(EVENT ONE) the ocean breathes salty !

[LAINEY.]

hey hey! so here is the fish fry thread. just start rping and have some fun. some specifics people might want to know, the festivities started around 10 am, there are a lot of carnival games set up on the beach, the radio station there is broadcasting live, a beach volleyball tournament is going on, a surfing competition will be held here, and of course the frying of the fish. it's the first thing the city if doing to bring everyone together as a community. the earthquake took place two weeks ago.

if you still need some plots, hit people up in the cbox!

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[bellasantanarovens]

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---CHARITIES AND FUNRAISERS

[/size] were never really events isabella rovens was a fan of attending. shit happened in this world. you didn't have to be a good person or a bad person, there was no such thing as karma. a lot of the best people in the world were dealt shit, and a lot of the worst were simply blessed. the rest of the population just had to stick it out, and become stronger for it. wasn't that how evolution or whatever worked anyway? survival of the fittest. so if that was the case, why was humanity weakening itself by throwing little pity parties when something bad happened? bella had been dealing with the darker side of things since the day her mother died, and she never asked for anybody to feel sorry for her. she never wanted that. the girl had worked and gotten her hands dirty to redeem herself from her fall from grace. valkyrie, california had also taken a tumble off of its glorious pedestal when the earthquake hit and reaked havoc within the city limits. people died and were injured, building tumbled, trees fell. it was one hell of a mess, and all everybody in the whole damn city did was whine and mope about it. maybe it had something to do with their blood bonds, or that weird sensation of calling a place your "home sweet home." bella couldn't relate though. she was a wanderer, drifting from place to place, going wherever was convenient for her business and safety. right now, that place was valkyrie. poor, sad, little valkyrie.

it was a little hard to not feel bad for the place though. it'd once been a picturesque town, like something out of a television series and everybody is wondering where on earth it was filmed because it's the epitome of natural beauty. valkyrie didn't look that way anymore. it was dirty and broken. at least it was when bella first rolled into town, just after the catastrophe had actually hit. it looked better now, cleaned up and refreshed, though there was still plenty of construction going on as well as some collapsed building still waiting to be cleared. and as far as bella knew, the hospital was still jam packed with people, but it wasn't like she was keeping up with the details, so what did she know. she'd been to valkyrie a couple times over the past few years, and she'd thought it was a nice enough place. even now she enjoyed it, more so than she had any place except london, which she hadn't returned to since she was seventeen. going back there would be a mistake since she was still the "murdered grand-daughter of a member of parliament." that would just be messy. valkyrie, however, valkyrie was a good place to be at present time. she had connections here, friends even. for once, she actually planned on sticking around for a while, maybe even permanently if the place proved to keep her invisible and silent from unwanted eyes and ears.

unfortunately, valkyrie wasn't doing such a great job at keeping her on the down low. sure, she hadn't found herself face to face with any brazilian bafoons quite yet, but she'd had a run in with one of their ghastly russian cohorts. luckily for her, he'd probably keep their run in a secret since he failed to detain her and probably didn't want a chip to his pride and reputation. then again, you could predict the motives of a human who had a black hole for a heart. for all she knew, her relaxed days in valkyrie were numbered. but that was the least of her problems. right now, all she was trying to do was cover up the bruises on her body and the black eye she'd been so not gently dealt. "it won't go away!" she complained, lightly fingering it as she stared at her reflection. there were also bruises around her neck, and some on her abdomen. there was a gash on her head, but it was scabbed up and doing fine since it really hadn't been that serious. if she left the house with a male, well the common public would probably think he beat her viciously. not to mention, as a cherry on top, she had a gauze still taped over a bullet wound her side had so kindly recieved a month or so ago. "i look like a victim of domestic violence." she muttered. the blonde figure laying with her head thrown over the bed groaned, "you're so annoying. don't be an idiot and you won't look like somebody's bitch." she snapped. bella ignored her. she was used to the compassionless comments after the past few years. "jamie sure made you look like hell. i like it," syl snorted, "it gives off a "i'm a sex symbol, and i like it fucking rough" look." rolling her eyes, bella turned, "you should go. you'll like allegra. and then you already like wid." heaving herself up from the bed, bella's companion released a maniacal giggle, "as much as i hope your attractive russian friend is there to ram your head into a wall, i'm not a fan of charity and aid and... stupid shit." bella shrugged, "so you don't want to kick ass at a surf competition?" making her way to the exit of the shabby apartment, syl called over her shoulder, "goodbye, isabella."

it was impossible to make the black and purple stains on her usually perfect skin disappear, so she was just going to have to rock them. the young woman finished getting ready, and carefully slipped on a pair of sunglasses that hid her eyes. she was supposed to be meetin widow hughes at this little fishfry friend get together, or whatever these people called it, and she planned on showing up at ten a.m., right when the activities were going to begin. her main inspiration for going was the surf competition, and while she was there, may as well jump in a volleyball too. not to mention, nothing drastically dramatic was going to happen to her in such a public place, as well as the fact that bella simply needed some damn girl time. she wanted to hang out and forget her worries for an afternoon. it would be a nice change of events, to just have fun and join in on the elation and merriment, even if she wasn't exactly supportive of the cause. call her cruel and heartless, but she really didn't care about valkyrie's healing process. she didn't have any ties to this place that made it a necessity for her to give a damn. she wasn't going to be a bitch about it though. she would enjoy herself, just like everybody else would, just like everybody else was supposed to.

it didn't take long to get to the beach, and she was surprised to see all the people already arriving. families, groups of teenagers, the elderly, and basically anybody who was a citizen of the rebuilding city. the sun was shining as well, which was a good sign because bella could already feel the warmth on her face. she looked up to the sky, towards it, soaking it in. the water was a silvery, clear blue. it looked inviting, though she was sure it'd be cold and wasn't rushing to jump into it. the place wasn't entirely set up yet, and she could see there was a group of people working at it. one, she immediately recognized, was orion hughes. she'd seen him while chilling with widow, and basically he'd caught her eye, but wid kind of forbade her of even thinking about it and dragged her out of the house's perimeter. a bit of curiosity bubbled up inside of her as to why exactly he was doing manual labor for the city. the girl had never been on to pry, so she didn't really ask. or even considered asking, for that matter. she was tempted to go straight over to have a little chat before her company showed up, but decided she should probably reserve a spot on the sand before it got too crowded. lugging her surf board, and other items over to a descend location on the beach, she pulled out her belongings and sprawled them around in the sand, trying to take up as much room as possible. she hated being crowded by strangers, so she'd go out on a limb and look like a fool to prevent that from happening. the surf board and it's encasing did a good job at taking up space, as well as the towels she'd layed out and whatever else she'd happened to bring. god damn it, she was ready for a beach day. when she'd finished creating her little display, the girl stood erect, one hand shielding the sun from her eyes. where the hell were her people? if they didn't make an appearance, bella would not be the happiest camper. at this point she even felt a little paranoid about trotting over to have a chat with orion when all her possesions were lying around. she'd wait for a familiar face first.
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status•finished.
tagged• all you folks!
comments• bells <3
attire•clothes plus swimsuit!
credits•format inspired by vsiders. banner goes to lainey.

[violetta juliet giovanni]

----VIOLET REALLY LIKED HER SLEEP. it was the only time where you could truly escape from the real world. it was like nothing really matter in the dream world. all the petty things that bothered her in real life didn't matter at all when she slept. all the stress, everything. it was a nice feeling. and then you know when you were waking up when you felt like you were being dragged out of deep water. violet opened her eyes warily, like waking up from a twenty year coma. she was staring at the red digital clock that read 9:32 am. whatever she was dreaming about, she had already forgotten when her eyes opened. she groaned slightly. some days, it would feel good to lay in bed all day. of course she would feel lazy and dirty from not showering, but one could wish. violet rolled out of bed and walked over to the window. she pulled the blinds up, light immediately flooding the room. her eyes adjusted for a moment as she looked outside. she lived on the seventh floor of an apartment complex. it looked like hell outside. still. valkyrie was on a long road to recovery. she already could see a large hole in the middle of the street. some roads were still blocked off, and some of the debris was pushed onto sidewalks waiting for the city to move them. it was just sad. all the people injured and killed. she was just fortunate that nothing happened to her or rocco.

violet rubbed her arms, trying to warm them up. walking over to the door, she grabbed a robe and pulled her arms through it before leaving it. she could hear the tv as she walked down the hall and into the living room. rocco was already up, playing video games. if it wasn't for the latest and greatest video games, he probably would still be sleeping. "hey mom," he called over his shoulder as she passed behind him and into the kitchen. "morning, baby," she called and started the coffee pot. she started the stove, and got out the pancake mix. "hey, roc, i was thinking. we could maybe go to the fish fry, today? play some games, watch the surfers?" there was silence for a few minutes in the other room. "i kinda want to play this game." rocco said a few seconds later. violet bit her lip. it was a nice day outside. no one should be cooped up inside playing video games all day? "then i guess i'll just call gale and say you didn't want to go." immediately, she heard the game being paused and rocco was in the threshold of the kitchen in an instant. "i want to go, i want to go. is he coming?" violet nodded. "uh, yeah. of course," she lied. well, gale better be free today. "ok, cool." and rocco ran off again and the game resumed. violet walked over to the phone hanging on the wall and picked it up and dialed gale's number. a few rings went by and he answered. "oh, thank god you're home. please tell me you aren't doing anything today because i might have just told rocco you were coming with us to the fish fry." when he said that he wasn't doing anything she breathed a sigh of relief. "thank god. i really wanted you to come with us. another thing... i'm making pancakes right now for the masses without thinking there's only two of us here. mind coming over for breakfast?" she started pouring the mix into the frying pan and said, "sounds good. see you soon."

she hung up the phone and between making the pancakes and pouring out her coffee, she managed to set the table for three people. when there was a knock at the door. she put the pancakes on a plate in the center of the table. she really didn't care that she was still in her pajamas. it was just gale. she never really cared if he saw her in sweats or what not. she gave him a hug and let him in, rocco's game paused again and he was at the table in seconds already talking to gale about the game and where he was at in the level. violet mentioned how her hand-eye coordination was terrible so she'd watch the other two play the games. after breakfast she picked up all their dishes up and put them in the dishwasher, then said she was going to take a quick shower and then they could go. it wasn't like gale would be twiddling his thumb in the middle of the apartment. rocco grabbed his arm and said they would play two player.

violet didn't take long at all. hopped in the shower and hopped out within ten minutes and multitasked doing her hair and make-up and finding clothes for the beach. she could already count on numerous girls at the beach sporting jean shorts and bikini tops. that style was not like violet. she put on some jean shorts, a tank top and threw on a button-up sweater on over it. she put some sandals on and grabbed her purse. after announcing that she was ready, rocco sighed and told gale they'd have to play later. what would have been a ten minute drive to the beach ended up being a half hour with the traffic and the detours. but once they successfully reached the sand, it was like a carnival. the beach definitely didn't look like what it normally looked like on an everyday basis. you could hear the music, the smell of fish and food, and hear distant pings and dings from the games. "come on guys!" rocco said and shuffled in front of them. "let's go over there." he pointed at nothing in particular. but violet shrugged up at gale and grabbed on to his arm with her hand. "thanks for coming. it means a lot to us," she mentioned again as they walked behind rocco, who was leading the way,

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STATUS, complete CRED, format and graphics to me LOCATION & TIME, beach for the fish fry LYRICS, 'all those pretty lights" - andrew belle CLOTHES, here TAGGED, gale I SAY, sorry if it's a little gm-y.
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[riley delrick turner]

----HE COULD HEAR THE STOMPS COMING FROM A MILE AWAY. it was like a monster coming down the hallway and into the living room. he could here the stomps stopping right around the other side of the couch. fully awake, riley turner knew who was making the noise. it was ten in the morning, but to his five year old daughter, it was the equivalent to christmas morning today. the steps repeated as a mob of blonde hair flew from the just beyond the arm rest and leaped onto the pull-out bed of the couch in the living room. with a few bounces tatum turner's face was three inches of his. "daddy, wake up." riley sat up in his bed looking at her. her long blonde hair was, of course, all over the place, and she was dressed in a pink leotard and matching tutu. how she already changed into that this morning was beyond him, because he specifically remembered putting her to bed in pajamas. "i am up." she pulled hair out of her face. "we're going today, right? to the beach with the ponies and the games and the fish and the prizes. right?" riley scratched his head for a moment. "i dunno, tate...." he shook his head and looked down at the white sheets. he could see her fold her arms across her chest out of the corner of his eye. but it was only a small smirk on riley's part that tipped her off. tatum started smiling herself and pressed her small hands against riley's bicep in attempt to push him over. "come on," he said, hopping out of the bed. "help me make the bed." tatum jumped off the makeshift bed. and threw the pillows off the bed and did her best at pulling the sheets up to the very top.

riley still lived in the same building as he had since moving to valkyrie six years ago. hitten apartments. the only things different was that once regan got back from his fill in ireland, riley gave him his old room. the other bedroom belonged to tatum. riley didn't really mind that he lived on the pull out bed in the living room. it was just sleeping, you know? after the father/daughter team put the last of the cushions back on the couch, riley scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. "time to wake up uncle regan," riley said. tatum squealed and laughed as he trekked down the hall to where regan slept. with his free hand, riley pounded on the door. wake up uncle regan!" tatum yelled. "you got to surf today!" riley chimed in, "yeah, dude, you better get up. we should leave soon. get there early...ish. don't you have to check in or something?" riley did know that the tutu was just not going to fly at the beach so riley had to dress tatum half way decent.

that was the challenging thing to be a single dad to a daughter. especially a daughter like tatum. not only was she a girl that often pretended she was a princess and played with barbies, half of tatum's genes belonged to a woman named coco lehoux. and to any native in valkyrie that knew her, knew what riley must be dealing with. he put tatum down once they got into her room and riley opened her closet door. "but i want to wear this," tatum stated, already knowing what riley was doing. riley wasn't a fashion man. he didn't know how to put together outfits or what looked cute on a little girl. it just did not flow with riley. he was hopeless, he would admit. and of course, his parents never had a girl so it's not like he had a sister that could help. he had two younger brothers who were about as fashion coordinated as riley was. so, you could see the problems they had when dressing tatum. today though, riley pulled out some jean shorts for her, and striped shirt of green and purple. uh... yeah, that probably matched right? "here, put these on," he said, tossing her the clothes. "i'll meet you in the bathroom." of course, it took her ten minutes to get dressed as riley brushed his own teeth and washed his face. and then she came into the bathroom with an entirely different outfit on. now she was wearing whatever you call the type of bottoms where it's a jean skirt with attached shorts underneath. instead of the striped shirt she was now wearing a pink shirt with a big peace sign on the chest. "i'm glad we can both agree on the clothes you wear," he told her and picked her up by her armpits and put her on the counter. "pick me out girl clothes then," tatum said and folded her arms across her chest as riley pulled out the brush. this was always the most difficult part of the morning routine. "what are we thinking today?" he asked and started brushing through the natural snarls that happened from the night. "pigtails." riley sighed. anything other than a ponytail was considered difficult for him. "ok, i'll see what i can do." it took some time, but he got the part right, followed by combing the hair up and making sure they looked even. he tried the best he could really. he couldn't really help that they always seemed to lose the black pony tail holders so she just had to deal with the fact that there was on blue and one orange in her hair. "i think this is good as i am going to get it, tatum." tatum whipped her head around and stared in the mirror for a few seconds. "it's average, but i guess i can deal with it," she said and hopped off the counter in one jump. "oh, you guess you can deal with it?" there was no answer from her and riley just shook his head. it was his turn now to get ready fully and him getting ready was throwing some jeans on and a t-shirt.

regan was feeding tatum in the kitchen when riley entered the room. "you guys ready?" he asked. another ten minutes later they were all rolling down the street, regan's surfboard tied to the top of the car. "you know each of you are gonna win me something, right?" riley just smirked. "i want a big bear and a big tiger." riley steered the car into a parking spot. "i think we'll win you something when we win you something, how about that?" riley heard a 'humpf' from the backseat. riley turned to regan. "hey, did you uh... hear from reed? is he showing up today?" contact with reed had been temperamental at best over the past few weeks. riley was starting to worry. ever since shelby died, reed just hadn't been quite the same since then. "i'm worried. again."

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STATUS, complete CRED, format and graphics to me LOCATION & TIME, beach for the fish fry LYRICS, 'still waiting' - sum 41 CLOTHES, shirt + jeans TAGGED, regan? and anyone else really I SAY, ---
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[mary]

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------ Five years. It had been five years since Mary had been in Valkyrie and yet, she felt like an eternity had passed. It did not help that the Valkyrie she had returned to had been devastated by an Earthquake. Mary Connors had been across the world in Kenya at the time. She spent those five years working as a paid intern for Unicef and now she was back and working for them full time. While Mary had always been one of the smart ones, she graduated college at nineteen after all, she had never been one of those people who had long term goals. She majored in Anthropology but mostly because she couldn't keep switching her major or she would never graduate. And when she finally figured it out, it's first step was the Junior Professional Program for Unicef. It began with a two year program over seas. She worked so hard they offered her a job and suddenly two years became five years. Not only had it been five years since she had been in Valkyrie, it had been five years since she had been in the Western world. She spent the first year in Kathmandu, Nepal. The next two years in South India. A part of the third year in Bangladesh and then the rest of it in Maldives before they went from South Asia to northern Africa. First they went to Libya, then Tunisia for about nine months. Then they moved down to Kenya where they stayed for an extended period working to put together a school and medical center.

------ And what did these five years teach her? They taught her that she had finally found it. She finally found what she wants to do with her life. She loved these five years with all of her heart. It was life changing. She saw things that just break your heart and puts everything in perspective. It proved to her that one person can in fact change a life, the info-mercials were NOT LYING! It made her excited now to think about her future. It made her feel proud that she was part of it. The only downside of the trip? She had spent five years away from the people she loved. Now, Haley and Rose she had kept in close contact to. She spoke to them almost week. Sometimes there was no electricity where she was so she would have to send letters but she stayed close to them, but the one person she had always remained in contact with despite spending years apart on opposite sides of the planet, she had barely contacted. Who? Reed Turner. He had been her best friend and major crush most of her life but when she told him she was leaving he almost seemed angry until right before she had to leave he told her he was in love with her and asked her to stay. Mary knew Reed well, or at least, she thought she did and to her, she just couldn't believe him being in love with her. She assumed he was just scared of losing his friend so she told him that. He had denied it, and she got on the plane. She had sent him maybe three letters total. She never got anything back but now she was back. Things could go back to normal right?

------ Although, it had to wait. She had been back for two days, extremely jet lagged but she had to help out at a big benefit Unicef was helping to host. A fish fry. Yeah, a little lame but anything could help. She had arrived early to help set up a booth for Unicef. One of the women helping her, Mary thought was just incredible. Her name was Willow Friis, who everyone called Billy. Billy was the assistant Curator at the Valkyrie Museum of Natural History. She had somehow managed to get the Museum to help and donate. She was also one of those women with a level of intelligence that is simply terrifying. Billy had spent the past five years doing what she had done most of her life, prepping for future achievements. She had been working. She had also, surprise surprise, been dating. She had dated a man named Riley Turner. Billy had surprised herself when she allowed herself to date him seeing as he already had a child and she had read in many magazines that dating a man who has already had a child with another woman was not an intelligent thing to do, but Billy figured that she already did not fit into the average American female's mold, so if she was going to be deviant in her personality, she might as well be a deviant in her dating habits. After all, she was waiting to have sex until she and her fiance were actually wed, what is more deviant in modern America than that?

------ And no, Riley was not her fiance. Her fiance was a man named Henry. He was everything a man was supposed to be. Patient, intelligent.... tall... She was quite satisfied with her choice. Billy lifted a box out of the back seat of her car, she handed it to Mary, a girl who had actually managed to impress her greatly. She was driven, travelled, intelligent. Yes, Billy quite liked to converse with the young woman. Billy reached back into the car and pulled out another box. The boxes were surprisingly heavy for just being filled with information on earthquakes and earthquake relief. They made their way out of the parking lot and out onto the beach were the fish fry was practically finished being put together. They set down the pamphlets. Mary smiled, "So you want to put these out? I can go get some more of the decorations?" Billy nodded and began unpacking them on the main table's left hand corner. Information on the left, various ethnic foods for sale on the left. Yes, it was a fish fry, but this was a booth set up by Unicef and the Museum? They were serving food from Ethiopia and some Indian and Asian dishes. Some of Billy's personal favorites for that matter. "Oh Mary!" She called out to the red headed girl who had already began walking back to the car, "Please be careful with the box marked with a 'B.' It contains some artifacts from pre-history Somalia." Mary smiled and shook her head slightly before nodding, "Be careful with the old stuff, got it." Of course, Mary had already known to be careful. Mary disappeared off to the parking lot. Billy began placing out a few of the pamphlets before placing the box of extra's in the back of the tent. She directed a few of the others where to put things when she looked up as Mary returned, "Wonderful." Billy said plainly getting right to work. Mary turned to help when after a few moments, Billy stopped and stood up straight looking at Mary, "Thank you." She added as if she had forgotten to say it. Mary chuckled a little, "You are welcome." One of the other workers tapped Mary on the shoulder and quietly asked, "Weird one ain't she?" Mary nodded, "The best of us are."

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STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; wes and reed<3
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'sing' by my chemical romance
CLOTHES;; Mary and Billy
NOTES;; late but yay, I made a post.

[RUBY !]

VALKYRIE, CALIFORNIA, VALKYRIE BEACH, DAY, JANUARY 2012

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-----at first glance maggie giovanni, formerly corinthos, didn't necessarily come across as the beach going type. that was because when she'd first arrived in valkyrie she really hadn't been. the beach was for people who wanted to socialize and people who wanted a chance to tan and be ogled at by the opposite sex. at the point in which life had focused in on maggie in valkyrie she'd been much too preoccupied with work and her miserable family life to ever consider a trek to the beach. funny how things changed over the years. a lot of things changed when her husband had left her, leaving her broken in so many pieces that no one else could put her back together. she was the classic humpty dumpty tale. she'd been broken, empty, and alone for just about as long as she could remember but no one had ever had the effect on her that her bastard of a husband had had. he'd built her up, made her believe that she could be loved for the travesty that she was, and then left her behind like it was the easiest thing in life for him to do. okay that was a lie. in all reality she'd seen a spark of pain in his eyes when she'd spoken to him, a hint of that separation as well, but it made it so much easier to dislike him when she believed that luca had consciously made the decision to leave her behind and had walked out so effortlessly. in all likelihood it was a cruel way to go about it, but changing around the situations in her mind made it easier for maggie to cope, in a sense.

-----s he'd found many different ways to cope over the years, most of which involved absorbing herself into the business and doing nothing else but maggie had a few other outlets that she used to vent with when other things began to fail. that was the way she'd gotten past everything. she'd find a distraction, run with it until she'd run it into the ground and it no longer provided a decent distraction, and then she would move onto something else. the only distraction she'd found that she had yet to run into the ground was the business. m lounge and work with the giovannis were her life. they were her babies and since things were always changing, the distraction somehow always held. maybe it was too that those things were all maggies. the branch within the giovanni organization was just that, a piece of someone else’s pie, but it was maggie's piece and she'd been making them a fortune with her dedication to the job so it was just as much her baby as it was everyone else’s. the lounge...the lounge was something else entirely. it was the first thing that had been hers. it was the first business she'd actually owned, it was the first major thing she'd had control in, and it was a fun place. she could choose to change things on a whim and her dancers would just have to fucking deal with it because she was the boss. something like that, the kind of power she now had, it wasn't something she'd ever had before and she loved it, craved it even.

-----what people didn't know was that maggie had another distraction, something she'd picked up after luca had left and something she'd kept relatively quiet. she was a surfer. go figure right? the girl who had been interested in everything but the beach upon her arrival to valkyrie now used the beach as therapy. she wasn't one of those loungers though. she wasn't the type to hang around and socialize with the potheads who loved to ride the wave. she was there solely for the distraction. surfing took concentration. it took her focus away from her shit life and transcribed it into something else. she could stand on a board, do flips and 360s, and not give a shit about the rest of the world because there was no rest of the world when she was on that board. there was the sound of the rushing water in her ears, the coolness of water raking over her body, the rush of momentum as she beat the curl, and there was silence in her head. no more of her own voiced conscience telling her how much of an idiot she was for loving and trusting luca. no more second guessing his reasoning for coming back or what he wanted from her. everything around her was silent. it wasn't until her feet touched the sand and she reached shore that everything came rushing back to her.

-----the water brushed against her wetsuit but didn't penetrate as the wind whipped by her. the rush of water from the back of the curl seemed to envelop her as the wave grew closer to wrapping her up in water and propelling her off her board but with one little dip to make her body more streamlined, maggie and the board shot out of the wave and rode the remnants back to shore. a good ride if she would say so. usually maggie wasn't one for competitions but it was something for a good cause. i know, maggie? charitable? well today was a rare day apparently because she was here, she was riding, and she'd done pretty damn well. her stomach flat against the board, maggie paddled back to shore, finally sliding off when the water only came up to her thighs and her feet could steadily tread across the bottom of the ocean. she walked out of the water, her hand grabbing her wet hair and wrapping it into a tight spiral, ringing the water free from it. as she approached she noticed the crowds had really begun to gather, some familiar faces amongst the group. well, here goes. this was the time to finally come back to life and socialize with the people who she'd strayed from after the whole luca debacle. she noticed violet and gave her a little nod when their gazes met, but she didn't approach. she couldn't face the cousin of her husband right now. it hurt too much. she noticed bella rovens in the crowd and headed her way. "hey bells." she called out when she was close enough to not bring too much attention to herself.

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status • finished
words •1103.
tagged • BAM !
clothes • click !
notes • --.

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[bellasantanarovens]

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---FRIENDS AND FAMILY

[/size] had become a foregin part of bella's life. family was extinct to her, totally nonexistant. her family though she was dead, six fee deep in the ground. in some ways, she was. she was not the girl they remembered, not the innocent little princess, spoiled with glitzy toys and glamorous possesions. she was dangerous now, a viper waiting to strike. she'd been poisoned by the venom of the world she now lived in. it had infected her heart, and was now coursing through her veins like a good shot of adrenaline. bella had no family. she was an orphan, and she cared for her only living relatives too much to give them the truth they probably stayed up every night craving. it wouldn't bring them satisfaction, only fear and a possible death sentence. she was keeping them safe. friends were also a rare occurence on this path she'd chosen o follow. when she'd first joined the ranks of the brazilian mafia, she had her loyalties to their leader, but friends? she had one; a russian name ksenia. she had also been recently enlisted tot he dark side, and she and bella had hit it off immediately. once she left the brazilians, she'd lost that friendship, the only genuine relationship she'd had during that time. she'd started her business, suffering in silence, embracing the loneliness. then allegra mancini came into the picture. bell ahad done business with her a few times, and the two easily got along like old pals, an unexpected friendship blossoming. it wasn't anything bella predicted would last, though, she only saw allie every so often between "business trips," and then, by some odd fate, bella ended up in valkyrie, california.

it was astounding, couple with a dosage of shock and elation, when bella found herself being stitched up by dr. allegra mancini in a town she'd chosen totally at random. it was a sort of turning point in the black life she'd grown accustomed to living. bella had decided to stay in the ravaged little town on the california coast. finally, she had an alliy. she had somebody to trust, a friend. it was amazing to her how easily she'd suddenly began making these natural human bonds to people. allegra was the start. soon after, joey and syl rivers ended up in valkyrie as well, a couple of sisters with an uncanny ability of conning the public who she'd had an ongoing business deal with. three was the most she'd ever had in one place since she left london. it was the first time in years since there was that connection with others, the first time she'd actually started befriends those who met her eye to eye. at this point, she was building relationships she'd already had, something she'd never had time to do. there was new people she'd met as well. widow hughes, for one, who she'd taken a liking to because of her ferocity at once. then allegra had also introduced her best friend, maggie giovanni, to the british brazilian stranger who'd rolled into town. there were so many people she'd developed a sort of alliance with, had a loyalty for. that and they were all interconnected. it was the prime group to involve herself with. fore once she felt like she had people to fall back on, for once she was planning on sticking around, for once she had people she trusted, there was the potential of a foundation.

dispite the sudden "bff's" sprouting out of the ground like weeds, there were also the fiends and foes to worry about. there would always be the less-than-likable people. no matter which way you ran or how you acted, there would be somebody who wasn't your fan. you could be the absolute sweetest, most angelic person in the world, and somebody would hate you for being too nice. the person who embraces individuality? they're weird. the person with money? obviously stuck up. the one who is always honest? well they're just rude. the person who tries to help another? definitely nosey. there was no winning with the world. it was inevitable to have haters, to have those who would dislike you no matter what you did or how you behaved. bella didn't have the petty enemies though, she didn't have to deal with the indictive high school crazies with a craving for gossip, or the trophy wives who kept their own personal little black books. no, she was stuck in a world whereif you ahd enemies, it was the worst possible kind. they were deadly. they had a bloodlust, a trigger-happy quality about them. they'd always follow her, always be on her tail until that would-be bastard husband was dead. they'd found her in mexico, though she'd been a step ahead and skedaddled prior to their arrival. a straggler followed her to los angeles, however, and managed to shoot her. that asshole got what he deserved, though. even in valkyrie, she was haunted by ghosts from her past. james collins had given her hell jus tthe other night. she'd had to get her bullet wound restitched by allegra. it wasn't the best experience, but for the first time she'd had people to go to later on, friends to fall back on. she'd never had that before.

this beach outtling was the first social, just for fun thing she'd done in, well, since she could remember. sure, she looked like te other half of an abusive relationship, but hell with hiding, caution to the wind. who gave a damn what anybody thought. and luckily for isabella, anybody outside of her small group of friends and confidantes would probably just think she was injured in the earthquake. it made the black eye behind the glasses and the bandage currently occupying her abdouch easier to explain. this fishfry was her first attempt at putting on a a facade of normalcy. it was the beginning of her newly found social life, though obviously it wasn't well spread since nobody she was acquainted with was anywhere to be seen. she sat down in the sand, delicately drawing soft but random patterns in the shining white grains. her chin rested on the knee of the on leg she had tucked up to her chest, the other sprawled out in front of her. the sunlight felt divine on her back, the sunlight being soaked in by her skin. she was about as pale as a geisha after the past winter in hiding, it was about time to let her natural tan come back. the sounds were soothing; seagulls, kids, waves, laughter. closing her eyes she inhaled the crisp air, marvelling at how simply lige seemed right at that very moment. the tranquility radiated through her like a long lost friend. and then she started upon hearing her name.

when the green eyes wandered to the owner of the voice, bella grinned, already having guessed who it was, "hey there mags," se retorted casually, heaving herself up off the ground, her fingers dusting the pieces that had stuck to her kin and clothes. she looked maggie up and down, performing a rather vulgar movement with her hips, "well lookie who got all sexified today. ya look like the babe slow-jogging out of the ocean that all the guys pee themselves over," her eyebrows danced above the dark sunglasses, "oh damn, a wet suit? i wish i'd thought of that. i shoul dhave bought one," her gaze turned sheepish as she looked down at herself, and then noticing maggie's board for the first time. her eyes popped out of her head, "maggie!" she crooned, "you surf?! since when!" she was beaming now, confused but not really surprised. she figured there was plenty she didn't know about this giovanni, "we're going to have to hit the waves much more now." bella liked maggie. she was independent, and clever with that always-speak-your-mind quality. not to mention, from what bella had heard, she had quite a deadly hand to accompany those brains of hers, "is allie coming?" she blurted out, looking around. if the blonde bombshell did happen to show up, bella hoped to go she wouldn't be upset about her entering the surf competition with her wound still needing some healing.
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status•finished.
tagged• all you folks!
comments• sorry its rough, i did this during math.
attire•clothes plus swimsuit!
credits•format inspired by vsiders. banner goes to lainey.

[reed]

----IT WAS ALWAYS AND UP DOWN UP DOWN ROLLER COASTER for the middle turner brother. it could be traced back all the way to when his irish ass first moved to valkyrie. reed was always a party boy at heart. he had a couple brushes with the law, you could call him an alcoholic. he was the one that scraped by on the bare minimum, barely graduating from high school. never went to college, never moved out of valkyrie. in fact, he stayed right where he was, bought a run down piece of property on main street. he then moved in to the apartment that was upstairs and changed the area downstairs into a bar. a coyote ugly bar to be specific. but, you heard this story already. the bar was a hit, reed was successful, and blah blah blah. however, the only difference in this age-old story was that reed met someone. but really, didn't reed always meet someone? well, this time, it had been different. her name was shelby, and she was different from the ashleys, bretts, and marys. she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. and he had intended to, gave her a ring and everything. then, well, life never quite works out the way you intended it to. nope. someone thought it would be ok to just take shelby away. all they wanted was the car, but in the process they just had to shoot her. reed waited in the apartment for her to come back. he waited, and waited, and waited. then there was the cops, at his door. it was a moment he didn't want to remember. how the red and blue flashing lights lit up the cop's face as he said there was an accident and he needed to come down to the hospital. he needed to id a body.

reed shook himself awake. "ughhhh," he moaned. his head on anything but a pillow. his neck felt sore, like he was sleeping on it wrong. well, that would explain it. he had passed out on one of the bar stools, the bar was his pillow. sun filtered through the windows. he rubbed his face. damn what time was it? he saw the clock on the wall. one in the afternoon. damn, that long? that's when he noticed the one and only tristan silvers passed out on the bar. oh yes, the events of what happened the night before slowly returned to him. he wouldn't tell tristan, but every time he was feeling lonely about shelby's death, he called tristan up. which, recently, was a lot. he stood up and hopped over the bar. he wasn't going to wake her up but the noise he was making would surely wake her up. he started clinking the many many shot glasses around. well, one thing was for sure, they must of had a lot of fun. and before you go get all sad and wonder why reed was drinking again, stop. he's heard the 'you were doing so good,' lines one too many times. yeah, he was doing good. he was doing really good up until shelby died. it had been six months and he was still drinking. he liver was probably shot dead by now. but somehow, he just didn't care. you couldn't judge him unless you felt the way he felt right now. he heard enough of it from his brothers already.

"wakey, wakey," he rasped to tristan as he saw her stir. he cleared his throat and washed it clean with a swig from the whiskey bottle. he slid the bottle to her. "here you go. it'll make you feel better." alcoholics always had a weird sense of what would actually make you feel better. he was trying to think if there was anything going on today. what day of the week was it even? he looked behind him at the calendar hanging by the cash register. oh shit, that's right. there was a fish fry today. fish and fun carnival stuff. sunshine. everything that basically defined valkyrie pre-earthquake. hmmm... the thought of going was tempting. he would guess regan would go because of the surfing. riley would probably go and bring tatum. well, if his whole family was going to be there, then he wanted to be there too. "you wanna go to the fish fry?" he asked her and cracked open a bottle of guinness and took a long. he still felt buzzed from the night before. so he was already drinking today. "come on," he told her. "i'll win you a bear or something." there were games there, right? he made sure he had money on him. they'd have alcohol there too, right? adults would be there. adults needed alcohol.

after having a few more 'we didn't die last night' shots, somehow vside's resident trainwrecks found their way on the beach. the moment the sand could be felt beneath his feet it was like he was walking in slow motion on top of jelly. not to mention, the california sun became increasing bright. shit, he forgot his sunglasses, too. he was already on the look-out for riley and regan. he held onto tristan's waist and they slowly and sloppily made their way across the sand. "where the fuck do i win a bear around here?" he asked aloud. loud enough for passerbys with their kids look at him sharply for being obnoxious and cursing in front of their impressionable children. well, fuck them.

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STATUS, complete CRED, format and graphics to me LOCATION & TIME, beach for the fish fry LYRICS, lovely words from charlie sheen CLOTHES, here TAGGED, tristan, turners later, mary later I SAY, hope it sounded ok. i know it's short. didn't want to ramble and wanted to just start moving the event along xD
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[tristan valencia silver]

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JANUARY 2012. AFTERNOON. VALKYRIE FISH FRY.

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,SHE HAD LONG forgotten how to smile. she had been raised taught not to smile. never show a genuine smile. that's what her parents always told her. "it causes wrinkles", was the mommy excuse. "never show a weakness", was the daddy reason. both of her parents had forgotten how to smile, too. for her entire life, tristan silver used her colgate-perfect smile and dimples to get whatever she wanted. the moment the faux grin crossed her face, people fell for her cute, adorable persona. it was her way to get ahead in the world. those were the lies her father laced with her cereal every morning when she was in grade school. i guess he was right. she got whatever she wanted. everyone believed she was pretty and harmless and just trying, but never quite getting it right. the moment anyone doubted the silver girl, saw the cracks in her plastic veneers, she just smiled. that stopped them. a smile that real? that cute? how dare i think such terrible thoughts! and it worked. for awhile, at least. when people stopped believing that tristan silver was, in fact, the perfect little girl, her reason to even fake smile were eliminated.

she didn't even remember how to fake a smile anymore.

there was no reason. the past five years of her life had been worse than the first eighteen. seventeen? she was almost eighteen when the world discovered that she was, in fact, as evil and manipulative as every fourteen year-old cried about. huh. so all those years of broken hearts and broken girls were because of her? so the children were telling the truth after all. that was when her bright smile and cutesy dimples stopped being effective. people saw the emptiness in her eyes. they realized the ice in her voice. they even realized that everything she was, was a lie. when the secrets starting pouring out, so did her frowns. she broke away from that world. they didn't want her anymore. good. she didn't want them to begin with. and the new, darker crowds she quickly affiliated with never smiled. they smirked, smokey teeth behind shadowy curtains. but they never smiled. they laughed sometimes. dark, sardonic chuckles of irony. that was okay. she never knew what it felt like to smile, anyway. she had long mastered the cold, amused smirk. she even knew how to laugh like them, with no feel or emotion behind it. the past five years had frozen any reason there ever would have been.

she didn't even remember what a smile felt like.

and she didn't care. why would she smile? because she had a fat bank account? she had her entire life. because she had a nice apartment? she was accustomed to the finer side of living. because she could party? do what she wanted? she had long grown numb to that. she was twenty-two years old and trapped in valkyrie, california. she had become a good-for-nothing townie with a sour past and no visible future. all she did was fuck and drink and fuck some more to forget all of that. by the time the cold truth began to dawn on her, she was passed out from drinking too much vodka. she didn't smile because she didn't have a reason to smile. vodka was her water. boys were her pets. condoms - or lack thereof - were the balloons of her childhood. pills were the candy she wasn't allowed to eat, really. but she did anyway, to spite her mother. all tristan had done with her life was take the iconic symbols of her happy childhood and give them a sickening twist. then she fucked and drank and fucked some more to forget she did that in the first place. there was no smiling because there wasn't a reason to. there wasn't a reason to care because what was there to care about in the first place?

not here. not now. she had fallen asleep on the alcohol-soaked bar of a seedy bar. why would you smile about that? she didn't even care anymore. her long body was stretched across the countertop of bad seeds, head rested on her arms. she didn't remember yesterday. but that's okay. she rarely remembered the day before. it would come in flashes, but it was always the same. cheer alcohol and not a lot of clothes. whenever she fell asleep on this bar, that is exactly how it went. she didn't even need a reminder of reed's voice to know that. she heard the turner boy's wake-up call and groaned. she didn't care what time it was. she just wanted to sleep and never wake up. only opening her eyes when she heard the bottle of whiskey slide across the wood to her, she gribbed the neck of the half-empty bottle and swung up into a sitting position. bringing it to her lips, she felt the electricity of the rough liquid sliding down her throat. better than water. dangling her legs above the ground, she was still watching them swinging when she heard reed speak again. that was new. it had become a habit to party with him, become the distraction he needed so badly. she was okay with that. it was nice to know someone needed her, even for a reason as stupid as that. but it wasn't habit to really talk. not a lot. share morning shots, probably tear each other's clothes off again sometime that day. but not talk. the fish fry? oh yeah. she'd heard something about that. fund raising to bring valkyrie back to its shining old self. yeah. because that would ever happen. the ugliness of her hometown was appealing now. it matched her personal storm clouds. "i didn't know you were so romantic, turner." that was her saying yes. that was her finding her loose tanktop and sandals. and that was definitely yes to following him out the door and toward the beach.

looking up at him through her own sunglass-covered eyes, she chuckled her dark laugh. that was as close to a smile as she got. wrapping her arm around his, holding onto the equally twisted trainwreck for support, her expression quickly grew sour. he'd woken her up for this? it was like high school all over again. people were laughing and flirting and chasing each other. they played on the sand and bonded as a family. they were swimming and playing beach ball. some topless fifteen year-olds were even tanning, sharing cigarettes and thinking they hid the tequila bottle well in the brown bag. "you owe me a lot more than a fucking bear." she spoke loudly, echoing his words, to cause the beligerant parents to glare at them again. hah. that's what they get for trying to shield the little darlings from the inevitable corruption valkyrie had to offer. "try the ring-toss game or something. because i want to know if this is family bonding. i'm not in the mood." he had done more with himself, reed had. all she had done was hook-up with the one person she'd always found disgusting in high school. good work, trist. he also had a family. a close one. if there's one turner, you know there's going to be more. and she knew the only reason reed ever did...well, anything, was because his brothers would be around. and she wasn't in the mood to see exactly what she didn't have. she never was. not just fuck them, fuck all of it.

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STATUS, complete.
TAGGED, reed ! and everyone
LENGTH, 1253 words.
ATTIRE, clicketh + sandals.
NOTES, yay? xD
CREDITS, format and graphics to me.
lyrics to 30 seconds to mar - "kings and queens"

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[orion]

• ------------------------------------------ •

------ It was incredible. When Widow had initially planned on bringing the Hughes and Donny back to Valkyrie, she figured she could get Donny to come back at least long enough to help her out, but she figured she would be alone. She not once even considered the reality that Liz and Orion would come back. She assumed they would turn it down and tell her to come visit them if she had something to tell them, but they had all came, with Kale as a tag along. It was strange how some people showed up for you when you never expected them to, and now? Here they were. All living in the same large but run down house. They were an interesting group of people but they were a family. Weird. Widow had never really had a family. And the one person she had ever been truly close with, and I mean, truly close in a way that is hard to imagine unless you have felt it for yourself, was Jasper Richardson. Jasper was born into the Sirens but had spent his first so many years with his mother before he joined them. The Richardsons were an allied family, so no blood relation to the Hughes. When Jasper and Widow were kids, they were best friends. They even shared a first kiss. A first kiss that caused her father to beat him senseless, a beating the boy still had scars from.

------ They had stopped their friendship and childhood romance at that point. They both pretended not to care about each other and prayed the feelings would go away but every time she was around him, everything became hazy. It was complicated. It had always been complicated but she kissed him five years ago. He told her he loved her and all she heard was her father whispering he loved her as he raped her. She panicked and left. Then in Chicago they had a huge fight where she essentially told him she did not love him and he needed to move on. Even in the terrified moment she told him, the words were the harshest lie she had ever told. That was the last time she had seen him. No one else knew this but Widow could have enlisted Donny to get her into Harvard Law had she asked him. The only reason she came back to Valkyrie was because of the chance of seeing him. But he wasn't at the Hitten anymore. He probably moved on too. She would probably never see him again...

------ The real question was why did she want to see him? Five years later, without seeing him at all, alone with JR, wandering around the country, doing what they pleased? It was what she had always wanted from life... to be free and yet, it was empty. She thought about Jasper every damn day, replaying the night they kissed over and over. "How selfish of me to love you, right?” - - "just tell me what I did wrong in loving you with my whole heart?” He just kept saying it over and over and all she could say was Juliet Died. GOD she needed to stop. Here she was, again, thinking about him. He was gone. He wasn't in her life anymore. And even if he was still in town, she didn't know where. She just needed to live her life. Current life. From this moment on, Widow Hughes had no past. No father, No Sirens, No Jasper. She had other things to do. She was at the moment, looking in the mirror. She leaned forward and lifted her arm to apply mascara when she heard her name being yelled from downstairs. "Hold your ass Ri, I'm coming!" She shouted back down at him. She made eye contact with herself in the mirror quickly before turning and making her way downstairs.

------ Orion had been ready to go for at least fifteen minutes, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for his niece. They were going to go down to the beach for the stupid fish fry. Widow was going because of her friends and stuff like that but why? Why in god's good name would someone like Orion be going? It's easy. Community Service. He was going to help some people work booths. He needed a certain number of community service. Terms of his parole and all. Yeah, Parole. You see, Orion Hughes was the one of the group that actually got caught. Liz turned herself in after he one kill but it was ruled self defense and since there was no body or evidence she was let go. Donny was way to smart to get caught. Orion though, no, one of his past engagements came back to bite him in the ass. He was charged with aggravated assault and for the murders of multiple different people and while he was found guilty of the assault, there wasn't enough to tag the murders on him. He was out after only two years. He was sentenced to four but... yay good behavior. Maybe his guilt could let up a bit now that he had been punished for at least something. Maybe. "Bout time." Orion remarked plainly as Widow finally descended the stairs.

------ Widow rolled her eyes, "Oh please I didn't take that long, besides, the fish fry isn't going any where, you'll get your service hours Princess," Widow replied " don't you worry." She added patting him on the cheek at the last part. Orion pulled his head back as Widow walked out of the front door. He shook his head a bit before shutting the door behind him. He jogged slightly to catch up with Widow, "You know, you're still a bitch right?" He asked her as they both ducked into the car and reached for the seat belts. Wid pretended to think for a half second looking smug. She shrugged, "yes, well... I appreciate consistency." Orion just smirked slightly as he started the ignition. And they were on their way. After a short drive, the two were parking at the beach and making their way towards the crowd. Orion waved good bye to Wid before heading over to one of the organizers with a clipboard who sent him over to a tent and booth being set up for a phone company or some sort that were going to do a game. Orion began to help fix the structure up. Most of the booths were already set up.

------ Widow on the other hand went straight for the crowd. She breathed in the fresh sea air and smiled as she saw two of the people in the world she actually liked. She made her way over to Bella and Maggie. As she approached, she looked Maggie up and down and at the surf board, "Well..., good, the female surfing community is always short on members who look like actual women." She spoke as she stopped next to them. She looked over at Bella and smiled as a way of a greeting before looking around and asking the both of them, "So... how's the local talent looking?"

• ------------------------------------------ •

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; any and all
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'walter reed' by michael penn
CLOTHES;; Wid, shirt unbuttoned and Ri
NOTES;; yay

[galeparker]

- - - - - -

---SERGEANT GALE PARKER

[/size] was a soldier, a patriotic, faithful asset to the united states military. he'd joined straight out of high school, he'd gone through boot camp, he'd physically, and even mentally at times, pushed himself. he'd made friends, he'd lost friends, he'd seen things nobody should see, done things nobody should do. being in the army was the primary purpose in his life, though. afte years of struggle during his adolescence, an ongoing battle with illegal substances and breaking his family's hearts and trust in him time and time again, he found something he finally felt like he could do right. it'd been almost ten years since he'd been a part of it, a part of the one thing he had ever really felt like he was a part of. doing work for his country, his country that he loved as much as you could love a country, well, it gave somebody like gale parker a reason. he threw himself into it, enveloped himself in the life that the army had to offer. it really was everything to him, and he would come home every now and again, but he always went back. that was until his sister was kidnapped, and a cherry topper to that shitstorm? the earthquake.

gale's tour had been almost finished, and he wasn't in some critical state, so they'd sent him home a few weeks early once paisely was found. he'd stayed with her in the hospital for a couple weeks, and then the earthquake hit his hometown, and he went back. his mother had been killed in the quake, trying to help somebody on her way to work. his house had been ravaged, but luckily the rest of his family was fine. they were safe. paisely flew in only a few days later, and they'd moved into their house. gale hadn't reenlisted, he wasn't sure he could after this, there was just so much going on, and his family had always been there for him, so he figured for once, maybe he should be there for them. he got a job as a mechanic, donating whatever money he earned to his family fund. he'd grown up in valkyrie, been there as long as he could remember, and he sincerely found himself torn up on the inside to see it in such a devastating condition. it was weird, though. he han't expected all the sentimental and emotional attachments. gale had never been good with feelings of any sort, they were beyond him. he didn't really have relationships outside the army, just his buddies and his family. but to everything that appeared to be a hard fact, well, there was an exception. and gale parker's exception was violetta giovanni.

he'd met her through her son, who'd been his "pen-pal" of sorts. gale adored rocco like a brother, since he actually had brother not too much older. they'd written, gale told him stories (the appropriate ones) and then one day he met him in person, and of course, violet as well. at first violet was just the gorgeous mother, who eventually became one of his closest friends. she would always tell him her stories, vent about her problems, and well, gale would usually listen since he'd never really been the guy to dump all his thoughts and desires on somebody. he figured there was no reason to tell violet about the things he witnessed, the things he'd done, the memories that sometimes haunted his sleep. it wasn't like he had ptsd, he could handle it himself. he was a big boy. it wasn't like he was hiding it from her, if she asked the right questions, he' tell her. for some reason he liked that violet was so open with him though, he liked the mutual trust. the only time it became a problem was more recently, when gale realized he had feelings for the girl. he wouldn't think about, wouldn't even consider how strong those feelings may be, but he had them. when violet spoke about other men or dates, he'd get all riled up on the inside, but kept it to himself, like usual. she obviously didn't feel he same way, right? they were friends, just friends. gale would get over that too. he wouldn't want violet to fall for him, for her to have to live with somebody who's life was in constant danger, halfway around the world.

when gale woke up that morning, he'd been planning on a lazy day. maybe go to the fish fry, surf, just hang out and watch his geek movies, whatever. and then violet called him. he'd just barely woken up, sounding groggy on the phone and slowly following her requests. it was one of those time when you just sed yes an pretended to know what was going on. after hanging up the phone, he quickly jumped in the shower, slipping on some darkly colored trunks, a white t-shirts, and some manpower flip flops. he grabbed his keys to his jeep, just waiting for the day when the stang was ready to be driven, and off he went to violet's house. upon entrance he smelt the food, and being the big bad man that he was, ate plenty. during violet's shower, gale joined rocco in front of the television. video games were something most of the male species could appreciate, gale being one of them. honestly, he could have sat there playing with rocco all day, but figured that would probably not make violet happy, and kept the thought strictly to himself. as soon as violet was finished, they left for the beach.

gale really hadn't had time with all that was going on to just hit the beach, not yet at least, and he had forgotten how much he missed the sun, the casualness, the waves. it was good to see all of valkyrie joining together under a clear sunny day, enjoying themselves. rocco was ecstatic to begin, already rushing off to choose a game. gale shrugged, hearing violet speak, a smile playing on his face, "no problem, vy, i'm willing to hang out with you guys whenever," he was very aware of her hand on his arm, but he ignored it, figuring it was just violet. it was how she always was, they were close. he vaguely noticed valkyrie's resident drunks showing up, reed and tristan. deep inside he was laughing at their display, finding it quite humorous, but made a face for rocco's sake. he himself had to keep his language in check when in their presence. "hey kiddo, where are we going first?" he called out in front of them to rocco, hoping to be able to win violet some sort of prize or something. that was chilvalrous, right?
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status•finished.
tagged• vale!
comments• sex. on legs.
attire•i'm lazy. board shorts and a white t-shirt.
credits•format inspired by vsiders. banner goes to lainey.

[magdelena e. g. giovanni]

VALKYRIE, CALIFORNIA, VALKYRIE BEACH, DAY, JANUARY 2012

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-----she didn't know why today of all days she chose to be open about the hobby she'd taken up a long time ago. maybe it was because of everything that had begun to happen around town. luca was back and was raising all kinds of hell as far as she was concerned and maybe it was just something she needed to being to the forefront. it wasn't something she wanted to give up either. after luca left and maggie found herself in a hole of despair, she'd taken to surfing as a means of forgetting about the world. it was a distraction that focused her concentration and really helped her to figure out her shit. though she was in no way the same maggie as she'd been before, but it really was nothing compared to what she had used to be. for the first time in possibly ever, maggie was fragile. she wasn't visibly fragile. she was hearty and vibrant as ever on the outside with her long, toned limbs and strong overall appearance. it wasn't until you looked at her features, her eyes in particular, that you saw just how weak she really was right now. this crap with luca had shifted a major piece of herself out of place and it wasn't going to be fitting any time soon. this much maggie was completely aware of. maggie tended to turn to surfing when things began to really lose focus and as of late, with all the stress, she just needed to hit the beach, of needed a reason to hit the beach. hence why she was here. not only was it an excuse to go surf but it was an excuse to get herself out of the m lounge. she had done so willingly and hadn't even needed to be dragged out kicking and screaming so that had to be a good thing right? well is she was asking herself, she'd have said yes and that was all that mattered right now. she didn't need the opinion of others and though her friend's input was always useful and always taken into consideration, it wasn't something she relied on as heavily as most people would have.

-----it wasn't like she did this for the charitable purposes or in an effort to support the city's togetherness attempts. she knew just as well as anyone else that the damage done to valkyrie and the tragedy that befell the town that was relatively unaccustomed to bad earthquakes, but the town was getting over it and had been for a long while before a charity effort like this was dreamed up. it may sound completely callous, but why bother to continue dwelling on the past? the dead were dead, the fallen buildings were finding their footing again, and the people were finding their way past it. did it really take a giant cook off to bring the town together so long after everything had passed? maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing but it seemed strange to her that some people would need an event like this to make themselves feel better. but hell if was an excuse to go out and maybe have some fun and at this point that was all she cared about. after all she was going out, seeing familiar faces, and quite honestly she was amused but the way criminals like herself and bella had assimilated into the crowd, into civilian life. though in a way they stood out due to their confidence and overall sense of discipline, they could easily be seen as normal, hum-drum members of the community. just like any other joe cubicle type. it surprised maggie. honestly, it seemed that though they came across as civilians, they still appeared like a sub-species of human that would be incapable of reproducing with the "normal" people around them. maggie still never would have assumed that they would hide so well amongst the crowds. they didn't even look noticeably different. maybe she'd been under some kind of assumption that being involved with the giovannis, or any other mob for that matter, would be similar to wearing a neon sign on her chest that read "grandma beware" or something.

-----it could be that she was over thinking things completely which was something maggie had a fondness for doing. in most instances, she liked thinking about all the ways a situation could play out. it was how she did so well in the business, especially growing up. maggie had, for the longest time, organized the business for her father and made him enough money to want to keep her around, but in the meantime she’d always been thinking about ways her own plans, or ideas of other people, could be tweaked to be more efficient, safer for her employees, or make more money. it was something she’d been proud of for the longest time. it was something she’d used in her favor and had manipulated in such a way that by the time she’d started working for fausto she’d turned it around into a completely legitimate deal. she’d made fausto significantly more than even she thought she would make him with the culmination of ideas and revamps she had decided and each of them had paid off in spades. she’d thought her thought processing ability was the shit, until now. the worst thing about an overactive thought process was that when your husband dropped everything and left to disappear in a big city for more than four years, well your mind always wandered. she was way past counting on fingers and toes the number of times she imagined him in bed with another woman, enjoying her company the way he used to enjoy hers, or shot and lying on the cold pavement with someone’s nasty breath on him as they watched him die. there were so many nights when she’d woken up in a cold sweat to an empty room in an empty loft in an empty life, wondering just where on god’s green earth her husband was and what in the fuck he was doing. usually most nights it was too much to think about and she’d be forced to spend the rest of those darkened hours pacing ruts in the floors or working on gio business. waking hours would see maybe a little surfing, but a whole lot of the same with pacing, work, the lounge, etc.

-----it was nice to break the misery that had become the norm in her life and get to do something she could consider fun. going out to the beach and meeting up with the girls? that definitely qualified as fun. she watched as bella turned around, chuckling slightly as reality set in and she realized she had a board with her. ”yes well it’s not something i’ve been completely open about.” maggie said with a chuckle as she looked over at bella. ”better for the surf and sand i think. does help that it’s form fitting.” she said with a chuckle, ringing her damn hair around with her finger to tangle it into a twist and get it out of the way of her face. ”yeah i’ll take you on any time babe. let me know.” she looked out across the sand and noticed another familiar face headed toward her, widow, her favorite bitch who’d run off with her brother. she smiled and gave a little hand wave, letting her come a little closer before she struck up conversation. ”i hadn’t talked to allie but i’m thinking she’ll come. i was here before all of this even started up so i haven’t heard from anyone since last night.” by the time she’d finished she heard widow’s familiar voice behind her. she gave her bestie a familiar smirk as widow gave her a once over. ”glad you like chicka.” she said, her accent tripping out of her mouth slightly with a little rolling of the tongue. the remnants of the person she used to be. she looked around as the crowds around valkyrie beach began growing with little families coming out for some good old fashion beach fun. she checked out the masses of people heading out on boards to soak up the decent waves that were beginning to filter in. ”haven’t been looking. you tell me.” maggie said with a shrug of the shoulders. she flung out an arm, hooking it around widow’s waist with ease and bringing her in for a moment before letting her go. a quick little half-hug if that was even a good enough word to describe it. ”so, ” she said breaking up the moment’s silence, ”what’s on the agenda today. you girls going to play nice?” she glanced over at widow then at bella, a inquisitive smirk on her face.

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status • finished
words •1,502.
tagged • everyone !
clothes • click !
notes • --.

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[caroline isabelle sutton]

VALKYRIE, CALIFORNIA, VALKYRIE BEACH, MID-MORNING, JANUARY 2012

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-----carly loved the beach. she loved it because it always tended to remind her that she lived in a place that wasn't the hell hole she'd come from as a child. keizer had been the epitome of land locked and though it's locale wasn't in the dead center of the united states, it was still a drag to be no where near the ocean. man made lakes didn't count. a bathtub didn't count. this, with the rolling waves and the glimpses of sea life out on the horizon, this was what she loved to see. oceans meant she was on the coast and the coast subconsciously meant that carly could relax. here she wasn't about to be judged by the mistakes she'd made in her youth. here she wasn't shunned by an entire community, talked about behind her back, and treated like a leper. those were all the qualities of the place she'd left behind and she couldn't be happier that it was a part of her past. keizer had been one hellish nightmare after another and she was so beyond happy to put it behind her. things had changed so much from when she'd first come to valkyrie. she'd originally showed up three years ago with a barricade of emotional and psychological walls built up so high and so thick that no one would even think to break through. she hadn't been callous upon arrival but she'd certainly been uncaring. she hadn't given a damn about other people or their opinions and that had been fine for her. she had cared too much back in her old home town without even trying really. she'd pretended not to care what people had thought of her but honestly back then when popularity was everything at a school that only raised more rednecks, you didn't have much of a choice other than to care. she had played it off. she had been the nice little cheerleader instead of the stuck up snob but the truth was that she had enjoyed the attention and she had been guilty of smiling as she'd walked hand in hand with the boy who'd gotten her pregnant before she'd actually gotten pregnant because they were king and queen of the school without trying. and when she'd lost it all? yes she had cared. it had really hit her when people had turned on her and turned her into the school pariah. she had pretended not to care. she'd remained stone cold as people had given her shit, and she hadn't given those people the satisfaction of seeing it bother her, but it had. the minute she'd gotten home carly had always cared.

-----but here carly didn't have to worry about it. she didn't have to care whether or not people gave a damn about her because here she already knew she had real friends. here people knew about her mistakes, knew about the child she'd had, and they didn't care. they liked her for who she was despite all her shortcomings and she loved that. carly didn't have to fear people shunning her again like they had in that close-minded community she had come from. here people made mistakes all the time and the town didn't focus on rumors like a life support. she had people here who cared about her who weren't just family members and carly loved that. it may have been silly to associate a place with a beach to a place that was right for her, but it had been right twice over. valkyrie had been good to her as had new york who bordered yet another ocean. you couldn't argue with statistics. living in a place that had been without a sea shore? terrible experience. whereas when she'd lived in two places that had boreded the ocean she'd damn well had the time of her life. her safest bet was to go with what she knew to be true and if that meant making the assumption jump from beach to good place to live? well she could justify that at just about any time. just look at her surroundings! pristine, white beaches that had been refurbished and cleaned since the quake and beautiful, albeit weathered, homes that looked picturesque within that landscape. you couldn't not love a place like this. maybe she just had a soft spot for her old digs. she was, in any justifiable terms, bias. she loved this place so much that she attended every charity even that had been developed in the wake of the tragedy and made sure that people knew about just what kind of damage valkyrie had seen. it still didn't feel like enough. people still needed help some time after the quake. some still lived on the streets or it was a recent development due to the fact that they couldn't afford to fix up the rubble that had become their homes. these were just one of the many factors of the quake that had yet to be fixed and needed attending to. maybe a day like today with the community cook out would be enough to bring people together to realize that the work was not yet finished.

-----hell carly was a shining example of that. she'd been living at the inferno since she'd gotten to valkyrie and she had yet to even hear about a date when she and her family could go back to the bulding they now saw as their home. well carly wasn't so sure she'd return to the family homestead but still, she wanted to see to it that her family was taken care of. they were, after all, the people who meant the most to her. she had friends whom she really loved and adored but family was family and the ties that bound the suttons in particular were strong ones. they'd been through hell and back time and time again and they had still managed to beat the odds. carly didn't know how many more times the suttons could come out faring so well but that was just something that would have to be faced should the time come and when it did she knew she would do whatever she needed to do in order to help. but in an effor to focus on the people who needed help now, instead of focusing on some future tragedy that she needn't worry about right at this very moment, she pulled up to the parking lot surrounding valkyrie beach, all decked out in her beach-ware, with lily sporting a similar outfit from her seat at the back of the car. she was relatively sure she was supposed to be meeting jamie and ksenia here but wasn't actually sure how things were going to go down. ever since she'd been told about this whole mess carly had been on full alert. she wanted to hope that a public place like this would deter someone from holding true on a threat made on her life but honestly? she couldn't be sure anymore. either way, carly knew this was a place she needed to be and it wasn't something she could really keep lily from forever. still she'd gone out without her newly appointed russian back-ups and she knew she'd get flack for that later, but she wasn't going to sit around and hide in fear while life went by around her. this was something she needed to do and the sakahrovs needed to embrace that. both, stubborn and pigheaded sakahrovs.

-----"you ready baby?" carly said with a smile as she put the car in park and looked in her rear view mirror at the smiling four year old. she chuckled as she noticed the petite brunette's head nodding violently and opened up her door. she unfastened lily's seat belt and helped her out of her carseat before grabbing the bag of necessities she liked to carry with her, all with lily right at her side. god she loved that kid. so well behaved. it was a miracle. "now you'll stay with me right? even if i have to talk to boring old people. i promise you once that's done it's you, me, and that ocean." she smilied as lily's eyes lit up with excitement, holding up her hand for carly to take. with the connection of hands made carlly lead the way to the beach where the crowds were beginning to grow ever larger as time progressed. good. she liked the looks of the turn out. as she walked she noticed people picking up her attendance, spotting her then turning to the nearest person and pointing in her general direction. yeah that happened a lot and carly was desensitized to the whole thing. she smiled and continued on, looking around to see if there were any faces she recognized.

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status • finished
words • 1,469.
tagged • everyone !
clothes • clicky !
notes • where are the bodyguards and the besties? xD.

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[allegra v.a mancini]

I SWAPPED MY INNOCENCE FOR PRIDE, CRUSHED THE END WITHIN
MY STRIDE, SAID I'M STRONG NOW I KNOW THAT I'M A LEAVER
I LOVE THE SOUND OF YOU WALKING AWAY, YOU WALKING AWAY
. . . . . . .

There were times in which Allegra regretted her decision of becoming a medical doctor. She could have pursued a second Master’s degree, perhaps gotten a phD, but no, she had to do things the hard way and fly through medical school. Honestly, it was her fall back career, the woman never intended to actually go for it. It was a safety net, like how Columbia was a safety net for MIT... But she should have known the moment she stepped onto the property of Columbia (and then subsequently Valkyrie University) that she had made a habit of picking the underdog schools. Sure Columbia had a wonderful reputation, but it wasn’t Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And so, due to her familial responsibilities, Allegra went to Columbia University. She was close enough to home to keep an eye of the ever expanding family ‘business’ and yet had a flare of independence at the tender age of thirteen. She was so naive, thinking the medical profession was something that she would enjoy perpetually. But she would be lying if she hated it completely. It was always amusing being in the hospital, despite the ever-present smell of pine sol and failed diagnosis. Hell, in the amount of time Allegra had been in Valkyrie, ninety per cent of her time was spent in this very building. She didn’t actually know why she even had a house to go to, not like she went there very often, she was working overtime lately; paperwork, research, undiagnosed patients (Regardless that she had other ‘extracurricular’ activities she tended to, Allegra was the dutiful, yet reluctant doctor, highly praised and equally as crazy.)

However, it was the last one that kept her up at night, this undying need to solve the puzzle presented in front of her. And so it was in pursuit of this uncatchable itch that she was still at the hospital, she didn’t mind, the hospital was her life, being able to diagnose was quite possibly the meaning of hers. It was something she was naturally good at, something that gave meaning if all else failed. Time was a big factor in these games Allie played, sure it was a little inappropriate to call them games, but really, that was all her profession was, a game. Will she be able to figure out what was wrong with the person lying in the bed in front of her with a handful of symptoms, will she be able to get the right medication, and will she be able to treat whatever was going on before it struck the organs? All these questions needed answers, but more importantly, Allegra Valencia Aileen Mancini needed answers. She needed the answers more than the patients; she’ll admit her selfishness if that got her what she wanted. There was another label to something she didn’t feel. Selfishness. Emotions were something that held most people back, made them hold their tongues, be polite and just overall boring. Emotion had no place in medicine perhaps that was the basis of its appeal, the lack of connection to be built to repair someone. To be able to fix a human being without knowing them, it was safer that way, a better approach to things if you were unable to heal in time, before the game was over.

But at this moment, the dangerously young doctor stomped into a very much alive patient’s room. This was unacceptable, not one of her interns had arrived before her. She knew what was wrong, the monitor was faulty, and her interns were not here. What the hell was this? And so she stood there, fuming whilst thinking about how the water would crest against the beach, and how she would go to this one van that made mini donuts. Those donuts were the only edible objects she would ever purchase from a vehicle. Vans were questionable at best, even in the times of frosted mini donuts, those things were her edible vice, not her one and only one at that. If her interns did not rush into the room in the next thirty seconds or so, Dr. Frank Suresh, and any other employee of the hospital was going to feel the ramifications of her anger. Fortunately, for everyone’s sake, her interns came rushing in, fussed around and Allegra kept her cold composure. After a few sarcastic remarks, pseudo (for the most part) death threats and a sudden departure from the hospital, Allegra drove far above the speed limit to her home. She had a fish-fry and a surfing competition to grace her presence with. Walking through her home, Allegra stripped away her work clothes, threw her heels under her bed and opened her closet. She threw some summer garments around her, nothing seemed to catch her eye and some things made her scoff. She pulled a hanger off of the rack, pressing it ferociously against her body, her reflection smiling back at her. It was a golden bikini, a princess Leia fantasy for the Star Wars fanatic. All she had to do was dye her hair a little darker and put it up in buns... Damn, she was so funny. Tossing the suit behind her, she closed her eyes and lunged for something on a hanger.

This was nice, her hand curled over a blue two piece swim suit. The bikini on top was ocean blue but also had slices of mirrors and stones that were so wonderfully reflective and colorful. It did not take long for her to don this, but now, she pulled some light clothing over before she rushed out the door. She didn’t stop until she was in the general vicinity of the few people she called friends, “Why is it that I get stuck with inane interns when I happen to be one of few doctors with a fantastic success rate? I just don’t understand it,” Her shoulders heaved up simultaneously as she took a deep breath through her nose, exhaling through her lips theatrically. She stopped walking, now flanked by two of the few people Allegra found important, “Oh, and hello, ladies. Maggie, you’ve signed up for the surfing competition, right?” She asked, like a doting mother. It was almost as if this nature rolled off her tongue. But she didn’t have time to wonder about what other social etiquette she should follow for she had a bigger problem on her hands; such as infections caused by obvious negligence, “Isabella, you’re surfing, aren’t you?” She sighed, rolling her eyes. Why did Allegra even bother with this Brazilian? Bella was going to do whatever the hell she was going to do, no matter how bad of an infection Allie was going to treat. “I realize this is a pipe dream, however, I would like you to try to keep your wound concealed, a wet suit perhaps? As much fun as it is to restitch your gut on the account of your idiocy, I would prefer to do something else with my valuable time.” She smirked, assuming that with the proximity of the first aid stand was a sign that she would be using her medical skills.

. . . . . . .

notesfinally trying to get caught up. xD
taggedeveryone!
words much longer than anticipated (that's what she said)
attireswimwear & clothes on top
lyricswalk away, franz ferdinand

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[violetta juliet giovanni]

----VIOLET ADJUSTED HER SUNGLASSES as she watched rocco trot in front of them. as she walked through the sand with gale, she looked at all the people walking around valkyrie. valkyrie wasn't a small town. it wasn't a big city either. it just laid somewhere in the middle. after the earthquake, it was like a ghost town among valkyrie, but now it was like everyone was here. it was kind of funny for her. violet had lived here for six years, and she felt like she knew no one. she knew her family, of course. but if they had anything to do with it, she and rocco would still be living in the family mansion. it took a lot of convincing, (even to herself) to move out. she just felt like everything would turn out better if she started to move on. she wasn't afraid of what connor did to her. she was more afraid of what he could do to rocco. violet never really kept up with what was going on in the family, business-wise. she just headed the art gallery which sometimes was a front of the shipment of illegal fire arms, but that was all she knew. it was a very small role and she was content on just dealing with that. from what fausto informed her was that connor's father died in the quake. therefore making connor the new head of the household if you caught her drift.

now, this recently only made violet a little more nervous, just because if connor was now in charge, he could really do whatever he wanted. he could kill her and take rocco as his own and raise him. that really was her biggest fear. if something ever happened to her, she wanted to be sure rocco would stay with her family. this constant fear really did a number on her health. not knowing if the next knock on the door could be someone from the irish mafia. she looked up at gale for a moment and looked away again. she didn't want to tell him really what was going on. she knew if she did, he'd get upset and the last thing she wanted to do was for him to go on a suicide mission because that is ultimately what it would be. she didn't even tell him connor's name. not because she didn't trust him. it was just a safety thing. the less he knew was probably the better. i mean, she couldn't just openly tell him she was kidnapped because of her family. she couldn't tell him that someone from a rival game took her and held a gun to her head demanding she reveal family secrets. she also couldn't tell him that the man that raped her was alive and well, and living in valkyrie. it would just... complicate things. the fabulous life of the mafia, right?

the smell of fried fish hung in the air like an odor that wasn't going away anytime soon. rocco was weaving in and out of people trying to find somewhere to play a game. he turned abruptly to look at them. "something where i can shoot something, duh!" violet sighed and rolled her eyes even though no one could really see her do so. she was just convincing herself that it was just his age group. if he only knew that almost all of his family had guns themselves. but they didn't use it to shoot imaginary zombies in video games. he was ten, she knew that, but violet really did fear the day she would have to explain everything to him. the connor situation, her family situation... just everything that she had been shielding him from. the only thing completely normal in their lives right now was gale. he was an upstanding american citizen. he was the normalcy she sometimes needed so she didn't go completely insane. maybe that was why she kept letting rocco write him and hang out with gale all the time.

"mom, gale, over here!" rocco said. violet let go of gale's arm and walked up behind rocco. "what's this?" she asked and looked at the game. they were a few people behind from the front. violet looked in front of her and saw a some guy playing it. he had a fake gun in his hand and he was shooting and moving targets. more points for the smaller targets. she looked at gale, "oh gale, you'll be good at this one." it was in reference to his military training, clearly. she thought luca would probably be good at it too. she knew from the giovanni grapevine that luca was back in town. for the first time in four years. she couldn't believe he hadn't contacted her yet. he hadn't seen rocco since he was five. but then, she also heard he wasn't even staying in the loft, so something must have happened. well, good, he should be ashamed leaving maggie like that for all those years. he tried to be there for maggie, of course. she had witnessed maggie almost destroying the art gallery luca never finished fixing up. but if most of the family knew he was back, then it was time for luca to show his face and man up for the backlash of what he did.

violet pulled some money out so she could pay the person who was in charge of the game. after the groups in front of them won nothing more than a constellation prize, violet, gale, and rocco approached the counter. "um, just these two are playing." she said handing the money to the man behind the counter. he was a younger guy. probably a surfer on break and working the games. she would guess because he had that blonde hair that was all over the place, blue eyes, and his skin was probably permanently tanned. a stereotypical california guy. "the pretty girl doesn't want to give it a try?" he asked got two guns out for gale and rocco. violet scratched the back of her head and smiled a little bit. "no, they'll be better at it than me anyway." the guy looked at gale. "trying to win a bear for your girlfriend, here?"

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STATUS, complete CRED, format and graphics to me LOCATION & TIME, beach for the fish fry LYRICS, 'all those pretty lights" - andrew belle CLOTHES, here TAGGED, gale I SAY, =]
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