Misery Loves Company | Cryptic & Nivan

[CrypticWriter]

Carmen Marshall | 19 | Death Counselor​

Carmen jolted up from a bed with a gasp. She looked around and raised a brow as she noticed that she was in a different room than her own. She felt a slight pain on the side of her head then reached her hand up to rub the spot that the pain was throbbing from. Her eyes fluttered over towards the window as she sprung out of bed and flew over towards the window, staring out of it. 'Oh my god' she thought while staring from the third floor of what seemed to be a mansion. Carmen jumped slightly at the knock that came from her door. She was a little hesitate to answer so she just walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it then almost lost her breath when the door opened.​

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It was a man, older with gray hair. Carmen eyed the male as he raised a brow at her. "Did you read the letter?" Carmen shook her head no as he walked over towards her nightstand and opened up the drawer then handed her a neatly folded up piece of paper. "Once you read it, please come downstairs and just me and another male for breakfast." The older male smiled as she nodded her head then lowered her eyes to the piece of paper in her hands. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she started to open up the letter and read it and it's entirely. ​

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After reading the letter, she got up from her bed and started her trek down the hall and the stairs then turned one corner that lead to the dining room. "Something smells good." She said softly with a smile while sitting in a seat. "I've had my chefs prepare some of everything because I was a little unsure as to what you guys might like." The older male said while flipping through his newspaper. "As soon as the guy participant comes down, I'll discuss in depth with you guys on what is going on."​

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Carmen nodded her head then started to grab various breakfast items before her onto her plate. Her eyes looked towards some male that had just came into the room as she smiled then lowered her head, in a cutesy manner. The older male looked at Carmen then leaned over and whispered. "That's my son, Samuel. Eyes off." Carmen sighed then took a bite out of her breakfast then looked up again at another entering the room. "Is that your son too?" She asked him as he looked at the male. "No, that is Aaron. The male I was telling you about. Please sit, Aaron. I have a lot to discuss with you guys." The older male waved his hand dismissively towards an empty seat for Aaron to sit as he put the newspaper away.​

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Carmen looked at the male named Aaron and offered him a smile and a small wave.​

 

[Nivansrywyllian]

Aaron woke with a throbbing headache, which was not altogether unusual. His eyes were blurry, and the light pouring through the window stabbed like daggers in his eyes. He lifted a hand to obfuscate the window's glare, and took a stock of himself. That he was in a room at all was a small blessing, after he'd hit the bottle the way he'd done the night before. It wasn't his own hotel room, either. He eyed the room's rich furnishings, and the boots that had been tucked neatly beneath the bed.

Somebody had put him here. Grumpily, he crawled over to his boots, and began to pull them on once again. Once his feet were toasty and secure, he began looking for clues as to his location. Rifling through the drawers of the nightstand beside the bed, he quickly found a letter. His eyes skimmed the contents, and he arched a brow. "Benefactor of Innocence," He said, at the end, wryly. Grunting ponderously, Aaron tucked the letter into his coat-pocket, and looked around the room one last time. He spied a mirror, and moved to it.

He was a lean man, and tall, with a dusting of stubble on his jaw that suggested it'd been a day or two since he'd had the will, or the opportunity to shave. He had brown hair that took on a handsome wave past his ears, though it stopped short of his shoulders. He pulled it back in a tail. His eyes, hazel, were ringed with dark circles, and red-rimmed. He wasn't at his best, and it showed.

He also wore a leather coat that covered him from shoulders to waist, and a pair of blue-jeans that hugged his hips snugly. A quick pat-down found that all of his relatively few belongings were in place. Wallet, pocket-knife, phone.

With a deep breath, he made his way out of the room, into a hallway. He'd just caught sight of someone turning out of the hallway, and he followed at a leisurely pace. When he came to a turn in the hallway, it let out onto a stairwell, which he descended. There was a table set for breakfast, and his stomach did a little hopeful wobble in response. An elderly fellow was speaking to him, and offering him a seat, and a pretty girl had given him a smile. If this was a trap, then dammit, he was going to be caught this time.

Aaron flashed the girl his most charming grin, and sauntered over to take his seat. "Jazzy. This food for us?"

 

[CrypticWriter]

When Aaron sat down and grinned at her, charmingly, she couldn't help but look away with a smile. Her brow arched up at his question the looked towards the older gentleman. "I hope so because I have a plate full." She chuckled slightly at her own words. The gentleman nodded his head while speaking. "Yes, it is for you guys and only you." A sly grin came across his facial features as he cleared his throat before speaking again. "Anyways, you guys are here because you've been selected." He said while glancing at them both briefly.

Carmen raised a delicate brow then muttered. "Selected for what?" The older gentleman stood up and started to walk around the table with his arms behind his back, one hand grasping the other. "You two have been through the most dramatic experiences in your lives and I have rescued you. First let me introduce myself, I am Lawrence Daniels, The Benefactor of Innocence. I own a large corporation downtown and selected you two to come and work for me." The male that had just revealed his name as Lawrence walked back over to his seat and sat down.

She had a confused, puzzled look plastered upon his face as she looked over at Aaron. "What?" She said as Lawrence held up his hand with a sigh. "I know it all seems confusing now but things will be better understood eventually. Now, Aaron this is Carmen, who boyfriend committed suicide right before their anniversary. She was lost and had no one to talk to until now... She will working as our Death/Suicide Counselor and her gift?" He paused while leaning back and stroking his chin then snapped his fingers. "Ah, Empathy." Carmen quirked his lips to the side and wondered how did he know all this information about her.

Lawrence continued. "Carmen, this is Aaron, who parents fought literally the moment he was born and didn't stop as he got older. His mother tried to set him on fire in the house and make it look like an accident but he prevailed through the thick clouds of smoke and escaped. He will be a firefighter and his gift will be Thermomancy." Lawrence said while glancing between the two. "You guys will be transported to work every day by an assigned driver. You have to work your way up to getting your own cars. Got it?" Carmen nodded her head then looked over towards Aaron.

"Alright. Now, you two go and get dress for work. The driver will be here eventually." Lawrence said and Carmen grabbed a blueberry muffin and took a bite from it then proceeded upstairs to her new room. She was still a little lost and confused about the whole situation then would wait for Aaron to come upstairs and ask him a question. "Are you not the least bit worried on how he knows all this information about us?" She'd ask and wait for him to reply.

 

[Nivansrywyllian]

Aaron was -at first- somewhat skeptical. Thermomancy wasn't a term he was horribly familiar with, but if his somewhat limited understanding of root-words served him, it had something to do with fire. Or at least heat. He wasn't exactly sure of the distinction. All told, he wasn't entirely sure that their host happened to be in his right mind.

Of course, their host had had two people kidnapped off the street, which suggested to Aaron that he was rich, or powerful. Possibly both. In either case, he wasn't about to step on any toes, if he could avoid it. While the fellow introduced himself, and went on to expose some particularly sensitive information about both Aaron, and his newfound female associate, Aaron saw to satiating his hunger. The dull ache that came with the mention of his mother's attempted murder got quashed and shoved -once again- to the back of the young man's mind.

When the requirement for a response came, the young man dipped his head, and grunted an affirmation. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he suppressed a belch, and rose at the dismissal. By the fellow's tone, Lawrence wasn't the sort of man who people refused, and Aaron still wasn't comfortable enough in the situation to start testing his boundaries.

He followed Carmen up the stairs, slowing when she turned to speak with him. "I suppose it's a matter of public record. That sort of information -violent deaths, arson, family trouble- it's always in papers, and reports." He let his eyes roam Carmen. He didn't know whether or not to trust her. If she was a plant on some elaborate con... Who was he kidding? He didn't have anything but the clothes on his back left to take.

He let out a sigh. "What concerns me more, is that this 'Benefactor' of ours was apparently willing to kidnap two people off the streets. And unless you've got some new magical hoodoo, it sounds like he's a few cards short of a full deck."