There were a lot of factors that went into the feelings that Teddy felt towards her aunt, and the fact that they were all mostly negative feelings. It wasn't just because her parents were dead. It wasn't just because her aunt was a freak. It wasn't just because the blonde woman had been thin as a twig, unable to keep her hands from shaking obviously, always craving alcohol, when they first met.
It was a lot. It was everything, all of it, all together. Especially the fact that Elsa seemed to think she knew everything - she seemed to think she could just step into their role and take care of them when she was gone for weeks at a time, when she would be out of the hotel for up to ten hours at a time, when she didn't have enough money to give them what they deserved.
Her parents had had money. They had taken good care of the kids. They made sure to spend time with them whenever they could. Her father had been a helicopter pilot, yes, but he was never away for more than a few days. It would be nice to see Elsa make the same efforts.
Cyber was a pretty cool person, Teddy thought. She was trying to act like she was in charge of them, but she was definitely not Elsa. She seemed much more relaxed, more cool. And hey, she was pushing to get Teddy out of study hall, so that was awesome.
At the older girl's threats, Teddy narrowed her eyes a bit, crossing her arms over her chest. "Nice try, but Elsa doesn't even have any of my baby pictures. She hadn't even gone out of her way at all to meet any of us until our parents died. When she took control of me, I was ten. Besides, most of Patrick and mine's baby pictures were lost when we were moved across the States."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/5/2019 at 11:08 PM
Post #412
Oh, it was amusing to think about just how little damage the teenager believed Cyber could do. A smile spread slowly across her face as she shook her head slightly and chuckled. She liked Teddy and she knew that underneath all of that teenage angst and indifference there was a very sweet girl who just had been dealt a rough hand in life. She wanted to be her friend, but in the back of her mind she also didn't want to step on Spirit's toes.
However, given everything that the other woman had done for her, Cyber felt like this was the best way she could pay her back.
"Ah, the faithless shall get their just rewards," she said with a smirk, glancing at Teddy with a sparkle in her yellow-green eyes, "Even if I couldn' find a single digi copy of ya baby pics online, easy peasy to just find some that looks like ya and pass them off that way. Won' make no difference to the people seein' 'em." She shrugged and pulled a pen out of her pocket and began clicking it repeatedly.
There were no doubts in Cyber's mind that she was slightly out of her depth in this situation. A few of her cousins were Teddy's age but they were not so full of anger and grief. She might not ever be able to pull down the girl's barriers, but she was going to give it her vest shot. For now, her best bet was to get Teddy comfortable with her, get her to see that she was on the teenager's side. She was trying to start with the study hall business, and then work on building their level of trust.
"I ain't tryin' to be ya nanny, T," she said, her eyes and tone suddenly serious as she spoke to Teddy, "If you think it's a better idea to notdo ya homework's then don'. However, if ya think I gonna keep sticking my neck out for ya with ya auntie if you don' then you got anotha think comin'." She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back on the girl's bed till she was resting propped up on her elbows.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 3/5/2019 at 11:33 PM
Post #413
Eight days. Ziva had known for eight days. And somehow, it was as if knowing seemed to increase all of her symptoms tenfold. She had become even more tired, napping just about every day. Hungrier, though to avoid any sort of detection from anyone, she hadn't remedied that symptom a whole ton. She was even moodier, though she was trying to control it now, not wanting to strain relations with her best friend even more than they had already been strained on the night of graduation.
She had time. She had talked to Flora, and was more careful about everything now. But she knew, too, that she still had time. She wouldn't start showing for at least eight more weeks. Diego didn't need to know. She could just enjoy her only true friendship before she'd inevitably have to destroy it by revealing the consequences of her stupidity.
It was storming outside. Ziva felt her heart racing as she sat on her bed, legs drawn up close to her chest as she gazed out of the window. She loved storms. Watching the rain as it pelted down against the window, the impenetrable wall. The rain had no chance, but it kept trying, because that was all it knew how to do. She'd always spend rainstorms wit Diego, back home in Spain. He loved to watch them, too. Sometimes, he'd move the sofa so it was facing the window rather than the television, and she'd cuddle up next to him with a blanket over the both of them and two mugs of steaming hot chocolate. They'd just sit there and watch. No talking. Just watching.
Suddenly feeling as if she needed Diego now, she needed that moment again where nothing really mattered - she didn't spare any thoughts to her homework, or her GPA. All she focused on was Diego and the storm. She needed that. She needed an escape from this place, these people, this parasite within her. She needed him.
Swallowing hard, she stood up and left her room, crossing the small hallway that separated her room from Diego's. It was kind of nice, having this whole building just for her and him, but at the same time, it was kind of lonely.
She knocked on his door once before opening it, leaning against the doorframe with her head cocked against it, short hair hanging down on one side. She had one hand crossed low on her stomach, and the other was on the side of her neck. Diego was laying in his bed, looking almost as pensive as she was.
"Shalom," she greeted him softly, and then brushed her hair behind her left ear. "...Would you mind?"
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/6/2019 at 5:43 AM
Post #414
It was a dark and stormy night, and Diego knew he should be asleep. Instead he was laying flat on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His grey eyes were just as turbulent as the atmosphere outside. As he listened to the howl of the wind and the pounding of the rain, he struggled to try and keep his mind off of Ziva. It was a losing battle, and truth be told he already knew it, but he determinedly kept trying. He was shocked and frustrated to find out just how hard it really was to do.
Every flash of lightning, every roar of thunder brought fresh flashes of memories to Diego's mind, and they all had to do with Ziva. They had been best friends for a long time, though not as long as it often felt. Watching rain and thunder storms had been another one of their "things", a tradition which had carried through into their lives as indelendent young adults. He could remember the nights they'd spend cuddled up the couch, mugs of cocoa in their hands, with more vivid clarity than ever.
Things are different now...thats why..., said the unbidden thought which penetrated Diego's clouded mind. It was a truth be could no longer deny...
The knock on his door made Diego jump almost a foot off of his bed, and when he saw it was Ziva (who else would it be?) he somehow felt no less startled. He stared at her while she stood there, leaning against the doorway in such a...Ziva way. His stomach somersaulted violently but he tried to ignore it. He tried to focus on her, his Z, his best friend, coming to him to lay next to him while the storm raged outside. It was so normal, so typical, so indicative of the way they'd used to be, that his hands ached to reach out to her.
But...Diego knew he couldn't do that. Not now, not after that night he'd been stupid enough to take her to that party...
"I...," he said, stopping as his voice croaked awkwardly as he'd been sitting there staring without hardly breathing, and he cleared his throat in what he hoped was a casual manner, "Sorry...I mean, of course you can, Z." He scooted over on the mattress to give her room, trying not to listen to the wild thumping of his heart.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 3/6/2019 at 4:14 PM
Post #415
Ziva had spent the last eight days thinking about what it all could mean. All of the possible scenarios, everything crushing down on her. It certainly didn't do anything to help her anxieties, though at the request of Flora, she had been trying to keep them in check as much as she could. She felt no warmth towards the baby inside her, the intruder, but she was making more of an effort to take care of herself and it because that's what Flora told her to do. She had thought about everything, but at the same time, she had tried her best not to think about any of it.
She knew she couldn't tell Diego. She knew how he'd respond. How everyone else had responded to her. She repelled those that she loved. And though she dreaded the day she'd have to tell Diego and ruin perhaps one of the only things that had kept her alive thus far, a small voice in the back of her brain reminded her that if she didn't tell him before it was obvious, she'd have even less control over it. But she had time.
It broke her heart, the thought of being abandoned by Diego. It was something she'd stressed over before, but now, he had an actual reason to abandon her. Or, he would, when he found out. Although she had only known Diego for four years, they had just kind of...clicked. She didn't know how to describe it; thinking back on it, it baffled even her. She couldn't lose him.
Taking a few steps forward, Ziva actively tried to control her erratic breathing and palpitating heart - something, she found, had been happening more often nowadays.
She reached his bed and slowly climbed in, laying down next to him and grasping his hand in hers. She wanted to say something, anything, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She just wriggled closer to him and stared up at the ceiling, trying to forget about everything.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/6/2019 at 6:23 PM
Post #416
Describing Diego's emotions at this very moment would be difficult at best. He watched Ziva step further into his room as though it were happening in slow motion...which it kind of was because she was moving with agonizing slowness. Agonizing because not only did he want her next to him as quickly possible, but her pace was giving him far too much time to think about...well, everything. It was "everything" that had been keeping him awake night after night, and for Diego "everything" went by another name.
Ziva..., he thought to himself as she approached his bed and climbed in next to him. She really was his everything.
Thinking back on everything, Diego wasn't sure how he could have been so blind. There had always been something about Ziva that went beyond just their friendship. They had never questioned their connection, they had both just clung to each other like life preservers. If he hadn't gone and messed things up, maybe...maybe...but no. He had tried to patch things up between them since they'd arrived here at the compound, but Ziva had been moody and irrational at random lately and he was certain it was because she was angry at him. After all, it was all Diego's fault.
He had insisted she go to the party. He had told her the punch was safe. He was the one who had failed to protect her. So he couldn't blame her for being mad, maybe even hating him deep down, but Diego did miss the way things had been.
"Too bad we don't have any hot chocolate, huh?" he said to her softly, trying not to focus on how he had never realized just how perfectly Ziva fit up against him like this, "Sounds like a pretty good storm going on out there." As he talked, he wrapped his arm slowly around Ziva's shoulder and wrapped his fingers gently around her hand.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 3/6/2019 at 6:41 PM
Post #417
It had always tested her heart, when she and Diego would cuddle up next to each other. It would make her heart flutter, skip a beat, simply pulse louder, and just like always, it didn't fail to do so now. She had fallen for him a long time ago, but as she had well established by now, she wasn't some gorgeous preppy girl that she'd often seen him date. The cheerleaders, the athletes. The girls who would use daddy's credit card to buy clothing and makeup and shoes. That's who he dated. That's who jocks dated. Not nerds. Not geeks. Not abandoned orphans, foster children, the homeless and alone.
That's what made this closeness...sweeter, almost. Diego could figure that it was just friendly closeness - she could easily claim it was part of her Israeli culture, if he questioned it. He hadn't yet. Still, it was a way in which she could satisfy her idiotic fantasies of actually being able to be close to him and love him openly, while not triggering any sort of suspicion from him.
Of course, if he told her to stop, then she would. If he told her to stop, she'd likely run away from him altogether as to not face the embarrassment. That was sure to happen eventually. But he hadn't... Yet...
Ziva couldn't help a small smile at his mourning over their lack of hot chocolate. "The stronger, the better," she told him, something she had come to live by in many aspects - storms, coffee, tea, Diego. She was glad of the dim light, because she was certain her face probably tinged a little red at that thought.
Something occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the ceiling, and then plucked her glasses off of her nose and place them on the nightstand beside the bed. "Hey, Diego?" she asked with a mixture of curiosity and horror. "Do you think we lost our scholarships?"
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/8/2019 at 7:48 AM
Post #418
Being close to Ziva had always been a source of comfort for Diego. He had never really known much affection from his family. His parents were hardly ever around because of work, and his much younger brother was essentially being raised by a nanny who had never liked Diego. He had always felt very alone at home, which is why he spent so much of his time hanging out with friends and going to parties as a teenager.
Since his parents didn't really care what he did, Diego had gotten into his fair amount of mischief, and often times it would lead to disaster...but Ziva had always been there to hold him and make him feel like he mattered to someone.
"The stronger, the better," he agreed, wrapping his arm just the tiniest bit tighter around her, "I like the way the rain sounds on these buildings." He smiled a soft smile as another clap of thunder tore through the air.
With his grey eyes, cloudy as the skies outside, fixed on the window, Diego tried not to think too much about Ziva's closeness, to simply enjoy it as he used to be able to. He did enjoy it, but now he worried that he would slip up, push things too far and then she'd know what he felt for her. She was his friend, but he knew she would laugh at him. He knew she deserved someone so much better than he was and she would know that, too. He was better off to just try and keep things the way they had been before.
Even if holding Ziva this close and not being able to act on his feelings made Diego want to scream in agony.
"What?" he said to Ziva, momentarily confused by her sudden question, but a second later he understood and laughed aloud, "Oh, Z...yeah, I think its safe to say we'll have to reapply." He laughed again as he grabbed the blanket to pull up around the both of them.
Creativity
Level 71
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 253
Posts: 5,852
Posted: 3/8/2019 at 4:18 PM
Post #419
It was weird, the thoughts and emotions that Ziva had begun to think and feel in the past couple weeks. There were days when she wished desperately that she had the courage and the strength to confess everything to Diego. That she had the conviction to get it out there and the social adequacy to smooth things over if they went bad. She had never been very good at talking about herself or her emotions, though, having grown up without any sort of parental figure to whom she could talk and understand everything. She was able to talk to Diego more than anyone else, though, and she just wanted to be able to tell him everything.
It should be easy, in theory. But she couldn't even bring herself to tell him what her Ability was. Sheol. He had shown her his Ability. Not told, shown. And she couldn't say it. She couldn't even say it. It wasn't like her Ability was bad, or particularly strange, or embarrassing. It killed her that she couldn't tell him.
"I worked my whole life for that scholarship," she muttered bitterly, wrinkling her nose a little bit in annoyance. It was true. She had known from a very young age that she wasn't as privileged as some others, so if she was going to go anywhere in her life, she'd have to work for it. And that's what she did. She worked hard. Her eyes narrowed a little bit. That wasn't fair. Nevermind the baby. It wasn't fair that these people who held them here would so effectively be able to take away her life's work.
She just about felt her mood swing a little bit, from that passive bitterness to anguish. She wanted to talk to Diego. She wanted to be able to talk to him. Her parents didn't really care for her, but her father had once told her that every journey started with a single step. She'd have to step.
"Diego?" she asked tentatively, her voice wavering slightly, and then shifted even closer to him so her head was pressed up against the inside of his shoulder and her hand's grip on his tightened just a little bit. "I can detect and diagnose illnesses." There. It wasn't super descriptive, but it was there. He'd understand.
...Wouldn't he?
-
A system had seemingly developed itself in Wire's life. She enjoyed being second-in-command. She didn't test Tox's leadership, and for the most part, he respected hers, and they were able to work together to lower the workload for each of them. For example, Wire enjoyed making the chore list, actually. She could use what she knew about people, what she had come to know, to put them in their respective chore places. Things were distributed equally and fairly. Some people, of course, had other jobs non-related to the chore list, such as the newer female member, Physic, working in the infirmary, with the other Unmentionable. And Steel was more flexible, so sometimes she didn't put him on, and would approach him about the ones they were missing for a day.
A system had been established. It was focused. Controlled. Planned.
But now? Now, Wire was chaotic. She couldn't find her necklace, the one that she had been given as a baby, her one keepsake from her parents. She remembered taking it off briefly in order to help out in the garden without risking tarnishing it. What she found was that she really shouldn't work in the garden, because it never seemed to end well.
She was down on her hands and knees, searching desperately under all of the vacated tables near the garden - vacated at her demand. She couldn't lose her necklace. When she was growing up, sometimes it had felt as if that necklace was the only thing she had motivating her, when she was exhausted from spending all day being manipulated by her brother and every night working hard for the upper class. The necklace kept her controlled.
And now, when she worked hard to keep the compound running, the necklace had kept her together. She couldn't even remember her mother's smile, or her father's laugh. All she remembered was how she had loved them.
In truth, she couldn't remember the last time she had picked flowers.
She needed to find her necklace.
Edited By Creativity on 3/8/2019 at 4:41 PM.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,034
Posted: 3/8/2019 at 9:59 PM
Post #420
For that one brief moment when Diego had been able to laugh at Ziva's concern for their scholarships, things had felt as though the night of the graduation party had never happened. Then they continued the process of getting under the blanket so that they could fall asleep while listening to the storm, and his rapidly beating heart was a painful reminder of just how much things had changed. This was something they had done often, a perfectly innocent activity as far as they had both been concerned.
And now...well, now Diego couldn't lay next to Ziva, his best friend, without thinking about just how intimate it suddenly felt.
"We could always just explain that we were captured by a bunch of ninjas in a black van and taken to a remote island in the middle of nowhere," he said to her, his tone playfully casual while the glint in his eyes gave away his humor, "Maybe they'll be lenient with us." He glanced at her and winked, unable to keep a grin off of his face.
When Ziva said his name, Diego had known her long enough to detect the slight tremor of anxiety in her voice, and pressed herself closer against him, he felt his heart skip a few beats. He took a few, what he hoped were inconspicuous, deep breaths. It had always been one of his favorite things when Ziva felt comfortable enough to open up to him. He loved that he could be someone she could talk to about anything. In fact, the idea of her confiding in someone besides himself made something akin to jealousy take root within him.
Especially being here, among people who were practical strangers, trapped in this compound, Diego couldn't see her talking to anyone about anything she wouldn't talk to him about first.
"That's cool," he told Ziva, smiling softly and squeezing her hand lightly in return, "Certainly seems a lot more useful than mine...especially lately." Truthfully, he hadn't used his ability since their first day here when he had shown her what he could do. He didn't want to be responsible for blowing up the compound's electricity.
-----
Even after several years on this island, Echo still hated how bright it almost always was outside during the day. Before being brought here she had made her living as a geologist who specialized in cave exploration. There was usually no light in caves besides what you brought with you, and she spent so much time exploring that her eyes had become rather sensitive. She longed to return to her dark world of cracks and crevices, to run her gloved hands over stalactites and stalagmites.
"Which is about as likely as you learning how to fly, Gyp," she said with an overdramatic sigh as she eyed the small shrew who sat on the ground next to her and merely eyed her blankly when she spoke until she huffed, "We really need to work on your conversational skills." She shook her head, her wild, dark chocolate colored hair threatening to escape the confines of her kerchief.
The playful banter was part of their daily routine. This was when Echo and her shrew familiar, Gypsum, had a little free time from chores to kick back in the shade and relax. She could tell by the length of the shadow of the tree she was sitting beneath that it was time for her to head for the kitchen. She stood up, grabbed Gypsum to tuck up onto her shoulder and started to move in the same direction she always went, same time...every day. It often felt monotonous, but she pressed on through a sheer force of will.
It was as Echo was passing by the garden that she noticed the dark-skinned woman. She recognized her as the one who had stepped in as second in command around here lately, but she was so awful with names that she couldn't remember what hers was. The woman looked frantic, and was looking around down on her knees as though looking for something. On the one hand, she didn't want to deviate from her path, but on the other hand, helping this woman out would at least be something different.
"Boa tarde, minha amiga," she said, jogging the short distance which separated the two of them, "Forgive me for intruding, but you look as though you might be able to use some help." She smiled a friendly smile and reached up to tuck a wayward lock of hair back behind her ear.
Edited By Britters on 3/9/2019 at 4:34 AM.
Go to Page:
1, 2, 3... 41, 42, 43... 52, 53, 54
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to delete this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to restore this post?
Confirm Action
Are you sure you wish to report this post?
Go to Top
This Page loaded in 0.015 seconds.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Credits | Job Opportunities
