Arcade (Open)

[Deleted]

Late April 2026

It had been weeks, but the pain was still fresh as ever. There was no actual escape from the pain, no escape from the fear and betrayal. Xantha had never been quick to trust but now it was all so much harder. She'd always had her mom. Now even that was gone. She'd managed to get an old CD-player from a .. well, friend by lack of a better word. That, an old CD and a near abandoned building were all Xantha needed in the moment. The owner had allowed her to use the place as a studio while another one of her coworkers was along with a fairly expensive camera. A project from the theater they worked at.

A broken heart is all that's left. As the first notes started Xantha knew she could finally unleash some of her grief and anger through dance. She'd agreed with the other girl to finish the routine and edit it later. They planned to shoot from multiple angles. I'm still fixing all the cracks. It was the most logical way to get a compelling video without a huge budget and by now they knew Xantha was a perfectionist. She wouldn't stop for anything. Lost a couple of pieces when... No broken bones, not with the bonus they offered her and the opportunities this might possibly grant her. No, this time she had to be absolutely perfect. She'd already lost too much. She smiled a cocky smile at her coworker with the camera and took her place in the abandoned room, curling her arms gracefully to the ceiling. ... I carried it, carried it, carried it home.

The music started, filling the air as Xantha went through the dance the first time, bare feet on an almost gravelly structured floor. She felt the bite of the concrete but allowed it to feed into the mood of the music. All I know.. It was easy to lose herself in the music and the dance, not just the first but also the second, third, fourth, fifth, and all beyond that. All I know... Xantha didn't know how many times she danced but she was exhausted by the time they finally did their last round, focussing on the ending and facial expressions. Loving you is a losing game. She got up, her feet raw and her body pushed to the brink. After ten minutes they left the building and took their separate paths. Xantha had slipped into some simpel flats, grateful for the warmth of spring. She didn't want to go home yet, but she didn't know where else to pass the time.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been walking but it couldn't have been much more than half an hour when she felt her body slowly start to give out. Reluctantly Xantha seated herself on the outside table of what looked to be a relatively cheap pub. She ordered food and a drink, waiting patiently. The place was full, so when the waitress told a singular individual there were no more seats Xantha glanced at the three empty chairs at her little round table. She piped up. "They can sit with me if they want. Seems like a waste of seats otherwise." She offered. The waitress shrugged and after a brief exchange the stranger joined her at the table. Xantha smiled politely. "I already ordered food so..." It was more a statement than anything else. "I'm Xantha, by the way, if you wanted to talk, since we're sitting here together anyway. I'm fine either way." Which was true. Xantha could be generous in her own ways and was rarely unkind but she could be stoic and distant due to her independent nature. Not everybody liked that. Xantha? She just saw it as very much not her problem. She didn't have the energy to worry about all of that. Survival tended to be a more pressing concern.

Tag: open.

[Deleted]

With the full moon passed this month, Idris was free to act without concern of feeling sick. He had agreed to meet an old family friend who was visiting London. Gethin had watched over Idris when he was younger, and even gave him his first job. The two had caught up and spent time together, which was nice. The man was the closest thing to family he had now a days. Though the man had no idea about the magical world.

After seeing the man, he needed a drink. And in all honesty, he didn't really feel like talking about it. So that meant that the Violet Hound was out. He drove through the streets, not quite sure where he wanted to go next when he came across a small pub that he knew wasn't as expensive as others. He wasn't one for crowds, but he really needed a drink. After parking, he walked up, helmet in hand. As he approached, questioning his choice on coming, the waitress said that they were full. Well, guess that answered that question. But before he could walk away, a girl sitting at one of the outdoor tables offered to share her spot. Guess he would stay.

He took a seat at the table, setting his helmet off to the side, taking his riding gloves out and putting them into the helmet for safe keeping. Someone came by to take his order, and he simply asked for a beer and some chips. His welsh accent strong. He gave a slight smile to the younger girl. "Thanks, my names Idris." She offered to talk if he wanted, which he wasn't exactly a social person. He shrugged, not able to help himself. "Aren't you a bit young to be at a pub?"

@xantha

[Deleted]

The stranger rode a motorcycle and well, Xantha was impressed. That and the tattoos had her mildly impressed and she definitively didn't mind the company on her eyes. He was pleasant to look at and her eyes easily found themselves drawn towards him, although he had to ruin any ideas before they even popped into her head. Probably better either way. He introduced himself as Idris, which was a peculiar name. It was the part where he asked if she wasn't a bit young to be at a pub that had her roll her eyes at him. "Sorry Idris, the position of meddlesome father has already been filled. Can I interest you in the function of annoying overbearing older brother in stead?" She said in an overly chipper voice, her eyes flat of the amusement and cheer that she'd used in her voice. She shook her head, but the smile shrank to a genuine and slightly amused little smile. "I'm twenty, since not too long ago. I might be a bit young but I've been at worse pubs at weirder times." She admitted with a careless little shrug. This place was decent. The pub closest to her home was more of a breeding ground for criminals. Xan felt right at home there.

It wasn't much later that her food and his beer and chips arrived. She was basically starving after a very long day of hard work so she dug right in, not caring too much about table manners. It wasn't that she ate like an animal, but she definitively didn't consider perfect manners either. She had more pressing matters on her mind, like eating to begin with. After she had enough to slow her initial hunger a bit she glanced at Idris again. "I like your bike. It's cool." She said casually, not sure yet if she wanted a conversation with the man or not. He'd been rather on the nose with the comment on her age. She wasn't all that young after all! She had plenty of years still ahead of her and well, she planned to use those she'd manage to survive to good use. At least he looked less like a spoiled rich kid than most people she'd been around recently. No matter how much Xantha enjoyed her little moments surrounded by the rich and powerful she always felt a lot more comfortable amongst the outcasts of the world. Those that people normally opted to avoid rather than were drawn to. They tended to accept her odditities a lot better at least.

@idris

[Deleted]

"Sorry Idris, the position of meddlesome father has already been filled. Can I interest you in the function of annoying overbearing older brother in stead?" Wow, he wasn't expecting that reaction. She seemed chipper when she had mentioned it, but her voice had all the sarcasm. He couldn't help but crack a smile. "Don't think you'd want me in any function. I'm not really one to talk." He chuckled. "I guarantee that I started drinking long before you." True, he didn't know when she had had her first drink. But Idris had a interesting childhood, and he had to grow up fast. He was around many older men and women who didn't hold any parental authority over him, and so they just didn't really care. The girl gave her age, twenty huh? He remembered being twenty. Life was rough, he was working two jobs, greasy mechanic work, and then late at night he would take a beating, eventually winning and getting the cash though that. From her attitude, he wondered if she had a rough life like he had. He could almost feel a kinship with her.

The place was busy, but at least the staff seemed to be on top of the rush. Her food, along with his drink and snack seemed to come out quickly. The girl dug in like it was her fist meal in a while. He took a long drink of his beer and had a chip. He remembered those days. He worked so hard, scraping by, barely having time to eat himself. He was doing better now. And with his best friend owning a pub, he could always see if she'd be willing to help feed him on the cheap while he waited for his next paycheck. He continued to eat and drink in silence, mentally reviewing what had happened that day, and moving onto plans for the next. He was sure he had a few appointments tomorrow, that would be nice. Then the girl spoke. His smile grew as she complimented his bike. He glanced over to it with pride. "Thanks, built it myself." He slid his chips to the center of the table. "You can have some if you want."

@xantha

[Deleted]

He said he didn't think she'd want him in any sort of function, which had to be untrue. He was a goodlooking kind of guy even if he was a bit on the older side. Still she was fairly certain she'd slept with a decent amount of guys somewhat older than he was and well, the age never really bothered her all that much. She pursed her lips for a moment as she considered it, but she didn't really feel like so bluntly throwing that fact out there. It wouldn't add much to the conversation either way. She chewed a bite as she briefly considered. "I'm sure I could find a function that would suit you." She mused after a moment. "And if not a function then a position." She joked easily, winking at him playfully. She really didn't care enough about the age difference to let it stop her from entertaining herself. "As for drinking long before you, that's quite likely. My meddlesome father didn't let me drink before I was old enough and well, I didn't actively start breaking rules until I was fifteen. I mostly skipped the unhealthy ones though, like smoking and drinking. I'm more of the tresspassing and spraypainting kind of girl." She admitted, although she'd deny doing any of those recently if anybody tied to the law were to ask. For as far as they needed to know she always stuck to the rules as well as she was able to.

After she complimented his bike he said he built it himself, which caused an eyebrow to raise in surprise. She was impressed, but then again his rugged looks made it seem far less odd that he'd built the bike by himself. He did seem to be the hands on type, or at least his clothes and general look suggested that. He didn't seem like the paperwork behind a desk in a suit kind of guy. If he built the bike himself he certainly wasn't. She liked people that didn't worry about themselves or their clothes getting dirty. Those types always irritated her a little. Who even had the time to stay clean anyway? He slid the chips towards the center and offered to share. She briefly looked at them, weighing her options. Tasty enough but not particularly healthy and she didn't really want to pile a lot on. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm good." She said after a moment, eating some more of her salad and taking a sip from her glass of water. She really did try to take proper care of her body, since she depended on it quite a lot.

@idris

[Deleted]

The girl mentioned that she was sure she could find a function for him. He chuckled as she then mentioned positions. It seemed like a joke, but this girl was forward. "Oh really?" He joked back, while still challenging her statement. Talking about who drank first and rule breaking. From the sounds of it, they were definitely cut from the same cloth. "Nice, think I broke my first "rule" around 10. And it just escalated from there. But that's what happens when you have minimal supervision I guess. My mom worked three jobs." That was, before she got sick. And his father was never around. He didn't even know what the old man looked like. His first law that he broke was getting a job. But things seemed to escalate from there. He wasn't breaking anything now, so there was little harm in claiming to have broken laws, or rules in the past. "Think I had my first beer at thirteen and my first cigarette around fifteen." He pondered. Yes, he still did both. Though he mostly now smoked around the full moon. Drinking was a casually regular thing.

It was fun comparing pasts. The more they talked, the more he felt their similarities. He mentioned that he had built his bike himself, and got a familiar look. The surprise was something he was used to. He knew mechanics inside and out. Now, he wasn't an official mechanic in a garage, but he did help friends and associates with their machines when needed. He offered her some chips, and she said he was good. "Suite yourself" Shrugging, he took a few eating them, leaving the plate where it was. If she changed her mind, she was still welcome to them. She seemed mindful of what she put in her body. He noted the salad and obvious water. From what he could see, he guessed that she worked in some physically demanding career. One where looks and body condition was important.

@xantha

[Deleted]

He challenged her and well, Xantha enjoyed being challenged, in as many ways as possible. She grinned and shrugged somewhat loftily. "There has to be at least one in sixty-nine we can manage." She said rather casually, her reference anything but subtle but no less enjoyable to her by extension of that. It wasn't fully serious of course, mostly just playful for now but if he decided to flirt and tease back enough it'd certainly be an option. She was a very free spirit in that regard and didn't really mind making new friends of a physical nature at all. He mentioned his rule breaking and somehow it all made sense to her. It always started small with parents not being able to pay attention or just not around. She nodded briefly, biting back the sting of pain as he mentioned his mother. She looked down at the table, her appetite suddenly somewhat less. "My dad just... up and left when I was fifteen. My mom was sick so two years later she couldn't care for me and my little sister anymore. Dad took her in." She didn't really need to mention that she had been left behind. If that wasn't heavily implied in that sentence to the point of it being obvious...

She chuckled as he listed ages. "I never smoked, I had my first alcoholic drink when I was seventeen, about a month after finding myself without a place to live. And I had my first guy at barely fifteen. First girl when I was eighteen? First real crime was literally the day after my dad left. Never got caught. Wasn't sure how I felt about that, still not quite sure." She admitted with a bit of a shrug. It could be hard to tell at times how she felt because there was a large gap between what she thought she actually felt and what she felt like she should be feeling. The conflict between those two mostly just added up to a confused jumble of emotions. She was a mess of a person, but all in all she wasn't unhappy with how she'd turned out. It certainly could have been worse. On the other hand it could have been a lot better. Sometimes she wondered what she'd have been like if she hadn't had the same awkward twists of fate in her life. No use to fret about it now, was there?

@idris

[Deleted]

Idris chuckled as the girl mentioned that there would be about one position they could manage. "Just one huh, you must think so little of me." He teased the strange girl. When the conversation moved to rule breaking, she mentioned that her father had left her family, and her mom got sick. He looked at her for a moment, his attitude turning somber. "Yea? My mom got sick too." His eyes moved to his drink, looking as if he could see the past in the liquid. It had been years, but it still hurt. It reminded him that he was alone, and had been since he was fifteen. He didn't need to mention that his father had left his pregnant mother to run away from aurors. Though, it seemed like his impressions were correct. The girl and he were cut from the same cloth.

She talked about some more of her "accomplishments" and a small smile returned to his face. He raised his beer, "Seems as though we have plenty in common." He toasted and drank.

@xantha

[Deleted]

She chuckled as he said 'just one' with that chuckle, as if he could handle much more than one. She grinned then and shrugged. "I said at least. Depending on how felixble you are I'm sure we could get a very long list going." She said with a playful little wink. She was a very free person and despite the fact he looked to be quite a few years older than she was he wasn't like.. the age of her dad or something. Besides, with his many tattoos and motorbike he looked far more like somebody her dad would strongly disapprove of, making him more interesting rather than less so. Anything to piss off her dad really.

When the topic got to sick mothers, Xantha felt her attitude slip rather quickly. She struggled and fought to bite back the tears that wanted to shape in her eyes. Luckily his eyes were not on her as he seemed lost in his drink for a moment. Good. She tried to dab the corner of her eyes without him noticing as she fought hard to maintain her composure and not break down (again). "I'm sorry." She managed when she felt her voice wouldn't betray her. She hoped his mother had recovered, but with the tone of voice and his attention diverting from her to his drink she didn't care ask. It didn't really sound like his mom had a happy ending there.

The talk of rule breaking seemed to cheer him up and it most certainly diverted her attention from the pain of the loss she'd suffered ever so recently. He raised his beer and drank and she paused a very short moment before she toasted her water and drank too. She then pursed her lips slightly as she sized him up. "Okay, so we agree we have enough in common. Yet I'm intrigued. Motorbikes, tattoos, rule breaking and supposedly plenty of stamina to manage more than just one position. Suggests a little bit of creativity at least. What do you do for a living? I have half a mind to test your temper and go with adult entertainment actor." She said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she stole one of his fries and ate it as she waited for his reply. This was going to get interesting.

@idris

[Deleted]

Idris couldn't help but chuckle. The girl clearly was a free spirit. Though he really wasn't in the mood to get it on with some kid. Not that he couldn't, he had just had a bit of a rough day.

It had been years since the passing of his mother, but the sting was still there. Remembering that time was more than just losing the only true parent he ever had, but it was paired with the reminder that he was alone in the world. He mentioned it as an idea of bringing some sort of comfort to the girl. Though the scars were deeper than his werewolf scars. Her voice helped bring him back and he looked at her, seeing the signs of her wet eyes. He gave a small smile. "It was a long time ago." He wasn't one to share much, and what he had already felt like too much. The stranger didn't need to know that he had lost his mother to an illness when he was still in school. She didn't need to know the pain that he had suffered through.

Luckily the conversation of rule breaking came around, which helped. The girl agreed that they had their similarities, but then started to list what she had observed from him. He finished drinking some beer and couldn't help but laugh at her accusation. Coming from someone else, perhaps he would have gotten mad. "No, definitely not that. I'm a tattoo artist." There were many past careers that he had done, and still took part in. But now, he earned most of his money from being a tattoo artist at Mystery Ink. "And to think, I was going to offer you a ride after this." He teased. "It's interesting that your mind went right to that. You thinking I'm some sort of colleague?"

@xantha

[Deleted]

He said it was a long time ago, but that undertone in his voice suggested there was still pain present. She didn't need the details, since words like that were more commonly spoken with suffering that had long since ended but was not forgotten. She had a feeling he would have used different words if his mother had survived. She nodded briefly, but otherwise didn't pay too much attention to it. He didn't seem the sharing type any more than she knew herself to be. She hated sharing any sort of weakness with other people and prefered by far to pretend she was fine or alternatively distract people before things got personal if she couldn't avoid them. Why would she ever ask anybody to suffer through the pain of sharing when she didn't want the burden herself?

Then he shared his job, tattoo artist and she nodded with a smile. A respectful job that probably earned him enough money to make a living. It sounded good. She'd never gotten any tattoos herself, in part because they were far too expensive. She figured that she'd probably have gotten one or more if she actually had the money to buy herself something like that. She enjoyed the aesthetic enough, although she wasn't sold to the idea one way or another. It wasn't in the cards for her. He said he was going to offer her a ride after and she chuckled, along with his line on her suggestion for the job he now perscribed her, he was just too funny. The suggestion she herself worked in the industry entertained her for all the wrong reasons. "I wish. I'm pretty sure it'd earn a lot better than my current job." She said playfully. "Though I prefer to keep those sort of activities for fun rather than work. I'm actually a dancer, although the current show I got cast in is slowly nearing the end of the run so I'll be stuck in auditions again soon enough." She said with a careless little shrug. She'd saved up two months worth of rent to make sure that they wouldn't instantly lose the appartment, although there was plenty of pressure regardless to perform in her auditions. With her mom having passed away the medical bills and debt she'd accumulated in life had fallen to Xantha. She knew it might have been different but her anger towards her father had directed her to ask her mother to arrange a thing or two in her will. None of the debts would fall to Xena, but her mothers assets would be equally devided among the girls. It was for the better, in Xantha's mind. At least one of them had a chance of a normal life that way.

@idris

[Deleted]

Idris didn't think he would ever completely get over the loss of his mother. Though the pain was old now, he had worked to manage it, and now the thought didn't make him want to lash out. He had completed school like his mother wanted, but after that, felt lost. He was fine with where he was at now. And Idris wasn't one to like to talk about the past, or his feelings. He didn't like giving information to others that he didn't feel they needed to know. The only reason it had come up, was that he wanted this girl to know that things would get better. Though, he wasn't quite sore of that himself.

Idris happily told the girl what his job was, and teased her back, slipping what she had suggested back to her. She laughed at it. She explained that she preferred those named activities for fun, rather than business, and did state that she was a dancer. There were many types of "dancers" out there, but she did state that it was apart of a show. He had a fair idea of what she did from what she said, he nodded and ate a fry. The healthy choice also made sense, she had to keep her body in mind as the condition of it worked directly with her job. She mentioned auditions and he shrugged. "Seems like a rough game to be in." He drank some of his beer. He was glad to have regular employment, but he understood being out of a job. When he was fighting, it wasn't regular, there were long breaks in between.

@xantha

[Deleted]

He mentioned that her work had some rough edges to it, in a way. The auditions and well, lack of certainty. She shrugged, as it was all she wanted to do. She had no desire to get a stable nine to five kind of job and just wither in some sort of office in order to later on return to a small apartment filled with only stuff to fill the void of the passion she'd forsaken for the belief she was better off with a stable job. "Maybe, but there are more ways to die than just starving." She mentioned. If he truly understood what she meant by that, he'd also be able to understand that so many of the more stable options just never seemed like something she'd be able to feel alive doing. It might not kill her body, but she knew she'd hardly be a shell of herself if she left what she loved to do for work behind. What else was there anyway? Love? Certainly not, since she'd seen that crumble and break right before her eyes more than once. Not just the angsty love of teenagers but also what should have been a long term commitment between her parents.

She continued her meal, oddly satisfied with the fact the person opposite her wasn't exactly the most talkative person in the world. She glanced at his motorcycle again, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Would be kind of cool to learn to ride one of those." She said after a while, motioning to his vehicle. "Now that would be the kind of luxury I'd pay for if I had the money. Freedom to move around but not being cooped up in a small metal box for the sake of feeling safe." Kind of like how a regular job didn't really appeal to her, since it felt like a similar sort of cage to her. Like up to some point, relationships felt the same to her, a glorified cage to be locked up in because people claim it's safer on the inside, while also neglecting the freedom outside the bars.

@idris

[Deleted]

If there was anyone that understood not having a lot it was Idris. His mother worked multiple jobs just to get by. Once she got sick, things took a turn down. Once he graduated school, he picked up two jobs just to survive himself. Now he was in a better situation, but only just. He worked hard and was finally getting somewhere in his current field of tattooing. Though he wouldn't consider himself well off, honestly. But if he ever found himself at some normal desk job, he would quickly find himself kicked out for valance and probably breaking more than just bones. He understood what she meant when she said "...there are more ways to die than just starving." he'd been there, a place so dark that fighting seemed to be his only saving grace, the only way he could feel something.

He continued munching at his fries and drinking his beer. He wasn't big on sharing. Past, feelings, it just wasn't something that he wasn't into sharing. She mentioned learning to ride a motorcycle. He chuckled. She was right, to many it was a luxury. It wasn't cheap having a piece of machinery. Though it was more expensive for some than others. "Depends on who you ask. Buying one is definitely expensive. And upkeep is necessary, and also not cheap. Then theirs the hassle of getting a license for it." He rolled his eyes, dragging on a bit before smiling a wicked grin at the girl. "But if you can do your own maintenance, and build one from spare parts, it suddenly becomes manageable. That is, if you don't mind spending long hours in a junk yard." True, he had made bikes that way in the past. Often times, the parts were old and needed regular replacement, and if you built it yourself, most shops wouldn't know what to do if you took it in. Idris was always one to fix his own stuff, and still worked to help fix cars and bikes for others, most for a small fee.

Idris loved to talk machines, though he wouldn't mention that the one before the two could in fact fly. He had no clue who this stranger was, magical, muggle. And honestly, he didn't really care. "I could take you around." He was partly joking before, but he and this girl clicked, so he didn't mind taking her around. Though, he wasn't one for teaching, so he wouldn't offer to teach her to drive. Maybe in the future, if they ever got closer, but that was a big maybe.

@xantha