Trainers - Isa

[hawk]

Morgan searched through the piles of junk with a methodical air of compulsivity, glaring at each new item of junk with a rather affronted expression on his face. The air of the mall was cool and clean, if not a little mustier than the true outdoors back on the city streets, and the stores inside the building had feathery weeds growing out of their displays; the whole place practically reeked of abandonment. As Hawk wandered around, digging through the scrapheaps and peering under the collapsed shelves, he couldn't help but wonder when the mall would collapse and whether it would take anyone with it. It was inevitable that this place would fall to the ground, just as every other skyscraper in Fulsi territory would eventually follow suit, and Morgan was somewhat curious to see what would change when decay finally took its course. Or maybe the Keepers would keep the ruins standing forever, hovering over the Fulsiring peoples' heads with a barely realized threat of sudden, inescapable death. He wouldn't put it past them to wait for a ring meeting, then add that last brick to the corner and send the whole damn capitol thundering down onto their heads. What could that accomplish anyway, though? He instantly asked himself. What kind of f***ed up science is that? The answer was clear: there was no science at all in what he could see the Keepers doing. They were just sadistic, would always be so, and whether that was out of fear or envy or disgust, he couldn't tell.

Not that he cared, one way or another.

He'd been here for only half an hour, and already he was bored enough to be kicking out irritably at random pieces of scattered debris. A cellphone's keyboard, a cracked lightbulb (one which gave him particular pleasure when it smashed against the toe of his shoe), a fallen chunk of the concrete roof. He was looking for a new pair of trainers, as a matter of fact, but there weren't any to be had and Morgan's lack of patience made it hard to justify the search. Who cared if the sole of his left shoe was peeling off? It couldn't possibly be that big of a deal. He could always go barefoot, after all. And if he hurt his foot, well...he was a doctor. How hard could it be to take care of a little cut? But every time he considered giving up the chase, the toe end of his heel would flap backward and unbalance him, and he'd trip and scuffle for a few uncomfortable steps before it readjusted itself in its proper place beneath his toes. He'd already tripped twice and had finally resigned himself to the search...after all, what could he possibly be doing to otherwise fill up his time? He had expanded his search, however...Hawk was now peering around for some sturdy twine, or a lighter of some kind. If he didn't find a whole new left shoe, he could always melt the rubber back together, or sew the toe of the thing back together again. He'd prefer not to have to poke more holes in the trainer - it already had enough 'breathable fabric' spread over the top of his feet to be a serious issue during the winter - but Morgan was lazy, and it really just came down to whatever tool or scrap of material he came across first.

He sniffed as he passed a railed planter box, once used to add a little color to the floor of the mall, and turned to see a petite, black-haired girl sitting on top of the railing. He made a nasty face at her and straightened his hunched shoulders, intending to chase her off. "What do you want?" he snarled, kicking a piece of rubber from the escalator across the floor. He didn't like being watched, or followed, or otherwise disturbed, and he certainly didn't need some little girl's help to find one goddamn shoe.

Word Count: 669
Status: Complete
Comments: Here y'are :3

[isa]

The small bird circled the familiar building once before she darted through a broken window and into a long abandoned clothes shop. She landed on the head of a mannequin with weed creeping up it's plastic body and took a quick look around, then spread her wings again and flew out of the shop. She made a few more circles above the escalators, then decided to seat herself on some railing that looked stable enough to hold her weight. As the swallow's feet touched the rail, it transformed into a young girl wearing an overly large trench coat and an irrationally long red scarf. Innocenza grabbed the railing below herself somewhat clumsily to steady herself, then froze in place as it creaked. She waited a few seconds, then sighed lightly and made herself a bit more comfortable. A pair of dark eyes scanned the area.

The mall had become her favourite place for scavenging, there were all sorts of interesting items among the piles of junk. And there were many high places she could sit on and just relax and observe her surroundings. The foliage growing out of nearly every crack and crawling up basically anything it could get its roots on made the entire place look almost unreal in the scarce light that was allowed through the grimy remains of the windows. It made her feel somewhat safe. Sure, she sometimes saw other Shifters wandering around, but they rarely noticed her and even if they did, none of them seemed to be hostile to her. In fact most of them completely ignored her... She wasn't surprised to see a middle-aged man walking about and shuffling through the junk that was scattered about. She wasn't surprised when he looked up at her. What did surprise her was the irritated growl. It really wasn't like she was following him or anything. She was merely sitting there.

"Me...?" She blinked at him tilting her head slightly. "I don't want anything...I was just sitting here." She kicked her feet lightly and looked down with a thoughtful expression. After a moment she lifted her gaze back up at him, looking mildly curious. "...In fact, I could ask you the same question. The way you spoke to me for no apparent reason would suggest that you wanted something." Her lips curved up in a light, somewhat childishly innocent smile as she cast a slightly disconcerting stare into his eyes.

[hawk]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I've been tackled by RL and dogpiled by all the troubles it can cause. But I'll try to be more active anyway!

The girl seemed innocent enough, straight black hair and gaudily-colored accessory combining to make her look younger than she probably was. Even if she was still a kid, Hawk knew she probably wouldn't be quite as innocent as she seemed, despite all appearances...the Menagerie had a way of making you something you never would have wanted to be. Anybody could learn to survive...and if they couldn't, the keepers took them away to better understand why that was. Everyone in the M. had some special talent keeping them alive. If released back on the streets of New York, they probably wouldn't have known what to do, but here they were masters of the game. For example, Hawk knew his goal of escape really wasn't all that plausible by this point, after seven years of confinement, but he didn't feel the urge to search for a way out as desperately as he once had, either. Whatever had happened to his brother had happened, and at this point Leo would only be pissed at him for coming back. This girl looked young, but Hawk doubted her story was all that different; if you were stuck in the M., you had no worth in the real world, and no one who had any would miss you when you were gone.

Morgan narrowed his eyes at her statement and turned to face her. He didn't mean it to be threatening, but with his frustration over his search he could feel himself glaring anyway, his posture slightly hunched as if he intended to shift at any moment. He couldn't be bothered to care. If this girl had an issue with it, she could either shift herself and give him a good beating, or she could get up and leave. Morgan was expecting the latter out of such a small kid; the former hadn't even thought to cross his mind, and he would have been too grumpy to bother with such a threat of injury to self anyway. "What makes you think I don't just want you to get lost?" Morgan grumbled at the stranger, and although the words were harsh, his tone was not. It was matter of fact; he was testing her, seeing what she would do in response. He wasn't going to admit defeat and tell her his purpose just yet - his ego demanded to be saved - but he could lighten the tone a bit, for no sake but his own curiosity.

Word Count: 412
Status: Complete
Comments: Ugh, sorry for the shortness.

[isa]

Isa swayed back and forth lightly, observing the man's actions with that same half-interested smile plastered across her face. She knew that he was supposed to look threatening and that he could probably pummel her to a sad, bloody pancake, but she simply didn't feel any fear. She wasn't entirely sure why that was, but it was a fact and she really didn't see a reason to make it seem otherwise. If he attacked her she could always turn into a bird and escape...Well unless he was a bird himself. But he didn't really look like one, the way he hunched his shoulders suggested that his shift was something on four feet...

She decided not to worry too much about it and proceeded to eye him up and down carefully. He didn't seem like somebody who paid much attention to his appearance even before getting stuck in the Menagerie. Sweat suit and trainers. Comfortable to move in, not drawing the attention too much. Must have had a lot on his mind... She blinked, feeling that she was about to get carried away in thoughts and hurried to set her gaze back onto his eyes. He was still glaring. Isa huffed out a light sigh, she disliked it when she had to deal with irritated people. Too much needless snapping and sometimes even sheer hostility. As he spoke though, his tone actually seemed softer than it was before. The innocent smile widened a little, transforming into a devious smirk.

"Nothing at all. I never thought that." She stated, then giggled lightly. "And what makes you think I'll leave, just because some grumpy old man told me to? As far as I know, this place is pretty much public property. I'll get lost if I feel like it." She said with a grin, leaning forward dangerously, still staring at the pale orbs. Pretty eyes... She swung back to a stable position and crossed her arms in front of her chest awaiting his reaction. May as well tease a bit...It's not like I have much else to do around here.


_{OOC: That's okay, I've been a bit slow lately myself. Take your time! :3}

[hawk]

Morgan grit his teeth in frustration, staring at the girl like a snake in his path. Where was a good, old-fashioned shovel when you needed one? Granted, for him an expression of extreme dislike wasn't too different for his usual heavy-browed glare, but the feelings were there. Today just wasn't his day; and again, his own morose thoughts hardly matched the kind of morning he'd actually had, but there was no one else to judge his perceptions, and he would hardly have appreciated a second opinion anyway. Some might have questioned the idea that he really was alone in his own head, but if they knew him better than they did, they would never have questioned it at all. Hawk was just too stubborn and rebellious and nasty to ever stand another person anywhere near him for very long, much less in the space of his own mind. Sometimes he wondered how he'd supported his brother for as long as he had...and whenever he did that, all he had to do was remember just how little time they'd actually spent together, in the same room, and then in how much of that time they were both fully conscious. He'd been a night owl, brawling and pushing when there were less cops out prowling the streets. And Leo had been in school...for a while at least, until Hawk had gotten hooked on horse, and things had one downhill from there. Morgan hadn't been able to keep track of whether Leonard was even home or not; that was just before he'd been incarcerated, and he'd almost been glad that he'd been caught. He'd still cared about Leo...just not enough to bother to get clean, or even to try. It wasn't a good way to leave any sort of relationship, even one tied by blood, but because Hawk was old enough to be realistic, he knew that his little brother probably hadn't even noticed his absence for at least week or two. It wasn't good that things had gotten that bad, but what could Morgan do now?

He'd let the whole thing go seven years ago.

The girl with the scarf sat expectantly, petulantly, seemingly unafraid of either his glare or the threat his hidden shift posed. She obviously wasn't going anywhere unless she wanted to, just as she'd said. He was still unbelievably annoyed - why did she have to come here today? - and then, quite suddenly, he didn't feel like putting the effort into annoyance any more. He was at the epitome of laziness...he'd given up on supporting an emotion that was taking too much mental effort, and he didn't care that this sort of thing showed dollars and dimes against whatever assets he happened to possess. He just sort of stared at the other shifter, cocking his head and working his jaw beneath the skin. Finally he straightened and, giving her one last sharp glare, he turned back to his task. "If you're going to be hanging around like that, you could at least help me find the other shoe." Holding out the shoe he was holding, even though he wasn't sure she was looking, he added, "it looks like this." Maybe, if she felt willing to help (and didn't want anything in return if she found the other trainer before he did) he could actually leave here with the things he'd intended to scavenge today. But that outcome was rather improbable...and of course, the overly-logical side of Morgan's thoughts were already screaming that at him, ten decibels loud.

Word Count: 601
Status: Complete
Comments: Yay, back from hiatus!

[isa]

Innocenza waited patiently for a reaction. The man was obviously quite annoyed and she was nearly eager to see what he would do next. She was slightly disappointed when nothing interesting happened. It was as if he'd given up being irritated altogether. While yes, he did keep on glaring, the tense hostility was gone. Then all of a sudden, she realized he was holding up a shoe for her to see and asking her to help him find the other one. Well that I didn't expect... She blinked a couple of times, then leaned in closer to inspect the old trainer. She was pretty sure that wouldn't be too hard to find. The girl looked back up at the pale eyes with a grin stretched across her face.

"Piece of cake." She stated, then lifted her feet up on the railing and stood up, causing another slightly disconcerting creak. She scanned the area and immediately spotted the shop she was looking for just about twenty feet ahead. The girl jumped down from the railing and hurried over to her destination, quietly humming a cheery tune. She stepped through the door and looked from one side of the room to the other with a determined expression. The dusty shelves almost seemed like they were casting those same grumpy glares at her as the man outside. She giggled at the thought and began walking between the rows and piles of decaying sportswear, looking for a shoe that matched the one she'd just seen.

She knelt beside a toppled shelf and lifted it up slightly, pushing it to the side to dig through the trainers scattered on the floor beneath it. A slight frown crept over her features as none of the shoes seemed to match. I wonder if he wants that shoe in particular... I could just bring him a pair of these. There are a few intact ones... Then she spotted a couple of shoes that seemed to have been kicked under a nearby table. She pulled them both out and grinned. They were the exact same model. One was ripped at the side, but the other was in a reasonable condition. It seemed about the right size. She ran out of the store and trotted over to the man. She held out her hand, holding the shoe by the laces. "Will this do?" She asked with a victorious smirk on her face.


OOC: I am so sorry this took me so long! I've had little to no time for writing lately. I'll do my best to respond faster next time! Again, I'm very sorry!