[Callisto Nikephoros]

OOC; What she wears and her holster! She was in a foul mood. So far, her day hadn’t started off with a bang, it’d started off with a headache. She woke up feeling slightly tired, having spent the whole night rolling back in forth, worry and heartache plaguing her constantly. Let’s rewind to a few day’s previous. She had the day off, so she’d spent it with Avery, sitting on the floor with him and building Lego houses and playing with the toy cars. All of a sudden, with seriousness beyond Avery’s years, the little boy’s green eyes met hers and he asked, “Mommy, where’s daddy?” She’d stared at him blankly, as if she didn’t understand English anymore. What had brought this on? They ended up talking for a long while, Avery asking questions about his father while Cali scrounged around for the few answers she could come up with. What’s Daddy’s favorite food? I don’t know dear. Is Daddy in Hawaii? I don’t know. Does Daddy have my eyes? I think so. What’s Daddy’s job? I think he’s a doctor. Does he have any friends? I think he knows Devvy. And so on and so forth until Avery’s curiosity was satisfied for the time being. Cali, however, was not comforted. She felt like she’d just swallowed a lump of coal. She felt horrible. On the one hand, she wanted Avery to know his father and have that kind of relationship. She felt bad keeping Joseph from her son, but for a while, she just needed him to stay away so she could piece herself back together. Then he’d disappeared, and then when he came back, they just hadn’t had the chance to work anything out. But another part of her, a smaller, but dominant part of her, didn’t want to let Joseph near her son. There wasn’t a good reason, not really. She just… she was, for the most part, a giver. She gave whatever she could- it included herself too. And once, she’d done it to the point where she almost had nothing left. She didn’t want to go back there, so she’d erected some walls, put up a few barriers, and made sure to practice a bet more selfishness. But she still gave quite a bit of help to others. The one place in her life where she begrudgingly gave was with Avery. She loved her son dearly and hated to be away from him. She hated it when he had to go to daycare, or when the babysitter had to come over. But she let them take care of her son. But she didn’t want to share Avery with Joseph. Again, no real reason… not really. She just… didn’t want to be replaced. She feared that Avery would madly in love with Joseph and forget her. It was stupid, but it was a true fear of hers. She didn’t want to be replaced, and she didn’t want her son hurt. That was why she hadn’t bothered to look up Joseph when she’d gotten to Hawaii. But now that Avery was asking about him… she had no excuse anymore. She’d just have to suck it up and let her boy see his father whether she liked it or not. So when Avery was watching a movie, she did some research on the computer and managed to track down a Joseph Philips- who had made it to Honolulu- and gave him a call. He picked up- shocker right there- and she introduced herself and asked if he had some time. Of course he did. So she discussed Avery with him, and they came up with a quick solution. Starting the following Monday, Avery would spend one week with Joseph, and one week with Cali. Back and forth like that, unless Avery wanted it some other way. They hung up and she told Avery the ‘good’ news. Monday came around after a horrible night’s rest, and she eventually rose to cook breakfast and drive Avery over to Joseph’s house. They exchanged a few short words, then Cali left for work. She got there on her motorcycle and parked, taking the helmet in with her and sliding into her small office. She placed her helmet on top of the filing cabinet and then looked at her desk, immediately noticing a small piece of paper there. She picked it up and flicked it over, looking at it curiously. Dear Ms. Nikephoros, It began. Well, at least they’d finally spelled her last name right. She skimmed the letter, grimacing before tossing it into the trash. Great, just fucking perfect. She was assigned carnival duty. Not only did she hate large crowds of people, but she just despised carnivals. Nose wrinkled in disgust as she merely slid off her jacket and slid her holster over her shoulders. She slid her gun onto her left side, checking to make sure it was loaded first, then making sure she had extra clips in her bag. Making sure her handcuffs were there as well as her badge, she slid her jacket back on, making sure her weapon was concealed well before she grabbed her helmet and walked back out of the office. She jumped on her bike and flew down to Waikiki beach and over to the boardwalk, parking her bike and locking it up before heading into hell. She walked to the front desk, flashed her badge and gun, then handed them her helmet to keep for the day, saying she’d make her rounds and check in regularly. After that, she sighed, turned, and started to wade through the crowds, sliding her sunglasses into place as she combed her fingers through her hair. Eventually putting it up into a high ponytail, frown apparent on her face as she scowled at the people she passed. “You are dead.”

[Nick Morrow]

She was perfect in every way possible, an angel brought to his side by God himself—he had realized this fact before, years ago, and yet the power of the notion never failed to astound him. She was mystifying, staring at him with wide eyes, the sunset the backdrop to a soft face framed by mellow waves of black hair. Her lips were parted, studying his features carefully, features that were mature and perhaps even beautiful—he wasn't sure what he thought of himself, even after all these year of looking like an adult. Unthinking, he pulled her close, resting his cheek on her crown as he whispered, “I lo—” He never finished the words, for he felt the familiar tug, something that had once been so frightening and now was just life. She would know why he left but he felt guilty regardless, leaving her standing on the beach alone, left to admire one of the many sunsets of the summer of 2034.       Back, back, back—he hardly seemed to go forward anymore, which he took as a blessing, because he hardly cared to see any of the flashes he had seen when he was younger. Feet fell through an unstable surface and Nick was thankful he was barefoot—child or grown man, wet socks were positively the worse! (Well, right after death, psychotic blond women, and the Aldega... Though, really, those were old news to the twenty-six-year-old; what a child he was sometimes!) Sighing to himself, Nick stepped from the water and moved towards towering structures before him, glancing around suspiciously. Things seemed... Older. Familiar. Memories conjured up brief flashes: Maddox's grinning face, a large stuffed animal, neon paint on large machines, and cheese curds. Rolling up the legs of his soggy jeans slightly, Nick ventured towards the structures, trying to look like any other carnival-goer there: amazed and excited. A bad actor, Nick looked more confused and perhaps a little nosy, looking for someone—anyone!—that might be familiar.       Blond. He recognized the slight wave to the hair and, sidestepping amid the busy crowd, he could make out an all too familiar profile: a sharp and straight nose above down-sloping lips and below narrow and calculating eyes. His head tilted slightly, his expression confused and quizzical. Yes, he knew that profile, had once adored it—it was now only vaguely familiar, a hazy memory buried below others, buried below something more important and more prevalent. She looked young, perhaps a little older than her prime (like himself), but she was alive with a youthful (more like angry!) light. He hesitated, raising a hand, almost ready to wave to her, before stopping himself. No, she wouldn't care—she wouldn't even recognize him. Would she remember him? Would she remember the boy, age thirteen, that had arrived on her doorstep in the late evening with a duffel bag and a note explaining his presence in her household? Rationality told him not, but... But wasn't love supposed to transcend time? Yeah, that was right! Maybe she didn't know him like this, but they could still have fun... Right?       With reckless abandon, he stole away to the ticket booth and purchased a few tickets before making his way to the familiar woman, this time daring to step right beside her, easily keeping pace with her, grinning most childishly down at her despite the current scowl on her features. Holding up the tickets, he asked innocently, “Hey, uh... You wanna go on a ride or two? The Tilt-a-Whirl and the Octopuss are my favorites.” He pointed them out in case she wasn't aware of their names, oblivious to what she might think of him, as a grown man, asking her, as a grown woman, on child's rides.

table by Break

[Callisto Nikephoros]

OOC; Just a side note: every time i typed 'Octopus', I giggled. A lot. She was walking through the carnival, probably scaring the life out of little kids with the scowl on her face. Yet another person bumped into her and she grunted, pushing back, frankly not patient enough to say she was sorry when it wasn’t her fault. She continued to walk on, eyes roving over the faces and looking for the usual. Suspicious people in jackets, bags left unattended, children without parents, drunk people- the usual stuff a mall cop looks for. She hated this stuff. Give her a concert any day of the week, or funeral duty- even that was better than this. At least she knew how to be reverent. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t know how to have fun- though as of late, you’d think that were true- it was more so that she just didn’t want to be here. She didn’t really want to be anywhere right now, actually. She was just in a sour mood over having to hand Avery over to Joseph for the week. A week. A solid seven days without seeing her son. She felt an ache in her heart and stopped herself from flipping the finger to some man who stepped on her foot. Wiggling feeling back into her toes, she continued to walk along, mind in a snarl over the whole missing Avery issue. What was she supposed to do when he was gone? She sighed, passing a hand over her forehead. She could work more now, she supposed. And then she could always spend some time with Mac. She grimaced and pushed that thought from her mind, eyes roving the people nearby. A voice up and above her shoulder brought her attention spinning to beside her, head and body turning sharply to face the young man. He was holding up two tickets, asking if she wanted to go on a ride, pointing out his favorites. Was this some sort of joke? A dare some college kids thought would be hilarious? Ask the strange grumpy lady way older than you to go on a ride called the Octopus? Yea, right. That was really going to happen. She pulled her jacket open a bit, showing her badge. “I’m on duty, plus I’m packing. I don’t really have time for a ride. Sorry.” Yep, your friendly neighborhood Callisto, here to brighten your carnival trip by crushing any hopes you had of having a fun day. She was about to turn and leave the kid to slunk back to his friends when something in her mind nudged her. Her eyes narrowed, staring at the younger man through her sunglasses. Cali whipped them off, staring more intently at this stranger. There was something familiar about him… She tried to search her mind for something, for whatever he reminded her of or who it was he was supposed to be, but each time she got close, the memory evaded her. “I’m sorry- do… do I know you? You seem… familiar. We haven’t met before, have we?” This was going to bug her if she didn’t figure out where she remembered him from. She continued to stare at his face for a few more seconds before taking a step back and peering at the rest of his appearance. Nothing to really stand out- aside from his bare, wet, sand-covered feet. “Someone steal your shoes?” She smiled slightly, looking back up at him, still not able to shake that familiar sensation. The best she could figure was that she had met him before, or that he looked like someone else, but there was something in the features that didn’t exactly translate well. Mostly it was the pale blue eyes that made her feel like she’d seen him before, but no matter how hard she thought on it, the answer wasn’t going to come to her. Maybe if she spent some time not thinking about it, talking to this guy, and just trying to pin a personality down too, she could figure out the puzzle. Placing her hands into her back pockets, she glanced at the rides for the Octopus and the Tilt-A-Whirl. “Uhm, I guess the Tilt-A-Whirl’s a good choice- I mean, the line’s short anyways. I… don’t actually think I’ve ever ridden carnival rides.” “You are dead.”

[Nick Morrow]

rattled the windows and the tiny regrets and the tiny glass houses that i tried to forget.

tentacle rape?! :9 on a side note, sorry for the odd post. yay for all nighters the day before orientationnn. -flail-

On duty? Packing? It was safe to say that Nicholas had no idea what she was talking about, perhaps due to the fact that—oh, right!— they were from different time periods. He watched silently, pale eyes resting on her face, a brow quirked as he studied her. Was she helping out with the stands here? Or perhaps she was an event coordinator? His head tilted a little childishly to one side, lips pursing in thought before he bothered to ask, “On duty? What're you doing?” She didn't seem to be dressed for anything particularly special... Ah well, Nick supposed it was hardly his business. (After all, perhaps he didn't want to know what she was "on duty" for. Drug dealers did their job in casual wear, didn't they? Though, this was a carnival, hmm...) No matter, her profession was none of his concern and Nick had since straightened and was frowning down at her, apparently now troubled by the idea of her being too busy to have even a teensy bit of fun, but unwilling to beg her—she was, after all, sure to find it annoying. What he really should have been concerned about was the way she was looking at him, a matter quite similar to the way he had been looking at her just seconds ago. Her brows were furrowed as she voiced her question and Nick stiffened at her minute realization. A small part of him wanted her to guess and wanted her to be right; he wanted someone to talk to when he was otherwise alone on such days, someone that he could be completely honest with. Instead of being forthright, however, Nick gave a small smile, his expression perhaps a little coy and perhaps a little dubious, and replied, “I don't know. I don't get out much, aside from visiting the library, the park, and the beach often... Perhaps we met there? Ah, I also frequent the Izzy's Ice Cream... You been there before?” It was the first hint of the night that Nick would give and it would probably not be the last, knowing him.

As for his feet? Nick couldn't help but grin, wiggling his toes playfully, and remarking, “They ran off. Geddit? Cause they're shoes and yeahh...” The joke was stupid, but his never had been top-notch, something people found either annoying or endearing. All things considered, Nick hoped it would be the latter, though he doubted it. Now that he was older, he realized that Callisto hardly seemed to type to go out with dorks like him... Honestly, he wasn't certain he wanted to imagine the type of guy she went out with, considering she had Maddox—solid, reliable Maddox—right in her hands and had passed that opportunity up... No matter, it was hardly his place to be analyzing what sort of men she liked. First of all, he didn't even belong here; second of all, he had a tiny velvet box practically burning a hole in his pocket; third of all, she was kind of, sort of his adopted mom. Or something like that. The lines were blurred, anyhow, what with Amelia and all... The fact remained, however, leaving Nick to give an awkward shake of his head, hoping she'd be willing to put up with his shitty humor and spend a (G-rated) day with him and hoping that she wouldn't be bored out of her mind while going on rides with an overgrown toddler socially-inept young man without the possibility of anything romantic coming out of it.

Moving on, for the sake of Nick's sanity (and possibly Callisto's), the duo made their way to the ride section of the carnival, leaving games with rows and rows of giant stuffed animals behind. She confessed, while he appraised their choices thoughtfully, that she had never been on a carnival ride before. As in, today would be her first time. As in, she was a carnival virgin. “Wait... Wait?” Had he heard her right? A million questions came to mind (including what in God's name was wrong with her family), leaving him momentarily speechless as he looked down at her. His brows furrowed, as if he were seriously troubled by this revelation. Eternally childish, he firmly believed that amusement parks were among the best things ever created, hands down. (Behind a few things, including Harry Potter, cereal, and hotdish.) Not having been on anything? And he had always thought of her as the cool parent, fff. “Are you kidding me?” Nope. Not kidding. Suddenly determined, Nick took her wrist in his hand and thoughtlessly dragged her to the line for the Tilt-A-Whirl, appearing about to explode at the wait, chatting thoughtlessly, “All right, this is the TIlt-A-Whirl, no chance of... well, barfing at all. Little kids love this so it shouldn't be too scary, all right?”

table code by sie.

[Callisto Nikephoros]

He asked what she meant by ‘on duty’ and she gave him a look of disbelief. Did he really not spot the badge she was trying to subtly flash him? She sighed, unzipping her jacket all the way, shrugging it back slightly to give him a clear view of her gun, and lifted her badge up so it shone in the light of the afternoon. “I’m on patrol, making sure the good people of Honolulu are kept safe during their carnival excursion.” Her voice took on a slightly sarcastic edge as she placed the badge back inside her jacket and zipped it back up, making sure everything sat comfortably on her before looking back up at the boy. She studied him, trying to figure out if she knew him from somewhere or not. The features looked similar, the eye color, the hair… but she couldn’t place who it was. Maybe she’d met them a while back… If so, that could be why things were throwing her for a loop. Cali wasn’t huge on keeping up with friends, so she often fell out of touch very easily. If it’d been a few years, and they’d lost weight, or changed their hair style and color, or anything drastic, she probably wouldn’t recognize them right off the bat. The best she could hope for was to wait for them to do something that clicked, that made her think of a particular person’s habits and just randomly connect the dots. For that reason- to solve the mystery- she shoved her bitchiness back up her ass and figured she could at least try to be nice. She asked if she knew him, and he gave her something close to a coy expression as he answered her. He said that he didn’t get out much, just a few places and then some ice cream shop called Izzy’s Ice Cream. She tried to remember if she’d been there. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t yet place a picture to the words. Slowly, still thinking over the place, she shook her head. “No, sorry, I don’t think I’ve been there… or at least I don’t think I have. Who knows.” She smiled apologetically, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. If she’d been there, it had been a while, and if not, she was sure to Google it when she got home. She asked about his shoes, and he grinned, toes wiggling playfully as he responded with a joke, explaining it poorly. She smiled, laughing lightly, if only for the fact that the poor boy was trying. She wasn’t sure if this was his attempt at hitting on her, but she took it as a friendly joke. If it wasn’t… well, she’d apologize later for the mixed signals if a bigger move came along. He asked her if she’d want to ride any rides, recommending two nearby, which she quickly examined. The Octopus looked just like that, an octopus, with seats on every arm for people to ride in. The Tilt-A-Whirl was a giant circle with seats on top, spinning people around and- well, tilting haphazardly every which way. While running the risk of sounding stupid, the carnival rides did do one thing well: they made sure you knew exactly what it was that ride had to offer. She motioned to the Tilt-A-Whirl, saying it was the best bet at a short wait, but tacking on that she’d never really ridden a carnival ride. He looked at her in shock. What? So she hadn’t been to a carnival- some people would call it a blessing. She hadn’t gone to any because none had ever been near her when she’d been growing up. Her family had moved around constantly, so even if the carnival had been in town, chances were that she was busy trying to get her family functioning and not worrying about a few rides and junk food. He asked her again, and she shrugged. “I’ve never been to a carnival before now. Probably wouldn’t even be here now if it weren’t for the fact that it’s my job right now.” She shrugged. It wasn’t a horrible tragedy to her, not even a big deal. She didn’t consider herself depraved, but with the way this boy was looking at her, she assumed that he didn’t quite see it that way. He suddenly grasped her arm, tugging her all the way to the Tilt-A-Whirl’s line and chattering on. He said that there were no chances of barfing, and that it shouldn’t’ be too scary. She looked from him, to the ride. Before he’d mentioned it, she hadn’t even thought of vomiting or being afraid. What was there to be afraid of? Oh, you know, the machine could break, fall apart, and you go flying off to your doom somewhere. That’s all. She swallowed and blinked, watching as people got off, laughing and going back to the park. The man motioned for the next group of people to head into the ring and take their seats- Cali and the boy included. She followed the stranger’s lead, taking a hesitant seat beside her and watching him buckle up out of the corner of her eye. “Okay, so what now?”

image by Venny, code by Ryne