Awkward... [closed]

[Violet Schultz]

open to;;
Blaze
Olivia
Violet

---

Stepping out from the specialty store, Violet examined the piece in her hand, still appraising it although she had spent quite some time looking at it before she bought it. It was a purple iris preserved in sculpted glass, and it was absolutely beautiful. Her mother had grown flowers just like them around their home in the country to the west of Mont-de-Marsan. She would take great care in planting them and raising them to border the house. In the summer, their fragrance would waft in the open windows and fill the house. This one, encased in glass, looked just like the ones she had always planted. She wasn't generally the type to get keepsakes, since when one moved from place to place, trinkets would be nothing but a nuisance. Still, when she had seen it, she couldn't help but get it.

She lifted her head as she sensed something across town. It was a house fire, but she didn't move toward her bike any more quickly than she would have. She could also sense Blaze's inner fire in the area. By the time she would've gotten there, he would have the situation under control. Still, she wasn't going to overlook anything. Pulling out her communicator as she slipped onto the bike, she tried to get Blaze on the line. It would probably be more effective than trying to communicate through their link, since he was surrounded by people who were probably thinking hysterical thoughts. That might drown out her own "voice".

"Blaze, do you need back-up?" she said into the small yellow circle in her hand.

She revved her motorcycle, just in case.

[William Talbot]

(((Im going to do a little overlap here with the Lost and Found thread, to keep everything in order, so the Italics are what ends Lost and Found, and link that thread to this one)))

Will absently pulled out his COM-unit as he slowly looked away from Olivia and the little baby she was holding before he replied, Violet's face on the tiny screen as he answered; "I've got things on rails here V-- Darkbrand, but wait a few just in case, the fire department is taking their sweet time getting here... Blaze out."

Folding it and clipping it back to his belt, Blaze looked back to Olivia and then over his shoulder as he spoke to her plainly; "This whole building will be shut down until they determine both if it's safe and what caused that fire... Let me help you grab a few things really fast before they put the tape up..."

... Violet would know what to do; "Blaze calling Darkbrand, DB, can you meet me downtown, at a slice of Jump? I may need some help with a little problem after all..."

After getting the okay, he closed his com-unit and smiled, offering his free arm to Olivia and leading her and Ruby away from the Apartment complex, and towards downtown...

[Violet Schultz]

Violet closed the communicator for a moment before it beeped again. Opening it, she heard Blaze and replied in the affirmative before taking off on her bike. Slice of Jump wasn't all that far away, and she knew that whatever the problem was, she would probably be waiting for a little while for him. He was a couple miles away, and with complications it would take even longer. What puzzled her was what he would need help with that she could solve by waiting for him. It couldn't be anything like what she usually helped with, or he would've had her come to him.

Pulling into a parking spot, she stepped off of the bike and removed her helmet, shaking out her black tresses. She walked in and sat at a table, declining the waiter's offer to take her order. She didn't like pizza, and she wasn't hungry anyway. However, in all likelihood, Blaze would be hungry. He always was. He could order when he got in if he wanted. She pulled out the glass trinket again and looked at the iris, a faint smile touching her lips as her distant eyes saw her mother tending the flowers.

She could sense Blaze's approach, but she could feel his preoccupation through the link. What was the deal? He usually only got that way when he remembered something from his shaded past.

[William Talbot]

Will gently held Olivia's hand as she stepped down from the bus they had ridden into downtown, one of his arms loaded with a large backpack, stuffed with clothing and other needed items, Olivia holding Ruby and a diaper bag, the trip not too difficult but still long and a tad arduous none the less.

"Okay, uhh, well, we'll see what Violet says, she'll have an idea as to what we can do..." he said hopefully as he waited at the corner across from the Pizza place, the light still red for the crosswalk.


To be perfectly honest, Will had no clue what he was doing, and as such, he was calling on his new best friend Vi to help him figure out how to help Olivia, who was at the moment all but homeless and had a baby to care for, and little money to do it all with, and of course, Will, despite regaining more and more of his memories, was at a loss...


Once the light changed he walked with Olivia across the street and into A slice of Jump, where his sharp senses, and the link helped him find Violet almost instantly, his free hand shooting up and waving a few times at her as he smiled at her, then down to Olivia; "There she is, c'mon."
Will led his old friend to the table and then paused once there, making sure Olivia and Ruby where okay and not about to fall over (although he couldn't place why he suddenly felt like that) before he turned to Violet and smiled; "Vi, this is Olivia, Livvi, this is Violet, also known as Darkbrand." he smiled for a moment, despite the sudden prickling he felt at the back of his neck, then almost smacked himself on the forehead before pointing to Ruby; "Oh, and this is Ruby, isn't she just too cute?" he said as he gently rubbed the back of his finger along her cheek, which he had found out on the bus that she liked...

[Olivia Levine]

While on the bus, Olivia had been able to hand off Ruby to Will, whom she had always trusted. The argument that perused was about where Olivia and Ruby were going to stay, Nick told her she was going to have to do it by herself. “I know I know Nick…” Olivia sighed into the phone. She looked to Ruby, mostly worring about her. She listened to Nick speak, trying to formulate a plan in her head. She shouldn’t have to deal with all this. She was seventeen, the prime age to actually become something, and make something of herself. She just needed…. To be alone? No, if she was alone, she would not be a mother, which, was probably gods biggest gift to her, in the form of a little girl, whom she loved more than anything anyone could ever give her. “I’ll handle it,” she sighed, He told her, no hotel rooms, and she can only spend less than five hundred dollars on the makeshift place, He’d handle the repairs, and maybe will paint it. It made her a little happier, so there was a silver lining to every dark cloud…

They finally hit the Pizza parlor, Olivia took Ruby back, holding her pocketbook, the packed to the max diaper bag, and of course Ruby. “Hmm, Maybe Ruby can have a little pizza crust today…”the elder blonde commented. Ruby’s head bolted up, hearing her name, and then smiling to Will. The baby had flirted with him the entire bus ride, and had taken a true liking to him. She had even started call him “Wo!” when she needed his attention, and then would call his attention to Olivia by saying “Wo! Mah!” It was too cute really… After being introduced to Violet, Wills… girlfriend? No… he was just holding her hand a second ago… “Its nice to meet you” Olivia stuck her hand out, to shake Violets. Ruby then coppied, by sticking her hand out.


words;;341
outfits;;CLICK
notes;;the diskostick is an ineffective way to travel.

[Violet Schultz]

Violet watched his approach, her eyebrows drawn together in wary confusion. There was some girl and a baby, presumably hers. This was a new one. Violet pocket the glass trinket and stood to greet him, her eyes still untrusting. She wasn't trusting of people she didn't know, especially on the first encounter. With Will, it had been different. He had been being attacked at the time, and she could see the hurt and confusion in his eyes. He really had never been any good at hiding his feelings. But this girl, Olivia, was not quite so transparent. It was hard to be. However, it would've been rude to follow her instinct, so she put her feelings aside for Blaze's sake. Or rather, Will's sake, she guessed.

"Likewise," she greeted Olivia, her eyes merely curious as she shook Olivia's hand. She waved to Ruby, a smile touching her face for a moment before she looked back up to Blaze, the question in her eyes.

"Could you excuse us for a moment?" she asked Olivia, her face softly neutral.

Sure, she wasn't the friendliest of people in general, but she had been a leader for a while, and her self-control was down to a science. She was very skilled at diplomacy, and even if she didn't trust Olivia, she wouldn't be rude to her. That was something that had always set her apart from other street kids. She wasn't inherantly rude to everyone she encountered. Violet knew that other kids had been that way to show how tough they were, but Violet's reputation had always proceded her and she had never gotten into the habit. Good thing, too. She didn't know anything about Olivia, but if Blaze trusted her, she deserved the benefit of the doubt.

[William Talbot]

Will fought the sudden surge of nerves he felt as Violet nodded to the side and asked to be excused for a moment, his mind snapping over, and his eyes turning from Ruby, glancing over Olivia, and then locking into Violet as he stepped over to the side just out of ear shot for Olivia, his steely blues searching the pretty dark haired pyro's face in vain, but finding just enough emotion in her eyes to guide his sixth sense to her feelings...


"Olivia's a friend of mine, an old friend... someone from my, um, past life..." he said softly as he slowly gazed off out the large window at the street and the cars that filled it. Saying even that much simply added weight to what this was, to what she meant to him, to what she might mean to his memories, and how she could change his view of his past, and that would, in his mind, only help shape his future.

"She was living in the apartment complex that had the fire, her place is fine, but a few doors down the hall, there's tons of smoke damage, they'll likely shut the whole floor down for a month to fix everything, and given the small amount of money there, likely longer..."
He looked back at Violet with almost pleading eyes, his face calm, almost stoic, but still wondering, his eyebrows barely arched, and his lips pulled together slightly in anticipation of firing a counter to her rebuff, which he knew might never come, but still, he felt very protective of Olivia, not just because she was a girl, and not just because she was now a mother, and not just because he knew her, but mostly, and simply because she was the one tangible link to his past that he could use to clear away the dust in the far dark corners of his mind...

[Violet Schultz]

Violet nodded once as he explained the situation, not commenting on his reasons. She would do this for him, not because she was a link to his hidden past, but for two other reasons. First, Olivia was a young mother with Ruby to look after and she needed all the help she could get, especially given the fire. Second, because Blaze had asked her to help. She couldn't turn him down. Of course, she wouldn't explain any of it to him. It had never been her way to explain herself to people, especially when it was about her character. She had always figured that actions spoke louder than words.

He looked a little apprehensive, and even a little defensive, although she had not said anything yet. So, that was how he viewed her? Such a simple thing told her a lot about how he looked at things. He trusted her, that much was obvious. He also seemed to view her as having some kind of seniority, since he was worried about her opinion and he had gone to her rather than straight to Robin. Still, she said nothing of her thoughts. Rather, she concentrated on the relevant issue.

She had found her share of temporary places to stay, but most of them would be completely unacceptible to normal people, for the element of danger and the derelict nature of most of those places. Really, the only place that would work would be... the safe house. They would have to get permission from Robin to do it, but it would probably work.

"I need to talk to Robin about it, but there is a place she might be able to stay," she said. "A safe house in the suburbs of Jump."

[William Talbot]

He watched her for the tone of her reaction and was almost holding his breath, until she spoke and as soon as Violet told him of the safe house, and that she would talk to Robin about it, his smile returned, and the tension that had built up in his back vanished as he leaned forward and hugged Violet for a shadow of a moment and calmly spoke in her ear; "Thank you so much!" then pulled away just as fast, a tiny tint of color in his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he moved back a few steps then turned to tell Olivia the good news. Well, it was encouraging news at least...



Once he got back to the table, Will knelt down next to Olivia and Ruby, and smiled, as he told them the good news; "Violet said she'll talk to Robin for you, and see if you can stay in a safe house in the suburbs, in the mean time, I can stick close and help you out... Lunch is on me, go ahead and order anything you want okay?" he said as he smiled up kindly at his friend, a sudden feeling of hope and happiness welling up inside...

[Olivia Levine]

Olivia nodded, letting them go off and discuss her. It was awkward, knowing they were talking of her, and knowing nothing about her, personally. The blond opened the stroller, knowing that would be a makeshift seat for ruby. She had forgotten the booster seat, so she was basically screwed. “Ruby…” she pet the baby’s head as she grabbed her diaper bag. She had to have the small container of fruit puffs somewhere in here. She dug through the mess of fresh diapers, pacifiers, and other baby items, finally fishing out a small container of sweet potato puffs. The teen dropped a couple on the baby’s tray, and watched as Ruby tried to pick them up and let them make the trip to her little mouth.

Olivia however just watched her daughter eat, a sad smile on her face as Ruby tried to eat. It was so cute, and Olivia jut couldn’t get enough. Will came back, and him suddenly being there, made her jump. “Oh” she said, a big, beautiful grin took over her face as she popped up. “Thank you so so so much” the teen gave him a hug, and didn’t want to let go. “I don’t know how to repay you guys", she looked over to the other girl, letting go of Blaze, and going back to her shy self. Will offered her lunch. “I’m not hungry… thanks anyway though” Olivia was almost never hungry. She picked at things, and it showed in her skin and bones physique. She was a slender person, who looked like she needed a hamburger.
words;;262
outfits;;CLICK
notes;;the diskostick is an ineffective way to travel.

[Violet Schultz]

Violet watched him go, her eyes distant as she contemplated how to bring something like this up. She knew that Robin didn't completely trust either of them yet. The incident with Terra had hardened him to the point that his trust was extremely hard to gain. How would he react to a request like this? While it irked her that Will hardly seemed to recognize the position in which he was placing her, she was a bit more bothered by the conversation she was going to have. It wasn't going to be pleasant, she guessed.

Pushing the thought away, she opened the communicator to call up Robin. He was probably busy; he'd been working on finding that facility Ferus had mentioned before he died, but the barcode tattoo was proving difficult to track. Who ever was in charge of this place had thoroughly covered his tracks in case someone came looking. Still, it was a bit urgent to get this cleared up as soon as possible.

"Robin, this is Darkbrand," she said. "You there?"

Despite her unrest, she looked unperturbed and her voice was steady.

[Tim Drake]

Tim was looking out his window over the bay, drumming his fingers idly on his desktop near his laptop which had man files and a few applications running, his digging into the info he had gotten from Ferus before he died, having reached a point where it broke into a handful of leads that seemed to either dead end or fade into obscurity.


But then he'd worked such cases before, trained under the worlds greatest detective, and had, even before that, cracked one of the best kept secrets ever and...

His ringing com-unit blared out the now iconic nine note melody of the Titans, before projection Violet's voice from the small speaker even as his hand reached out and flipped the yellow and black device open, answering her; "I'm here Darkbrand, what's going on?"
She didn't seem to be under any stress, and the low level background noises told him that things where likely fine on her end, and anyway, she was on the late afternoon to early evening watch, and wasn't "on duty" just yet, so this was a slight surprise...



{{{Posting order from here on is as follows until players drop out: Violet, Tim, Will, Olivia, repeat}}}

[William Talbot]

Will smiled at Olivia and then stood up slowly with a question in his eyes; "Are you sure? I don't mind really, I'm starving hungry but I can get you something if you'd like, what about something to drink?"

She looked so thin compared to Violet, who was hardly heavy looking, in fact, if Will had to guess, he'd say that Violet had a good thirty pounds on Olivia, despite Olivia being two or three inches taller, but then Violet was strong and fit, athletic even, and Olivia wasn't, so of course, based on everything Livvy had told him thus far, Will had a mild concern over her health, and if she had been eating enough.

Call it a repressed feeling of concern or memory of care for her, but Will had the strong sense that he'd worried over Olivia back before his parents had died, back when they where simply friends...

[Olivia Levine]

Olivia shrugged.”Maybe an Iced tea or something. I’m not really all that hungry” Olivia looked to Will, smiling brightly to him. She sat back down slowly, her hand reaching out to steady herself. The blond hadn’t eaten in six days. She figured once she got paid, she’d get some food, but right now, she only had about $30 to her name, and Ruby needed diapers, wipes, and food. Babies were expensive, more expensive then a seventeen year old working part time could handle. The teen looked to Ruby, who’s eyes seemed to glow, and light seemed do radiate off of them. Ruby looked to Will, and started to giggle. “Mommy hasn’t eaten in a while” she mentally told him. Ruby’s three fingers in her mouth, sucking on them as a normal child would their thumb. She then smiled to him and gave him a gummy smile.

It was hitting Olivia now, the absence of real food was getting to her, and starting to effect her. She had gone without for up to a week, but now, it was just hard. Will did offer her food, but she had basically trained herself to eat only when necessary, survival technique. She ran her fingers through a her honey blond locks and smiled to Ruby, who now looked worried. “Shh, baby girl” Olivia kissed Rubys head.

words;;262
outfits;;CLICK
notes;;the diskostick is an ineffective way to travel.

[Violet Schultz]

"Hey, Robin?" she said, only the slightest of sighs showing her discomfort. "Blaze found a piece of his past. Her name is Olivia and she has a daughter who's a toddler. There was just a fire at their apartment and Blaze wants us to help find them a place to stay."

Her voice was low and her face was blank to avoid attracting the attention of the wolfy pyro and the teenaged mother. She was thin in the extreme, seeming almost sickly in her slight figure, but Violet could tell that it was the lack of food that caused it. There was a difference in the thin that came from crash dieting and the thin that came from poverty. Mostly, it was obvious from the muscle tone. Violet could relate, and she didn't have a baby to look after. It was obvious from Ruby's childish plumpness and her sweet attitude that Olivia put the toddler before herself when it came to food.

Her blue eyes stayed on the tiny screen, reading Robin's expression as he listened. He was a hard read, but not quite so much as she was. His mask was the greatest obstacle to finding out what he was thinking. After all, most of the expression for most people was in the eyes. For Robin, most of his expression was in the angles of the black strips that made his mask. They showed what would otherwise be shown by the eyebrows for most.