Although Ziva didn't look at Diego, not yet, she could feel the tension the moment he got a little closer. It was uncomfortable, awkward, and she just wanted to make it stop. She shouldn't have this tension with her best friend. Best friends shouldn't have tension. But she knew, it was because of the night before last, when she had royally screwed up. Her memories were very foggy of that night, but she recalled, vaguely, being the one to initiate. It wasn't' Diego's fault at all; he was under the effects of alcohol, and she was aware that it wasn't his first time. She had transformed herself into another one of his neglected conquests, and that perhaps hurt more than the discomfort in her lower regions, which was pure punishment for the act, she knew.
After her parents had randomly come to the decision to get rid of her when she was ten years old, Ziva had learned to be somewhat independent. She could definitely take care of herself, but the moment she started caring for someone else, that's when chaos lurked in the shadows, waiting for just one slip-up to trigger her anxiety. This one was... quite the slip-up.
At Diego's words, she finally did glance up at him. Her gaze was a little hard, and she almost immediately looked back to her organizing of the few groceries she had bought. He wanted to talk about it. Of course he did. Well, she had done her praying. She had repented for her sins. She didn't want to talk, or really think about that night at all anymore.
After she finished with the groceries, she leaned back against the counter with a sigh and fiddled with her necklace absently, looking at nothing in particular. "No, we don't. We don't have to talk about it, Diego. We should just...put it behind us, pretend it didn't happen."
It felt like a tornado of chaos had entered her heart on that night, and in spite of herself, she couldn't figure out why it had happened, really, or what it meant. What it would mean. The past, present, and future had suddenly become a muddled mess, and she felt like she was standing alone in the middle of it, heart pounding slowly and loudly in her chest. She just wanted it all to be gone.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
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Posted: 1/10/2019 at 5:23 PM
Post #292
Nothing felt right, and Diego hated it. For years the two of them had maintained a perfect friendship, not letting any comments people at school might make about them every so often upset them (at least, he'd never let it upset him). It had been challenging, but it had always been worth it, because Ziva was without a doubt the most important person in his life. He didn't know what he would ever do without her and this tension and rift that now existed between them made him want to yank at his hair and scream.
"Z...," he said with soft exasperation when she told him they needed to just forget about what had happened, placing his head in his hands and staring at the ceiling for a moment, "It did happen though, Z, and I..." He trailed off, unable to keep going as soon as he glanced at her again.
There was no doubt that Diego was not always the most sensitive guy in the world, but his friend was hurting inside, that much he didn't need someone to point out to him. If Ziva had really spent the whole day at synagogue it meant that she felt like she had done something horrible, and all he wanted to do was to pull her close and tell her it would all be alright, like he had always done when they were younger and she had an anxiety attack. Things were different now, they had changed, and now he was unsure about just how to proceed with her. He didn't want to push her, didn't want to make this space between anymore strange and immense.
"Fine," he said, one word which felt like it was breaking his soul into many pieces, shrugging his shoulders with a casualness he didn't actually feel, "We can just forget it...if thats really what you want to do. I just...are you alright? I mean...do you feel okay?" He could feel his face burn as he asked the questions, feeling like he had no more worth than a cockroach. How could he have let this happen to her? How could he have failed so horribly at protecting her?
Creativity
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Posts: 5,852
Posted: 1/10/2019 at 7:05 PM
Post #293
A definite, resolute no. Ziva most certainly did not feel okay. Though, she was fairly certain he didn't really mean her mental state. Well, he might have... In truth, her whole world had been shaken that night, and she knew for a fact that if she could take it back, if she could go back to that day and refuse Diego's suggestion she go to the party, she would. But it was her own slip-up, not his. All Diego did was try to be a good friend, get her into some fun. She appreciated it. But she should have figured it out. She should have realized that a high school graduation party with one of the most popular guys in school would not have been innocent.
At Diego's questions, though, she cast him another sharp look, arms crossing her chest protectively. Her own face began to burn, but she was a little surprised when she saw his face tinge a light red color. It wasn't super visible against his tan skin, but it was still there.
"I don't...really want to discuss that," she admitted, now staring fixedly at the floor. She was quiet for a long while after that, not wanting to leave it at that. Her statement, however true, made him look somewhat perverted, when she knew that he was just...concerned. So, she forced herself to look at him again, this time straight in the eye. "But... all pain goes away with time, I've found."
With another sigh, she dropped her arms and moved again, going to sit down at the table with the bag of takeout she had brought home. "It'll be fine. Just forget about it all, Diego, and it'll be fine." She began taking the food out of the bag, passing a couple of Diego's favorite tacos to a seat beside her, grabbing her own tostada, and placing the nachos they shared whenever they ordered from Waukine's in between them. "Now, the food's going to get cold. Are you going to help me eat it, or not?"
Edited By Creativity on 1/10/2019 at 7:12 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 1/11/2019 at 7:25 PM
Post #294
There were many questions still floating around in Symphony's mind as she sat in the passenger seat of the car which Spirit was driving. She tried to occupy herself by watching the scenery outside change from the city she'd grown up again to more rural settings as they reached the countryside. Her grandmother had always preached that the inside of a moving vehicle was not the place to have deep discussions. It had been her decision to go with Spirit to where ever she was planning on taking her, and she would just have to wait until they arrived to try getting her answers.
Of course, it was hard not to think about the situation at all, so Symphony allowed herself to think back on the events of the day. She thought about walking into that internet cafe with no suspicions that the day might take such a strange turn. She had purchased her usual extra sweet latte and sat down to get to work. Then Spirit had showed up and there'd been that strange guy who had attacked her when she'd left. It was all a lot to process, but she hadn't even been given that luxury before being forced to make a hard decision. Now, well now she had no choice but to follow the path in front of her.
Vaguely, Symphony thought of how proud Nana Jones would be of her. Thinking about her grandmother caused a sharp pain in her chest, but she knew she was making the right call. Whatever she'd managed to get caught up in, the bad guys knew about her, and it was safer for herself and her family for her to leave. Spirit's last words to her grandmother back at the house lingered in the back of her mind, though she didn't allow herself to become too eager or excited about the possibility that her grandmother might be able to be saved. It was a dangerous line of thought to let herself be swallowed up by.
"How much further?" she asked Spirit, the first words she'd spoken for the entire drive, glancing sideways at the attractive blonde woman, "I don't much care for travelin' at night time." She'd always had a slight fear of the dark, and in fact still had a nightlight in her room which her cousins always teased her about mercilessly.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 1/11/2019 at 10:38 PM
Post #295
Driving had always been a bit of a calming thing for Spirit, though never in excess, and never when she had things to worry about. Iceland was not a particularly big country, so driving across it didn't take too long at all. A long drive in Iceland was two hours. A long drive in America, she had found after first coming here, could very well last days. Luckily, the drive from Cyber's internet cafe to the resistance base, even with the stop at her family's home, was no more than a few hours, and Spirit was able to deal. She had had to go farther for recruits before.
She couldn't help a smile at the other girl's nervous questions. Truth be told, Spirit was a little jittery, too. There was a light drizzle outside, and while driving in rain didn't scare her - she had lived in Iceland, after all, it was cold - the possibility of a storm, and the loud, booming noises that accompanied, well... She didn't quite like those all that much.
"I'm surprised this is the first time you've sounded anxious," Spirit laughed a little. "After all, you're in a car with a half-blind illegal immigrant as your driver." Throughout the drive, her face had been tilted a little bit towards Cyber, so her left eye was more forward. That way, she had a better view of the road, and she was also able to watch the passenger out of the corner of her eye. "But yes, we're almost there."
It was true. Within fifteen minutes, just as the sun was going down, Spirit pulled up in front of a seven-story building that could easily pass as a low-quality hotel. In fact, the sign out front called it such, but also proclaimed it being completely full, which, Spirit knew, it wasn't.
However, walking inside with Cyber and Kraftaverk, Spirit marveled at how well they had turned the first floor into a hotel lobby of sorts. Savanna was even dressed as a hotel clerk. She smirked when they entered. "There's no wonder you're the head of recruitment, Elsa. I don't think people can say no to you," she laughed. "Rashid is on the third floor."
"I'm too pretty, Savanna," Spirit teased, and then led Cyber over towards the elevator and set for them to ascend to the third level. She turned to Cyber with a grin. "Welcome to the Resistance."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 1/12/2019 at 5:56 AM
Post #296
Growing up in the city, Symphony had never really have the luxury of being concerned with who was the one operating the vehicle she was traveling in. She made enough to be able to afford a vehicle, but she had never bothered to learn how to drive and every penny she made went into her grandmother's medical expense fund. Public transportation had been her friend for many, many years now, and it had never bothered her at all. It certainly didn't hurt when she was the only passenger and her driver was drop dead gorgeous.
"Why should I be anxious?" she asked Spirit playfully, giving her a sly sideways glance, "You just described at least half of New York's cab drivers." She chuckled lightly at her own joke, leaning back in her seat.
Something nagged at Symphony as she began to start seeing more buildings scattered throughout the landscape outside her window, which hopefully indicated they were approaching their destination finally. She really should be feeling anxious about this situation, but for some reason she felt reasonably calm. She knew her grandmother would be well taken care of by the rest of the family, and being around Spirit was no small bonus. Besides being totally beautiful, the other woman was also full of calm and confidence whicb she found completely sexy.
"You for real?" she asked as they pulled up to the shabby looking hotel and then got out and entered the lobby, "Sure don't look like much... " The inside looked normal enough, though the clerk obviously recognized Spirit, which was at least a food sign that the other woman wasn't totally off her rocker.
Creativity
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Posts: 5,852
Posted: 1/12/2019 at 9:59 AM
Post #297
"Appearances are just that, Cyber," Spirit laughed at the other girl's comments about the state of the Resistance headquarters. "When Strength bought this place five years ago, and and the Resistance was about twenty people, they had to build it from the ground up, basically. It was only about six months ago that we finished building, though we had been using it for long before that. He made the bottom floor look so shabby for a reason."
The elevator doors opened up to the third floor, which was much nicer in decor and setup. The third floor was the Recruitment floor, and the one that Spirit often spent the most time on. Rather than rooms like a hotel would have, the third floor opened into a breakroom, with hallways on either side that had offices connected. Beckoning Cyber to follow, she headed down one of the hallways and entered an office that was labeled "38 - Elsa Olvirdottir".
She didn't get to take two steps into the room before a small human hit her legs like a battering ram. "You're home!" he cried happily, but the force in which he hit her cause Spirit to just about stumble back into Cyber.
"I'm home," she laughed, picking up the four year old and bracing him on her hip. "Didn't I tell you I'd be back by night, Jojo?"
"You did," cut in the man that was sitting at her desk, a twig-like man with a Middle Eastern accent. "Jojo's been asking me for two hours straight now when you'd come home."
Spirit rolled her eye at him, but then another one of the three kids in the room, eight year old Patrick, came up to give her a hug. "I missed you!" he told her, and then looked skeptically at Cyber. "Who's this? She looks weird."
"What- Patrick!" she scolded him with a grin. She glanced back at Cyber with a look that she hoped relayed, 'this is my life, every day'. "This is Cyber. She's nice." One Patrick detached from her, Spirit was able to take a few more steps into the room, and faced down the third kid. Teddy was thirteen, and was leaning against the wall with her shoulders hunched and arms crossed moodily, glaring at Spirit. "Now, where's my hug from you?"
Teddy's jaw clenched for a moment, and then she pushed herself off of the wall. "You're not my mom," she muttered, shoving Spirit to the side, as well as Cyber, as she stalked out of the room.
Rashid was giving her a sympathetic glare, but well, Spirit was an optimistic person. She offered him a small shrug. "She'll come around." Then, she finally turned to Cyber again. "Cyber, this is Rashid. He's like, the second-in-command as far as Recruitment goes."
"Symphony Jones, I take it?" Rashid asked as he stood and offered Cyber a hand in greeting.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 1/13/2019 at 12:17 AM
Post #298
When she took a moment to think about it, Symphony realized that it as sensible to have your headquarters look shabby on the outside. It made the place less obvious as a target, and the hotel aspect allowed many people to come and go without looking suspicious. A rather brilliant idea really, she was thinking to herself as she followed Spirit through the lobby and into the elevator. She was beginning to feel every so slightly antsy as they both came out onto a much nicer looking hallway.
"So," she started to say to Spirit as they entered her office, "What exactly do you d-?" She didn't get a chance to finish her question, since the moment they got into the room Spirit was immediately bombarded.
There was no helping it, Symphony couldn't keep the large grin off of her face. She instinctively reached out a hand to brace Spirit as she was engrossed in a hug by the youngest of the three children in the room, but the other woman managed to steady herself in time. She watched the family reunion happening in front of her, giving them all plenty of space. At first, she thought they were Spirit's children, but then there was an awkward moment when the oldest child, a teenage girl by the looks of it, made a comment under her breath about Spirit not being her mom.
She must be their aunt, Symphony thought to herself, since there was still definitely a family resemblance. She glanced after the teenager with a slight frown on her face.
"Charming, that one," she said very softly under her breath before turning back face Spirit and the other guy, "Yeah, Symphony, thats me." She stepped forward and took the other guy's hand firmly in her own. Her uncle had been the one to teach her the importance of a good, confident handshake. "Its good to meet ya." She looked back over to Spirit and grinned.
"Do I get to be introduced to these littl'uns, too?"
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 1/13/2019 at 12:44 AM
Post #299
Before Spirit could say anything, Jojo took Cyber's hand firmly from Rashid and told her in a very friendly tone, "I'm Jojo! I'm this many!" and then retracted his hand and held up four fingers. Spirit couldn't help the giant grin on her face as she watched him. Of the three kids she parented now, Jojo was the closest to her own.
When her brother and his wife were both killed by a drunk driver after a date night, their three children were left orphaned. Of her siblings, it would have made sense for literally any of the others to have taken them in. Aron, the eldest, was in a committed relationship, and they had two children. He had used this as an excuse not to take in three more. Sindri was twenty-one at the time of Hilmar and Katrina's deaths, and he used college as his excuse. The only one Spirit kind of understood was Elvar, who was only eighteen at the time. But still, she had only been twenty-four, single. She had rarely spent a night at home, drank more than was likely healthy. She didn't have a job, or really much of a life. She was a one-eyed, lonely, depressed ****** of a person. But of her remaining family, she was the only one who would snap to her senses and see past her own selfishness and take in the three children.
While Teddy was ten when Spirit took them in, Patrick was five, and Jojo, well... He was only one. Spirit had the closest connection to him. She had practically raised him. She had been there for his first word, his first conversation. He was hers.
"That's Patrick," she told the newcomer, gesturing to the eight year-old who had sat back down in a chair and began playing on his phone again. "And, uh, that was Teddy," she gestured behind them, vaguely indicating the direction in which Teddy had gone. "They were, ah, my brother's kids."
"Hey, Jojo," Rashid said to the young boy as he took him from his aunt. "Do you want to ask your aunt what you asked me this morning?"
Jojo nodded excitedly. "Why was there a shirtless man in your room, Aunt Elsa?"
Spirit felt heat rush to her face a little. "Um, we were doing...business." She looked at Rashid worriedly. "Was he upset? I completely forgot about him..."
Rashid laughed and set Jojo on the ground. "Go to bed, buddy. You too, Patrick. I'll be there in a few," he told them. Jojo wrinkled his nose, but Rashid was a step ahead. "If you're already lying cozy in bed when I get there, then I'll read Fox in Socks." With a gasp, Jojo took Patrick by the hand and dragged the elder of the two out into the hallway, shouting about his favorite book. "No, he was in a good mood, actually," Rashid told Spirit with a raised eyebrow. "You shouldn't bring people here, Elsa. Why does it matter his mood?"
With a roll of her eyes, Spirit crossed her arms over her chest. "Because I was bribing him into giving me work," she shrugged. "Betcha I'll get a call back now," she winked at him (is it winking when one only has one eye, or simply blinking?) and turned back to Cyber again and laughed. "Sorry, those kids make everything crazy. But as I'm pretty sure I told you before, family is important here, too."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 1/13/2019 at 2:00 AM
Post #300
As was clearly evident from her past, family was extremely important to Symphony. That was why she found the whole scene in this office charming and sweet. There were obviously a few issues if the teenager's attitude was any indication, but no family was perfect. When Jojo walked forward and boldly grabbed her hand, she could only smile brightly at the little child, and laughed musically when he told her how old her was.
"It is very nice to meet you, Jojo," she told him, giving his small hand a firm shake, "Your aunt was quite anxious to get back here to you, and I'm sure I can see why." She gave him a little wink, and then shot a grin in Spirit's direction.
The conversation between Spirit and Rashid felt private, but neither were really treating it as such so Symphony just decided to look around the office while they spoke. She had watched the two little boys dash out of the room excitedly and she felt her heart ache for her younger cousins. It had been far too long since she'd made time for them, and now she didn't know when she'd ever see them again. The thought made her feel sad, but the memory of the teenager, Teddy, was enough to keep her mind from wandering too far down that path, and she vaguely wondered where the girl had gone.
You can't fix everyone else's problems..., the wise, melodic voice of Nana Jones came into her mind, and Symphony chewed on the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. That was the one bit of advice from her grandmother that she'd always had trouble following.
"Shirtless man, eh?" she said finally, just to have something to say, and turned to face Spirit, "This place is becoming more interesting all the time." She smirked a little and then suddenly yawned and stretched her arms up behind her head. "So, there any food here? Room service sounds great."
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