18399/Requiem for a Butter Creme
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Requiem for a Butter Creme | |
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Date of Scene: | 22 June 2024 |
Location: | NYC Streets |
Synopsis: | If your mom could rp this good, maybe we would cut her some slack. |
Cast of Characters: | Aria Seraphine, Colin Wilkes
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- Aria Seraphine has posed:
A figure lies on a weathered bench in a poorly maintained park in Hell's Kitchen, the wooden slats pressing uncomfortably against her back through the fabric of her over-sized hoodie. The night air is heavy and humid, typical of a New York summer, but she shivers uncontrollably, her body wracked with tremors. Her baggy pants, stained and torn at the hems, do little to shield her from the chill she feels deep in her bones. Her clothes are so baggy and generic that it's hard, at first glance, to tell if it's a boy or a girl under there, but her long, golden brown hair peeks out around the edges, and the soft curves of her cheek and nose begin to give clues.
The park is eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the bustling city that surrounds it. The distant hum of traffic and occasional wail of a siren are the only sounds that penetrate the silence. Above her, a single, flickering streetlight casts a weak, intermittent glow, its yellowish light struggling to pierce the darkness. It buzzes faintly, each flicker like a shudder in the oppressive gloom.
The girl's skin is pale, almost ghostly. Dark circles ring her eyes, a testament both to sleepless nights and ruined makeup, her once-angelic features now marred by the harsh realities of her existence.
She clutches the edges of her hoodie, small hands and tainty fingers trying to pull it tighter around her trembling frame, but it offers no comfort. Sweat beads on her forehead, despite the chills, mixing with the grime that clings to her skin. Her breath comes in shallow, ragged gasps, each one a struggle as her body fights against the poison coursing through her veins.
Her eyes flutter open briefly, staring up at the canopy of leaves above, their shadows dancing eerily in the flickering light, but the weight of isolation is crushing, the park's emptiness amplifying a looming sense of abandonment. The bench, situated at the edge of a small, overgrown clearing, feels like an island in a sea of darkness.
No one passes by. No one sees her.
She is alone. Utterly, profoundly alone, but that light draws her bright blue eyes like a moth to a flame -- focused on it as if it held some deeper meaning about the universe. A connection to a life she once knew. A reminder of home, warm and bright. Those memories are the only comfort she has left in the world.
The pain in her veins is matched only by the ache in her soul. Each shiver, each tremor, a reminder of how far she has fallen. The memory of her wings, once radiant and powerful, now just a cruel echo of a life she can scarcely believe was ever hers. Tears well up in her eyes, but she doesn't have the strength to let them fall.
She lies there, a broken figure in the dim light, caught between the desire for oblivion and the faint, stubborn spark of survival.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
In fugue she did not perceive his approach, but he did, she didn't hear him sit down on the bench, but he did. A young man with incredibly beautiful elbows, the rest was all ginger. He folded his legs up under him and looked at the fallen angel for a minute.
"There's this really sketchy TV show called To Catch a Predator." yep, he's leading with it. "Anyway, the basic idea is there is this team of internet people called Perverted Justice and they go into chat rooms with these asshole guys, and they pretend to be like...thirteen year old girls or something. Somehow they get these guys to show up at a specially setup house to meet these girls, then they like confront them, and then the pervs leave and they get arrested." he made a smoothing palm in the air, "Now bear with me here."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
If it weren't for the streaked mascara, the dark circles, and the pallid complexion, one might reasonably estimate Aria to be around Colin's sage. Eighteen. Maybe twenty. She has these features that, if it weren't for the smeared makeup and lack of sleep, might actually _be_ angelic... or at least, ridiculously pretty, like she hit some kind of genetic lottery.
But she is sleep deprived.
Her makeup is running.
And she's looking out from within that hood at him, drawing her feet up closer to her body when he sits down. She looks homeless, maybe, in her ratty old tennis shoes and torn jeans, faded hoodie two sizes too big.
If he knew her better, he'd understand that she dressed like that on purpose to discourage random attention. It was easy to be confused for a teenage boy in these clothes. Except for her hands. Her fingers are too slender, her nails too perfect. She kept them nice for work.
She doesn't answer him, but she does stare at him, her whole body still quivering.
Was he... threatening her?
Did he think she was a thirteen year old girl?
It didn't... it didn't make any sense.
So, she closed her eyes against the confusion, swallowing hard. She didn't want to think. She wanted to forget.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes prattled on, keeping an eye on her, like maybe he knew he had to get her brain turned back on somehow. "So alright heres the flow: Perv shows up at house, decoy girl is in house, she kinda keeps distance while goading him on a little, then she will like duck off into a safe room and this guy Chris comes out and confronts the perv." he paused, "You with me? Mm?" he kept on, "The perv always brings two things, the same two things, every one of them, I have seen like four episodes, so I think I'm probably the expert here. Ok so they bring two things...condoms, and pizza." he pauses. "Ok the Chris will confront the guy with all his awful texts, I'd like to blank you in your blankety blank, shit like that. The perv will deny all of it, Chris will point out that the guy brought condoms with him. At some point this fucker will be like." adopted a voice of an older man "Uhh can I just leave?" back to normal, "Chris will be like yeah sure, you can go. Dude will get up and head for the door, boom, cops are on him. Ok so rewind."
This kid has too much energy, "So for a hot minute, right? I thought wouldnt it be funny if you ruined your life and trolled the entire process on purpose just to say something stupid like:"
"No Chris Hansen, I brought the condoms for you."
"But I realized eventually thats not the funny part. The funny part is the PIZZA!"
Colin got a wild look in his eyes, "Like that house is not empty. Theres a hidden camera crew, probably safety people, the decoy girl, Chris. When the perv bolts, he doesnt collect his pizza and condoms, he just runs. So what happens to the pizza?!" he wet his lips, "Like the second they here the sheriffs shouting 'GET DOWN ON THE GROUND' they must SWARM that pizza inside the house." but he shook his head, "But thats still not the funny part."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
'No Chris Hansen, I brought the condoms for you.'
Snort.
Aria actually snorts.
This strange, red-haired man just got an angel (well... at least a _fallen_ angel) to snort. It's the most unladylike thing, but at the same time, it's so genuine. Like.. she just can't stop herself from reacting.
'Like the second they here the sheriffs shouting 'GET DOWN ON THE GROUND' they must SWARM that pizza inside the house.'
There's laughter, then. Genuine and warm, so melodic it kind of sounds like that 'perfect laugh' they play behind children at playgrounds in movies. It's soft and feminine, and despite the fact that she doesn't even open her eyes, she can't seem to help the faintest of smiles that curls on the corners of her lips, either.
The shaking persists, though. She couldn't stop the shaking.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes smiled broadly, her laughter seemed so rewarding in the moment. He was far further drawn into the desperation of her look and seeming than he really wanted to let on. "The funny part is: This is the pervs worst day, but to these guys its just Thursday right? So now rewind all the way back to the thirty year old black dude pretending to be a thirteen year old white girl in the chat. The perv is saying the most ridiculous shit imaginable, like HES the one with the fish on the hook. The black dude is just typing back like 'Oh hehehee yeah I might like it if you blank my blank, I just dont know, I'm kinda shy' and then he leans back and in his best baritone he shouts:"
"HEY GUYS, WHAT DO YOU WANT ON YOUR PIZZA TONIGHT?"
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
Full on belly laughter.
The kind of laughter that makes her look like she's in pain, torn between the world of her near overdose and the one in front of her, the foggy reality that exists under that yellowish glow.
Her fingers curl a little tighter on her hoodie, her body struggling and aching against the drugs that still course through her body.
Still, for a few precious moments, Aria forgets the ache in her body and the darkness in her soul. She listens, captivated by the simplicity of his story and the normalcy it represents. The pain and the chills don't disappear, but they seem to recede slightly, giving way to a warmth she hasn't felt in a long time.
Tears of mirth mix with the dried makeup on her cheeks. The sensation is almost overwhelming, but in a way that feels strangely healing. And when she does open her eyes again to look at the man... the boy... on the bench with her, there's a kind of confused awe in their glassy depths.
"That's... ridiculous."
Her voice is so soft, so pleasant on the ears, so... tired. But that little smile still lingers.
And maybe.. just maybe.. there's even a little spark of hope buried there in those too-perfect features.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes stuck out his lower lip sagely and nodded, "Well, that's the power of pizza, I guess." and he was quiet for a long moment. He had somehow rolled himself up small, sitting on his legs, fists pressed into the gap in between his thighs. He was a ripped little animal, all kinds of muscle, veins intruding to view. He glanced just past her into the middle distance and chewed on the inside of his mouth slowly. He exhaled once heavily, something on his mind weighing him down enough in the moment between. "So anyway, I'm Colin."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
There's a little tilt of the girl's head, like he's the strangest boy she's ever laid eyes on. Her hair moves around inside the hood, the few locks that spill out around that dainty chin shifting in the movement.
She might have continued to be reticent if it weren't for the way he was sitting. He didn't tower over her like the others. He didn't assert his dominance like the others. He didn't molest her with his eyes, grab at her body, leer and sneer and tell her what a pretty little thing she was.. how could he could make her feel.
He sat there with his legs folded, his hands between them, and... he made her laugh.
"Aria."
It's a whisper of a word. A word they use in opera. But also a name, perhaps.
She unfurls herself a little, still trembling, but shifting.. her body protesting the act of sitting up a little more, stretching her legs back out. She seems so... ordinary, but also not. She looks like just another girl strung out on drugs, but also not.
"Why...?"
There's a little shake of her head, then.
Because she didn't know why he would bother to try so hard or what he wanted from her.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes lifted one hand to knuckle at his eye. Every time she spoke the power in her angelic voice pulled tears to his eyes, enough times and they combined and pooled. He had a connection to faith, there where times where he held onto the bible for dear life. They shared at least that much spirituality. "I dunno." he said dismissively, trying to ushers something unwanted away, trying to hold back the vulnerability. "Nobody wants to die alone." he looked at her quick, eyes a little sore and glassy. "I don't wanna die alone." he sniffed, signaling his defeat.
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
It's worth noting, here, that Aria was stripped of all but exactly one of her divine abilities. She didn't sing with the choir of angles or speak with heavenly power, anymore. She didn't have a celestial glow or majestic wings.
All that she had left to offer, the only evidence other than the angry scars on her back that were hidden under her hoodie, was the power to heal -- the same power that kept her from taking her own life, over and over again, as she pushed her body time and time again beyond its tolerance for her addiction.
But her voice, if anything at all could be said about it, would put world-class vocalists to shame. Everything she says practically begs to be said in song rather than spoken word. And the same sort of thing can be true for her face, even more visible as she sits up and the light catches her features. She doesn't 'glow,' but she looks like she could, even through the streaked makeup and the dark bags under her eyes.
She can't be an angel. There's nothing obvious that would mark her as an angel except that.. well, she _is_ an angel. A fact that she's careful to hide, given that she had no way to protect herself, now, and there were many fates worse than death for an immortal.
"I.. I'm not going to die."
Her voice is so weak, but yet, so absolutely certain.
One hand reaches out, leaving her hoodie with her sleeve still bunched around her palm to set just those slender, shaking fingers on his knee.
"You're not, either. Not... Not tonight."
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes nodded, regaining himself, "Ok." he said accepting the premise, hopefully, willing to believe the better thing, the indomitable spirit within him had given him a moment to be young and weak if only to show him real strength. "Ok. Aria. That's like a song." he sniffed again but his voice didn't sound like breaking. "And Colin, thats like what you do when someone's late for dinner." he regarded Aria again and point off toward the edge of the park, "Right over there is Donnie's." he put his palms together and spread them, "Inside Donnies, on the right is a Street Fighter 3 machine, I know I know what your thinking Aria. I know. I know. You're thinking Colin, you Sigma Level Alpha Dork, that game came out twenty six years ago...and you'd be right to think that. But look, I got quarters, so its time to put up or shutup. I mean, if you play Ryu, and I play Ken we can just put down a forty year sibling rivalry and the whole world can move on."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
Aria.
Like a song.
That's why she'd picked it. A reminder of a life she'd lost. Seraphine the Lifegiver, the Songstress, the Siren of Solace, the Salvebearer.
The Eternal Light.
All meaningless now, but she could at least cling to the vestiges through her new name. Aria.
She nods a little at his assertion, then let's a quieter, weaker laugh at his horrible joke about his own name. She withdraws her hand, though, as she looks between him and the direction he's pointing. Donnie's.
She seems so... taken back.
"You want _me_ to play a... video game?"
There's not even a hint of haughtiness in that question. It's not a lowering of herself to play a game. It's exactly the opposite. It's the sheer incredulity that someone -- anyone -- would invite _her_ to do something... frivolous. Fun for the sake of fun.
And if he hadn't had that moment of vulnerability with her. If he hadn't been sitting the way he was. If he hadn't been as sincerely kind and unassuming with her, she might have refused. Who knows? Maybe even having her senses numbed to some extent played a part.
A few more seconds tick past as her dulled mind turned over the offer, then eventually nodded a little.
"O -- Okay."
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes extended his arms and legs out in such a way that he almost seemed to levitate in the air as he took to the ground. "Okay." he parroted. Course he'd lend a hand if she needed it, but otherwise just wait for her to take her sweet ass time getting up from her repose. "Ok so, your pretty good lookin so I assume you haven't played before. Ok. Ok. So its a six button interface, but look dont sweat it, everyone does index middle ring for top and bottom row. And its just punches and kicks weak to strong and then your left...you left handed? Ok whichever is your dominant hand, that goes on the buttons, off hand on the stick. And Ryu is easy its all just quarter circles. The key is blocking, which is just pull away on the stick, right but what everyone does is they get greeeeedy. Right." by this time they are walking toward Donnie's as he explains everything she needs, "They got no patience. Everyone wants to jump in and then you get lit up. They key is patience, scan me? You know what the Chinese dude said right? Wait by the river long enough and your enemies will come floating by? Thats its! You got it. Right there. So blocking is the waiting by the river. You're gonna be great at this, I just know it. You know what, people don't even know how cool you are. They don't even know, but thats whats great about you. Its like your just you, cause thats all you can be, and being the youest you is what your best at. They don't know, nobody every knows, but like thats ok because you gotta be the first person to pay yourself on the back right? Because like, compliments, accolades, they come by definition too late? They have to, or they dont mean anything amirite? If someone didnt know you and they where like OhEmGee Aria, your 360 pile driver on Zangeif is so clutch you would be like Ninja, you aint even seen my Zangeif but your insincere ass is about to. Thats all I'm sayin."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
Aria takes the hand up, looking more than a little unsteady on her feet despite the relatively slow pace at which she finished unfurling herself and rising.
They're about the same height, though while Colin is all thick, sinewy muscle, Aria's willowy frame is swallowed by her over-sized clothes. If it weren't for the shape of her neck disappearing into her hoodie, the boniness of her fingers, it might be hard to tell that she was probably a little under-fed. Not drastically so. Her face wasn't sunken. She just looked... fragile, perhaps.
She's listening as she finds her balance, as she shuffles forward, as she starts to tip forward and instead grabs his arm, clinging to his side.
"Sun Tzu."
The answer's immediate, despite her physical sluggishness.
That's a LOT of information for someone that's struggling to stay upright, though, and she wasn't letting go of his arm now that she'd used it to steady herself.
At least, it WAS a lot, until it turned in a pep-talk that made her smile again... then laugh again at the 'your insecure ass' bit.
"Oh-Em-Gee, Colin," she muses, head dipped slightly, though she lifted her chin enough to look over at him through her lashes. She still had the hood pulled up over her head, but her little smile was easily enough visible. Especially at that distance. "Your quotes from 'that Chinese dude' are so deep."
Is she... teasing him? It seems entirely good-natured.
Then there's a little bump of his shoulder. Or, maybe she tripped again.
"You really think I'm pretty good looking?"
It's a sincere question, but the way she's watching his reaction, it's also definitely a test.
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes offered up a sincere, "Gahbleshyou." when she mentions Sun Tzu, not realizing it was the ancient philosopher's name. "Yeah well you know what those Chinese dudes had a written language like thousands of years...matter of fact why did God go to a bunch of dusty dudes in iron age middle east who couldn't even write to tell them all the important stuff. Maybe he went to both. Chinese people believe in God, prolly just have like different names and stuff." he glanced back to her, "Huh?"
He heard her, he was just caught in the headlights for a minute. "Yeah, your pretty great. Do you hate the way you look? I catch a lotta shit for being a ginger." he mentioned, in case she wasn't sure, by, you know, looking at him.
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
There's very little doubt, just based on the fluidity of her stumbling movements and the airy way she's talking, that this girl is... pretty out of it, still. There's a chance she wasn't even going to remember some or any of this. Though the shakes seem largely to have past, she's still riding that high pretty solidly.
Another giggle escapes at the post-sneezing benediction. She listens to his question, looking over at him without answering -- her eyes making it seem like she heard the words but didn't understand them.
But when he answers her question? A smile spreads back across her lips.
"No. Just... no one says it like that. Plus..." She plucks at her hoodie. Her grin spreads a little more as she reaches up to ruffle his hair, though. "I like your hair."
She was relaxing with him. And it felt as easy as breathing. But she was also sinking down into that high a little more obviously, enjoying the buzz with fewer of the side-effects as her body's own healing processed the worst of it out.
"I remember when the Presence visited the people of the Middle East. They were nomads and shepherds, living simple lives under the vast, starry skies. Him Who Is spoke to them in ways they could understand -- through visions, prophets, and sometimes even through the whispering winds. These people, who would become the Hebrews, were given stories and laws to guide them, because in their wandering, they needed a sense of direction and purpose."
Her voice is so airy as they walk, eyes casting up towards the night sky.
"I saw Him reach out to the East, to the ancient Chinese. There, He inspired sages and philosophers. The teachings of harmony, balance, and the Tao were also reflections of His wisdom, tailored to a culture rich in introspection and reverence for the natural order."
And then her eyes slipped closed, and she leaned a bit more heavily on Colin.
"So when you wonder why God spoke to those dusty men, remember that He spoke to many, in many ways. The Hebrews, the Chinese, and countless others -- each received a piece of the divine puzzle. It's just that their stories, their names for God, and their paths to understanding were different. But in the end, they were all reaching for the same truth, trying to connect with something greater than themselves."
- Colin Wilkes has posed:
Colin Wilkes glanced to Aria queerly, he blinked a few times, almost audibly. Doink Doink. "How do you know that?" he wondered, his curiosity causing his voice to rise slightly in tone. "Man, we should go to China." by this time he was steadying her in whatever way made sense, maybe an arm around the shoulder or just being the rock to lean on. "We. Should. Go. To. China. Do you speak Chinese?" he wondered. "Its ok, we can learn. Man! Can you even imagine! The great wall, Shaolin monks kickin the shit out clay pots. POW. Just like FILTHY with dumplings every where. Like every kinda electric scooter thing you could ever want." he re-assured her, "China is the MOVE."
- Aria Seraphine has posed:
Aria's lips curve into a soft, nostalgic smile as she listens to Colin's enthusiastic outburst. His excitement is infectious, and for a moment, the heaviness in her heart lifts. She leans into him, finding a surprising comfort in his steady presence.
'How do you know that?'
"How do you not?" It's that borderline level of snark that makes it unclear of she's kidding or not.
"China is beautiful," she says, her voice carrying a hint of longing. "The temples, the way the Great Wall snakes across the mountains like a giant dragon."
She shakes her head slightly, her smile turning a bit wistful. Colin's arm around her shoulder feels like an anchor, grounding her in the present moment. "I don't speak the language anymore."
She looks over at him, seeing the excitement and determination in his eyes. "Learning it again could be an adventure," she muses, her voice gaining a bit of strength. "The Li River, The Forbidden City, the Lantern Festival in Pingxi, and all the dumplings we could ever eat..."
His reassurance and his vision of China, filled with electric scooters and martial arts, bring a genuine laugh to her lips. "China is the move," she echoes, laughter free on her lips. "And who knows? Maybe along the way, I'll remember a few words, and we can discover alllll the magic that land holds together."
She almost sounds serious. But she _definitely_ sounds blitzed out of her mind.