Run For Cover As Fast As You Can

[::.Bites.::]

Fighting And Trying To Hide The Scars

{Continued from Willow’s thread: Before the Damned}

A drip here, a drop there. Slowly the pot was filling with a brown liquid that helped so many get through their day. The girl’s gaze was literally glued to the pot –had the building been falling down around her, she would have stayed looking at the pot, her concentration was that deep. Coffee was yummy, it was necessary, it was… coffee. Absently, she jumped off of the counter, and wandered away to get a mug. They did have a few, most of them were pretty old, but no one really minded. Opening the cupboard, she wrapped a slim, pale hand around the first mug her fingers came into contact with. It was a pale yellow, with a sunflower on it –Willow didn’t even notice.

She paused for a minute, and listened carefully, someone was coming toward the kitchen. She could hear their shoes making a dull thud. Frowning, she wondered who it was. Unless one of the member’s had gotten new shoes, it could only be a handful of people. Judging by the sound… Slade. It was definitely Slade. His heels made a distinctive sound –he was the only male she knew who wore dressy shoes. Grabbing another mug, she shut the cupboard and smiled. He’d reach the room in another minute or two; she figured the coffee would be ready.

Willow liked Slade as a person. Which was actually saying quite a lot. She trusted him –which was saying loads considering her general distrust and dislike for the male population. She also liked his suits. He was the only person she saw on a regular basis who wore them –and he looked good in them too. Some people looked like children playing dress up in their father’s clothing when they wore suits –Slade was not one of these people. ‘Suit matches eyes and hair, coincidence?’. She was still slightly groggy, but the thought was one that had occurred to her before. The black of the jacket was almost the same shade as his hair, and the blue shirt he wore underneath was a few shades darker than his eye –but served to make them all the more visible somehow. Willow wasn’t sure how it all worked, but it did.

As the coffee machine stopped making noise, Willow all but clapped out of joy. Skipping over to the machine, she picked up the pot, and poured the delicious liquid into her cup. She considered doing the same for Slade, but didn’t know if he would even want coffee –so just left the cup next to the pot. Crouching, she opened the door to the fridge, and took out the milk that had been purchased a few weeks back. Checking the date, and then sniffing the contents just to make sure it hadn’t turned, she poured a little into her drink, before replacing the container in the fridge. ‘Milk. Need milk.’ She’d get some next time she went on a laundry run.

Blowing on the liquid to cool it, she took a sip just as Slade walked in. She swallowed before doing a once over. He was armed, she knew just because of the venue they’d be frequenting shortly. To a normal person he would’ve looked fine –as someone who had lived with him for years, she knew he was worried. He had good reason to be, the Bloods had killed one of their own since the Crypts had begun dealing weed. It was going to be a hell of meeting, tensions would be running high, and blood –preferably the Blood’s blood, would be spilled. Willow wasn’t particularly hot headed, but she was furious about the death of her comrade. She did want revenge, but also knew that killing one of the Bloods wouldn’t solve anything – and that the so called ‘justice system’ couldn’t help. It was frustrating –very frustrating. But, in the long run, she knew that trusting her leader was the best thing to do.

“Morning. How are you?” Willow only asked because she cared, she wasn’t one for pointless questions. Her eyes were trained on his, more out of respect than for any other reason. She nodded in the general direction of the coffee pot. “It’s fresh.”
There was nothing else to say after that, and so she slid back onto the counter and started humming a tune into her coffee.


OoC://
Lyric References:
Here We Are –Breaking Benjamin
Willow is humming: Over and Out –Alkaline Trio

[Tiff]

A fire was pulsating through Slade's veins as he entered the dull, barley held together kitchen. Cabinet doors were broken, holding on limply to dull hinges that squeaked incriminatingly with even the faintest, most delicate opening. But Slade was certainly in no mood to gingerly open a cabinet door, quite the opposite, he flung open the worthless wooden scrap in his search to find a mug large enough to hold the amount of coffee the leader craved in this moment, causing a loud thudding noise to reverberate through the musty air as the door collided with the body of the cabinet.

Piercing icy blue eyes searched the cabinet for a good mug with haste. Every second his eyes landed on undesired, chipped, and small tea mugs was a moment wasted, which made the Crypt leader increasingly aggravated. A low growl emerged from his throat, sounding much like the snarl of the animal whose face was residing upon the plastic of a mask inside Slade’s pocket. The sound grew intensity as Slade’s hand flicked away useless mug after mug in search for the perfect one. Finally Slade settled on a tall, chipped black mug, grasping the ceramic with the whole of his slender right hand.

It wasn’t until Slade turned around, after searching for a mug, blinded by his mad desire for coffee did the leader realize that he had not been alone. A small, but fiery member of The Crypt sat in a wooden chair before him, sipping on the precious liquid gold he so desperately desired. “I am…” Slade paused for a moment, trying to find the exact word or bundle of words needed to describe his current state, “thirsty.” The girl then pointed towards the coffee pot to his left, which was full of freshly brewed goodness. Without a moment’s haste Slade filled the mug grasped so tightly in his hand and when full, he lifted the second-hand mug to his lips and began to consume liquid ecstasy.

It was only after a good gulp that Slade began to find himself again. Stress for the upcoming meeting had made the leader a little, well, defenseless, but now that he had more caffeine in his system Slade turned back into his normal self. It was in this moment that he realized that Willow had set a perfectly nice mug aside for him to use. “Er… sorry about that,” Slade admitted, his eyes shifting towards the mug for the slightest second before shifting back to his gang mate.

((Eh... sorry to make you wait so long for such a short and not so great post))

[::.Bites.::]

Doubt tho the stars are fire?

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Coffee, first definition according to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary is: a hot drink made from the roasted and ground bean-like seeds of a tropical shrub. It was said drink that had brought Willow to the kitchen that fine evening. She was by no means a caffeine addict, she could go for days on end without caffeine. Yes, she would be groggy, and it would take her a few hours to properly wake up –something she could not afford today, but she could function without the drug in her system.

She’d begun searching for a mug as the pot filled up, the cupboard doors had creaked when she opened them, and she’d squished a tiny insect before it had the chance to fly away. Having heard the sounds of another being approaching, and recognizing the clicking heels to belong to none other than Slade, she’d selected another cup for him before returning to her watchful post by the coffee machine.

The machine stopped making noise, and she gratefully picked up the pot and tipped it so that the liquid energy boost would fill that yellow cup. She’d added her milk and taken a sip of coffee before Slade exploded into the rundown kitchen. Exploded really was the only word for it. Willow pulled further back onto the counter, trying to stay out of his way the best she could. A wary, watchful eye was trained on her leader as he all but flew across the room to the cabinet door she had closed mere minutes before.

Where she had gently opened the creaking doors, he flung them open; the doors emitted an unhappy creaking as swivelled on their hinges and banged into other cabinet doors. Her pierced eyebrow rose slightly as his agitation mounted. Willow’s gaze reluctantly left her leader for a moment to peer over his back –trying to see what was aggravating him so much. ‘Oh, the cups…’ They were in quite the state of disrepair, but generally the people using them didn’t care all too much. This evening it seemed as if Slade was quite bothered by the lack of large, un-chipped mugs.

He caught her attention again as a low growl came from him, a growl that soon sounded like a snarl as he continued to move mugs aside. Willow was watching Slade much the same way a mouse would watch a hawk. She trusted her leader, but didn’t want to be around when he was aggravated, worried, and lacking caffeine. Unfortunately she couldn’t get much farther back on the counter, and was sub-consciously starting to feel as if she were trapped between a rock and a hard place. ‘Wolves sometimes eat foxes when food is scarce.’

She wasn’t entirely sure were the thought came from –or what it meant. She was obviously referring to Slade as the wolf –his mask was that of a wolf. As for the fox, she could have been referring to herself (as her mask was the smaller canine), or the leader of the Blood, who was known only as Fox. Willow was almost hoping that he’d eat the later. She wasn’t praying for all out war between the gangs, but if the bitch leader was dead, than perhaps everything would smooth out, and the Crypts would be able to lead a happy, prosperous life…

He turned around then, and she posed her question. He answered, as he continued towards the coffee pot. A small, wry grin appeared on Willow’s face, and disappeared a few seconds after. She didn’t say anything for she didn’t have anything to say, but waited instead for Slade to ingest the caffeine. Waited to see if his behaviour would change, or if she should make a dash for the exit.

Both dark blue eyes were fixed on her leader’s, though only the right one was visible. She caught his sideways glance at the mug waiting for him next to the coffee pot, and heard his apology. She gave a slight nod of the head to show him that she had heard him, and acknowledged his apology. She took another sip from her mug, and inched forward on the counter, trying to make it as inconspicuous as possible that she’d been trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and her semi-crazed friend.

Silence reigned for a few minutes before Willow spoke again. Her thoughts had been on the upcoming meeting, and she had a feeling that Slade’s would be too. She also had a feeling that he would be rather… stressed. And though she knew that coming up with a strategy was a good thing, it would do him no good to think about it to much. So, she had chosen that moment to bring up the thoughts that had been bouncing around her head earlier that evening. She lifted her mug to take one last sip of coffee, the mug hitting the metal under her lip as she did so, with a slight grimace she set the cup down. “So, I’ve been thinking of applying for a job next time I go into town…”

[/color] She trailed off, and then shut her mouth tight with an expression of intense concentration on her face that passed after a couple of seconds –she had been repressing the sudden urge to comment on his suit.

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OoC://
Lyric:Opheliac –Emilie Autumn Also: Hamlet – William Shakespeare.
Words: 857
Music: Heard It All –Emilie Autumn
Comments:
So, I screwed up what Willow was wearing entirely: Click Please
The wait was fine, but I’ll be leaving in 7 days and as much as our novel stuff is important, I do want to get this thread moving, I’ve been looking forward to it.
Sorry that my post doesn’t give you all that much to actually reply too, I spent way to much time on recapping, and not enough on moving it along >_>

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[Tiff]

As coffee slid down Slade’s throat and into his stomach the leader could have sworn that he’d found the nectar of the gods, the substance from the fountain of youth itself. For what it did to his tense muscles, racing mind, frayed nerves, and thudding heart was nothing sort of a miracle. One second Slade was a snarling wreck whose vocalizations would have made any sheep run for cover, and the next he was his normal, calm, collected, and calculative self.

It was nice to be in control of his own body once again, so nice in fact, that Slade allowed himself to grin ever so lightly. All he could think about was the warm sensation that had grabbed a hold of his body and had taken it for a joy ride. Thoughts of the upcoming meeting fled from his head the moment Slade’s lips touched his cup of joy and now, with the liquid residing safely inside his stomach, there was nothing that could remove the grin from his face.

“A job?” Slade questioned, his voice trailing off as he thought over the proposition. Another source of income for the gang could never be a bad thing, but would minimum wage really be worth the girl’s time? Willow had proven her loyalty to the gang time and time again, so Slade would let her decide what her free time was worth. “You know the rules,” Slade began, shifting his icy blue gaze from the ceiling to Willow, “as long as you are present for the meetings, deals, and other gang related business I have no problem with you getting a job in your free time.” The leader’s grin then widened as his icy eyes met the redhead’s, his smile resembling that of an approving elder sibling.

Slade then turned from Willow back towards the kitchen counter and the coffee pot. In one quick movement his tall mug was full of liquid once again and instead of gulping it down like a dehydrated dog, Slade opted for the more civilized way of drinking for his second cup. Slade’s lean, muscled body leaned against the wall, one foot propped up for support against the brick, as he sipped decent amounts of coffee from his opaque mug. He was stealing this moment for himself as he drank his second cup of coffee, letting his mind drift off into a carefree place where nothing but calm, peace existed. He didn’t have to think about his horrible past, nor was he forced to ponder and plan his near future, no this was Slade’s relax time. A light sign expelled itself from Slade’s throat, his eyes softly closed, as he enjoyed the last of his drink. He stood there for another moment or two, just collecting his sanity and his thoughts before opening his eyes and looking at the clock overhead.

He had only 15 minutes before meeting with the rest of the Crypts to prepare them for the meeting with the Blood. Now was the time to gather together his words and possible plan of action, but those were already chosen. It was obvious that this meeting was not going to run smoothly, no it was almost certain that blood would be spilled, but hopefully, that blood would not be Crypt’s.

[::.Bites.::]

If I could tear you from the ceiling...

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They had flavoured coffee out now. Weird flavours like Hazelnut and French Vanilla were becoming all the rage. It made people feel classier; their coffee had a special name for its flavour. It would be like a drug addict smoking strawberry flavoured joints instead of just smoking up. Caffeine, Marijuana, Beer, it was all the same at the end of the day. They were all addicting drugs; the difference was that some killed much faster if not respected. She thought the main problem with coffee was the lack of respect it demanded. You could drink as much as you wanted and what consequences would you observe? Severe jitters for sure… but push alcohol too far and it would kill you –it demanded respect. Willow respected the substance for it and gave it a wide berth. Weed on the other hand… ‘Been awhile. Now isn’t a good time, need to be sharp. After maybe, if things go well.’

One could say she had a very good handle on her addiction. They would be wrong. She craved that high every day and when you added stress or worry to the equation, it became even more difficult. She had another drug in her system –caffeine and it was for this reason she was waiting. Well… that and the fact she couldn’t afford to be hazy and that Slade would most likely kill her if she wasn’t clean for any meetings or deals.

Staring into her coffee cup, Willow seemed completely spaced. Her cup was in fact, empty but she did no seem to take much notice –or care. Her mind was already on her next buzz –something she couldn’t afford to let happen. “stopit, stopit, stopit!”

[/color] she was shaking her head violently as she spoke to herself. Jumping down off to the counter she crossed the distance to the sink quickly dropped her cup in the tarnished basin and punched the metal side. The pain was a shock to her system and served its purpose –she was back on task. Not looking at Slade, she turned on the tap and began washing her cup with the filthy rag she’d left in the sink the night before.

‘Trying to turn your life around? Who will hire a street kid, pot-head?’ It was a self-loathing thought, and the truth of it pissed her off. In certain situations, anger was good. This was one of those situations.

Slade answered her then. Yes, she knew the rules and it was gratifying to know he supported her in this newest endeavour. Looking up, she returned his smile. “I’m thinking a fast food place, a grocery store or something with useful benefits… like what Lex had. That was a pretty good dig.”[/color] Unconsciously her hand had gone to her tattoo for a moment. Touching her figures to the covered design she allowed herself a moment of peace and remembrance before returning to the present, cooler than ever.

They were equally silent in that kitchen. Slade was no doubt thinking of what he would tell everyone during the ‘pep rally’ as she liked to call it. Willow was wondering if anyone else would die in the coming week. It was all so chaotic, this life. Things were never simple, never easy and every action held consequences. Consequences which sometimes proved fatal. “I like your suit”[/color]

It took her brain a moment to register she’d said something. Once it did she couldn’t help but grin sheepishly. Sliding down onto the floor, she leaned her head back to look up at the gang leader. Yawning, she continued, “Just thought you should know that.”[/color]

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OoC://
Lyric: Blind -Placebo the song and video fit her quite well i find...
Words: 602
Music:Metamorphosis [the album] –Papa Roach
Comments:
I really love this girl. One day, she is going to be talking to him and pass out due to sheer exhaustion. Or she is going to be high and do something stupid. Not today though. No, today Willow is trying to stay sharp and prove she can go to the meeting without endangering anyone.

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