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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 12, 2009 13:24:28 GMT -5
My brain didn't have any say in this. It was too stupefied to do anything at that moment. Just after I'd been thinking that there was no way, no way, that he would be interested, and now he was asking me on a date.
"Sure," I said, glad that I at least had control over my voice as I agreed. "Time and place?"
I'd have to tell Rain that I couldn't be on patrol with her tomorrow night. It wouldn't be so bad; she could handle herself. We were usually covering more ground on separate parts of town, anyway. Hopefully she wouldn't get herself into much trouble while I wasn't there to back her up.
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One side of Cenna's mouth twitched up at the right corner when she saw Rain come in and watched her as she crossed the room. She was paralyzed on her left side, but she could speak. Her eyes glittered with what was once a cold intelligence, the mind who taught Asaph how to get wealthy with the tools they'd given him. Now they were dimmer from her condition, but there was enough left to recognize. "And how is he doing?" She asked, the undertone of sarcasm left out intentionally.
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Post by Asmodeus on Apr 12, 2009 13:52:22 GMT -5
"Well, I have a standing reservation for seven o'clock. I'll pick you up at 6:30. Where do you live?"
The good news was that a large portion of the city's noteworthy tended to stop by Cimino's at about the same time every night in case Darmstadt was there. There would be plenty of chances to get in those little conversations that served to further cement the ties that made the world turn.
The better news was that those same noteworthy people would see him with Sky. The dating habits of the rich and famous were always news, especially when they also involved the younger sisters of the other rich and famous. When you actually wanted them around, there was nothing quite as useful as the news media.
The best news was that he was going on the first date he was actually looking forward to in a long, long time.
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Post by Rain Gunji on Apr 12, 2009 14:12:40 GMT -5
I shrugged who knows how the dead do? I just wanted to check on how she was doing though I really didn't need to Asaph took care of all of us. "A bit stuffy down there." I walked over and looked out the window, "The Rangers are doing good this year."
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 13, 2009 13:06:42 GMT -5
Cenna said nothing to that. There was nothing to say. She was a ghost of her former self and the sad fact was that she knew it. When she saw all those businessmen and women down there, a dull pain unrelated to those three heart attacks she'd suffered through crept up again through her chest but seemed to stop at her throat. She felt helpless, hopeless, and though she knew she would fight for life if ever threatened, most of her conscious self wanted to be with her husband. There was no place for her here; her children could care for themselves and for each other, and with an entire side paralyzed and being confined to a wheelchair, she could be of no use to anyone. She was a burden, an obligation now. Her niece's small talk, however well-intentioned, only amplified that fact.
Cenna had always been a fan of getting to the point of a conversation, but there was no point to this. But for Rain's sake, she had to say something. Despite everything, she wouldn't allow herself the luxury to wallow in self-pity. Give Rain something. Make things happen. Cenna wasn't dying and she wasn't useful, so she had to be wise or at least cunning enough to offer some sort of advice. Maybe an anecdote, it didn't matter. As long as something Cenna did made Rain feel like she had gotten something out of this pointless visit, something other than despair at the condition the old woman was in.
"Tell me about the Fox."
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"My cousin and I share an apartment in the Echo Building on the northeast side of Bakerline." I pulled out a small notebook from my back pocket and wrote down my address. "That big ol' complex across from that strip mall. Apartment 404." The strip mall with the Blue Angel gentleman's club that annoyed me because it was next to the Shipley's, though I didn't say that. I ripped out the page and handed it to him, tucking the pad and pen away. I'd gotten in the habit of carrying them around along with my costume in case something ever went down when I least expected it.
...And holy crap, I was going on a date.
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Post by Rain Gunji on Apr 13, 2009 15:35:44 GMT -5
I shrugged sometimes I loved being the Fox and sometimes I didn't, it was on those times Sarta did the things he did, I'd hate to think he did this on purpose this slow torture knowing that we could only ever be friends. I let out a sigh running my hand through flaming red hair. "I don't know, feels like I'm ramming my head into a wall sometimes." and it was the truest thing I'd said in a long time I'd take these fools off the street and some suit would put em' back all an endless cycle of crime and punishment.
"Aunt Cenna, there's something I want, and I want it for me, but the city, and the danger... I can't let myself just jump. If something happened I-I don't know..." I moved to her feet and I knelt down, I felt like a foolish little kit, nothing like the Fox she had asked about. "I have a duty to the city, to Asaph, to Sky if I'm to distracted, I might fail them."
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 13, 2009 16:34:49 GMT -5
A wry smirk touched the corners of Cenna's eyes. It wasn't hard for her to guess who Rain was talking about. "The wall you're running into is only there because you built it. He cares about you, you know."
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Post by Rain Gunji on Apr 13, 2009 16:51:07 GMT -5
I sighed, I wanted to be told I was right, leave it to Aunt Cenna to tell it like it was. "Can't he just go for a normal woman, one that he you know wont get him killed?" I rested my chin on the arm of her chair, "I hurt people, I go out every night and I beat the crap out of people, I don't wanna get him hurt too."
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 13, 2009 17:08:37 GMT -5
"What would hurt you worse?" Cenna straightened herself in her wheelchair by the use of her good arm. Her smirk grew a little wider. "He's a police officer, honey. If he isn't looking for pain I don't know who is, except for maybe that Nivet. Would you want him to shield you like this if it's something you want?" She fixed those shrewd, intelligent eyes on Rain's and didn't let go.
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Post by Rain Gunji on Apr 13, 2009 17:34:35 GMT -5
I shook my head. She was right... she was so right, made me wonder if the city could do without the Fox for the night. I smiled up at her and hugged her loosely. He knew the danger, its not like he was a stranger to the city's dark corners, and he was strong, he'd be alright I mean most of the time I was helping him and Tony out anyways. "Thank you Aunt Cenna... I love you."
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 13, 2009 17:49:48 GMT -5
"I love you too, Rain." Cenna rarely said it, but she meant it when she did. She hugged her back as best as she could. "Take care."
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Post by Rain Gunji on Apr 13, 2009 18:11:42 GMT -5
I stood and I backed out with a smile. "I will, thanks again. I was headed out now, no since in hanging around where I didn't belong but I grabbed a glass of wine on the way and smiled as I nodded my good-bye to my favorite cousin.
It was patrol time.
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Post by Asmodeus on Apr 14, 2009 20:17:32 GMT -5
"My cousin and I share an apartment in the Echo Building on the northeast side of Bakerline." I pulled out a small notebook from my back pocket and wrote down my address. "That big ol' complex across from that strip mall. Apartment 404." The strip mall with the Blue Angel gentleman's club that annoyed me because it was next to the Shipley's, though I didn't say that. I ripped out the page and handed it to him, tucking the pad and pen away. I'd gotten in the habit of carrying them around along with my costume in case something ever went down when I least expected it. ...And holy crap, I was going on a date. "Oh, I know where that is. I can be there to pick you up." Darmstadt folded the slip of paper and tucked it into his pocket. "I'll be looking forward to it."
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 20, 2009 18:05:44 GMT -5
I had the feeling our conversation was over. I smiled and tried to clip the wings of those butterflies in my stomach. "I'll be ready. See you then."
Now I really had to find Madeline. I had no excuse now, and I hadn't seen her in all that time. I'd glimpsed Abel returning from the house and that worried me, because he was alone.
Tyberei was still busy. So was Asaph. I needed to tell Asaph, at least. I didn't trust a good portion of the people here, particularly because those same untrustworthy rich folk had the mindset of being able to get away with whatever they wanted, and could usually buy off the Stone City PD with no problem. I didn't know how they did it--someone had to be pulling the strings--unless the entire force was just that unreliable. Sarta and Nivet and Isaak proved that wasn't true; it was an issue I'd been mulling over in my head for months now. So I wanted to be careful. Madeline was probably the prettiest of the family, and sometimes was led very easily astray. And that really worried me.
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Post by Asmodeus on Apr 21, 2009 15:19:23 GMT -5
"Sounds good," Darmstadt replied. "I hate to cut this short, but I need to make a phone call. Will you excuse me?"
He smiled at her and moved to the edge of the assembled schmoozers. He already had an inkling of what he would be told, but he might as well be certain.
"Yo, what up?" Sawley's voice sounded loud in Darmstadt's ear, and he turned down his phone's volume so no one else would hear. From the roaring sound in the background, Sawley must have been in his car.
"Where are you?"
"Out with Maddie. We're goin' to an outdoor concert."
Of course they were. Sawley had absolutely no qualms about being seen all over the place in public. And the newspaper headlines in the morning would be hilarious.
"Gimme a call when you get home."
"'Kay, dude." The silence after the click sounded almost as loud as the roar of the traffic Sawley was zooming past.
Briefly Darmstadt met Nicaea's gaze across the crowded grounds. It was obvious from the irritation on her face that she had accomplished nothing productive tonight. Darmstadt wished he could say he was surprised. He wasn't.
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Post by Sky Verati on Apr 23, 2009 22:58:09 GMT -5
I grabbed Abel's shoulder and spun him around the second I cornered him in the garden. The second I hissed, "Where's Madeline?" I knew he'd lost her.
"I...I, uh..."
"Where'd she go?" I pressed. My little brother wasn't getting out of it that easily. "Abel, do you have any idea how bad this could turn out for Asaph? Maddie goes missing on the night of one of his shindigs and probably doesn't show up 'til two the next day--how's that going to look, huh? What if one of these jerks messed with her?"
Abel looked equally terrified and defensive. He jerked out of my grip. "Hey," he said. "I went to the bathroom, okay? I'm not her freakin' babysitter. She's eighteen."
"You're twenty-six and I still don't trust you," I snapped. God, this headache was going to kill me. "Abel, you're coming with me to find her before something happens."
"But--"
"There will be pain if you don't."
"Okay." Abel straightened his collar and followed me to Asaph. I whispered a rough sketch of the situation to my older brother and witnessed the dark expression my older brother shot at my younger one. I wondered if Abel still had nightmares.
"We're off to find her."
Asaph nodded, then turned away as someone started speaking to him. Abel and I left the party.
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