Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: Valentine Park

as written by FizzGig

Evidently their table had become quite popular, and Neera had reason to believe that wasn't because of her modest attire. Her cheeks were still flushed from embarrassment at the direction their conversation had been taking, but still had the presence of mind to shoot Mia a warning look as Luca approached. Judging by the barely concealed look of disdain on his face, and his stiff mannerisms, she was willing to guess that he seemed as uncomfortable and surprised to be standing there with them as she was.

Jimmy was coming over too, though his attention was directed towards the other young man. She released a sigh.

"It's nice to see you, Luca." Neera replied to his greeting. At least he was still polite, despite his discomfort. She sat up a little straighter, looking between the two young men. She could practically feel Souci's and Mia's eyes burning into the back of her head. She was watching Luca expectantly, curious to know if he'd be competing as well.
 
as written by Peachy00Keen

"Well, someone looks snazzy today," Souci said, eyeing Luca up and down. He wasn't really her type, but boys are boys, even if they're prudes. She reached around Neera's back and patted the space on the bench beside her, "Take a seat, have some fries." As she drew her arm back, she gave Neera a nudge.

Jimmy the Scooby Snack, however, was given no such offer, just a cold glare.

"Have you been checking out the fair much? Seen anything worth taking a... closer look at...?" Souci winked and flashed a dazzling little smile in Luca's direction.
 
as written by Emperor Jester

His armor so polished it practically gleamed, Izaic strolled through the crowds. His arm was still in its sling, recovering from the injuries it had sustained in his fight versus the barbaric foreign brute. Happily enough, the left hand was still usable enough to clutch an ale between its fingers, so his mood wasn't entire somber. Most who knew him or grew up with him in the Monastery would probably say it was an improvement over his usual demeanor.

His good hand would be empty, taking a moment to run through his light chocolate waves of hair and to collect his breath. Sometimes, despite his rather impressive levels of stamina and endurance, wearing full plate all day long wore down on a lad. This morning, unlike the previous, the elder proselyte was clean shaven, and more or less looking his absolute best, injured limb not withstanding. On the fair side of his section of the festival grounds, he made out a group of familiar faces, intermixed with strangers. Fellow members of the Order. He saw Luca, looking flushed and embarrassed, Souci looking like she was the cause, and Jimmy as well. Among them seemed to be a girl he did not recognize, maybe even two.

No Inarin. No insipant twins. No Hogans. No LaCroixs. Honestly, looking like a pretty decent group. So it was with a cocksure grin he approached the gathering, not before emptying his beverage first, tossing the disposable cup into a near by trash can on his path.

"What do we have here, ladies?"
 
as written by Peachy00Keen

Souci turned her attention away from Luca and was instantly captivated by Izaic. She gave him a warm, welcoming smile, a special twinkle in her eye reserved only for him.

"Hey, Izaic," she crooned "You look dashing, as always." Her eyes drifted down to his injured arm and her face was covered by a look of astonishment. "Oh my goodness! What happened to your arm? You poor thing!" Souci scooted over on the bench as gestured to the seat next to her. "Come here, sit down. You must be exhausted. Can I get you something?" She giggled, taking in the full glory of his armor. "Goodness, I feel underdressed," she said coyly, brushing her already short skirt a little higher up her leg as she moved one hand from her lap to sweep a stray lock of blue hair from her face.

Sou gave Mia a doe-eyed glance, looking between her and Jimmy, wiggling her eyebrows knowingly. Now that Izaic was here, the ratio was perfect. Sou couldn't be more content.
 
as written by FizzGig

The masculine energy was just verging on the edge of overwhelming, but Neera was pleased, for the most part, that the attention was not focused on her. She glanced up towards Luca and gave him a small, encouraging smile, knowing that he would likely prefer to stand.

The newcomer, Izaic, was interesting to say the least. Souci had done her best to capture his attention in the few short seconds he had taken to introduce himself. Well, if you could call that an introduction.
 
as written by Script

"Not myself," Luca shook his head to Jimmy. "My next tournament is tomorrow, the archery." He paused, taking in Jimmy's good health and realising its significance. If Jimmy had been infected after the attack the other day, he'd be at least feverish by now. "You're looking... well," he said, smiling. "That's encouraging, is it not?"

He then turned to face the girls, his expression remaining stoically neutral (albeit still somewhat red). Despite his lack of a frown, he was radiating disapproval towards Souci in such magnitudes that it was almost tangible. "The tournaments thus far have been interesting, to say the least," he remarked coolly, pointedly ignoring her wink. Flirting was one thing - they were teenagers, after all - but Sou was being utterly brazen. "I'll stay standing, though, if it's all the same. I was just on my way to watch the shooting, so I won't be long."

Izaic's arrival seemed to have Souci occupied - a fact that had Luca rolling his eyes internally - but Luca offered the larger boy a smile and a nod of greeting. "It's good to see your arm is doing better," he remarked, observing that the other proselyte was able to hold his drink with the injured hand. "Do you think you'll be fully recovered in time for Sunday?" Sunday, of course, was the second round of the sparring tournament.
 
as written by Krysis

A little ways away, Celeste smiled and raised her hand, thinking that some of the greetings and smiles around the picnic table were for her. Then she noticed the angles of the looks, and that the broad armored back that she had been surreptitiously following had changed vectors as well.

Her smile curdled then, and her hand slowly fell. It was clear from Souci's expression that the bully had her eye, and the flirting couldn't be more obvious even from a distance. Jimmy and Luca had also been pulled into the orbit of the saucy girl, and her two best friends.

So the brunette just turned on a different angle, putting as many people as she could between herself and that little crowd as possible. She had to prepare for the shooting contest anyway. Catching Izaic on his own had never turned out well in the past either, which was why it had taken her so much time to try to work up the courage to talk to him again. So it was for the best-- Right?

Almost blindly striding along with the flow of the crowd, Celeste flinched when she heard the voice she least wanted to hear at that moment.

"Baby sister got her feelings hurt? Awww, poor 'Lesty." Pierette sneered from her perch on an abandoned barrel, grinning at her over a corndog. The slender woman, with her many piercings and two-tone dyed hair, had a holster on her hip and more weapons tucked around her person. Enough that the usually well-armed proselyte stared.

"You love to see me unhappy-- Are you going to shoot? I mean, this contest is for professionals, 'Rette. Don't embarrass yourself." Celeste sniped back at her sister, hastily wiping at her face with a spare napkin.

"Professionals? Bullshit. You're a schoolyard wonder, baby sister, but I've lived on the streets for years. I actually know what it is like to hang my life on a bullet." Perilous answered easily. Nothing was going to perturb her too greatly, not after the morning she had.

"I intend to win the shooting contest, and I don't want you trying to convince me to go easy on you, just because we are sisters. I need the prestige of a win." Celeste snarled at the superior tone taken by the slightly older sibling. Being forced to retreat twice in ten minutes hurt her pride too much, so she stayed put for the moment.

Pierette gave a snort of amusement and pointed with the soon naked stick, "Try all you might, little girl, but you won't beat me. I'd lay a wager on it, if you had anything that I want."
 
as written by Emperor Jester

Izaic wouldn't even try to hide his stare, rather liking the smooth skin that was coyly exposed to his hazel eyes. "Mmm...another ale would be nice, among other things." A wolfish grin before turning his eyes on Luca. "I plan on it being better now matter what. Even if the medical officials don't clear me for the injury, theres no way I'm not participating. Besides, it'll make things more fair. With the restricted movement and near constant pain, it might actually give the rest of you a chance to take the first place from me."

A ridiculing laugh. "But I doubt it. Even down a limb, if I was an observer, after my match with that bear of a man, I'd place all the bets on yours truly." The ego, the bravado, was in full swing today. No one, not even his mentor The Golden Knight Kurtrin had been let in on how scared he had been, how mighty a blow he had taken to his pride. How he'd spent the rest of that day and most of the next curled up in his room, by himself, leaving only to keep up appearances.

To both his joy and his regret, he hadn't noticed the Hogan girl behind him, not until, somehow, over the din of the crowd, he had heard her voice. He'd suppress the frown however, keeping it from wrecking his cheshire smile, and re-focusing his attention on the small crowd of people in front of him.
 
as written by Faithy

He caught the glare being shot towards him, shifting uncomfortably in his spot. Jimmy was fairly certain that they were not wanting him to be around them and truthfully, that hurt. He was generally outgoing and kind to everyone and to be glared at with such ferocity made him feel worthless. He finished off the corndog and the funnel cake and dropped the trash into a nearby rubbish bin.

Hnn… wonder why he even came out… Mia couldn’t help but ponder the choices Jimmy had made, figuring that he was probably getting a ton of dirty looks and whispers behind his back. Returning her attention towards Neera, she grinned, nudging her a little. She wasn’t as huge of a flirt as Souci was and couldn’t help but wish she had worn something a bit less revealing, especially on her lower half, but what was done, was done. Duly noting the uncomfortable expression and body language Luca was exuding, Mia just flashed him a smile and shrugged a wee bit.

Jimmy’s shoulders tightened at the appearance of Izaic and he wanted to just move away. The last time the two of them were in the same vicinity, things didn’t go well and Jimmy was still pissed off about the way he treated Inarin. Keeping his mouth shut was hard, but he did manage a slightly cordial nod. Mia tilted her head and grinned, more so when Souci made a huge deal of him being injured.

“Hiya. You’re mighty dashing in that armor… but isn’t it hot?” Mia’s question was more of astonishment that he hadn’t fainted yet than it was flirty, though there was a smidge of flirt in there too. She chalked that up to hanging out with Souci so much. Ignoring the look, Mia just shook her head at her buddy. Jimmy could wolf out at any given moment, she wasn’t about to get with him, though that didn’t mean she hated him.

“The doctor said if the infection is there… it’ll hit me in the next few days. I can only hope I’m one of the few that don’t wind up being infected.” Jimmy spoke up softly, his attention shifting from the girls and Izaic back to Luca. Spotting Celeste, Jimmy sighed as she moved away from the group. “If you all will excuse me.” Making his way through the crowds, the Proselyte soon came upon the two sisters. He hadn’t caught any of the conversation, but from the amount of tension in the air, it wasn’t a good conversation.

“Hey uhh… sorry if I’m interrupting. Just wanted to wish you luck with the shooting event, Celeste. Pierette, didn’t realize you would be entering.” Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his spot for the second time in such a short period.

Should have just returned to the dorm…
 
as written by Peachy00Keen

Souci smiled fiendishly at Izaic, loving the attention she was getting. Boy, if he had only been here a moment earlier for the conversation Luca had walked in on... I bet he'd have some seasoned insight to add...

Leaning over to Neera, only briefly breaking her eye contact with Izaic, she asked, "So... would it be a bad idea for me to go buy him another ale?"

Neera leaned back away from Souci and gave her a flatly disapproving look. "I think you and I both know the answer to that question," she said dryly, though only loud enough that the two of them could hear.

Souci crossed her arms and harumphed, giving a pretty little pout to Neera for a fleeting moment before turning her attention back to the crowd.

"Luca, what tournaments have you participated in and how did you do?" she asked, making the rounds to address everyone. It would be rude to ignore people, even though some begged greater attention than others.

"And Izaic, do tell me about your tournaments! I want to hear all about them. It must have been quite exciting if you somehow ended up with an injury. I have no doubt you could wreck the competition, in spite of it, though." She shivered with mock excitement, "how heroic," she purred.

In the background, Sou watched as another girl walked by the group. She narrowed her eyes, staring daggers at the girl as if to repel her with some sort of imaginary laser vision. This was her territory.

From the girl, her glance traveled to Jimmy as he walked away. Honestly, she felt kind of bad for the guy. Souci sighed. She wasn't sure about the kid. Even if he wasn't showing any signs yet, if something did happen, she was minimally armed, given what she could conceal with a skirt so short. Her mind began to wander... Yeah, but if something did happen, maybe I'd get to see Izaic in action, and it'd be one of those damsel in distress kind of scenarios... Her thoughts stopped abruptly and a tiny scowl flashed across her face for a fraction of a second. ...Except that's the total opposite of what we're trained for. Don't be stupid, Souci. You're letting a pretty face and a shiny suit of armor make you irrational... She signed to herself. But still...

Souci continued smoothly from her daydream with a perky voice; "Izaic, I can grab you a soda if you want. I wouldn't want to wander off too far just yet. Everyone did just get here, after all." She hopped up from where she was sitting, her short skirt leaving little to the imagination as she twirled around in one smooth motion to gesture once more at the space beside where she had been sitting. She sashayed off to order a couple of soft drinks; "I'll be right back." Her skirt swayed playfully as she walked away.
 
as written by Script

Luca raised an eyebrow at Izaic's apparent arrogance, but made no comment on it. A little bravado in a tournament never hurt anyone, after all. "I wish you the best of luck," he said. "I only wish I'd lasted past the first round, but... Well, I won't make any excuse: Celeste is very good."

He glanced over at Souci then. "That answers your question, I suppose. Only the sparring so far, and I got knocked out already." He laughed, running a hand through his hair with a slightly embarrassed smile.

A pause, and Luca frowned faintly. "I don't suppose any of you have seen either Camille or Inarin this morning, have you?" he asked. "I heard there was some sort of incident between them and a drunk yesterday evening, but haven't had a chance to inquire further into what happened."
 
as written by Krysis

Maybe it was a good thing that the sisters were interrupted. Pierette's grin just widened as she looked over at Jimmy, though a speculative look passed through her dark blue gaze as she looked him over.

Celeste turned to glare at Jimmy, a harsh retort on her tongue before she sighed and swallowed her temper. It wasn't his fault that nothing was going right for the brunette. With a half shrug and dragging a wilted smile over her expression, Celeste answered, "Thanks, Jimmy. And thanks again for your support in previous competitions too. It really does mean alot to me."

Pierette gave a nasty laugh, smirking at the suddenly tense shoulders of her sister. Propping one heel on the edge of the barrel and her elbow on the raised knee (a maneuver that would have been terribly indecent in anything but the tight jeans Pier was wearing), she gave a cocky smile. "Not just competing, wiping the floor with the representatives of the Church if I have anything to say about it."

Celeste spun again, shaggy brown curls flying as she fought the instinct to lunge at the slender woman on the barrel. Her retort stopped in her throat though at the thought of what Jimmy would think.

"Little 'Lesty needs to go get ready. She looks like she thought she was going on a date." Pier mock scolded, then laughed again at how red Celeste got. "Don't worry, sister dear. I'll take very good care of our friend. I'm sure Jimmy and I have plenty of news to share with each other."
 
as written by Faithy

Without even realizing it, Jimmy took a few steps backwards at Celeste’s glare. He had just about had enough of the looks he was getting and the fact that a supposed friend was shooting him death looks? It made him feel worse than a piece of crap. Despite knowing the look was probably a byproduct of her irritation with Pierette, it didn’t make Jimmy feel any better. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, nodding a little at her thanks.

“Friends support each other… and I truly do wish you the best.” Jimmy caught off at Piertte’s laugh, having a feeling this was going to get nasty yet again. “Although I’ve never seen you shoot, Pierette, I’d place my bets on Celeste, if I were a betting man.” Leaving it at that, Jimmy squeezed the bridge of his nose, being instantly reminded of the sister’s interactions at the Rave. Well, at least here Celeste’s drink couldn’t be spiked.

“News?” Jimmy’s brow arched, not sure what kind of news the two would have to share with each other. The last time he spoke with her or even hung out with her was when she took him to see Al and Val and… his mind trailed off back to that day and he blushed a little, glancing at the ground.
 
as written by FizzGig

"I haven't, Luca." Neera spoke up, given her friends' preoccupation with the others. "But we haven't been here long either."

She was looking for someone too, but trying not to make too big of a deal about it. After all, there was an agreement in place that the pair wouldn't be obvious when out in public, and when in the presence of good food, drink, and company, there was always some liability for a slip-up.

She sighed, leaning back against the table and watching Souci saunter away towards the drink stands. Her brow furrowed gently, her mind preoccupied for the moment before she glanced back at Luca.

"There isn't a certain age you have to be in order to compete, correct? If I wanted to train and enter myself next year I could do that?"
 
as written by Emperor Jester

"I haven't, Luca." Neera spoke up, given her friends' preoccupation with the others. "But we haven't been here long either."

She was looking for someone too, but trying not to make too big of a deal about it. After all, there was an agreement in place that the pair wouldn't be obvious when out in public, and when in the presence of good food, drink, and company, there was always some liability for a slip-up.

She sighed, leaning back against the table and watching Souci saunter away towards the drink stands. Her brow furrowed gently, her mind preoccupied for the moment before she glanced back at Luca.

"There isn't a certain age you have to be in order to compete, correct? If I wanted to train and enter myself next year I could do that?"
 
as written by Script

"The uniforms certainly serve their purpose," Luca remarked diplomatically, refraining from any comments regarding modesty or propriety. A fair few of his classmates seemed to have been lacking in those things over the last few weeks, and he could only hope that it was down to them 'letting loose' for the festival.

All things considered, this was hardly the time to be letting their discipline slip.

He turned towards Neera at her question, shaking his head. "There is, but it's sixteen. So you're fine."
 
as written by Peachy00Keen

Swaying her hips as she walked, Souci reached the drink stand. She had caught it between waves of people and was able to walk right up to the vendor inside. He wants a beer. I can probably do that. Just flirt a little, skirt around the whole ID thing, bring back a beer or maybe two -- easy as pie.

A woman came to the window. She was older than Souci, though not by much, five or six years at most. She smiled her sunshiniest customer service smile: "Hi! What can I get for you?"

Souci faltered in her response. Flirting with girls went one of two ways: they were either well received as friendly chit chat or as flirting, or they failed catastrophically. She took a small breath in as she tried to think up a contingency plan. "Uh, hi!" she managed, still trying to sound excited to see the person. She looked around. Maybe I can chat her up.

"So... I've got some friends over there, and they've been in the competitions. One of them really wants a beer and his arm is hurt, so I said, 'Sure! I'll go get you one.' Well, funnily enough, it turns out I left my ID at home today. Can I still grab him an ale... and myabe a soda or something for myself?" She caught herself just as she began to ramble too much.

The girl in the stall narrowed her eyes and quirked an eyebrow at Souci. "Where are these friends of yours?" she asked, leaning forward to look around.

Naturally, the picnic table where they all were wasn't quite visible from the stall. "They're just out of sight around the corner. There are about six of us. Only one wants a beer."

"And he can't get it himself because he's got an injured arm...?"

Souci nodded. "I offered to get it for him-" She saw the look of the vendor change from a look of let's-hear-her-out to what-a-load-of-bullshit. "Ma'am," Sou leaned in closer and lowered her voice, "I'm going to be completely honest here. I'm trying to impress him. Just... Can you let it slide just once? Please? Help a girl out." She flashed a darling smile.

The woman seemed to be peering closer at Souci, though no longer making eye contact. She pointed to her collarbone, "is that a pendant of the Order around your neck? My, how pretty. I take it today is your day off from studying...?"

Sou stood up straight and smoothed her hair and tugged down her skirt a little to give the illusion of decency. "On second thought, can I just get a root beer float?" she asked sheepishly. "...Oh, and with two straws please, Miss," she added hurriedly as the vendor disappeared into the truck to prepare her order.

---

Embarrassed but glad nobody had been around to witness that, Souci carried the large root beer float back to the table. By the time she had almost gotten there, the redness had faded from her face. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for maximum flirtitude again, shaking her hair to give it that tousled look, and turned the corner, bringing her into view of the table. She plopped herself down happily beside Izaic, presenting the drink.

"You'd never believe it! They were fresh out of ale. I suppose that makes sense on a hot day like today. I figured this would be an alright substitute -- I do hope I guessed right." She gave Izaic a pearly smile, meeting his gaze as she produced the two straws she had tucked inside the collar of her shirt to hold on to them while carrying the drink. "I hope you don't mind, but I got a large. I was hoping we could share. I'm a bit parched myself." Souci giggled as she placed the straws in the drink, one on each side, consciously ignoring everyone else around.
 
as written by Krysis

Pierette's smile got actually happy then, and she announced, "Well, for one, I'm pregnant." There didn't seem to be any need to elaborate, especially not when Jimmy was already blushing. Perhaps he remembered all that they had done. Perhaps not.

Celeste looked from one to the other, then made an angry sound. "You had to, didn't you. Just had to. Figures." Then she threw her hands up and shook her head. "Good luck, Jimmy. You're going to need it. And I Do need to get ready."

Pierette would give a sigh of relief as Celeste walked away, turning a more serious gaze on Jimmy immediately, "And you got bitten. Twice. Right?"
 
as written by Faithy

Mia arched her brow slightly, just taking everything in as slow as possible, which was incredibly difficult for the ever hyper teenager. Her fingers tapped idly on the table, gaze shifting back over towards Luca when he answered Izaic’s question. It was obvious that he did not approve of their outfits, specifically hers and Souci. She wasn’t really sure if she cared or not, though there was a smidge moment of embarrassment, but it didn’t last long. She needed a tan, after all.

“We should have entered the events, Neera. Would’ve given a great show, mmm? There’s nothing more intriguing than a female warrior, eh?” Mia grinned at her buddy, watching as Souci returned with a huge rootbeer. Her brow arched for a second time and she started to say something, but opted to just smirk at Souci, her expression growing at her explanation and the two straws.

~*~*~*~​

“YOU’RE WHAT?!” Jimmy’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened more than should have physically been able to. He found himself speechless and desperately tried to remember that day, but the details were incredibly fuzzy. Just how much drugs did he do? Probably a lot, in all honesty. But, did they actually do the deed? He did get laid, that much he was sure of, but was she part of the group? He was shaken out of his stupor by Celeste’s words and couldn’t help but frown. Making a mental note to speak with her later, Jim just nodded and watched her walking off.

“What the hell, Pierette?” Jimmy snapped his gaze back towards Pierette, snorting as she changed the subject.

“Clawed and bitten once.” He glanced down with a heavy sigh, knowing coming to the Aurellae was a mistake.
 
as written by FizzGig

Neera flashed Luca an appreciative smile, glancing towards Izaic as he planted himself on the bench a few inches from where she sat. It was hard not to notice the way he looked after her friend, and it actually frustrated Neera to the point of causing her smile to fade. Sure, she knew Souci did this to have fun, but if she knew what it was really like to hold out for someone, to be admired for your personality and not for how much skin was showing...

She sighed. Souci was Souci, a sweet and genuine girl, just very very silly.

She stood from her seat to make room for the woman in question, wandering around the table so she could stand behind Mia, leaning forward and giving the girl a hug from behind. She rested her chin on Mia's shoulder, eyeing the pair across from them with a barely concealed smirk.

"I do tend to appreciate female participants in the games, yes." she noted, shrugging her shoulders. "As a matter of fact, I've wanted to compete just so that I can work on training up in areas I tend to slack in." She was studious in her didactic course, after all, but when it came to melee combat and other physical skills she ranged along average with the rest of her classmates. Lowering her voice, Neera pressed her mouth to Mia's ear, as if to give her a kiss.

"Sure hope Izaic's had his shots." she said in a whisper that only Mia could hear.
 
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