|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 19, 2012 2:06:07 GMT -5
costumeAnnabel loved Halloween and this year was shaping up to be better than any of those she'd had thus far. While her parents had always made a point to decorate the lawn and allow her to go out trick-or-treating, Josh and Nell stepped it up a notch by throwing an all-out party out of their large mansion. As someone who loved parties, she'd been all for helping her brother and sister -in-law set up all of the food and attractions inside the house. It was cool to see how their living room had transformed into a cobweb-strewn, dimly lit nightmare over the course of a couple hours. The kitchen was stocked full with all kinds of candy and joke-foods that Nell had provided and she had helped her brother plan out a host of pranks to pull and traps to set for their unknowing party guests. At long last the last bits and pieces came together and she left her brother with Nell while she took the stairs two at a time up to her room. She had about half an hour before the doors would open and they'd be allowing the guests in and she planned to get her costume perfect. She'd found most of the costume through shopping online—backing up her argument that the internet had the answer to pretty much anything. It was a little tighter-fitting than anything she was used to and she had some trouble pulling it on but she admired her reflection in the mirror afterwards as she fiddled with the red wig. She didn't really like wigs too much but her brother had discouraged her from dying her hair red. "It's only one night," he'd said in that voice that suggested against arguing, "and if it looks bad, you'll be regretting it a lot longer than that." There were dyes that washed out as soon as you washed your hair, she'd tried to argue, but that had been a no-go as well. Oh well. At least he'd allowed her to spend the money for a good wig that didn't look cheap and didn't have strands falling out left and right. She puffed out her cheeks as she adjusted it and then released the breath when she was satisfied. Good.She didn't know if as many people would recognise Joanna Dark as would recognise Annabel's other option, Lara Croft, but she knew that the skimpier costumes were not going be something he brother agreed to buy for her and she didn't have any money of her own. It was frustrating to have someone else be in control of her life but she knew better than to pitch a fit about it. They did have a lot of money and a lot of material things, it wouldn't do very good to complain about it. Her brother called her down when they were about to open their doors and let people in and Annabel sat on the righthand staircase as she waited for some of her friends to show up. She'd invited quite a couple of people from her freshman year, even her friend Adam who she was technically not allowed to hang out with. She'd known that her brother would be all right with it because of his own cross-alliance bonds and because of the fact that he knew Asher and Adam. Other people? She couldn't give a damn about other people. They'd all be in costume anyway, not like it mattered. When she spotted him in his costume, she jumped up from the staircase and offered him a broad grin. "Oh, hey, you actually showed! I thought you might decide you were too cool for parties." She was only teasing of course. Not that this was some kid's party—she was actually one of the younger people there thanks to her family's friends all being around late high-school and college age. There were even some unfamiliar people around who had likely heard of the party from their friends. People were admiring the decorations and making comments on the food but Annabel kept her attention on her friend. "Sick costume," she complimented sincerely, hanging off end of the staircase railing and swaying back and forth on her heel. "What should we do first? I should warn you—the food might look gross but it's really good." From kitty litter cake to eyeballs in the ice cream, it definitely fit the shifty Halloween theme. She'd nade a point to sample quite a bit of it, though, practically being a party VIP thanks to living in the house, so she could speak for the quality. "Nell did most of it. I helped my brother with the house." She reached out a hand to bat a life-like spider hanging from a string toward him with a grin. At least it wasn't a dog?
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Oct 19, 2012 19:42:38 GMT -5
COSTUME
Halloween was always a holiday worth looking forward to; the decorations, the costumes, the parties, and the candy were like a kid's dream. You could be anonymous and basically force people to buy you a ton of candy so you could have an entire bag of sweets to stock you up for the rest of the year. Then the following Halloween would start all over again. Adam--clowns aside--loved spending this time of year at the parties and spending time with people and food and candy. There was a time when he and Asher would make a night out of it and go crazy but the man had other priorities and preferred to do other things instead of dress up and go out trick-or-treating. It made the young Fire angry but nothing could be done to change who Asher was. Instead he was going to focus on the fact that Annabel's family was hosting a huge party and there would be plenty of fun to be had. After adjusting the hat on his head and putting on his black boots, Adam came clunking down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Aw, well don't you look adorable!" Molly complemented with a smile, leaving Adam to groan and roll his eyes dramatically. Really, mothers could be such a pain. "Mom don't do that," The boy grunted, grabbing the hand device off of the counter. It would be the final touch to his outfit. "It's not adorable. It's Freddy Krueger. He's not some cuddly puppy dog." The woman merely chuckled and allowed her son's attitude to roll off her shoulders. At least it diminished his ability to rage and stomp about like a child if no one was around to enable it. Molly knew how to diffuse the bomb most of the time. "Do you want me to drive you?" The woman asked sweetly, gesturing to the keys on the table. He glanced at them, then back at her and tried to decide whether or not people would notice his mom dropping him off at a party. Deciding that the walk would be far too long, he shrugged and nodded. "Sounds good to me." It would make Molly happy anyway. That was important, even if he never displayed it.
The car ride was mostly silent, with Adam or Molly making occasional comments on the Halloween decorations people decided to put out in front of their houses. It would not be long before the pumpkins disappeared and everything would be replaced with snowmen, Santa Claus, and Christmas trees. There was hardly any time between holidays, it seemed. She pulled up in front of the mansion and made a noise of awe at the sight of it. Adam had been in the house before so the size was not shocking, though he still felt a twinge of jealousy that his friend lived in such comfort. He bid farewell to Molly and hopped out of the car, keeping his mask off until he could find Annabel. There were too many people around for him to stand out. Minus a little pushing and shoving to get through the front door, getting inside was not too much of a hassle, and neither was finding his friend who was waiting on the staircase. He narrowed his eyes and snorted in amusement. "Without me it wouldn't be a party, Belle," He pointed out with a haughty look on his face. "Don't worry! The life of the party is here! No need to worry." His voice rose a couple of octaves, catching the attention of a few passerby as they wandered in from outside. He just grinned.
Adam picked at his striped shirt and ran his thumb and forefinger around the rim of his hat, dipping it over his eyes. "Damn straight. You can't go wrong with Krueger." He lifted the rim up just enough to pass her a smirk. "What--or who--are you supposed to be?" Her outfit was not very familiar but he liked the get-up none the less. At the mention of food, he turned his head and glanced over towards where the kitchen was and allowed his stomach to decide whether or not he wanted to eat yet. Molly made a pretty filling dinner. "I'll pass up on the gross looking food until later. I'm still full from earlier. Mom makes a mean casserole." Adam patted his stomach and took that time to assess the decorations around the house with a nod of approval. His head drew back as the spider swung in his direction. "It's pretty sweet. You guys did a hell of a job." So long as there weren't any clowns he would be all set. Those mother fuckers were scary and he did not care what anyone else had to say about it. He tilted his head out towards the back of the house and smiled. "I wanna go find something to do, so you should entertain me. You're one of the hosts, after all."
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 19, 2012 22:16:11 GMT -5
costumeThrough over a year of friendship, Annabel had long since grown accustomed to Adam's confident personality and his lack of an issue with being the centre of attention. She liked that they were similar in that aspect, that neither of them really minded the spotlight. Belle had plenty of shy friends but she thrived off the similar souls who could waltz into a room with her and not duck their head in shame if a couple of heads turned. "Attention whore," she accused, though she was grinning all the while. She glanced around to make sure Josh or Nell weren't around to hear her cursing, then turned back to him in satisfaction when she realised she was safe. Really, everyone in her class cussed. She didn't understand why adults got so stupidly serious about it. She'd heard her brother go off in tangents when he got mad, why shouldn't she be allowed to drop the f-bomb every now and then? She supposed his costume was supposed to be frightening but it was a testament to the amount of scary games she played and the horror movies she watched that she was more impressed than creeped out. "As long as you don't try to tear my face off I think I agree with you," she laughed. He asked about her costume, something that did not surprise her, and she twirled the fake gun in her hand with a grin. "Perfect Dark," she replied, "From the game." Perfect Dark was Joanna's alias and so she figured there was no need to elaborate further—even if Adam had never played the game or even heard of it, her words were clear enough. Belle had all of the consoles and a whole lot of games for each of them, a prime example of her pampered lifestyle. She didn't see herself as spoiled but then, neither did a lot of kids in her similar position. At least she hadn't developed an over-inflated ego about it. "Ugh, this costume is tight, though. I feel like I can barely breathe. I'm just glad I'm not a guy." She couldn't begin to imagine how uncomfortable it would be to wear tight pants if she was. Annabel had purposely avoided eating anything for the sake of the party, wanting to be able to gorge herself on candy and cake and everything else. Her stomach growled at the thought of casserole and she almost wished she'd eaten something when her brother had suggested it. Too stubborn to admit defeat, however, she merely nodded. "Fine, fine, we'll fatten you up later. Hansel and Gretel style." She imagined her friend trying to shove her into the oven and the thought made her laugh. She took an overdramatic bow when he complimented them on their decorating skills, sweeping her hand under her. "It was super fun but I didn't help with the maze at all. I'm not Earth so it woulda been inconvenient." Her brother and Nell were planning something, she knew, but Josh had been very careful about ensuring she had no idea what it was. This frustrated her. Annabel was nosy and liked to know everything that was going on. On the other hand, she found it was convenient when he asked her to do some entertaining. She knew the house like the back of her hand and as she'd set up the walkthrough with her brother she was aware of most of the scares and surprises that lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce. The maze? She had no clue about where anything was except the entrance. "Hardly! I don't have to do crowd control or anything, I just get to do the fun shit." There were some advantages to being the youngest member of the Dale household. She got to have fun while her brother and sister did all the management duties. They still seemed pretty excited about it but she was convinced she was getting the better deal. "Still, let's go check the maze out! It's huge, Nelly worked really hard on it~" She led the way out into the backyard, where it had already gotten dark, and skipped up to the line outside the maze. Groups were let in one at a time, two or more, so that it didn't get overcrowded. While they waited, she asked, "So how long do you think it'll take before you get us lost?" She was teasing, one of her favourite things.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Oct 20, 2012 18:36:14 GMT -5
COSTUME
Adam offered his friend a mock bow and a grin, using his mask like he would a sort of top hat as it flipped effortlessly in his hand. "You bet I am," He agreed, still keeping his voice up louder than he should in order to constantly draw attention to their conversation. It was not like they were discussing some sort of huge secret or gossiping about who was sleeping with whom. At least Annabel could cope with his obnoxious persona and did not seem bothered that he was basically a magnet for all sorts of (negative) attention.
"Your eyes say 'no, no' but my mouth says 'yes, 'yes'." He said in his best Krueger voice before lifting his finger and poking her in the arm. It was an old movie but a classic and Adam knew how to appreciate some of the older horror movies, even if some of them were horribly made and the acting was enough to make him shudder. He shrugged and gave her costume another look over. "Not familiar with it. Guess I'll have to play it sometime." Video games were his thing after all. Maybe not as much as some people but among his gamer friends it was easy to find himself on ten-hour game tangents running on nothing but energy drinks and junk food. He did not have a ton of consoles--the house only had a Playstation 3 and an Xbox 360--and the games were a lot more recent but he was not going to complain. Sure he wanted more, but what kid didn't? There was a boyish smirk playing on his lips at mention of her tight costume. "Take it off it bothers you so much then." Of course Adam didn't mean it but the boy simply could not refrain from making the comment. When did he ever truly attempt to filter himself? Asher claimed his brother was born without a filter and he was probably right. He did wince a little at the thought of wearing a skin hugging outfit and he could swear he felt his balls shrink. Ow. Girls definitely had it easier in that regard. It made him wonder how superheroes wore those suits. He did not envy Spiderman in the least.
Being a teenage boy did have its perks; in just an hours time he would be starving again and asking Annabel if they could eat. The boy's stomach was like a bottomless pit. "I can go for that," He replied, patting his stomach again but this time in anticipation for food, not to soothe what was already being digested. "Is Nell a good cook?" That was the million dollar question. No one could compare to Molly in his opinion but so long as it tasted okay Adam was happy to stuff his face with just about anything. "So I'm guessing she made the maze too, then?" He inquired, tilting his head. That was the only Earth he was even remotely familiar with, even if it was just by name and element. Annabel spoke highly of her but of course Adam had his reservations about the opposing alliance. He would remain friends with Annabel, but everyone else needed to remain at arm's length for his own safety. Self preservation. Tonight he would toss away some of said reservations to have fun because really, it was a Halloween party. Everyone was dressed up and many wore masks. It would be easy to blend in. Not that his previous outburst was going to help him much. "Well, aren't you the special one." He crossed his arms. Being a kid did have its advantages at least. "You can still entertain me though. Chop chop, Belle! I'm waiting." Adam clapped his hands together twice and chuckled.
He was pretty decent at entertaining himself but considering the fact that this was not his party and he was not entirely familiar with everything it would be nice to have someone around to show him a good time. Besides, parties were boring without other people. Adam rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's do the maze thing then. I'm a master at mazes so you can watch me conquer that shit in five minutes flat." His confidence would be the death of him one day. At least it lowered his fear factor and Halloween was hardly ever an issue for him. He willingly followed his friend outside and stood next to her in line, listening to everyone else giggle and chatter with one another in excited, hushed tones. Adam glared at Annabel and snorted as he crowed, "Like hell I'll get us lost! I have an impeccable sense of direction. If anyone gets turned around it'll be you." Soon the line moved forward and Adam kept his hands in his pockets as he wandered through the bushes, looking up at the night sky. "Hmm. Do you think it's one of those mazes where if you take a bunch of lefts you get to the end? Or maybe it's all rights..." Dammit, this was not going to be as easy as he thought. He shifted a bit to the right and took down one corridor, glancing around every few moments or so.
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 20, 2012 22:27:13 GMT -5
costumeIf nothing else, Adam could at least admit to his own ego. There was nothing more annoying than a self-absorbed asshole who didn't realise how far up their own ass their head was. Of course, Belle had an ego of her own that she did not acknowledge nearly as much as she should but that did not prevent her from judging other people. Most were prone to hypocrisy at some point in their lives. "Way to sound like a creep," she said, though she was grinning as she recognised the quote. The movie had scared her a lot more as a kid, now it was something she watched if she wanted to have fun with friends. That was a lot of movies, though. "I have it." There weren't a lot of well-known games she didn't have. She possessed a couple of indie gems as well but she mostly went for the games everyone was talking about. "I'll let you play some time if you come over. Not tonight, though, obviously." Though she would forever be a gamer at heart, she was not about to ditch an awesome Halloween party to hole up in her room and do something she did every other day of the week. She preferred getting out and having fun when good things popped up, she wasn't a total shut-in by any means. She looked a mixture of exasperated and disgusted as she whacked his arm, not having a lot of power behind her strike due to her light frame but doing her best regardless. She wasn't really put off by him or she wouldn't have stayed friends with him for over a year but that didn't mean she allowed every comment to slip past her radar. "Bet you'd love that, wouldn't you?" She was joking and didn't think on whether or not he actually would. She tried not to pin those sorts of assumptions to her guy friends because it would make her uncomfortable. She didn't like that feeling. "If you want strippers you'll need to go to a club. Sorry to disappoint." Besides, it wasn't like it would be very easy to strip out of this tight-as-shit getup even if she'd wanted to! Food was honestly one of the best things about parties sometimes, even Halloween parties that primarily focused on other things. Annabel tried to avoid partying since her traumatizing experience with the boy called Hunter but she couldn't resist the social scene every once and a while. Her friends put her up to it, mostly, so Annabel had taken to raiding fridges and eating chips while they got wasted and snuggled up to strangers. At least at the Halloween party she could gorge herself on the food without having to worry about some drunk guy trying to grab her ass. She nodded enthusiastically at the question. "Oh, yeah, she's great at it! Better than my brother, but don't tell him I said that." Not that her brother was horrible at cooking but Nell was more of a natural. Plus, she and Annabel shared a dietary choice—neither were vegetarian. It was nice. "Yup! It takes up a lot of the backyard!" And their backyard being quite large, that was saying something. Long gone were the days when it had been a large expanse of grass with nothing else to show for it. She scrunched up her expression at the nickname. "Only my brother calls me that." It was a pet name thing they'd had going since they were kids. "And I'm not your servant, but fine, I'll find something to shut you up." Should she have been more careful around a Fire? Probably, not that she cared. She was only joking anyway. Apparently Adam was quite sure that he would be able to master the maze right quick and Annabel being who she was, she wanted to prove him wrong. Mostly because she usually ended up getting lost for a lot longer than five minutes before she finished it. She was competitive and wanted to see someone fail as hard as she had. "Fine, you're in charge then!" she said. "If you're so sure I'll just trip us up, I'll follow your lead." And she smirked, determined to prove him wrong. If she didn't decide any of the directions that meant she could blame everything on him if they got stuck, right? Well, that was what Annabel was going for, anyway, and so she decided to stick by this plan. Once they were inside the maze, Adam began speaking his potential strategies aloud. Belle didn't know a whole lot about mazes and so she wasn't sure if these were legitimate techniques, so she decided to treat them as fiction until they could be proven. Mostly to annoy Adam but also so that she wouldn't be blamed for everything. "I don't know, Mr. Impeccable Sense of Direction, why don't you tell me?" She spoke in a tone of mocking innocence and smirked at him. You got yourself into this one, buddy.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Oct 21, 2012 18:52:38 GMT -5
COSTUME
Adam gave her a deep, sinister chuckle, holding the mask up to his face for effect. With all of the new technology available to the movie market they could surely bring back some of the older characters and make them ten times scarier. Then again he enjoyed movie marathons of old movies like Friday the 13th. "Well, Krueger was a creep. I mean, I could attempt a Jason impression too if you want." Not that the man said much to give a multitude of quotes to choose from but you could be sure Adam would give it a try. He proceeded to shake his head and roll his eyes; of course Annabel had it. She had everything. There was that small sting of jealousy again but he quickly brushed it off. Wallowing in envy would not make him rich. "Obviously. But that sounds like a plan to me. And then I can kick your ass." The one downfall of not owning the console or the game left him unable to practice. He was at a disadvantage. That did not matter to one with an ego the size of Canada.
He merely smirked at her question as he rubbed his arm and allowed his silent answer to hang between them, decipherable however she saw fit. He knew he was joking but did she? Flirting with his female friends (or any female, really) was a known constant, and many understood how he functioned. Which was probably fortunate otherwise he would have a permanent hand print on his face otherwise. "Well shit. I guess I read the invitation wrong. 'S too bad that strip clubs only allow eighteen and up otherwise I'd ditch you for a lap dance." Adam said with sincerity, his eyes the only giveaway of his teasing. He was a guy, he could appreciate the female anatomy, but he also enjoyed Annabel's company and wouldn't think to ditch her for a rather expensive dose of nude entertainment. Magazines could cover that for now, so long as Asher or Molly did not find them.
At least his friend held Nell's cooking in high esteem and he smiled enthusiastically, now knowing that whenever he came back in to grab a bit to eat it would be satisfying. He ran his thumb and forefinger across his lips in a zipper-like motion. "Your secret is safe with me," Adam assured her with a wink. He hardly ever talked to her older brother anyway so at least the discussion could potentially be avoided. Josh scared him, to put it simply. Not because he was mean to people but because of his age and power. Adam knew if he were to ever step on Annabel's toes his skin might be used for the following morning's bacon. The fact that the maze was mansion backyard size was exciting and even he felt that tingling of anticipation to take a trek through the hedges. "Sounds impressive," He complemented, then quickly altered his expression when Annabel displayed dislike for the nickname and could only manage to huff a laugh before managing, "Yeah, because 'Belle' is not something anyone else thinks of when they see or hear your name. So original." Like Addie, only he hated his nickname no matter who said it. To him it sounded girly and condescending. He snapped his fingers this time around and tilted his nose upwards towards the ceiling in attempts to rush the girl along. If she did not want to hang out with him (a.k.a. entertain him) then he figured she would wander off and leave him to his own devices, which he supposed would be fine if she really wanted to do something else.
Adam rubbed his hands together. "Wise decision! I'll have us out in no time." At least, he hoped so. His sense of direction was not as impeccable as he claimed it to be. Getting out of the maze in general would probably wind up being the goal, not seeing how fast it could be done. Of course at her words the boy quickly took up the head and marched about like he owned the damn place. The more he glanced between the hedges, however, the less certain he became of how well this was going to go. Left...right...right... Adam thought to himself, flicking his finger back and forth as he did so. He probably looked as though he'd lost his mind. A low growl formed in his throat as he turned to look at Annabel, shoulders growing stiff. He hated being mocked, and worse he hated possibly exposing himself when he got them lost. "Don't be a dick," He snapped hotly, "Just because I ask a question out loud doesn't mean I was directing it at you." Well, this adventure was bound to go smoothly with his temper at the helm. He tore his eyes away from her face before focusing on the bushes ahead, stopping when he came to a fork. There was a hedge directly in front of them, with one corridor going directly off to the left and another off to the right. Annabel's silence was (in his mind) evidence that she did not know where she was going. "Obviously you suck at direction because if you knew how to get out of here you would already be picking left or right." He knew she was competitive, yet Adam did not fully understand why she was letting him take the lead without saying much of a word. It was infuriating, to say the least.
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 22, 2012 7:11:10 GMT -5
costumeAnnabel tilted her head to the side in consideration, then nodded her agreement. Fair enough, she supposed she couldn't argue the fact that Adam was staying in character and that Krueger was an absolute freak. She'd always kind of preferred Jason, though, only because of his weapon of choice. The machete looked totally badass and she knew from playing Left 4 Dead 2 that it could be a handy weapon for conserving ammo in a pinch. Not that she often ran out of ammo in games if she was careful enough. She had good enough aim that she didn't need half a magazine to take down a single foe. "Considering he like, never talks, good luck with that. And you'd need a mask. And a machete." That was part of the reason he'd freaked her out as a kid, actually, whereas Freddy's face had been traumatizing enough to do the trick on its own. Now she could handle both without acting like a child, something she was quite proud of. "Just keep telling yourself that," she advised him, clearly not worried about losing. She wasn't all-powerful in video games but she liked to consider herself as being pretty damned good at them. At very least she could hold her own against most of her friends. Belle knew that her friend was joking, of course, or she'd have let him know what she really thought of guys that shamelessly hit on her. After the incident when an older guy at a party had tried to seduce her she really did not take kindly to being treated like some object of sexual appeal. Adam's harmless joking was just that—harmless, so she let it alone with only a whack on the arm and a reprimand that was not as serious as it may have sounded. "It's nice to know how much our friendship means to you." Ditched for a lap dance? Okay then, she knew who wasn't invited to hang out with her ever again. Regardless of whether or not he was serious, it was not a plausible issue to be coming between them given that Adam was underage and so she wasn't about to go holding it against him. Instead she acted offended for a few seconds before shrugging off the act and moving on. If there was one thing that bugged her, it was not being taken seriously. It had always been a problem as a kid when adults would look down on her age and assume that anything that came out of her mouth was unimportant but as it turned out, friends could be instigators as well. She didn't have a temper like he did but she did press her lips together when he laughed. "I never said no one else tried, Adam," she said in the impatient tone of someone who was not amused with something. "I mean it's weird having anyone else call me that." Anna was fine, if a little strange, but Belle was the nickname her brother had used since she was a little kid. She'd attached it to him and so she was usually quite quick to correct her friends when they tried to use it. Like now. She could bet her brother didn't have this kind of brother, mostly because 'Joshy' wasn't something a grown man liked to be called. Lucky bastard. "So if you really insist on calling me that, I get to call you 'Addie'. Still sound like a good idea?" She knew it annoyed him and so she was being a troll for the most part. She sometimes bugged her friends by using nicknames they didn't approve of or teasing them in a light-hearted manner but Adam didn't usually get that treatment. Mostly because he was a Fire and she'd figured out what usually happened when you irritated them a long time ago. Thanks, family. With how confident he was acting, Annabel wondered if he really did have some sort of a solving technique to mazes or whether he was just incredibly full of himself. I guess I'll find out, she thought with amusement as she lifted her brows at him and said nothing in reply. He seemed awfully sure of himself but sometimes ego could do that to a person and Belle was no stranger to the kind of ego that Adam had. His temper reared its head once they were a good deal inside the maze but though she blinked coolly at him, she didn't seem all that bothered by the fact that he'd snapped at her. "Calm your tits," she suggested oh-so-eloquently. "Who were you asking, the air? Cause I'm sure it had a really informative answer." She rolled her eyes. Oh, Adam. Not that she wasn't used to him or anything like that but he really could have an attitude sometimes. So did she, though, and maybe that was part of the reason she could put up with him. It was just a little temper problem. She wouldn't have a family (with the exception of her sister in law) if she chose to avoid all Fires. "Uh-uh, we're not going there," she cautioned when he tried to shift the blame around to her. "I let you take the lead, Mr. Maze Guru, because you were so damn sure you knew where we were going. Are you saying we're lost, O Great Leader?" Victory always tasted pretty damn sweet. Of course, there was a chance that they might end up in an argument over it seeing as they were two competitive people, but that didn't mean Belle was going to back down. Hell no.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Oct 25, 2012 14:36:41 GMT -5
COSTUME
Annabel had a point there. He could hardly keep his mouth shut, even on a good day, and there was probably no chance he could function being Jason. He was too quiet for someone like Adam. It would take a considerable amount of self-restrain to keep him from bursting out and making snide comments about one thing or another. At least with Krueger he could talk and still stay in character. He did consider going for a Jay and Silent Bob ordeal next year but he would need someone who never said anything and that would be difficult. Maybe Mona. "I have his mask already," Adam replied, gesturing to the door in reference to his house which was on the other side of the city. "But yeah, I'm not sure I could just sit there and scare the shit out of children with my silence." He preferred his words, his big attitude to do the job for him. More often than not it ended in a flurry of fists and his face down in the dirt but that was beside the point. His chest rose upward; Annabel's words always felt like a challenge, which he intended to take head on. "I will."
Despite the way he acted and how he talked to his friends, Adam cherished the friendships he had. There were not many who felt comfortable sticking around for more than a week, hell even a few hours, so Annabel and Mona were rare species indeed. Instead of confirming his feelings on their friendship and the attachment he had to her, he merely rolled his shoulders and flashed her a smile that hopefully gave her a decent message. He could talk smack all day but when it came down to the deep, profound emotional babble silence was his means of communication. Adam could only hope that she understood.
The boy also pursed his lips together and considered her and her words, not quite sure where to go with that. He was flustered, sure, but not enough to make the situation worse. "Whatever," Adam mumbled with a wave of his hand to dismiss the conversation. Even he did not understand his temper sometimes; some situations infuriated him and others were abandoned at the drop of a hat. "I guess I can understand it." He tried, at least. His eyes narrowed as though envisioning someone calling him 'Addie' and them finding sheer enjoyment in it. Not to mention his relationship with Asher was not quite so strong. In some ways he envied Annabel's attachment to her older brother. Adam's family was close but not that close. He chalked it up to age gap but Asher could state with conviction that it was his younger brother's attitude and distance. The latter was accurate. Her question left him feeling (and looking) sour--if he were a cat or a porcupine you would be able to see the fur and spines bristling dangerously. "A fucking horrible idea. You like your nickname, I don't like mine. There's a difference." If Annabel came up with anything else he would be fine but Addie? No. Straight up no. He could not even express how much it bothered him. "Give me a nickname to call you then. I'm not sure you'd be fond of Annie." Even calling her that would feel strange and did not seem like her, but if that was something she accepted then so be it.
Egos were a blessing and a curse; it gave you confidence and you were not always fidgeting about, wondering what others were thinking about you or even how you felt about yourself, but in instances like this all it did was make him appear to be a fool. This, in turn, angered him and it was evident by his scrunched nose and creased brows. Telling him to calm down was like kindly asking a ticking time bomb to stop counting down to zero. There was a sort of growl lingering at the back of his throat as he glared at her. "I'm pretty damn sure you talk to yourself sometimes. Don't even act like you don't." He shot back. Of course he was half-talking to her, but the answer given was not something Adam was eager to hear. That was what upset him, on top of the fact that he had managed to get them lost. Great, just great. He threw his hands into the air and emitted a loud, very agitated groan. "We aren't lost! I'm trying to figure out if my maze logic is going to work or not." He grunted, keeping his shoulders tight against his neck as he turned heel and tried the nearest opening. Trying to make every turn a left could potentially work and you could be sure he would try it before admitting that they were, indeed, lost. "So we're just going to keep on taking lefts and see where it goes." Adam stated factually. He could have potentially added 'and if it leads to nowhere then obviously I was wrong' but that required admitting that he screwed up. With Annabel that was not about to happen. Two competitive personas wandering this maze together might not have been the best combination after all.
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 26, 2012 15:40:00 GMT -5
costumeAnnabel considered her friend for a moment and then shook her head. "Of course you do." Really, why would she be surprised that her friend already had the Jason mask? She wondered if it was from a previous Halloween costume or if it was a regular ol' hockey mask that he had lying around. Adam was certainly creepy enough to pull off Jason's character but his habit of talking would probably get in the way. She had to say that Kreuger suited him a little more. Besides, the claws were wicked cool. "Definitely not. Though the mask and the machete might do a pretty good job of it." Silence wasn't what freaked kids out, not on its own anyway. She had to say that dolls (ventriloquist dummies especially) were one of the things that could freak her out without needing sound. Those things were scary as shit. She continued to smirk despite Adam's confidence, her own ego boosting her spirits. Two cocky people didn't always make good friends but her lack of a temper problem definitely helped. Thankfully for Adam, Annabel picked up easily on his jokes (she lived with Josh and had thus been given plenty of practice) and so she was not easily offended by the things that he said. Though she had many friends and had no problems with socializing she still treasured each and every one of them and the Fire elemental was no exception. She was going behind the back of her alliance to maintain the friendship and that said it all. She didn't really have a nickname that she felt too strongly about and so she could not relate to the way that Adam despised 'Addie'. While she was not used to people apart from her brother calling her 'Belle' on a regular basis, the nickname was not something that made her cringe. "Hey, I can't help that your name is hard to alter." She pressed her lips together to suppress any laughter that begged to escape. She might have found it funny but she didn't want to upset her friend. She knew he was a Fire and that he had a temper so teasing him too much was never her goal. "I don't know," she frowned, trying to think of what she wouldn't mind being called. "My online friends call me Lynne but I'm guessing you didn't know that, huh?" It probably seemed random to Adam, actually, she realised. "It's my middle name. And... yeah, Annie's a bit... weird." She scrunched up her nose. Anna didn't bother her but Annie seemed a bit of a stretch. Sighing, she said, "I mean... I guess you could call me Belle if you wanted, I'm just... not used to it or anything." She preferred it to be mostly between she and her brother but since Adam was one of her closest friends she supposed she could make an exception if he insisted. She liked Lynne but since he wasn't a gaming friend she guessed that might be stranger to him than even Annie was. She had no problem in talking about her online friends, not caring that some people thought it strange. One of her friends from Russia was one of the coolest people she knew. His anger did not phase her and she did not fear him, merely raising her eyebrows when he emitted a noise that reminded her of a dog's growl. "I don't ask myself questions." Well, all right, maybe she did sometimes. There was a habit of muttering under her breath while she played games or cursing and swearing at technology but she didn't know many people that weren't guilty of abusing inanimate objects. Would she admit this to Adam? Of course not. She wasn't about to say that she was in the wrong. She half-scoffed and half-snorted when he insisted that they weren't lost. "Sure we're not." It had been longer than five minutes, that was for sure. She didn't mind the fact that they were lost as much as Adam seemed to but it was pretty satisfying to know that she'd proved him wrong. Despite his grouchy mood she was still relatively content to follow him as he walked through a gap in the hedges. "We'll see," she agreed. She had a feeling that would eventually lead them to the left side of the maze and then they'd be forced to take a right but she didn't bother saying this. Not to preserve Adam's pride, of course not, but because she simply didn't feel like getting into an argument with him. They'd see how well his plan worked. "It's pretty quiet," she observed as they walked. "No scares or anything yet..." Then again, that was the staple of the house tour more than the maze. Still, she had a feeling there was probably something planned. Maybe when we're closer to the exit? That made sense.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Oct 29, 2012 17:15:18 GMT -5
COSTUME
Adam was sorely tempted to ask her what she meant by that, but decided to leave that one be. Some questions were better left unasked, anyway. To him it made sense to have the masks; what kid his age didn't? They made for good cover when you played Ding Dong Ditch and ran around the woods in the middle of the night playing Manhunt. If only he could handle clowns and big dogs in a similar manner, but whenever he was confronted with either in question Adam could feel the color drain from his face and his hands would start to shake. There was no way to manage dealing with either of them. He considered her words for a moment, his finger tapping against his chin. "Maybe it would," He said thoughtfully, voice light. "I guess I'll have to test it out sometime." All that was left to the get-up would be to obtain a machete that could at least look real. Molly would never approve of him hoarding weapons for the sake of looking scary.
He watched his friend with a bitter scowl, waiting for her to make some other snappy comment about his name or perhaps toss out a few nicknames she knew he probably did not like. When that did not happen he finally said, "Yeah, thanks mom," He muttered with a look of disdain. Molly obviously did not think ahead and anticipate that 'Adam' was not exactly an easy name to shorten or give affectionate nicknames for. Except Addie, which more or less felt like preparation for a scolding than anything else. Adam blinked at this new bit of information about his friend and tilted his head to the side as he absorbed the words like a sponge. A fiery sponge. "Didn't know that. But at least it suits you. Do you tell them to call you that?" Sometimes he was not afraid to admit not knowing something, especially when the other person knew for a fact that he was unaware of it. Lynne definitely sounded better than Annie, and he could not remember if she ever told him about her middle name before. Feeling more...connected to Annabel with this additional info, Adam went silent before deciding he would tell her. "My middle name is Evan. Flows well enough I guess, but I don't really tell many people." He picked up a piece of invisible paper and made a strike through the air as though he crossed off something on a list. "But we're not going with Annie." There was a faint smile tracing his features when she sighed and resigned, allowing him to call her Belle. He was not going to make a huge habit of saying it every time he talked to her but it felt nice to have the permission.
"Liar," Adam hotly accused, eyes drawn into slits to assess Annabel's face with scrutiny. Who didn't talk to themselves? To him, it was perfectly normal. Then again maybe it was not as normal as he assumed it to be, but did not think on the fact that he could be labeled 'clinically insane' if he went around talking to himself aloud. That thought in and of itself silenced him for the time being; one could swear steam was rolling off the top of his head in waves. Every time his friend made a short comment it felt patronizing, sarcastic. This only fueled his frustration and made focusing a bit complicated. The entire time he remained quiet, though it was obvious by the twitch of his lips that he actually had to refrain from speaking. If he wanted to try and get out of here without hearing the classic 'I told you so' then this was probably his best option. It was a brooding silence, though. Her statement of the obvious finally caused him to respond. "Emphasis on yet," Adam replied, shaking a finger in her direction without even looking. "Who knows what's going to be lurking around the next corner." The edge to his voice was more eager anticipation than fear. Outside of the only two things that caused him to choke on fright, anything else was exciting and gave him a good, fun scare. He continued to take his lefts, eager to try and prove his theory correct.
Adam felt less and less sure as time went on and soon his confident stride gave way into a leisurely, loping walk that signified he had given up on his efforts without actually saying so. "I think we should take a right here," He said suddenly after a minute or two of silence, turning his heel down another pathway and glancing around. "And it's far enough down where there might be another way to turn." At this point he could care less if it was a left or a right. He refused to admit he was wrong to Annabel. That they were, in fact, lost. "If I were tall enough, I'd just jump and look over the hedges."
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Oct 31, 2012 18:07:46 GMT -5
In a way she felt bad for Adam, at least as much as Annabel could feel bad for someone while still finding the situation pretty funny. She didn't laugh because she knew that he really did hate it but that did not mean it failed to amuse her. She was a friend, not the patron saint of sensitivity! Adam itself wasn't an embarrassing name but she had to admit that she'd probably roll her eyes if anyone called her Addie, in his position. "If you could change your name, would you?" She was honestly curious and not just being a thorn in his side at this point. Despite getting a little weird about anyone other than her brother calling her 'Belle', Annabel liked her name and didn't really have ambitions to change it. Apparently she hadn't mentioned her middle name to Adam before, something that was neither surprising nor expected. She didn't make a point of hiding it but if it didn't come up, she tended not to mention it. The girl didn't introduce herself as 'Annabel Lynne', after all. "Well, sometimes," she said, frowning as she gave the question some thought. "For most people it's kinda automatic though. It's a part of my gamer tag. But I do introduce myself as Lynne in chats and stuff." It had stemmed from a fear of being stalked thanks to all the things her parents had told her about freaks and weirdos on the internet. Now that she'd realised the danger wasn't quite as alarming as they liked to think she supposed she could use her actual name if she wanted to but Lynne had kind of stuck. It was how people saw her. She didn't think she was going to change it any time soon.
Adam told Annabel his middle name and she nodded to acknowledge that she'd heard, considering the name. It definitely flowed well, unlike some people whose parents clearly hated them. She never understood parents that gave their children weird names—did they not know the amount of teasing that went on? "Evan. I like it. Easier to nickname, too." She flashed a smile at the last part to show that while she was picking on him to some extent, it was not meant to be offensive. 'Ev', the sensible nickname stemming from Evan, was a lot less weird than Addie. Poor guy. She laughed and lifted her hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Okie dokie then." Joking aside, she was totally fine with not being called Annie. Lynne would work for her any day, or Belle if he really felt the need.
Her friend really didn't seem too pleased about the whole situation but Annabel decided against going easy on him. Adam had been the one to brag about having them out in five minutes and so Belle was going to have fun proving him wrong. She made an exaggerated movement of looking down at her pants and tugging at them with a frown. "My pants haven't caught fire, Adam. You must be seeing things." She pressed her lips together to hold back laughter but she did not have perfect command over her facial expressions. Her brother could best her in a battle of laughter any day—the ghost of a smile played upon her lips to betray her amusement. She probably shouldn't be gaining all her laughs at Adam's expense but who could blame her? This shit was gold! "If anything gets you too scared I'll give my brother a good kick for you next time I see—woah!" In the middle of teasing her friend for the umpteenth time that night, she turned a corner and nearly bumped straight into another one of the maze-goers clad in a rather frightening costume. Not an actor, not someone meant to be giving scares, but the fact that she briefly brought a hand to her chest and had to take a moment and collect herself betrayed the fright she'd gotten. "Shut up," she said quickly, not knowing whether Adam was going to laugh or not but feeling as if she should say something just in case.
As they walked in silence with Adam in the lead, Annabel took a moment to notice that, despite being a chilly day in October, the maze did not seem to be feeling the effects. The material of her costume was quite thin and yet it felt as comfortable as walking around her house in shorts and a t-shirt during the summer. Josh, she guessed. It was nice not to have to worry about the cold. She figured her patience for the maze would not last for nearly as long if she were shivering. "Mmkay," she said easily, following after him without complaint. She knew they were lost but she didn't point that out for the millionth time. Instead she raised her brows. "Cheat, you mean." As an avid gamer who enjoyed both single and multiplayer ventures, she didn't like cheating. It took all the fun out of things and cheaters really annoyed her. She wasn't annoyed with Adam, no, but she didn't like the sound of cheating. "I'm sure we're near the end... we've been walking around for ages. Let's just keep going." From teasing to pep talks? Well, they had to find their way out somehow.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Nov 3, 2012 14:15:30 GMT -5
COSTUME
Her question sent him into a contemplative silence; would he actually change his name? In some ways it could potentially be an insult to his mother if he felt that 'Adam' was not suitable enough for him, but then again there are worse things one could do to insult their parents. What name would he even change it to? After living fourteen years with the same name, anything else seemed strange and foreign. At one point he did consider making his middle name his first and sticking with Evan, but with his luck people would still come up with a way to use Adam if it was present in his name. "I...actually don't know," He glanced at her and pursed his lips to the side as he shrugged. "People say 'yeah, you look like an Adam' and I kinda agree. But that's probably because I've been Adam all my life." A question to truly dwell on, and Annabel left it in the forefront of his mind. Maybe he should ask Molly what other names she had had in mind before he was born. That could help. Then again, what if her baby name list had been absolutely horrid? Like Hammy or Lowell. He felt a faint shudder ripple up his spine. No. "Oh, well that would make more sense I guess." He never even thought to put his name in his gamertag, probably because it made for nickname aversion. With a username at least you could potentially set yourself up for the nicknames you wanted. "Mine is pretty amazing," Adam boasted lightly. "ItalianInferno." He said it with an accent, pressing his fingers together and placing them to his lips for a stereotypical Italian 'kiss'. The name defined him well enough considering his Italian descent and the fact that he was a hot-headed Fire. None of his online friends understood the last portion of course. He kept that bit to himself.
He gave her a small smile of appreciation when Annabel said that she liked his middle name. It was the only portion of his name he actually liked so to have one of his closest friends agree that it was suitable for him put him in good spirits. He snorted at the nickname comment. "At least they don't sound as girly," Adam pointed out, scrunching his nose. Ev was alright by him. It would really throw people off if she did call him that which he would find amusing. She was one of four people who knew his middle name now, two of which were family.
Anger was bound to work against him at some point, and right now it only made the situation worse. His arrogance and incapability to admit when he was wrong or screwed up, on top of his hot temper, only led to a negative outcome. At least Annabel did not seem overly concerned that he was practically seething, face twisted into a deep scowl that no fourteen year-old should be capable of. "That can be arranged." Adam threatened idly, voice laced with anger. He could hardly emit the faintest hint of a flame without it promptly going out so an attempt would only lead to embarrassment. Being a ninth grade Fire with no full use of your powers sucked. He supposed other elements felt the same way but right now he really wanted to set the hem of her pants on fire. Her smile was only fueling him. "Bitch," He muttered to himself with a couple other choice words quickly following after. Just as he looked up to make another comment about his being scared, they turned a corner and Adam watched as his friend nearly had a heart attack. The other person had a really creepy costume! He jumped a bit at the sight but his friend's reaction was distracting. Anger forgotten, the boy burst into a fit of laughter and doubled over himself. "Oh...my god..." He breathed between laughs, "That was fucking amazing. You should have seen the look on your face! You were scared shitless." There were no tears streaming down his face just yet but Adam took a moment to wipe at his cheeks anyway. He knew Annabel did not scare easily so to see her jump was epic. "You aren't going to live that one down." He said as his laughter died away into a Cheshire grin.
So focused on his maze conquering mission, Adam did not even take notice of the fact that the maze was unnaturally warm despite the chilly October weather. He was not as phased by the cold considering his element but that did not mean the oncoming Winter was exciting. He preferred Summer any day. He shrugged. "Not cheating, just making sure I'm going in the right direction." If he only managed to peek over the hedges once, he would be happy. That's all it would take, right? It was still cheating but Adam did not want to label it as such. He grunted in agreement and tucked his head against his shoulders as they moved onward. "You and your morals." Yet, despite how grumpy he sounded, he did not argue with her nor did he attempt to climb into the bushes to peer over them. Another dead end met him face to face and he threw his hands up into the air with a, "Goddammit!" And turned to look at Annabel. It was obvious he was angry. "Get us outta here, woman. Christ! There's probably no way out of here. They are just fucking with us!" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, grunting in sheer frustration. It was then that, while he was turned and facing the way they had come, he saw another maze-goer turn the corner, probably in search of the end. Adam felt his face lose colour. The man was dressed...in a clown suit. His bright colored hair was tousled, the red nose was torn, and the make-up was made to look creepy as hell. He smiled; the fake teeth were made to look sharp. The Fire felt frozen in place. Oh, fuck.
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Nov 3, 2012 18:30:02 GMT -5
It seemed that her question had made him think, at least judging by the pause that he gave before he answered it. Though it was more of a casual question than anything else she was truly curious about the answer and so she listened carefully as Adam gave his reply. She tilted her head and seemed to examine him critically when he mentioned 'looking like an Adam'. "Can you look like a name?" She wasn't really sure. If there were a mirror around them at that point in time, Annabel would likely have scrutinized her own reflection. "I mean, I guess you look like an Adam, but that's because you are Adam... if that makes sense?" She didn't know how much sense she was making because it wasn't connecting flawlessly in her own head right now. She wasn't mean to think too hard on subjects. Annabel preferred things to be simple and easily grasped. Like video games. They tended to be mindless and while some of them had stories it was easy to enjoy (most of) them whether you understood what was going on or not. Why couldn't real life be more like a game? Frowning, she asked, "So do I look like an Annabel?" She somehow doubted that she looked like an Annie but maybe she was biased considering she wasn't overly fond of that nickname. She liked the idea that Lynne would suit her, but did it? Ugh, so many questions!
Her gamertag hadn't been anything special, nothing that she'd put particular thought into. She'd needed a tag and she was feeling impatient to start playing the game, so upon realising that her middle name was part of 'linear', she'd had a little fun with wordplay and slapped something together. She rolled her eyes and smiled when Adam mentioned his. "Clever." Despite her dry and almost exasperated tone, it actually was pretty clever. If she were the type to be envious of silly things she might even have been jealous that she hadn't come up with something equally as catchy. She understood both parts of his tag, inferno included. "Unless someone starts calling you An," she pointed out, the second half of Evan. "Which I won't," she assured him, the laughter in her voice. It was funny, what could she say? Almost as eye-roll-worthy as Annie and Addie. Actually, maybe a little more so given how ridiculous it was as a nickname for Evan. "So if you get to call me Belle, does that mean I can call you Ev?" No one would understand but them and that actually amused Annabel. She liked inside jokes like that. It made her feel like she was more connected with a friend when nicknames came into play.
Apparently Adam was not all that pleased with her joking, a fact that didn't intimidate the Water elemental in the least. She was cocky to the point of being reckless and while it got her into a lot of fights, it also meant that she didn't spend most of her time cowering in corners from anyone of the opposite alliance. Of course, with the amount of times she'd bumped into her brother in the medical wing while sporting burns both regular and electrical, she could imagine that Josh wasn't quite as impressed with her stupidity bravery. "Try it and I will soak your ass." Two could play that game. As ninth-going-on-tenth graders there wasn't much the two of them would be able to do to one another but their matching personalities meant that they were sure as hell going to make the threats. She wasn't very phased by being called a bitch, either, merely raising her brows and smiling slightly. "Dogs are pretty cool, don'tcha think?" She was going out of her way to be a pain in the ass right now but he'd asked for it by insulting her. Hopefully the night wouldn't end in her friend trying to choke her out or anything like that. She liked joking around but she didn't much like actually fighting with hers friends. As a Water elemental, she often forgot that not everyone was as good at taking a joke as her elemental kin.
Of course, karma was a bitch. Soon it was Adam laughing at her as she tried to recover from the scare she'd received from the random maze-goer on the path. It was made even more humiliating by the fact that it was not meant to be a scare. If her brother or Nell had planned to frighten the shit out of her she might have been a little more dignified as she recovered from the scare but it wasn't nearly as easy to brush off something like this. Especially not when your best friend was busy laughing their ass off at your expense. She glared at him, part of her knowing that she deserved it but the rest resenting him for his amusement. That was how pride worked, after all. "Oh, fuck you," she muttered, flipping him the bird. She made no mention of the fact that she'd probably have laughed just as hard at him if he'd fallen victim to the jump scare. No way! It was only offensive if it happened to her, at least the way her ego structured common sense in her mind. She pressed her lips together. "I don't doubt it." Jerk. The fact that she didn't turn on her heel and take another path betrayed that her anger would not last, though. She was no Thunder!
She snorted with more derision than would normally be applicable when he tried to make an excuse for his desire to cheat. It was clear that she was still a little bitter about the earlier incident with the jump scare. She'd be over it by the time they got out of the maze, probably, but for now she was hoping to hell that he screwed up really bad. Adam gave up after they hit yet another dead end and rounded on her, demanding that she take the lead and get them out of the maze. A part of her wanted so badly to taunt him, to make him admit that they were lost as hell and it was his directional skills that were to blame. But she knew that he was a Fire, understood that he was already frustrated, and had learned enough from arguments with Josh that Fires had short fuses. It was best to hold off on arguments until they weren't trapped together in a labyrinth of bushes. "All right, all right. What way'd we come in from?" After she'd figured this out, she was already several steps down a fresh path when she noticed that her friend was not following. "Uh, Adam? You coming?" He seemed spooked by something and she hesitated between continuing and going back to figure out what it was. The end result was her staying in place, looking a bit baffled.
|
|
|
|
Post by ADAM EVAN RIZZO on Nov 5, 2012 2:07:53 GMT -5
COSTUME
"Why are we even talking about this?" Adam asked, clearly not bothered by the fact that they were discussing names and how they made one's identity. In fact it was an interesting thing to think about and now the gears in his head were turning. Could one actually look like a name? Was it simply the fact that you were the same name all your life that made you look like your name? "I mean, I guess it makes sense. That's kinda what I'm thinking too. But there have been a few people I met that did not look like their name." Especially people named Betty and Gladice, but it was possible because he was not a fan of the names that he did not think they suited anyone. They were ancient, besides. Her question drew him from his thoughts and his eyes scanned her face long enough to form an opinion. "Yeah, I think so." No other names really came to mind so he assumed that that was a pretty decent indication Annabel was a good name for her.
He fumbled with the collar (or lack there-of) on his shirt at her complement; it might have sounded dry but he still accepted it as though she squealed and exclaimed his genius to the world. Sometimes his confidence blinded him to the fact that others were not so enthused about the things he came to be proud of. People called him Italiano, or Ferno on occasion but most stuck with IF since it was easier to scream whenever they were trying to get his attention. He scowled at the name 'An'. "Yeah that's probably a good idea," Adam warned. "That's just as bad as Addie in my opinion." It still sounded girly and that was the last thing he wanted to deal with. How was it that both his first and middle name had the potential to make for feminine nicknames? It was a good thing his online friends knew nothing of it, and those he knew of face to face did not call him Addie too often. Well, those outside of family. "I, ah..." This was the million dollar question. No one ever really called him by his middle name, let alone nickname him after it. Then again this was Annabel; he broke his own code on the alliances to remain her friend because he cared. Maybe this would be a good way to show her he was not all teeth and claws. "Yeah, yeah you can. But if anyone asks why, you can't tell them." His finger wagged in her face for a moment as an idle threat, leaving it there after that. 'Ev' would certainly take some getting used to.
Anger issues and an ego was certainly a horrible combination. He allowed his temper to talk for him and did not have a tendency to back down even when he knew he should. Annabel's personality tended to fuel this at times so her threat did not exactly phase him. In fact it sounded more like a challenge than anything else and his chin rose to meet it. "Good luck with that. Just you wait until I can use my element." Even then he knew that his friend had the upper hand but there was no way in hell he was going to sit there and admit to that. Sure, his stubbornness got him in a load of fights and most of them ended in a trip to the medical wing but that was simply who Adam was. Molly had stopped asking about his black eyes and bruises after a time. His lips dipped into a scowl at the mention of dogs; Annabel was probably clueless about his fear of the larger breeds and he preferred to keep it that way. "Yeah, fucking awesome," Adam said dryly, rolling his eyes.
What goes around, comes around. He could hardly catch his breath as he laughed, hardly feeling an ounce of regret as he did so. Annabel looked like she truly had a fright and this amused him beyond belief. What he forgot, of course, was that he would be infuriated if she laughed at him for being afraid of something. It would not be abnormal, at least. Maybe she would not be the least bit surprised. Having Fires for a family might be helpful, too. He laughed again when she flipped him off and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, his comeback cliche and probably expected. "I know, I'm hard to resist." Adam could not see himself doing anything sexual with her despite his teasing. "I'll start calling you and breathe really hard in the receiver, and jump out from around corners at school, and you'll be tortured forever." And he would, too, but eventually ideas would become scarce and he would grow bored. Until then, Annabel would have to suffer. He was definitely no Water elemental but he could sure as hell try.
Adam shrugged. "Hell if I know," He grumbled, though he tried to mentally back track so they could find their way out of here. Directions were easy on the road or in the halls at school but here? There were no street names or posters on the wall to give him a hint as to where he was. He was flustered and it was obvious by his scowl and the deep ridge between his eyebrows. That all changed when the clown came into view and the boy felt glued to the spot. Fear had the potential to leave anyone frozen, unable to function properly. Adam was trying to formulate words but they were difficult to process. "Y-yeah...yeah." It took a great deal of effort to shove his feet forward as the clown approached, its silence more frightening than one could possibly imagine. His face was pale, hands deep in his pockets as he brushed by her. "Let's just...keep moving. Please." His voice was low and rushed as he continued onward, trying not to look back. A chill ran up Adam's spine, one that visibly caused him to shudder. Fuck clowns. Fuck them so much. Out of any costume that had to turn that corner, it had to be that one. "Do you know the way out or not?" He asked, trying to take the heat off of himself and on their issue at hand.
|
|
|
|
Post by ANNABEL LYNNE DALE on Nov 6, 2012 22:08:38 GMT -5
Annabel shrugged, not seeming bothered by the serious and random conversation. Then again, the girl was used to sites like Tumblr where nothing made sense and nothing was questioned. She had learned to go with the flow of the internet world and this carried out into real life. "No idea." Despite finding the conversation odd, it seemed like Adam wasn't opposed to continuing it since he went on to explain how he felt about people and their names. She couldn't say that she thought about it a whole lot, but then again, maybe it was because she didn't question the names of her friends (no matter how weird they were). Ashley was Ashley, Kelly was Kelly, Chris was Chris. She'd been introduced to them as who they were and so it was hard to program her brain to think of them differently. On the other hand she also had internet friends who went by aliases so to then find out their real names was a little disconcerting at first. She'd done it enough times to be used to the transfer, though, and she just shrugged it off nowadays. "I don't know if I've ever met any..." It wasn't something she considered often enough to store the experiences in her memory. After a couple seconds she gave up and flashed a grin. "If I ever meet a Bartholomew I'm sure I'll agree with you on that one, though." Even if they nicknamed the kid Barty it was still such a strange name that she didn't know if anyone could possibly look like one. Nope. Annabel was rather surprised when Adam OKed the use of the nickname, though it was not an unpleasant sort of surprise. "Oh, of course not," she smirked when he asked her not to tell anyone else about it. "Where would the fun be in that?" She liked to be a pain in the side and infuriating people by not explaining inside jokes or even nicknames was no exception to this joy.
Adam's threats, as empty or serious as they might have been, had little effect on Annabel and for obvious reasons. "I'll only get better at kicking your ass the higher up we get." Two confident people made for a strange friendship but the two of them had made it this far into things without killing each other. She saw that as an accomplishment and all but it didn't mean that she was going to admit defeat to him simply to avoid an argument. No way! "So, you know, if you want to get drenched and humiliated... eleventh grade, baby, here we come." Tenth grade was a little better but she'd heard from a lot of people that eleventh grade was when you really started getting a grasp on things. That was why they allowed juniors as well as seniors to go for leadership positions. She didn't realise that the dog comment had hit a sensitive subject and so she was content to go on grinning about it as if she'd found some kind of a victory. "Ours are around somewhere," she chirped, not realising this might be a bad idea. "Nelly wanted to get them all dressed up for Halloween but I don't know if she managed it or not!" She imagined that Pablo and Eris had given the most trouble considering that they were the mischief makers in the kitty troop. Maybe Winston, too, and Zerda if Josh had allowed him to become victim.
She wasn't as amused by his promise to stalk and torment her, making a mental note to try and be as brave and unphased as possible so that she could show him up. It was annoying to think that the jump scares might get her anyway because they were jump scares and it was only natural to react in whatever way that she would. "Well thanks for telling me your plans, genius. I'm sure I'll be petrified." She rolled her eyes as if completely confident that his scare tactics weren't going to bother her at all. Maybe if she acted cocky enough he would assume that it wasn't worth the effort and just lay off entirely. It didn't seem likely but she could at least make an attempt, right?
Annabel suppressed a sigh, both of them frustrated with the maze and simply wanting to get out by this point. It was dark and it was spooky and the fact that she knew from experience that it was a pretty large maze didn't help. What if they had accidentally got turned around and were somewhere near the beginning of the damn thing? That would really suck. She refrained from voicing her rather pessimistic thoughts aloud to Adam, not wanting to make their situation any worse. The Water elemental was confused by his apparent nervousness, never one to see him in such a state. Geez, what's spooked him? "You look like you've seen a ghost," she remarked, though it was less teasing and more confused. She did have a soul, thank you very much. She stood on her tip toes (like that would help) and peered around him to catch sight of the clown. "Okay, you can just go somewhere else," she said under her breath. "Reminds me of IT, that guy. Wouldn't you say?" She still hadn't caught onto his fear and she nodded when he asked if they could keep going, though she was still baffled. She kept walking with him for a bit and said, "No more than you do. I'm not some psychic genie, Ev." She liked it, the nickname, the chance to taste it on her tongue. "We've been wandering for ages, though. We're bound to be somewhere near the end." She didn't feel as optimistic as she made a point of trying to sound. In a tone that was as casual as possible, she dared ask, "So, uh, what was that back there?"
|
|
