Wolfiee
Meow
Initiate
Aya.
coded by natasha.
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Fandom Divergent: Faction Before Blood // RP Thread
Nerdy.
Nerdy
Christian "Chris" Parks || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn
Christian was startled at the voice that came from his window, even more so, when he turned abruptly to look at them, he wasn't immediately familiar with who it was. She stood by the window, so she was easily visible, but still, it took a little while for Christian's brain to register that it was Vex, a fellow initiate. He heaved a sigh of regret, a sign that he had given up and given in, and he sat up on his bed, coming to the end so that his legs came off the side and his feet rested on the floor. "What do you mean you can help?" Christian asked, a tremor in his voice that he quickly swallowed. He had done what he had feared most, he had hurt Blair. Not only had he hurt her by attacking both of her brothers, but he had hurt her physically, with his hands. He was a monster, and he was aware that he was a privileged monster who might get to live the rest of his days in a nicely done up prison cell now, but he was okay with that, it was what he deserved. But Vex offering to help... what did she mean? He couldn't know and he couldn't even begin to guess... Thus he sat there, blue-grey eyes stormy with desire for getting the help he needed. Vex giggled girlishly as she fondled with a rubiks cube that he had on his shelf. He had never succeeded in completing the rubiks cube, it had been something his family had tried to use to help him ground himself when he was angry, and to keep him occupied and distracted. However it had usually only succeeded in making him even more angry because it was so frustratingly difficult and seemingly impossible for Christian to solve. Vex tossed it in her hands, and Christian wondered if she was able to do a Rubiks cube or not. He listened as she began to speak, her voice delightfully low and intoxicating, like smooth honey to his ears. Her voice wasn't as soft or as near to Christian's heart as Blair's was, but all the same he felt himself relax to the sound of her voice. She spoke eloquently, using words that Christian understood but in such a way that made her sound much smarter than him. She mentioned how she had watched what had happened, and how she had been watching him for a while, and had noticed his violent and aggressive tendencies. Christian felt ashamed at this... Was his mistakes and his weakness shown to the whole world so easily? Was he really the monster that people said he was? Did everyone think and see this? As if seeing his inner thoughts, Vex quickly went on to say that she had never thought any worse of him because of this, but had admired him and taken an interest in him. Thus, when she saw this last incident, she had wanted to help him.
Christian wasn't sure when Vex had gotten on the bed next to him, but somehow she had, and the Rubiks cube now sat in her hands completed. When had she completed it? She passed it to him, and he turned it in his hands, mindlessly staring at the completed colourful sides of the cube. She continued to talk, her voice tickling his ear pleasantly. She said that she knew why he had done what he had did, and commended him for it. Christian felt a tiny amount of pride at that, he had been trying to defend his girlfriend, surely that wasn't so bad? She then went on to say that she knew someone who could help, a doctor. "I've been to a lot of doctors, Vex, none of them have helped me." He said dejectedly, placing the Rubiks cube on the bed and sighing again. She stayed silent for a section, then went on, as if he hadn't spoken. She explained that this doctor was much smarter than any Christian might have seen, and he wouldn't try to change Christian, but help him to have clear headedness during these episodes. Christian perked up at this. Every doctor and pill and medication he had ever been on had always been designed to dull everything so that he wouldn't blow up at all. But from what Christian was understanding, Vex was saying that the person she knew wouldn't take his personality and feelings away, but would clear his head? "That... sounds really good... But I don't think I'll be allowed to do anything now, I was taken by security, I"m probably going to go to jail any minute, or stay here for the rest of initiation, or my life." He said. Vex laughed, saying that Christian worried too much, and hinted that she knew his charges had all been dropped. Christian looked at her. "So... you... and your doctor friend. You can really help me?" He said, hope lacing his voice for the first time. Vex nodded, and rested a warm hand on his knee. For Blair. She said, and Christian nodded. "For Blair." He agreed. His soul felt much more rest from Vex turning up than he could have ever thought. Her company felt so calm and pleasing to him right now that he knew he wanted to trust her. "When can I meet him?" He asked, eagerly. Vex smiled widely, claiming that if Christian wanted to, maybe they could meet up tonight. If not, then at least Christian could get out of his room instead of being depressed and staying inside.
Christian had slipped on some shorts and a t-shirt and out of the fancy clothes he'd been wearing prior, and he and Vex left through the same window she had climbed in. She claimed that it was because his family, or other security, might not know he was cleared and innocent yet, so it was best to keep a low profile until that was normal knowledge. Christian agreed, and with a racing heart, he followed Vex willingly and without question out of his window and into the Dauntless compound. They walked through the compound using darker and less used hallways and passages, but without necessarily hiding and trying to appear inconspicuous. Christian tried to ask questions every now and then, but almost magically Vex always spoke before he could ask his question and would talk about something else. He was too polite to interrupt, but the questions raced in his head. Who is this doctor? How does Vex know him? How will he help me? Has she talked to him about me? Does she know where Blair is? If she is okay? What if Ajax hurts Blair because of me? Christian felt a unique stomach ache form from the knot of questions he held in his brain. The thought of everything down spiraling because of his actions, that was enough to make him want to throw up. Finally Christian was able to talk. "Um... Vex. How do you know this doctor? Where does he live?" He asked. Vex replied ambiguously, but Christian accepted it, he wouldn't pry into her past, he just wanted to have more information. As he had told Vex, he had met a LOT of doctors, and all of them had tried to "fix" him. But here he was, still broken, and more than that, he was now dying at a very fast rate than he would have been before. It was a tragedy, but Christian couldn't help but feel responsible for it in some way or form. If he had known a doctor who truly could have helped him from the beginning, then everything would have been fine. He jogged beside Vex as they left the compound and began to walk towards the train. "Are we going to use the train?" He asked. Vex nodded, as she began to pick up the pace, only to begin scaling a building faster than Christian could comprehend. He watched her go up and disappear over the top of the building, only to pop her head over and ask if he was coming. He took a deep breath as he leaped up, only just grabbing the end of the fire escape, and managing to pull himself up, then it was just a matter of running up all those stairs. By the time he was up at the top, Vex seemed amused at how long it took him, and she was lazily resting on the edge of the building. They continued on, running and jumping gaps that Christian might usually think twice about, but managed to clear each one easily, Vex leaped without warning or question, so he did the same. Finally they arrived at the last building before the train, and they were just in time, not even getting a moments rest as the train roared past, Vex and Christian ran up and simultaneously leaped into the carriage. Christian looked around, he hadn't been on a train in a while, he hadn't done this type of excursion for a while, it was fun. He stood watching the world pass by, as Vex made herself comfortable at the end of the carriage. She invited him to come sit beside her, and he did so, taking one last look at the Dauntless compound, before sitting beside Vex. She began to talk to him, and her voice tickled his ear, and washed over his body like a lullaby, causing him to feel sleepy. Her body was squeezed up to his even though there was plenty of space, and she ran her hand over his thigh with light movements and touches. He thought he should ask her to stop, but his mind was falling asleep faster than he'd ever fallen...
Interacting with: Vex
Sanctuaryforall1
Griffon Mordo ||
Griffon could tell, the moment Fable saw his parent, that this had been his mistake. He knew that Fred had once hurt Fable and had done so before Griffon had come into the family, but after Griffon had stepped in, Fred had stopped. That is what he had believed up until this point. That is what he remembered, and Fable had never said anything otherwise. Looking at the situation now, Griffon's mind began to clear on its own, and he began to see that secrets had been held from him in his own family. His heart broke slightly, as he realized that he must have failed back then, to keep Fable safe, and that Fred must have continued hurting her. Griffon had forgiven him on the grounds that it had stopped, he had become amiable with both Fred and Diana on the grounds that they loved their daughter in some form, but it seemed all too clear that what they valued, what they loved, was their faction. Griffon couldn't react fast enough, as Fred's hand whipped out and came into contact with Fable's cheek. That was all it took for Griffon to jump in. "STOP!" He said, in unison with another woman who had just turned up. He was going to jump in between Fable and his father, but the woman beat him to it. Who she was, and what she was doing here, he didn't know, he didn't recall ever meeting her before, so he assumed that she was simply a Dauntless member. While she spoke to Fred, Griffon walked up to Fable and tried to hold her hand, tried to show her he was there for her, and that he was regretful for bringing their parents here. He wanted to explain, to say that he had no idea their relationship was still so toxic, that Fable still harboured so much hate for them, that they still harboured so much disappointment. But now was not the time to do so, even Griffon knew that. He felt as Fable shook off his attempt to hold her hand, and he felt a stab in the heart as she did so. I have hurt her. He realized. This is all my fault. He thought, deciding that if it was, he needed to fix his mistakes. He squared his shoulders, wishing desperately that Fable would look at him, hug him, let him hold her, but she did none of that, distinctly not looking at Fred, Diana, or Griffon. Griffon looked over at Rhys, and could see the same disappointment from the male, and the same desire for Fable's safety. He just hoped that Fable would let someone help her...
"She's right. It is time to go." Griffon said to his parents, his eyes unusually dark and cold, and his voice more rigid and firm than ever before. "I will personally escort you home." He said, wanting to make sure they left. Diana and Fred seemed like they were about to protest, but Bloom and this other woman easily stepped up to reiterate that they were no longer welcome in Dauntless compound, and that if they didn't leave now, peacefully with Griffon, that the authorities would be on their way. Finally, it seemed like a lifetime afterwards, they unwittingly agreed, and turned on their heel to start their walk away from the group. Griffon waited for a moment, sighing deeply, a deep urge to berate himself weighing heavily on his chest as he looked from his parents, to Fable and Rhys, to Bloom and this other woman. Everyone here probably felt as disappointed in him as he did right now. I didn't know. I just thought they wanted to see her. I would never have brought them otherwise. He wished he could explain, but he had neither the time, nor the confidence to do so. Bloom came over to him, telling him that he didn't need to escort them home, and asking him if he would be okay. "I'll be fine. I... I think I need to be alone anyway... I'll see you tomorrow Bloom. Thank you for everything." He said. He turned to the woman he didn't know. "I'm sorry I don't know your name... But thank you for stepping in. I should have done so, but my reaction time was not as quick as yours. You have my gratitude..." He said, almost going to bow, as the Abnegation custom, but quickly righting himself before he did, and simply holding out his hand for a handshake. The woman introduced herself as Val and shook his hand. He turned to look at Fable, but he could tell he wasn't wanted at her side right now, so he simply turned to Bloom and Val again. "Can you let her know I'm sorry? I'm not sure she wants to see me right now." Griffon asked, and Bloom and Val looked at each other, but didn't quite answer saying yes. Griffon simply sighed, squaring his shoulders again and turning around, following after his parents.
He had to run up to them, as they had already gotten further ahead than him. He didn't want them running loose in Dauntless if they were only intending to hurt Fable. As he walked next to them, he remained silent through everything they said. They talked about themselves, about Fable and their disappointment in her, then finally they began to talk to Griffon, saying that they were proud of who he was, and how they brought him up, but were disappointed in how he went to Dauntless. Griffon's blood boiled inside him, as he listened to their words, but he couldn't bring himself to yell at his parents, to fight out as Fable did. That was not who he was, he was... selfless. So as they continued to find ways to berate him, Griffon stayed silent, taking each word, each sentence, and storing them in his mind. Fable was much stronger than him, how she could stand up for herself and stand up to her parents was incredible... It was not something Griffon could do, it was not in his nature to do so, he was able to stand whatever beratement and injury was done to himself. Not because he didn't feel it, but because he believed that it was better to care for others more than yourself. He was able to do that, to anyone, and maybe that was his downfall. He had let Fable down, something he would never be able to forgive himself, even though he had forgiven his parents for doing so.... That's what Abnegation had taught him, and he had thrived in that society. Thus, it was still with him, even after being in Dauntless for so long. Sometime he would have to make it up to Fable, if she would allow him. It didn't take too long to exit the compound and be halfway to Abnegation, and Griffon continued to remain in silence, simply there to keep his parent's company and also make sure they didn't stay in Dauntless. His eyes stayed downcast, watching their footfalls on the ground, and only noticing the different kinds of ground they walked upon. Concrete, asphalt, grass, dirt... When his parents stopped, he knew they must be in Abnegation. He raised his eyes, as they turned to say goodbye, and neither one apologised for their behaviour. Say something. You can do it, you can protect Fable even now. She won't know. But you will. Griffon felt a tear inside of him, he wanted to say something, to show his parents that he cared for Fable more than them, because of who they were, and who she was. "Mom... Dad..." He gulped, his mouth going dry. "I'm sorry Fable said those things to you... But... what you did to her, back when we lived at home, and today... was wrong and inappropriate." He finally managed to say, watching as their expressions changed from happy to extremely angry and upset. He stood there listening as they began to tell him off for what he said, and his confidence to speak wilted under that beratement, and his will to stand up to them was smothered by his will to let them be. What he had said felt like the tiniest bandage on what was a giant wound now, he felt like he could have, should have done more. He stood there patiently and without reaction to anything they said, and didn't flinch at all as Fred walked up to him, readying himself for a slap. But all Fred did was lay a hand on Griffon's shoulder and say that although Griffon had disappointed them slightly, he was still their son and they were proud of him.
After they left, Griffon hardly had the will to go back to the Dauntless compound. His dad's words rolled around in his head, making him feel sick. They love me more than Fable. He realized with dread, wishing that weren't true. He ground his teeth together painfully, wanting to punch something for the first time in his life. He had never really understood anger before, at least not since the accident, not remembering anything from before then. But now he was truly angry. Was he angry at his parents? Yes, he was... but he was much more angry at himself. Angry that he hadn't protected Fable from what abuse must have happened behind closed doors. Angry that he hadn't known that Fable would hate to see them again. Angry that he hadn't stepped in between Fred and Fable. Angry that he had been perfect for them and had made Fable look even worse in their eyes. Angry at how even now, he struggled to tell them what he thought. That he let them go with only a tiny sentence. He clenched his fists, his feet dragging on the ground as he walked towards the Dauntless compound. Or so he hoped. He probably shouldn't have come out without another person because Griffon... Didn't really know how to get back. He wasn't upset though, it gave him more time to sit in his thoughts, even if that were unhealthy.
Interacting with: Fable, Bloom
Sanctuaryforall1
Rhys
Wolfiee
Val
DaChaoticWriter
Cassidy "Cassie" Wickham || 16 || Initiate || Erudite Transfer
The game with everyone was turning out to be a terrible amount of fun... To be fair, it wasn't just the game, but the vibe, and especially the people, that Cas was enjoying. Her eyes couldn't help but continuously linger on the beauty that was Brandish Rose... Randi had everything that Cas desired, in one very nicely wrapped frame. She was feisty, fun, flirty, blonde, teasing, and oh so delectable... She could likely kill her in a second, and that just spurred on Cassidy's feelings for the girl even more. She might have worried that she was too attached, but she had a feeling, a sense of foreknowledge, that Randi was not someone who would cling to her for commitment, like some others would, but instead, Randi seemed like someone she could play with, and that would be it. Nothing more. No sense of complete openness and loyalty... Just fun. She smiled to herself, as she ate the Chinese she had brought for everyone, she watched as everyone mingled but didn't quite get into the point of starting the game. Cas rolled her eyes, realizing that without her, it was possible these people would simply bore themselves to death. "Alright people! Firstly, I must say that I don't think it's fair that Yuri, Aya and Randi didn't get to kiss anyone! I'm sure that can be arranged later on though..." Cas eyed each victim with hungry eyes. She looked over at where Lainey and Chet just lay giggling still, further away in the room and certainly not paying attention to anyone anymore. "Well... thankfully we've got such a big group now we don't really need those lovebirds..." Cas giggled, wondering how upset Lainey would be to hear her call her that. It was a bit strange to see Lainey all over a boy whom Cas deemed much lower in status than Lainey... But... She was drunk and high, so that was probably it. Plus, Chet wasn't bad looking, so she couldn't blame Lainey too much, just not her type at all. She lazily spun the bottle with one hand, watching as it spun around and around the circle, pointing to each person once, and then twice, finally and slowly landing on Shayla, who look somewhat sad and yet excited that it had landed on her. Cas smiled delightfully, licking her lips as she tried to decide exactly which thing she would like more from Shay, a Truth, a kiss, or a dare to play on her. Truthfully, all of those she would have happily asked for, she did wish to know more about this mysterious Shay, but she also had enjoyed their terribly short kiss and desired more, and lastly, she did like daring people to do things, and watching as the chaos ensued.
"This is hard... Hm... How about it Shay? What are you going to grace me with? A truth? A kiss? Or a dare?" Cas purred, watching as Shay's dark eyes caught with her, showing the only truth that Cas really needed to see. She definitely wants me... but she's holding back... why? Cas was curious, not offended and not annoyed, just curious. She waited patiently, taking a cupcake that Yuri had brought and putting her finger through the frosting, then licking the frosting off of her finger as she watched Shay struggle mentally with the prospect of being first. Finally, seemingly unable to decide and maybe choosing the one that seemed the easiest, she eventually declared that she would do a dare. "Wonderful.." Cas said, taking a bite out of the cup cake and leaning back to think of exactly what dare would be befitting of someone like Shay. She chuckled then, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "I dare you to draw in a breath of my vape for as long as I can." Cas said. Her hopes in this was to get Shay much more high. "If you can't, you have to take a shot." She shrugged, this way, whatever happened, Shay would lose more and more of her self-control, and Cas would be able to find out more about the beautiful girl. She pulled out her vape, taking a few deep breaths she smiled at everyone. "Okay now, you all need to count and then do the same with Shay." She said, watching as they all nodded. Cas knew she was being a bit silly by making herself much more high, but this was fun, and she felt unusually safe. She placed the vape on her lips and began to suck in. After 3 seconds she could feel the fog in her mind thicken. 5 She began to see her vision blur slightly. 8 Seconds and she felt woozy. Finally, an amazing 10 seconds, she stopped, taking the vape out and slowly breathing a large amount of vape smoke out, enveloping everyone in the circle and giving a sweet aroma into the room. She giggled, already feeling the heavy effect, and passed it to Shay to watch the dark girl do the same. To be honest, Cas would not be able to remember whether or not Shay did the whole 10 seconds, or whether she had to take a shot. The next few minutes, or maybe much longer, became incredibly fuzzy and hard to remember.
Cas sidled up next to Randi, somewhat watching as the game progressed, but mostly high from the vape. "I'm glad you joined us." She said softly, touching Randi's knee softly, and then trailing her fingers to slip off of her leg. Randi commented something, mostly saying that Cas was high. "Oh yes, very high. It's quite good though, you should join me. We could really have some fun." She said with a slight giggle, winking at Randi slightly before sitting back up and finishing her Chinese food, hoping that the carbs and sugar would overpower the sensation of being terribly high. She knew that she would regret this, that she would be in so much pain tonight when it wore off, and especially tomorrow. She knew that it was very unhealthy, but she couldn't help but love it at the same time. After a few people's rounds, she watched as the bottle finally landed on her again. "Oh thank goodness, I was getting bored." She said, her heart throbbing against her chest from the impact of the vape and the alcohol. Her eyes zeroed in on Yuri who had spun the bottle. "What is it then handsome boy? Oh right, I have to choose haha... Let's see.... I pick truth." She said, then began to think in her mind about what she could share that these people wouldn't know about her. She sat there for a few seconds trying to figure it out, when someone asked whether Griffon was her secret boyfriend. A terribly unaccepted laugh came out of Cas as she heard the question, and she tried to figure out who had asked it, but came up short. "Griffon? No that would be gross. He's my brother..." Cas said, giggling at the thought that someone could think they were dating. "I wouldn't date my own brother, that's gross." She said, shaking her head and laughing at herself, inwardly screaming that she had just given up a terrible secret that she had tried to keep for years. But the effects of everything on Cassidy's mind was stopping her from truly grasping what things like this meant. She spun the bottle again, and waited to see who it would land on. Finally, it landed in between Aya and Randi. "Hmm, that's awkward. Maybe you two should kiss?" Cas giggled, sitting back and reaching for a glass of water, her head already spinning from everything she had taken, her eyes fell upon Shay as she did so, and she shuffled closer to her. "Have I ever told you just how pretty you are?" Cas said. She smiled, genuinely warm towards her.
Interacting with: Shayla, Randi
Sanctuaryforall1
Yuri
DaChaoticWriter
Aya
Wolfiee
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Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Thorn
Bloom
code by Stardust Galaxy
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Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Shayla
code by Stardust Galaxy
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Wolfiee
Meow
Divergent
Rhysand (Rhys).
coded by natasha.
Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Fable
code by Stardust Galaxy
DaChaoticWriter
Maybe one day I'll stop traumatizing my characters
DaChaoticWriter
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MOOD || Amused,relaxed
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LOCATION || Shayla's Apartment
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INTERACTIONS || Shayla/Randi -
Sanctuaryforall1
, Cas -
Nerdy.
, Aya -
Wolfiee
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MENTIONS || --
In this moment, he felt just a tiny bit more grateful he chose Dauntless. This party beat any of those he’d attended in Amity tenfold, surely his parents would be having a cow over it. That thought alone made him smile. He found himself pleasantly surprised by all the faces there he normally wouldn’t have expected. Shay, who was throwing the dang thing, actually seemed to be enjoying herself. Even Aya emerged from one of the other rooms with a cute cat in tow. Hearing her actually joke around only added to his dimpled smile. He raised his muffin to her and laughed. “Sheesh, Aya’s got some bark to her bite! Who would’ve thought,” he teased.
The prospect of having to kiss one of his fellow initiates himself hadn’t quite crossed his mind, not that he felt particularly against it. It amused him that Cas felt the need to justify it by calling it unfair. “You could’ve just said you wanna play matchmaker and cause trouble,” he pipped in, wiggling his eyebrows with a playful twinkle in his eye. He took the last bite of his muffin as he watched the bottle spin, ultimately landing on Shay. Oh, this would be good. She didn’t seem the type to share truths, so her choice of a dare came as little surprise to him. Cas’s dare, however, sounded nuts. Watching her take her hit was impressive enough, but he sincerely couldn’t believe the challenger had beat her by a whole second. He’s no saint, surely, but he wondered how many of them would remember the party in the morning. With another laugh to himself, he imagined having to drag them all to bed when they inevitably passed out. That’d be assuming he would get away with being left out of the pen rotation, which seemed unlikely at best.
His head snapped up the first time his name got called. “You flatter me, truly,” he joked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. She would pick truth, but what even could he ask? Favorite color would be way too lame, he could probably guess who her favorite initiate was… With a snap of his fingers, he finally figured out a good one. One he heard passed between initiates a few times. “Is Griffon your secret boyfriend or somethin’? Inquiring minds are dying to know.” Her answer shocked him, evident by the questioning raise of his brow. All things considered, it did make sense. Why else would she be getting so friendly if she were in a dedicated relationship?
It seemed this damn bottle really liked him if he’s already drawn its attention to him twice. At least Shayla was the one who’d spun it on him, maybe she’d have mercy on his first go. Unlike some people he knew in the room. “That’s my name, dear. Glad you remembered it,” He teased, leaning forward to contemplate his choice. Smooching in the first round would make the late game boring, might as well make ‘em wait. “Hit me with a dare, Shay Shay.”
code by ditto (head empty go bonk)
DaChaoticWriter
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MOOD || Cooling off, proud
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LOCATION || Dauntless Streets
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INTERACTIONS || Griffon - Nerdy. , Bloom - Sanctuary
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MENTIONS || Fable - Sanctuary, Rhys - Wolfiee
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LOCATION || Dauntless Streets
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INTERACTIONS || Griffon - Nerdy. , Bloom - Sanctuary
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MENTIONS || Fable - Sanctuary, Rhys - Wolfiee
As usual, Bloom didn’t need prompting to follow her lead. While she’d been expecting, or maybe hoping, for more of a fight, at least they seemed to have the situation under control. What she didn’t expect was the very mature response from the initiate behind her. She already liked the kid, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Besides, she knew her friend was a good judge of character. If her fellow instructor liked him, she’d have to keep an eye on him. She gave the Abnegation man in front of her another glare before turning to the young man. “Val. And don’t beat yourself up about it, I’ve had my whole life to train my instincts.” She gave his hand a firm shake and even managed to crack a smile despite waiting for his father to do something else. She barely noticed the other two initiates stealing away to who knows where.
As awful as the situation was, she really admired Bloom’s ability to take charge when she needed to. It was just one of the qualities that had her getting butterflies over her friend lately. Of course, her words brought Val back to reality. Their whole family dynamic seemed messy, she couldn’t imagine having to deal with it from a first hand perspective. Both siblings seemed to be in awful positions where neither would win if they didn’t change something. She made a mental note to catch up with the girl at some point, though she had no intention of passing on his message. She knew how quickly one could lose a family member, she simply wanted to encourage the girl not to let the chance for forgiveness go. If not for the sake of her relationship with him, then for her own peace of mind.
She watched the family head towards the exit, arms crossed over her chest. How was it they were considered the most cruel of the factions when people like them seemed to exist plentifully in others? Likely because it went swept under the rug. She shook her head and turned to Bloom. “That’s putting it lightly. I’m shocked he had the guts to do it though, it’s an awfully selfish gesture.” She paused at her question and shrugged. “Beats me. Usually their type puts out great kids at a cost to their mental health. It’s shitty, but true.”
Val, herself, had somewhat forgotten what she’d intended to do by following after her fellow instructor. She gave the brunette a sweet smile, one she usually reserved just for her. “Please, you know I never complain about getting to manhandle asshats like him,” she assured her. Besides, they still had a whole evening ahead of them to make up for it. Even if that evening would, in part, be spent tailing Griffon to make sure he was okay. It wasn’t exactly surprising that she asked Val to tag along. She nodded in the direction the group had gone and started after them, keeping her footsteps as light as she could. “Any time, shortcake. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to watch it for ya.” She shot the woman a wink and set her hands in her pockets. “Once we get this all sorted out, I suppose you could make it up to me. Maybe dinner at my place? You know I make a mean casserole.”
code by ditto (head empty go bonk)
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Nerdy.
Nerdy
Aubrey Amber Stark || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn
Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn
Charlie had a terrible feeling about everything, her stomach was tied in knots and she felt like she wanted to throw up. She numbly went with Ghost, leading the way towards the abandoned and mostly broken building that Aubrey had insisted they meet at. The building, an old fire station, was somewhere that Charlie and Aubrey knew well, they had spent many afternoons there playing and pretending that it was their giant mansion, and decorating it as they saw fit, as nobody cared about the building at all. Sometimes they would be joined by Caspian and Maverick, or Finn and Harper, or Chris and Phillip, or Shay. But they hadn't been back here in a long time, as both girls had started to prioritize different parts of their life, and had stopped playing such little games with each other. Charlie hoped that Aubrey would keep her promise, that she wouldn't attack Ghost, that she wouldn't have Jeremy there... The thought of that being a possibility was almost enough to freeze Charlie in her tracks, but she swallowed that fear and continued running and leaping over building tops, hoping that Ghost wouldn't think she was being a burden, or too slow. She was desparate to see this through... and she knew he wasn't going to like it, but she wanted to keep Aubrey's ignorance of certain facts... Only because she didn't think she could stand the look of betrayal she knew she was going to see on her younger sister's face. She had done everything for Aubrey... She had lived her life like this, purely for Aubrey, and now.... if the truth came to light... what was the point? She could have gone to Amity and lived a much happier and peaceful life if she hadn't been thinking of Aubrey. No... She wanted to do this without making her sister's life even more miserable than it was, and maybe was about to be. Thus, when Ghost and Charlie were almost ready to enter the fire station, she hesitated, finally getting the chance, and courage, to speak to him. "Ghost... Would you please refrain from telling Aubrey that Jeremy hurt me? That he's my father..." She could tell her voice wasn't quite as steady and confident as she wanted it to be, and she tried to steady it, bracing herself. "These are secrets I've kept from her, for forever, and I don't want to break them open unless... well... unless I absolutely have to." Charlie finished, her dark eyes pleading with Ghost to do as she asked. She saw him look at her in disbelief, and her hope sunk in her chest as he began to sarcastically remark that he wouldn't be able to say anything. "Please I just... I don't know how and..." Charlie was glad that Ghost interrupted her, because she wasn't sure how to explain it to him... It was just something she couldn't bear to tell Aubrey. Thus, when Ghost let her know he would adhere to her standards, even if he didn't agree with them, she felt an immense burden lift up off of her chest, and she had the strangest desire to wrap her arms around him, fall on the gruond and ignore the current situation to simply intoxicate herself with him.
Fear crept slowly into Charlie's heart as she shuffled up the walls of the fire station and landed inside softly, reaching back to help Ghost inside. They snuck around stealthily, finally noticing Aubrey and Thorn down on the ground level. Charlie could tell that Aubrey was ready for a fight, her hair was tied back to be out of the way, her outfit had changed to something easy to move in, and Aubrey was standing like a fighter would, braced but poised, ready to leap to attack at any moment. She just prayed and hoped that Aubrey's oath would hold true, that she wouldn't dishonour herself and her mother by attacking Ghost. Ghost was doing much for Aubrey, he could just escape, have her killed or thrown out of initiation, or even just ignore her, but he was doing this... and Charlie wasn't sure how she was going to thank him afterwards... but she knew she needed to. This was not Ghost's desire, but something he had devoted himself to do for some reason. Part of Charlie hoped and thought it was for her, another part wondered if it was simply for Ghost's pride. When Ghost announced their presence, she saw Aubrey's hand hover over a spot in her outfit, only to quickly go back to her chest in a crossed arms position. She was wearing weapons within her outfit, and was ready to attack. "I guess that was too much to hope for, however it seems a waste that you spent all that time getting up there to simply give away your position." Aubrey said, her body strong and her posture almost relaxed. Charlie and Ghost looked at each other for only a second before going down to the same floor. It felt like a stupid video game, like they were playing some street fighter game, and Charlie felt terribly ill prepared. Aubrey and Thorn were born and bred Dauntless, with enough strength together to easily overpower Ghost and Charlie. Plus, they were prepared. Charlie and Ghost were still in their evening clothes, they had little to no weapons on them, and their equalized strength was not equivalent to that of Thorn and Aubrey. Wit and intelligence may have been on their side, but from their stand point right now, Charlie knew that if Thorn and Aubrey attacked, Ghost and Charlie had little to no hope. The four of them stood there for a while, Aubrey with arms crossed, Thorn standing next to her, nervously shifting his wait from foot to foot, Ghost standing on the balls of his feet as if ready to run or dodge, but looking as if he weren't, and Charlie simply stood frozen in place, a sitting duck. Finally Aubrey cleared the air, her voice determined, angry, and coy. "Well you wanted to talk, and not fight, so you better have something damn good to say Ghost." Aubrey spat, her blue steely eyes gazing directly at Ghost. He simply stood there, not saying anything, before looking at Charlie and motioning to her. She blinked a few times, finally realizing that it wasn't that he didn't have anything to say, but he was allowing her to reveal the secrets she felt comfortable with, and not anything else.
"Aubrey, this has all gone really badly. Something, someone, has fed you misinformation... Ghost is not, and has never hurt me." Charlie said, stepping closer to Aubrey, with a slight hiss from Ghost that showed he disapproved her stepping out in so much faith. Aubrey simply raised one eyebrow, her vision clearly showing that she didn't believe Charlie, yet allowing her to continue speaking. "Jeremy Daniels is not a good guy... I know you've always idolized him Aubrey, and I know he is an inspiration for Dauntless members, but he has a dark side that you wouldn't want to know..." Charlie felt her voice catch as she strayed dangerously close to the topic she was trying to avoid. "He only seeks to get rid of those he hates, and right now Ghost is someone that he hates, and he made up these lies for you to follow because he knew you were prime Dauntless material, that you would try to protect me, and that you wouldn't question his authority or wisdom." Charlie said, sweat starting to drip down the back of her neck, her hands clammy and her throat going dry. She couldn't tell Aubrey the true facts, she couldn't... It had been, and still was, her life mission to protect her sister. Aubrey frowned. "You're saying that I'm stupid? That Jeremy made this whole plot simply to get rid of Ghost? If he hated Ghost then he could have just gotten rid of him, that's not very plausible, sister." Aubrey said, her gaze flicking between Charlie and Ghost. "If anything, this sounds even more like you're building up lies to help Ghost, because you're scared of him. If he truly is innocent, why can't you tell me the truth?" Aubrey asked, her voice stabbing into Charlie's heart painfully. "Because I can't, Aubrey. I just... I can't." Charlie's voice crackled with emotion and pain, trauma beginning to resurface in her memories and mind. She gritted her teeth as she steeled herself. "There are things I have always done to protect you, and I need you to trust..." Charlie tried to say, before Aubrey interrupted her. "Protect me? Charlie seriously? Right now you're either terrified of Ghost, me, or something else... you look like you're going to fall apart, and you literally did back at the house. I am protecting you, and you can deny it all you like, but nothing you have said can deter me from my course." Aubrey took one step towards them, and Charlie slithered backwards so that she stood side by side with Ghost, afraid that Aubrey would attack him right there and then. That's when Ghost spoke up, and while doing so, removed his weapons, placing them on the ground. Charlie's heart beat even faster. Aubrey had promised she wouldn't attack, and now Ghost was laying down his weapons so that she wouldn't attack an unarmed man... Charlie knew that Aubrey would feel weak to do that. She bit her lip, gnawing at it as she watched the interactions between Aubrey and Ghost continue.
Aubrey grimaced at every word Ghost said, as if he were repeating Charlie's obvious lies. Though, admittedly, he wasn't being so stupid about it, and he admitted himself that Charlie may not be making the best case for him or her. But even so, whatever he had to say, Aubrey had other ways of interpreting his words. Ghost was letting Charlie do most of the talking in this situation, he had sworn for Aubrey not to use weapons and attack him. She couldn't imagine any reason other than he was threatening her and she could only comply or else suffer the consequences. How dastardly he must be, to hurt someone like Charlie, who was so angelic as to stand there and fight on his behalf... Aubrey was so angry at Charlie for not trusting her enough, to not share that Ghost was hurting her... Why wouldn't Charlie trust in Aubrey's abilities? She wasn't afraid of Ghost. Even so, she wasn't about to take on Ghost while he still had his guns. She'd seen him fire them on multiple occasions, and she knew he was quite the shot, that's why she was surprised when he lay them down. He truly believed she would actually swear to not attack him? That something as silly as those words would be what stopped her? He was terribly mistaken. She was determined to save her sister, once and for all, and get that high position in Dauntless like Jeremy Daniel's said, maybe one day even becoming one of the leaders of Dauntless. I deserve this, and Charlie deserves much better than you. She thought, as she poised her body ready, waiting for Ghost to be mid sentence before she leaped off of her feet. The dash that she took to reach Ghost and Charlie was fast, and nobody had expected it. Ghost's sentence stumbled, and he barely had a chance to step back, Charlie gasped, her hands reaching up either to protect her own face or to hopefully push Ghost, but neither mattered, as Aubrey's dagger which had appeared in her hand as if by magic (though simply through amazing ability), was about to pierce Ghost's collarbone area. However, one person had been somewhat expecting her attack, and Aubrey had not been expecting Thorn to be the person who counter attacked, defending the very person they had come here to comprehend. Aubrey felt a solid grapple, just as her knife had made contact, slicing a thin slice on Ghost's collarbone, but being thrown to the side as Thorn barreled into her, pinning her to the ground. "What the heck?!" Aubrey yelled, looking up into the very apologetic eyes of Thorn. "Get off of me!" She yelled, shoving at Thorn with enough force to hurt him, without actually trying to harm him. He apologized profusely, but reminded Aubrey that she had sworn to hear them out and not attack them, and that he truly believed them. "I thought you were here to help me. I trusted you." She growled, dropping her dagger and relenting. However, as soon as Thorn lifted even an inch of his weight off of her, and almost in synchronisation with Ghost's snarky remark about it all, Aubrey's foot lashed out, colliding with Thorn's knee and then her own knee came up to hit him in the groin as she rolled to remove herself from his weight. As he struggled to get up, she dashed back at Ghost, another dagger in her hand, and this time there was nobody to stop her. Her knife was placed against his neck, right under his chin, and she might have just sliced it then and there if the loudest and most painful shriek she had ever heard pierced her ears.
"AUBREY STOP!!!!" Charlie's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and she trembled in place as a real nightmare played out in front of her. Aubrey held a knife tightly to Ghost's neck, so tightly that blood droplets were beginning to periodically drip from his neck. Aubrey's eyes were like pools of fire, blue flames, and she had nothing but anger and desire in her eyes. Charlie knew she had no choice. Letting out a cry of pain and anguish, she fell to her knees, suddenly devoid of all strength, and felt as her dress came flowing around her like a pool of water. "Aubrey you have it all wrong... Ghost isn't hurting me. Jeremy is hurting me." She said, her voice anguished. "Jeremy? Seriously? Charlie you'd better have something better to say than that." Aubrey had a note of betrayal in her voice that was not lost on Charlie. "I know... I'm sorry Aubrey... I'm so sorry..." She let out a soft sob, as she heard Thorn shuffle towards her, kneeling beside her. "Jeremy... is my father." She said, and the silence that followed that admittance was almost as audible as Charlie's scream had been. "He left Sasha before I was born... Henry adopted me before he and mum had you... I didn't even know. Then... after he died, when I was a teenager, Jeremy came back, and he began to hurt mum, and me..." She felt the fiery hot tears that slide down her face, she was sure that they were going to scar her cheeks. This was something she had never admitted to Aubrey, never in a million years would she have done so, if it weren't Ghost's life on the line. "Any time I tried to fight back, he threatened to hurt you, and I couldn't let that happen. I loved you, I do love you! I... I wanted you to be safe, so I said nothing. Mum and I would send you away, we would cover our injuries... We would lie about loud noises you heard at night. I stayed in Dauntless because I knew that if I left he would just start hurting you..." She felt like every word she was saying was echoing around the room and back into her. Her gaze was at the ground, she was too scared to look up, terrified that Ghost was already dead, and unable to live with that reality. "I don't know how, or when, or why... But one day Ghost found out about this, and he attacked Jeremy without giving away his identity. That was the first time I ever felt safe, because Jeremy finally stopped coming around. I didn't realize Jeremy was trying to figure out Ghost's identity, or else I would never have brought him home to you. I'm sorry." Charlie finally looked up at this moment, her eyes only meeting with Ghost's, letting him know that she was apologizing to him, not Aubrey, in this moment. Sorry that she had let him be found out by her own family... "This is all my fault. Don't hurt Ghost, please Aubrey. I'm the one who lied to you, and I'm the one Jeremy wants in the end. He doesn't care about you. He's just using you. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He will step on you when he wants. You're just his pawn.... Please Aubrey... I'm begging you... as your sister. Please let Ghost go..." Charlie's voice quivered and shook as she felt her tears continued to burn down her face.
Aubrey couldn't believe it, but something in her seemed to know that Charlie spoke the truth. Henry wasn't Charlie's father? They were only half-sisters? Jeremy had been abusing them in their own home for years and Aubrey hadn't noticed? She just couldn't believe it. There was no way that could actually be true. That was just an elaborate lie and Charlie was actually trying to tell Aubrey that Ghost was hurting her... right? Aubrey didn't move, but her eyes were frozen on Charlie, who was gazing only at Ghost. Aubrey knew that even if what Charlie said was true, Jeremy would find Ghost, because she had already given up his information to him. "It's too late for me to make another decision." Aubrey said finally, and she pressed the knife to Ghost's neck with a sense of finality. She began to slice it menacingly across Ghost's neck, and would have slitted it completely open if Charlie hadn't thrown herself at Aubrey's feet, not trying to topple her or hurt her, but bursting into tears. "It's not too late! Aubrey please I love you, I am sorry I've lied but I need you to stop please, I... I love him! Can't you see that? Please don't kill him Aubrey!" Charlie's voice shook with real feelings and emotions and she looked up at Ghost with terror in her eyes. Aubrey felt her heart snap and break at this point, as she realized the reality of what was happening. Charlie hadn't been lying, Ghost truly wasn't hurting her, and Aubrey had been terribly misused. She faltered, her grip on the dagger and Ghost's neck became loose and she took a hesitant step backwards. Ghost took no moments to lose and he pushed out of Aubrey's grip, grabbing Charlie in the process and backing away to a safer distance. Aubrey stood there, dagger in hand, but less drive within her. Charlie had not risen from the floor, and now sat cascaded with her dress by Ghost's feet as he caught his breath, his hands at his neck tentatively, blood dripping down into his clothes. He began to speak to Aubrey, and she winced at his words, wishing to ignore them. She knew within her that Charlie was telling the truth, but she just couldn't act upon that knowledge, because... she had come so far under the assumption of the opposite. She couldn't believe that her whole life had been a lie, that she never noticed the terror Charlie experienced... She must... she had to be on some kind of drug or memory serum or something like that. Aubrey just didn't have the will to change her mind. "It doesn't matter! I already told Jeremy who Ghost is! So what does it matter if I fight him now, or Jeremy kills him later? If Charlie is truly telling the truth then... then.." Aubrey was suddenly hit with realization. Then you've fucked everything up. She felt her body go pale as she looked back at Ghost and Charlie. "I can't believe you! You can't have hidden this from me my whole life! You're lying now! You have to be!" Aubrey leaped back towards Ghost, dagger again in her hand, but much less enthusiasm towards her attack. "NO!" A voice cried out, and instead of Thorn intercepting her attack, Charlie - to Thorn and Ghost's dismay and immediate array of shouts to stop - Leaped forward to catch Aubrey. Aubrey yelled in shock, faltering her steps, tripping, and grabbing onto Charlie to try and stop her fall. The sound of metal to flesh was almost louder than any scream that had come from either girl today. Charlie let out the tiniest of gasps, as she looked down, Aubrey following her gaze, to find the dagger half buried into her side. "Oh my god..." Aubrey hissed, pulling the dagger out, only for Charlie to yell out in pain at the movement, and she stepped back, her hand immediately covering the wound, blood pooling onto the nice blue dress that she wore, and dripping down her side. "Charlie I'm... I'm sorry I was... I just..." Aubrey dropped the dagger, as Charlie stepped further backwards, finally reaching the safety of Thorn and Ghost's company, and sinking to her knees, wobbly in descent. "If you really have given Ghost's identity to Jeremy, then you've already hurt me more than this wound. You have no idea the death sentence you've just placed on our heads..." Charlie announced clearly, without stutter or quiver. There was clearly pain and betrayal in both sisters. Aubrey stood there, unsure of how to react. Her own sister was bleeding because of her, her life had just been flipped upside down, and everyone whom she thought she trust, loved and knew... were liars and had been hiding truth's behind their backs. Without another word, Aubrey turned on her heel, ignoring the pain in her shoulder, and ran out of the fire station, away from everyone and everything.
Interactions with: Ghost
Aviator
Thorn
Sanctuaryforall1
Charlie, Aubrey, Finn
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Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Randi
code by Stardust Galaxy
Aviator
are you laughing at my brother?
Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
Ghost shrugged smoothly in response to Aubrey’s criticism. “You call it a waste; I call it confidence,” he said with breezy charm. “Besides, Aubrey, you already swore that you and your lover boy wouldn’t attack anyone, so theoretically I should have no reason to conceal my position.” Ghost’s words were slow and deliberate and sharp, and he made several mental notes in the time it took to say them. Namely, Aubrey didn’t seem like she was fully on board with the plan to talk out their problems.
A single unsheathed light bulb from a cord overhead lit the vacated building, casting a circle of light on the center of the floor while letting the room’s edges dissolve into shadow. The highlights on Aubrey and Thorn’s faces and shoulders were deep yellow, gilding them in ethereal haloes. Aubrey snorted at Ghost’s comment but said nothing, as if valuing her breath more than the small cost of replying. In the silence a candy wrapper crunched at a startling volume beneath Ghost’s shoe as he descended the stairs to the fire station’s ground floor. Charlie moved behind him, only the small rustles of her clothes alerting Ghost to her continued presence, as if her goal were to shrink into invisibility. As he approached the couple standing beside the front door with its formidable metal corrugations, his eyes did a circuit around the room, noting the lack of windows on the first floor, a door at the very back of the room that must have been an emergency exit, and a hallway that turned a corner and vanished out of sight.
But as soon as he surveyed the room for avenues of escape, Ghost felt silly for doing so. He’d told Charlie that he wasn’t afraid of her little sister, and he’d meant it. No disrespect had been intended by that remark, but after having had his life definitively ruined in a specific instance of the past, he doubted Aubrey’s ability to replicate that same level of mental anguish that’d once been inflicted on him. Anything she could do to him—even rushing him with knives drawn—wasn’t a valid threat, because Ghost knew he was living on borrowed time and valued his life proportionately. It was the same mercenary logic he had used to conquer the fear sims in initiation; when you didn’t fear your life being taken away, the universe suddenly had a lot less power over you. As such, Ghost internally vowed that he wouldn’t run from Aubrey, no matter how heated or violent or disadvantageous the situation became for him, because it would be a cowardly move. Not wavering in the face of fear was worth more than the potential cost of standing his ground.
He stopped with almost ten feet of space still between himself and the pair of Dauntless initiates; just because he wasn’t afraid of Aubrey didn’t mean he wouldn’t err on the side of good sense. Charlie passed behind him and fanned out to his right, her dress billowing behind her slightly as she walked. Ghost allowed his gaze to shift between Aubrey and Thorn as casually as he could manage and forced the tension out of his shoulders. It gathered instead in his hands, which he clasped behind his back and out of sight, one hand tight-knuckling the wrist of the other.
Aubrey’s voice rang out in ice-cold accusation. Ghost almost jumped in surprise, having not even realized that he was waiting for Charlie to open the table, since she was the one holding all the cards. “What, me?” he said, caught off guard, his heart doing a faint flutter. Ghost shook his head and formulated a more eloquent reply. “It’s not my place to speak on Charlotte’s behalf when she’s here to represent herself.” As an afterthought, “Please give her a moment to collect her nerves if she needs it, because what she’s going to tell you requires a lot of courage.” Ghost cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at Aubrey, scrutinizing her a second time. “I think that’s what you’re missing here, Aubrey. No one is compelling your sister to do anything. She’s acting of her own free will.” Despite having just defended Charlie, Ghost cast a puzzled look in her direction as if to ask what the delay was. Charlie had told him that she wanted to fight her own battles, so why was she hesitating? With so much at stake, she must have rehearsed what she was planning to say at least a little during the journey to the fire station.
Charlie’s eyes met his, and her head jiggled ever so slightly in a nod, as if finally gathering her resolve. When she spoke, her quiet strength seemed to fold in on itself like the petals of a flower in the cold. With nothing else to occupy himself and the bones in his hands about to snap from sustained tension, Ghost reached for his breast pocket. Charlie’s voice abruptly broke off and three sets of eyes followed the motion. He chuckled when he realized what they must all be thinking. “No weapons here, just getting in a more conversational mood,” he said cheerily as he revealed the cannabis pen, which to an unfamiliar observer would look like a slim black wand. Ghost put the white mouthpiece between his lips, pressed a button, and the apparatus hissed as he drew a complete lungful of product. One of Thorn’s eyes visibly twitched as he watched Ghost—as if wondering how anyone could smoke at a time like this—who smiled around the pen and winked at him for the second time that night. The scowl that Thorn returned was the funniest thing ever, and Ghost smothered a hiccup of laughter.
The sisters had picked up their conversation where they left off, and it had become cattier since Ghost’s last contribution. There was a wild pitch to Aubrey’s voice, like a weather vane spinning hysterically in the winds of an oncoming storm. She wasn’t speaking so much as shouting, and every time Charlie tried to get a word in edgewise, Aubrey barreled on, unbothered and oblivious and drowning her sister out.
At some point the bullshit crossed Ghost’s tolerance threshold and he couldn’t resist throwing his hat in the ring. “No one’s doubting your intelligence, Aubrey.” Ghost checked the truth of that statement, and his lips quivered in amusement. “Well, maybe that’s not entirely true, but no one has openly called you stupid at all during this conversation, because, believe me, you’ll know when we do.” Perhaps it was the insult, but for whatever reason, Aubrey stopped talking with her lips parted and swung her head toward him, waiting for him to continue. “The only reason Charlotte’s not told you anything more is because it’s personal and it’s just not your business. If you care for your sister, you’ll respect her privacy and stop pressing her for information to fulfill your girlish adoration of juicy gossip.”
The lines of Charlie’s face tightened. She was flushed red when she turned to look at Ghost, as if deeply chagrined by what he’d said. “What?” Ghost asked innocently, pressing one hand to his chest. “Too much? Well, in my defense, it’s time you switched strategies, Charlotte, because I don’t think your words have had the desired effect on our friends.” He punctuated that statement with another hit from the cannabis pen that he had yet to put away. Anymore it usually took at least two full hits from the pen for Ghost to feel like he was high. As he stared into Charlie’s eyes they appeared to converge in the center, superimposing their likeness on the space at the very top of her nose. Something Aubrey said made Ghost look away from Charlie.
“If your course refers to talking this out like rational adults, then you’re right, Aubrey, no one is going to deter you from it.” Ghost’s eyes were drooping a little, and he tilted his head back so he could look at her more clearly. “Really, Aubrey, did you think I was going to fight my girlfriend’s little sister right in front of her? Like, guns blazing and all? You realize I have absolutely nothing to gain from that and everything to lose, right? There is no net positive outcome for Ghost in your proposed scenario. I either lose the fight or I lose the girl for winning the fight,” he drawled, making a show of selecting his words like a man perusing proffered cigars. “Or I lose the girl for losing the fight,” Ghost said half to himself, staring at the floor—the wooden planks were amazingly rectangular—and rubbing his beard pensively.
“Anyway.” He dragged his gaze up with some effort. “I’ve an intense…” What was the word? “...disdain for those who don’t practice what they preach, and as a show of goodwill, I’mma set these down right here.” Ghost grabbed at the pistols that the untucked hem of his button-down had concealed, stooped, and lovingly laid them down on the dusty wooden floor. He stood too quickly, and a ripple went through the world like a poorly thrown stone in a pond. Proud of himself for being the bigger person, Ghost simply stood in place, glowing a little and feeling warm inside. Seconds passed, and when no one else moved or spoke, he waved a hand in a loose, sweeping arc. “You’re supposed to reciprocate the gesture,” he told Aubrey and Thorn pleasantly. “Or attack an unarmed man and kill him in cold blood. Your choice.” It was a gamble, and a second tingle of warmth ran through Ghost, but this one was very different in nature from the first. He loved gambling.
Ghost looked at Charlie. Her eyes were so round they appeared to be in danger of falling out of her head. “Hey now, don’t look all scared like that. It’ll be okay.” Ghost grinned, big and wide and foolish. “When have any of my plans ever gone—?”
The subsequent events were a muddle of confusion. Charlie’s pupils dilated with fear as if in slow motion, and Ghost saw the scream on her face before he heard it. He wasn’t sure if the advance warning made the cry itself more or less loud, but because he was standing next to her, the noise was pretty loud regardless. It startled Ghost so much that his fingers fumbled the cannabis pen, and he flailed with his hands to catch it before the floor did. After a perilous moment he pinned it to his chest and was staggered by a wave of sweetest relief. By the time he looked up, Aubrey was a howling mess on the floor, her balled fists thumping against the shoulder blades of Thorn, who held her down. “Hm? What’d I miss?” Ghost mused quietly. Then the revelation of what must have happened filled his brain as immediately and intensely as a grenade exploding. “You tried to attack me!” Ghost said it like an accusation, even though he was still grappling with the concept in his head and not a hundred percent certain of the accuracy of his conclusion. His gaze zeroed in on Aubrey in utmost astonishment. “You would break your word like that…? But that’s cheating!”
Aubrey kicked and thrashed against Thorn, tossing her yellow head and snorting, but he held her fast. A sort of mirthful viciousness rose up in Ghost’s chest at the sight of one of his opponents struggling so pathetically on the ground. Twirling the cannabis wand in his fingers and liking the nimble circle it made, he sauntered up to the struggling pair, his loafers snapping crisply on the floor. Ghost dropped into an easy crouch beside them, so he was eye level with Thorn while still looking down on Aubrey. “Thorn, I don’t know anything about you besides your name, and yet you would stand up to your friend for me? You warm my heart. And here you were scowling at me every time I winked at you like you were trying to deny there was any connection between us.” Ghost considered patting Thorn’s shoulder affectionately but stopped with his hand outstretched at the lethal look that Thorn sent him. Ghost understood not wanting to be touched by strangers and respected that. Instead, the hand he’d meant to use was the one holding the pen, and he disguised the motion as another intended pull from it.
With the pleased expression of a leopard licking clean bones, Ghost shifted his gaze to Aubrey. He shamelessly blew the cloud of smoke in her face, coughing only slightly at the burning sensation in his throat. Damn, he would have killed for something to drink just then, and maybe a slice of whatever confection Sasha had planned to make for dessert. But seeing Aubrey’s face twitch and water at the sour fragrance almost made up for it. “You’re a really bad person. Like, appallingly bad. Do you know that?” Ghost tilted his head and pointed at her with the weed wand. “Lord knows I ain’t no saint, but you would rather kill me than admit you were wrong, and big sis was right. And in order to do so, you broke your word. You knew the rules of the game, and you just blew them off to get your way.” Ghost shook his head, long and slow, disgusted to his core. “That’s no way to treat a rival. It’s spineless, first of all.” The feeling had fled the tips of his fingers, and Ghost’s head felt like an escaped balloon, floating so high toward that golden sun shining on them from up above. Staring at it burned little black dots in his vision “And second of all, it’s plain sad—”
Beside him, Thorn folded forward with a yelp of pain. Aubrey bucked her hips in one swift, decisive motion, and he crashed to the floor in a puddle of discomfort. Before Ghost had fully processed what was happening, Aubrey surged up from the floor and into his crouching form, unbalancing him and knocking him backward. There was a squeal of breaking glass as the amber-filled cartridge on the cannabis pen split open and bled its contents across the floor.
Aubrey climbed over and around him in a frenzy of limbs, and Ghost winced as her head clipped his. Alarm fizzled through him like a burning dynamite fuse, galvanizing him into action. Before Aubrey could pin his shoulder blades to the floor as Thorn had done to her, Ghost flipped onto his hands and knees, seeking to stabilize himself. Aubrey lifted herself up into a kneeling position so that she towered over him and cocked an arm around his neck, cinching until it became a headlock. Ghost’s face contorted into a snarl that showed teeth, and with equal parts frustration and panic he wriggled in every direction and tried to slip fingers between his neck and Aubrey’s arm, but she wouldn’t cede an inch. Ghost jerked harder, until the cold bite of metal against his neck pierced through the haze of disorientation and his struggles stopped all at once. Aubrey had jabbed a knife into the space between her arm and his chin. Holding himself as still as he was, he noticed that he was gasping for breath. When he swallowed, his Adam’s apple grazed the point of the blade, eliciting a prickle of pain.
Fear gripped Ghost, and he realized that, living on borrowed time or not, he was still poignantly afraid to die. Aubrey shook him by the shoulders like a dog with a pigeon in its mouth, and he braced himself against the floor to avoid being driven to his belly. Between the blade at his throat and the drugs in his system, his skin felt hypersensitive and Ghost was unusually aware of the feel of the humid night air around him, somehow blissfully warm and cool at the same time and ever so sweet where it kissed his face and hands. Maybe, in the grand scheme of things, dying here wouldn’t be so bad. He could definitely think of worse conditions…
Fuck that. He wasn’t about to let himself be beaten by Aubrey Stark, of all people.
Charlie’s voice was a fast-talking, high-pitched whine as she traded information for Ghost’s life, flooding him with selfish relief. “Lottie, love.” Ghost took a sharp breath as he dragged his head up to look at Charlie. The motion caused him to lengthen his neck, which in turn made the hair-thin cut across it expand. Warm wetness oozed down past the ridges of his collar bones and congealed in the pale fabric of his partially unbuttoned shirt. Bleeding from his throat or not, an ironic slant appeared on Ghost’s lips. “Very good job you’re doing, but with all due respect, why the hell didn’t you lead with this?” A sound caught halfway between a sardonic snicker and a nervous whimper escaped him. Ghost’s gibe received no immediate response, and as such, his interest for the conversation waned, only to be quickly renewed at Charlie’s confession. A crevice opened in the foundation of his world at those three words, one that disappeared into indiscriminate darkness, its destination unseeable. Ghost was still poised on hands and knees, and he never imagined he would feel so glad for an excuse to continue looking at the floor. He had no idea what kind of expression had manifested on his face, but he knew that he wanted no one to read it.
At last, the arm around his neck dropped away, permitting him to go free. Ghost wasn’t overly surprised; he had figured his odds of this outcome were roughly fifty-fifty, since the only other option was for Aubrey to kill him right then and there. Knowing that right now was not the time to seek vengeance, Ghost scurried away wordlessly. To the careful observer, this utter silence was indication that Ghost was very, very angry, and was thinking hard about how to execute his anger in the most efficient way to maximize the damage he left in his wake. He backed toward the edge of the room, crouching close to Charlie but not touching her. Not even looking at her. Looking at everything but her. The wet shimmer of light on Aubrey’s knife. A massive cobweb in the far corner of the room. The single droplet of blood that had made a cherry circle when it splattered on the back of Ghost’s hand. He felt distanced from reality, as if it were a destination on the horizon, hazy and indistinct, that he was speeding toward but not yet arrived.
Ghost hadn’t been keeping track of the conversation between Aubrey and Charlie, but when Aubrey broke down in hysterics and seemed to change her mind about letting Ghost live, he wasn’t dismayed. He had already prepared for the worst. Grim resolve was all that was left inside him. No one lets me live, he thought defiantly. He either lived or he didn’t, but he did it on his terms. Aubrey’s elongated shadow reached for him like the touch of a sinister deity as she started across the room. Ghost’s hand tightened around the cannabis pen that ended in jagged shards of glass where the cartridge had broken. It was concealed in his left hand, the one facing away from Aubrey and out of her sight. Stab into the foot first and drop her, then go for the face, Ghost reminded himself before he could forget his plan, as if those words would anchor him to reality and his success hinged on them. He’d had the foresight to empty his handguns of bullets prior to arriving at the fire station, so unless Aubrey had brought her own ranged weapon, she would have to get close to kill him.
Aubrey’s shadow fell over Ghost entirely, swallowing him up. Violent desire flared to life inside him, his blood singing with it. The time for action had come. Aubrey predictably stepped with her left foot before she swung, and Ghost readied himself to pounce, the shattered remnants of the cannabis pen poised to swing downward in a deadly arc.
And then Charlie was there and it was all Ghost could do to drop his improvised weapon before he impaled her with it. But he was only half of the danger.
Aubrey’s reflexes weren’t quite so quick, and Ghost watched helplessly as her blade pounded into Charlie’s side, absorbing the blow that was intended for him. A blow that never would have connected if Charlie hadn’t intervened, because he would have struck Aubrey first. Ghost watched with disbelieving eyes as Charlie crumpled, wanting to discard his perceptions of the world as drug-induced hallucinations but unable to. She was the second girl to take a blade for him in as many days. And, if possible, the guilt was even more crippling than it had been the first time with Randi. But unlike that time, Ghost also felt a pervasive fear, and not just for Charlie’s life. Just the knowledge that she would readily sacrifice herself for Ghost and all the future implications of that gesture unsettled him endlessly.
Aubrey tore the knife free of Charlie’s side with a horrible squelch. Blood welled up, first staining the ripped fabric of her dress dark purple, and then darkening to unfathomable black. Starting with Charlie’s knees thudding against the floor, the room exploded into commotion. Thorn raced across the room and pillowed Charlie’s head with his arm as he eased her into a supine position, already examining the puncture with a surgical eye. Aubrey bolted in the opposite direction, tearing at the metal door until she was standing in the night air, silhouetted in moonlight. Ghost’s mouth was impossibly dry, and he felt too high to be useful to anyone and not high enough to combat any of the tumultuous emotions swirling inside him. Above it all rang one thought: I have to break up with her.
The hard truth was that Ghost was a drug addict. You don’t fall in love with a drug addict for the same reason that doctors don’t give new livers to chronic alcoholics; it’s a bad investment. On top of that, he knew how little his life was worth and saw that as an incentive to gamble with it. Ghost wasn’t sure he would have ever risked the ire of any of the big and powerful men he’d challenged since the start of initiation if he knew he was likely to live a long and happy life. And allowing Charlie or Randi or any of his friends to trade their entire futures for Ghost’s—when it likely wouldn’t exceed more than a few years, months, or even weeks due to sheer recklessness—was something he couldn’t justify to himself.
Thorn’s hands were already gloved in blood from tending the gash in Charlie’s side. Sweat shone on her forehead and her face was a rictus of pain. Ghost watched in morbid curiosity until Thorn started prepping a needle with thread, and Ghost’s stomach flipped upside down. He’d never had problems witnessing or committing bloody acts of violence, but even glimpsing surgery fueled him with a squeamish need to escape. Seeing that Thorn was just about to begin sewing, Ghost bolted to his feet, his breath quick and shallow, thinking of the two months when his life had been a series of hospital-confined clinical trials to wean him off lull.
“Will she live?” he suddenly asked Thorn. The other boy didn’t look up until a few beats passed and no one else had answered Ghost’s question, as if astonished to find Ghost talking to him. Granted, Ghost was looking pointedly away from the surgery and hadn’t been facing Thorn when he’d asked it. When Thorn replied in the affirmative, Ghost gave a brisk nod. “Good. Then you’ll forgive me for stepping out and getting some air, won’t you, Charlotte?” Out of mere politeness he waited for her to grunt in response before exiting through the same door that Aubrey had, which was still ajar and spilled moonlight into the musty fire station. Ghost leaned up against the side of the building and eased himself down so that he was sitting at its base with one leg pulled close to his chest. All he wanted was to be alone.
Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Vex
code by Stardust Galaxy
Nerdy.
Nerdy
Griffon Morvo ||
Griffon dragged his feet as he walked, any onlooker would clearly have known that he was not trying very hard to get back home. He wasn't particularly interested in anything right now, and his thoughts were darker than they have ever been before - based on his memory. He had never felt so awful, so angry, so useless and disappointed than he did right now, and everything within him made him wish he could turn back the clock and do something useful in place of what he had done today, and wishing that he could go back in time and be there for Fable. Why didn't she tell me? I would have helped. I would have done something. I would have taken her away. I would have been exiled for her. Why didn't she trust me? Griffon clenched his jaw as fat tears began to drop from his eyes and onto the sidewalk. He didn't even look up, clearly more interested in his thoughts than on his own well being. He wished he could forget today whilst also wishing he could remember it forever. He needed to remember the look of distrust, the look of betrayal, the look of hatred in Fable's eyes today. That would drive him forward. Cassidy would tell him to get over it, she would encourage him to give Fable a break and just be there for her when she needed it. But Griffon knew that to do that would break his heart even more. Fable was as dear to him as Cassidy was, she was his sister and nothing would take that away from him, he knew she might think differently now, but he hoped that they would continue being close. They did grow up for a good 5 years together. He had more memories of Fable than he did of Cassidy, and he had lived most of his life with Cassidy... so it was a strange dynamic and he did struggle to differentiate his feelings, eventually feeling about the same for both. 'I'm sorry." He mumbled, as he bumped into someone because he wasn't looking where he was going. He brought his hand up to his face and wiped away the tears that were staining his cheeks, and rubbed at his eyes. Crying was going to do Fable, or Griffon, any good. Something practical would be useful, though admittedly Griffon had no idea what that could be. Fable was off with Rhysand, or who knows who and where, and Cassidy was at her party. Bloom had probably gone off with her friend Val... He had no idea where Chet or Thorn were... He truly was just very alone in this moment.
Griffon wouldn't have noticed the change in destination, except the ground he was walking on was entirely different. Instead of being a concrete pathway, he was now walking on grass. He looked up, confusion clear on his features as he looked around with light brown eyes. The wind gently whipped at his semi-long brown hair, and he was grateful for the long sleeves he wore. He had no idea where he was, but it was a pleasant enough place, there was a small green park with a small amount of trees and wildflowers. The minute he saw the flowers, he thought of Fable, especially as his eyes noted the stark blue and red ones. There was a park bench, a few people walking nearby, and very little birds about, picking at leftover breadcrumbs that had been scattered by some do-gooder. He sighed softly, his body almost lacking in energy due to the way he felt on the inside. He began to walk through the park, picking at the flowers gently and kindly, making sure to take them from far down the stalk as to extend their life after being picked. He picked the flowers that were beautiful, whilst making sure not to take too many from any bush or patch. At first he only collected red and blue ones, with an assortment of leaves, as to mimic Fable's beautiful red hair, and heterochromatic eyes. But once he had gotten an amount of them, he also picked a few others of different colours, some yellows, pinks and whites. By the time he was finished, the sky was darkening dramatically and he had gathered a large and beautiful amount of flowers. That was when it dawned on him that he had no idea how to get home. He spun around on the spot a few times, trying to recognize anything around him, finally he sat down at the park bench, a bit lost with how to go forward. He could ring someone, but the only numbers on his phone were people who were either busy, or he didn't want to disturb them. He would wait here for a while, and then he would have to call Cassidy, he knew she wouldn't be mad at him, but he was happy to wait for a while.
It looked as if he needn't have worried though. As if by a miracle, a familiar face walked towards Griffon, and he stood up, a mixture of delight and that lingering sadness showing on his features. "Bloom..." He said. Beside her was the other woman, and Griffon felt his cheeks flush as he tried desperately to remember her name. "Vine? Erm... Val? Hello..." He said, realizing her had gotten her name wrong the first time. "What are you doing out here?" He asked, watching as the two gave each other a look, before they answered that they just happened to bump back into him, having been enjoying the evening walk. Griffon nodded. "It is quite beautiful here isn't it? The night air is also very pleasant." He said, as he awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to figure out how to ask whether they could show him the way home, or otherwise escort him there. Again, as if through a miracle, Bloom and Val offered to walk back with him back to the compound, saying that they didn't think it was particularly safe to be out so late by himself. "That would be lovely, as long as I wouldn't be intruding on your company together." He said. They laughed and waved him off, delightfully teasing him. He flushed again, slightly emboldened by their laughter. "I mean you can talk about whatever you want, I probably wouldn't remember anyway." He said truthfully, watching as Val looked slightly confused, while Bloom looked shocked, and then laughed at his joke. The three of them then began their walk back to the compound. He wasn't sure who asked about the bouquet, but he recalled showing it to the girls, asking for their opinion of it. "Do you think it is nice? I thought of Fable, and hoped she might like them." He said. They agreed that it was lovely, and continued on their way. It didn't take long to get back, and they hadn't been too far from the compound, though somehow Griffon had taken many turns and twists without realizing. He was relieved that they had been there to show him how to get home, as he knew now it would have been impossible for him to get back on his own.
As he was saying goodbye, Bloom came up to him, placing a hand on his arm and asking him if he was okay. He sighed, "Not really. I've never felt this disappointed in myself before. I've never hurt someone I love before, except once when I hurt my father... I don't like this feeling, and I don't know what to do about it." He clenched his jaw again, and felt tears prickle at his eyes. As if on cue, Bloom wrapped her arms around him briefly, but tightly, and Griffon melted into her embrace. After a couple of seconds, she pulled back softly, and Griffon gave a deep sigh, then smiled softly. "Thanks." He said, his eyes staying on hers for a moment, before he waved to Val and turned, making his way into the dorms. Looking around for a while, he was able to find a suitable container to be used to carry the flowers, and he filled it with water, then placed the flowers at the foot of Fable's bed. He then retreated to his own bed, already having decided to stay in his bed for the rest of the night. He pulled out his journal and began to note down everything that had happened since leaving the fear simulation with Bloom, to the best of his knowledge. He would have to ask her later if it was accurate, but for now, that was all he could go off of.
Interacting with: Bloom
Sanctuaryforall1
Val
DaChaoticWriter
Wolfiee
Meow
Initiate
Aya.
coded by natasha.
Nerdy.
Nerdy
Christian "Chris" Parks || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn
Christian's memory escaped him, and thus, when Vex was speaking to him, Christian reeled back in shock. They had just been on the train, that was the last thing he could remember, he had been standing next to Vex and they had been travelling towards Erudite. Thus, when he found himself in a white, brightly lit room, sitting on a table with medical instruments around him, Vex in front of him and a stranger in his midst, Christian jumped up, his body and mind on high alert as she tried to figure out what happened. How the hell had he gotten here? Had Vex tricked him and drugged him? Had someone kidnapped them? Had he fallen asleep on the train? He was ready to raise his fists and begin a fight when Vex's smooth and soft voice traveled softly up to his ear. He had gone crazy? "Are you okay? Did I hurt anyone?" He asked with a gulp, terror building up within his large muscular frame, his shoulder's sinking in despair. He had been having slight black outs during the worst of his rages, but never before had it gotten that mad. It was usually when he saw someone who was or did hurt Blair. Such as Indira, or Ajax, or someone like that. In Christian's past he had often blacked out in his worst times, and had hurt his brothers terribly. Vex squeezed his hand telling him why she had brought him here, and telling him that he hadn't hurt anyone. "Are you sure? I couldn't bear to hurt you after you've done so much to help me already, Vex." He said, squeezing her hand in return and his blue-grey gaze looking over her body to check for injury of any kind. She assured him that she was okay and had managed to stay out of his reach the entire time, and he let out a large breath of relief. His gaze then turned to the doctor before him. He had known many doctors, from Erudite mostly. He had no fear of doctors, of medical equipment or of hospitals, and yet he had much in the form of depression when within those environments. He loved that he could have people try to help him, but to know that so many people had tried and failed, caused a unique depression to fall on him when he was within an environment such as this.
"I'm sorry if I've caused any damage. I'm Christian." He said, going to shake the man's hand, before being aware that he might have almost hurt this man, and instead leaving his hand at his side. 'Can you help me?" He asked. The doctor introduced himself as Dr Munro, and Christian listened as he began to talk about his thoughts. Vex stayed right next to him, and Christian almost desired to hold her hand, as he felt genuinely scared for the first time in a while, worried that something had gotten very wrong within him, and that he would have the capability to hurt someone badly without having any agency about it. But instead he just clenched his hands into fists. He noted however, as the Dr talked, that his body felt very sore and tired, as if he had been exerting energy, at first that worried him, but then he remembered - with regret - that he had just been informed of how he'd gone crazy and almost hurt everyone. He wished he could remember, but as he tried to remember what had happened before this room, it was just like one giant fuzzy spot in his time, as if he had been asleep. He shivered slightly at the thought of that being something he would do, black out and hurt people, and began to focus in on what the Dr was saying. "Thank you for helping me. I just want to be helpful, and to stop hurting people." He said, watching as the Dr began to strap things to him, ask him questions and look at many screens. Everything in this room was like a magical item to Christian, he couldn't understand any of it, and simply had to trust that the Dr knew what he was doing. After checking his vitals and whatever else he needed to, the Dr then asked about his history with all of this, and how it had affected him thus far. As if compelled to answer him, with almost no hesitation and without thinking about what he was saying beforehand, Christian replied.
"I don't know when it started, but ever since I was a child I would get angry without being able to control myself. I would fight my siblings and hurt them. My dad took me to many doctors and scientists in order to figure out what was wrong, and they administered many drugs to try and stop it from happening. The most successful of which caused all of my emotions to disappear and I no longer hurt people, but also couldn't feel anything. Recently someone gave me another drug that has helped with giving me less anger and yet still emotions, but even that has begun to wear off..." Christian decided not to talk about the fact that he was now addicted to the substance, and how he had been given a small life span. That wasn't important to this right now, and could be brought up at a later time. The Dr listened wonderfully and when Christian finished he began to note things down. Christian turned to Vex. "Thank you for bringing me here, it means so much that you would do that for me." He admitted, reaching out to touch her arm for a second in gratitude. Soon enough the Dr was talking again, letting him know that he hoped and had decided that he would try to help Christian to the best of his ability. "Thank you so much! I am happy to pay whatever you need, money isn't an issue." He stated, though watched as the Dr's facial expression changed and he continued on, asking whether Christian would perhaps consider helping him out in other ways, rather than through money. "Anything! I just.. I really need your help." He said. Dr Munro smiled at this, and then he stood for a bit and thought. Eventually he asked whether Christian would need to go home tonight, or whether he had any previous engagements. 'No, I was simply at home because I was worried I would be arrested." He said honestly. As if the answer pleased him, Munro asked if Christian could stay the night here with him and Vex, so that they could monitor him and maybe give him something to start of the right way. "Of course! Like I said I will do anything if it helps. I just want to stop hurting people." Christian said.
As if made already for him, the Dr escorted him to a room that was not so unfamiliar to Christian, who had spent many days in a hospital room and bed. It wasn't very fancy or interesting, but it was a bed that had the ability to have things plugged in to you, or to read your vitals, or things like that. Christian felt relief as he saw it, knowing that it would mean he was in safe hands. The Dr then said goodbye, saying that Vex would get everything sorted before Christian needed to sleep, and then bid them goodnight. Christian felt a little bit of nervousness as he sat on the hospital like bed, as if he were awaiting a surgical procedure. Vex's company was comforting though, in a way that Christian had never felt with her. She sat next to him, her leg touching his, and her shoulder also pressed against his own. "Thanks for staying with me. I am a bit out of my element here... I don't know what to do or what is happening." He admitted.
Interacting with: Dr Munro, Vex
Sanctuaryforall1
Cassidy "Cassie" Wickham || 16 || Initiate || Erudite Transfer
The room felt so exotic, electric and vibrant to Cassidy, her body tingled with pleasant sensations, every touch of skin, clothing or even someone's breath, was like the tender touch of a lover. Her mind was fuzzy, her body warm, her inhibitions and self-control were lower than ever before, and yet Cassidy didn't mind. Usually she would never let herself get this far out of her comfort zone (which was to be in control and mostly sober), but she had felt so strangely safe... Maybe everything was just becoming normal to her, maybe she was starting to let go of the fears and trauma of her history, maybe she did genuinely desire and like friendship. Cas smiled as she leaned even closer to Shay, her legs spread out so that she was lying on her side, her slender frame neatly lit by the candles and lighting in the room. She watched pleasantly as Randi and Aya made out, having never seen Aya so outgoing and forward before, and enjoying the show from her desires for Randi. Having never been a particularly jealous girl, she didn't really mind that show, feeling that it was more for everyone's pleasant experiences, than anybody's actual desires for relationships. Even Yuri seemed to be having a good time, and he was basically the only guy here, since Chet had moved on with Lainey and the two were almost removed from the group. The night continued on pleasantly, back and forth there were more dares, truths, and lots of kissing. Eventually, it seemed that everyone was finding a space in the apartment to crash. Lainey's room stood with an open door, whilst Lainey herself had already fallen asleep with Chet on one of the couches in the room. Cassidy was curious to whom would take Lainey's room, and if it would be multiple people or just one or two. She herself had no desire for Lainey's room unless invited by someone else, instead, Cassidy had her eye on a different prize, a certain delicacy.
By this point in the night, Shay had gotten up to go to the bathroom, something haven't given her some quick reason to do so, to which had jolted Cassidy rather abruptly as she had been leaning on her lap comfortably. After watching the dark haired beauty escape, she looked to the others to see if anyone was directly talking to her or seeking her attention. After assessing that everyone was having a perfectly good time without her, she stood up and retreated after Shay towards the bathroom. Shay had left the door slightly ajar, and Cassidy gently moved her way into the doorway, leaning against the frame and letting her gaze sweep over the tidy bathroom. She could tell why Lainey had decided to live with Shay, rather than to slum it out in the dorms. This place was reminiscent of Erudite and their homes there, whilst having some peculiar Dauntless touches. The shared bathroom that all the initiates shared was usually a mess, and much of it stained with blood and uncleaned surfaces. For about half a minute, Shay didn't notice Cas, and Cas didn't pay too much attention to her, rather her curiosity stemmed mostly towards the bathroom itself. But eventually her gaze swept over the raven haired beauty, and she let out a low whistle, startling Shay and causing the girl to jump from the obvious surprise at seeing Cas there. "Sorry about that." Cas purred, entering the bathroom slowly and making her way over to the mirror, which Shay also stood in front of. "I was admiring the bathroom, I must say I'm jealous, the dorm bathrooms are rather disgusting comparably." She said, as she took a spot next to Shay, looking into the mirror but keeping her eye contact on Shay within the mirror. "Thanks for hosting the party here, I take it you're not usually into that kind of thing, but I can tell you that it was very much appreciated. It was... very fun." She giggled softly, remembering their kiss, and the fun that had been all on it's own.
It seemed like neither girl really had much to say, both were still reeling from the effects of so much drugs and alcohol, and their usual bodily restrictions and mental fortitude was reduced due to the way they were feeling now. Thus, Cassidy felt herself confident in her choice, as she turned instead to face Shay, rather than the mirror, and giving her a small, cheeky smile, she leaned forward and grasped her lips with her own. Unlike the performance kiss that Cas had given Shay during the game of spin the bottle, this kiss had much more curiosity and questioning within it, it was gentle, it was soft, it was slow... It was obviously a question that relied upon Shay's own answer, would she kiss back or would she pull away? Cas hoped that it would be the first option, but she was aware that Shay was not the type to accept this kind of closeness with anyone. Yet, after a few tantalizingly long seconds where Shay seemed to be unsure of how to respond to such an act, there was a relaxation in Shay's muscles that Cas could feel emanate within the girls body, and very slowly, softly and carefully... Shay began to kiss back. A smile tugged at Cassidy's lips as she gently pushed Shay's body towards the bathroom counter and oh so gently pinned her to it, trapping her between the counter and Cassidy's own body. Cassidy's hands stabled both bodies by staying on the counter behind Shay, while Cassidy's lips deepened the kiss between the two. At first there was a shakiness to Shay's actions, an almost unwillingness to participate in anything more than the kiss, but as Cas deepened it, Shay's hands found their rest on Cassidy's waist, then oh so teasingly made their way up her body to be gripped gently around her neck. The kiss was deep, it awoke a familiar feeling within Cas and she used that to push in to Shay's body. After a while, Cas finally removed her lips from Shay's. letting her tongue slide over Shay's lips before grinning and looking up at her with dark lashes. No words were spoken between the two, but there was slightly heavier breathing from the both of them. Cas watched Shay's face contort cutely as she tried to make sense of the reality, but the drugs and alcohol were obviously causing her to struggle with it. Cas herself was as buzzy as she had ever been in her life. Thus, although she may not have done this without such buzz, she gently took Shay's hand, and began to lead her out of the bathroom, and into Shay's room. Closing the door of Shay's room behind her, Cas again took Shay's face in her hands and hungrily went in to grip her lips. Walking the girl backwards, the bed finally arrived behind her, and Shay's legs buckles so that she had no choice but to fall onto the bed. Cas took no delay, and climbed on top of her, her lips still attached and hungrily desiring more as she pinned Shay's body under her. Cas knew that Shay would be able to chuck her off if she needed, but she hoped that she wouldn't. PUlling away from the kiss, Cas looked down at Shay with wide brown eyes. "Well darling... the floor is yours." She purred, her hands tickling Shay's sides as they ran up and down them, tracing the shape of her body.
Interacting with: Shay
Sanctuaryforall1
Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Bloom
code by Stardust Galaxy
Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Thorn
Nerdy.
Nerdy
Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn
The pain from the wound that Charlie had, the wound given to her by her own sister, was hardly nothing compared to the pain of Aubrey's betrayal and disbelief. Aubrey had been ready to kill Ghost even when Charlie had poured out the entire truth to her... As if Charlie's words had meant nothing... Charlie bit her lip as Thorn pressed against her side, the reality of a stab wound kicking in and she came out of her thoughts rather abruptly and quickly. Aubrey had run off anyway, and Charlie wasn't in any state to try and catch up with her, whether to make amends or otherwise, she would simply have to wait and the sisters would eventually have a talk sometime else. For now, Charlie felt another part of her sadden as Ghost also took his leave, even as she lay on the floor with Thorn pressing against her in order to stop the blood flow. She understood that his whole world had probably also just been twisted up, and he had been at death's door and at the mercy of Aubrey, but Charlie felt a little smidgen of pain from the fact that he deserted her during this. In all honesty, she had never asked him to help her with her demons and nightmares, she had never asked him to save her life from Jeremy, and she hadn't planned or asked him to confront Aubrey tonight. She loved him for all of that, she really did, she was so happy that he had chosen those routes to do, and she admired him and could think of nothing better he might have done... But he confused her, by standing up for her and then deserting her when things like this happened. She knew he likely didn't want to hear the words "I love you" from her at all, but Charlie had had little else to use as leverage for his life. Regardless of the entire truth of it, she had needed something daring, shocking and jaw dropping like a declaration of love to cause Aubrey's hand to waver or stop. It had worked, temporarily at least. Charlie turned to Thorn, the only other person now sitting with her, in the dark, dank and lonely place that was the fire station. The beautiful blue satin dress that she wore was now stained a deep red, so deep it seemed black, that seemed to grow from her side outwards. She made little note on Thorn's work, trusting him to do an adequate job with bandaging her up under this pressure, but when he suggested moving her heart dropped. What about Ghost? She thought, not wanting to wander far from him. For all she knew, he could already be in Jeremy's grasp. As Thorn helped her to her feet, she pointed towards the door that Ghost had walked out of. "Can we tell him where we're going? I don't want him to... I don't... Please." She felt it difficult to put into words her fears. She couldn't really grasp and take in everything that had happened, and she had a certain numbness in her body from the pain, the shock, and the emotions.
Thorn nodded, helping Charlie to the door, and she hazily saw Ghost standing outside. "Ghost? We... Thorn is going to take me to his workshop to fix me up. Will you... meet us there? Please." She asked, not demanding he come along, but requesting his presence in the near future. Ghost didn't really acknowledge them, nor did he look at them directly, but simply made it known that he probably would. Charlie wanted to yell at him for some reason, wanting to beg him to come with her. Jeremy might get you. I might never see you again... But she thought twice about it, and decided to let him be. If he were in as much shock as she was, then it wasn't likely that her concerns would actually come through to him, plus, the fact was that this movement was causing a worsening of this wound, and she needed Thorn's help to stitch it up. He carried much of her weight, helping her walk to his workshop which wasn't far away. She gratefully entered the cool room, her body unusually hot, and lay on his work table, finally able to relax the muscles around the wound and the rest of her body. In that moment, it took all that she had not to pass out from mere exhaustion, and she was able to keep consciousness by listening to Thorn's words. "Make sure the needle is clean, I trust you've done this before? As long as it can hold till I can get to my infirmary later... then that will do." She said. Her head was slightly foggy and dizzy from the blood loss, but from what she could tell, the wound itself had not ruptured any arteries or veins, her body was still mostly working, and it didn't seem to affect anything except the fact she was in pain. Those were all good signs that the wound was likely not very deep, and that she would recover quickly. Her mind flickered as Thorn ripped open the side of her dress so that he could work on the spot, and she began to think about the last calm moment she had had today. Walking towards her mother's house with Ghost... That walk had been lovely, surreal, and now she wondered... Was this all some sick simulation? It had, and did, feel so real... But it was so cruel, so unnatural, and so painful that Charlie wished it was. However she knew in her heart of heart's that it was real, and she could feel with every pull of the needle that this was indeed reality. She clamped down on the leather obediently as Thorn went to work. Stars of all different colours and sizes began to bloom in her vision, and she felt her jaw cramp from the tightness that she bit down. Not having any anaesthetic, or pain relief, made this very difficult to tolerate, and she felt sorry for all the students she'd had to do this very same procedure on.
Once Thorn had finished, Charlie was puffing as if having done a marathon, her forehead was wet with sweat, and her cheeks stained with tears. He spoke to her, and she caught most of what he said, her heart dropping to hear his apologies and pain. "It's okay. Nobody could have predicted this. I... I have much to blame as well... My secrets are a catalyst for what conspired today." She gritted her teeth as she got herself into a seated position. "Thank you Thorn. I'm sorry you had to be here today. I wish I could have known myself, and had some foresight to see Aubrey's intentions. I... I know she was trying to protect me." Charlie nodded as Thorn talked about getting supplies for her, and she watched as he stumbled through his words and intentions. Finally, he couldn't even finish his sentence, and they simply held eye contact, with Charlie finally nodding to acknowledge what he was going to do, and showing that she would be fine. Thorn left quickly, and Charlie felt her heart slam as the door shut, and she was alone in the workshop. As the emptiness, silence, cold and time caught up with her, she was deeply aware of the terribly loud beating of her heart that rang in her ears. The evening's events began to transpire again through her head, and she shook it to try and clear her thoughts. We came over for dinner. We ate dinner. Finn called... Charlie blanked for a moment, where was Finn? Was he okay? Had Jeremy gotten him? She gripped the edge of the table, pushing herself off of it to stand next to it, testing her strength and endurance by seeing how much weight she needed to place against the table in order to stand properly. Ghost took his call when I panicked. Ghost left to talk to Aubrey, I followed. Aubrey threatened him and we met her. Then... Aubrey tried to kill him, I had to tell my secrets, and now all is gone... Everything was wrong. Jeremy knew who Ghost was and what he had done, he would easily be able to find Ghost's apartment, and Charlie had no doubts that Jeremy would torture and kill Ghost. Not only that but he would have an open door into Charlie and Sasha's life again, and she would not have any way to run, hide or fight him, eventually, he would kill her too. Aubrey would likely die, from her own stupidity or from Jeremy finding out that Charlie told her everything. Thorn... Charlie felt her heart tighten, she hoped Thorn would be okay. At least one person needed to leave this okay. Finally finding her head was staying in the same place, and not circling around the room, she let go of the table and began to make her way to the door, hoping to see if Ghost was outside. She recalled, however, that her dress was quite obviously covered in blood, her blood, and had a large gash where Thorn had to do the stitches. Realizing that she didn't want the stares and attention from walking around like that, she looked around the room for anything she might be able to use to cover it up. Thankfully, by some miracle, she found a large black sweater that must belong to Thorn, as when she placed it on it fit her well enough, whilst being slightly too big for her due to the difference in size. Although Thorn was not tall, he was a broad male, and therefor this sweater drooped quite gratefully over the blood stain. If someone were to look closely, they might see the drops of blood that had splattered on parts of the skirt, but otherwise it simply looked like she was wearing a sweater over a lovely dress.
Having managed to cover herself, she again started to slowly make her way to the door. She knew Thorn said he was coming back, but she couldn't bear waiting any longer to find Ghost. Thus, she hoped Thorn wouldn't come back just yet, or come back while she was gone... She bit her lip, realizing how hard it would be for him if he came back and thought she had been taken and he could have stopped that. Thus, she left him a note, telling him that if he came back before her, she was with Ghost, and that she was okay. Regardless of whether that would be the truth, she mostly just wanted him to know that she had left of her own accord. So he wouldn't take it upon himself to lay the guilt. Charlie opened the door of the workshop, and noted how the air had gotten rather brisk, and much darker since before. It almost mirrored how everything felt now, cold, lifeless and dark. She stepped out, her eyes searching the darkness for Ghost, but her heart squeezing as she couldn't see him anywhere. She didn't really want to call him, or make too much noise, because she was afraid that Jeremy had followed them already. But soon the silence began to freak her out, and she tentatively called out his name. "Ghost?" She called in barely a whisper, hoping that he was nearby, and nobody else. It took a few seconds, but Charlie heard a shuffle of movement, and Ghost suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, though she figured out he had simply been out of her sight due to some obstacles and the dim light. Charlie sighed in relief as she saw him walk awkwardly towards her, and although she had this yearning for him to come over and wrap his arms around her, it didn't surprise her when he stood far enough away as to not be touching. "Are you..." Charlie went to ask if he was okay, before thinking better of it. None of them were okay. That was a definite. She was certain that Ghost was reeling from the fact that Aubrey, Charlie's own sister, had ratted him out to the authorities. "I'm sorry that this all happened." She finally said, acknowledging all that was her fault, and any that wasn't too. She felt a lot of responsibility as the one who's secrets had been the catalyst to this event. She didn't feel the need to clarify what she meant, and simply left that apology there. Silence fell against them again, and Charlie felt herself sick from the inner thoughts and outer silence. "What are you going to do? About everything?" She asked, trying to differentiate his facial features in the dark. The clouds were just starting to roll back, and the stars and moon were happily shining up above as if nothing bad had happened tonight. She waited and listened to when he finally began to speak. She wasn't sure how he would or could take this all, how his life might or might not change... Thus, his answer could not have shocked her, as she had no idea what to expect anyway. When he turned the question to her, asked her if she thought Jeremy would return, she felt the fairly normal nauseous feeling that came from such an imagining. "I can't imagine why he wouldn't..." Charlie admitted, not wanting to say aloud that Jeremy might come back, but leaving it verbally ambiguous. She knew the reality is that he would, but she wasn't in a mental place to take that information and actually process it. She wondered if Ghost was in that same position.
Charlie was surprised when Ghost asked about Aubrey. Immediately she tensed, and then cringed at the pain such tensing elicited from her wound. Ironically as it was, the wound was a fair expression of how she felt towards her sister. "She hurt me, but I can see that it was much of my actions that caused this." She admitted, both referring to the betrayal and the genuine stab wound. Again the nausea continued in her stomach and she grounded her teeth as she tried to think about Aubrey. "I don't know what to think, or do, with her at the moment. I'll leave that in her hands for now. I don't have the strength to confront her even if I wanted to." She finally admitted, realizing that she didn't even want to see her. How could she look into the eyes of the person who had just tried to kill her boyfriend? Regardless of all the complexities of tonight, there was a slight... almost hatred towards Aubrey's brash desire to do that. She resisted the urge to hold her side, which she knew would hurt her wound, even if it felt like it would help. The stitches were doing their job, no matter the pain she felt, she could tell they hadn't ripped yet. She just had to be slow and careful, allow her body to begin stitching itself back together, unless she got to the infirmary and did it herself. She was just about to ask Ghost something again, finding the silence almost loud, when he seemed to shyly begin speaking. Charlie realized that he was apologizing, for walking off when she was injured. Having almost forgotten about that fact, she was reminded of how it had felt, and she felt a bit of warmth from his apology. He then asked her how it was, and whether she would be okay. "Thorn patched me up, I should be fine. It... it's not as bad as it looks, or feels." She said, giving a tiny chuckle. It looked gory and messy... It would have been such an easy fix if Aubrey hadn't yanked the knife out, as that's what ripped and opened up much of the wound. Hence the pain too, was worse. Again, a silence fell over the couple, and Charlie couldn't bear the silence mixed with the empty space between them. "Will you please hold my hand? I... I am scared, Ghost." She asked him forwardly, feeling an inner fear that she might go into a panic attack if he remained distant from her, even though she yearned him to come even closer than that, to hold her, she didn't think he would do it, so she asked what she found was reasonable. What with Aubrey having disappeared and Jeremy's likely return, Caspian's death and everything that had transpired... She felt very alone.
Interactions: Thorn
Sanctuaryforall1
Ghost
Aviator
Wolfiee
Meow
Divergent
Rhysand(Rhys).
coded by natasha.
Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Randi
code by Stardust Galaxy
Aviator
are you laughing at my brother?
Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
The stars were so small, like the dying embers of candles recently extinguished, of lives that had met violent ends too young and too soon. Ghost smelled the tantalizing zest of a barbecue from one of the nearby suburban residences and yearned for some of the happy, carefree oblivion of a family gathering on an ordinary holiday. For the last few years Ghost had been spending his holidays in the company of strangers whose names had long since slipped his mind. He wondered how many future holidays he would spend in Charlie’s presence, if any. He wondered if he wanted to spend any future holidays with her, or if it would spare him much pain to cut ties with her now and disappear into the black velvet of the night as he had disappeared out of so many other people’s lives before.
Ghost felt a cold numbness spread through him, flickering off his nerves one by one like a blackout rolling through a city. He knew he should go back inside the fire station and comfort Charlie after having been stabbed by her own sister, just as he knew that he should do something about the impending disaster that was Jeremy Daniels knowing who Ghost was, and where to find him. But Ghost was feeling weak and fragile, like multiple layers of his sense of self had been peeled away tonight, and to go back inside and look Charlie and Thorn in the eye and discuss reality would cause him nothing but pain.
As if cued by his thoughts, he heard a door creak open behind him. Ghost’s shoulders tensed but he didn’t turn around. Shoes scuffed pavement in a dragging, uneven gait as Thorn led a limping Charlie out of the fire station. Ghost kept his head down and stared at the dark space of asphalt between his shoes, not wanting to be noticed or spoken to. Amid the dull static inside his head, Charlie’s voice was a cacophony of sound when it called out to him with instructions to meet at Thorn’s workshop. He had no idea where that was but found himself nodding anyway to Charlie’s request, careful not to say when he would meet her there. Or anything at all, not trusting himself to speak.
Ghost had been in danger before. He embraced danger, courted in on a regular basis, even. It wasn’t the scuffle with Aubrey that had bothered him. It wasn’t even the knowledge that Jeremy Daniels, one of the faction’s toughest and coldest fighters, was probably already out for Ghost’s blood. Ghost was also tough and cold, and he could match whatever skulduggery was thrown his way. What bothered him was the heavy weight of Charlie’s adoration when he might very well have to kill her father to ensure his own survival, or be killed. Ghost had seen a gleam like a razor’s edge in her eyes, hungry and desperate, when Charlie had implored her sister to let him go. He had never asked Charlie why she was attracted to him, and wondered if it was anything specific to him that attracted her, or whether she was just in love with the idea of being in love and he was the first opportunity to come knocking.
As Charlie and Thorn’s shadow-shrouded figures shrunk and receded into the distance, Ghost did not move his eyes from her until she was lost to sight. And when she was, he found his phone and pulled up the contact of an old friend. Val Branwen’s last text message had been received some four months ago but had gone unreplied so far. Long time, no see. Wanna hang out sometime soon? Ghost typed into the chat. I have hella drugs and girl problems right now. His thumb hovered over the send button, and he was in the process of reaching for his cannabis pen to bolster his courage when he remembered that the pen had broken in the fight with Aubrey. Realizing that sobriety was here to stay and the task wasn’t about to get any easier, Ghost steeled himself and pressed the send button, even though he half-expected no response from Val. It wasn’t just Charlie from whom he kept his emotional distance.
None of it mattered. Ghost couldn’t allow any of tonight’s events to distract him from the big picture, the larger game at hand, where Blair and himself and possibly Anika were the main players. Where the next step involved setting a trap and waiting for the Divergent hunters to pounce. Maybe Obadiah Parks hadn’t known anything about the shady disappearances inside the Dauntless compound, but it was very possible that Jeremy Daniels, head of security, had access to information that the older bureaucrat did not. By telling Daniels the identity of his unknown assailant, tonight Aubrey had set in motion a collision of forces just waiting to happen. Daniels would be looking for him, and for the first time Ghost thought of the upcoming confrontation with a smile. Perhaps he and Daniels were overdue for a chat after all, and if he had any connections to the clandestine powers putting the lives of Blair and others like her at risk, then Ghost would make him pay—dearly.
Ghost sat scheming in the dark for an unknown interval of time, because after drugs, looking toward the future was his most effective method of escape from the disastrous events of the present. The air around him glistened with dark intentions like the forms of thoughts not yet born, and Ghost was so absorbed in them that he startled to attention when a shape detached itself from the shadows. Charlie wore a bulky band sweatshirt over the ruined bodice of her dress, disguising her svelte figure and clashing with the cotton candy-blue skirt. A spike of guilt tore through Ghost when he realized that he’d been sitting in the same spot for well over an hour, trying to summon the energy to face his girlfriend and failing miserably.
“You shouldn’t have walked all this way with a stab wound,” Ghost said when Charlie came within earshot, “but I’m glad you did.” He found a kernel of truth in that statement, and it was enough. Ghost shifted his limbs and sat up, so he was no longer slouching on his elbows on the curb. Charlie asked if he’d been meditating, and Ghost, having never meditated before in his life and not entirely sure what it constituted, fumbled the question. “Uh… you can call it that, I guess.” Feeling a little foolish, he scratched the back of his neck and tried on a half smile. In the waxy moonlight, Charlie’s face was so pale that he could see the veins across her cheeks, making her look like a doll made of glass. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, as if unsure whether to approach him. Ghost’s smile widened and he beckoned her closer, patting the curb beside him. Charlie obliged, her features scrunching in a grimace as she lowered herself to the ground and her stitches rippled and stretched. Ghost noted how she sat with her hands folded primly in her lap, her leg carefully not brushing his.
As if the physical distance from him weren’t enough, Charlie wasted no time beating around the bush with her questions. It was unlike her to be so direct; Ghost was a little taken aback by it, but pleasantly so. “Straight to the point, I see,” he noted. “Well, what I won’t do is instigate a fight with your father, because I’ve already squabbled with more of your family members than I ever cared to.” Ghost paused, and with half his face hidden in shadow, he turned toward Charlie, the smile gone from his lips. “But if he comes after me I will unload an entire clip into him, and I won’t feel a goddamn thing.” Charlie’s nose whistled with an exhale, and Ghost saw the almost imperceptible rise and fall of her chest, and then silence hung between them. Not wanting it to grow and fester, he decided it was only polite to turn the question back on her. “What are you planning to do?”
If he had to, Ghost would die for Charlie. Of that much he was certain. Ghost’s gifts were rooted in deceit and violence, gifts that the world would be better off without, whereas Charlie’s gifts lay in her boundless compassion and ability to heal both physical and emotional trauma. Charlie could do more good in a year of work at the infirmary than Ghost possibly would over a whole lifetime. But he wouldn’t die because he was too fearful or weak to stand up to a tyrant, even if that tyrant happened to be Charlie’s father. Ghost wouldn’t spend his life hiding and apologizing for past transgressions, and if killing Jeremy Daniels was his ticket to freedom, then he would pay the price.
Ghost swallowed past the knot that had formed in his throat. “Will you forgive your sister?” he asked Charlie with no expectation of her answer. Charlie was perhaps one of the most altruistic individuals he’d ever met, but even saints could be driven to wrath, and Aubrey had quite literally stabbed Charlie. As an only child, Ghost had the luxury of never having to know how he would respond to betrayal by a sibling. Charlie answered in a repentant manner, and Ghost denied her guilt more forcefully than he intended. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped when Charlie attempted to foist the blame for Aubrey’s meltdown onto herself. “You can’t control how Aubrey responds to events from way in the past. If she’s going to throw a hissy fit in some kind of misguided attention grab, then that’s on her for not being able to keep herself in check.” A spark of rage had kindled in Ghost’s chest, and he fiddled furiously with one of the two thick golden bracelets he wore. “I think you need to lay some boundaries with her about what parts of your life are and aren’t her business, because there’s no respect without privacy.”
Ghost wasn’t sure how much Charlie actually valued his suggestion, but she at least appeared to consider it out of politeness. When no further words were forthcoming from her, he started awkwardly, “I’m very sorry for… walking away as Thorn was tending to you.” Ghost paused with his mouth half open, wondering how much more to tell Charlie, and opted to leave it at that. Let her assume his reasoning however she would; he wasn’t about to make excuses. Charlie visibly perked up at his apology, assuring Ghost that her wound looked worse than it was. “Of course you would say that, you look at medical wounds all day,” Ghost pointed out with a snicker. “Your judgment on what makes a nasty wound is disqualified because you’re the most biased person ever on this subject. Nothing looks serious to you unless it’s life-threatening, eh?”
A fleeting smile twitched across Charlie’s face, and before it faded entirely, she summoned the courage to ask Ghost to hold her hand. “I can do that, yeah,” he said with an insouciant shrug. “But if you’re scared, that’s not going to keep you safe. How about I do you one better?” His fingers found Charlie’s, but a hunk of cold, pale metal pressed itself between their hands, keeping them from fully touching. Charlie started to cringe away from the unexpected weight of the pistol, but Ghost swiftly readjusted his grip to keep it from dropping. “Here’s something that will actually make a difference.” He pushed one of the two pearl-handled Wicked Sisters into Charlie’s resisting fingers. “This is for you to keep. Care for it well.” A soft glow like candlelight appeared in Charlie’s irises, warming them from within. She tried to give it back to Ghost, but he’d already moved away, shaking his head. “It’s yours. And if it does its job in keeping you safe, then it will indeed prove a valuable investment.” He swooped in for a quick kiss against Charlie’s forehead, then pulled back just enough to meet her eyes while rubbing the pad of his thumb slowly over her jawline. “Are you still scared?”
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Sanctuaryforall1
Pyrrha Nikos Lives On
Fable
code by Stardust Galaxy
DaChaoticWriter
Maybe one day I'll stop traumatizing my characters
DaChaoticWriter
filler
MOOD || Silly, a tad bit flirty
filler
LOCATION || Shay's Apartment
filler
INTERACTIONS || Shayla, Randi, Aya, Cas
filler
MENTIONS || N/A
Yuri knew he wasn’t a saint, wasn’t beyond encouraging his fellow initiates to smooch and the like, but he tried not to let his eyes linger. Sure, he basically threw most of what his parents and old faction had raised him on, but mama hadn’t raised a scoundrel… Well, she tried not to. Still, he didn’t feel quite right ogling over Aya and Brandish. Instead, he settled on a particularly interesting dark spot in the coffee table that’d just been begging for his attention. To anyone else it must’ve looked like he zoned out after a few minutes, blinking his way back into the present with Lev’s reappearance into the room. “Looks like you might have competition for Aya’s attention, Randi,” he teased, grabbing another muffin for the sake of keeping his hands busy. He more so picked at the wrapper than anything, he wasn’t particularly hungry.
It seemed he wouldn’t need to keep his hands busy for long when Shayla’s dare finally came his way. Considering what faction they belonged to, he’d expected something much worse. “I just gotta wear a dress and dance? Easy.” He chirped, hopping up from the couch. He paused before adding, “I am not liable if it looks better on me and therefore becomes mine though. Sorry, not sorry.” He flashed the group a mischievous smile, accepting whichever dress might actually fit him. He abandoned his beanie and t-shirt on the couch, right behind where he’d been sitting, and slipped the dress on over his head. He tried not to move too much and rip the thing, but honestly? It wasn’t a terrible fit.
Now properly dressed for the occasion, he went the distance and strutted to the middle of the room with the sassiest sashay of his hips he could manage. With the attention on him, he did the best little jig he could. The actual dance hadn’t been all that impressive, but the spin on the end saved the performance. His face, which had been the carefully stoic mask of a model on the runway, broke completely into a smile and fit of laughter as he bowed. Rather than change, he plucked his hat up and repositioned it on his head before reclaiming his seat on the couch.
The young man hadn’t been expecting the bottle to land on him again so soon, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered sitting back down. “Well shit Randi, I’m already wearin’ the dress. I dunno how much better I can do on a dare,” he joked, giving her a dimpled grin. Of course, that didn’t mean he needed to default to a truth either. He pursed his lips and bounced his leg while he thought. He didn’t feel the need to be closed off, per say, but what was there to know about him? He’d tried to be a pretty open book thus far. Eh, they’d get to the deep stuff later. “Alright, which one of ya am I kissing?”
code by ditto (head empty go bonk)
DaChaoticWriter
filler
MOOD || Flirty, cheerful
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LOCATION || Dauntless Streets
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INTERACTIONS || Griffon, Bloom
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MENTIONS || Ghost
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LOCATION || Dauntless Streets
filler
INTERACTIONS || Griffon, Bloom
filler
MENTIONS || Ghost
The younger instructor couldn’t help her smile or the way she found herself momentarily lost in the brunette’s kind eyes. It was easy to forget what they were really doing together, tailing a trainee to make sure he was alright. Still, Bloom had a way of making her feel happy and carefree during times where she’d have otherwise thought it impossible. That wasn’t to say the rest of her friends didn't make her happy, it just… Well, it wasn’t the same. She smiled and laughed plenty with Ghost, and the pals she maintained through work were always good for a laugh, but Bloom made things feel okay. Even when they weren’t. Maybe that had been what sparked the intense fire she held in her heart for the woman, she’d just been trying to find the perfect time to bring it up with her. Val didn’t hold many reservations about relationships, tried not to let them slip away after finding out first hand how fast they could be taken away by the inevitable. By death. Work had put her plans on halt, but even she was growing tired of that excuse. “Alright, I can agree to that. Actually, it works beautifully. You left the wine glasses behind last time,” she teased, giving her a playful jab in the arm.
“Oh, we’re getting serious now are we?” She said, letting their arms entwine so naturally together it felt like they always walked this way. Her dark eyes softened a tad at the sentimental tone her friend had taken on. “Of course shortcake, we fit together too well to forget who’s behind me,” she replied with a flirtatious wink. “Lucky for us, bears don’t exactly come vaulting down the Net very often. Though I still say you could totally take the bear.” Val took a deep breath and let some of the tension release from her shoulders. Now this felt like it could be a proper date night. She took the wrapped bar from Bloom, letting her fingertips graze her hand ever so gently. “Don’t sweat it, I’m sure I still owe you for something dumb I did at some point,” she joked, carefully tearing at the packaged food with her teeth before passing back half of it. “You gotta eat too, though. We agreed on dinner for two and I know you’re probably hungry.”
Val raised a brow at first when she realized where they’d wandered off to. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to the garden, let alone seen anyone collecting flowers from it. It surprised her how such a sweet kid would ever want to become Dauntless, but clearly she only had part of the picture. She blinked a couple of times at the botched attempt on her name, taking anything but offense to it. She laughed and shook her head, making a couple of the rings braided carefully into her hair jingle together. “I’ve been called much worse on purpose,” she mumbled, jumping on the opportunity to confirm Bloom’s story. “Yep, just walking around. It’s always been nice out here.” She commented, gesturing broadly to the area. While she hadn’t caught onto the whole memory joke, she laughed along just as easily. “We’d love it if you joined us. I’ll be helping out with training now that I’m back so it'll be nice to get to know at least one face.” She nodded back in the direction they’d come from, as if further emphasizing the invitation.
Val enjoyed the casual walk and the nonexistent schedule the trio was on. Normally she always had something in the back of her mind, ready for her attention once a conversation waned and dissipated. She’d already figured out that Griffon was a real sweetheart, but talking with him only proved that further. She truly hoped he never lost that soft side to him the same way she’d seen it disappear in others. He seemed set on his ways though, if the flowers were any indication. She looked forward to, hopefully, seeing him around as an official member of Dauntless. When the time for goodbyes came, she took a few steps back. Clearly they’d grown close, whereas Val had only known him for a few hours at most. That didn’t stop her from patting him on the shoulder and wishing him goodnight, though. “He’ll be fine, seems tough,” she said once he disappeared into the barracks, more for her friend’s reassurance than anything. With a twinkle in her eye and a wide grin, she re-linked arms with her gorgeous partner in crime. “Thought you’d never ask. First round’s on you though.”
code by ditto (head empty go bonk)
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Nerdy.
Nerdy
Aubrey Amber Stark || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn
Aubrey ran as if she were in a real life horror film, she didn't look back, she didn't stop, she just ran as fast as she could away from the incredible mess and torment that had just conspired. She might have cried, if the cold air wasn't whipping at her face harshly and causing her to squint uncomfortably. She might have screamed if she wasn't panting for breath from the tireless running she was doing. She might have thought to go back, if it weren't for the constant and terrifying thought in her head. You just stabbed your sister. Your half sister. You just ruined her life, the life she had arranged to protect you. You just ruined everything for everyone. You may be the most Dauntless, but what does that matter if you hurt everyone close to you? Finally, as if letting that thought finish synchronised her body's energy being depleted, Aubrey collapsed in an alleyway between two concrete buildings. Heaving for breath, she sat with her back against the cold wall, her legs splayed out in front of her and her hands cradling her face. If there was ever a time to wish for a simulation, she chose now, she wished with all her heart that this had all been a simulation, but if so... she should have completed it by now. The reality was, that Aubrey Stark knew very little about her family. Firstly, Charlie was the daughter of Jeremy Daniels, her family had kept that a secret. Secondly, Charlie and Sasha had been taking regular beatings from the man, right under Aubrey's nose, without her ever once finding out. Aubrey couldn't wrap her mind around that... She idolized Daniel's, he was everything to her, the most Dauntless of the Dauntless... She just couldn't imagine him doing something like that to her family... But... She remembered Charlie's screams, and her distraught voice and terrified eyes. She was telling the truth, and all of that had been a reality, and now would be again. "Shit." Aubrey said as she ran her fingers through her hair and leaned her forehead on her knees, pulling them close to her body and trying to become as small as possible. You should leave. You should go. You're better of factionless than to remain in the same faction as people you just betrayed. She thought. But they lied to me. My whole life. Even when Charlie knew my intentions she lied until the last moment. If she loved me so much, she should have trusted me! I could have helped protect our family, I could have done something... But the reality was that nobody had told her anything. Caspian had had a heart condition and died out of nowhere... The world was no longer the fun loving, care-free world that she had grown up in, it was a disaster upon disaster in a never ending spiral.
Aubrey's body trembled from the run she had just done, and from the emotions within her body. Thus, it took her a long time to bring her head up, and when she did, she gasped in fear, shuffling up to her feet with the help of the wall as she noticed a dark shape of a man in the same alleyway as her. Her hands went to grab her daggers, but most of them she had used during the fight and now, probably, lay on the floor of the fire station. She had one left, but it was in an awkward position and was usually her last resort. She took a deep breath, wincing from the cramp in her chest and gut. "Who's there?" She called, her voice quavering only slightly. There was a small movement, and then the person came forward so that they were in the slight light that shone through the alleyway from a distant street light. It didn't matter how dark it was though, as soon as the figure came within a few feet from Aubrey, she knew exactly who it was. "Finn." She said with an icy exterior. "What do you want? To gloat? To shove it in my face that you were right and I wasn't?" She yelled, hands flying in the air in exasperation. "Then go ahead! You were right all along. So was Thorn... and Ghost.. and Charlie.. and my mum. Who is the only person who has made a mistake? Me!! I am the asshole who just stabbed my sister! I just gave their information to the person who wants to hurt them! I am literally the bad guy of every childhood story... What more could you tell me?" She said, a tremor continuing in her voice as the emotion struggled to stay out of her words and sentences. Finn simply stared, and Aubrey wondered if he was sad, angry, or truly was gloating. She wished he would come over and hug her, to wrap his arms around her, to kiss her. She missed him dearly, and she knew that he probably thought the worst of her now. Aubrey felt tears well up in her eyes, and for once she didn't care when they began to drop down her cheeks. "Do you know how it feels? To know that the last 16 years of my life have been a lie? That I was so stupid and oblivious to the torture my sister incurred behind my back? Or how about the fact that my sister's real father hired me to find the man who was PROTECTING my sister... knowing I would do anything to guarantee a good position in Dauntless. Then with every one standing up for Ghost, and everyone pointing out the smart things, I still tried to kill him. I don't even know why!" Aubrey let out a growl and a scream as she turned around, leaving her back exposed to Finn and punched the concrete wall with all her might, feeling the skin on her knuckles tear from the impact. The solid pain in her hand, throbbing throughout her arm and body, helped her relax as she stood there, forehead pressed to the cool concrete, and waited for Finn to say something.
Whether the next moments were seconds, or minutes, Aubrey would not be able to say. She hoped many things in those moments though. She hoped that Charlie would recover quickly. She hoped that Charlie, Sasha and Ghost would run away. She hoped that somehow, someday, they would forgive her. She hoped Thorn wouldn't remember her idiocy and would instead remember her drive. She hoped that Jeremy would have not heard her voicemail. She hoped that nobody else would find out about this. In a sad way, she also hoped that Finn would come over to her... though in this moment, she wasn't sure what she wanted him to do. If he fought her, she would gain back much motivation from the simple need to stay alive, if he simply killed her, she would no longer have these conflicting and hurting feelings within her, and if he came and touched her, she may feel a semblance of validation again, even if it was just the tiniest amount. She doubted he would do anything though, from what she knew of Finn. Thus, when he did come over, and she felt two warm arms wrap around her and hold her by the waist, Finn's head leaning on her back, she felt herself crumble at the embrace, and she leaned against the wall, sobbing great big tears down onto the dirty floor of the alleyway. Aubrey didn't hear the sound of a metal clink on the alleyway floor, nor did she see the cogs turning in Finn's mind, or hear what he was thinking. Aubrey could only feel the pain from the agony she had caused her sister. She sobbed angrily, but each sob caused Finn to hold her tighter, and to pull her closer to himself. I don't deserve this hug. I don't deserve revival. She thought to herself, trying to pull away from Finn's grasp. He didn't hold her too tightly, so she was able to rip out of it, and she turned, facing him. "What are you doing?" She asked in all sincerity, clearly fear and disbelief in her voice. "I was going to come here to lecture you, maybe even to fight you if you were going to do something awful. But you're my bestfriend Aubrey, I still love you, and I can't hurt you... You're already as hurt as you can be. I just want to make you feel better..." He claimed, and Aubrey felt her lip tremble. "Truly?" She asked, and watched as Finn's head nodded. Don't believe him. Nobody could love you and take you back after what you just did. Her thoughts tried to tell her, but in this instance, Aubrey couldn't bear to listen to them, she needed love from someone, and if that was Finn, she would more than happily take it. Running towards him she wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face against his chest. He did the same, and Aubrey felt the steady, if not fast, beat of his heart, and she began to zone in on that one sound.
Aubrey wasn't sure how it happened, she wasn't really aware of things anymore, as it was all becoming a hazy dream, but in one moment they were embracing, and the next their lips were connected with a fiery passion. It was an unusual kiss, it wasn't spurred on out of love, it wasn't out of them having worked up to it, but in the passion of the day, in the desire for comfort and validation, and the true deep need to help one another, their lips found each other and grasped each other tightly. Fireworks exploded, both inside of Aubrey's chest and stomach, and high up in the sky, lighting the alleyway each time an explosion occurred. You don't deserve this. She thought, but didn't care. Their lips parted gracefully, hungrily, wanting for more than simple romance. Tongues slipped and twirled around each other, Aubrey's hands spun up around Finn's neck and grabbed onto the hair at the back of his head, whilst his hands diverted, one slipped under her tanktop, pushing her back so that she was pressed against him, and the other skimmed around the hem of her shorts, tickling her and causing even more fireworks like feelings ignite within her. Knowing that this was wrong and didn't make any sense only caused the two of them to continue to progress deeper, as Finn pulled Aubrey to the other side of the alley and behind a very large communal garbage container. Nothing about the area was romantic, but in this moment there was not an inch of romance, only desire, only need. No words were exchanged, as their lips were hardly apart for more than a second or two. Gradually they lay down on the cold floor of the ground, with a slight exeption of Finn's jacket which he took a second to lay. Aubrey's back lay flat against this jacket, the cold still seeping through, whilst Finn straddled her, hands now freely and confidently sailing over her body and wherever they pleased. Aubrey's own trailed his chest and back, whilst they continued in their impassioned kiss. Nothing made sense. This day had not made sense. Nothing should have happened the way it did, and there was absolutely no reason for Aubrey and Finn to rekindle their relationship in this moment. But with all that had happened, between them, between others, Aubrey and Finn found themselves enamoured and attached to each other in a new way, and as the night came to a final end, Aubrey let her head loll to the side as she cradled up to Finn's warm body, their clothes now draped over them like a blanket.
Interacting with: Nobody really, just Finn
Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn
Are you still scared? Ghost's question ripped through Charlie's brain as she sat there beside him, her eyes gazing over the beautiful crafstmanship in Ghost's baby, the gun that now lay in her lap, her fingers still woven around it. Charlie had never been one for weapons, she had used them during initiation, and had opted to use them more often than not, as her hand to hand combat was atrocious. In fact, her gunmanship had been the best scoring part of training, and she had prided herself in picking it up rather well. But it still scared her to have a firearm on her, especially one that was designed to kill, rather than to train. But... She looked at Ghost, and watched as he examined her to see her reaction. He was protecting her, he was even giving her protection at the cost of himself, as he now only had one. Her fingers tightened around the grip, careful not to touch or even have any fingers near the trigger. Of course she was still scared, but now... She found some bravery within her. If Ghost could stand up to Jeremy, then so could she. She doubted she could kill him, as Ghost so easily seemed to believe he could, but she knew how to harm people without killing them, and she knew everything there was to know about the human body... as far as a Dauntless girl could. "Scared? Yes I do believe I shall remain scared of the reality that now is. But am I paralyzed? No... I feel... for once... That I have some freedom, and Jeremy can't take all of that away." She claimed, hardening her jaw and staring at Ghost with vigor and courage. Her heart raced dramatically inside her, and her head spun from the pain and blood loss, but her resolve was strong. Soon though it became too difficult to hold her body up so straight, and she found herself almost deflating as her body refused to do what she asked. Knowing he may ask her to stop, but finding herself unable to do so, she let her head gracefully drop so that it leaned on Ghost's shoulder, allowing some muscles to relax, and therefore some pain to relieve. "Thank you Ghost. I shall take good care of this... I do hope I never have to use it though." She finished, her fingers skimming the designs on the pistol as her hair cascaded down Ghost's shoulder and over his chest. She knew that she should get herself back to the infirmary, that she should take herself to a medical centre or a hospital, that she should be inside, lying down, in a stable environment. But Charlie wanted to be near Ghost more than any of that. She was worried that if she took her eyes off him for too long, then Jeremy would take him and she would never see him again. Thus, although her body screamed at her, especially after she had walked all this way under such conditions, she ignored the reality of her wounds as she simply leaned gently into the man whom she had taken the wound for.
"Where are you going to stay tonight? Neither of our places are safe... I could ask Bloom if we can both bunk there, or we could find someone else like Phillip..." Charlie was barely through asking her question as Ghost pulled back from her, causing a slight wince and an apologetic look from him. He was about to speak, but as he saw the pain ripple through her face, he softened slightly, and moved back so that Charlie could at least lean on him ever so slightly. Charlie was grateful, and felt her body again begin to relax and relieve the tension it was holding, and the pain began to decrease. She listened as Ghost began to explain that he couldn't let Jeremy dictate his life, that if there would be a confrontation then it would be on his own turf, and he wouldn't run and hide from it. That was no way to live. "But surely this is an exception... Please can't you find somewhere else to stay? Even for just some time?" Charlie urged, her heart thumping in her throat by this point. Ghost again reiterated that he wasn't going to move, and that he had made his decision. Charlie ground her teeth together almost angrily as she thought about how reckless that was to go back to his own home. It was a death sentence and they both knew it. She wanted to argue with him about this, to talk some sense into him and tell him he couldn't do that. But as she fought up the confidence to do so, she felt a sharp pain in her side, and she immediately was forced to relax, almost melting against Ghost for a second, before regaining her composure and pulling away from him so that she sat with her own strength. "If you insist on going back to your place, then I want to come with you." Charlie told him, watching as he seemed surprised at her suggestion. She felt her tongue go dry as she realised that she was basically asking if she could stay with him. Under less strenuous and terrifying circumstances, this could have been romantic, creepy, or awkward. Now though, it seemed only practical from Charlie's mind, and she knew there was nothing she felt more certain of. "You got into this because of me, regardless of if you admit it. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you and I wasn't there to help in any way. Nothing is guaranteed, especially now... I just want to stay with you..." She ended her sentence awkwardly, having had more to say but suddenly losing the will and ability to say it. She bit her lip as she waited for Ghost to talk.
When he finally replied, she let out a shaky breath, as he accepted her proposal to come with him. Whether that was because he wanted her there, or was doing it out of some pity, Charlie didn't really care right then. She just wished to continue being with him whilst also having a slight ability to help should anything occur. "Thank you." She murmured gratefully, as she shuffled a little closer to Ghost and again lay her head on his shoulder. "For better or for worse, you have my support." She muttered softly, a slight yawn escaping her lips. Although she wasn't actually tired, her body was telling her the simple signs of requiring rest. "Do you want to go back now? Don't worry, I can walk that far." She assured, placing a hand on Ghost's knee and giving it the smallest squeeze, before leaving it sitting there, hoping that Ghost wouldn't mind too much. When Ghost spoke, after a few moments of considering her suggestion, he said that he wanted to spend some more time out here with her, watching the fireworks, the stars, and ignoring the world for a little longer. Charlie smiled widely, looking up at Ghost then at the sky above and the occasional firework that exploded up there. "That sounds nice." She said. She quickly stuffed the gun that Ghost gave her into her handbag, and pulled it closer to her, so that nobody coming by would be able to grab it or even know it was there. She slid her hand off of Ghost's thigh to intertwine with his fingers, finally holding the hand she had asked for before. Although the gun was a much more likely survival tool, Charlie felt peace when Ghost's hand wrapped hers in it, and she felt a spark in her heart from the encounter itself. It only occurred to her to message Bloom as she noted a beautiful red fireworks display, that reminded her of the woman. She pulled out her phone and flicked it to Bloom's number, flicking her a quick text. "Just wanted to let you know that some serious stuff has happened today. I'm staying at a friend's tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She sent the message, sending a similar one to Sasha, though with a tad more information. She knew Bloom was going to worry, but she didn't want to worry her too much. In all honesty though, there was a likelihood that Ghost and Charlie could die this night, if Jeremy decided so. But they were taking that chance, and something about that caused a hope to bloom inside of Charlie. She squeezed Ghost's hand sweetly as they sat there enjoying the night.
Interacting with: Ghost
Aviator
Bloom
Sanctuaryforall1
Aviator
are you laughing at my brother?
Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
They sat like that in quiet, contemplative silence, but it wasn’t an easy one. Ghost’s brain felt swampy, all his thoughts sticking together as he tried to formulate a plan of action now that his identity was in Jeremy Daniels’s hands. More than anything, what frustrated him was the knowledge that Daniels could afford infinitely more security around himself, like a king safely ensconced in the corner of a chessboard with an army of knights and rooks surrounding it. And now that Daniels would very soon be able to spot Ghost in a crowd if he couldn’t already, Ghost was essentially forced to wait for his adversary to make the first move. The best that Ghost could hope for was a turn to play at all, lest Daniels’s first move be the only one he needed.
Ghost had never been good at sitting on his hands when action was necessary, and the forced indolence was stirring a restless energy within him. Charlie’s voice came as a welcome distraction, and Ghost only realized that he’d been anxiously rocking from side to side when he was startled into stopping. He corrected his posture a little too fast and elicited a wince from Charlie when the fabric of her clothes tugged at her laceration. “Ah, sorry,” he said quickly, then considered her question. “If there’s a target on our backs right now, then are you sure that you want to drag your friends into this?” Charlie looked ready to answer, but Ghost’s question had been mostly rhetorical. “Nowhere is safe, Charlotte, not with your friends or alone. Safety is an illusion, and if we go to your friends, all we do is endanger them in the crossfire.”
Ghost was surprised to hear himself say we. Collaborative scheming was, until now, something he had done only with Blair in recent memory. “This may surprise you, but… I’m not really scared of your father. I’m aware that he has a lot of forces under his command, but so far my only personal experience with him consisted of him rolling over when I threatened him with a three-inch shank.” A wry smile pulled at one side of his mouth. He brushed a hand against the remaining Wicked Sister holstered in his belt. “Imagine if I actually tried.” Ghost was in the downward spiral of being high, and his bravado felt only slightly falsified.
Either way, Charlie wasn’t amused. She had pulled away from him slightly so that her profile was visible to him, and even without seeing her head-on he caught the flicker of flame that appeared in her eyes as she pressed her point. “Charlotte, rest assured that this isn’t about misguided pride. I’m going back to my apartment tonight because I have to. Because I have, ah”—Ghost gritted his teeth as he searched for a word that was sufficient without being painful—“contraband there that could get me in trouble with the law if your father decides to snoop around. And if it’s his goal to arrest me, I don’t think he’ll be picky about the reason.” A cool breeze swished Ghost’s hair the opposite way of its part, and he smoothed it back down. “The sooner that I give the apartment a thorough cleansing, the better. Tu comprends?”
Charlie looked at him then and, limned in the electric glow of a nearby streetlight, her gaze was penetrating. She phrased her next words as a request, but even a fool could have seen that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ghost felt a dash of surprise, which quickly faded to cheeky mirth. Emboldened by the intoxicants still in his system, he drawled, “Well, isn’t that just a convenient excuse to get into my bed.” Charlie, appropriately, flushed fire station-red. Her gaze drooped self-consciously, and Ghost, not intending any ill will with his gibe, mussed her hair playfully. “Messing with you. Of course you can stay over.”
Inwardly Ghost had mixed feelings about the concept. Charlie had never spent the night at his place before, and on the one hand he felt a frisson of excitement to have company for the evening. But he was also a little nervous about the possibility of Maverick catching onto their relationship and it becoming common knowledge that an instructor was dating the overseer of the infirmary. Hopefully the additional time with Charlie would be worth the revelation of their shared secret, if that’s what it came to.
His assurance had the desired effect on Charlie, and he saw the tension slip from her shoulders along with her defiant resolve. She gave a long sigh as she resumed her previous position, leaning her head on Ghost’s shoulder. Charlie asked him if he was ready to leave yet, and Ghost’s answer melted on his tongue like butter as her fingertips hovered atop his knee. A bolt of heat shot through him. “W-we can stay here a little longer,” he bleated, his voice half an octave higher than normal. Careful not to displace Charlie’s hand, he shifted his other leg in a way that he hoped was discreet, grateful that the hem of his shirt fell to the tops of his thighs. Ghost felt equal parts regret and relief when Charlie moved to hook her pinkie finger around his, and wanting to prolong the moments that he was breathing in the flowery aroma of his girlfriend’s hair and feeling the rise and fall of her blue bodice, they settled back on the lawn of the fire station together as comfortably as they could.
* * *
The next week passed in a blur, but a delightfully productive blur. After the initiates’ fear simulations, Ghost would loiter in the testing halls while everyone else trickled out, waiting for Randi so that the two of them could resume the simulated sparring sessions that they’d started the day of Alex Young’s visit to the compound. Ghost had some misgivings about using Caspian’s old, accidentally left-handed saber that he hadn’t had while his roommate was still alive, but he considered it a waste of valuable resources to not use the nearly mint-condition blade at all. Plus, it was gradually becoming the singular blade which Ghost felt most comfortable wielding in combat, and he needed to produce consistent results if he hoped to defeat Noah Cologne in a duel.
Convincing Blair of the value of his latest plan had taken surprisingly little effort; it seemed as though, after kidnapping and interrogating Dauntless leader Obadiah Parks, her moral code had rewritten itself so that just about any crime or sin short of murder was on the table in their effort to stay a step ahead of Divergent hunters. That included using a formal duel as an excuse to inject Charlie’s lascivious admirer with a tracker in preparation of using him as bait to lure their enemies closer. And to that end, after finishing up his sparring session with Randi for the day, Ghost had taken to spending the early evenings at one of a variety of taverns inside the compound, cooling off with a cocktail and telling a yarn of a story to anyone who would listen about how Noah Cologne was a suspected Divergent. After a week of fabricating such stories, it would have been accurate to say that Noah was indeed suspected.
Throughout this time, what disturbed Ghost more than anything else was the macabre silence from Jeremy Daniels. It was mostly true what he’d said to Charlie about not being afraid of her father, but sometimes after Ghost had had one too many drinks in the bar it was easy to imagine the man’s hulking shadow in dim corners, or superimposed over a too-quick glimpse of a random passerby. Terrified that Daniels was waiting for him to lower his guard, Ghost had taken to sitting with his back to a wall whenever possible and sometimes even carrying Caspian’s old saber in public. It wasn’t just Noah who the sinuous length of silver might save him from.
On the morning of the first day of Phase Three, Ghost awoke to heavy, cumbersome sobriety, and as had become his habit, escape from it was his goal. But unlike most mornings, this time he wouldn’t be doing it alone. After restarting a healthy stream of texting with her, Ghost had been able to persuade Valentina Branwen to take the instructor position that Harper Day had vacated after the mysterious disappearance of her brother, Finn. Ghost considered Val something between an old friend, bitter rival, fellow gambler, and respected peer from his own initiation class. Like him, Val had an insatiable liking for playing games and betting money on their outcomes. For most of their initiation, he and Val had been little more than strangers, until one fateful conversation had revealed that spades was among her favorite card games. Even more impressive was the fact that she played like it was one of her favorite card games, too, and in little time Val had become Ghost’s preferred spades partner. They’d grown apart over the past few months when financial hardship had turned gambling on cards into a luxury Ghost could no longer afford. But now that he commanded a small, illegal fortune, courtesy of Alex and Leah’s father, perhaps Ghost’s resolve would change in the near future.
Perhaps even more important than being a spades player, Val was also a smoking buddy. And unlike whenever Charlie caught him smoking, Val was unaware of the severity of Ghost’s affinity for psychoactive drugs and never admonished him for taking another hit. Which was good when Ghost was bringing enough product to stupefy a grizzly bear to his rooftop rendezvous with Val. At eight-thirty in the morning, the summer sun was a bright and burning yolk of color, promising heat later in the day. But at a height of several hundred feet above the city, the air was whisper thin and frigid, stinging the lungs when drawn too enthusiastically. Ghost was dressed simply but elegantly in a smoky-gray collared shirt and slacks, with a thin leather jacket the color of sienna thrown over top. Outside of the protection of his pockets, Ghost’s hands were cold. Today the wind was only a mild inconvenience, which was a good thing; on particularly windy days when they went to smoke on the rooftop, he and Val would be unable to get a light on the product.
When Ghost emerged through the trapdoor in the center of the roof, Valentina was already there waiting for him. Over the roaring wind, it was very possible that she didn’t hear his entry, as she was sitting cross-legged and with her back to him as she gazed out over the city ruins and didn’t immediately turn around. That, or perhaps she was confident enough in her capacity for self-defense that she didn’t need her eyes to track a potential threat. Must be nice, Ghost thought with chagrin. Yesterday alone there were a half-dozen instances when he’d jumped to attention, envisioning Jeremy Daniels lurking close by or hearing his sonorous voice, only to discover that an overactive imagination had gotten the better of him. Presently Ghost’s nerves felt like cracked glass, and he’d been keenly looking forward to this smoking session for days.
Half a minute passed in which Ghost paused to analyze his friendly rival before he felt the need to announce his presence. As was her custom, Val wore a hood that cloaked her head and shoulders in shadow but didn’t entirely conceal the dark ginger dreadlocks spilling from it. Although her shawl hung loose on her, Val’s broad shoulders and lean musculature were still apparent. She was a Dauntless woman through and through.
Behind her, Ghost’s face broke into a toothy grin. Already he was mentally working out his earliest availability for a card game, where they would go for it, and who their opponents would be. Almost shouting to be audible over the wind, he called, “Hey there, pretty lady. Am I interrupting your meditation? If so, I can always come back later, but I can’t promise that I’ll still have adequate supplies.” From where she was seated, Val twisted halfway around, her spine a vertical, supple column. Her beauty was an exotic kind, with an aquiline, almost perfectly straight nose and eyes that turned up slightly at the corners, giving her a distinctly feline quality. She retorted sarcastically, and Ghost smirked a little as he approached and took a seat on the rooftop beside her, sprawling his legs but keeping a respectful distance. Valentina Branwen was a woman of stunning beauty and razor-sharp wit. Logically, Ghost felt as though he should have been attracted to her in a romantic context, and even though they’d seen one another at their lowest, most messed-up states of intoxication, no affection had ever transpired between them. Ghost valued Val as both a gambling partner and opponent, and he knew better than to mix business and love.
He fussed with an array of zippers on the inside of his jacket, hidden from public view. His hand emerged with two narrow, slightly lopsided cylinders wrapped in leafy tan sheaths twisted closed at one end. “They’re different strains, so do you mind if we share? That way we get the best of both worlds. I also brought a special something, if you’re interested.” From a different pocket, Ghost withdrew a long, dark, and shriveled husk that bore little resemblance to the mushrooms in nature. Val had an expertly trained poker face, but the close observer could see the decision warring in her flashing eyes, in the little scowl her mouth made whenever she thought hard about something. Ghost understood her hesitation. In less than an hour training would begin, and they’d have a job to do and responsibilities to fulfill. And if they took the more sophisticated hallucinogen, there would be no way that the effects would deplete by that time. “Not scared, are you?” he taunted, smiling wolfishly. “Where’s your Dauntless spirit, Valentina?”
As she thought it over, Ghost put the first blunt between his lips, flicked a shiny red lighter, and a smoldering ember appeared at the twisted-off end. As he was usually the supplier when they smoked together, Ghost made a point to always take the first hit, just to ensure that he wasn’t giving Val a product laced with something harder than they were bargaining for—which had only ever happened once. It hadn’t been a good trip for Ghost then, but it would have been worse without Val to help him through it. He took a drag and, finding that the blunt was ordinary, handed it off to Val and lit the second one. Her face was wreathed in a lattice filigree of white smoke when she exhaled. Figuring that it would be best to ease in with conventional conversation while they were still sober and ungodly ridiculousness could come later, Ghost said, “I really appreciate you taking the job like I asked. So tell me, what has my favorite spades partner been up to all this time? Don’t tell me you’ve been playing with someone else; I’ll be terribly jealous if that’s the case.”
Nerdy.
Nerdy
Griffon ||
Griffon's week had been eventful for someone such as he. Usually his weeks went by and he would remember little else than the faces that had made an appearance within them, but for once, his weeks had been so delightfully eventful that even Griffon could remember them without the need for his journal, although the journal in mention did have everything so tactfully written down. After that fateful day, where he had made Fable's worst fears come true, he had begged for her forgiveness, expecting to be seen as a fiend. However, Fable had forgiven him almost immediately, and had begged him not to keep it as a guilty memory, and she had enjoyed the bouquet of flowers he had picked her, and being remarkably creative had dried them out so that she now kept them at the foot of her bed. They had spent much time making up for that small and awful portion of enmity, and Fable had opened up to how she desired to be known by her new last name that she had chosen, and he had supported her without a seconds thought. She had, indeed, never suited her parents last name, in fact it had felt more of a cage to that life which hadn't wanted her, now she had chosen a name befitting of who she was, and Griffon felt emboldened by her desires. Strangely, he was surprised when she invited him to take the same name as her, saying that he didn't deserve their parent's last name either. Griffon had thought about it for a long time, as he realized that it meant a lot to Fable, and had told her he would think about it. Though it had been a beautiful offer, he couldn't find it within himself to take her new last name, as he felt that he wasn't deserving of such a name, and it would feel like claiming allegiance to Fable, rather than to Cas. From his heart, he was allied and connected to both, neither one was more or less important to him, they were both his sisters, and he would give up his life for them in an instant. Before he could come back to Fable though on the next day, Cas had invited him out, saying that she had forgotten to tell him something, and that it was really important. He was worried and of course he went straight away to find out what it was that was so important that Cas had forgotten about. When he arrived at the dorms to talk to her, he was surprised to find it decorated and lit up happily, and some of his closest friends there. Lacking Thorn... Cas, Fable, Chet, Lainey, Bloom, Beck, Aya, Yuri and even Charlie showed up, wishing him a happy birthday! Griffon had forgotten that it was his birthday, and so it had been a welcome surprise. They celebrated his 17th birthday party happily with some food and treats and a few presents. It was there that Griffon told everyone that he no longer wished to have a last name, but that he wished to be known simply as Griffon. Later that evening, Cas had taken him and Fable away separately and had let them know that it was actually Griffon's 18th birthday, as he was a year older than he had been thought of as a child, when adopted.
Thus, a week later, now 18 and being known only by his first name, Griffon honestly felt like a slightly different man. He felt new, somehow, and refreshed. He still was forgetful and he still had his normal Abnegation ways that he stuck to like glue, but there was something new in him, some vigor to do better, some enthusiasm for life. Thus, it was this new courage and voracity in him that spurred him on this day to take him where he was going. He had compiled a few of his journals and was going to review a few of them, especially the ones of his fear sims that had been edited by Cas. When he had showed them to her, and talked them through with her about what he had experienced during the sim, she had let him know which parts were simply the simulation, and which parts were, in fact, real memories. They had both been surprised to learn that many of them had been those actual memories, and only details had been the simulation. Cas had instructed him to read through them each morning, and to try remember anything more, and write that down too. It was strenuous and honestly felt exhausting and stressful for Griffon to do so, as he never felt like he was getting very far, but every so often he would find another memory, even just the tiniest thing, and he would write it down, and Cas would review it. It seemed hopeful, that maybe he would be able to get his old memories back, that maybe he would be able to stop losing memories. Even now, he was retaining memories easier, yet they were still foggy and hazy and needed to be reminded by the journals he kept. yet he held hope, as each time a memory resurfaced he was invigorated. He had begun to find pleasant ways to sit down and try and remember things, and he had found a beautiful love of sketching. It started out with simple sketches of his surroundings, but as each day went on, he found joy in mixing the reality of what was around him with the memories he was receiving. He would begin by sitting and drawing what was in front of him, and then he would try and remember anything at all from his past, and he would draw that too. This new love of sketching had drawn him to make a new friend, Aya. Aya had always been a friend of Cas, from her life in Erudite, and Griffon had had some small interactions with the lovely girl. But it had been an accidental chance moment where the two had bumped into each other on a rooftop one early morning in order to sketch the rising sun, that they had begun to become fast friends.
Griffon began to climb the steps to that same rooftop as he carried his satchels of journals and sketches. They had never said that they would make it a habit to sketch together in the mornings, but for the last couple of days they had both begun to do so at the same time, and had seemed to enjoy the moments together before anyone was there. Griffon hoped to take Aya to the garden he had found a week ago, as he knew she would be able to do a beautiful drawing of it, and he wanted to show her the beauty that could be found there. It didn't take Griffon long to reach the rooftop, he had found that it didn't take him long to reach anywhere nowdays, not only because his memory was improving, but also because of the way his body had improved and strengthened over the period of training. The last week of fear sims had been rather stimulating from his memory's point of view, yet the struggle was in braving the fear and overcoming it in a Dauntless-like fashion. He wasn't very Dauntless like in the way that people like Aubrey, Bloom or Val were, but he had been told that he was very good at being brave, it just generally stemmed from his desire to look out for others, rather than from a desire to be brave. The final staircase to the rooftop did cause Griffon to pant a bit, as he was going a bit faster than he should have been, and so he took a small break, listening to the waterfall of the chasm that was now far below him. A few moments later and he had finished the climb, walking out onto the rooftop. It took him a few moments to realize that he had gotten here first, or so he thought. He began to stretch, wishing now that he had stretched before making the climb, and felt his body complain slightly from the sudden exertion. That was when Aya's voice piped up to tease him, calling him an "old man". Griffon jumped noticeably, spinning around so quickly he began to see a few stars in his vision, before relaxing as he saw Aya sitting on a section of the roof that had been hidden to his sight when he had first walked out. "You gave me a fright, I thought I had beaten you up here this morning." He said with a smile. He sheepishly laughed as he walked over with his satchel and sat beside her. Digging through it for a small moment, he reached in and pulled out a dark red, leather bound book that was mostly untouched. "I got given so many new journals at my birthday, I was wondering if you wanted to have this one." He passed the book to her, watching as she unlatched it and began to flick through it. She began to say that he must be mistaken, as it had a bit of his writing and sketching in it. "Oh... I didn't realize that was one I owned already! Let me have a look." He said, blushing in embarrassment as he looked through. Unlike his journals, this one had mostly poems and drawings that were from his life in Abnegation, rather than Dauntless. It had only been filled in a little bit, and was mostly still blank. "I thought this was one of my new ones, hence why I wanted to give it to you. I can give you one of the other ones if you like, but if you wanted this one you can have it, I don't even remember writing or drawing these... They're mostly just little poems and sketches I did as a kid." He watched her, waiting for her response.
Interacting with: Aya
Wolfiee
