Dominique

The Coming Tide of War

I was hoping to finish my CS for a male character as well, but it's 2am and I need sleepies. This is still a WIP, but for now I guess it gives you an idea of what I want my first character to be like!

Appearance

Lilianna is 5'5" tall, with copper-shaded hair, vivid green eyes and a disarming smile.
Name:Lilianna Beaufort
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual – actually, oblivious would be more fitting, as she's very inexperienced.
Occupation: Horse trainer/ Stable girl (and estranged daughter of a viscount and his wife).
Weaponry: Lily wields a bow and arrow for hunting; a skinning knife as well as a carving knife, carefully sheathed.
Apparel: She wears comfortable dresses of several layers for keeping warm. Each layer of the skirt has a slit running up to her thighs at different angles for added comfort (and revealing nothing) while riding horses. Over her daily attire she'll usually wear a woollen cloak.
Equipment: Furs for sleeping, a pendant bearing her family crest as proof that she's of noble heritage, a leather water skin, a small assortment of herbs for various purposes and a comb and soap (because cleanliness is a virtue).
Skills: Lily is a more than decent archer, although her skills are limited almost entirely to hunting animals. She is able to skin animals and prepare them for cooking; Lily can make a mouth-watering meal with just a potato and a dead squirrel. Above all she's an excellent horse rider with an affinity for animals in general and the noble equine creatures in specific.
Magical abilities: Healing; most significantly mending cuts and abrasions, but she also possesses the ability to ease a person's perception of pain or stress, soothing their nerves as it were. Lilianna is not a well practised mage and most her abilities are likely dormant or in dire need of improving.

Personality: Lily is a sweet girl, a bit on the naive side and a somewhat odd mixture of noble heritage and farmer girl upbringing. Her mannerisms and politeness stem from what she's been taught as a child, even if her current life really doesn't lend itself for impeccable manners and straight posture. Her caring nature befits her healing abilities and she's generally friendly and open towards the townsfolk in a way that could almost be considered endearing.

Backstory:Lily is originally from Griffinmont, her family of lower noble ranking. She was brought up like a proper little lady, but when her magical affinity became apparent at an early age, her parents decided it would be best not to have her raised in one of the most densely populated and harshly judgemental places of the kingdom, and so Lily spent most her life growing up in Sinegi, a small town in the relative north of Ecen. The frozen mountains have been like sleeping giants, lurking on the distant horizon almost as a warning, but Lily has been blissfully unaware of any truth to the rumours that surround the mythical north. Sinegi is a quiet town with few travellers. It has less than two hundred inhabitants, most of which are farmers and hunters. Surprisingly, the ground is rather fertile and though the harsher climates make the area only suitable for growing sturdy vegetables like carrots and potatoes, the village is pretty much self-sustaining.

Lily has been living in with her aunt Margaret and uncle Claas from the tender age of eight and grew up working at the horse farm that has been in their family for generations. The Beaufort horses are pure blooded creatures, strong, healthy and particularly composed, making them extremely suitable for battle. Which is likely why their mounts are almost exclusively sold to the royal army itself, despite the considerable distance between Sinegi and the capital. Lily has been hauling bails of hay, lugging pails of water and brushing the grand horses from the moment she could lift a full bucket and when she got older, she was allowed to break in and ride the animals as well. Her magical abilities were something that her aunt and uncle neither encouraged nor discouraged, and although Lily rarely has need of her healing skills, her occasional display of what she's capable of made the entirety of the small town all too aware that they have a mage in their midst. But the Sinegians are loyal folk and Lilianna is a girl easy to like; no one ever speaks ill of her and no outsider would know she's any different from the rest of the villagers.

Guardians Rising

Off to bed soon, but just wanted to express my interest first :) Sounds like it could be great!

The Coming Tide of War

I want to express my interest. It's been a long time since I've been in a group RP but I love epic fantasy adventures and this one could be really great!

Patience

The idea of a little get-together in their old neighbourhood was a pleasant surprise to the girl. “Saturday or Sunday? I have to work at St. Joseph's this weekend. Actually, I'll figure it out,” she instantly corrected herself. Julie was still lying mostly flat on her back, enduring the not-so-pleasant sensation of the needle gun doing its work. Riley was a diligent worker with a lot of talent, and every time Julie managed to catch a glimpse of her efforts she'd be more and more at peace with her decision. Lying there thinking wasn't the best way to keep her courage up, though, so she gladly chatted away at the tattoo artist, or Mark or even Robin, currently manning the desk, just to keep her mind distracted from the inevitable moment where she'd have to show the rest of the world just what she'd been up to. But Mark didn't need to know how nervous that made her; it always seemed particularly important that he didn't think her the coward she probably was.

“Suzie's gonna go mental when she finds out about the contract, you know.” Julie's little sister was about as big of a rock fan as Mark himself and would gladly harass him about the classics, his band and everything else. If she'd been older surely she'd have been the one to hit the venues with Julie when Reckless Life was playing. Unfortunately, she'd only just turned fifteen and Mommy Lancaster wasn't quite so willing to watch her baby girl grow up just yet. “You've grown up much too fast,” she'd complain to Julie. “Let me enjoy my two lil' ones while I still can.”

Eric and Susannah, despite being twins, stood in sharp contrast to one another. In fact, where Suzie was a devoted Mark groupie, Eric and Bryce got along in a way that had surprised even Julie. It was a bit of a relief, really, since Susannah and Bryce were a bit like oil and fire. Another thing her sister and her best friend had in common, she supposed.

“Right, looks like my work is done.”

The incessant buzzing of the needle that Julie had long stopped hearing, finally ceased and now the only noise was the more subdued drone of John West working on Mark's arm. Her right side felt like it had been sunburnt, but although she was dying to find out what Riley had managed to conjure up, the moment she was allowed to stand the first thing she did was try and steal a glimpse of Mark's work in progress. Not that she was even remotely successful; he was angled away from her as if the two men had done it on purpose.

“Aren't you curious at all what it looks like?” inquired a slightly amused Riley. Julie's attention was returned to the dark-haired beauty.

“Yes, very much,” she nodded and gladly padded after her to the standing mirror on the far end of the parlour. Her shirt was still twisted and tied together to stay up to chest height, and although her skin looked a little inflamed, the end result was way beyond what she had expected. There was no denying that Riley was an artist in her own right, and she'd managed to turn what had seemed to be a serene, yet somewhat simplistic depiction of a flower branch into a true piece of art, with perfect shading, colouring, depth and all drawn in a way that seemed to tell a story rather than just depict an image. The slender twigs seemed to sprout from right behind the waistband of her denim shorts, climbing up along the natural curve of her body. The little birds held her captivated for even longer than the pink, fragile flowers. Something about them affected her in a way that was both uplifting and sad all at once, though she couldn't quite explain why.

It was executed in a way that (though unbeknownst to Julie at this point) offered a sharp contrast to the sensual, graphic and so very alluring image depicted on Mark's upper arm. It was gentle and a little modest, even though it covered a far more significant part of her torso than even Julie had really anticipated. Surely Mark would at least be impressed that she had foregone the 'easy' option of having a little anchor on her wrist or a trail of stars on her ankle. No, it had become a bold expression in a sweet and gentle shape, and the longer Julie stared at herself in the mirror, the more she realized that it suited her to a tee.

“Wow...” she said softly, and it was clear she was a little overwhelmed. It was only when Mark inquired how it looked that the girl sprung to life again and although it was difficult to tear her gaze away from her reflection, she was growing increasingly curious about Mark's work of art. “You show me yours and I'll show you mine?” she said coyly, keeping the lower half of her body twisted away.

“You really oughta wait til I've finished the lines,” the owner's son pointed out; naturally, Julie agreed.

“Can I still show Mark?” she asked him, which he clearly considered to be a silly question but it was just Julie trying not to seem impolite. A one-sided smile tugged at her lips as she whimsically raised her eyebrows. “I bet it's a lot bigger than you expected,” she told her friend, “But I really love it.” There was still a hint of shyness to her before she turned so that he could look at the right side of her body.

“Do you remember when we would play in the garden, way back when?” she said absently, her eyes again wandering her lower body with fascination. The words she'd picked were written in graceful letters, curving along with the subtle motions of the slender twigs as if they were part of the branches altogether. “That cherry tree had always been a thorn in my dad's side. It was in your yard but half the branches extended into ours and he'd grumble so much about all the little leaves drifting on his koi pond. He never really cares for much but that stupid pond is still his pride and joy. I loved those pink flowers though, well, I guess there wasn't anything pink that I didn't love, and when dad agreed with your mom that he was allowed to cut off the branches I was so sad.”

She smiled faintly upon reminiscing. “You'd snap off little twigs from the tree in spring and bring them over. We even tried planting them in my yard so I'd have a tree of my own! That never worked out, though.” A sidelong glance towards Mark made her pause, and the little smirk faded.

“You don't even remember, do you?” she realized, and Julie blushed embarrassedly at that. “Oh God, I guess that's two for two on being too sentimental, huh. You know, you could've warned me a little sooner so I could've gotten a sexy naked mythical hero on my arm instead.” She prodded teasingly at his (blank) arm, glad to have conjured up some sort of distraction. “Sorry, I peeked,” she admitted. But tease though she might, it was only a moment before she reconsidered her words, finding that even if she was being altogether sentimental, it just didn't matter. Not really.

It felt much like the two friends were at a crossroads of sorts, and somewhere, Julie worried that they would be turning into paths that wouldn't reconnect quite as often as they had done in the past. Things were going to be different, what with Mark's future looking so promising now, and with her about to graduate and head off into a life of -- of – well, she may not be entirely sure yet on the details, but there would likely be a time of moving in with Bryce, of relocating to Miami or New York or somewhere else completely new. Maybe even wedding plans...

Julie couldn't help wonder what Mark would have to say if Bryce actually popped the question. Kelsey and Selene had been hyping her up about it for weeks now and although Julie had no reason to believe that Bryce was at all eager to get down on one knee and present her with a no doubt hilariously expensive diamond, she was confident that it fit right into his perfect plan of their future together. Julie wasn't sure how she felt about it yet; it all seemed so official, so... final.

She shrugged the thoughts away with a brief shake of the head. The little drawn rose petals offered a comforting sight and she gladly lingered on the birds at the very top of it, situated on the side of her rib cage. They were fairly nondescript creatures, no doves or crows or humming birds, just – plain little darkly coloured bird silhouettes, expressive in their positions only. One was already off into the sky, its head turned down towards the other, as if to encourage it to follow. The second one was still perched atop the little twig, its wings in the process of unfolding and setting off into the sky to join its other half.

“You know what, it doesn't matter. It's perfect,” she decided, ending her doubts and insecurities once and for all. Julie finally looked up at Mark properly, still seeking some sort of confirmation that she was doing the right thing. Part of her worried about the implications of doing something so outrageous, so well out of her comfort zone without any regard for possible consequences. But in this moment she couldn't care less what the world thought; her body, her decision. It wasn't so simple, of course, but for now everyone else could wait. Which said a lot, coming from Julie.

“You know I can't afford to pay for this myself,” she told him reluctantly, “And it's a little late to tell you not to spend so much money on me. But can I at least buy you dinner, or order pizza and ice cream back in the apartment then spend half an hour deciding on a movie before putting the Usual Suspects on?” Julie relaxed her posture, finally lowering her right arm. “We don't hang out together much anymore – not like this. Though...” And she stole a glance at the beautiful picture on her torso. “...I hope I don't have to get a tattoo every time I want to have you to myself for a while.”

Patience

I got a bit lost in detail I think. I still have half a post in replies and random tidbits that I couldn't use cos it'd just be too much...Also, is it even possible to describe a tattoo and NOT sound totally cheesy about it? :D

Patience

“Wait, what?”

How Mark's words still managed to catch her off-guard was beyond Julie. She supposed that somewhere she had still thought that he wasn't that crazy and had only brought her here to show off what new ink he was getting. Really, she should have known better though. “You're insane,” she said, gaping at the plethora of tools that stood neatly next to every seat lined up against the far side of the establishment. The place could easily be mistaken for a rather eccentric sort of beauty parlour, and a professional one at that. This went way beyond a pedicure and highlights though, and the mere thought of what her parents, what Bryce would think if they discovered she'd permanently marked her own body -– well, it wasn't pretty. Julie shrank almost visibly upon inadvertently envisioning the words of accusal, of disapproval that she'd have to endure for it. It didn't even matter what her own opinion on the matter was, really; she just knew she'd much rather avoid such confrontation. But just as she was ready to spin around and flee from the curious gaze of the exceptionally beautiful looking receptionist lady and from the store altogether, there was Mark's hand grabbing hold of her wrist as if he knew she was going to run. It stopped her dead in her tracks before she'd even started moving at all and Julie rather sullenly stared at her friend, trying to gather her own thoughts. There was a look in his eyes that she knew all too well. Mark was daring her to do this – no, daring her to dare do this.

He'd always been the one to challenge her to things that were wildly out of her comfort zone. When they were young they'd been silly things, stupid things like jumping into a pond together when they could barely swim or drinking a full gallon of chocolate milk – that had been particularly disastrous – and sneaking into a late night horror marathon at the local theatre that gave her nightmares for three months after. Each and every one of them had been terrifying, and yet she never regretted doing them at all. As scary as new things were to Julie, they were also adventurous and thrilling and fun and among her fondest memories. And despite the expectant look he gave her, Julie knew she could still say no to Mark, even if he clearly wanted her to whole-heartedly say yes. Even if she bolted now, if she ran scared and admitted to not wanting to get a tattoo because it was permanent and scary and painful and lots of other reasons that were really all very sensible, then there would be no repercussions. No angry glares, no silent treatment, no looks of disappointment or uncomfortable reminders in any random argument to follow. He'd still be her friend and they'd still be okay. They were always okay.

It was that and only that which caused Julie to rethink her initial opinion, and as her gaze deviated from Mark to the many, quite amazing looking tattoos that adorned the dark-haired woman who had by now stepped out from behind the neon-lit counter, she felt her nerves slowly settle. Her heart beat still felt elevated, but rather than being nervous there was a far more enjoyable, more exciting sensation boosting her adrenaline levels. Suddenly it didn't seem like something she shouldn't do just because it wasn't the appropriate thing to do anymore. Contrary even, a more defiant part to the usually so eager to please girl wanted to go out and do this because no one she knew would expect it, let alone approve. No one but Mark anyway, and probably Rebecca. In her head she could already hear the girl loudly applaud Julie for 'growing a pair', as she would so bluntly describe it.

“Hey there,” the receptionist girl welcomed the two of them. Her head quizzically inclined, she took in both Mark and Julie before settling her gaze on the latter. “Welcome to New West. You're looking to get some ink done today? Did you have an appointment?”

Julie refrained from answering, gladly letting Mark do the talking. As suspected, this had been a pretty spur of the moment idea, although she wondered if this was what he had drunkenly promised her the night before. Drunk ideas were rarely good ideas, but perhaps this could be the golden exception.

The girl nodded after Mark's explanation, and her toothy smile widened; the red lipstick made her teeth look ever so white.

“Well, my name is Riley,” she introduced herself, “And me and my co-worker are here to help you figure out what it is you'd like – and where - and answer any questions you might have.” Julie didn't imagine the look Riley gave her at that; despite her diminishing nerves, she still wasn't all that confident that this was a good idea at all and it was definitely showing. “Are you sure you're ready for this?” Riley inquired rather directly. His gaze dashed to Mark just for a moment. “He's not making you do this, is he?” she grinned. “I'm not working on you if you don't want it. That's bad for our reputation.”

Almost immediately Julie raised her hands, palms forward. “No I – he didn't make me do anything. I just--” She paused, taking a deep breath, trying to keep her mouth from running off with her.

“Yes, I do want this.”

The answer clearly entertained Mark and she pulled a face at him, then focused on Riley instead. The friendly girl had already summoned her colleague – a redhead with a laid back attitude and a piercing through her left eyebrow who introduced herself as Robin. Meanwhile, Riley seemed eager to get started – her enthusiasm was rather infectious.

“Now you come with me, then we'll get you started.” Riley gestured towards one of the seats at a nearby table, which had several books and magazines stacked on top of it. “Do you have any idea what you want already? You can look at the examples we got on the walls or in the albums, there's literally thousands. Or you tell me what you have in mind and we'll figure something out together.”

Julie didn't immediately reply. She'd never really given this any real thought before and spontaneous decisions didn't quite seem to be her thing nowadays. Her eyes wandered the various pictures that were plastered all over the wall, and she quickly dismissed the Chinese symbols, the dolphins, hearts and infinity signs and the numerous tramp stamps. “Oh man,” she groaned after aimlessly staring at the wall for several minutes. Doubts were returning and more than once did she look to where Mark was animatedly discussing his options with the other professional, wondering how long it would take for him to notice if she snuck out of the store now.

“Most people take months deciding what they want before even setting foot in here.” Riley had gone to stand by Julie's side by now and was casually looking over the overwhelming amount of examples. “You don't strike me as a girl to do things on a whim. So how come you're here?”

Julie cast the girl a sidelong glance. The easy answer would be to blame it all on Mark – deny all responsibility and hide behind her usual insecurities like she was so prone to. But that was the coward's way out and besides, it was a lie, and after some thought the girl managed to gather her thoughts and give Riley an answer far closer to the truth.

“Mark and I have been friends for as long as I can remember,” she explained, and Julie knitted her brows together into a somewhat difficult expression. “I'm not gonna lie, this was definitely his idea, but if I really didn't want this, he wouldn't have suggested it. I wouldn't be standing here right now, either. The thing is, our lives are changing and like, I'm going right and he's about to go far, far left.” Julie shrugged and crossed her arms, her features softening. “Call me sentimental, but I guess I like the idea of having something to remember the fun times. We've had a lot of fun times.”

Riley nodded in understanding at that. “Definitely not the worst reason to get one that I've heard,” she grinned, then pulled out a chair to sit down. Paper and pen in hand she looked at Julie, who quickly followed suit and took a seat opposite her. “Now let's talk details.”

The actual design didn't take more than ten minutes to draw up. Surprisingly enough, her own words gave Julie enough inspiration to brainstorm a few ideas she had. In the end Riley managed to custom design for her a graceful, curving branch of sweet pink blossom with dark slender branches (reminiscent of the one that even to this day stood at the edge of her parents' garden), rather simplistic in design, with the silhouettes of two birds in the very top of it, of which one had just taken off into the sky, the other looking after it. A phrase wound in parts inbetween the twigs, reading

When you're high

you never

ever want to come down

That was the easy part, now for the part where it would actually have to be applied.

“I'm gonna have to incline the chair all the way back,” Riley explained as they relocated to a place with all these wildly unfamiliar tools next to it. “You're absolutely satisfied with this? No changing your mind once that needle's doing its magic.”

Julie shook her head and pulled the loose, sleeveless top she was wearing up to her chest again. In the mirror she was watching her abdomen, regarding the pen version of her future tattoo with a critical eye. It wrapped about her hip so perfectly, curving gently towards her navel. It was a bit bigger than she had anticipated but anything smaller and it would have seemed wrong. Mark was definitely going to be surprised about this one.

“You're not allowed to look 'til it's finished,” she told Mark. “And if this hurts, you know I'll take it out on you, right?”

“Feisty girl,” Riley said approvingly, giving Mark an amused wink. “Bet you have your work cut out for you with this one.” She pointed towards the chair, focusing on Julie again. “Now let's get to work, you're gonna keep me busy for the next four hours.”

Patience

Just a head's up - I have been working on my post, but with you only really being available and my work being very hectic the past few days I didn't see any point in rushing. It'll be up tomorrow, though :)

Patience

That's fine, I'm only worried if you didn't write cos you're bored with it already ;) Especially since I'm definitely not bored!

Patience

Mums are most important, especially on Mother's day! :)

Patience

This night was something to enjoy and despite the abundance of overly inebriated people surrounding her, Julie was having a blast. Extreme cheerfulness had somewhat simmered down to the effects of some good old Mary Jane, but since doing drugs was a line Julie wasn't willing to cross, she had gladly drifted on the buzz of a few too many cocktails for a while longer, until eventually that largely wore off and she witnessed the world about her with a lot more clarity than most of the other party-goers. In some ways she was very much a typical Catholic girl – and in many ways she really wasn't – whose biggest fear was to not live up to her parents expectations. Suffice to say that narcotics wouldn't be particularly well-received in the Lancaster household.

The sky was surprisingly clear and whilst the sea breeze was getting rather cool by now, she couldn't feel the cold. The soft glow of the fire warmed her skin sufficiently and despite being sat alone on an overturned log, Julie felt far from lonely. Bryce had only just wandered off to somewhere quieter so he could arrange a cab or whatnot. Kelsey had already been sent home earlier, which had been a load off Julie's chest; the girl really didn't take her alcohol well. Rebecca was nowhere to be seen, but neither was Ren and the girl supposed that could only be a good sign; he was an all right guy and as long as her friend hadn't made off with Cave Julie wasn't too worried. Her gaze drifted towards the snoozing couple on a bath towel, and at the sight Julie sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, absently chewing on the soft swell of it. She couldn't make up her mind on what she thought of Maria and Mark together; the fact that she was present here all night – and the way she'd clung to Mark for the entire duration of the party spoke volumes – told her that this might not be just a one-off thing. Julie didn't like that but, as Rebecca had told her in not so many words, it wasn't up to her to like or dislike it. She was no idiot, she knew all too well of the concessions Mark had made where it concerned Bryce and even know he made conscious efforts not to argue with her boyfriend, over and over again. She knew the two had little in common but oh, how Julie wished she could find a way for the two important men in her life to somehow get along. But that wasn't the way of things and she'd be incredibly selfish for expecting Mark to adhere his love life to her standards when she'd hardly done anything untoward herself.

Shifting slightly in her spot, Julie hesitated briefly, then got up from her seat and ventured over to her friend and not-so-friend, bringing along with her the blanket that had previously been draped across her lap. It was with gentle care that she covered the pair with it, a complacent look on her face as she looked at the sleeping image of the far-too-drunk Mark. “Silly Tigger,” she said with a grin, “You won't even remember what you said by morning.”

She caught sight of movement in her peripheral and immediately Julie stood from her crouched position, turning to meet with the sight of Bryce, not a few paces away. He carried a dubious expression and Julie knew the sentiment behind it all too well. Daintily she padded over to him through the loose sand, briefly wondering where she had left her shoes. “Is the taxi here?” she inquired by means of distraction. Bryce glanced over her shoulder to where she had come from.

“He's a grown man, you know,” he complained. “You don't need to fuss over him like you're his mother.”

Julie didn't really know how to respond to that. Bryce had clearly been drinking far too much and it significantly altered his demeanor. Not in a pleasant way, either. “I don't want them to be cold,” she said appeasingly, hiding under his arms the moment she got close enough. Hugging him affectionately she looked up at Bryce, attempting a smile. “I would have done the same thing if it was you.”

He looked unwilling, but eventually he wrapped his arm properly about her shoulders and pulled her along towards the road. “That's exactly my problem,” he said sourly. Again, Julie was at a loss for words and so she squeezed her hold around his waist a bit and just silently walked along with him, considering her slippers a permanent and somewhat regrettable loss. A taxi was already waiting as they got to the parking lot and despite knowing they'd have to pick up Bryce's car tomorrow, she felt very relieved for being home soon. Not that the silence wasn't tense inside the vehicle, but it was a short-lived atmosphere. All too soon Bryce decided that he was more frisky than angered and it wasn't long before he was uninhibitedly drawing his girlfriend to him for a long make-out session on the yellow cab's back seat. Julie caught a few glances from the driver in the rear view mirror that made her incredibly uncomfortable, and she made repeated efforts to keep Bryce's hands from grabbing her in inappropriate ways. Bryce, whose inhibitions seemed to have largely abandoned him thanks to the copious amounts of gin and vodka drinks, cast her a disturbed look as she pushed his hand away when it slipped too far up her side. He looked rather flushed, his eyes somewhat unfocused as he raised his head from hiding against the crook of her neck. “C'mon Julie, don't be a prude,” he said. “You kinda owe me.”

She wasn't entirely sure that she'd done anything that put her in Bryce's debt, nor that it should work that way to begin with, but they were almost back at her apartment and with a “When we're home,” she managed to keep him from doing things at least one of them would regret.

Bryce insisted on paying for the taxi and Julie soothed her conscience that the generous tip he'd thrown at the cab driver at least made up for their lewd behavior. More fondling ensued inside the elevator and by the time they made it into the flat, his arms were well up the skirt of her dress and the straps had found their way halfway down her shoulder. Sloppy kisses kept her from even managing to lock the door behind her and Julie stumbled more than walked backwards into the room.

“You know what we should do?” Bryce panted, grinning as he parted his lips from hers. “Just do it on the couch. That fucker would hate knowing what we did on there.” He seemed pretty content with himself, even if Julie wasn't. There was a bit too much of a contrast between her largely sober state and his obvious drunkenness and she began to grow more than a little impatient.

“Don't be an ass, Bryce,” she scolded, slapping him on the shoulder, for all the good it would do. She didn't like his derogatory comments but after two years knew better than to think anything she should would stop them. So, as always, Julie eventually let it slide and willingly accompanied Bryce to the privacy of her bedroom. Drunk sex wasn't particularly refined, but Bryce was many things, just not a bad lover and eventually they both fell asleep exhausted.

It was an unpleasant surprise to find Bryce missing by morning, but when Julie woke up somewhere around nine, she realized she was on her own. Her head was throbbing mildly but it wasn't anything an Advil wouldn't cure and after snoozing for a few minutes she got out of bed to investigate. He wasn't in the shower either and as she wandered around the apartment, still a bit dazed, in nothing but her top and her panties, Julie realized that Mark wasn't home yet either. She supposed that at least that meant she didn't have to face Maria, but it still made her wonder if everything was okay. Her phone was hiding on the floor right behind the front door, and when she scanned it for messages, Julie concluded that either everyone was still asleep or stubbornly ignoring her, for there was no sign of life from anyone who had attended the party before. There were some pictures from Selene but Julie cared little for another slide show of Selene flaunting her riches; she could only be supportive of her bragging friend for so long.

Eventually she decided that if the world was going to ignore her, then she would gladly ignore the world too, and Julie went to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee and a bowl of honey-puffs. Flicking on the TV she was soon engrossed in a marathon of eighties cartoons that she really had outgrown about a decade ago but that were far more entertaining than any show on a different channel.