The world of Norindul

[Roxshi]

@Sinopa


Catching a glimpse of someone beside her, Eva turned to see who it was. A girl by the name of Leah. She seemed enthuastic to meet her. "Yes, I transferred from another school. This is better than the other campus I attended." She gave her a warm smile. At Eva's last college, the teachers seemed to not care as much and the atmosphere of the building wasn't as welcoming as this.


Leah looked embarrassed as she asked her if she wanted to grab something to eat. Eva didn't know where the cafeteria was. She was planning on going after class anyway. "I dont have anything planned, I can join you." Food wasn't good by yourself, it's better with others. Especially if you are with friends. Eva could tell Leah liked her company. She seemed considerate. This is the chance to make friends. A clean slate, Eva wouldn't linger on the past. Maybe this could be the start of something new.

 

[RaccoonKing]

Aria D'adreci

The next morning, Aria woke up with grumbles of pain and resentment at the sun that shone brightly even through the dark blue curtains of her room. Aria was normally up early and quite the bright character despite the early hours, however now she looked positively livid. A hand rubbed against an eyelid vigorously, lips pursed into a thin line as she pulled herself out of bed. Her head pounded despite a lack of reason and she seemed quite the opposite from her usual self. After a few moments of thoughtless staring, Aria headed over to the bathroom to get herself ready, she had to meet Victoria to go for costume shopping. The thought of the party brought a small grin to her face.

Few minutes later, Aria skipped outside of her bathroom, a soft hum following her despite the fact she still, even now, had a odd feeling about the day. However, Aria found it easiest to pass it off as nerves for the party. Heading into her room once again, Aria stepped around the low table she did her work on and to her closet, which she opened up to grab clothes for the day. Eventually, after a mass of different expressions at her articles of clothing, Aria dragged out a pair of grey jeans and a white tank top along with a slightly larger plaid shirt which was in many shades of dark blue and grey. Dropping them on her bed for a moment, Aria hummed and went to her phone to check the time.

A sudden choking noise stilled the silence in the room as Aria noted the time. She had an hour and knowing her, she would mess something up in her routine and extend her time by a good twenty minutes. Fear, quite dramatically portrayed on her face, appeared and she squeaked. Turning the the phone she had luckily charged while she slept, Aria quickly unlocked the screen with her pass code before flicking on her music, bringing a huge grin to her face, burying her previously worried look.

"Gotta hurry..."

Now fueled by one of her favourite songs, Aria had turned back to the clothes and grabbed them, heading over to the bathroom. Strange habit but it was one. The door was left slightly ajar so the music could reach the porcelain room, causing a slight sway to her hips. It was a distraction that was increasing her time changing. However, moments later, Aria tumbled out of the room as blue nails hastily did up a few off the middle buttons of the plaid top, sighing in relief when they were done. Her voice, not longer burdened by the exhaustion of sleep, sang along.

"I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass~"

Aria had already lost site of her current objective, to get ready, as she began to loose herself in dance. She didn't notice the whip of her ponytail with the sharp turns or the brief pauses before she forced herself back into movements. It was not practiced dance such as ballet but it was more street, more freedom where the song determined her next step. The song soon ended and strayed into a silence that left Aria, staring wide eyed at her phone before she screeched, quite literally screeched. This was happening far to often for her liking! She had even missed her work times with Rix a couple of times due to this.

Groaning, Aria bolted over to her makeup table and slipped into the ivory white seat, looking into the mirror with a resolved expression, though it appeared more like one of thought, intense but ultimately useless thought. She grabbed a thin silver chain with a silver feather hanging from it and slipped it on before she yanked the band from her hair, letting the locks that had curled in the night fall free. She brushed through them quickly, carefully and soon it was neat enough for her to go out. Thick locks tumbled down her shoulders, curls here and there as she reached over to the familiar white and pink feather as she began to weave it into a lock of hair near her ear.

Once she was done, a bright grin came to her face as she grabbed her watch and slipped it on. "Done!" Happier now, Aria grabbed her phone and purse before slipping them into a brown satchel that she threw around her shoulders. Hurried steps led her to the doors as she yanked her keys from the small glass dish and she headed out the door, doubling back steps later to lock the door. Aria hurried down the steps with teeth biting the flesh of her lower lip. "I can't be late again..." She whined, practically jumping from the top steps to the bottom as she fell into a run, hurrying to the shopping center in a hurry.

"Damnit!"

After ten minutes or so, Aria stood at the entrance of the area with a slight huff to her tone. Her hands settled upon her back as she leaned back to let her back click. Eventually, she stood up straight and stretched her arms above her head before grinning. Five minutes early, all thanks to running. Pulling out her phone from her satchel, Aria unlocked it and checked the news before searching up some costume ideas. Now she just had to wait for Victoria.​

 

[Alyssa Carlene]

After dealing with the student, Jo's attention was pulled once more to Jaya's corner, like a magnet to a fridge. She couldn't seem to look away, and wanted nothing more than to go talk to her. She held some strange power over Jo and she wanted to discover what it was. She glanced at the clock on her computer once again.
Seven minutes to go.
Jo gave up on the computer science homework until she could have her new tutor's help, and instead turned her attention to the Barnes and Noble tab she had open. She was looking in the YA Fantasy section for a new thriller to read. Despite being in college, Jo still loved a good Young Adult novel. They seemed more realistic in than adult books. Even the stories with vampires and werewolves held life lessons for the adolescent reader, whereas adult novels often time forgot the morals. Plus, Jo liked to consume books quickly and YA novels were easy reads. Jo decided to purchase Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, having read a few of her other works before. As she added the new release to her cart, the alarm on her phone began playing Beethoven's Symphany no. 5.
Shift is over! Time to meet with Jaya.
Jo audibly sighed before she could catch herself. She was starting to sound like a love-struck teenager. Jo gently slapped her cheek as a reminder to behave and gathered her things. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her boss walking toward her. Jo got a bad feeling in her gut and looked up to meet the fretful face of Rosa. Rosa had run the library as long as most people could remember, the little old lady had to be in her 70s but was still dedicated to her work as a librarian. She walked up to the circulation desk and twisted her wrinkled od hands.
"Jo, I know your shift just ended but Henry called in sick! He just called! How can he do this to an old lady, giving me heart palpitations! Is there any chance you could stay a little longer, dear?"
Jo looked toward Jaya's corner and knew she would be there for a little bit longer. She could spare to work a little bit longer, and she needed the money anyways.
"How long do you need me for, Rosa?"
"Forty five minutes, an hour tops!"
"I'm in. What was Henry working on today?"
"He was shelving," Rosa looked toward the sky to think, "He was supposed to be on this floor, I think."
Jo smiled, maybe some of the books would take her towards Jaya's corner.
"Oh wait! Never mind, Abby is on the main floor. Henry was in the basement," Rosa began walking away, "Thank you so much, dear."
Jo groaned, she hated the basement. It smelled like mold and it was extremely dark. The books always felt damp to her, and they were the reference books that hardly anyone touched. There was also dust everywhere, and Jo always sneezed up a storm when she was downstairs. With a grunt, Jo begrudgingly grabbed her laptop bag and trudged down the stairs to start her pleasant hour of monotonous work.
After an hour, a new work study student came downstairs to relieve her. She didn't know who he was, and she wasn't sure she ever would. Library workers were a reclusive bunch and didn't socialize much with one another. She made her way quickly up the stairs, excited to finally meet with Jaya. As she rounded the corner, she paused because Jaya was asleep. She had her headphones in, her laptop open, and her mouth lolling as she snoozed up against a stack of books. Jo chuckled under her breath. Jaya looked absolutely adorable! Jo wanted to snap a picture, but resisted the urge to avoid being seen as creepy.
Jo loudly cleared her throat, but got no response. She moved closer and quietly said, "Jaya?" but still got no response. Finally, Jo crouched down and poked Jaya's arm, only to fall back on her ass with surprise at Jaya's actions.

 

[Sinopa]

Characters: Rix Alvar > Vidar Alvar, Cynbel Alvar
Location: Home
Time: 7:47 > 9:00

---

The three of them spent the night watching old movies and ate ice cream, enjoying each other's company into the late hours of the night. Rix ended up carrying her son to his bed, tucking him in as he lightly snored, before turning in to her own bed herself.

The next morning…​

Rays of light peaked through the curtains, stirring Rix from her sound sleep. Her azure eyes fluttered open, her first sight being the red numbers of her bedside clock reading "7:47". She managed to sleep in a little more than usual due to not having to deal with work today, however it was still earlier than the rest of the household.

After a long, satisfying stretch, she threw her covers off and walked to her closet. After pushing aside hangers of outfits one by one she finally pulled out a full bear onesie costume. The corner of her lips pulled as she looked at the costume; she was ecstatic to wear it, she thought it was completely adorable. However, it came second to the costume she and Vidar picked out for him. He decided he wanted to match his mother, and so he got a cub onesie costume.

She laid the costume on the bed, then took a quick shower. After getting dressed in her comfy pajamas she pranced to the kitchen. With great delight she began cooking breakfast, a quiet hum emanating from her throat. She danced around the kitchen, multitasking with several different foods cooking at once for the best breakfast on their favorite holiday. She was certain to start the day off right.

After a while, Cynbel joined her, tiredly, he wasn't particularly a morning person. Though when the food was finished cooking he went straight to setting up the table. As if on cue Vidar finally peaked his head from the staircase with a huge grin.
"Are you making bacon?" He inquired with cheerful curiosity.
"Nope, it's finished. Your plate's ready." Rix replied as she sat in her spot.
"Thaaaank you!" She cheered as he ran to the table and climbed onto the chair, his little legs swaying above the ground after he got in a comfortable position.
The three of them ate in silence, though it was anything but awkward, more like a habit. They only spoke after they were finished with their breakfast and began cleaning up, and then it was only small talk.[/hr]

 

[Wolfsin]

Hailey was her normal ball of sunshine as she skipped off the bus and ran happily into Sean's arms. More fatherly than that of a brother sean wraps his arms around her and squeezed her tight as she let loose that cannon of a mouth she had. "We learned about birds today Sean. They were so pretty, and there are so many.... I almost never could have counted them!" Sean laughed to himself having adorned a mask just for this child, he was constantly playing the role of that of a phantom of an opera that only played for her.

"That sounds like a lot of fun, what about the other kids? Did they tell you their Halloween costumes?"

That only asked for another barrage of excited shouts from the girll. "YES. Jimmy is going to be a werewolf! and Amber wants to be a fairy they all have their costumes and everything Sean!" She was sad at that fact he already knew it, but Sean had already hoped to remedy that. He'd worked extra hard at the part time job the whole month of October, and raised enough cash to buy Hailey whatever she wanted for a 10 year old's girl Halloween costume. "Well tomorrow morning we are going shopping, you are just going to have to be a tiny bit late for school." Hailey cheered at that notion and ran happily to the door of their 'home'

Sean almost reached after her but realized it was too late, when the door came open and their Mom greeted them, her spaghetti strap was still half hanging off and for anyone that knew of sex they'd think she was a whore by the mess of hair she had. She was a damn good actor for Hailey though, and at this point that was all that Sean could ask for.

The rest of the night went fairly simply... Their mother had switched back into the role of super Mom. it always had disturbed Sean how truly fake she was to the point that he could question if when she told them she loved them that the woman had any compassion at all to love some, or just to fuck them. Either way the conversation from earlier had vanished, and Sean knew there was no hope that she'd retained that information in her thick head. A few movies later and Hailey had to go to sleep, Sean sat a while staring at the tv vacantly before his Mom took a seat next to him.

"You know... "

Sean rolled his eyes. "here we go."

"Charles is a very nice man. he talks about you kids a lot and when you hit him earlier... he understood andhe was hurt Sean."

Sean's blood began to boil with each word... his fingers curling up and digging into the couch.

"He truly wants us to be a family. He even talked about us taking Hailey out for trick or treating tomorrow.."

Sean snapped. "That is not going to happen... I don't want that fucking guy anywhere near Hailey!"

His Mom looked almost drawn back, but then came the eyes of a serpent, and with it venom. "Who the hell do you think you are to tell me how to raise MY daughter. You aren't her god damn father and you aren't here all of the time with her... Who.." Sean cut her off.

"Im the best fucking candidate there is! With you choosing you might as well be taking from a prison catalog, if you want to claim to be a fucking parent then start fucking acting like one!"

There was silence... but Sean knew what would happen next.

The crying.

Sean exited the room leaving her to her woe was me act. He'd become immune to the woman's tears years ago. He hated this place, and more than anything he wanted to be able to take Hailey away from her, to give her a life beyond this bullshit, even if it cost his life to work to do it. Sean knew well that he could have moved out already. hell he could have moved into a place with Red, but leaving Hailey? He couldn't do it.

Sean could hear her tossing shit around in the other room and the eventual phone call to 'Charles' that he knew would come, he heard it all the way up until the point he shut his eyes and finally the most beautiful sound that he waited for every day in this house.

silence.

 

[MotherOfCthulhu]

Jez.

Jez couldn't help herself, once out on the road, with the colours of the sky painted pink and orange with loving and beautiful strokes framing a golden ball of light that was slipping behind the buildings casting warm and comforting shadows across the quiet path. A faint smile danced across her lips as she secured her helmet. She had time, that was the good thing about work driven parent,s they were rarely home before it got dark and even if they were they were too tired to notice the absence of their own daughter. She aimed the bike towards the setting sun and she let it free.

She weaved easily between moving and parked cars, down the streets that became nothing but a blur while she chased the light of the sun. It took hardly any time to reach the open road and then she really opened it up, a fearsome snarl from the engine had the world stop beneath her, the cars seemed to crawl as she passed them and the scenery was a mish mash of colours blurring into one long length like a backdrop to the theatre. The bike chased the sun for twenty-five minutes until naught but the rays were touching her helmet. The sun always outran her but as the last rays were disappearing she pulled over to the side of the road and sat straight, her fingers reaching to touch the last golden rays as they disappeared over the edge of the world.

There she sat in the silence and the gathering dusk, watching as pinks changed to purples, red to blue and the first bright white dots appeared in the sky. She waited until the day had truly escaped and then, starting the engine she turned on the lights and started back for home.

The ride back was calmer, she obeyed the limits and took her time winding around the streets, the golden warmth of the sun caught in the tips of her hair that fought to be free of the confines of the helmet. Soon she was back in town, down familiar streets, down her street and she shut off the engine pulling the bike up the driveway to the garage. Using the remote she clicked open the garage door and sighed as she spotted her father's Lexus already tucked neatly into the garage. The fluorescent light flicked on, making the white car glimmer like a pearl, her father's pride and joy creaked quietly, a sure sign the engine was still warm which meant he'd only just beaten her back.

She carefully maneuvered her bike into the garage and heard her phone bleep.
From Dad
Don't get the car dirty with that disgusting death machine

She sighed, shaking her head, parking the bike on the other side of the garage and covering it with the gortex tarp she had bought just for the bike. Helmet and gloves tucked into their compartment before hand she put the keys on the work bench as she stripped out of the leathers and hung them up by the bike. Slipping her keys back into her pocket she slipped through the internal door and into the house. The sound of furious clicking from the kitchen drew her attention, a brief ring sounded before her father's familiar voice answered in that fake voice he used for clients.

Jez moved through the dark rooms of the empty and clinical house, the living room was barely lived in, a white, plush leather couch and matching chairs sat on a fluffy white rug on a dark hardwood floor. Barely a dent in any of it, a large flat screen TV was hung on the magnolia hued wall. A sound bar mounted beneath and a Blu-ray player on a shelf underneath. There were few other decorations in the room, only one family photo was allowed on the mahogany coffee table, slate coasters were organised around a bowl of white potpourri that smelled of jasmine and lily. The hallway was just as clinical, a statuette of dancer in marble white, more magnolia, more hard, dark wood, pictures of her mother's show's decorated the hallway, a timeline of her successes and her presence on the stage. Even in the dark they haunted her No again.
Are you even trying?
No daughter of mine shall dance so clumsily.
Of course you'll be a ballet dancer, do you think I got where I am for you not to follow my passion?

Finally she reached her room, the white door swung open easily and quietly, inside was a dark blue carpet flecked with silver spots, one wall was painted like a backdrop of the night sky and the ceiling was lined with small led's controlled by a switch near her bed. Her bed covers often depicted scenes, the large double bed had a plush faux mink fur blanket that was coloured a deep purple hue. A few stuffed toys lined on a shelf, a hippo, a crocodile and an elephant, all wearing tutu's and little ballet shoes. She had a vanity table where a jewellery box sat half open, a brass key sat in the lock of the front draw.

Clicking the light switch on the pale blue light of the LED's filtered down into the room, the one beside it flicked on the main bulb which filtered pale white light into the room illuminating everything. Shutting the door she moved across the room placing her phone on the vanity table along with her keys and sat in front of the mirrors, taking up her brush she let down her hair and began to brush through it.

Her phone buzzed once, twice.
From Dad,
Don't forget you have to eat, make sure your homework is done properly, I'll check.

From Mum,
You haven't got time for Halloween parties, remember your training and don't let me down.

For a moment she looked at the texts on her phone as if they were written in Chinese, then she backed out of them to her text list, Mum, Dad, Madam, School, Mum, Dad... as she scrolled through the texts her fingers shook until she threw the phone at her bed and frustratedly cried out. Her phone buzzed, From Dad, don't make so much noise. Of course she didn't see it but she knew what it was about, she looked into the mirror, hearing over and over again the constant demands of perfection her parents would bark at her daily. She didn't feel real, she felt like a doll and it hurt. She angrily swiped at the items on her vanity case, they fell to the floor with a series of clatters and as her head fell to the wood of the table her phone went off again. From Dad, whatever is going on stop it, I'm trying to work down here. And then she began to cry, her shoulders shook and her hands trembled as she sobbed quietly.

An hour passed before she had stopped, until the tears subsided and her shoulders stopped shaking and she picked up her head, wiped the tears from her eyes and the hair from her face and with a long, deep breath she pulled it together. With no small measure of mental strength she moved off the stool and picked up the fallen items, putting them back where they ought to be. Once her room was spotless she checked her phone, she read both texts from her father and the reminder on her phone to practise, no doubt set by her mother. She went to her closet, got changed into slacks and a fresh tee, the dirty clothes going in a basket and got her pointe shoes from the bottom drawer of the dresser. quietly she went back down the stairs, the old Victorian house had a back room, which had been converted to a studio for their mother.

The lights were turned on, the mirrors facing her reflected her eyes and an old fashioned boom box sat on the floor in the corner. She slid over to it after shutting the door and turned it on quietly. The music of a hundred ballets recorded on the disk, so she took her time slipping on her shoes and tying them around her ankles and calves. Carefully she got to her feet and holding the bar in front of her she lifted herself up onto her toes. It hurt, it always did and it always would, her feet would never be considered beautiful, no matter how hard she worked to take care of them it was too late for open toed shoes, for sandals and pedicures. A ballerina doesn't have to look pretty anywhere but on stage. It's your toes it doesn't matter! Yet to Jez it did, people her age got mani pedies, they walked barefoot on the beach, they wore cute shoes to parties and painted their toenails to match their fingernails.

Slowly she cupped the air with a graceful arm, her middle finger pointed in, her arm a curve as she bought it outwards. Her left leg rose, toes pointed and the pressure on her right ankle increased. Slowly it rose, further and further until her knee was by her ear and her arm held it there. she continued her stretches before she broke into the dance routines meant for strengthening her body and perfecting her techniques. Wrong. Again. You are weak, you have to become strong. You're my daughter only the best will do from you!

 

[Alyssa Carlene]

Collaboration with @commiepumpkin

Jaya's first instinct on being roused was to ignore it. She'd slept through many alarm clocks like that, but luckily, never missed an appointment worth more than the hour of sleep she'd gain. Such is the "curse" of having a comfy bed.
However, this time, it wasn't the joyful tunes of Indian pop music waking her up, but a continual prodding on her arm. And her bed wasn't memory foam. It was hard and blocky and where the fuck am I?!

Her eyes snapped open and Jaya recoiled violently from the intruder, hand grasping wildly for her bag and the pepper spray found within. It was only as her fingers grasped the cool plastic that she managed to slow down and remember. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and pulled the headphones from the tangled knot around her neck. "Oh, hey Jo, what's up? What time is it?"

"Uhh," Jo stared open mouthed at Jaya. This girl kept stealing away Jo's words, "It's, uh, 5:00. Yeah, it's 5:00. What were you reaching for?"

The shorter woman shrugged. "Oh, pepper spray. I forgot where I was, so, y'know. Instinct."

"You're instinct is very different from mine, " Jo quickly righted herself from her startled position on the floor, kneeling instead. Jo placed her laptop on the ground beside her and then turned her attention back to Jaya, "So, do you have time for a lesson now?"

Jaya pursed her lips. While it was tempting to get started right away, she was supposed to be in a skype conference back at her place in a couple of hours. Couldn't do it here; she needed to be in range of her microserver for the level of instantenous coding she was going to be proving herself for. The government never trusted word of mouth for some reason.

"Listen, I'd love to, but I have a meeting at 8 that would probably get me arrested if I was late for. Can we-" suddenly, she grabbed her stomach as it made itself known. When was the last time she'd eaten? Curry and eggs I think. Was that breakfast or a snack from last night? Either way, she would need to get something in her system before she had to deal with General Moustache and Colonel Vaguely-Racist for several hours. "I should also eat something, so unless you want our first tutorial to be over a bowl of noodles, I think you should just call me..."

"No!" Jo interrupted quickly.

" ...tomorrow morning for a meeting."

"I mean I'm pretty hungry too. We don't even have to go over the assignment right now. Shelving books is a lot of work and I'm too exhausted to focus on this crap anyways," Jo politely recovered from her outburst.

"Oh, ok!" smiled Jaya. Jo probably wanted to get ahead of the assignment and talk theory or something. She liked initiative in her students. "That's great, I know a place close to here that knows how to do a proper soup stock. Are you ready to go?"

Jo smiled, Jaya actually wanted to hang out with her! Maybe she had a chance.
"I am more than ready to go," She gracefully stood from the floor and shouldered her bag, waiting for Jaya to lead the way.

She quickly stored her laptop and stood up, wiggling the kinks from her legs once again. I really need to learn to not cross my legs as much, she thought. "It's just around the corner, that pho place nobody goes to just because there's a much more English friendly-place right in front of it. Cuts down on their clientele, but makes them much more eager to please the customers they do get. Especially when it comes to serving sizes. Come on!" As they passed through the library entrance doors, Jaya grabbed Jo's hand and pulled her in the right direction. She let go after a moment, but it was enough.

Jo fought to keep from hyperventilating. She touched my hand! She actually touched my hand willingly! Jo fought to keep walking instead of reveling in the sweet moment. She stumbled a couple of steps after Jaya, and then regained her balance. Jo had never been to the pho place, and honestly didn't really know what it was, but that all floated away with Jaya's touch lingering on her tanned skin.
What is up with me? I'm acting like an idiot around this girl. She is going to think I'm stupid. I mean she already knows I suck at computer stuff, but I shouldn't make it worse, Jo rolled her eyes at her own behavior and decided to try and strike up a conversation with her beautiful companion.
"So, Jaya, what brings you to this lovely city?"

"I won a contest back in high school that was run by some American university or another. I don't remember which, but I remember realizing that their resources were a lot better than the local colleges, especially if they were willing to look outside their borders for students. So, I applied to a bunch in this country, and this university offered me the best scholarships," explained Jaya with a smile. "I had tempting offers from some schools in Canada, but I didn't know french at the time, so I declined."
They walked another half block before Jaya remembered to ask Jo about her background. "Oh right, how about you? I'm not very good at accents, but you're definitely not a local."

Jo's mouth pulled down in the corner into a half frown. She really hated talking about her birthplace, with all their backwards thinking and confederate flags flying proudly.
"I always hope that no one notices my accent. I'm working on getting rid of it but I guess it may never completely go away. I'm from a very small town in Alabama that no one around here knows about," Jo desperately wanted to change the topic to something other than her, "What about you? Are you from India?"

"Yes, originally."Jaya stopped smiling for a moment, remembering the life she'd led back in Dubai. The months leading up to the divorce were the roughest ones of her entire childhood, with her gender dysphoria and the friction between her father and...
Luckily she didn't have to think about it for very long, as they had arrived at the restaurant. It was with no small amount of relief that Jaya pushed open the door and held it open for Jo. "Hai!" she told the server lounging at the counter, who pointed two fingers and then gestured to an empty couples booth. The two girls slipped in, and picked up the menus already there.
"Can you read the menu ok? The English is so-so."

Jo squinted at the menu, trying to discern the garbled English. The grammar was cringe-worthy, and she wanted nothing more than to pull out a red pen and correct it. She was tempted to pull out her phone to use the translator app she had. She must have had a very defeated look on her face because Jaya stepped in to save her.

"Don't worry, they have a bowl with just chicken for Americans. I'll order you that?"

Jo sighed in relief, "Yes, please!"

She set the menu aside, knowing she wouldn't have to order now. There was an awkwardness lingering in the air between them and she couldn't stand it. Jo decided to say the first thing that came to mind, "So, computers huh?"
Jo wanted to smack herself upside the head, but kept a pleasant smile on her face.

Jaya waved at the waiter, and then grinned back at Jo. The awkwardness bounced right off her, an immunity resulting from a lack of socialization. "Yes, I noticed you have an Apple. Is that on purpose?"

"It's what I got for Christmas a couple of years back. I don't really know anything about computers." Jo sheepishly shrugged.

"I can tell, hold on," Jaya turned to the waiter and spoke rapid fire Vietnamese, ordering both their meals. "It's fine for your studies, but it doesn't play well with three quarters of my software. You managed to download the JDK just fine though I noticed."

Jo rolled her eyes and huffed, "Yeah, it took me forever to figure it out though. My professor uses a PC and doesn't give directions for the Mac."

"The university should just make Linux standard issue, much simpler that way," Jaya suggested unhelpfully. "But the JDK works the same on all products more or less, so I won't worry about that. What unit is your class covering?"

A quizzical look fell across Jo;s features, "Uhm, I don't really know. Something with coding? I must admit that I'm not the best student in that class, I mostly daydream about my stories."

Jaya furrowed her brow at the other girl. She could already tell that she was a bit of a hopeless case when it came to this subject, but she couldn't very well cut off her offer of tutoring now. Besides, it would be a reliable source of easy income this semester. And furthermore, Jaya found herself drawn to Jo's ineptitude. It was strangely endearing. "Well, from what I saw, you had been trying to program a basic change making code. The first thing-"

They talked about Jo's assignment for a while, until they were interrupted by the bowls of soup. Jo's featured a simpler broth with lean chicken and green onion, though it still featured the hand-tossed noodles that marked this restaurant as a valid pho place. Jaya's on the other hand, was chock full of miscellaneous pork bits swimming in a spicy red broth that also floated strange vegetables and whole peppers.
Jaya kept talking as she used chopsticks to place noodles and meat onto each wide spoonful, inadvertently teaching Jo how to eat the simple dish without realizing she needed to be taught.

Jo was glad that Jaya hadn't realized her fumbling with the chopsticks. She was raised in a household where fingers or forks were used to eat mostly everything. She struggled with her food, but managed, and listened to Jaya. Her voice was entrancing, Jo wasn't so much listening to the words but rather to the timbre. Her chest constricted as she listened, feeling her heartbeat race faster than normal. Jo couldn't help but think that this felt kind of like a date. She knew it wasn't, but she wanted it to be. Eventually, Jaya was too consumed with eating to talk about programming and Jo felt the need to fill the silence. Nothing immediately came to mind, when a brightly colored poster of a Jack-O-Lantern caught her eye.
"Oh! Are you going to that Halloween party that everyone has been talking about?"

Jaya gulped down her sweet tea, happy that the chef had delivered on her spicy order. Knowing Vietnamese came in very handy, and they served her the broth they reserved for clients they knew could actually handle the heat. She pondered Jo's question while chewing on a bamboo shoot. "Uh, I don't think so. I don't have anything planned, but I'm no fun at parties."

Jo's eyes grew wide with excitement, she doesn't have any plans! Maybe that means she is single? Jo paused at her internal excitement, why do I care if she is single? Her mouth pursed as she thought and she realized she needed to say something rather than debate with herself.
"We should go together! I didn't really want to go by myself and I think it might be a really fun time."
Jo crossed her fingers under the table and waited to hear Jaya's answer. Please say yes, please say yes.

"Oh uh," Jaya stirred the noodles nervously. She could remember her mother's warnings about parties. Jaya, no matter how much I love you and how much your friends may love you, there will be people who do not. And you need to be ready for them.
She was silent a moment, sipping from the broth bowl to give herself time. Honestly, she wouldn't mind avoiding people for another night, and who knows if she would be able to sneak in a nap after her meeting with Washington. But on the other hand...
Jaya could count on no hands the number of parties she'd attended. A couple conferences, a few on-campus events, and her tutorials, but nothing really like this. At what point was her preference for solitude just a preference, and when was it fear?
The chopsticks smacked down on the table with a decided clatter. "Sure, I would love to!" she declared resolutely. "Is it by costume? I don't have anything on hand though."

Jo slapped her chopsticks down and broke out into a huge grin, "It is a costume party, but I don't really have anything either. I was thinking about just going in a party dress with a masquerade mask. I have another mask if you want to wear it? It's silver with little pink flowers. Or we could go shopping for a costume"
Jo was ecstatic, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with the small computer genius as she could, and the party was the perfect opportunity.

Jaya shrugged, "I'll whip something up. Do you want to meet up at the party, or have an actual tutorial tomorrow afternoon first?"

"I need to get that project done, so tutorial please. Maybe, if you want, we could go shopping after? Or grab a coffee? I work at this cute little cafe near campus as a barista on the weekends and can get a good discount."
Jo's heart was pounding as she put herself out there for Jaya. She was afraid she would get turned down flat. The thought really saddened her.

"I'll probably need the caffeine at that point in the day," Jaya responded, oblivious to the romantic overtones of their plans. "When is your shift? I could show up there when I wake up and wait for you to finish so we can begin."

Jo grinned from ear to ear. Jaya had accepted her invite to coffee! That was a good sign, right? "My shift is over at noon. I can grab us coffee before I finish up and there is this really comfy couch that I can claim."
"Great! I'll see you then," Jaya said while counting out the money and tip their meal would come out to. She shook her head when Jo pulled out her wallet, "You're buying us coffee tomorrow with your discount remember? Put that away."
Bill paid, both girls stood up and exited the restaurant. Jo hovered, uncertain on how to say goodbye, and for once, so was Jaya. She sensed that her usual grunt and nod towards her students wouldn't be quite appropriate here, but she was at a loss for what the usual etiquette was.
She vaguely remembered seeing the European students to the same thing every time they got together, so she stood on her tip toes and lightly kissed the air next to Jo's cheek. She rocked back with a smile, happy that she'd remembered the societal protocol. "See you tomorrow!" she finished before turning and walking away.

Jo stood stone still and watched as Jaya walked away. She was completely shocked and more than pleased. Jaya had kissed her cheeks! Thinking about the departure heated her tanned cheeks with a rosy glow. Jo gently touched her right cheek with a look of wonderment. Suddenly, she whooped into the air, not caring who was around to see her.
She must like me! Jo thought as she practically skipped back to her place.

 

[Roxshi]

Leah's eyes lit up as she unclasped her hands and placed them on Eva's shoulders. Hearing the dark brown haired girl's reply, she stated with a giggle, "Let's go!" She gave her time to gather her stuff and they walked out together. Leah led Eva past the campus's library. Wall to wall books and computers, free for the student's use. Passing various music rooms, different styles could be heard. The lighter haired girl danced down the hall with Eva close behind. Finally arriving at the cafe, Leah picked out a booth and plopped down. She gestured to the other side for Eva to sit. "This cafe features popular food items among the student body. Cheesy macaroni beef bake, three cheese ravioli, just to name a few." She rattled off a few menu items while the darker haired girl glanced at the menu. Leah thought about the party she had seen flyers of. She should invite her new acquaintance!

Eva looked over the menu and came up with a conclusion. She would order the curly cheese fries with bacon. The dark brown haired girl chatted with the girl front of her. She had mentioned some thing about a party. A Halloween party. Leah had talked about it and Eva wanted to go. By that time, they had finished their food, paid and walked out. She thanked her for a good time, waved goodbye and left for home. Eva could hardly contain herself. A party? Wondering who she could meet, possibly making new friends, Eva could hardly wait for that day.

 

[Wolfsin]

Writing as Victoria~

Victoria's alarm went off and the struggle began. Tiredly she reached and tried to destroy that atrocious noise but in the end gave up and tried to drown it out with just a pillow.

'Victoria! Breakfast!"

The girl could have screamed but she did what she could to finally roll out of bed, quite literally and stood up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Victoria had never been good with waking up early, normally dead tired for the first half of any given day because she was so messed up on her sleep schedule... but today was Halloween and with that realization came the thought of what she had unintentionally obligated herself to do today.

A groan escaped her lips as she searched for new underwear, and a T-shirt, that would be the start for the day at least until she got at least a few cups of coffee in.

Breakfast went fine, her mom was listening to her classical tunes, of which Victoria didn't hold a lot of interest in and soon enough the battle to figure out something comfy to wear for the day was afoot.

Victoria settled on a nice big sweater that certainly was nothing form fitting, some simple jeans that did compliment her well simple sneakers, and a few berets to put in her hair. With a little bit of make up and some messing with her hair she was ready. The cab was outside and before long Tori stood on one side of the Shopping plaza which was more than festive for the Holiday at this point. Only out of the corner of her eye did she see Aria in the distance. Victoria approached and waved her down. "How long have you been waiting here?" She actually was worried she'd kept the girl waiting for a while which was strange only because Victoria hardly worried over anyone but herself. She was not self centered, but rather very reserved. "So... er what is the plan?"

 

[MotherOfCthulhu]

Jessica > Sean, Hailey
Costume Shop AM


The night previous she had danced herself into a sweat and showered long enough to wash it and her frustration away. Her mother and father meant well, they only wanted the best for her, they'd worked so hard all their lives to give her everything they were able to, they were misguided not bad. Even so, as she settled into her bed that night, her golden tresses spread to dry naturally overnight, all she could think of was the party. After her father had checked her homework and frowned at how long it had taken her he left for work with his usual stoic gesture of an awkward one armed hug and a wave at the door of his car. Alone in the quiet house she decided she owed herself a night of fun and decided to head into town to the costume shop, if she found something she liked, she'd go, if she didn't, she wouldn't, it would be up to fate to decide if she was going.

Dressed in loose fitting jeans with flared ankles, a pair of plain black trainers and an over sized, white; with subtle shine woven into it, turtle neck sweater, she brushed her hair and left it loose to flutter freely at her back. Grabbing her essentials and dropping them into a handbag that depicted many different owls with different expressions she slipped out, locked up and started walking into town. She slipped in the earbuds of her headphones and pressed play.

The tune filled her skull, filled her body from her toes to the ends of her hair and she found herself humming unabashed as she walked down the street. It felt good to be out in the air, to have the wind on her skin and against her body. She smiled faintly to the people she passed, ignoring as they leaned in to each other to whisper and then she was there.

In the middle of the high street was the shop that had been there as long as Jez could remember. Every few years it underwent changes. It had started off as all things theatre, make-up, wigs, props, dance shoes, dance gear of all sorts. Currently the latticed shop front was painted white and trimmed in lavender pink, stage door in italicised black writing above the door. Two coffee tables with wicker chairs out front since they had started to do teas and snacks for those buying their shoes here. Inside was oak wooden floors polished and varnished. In the window a mannequin was dressed as a clown and a child sized one as a fairy, there were orange and black balloons in an arch at the door and pumpkins and plastic spiders decorating the shop. Up against the wall near the front door was the till and counter. In the glass display case were necklaces and tiaras that sparkled prettily. Down the centre of the shop were two rows of two, filled with costumes of different types, sizes and styles. The shop was rather narrow either way and up against the opposite wall were hats, wigs, masks and other paraphernalia for costumes. Up by the counter were the dance outfits, tutu's and skirts, dance shoes of all styles and sequin trousers. Towards the back it opened up, there were some mirrors and chairs, changing rooms and thin a spinning carousel that contained the make-up and stage effects.

Jez had always got her shoes from here, ever since she could walk she had been here for her fittings. The woman who served was an ex-dancer and despite her protests her mother had never listened. My daughter will be the best, she has to start young if she wants to surpass me. She'd been five. The brass bell jingled gently above her as she entered and let the door close, there were two new assistants that buzzed around restocking shelves and the rails, they stopped to offer a friendly smile before continuing on. The old woman was nowhere to see but the smell of fresh coffee hinted that she was likely in the shops tiny kitchen out the back.

* * * *​

For Sean and Hailiey there was no time to sleep in, hell no time for coffee with the way Hailey buzzed about.... One might have thought the girl was high on something but Sean loved seeing this side of her. Now he only had to get her ready and get her out the door before their mom woke up and spoiled the fun. Out of respect though Sean wrote down a quick note to tell her where they would be and then helped Hailey pull up her purple coat.

The wind was at a howling speed today, dark clouds hung overhead, but it was just right for a Halloween night. A harvest moon would happen tonight... It was bound to be beautiful. "Zip up your coat Hailey." Sean proceeded to do the same with his almost signature white hoodie and he pulled up the hood over his white crown of hair. He was wearing several layers himself including a scarf about his neck that hung just slightly over his chin. He wore nice form fitting jeans with three chains that hung from the pockets, one f which was connected to his wallet. He didn't look like prime time New york of course but good enough to be seen with Hailey.

It didn't take them but a few bus stops and a bit of a walk to hit the main stretch. First shop on the way one called.. The Stage Door. Its decorations caught Hailey's eyes immediately even if Sean had almost intended on skipping over this shop, there was no hope in that now.

"Sean! This one, lets go here!"

Sean rolled his eyes and followed after her as the little girl skipped on ahead. "Wait up, hold on now. I need you to stay close to me."

Just as he was saying it though Sean's phone started to buzz and he knew without looking who it was. none the less he answered.

"Hi Mom."

Jez had reached the rails and had run her fingers across many a coat hanger, pulling gently at the fabric so she could see the outfit before putting it back again with a slightly disappointed look on her face. The music playing changed and she slipped towards the back of the shop and the costumes hidden there.

The bell rang and the sound of little foot steps sounded out on the quiet floor. Jez was unaware mind you, while her headphones weren't loud they were loud enough to block out the smaller noises. The gust of wind hinted the door had opened but such was not unusual the night of Halloween in a costume shop. She continued her search, when did costumes become so...inappropriate? Sexy zombies, sexy nurses, sexy policeman, it was so exasperating.

Jez probably had what was considered a 'good' body, she had to to be a dancer but that didn't particularly mean that when she was walking the streets she'd have her bottom hanging out for the world to see, or her boobs spilling over the top of a garment. It seemed to be begging for trouble in her opinion and she simply didn't have the confidence for such outfits.

Then she saw something, her eyes lit up and a brief smile touched her lips, as she reached for the potential costume when a small thud against her leg made her stop and glance down. Sitting on her bottom looking rather dazed was the most adorable little child Jez had ever clapped her eyes on. Slowly she removed her earbuds and unplugged them, the girl didn't seem hurt, just dazed and a little confused.
With a warm smile Jez crouched down to the same height as the girl and offered her her hand. "Well hello there. Are you alright?" Her voice was soft and gentle, a rare treat for anyone over the age of twelve but common place for children. There was a spark of life in her blue eyes as she waited for the girl to hesitantly take her hand and stand up. She said nothing for a moment then whispered.
"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."
"Well that is very sensible. Although, a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet." Jessica offered the little one a wink before checking that she was indeed unharmed. Ignoring her own words the little one soon chirped up, "I'm here with my brother, we're going to get me a costume for Halloween, he said I can get whatever I want! It's going to be the best Halloween ever!" Jessica giggled quietly at the girls innocent enthusiasm and straightened up herself.
"Oh it certainly sounds like it and what a nice brother you have, I hope you remember to say thank you to him." The girl nodded so enthusiastically Jez was slightly surprised she didn't give herself brain damage. "He wants to go to a party and see a pretty girl he wants to know. I think it's silly really, he hasn't spoken to her at all ever!" Jessica pulled the costume she'd been eyeing off the rail and inspected it. Yes, this is the one. She thought to herself. "Well maybe he will tonight?"
"I don't know...." The girl fell silent as Jez held the costume up against herself. "You look like a princess." The girl uttered in honest dumbfounded awe, dewy eyes and mouth a gape. Jessica smiled, "Oh thank you sweetie, I do hope it'll look alright." The girl shook her head furiously, "You are as pretty as all the princesses in my books!" Her little hands seemed to forget about stranger danger and grab at her jeans to emphasis her earnest thought.
Then something seemed to click in that little magical brain of hers and she clapped excitedly while giggling in what some might call a maniacal way. Jez's brow hiked and the girl grinned wider than a human should be able to. Then with a sweeping, graceful gesture pointed at Jez's face. "I know who you are I know who you are! You're the girl from my brother's DVD's!"
"Yes I took Hailey out to get a costume." Sean responded to his mom's question and silently growled under his breath as the woman went off on him about leaving her out of things. She was more a child than Hailey at times... he thought. "That's fine you were sleeping I wasn't going to wake you up and with school and work I never get to spend time with her alone so th.."

Sean had to pull the phone away from his ear when his mom cut him off, and for a second he thought about smashing the device, but he knew... that with Hailey aro... "fuck.."

Sean literally cast his gaze in every direction in that second and didn't hesitate to hang up on his Mom in the next. He knew she had wanted to come into the shop, but really after he'd just told her to stay close.. she ran off? A sigh parted his lips and he almost face palmed.

There were enough attendants around to make sure nothing happened of course that that helped his nerves. Still though he found himself searching under mannequins skirts and other little creep holes that the tiny little girl could have wandered into, until he heard her....

'Your the girl on my brother's DvD's"

His mind and body ran cold but he wasn't sure which one came first. Only brotherly instinct coaxed him around the corner and he stood looking at the most beautiful nightmare this shop possessed. Crouched down next to Hailey... Jessica...

A shiver ran down his spine and he stood off side unnoticed as of yet... He knew he had to stop her here and now before Hailey's innocence made her the devil... but... how...?

Jessica's face became a caricature of emotions, it shifted from confused, to worried and back to serene. "O-oh? Really?" The girl nodded in that adorable fashion, as if her very life depended on getting across the point. "Uh huh, he watches them with me at least once a week. He tells me the stories because they are hard for me to follow but I love the pretty costumes you wear!"
"Why thank you."
"You should be his girlfriend." Hailey stated without a moment's hesitation and innocence in her clear eyes. Jez's smile widened.
"Oh and why's that?"
"Well." The cute bundle said matter of factly, folding her arms as she must have seen at school or on TV, "Don't worry, he'd be a good boyfriend, he's really strong! He'd not let the rat king get you, or the owl! He'd fight them off."
"Well that is good to know." Jez said kindly, putting the costume over her leg and then her elbows on her knees, her cheeks in her hands. "Yup." The girl agreed.
Sean's eyes widened and for the first time in his life he found himself praying for some mystical power to be invisible for the rest of his life, or maybe a freaking silencing spell.... that would have been good too right now for Hailey.

She was off... "He would protect you from The Rat King.. and the Owl... and.. ".... Sean jumped out and then tried to calm himself before he spoke and sounded something similar to a mouse. Able to fix the problem before it got worse.

"There you are Hailey!" he shouted acting as though he were out of breath, or had been chasing her for so long. In many ways he didn't want to look up from the little girl because he knew what it meant... but... he did.

Instantly captured in serene blue orbs it might have been the first time he'd been this close to the actual her. Hailey moved up and wrapped around his leg shouting out. "I found the Swan Princess Sean.. I found her for you!"

Sean's eyes pleaded for the girl to stop while she was ahead... but there was no hope in that... "Alright Hailey calm down. We still need to get you.. your costume." Speaking of which... Sean could barely see the one strewn across Jessica's leg. His fantasies played numbers on that though. By looking at her he'd sealed his fate though.

"Sorry about that... err she gets very excited a lot of the time.. I hope she didn't bother you."

Jess' eyes flicked from the little girl to the voice that spoke up from the other end of the railings. Her soft gaze fell on Sean and held his gaze until Hailey ran off to his side, her excited exclamation and pride made Jess smile warmly. It was so nice to watch a child just be a child, there was something so pure about their existences. She stood slowly, folding the costume up and placing it atop the railings. "Oh you're costume shopping too?"

Sean spoke up then, that strange white haired boy she'd seen around school before she'd moved away. "Bother?" She almost seemed confused at the thought, smiling at Hailey she winked and looked back, "She's been anything but, apparently you're going to protect me from the rat king?" She teased playfully.

 

[Wolfsin]

Sean> Jessica and Hailey~ part 2
Costume Shopping~

In any other situation Sean could have been actually bold.. stood his ground but he might as well have been a cowering pup here. Hailey giggled at his side when Jessica reiterated what she'd said and Sean thought for a fraction of a second what it might be like to strangle a child...

"Yeah.. the big bad Rat king. and the Owl too. " he playfully glared down at Hailey who just smiled back with an obvious victory in her sparkling childish eyes. "uhh.. About all that. I actually really enjoy what I have seen you do and Hailey loves it so we watch old videos a lot."

He knew this had to be the probably strangest meeting he could have ever hoped for but it was like hurdles to them having never talked before this, so for that he was thankful. "You are always really pretty when your dancing.. and outside too and well Children need role models haha." He smiled genuinely and roughed up Hailey's hair a bit.

Jez nodded at his correction, "Oh yes, can't forget him either, such bad people trying to take me away. Thank goodness I have a strong hero to protect me, right Hailey?" The girl grinned again and then Sean broke into his explanation. He looked a way that Jez had never seen him before, unarmed, defenceless, it was a good look on him, even if it was just a moment.

He offered the platitudes she'd heard a hundred times before from men and women a like and she struggled a little to smile through it. He, unlike many others, sounded genuine with his praise. Then he spoke of role models and she was a little surprised, her eyes slipped from his face back to the girl in his arms, "Oh? A role model am I?" A small but genuine smile formed, "Well I am endlessly flattered my lady." She cooed to the girl, "Tell you what, I've picked out my costume already so I'm all done here. Would you like me to help pick out yours?"

Sean didn't have a moment to respond before Hailey charged forward. "YEAHHHH" She squealed and ran right past Sean to Jessica's side. Sean on the other hand both cursed and praised his luck in that moment. Following behind. "Well I don't need to have a say in this one it would seem." he laughed and tagged along behind them as the three of them moved along to the child's section.

Sean was furthest behind, though not trailing. As always he somewhat felt like that of an outcast and it was his normal fashion that when it was anyone but he and Hailey he stood in the shadow's, this specifically had him ready to slink away but he held his ground.

"So err what all did Hailey say to you before I even showed up?" He asked from behind. He met her eyes when she spoke with him and through his embarrassment was even able to smile. In ways his question was a test of psychology. he wondered what parts that Jessica had intentionally chosen to forget.

Jess giggled at her enthusiasm and offered her hand, taking her costume and tucking it under one arm. "Well that is decided then." She looked to Sean at his comment and smiled lightly, "I guess not." And quietly she mouthed to him 'she's adorable' before turning to the excitedly pulling child who continued to talk about all sorts of things. "I don't want to be a fairy someone is doing that already."
"Oh I see." Jessica replied with a deep seriousness for the girl who seemed somewhat put out by it.
"I was going to be a mermaid but the kids at school said it was impossible."
"Well then how silly are they?" She purred, "Nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough Hailey." The girl looked excited and tugged her to a rail before she began grabbing at costumes to find one she liked.

Looking to Sean she had a playful grin on her lips, "Oh. Not much, just how you have a massive crush on a girl at school but won't even talk to her. How you are hoping to talk to her at the dance but Hailey thinks you won't. She said you think I'm pretty and watch my dance's at least once a week, you tell her the stories because they are hard for her. Then she said I ought to make you my boyfriend since you'd protect me from my evil enemies." There was a teasing tone to her voice but it wasn't malicious, just playfully amused.

She fucking heard and remembered all of it... fucking all of it..

Sean went scarlet on the inside if only because he was too embarrassed to blush on the outside. Then nodded as Hailey stole the 'stage' again.

"oooo Look at this one! its got rainbow colors and its a mermaid!" She was so giddy it even forced Sean to smile like a doting father watching over his own. In many ways that was what he was for Hailey.

"If you want that one, then we can get it." he proudly announced not even sparing a glance at the price of the costume. He didn't care when it came to Hailey, he never did. With Haileys excitement though also came a smile from Jessica and Sean for the first time met it in kind some of his normally bravery returning to him if only for that triumphant second.

"All of that huh? and what do you think of miss Hailey's proposal? milady?"

Sean nearly choked after finishing his sentence and realizing just how stupid he truly sounded. But it was too late to back away now, instead he followed through with a more direct question. "You wouldn't happen to be going to that. Halloween rave are you?"

Jes gave a clap for little Hailey as she found the costume, helping her take it down off the rail, "Mhmm." She responded to Sean who had already announced Hailey could have it, so he was as kind as Hailey had said. "You better try it on make sure it fits, right?" She cooed to the excited child, about to take her to the changing rooms when she and Hailey were stopped in their tracks by Sean's boldness.

While Sean may not have blushed externally Jessica did, it wasn't the first time she'd been asked out but it was the only time she could remember being asked out so earnestly. For a moment she was speechless but then something came to her, as with a smile she tilted her head, "Well you do seem as kind as the Princess has said, I have heard tales of your strength as well." Luckily she didn't have to say yes, even if it was for the little one whose eyes appeared ready to pop right out of her skull with her excitement.

"I am not supposed to be going, no." She uttered, no sooner than she had was there a disappointed groan beside her, chuckling quietly she added quickly, "However I left it up to fate, if I found something suitable I'd go...and I have. So I guess I'm going. What about you?"

Sean listened, waited for a clear answer but half way through Jessica's response he couldn't help but smile and realize he wasn't about to receive that simple of an answer from her. He probably should have known that from the beginning, but in a lot of ways he was just more than happy that it had not been a shut down. her response to his question did ground him however and he frowned for the first time if only for a second.

"Sadly no. I have other things that I must do, Ya know getting my own costume and escorting a little mermaid about through out the night."

He playfully winked to her and stood next to Hailey who was just beaming now. "it looked like a lot of fun though so definitely you should go and enjoy yourself. This little one right here is the only reason in the world that I would miss a rave party like this haha."

"That's a shame." She said before she could really stop herself, without back pedaling though she smiled down at Hailey, "I can understand why though, who'd want to turn down this princess?" She slipped into the changing room with Hailey and helped her try on the dress, it fit perfectly and it looked beautiful on her. A real mermaid princess, well, she would be. Once she had gotten changed and Jess had avoided trying on her own they wandered to the till. While Hailey excitedly pointed things out to and distracted Sean she paid for her costume and a little something extra, borrowing a store card and a pen she wrote something down and slipped it into the box.

When Hailey relented long enough for her and Sean to reach the till Jess giggled and let them ring through their own shopping and then the trio went outside, making small talk all the while. Hailey seemed over the moon about her costume. "Are you sure it's complete though?" hailey looked horrified for a moment and thought long and hard, she had the costume, the fish plush toy friend, even some sea coloured braids to clip into her hair, what had she forgot? Jess didn't leave her hanging logn and handed her a box, "Every Princess has a tiara, it's the law." She offered Hailey a wink and then smiled to Sean. "I should get going, I guess... I'll see you around?" Offering a wave she left Sean and Hailey on the pavement and made her way into the wind, which lifted her hair to dance around her shoulders.

The two departed Sean picking his own costume last minute out of something and starting on his way back home with Hailey.

 

[Azzy]

Collab between Jack, Aka, and I~~

Aria was mindlessly humming before she noted Victoria, a grin pulling at her lips as she waved her hand in greeting. "Dont worry!~" She cooed happily "I've only been here for a few minutes, not long at all. Promise~" With a small but final hum, she slipped her phone into her pocket before folder her arms upon her chest, tilting her head slightly.

"Now, Victoria..." Her tone lowered slightly as her expression fell and became stoic.Though her attempt at appearing serious failed by the glimmer in her eyes. "What would you prefer to dress up as? I mean you have to be comfortable."

Tori immediately began feeling uncomfortable the moment she heard the change is Aria's tone. Her dainty fingers began fiddling with the hem of her sweater, and she almost began a nervous bounce on the balls of her feet. "Now, Victoria..." her body tensed when she heard her name, and the question that followed made her fidget even more than she had already been. She thought hard about the question, nervously tucking behind her ears a strand of near white hair. "I honestly dont know...." she murmured.

The brunette paused, watching the other for a moment before she shrugged. "I haven't decided yet either so we can just look around I guess..." She explained, reaching her arms above her head to yawn. "Even if we can't find something you completely like, I'm sure we can just add to it ourselves." Letting her arms drop back to her side, Aria peered around the shops for a moment before peering to one quite a few shops away, tucked into a corner. "Want to look there first?"

Victoria peered toward the direction Aria had been, and let crystalline eyes fall upon the quaint little shop on the corner. After a moment, she simply nodded her head,"Sure." She was unsure of what exactly to do at this point. It wasnt often that she went out with friends, not that she really had any but Sean. "Shall we then?" she questioned Aria, trying to push the anxiety out of her mind, and attempt to enjoy the shopping trip...though she was unsure of how long that would last.

Aria could note the others anxiety and her only reaction was to smile, softer than normal. She knew she was quite the energetic person and it sometimes scared people but...Well, Aria never knew what to do about that. Nodding softly, Aria turned upon the heels of her boots and headed over in the general direction of the small store.

Upon reaching the store, Aria reached out to rest her hand against the wooden frame of the door before she let it swing open under the pressure. She stepped inside, making a small note of the stores layout as she held the door open behind her. All the walls were covered in costumes of all different colours,styles and shapes. Accesories lined the wall near the counter and down the center on wooden shelves.

"Awh! It's cuttee~"

Tori followed Aria's lead, and headed towards the little shop on the corner, slightly less of a bounce in her step than her current shopping companion. When they reached the shop, Tori watched as Aria leaned against the door until it opened up, and she was greeted by the shop's indoors. It was small, but organized and they'd be able to find things rather easily. Now all there was to determine was if they had a decent variety of costumes. Tori stepped into the shop as they door was held open, and nodded silently at Aria's proclamation. She gazed around, eyes soon falling upon a headband adorned with a cute set of silver ears. Rather large, and positioned quite high on the head. They seemed to stand at attention, and Tori found herself reaching for them "These are cute...." she murmured to herself, clutching the fox ears in her hand, and examining them closer.

Ring~

........

Rri... Ring~


Aria was looking over at the rows of materials, fingers slipping from the door as it fell closed behind them. Her gaze had been drawn to an outfit she actually had no idea what it was but all she could note was feathers. They reminded her of Xerxes. With a small shrug, her attention was turned back over to Victoria when she finally spoke. Stepping around her, Aria looked at the fox ears curiously before grinning. Aria reached over, plucked the items from the other's hands and held them up so it appeared as if they settled upon her head before she pursed her lips.

"Victoria! These look quite good!" Aria seemed even more exciteable now as she passed the ears back to her. "So it seems your after an outfit for an animal like a fox, right?"

Tori blinked when the ears were plucked from her fingers, and she just gazed at her empty hands for a moment before looking up to see Aria holding them up in front of her eyes as if imagining the platinum haired girl wearing them She didnt quite understand why Aria didnt just pop the ears right on Tori's head. It just seemed like something the girl would do, but she soon shrugged away the thought, and tilted her head when the other asked her question. "Hnn...I suppose a fox would be nice." She said finding that the idea was rather appealing.

She then found herself gazing around the shop again, her eyes catching a glimpse of red silk fabric. She weaved her way around racks of material and clothing to the fabric which she grasped in her hand and plucked from the clothing rack itself. A pretty silken kimono embroidered with golden flowers, and intricate designs. She liked the way it looked, but found the fact that it was rather short to be a bit uncomfortable, and so she moved to place it back on the rack.

After a few moments of watching the other go off in search of an outfit, Aria felt herself pause for a moment. It seemed that Victoria had calmed down, distracted by the many options so Aria decided to go hunting for her own outfit, though noting that a kimono got the other's attention.

Walking back over to the racks holding up a range of dresses, Aria let her gaze run against the different colours and material before huffing. So far, there was little that caught her eye.

There she is... No you.. Just do it...

She gazed over the rest of the clothing, but her eyes just kept coming back to that pretty red kimono, and after a few moments of having the smallest inner battle with herself, she sighed, and went the grasped the material once more. It'd have to do.she could were tights or something beneath it. The only thing she was missing now, was a matching tail for her ears, her eyes gazing over the vast variety of accessories to choose from. It seemed almost fate that there hanging on the wall was a rather nice, silver fox tail that, like the ears, matched her hair color perfectly.

"Oh god you would look so good with that tail."

A boy out of no where commented and stepped up to Victoria. "Here.. let me help you put it on." The boy reached for the tail and then well... towards where tails go.

The girl jolted when a sudden male voice interrupted her thoughts, one hand reaching for the tail just as his other reached for her backside. She very nearly screeched as she batted his hands away from her, and stepped away, dainty hands just barely snatching the tail out of his own,"Uhm..t-thank you, but I dont need help......"

The boy pursued stepped even closer. "No I promise I wont hurt you, just let me serve you!" Then following him three more boys she'd probably seen around her school approached. "Here Victoria let me just buy all of that for you. You deserve it because you would look so hot in it." Another stepped up cutting off what was likely her escape he fell to his knee. "be my girlfriend! Please?"

The situation was getting more, and more uncomfortable as it went on. Two more boys had approached, and from there, all items she had chosen were plucked from her hands, and any chance of escape was blocked by a body. She didnt know who to pay attention to first, and just found herself staring helplessly in Aria's direction as if the girl would come to her aid.

Aria let the material of one dress pass through her fingers like waves, the silk being soft to the touch. However, It did not seem like an outfit that Aria would wear. Pouting at the current situation, Aria subtly glared at the dresses before her. Some appealed to her because of the feathers or colours but others...they just were to much of a bore.

Sighing, Aria was taken from her thoughts when she took note of other people talking in the shop. With a small frown, Aria took note of the boys that surrounded Victoria who had taken the accesories from the girl, one even on his knee.

"What the fuck?"

Aria rarely swore but she had already stormed over to them all and was seen glaring. It was clear how uncomfortable Victoria was but they continued anyway? Repulsion made her eyes narrow as she reached over, snatching the items from them before scowling. "How disgusting...I think I should make people aware of how much of a creep you guys are.." She mumbled out before sighing. Reaching over she grabbed the others girls wrist before pulling her away from them. "Do you want to buy this stuff then go to a different store?

Normally the threats would have stopped these boys in their tracks of enraged them, but instead they almost entirely ignored Aria all together as they reached after Victoria and tried to shout out the words of love and passion for the girl almost like chanting zombies they followed behind the duo.

Tori eagerly followed Aria, shaking her head,"I-I just wanna buy these things, and leave. I have sandles at home that would work, and I think im do---" she looked back to see just then that the boys were continuing to follow them, murmuring, and chanting things that just made her even more uncomfortable. She could feel tears welling in her eyes, as her breath caught, and she found herself clutching to Aria's arm as she almost dragged herself, and the other to the counter.

She blankly stared at the boys for a moment, internally wondering if kicking them in the balls would work to slow them down...Breaking out of her thoughts she groaned. This was the worst. Biting her lip, Aria was stuck. She pulled Victoria over to the counter and towards the clerk before releasing her. "Pay for it. Quickly, then we are running. Fast."

Tori set her things on the counter, and watched the clerk ring everything up before she practically shoved the money at the woman, and scooped up the bag in her arms. "L-lets go, okay?" she murmured heading for the door. She was going to head directly home after this, apologizing to Aria at a later date that the girl would have to continue her shopping on her own.

Aria nodded once the things were paid for before she followed, hurrying over to the door as she pressed her hand to her pocket, checking that her phone was there. When it was, Aria had slipped from the door and slammed the door closed behind her, internally hoping that it hit at least one of the boys in the face.

Tori fled out of the store, only stopped in her tracks to turn to Aria, an apologetic, and rather weirded out expression on her features. "I...think I'm going to go home now. Im sorry, but I just cant handle human interaction anymore today..." she mumbled a thank you, and turned running in the direction of her house before Aria could get a word in.

She just nodded, not daring to say another word to the girl who was clearly upset, before she dragged her phone from her pocket.Looking at the screen, Aria hurried down the nearest street that led to a small park like area. Hurrying to the bench, Aria slumped intot he seat with a small huff, unlocking her phone. "Damn....Some creeps..."​

 

[Alyssa Carlene]

Jo lay awake for a long time after parting from the pho place, just thinking about Jaya. The small girl had invaded her life so quickly, and was refusing to leave her mind. The meal replayed over and over in the brunette's head and she lay on the dorm bed. Eventually, she fell asleep and her dreams took her back to Jaya. Jo pictured the two of them in a park that lead to a beautiful beach, the sun was setting and the sky was filled with puffy clouds. Jo tenderly held Jaya's hand as they strolled toward the beach on a cobblestone pathway, the two chatted and laughed. Jo looked down and saw that her chest was glowing a pale red, and it was warm to the touch. She thought that this is what love felt like. Jaya smiled sweetly up at Jo and motioned towards the ocean, then took off running. Jo followed behind, but the run to the ocean seemed to be endless and Jaya was always just out of reach.
The blaring sound of Jo's alarm clock pulled her abruptly from her dream. She sleepily reached over and turned it off. Eye lids heavy with sleep, she rolled out of bed and stumbled toward her shower to get ready for her shift at The Daily Grind. The warm water cascaded over Jo, as she stood trying to wake up. Suddenly, her dream came rushing back to her. Green eyes snapped wide open with a gasped breath, what does the dream mean? I mean Jaya is attractive but do I actually like her? No, I'm just feeling some weird feelings because she is pretty. I'm not into girls.
Jo quickly finished her shower, but the dream stayed with her as she put on her white button up and black slacks. She glanced over her shoulder at the time and realized she was running later than normal. She quickly threw on shoes and dashed out the door, jogging to get to the café on time for her shift.
Jo burst through the door at exactly 8:00 am, the bells jingling above her. She was greeted by the familiar sight of the giant chalkboard menu and the smell of artisanal coffee. However, she wasn't used to the Halloween decorations around the place. Jo inhaled the sweet scent, making her smile brightly. She made her way to behind the bar and adorned her purple apron and a pumpkin sticker, ready to deal with all the students trying to make it through their early classes.
A girl with long blonde hair pulled into a messy bun entered, the bells alerting Jo to a new customer. She turned toward the girl and smiled brightly, "Hello, how may I help you?"
"Hi, so can I get a large pumpkin spice latte without the whipped cream?" the girl dug into her hippie bag to retrieve her wallet.
Jo begrudgingly punched in her order and offered her the freshly baked muffins, as she was supposed to. She took the girl's name, Chelsea, and wrote it on the cup. She turned to begin making the order she hated most. The Daily Grind had a large assortment of coffees and they were all amazing, but almost all of the girls that walked through the door just wanted pumpkin spice. Jo was sick of the drink! It wasn't even that good.
As Jo served the drink, she smiled and wished Chelsea a nice Halloween. As the blonde left, she sighed and knew that this was a bad start to a shift, and that Halloween always brought out the pumpkin spice drinkers. She was really looking forward to Jaya's visit and especially to the party later that night.

 

[RaccoonKing]

Collab pt2
@Azzy @Wolfsin


"Wow... look at that one run. You'd think she caw an eagle or something."

Above chattering could be heard in the tree, quaint little voices that when Aria looked about didn't seem to come from anywhere around her, yet she could hear them entirely. "Poor girl, she look's lost now without her friend."

Aria froze at the very light voices that seemed to float around, coming from no direction. By their words, they were intelligent and so Aria's first reaction was to snap her gaze to the side to study the masses that passed by and the few people who were poised at the other side of the street, standing and chatting.

"W-wait, what?" She felt her brows furrow in confusion before she glare at people across the street. "Hellooooo? "

"Oh my very lost indeed... She's calling to the wind poor dear. The birds then took flight and landed near a fountain at the center of the shopping plaza before continuing their conversation. "Well if nothing else... maybe she has bread for us. Human... human do you have bread?"

Her brow twitched with slight annoyance. She was normally happy and bright but...after just then and now the fact there was voices, Aria just huffed. "Bread? Why would I have bread?" She paused. "Goddamit! Where are you?" She hissed to them. Who the hell asked for bread?!

"Over here you silly." Then the bird started to sing

Now, Aria blinked as she at the birds with widened eyes. Her lips parted as if to speak yet remained silent as if the words were caught. "This is not funny..." She whispered, disbelief casting her words to a whisper. "Pretending birds can speak...Pfft.~" She leaned back in her place, bringing her arm to rest over her now closed eyes.

"Thats rude you know.... we are trying to talk to you and you aren't even giving us eye contact.... your mother must have let you leave the nest far too early girl."

Now she was forced to let her arm drop, staring wide eyed at the birds for a moment or two before she got up, a tired expression upon her features as she headed to the creatures, crouching next to them. "Are you bloody telling me that you can...you can talk?" Her gaze narrowed. "Prove it. Do...Urm...Raise one wing...?"

The little bird then puffed out her chest. "Well I never!" then raised her wing pointedly to Aria "You raise YOUR wing!"

Aria was stunned, her expression evidence of it as she was left still. The bird was talking. With slow moments, Aria shifted to sit on her knees as she leaned down to look at the bird closely. "...I don't have a wing, I am a human." She pointed out, reaching out her finger to the bird. "And humans dont really think you can talk so I am probably insane." Aria was ignoring the fact she was sitting on the street to sit in front of a bird to which she was talking to. She looked insane enough.

The bird calmed and lowered her wing before stepping back. "Oh right. well you should be much more kind when speaking to others missy. I thought I would give you some company and everything because you looked so lonely. Though it is strange... With a sudden change of mood and tone the bird went off 'WHY CAN YOU SPEAK TO ME HOOMAN!"

She was calm at first, just watching the creature with perceivable caution. Her breathing was calm and her expression mimicked that. Even when she talked to the bird, she was strangely calm for her situation. "I am not lonely...though your company is gr-" Aria was cut off by the bird freaking out which caused her thoughts to catch up to her. Her grey orbs blinked wildly as she scurried to her feet, pointing rudely at the creation as now panic crept up to her. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW CAN I SPEAK TO YOU? HOW THE HELL CAN YOU SPEAK! YOUR A BIRD..A BIIIRDD!" Instantly, Aria turned to face the opposite direction for a second as she brought her nails to her lips, idly chewing on them. "Oh my god...I'm insane, I have to be...Birds dont talk...."

"Exxxxccuuuuuuseee me?" The bird even seemed to bob her head when she spoke now. "We certainly do talk, and WHY DO YOU KEEP LOOKING AWAY FROM ME WHEN IM TALKING TO YOU!"

Aria just spun around to stare back at the seemingly angered bird with her own narrowed gaze. "Reallly? You want to know why I keep turning awwwayy?" She stretched her words, leaning down slightly. "Because birds dont talk and people who hear them talk often end up drugged on medication and in a padded room."

"Fine.. thats just fine then! The bird huffed once more and without another word flew off, even then chattering could be heard in the distance, curse words the word ungrateful, and ugly were used.

"Stupid mind...stupid bird..." Aria grumbled, walking over to the bench to grab her bag as she got to her feet. "I'm going insane...Maybe I should talk to Rix...actually thats a stupid idea too..." She gathered herself and headed towards the shops. She could still hear them talking... Her brows twitched with attemptive control at her rising anger, trying to ignore the insults from the voices she now knew was birds.

"Shut..up..."

Her steps became hurried as she approached the buildings, finding the nearest costume shop as she shot her hand out, pushing against the door as she let it slam open. The voices became quieter and Aria released a small breath in relief. It began to cause her a headache. "I..those bir...I just need to find a costume and go...right, costume..."

 

[commiepumpkin]

Sun. Fuck the sun.
Time. Fuck time as well.
….
Ok, fine, I'll check the clock.
Jaya rolled over in her blanket cocoon, making sure that the ray of light that had woken her up was out of her eye first. She cracked open one eye to stare blearily at the digital clock on her bedside table. "Ugh, fiiine," she grumbled when she finally read it as 11:30; removing her covers she finally got out of bed.
Yawning widely, she walked to her bathroom; deftly stepping over all the wires she'd left lying around from last night's session with Washington. She thought they were impressed? Whatever, she'd think more about it when she actually woke up.
After a quick shower, Jaya finally checker her phone. Scrolling through her phone, she answered a few texts, checked the status on a few apps, and then went to her day's schedule. Right there at the front: MEET JO FOR TUTORIAL SESSION AT DAILY GRIND CAFÉ
Jaya grinned. A proper tutorial session would allow her to actually teach her a thing or two about coding. During one of the multiple shout-offs during the meeting last night, she'd gone ahead and hacked the school database and found out which class and which assignment Jo was currently doing. She already knew exactly how to teach the brunette, and she was looking forward to the challenge of making the inept English major into a full programmer.
Bag packed, devices charged, morning emails sent, Jaya set off for the café that Jo said she worked at. It was a relatively quick walk, she still lived fairly close to campus, thought definitely off it in an apartment of her own. Her side business made a pretty substantial profit, so she could afford to live alone in NYC.
The grocer seemed to have gotten a fresh shipment of fruit by the height of the displays; Jaya decided to pass it by on her way home. Near it, a Halloween store displayed wacky inflatable decorations and promised the perfect outfit could be found within. Hm, Jo said the party was by costume? This might be good to find something simple for tonight. I'll ask her if she has any advice after the tutorial.
The doors jingled cheerfully when Jaya stepped through. Her immediate thought was to make a beeline for the corner booth that had just opened up, followed by waving to Jo behind the counter. She settled at the small table, setting up her laptop and making sure the Jo would have room for hers.
Hey, I'm ready when your shift is over. Bring me whatever your specialty is and a scone please, and we'll get started.

 

[Alyssa Carlene]

Jo had served 312 pumpkin spice coffees today, and if she had to punch it into the register one more time she was going to scream. She decided right then and there that she was never working Halloween again. It wasn't a national holiday, so she didn't even make time and a half.

Jo eyed the clock continuously, waiting for her shift to end. As 11:52 am rolled around, she heard the bells ring out. Great another customer in the mad house, Jo thought sarcastically as she waited on the ever growing line. She caught a glimpse of the newcomer and almost shouted with glee, it was Jaya. Immediately, Jo's shoulders visibly relaxed and her tight smiled turned genuine. The attitude of the café changed as soon as she relaxed. The next 8 minutes went by without incident and she happily handed over the register to Dawn, a young freshman still trying to figure it all out. Jo wished her luck and then went to the back to grab her things. She headed into the back room and grabbed her purse, but her laptop wasn't there.

"Oh no! Where is it? Where is it?" Jo went tearing across the back room in search of her laptop bag. She looked in her locker, in the bathroom, and under the shelves. She was seconds away from a total melt down when she remembered that it was sitting on her bed at home.

"I'm such an idiot! Jaya is going to be so mad at me." Jo hiked up her simple black hand bag to rest securely on her shoulder and slunk out of the back room. She quickly made her way over to the corner booth where Jaya was set up. She simply stood at the end, waiting for Jaya to look up from her screen. When she did Jo said, "So, I forgot my laptop at home. I am so super sorry! I left in a huge rush and it completely slipped my mind. But I owe you a coffee, so what will it be?"

 

[FireFly69]

Red shut his phone and slid it back into his pocket making sure it was secure, sighed and took off down the street. Red ran a few blocks down the road then noticed a group of said "gang bangers" half a block down. Red stopped in his tracks. This was not the right neighborhood to be caught in by these guys, but before he realized it they noticed him and started at Red hooting and hollaring stupid names and animal noises at him. Now Red hated people like these more then anything, small time crooks that thought they were all that but in reality they can't do shit one on one. Red took off into an abandoned building across the street from where the thugs were and made his way up the stairs to the roof grabbing an old fire extinguisher on the way. Red flung the roof's door open and locked it behind him, it would take those guys some time before actually getting that thing open. Red took his time finding a metal pipe from one of the old water lines on the buildings rooftop and patiently waited till the thugs got the door open. Red stood there a few feet infront of the door right next to the fire extinguisher and as soon as that door swung open so did the pipe swing down onto the end of the extinguisher, making the canister turn into a rocket obliterating the first guys stomach and knocking the rest back down the stairs.

Red turned around ran and jumped to the next building and continued towards the workshop using this method until there were no more buildings he could jump to. Now normally he would just go down the stairs but Red didn't want to waste his energy, instead he saw a mugging going on in the alleyway beneath the current building he was on. Glancing down and smiling Red simply walked off the ledge and landed straight on the muggers shoulders with his feet and PK rolling off of him got back up and ran the final 2 blocks to the workshop.

Swinging the door open Red looked around the shop and found Jarrod sitting on the bench against the wall staring at a piece of paper. "Jarrod whats the matter" Red spoke as he aproached the man. Jarrod looked up to face Red. "I'm getting evicted out of here... We just aren't making enough to keep this buisness going and with the property tax i can't afford to pay the bills here." Jarrod layed his hand on Reds shoulder. "I called you here because you've been working here for awhile and i thought you should know." Jarrod's head lowered as his hand fell he started walking past Red. "I need a bit of time to myself Red can you come talk later when i'm feeling up to it?" But before Red could even get a word of question out Jarrod had already locked himself in his office.

"The one place i was comfortable at... and now that's gone... man what the hell is going on today?" Red sat down on the bench Jarrod had vacated and looked over at the mass of weapons Red had the habit of making, "I'm not even going to mess around with bringing that home right now. I'm too tired after all that shit that just happend." Red rest his head back against the way and stared at the ceiling until his thoughts darkend and he had faded into a sleep

 

[FireFly69]

COLLAB POST BETWEEN SEAN, RED, AND HAILEY





Hailey was still buzzing about, over excited for the schools Halloween party. No doubt her mermaid costume would be the spectacle of the class which made Sean feel that much more proud for being able to handle getting it for her. That was the last thing on his mind though. He'd actually just met with the girl he'd been interested in for years. His mind was anything but clear at this point.

"Sean you are gonna go with me to the school though right!?" As if he would be able to say no to that face... Sean smiled to the little girl and nodded. "Yup then we get to go and get you cavities." Hailey gave a boo face with that comment. Sean only laughed then took her hand leading her along. They had a bit to go before they would be home.

Red woke up from his over extended nap with an annoying headache, realizing that he had passed out on the bench at work he quickly sat up and looked around. "Jarrod must be out. I wonder why he didn't wake me up." Red stood up and made his way towards the door. "I'll just get my things later on today so Jarrod doesn't have to worry about them taking up space."

Opening the door Red was greeted by the annoying light of the afternoon sun and realized he had slept in alot longer then he origionaly thought. "Sigh... guess it's time to go home and figure all of this out." Taking off down the street towards his house he glanced around to see if any of the thugs he had taken care of the day prior were out to play, but instead he caught sight of the white haired boy he had known to be Sean and his sister tagging along right next to him as usual. Red couldn't approach Sean normally when he was around other people but if it was just his sister then it was not a big deal, Red started across the street towards the two and spoke out the boys name. "Sean what's up? Heading home?"

Sean was in his own little world until the familiar voice tugged him from his thoughts. Hailey turned first and practically flew into the familiar friends arms. "Red!" She shouted happily as she wrapped her little arms around him, and sean followed behind her.

"Yeah we just got done shopping for Hailey. Go on tell him what your gonna b...

"Im gonna be a MERMAID!" Hailey shouted at the top of her lungs. Sean stood next to her now and set a hand on top of the little girls blonde hair. "What about you, did you just finish up at the shop? You don't look as dirty as you would normally." Sean snarked. "You look white today."

"Yeah i just woke up actually, ran over to the shop after school yesterday to find out that Jarrod's getting evicted.... Theeeen i kinda just passed out on the bench in there. Not really sure what we are suppse to do now, he didn't say much so i couldn't ask him if he was going to raise money or try to sell his supplies." Red looked down for a moment with a slight dissapointed expression on his face, "But either way I guess it can't be helped. We never did get much buisness there anyways, it was more of a place for me to make my mechanical weapons." Red said with a slight chuckle trying to brush off the mood.

Sean stood shocked for a moment, not really sure what he could say to console his friend in this situation. Red had been his friend for well... a really long time, long as he could remember honestly. There were strange things about the man and he didn't remember having too many 'childhood' memories with the guy but he knew that Red had always helped him and even more importantly Hailey whenever they needed it and to see Red like this hurt Sean just as much.

"How much do you think you would need to keep the place running?" Sean asked suddenly. He pulled out his wallet, knowing all too well he wouldn't have a dream to have enough to help Red in this situation but the gesture would be enough to tell Red that he was serious about helping him. 'I know how freaking important that place is to you... Your always there whenever we don't have school, you don't talk to a lot of people in school." Sean looked away and murmured under his breath. "Not that im one to talk.."

Hailey seemed discontent with the situation and pulled at Red's shirt.. 'Whats wrong.. uncle Red?" She asked with the innocence only a child could possess. Sean spoke up. "It's alright Hailey Red is just having a bad day, we all have those alright, but a hug from you will be enough to help him okay?" Sean smiled to the girl and of course she gave Red a big hug. Sean looked back up to Red.

"If I can help I will. I had to spend a couple pay checks this week to pay for rent and Hailey's costume but after this ill work hard to help you guys keep the shop. Alright?"

Red looked towards Sean and Hailey appreciative of what was trying to be done. "Unfortunatly I think this is alot more then even I could help Jarrod with and I have a pretty penny saved up. Red layed his hand on Sean's shoulder to let him know it was ok. Honestly I think this is just how things are suppose to pan out, alot of weird things are going on and I have an uneasy feeling about it and i don't think it's going to end anytime soon. If there was a way to keep the place then I know Jarrod would've told me."

Red put his hand on Haileys head and patted. "It's going to be just fine, I'll just have to find another hobby to persue. But what about you? What are your plans for Halloween?"

Sean sighed and shook his head. "Man this is some bullshit... why the fuck does this shit happen to people like us?" It was true though Sean and Red had been given hell most their lives. Red didn't remember a lot of his own shit, and Sean had dealt with fucking mom of the year and her troll brigade for far too long. Not even mentionning their school life. No one looked sideways at Sean for threat of him beating the piss out of them. he'd never touch a woman like that but still they thought he was a delinquint too. And when they finally had something good going for them this shit had to happen.

"I am going with Hailey to her school once we get home and cleaned up. They are having a little party thing like they always do for the younger kids. After that... of course.. im gonna take her trick or treating." Hailey moved back to Sean's side and cheered loudly! Sean smiled and looked back at Red. "What about you bud? With all this recent shit, do you want to go trick or treating you've always had a sweet tooth and you could dress up as an adult, or some red haired anime guy or something hahaha."

"Naw i'm not too keen on the whole dressing up scene since i kinda get made fun of by my normal clothes anyways, feels like i'm in Halloween everyday." Red smiled towards Sean at his attempt at a joke, but really there are just too many people out and about and that just makes Red uncomfortable. Red glanced down to Hailey, "But you'll come by later and share some wont you Hailey?" Red smiled and looked back towards Sean, "I'll probably just watch some of those anime's that have red haired charachters like me in them though."

Sean laughed and shook his head. "Hailey share? Pft you must have slept too long friend." Hailey puffed out her cheeks and swatted at Sean's legs. "Anyways sounds like you have your day all planned out, its a shame though. Whatever. Let me know if you find any good ones in your anime selection."

The two of them continued talking even got on the subject of Anime that they had watched together, like Code Geass, and various gundam titles. Sean shared one that he'd watched recently, and Hailey just skipped along like a fairy princess. it didn't take them too long until they were outside both their houses and Sean turned back to red who stood near his gate. "Alright remember.. hentai is different from anime Red..." Sean laughed then ushered Hailey towards the house. Waving once more to Red before he got in his own house.

 

[commiepumpkin]

@Alyssa Carlene

Jaya furrowed her brows in frustration. "You forgot your laptop? That's kind of…" she trailed off. Usually, she had a one-strike policy when it came to students. If they couldn't care enough about the class to show up on time to her tutorials or pay attention to her or just expect to do the assignment for them, she was out. Forgetting one's laptop was difficult to rationalize, to say the least, since Jaya kept a computer within reach 99% of her life. Certainly, it merited a dismissal of student-tutor relations, especially since she'd gone out of her way to arrange this meeting.
Yet… Jaya didn't want to. She'd forgiven her already if she was going to be honest with herself. And she didn't want to leave her hanging. "… an inconvenience. Lucky for you, I downloaded the assignment already. Just don't forget any other lesson, I'm not usually this forgiving."
"For my drink, get me something with chocolate and strong coffee. And two baked goods as punishment for forgetting your laptop!" Jaya ordered with a smile.
When Jo came back with a mocha latte and her favorites from the bakery, Jaya shuffled over in the booth seat so she could squish next to her. The programming software was already up, assignment in another window, and a PowerPoint of hints ready in the taskbar. "Thank you," Jaya sipped from the drink eagerly. She'd rather have a strong pot of tea or a filter coffee, but this was an American café, and they probably wouldn't have the exotic drinks she would want. "Now the first thing you want to do in any program is the method header…"

Later…
"Cross your fingers now," Jaya said before typing in "run ChangeCounter 570" and entering. A brief second later, and the interactions panel spat out "Five dollar bills, two quarters, two dimes".
Both girls cheered and high fived each other. "Congratulations, you've coded your first program!" praised Jaya, a wide smile crossing her face uncharacteristically. Usually, all a student got was a thumbs up and a command to try and break their code.
Their enjoyment died down slightly when Jaya looked at her watch. "Oh wow, we've been here two hours. Those mini-lessons took up more time than I thought. We should probably call it quits now."
Jaya pursed her lips. This had been oddly fun. Usually, it took her favorite champion and some consecutive dragon kills on League of Legends to make her as happy as the time she spent with Jo. Maybe this meant something…
Shrug. Jo was a good student, that was probably it. Enjoying one's work was its own reward and all that. Nothing more probably. Still, it was too bad that they wouldn't see each other after this until the party that night. Or actually.
"Do you want to come with me costume shopping? For the party tonight I mean. There's a place I passed near here that is desperate to get rid of its merchandise," Jaya said, unsure why she was so interested in what Jo had to say.

 

[MotherOfCthulhu]

Jez
Returning home.

It was a wonderful feeling that had started in the pit of her stomach and spread out warming her on the chilly day, as music thrummed from the headphones to her ears she found herself smiling. How long had it been since she'd felt something like this? A role model. That's what he had said, little Hailey hadn't objected either but looked with those innocent eyes of hers as proud as punch. For the first time in a long time she felt proud of herself, the hours of forced practice, the pain effort and concentration, the sacrifice of her social life, it all seemed worth it and she was almost grateful for it. She was a role model for an adorable little angel and even if it was just for Hailey alone, it was the world of difference to her.

Idea's flooded her mind, all of which were fanciful and impractical, gate crashing the girls disco just to give her a live performance was too much. Though then Jez stumbled upon a great idea, she hadn't danced in a show in a while, however, there was other footage, stuff the public didn't usually see if the dancer didn't want them too. It had falls and wobbles and imperfections, things dancers couldn't let other people see. Though Jez planned to find her latest and copy it, her mother would frown about it and complain but Jez wanted Hailey to see it. How hard work and practice and passion was all a person needed to succeed in something they loved.

She folded her arms to suppress a shiver and keep herself warm, the bag in her arm swinging against her legs. She'd have to get home, check the outfit, fix it up a little and make sure she had the accessories she wanted it wear. She had practice before the dance as well and homework she had to finish if she wanted her father to let her out the house.