Realistic or Modern Family Ties: 1980s Gangs - IC (Ended)

[BasDorcha]

Harper's Place
Jeremy Gray​

Her eyes meeting his ignited a deep yearning in his chest that mentally he shoved back into a box in his mind and ignored. There was one thing Jeremy was good at, it was bottling up unneeded emotions and throwing the bottle away. As he watched her looking awkward he pretended not to notice it either. The only give away would be the deadlock eyes they were sharing. If eyes were windows to the soul, he wondered what his must look like on the one place his body couldn’t forcibly control.

“You’re welcome.” His voice changed just a minor octave, gentling a bit, and for a moment, it felt like the would maybe get back to normal one day. He was equally surprised though when Harper began apologizing in return. More attentive then he had been since their night in the hospital, he watched her, mentally memorizing the moment. He didn’t respond immediately, he had the feeling she wasn’t done, and he was right, she continued, bringing a grin to his face. Typical Harper, always had more to say.

A nod broke the surface when she talked about control. He could understand why she felt that way, Bruce and Spencer had always kept a tight lock on her, even when they were all much younger – it seemed the family was worried about losing the last great gift Laura had given the world. “I had some time to think about it while I was in Dublin and all. I’m going to talk to Bruce about letting up, figure you deserve it after all you been through. I don’t know how much he’ll listen to me, but I’ll give it a shot.” He paused, letting it sink in what he said while he looked at his own cup, swirling the warm liquid. Once it was brewed, he dropped two sugars in and some milk he’d brought with the kettle.

“I didn’t do it, for the record…” the words drifted between them as his cheeks pinked a bit. “I promise, listen and hear what I have to say, then we’ll never talk about it again if you don’t want. I still don’t get why you turned me down, regardless of what you say, I think you feel what I feel, in your own way.” He stopped her, holding up a hand because he was sure he had something to say to that, “You don’t owe me an explanation. I’m not asking for one. I respect your decision. I went out that night looking to try your brothers advice, let someone else distract me. Only that didn’t work, because I couldn’t get your face out of mind.” Shrugging, he kept his eyes on his tea swirling it again.

“I know, pretty silly to hear a guy say that, but it ain’t about all that for me, and I couldn’t be that person. Kit got me back to the hospital and I slept sitting outside the door all night. I don’t know how normal guys do it, I know I’m not normal in any case, but my feelings don’t depend on you returning them. I can care, even if you don’t want me to. I can want to see you protected, even if you are strong enough to protect yourself, and that goes the same for the rest of ‘em.” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, so he left it at that.

“So, you’re just gonna have to deal with it. Just one more thing to annoy your soul while you’re dealing with me. Hey, better the enemy you know then the stranger you don’t though, yeah. So leave it, I’m a grown man, I can handle your choice, and I will still be your friend, and I know you’ll be mine, so we’re okay. Just give me some time to readjust.” This time the smile was more natural, more classic Jeremy. “Don’t you worry your stubborn head off. You got plenty of other things to be stubborn about.”

Interaction Bellz - Harper[/imagefloat]

 

[BasDorcha]

Le Hospital
Michelle Romano​

Michelle watched the man with a smile. He seemed nice enough, and not a thing about him made her think about her ex, which was nice. Lately it felt like she was thinking on it much more then she wanted to and missing her old life. Yes, she had family here, but she was not exactly around a lot before the divorce, and it was like getting to know people all over again. She had already gotten off to a rough start with Aliana and Aunt Sin, so she had to repair that. She also knew that her father was not going to be happy about it, and they were sure to have words about it at some time, probably when he was feeling better. Right now all she cared about was him getting better.

It wouldn’t be fair to get back to Dublin, having finally carved out a piece of her life to get back into her fathers on a deeper level, to lose him already. It made her realize the only important thing was to find the time to get to know this side of her life better. Even with family, holidays can’t teach you everything about the. There was nothing like living day in and day out around people to get to know them better.

“Things certainly can change in the blink of an eye. I know that too well. I just recently moved back from Portugal. I lived there for a while, got married there, had kids there. Two, actually. They’re with their father right now, until I get fully settled here. I can’t wait to get them home though, school will be starting back soon.” She smiled, a warm smile of someone that truly loved the person they were speaking about – it was evident she was a mother who deeply adored her children.

“It’s quite a change, being up here, but I like it. It feels a bit nostalgic being back. Enough about me though, tell me about you. Obviously, you’ve been a soldier. Possibly did something bad or were in the wrong place at the wrong time because you were in prison. Must like the rough life,” she grinned, “because you’re back to it with my family. Maybe that means you’re a glutton for trouble.” There was a teasing tone to her voice as she caught his eyes, waiting for his answer.

interactions BloodThunder27 - Edwards

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Her Apartment
~ London ~ ​

Harper’s brows rose as Jeremy mentioned talking to her Uncle about letting up. While she 100% appreciated the support and at that moment, she was starting to see Jeremy as a man who respected her space and personal dignity…she knew it would be hopeless for the both of them. Looking him up and down for a moment with a small smirk, she wondered what exactly changed about him. "That might have been the most attractive thing to ever grace this perky lips of yours." Harper said daringly, watching Jeremy for any sort of reaction before looking away from him. "If you don’t already know, I’m in deep shit with him and my brothers. Talking to Trevor has sent them all into a protective frenzy. And since he’s waltzing around London at this very moment, they aren’t going to let him near me again or vice versa." The woman said, her voice beginning to sound tired as she yawned.

Looking away from him, she looked towards her sliding glass doors that led out onto the patio for a long moment before he spoke again. He said that he didn’t do it. Harper’s head snapped back a little too quickly to look at him, causing her vision to blur slightly as her head spun struggling to focus on his face, completely missing the coloring of his cheeks. Harper was ready to open her mouth, wanting to say that she wasn’t willing to talk about that night but he promised her that if she just listened that he would never talk about it again.

Sighing softly, Harper moved to bring her cup of tea to her lips, trying to distract herself from the ever-growing pain that she was feeling. Emotionally and physically that was. She was itching to go grab her pain meds from the room, but she knew she couldn’t be as free with them with Jeremy around. He then stated that he wasn’t sure why she turned him down and Harper rolled her eyes, still biting her tongue as she continued to let him speak. He said that he thought that she felt the same way he did.

Harper was one who hated to admit when someone was right but in her mind, she knew he was right. In her own way, Harper did feel things for the man sitting before her. If she had been in a more stable state of mind, she would have had no hesitation in acting on those feelings but Jeremy didn’t deserve the mess she was in and it would be painful for the both of them to entertain the idea of some sort of relationship while she was going through shit. He said that he respected her decision and Harper wasn’t sure what to think of that.

She didn’t have a lot of people fighting in her corner any longer. Maybe it was because she had spent most of her life convincing people that she could handle herself or maybe everyone around her was too busy having their own shit to deal with but Harper didn’t feel as supported as she once did. Harper didn’t feel like she could come to her brothers for advice anymore, or to have them be a shoulder she could cry on. She felt that she couldn’t trust them with her addiction to know what to do. They were already upset with her for speaking to Trevor. Her Uncle was also not happy with her and while she was sure she could turn to him about her continuing addiction, there was a guilt that she couldn’t get over. It was bad enough that she looked exactly like his dead sister — her mother. She didn’t want him to have to suffer through the same thing twice.

Her silence about her own struggles was partially because she knew everyone else around her couldn’t handle any more issues. No one had extended a hand to her, given her a choice to speak…Trevor had done that the other day she’d spoken with him and it left a mark. She was sure that Trevor had been severely punished but Harper couldn’t stay away. Jeremy went on to say that he left the hospital trying to get her brother's advice — to have someone distract him.

It was interesting to hear that he couldn’t get her face out of his head, considering the mess he’d left her in at the hospital. Jeremy finished speaking and Harper wasn’t sure what to say. He smiled much more naturally at her but she couldn’t smile back. Her need to have someone understand what she was going through, someone she could confide in for just a moment was becoming too strong as her eyes watered and her lower lip trembled suddenly.

Finally, she forced herself to stand. The crutches were beside her but she didn’t want to be bothered to grab them in her haste as she started to walk quickly. The blonde knew that she was probably walking in the most unattractive way that anyone had ever walked but once she reached her destination, she was standing in front of Jeremy staring down at him intently. "You know you are the most frustrating, annoying, and stubborn person I’ve ever met." She huffed with her usual bit of sass but before he could say anything back, she pressed her finger against his lips. "Just shut up." Harper said with a small smile before the finger on his lip slid down his face and she hooked her hand under his chin.

Placing her free hand firmly on her table, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his hotly. For a few moments of pure nirvana, Harper just let herself enjoy the kiss selfishly. She hadn’t been able to enjoy it before and although she knew that after this one what she had to say wasn’t going to be pleasing to Jeremy — she wanted to pretend that everything was as it should be. When she pulled away, she stood up straight and looked down at him. "You’re right, I do feel the same way you feel about me. But I can’t risk losing you like I could lose my brother and you can’t risk losing me. You’re a sucker for romance so you know just as well as I do that when you and I are meant to be together, we will be." Harper murmured to him, hoping that he understood that despite the kiss there wasn’t anything else going to happen between them at the moment.

"I’ve got to go lay down. Help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen…" She said as she started limping away, making it clear that she didn’t want to be followed or stopped. Just as she got to her door, Harper turned to look at Jeremy for a long moment. "Thanks for putting up with me, Jere…it…means more to me than you know." Swallowing hard, she opened her door and limped inside before shutting the door behind her locking it, pressing her back against it as she closed her heavy eyes.
with: Jeremy BasDorcha

 

[Pyroclast]

Thomas Porter's Apartment
~ Dublin City Centre, Dublin ~

Elena Velazco​

Though there was no humour to be heard in Thomas’ tone, Elena still gave him a playful glare when he suggested he ought to be the one looking after her and not the other way around. “Hmmm,” she hummed, a teasing smile playing on her lips. “Adam, for who I fix his arm?” Leaning into him, she reached up with her free hand and dared to stroke his bicep with her finger. “I can take care of Adam, and me, and you. There is no ‘supposed to’!” She tilted her head, her teasing smile now softening as she gazed fondly into his eyes. “But you take care of me well, Tomás, even if you are in bed in the day. You give me a place to live, and you are kind to me…Before you, I was nowhere.”

Seeing him shift and plant his feet on the floor already got Elena’s hopes up, so when he suggested getting out of the house and going somewhere together, she gasped with delight. “You mean it?” Elena jumped to her feet and took a step back, allowing him some space, but really she wanted to leap into his arms. “Ah! Okay…bueno, déjame pensar…” Smiling from ear to ear, Elena thought carefully about the kind of place that could be good to ease Thomas into. Being a late Thursday afternoon, she didn’t expect that the city would be getting too rowdy yet, but it was starting to get dark, so that ruled out outdoor activities such as strolling through the park. “Mmm…¿qué tal si vamos a la bolera? Um - bowling? I think that there is food there, so you can eat something finally, and we can have a fun evening together!”

Fighting the urge to rush up and kiss him in case he was still feeling on edge, Elena danced over to the door, looking back at him with a beaming smile on her way out. “I put on nice clothes and then we go, okay?”

Practically singing to herself, Elena put on a short dress and tights, with a loose-knit cardigan over the top. She was sure she would get cold, but she cared more that Thomas saw her and found her beautiful. Besides, the happiness coursing through her she was certain would be enough to alleviate the discomfort of the cool evening air. After putting on some make-up and arranging her hair, she slipped on her high heels and moved out to find Thomas, smiling up to her eyes with excitement. “Are we ready?”

Interactions
Bellz Tomás

 

[BasDorcha]

Harper's Place
Jeremy Gray​

As the woman’s eyes looked him up and down, Jeremy felt a tingle run through his skin. He didn’t have to watch her watching him to feel her gaze. At the mention of attractive things gracing his lips, he shuffled embarrassedly, but listened anyways, swishing the now empty cup before him, the leaves that escaped the bag swirling around the bottom of his cup. Nodding his head, he confirmed what she suggested about her being in a bad way with her family. They were not happy in the slightest about Trevor.

Bruce had specifically told him to make sure that Trevor was not around Harper, especially once he came back from Dublin and they had found out about Harper meeting her father in the bar. If one thing was clear, there was a line in the sand with Harper and family on one side and Trevor on the other. Who would test that line, was another matter altogether. Jeremy was lost in thought about this when Harper looked away from him towards the glass window, and he began to speak again. He missed her being both attentive and distracted at the same time. That was why he didn’t see her head spinning when she turned back.

When he had finished speaking and her lower lip trembled, he shifted the cup around, looking away. If she cried, he didn’t know what he’d do, that was one thing he didn’t know how to defend against. He wasn’t sure he could keep his calm if she started crying right now, that he wouldn’t rush her and wrap his arms around her. To his shock, she started speaking and walking to him instead. A flash of worry crossed his features his hands in front of him to catch her in case she fell with her boot. A heat he couldn’t control coated his skin, flushing him. Why his anxiety and anticipation shot through the roof, as if subconsciously he knew what was coming, all happened to fast for him to piece together.

Even as she was complaining about him, she was beautiful. When her finger touched his lips, it scorched them with an invisible mark. Without realizing it, he held his breath. The sensation continued as she dragged her finger down, and grasped his chin. As her hand hit the table, his came up to meet it, barely touching his finger tips to hers like a mirrored image, the other hovered between them as his mind processed the kiss. It felt like an eternity, but in reality, it only took half a second for Jeremy to respond, the hand moving up to grasp the back of her neck and deepen the kiss, fingers gentle tangling in her hair.

The moment she moved away, he released and dropped his hands back down, to his lap, a glazed but accepting look to his eye. He struggled to breath, swallowing several times as he could only nod silently. She was in her room before time caught up to him again, and before he could stop himself, he had walked to her door, a hand lifted to knock, but it didn’t. He stood there, thinking, fighting the feeling of chasing after her as logic told him he had this small victory due to respecting her space. After a moment, he stepped away, back to the living room where he fell backwards across the couch, staring at the ceiling, lost in his own world.

Finally, he exhaled and a very big, stupid, shit eating grin crossed his face.

Interactions: Bellz - Devil Woman

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Spencer King​

As soon as he entered the pub, Spencer took a look around. He noticed Darcey in conversation with Christian and May before he saw Alex with Kerry. Presumably the barmaid had finished her shift and wasn't slacking off in light of him not being around in the last week, but that then raised the question as to why she was sat having a drink with his brother. It didn't bother Spencer if there was something between Alex and the barmaid, it was more the fact that if there was then it was yet another thing he didn't know about one of his siblings.

Bruce seemed keen to get them into the meeting judging by the way he'd commanded Alex and Darcey to join him the moment Spencer ad Billy had walked into the pub. Spencer made his way behind the bar first, grabbing himself a bottle of beer from the fridge and popping the cap off before he entered the office. Despite the argument and ongoing issues he had with his uncle, Spencer still took his place in the seat next to his right side. The atmosphere would be uncomfortable enough without upsetting the order of things by forcing the others to rethink where they should sit as well as be left distracted by what was going on between the two usually close men.

When Bruce began addressing everyone, Spencer knocked back some of his beer, soon stopping as he heard his uncle say something needed to be addressed as a family. For a short moment, he wondered if this meeting was actually about the argument they had, not to mention Spencer's lack of involvement in the business over the last week. Surely that would have been something Bruce would have spoken with him directly about before involving the others. However, as his uncle continued and mentioned Christian had been running some background checks, Spencer immediately figured this had something to do with Trevor. Perhaps Christian had found out something significant about him - apparently whatever it was was presented to them as likely to shock. Spencer wasn't sure what could shock him anymore as far as Trevor was concerned. When he'd heard his father and Harper had spoken with each other the previous week he'd wanted to go to the man's house and stop him from seeing her, or anyone else, again. However, he was still feeling held back by the concerns he had about the man having the balls to risk his life by showing up; the potential insurance or leverage he could have to threaten them with if they tried to kill him.

Hearing that May was Trevor's daughter felt like a punch to his heart. Spencer was somehow able to stay silent at first; utilising the skills he'd learned over the years to control himself and consider his words first. It was difficult, but Billy and Alex both speaking up first had helped buy Spencer some time to maintain his composure. He brought the bottle to his mouth and had another swig as Bruce confirmed to Billy she was their half-sister. Alex didn't hold back his words and his dislike for the fact he should care about May; Trevor's bastard child. "So... what? A couple of years after our mum died and we'd all had our lives messed up, Trevor was still out fucking random women?" Spencer scoffed. "I wish I was surprised. That piece of shit..." he said, shaking his head. Spencer had at the least been hoping every year Trevor was gone was unpleasant for the man, but it sounded like he'd just continued to sleep around and please himself.

Bruce went on to say he believed it was the right thing to tell May the truth, but it was clear that could end up bringing Trevor back into their lives. His uncle went on to say they were going to have a vote as it was the three brothers who would be affected by the decision. Spencer was surprised the man was giving them input at all and not just making the decision for them, but that was merely the ongoing fallout of his argument with the man making Spencer think in a stubborn manner.

Before Billy could speak up on Bruce's command, Darcey interrupted to apparently fight May's corner. She explained that it wasn't her fault who her parents were, nor did she know either side to belong to one of them. Whilst Spencer understood what Darcey was saying about it being unfair to keep this secret from May, he had to wonder if telling her the truth would be worse. He wouldn't want to find out his father was a waste of space, as it was bad enough having a childhood with the man and seeing it with his own eyes. But at the same time, he'd want to know who his parents were if he'd spent his life unaware - did everyone deserve the truth, no matter how unpleasant? Spencer didn't have any issues with May, but he wasn't sure what implications this would have on his siblings nor the fact it could bring Trevor into their lives when they were commanding he stayed away.

Spencer stayed quiet, sitting back in his seat as he took a long drink from his bottle. He was keen to hear his brothers' thoughts on the matter, especially as Bruce had gone straight to Billy to ask for his thoughts and vote.

Pyroclast (Bruce, Billy)
Melanin-Gxdess (Darcey, Alex)

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Dublin Hospital
~Dublin City Center, Dublin~
Aliana Sullivan​

Ali had nearly forgotten about the vacation that had been mentioned a few months ago. She was so used to things coming up in their crazy, lives that it wasn't really something she thought would happen. Something always got in the way and until she was on a plane to their destination she would hold her breath. However, this time around, she felt would be different. Maybe they would be able to actually go on that vacation and enjoy themselves for once. "We can all go together. I'm sure the two of us will find plenty of opportunities to sneak off and be alone," she said, winking at him with a smile. "The girls will like that, though. Especially Sydney." Ali then walked over to a nearby table to grab the stack of drawings she'd made for Conor. "She already has the two of you on adventures together."

Aliana nodded her head in understanding at his words, making a mental note to pass on the message. "Of course, I have a few stops to make later so I can do that too." At the mention of leaving Emery in charge, she couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle. She'd always thought it would be Savannah with the sparky personality when they grew up, but it was Emery instead. Watching her grow up had been nothing shy of entertaining with the amounts of arguments and fights she would get into. "So long as no one gets on her nerves, that is. She's very easily triggered and doesn't really care about what comes out of her mouth so... I'll keep an ear out in case." She reassured, anticipating things to go wrong. She had faith in her niece, sure, she just didn't have faith in other people.

The woman would have to be blind not to see the surprised look her husband was giving her. It was no secret that Ali had tried and failed for years to get out of the mob business. When James decided to step down, leaving Conor to take over, it was clear it was never going to happen. Though it felt like she had accepted that fact, she hadn't. Not really, anyway. Keeping herself out of the loop had been her attempt at maintaining what little control over her life she had. She figured if she just managed businesses and took care of their kids she could pretend her life was normal - that her husband was just a powerful and influential businessman. And for the past 13 years, it worked. The moment the Morettis stepped foot in Dublin and kidnapped her and Leo, however, that facade had been broken. Hearing that he thought it was what she wanted, she nodded. "Because I didn't want to be. I don't know what happened to me between the moves from Dublin to New York and back to Dublin but I think... I think I got softer. After getting revenge for Tommy's death I felt like a new, stronger person. That I could handle anything - including the mob life. But I don't know. After Leonard died and we had Leo something changed and I wasn't that person anymore."

"But I want to be again," she continued. "For you." Ali looked at him with a determined gleam in her eyes, wanting to show him how serious she was about her decision. She'd always hated what being a crime family had brought about but it was time to really accept it and get over it. She let out a soft laugh when he said he wasn't guaranteeing that he would always agree with her. "Oh, trust me. I know," she said, playfully rolling her eyes. He then mentioned finding out a way to enjoy time together, to which Ali responded, "I'm sure we can figure it out. You still have to come to bed at night and lucky for you, I now have practice staying up late." After placing a gentle kiss on his lips, she glanced at her watch while he started to bring up drinking again. "I'm positive, however, I'm sure the nurses have something even better for that. Do I need to call them for you?"



Conor ( Misty Gray )

Training Area
~Dublin, Ireland~

Leo Sullivan

​

James' voice telling him the targets were down the field caused Leo to begin tapping the weapon against his thigh. His uncle was right, of course, and Leo had no real intentions of shooting Tom, to begin with. But with all the trust issues being built up within him he couldn't be too careful. For all he knew Tom could be telling them this now to distract him from some bigger picture - some bigger event that was taking place. Like when he and Ali got taken. Like when he and Thomas were distracted while Conor was beaten up. Leo was learning to question everything and trust no one, causing him to think irrationally. However, seeing how calm his uncle had been - someone with far more experience with these things than he - he took it as a sign that he was safe and things were going to be okay. And if they weren't, well, he can count on good ole Uncle Jimmy to get him out of a bad situation!

Leo slowly set the gun back down as Tom began to calmly respond to his question. The man's response didn't sit well with him, but he wasn't going to talk about it here and now. Instead, he listened as he informed him that he found out about his genealogy a month ago. Seeing as his world and everyone else's had been going crazy he guessed there wasn't a chance for the information to be told. Tom then informed him he wanted to build his own reputation up before saying anything, causing Leo to roll his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, that's smart," he started, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Anyone tell you we're a family full o' skeptics? Hiding information like that ain't smart," he warned. Not in a threatening sort of way, but because he truly thought it to be stupid. "Does Conor know?" He asked, looking between Tom and James. "He'd want to, wouldn't he? Sort of a big one." Leo took a seat, taking a deep heavy breath. "Well. I guess. Welcome to the family, or something?"

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond - especially with so much shit going on. Not that he hadn't felt anything when Tom said they were related; he had, but it was being suppressed by his worries and other things at the moment. "I guess I don't have to be suspicious of you after you took care of my mom and aunt the other day so..." He trailed off, trying to get his thoughts together. "Anyway," he started, wanting to change the subject, "Um, Uncle J I... Have a question for you." He glanced over to Tom to try and determine if he should be asking this in front of him and decided it wasn't serious enough to ask in private. "When you took over... How did you know it was the right thing to do?"

​

James ( Misty Gray ) Tom ( BasDorcha )

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Trevor's Place
~ Somewhere in London I'm assuming ~ ​

Harper stayed with her back pressed against her bedroom door as she listened as Jeremy walked towards it. Holding her breath, she wondered if he was going to knock on her door, effectively ruining her plan. Had she kissed him just to soften him up enough to where she could easily escape? Harper wasn’t one to kiss and tell. She liked the kiss and would do it again but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t use it to her advantage. Harper wasn’t perfect, okay? Jeremy would get over it. She’d make sure her Uncle didn’t go off on him for her escaping but if everything went according to plan, Harper would be able to sneak back into her place before anyone realized she was gone.

Quietly limping to her bed, she stuffed a few pillows underneath the blankets to make it look like her in the darkness of her room. Having done this one too many times before, Harper considered herself a bit of an expert when it came to sneaking out of the house. She just didn’t imagine she would be doing this at 24 years old…in her own apartment. Sighing, she made quick work — heading to her already open window, grabbing her already packed backpack on her way to it. Looking down, she placed her backpack on. Harper was skeptical of the rusty old fire escape that seemed to be barely holding on even without any weight on it. Knowing it was her only option, Harper bit the inside of her cheek. Looking to her bedroom door for the last time, she swung her good leg over the windowsill before swinging her booted one over. The fire escaped groaned under her weight and Harper quickly but quietly moved to the ladder part of it, wasting no time climbing down it as quietly as she could.

What she hadn’t anticipated was the couple foot drop at the end of the ladder and as she hung and looked down, she suddenly became really nervous. If she was in good working condition, it would have been no challenge for her to just drop into the bushes below. Knowing that landing on her feet was the last thing she could do, Harper decided that it would probably be best to let the bushes break her fall. Taking a deep breath, she let go of the ladder and fell into the bushes, holding her breath as she did her best not to make a sound as the bushes scratched the hell out of her.

Rolling out of the bushes, Harper struggled to stand on her own but once she was able to she had a big smile on her face. Knowing that men would most likely be watching the building from the front, Harper headed to the alleyway where her garbage bins normally sat, heading straight past them as she moved behind her apartment building. The blonde had everything planned out perfectly, so much so that the bus she needed to take arrived at the stop right on time. After placing the money in the slot to pay for the fare, Harper moved to sit at the back of the bus as she placed a pair of sunglass on, moving to pull her hoodie over her head in order to conceal herself a little better.

It had taken some digging, but Harper had been able to find Trevor’s address. It seemed like her family had made a huge effort to try and cover up any trace of him for her but Harper tended to work both smarter and harder to get something she wanted. The bus ride allowed her to think about what she wanted to say to her father. There were so many questions she had after meeting with him the first time and her own curiosity was what was driving her in this effort to talk to him. That — and he seemed to be the only one who actually understood what she might be going through.

The bus ride didn’t take too long and soon she was dropped off in the general vicinity of the flat he was in. Looking at the buildings, she had memorized the address in her head and when she spotted the building, her heart skipped a beat. Biting her bottom lip, Harper limped to the building and before she knew it, she was standing in front of his door.

As she reached her hand up, it hesitated in knocking almost like some sort of force was keeping it from proceeding. Harper stared at the door for a long time, working up the courage to knock. All of the things that could go wrong played in her head, she knew how much trouble she was going to get into if she was caught. She knew how much trouble Jeremy could get into…was it worth it? Harper had thought it was all the way over but now here she was, facing Trevor’s door and second-guessing herself.

Letting out a short grunt of frustration, Harper determined that if she was going to get in trouble for sneaking out that she might as well get something out of it and deal with the consequences when they arose. Knocking firmly on the door, she patiently waited for Trevor to hopefully answer it.
with: Trevor Misty Gray
mentions: Lover boy BasDorcha

 

[Misty Gray]

Trevor's House
~ Islington, London ~

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor's rented terraced house was situated in a normal kind of working class neighbourhood. Outside, the kids played on the street as they waited for their parents to call them in for their evening meal. Neighbours chatted over their front garden fences and familiar faces passed them by as they walked their dogs along the pavement. Trevor's car was parked up in his driveway, which was all paved with a few potted plants on the ground beneath the windows which Trevor had forgotten to water in the last two weeks.

Inside the house, Trevor's voice was heard coming from the living room as he spoke on the telephone. He'd had to balance the receiver between his ear and shoulder so he could note down some figures on his writing pad with his left hand. His right hand was wrapped in a bandage as it had been for the last week. The Kings had found out about Trevor and Harper speaking with each other in the pub. It hadn't taken long for Kane to show up at Trevor's place. He refused the initial instruction to get into Kane's car, but the giant's way of asking the second time was more painful that the first. Trevor knew better than to test what would happen if he angered the big guy. Of course, it was really Bruce who wanted to deal with Trevor, so he was taken to the King boss where he was smacked around a couple of times and made to sit down to listen to Bruce's commands. Trevor was told to stay away from Harper, to which the man made a comment about his daughter being his business and pointing out the fact they'd only bumped into each other by accident. By the end of the interaction, Trevor was left with a broken hand, courtesy of Bruce, and made to agree he would indeed leave Harper alone.

"I'm not going any lower than that, Jed," Trevor spoke to the man at the other end of the telephone. "The business is taking in a lot of profit, so if you're not willing to pay a reasonable price I'll look to other buyers. I'm not returning to Watford, but that doesn't mean I'm in a rush to sell the showroom for so little. You give it some more thought and call me back when you start making more sense," he finalised. "We'll speak in a few days, mate."

After ending the call, Trevor made his way into the kitchen, his eyes landing on the white powder that had been collected in a small pile on the worktop. He set about finishing what he had started before being interrupted by the ringing telephone - cleaning the kitchen after he'd been baking some buns to take to his mother at the nursing home the next morning. It wasn't usually such a messy job, but with one hand significantly limited at present, it had been far more tedious today. He collected the majority of the flour into his hand before throwing it into the bin and then wiping down the kitchen worktops with a cloth.

Just as he'd finished and was about to sit down in front of the television, he was distracted by the sound of the knocking at the door. Trevor made his way to the door but stopped in front of the hallway mirror to make sure he hadn't accidentally rubbed any flour onto his face or into hair whilst pottering around in the kitchen. When he did reach the door, he peered through the small side window to check who was on his doorstep before committing to opening the door. Whilst the person standing outside wasn't a direct danger to him, she was still a risk to him. He toyed with the idea of ignoring her, but nothing in him felt committed to that option. Despite Bruce's warning and the ongoing discomfort that warning was giving him, he couldn't turn her away. He'd walked out on her before she was born and he wanted to prove he was a different man now, which to him meant not expecting his problems to just go away by themselves. Not to mention the fact she looked to be alone, which wouldn't be concerning for any woman of her age, but he was aware of the attacks on the Kings and that her being out alone was potentially dangerous.

Trevor unlocked the door with the key before pushing down the handle and pulling the door open. "Harper..." he greeted her, a subtle smile managing to show on his otherwise neutral expression. She looked so much like Laura, it was hard to believe. "You're not supposed to be here, y'know," he reminded her. He looked out onto the street to check nobody else was around with her or watching her. He then stepped aside to allow her to enter if she still wanted to, figuring it could be riskier the longer she spent standing outside his front door. "Your uncle and brother have been very clear that we're not supposed to see each other," he reminded her. "But it's a bit late for that now, isn't it? Would you like a drink?" he offered her as he led her to the living room. "You're not in any trouble are you?" he curiously asked. She had plenty of people in her family willing to step in to defend her, but Trevor also knew not everything could be solved by the obvious people. Life and its problems could be very complicated, and perhaps requiring a different approach to the controlling ways of Harper's uncle and older brothers. Of course, he had suspicions she had something going on with her medication dependency, but he wasn't about to confront her with it now and scare her off.

Bellz (Harper)

 

[Misty Gray]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Christian Brooks​

Christian couldn't help but grin when the two ladies spoke about thinking of some questions to ask him to balance things out. "Well, ladies, you can ask away. I'm as open a book as my employment allows me to be," he explained. Whilst he didn't have anything in his personal life he was secretive about anymore, there were things that may cross over with what he had to keep secret on account of his employment with the Kings and the confidentiality that came with it. His smile turned playful in return when May said she could see he'd have women queuing at his door on account of his face. "Well, I'm going to accept that compliment and hope one day these supposed ladies do find their way to my door. As ever, I will remain very much a gentleman. Unless the King bunch have already rubbed off on me with their more roguish ways of attracting the opposite sex."

Christian listened on as May spoke about America. For a man with a lot of knowledge about the world, he'd never strayed outside of the UK and Ireland, most of his time spent in either Scotland or Southern England, with his employment being the reason for him spending time elsewhere. New York always sounded nice, but perhaps too hectic for him. London was enough of a city for Christian. The Morettis also didn't sound like an appealing reason to be visiting New York. Christian knew more about the Italian Mafia family than he would have liked to and they certainly weren't people he'd want to be on the wrong side of, so he hoped the Kings would continue to be on Moretti's good side. "I've never travelled outside of the UK and Ireland," he told May when asked if he'd been to New York before. "Hopefully my first visit to the Big Apple will be for leisure rather than business or funerals."

Christian caught a visual signal from Darcey which led him to looking to the pub entrance where he saw Bruce enter the premises. Putting on his best poker face, Christian was able to retain his casual expression, though on the inside he suddenly felt a slight dread within him as he knew what the meeting was going to be about. Obviously Darcey was aware of it too; where any potential outcome could lead to issues for May and the Kings, not to mention Christian himself. When Darcey spoke again, Christian smiled, nodding along at her impression of New York sounding like an adventure. "Adventurous type are you, Darcey?" he playfully asked, wanting to keep the atmosphere around their table a positive one.

Soon enough, Bruce beckoned Darcey to join the meeting, to which Christian gave his employer a casual wave of acknowledgement. "Enjoy your meeting," Christian told Darcey, letting out a small laugh. Anything to ease Darcey's possible nerves. Christian then focused back on May and smiled at her. "You and Darcey really want to know all about me, huh?" he asked her. "Now's your chance, May. Ask me as many questions as you desire and I'll answer as many as I am able to. You know, me being a spy and all that, I can't reveal everything," he teased.

BasDorcha (May)
Mention: Melanin-Gxdess (Darcey) Pyroclast (Bruce)

 

[Misty Gray]

Benjamin Reznik's House
~ Fairview, Dublin ~

Benjamin Reznik​

Benjamin nodded his head when Kurt told him he was a tough guy. Although he was athletic and good at sports, the young man knew he wasn't especially physically strong, not like Kurt or Adam were, but he understood what his father meant. There were times when Benjamin felt emotionally and mentally weak, but he knew deep down he was a fighter. He'd gone through the loss of his mother and now Aidan, as well as been apart from his father for two decades. Not to mention, he'd dealt with having to uproot to Dublin and find his own place in life without any family other than Aidan. On a number of occasions, including on his first date with Lorelei, he'd stood up for those weaker than himself against men who were no doubt stronger. So, as weak and helpless as he felt in the wake of Aidan's death, Benjamin believed Kurt was right to call him strong. He just needed to find that inner strength again now.

The conversation in his bedroom had turned lighter and Benjamin found himself blushing when Kurt said he had to introduce him to Lorelei. "Oh, I will definitely introduce you to her - assuming I haven't pushed her away by not keeping in touch since last week," he said, with a soft sigh. He smiled again though, having had it pointed out that Kurt didn't have any embarrassing stories to tell Lorelei. "Well, every cloud, huh?" he joked. "I'm sure she'll be made up to meet you. You already know her Uncle James, so maybe you could catch up with him too," he suggested.

Benjamin caught the way seeing Dolores in the photograph affected his father, but he didn't speak up on the matter, wanting to give him that moment without any awkwardness or interruption. Sometimes it still hit Benjamin when he saw her pictures, even though he'd always been able to look at them whenever he wanted. He let out a fond laugh when Kurt confirmed that Dolores had also been clumsy, even displaying her clumsiness when she and Kurt were getting married. When asked how many more photographs he had, Benjamin shrugged his shoulders. "There's quite a few with the three of us in, and more with just you and Mom. You know how much she loved taking photographs. And there's lot of her and me taken after you went to jail. If it wasn't her taking them, it was me. Granted, I was still a kid and she was teaching me back then, but they're still of her, even if not the perfect shots," he explained. "Most of my favourites are back at my apartment, but I'll be bringing them all back here now I'm moving out of there. And everything of me since Mom died, we can look through as Aidan kept everything organised in albums, just like Mom used to do." Benjamin thought for a moment before looking to his father. "I still have the last roll of film we both took together," he said, referring to him and Dolores. "You and I could develop the photographs together sometime. Then we can both see them for the first time," he suggested. As he'd still been a child when he and Dolores took the pictures on that particular roll of film, what was in the pictures would now be a surprise even to himself. He'd been saving getting them developed for a special occasion and now he realised having his father home was the occasion he'd been waiting for all along.

Kurt's apology for not being there caught Benjamin off-guard. He turned away from his father and briefly look out of the window to collect his thoughts. Looking back to Kurt, he lightly shook his head. "It's been rough not having you here for most of my life - I can't pretend it was easy all this time. I wished you could have been here for it all - all of this," he said, motioning to the trophies and photographs. "You made mistakes, but I never lost faith in you, Dad, and all I care about is that you're here now. I get that this is a big change for you and we've got so much to catch up on - things I can show you here in Dublin. Just... just tell me if it's too much," he seriously asked. He'd heard how hard it was for James to adjust following his release and he hadn't been in jail anywhere near as long as Kurt had been, so he understood being home now could be daunting and overwhelming to his father.

Benjamin sat on the edge of the bed and looked up to his father. "You mentioned checking in with Conor. Is that business or casual?" he curiously asked. "I mean, you can work for Conor without it being anything dodgy. My job at the restaurant is all clean. Not that I think you'd want to be serving steak to snobby customers, but... I don't know. There's all sorts, really. Like, Adam has his own gym and you'd probably be good at that stuff. Not that I'm saying you have to find a job, I'm just..." Benjamin trailed off. He was afraid to say it, but he didn't want Kurt's checking in with the Sullivans to lead to him doing the kind of activities that got him locked up to begin with.

Pyroclast (Kurt)

 

[BasDorcha]

Training Ground
Tommy Thatcher​

Tom remained quiet. He had been in enough tight spots in his young life to know when a good moment was to hold his tongue and when it was okay to let it loose like he did at work. There was a common misconception about Tom that he never bothered to correct – that he was as big an idiot as his bubbly outward nature made him look. Truth was, Tom stayed that way to keep the darkness at bay, a darkness he had felt most of his life. Maybe darkness wasn’t the right word, it was more like an emptiness, a lack of something. Tom didn’t feel like normal people, he didn’t have that natural empathy most others had, or fear, it was like black and white, night and day, up and down. There wasn’t a lot of in between, no gradient level just one or the other.

He listened without flinching still to James address Leo. Nodding, he agreed to the comment about helping Aliana and Sinead. Truth was, aside from knowing Conor was his uncle but just barely, and Aliana was his wife, he didn’t know how everyone else was related. He knew that Leo was Conor’s son, and James was related to the family through marriage, but not which one. Turns out the Sullivan’s were a pretty large family, and there were many branches he didn’t know.

“I didn’t really need to be told, Syd sort of painted a perfect picture.” Tom grinned, looking down the lane at the target. As Leo took his seat, Tom stepped forward, pulling his gun up from the table and lining up the next round of shots. With an ease James was sure to know came from a military training, Tom made quick work of his target, a circle of detached paper falling to the ground at the end from the center of the targets face.

“I only found out from my sister, I haven’t even had the chance to discuss it with anyone in the actual family yet. Syd has been busy, haven’t gotten to talk to him much at work, or you for that matter. I wasn’t even sure anyone knew yet, as I hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone. Didn’t want to seem like some wank randomly coming up to you one day and being like, ‘Guess what, we’re family!’, all out of the blue and shite. Figured that would be weird too.” Tom laid his gun back down, moving to replace the target for James or Leo to go again.

“You all been pretty in it with Conor being in the hospital. You don’t need me adding to that.” When Leo fell silent for a few minutes, Tom sat down and started taking his gun apart to give it a quick clean down with a small bag of items he’d brought with him. Leo continued on, asking James how he knew he’d made the right choice. Tom looked up, interested to hear the story. He’d never heard family stories before, his mom not much on talking about them.

Mentions Melanin-Gxdess - Leo
Misty Gray - James/Conor
Pyroclast - Syd

 

[BloodThunder27]

~James Edwards~

---

Dublin Hospital | Waiting Room, Outside Conor Sullivan's Room

Because his divorce took place almost a decade ago, before he even left the United States Navy, Edwards had forgotten what love was like as he hasn't really dated since. Although the idea of a date with Michelle did sound nice, the fresh-blood gangster did feel a little awkward about it considering that she was Conor's Daughter. Not to mention a fresh Divorcee herself. One with kids too. With that in mind, he wasn't entirely sure about how it would go for him, dating a woman with children from a previous marriage. But it was probably way too soon to think about meeting the kids. How would the kids take it? Would they dislike him because he wasn't their Father? Momentarily, Edwards shoved this thought away as it was way, way too soon to be thinking about that. He needed to slow down, take the time to know Michelle first. Sure, he got to know her relatives first, but that was different. Nonetheless, it must have been hard, being so far away from one's children. "Well, hopefully it won't take long for you to get settled here in Dublin. Makes two of us then. I've only been here for about a month and a half." He replied.

Sadly, that was one thing where Edwards was lost. Children. His smile hadn't left his face as Michelle had said that she liked being back in Dublin, though it was quick to leave when she had said to tell her about himself. However, it was already abundantly clear that he had been a Soldier. And again, she was on point when she said that he had possibly did something bad or was in the wrong place at the wrong time as he had a prison stint. He laughed when she suggested that since he is working for her family, that he must have been a glutton for trouble. She wasn't completely wrong. He served in the United States Navy for sixteen years, fourteen of which he had spent as a Sniper for the SEALs. War was trouble on its own. Vietnam...Lebanon...Grenada... All trouble, much more extreme compared to an Armed Robbery in New York City, or a Prisoner on Riker's Island, one of the worst places to be in the United States. Then last but not least, becoming a Sicario for the Mob in Dublin. "Well, you're not far off. I was a Sailor for the United States Navy for sixteen years. Fourteen of those years, I was in the SEALs, where I was a Sniper. If the United States Government wanted someone dead, they sent me. Because whenever I looked through a scope, I almost never missed. The only time I ever did was if Mother Nature suddenly changed the direction of the wind, or things went bad way sooner then I would have liked. After that though, tried to live a quiet life in New York City and that came to an abrupt end when I took part in an Armed Robbery for a Jewelry Store. But I didn't really do anything. As soon as I saw that we were robbing elderly, I set that gun down and surrendered, because it wasn't right. The guys I was with ran at the first chance they got and I surrendered to the cops without incident. Sentenced to fifteen years, but got out after three months with some help from your Family. And...as soon as I was out, I ended up on a private flight here. And I've been trying to adjust ever since." He smiled once more, thinking about the new life he had begun to build, putting his specialized combat training to use. "Aside from Church on Sundays...Well, if your Dad wants something squared away, I'll take care of it for him." He said coldly. "So you're right, maybe I am a glutton for trouble. But if that's what people want...Then I'm more then happy to give it to them." Edwards then chuckled. "But yeah, hope that answers whatever questions you may have had for me." He looked towards the door before looking back. "Nonetheless, I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

---

Interactions: Michelle Romano BasDorcha
In The Next Room: Aliana Sullivan Melanin-Gxdess | Conor Sullivan Misty Gray

 

[BloodThunder27]

~Stella Kwon~

---

Dublin City Centre | Martial Arts Dojo [Kyokushin Karate]

When Ruby mentioned that she had set up a fight for the weekend, Stella was certainly interested in attending, mainly so that she could get a closer look as well as a better idea on Ruby's Combat Prowess, especially with her hands. Hell, Stella may even get to learn a thing or two. "Well, we can talk more about that after we head out." She said in a relatively hushed tone, not wanting to speak about their more...illicit activities in a sacred place and chances were they'd be turned away by Sensei Gonshiro if he heard that they were going to be using his teachings for malevolent means.

With that being said, Stella looked forward to learning Kyokushin Karate and fully stepping into the world of Martial Arts like her idol, the late Bruce Lee himself. The students on the mat were stretching and warming up. They all seemed so...confident, which did make Stella feel insecure and self-conscious. And for sure, they made her feel sloppy and uncoordinated despite the fact that she was trained by Chase, who was a seasoned mobster and before that, she was a scrapper in street fights. Her train of thought got lost when Ruby got eager to step onto the mat immediately, in sharp contrast of Stella herself. Just as Sensei Gonshiro had left to go get the forms, Stella gave Ruby a skeptical look. "I don't think I should. I do have to be at the hospital later this evening for a Security shift." She replied, once more in a hushed tone. "And if I'm sore and tired, work is going to be hell for me. And I know you're eager to jump in, but we should at least have a look at what we're getting into, rather then jumping in blind."

It was not long until Sensei Gonshiro returned, with a handful of papers. "Well, here are the sign-up forms and wavers. Take your time on filling them out." He then looked at Ruby. "I appreciate that you're eager to join the class. After you fill out the forms, you can join us in warming up and we'll go from there." Looking back at Stella, who had started filling out the application to enroll, Sensei Gonshiro straightened out his gi before briefly looking back at his students, many of whom were ready to start. "Will you be joining us as well, Ms. Kwon?"

"Oh, no Sensei, I'd like to know what I'm signing up for rather then rushing in blind, as that has gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past. Karate is mostly new to me. And I do have work later this evening." Stella smiled nervously.

"I see. Very well. I do look forward to you joining us for practice either later this weekend, or even next week." He smiled.

Sensei Gonshiro then clapped twice, prompting all the students to line up in perfect unison as class was now in session.

---

Interactions: Ruby Miller BasDorcha | Sensei Gonshiro (NPC)

 

[Bellz]

Thomas Porter
His Apartment
~ Dublin City Center, Dublin ~​

Thomas looked at Elena’s hand carefully as it reached out to stroke a finger down his bare bicep. Despite being in a rather sour mood, Thomas couldn’t contain the light smile that formed on his face as Elena graced him with a teasing one. She seemed to be the only person who was truly able to pull him out of his funks. His cheeks warmed as Elena gave him some credit for taking care of her. He hadn’t done a whole lot to help her besides providing her a place to live, but he was just happy that she seemed to be content with that at the moment.

The excitement in her voice and in her face made Thomas smile again but this time it came more naturally to him. "Well of course I mean it, I wouldn’t tease you like that now would I?" Thomas asked her gently, not exactly matching her excited tone as she made room for him to stand up. Once he did stand, he stretched out his arms, twisting his body from one side to the other as his spine cracked with the movement. She spoke in Spanish, stating that she needed to think about where they should go and Thomas moved to his dresser to grab some clothes. Pulling out a long button-up shirt and a pair of jeans, he turned to Elena and watched as she smiled from ear to ear. She spoke in her native tongue and Thomas picked up the word ‘bowling.’

Raising an eyebrow, he listened as she asked if they could go bowling giving him the incentive of there being food for him to finally eat. He wasn’t exactly hungry at that moment but perhaps bowling would help him work up some sort of appetite. "Bowling it is." Thomas said to her gently, "Now go get dressed, I’ll meet you out in the living room." He said to her. Once she was out of the room, Thomas’s smile immediately fell from his face, feeling the energy that Elena had left his room almost immediately.

Her excited and curious energy seemed to be the only thing that helped him and when she wasn’t around, all he could do was wallow in his won negative one. Knowing that wasn’t a good sign, Thomas forced himself not to think about it for now as he shrugged on an undershirt, pulled on some jeans, and buttoned up his nicer long sleeve shirt. After spending some time on personal hygiene, Thomas figured he was more ready than he would ever be. It had been days since he’d even been outside and part of him was on edge about going on in public again. He felt that he needed to watch his back now more than ever and with Elena coming out with him, he felt a heavy responsibility to make sure that nothing happened to her. Moving to his dresser once more, Thomas reached into his socks drawer to grab the gun that had been sitting there since the last time he’d been forced to pull it out. With the safety on, Thomas placed it in the waistband of his jeans before moving to his bathroom.

After combing his hair to the side, Thomas set down his comb in his bathroom and moved out into the living room, seeing Elena already waiting for him. His breath hitched in his chest at the sight of her, causing him to bashfully smile as he took in her appearance. It didn’t matter what she was wearing or even what she was doing, the woman before him somehow managed to take his breath away every single time she walked into the room. When she asked if they were ready, Thomas nodded his head and looked to Lucky who was anxiously waiting by the door. This time around, he thought it would probably be best to bring her along. "Let me just leash Lucky and we’ll get out of here." Thomas murmured before moving to slip his service dog's vest on before hooking her leash to it.

Thomas knew better now than to leave Lucky at home, especially with his heightened anxiety about going out in public.

***​

Lucky Strike Bowling Alley
~ Downtown Dublin ~ ​

The ride over to the bowling alley had been surprisingly calm. Thomas hadn’t expected to feel so at ease but with Elena and Lucky in the car, he felt like perhaps this night would go by smoothly and that for once, he’d actually be able to loosen up a bit to enjoy himself. Once parked in the lot, Thomas moved quickly out of the car, surveying the area around them with a simple glance before opening the door for both Elena and Lucky. "Ladies." Thomas said, managing a somewhat goofy smile on his face as he shut the doors behind them both. With Lucky’s leash firmly in one hand, Thomas extended his free arm to Elena. Once she took it, Thomas led the three of them to the bowling alley and moved to open the door for Elena.

The place was noisy and loud, immediately causing Thomas’s heart to start thumping hard in his chest as his breath caught in his throat. Swallowing hard, the man forced himself to focus on making sure Elena had a good time as he led them towards the front of the area to pay and get their bowling shoes. Things had been going well so far, Thomas paid for them both and managed to get the right pair of shoes for himself. "You have such tiny feet compared to me." He teased Elena as they were sat at one of the free benches currently working on getting their shoes on. "We’ll go pick out which size ball we need and then we are in lane 3." He murmured just as he finished tying his laces. Looking at Elena, his cheeks warmed as he watched her work on tying her shoes. Her side profile was just as beautiful as the rest of her, "You’re so beautiful, you know that?" Thomas asked softly, smiling when she eventually looked at him. "I can’t believe you are Adam’s kid…you must have inherited all of your good looks from your mother!"
with: Elena Pyroclast

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Trevor's House
~ Islington, London ~​

Harper was starting to convince herself that her father wasn’t home and was about to turn around and walk away when the door opened. Trevor greeted her with a subtle smile and Harper gave him a small smirk, about to acknowledge that she wasn’t supposed to be standing at his door. He beat her to the punch, however, causing her to let out a breathy laugh. "There are a lot of places I’m not supposed to be." Harper stated a bit sassily just as her father stepped aside to let her in. Turning her head to look out to the street, Harper then looked back to the open door and stepped inside. Once the door was closed, Trevor stated that Uncle Bruce and Spencer had made it clear that they were not allowed to see each other which caused Harper to roll her eyes.

"You know how many years I’ve spent having to hear the same thing over and over again?" She asked before imitating both Spencer and Bruce by letting her voice drop to a lower tone. "Harper, you’re forbidden to see that boy ever again, he’s no good for you! Harper, how many times have I told you that no means no, not go ahead and do whatever you want to do." Harper once again rolled her eyes and waved a hand at Trevor. "You really shouldn’t take their word as gospel, they might seem like they have a lot of power but they are all bark no —" Her words were cut short as she took a look at her father’s bandaged hand, knowing exactly who’d done that to him without even having to ask.

Trevor took the silence as an opportunity to offer her a drink. "Uh…water…would be nice." Harper said awkwardly now as she moved to follow him into the living room. Taking a look around, Harper wasn’t sure what her family was worried about. While she knew Trevor was supposed to be this big bad man who had done horrible things to her brothers…his house didn’t seem to reflect that lifestyle anymore. Once sat down on the sofa, Harper watched her father for a long time. When he asked if she was in any trouble, Harper shook her head profusely. "Oh god no…well, I mean. I’ll be in trouble when I eventually return back to my apartment. Had to sneak out of my own place like I was 14 again. While I know the Sullivans have done some bad things, I don’t think it’s fair that I have to be in completely lockdown 24/7."

There was a brief moment of silence before Harper’s attention once again returned to her father’s injured hand. "Did they do that to you?" She asked openly, wanting him to confirm her suspicions. Harper couldn’t imagine her Uncle Bruce hurting anyone despite the line of business he was in. He’d always been such a sweet man, one who cared about his family and was the only father she’d ever had. But as she sat in her biological father’s living room, staring at his broken hand, Harper couldn’t help but wonder if she’d misjudged the man she thought she’d known well all of her life. She was starting to doubt the men in her family, wondering if this supposed war was changing them or if they’d always been that way.

Lately, she’d been so far removed from the family she use to see weekly…she didn’t feel like she belonged anymore. She hadn’t spoken to Billy in a while…her favorite brother who’d call her at least twice a day sometimes. Alex and Spencer were so deep into their own shit, with the former being upset about her speaking with Trevor…it almost felt like she didn’t have a family anymore. They were all so focused on shielding her from things they thought she needed to be protected from that they basically shut her out. Harper had been so used to the weekly dinners, the weekend outings…the holidays, the birthdays spent together…

Maybe that was why she was sitting before her father…the one person who had offered to talk to her, to make her feel heard. And her Uncle and Spencer were trying to take that away from her too. Attempting not to appear angry, Harper cleared her throat. "They tend to think they know what’s best for me without actually talking to me…they’ve been so consumed in having a pissing match with the Sullivans, I—" She cut herself off. She didn’t need to emotionally unload off on a man she barely knew.

"I don’t want to have them hurt you again…maybe I should just go." She murmured, moving to try and stand.
with: Trevor Misty Gray

 

[BasDorcha]

The Royal Taphouse
Maeve Thatcher​

May belatedly realized that there was a collection of King’s at the bar, her just slightly buzzed gaze doing a quick addition of faces and names in her mind. Everyone but Harper. May wrinkled her nose in their general direction as everyone filtered that way. Wasn’t hard to see there was something going on, but May simply turned away, none the wiser to what was going on involving her. Darcey left them, headed to meet the men that filtered towards the back office. Turning back around, she grabbed one of the waitresses walking past and requested a water and chips. A little food would do her good.

Looking up, she smiled at Christian, nodding to the girl taking their order, “My treat.” She’d wait to see if he wanted anything else before the waitress left and disappeared into the back. “New York was nice, but I like it better here. That city is huge, and packed to a point that its like you can’t breathe. I’ll take London any day. With any luck, there wont be any reason to visit any funerals any time soon. One is more then enough for me.” May leaned up, elbows on the table, chin propped in her hands. There was a light sparkle to her eye and a flush on her cheeks, as she screwed up her face, thinking hard. “Hm… What do I want to know? Gotta make the best of my questions.”

A light laugh fell from her lips as she considered the options. “I know you became a cop because of your sister… What did you want to do before? What did young Christian want? Maybe something fantastical, like a magician? A wizard?” She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling it over to study his palm, “A psychic – this line means you’ll live a long life, wife, two kids….” She pointed to several lines as she spoke, sounding very confident in what she was saying. “I wanted to be a gypsy.” She grinned releasing his hand. “Your turn, what did you want to be before you grew up, before the world became so much more real and scary?

Drunk Interactions Misty Gray - Super PI

 

[Misty Gray]

Trevor's House
~ Islington, London ~

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor had caught on to a hint of sass in the way Harper had told him there were a lot of places she wasn't meant to be at - not just his house. Although Laura had her moments of attitude, those were usually presented during arguments or when she felt she really needed to assert herself. When it came to cheek and sass, that was some that had been known to flow more naturally from Trevor himself. Still, as she went on to tell him how Bruce and Spencer had spent years telling her what she could and couldn't do; who she wasn't allowed to see, that was not a surprise to him at all. "Nothing's changed where Bruce is concerned, then?" he drily remarked. After all, the man had been the same with Laura. Granted, Trevor wasn't ignorant to the fact that Bruce's warnings had turned out to be warranted in the end and Laura probably would have been best to avoid him.

Harper had begun to tell him that her uncle and brother were all talk, but it was obvious she fell silent upon noticing his injured hand. He let out an amused scoff but chose to stay silent on the matter, getting his daughter a drink instead. From the corners of his eyes he'd noticed her taking a look around the room whilst he poured her a glass of water. The house was well-maintained and free of clutter. The walls were decorated with framed artwork, but no photographs. Trevor had pictures of Laura and the kids, but he kept them out of sight. After all, he hadn't earned the right to display them around the house. Having just left Watford, he hadn't even committed to staying in Islington yet, hence renting the place. It had been the case for most of Trevor's life; not committing to a place to live nor to other people. Now, he was tired of moving around, but he was under no illusions that he could settle in London, not with the way Bruce and his sons had reacted to his return.

Trevor handed Harper the water once she was sat on the sofa and he sat in the armchair facing her from across the coffee table. When Harper told him she wasn't in trouble, at least, not until she returned to her apartment, he let out a small chuckle. He could imagine Laura doing the same, especially when they'd first met, with her often displaying her impulsive and free-spirited nature. He nodded in understanding when his daughter didn't think it was fair being kept in lockdown. "No, that's not right, is it? You're an adult and old enough to make your own decisions," he firmly assured her. "But they likely believe they've got your best interests at heart. Your uncle and I will never be on the same page, but I get the concern - from him and your brothers. Those Sullivans are a dangerous bunch and after what happened to that nightclub, the lads are bound to worry about you. Granted, that's probably sexist, double-standards, and all that. But I'm a man, so who am I to judge?" he dismissively remarked.

It didn't take long before Harper finally addressed the elephant in the room and asked him about his hand. He let out a deep sigh before nodding his head. There was no point lying to her, even if he was an expert in the field, as the answer was obvious. "Like I said, your uncle wants to keep you safe. To the men in your family, I'm the big bad wolf." Trevor sat back in his chair and listened as Harper spoke of how Bruce and Spencer were dictating to her what was best. His daughter cut herself off to instead say she should leave in case he got hurt again. "Sit down, Harper," he firmly told her, holding out his hand to motion back to the sofa before she was fully stood. "If they're going to hurt me again then the damage was probably done the moment I let you into this house. We may as well make it worthwhile now," he reasoned. He then let out a dry laugh. "Sneaking out of the house at 14, huh? I bet you keep your uncle and brothers on their toes."

Trevor studied his daughter for a moment before deciding to address what was on his mind. "I noticed you've ditched the wheelchair since last week and you're up on your feet. How's the recovery going? I had a bad accident a few years back and it took some time to get back on my feet. Have the doctors still got you on any meds? Painkillers and all that?" he asked.

Bellz (Harper)

 

[Bellz]

Harper King
Trevor's House
~ Islington, London ~​

Harper had every intention of leaving, not wanting to put the man before her through any more physical trauma if she could help it despite her not really owing him any of that kindness. When Trevor firmly told her to sit down, she did as she was told — which would have been surprising to anyone who actually knew her. But she knew she didn’t want to leave, she was simply listening because she wanted to learn more about her father, to try and understand who he was as a person for herself. What her Uncle said, what her brothers said…it all came from a place of who Trevor had been in the past. Why else would he come back to face the very people who openly despised him if he hadn’t changed?

Trevor told her that if they were going to hurt him again, the damage had already been done the moment he let her inside. A small smile formed on her face as he stated that they both might as well make it worthwhile now. Harper let out a small laugh of her own as he questioned her sneaking out at 14, saying that she must have kept Uncle Bruce and her brothers on their toes. "Ah, I like to think that I still do. Not intentionally now like I had back then…but honestly, I like to make sure they understand that I can hold my own just as much as they can." Harper murmured, nursing her drink in her hand as Trevor stared at her for a long moment.

Raising her right brow in curiosity, Harper tried her best to read his face as he stayed silent another moment longer. When he finally did speak, he noted that she had ditched the wheelchair since the week before and that she was now up on her feet. Harper nodded her head as she turned her head to look down at her booted leg. He asked her how the recovery was going before stating that he had been in an accident a few years back and that it took time to get back on his feet.

It wasn’t surprising that Trevor was noting how long it took him versus the time it took her to recover. Everyone seemed surprised that the doctors had decided to put a boot on her so quickly but Harper being an adult was able to insist to the doctors she was ready to start walking again. Walking had been extremely painful and still was — but she was nowhere near short of painkillers to keep her going.

When Trevor asked if the doctors still had her on any meds, the blonde didn’t nod nor shake her head in response, simply looking at him silently as she mulled over what she should tell him. Harper knew that if anyone could relate to her situation, it would be the man sitting across the coffee table yet, she was afraid to even admit that she had a problem.

Harper had always been the one without an issue — Spencer had anger issues, Alex had a commitment and sex problem, and Billy was a closeted gay. Harper had always been authentically her, never afraid of who she really was and how people would react to that. Now, she was afraid that she didn’t know who she was, or rather, she was afraid of who she knew she was now. Coming from a family of addicts, it wasn’t surprising that Harper could end up like them but Harper had been proud that she was defeating all of the odds.

She had been proud and worked hard in all of her years in grade school to be able to prove to her peers that she wasn’t just an orphan who would eventually have a drug problem. That she was more than what the King family had made themselves out to be — which was nothing but a bunch of lowly gangsters.

"The doctors…" Harper started, wondering if she would be able to get away with lying to a man who had been extremely good at it for most of his life. "Are monitoring my painkillers. Recovery has been hard but I think I’m doing better than anyone thought I would do, especially so quickly. Painkillers have been extremely helpful in that recovery." The doctors were in fact, not monitoring her at all. They weren’t even writing her prescriptions anymore. The pharmacy just continued to fill it as many times as she needed them to be filled without checking in with her physician or monitoring her. Harper felt guilty every single time she went to pick up a new bottle but the pain of moving around, or remembering what had happened… was just too great to ignore and she felt she couldn’t turn to anyone.

Harper had never been a fan of therapists despite Kerry having talked only great things about her friend Dr. Parker. She felt that there were far too many things in her life that could be perceived as red flags to someone like a therapist and she could never trust them to not tell her family anything they had spoken about. Realizing she had been silent for a little longer than intended, Harper looked to Trevor with a neutral expression before forcing herself to smile, tilting her head as she asked, "What about you? How’s the hand healing up? Not being able to walk sucks but I can’t imagine not being able to use both hands to do things." Harper hoped that this question would lead the conversation off of her, not wanting to touch further on her drug issue despite knowing that at some point she would have to.
with: Trevor Misty Gray

 

[Pyroclast]

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Bruce & Billy King​

When Bruce asked for his opinion, Billy’s eyes widened and he hesitated to answer; all the information seemed a bit sudden for him to feel like he could form a proper, well-thought-out opinion. Not to mention that he still felt a bit exposed after being essentially forced out of the closet only a few minutes ago. What he really needed was to go home and decompress, but he knew he had to get his head on straight and focus on the bizarre and shocking news that his uncle was telling him and his brothers.

Despite Bruce choosing him to be the first to cast his vote, Billy had already gained an idea of what Alex and Spencer currently felt based on their initial reactions: Spencer's apparent lack of surprise that Trevor was off spreading his seed, and Alex's immediate decision to reject May as his half-sister. Billy huffed out a heavy sigh and took a sip of his pint as he tried to think coherently. He wondered what Harper would make of it all, what she would say if she were here. Really, he would have liked to discuss it with her before voting on it, but Bruce had made it clear that he wanted Harper to remain distanced from the Trevor situation so she could focus on her recovery.

Before he could form an opinion, Darcey spoke up to voice her concern that nobody was considering May's perspective. The woman had always supported May and kept her close by, but Billy hadn't noticed how much she seemed to care for her. Still struggling to come to a conclusive opinion of his own, Billy listened patiently to what Darcey had to say and supposed that she was probably right. After all, there had been no concrete evidence found by Christian that suggested May was working as a Sullivan spy, despite having a brother in their employment. Plus, she hadn't made much of an effort to get to know him. If she was keeping her enemies close, Billy figured she would have tried to befriend the King siblings enough to ask them personal questions, yet he hadn't experienced any of that from her.

What he was concerned about now was more that she was biologically related to them, tying them to the Sullivans as Callum also did. But what did sharing DNA actually change, if anything? Could he continue to see her as an acquaintance, or did he now have to re-evaluate her place in the family business and treat her like a sister? In a way, the two shared something in common: growing up without knowing their father. Of course, the difference was, Billy knew his father's name and had been told enough about him to put him off ever wanting to meet the man. May, on the other hand, hadn't heard any of the stories about what he did, and so was now eager to find him.

Realising that Bruce was still waiting for his opinion, Billy straightened up in his seat and, after glancing at each of his brothers, let his eyes settle on his uncle. "Well," he began, clearing his throat. He glanced at Spencer again, reminding himself of what Trevor had put him through and how stressful the man's reappearance had been for him. "I don't think it'd be a good idea to keep Trevor around. It sounds like if he found out about May, he might use her as a reason to stick around. I'm not interested in standing between them, but I don't want to have Trevor around if it's gonna be a problem for you lot, so I guess…we send them both away?" He took a moment to think, wrapping his hand around his pint glass as if going to take a sip - but then he paused as he realised that he wasn't really sure how he felt about the situation. He hadn't decided how he felt about May - somehow, she did seem a bit different now that he knew she was technically family...and he couldn't tell if that niggling feeling was just momentary or he would actually see her differently from now on. "Actually, I think I'd rather sit on this, Bruce," he admitted. "It's not like it's a time sensitive issue, right?"

"Trevor's already made himself known to Harper, so yeah, I'd rather get this sorted out as soon as possible, get everyone’s votes in now -”

“Everyone’s but Harper’s, yeah?” Billy spoke over him, prompting a brief, tense pause between the two. Bruce, however, chose not to comment, instead silencing him with a look and then moving the discussion along.

“So, you want to send them both away?"

Billy looked at his brothers. Send Trevor away for their sake and Bruce's, but miss out on getting to know May as a half-sister? He supposed the only way they could have that relationship anyway was if they told her about Trevor and let them both stay. And he definitely didn't want to do that to his brothers or his uncle, having seen how stressed they had been about his return. He looked back at Bruce with a serious look in his eye and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Bruce nodded, acutely aware of how Darcey would feel if everyone voted May out. “Right,” he said, looking at Alex next. “What about you, Alex? What do you think?”

Interactions
Melanin-Gxdess Alex, Darcey
Misty Gray Spencer

Mentions:
BasDorcha May
Bellz Harper

 

[Misty Gray]

Dublin Hospital
~ Dublin City Centre, Dublin ~

Conor Sullivan​

Conor closed his eyes as Aliana walked to the table, but when she returned he opened them again to see her holding some pieces of paper in her hand. When told Sydney had already drawn herself on adventures with him, he shifted in his bed so he could take a closer look. "Well, I guess that means it's set in stone, then," he said, struggling to focus clearly on the drawings for the time-being. "I'm glad she's at the age now where I don't have to pretend I know what her pictures are of," he said, with a small chuckle. "Hopefully when the rest of the sedatives have worn off I can take a better look. As long as she's got us somewhere warm and sunny, I'm in!"

Conor listened as Aliana spoke about getting softer over the years, but he lightly shook his head. "You ain't soft, love. You're one of the toughest people I know. You've just been through a lot, especially since meeting me," he observed. "Most people would have walked out on all this mess years ago, or would have buckled under the pressure. But here you are, still putting up with me and my family." He softly smiled. "You'll get through this - we both will," he reassured her.

He returned Aliana's kiss and faintly smiled at her once she'd moved back to properly see his face. His wife asked if she needed to call the nurses to give him something for the headache and nausea, to which he nodded. "Please, love. All the fights and injuries I've had in my life, none of it ever feels as bad as feeling sick."

Melanin-Gxdess (Aliana)

The Funky Cat
~ Dublin City Center, Dublin ~

Sinead Callahan​

Sinead smiled brightly as Peter linked his arm with hers so they could walk together to the club entrance. She let out a playful laugh when he told her not to make him change his mind as he'd paid Lorelei for their booth. "You're spoiling me, Petey. Keep it up, honey," she joked.

Inside the club, the hostess greeted them and led them to their private booth. Sinead sat close to Peter and took a moment to take in the view around them, briefly focusing on the music that was playing. She snapped out of her thoughts to put her attention back on her husband when he spoke about having not been in the club for very long before. "Oh, you've been missing out, love. I've been a few times already - even Savvy has been already," she told him.

When Peter pointed out that he was reminded of the clubs they used to run together, Sinead lowered her gaze as she thought about the jazz club she'd owned back in New York. Before she could speak, the waitress came to take their drinks order. She softly smiled when Peter told her to get what her heart desired. "Oooh. Um..." she began, quickly picking up the cocktail menu and scanning it over. "You know what? I'll have a Pina Colada, please," she asked the waitress. "I'm feeling all summery and I haven't had one of those drinks in years," she excitedly told Peter.

Once the waitress had stepped away, Sinead's eyes scanned around the club for a moment as her mind returned to thoughts of the last nightclub they'd owned. "I do miss having our own club," she told him, letting out a sigh. "But after what happened to All That Jazz..." she trailed off as she thought about all of the people who were killed the night the Morettis had the club burned down and those inside cruelly murdered. "I just don't have the heart for it anymore... On the plus side, now we can both enjoy spending time in jazz clubs as customers, without all of that responsibility," she reasoned, flashing a sweet smile. "Maybe we should make it our mission to visit as many jazz clubs as we can," she playfully suggested.

Bellz (Petey)

The Royal Taphouse
~ Bethnal Green, London ~

Christian Brooks​

It was obvious to Christian that May had noticed the sudden collection of Kings who had then moved in to the back office. Still, he didn't express concern over it as it was normal for the Kings to conduct business meetings in the office, so hopefully this one didn't stand out any different to the other meetings. Christian's attention was drawn to May when she asked the waitress for a drink and snacks. Christian repeated the order, albeit with a pint of beer rather than water. One way or another, he figured he was going to need it. "You don't have to pay," he assured May. "Unless I have got it all wrong and Darcey really is paying you more than Bruce is paying me," he joked.

When May asked him what career he'd wanted when he was younger, Christian rubbed his chin as he mulled it over. He laughed as she suggested a magician or a wizard. He shook his head in amusement before listening as she studied his palm, telling him he was going to live a long life with a wife and two kids. "That sounds particularly average and boring. It suits me just fine," he commented, a seriousness in his face even if delivered as a joke. When it came to his personal life, the more normal and dull, the better. It helped for a man in his profession to blend in, so an average home life would certainly fit that bill. "And what made you realise being a gypsy wasn't for you?" he curiously asked.

May soon returned her original question to him, asking what he wanted to be before he grew up. "Certainly nothing as fun as a wizard," he joked. "Since as long as I can remember, my parents wanted me to be a lawyer. It was all they ever talked about, so I didn't get much opportunity to imagine what I truly wanted to be. It was a real disappointment to them when I went off track and became a detective," he explained. "My brother and sister are the golden children now, for following what was expected of them. A detective was as far as I could go without deviating too far from my degree subject," he explained. He then flashed a mischievous smile. "But if I could choose... something I would have aspired to when I was young and hopeful. Maybe an archaeologist. Getting to visit so many places and explore what history has left behind. I suppose in a way, that still fulfils my need to investigate and follow trails," he remarked. "I can't help it, I guess."

Christian was about to think of more questions for May when he remembered she and Darcey had been pointing out how much he already knew about them. They'd wanted to find out more about him. "Would you happen to have any more questions for me, May Thatcher?" he curiously asked.

BasDorcha (May)

 

[BasDorcha]

Le Hospital
Michelle Romano​

As the time passed, and her and Edwards were talking, her mind still wondered to how things were going in the room with her father. With him just getting back to a point where he could speak easier and be more awake, they hadn’t had much of a chance to catch up. In fact, her dad had been so busy, she felt like she hadn’t really seen him at all, except for a few passing's. She’d make sure she had more time with him after all this. She wanted to have a better relationship with him, as distance had made it hard to have as close a relationship as he had with her siblings.

The answers to her questions were interesting. Turns out he had only been here about as long as her, meaning that it was just chance they hadn’t actually run into each other yet. She had been staying at the family home, but for a little while she had just rested and had a few days of mental recovery after everything that had happened with Portugal. Then she’d been looking around and inspecting houses, or here taking shifts at the hospital between Aliana and other family members.

Hearing he had been a sailor, a SEAL at that, then also arrested in prison was surprising. In her mind, criminal life and military didn’t seem to go hand in hand, but it only took a few seconds to realize she was probably wrong. Knowing how damaging the military could be to people, it wouldn’t be a far jump at all. “Quiet life? I can see how that would be hard to accomplish if you’re robbing jewelry stores.” She gave him a teasing look, not seeming to take it to serious or bothered to hear he had robbed the man, especially since he did the right thing once he realized the truth of the matter. That took character to stand up too afterwards.

The thing that shocked her was hearing about church on Sundays. Michelle was a good catholic girl, sure, but she didn’t make it to church often. She realized that maybe that would change now, if more of the family went on a regular basis. The surprise didn’t end there though, just when she thought that they were done, he asked to get to know her better, and a crimson streak formed across her cheeks and nose. If she had been drinking or eating something, she would have choked. Unsure how to answer, she looked away at her hands and cleared her throat. “Oh… Okay. Well, I guess you’ll have to stick around a bit, since there’s only so much to learn in one day.” Her voice was still playful, but shyer now.

Interactions BloodThunder27 - Edwards

 

[BasDorcha]

City Center Dojo
Ruby Miller
​

When Stella agreed to watch the fight this weekend, she felt a little rush of exhilaration. It had been a long time since anyone came to see a fight for her, not because of her. Sure people came to see her fight, but it was just because they would come to see any fight, they didn’t need an excuse to see hers. Mentally she decided to work harder to make sure she impressed Stella, both for professional and personal reasons. When the woman said they could talk about it after they left, she nodded, agreeing. She had not been invited to work officially yet with Stella, only recommended by Adam as possibly being a good fit for future security detail and Stella’s job was to figure out if that fit might be good.

Rube looked back up at the teacher and watched the others getting ready. When Stella declined to join, Ruby furled an eyebrow, confused. “I thought this is what we came for? Well, if you’re not joining, I won’t either.” Ruby sat back down, the gym bag forgotten now. If she had realized they weren’t participating, she wouldn’t have brought it. She figured that Stella wanted to take the class, not watch it. Misunderstandings frustrated her. Still, it wasn’t worth getting upset about. “I have always been a learn by doing person. Sure, at first it’s a little like learning to walk – you stumble, you fall, you fail, but each time you learn what not to do to get better. The teach here wouldn’t make us do anything we weren’t prepared to do I’m sure. I always start the first class off with just trying to follow any stretching, body movement training, things that are instructed at a slower pace.”

When Gonshiro returned, Ruby took them and started filling out her set. “Sorry, Sensei, I’ll watch today as well. I did not mean to get so over eager. Stella here is probably right, I should watch first then come back and jump in.” A light flush painted her cheeks as she looked away and focused on writing instead of the teacher looking at her. She wondered how she must appear to be so flippant in her decisions. When the man clapped and moved back to the front of the class, she put the finished paperwork to the side and sat back, watching them.

The stronger students wasted no time in helping to lead the class paces warmups, showing the guiding movements and practice poses, getting their forms right. Ruby mentally started checking off familiar ones as well as ones she was unfamiliar with. She could practice on her own later, if she could remember a good portion of what was going on. The class passed by pretty quickly, and in no time they had been there for at least a half hour. Ruby and Stella didn’t talk much, albeit a little awkward to sit in silence, Ruby got the feeling it might seem disrespectful to be chatting while the sensei was teaching.

Mentions BloodThunder27 - Stella Kwon

 

[Misty Gray]

Trevor's House
~ Islington, London ~

Trevor Stewart​

Trevor listened to the way Harper explained how she likely still kept her uncle and brothers on their toes. Hearing her say how she wanted to make sure they knew she could hold her own, he nodded his head in understanding. It wasn't a surprise she felt that way, not if her brothers were remotely like Bruce had been towards Laura. It had to be in the Kings' blood to be protective that way, even when it became overbearing. He got the feeling Harper felt restricted by it all, but he could also see she wasn't a passive woman. It was clear she didn't want to just accept being babysat and the fact she'd shown up on his doorstep showed she wasn't afraid to take a stand. He could see his daughter had guts and was willing to stick up for herself. He was sure some of that credit would ironically belong to Bruce and her brothers, even if she was now using her strength to evade them, but mostly, he was sure Harper was strong and confident in her own right.

Trevor was aware of the silence and delay from Harper in responding to his questions about her recovery - specifically the medication the doctors had her on. It was something he'd been concerned about since he first met her in the pub a week ago, so her behaviour now was doing nothing to change his mind. When she did finally speak up to say the doctors were monitoring her painkillers, he nodded along. She pointed out how the medication had been a vital part of her recovery. Harper once again fell silent, giving Trevor time to pick up on her body language and suspect she wasn't being honest with him. Nothing he'd seen or heard so far had been enough to rule out his suspicions about her dependency on the painkillers. So when she deflected the attention back on to him, he was fully aware she'd done so intentionally. Regardless, he took the decision to roll with it, not wanting his daughter to feel cornered. It was too early for him to push her on such a serious subject and he knew all too well how defensively a person could react if they feel attacked on their drug dependency. If his suspicions were correct, he would have to approach the situation more delicately and certainly not so directly during only the second conversation he'd ever had with the daughter he abandoned.

Trevor smiled back at her and lifted his bandaged hand to acknowledge the injury. "Its a bloody nightmare. You don't realise how much you need both hands until one of them gets messed up like this," he casually told her. "Doc says it'll heal up fine. It's giving me a fair bit of pain, but I refused the painkillers," he admitted.

Trevor wasn't about to directly bring up Harper's problems, but perhaps talking about his own would cause her to consider her situation. "I figure you know plenty of your mum and me from the blokes in your family? Laura had it worse than me, but I struggled with the addiction too. Even after I walked out on you all, there were times when I got sucked back into the drugs again. But I'd been completely clean for a few years before my accident," he explained. "The extent of the injuries and the time I spent in the hospital, it was enough for me to grow dependent on the painkillers. When the doctor eventually refused to prescribe any more to me, I started to wash away the withdrawals with booze. I was pissed up every night. That, and the lengthy time I'd had in hospital to think about all of the bad shit I'd done to our family... I fell into yet another bad spot but I had some sense knocked back into me by a friend and I got help. I attended counselling for my screwed up behaviour and support groups for the addictions. I finally realised I had to get my head sorted and then face up to the shit I'd done in the past. I had to man up and face the people I've hurt. That's why I'm here now." Looking back to his hand he shrugged his shoulders. "This broken hand is a test right here. I could very easily just run off again, but that would confirm I'll always be a coward. I could easily get my hands on some painkillers too, but that would mean I'm still at the mercy of addiction. You and your brothers are tough, but you didn't inherit that from me, I can assure you. Running away and looking out for number one is what always came naturally to me until recently. I'm trying to change that. First step was admitting to myself what my problems were. Then, finding someone willing to listen and help me get through it..."

Bellz (Harper)

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Dublin Hospital
~Dublin City Center, Dublin~
Aliana Sullivan​

"We've got a young Sofonisaba on our hands," she joked, referencing the female painter. She paused for a moment, surprised she'd even remembered the painter's name before shaking the thought from her head. Ali took the papers back to where they'd once been resting and set them back down. "There's... Some interesting places. And places she talks about that I'm not even sure exist." She let out a small laugh before returning to his side and grabbing his hand. "I'll bring the girls by again before visiting hours are up, if not tomorrow. They'll be more than excited to hear all about the fun vacations we're going to try and go on." Ali knew better than to make promises or even fully commit to such plans. More often than naught they were always screwed up because of something happening off-screen and she would have to break the news to their daughters. Disappointment was not a feeling they took well, so she wanted to avoid it at all costs.

Conor then reassured Aliana that she hadn't been getting softer. It was nice to hear the sentiment, but she didn't believe him. He added that she had been through a lot, which was to probably blame for the way she was feeling. But, if that were the case, shouldn't it have made her even stronger? If what he was saying was true - that she was one of the toughest people he knew - then why didn't she feel like it? Instead of letting her negative thoughts be known she kept them to herself and just smiled. "I know. Sometimes, I'm just stuck in my own head, I guess," she said, softly, patting his chest. "As for you and your family, well. I love them to bits. And as you know, there's only been one person I would've wanted to marry and that was you. No one will ever come close," she reassured. "You're right, though, we'll be okay."

Aliana glanced down at her watch, remembering she was supposed to be meeting Syd and Adam soon. Her head glanced back up to Conor hearing him confirm that she wanted her to get the nurse for him. "Of course. I have to meet Syd and Adam soon, so I can stop by the nurses' station." Ali then walked back towards the chairs to pick up her coat, throwing it on before grabbing her bag. Before she started for the door again she rejoined Conor's side and placed another kiss on his forehead, letting her lips linger a bit longer than usual. When she finally did pull back, she started gently playing in his hair again. "Please, take it easy, okay? I'll be back later tonight. Do you want me to bring you back anything?" After his response, Ali gave him one last kiss and exited his hospital room. Once the door had clicked, she noticed Michelle outside of it speaking with Edwards. She figured his counterpart had gone to either do a sweep or went on break. Either way, she gave him a slight smile. "Still holding up the wall, Edwards?" She teased. "I'm going now. Will you let Dermot know that I'll be back later tonight?"

Once she'd finished exchanging words with Edwards, her attention turned to Michelle. The relationship between the two of them had been... Rocky, to say the least. Ever since the younger woman snapped and blamed her for how things ended between Alex and Conor, Ali had been keeping her distance. Though it was hard to do considering Michelle was staying with them for the time being, she hadn't gone out of her way to exchange pleasantries. Every small interaction they did have had been purely cordial and nothing more. She was still pissed - with both herself for letting Michelle get to her and Michelle for what she said - but Conor was her main focus at the moment. You could feel it in the air and it took everything in her to even start speaking. "Michelle," she said, an amicable smile on her face. "He's awake now. Little annoyed and irritable, but nothing out of the norm. Doctors say to keep his stress levels down so. Don't say anything that might set him off," she said rolling her eyes, thinking about how easy it was to actually set him off. "I haven't talked about the attack in full yet. It's too early, so I'd appreciate it if you avoided the topic for now." Ali hadn't meant for her tone to sound so... Authoritative when talking to Michelle but it was definitely how it was coming off. Whether it be because of her new resolve to stop being so soft and sensitive or because she wanted the girl to understand how serious it remained to be seen. Breaking eye contact to look down at her watch again, she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "Oh, it's dark in there. The light is bothering his eyes."

Conor ( Misty Gray ) Edwards ( BloodThunder27 ) Michelle ( BasDorcha )

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