August 31 2007

Hello, my name is I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I know that sounds dumb, but it's true. I'm...scattered. I keep trying to write about what happened, when we were all lost n stuff, and I can't do it. It's like, I freeze up, and don't want to. Like if I write it down, it means it happened, and if it happened, then I can't pretend it didn't, and even if I think that'll be like...the best thing ever, I still can't make it go away. I feel crazy.

Music: Blaqk Audio, Semiotic Love
6:18PM, Friday, August 31, 2007

My finger works again! I just took the stitches out, nothing fell off or started gushing blood, and the little holes Konnor made are healing up nicely. It's only going to be a *little* scarred. Take that, Val! I am posting entirely to document this wonderful, wonderful occasion.

Well, okay, almost entirely. I can never *just* type a little bit, now, can I? I've got to test out just how healed my finger is, right?

Right.

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...is so two years ago.

Who: Geo
Where: His room.
When: Very late night.

“Jimmy! Hey!”

Geo paced the floor of his room – it was finally clean, if he ignored the box pyramid on his desk – trailing the phone cord back and forth behind him. It had been a long day - heck, a long, strange and somewhat stressful week – but he was a man on a mission. A big mission, an important mission, a mission that required…a little manipulation.

Who: Syn and Geo
Where: Printed Syns.
When: Afternoon.

Geo hurried away from the funeral home almost as fast as he could manage without flying, twirling the feather he'd recovered between his fingers. The adrenaline was wearing off, the itch between his shoulder blades slowly fading away, leaving his hands shaky. That...that had been not-fun, that had been so not fun that he never ever wanted it to happen ever again.

Who: Aiden and Eury
When: Early evening
Where: Stone Eye Antiquities

He sat outside of her shop for probably close to twenty minutes, smoking a cigarette and staring at the door. He was torn between getting out of the car and going inside, or turning on the engine and taking off. He wasn't sure exactly where things stood between them - it was like they had some kind of bipolar relationship. One minute they were laughing, the next they were fighting. Of course, he had used the word relationship, which prompted a quick breath and shake of his head. No need to use that word, per se. But between his conversation with Dorian, and then Shannon...he didn't know what else to do but to get out of the car.

And so he did, locking it behind him before wandering casually up to her shop. It annoyed him, how he was generally fairly confident in situations like these. But that was Eury - no other person made him feel so unsure about himself as she did. It was unsettling, and yet he was still there to see her. His jacket sleeve covered the bandages wrapped around his wrist and unless they were getting naked - which he wasn't all opposed to - she wasn't going to see the stitches across his abdomen. The bruise on his cheek was fading, so he wasn't overly concerned with it. She knew what he did for a living - she could draw her own conclusions.

He didn't call her name this time, as he usually did. Instead he walked into her shop, eyes kept open for her as he wandered around the shop. He hoped she was alone. If she was with anyone, VNS or just a customer, Aiden would just have to escort them out.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Delilah's house
When: Evening

Missing Delilah the night before only made Corwin more determined to see her, this night. Since he didn't have plans to go house-hunting tonight, the Barton twins weren't home, and he wasn't hungry, he had nowhere else to be, and if Delilah wasn't home yet tonight he was going to sit on her porch until she got home. It'd been a week since he'd seen her, and despite having a few... er... excuses, that still didn't seem right, to him.

Who: Geo, Herbert, Sammy
Where: MSHS and walking
When: Right after school

The afternoon was gorgeous – clouds, blue sky and sun – and the temperature pleasant, but sitting on the front steps of the high school Sammy didn’t really care. His stomach hurt, and he felt like some sort of living-dead creature, just wanting to crawl underneath a rock or something to hide from the sun. …but he couldn’t even go and sit under the trees, because if he moved from the steps, Geo said, he would be in big trouble. Right now he didn’t want to go begging for trouble and so here he sat.

The sun passed under a cloud and Sammy grinned, leaning up against a railing, basking in the not-sun like a lizard would bask in the sunlight. At least waiting out here was better than waiting in the nurse’s office and having to stare at charts for eyesight and the human anatomy. He’d made his escape once the nurse had finished the call with Geo and passed the information about the steps along.

Who: Caleb and Leija, and Thom briefly on the phone
When: evening into night
Where: the orphanage

Leija had dinner with her dad, as promised. She talked about her day, tried to assuage the worries he hadn't voiced very loudly, and was even a bit genuinely relaxed by the time it was all over. It was the only reason he didn't protest as she kissed his cheek and told him she was going to go out. She wasn't exactly honest; she told him she was meeting up with some friends at the carnival, but it could've been true. She stuck her earbuds in and started some music, walking down the porch steps and out into the red setting-sun light of the evening. It made her hair flare up like red gold. She took her time walking, having texted Caleb to meet her there. She wanted to feel the movement in her legs, to look around at the world as she listened to her own personal soundtrack, to spread her arms out when the wind picked up just right. She hadn't gone back to feeling as bad as she had at the start of the day, but the good bouyant feeling from English class had faded into a strange sort of serenity. Or maybe it was just lack of sleep. Whatever it was, it had her walking slow. Toward what? She didn't know. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. The sun was almost down by the time she actually got there, music still playing in her ears, sneakers passing from sidewalk to the overgrown grass in front of the orphanage.

Caleb was already there. He had been, actually, for a while. He'd gotten there early, and had had to kill time while he waited for her. The wait hadn't done a lot of good for his head. But then, his head was a fucking mess, and that was about it. Nothing he could do about that. There were a few moments there where he considered leaving. Like, maybe she wasn't coming either, and he was being ditched, and if that was the case, he was going to go for a walk and try not to think. But in the end he'd waited, sitting up on the lowest of the balconies, and he his eyes followed her as she approached. He watched the way she moved, and didn't announce himself. He kept to the shadows, and tried to settle his mind down. His own music was playing in his ears, though softly. Paranoia dictated that.

everything feels better. somehow. I don't know how - I don't know why. everything is still royally fucked up in so many ways but right now, I don't care. Mom would say I'm having mood swings but I don't fucking care right now.

Who: Brian and Domino
Where: Domino's house
Time: Around 8
NSFW

Domino was lucky that Fawn was out of town, it left the place open for him to actually bring Brian over. He was very happy that the weather had been behaving all day, it allowed him to actually do this right. As the time clicked away he actually got a little nervous (which was so unlike him), but hopefully today, he'd make an impression that was exactly that- unlike him. He made sure everything was ok before he headed into the shower to wash up quick and get ready.

Who: Chance and Jordan
When: Lunch!
Where: Cafeteria

Who: Ash and Brian
When: Around 3PM
Where: Ash's shop

Ash had both bay doors open, even though only one was occupied, and the music up loud. It was a good day. He'd woken up surprisingly not hungover, and had an awesome breakfast of microwaveable sausage biscuits. Almost the whole damn box. But it was good and heavy and hot in his stomach, and just what he had the hankering for. Since then, he'd been downstairs in the shop, working diligently on the only car that was left in his care. Which unfortunately was starting to look like it needed more work than he'd originally anticipated. Which he hated telling people. They always thought he was looking for shit wrong and just making it up. And then their shit got all fucked up because they didn't take his advice, and they accused him of sabotaging their cars. Which, okay, that had only happened a couple of times, and maybe he was just being cynical, but at least it was in a cheerful sort of way.

He sang along in sort of a mutter, cigarette clasped between his lips. He was balanced on the front fender of the big blue truck, one knee up on part of the engine while he leaned and reached to get deeper into it. They sure as hell didn't make cars for mechanics anymore, motherfuckers.

Who: Sean and Joshua
Where: Police Station
When: Late

Sean had been worried anyway when the phone rang - Joshua should have been home already, though he wasn't running that late being that, since he'd been out with Lullaby and was a teenaged lad, Sean had mentally added on an hour to the time he'd expected him home. But that hour had been and gone and Sean had answered the phone on the first ring.

It being the police didn't help matters at all and Sean was only half listening as they filled him in - that fact he was listening at all instead of just halfway to the station was the fact that someone had had the foresight to start the call with 'he's okay, but...'. And then the but turned out to be the death of Lullaby and Sean was all sorts of concerned again. Concerned enough that he completely forgot himself and the fact he'd have to get Joshua home and flew to the police station - it was faster than driving and getting there at speed was the most important thing here.

He entered the building and was led to his charge, pushing past the police officer as soon as he saw Joshua, sitting there, by someone's desk, covered in blood. Oh shit. "Joshua?" he asked, putting a hand to the boy's shoulder.

Who: Aiden and Shannon
When: Mid Morning
Where: Ramada Inn

Shannon rolled over to her side, eyes blinking open to focus on the red numbers of the digital clock that sat on nightstand next to her bed. Even though the time on the clock read a few minutes after nine, that compiled with the fact that Shannon had slipped into bed the previous night just after ten should have had the red head feeling well rested at the mid morning hour, but Shannon was feeling anything but. It felt almost as if Shannon hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep within the past eleven or so hours. And she knew well what the cause was behind that. She had dreamwalked last night. Wandered into a strange and somewhat disturbing, if not slightly terrifying, dream. It had almost seemed like a puzzle to her that was missing many of its pieces, an enigma she had been nowhere near to figuring out.

Trying to rub the weariness from her eyes with a fisted hand, Shannon rolled her feet out from beneath the covers and over the side of the bed where they slowly slipped into the fuzzy pink slippers on the floor beside the bed as she sat up. And it was from there that Shannon stood to pad across the floor toward the bathroom to start her morning dressing routine.

Who: Herbert and Charlie
Where: PE, MSHS
When: 3rd period, morning

The news that the PE teacher was out sick was the best Herbert had gotten all day. It meant that, unlike yesterday when they'd been on teams playing soccer on the field, he could actually talk to Charlie! All they were supposed to do was walk around the track, after all.

He changed quickly and waited outside the girls' locker room for Charlie to come out, grinning. If anyone would be happy with him that things were-- hopefully-- coming back to normal, Charlie would be.

Who: Dessicant and Mike
Where: Mike's hotel
When: Late morning

Ethan had finally succeeded in kicking a sluggish Dessicant out of the apartment for a few hours. He'd utterly failed at it the day before-- after being forced to change and work so soon after feeding, to get Manhattan out of the damn hotel room two nights ago, he'd needed to spend all of Thursday sleeping-- but today, since his demonic meal was at least partially digested, he was merely lethargic, full, and as content as a demon ever got.

Something Ethan had said was sticking with him, though... something about the musician being out of town for the weekend for a concert-- visiting one, not playing one. Weekend. It was weekend. Which meant it was Friday. Which meant... something. There was something he needed to remember about Friday, except it was taking an awfully long time to come around to his brain in any form he could put a feather on. Succubus tended to do that to him. Maybe another reason he liked them so much. Hmm.

It was when he was wandering past Nevermore that he remembered. Mike. Mike was leaving Marquette on Friday, which meant he needed his damn book before the psychic disappeared on him. Dessicant fished out his phone and hit the number for Mike's cell.

Who: Judiel and Olivia
When: mid-afternoon
Where: Olivia's Apartment

Even though it probably hadn't been that long at all, Judiel felt like he hadn't seen Olivia in a while. Sometimes his sense of time was a little off, he spent so long with his head off in other places. In any case. Judging by the time, he figured she was probably at work. But that didn't mean he couldn't get in touch with her in some form or fashion. He didn't actually have her phone number, so that was out, and even if he did, he didn't want to bug her at work. So, it was back to a more archaic form of communication. Judiel jotted down two notes in his spikey hand and padded down the hall, a couple of pushpins in one hand. He was whistling as he did it, not expecting anyone to actually be in the apartment. He stuck both folded pieces of paper up on their door, one labeled 'Herbert' and the other 'Olivia'. He had yet to meet the young man she lived with, but the note he'd gotten from him a while back had been a nice gesture. That done, Judiel turned and started back for his own door, pondering having another swim.

Olivia was actually home, drifting in and out of sleep on the couch in the living room. With Herbert at school, she took advantage of the comfortability factor of the couch as opposed to the floor in her still vacant bedroom. With one arm curled underneath the couch pillow beneath her head, she found herself drifting off again when she heard the whistling. It prompted her to open her eyes and glance toward the door as it got louder and seemed to stop outside of her door. And then there was movement against her door before it stopped and the footsteps began to fade. Curious, Olivia pushed herself up, groaning a bit as her muscles protested movement. Padding over to the door, she opened it and peered cautiously out into the hall. The two notes tacked up on her door caught her eye, but it was Judiel's back that gained her full attention. She stepped out into the hall, one hand still on the door. "You don't want to say hello?" she asked with a sleepy smile.

who: joshua and lullaby
where: streets
when: night

Joshua was in good spirits. Carnivals did that. Carnivals with Lullaby in them, at least, for sure. Because he hadn't really been to many in the first place. But he'd had an awesome time, eating too many corn dogs and cotton candy, riding rides, and cheating just a little at games of chance. So maybe he cheated a little for Lullaby too, seeing as how she had her arms full of stuff for people. It didn't really hurt anybody, and it was actually good practice for his TK focus. He was grinning broadly as he slipped an arm around her shoulder, the abso-fucking-lutely huge teddybear he'd won for her tucked by the neck in his other arm. Joshua leaned over and kissed her temple. It had been a great night, even with Dean there in spots. He was determined to walk her home as slowly as possible.

Lullaby was fine with the slow walk home, also having had a good time. She wasn't even as nervous as usual, walking home in the dark. The sounds from the carnival were starting to get quieter behind them, and she was pleasantly buzzy and tired at the same time. But she'd won people stuff, and that was awesome. And she had a few things won for her too, so all was right with the world. When he kissed her, she beamed up at him. "Best carnival ever." she said. "Usually it's kinda lameish, but this one was the best." Her grin turned into more of a smirk. "I think it had to do with the company." Or, it definitely did.

Who: Caleb and Mathias
Where: Their house
When: After school

When Caleb got home from his first day of school, he was feeling more or less exhausted. More mentally than physically, which was a good thing. He'd taken his time on the walk home...even if the house wasn't that far from the school. His mind was spinning on everything, and he felt more or less more confused than he had before after seeing Leija again. As he idly contemplated it all, he trudged up the steps, and walked into the house. It was his first proper time being back. He'd had school so it had been more or less a quick drive by to drop off his shit and change, and then it was off to MSHS. But now he was back. He dropped his backpack just inside the door when he got there, walked to the easy chair and dropped down into it, head rolling to the side to regard his brother, who was crashed out on the couch. "So, I've got a question." he said, really not caring that he woke him up.

Mathias had been asleep for most of the day since they'd picked up Caleb from the hospital that morning, catching up with his sleep, seeing that he'd been driving all night and only just got back into town in time to do the pick up (and actually, he'd been a little late for that). He'd woken when he heard the front door open, but he hadn't moved, so he still had his eyes closed when Caleb spoke. "Go on then," he muttered, opening one eye and squinting up at his brother.

Caleb toed his shoes off, and twisted his ankle, hearing it crack and he internally winced, but there wasn't any indication that it was painful. Even if it hurt like a bitch. "I've been thinking. And you've been around. You're fourteen years older than me. You've seen a lot of things, met a lot of people, been there done that." he continued thoughtfully. Then he leveled his gaze on Mathias again. "So, in your professional, world traveler opinion...are women put on this planet solely to torture men?"

Who: Katrina and open to all
Where: The Den
When: Eight O’clockish

who: eben and stacey
where: the carnival
when: evening

Eben liked the carnival. It was colorful, noisy, and everything moved. There were kids running around, screaming and laughing, teenagers walking around hand in hand. Even some adults, if they were young enough at heart. It was purely there for entertainment. That purity was what attracted him. That and it was sanctioned chaos. Enjoyment was nearly tasted on the air as he walked though the crowds of people, hands in his pockets as he smiled in a serene sort of manner.

Who: Peyton and Alejandro
Where: Lakeshore
When: Night

It had made sense to go home and hide in her room for awhile. She'd tried to take a nap, given the lack of sleep from the night before, but her mind was too full to relax and she'd only ended up tossing and turning in her bed before getting up. Tyler had wanted to take her to the carnival with he and Jason and some others but the desire to pretend to have some fun was simply not there. Not with what Thom and Isaac had told her. It didn't feel right to be out, letting other people cheer her up when she couldn't even do it for other people. She'd begun to call Isaac, but had decided against it and hung up the minute the phone had begun to ring. Instead, she'd gotten dressed, left her phone at home and left the house well after sunset, leaving a note for her dad in case he got home early from the hospital. She walked to the lake shore, unaware that she was reverting to a younger age when she would get tired of hearing her parents scream at each other and flee the house toward the shore to block everything else out.

Who: Thom and Isaac
When: right after school
Where: on the way home

Isaac was waiting, in the spot that they usually waited at, for Thom. One eye was squinted as he started off into the distance, and he didn't even hear it as one of the basketball guys hollered his name. He felt kind of faraway and checked-out, even though what Peyton had said was now a constant mantra under the surface of his thoughts. Don't withdraw. Talk. Do things you like to do. Don't avoid it. Talk. Talk. Talk. And the only person he could really talk to wasn't outside yet. At least not where he was. Maybe he'd forgotten and walked home with his girl. Even though that wasn't Thom at all. But he could be patient. It wasn't like he had any drive to go anywhere or do anything anyway. He was just ... standing.

Thom, meanwhile was running - or, if not full-out running, he was jogging as he headed out of the main school building and towards the spot he where he was to meet Isaac. He was running late, he knew and he hoped his friend had waited for him and didn't think that Thom had ditched him or anything like that. Though Isaac should know better - if Thom had ditched, it would be like the first time ever. Still, he was relieved when he caught sight of the guy and pulled up at his side. "Sorry - got caught up," he said, catching his breath, though that didn't take long - Thom was fairly fit. Nothing compared to Isaac when the guy was in training, but fairly fit.

Who: Peyton and Thom
Where: School
When: After last period

After talking to Isaac, the rest of the day dragged and was more than a little hazy. She hadn't been able to concentrate very well, and she hadn't really realized the last bell had rung until everyone was filing out of the room without her. Grabbing her bag from the floor and hefting her math book with her free hand, Peyton hurried from the class, realizing she had yet to do one very important thing. Talk to Thom. She knew he was grounded - like Isaac - and she didn't think she could go all weekend without doing it. Calling wasn't an option. She had decided most definitely that she did not like discussing life altering things over the phone. She worked on getting her math book into her bag as she flew through the halls, trying to avoid knocking into anyone as she headed in the direction of Thom's locker. Thankfully she saw his mop of brown hair and sighed a bit of relief before slowing her steps. No need to look all flushed and crazy. "Thom," she said breathlessly, coming to a stop beside him and leaning against a locker to catch her breath. "Hey. Do you have a second? To talk? Like, alone?"

Thom flinched as she leaned against the locker next to him - and then hated himself for it. Apparently that lack of flinching thing earlier on with Leija? Had been a passing Leija-induced moment of calm. Nothing seemed to be lasting today. It was like being on a rollercoaster. He turned to her, trying to cover as he shut his locker door, not really sure if he had the right books for the weekend or not. "Well, I'm meant to be meeting Isaac, but..." There was that word 'alone' - that usually meant something. Maybe not before, but in the last few days. "Sure, come on," he said, heading down the corridor, looking for an empty classroom. It was a Friday - they emptied damn quickly. And apparently, with the carnival in town, not even the teachers wanted to hang around late. He found one pretty quickly and led her inside, shutting the door behind them. "What's up?" he asked.

Who: Leija and Caleb
When: 5th period
Where: English class

Leija had gotten to English a little early. It was close to her French class, which came first, and she had both books so she didn't have to go to her locker. Which was fine with her, she wanted to get in there and get a seat before it filled up too bad. She was nervous, and even though she hated the feeling, she had more than a good reason to be so. This was the class that she shared with Caleb. She hadn't seen him yet that day. Of course, she had been darting around with her head ducked most of the day, and she and Thom had hidden out at lunch, but ... god. Leija took a seat near the back, with empty ones around her, and took out a notebook to start doodling and scribbling on, trying not to look like she was watching the door as much as she was. She started writing lyrics from memory to try and distract herself. Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts? Just a cage of rib-bones and other various parts ...

Caleb got there a minute or so later, thinking that this was the class he had with Leija. Which had him hurrying along a little bit, so he might get to talk to her for a few minutes. It was kind of fucked up...he'd been looking for her all day, in as inobtrusive a manner as he could. He'd even seen her a few times. But she'd been looking very much like she wanted to disappear, and he didn't have the first fucking clue what to say to her in the first place. He didn't even know if he was supposed to talk to her in school, or if he was supposed to kind of...not. Just be another face in the crowd, in this place that oh...had her boyfriend in it. He didn't know how this shit worked, and it was bothering him.

Who: Peyton and Isaac
When: After lunch
Where: The band room

Peyton had spent most of the morning in between classes searching for Isaac. She wondered after third period if he had even gone to school but Mary Matheson, who sat next to her in her English class, had claimed she saw him earlier with Lullaby in the halls. For awhile she thought he might be avoiding her, but then again, she thought maybe he was avoiding everyone. She wouldn't have blamed him for it, given what he was going through. He was popular - people wanted to talk to him, to be around him. And Peyton had a feeling that might be growing to be too much for him to deal with. At lunch she anxiously searched the cafeteria for him to no avail. Unless he'd left for lunch, she knew he had to be hiding somewhere. Disappointed and worried, Peyton ditched the cafeteria about about five minutes before the bell was to ring and dug her cell phone out of her bag in the empty hall to text him. If she could at least make sure he was somewhere safe, she could breathe easier.

As it turned out, she didn't have to. Isaac rounded a corner near the cafeteria. He'd spent the length of lunch in a corner of the band room, screwing around with his bass. The hallways were bad enough with people wanting his attention, wanting to know what was wrong with him, the chicks wanting hugs, the dudes wanting to invite him places. At least there he had a reason to keep walking. Lunch was just something he couldn't handle. But he had to pass by it to get to his next class, so he was going a bit early and oh look, there was Peyton in the hallway. With that little frown on her face that was actually pretty cute and she probably didn't know it. Which was a dim thought in his head, but probably a good one to have. He walked up to her and looked at the phone in her hand. "Texting that good for nothing boyfriend of your's?" he asked, though it didn't come out nearly as jokey as he'd meant it.

Who: Thom and Leija
When: lunch
Where: MSHS

Thom headed to the cafeteria when the bell went for lunch, hoping to get there early, before the rush. He didn't much intend on staying, but he needed to grab something to eat. Not that he was overly hungry, but he'd always been a sensible type and with him being as tired as he was, he knew that not eating would only add to that. Also, he was still on the lookout for Leija and this was the best place to find her. Of course, looking for someone wasn't always compatible to not staying in the cafeteria for long, but if she wasn't here, he'd ring her, since he fully intended to spend the vast majority of his lunch hour in the music department. Like he had yesterday. And like he'd been doing for every class that he couldn't face sitting through.

Leija had spent the majority of the day feeling like her heart was beating too hard. Hard and sick. She'd done a good job of playing it off so far, dipping into years of keeping her face neutral enough that nobody asked her what was wrong. It was easier, in a weird way, when people knew you'd been missing. None of them really knew her, and though she was sure that she was generating rumors just by existing, nobody had asked her anything, which she was grateful for. She hadn't seen Thom yet, and her class with Caleb wasn't 'til the afternoon. But lunch couldn't be avoided, and she knew Thom would be looking for her. How she was going to respond to anything today was completely up in the air, but she at least looked normal -- if a little tired -- when she walked into the cafeteria and made her way toward the line. Maybe she could go sit outside.

Who: Doc, open
Where: Beaches along Lake Superior
When: Dusk

It was a gorgeous day, the best sort anyone could ask for. The skies were brilliantly colored overhead; a display of light that was a rare thing Doc thanked the powers-that-be for. He was in good spirits, seated on the beach with bootheels dug into the sand and a beer in his grip as he watched Voltaire run and play. The puppy scampered in the distance, making a show of bringing back an oversized length of driftwood Doc had been throwing for him, and the older man had to laugh quietly at the sight.

Who: Thom and Isaac
When: after lunch, between classes
Where: schooooool

Though he'd wanted to leave school completely after his time spent with Peyton, Isaac didn't. He didn't want to risk having his parents called and getting into more bullshit that he really didn't want to fuck with. So he went on to class after skipping the one directly after lunch, stopping by the offended classroom first to pass a note to the teacher. They had to cut him some slack somewhere, right? After sitting through math, feeling numb and miserable, he joined the throng in the hallway again. He didn't know Thom's schedule like the back of his hand yet, he did know they crossed here, and he leaned against some lockers and waited for his best friend, ignoring the wary looks he was getting. Talk to somebody, Peyton had said. Have somebody to talk to. You're withdrawing.