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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 15, 2017 5:08:08 GMT
This is probably Elena's best batch of beignets yet. Even better then the ones down at the Café du Monde.
The thought passed casually enough by Manolo's mind as he reached into the paper bag by his side and took out another deep-fried pastry, careful to make sure the powdered sugar didn't fall off onto his shirt. Perching at ease on the thick branch of a tree that overlooked the Antionette river, he bit into the still warm sweet and let the delicious flavor flood his mouth. They tasted all the better knowing they had come from someone who was grateful for the things he had done for them.
After all, it wasn't too often that someone like Elena, a young woman struggling to raise two children after her boyfriend had left her and only just managing to keep the doors of her tiny family restaurant open, opened the back door to their rundown house to find a brown paper bag containing a wad of 100 dollar bills that added up to almost 3,000. However, that was exactly what had happened that morning to the young mother. And it hadn't been the first time either. She might not know where the money had come from or who was leaving it on her back door, but it was clear that she was grateful all the same because whenever such a thing happen she always left a container of food out on the same spot. Good homemade food, the kind that made one think of family and feel warm inside after just a few bites.
It tastes just like Mama's cooking. Almost.
The bittersweet thought caused the young man to pause for a moment in his eating and instead turn his brown gaze out towards the river and the surrounding lights. He knew he should be in a good mood. After all, his latest escapade stealing high-price necklaces, rings and jewels from a jewelry store had gone off without a hitch and, despite tripping an alarm, he had gotten away scotch free. He'd also made good money on selling the jewelry in the Magnolia flea market before dropping off the larger part of the funds on Elena's doorstep. However, the thought of his dead mother had stirred up deep and painful feelings in the young thief, feelings that were never far away from his mind. Sometimes the yearning to see her, to just speak with her was so strong it was almost like a physical wound that refused to heal. And yet even with his ability to commune with the spirits, he had never reached her. No, he could only speak with those that lingered on in some way and she had moved on..... |
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 15, 2017 13:13:13 GMT
Even though Yang was at home to technically rest from Weiss's case, she found herself unable to sit still for any length of time. The team was getting close to a break through, she just knew it. Shadow had managed to track down exactly where that magical concrete was being sold. Really, the only thing left was to look at who had bought it recently and see if any of the customers looked fishy. Yang wasn't sure exactly how they were going to investigate that. Maybe see if any of the identities were fake? Regardless, some of the Others Unit was still working on it while others were sent home for a break. But, unable to stop thinking about the case, Yang went for a walk instead. The river flowed alongside her, as always. But it didn't make her nearly as nervous as it used to be. Really, when she looked at it, she just remembered being scared more than actually feeling fear. She felt like that was a nice sign of how far she'd come. Although, after a few minutes of walking, it looked like she wasn't the only one out here. She had to do a double-take for a moment, but she realized she was seeing a guy perched up in a tree, munching on beignets. He didn't look familiar to Yang. But she wasn't the type to be wary of striking up conversation with random strangers. "Enjoying the view?" she asked, looking up at him.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 16, 2017 3:27:22 GMT
Manolo had been so lost in his thoughts, in his bitter feelings and sad memories, that he didn't notice the blonde woman approaching until she had called up to where he sat in the tree. He jerked sharply around at the sound of the voice, so sharply that he lost his balance and fell backwards off the branch.
He would have fallen and hit the ground hard too if he hadn't reached out at the last moment and caught a branch with his right hand. He felt a small wave of relief but glared down at the woman that had nearly sent him falling ten feet, cursing lightly under his breath.
"Why? You enjoy sneaking up on people?"
His tone was angry not so much at the woman but that he had nearly made a fool of himself by falling out of the tree. He was strong and agile, he knew how to maneuver out of tough situations and avoid being caught, so what did it say about his abilities if he just fell out of trees?
Still mumbling to himself in Spanish, he let go of the branch and dropped to the ground gracefully before standing up and brushing at the front of his shirt.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 16, 2017 17:39:35 GMT
Yang couldn't help but laugh a little as the man nearly fell from the tree. It looked like he hadn't noticed her approaching. The man responded in an angry tone though, and it took her a moment to stop giggling. "Sorry. Didn't mean to give you a heart attack," she said, giving a coy smile as he swung off the tree and landed on the ground. "I was just walking and noticed you up there. Usually, the only things in these trees are birds, squirrels, and little kids." She'd seen more than a few children climbing the trees around here, seeing who could get the highest before they chickened out. Or before their parents called them and told them to get down. Whichever came first.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 18, 2017 3:37:00 GMT
"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly the 'usual' type."
Manolo finished dusting off his shirt, still somewhat annoyed at the young woman despite the apology she had given. As he straightened up he got his first good look at the young woman. She had wild blonde hair that fell almost to her waist and purple eyes along with a body that most guys would kill for in a girlfriend. However, the thing he noticed the most was the glint in her eyes, the kind of glint that spoke of mischief.
He took this all in in a matter of seconds before realizing his container of beignets had fallen out of the tree as well and landed in the grass only a few feet away. Thankfully he saw that the container had remained closed as he walked over to it and picked it up out of the grass.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 18, 2017 14:16:56 GMT
"I can see that," Yang said, glancing him over. The guy certainly didn't seem the usual type of people she found running around Bellerouge. She could hear the Spanish accent in his voice, although she couldn't tell if that meant he'd come from a Spanish-speaking country, or he'd just grown up here with a Spanish-speaking family. Either way, Spanish wasn't a language heard around here much. Besides English, the most common languages around here were Creole or French, and those had just about a million varieties in Louisiana. She wondered if he was a regular human or not. He certainly looked it. But most people did around here. She knew only a handful of people that looked...well, not human. "So, are you just passing through? Or have you been in Bellerouge for a while?" she asked.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 19, 2017 5:38:37 GMT
Manolo was just flicking off a strand of grass from his box of pastries when the woman asked if he was passing through or a native. He turned and raised a single eyebrow at her.
"My whole life. Why? Wanna play a round of 20 questions or something?"
He knew he was being somewhat rude to this perfect stranger, but Manolo didn't know why she was so interested in him and her questions were starting to make him somewhat uneasy. After what had happened to Maria a few years back, he wasn't inclined to making friends much and trusted only a handful of people. This blonde was a stranger and that alone made him somewhat leery of talking to her.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 19, 2017 15:52:03 GMT
"Hey relax buddy, I was just wondering," Yang said, holding up her hands to show she meant no harm. "It's not every day I come across a stranger. I'm familiar with a lot of people in this city. Or, I at least know who they are and what they do." That was one of the perks of living on the streets. It gave you access to all sorts of people in this city, and while Yang certainly wasn't friends with every single one of them, she knew what their names were and what they did for a living. And most people where she used to live had less than admirable careers. Granted, she had too, but she'd always felt like underground fights weren't as bad as selling drugs or being a hit man. "You can ask me questions in return. I've got nothing to hide," she said.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 20, 2017 3:15:41 GMT
Manolo was about to respond rudely once more before leaving, but as he opened his mouth to speak his brown eyes suddenly looked at her ride side and he realized what he had taken for her right arm was actually a fake, a prosthetic limb. He felt a jolt of surprise and shock stop the words on his tongue. Looking at this woman he had thought that she was probably just another preppy blonde girl with too much time on her hands and not a care in the world. Seeing that she was missing an arm, however, reminded him sharply that just because someone looked like they were living the good and easy life while others around them struggled wasn't necessarily the case.
Suddenly, a kind and feminine voice from his childhood seemed to resound within his mind.
Manolo, do you think a person decides whether they are born rich or poor? Sometimes the people who appear to have the most in life really have the least.
He knew that voice from his past all too well. It was the voice of his mother and he could remember the day she had told him those very words.
As that voice spoke to him from the past, Manolo realized he had been staring at the young woman's arm for several moments now. Bringing himself back to the present, he spoke in a somewhat rushed manner to cover the silence and his staring.
"Ok, how about who exactly are you?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 20, 2017 14:54:39 GMT
The stranger had suddenly gone quiet. Yang blinked in confusion before she realized what he was looking at. It seemed like he was finally noticing her metal right arm. Her left hand reached over and curled around it, a habit she'd developed when she caught people looking at it. It wasn't that she was self-conscious about it. She'd moved on past that. She was just still dealing with the unavoidable attention it still brought. Her friends had gotten used to it pretty quickly. Heck, Shiro could completely relate to all the challenges she'd gone through in getting used to it. But when she met someone new, they usually glanced at it for a little too long, or asked what had happened. When the stranger asked who exactly she was, she wondered if that was his polite way of asking how she'd lost her arm. "Explaining who I am could take a few hours," she said. "You'll have to settle for the abridged version." She tossed her hair back. "My name's Yang. Used to be a street kid back in the day, but I got myself a new place to live and a new job." She held up her right arm. "Got this after a run-in with Thrax. You've probably seen him all over the news lately. I'm actually working with the Others Unit right now, to help catch the nut job and put him behind bars for good." She said all this casually, even if the matter was anything but that. The Others Unit was close to figuring everything out. She knew it, they all knew it. It was just a matter of finding the info they needed.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 21, 2017 2:37:45 GMT
Several emotions ran across Manolo's face as the woman, Yang, told him a little something about herself. The first was understanding when she said she had been a street kid and this was quickly followed by surprise at the news that Thrax, a demon he had heard named often enough on the news, was responsible for her missing arm. However, by far the strongest emotion he displayed was when Yang mentioned the Others Unit. And it was anger.
The anger transformed his face from pleasant and handsome to something wary and dark. However, despite the intensity of the expression it only lasted a moment before disappearing from his features.
"If that is the abridged version of who you are, then I imagine to hear it in full would take a lifetime in and of itself."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 21, 2017 12:57:22 GMT
"You got that right," Yang said, folding her hands behind her head. She didn't have all night for that. The man didn't seem quite as hostile as before, which she considered a plus. There'd been a moment where his expression seemed to get darker when she mentioned the Others Unit, but it was gone the next time she looked at him. Maybe she'd just imagined it. Of course, she knew there were still people out there who didn't like the Others Unit so much, and it wasn't just the criminals. There were still those regular humans out there who regarded Others as monstrous, and wondered how good monsters could be in catching other monsters. Frollo used to think like that, and it always pissed Yang off to no end. Still, even she'd hated the police at one point. It'd taken a while for her to let that anger go. "So, any chance I'll get to hear your name?" she asked.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 22, 2017 6:32:03 GMT
The young man paused but only for a few seconds before he gave her a friendly enough smile. The smile seemed to turn his face from one that was merely pleasant to something handsome and rather mysterious. It was this that had drawn the attention from many a young woman but never been fully reciprocated.
"Manolo."
With that he offered Yang a small bow, turning on his charm to try and cover up the darker mood he had displayed earlier. It was something he did quite frequently, trying to cover his own deep angers and hurts by appearing as charming if not something of a risk-taker. It was far better to wear that bright mask then let others see the pain less they think him weak.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Sept 22, 2017 13:13:52 GMT
The stranger, now known as Manolo, gave a friendly smile and a bow. Yang was reminded of Adrien's days as Chat Noir, and how he'd acted just as charming when they'd first met. It had helped them establish a fast friendship. Of course, it had been Adrien's other qualities that made Yang really fall for him. He hadn't gone out as Chat Noir ever since he'd given him up, but Yang wondered if he'd ever change his mind. She didn't mind either way. She just remembered that Adrien had helped a lot of people as Chat Noir, her included. But, according to Adrien, Kid Flash was kind of doing the same thing. Maybe Bellerouge only needed one masked superhero. "Well you're quite the charmer, aren't you?" Yang teased.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Sept 23, 2017 10:37:09 GMT
He just shrugged his shoulders at Yang's words but the somewhat cocky grin never left his face. Yang might have thrown him off when she had jolted him out of his perch in the tree, but he was firmly back in his element now.
"What can I say? It's a gift. And only a rare few are born with such charisma as this."
With that said, he struck a dramatic and over-the-top pose that looked like a cross between a male model strutting his stuff and a superhero. He held the pose for a moment before he chuckled at how ridiculous he must look standing like that.
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