Kedrick Suwa's Estate

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

This almost feels like before, Arielle thought to herself as she looked back at Kedrick, his touch already calming her down slowly. Even though there was a doubtful voice in the back of her mind, it was small and could hardly compare to what the rest of her mind was saying, what her own heart was saying. She felt like she would just cry more knowing just how true his words were and how happy she was to actually hear them.

She let Kedrick pull her into him and she wrapped her arms around him, having no intention of letting him go just yet. She let the rest of her tears soak Kedrick's shirt, glad to get them out as well as what she had hid. Arielle felt bad that they all had to learn about it after Dimitri's reencounter with Jared, but had she not told Maria and the boys found her upset about it, they would've only realized it at a bad time and things would crash into each other.

Maria smiled gently at Dimitri and squeezed his hand back. There was no need to rush the moment between Kedrick and Arielle, especially because for once in Arielle's life, she knew that she needed someone else to cry on besides herself. No more secrets, Maria repeated in her thoughts, hoping that that would always be the case.

After some time, Arielle lifted her head and moved back some, wiping her face as best as she could. She looked up at Kedrick and smiled at him, "Thank you, Kedrick," she said almost quietly, knowing that she could've said anything else but she felt like that was just enough as well. She looked over at her friends and gave them a small apologetic smile. "Sorry for adding this on your plate of troubles," she apologized shyly.

"Don't worry about it," Maria said with a grin, "We're all here for you, and for this knucklehead over here." She poked Dimitri in the forehead before grinning, her facial expression turning completely serious. "Arielle, what you should do now is call my dad and let him know as well as ask to see Jonesy about this. I'm sure he'll have some kind of answer to give."

"I've got it," Arielle said with a nod, a small playful smile appearing on her face, "And are you going to be playing with the toy your father gave you, Maria?"

Maria knew, as well as Arielle, that the boys had no idea what they meant. She laughed and pulled out the gun that had been hiding in the back of her pants under her shirt, except for when Arielle had seen a bit of it. She looked over at Dimitri, knowing both he and Kedrick were probably baffled and confused about how she had one in the first place.

"So, Dimitri~," Maria started off sweetly, smiling innocently at him, "Wanna learn how to shoot a gun~?"  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Kedrick hugged Arielle gently, every fiber in his being convening comfort, support, and understanding. Kedrick was understanding and yet knew that he could fully understand. The only one in their little group that could totally understand, and not just be understandinging was Dimitri, and Kedrick had mixed feelings about this. Kedrick was bitterly regretful that his best friend had had to suffer through that kind of terrible abuse, and yet it was good for both Dimitri, and Arielle to know that there was someone who fully grasped their situation. On the other hand, Kedrick was almost resentful of that understanding. It was nothing against Dimitri, and it was no longing to have the same thing done to him, but he desperately wanted to understand Arielle fully, so that he could help her in the best way possibly. Her, and Dimitri...

The feeling of Arielle's tears soaking his shirt brought him back to the present, and his grip tightened in a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay..." He murmured softly, his lips brushing her hair as she spoke. he rested a hand on the back of her neck, stroking her hair down her back. "It's alright..I'm here, don't cry..." He whispered, his voice calming, and gentle.

As she moved back, Kedrick released her, his hands still resting on her arms. His heart ached at the sight of her watery smile and her tear stained face. Yet it wasn't an ache of pain, or even pity, of was the ache of loving someone so much that it hurt to keep it all inside. He gave a choking laugh that shook his shoulder, and then took her face in both hands and kissed her passionately on the lips, feeling like he had to released the love he felt at the moment or he might explode.

Kedrick pulled back after a second, realizing that he had never kissed Arielle quite like that before, and his cheeks, and indeed the rest of his face quickly began to redden. Kedrick scratched the back of his neck, looking shyly embarrassed.

Dimitri watched the kiss with a hint of amusement, it was good to see the two of them interacting like that, and it reminded the boy of when Maria had kissed him in the parking lot only hours before. He pulled back, blinking in surprise as she poked his forehead. Dimitri grinned sheepishly, ducking his head and rubbing his arm. "Thanks..." He said huskily. Maria's words may have been in a playful tone, but they meant a lot to Dimitri, the really did. To know that he had friends watching his back sent a flare of comfort though him, and allowed him to let the events of last night and this morning slip from his mind.

Dimitri listened to Maria's more serious words, taking them in with some curiosity. It disturbed him that they where going to talk to the same man who had done all this to Arielle, and he couldn't deny that the idea made him uncomfortable, even a bit scared. Dimitri was, to some degree, frightened of all men, even boys his own age scared him. But to purposely go to a man, close to Jared's age, who had a history of taking advantage of people and hurting them, it made Dimitri feel physically ill. The dark hair boy tried not to think of it, try not to imagine what would happen while they were their. Dimitri told himself that Jonsey would be behind bars, or handcuffed to a table, whatever, he wouldn't be able to touch them. Chances where, the man wouldn't pay Dimitri the slightest mind. He would probably be focused on the others, Arielle, as a former victim, and Kedrick and Maria as the two who were instrumental in his arrest. Dimitri told himself that Jonsey would take no notice of a slight, dark haired boy who hadn't even been there for the actual event.

That was another thing that bothered Dimitri, he knew that he had understood very little about Arielle, and had no connections with the police. But he felt like he had somehow let Arielle down by not being there to help when Jonsey tried to take Arielle away. If there was a real threat to Arielle here, and Dimitri was sure that there was, Dimitri was determined to be their, and be a help to the girl who had become such a close friend to him. 'the one who knows fully what I've been though..' He added to himself.

Dimitri jerk himself out of his thoughts when Arielle spoke...something about a toy, he had missed the first part of the sentence. "Toy, what toy?" He asked, looking back at her, a slight look of bewilderment on his face. The look of bewilderment, changed quickly to shock as he stared at the weapon, he looked at it, and then at Maria, and then at Kedrick to see how his friend was reacting to this turn of events.

Kedrick raised his eyebrows as Maria withdrew the gun. And yet strangly, Kedrick couldn't say that he was really surprised, it would be just like Maria to bring one of her father's guns camping, for whatever reason. He shook his head with a smile and an incredulous laugh. "Maria, you never cease to amaze." He said, grinning.

Dimitri stared, still a little open mouthed at the gun, and then up at Maria as she spoke. He closed his mouth, looked at her, and then the gun, and then a slow smile spread over his face. "Would I ever!" He laughed, taking a few trotting steps over and studying the weapon. "This your dad's?" He asked, laughing slightly. He couldn't imagine the advantage of confidence he would have if he ever had the need to shoot a gun. Dimitri always figured that if he ever had to shoot a gun, he would have to rely on dumb luck just to let him know which end was which. But now that Maria was offering to teach him, Dimitri was getting a pretty good feeling about this whole weapons thing.


 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Arielle felt tingles throughout her body when Kedrick kissed her. She was completely surprised at the passionate kiss they shared, realizing that it was the first between the two. Again she found her arms wrapping around him and she felt herself smile into the kiss, her heart welling with so much love and gratitude. What would I do without him? she thought, not even wanting to think of that kind of answer.

When he pulled back, Arielle laughed shyly and felt her cheeks warm. The sight of his face all read brought back so many awkward memories, but they were the best memories for her. She saw Maria smiling and giving her a thumbs up, and she rolled her eyes at her best friend being so goofy.

Maria found herself grinning when Dimitri was bewildered by the sight of the gun. She bowed to Kedrick and laughed, knowing that he was completely true. She looked back over at Dimitri and was already getting a good vibe of his enthusiasm about learning. It might do him some good to learn, Maria thought to herself, remembering that her thoughts almost resembled the words her father said the first time he taught her how to shoot a gun and his argument to her mother about why.

"Well, it used to be," Maria answered, twirling it around, "But my dad ended up giving it to me. I have another two at home. They all have names too." She smiled at that, knowing that it was weird of her to give her weapons names, but that was somehow not all that surprising to her.

"But enough about my weird quirks," she continued, placing the gun on his hand, "I wasn't actually suspecting it to be in my bag. Dad, although he never acts like it, is very overprotective of me since I'm his baby girl as well as the only girl in the family. He taught me how to shoot when I was younger and I've become quite good at it. Probably thought I needed it just in case I was in any kind of situation to use it, because obviously calling him and the walkie talkie aren't enough."

Arielle giggled at that and found herself hugging onto Kedrick's arm. "Maybe he expects you to go hunting, Ria," Arielle teased with a grin.

Maria looked back at Arielle and made a face before looking back at Dimitri, her face suddenly becoming a bit serious. "This isn't a toy though, Dimitri. Even though I know you understand that. But, since it's here, I thought I'd teach you. Just in case... In case you ever need to use it." She felt like she was implying something, and she probably was, but she knew that if she wasn't around. At least, if one was available, he'd be able to defend himself.

A gun almost killed my best friend, Maria thought, part of her becoming horrified at the idea of it but knew that something as dangerous like that came with a great responsibility. She looked Dimitri in the eye, wondering what was going through his mind right then and there. "Are you ready, Dimitri?"  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Kedrick smiled gently at Arielle. The redness had gone down in his cheeks although the tips of his ears were still a little pink. He brushed the heel of his hand across his right ear, he could feel the hot blood under the skin and rubbed his ears uncertainly, willing the redness to go down. Kedrick looked down, realizing that he still had Arielle's phone in his hand. He closed the message so Arielle wouldn't have to looked at it, and then held it out to her with a sheepish smile. "Here," He said quietly, the phone laying in his upturned palm. "This is yours." Kedrick hesitated softly, and then added in a gentle undertone. "Just don't look at it okay?" He asked, touching her cheek with his fingertips and smiling sympathetically. "If you want too, call Maria's dad, asking Mr. Vincent if we can talk to him. I'm sure he would appreciate knowing that Maria's okay as well, but don't look at the text message, Alright?" Kedrick prompted gently, his hand sliding form the side of her face to rest at his side again.

Kedrick worried about her, he knew that those kind of things were hard to ignore. A person's main instinct would be to remain on the matter, and to look at it over and over trying to figure it out and letting it be burnt into their memories. Kedrick didn't want that to happen to Arielle. He didn't want her to have that text memorized and burned into her mind so she would never forget it. Kedrick wanted it to slip from her thoughts, to be blocked out like she had with so many other bad memories.

Dimitri listened to the history of the gun, how it had passed from her father's hands to her's. The boy found himself smirking as she said that the guns had names, and he was actually a little curious about them. Dimitri resolved that sometime he'd have to ask her. He blinked, a little surprised as she placed the gun in his hand. It was heavier then he had expected, but it was a good, comforting kind of heavy. It made Dimitri think that even if he froze and couldn't shoot it straight, it would always be heavy enough to club someone with.

Dimitri looked up at the seriousness of Maria's next words, and he looked at her somberly, his dark eyes glinting with suppressed curiosity. He wanted to learn how to shoot, it seemed like it would offer some comfort in knowing the skill. Dimitri felt a slight shiver run up his spine, and he wasn't sure weather it was a thrill of fear of anticipation. 'In case I ever need to use it.. He mused to himself, and he could think of only one person that he would probably have the guts to shoot, and instinctively, he knew Maria was thinking of the same person.

Dimitri looked up at her, serious, and determined. "Ready." He said, and a small smirk touched his lips.Gesturing with his chin, Dimitri looked down towards the lake a bit. "Down there would probably be safer, " He said, knowing that Maria probably already had a shooting spot in mind, but he thought he'd mention it anyways. Dimitri gave a wry smile. 'The things I'm learning about her...' He marveled, smiling to himself. 'she speaks Russian, she can shoot a gun, How didn't I kow these things before?' Dimitri wondered, but then he had to remind himself that until recently, there was a lot that Maria hadn't known about him. But now it was all out in the open, and Dimitri was glad for that.


 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Arielle stared at her phone, almost forgetting that she had handed it over to Kedrick. Part of her, in that instant, began to panic. What if the mysterious person sent her another text, or even tried to call her? Even if he told her not to look at it, she felt like that she would for who knows what reason. She listened to the rest of what he said and nodded. "I'll try Kedrick," she answered truthfully, only hoping that she'd be able to actually do it.

Maria nodded with a light smile, making sure the gun was firmly in Dimitri's hand before letting go. She could tell that he had a sense of what she meant and whom she meant as well. As much as she honestly wanted to harm the man, she knew that wasn't really her fight to end. It all rested on Dimitri and what he would do. That of course didn't mean that she still wouldn't do anything, but when it all came to an end, whenever that would be, she would want to be the first to make him pay.

"Okay, but before we do that," Maria said with a grin, "I've got to call my dad. Mom's probably panicking like crazy right now and I'm sure dad's trying his best to have my mother not blow up my phone." She looked over at Arielle with a small smile, "Do you want to tell dad about Jonesy or should I tell him?"

"I will," Arielle answered with a note of sureness in her voice, "And maybe I can see if I can talk to him alone."

"You aren't doing anything else alone with Jonesy, Ari," Maria said, already shooting down the notion, "You've got the three of us and there's no way we're letting you go by yourself in a room. Sure, I know nothing bad will happen, but I don't trust Jonesy one bit. He's not as clever and sneaky as Jared, but he has a sadistic mind and I'm sure he's going to make you crack if you're alone. And that's the end of it."

"But this is my problem, I should be able to deal with it," Arielle said with a pout on her face. She didn't understand why Maria wouldn't let her do this. It wasn't like Jonesy was going to try and kill her when he was surrounded. At least, she hoped he didn't try and pull anything.  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Dimitri looked up as Maria forestalled the much anticipated shooting lesson. He nodded, knowing that Maria's family was probably worried about her and it would be good for her to call them and put their fears to rest. The boy's smile faltered for a second, and Dimitri was tempted to remind Maria not to tell her parents, but he shoved the notion aside scornfully. Maria was far to sharp to have forgotten his request already. He knew she'd respect what he had asked of her.

Dimitri cocked his head to the side, looking down at the gun to occupy his mind. The gun was sleek, well kept, and in a strange sort of way, beautiful. It was a good weapon, this was no low budget pawn shop gun, this one had been carefully selected and payed for, and Dimitri had no doubts of it's quality. If Maria's father had originally picked it out it was probably the best their was.

Kedrick listened with mild curiosity as the girl's spoke. Suddenly, at Arielle's suggestion that she would go alone, Kedrick jerked up his head, speaking without thinking. "No!" He said abruptly, but kept from saying anything else as Maria already deflected the idea. None the less, Kedrick was shaking his head when Arielle tried again to convince them. "No." He said again firmly, his voice more controlled this time. "Arielle, I will not, under any circumstances let you alone with that man. When I said I wouldn't leave you alone for a minute, I meant it, and that includes going to talk to Jonsey." His voice softened as his finished and he hoped the intensity of his words hadn't been mistaken for his being upset at her. Kedrick only wanted to make sure she was safe, and sending her in alone to talk to that man seemed a poor way to do it.

Vaguely, in the back of his mind, Kedrick had a nearly childish thought. He hoped that when he had broken Jonsey's nose, as he was sure he had, that it hadn't healed properly. It would do his ugly, twisted personality justice to see it reflected on his face.

Dimitri followed the conversation, Maria had really covered it all when she had said that Arielle had the three of them to back her up. Dimitri, despite his rapidly growing nervousness about the man, wanted to be there to help Arielle. He had promised himself that he would and he intend to keep to that promise. Maria's mention of Jared made him flinch almost involuntarily. After spending the entire evening, night and morning with the man, it had rubbed his nerves raw, and even the mention of his name man his flinch. Dimitri just hoped that Kedrick didn't feel the need for a good cup of coffee any time soon.

Dimitri sighed to himself. More often then he could remember, Dimitri wished he hadn't left out that small detail when he told Kedrick. Countless times, Kedrick had teased him with the coffee and countless times Dimitri had suppressed flashbacks and ruthless memories. It would be easy enough to tell him, but Dimitri knew that after all this time Kedrick would feel so terrible about the long running 'joke' that it almost wasn't worth telling him. Vaguely, Dimitri wondered if Maria would possibly piece it together, after spending so much time with Jared she might have noticed, but it was a very distant 'might.'

Dimitri decided to speak up, stepping over to Arielle, Kedrick and Maria. "I agree," He said simply. "We kind of need to stick together on stuff like this hmm?" He asked, a small smile touching his lips.

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Arielle wanted to argue back. She didn't find it fair that something like a small conversation with a person now behind bars couldn't be done alone. The tone of Kedrick's voice surprised her and she couldn't help but feel like a child being scolded, her face with a frown and still pouting. She almost wanted to whine that it was unfair, but she knew that she would lose the argument in the end, so she didn't even bother. Instead she sighed and stared intently on the ground, giving herself time to cool off before looking up at them with a small smile. "Alright, alright," Arielle said in defeat, "I know better than to try and continue arguing with the two of you about it. Especially you Maria."

"Guilty as charged," Maria said with a soft laugh, going through her contacts on her phone and speed dialing her home number. She knew that at that point, her parents should still be home, well at least she hoped so. After one ring, it picked up and she opened her mouth to say something but couldn't even say anything after a flurry of Spanish escaped from the other end.

"¡Maria Inez Navarro Vázquez!" her mother exclaimed, causing the young girl to move her phone away from her ears. "¿Sólo cuando en el mundo has estado? ¿Cómo es que no nos han llamado la espalda como lo prometiste? ¡Usted conoce a su padre y yo estábamos preocupados por ti!"

Maria sighed, knowing that her mother would be the one to overly panic on the phone. She didn't even listen to the rest of what her mother was saying but waited until she seemed calm before answering. "Mamá, estoy bien, relajarse. Dimitri y yo fuimos de excursión ayer con Arielle y Kedrick y terminamos perdiendo. Luego hubo una tormenta y nos escondió en una cueva un poco antes de finalmente encontrar el camino a la casa de una pareja encantadora de. Nos dejaron pasar la noche y nos dejó en una gasolinera en la que terminó de reunirse con Arielle y Kedrick. Por otra parte, la razón por la que no podía llegar a usted fue porque no había servicio y todo fue un desastre, pero todo está bien ahora."

Even though she was speaking in Spanish, she still kept to her promise to Dimitri. There was no way she was going to tell her mother that she had met Dimitri's parents, well, not yet. She would tell her about being fortunate enough to meet his mother, but that was when Dimitri was ready. She heard her mother's silence and knew that she was going to open her mouth again, so she knew she had to stop her before she'd panic some more. "¿Es papá a casa, mamá?" Maria asked, knowing that at some point she would have to switch back into English, but waited a bit, "Yo quería hablar con él acerca de algo. Es importante."

Normally Maria knew her mother would try and prod her with questions before actually doing something, but the tone of her voice clued her mother in about the seriousness of the matter. "Sólo un minuto," her mother responded before she could hear her mother calling for her father in the background. Maria waited a couple of seconds before she heard the phone being handed over and could hear her father breathing gently into the phone.

"¿Qué está pasando? ¿Está todo bien?" her father asked gently, his voice more calm than her mother's.

"Everything's fine dad," Maria answered, switching back into English, "But, something came up... I think Arielle would do a better job explaining."

Arielle looked up, having patiently waited for that moment to come in which she would have to tell Mr. Vázquez everything. She took a deep breath and walked over to Maria, taking the phone from her, already nervous all over again. "H-Hello there, Mr. Vázquez," Arielle started, trying to get rid of her nervous jitters. "What came up was... Well, it has something to do with Jonesy, sir."


Mamá, estoy bien, relajarse. Dimitri y yo fuimos de excursión ayer con Arielle y Kedrick y terminamos perdiendo. Luego hubo una tormenta y nos escondió en una cueva un poco antes de finalmente encontrar el camino a la casa de una pareja encantadora de. Nos dejaron pasar la noche y nos dejó en una gasolinera en la que terminó de reunirse con Arielle y Kedrick. Por otra parte, la razón por la que no podía llegar a usted fue porque no había servicio y todo fue un desastre, pero todo está bien ahora. = Mom, I'm fine, relax. Dimitri and I went out hiking yesterday with Arielle and Kedrick and we ended up getting lost. Then there was a storm and we hid in a cave for a bit before eventually finding our way to a lovely couple's home. They let us stay the night and dropped us off at a gas station where we ended up meeting up with Arielle and Kedrick. Also, the reason why I couldn't get to you was because there was no service and everything was a mess, but it's all fine now.

¿Es papá a casa, mamá? Yo quería hablar con él acerca de algo. Es importante. = Is papa home, mom? I wanted to talk to him about something. It's important.

Sólo un minuto = Just a minute

¿Qué está pasando? ¿Está todo bien? = What's going on? Is everything alright?>  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Kedrick smiled faintly as Arielle agreed to not go alone, not that she had had any choice in the matter to begin with. Between he, Maria, and now Dimitri, there was no chance they were going to let her put herself in possibly danger. Kedrick knew that the police would make sure that Jonsey would be secured in someway, but the man had a poisonous tongue, and Kedrick wanted to be there to back him down if he tried to use that poisoned tongue to his advantage.

Kedrick risked a grim smile as he realized that he may be confusing Jared and Jonsey. Jared, in addition to almost frightening intelligence, knew exactly which barbed words to use to hurt someone, make them fear him, or destroy their self esteem. Kedrick had been trying for years to work some of Jared's barbed and poisonous words out of Dimitri's mind.

This also brought another thought to Kedrick's mind. Besides what Arielle had told him, Kedrick knew very little about Jonsey himself, and hence, how to fight him. Kedrick had fairly well studied Jared, he knew how the man worked, what he did to keep people under his power, and the deadly word games he played. But Jonsey, Jonsey was different. All Kedrick knew was that he had a sick imagination, and quickly became violent if things didn't go his way. This was hardly enough to go on, but Kedrick shoved it to the back of his mind, the threat they were facing now didn't come from Jonsey, but from the mysterious man who had texted Arielle, and with any luck they'd have some more information on him soon.

Dimitri dropped onto the log beside the campfire, the gun still in his hands as he took a seat. He watched Maria with some curiosity as she spoke in rapid Spanish to her mother. He tried to follow the conversation, but lost it after only a few words. None the less, Dimitri was glad when she switch back to English, it felt strange to not be able to understand what was being said.

Kedrick walked over and sat now next to Dimitri his hands folded in his lap. Kedrick had be noticing the uncertain expression on his friend's face and wondered what had been going on in his head this whole time. He had kept out of the conversation for the most part which was unusual for Dimitri. After a moment of silence while Arielle took the phone, Kedrick glanced over at Dimitri. "You okay?" He asked, knowing that it was entirely possibly that Dimitri was still very shaken up from this morning and the night before for that matter. Sometimes, it took days, or, depending on how bad it had been, week for Dimitri to get over something like his unexpected encounter with Jared.

Dimitri looked up quickly, glancing over at Kedrick "Y-yeah," He said hesitantly, but he knew Kedrick could sense the weak lie. The dark haired boy gave a small laugh, ducking his head. "Well....maybe.." He admitted, reaching up to run his fingers though his hair. He sighed, hearing silence on Kedrick's end as he waited patiently for Dimitri to fill him in. Dimitri dropped his hands into his lap, playing with his fingers distractedly. "It's just...I'm kind of psyching myself out about Jonsey..."

Kedrick blinked in surprise, pulling back a bit with a small frown. "Jonsey?" He asked, unable to help thinking that maybe Dimitri had said the wrong 'J' name. Kedrick softened his tone. "You mean Jared right?" He asked gently.

Dimitri shook his head firmly. "No. Jonsey." He looked up, seeing the confusion on Kedrick's face. He sighed, shaking his head. "Y-you know that..well...other guys freak me out a bit...It's just...Jonsey seems an awful lot like Jared, and it scares me." Dimitri admitted, lowering his tone uncertainly.

Kedrick smiled sympathetically. "You don't have to go if you don't want to." He offered, thinking that Dimitri would jump at the way out. But before he had even finished, Dimitri was already shaking his head, a look of determined resolve in his eyes.

"No." Dimitri said firmly, looking over at his friend. "No, I'm going to come, weather I'm scared or not. I already feel like I let Arielle down enough by not being able to help the first time."

Kedrick smiled gently, for all his friend's flaws and weaknesses Kedrick sometimes had to marvel at how strong he could be when the situation demanded it. He placed a hand on Dimitri's shoulder. "Alright, I won't try and talk you out of it." He said, his eyes glinting slightly. In the back of his mind, Kedrick was glad that Dimitri wanted to come along. Facing his fear of men, even dangerous men like Jonsey, was the first step to overcoming it.

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

"What do you mean by that, Arielle?" Mr. Vázquez asked curiously, wondering how that could be of such a matter anymore even though the man was locked up.

"Well, you see," Arielle began, still having some trouble having to think about the matter again. "Earlier this morning, I received a threatening text message by a mysterious sender, in which they mentioned crude sexual comments and something that happened to me that involved Jonesy. I wanted to be able to come to the station with Maria, Kedrick, and Dimitri when we returned to see if he had any information about it. That's what I wanted to ask you."

There was silence on the end and Arielle once again panicked, thinking that he would find the idea a bit too dangerous for her. She looked over at Maria whom only looked back at her, having no idea what to say at that moment.

"Alright then," Mr. Vázquez said, his voice sounding a bit uncertain, "I'll make sure to do that. Are you alright? Is Maria alright?"

"We're both fine, sir," Arielle answered with a small relieved smile, "And thanks so much. We'll see you when we come back."

Maria smiled once the conversation was over and Arielle handed her back the phone. At the same time, she wondered how the confrontation with Jonesy would go, especially since it was a month since any of them had seen him. She looked up at the boys and whistled at them, mostly to get Dimitri's attention.

"First order of business is over," Maria said brightly, trying to hurriedly change the atmosphere. "Let's go do our lessons now, Dimitri~. And Kedrick, cheer this one up will ya?" She poked Arielle in her side, another smile on her face before she started walking to the lake.

(I kinda don't like this =3=.)  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Dimitri glanced up as Arielle spoke to Mr. Vázquez over the phone. Vaguely, Dimitri became aware that if he was going down to the station with the other, then he would undoubtedly see Mr. Vázquez as well. Frankly, Dimitri wasn't sure what he thought about this. His last meeting with Maria's father had been encouraging, he had seemed to like him, and had giving him permission to ask Maria out. But after seeing Maria's startling ability to read people, Dimitri instinctively knew her father was the same way, he he hoped that he wouldn't guess.

Dimitri jerked up his head when he heard Maria whistling at him, and a smile touch his lips. "Alright," He said, standing up, Kedrick also rising to his feet beside him.

Kedrick patted Dimitri shoulder with a small smile. "Go ahead, impress her," He said, giving his friend a gentle shove before turning to Arielle. Kedrick smiled, placing a hand on the side of her, head, stroking her hair gently. "Don't worry," He said, his voice soft, and comforting. "We'll get to the bottom of this, and everything will go back to normal." He said, confident that it would be true. Kedrick shoved out any doubt that things would go badly. No, he was positive that they would figure this out and put this man in jail with out endangering Arielle in the process. Kedrick was tempted to ask when exactly the would go to talk to Jonsey, but now wasn't the time for that. Now he had to get Arielle's mind on something else, and like Maria had said, cheer her up.

Kedrick dropped onto one knee next to the fire pit touching the damp wood. There was no trace of heat there, and Kedrick sighed heavily. "Well, thanks to Dimitri, the master of subtlety, we now have a very wet fireplace, and no fire." He said with a light grin, just so Arielle knew that he wasn't really bothered by this. Kedrick bit his lip thoughtfully for a moment, and then picked up a flat piece of wood, beginning to scoop the soaking wet ashes out of the pit, they'd never be able to lit a fire on top of all of that.

Kedrick looked up at Arielle a small smile touching his lips. "Once I'm done getting ride of Dimitri's 'ash soup', you and I can get some dry firewood while those two are out shooting things." He said, grinning.

Dimitri, once on his feet, followed Maria down towards the shore of the lake. As they got closer, his kicked off his sandals, stooping down to pick them up, and carrying the while he enjoyed the feeling of the pebbly ground beneath his feet. The air was warm, and pleasant as the sun rose higher in the sky, nearly directly above them by now. It was almost noon, Dimitri realized with some surprise. The morning had slipped away from him and now it was almost lunch time. Dimitri knew that by the time he and Maria were done shooting, he would be hungry for sure.

Soon, they reached the edge of the lake, and Dimitri let the gentle push and pull of the water lap over his bare feet. "Alright," He said, looking up and Maria, the gun still in his hand. "What do we do to start?"


 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

"I just hope so," Arielle said with a small sigh, hoping that it was true. She thought things would've been somewhat normal once Jonesy was behind bars, that was definitely not true if someone who knew about her past was now trying to bring her back and harm her. She was starting to feel just a bit skeptical about everything and felt like crawling back in her tent and just staying there for the rest of the trip.

Arielle watched as Kedrick inspected the fire and made his small joke about Dimitri. She tried to smile, knowing that it was supposed to be funny, but her heart didn't feel in it completely. She was still trying to get her mind off of the matter that currently affected her life once again.

She nodded when Kedrick said that once he took care of everything, they would go out to get dry wood. She honestly wanted to get her mind off of it, but she couldn't. What Kedrick had feared already happened, the text being reread in her mind and bringing back the painful memories. She never realized how stifling they were to just relive them in her mind.

Arielle sat down on the log, staring at the ground and saying nothing. Even though she wanted to be cheered up right now, she also wanted to be left alone. Her phone seemed to have gotten heavier in her pocket, the sense of dread overcoming her, like she was carrying her death in her pocket. I think I need some sleep, she thought with a frown, although fearing that sleeping would end up producing a nightmare and then things would've just gotten worse.

"Why am I such a burden?" Arielle whispered to herself, not knowing that what was supposed to be her own mental thought escaped her lips and was most likely heard by Kedrick. However, she couldn't bring herself to care too much about if Kedrick heard her or not.

While they were walking, Maria tried to think about how in the world she would be able to teach him. She wish that there was some kind of shooting range nearby to make it easier for him. Her one finger absentmindedly twirling around a loose strand of hair. She couldn't help but take in how nice it was and partially wished that she could go swimming in the lake again.

When they finally reached their destination, Maria slipped out of her shoes and sighed contently at the feel of the earth. She looked over at Dimitri when he asked what they could do to start and walked over to him, holding onto his hand that possessed the gun.

"First," Maria started looking him in the eye with a grin, "We need to find something that would make good for a target. The last thing we need to do is shoot and end up harming someone. Plus, it'll be easier for your mind to focus on that. Understand, savvy?"  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Kedrick knelt on the hard ground next to the fire pit. Once he had finally gotten all the damp ashes scooped out, he brushed his sooty hands of on his knees until they had come clean. Kedrick had seen Arielle sit down out of the corner of his eye, but he assumed she was just waiting for him to finish clearing out the fire pit.

Arielle whispered words hit Kedrick like a battering ram. He froze, his hands still placed on his knees, crouching on the ground. The young man's mouth opened slightly, and he turned, slowly rising to his feet and looking at her. "No," He said softly, shaking his head. Kedrick hurried over to her, dropping down on one knee again and taking her shoulders. "No Arielle, you're not a burden! How could you say that?" He looked into her eyes, trying to understand her thoughts but it was beyond him. "We're not helping you because we feel obligated to, we're helping you because we love you Arielle, we want to make sure you're safe."

Kedrick sighed softly, lowering his head a little. He wanted to put it someway that she couldn't possibly mistake what he was trying to say and the best way he could think to do that was with a very real example. He looked back up at her, a small smile touching his lips. "Look," He said quietly. "When Dimitri and I were thirteen, and he started coming to stay with me to get away from Jared, you wouldn't think that he was being a burden to me, would you?" He asked softly, touching the side of her face gingerly. "He needed help, and I cared about him enough to want to help him no matter what...and It's the same with you..." Kedrick smiled gently at her, his words softening. "I love you Arielle, and I will do whatever it takes to protect you and keep you safe. And so long as I do that...I'm happy."

Dimtiri grinned light as Maria took his hand, the gun still slightly warm against his palm. "Alrighty then, time to begin our scavenger hunt." He jokes, placing his other hand over her's and squeezing gently before releasing. Dimitri walked down the shore of the lake, his feet sloshing though the water, eyes scanning for something that would make a proper target. After a moment, the boy gave a victorious 'Ah-ha!' as he caught sight of something by the tree line. Dimitri stepped out of the water, his bare feet leaving wet footprints in the pebbly ground. He trotted across the small streach of beach until he reached the treeline.

Dimitri stooped down, picking up a log that had been cut neatly in half by a firewood scavenger some long time ago. In the middle of the flat side of the log, was a knot hole that Dimitri thought would make a fine bulls eye. Dimitri grinned, hefting up the short log with one hand. "What do you think Maria?" He asked teasingly. "Will this do?"


 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Arielle looked up at Kedrick and listened to him, trying to get her thoughts out of the gutter. She knew that Kedrick was telling the truth, but it was so hard to shake off that skeptical side that had returned. It was the only reason why she couldn't shake it off, because part of her feared that there was someone out there in the world that honestly wanted to bring her back to what she had been trying to avoid for so long.

She listened to Kedrick's example with Dimitri and knew just how honest he was about that. Having lived with him for just about two to three months, even though it felt much longer at that point, she honestly understood the type of person that he was. She leaned her head into his hand and closed her eyes, a small smile appearing. His words... They're the only words that matter... The only ones that truly make me feel safe.

Her eyes opened slowly just as he was coming to an end and her smile felt more natural when he smiled at her. "Thank you Kedrick," she said softly as she hugged him and then returned the favor of a gentle passionate kiss. She broke away and laid her head against his chest, again just wanting to be near him. "I love you so much, Kedrick... I don't know what I'd do without you..." Without him, Arielle began to thought, knowing of what life would've been if that was the case. Dimitri would still be tortured by Jared, she would be missing away from her friends, and all the happiness that all four of them shared wouldn't have existed.

"I'm so glad you found me there, that day Kedrick," she continued, her voice almost as soft as a whisper, "Even though I hated what's happened to me, if I never made that choice years ago, I'd never meet a wonderful person like you and a great friend like Dimitri." She moved back just a bit and looked at him, taking in his eyes and smiled. Thank you Kedrick, for entering my life.

Maria giggled, squeezing Dimitri's hand in return and let go, looking around for some suitable double to be the target. Had she known that he dad packed that then she most likely would've just brought more of what she needed. Leave it to dad to be just as sneaky, Maria thought with a smirk.

She looked up in surprise when Dimitri had his 'Ah-ha!' moment and stood up straight, curious to what he found. Her eyes followed him until she saw the small log, inspecting it with some curiosity. She walked over to Dimitri and took the gun from his hand, still inspecting it with almost harsh critical eyes. "Dimitri, you mind holding it over your head please?"

She walked back, giving Dimitri enough time to do as she asked. She loaded the gun with it's next shot, turning around and aiming at the log dead center. She stared at it through the gun, completely focused on her target, until that was all that could be seen before she pulled the trigger, barely flinching at all at the noise it made.

Maria waited a few seconds before she let the gun down slowly and walked back over to Dimitri. She set the gun down and gently pulled his arms down so she could expect how she did, grinning wickedly when it went straight through the middle like she knew it would. Her eyes looked back at Dimitri and she smiled sweetly at him. "It'll do~," she responded, picking the gun back up. "Now, let's get this lesson started."  

[Tobi-chan Lissesul]

♟♞ ♝ ♜ ♛ Ҝәɖʁϊϲҝ Ś. Śűѿą & Ďȋɱȋŧʁȋ Ĵ. ᾟűηŧȇʁ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟

Kedrick smiled softly at the girl as she thanked him, her arms wrapping around him. Kedrick hugged her in return, his hands resting on her back. Then, he felt Arielle's lips on his, gentle, and passionate. He smiled into the kiss, his eyes drifting closed for a moment before she pulled back. The young man gave a small smile as she spoke, and he pulled her against him in a gentle, comforting hug. Kedrick was at a loss for words as she spoke, so he kept silent, listening to her as she spoke, her words quiet, and heartfelt. Finally when she finished, Kedrick stroked her hair, his free arm still holding her close. "I'm glad I found you too..." He murmured, his lips brushing against her hair. "My Arielle....my girl..." Kedrick said softly, his voice trailing off to a whisper.

Kedrick had never even thought of the effect his one life had had on so many others. He never looked back and tried to imagine what would have happened had he not come in when he had. In Kedrick mind, he had always just tried to do what he knew was right. When he had met Dimitri, it had been such a gut reaction to want to help the other young man that he hadn't even thought of how difficult it may be to live with someone you hardly knew. What Kedrick did think of was how very wrong it would be to leave him in that situation. And it was the same with Arielle.

Dimitri allowed Maria to take the gun from his hand, watching as she inspected his find and hoping it met her approval. He was just about to ask her if there was something wrong with it when she asked him to hold the small flat sided log above his head. Dimitri blinked in surprise, but nodded, obediently holding up the log. "Okay, what are you?..." He started, and then his eyes widened as he saw her loading the gun. "M-M-Maria wait, do you really think that's a good idea? Shouldn't I put it-" BANG "Down...." He croaked, looking up at the hole in the log. He swallowed stiffly. Dead center.

Dimitri whistled softly as she walked over, pulling his arms down. In his shock, he had completely forgotten to move. He smiled shakily back at her, and once she was done inspecting her shot, tucked their 'target' under his arm. "Okay, I'm ready to start, just do me a favor," He said, taking her chin in his hand. He looked her in the eyes, a smirk still touching his lips. "Don't do that to me again, you scared me to death!" He said with a laugh, and then pecked her lightly on the lips, letting go of her chin.

Dimitri turned and walked over to the end of a long, straight strip of the pebbly beach. Scuffing up a large pile of small stones with his feet, Dimitri propped up their target and stepped back to where Maria was standing. "You tell me what to do, and I'll do it." He said with a smirk. "You're the instructor here."

 

[x_Ultra_Panda_Luver_x]

Arielle Shore

Arielle smiled to herself as Kedrick continued to hold her close, stroking her hair and continuing in making her feel safe. She smiled as he called her his and a random voice came in her head, a voice she hadn't thought about in so long that it almost brought tears to her eyes. "My dad used to call me that," Arielle murmured with a soft smile, "It's weird how a few simple words can bring back past feelings."

As she said that, her mind replayed the memories she had of when her father had come to pick her up from school and how he would lift her off the ground and hug her close, always calling her his little Arielle. It was something like that in which she remembered just how much she missed her parents.

She was silent for a bit, holding on to that memory before she looked up, seeing that Kedrick was distracted with his own thoughts. "We might as well go get some warm firewood before they come back and start messing with us," Arielle said with a light smile as she broke free and stood up, holding out her hand for Kedrick. "We can't let Maria and Dimitri try and make us into a blushing mess, no?"

"You've always need to be prepared, chico," Maria said with a teasing grin. She knew she probably should've given him some more prewarning, but somehow she couldn't help but find it slightly entertaining. Of course, she was glad to see that he wasn't too shaken by the surprise and followed right after him.

"I'm still sorry for scaring you, love," she continued with a soft sigh, "I'm starting to think I do that to you just a bit too much in one day." Even though she was lightly joking about it, she knew just how true it was, but chose not to worry too much about it.

She waited for Dimitri to finish setting up the target, thinking that it was a decent height for shooting, once again wishing she had something else to use, or her father's equipment. She nodded, trying to think of how to exactly start a lesson.

Maria looked at the gun, almost as if she was inspecting it before looking back at Dimitri, everything slowly coming together. "Have you ever played darts, Dimitri?" she asked, before looking at the target. "Shooting's almost like that, in a sense if you actually have a target. Archery is an even better example of it but still. The important thing about shooting is that you have to always know where you're aiming." She paused and looked back at him. "Just about anyone can shoot a gun, but it's a powerful thing, just like many things it life. It has the power to save and protect as well as having the power to kill and destroy."

"So what we're going to start with is the basic of a gun," Maria continued, holding the gun up, "Starting with the gun mechanics and assembling and loading a gun. Do you follow, Dimitri?"