#: queue

A glass of water, a handful of bandages tied around a cut on the forearm, and her time, of course. It's a mental list of what she's done to maybe garner the response from him. But, to Mona, none of it is enough to justify taking any sort of payment, whatever it may be. No matter how much she may need the money...

A wistful sigh, taking a moment to ponder the question. Mona wonders, faintly, what might be on his mind to prompt such a question.

"OW!! Hey..!" It only hurts for a second, though. The blessing of enhanced healing. Luca finds himself a stick, not quite as big as Shrike's, and goes straight for the ankles.

⸻

She reacted too late yet again. It was a skill she really had to work on, navigating physical conflict. Although it wasn't far, only barely outside the town borders, her legs managed to take her as far as they could before she fell to her knees, yelping as her injured arm caught her fall and sending a sharp zing all the way up to her neck. The weight is too much, and her body tumbles to the side instead. Why was everything spinning?

It's cold. But then again, on such an extreme planet it's to be expected. The suns have long set, the five moons lighting the uncharacterstically dark desert, bathing them in their light. A voice floats through the otherwise quiet night air.

Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines Because I miss you all the time

She twirls, sand kicking up with her boots, her worn but warm shawl fanning around her. The bitter cold does not even reach her bones.

So, get away Another way to feel what you didn't want yourself to know And let yourself go You know you didn't lose your self-control Let's start at the rainbow Turn away Another way to be where you didn't want yourself to go Let yourself go Is that a compromise?

In truth, this is her favorite time of day to travel. The calm, the quiet. Nothing else accompanying her except the wind and worms softly glowing in the distance that never seemed to disturb her as she indulged herself. Like they were watching, listening. Repecting her space as her soul poured out.

So, what do you wanna do, what's your point-of-view? There's a party soon, do you wanna go? A handshake with you, what's your point-of-view? I'm on top of you, I don't wanna go

Her heart and lungs have melded together perfectly, uninhibited by her own self-consciousness. This deep into the night, far into the desert, no one could hear her, and that was just the way she liked it. Twirling and kicking up sand like a young girl, her passion flows freely through her voice.

Betty just smiles and pulls out her phone, taking lots of photos of buba and pa.

@passiflor:

it’s always a big deal when gala season begins and all of korea’s high society starts to wonder who’s been invited to what events. each gala is an ostentatious display of wealth and connections, and it’s not unlike the hosts to try to show each other up by inviting anyone worth knowing. which, sua guesses, is why she gets invited to these stupid things in the first place. (it’s not uncommon to hear other celebrated dancers and musicians saccharinely referred to as “our artists” in heavily accented english, the r over-pronounced in an attempt to sound refined.)

tonight’s fundraising soirée is no different from the others that sua’s been to, and she sits with an air of ennui at her table. the bubbly socialites at her table are more than happy to include her in their insipid conversations, and she joins in with all of the enthusiasm she can muster. she’s about to down her fourth flute of champagne for the night when suddenly, the jovial voice of the MC is interrupted.

“nobody move!” a gunshot. shattering glass. before sua even has time to scream, she’s being pulled down onto the ground.

men in stiff tuxedos and ladies draped in silk and jewels crouch down on the floor, holding their breaths. crystal lies shattered on the ground below the skeleton of a small fallen chandelier, and the room still rings with the echo of a gunshot and the crash of glass hitting hardwood all at once. from her spot on the floor, sua can see the gun-toting intruders clad in black, ski masks pulled over their features. a chill runs down her spine. maybe it’s because of the sudden shock, or maybe it’s just her condition, but she starts to feel a little faint. seeking some sort of support, sua seizes whatever’s closest to her— in this case, whoever’s still holding her down onto the floor. she can’t bring herself to turn around and look at who it is.

what should have only been a few seconds feels like years before sua’s irregular breaths even themselves out. “let go of me,” the person next to her murmurs quietly into her ear.

“let go of you?” sua whispers back in agitation as she glances over at the stranger, cold fingers still gripping the fabric of the stranger’s sleeve tightly. “let go of me!”

of all the things he didn’t think he’d be doing tonight, being a babysitter was one of them.

this evening, he’s babysitting a “child” who goes by the name jung sua; twenty one in age, dance performance major at the korean national university, and intern at the korean national ballet; research indicates that she was once an eminent danseuse up until march of two-thousand-sixteen. that’s all he knows about her, that’s all he needs to know about her. anything more would have been extraneous, and quite frankly, taeyong simply wasn’t interested in others’ lives. especially when he’s working. business is business, and anything in relation to such should strictly be kept impersonal.

            the ritz-carlton hotel.              120 bongeunsaro gangnam-gu, seoul, south korea.

taeyong arrived at the hotel thirty minutes prior to the gala’s start time, fully clothed in black garments from head to toe. blazer, dress shirt, and slacks. all without the addition of a tie (he dislikes the way they feel around his neck; constricting and uncomfortable). if it weren’t for his boss’ instructions, he would have shown up to the event in casual street wear; something he can easily move around it. he grips down onto the side-flaps of his blazer and pulls it further over his frame, before his palms trace down the material, smoothing out any possible wrinkles. 

an hour, perhaps two, have passed since then, and the damn event still hasn’t fucking ended. he wonders how much longer the hosts’ plan on making this party last. exasperated, jaded; taeyong wants nothing more than to go home and call it a day, but with luck like his, it seems like he won’t be doing that anytime soon. for he’s forced to interconnect and mingle with the guests when an obnoxious string of gunshots rips through the air. the music stopped; men shouted, women screamed, and taeyong tutted. he’s not surprised with the way things turned out, simply because events like these generally turn out disastrous. sparing a glance at the female he grabbed prior to the incident, he noticed how tight she was gripping onto his sleeve; as if she were holding on for dear life. though he’s tempted to pry her off, he has to endure it. 

“i can’t.” his answer was not immediate, not when he was too busy focusing on the intruders; observing them, monitoring their every move, and jotting down mental notes in his mind as he watched the group make their way around the room. one by one, men were robbed of their wallets and women were robbed of their clutches and jewels. they’re slow, he mused, ebony orbs flickering towards the right. fortunately for them, they were beside a table donned with snacks and drinks. “sua, get up,” he orders, slowly ascending until he’s on his knees. within a matter of seconds, taeyong grabs the table by one of its legs and flings it out in front of them. once he’s finally on his feet, he forcibly pulls the female off the floor and moves her behind him. then he down three of the five chandeliers (excluding the one that’s already fallen), each comes crashing down onto the floor, shattering into hundreds of thousands of pieces. he’s caught the intruders’ attention, but before they could act, he shoots out the lights, shrouding the room in darkness.  

            where did that kid go? find him and              kill him before he escapes!