Re: Reconciliation -- Andrew, Ceara

by **Andrew** Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:10 pm

Nodding, Andrew let out a relieved breath. "Thankfully, yeah. You've heard of Doc Rhodes, right? Well, I've gotten better acquainted with the good doctor in the past few... well, since the beginning of the year. She and Halt have been dating and... well, stuff happened. I'm not getting into it. The short of it though is that Marjorie's not doing what she was being forced to, Network took out a minor gang that thought they were bigger than they were, and Lisa gave Kermit a room and a part time job. For the most part, she's pretty happy. I'm not sure what's going on with that boy she liked though - she's not willing to talk about it and I didn't want to push and risk a repeat." He was fairly certain he didn't need to specify what he didn't want to have happen again.

When they got onto the bus, he had to shuffle his stuff around to pull out his wallet so he could pay for his fare then followed his cousin, flopping down next to her and groaning theatrically as he shook out his hands, the bags between his feet now. "The house's up North and a good size. I don't remember if I told you, but it's got me, Trevor, and Kota staying in it. Brat's got a girlfriend so he's only there like half the time, if that."

by **Ceara** Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:31 am

She relaxed once he reassured her that her friend had a place to stay, sighing softly in relief. If it had to be anyone, Lisa was a good choice. She was responsible, probably the most out of all the people she met. Marjorie was in good hands. "Good. That she has a place to stay, I mean. Not that she went through that. I didn't even know about any of that." Ceara knew what he meant about a repeat, but chose not to bring it up again. They were doing alright so far, no need to make it worse.

She chuckled when he flopped down next to her, moving her legs to make room for him. "North's pretty fancy. He's perfectly okay with sharing a place like that with you? And who's Kota? I don't think I've ever heard of him." The disconnect from each other's lives was starting to become more evident, but at least they were trying to fix that. She leaned her head against the back of her seat, turning her body to face him.

by **Andrew** Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:43 pm

He shrugged a little. "The house isn't that fancy, not like my parents' anyway. It's a couple levels, three bedrooms, bit of an attic, we're not sure if there's a basement or not because if there is, there's no door." He shrugged again and laughed. "And I don't think Shade really gave Trevor a choice about him moving in, but he's the one who asked me and Kota to move in with him. It's just... it's getting a bit hard for me. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be there." He shifted to face her better. "And you met Kota on Halloween, though with the junk that happened, I'm not surprised you don't remember or wanted to forget. He was the short blond kid with a bad attitude that kept glaring at me."

The bus ride actually wasn't as long as it could have been so they were exiting it again in just over twenty minutes. Andrew gestured which way they were walking with his free hand before falling into step next to her. "The area's pretty nice too. People don't seem to care too much that there's a bunch of harbingers living in the house of a guy who died recently and had something explode a few years ago." Catching her look, he shrugged. "Shade mentioned it."

by **Ceara** Fri Aug 02, 2013 2:10 am

She chuckled softly, crossing her ankles and leaning back. "It is still better than my place, though I'm not complaining. I don't see myself living anywhere else, really." Her apartment was small and could be a little crowded sometimes, but it had still been her home for the past handful of years. She glanced at her cousin strangely when he mentioned leaving the house. "Well, I think if you can, it's definitely good for you to stay there, but if it really is too much... My door's open. It always is, Andrew."

She let her head drop back and stared at the ceiling of the bus. "Oh. That's him? He's pretty young to be living with you guys. No parents?" It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence in the city. Ceara stretched out her legs when he motioned for them to get off at the next stop, following him out. "So your house is pretty much haunted?" she joked, falling into step beside Andrew. "But it's good they aren't giving you any shit. Do you know what exploded?"

by **Andrew** Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:14 am

Andrew looked at her in turn, studying her for a short while before smiling lightly. "Thanks. I appreciate that." He doubted he'd take her up on it for anything long term, but maybe a night here or there - if they could improve their relationship again anyway.

"I'm not sure. Kota doesn't talk much about himself. All things considered though..." He let out a deep breath and looked at her. "Well, you're one of the lucky ones as far as parents are concerned."

He shrugged, pulling out his keys as they walked. There were three hanging from the ring he started tossing to himself; to her apartment, to the house, and one that he hadn't said anything about to her. "I have no idea. I haven't seen any ghosts or anything like that. It would be interesting though. And yeah, the neighbors pretty much ignore us."

He led her up the walk to the front door before answering her last question. "No idea. Shade was pretty tight-lipped about it. I don't even think Trevor knows." He shrugged again then unlocked the door and nudged it open, gesturing for her to go in first. "The stairs and a half bath are to the right, living room great room kitchen open floor plan whatever is to the left." He wasn't quite sure what the big, all-in-one room was called.

by **Ceara** Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:21 am

She looked down at the cement before glancing back up to meet Andrew's eyes. "I know I am. Even compared to people not like... us, I am lucky to have had good parents." Her lips curled up slightly - they always did when she remembered her family - but the expression was gone as quickly as it came. "It just... sucks a lot that it seems like the shitty people stay while the good ones... don't." Ceara sighed and stared forward again. That was something she thought about way too much to be healthy. But as painful as it was to think like that, it was better to be loved for a short time rather than not at all.

She raised a slightly impressed eyebrow when he led her to his new place. He may have said it wasn't that fancy, but to someone who pretty much lived her entire life in tiny apartments and enclosed spaces, the house was pretty damn nice. "This place is way better than anything I've ever lived in." Ceara stepped inside the house, turning to search for the lights witch and flicked it on. "Maybe you should be concerned about that?" she laughed, her eyes looking around the large room. Stuff exploding inside your house was definitely a cause for concern, especially if you didn't want a repeat. "You have your own room here, right? Can I see?"

by **Andrew** Sun Aug 11, 2013 9:15 pm

He nodded, murmuring, "Only the good die young," before looking at her and smiling lopsidedly. "Guess that means that we're both going to live a long time, huh?" he asked, tone teasing.

Andrew shrugged a bit carelessly, closing and locking the door once he was in as well. He started across the room to the kitchen. "You know, if it was just about anyone else, I would be, but you should see how she hovers with Trevor. You'd think she was his mother instead of three years younger." He laughed a little. "It's safe to say that she's either fixed the problem or it was something that won't repeat. Either way, I trust her not to put him into harm's way."

While he was speaking, he had been putting the pie and other non-gift stuff away. Grabbing the last of the stuff, he walked back over and to the stairs. "Yeah. It's up this way."

The room he led her into had three of the walls painted an oddly soothing shade of orange and the last had a painted mural of the city's skyline during sunset. His bed was a good size and had brown sheets and comforter and the rest of the furniture was a handsome, dark wood. There was a painting easel set in one corner with a small bookcase near it that had a variety of paintbrushes on top of it alongside a palette with a good number of paint bottles and tubes on two of the three shelves. The last had several cloth items that had some paint stains on them. The canvas on the easel had a handful of vague color splotches on it.

"It's a bit of a mess, sorry. I need to do laundry," he apologized, moving over to the pile of stuff in one corner, toing it into a more condensed pile.

by **Ceara** Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:09 am

She snorted softly. "Me, maybe. But not you." Andrew was a good person, though his actions might not always reflect it. Ceara, on the other hand... wasn't. She did terrible things, and would not apologize for them. She might have more of a conscience then most people in her line of work, but that wasn't an excuse. She shook her head slightly, ridding it of the thoughts. He meant that statement as a joke.

"Shade? Really? Wouldn't expect her to be the type." From the past few times they met, the younger girl gave off the impression of being cold an impersonal. But then again, they had been on a bounty hunt. Shade had thrown herself in front of Hippo while Ceara was too busy being sick, so she supposed it wasn't too far of a stretch.

Ceara followed her cousin up the stairs, grinning when she entered the room. She could definitely tell that her cousin lived in here. The mess and paint stains around the room just had something very Andrew about them. She smiled as she approached the mural, tracing her hand over the buildings. "I don't mind. Tal is like that sometimes. But this is really beautiful, Andrew. How long did it take you?"

by **Andrew** Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:15 pm

He snorted and gave her a wry look. "Ceara, I'm not as good of a person as you're apparently giving me credit for. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm not. I just hide it well." And hadn't had a reason as of yet to really let go.

He shook his head and brushed that off to focus on the subject of Shade. "Yeah. Once you get to know her anyway. Should have heard how she threatened me regarding Trevor," he said with a laugh. "It takes a little for her to warm up to people, but she's pretty cute when she does. It's easy to fluster her, until she starts being sarcastic anyway. You should look her up again." He blinked then. "Wait. How do you know Shade anyway?"

He looked over from where he was straightening his bedcovers and blushed softly. "Oh, uh... A couple weeks before I was happy with it," he answered, looking away a bit shyly. He still wasn't used to showing people that weren't Halt his art, even after almost six months of living with Trevor and Kota, and even then he was shy about showing Halt too.

by **Ceara** Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:01 am

“If you say so,” she mumbled and shrugged, absentmindedly picking up a small tube of paint off the shelf and squishing it between her fingers. He had a good heart and good intentions most of the time, and that was all that mattered to Ceara. She couldn’t say that for herself.

She laughed. “Wish I could’ve seen that. She can be a little scary, I guess. And I will, probably. If only to let her know that it’s a really really tiny world.” Ceara set the paint back down on the shelf and sat on the bed, bouncing lightly on the mattress. “Remember that freak sinkhole at the end of last summer? We both fell in and ended up running into each other. And we worked together on a bounty a few months after that. That’s how I got this,” she pointed to her forehead, the pale scar still visible above her eyebrow. “We lost the guy, but she’s not half bad at fighting.”

“It was worth the time,” she said, looking back at the wall again. “Did you ever consider selling your work? I’d be willing to bet people would pay for it.”

by **Andrew** Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:07 pm

Andrew laughed softly. "The funny thing is, she doesn't realize when she's being scary a lot of the time. She just gets... focused and... intense, I guess. And I don't know if it's the goggles or what, but she gives me the heebie jeebies sometimes." He shivered theatrically then laughed. "She's actually not too bad to get to know. And really, that sinkhole? Shit. And I remember that bounty." He had kind of freaked out and treated Ceara like glass for a week afterward.

He blushed again and shuffled his feet. "I'm not that good," he mumbled, looking at his shoes. Halt had been trying to get him to put some in his shop though, but Halt was a different story entirely after all. "Besides, you know that once people find out the painter is a harbinger, any interest that there might have been would completely vanish because of that," he tacked on, that same old bitter cynicism in his voice. Sometimes, he really did hate people, no matter how much he tried not to.

by **Ceara** Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:15 am

She laughed, bouncing lightly on his bed. "I know, right? Imagine you're in this dark cave and the first things you see are her lenses." Ceara grinned and stopped bouncing, flopping back on the bed. In all seriousness, she was relieved that someone like Shade was looking over Andrew, and had been while she couldn't. At least he had been safe for those few months.

She hooked fingers behind her head, lifting up to glance at him. "Are you kidding me? You're fucking fantastic. Better than most artists I've seen, though that's an admittedly small number. You have a talent, Andrew. A useful one, unlike mine, which just seems to be smashing and breaking things." She chuckled derisively to herself and rolled onto her side, sitting back up again. Really, when was the last time she did something legal that didn't involve eating, sleeping, or sex?

She sighed and met his eyes again. "Maybe for some people, but most people just like it if it looks good, ya know? We're all pretty superficial people." It was a sad truth, one that she knew well. Harbinger haters were plentiful, but there were just as many sympathizers.

by **Andrew** Mon Dec 02, 2013 2:12 pm

A thought struck him. "What the heck do her eyes look like anyway?" he asked randomly. "Sorry. Shade's. I've never seen them. I wonder if Trevor has... Have you?" He waved it off. "Nevermind."

He flopped onto the bed next to her and folded his hands on his stomach, looking at the ceiling. He should paint that too, just for the heck of it because why not? He'd need to get a pair of stilts or something like that to make it easier. Maybe he could even talk Trevor into letting him share his bed while the protective cloths were over everything.

"You really think I'm good?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound as vulnerable as he felt right at the moment. "I mean, Halt tells me that he likes my art and stuff, but he's my best friend and all. Isn't he supposed to say stuff like that? Or tease me about it?" He huffed and shrugged a little, rolling his head to look at her before he grinned. "Everybody needs somebody. Everybody needs somebody to love, someone to love," he sang, a little off key, before he started to laugh and couldn't keep going.

by **Ceara** Sat Dec 14, 2013 9:25 pm

Ceara laughed. "Weren't you listening? I only met her twice and both times we were both trying to get out of some crazy shit. Didn't really bother with asking what color her eyes are." When you were running for your life while simultaneously avoiding getting your head taken off by a raging hippo of a man, thoughts like that didn't really cross your mind.

She grinned when Andrew's sudden weight on the bed made her bounce lightly, and dropped back down to lie down next to him. "C'mon. I'm serious!" Ceara sighed and rolled over, propping herself up on her elbows. "A good friend is supposed to do that, but not a best friend. They're supposed to tell you the truth, and Halt isn't lying. You really could sell these if you wanted. But that's my opinion. Do what you want with it, I guess." He really didn't have to listen to her at all.

Ceara groaned, grabbing a pillow and bopping him lightly on the head with it. "You are so off key. Don't sing. Please." She tried putting on a stern look before breaking into a large grin and laughing along with him.

by **Andrew** Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:58 pm

Andrew stuck his tongue out at his cousin. "I have never claimed to be good at singing. Even that time I had to pose as a singer didn't help much." He blinked then flushed softly and tried to change the subject.

"And hey, for all I knew, you might have seen them rather than needing to ask. And honestly, who goes around asking to see other harbingers' eyes? That seems a bit wonky to me. Not that I'm the best judge, all things considered." He did jump off of roofs for fun after all.

"Oh, how's Sassy doing anyway? It's been a while so, yeah. I was just wondering. She's been healthy and hasn't given you any problems, has she?" He didn't know why he was so concerned since the bird didn't like him much and he didn't like it all that much either, but he knew how much Ceara loved the feather duster so he didn't want anything to have happened to it. Maybe he could buy it something as a gesture of reconciliation?

by **Ceara** Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:54 am

She raised her eyebrow, curious another the context of this situation but not willing to push it, not now. Especially not now. "Gonna pretend I didn't hear that," she said, chuckling softly.

"Actually, some creepy guy I ran into in a bookstore did that to me. Got all up in my personal space and shit, was really into learning about harbingers. There might be people who hate our existence, but there are people completely on the other side of the spectrum." She laughed and rolled over, propping her head up with her arms and turned it to the side to look at him. "I'm not sure which type I prefer, actually."

She smiled at the mention of her pet bird. "She's fine. I thought she would've grown out of her tendency to nip at my earrings, but nope. I think she figured out that I'll give her a treat to get her to stop." Probably a bad way to train your pet, but she loved the stupid thing too much not to spoil it a little. Or a lot. Ceara did what she wanted, no one could tell her how to take care of her pet.

by **Andrew** Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:33 am

Andrew wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, that is really creepy. You hit him, right?" He'd be surprised if she hadn't. After all, she had hit other people for lesser offenses before - him half the time (not that it had been unjustified for most of them, he admitted a little grudgingly). "And yeah, I don't know either." One of his old clients had been one of the obsessed ones and had tried to convince him to stick around as a pet. Needless to say, he had gotten out of there as quickly as he could, but at least she hadn't tried to kill Andrew.

"Well, they're shiny so they'd get her attention, right? I mean, have you seen pigeons with a laser pointer? It's friggin' funny. But I wouldn't put it past her to do that either." He grinned at her. "You should try that with me sometime. Like, the next time I annoy you. Just toss me a cookie or something and have me shut up for five minutes." His grin widened then he laughed.

After a little bit of comfortable silence, he shuffled closer to curl up next to her, putting his arm lightly over her back. "I've missed being able to talk with you," he said softly.

by **Ceara** Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:52 am

She laughed, dropping her head down onto the bed spread. "Of course I did, who do you think I am?" At least she thought she hit him, it had been a while and she tended to push those kinds of creepy as fuck encounters to the back of her mind. They happened too often for her to be comfortable, if she was being honest. Ceara met some freaky people as a gang member. Best not to think about it.

She absentmindedly rubbed at her left ear, flicking the one earring Sassy apparently loved the most out of all of them. "No, but now I kind of want to try the laser pointer thing. And I did carry around candy in my pockets for a long time after meeting you, I was going to shove them in your face when you talked too much. They last longer than cookies."

Ceara stiffened just a little bit under his arm. Why was he already so accepting of her? She knew if the positions were switched she'd still be wary of him. She sighed and cuddled closer. But that was why Andrew was Andrew and she was Ceara. "Missed you too," she mumbled into his hair.

by **Andrew** Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:57 pm

He wrapped his arms around her in a proper hug, smiling as he squeezed her tightly. He didn't fully trust her again, not yet, but he had missed her too much to not want to try and fix things. And he knew very well the power of deluding yourself that everything was okay made it that way, or at least made it easier to pretend.

"Wait," he started, blinking. "You actually did carry candy and you didn't share with me? Well that's not fair." He paused, tilting his head in thought as he turned it over in his head. "You thought I'd get hyper, didn't you?" Well, more hyper than most people already thought he was. It wasn't his fault he was energetic. "I'll make you rethink not sharing candy with me," he said with a grin before shifting to his knees to start tickling her sides.

Things were absolutely fine and he was going to make sure that they stayed that way. Even if it required hurting someone for that and even if that someone was himself.

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