Irell Starling

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

Ok :)

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

Tuesday: 655 pm

Louisa Essair

The place was beautiful. It was a chic, neo-classical kind of restaurant. The kind that I had always dreamed of eating in when I’d fantasized about becoming an adult and now that I was one, never seemed to have the time to go to. The lighting was low and the music was soft and distant. The tables and decorations were arranged in such a way that allowed a decent amount of privacy from the other patrons. I was impressed and I was also beginning to have my doubts about this not being a date.

”What would you like to drink?” A impeccably dressed waiter said. I glanced briefly over the menu. Like most it was impossible to find the beverage section. I wasn’t really feeling like a soft drink and ordering water might seem cheap. Through my eyelashes I glanced up at Gabriel. Would he judge me if I ordered something alcoholic?

”Do you have a house red? I’d like a glass.” It was a safe bet. I prefer ed dry red wines but so long as it wasn’t sweet, I’d be okay. In addition, if I only had a glass or two my boss probably wouldn’t fault me. Wine was supposed to enhance the meal after all (even if they did make you choose one before selecting a dinner choice).

”Yes, madam. May I suggest pairing your drink choice with sauteed ducking or gingered rabbit?”

”I’ll think about it.” I said turning back to the menu. I wouldn’t have to think about it very long. I wasn’t a fan of eating cute and fuzzy Easter animals (although I occasionally ate lamb) or anything that filtered... well anything (meaning oysters, mussels, liver, and kidney).

Gabriel ordered his drink and the waiter left me to peruse the menu at my own pace. Maybe if I had known what was about to happen, I’d have ordered sooner.

---

Tuesday: 657 pm

Enrick Valdea

I’d been helping the band set up their equipment. The stage was tiny and getting all their instruments on, let alone plugged in was hard enough. It was a good thing there were only two of them. I could tell they were new at this, but seeing as it was a Tuesday night, I suppose we got what we paid for which, judging from the quality of their clothes and instruments, that wasn’t much.

Looking up from one of the too few outlets, I spotted Kassie sitting at the bar, a drink in her hand. I hadn’t expected to see her so soon or to start drinking so early, not that I could judge. As I approached closer, I could tell by her facial expression that something was wrong. Maybe it had to do with the new bombing time.

”Sure it’s a good idea to be here,” I said, my voice low as I walked over and pretended to wipe off the bar top near her. Kassie had been here often enough that people had started questioning me about her presence. They thought she had a crush on me or vice versa, especially since I didn’t tend to hit on any of my female coworkers like most of the other men did. ”Tuesday night isn’t a typical time for attractive young women to be out on the town.” Her expression shifted and I was worried that my words somehow hurt her. Surely someone had told her what was about to happen, right? ”Not that I mind. I continued, ”Just that I worry it isn’t saf…”

But I never finished.

---

Tuesday: 700 pm

Louisa Essair

Ever since he’d picked me up we’d been talking about meaningless things: the weather, Maggie Stout’s new baby, the higher price for produce. While these were nice in and of themselves, I was really itching to get down to the heart of the matter and since the waiter had yet to appear with our drinks, and I’d finally decided what I wanted, I swallowed my nervousness and asked. ”So why did you invite me out? Did you want to ask me…”

Whenever I was nervous as a child, my mother would whisper to me “Cueille le jour present” over and over again. Seize the day. Making me feel like all I had to do was be strong, swallow my fears, and succeed. Really what she should have said was “Tempus neminem manet” or “Hurry up Louisa and get on with it! Time is running out!” Maybe I would have listened to her.

Gabriel’s regulation wrist watch began to beep first and then mine started up as well only seconds later. It was the kind of angry, loud beeping that could wake the heaviest of sleepers with its urgency. Add the fact that our watch beeps were just barely out of sync and it was enough to drive the entire restaurant crazy.

”Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it.” I said, pressing a few buttons on my watch to make the noise shut off as I scanned the tiny digital screen for the message. I was being summoned back to the Security Office and from the way Gabriel’s watch was also screeching I’d guess he was too. I mentally cursed the Rebels for their bad timing- whatever it was. My eyes scanned over the incoming message as the words ticked across the screen.

My breath caught in my lungs. My body refused to move- to even breath. I felt faint like the world around me was spinning and all I could do way pray that I wouldn’t go spinning off into space. I knew without looking my face was stark white and goose bumps were pricked all over my skin. It couldn’t be Section 8, not my section, not the one Gabriel had just congratulated me on. The words wouldn’t come out as my tongue felt heavy and utterly useless. All I could do was stare at the man across from me and wait as his eyes rose up to meet mine. What would we do? What could I do?

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

Working on it as I... well type. :P

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

Maybe I went a little overboard. I could see with the way Charles was looking at me, he was suspicious. That’s what I got for letting my guilt take over. I tried to tell myself that no one would find out that he helped me essentially hack into the Department of Science information. The files I copied were antiquated at best.

”You made me what again?”

”Lasagna with a small side salad.” He continued eyeing me. ”You seemed to like the spaghetti last night so I thought you might like lasagna.” He still didn’t speak up. ”Do you not like lasagna?”

Charles shrugged as I handed the plate to him. I knew it’d been a stupid move on my part. Taking off time from work, running to the store, and slaving away in our tiny apartment kitchen to make the dish from scratch. I hoped it would taste alright or, if nothing else, not make him sick. Then again with enough cheese and tomato sauce anything could taste decent, right?

He handed me the laptop case, Restraint Main Library scrawled neatly in permanent marker on the outside. ”So what are you going to use this for again?” I openly winced at his question.

Work?”

He watched me, considering my answer. I could tell he didn’t believe me. ”Right Ms. Yurigei, well you have your secrets and I have mine.” With that he took the plate I handed him and disappeared into his bedroom. I wasn’t sure what to think. Something very definite had changed about Charles, like his confidence was suddenly bolstered. Still, I didn’t want to ask. I did have my secrets and the last thing I wanted to do was get Charles involved. Despite us living together for almost six months, I didn’t know him well enough to trust him. It wasn’t just my life riding on this discovery, if my suspicions were correct, the information I had could affect thousands of innocent citizens.

---

I swallowed hard as I read over the text again. Backer’s reports were filled with jargon and other random terminology I had to sort through. It was hard and less than an hour had passed before my brain was pounding from all the concentration. Still I pushed on until the words blurred in front of my eyes and the standard issue watch on my wrist showed 1:08 am.

I could hardly believe it even after all the evidence and data from the study groups. As I’d figured out by scanning over the report yesterday Vitamin 546 was an addictive poison whose main purpose was to lead to fetal death, that way the lower class population would be kept in check. The overall symptoms of the drug were kept in check so long as one continued to take the dose. If one discontinued suddenly without taking the countermeasure Vitamin 546-B, one experienced terrible withdrawal symptoms, and often times death. This making the drug serve a double purpose, as Mildred Backer had wrote, if the underclass were to ever rise up, the government would stop issuing Vitamin 546 and the rebellion would be easily curtailed. It would be hard to strike against the government when all your soldiers were ill or dying.

Restraint was a city wholly enclosed by a giant patchwork metal wall. When I was younger, I was told the wall was built to keep things out, although what no one really knew. As I got older, especially right after my brother had disappeared, I’d believed the wall was made to keep people in. But the wall wasn’t the only thing keeping people in their rightful place.

I shut the computer down and carried into my room. I needed to get some sleep before work tomorrow. I didn’t want anyone asking why I was so tired. But lying in my bed in the darkness didn’t help. My mind kept racing about the other files I’d hadn’t had time to look over yet. Where there any other drugs like this? Any other regulation supplements whose secret task was to keep the population of Restraint in check?

Restraint (my Lalia & Starling)

When I get a chance, I'll type up my post. I know exactly what I want to happen but I need time to get it down. Like you, I am also swamped.

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

”Charles?”

I looked up to see Gracie eyeing me from across my desk. I was so caught up in first chapter of the book, I never saw her coming. Without checking the page number, I quickly closed the cover.

”Poetry, huh?” she said, still eyeing the lettering on the cover, ”I never figured you for one to read that genre. Emily Dickenson too. Heavy stuff.” I just nodded along, not really sure what to say. I’ve found, especially with Gracie, sometimes it’s just best if I don’t say anything at all.

”Does this have anything to do with a girl?” A look of shock crossed my face before I could check it. It reminded me of a question I’d once seen in a textbook ‘have you stopped beating your wife yet? Yes or No?’. No matter what I said there was no good answer. She pondered my silence while I flailed about trying to find something, anything that would make her change the topic. ”It’s that roommate of yours, isn’t it?” Too late. ”In my day the government never would have decided to put a single man and woman together but I suppose times have changed and good housing space is a premium.” I could feel the heat it my face rising as the words continued to flow out of my supervisor’s overly tinted lips.

”It isn’t what you think.” A million curses ran through my head as I thought of the idiot who chose the book cover. It was their fault I was in this mess in the first place. No one would have looked twice if I’d been reading Anna Karenina.

”It’s okay Charles.” Gracie said as she patted my right hand, ”We were all young and frisky once.”

I was beginning to see my boss in a whole new light and it wasn’t a nice one. ”I’m…uh… going to grab an early lunch.” I started to walk off, only turn around and grab the book, and head out the door again. By the time I got back the entire library staff would know about my ‘interest’ in poetry and my roommate. To top it all off my headache was still not going away.

---

”Ketchup, mustard, or relish.”

”Mustard.” I replied to the street hotdog vendor as I pressed my watch against the reader. Despite me feeling that my world had turned upside down, it was a beautiful day outside. The sky was a the kind of blue that reminded me of my childhood days. Fluffy white clouds covered the face of the sun, giving the inhabitants below the occasional reprieve.

”Charles Plygaurd, huh?” I looked up at the man with a bit of shock but he simply pointed to the watch reader as he grabbed a dog off the rotator.

”Yeah,” I said, trying to kill the panic rising up in my mind. ”Something… wrong?”

”Nah,” he said placing the hotdog and mustard packet in a brown bag. ”Here’s the receipt.” I looked down at the foreign piece of paper, ”I know call me old fashion,” he continued, ”but I always give receipts. Use it- use it as a bookmark or something.” It was like the man was trying to tell me something. I was tempted to study the piece of paper he was handing me, knowing it contained more information than the price of my lunch. Was this one way the Rebels communicated, recipes and other small sheets of paper that flew under the radar? I was tempted to ask him but I knew better. Asking questions got people killed.

”Hey, one more thing,” he said as he turned to help a different customer, ”You work at the library right? They still give out free bookmarks.”

”Sometimes,” I said and turned back towards my building, a smile on my lips. It felt like I'd just been given my superpower and I didn't have to sneak around dark alleys or hide in dumpsters. Bookmarks were easy. Even Charles Plygaurd could do bookmarks.

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

Hmm... alright. I'll see what I can come up with today.

The Fourth Blight {Irell Starling x Reaper}

Sometimes situations improved when you slept on them or at least your mind was a little clearer. This was certainly not the case for Kaitlyn this morning. The Templar rose up on her hands and peered out a nearby curtained window. ”It can hardly even be called morning.” The sun was still hiding away, pink wisps on the horizon the only proof that it was considering showing its face at all.

Kaitlyn slumped back down and felt around, trying to feel for a pillow only to realize there wasn’t one. Maker though it didn’t matter, there was no way she’d be going back to sleep anytime soon. Her body felt like it’d been trampled on my dozens of horses and she openly shuddered as she remembered her dreams. Red blood animal and dark tainted blood, intertwined and splattered across the land. It sprinkled over tree litter and mossy boulders, smeared on helmets and cobblestones, sprayed on the rotting corpses of horses, dark spawn, children, rippled through the rivers and the streams on the land. All the while she could do nothing, her body was hot and impossibly heavy, her skin felt uncomfortable like she wanted to shed it off like a snake.

Kaitlyn turned her eyes towards the room door. Thea had been mad that she’d refused to go to bed with her. She knew the mage must also be suffering alone, away from anyone she had once considered family. But the fact that Kaitlyn felt so wretched this morning was proof enough that she’d made the right decision. This way, at least one of them had a chance to sleep well.

The Templar stood up and gently knocked against the room door. There was no answer. She’d let the mage sleep for a little while longer while she readied for the journey ahead of them.

---

Kaitlyn felt more than heard the mage sit down across from her. The templar had spent the last hour or so at the stable, rooting through the supplies to find Wendel’s map of the area. After she’d accomplished that she’d made herself presentable and was about half way through her breakfast.

The tavern’s main room was as empty as usual. This time it made sense. The breakfast the woman was feeding them was abysmal at best. A chewy white grain was floating in watery milk and enough salt to cure a fish. Normally when faced with something this gut-wrenchingly bad, Kaitlyn would wait out for other prospects but with her health plaguing her, she knew she’d need the strength.

“I figured we’d go this way,” the templar said, presenting the hand-drawn map to Thea. Kaitlyn carefully avoided the mages eyes as she traced a marked trail with her finger. ”It’d be shorter if we cut through these woods here,” she paused and indicated the location on the map, ”but I think we should stay out of them. Just in case. The trail goes around the Circle a bit, so we’ll have to cut back, and we’ll lose an hour or so… still I think it’s safer that way. Just think, this time tomorrow you’ll be safe behind the Circle walls and I’ll… I’ll be able to get this wound taken care of… not that you can’t take care of it,” Kaitlyn stumbled over her words, ”Just that they will have more supplies at the Circle.” It was a bit of a lie and she hoped Thea wouldn’t see right through it. When she removed the bandage this morning, she’d found the wound was hot and clearing infected with something. She’d tried to Cleanse it like she might have worked if it had been a poison or something mild spell. It had barely put a dent in whatever this was.

Restraint (MST3K 4ever & Starling)

I'm not really sure what to do with Charles... have him read the book??

The Fourth Blight {Irell Starling x Reaper}

Okay then! Hi-ho-Hi-ho, To the Mage Circle we go...