rave
/rav/
verb
1. talk wildly or incoherently, as if one were delirious or insane.
2. speak or write about someone or something with great enthusiasm or admiration.
Hippy
hip·pie
/ˈhipē/
noun
(especially in the 1960s) a person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs.
life
/līf/
noun
1. the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
"the origins of life"
2. the existence of an individual human being or animal.
3. a particular type or aspect of people's existence
4. the period between the birth and death of a living thing, especially a human being.
5. vitality, vigor, or energy.
6. (in art) the depiction of a subject from a real model, rather than from an artist's imagination.
Magic
mag·ic
/ˈmajik/
noun
1. the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
2. mysterious tricks, such as making things disappear and appear again, performed as entertainment.
3. a quality that makes something seem removed from everyday life, especially in a way that gives delight.
4. something that has a delightfully unusual quality.
mag·ic
adjective
1. used in magic or working by magic; having or apparently having supernatural powers.
~Plot Stuff~
Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, there existed an otherworldly arcane essence that existed by the name of Magic/Magick. This essence was a variety of things. Lush and in great abundance, full of life and a energy that science had become a pale reflection of in the years that followed. However, it was also an essence that harbored a wicked face as well, bound to attract misfortune and death to all who were able to understand and or obtain it if not tamed properly. The secrets of this essence falling into the wrong hands would bring nothing but catastrophe.
And catastrophe it brought, those hundreds a years ago. One that thrust magic into an era in which it had began to fade and a new form of energy created at the hands of man became the new. The world in which magic had come from became a myth, magic itself became a myth as time progressed and left it to fade and never be seen again.
Or perhaps....what isn't seen isn't truly gone. And perhaps...the world thought to be myth is much more than just so. But what is certain is that what has lurked in the veils of shadows within the darkness, behind illusions of people, places and things. Forces that had managed to slip into the ages of the new world. Those of good. Those of evil and malice. Those of...magic. And perhaps...hope. But...will the newest of generations derived from those hundreds of years be able to face what comes?
And so we fly ahead in time to the present, where villages have become cities of tall structures, and dreams of flight have become a reality.
Yoon pointed her index and middle finger at her eyes, then at Kyung-ha’s from a distance to remind her she was keeping an eye on her in case she tried to embarrass her in from of Abel. And as she approached the door to wait, she slipped on her platforms that made her appear a few inches taller.
Kyung-ha watched her daughter with satisfied eyes, clapping to herself with glee at how her transformation turned out. She giggled at Yoon’s frustration, nudging it off momentarily so she could speak with Abel. She watched him end the call with the new forms of technology the organization was using. “Oooh, I too old for those gadgets now, eh?” She chuckled. “Everything Oke?”
***
Alana cringed at the sudden darkening of the situation, mentally slapping herself on the forehead. She slowly turned to face Galiah and apologize. “...s-sorry, I was not a-aware of that...” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “I am sorry for your loss, I don’t know what I would do without my parents.”
"Oh, no need to apologize" Galiah replied with a shrug, "I never knew them myself. They were strangers to me. My grandfather was all I needed and he's been doing just fine. You don't need to worry about it. Besides, we came to have fun and that's what I plan on doing, Alana. So turn that frown all the way around as they say and let's enjoy our day"
"Forgive me, it wasn't intentional," Jackie said with a dismissive roll of her eyes. "Besides, you could have exited the vehicle at any time you know. I didn't force you to stay inside." She motioned for Sammy to tag along, already heading towards the store. "Is there anything you're aware of that she would be interested in?" She asked about Raven since she herself was unable to gather all that much of what she liked aside from music, occasionally drawing, and other basic things that Raven had been open enough to tell her of.
~
"If you ring that phone one more time, I'll ring you."
"Okay boomer," was Thube's response to this from the other line while he was opening a small laptop sized suitcase.
Within the suitcase was a number of knives of different sizes and blade types, one of the most well kept one oddly being a straightedge that had a few minor chips in its blade. Pocket knives, cleavers, boning knives, bread knives, carving knives, filleting knives. He had at least three types of them all that differed in sizes and blade type.
"I hear you're the confrère that's supposed to be my new 'partner'," He said, his words dragging lazily and his voice sounding as if he had fried his vocal chords for a month straight. He sounded amused at this, and for the most he was. He had supposed to have gotten in contact with the guy months ago, and he in fact did. Once. And that was when Leonard had arrived in New York only to be told that he was going to have to wait a few months before they actually did any work. He gave no name, no location, nothing. And after that his wherebabouts went dead, as it always did. He figured it was time that they actually met in person.
"There's a ferry that'll be comin' from the Statue of Liberty in fifteen to twenty minutes. Be there." And then he hung up.
~
"I believe so for the moment, yes," Abel answered the question while sliding his phone into his jacket pocket. "I'd like to inform you that our C.O.M. will be arriving between the days of now and the ending of the week to speak with you over information regarding the next course of action that will be taken to make sure that things will be handled accordingly. Joining her will be someone that you will be more familiar with, the individual being the previous C.O.M.."
"Other interests, huh" Sammy said, thinking back to all the stuff that Raven had told her about. Obviously drawing was one of them, so she mentioned that at some point. But after that, she got into the other details of it, "She's big into movies, like those ones that have a small following to them, usually horror movies. She's also big into video games, like really old school stuff. Not much into the modern stuff. She's kinda got this hipster outlook, but not so hipster that it gets annoying. You know what I mean?"
"Fifteen to Twenty minutes?" Leonard complained as he rubbed his tired eyes "You have any idea how bad traff-" But he stopped his complaints when he heard the faint ringing of a disconnected line, giving an annoyed sigh. He stood up from the couch, leaving his bowl of noodles there to get cold as he finished his energy drink and made his way outside, hoping to catch a taxi to the harbor quickly
"No, I don't actually," Jackie replied. "I would ask if you meant an outlook similar to yours, but we both know how annoying you're able to become," She said jokingly. "And while that was definitely a useful bit of information, I was speaking more-so in the context of food." Something she already did know for sure though is that Raven was a heavy coffee drinker. And boy, could she drink a lot of coffee. Its one of the reasons that she had been forced to get a coffee maker for their sessions, because from the moment she arrived until the moment she left Raven would be drinking one cup after another.
~
Fourteen minutes later Thube was already in the area where he had told Mason to go. However, he didn't go to the exact place that he had said, and instead stalked around it while keeping a low profile. Which was something that most people couldn't usually do while wearing a white shirt covered in blue flowery clovers and black business pants. He however could do exactly that. And no one would ever know that he was there as he circled around the block for a fourth time. Two cigarettes hung from the corners of his mouth, both lit with ends that burned orange as he pulled smoke into his lungs, a thick fog of gray that was almost black drifted from his mouth and nostrils.
Kyung-ha listened closely to the information Abel gave her. She nodded slowly, making sure to mentally note that someone would be coming by any time now and she most likely didn’t have to skewer them for her own protection. “Always on top on your work!” She complimented him, slightly bowing as a thank you for his hard work. “I keep that in mind, Abel-Pie. Thank you.”
***
“W-Well yeah, b-but...” Alana became quiet. She herself was lucky enough to have everyone who she loved still alive. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like losing them, even if her current job trained her to do so. In fact, her first loss on the job was something she never recovered from. It took her years to accept the little boy’s death. And even then, she blamed herself for not being quick enough. Alana unconsciously became lost in thought, not noticing the ginormous wave building and heading their way.
Abel returned Kyung's bow with one of his own. "There is no need to thank me, Kyung. I am merely fulfilling my duty." When he stood up straight, he eyed the box that held his gifts within it. "I would like to request that I leave what you have graciously gifted me here until my return. Would that be fine with you?"
"Alana! Alana!" Galiah was shouting at her, even shaking her shoulder a bit as she pointed forward, "Look, the wave is coming now. If you distract yourself any longer, it'll smash into us". Galiah gave Alana another hard shake, waiting for her to respond
"Food, huh?" Sammy responded, thinking back to it with her hand on her chin, disregarding Jackie's previous insult, though she had plenty to say. She remembered back to when she ordered a milkshake back when they started hanging out, as well as their last time hanging out, and she responded, "Well, I don't know her preferences too much, but I do remember she would drink a milkshake and beer that one time. So perhaps she likes sweets. What girl doesn't"
It would take an extra two minutes before a taxi would pull up, Leonard hunched over as he reached into his pocket, tossing a ten dollar bill and some change into the front seat as an argument was heard between the two.
"Just be happy with the tip I gave you. Damn!"
"You should be sucking my dick for getting you he-"
Before the cabbie could finish, Leonard closed the van, ignoring the middle finger that was raised to him before the taxi driver drove off, Leonard giving a tired sigh as he held his hand up, "Fuckin' city folk"
Kyung-ha’s eyes followed Abel’s when he glanced at their gift for him. And at his request, she nodded with a smile. “I keep it safe and sound for you, my Abel-pie.” She patted at his shoulder to rid some non-existing dust. “Drive safety and thump Yoonie if she no behave.”
“MOM!!!” Yoon scolded her from the door.
At this, Kyung-ha chuckled. “She will take care of you as much as you take care of her.” She reminded Abel, before retrieving her cellphone. “Take picture with Yoonie in nice dress?” She asked him, hoping he would say yes to taking a picture of them together. Kyung-ha never had the chance to take a photo of Yoon dressed so nicely, and she would love to have one with someone she loved herself. Yoon never got the chance to go out for prom or party, so she had no pictures of her in such attire.
* * *
“H-Huh?” Alana finally snapped back to reality. However, when her eyes greeted the giant wave, she had a reaction that contradicted what was expected. “Finally!” She exclaimed. “O-Okay, get ready—“ Her kneeling position raised to a squat at the upcoming wave.
"Hm, you have a point there," Jackie agreed, though she had wrinkled her nose a little at the mentioning of beer. She didn't eat too many sweets herself, but admittedly when she did she tended to eat. Luckily her sweet tooth wasn't as powerful as it used to be, and so she didn't have to worry about gaining any unwanted pounds since there weren't too many sugar filled things that were a part of her diet. And even the ones that were were deemed to be healthy sweets such as dark chocolate and apple cookies.
As they entered the store, she turned to Sammy. "Alright then, what would you usually indulge in while grocery shopping? Perhaps it would be best to include things from both of our tastes."
~
It was an extra few short minutes later that Thube would casually walk among the crowd, following a few select people at a time to keep his wait interesting. He was already aware of Leonard's appearance as he was of a good number of the Constables so far. By the time he came back around to where the ferryman was guiding the boat away with ferry load of new passengers, there were two new cigarettes already being shoved between his lips and lit. And once he saw Leonard, he approached him from behind and blew a thick cloud of smoke passed his head.
"Took you long enough," he said, proceeding to lean in some and sniff at him. "Noodle water. You smell like noodle water after the seasoning, yet you look like you've failed as a father. Interestin'."
~
Abel stood there for a few seconds, his gaze going from the phone in Kyung-ha's possession to the door where Yoon stood. And then he looked at Kyung again with brows that were slightly knitted in dismay. He had never been one to willingly take pictures himself. The closest that he had ever gotten to do so was while studying the fundamentals of photography for gathering graphic information when he was still fresh in the organization.
He was aware of the importance that people gave photos. After all, he saw it as capturing a memory that could flee from the brain at any given moment and framing it to never be forgotten. Though in the current day and age there was no surprise that he saw them as less so over time.
And so he sighed silently and gave a small nod, seeing it as a small way to start with paying for the gifts that they had gotten him. But first, he went to where he had left his shoes and put them on before he turned to Kyung and prepared for the photo she would take. Though he didn't exactly stand close enough to Yoon to be all the way inside the frame of the phone's camera.
"Beer" Sammy replied almost immediately, having indulged herself in different kinds of stuff like that. She was not fond of the fancier drinks, and wine made her want to puke. But she enjoyed the bitter taste of pure black coffee, unsweetened tea, and the obvious can of beer. Though, she assumed that Jackie would not just accept that, so she added onto it, "Also some rice and beef. Believe it or not, I've been taking up cooking recently since it was that or keep eating fast food, and I would sooner starve than indulge in that artificial shit. Same for Mason. So perhaps we could make something like curry. Maybe Raven would like that too."
Leonard found himself backing up as Thube got a whiff of him, a look of discomfort on his face as he responded to his words, What, are you trying to profile me? You're not a police dog. And nice try, but I don't have kids. Don't want 'em either". Leonard gave a sigh as he took out a cigarette from a rather cheap brand of cigarettes in a red box before he asked, "I take it you're the guy who called?"
Galiah watched as Alana stood up with a different tone in her voice, almost like she could sense a shift in tone in her heart. Regardless, Galiah held onto the board carefully, staring forward as the wave began to close in on the two
Kyung-ha cheered out loud, continuously thanking Abel as he made his way besides Yoon. Yoon on the other hand was caught off guard and in shock that Abel had agreed to do so. The two could see the mother struggle momentarily as she tried to find the picture app. And once she did, she smiled and lifted the phone at them. However, she was puzzled at their height difference and had to take a few steps back for both of them to fit inside the frame. “Yoonie smile nice! Get closer, he no bite!”
Yoon gulped, blushing in areas she didn’t even know was possible to blush from. She inched a little more next to Abel, her lips trembling into a nervous smile.
“Cheeeeeseeee!!!” Kyung-hw exclaimed.
“oh gods...” Yoon muttered after the picture was taken. She used her hand as a fan to wave at herself for more air.
“Thank you Abel-pie!” She thanked him again for complying. “You two have fun, Oke? Wash hands and wear protection!” She reminded them.
“MOMMM!!!” Yoon’s right eye twitched.
“Whaaa? Sunscreen protection for UV rays!!! And seatbelts!” She added.
“Oh my god...” Yoon quickly scurried out the apartment, already trying to build distance from her.
"You? Cooking?" Jackie had to hold back the scoff of a laughter from breathing into existing when she tried to picture Sammy of all the people she knew attempting to cook. She would have figured if anyone tried to take up cooking it would be Mason. Nonetheless, she agreed with Sammy's idea of curry. "Though I'll admit that curry sounds rather delightful." She grabbed a cart near the door that wasn't being used and brought it along with them as they started down an aisle. "I'll goal is to make her as comfortable as we possibly can. We'll require everything that we can think of that fits the bill, so you may grab your beer–" She gave a light gag while saying the word, "–and we'll figure out the rest as we go along."
~
"I take it you're the boomer who complained about a phone ringing?" Thube answered his question with a rhetorical question. His eyes went to the box of cigarettes that Leonard had pulled out and he immediately felt disgust. "If you're gonna kill yourself, at least do it while inhaling somethin' worth while." He commented. "Let's go. Bodies don't tend to stay at a cool enough temperature while they're alive." He flicked one of the cigarettes that was between his lips out into the water while the other continued to burn as he smoked it down to the filter, and even a bit passed that point.
~
"I am always prepared with protection," Abel replied when Kyung-ha told them to wear protection, his hand moving to where he kept his weapon of choice concealed to where at almost any given moment, it could be unconcealed and put to use. Once Yoon hurried out the door, he gave Kyung-ha another bow. "9:30 post meridiem," he repeated to her the time that she had given for them to return so that she would know that he didn't forget. He stepped outside of the apartment afterwards, gently closing the door behind.
"Got it" Sammy said with a nod as she went to go and gather the stuff that she would get for herself, thinking about checking out some stuff for Raven in the mean time along the way, making her way to the alcohol aisle, taking notice of the monitor above with the words "RECORDING IN PROGRESS" in large red letters. In a more playful mood, she stuck out her tongue, along with her middle finger, up at the camera as she turned to collect her drinks
"You called three separate times. You should know better that people are less patient in the morning. And my name isn't Boomer. That's a terrible name. It's Leo." Leonard flicked his lighter on as he took a long drag on the cigarette, getting a bit annoyed as he watched Thube toss his cigarette into the ocean, a bit sickened by his lack of respect as he followed behind him
In my eyes, the customer is always wrong, the customer is always retarded, and the customer can jump off a bridge and perish... So yeah, Sammy's the ideal customer XDover a year ago
And soon, Galiah would experience what would be Alana’s favorite places to be in. The salty wave that was making its way towards them didn’t crash into them;but rather continued building itself as it swept Alana and Galiah alongside it. The lifeguard was now standing with slightly bent knees, her feet stuck on the board like glue. The scenery of the shore and building in the distance was now replaced by a tunnel of water that Alana easily glided through. The ride inside the wave was surprisingly smooth despite the possibility of being engulfed completely by it at any moment. However, those thoughts would soon be distracted with the marine life that came to view, including small schools of fish and accumulated seaweed. Alana chuckled, extending her arm out so it would collide with the structured wave. “Try it!” She exclaimed, having to shout a little louder since the only thing audible was the swishing of water.
***
Kyung-ha nodded and gave Abel a thumbs up. “Very good!” She exclaimed. She waved at him as he made his way out. And once the door was shut, she looked back down at the pictures she had taken. “Oooh~ so cute!”
Meanwhile, Yoon was cursing to herself down the hall. It didn’t take Abel that long to catch up with her considering his lengthy strides with his long legs compared to her short ones. She was currently smudging off the red lipstick her mom put on her with a wet napkin she sneaked out the kitchen. “S-She’s so embarrassing!”
Galiah looked into the water, watching all the fish and sealife that passed them by under the waters, amazed that something could be sustained for so long in such close vicinity to humans. Her hand reached out into the water, letting it splash against the surfaces of the waves with a small chuckle coming from her, finding the experience to be rather amusing
"I know your name, Leonard," Thube replied while walking along the sidewalk, flicking the next cigarette bud off into the street. "Boomer is an improvement to that name. I knew a Boomer once. Until he left to work at some gas station. Used to be my source of freeeee smoookes. Nice guy." He said in one of the most unamused sounding voices. It almost sounded just a little like the Burger King Foot-Lettuce guy. "Cross the street." He said suddenly while he kept walking forward. "Make a right at the stop sign at the end of the block."
~
"Is she?" Abel asked while they were heading down the hall. But he gently grabbed the wrist of the hand that Yoon held the napkin in before she could wipe away enough of the red on her lips. "Perhaps she's merely being a mother," he said, taking the napkin from her hand only to replace it with the Twix bar that he had been holding for her. "Your appearance is astounding. You should at least wait until your return to began removing what took time to be applied, or else it would be futile and would have been done in vain. Wouldn't you agree?" He rested her hand at her side, continuing on down the hall.
~
While Sammy went off to collect the things that she thought would be alright for Raven, Jackie made her way down to the fresh produce to gather some things for a salad along with a number of personal items that she needed herself. She would have looked to grab some wine as well, but she saw wine from a grocery store of all places was beneath her in every aspect. It was cheap and not worth the drink even if it were the last bottle of Earth. The next thing she went out of her way to grab were a few things for women's hygiene when she reminded herself that she had pretty much given Raven's apartment the Hitler treatment, and so she was going to need a couple of new items in that department.
She figured Sammy would tend to the junkfood side of things–though she really didn't know why–but just in case this wasn't the case she made her way towards the aisles that had it.
"A man named Boomer? Poor bastard. I don't see life being merciful to him" Leonard said as he continued to follow behind him. He was taken by surprise when he heard him talk out directions all of a sudden as he asked, "So now you're a GPS. Are you on medication or something?" Though regardless, he followed the directions given to him without another complaint
Sammy made a quick trip to the meat aisle, managing to pick up a few salmon as well as cooking oil and some spices, putting them in a little carrying container, even though most of it was filled with cheap lager beers that were started to drip as they warmed up from the summer heat. With her goods in tow, she made her way back to the sweets aisle to pick up some chocolates for Raven, thinking that something like a Hershey's bar would be the best, and cheapest, option
Yoon jolted when she felt her wrist within Abel’s palm, a deeper flush of red tinting her cheeks. “Whaashay—“ She stammered, not making sense of her words. She swallowed profusely, thanking him quietly when she saw her hand now held the Twix bar.
“Your appearance is astounding”
At this, Yoon fumbled some in her steps. She felt butterflies in her stomach, having now to be more cautious to not melt her chocolate bar with her flimsy and clammy hands. She had been called similar things by her mother before, but never did she hear those words come from someone of the opposite gender, less of someone around her age. “....th-thank you...” She said barely above a whisper. However, at his comment about taking her lipstick off, she shook her head. “I-I don’t like makeup, I-it gets everywhere, e-especially in my food and i-it’s itchy...” Even if she had tried to completely remove her lipstick, there was still a bold red stain on her lips. Her hands fumbled with each other as she tore open her Twix bar, the smell of the chocolate alone calming her nerves some. “W-What are w-we going to do t-today?” She asked curiously before taking a large bite of the candy bar. She instantly melted in pleasure, her body satisfied after months of torment.
***
When Alana noticed Galiah chuckle, she too let out a giggle of her own. She inhaled deeply the scent of the salty waters. Yes, she had basically been at the beach 24/7, but the scent inside a wave was different. It was refreshing and pure, with no space for problems or concerns to be discussed. It was Alana’s safety zone as most would call it.
Galiah took notice of Alana letting out a bit of laughter of her own, a smile crossing her face as she looked back into the ocean, a smile continuing to cross over her face as she shouted through the waves, "It's been so long since I've experienced anything fun like this before"
What Thube didn't tell Leonard though was that the street he told him to take wasn't exactly a short one. In fact, it was pretty lengthy and would take a while to get to the stop sign that he spoke of. However, once he made the right down the next street as Thube had said, he would find the man on the other side of the road somehow, looking like he was already waiting on him.
And the moment Leonard approached him, Thube spoke. "No. But maybe I should be. Maybe you should be too." It would probably take a moment for Leonard to realize that he was answering the question that he had asked after he had been given the directions to take.
~
Jackie was already on the aisle of sweets by the time Sammy arrived to grab the chocolate for Raven. She was looking over a pack of thin mints, a few bags of chips and two cases of bottled water already occupying some of the space in the cart's basket along with a bag of grapefruit, oranges, and grapes and a few vegetables of her choice. She had gotten Raven a bar of chocolate as well, but it was dark chocolate instead of the regular kind since it was the healthier choice of the two.
While Sammy was coming down the aisle towards her she was turning the pack of thin mint cookies over onto the back to see the amount of calories that they had just like she had done everything else edible that was within the basket.
~
"Should I reveal that to you so soon? A 'surprise' is deemed as one when one or many individuals within the party are unaware of what's to come correct?" Abel said blandly as they got to the staircase. "Technically speaking, you know little to nothing of the location that we'll be spending the afternoon which in turn solidifies the aspect of the location being a surprise." As he stepped down the first few steps, he was silent in thought before he said, "And while also find cosmetics to be less favorable when pertaining to women, studies suggest that when in moderation the results can be wonderful."
Sammy looked over her shoulder, finding it far more difficult then just standing at her side, as she looked down and added, "Yeesh, that stuff is pretty nasty, don't you think?" She eventually stepped back to her basket as she added, "Well I got all I needed to get. You about ready to head on out? I think if we keep Mason waiting another minute, he's gonna get cranky"
Leonard walked down the street, wiping the sweat from his brow as he was walking through the hot streets of New York for what felt like minutes before he would come to the stop sign, turning his attention back to Thube as he finally answered his question, squinting his eyes at him, staring back at him with his mouth opened slightly, yet not a word came out. He just waved him off as he looked over, taking notice of the man who was standing there, waiting.
“A s-surprise?” Yoon’s expression turned into one of puzzlement, walking down the staircase with ease. She didn’t think Abel was capable of surprises since that insinuated the term ‘fun’. And at his last comment about makeup, she rolled her eyes. “You talk very... intellectually...” Yoon muttered while thinking back to Abel defining what a surprise was. A place I know little to nothing of? Her eyes widened. “Are we going to Chick-fil-A?! I-I’ve always wanted to try them!”
***
The fun Galiah spoke about was exciting, but short lived. The wave they were in slowly began to shrink as it approached the shore, the gap within the tunnel closing. This was an indication that they were going to have to jump off the board. “We’re gonna have to jump and swim!” Alana exclaimed calmly before pausing. “O-Or in your case float?” She said in a questioning tone. “I’ll come get ya!”
"Understood" Without so much as a moment of hesitation, or a lack of consideration, Galiah hopped off the board and into the water underneath, letting herself disappear into the waters before the waves finally came to a halt. It would take a total of twenty seconds before Galiah would rise up from the water, her eyes staring upward as she allowed herself to float up to the surface, rather emotionless, but alive
"Hm?" Jackie glanced over her shoulder to find that Sammy had joined her. She scoffed when Sammy had called the dark chocolate nasty, brushing it off as her not having any taste buds to tell the difference between real and fake. She was going along to look at a few other snack foods that she had taken a small interest in when she had passed by them before when Sammy had asked about leaving. "Yes, in just a moment. I just need to help myself to a container of gelato and then we'll be on our way. Mason is the least of my worries at the moment."
~
Abel had to pause for a moment to look at her, squinting ever so slightly at what she had assumed he meant. "No." He said flatly before continuing down the stairs. "I don't partake in consuming commercialized product especially when said product, being that of 'fast-food', is a factor associated with the causes of myocardial infarctions. Which is more commonly referred to as heart attacks."
~
Thube led Leonard down into the subway station, easing passed the non-stop flow of people who were both going in the same direction as they were as well as the opposite to leave the station. He didn't say much of anything and in place of words just lit another cigarette to smoke despite the subway system being against the act of doing so there. But again, he could have cared less that. And so as they waited for the next train, he spoke. "Have any experience with the underground yet?"
"Yeah, I know. I know. I'm just kidding" Sammy said at the mention of Mason, remembering their brief argument from before "You're right. Let's just focus on what's important right now." Sammy stood back a bit, allowing Jackie to look for what she needed without anymore interruption or anymore of Sammy's own thoughts. Sammy just stood back, waiting patiently as Jackie looked over the shelves
"Underground?" Leo said as he passed by the station, tossing his now butt of a cigarette into the nearby trashbin as he walked down, "I hate it, honestly. Confusing, crowded, and noisy as hell". Though he admitted that taking a cab wasn't much better and he didn't feel safe enough to walk out in the streets without getting stabbed. But he preferred either of those to a subway
Yoon sighed when Abel went back to talking in what she considered a very overly intellectual manner. When she first met Abel she thought his form of talking was a joke. But now she realized how far from right was she.
She unconsciously finished the Twix bar in two large bites, crumpling up the wrapper and tossing it inside the trash can at the bottom of the staircase. “Ok pRinCeSs, we can go to Subway instead if that matches your preference...” She teased.
***
“—Wait not ye—“ But it was too late. “Oh god...” Alana watched Galiah jump off, internally slapping her forehead again. It was only until ten additional seconds had passed did Alana jump off the surfboard when the wave became nonexistent. She quickly rose to the surface, slicking her hair back and rubbing her eyes. She was quite a distance away from where Galiah floated.
Galiah continued to float, wondering what was taking Alana so long to jump off into the water. As soon as she saw Alana rise to the surface a good distance away, she felt the need to raise her hand up and wave as she shouted, her voice faint in the sounds of the water, "Hi, Alana"
Abel raised an eyebrow at her. "I believe the correct term, would be 'prince', though I wouldn't consider myself to be either. Furthermore, Subway is within the same category as any other 'fast-food' belonging to any other company that produces it. That category being, disposable garbage." Once they reached the bottom of the stairs he threw away the napkin that Yoon had been using.
~
"I'll take that as a hard nope." Thube paused for a moment to take a long drag from the cigarettes in his mouth. "What aaaa shame. And here I thought all this time that they were sendin' me a real partner instead of someone else to cut up." He exhaled all of the smoke through his nostrils. "I'll give you the layout. I don't know where you've been sent from, but there are rules here. Regulations. I say fuck'em cuz I've around here long enough. I can deal. You on the other hand...you're new here. Fresh meat. Easy, eeeassy pickings."
~
While they were looking over the shelves currently, it was five minutes later that they ended up all the way on the other side of the store where Jackie looked through one of the coolers. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for either, for she searched with determination. She pushed aside tubs of icecream and boxes of popsicles until finally–
"Aha~!" She emerged with a caramel and frozen milk filled pint of frozen sugary goodness, a smile of satisfaction on her face at the thought of the sheer bliss that was to come once she could dig into it. Its top was a dark brown, its logo a colored in circle around a white spoon. The words 'Talenti Gelato' was written across the front, and under the classy font were the words 'Caramel Cookie Crunch'. She placed it into the basket gleefully and turned to Sammy. "Now that that's taken care of, we can make our depature!"
Sammy looked down at it, and avoiding her thoughts on, "What the hell is this" She decided to say, "Huh, didn't take you to be into this sort of stuff, but that's cool". Sammy said, stepping back as Jackie turned to place the products into her own basket, Sammy giving a nod, "Sick. The sooner we can get back the sooner we can have our get together"
"Most of the work I do is in small town locations" Leonard said as he stepped passed a bit of the crowd consisting of young punks, a few homeless and the occasional street performer, adding onto it, "I don't like the big cities. They make me sick. But as long as you aren't gonna shove a whole lot of regulations and rules down my damn throat, we'll get along just fine" Leo said, not being one to follow rules himself
"And as long as you don't bitch out, then I agree, we'll be straighter than a non-gay man." Crack. Crackle. Crack.
It couldn't even be noticed at first, but when the sound became more audible, Leonard would come to find that it was coming from Thube using his thumb to crack his fingers one by one.
"Though I gotta say...you not knowing your shit before hand does throw a brick through the window of some...plans." But he had been through this routine so many times with past..."partners", that he didn't see it as something that was all too bad. "If you're wonderin' where we're going, then I'll tell you that we're goin to Dizney Land."
~
Jackie stopped and looked at Sammy after the last sentence she said. "A get together?" When she thought about it, it made her smile some. At least one of them was looking more towards the sunny side of Philadelphia. "Yes, you're definitely right." She said, pushing her cart towards the front of the store so that they could check their items out. She was going towards one of the awaiting lines, but the moment she saw the self-checkout area, she made a sharp turn in its direction.
Yoon sighed, giving up her hopes of possibly going to a restaurant to eat some of her favorite meals. She shook her head when she heard Abel speak in the same fashion. “I-It was a joke...” She referenced his correction of calling him a princess. Yet it did make her laugh at how seriously he took it. “You sound like an upgraded male version of Siri.” She laughed quietly. “Does this mean Siri won’t tell me where we’re headed? You could give me an early surprise after the agonizing torture of putting on these pants my mom owned for you.” She hinted.
***
“Oh dear...” Alana exhaled softly when she heard Galiah greet her from a distance. She first tied the rope around her floating surfboard around her ankle to drag it with her in the water and she skillfully swam to Galiah’s side. “Yeah... I don’t think surfing is for you.” She have an attempt of a chuckle.
Leonard gave a faint groan of disgust at the gay man talk, shaking his head as he replied, "Don't start with that fag talk, will ya?" Though Leonard would cringe a bit more when he saw his thumbs cracking the bones of his fingers, turning his head away as to not get sick, answering his reply about Disney Land, remembering his time in Florida, "Been there, done that, not too impressed. I prefer to just get back to work when I can"
Sammy also made her way to the self-check out aisle, giving a sort of grin as she noticed Jackie's before she went to her own aisle, checking out her twenty exact items, making sure that what she got were items on a budget, except for the beer, being that the cheapest was Bud Light and she had no desire to drink that. Instead she got cans of Rolling Rock, along with ingredients for curry and the fish she had gotten, her total coming just under $80, which gave her a sigh of relief as she had only brought that amount exactly
Galiah looked up at Alana as she responded, "Oh, are you giving up the teachings already? I'm sorry if my attempt wasn't satisfactory, Alana"
Abel was actually going to state how a living male organism couldn't possibly be a male upgrade to a non-living female based AI created for the use of many through means of a cellular device as well as state the reasons why this was so. But at Yoon's last few choice of words, he gave a dry scoff. "Surely the simple action of clothing yourself couldn't have been at all torturous. Then again, factoring in your usual choices of attire I may stand corrected."
~
"Not that Disney Land jackass. But their Dizney Land," Thube said, this time pronouncing the "Z" in the name much more than before. "What was that about fags though? I found it half-way offensive. Because I'm bisexual. Which means that would make me half 'fag', half not 'fag'. And if you have a problem with that, then I suggest you research the name Bryant Henry. Because that'll be you. Either that, or I'll take a shit in the next thing you eat and buttfuck you until you love me. How's that for your 'fagtalk'?" He paid more attention to the trains that were coming and going rather than Leonard when he said this so nonchalantly.
~
Jackie's items on the other hand came up to a bit more than Sammy's. Before she was even done scanning, the price had already hit $120 dollars and rising. And it didn't help at all when she left in a hurry only to return with three more pints of her guilty pleasure, figuring that it would save her from having to get any more any time soon. Her total came up to $265, which honestly was completely fine with her since she had more than enough. But of course she still swiped her discount card, because who didn't enjoy discounts? In all, she paid thirty dollars less than her original total. She gathered all of her bags into the basket and looked to Sammy. "Ready to depart?"
"Don't get all PC on me, will ya? I say what I please. No hate behind it. I say what I'm comfortable with. So you fuck guys. Congrats. When I hear fag talk, I call it what I call it. And I call it fag talk" Leonard said as he tried his best to let the uncomfortable words slide off his back, need to light another cigarette immediately as he let the smoke enter his lungs to calm his nerves
Sammy couldn't help but cringe a bit at the sight of the price tag on the machine, rubbing the back of her head, and now suddenly feeling a sense of shame as she looked down at her store brand ingredients before she let out a sigh and replied, "As ready as I'll ever be. Have you ever considered buying things on a budget to help with food costs? Helps a lot in the long run, ya know"
"So by your logic, if I buttfuck you because I'm comfortable buttfucking you, that make it aaalright? Because I'm comfortable with it? After aaall, there wouldn't be any hate behind it. Even if you didn't consent." Thube replied, smoking down his cigarette before pointing it behind them. "There's our train."
The train's wheels screeched behind them as it was slowing to a stop to let off and pick up its next set of passengers.
Thube sighed out the nicotine mist that he had inhaled. "Cooome'on then. There's going to be another train coming down this tunnel in about forty minutes, and that should be more than enough time to fill ya in. And no, I don't mean your asshole when I say that."
~
"A budget? Ha!" Jackie snorted. "Oh heaven's no. That's why I have a job. I lived my younger days attempting to budget everything unnecessarily, and I'll be damned if my adult life will be the same after I've worked so hard to get what I've wanted. When you live comfortably, budgets become a thing of yesterdays." But this didn't mean that she would just go and spend left and right unnecessarily. She just knew that the things she desired cost, and so she situated herself to where she could pay that cost without jeopardizing her well being.
"Touch me and I will beat you into the ground" Leonard said, his threat having no irony or joking behind it as he pointed at him, making sure to keep his distance from him now. He gave a groan as he made yet another joke, following him onto the train
Sammy now felt a bit ashamed of her own purchases, knowing that she didn't have much of a choice since Mason's job was the only one getting them the chance to pay for this food in the first place. She just let out a bit of a groan as she replied, "A yes or no would've been just fine, Jackie". With her good bagged and ready, Sammy turned to the door and made her way back to the car
"And what? You'd want me to say 'hit me harder daddy' while you're at it?" Thube asked, not really bothered by Leonard's threat to 'beat him to the ground'. In fact, he went as far as to tap him on the shoulder. Whether it was to prove a point, or to piss Leonard off was left a mystery. While they were on the train, he spoke again. "What sort of artillery did you bring with you to New York, Smalltown?" He said, already having a name to call him.
~
"Sometimes simplicity just isn't the key, Samantha," Jackie replied with a small giggle as they exited the store. While they were on their way back to the car she was distracted with sorting through the bags to make sure that all of her precious gelato was in one place. And when they made it to the car, she was already using the buttons on her key to the pop the trunk to put everything besides that into it.
Leonard gave a grown as he sat on the train, and be it out of disinterest in social standings or just to prove a point, he pulled out a massive gun from his holster, a large magnum gun about the length of someones forearm as he replied, "It ain't no magic, but it gets the job done. Just aim, shoot, and blow a hole in some motherfucker. Six bullets only, but I think one is enough". It was clear that the people on the train were in a panic at the sight of the gun straight out of Dirty Harry, some of them running to the end of the train at the sight, only mildly calming down when Leo put the gun back in his holster
Sammy rolled her eyes at Jackie's answer as she placed her groceries into the trunk of the car, being that it only consisted of three whole bags, it was no trouble for her.She made her way to the front of the car as soon as she finished, ready to get back to the house, finding that the trip to the store was less of a pain than the trip to Orlando
“But it was!” Yoon exclaimed. “The shirt is itchy and an ugly y-yellow, and the 90’s pants make me look like a grandma with a wedgie!” Clearly her and her mother had different tastes in clothes. “S-So yes, I think it is only f-fair that you tell me the surprise earlier to comfort my torment until then.” She argued, glancing at Abel with her pleading eyes that oddly mimicked a softer version of Kyung-ha’s way of convincing. “Please?”
***
Alana shook her softly once she arrived at Galiah’s side. “Not necessarily. But I think you’re better off building sand castles in the shore.” She giggled softly, retrieving the floating surfboard so that Galiah could get on top of it. “Until I can teach you how to swim, of course.”
Galiah looked over at Alana with a curious gaze in her eyes as she found herself grabbing onto the board for support, adding her thoughts into words, "I thought you said that teaching one to swim was the responsibility of the parents?"
Jackie unlocked the door for Sammy with the press of a button while making sure that nothing heavy was on top of any of the lighter, softer things that were being added in with everything else. After she was finished, she closed the trunk and dusted her hands at their small accomplishment with a feeling of satisfaction. She was soon joining Sammy in the car, plopping down in the seat with a small smile on her face as she thought about how smoothly things had gone compared just half and hour ago.
~
Unlike the other people who panicked at the sight of Leonard pulling out the large magnum, Thube seemed rather annoyed by the time he was putting it away.
"Don't do that again. That might be fine and dandy in your small towns dude, but if you end up having a run-in with law enforcement then I'm not bailin' you just so we're clear." He said lazily and added, "Besides, it just makes it look like you're tryin' to over-compensate for somethin'." He turned to the other passengers. "Relax everybody, relax. It's fake and my associate here's retarded."
~
Abel's frown increased little by little as Yoon spoke negatively of the clothing that she wore, though it was more of an internal frown of disappointment that one that showed itself outwardly. When she asked him to tell her where they were going again, he gave a simple, "No."
As they exited the apartment building, over to their right was one of the Constable issued vehicles were parked at the end of the parking lot, and to their left another one at that end.
Abel paid them no mind, however. He was already aware that they were present and had arrived to join the others that would be present close to the vicinity. He went to where the car that he usually used was awaiting. And for the first time, Yoon would see that he didn't use a key to unlock it, but rather a quarter-sized button that scanned his thumb print and allowed the doors to be unlocked.
Sammy turned over, taking notice of Jackie's smile as she stated, "Well, aren't we satisfied with ourselves". Though a smile slowly crept onto Sammy's face as well, her arms crossed as she was starting to think things could possibly work out. She didn't want to get too excited, in case they didn't, but the possibility, the small chance, was enough to get her hopes up, if a bit too much
Leonard gave a scoff at his response as he hid his holster underneath his overcoat, dusting it off as he responded, "Call it what you want, the way I see it, it gets the job done. When you're going up against something that can kill you with ease and desires nothing more than to rip you apart, you're in a tight situation. When you get a gun, you want something to kill, and in that situation, it's either you or that thing, and I am actually fond of living, so I'll take the biggest and most powerful gun I can get"
"Fond of living huh? By the way you look, its more like you're just lookin' for a way to die." Thube speculated, scratching his mustache hairs. "Six shots won't be enough when you're surrounded." His waved his hand in a effortless attempt of a signal for Leonard to follow as he started walking down the walkway while the train was taking off, moving around people that were still trying to get themselves situated and slipping through smaller breaks in the crowded passenger car. "Different places, different things. The bigger the place, the more dangerous the things. The more dangerous the things, the more precise and prepared you have to be. Keep that in your head so that small town mentality don't getcha killed. Also, this is New York so, so unless you want everyday people to be another problem to deal with, I'd advise keeping your eyes to yourself. Staring's a good way to have a bad time."
~
"It hasn't been the best of days so far, so I'd say it's nice to find satisfaction in at least one good thing." Jackie started the car up, thankful that it had been open. Usually the ones closest to the store were all occupied, which would leave the only option of having to park further away. But she couldn't deny that she was still worried. But as she went to express this, she paused while looking at Sammy. Her brows furrowed lightly. "How long are you planning to allow that single strand to stick up so? I've been able to ignore it, but now it's a bit distracting," she stated suddenly. "Is it supposed to be some strange fashion statement? Because it surely is strange," she chuckled.
What Jackie spoke of was the single long strand of gold within her blonde hair that stuck up almost straight upwards. However near the root where it connected to her scalp with the rest of her hair, it had began to turn grey.
"A lot of people don't give me much reason to stare" Leonard said in a passive-aggressive manner as he followed behind him, "And I don't have any intention on doing something stupid to let myself get surrounded. I've had plenty of chances for it to happen and I've found myself ending with a one on one fight each time, maybe a three on one if I'm unlucky." Though he was remembered a few of his past investigations, he left it off with another vague comment, "Let's just say six is a lucky number of mine and leave it at that"
"Huh?" Sammy said as she looked at it in the mirror, staring at it with a strange look at it, "What the hell, that shouldn't be right. I thought I had it patted down this mo-" But she interrupted herself with a scream of absolute terror as her eyes fell onto the grey spot on her head, covering her head in fear as she shouted, "O-Oh god, grey hairs!? B-But how? I'm only twenty one! I can't be graying already. I'm not old like some adult?! I should have a few good years left!"
"I'll feel more comfortable adding a 9 to that 6. Makes it sound more interesting." Thube said with a half assed chuckle that dragged at the end like most of his words when he spoke. He opened the door to the next car, looking around for only a second or two before moving into the next cart of people, some people giving him the stink eye when he blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke.
~
"Relax Samantha, it's only one hair. It's not like you're taking pointers from my grandmother's mane," Jackie laughed, moving the car out of the parking space and onwards towards the road. "Oh, yes another thing," she said, remembering something else. "Grandmother said something about you coming to visit again sometime soon. I'm actually surprised that she's taken so much of a liking to you. I'm glad. She usually isn't really fond of anyone aside from a select few, and it took her years to warm up to them."
"H-How can you pass this off so easily?! This is serious!" Sammy said, looking over the strand of grey hair, fearing how noticeable it would be to others, biting the inside of her lip in fear as she proclaimed, disregarding Jackie's response about Carlyle, "This is the worst day ever"
Leonard followed behind, questions raising from within about what kind of man Thube even was. He was definitely full of mystery, and who the hell names their child Thube? Regardless, he followed in near silence, having to wave away that smoke that would hit him in the face from Thube's mouth as he followed behind him
Yoon paused in her walk, blinking when Abel gave his straight-forward response of a no, even after Yoon described to him all the misery she had to go through. She shook her head. "W-What do you m-mean no, didn't you hear---" And as she was catching up with Abel, the new technology she witnessed made her forget what she was going to say. "Ooooooooooooo." She 'woah-ed' in awe and curiosity. "Th-That's so cool! I-It's like a touch screen of a phone, b-but for your car!" She exclaimed in almost a childish manner. She watched the doors unlock, but took an extra amount of time to actually enter the vehicle since she was distracted by the new way Abel had unlocked it.
* * *
"W-Well yes, it is, but..." Alana's legs kicked with ease below water to keep herself afloat. "Your parents weren't able to, s-so I'll just do it myself since its too late." She said. "However, starting off swimming in an ocean is a big no no. I think we can start you off in a kiddie pool." Alana added. "Hold tight!" She said in reference to the board as she began to swim back to shore.
Jackie laughed some more, waiting for a couple of cars to pass so that she could make her turn. "Then I'm sure that a nice bowl of curry would do wonders to make it better. You could always just pluck it out as well if it's that troubling to you, you know."
~
Thube got to the end of another car and once again continued into the next where he came to a stop. Some of the other people there shot him aggravated looks of dismay like the others had as when they saw him smoking. But he didn't care. That is, until he spotted a kid that as on the train. He had half of the two cigarettes left, and he leaned across an old lady and the person who sat next to her to put them out on the windows, much to their disliking.
~
"That may be the furthest thing possible from a correct description," Abel commented while opening his door to take his seat behind the wheel. He removed a pair of pitch black gloves from the middle compartment and slid them onto his hand.
The gloves stretched like latex would, except that once they were around his fingers and onto his hands they compressed around the shape of them until they were a perfect fit. And for a brief second, a light flickered at the wrist of one of them. Another more recent additional upgrade to their technology.
Abel flexed his fingers before he started the car and let the engine purr to life quietly as he checked to make sure that everything was up to par from the tire pressure to the amount of gas within the car. He had already gotten the oil changed many days prior to today, and so that was the least of his concern. Once Yoon was inside of the car, the next thing he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the lot in a fast and smooth turn to the right. Shifting it into drive, he stepped on the gas and got them moving to leave.
"Well obviously that's what I'm gonna do" Sammy replied, now worrying over the single grey hair in her head as she replied, "But the fact that it is one of the future many is.... Oh, I just wanna die now" Sammy said as she fell back into the seat, a look of absolute distraught on her face now
Leonard, though he was not one to play by the rules himself, was a bit taken aback by how Thube did things, and Leonard at least made sure to be considerate for civilians if not for his bosses, but seeing Thube have no regard for anyone. It was both surprising and a bit frustrating to watch
"Kiddie pool" Galiah replied as she floated along with the board, doing what little paddling she could to help Alana move back to shore before she asked, "If we are aiming for perfection, wouldn't it be best to toss me into the most dangerous of waters first?"
