Trash Panda

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

As soon as Alex stepped through the door to the bar, she could practically feel the pulse of the music wash over her. It was desensitizing in its loudness, and the bass resonated in her bones. A broad grin spread across her face, and she turned to Whitney, who looked equally as excited to mingle. She’d always loved coming to places like this where, just for a few hours, she could feel like a normal woman who wasn’t hiding from her psychotic ex-boyfriend in the streets of New York City. The hypnotic music, the numbing alcohol, and the friendly people were the perfect cocktail of distractions to help her forget about the harsh realities of life. It was why she and her friends had scrapped together the money for fake IDs. All three of them were of legal age to drink, but since they didn’t have a permanent address or proof of citizenship, they’d had to seek out the best forger in the county to have false ones made. The guy had done such a good job that not a single bouncer had ever questioned the plastic cards’ authenticity.

Looking past the oscillating lights to the crowded room beyond, she was elated to see that Devil’s Share was crowded that night. There were quite a few other sizable groups milling about at booths and dancing in the center of the room, all dressed up in various stages between casual and formal. Right now, it looked like they were mostly sticking to the groups they’d showed up with, but it was only a matter of time before everyone loosened up and started mingling with one another. Alcohol had a funny way of making someone forget they were surrounded by total strangers. It was that moment of total drunken bliss that she was so eagerly expecting. That was when she would hopefully find herself in a conversation with the next man who would be buying her dinner. Her empty stomach growled in anticipation.

“Let’s hang out at the counter,” Whitney shouted over the deafening music, elbowing her in the side to get her attention. “I want a drink, and a couple of those guys have already been staring at my ass since we walked in.” Like Alex, the redhead knew how to take advantage of the guys they met in the bars to get free drinks. She wasn’t quite as dressed up as her friend, but she’d still put on a mini skirt to turn a few heads while they were out.

“Oh yeah?” Alex followed her gaze to see that there were, in fact, two men glancing not-at-all discreetly in their direction. “How do you know they’re not looking at me?” She asked with a smirk.

“I’m having a great ass day,” Whitney answered simply, linking her arm with Alex’s. “It doesn’t matter anyway. There are two of them and two of us: my favorite kind of math. Come on, I’ll let you have the ugly one.”

“Ooh, too bad the ugly one just waved at you,” Alex clicked her tongue with mock sympathy. “Don’t feel too bad though, Whit. I bet he’s really funny.”

“Bitch, don’t you dare!” Whitney squeaked as Alex slipped out of her grasp to get to the counter ahead of her.

While they swam through the crowded room, Caden took a seat by himself in the corner of the room to keep watch. He wasn’t the type to drink in public, so whenever they went out, he volunteered to make sure they stayed safe. Living on the streets, their lives were already dangerous enough as it was, so the trio was always careful to have each other’s backs. At bars and nightclubs, the girls kept tabs on each other up close, while Caden kept an eye on both of them from a distance. They were the only safety net they had, so it had become a habit for them to be especially cautious when it came to their safety.

Knowing there was someone in the room making sure she didn’t get forced into a situation she didn’t want to be in gave Alex the peace of mind to approach drunk men at the bar. So, she rolled her shoulders back confidently and strode up to the counter, leaning up on her toes as she pretended like she was trying to find an open spot where she could squeeze in to get a drink. Beside her, Whitney followed suit, falling easily into their rehearsed act and taking on a discouraged expression.

Not five seconds later, the men who’d been eyeing them hollered over the music to get their attention.

“Hey there, pretty ladies,” the not-ugly one, a man with a chiseled jawline and tousled brown hair, flashed a handsome smile their way. “Can my buddy and I buy you girls a couple drinks?”

Alex turned to them, raising her brows as she feigned a look of surprise. “Wow, that’s so sweet of you guys. What do you think, Whit?”

“I think you two are lifesavers!” her friend exclaimed excitedly. “Thank you so much!”

“Not a problem,” the man stood up a little straighter, his ego thoroughly stroked. “my name is Chad, and this is Paul.”

Oh my god, his name is Chad, Alex bit her lip to fight the urge to snort as her olive green eyes landed on the man’s bulging muscles. Hanging onto her composure by a thread, she offered up her best smile, “It’s nice to meet you guys.”

“Likewise,” Paul jumped in while his friend turned around to flag down the bartender. Unlike Chad, he had an obvious dad-bod, which wouldn’t have been deterring by itself if not for the fact that it was paired with a noticeable unibrow on his forehead. “What would you angels like to drink?”

And not a single question to find out what our names are, Alex sighed. If she had a dollar for every guy she talked to who didn’t ask about her name when she didn’t volunteer it first, she could have bought all her own meals. “I’ll have a Manhattan,” she answered, hiding her judgmental thoughts with the smile that was still plastered on her face.

“A Cosmo for me,” Whitney pitched in with her request.

While Paul turned around to relay their drinks of choice to Chad, Alex let her gaze wander over the other patrons at the counter. The two men they’d just talked to had been the first of the evening to buy cocktails for them, but she rarely stuck with the first people she met for the entire night. Chances were, she would be having conversations with a few of the other guys around her later on as she figure out which of them would get clingy enough to pay for her dinner.

Since the Devil’s Share was packed, there were quite a few men there that evening, but only a few caught her eye. One of whom was a younger man at the other end of the bar. Unlike the people surrounding him, he was dressed to the nines in professional clothes that both flattered his physique and gave the impression that he had just come away from an important business meeting at the same time. If there was anyone in the building who could afford a dinner at a five-star restaurant, it was most likely this guy. From a distance, she couldn’t see his face very well, but it seemed like he was looking around the room just like she was, which meant, hopefully, he wasn’t here with a partner.

Before she could even think about sidling over to the other end of the counter, she was drawn from her scheming by the sound of a voice.

“Here’s your drink, gorgeous.”

Turning back around, she saw that Chad had left his station at the bar to personally hand her the Manhattan she’d ordered up. It looked like he’d been eyeing her after all. She couldn’t help but cast a subtle wink in Whitney’s direction to acknowledge the victory before she paid Mr. Muscles-for-Brains for the drink with a shallow conversation in uncomfortably close proximity. She just hoped he wouldn’t get bold enough to try to close the distance between them already more than he already had.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Significant Characters

Caden White
(24)

Whitney Powell
(21)

Matthew DeLuca
(28)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I wouldn't blame you if you did, haha. Sounds like you need it!

I'm going out of town to see my parents again this weekend, so I may not be online very much, just so you know! I'll be bringing my laptop, but how much I can write will depend on how busy I am while I'm there :)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“I’m alright,” Cas shrugged when Iris said she hoped he wasn’t feeling stiff. He couldn’t say he was perfectly fine, since his shoulders did ache a little after he’d laid next to her on the ground for the past few hours, but the discomfort was already fading fast. He was sure it would go away completely after he gave it a couple more minutes. “You can use me as a pillow anytime,” he smiled at her as he took his hoodie back. Even though it wasn’t completely comfortable, he’d enjoyed the feeling of her body pressed up against his while she’d napped. He’d have no problem doing it again if she wanted to as well.

Sliding the jacket over his arms, he brightened as she said that her appetite had finally returned. “That’s great to hear,” he nodded, giving her hand a squeeze when she reached out to take his. He hoped that meant she was on the mend from whatever had been causing her fever. If it was just a twenty-four hour bug, they wouldn’t have to stay in one place longer enough to worry about getting caught by the rebels. Even though he still hadn’t made up his mind about whether or not he wanted to go back to the capital, his nervousness about being killed by the Scourge hadn’t disappeared. The rebels couldn’t know that he was having second thoughts about going home, after all.

“I’m feeling fine,” he answered her question vaguely. Thoughts of his father and of his home were still stirring around in the back of his mind, but physically, he was doing well enough. His injured arm was only a little sore, and laying down for a while had eased his bruises. He’d had better days, but given the circumstances, he couldn’t complain. After another night of decent sleep, he would be ready to keep moving to wherever she planned to lead him next.

At Iris’s suggestion of moving on to another place for shelter, Cas considered the options. The small camping setup she’d put together was peaceful, but it was a little too exposed for his taste. He had a feeling that after the sun went down, he was going to be concerned about letting himself sleep soundly when anyone could stumble into them during the night. If she was still feeling too sick to keep moving, he would put up with it, but otherwise, he had to admit that he preferred the thought of having a roof over his head while he slumbered.

“We can do that anywhere,” he leaned into her shoulder teasingly when she said they could keep cuddling if they stayed. “As romantic as it is to sleep under the stars, I think I’ll sleep better inside four walls and a roof. If you think you can handle walking a little more, we can keep looking.” Letting go of her hand, he picked up his water bottle and rose to his feet in preparation to pack up and go.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

RP party 2: Electric Boogaloo cx

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Alexandra Banks

Nickname: Alex
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Nationality: American (Caucasian and African descent)
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 135lbs
Biography: Originally from Virginia, Alex moved to the great state of New York with her mother when she was twelve years old. After her father had taken off with another woman, she and her mother moved in with her grandparents, who had been kind enough to open their home to them until her mother could find a job that paid well enough to support them both. In the meantime, Alex was enrolled in public school and lived a somewhat normal life. She had friends, got good grades, and when she was in high school, she had even begun looking into scholarships to go to college. However, everything fell apart after she met Matt.

From the start there were red flags about him that she knew in hindsight that she should have paid more attention to: his short fuse, the way he oscillated between showering compliments and tearing her down, his frequent disappearances, and even the few times when he had been physically aggressive. But she had been young and naive at seventeen years old, so the pride that came with dating an older man (23) had outweighed the cons. At first, he had been charming, veritably sweeping her off her teenage feet and flattering her beauty and wit. After about six months, however, his true colors began to bleed through in the form of emotional and physical abuse.

He started convincing her that she owed him for everything good in her life (because her mother was never able to hold a steady job, he'd bought her clothes and food and other necessities) and that because he was going out of his way to help her, she had to repay him. Blindsided and unable to grasp that he was manipulating her, Alex reluctantly followed all of his orders for the next year and a half, even when he brought her along to his "meetings" and told her to go with the other men who showed up. She had been aware enough to realize that Matt was exchanging her for money every time he set up those secretive deals, but he always promised to use his earnings to keep her and her mother from being kicked to the streets, so she complied. Those had been the darkest days of her life, when she had come to see herself as a tool for her abusive boyfriend to use and toss aside when he didn't need her.

Her moment of clarity came after she turned nineteen. By that point, she had learned that Matt was a member of the Italian mob and that his other meetings - the ones she wasn't invited to - were of a criminal nature. Backed into a corner, she had grown desperate enough to find proof of his illegal activity and get him caught that she'd tailed him to a particularly quiet dealing at the docks. Her plan had been to snap some pictures on her phone as evidence and send them anonymously to the police. However, she never got that far as she ended up witnessing Matt and his goons betray the men they were meeting with. They shot them all on the spot, and she had been so shocked by the sight that she'd screamed before she could stop herself.

The instant the cry had left her lips, Matt and the other men at his side had turned toward her, shouting at her to come out, but instead, she'd turned tail and fled. She hadn't known where she was going, so she had taken cover at a hostel for the rest of the night, afraid that Matt would follow her if she went home. Waiting until the next morning before she risked venturing out again, she returned to her mother's apartment, only to find that her boyfriend had gotten there ahead of her. Her mother was already dead on the living room floor, and there was a note on the coffee table telling her to go back to Matt's apartment or else she would be next.

Horrified and convinced that she was to blame for Matt's terrible deed, she didn't give herself long to grieve before she fled again, taking only a duffel bag full of her belongings with her on the way out. She knew that if she obeyed the warning on the note, she wouldn't walk away with her life. Whatever was going on between Matt and the other mobsters, she'd seen too much. She had to run away if she wanted to survive to see the next day. And so she did, taking cover among the thousands of homeless people living in New York City for the next three years to keep Matt from finding her and finishing her off.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Rare

The sound of music echoed off concrete walls, filling the air inside the abandoned building. What was once supposed to be the site of a new law firm in New York City was now an unfinished eyesore at the edge of the county. Construction had lasted long enough for three levels to have been built before the project came to a screeching halt when the benefactors had lost the funds to continue it in a multi-million dollar law suit. It was a pretty ironic way for the story to end: lawyers who were so bad at their jobs that they couldn’t even represent themselves. However, it had worked out for the best, because the jilted job site had turned into a home for quite a few of the region’s most opportunistic vagabonds.

Alexandra Banks was one of them.

Sitting cross-legged in front of a broken mirror, she squinted her olive green eyes with focus as she touched up the burgundy lipstick at the edge of her mouth. As a long-time resident of Casa de Hobo, she had turned her room on the second floor of the building into a homey little space. An old mattress laid in the corner, torn at the seams and stained by a mysterious bodily fluid that she both couldn’t and didn’t want to name; the concrete walls were decorated with chalk artwork, created by her and a few other tramps who’d come and gone over the years; string lights hung from the ceiling; and she’d even set up the full-length mirror that she was currently using to get ready for her night out. For a homeless woman, life was about as good as it could get.

She pressed her painted lips together and smiled at the dimly-lit reflection that stared back at her, pleased with her own handiwork. In addition to the lipstick, she’d also carefully crafted the rest of her look with a smoky-eye palette and full contouring from her forehead to her jawline. Her dark, wildly curly hair, a tribute from her beautiful mother, had been tamed as much as was possible with a comb and fell across her bare shoulders in thick waves. Despite the amount of time and effort she’d put into achieving her look, she’d still managed to make it seem just natural enough that she didn’t look as gaudy as the streetwalkers who paraded around in nothing more than thongs and body paint. She had to have at least a little decency, after all.

Just as she capped her lipstick and stuffed it back inside the bag where she kept the rest of her ‘weapons of mass attraction,’ she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the adjacent room. Without looking up, she knew the owners of those feet were her friends, Caden and Whitney. Caden had been living at the abandoned construction site even longer than she had, and Whitney had moved in about a year ago. Although they were all very different people with very different histories, they’d bonded quickly over the fact that they were some of the youngest bums in the building.

“Selena Gomez?” Whitney whistled, tossing her weight into her left hip and folding her arms over her chest as she grinned at her friend with a classic feral charisma. Her long, ginger hair framed her face, highlighting her bright, blue eyes and freckled skin. Out of all the people Alex had gotten to know on the streets, the redhead had adjusted to homeless life the quickest. She was a natural thief, swift and nimble and able to outrun the police every time she was chased. It would take nothing short of an act of God to stop her when she had a target in sight. Even though she was only twenty-one, there was no doubt that she would survive for a long time on her own.

“Girl, you know this is my jam,” she said, moving in time with the beat of the song as she danced along to it. Even though she was just being playful, every move she made was so smooth, it practically oozed sex. Alex wasn’t one to perpetuate stereotypes but, well… Whitney had always been the poster child for the things that were said about redheads.

“Girl, this is your playlist,” Alex shot her a sarcastic shake of her head. “You know we all share the same iPod.” Standing up from the floor, she brushed the dust off her rear and primped her clothes. That night, she’d chosen to don a pair of form-fitting black jeans and a dark green, shoulderless top that further showed off her hourglass figure. A pair of strappy black heels and a gold necklace completed the ensemble. On a few separate occasions, she’d been approached by agents who had wanted to sign her on as model, but she’d turned down the offers every time. As amazing as it probably would have been to enter the world of Victoria’s Secret, any chance she had of having a job like that—or any job at all—had ended the second she’d met Matt DeLuca. Now, life on the streets was her past, present and future.

“Hot damn, Alex,” Whitney gawked. “I almost feel like I shouldn’t let you out of the house looking like that.”

“You like it?” she grinned back at the other girl, arching her back in a sultry pose. “I was going for a cross between basic bitch and Babylon whore.”

“You’re definitely leaning more toward the whore,” Whitney judged.

“That’s alright,” Alex shrugged, bending down to pick up a black leather purse. “I’ve got you to make up the difference.”

“Hey!” Whitney’s blue eyes shot wide open.

“Bitch, you just came in here to dance to Selena Gomez,” Alex laughed, stepping over to nudge the other girl’s arm as she shouldered the purse. “If that isn’t basic, I don’t know what is.”

“Whatever,” Whitney scoffed. “Anyway, are you ready to go yet? If you make us sit around any longer, Caden and I might change our minds about coming with you.”

“No, I still need to put on my falsies and botox my face,” Alex replied dryly.

“Oh my god, get your rude ass out the door,” Whitney threw back her head with a groan, and Alex snickered as she ushered her into the hallway.

Behind them, Caden took a moment to turn off the portable generator that powered the lights and music player and followed along with an exasperated sigh. Between the three of them, he was the strong, silent member of the clique. Neither of the girls knew what he’d been through, but he was a loyal friend and a trustworthy man to have on their side when they ventured out into the city. When Alex had first found the abandoned building, he’d been the one to take her under his wing in a sense, and had helped her adjust to being homeless. He’d also been the first man she’d come across who hadn’t been nice to her just to get inside her pants, and she knew she would be forever grateful for his genuine kindness. She sometimes repaid him in the form of food when she scored leftovers after going out.

Heading downstairs and into the brightly lit streets of the city that never slept, Alex fell in step beside her friends as they made their way to a nearby bar, Devil’s Share. A common side effect of being homeless was that one usually didn’t have a job. All three of them were afflicted with the unfortunate symptom, which meant they didn’t have any money either. Most city drifters resorted to petty thefts and pickpocketing to get by, but the thought of stealing had never sat well with her. Of course, she was guilty of committing a few misdemeanors, mostly when she and Whitney shoplifted cosmetics, but she tried not to make a habit of it. Not only did she feel bad for the people she robbed, she also knew that she risked drawing the attention of the police every time she stole anything. Unlike her friends, she had a lot more to lose if she was arrested.

That was why she’d come up with her own clever alternative to thievery. Guys at the bars around NYC were suckers for a pretty face and a hot body, and she’d learned to use her natural gifts as a tool to get free meals. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and pretend to be interested in them long enough to convince them to migrate from the bar to a restaurant for a late night “date,” scarf down a hot meal, and escape with the leftovers under the guise of getting food poisoning. It wasn’t enough to feed her every day of the week, but it was better than going hungry or sticking her neck out to swipe a bag of chips from a bodega. With her friends tagging along to make sure she wasn’t roofied at the bar by a sleazy bastard, it was her best option to stay alive without drawing attention to herself.

And tonight, she was dressed up to lure out a cash cow that could buy her a Kobe beef dinner. With a sly smile on her lips, she tossed her dark curls over her shoulder and stepped up to the door, showing the bouncer her ID before she headed inside the Devil’s Share night lounge to go fishing.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah. For a while, it was like medieval slice of life xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

When Penelope agreed to stick around a little longer, Crow grinned and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. It wasn’t much, but he would take every second with her that he could get. He didn’t let go of her hand either as they followed Otto and Rayner out of the room to wait at the front of the inn. Although he hadn’t appreciated the way the baron had been rushing them until now, he had a feeling he wouldn’t object very much once they crossed into Younis. The sooner they made it to the foreign castle, the sooner he could parley with the king and they could return to Brerra with the good news that the war was over. At least, that was what he hoped would happen. In reality, there were still a number of things that could go wrong with the trip, but he was choosing to stay optimistic. The best he could do was hope that everything went according to plan.

At the sound of Naida’s voice, he turned his head to see that his sister had trotted up to walk on Penelope’s other side. She was pouting as usual, but he couldn’t blame her for being disappointed that the knight was going to be leaving them soon. He was a little tempted to sulk about it as well.

“Me too,” he mused when Penelope said she had a good feeling about reaching an agreement with Younis. “I heard the ambassador is very persuasive.”

“He better be,” Naida shot him a stern glance. “The castle is so dull without my best friend around. I want this war to be over, so she can come back as fast as possible.”

“Not to mention all the people who would die if this thing drags on any longer than it already has,” Crow rolled his eyes dryly.

“That too,” the princess shrugged.

The viceroy shook his head. His sister wasn’t a bad person, but every once in a while, he was reminded of how detached she was from the people who lived beyond the inner kingdom. She probably had no idea how terrible the war had been for the peasants who lived on the border. And how could she? From what he’d heard, it sounded like Albin never let her leave the inner kingdom. He wondered if he would ever find the opportunity to bring her to the northern villages, where he could show her what life was like for him and all the other commoners who didn’t have the luxury of growing up surrounded by wealth and prestige.

As they stepped outside to wait for Preston and Percival to return from the stables, another thought seemed to cross Naida’s mind. “Oh, Penelope,” she brightened, turning to her friend with a broad smile. “Tell Olivia I said hi. I can’t wait to see her too when everyone comes back from the warfront!”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I'm doing alright! Still a tiny bit sore from my procedure, but it's nothing compared to what it felt like before. My doctor did call today though and said I should have a second surgery done next week to make sure I don't get worse again ^^; She already called the surgeon to give them my referral.

Aw, that sucks. Get lots of rest! I hope you feel better