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January 10th, ??? / 11:20-11:45 Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte 16/B-/O/A/Male/Trans male/Water/Aura Sensing/Quicker Healing/Both/Pansexual/Gay/Asexual Panromantic It's odd how quickly your mind can move, how fast thoughts can change, or repeat. If you got into the rhythm of it you could almost make a song of it. '1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1...' Just focus on the beat, ignore the words, move on. That was the best way to do it. Or, it was for Axel. Count and keep counting until the numbers blur and the voices quiet. His lips moved silently and he rocked back and forth slightly, clutching his injured arm and feeling the pain thump dully. '1, 2, 3, 4.' He ignored the food on the nightstand and set his stuffed bear to the side, regretting the blood that had dripped on its matted fur when Aries handed it to him. '1, 2, 3-' 'Don't ignore us!' He squeezed his eyes shut, talked back. "S-shut up. You're n-not real!' '1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4.' Faster now. 'We're more real than you ever were.' '1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4' 'We know you hear us!' '123412341234' Just ignore them, count. It's fine. Everything was going to be fine. Lies. Axel wished desperately that Aries would have stayed, or that Cal was here. Then he regretted wanting them because if they were here then they'd have to deal with him and probably find a stupid reason to blame themselves for his shit. That somehow seemed even worse. Still, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want someone to wrap him in their arms and just hold him. They didn't have to say anything or try to tell him that everything was fine, they just needed to hold him. Like his mother used to, and Apollo. When he was sick or down. It helped him understand he wasn't alone and gave him something to concentrate on other than pain or fear... And he'd also be lying if he said he didn't hope it was Cal or Aries that hugged him. Of course, he'd never say that out loud. He'd never ask for any sort of help from anyone because he already felt terrible about being so much work. Why did he have to be so fucking useless?! --- “Yeah, we should probably head back, huh? Aight well I won’t tell the others about this if you don’t tell them about- this. Deal?" Leroy let out a silent sigh of relief. He'd figured Calvin would agree not to talk about it, but it still made him nervous. “Fuck I almost forgot!!” Leroy jumped in surprise, eyes widening when Cal jumped back on the edge of the building, taking an automatic step forward and forcing himself not to grab Cal by the arm and drag him back. “Fuck you shithole!!! It’s a tradition.” "Jesus, man. Get a better tradition or something, you scared the shit out of me for a second." “Please don’t tell Nabih about that either! Now come on!" "Can't promise that one," Leroy answered though he knew very well he would keep his mouth shut anyway. “I bet I can beat you in a race down the stairs and back to our room!~” Leroy smirked and watched Cal dart off, silently counting to ten before following. It was only fair, after all. Still, the larger male caught up with and passed Cal easily, stopping at the door and giving his friend a 'you really thought that would work?' look, raising an eyebrow. --- Ethan slowly pulled back from Evie, looking at her with wide, worried eyes before backing off and letting Nabih take control. He was probably the best one to deal with this. After all, Eva listened to him better than anyone else. Now that he thought about it, she was probably just annoyed with E, not pleased or thankful. The mute dropped his eyes, he didn't regret trying to help, but he did regret being so instinctive, he should have asked before hugging Evie. What if it just made her more upset? Then what would he do? Sighing, Ethan walked back to where TJ had slid a bowl of some sort of cereal, oatmeal mixture and picked up the bowl. He was making Tyler sleep in a bed (well, kind of), it was only fair that he did this for him in return. Hopefully, it wasn't absolutely terrible. Cautiously, E took a bite. The texture was way off, but it wasn't terrible. He'd certainly eaten worse things when he was living with Val, so in some ways, this was an upgrade. Thinking about it, that sounded terribly sad, but Ethan quickly pushed the thought away and ate a few more bites before putting the bowl back down and hoping bird-boy didn't murder him for not eating enough. |
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January 10th ============================================ Tyler 'TJ' Jacobson/16/O+/Spotted Hyena/Mono/Bisexual/Mentions: General ============================================ This. Would. Not. Do! Ethan needed to eat! Sure, it wasn't real food, but it had to have some sort of nutritional value! And Ethan was too thin as it was. Tyler had seen wild birds with more meat on them. Well, proportionally. He'd checked it for taste, and it wasn't like the gluey cere-oats were inedible. They tasted fine. Maybe he was worried that he wouldn't have a chance to finish it before he was needed again? Evie may be currently having something of a breakdown, maybe, but Nabih was handling it. He'd probably be much better at comforting Evie than Ethan would just based on their longer history together. Ethan had to know that, right? He could take a break to eat, something he very obviously needed based on the way Tyler could sometimes see his bones. So maybe it was something else? A distressed whine built up in the back of his throat, as another thought came to Tyler. What if Ethan didn't like the food? Or was, in some other way, unable to eat large amounts of food? It wasn't like he had any real meat on him, his rucksack wasn't refrigerated! And he couldn't go out and hunt something down, because there weren't good-sized prey animals within a human city outside of a zoo. They didn't have the money for a grocery run, and all the stores selling good quality products would have to be closed by now. He'd have to do it tomarrow, but that still didn't help with the money situation. Tyler would have to either rob some dude on the way, or shoplift a large quantity of raw meat from a nearby grocers. Hunting enough pidgeons for a proper meal would take far too long, and a lot of people seemed to have an aversion to eating non-chicken/turkey/duck birds. Plus all the diseases. Dogs and cats were out the window too, from scarcity and an even more potent aversion to consuming them. Tyler should have packed some sort of 'normal' human snacks or something. He slumped against a nearby wall, still thinking. Unbeknownst to the deep-in-thought tree child, he was staring glassily at Ethan while pouting like a denied puppy. |
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January 10th, ??? Eva "Evie" Yates 16/A/Female/Uncontrolled Strength/Both/Bisexual/Mentions: Nabih, Ethan, TJ (Dir) Evas' sobs racked through her entire body as she tried, and failed, to contain herself. Why was she crying? Crying wasn't going to solve anything, it just brought snickers and harassment from the people around, a show of weakness that she couldn't afford to have. “Hey, hey… Eva, Eva. It’s alright, okay? Everything will be fine. We’re already out of that town, chapter one of our life done and part two starting soon. Chapter two will be better, I promise. This isn’t some video game where each chapter gets worse and worse to prepare us for the final boss. Neither is it like a movie where the sequel is somehow always worse. I promise, alright? You remember that promise I made before? When we first started this group? That everything would change for the better someday? That day is on the horizon, it’s coming up and everything will be good. Everything will change and it’ll be good. The first few days might be… Crappy… But, I promise, it’ll get better. It will get better.” With that, a fresh wave of emotion spilled over her, more than she had felt in a long time. Embarrassment mixing itself into the collage of emotions, Eva began to back out of the kitchen before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Seconds felt like hours as the girl processed what was happening. She wasn't even halfway to her answer when the second pair of arms came. The warmth both pairs of arms brought, that seemed unbearably hot before, slowly became... comforting, her sobs tapering off until they became almost silent. One of them, who she had just realized was Ethan, let go, watched her for a moment before retreating towards the table, leaving the other person still decisively wrapped around her. Sniffling once, Eva raised her limp arm and tapped the taller man on the back, "Okay, okay, get off me." She said, wiggling out of his hug, missing it almost immediately. "Welp! That was a shit show! Any of y'all mention this again and I'll pummel you." An angry scowl tried to make its way onto her face, appearing as half-hearted as it felt, her red eyes not helping the matter in the least. Huffing, Eva walked across the room, aiming her body towards the exit stopping next to Nabih, placing her hand on his arm for a brief moment, whispering "Thanks, things are shit, and are probably still gonna be shit, but...I trust you." Keeping her head turned away from him before continuing to the table where Ethan and Tree-boy sat. "Hey, Ethan. I, just, well...I've got hoodies if you need. They're clean and shit, wouldn't want any of us looking AND smelling like shit," She paused for a second, thinking about her words before stuttering out once more. "Cause, ya know, we all haven't showered yet and...whatever, just remember what I said cause I ain't offering it again! And you, Tree-boy! The food was goo...tolerable so, keep us from starving, kay?" Not waiting for an answer to her vaguely question-like statement Eva marched out of the kitchen and towards her assigned bunk. Sitting down hard, Eva unplugged her phone, it having charged to 100%. Staring down at the black screen, the girls' eyes softened, a smile appearing on her face. |
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January 10th, ???? G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.) Major warning for this post. Please be safe you guys. Nabih felt another pair of arms around the two of them, and immediately guessed it to be Ethan based on how the arms felt. He hoped the smell was gone by now but if it wasn’t, he knew Ethan would first focus on Eva instead. So he at least had some time to think of something… What excuse had they used back on the train? That he’d fallen and dropped the bottle while the train was going over a bump? He could just roll with that. -- And then a few minutes later, Ethan was backing up again and leaving him to comfort Evie. Which was fine, he’d probably had just gotten too overwhelmed by any lingering smell, and if not that then he was beating himself up about hugging Eva on instinct. He didn’t have time to think about it though, a voice spoke. Evie’s. -- “Okay, okay, get off me.” And after a moment longer to ponder on whether or not Evie meant it, he obliged. “Welp! That was a shit show! Any of y'all mention this again and I'll pummel you.” -- Well, at least she was sounding like herself again. He smiled softly, nodding with ease at her half-hearted scowl. He was just glad he hadn’t lost his way of comfort. He watched as she made to leave the kitchen, stopping near him. “Thanks, things are shit, and are probably still gonna be shit, but...I trust you.” -- He smiled a bit brighter, before she walked over to where Ethan and Tyler were and he was reminded of his mistake back on the train. She shouldn’t trust him, not when he had made such a simple mistake. -- “Hey, Ethan. I, just, well...I've got hoodies if you need. They're clean and shit, wouldn't want any of us looking AND smelling like shit. Cause, ya know, we all haven't showered yet and...whatever, just remember what I said cause I ain't offering it again! And you, Tree-boy! The food was goo...tolerable so, keep us from starving, kay?” -- Evie’s talking brought him back out of his thoughts and he forced them back, he could focus on all of that later. For now… Everyone around him was of more importance than some silly feelings over silly thoughts. And he watched as Eva turned and left the kitchen before he turned and went back to his own bowl of… Kind of food. -- After a few minutes of eating what he could of the food but also leaving enough rest for those who hadn’t had some yet, Cal and Leroy, he heard people out in the hallway and stood up. Going over to the door and opened it, just to see who it was. It was Cal and Leroy. Probably having just raced each other down the stairs, nonetheless. Sighing, he welcomed them both inside before closing the door once they were both in. “TJ made… Food. Make sure to eat.” -- Then, Nabih turned and began back over to the counter, going back to looking at the website he had been looking at before the food had been made. The only one who wasn’t inside now was… Aries. Right? Or had that been Leroy who had left? Were they all back already? Oh well, he supposed he’d find out if anyone else came in. -- The phone rang for a moment, three times, and then the other side picked up. And he could hear Jacob’s low, gravelly voice on the other end. “Khorne? I thought you were gonna text me so I could call? What happened to that idea?” -- Gwyar took another drag as confusion set in, when had they agreed to that? His eyebrows furrowed and he mumbled out an answer, “‘m sorry, must’ve slipped my mind..” -- Jacob huffed, annoyed. “Of course it did. Shoulda expected it from a scatterbrain like you, huh?” -- Gwyar winced at the repeated word. He could almost pretend that the tone was amused instead of the obvious degrading one Jacob had. Still, he mumbled out another response, continuing with his walking. “Yeah, sorry about that..” -- “What? You’re mumblin’. What’d I say ‘bout the mumblin’? I can’t understand you if you mumble.” -- Annoyed. Still. He forced his voice to be louder, “Sorry.” -- Another huff, “Whatever. Not like it matters. You’re in Anamosa right? How ‘bout you just catch a train and come back, I’ll treat you to somethin’, anythin’ you’d like.” -- Gwyar’s answer was immediate, without any thought going into the answer. “Can’t, sorry. My friends-” -- Interruption, annoyed rising towards anger. “You can’t? Pardon, but, yes you can. And you will. Look, babe, I dunno what’s making you leave me but-” -- Gwyar’s head jerked at that, and he was interrupting Jacob then. “No, no- I’m not leaving you! I’d never leave you! You’re the best person I have-” -- “What. Did. I. Say. Khorne? About interrupting?” Anger, tight lipped and hateful… -- “Don’t interrupt you, yeah… I’m sorry…” Gwyar bit his lip, staring at the concrete as he took another drag. -- “Always apologizing, aren’t you? Can’t do anything? Not even leave some friends, who don’t actually care like I do, to come and see me? The only person who’s ever listened, the only person capable of loving you? Of loving something like you?” -- Gwyar flinched at the tone, tears at the corners of his eyes that he refused to let fall, “‘m sorry, J, ‘m sorry…” All that Jacob said had been true, he knew that. Only Jacob was capable of loving a thing… And wasn’t that what he was? A thing? The voices seemed to agree, everyone in his life seemed to agree… So why couldn’t he just accept the fact that he wasn’t a person, that he wasn’t anything more than a tool to be used by others? -- Silence took over. Jacob huffed, Gwyar took a long drag… “Are you smoking, Khorne?” -- Gwyar stiffened, and then nodded. Jacob couldn’t see that though, and after waiting a few seconds Jacob spoke again. “Well? Are you?” -- Gwyar forced out a response, “Yeah… Do you want me to put the smoke out..?” Gwyar hoped not, the smoke was about all that was keeping him calm at the moment. -- “On your arm. Put it out on your arm, hard. So you know how it feels that you’ve left me alone.” Cold, was there anger? Or was that all there was, cold? -- Nevertheless, Gwyar swallowed the lump in his throat as he finally made his way into the park from the short walk and sat down at the closest bench. He rolled up his sleeve. This was only fair, he’d left Jacob alone after all… He took the smoke from his mouth after taking a final drag and forced out an, “Alright.” And then the smoke was pushed down onto his arm and he felt a searing pain that wasn’t even half of some of what he’d gone through in his life but still hurt. -- He sucked in a breath and heard Jacob speak. “Thank you. Now, when are you coming back to me? Hopefully soon, I don’t wanna be left alone for too long… It’s a scary thing, you know.” -- And yes, Gwyar did know how scary being alone could be. That didn’t stop his immediate response though. “I’m not.” -- A pause, a deep breath from both, Jacob’s voice teetering on blind rage. “You’re what?” -- “I’m not coming back…” Hesitance… He shouldn’t be putting Jacob through this… He shouldn’t be. -- Silence. And then a loud curse. “Fuck! Yes, you will! You will be coming back, you useless piece of shit! I’m on the verge of tears here thinking you’ve abandoned me! You want me to die or what!? I’ll do it! I still got that gun around here somewhere! I’ll swallow a bullet! I fucking will! Don’t think I won’t! Do you want me to do that? Do you!?” -- Gwyar sucked in quick, shallow breaths. He didn’t want that. He didn’t. So why did he leave? Why did he leave when he knew that Jacob wasn’t- He wouldn’t- “‘m sorry, ‘m sorry, please don’t do that. Please. Please don’t. I’m sorry. Please. I- I love you. Please. I’ll come back- Not tonight, tomorrow. Please. I’ll come back- Please don’t hurt yourself, please-” -- Tears rolled down his face in streams, Jacob was all he had. He couldn’t- He couldn’t lose him. “You sure you don’t want me to do it? I mean, you went through all this trouble of leaving me! The only person who has ever loved you! The only person who could ever love you! And this is how you repay me! By leaving me! As if I meant nothing to you! Well, do I? Do I not mean anything to you!? After all I’ve done for you!? After everything I’ve put up with!? I could be with some hot celebrity right now but I chose to be with a fucking object! And this is how that object repays me!?” -- Gwyar flinched, tears going faster. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t- I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have left- I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Please- Please don’t- Please. I love you, please. Please. I don’t- Please- You’re right. I should’ve stayed. I am an object. You shouldn’t have to put up with me. I should’ve stayed.” -- Jacob sneered, “Oh really? Now you’re sorry about leaving!? Did you not care before that you were leaving me? Only now because I’m gonna shoot myself!? You know what!? Fine! Fine! Stay with your fucking friends who don’t actually care, you shitty tool! Just remember to fucking cut a little deeper every day, hm?” -- And then he was hung up on, and he pocketed the phone. Gwyar sat there for a minute, tears running down his face silently. And then he sucked in a breath, which caused him to shudder… And that caused him to break down into a sob. He started to curl into himself before realizing how trapped he was like that and flinching back, sobbing even harder. -- His hands found their way to his head as the voices increased in volume, repeating the words he’s heard them say millions of times over. And he scratched and screamed and howled and sobbed. He ended up off of the bench, and on the hard dirt ground. He kept scratching, the voices still louder with each passing second. He kept sobbing, his mistakes so much more obvious with each tear. -- He’d abandoned Jacob. Why? Why did he abandon the only person who had ever cared about him? The only person capable of caring about him? Of loving him? Of loving something like it?- Him. He’s a him. He’s not- He’s not a thing, he’s not an it- But he is an it, isn’t he? If he wasn’t… People were capable of loving other people. Not things, not objects. They could love what the things did for them, sure. But they couldn’t love the actual object. And that was how he, how it had always been. Only Jacob was capable of loving it and it had just abandoned him and it should’ve stayed and- -- It smashed its head against the hard dirt ground. The pain didn’t feel like enough, so it smashed it again. And again. And again. It deserved this. It deserved all of this. It shouldn’t have left. It should’ve stayed with Jacob. It shouldn’t have left. It wasn’t good for anything except for what it had just ended up leaving. It shouldn’t have left. It continued to smash its head against the ground. It was probably lucky that the time was late, but then again, who would care about an object? Only Jacob. It left him. It left Jacob. It left the only one who cared. It took a moment to pick up its head, higher than the last times, and then brought it down faster and harder than what it’d been doing so far. It’s vision swam, it could feel liquid flowing down its face. It wasted no time in doing the process again. -- “Fuck you shithole!!!” -- It wasn’t sure how long it had been smashing its head to bits on the dirt, but a yell smashed into its ears and it stopped. It stopped because it recognized the voice yelling, even with the muddled state of absolutely everything. It had had concussions before, from fights back in the ring, but it rather hoped that it hadn’t given itself one. That would just ruin everyone’s day and it had already ruined everything far too much. It should stop now, while it could, and go back to… Wherever it had come from. A… Hotel, right? Right..? It wasn’t sure. That was the only idea it had though. -- It’s hands moved to put one on the ground and the other to grab the bench, it pushed itself up. Slow. Painful. It fell back down, knees collapsing under it. Weak. It was weak. Couldn’t even push itself up. It leaned its back against the seat of the bench. It’s vision swam. It tried another time, pushing itself up to its feet again. It saw black for a moment, swaying, time seemed to freeze as a great nothingness came into view. It swayed again, stumbled forward, grabbed onto whatever was closest off of reflex. A tree. It stayed standing, leaning against the tree. It breathed heavily, blinking away the black swarming its vision. -- It pushed itself off the tree once the black was gone, though the color came back almost immediately. It didn’t care. It could still move. It could still get to where it was going. Some pain and some black wasn’t going to stop it. No matter how much it wished those things would. It could still feel liquid running down its face, but it didn’t matter. And neither did the liquid. It forced itself to walk through the pain and the black. -- Eventually, it got back to a relatively familiar building, the pace being slowed by breaks that it didn’t choose to have but instead was forced to have due to collapsing a few times. It still couldn’t tell if this were the right building or not due to the black in its vision, but it didn’t have much of a choice than to hope the building was the right one. -- It pushed itself inside, not hearing the beginning of a welcome and then a shocked gasp as the person saw it. It didn’t care to hear anything. The voices said 18C, it would listen. Its body was on autopilot as it made its way up the stairs, tripping and falling a few times before pulling itself back up and continuing on its way. The liquid had long since dried up on its face and neck and probably some of its clothing, so everything felt a bit crusty by the time it reached the floor it needed to reach by the stairs. It opened the door to the hallway and began walking, its legs shaking with every movement and pause it took. -- It stopped, eventually, as it saw the 18C on a door. It almost wasn’t sure if it had actually seen that or not, given the black. But the voices were telling it that it had, so it stopped and turned towards the door. And then it opened the door, leaning its weight forward. That ended up being a mistake, as its legs gave out and it followed the door into the wall before losing its grip on the knob and going to the ground. -- It breathed heavily, forcing itself up. If someone came over, it didn’t notice. But chances were everyone inside was busy with something else already. Something far more important than it was. It staggered further in the room, closing the door with about as much force and caution as a drunk would have. And maybe it was drunk, given the liquid crusting everything now that said liquid had dried. Then, it stopped walking and simply leaned on the wall, not having the energy to go much further. It slid down the wall to sit down. If someone saw it, they probably would’ve thought it had been in a fight. It almost forgot that it hadn’t. |
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January 10th ================================================ Tyler 'TJ' Jacobson/16/O+/Spotted Hyena/Mono/Bisexual/Mentions: General, EVENT ================================================ Well, Nabih and Ethan seemed to have helped Evie... Maybe? Well, she stopped crying and had moved on to not-insulting the food he'd made. So, all's well that ends well? Evie had just walked out, so it was probably fine? Humans were weird, emotions were gross. Be like animals, where crying doesn't plug up your nose and feelings were pretty much entirely expressed very obviously and directly. Before Tyler could go much farther into his internal rant over the superiority of animals, a loud slamming sound reached his ears. A slamming sound very much reminicent of a door being kicked into a wall. Tyler had known this place was too good to be true! A snarl fixed itself over his face before the thought had fully registered, and Tyler was careening towards the front door two seconds after the door had hit the wall. He skidded to a stop in a half-crouch, hands curled like claws and snarling audibly before he realized who it was. ~ Ariethous was slumped, unmoving, against the wall next to the door. Blood had caked his hair, dried over his hands, and looked to have streaked down his clothes. Someone had hurt him. Tyler did not like that. The growl in his throat deepened, became rougher, switching from wolf-warning to bear-challenge. He stalked past the seated Aries to glare out the hall, checking both sides for any potential pursuers. There wasn't anyone visible, but Tyler could smell the iron-scent of blood in one direction, probably where he'd come in from. Either way, there were no visible threats. Yet, at least. Without any thugs for him to beat up, Tyler turned back to Ariethous. Crouching down fully on the balls of his feet, Tyler tilted his head in order to get a better look at the blood running down Aries' neck. "Mmmm. You good?" He didn't look good, but wasn't it supposted to be polite to ask? Tyler didn't have gauze or whatever on him, and there weren't any blood-gushingly-obvious injuries that he could see. Or smell. Plus, if Ariethous had gotten an artery slit he'd have bled out long before reaching their room. Also Tyler would have, you know, smelled if Aries had gotten stabbed through the thigh right outside their door. Blood wasn't exactly a subtle scent. ~ Closing the door would be bad, right? Yeah, if anyone came out they could see Areithous' injuries and might try to get involved, or worse, call the police, but if Tyler was the one on the ground he'd have hated to be blocked into a mostly-unknown room where he couldn't see any other exits. Still, this was a bad place to lick their wounds. Too exposed. So Tyler ducked himself under a relatively unbloodied arm and shrugs most of Ariethous' weight onto his shoulders. Legs were a bitch to walk on when injured, even if it was just a bad bruise. And if Aries had fallen over just after opening the door, he probably wasn't the most balanced right now, so maybe a head injury? There certainly was enough blood in his hair to suggest that. Tyler hoped it wasn't a concussion, those sucked. He barely knew how to deal with internal injuries. A cut, he can patch up, Brusies, no problem. Broken limb, for the most part. But internal bleeding? Bits of glass stuck under the skin? Yeah, no. ~ But where to take him? Tyler couldn't just drag Ariethous into the common room only for nowhere to stash him. There wasn't any convenient nest, another point towards the inferiority of human logic. Whatever, not the point. Tyler was just kind of awkwardly squatting next to the injuried Ariethous, half-carrying him, as he deliberated over where to put him. |
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Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Everyone(Dir) “In my defense,” Cal said, out of breath and panting as he caught up with Leroy, “I do track for short distance sprints not fucking stairs.” Cal grinned like a child though, still struggling with his breathing. God, his asthma was getting worse by the day. He coughed for a second but tried his best to quickly regain himself before Leroy questioned it. “If I had done my special technique-” Cal gave weak jazz hands for effect- “you would have totally lost! I just felt like it would have been cheating because there was no way you could have beaten me then!” Cal sighed over dramatically, shaking his head as he folded his arms. “Buuuuut I guess you still beat me, so what’s fair is fair.” Cal opened the door to the hotel room, 18C, with a large grin. “Now after youuuuu!~” Cal’s ‘special technique,’ as he called it, was something far simpler than you’d think: he’d jump down the stairs. Not just jumping down the stairs three steps at a time, no no no. That would be too boring for good old Cal. He jumps over the railing to the stairs, falling directly to the ground from there. If the building is tall, he’ll grab onto railings of the stairs like Spider-man, bounding from one railing to the other. It’s a stuntman trick he saw a while back and he practiced it nonstop at his friends’ secret hideout. The hideout was an abandoned building that Peppy, Sarah, Lemmie, Rosa, Matt, Kendra, Ben, Jackson, and Cal himself owned. They didn’t own the crumbling building really, but when the nine of them got together it felt like their home. Maybe that’s why they spent less and less time there after Rosa left the state and Lemmie got shot. Whatever the case though, that was where Cal practiced his special technique and where he might have broken several bones in the process. “Yeah and thanks for making sure I didn’t pet that dog until dawn!” Cal said to Leroy, hoping he’d play along so he could try to trick everyone listening. “My ADHD brain just goes brrrr when puppy.” Cal chuckled awkwardly to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Cal looked away from Leroy and beamed once he could see everyone and waved energetically. “Yo everyone! I’m baaaaack! And I made sure Leroy didn’t get distracted by any puppies!!” As soon as Cal entered the room, he looked around, taking a look at the place. They were all eating some strange goop which seemed a little odd and even as he could faintly hear his stomach groan with hunger, he didn’t feel up for eating it. The room felt still somewhat tense, like Cal had just missed a juicy bit of drama. Hopefully Ethan would gift him some details, but he wasn’t getting his hopes up until he had something to bribe Ethan with. “So whatcha guys up to? You didn’t burn anything while I was gone, didja?” Something was off though. It was like the room was missing something. After a moment, Cal paused before looking to Nabih with a small frown. “Hey Nabs, as the… as the uhhh…,” Cal waved his hands around as he thought of the words, “the parent person of the group, didja see where Aries and Axel happened to be?” Cal waited a millisecond for a response before cutting Nabih off. “Ooooh wait. Shit, I’m dumb.” Cal laughed to himself at his own stupidity, as he smacked his forehead. Cal shook his head as he mumbled to himself in Vietnamese about how stupid he could possibly be. “Tôi xin lỗỗỗỗỗi, Nabih!! I won’t làm việc đó một lần nữa!” Before anyone could protest, Cal trotted off to Axel’s and his room. “Tôi xin lỗi, Axel! Xin lỗi vì-!” Cal froze as he entered the room and the door slowly closed behind him. “Oh… oh god.” Cal instantly spotted right away the bandages on Axel’s arm and the blood seeping through. Cal was just frozen in place for the longest time, wondering what to do. What could he even do? Scold him? Tell him not to hurt himself? Cal would be such a hypocrite if he did that, knowing his past history. Cal looked around the room in an awkward moment as he chewed his thumb. Cal had known Axel for the longest of anyone in the group and because of how they met, the two just seemed to understand this darker side of them a bit better than some of the others. Cal took a deep breath before giving a calm smile. Cal walked over to where the crumbled child sat, sat down next to him with slow movements so as to not spook him, and wrapped his lanky arms around Axel. “Look, I- You-” Cal bit his lip as he resting his head on Axel’s- “can talk yo me if- And I could- Fuck…” Cal took a deep breath, still trying to hold onto his wobbly smile. Call rubbed Axel’s back as if that would help the both of them. “What I am trying to say is… You don’t have to tell me jack-shit. You don’t have to want me to keep hugging you. But you don’t have to be afraid either.” Cal took a deep breath, running one hand through Axel’s hair as he buried his face in it. When Cal panicked for seemingly no reason, he felt so afraid because he felt like he couldn’t pressure anyone with all this worry he had suddenly built up in his head. On that roof top not long ago, Leroy reminded Cal that his friends were truly there for him. He needed to remind Axel of the same thing. “I’m here for you, okay Axel? I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I really fuckin’ don’t! Not with the group, not with Aries, hell, not even with myself! And I don’t know what’s going on with you right now but I’ll be here, dammit!” Cal laughed loudly, holding Axel a bit closer. “You could be fighting a helluva fight against alien space invaders in your head in a shithole of space and I wouldn’t even know it but I’d still be there for you!” Cal paused, his head finally catching up with his mouth. Cal awkwardly chuckled, looking away. “Well I mean- that’s really off topic and very strange but you get my point, right? Er… I guess that wasn’t even my point really? Or maybe it was… Was it my point?” Cal stopped and laughed pitifully. “I don’t know. Fuck, Axel, you just uh… Làm thế nào để tôi nói điều này? “Have I ever said that you’re one helluva guy?” Cal was finally able to say this after taking a long, deep breath. “I mean really! So you better believe I’ll be there with you in any way yah need me to be. But please-” Cal motioned to his wrists- “try to limit that as best as you can. You worry the hell outta me when ya do…” Cal paused. “I know when I go on these long rambling speeches my mind goes from one thing to the next and my main point is never fulling understandable- I mean, holy fuck am I terrible at speeches- but if you take away anything just one this out of this whole talk-” Cal held Axel close and hid his face in the crook of Axel’s neck- “please don’t forget that I care a helluva lot about you and I am here for you, but you have to not hurt yourself.” Cal swallowed hard, a fat lump forming in his throat as he pictured the bridge where they met. “Please?” |
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January 10th, ??? Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte 16/B-/O/A/Male/Trans male/Water/Aura Sensing/Quicker Healing/Both/Pansexual/Gay/Asexual Panromantic Ethan spotted Tyler glaring at him and quickly picked up the bowl, scooping some more of the odd oatmeal into his mouth, hoping to satisfy the other boy and not get tackled and have a spoon shoved down his throat in affectionate anger. His attention was redirected, however, when Eva spoke to him. "Hey, Ethan. I, just, well...I've got hoodies if you need. They're clean and shit, wouldn't want any of us looking AND smelling like shit, cause, ya know, we all haven't showered yet and...whatever, just remember what I said cause I ain't offering it again! And you, Tree-boy! The food was goo...tolerable so, keep us from starving, kay?" A smile spread across the mutes face and he nodded in thanks. “If I had done my special technique- you would have totally lost! I just felt like it would have been cheating because there was no way you could have beaten me then!” Leroy raised a disbelieving eyebrow at this and allowed a small smile to touch his lips. "Sure." “Buuuuut I guess you still beat me, so what’s fair is fair. Now after youuuuu!~ Yeah and thanks for making sure I didn’t pet that dog until dawn! My ADHD brain just goes brrrr when puppy.” Leroy rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You're lucky I did, that thing probably would have bitten your arm off. He was growling." He stated, playing along with Cal's excuse as if it was normal. “Yo, everyone! I’m baaaaack! And I made sure Leroy didn’t get distracted by any puppies!!” "Oi, shut up you idiot, I didn't get distracted by shit." Leroy snapped in a very Leroy-manner. "And lower the volume a bit, alright, we're going to get a noise complaint." “TJ made… Food. Make sure to eat.” Leroy's eyes flickered to Nabih when he spoke, then to the bowl of mush. "I'll pass, thanks." He stated, he didn't need the food anyway, he'd eaten this morning, and, due to living with neglective parents, he'd gone two days without eating before. Hunger didn't bother him too much. "What are you up to, nerd?" He questioned, approaching Nabih and looking over his shoulder at the website. Again, Leroy's attention was redirected when Aries stumbled inside, bleeding and forcing his feet to his room. Leroy narrowed his eyes and stepped away, from Nabih once more and hurrying towards TJ and Aries. "TJ give him room for a moment. Aries, can you hear me?" His voice was calm, though inside he was in a state of complete panic. "There should be a first aid kit under the bathroom sink, Tyler. Go get that for me, please. Nabih, could you get me a wet washcloth and some water?" Leroy said, raising his voice slightly so he could communicate more clearly with Nabih. He knelt next to Aries and carefully touched his wrist, finding his pulse. The guy was obviously unaware of what was going on, his eyes glassy. No shit, his head was bleeding a hella lot. Not to mention his arm looked burned, a cigar burn, Leroy thought. 'Shit.' This was self-harm, there was no other explanation, and it freaked Leroy the fuck out, and for good reason. He took a deep breath and tried to focus. Aries need him right now, and he wasn't going to fail him too. Ethan's eyes widened in panic when he saw Aries stumble inside covered in blood. He stood frozen in the middle of the room, unable to move with fear coursing through his veins. Had someone hurt him? Had he hurt himself? Why? What was happening? Around him, everyone else started moving, Tyler looking awkward and confused and Leroy taking control, looking calm and collected despite the terrible circumstances. Ethan just stood staring, completely useless. “Tôi xin lỗi, Axel! Xin lỗi vì-!" The familiar voice made Axel freeze, looking up with teary eyes and pulling his arm closer to his chest, trying to hide. Not that it did any good, Cal had already seen. “Oh… oh god." Disappointment? Anger? Axel couldn't tell, and that made things worse. He dropped his eyes quickly and sniffled, trying to avoid Cal's gaze. And then Cal's arms were around him, pulling him close and resting his head on Axel's. For a moment the small boy froze, confused, but then he melted into Cal's arms, shaking but thankful and glad to just be held. It sounded stupid, but a hug is really all Axel wanted at the moment. “Look, I- You- can talk yo me if- And I could- Fuck…” Axel just closed his eyes and listened silently, waiting for a scolding of some sort. “What I am trying to say is… You don’t have to tell me jack-shit. You don’t have to want me to keep hugging you. But you don’t have to be afraid either. I’m here for you, okay Axel? I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I really fuckin’ don’t! Not with the group, not with Aries, hell, not even with myself! And I don’t know what’s going on with you right now but I’ll be here, dammit! You could be fighting a helluva fight against alien space invaders in your head in a shithole of space and I wouldn’t even know it but I’d still be there for you!” Despite everything, Axel felt his face warm with blush and he managed a small smile even though Cal couldn't see with the way he was holding him. “Well I mean- that’s really off-topic and very strange but you get my point, right? Er… I guess that wasn’t even my point really? Or maybe it was… Was it my point? I don’t know. Fuck, Axel, you just uh… Làm thế nào để tôi nói điều này? Have I ever said that you’re one helluva guy?” Axel blushed harder, confused by a mixture of pain from the voices (which were finally quieting a little) and his arm, and amusement and affection for Cal. “I mean really! So you better believe I’ll be there with you in any way yah need me to be. But please- try to limit that as best as you can. You worry the hell outta me when ya do… I know when I go on these long rambling speeches my mind goes from one thing to the next and my main point is never fulling understandable- I mean, holy fuck am I terrible at speeches- but if you take away anything just one this out of this whole talk- please don’t forget that I care a helluva lot about you and I am here for you, but you have to not hurt yourself.” Axel sat frozen, caught off guard by the emotion in Cal's voice for a moment. “Please?” "C-Cal?" Axel's voice was barely more than a whisper, and it was shakey with tears, but at least he was talking now. "T-thank you. Really. I-I'll try, I promise, b-but... It's hard. I-I know it s-sound stupid, I j-just-" He took a deep breath and leaned into Cal's chest. "T-Thank you. I n-needed this." He closed his eyes and let himself finally start to relax, letting go of the anxiety and pain that had been building in his chest. This felt right, somehow. No, safe. This felt safe. For the first time since Apollo died, Axel really felt safe, like things were maybe going to work out. Just maybe. |
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January 10th, ???? G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.) “What are you up to, nerd?” -- Nabih looked up and over at Leroy, not sure whether or not he wanted to refute the title. But as he began to speak, the words died in his throat at a loud slamming sound. He stood quickly, watching as Leroy moved towards the hallway. Had the hotel been a bad idea? Was it even someone looking to steal from them? -- It saw a figure come rushing into the hallway, it’s vision blurry. The figure ran past it at some point, going out of the room, before they came back and sat next to it. Effectively getting rid of one route of escape, it leaned slightly towards the other routes in response. -- “You…?” -- A voice entered and left as soon as it’d heard anything and it was left confused. But it didn’t have time to think because the figure was then trying to lift it, trying to hold its weight and it would be trapped and- It pushed itself away, further into the wall, breathing fast and shallow. -- Another figure came into it’s blurry vision, followed by a third. Too many figures, too little exits, it could be overpowered. It could be trapped. Cornered. It was already cornered. It needed out. Too confining, too small. Everything was. It wanted out, needed out. -- “…room…moment. Aries…hear me?” -- A figure was looking at it, and the word room caught its attention. Room. That meant either The Box or more room. It hoped for the latter, and then it realized that hoping was stupid and expected the first. But the figure had also asked a question, and after a few seconds, it managed to nod. It couldn’t worry them, it couldn’t. They’d put it in The Box. -- Aries looked terrible, Nabih wouldn’t lie. He’d have to put this into his journal… Obviously. But first, Leroy was speaking. “There should be a first aid kit under the bathroom sink, Tyler. Go get that for me, please. Nabih, could you get me a wet washcloth and some water?” -- Nabih nodded quickly, and turned back to go into the kitchen, deciding to check there first for the washcloth and water that Leroy needed. It would make most sense, right? Plus, then he could grab a bowl and put the water into that. -- Figure two, as it had decided to call them, knelt next to it and it flinched back. Figure two could easily grab it with figure one and then it’d be taken to The Box and it would be stuck and it would be trapped and it wouldn’t get out- A hand grabbed it’s wrist, obviously looking for a pulse; obviously trying to make sure it wasn’t dead. The voices screamed that it couldn’t let figure two know- It didn’t know what they were yelling about but it yanked away it’s wrist in response. Not because the voices told it to do so, but because it was trapped if it didn’t. It didn't want to be trapped. It didn’t want to be taken to The Box. It wanted out. It wanted out. Let it out- It’s back hit the wall due to the movement, and it flinched away from being cornered by said wall, causing it to hunch before flinching away from that position too. Everything was too close, everything was too small. Please, not The Box- -- Nabih found the washcloth, wetted it, found a bowl, and filled it with water fairly quickly. He rushed back to where Leroy was to see Aries knocking into the wall to get away from the half-blind male. And for a split second, Nabih wasn’t sure what to do. Then, his feet went into autopilot and he went over to Leroy, giving him the washcloth and bowl of water. -- He wanted to ask what they should do now, but unless Aries calmed down enough for them to do something… Nabih didn’t know how to comfort him though, he wasn’t sure if any of them did. Aries didn’t share anything with them, which made it harder when things like this did happen. He glanced around and saw Ethan, not knowing what to do either. Nabih knew how bad Val was, had Ethan ever had to deal with head injuries? Because quite honestly… That was what the injury obviously was for Aries. A head injury. |
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Neutral
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January 10th ================================================ Tyler 'TJ' Jacobson/16/O+/Spotted Hyena/Mono/Bisexual/Mentions: General, EVENT ================================================ Oh, good, someone who knew what they hell they were doing. Tyler crawl-ran his way under and around everyone else to go to the bathroom. A first-aid kit would be useful, yeah. He should have looked for that when he first showed up, but that wasn't important right now. Still on all fours for maximum speed, he pushed off a wall to throw himself through the half-closed bathroom door. Good thing nobody was using it at the time! ~ The first-aid kit was pretty obvious in it's blocky white plastic box, signiture red plus sitting over the top. Less fortunately, the box was ever-so-slightly to large to just yank out with all the other stuff that had been put infront of it. Obviously it needed to have been able to get into the cabinet in the first place, so it shouldn't be impossible to grab. Because who in their right mind would build a cabinet around it's contents? Enough contemplating stupid building decisions, the kit needed to come out! ~ Tyler turned the case so the thick plastic handle would be easy to pull, and shoved out the other contents of the under-sink box to pull it out. Drain cleaner and stain remover clattered to the greasy tile, and Tyler was halfway out the door. The plastic case gave a bit of resistance, but soon enough popped out of the doorframe after him. It barely took another thirty seconds to get back to the group huddled on the floor. Aries was flinching away from Leroy and Nabih, who'd just handed over a bowl and cloth. Probably for the blood. ~ He slid to a stop, still carrying the dusty box. Tyler forced open the stiff plastic clasps meant to keep the medkit sealed and flipped up the lid despite its rusty hinges protesting movement. "This shit's old. Got some gauze, compression bandages, some sanitary wipes, burn shit that's probably useless, regular band-aids, a roll of duct tape and, uh," he squinted at the small print on the pill bottle, "contraception pills that're supposta've gone bad three years ago." Tyler digs out the gauze, bandages, and tape, setting them between the two already kneeling for easy access. Then he goes back to rooting around in the deep case for anything he missed in the initial dig-through. |
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Lightbringer
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Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Everyone(Dir) Hearing Cal’s name being said from Axel is just an indescribable feeling. He didn’t know why that was, maybe it was just in the spur of the moment that caught Cal or there was just something so unique about how Axel said things so delicately. This was another of his odd little internal tangents of his, Axel saying his name, that is. Why the hell am I obsessing over this? It made Cal’s heart skip a beat and he felt a wave of warmth wash over him as Axel called to him. Cal didn’t realize it at the time, but he had been holding his breath after he finished talking and finally released his breath once he heard Axel speak. Axel just said his name so sweetly and God he wished every time someone said Cal’s name, it would be the same way Axel said it. Cal pulled away a bit from the hug to take a look at Axel to make sure he hadn’t just imagined the moment. No, Axel was talking. Jesus, he was not just talking he was thanking Cal. Cal held Axel just a little tighter, his cheeks turning a faint rosy color. “Don’t thank me,” Cal muttered. “I mean seriously. I am just trying to get you to try, ya know?” Cal paused, taking one arm off of Axel and beginning to bite his thumb nail. “How would ya know if I phrased it so stupidly? God okay uhh… What I meant to say was…” Cal groaned loudly into his hand, swearing a few times in Vietnamese under his breath. “Fuck I forgot what I was going to say!” Cal went quiet for a moment before laughing to himself. “Sorry I- I am going crazy, aren’t I? Well, I think I will try to say what I was going to say before. I promise I had a lot better phrasing of it in my head before I forgot it, so don’t blame me if it sounds stupid.” Cal took a deep breath, composing himself. Cal was probably going to fuck this up, but here goes nothing. “Well… You really shouldn’t be thanking me. I am just- I have known- I have known a lot of people who… who did a lot and a lot of self harm.” Cal sighed a bit. He wasn’t going to talk about his history with the thin slash marks along his legs or the skin around his nails that are dried with blood and pulled and picked apart or the old rope marks present on the back of his neck. No, he had been thinking about enough of his own depressing thoughts on the rooftops. He was thinking about Sarah and Lemmie. “I could never get some of my friends to stop, no matter how much I tried to convince them. They were… stubborn shitholes, I’m tellin’ ya.” Cal chuckled sadly to himself, before chewing his lip. “Well… What I am trying to say is thank you. For not being so stubborn and all.” Cal gently grabbed Axel’s face. He didn’t know why, it was just one of those random things he did without thinking. “I mean, you’re willing to try right? And they… Lemmie and Sarah, have I told you? They never tried. I swear to God they never did. I know I can’t blame them. They needed a helluva lot more help than whatever I could give them, but…” Cal could remember seeing the flashes of Lemmie’s funeral. God, remembering how much his mom screamed at the corpse of his dead friend for being so stupid and how much Cal got yelled at by her for not doing anything to save him. Cal was not going to let that happen again and the fact that Axel was willing to try just made Cal want to never let go of him. “That’s- Thanks so so fucking much.” It took Cal a minute, but he finally realized that he was still holding Axel’s face. And super close to him. Aaaaand suddenly Cal realized just how gay this whole situation eemed. Cal quickly let go and looked away, running a hand through his hair. Cal was blushing furiously as he tried to quickly cover his tracks. “Okay well uhh…” Cal laughed nervously. “Glad you're doing better and uhh- Is it just me or is it hot in here? Like man, it's hot. And no offense but your face looks really red too. Must be the room, huh?” Cal chuckled before he started to hear noise coming from where all the others were getting an idea. “Gosh, didja hear that? You know, I’ve got a perfect plan! You stay here and uh… do fun stuff with your teddy bear or… think of something fun for us to do when I get back while I go investigate the sounds and grab a wet towel. Ya know. So you don’t overheat and all. Cause… a lot of… people die from overheating. About uh.. 1,300 people annually and… Fuck.” Cal shifted awkwardly in his spot as he felt so embarrassed for being this awkward. What the hell was he even saying?? Cal continued to chuckle awkwardly before he stood using his lanky legs. “Ima just skedaddle now! I’ll be back soon so don’t miss me too much!!” Cal quickly fled the room before his awkwardness got the better of him. As soon as Cal exited the room he shared with Axel, Cal placed his hands on his hips and analyzed the chaos. Eve was no where to be seen and had probably gone to sleep or decided to play video games so no surprise there, but what was a surprise was that Ethan looked paralyzed in shock. Following his eyes to see what Ethan was fixated on, he spotted Nabih, Leroy, and Tyler all around Aries. It took Cal a moment to see this, but Aries was bleeding from his head and a lot. It looked like he had been shot right in the forehead almost. The worst part was, Aries looked terrified and Cal could see it in his eyes like he was a wounded dog forced into a tight alley. Cal looked around with a glare for a second before sighing. “You guys are thinking about this in the wrong way,” Cal said with a huff before sitting down and leaning against the wall. “You’re thinking of Aries who is calm and not stressed. This Aries right now is probably not thinking straight and sees you all as threats. I mean-” Cal gave a brief hand motion to the three of them- “there are three of you and one of him, he’s backed against the wall, and you all are standing which could make you more prone to attacking. It’s street dog mentality and shit. I know I have from time to time done something similar to this… Now, I could be wrong as hell, but he looks like he needs us to back off a minute.” Cal gasped softly, trying to be more quiet to not startle Aries. “Hey, Ethan? Or anyone else I guess… But uh.. Can you go get Axel’s teddy bear? Aries definitely liked that!” Cal chuckled sweetly before he let out another sigh. He began smiling and gently tapping the spot on the floor next to him as he looked to Aries as if talking to a stray dog. “You’re safe buds! Come have a seat here, will ya?” |
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Summer 
Day Weather: 
