everybody's got a soul to sell [open]

[MONA FAITH LANDRY]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] if we fought together well nobody wants to burn in hell, but everybody's got a soul to sell. when i was young my mama gave me some advice. she said, "boy, don't you know everybody's got a price?" One thing Mona hated to do was shop. It used to be easy for her, but now it just caused too many issues and dillemas and arguments with the family. In the end, she came out with a long shopping list and a lot more irritable than she had felt earlier. Especially consdiering she had to walk, since Pearl and her were playing the silent game. Not so much the silent game, as "I want to rip your eyes out, so distance is best" game. She sighed, looking down at the paper she held in her hand as she walked down the street. It wasn't too hard to find the first of it all, but then she read her baby sister's addition to the list and her lip twitched. They didn't have a lot of money to spare for things like stuffed animals, and Mona felt bad. The youngest of her siblings were losing a childhood they deserved because of the misfortune that had befallen them, and how fair was that? She'd always doted on them when she could, whenever she found extra birthday money or change in her pocket. The girl had always been looking out for them, and that would never change, no matter how angry she got at her older siblings. So, she headed to the mall and got her baby sister the best-looking elephant...thing...that she could find. It looked adorable and it wasn't too bad for her price range. Not until she realized that she needed to get her sugar glider food. She cursed under her breath as she walked to the other end of the mall, bags swinging from her arms. The air-conditioning was on high in the mall, and she was glad for it feeling the sheen of sweat on her forehead. Summer may have been her least favorite season simply for the humidity and the fact that she just couldn't escape it. However, she figured there were downsides to every season there was, and she just didn't think of them when sweating her ass off even in a pair of shorts. She entered the candy store after to get a treat for herself, and found something of interest to her. They looked like little pills, and she had absolutely no idea. Turning, she looked at the person nearest to her and shook the bag full of them. "What are these?" she questioned, looking utterly confused about what she was holding in her hand. tag: open! | notes: hiiii. | music: naked pictures (of your mother)

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[rune]

His stupid brothers were at it again that Ian seriously wondered if they were actually older than him. Honestly, even their mother tells them that to their faces every time something at home catches on fire. Seeing that he was the only non-Fire elemental among the brothers, who else could have done it, right? But no, they can come up with good excuses to pin the blame on the youngest. It's like they are all purposely ganging up on him. Yet then again, he was always the odd one out even when he was still in diapers.

Well, today had been a payday for him so he decided to just ditch the cafe and the house, because three of his brothers work there with one more parked at the couch in front of the TV at home.

In only a green t-shirt and khaki shorts, without even bothering to comb his hair into something... stylish for once, Ian grabbed his wallet and iPod then took off by means of the back door since he didn't want to go through the front where the family cafe is. Now he just needs to know where to go.

But seeing that he has now found himself inside Maple Hollow's mall, he realized that that was probably the most obvious of choices to be made. The summer heat was getting to a lot of people that he'd been bringing so many ice coffees to customers for the past week, so the air-conditioning here was something to be thankful for. Now the where is already answered, what should he do to waste away the day?

Well, that too was answered for him as he turned his head to see this candy store that looked so sweet it gave him a toothache just by looking at it, and what's more he saw that they were having a special promo for their line of dried fruit candies. Ian's mom loved those so he probably needed to buy some for her as he apologizes for skipping work. He'd probably find something else for his dad since he's the Master. As for his older brothers... they could just swallow their own spit for all he cares.

Entering the sweet shop, somehow he realized that there were already a lot of people, most of them middle-aged, crowding around the dried sweets. Well, he could take his time so he just idled around one of the rather least popular lines. And as he was looking into a rack of gummy-worms, a girl next to him shook a packet of what looked like pills at him asking what they were.

Without actually minding as to who she was or if he had seen her somewhere before, Ian just answered, "They're chocolate...," and feeling that he needed to explain more, "...sugar-coated chocolate made to look like medicines. They're for kids who don't like pills."

[MONA FAITH LANDRY]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] if we fought together well nobody wants to burn in hell, but everybody's got a soul to sell. when i was young my mama gave me some advice. she said, "boy, don't you know everybody's got a price?" Something strange had been happening to Mona as of late, something that she didn't really want to entertain as a feeling. It was overwhelming and all consuming. Loneliness. Being naturally reclusive, shut off, she had never felt it before. She enjoyed solitude, it was in her nature. But this was something different, couldn't be in the same definition as reclusive behavior. It was scarier, and she didn't know what caused it. I did. That was even worse, the knowledge that everything wrong with her, every lost night and hangover and regret, all resulted from her own mistakes. She deserved loneliness. The kind that came with a broken home, a broken heart, a broken life -- and she would have laughed any other time, thinking of anything as broken when it came to her. Mona Landry did not break. In that case, she didn't know what it was, what was happening. Never in her life had she felt so lost. And the loneliness...well, how could she write that off? Especially not when striking up conversation with a random boy. He was cute, around her age, though she couldn't be sure. She didn't know exactly why she felt the need to talk. Okay, she did, but she didn't want to admit it. Didn't want to announce the fact that she needed this. At least he didn't give her a strange look, ignore her. Are you this dependent? Her mind was constantly berating her, cruel in its methods. She nodded as the stranger answered her question, though her eyebrows furrowed together. "That's weird," she muttered, looking at it. "I mean, I guess it makes sense...." She sighed, looking back to him. "Are they good?" Maybe she could get them for her siblings. Even as she thought this, she realized that her sister would chew her out for such spendthrift shopping. She didn't care; let Pearl be pissed all she wanted, it didn't make a difference. Their relationship had gone down the toilet a long time ago. Not very accustomed to social situations where she wasn't completely rude and surly with someone, she she said, "Uhmm...I'm Mona." The girl didn't know whether that was the right thing to say. If it mattered. A shame how someone once so confident could quell in fear of speaking to a stranger. Maybe it was just the fact he was attractive and she wasn't shit faced. Alcohol usually helped iwth that kind of thing, made her more willing to interact with others, to smile and flirt and just have a good time. That was it, she thought. This loneliness, all she needed to do was get drunk. tag: julian! | notes: hiiii. | music: naked pictures (of your mother)

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[rune]

This-is-weird...

But he was already talking when he remembered that he wasn't used to making small talk with strangers. Usually it's his fists that do the talking for him. Only because most of them piss him off right from the start. With the exception of his customers at the cafe of course, since their patronage pays for his tuition and gives him allowance money to spend on. Besides, it had been drilled into him since young to be courteous to the patrons, especially those who tipped him greatly.

Yet here he is talking to some random person who just shook a bag of sweets at him some seconds ago. And he actually managed to give a half-decent reply, or at least he hopes so. Maybe it's because he had skipped work that day and hadn't had his daily serving of courtesy and smiles to other people. In any case, he was acting a little tame today.

"D'know. Never had them myself," he said back to the girl's question as he replaced a small pack of sour gummyworms on the shelf. Which was true since it was his older brother, Jesse, for whom their mother bought those things because they looked cute and maybe her son would finally warm up to his own medications. It didn't work. Normally, Jesse would just go gobble up all the pill-shaped sweets in one go then have Ian drink his meds. Over-dosage had sent the younger boy to the hospital afterwards. That was the first time his older brother almost killed him. "Think it's a dumb idea. Those," recollecting that particular gastric incident, but then mentally scolding himself for being a little blunt.

"Uhmm...I'm Mona."

Dude, she's talking again. Quick say something!

"Yeah, uh... well, I'm Julian," he said with an attempt at a kind enough smile and hoping that he didn't looked as if his teeth were aching. Honestly, he didn't know what to do. If she were a customer at the cafe then he could have just asked her for her order then bring it to her and that's it, his brothers could just do the talking to them after. But no, he was outside and someone this pretty--in a sad sort of way--was talking to him and he has half a mind to just walk out now. But as he was trying to think up of what to do he realized that the shop was getting less crowded.

Grabbing a bag of what looked like gobstoppers--he wasn't paying attention so he can't be sure--from a nearby shelf and then looking at the rack of chocopills, "You buying it, though? There seems to be an open counter already, so...," then stopping at mid-sentence he started taking a few steps back while gesturing towards the counter to see if she was coming. If not then at least he wouldn't have to worry anymore.

_{ooc: it's already late here and my brain is turning to mush so sorry if this post feels random OTL}

[MONA FAITH LANDRY]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: transparent, width: 400px; height: 300px;] if we fought together well nobody wants to burn in hell, but everybody's got a soul to sell. when i was young my mama gave me some advice. she said, "boy, don't you know everybody's got a price?" Mona never had problems with social anxiety. Though anti-social in a lot of ways, she'd always been confident. As a child she forced people to be friends with her by pushing them over and demanding they share their toys. In grade school, she made friends by placing her lunch tray on a table full of kids and announced that she was so bummed out about Ms. Heller's math test that day. Now a teenager, she didn't have friends or the confidence to make them. She convinced herself it wasn't a confidence problem, however, instead she told herself she didn't need people. They were annoying and did nothing for her. Yet, so simple it had been to converse with this boy. He didn't know her, anything about her. Perhaps that made her feel safe enough. He hadn't a clue of anything, just as she hadn't a clue about anything to do with him. "Meh," she said, swinging the bag from her fingertips. The nails were chewed down, sanded over with a file. "Somehow brainwashing children doesn't sit well." That's what parents did to their kids from the start. Indoctrinated them, fit them into little slots so they grew up to be exactly what they wanted to be. She would never have kids. Her mother had been a great one, but she knew she would not follow suit. Julian, he said his name was, and Julian seemed a little...strange. Everyone was strange, she figured. But she was quick to make these kinds of assumptions, never having claimed to be a good person. Besides, she could be considered equally as strange as she bobbed her head, and said nothing return while looking at the dangling bag of pill things. She believed her sister would give her the blankest stare if she handed over these things. She shook her head when he asked her if she was going to buy them and tossed them before just getting some gummy bears for Brian. All the same, she headed to the line with him. "Do you go to the school?" He looked that age, and would most likely understand what 'the school' meant. The big one sitting in the mountains like a far-off giant. She always liked looking up at the road that led there and how mysterious it appeared, like a secret world. "I'm Thunder, by the way." Mona wondered if he could tell. She also wondered how she might react to his element. It didn't really matter, she guess, not in the way that the rebellious type pretended to be edgy by not "caring." The girl hated everyone equally, or at the very least was very disinterested in them. Not the best mindset to have with people, especially not someone like Julian who she had just met and seemed pleasant enough. It was a cruel thought to have, but it was her thoughts and she had enough of changing -- she wouldn't be changing that any time soon. tag: julian! | notes: ugh mona. | music: naked pictures (of your mother)

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]