❥▐ cupid's brew

♔: ♠ « MUSIC ♠ « WEARING ♠ « ✉ 0 ♠ « OOC: N|A ♠ :♔
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School started and things went relatively smooth for a little while. He studied as hard as he worked, and poured nearly all of his focus and energy into schooling, and of course managing his band. Everyone who had been accepted had been contacted with a congratulations and a practice schedule. They would practice once a week starting out, after school on Fridays. Despite some questionable behavioral issues, he really was a dedicated and enthusiastic worker. It also proved much more beneficial to him to pay attention to school and his band rather than to focus on anything else.

Sophie was dead. Sophie, Lucas, and Bryan were dead.

He was much happier now with school, music and the internet to distract him.

Much happier ...

Eventually that happiness was shattered, ripped apart and burned to the ground. His brief normalcy was shredded away as news of some kind of deadly virus started going around. People were getting sick and dropping dead all over the place, it was a complete epidemic! Everyone was in a panic! The strangest thing was that - apparently - you had to come into direct contact with someone - or something. The details were so vague. No one knew exactly what was going on it all sounded like guessing to him. If it wasn't airborne then what was the fuss about? Why was the entire county quarantined? How did you even get the disease?

When he found out that the borders had gone up, he called his parents and brother briefly to talk about life and schooling. His parents weren't in Candlewood anymore. They were off in another state. His brother, too. They were worried about him and he couldn't really say much to put them at ease.

Others acted like nothing had happened. Reed went out often, still, and his uncle continued running his business as best as he could - though it was unbearably slow most of the time. Certain times of the day were busy as normal. People still had to work and sometimes going out really couldn't be helped. But once the usual work day was over, Candlewood basically transformed into a ghost town. Store and restaurant hours were unreliable and Oliver truly hoped this whole mess would end soon.

He didn't want to get sick and die. He didn't want to be trapped in Percival County for the rest of his life.

Why was all of this happening?

It was a load of shit.

Mary checked in on him obsessively, apparently deeply regretting her decision not to visit. While she was checking on him, he was checking on Pierce and hoping she was okay - though he knew she wasn't. If only he lived alone. Then he would invite her to stay with him for a while. Realistically, he wasn't sure how that would work out. She had a mother, after all. She probably wouldn't want to leave her and her mom would probably want her near, so it was probably better this way but he felt so crummy about what had happened and how he handled the situation. Especially now ... It was funny how some death could mend relationships. Make you think twice. He had even made up with Grace! Though he would hardly consider her a best friend anymore ...

He yawned, reaching for the phone on the arm of the couch he was sprawled out on. Epic Ghost Adventures: Paranormal Investigations by Your Generation [ EGA: PIBYG ] blared probably too loudly from his tinny laptop speakers and an empty granola bar wrapper crunched under his side as he shifted.

To: Pierce
From: Oliver

Hey, how are you holding up today?​

A few minutes later,

From: Pierce
To: Oliver

The same. I'm sorry. It must be annoying checking on me all the time.​

A hand ran through his hair in an attempt to push back overgrown bangs as his green eyes scanned over the text again and again, trying to pick up on any hints or alternative meanings to what she was saying - just in case. In the end, he just sighed and accepted it as it was. Not wanting to hound her or come across too clingy, so he took some time replying and went to the kitchen for another snack, settling back onto the couch with a bowl of cereal.

To: Pierce
From: Oliver

It's not annoying.
If you need help with homework or anything, let me know.
... I seriously hope you're taking care of yourself. I'll come over if you need me to.​

For now, he'd leave it at that.

 

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WEARING⧉ DATE▹ 03/14/2016 ⧉ DAY▹ 01 & 1/5​

MOOD▹ MELANCHOLY ⧉ LOCATION▹ HOME​

OOC▹ ✘ ⧉ INTERACTION▹ ✘ ​

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​

Pierce sat in the living room, balancing her laptop on her knees while taking notes on the scratch paper beside her. They were forced to take their classes online with the outbreak. Physically attending school was too risky with the lack of knowledge on how the disease was transmitted. Her mom had taken a lot of time off of work after Sophie died. Pierce wasn't allowed to be home alone. It was dangerous. At school she was required to have regular meeting with the counselor and often times Mrs. Mhenjer would bring her Psychiatrist friend Dan home from work with her. Pierce suspected it was just an excuse for them to spend time together outside of the hospital. They really seemed to be hitting it off. If the circumstances were different, she would have been happy for her mother. But given the situation, she cared little about the intimate details of her mother's personal life. Pierce had become a bit of a recluse.

The drinking didn't stop right away. Even with her mother going to the extremes of no longer buying vanilla or mouthwash, Pierce seemed to find a way. That was, until the outbreak. Everything changed after that. She didn't see the bad kids in school that had 'hook-ups' or spend any time with her mother. Virtually all of the medical staff was living within the confines of the hospital now. They were rarely allowed to leave. The most she saw of her mother was when she would occasionally come home for clean clothes or to buy Pierce groceries. She didn't even have time to worry about her daughter drinking herself to death. It was at that point that she just slowly stopped trying, which was difficult. She still wasn't entirely sober, but the frequency to which she drank had minimized dramatically.

She tapped her pencil on the keypad of her laptop. Algebra -- her old nemesis -- was difficult as always. Who honestly needed algebra for anything? Pierce tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and set down the pencil to rub her tired eyes. Staring at a screen for so long was seriously wearing on her. At least with this whole mandatory homeschooling thing, it meant less interacting with other people. She didn't have to worry about being sociable. There was just no ambition to try and talk to others, except Oliver. He had eventually gotten a hold of her to talk, not that much was said. He picked out his band members -- with little input on her part. Oliver was checking in on her regularly and her responses usually were lacking. Pierce felt so guilty about it all. She just didn't know how to deal with any of it. She was lonely with her mom always at the hospital, but was too afraid to ask him to do anything. Oliver had basically become the only person she talked to on a day - to - day basis and the conversations were limited.

Her phone beeped and she reached over her laptop to pick it up off the coffee table. These days, Pierce didn't even have to check the name of the sender to know who it was. There were only two people who contacted her -- Oliver via text message, her mother via phone call. She sighed, reading his name in the display and opened the message.

From: Oliver​

Hey, how are you ​

holding up today?​

Just as predicted. She bit her lip and stared at the message for a couple of minutes. How was she doing? Pierce managed to put on clean clothes today and even shower. She wasn't wearing pajamas for the first time in a week. That was an improvement, right?

To: Oliver​

The same. I'm sorry.​

It must be annoying ​

checking on me all ​

the time.​

She bit her lip and pressed send. Pierce really did feel bad that Oliver had taken this role as her personal caretaker. It was typically just through words of encouragement, but he was always there. A few times she had managed to bring herself to his band rehearsals, but only to leave halfway through, unable to be around people. They were really coming along wonderfully. Pierce set her phone down to stare at the Algebra program on her computer. The school had some great online tools, how unfortunate for her. It was another few minutes later before he replied to her message. She was kind of dreading reading it. This hadn't been the first time she said something like that, but normally it was along the lines of 'checking on me isn't necessary.' She wondered what he might be doing at his apartment. Was he still bracing the outside world? She wasn't. Pierce had used this epidemic as an excuse to not leave the house. How long had it been now? She lost count. The last time she set foot on her doorstep, she turned around immediately.

From: Oliver​

It's not annoying. If you need help​

with homework or anything, let me know. ​

... I seriously hope you're taking care of ​

yourself. I'll come over if you need me to.​

Pierce read over the words repeatedly. Was that an invitation? She had been doing her best to not come off clingy to him, like the way she had clung to Sophie. On the contrary, she had probably been the complete opposite since that night he stayed with her. She had been pushing him away even though all she wanted was someone to be with. Maybe ... maybe now would be the time to start? Her birthday was coming up. At this rate, she would be spending it alone. It would be nice to see Oliver, but how did she ask him without sounding desperate? She hadn't even seen her own mother in four days. She swallowed nervously before beginning a very slow and drawn out reply.

To: Oliver​

Actually ... I'm working on Algebra.​

It's the devil's subject and I'm​

completely lost. Do you think it's​

safe to go outside?​

Pierce licked her lip as she pressed send and set the phone aside on the couch. She took a deep breath and clicked out of the Online Access tab provided by the school. She needed something to take her mind off of math and the fact that she just asked Oliver to come over. There was a movie paused on one tab and another just had a flood of pictures of food -- desserts. They made her hungry every time she looked at them. She should try making something with all this alone free time she now had. There was another beep on her phone and she took her eyes off the different decorative cakes to check Oliver's reply. Pierce could only hope he said yes. He did.

From: Oliver​

Yeah, it's pretty ******, but I think I ​

remember enough of it to be of some use​

to you. It won't be a problem. I've got ​

my own car and everything, I'll just ​

come straight over.​

She exhaled in relief. He was coming over. She didn't have to be alone anymore. Pierce didn't bother to reply since he said he would be on his way. He could help her with math. She only hoped that he wouldn't leave immediately after.

 

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♠ Locations: Home ♠ Mood: Worried ♠ Music ♠ Outfit ♠ OOC: ♠ ​

The time after the funeral was remotely peaceful for Alex. Aside from his aunt stopping by to drop of his cousin for a while not much was changed. Even when school started back up he went back to how he always was during school, quiet and out of the way, but at least he had some more people to talk to. Though it wasn't long before things too a sour turn.

With the start of spring break also can some sort of epidemic and since his cousin was here, he didn't really want to have to worry so many things at once. This really made him grateful that his aunt wasn't staying along with Leon. Still, since he'd manage to get a mask for himself and Leon as a precaution. The was nothing wrong with being prepared.

Right now Alex sat in his room trying to take his mind off things. For the most part it was working, but he was still worried about Natalie. He gave it a quick moment of thought before grabbing his phone and sending her a message.

Once the message was sent, he kept his phone close by for when he got a message back.

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♙ Mood: Concerned ♙ Wearing ♙ Music ♙ Location: Home ♙ OOC: ♙​

If anything Shane was having an easier time taking his mind off of the epidemic thanks to most of his games. That was to say, it wasn't like he could completely forget about it. That task would be pretty difficult to do with all the news revolving around it. Right now his games were the best thing that he could do for himself since that much would feel normal to him.

As more time went by a stray thought about Seraphina popped into his head. It'd been a while since he last saw her and he wondered how she was handling all this. So putting his game on hold, he decided to text her a message.

The message was short, but it got the point off that he was wondering about her. So while he waited, he went back to playing his game.

​

✵ Mood: Surprised ✵ Location: Alex's Home ✵ Outfit ✵ OOC: New chracter #1 post✵​

Things for Leon were quite interesting, even if he'd hasn't been staying with his cousin for all that long. With all this talk about a epidemic was quite unexpected, though he didn't really mind being coupe up in the house for most of the day since Alex was going to be the one showing him around town anyway.

Still he needed something to do, so he decided to go see what Alex was up to. So he left the makeshift guest room that he was given and headed towards Alex's room. Since the door was opened, he had little trouble peaking in and seeing him. "Browsing the internet?" He asked upon seeing him on his phone.


"Something like that. I'm surprised your not reading something right now." Alex replied.

While true normally he would be reading, but he didn't quite feel like doing so right now. "Eh, I can read anytime." Compared to how he was 2 years ago, Leon was still finding it hard to believe that he was stuttering with some of his words, but he really wanted to change and so he did.

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♣ Mood: Curious ♣ Location: Home ♣ Outfit ♣ OOC: New character post #2 ♣​

Not much to Nathan's surprise, his attempt to find out some more about the epidemic yielded very little news. He never doubted that they knew little information on it, but he'd thought that there be something that he didn't already know. After all, he had 3 different tabs on his browser all for the same failed purpose.

I see, so there really is little known about this virus. Closing out of the tabs, he simply went on the look up something else. Unless there was something more to be discovered, he was the type to get overly worked up about one of his research attempts failing. Besides, it wasn't like there wasn't anything else that he could search for.

 

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『WEATHER』 BLUE SKIES, 66°! ✖『DATE & TIME』 3/14/2016 { Monday } - 10AM ✖『DAY』 01​

❝Noëlle, are you ready?❞

Ms. Chamber's tired voice called out to her from the bottom of the staircase for the third time. She tried to mask it, but the exasperation in her tone seeped through even still.

❝No.❞

❝Hurry up now, don't make your mother wait anymore, Noë.❞

Joey was here. He had moved in with them a week after Bryan's funeral. Ms. Chambers and him were engaged now. No, they probably had been planning on getting married for a while, but they decided to tell her last month. It was through a text message. She couldn't entirely blame them, she hadn't been very cooperative as of late.

She ran her tongue over her dry lips and stared at her reflection in Bryan's mirror, tangling her fingers into her thick, curly hair in an attempt at taming it. It had been a while since she left home, so this epidemic - this incurable virus - hadn't been much of an issue for her. In fact, she wished she knew how to easily contract it so that she could off herself and disguise it as an unfortunate tragedy. Occasionally Jonathan would come over, but that was about as much interaction as she needed.

They wouldn't let her wear anything of Bryan's outdoors, so she had gone down to her room a bit earlier to grab something generically 'Spring'. She hoped that keeping a colorful wardrobe would keep Ms. Chamber and Joey at ease. Let them know she hadn't fallen too deeply into the depths of despair.

She couldn't say she was getting better, she wasn't feeling much.

❝Coming.❞ With an unsatisfied sigh she turned away from her reflection and looked around Bryan's room for what must have been the hundredth time.

They were moving. At least for a little while, until this ... epidemic was over with. Apparently Joey was good friends with some kind of government official, she didn't care to know the full situation, and they were able to get permission to leave - after some kind of test to determine that they were clean. It didn't feel fair, but who was she to say anything about it?

She didn't want to go, but she didn't have a choice. It was either she get up cooperate for once or they drag her out kicking and screaming. The latter wasn't worth the energy. Not today, at least.

Finally, she picked up the bag she had packed the night before. It was mostly filled with some shirts of Bryan's, and some stuffed animals she had gotten him when they were kids, but she had packed away some clothes obviously and other essential things. She didn't really care much for anything else, though. She was leaving her journals behind, too.

Joey and Ms. Chambers took her appearance in the living room in with quiet appreciation. They moved to the door, casually chatting with each other about the plan for the day. She put on her shoes, and Joey fastened a mask over her nose and mouth 'just in case'.

This was it.

The redhead stepped outside and followed her ... parents to the car, climbing into the backseat with her bag. They'd be back, she knew, but ... Somehow, it didn't feel that way. She hated this.

Noëlle pulled out her cell phone and sighed deeply. She hadn't had the heart or desire to tell Jonathan, but instead had messaged Julius to let him know her predicament. He had yet to reply, but she hoped his brother would handle the news alright.

They drove for a long while and before she new it, she had fallen asleep ...

 

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♫ Clothes♫ Mood» Lonely/Upset/Stressed/Cheerful ♫ ​

Character Theme ♫ Location » Home/Secret Garden ♫ OOC: ♫​

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Seraphina sighed, still picking at her breakfast tray. She had been bored these past few months. Her parents sent her mind numbing tasks, trying to keep her from having any time to spend with Shane. But since the sickness had shone into the light, she had barely time with him. She longed to see his smiling face, his pale blue eyes looking at her like they did back when they were able to see each other. She got up from her bed, looking at herself in the mirror.​

​

She noticed her hair had also gotten redder, like it normally did around the time of year when the sun was out. Her eyes were now dull, due to her mood. Her face looked rather sad, she sighed. She was sad still. She wished her parents would understand that the wealth they had would not be affected because of a normal boy. But she too was a bit worried about her social status. Her Aunt had heard, as a traveling model she did not approve. Everyone had something to say about it, not one word good and it didn't change her mind. She had become thinner over time, she noticed that she wasn't eating enough. At first, it was in protest of her parents, but then she just had no desire to eat, though her house works forcefully fed her if she didn't. ​

​

She walked down the stairs of foyer, her red hair softly falling on her shoulders gracefully. Her staff passed by her, some with bows, other with cheerful smiles. Others looking at her rather reliving dress, some in disapproval. She sighed, just another thing she was belittled about. Looking away from the stares, her face redden with a bit of anger. She was just in a mood she guessed. She walked down into the garden, watching as the flowers started to bloom. Most stayed alive through the winter, thanks to the help of the gardeners, but the roses looked so beautiful this time of year. ​

​

In her hand she brought out her Violin and started to walk to her secret place in the garden. She walked through it, sitting by the lake, clear water shining as she looked down in it. She started to sing to herself, but it didn't cheer her lonely mood. She looked back into the water, running her hand through it with a hard strike. She wiped it from her face as the pool rippled beside her. She lied down on the shore, looking at her phone. ​

​

To: Seraphina​

From: Shane​

Message: So, what'cha been up to?​

​

​

She smiled to herself, perking up right away. She had to respond.​

​

To: Shane​

From: Seraphina​

Oh, hey Shane. My parents have been keeping me ever so busy. I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Do you mind coming over as soon as you can? ​

​

​

She looked at her message. She really didn't know what she wanted to talk about with him. She would have to keep thinking. She lied back as she sent her message, looking up into the canape of the trees, feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin. She bit her gum slightly, not knowing what else she could have told him. ​

​

She remembered back to around New Years. She was so close to kissing him. But she remembered she couldn't have done it. She longed to feel the warmth of his lips on hers, even though that had not touched. She tried to get the thought out of her mind, getting rid of the desires she had. She looked back up at the sky, then back at the pond. She saw her face blush a light red, growing the more she looked at herself, singing once more her tone more cheerful, as were her eyes.​

 

[/url] Ooc: And thus the good sir did say, NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES

Ah what a predicament the world they lived in had thrown them into. Candlewood had always been a rather famous town, what for it holding one of the most prestigious schools in the known world. But as the days had gone by and as the wheel of time continued spinning, Candlewood, more specifically the school in it, had become a town in with more dread and superstition to its name. Between the incident at camp that he had heard about those few years ago, the people dying in that car crash those few months ago, and now this incurable unidentifiable disease began spreading around, it seemed that all within the county now were forced to live their lives as mere caged animals, simply waiting to die.

This epidemic had done nothing but vex the good sir. It made his usual strolls through the town all the more difficult as though who were actually wondering the streets would treat him as if he was a victim of the plague and ready to spread it to him at any given moment. The very notion of that was preposterous for he was as fit as fiddle. No sort of sickness in relation to this spreading disease of death had been noted to be found in him. And even if he did contract said sickness, it was already known that it was not airborne and as such wearing mask seemed completely pointless to him, and it was not the proper attire for one such as himself to be wearing. Furthermore the institute, Fortissimo, had taken quite the turn. Providing now online classes, instead of the tried and true physical ones.

Ah how shallow this all felt, learning and working on a computer and submitting things via the internet , instead of using pen and paper, getting up and talking to the teachers and professors. A thin screen of glass and a web browser were not the way a class were to be taught. Ah but such is life, and such is the way one must go along with what life throws at them. And as such he continued working on his laptop outside on his balcony. Despite town being quite the bore and quite the annoyance to stroll through now a days, it still did him good to be able to sit out and take in the fresh air. The ambiance of the outdoors did him good.

​

 

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♙ Mood: Concerned ♙ Wearing ♙ Music ♙ Location: Home ♙ OOC: ♙​

​

Though he kept on playing his games, he wasn't as focused as he was earlier. He was still in the mindset of trying to beat the current challenge before him, but it was be a lot easier for he to be taken away from the game if something came up. Though his so called 'distraction' came right as he beat the level he was one in the form of a text message from Seraphina. ​

​

Fortunately he'd explain the whole situation with Seraphina to his parents and they reacted fairly well, his dad in particular who gave him an approving thumbs up when his mother wasn't looking. So he wouldn't have any trouble in getting to her home, though with the whole virus thing he would need to be careful. So he grabbed the mask that his father gave him and typed up a quick response.

With the message sent, he pocketed his phone , placed the mask over his mouth and left. Since he still remembered the way to her home, it wouldn't take him too long to walk there.

​

♣ Mood: Curious ♣ Location: Home ♣ Outfit ♣ OOC: ♣​

​

While it probably would've been better for him to check in on some of his online classes, Nathan continued to browse he internet. Beside, it wasn't like he wouldn't be able to catch up fairly quickly to what was being taught. In fact, he still had that specific tab still up, he just didn't bother to click on it just yet.​

​

What he did do was look up more information on viruses in general. Just because his first attempt failed, didn't mean that a more broad on wouldn't have better results. First thing he did was to avoid viruses that he already new about, Small pox, the Black Plague, etc and instead read about how the infection was spread. He could be very persistent when it came down to it.​

 

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♫ Clothes ♫ Mood: Flirtatious ♫ Character Theme ♫Location » Home/Secret Garden ♫ OOC: ♫​

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Seraphina smiled, seeing the text back. She then texted her House Keeper, telling her to lead Shane to her Secret Garden of sorts. She looked into the pound, fussing over things like makeup and the jewels she had one her head and neck. She worked with her eyes until they sparkled a bright bright blue and looked at the entrance, waiting for him to come. ​

​

Lily had seen him at the door, and opened it. "Hello Shane." She said smiling. She didn't really say much to him, he showed him the entrance, what looked like a wall of ivy on the wall. "This is one of The Mistress' secrets. She hasn't let anyone near it, the staff have no idea it's here.." She explained to him, looking around before moving the Ivyish wall, to revile a tunnel of sorts. She left him there. ​

​

Seraphina heard footsteps in the short distance. She, who was sitting on the warm patch of grass beside the streamed, turned a bit to face him. She knew he was coming, so she sang a sweet, soft melody. She turned around, acting a bit surprised. She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "Hello Shane, it's been a while." She stood up, walking over to him slowly, her soft skin blushing. "Please, sit down for a bit." She said motioning for him to sit close beside her. As she adjusted herself her dress' slit also moved along with it, something she payed little attention to. ​

​

She wondered what else to say. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure she could hear it. She moved a tab closer to him. "I'm so glad you're here. I tried to call or text you, but it's been so busy, and with all this talk of the sickness.." Seraphina explained. "I'm just glad you're here. I've missed you." She told him, a sweet smile appearing on her face. Her voice was soft, sweet... almost alluring in a way. She slowly moved her hand closer to his, so they touched only slightly. ​

​

'Now what did I do?' She wondered. "I didn't plan this far ahead. I told him I needed to talk to him about something, I need to make up something on the spot.' She bit her lip nervously, trying to think of something to say. 'Think Seraphina think!' She just stared at him for a bit, a light blush on her face. ​

​

'I wonder if I look presentable. I thought so, no one else seemed to though.' She wondered. 'Why are you thinking about this now? You are never worried about your looks Seraphina.' She told herself. 'Yes, thats true.' She took a deep breath. She thought she should think of something soon but she thought over thinking would be a meaningless effort. She just decided for him to say something first.​

 

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Evan Allen Walker. The free spirited individual who had just been rolling through life like it was filled with no bothers to him whatsoever. The oh so tragic deaths that fateful day all those months ago had done little to keep him down...if he could even be qualified for ever being down. While it did take most to return to normalcy, once all the dust settled from that, (or at least most of it) everyone had went on with their lives. And oh how it was all so grand. Unfortunately an odd epidemic of...something, really no one knows what it even is, started spreading around killing people left and right. Bit of a bummer, but had it deterred the free spirited individual? Hell no it didn't. Whilst everyone was going around being super paranoid all over the place, keeping their hands covered and masks adorned, he was literally doing nothing different.

Rollerblading around everyday, going to the cafe, and just enjoying every little thing that he could in the midst of all this "people dropping dead from something" scare. The only significant difference in his life was the advent of online classes. At first it had been quite the funny tale to see unwind, because Evan didn't even know that was going on for the first week it was. Having no computer himself, he never actually went to check and see if anything like that was going on, and it was only until the school contacted him did he realize his grade A fuck up. As such the school physically gave him a small laptop to use during this time,(for school purposes only.) However, he never, ever, used the laptop at his home. Despite being issued by the school he was still positive that "big brother" had somehow tapped into it and would be constantly monitoring him and his activity offline somehow with the contraption. So he always went to the public library to do his work there.

Though doing work on a computer, especially by oneself, was a tedious task that Evan was consistently bored by. With no sort of authority figure looming over him, he was extremely easily distracted from his work and was pretty unwilling to do it right now. Maybe a friend or partner of some sort would be able to curb his unwillingness. Thinking back on things he decided the best person to contact would be his great friend Ria. Surely she could use help with her work...or hopefully she could. He pulled out his phone and decided to text her to see if they could hang out.

 

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♙ Mood: Concerned ♙ Wearing ♙ Music ♙ Location: Home ♙ OOC: ♙​

"Hello Shane."

That was the greeting he was giving upon arriving at the estate. It was a slight surprise due to how long it's been since he's last been here, but it wasn't enough to completely surprise him. Not too long afterwards she led him towards a secret part of the garden.

"This is one of The Mistress' secrets. She hasn't let anyone near it, the staff have no idea it's here.."

Wow, she actually had something like this. It was clear that she trusted him pretty well to show him this, but considering how many times she let him stay at her home overnight, it wasn't too much of a surprise. Walking through the entrance he found Seraphina waiting for him there.

"Hello Shane, it's been a while. Please, sit down for a bit."

"Yeah it has." He replied. Accepted her offer, he took a seat next to her. As he listen to her explain her reasoning for not contacting him. Well it wasn't like he made much attempt to contact her after the virus incident started. "So, what was the thing that you wanted to talk about?" He asked. Since in the text she'd sent him, there was mention of something to talk about and he was curious as to what it could've been.

 

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♫ Clothes ♫ Mood: Flirtatious ♫ Character Theme ♫ Location » Home/Secret Garden ♫ OOC: ♫​

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Seraphina smiled politely. She didn't know what she would say right now. "Um... Well... I was going to ask..." Seraphina stuttered. 'Think, think think... Come on Seraphina' she thought to herself. Suddenly an idea hit her. She didn't know how this would end, but it would be a good idea none the less. ​

​

"Um... my parents, they've been at my sister's house for a while, it's around in this area. But they're coming back, 2 days from now. I would love it if you got to meet them." Seraphina told him. ​

​

They had been on a trip, but after the sickness scare, they came right back. It was hard to get them through clearance. They had been around for a while, but due to the fight with Seraphina, they had distanced from her. If she could prove to her parents that Shane was right for her she could bring everyone back together. She smiled. ​

​

'Brilliant.' She thought. "They were... umm... quite surprised when they heard that I had um-" She cut herself off. "Erg, never mind. Anyway, I would be honored if you would accept the invitation." She told him. ​

​

She took a deep breath. Phew. That could have been headed for disaster. "They're a little bit, odd. And a bit old fashion... But I'm sure you'll get along just fine. They love to have company over." She laughed nervously, watching as the water of the pond slowly moved back at forth from the shore and then water. The sun made her hair a bright bright red, as her eyes caught the reflection. She smiled sweetly at him. Trying to think of more to say. ​

​

"Is there anything you would like to talk about Shane?" She asked, her voice smooth once more. "You can ask anything you'd like, I don't mind. Really." Her eyes glittered as she spoke. 'Prefect Seraphina. He must have something he would like to know... hopefully.' If not, where was this conversation going? ​

​

She could always smoothly talk her way into something else... but she sort of wanted him to ask something personal... it was strange really. She looked back over at him, then the small lake again, watching the calm water move back and forth...​

 

[/url]

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Outfit|*|Location: Estelle's house|*|Music|*|Mood: Casual|*|OOC:​

Natalie sang along to her music as she cleaned her room. Ever since the epidemic, she had become a total slob because all she could do was sit in her room reading or drawing or doing homework. Or talking to Estelle's weird cousins, Bianca and Whitney. She wanted to avoid that at all costs though. Whitney was okay but kind of an attention-whore while Bianca was just a plain out *****. Worse than Lillian. Ha. At least Lillian meant what she said as constructive criticism. Bianca just kind of tried to make people feel awful. Didn't work on Natalie though. Bianca was one of the new kids, while Natalie had friends already. But then again, Bianca was part of Estelle's family. Whatever, that didn't excuse it. At all.

"Wake up
Leave your hesitation
Wake up
Time for us to realize
Wake up
Show appreciation
Wake up
Time for us to realize!" Natalie sang.

Suddenly, she heard a banging on her door.

"Keep down the crap will you!? Some of us are trying to be productive! Jesus Christ!"

Oh, it was just Bianca.

Natalie opened her door. "I'm sorry, but I'm cleaning my room and no one seems to mind my singing."
"Even then, it's awful. I shudder to think what kind of person would be able to endure it."
Natalie's eyes narrowed. "What's up yours today? Oh wait, you're too stupid to be nice."
"Why don't you quit mooching off my cousins and go back to the pathetic little rat hole of a house you normally live in? Wait, what am I saying? Why would ANYONE want to go back there? Maybe I should go home. At least I have parents to go home to, unlike you." Bianca then turned, whipping her ponytail into it's normal state as she walked off.

That last comment stung. Natalie wanted to break down and cry right there, but she couldn't let her win. She slammed the door and went back to cleaning, although she was too mad to continue singing. "I hate her... I hope she contracts the disease..." she grumbled to herself. She didn't wish death on anyone, not after the losses she had experienced.

Natalie looked at her phone. Alex would probably like to know how she was, what with all that kept happening. Hehe, it was crazy. Here she was, in the middle of an epidemic that prevented her from leaving the house, yet she maintained a stable relationship. Amelia had already made a bet with Rory as to whether Natalie and Alex would wed. Sarah and Lillian had gotten in on it too. If they got married, Amelia and Sarah would get $100 each from Lillian and Rory.

Jeez, they were so immature at times.

At that moment, her phone gave a "Piplup!" indicating she had a text. Ooh! It was from Alex.

She picked up the phone and sent a quick message to Alex:

Natalie smiled as she sent the text. Seemed like almost nothing could go wrong. Bianca was just a stupid little distraction. She stared at her phone a little, then went back to singing and cleaning when her next song came on.

​

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⎛WEARING⎠ • ⎛OOC⎠ • ⎛DAY: 1 & 2/5⎠​

⎛LOCATION: Home/Car⎠ • ⎛INTERACTION: ✖⎠​

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The white tub basin was stained brown as the clear liquid ran dark. Maria leaned over the short wall, rinsing the dye out of her hair. The detachable shower head was in one hand and her other ran through the tangled tresses. Her back was growing sore from being arched for so long and the water was finally starting to run clear once more. She took a brush the wet locks and shut off the water. Maria fumbled for a towel and dried off her hair. She stretched out her spine and rose to her feet, towel wrapped around her head, and turned to face the full - length mirror. She rubbed the towel briskly over her damp locks and threw it onto the counter. The short brown locks stopped at her chin. This was such a drastic change and she was still adjusting. Her hair had only been cut about a week ago. It was the first time it had ever been this short in her life.

Twenty - one years and she had never cut her hair. It had received occasional trimmings throughout the years, but never a full - blown chopping. Her beautician seemed even more broken up about Maria having her hair cut than Maria did. She just really needed some changes in her life if she ever planned on feeling better. Between Bryan dying, Noëlle shutting out the world, that craziness with Stephan, the epidemic, and Tucker; Maria was basically starting to go insane. Winter break seemed like an eternity ago, and yet her heart hadn't stopped hurting once since Christmas. She couldn't take it anymore.

The only good thing to come out of it was the success of her jazz music. Maria put all her time and effort into her sax and vocals. She was getting better at writing her own songs, the jazz instructor she worked with on campus said her voice had become more soulful, like she finally understood the lyrics -- she did. All that pain was beneficial for her music career, but not her emotional state. She still didn't feel safe at home, there was a knife under her pillow -- just because -- and Stephan had become confrontational. Every time she looked at EAP, it felt like her heart was breaking a little more. Maria never managed to go back to the shelter for volunteer work a second time. It was too risky. Being there meant there was the potential of running into Tucker. She couldn't deal with that. They rarely talked and when they did, it was awkward and short. He seemed so happy -- happy without her. Maria had gone to the lengths of even avoiding him at school. Their whole friendship went down the drain after Christmas. It wasn't fair.

She brushed her curly locks and picked up the blow dryer. Maria was interested to see how this would look once it dried. She took a deep breath and felt the warmth exuded from the machine as it quickly dried her hair. One good thing about cutting all her hair off: it took her no time at all to get ready. She was already noticing the serious decrease in shampoo and conditioner required for each shower. That would help with saving money. She didn't have to get up as early to style her hair. Her wrist didn't cramp from brushing the long hair. It was interesting to look at herself in the mirror. Her face was the same. She still had those piercing icy blue eyes, but yet, she somehow looked like a completely different person. Her long, flowing, curly, platinum locks were gone; replaced with short, curly, brown ones. Maria pressed her lips together and set down the blow dryer. She reapplied a new layer of lipstick and combed through her hair.

Her phone, sitting on the counter by the sink, vibrated and she looked down to see a new message. Maria moused the short hair, wiping her hands off on a towel, then picked up her phone. The headline read that it was from Evan. Ah. He was one of the few people she was still talking to regularly. Evan was still trying his hardest to make her feel better. Maria usually faked it around him, not wanting to bring down his always cheerful mood. Sometimes she didn't even have to fake it. He would genuinely make her smile. She opened the message and read it quickly.

From: Evan​

Yo Ria, it's your friendly neighborhood​

Colorman here asking if you want to get​

together and maybe do some of this good​

old fashion new age online school work​

together?​

She smirked at the message. He was rather dorky, but that's why she liked him. Evan was an easy person to get along with and had offered his place up to her multiple times over the last few months. He took her out to celebrate her twenty - first birthday, when no one else would, and provided her with a safe place to stay later that night. Since the outbreak they had done less together, but hopefully it would be cleared up soon. She was tired of hiding away inside the shared apartment, but she also did not want to face the outside world. Now was as good a time as any to restart.

To: Evan​

Sure thing. I'm almost done getting​

ready. I'll be over soon. Later ~​

Maria pressed send and sighed deeply. She had been careful to make her messages more cheerful than she felt. She didn't want to worry him. Honestly, she felt pathetic for still being so hung up on Tucker, but she wouldn't admit it aloud. Her school work and her music were the only outlets for her pain. She was focusing hard on the academics and still bracing the infected world to attend her lessons. When it first started, the hope that she would contract the disease crossed her mind. It made her sick to her stomach to wish for such a thing. Instead, she lay in bed for three days afraid of her own thoughts.

She dawned on a face mask and grabbed her bag, shoving her phone in her pocket before leaving. Maria locked the front door and made her way down to the car. The Jetta as in its usual spot and there was only a small dent in the roof to mark the place she had been slammed into it. Every time her blue eyes caught it, a shiver would run down her spine. She poked the thin scar on her forehead -- hidden by her bangs -- lightly and unlocked the driver side door. Maria threw her belongings into the passenger seat and started the car, shifting the gear into drive and heading in the direction of Evan's apartment.

 

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{ 1 1 : 2 0 }​

He wasn't quite sure why he returned to expect to see all of these people again.

He wasn't quite sure why he returned to Candlewood at all, really. The plan was to leave and only come back if his quest brought him nothing, and alas, so it was to be. When he stepped off the boat, three days before, however, the excessive state of emergency Candlewood was in made Torvald realize that things had changed while he had been away.

No, no, never mind the fact that the streets grew quieter and more empty. Great walls were erected keeping the little ants from spreading their infections to the entire country. A few people walked by him on the street wearing thick black gas masks and he decided to purchase one of his own without a gruff word. Never mind the fact that he had been forcibly re-enrolled for another year in Fortissimo -- his last, before moving on to greener pastures, or sandy ones so to speak -- or that his dorm room had been swept clean and neat of his items in his departure, and he threw his coat upon the chair, but this time thought twice of it, picked it up, and neatly placed it on the rack.

He had not talked to a single person in his return, nor did he ever get the chance to. Nearly every student, every teacher, was holed up like a pigeon in their own little rooms, cut off from the world save from a tenuous string to the vast virtual web. It was here, of course, that he had been keeping himself entertained in his room for the last few days, refusing to remove himself out of his little bubble. The door was barricaded, and he set up an intricate system of empty chairs, a few lamps, tables, and even a potted ficus that could easily be removed from his side. He sat a laptop firmly on his knees, and looked down at the question, yawning behind his sleek black gas mask. The screen reflected in its bulbous plastic eyes.

This was tiring ... he had absolutely no motivation.
Torvald took out his phone.

Torvald leaned back onto his chair and yawned.
He might need to grab at least a few people to research whatever this virus was ... it was strange. In all of his time, he had never seen anything like it. A few freshly-opened medical texts lay serenely lounging on his bed, open to pages on hemorrhagic fevers and prion diseases. Nothing, nothing at all conflated with these symptoms. Did something so deadly spread so easily? It was a shame to have a plague in his life time ...

But Torvald chuckled to himself.

 

​

{ m u s i c }​

[ around the world in eighty days ]​

Pah! Online classes in something as minor as this. Although it seemed stifling to the hundreds attending Fortissimo, it was almost liberating to Fatime.

She sat in her pajamas in her messy room, rolling her feet around and eagerly typing away on her laptop. Stacks of books were crowned with all kinds of origami creations -- swans, dragons, tigers, and of course, the little black-paper cranes that she loved to make. Her hands were worn and rife with small bandages, but she sighed contentedly as she submitted her first assignment quickly and quietly. She leaned back onto her bed and began to hum and chirp a small song to herself.

She wondered how the others in her class were doing? It is not like she had a chance to speak to them for a while, if ever. No, she had to be a bit like a ninja in her favourite books for the past few months. But that was okay ... right, right. This time she had a voice. This time, oh yes, the bird could sing.

She continued to hum a song and picked a tissue, like a flower, from the tissue box, gently wiping her eyes.
As the months passed by, Ayanna had noticed that Fatime cried more often. It was a small observation, and it was the only real one Ayanna had made recently, since she was always out of the house what with having to work more to support themselves. She stared at the black book that was a final gift to her and made a big show of a pout before tossing the tissue away onto the floor. Ever since then, Fatime teared up often, but it seemed less like any latent sadness than it was the only real way she could express emotion. Or perhaps it was latent sadness, but she never wanted to accept that. How could she, how could she!

But first things first, in her business. There was something she had to finish as her messenger-bird status.

Oh no. It had not been often she had typed a message to someone, so her fingers trembled more than usual. But all she could do is laugh it off, or try to ...

 

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✌ CLOTHES ≛ MOOD » FRANTIC ≛ TUNES≛ LOCATION » HOME/CAR/FREYA ≛OOC ✌​

He brushed his hair back with his right hand, letting his fingers rake through them. The cherry red locks of his hair were still a bit damp from his shower. Alright, a little more than damp, as water dripped from the tips of his hair and onto the plain, grey v-neck he changed into.

He grabbed his phone on the bedside table and noticed the little reminder he set for himself. Apparently, it was time to check out and manage the website of the shelter. He's graduated from just animal-rescue-volunteer work to actual work with profit some time ago, but never officially - but now as the odd epidemic of the unknown but fatal virus spreads, most things turned to online resources. He's been helping out with the school too, especially since he was big on the tech department but now he had to balance the site of the shelter too since Sean was not big on the tech department (at all).

He set the reminder for later in the afternoon once more then, he gave his head a little shake and wiped his hands on his dark jeans as he headed back downstairs. He just came from the bedroom, dumping his dirty laundry into his duffle bag and checking his bag. Aside the realization in regards to the tech world, in real life, he was down to his last set of clean clothes! This meant he had to visit his apartment again, clean up, do laundry - all the boring stuff. All the stuff alone.

As he reached the end of the stair case, he smiled to see the person who he had been spending the past few days with. Freya. Oh, Freya. He walked over to her. It was the usual routine as the epidemic struck. He would come over with most of his necessities, clean clothes, toiletries and his laptop then when he ran out of clean laundry he would go back home and camp out there for a couple days - usually get busy with errands and things he had to do like the websites and taking care of the animals over at Sean's, then he would go back to Freya's for his moments of pure bliss.

He sat next to her, placing an arm over her shoulder. It was really nice to be with Freya. Hugging and snuggling with her was always the best, even though he would still get really nervous. It was worth it. Totally worth it.

He cleared his throat, "So, um. Anything new on the news? Done with school things?"

 

​

Time moves on yet things had never truly gotten better. True he was out of that blasted hospital and true he could move his body as much as he wanted, but things just went to hell and he just could only hold his hair and groan. Bryan and Sophie were dead and a damn disease was rampaging the town. Some of his teaching comrades had fallen prey to this sudden illness and the schools were quite desperate, turning to the staff that they still had and pleading with them to take up the extra work. Due to this Julius' workload had increased quite a bit and though he did earn quite the high status in the school from such a short while, Julius wondered if such a job was right for him.

Even now as he sat by his desk he could only rest his forehead on the desk before him and let out a groan as papers were all spread out on top of the desk. There was so much work to be written out and so much he had to do. He dreaded looking at his computer due to the fact that practically his entire work was all stored there ready for his attention. Online classes sucked horribly....he couldn't yell at his students.

With a sigh Julius continued to rest his head on the desk up until he hear a notification sound come from the computer. "Hmmm? a message?" Julius muttered as he rose up and opened up the message and began to read it out. Once done Julius could only close his eye and let out a small chuckle as he once again opened his eyes and read the message once more. Ever since the time at the hospital Fatime had become much more social than before and it pleased the man to see that she was actually trying to converse with others.

With that message written, Julius sent the message and leaned back on his chair with a smile. He bean to close his eyes, but his phone caught his attention and raising his eyebrow he walked up to it and picked it up. It was a message from Noelle and upon noticing it he immediately opened it. The girl had been so anti-social lately that getting a message from her wasn't something that common as it was before. His eyes ran though the message and closing his eyes Julius immediately chucked the phone away in anger.

"DAMN IT NOELLE WHAT THE HELL?!" Julius yelled as he rubbed his temples. He understood that she was still hurt from Bryan's death and he he understood that she had to move, heck he actually wanted her to move. The fact that she would be able to leave this damn diseased city pleased him, but..."damn it Noelle....why tell me now? why are you pushing everybody who cares about you away?" Julius said silently as he collapsed on his nearby couch an continued to rub his temples. "Damn it all to hell..." Julius muttered as he let out a sigh before suddenly his grip on his temples grew tighter upon realizing one thing. "Damn...just how is Jonathan going to take this..." Julius said.

"Tell me what?..."

The sudden voice caught his attention instantly and Julius really wished he could control his temper some times. "Jonathan...aw fucking hell..." Julius said quietly.

 

☆ Clothes ☆ Mood» .... ☆ Character Theme ☆​

Location » Home ☆ OOC:​

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Estelle sighed as she put one of the new flower pots on the table. She could hear her cousins and Nat yelling bloody Murder at each other. She didn't like them, but couldn't complain. They were family. Though they were rude, mean, blunt and annoying they had no where else to go due to the sickness. The family acted as normal, but no one but Estelle had been leaving and coming back into the house. ​

​

The Flower shop was still open, but barely anyone had come. It was a sad sad time. She thought they might start giving out Ration cards because of all the family own businesses that had closed. Others acted like nothing was going on, but she wondered how the others survived. Estelle had started writing again, but to get her books out of the County was a challenge in itself. She heard more yelling. She went up stairs. ​

​

"Girls, Play Nicely." Estelle snapped "Bianca, Leave Nat alone she is a guest." Estelle told her, just as Nat had slammed the door."See now look at what you've done." Estelle snapped again. "I hate her... I hope she contracts the disease..." She heard Nat mutter as Estelle walked in. ​

​

"I know she's annoying Nat." Estelle said sitting on her bed. "Don't worry, they'll leave soon...maybe." She said. She looked over at Nat's phone after she had gone back to singing, and smiled. Ah Alex. She hadn't seen him in a while. It would be nice if they all got to hang out again for old times sake. She smiled too, going back to drawing and then joining Nat during different parts of the song.​

 

Whitney was fast asleep. She began to dream of herself being cheered on my hundreds of fans all ready to listen to her perform. Her violin moving at a peaceful tone, telling a story with each passing note. The audience moved by sound. Once she had reached the climax of the song, she would awake to hear her sister, Bianca, and Nat yelling at each other.

She stared over at them giving a glare. Once Estelle came in to calm everyone down and Nat left alongside her, the room became silent. Whitney looked over to her twin. "You know, it could do us some best to get along her. We are just lucky enough that Estelle let us stay here." She rose from the sheets, not wearing a single article of clothing, and fell into a hug behind Bianca. "Just try to ignore her next time will ya."

After getting dressed, Whitney made her way to Nat and Estelle. She still thought it best to be polite around friends and family to a certain extant. Entering the room, she saw them. "Hey, I'm sorry about Bianca being a ***** this morning. Sometimes the smallest things will ruffle her feathers." She gave a light smile toward Nat.

 

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✧ location: duvont home [ richie's bedroom ] ✧ mood: ugh ✧ theme: (◡‿◡✿) ✧​

✧ affection: -- ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ✧ ​

✧ ooc: -- ✧​

Richie glanced over the problem that had been troubling him for the past ten minutes once again. He seemed to be trapped in a twisted loop, forever scanning the question and attempting to solve it. He groaned and rubbed his temples, tossing the pencil awry that he was previously tapping insistently. His eyes darted to his phone. It had been bone dry as of late; he texted Elisa at least three times a day, with their contents ranging from asking her assistance with homework, to wondering why she took so long to respond. She was probably with him right now, cuddling and snuggling it up with each other. He sighed dishearteningly. Ever since those two became official, Richie had been pushed into a little box and stored away in a solemn corner. She barely had any time for him anymore, not like she would want to anyway. His turquoise haired best friend only cared about one thing: Ryder.

Richie didn't hate his brother, not by a long shot, but he was more... heartbroken and hurt. Thinking about him, let alone actually seeing him, left a sour taste on his tongue. The twins barely even spoke, even more so since the whole outbreak. Their rapidly decreasing interactions probably made the older twin joyful; he could spend more time with his new lovey dovey and not worry about Richie "butting in" and ruining their good time. Whatever, he didn't need them anyway... right?

. . .

He was only fooling himself. Without Elisa, he felt so... empty, hollow, incomplete. Grasping the phone tightly in his palm, the blonde speedily typed and sent a text to her before he could stop himself.

​

Text to Elisa:​

hey... uh, are you alright?​

haven't heard from you in a while and i just...​

...yeah... hope you're having a good time with ryder​

​

He truly had no idea if she was actually with him at the moment, but he just assumed so. Where else would she be? She was either glued to the computer [ which he knew she wasn't because he would see reblogs from her on Tumblr ], with Ryder, or with him- oh right, at least she used to be. With his head hung, the boy curled into a ball and stared at the computer.

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