It was around 6:00am when the sound of an oh so familiar alarm blared through the medium sized room. At first there was no movement nor reaction to the music, but after a few seconds past, a tiny hand reached out from one of the two masses of blankets and proceeded to pat the floor next to it. Upon finding the source of the noise, that being a phone, the owner of the hand sat up on his futon like bed and smashed the 'stop' button. A complete mess of bright blonde hair swayed to and fro as Capella unconsciously looked both directions. He could tell his mother was still asleep by the lack of light of in the room, so he put it upon himself to fold up his bed and clean up his side of the room before getting ready to head out. He had a big day ahead of him after all.

If this had been any other week, Capella would have slept in some more before getting ready to head off to university. But because he was still a new resident to Sol City, he was given the luxury of one extra day of free time to get a better feel for the location before officially starting his classes the next day. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous to go to a new school where he knew absolutely no one, but he knew he would have to make the best out of it.

With a little bit of feeling around and help from the equally drowsy Toasty, Capella managed to get his futon packed up and out the center of the room.
"Go team." The blonde murmured as he patted the top of his small dog's head. Slowly acquiring his walking stick and using it to pull himself to a standing position, Capella stumbled into the bathroom to do his business as well as brush his teeth. Being the type of person that could fall into a daze even while standing up, it took a little longer than normal for him to get ready for the day.

Unaware of what the weather was like outside, and not even bothering to check, Capella ended up dressed in a graphic black short sleeved hoodie with rainbow splatters - some real, some that were the actual design - dark sweatpants, white shoes and headphones, and a black snapback to cover up most of his messy hair. After he was done getting himself dressed, the steel eyed boy looked down at Toasty, who was patiently sitting down at his feet.
"How do I look?" He questioned before crouching down in front of the brown pupper. The closest thing to a response he got was a tongue dragging across his finger. "Gee, thanks for making me self conscious. Let's go put your vest on and then we can leave."

Getting a vest on Toasty was never a fun time, especially if you couldn't see if you were putting on correctly in the first place. It would have helped it he was bigger and a little older, that way he could also put a harness on the dog and actually have him guide him, but he was far too small and was still growing into the job he spent two years in training for. Capella often got a lot of questions as to why he lets such an inexperienced and small dog guide him everywhere and his answer to that would always be because him and Toasty were the same just different species. Toasty would get bigger and better so why not just wait?

Upon securing the black vest on Toasty, Capella let out a slightly annoyed sigh before stepping into the main living room, a room that has yet to be fully unpacked. With the gracefulness of a toddler, Capella bobbed and weaved around the various boxes before coming across what he was actually looking for, that being his guitar. Without hesitation, the blonde used the strap connected to the guitar and had said guitar rest on is back; honestly if he had any free hands, he probably would have just held the instrument normally.

Shuffling past the kitchen and feeling around for both the house key and Toasty's leash, Capella bonded for the front door, only to be hit by a faint breeze of cool air up opening. Welp, luckily he chose to dress a little on the warm side.
"Come on Toasty! We got some exploring to do!"

---

Saying that Capella's attempts to learn more about Sol City were going horribly wrong would probably the biggest understatement anyone could make for the rest of their life. There was a little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he should have waited for his mom to wake up before he started wandering around who knows where, but Capella just figured that if he could find a bus stop and if people were kind enough to help him out here and there, he would be perfectly fine with just Toasty. Too bad some dreams can never become a reality.

What started with just wanting to do some 'sight-seeing' ended up being either Toasty getting too loud or Capella being too nervous to go to an unknown place on his own; he should have been able to realize that he wouldn't be comfortable entering a museum with a semi-hyperactive dog. And other places were either closed or wouldn't let him in because of his baby face or the fact that he should probably be in school at the moment. Normally, Capella wouldn't be swayed by these types of things, but there was one place that really hit the final nail in his coffin.

Already tired of the crowd of people as morning slowly faded into the afternoon, Capella made his trip back home, in hopes of maybe having his mother join him to go to the more far out places he wouldn't be able to go to on his own; getting some food sounded really good about now too. He had already planned to stop at the music shop before heading directly home, sort of like a 'cherry on top' to all the other places he got to go to. Most of the places he went however made the cherry feel like the hero of the dish that was today so far.
"Okay, let's end this little 'adventure' on a good note, alright? I really don't want to make it feel as if I just wasted my morning and carried this guitar around for nothing..." The blonde tried to reassure himself.

"Mom said, she walked you to the place, the music shop. Could you take me there, buddy? The music shop?" He questioned as politely as he could. Without any warning, the dog started to move, forcing Capella to pick up the pace. Good, this was good. If all goes well, he could at least go to one place and actually enjoy himself there. Unfortunately for him, Toasty somehow managed to mix you the words 'music shop' with 'park', as low and behold, Capella found himself in the park that was probably next to the house judging by how long it took to get there.

Capella could only glare at the dog before letting his face drop.
"We could have played in the park AFTER we went to the music shop!" He whined, before plopping on the ground and taking off Toasty's leash to let him roam free. "I'm giving you twenty minutes, then we go back to get Mom!" He shouted once more before reach back for his guitar. It's a good thing he brought it, or else he probably would have died or something...

Hooking up his headphones to his phone and putting them on over his snapback, Capella was greeting to the same song he uses for his alarm clock. A small smile formed on his face as he closed his eyes and followed along with the tune, softly singing along as he played. At least this park was peaceful from what he could tell...

@Silver Fox

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Victoria got settled in her corner as someone brought over her breakfast and the hot chocolate to perk her up after a longish time at hospital, tests, blood tests and exercises where a little intense at times and a rest before deciding what to do later was a welcome stop. The cafe was fairly busy, but found a fairly quiet spot to watch the people and just relax in general. Checking her phone as she laughed smiled at the meme in the messenger app noticing a message from Ashton that seemed to have been delayed,, or maybe just missed in her whole busy sunday with General Arkady and his two sons whom Victoria had know since she was about 15.

responding to her question, she was ok, just a alittle drama in the end, compared to things before it was a pretty low key thing and smaller problem. being told you'd be stuck with a walking stick, at 14 of all ages, was far rougher. luckily the cure had worked though and she despite being abit less steady, was at least alot better than her old self.



Im doing fine Ashton :) . nothing painkillers and a lazy Saturday could not fix. our lawyer had things in hand, got us out, dealt with the cops and hot us home in time for takeout breakfast. sorry for late reply, we met a old family friend and his sons i knew in Moscow.

hope your alright and got treatment by a hospital! that looked a fairly serious injury. thanks for helping, but we can protect ourselves when we need to.

V X

Hitting send Victoria turned back to her hot choclate and morning savior of perking up, hopefully the week was slightly calmer than the weekend though and work had been alright with taking a day off, with the extra hours she had done the previous it was not a hard request. looking round she noticed wheel chair man from the club, wait.. THomas, that was it. the one who had opened with your into computers, not best memory but she remembered it. The man he was with, there was definitely a different dynamic at play there as she thought about it, twirling a ginger round where her raven black hair met vivid highlight, it still took some getting used to she was no longer white haired, and she would recover further. for years she had to get used to it, now... wait, Professor, he he seemed to act like a teacher not a student before.

they where not fair away, so she tapped his shoulder as he backed up into his seat having moved the chairs about to be able to eat, just going with her natural accent of English and its distinctive smaller soft towards Russian. adding with a slight smile to the end, you had to try and make something good of things.

Hello. hope you managed to sort things out after that rather dramatic evening. cannot recommend the SOl City PD accommodation though. little bit basic, and the staff are rather stern. a decent lawyer works well in getting a early checkout though.

So, how did you tell my job? you left me curious last we met and i had way too much time to mull it over thanks to the groupies. it certainly was a strange opener, and i may of been a a little spiky but my curiosity gave you a second chance.

oh, and nice suit... not many wear bright orange to a metal bar.

Giving a small smile, she was curious how he could tell even though at the time it was a a little annoying as she was more than her job and being female espechily in such a male dominated job. she prefered to Victoria first and then her chosen role, not the other way around. Though being the only female on her cyber security team did mean she rarely had to make tea. the other women where nice though on the tech side and Blackshield did not mind within reason on clothing long as it was not silly, they where a strange lot, all of em but most people who where in top of fields had a few quirks.

She had looked into working for the university but the salary from her current job was alot better, not entirely selfishly her medical insurance was not always cheap and wnated to try and stand on her own two feet rather than rely fully on her family. Maria and Vesarian where getting on.. well like the young couple in love whey where 23 years ago, and may end up related more than by her half sister but that was maybe. Her dad was happy for first time in a while and she could never begrudge that after all the sacrifices he had made for Victoria, slept by her bedside in hospital when she fell ill and plowed so much of what he had into finding the first treatment into halting her illness.

Life was becoming slightly more normal at least, Ethen still had her abit torn on how to react, he intrigued her but his groupies had landed her in jail for a night too.. He definitely was one to be careful with, but her dark side was attracted and saw a a little fun to be had. you only got a chance to be young and live once and from Marlins aunt comments, she had not been entirely tame, neither had Maria, Marlins mother been the entirely prim and propper lady all the time.

@Conscripts@Silver Fox@Almalthia

It had been a very long weekend. Her agent had pulled off some miracle as there were no real news of her appearance in the news of Karishma in tabloids or gossip sites with her in Club Aether or being arrested. She did spend the night in jail, and while it hadn't been her first time in there, it was still very unpleasant. She and Gabe had gotten out of the cell early in the morning, thanks to her lawyer and her agent. All of Sunday she had to deal with her agent's scolding and warnings that Karishma would not be able to find any jobs or that her album in the works would be scrapped if she kept having a bed reputation. It wasn't her fault trouble seemed to follow her!

She had learned her lesson now, and she would have to lay low for at least the next week or so. Gabe had been a bit upset at the whole incident, but Karishma made it up by buying him lots of food that Sunday evening and taking him out to the local sports bar to enjoy a beer together. Karishma owed so much to Gabe since arriving to Sol City and she didn't want him to be upset for what had happened, even if it hadn't been her fault. She was also glad that their relationship and one of friendship and not purely professional. That would be boring!

Even as Gabe picked her up from her apartment and made their way to Corona Park for their daily workout they joked and made sure they wouldn't be recognized by the people there. Karishma had dressed in black yoga pants and a purple tank top with a black sports bra underneath. Gabe had dressed in grey sports clothing and both wore glasses as they started their jog around the park.

It was a nice day, even if the air was starting to grow chilly. Gabe stayed in the front, leading to make sure no one would bother them in their job while Karishma stayed in the back to enjoy the view. She appreciated Gabe's figure, but she wouldn't try anything with the man who was only attacked to men. So many times she had tried to set him up with nice men, but Gabe seemed to say no to any blind dates. Too bad, Karishma thought as they approached the central lake of the of the park.

There, they took a short break and sat for a bit to catch their breath. There were a few people already in the park, most jogging like them. Karishma watched all of those who passed by, none of them interested in the duo that sat on a bench.

"This is nice." Karishma hummed as she took a sip of her water, eyes still scanning the on going people. "I hope it stays like this for a long while."

"If you manage to keep out of trouble, Kari." Gabe chuckled as he leaned back on the bench and stretched out his legs.

"Hey, this time wasn't my fault." Karishma huffed and poked Gabe's sides. She was about to say something else when she spotted someone rather familiar. "Oh!" It was that guy she had bought a drink for and had rejected it. She hadn't mind that and Karishma had apologized, but she still wanted to make sure there was no beef between them. "Stay here, I'll be right back." She said to Gabe before she got up and approached the man.

Karishma let her hair down from the pony tail she had and smoothed it down as much as she could before she greeted him with a wide smile. "Nice seeing you again, handsome." She was still wearing her sunglasses as lacked the make up she had worn when they had first met. "Pretty rough weekend right? I couldn't sleep at all in that cell with the rest of the club stuffed in there too." She put a hand on her waist and lowered her glasses. "I'm Karishma by the way, it's really nice seeing you again." She extended her hand to the man with another smile.

Paige Kennedy

Old Sol Museum was not normally the type of venue that Paige found herself frequenting. Museums in general were just not her cup of tea, but following up on Elvin’s tip had paid off and as she made some calls and spoke with the administrative staff, she found a scheduled time that the museum’s doors would be closed during regular hours for a high-profile visitor. With some coercion and some help from the Mayor’s office, the museum relented and allowed her to enter in ahead of their appointed guests without her having to get too heavy-handed with them. If she had wanted, she could have barged right in, but based on her investigative work and intuition, subtlety felt the most useful option and as she walked the long halls and exhibits alone glancing at the various artifacts and collections she had a sense of foreboding again, much like she had felt when she and Sio had pulled up to Milo’s shop a few weeks ago. Her intuition had again proven right as that day had led her to where she stood.

Warmth steadily returned to her fingers. She’d still neglected to buy any gloves and the short warm spell in Sol hadn’t helped her procrastination. Her upper body was cozy inside a fitted, white thermal jacket that her mother sent her as a “second house-warming” gift and like everything mom sent it was meant to be stylish and most importantly, practical for her job fitting her just right that it didn’t interfere with the pistol holstered on her hip. The morning cold still clung to her legs and feet though. Her standard jeans and sneakers weren’t near enough to ward away the regular weather of Sol’s mornings for very long. She looked at her reflection in a passing antique mirror that was nearly as tall as the ceiling and brushed a few loose lockes back over her ear. It was loosely braided, a trait she’d taken from Sio as they’d hung out more and it was easier to manage at the gym where she planned to go next. The bruising on her face was nearly gone.

Following the signs through another large corridor led her to a hallway of velvet-roped doors each one showcasing a particularly valuable collection. Paige checked her phone noting she still had some time and stepped around the soft rope. The small display frame simply read Ming Dynasty and considering her affection for ornate China, it seemed a tempting choice to enjoy for a few moments while she waited.

The room was a stark, polished white, so clean that she looked behind her to see if she was tracking anything inside as the door gently closed behind. Glancing down at her sneakers she could see her reflection in the meticulously buffed marble floor that made the pillars she’d seen at the downtown Ritz look like outhouse doors by comparison. Not often did she feel underdressed and impressed at the same time, particularly when it came to Sol City. There didn’t seem to be a speck of dust or outside debris anywhere. The displayed collection, housed under glass on white pedestals lined the room at the perimeter and down the center, perfectly aligned in three equal rows with an exactly measured amount of light designed to bring to life the full inspiration of the display.

Walking softly, Paige looked inside the first case at something that resembled a headband and a crown arrayed with precious stones in turquoise, sapphire and lily and set in gold. Some of the stones were missing, but the craftsmanship of the piece itself was overwhelmingly exquisite as the tiny gold inlays swooped and dove in regal patterns away from the gems. There were no descriptions accompanying the case and she guessed the curators assumed anyone allowed inside the room would understand their significance without juvenile descriptions. She wasn’t sure, but something told her, with a fantasy of satisfaction, it was the headpiece of an Empress. Her breath fogged the glass as she looked closer and she stepped back.

A door opened gently on the opposing side of the room as Paige continued to study the display. The woman’s white heels had a dark sole and produced a firm, resonating tap with each casual stride she made across the silent room only competing with the resonate sound of the central heating faintly passing through the air ducts. Her dress was brilliant, unaged-white as well; crisp and form fitting with quarter sleeves and stopping very professionally a few inches above the knee. “That is part of a headpiece worn by Empress Fang,” She said stepping closer. “She saved her husband from assassination…” She continued and looked at the case stopping only a few steps away. Her blonde hair was expertly parted over her left eye and framed her face evenly a few inches past shoulder length. “The Emperor was violent towards the female members of his court and he killed many of them, but Fang remained loyal to him.” She looked at Paige with a haunting crystal-blue gaze from pupils that were nearly absent of pigment. “And in return, he allowed her to burn to death when the palace caught fire… I’m Shannon.” She switched her small, matching clutch to her left hand and extended her right.

Paige looked at the woman’s hand and the expensive clutch that sported a small, foreign name that she couldn’t pronounce and never heard of before. She didn’t shake and only looked back at the woman, putting one hand on her hip, meeting her gaze and holding it firmly. Shannon Giancana was Sammy’s wife and true to Elvin’s words was apparently an expert on jewelry from the far East. Her athletic frame wrapped in white exuded class, but her eyes, the firm, piercing shot of her untrying gaze spoke of unrestrained power. Paige looked back at the headpiece conscious that she had allowed herself to look away first. A twinge, nearly microbial in its concious existence, of envy crossed her mind. “It is beautiful...” She said solemnly and looked back, “But I didn’t come here to talk antiquities.”

Unphased by the lack of return on her gesture, Shannon smirked. “Did you know I was from Florida?”

“Yes, and you went to Alabama,” Paige replied. “Traitor.”

“Ah yes,” Shannon rolled her eyes reminiscing briefly, “I know how to pick a winner.”

“That’s great.” Paige said sarcastically unimpressed. “I didn’t come to talk about college either. Now where’s Sammy?”

Shannon held her slight smirk and shook her head lightly. She had around eight years over Paige. They were about the same height from the floor, but in her heels, Shannon looked down on the younger blonde by a few inches. She sighed a breath of beguilement, “I just have to say, when Elvin first asked me to look into you, I thought damn, you are exactly what this City needs and when I first saw you, I knew I was right.” She looked the younger woman up and down, her smirk coming into a smile, “You should’ve been on the other side with us.”

Paige snorted unamused.

“Oh, you’d still be able to shoot people and be a cold-hearted bitch…” Shannon shot back anticipating the reaction. “…Your two favorite activities- Except you’d be a rich bitch.”

“More like dead or in prison.” Paige said bluntly. She was growing impatient, not totally from the conversation, but from the fact that Shannon seemed to know a lot more about her than she did about the mob Princess. There was hardly enough information to cover the file-jacket on Shannon in comparison with the rest of the Giancana Syndicate. How she met Sammy and what she did for the Racket were a complete mystery.

“No, Paige.” Shannon said. Her tone became more measured as her smile faded. “No, you wouldn’t be because you understand, just like I do, that in order for a woman to survive in this business, on your side or mine, she’s got to be even more ruthless than the men, more calculating and more willing to make the hard decisions the men won’t, just like when you put away that worthless Tommy Peralta back in Delta with a bullet.”

Paige looked her dead in the eye at the mention of the South-American gun-runner. The man she’d killed and ultimately led to her transfer to Sol City. Her anger boiled at the sound of his name and her hand, ever slightly, moved towards the grip of her pistol. Her lips tightened for words to escape: “You don’t know anything about that.” She growled.

“I know you’re not going to arrest Nikki when you find him.” Shannon deftly countered. “You’re going to kill that son of a bitch.” She said darkly. “And I’m going to help you do it.”

The room was quiet between them as they looked at each other momentarily with only the gleaming treasures of the Orient as witnesses.

Paige exhaled a tiny breath: “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“In less than two weeks, Nikki’s men are going to hit all three major banks in Sol...” Shannon began.

Paige instantly smirked a bit, “And I thought I was old fashioned.”

The older blonde returned the sly grin, “Except they’re going to do all three at the same time. The Millennium, StarBank and First National.”

“And why should I believe you again?”

“You don’t have to believe any of it.” Shannon said raising an eyebrow. “You can go right back to your Chief Deputy like a good girl and we can pretend like this never happened. Except that Nikki will be here in Sol to make sure it goes down without a hitch.”

“And you just want me to take him out for you?” Paige snapped. “Is that as deep as this goes?”

“No, we just have that goal in common.” Shannon replied sharply.

“Then why don’t you get one of your own assholes to kill him.”

“Like I said, I know how to pick a winner and I know you don’t want me to do that. You want to put him away after what he did to you and your wild, fire-starting boyfriend.” Shannon said matter-of-factly, her smile returning as she mentioned Milo. “Sol City was going to be Nikki’s power-play until you all showed up… He already had that sleazeball, Jackie, out laying the ground work, thanks for that by the way, but you and the mayor’s little GI-Joe’s made everyone scatter underground, now he’s trying to look like he’s not scared.” There was growing disgust in her tone when describing her husband’s half-brother.

“So let’s say someone stops him… What happens after that?” Paige asked. Her heart's beat struck harder at the mention of Milo. “You and Sammy consolidate power and wait for the old man to croak?”

“I have my own goals…” Shannon said. She twitched her lips briefly considering her words. “…And Sammy has his… but if Nikki succeeds, things are going to go badly for a lot of people.” Her expression hardened slightly. “You see, he knows the business will always be Sammy’s. He’s not trying to please Frank anymore, he’s ready to take over. You haven’t been around long enough to see the big picture, but I’m not gonna live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. You understand? If you’re not up to it then I will take care of it. So you can either let me help you and get to be the hero, maybe even get back to Florida, or you can just keep on shaking down computer hackers and DelleSantos thugs for cut money. Now are you with me or not?”

@RoccanIronclad

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Milo sat at the table in his shop, set in front of him was a Colt nineteen eleven handgun, the gun was striped and he was in the process of cleaning and organizing it before setting into a few modifications. This was the first gun he worked on since getting his full certification, and the requests were piling, the sport shooting scene was getting big in a few places, and he had a few friends in those circles that when the news got out about him being licensed, they started flocking. Milo pulled out his cell phone and clicked a speed dial number before turning on the speaker and setting it down.

"You do realize the time right?" Ana's voice came from the telephone sounding a bit groggy.

"Don't give me that noise night owl, I was up five hours ago and I know it's noon in Delta." Milo said with a laugh.

"Yeah but I work at night, so noon is like six A.M. to me, what exactly are you calling about anyway? Don't tell me, let me guess..." the phone went silent for a moment and Milo quit working and just looked at the phone waiting. "Paige's phone is off isn't it?"

Milo laughed, "She had some very important meeting, told me she would have it off, but no, not why I called." Milo got serious for a moment, "Everything been okay back home?"

Ana paused, "What did you do Milo?" Milo felt the words hit him in the chest, she always can tell when something isn't right and this time, it was no different.

"There have just been some things happening here, not great things, I have been trying to help Paige with her case..." before he could finish she cut him off.

"You aren't a cop Milo, she is, she has authority you don't. Whatever you are doing, stop, let Paige handle it, you will just mess up a good thing." Ana sounded concerned, she knew Milo as well as anyone, his head was not the decision maker most of the time.

"I can't let her do it alone..."

"Milo, if you get in the mix you will only get hurt or in trouble, then she is alone anyway." Ana was always the one to diffuse bad situations, but Milo didn't know if her words would get through this time. "You called to see if things were ok, what happened to make you do that?" the question was loaded, he knew it, but lying to her wasn't going to work.

"I may have burned down a bar that a crime lord liked with homemade thermite grenades."

"... Well, A plus for creativity, but I mean they wouldn't..."

"And then we tortured the owner into ratting on his colleagues then dumped him in a ditch." Milo finished and sat in silence for a substantial time, "You... Still there Ana?"

"Be careful Milo, you two are getting into something bad out there, I don't want the next time I see you guys to be at your funerals."

Milo hung his head a little, he had worried about the same issues himself, "Don't worry, I will do whatever I can to make things work here."

The two chit chatted over smaller topics for a bit longer, catching up over the recent events, however the feeling of dread didn't leave, Milo knew he was in the deep end of things, but despite Ana's warning, despite his own better judgement, he wouldn't stand idly by as Paige deals with it all.

---

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Milo took a short break to get out and try to get some food, and the only thing he felt like was fish, there was a dozen good places, but Nemo's seemed to be his preferred choice at this point. Milo pulled his truck into the parking lot and stepped out, he had a lot of work to do but he had time to spend anyway, as he entered the restaurant and sat at a table, he looked out the window, this town was feeling less alien day by day, never was fun uprooting, you never really feel settled in.

The food soon came to the table, it was piping hot and fresh out of the fryer, so her let it cool a bit and sipped on a cup of coffee, as he took this moments reprieve from his day to day business life. He looked at his phone a few times, no new messages, hopefully everything was going well with Paige, maybe she got what she wanted and was just rushing off to stop them, Milo sighed and sat back, that would be the smart thing, leave him behind and do it alone, it wasn't like he really could do anything, just get in the way or get himself in trouble. Milo wanted to be more helpful in all of this mess, he was the reason she even got involved after all.

@Pilatus

Marcus Ainsworth

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Marcus groaned as he started to wake up. He was incredibly uncomfortable, it felt like he was sleeping on a stone slab, instead of his soft comfy bed. When he opened his eyes, he realised that wasn’t far from the truth. The first thing he saw was a stone wall, that definitely wasn’t the wall of his bedroom. He groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes before looking around. “Well shit…” He mumbled as he remembered the events of night, realising where he’d spent the night. A jail cell. His head throbbed, and his mouth was incredibly dry, due to the amount of bears he had drunk before taking a blow to the head during the bar brawl. Though he was not an aggressor, and was only trying to break things up, when fists started to fly, the police didn’t seem interested in asking questions.

“There you are…” Spoke a familiar voice from the other side of the bars. Chris stood there with a slightly amused smirk. “I leave you alone for 10 minutes and you get yourself locked up.”
“Fuck off…” Marcus mumbled with an annoyed groan, as he stood up and stretched. “Where even did you go last night?”
Chris snickered softly. “Heh… Was kinda hooking up with some blonde in the bathrooms while shit went down. Didn’t even notice. When we came out, it was already over.”
Marcus sighed, rolling his eyes, though he was not at all surprised. Classic Chris. “Of course… What time is it?”
“1pm, you’re about to be let go. We’ll go get lunch, and then I’ll drop you home.”

A police officer walked over and unlocked the cell, nodding to Marcus. “You’re good to go. No charges are pressed yet, but don’t leave town. We’ll be in touch.” Marcus sighed again but offered a force smile to the officer, nodding at him as he left the cell, being received by Chris with a tight hug. They got Marcus’ phone and wallet back and left.

---

Marcus sat on his couch with his laptop, scrolling absently through facebook, with his playlist blaring from a bluetooth speaker. There’s no better way to spend a Sunday morning. He was about to close facebook to get up and start making some food, before a post caught his eye. The Club Aether facebook page posted that they were hiring. Oh jeez, I hope no one got fired because of the bar fight… He thought to himself with a worried look, that turned into a thoughtful one. He had been jobless for almost a year, since getting fired from McDonalds. That does a number on one’s confidence. But, assuming they look over the fact that he was involved in a bar fight at the club a few night prior, a job at Club Aether would suit him perfectly. He definitely had a quite a bit of motivation to at least start looking for a job anyway, considering he had rent to pay, and he had almost drained his savings dry. Though applying for jobs sent Marcus’ anxiety into overdrive, he’d have to get over that eventually. Marcus opened up his email and started writing.

To Club Aether Management

I saw on your facebook page that you’re currently hiring, and would like to show my interest. I have been going to your venue nearly every weekend for years, and have played at several open mic nights, and it is definitely my favourite bar in the city. I do not have a huge amount of experience in bar work, but I am fast learner and pick things up quickly. My schedule is wide open, and am available to work 24/7. You’ll find my resume attached to this email, which includes my experience and qualifications. I would love to work at your Club, and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your consideration,
Marcus Ainsworth

Marcus spent the rest of the day trying to put it out of his mind, so he didn’t dwell on it and start to panic. The productivity had definitely boosted his motivation to get more things done, and he actually cleaned the apartment for the first time in weeks, and got several loads of washing done. By the time the sun had set, he was exhausted, but felt good about himself. He’d actually gotten things done, which was a welcome change. He sat back down for the first time since the morning, and opened his laptop. He didn’t expect a reply to his resume yet, but he checked his email just in case. Much to his surprise, there was a reply from the Club Aether management sitting in his inbox. His heart started beating a thousand miles a minute, as his mind raced through all the possible things that could be in the email. He spent nearly 5 minutes staring at his screen, too petrified to open the email.

Marcus’ heart skipped a beat as he finally decided to open the email, and saw the exact opposite of what he was expecting. He had an interview. Monday lunchtime. “Oh my god… I got an interview… That’s… Tomorrow! Oh my god, I’ve got an interview tomorrow!!!” He exclaimed out loud to the emptiness of his apartment. He jumped out of his seat and punched the air excitedly. “Actually doing things surprisingly gets shit done!” He pulled out his phone and texted Chris immediately, which gave him time to think, and realise that he was at the hard part now. Marcus hated interviews. He was awful at them, always nervous and awkward. He’d only ever gotten 2 jobs in his life, and one was because his dad was the manager. All the rest he failed at the interview. He sat back down as those sobering thoughts completely curbed the enthusiasm. He was going to have to give this interview his best shot if he wanted this job.

---

Marcus sat in Chris’ car, staring nervously at his hands, trying hard to keep his breathing steady. They were parked outside of Club Aether, 20 minutes before he was due for the job interview. “Oh god… What if I completely embarrass myself?”
Chris chuckled and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry man, you’ll be fine. Just think of it like a show. The interviewer is just a private audience. You’re performing for him.”
Marcus took a deep breath before nodding. “Alright… Wish me luck…” He mumbled before getting out of the car, and heading into the club for his interview.

@CaptainSully

Joel Nicolosi

The Southside YMCA was where Joel preferred to get in a workout among the myriad of Sol’s offerings. The monthly fee was a little high compared to some of the other commercial clubs, but he never worked out anywhere else his whole life. As kid, he’d stayed there for the after-school program and some of the facilitators and trainers he’d known since grade school. He realized he was paying for the company rather than the equipment and was fine with it having his monthly dues go to a pool and hot-tub he never used as well as a variety of kids’ sports. When his mother reminded him he should donate some of his race winnings, the Southside Y got the check. Of the various YMCA locations in the city, Southside was the oldest. Housed in what was once an awkwardly laid out office building, the weight room was in a humid downstairs area that the locals nicknamed the dungeon. The equipment was older though regularly serviced and there were plenty of benches, dumbbells and machines for someone who knew what they were doing to take care of business.

Having nothing else to do at 4am, Joel arrived in the crisp morning darkness when the doors opened and got in a decent round of arms and back with most of the equipment all to himself in the dungeon. The staff on hand greeted him same as always, the memory of his big race win mostly fading from people’s minds though questions still popped up occasionally, he was glad it was no longer the topic of every conversation. Though he knew if he said he got tired of talking about it, he would be lying. When they offered to put his name on the wall of donors he turned them down and told the manager to put up a big picture of the car instead, which he did, and as Joel used the upstairs cardio room to finish off on the same stair machine he always used, he got to look at a large banner of the 300, roaring down a straightaway with the background blurred behind it, hanging in the lobby and it made him smile every time.

Plugging away and nearly finished with his headphones in, sweat dropping steadily, Joel watched the various monitors with the morning news programs as the national and local blocks cycled through. Sometimes he’d read the ticker or captions while other times he’d just admire one of the rather good-looking, morning anchors on the local shows. As bizarre as he kept his schedule, he often came back to getting up early just because of the quiet time and knowing he had the whole day ahead no matter what he did. Everything was much more peaceful at 3am and when he made the drive from his shop, he scantly passed ten cars the whole trip. He looked around seeing more people filing in through the front to get their workout in before heading off to work and being glad he was not part of the rat-race. Without Sio around, he wasn’t planning to do much work on her car, which their agreement stipulated, but when the parts became separated from the car, then that was another matter. He smiled to himself at his cleverness.

Joel's Workout Playlist:

Aoki knew what hangover were. There were plenty of those during her early university years, but that had been years ago. This hangover made he feel old. Made her feel like shit and made her feel like it was the end of the world. That Saturday morning she woke up in her couch with her heels and bra still one-- something she would never do on a regular day. As soon as she opened her eyes, she felt the vomit raise from her gut and made her run to the bathroom as quickly as she could. Luckily she reached the toilet in time and cleaned up was averted. After a few more moments leaning against the toilet, Aoki took a long cold shower to help her headache and cement herself more into herself.

After the shower, Aoki had made her way up the stairs with Sötnos and Luci following her up to her bedroom. She only had a towel wrapped around her and another she was currently using to towel dry her hair. She was feeling a lot better after the shower, and the ache in her head was starting to wear off. While Aoki was quick to get drunk, she was also very resilient. As the woman approached her wardrobe something moved in her bed, she stopped as almost dropped the towel in her hands when she was a very very pretty woman sleeping in her bed with Sakura nestled next to her chest. She didn't remember meeting the woman that laid in her bed. She also didn't remember how Aoki got home from last night or what had happened. The last thing she remembered was The Sirens on stage and a girl with long blonde hair and one with short. Mari-something and Ash-something. She couldn't quite remember their names, but she definitely did not recall the woman in her bed.

Aoki then processed to wake up the woman, while still in her towel and question her about the whole night. The pretty woman, whose name was Xia, explained to Aoki what had happened during her drunken state. She also told her about the fight that broke shortly after and Aoki was quick to open up the news on her phone to see that the bar fight had turned into a whole club arrest. With that Aoki thanked Xia for taking care of her and gave the woman her personal bussiness card with her name and her personal email and number. To Aoki's luck, Xia didn't tell her about the embarrassing things she had told her or how Aoki had kept calling her "pretty lady" for almost an hour. At least she was spared that as Xia left Aoki's apartment.

Aoki vowed never to drink alone ever again.

---

---

Reports of a Zombie Confirmed False

Aoki read the small section of the newspaper from her laptop screen as she sipped her black coffee from a tall blue mug. The Coffee Pot was the only place in Sol that made their coffee strong enough for her to enjoy. Americans had such bland and sensitive tastes that this was the only place other than home where she would have her morning coffee. Aoki still had about two hours before heading to work, so killing some time here by herself reading the false zombie break and the interview with The Sirens was a rather nice way to spend it.

She was checking her emails when she saw one come in from a Marinalia Romus Olympus. Rather fancy name, maybe it was a client from another country inquiring about her art work? A rich person who was offering her to pay her a big sum of money for one of her paintings? "Oh!" It was the nice woman that she had met at the club on Friday. The one with the English accent. Had it been English? Aoki shrugged and quickly typed down a response.



She hit the reply button and looked up from her laptop screen to look around the building. There were quite a lot of people flooding in, but she didn't recognize any of them. Even so, Aoki appreciated the moments she had to herself and a nice cup of black coffee. Two hours. What could Aoki do with two hours other than reading the paper and watch people come and go from the establishment? She could take a walk in the park, or head over to Sawn Songs to see if any new albums from her favorite bands had been stocked. Perhaps she could do that instead of wasting her time in here watching people.

With her decision made, Aoki put her laptop away and drink the last drops of her coffee before slapping a tip on the table and leaving the building. She made her way down the street. As the days grew colder, Aoki dressed with more and more layers on. The cold was something she missed greatly from Sweden. Coats and scarves were something that Aoki had always had an obsession over. Today Aoki wore slim black trousers, tan heels, a white button-up shirt and a tan coat with a grey scarf that kept her neck and cheeks warm from the cold. While her clothes were rather tame and professional, the things that stuck out was always her very light blue colored hair, that was let down and curled in soft waves that framed her face. Aoki always did try to dress up for work, even if she didn't want to. She had to maintain a professional look amongst older co-workers that hard worked in the Sol Museum for so long.

As Aoki made her way inside the store, she was greeted by the warmth of the establishment and the smell of old paper. While the store had various kinds of music from various time periods, the older stuff was always placed at the front. It was something that Aoki loved about the store. She considered a traditon to browse through the cold music first to see if she could find any hidden gems amongst the old rcords. No such luck today, so she moved further back to check out the newer albums under the metal section.

---

---

Siobhan was finally done with the anatomy project she had been working on. As she called an Uber she got all of her paints, brushes, canvas, easel and folding chair. She was celebrating by painting in the park. She was tired of musculoskeletal system, nervous system, just tired of it all. She was doing a landscape. No people to worry about or paint. Just trees or ocean maybe the lighthouse. She pulled on socks, fleece lined black leggings, a long sleeved dark blue undershirt, a dark gray baggy knit sweater, an old jean jacket and a pair of white converse.

The Uber arrived and she went down to meet it. Putting all her tools in the trunk she hopped in and told the driver where she wanted to go. The light was perfect and she wandered past the middle of the park and appreciated the cool weather. She picked a spot where she could see the lighthouse in the distance but still had a view of the trees. The water was not calm but choppy which made it more interesting to paint.

Siobhan set up the easel and took out her camera in case she needed to work on it from home. Which was a possibility. Snapping a few pictures she put away the camera. She got her pallet set up and started on the sky.

The cool gray sky flowed across the canvas. Letting it dry she played with the color she had. She added a touch of black to darken it and just a dab of blue to the mixture for the water. Water met sky and blended. It was a little rough but coming together nicely.

Then her mind started to wander to a tall dark haired mechanic/race car driver and she knew that it was time to pack it up. She had given him some space and herself some time off to work on some things. She wanted to get some painting done and contact the galleria to see if they'd wanted to sell some of her work.

She needed to get a charity event taken care of as well. She thought about what she was going to paint and suddenly she had a brilliant idea. She would paint settings in Sol City. There were plenty of areas she could do. She do them at night and at different times of the day.

Snapping a few more pictures of the park she sat down on the grass and planned in her head her next line of work.

Saturday morning led Alex to waking up in a locked room. Given that he identified as male and he was taking hormones, he hadn't made the money to be able to legally change his name and gender or have corrective surgery yet it left officers a little stumped as to where to put him. Once told this Alex had a bit of a melt down and they decided solitude would be best. His little stunt left him in a few hours longer than he would have been otherwise, but he wasn't being outed and placed with women. They made him remove his binder and he spent the night with a blanket wrapped around himself in the fetal position sobbing. He felt so completely emasculated, like that his gender was completely invalid. The officers referred to him by his birth name and sneered at him as they did so. He refused to speak to any of them as he laid in bed crying.

Ann came running into the station as soon as she woke up and heard the message of her Alex sobbing on the phone. He shared what horrors he already endured before allowed a phone call and she was sure worse had happened. She demanded to speak to the chief and lucky enough he ordered his cakes from her bakery and say her immediately. Once explaining the situation he himself released Alex from police custody and into the arms of Ann. She caught the boy in loving arms and held him for a good while before shooing him to the bathroom to slip the binder back on. They arrived at the bakery and after a quick shower Alex set to work against Ann's orders. Sunday came and went and he was given Monday off.

Monday morning met him with the inability to sleep in, something he is used to. Looking at the time he decided to head over to the park and maybe get some photos of the wildlife creeping out for the day. He checked the weather after he shower and decided layers would be his best bet. He got dressed and made his way to his bike. The ride wasn't long, but he did stop to remove the jacket and scarf after a little while.

Arriving at the park the sun was starting to rise and Alex was at peace. Taking some photos of the sun rise behind trees and squirrels gathering food for the winter. He supposed the weather being off effected their natural habits. He tsk'd sadly and continued snapping photos. He noticed a couple jogging and thought they looked familiar and snapped some photos of them as they sat on a bench chatting. The woman rose and made her way over to him and he panicked. He'd been caught and was flushing like crazy. Once closer she spoke and he sighed in relief, it was the woman from the club. "Yeah, those cells were terrible," he lied. "'M Alex, sorry about the other night. I thought you were making fun of Thomas," he apologized, shaking her hand.

Paige Kennedy

Paige blazed away on the stair machine while her lips moved silently with the words of the song that piped through her earbuds. Since leaving the museum earlier, she hadn’t listened to anything and just drove in silence, thinking and being thoroughly disappointed with herself. The whole plan she had when she headed to confront Sammy that morning was thrown into disarray by the appearance of his wife and Paige had not been expecting her to be a match- Something about her was too.. familiar. She wasn’t sure how Shannon knew she was going to be there. Elvin was the only person that had any idea that she was going to check out the museum, but even he didn’t know exactly what time. Now things were much more complicated.

As sweat dropped on the moving stairway beneath her, Paige patted her face with a towel. Her braid was looking slightly disheveled as she’d done a long combination of weights and machines to vent out her frustration. Walking forwards, backwards, skipping steps and climbing one side at a time she wasn’t sure if she was really releasing stress or just punishing herself, she hadn’t even been in the mood to wear her normally confrontational red Diamonds jersey; instead choosing a more common, racerback turquoise tank top with snug, black capris and matching black sneakers. The capris had a pink band that ran around the waist that were their only distinguishing feature other than the sharp figure she cast while they were on her.

Finally relenting from another step-program she smacked the stop paddle and let the machine lower her to the floor and glanced around as she wiped more sweat away and hung the towel over her neck. Milo would tell her that she needed to chill, which coming from him was about the epitome of a pot calling kettle black moment. It made her smirk a little and she thought about what he was doing as she held the ends of the towel, dropped her shoulders and allowed herself to exhale deeply only closing her eyes for a second to center herself again. Maybe the gun range later? She could look forward to shooting him under the table as he tried to lower that handheld cannon he fancied at a target. Picking up her bag and storing away her earbuds she made her way out to the lobby giving a few small waves to those that recognized her as a regular.

Feeling depleted and not in the mood to go anywhere else after sweating her guts out, she again fell for the temptation of the Luna Sports Smoothie Bar. It was very good, but at near ten dollars a pop, it was a little pricey for her to indulge every time she worked out and normally she only bought one every week. She looked at the time on her phone, sent Milo a text and decided that after her day so far, this would have to be it for the week.

Paige's Workout Playlist:

@RoccanIronclad@PrinceAlexus

---

Marinalia finished up and climbed out the pool as her waterproof fit bit watch tracked the distences she had swam over the time, 5.2km was a fair distance and longer than she normaly did on a week day but her drive to exercise had been pretty strong and sadly was not getting the other kind at the momment so the pool would do fine.

Checking the stats her time per km was starting to get better again and now she had more time to swim thanks to her change of job, had averaged a good increase in distences covered over the week. Her emotions felt quite abit more stable now and the pool was a good theropy for her, the simple act of constant perfect strokes and diving turns kept her mind focused and let it rest abit. Somthing was helping how she felt and bqlencing her abit more. However it was achieved did not matter much, but her therapist would be happy to see progress and posetive changes, though not as much as Marinalia. Slowly she was putting Bob behind her, the possee and even feeling more calm about Joel. She did like him and would of wanted to try and make somthing of it but it seemed Siobhan had got her at disadvantage and apecpeted mostly it was a lost cause,only mote trouble to chase.

Sat on the side she stretched out her toes enjoying the feeling of the water and remembering happier times when she was a potential national hopeful. She still loved it, Just in a diffrent way of expressing her feelings. Heading out she stretched her legs, they where aching a a little from the intense workout but it was a good ache and one she had not felt in a while.

Heading back to changing room and going for a quick shower to get the chlorine out and make her hair feel less disgusting, it was one of the few things she disliked how her hair felt if she did not shower off. Of course that was how a romance had started when she was 18 with Victor her swim partner at time.... Oh broken locks and miskaken signs Thankyou. Everyone wondered why they where so in tune. The answer was secretly a a little more close.

Drying off her hair sat in the changing room running a brush though the long blonde straight hair down her back espechily when wet so it did not end up all tangled up and fairly tidy. It was mostly dry by the time she finished but that took a little time and buttoned back up the fitted blouse and jacket. Back in her neat uniform with a neat fitted skirt, bpuse and jacket with her gold wings. The airline had a reputation for old fashioned service and the uniform was that, a a little older, but customers seemed to love it and she had to admit with her figure it was pretty attractive.

Heading out with flight jacket on but not zipped for warmth, its wings and patches obvious, but she ews proud of what she did and never hid that part of her life. The weather was colder and her slightly damp hair was making her feel a a little cold, as her post swim self felt a a little more cooler than before.

Too early to want to go home, it was still morning and Victoria would likely be out till the afternoon with hospital and errands, maybe some social moments. Nare, she would go to the smoothie bar, it would perk her up after a pre dawn start for because of her lesson and the 5.2km swim on top. She definitely was not a morning person and had launched at the zombie story. The whole club peice made her cringe abit inside knowing they had been a catalyst however unintended.

Remembering, she had finaly found the wprds she needed. She was pretty neutral about things and the swim had given her time to think things over in a relative peace without the worlds distractions. Might as well be civil even if you could not persue what you had wanted. Her thinking had changed quite abit over past month or so. If Joel had not blocked her number.

Hey Joel. Hope you had a good trip to Japan. Friday was a abit of a disaster to say the least. Hope you and lady friend got out OK. Those bouncers where a bunch of gorilla's.

Thankyou for a candy it was delicious , and pikachu who is adorable. I could of brought one, but it would never mean as much as a gift. I always valued them far more than anything bought due to my childhood, and it stuck with me.

Thankyou!

Marlin... Now flight instructer. I'm back flying more than before! Love it! :) look to the sky!

Hitting sent and wary of him seeming with someone else leaving off the x and a attaching a pic of a cute pikachu tucked into the seat belt of her land rover like a rather big kid. She was serious, but also had a soft side too.

Typing out a quick reply to a email too, the woman she had helped, well that was easy, Victoria had the number and quickly replied saying she believed Ashton would be happy she passed it on, even upset of she did not. After being a victim she did not want to see other in symuch a state or hurt so, so she had a almost moral duty to help the drunk woman. Especially whit the creepers about. It did not bear thinking about what they would have done. It was lucky that the three woman had got that situation under control before anything bad could happen.

The woman seemed nice ernough, at least she was genuine and fairly friendly. That went a good way in this city in her book.

we got out early thanks to a lawyer so did not see Ashton. However my sister messaged her and she seems alright as can be despite everything, she a tough cookie.

I'm glad you got home safe, I was very vulnerable one night.and someone helped me. Id rather help than see someone hurt or exploited. I met Xia in passing before. You Don, t owe me anything.

Vika said it should be OK so il enclose her number. I'm sure a Ashton will be glad to know your safe.

Hope you have a good day.

MRO

Sending the email. Yeah she would likely be glad to make a new cm contact knowing Ashton from her nature and description. The Jazz night definitely had definitely changed her, maybe a fraction for the better once the scars began to lessen.

Walking back cheerfully to grab a smoothie, long blonde hair bouncing abit as she walked and it was more dry and lighter she headed to grab a smoothie to boost her energy and give a a little perk up while she decided where to go next. Her hand bag in the crook of her arm, and a small gym bag in a rather unapologetic pale pink hanging off her shoulder throwing off the elagent woman look slightly.

Banana buzz please, extra mango if you can.

Smiling and flirting slightly with the guy behind, he was definitely younger than she was but hey, if it got her extra mango it entirely harmless and she was single so even if it ended up somewhere it was not a problem. The odds where it never went anywhere.m, just abit of fun. Thr place was definitely not cheap, expensive to be true but it had a nice atmosphere and everything was clean, the WiFi fast and free.

Paying with a swipe of her card a a little tinkling laugh, she headed back out to sit down and things where abit packed so sat down next to a taller blonde, who looked a tad intense and like she should reconise the woman, strange she definitely was familiar. Like Victoria almost described her...

Maybe she should remember but she had seen so many faces that club night. With a softer British accent with a well spoken nature, her cool grey eyes noted the woman was definitely not quite normal. She definitely had been having a intense work out from the slightly tired look. Unless a early morning worker.

Sorry about this, place is abit busy for a Monday morning.

These are great after a long swim, almost better than coffee...

Going quietly back to her drink, she merely relaxed abit and nudged her uniform skirt down because it did not done so we with the only seats at the bar height. crossing her well toned legs partly not wanting to be indecent getting down again later on. Pulling her leather jacket abit tighter as someone left letting in a breze from the colder outdoors. This had nothing on Alaska though, now that was way too cold!

Excuse me. You just look like we may have met before.

Polite, she sipped her smoothie with a glittering ice blue ring on a opisite engagement finger again, it did help reduce the jet count acting like she had a fiance though. As her family had taught her, survive however it takes, dirty tricks and all.

Thinking things over. Sol city was definitely a a time she would remember, and hopefully tell her children of maybe one day.

@Pilatus

"Make it stop," a young man cursed under his breath as he blindly searched for his cellphone. An alarm was going off for quite some time now, first blending with his dreams before snapping him to the cold and harsh reality of an early Monday morning. "Early... Monday-" his eyes widened in shock as he saw the time. It was far from early. It was even further from a morning.

Springing up to his feet like a cat, he stumbled across the room as he tried reaching the bathroom. He told himself he'd use this Monday to start being productive, creative. It was his first week in a new city after all. It was two days ago that he had first landed to Sol City, but he gave himself the weekend off. To unpack, get comfortable with the new surroundings, his new apartment. Well, a rented one. But it served the purpose well. Not big enough to host a party, but he had to think about making some friends before even considering hosting a party of any kind. Half eaten baklava was still on the work desk, his mother's welcoming present. She always knew he was a fan of sweets. It remained uneaten on a plate next to a blank sheet of paper and a laptop. He had tried drawing yesterday, but ended up watching random videos long into the night.

He deserved some time to cool all of the excitement off, at least he told himself that.

Checking his social networks was his favorite morning routine, an addiction even. Took him a while to answer some of the messages before he came across a menacing one from none other than his little sister.

[KIDDO, 7:15 AM] "Don't forget to get some exercise in every now and then. Healthy mind is in a healthy body. XOXOX <3"

How she had the energy to be so active, Ash had no idea. But then again, maybe she was right. A good way to start the day, even if it was halfway done, would be to go for a little run. What could go wrong? He erased the excuse he had written, answering the message with a single muscle emoji.

From what little he had informed himself of the city's layout near his apartment complex, there was a park in the vicinity. He could run there and do a couple of laps around, ending the session at a nearby store. Pick something for lunch. The baklava won't exactly fill his munchies forever. As he got dressed into sweatpants, army colors, and a short sleeved black shirt with a basketball design on it, Ash cracked his knuckles.

"Let's put this theory to the test!"

---

The weather was colder than when he first came to the city. Two days had certainly made a lot of changes, but he didn't particularly mind. Colder weather was always more appreciated than hot, if Ash was asked. Not that he was. The park quickly got into his reach, a blessing in the eyes of the young man.

"What the hell is this, couple of laps my ass. I'm dying..." Ash gasped as he forcefully brought himself to a stop. Reaching the park was more than enough for him to feel like keeling over. His chest was about to burst open, his heart unaware of properly beating anymore. He laughed at his own lack of stamina as he remembered he was probably stupid not to take a bottle of water with him.

"Genius."

Finding a quiet place in the park was not too hard, as Ash figured most people would have still be working. Or at class. Or whatever people were doing awake this early. This early. He laughed at his own statement. The blood must have gotten to his head. Finding a bench to flop down, Ash noticed that he might have heard the choir of angels coming for him.

Yes, that was the only logical explanation. The sound of voices echoing in his head, as if reaching down to take him to heavens. His heart should have returned to normal by now. Maybe this was the reason why. He closed his eyes, calming down, even dozing off for a split second. As his body had calmed down, he realized it was not the choir of angels singing, but someone in his vicinity. Accompanied by the sound of a guitar.

Like an eagle, Ash moved his head left and right, up and down, searching for the source. And there it was. A brown pup cheerfully singing- no, that was not right. His owner was close by, a boy in a rainbow hoodie, guitar in his hands.

Not wanting to disturb the boy, who had headphones on and was obviously trying to shut himself out. Or at least that's what Ash had assumed. Unfortunately, he was not good at not disturbing other people. His nature of being a spontaneous loud mouth got the better of him each time.

He got up, slowly walking towards the boy. Coughing to get his attention, but it did not seem to work. Instead, Ash got down to his knees and prompted the pup to come to him. He hoped it would not backfire and the dog would not attack him.

He had a goofy smile on his face as he thought about the possibility.

"No hard feelings, Alex." Karishma shook his hand. Now that there were no flashing lights or loud music she could really see what Alex really looked like. He was almost the same height as her and his hair looked really soft. "I was more interested in Thomas. Loved the suit he was wearing. Too bad our conversation was cut short with the fight." She hadn't been able to see much that night but from what she read on the news and what her agent told her she knew it had been really ugly. She was glad they had been a few steps away from the main groups that started the fight. A girl had been hit over the head with a bottle and another pepper sprayed. Must have been really ugly.

"Glad we are all out now and I hope those who started the fight get their time. I feel bad for the one who got hit on the head." Karishma had heard she was a firefighter and was only trying to calm the people in the group but the groupies had just escalated things. "Now I can say that I have been to jail twice." She chuckled to herself and ran a hand through her hair.

"So, what are you doing later?" Karishma still had to lay low so that meant no more parties for two weeks. She had a few auditions later this week but those usually lasted a few hours and she had to record her album later on in the day. She had most of the day off to do what she pleased. "Gabe and I are going to hit the Strip and shop for a bit. Want to tag along? I still want to buy you a drink, Alex." She winked at him just as she slipped on her shades back on. "C'mon, it'll be fun! No one can say no to free drinks, or food, if you don't drink." Karishma just wanted someone to keep her company as she went on to shop. Gabe didn't like shopping and he would often complain that he was bored and Alex looked like a fun guy to have around. Not to mention she was curious about him.

Unbeknownst to the blonde musician, his trusty pupper Toasty was busy chasing after whatever passed his line of sight. He went from a pretty flower, to being distracted by a passerby, to trying to catch his own tail. It was pretty comical seeing the small vested dog try to focus his attention on one thing before ultimately succumbing to the sight of something far more interesting. In the midst of finally grabbing onto his tail, Toasty lost his balance and eventually rolled onto his side. Then his back. He started wriggling in all kinds of directions, rolling to and fro. He was having a great time not having to think about anything, but despite his few minutes of freedom, the pup always made sure to look back at his owner. He looked back at him right before he got distracted by anything else. And while he was doing such, the brown dog's eyes immediately caught sight of another human on his knees, staring right back at him.

Was he trying to hurt Capella? No, maybe he was just exercising or something. But if that was the case...why was he still staring? With the way the man was positioned, it reminded Toasty of how Capella's mom would try to get his attention. Not to mention Capela has been telling him not to chase people off if they got too close. Maybe this could be his time to show Capella how much better he's gotten!

Much like with what happened in the hospital, Toasty trotted over to the kneeling man, tail wagging and tongue hanging out in anticipation. And once he was close enough, the little pupper leaned forward and sniffed the stranger's hand, tilting his head curiously before his eyes landed on said stranger's sweatpants. Without warning, Toasty latching himself onto the slightly damp fabric before sinking his teeth into the stranger's thigh. Of course he had a justifiable reason for doing such, that being his blankets at home just so happened to be the same design and color, but it didn't really help his case when it came to biting a complete stranger.

Meanwhile, Capella continued to play to his heart's content, missing only a few notes here and there because a few text messages caught him off guard. Thankfully his hearing was sharp enough to get back on track despite the hiccups. Professionalism, it was something Capella strongly strives for and was glad that even with his disadvantage he would still have fun and make a career out of what he loves. When he was finished with the song, he let out a quiet sigh to catch his breath before sliding his headphones off his ears and to his neck.
"Maybe I should try a faster song, some thing more compl--" He immediately straightened at the sound of Toasty's playful growls and could only gasp at what he 'saw'. Since the sun was up and there was plenty of light in the area, Capella was able to make out a blurry figure as well as what he would assume is his dog to his side. He couldn't tell what they were doing, but the humanoid figure did look kind of small...were they crouching or did Toasty attack some little kid?!

Too flustered and embarrassed to think any further, Capella set the guitar down to his other side and grabbed his walking stick before scrambling up to his feet. After a few seconds of cautious shuffling towards the two, Capella opened his mouth.
"Toasty!" The blonde called out, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt the pupper rub up against his leg. At least he stopped doing whatever he was doing. Shaking his head slightly, Capella crouched down so that he was at the same level as the stranger. And although he wasn't staring directly at the man in front of him, his reflective eyes were at it again, giving off the impression that his gaze was multicolored. Green from the grass, steel as its natural color and black from the man's shirt lined up perfectly withing his eyes like an ombre layer cake. "I'm so sorry! I should have been paying attention...a-are you okay? Do you need help? Sh-Should I go get someone?" Capella prayed that this person wouldn't need to go to the hospital or anything like that. His worried look only grew sadder at the thought as he attempted not to pout, but failed miserably in the process.

THOMAS LANCASTER

---

"Alright, here we go. Nice and hot." The man in the nice dark-colored suit brought two identical dishes back to the table. Nothing could be compared to a late bacon, eggs and sausages breakfast. Well, assuming if you have it from time to time, the taste would be incomparable.

Pressing the joystick in front of him ever so slightly, the wheels of his chair inched by less than a quarter of its perimeter, pushing his chest close to the table. The moment he was laying his hand on the utensils, someone appeared right beside him. Turning his head around, he saw Victoria, the girl the other day from Club Aether. The Earth surely is round.

"Hello. Nice to meet you again." Thomas replied, as his eyes periodically glanced over to the man in the corner of the table. He took it upon himself that there was a personal conversation going on that he may intrude, so the man, seemingly in his mid-thirties, gave a slight but polite smile, raised his hand before continuing his lunch. As nice as he is formal, he is one gentleman.

"I was not involved, but was directly affected by it. And I tell you, I'm not at all pleased. But anyway, reminding bad memories wouldn't do much." He said, his hand adjusting his joystick smoothly as he rotated his chair a little to comfortably face her, as she asked how he knew she was a computer person. Looks like she's a little oversensitive here. A computer person is a personality type. He didn't see anything wrong about referring to someone by their personality or their passion. He did that all the time. But for the benefit of the relationship, he'd swept that under the rug for now.

"I don't know how I got under your skin, but I apologize if I did. But anyway, it isn't entirely a solid guess." He replied, as he looked over to her hand. "I saw rigidity in your hand when you held your cup, something that people who types a lot has. And by that I mean hours of typing. But the rest for me is mostly intuition, as someone who has worked in that part for a long while now."

He smiled before continuing, looking up a little bit. "I'm currently working for my doctorate in Artificial Intelligence. It's actually quite interesting if you like to learn more about the zeroes and ones. I guess you can say I am more of reading than writing codes now, but that's just the nature of PhDs."

"And yeah, thanks for the compliment. The truth is, I don't have any of the common clothes that you guys usually wear. I mean I don't go to metal clubs like that much, mostly semi-formal parties and things like that. Call me pedantic if you wish." He shrugged his two hands in a dry but joking manner. "Anyway, which fields of computer do you work in?" He curiously asked, now that she really confirmed his guess.

@PrinceAlexus

---

---

Ethan was up bright and early for his run with Giovanni keeping him in sight but back far enough not to be a distraction. He was just working up a sweat as his phone went off. It was his alarm for the morning and he looked around seeing The Coffee Pot he strolled in. It was early enough that he only saw one person in the shop. A man in a wheelchair...he had seen at the club? Maybe.

The welcome smell of roasted beans and pastries he sat down in a corner table where he could keep an eye on the door. He pulled out his phone and was typing away on it as Victoria walked in. He smiled she hadn't seen him yet. He watched her interact with the man in the wheelchair who he passed by on his beeline for a quiet out of the way table. Not many people here but he knew it would be busy soon.

Ethan looked up and saw Giovanni loitering across the street looking like he was reading the paper. They made eye contact and Giovanni looked down at his watch. A signal that he had just a few minutes before he needed to move on. Radio spot and all that jazz. He sighed and got up. He strolled over to Victoria and the man in the wheelchair. “Hello there little Victoria. Looks like you made it through the weekend just fine. As well as you sir.” Ethan fluffed her hair as he leaned over her holding his hand out for the gentleman to shake. He leaned into her as he did so. He smiled knowing that he hadn't worked up a sweat yet so he wasn't wet.

Xia found herself taking a cab home after leaving from Aoki's home. Funny how different she was when she wasn't drunk. Still amusing but happy that she was back to normal. After leaving her beautiful cats and comfy home along with keeping each other's contact information, Xia felt happy that she did a good deed. most of all, didn't get arrested.

Upon coming home Xia walked in the door, only to get a call from her mother once again, hearing that her cousin, Carlo was said to be heading to Sol City without Xia's consent. This was something Xia was absolutely against. She damn sure was not going to share her place with her lying, stealing, shady ass cousin. She had to cut the conversation short so not to go off on her mother about the situation. Xia felt that if this bastard comes to her apartment, she was not opening the door for his ass and in fact, pretend she don't even know him.

Xia walked to the bathroom, pulling off the articles of clothing to get a shower. Thinking about Ashton, Mari, and Aoki, Xia figured they all should go somewhere that they could hopefully have a peaceful moment to hang out together. Shortly after her bath, she checked her phone to see a text from her cousin and immediately deleted the message while going to put on a dress with stockings and boots, heading off to the haven Square mall.

Nothing really eventful happened other than just finding some new shoes she wanted to wear for work and for going out in. She ran into one of her co-workers at the food court, saying their hellos and talking about what happened the night before. The conversation didn't last long, which was a good thing since Xia really was not in the mood to talk. She had the day off so...afterwards, she went back home to clean and rest until Monday.

---

Refreshed from relaxing Sunday, Xia walked into the facility knowing she had 3 people she was going to train today. The first this morning was going to be that of an obese young male that she's been working with for the past 3 weeks now, checking up on his progress with his dieting and mentioned what they were going to work on today before getting started.

The second person she would work with is a girl that was needing to get in shape so to be able to model. That was something Xia thought about getting into but just the thought of showing off her body for pervs to check her out in magazines, that creeps her out a little for the fear of having a stalker she'd have to murder. The third person is the elderly woman she usually works with, Miss Pelayo. Quiet feisty but very entertaining to talk to. She reminded her of her grandmother.

it was close to noon when Xia went to take a break and walked around the facility texting her mother about the situation with her cousin, getting pleas from her mother to take him in when he gets there. Well, he actually was already in town but Xia never answered her phone when he called her and still refused to speak to him.

It was then while Xia was walking that she noticed the short blond haired girl she met before, Mari. She stopped texting and smirked, heading over to Mari to speak to her once again. Well ain't this a pleasant surprise! She said in a tone to get Mari's attention.

---

Victoria was recovered from her evening in a cell though being more frail than should be had meant the night was not good for her Saturday, she would recover further but that was a gradual process and would be months before she could say her fitness and balence would be anything in a normal range. Some things too time to heal and you just had to go with how our body wanted to be at the time.pushing her self too hard would only make her worse and less able to do things than more.

She was a computer person, and that was part of her life but after previous experiences she was a a little sensetive to being judged for a aspect not a whole. Media especially where guilty and considered a form a pond scum on a nuclear contaminated like in her opinion. Especially when they had gone after her as part of there attacks on her father, him fine. Family Was off limits, well should be.

Small world. Very small!

Yeah. Everyone's alive at end of day, that what matters. Umm... Well I been judged for things before, not posetively like my families professions etx so. It's sometimes a sore point. That's kinda true. My keyboard with all code keys worn away would give me away faster.

Giving a well that makes sense shrug at the observation, it was not far off the money at all but the guess on the personality was a a tricky but correct. The field drew a certain type of person and usually high level skills meant you had some faults that ran counter to the abilities. It was a pretty natural observation just from walking into her part of thr building at work, past several key card doors. Least your handbag was safe with all thr guards and cameras.

that's intresting. I've seen it tested in a few applications in my field, but honestly. It's not quite yet matched existing systems under human control yet. I was self taught, i been to classes but no real degree or anything.

Oh me. I'm a cyber security specialist, mainly encryption systems and advanced defense systems. I also built a few things for my own use to. I used to do coding and so but it never tested my skills.

Given the recent cyber crime rise. I've been rather busy.

She kept it mostly vague but also not, in reality she had done quite abit more including a rather cunning way to make secure traffic on a open radio frequency, advanced oscillating and adapting security codes and more besides. When in a darker time she fell into the darker side of the field, well Victoria had learned alot. More than ernough to be fairly capable in her field at a fairly young age. But a few of those where not illegal but not always so considered a entirely above board aspect of her work. Smiling at the orange comment, it was watching them work out what to make of a man so obviously breaking the natural colour scheme and throwing off there perceived logic.

I thought it was fun.

Ans I'm kinda... Well I changed alot recently. I liked the music but not quite fitted in for a while.

Thanks. Forget about firday night snapping at you and start fresh?

Handing over a older card with "Lady de winter coding" and a mobile number that linked to hers via a few little tricks. She had ones for her current job but Blacjshield was hardly a moral and upstanding orgonisation at times.

Her suprise was peaked when Ethen came up behind her and played with her hair that made her jump slightly and her eyes flashed a ice grey before warming back up when she relised who it was. She was annoyed at him a tiny bit but also her dwrkwide peaked and wondered abit about why and what made him tick abit more. He was definitely a confident person and did not mind getting close to her. Slightly forward but he definitely would not be a boring person at a least. Her feelings where rather split on Ethen for sure. Giving him a smile and instiively nudge some hair out her eye line that got dislodged of smooth raven black and blues.

Though this time the I'm intrested side took over and her pale grey eyes sparkled a little bit it seemed with curiosity.

Little. Good things come in small packages now. Fine, Saturday aching alot though. Thanks to a lawyer though. We where out by breakfast. Never a boring night in Sol city!

Ummm. Little forward but want to meet me for a quiet meal one day? You have peaked my intrest Mr rockstar.

Do you want to know more...

Blushing a tiny fraction as atchually asking him out instead of the pathway round, this definitely was a new Victoria and she was not sure where the confidence came from to do it but she was not regretting it. Smiling at her Geeky little joke, Victoria was in a good mood and was honest about her nature.

Sol city, and her new self was definitely taking some getting used to and she gave Thomas a sorry but not sorry look about it. The situation was strange but everyone probbly could joke about it after mwards over a beer and vodka and coke. Ethen was still close to her and definitely was not backing off, it certainly would be abit of fun if nothing else. With a rather confident gesture that felt right, trusting her instincts after looking round that no one else was watching. The cafe was quiet and only Thomas, some staff and his professor it seemed.

Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek that was closest, it felt very liberating to let her inner nature free. Stop being the shy ghost like woman and live her life properly. Sure this might be a huge mistake but it was better to make a mistake than regret not trying somthing and watch from the aide lines.

so call me maybe?

Ps Don,t check your left pocket if others can see.

Giving a smile she slid a card with her number into his pocket and backed off her slightly shameless flirt as a staff member walked back over to clean some tables. Eyes flashing more icey recognising the person moving close lr to there side of the cafe. She was a careful person thanks to her father not alway beinf thr media good books. The last sentence was delivered practically with a extremely quiet whisper adjusting her accent to pure English a second before sliding back into her more natural accent after.

This definitely was alot more fun than just watching others take risks. If things came to it well there Manor was extremely private and as long as you approached quietly, once inside the house rear section was not overlooked and the walls rigged with alarms, sensors and cameras would give plenty of warning of any attempts to tress pass. The only side you could even see into was the front gates.

@Almalthia@Conscripts