Embrz

(DELETED)

hi, i'm interested in the FxF best friends idea!

Common Bonds

As the woman took the watch from her hands, Nicole slowly brought them back to her chest. Her only response to the woman's thanks was a quick nod matched with a weak smile. Once more she began looking the woman up and down. She was bent over slightly examining her shoes carefully when she realized she was being spoken to.

"I - uh - can I do something for you, or?" Nicole's head snapped up. Now that the question was brought up, Nicole realized that she didn't actually know. She took a slight step back, as if she were physically pushed back by the question. She looked down at the ground, her mind racing. What did she want from this woman? What was it that drew Nicole in? Why this woman in particular? She wasn't sure, but she knew that she felt a little bit more relaxed than normal. She knew that there was something comforting about this woman and that she didn't want to leave. The slightly more rational side of her mind recognized that this was a wild, twisted form of love. A feeling that didn't come to her often, and when it did she usually found herself regretting it. But again, Nicole recognized that she had had that thought before, and she knew that she wasn't going to do anything about it. Or, more accurately, she couldn't bring herself to do anything about it.

Nicole searched for a response, twiddling her thumbs and biting her lip lightly. All the questions were still running through her head, and Nicole still had no answers. She searched through everything she could remember hoping to find the reason this woman felt so familiar to her. Her hand mindlessly drifted to her pocket and gripped a small locket hidden within. She flipped it open inside the pocket, thumbing its contents. It was empty, save for an engraving of her name and her birthdate. She wasn't sure where it came from, but she'd always had it. Like the panda bear. Nicole smiled at the thought.

Nicole wasn't sure what she really wanted from this woman, but she had an idea. Revitalized with confidence once more, Nicole snapped the locket closed and moved closer to the woman. She reached for her hand, taking it as a daughter would her mother. This was a decision she'd regret later, she knew, but the consequences didn't mean much to her right now. Nicole looked the woman before her firmly in the eyes. In the corner of her mind a voice whispered, I hope you know what you're doing...

Bounty Hunters

I'll be keeping an eye on this as well.

Common Bonds

Nicole did not acknowledge the words the woman had spoken. She began to take small steps towards her, keeping her arms close to her chest as a subconscious form defense. When she had closed the gap about halfway, she stopped again. For several seconds, she was frozen. Whoever this woman was, there was something about her that reminded Nicole of someone. She couldn't quite remember who, but there was something vaguely familiar. Then again, she had thought the same thing with everybody else she had been tangled up with. At this point, Nicole wasn't sure if all of these people actually reminded her of someone before or if she was just drawn in by some sort of similar feature.

Regardless, Nicole continued her baby steps forward, examining the woman before her. She took in every feature, every wary glance, every cautious movement. Every drag of the cigarette, Nicole followed closely. She was being naive and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. There was something that completely drew her in. But once again Nicole looked to her past; no matter how many times she had found herself sucked into somebody, she had just as quickly pushed herself out or found herself pushed out. Nothing lasted forever in this city, and trust was perhaps the rarest commodity around. There was nothing permanent for Nicole. She could not keep herself in one place for more than a few months, at best. Every time she could recall, she had been betrayed or she had run off. Emotional attachment never meant much to Nicole for very long. So the question she found herself asking was, why this woman? Why do all of that again and again when she could just move on and avoid the struggle of having to leave once more? Nicole had no answers, just the unshakable feeling that this woman was all she wanted to focus on at this very moment.

With a sudden start, her hand dove into her pocket. A corner of her mind acknowledged the ridiculousness of her spontaneity, but she didn't care. She pulled out the silver watch she had stolen from the drunk earlier. With a newfound energy, Nicole closed the remaining gap between her and the woman in front of her in a flash, and held the watch out in front of her. And just like that, her moment of confidence faded as quickly as it had come. Her body language shifted dramatically: her shoulders dropped, her arms drifted back towards her chest, and she seemed to shrink into herself. Her arm holding the watch had dropped, and Nicole weakly lifted it back up towards the woman in front of her. She gave a slight nod, though she was unsure if she was really behind the idea of offering away a watch that had caused her more problems than she would have liked.

Common Bonds

Sixx said
She didn't, and if she did she'd probably change them in favor of Nicole, I think they're going to have an interesting relationship. ^_^

Excellent! Hopefully Nicole won't get the crap beaten out of her first... (lookin at you, Clint...)

Common Bonds

For clarification, Nicole just developed an unhealthy obsession for Eros. My apologies if she had plans tonight...

Common Bonds

With a final, satisfying bite, the slice of bread was gone. Nicole missed it already, but there wasn't much to be done about it, and there was no reason to mourn the loss of a slice of bread. So instead, she began to scan the street and alleyways below for anything that caught her eye. For the most part, it was quiet; some brawls in the alley, hookers standing around, druggies huddling together in a circle. There was nothing of real interest to Nicole; nothing to be stolen, nothing to eat. The relative lack of activity surprised her. Then again, you learn quickly in this town to stay inside at night. Clearly not a lesson Nicole's learned quite yet. But, to be fair, she was a small thief, whose goal was simply to survive. As long as she stayed under the radar with her activities, she would be okay. Theoretically. Anything could happen in this place.

A door slammed from the street below, grabbing Nicole's attention. A hooker-looking woman emerged from the door, and she walked like she owned the city. It was entrancing, to say the least. Nicole hopped down from her rooftop seat onto the fire escape below, keeping an eye on the woman as she moved through the streets. Her choice in makeup was questionable, but when you lived on this side of the river that probably didn't really matter too much. Regardless, Nicole couldn't decide if she wanted to take this woman's money or touch the ponytail on the back of her head. Nicole maneuvered her way across the rooftops, carefully watching the woman. There was just something about this woman that screamed for Nicole's attention.

But then Nicole paused. The last time she had found herself this enthralled by a person she had spent six months completely subservient to a man only wanted her around as a silent fucktoy. And the time before that she had been worked relentlessly day and night as a runner across the city, delivering packages to the shadiest of people until she nearly dropped dead. And the time before that... Nicole didn't need to go on. She knew of her submissive tendencies, and she knew she was helpless to stop them. For a moment she considered turning back around and leaving the enthralling woman in question to her evening of adventure, but one more glance at the woman in heels and Nicole was helpless. She sprinted across the rooftops once more, stopping about twenty feet in front of the woman. She climbed down onto the street and planted herself in front of the woman.

Common Bonds

The light tap of her footfall reverberated against the sheet metal structure of the slums' rooftops. Her rapid, soft breaths boomed in her ears; at this moment, there was Nicole, and there was her route ahead. She glanced back over her shoulder momentarily. The victim of her latest steal was drunkenly following her on the street below, taking potshots with his handgun. She wasn't worried; his shots were so off he was more likely to kill another bystander on the street. Nicole refocused towards the route ahead. She took rapid notes of her environment: street below on the left, alley on the opposing side. Four story brick building on the other side of the alley providing a series of fire escapes and catwalks mirroring her position atop a two story building. Up ahead, there was- wall incoming!

Nicole took note of the wall a split second later than she should have. She kicked off the rooftop with her left, and also her off, foot. She planted the toe of her right on the wall in front, the pressure of the unexpected impact pulling at the muscle. It hurt, but there was no time for pain. She pushed herself backwards off the wall into a flip. Her landing was subpar; the toe injury had already thrown her off balance, and her faulty landing only added to the pain. Nicole winced, looking towards the fire escape across the alley. The jump wasn't far. Ten feet, give or take two, easily done with a running start. Nicole took off towards the alleyway to the right.

As she evaluated the jump, she slightly adjusted the length of her strides in order to place her left foot as her vault foot. She was less practiced with it, but accounting for the pain in her right foot and the distance of the jump, Nicole knew she could make it with her left foot but not with her right. The launch was solid. She kicked her legs forward and threw her arms out in front of her, gripping the railing of the fire escape. The impact was harder than she expected; she took a moment to catch her breath, then threw her body up and over the railing. Nicole ran up the staircase to the top floor, and pulled herself up onto the roof. From the streets below, she heard the drunk screams of a man who had lost his quarry. She smiled, reaching into her pocket. She pulled a slice of bread and silver watch from within, taking a bite from the bread. Food for the day, she thought, taking another bite. Nicole moved towards the edge of the rooftop, hanging her legs over the side. As she ate, she looked down upon the streets below. It was by no means perfect, but it was home.

Common Bonds Character sheets

Name: Nicole Chang
Age: 19
Gender: Female

Sexuality: Asexual
Race: Asian
Position: Petty thief; also skilled at parkour

Personality: Nicole's time on the streets has broken her emotionally and psychologically. The horrors and atrocities she has witnessed and faced over the course of her life in the slums have torn her apart mentally and broken her into almost nothing. She has taken a vow of silence; she communicates solely through her body language. She has serious trust issues; she lives with the inevitable feeling that she is going to be betrayed sooner or later. As such, she never sticks around anywhere for much longer than she needs to.

Even should she find someone she trusts and wants to stay with, Nicole's meek and quiet demeanor makes her a difficult person to get to know. The few people in her life that she actually tried to befriend ultimately left her behind, viewing her as too weak and submissive in order to survive. And on top of that, she suffers from poor self-esteem and no real willpower. As such, she is easily swayed and manipulated, quickly becoming a follower of a stronger, dominant personality. If she isn't failing to befriend somebody she feels comfortable with, she's being controlled and subdued into following someone else.

Against all odds, however, Nicole can survive on her own. While her lack of self-esteem prevents her from taking risks and expanding her horizons, she has enough self-confidence to understand where her capabilities lie and know her limits. She's too submissive to go out of her way to prove something to someone on her own, but there's enough of her confidence left to keep her going on her own.

Appearance: Nicole is small. She stands at four feet, eleven inches, and has a solid runner's body, though undernourished.



History: The first thing Nicole can remember is sitting alone on a street corner in the slums at about three years of age. No parents, no guardians. Just her and a small, palm-sized stuffed panda bear that looks like it's seen much better days. She's forgotten much of what happens after that until about age seven, at which point she begins to recall a tall, kind man that looked out for her and cared for her: Charlie. He taught her how to survive in the streets and raised her for the next five years. From her mentor and guardian, Nicole learned a several useful skills for survival in the slums: how to steal, how to remain invisible while doing so, and how to run if you fail - or known more colloquially, parkour.

Her thievery began at age nine. While with her guardian scavenging for food, Nicole began a game with him. Whenever Charlie would place food in his bag, she would sneak up on him and remove it, placing it somewhere else for him to pick up and restart the cycle. After ten extra minutes of scavenging than should have been necessary, Charlie caught on to Nicole's tricks. Rather than scold her for her actions, however, he decided to harness her talent. Charlie took her stuffed panda and hid it in his pocket. He told her that if she wanted it back, she would have to take it from him without him noticing. And if he noticed, it would turn into a game of tag. Once he caught her, the game would restart. It was in this manner that Nicole became proficient in thievery and parkour.

Charlie and Nicole began to use her skills to their advantage. They would take any supplies they came across: clothes, food, any form of tools. If they could use it, Nicole would take it. In their small corner of the slums, Charlie and Nicole were known for their exploits. And for the most part, those exploits were too small to be noticed by any of the bigger fish in the sea.

But of course, all good things come to an end. And for Charlie, there was no worse end it could have come to.

While running from a failed steal when she was twelve, Nicole slipped from a rooftop and into an alleyway below, right on top of an arms deal that was taking place between two local gangs. Paranoia kicked in amongst the gang members. Accusations were thrown, weapons were drawn, and threats were shouted as Nicole realized she was about to get caught in the crossfire of a gang war. In a panic, she tried to talk down both sides of the battle, but to no avail.

As the firing started, Charlie arrived to pull Nicole out of the alleyway. They began to run from the ensuing battle; just before they were about to escape, Charlie took a bullet to the leg. This turned into a bullet in the hip, which turned into a bullet in the shoulder. Nicole could do nothing but watch as the only person she ever knew died before her eyes.

The last thing he gave her was the panda.

Somehow, her twelve year old mind connected her failure to talk down the gangs with Charlie's death, thus sparking her vow of silence. For seven years, Nicole has lived a quiet, lonely life. She steals to survive, and she keeps a low profile, away from the eyes of the more violent members of the slum society. And every night before she sleeps, Nicole takes the panda and remembers her only friend.

New Haven (Bomb Shelter/City)

I was really looking forward to this, too... :(