Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan}

Sleepy Fluttershy
District Mayor

970 POSTS

last seen Mar 30, 2022 16:20:24 GMT -5

«Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm». (Winston Churchill)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Oct 16, 2019 11:13:42 GMT -5

Post by Sleepy Fluttershy on Oct 16, 2019 11:13:42 GMT -5

Felicia

🎼

You count your steps till the spot where a tall figure is standing, with a hood and a reward in his hand. As usual, the adress was scribbled on a piece of paper and concealed neatly under your doormat, you burned it into your mind and destroyed it. You shiver and take a left turn. Here it is.

"I got enough today, boss"

Your voice is practically a husky whisper when you drop the contents of your handbag into his hand - a couple watches, a wallet and a glittery bracelet.

"Good girl, not a single problem with you. Keep up the good job and I may double your salary."

You breathe a rapid "thanks" and hurry to disappear in a street on the right, barely visible in the dim light of the lampposts. Your heels sing along the broken pavement, even when you try to put all weight on your toes. One block, two blocks, almost there...

Another sound joins the chorus of your stilettos in the midst of the deafening silence - you are not sure at first whether it is there - a soft whisper of shoes against the stones. But you don't only hear it - you sense it - another person's presence and an unfriendly one, a look aimed right at the back of your neck.

"Wait up, babe."

You quicken your pace and rush to the other side of the street like that would save you. It doesn't do you any good - he is close now and his raspy voice too.

"Are you in a rush, sweetie?"

MAMA

This is the only thing your mind screams as you turn around and face a creep almost twice as tall as you and notice something glimmering in his hand:

"Gimme that little thingy and you are free to go."

You cannot bear to give up what you worked so hard for. She is waiting, trembling with uncontrollable sickness. Common sense advises you to just gve him the bag. Give it up. Cuddle your mother tll tomorrow comes and then earn more poison to give her. But common sense does not have a place in your head when your heart screams

MAMA

______________________________________

"HELP!"

You jerk instinctively to the side, half-frozen with fear when you see something glimmer in his hand, coming down on you. You elbow him in one quick movement before starting down the street as fast as you can, but your stiletto breaks on a stray stone lying close by, you stumble, regain your balance, but there is a breath on your skin that reeks of tobacco and you are pinned against the wall..

"HELP!"

Kicking mindlessly, thrashing in a heartless grip, you watch a steel blade penetrate the thin silk of your dress and draw ruby streams from your stomach. There is a muffled whimper from your side and a grumpy swear from his - he was aiming for the heart. A stone fist tears through your icy cold fingers and grabs what it came for - the thing she is crying for right now, rolling on the floor or staring helplessly at the ceiling. And her pain tears through your wound as you scream wildly

"MAMA!"

_____________________________________

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Artemis

Last Edit: Oct 17, 2019 7:32:45 GMT -5 by Sleepy Fluttershy

(graphics by Kaplan)

☆GABRIELLE☆

Artemis
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Pronouns: She/Her
last seen Oct 8, 2020 8:30:43 GMT -5

What a day, what a lovely day (soshinysochrome.proboards.com)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Oct 20, 2019 15:45:51 GMT -5

Post by Artemis on Oct 20, 2019 15:45:51 GMT -5

[presto]

Nolan O'Rourke
district 2 | 52 | male | max martini
Semper Fortis

The quiet nighttime walks back home often gave Nolan time to think.

It seemed so long ago (yet still not long enough) since he used to walk home from his son's, fraught with worry how his boy was really doing when his parents weren't around, compelling him to put on a smile and hide his pain for their sakes. Almost a decade and a half later, the walk home was a peaceful one; music had brought Brody back from the precipice of self-destruction, his once-bright light shining through again like a lighthouse piercing the deepest fog.

When after many months of therapy and practice, Brody had invited his parents to his home to play for them; it was then that Nolan had known his son was going to be alright. Brody had always kept his suffering to himself, and to see him transform from a despondent veteran into a musician that poured his pain and grief and love into his piano had brought the both of them to tears. And as he healed, the tiny private 'concerts' became more frequent, having finally found a way to express the things he couldn't find the words for.

Nolan was humming one of Brody's favorite songs to himself as he made his way home, warmed inside and out against the slowly cooling temperatures.

That quiet bliss was shattered when a woman's voice suddenly screamed for help.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Nolan looked this way and that, trying to figure out which direction the scream had come from. And then that same voice screamed again, closer this time. Nolan took off running, not knowing what he might encounter but with the single-minded goal of finding whoever it was that needed help.

He found them a lot sooner than expected. Barrelling around a corner, Nolan only had but a moment to process the sight of a young girl screaming for her mother, and a man pinning her to the wall.

That split second was more than enough for his mind to supply the worst possible suggestion.

Element of surprise aside, it was hardly a fair fight. Nolan hit the man like a linebacker, shoulder landing just above his center of gravity, flinging him to the ground with Nolan's weight and momentum on top of him. Without waiting for the strange assailant to get his bearing, Nolan wrestled him into a choke hold, feeling hands scrabbling ineffectually at his arms... And gradually, the struggling lessened, until it stopped altogether. Nolan released him with a grunt, shoving the man off to get to his feet.

"Are you okay??"

[/presto]

Sleepy Fluttershy
District Mayor

970 POSTS

last seen Mar 30, 2022 16:20:24 GMT -5

«Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm». (Winston Churchill)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Oct 21, 2019 6:05:15 GMT -5

Post by Sleepy Fluttershy on Oct 21, 2019 6:05:15 GMT -5

Felicia

🎼

Your eyes close as you prepare to feel the fatal prick of his blade. There is no escape - the pain screams, kicks and tears through your stomach - just like your mom who is going to go crazy tonight. Although you are perfectly still, you feel your head spin as if you were thrown down a steep hill. Suddenly the weight of tobacco breath and heavy muscle is thrown off your body and you slide down the bricks - one, two, three, four... and then you hit the ground, your wild gaze wandering over the pavement where two bodies struggle, one on top of the other. The bag is right there, dropped by the bandit in a frantic attempt to protect himself. You move your hand towards it, almost falling on your side and grab it on the second attempt, then lean against the wall, completely exhausted.

"Mama"

You whisper her name to calm yourself down, you need to get back to her, she needs you, you will deal with the blood later. But your legs can't lift you off the ground. There is no hand holding you but you are still pinned to the wall, helpless, watching one man beat another.

What is happening?

The man walks up to you as your vision goes blurry but even then you still recognize him. It is one of your instructors from the training center, hand-to-hand combat, to be specific. You have always been terrified of his height, and strength, and muscles - most of the very muscular tall people you've met through your criminal gang experience were best to keep away from. And now he is nearing you while you are a helpless lump of skin and bones on the ground, in a lace glittery dress that barely covers anything at all and with a drug on you.

"Are you okay?"

You tremble and shut your eyes. You know you are a bad liar. You feel like he can see through you and through your bag, see what is in there.

Please don't tell the Peacekeepers, please don't tell the Peacekeepers... Want to see mom...

You instinctively press your hand to the wound - like it would silence the pain, stop it from breaking out, feel the blood seeping between your fngers, flooding everything.

"Yes... Okay..."

Maybe he will believe you and not notice the blood because it is dark and it could just be a plum juice stain and he will leave you here, free to crawl these two blocks to where she is suffering.

MAMA

_________________________

"I want to go home... Please."

You shiver again and taste something salty in your mouth, probably tears making their way through your heavy eyelashes and down pallid cheeks.

"I am sorry..."

You always knew that committing crimes sometimes comes with a price but never thought it could happen to you. Whatever you did, whatever you are doing now, you wouldn't change it if you could but you really don't want to go to the detention center. And you clutch your bag tighter, concealing it behind you, reminding yourself in a mute whisper of why you have to keep going, always had to...

"Mama..."

__________________________

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Artemis

(graphics by Kaplan)

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Artemis
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Pronouns: She/Her
last seen Oct 8, 2020 8:30:43 GMT -5

What a day, what a lovely day (soshinysochrome.proboards.com)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Oct 21, 2019 8:16:50 GMT -5

Post by Artemis on Oct 21, 2019 8:16:50 GMT -5

[presto]

Nolan O'Rourke
district 2 | 52 | male | max martini
Semper Fortis

His pulse hadn't stopped hammering in his ears, but with the threat neutralized, it gave Nolan the time he needed to realize how stupid his question was.

The girl who had been screaming for help was just that, a girl; too young to yet be called a woman, and seeming so much younger asking for her mother, to go home... Pressing a delicate hand to her side where a dark stain was spreading across her white dress.

"Jesus," Nolan swore, shirking off his jacket to wrap around the girl and pressing his scarf against the wound; it was a far cry from a proper compress, but it would have to do until he could get help.

"I'm gonna help you, okay? The hospital isn't too far from here," he said gently, hoping she'd trust that he genuinely meant no harm, "But I need you to stay with me, I don't know for sure how bad it is."

Even at his age, Nolan had kept up his strength through his job and working with young Careers on the side; the girl was so petite, it wasn't particularly difficult to heft her up off the ground and into his arms, pressing her bag into her hands since the thing seemed to be important to her. Nolan couldn't quite run so encumbered, but he could walk briskly back in the direction he'd come from, knowing the way to Brody's by heart and that his son lived only blocks from the hospital where he attended therapy.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

[/presto]

Sleepy Fluttershy
District Mayor

970 POSTS

last seen Mar 30, 2022 16:20:24 GMT -5

«Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm». (Winston Churchill)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Nov 15, 2019 13:24:33 GMT -5

Post by Sleepy Fluttershy on Nov 15, 2019 13:24:33 GMT -5

Felicia

🎼

His jacket wraps around you and you feel its warmth, that special warmth of someone caring, just like when your mother tucked you in and everything was still going well. Something soft presses against your wound, but it is of no consolation to you as it still very much hurts.

"Ow"

He is saying something about a hospital and going with him and you know that you probably should. It is bad, you can feel how bad it is. But she is worse, she might not hold till dawn if you don't give it to her, you've seen her on those days when there is nothing to give. She almost perished under the pressure once.

Gotta go, gotta go...

Your mind is going back to the basement you live in, even there are no other thoughts left - the rest of the space in your mind has been filled up by unbearable pain.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

So he doesn't even remember you from training, after all. That's good. If you are a criminal it's good when no one remembers you. Maybe he will forget you exist all of a sudden and leave you here with your pain and you won't have to explain to him why you need to go home so badly.

Please let me go, let me go, let me go...

You make an effort to open your mouth.

"Felicia, sir"

For a moment, you think how incredibly weird this is - this guy carrying you around after he traned you just a week ago. You have to tell him to let go. But you are too weak and a longing for a warm bed and clean pyjamas comes from nowhere. You can't just let go. It will be wrong and she will suffer.

MAMA

_________________________

"Can I please go home?"

You whimper that, almost without hope that he will do as you ask. It wouldn't make sense for him to give up on you even if that's what you want.

"I just want to see mama, she needs me, she's sick, please..."

You are not sure if he can even make out what you are saying because your body is failing you, your head is falling on this shoulder, oh why is it so soft? Too soft, you can't fight it and your eyes are closing even after you blink rapidly a few times to stay awake...

"Mama..."

__________________________

table by
[ scandal ]

Artemis

(graphics by Kaplan)

☆GABRIELLE☆

Artemis
Career Tribute

689 POSTS

Pronouns: She/Her
last seen Oct 8, 2020 8:30:43 GMT -5

What a day, what a lovely day (soshinysochrome.proboards.com)

Bad dreams {Artemis; Felcia/Nolan} Dec 1, 2019 0:18:09 GMT -5

Post by Artemis on Dec 1, 2019 0:18:09 GMT -5

[presto]

Nolan O'Rourke
district 2 | 52 | male | max martini
Semper Fortis

The name didn't ring much of a bell until Nolan turned the corner out of the narrow side-street and onto the larger main road, and under the streetlights her hair shone a warm coppery red.

Felicia. She might not have stood out overly much from the crowd of other Careers in training, if not for that red hair.

He'd only trained with her once; with his hulking profile and serious, stony resting expression, evidently more than a few Careers found Nolan intimidating and didn't want to approach him. His and Felicia's encounter had been more incidental than deliberate; seeing that red hair across the training center, Nolan had mistaken her for one of his nieces.

It was the furthest thing from his mind, though, with Felicia bundled up in his arms whimpering in pain, for her mother, to go home.

"I can't take you home right now," he said gently, "You need a doctor, they can send someone for your mother, but I can't take you home yet..."

With his head having been in the clouds walking home from his son's when Nolan had heard Felicia cry for help, he hadn't actually gotten too far; in any other scenario it would be an inconvenience at worst, but now, it was nothing short of a blessing as Felicia's head fell onto his shoulder.

Nolan shook her gently, not wanting to make her pain worse but fearing what might happen if she were allowed to black out.

"C'mon kiddo, stay with me," he pleaded, "Tell me what you're learning at school... Talk about something, whatever keeps you awake..."

[/presto]