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Post by David B. on May 28, 2012 2:31:44 GMT -8
OOC ((If you'd like to join, message me. Otherwise closed. EDIT: I'll be trying to post once a day here.))Theme: The Fray"Well well. Look what the cat dragged out of the fire."David turned in his seat, the familiar voice causing a long string of shock to run up his spine. His voice nearly cracked as he spoke. " August?" The man was still a little shorter than him, his usually long red hair cut short to the scalp. His crooked smile and light green eyes still held the glint of mischief David remembered. It was almost like he had never left. David stood, his arms wrapping around the male in a hug, a laugh coming from his lips. It had been about four years since he had seen Augustus, the male having gone off on his own to pursue ventures of a capital nature. David looked over the mans shoulder to a young woman, long black hair, but the familiar glint of pink hinting from her eyes. He stepped around August, walking over to Youichi. Though she stepped back a little hesitantly, he ignored it and wrapped his arms around her too. She stood frozen a moment before her arms came up and gently wrapped around him too. " Bee." He let her go, the now nineteen year old glowering. " Did you wanna cry a little for me, ya big baby?" He laughed and turned back to the male. " How did you guys find me?" He sat inside a next-to-destroyed bar, the only patrons currently present being the man behind the bar and a few others scattered about. There wasn't an intense amount of the populace to speak of, so even though it was eight or nine at night, there were very few people out and about having fun. They tried to keep everyone sober in case of an attack, but... well, it took a lot to get him drunk, and he just enjoyed the taste and the company. Augustus placed a hand behind his head, grinning. " I just walked up to the nearest person, gave your description, and they pointed me here. Easy." Lucky was more like it. The fact that they happened to come upon this area first, to HAPPEN across the small place...well, he was grateful the fates were in his favor. He took a deep breath. It was...comforting, to have his friends back with him. " Well...I uh, shit!" He let out a little laugh. " Gather your guys' stuff! I'll take you to my house, and you can explain to me everything that has happened since we last spoke." August nodded, grabbing the duffle bag next to him, Youichi hoisting her backpack and a case to follow him. They were all in for a very long night, and he was more than excited to get started.
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Post by David B. on May 29, 2012 16:55:41 GMT -8
"After the bombs fell, I went looking for you and Youichi. We bumped into each other near Alachua, down in Florida. We made our way to Miami from there." August took a drink of water before continuing. "After we discovered you weren't there, we just moved on, checking any safe houses we knew about. We surmised you were alive, since the bunker below your house near Riu beach seemed pretty lived in. Along the way we heard news of what happened, who did it, and where. Knowing you, we figured you'd probably come back here eventually, whether to fight Barker or to find your old friends. And here we are."
David let out a little grunt of appreciation for the story, his mouth currently filled with peaches from a can he happened to find in the cupboard of a house not far away. Youichi sat against the cold stone of his house, her bag and case propped up next to her. She remained quiet throughout the story, probably because her side wouldn't quite have been so happy go lucky. Earlier, August had explained that when he left them, he quit killing, instead going back into the music business. Made quite a name for himself in the northeastern hemisphere, so he liked to say. Youichi probably didn't have it so lucky. Killing was all she knew, and it was likely she sold herself out to any government needing low profile assassinations. Now that she was back with him, though, he'd make sure she didn't have to kill again. At least, kill for money. He let out a breath before standing.
"Welp, you guys better get unpacked."
"Er, well, we could find another house if you want."
"Nah, it's all good. You guys can live with me, i don't mind."
"You sure? Kuz we could-"
"Dude, seriously. It's cool."
August grinned before turning back and grabbing his duffle.
"Alright then, room claiming time."
Youichi stayed seated, David tossing the now-empty can into a garbage bag he dug out from under the kitchen sink. Coming back into the living room, he would stand and look down at the girl who seemed to stare off into nothing. Now that he thought about it, she hadn't really looked him in the eye since she got back. Even way back when they were around each other, he knew that to be a sign of one of two things. Either she was pissed at him, or knew something she didn't want to say. He crouched down beside her, resting his weight on the balls of his feet.
"You okay?"
She turned her gaze full on his face.
"David...I think I saw your brother."
David stared a moment, blankly, words leaving him, as August called out from upstairs.
"DIBS!"
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Post by David B. on Jun 1, 2012 16:29:32 GMT -8
David let out a breath, sweat pouring from his body and covering the floor in small specs of shaded wetness. He wore a simple excersize shorts, his body exposed to the heat around him. Second to the top floor of his building, he had been lucky enough to find a hanging punching bag, covered in dust. Using his shirt, he wiped off the covering and patted it a few times. After standing back and staring at it a moment, he smiled and glanced around. Nobody so far as he could see. He set his shirt on a rail nearby before walking over to the bag and hanging on it a minute. Placing his forehead on it gently, he took a deep, slow breath. Leaning back, he threw one punch, and then another.And before long he was fifteen minutes in and his knuckles were sore. Twenty five minutes in and boom- we're in the present.
He placed his hands on his sides, taking several deep breaths. He felt so...weak. Using the back of his hand, he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand before staring at the bag. There was a time when he could stand and do this for an hour, but since his recent news...well, he just didn't feel as strong anymore. Sure, he HAD the strength, he HAD the endurance...it was just stretched. He ground his teeth. How could he expect to protect his brother when his body refused to step up and protect itself? He took a large step forward with his left leg and, while growling in frustration. He brought up his right foot and kicked the bag, snapping the rope that held it and sending the eighty pound sand sack crashing into the wall, sending cracks along its surface and rupturing grossly, before falling to the ground.
He crouched and leaned back, falling into a sitting posistion and hooking his arms around his knees. His thoughts went to the night before, when he sat next to Youchi and listened to her tell him what was on her mind.
**********************************************************
"David...I think i saw your brother."
The thought muddled through his head, before realization set in that she actually said it. His brother...? He had been hunting for the kid for almost five years, and yet never a trace to turn up. He slowly sat to his rear beside her, resting his back against the wall and staring forward.
"Tell me."
She took a deep breath, hooking a strain of hair behind her left ear so she could hear him speak better.
"Well, it was about a year ago. I was in Columbia on a...on a job. It had something to do with heroine shipments out of a sub-complex near the southern border. Some people pissed off other people- anyway, I was sent after a boy. I was told he was young looking, had jet black hair and ice-cold blue eyes. I didn't think anything of it. But-" She tilted her head back and rested it gently against the wall. "-I didn't follow through with it. He looked....just like you. I mean, his bone structure was a little different, and his mannerisms, but his charisma, the smile...his eyes.David I swear if I knew it was your brother I never would have-"
He cut her off.
"What did you tell your employer?"
She went silent a moment before looking away.
"I didn't tell him anything. I made very clear that I and he were the only two who knew who Damien was, and then i shot that man in the heart."
The last part was spoken a little quieter, but it still sounded loud and clear to him. He reached over and patted her knee in response, as though to say "Thank you". August came down the stairs as he was removing his hand, the red-heads eyes going straight to where his palm had rested before he stopped and looked away.
"Oh...am I interrupting?"
**********************************************************
He snapped back into the present, the sandbag leaking all over the cold concrete. He turned, his eyes focusing into the darkness, and the space around the window, where the light from the window itself caused partial blindness.
"Is...someone there?"
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 1, 2012 17:50:02 GMT -8
(OOC: Posting from my iPod)
........
It was the golden hour, the time when the sun was at the perfect height in the sky that it cast a full golden glow over the land. Even in this desolate dystopia, there was still a hint of beauty in the way the light fell on the rubble around her. Olesya had just come back from trading in the busier areas of the territory, swapping stories and supplies. Money was no good anymore, people wanted real things for trade. She managed to get some rope for a semi busted set of binoculars, and some soap for a can of peas. In a way, Olesya liked the barter system that society had fallen back to. It was solid, it was real, not just swiping a plastic card and exchanging numbers for numbers. This was one of the few positive things to come from this disaster, if anything.
The young woman dropped her things back at her new home, casting her mismatched gaze down the pitted road to David's residence. She hadn't seen him for a couple of days, and without modern technology it wasn't like they were able to text or call. Leaving her scavenging gear, Olesya shrugged in her white coat, coal tank top and jean shorts, black ballet shoes crunching on the disheveled asphalt as she made her way to his place. She rarely used the door anymore, anywhere, and she heard a loud thunk of something heavy hitting a solid surface somewhere on the upper floors.
Getting a bit of a jogging start, she climbed up the side of the building with the help of her shoes, grabbing onto the window ledge and swinging up onto the sill with catlike grace. She peered inside, a small smile tugging on the edge of her lips as she saw David sitting on the floor, a punching bag fallen and split open not far from him
"Just me."
She answered, gliding over to where he sat and crouching down, resting her elbows on her bent knees. She looked from him to the punching bag and back again.
"Did it do something to upset you?"
She asked jokingly.
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Post by David B. on Jun 1, 2012 18:37:04 GMT -8
The tension in his body visibly released, one hand coming up to the side of his scalp to scratch absent-mindedly. He let it fall back into place around his knees as his gaze turned back to Olesya, a small smile coming to his lips as she crouched. He licked his lips just before grinning, letting a little shrug come to his shoulders.
"It said i hit like a ninny and that i was made of hot air." He cracked his neck. "I showed it whose boss." He looked back over to her, and a flashback hit him.
*************************************************
They were on the roof, her taunting grin trying to force him into some kind of rage. He was so confused by what he was seeing, what she was doing... At one point, he could still remember the feel of her lips, back when he was "teaching" her some fighting moves. Of course, he tried to tie the kiss into his training, but he and she both probably knew that kissing wasn't something to happen often when in a fist fight. He had liked her- she was spunky, firey, determined. She had a sort of kick in her step, but wasn't no mary poppins. She was more like Maria, on a hill singing "The hills are alive with sound of music" smashed with Chun-Li from streetfighter. It wasn't something he saw every day. 259 was a place that beat you down, and Olesya seemed like someone who would never let that happen.
Then came his disappearance, followed by correctional facility madness and drugs- boom, Ophelia. He never should have left. Not once, not ever. She would probably be fine if he had just stayed. He would have saved her, and Amtrum, Emily, Leon. He would have torn down a mountain to break his friends from the grip of Barker. But he didn't. He stayed away, consumed with a selfish desire to fulfill some destiny he thought was in store for himself. His inaction put everyone in danger. And yet, was he so different now? He didn't really want to fight anymore, but things kept blindsiding him, pulling him kicking and screaming into the arena. This man, who looked to the sky and wondered what was in store for him, how he could get better, how he could be the best while his friends were in pain- how could he help at all?
His brother...Damien. Looking to him to pull him from the fire, and instead, he was stuck in New York. Left with nothing, Damien had to do what he had to do...and now his life was in the balance.
****************************************************
He looked away a few seconds later, having kept his eyes trailing over her features before he realized how it looked and turned away.
"Y'know, I can't stop thinking about you." He blushed, letting out a little cough before standing and walking a little distance toward the window, combing his fingers through his hair. "Er, I mean you, Emily, Leon...everyone. I feel responsible for everything you went through. You guys had so much shit on your plates and when you started to lean on me, i pulled away. I'm like some kid with a toy that i keep saying is yours, yet i hold it just above your head so you can't reach it."
He stuck his hands in his pockets, the wind picking up once more to flow over his bare face and chest.
"I just wish I could go back and change things."
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 1, 2012 18:55:27 GMT -8
Olesya watched as the look on his face turned from playful to thoughtful, his eyes unfocusing as his mind took him somewhere his eyes didn't follow. She watched him curiously, a small thoughtful frown in place as he snapped back to reality. "Yknow, I cant stop thinking about you." Her mismatched eyes widened as the words tumbled from his mouth, her heart rate slowing to a somewhat normal speed as he recovered his words, stumbling into a better explanation.
Olesya frowned, feeling the demons of her past lick around her ankles, threatening to consume her.
"It isn't your fault."
Her voice had taken on a darker quality to it as the conversation ventured into dangerous territory. She watch him move tithe window, though she didn't move from where she crouched. Instead she focused her gaze on the floor. She opened her mouth to say something more, but the words gummed up in her throat, and she closed her mouth again and pressing her lips together in a hard line.
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Post by David B. on Jun 1, 2012 19:16:29 GMT -8
David turned back, the sun shining in on his feet. He wasn't aware of her attitude change- from this distance, and with the sun having just been in his eyes, it was slightly hard to see. Even if he knew, though, he would still continue as followed.
"We both know that's bull. I mean, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but i've had far too much time to think about it, and i'm sure you have too. If i was there, you and Em never would have had to fight my battles for me. I could have protected you from Barker and-" He had been gesturing with his hand, now letting it drop back to his side. Hell....if he had been there, perhaps Barker would have fallen to his fist and Jaus, spike... millions might have lived.
He wouldn't say that aloud- going down the road of blaming the apocolypse on yourself was dark, and dangerous. He couldn't admit that he felt that way- it would make like he was putting himself above the others, that he was the most important man in the world. He used to feel that way- that his strength and his abilities were all that mattered. He hoped he didn't sound that way anymore- he didn't want to be that guy.
He stared at her.
"I wish you'd just hit me and get it over with."
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 1, 2012 19:31:34 GMT -8
Sure, David's disappearances played a good hand in Oleysa posit her mind, but it wasn't the only reason. The added stress of running the school with Emily in addition to the fall out with Stu, mixed together with the chemicals attacking her brain created a deadly cocktail. The lack of a support structure when she needed it most lead to Olesya falling through the cracks and questioning her own existence. She became the one thing she feared most, a monster.
But did she blame David? She had all the right in the world to hold a grudge against him, but the bottom line was that she didnt. She didn't blame him at all.
"Hit you?"
She asked as if the term were foreign to her. Olesya straightened to her feet, facing him. Why would he want her to hit him? To get out her pent up anger? To make him pay for leaving? Right now she found herself too confused by his words to retort with a proper response.
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Post by David B. on Jun 1, 2012 19:44:04 GMT -8
"Hit me, yell at me...something. Aren't you even angry?" He stepped out of the light, leaving the window again behind him. "I asked for you help, and left you. I came back and promised to help you, only to leave again. I just...don't understand why you don't hate me. I... hate me. For bailing on everyone. I talked a big game but... Never followed through."
He watched her, trying to guess as to her thoughts. He didn't expect to have this discussion with her tonight, but he knew it was coming eventually. Sure, there were other factors in every situation, but toss in a wildcard and everything could have changed. He knew that even if he made a small difference, however, it could have...He didn't know what more to say. He knew that look she got, everytime he returned from his vanishings. The look that said "Great, David's back to say hello, promise me more, and move on."
He hated that look, and hated himself for causing it.
He wanted to fix it. Everything. To gain back his courage, his strength, so he could try one more time to save someone important to him.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 1, 2012 19:57:51 GMT -8
Her frown deepened, he felt tremendous guilt for leaving her and his friends time and again. Though instead of angry, Olesya felt sadness instead. Younger Olesya wouldn't have thought twice before knocking his block off, in fact she'd ranted a couple of times back when she and Emily were running the school about doing just that.
It had taken a lot of work to get to where she was today. She was nowhere near perfect, she still had her bad days, but every day she felt herself growing a little bit stronger, a little bit more stable. Having her friends around, just the act of having them there, helped with that.
"I was angry for a really long time. Angry at you, at Emily, at Stu, Jon, Mathew, even Mitsuki. I was angry at everyone, even myself."
She spoke softly, her gaze trained on the floor between them. The devils licked up her legs, grasping at her negative emotions in the hopes of taking over. She mentally pushed them back, afraid of being consumed by her pain. That was a dark road she never wanted to travel again.
"I didn't like who I'd become. You saw...I was a monster. I let the anger consume me until I was not even me anymore."
Her voice broke, and she closed her eyes, her hands balling into fists.
"I never want to be like that. Never again."
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Post by David B. on Jun 3, 2012 15:09:04 GMT -8
David went quiet, as Olesya told him she wasn't angry- she had been, and that it had a negative effect. He could understand that. His own frustrations had caused him to become the very thing he tried to stop- a bully. He stared at her a moment, before walking over and, for the second time in as many days, gave her a hug. He held her for a few seconds, staring at the bag that lay crumpled on the floor.
"You won't, Les. You won't." He pulled back, his hands moving up to her shoulders and giving a little squeeze. He would walk around her and pick up the bag, tossing it in a large, round trashcan that was nearly as tall as him.
"You want to know the real reason I'm upset?" He would put his hands in his pockets and turn back to her.
"Turns out, my brother is working for Barker."
His fists tightened, Silence ringing inside his head. If anyone- unfettered, Kiyoshi...if they found out his brother was working with the madman who caused everything, they would throw him out without so much as a "Cya." Having him there could be a potential liability, especially if they decided they were going to get him out of there, and make him work for Barker too. Whatever they did to Damien, David knew it couldn't be good. He just hoped they left enough of him in there to be brought back.
OOC ((Sorry for the shitty post. Exhausted today))
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 4, 2012 6:49:56 GMT -8
Much like the first time he hugged her, Olesya stiffened when he wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed a bit after a moment, still not used to such displays of affection. Being alone for so long, she almost forgotten what affection felt like. Now that she was re-exposed to it, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Just...foreign.
She watched him as he tossed the punching bag into the trash bin, her gaze caught on his when he spoke again. However, at the mention of Barker's name, Olesya's face fell, and she found she couldn't hold his gaze. Instead, she focused her mismatched eyes on the wall behind him. David's brother was working for Barker? By choice? Or was he another victim of Barker's influence?
Olesya could still feel the cold cement walls of the correctional facility, the cool dampness of the air that clung to her skin and made her shiver. It had been years since her brief imprisonment in the madman's lair, and yet it had scarred her so deeply that she often woke up screaming from the nightmare. Screaming for her friends to run, for the poor old man who had sacrificed himself for her freedom, screaming for her family to come help her, for anyone.
The young woman shivered, shaking herself from the horrible memory. She looked back at David, her expression worn and harried, the weight of her past wearing through her guise of normalcy.
"We'll get him back. I promise you."
Her voice was edgy, her gaze stern and serious. David was one of her only friends left, and Olesya knew that if her sister were in the clutches of Barker, she would stop at nothing to save her. Having been in that same situation, Olesya did not wish that fate on anyone. If David would stop at nothing to save his brother from Barker, then neither would Olesya.
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Post by David B. on Jun 4, 2012 16:15:17 GMT -8
He looked over at her. She had promised, without provocation, to help him in any way was necessary to find his brother. He was confused. He never knew someone who would stick their neck out so far for him, even after everything. It made him relive in his head every moment they had together, and every time they got close, him bailing. He gave her a smile. "Thanks...It would really blow to have to do it solo."
He wondered if there was anyone she cared about that she had not found...he walked back over to the duffelbag and crouched, pulling out his Tshirt and throwing it on over his bare torso. He looked over his shoulder at her, and a flash hit his head. Her lips, pressed against his, as he looked into her eyes, many years ago. Soft...angry, but soft. Eyes staring at his in shock.
He wondered if it would be the same now...?
His brain cracked it open, David imagining himself standing, wrapping an arm around her waist, putting his other against the side of her head and leaning in....
Blotches of red appeared on his cheek before he looked away. Clearing his throat, he brought his bag up onto his shoulder and turned back to her. "Would you want to come with me for a minute? I want you to meet some people."
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Post by Your Mom~ on Jun 4, 2012 16:32:28 GMT -8
Olesya found herself a bit confused at the sudden color to his cheeks. Had she really been separated from genuine human contact that she found it difficult to relate to others and their feelings? Somewhere deep inside she was still human, hell, she was still human on the outside too, just a bit damaged. The more time she spent immersed in this new culture, the better she became. It was a struggle sometimes, but it was a struggle she was slowly winning.
Needless to say, she was a little disappointed when he put his shirt back on. She may be confused in the head, but she still knew an attractive man when she saw one. David had always been handsome growing up, as well as charismatic. It's part of what made him a good leader...when he was around.
"Sure."
Les would follow him from the room to meet whoever it was he wanted to introduce her to.
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Post by David B. on Jun 4, 2012 17:11:38 GMT -8
He smiled and turned, heading down the staircase toward his living space. Through the livingroom and out the main entrance, David headed down the street, the sun baring down on his back, Olesya still caught in his mind. He would need to shake her out. She never really...had this effect on him before. Back when he was engaged to Bastille, who left him years ago, she had just been a friend. He never denied any attraction to her, but he kept her at an arms distance, or tried to put himself in a position where she wasn't around. Now, though, she was his only friend, besides the two they were going to see, and the fact that she seemed to enjoy his company more than not...well...He cleared his throat.
"So, Les. How does a girl lookin' like you still walk around all these post-apocolyptic guys and not get snagged?"
He tried to make it sound like he was asking as a friend, but in truth he was a little more curious than that. Perhaps she just saw him in the light he had forced himself to see her in up til recently, and he was just imagining the crush he had. If she had a boyfriend, or someone she was interested in...well, he couldn't say it wouldn't hurt. But he'd be very supportive. Besides, it wasn't like they had a shot at anything...at least...not now. Not while his brother was the bitch of a man who made the world crumble. And not while he had so much to do for everyone- for his other friends, for Emily and Leon...he had much work to do in their honor.
His feet crunched under him as he walked, knowing that the location in which they were heading was at least twenty or so minutes away.
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