Title: Pity
Description: Nikolaos and Open
Toryas - April 27, 2008 09:56 PM (GMT)
A door opening. The massive frame that filled it. His smile, keen and unkind. A finger hooking in her waistband, pulling her towards the giant. Words. Something casual, but charged.
"I've been waiting for you."
A smile of her own, cold and wry, the quirking of an eyebrow. Her own voice, mild and sarcastic. "Brock. Is the rent due already?" Standing passive as the hand tugged a little more, until she was pressed against him, as the hand wandered.
"Rent is due."
Cassidy shook her head. She was drinking, but the cheap bottle of whatever the hell it was wasn't making much of a curtain to block off her thoughts. She winced at the taste and decided it wasn't a complete loss. It may not anesthitze her mind, but her pain was sliding under a nice cushion.
Cassidy toasted Brock with the little bottle. Big in every way, she thought sourly at the twinging reminder.
A man, middle-aged and middle-class, wandered up to her as she sat on the park bench, drowning herself with liquor. Cassidy hardly looked at him, didn't bother to listen as he started speaking. She cut him off. "Got fifty bucks?"
He made some sound in the negative.
She lifted the bottle to her lips. "Then fuck off."
Nikolaos - April 27, 2008 10:14 PM (GMT)
Freedom! Sweet, Sweet Freedom! He practically bounced with each step, his feet springing with ageless grace. He didn't even notice his stumbles. In his mind- he was young again- young and free- escaping the enemy.... escaping the world.
Running.
Rex Walker ran, his bald head a becon in the night- shining brightly as he brown eyes seriously contemplated where he should go now. Hide out for the night, take shelter in some darkend place. Sirens blared in his mind- whether they were truly heard or not. the coppers were after him- authorities chashing him, ready to capture and return him to Gleeful Granpa's Nursing Home, dead or alive.
His dillusions faded only slightly as he drew intot he shade of the park, jumping over a hedge and landing with a thump and a cackling laugh. He smiled in the darkness and hiccupped as he looked up to see the girl on the bench. He arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything to her- only stared. Little brat. What was she doing out so late?
Rex paused, his brow furrowing for a moment. How had he gotten here again/ Oh yeah- his twenty-eighth escape attempt- ad this time- this time it was for good. he'd just have to find an apartment, a shady job, never talk to his ungrateful kids again.... what were their names?
Toryas - April 27, 2008 10:33 PM (GMT)
Cassidy was lost deep into her depression, too deep to notice the man leave, too deep to hear uneven footsteps headint in just her direction. She wanted to get drunk. Being a skinny, titless, little thing, one would think that that would be easy. One would be wrong, because she wasn't freaking drunk. A dark green eye peered at the bottle. It tasted full-strength. Besudes, who cuold water a bottle?
All of a sudden, with a startling thud, a man leapt over the hedgerow with a slightly insane laugh. No, it was a cackle. Who the hell cackled? And, dude, that was one acrobatic geezer. Cassidy stared at him. He stared at her. The geezer arched an eyebrow like she was the one out of place.
Cassidy took another sip of really bad liquor. Maybe it was working. Maybe she was freakin gtosasted.
She eyed the old man. Well, he seemed real, with his shiny baldness and wheezy breaths. Cassidy hoped he wasn't going to have a heart attack after his crazy hedge-vault.
"Running away from the old folks home, Grampa?" she asked sarcastically.
Nikolaos - April 27, 2008 10:42 PM (GMT)
Rex coughed, actually it really was more of a hack, before standing up- approaching the girl quickly- shoving a hand over her mouth.
"Shhhh! Shut up you stupid girl- you want the coppers to know I escaped?" he commanded, his eyes utterly serious as he took his hand away.
"Now- you keep your trap shut little whipper-snapper and I won't have to hurt you--" Rex held out his hands in a sort of tae-kwon-doe-ish stance. He smiled with pride as he put his hands down. Yeah. He showed her. Little skinny thing- could snap her like a fucking twig.
Man, he still cussed like a sailor. But he wasn't a sailor. he had been a marine.... Yeah, and that's where he learned to fight- to escape- to run- to hide- to be everything that he was now. Unfortunately, the United States Army hadn't told him not to have kids. Big mistake. If he had no kids he'd never have been put in that damn prison in the first place.
"Never have kids, Kid" he told the girl, a little fuzzy brained from the jump over the hedge. the sirens sounded off in his head and the eighty-eight year old grandpa jumped and rushed under the bench, curling into a ball.
"Damn Feds!"
Toryas - April 27, 2008 10:57 PM (GMT)
She eyed him a little more leerily as he let loose a nasty sounding cough. Cassidy hoped he didn't hack a loogie on her or something equally gross. "Don't fucking touch me, old man!" She snarled, slapping at his hand as he clapped it over her mouth. Normally, her reaction would be slightly less severe, but the alcohol probably had something to do with it now.
She eyed him a little more angrily as he pulled back, but then her irritation dissolved into disbelief at his kung-fu-fighter impression. Dude, was she seriously being threatened by Grandpa Neo? Shit, she might have been thin, but she qasn't going to let some freaking octogenarian threaten her. Cassidy stood up, wobbled, and realized the liquor was finally taking effect. Well hell. She sat back down. So much for that idea.
Then she laughed. Was she seriously thinking about trying to beat up some crazy old fart? And, damn, he was seriously crazy. He wasn't lightweight crazy, but full-on the Lucky Charms leprechaun stole my fake teeth nuts.
Cassidy toasted him as he advised her against future children. "Hear, hear," she replied soppily, her mood getting betetr as she watched him. And as she imbibed. And as he suddenly did a commando-dive under the bench.
Conversationally, Cassidy leaned over to look at him from between her own legs, ignoring the way tipping her head upside down made it spin like a freaking whirlygig. "What'd you do old man? Kill someone? Steal their dentures? Maybe pry out Auntie Edna's gold caps? I might keep quiet if you share them." She gave a sslightly hiccupping laugh.
Nikolaos - April 27, 2008 11:37 PM (GMT)
"I haven't killed anyone in over fifty years girl!" he shouted, his voice rasping with the still remaining exhaustion of before. Wow.... that hedge was taller than he thought. In reality it was only about a foot high. But reality didn't matter to Rex.
"What? Dentures? Why the hell would I want a fucking set of teeth! I have my own damn teeth thank you very much!" he snapped, making a sound kind of like a turtle, a bit turtle. A big, nasty, wrinkly, deranged, everybody-was-kung-fu-fighting-Carl-Douglass, Ninja turtle.
"And I don't need gold caps. No cavities," he growled, smiling at her- showing off his pearly whites. "When you brush your fucking teeth you don't get caps Stupid." He scolded, frowning deeply- the wrinkles in his forehead falling over his eyebrows like a blood hound.
"I already told to shush- the people from the nursing home will find me-- and we can't have that can us?"
Toryas - April 30, 2008 04:14 PM (GMT)
Deranged people, Cassidy thought as she drained the little bottle, could be a barrel of fun. Obviously to drink she had returned to a mostly upright position. Eying the bottle, the empty bottle, Cassidy frowned and chucked it towards the nearest trash can. She missed by a mile.
"Got a mouth like a saiolr, old man," she called back to him, staggering towards the bottle to pick it up and actually put it in the trash can. Cassidy wasn't entirely sure why she was bothering, but hell, it seemed like the thing to do. For whatever reason that mya be. "Besides," she added as she bent over to pick up the bottle and knocked her head on the side of the can in the process, "I do brush my fucking teeth."
With the obvious cfare of the rather drunk, she plucked the bottle up, lining it up over the hole in the can before dropping it in. "Chill out, Grandpa. The cops aren't coming. Cops don't check out the parks. Why do you think I'm here?" Cassidy asked rhetorically.
"All the cops care about are the flashy stuff. Hookers on the corner. Drug deals at the school. That juicy sex offender prowlin' 'round the playpalace. They don't care about no fuckin' park. Name in the news, that's what they shit a give about." Cassidy was ranting now. Her dark green eyes glittered. Oh yes, she was thoroughly soused. "Hey, grandpa, got fifty bucks? I wannanother bottle. Man, that shit was foul. Tastes better the more you drink." Cassidy considered that a moment as she wandered back towards the park bench. "No it doesn't. Shit, that's what it tastes like."
She leaned over the bench again, snickering a little at the way the world flipped upside down. "Hey, do you wear old folk diapers? Luvs and Huggies, dude. What's up wit hthe fuzz warmy name anyway?"
Nikolaos - May 3, 2008 03:10 PM (GMT)
"I wasn't a sailor," The wrinkly turtle cried out from under the bench, growling like a bear as he rolled out and stood up with a grunt and a pant.
"I was in the marines, Kid." He frowned, but couldn't fight the pride that swelled in his chest whenever he talked about the Glory Days.
He watched her prattle on- drunk as she was. "You're only about thirteen- how the hell dod you get that liquor- and I don't have twenty bucks.... I just broke out of the god damn nursing home Alcatraz!" he said, flustered- his face turning red as he heard sirens again and ducked under the bench once more.
"What do you mean the cops aren't fucking comin'- can't you hear the sirens? Maybe you're a little too drunk...."
Maybe he was a little too crazy, a little to senile, a little too- something.
"What? WHAT? I don't wear no damn diaper. I'm eighty something years old- why you looking for one Baby?" he shot at her. Damn diapers- why would he shit his pants? She was the whipepr-snapper- not him. If anyone should be in diapers it should be her.
Toryas - May 4, 2008 05:37 PM (GMT)
Cassidy's mood seemed to sour even further now taht the magical potion called whiskey had all been drunk up. Conversley, she also seemed to be becoming more loquacious as the drink's effects set in. "Sailor, marine. They're both military stuff, right, having todo with water, right? No diff to the layman. Layperson. Hey, who the hell made up that word? Sounds like somene who gess laid a lot." Cassidy thought on that a moment and gave a half shrug. "Guess I'm a laygirl. Works both ways. I get laid a lot and I don't know noffing about the military. Armed Forces. Shit, whatever."
She seemed to tune in a little to what he was saying. Crossly, she slurringly retorted, "I'm not thirteen anym ore than you are, Grawpy. I'm six-fucing-teen. Two more years and I'll be buying real shit, not this rotgut shit. Shit, gonna I'm have a fucking hangover in the fucking morning..." Cassidy cocked her head, exaggerated listening real hard. "Hey, I know poppy, maybe you're so old your ears are ringing! Hell, maybe we're both right. Maybe I'm too drunk. Maybe you're too ancient. Maybe there ain't no sirens but there are cops! It's a fucking wonderful world!"
Nikolaos - May 4, 2008 05:51 PM (GMT)
"Just like a kid to not know what the hell the army is. You're a bum- stop drinking..." Rex wobbled out from under the bench again and grabbed the bottle.
"Oh--" he realized. "It's out--- well, good- sober yourself up..." he tossed the bottle over his shoulder- into the damn bush he had jumped over before.
"Thirteen my ass... You look like you're ten!" he argued, frowning- his wrinkles falling over his eyes- making it a little bit harder to see. He looked like a pug.
"I ain't carzy an' I hear fine! Shit there are cops and sirens girly--- and you- you just--" He began to get confused. How had she gotten there? Where had this raving srunk preteen- child really- come from---
"What the hell? What are you doing out here?" he asked, now befuddled sompletely. He couldn't remember- what had she just said?
Something about diapers? Or was that before?
Toryas - May 4, 2008 05:59 PM (GMT)
As Cassidy sat on the bench watching the old man, one thing was for sure - she wasn't depressed anymore. A little sour, but that wasn't unusual. Mostly, though, she was amused by the old guy. Probably not very humanitarian of her, but what the hell.
"You said Marines!" Cassidy retorted as he criticized her lack of military knowledge. "Why would a marine be in the army? They do water stuff. 'Cause they're marines. Marine. Water." She frowned thinking that one over, then had her train of thought switch as he spoke again. "I told you I not thirteen. Or ten. Christ, old man, how long as it been since you met soemone under ninety?"
She frowned again as he seemed to forget what he was saying completely. "I out here... hey, why wouldn't I be out here? It's a public park. Why are you out here?"
Nikolaos - May 4, 2008 06:03 PM (GMT)
"Marines ain't in no damn water!" He growled before he relapsed and forgot everything.
"What? Ten? Yeah- you're thirteen and I'm the Easter Bunny!" he rambled, shaking his head. "Over ninety--- hell, I'm only eighty-eight... I think...."
He frowned. Stupid girl. marines.. water. What the hell were they teaching youngsters in the schools these days?
"I'm running from Alcatraz! I told you didn't I? They'r after me!" he yelped as the sirens sounded againa nd retreated under the bench for the third time.
"Fucking cops....." he roared. "You'll never catch me coppers!"
Toryas - May 4, 2008 06:19 PM (GMT)
If you asked Cassidy, it made perfect sense to think that Marines had something to do with water. Then again, Cassidy was drunk and what made sense to her might not make sense to other pople. Her companion of the moment was several shades of crazy, though, so what made sense to him might not necessarily make semse to her or to other people. "Dude, you probably ae the Easty Bunner! And the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus and - and - freaking Elvis!"
Cassidy couldn't quite leave it on that note so she added, "So there!"
She watched as he went flying, as much as an octegenarian can fly, back under the bench. Damn but he liked it down there, didnt' he? "Yeah, man, the cops are coming! The cops are coming, run for your liiiiiiives!" Teasing old batty people, just another of the free services Cassidy Collins offered.
Nikolaos - May 10, 2008 01:38 AM (GMT)
Huh? Easter Bunny? Elvis? What was this girl smoking? Because Rex needed some. besides- he was already crazy- his mind lost to the symptoms of demetia. She teased, her voice cutting through the night sharply- hiccups and giggles expected from him.
He arched an eyebrow at her as he peaked out from under the bench.
"I know the cops are coming- but I'm only a runaway- what the hell are you: a coke-head? Underage alchoholic? Hell, you might even be a prostitue for all I know? You a slut kid? "Cuz your momma and dad should whip you if you are- big leather bealt- yup. Yup."
Rex grumbled. "My Pap always hit me- made me a man and not some stupid gansta fellow ridin' in the hood with homies and drugs and sluts and all that shit. I live my life right in the service- definitely. You should joint he army- clean up and get yourself some dignity" Yeah. He watched MTV in the nursing home. he knew what a a gangsta, a pimp, a homie, and a crib were. He knew the lingo. he was hip. You bet. Rex Walls was hip. Always had been. Always would be.
Toryas - May 14, 2008 05:08 PM (GMT)
His words stung, even though she told herself he was just a batty old relic with throwback ideals. As naive as a little kid, right? Right. She wasn't a little kid. She was a teenager. And she was smart and cagey and shrewd and all that shit. Still, she snalred when she shot back, "What's it to ya, Grampy? Trying to convince yourself you got something to say that's still relevant this millennium?" Beat her with a belt. Shit.
She listened to him prattle about riding through the 'hood with his homies and the gangstas. "Oh, shut up. Like you know shit about 'thug' life. You couldn't unnerstan that crap. Nobody does. Not even them. They just playact at it." Cassidy acted like she was pointing a gun, one tipped sideways. "Yo, niggah, I'mo gonna cap yo ass!" Then she snorted. "Shit. All of it shit. And you too, with your Alcatraz and your badass daddy beating your badass with a belt. Probably why half your brain's turned into Jello now. J-yello."
Her join the army... yeah, right. Not in this lifteime or any other.
OOC: Wow, they're kinda being mean to each other.
Nikolaos - May 19, 2008 07:59 PM (GMT)
This whole situation didn't make sense. From the outside looking in at the situation, one might think that some omnipotent force was driving their insane comments. But of course, that wasn't the case. Rex and Cassidy were each their own mind- be that mind unhinged, crazy, young, or drunk. They had their minds.
And they clashed.
Rex arched an eyebrow at Cassy as she started to impersonate a gangster. Now, he knew gangster’s did not look like her. Hell, she was too puny. But she sure cussed and drank like a gangster. Rex growled.
"Stop bein' so damn stupid- girl. Wait a second- you got a name....?" He blinked once. then twice. Confusion. God, it was so annoying- trying to remember everything- trying to make sense of why he was talking to a little teeny-bopper, pre-teen diva.... right after he had busted out of the POW camp. No, no- he had just gotten out of the nursing home.... Yeah. That was it. POW camp..... what was he thinking?
He wasn't.
He couldn't.
Toryas - May 22, 2008 08:21 PM (GMT)
"Oh, I'm the one being stupid, am I?" Cassidy snorted and nearly fell off the park bench. "I'm not the old one enough to know better." She frowned. "Enough old to know... whatever! I'm the kid. I get to be stupid. I mean. Wait. I'm not being stupid! You're being stupid! Cause you're... old." Cassidy frowned again. There was logic in there. Somewhere. She was sure of it. "Of course I got a name. I' m Queen Anne of Lacey Land." She snorted again. "What's it to ya, Grannypants?" She eyed him suspiciously, her dark green gaze somewhat glazed and vague.
In an abrupt mood swing, she hoisted herself off the park bench, staggered, then clapped Rex on the back. "I got an idea, Pappy. Le's you and I go find aonother little something to drink, whaddya say? Or maybe some food. Food would be alright. I got money. Hell, I always got money. Or somebody else does and then I does too. Also." She thought about that for a second. "Whatever. I want rolls. Or something. Maybe a burger."
