Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Westeria City: Rheinsdale

Tiko

Draconic Administrator/Mentor
Administrator
Mentor
Nexus GM
as written by Faithy and Akita

Renée knew that Liam was right, Arial in his mind didn’t deserve an apology and she was behind him one-hundred percent. However, she also didn’t deserve to be punched over and over again. Letting the two of them talk while she fired off a reply text before scrolling through her contacts, trying to find Tayrn’s cell number, Renée vaguely listened, though she kept a grasp on him to keep him from beating on his sibling again. Glancing up at the mention of her name, Renée blinked a little before focusing in on what was being said instead of just half-listening. Thankfully, Liam was willing to give Arial a chance to redeem herself, though it made it obvious that he was going to stay with Renée, which was fine with her. However, she was suddenly wary of the sibling, wondering if she would go as far as to stab Liam’s new mom in the back just to get him back. Musing a minute, she just shook her head, deciding not to dwell on such negative thoughts.

“Hnnn… Gabrielle is my younger sibling. I thought she was away on a modeling shoot, but I just got word that she was kidnapped over three months ago. Usually, that’s how long her shoot’s last, but apparently, she never got to it. I never got the text back then because my phone kept auto deleting messages because it’s a piece of crap. If I hadn’t immediately gotten to this one, I probably still wouldn’t know. I’m going to text Tayrn to let her know… since she went looking for her earlier.” Renée sent Tay a text, blinking when the familiar tone went off right where the crowd was gathered.

“Oh! She must be in the crowd.” Releasing Liam, trusting he wouldn’t hit Arial again, Renée moved towards the crowd, looking for her mother before her gaze fell upon what everyone had been staring at. Her mother. Brutally massacred. Dropping down to her knees, throwing up everything she had eaten previously, Renée crumpled up and started to earnestly cry for the loss of her mother. Despite everything, she loved Tayrn with all of her heart and losing her twice was detrimental to the eighteen-year-old. That coupled with the message that Gabby was missing plus the pregnancy was just too much for her. It wasn’t long before she went into full hysterics.

____

The water felt good on his back as the hot beads massaged the skin with a heavy drizzle. The vampire hummed in pleasure as his sinuses soaked up the heat and began to clear out some due to the steam. He let out a soft sigh and straightened himself, turning around in the small shower so that his face met the hot drizzle. "Mmm..." he hummed again, the soothing feeling of cleanliness washing away his worry for a short moment. Rhoan tilted his head back and began to wrap up his shower, allowing the water to wash down the suds that covered his body. As he finished, he turned the water off and stood there for a minute, shivering when the brisk air slapped against his skin.

He let out a small growl from deep within his throat at the sharp coldness stinging against his arms, and causing the hairs to stand up. 'She's probably long gone by now,' he thought as Renée crossed his mind. He envisioned her when he closed his eyes for a brief moment, and a small smile formed upon his lips. She was always beautiful, even as a blob in his mind. He let out a soft huff and reached for one of the stark white towels that hung from the rack just outside the shower.

After drying himself off and redressing, Rhoan paced around the hotel room for a while, pondering his next set of actions. Should he go look for her? Or should he leave her to do what she wanted to? She was busy with Liam at the moment, and perhaps it would be best to let her be for now? Rhoan shook the thoughts from his head and figured maybe it wouldn't hurt if he joined them. Perhaps, if he did, he and the kid would be able to bond some and possibly get to know each other and become comfortable around one another. It was worth a shot.

Rhoan shrugged his shoulders at his thoughts and began to head out. He didn't bother locking the door behind him, because he didn't intend on staying at this hotel again. Not only was it pretty run down, but it was filled with tons of memories that weren't necessarily pleasant. And with his new life he was already starting, he didn't want things from his past to haunt him anymore than they already are. With that consideration set in his mind, he made his way down the hallway and down the long stairwell, and then out of the building into the bright sunlight.

It was almost like walking into a new world. Rhoan squinted his eyes some as the sun set on his face, and he shielded his face, using his hand as a visor. He groaned at the sudden glint of sunlight creeping between his fingers and stinging his eyes, but he attempted to brush it off and move on. That was when he caught her scent.

The air was filled with all sorts of different scents, but one in particular was dancing around his nostrils: the sweet aroma of that beautiful woman. He pursed his lips in satisfaction of the scent and went on his way, following his nose to where he may be able to find her.

---

He had been walking a while, but finally, he managed to make his way into the mass of patrons standing around what seemed to be a popular attraction. Around the area, Rhoan noticed a small ice cream shop and figured that must be where Renée took Liam. His brow furrowed when he turned his head to the attention of the growing crowd around the attraction. "What the...." he started, but paused after pushing his way through the crowd only to witness the massacre site that everyone seemed to be gawking at. What the hell is that? Better yet. who is that?!

Instantly, Rhoan turned around to get away from the horrible scene, but was thankful when he saw Renée. Without hesitation, he jogged over to her and knelt down beside her, placing a firm hand on the small of her back. "Renée??" he questioned, awaiting a shocked response from the sudden interaction.

____

Renée was on the ground on her knees with her face pressed against her palms. She was on the verge of passing out, her sobbing coming out in gasps as she forced herself to breathe. Her entire body was shaking and hardly anyone in the crowd paid her any attention, mostly because they were focused on the scene in front of them. Rumors immediately began to circulate, but she paid them absolute no attention. Rocking back and forth, she started to cry even harder, if that was even possible. Who would do such a terrible thing to her mother? Sure, she wasn’t the most pleasant person at times, but she didn’t deserve that to happen to her. At one point, she heard Liam mentioning something about going to stay with Arial until things calmed down, but she didn’t say anything except just nod. Her gaze slowly turned back towards the scene in front of her and she felt herself going into shock.

“…Mama…” Renée clenched her eyes closed and jumped the minute she felt a hand on her back. Snapping her tear filled eyes open, she stared at Rhoan for a full minute before she wrapped her arms around him, hugging onto him tight. It wasn’t long before she was bawling against his chest, her body pressing close against him.

“…Tayrn… that … someone massacred her… …and Gabby’s been kidnapped for three months… and… I don’t know what to do anymore.” Crying harder, she clutched tightly onto Rhoan’s arms, her body shaking uncontrollably.

____

Rhoan observed her for a moment, patiently waiting for her get her sobs out as she needed to. He pursed his lips, and chewed the inside of his mouth some to try and calm his own self down. He drew in a deep breath and lowered his position so that he'd be on the ground completely on his knees, mainly for Renée who was now clutching his body and clinging tightly to his chest. His eyes drooped some as he stared at her with a sorrowful expression. He honestly didn't know what to do. Sure, he'd gone through rough times in his life, but he usually just looked past it and went on with life. This was one of the first times he'd actually experienced true emotion when a tragedy struck.

The vampire let out a heavy sigh as Renée informed him of Gabby's situation and how she didn't know what to do anymore. How could he comfort someone who seemed to feel so lost? Rhoan shook his head at the thought and massaged the small of her back, in an effort to at least physically console her. He rested his chin on her head and allowed her to cry into his chest as much and as hard as she needed. He understood her pain, but he never truly understood how to show the emotion, so it made him somewhat worried that he wouldn't be able to help her.

After a long while, he pulled away from her and moved his hands to her shoulders, gripping them tightly, and shifting his gaze to stare into her bloodshot, tearful eyes. "Renée...Do you know who did this? Do you know anything at all?" He attempted to try and drag some information out of her so he could at least feel like he could be of use for helping her track down the monster that mutilated her mother. "And what about Gabby? How do you know she's been kidnapped?... What is going on?"

He couldn't help but be extremely worried for her and her family. He understood how it felt to lose a family member, especially because of bloodshed. Short flashbacks contaminated his mind and he tried to shake them away, but found it difficult. Every time he thought of Tayrn's remains lying about, he pictured his own parents splayed out in front of his old house. His whole mind was filled with gore, and he was just about to explode. He then turned his head away and grunted loudly, scoffing at someone who tripped over him. "Watch where the fuck you're going," he snapped, baring his sharp, monstrous teeth and then turned back to Renée.

"You need to focus," he said finally after calming down some.

____

Renée enjoyed the warmth coming from Rhoan’s body and curled up against him as much as possible considering they were both dealing down on the ground. Whimpering, she clutched tighter against him, trying to find some comfort in his arms despite how much her chest hurt and how scrambled her emotions were at the moment. When he pulled back from her, she tried to move closer to him, her gaze shifting up towards his face. She tried to focus on him, but it was incredibly difficult. When he asked the questions that definitely needed to be asked, she just frowned and shook her head.

“…I don’t know who did it… I… Someone bad… I just… she walked off to find Gabby… and then she never came back. Then, I tried to text her… to let her know that Gabby had been kidnapped… and I… found her like this.” Renée sniffed, starting to cry all over again. When he asked about Gabrielle, she just crumpled and stared at the ground for a couple of minutes.

“My phone has been auto deleting things for a while I guess… I finally got a text that didn’t delete itself… and the text said that Gabrielle had been kidnapped three months ago… and that no one has been able to find her…” She finally slumped down and just dropped her head in Rhoan’s lap, her shoulders shaking as she started to bawl hard all over again. As she was crying, the corner finally showed up to take the body to the morgue so that it could be looked at to try to find the murderer.

____

The entire situation was so much to take in, and every second that passed by, Rhoan's confidence in how to handle the situation sunk lower and lower. How was he going to help her through this? A deep groan escaped him from low in his throat when he listened to her explain how she found out about Gabby being kidnapped. Rhoan's lips stayed pursed throughout her entire explanation, and nervousness was building up inside him. He drew in another deep breath and focused on Renée, who was now in tears again. "Look, we just need to get out of this place and start moving to find your sister..... somehow..." He let his voice trail off as he realized what he was saying probably sounded ridiculous at the moment.

What was he thinking? This woman had just found her mother's mutilated body showcased to an entire random town, and was traumatized, and now he was urging her to just move on and think of other pressing matters. Perhaps it was too soon to try and void her thoughts of the current situation, but it was necessary if she wanted to locate her sister to be reassured of her wellbeing. Being kidnapped didn't mean dead, and that was one thing he had high hopes for - Gabby's wellbeing. Rhoan swallowed hard as he listened to Renée talk on about the auto deleted text messages and about how she finally got one that didn't get deleted. He nodded after she finished her statement, and stayed silent for a moment while he thought how he should proceed.

"I know you're hurting right now. And I know you're probably confused and extremely upset, but you need to put your mind to work on what you know about your sister's whereabouts, or who she may have been with. You said she was a model, right? Or something? Do you know her photographer?" Rhoan licked at the spit flying out of his mouth after his quickly rambled sentence. He sighed softly and relaxed his grip on her shoulders, figuring that his grip was probably adding to her physical stress. If he could get her to focus on finding her sister, then perhaps it would be easier for her to move on from the massacre of her mother. Along with that intention, Rhoan also wanted to protect their possible child from the dangers that physical stress could bring. He didn't want to risk the possible pregnancy and lose something else near and dear to him.

____

When Rhoan suggested they move away from the current situation and start looking for her sister, Renée just shook her head, not trusting her legs to hold her up. She curled up more against him, thankful that Liam was going off with her sister. She really didn’t have it in her to mess with him at the moment. After a few minutes, she finally stopped crying and quieted down, her face remaining against his lap even as he once again mentioned her sister and how she should go figure out where she was, the eighteen-year-old couldn’t bring herself to look up at him.

“Yeah… she’s a model… I… I guess we could contact her photographer… I… I just don’t know anymore, Rhoan. I should have noticed something was amiss earlier, but I just assumed. I hate that I assumed. I’ve always protected the squirt and now… now she’s kidnapped and I don’t know if she’s even alive.” Sitting up, she sighed and pulled out her phone, dialing up her photographer. After a short conversation, she realized that they didn’t have a photo shoot set up for another three weeks. That meant that Gabby was doing something else when she taken.

“She was never at a photo shoot. The last I saw her… she was extremely pissed off because of a scuffle that happened. She probably left to find someone to train her how to fight… I don’t know how to find her, Rhoan. I don’t know what to do…” She frowned, starting to cry again.

____

Rhoan nodded his head as he listened to Renée speak about her sister and her journey to always protect her. He understood her want to keep her loved one safe, mainly because that's what Rhoan did with his own any time he could, and also what he intended to do with Renée. He let out a soft sigh as she finished her sentence with the hindered hope that Gabrielle was alive. He bit at his lip some, chewing at it, as he thought of what he could say back to her that wouldn't send her into another sobbing fit. "You're right, you don't know..But this is why we have to find her to make sure that she is alive. Renée, you cannot give up on her, you know this right?" He shook his head at his small effort to help ease the situation.

He continued to chew on his lip some as he adjusted himself while she sat up. He placed his hands in his lap and while patiently waiting for her to get done with the phone call, and also making note of the expressions on her face while she conversed with the photographer. When she ended the phone call, the vampire looked her in the eyes, and instantly his facial expression went from showing a slight glimmer of hope to sporting a gloomed disappointment.

His eyes dimmed some, and he wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her close to him. He cupped her face in his hand and rested her other cheek against his chest as he attempted to calm her with his warmth. He honestly felt so bad for her, and it was making his heart ache to see her like this.

"Do you have something of hers on your person?" He asked her after a long while of silence. It may have been a peculiar question, but he had an idea on how to track Gabby down.
 
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as written by Faithy and Akita

She couldn’t help but shake her head at Rhoan’s comment. He didn’t know Gabby or the fact that she really couldn’t fend for herself. If she had gotten kidnapped by someone, then the likelihood of her being alive was pretty slim. Realizing she was thinking negative, Renée tried to think the opposite, but it was extremely difficult. Sighing, she just leaned against Rhoan, thankful that he was there for her at that moment.

“Rhoan… Gabrielle doesn’t have the best of luck… She’s not a fighter… I’m scared that if she really was kidnapped… something terrible has happened… and I don’t know if she’ll survive whatever happens to her… I just…” Renée shook her head, trying to keep from freaking out again. When asked if she had something of Gabby’s, Renée blinked and just dug around in her pocket, pulling out a picture of her younger sister. Handing it over to him, she shrugged a little and laid back against his chest, her fingers still clutching onto his shirt.

“That’s all I have one me…” She wrapped her arms around him, snuggling close.

____

Rhoan pursed his lips at her comments, and just continued to hold her against his chest. He knew there was really nothing else he could do other than hold her at this point, so he did his best at just physically comforting her. When Renée mentioned that her sister was not a fighter and her chances of surviving were possibly slim to none, Rhoan let out a low hum and and just sat there, trying to soak up the reality of the situation. He had a feeling in his gut that, since Renée was so strong, her sister had to at least have one strong bone in her body. How different could they really be?

He blinked a couple times to wash the thoughts from his head and turned to look down at the photo she pulled from her pocket. He leaned in to view it a little better so that he could memorize the face in the photo, and also get a slight whiff of it. He sighed and pulled back, seemingly unsatisfied with the lone item she carried. "You don't have an article of clothing, or anything she wore? Anything that might have her scent on it?" Rhoan asked, and instantly felt like a search dog.

____

“Well… ever since what happened… I lost almost all of her stuff… I… I might have something back at my place. I haven’t really unpacked anything… I might have something.” Renée frowned heavily and slid up to her feet, knowing that it wouldn’t do Gabby any good just staying right here. Grabbing a hold of his arm, she jerked him up and started moving towards where she was currently staying. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she snuggled close against him and kissed his jaw before frowning a little.

“How are you going to be able to find her with the piece of article…? I don’t mean to insult you… I… I’m still not really thinking clearly thanks to everything that’s happening. I… I have to arrange for the funeral of my mother… don’t want to have to bury my little sister too.” Renée sniffed, starting to cry all over again.

____

Rhoan gritted his teeth at the fact that Renée may not have any of Gabby's belongings. Minute by minute, it was growing all the more difficult to help find her sister, and it was really beginning to make his own heart ache. If it was one thing he wanted to help set straight in Renée's life, it would be this...He had entered this mission when he got involved with her, and at this point in the game, he was willing to do anything for her. He loved her, and he wanted her to be happy, and he wanted her family to be safe and unharmed. He drew in a deep breath and hoisted himself up from the ground, with her help.

He followed after her, making sure to keep up with her so that she could have the luxury of his continuous comfort. When he felt his waist being accompanied by her arm, he followed suit and wrapped his own arm around her neck, pulling her close to him in a playful manner. Together, they walked, linked, and moving towards another destination in search of Gabby. Rhoan was actually relieved that Renée was able to move on so quickly from what she had just witnessed, and was at least trying to aide him in his efforts to start a tracking system for her sister. He chuckled lightly as he leaned into the light kiss on his jaw, and returned it with a long kiss to her forehead, leaving some wetness from his lips behind.

His eyes nearly lit up at the affection, but then soon dimmed once more as he noticed her frown. 'It was better when she smiled,' he thought. He licked his moistened lips to remove some of the spittle that got caught on them after his kiss to her forehead. "Don't forget I am a vampire, and I do have a keen sense of smell. I don't only track blood, you know." He teased some, and gave a slight smirk to help lighten the mood, but found it was probably the wrong time. His expression fell agan once she mentioned the funeral, and he found himself hugging her against his chest once more. When he noticed her eyes swelling with tears, he prompted them to stop so that he could hold her for a while before moving on.

"We'll get it all taken care of. But... one thing at a time. You need to think hard where something of hers may be. If I can catch her scent well enough, I may be able to help track her. Even if it is faint. She could be anywhere, but believe me, this will help. I mean.... Unless you have something she bled on, then that would be better, heh, but.....uh..." He paused, and reconsidered the rest of his sentence and figured it would be best to just end there. Anything else he had to say was either a rambling repeat of what he just said, or it was something that could potentially upset her more.

____

Allowing him to wrap her up in his arms again, Renée buried her face in his chest and cried softly. She hated that she wasn’t strong enough to look for her sister and to deal with her mother’s funeral. If Gabrielle was here, she would be able to deal with what was happening, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Sniffing and glancing up at her boyfriend, the eighteen-year-old just nodded before making a face at his blood comment.

“Ew. I did not keep her bloody tampons… that’s so – OH, you probably meant clothing.” Smiling faintly, trying to make a slight joke, thought it kind of fell flat. Sighing, she wiped her face off with the back of her hand and wrapped her arm back around him, staring back towards where she was currently living.

“Actually, I might have an old shirt that she got in a fight in… might have blood on it from a nosebleed. I don’t know though.” She smiled faintly and nestled close against him before finally getting to where she was currently living. Unlocking the door, she moved inside of the house, pulling him before closing the door behind her. Grabbing a box, she opened it up and started digging into it,

“Eh, if you want, you can help dig through these boxes…” She shrugged and motioned towards the pile of boxes in the corner of the living room behind a leather sectional.

____

As she buried her face in his chest, Rhoan rested his chin upon her head and rubbed a hand against the small of her back to further comfort her. When she pulled away for a moment to glance up at him, he stared back down at her with a warm look in his eyes. He let a faint smile play at the corners of his mouth as he admired her beautiful face. Wet and red from tears, but she was still beautiful. He tilted his head some at her attempt at a joke and his faint smile played up a little more, causing dimples to crease his cheeks some.

He let out a small grunt in the form of a chuckle, and shook his head at the joke. "Yeah..." he absentmindedly commented as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. At least she was trying to be in good spirit, so that was the important thing. To him, it showed strength, and perseverance to move on with the current situation. He admired that, and he was also thankful that she had put her game face on in order to aide him in his efforts of helping her find her sister.

"Mm, that might work." Rhoan responded after Renée mentioned she may have an old bloodied shirt of Gabby's. He certainly was hoping that she would be able to provide him with something really useful, otherwise tracking Gabby down would be extremely difficult. As they reached the place she was staying in, he slowly followed her in and glanced around at the seemingly homey interior. Well, it wasn't worse than his house, so that was a plus.

When she presented him with the option of digging through some of the boxes lying about, he felt a little awkward, especially considering that he didn't like rifling through another's belongings. However, if it would help him in his efforts to find an item with Gabby's scent, then perhaps it wouldn't hurt to dig through some of the old belongings. Rhoan pursed his lips some as he knelt down next to one of the boxes, and began opening it to see what he could find.

"What's in here?" He asked, beginning to dig through one of the boxes that seemed to contain nothing but papers and other junk.

____

Renée shoved the box aside and jerked open another one, pausing to glance over at Rhoan as he stood around for a minute or two before finally kneeling down in front of one of the other boxes. She couldn’t help but feel guilty that he was having to deal with all of this, especially after the thrashing that Tayrn had given him earlier. However, there he was, sifting through her stuff despite not really having to after making it obvious that he was going to help her look for her sister. She started to tear up yet again before his words sidetracked her emotions, tricking them into chilling out. Moving over to where he was at, she knelt down and peeked into the box, arching a brow.

“Hell, I don’t even know. Letters from our father… stuff from our childhood… and other legal documents. Nothing important, probably.” Renée took that opportunity to kiss him before opening up a box nearby, abandoning the one she had been rifling through earlier.

To say she was scattered was putting it mildly. After a few minutes, she pulled out a t-shirt and glanced at it. It definitely belonged to Gabrielle as it was one of her modeling brands, but did it have blood on it? That was the question of the day. Grinning widely when she noticed some blood on it, the eighteen-year-old glanced over towards Rhoan, reaching out to poke him in the ribs.

“Found one, but… the blood is from five years ago. Does that matter?” She questioned softly, hoping that it would be enough to locate Gabby.

____

Rhoan continued digging through the box he was currently set on, waiting on Renée to come and investigate its contents. He took out a few stacks of paper, attempting to keep everything in the same order he found it. He chewed the inside of his mouth and turned his head to her when he felt her presence next to him. He turned some of the papers up in his hand to kind of show her what it was he was looking at, but then set the papers down by his side as he noticed she was already looking in the box. He nodded his head as she answered him, stating that the box was just filled with some old personal papers from their past. He let out a soft sigh and replaced the contents he removed whilst searching through the box. He got stuck on a couple of the documents and studied them for a brief moment before returning them to the box.

The vampire had always felt somewhat awkward going through another's belongings, mainly because of the information that one tends to find when doing so. But all the while, it was also intriguing, considering some of the information is just too good to pass up, and it's easy to learn other things about someone that perhaps could be unexpected.

When she leaned into kiss him, Rhoan allowed a small smile to play at his lips as he accepted it and turned his full attention to her, moving his body so that he could face her before she moved away. He stood up from where he was at and walked over towards her to accompany her in searching a different box that maybe had something actually useful in it.

He stood beside her, quietly observing each item she pushed aside as she scavenged for something that could aide them in their search to locate an item with Gabby's scent. As Renée pulled out an old t-shirt, Rhoan instantly caught a whiff of the faint scent of blood emanating from the worn article of clothing. He snorted against the temptation to thirst after the scent, and adjusted his stance to shake the feeling away from his body. It had been a while since he had a nice taste in blood, and this scent was making him lust for the toxic substance.

He let out another sigh and jerked his body back as his ribs were violated by her fingers. It tickled some, so his first reaction was to move away from the sensation. He shook his head at her playfulness and accepted the shirt with one hand, and held it up to his nose to take a whiff.

"Well, it's really faint... but if this is all you have, then we'll work with it." He said with a bit of disappointment coating his tone. He pursed his lips as he examined the slightly bloodied shirt. "Unfortunately, moy nose isn't what it used to bea. Shore, it's keen, but eh, it's...kind of awff." He allowed his Australian accent to slip into some of his words as he rambled on a little bit about his near inability to catch the scent in the right way.

Rhoan could almost kick himself in the face right now with how horrible his senses actually were. His eyesight sucked, that was for sure, his taste isn't what it used to be, and now his nose isn't quite working as well as it should either. What next? All of this just reminded him of how old he was actually getting, but he tried to shake it off. "I'm jus' a lit-tul old, is all...Heh, how old are you again, Renée?" He asked with caution. He rolled his eyes at his working mind that was basically telling him 'you probably don't remember asking her age, fool'. How frustrating.

____

Renée smirked when Rhoan jerked back at the poke into his ribs. She had that overwhelming urge to pin him down onto the ground and tickle him mercilessly, but now wasn’t the time. Then again, by doing so, she would easily forget what had happened earlier in the day, but something told the young female that now wasn’t the time to mess around. Once they found Gabby and got her situated, then perhaps they could have a tickling war. Her head tilted to the side while he sniffed the shirt and she wasn’t sure whether or not it was good enough. From the tone, it didn’t appear to be what he wanted, but the fact that he was willing to work with it, made her faintly happy.

“Well… there might be more in other boxes, but if that’ll work, then let’s just go with it. We’re wasting valuable time searching…” She spoke softly, blinking at his sudden Australian accent. Did he have that before? Renée was fairly certain he didn’t. Did it matter? No, it really didn’t. Besides, it was quite sexy. When asked how old she was after he admitted he was just a little old, the eighteen-year-old arched a brow before answering him.

“I’m eighteen, almost nineteen. What does that matter..? I turn nineteen next week, actually.” She frowned a little, wondering why he was asking her that now.

____

Rhoan dropped his hand to his side with the shirt still in his hand and adjusted his stance once more as he mimicked her head tilt. He nodded along with her comment and cleared his throat before responding. "Well at least you've got your 'ead in the roight place..." He mumbled and turned around to gaze at the mass of other boxes among them. Shaking his head at the mess, he turned back to her gave a light, reassuring smile. He advanced towards her slowly and sat down in front of her, looking up at her and inviting her to sit with him, patting the ground beside himself.

As she was answering his question regarding her age, Rhoan went ahead and set the slightly bloodied shirt on his lap. He figured it would be best to hold onto it for a little while so that he could memorize the scent as best he could. The longer it stayed in his presence, the easier it would be for his nose to capture it and lock it in.

"Mmm.." he hummed before responding to her. "You're so young," he commented and smirked some, turning his head away from her in a shy manner. She really was young, and that was something that he considered to be a little 'cute'. It now made sense to him of how she acted for particular situations, considering she probably hasn't seen as much as he has in his life time. Then again, he couldn't exactly be too certain about that. Sure, he's lived a while, but exactly how much pain and hurt has this woman been through?

"That's a long time to be living in hurt, dear," he said finally after remaining silent for a while. "I understand 'ya."

____

Renée sat down beside him once he motioned for her to do so. She was still incredibly confused as to why the conversation turned towards age, but there was obviously a reason, so the eighteen-year-old decided to let things play out how they were meant to between the two of them. Crossing her legs, she settled down in order to get as comfortable as possible, her gaze shifting down to the shirt in his lap before she peered back up at him, her head cocking to the side once again. When called young, she couldn’t help but snort in annoyance, her arms crossing against her chest almost out of reflex. When he shyly looked away however, she once again arched her brow, confusion evidence upon her visage.

“Umm…” She started before falling silent, her fingers sliding through her hair before shoving it back over her shoulders. His next comment caught her off guard and she just stared at him, her nose scrunching up a little in the process.

“It hasn’t always been hurt, Rhoan… but, yeah. I guess after we find Gabby… we should go do the pregnancy test thing?” She didn’t mean to change the subject, but talking about the amount of hurt she had gone through in her life wasn’t exactly a topic Renée wanted to dwell on for very long.

____

He nodded his head along to her comments as he listened closely to her responses. His lips puffed out a little as he figured out what he would actually say back to her. She had mentioned the pregnancy again and it honestly made him a little nervous, but perhaps that was a good thing. He would rather feel nervous right now than angry, considering his anger was trying to build up inside him after seeing his love so hurt lately. Rhoan let out a soft sigh and turned his head back to her, watching her with a certain curiosity as his eyes followed her movements.

He took a moment to sit in silence while he studied her reactions to his previous comments, and allowed himself to settle his emotions some. At this point, his body had become more relaxed, and he was thankful that his body wasn't trying to push its way through into his transformation stages. When he looked at her, the hoods of eyes fell some and almost created a mask around his eyes at the softness of his gaze. In a way, he was starting to feel relieved that his body was responding in the way he had tried to train it, considering this was a terrible time to allow his emotions to get the best of him and cause an outburst of anger and a random transformation to come forth.

It had been a long time since an actual transformation took place. The last time he could recall a transformation happening was when he was in the forest searching for Nyx, but that was well in the past. He shrugged the faint memory off and turned his gaze to the floor, so that his admiration for Renée wouldn't cause a rouse. A tiny smirk played at his lips as a sense of pleasure kicked in, basically telling him to take her right here and now. But surely this wasn't the time to do that, what with her mother having been recently mutilated and her sister missing...

He let out a low grunt as if he was almost commenting on a thought floating around in his head, but it was really just a grunt of contentness. He really didn't know what to say to her about the pregnancy, other than just plainly agree that after he helped her find her sister, they would then confirm the news for the next possible chapter in their lives.

It was scary, but at least it was worth it. He pushed his lips together and turned to face her once more, his soft gaze settling on her seemingly concerned expression. "We should definitely see about the test..." he said finally, after choosing his words carefully. He wanted to question why she had prompted to change the subject, but perhaps it was for good reason.

"So, I'm dating a nineteen year old..." he started, and snorted in the middle of his sentence. "I'm sorry...an almost nineteen year old..." He teased, and let a cheeky grin form across his face as he attempted to lighten the mood. "You're just so much younger than I, so that's why I said what I said." He said plainly, and shrugged as he did so. At least he was honest.
 
as written by Faithy and Akita

Renée sat there for a few minutes, just watching him and wondering what his thought process was concerning everything that had been happening as of late. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to be able to read his mind. Then again, there might be thoughts that she wouldn’t want to know about, so perhaps that wouldn’t be a good thing. Scrunching her nose up even more, she wanted to beg him to tell her everything, to reassure her that they would find Gabby, that everything was going to be alright, but the words remained deep inside of her. Instead, she just let her face grow blank and she shifted her red eyes up towards the ceiling of her home in frustration.

Her gaze remained upwards until he spoke, his words seemingly chosen carefully. Dropping her eyes back down towards him, she knew that he was right. The sooner they found out what the test results were, the sooner they would be able to start planning. They couldn’t live where she was currently living because it was a small and cluttered one bedroom place and she wasn’t about to share a room with him and a baby. Plus, she would want Gabby to stay with them for a while once they found her. So, in addition to finding her, they would need to prepare for a baby, and find a new house. Sighing, she squeezed the bridge of her nose and snorted at his declaration that he was dating an almost nineteen-year-old.

“Smartass. I’m probably more mature than people twice as old as me.” She stuck out her tongue and leaned over against him, relaxing immediately.

“Rhoan, we need to think about finding a new place to live too… this place is way too small.” She stretched out, her head resting against his shoulder.

____

Rhoan's tongue flicked against the back of his teeth as his grin grew wider at her 'smartass' comment. She sure knew how to lighten the mood. He dropped his gaze to the shirt in his lap and stared at the minimal bits of blood scattered about it for a moment before returning his gaze to Renée's face. "I am probably far older than twice your age..." he started, and then turned his head up to the ceiling for a moment of thought. As he really did think of it, he was an old vampire - a lot older than he realized. It wasn't until this conversation that he noticed just how long he had been alive. With that in mind, he turned his attention back to her and cock his eyebrow as he leaned towards her some, almost like he were to be sharing a secret. "I'm over a hundred years old, but don't let my young looks fool you." His sentence was as plain and monotone as the expression on his face, as he didn't care to show any true emotion as he somewhat revealed his age.

"But I think you're right," he continued. "You are definitely more mature than a lot of people who are twice as old as you...but don't let that stop you from being young. You've got a long life ahead of you, so don't look at this time in your life as something that should hold you down." He felt like he was preaching to her, but he figured that what he had to say was important. He had heard the spiel a couple times during his lifetime, and it had always stuck with him when he was caught in rough periods in his life. He let out a soft sigh and chewed the inside of his mouth some as his grin turned into a slight frown.

When she mentioned that they would need to find a new place to live, it struck him as almost unimportant. Then again, perhaps she was a little more civilized than he was. A lot of the time, Rhoan considered himself a drifter; he never really stayed in the same place for very long, but with this new life he seemed to have started with this woman, he probably wouldn't have the luxury of consistent travelling. His shoulders slumped down some as he carefully pieced together the words for his next statement.

"I suppose that would be a good idea," he started, but paused for a moment, turning his attention back to the shirt in his lap. He stared at it and drew in a deep breath, his mind instantly shooting to the search for Renée's missing sister. "I don't think it's a top priority right now, though. I think....we should find your sister first and figure out this baby thing before finding a house suitable enough for the...four of us." He sighed again and dropped his head some, feeling as though his words weren't going to satisfy her. "This place will have to suffice until we can get something sorted out."

____

So, he was over one hundred. She tried to be surprised, but the teen really wasn’t. Oh man, if her father could see her now. He’d probably lecture her and then just let it go. He wasn’t one to stifle how she wanted to live her life nor did he stifle Gabby. Maybe that was the problem. The parenting and punishment was never consistent in the LeBeau household. Renée made a mental note to ensure that the spore in her womb didn’t grow up in the same manner. Shaking her head, she just shrugged at his revelation, deciding it wasn’t worth commenting a whole lot on.

“It isn’t time that’s holding me down, Rhoan, it is life itself.” Leaving it at that, the dark haired female yawned widely.

She then studied his face carefully, realizing that something was bothering him. Part of her wanted to ask while the other half just wanted to crawl into his lap and sleep for a little, but that wouldn’t solve a thing. Snorting a smidge at his comment, she wondered if he already felt tied down. She didn’t know a whole lot about him, but something told her, mostly due to the state of his home, that he wasn’t used to being in one location for long. If she forced him to remain in one place, would he resent her for that? Scowling hard at that thought, she shifted in order to look directly at him, her eyes focused in on his.

“Rhoan, I need to know the truth to the question I’m about to ask. Do you feel tied down to me? I mean, would you rather be traversing the world than settle down in a home with a girl and a baby and her sister?” Renée frowned a little, unsure how her question would go over with him, but it needed to be asked.

____

As she responded to his first statement, he pursed his lips and continued to stare down at the shirt in his lap. His eyes traced over the speckled pieces of blood on the shirt, and he couldn't bring himself to pull his attention away from it. There was something about it that just drew him to it, and he couldn't really figure out what it was at the moment. Instead, he just took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, almost like a sigh. "Life doesn't have to be hard, you know." he commented fairly.

He leaned his head against hers somewhat, feeling as though he should at least comfort her as she rested against his shoulder. He was about to get ready to place his arm around her, but halted his action as his eyes were greeted with a direct stare from her own. He lifted his head a little to gaze back into her red orbs, curious to know what she was going to say. Nervousness created a lump in his throat, and it felt like he was being choked some by her question. His eyes almost went wide at her question, but he tried his best to maintain his composure.

"That's a little hard to answer," he started, trying to find the right words to appease her. He felt bad that he even had to do that, because he didn't want to feel tied down, but perhaps that was what he was actually feeling. He knew that if he stayed with her, he would have to change his entire life. Knowing that, he had to be okay with the situation, because he wouldn't ever dare to let the thought of leaving his potential family cross his mind. He almost had the opportunity at one point to have a beau who would come with him on his journeys after fighting Nyx, but alas, she met her demise.

The old vampire sighed at the situation and his eyes settled into a bit of a troubled gaze, and his expression was beyond serious. "My life is... not very, er, stable, I guess you could say." He paused for a moment, and broke his gaze from hers, shifting it back down to the shirt in his lap to think. "I would have no choice but to stay." He said finally and then looked back up at her, a bit of remorse showing in his expression.

____

Once again Renée wished she could read his mind. She could tell that something was going on inside of his brain, but had no idea what exactly he was thinking about. That bothered her a little, not because she was extremely possessive, but because curiosity was eating away at her. Mentally shaking the thoughts out of her mind, she instead focused on his expression, but unfortunately, he was good at keeping his visage blank. Scrunching her nose up when he began to answer, the teenager almost told him never mind, that he didn’t have to answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that. It would eat away at her forever and ruin their relationship if she dropped it now.

Still, the words were right there on her tongue and she chewed on her bottom lip to keep from blurting something out. When he finally responded to her, she wasn’t really sure if he actually answered her question or not. Frowning at the remorse in his expression, Renée cupped his face with one of her hands, her thumb rubbing against his cheek. Holding his gaze with hers, she slowly leaned forward, letting her forehead rest against his. She knew it… he felt tied down.

“You have a choice, Rhoan. I am not going to force you to stay when it’s obvious you don’t. I refuse to tie you down to one place when it’s obvious you’re used to roaming around. If you want to go, then after we find Gabby, you can. I wouldn’t hold it against you.” She sighed and dropped her hand down to her lap, stretching her shoulders out a little.

____

Rhoan allowed a small smile to play at the corners of his mouth as he leaned his forehead back against hers. His face instantly felt a little warmer at her touch, and it caused his emotions to run wild with nervous uncertainty. He drew in a deep breath as she spoke, and he could instantly feel her dismay rising like smoke from a fire, thickening the air with an ultimatum. He blew out his breath through his nose and shook his head in her hand some, obvious denial showing in his expression. "It's not like that," he started, but wasn't really sure where he was going with that remark. He could almost kick himself for blurting something out, but at this point, it was useless to hide.

"Don't spring an ultimatum on me, especially in a situation like this," he said with an almost cold tint to his tone. He stiffened some and pulled away from her. He placed his hands in his lap and clutched the bloodied shirt like it was a comfort prop. He was lucky to have it at this moment, because he was feeling rather infuriated that she had pretty much just told him that he had better make the 'right' choice, or they wouldn't be together in the slightest bit. That irritated him beyond belief, but he wasn't about to let it show.

"If you were tying me down, I would have already left you, Renée. You have to believe that I'm not that kind of guy... I don't desert my family. It kind of pisses me off that you would think that, regardless of what my life used to be like. I'm an old vampire. I've been through a lot of shit. Yeah, sure, I like to travel and seek adventure, what-have-you..." He paused for a moment and swallowed hard before his next sentence. "I wouldn't leave you even if you weren't pregnant. The last woman I loved, I brought with me. There is always room for compromise, you must know that."

____

It wasn’t like what? Renée frowned at his words, the expression deepening when he suddenly trailed off. Her brow raised slightly before her eyes narrowed, feeling the frigidness underlying his words. She did not like it one bit and she almost shot out that she wasn’t giving him an ultimatum, but as angry as she felt, her words wouldn’t stop there. Instead, she just bit down on her bottom lip and leaned back, settling so that her back was pressing against a nearby piece of furniture. She hadn’t given him one, though maybe he just misunderstood her words. It wasn’t like she was thinking clear thanks to everything happening.

Somehow, she managed to listen to everything he had to say with a slightly open mind before shaking her head with a slight smile at what he said last. That made her heart swell a little and her irritation slowly slipped away. Unfortunately, he appeared to be rather ticked off at her, so she needed to fix this before it got uglier. Shifting a little, Renée leaned forward once again and even though she knew he might jerk his hands away, she placed both of hers on top of his, noting how he was clutching Gabrielle’s shirt.

“Rhoan, I wasn’t giving you an ultimatum. You said you didn’t have a choice in the manner and I was saying you did. I don’t want you to leave and I’m grateful that you want to stay with me and the spore growing inside of me. I wasn’t meaning that you were going to desert us, only that I was okay if there were places you wanted to visit or whatever. I’m new to this Rhoan… I don’t know how to act, especially now that I’m pregnant and having to deal with the loss of my mother… again and my missing sister. I’m not exactly thinking clearly and I’m sorry for that. I’m all about compromising as long as we’re both honest with each other. I’m sorry for upsetting you…” Renée glanced down and slid backwards once again, her hands coming to rest in her own lap.

____

It was difficult to deal with all of this at once, so he could only imagine how stressed Renée was feeling. In a way, he felt extremely guilty for having gotten upset with her about her question, but he honestly felt like she was trying to trap him. He understood how she may feel as though she was tying him down, but it was just that notion that had upset him in the first place. He hadn't given her much intel on his past, other than a few bits here and there that were probably broken pieces of information that maybe he expected her to piece together on her own. As closed off as he was used to being, he found himself opening up to her more than he would with anyone else he could have loved. There was just something about her that made him trust her, and perhaps it was that amount of trust that allowed him to feel anger from her question.

"It surprises me that you would even ask that." He didn't want to go on and upset her further, because he knew that his previous comments were pretty harsh, and the last thing he wanted to do was piss off a pregnant woman - especially one he would be spending his life with. He dropped his gaze from her face to his lap once more and narrowed his eyes as his hands were accompanied by hers. He didn't care to move them, because he didn't feel like it was necessary. Pulling away from her any more would mean that he was closing himself off completely, and that would be counter-productive to the atmosphere of trust he wanted to create with her. He wanted her to feel like she could comfort him, even if she had thought it was her fault for him being angry.

He didn't want to blame her for his anger, and he didn't want her to feel as though it was solely her question that upset him. He had been raging for a while before he met her, even, and it was just the elevation of events that happened that really brought out his sore side. He cleared his throat as he continued to listen to what she had to say. His fangs dug deep into his bottom lip, and he licked at the small traces of blood they seemed to leave behind. He lifted his head as he let loose the shirt that was being abused by his strong grip. As her stared at her, he absentmindedly smoothed out the shirt's wrinkles that it accumulated from his twisting of it.

"I don't want you to ever feel like you have to ask that, Renée. What you should know is that I'm here now... I'm not going anywhere, heh," he attempted to laugh off some as a small grunt escaped him. "I want to go places, but the first place I want to go is out the door to find your sister. When things come up in your life, priorities change. My priorities changed. You're my priority. Your sister, the baby....they're my priorities." He felt his aching chest settle a little as he released his emotions carefully in the words he provided to their discussion. "I'm not angry with you, lass. I.. don't really know what I am."

And with that, he finally did pull away from her so that he could stand up, catching the shirt in his right hand before it could fall to the ground through the gap between his legs. He was definitely suffocating at the tension that seemed to fill the air, but that was something he was willing to work on washing away. Rhoan turned around to glance around the small room again, taking in the amount of boxes that sat about. "I guess we should get a move on and search for your sister," he mentioned as he clutched the shirt tightly in his hand again. He could feel the tickle from the scent of blood that made its way up his nose. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to memorize Gabby's scent after all, but it would take a long while of being around it for it to actually stick.

____

She hated every bit of this day and this conversation wasn’t making the teenager feel any better. Her hormones had always been sort of rocky anyways because of how much anger she held within her from her childhood, but now she was feeling remorse and sadness and fear due to the circumstances surrounding her mother and sister. Add onto that the emotions she was feeling from dealing with Rhoan and well, she really wanted to ram her fist into someone’s face or charge up a card, shove it clear up someone’s ass and watch it explode inside of them. The thought of their body parts spraying all over the place was satisfying, but unfortunately, she couldn’t do that. Instead, she had to sit here and think about things she had absolutely no desire to ponder upon.

A slight growl slipped out of her lips and she just glared hard at the ground, even as he tried to make things better. Or at least she was assuming that was his point. Renée wasn’t even sure anymore and that irked her off immensely. Even when he admitted he wasn’t angry with her, she wasn’t sure if he was just saying that to placate her. Sighing, she shifted her gaze when he stood up, her eyes falling upon her sister’s t-shirt before she stared at one of the boxes briefly, her expression darkening at the memories it held.

“Sure… let’s go find Gabrielle. I’m sure that’ll be a fun adventure…” She snorted and slid to her feet, clenching a fist before exhaling deeply.

“It is clear we’ve both got things we need to work on, but the most important piece in a relationship is open communication and honesty. I’m glad you’re not going anywhere, but if you do want to go… just talk with me, okay…? I’m going to shut up now before I make things bad again.” She faintly smiled before moving to the door, opening up and stepping outside, thankful for the fresh air.

____

Unfortunately, the scent of the old faint blood tickling at his nose wasn't enough to distract his mind from the situation at hand. He continued glancing around the room some, mostly in an effort to collect his thoughts without having to feel directly confronted by Renée. Rhoan let out a heavy breath and attempted to calm his nerves as much as he could before giving a response to her retorts. 'Fun adventure' he mocked in his mind, and nearly scoffed at the comment, but refrained in fear that he may upset her further if she heard him.

Rhoan allowed her words to settle in his mind a little before responding, figuring that choosing his words carefully with this woman was the easiest route to carry on a successful conversation without getting too much grief. Slowly, he turned on his heel to face her, his grip tightening immensely on the shirt in his right hand. "I already have talked with you, Renée. At this point, you know just as much as I do for what I want to do. Now, let's not waste any more time..." He let his voice trail off as he turned around to follow her towards the door of her small residence. As he stepped outside, he drew in a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the feeling of rejuvenation coursing through his lungs as the air lifted his spirit some. "You're not making anything bad. This shit happens. C'mon," he stated, throwing his arm around her neck and leading her away from the door to start again on their journey of finding Gabby.

____

Renée knew when to just let things drop and this was that point in time. So, instead of saying anything further, the dark haired female stared out across the land at nothing in particular. She wasn’t really looking forward to the future because not only did she have to find her sister, she would need to tell her sibling that their mother was dead. In addition, the eighteen-year-old had no idea what kind of condition Gabrielle would be in. Top that with being pregnant and pissed off and it was a recipe for disaster.

“Alright, let’s go find my baby sister and break the news that our mother is dead, again.” Renée sighed and snuggled up against Rhoan as they walked away from the house. She felt her mind wandering and wondered whether or not they would even be able to find Gabby. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust his nose, but her sister had been missing for three months already. The remote chance that she was even in the vicinity was rare, especially since there were ways to get away.

“Rhoan… I’m glad you’re here with me.” She smiled and nestled her face against his neck.
 
as written by Calcos and Lialore

The door gently eased open as Michael slid his way into the house. It was a little past morning; his shift had ended an hour ago, and he fought like hell through traffic to make it back home. He immediately made way for the kitchen, passing through the claustrophobic, miniscule living area of his one-story house.

The pale yellow tile walls of the kitchen surrounded him, making him feel rather relaxed. He popped open the door on the refrigerator, resting his eyes on the beer on the bottom shelf, quickly removing one of the beverages and twisting the metal cap from the neck, taking a seat at the wooden square table as he knocked the bottle back, taking a hefty sip.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and tried to forget the harshness of the day. Many problems plagued his mind, and he just wanted to erase them all at once. The drink helped calm his nerves to a degree, but only for the moment.

It was then that a rather weighty flop penetrated his hearing, as he looked down at the thick stack of envelopes that had appeared on the table, the most prominent of them being the one with "Foreclosure" stamped in large, red letters on the face. "The bills are past due," his wife said slowly.

He opened his eyes, staring into his wife's face. Calmly, he started to speak. "I'll take care of it, Viv. I promise." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "When, Michael? When you've finally paid the Vercetti's off? We wouldn't be having these problems if you could control your fucking wallet from within five miles of a casino!" He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He didn't argue, because he knew she was right, and he wasn't going to make excuses for himself.

Michael let out a heavy sigh. "I know, okay?" he said, defeated. It was then that he looked around, perking his ears up. "Where's Samantha?" he asked. Vivian motioned her head towards the door. "She went out with Erica to see a movie last night. She'll be back later this evening." Michael said nothing, although he wanted to make a comment about how dangerous it was for a fourteen year old girl to be out, even at this time.

He stood, looking to his wife with heavy eyes, she expecting him to say something; anything. He shook his head, picking up his drink and the stack of envelopes as he sauntered into the living room. Vivian merely rolled her eyes, returning to their bedroom.

Michael switched on the TV, flipping channels until he came to the news. He leaned forward as he viewed the footage being played before him: Westeria City was in high chaos, with Tech Con bombarding city streets with cannon fire, and dragons roaming the skies. He was quite shaken by what he was seeing, refusing to truly believe it for a second.

"Goddamn..." he said aloud. Reality started setting in, and he realized just how badly things were going to hell.

____

She went back to her folding, though the folding was already done. Neat piles of crisp clothes ready to be put away, organised by colour, naturally. Vivian had admitted to herself that it was a sad day when this became one’s hobby. She slid the piles into their places, then her eyes travelled the dimly lit room, looking for something else to do that would mean she wouldn’t have to go and join Michael for the night. Because that either meant an attempt at oblivious bliss – which she could never quite master. Or snaps, snide and silence – which never ended well. She’d already made her stand for tonight, so settled on the first option.

The TV began to buzz, the background noise to her solemn thoughts. Vivian tried her best to blame her husband for his own mistakes, but at times, she had to accept that the situation she was still in was her responsibility. It wasn’t vows, or guilt, or fear that made her remain. It was love. That old love, the kind that seeped into your bones, became the marrow of your soul. Nothing new or exciting, just necessary.

His voice was came above the tuned out tones of the television. In the moment, her agitation spiked. What now? Had he finally realised how much shit he’d gotten them into as he read those letters? But she highly doubted he’d even open them. So, perhaps it was his way of expressing his annoyance at her consistent complaints. And, oh, she’d have him if that was the case.

But when she came to investigate - slyly, as though she was creeping up on him, hoping to catch him out – what played out on the screen had her stop and stare. The bursts of orange pixels had been hard to ignore. Was that…

A gasp caught in her throat. All thoughts of starting an argument had melted away, replaced by only one.
“Sam…”

____

Michael jolted forward, unable to tear his gaze away from the screen. His heartbeats were suspended in his chest, their steady rhythm replaced by utter silence as his very being was gripped by pure, unequivocal terror. He continued to sit with mouth agape, his throat suddenly dry as one single tumultuous thought stuck itself to the forefront of his mind:

'My daughter's out there.'

He bolted from his chair, rushing past his wife and grabbing his coat from the rack by the door. He spent a few tense seconds fumbling furiously for his keys, wrenching them free with panicked annoyance. "I'm going to get her," he said to Vivian. Opening the door, he ran to the driveway to his truck, practically jumping in and turning the engine over, the behemoth roaring to life and exhaust poured from the back as he peeled out of the driveway and onto the road, driving like a madman towards the city.
 
as written by Akita and Faithy

A soft sigh escaped him as he felt the warmth of her face against the cold flesh on his neck. His grip around her growing tighter, he pulled her closer and placed a small kiss atop her head. "I'm thirsty as hell. Where to now?" He said, his mouth basically salivating at the thought of a drink. And not just any drink - blood. He felt almost guilty craving it, but he did need something to fill the ache of the craving.

As they walked out together down the sidewalk, the vampire tried to ease his mind by focusing on the odd colors of the homes down the way. Through all the areas he's visited in his life, each one was always different. And although his memory kind of sucked now, each area was unique and he could differentiate between them all, at least by certain details.

"Mm, yeah..." he absentmindedly responded, as he raised his attention to the sky, staring off into space, his blank mind trying to put together an idea of what they were going to do when Gabby finally turned up.

____

Renée squeaked as she was tugged closer against him, his strength the only thing keeping her from coiling up in a tiny ball and just crying for many days. When he mentioned about being hungry, she just shrugged a little, not even sure where they could go to get a drink. Then again, it kind of depended on what exactly he meant, because there was a difference between getting something wet and getting something wet and filling such as blood. That of course made her remember when they first met and how she willingly let her feed on him. She decided that wouldn’t be something that happened again until she found out whether or not she was pregnant and if she was, not until the bean was born.

“Well, I guess the best way to find Gabrielle is to ask around… She tends to gravitate towards bars and taverns, so let’s start there after we find you a little snack of course.” She prodded him in the nose with her free hand, smirking a little before letting her hand drop down, her head resting against his shoulder.

____

Rhoan's course slowed some as she mentioned grabbing a 'snack' before finding Gabrielle. He turned his head slightly to eye her some, his jarred vision tracing the top of her head. His eyes dropped more towards her face as he turned his head more to side-face her. "A snack?" he asked, his tone questionable. "What do you mean by that? You think I'm hungry, eh?" He teased some, nudging her.

He shook his head a little at the touch of her hand to his nose, feeling the light tickle of the prodding. "You're weird," he stated flatly but mostly playfully. "Mm, taverns and bars? What, is she like a bar girl or somethin', messin' into trouble?" He puckered his lips some with attitude and shook his head.

____

“Smart alec, you know exactly what I am referring to. You can’t get any from me, not for a while, though from what I recall, you didn’t even like my blood.” Sticking her tongue out, she almost poked him in the nose again, but opted to just remain nestled against him. She still felt all messed up mentally and knew it wouldn’t be long before she broke down into another mess of sobs, but for now, she could joke around. Her hand ran across her still flat stomach and she couldn’t help but wonder how she would look pregnant. Immediately snorting and throwing out that thought, Renée returned her attention towards Rhoan.

“I’m not weird, you are. As for my sis… no, not really a bar girl, but…” Renée paused and exhaled deeply. “She’ll go to those places because it’s familiar to her. She grew up from birth until she was sixteen in a bar and I honestly think other than modeling, that’s the only place she’s ever truly been happy. Before we go anywhere, well, after your snack, we need to get a pregnancy test to make sure I’m even pregnant.” She went back to walking with him, not even sure when they stopped walking.

____

His tongue flickered against his bottom lip some at the continuous teasing, and he let a small chuckle escape his lips at her words. "Eh heh, no, you're pretty toxic, ant nawt een ther gut vey..." he mumbled and turned his head back up to the sky for a short moment before returning his focus to face front to watch where he was walking as the pace picked back up. At that statement, he started to wonder and almost reminisce about all the people he's drank in his life, all those that died at the sacrifice of their blood to his demand, and those that he loved that always offered bitter blood. He narrowed his eyes unintentionally as his mind wandered to a few dark places at the memory of his former lover, Savine, slipping briefly into his mind. For just a moment, he remembered how she tasted. Sweet and bitter all the same, and not as toxic as this one, but still poisonous in a sense.

He shook the thought from his head and emptied the taste from his mouth by replacing it with a thought of sweet, fresh wine. That's what he needed. A nice glass of sweet, thick red wine. And not the cheap kind, either. He was really trying to refrain from drinking from a human of any sort, fearful of the diseases they may carry or the law enforcement that might be lingering about.

"Wealp, might fin'a store'r'somethin', test'ya." He said lazily and tapped his fingers against her shoulder as the pair walked on. "Yer sister seems the hoppin' type, eh... She's probably just roaming the area lookin' for a place to go off."

____

“Yeah, toxity is never a good thing.” Smiling faintly, she just tried to be positive for at least a few minutes. Her fingers ran through her hair and she glanced up at the sky as they walked. It wasn’t long before she was glancing back at him, noticing his narrowed eyes. Keeping quiet, Renee just opted to not ask any questions. Instead, she thought about what her baby sister might be doing at that moment and hoped that she was still alive. The teen definitely couldn't handle losing her sister after losing their mother again.

“Store test will be fine. There’s a convenience store up ahead about two blocks and then a block further is a bar. We can start there.” She tugged him along with her, the pace picking up a little as nerves took over. However at his words about her sister, she stopped moving and just glanced at him, snarling a little.

“She’s not the hopping type and you best think about what you’re saying about my little sister before you say it.”

____

Rhoan nodded his head slightly in further agreement with her first statement about toxicity. He hummed a little as they walked in silence for a few moments. His ears perked a little as they were filled with her voice again. This time, she referred to the test and mention of a store, as well as a bar up ahead. Finally, results and a little taste of sweetness. The vampire could almost feel the thickness coursing through his veins or a moment, but let that feeling slip when he heard the woman snap at him some.

Confused, he arched a brow at her statement, taking a short moment to register what exactly she meant. He stopped and turned to her, his brows furrowed some and his mouth winding down to a heavy frown. "You think I insulted her? No...." he started, swallowing hard. "Hopping, um.. it's like..." he thought for a second of how to structure his sentence without sounding like a foreign fool. "Uh, like going around to a lot of places. Not in a whore-like way." He swallowed against the lump in his throat, nervousness racking like pool balls. In his mind, he couldn't help but think he'd done nothing wrong, but all the same, he felt like he was in trouble again with his words. "You just have to get me, lass. Understand me be'er."

____

“So, you’re now saying she’s an alcoholic?” Renee’s eyes narrowed dangerously towards him and she thought about punching him in the nose, but refrained. This had to be a difference in culture… in understanding and maybe she ought naught jump to conclusions? Sighing heavily, she just placed her hand on his cheek and shook her head a little, not sure how she was going to get him though she figured she might as well try, especially if they were actually going to be together.

“Alright, clearly we both need to understand what the other is meaning. She goes where she is comfortable, so I suppose she does move from place to place in an attempt to find the comfort she felt as a child. She’s probably also looking for me and knows how much I used to drink, so will probably be looking for me in different places.” Tugging on his arm, she led him down the street and to the store.

“If we survive this pregnancy, I will be amazed.” Stepping into the building, she made her way to the pregnancy tests and grabbed one of each kind before checking out, her narrowed eyes enough of a warning for the checkout lady to keep her trap shut. Once done, she moved back outside and just exhaled deeply.

____

His eyes went a little wide at the realization of her anger. He took a step back to readjust his stance, gearing up for a possible hit to the face over his own silly statements. "No! No, no, I'm not..." he started, stumbling over his words like a blabbering idiot. "No. I'm not saying she's an alcoholic. I'm saying..." he continued, but stopped himself as the woman seemed to calm herself down. Slight relief settled his nerves, causing the hairs on his neck to sit down for just a moment. He sighed softly and stared at the sidewalk as he listened to her explain her sister's reasons for bar-hopping.

"Yes, yes..." he stated slowly in agreement as she went on. "That's what I was talking about. She hops, you know, travels from place to place. It's just an Aussie term. Like I mentioned, you have to get me. I try to get you, I think I do fairly well." He stated confidently and lifted his gaze to meet hers. His eyes stared deeply into hers for a moment before he was tugged down the street towards the direction of the store.

"Survive this pregnancy? What the 'ell does that mean!?" His words were shaky as he followed her into the store.

As they approached the counter, Rhoan stared at the mass amount of tests scattered about the scanner. He let a heavy sigh escape him as he felt the nervousness cloud his head again. Here it comes. Judgment time. "So, now what? I just... wait?"

____

“Meaning, I’m short tempered as it is and this pregnancy is making it even worse. There might be times where I just need to be left alone. I will be more patient with your language usage and will attempt to keep from jumping to conclusions. She blinked at his question and slid the bag around her shoulder to keep it from swinging about. Realizing he thought she was going to take the tests right then, she couldn’t help but smile and giggle a little, immediately relaxing. After all laughter was the best medicine or something like that.

“Naw, now we go get something to drink and maybe eat. I’m not taking the tests until we go back to my place. That’d be a little awkward.” Wrapping her fingers among his, Renee once again started to tug on his arm, leading him towards the nearest bar, which wasn’t really much to look at.

“Unless you want me to go pee on them all right this minute.” Her head cocked to the side and she grinned wide.

____

Rhoan nodded his head at her explanation, the nervous feeling in his gullet fading immensely. He closed his eyes for a second and drew in a deep breath through the nose, and let it out slowly through the mouth. Relax, he told himself. A soothing feeling washed over him at the thought of getting a drink and instantly, he felt more relieved. Everything seemed like it was going to be okay. At least they were talking things out instead of yelling and jumping at each others' throats.

"Well hopefully the little biter doesn't cause too much trouble." He snickered some, reaching out a hand to place it against her belly, his fingers softly tracing around her belly button. "Okay, so drink first, then results? Oh, I'm nervous," he spat out as a chill crept through his body.

He followed along with her as she lead him towards the nearest bar. "No, you don't have to take them now, if you don't want, heh." He chuckled anxiously, wishing they were already back at her home. "How far is this place anyways?"

____

“Which little biter are we talking about?” Renee snickered and poked her tongue out towards Rhoan, though her expression softened when he traced around her belly button, his hand upon her actual stomach. How would she look pregnant? Hopefully she didn’t turn into his huge fatass that sat around eating twinkies and whining all day. Grumbling at that thought, she ran her fingers across his chin, smiling faintly when he admitted he was nervous.

“I’m nervous too, Rhoan… really nervous.” Glad that he didn’t want her to take all of the tests, she ignored his question and just kept walking until the stopped in front of a dive looking bar called the High-Lo Bar. Pulling him inside, she made her way over to a booth and sat down, stretching out her body a little,

“Yep, drink then baby tests.” She waved a waitress over and ordered herself a water with lemon and just kicked Rhoan so he’d order himself something.

____

Rhoan leaned into her palm as she stroked gently across his cheek. He hummed some in accordance to the touch, feeding into the warmth and love he felt from the softness of her touch. He leaned back some and drew in another deep breath and stared into her eyes for a moment, studying her.

"Heh, the kid of course..." He said shyly, biting at his lip some. He perked up some at her admittance of nervousness, feeling a little more comfortable that she was also nervous. At least he wasn't alone in the awkward feeling department.

As they approached the "Hi-Lo Bar", the vampire stepped wearily inside, cautiously making note of his surroundings in case of any perpetrators. He followed along with her pulling and sat down across from her, stretching his long legs about the booth bench. He looked around the table, studying his surroundings and reached for a nearby menu sitting near the wall end of the table. He sighed softly and sifted through the text in search of the wine menu.

Successful in locating the drinks, he pinned his finger down towards a foreign red wine that at least sounded think. He figured it couldn't hurt to try it, but would probably ask what the thickest, sweetest red wine would be anyways. "Ehm, yeah, drink....." he said against the lump in his throat. "Then uh, baby..... you know, this this really weird for me. I've never felt like this. I don't even know what to do, what to think...." His voice began to sound frantic and shaky as nervousness struck him again. "Sorry.." he whispered and turned away from her, hiding his face behind one hand he put up against his profile to sheild his embarrassment.

____

“Rhoan… this is kinda new for me too. I’ve taken care of Gabby, but we were three years apart, so it’s a little different. We’ll learn together or die trying.” Poking her tongue out at him, she let him study the menu for a little bit, wondering what he was going to order. She knew or at least assumed he wanted blood, but if he was willing to substitute it for something else at least for now, then she would go along with that. When he turned away to hide his face, Renée leaned across the table and gently turned his gaze back towards her.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, hun. Just take things one step at a time. First, figure out what you want to drink and order it from the waitress and then we’ll move onto the next step. I do know that unless we plan on having tons of little squirts, we probably need to invest in protection.” She let her hand drop away from his chin and she leaned back in the booth, stretching her legs out between his.
 
as written by Calcos

He held the door open for his daughter to make an entrance, following close behind and closing the door as the girl's mother stood to greet the pair of them, her mouth agape and a steady flow of tears cascading down her face as she wrapped her little girl in a tight embrace, debating on whether she would ever let go of her child again.

She took a moment to look up at Michael, who stood back and watched as his wife held onto their daughter for dear life, her eyes saying to him the words her mouth could not find: 'Thank you.' He nodded, taking in the scene before him with happiness in his heart. He was glad to see his daughter was safe, even if she were far from unscathed.

However, he couldn't help but think back on the events that had transpired while he was away; the strange occurrence in Little Shintenchi, the writhing mass that had overtaken him, caused him to black out. He pondered on what had happened between his last moments of consciousness and his reawakening.

"Michael," Vivian had said.

His focus was immediately ripped back into reality. As he gave his wife his full attention, she spoke, "I put on dinner --I didn't know what else to do. I'd like us to sit down and have a meal together." Michael nodded, his expression unchanging.

"That would be wonderful, dear."
 
as written by Akita and Faithy

Rhoan let out a heavy sigh when he felt her hand at his face again, guiding it to turn and face her. He stared into her eyes as she spoke, appreciating her attempts to calm the nerves beating against his skin. "I guess I'll just get me thick wine," he stated slowly after discarding the menu to its original resting place. "Protection like how?" He asked, unsure of what she meant.

____

“Protection as in a condom or I need to get on the pill.” She waved over the waitress and leaned forward, wrapping her hand around his, just squeezing the flesh for a minute. When the woman walked over, Renée ordered the thickest wine they had and shoed the woman away. Once left alone with Rhoan again, she slid out of her seat and over to where he was, curling up against him, her head resting upon his shoulder.

“We’re going to be okay, Rhoan. Just need to take things one at a time.” She wrapped her arm around his, her leg becoming draped across his.

____

Rhoan nodded his head along to her explanation about protection, his confusion growing ever stronger. His brow arched some at her mention of condoms and he nearly grinned, but held it back in fear of an immature demeanor attempting to come forth. He leaned forward over the table, cupping his hand over the one she had wrapped around his other hand. He squeezed her hand back in a means of comfort and offered a faint smile before letting his mouth settle back into a deep frown.

His lips puckered some in annoyance as the seemingly hyper waitress sauntered over at Renée's request. 'Man, is her voice ever annoying...' he thought to himself and cheweed the inside of his mouth some as his partner took the initiative to order for him. He turned to look at the glowing woman and nodded to her in thanks, his expression seemingly appreciative of the gesture.

The vampire sat back against the hard booth back and scooted over some to make room for her company. He puller her close to his chest, leaning down to plant a soft kiss atop her dark hair. "Yeah..." his voice trailed in a slight whisper.

After a few moments of waiting, he noticed the waitress wandering back over to the table with a large glass of dark wine, and Rhoan's nose tickled at the sweet scent creeping up his nostrils. A soothing feeling washed over him at the sweetness coating his nose. He grunted to the waitress, tipped the glass to her and brought it to his nose to take a quick wiff. After deeming it fair enough for his craving, he took a sip and grimaced at the sour taste.

"This...really sucks." He said flatly, his voice grunging as the liquid made its way roughly down his throat. He shook his head and set the glass back on the table, not caring much for the wine anymore at that point, but now he was focused on just being hungry. "I don't know, maybe I will get something to actually drink. A blood doner won't do, that shit's just horrible. Tastes like someone pissed in the bag and called it blood, what with the plastic completely ruining the taste and making it taste like....mmm....well, hospital food." He chuckled some at his own statement patted his hand against her shoulder as he pulled her a little closer once more.

"I think I need a blood den........" his voice trailed again and he raised his head to look around at the patrons surrounding the halfway busy bar. He pursed his lips and bit at his bottom lip some, pondering what he was actually going to do. And now that his mind was working, it was travelling to all sorts of places, which left him with the open statement, instantly blurting, "We should get married."

____

Grabbing her glass of water, Renée took in a few sips, grinning up at his face when he finally tasted the wine. Something told her that it wasn’t what he wanted, but there wasn’t much else they could do in this particular establishment. If her blood wasn’t so toxic to him, she’d offer, but between that and having something inside of her that needs said crimson stuff to live, she wasn’t about to take the chance. It took a lot of self-control to keep from laughing at his comment and she just shook her head at the waitress, indicating they didn’t want any more wine. Patting his arm, she started to ask if they should just leave, the teen arched her brow at his comparison of donor blood and hospital food.

“Hospital food… gross…” She muttered, allowing him to pull her closer against him. Exhaling deeply, she wondered what he meant by a blood den, having never heard that phrase before. Though, Renée knew it wouldn’t matter. She would make sure he got whatever he needed in order to survive. Picking her glass of again, she took in a huge gulp and promptly spit it out when he mentioned marriage.

“WHAT?!” She gasped out before instantly quieting down, knowing that others were looking their way. Glancing up at Rhoan, she arched her brow and just shook her head.

“What brought that on, Rhoan?” Waving the waitress over, she paid for their drinks before sliding to her feet, not wanting to discuss this in such a public establishment.

____

Rhoan pulled is arm away from her and sat up against the bench, successfully avoiding getting showered by the spewing water from Renée. His eyes went a little wide and he stared at her for a moment, watching as she collected herself. He let out a loud grunt at her action and shrugged. "I don't know, it just makes sense, I guess." He explained, an uncertain feeling washing over him.

He followed after her as she stood up from the bench, glacning over the table at the payment left for the waitress. "Eh," he grunted again, not really caring for tipping the waitress, as she was highly obnoxious and his appreciation for her was basically non existent. As they left the establishment, the old vampire acknowledged his surroundings, scoping out the area and attempting to locate a blood den by the smell of the air. He rose his head and put his nose to the test, disappointed that after a few sniffs, nothing really came to him.

"My fucking nose is failing," he mentioned, feeling quite angry with himself. "My age must be catching up to me. That, or it's this area." He didn't really care what it was, but it was pissing him off. "Whatever, let's just head off this way," he said and began walking left of the bar in search of a place to get a real snack.

"Anyway, about the marriage thing....Where I come from, it's basically a sin to have a child out of wedlock. I'm'na'rally caring for the whole idea, yeah, seeing as I've lived through s'many decades... But it's out there. I can get down on me knee, aha.." He joked, picking up the pace out of nervousness.

____

Grateful that Rhoan was following her, Renée made her way out of the bar and out onto the street. Exhaling deeply, she felt her body slowly begin to relax and realized that place was incredibly suffocating. Glancing back towards her whatever he was, the teen wondered if he was right. Getting married did make sense in the scheme of things and although she had brushed it off earlier, it wasn’t that bad of an idea. Not only that, life was short and she wanted to make sure that they were both cared for if something were to happen to her. Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth and she just shrugged as he attempted to locate a blood den.

“Hnnn… I’ve got no idea where one’s located. Still getting used to this place, yenno.” Following beside him as he led them down a particular street, she hummed under her breath, the sound failing when he brought up the whole marriage thing again. Shifting her attention over at him, she just shrugged a little and nestled up against him, ignoring his quickening pace.

“Please do not get down on your knee with an engagement ring, Rhoan. I will be extremely embarrassed. I guess we might as well get married. Then we can get a new house and all kinds of fun things. Oh, and find Gabrielle too.” She poked her tongue out as she nestled against him, her arm snaking around his waist to rest in his pocket.
 
as written by Saarai

Sam stepped through his broken home, the sun beaming down on him through the gaping hole where his roof used to be. It had been looted, things were destroyed by debris that shot down from the ships above in the fighting.

His house was no longer a home and like many others that left Sam to the even more chaotic streets of Westeria City.

Sam went down into his basement, flicking on the only remaining light and then rummaging around boxes and moving old furniture around.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. A safe. Sam picked it up and began on his way back upstairs and out to his truck.

Other residents of Rheinsdale were around grabbing their belongings before they relocated to relatively safer or more intact parts of the city.

He threw the safe into the passengers seat of his truck, wasting no time in moving to get in himself and be gone. But before he could open the driver side door he found himself being slammed into it.

An Aschen pistol placed against the back of his neck, ready to destroy his spine and separate his head from his body.

"Leo, get the safe." The gunman ordered, "And you should give up the dough, buddy. Or I take it, along with your life." The gunman told Sam.

Sam watched as the other thief, an Asian man, grabbed his safe and happily ran off with it towards a parked black van. It hurt him that he couldn't stop the thieves.

It hurt even more that people were ignoring what was going on.

"I said, run the pockets, Terran." The gunman said to Sam, forcing the man to comply. He gave up his wallet, and then his watch and rings. He knew those were next.

"Keep the wedding band. I'm a criminal, not a monster." Said the gunman, showing that the cosmos understood irony could be funny as well.

Not for Sam, of course.

The gunman backed off when he got what he wanted, patting Sam on the back before rushing off towards the van. Sam watched the van as it drove off, catching a glimpse of androgynous Asian man or woman in the driver's seat.

The Triads had found a new hustle in the wake of Westeria's day of reckoning, Sam as a victim got into his truck and drove away.

He was ready to drink. It's all he could do.
 
as written by Saarai

“Just think of it as a road trip!” Daniel forced a cheerful grin onto his face as he hefted the computer tower into the back of the car, wedging it carefully between a pair of suitcases.

“A road trip? Really?” Lan’s ears were flattened back in a telltale indicator of uneasiness and irritation. The redhead fixed Daniel with a brief glower, and he tossed a bag carelessly onto the back seat. Daniel winced. “It’s just clothes,” Lan muttered with a roll of his eyes. “This isn’t a road trip. Our entire lives are being uprooted.”

Daniel sighed. “I know, Lan. But we have to try and roll with the punches, here.”

“I’ve been rolling with the punches my entire life!” Lan snapped, “I can’t believe this! How can the government be abandoning an entire fucking city? Isn’t it their job to protect us? Not just... tell us to ship out or get fucked.”

“They wouldn’t be doing this if they had another choice,” Daniel said, shaking his head.

“Oh, sure, just blindly trust that everything’s all in our best interests. I reckon they’re just tired of having to deal with this city’s shit, even though that’s what they signed up for when we fucking elected them.” Lan kicked the side of the car angrily. Daniel winced again. “Uhg,” the fox-eared boy sighed, “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault. I’m not angry at you, just...”

“I know,” Daniel made his way over and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s slight frame. “I know this sucks, and it’s not really okay. But we’ll get through it. We’ve not got anything here that we can’t take with us.”

“I was supposed to graduate this year,” Lan mumbled into Daniel’s chest, “How am I going to do that now? I don’t imagine I can just show up at one of the unis in the Eastlands and say, ‘hey, I should totally have a degree, can I just take one of yours instead?’”

“Have you heard anything from your lecturers? Or from the dean?”

“No,” Lan shrugged, “But I suppose they’re busy dealing with their own chaos. Maybe the union will come through with something...”

“I’m sure they will. Emma’s probably drafting a lengthy list of demands as we speak. Sitting in the burned out wreck of an apartment. She never was good with priorities.” Daniel smirked, and was glad to feel Lan chuckle quietly.

“Probably,” he took a deep breath, shaking his head. “Anyway. Enough moping. We only have a few things left to pack.” He looked up at Daniel, smiling. “Thanks, for staying positive. It helps. Are you alright?”

Daniel nodded, “Doesn’t matter where we have to go. I’ve got all I need right here,” he murmured softly.

Lan jabbed him playfully in the side, “Don’t be sappy,” he teased, before turning and heading back towards the apartment door. Daniel smirked, and after swinging the car’s boot closed, he followed.
 
as written by Krysis

Again, Lali ended up staring at Erika, then sighed and went into the house to prowl around and make sure there weren't any surprises for them. The place she remembered was the toy of an almost-rich man wanting a place to 'play' and have his affairs in the city without his wife knowing. This place seemed to be more like someone's actual home, with a scattering of kid's toys in the living room and some pictures of a couple with two small children on the walls. The man was the one she remembered, but the woman was not.

Some pieces of the furniture were recognizable, like the leather couch that was the victim of a crayon attack, and the bar that had been restocked with juice boxes instead of alcohol, but much of it was new. "Well, it has been ten years. What did I expect?"

The basement would still be the haven of a bachelor male though, with a pool table and an area dedicated to cards. There was even a weight bench in one corner. The lights worked too, but the fridge was unplugged and standing open (so it wouldn't be stale smelling when the owners returned). All in all, Lalita thought that they had just picked up and left when things got bad, which was smart with small children to look after.
 
as written by glmstr

"This is awesome!" Erika beamed and looked at the surrounding house. It was very nice, and the obvious signs of family life made it feel homely in a tacky way.
"So there's five of us, and you coming with makes six. How many bedrooms does this place have, and how many rooms can become bedrooms?"
The Hykan took the drinkable provisions from her supplies and immediately threw them into the fridge, plugging it in and shutting the door.

After wiping her brow, Erika had one thing left in mind: a shower.

The soldier hounded through the hallways to find a bathroom, and turned the knob for the shower experimentally. There was already some old soap and shampoo left behind, and the water wasn't terribly disgusting, so she closed the door behind her.

Finally, the first time I can relax and take it easy.

Her clothes came off one by one and she sloppily folded them into a pile on the sink counter.
The warm water felt marvelous against her skin, washing away the blood, sweat, and dirt from the day. Even her face went from mottled with dirt stains to its more natural smooth cinnamon color.

The soap was old and didn't mix well with the hard water, but it was much better than nothing. Her skin was a tarnished-copper tone from the dirt, so it was nice to have a clean body again. That, and she must have reeked from being cooped up in a pod for days and then running for several miles.

After using a dab of the shampoo to scrub out her hair and rinse it thoroughly, she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel, using a smaller one to quickly dry out her hair.

Erika emerged from the shower clad in the bathrobe, stepping into the living room to rifle through her stuff for civilian clothes. Out came an oversized T-shirt, sweat pants, and comfortable underwear, which she zipped back into the bathroom to change into.

She finally emerged wearing what could either have been worn to bed or to the gym, drying out her hair manually with the smaller towel. She nearly threw herself into the couch, and sighed.
"I really wish that Riley and the guys would let us move in to this place."
 
as written by Krysis

While Erika was in the shower, Lalita snapped herself out of her daydreams and started going over the house again with more of an eye towards what She would do if she were intending on leaving home for possibly months. Then she checked to see if those maintenance issues had been done, and what needed to be done to make the place comfortable again. She even started a list, so they could put things back to the way they had been when they leave.

By the time Erika was out of the shower, Lali was covered with dust and ready for a shower herself. "There are some more clothes in the master bedroom. Looks like four actual bedrooms, with beds, but two of them are sized for kids. There are two couches though, one in the living room and one in the basement. Couldn't find the attic access, but that probably needs to be checked too, unless you think we'll be moving on from here awfully soon."
 
as written by Azrican

Riley flicked the lights off of the staff car as he glided the vehicle onto the lonely street. The tires rolled over a few stray pieces of trash, crushing an empty can before Hawke reached a hand out towards the windshield. “This looks like the place … damn this neighborhood must’ve been hit hard. The fuck happened here?” The SFC inquired, eyes panning left and right out the windows as the staff car rolled to a stop by the curb.

“Airstrikes looks like. Indiscriminate bombing.” Riley said in return, notching the vehicle into park and then propping open the door with one leg. As he stepped out, he looked across the street to the smoldering ruins of what would, for all intents and purposes, have been a beautiful home before these events. In his mind's eye, he saw a family: toys scattered about the lawn and a small wooden house for a dog. Then he caught the scent of death.

He turned away from the image in the hopes it would clear his mind, before pulling his pack out from atop the center console. “Let’s start getting this shit inside.” He ordered, purposefully keeping his body turned from the home across the street as the two other men exited the vehicle.


The damp asphalt heralded the car’s approach before it rounded the corner, its underpowered engine rather muted in comparison to the proper martial vehicles that prowled the streets so often now. Even so one could hear what little fury the four cylinders could provide as the driver stamped the gas, the vehicle’s slight hiccup betraying its nature as a manual as it snaked its way up the street. Whoever it was driving the thing was in a hurry, though as it neared the staff car that Riley and his subordinates had secured it made no move to slow, its pilot far too distracted to notice their car in time. Only when he’d passed the point of no return did Marcus realize he was about to hurtle into the other vehicle’s rear.

The crash was not altogether unlike a gunshot, though it had its own distinct quality - a metallic edge that otherwise shouldn’t be present - one which Sheffield was all too familiar despite the airbag that saved his face from his own steering wheel. Having overcome his initial terror at the prospect of a collision, his mind began to race, wondering who it was that he had run into, what they were doing here, how he could explain the uniform and field gear he still wore.

Whatever hopes he held were immediately dashed as he caught sight of Riley, clad in an officer’s fatigues.


A sound of metal on metal caused Riley to spin in his tracks on the lawn, holding the duffel with two hands. His reaction was just in time to see the car settle with it’s fender pressed firmly into the staff car’s bumper. Glass twinkled on the ground and a few free strips of metal bounced and sprang up from where the two vehicles had met. “Sonuvabitch … “ Was all he muttered, as he watched Hawke right himself from the roll he went into to get away from the car.

“Where the fuck’d you learn to drive man, Biko?!” He shouted angrily, before Riley shoved him out of the way and he dropped the duffel to the grass. As he came around the side of the staff car Riley could see where the man was staring, and as he followed with his eyes the pit in his stomach became an abyss.

Riley sprinted towards the driver door, a hand reaching out to the handle in case any attempt was made to open the door. He quickly eyed over the fatigues, finding his rank and name quickly enough before he put another hand on the door. “Corporal, what are you doing here?”


The swiftness of the officer’s reaction already told Marcus that there would be no easy way out of this without needing to look twice at the vehicle - a staff car - that he had just marred, though it was hardly any comfort to his mind, at least it was largely superficial. The farthest thing from his own mind was concern for his own sedan, despite the steam that already rose from the slightly buckled hood, mind already struggling to concoct a story, or at least an alibi, for being AWOL with the sight of his parents’ home strewn across the street.

With something of a thud Riley connected with the door, Sheffield able to see the man make a jab at the handle, his own coming up in response, if only to show that he had no ill intent. Even though this was hardly the sort of situation, his father’s lessons concerning traffic stops seemed to kick into his mind - always let them see your hands. “I-” He began, hesitating as he realized that he had no idea who he addressed, nervously running his eyes up Riley’s form to see his insignia and nametape. “... I’m looking for my wife, commander.”

Figuring that protocol probably wasn’t the first concern here, Marcus took a brief moment to look back to the dilapidated ruin flanking them across the street.


Riley’s visage was typical of a steeled infantry commander, partly blind anger and partly a fatherly demeanor. He watched the Corporal intently, perhaps in the hopes that his worst fears won’t be confirmed by him reaching for a gun or trying to throw the vehicle into reverse. His lips peeled tightly against his teeth and his hand balled up into a fist on the window: despite his cold exterior, every soldier knew subtlety.

“Corporal … “ He stopped for a moment, fighting the desire to look back at the charred remnants of the house. After a few more brief seconds of silence he pounded his fist against the window, then slid it down just slightly near his grip on the handle. “Corporal Sheffield, you don’t want to get out of this car, soldier.”


Lingering anxiously in the silence between them, Marcus wasn’t far from glancing back at Riley when the man’s fist caught his attention first, startling him slightly, his nerves already a wreck from the last three houses he’d visited. Each one of them - his own, Haley’s, even Cassandra’s - were places that they could have gone, somewhere they would have been safe while he was deployed, and his parents’ home was the last. He’d little doubt that they had evacuated, that they had heeded the warnings and the notices that the state had put out during the crisis, he simply had to see, had to check for himself.

Initially the Terran was almost confused by the other’s statement, his brow furrowing before the realization of what the other man meant dawned on him. His breast twisted, breath short as he did his best to regard the commander with an even tone. “With all due respect, commander, I do.”


The man leaned forward, holding himself against the door as he watched the Corporal slowly begin to reach that point: the point where men lose sight. He brow furrowed in anger for a moment, and then he slid his shoulder against the door, keeping as much of his body in between the him and the image of that smoldering wreck that was the life he knew as possible. “No, son. I’m telling you for your own good. You don’t.” He remarked.

Despite his obvious stature leverage worked against him at this point however, and Riley was well knowing of the fact little could stop a man who has yet to discover he had lost everything. “You don’t want the truth, Corporal.”


Some part of Sheffield’s mind began to consider altogether irrational possibilities, blaming this stubborn individual in some part for the house being in the shape that it was, though the reasonable parts of Marcus’ mind understood that was simply panic. Frustration, indeed even mounting anger, began to do its work inside of the man, batting away what was left of the airbag as he thought of how best to word his thoughts. Surely this commander Stright could see reason, were it that he was acting with good intentions at heart. The corporal bit his lip for a moment in thought, glancing about the cluttered car as his eyes fell on one of several CDs that Monika kept for when they had to drive anywhere - Book Faded Brown.

It was Alexander’s favorite, despite its age.

“Commander Stright,” Sheffield began, having taken the time to regain his composure, looking back to Riley with flaring nostrils. “If my children are alive, they no doubt need me.” Though if God had any mercy they wouldn’t be anywhere near this now-godforsaken place. “Let me out of this vehicle. I accept full responsibility for what has happened here - just let me out. Please.”
 
as written by glmstr

"What the fuck just happened?!" Erika leapt from the couch at the sound and bolted to the window to see where the noise came from, seeing a car crashed into another and Riley talking to the driver of the other car. Her AP-50 was promptly stuffed into her shirt and she opened the door, trotting out to the COLSOG team and seeing the damage.
"Not very subtle," Erika's tone was half mocking and half irritated.
"We're in the one over there, with the solar panels," the Hykan pointed her squad mates to the now open front door of their temporary home.
 
as written by Krysis

Lalita was in the shower when the crash happened, and she gave a startled shout before fumbling the water off and peering out the window. The plain black box she had brought from her house was sitting on the sink counter next to her clothes, and with her free hand, she popped it open as if she thought she might need the contents.

When she saw Erika already bouncing across the scarred lawn towards a wreck, Lali breathed a sigh of relief and would get dressed before hurrying down the stairs. The black box was again closed, but it dangled from Lali's hand as she wanted to keep it close. Barefoot, with her hair and wings still dripping, she'd be a minute or so behind Erika, though she'd pause to prop open the door and prevent them from getting locked out.
 
as written by Azrican

Riley felt his voice catch in his throat for a minute, as if this was his first time telling a person their life had changed for the worse. As he spotted Erika bounding out from the front door, he raised one hand up and waved at her and Hawke. "You guys, take Charles and get him to scan that house over there." Riley ordered, pointing over his shoulder at the ruined home. He locked eyes with the ABE for a moment, exchanging in conversation with the automaton silently before he looked back down to the Corporal.

"Corporal, listen to me. I'm going to let you out of this car alright? And we're going to go inside for some coffee, understand?" He said, his motions slow and methodical as he started to take his weight off the door. Riley's hand slowly began to grip at the handle, popping the door open and letting it open barely.
 
as written by Ottoman

Though it wasn't exactly what he wanted, Corporal Sheffield knew well enough that this was progress. With measured motions of his own Marcus pushed the door open, taking his time as he moved to get out of the car, poly-cotton fatigues rustling lightly as he stood. The Terran still wore his combat vest, sagging in the front from the weight of loaded magazines and the handgun that rested in its cross-drawn holster, though Sheffield made no move to touch or even motion for any of it - taking great care to keep his hands to his sides as not to startle any of those gathered. "Understood, commander." He had little choice at the moment, it seemed.

Slowly he started towards the house, allowing Riley to take whatever position the commander wanted in relation to Sheffield. "When we are finished, I am going to that house, Stright."
 
as written by glmstr

Erika nodded and patted Charles on the back.
"I'm assuming you know way more about what you need to do, but I'll lead you over there anyway," she chuckled and lead the ABE towards the indicated ruined house, stopping in front of it.

"Alright Charles, do the scanning thing."
 
as written by Krysis

The soggy, winged girl got out of Marcus' way, looking to Riley, "Do I get to ask questions now? Starting with, are you guys okay?"

Then she'd follow Marcus into the place and steer him towards the kitchen so she could start making coffee for him. Thankfully, there was a device specifically for that task, a can full of coffee grounds, and instructions to both that were easily read so she could act like she knew what she was doing.
 
as written by Azrican

"We're fine, just keep him inside and away from that house." Riley said back to Lalita, waiting until they had left to cross the street and join the others. "This is is house, the Corporal's." Riley said, standing between Erika and Tanner with his hands in his pockets and nodding at the ABE.

Charles gave a curt nod back, before making his way up the stoop and prying the charred door of it's hinges. The automaton let it fall to the ground with a thud before venturing in, ducking under a scorched support beam. A flashlight on his head activated, painting the blackened hallway in a bright white light before he disappeared into the home.

"You know what he's gonna' find in there, spook. I can smell it from here." Hawke replied callously, scratching at the tip of his nose with one finger.
 
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