend, technically, but that did not mean that he didn't want her to be.
(It was most assuredly the opposite, though he'd tried to tell himself otherwise.)
medigel
Text to Lina:
Oh man, I'm sorry. sad Are you going to be staying up past midnight, or turn in after?
Quote:
Text to Lina:
I think we're going to try! I'd like to see it, I came here once when I was a kid, but I don't remember too much about it...
What a shy, skittish thing, Chance thought, leaning against the counter and propping his chin up in his hand. He looks like a startled deer. Or a fawn might be a better term, with those wide eyes and that quiet nature of his that I can already see.
Out loud, however, he said mildly, "We do carry textbooks. They're on the left side of the racks, down row four."
The bookstore was not large by any means, but the shelves were crammed to the breaking point almost with all sorts of reading material that would satisfy even the biggest book lover, as well as several rotating racks of DVDs by the counter.
Chance followed the boy's gaze, then let his own flick back to him, a smile curving his lips upward.
"See anything interesting?" he asked, just as the front door opened again with a little chime. This time the visitor was familiar, though only by a short measure. Chance stretched his arms out in front of him, then went back to his previous position.
"Hey, Tommy," he said lightly. "Nice outfit."
A snort escaped his lips, Chance looking amused as he said, "That depends. Where are we going and what are we doing? And as for my friend here - " he gestured vaguely in the other kid's direction, eyes twinkling mischievously. "He was just popping in to buy some schoolbooks. This is Tommy, by the way," he added, jabbing a thumb in his direction, as casually as if they were all old friends.
grey dragon
seussi
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:58 pm
[ 6:48 PM PST ] [ San Francisco, CA ]
Huh. It was Mimsy. It was way, way late there-- what was she doing up at a** o'clock in the morning.
"Hey you!" Clerise tucked the phone between her chin and shoulder, hopping around her hotel room to tug one of her damned boots off. "Happy new year, future girl!" Just a little more-- wait. What?
"No." Cogs spinning. She hadn't heard from her uncle in a while, actually, and her own dad hadn't ever really mentioned him since...well. Yeah. "I'm afraid I haven't, Mimsy. You okay?" Clerise kept her tone from going too soft with sympathy; she didn't pity Mimsy. She wanted to punch a grown man right in the d**k for her, but she did not pity her. It would be demeaning.
"Right," Nora repeated with a wink as Gale peeled away. "I wonder how Jamie would take to that--little Gale fretting over a long-distance crush." She tapped her chin as if honestly considering passing the information along, then snagged her cousin's arm, entwined it with hers, and began to march them onward. She had no idea of course where to go, despite having a map in her coat pocket--but that would ruin the point of exploration.
"I'll pay for your slice if you give me details," she offered with a sly look.
kuuropii
Text to Gale: Not sure, normally I fall asleep a lot later but if I drink a lot of champagne I might get sleepy faster...
Quote:
Text to Gale: Take lots of photos for me? I'm super jealous D: I wish I could be there with you guys
The guys had been added just before hitting send.
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:10 pm
[ Times Square, NY ] [ 9:25 PM ]
Gale opened his mouth, and then promptly shut it again, finally winding up with a scowl on his face that was directed towards his cousin. "You wouldn't do that," he said, trying to gauge whether or not this was actually true. "And it's not a crush, okay, it's just a, you know."
A pause. His face was growing steadily redder.
"A...friendship. Thing."
He was now very flustered. Gale turned abruptly sideways, which meant that Nora was dragged along with him, since their arms were interlinked. His eyes went to his phone again.
medigel
Text to Lina: I don't get to drink tonight, because I forgot the States' drinking age is higher the UK. Maybe I can convince Nora to get me some champagne...
Quote:
Text to Lina:
Then we could have a long distance toast together smile
Gale hesitated over his third text and then finally hit send anyway, before he could stop himself.
Quote:
Text to Lina:
I wish you were here too, it'd be fun to walk around together smile
kuropeco
Dramatic Marshmallow
Offline
Baneful Crew
Dramatic Hunter
Offline
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:25 pm
[Northern FL] [11:50 PM]
"It is like I say, she misses you dearly. I know this time of year was very special for you both. But I won't keep you any longer, go enjoy the countdown, I will see you on Saturday for your seance to speak to her personally. Happy New Year Ma'am. God Bless." Leaning over, Jan hung up the phone, disturbing as he did so one of his many cats who had taken up residence in his lap. The female bengal gave him a slow blink as he scratched her ears idly, jingling her crystal encrusted collar. Cats did indeed make better company than human beings, most especially when one employed someone else who cleaned out their litter boxes and merely had to tolerate their indifferent company without obligation. He enjoyed the way they wantonly destroyed things for no reason other than the simple joy of doing so, the way they patiently hunted even when not truly hungry and the way they would readily steal to further their own ends. He saw some element of the perfection he represented reflected back in them, albeit, tainted by their lack of intellect.
He moved to stand and disgruntled the cat bounded from where she had been sitting, landing on the plush white carpet, tail aloft as she circled back to eye him. "It is new year's eve." he said. "A new year and a new set of opportunities." She meowed, trying her luck at getting something to eat, it made him smile with its brash opportunism as a neat example of his statement.
Normally the new year he attended whatever party was being held in the circles of his well-to-do clients, but this year the belle of the ball had died tragically before the event and there had been no time to relocate the party. It was so very sad, but she had been quite elderly. The only relief to his deep mourning had been rather well taken care of in her will thanks to stepping in on so many occasions on her behalf.
Money was almost beginning to lose its appeal, there was only so much one could accrue before it began to dull the excitement of the game. There was not a great deal left to buy. Perhaps he would get a yacht, but even that was not a very enjoyable prospect. He did not much like the sea.
Either way, it was fortunate that he had found other less straightforward games to play.
The present game in progress was America and the boy, kept on a long enough tether that she would resent him, but short enough that he could hound her whenever the inclination took him. He was baiting her, pushing her with his presence over time and had even hired a few fairly expensive PIs to keep an eye on her every move. If she decided to run (and he so hoped she would) well that would be the greatest sport of all. She was always too proud, too lofty for her station and it had infuriated him and made him desire to tear her down. Even the child itself had proven ultimately a plan which had not panned out the way he could have hoped thanks to her liking them in spite of his genetic contribution to the matter. Her resilience was as mesmerizing as it was infuriating.
Even on holidays, he did not take a day off from this particular game, taking out his phone and setting up a text to send at midnight on the dot. It was simple.
Happy New Year Missy. The cheque is in the mail, send Justice my love.
Of course the cheque never came. At this point he owed quite a bit of child support that he never intended to pay and it felt good to remind her, to now and then make her think of how well off he was and how wealthy she too could be if she would only break, if she would only give in.
The flatscreen that took up a wall of his living room was tuned to the countdown, a crass and loud thing which contrasted painfully with the delicate modernity of his living room. It was indulgence, a window on the stupid people who would buy anything, who even now stood in the cold poorer in pocket for no reason other than watching a ball drop. It was a whole world of fools who needed to be parted from their belongings, and most desirable of all of those fools was the one who adamantly defied their own stupidity and who fought every single step of the way.
2015 was the year he would show her what his money could really do.
