the stairs creak [justin]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

Her feet were lead. She felt as if they weighed her down, held her prisoner to the ground. She couldn’t move, couldn’t shift, couldn’t bring herself to walk, to continue. But an urgency pounded in her ears, it screeched, pleaded with her to find the strength to stand. A guilt washed over her, as if she would scream out her apologies. She was just too weak, too exhausted. She’d been beaten down, battered. Her body was a shell, her spirit only a ghost of her former strength and confidence. And yet she knew, with certainty, she needed to stand. Once more, she needed to rise, and pretend to be the mother Emmaline needed. She held a box of cereal in her hands, staring at it without really seeing it. They had some colorful character on them, too-large eyes and a massive smiling mouth. It held up a thumb, winking. The text proclaimed something about taste and energy. Emmaline was tugging at her shirt, pointing eagerly at the box. As any little girl, the more sugar – the happier she would be. She should have bought something healthier, perhaps raisin bran, but she was too tired to fight Emmaline’s bountiful energy. She handed down the box to the little girl who squealed and threw it excitedly into their big metal cart.

She moved down the lane, largely lost in thought. She found herself thinking, strangely, of water. There was something she found calming about the sound of it, the sight of it. She could never really explain it. It just kept on running. Nothing could truly stop it. Yes, occasionally a large boulder would find itself rolled amidst a stream or river. But the water always found a way. It coursed around, it made a new pathway for itself. The boulder became part of the river. The water, it seemed ,was ageless. It was old, eternal. No boulder, pebble, life form – could truly disturb it. But it was gentle, a quiet master. It was calm, wisdom. Though Morgan would never have admitted, he would have liked the idea of heaven in the water. While the sky was majestic, beautiful to be sure. There was something eternal, alive, about the water. But was any of this worth anything, did it mean anything? She shook her head, annoying with her own lost pensive thoughts. There was little use to thinking of heaven. She could think of heaven when she was old, or dead. For the moment, she had to be a mother.

She put a smile on her lips, turning to ask Emmy what she might like for dinner that night. But the little girl, who only a moment ago, had been standing pulling at her shirt, was nowhere to be seen. Morgan whirled, her eyes searching the lane frantically. An older man was examining a can of soup. But there was no sign of the little girl. Morgan abandoned her cart, sprinting down the aisle. Her hair flew out around her, her eyes wild. “Emmaline! Emmaline!” She attempted to retain some semblance of self-control. But her mind was going wild. She was imagining all the worst things – a man walking out with little Emmy in his arms, out the door and down the street. She skidded around a corner, scanning the aisles. The little girl couldn’t have gotten far. She was three, her legs still short and tottering. She tended to trip over her own feet. How could she have wandered so far? And even worse, how could Morgan have let her? Fear pooled in her stomach, a guilt and white-hot panic. She skidded around another corner, not entirely frantic.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

Even the great and powerful Justin Duval needed to go grocery shopping. On the contrary, he found himself here a lot. He- like every other man on this planet- loved his food. Cooking wasn’t one of his specialties, but he certainly wasn’t bad at it. If anything, he could ask some of his friends to make him something. They seemed to like doing favors such as that. Now that winter was ending, he couldn’t make giant pots of soup and then eat it for a week anymore. Too hot. Now he was looking at some other things. Nell showed him one seafood recipe the other day. He thought he might try making that, but Nell was very good at creating meals. He didn’t want to compare. Comparing was something he did a lot and he did it with pride. He compared both himself with other gents walking around (finding a very ego boosting result most of the time) and comparing the women in his life. Like one he met in the library? Sexy as hell- he wanted her in a heartbeat. Still not as beautiful as the one he met earlier. The one that rejected him at first glance.

Justin held a small red basket, always feeling out of place among the soccer moms. The kids were always amusing to watch. Preferably not the crying screaming ones, but the ones that were fascinated with every colorful box. He watched over and over again as they batted the big eyes and puckered out a lip, and boom, a way was given. Justin did the same thing, honestly. He batted his big blue eyes and gave a charming smile and boom, a way was given. None of it was for food, but he wondered if that would work sometime. He would have to try that. Everyone knew Justin- he was all up for trying things. Speaking of- Justin wandered into the cookie isle. Sometimes he just had a bit of a sweet tooth and wanted something among these lines. He didn’t need a pint of ice-cream when he was hormonal and sad, but sometimes he just liked a couple of sweets. Plus, there was always something about when someone walked into his home and saw sweets as opposed to having none. Gave different perspectives. Also, a lot of his friends had a sweet tooth and it was gone before anyone knew it.

Of course there was going to be a child in this isle. That he had no doubt. What he found rather odd was the fact she wasn’t clinging onto the leg of a very tired mother who wanted to go home. In fact, she was by herself. She held a box in her hands, but her eyes were on the verge of tears. She kept looking around, suddenly aware that mommy wasn’t around. Or daddy for that matter. Justin glanced to keep an eye out for the Oreos and expected a mother to come rushing around the corner. Or call or something. However, it didn’t come soon enough. Justin tended not to be paranoid, but he was getting a very bad feeling about the look an older man was giving her. For all Justin knew, the man could have been thinking the same thing. It could have been the bad first impression that the man looked rather odd and creepy while Justin was always beautiful and shinning. Still, he figured that he wasn’t going to let himself find that out. She started crying and sniffling now. That was his cue. With a very swift move, Justin moved forward and set down the basket next to her, leaning down to her level. ”Hey.” He used a very light tone he used when his little brother was little. ”Are you lost?”

Even as he said this, he heard a distant calling. The man that was looking at her earlier was no where to be seen, and the call sounded like it was a female. He couldn’t tell what it was saying because it sounded like it was traveling a hundred miles an hour, but it could have been something. ”What’s your name?” He asked gently, keeping an eye out to see if whatever voice came was coming around the corner. If it wasn’t, he’d have to take her to the front. Call over the intercom. He just hoped to god that the parent didn’t have like- ten others and was scolding at the girl. Parents like drove him crazy. It was a wonder they could keep track of that many. Justin was pretty judgmental on stuff, but when another life was at stake, he took a different perspective. Many probably didn’t think of Justin as the hero that would do this, but he wasn’t as heartless as he liked to appear. Turns out, he wasn’t some idiot bystander wondering if someone else might help instead of him.

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

As she ran down aisles, she couldn’t help but think of every eventuality. How often had she read those horror stories? As a child, even as a teenager, she hadn’t given them much thought. Sure, it was heartbreaking. A kid would go missing. Sometimes the body would show up, sometimes it didn’t. Rarely were they returned. And as a teenager, a cynical teenager, she’d always kept the opinion that a child stolen was a child lost. Some parents held out hope for years. They would wait for a return that wasn’t coming. But now, faced with that truth herself, Morgan was frantic. This wasn’t some faceless child, a stranger lost miles away. This was her daughter, her baby. And if the phantom man in her thoughts walked away with her little girl, Morgan knew she’d never get Emmaline back. She was scanning each aisle. Disgruntled shoppers shot her disdainful looks. They assumed she was some rambunctious teenager, causing chaos for the mere sake of chaos. How wrong they were, how wrong they all were. She had to push a few, force her way through groups and families. But she couldn’t stop to apologize. She couldn’t waste a single moment when each might be the most crucial.

“Emmy? Emmy!” There was only one aisle left, full of cookies and candies and general junk. Morgan was on the verge of tears now. Emmaline had never been out of her site, never away from her mother. The world was a scary, unfamiliar place. And for a three-year old girl, it could be a deadly place. She skidded around the corner, jerking to a stop as her gaze landed on the little girl. Her heart stopped, equally with relief and fear. She could see her daughter, her precious chestnut waved curls tumbling over her back. She clutched a box of Oreos in her hands. Oreos had always been the little girl’s favorite. She’d run around the kitchen as Morgan poured glasses of milk, picked out two perfect cookies for each of them. Sometimes they liked to see who could hold theirs in milk for longest. And Emmy always ended up with milk dripping down her shirt and disintegrated Oreos on her cheeks. But the fear, the fear came from the man crouched before her little girl. She could see that he had just finished asking her a question. And she could hear her daughter’s sniffling reply. “I can’t find my –“

Morgan’s heart seized and she surged forward. She couldn’t let the little girl finish, finish the sentence that could condemn Morgan. She was at Emmy’s side in an instant, clutching the little girl to her, effectively cutting off her words. “Emmy, it’s alright. Here I am.” She looked over Emmy’s head, to the man who had stumbled upon her daughter. Recognition and shock showed in her gaze as her eyes met his. She recognized that cheeky charming smile, that annoying confidence, the light stubble on his chin. Her brows knitted together in a frown. While a part of her was relieved – as Justin was not the sort to whisk her daughter away from her. Another part of her was furious. What right did he have? It was nonsensical. But he was too close, perilously close. Another moment and he would have known, could have known. And he could have destroyed her. And she couldn’t imagine a situation in which he didn’t. Hadn’t she made herself clear? She wanted nothing to do with him, nothing to do with his confident smile and laughing eyes. She wanted nothing to do with him, or his shopping cart full of food. Nothing to do with him or the gentle way he had looked at Emmaline.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

Despite the rescue mission he was making, he made sure that he kept a certain distance from her. Not only not to scare the child out of her wits but this stranger in her face, but to make it clear he was trying to help. He couldn’t remember what he thought of strangers as a kid, but he could easily make a guess most strangers were frightening people. Knowing Justin, he was probably that one kid that would go up to a stranger and ask to tie his shoe. That could be easily inaccurate though. After his father died, his mother hadn’t really spent much time telling Justin old childhood stories the way most parents did. This three year old was going to have to take a few words before leading them to the front counter. Justin would just love to say ‘come with me’ but he knew better. His acting skills were just going to have to be patient as his big blue eyes softened at the frightened little girl in front of him. Part of his heart actually melted a bit, but not too much to make any substantial difference.

A small reply was coming. Justin assumed the phrase would end with ‘mommy’ but before he could find out, the child was snatched. Two possibilities. Rather a very concerned mother finally hit the cookie aisle or Justin was forced to make a dramatic running scene through the market. Looking up, he saw it was the first option, but this didn’t keep him from being rather surprised. No way. It couldn’t have been. Justin stayed crouched for a few moments before slowing standing up and having the biggest smirk on his face. The first thing that came to mind at her age was babysitter. Now looking at the pair, he realized they looked similar to each other. Babysitter for a sister or relative? What were the odds that he would run into this. This could be turned into Justin’s favor. Justin was not really above using this to score him a date. When it came to women like Morgan, whatever he could take was what he was going to get and go after. By her look, she seemed to remember him. He probably wouldn’t stick around as close as he did before, as there wasn’t a reason to like last time, but this was what he saw as a perfect opportunity. ”Well, well, well, what are the odds that I’d run into Miss Morgan?” Despite his bad luck with names, he was able to remember hers. Morgan. Morgan… Jane, was it? The last name escaped him, but those two he could remember.

He looked at the child in her arms. That’s when he really looked at Morgan. Even though Morgan was giving him the look that asked if he would just roll over and die, he looked at her eyes. Though dangerous, there was no mistaking the eyes that had been on the verge of tears only moments before. Women crying was probably the worst thing he could deal with. Justin didn’t know what to do! He’d be there for a shoulder to cry on, but man, it was hard on him. With not such a cocky boy look, he glanced to the girl again, ”Did you say her name was Emmy? Glad I was here.” He said, as if there was a hint of what he was about to introduce into this. ”Relative?” Justin wasn’t even sure if she would answer any of these questions. Though with a very sarcastic and snappy remark along with curse words coming out of her mouth, she had answered all of his questions last time the pair spoke to each other. Most of the responses were in a light humored giggle from himself. Who knew if it would be the same experience. Justin leaned down and picked up his small cart of groceries, getting ready to leave if she made many more threatening moves. Justin was going to try, just as he had done before, but probably this public of a place with kids made it a different situation. Wait. Justin thought for a couple of moments. Why yes, it did make situations a little different, didn’t it? She wasn’t able to say what she had to before because the child was in her hands. A smile crossed his lips as he tried to appear as the common stranger.

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

She’d heard of diseases, mental things. Postpartum depression, Munchausen’s syndrome, those sorts of things. They made parents, mothers in particular, psycho. Morgan couldn’t count the number of articles she had read, horror stories, memorials to dead children. And the mother would blubber away, they’d claim to have loved their child. They’d blame the disease. And to an extent of course, it was the fault of the disease. But only to an extent – in Morgan’s own belief. In her own quiet opinion, there had to be a grain, an inkling of predisposition. Because how could a mother kill their own child otherwise? Then again, Morgan had never been the biggest fan of humanity. They were a corrupt, unstable, destructive species in general. They tended to leave chaos and burnt fields in their wake. Not to mention the toll they had taken on the earth and the numbers of extinct species that got tossed to the wayside. Perhaps Mother Nature was trying to weed them out – throwing down psychopaths and bombs in some sick attempt to cut down the human race. She was really just rushing along the inevitable though. Humanity’s extinction was inevitable. Eventually they’d all blow each other, or themselves, to little bits. And the world would start over again.

But it wouldn’t start over today. Morgan knelt, Emmy clutched in her arms. The little girl had dropped her box of Oreos and now had her little arms in a chokehold around her mother’s neck. Now that Emmy had found her mother again, the fear set in. The little girl began to cry. But she’d never been a screaming tantrum-throwing sort of crier. She cried quietly, little hiccups. Morgan smoothed her hair, hushing her gently. She could feel Justin’s eyes on her, his questions, his quiet amusement. She waited a few moments until the little girl calmed herself, sniffling and wiping her eyes on her sleeves. Morgan smiled, brushing hair from Emmy’s eyes. “How about you grab an extra bag of cookies? We’ll share them as soon as we get home. I promise, I’ll be right here.” Emmy was already nodding, looking much cheerier at the prospect of extra cookies. She picked up her discarded bag and moved towards the shelves, not more than ten feet away. Morgan kept a close eye on her, Emmy throwing glances over her shoulder at her mother every few moments as she pondered her cookie choices.

Morgan turned back to Justin, her eyes still on Emmy. However her arms were now crossed with clear displeasure over her chest. Her lips tugged into an unamused frown, almost twisted into a grimace. She rolled her eyes at his charming little smile, his cocky words. She hated the upturn of his lips, the easy honey voice he had. “I don’t know about the odds of us meeting, but if you walk away now the odds of you surviving are going to increase twofold.” She wouldn’t of course actually kill him. She wouldn’t risk the punishment. And as earlier mentioned, she was not one of Mother Nature’s psychopaths meant to weed down the human race. Instead she contented herself with another frown and a suspicious light to her eyes. She glanced back over at Emmy. Her daughter was now attempting to decide between a second pack of Oreos, or what appeared to be ginger snaps. She answered without taking her eyes off of Emmy, “Emmaline,” she turned her gaze full on Justin for the barest of moments, “her name is Emmaline.” She looked him up and down. She didn’t like his question. She didn’t like the coy intrigue in his eyes or the mischievous glint to his smile. He looked like a man with a plan. And the only thing she liked less than a man, was a man with intentions. “Sister.” She answered easily. The lie was well-rehearsed, natural on her tongue. And it was believable. And with Emmy entirely focused on her cookies, she wouldn’t trundle over to disrupt their little secret. In any case, the little girl had learned early on to always agree with Mommy. Morgan turned her gaze back to Justin, scowling. She made a shooing motion with her hands. “You’ve had your chance to gloat. Why don’t you wander away and bat your lashes at some fawning little Earth girl?” She didn’t want to admit how uncomfortable he made her, or that his smile and waggling brows were beginning to grow on her.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

The little girl dropped the box of Oreos as she cried. Justin stood there, observing and seeing the other side of a family that was so close together. No, he had never really lost a small child in a store. However, he had grown up a little faster. Not very many people understood what happened to Justin’s household when his father died. Justin ended up being the adult. His mother went into some sort of shock, and Justin was forced to take care of his little brother. Now the brother was old enough to take care of himself and the family had grown farther apart as time went on. An opposite effect of what most households did when one of them died. Most of the time, they grew closer together in harder times. It seemed to rip his apart. Justin didn’t even remember the last time he talked to his brother. Very young, he was sure. So this little place in front of him was just a cute family unit, wasn’t it?

A light smile appeared on his face as he watched the girl that was sniffing look over at all the choices she could have. Yep, Justin also remembered those days. He wanted everything in the store. Actually, he still kind of did, but at least there was a little bit more rational thinking on his part. His eyes darted then to Morgan. He did see that small glimpse of a softer Morgan when she was talking to the little girl, but that part was gone. It wasn’t as bad as the other day, but he assumed it was for the sake of being modest in a public place as opposed to before. Her threat made him chuckle and smile wider. Not much had changed since the last time they had spoken to each other. Still the same threats. Now it is going even farther ahead with death threats. If Justin took every threat he had toward him seriously (especially ones by women) he would stay in his house shivering in fear all day. ”But don’t you know? It’s not about surviving. It’s about living.” If someone just wandered through the day in order to survive, where did they find themselves? Justin felt very sorry for those that felt like they had to survive the day instead of live the day. Going through the motions. Sounded terrible. He would seek help for those people at once, no matter what the help might have been.

At first, he didn’t think that he was going to get an answer. Although he managed to follow her around on the campus, it was going to be really hard to do so in a grocery store. He would try, but this was a little different of a situation. This was take two between both of them, so he didn’t need to be as aggressive as he was last time. He wanted her no doubt. However, he also knew when there was pretty much a zero percent chance. He prayed it didn’t come to that factor. It would have been such a sad waste. Luckily, he did get an answer. It was why he was hearing the name ‘Emmy’ all over the place earlier. He would have assumed the name was Emily, but he understood now. It was a good name. One of those names that wasn’t too common but not as obscure as to forget it all the time. Like his own name. He thought it was far too common for himself, but on the other hand, he also couldn’t picture having another name. Someone once told him that his name ‘fit’ him. That he ‘looked’ like a Justin. Whatever that meant. She went further on to say it was a sister, which was probably the reason for relating them to himself and his brother. ”Aw, sweet name.” Just like Morgan Jane.

Oh, she didn’t know him very well, but surely she would have known enough about him to know he wasn’t just going to turn around and walk away. Such a shame she hadn’t figured that out. Perhaps she had figured it out, but was hoping he would move? Ah, he wasn’t sure what was going through her head. What he would give to see just a glimpse that was. To see if she was really holding back or if she really just wanted him to go crawl in a hole and stay there for a while. For all he knew, it could have been both. ”Gloat?” He asked with an amused look on his face. Justin gloated all the time. He just wasn’t really the one that noticed it. Justin knew he thought highly of himself, but he liked to call it overbearing confidence of a perfect man. Wasn’t too much to ask. ”I’m a Wind. I like everyone. Earth’s are sweet, but eh, not really my type. Besides, I know the best when I see it.” He grinned, trying his best even if he knew he wasn’t going to get it back. A thought occurred to him. Maybe he could just easily spin this in his direction. Justin wasn’t above using bribery to get what he wanted. Whatever it took, right?

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

Emmaline sat cross-legged on the floor. Apparently the cookie decision was time consuming, enough so that the little girl felt it proper to take a seat. She had a variety of boxes laid out before her. There were Oreos, Chips Ahoy, some that Morgan didn’t recognize. They all had smiling figures. Some had pudgy elves. Sometimes the cookies themselves were smiling. Morgan had always found it sort of creepy when her food smiled at her. Was it suicidal or something? What looked forward to its own consumption? It was like eating a lamb, with the head still attached. She didn’t want to look into those glassy eyes as she bit into the succulent meat. It just made her feel guilty. But of course, she was a jaded nineteen year old woman. And Emmy, darling Emmy, was young and oblivious. The thought of cannibalism, suicide, those unpleasant parts of life, were nonexistent for her. Emmy began pushing the boxes around, seemingly ordering them by how appealing they were. Morgan was content to let her. Honestly, she didn’t want her daughter at her legs when she spoke to Justin. He seemed to have a habit of prying, of noticing, particularly things she preferred he didn’t.

That was the thing about him. He was observant. He didn’t shrug and walk away. People were like a puzzle. She knew him, oh she knew more than he could have expected. She was used to being avoided, of quick confrontation and resolution. But their chance meeting on the Academy grounds, his insistence, had stimulated her paranoia. She’d asked around – asked her sister, Nell, one or two others. They had been casual questions. But she’d asked enough to get a decent picture. He was a womanizer, a game player. Life was a chessboard, daring him to make a move. And each person he met, each unfortunate woman, was a pawn to be captured. And she had no desire to be his little pawn. She didn’t want to play this game, have him circle her until he emerged the victor. Too many questions were asked, curiosities raised. And for the time, she’d succeeded in avoiding him entirely. She’d managed to stick to herself, school and home and back again. But he’d found her. The first move had been made. And now he expected her to respond. But of course she couldn’t do such a thing. She could never risk it.

She arched a brow at his words, frowning and rolling her eyes. She’d heard that quote before. It was something from those mumbo jumbo spiritual types. Her scorn was clear on her features. But she also knew that arguing the point was useless. He would poke and prod, argue until the sun came up. That was just the kind of guy he was. And she knew better this time than to argue. He’d trap her in conversation and it would take precious moments to wriggle free. So instead, she found herself shrugging slightly, her frown stiff on her lips. “Fine. I’ll enjoy this wonderful blessed gift of a life as soon as you’re gone.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. She did enjoy her life, at least aspects of it. But as with everyone else, there were crosses to bear. There were good days, and bad. He commented on Emmaline’s name, and despite herself, Morgan couldn’t help a soft smile of pride. Just then, as if on cue, Emmaline came running up. She had a box under one arm. She handed Morgan the Oreos before waving a box. There was a smiling giraffe on this one. Morgan grinned again. Of course her daughter picked anything advertised with a giraffe. Morgan bent down, swinging Emmaline up into her arms. The little girl happily clutched her cookies, one arm around her mother’s neck.

Emmaline leaned forward, extending the cookies to Justin. “These ones have happy giraffes.” And Morgan could do nothing. She couldn’t very well snatch the cookies back. Little Emmaline would never understand, not really. Instead she cleared her throat, addressing Justin’s previous words. She frowned slightly, adjusting Emmy in her arms. “Yes, gloat.” She nodded her head towards his satisfied smile. “Your face is painted with your own self-love.” She glanced over her shoulder. She knew, down a few aisles, her shopping cart was waiting – abandoned. And despite the excitement, she needed to finish the afternoon’s shopping. “We all yearn for what we can’t have.” She kept her voice even, for Emmaline’s sake. Though this revealed fact, his element, and the fact they shared an element, piqued her interest. He was unusual, for a Wind. But then again, as an element, they were unpredictable. They were wild, not held down by expectations. So even if he smiled like a Water, and she fought like a Fire, in a way they were one.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

Justin’s best friend once told him that he sounded like a Hallmark Card whenever he spoke. He supposed that he was true in some aspects. He was full of all sorts of witty phrases that could be pasted on the inside of a card, but he was just that good. That was probably something that the theater did to him. And his morals on life. He had seen from a young age that it was way too short to live. He despised that ridiculous phrase ‘You only live once’ but it was true none the less. It was hard to really argue with that logic. Whenever he saw people that regretted something, you know what he saw? A sulking miserable person. Someone that was so beaten down in life that they wouldn’t be able to really fully trust anyone ever again. That sounded completely dreadful and Justin was going to make all attempts he really could in order to avoid that.

Whatever happened to Morgan was a mystery. If anything even did happen to her. Most people weren’t this snappy towards others for no reason, however. It was rare in people’s nature to naturally push away without any logic behind it. Justin didn’t exactly push people away. He just didn’t really talk about sensitive subjects. He’d listen, but sharing stories like that had never been his forte. Couldn’t really blame him, since nothing too awful bad had happened in his lifetime anyway. It was mostly him just trying to figure out how to become the man he wanted to be. Look where he was now. He did notice that Morgan was more pleasant this time around. Not exactly shooting rainbows, but he was going to take what he got. He looked over at little Emmaline, wondering if there was a connection between her behavior. Generally siblings didn’t really lighten up for each other, but there were times where one side’s brought out the softer part. He didn’t have any idea under what conditions these were in. She was so mysterious. Drew Justin in even more.

Justin practically saw the sarcasm coming out of her mouth, and it made him laugh. Most people didn’t understand Justin’s sense of humor. At this time, he kept it to himself, as he was trying to get her to ease up, not back up if she took his humor the wrong way. Though she knew sarcasm, sometimes it was harder to understand in others. Especially when those others (like Justin) said it in the same exact tone that he would have on a normal regular tone. ”Oh that hurt.” He told her with a crooked smile, ”I haven’t done too awful bad, have I? Managed to find your sister.” Yes, he was going to use that to his advantage. Truth, he would have done it any way and if this were someone else, he probably wouldn’t remind them of the subject, but this was just way too good of an opportunity for him. Not to say she would never live this down or anything. Just thought he might bring it up when he could.

By the way she was glancing around, it occurred to him that if he was going to ask her on a date, he better do it now and do it quick. In a way that was going to make it hard for her to say no, which was the real challenge. As much as he had been throwing his charm at her, this move was going to have to be clever. Justin wasn’t above using what he needed to. This was just too good not to try. Morgan picked up the little one holding a bag of cookies, indeed happy with her choice. It told him this was the key, as she had to be somewhat modest around the girl. But what? Hard to do very much. Justin blinked, but examined the cookies ”Ah, the perfect box of cookies! Can’t say no to giraffes.” He beamed, glancing over at Morgan, just loving her face on the realization she couldn’t do very much. Wouldn’t want to try to explain to her baby sister everything. That innocent sweet face. The girls had much resemblance to each other. ”It is difficult not to love me, but I try my best to be modest.” Very cocky attitude dripping from his words. He believed every word that he said as well.

Oh that was so true. So true it almost hurt. Justin yearned most for what he couldn’t reach his hands on. Morgan was hard to grasp and for all he knew, if he succeed, he might lose all interest. He’d still think she was absolutely beautiful no matter what. Interested or not. However, it wasn’t going to hurt to try to see where it went. ”Indeed. So you know very well that this will keep happening…. Unless I can make you a very nice tempting offer so that you may be on your way.” Seeing as Morgan was getting impatient as was some of the people that were casually trying to look for cookies of their own but finding that the conversation they were having was much more interesting.

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

Once she’d dreamed she’d walked forever. It had been a simple place, simple and peaceful and yet horrifyingly constrictive. Her feet had passed over the earth, her bare toes leaving imprints in the dirt. She remembered the feeling of the leaves, of reaching branches that caressed her shoulders and arms. She’d never once looked to the side, never once raised a hand to gently move the branches from her way. She’d just walked. She had stared straight ahead, driven by some mechanical power. Even as leaves scraped her face, left trails of dew and traces of wilderness on her cheeks. She had walked. She’d had a sense of time, specifically that it was passing more quickly than she could understand. Each time she had tried to grasp an instant, to pull herself into a present moment – it had faded away. The sun rose and set in minutes, darkness passed in seconds, and a new day began. Yet she couldn’t cry. She couldn’t run or call out or scream. Her face was blank. It was only a place, far in the recesses of her mind, that registered the fear, the questions. The rest of her was consumed with walking, with breathing, with the rhythmic surge of mud between her toes.

She found herself remembering that dream now, as she stood face to face with Justin. At the time, she’d wanted nothing more than to escape – to break free from her endless path. But now, there was something idealistic about it. Perhaps, someday, she would take Emmaline’s hand in hers. And the two would walk, away forever to a new place. Yet where they were going, where they found themselves, would never matter. She could stare straight ahead, vanish into that mechanical consumed place. And perhaps, figments of importance such as Justin would cease to exist. She would walk through him. And he would stop him no more than the branches and leaves. His touch would be but one of thousands of passing caresses, feeble efforts to block her path. She had dreamed of it, at times. Though her natural element was aggressive, passionate and tempered – she’d always had a certain admiration for mists. It couldn’t be grasped, or controlled. Even the wind elementals could simply influence. It was the true meaning of powerlessness – to realize the constrained limits of one’s own abilities. It was in weakness, in the realization of feeble reaches, that true fear festered.

But none of this idle dreaming, for the moment, mattered. She couldn’t walk away, couldn’t vanish into the mists. She refocused on Justin. He had a mock hurt in his eyes. She almost expected him to put a hand over his heart, act the wounded soldier. Instead when he spoke, she rolled her eyes. Honestly, was finding a crying three-year old all that stupendous of a task? No, but Morgan couldn’t say it aloud, not with Emmy so close and so fragile. She bit her lip, her narrowed eyes communicating the extent of her displeasure and lack of amusement. And before she could dart away, put Justin and his cocky smiles behind her, he was reaching out to Emmy. She stiffened, tightening her grasp on her daughter. But Emmy simply beamed, quite happy with herself. She nodded, in an almost business-like manner. “Only bad people frown at giraffes.” She hugged the box of cookies tight, leaning her head against Morgan’s shoulder and yawning. Truly, they should have returned home by now. Emmy was due for her afternoon nap. But Justin wouldn’t let her slip away that easily. No, he seemed to live for ensnaring her, for winding her around and around.

She glanced around. She snapped her head back in Justin’s direction suspiciously. This wouldn’t keep happening, not if she could help it. “I could microchip you and track you like the dog you are.” She shrugged, a slight smile pulling at her lips. “Problem solved.” The image of Justin on the ground, subservient and whining, was quite appealing. Of course not in a sexual manner at all. But it was demeaning, and that was good enough reason for her. She gathered Emmy in her arms, turning on her heel. This conversation was over. She had her daughter. She had her groceries. And home was waiting for her. “And there is nothing you could offer that would even slightly appeal to me, ever.” She called the words over her shoulder. She was already travelling up the aisle, towards her abandoned cart. Emmy’s eyes were beginning to droop, her grasp on her precious cookies was loosening. As she walked, Morgan hummed softly, stroking the little girl’s hair with her free hand. Yet even as she put distance between them, her back to his grinning confidence – she couldn’t help but imagine the hearty echo of his laugh.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

One of the troubles was he didn’t even know how close he was to the goal. Was she trying her absolute best to keep him away from her head? Or was she really not liking any moment spent with him? Was it a little bit of both? Oh, sometimes Justin wished he would have the ability to enter the mind. Although there wouldn’t be bad things, it would make situations like that easier on the guy. It wasn’t every day that he met a woman that resisted him so… fiercely. However, it also wasn’t the very first one he had dealt with before. He managed to crack the other one. That ending hadn’t gone well, but nothing happened the same way twice, and it sure as hell didn’t end the same way twice. Not in his personal experience. With different people came different stories and perspectives. Surprises and twists. Man, Justin could write a fucking book on this. It would help society as a whole. Perhaps he should start thinking about that.

Justin liked to think he was the expert on things, but most of it was just words he created that formed together to be this thing that sounded like he knew what he was talking about. He’d never admit that little detail to anyone though. Only sometimes did he really know what was going on. Take this for Morgan with example. A man who knew better probably would have seen there wasn’t a chance in two hells he would be able to get with her. Justin thought otherwise. He was going to try all he could. Even using her sister for it, as by the way Morgan was holding her, the pair was close. Little Emma clung to her like most children would cling to their mothers. Justin hadn’t even thought of that connect nor would he. What other evidence could there be to suggest something as radical as that? That’s right- none. ”Indeed! Excellent pick, I must say.” He told her, seeing that the girl was getting sleepy. Which also meant that Justin was running out of time.

Now it was time to think quicker on his feet. All these ideas were running through his head, but none of them seemed like they would be strong enough. There was even one that might have worked, but it was quite a stretch. It all depended on how Morgan felt about this whole grocery shopping situation. Which he mentioned before, he hadn’t a clue how she was thinking about it. The only hints he could have gathered were her outside reactions. Not all that pleasant and uplifting in his little goal. At this point, it was even fuzzy to see what the goal was. A date? A hookup? Something pretty to have on his little record? Justin wasn’t sure. That wasn’t the important details. The stuff that really mattered were going to happen now and fast. Not to the point where it would scare the girl either because the girl taking pretty kind to Justin would work in his favor. Certainly couldn’t hurt him at all. ”That would involve you having to come close enough to me. Besides, that’d only benefit me. You’d always know where I was at.” He grinned, almost as if he were implying that meant something to her.

Blackmail wasn’t the prettiest forms or impressions for that matter, but quite honestly, he was running out of time and options. Something strong had to be put in place. It was much of a gamble anyway. It could have been easily something that Morgan could care less about. Much of it could be implied because they were at a public place with public people. She was almost all right. There wasn’t very much that he could possibly do to shine in her face like he could other dates, but that didn’t mean there was nothing. Oh, she was so oblivious to what little Justin could come up with. The man used to be a magician as a boy- after all. ”Not even the chance I promise I won’t bug you again?”

That wasn’t good enough. Think Justin, think. She was walking away, and this time he wasn’t going to be to go after her. Not only was this just… a different environment, but he from younger years understood the importance of getting sleepy children to nap on time. This would be short, simple, and enough to grab her attention for hopefully not the last time, ”I wonder why not a lot of people know about Emma.” It was a shot- that’s all it was. Justin could play this card a couple number of ways. People that knew her enough hadn’t known about Emma. He knew- he asked. Just light chatting of course to see if he had any chance in the world. Turns out from the reviews, not so much, but here he was anyway. Also, this place could often act like a small town with rumors like wildfire. Anyone knew that. Perhaps even Morgan.

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

She had never quite understood the whole point of a secret, at least not completely. Everyone kept secrets – about something they did, thought, or had said. There were sordid secrets, guilty secrets, sorrowful secrets, really just about every kind. Yet every single one of them, on different levels of course, did the exact same thing. They tore the holder – mentally – limb from limb. Morgan had yet to hear of a secret belonging to only a single person. Usually the secret started out small, confined to a singular being. But then that singular being felt some inexplicable urge to share this secret with another – but of course had to swear that other to secrecy as well. In that way, the secret had already expanded, doubled really. Could it even be considered a secret anymore, as the knowledge had spread so considerably? And inevitably that one extra person sworn to secrecy would find the secret just a little too much to bear. So they would share it with one other person. And then they too would swear this individual to secrecy. Really the pattern went on and on and on. Eventually, it would be difficult to locate an individual who was not party to this particular secret – and who had in turn not been sworn to secrecy. The secret became so widespread, that not only had it lost its “juiciness”, but had become altogether both uninteresting and somewhat of “old news”. By this time, it was really only the original creator of the secret that felt so threatened and so attached to the secret. The knowledge of its spread and loss of subtlety would hit the creator like a ton of bricks – astonishing, horrifying and paralyzing all at the same time. And then what were they left with but the products of their own creation? Wouldn’t it have been better not to have created the secret in the first place? Why not have just outright told, it would have brought the same results.

Morgan wasn’t sure why exactly all of this had occurred to her at this precise moment. She wasn’t one with a particular penchant for keeping secrets. For the most part – se had no secrets to keep. Well, but for her singular major secret – the secret that had its little arms wrapped around her neck. And additionally, living in such a tight-knit community, keeping any secret for long was near impossible. Yet the thought did occur to her. She had done it, why not anyone else. Perhaps because, despite her having her particular secrets, she wondered at the secrets of others. Specifically, she wondered at Justin’s secrets. HSh wondered what it was he kept so close at hand, what it was he tucked away in the recesses. What would make that trill of fear flash across his eyes? What would be juicy enough to lure him in, to ensnare her, perhaps scare him away? She glanced away from him, unwilling to let her curiosity show in her eyes. She couldn’t imagine why the subject of secrets had suddenly emerged in the forefront of her mind. She preferred not to linger on the subject. She was a hypocrite. And she knew it. She scoffed at the secrets of others, and yet clung to hers with nothing short of desperation. She tightened her grip on Emmy. She longed to press her lips to the little girl’s forehead, cuddle her close, hum her a song. But she couldn’t risk it, not with Justin still dogging her heels. There was a clear line, a line between sister and mother. And she couldn’t risk lingering near that line.

Almost as if summoned by thoughts, or perhaps due to some mental instable obsessive need to persist, she heard Justin’s hurried footsteps following after her all. She stifled the urge to groan, or perhaps shout obscenities. Emmy had dozed off against her shoulder and she had no desire to wake her three-year old from her nap. Like any toddler, Emmy tended to get grumpy without her well-deserved nap. She pursed her lips, her brows knitting together in annoyance. She hissed low, under her breath. She’d at last reached her abandoned grocery cart. She settled Emmy gently in her seat. The little girl blinked and yawned before settling back into her nap. Morgan whirled on Justin, a frown heavy on her lips. “What do you want from me?” She couldn’t deny that the idea of finally being left in peace was more than a little tempting. She folded her arms over her chest. “You have two minutes before I walk away, or call the cops. And you’re only getting that because I really want you to leave me alone.” She began pushing the cart again, scanning the shelves for the last few groceries she was needing. Her grip tightened on the cart at Justin’s words. She clenched her jaw. She stopped short, stepping closer to Justin than she had ever been. A fury danced in her eyes. “What are you saying about her?”

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

People would say that Justin was a persistent little bastard. People would be right. He didn’t like to lose, and if she would have walked away forever without having an interest in him, he lost. Some might find that obnoxious, but honestly, as long as he found success in what he did, what did it matter how he got there? That’s what people didn’t understand. Everyone was talking about how success was the destination and working hard was getting there. That was just some stupid metaphor to try to get people to keep going and trying. If Justin lost motivation, it wasn’t likely he was going to get it back. The solution was simple. Not to lose that momentum. Even if it ended up with him coming down in flames, what was the worst thing that could happen if he kept doing this? She thought he was a creep and hated him. She already didn’t like him, so her not liking him more wasn’t really going to effect this life. This wasn’t his first reject after all.

Maybe it wouldn’t have to come to that. If his plan worked through, perhaps Morgan would be able to look past whatever she thought about him from first impression. Justin really wasn’t too bad of a guy once he eased up on the reins a little bit. For all he knew, all of this could go through and she’d still hate him. Ah well, least he tried. He just hoped that her bark wasn’t as bad as her bite. She had made several threats so far and although none of them had fallen through yet, he didn’t really want to experience the time she would actually punch him in the face. Nothing he could do much about that either. He certainly wouldn’t’ tell anyone. Getting beat up by a girl wasn’t one of those high proud moments of a man’s life. It would be her fun little secret. The board would suddenly change. Justin was still willing to take the risk.

That grasped her attention enough. If he didn’t know any better, he would easily say that was a momma bear face. Though considering the circumstances, he’d call that a very protective sister face. Or protective of herself and in what Justin had to say. The fact that she responded like she did just proved more things than Justin had known. Not what exactly but more of how he could play his card. So people didn’t seem to know about little Emmy and that caught her attention. The only reason he had thought about it was because everyone thought Justin was an only child. Like he was running around having only child syndrome and that meant everything. Yeah, believe it or not he was the eldest. Not only the eldest, but the eldest by a few substantial amount of years. It was the same way with her. So it was lucky to assume what he did. Now he just had to play like he knew way more than he actually did. Plus, it probably helped that he meant he wouldn’t bug her ever again.

She asked what he wanted. Well he wanted a lot, but it would probably be best not to answer fully. He’d answer truthfully, but probably not all the details swarming around in his head. ”A chance. Just for a night where you aren’t completely hostile toward me.” To ask her not to be hostile at all might have been stretching it and he was pushing his luck as it was, ”Just let me be charming without you batting each one completely out of the way.” There was a small grin. He just wanted her to let go and loosen whatever fortress was surrounding her. Guns and everything, he might add. It had gotten him shot almost a couple of times if he was correct, and she meant what she said one hundred percent. Justin was really going to have to speed things up so that the cops weren’t involved. Justin did a lot of stuff, but it usually didn’t involve the cops. That was one thing he didn’t want on his record. His best friend held a record. It wasn’t the best time of his life, he heard.

He smirked when she stepped closer to him, biting at him. Truthfully, he was a little intimidated by that face, but he wasn’t going to let it fiddle like a nervous nerd boy. That was who he used to be. Now he was the smooth Justin that was going to have to explain what his cards meant now that he put them down. ”Oh nothing against her. She’s quite adorable. I just know with what I’ve heard about you, no one mentioned protective sister in the mix. Thought it might be nice to enlighten them since you seem to want to keep it hush-hush.” An eyebrow shot up, and this time, he backed up a little bit, as if this was almost his cue to leave. He wouldn’t let her sit on that though. She probably wouldn’t allow it. Blackmail. Yep. Did it work? We’ll see.

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

it's keeping me awake

Morgan didn’t like grocery stores. She didn’t like them at all. There were numerous reasons why. They were always crowded – usually with two kinds of particularly unpleasant people. Firstly were screaming children. Morgan didn’t mind children, but she didn’t like screaming children. And stores always seemed to be full of chaotic running, crying, complaining children. And inevitably, a tantrum was thrown every few minutes. The second kind of people were tired mothers, bags under their eyes and a sense of despair woven about them. They pushed their carts with a certain numbness, a depressing exhaustion. There were different scales of intensity of course, but there was no denying the utterly unappealing nature of their regrets made so public and obvious. She could have sworn on one occasion that she saw a woman break down in tears. But then again, Morgan didn’t exactly look all that carefully. She tended to visit the grocery store in the afternoon, when most were at home caring for little children. Anytime when the traffic was slow. For she did enjoy the solitude, the quiet. And secretly, there was nothing she loved more than the little feeling of independence. Not just to take pride in, but to build her faith in. And of course, most of her classmates lounged at home – waiting for parents to fill their complaining mouths with food – so she could at least count on being left alone, most of the time. And of course, a little infantile part of her dreamed she would meet someone, someone perfect to whisk her away to a life she could have had.

But she never actually did. There was always that quiet persistent hope. She pushed these thoughts away, focusing rather on the task at hand. Justin was persistent, more persistent than she appreciated. Many would have walked away – and she tried to convince herself that she was angry, angry that he hadn’t walked away. It always seemed to be her – the one who was left to walk away. She whirled away from Justin, her fingers wrapping around the cart. She needed to get out of there. She was about to leave, actually. The present situation had both become utterly uninteresting and lacked any foreseeable productive quality, or so she told herself. The observations Morgan were making were the exact same ones she had made the day before, and every day before that. Nothing changed, and as such, she reasoned her time would be better spent elsewhere. She had what she needed, assurance that Justin was an inexcusable ass. She would move away from Justin, put away her groceries, put Emmy down for her nap. But more importantly, Morgan would return home. There was no one waiting for her there, not even a freaking cat. But at least she could pull out a can of ravioli, stick it in her microwave. It wasn’t fancy, wasn’t particularly delicious, but it was sustenance. She would pull out a blanket, eat straight from the can, and park out on her couch. It wasn’t an enviable life, but for the moment, it worked for Morgan. Sometimes she caught herself wondering what might have “worked” earlier. She wondered what person she could have been.

These thoughts were unwelcome in her mind. Morgan pushed them away quickly, bitterness crossing her features as she did so. She pushed herself forward, determined to walk away. And just like that, a rather pleasant day (as pleasant as she had) had turned to spoiled milk. But she should have known there would be more – Justin and his ridiculous games. She continued pushing her cart. If he wanted to talk, to try and tempt her with ridiculous prizes, well hell he could follow her right onto the bus because she had wasted just about as much time as she intended to on his foolish ideas. She reached the check-out line and began unloading all her groceries. Justin was still prattling on, something about being friendly and a night out. She clenched her jaw and threw up a hand. “Alright fine!” She pointed a threatening finger at him - “One night, then you stay the hell out of my way.” She returned to unpacking her groceries, Emmy still slumped over and half-asleep. “Saturday night, pick me up at five. At five oh five, I’m locking the door.” She stiffened a moment, handing the teller her credit card. She loaded the bags, three of them in all that she would have to carry onto the bus, which meant Emmy would have to walk – which in turn would make the little girl grumpy. She frowned at Justin, narrowing her eyes. “I have two sisters actually. And did it ever occur to you that I keep her hush-hush because I want to be left alone?” She hefted her bags and without another word, strode determinedly from the store. Her heart was hammering – a mixture of fear and a strange sort of exhilaration. Justin was dangerous, she knew it deep inside. Yet a part of her mind was straying to wondering just what the perfect date outfit could be.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

I'M BUILDING A PLACE

[/color][/font]
something amazing just for the sake of saving us[/center]

Some would think that times like these would make Justin’s ego deflate a little bit, but it never did. Everyone had different tastes and some of them just couldn’t see perfection when they saw it. How was that his fault? All Justin could do was flaunt his perfection around and see what happened. He was persistent though. He wanted to make sure that no insecurities from the other person was preventing them from having the time of their life. Some people wanted to say that they regretted being with Justin, but oh, it was hard to say something like that. He knew the truth. That’s why comments didn’t really bother him all that much. It flowed and bounced right off of his head. Imagine if he took every bad comment that had been made towards him to heart. A conversation with Morgan at this point would have sent him bawling in the other direction. People like Altair would actually get to him. But he responded the same. Except he actually seriously disliked Altair.

She was leaving. She was on her way out, and as soon as she walked out of the store, Justin was determined that he would lose forever. Even though his threat was that he wouldn’t stop being that persistent bastard that she probably hated at this point, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. There was a point even the great Justin had to step away and realize this was no use. Stubborn people like him probably wouldn’t work well with other stubborn people anyway. He would have to add it to his list of rejections and move on. Which would have been a real shame, but again- there wasn’t much else he could do about it. Be charming and let the other person do it. One would also think that he would let Morgan make her own choice and respect it. Wanting to go on a date with him because she wanted to. His mind didn’t work that way. He understood that it would probably be better if that were the case, but since that wasn’t, he had to work with what he had.

It worked. She was checking out. She saw the tired girl not even paying attention anymore. Morgan almost looked exhausted. When she turned around and threw her hand, he thought he was going to get slapped. Justin stayed perfectly still, slowly giving her a large grin. Fuck. Yes. How in the hell he managed to pull that one off, he wasn’t sure. Oh wait- yes, he did know how he did that. Justin shouldn’t have thought anything less, but he did have to admit that he thought he was going to lose this battle by the way she was looking at him the entire time. Now here we go. That was what he was talking about. Although she looked still like she wanted to slit his throat. Alright, five. Justin was pretty good at making time, especially at critical times like these. He was sure that she would lock her door at five oh one, but he was glad he had a little bit of leeway. Couldn’t be too early. Most women took forever to get ready, so arriving there would just be worse. ”Just one night.” He nodded in agreement. That’s all he needed. ”Dress nice. I don’t take my dates to hole in the wall joints.” He smirked.

Her to be left alone? Justin did take note of two sisters. Didn’t sound like she had any brothers. No wonder she had such a cynical note on guys. Or maybe it was just Justin. Yeah, okay. That wasn’t likely in his eyes. If she didn’t like him, there was a good chance she didn’t like very many people. All of those details he could find out that Saturday night. Oh, he’d be looking forward to collecting his small victory lap. Justin stood there casually, finally backing away from her, titling his head at her, ”Then I better keep it hush-hush then.” He wasn’t even sure what he just gambled blackmail her with considering all of that, but now that he got what he wanted, he had to give her the right part of the deal. Justin was a lot of nasty little things, but a deal breaker wasn’t among that list. Rather, he was very reliable on his word. Relationships were different, but he didn’t think of those things as deals. If he did, the pair had a lot more problems coming. He waited until she was far out of sight before he put his arms in the air in victory, having a small little skip in his step happily as he continued to find his final items of shopping.

OOC: New thread? I’ll start <3

FROM UNDER THE SUN

[/color][/size]
two plastic hearts with nowhere to run[/font]
[/center]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

sounds good! I don't think I'll post again since it would just be Mo rambling on more of the same so I'll wait for the new thread!