Trash Panda

Things That Go Bump in the Night [Kourage + Summer]

“It’s not aliens!” Trevor snarled at him. “Although I couldn’t possibly expect you to know that.” “Of course,” Alex said with a sarcastic shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not an expert like you.” A smirk tugged at his lip. He loved how easy it was to ruffle Darklin’s feathers. He barely even had to try! Originally, Alex was just going to leave Trevor with one little sting, but his reaction was too entertaining. He decided he had time to stick around for a few more jabs. “And my research has nothing to do with you.” Trevor went on hostilely. “Besides, I live here, so I have an excuse. What are you doing here?” “I live around here, too, hotshot,” Alex crossed his arms. “This town ain’t that big, you know. But more specifically, I’m here for that.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the crime scene behind him. “Who can resist seeing a dead body, right? You know how uninformed the media keeps us these days. I wanted to see what’s going on, myself; I wanted to see just how ruthless this ‘Phantom’ guy really is.” Of course, this was all just a bluff, but Trevor couldn’t possibly know that. In reality, Alex was still slightly shaken from the sight of the corpse. He hadn’t expected to see such a gruesome murder, and now he could understand why the media was keeping this under wraps. The town would be wrought with panic if details about The Phantom got out. “So you think this killer’s not from Mars?” Alex said, swinging the topic back around to Trevor. “That’s boring. He’s just a normal guy like you and me? Well… like me, anyways.” He shook his head and went on, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You know, I just can’t bring myself to believe this guy is a human. To get away with this many murders and never leave enough evidence for the police to find anything at all? It’s almost like this guy really is a ghost.”

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix smiled slightly at Cassie’s reassurance that Ryan didn’t mean as much to her as he did. He still didn’t trust the human male, but at least Cassie didn’t seem to have any feelings for him. The embrace the two had shared was just a friendly gesture, nothing more. However, he made a private note to set Ryan straight if he continued to try and win Cassie over the way he had been so far. His tolerance could only be stretched so thin, after all. Putting his own problems aside, Serix was glad that Cassie wasn’t too uncomfortable here. He had no doubt that she would readjust quickly to the humans’ underground society. He just hoped that he would be able to do the same. Cassie was definitely right when she said that the half-bloods were outwardly untrusting of him. He wasn’t particularly afraid of them, but their hostility made him uneasy. He would have to tread carefully to avoid getting separated from Cassie and locked away in some hold. “Hey,” Serix said gently when Cassie said she was worried about his safety. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. ‘One stray person’ won’t be able to do anything.” If the humans teamed up against him, however, he wasn’t quite as certain that he could defend himself against all of them. But for Cassie’s sake, he left that part out. “I think, to be safe for now, we need to stay together,” Cassie said, brushing a stand of hair from Serix’s eyes. “You are not allowed to leave my side. Anywhere I go, you go. And anywhere you go, I go. If we stick together, then neither of us can get hurt by these people.” “Yes, commander,” Serix gave her a teasing salute. “Anything else?” “And in the next few days we need to map out this place,” Cassie said softly, leaning close to his ear as though someone was trying to listen in on them. “Just in case.” “I’m way ahead of you on that one,” Serix said just as quietly. “Here.” He opened a telepathic link between them and sent her a mental image of the tunnel layout. He didn’t have much done, and he had only been able to make rough estimations so far, but he was fairly certain of his accuracy. Mapping and navigating were always things he had excelled at in his training back on the Lunairan ship. We’re in the third room on the right in that top left hallway, Serix thought to her. Got it? He closed off the connection and spoke to her aloud, “We can build the rest of the map from there.” Serix yawned and lay down beside Cassie on the mattress. The day wasn’t even halfway over, but he was already completely exhausted. Getting captured twice in a matter of hours was quite straining on a person. Still, he couldn’t let himself fully relax. Not yet. He had no reason to trust the humans enough sleep comfortably in their presence. He wrapped one arm around Cassie, habitually holding her close to himself, and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “I love you,” he murmured as he began to drift off. -- Serix slept lightly, so when the curtain to their room slid open, he was instantly awoken. He opened one eye and glanced up to see the green-eyed human standing in the doorway. His ears were red, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment at catching Serix and Cassie in a bed together, he couldn’t say. Serix nudged Cassie awake and sat up, meeting the human’s gaze challengingly. The green-eyed male crossed his arms over his chest and glared right back, “Ryan wants me to show you around your new home.” His eyes drifted to Cassie, making it perfectly clear to which of the two he was speaking. “He has some business to take care of first, but he’ll meet up with us along the way. You can come back to your… err… Lunairan friend afterwards. Let’s go.” He waved a hand, gesturing for Cassie to follow him. Instead, Serix got up and helped Cassie to her feet. He turned back to the human, “Wherever she goes, I go, too. We’re a package deal, so I suggest you try to get used to me now. It will make your life a whole lot easier.” The human looked uneasy, “I don’t think Ryan—” “In case you hadn’t noticed,” Serix interrupted. “I don’t care much about what your leader thinks. He’ll just have to learn to tolerate me, too, because as long as Cassie stays here, I’m not going anywhere.” “Well…” the human faltered. He seemed to finally understand how pointless it was to argue with the Lunairan. “Fine. Just don’t blame me when he gets pissed off.” He pivoted on his heel and started walking, leaving Serix and Cassie to catch up with him. “This will be a good opportunity to work on that map,” Serix said quietly when the human’s back was turned. He took Cassie’s hand in his and followed the green-eyed male down the corridor.

Google Picture War

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Posted~ If you want to, you can have Penelope switch places with Abraxas to give our two characters more interaction time. Or you can leave the setup as is :P I'm good with either one

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow stared down at his bare hands with a dazed expression. In prison, he had slipped out of his chains on a few separate occasions when the guards weren’t looking in his direction, but he’d always fumbled to clip them back on before anyone realized he was loose. This was the first time someone else had been ordered to release him. He rubbed his chafed wrists, as if he couldn’t believe there was nothing binding his hands together anymore. However, he didn’t have much time to revel over his newly granted freedom. Almost as soon as the restraints were gone, the oldest knight, William, shoved him unceremoniously between the shoulder blades to force him to walk where he would be fully visible.

Coming back to himself, the thief slipped out of William’s grasp and shot him an indignant scowl. “I know where I’m going, thank you very much,” he huffed and then proceeded to walk just beyond the other man’s reach, so he couldn’t attempt to herd him again. Between being pushed, grabbed and carried by all of his guards, he’d had quite enough manhandling for one day. But, of course, the knights couldn’t leave him alone just yet.

When the woman chided him for being ungrateful, Crow tossed his head, affronted. “I would have gotten out on my own eventually,” he bluffed. “The king just happened to beat me to it.” The statement was a boldfaced lie, and he knew it. He had made plenty of escape attempts, but the prison guards had bested him each and every time. If he had a way to properly prepare, he was sure he could have made it out, but unfortunately, it was impossible to come up with a foolproof plan when he couldn’t case the building from inside his cell and the guards changed their routines every week.

Naturally, William had to pour salt on his open wound. At his declaration that a knight could do the work he’d spent his entire life perfecting, Crow curled his lip, insulted. “My profession is much more difficult than you think,” he growled vainly. “It takes talent to scale a castle wall without getting caught or pick a ten-pin lock in just seconds.” No one bothered to do him the courtesy of responding though. He doubted they were even listening to him.

It was the female knight’s last remark that sealed the final nail in the coffin. “Alright,” the thief narrowed his eyes at the two nobles. “Now you’re just being rude. I’m beginning to rethink my decision of letting you come with me.”

As the king had said, the horses and supplies were already prepared for them in the courtyard of the palace. It seemed their ruler had spared no expense too. The wooden caravan was large enough to fit about five or six people comfortably when empty. There were four posts holding up a canopy for the top, with curtains that could be drawn to cover its open sides for complete privacy. The best parts to Crow, however, were the piles of large, burlap sacks, filled with supplies that had been stocked for them.

He immediately trotted over to the side of the wagon, curious to find out what was bundling inside those enticing bags. However, before he even had a chance to peer over the edge, he felt a hand grasp him by the back of his tunic. Turning around in annoyance, he was unsurprised to see William standing over him again. “Watch it,” he pushed the knight’s hand away. “This is the only shirt I have, and you’re going to rip it.”

“Don’t you even think about stealing our supplies, thief,” the older man ignored his complaint, shoving him against the side of the cart.

“Who, me?” Crow pressed a hand to his chest, his eyes wide with feigned shock. “I would never do that!” As he spoke, he smoothly reached behind his back with his other hand to snag a loose piece of bread from a sack on the edge of the wagon. Stuffing the food into his trouser pocket, he added for good measure: “How could you even accuse me of such a thing?”

William didn’t humor him. “Turn out you pockets,” the knight ordered without hesitation.

“Oh, come now,” Crow rolled his eyes. “Friendship is based on trust. Are you really going to—”

“I said,” the older man interrupted icily. “Turn out your pockets.”

“Fine,” Crow grumbled in defeat, handing over the stolen piece of bread. William replaced it with the rest of the food stock, and the thief smirked at the back of his head. The knight was slightly more observant than he’d been expecting, but he was clearly a novice at handling a swindler such as himself. He had broken the bread with his fingers, only returning half while he kept a portion for himself. The trick never would have worked with his old prison guards—the men would always personally reach into his pockets to make sure he wasn’t hiding anything—but this knight had taken the decoy without question. If the rest of his keepers were this oblivious, escaping from them later would be child’s play.

He leaned against the side of the wagon with his arms folded loosely across his chest as William took charge of the group.

“Abraxas, you will ride in the wagon with the thief. Make sure he doesn’t attempt to touch any more of our rations,” the knight commanded, casting Crow an irritable look before he turned to the woman. “Penelope, you and I will ride up front and keep watch along the road.”

This was too good. The youngest knight, Abraxas, seemed to be the least vigilant among his three guards and was therefore the one the thief most preferred to watch him. He clapped his hands together gleefully. “Alright, let’s more out then. We’re losing daylight.” Climbing nimbly into the back of the cart, he leaned out over the side as he waited for the others to take up their own positions.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That's okay! I don't expect you to reply every day, anyways XD Life can get busy, so I don't freak out if you take two or three days to reply. I only ask that you let me know if you think you'll be away for a week or more :)

Google Picture War

Google Picture War

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! I'll reply tomorrow evening, because I'm going to bed soon

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow looked over the knights individually. The eldest was a man who looked to be in his late forties. He had shoulder-length brown hair that was well-maintained, even for a nobleman. His face was dour and his jaw was tight. The female knight was just as harsh looking. Her light brown hair was pinned back in a pristine bun and her jade green eyes were piercing. Even though she looked to be about the same age as him, her sternness gave her the appearance of a more mature woman. The youngest knight, however, seemed to be a bit out of place among his older companions. He had an absent look about him, with sandy, unkempt hair. If he hadn’t been wearing the same armor as the others, the thief would have thought the boy to be a poet or a wandering artist.

As the trio stood and walked over to stand beside their king, Crow kept his eyes fixed on them untrustingly. He had never had a good experience with a knight before, given the types of interactions he’d had with their kind in the past. When he’d been a free man, they had always hunted him with weapons drawn and hateful words on their lips. When he’d been a prisoner, they had shoved him around and spat in his cell. He loathed the thought of spending any length of time in the company of a whole group of them, and it looked like they weren’t any more excited about acting as his new guards. The older two gazed upon him with disgust, as if he was a bug they wanted to squash, while the youngest studied him with interest. He could already tell he was going to have to assert himself if he didn’t want to be trodden under their boots.

While the two older knights addressed their king, the thief scrutinized them in his head. The woman had the sense to at least pretend like she was happy to be there, but her companion wasn’t nearly as congenial. The man’s spiteful words plucked at Crow’s temper, and for a fleeting moment, he narrowed his eyes. As he’d suspected, his unwanted guards were going to be just as terrible as the men who’d overseen him in prison.

Returning to his apathetic mien, he raised one of his bound hands to garner the monarch’s attention. “I agree completely,” he chimed in. “Your Majesty, how can you expect me to work with these awful people? I suggest you keep them, and I’ll go ahead by myself.” Without waiting for a reply, he spun around on his heel to leave, but the lean guard grabbed hold of his chains before he could take two steps.

“Nice try,” the king snorted. “They’re coming with you whether you like it or not, thief. And William,” he turned to the oldest knight. “You only have to put up with him for two weeks. Please, try not to kill him in that span of time.”

Crow stiffened. He didn’t like the idea of traveling with the knights because he wasn’t fond of the way they treated him. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that they would use their swords to put him in his place. “Kill?” he squawked, too agitated to keep his qualms to himself. “Your Majesty, please! These people are dangerous. Let me go by myself.”

“Make sure he behaves himself,” the king went on to the knights, ignoring his outburst. He signaled to the lean guard to remove the thief’s chains so he could move freely. “Your supply wagon should be ready for you outside. You may depart immediately.”